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"Stop. Just stop eating sugar. Just stop now." That's what I knew God was speaking in my spirit and I didn't listen. Those of us with extreme weight issues HAVE to take extreme measures or just write our obituary, lay down and die.
I'm risking your wrath by being brutally honest. I wish someone had been as honest with me. My story is long and yes, it involved the drastic surgery intervention. However, surgery DID NOT FIX my desire to eat sugar and bread and it will not fix yours.
The only thing that can fix it is YOU and your commitment to do whatever it takes to live. I started this journey knowing everything I ate was sugar and flour, everything.
I lost weight with surgery, but after a year I found could eat sugar. Once again I was back to morbid obesity. It was then I faced the hard facts of life. I'm a sugar addict. I can't eat mitigate or moderate it. I have to give it up. And I grieved! I seriously cried like a baby. That gives you an idea of how low I had fallen that I cried more over losing sugar and flour than what I had done to myself.
I knew God showed me years ago to stop eating sugar and not eat so much bread. When God shows me something, He will give me the means to do it if I trust Him. Obviously I didn't trust Him as much as I thought I did. Did I really believe He could raise the dead to life? Because I knew I felt dead.
I tried the sugar-free lifestyle at various times, but I was not committed to it as a lifestyle change. All it would take is to just eat one cookie and I'd be back on the path to death. It's like taking one drink. And I'd say, "See God, it didn't work." I blamed the God of the universe for my failure.
What works is what He said. JUST STOP and don't start again. And when I messed up, I stopped quickly and got back on the track. I learned to listen to the voice of God. I learned not to listen to the lies inside my head. I learned to not rationalize my desire for sugar saying I need energy. I learned what I need is sustained energy from protein. Sugar depletes me. It doesn't sustain. It is the enemy's tremendous substitute. Don't fall for that trap.
I faced the fact, as you will have to, that I CANNOT EAT SUGAR AND FLOUR. I can't. You can't. We can't. When we do, we are putting poison in our bodies. We don't need sugar to live. We need meat, fruit and vegetables. We have to retrain ourselves. We have to clean our houses, our cars, our bodies of all offending foods that pull us back into addiction.
It begins with a covenant commitment between us and God. It begins with telling God we want to live and we WILL do what it takes.
If you don't have a copy of Sweet Grace, get one now. Also get Sweet Grace Study Guide. The study guide is what I will be going through in the study group I'm privileged to lead at my church starting in March.
If you're not close enough to join us for the study, gather some girls together and ask them to go through the study with you. Or. ask a friend to meet with you and go through the study with you. Reaching outside yourself is very important for accountability
I am interested in eventually offering an online weight loss coaching and study group which is why I'm facilitating a foundational group in my church. It will be the launching platform for what happens later.
This will be a course that shoots straight. I'm not sugar-coating this, ha! It will be hard work. It will be a commitment. It is not easy and it is not quick. We didn't get here overnight and our extreme issue will not be taken care of overnight.
However, intentional effort pays off. It's taken me 10 years to get to where I am at now. As of today, that is minus 264 pounds, headed to minus 280. I will continue to eat this way even after getting to my goal. It is important for my health. I'm never going back.
The key for me was surrender. I laid myself and my addiction on the altar of God. I surrendered it to Him. I gave up completely. I turned around from walking in my unhealthy lifestyle and went towards health.
If you've stayed with me this far, I've got hope for you. You can do this. You are not a victim. You are a victor.
You can no longer delay. The time is short. Take back control of your life and then surrender it to Him. Do it now.
I'm afraid for you, if you don't.
In 1999, a rude cardiac surgeon told me I needed to lose at least 100 pounds and keep it off or I would be dead in five years.
It was the best thing anyone ever said to me and yet I still wallowed around in the yo-yo dieting syndrome trying magic fixes. And when I had done everything and come to the end of myself, that's when I looked to God.
Amy Perry of Selah sings the wonderful song I Look to You. "After all that I've been through, who on earth can I turn to? I look to You. I look to You. After all my strength is gone in You I can be strong.1 I look to You. I look to You. And when melodies are gone, in You I hear a song. I look to You.
'Bout to lose my breath. There's no more fighting left. Sinking to rise no more. Searching for that open door. And every road I've taken led to my regret. I don't know if I'm gonna make it. Nothing to do but lift my head. I look to You. I look to You. After all my strength is gone in You I can be strong. I look to You. I look to You. And when melodies are gone in You I hear a song. I look to You."
He's calling to You, singing a song over you, dancing with joy when He thinks of you. He wants you to come to Him, rely on Him, trust in Him for everything. He is your comfort. He is your sustenance. He is your food. He is your drink. There is no other place you can go for help, no other place to turn. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt this is true.
Look to Him.
1 2 Corinthians 12:9
Teresa Shields Parker is a wife, mother, business owner, life group leader, speaker and author of Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God's Favor and Sweet Grace Study Guide: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Overcome Sugar Addiction. Get a free chapter of her memoir on her blog at Teresa Shields Parker.com. Connect with her there or on her Facebook page.


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Bo Bruce has emerged as the new favourite to win The Voice UK ahead of Tyler James, Leanne Mitchell and Vince Kidd following the shock exits of Jaz Ellington and Ruth Brown on Sunday's show.
The 27-year-old, mentored by Danny O'Donoghue, has performed consistently well throughout the competition, with her rendition of Coldplay's Charlie Brown impressing coaches and viewers alike on Saturday's show.
After edging out Team Danny rival Max Milner in the semi-final Bo is now the show's frontrunner, with bookmakers Ladbrokes offering odds of 6/4 that she becomes the first winner of The Voice UK.
Will.i.am's act Tyler James is second favourite with a 2/1 chance of glory, having managed to knock long-term favourite Jaz Ellington out of the competition with his rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.
The bookies have given odds of 10/3 that Jessie J's final act Vince Kidd will win the competition, while it seems nobody is backing Leanne Mitchell for victory.
Despite ousting previous favourite Ruth Brown following a faultless performance of Whitney Houston's Run To You, Tom Jones' act Leanne is rank outsider at 6/1.
Bo, Tyler, Vince and Leanne will all go head to head in the show's grand final next Saturday, with Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran set to perform on the show.
The winner will be announced on Sunday but with the Jubilee weekend in full swing bookmakers aren't confident that anyone will be around to actually watch the show.
Despite reaching highs of 10million viewers during the blind audition rounds ratings have plummeted in recent weeks, with just 4.49million watching Saturday's semi-final.
Ladbrokes are now offering odds of 8/11 that The Voice's live final will attract under 5million viewers, with odds of 20/1 that the show won't even manage an audience of 1million.
By comparison the 2011 series of The X Factor pulled in an average of 13.1million, in what was actually considered to be a poor year in terms of ratings.
PICTURES: The Voice UK's live semi-final
VIDEO: Watch Bo Bruce sing Charlie Brown during The Voice semi-final

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text: Pâte Sucrée, or sugar pastry, is rich and cookie-like, and it is the base for so many wonderful desserts. Anna begins by sharing her recipe for basic pate sucrée dough, and then she turns it into snickerdoodle cookies. She then uses the same pâte sucrée dough as the base for delicate Raspberry Frangipan Tart. To finish off the episode, Anna uses Pâte Sucrée to make elegant Individual Blackberry Meringue Tarts. This dessert was a fan-favourite back in Anna's restaurant days.


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A junk room is full of waste and items that are old, worn, secondhand and rejects. I wouldn't love to see the state of my mind after going through a storm, I have had my share of them. I think it would pretty much look like a junk room. And a common attitude we all have towards a junk room is we don't want to go in there to de-clutter. Sometimes, it gets even worse, the doors won't shut. The solution is to de-clutter.
Before starting any spiritual exercise it is good practice to get rid of the clutter lodged in the mind. You may want to write down your areas of concern, then strike through each word you have written. I have found that this helps the subconscious get the message that the chapter is now closed.
One of the challenges we face in the place of prayer is our attention span. Recently, I was reading a research document and the writer stated that in the year 2000, an average adult had an attention span of 12 seconds but in 2013 it had dropped to 8 seconds. We live in a world full of distractions, and these hinder our spiritual growth as believers and disciples of Christ. Same with negative remnants from the past, they choke the works of the spirit.
We have the power to overcome. The Lord has made every provision for us in His word. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). The Word penetrates to de-clutter from evil pronouncements, negative spoken words, regrets and lies of the enemy. De-cluttering makes room for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The spirit gives life; hopelessness is replaced with hope, instead of fear faith occupies its place and the love of God is released in abundance.
Include meditation on God's word in your spiritual exercise. Meditation is simply going through a bible verse in your mind until you can recall it in memory or until it forms a picture in your mind. The word of God is potent, it cleanses us of all unrighteousness and gives strength to our spirit man.
To experience the power of meditation on God's word, register to join our next Woman at Bethany Prayer Walk Programme.


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Well, let's look at what some experts and studies have to say on the subject.
Seventy percent is a BIG number. That's a lot of disengaged people. I know what you're thinking though: "I'm a good business owner. I have a great Team, we're like a family. My employees are plenty engaged!" Well, at the risk of raining on that parade, our consultants have interviewed team after team and NOT ONE team has been 100% engaged. Sad, but true.
Disengaged employees range in intensity. The actively disengaged employee is a powerful virus which can have a VERY large impact on a small business. Even mildly disengaged employees in a small organization can have a LARGE impact. Think about this: If your company has 20 employees and 4 are disengaged and 1 is actively disengaged, then 25% of your entire organization is likely to be exhibiting behavior which is costing you money. The more these team members control the "customer facing" component of your business, the higher the impact on your bottom line.
* 37% lower absenteeism
* 25% lower turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
* 65% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
* 28% less shrinkage
* 48% fewer safety incidents
* 41% fewer patient safety incidents
* 41% fewer quality incidents (defects)
* 10% higher customer metrics
* 21% higher productivity
* 22% higher profitability
The above list shows VERY clearly the measured positive impact of strong employee engagement. Just run those percentages, one by one, on YOUR mental profit and loss report. Disengaged employees cost money, but engaged employees are a HUGE and valuable asset.
This statistic should scare you. What it's telling us is that only 1 in 4 organizations have any engagement plan or strategy. This despite 9 of 10 organizations reporting that they know there's a relationship between engagement and success.


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The Murray Invitational is set for this Friday and it is sure to be the most exciting meet in the State for this season. Almost all of the heavy hitters will be in attendance and this race could ultimately prove who is number one in the state of Utah. So without further adieu lets breakdown the field for you.
The varsity girls race will probably be the most loaded race these athletes have ever run in as far as in State competition goes. The reason why is because at state, we won't be able to see all these teams race in the same field due to the different divisions. So this could be the only chance we have to see all of these teams compete head to head.
Sadie Sargent is the top athlete coming into this field as she has already claimed some great wins at Highland and Westlake. Mckenna Lee will also be in this field as she makes her season debut. Mckenna ran at Foot Locker Nationals her sophomore year and finished 19th in the field. She had a rough race her junior year finishing 50th in the Foot Locker west regionals race. She will look to make a come back this time around after coming off a great track season. Freshman Heidi Sumsion of Springville is also someone I would expect to be putting her name on the list along with Camille Winterton of Skyline and Mimi Miyazawa of Mountain View.
The girls race is what I am looking forward to most of all at this meet and the reason why is because this meet will feature the state's best teams who all have their sights set on a podium spot at NXR Southwest. I could spend all day explaining the depth of all these teams and why there is no one true favorite in this race, so I'll try and be brief. The team favorites for this race will feature American Fork, Davis, Lone Peak, Maple Mountain, Mountain View, and Pine View. These are probably the safest picks for the top spot, but other teams to look for are Olympus, Pleasant Grove, Skyline, Springville, and Timpanogos. Watch out for these teams because they all have the depth and experience to pull off a major upset.
The boys race won't have the same depth as the girls but the entry list is still full of talent. We won' be seeing a majority of the top individuals in the state because they are either resting up or at at a different meet. But we will still see some good names nonetheless who still have a lot to give this season.
Grant Gardner of Springville is arguably the heavy favorite in this field being the only ranked athlete at 14 in our Saucony Flo 50 rankings. Others who you should see up with him will be Justin Hartshorn of Lone Peak, Jima Rout of Olympus, Brandon Garnica also of Springville, and Brennan Benson of Timpanogos. These boys have raced each other a few times in the season but not all at once and Murray is a rough course with its multiple hills throughout the race.
Springville and Timpanogos will look to make this a two school competition. They have only seen each other once this season which was at the Pre Region 8 meet. Perhaps in a bigger field we will truly be able to tell what can separate these two talented teams. Other teams that can challenge our favorites will be Davis, Lone Peak and Pine View. Davis has always been a big name in the state of Utah and have won Murray several times in the past few years. But after losing 6 of their 7 varsity runners and their prestigious coaches Corbin Talley and Brad Anderson, there is doubt as to if this team can still compete in major races like this. I wouldn't be too worried though because if anything Davis has shown that they should never be overlooked and are always contenders for anything they want.


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Jamie Trinder's spent a fair whack of the season overseas, but now as many resorts close for summer, he's back a bit closer to home, getting the goods that Scotland still has on offer!
With Cairngorm parks offering good coverage and astonishingly clear conditions (again!) the stage was well and truly set for this 'Natural Retreat', Jamie breaking out the Will Smith jams and suitably slick moves throughout the park. Watch out for the flat box combos – on point!


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Monday, October 25, 2010
Tales of terror and woe
This one has been stricken with permanent marker by an errant and heavy-handed child. Other lampshades have holes poked in them. Some are bent.
I like lamps but my children seem to have a vendetta against them. Perhaps they are jealous? Perhaps they want to be the only Lights of My Life?
Tale #2: fruit fly genocide
Fruit flies, disgusting and gross little thangs that they are, have been swarming my kitchen. I thought there was nothing to do for them besides occasionally waving a vacuum cleaner hose over their party, but I was wrong.
Really Sweet Fruit Fly Death Trap
*Put a couple drops of dish soap in a jar.
*Glug in some cider vinegar.
*Cover the top of the jar with a piece of plastic wrap.
*Poke some holes in the plastic wrap with a sharp pencil.
*Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, gleefully watch as the bottom of the jar gets covered with dead fruit flies.
(Other partners in crime: Margo—who taught me how to become a mass slaughterer—and Lynn.)
Tale #3: I tried to poison my children and failed
My children have sticky fingers. They steal candy from my cupboards. I have tried everything: talking, heaping on mountains of old-fashioned guilt, withholding their treat at treat time, having them pay for replacement candy and then withholding it from them, etc. All this to no avail. The sticky fingers continued to reign supreme. (I have not completely eliminated candy because a couple kids are oblivious of these crimes and adore their little treats. Plus, and more to the point, I like my little treats.)
One night after opening my cupboards and finding the twist tied-shut bag of marshmallows untwist tied for the second time that week, I decided I'd had enough. Desperate times called for desperate measures. It was time to break out the poison.
I scanned my spice shelves. Cayenne powder? Too visible. Baking soda? Not intense enough. Salt? Too bland. Then my eyes lighted on the little bottle of Tabasco sauce. Yes!
I emptied the bag of marshmallows of all but four (no, I did not eat them—I ziplocked them away in a higher, secreter spot). Those four marshmallows I set on the table, cackled wickedly, and commenced to pierce the marshmallows with a knife and glug in my evil potion. To help obscure the rather tell-tale rust-colored smudge on the bottom of each marshmallow, I rolled them in powdered sugar. Then I stuck the bag back in the cupboard like it was, still untwist tied, readily available for some sticky wandering fingers.
That was several weeks ago. Since then, no marshmallows have gone missing.
I am crushed. I so wanted to catch the sweet-toothed thieves red-handed and hot-lipped, tears of remorse streaming down their faces.
Tale #4: Cell phone panic
I went to a church meeting the other evening, and on my way out the door, I stuffed Mr. Handsome's cell phone in my purse. I didn't think of it again until one of our church elders was intoning the closing prayer and the phone started brrringing.
My chair was wedged in a corner. I couldn't flee. I snatched up my purse and started digging.
Brrrrring! Brrrrring! Altoids, receipts, keys... Brrrring! Brrrrrring! ... grace to walk through the... Brrrrring! Brrrrring! Checkbook, wallet, lip gloss... Brrring! Brrrring! ... the leadership wisdom as they .... Brrrrring! Brrrring! Pens, cough drops, calendar, CELL PHONE! Brrr— Cheeks aflame, I opened it and snapped it shut ... Amen.
Tale #5: Party pooper parents
Elder son's birthday presents did not arrive in time. This means that the poor child got clothes, deodorant, and Legos.
I fail my children in so many ways but birthdays do not need to be one of them. I have control over birthdays. I like birthdays.
And yet the most basic thing, the presents, I bombed.
He soldiered on most magnificently, despite his parents' shortcomings. He knew I felt bad. He acted tough.
I knew he knew I felt bad and was acting tough for my sake. I felt worse.
This afternoon the UPS truck is scheduled to deliver me from my pile of wretchedness. It'll be nice to finally lift my head and stare at something besides my toes.
Tale #6: Fondue
This is not a story of terror and woe (unless you are lactose intolerant or have horrible memories of the 70s or once ate the whole pot of fondue and now just the mention of the word makes your insides seize up), but I wanted to tell you about it and since I was making a list, I decided that consistency would win out over logic this once. (Not that logic hasn't ever lost out before..)
In this house, fondue equals Classy Kid Meal. It involves all the elements of excitement and yum: fire, sharp poke-y things, plus weinies and cheese, all in the comfort of your home, arranged atop a red-checked tablecloth.
Many fondues call for white wine and fancy cheeses. I love them all, but not everyone in my family does, so for our family parties I stick to a simple, alcohol-free cheddar cheese sauce.
When it comes to fondue, I'm all about pleasing the masses.
We only have one fondue pot. This makes for a complicated mealtime dance, what with all the lunging and plunging. Therefore, some people get to dip out of the pot and others get little ramekins of sauce to sit on their plates. This way no one gets stabbed. (If that happened, then this would be a tale of terror and woe.)
Cheddar Cheese Fondue
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon grated onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt
dip-able munchies (see below)
Put the milk and onion in a saucepan and scald. Toss the grated cheese with the flour. Add the cheese and heat through, whisking steadily, till smooth (do not boil). Add the Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and salt, and taste to correct seasonings. Pour into a fondue pot or little ramekins and serve with dip-able munchies.
Dip-able munchies:
*cubes of bread—cut thick slabs of hearty bread into cubes, lay on a baking sheet, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes till lightly toasted, stirring every few minutes
*steamed broccoli and carrots—steam the carrots till slightly tender; add the broccoli and continue steaming till both are tender
*apple slices
*sausages, little smokies, hot dogs—heat through and chop into bite-sized pieces
*other ideas—mushrooms, boiled potatoes, shrimp, asparagus, etc.
*to accompany—olives, grapes, other acidic munchies to cut the heavy cheese
Fondue leftovers are wonderful. Chop up the veggies and meat and add them to a thinned down cheese sauce. Toast the bread cubes the rest of the way to crouton-dom, and bingo—you've created fondue soup!
P.S. I thought up the theme for this post while at a funeral. The grave diggers looked like they were straight out of Mel Gibson's Hamlet.
Updated on October 31, 2010: That fondue soup is a little tricky. Sometimes the cheese doesn't want to be thinned down and goes all stringy. So it might be best give up on the idea of thinning and simply chop up the chilled fondue into little bits before adding it to the soup.
This same time, years previous: brown sugar syrup, buttermilk pancakes, apple tart with cider-rosemary glaze, Yo-Yo's birth story
9 comments:
Of course no marshmallows have gone missing! With only four left, if the snatcher were to snitch one or more, it would be very obvious. This is my theory as a former marshmallow (or chocolate chip or smarties package) snitcher. The bottom of the bag was the best anti-motivator for snitching. As soon as that new bag was procured and opened, unnoticed snitching could resume. (I always made sure to re-twist-tie the bags too. I tried to be a sneaky snitcher.)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 25, 2010 at 9:47 AM
Katie...those were my thoughts exactly! You need to have an entire bag for just one to go unnoiticed (written by a former chocolate chip stealer).ReplyDelete
Also, picturing you cutting into the marshmallow and inserting the tabasco sauce made me think of the Roald Dahl book "Danny, Champion on the World" where the father and son carefully cut open hundreds of raisins and put a small sleeping pill in each one and then sewed them back up. It was hillarious!
What a cool idea! I'll try the fondue. And, it does me good to hear there is a mother as draconian as I am - Tabasco-laced marshmallows, indeed!ReplyDelete
haaaaa - I love the marshmallows! I have caught my 2 year old with a chair, trying to get up to the top of the pantry where I keep the treats. Good to have some tricks up my sleeve. (I thought I would be able to hide things well enough when the time came)ReplyDelete
Aren't you going to tell us about that cool birthday cake? I just baked a chocolate pumpkin cheesecake for my birthday girl today at her request - but your cake looks marvelous for a child.
I think you should buy those cool Edison-looking bulbs and ditch the lampshades.
what kind of cake is that?!ReplyDelete
#2 is a great idea and one that I will use in the future...we often have that same problem in September when the house starts to fill up with produce. Also, I might have to try your marshmallow treatment on the grandson...he is always trying to help himself to things he is not supposed to have...I have a particularly hot Mexican chili powder in mind.:)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 25, 2010 at 9:07 PM
Ah fondue, proof positive that the spirit of the 1970s just will not die. For my mother, the thought of gloopy gloppy hot cheese dripping all over the green shag carpeting certainly served to work her woe, yet, the fondue pot came out at almost every family get-together.ReplyDelete
Katie and Shannon, So far my kids' snitching hasn't been hindered by an almost empty bag. Or so I thought. Maybe there IS a method to their madness? Maybe they're smarter than I give them credit for?ReplyDelete
Re the cake: It's an ice cream cake (recipe: http://bit.ly/bPwwa5)---the same one that Nickel had for his birthday, though Yo-Yo had marshmallows added to his---a good addition, I thought.
However, I do NOT recommend serving ice cream cake after cheese fondue. It leads to some serious dairy overload.
Good haul in the fruit fly trap!ReplyDelete


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In a world where horror franchise monsters are real, twins Jason and Jennifer barely survived a demonic childhood possession that claimed their mother's life and fractured their bond. Ten years later, when a new evil force awakens, the siblings join forces with other teen survivors to combat the literal and metaphorical monsters that haunt them.
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Phone. Camera. Action. All you need is your Smartphone and a Wi-Fi network.
Mount the cameras securely with screws, wall plugs and the magnetic stand.
- No power cables: it's rechargeable battery-operated
- No network cables: wireless connection to Wi-Fi router
- No video cables: footage is stored using internal memory and on the cloud
Drill it, stick it, mount it or let it stand. It's up to you
Can't drill? We've got you covered. Just use the 3M Command strips supplied in each pack to securely mount the camera in your home, apartment or rental property. Or place the camera on a flat surface and it will stand on its own feet.
Use them outdoors or indoors, they're weatherproof
With weatherproof IP65 rating, the cameras are built to withstand almost all weather conditions. You'll always be protected day in, day out, rain or shine.
View remotely via your Smartphone, live or playback
Get smart with live view and playback directly from your phone from wherever you are in the world with the 'SAFE by Swann' app. Have a peek at home to check everything is okay. You can even listen in to your baby, kids, loved ones and pets with the built-in microphone.
1080p Full HD, day or night with powerful night vision, 120deg angle
See everything in incredible detail with Full HD 1080p resolution and super wide 120 degree viewing angle. Capture facial features, license plates and clothing patterns. When the night falls, the camera automatically switches to night vision with the powerful infrared LEDs that let you see in the dark up to 32ft (10m).
Rechargeable internal battery
With a 6000mAh high capacity battery, you'll only need to recharge a small number of times per year. The app alerts you when the battery charge is running low and Swann's True Detect technology helps preserve battery life thanks to its efficient heat-detection. Easily recharge for 4-6 hours with the USB cable we've included and it conveniently plugs into your Smartphone's USB wall plug.
True Detect heat-sensing motion detection
The camera has a True Detect PIR heat sensor, the same technology used in alarm systems. True Detect is a step up from traditional motion detection as the PIR detects heat-generating objects, like people, large animals or cars, then triggers video recording and reliable push notifications. True Detect means no more false triggers from falling leaves, small birds or plants moving in the wind. It also boosts battery life by only recording relevant events.
Customize the heat-sensing range to your needs
The Smart Security Camera has customizable settings. If you need to install your camera in areas that have lots of people you can adjust the True Detect PIR heat detection to a shorter distance, so that it will only trigger recording and push notifications when someone steps into a closer location, such as a porch or entrance, rather than capturing the general activity in the background, such as on a sidewalk or street. It's another way of ensuring you have worry-free security and preserving battery life.
Built-in microphone for audio monitoring
The microphone allows you to hear and record people talking and other audible noises. When you receive a push notification, use your phone to hear it live or during playback. Audio is a helpful, additional layer of security should you need to distinguish someone's voice, gender, accent or off-camera noises.
This Product is offered and supplied by Dick Smith pursuant to the Terms and Conditions.
Related CategoriesCamera AccessoriesSecurity CamerasWeb CamsDronesHome SecurityMemory CardsDrone AccessoriesAction CamerasTripods & MountsRing Lights


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What is a structured settlement?
A structured settlement is a financial agreement utilized in the resolution of a dispute where the plaintiff receives fixed and determinable future payments in lieu of a lump sum now. It can be used for the full amount or a partial amount of the plaintiff's recovery. The payments can be made in regular installments, such as monthly or annual payments, or in lump sums, or in any pattern that meets the needs of the plaintiff. The payments can begin immediately or be deferred to a later date. The defendant transfers the responsibility for making the future payments to a qualified assignment company, an entity specially designed to take on this responsibility. The assignment company typically purchases an annuity from an affiliated insurance company and the insurance company has the financial strength to assure all payments are made when due. This arrangement provides security to the plaintiff, eliminating the investment risk inherent with the plaintiff trying to manage the alternative lump sum.
What are the benefits of a structured settlement?
- All future payments are Income Tax free
- Payments customized to meet individual needs
- Well-suited for strategies to preserve government benefits such as SSI, Medicare and Medicaid
- Relief from the stress of investment management with protection from bad investments and volatile market conditions
- Payments can be chosen "for life", eliminating the financial concerns of living longer than average
- For payees with a reduced life expectancy, medical underwriting could increase payment amounts of lifetime payments
- Ability to designate a beneficiary to receive remaining guaranteed payments
- No investment fees or ongoing management costs
- Option to receive annually increasing payments
- Less temptation to over spend than with a lump sum
- Future annuity payments exempt from claims of creditors in most states, unlike a lump sum
How does the process work?
As part of settlement negotiations in personal injury cases, either the plaintiff or the defendant may propose a structured settlement involving the payment of agreed sums over specified time periods. Both parties must ultimately agree to all terms and conditions to consummate a structured settlement. Independent Assignment Company would accept the obligation of future payments in exchange for valuable consideration. Independent Assignment Company would purchase a custom annuity from Independent Life Insurance Company to satisfy the obligation. Independent Life Insurance Company would make the payments directly to the plaintiff as directed by Independent Assignment Company. The companies are using the Qualified Assignment methodology pursuant to IRC section 130 outlined below:
What are the attorney fee structures?
Structuring future payments from a settlement is not just limited to the plaintiff; the attorney can also exercise this option to spread the receipt of fees over many years. The power of tax deferral allows the attorney to reduce their current tax burden and shift it to future years when tax rates may be lower.
For example, a 50-year old attorney earning a fee of $500,000 now (thus exposing themselves to the highest tax bracket), can instead defer the $500,000 to age 65 for a monthly payout of $4,500 for life, guaranteed for 15 years. By doing this, the attorney pays no tax in the current year or any subsequent year until the payments begin at age 65. Thereafter, the attorney would have $54,000 annually of taxable income. Depending on other income sources, the attorney will save tens of thousands of dollars in taxes, while also growing the initial premium invested.
Other notables about attorney fee structures:
- The plaintiff is not required to do a structure themselves
- The underlying claim must be for either workers' compensation or for damages on account of personal physical injury or physical sickness
- Attorney has the option to make the annuity payee the law firm
- Attorney can create a joint-life annuity with their spouse so that the payments never end as long one spouse is alive
- The landmark case that allows attorneys to defer their tax obligation on fees is Childs v. Commissioner, 103 T.C. 634 (1994)
What are Medicare Set-Asides?
When a Medicare recipient has been injured and receives funds to resolve their claim, Medicare requires that funds be set-aside to pay for future medical expenses associated with the injuries sustained in the accident. It is Medicare's position that Medicare should be a secondary payer for these expenses. If funds are not set-aside, the plaintiff risks losing their Medicare eligibility. To determine what needs to be set-aside, an allocation report is created by a professional well versed in Medicare compliance. The result of the allocation report informs the plaintiff and their representatives what the total amount to be set-aside is, taking into account the plaintiff's life expectancy. The plaintiff can either set-aside the full amount in an interest-bearing checking account, or they can utilize a structured settlement to make an annual payment into the Medicare Set-Aside account. By using a structured settlement, a significant cost-savings can be realized as the interest rate of the annuity allows for less money to be used from the outset to achieve the same result.
John Doe
Age: 41
Remaining Life Expectancy for an uninjured, similar person: 40 years
Reduced Life Expectancy Based Upon Injuries: 32 years
Total Medicare Set-Aside: $203,666
Total Seed Money: $12,729.12
Annual Payment for 31 years: $6,159.25
Option #1: Deposit $203,666 into an interest-bearing checking account and spend it down until nothing remains. If the injured person dies and there is money left over it can be distributed via the injured person's estate.
Option #2: Use a structured settlement to reduce the cost from $203,666 to:
- $121,763 = 31 Year Temporary Life annuity plan
- $134,663 = 31 Year Guaranteed annuity plan
- $146,406 = Life with 20 Years Guaranteed annuity plan
Remaining guaranteed payments after the injured person's death would go to a named beneficiary.
How does the rated age process work?
When Independent Life receives a request for a rated age, our underwriter reviews the file and provides a rated age.
Should the case be deemed a candidate for a more in-depth evaluation, Independent Life may, at substantial expense, have Fasano Associates, a leading underwriting firm in the life, annuity, and life settlement markets, evaluate the risk with their multi-physician process led by Medical Director Dr. David Vaughan, producing a comprehensive evaluation of the injury victim's life expectancy.
If Independent Life thinks using this more comprehensive process would be productive AND the broker concurs then Independent Life may choose to access this process. Before Independent Life does so however the plaintiff's attorney must verify the following and send a letter to Independent Life so stating that:
- The plaintiff's attorney has concluded Independent is a suitable option for the plaintiff,
- The plaintiff's attorney will present Independent as a suitable option to the plaintiff,
- The party issuing the settlement check has approved the use of Independent for a structured settlement.
- The parties can wait to make a decision until the process is complete (expect it to take two weeks)
Fasano Associates has tuned their methods to the realities of each market they serve and have recently reported Actual to Expected ratios of 98% for structured settlements, far superior to other third-party underwriters. This extensive process could take up to two weeks, so it may not be a suitable option for each case.
How do I get a quote?
Independent will bring the structured settlement quoting process into the modern era with our innovative platform of technology. We will provide structured settlement professionals with a desktop quoting application, Independent Quote Systems (IQS), that feels simple and efficient to use. IQS is currently in a Beta version and our technology team will push out regular updates to improve performance. We want to create as many ways and channels as possible for Independent to be quoted:
- "Snap-A-Quote" – Brokers can send us a "Snap" of a quote via SnapChat and we will "Snap" you back through the app
- "Text-A-Quote" – Text one of our representatives a picture of a quote and we will text you back with an Independent quote
- Web-based Quoting – Quote through our website with any browser, from any computer (Coming later this year)
- Mobile App – Quote on your phone and email to your client (Coming later this year)
Our goal is simple: provide brokers and settlement participants with the quotes they need, where and when they need them, in the way they want to receive them.
Independent recognizes that cases are won and lost in the trenches and that daily rates help resolve claims faster and lead to more "wins". Independent strives to have pricing requests approved in less than one hour from the submission time. We will also offer extended response times so that our West Coast professionals do not have to wait until the next business day when they need help immediately. If needed, our team is prepared to offer quotes on the weekends to help get the structured settlement placed. If you have a case you would like to discuss or have a question, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-793-0848 or email us at email@example.com.


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Council elections are held every four years and all councillors, mayors and deputy mayors are elected for four-year terms.
Elections are usually held in October of each election year. The next local government elections are due in October 2022.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission is responsible for the supervision of local government elections. The Electoral Commission appoints returning officers to run the election.
Information regarding Becoming a Candidate
2018 Council Elections
Council is made up of 9 councillors, including 1 mayor and 1 deputy mayor.
The outcomes of the 2018 elections which concluded 30 October can be found on the Tasmanian Electoral Commission website.
The 2018 council candidate questions and answers can be found on our website here.
Download the Candidate Information and Enquiries Protocol
Voting system
Council elections are conducted by postal ballot.
All elections for councillor positions are required to be conducted by using a multi-member proportional representation electoral system. This is directly modelled on the Hare-Clarke system used for Tasmanian House of Assembly elections.
A feature of the Hare-Clarke electoral system is that vacant seats are filled by recount rather than by elections.
Under the postal ballot system there is a polling period of at least fifteen days (excluding any Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday), rather than a single polling day.
If you are currently on the State Electoral Roll for State and Federal Elections for your address in the Huon Valley Municipal Area you are automatically on the Local Government Roll.
To check your enrolment on the Electoral Roll please visit the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website at www.aec.gov.au and click on the "Check Enrolment" button. An enrolment form can also be obtained from that website or by calling the AEC on 132 326 or from any post office.
You are also eligible to enrol on the "General Manager's Roll" if you:
- Own land within the municipal area, but you do not live in the area and are registered on the State Electoral Roll at the address outside of the area, or
- Occupy land within the municipal area, but are not eligible to be on the State roll for the area –
Enrolment Form (General Manager's Roll – Individual) or
- Are the nominated representative of a corporate body that owns or occupies land in the Huon Valley – Enrolment Form (General Manager's Roll – Corporate)


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The {C} Family {Utah County Photographer}
Becky is a dear friend from high school. She drove me to school every day my freshman and sophomore years, and I have lots of good memories from those drives to school (particularly relating to music!). She and her darling family were out in Utah to visit and she asked if I'd do family pictures for them, and of course I said yes! We headed up to the beautiful Vivian Park, and here are the results!
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In January, 2011 I began the task of reading through some of the commentaries I have on Paul's Epistle to The Romans. The general plan was to read a section at a time in all of the commentaries and be completed with the task in 2011. Well, it's now February, 2012 and I'm just finishing up through chapter 8 (of the 16 chapters). So I'm hoping to now complete this by the end of 2012. I'm not discouraged with my progress, since I have been reading other things (see some previous posts I made at this blog) and Jen and I have also begun teaching Sunday School for the 7th grade class. It's been good to steadily plug along through the commentaries.
As Martin Luther once said, "We find in [Romans], then, the richest
possible teaching about what a Christian should know."
In this first post, I would like to introduce you to the commentaries I've been reading. Then the following posts I will make will be of quotes I kept track of (and posted to Facebook along the way) during my reading with a post by each author. I plan on having 6 subsequent posts of these quotes by posting 3 from the first half of Romans and 3 from the second half.
The first is a standalone volume by WH Griffith Thomas. This is a gem of a commentary from the mid-20th Century. It is labeled as a "devotional commentary" and it is great to read. I picked up a 1956 edition many years ago and have really enjoyed reading it. I had never heard of Thomas, but basically he was an Anglican Dispensationalist who was also one of the founders of Dallas Theological Seminary. There is not a lot of emphasis on linguistics in this commentary. While it is easy to read and Thomas does have a lot of devotional/application material, it also does provide good depth into Romans.
The second is part of the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series by FF Bruce. This is truly a wonderful volume. Bruce may perhaps be my favorite author. He was a professor at University of Manchester and was aligned with the Plymouth Brethren denomination. I have read a lot of books that he has written, and this commentary on Romans is really good. It's laid out a little differently than many other commentaries I've read in that Bruce will often provide his own translation/paraphrase of a section of the scripture followed by a walk-through that may include some information about the Greek as well as references to other ancient writings (such as Dead Sea Scrolls, etc...) and then he will follow it with short comments on individual verses.
The third is from the Crossway Classic Commentaries series by Charles Hodge. Hodge, the great Presbyterian Princeton Preacher. This is by far the most technical commentary I'm reading out of the three. There really is a lot of information that Hodge provides. In some cases, such as with Romans 3:20 and the topic of our justification, he will spend 6 or more pages on a theme from that single verse.
Here are links to all the posts in the series:
Part 2: WH Griffith Thomas on Chapters 1-8
Part 3: FF Bruce on Chapters 1-8
Part 4: Charles Hodge on Chapters 1-8
Part 5: WH Griffith Thomas on Chapters 9-12
Part 6: Charles Hodge on Chapters 9-12


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Posted on:2nd March 2016
Author:f5.6 Photography
Toronto – January to February 2016
This is second instalment of images taken on the streets of Toronto with my Olympus PEN F.
Easy Restaurant, great little diner on Queen & King. I've been stuffing my face here since 2006, steak and eggs with home fries, french toast and freshly squeezed OJ! By the way, the shopping trolly belongs to No Frills which is a few blocks East.
These three phone booths caught my eye. With the customised Bell logos one might even call these unique. Oh well, if they won't remove them at least the community keeps them looking… nice.
Graffiti on a faded bridge running over Queen Street West.
If I didn't have to be at an appointment with a gallery I would definitely explored this space. It would of been interesting to see what it would like on the inside looking out.
A runner jogging past the home of The Legions on Lakeshore Blvd.


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Jurgen Klopp has given a lengthy interview on Divock Origi, Liverpool's talented Belgian striker who currently can't get into the side…
When our manager arrived a year back, Origi actually started Klopp's first game due to the club's injury crisis, but only forged his way into his plans properly towards the end of the campaign – putting in noticeably superb performances against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League.
Origi finished the season with ten goals and many expected him to have a bigger role to play early on in 2016/17.
Klopp's 'F***ing Hell' moment on Clyne/Coutinho rumours brilliant
However, with nine Premier League games gone, Origi has yet to start one and has been restricted to EFL Cup football in the main.
Klopp is not concerned and says that time on the bench is simply part of the game, but does recognised he may need to have a conversation with the 21-year-old if it continues.
"For Divock, it's quite simple," Klopp told the official website. "Last October when I came here, he was far away from the first team.
"Around January/February time, he showed all of us what kind of a striker he is. After his injury he needed a bit of time, no rhythm. That's how it is for a young striker sometimes.
"Now it's October again and he's in a completely different shape. I told him before the [Tottenham] game and you could see it in the game before he cramped up. He's in a good way.
"He's still a young boy but he needs to learn. That's his situation but everything is good. We're really happy that he's here and that he's back and in shape.
He continued: "At a smaller club you play all the time. At a bigger club you need to use game time.
"That's how it is. You sign an agreement. This is a big club. We want to be a big team. For this you need to take what you get and make the best of it. That's how it works, not only for Divock but for all the players.
"I'd say I am close to Divock. We have good talks. Will he get impatient? Maybe. What can I do? It can happen and I have to deal with it.
"That's why they have this thing between their nose and their chin – we can really talk about it. Life as a football player isn't always pure sunshine.
"There is a lot of work to do and sometimes you have to wait a bit longer. When you look back on your career at 35, you want to have been the best player you could have been. For this, you need to use each session and Divock is in a good way."
Origi is a monstrous talent, but Klopp's decision to play Roberto Firmino centrally with Coutinho and Sadio Mane either side is obviously justified by our current league position.
However, it's unlikely that the current starting trio will stay fit for the entire campaign, so when Origi's chance does come, he'll have to take it with both hands.


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It doesn't matter if you left work early, got a new haircut, or currently enjoying your favorite meal: No matter how good your day was, this kid had a better day than you.
For this little boy, a day in the pool was taken to the next level when he was joined by a gaggle of fine-feathered swim companions. The ducklings are absolutely adorable, but not quite as much as the little boy himself. The way he giggles when the ducks hop to and fro all over his body will definitely make you smile. Why can't all pool dates be like this?
These lucky English ducks just got their own walkway.


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Ski equipment – Are your boots heaven or hell?
It has been a wonderful ski ski season, with tremendous amounts of snow here in Chatel and the Portes du Soleil. We assume that across the whole of Europe, each resort has experienced the same.
Therefore, the last minute rush to ensure people got their ski fix in, has seen all resorts flourish for business.
As a […]


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BalloFlex, an innovative chair exercise program aimed at people of all ages and skill levels, announces upcoming training workshops in San Antonio and Tampa for men and women interested in becoming certified instructors.
BalloFlex Fitness, the leader in advanced chair fitness programs, is excited to announce two upcoming training events geared toward helping physical therapists, exercise physiologists, assisted living staff and other healthcare and social service personnel become BalloFlex Certified Instructors so they can bring better physical and emotional health and wellness to their patients and clients.
The events will be held in San Antonio, Tex., on September 12th and Tampa, Fla., on October 18th.
Founded by dance instructor and competitive athlete Julie Buckeye, BalloFlex Fitness is a seated chair fitness program that helps men and women of all ages and all fitness levels achieve better health and wellness through a unique workout program designed to incorporate music to engage and motivate. BalloFlex was specifically designed to be easily accessible for men and women with disabilities as well as seniors whose physical status interferes with traditional exercise programs.
"When I looked at available exercise programs for people with disabilities or inactive in senior facilities, I was shocked at how difficult they can be for someone with limited mobility," Buckeye said. "That's why BalloFlex Fitness was created using seated exercises set to music which stimulates memories and energy."
Unlike many fitness programs that require a fairly high degree of physical ability, strength and flexibility, BalloFlex is ideal for people with significant motor impairments as well as those with substantial weight issues who find other exercise programs uncomfortable, discouraging and even demoralizing. The BalloFlex Fitness system was designed to be fun and easy to understand, making it the perfect choice for seniors, children and people recovering from stroke, heart attack or personal injuries.
Multiple studies have shown the benefits of regular exercise, both from a physical and an emotional standpoint. The BalloFlex system helps improve muscle tone and range of motion, as well as boosting confidence and self-esteem, and its innovative use of music helps stimulate happy thoughts for an enjoyable workout that's as fun as it is effective. BalloFlex exercise routines are designed to target the muscles in the body's core, including the upper body, lower body and abdominal muscles for overall improvement of tone, strength and flexibility.
In addition to instructor-led programs, BalloFlex Fitness also offers a series of DVDs that enable participants to enjoy a workout on their own or in between professional training sessions.
To learn more about BalloFlex or to register for an upcoming BalloFlex instructor training workshop, visit the BalloFlex Fitness website at http://BalloFlex.com or use the online contact form to request more information.
Media Contact
Company Name: BalloFlex Fitness
Contact Person: Julie Buckeye
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 866-442-0332
Country: United States
Website: http://balloflex.com


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Show Me the Money
Forgive an immodest assertion: The citizens of San Bernardino County, California, where I began my career as a reporter, would've benefited by paying me $100,000 a year to keep covering my beat.
Does that sound far fetched? The market valued my job at less than a third of that sum. Nevertheless, I can now prove that I'd have been worth 6 figures. I'll make that case hoping to dramatize the kind of market failure that occurs when a profession's services are significantly undervalued. By the time I've finished, I hope you'll agree that a rational citizenry would desire its local beat reporters be paid far higher salaries than is now the case.
The story begins with a guy named Rex Gutierrez. He's a politician. Though elected to the Rancho Cucamonga City Council in 1992 and 1996, he resigned his seat in 1998, due to a controversy surrounding a small community newsletter that he owned. Critics charged that he used his position as City Councilman to intimidate local businesses into advertising in his publication. He denied any impropriety but resigned his seat, bowing to the city attorney's finding that his publication represented a conflict of interest.
When I became Rancho Cucamonga's beat reporter in 2002, Rex Gutierrez was eying his old City Council seat. I covered his campaign, interviewed him shortly after his re-election, and spoke to him for several hours every week. This is a guy who loved to talk. I'd pick his brain about whatever municipal matter I happened to be writing about. He'd dish dirt on political rivals, tell fibs contrived to reflect well on his character, and lie whenever he thought he could get away with it. One night, a Rancho Cucamonga resident was driving past an empty lot where City Council candidates planted campaign signs in the dirt. To his surprise, the resident saw a guy driving a pickup truck through a large sign belonging to Councilwoman Grace Curatalo.
Though the truck attempted to flee, the resident got a license plate number. When I first asked Rex if he knew anything about the incident, he feigned ignorance. He changed his story when I informed him that the license plate was traced back to a rental agency, where he had signed for it. The whole thing was an accident, he insisted, offering an elaborate scenario explaining the improbable situation. Shortly thereafter, he left an apology message on the answering machine of Councilwoman Grace Curatalo. It flatly contradicted both his prior stories. Shameless and indefatigable, Rex would never admit that he lied. He may even have believed himself.
Despite some tense interviews, my relationship with Rex didn't sour until I caught him violating California's open meetings law. My reporting prompted a recall effort, one that ultimately failed. I always kept a close eye on Rex after that. I just had a feeling he was crooked, and I'd pore over his campaign finance statements, figuring out who his biggest backers were. By the time I quit my job in 2004, I'd figured out that a local developer, Jeffrey Burum, was a major Gutierrez backer. This knowledge was easily forgotten as I moved to Paris for a month, traveled across Europe, and settled in Seville, Spain. The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin got themselves a new Rancho Cucamonga reporter named Molly. I wrote her a helpful e-mail offering advice if she ever needed it, and she lasted awhile, moved to another newspaper, and got replaced. So I wrote another e-mail to Wendy, her replacement, offering my information if she ever found it useful to contact me. We've been in touch once or twice in the last couple years. She sent me a quick note earlier today, asking if I had any thoughts about what just happened to Rex.
Here's the short version — the San Bernardino County Assessor, a meth-addict who also faces charges of political malfeasance, resigned in disgrace recently. His transgressions included using County staff positions to fund an illegal political operation. "Although it is very difficult to quantify with precision how much money these employees cost the taxpayers of San Bernardino County," an investigator's report states, "the number clearly is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Hundreds of thousands of dollars squandered, at minimum! Can you guess any of the names of the objectionable employees? Rex Gutierrez got one of the positions by prevailing upon Jeff Burum, the politically influential developer, for a favor. What did he do to earn his $71,448 per year in taxpayer money? Colleagues say he spent 15 to 20 hours per week in the office at most. "Ms. Hill said she never saw Mr. Gutierrez perform one task necessary to the mission of the Assessor's Office," the report states, recounting an interview with a representative colleague. "She added that in 2007 less than 10% of his time was spent on Assessor-related activities; in 2008 she said it was more like 0% of his time."
Rex!! Oh man, I'd have broken that story two years ago if I were still on my old beat! That isn't a knock against the current reporter. She doesn't cover County government. She wasn't around when Rex ran over the sign, or when he broke California meeting laws, so she wasn't in contact with all of his political enemies, folks that would've bitched to me off the record about his cushy job had I been there when he got it. I am not speculating here. I contacted a couple old sources today. They knew about this a long time ago, aren't in the habit of going out of their way to tip off reporters, didn't realize this kind of political patronage was actionable, and let the whole thing go unremarked upon.
"So if I were still calling you every couple of weeks, you would have mentioned it when Rex got hired?" I asked.
"Why didn't you just call the newspaper anyway?"
"You mean just call the main number?" one of my old sources said. "It never occurred to me."
The other said, "I don't know anyone there anymore, how can I be sure who to trust?"
These days, I'm sure the Rancho reporter breaks great stories through valuable sources of her own—and one day, she'll leave too, and those sources will also be lost to the newspaper, and thus to their fellow citizenry.
When I started at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, I made far less than $40,000 a year, worked long hours, took my job very seriously, and excelled at it. Neither my ambition nor my financial expectations would've permitted me to stay there at the wages they paid for very long, and I heard the same story from the most talented colleague I knew, another guy who would've almost surely broken this County corruption story sooner had he stayed for several more years, with all the attendant extra sources and reporting experience. So much of the most promising talent at newspapers that size move on after a year or three. And when turnover is that high, institutional memory is short. Every new reporter starts from scratch, spends a year just getting up to speed, finally finds himself with great sources and a reservoir of trust after 15 months… and then it's time for a job at a more prestigious newspaper, or a higher paying job at a PR firm to save for a first house, or a stint in graduate school to facilitate a jump to a big city daily.
Perhaps part of the problem is that reporters like me are acculturated to advance our careers by moving from city to city, abandoning local concerns and investment in one community. Daniel Larison and Rod Dreher are correct to point out that our lifestyle choices have negative impacts on localities (whether mobile youth is a good or bad thing overall I have no idea). But all that is beside the point.
Our culture being what it is, medium-sized communities must pay a higher wage to reporters if it hopes to attract and retain good ones—and I think it ought to want those reporters, because their lack is ultimately more costly than their salaries. That doesn't mean the government should subsidize journalism. But it does mean that citizens should support their local broadsheets, or hit the tip jars of civic minded bloggers, or create non-profits dedicated to local reporting, or something other than ceding government to an endless parade of men like Rex Gutierrez— the kind of opportunists who will try ever harder to game the system as fewer and fewer resources are invested to catch them. As it stands, too many of our most talented thinkers and investigators are doing discovery at corporate law firms. Want better reporters? Stop relying on journalism romantics to toil for the love of a craft many aren't that good at, and work to allign reporter pay—whether at newspapers or some alternative—to the added value the better hires would provide.


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1. Re: FCC Certification - Continuous Transmit While Freq. HoppingShawnA_01 Jun 30, 2016 10:23 AM (in response to dasmc_2125571)
Engineering states we didn't have to test with hopping enabled on continuous TX for FCC certifications. There is no provision to support the feature either.
You could pair to another device but place high attenuation on the non-DUT to minimize its emissions during the test.
2. Re: FCC Certification - Continuous Transmit While Freq. Hoppingdasmc_2125571 Jun 30, 2016 11:36 AM (in response to ShawnA_01)
If this is the case, then it is possible/likely that I've misunderstood the testing company's requirements document. I'll go back to them for further clarification on this issue and post and update to this thread once I have more information from them.
Thank you for your response.
3. Re: FCC Certification - Continuous Transmit While Freq. Hoppingdasmc_2125571 Jul 5, 2016 1:02 PM (in response to ShawnA_01)
I've communicated this back to our compliance testing house. As I suspected after reading your reply (ShawnA_01), I misinterpreted one of their requests. On followup, they clarified that there IS NOT a requirement to transmit continuously while frequency hopping for FCC testing of BLE products.
Thanks for helping me sort this out.


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Saffire Freycinet's Oyster Tastings
There are some hotels that immerse guests in local culinary traditions. And others that actually immerse them. Overlooking a national park on Tasmania's eastern coast, Saffire Freycinet (all-inclusive; $$$$$) offers visits to a nearby marine farm, where a guide suits you up in waders, leads you to a waiting table in a cool, pristine bay, and pulls a handful of Pacific oysters from the water. He swiftly pries the bivalves open and serves them right there with just a squeeze of lemon and a glass of sparkling Tasmanian wine. Silence, stillness, and a dozen creamy oysters from some of the purest water in the world. What better way to get a taste of Tassie?


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Let's pretend that you have three doughnuts in front of you for our discussion on upsizing wheels and tires. Hey, don't eat them yet – you're going to need those later.
Many people want to accessorize their car and make their personality shine through their vehicle. One of the easiest ways to do that is to get some new wheels. There are thousands of wheel designs out there to get that look you want. And for many, that includes bigger wheels. It used to be that cars came from the factory with 15 or 16-inch wheels. Now 16, 17 and even 18 inches are coming standard. Factories are also offering optional wheel packages—20 inches or more!
So let's talk about what to consider when you want to upsize your wheels. It's not exactly a "DIY" project, so you need to know a thing or two before you get started. The most important term to be familiar with is rolling diameter. The rolling diameter is simply the overall height of your tire. Unless you want to modify your suspension (and create an even more extensive project!) you'll want to keep your rolling diameter the same when you upsize your wheels.
Alright, back to those three golden doughnuts in front of you. They are all just about the same size. So if we pretend that they are tires, they would have the same rolling diameter. The doughnut hole is the size of the wheel. Now, pretend we've made the hole bigger on some. That's like having a bigger set of rims, but the rolling diameter is the same!
The most important reasons to keep the rolling diameter the same are as follows: First, if the tire is bigger it might not fit into the wheel well. Next the speedometer, odometer and anti-lock brake system are all calibrated for the factory rolling diameter. In order for your anti-lock brakes to work properly, the rolling diameter must stay within 3% of the factory recommendation. If you ignore that, you run the risk that your anti-lock brakes won't work!
Some cars today have electronically controlled suspension that will be negatively affected by changing the rolling diameter.
Let's think about those doughnuts again. You see, as the size of the wheel gets bigger the sidewall gets shorter. The tire holds less air, so the sidewalls are made stiffer to compensate. Low profile tires from top manufacturers use special compounds that give the sidewall the strength it needs without compromising ride quality. As you increase your wheel size, you'll typically get a slightly wider tire. This means that you have a larger contact patch. The contact patch, for reference, is the part of the tire that touches the road. Because you are putting more rubber on the road, the vehicle will handle better and braking distances will be shorter. A lot of people with trucks and SUV's love the extra control.
You have to make sure the contact patch isn't so big that the tires rub in turns or over bumps. What we're talking about here is fitment. A tire professional can help you get it right. If you have any questions or need help getting these upgrades done, call your local NAPA AutoCare service advisor. They would be happy to help!
Anyone else craving doughnuts now..?
February 5th, 2015
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The wooden Caroline Companion Seat is comfortable for two people, with room for a parasol in those hotter days. A charming double seat joined together with a tiered table for your drinks, a light bite to eat or a place for your latest read. Spending time with someone in these beautiful chairs will be a relaxing experience for both of you.
A comfortable seat with room for a parasol for those hot days relaxing in the garden. Made from pressure treated timber with a 10-year guarantee against rot.
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Along with a strengthening sun climbing higher in the sky each day, there's often an unmistakable melancholy in the air at a ski resort in the early spring, with the season winding down and the melting snow exposing grass, mud or weeds on the trails.
That melancholy is particularly noticeable midweek, when base lodges and villages, shops and restaurants are eerily deserted or closed, and it's not unusual for just a few hundred (or fewer) skiers and snowboarders to be riding the chairlifts, even at a destination as popular as Stratton Mountain.
Last April 1, a Monday, melancholy bordered on misery at the southern Vermont resort. But not on account of the snow, which was more than four feet deep — February deep — and covered the trails from edge to edge, with not a blade of grass, a patch of mud or a single weed visible. A strong wind drove the intermittent rain horizontally, stinging exposed skin, and after a few preceding days of 50-degree temperatures, the trails were soft, slushy and ungroomed — hard work and not much fun for most skiers, me included.
But with temperatures dropping Tuesday, the sun appearing periodically through fast-scudding clouds, and the snow firmed up and groomed, misery left the house, and even the late-season melancholy lifted a bit.
And Wednesday, April 3? As spectacular a finale to my long ski season as I might have scripted anywhere: a wintry-feeling day with temperatures in the high 20s beneath a cloudless cobalt sky, groomed packed powder, just a few score skiers and snowboarders on the hill, and empty chairlifts.
And what a pleasurable hill Stratton is, a cruiser's paradise with its high-speed lifts, its impeccable grooming and the wide, scenic trails that encourage big, fast turns.
Of all New England's ski resorts, Stratton may just have the most pronounced split personality.
For well-heeled baby boomers from New York City's tony suburbs in Westchester County and Fairfield County, Conn., the resort offers perfectly groomed trails ("corduroy," in the ski world); fast, modern lifts; fine dining and upscale shopping in a compact, cobblestoned pedestrian village; renowned ski and snowboarding instruction and family programs; and numerous ski-in, ski-out lodging options, many luxurious.
For their children and grandchildren, it tempts with a lively bar, après-ski and live-music scene, and one of the East's best terrain parks. No surprise, that. Stratton, after all, is where Jake Burton tooled his earliest snowboard prototypes in the basement of the Birkenhaus hotel, when he wasn't upstairs working as a bartender. Stratton was one of the first major U.S. ski resorts to allow snowboarding and for many years played host to snowboarding's U.S. Open competition.
Stratton offers 2,003 vertical feet of skiing and riding from its 3,875-foot summit, the highest in the southern portion of Vermont's Green Mountains. The resort's average annual snowfall is 180 inches, and snowmaking covers 93 percent of its 600 skiable acres.
There are 97 trails, glades (totaling nearly 150 acres) and terrain parks served by 11 lifts, including a high-speed base-to-summit gondola and four six-passenger chairs. Forty-two percent of the terrain is rated beginner, 31 percent intermediate and 27 percent advanced, though there's little truly challenging terrain for experts — which the resort tacitly acknowledges by using "advanced" rather than the more common "expert" to categorize its toughest trails.
I spent my days skiing trails, nearly all top-to-bottom black diamonds, that I've enjoyed cruising on many visits to Stratton since my first in the early 1980s: Upper and Lower Liftline, Upper and Lower Standard, North American, Upper Tamarack. All encourage dozens of rhythmic and speedy turns on the way down.
For the 2013-14 season, the resort has invested $6 million in improvements to snowmaking, lodging, on-mountain dining and village eateries.
Lodging options, all within walking distance or a short shuttle ride to the lifts, range from the Liftline Lodge and the newly remodeled Stratton Inn — now the Black Bear Lodge — to spacious, well-appointed condominiums, including the five-bedroom, five-bath Penthouse with a private elevator. I stayed in a comfortable condo in the Long Trail House, a 10-minute walk through the village to the lifts, with a sauna, a heated year-round pool and hot tubs, and free heated underground parking.
Among the non-ski or snowboard activities available are moonlight snowshoe treks, snowmobile tours, ice skating beneath the stars, snowtubing and dog-sled rides.
Stratton's strong Austrian flavor predates its friendliness to snowboarding. When the resort opened in 1961, co-founder Frank Snyder hired Austrian Emo Henrich as the ski school director. Henrich, in turn, hired many fellow Austrians as instructors, people who loved the sport and its mountain lifestyle. Many of them opened the fledgling resort's first inns and lodges (Henrich's was the Birkenhaus) or persuaded relatives and friends to journey from Austria's Alps to do so. In many cases, their descendants continue to own or run those properties.
That emphasis on the mountain lifestyle also is evidenced by the Stratton Mountain School, a racing academy for grades 7-12 that opened in 1972 in a small hotel across the parking lot from the mountain. Now with a 10-acre campus at the resort, the school has produced more than 36 U.S. Olympic Alpine and Nordic racers and snowboard competitors, and more than 93 national team members in those disciplines.
The roster of A-list snowboarders who got their start at Stratton includes Lindsey Jacobellis, a seven-time Winter X Games champion and silver medalist in snowboard cross at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Ross Powers, who won bronze at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan — the first games to include snowboarding — and gold in 2002 in Salt Lake City, runs the school's snowboard program.
The village is home to Stratton's Activity Hub, a great resource for families. The Hub is an insider's guide to everything southern Vermont has to offer, from unique winter adventures and tours to off-mountain restaurants and outlet shopping in nearby Manchester.
But if you visit this winter before late-season melancholy settles in, none of Stratton's non-ski or -snowboard activities are likely to be tempting enough to get you off this enjoyable mountain.
ICurtin is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.
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I guess I should start off by getting the usual stuff out of the way; I'm a wussy, if I can't take the heat I should stay out of the kitchen, golf would be better for me, etc. That being said, I just finished reading the injury report from racerxonline.com and it's shocking to see how many and how severe the injuries are to SX riders. I know there is a small percentage of 'gore' people who like wrecks and then go home and rent Saw movies, but I think that is a small percentage. Most of us would feel much better walking away from a stadium without feeling sad for the young men and mature boys who just shattered their vertebrae, wrists, pelvis, leg bones, etc. They don't have to go to those extremes to entertain the majority of us.
Thankfully most of the local tracks get it and have a more common sense set up that knows most of us have to be able to walk to work the next day. Why can't some kind of common-sense approach be used in SX? I'm going to ask for your opinion in a minute, but my opinion is that SX doesn't need to move towards an eventual double back flip coming out of turn three. I know that the young riders are tough and they know they can do these jumps. We as spectators also know these same riders crash and destroy their bodies and futures in front of us and it's an ugly thing to watch.
If you were instructed to use your vast knowledge and insight, whether you wanted to or not, is there any kind of solution here that you can think of besides telling people like me to quit paying attention?
Fat man on a little bike,
John B.
St. Helens, Oregon
Dear John,
I appreciate your concern for the well-being of the athletes who make supercross such a great show. I'm not going to call you a wuss or insult your masculinity or tell you that maybe you should chat with your primary physician about checking your testosterone levels because you come off a little fruity and sensitive. I'm not going to do that. You have a sincere compassion for the riders and their safety and that is just sweet as pie.
The thing is, supercross tracks have actually become tamer in the last decade. In my opinion, the technicality and difficulty peaked around 2000 or 2001. They had whoops that would literally swallow you up if you dropped in and they even toyed with transforming triples into quads. They had a quad at Anaheim in 2000 that was probably over 100 feet long. Since then, whoops have gotten smaller and safety has become a priority when designing and building tracks. The injury report may not show it, but the guys at Feld and Dirt Wurx make every effort to keep the riders safe all season long. I've said before that whoop sections should be on the exit of tight, slow corners and never after a triple or a section where riders have speed built up. That is just bad design. Right-hand first turns don't work (ask Villopoto) and usually cause crashes, but they rarely show up anymore. All in all, I think they do a great job of blending safety and entertainment. The injuries just come with the territory. It sucks, but that's how it is.
What ever happened to J-Law? Is he going to ever race again or is he doing five to ten in the pen?
Dear ?,
I haven't heard of any new stints in jail or ear biting sessions or anything else. I really haven't heard anything. The rumor is that he is going to be racing this season for the ARMA Energy/Suzuki City/Nitro Circus team aboard an RM-Z450 with number 54, but I'll believe it when I see it. I would be less surprised to see him working at Chevron. The dude has skills if he can ever get his poop in a group. Again, the gig at Chevron seems more likely.
Dear Mr.Pingree, im 15 and im really struggling with mx when i read your column i see a lot of people asking for relationship advice a lot but im just wanting some advice on moto. i spend every day riding week days i come home ride till sundown on weekends ill head to the track and race. im not gonna say im a terrible racer but im not the best ether and i accept that 100% my problem is deciding which way to go in mx do i stick with racing or break off to fmx. the reason im questioning this is because i dont get noticed very much like once out of 15 races someone will come up to me but...how do i get noticed more and what road for mx do i take? i ride a 2007 yamaha ttr125L and my family just cant afford a bigger bike so...any advice for any of this would be greatly appreciated. sincerely John Burchfield sp;
Dear Mr. Burchfield,
I'm really not sure where to start here, John. I have to be honest, I can't see you cleaning house at Loretta's this summer on a TTR125. I also can't see you jumping more than about 12 feet off an FMX booter without snapping that little trail bike of yours in half. I know bikes aren't cheap, but maybe if you sold that thing, mowed some lawns and begged your parents, you could get a YZ125. That would be a much better start. I can't tell you which way to go with motocross, but I will suggest that you don't lose sight of the reason you ride in the first place… for fun. Not everyone makes it to the professional level and that's okay. Enjoy your time on the track and the rest of that stuff will work itself out.
Got a question for Ping? E-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com. You can also support his retirement by going to www.motocross101.com and buying a few of his DVDs.


text: National Critics: Texas Agency Favors Builders Over Buyers March 29, 2009 Texas homebuilders are rallying to save a state commission created to handle buyers' complaints. Homebuyers say the process is stacked in the builders' favor — and two state reports agree. Now state lawmakers are considering whether to abolish the panel. Critics: Texas Agency Favors Builders Over Buyers Listen · 8:51 8:51 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/102367683/102481014" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript


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Huffington Post Canada
Many people say music is a universal language. Musicians make music for plenty of reasons, and for Robb Nash he does it for others.
Robb Nash started out as a normal high school student, but one day while driving the car he was in he was hit by a semi-truck. He was discovered with a smashed skull, no pulse and injuries so bad he was pronounced dead at the scene. Against all odds his pulse and vitals returned suddenly. After he was resuscitated he eventually recovered after long rehabilitation.
While Nash was doing his rehab he started to develop suicidal thoughts. After he got over his suicidal thoughts he decided that he was going to help others with depression, suicidal thoughts, and overall mental health with music. To this day The Robb Nash Project has gone to 1250 schools and Robb Nash has had over 600 students hand over suicide notes to him; with every suicide note Robb Nash has tattooed the name of the person on his arm.
Robb Nash has used his music to touch people, and in today's schools, depression and mental health issues are becoming more common every year. Change isn't easy, but Robb Nash has decided to try to make a difference with his music. His message is so important, and his music really relates to the feelings that you get when you are struggling. The changes he has brought to people are inspirational. These changes are made through music.