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I bid you all a fond farewell, as this will almost certainly be the last post here on DMG42. I am happy, then, to make the capstone achievement of this little D&D blog be a summary and retrospective on the most exciting, intense, and satisfying D&D campaign I've ever run: Badass Dungeon Crushers. For those unfamiliar, BDC took nine Fourthcore dungeons, linked them all together through various means (hidden stairs, teleportation gates, etc.), and had a team of dungeoneers draw from a finite number of 50 total characters (whose race and class were determined randomly) attempt to defeat all nine dungeons.
Eleven survived.
Traps, puzzles, and horrible death was the name of the game. Blood stained the walls of this utterly brutal campaign. It was an absolute blast and taught us all many valuable lessons. Read on below for the players' look back, also provided in convenient PDF form. Follow up questions and comments can always be left here and will be forwarded on to the players as appropriate.


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T4TL Workshop: D2L ePortfolio
Make learning visible. Tell your learning story. Find out how at the next T4TL workshop.
This week we will be hosting another Technology for Teaching and Learning (T4TL) workshop: D2L ePortfolio. Plan to attend one of the sessions offered by the ITS Academic Technology Team on either Wednesday, November 7 from 3-3:50 in Centennial Hall 115 or Thursday, November 8 from noon to 1 in Centennial Hall 106.
If you can't join us in person, please plan to join us online at: https://webmeeting.minnstate.edu/t4tlworkshops. We look forward to your attendance.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Vampire Diaries Season 4 Episode 18 recap
Please shut up, Caroline. Please.
Now that we've covered that entire storyline, this was kind of a super-fun episode. One of the things I like best about when Katherine and Elena face off – whether Elena's in humanity mode, human mode, or none of the above – is that it makes her up her game. She has to step a little quicker where Katherine's concerned, and the brilliant part about it is that she can. She's good enough at thinking like La Pierce that she can usually keep pace with her, these days. This time, she was almost a step ahead.
Of course, this in turn makes all the others ramp things up. Rebekah is always working at a just-this-side-of-annoying evil bent, but I really like when Damon and Stefan wordlessly admit they're so far out of their depth that they have to band together to catch Elena or Katherine. It actually makes them seem more like brothers, like after all these years they have a genetic link, and it's "Let's make sure our dickiness doesn't get in the way of catching people who are smarter than us". It's kind of cool actually.
Of course, they both played themselves for fools where Elena was concerned.
This is how they are going to convince us that she's not just Katherine redux, and not just playing dress up, by the way. First of all, she's ruthless in her exploitation of Katherine and I also kind of feel like she might just as well kill Rebekah when she's done with her. But more importantly, turning off her humanity hasn't turned off Elena's desires, and the fact that she does not want the cure makes me like her even more. (She needs to learn a little about personal responsibility, though. Bodies you leave lying around are nobody's responsibility but your own.) She has made a decision about her lie, and she gets to do so. Everyone can scream until they're blue in the face about "she made the decision without her humanity" but before that they were screaming about her being sired to Damon and I'm sure before that they were screaming about her being sick with grief due to Alaric but you know what? Everyone makes decisions based on what has happened. Everyone makes decisions based on where they are in their lives, right now, and Elena deserves – as an adult –to be no different. All her bad decisions will make her who she is, and she's entitled to that.
Similarly, Rebekah is entitled not to be a vampire anymore if that's really what she wants. As she said to Elijah (he suddenly somehow got hot to me), "We've had 20 lifetimes together. Isn't that enough?" It is, indeed, enough. It's more than enough. How can people not disappoint you when they quite literally have forever to do so?
It's for this reason that I think the Originals spinoff has the potential to be something truly special. First of all, it's been well-laid-out. These people have full lives, but they've had full lives in front of us. They're not asking us to care about the hundreds of years they lived offscreen.
They want diametrically different things. Niklaus is power-mad forever, no matter what he said about Tyler (UGH). Elijah apparently wants the love of one rogue vampire, no matter how her hair is styled (I can't help but look at the overstated Katherine, as opposed to Elena, and - now that Elena's hair has some movement to it - be reminded of Veronica Mars' epic Manila Whore Barbie). And Rebekah wants to experience life for the final time, with no do-overs or help.
It's complicated. That's good. I want that. But it makes it even more ridiculous that a high school girl like Caroline even matters to Klaus. Truly I was so annoyed I didn't want to deal with it at all, but I just want to say that it's annoying, that it feels false both on his part and on the part of the woman who is endlessly carping about Tyler, and that it remains more interesting than anything to do with Bonnie.
Badass Elena might really be for real this time – this is more than just a keg stand and a bit of eyeliner. Let's see.
Attached -- Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder in Toronto to see her family for Easter which means, obviously, that they are still together.


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ABC's Chris Cuomo is heading to CNN, the network confirmed Tuesday.
"Chris is an accomplished anchor who is already an established name in morning television, as well as a widely respected investigative journalist," CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement. "What I love about Chris is that he is passionate about every story he tells, never forgets about the viewer, and represents the type of journalism that makes CNN great."
Bones vs. Benson: Pick your favorite TV crime fighters"This is a fantastic opportunity to do what I value the most and hopefully to do the work that I do best," Cuomo said. "While it's very difficult to leave ABC News, a place filled with people I have loved working with for many years, I am excited about my future with CNN."CNN confirmed that the 20/20 co-anchor will co-host a new morning show. Cuomo's co-host, according toTMZ, which first reported the news, is expected to be Erin Burnett. Cuomo won't be the only former ABC face on CNN. Since Zucker was named CNN president in November, the former Today show executive producer has also recruited ABC Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper and ABC correspondent John Berman.
Check out the scariest TV and movie serial killersPrior to co-anchoring 20/20, Cuomo served as the news anchor on Good Morning America from 2006 to 2009.


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The Onion is selling gift boxes featuring fake products that will definitely make watching dad open that package of sock you got him more exciting. Who wouldn't want the iFeast, a portable MP3 docking station/pet feeding system or a smoke alarm that wakes you slowly to the gentle sounds of the rain forest? Fortunately, these products don't actually exist, but you can buy the empty boxes at the Onion Store. [Via Random Good Stuff]
More from Jezebel
Am I the Grinch if I mention this is bad for the environment?


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Lady Arpels™ Pont des Amoureux timepiece
Grisaille enamel on Lady Arpels™ Pont des Amoureux timepiece
Lady Arpels™ Jour Nuit Oiseau de Paradis® watch - Pouring of the enamel powder with the champlevé technique.
Lady Arpels™ Fée Ondine watch - Application of the enamel powder with a color gradation, champlevé enamel
Whether one sees it as an abstract concept or as a strictly scientific principle, Time is part of life, of our lives. We run after it, we try to hold on to it, to catch up with it or to stay ahead of it… However hard we try, Time alone sets the pace, majestically.
For Van Cleef & Arpels, Time is synonymous with poetry. The artistic challenge is to capture its fleeting essence without ever restricting it.
Jewels that tell the time are creations that call upon the Maison's exceptional High Jewelry expertise to capture the hours in their most precious finery. Time confides itself like a secret or glitters brightly, magnified by precious stones.
Each season, the Maison creates dreamlike watches with a bold creativity that never ceases to surprise. Faithful to a poetic view of life, narrative watches call upon limitless imagination to instill the watchmaker's craft with enchantment.
Combining the jeweler's art with technical prowess, each watch narrates a moment of grace, luck or happiness. Singular stories unfold on the dial to mark the passage of time with emotion.
With its Poetic Complications®, Van Cleef & Arpels has introduced a rare quality to time: that of dreams. The complications – those intricate mechanisms which enhance the watch movement – are not simply masterpieces of precision, they bring enchanting stories to life. Complex movements enable time to be measured over the course of a day, the rhythm of the universe or a ballet of butterflies.


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NHL fills out All-Star Game rosterby Adam Kimelman / Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks, who started the day with the best record in the Western Conference, also lead in another category -- most players added to the All-Star Game.
Four members of the Canucks were among the 36 veterans and 12 rookies announced by the NHL for the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game, to be played Jan. 29 in Ottawa.
Players from all 30 teams will be represented at the game, with four members of the Canucks added to the pool of players Thursday -- forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin, defenseman Alexander Edler and forward Cody Hodgson, who was one of the dozen rookies selected to play in the game and the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition, to be held Jan. 28.
The Ottawa Senators will have the largest representation at the game, with five players selected -- forwards Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek, and defenseman Erik Karlsson, who were voted in by the fans, and forward Colin Greening, added to the rookie pool.
The Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers had three players selected -- goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, defenseman Dan Girardi and forward Marian Gaborik. The defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins had two players named -- forward Tyler Seguin and defenseman Zdeno Chara. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas also will be at the game after being voted in by the fans.
The players added Thursday join the six players elected to the game by fan balloting -- Thomas; defensemen Dion Phaneuf of the Maple Leafs and Karlsson of the Senators; and the three Ottawa forwards.
Added to the roster Thursday were five goaltenders, among them the Red Wings' Jimmy Howard, who leads the League in wins, and the Blues' Brian Elliott, who is second in the League in goals-against average and save percentage.
Among the nine defensemen added were the Panthers' Brian Campbell and the Jets' Dustin Byfuglien, who last were teammates in 2010 to help the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. Also added from that championship Blackhawks team were current Hawks forwards Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa.
Also going to Ottawa will be Predators teammates Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Joining them will be teammate Craig Smith, from the rookie pool.
The League's top nine scorers all will have a place in Ottawa -- the Sedins, the Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, the Flyers' Claude Giroux, the Lightning's Steven Stamkos, Hossa, the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin and Spezza.
Other forwards added to the roster include Flames captain Jarome Iginla, who last week became the 42nd player in NHL history with 500 goals; Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who will play in his fifth All-Star Game; and the Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk, who was named to his third All-Star Game.
After captains and alternate captains are named, the rosters will be picked at the 2012 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft, to be held Jan. 26.


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Baby humpback whale stranded off Hawaii beach dies
A baby humpback whale that was found floundering in shallow waters off Hawaii's Kawaikui Beach Park died after becoming separated from its mother.
When the whale was spotted by a fisherman on Monday afternoon, it was thrashing around in very shallow waters inside a reef. The animal was weak with numerous cuts and abrasions and perhaps even a shark bite, said David Schofield, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine mammal health and response program manager.
"It was either, kind of wait and let nature take its course and monitor the animal until it perished, or euthanize the animal," he said Tuesday.
The decision was made to euthanize the baby whale because it was likely just a few days old and would not have been able to survive without its mother. Schofield and a veterinarian waited a few hours until the tide was lower to get to the whale, which was about 50 yards offshore.
The veterinarian gave the whale, estimated to be between 15 and 17 feet and about 3,000 pounds, a sedative and it died about 30 minutes later just before 9 p.m.
"The animal was so far gone," he said. "That was enough to more or less put it to sleep."
The whale carcass was to be removed Tuesday from the beach and taken to Hawaii Pacific University where tissue samples will be collected in an effort to determine why the whale died.
Schofield said a definitive cause of death usually can't be found in such cases. Often, the death is attributed to failure to thrive, he said.
The whale will be cremated and its remains given to Hawaii cultural practitioners. A ceremony will be performed to return the ashes to the sea.
Each winter, a handful of newborn whales are found washed up on Hawaii beaches, Schofield said. This is the time of year when humpback whales from Alaska arrive in the islands to give birth. Sometimes the mothers simply abandon their calves. Other times the newborns may have a congenital problem and can't keep up with their mothers and will weaken and die after becoming separated, he said.
"It is sad and unfortunate, but it is also nature," Schofield said.


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• 17 Aug 2011 – Grasslands Launch
Looks like you really enjoyed your dinner! Glad to discover your blog.
The Beef Wellington & the Creme Brulee look amazing....they would have been my pick!
talk about speedy post Simon, did you even sleep last nite ? LOL
It was nice to meet you in person (finally) :D
zomg the burrata was amazing and loved how easy it was to get the crab innards outta the shell!
Wow. You weren't kidding about getting this up asap! haha. The beef wellington was so good!
I'm still actually full after all the food! Good to see you again Simon
I was wondering if you'd be the first to post this and of course you always are! It was nice to see you last night
A quick post as always! These things are always on when I have to work (natch) so I'm here dribbling at the sight of a great looking beef wellington. I can always pay a visit and pay for it myself though. :-)
Wow! What an amazing looking feast. I would've been keen for a little taste of the tartare as it's not something I'd order for myself. Love the sound of the salad with the Blue Cheese Dressing. I've never tried burrata either. I need to get out more!
hi gastronomy gal, thanks for popping by and commenting. dinner was very enjoyable :-)
hi buggles and squeak, one of the better beef wellingtons i've been fortunate to try.
hi monica, sleep? what's that? was great to finally meet you too. hope to see you around the traps again :-)
hi suze, i've never heard of burrata before but now I know it's power :-) i can never get enough crab!
hi betty, looking forward to reading your post soon. i concur with the beef wellington although it was very generous in size and nearly didn't leave room for dessert :-)
hi john, i'm still full too. good to see you again too :-)
hi jacq, i think it's time for someone else to blog these events first ;-) but i'll give them a run for their money hehe good to see you again too.
hi joey, that's a bummer about you working. hopefully next time. you always seem to be missing out. i'm planning to revisit with my family for the Alaskan King Crab again and hopefully will try the Singapore Chilli Mud Crab as well.
hi melba, it's the first time i've had steak tartare and thankfully it was a very nice one. i'll be comparing all others to this one now. it was quite rich though so i didn't want to eat the whole thing. first time i've tried burrata too and would happily try again :-)


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Ulrich made the comments, along with many others, during an hour-long Web chat on ArtistDirect.com, Metallica's first public interaction with fans since the band became the first to file suit against Napster.
In addition to suing Napster, Metallica announced today that today it will deliver to Napster's offices in San Mateo, California, the names of 335,435 individual users alleged to have swapped Metallica recordings on the Internet. The 60,000 pages of documents include a request that the users be removed from Napster's system as punishment for violating the band's copyrights.
The move personalised the Napster debate for many fans, and it led at least two reporters to wonder if they would be among those named in the list of violators.
Known for spitting in the face of conformity and dominant institutions, Metallica during the fan forum argued for US government intervention, sounding remarkably like middle-class parents trying to protect their retirement accounts.
"There has to be some laws and guidelines to go by before it gets too out of hand and sucks the life out of musicians who will stop making music," said James Hetfield, Metallica guitarist and singer.
The band also sought to dispel the notion that the only person responsible for the Napster phenomenon was the teenager who developed it, Shawn Fanning.
"Napster is a big machine," Hetfield said. "The person who invented Napster is an employee of the big machine as we speak. They're doing it for the potential IPOs (initial public offerings)."
But Ulrich pulled no punches as he stated the band's position: "The goal is clear and simple: Put Napster out of business."
Even as the band members admitted to being personally unfamiliar with the internet - "I've never been on any of these internet sites," Ulrich admitted - they seemed to be cognisant that MP3 technology isn't the problem. Nevertheless, they advocated government regulation of the Internet as the only way to protect artists' copyrights.
The intent of the Napster suit, explained Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, "is to spearhead some kind of activity within the powers that be - the government - to lay down the laws with the computer, to exercise some kind of control and govern the companies like Napster that steal outright from artists."
The band did manage to show some good humour during the discussion. When asked by a fan identified as "Destro_187" if he would be sued for trading Metallica MP3s, Ulrich responded, "We're going to send James (Hetfield) over to your house."
Aside from the pleadings of fans like "Patallizombie," who posted comments like, "Show some respect to the Gods of Metal," the chat reflected some disappointment that the "Gods" weren't coming down on the same side of the music-piracy controversy as their fans.
"Metallica has always felt fans are family," said Hetfield, who stressed that the band has no problem with bootleg recordings of its concerts.
"Your family just got a lot smaller," responded a chat participant identified as "tinman."
Ulrich, who has acted as band spokesman in Metallica's legal affairs, wrapped up the chat with thanks to supportive fans and a kiss-off for the ones who came away from the discussion feeling defeated.
"For the doubters out there, Metallica will carry on for the next 20 years," Ulrich said. "Whether you're around for the ride or not, that's your problem, not ours."


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Reiki and Spiritual Awareness Support Group
December 9th, 2018 - 7:30 pm
Sidcup Kent DA144HF, Sidcup Kent
Support and Spiritual Development Group
Next meeting – Thursday 29th March 2018
Registration 7.15 pm
Commences 7.30- 9.30pm
This is a support group for those seeking to improve their spiritual awareness through healing and personal development.
Proceeds after expenses go to charity
Donation £5.00
8 Ash Close
Sidcup Kent
This evening we are discussing sound and the importance of sound. How sound connects us to our deepest feelings of Joy, Love, and yet some sound can be disruptive and destructive. Healing energy is carried on sound therefore an important healer. You will also have the opportunity to experience the healing benefits of sound.
• Discussion on sound
• Practical session with opportunity receive healing a sound bath using various level of pure sound by the group!
• Give and received Reiki Healing
• Angels cards to finish
Please let me know if you can attend.
Connect with me Face book and LinkedIn
Rosemary Patten
Follow me on Twitter @Rose_health


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SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - The Oscars will get a dressed-down, beach-side rehearsal at Saturday's 29th annual Spirit Awards.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) � The Oscars will get a dressed-down, beach-side rehearsal at Saturday's 29th annual Spirit Awards.
As the final award show before Sunday's Oscars, the Spirit Awards are a looser affair held in a tent along the beach in Santa Monica, just west of Los Angeles. They reward independent films with a budget of $20 million or less, ostensibly celebrating the little guys in the shadow of the Academy Awards.
There is usually overlap between the two, but especially so this year. All four of the actors favored to win at the Oscars are nominated for the Spirit Awards: Cate Blanchett ("Blue Jasmine"), Matthew McConaughey ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave") and Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club"). If all win on Saturday at the Spirits and Sunday at the Academy Awards, it would be the first time the acting honors lined up.
For the independent film world, that's reason for both excitement and trepidation. An indie sweep in the acting categories proves how much of the best work is being done today in independent film. But it also robs the Spirit Awards of a chance to highlight films that otherwise struggle for attention.
The two leading nomination-getters at the Spirits are the historical drama "12 Years a Slave" (seven nods) and the father-son road trip "Nebraska" (six). Both are up for best picture at the Oscars, with "12 Years" considered the narrow favorite over "Gravity" and "American Hustle" (neither of which was eligible for the Spirit Awards).
The Spirits, to be hosted by Patton Oswalt, could be especially soggy. The Los Angeles area has been swamped by a heavy rain storm that's caused flooding and rock slides. Weather forecasters expect the storm to continue through Saturday. Organizers said they've added tents and canopies for the red carpet.
But the Spirits, which are presented by Film Independent (a group of filmmakers, industry professionals and movie buffs), hope to shine a light on many movies that will be absent from the Academy Awards. The other best picture contenders are the Coen brothers' '60s folk tale "Inside Llewyn Davis," J.C. Chandor's shipwreck drama "All Is Lost" and Noah Baumbach's black-and-white New York comedy "Frances Ha."
The stars of "All Is Lost" (Robert Redford) and "Llewyn Davis" (Oscar Isaac) are also nominated for best actor.
Jeff Nichols' Arkansas coming-of-age drama "Mud" is up for best director for Nichols, but has also already been chosen for the Spirits' Robert Altman Award, an honor founded in 2007 for best ensemble and director.
Also nominated are: "Enough Said" (James Gandolfini is posthumously nominated), "The Spectacular Now," ''Before Midnight," ''Fruitvale Station," ''Short Term 12," ''Upstream Color" and "Computer Chess."
The show will be aired Saturday night on IFC.
Oswalt earlier said that he would release live birds instead of the show's bird-themed statues. The actor-comedian, alas, has since repeatedly insisted he was joking.
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle


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Giovanny Andres Gongora Granada
Working with Mozilla as employee, porting Firefox OS to the Raspberry PI B+ 2
Member of Mozilla Hispano and Mozilla Colombia. I help on Firefox Marketplace (marketplace.firefox.com) as an App Reviewer. Part of the Colombia Firefox OS launch team - Firefox OS launch team trainer and Mozilla Representative.
I give talks, most of them related to the Open Web. I am a developer and hacker. Sometimes help to Firefox OS just for fun. I am l10n Spanish translator too.
Tagsaddons, app reviewers, apps, army of awesome, boot2gecko, developer engagement, firefoxos, jetpack, mdn, mozilla hispano, nightly, qmo, sdk, sf-monument, summit2013, summit2013-toronto, sumo, testdays, webapps, localization
Skillsandroid, bash, c, css, css3, django, evangelism, geolocation, html, html5, javascript, mobile, python, teaching, xul
LanguagesEnglish, Spanish
External Accounts
Vouched By
Mónica Bonilla
Gio is member of Mozilla hispano and Colombia. Giving talks and advice on Open Web, development and Firefox OS. Legacy Vouch!
Amy Tsay
Gio is a tireless and enthusiastic Mozilla contributor, ready to tackle new projects and solve problems. He is one of the top-performing app reviewers for Marketplace, having done thousands of reviews.
Dino McVouch
An automatic vouch for attending Summit 2013 Day 1
Dino McVouch
An automatic vouch for attending Summit 2013 Day 2
Dino McVouch
An automatic vouch for attending Summit 2013 Day 3


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After a couple episodes, Continuum remains our favorite new science fiction show on television. In a year when everybody else is doing fairies, witches and werewolves, the Canadians are giving us some good solid cyborgs and time travel.
The third episode airs this Sunday — and to help get you ready, here are a couple amazing pieces of concept art, sent to us by the show's creator, Simon Barry. Above is a concept render of the "new" downtown Vancouver, which is located where Stanley Park is located now.
And here's concept art of a CPS flier from the future:
Continuum airs Sunday evenings at 9 PM on Showcase in Canada. Here's hoping it gets a U.S. airdate soon!


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Historical figures include Mary Peake, who educated freed slaves; Robert Smalls, a former slave who commandeered a Confederate ship; and Elizabeth Keckley, who served as Mary Todd Lincoln's seamstress.
DELAND — Storyteller and Civil War re-enactor Mary Fears will present a program about the contributions of blacks during the Civil War at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in DeLand on Saturday.
Fears, 82, who lives in Daytona Beach, has been putting on presentations about blacks in the Civil War for nearly 12 years. The event will take place at the church, 514 Beresford Ave., at 6 p.m Saturday and is free to the public, though donations will be accepted. It is presented by the African-American Museum of the Arts in DeLand.
"What I do is I talk about how black people served in the Civil War," said Fears. "I will be telling biographical stories of several people."
Those figures include Mary Peake, who educated freed slaves during the war; Robert Smalls, a former slave who commandeered a Confederate ship during the war for the Union Navy; and Elizabeth Keckley, who served as Mary Todd Lincoln's seamstress.
As a re-enactor, some of the characters are portrayed by Fears herself and their stories are presented as first-person narratives. In the past, she's participated in Civil War re-enactments at the Olustee Battlefield, west of Jacksonville.
"All of this is in celebration of Black History Month," said Mary Allen, executive director of the African-American Museum of the Arts. "Mary Fears, she is a storyteller, reenactor and she produced a film called 'Filling the Gap: Forgotten Chapter of American History.' "
Much of Fears' presentation is based on scenes and stories depicted in the film.
During the presentation, retired Bethune-Cookman University professor Cleo Higgins will deliver Sojourner Truth's 1851 "Ain't I a Woman?" speech.
Fears will tell stories ranging from the tales of freed slaves traversing the Underground Railroad to the "Contraband" soldiers, who were escaped slaves who fought alongside Union troops during the war.
Before she was a re-enactor, Fears worked as a media specialist for Volusia County Schools. She has lived in Volusia County for more than 40 years.


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Dec 01, 2009
By Gopal Dayaneni, Mateo Nube
Rich and poor countries are in this together. If either fails to step up, the planet is in trouble. A climate deal must take into account the Global North's responsibility for nearly 70 percent of greenhouse pollution and the Global South's need to move out of poverty. The North must cut back sharply on emissions while the South leapfrogs over the industrial age to clean-energy prosperity.
To stop the climate crisis, we're going to have to build a fairer world.
Any solution to climate change will require all nations to act together to reduce global emissions. But the fact is, countries around the world are not entering a "post-carbon future" on a level playing field. Poor countries have had the smallest role in creating the climate crisis, and they have fewest resources available to change and adapt.
The climate policies we pursue will have to support poor communities and developing nations. Everyone, whether they live in industrial or developing countries, has fundamental rights to decent levels of food, housing, health, and clothing, and many nations in the Global South will not get behind a climate solution that doesn't allow their citizens these rights.
In the United States, we need to push for solutions that equitably distribute the burdens of the coming transition between rich and poor nations. If residents of industrialized nations don't pressure their governments to share wealth and technological capacities with the Global South, extreme poverty will inevitably aggravate the planet's ecological stress. Poor communities that are left out of the post-carbon economy and robbed of resources by corporations will be forced to strip the diminishing amounts of clean water, forests, and land just to survive.
So what does an equitable approach look like? There is a growing international consensus around a core set of principles called "climate justice."
1. Share the responsibility for emissions reductions fairly.
A fair and workable international approach must be based on the historical responsibility wealthy industrial countries bear for causing climate change as well as the capacity of these countries to finance the necessary transition.
Over the past 100 years, the United States has been the largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases, according to data from the World Resources Institute. Together, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Russia account for nearly 70 percent of the global build-up of atmospheric CO2 between 1850 and 2004. In the past two years, China has surpassed the United States as the largest CO2 emitter, but China's population is four and a half times larger. U.S. per capita emissions are still much higher.
Industrialized nations became rich at the expense of the Global South. The development and industrialization of the North has come about through the continual, and often forced, extraction of minerals, plants, fossil fuels, food, and human labor from the Global South, and through corporate globalization. Oil, extracted primarily from the Global South, has been the life-blood of globalization. Along with its sister coal, it has made industrial capitalism hum at a feverish pace for the past 200 years. By exhausting the capacity of the atmosphere, land, and ocean to absorb carbon, industrialized nations have left countries like India, China, and Brazil little room to create industrial economies that establish decent standards of living for their populations.
The prevailing proposals for financing the transition to a low-carbon economy involve distributing funds from North to South through entities like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. While financing from the North is needed, these institutions are the wrong choice. Both have track records of saddling poor countries with debt, requiring government spending cuts that undermine national economies, and handing lucrative contracts to transnational corporations.
The mechanisms set up to distribute and allocate these funds should be transparent, democratic, and accountable to civil society in the Global South. People's movements around the world and a growing number of countries—including Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and the entire African Union—have proposed requiring industrialized nations to pay their "ecological debt" through a United Nations entity. Wealthy countries would pay into the fund according to their level of responsibility for climate change, and the money would be used to finance clean technologies and adaptation strategies in poor countries.
Recently, India and China jointly called on the Global North to take the lead in reducing emissions and providing money and green technology to developing countries. And Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently told the press that at Copenhagen he will urge the Global North to "pay for the damage that they have already caused to the planet."
The only way for an international climate agreement to become politically, economically, and ecologically feasible is for rich countries to resolve their ecological debt.
2. End overconsumption and resource depletion.
Climate change is merely one of the most obvious symptoms of a consumer economy that is pushing our ecological and human systems to the brink. "Global economic growth is the major cause of rising emissions," writes British journalist George Monbiot. "Even deforestation in poor countries is driven mostly by commercial operations delivering timber, meat, and animal feed to rich consumers."
If rich communities move toward a "clean energy" paradigm but continue to depend on the natural resources and cheap labor of the Global South to feed their huge appetite for stuff (even "green" stuff), the climate crisis will only worsen.
In China, for example, "green industry" is displacing rural farming villages. A new industrial zone west of Shanghai will span 98 square kilometers and include a "Solar Valley" to produce photovoltaics and other green technologies for export. Ironically, this development zone's energy needs will be fed by multiple coal power plants.
Reaching the aggressive carbon reductions demanded by science will require ramping down overproduction for overconsumption by the United States, Canada, and Europe.
3. Give communities control over their food, land, and energy.
Place-based, democratically run communities that have a reflective and responsive relationship with their ecosystem are more capable of adapting to ecological transition.
Supporting local control, among other things, means standing with communities that are resisting fossil-fuel extraction. These communities are bearing the worst brunt of our pollution-based economy and articulating one of the simplest solutions to the climate crisis: Keep fossil fuels in the ground.
Two years ago, the indigenous Huaorani people of Ecuador won the provisional support of the Ecuadorian government in their campaign to keep the oil in the rainforests of Yasuní National Park untouched. Rainforests store carbon and prevent it from entering the atmosphere, so the move is a big win for our planet. It's also an expensive option for the Ecuadorian government—Yasuní's estimated 850 million oil barrels constitute 20 percent of Ecuador's proven oil reserves. Yet Ecuador is willing to abandon the development of an oil field in Yasuní if other countries help it recover $350 million annually—50 percent of the income it would have obtained from extracting crude oil. As of this writing, the government of Germany has committed an initial $50 million a year, and the leaders of France and Spain are considering a pledge. If successful, this initiative will be a watershed moment in the struggle for climate justice—the first time that a community on the front lines has succeeded in keeping fossil fuels in the ground, and one of the first times a developing nation has negotiated compensation for ecological service it's providing to the world.
Here in North America, there are also inspiring struggles resisting fossil fuel extraction that merit our immediate attention and support, like the campaigns to end mountaintop removal in Appalachia, stop tar sands extraction in Alberta, Canada, and halt Chevron's heavy crude oil refinement in Richmond, California. A win on any of these fronts would build momentum for a "leave it in the ground" movement in industrial countries and tell the world that the people of the United States care deeply about climate justice.
Creating a Green Economy for Everyone
It is exciting to see a multiracial movement within the United States calling for a just climate transition that helps save the planet while producing jobs, wealth, and economic stability for marginalized communities. We need to seek the same kinds of solutions internationally.
We can learn a great deal from inspiring international networks such as Oilwatch International and Via Campesina, the international organization of rural farmers and peasants. The false dichotomies of economy versus environment or race versus environment don't exist for many of the vibrant and sophisticated movements in the Global South. Indigenous and land-based peoples' movements understand that our collective survival is deeply dependent on our relationship to the Earth.
Communities throughout the South are resisting resource exploitation and creating their own solutions, from the indigenous U'wa people in Colombia who are campaigning against oil development on their land to Indian farmers who are organizing seed banks to protect the cultural and biological diversity that has enabled them to weather drought and flood for thousands of years.
Groups like these have an integrated vision for how food, land, and energy sovereignty will help create a resilient society.
"A global economy that takes ecological limits into account must necessarily localize production to reduce wasting both natural resources and people," says Vandana Shiva, the celebrated Indian author and activist. "Reclaiming democratic control over our food and water and our ecological survival is the necessary project for our freedom."
Restoring our planet's health will require a lasting redistribution of power and resources. Recognizing our common heritage of water, food, and energy should be at the heart of a new framework for global resource management. Natural resources need to be conserved for the common good, not privatized and unsustainably exploited. We must plan and execute a just transition to a sustainable, low-carbon, resource-balanced society that promotes people's rights, honors their work, and protects the well-being and integrity of all life on the planet.
Gopal Dayaneni and Mateo Nube wrote this article for Climate Action, the Winter 2010 issue of YES! Magazine. Mateo is director for the Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project, movementgeneration.org, a group that coordinates organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area working for economic and ecological justice. Gopal is an organizer with Movement Generation and a trainer with the Ruckus Society.


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[International: Uganda Opinion]
There are few missives in which we get an insight into the thinking that shapes and informs our President's actions and I believe his expose in the Sunday Vision of February 10, 2008 (www.newvision.co.ug) is one of them.
The extent of his vindictiveness towards those that do not view Uganda from his perspective is apparent in the venom that he spits in response to Beti Kamya's forthright handling of a sensitive issue.
Museveni contends that by saying that 'like the Kenyans, we are going to have to fight to extricate ourselves from Museveni's paws,' she is violating the Constitution of Uganda. But why is Museveni annoyed by Beti's call on Ugandans to fight for their rights?
Was it constitutional for Museveni to choose the 'bush' option in 1980? Did he not follow through with his threat to fight Milton Obote if he stole an election in 1980 with a five-year bush war in which thousands of Ugandans were killed? Is he not the one who came to power through a furnace?
The President states: 'If Museveni and NRM are so terrible, why does she not call for Ugandans to vote them out of office in 2011? Why war?'
Has Museveni not recently stated that had the opposition won the election in 1996 he would have returned to the proverbial bush? Why does Museveni think that he will be the last liberator of our people? Why should anyone be admonished for suggesting a solution to Uganda's problems that is similar to the one Museveni proposed and executed not so long ago?
It is not the Beti Kamyas of this world that are inviting war, but an executive that is intransigent and refuses to build mechanisms that can be entrusted with a free and fair political transition. The President surely knows more than anyone else that a state which fails to hold free and fair elections is inviting war.
The state has slowly and systematically eroded institutions and taken control of all resources and opportunities available in the economy and society either directly or by proxy through its patronage network. Dissenters are isolated and deliberately impoverished, making it difficult for opponents to build strong political institutions.
A government that weakens other branches of government and ensures that political change cannot be achieved through elections; one that exercises control over the legislature through bribery and intimidation to ensure that it's interests are promoted over and above the people's social, political and economic priorities; a government that controls the judiciary and ensures compliance through appointing cadre judges is inviting war.
The President rejects Beti's reference to his regime as a vicious dictatorship because 'Beti can continuously write seditious articles and engage in incitement over the radios and sleep in her bed.' Museveni ought to know that it is the responsibility of his government to ensure that Beti continues to sleep peacefully in her bed even when she writes negatively about his regime.
Ugandans know that while some opposition MPs are sleeping soundly in their beds, other activists are sleeping eternally in their graves thanks to this benevolent dictatorship. The name Andrew Lutaakome Kayiira comes to mind.
By now the public has figured out that dictatorship in Uganda is so sophisticated that it does not always shatter the heads of its opponents with blunt objects like in the case of Mamenero. Evidence of the viciousness of Museveni's regime is written all over his response to Beti.
He writes, 'Anybody who tries to initiate war in Uganda, especially now, will perish. I guarantee Beti and her like that anybody who tries to promote or execute genocide will also perish... Moreover, it is not acceptable that anybody should threaten war even by words.'
So in one paragraph, the President not only creates the impression that Beti is promoting genocide, he also threatens her with death! (Unless someone can give me a new definition for the word perish!)
Unfortunately for Beti, the President is protected from prosecution and Beti does not have the luxury of threatening him with criminal prosecution until he is forced out of office.
Beti has been afforded a unique opportunity to deal with the issue of nepotism in open court. If she carefully gathers information to support her assertion of the disproportionate number of Museveni's tribesmen and women in positions of influence throughout Ugandan society, she would have done the nation a great service.
She should also use the floor of Parliament to speak up against such raw intimidation of opposition activists and to highlight the threat that is not only aimed at her but at all Ugandans who are foresighted enough to realize that war is a natural consequence of oppression.
But by far the most revealing part of Museveni's response and vindictiveness is his vulgar attempt to link Beti Kamya to the failures of Idi Amin's regime by drawing her late father's name into a debate where he has no place.
The most sinister remark being the closing one that reminds Beti that 'Even the children of former Amin soldiers, like Beti, were not victimized' In other words, Beti should fall on her knees and thank Museveni for upholding the law. That remark surely is beneath contempt.
The article first appeared on The Weekly Observer in Uganda
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Digital Full Spectrum Cameras....
Posted 02 September 2009 - 10:39 PM
Any thoughts?
Posted 03 September 2009 - 10:25 AM
Posted 03 September 2009 - 03:45 PM
Posted 03 September 2009 - 05:58 PM
Posted 07 September 2009 - 05:02 PM
Unlike what you might expect, UV images do not always show up in the blue channel and often IR shows up in all three color channels. For example, if I recall correctly, the Fuji cameras that use CCD imaging technology capture UV mostly in the blue channel. The Nikon that we are using happens to capture UV in multiple channels (on CMOS) which means that the signal ranges from Red-Orange (at 365 nm) through Pink (at 375 nm) to a deep Violet (at 400 nm, just at the base of the Visible spectrum).
It is wise to filter, especially if you are interested in only one part of the spectrum or want to reject one part of the spectrum. In our case, we have already pretty much rejected the IR as of interest based on prior research for many decades. But we are very interested in the UV. So we use IR cut filters to remove the IR light. This has to be a very steep filter with no IR bleed through (tough to achieve btw) and with no tendency to inhibit the UV (which means it must be quartz glass). With this filter in place, we see Visible and UV light only. Since in our case the UV appears in the redish range mostly, and we have effectively stopped normal red light from entering the camera lens, we can safely presume that any red images are indeed UV related. And we know from our prior testing what approximate wavelengths we are seeing.
The testing was done using precise point sources calibrated plus or minus 5 nm. These findings were confirmed by an optical lab as well.
We like to keep the visible light in the image so we can know what was being photographed. One problem is that when we shoot in available light (which is mostly not UV) and try to capture UV images only, we rarely can see most of the scene. So we prefer to allow visible light through and simply ensure that the IR light cannot reach the imaging systems.
Each camera will behave a bit differently especially in UV spectral response. So the comments in this post are meant to help answer the OP's original question as well as illustrate some of the challenges working in this area.
Edited by PhenomInvestigator, 07 September 2009 - 05:04 PM.
Posted 17 September 2009 - 05:34 PM
Posted 05 June 2010 - 07:03 PM
Actually, consumer-level video cameras are able to record in full spectrum but filters are inserted at the factory to eliminate the non-visible wavelengths (normally anything below 400 Nm or above 700 Nm). You can send a camcorder out to have these filters removed, but (1) this tends to be expensive and (2) the way these units are utilized on TV doesnt make much scientific sense
For anything to be viewable (either by our eyes or another recording device), either light needs to strike the object and be reflected back to the recipient OR the object needs to be an emitter of that wavelength of light itself. While GHI tends to leave static IR light sources and cameras around, you dont see the team members walking around with IR/UV lights to illuminate the areas usually so to see anything with JUST a FS camera, the subject would need to produce its own source of light at that particular wavelength (conceivable but unlikely, as anything generating enough energy to be datable on an EMF meter wouldnt come close to being powerful enough to generate even an electrostatic light).
Its my impression that these things are more for glitz and production value than anything serious toward actual research or investigation. As Tech Manager for a local paranormal investigation team here in New England, Ive done many experiments with my own FS cameras and have come to find them little more than expensive, cool-looking toys.
I was curious if anyone here has ever used a Digital Full Spectrum camera like the one they were using on GHI just the other night... I'd like to hear what results you've had...
Also, Barry said he built this camera... If anyone has ever done something like this before, can you share your knowledge on how to do this??? Thanks...
Posted 07 June 2010 - 12:32 PM
It doesn't matter if you're using a $5.00 disposable camera, an IR only set-up, or spring for the really big guns to shoot only in UV (hard to find, as the UV-Nikkor is long-discontinued). If you're going to "get the ghost", you'll get it. I think we're trying to rely too much on technology, which is probably fueled (at least in part) by all of the "me too" ghost hunting shows out there. Wow...it looks cool! But what has it proven...zilch...zero. I guess someone is getting rich selling all of this stuff.
There is one thing that I've noticed over the years that DOES make a difference, and it has nothing to do with technology, and doesn't cost a penny. Groups tend to go in to a site like gangbusters (or like "Ghost Adventures"...those guys are complete idiots and do everything wrong). You should go it with as little fuss as possible, be respectful, introduce yourself to the spirit(s), ask their permission, and only then start the investigation. Look at it his way; would you cooperate with a group of rude, obnoxious, disrespectful people invading your space? This is especially true if you're dealing with a haunting from a different era; being polite, respectful and having good social manners was very importand in years past (and should be today). It helps to give them a brief description of the equipment (in terms as simple as possible) and what you're trying to accomplish. Invite them to participate.
Try this instead of throwing money at the latest sexy gadget. You and your group will have more money in your pocket and much better results.
Posted 15 June 2010 - 12:21 PM
Barry said he had a couple guys work on the camera. I can't remember the component added, but it's difficult and apparently they wrecked some $600 cameras in the process. He mentioned that they are looking into importing the cameras but cant due to US law.
Considering spilling glass making secrets could get you tried for treason until the 1960's, it is possible. On a side note, the FS camera made an annoying blinking that was picked up by the IR on our camcorder.
I just watched an episode of GH the other day and Britt one of the GHI investigators was using this camera. He said that they installed a new chipset. But that the information he gave.
Posted 19 June 2010 - 12:51 PM
If one is using a Full Spectrum camera, you should be shooting in an ambient light environment. You should NOT be lighting either with IR or UV. The reason is that the IR and even more important, the UV spectrum is easily flooded by any other lighting irrespective of its spectrum. Lighting with UV to capture something that is naturally UV emissive will actually mask it. The same is true of IR. Even worse, IR light can destroy UV images whether the light reflects or originates from a natural source. For these reasons, you want to avoid lighting the scene, especially using IR lights. In theory you should see nothing in the UV spectrum with a Full Spectrum camera should you do so IF you are looking for UV emissions.
On another point, I would question the quality of images you will get using consumer grade equipment and more importantly consumer grade lenses and filters. Again, the quality of the glass is critical especially to UV photography. If you have gotten little or nothing in the UV in the past, this is likely due to using glass lenses and filters which actually block UV emissions, meaning they never get to the camera.
Just a couple of other random thoughts.
Posted 20 June 2010 - 10:17 AM
Posted 20 June 2010 - 03:17 PM
Posted 20 June 2010 - 05:08 PM
I'm a litle confused. If it's a digital full spectrum camera, why is his "focus" (sorry) on the far UV? 100 to 280 nm is for killing germs.
Most of the stuff he captures is in the 175 nm area.
Not to dispute your point, but you'd know it. Prolonged exposure to IR is known to cause cataracts, but the thermal property would warn you well in advance. Your whole body would "fry."
... just as IR light sources can be dangerous if you look right at them. They can fry your retinas without you realizing it.
What anomalies?
The anomalies I've seen captured this way are all self illuminating in their bandwidth.
Posted 01 September 2010 - 04:46 PM
1. I respectfully disagree with some of the things I have read here on this topic. No offense by that- just based on my experience and knowledge.
2. If you are doing SERIOUS research, being able to select a band via filters is fine. That said MOST teams dont care so much where an anomoly occurs in the EM band, they just want to capture the video and take home the evidence. For that reason, selective filters are not the way to go, UNLESS you are shooting in bright light. That is because the visible spectrums can in some cases have a tendancy to overpower the invisible spectrums and cause overexposure.
3. This thread has really talked about SEVERAL cameras and they are all diffrent, but some readers may be mislead by this so it needs attention.
One camera seen on the shows is a small SVP model palmcorder. This is a cmos based imager with a filter. The maker of that camera has a VERY strong opinion that you MUST filter out the visible spectrums leaving only IR and UV. I disagree. They will tell you that the visible light will overexpose.... well, that COULD is true if shoot out in the bright sunlight, however, we (paranormal investigators) do most of our hunting at night.... using that palmcorder at night in very dim situations, as we are normally in, you will find it lacks the ability to be a truely useful bit of gear. And, if this IS your only camera, and there is enough light, and something happens in the 400 to 700nm range, you just missed it. I think it is a serious limit and most teams cant afford that.
Another camera talked about here is one that uses quartz lenses and has been said to go sub 200. Let me tell you up front that I have not tested that camera BUT even air starts to attenuate UV-C at 200nm. You are talking about a floride lens, spec CCD and more- so you are talking about a $4000.00 camera- or more- but I have never seen the price tag on that one. Lets get back to reality here and that is- most paranormal teams cant afford that AND DONT NEED IT. My opinon of those numbers (sub 200) is frought with doubt, but even then, UVC kills cells, requires LOTS of added light and is hard to work with.. is that really something we should be messing with? For most people reading this- NO.
The last camera that has been made refrence to here is a digital SLR that Barry uses. It is a converted SLR and you can have one made as well- around $600.00. Great bit of gear- Barry uses one quite often. It has captured still photography evidence.
Last, be careful about yet another seller out there that has jumped on the band wagon with a palmcorder. In the attempt to make a profit they are selling something that they really cant even tell you anything (scientific) about. The add they display contains false information. Buyer beware.
4. So, lets look at this closer: If there is a claim of paranormal activity that your looking into as a team and especially a reported visible sighting, they (whom ever saw it) dang sure did not have equipment on hand that was capable of that so why would you feel the need to go there? There are many reasons to go into the UV and IR bands- I would be glad to discuss them in detail. I and others HAVE captured evidence of paranormal activity using full spectrum cameras (see just a few of those videos at my website). Some of which I am sure we would have missed if using a normal camera. Most teams DONT have the option of setting up three or four cameras and so you have to leverage your gear to the maximum level of information per peice that you can.
You can find more information on my products at www.SpecterCam.com and I would be glad to answer questions if you have any. My gear is in use in the field by some of the top research teams. My site has more information as well. Good luck in your hunting and research!
Posted 01 September 2010 - 08:04 PM
The point was made that most could use a full spectrum camera instead of multiple cameras because most only want to capture something without caring what band it originated in. That may be true, but I assume most who want to do serious research into wider bands also want to gain some data regarding the characteristics of what they captured. For that you need to be selective, and while costs certainly do increase, good science is not always cheap. The investigator will need to determine the degree he wants to study whatever evidence he captures and select an appropriate camera system. It is toward these more indepth groupos that I directed my comments regarding the recommendation of separate systems / filters.
Quartz or Floride lenses, speced CCD imagers, and other specialty equipment is fine IF your protocols for your particular experiment requires those characteristics. And if you aren't aware of those characteristics, and how they may affect your particular experiment, you should not be writing the protocols or procedures for such a project! Leave that to the experts in optics / photography. (I have been doing this research for 35 years and I wouldn't even attempt that; I'd bring in an expert or consultant!)
So whether you go with a single wide spectrum camera or multiples is more up to the degree you want to get involved. The comparable in the EVP field is whether you really want to study your EVPs or whether you are content with simply "What does it say?"
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Family system; walking home, on the right side of the street, were a couple of kids in front of a nice home, racking leaves! dad was on the leif blower in the middle of the dark green smooth grass lawn! The first think I thought of was; me, as a child! and the child experience I had and was stolen from.
I had a house, a lawn, a backyard, brothers, a mother n father, TV specials, friends, a best friend! Hope! tree forts! art! bicycles! relatives! swimming in the summer, pop cycles! Grand parents! I was protected by my father! And I was a very good student at the look grade school! and I loved my life! and could not wait to make more friends and live free the way I wanted to!
Then I was destroyed! and never went home again! and my mind and nervous system were baked! toasted through brutal forms of inhuman treatments!
My father turned on me! on us all! this I was not prepared for! I though I knew this person! I thought he loved me! He did not! he had no love for all! I did not know this! He loved nothing because he had no remorse, or real personality; any more then Adolf Hitler! he was a carbon copy of Adolf Hitler in many ways! they were both sociopaths! or psychopaths! same internal self!
If you look at pictures of Adolf Hitler, you can see many pictures standing by children! the children feel safe! they are given candy and a picture is taken! the children are treated well by uncle Adult. He makes them laugh! and they sit by the fire and feel love! but in reality, are they loved!~ no, theirs a good chance their parents will be killed in a short time by this dictator smiling at them giving them candy! Theirs a possibility they will be killed!
Adolf Hitler did not just kill children in the ovens! he waisted everything in his path, including the countries he was in officed ! he was a pure contempt machine! and was out to destroy through lies and deceit; everything he could get his hands on! He was a one man band of deceptive lies and hate! and nothing more! nothing special about this psychopath accept he was an exceptionally bad person on the number scale!
German pilots said they loved him, but later felt like fools killing for him! when they realized what he was! a crazy man who should have been in prisoned!
My father was the same; My brothers and I were used in many ways that he fulfill some strange sick morbid fantasy of family life! He was not in love with us! We were simply there in his time line! Yet, he acted the part of many things! He was never anything! he was a narcissist with no conscious! not a dime of it!
This type of individual is dangerous! they lead you on to believe something, then pull the rug on you and leave you broken and damaged! they destroy children! They are sociopaths with the license to start families; and this should be outlawed! the result is death and children permanently destroyed or killed! Many kill themselves! the damage is to great to the mind and nervous system! they are being tortured to death basically and finally kill themselves!
The social path is like a wired cutting sharp knife of no conscious! when they make a decision, it is mindless; meaning, they do not care about the reckless out come to others! if others are destroyed or killed, it means nothing, they feel nothing and have no idea of remorse or history or emotional well being! again, they should be locked up!
So, I was dealing with people who should have been locked up! and the false front they created; I needed to recognize this at an early age and run away as far as possible! for the relatives did nothing! they didn't care! and my mother n fathers parents were the creators of these 2 sycophants! so associating with them would me complete doom!
I was blamed pathologically by my father for his condition and reason for leaving the family! it was everyones fault! although, I started in on this when I was 7 years old! I did not know what he was talking about! he kept blaming everyone, saying no one was on his side including his children! How can an adult blame a 7 year old for his problems! simple, he was looking for a pathological out; like any good narc sociopath!
Im so sorry that any children have to be exposed to this! they are destroyed! its a demoralization that societies should not experiment in! It is a society crime against children, not just a corrupt family system problem!
The times I lived with my Grandmother were no better, they were worse then living with my parents they caused great pain and havoc and confusion and neglect! They were sociopaths as well, on both sides of the family system!
I was permanently abandon at some point.! I thought I was my fathers love of his life, I was sadly mistaken;' in stead, I was dealing with a pure sociopath! He was mindless as for as people are concerned! No one exists but him! but you would not know this when I was growing up! I was getting my needs met, but not by him directly! someone else was paying for the house! he showed up at times to make everything look good and seem real!
#1. Get in touch with the memories of living normal when young! process them, bring them in as identity! and roll from their! begin to create or re create a new life based on these old but good memories! This means the gaps get sealed, and I learn or re learn new adventures with myself and others with new developing opportunities! Im going through all the years I missed, and recreate opportunities for growth of the appropriate age; fill in the blanks!
I had a room, with football flags of my favorite teams on the walls, and bouncy spring loaded football helmets; mini helmets on the dresser tables!
I would get up and go to my friends a few blocks away! and play on his trampoline! the point; I had a life on C street with all the good things! and it was taken from me! I would like those memories back!
And at some point, things come together!
I have dissociative disorder, and could not get close to people! They could not get close! Now Ive worked hard to have this condition break! yesterday, I hugged a girl that I could not get close to 2 years ago! and it was electric!
ive been spending time around women that are friends! but dating material! its been a very good start! they don't understand my condition! they judge what they see!


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Know Your Competition
This story appears in the April 1997 issue of . Subscribe »
Cindy Rice clearly remembers the first time she realized International Brownie, her mail order gourmet brownie business, had competition. Walking through Boston's Faneuil Hall, a restored historic area and shopping district, she noticed a retail store selling trays of gourmet brownies. "I said, `Oh my Gosh! This is exactly what I'm doing!' " recalls Rice.
Now, two years later, Rice says she realizes that competition is a fact of business life. "Actually, competition is good for me," she says. "It keeps me on my toes and reminds me that I can't slack off. I have to provide really good customer service and a unique product." To make sure she's ahead of her competition, Rice periodically orders from her competitors and compares their packaging, service and quality to her own.
"Business is like any battlefield. If you want to win the war, you have to know who you're up against," explains Tim Fulton, a consultant at Clayton College and State University's Small Business Development Center in Morrow, Georgia. Unfortunately, he adds, competitive analysis is something many entrepreneurs overlook. "They assume that they have such a good product or service that either they won't have competition or they don't have to worry about it."
The truth is, every business faces some form of competition. Like Rice, savvy entrepreneurs recognize that finding a successful niche for their business depends on identifying--and standing out from--their rivals. Here's a step-by-step plan for getting the goods on your competitors.
Carolyn Z. Lawrence, MBA, is a small-business consultant and writer living in Southern California. She can be reached via e-mail at email@example.com.
Pinpointing Your Competitors
The first step in competitive analysis is deciding who your competitors are. Sounds simple, right? Guess again. Fulton says entrepreneurs often have difficulty defining exactly who their competitors are. Start by identifying direct competitors--firms currently selling a similar product or service to the same customers you hope to reach.
Consider Jan Zobel's business. Zobel runs a successful tax-preparation firm in Oakland, California, that caters to the tax needs of individuals and small businesses. One obvious competitor for Zobel's business might appear to be H&R Block, the national chain of tax-preparation offices. Zobel, however, doesn't consider the company to be a direct competitor. "H&R Block is an entirely different kind of service," Zobel explains. She focuses on serving clients who want an ongoing, personalized, year-round relationship with a tax consultant, while H&R Block serves the needs of customers looking for once-a-year tax assistance. Although she still keeps tabs on H&R Block's pricing and marketing, Zobel considers her main competitors to be the firms that concentrate on serving the same market niche that she does.
On the other hand, Rice says that even though her business is entirely mail order, she still considers retail stores that sell similar products to be direct competitors. "I have to worry about competitors that have stores," she explains, "because people still go there to buy brownies."
How do you identify your direct competitors? Fulton says a look in the Yellow Pages or a call to your town's chamber of commerce can help identify local competitors. If you expect to sell to a national market, broaden your search for competitors. Industry associations, trade publications, and even a search on the Internet can help you turn up competitors. You can find listings of industry associations in Gale Research's Encyclopedia of Associations, while Ulrich's Guide to International Periodicals can help you locate trade magazines in your particular industry. One excellent place to spot competitors in a specific industry is in the Thomas Register of Manufacturers, available in bound volumes, on CD-ROM, and also over the Internet (http://www.thomasregister.com). All three directories are available at most public libraries. Asking your potential customers who they're currently buying from is another good way to get a handle on your rivals.
Once you've identified your direct competitors, dig deeper. Customers have to make choices about where and how to spend their money. Many businesses, therefore, also face indirect competition for customer dollars.
Fulton says he discovered this when he owned his own travel agency. "I thought my competitors would just be other travel agencies," he says. "But I found I wasn't just losing business to other travel agencies, but also to the local jewelry store and appliance store. I realized I had to worry just as much about my indirect competition."
Indirect competition can be particularly important if you're introducing a totally new product or service concept. To succeed, you'll have to convince consumers to spend their hard-earned money on your product instead of on something else. You must determine which customer spending habits you'll need to influence in order to get customers to buy your product.
Getting The Scoop
Once you've determined who your main competitors are, it's time to start sleuthing. Your goal should be to know your key competitors inside and out. A thorough competitive analysis should include data from as many different sources as possible.
Begin at a large public or university library. Ask the reference librarian to direct you to business publications, directories and databases. Check back issues of your community newspaper for tidbits on local competitors. Where and how do they advertise? Are they hiring? Do their owners participate in local community associations? Even a seemingly trivial news item might provide an important clue about your competitor's strategies and plans.
If one of your competitors is a publicly held company, call their headquarters and ask for a copy of their annual report. This can provide you with important insights about new products, changes in strategies, and the company's financial standing.
Entrepreneurs with online connections may be able to uncover data through computer databases. Sign on to CompuServe, for example, and you can get credit reports, search trade publications, and access other data about competitors across the country. Many industry associations now have World Wide Web pages that often list information about their members.
Although sources like these can give you facts and figures, the most important step is to look at your competitors from the customer's point of view. The best way to do this is to go right to the source. If you can, identify your competitors' current and former customers through market research and informal contacts. Ask them about their experiences. Visit your rivals' stores or, as Rice does, place a phone order with them. Evaluate their customer service, product quality, marketing materials, and pricing to see if there are gaps your new business can fill.
Other possible sources of information include former employees, industry suppliers, local better business bureaus, and even professionals such as bankers, accountants and lawyers.
Surprisingly, your best source of information about a competitor might come from talking to the competitors themselves. Jane Reifer runs Clutter Control Organizing Services in Fullerton, California. When she started her business, she joined the local chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Through NAPO, she's been able to network with other professional organizers. "I've been pleasantly surprised about the amount of information shared through this group," Reifer says. "We work on jobs together, make referrals, and help new organizers."
Zobel also tries to keep in touch with her competitors. She's invited some of her competitors to lunch, where they exchanged ideas and information about their tax consultancies.
Your Competitive Strategy
The final step of competitive analysis is taking the data you've collected and using it to develop a strategy that puts your business ahead of the competition. For each of your main competitors, list "strengths" and "weaknesses." You should be able to list at least five things that each of your competitors does well and five things that they do poorly. Try to remain objective. Look at your rival's strengths and weaknesses from the customer's point of view. Do they excel at customer service? Is their pricing too high? Are their employees well-trained? Is their product of inferior quality?
Entrepreneurs sometimes find it easier to identify weaknesses in their competitors than to identify strengths, but it's important to make a realistic assessment of both. Your competitors' strengths can be an important bench-marking tool for you to use in planning your new business, while weaknesses can be a signal of opportunities on which you might be able to capitalize.
Next, compile a list of strengths and weaknesses for your own business. Will these attributes be enough to set your business apart in your customers' minds? Are you giving them reason enough to switch from your competitors? If you are introducing an entirely new product or service, what will entice consumers to change their buying habits? You may find it necessary to change your strategy or to target a different market based on the information you uncover about your competitors.
For example, when Zobel decided to write a book on small-business taxes, she conducted an extensive analysis of books on the market. Initially, she was discouraged because she felt the existing books adequately covered that broad topic. Examining her own strengths, however, she realized there was indeed a gap in the market: No book addressed the unique tax concerns of female entrepreneurs. She targeted that market segment, and her book, Minding Her Own Business: The Self-Employed Woman's Guide to Taxes and Recordkeeping (EastHill Press, $16.95, 800-490-4TAX) has just hit the bookstores.
Remember that competitive analysis is an ongoing process. Set aside time at least every quarter to re-evaluate your competition, especially as new competitors enter your market, or as you introduce new products and services.
Also, bear in mind that competition can have positive connotations. "When I saw products that were similar to mine, I used to be afraid they were going to take away my customers," says Rice. "Then I realized that what it really meant was that there's a market out there for my product. Competition doesn't scare me now."
10 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Answer
1. Who are my competitors?
2. What are their financial resources?
3. How do they market their products/services?
4. How many employees do they have?
5. Where are they located?
6. How do they treat their customers?
7. What are their pricing strategies?
8. What are their main strengths, and can I meet or exceed them?
9. What are their main weaknesses, and how can I do better?
10. How will they react when I start my new business?
Contact Sources
Clutter Control, (800) CLUTTER.
EastHill Press, 6114 LaFalle Ave., #599V, Oakland, CA 94611, (510) 530-5474.
International Brownie, 602 Middle St., Weymouth, WA 02189, (800) 230-1588.
Small Business Development Center, Clayton College & State University, Morrow, GA 30260, (770) 961-3440.


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International: UN Women congratulates the government and people of Tunisia
On National Women's Day, UN Women congratulates the Government and people of Tunisia on their leadership in women's empowerment and gender equality.Calls on the Tunisian people and Government to continue championing gender equality in the constitutional revision process.
United Nations, New York- 13 August 2012 - On National Women's Day, UN Women recognizes and applauds the historic role Tunisia has played in the region as a pioneer for gender equality and women's rights.
UN Women joins Tunisian women and men, civil society, and national leadership in marking the 1956 Personal Status Code, the groundbreaking law that enshrined the principle of equality of men and women and granted Tunisian women the rights that they have enjoyed since then for more than a half century.
Women played - and continue to play - a key role as leaders of change in Tunisia, from the streets to the ballot boxes to the decision-making bodies responsible for rebuilding a democratic state and inclusive political institutions accountable to all of its citizens.
UN Women is committed to supporting Tunisian women and civil society to participate meaningfully in these processes and to carry forward and advance the rights that Tunisian women have long cherished.
The passage of the unprecedented parity electoral law in April 2011 reaffirmed Tunisia's continued leadership in advocating for the equal rights of men and women and their participation at all levels of public decision making.
In tribute to these resounding achievements, UN Women turns to the Government and the people of Tunisia for their continued championing of women's empowerment and equality in the constitutional revision process and public life at large.


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Stocks fall as partial government shutdown enters 7th day
NEW YORK >> Stocks opened lower on Monday as the partial shutdown of the U.S. government entered a seventh day with no sign of an agreement.
Speaker John Boehner on Sunday ruled out a vote in the House of Representatives on a straightforward bill to increase the borrowing authority of the U.S. government without concessions from President Barack Obama.
On the same day, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said President Obama has not changed his opposition to coupling a bill to re-open the government and raise the nation's borrowing limit with Republican demands for changes in the health care law and spending cuts.
Lawmakers have until Oct. 17 to agree a deal to increase the nation's debt ceiling. Failure to strike a deal could cause the United States to miss payments on its debt. The Treasury warned last week that a default could push the economy into a downturn even worse than the Great Recession.
"Everything now is predicated on Washington," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist for Prudential. "That is what the market is focused on completely, getting a deal done to avoid a default."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 100 points, or 0.7 percent, to 14,972 in early trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped nine points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,681. The Nasdaq composite fell 16 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,791.
The losses were broad. All ten sectors in the S&P 500 dropped, led by banks and other financial companies.
Until now, the stock market has mostly moved sideways since the shutdown began at the start of the month, indicating that investors still expect lawmakers to come up with a deal. The S&P 500 is flat since the start of the month.
In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.62 percent from 2.65 percent. The yield has fallen close to its lowest in two months as investors bought Treasuries on concern that U.S. economic growth will slow as the budget impasse drags on.
In commodities trading, the price of oil dropped $1.46, or 1.4 percent, to $102.36 a barrel as crude production in the Gulf of Mexico got back on track after a storm system passed through. The price of gold rose $8.60, or 0.7 percent, to $1,318.60 an ounce.
Among stocks making big moves:
— Apple rose $7.77, or 1.6 percent, to $490 after a Jefferies analyst raised his rating and price target on the stock, saying improving margins should help the business until the launch of the iPhone 6.
— Alcoa fell 11 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $7.85 after a Stifel Nicolaus analyst lowered his price target for aluminum producer, citing a recent drop in aluminum prices. The company reports earnings on Tuesday.


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Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the End-of-Life Choices law on Monday, effective immediately. Some basics about the new law:
1. RECORDKEEPING: The Vermont Health Department must create the form that physicians must use when reporting they have prescribed lethal doses of medicine to patients. However, people with terminal illnesses are free to begin working with their physicians immediately to use the law.
2. SIX MONTHS TO LIVE: Among other requirements to qualify, patients must be suffering from a terminal illness and have less than six months to live. They must state three times, once in writing, that they wish to end their lives. There must also be a concurring opinion from a second doctor that a patient has less than six months to live and a finding that the patient is of sound mind.
3. INSURANCE COVERAGE: Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen said it's expected health insurance will cover the process.
4. THE FOURTH STATE: Vermont joins Oregon, the first state in the country to implement such a law, called in that state the Death with Dignity Act, after a public referendum; Washington state followed, and a court order in Montana made it legal there.
5. THE PROCESS OF DYING: In Oregon and Washington, patients who take advantage of the Death with Dignity law use the drug pentobarbital, a barbiturate, that is dissolved in liquid or semi-liquid, said George Eighmey, a board member of the Death with Dignity National Center in Portland, Ore. The patient doesn't eat for four or five hours before taking an anti-nausea drug and the lethal drug about an hour after that. It takes about five minutes for the patient to fall into a coma. The average length of time until death is about two hours, Eighmey said.
5 things to know about Vt.'s assisted suicide law
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the End-of-Life Choices law on Monday, effective immediately. Some basics about the new law:


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Expectant actress Mila Kunis looked lovely at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday (April 13) .
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, Model Moms / Comments: (0)
Model mom Gisele Bundchen was seen boarding a plane in Bostom, MA with her football star hubby Tom Brady and their 1-year-old daughter Vivian on Sunday (April 13).
Actor Josh Duhamel was seen taking his adorable 8-month-old son Axl to breakfast in Brentwood, Los Angeles on Sunday (April 13).
American Hustle actress Amy Adams and her fiance Daren Le Gallo were seen taking their beautiful daughter Aviana, 3, to lunch on Sunday (April 13).
Reality Television star Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick were seen taking their children Mason, 4, and Penelope, 1, to ice cream in Calabasas, California on Sunday (April 13).


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Tech Stocks...Now With Dividends
Marketwatch's Jonathan Burton reports high-tech stocks are now featuring attractive dividends, but investors need to be extra careful when jumping into investments. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... you're here to the dividend doctrine comes to your investing you may not think ... of tech stocks By MarketWatch is on paper is can a Joinus now to tell us why ... he may want to consider the old gray hairs and tack this time around Jonathan thank so much for joining me ... sure it's good to be here so you have bought a really interesting Kanoute the last return on MarketWatch today talks about ... a new income play a new trend in dividends tells about it ... well the the typical dividend the stodgy old dividends that ... isn't ... something you'd normally associate with the tech stocks their ... high growth in their start-ups and their ... image out there there ... there ... gimmicks that they follow and ... it didn't peers tend to be a little bit more ... stable and done with a more predictable ... but you know ... things are changing the zoning of the start-ups ur ur now grown up and ... a lot of ... companies like to Intel Micra soft ... and pretty solid day dividends ... Apple just to of course and introduced a dividend to the new trend is going that way Cisco systems is another ... and is these companies growing a lot of cash ... the Cheryl this are increasingly asking a kid the some of that that ... regular looking out of wells as the debt as the mother returns on these ... high tech dividend sees that Intel Apple as you mention Micra soft that HP he then ... added ... however companies are not for the faint of heart ... cracked ... know they're they're not that's a really good point annuity BHP isn't terrific example I mean ... the company has a high dividend because it's in trouble so ... the stock prices is down and this is something you really have to be careful for in in in in general when you look at dividends in the ... desert are not a cure all they've been become very popular especially ... I have people looking for extra income but ... in fact you have to look at the underlying fundamentals of the company ... and BHP is that is a great example of the of the company ... where are ... you know the ... the the dividend alone does not make it to abide really have to ... to dig in on Mean ... history might to ... him pull things out but said they're they're really on the ropes right now ... I'm you know I'll see you not really going to get rich from it Activision see there I mean I Apollon and ... its its yield is ... less than two percent ... there's an ETF out there are a first trusted Dividend ETF ... also well yields right around two percent ... I did get ... to you know it says that is it different sources of income it's a new source of income because again ... you don't really typically associate the tech stocks ... with dividends ... and I can tell us all of this of the well that about the First Trust ... Nasdaq ... every player wants ETF that reflects this trend you mention in your column ... he I think they bring it out the because you know people are hungry for for dividends and this is a good to him sources without ... an alternative way of pocketing some income ... you have no companies ... like Apple and IBM ... you know when it's it's a diversified ... portfolio the ETF stand to have a ... fairly low expense ratio ... um and it is again focused on dividend payers where is a standard say spider ... a technology ETF ... I you know have actually quite a ... big holding out books close to twenty percent of the index ... but to a business or the dividend focused ... stock that we've got to wrap this up but I wanna say thanks so much for joining me today on digits and you can read more at Donovan's article on condition that common MarketWatch dot com ...


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(Reuters) - A husband whose bride of two weeks fell to her death while BASE jumping in Zion National Park in Utah has been cited for violating a federal law that bans parachuting in national parks, an agency spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Amber Bellows, 28, plummeted 2,000 feet to her death on Saturday after her parachute failed to open properly while she and her husband were BASE jumping off of Mount Kinesava at the park in the desert canyonlands of southwestern Utah.
The man, Clayton Butler, jumped after Bellows to try to save her but was unable to reach her during his descent before she hit the ground. It took two hours for him to hike out and notify park officials, who retrieved Bellows' body on Sunday in rugged terrain at the base of the mountain.
An acronym for building, antenna, span and earth, BASE jumping is a form of skydiving where a person free-falls off a fixed surface before opening a parachute. It is illegal at the park as is any airborne activity in the absence of a special permit or an emergency, said spokeswoman Aly Baltrus.
Butler could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. If found guilty of the misdemeanor charge, he could face up to six months in jail, maximum fines of $5,000 or both, Baltrus said.
The couple was experienced at the sport, considered one of the most extreme, in which hundreds of lives have been lost. Last September, 35-year-old software engineer Walden Grindle died after colliding with a cliff while jumping off the popular Mt. Saint Helena in Northern California.
Bellows' death was the first BASE jumping fatality at Zion National Park. Utah's first national park is known for its towering sandstone cliffs and annually attracts millions of visitors for hiking, camping and rock climbing.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Alden Bentley)