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PFA Team of the Year
The votes for the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Premier League Team of the Year are in and have been counted and verified. Have your say on how the pros have voted and leave your own Premier League XIs by filling in the feedback form below.
Last Updated: 23/04/12 8:39am
JOE HART: The undisputed number one for club and country, Hart has enjoyed another standout season for Manchester City. The 24-year-old has been an ever-present for the Blues in their Premier League title quest, providing a reliable last line of defence. He has been beaten just 27 times in 34 appearances and has picked up 14 clean sheets along the way. Roberto Mancini may have struggled to keep others inside the Etihad Stadium camp in check this season, but knows he will never get any trouble from Hart. Supremely confident and a man who never gives anything less than 100 per cent, Hart will be hoping that another productive campaign ends with him collecting domestic honours with City and international accolades with England at Euro 2012.
KYLE WALKER: After being snapped up by Tottenham in 2009, Walker must have wondered whether the path to first team football at White Hart Lane would ever open up in front of him. With experienced international stars ahead of him in the Spurs pecking order, it looked like taking something special for him to force his way through. Walker is a special talent, though, and he has been able to do just that. A loan spell at Aston Villa last season allowed him to cut his Premier League teeth and proved to those back at Tottenham that he was the way forward. Harry Redknapp has offered the 21-year-old regular opportunities this term and he has rewarded his manager's faith with a number of assured displays - which have included a match-winning performance in a derby duel with Arsenal back in October. Walker has also won two England caps and found himself billed as the new Roberto Carlos by the Spanish media following a friendly outing against Spain.
LEIGHTON BAINES: The affable Evertonian may play understudy to Ashley Cole on the international stage but according to his fellow professionals there hasn't been a better left-back this season. In short, he's the quintessential modern day full-back; as happy bombing forward as he is carrying out his defensive duties. Baines possesses the proverbial wand of a left foot, with his set-pieces again proving to be a key weapon in Everton's attacking armoury in a campaign where goals have proven hard to come by. To date the five he has contributed puts him joint-top of the club's scoring charts, while countless others have been created courtesy of his pinpoint dead ball deliveries.
VINCENT KOMPANY: Of those names missing from the PFA shortlist for the senior award it was Kompany's that many feel is the most glaring omission. The Manchester City captain has again enjoyed another imperious campaign with few likely to contest the view he is the Premier League's outstanding centre-half. Alongside Joleon Lescott the Belgium international has formed an outstanding partnership at the heart of a City backline that has kept 14 cleans sheets and conceded just 27 goals in 34 Premier League games. In the few games he has missed through injury his absence has been sorely felt, with his presence in front of Joe Hart giving the rest of the City side confidence to go about their attacking work without worrying about what is going on behind them.
FABRICIO COLOCCINI: When the Argentine put pen to paper on a new long-term contract earlier in the season the sigh of relief was audible in neighbouring Sunderland and Middleborough. The squad rebuilding work Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew oversaw in the summer was heavily criticised by Newcastle supporters who felt the sales of Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Kevin Nolan would leave them facing a facing a relegation scrap on the back of a solid return to the big time the previous season. Further doubts were raised when Coloccini, for all his qualities, was handed the captain's armband. Such reservations have proven to be unfounded as both Newcastle and Coloccini have been outstanding in a campaign at St James' Park that has exceeded all expectations on Tyneside. The classy stopper exudes all the physical prowess one would expect from a South American centre-half, while at the same being in possession of a deft touch and ability to take the ball forward. If Newcastle can keep hold of Coloccini and bring in more of a similar ilk, the sky's the limit for those in black and white.
DAVID SILVA: When Manchester City burst out of the Premier League blocks back in August, it was Silva who was calling the shots and giving opposition defences nightmares. The Spanish schemer was at his elusive best, with much of the Blues' best work going through his wand of a left foot. He was lauded as one of the finest players on the planet by Roberto Mancini after guiding City to the top of the table and was rightly recognised with the Premier League Player of the Month award in October. It was always going to be difficult for him to maintain those impeccably high standards, but Silva remains the biggest creative threat in City's ranks. He has provided a divisional-high 13 assists in the Premier League this season, and a further four in cup competitions, to underline his value to the Etihad Stadium cause.SCOTT PARKER: Tottenham may have suffered a wobble at just the wrong time but for three-quarters of the campaign Parker looked to be the missing in piece in Spurs' jigsaw. Plenty of big clubs looked at the reigning Football Writers' Player of the Year in light of West Ham's relegation last season but it was only Harry Redknapp who was prepared to open the chequebook. At £6million he'll likely never secure a better bargain. Parker's infectious enthusiasm and ceaseless work-rate complements Luka Modric's more eye-catching talents and when the pair are on pomp there are few better midfield pairings in European club football. Such has been Parker's success at Tottenham he is now seen as not just a key man in North London but also for England. Under Stuart Pearce's interim rein he has been handed the captaincy and if Redknapp, as favourite for the England post, does indeed get the nod then few would bet against him taking the armband on a permanent basis.
YAYA TOURE: More than a few eyebrows were raised when Roberto Mancini elected to use Toure in an advanced role upon acquiring his services from Barcelona but then that's why he's a top class manager and the rest of us are hacks/fans/armchair pundits. Toure has enjoyed another memorable campaign at Eastlands and is arguably now City's most influential player. When the giant Ivorian hits his stride, rampaging through the centre of the field at a frightening pace, there is very little the opposition can do to stop him. When City are struggling it is Toure they encourage to set the tempo with a driving run, while eight goals to date are testimony to an ever improving finishing ability. Like with Kompany, many feel he should have been on the shortlist for the individual senior prize.
GARETH BALE: The reigning PFA Player of the Year, Bale's efforts this season have once again been recognised by his fellow professionals. The jet-heeled Tottenham winger continues to torment Premier League defences and is now considered to be one of the most devastating wide-men in European football. He is still only 22 years of age, yet is already reported to figure prominently on the transfer radars of some of the continent's biggest clubs. Spurs will not want to part with his services any time soon, though, with the north London outfit determined to ensure that it is they who benefit from his on-going development. Bale has already matched his goal return from last season in 2011/12 - finding the target 11 times - and has provided eight assists for grateful team-mates in Premier League competition.
WAYNE ROONEY: There is every chance that the 2011/12 campaign will go down as the most productive in Rooney's glittering career, on a personal level. Manchester United may have to make do with just the one piece of silverware - or maybe none at all - but whatever happens, Rooney can rest easy knowing that he has done all he can to bring success to Old Trafford. The Red Devils continue to look to their battering ram of a frontman for inspiration, and he continues to deliver. Rooney was among the goals in United's opening game of the season at West Brom and has gone on to register 24 times in the Premier League and 31 times in all competitions. Were he to find the target on a further four occasions before the season is out, Rooney would set a new personal best when it comes to goals scored. Among those he has already added to his tally is his 150th for United, while he has also passed the 350-appearance mark for the Red Devils this term.
ROBIN VAN PERSIE: When Cesc Fabregas headed for the Emirates Stadium exit last summer, bound for Barcelona, Arsenal found themselves shorn of a talismanic skipper and creative force. Fortunately for them, they had a ready-made replacement already on their books. Van Persie's ability has never been in doubt, but his fitness and temperament have been called into question down the years. Not any more, with the deadly Dutchman having matured into one of the finest frontmen around. He has led from the front this season as Arsenal have, at times, wandered off the beaten track. Van Persie's presence has offered assurance to those around him when they have needed it most and he has embraced his promotion to the role of head Gunner. A remarkable strike rate has seen him plunder 34 goals in all competitions, and it appears almost certain that he will land the Premier League golden boot.


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While many customer relationship management (CRM) and sales force automation (SFA) vendors provide the ability to manage leads within their software, some offer solutions specifically designed for this function. Lead management software provides companies with an automated way to track leads and nurture them until they become buyers.
There are numerous types of lead tracking software available in the market that provide lead management CRM capabilities. To help buyers narrow down their choices, we've created this guide outlining the typical features found within these systems, the types of buyers that generally evaluate this type of software and other important considerations to weigh before making a decision.
Here's what we'll cover:
What Is Lead Management CRM Software?
Common Features
Expected Benefits
What Type of Buyer Are You?
Market Trends to Understand
CRM systems help companies gather and store information on prospective and existing clients to better organize and manage relationships. Lead management software, however, helps organizations automate the movement and tracking of leads through the lifecycle from acquisition to conversion, helping increase efficiency and qualification and conversion rates. While features vary from one vendor to the next, the following are common to most lead management systems:
According to Gartner, CRM lead management involves processes that integrate unqualified contacts and opportunities from a variety of sources. The outputs of these processes are qualified, sorted, scored, nurtured, augmented and prioritized selling opportunities. These are then distributed to direct, indirect or digital commerce sales channels for further action.
While features vary from one vendor to the next, the following are common to most lead management systems:
Lead capture: Lead capture helps to generate more data from people who are interested in the products and services you offer. Leads are generally captured using lead forms placed at prominent positions on your website. The captured leads are nurtured and scored to enable faster sales.
Lead storage and distribution: Lead tracking software allows companies to manage the flow of leads captured through various channels (e.g., email and web forms). These leads are stored within a database, where they can be evaluated and distributed to the right employee within the organization based on certain criteria.
Lead nurturing: Companies can use nurturing tools to check the status of leads and automate the process of following up with and delivering relevant content to these leads. This helps maintain and strengthen the relationship until the lead is ready to make a purchase.
Lead scoring: Lead scoring is the process of grading leads using certain attributes to identify those most likely to result in a sale. Lead management software facilitates this process by filtering leads according to job title, demographic, online behavior and other variables companies deem most desirable.
Lead segmentation: Lead segmentation is the process of sorting leads into various categories based on criteria, such as geography, professional qualification, job role or industry. This practice targets potential leads more effectively as the right message, service or product is sent to the right set of potential buyers.
Lead analytics and reporting Creating and analyzing lead reports provides companies with an overview of marketing and sales results to help understand which leads are converting at the highest rates and which campaigns are most successful.
Pipeline management: Pipeline management allows you to track the status of potential customers or leads. It helps you understand the sales process as well as manage and assess all sales opportunities throughout the sales cycle.
Streamlined lead lifecycle. A lead management system automates the lifecycle of leads once they've been captured, preventing them from being overlooked and ensuring they're promptly followed up on to increase the chance of conversion.
Improved lead prioritization. By using software to evaluate and score leads, sales and/or marketing teams can increase the speed and efficiency of conversions by highlighting those leads most likely to result in a sale.
Customer data capture: Having a lead management system in place helps businesses capture a prospect's complete history of interactions with the company. You'll have a database of customer information that can help in further marketing or cross sales. You can analyze this data to understand how a prospect was converted to a customer. The software also helps to keep all data uniform, making it easier for sales representatives to know what information is available.
B2B buyer. These buyers work for firms that sell their products or services directly to other businesses, as opposed to consumers. Because the lifecycles of these sales interactions are typically longer, B2B buyers need robust lead nurturing and scoring features to successfully maintain and grow the relationship with prospective customers.
B2C buyer. Professionals who market directly to consumers often need lead tracking software to help organize and prioritize the large amount of data associated with individual consumers. They also usually require analytics features found in these solutions to identify and break down consumer segments to improve their marketing strategies.
Cloud-based vs. on-premise: A 2014 Software Advice research indicates that in 2008, 88 percent of prospective buyers across all markets wanted on-premise software. This number has changed now, with 87 percent preferring cloud-based solutions. This figure is even higher for CRM buyers: according to our 2013 CRM BuyerView Report, 96 percent of prospective buyers prefer cloud-based software.
Social media integration: Social media is used by nearly one in four people worldwide and companies have realized that monitoring these channels is critical to engage and build relationships with prospective buyers. Many vendors have followed suit and now offer advanced mobile apps to help professionals manage leads via a smartphone or tablet, no matter where they are.
Use of analytics: Gartner's Magic Quadrant for CRM Lead Management (2016) states that CRM lead management software vendors are investing in predictive analytics, dashboards and KPIs. This is reflective of the need for better data analysis and intelligence for sales and marketing teams. The increasing collaboration between sales and marketing departments reflect the need for better analytics tools for decision making.
Growing investment in CRM lead management systems: The abovementioned Gartner report also says that companies continue to invest in lead management applications. It also states that smaller companies that previously didn't use lead management software due to implementation or complexity issues are increasing their adoption of this feature. Vendors are also offering lead management applications that are easy to use, integrate with other applications and have re-designed UIs.
Our service is simple and 100% free to customers like you because software vendors pay us when we connect them with quality leads. You save time and get great advice. Vendors get great referrals. It's a win for everyone!

subset: commoncrawl


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October 17, 2011 – (BRONX, NY) – The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University $5.7 million to fund the Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). The grant supports Einstein's ongoing efforts to improve the lives of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through combined basic science research and clinical practice.
Steven Walkley, Ph.D. Occurring in an estimated 10 percent of the population, IDDs constitute some of the most significant health conditions in children. They represent a diverse group of chronic conditions – such as autism spectrum disorders and Down syndrome – that can limit daily function and impede mobility, language and more. IDDs can begin anytime during a child's development up to 22 years of age, and usually last a lifetime.
"The Rose F. Kennedy Center was founded more than 40 years ago as one of the nation's flagship centers on mental retardation," said Steven Walkley, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of Einstein's IDDRC and professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience. "This grant allows us to intensify the translational research we've been doing, which when coupled with clinical care, may lead to a better understanding of the causes, consequences and potential treatments of these conditions." Dr. Walkley is also professor of pathology and in the Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology. John Foxe, Ph.D., director of research at Einstein's Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), will serve as the center's associate director.
Einstein's IDDRC is an interdisciplinary collaboration involving numerous academic departments – including neuroscience, genetics, neurology and pediatrics – along with the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center and CERC, which is directed by Robert Marion, M.D., the Ruth L. Gottesman Professor of Developmental Pediatrics. Its six scientific cores are designed to provide the means for human and animal phenotyping, neuron and whole brain imaging, cell and tissue manipulation, and genetic analysis.
There will be four main areas of focus for the IDDRC that draw on Einstein's strengths in basic science research and extensive clinical practice. The themes are autism spectrum disorders, neurogenetic and seizure disorders, nutritional and environmental determinants of brain development, and deafness and communication disorders.
"While tremendous strides have been made over the past four decades to identify and treat these disorders, it is critical to leverage the most recent advances in research and technologies to better understand what causes them and provide more targeted and effective therapies," explained Dr. Walkley. "Through the combined efforts of our faculty researchers and clinicians, we hope to improve methods of diagnosis, prevention and treatment."
Einstein's IDDRC will also continue to build and sustain outreach programs to help alleviate some of the burden of IDDs on families in the Bronx, which is one of the most ethnically diverse and poorest urban counties in the United States.
Brain's Cerebellum Found to Influence Addictive and Social Behavior
Einstein Responds to the Urgent Need for Effective Ebola Treatments
Einstein Receives $172 Million in NIH Funding in Fiscal Year 2018
Einstein Faculty Receive NIH Career Development Awards
Study Identifies How Hantaviruses Infect Lung Cells
Novel Combination Therapy Promotes Wound Healing
$3.3 Million Grant to Train Learning Health System Researchers
Breakthrough Treatment Helps Prolong Life for People with Metastatic Lung Cancer
National Recognition for Einstein Montefiore Addiction Specialist
Dr. Gregg Tarquinio Named Associate Dean for Administration and Finance at Albert Einstein College of Medicine


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Alfresco Delivers Open Source Governance, Retention and Compliance Solution
First Open Source Software to Obtain U.S. Department of Defense 5015.02 Records Management Certification
LONDON, UK. – October 14, 2009 – Alfresco Software, the leader in open source enterprise content management (ECM), today announced the immediate availability of the Alfresco Records Management Module, which also recently became the first open source software to pass the rigorous U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 5015.02 standard certification. This module and certification enables Alfresco to extend its cost-effective open source records management and retention tools to support the governance, retention and compliance strategies of federal agencies, government bodies and commercial organizations.
Tweet this: #Alfresco delivers open source module for governance, retention, compliance with #DoD 5015.02 certification http://bit.ly/VxHGx
The 5015.02 standard defines the mandatory operational, legislative and regulatory requirements that must be met by any records management application products acquired by the DoD. With this certification, federal agencies can now take advantage of Alfresco as a cost-effective alternative to traditional records management solutions, which are typically priced on a per user basis. As a result, the Alfresco Records Management Module enables simple and active compliance across the entire enterprise.
Alfresco Records Management Module offers the following features and capabilities:
- Simple Single Repository – All content captured, managed and controlled in a single repository, enabling seamless integration with document and Web content management tools. This avoids the need for content transfer with potential loss of information and reduces the number of systems to administer;
- User-friendly Web-based Interface – Access to records management functionality through a Web-based interface, enabling greater user adoption with secure access from any location and no desktop installation; and,
- Easy Email Filing – Native support of IMAP protocol, enabling the filing of emails from any email client, without the need to install a plugin. Alfresco Records Management appears as a mail folder allowing users to simply file records with drag and drop or automated by the use of email rules.
In addition, the module's functionality also includes:
- Enhanced permissions model based on user capabilities and roles;
- Full record lifecycles based on disposal schedules;
- Support for complex transfers;
- Support for Vital Records and their reviews;
- Search, workflow and hold tools to comply with transparency and Freedom of Information Act regulations;
- Ability to create a Hold record for legal or litigation; and,
- Saved searches to enhance user's ability to find and manage records.
"Alfresco Records Management Module has the ability to transform the way in which government and commercial organizations approach their governance, retention and compliance strategies, as the open source pricing model will significantly reduce the barrier to regulatory compliance," said John Newton, CTO of Alfresco Software. "The DoD standard has become a benchmark for electronic records management systems and this certification demonstrates our commitment to delivering cost-effective technology to help organizations preserve official records in accordance with the strict legal requirements needed to manage vital company information."
Alfresco Records Management Module will be available for the Alfresco Enterprise Edition 3.2 before the end of the year.
Alfresco Records Management Module will be demonstrated at the Alfresco Meetup in Washington D.C. on October 20.
Alfresco Records Management Module v3.2 can be downloaded from: http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Download_Community_Edition


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nealfreeland needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 22 designs submitted by 7 freelance designers.
The Thistle is a beautiful, high performance racing dingy that combines grace with speed. Designed in 1945, the boat and class continue to thrive and are raced by dedicated enthusiasts and enjoyed by families alike. The boat has a planing hull and will plane in 10-12 knots of breeze but it also moves well in light winds and will outperform many larger boats in these conditions.
Our class is very active with often more than 20 boats racing weekly on Lake Washington. Racing experience ranges from novice to expert with the Seattle Fleet home to 2007 Thistle National Women's Champion, Haley Lhamon and other former collegiate and top local racers. Skippers and crew of all skill levels are welcome. With a snow capped Mount Ranier in the background, colorful spinnakers and good sociable racing -- it doesn't get much better.
Fleet members
A simple logo for use on website, t-shirts, paper race announcements. A specific design request is included in the attached powerpoint document, along with some samples of designs we like.
Need high quality digital deliverables to support intended uses.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Delete Topic
Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie
"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie
Proudly Owned By The BMVC
Are You Sniffing My Mitten?
missegyptology: "I just remember beingall off balance and unicycling really fast down to campus and the arabic was all blurred on the page"
^When Linz pulls an all nighter before Arabic class^
You Lost The Game.Delete
I {Heart} hand me downs and spinning in the snow.

Delete


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Efforts to get Australia to adopt the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have been set back with a parliamentary report released today recommending that the country not ratify the treaty until the Federal Government can properly assess the agreement's economic and social costs and benefits.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement report from the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties states that the government needs to assess economic and social factors in a transparent and independent manner.
"The ACTA NIA [National Interest Analysis] illustrates a flaw in the process of developing NIAs. Clearly, ACTA is an agreement intended to provide an economic benefit to Australians, yet, because it does not require a Regulation Impact Statement, no effort has been made to develop the economic case for the Agreement," the report states.
A total of nine recommendations are listed by the committee, including recommending Australia wait to introduce ACTA until the Australian Law Reform Commission's report into copyright and digital environment is completed, which is slated to occur no later than 30 November next year.
The report also states the government needs to clarify the terms used in ACTA, including its ambiguous use of words such as 'piracy', 'counterfeiting', 'aiding and abetting' and 'commercial scale'.
"…the committee is concerned about the lack of clarity in the text, the exclusion of provisions protecting the rights of individuals and ACTA's potential to shift the balance in the interpretation of copyright law, intellectual property law and patent law," the report reads.
Matthew Rimmer, associate professor at the Australian National University, told Computerworld Australia the report has wider ramifications for the international treaty-making process in Australia.
"I think that the report is [also] a very significant statement by the Australian parliament, especially as it is a joint report. The membership of the committee was quite varied [in terms of political parties], but they could come to an agreed conclusion on this matter," he said.
"The approach of the committee seems to be one of delaying or postponing ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement."
Kimberley Heitman, secretary at Electronic Frontiers Australia, has welcomed the committee's report.
"The committee correctly refuted the DFAT claim that these treaties must be negotiated in secret, without even parliamentary scrutiny, as is the department's undemocratic habit with trade treaties. As the Committee noted, the ACTA treaty is all about intellectual property laws and cannot be kept secret when so much legislative change would be triggered by its ratification. The only 'trade' is the sell-out of Australian interests to international corporations," he said.
ACTA has been a controversial agreement which encompasses intellectual property, customs border measures and copyright infringement in the digital environment. Provisions for civil enforcement have also been included.
After nearly three years of negotiation with Australia, the US, Canada, the EU and its 27 member states, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland, a final text was released in May this year.
The committee's report could also have implications for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA/TPP), which is another international trade agreement currently being negotiated.
However, the future of ACTA is uncertain, with a European parliamentary committee recently rejecting it, with a media report stating it would be scrapped if the European parliament rejected the agreement.
Greens senator Scott Ludlam, who has been against the implementation of ACTA, today stated: "The Greens would welcome ACTA being ruled out completely because the content of this treaty is fatally flawed and the process that brought it about was shamefully and unnecessarily secretive. While our government did hold consultations they were farcical because those being consulted did not have the secret text and therefore couldn't provide advice and feedback."
The joint standing committee also noted in its report that "Despite DFAT's optimistic outlook, there appears a very real possibility that ACTA will not be ratified by sufficient countries in order to come into existence".
Follow Stephanie McDonald on Twitter: @stephmcdonald0
Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU


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Attorney General Pruitt and attorneys general from four other states sent a letter Friday to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, objecting to the agency's intent to duplicate the state's long-standing regulation of hydraulic fracturing. Friday was the deadline to submit comment on the rule.
The letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell outlines the decades of success in state regulation of natural gas exploration and the consequences of the federal government adding a redundant unnecessary layer of regulation.
"States have been regulating hydraulic fracturing for more than 40 years with great success. This proposed rule is just another layer of unnecessary regulation that will cause significant delays and hinder natural gas production," General Pruitt said. "The Supreme Court has made it clear that regulation of water and land use is a state and local power, and no law gives an agency such as the BLM the authority to pre-empt state regulations."
Oklahoma is joined on the six-page letter by Alabama, Alaska, Montana and West Virginia. The action follows a letter sent to President Obama in December by General Pruitt and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, challenging the proposed rule.
In Friday's letter to the Interior Department, the attorneys general detailed requirements under the Clean Water Act, the Federal Land Policy Management Act and the Mineral Leasing Act, giving states primacy in land and water regulation.
"The states – and not the federal government – are best equipped to design, administer and enforce laws and regulations related to oil and gas development," the letter states. "The BLM has failed to justify the need for new federal regulations and requirements that will overlay the existing state programs in a burdensome and costly manner."


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By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
June 17, 2006
The effect of the Environmental Protection Agency's potential ban on use of azinphos methyl by fruit growers has yet to be fully known in the Hood River Valley.
The agency announced last week that it was proposing to phase out the remaining uses of the pesticide, known more commonly as Guthion. The EPA is taking comments for two months before making its final decision.
The act stemmed from a court case settled in January involving the United Farm Workers agency in Western Washington concerning the health effects of the pesticide.
Guthion belongs to the class of pesticides known as organophosphates, which fruit growers use to kill the codling moth.
"It has for some time now been the cornerstone of the codling moth program," said Craig Mallon, a field man for Duckwall-Pooley fruit growers.
He also grows pears and cherries on his own. Mallon said the change has been expected for some time now by people in the industry. Pear and apple grower Larry Martin said he began transitioning away from using Guthion two years ago.
"For me, because I'm transitioning away from organophosphates it (the ban) won't have that much effect," he said. "But I'm also actively working toward not using phosmets either, known as Imidan."
In addition to the potential Guthion ban, the EPA is also seeking comment on extending the interval between spraying and re-entering orchards for nine phosmet uses. The EPA proposed to phase out by 2010 the use of Guthion on apples, blueberries, cherries, parsley and pears.
During the interim period, the agency has suggested additional restrictions on reducing annual application rates, additional monitoring of workers, and larger buffer zones. The agency's timeline includes determining by Aug. 3 whether to approve or deny growers' applications to retain use for the remaining 10 uses. That includes use of Guthion on apples, cherries, and pears.
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CNS reporter Mark Pattison and photographer Bob Roller arrived in the Midwest this past weekend and are traveling through Iowa and Minnesota for a week for a series of stories on rural America.
ALONG INTERSTATE 35 — Less than six miles into northern Iowa stand dozens upon dozens of wind turbines. Trying to count as I drive to stay with traffic along I-35, I see what must be at least 60 on the east side of the freeway. There are dozens more on one or possibly two "wind farms" on the west side of the freeway.
Another slew of turbines greets motorists on I-35 in the vicinity of Charles City, Iowa. In fact, one of the great optical illusions of all time is the sensation that there's a wind turbine in the freeway median. It's not, but only when southbound motorists curve to the left, is it revealed that the turbine is on the right side of the interstate.
These are quite tall wind machines, each with three long blades, to capture the energy in the wind and transfer it to electrical power. They are far from the quaint Dutch windmills that inspired them.
Later, on Interstate 380, I pull off at a Phillips 66 gas station. Here, the big surprise for the non-Iowa native is that mid-grade gasoline is cheaper than regular. Why? Because it includes ethanol derived from corn. Lower price, higher octane says a sticker on the gas pump touting "cleaner air for Iowa" for those who fill up with the mid-grade stuff. I'm sold.
In truth, there has been criticism in some quarters that corn, one of Iowa's major crops, is being used for fuel instead of for food. The jump in gas prices last year to more than $4 a gallon in many parts of the country made ethanol from corn seem like a viable alternative, even with government subsidies to make ethanol's price competitive. Now, with gas prices half of what they were last summer, I wonder where corn growers will direct their crop this year.
While corn itself has been viewed as the mover and shaker in ethanol for decades, it's only the kernels that provide the fuel. If science could find a way to use the cob and render it suitable for fuel, then energy production could achieve a significant breakthrough.
I am reminded of the one passage in the Gospel parable of the prodigal son where the wanton heir, now reduced to feeding pigs on an estate, "longed to fill his belly with the husks" of the corn he was feeding the pigs. An energy-insatiable America continues to strive to find new sources for energy resources. Are we akin to — or kin of — that prodigal son, who squandered his wealth (in our case, energy that could be better stewarded) without looking to the future?


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Vodafone poised to grab German cable company
September 13, 2013
BERLIN (AP) — Britain's Vodafone PLC says it is poised to seal the 7.7 billion euro ($10.23 billion) takeover of Kabel Deutschland, after it won the backing of the German cable operator's shareholders.
The London-based cellphone giant said in a statement late Thursday that "the 75 percent minimum acceptance condition has been met" and that it expects to close the deal by the end of the month.
Kabel Deutschland has an extensive cable network in Germany that Vodafone could use to expand its fixed-line, broadband and television business in the country.
European regulators still need to approve the takeover.


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Indestructible Hulk, whaddya think?
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by Eli Katz » Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:33 amI love the way that Waid is structuring this book. Because the battles are done-in-one, each issue can stand alone and allow readers to jump in at any point. But because the subplots carry over from issue to issue, it feels as though Waid is building a bigger, and potentially complex, story. This was the way comics used to be written. And I hope that Waid continues with this approach for the duration of his run. I also love the choice of villain in issue three, Quintronic Man. I hope that this means Waid will be resurrecting other elements from Len Wein's Hulk run.
The weakest part of the book, honestly, is Yu's art. He draws an excellent Hulk, but I don't find him to be a great storyteller. For me, his work doesn't flow from panel to panel.
by nietoperz » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:06 amI love it so far, though I agree that Yu's art doesn't necessarily fit. I'm looking forward to Walt Simonson's arc very much, I have to say.
by Mojo Ichiruto » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:13 amAgreed on all points! I am loving the book as well and can't wait for the Simonson issues!
by TimDrake'sDumbWings » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:46 amAfter the Avengers movie, I really wanted to read an accesdible Hulk run. My skepticism about anything PAD that's not Young Justice kept me from reading his run, so I really had no options. When Waid's run started, I got exactly what I wanted! After his Hulk and Daredevil, I'm pretty certain I'll be following Waid wherever he goes next!
by Lord Ice » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:06 am
Can't wait to see what all he has planned for Green Hornet.
by UnionJack » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:12 am
Well, he's writing a new Green Hornet series for Dynamite. The current GH series is really good & Dynamite have a great line-up of books. My favourite publisher.
I agree on Yu's art. Not keen & didn't like his Avengers. Think he would be better suited to non-supers, horror especially.
by UnionJack » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:13 am
You got that post in milliseconds before me.....
by MistaT » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:13 amWow, I guess I am the only one who is as of so far unimpressed. These are only the first issues setting up the new status quo, so I'll withold judgemnet until the first major arc starts.
by chap22 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:36 am
Dude...read PAD's Hulk. Seriously.
by Amoebas » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:40 amI want to love it but I find I only like it.
I like that Banner is more of the star than Hulk is but I'm not crazy about them upping his brain power (and ego). Not that he always has to be a milquetoast but imo he just comes on too strong. And where the hell did all the Banner-worshipping come from? From the attitudes of the applicants, it's apparent that there are many people that have loved and respected Banner's genius for quite a while. So where were they between 1961 and today when he needed their help?
Three issues in and I still have no idea what "Hulk" we have. Is he Banner, is he "Hulk Smash" or is he just pure animal? He only grunts, growls & smashes, yet he saves Stark? He de-Hulks so fast (and soon). In #1, his strength (i.e. anger) was "incalculable!" yet he de-Hulked right after an explosion that should have pissed him off even more. Add to Banner saying in #2 that "he" could eat a mountain" and then in #3 he instantly Hulk-ed up to smash the robot (and I'm guessing he just as instantly de-Hulked so as not to destroy SHIELD HQ). Where is the Banner/Hulk conflict?
I do love the villains so far (Mad Thinker, Quintronic Man & Iron Man) but I can do without Hill. The new supporting cast could be a nice addition (and I expect a big storyline (and or powers) for Jessup (why else would he be from Manchester, Alabama? )
Yu? He's the worst part of the book imo.
by guitarsmashley » Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:55 ami love it and yu's art.
by Keb » Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:03 pmI could care less about it. I read the first three issues and was bored by them. Love the concept of banner working for shield and all that and I feel like the idea has potential but the execution is not working for me. I find this happens with mark waid comics. The art is shit too.
by GOSD » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:24 pmI like it.
by Frag » Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:39 pm
My thoughts exactly. It's like you read my mind.
by guitarsmashley » Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:12 pm
Have you read his Incredibles? Honestly there were a good couple months where it was my favorite superhero comic.
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text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - Welcome Back! A New Start! Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Digital Art Discussion View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "Welcome Back! A New Start!" DhabihAdministratorMember #Joined: 13 Sep 1999Posts: 530Location: Kirkland, WA, U.S.A. Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:09 am Heya all, Ok well, its a new year and a new format. Forum has been split into 3. I really tried to avoid this as long as possible, but it was really needed as the volume of posts was just too much and it was hard to keep up. Here is the deal with what each of the three forums are meant for. Discussion: This is for anything related to digital art (and art i guess) that does not involve a piece you are working on or finished. You can ask questions about technique, suggestions for inspiration, wacom tablet questions and anything else you want. What does not belong here is drawings you've done that you want to show people. Work in Progress: Place to post work thats just in the sketch stages if you want some guidance as to where to go, or perhaps your almost finished but want some comments before you sign off on it. Gallery/Finished Work: All final drawings, completed images are to be posted here. Every topic created in this forum should have a drawing attached of yours. If you DO NOT wish to have it critiqued, please make sure to mention that in the post, otherwise people will give suggestions. If people suggest things and you change your image, either update the image on your server, or reply to the same thread with the updated piece. Ok, here is the thing though ---->>> This is a trial run of the split. I may organize it a bit different if needed. The thing is i see some problems that might occur in confusion between the work in progress forum and gallery, cause someone might think they are done, change it, and then post it again...and stuff like that....who knows, maybe i'll roll the 2 into one forum so there will only be 2 total art forums....discussion and image posting. I dont know. Hopefully the current setup will work out fine. Another thing, WE WILL HAVE PEOPLE WHO WILL POST IN THE WRONG FORUM, especially at first and especially new members. So just be patient with them, the moderators (who have yet to be picked) and i will move the stray posts to the appropriate forum as soon as its spotted. Speaking of moderators, i will be picking some soon, if you would like to be a moderator, have the time to read through the posts, and think you will be fair drop me an e-mail ( firstname.lastname@example.com ) and i will select some for a non-moderator moderator trial run. In the end i am thinking to have only 2 (possibly 3) moderators, one on each side of the globe. If you have written to me before about moderating, send e-mail again (unless you sent in the last 2 weeks, i remember you) What does this mean to the average member? Moderators will be here to help me keep my house clean. They will not be deleting posts they don't like left and right. Just kind of here to help people out by pointing them to the FAQ, making sure a post is in the right forum, and letting me know if there is a flame war started that i may have missed. As far as deleting a whole topic, that will be left to me. Deleting users and banning IP's will still be something only i will be doing. I've been on some forums where the moderators think they are mini-gods and abuse their power, and that was the original reason i didnt want moderators, but i really need the help, and i'll make sure to pick people who will not turn into dictators. So, in order to have a good time here, please remember to play nice. Starting today, everyone's slate is wiped clean from before. If you used to incite flame wars, insult people bla bla bla, i'm giving you a second chance. This means the rest of you please also give those people a second chance. Give them the benefit of the doubt that they will behave and things will go fine. Because i've gotten a lot of e-mail about it, i will be more strict with the types of posts that occur, posts that do nothing but insult will be edited to a "." Threads that turn into a flame war will be closed, and a thread that is nothing but flames will be deleted (including threads that do nothing but attack another member) Please understand that this is something that i wished to avoid, i really wanted this to be an open forum that people can say what they want, but it just got childish and out of hand and really was hurting the atmosphere so all this getting strict stuff is for the good of the place. Anyway. Thats it....hopefully these changes will help. I will write another message in the Discussion forum in a couple weeks to ask for feedback to see how you people think the changes have affected the forums. Until then, give it a chance, see how you like it and then when you see that topic, reply with your feedback. Thank you! Happy New Year! and Welcome back! -dhab ------------------ http://www.sijun.com/ [This message has been edited by Dhabih (edited January 02, 2001).] Back to top OPTXjunior memberMember #Joined: 13 Dec 2000Posts: 40Location: Charleston, WV USA Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:12 am May this new year bring us many more great posts and a much more pleasant and organized community here. Thanks much Dhab, without you we'd be missing out on this experience. Laterz ------------------ My imagination won't leave me alone. Back to top Seph|rothmemberMember #Joined: 07 Sep 2000Posts: 261Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:22 am Im happy you've managed to get this ready in time. Its clear that you've put a lot of time into this and I hope everything turns out well Good work Dhab, and happy new year to all of you ------------------ - Seph - Listen Without Prejudice Back to top Wyatt TurnermemberMember #Joined: 18 Oct 2000Posts: 501Location: Everett, WA, USA Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:32 am I panic when I found no forum to play on. well glad to see it's in working order. I too also have my forum in beta stage. http://eighthdecay.get.to/ check it out if you wish. later, lets get the ball rollin Back to top RinaldomemberMember #Joined: 09 Jun 2000Posts: 1367Location: Adelaide, Australia Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:48 am Woohooo much goodness Back to top PlopmemberMember #Joined: 13 May 2000Posts: 275Location: Nowhereville Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:50 am Very cool. Good job. Back to top ShadedmemberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 2000Posts: 413Location: Toronto Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 12:59 am Semper fidelis, mac. Back to top ForgottenDaveymemberMember #Joined: 12 Sep 2000Posts: 71Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 1:02 am I like it Dhab, I think this coupled with Chapels wake up call a few days ago could throw this place right back on track. Lookin good... ------------------ They call him the ForgottenDavey because; wait a minute, who are we talking about again? firstname.lastname@example.com Back to top StarseedmemberMember #Joined: 14 Sep 2000Posts: 144Location: Vancouver, Canada Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 1:07 am ^^^ <- -> vvv I would like this to be the new board's first useless post. I'm posting to corroborate what the last 5 messages have said. Kudos. I'm sure the splitting won't be reversed, but I can imagine some fine tuning between the 'works in progress' and 'finals' boards. Maybe, since to make sure there will be a distinguishing aspect between works in progress and finals, etiquette be set in place where if a critique is requested of Final work, that the critique not include things that they would suggest the artist change. If the artist wanted to hear this, he would post in the 'work in progress' and then incorporate the changes. But, the 'final' board, in this capacity, would probably get next to nil posts . . . because what is the purpose of posting art here? to brag and show for the sake of show, (well, i guess some of the established artists have this as their only option because most couldn't point out what to change in their work) or to post the art so you can learn from the collective experience and expertise of the other members showing you what you could do to make your art better . . . . . . maybe this wasn't such a useless post. I just wanted to say that -mt ------------------ everything is relative Back to top AlieNjunior memberMember #Joined: 28 Sep 2000Posts: 40Location: Vancouver, B.C., Canada Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 1:08 am dhabih, you should post in the old forum and say "MIGRATION TIME!" so that everyone knows to come here, because I didn't know what was wrong with the other forum because I couldn't post or anything... Back to top DhabihAdministratorMember #Joined: 13 Sep 1999Posts: 530Location: Kirkland, WA, U.S.A. Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 1:12 am good idea, thanks. done Back to top fazedesignmemberMember #Joined: 28 Nov 2000Posts: 115 Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 4:12 am I think this is going to work much better and i hope there is less bitching about whats art and what isn't. Not that there is any reason for it stopping. Back to top Matt EldermemberMember #Joined: 15 Jan 2000Posts: 641Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 4:20 am Looks good. Had a bit of a surf around and it is really nice to have things in 'ordered' places so you know what to expect. Weird though to see forums with only 4 or 5 threads when use to see pages of it. One suggestion, is there any way that you can be in one thread in one forum and switch to another forum without having to go back to the main forum page that lists the 5 forums? (just to make navigation a little easier). ------------------ See ya on da flip side Matt http://www.mattelder.com Back to top JezebelmemberMember #Joined: 02 Nov 2000Posts: 1940Location: Mesquite, TX, US Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:04 am I'm curious, where do things like the "gasmask" thread fall? I think the threads like that are very cool, but not everyone posts finished pieces there. I'm asking because I'd like to see that new mech thread restarted to see where it goes. There were some really cool images there as well and I think there would be more to come. I was hoping to contribute at one point as well. Thanks for putting your hard work into making the split, Dhab. Hopefully everything will work out peachy keen. -Beth ------------------ Take off your clothes. It's OK - I'm an artist. [url=http://div.dyndns.org/FOO!]http://div.dyndns.org/FOO![/url] http://div.dyndns.org/beth/photography [This message has been edited by Jezebel (edited January 02, 2001).] Back to top MoonlordmemberMember #Joined: 28 Sep 2000Posts: 64Location: Hamburg, Germany Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:27 am I nearly fell in a coma when I saw that the forum was closed... but then I read the explanation thank god. then I dreamed of the forum being closed forever and the first thing I did today was to check whether it's up again or my dream was true... puhh only a dream. thanks for splitting up the forum dhab. I think that'll put some organization in. Of course I wish everyone at the forum a happy new year. Hope I'll get the time to draw something in the next weeks (I into finishing school right now) Back to top DhabihAdministratorMember #Joined: 13 Sep 1999Posts: 530Location: Kirkland, WA, U.S.A. Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:42 am Jezebel, my guess is the gasmask type threads can be in either of the 2 image forums...those types of threads tend to grow out of an image posting that isnt originally intended to create a series thread. The guidelines for posting in the appropriate forums are there for the person who starts the thread, but what happens afterwards in the thread is pretty open. If someone wants to start a topic though with this specific purpose in mind, i'd say the work in progress would be the appropriate forum for it. Sound good? [edit] jeez, is my english getting worse everyday or what? i just read this over and it doesnt seem right at all.....maybe its the 5:34am on the clock thats the problem[/edit] ------------------ http://www.sijun.com/ [This message has been edited by Dhabih (edited January 02, 2001).] Back to top DhabihAdministratorMember #Joined: 13 Sep 1999Posts: 530Location: Kirkland, WA, U.S.A. Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:44 am Matt Elder, good idea i'll see about adding links to the top there. ------------------ http://www.sijun.com/ Back to top RagnarokmemberMember #Joined: 12 Nov 2000Posts: 1085Location: Navarra, Spain Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 6:00 am Dhab, thanks for doing such an effort on this split. I have a little suggestion, is it possible to add the name of the forum you are on to the navigation bar of explorer? I usually open a window for each forum and I have to be all the time looking at the graphic on top to know where I am. Maybe you are using frames so you can't, but I would like to know. Thanks in advance -Ragnarok Back to top SergenthmemberMember #Joined: 06 Apr 2000Posts: 437Location: Milford NJ USA Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 6:11 am Matt Elder, Open up mutliple windows in your browser for each forum you vist. I use Netscape 4.76 still... so I just right-click on a link and click "Open Link in New Window" I know Opera and Internet Explorer have this option. And thanks Dhab, this new system is working really well so far. I feel good about it. Back to top faustgfxmemberMember #Joined: 15 Mar 2000Posts: 4833Location: unfortunately, very near you. Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 10:06 am tell the attackflameyaddadadda bit to certain individuals who have trouble dropping the fight when they're told to do so. also, have a point in the faq; if all you're going to do with icq is to disturb and irritate the forum users and then claim it's not their fault if they come out of nowhere and do whatever they do to tick the contacted one off, don't bother. it only grows more fuel for the flames to grow. *cough*. most of the people here are okay, but the last 5 that have contacted me via the forum........ ------------------ sky high with a heartache of stone you never see me 'cos i'm always alone email@example.com icq#35983387 http://faustgfx.0wns.org Back to top StarseedmemberMember #Joined: 14 Sep 2000Posts: 144Location: Vancouver, Canada Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2001 3:27 pm I'd like to second Ragnarok's request for the title of the board your in being displayed somewhere, like in the title tag. "Sijun Forums - Digital Art - Topic . . ." -mt ------------------ everything is relative Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Digital Art Discussion All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


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HB0687 Firearm owner Identification card public liability insurance in the amount of 1,000,000.00. This needs to be watched in my opinion.
It sure as bloody heck does--thanks. I don't remember them trying this particular insanity before.
I see you guys beat me to the punch on HB0687. This could be one of the most dangerous bills out there IMHO.


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Terry L. Stanley
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 4:44 PM
Terry Lynn Stanley, 55, of Huntington, IN, died Monday, March 4, 2013, at 1 a.m. at her home.
Mrs. Stanley graduated in 1977 from Huntington North High School. She was a homemaker and a member of the Eagles Lodge 832 Women's Auxiliary of Huntington.
She was born Aug. 7, 1957, in Huntington to Donald and Melba Stevens McGinness. She married Jerry Allen Stanley on April 28, 1979, in Huntington. He preceded her in death on Feb. 24, 2010.
Survivors include a daughter, Rose A. Stanley, of LaFontaine; three sons, John (Chantelle) Stanley, Donald Stanley and Norman (Stephani) Stanley, all of Huntington; one sister; three brothers; and 11 grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Memorials made be made to the Huntington Eagles Lodge 823, in care of Bailey-Love Mortuary, 35 W. Park Drive, Huntington, Indiana 46750.
The online guest book may be signed at www.baileylove.com.


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'Best Man Holiday' unwraps too many plots
'The Best Man Holiday' reunites the college buddies from 1999's 'The Best Man' and reignites old flames, for better and for worse. VPC
Less would have been more in this jam-packed, not-so-jolly holiday. Humor is weighed down by contrivances and sentimentality, though the cast is generally appealing.
Faith, football, flirting and fisticuffs are a big part of the festivities in The Best Man Holiday.
This reunion (** out of four; rated R; opens Friday nationwide) of major players from the 1999 rom-com The Best Man is as rowdy and rooted in religion as its predecessor, which also starred Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard and Harold Perrineau as college friends.
Nearly 15 years have elapsed since the original film, so the opening credits feel like a backward-looking trailer. Highlights of the first movie are cobbled together in a chain of visual snippets and catchy phrases. It doesn't work, and the scattered montage leads to a cluttered movie. Only a few charming tidbits are nestled snugly in this over-stuffed Christmas stocking.
Merriment and light mayhem during a long Christmas weekend house party at a stately mansion are overshadowed by the melodramatic treatment of terminal disease. The setting is like the American equivalent of Downton Abbey, and the intrigue and gossip could rival the BBC show.
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The estate is inhabited by football star Lance Sullivan (Chestnut), his wife Mia (Monica Calhoun) and their four young children. Lance and Mia are hosting seven college pals for a few days of what is meant to be luxurious relaxation and yuletide celebration. But amid the tree trimming and dinner parties, secrets are exposed, old wounds reopen and pummeling ensues.
It's mystifying why people portrayed as intelligent, successful, attractive and good-hearted have to descend into catfights and brawling worthy of the worst reality TV.
Harper Stewart (Diggs) wrote a best seller about his college years, but is in a writing slump. To make matter worse, he just lost his day job. He's understandably worried about the future given that his wife, Robyn (Sanaa Lathan), is due to give birth on New Year's Eve.
His agent (John Michael Higgins) suggests he write a book about his famous footballer buddy Lance, so Harper conducts covert research during the weekend.
Lance has clear-cut values: God, family and football. But he sure can hold a grudge. He's never forgiven Harper for having a one-night stand with Mia back in college. He kneels in prayer quite a bit during the movie.
And speaking of falling on one's knees, there is a lovely rendition of O Holy Night by the only occasionally seen children of the revelers.
In contrast, a scene depicting all the couples coupling to the accompaniment of The Christmas Song seems a weird marriage of visuals and musical accompaniment. Chestnuts roasting hardly seem the lyrics to inspire thoughts of carnal pleasures. But maybe chestnuts light the fires of writer-director Malcolm D. Lee. Or he figured a holiday-inspired romantic montage was necessary to gird us for the nasty spats and resentments that ensue.
Some funny lines (including a risqué interpretation of the term "stimulus package") and comical repartee are interspersed among the maudlin moments. But too many major life events and career climaxes are packed into these few days. Despite some likable performances from this appealing ensemble cast — and Diggs stands above the pack — sentimental schmaltz competes with slapstick silliness for an uneven result.
The contrived story suffers from holiday season clutter. It's like the movie version of The 12 Days of Christmas: Eleven players footballing, seven friends ladling food for the needy, four buddies dancing, two ladies fighting and one baby born in a speeding SUV.


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What Kind of Entertainment Would You Like to See at the 4th of July?
We want to hear from you on what kind of entertainment you would like to see at the 4th of July Celebration at State Fair Park? Checkout the suggested list below
1.) Hypnotist Show
2.) Live Comedy
3.) Live Music (please specify genre)
4.) Arm wrestling
5.) Other suggestions
Tell us your suggestions in the comments below.


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Doctors long have cautioned patients about the consequences of uncontrolled high blood pressure, including heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.
Now they can add cognitive decline to that list, after researchers discovered that patients with high blood pressure and other risk factors for stroke are more likely to develop thinking or reasoning problems than otherwise healthy individuals.
The link between cognitive decline and hypertension will put even more emphasis on prevention, said several stroke specialists.
"This takes the disease to an even earlier point, that if you don't change these factors or modify or control them, you are likely going to develop some cognitive issues, even if you never develop stroke," said Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran, director of the Stroke Program at Rush University Medical Center. "The impact of this study is really directly at primary care prevention."
Prabhakaran said the study was impressive because of the large number of participants and their multiethnic backgrounds.
The study, published in the Nov. 8 issue of Neurology and funded by the National Institutes of Health, followed 24,000 individuals with no prior history of cognitive impairment or stroke. Participants were tested, using the Framingham Stroke Risk Profile, as well as a simple cognitive health screening over about four years. Individuals are at higher risk, according to the profile, if they are male (though more women die of the disease), black or Hispanic, 55 and older, have high blood pressure or hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, a cholesterol imbalance or obesity.
Researchers found that 1,907 participants, or 8 percent, showed cognitive impairment. Being male, black, having less than a high school education, left ventricular hypertrophy (muscle tissue enlargement of the wall of the left ventricle) and high systolic (first number in a blood pressure reading) blood pressure were related to the decline.
Prabhakaran said he suspected that an even higher percentage might have shown cognitive decline if the researchers had used a more in-depth test.
Frederick Unverzagt, a professor of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and lead author of the study, said in a news release that the individuals with cognitive decline might have had silent strokes or other subclinical changes affecting the brain's blood supply. Silent strokes have no obvious physical symptoms but place an individual at high risk for a clinical stroke.
The findings were part of the study known as Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke, or REGARDS, which is sponsored by the NIH and follows ethnically diverse individuals 45 and older throughout the United States.
Sean Ruland, director of the Neurocritical Care and Stroke at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, who also heads the Vascular Neurology Group at Resurrection Medical Center, said the study "reinforces the message that there are more reasons to control blood pressure than just heart attack and stroke."
"The laundry list of what hypertension does to a body that can affect you over time is ever growing."
But Ruland said the findings could have broader implications.
"The fact that black race and lower level of educational attainment were predictive represents a bigger public policy message, especially as we debate the potential impact of recent health care reform legislation," he said.
The study also can help convince patients that major health problems can stem from uncontrolled blood pressure, according to Dr. Hamad Farhat, a NorthShore University HealthSystem neurosurgeon and expert in cerebrovascular neurosurgery and carotid disease. Farhat said some patients don't take their blood pressure medication because they feel sick from the subsequent drop in blood pressure or they feel fine and think they don't need medication.
Doctors should also be on the lookout for cognitive troubles in patients with high blood pressure, since the changes can be subtle and might go unnoticed, even by family members, said Farhat.
"When we objectively test them using a cognitive scale, this is when we find an actual difference," said Farhat.


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Finizio would raise martini prices
Mayor Finizio opened his public forums at City Hall this week with a boxing analogy.
Indeed, the mayor, saying he expected to be beat up by angry downtown businesspeople, theatrically wore a hat emblazoned with the big logo of a boxing company. It is hard to think why this seemed like a good idea, unless he has decided that there are not enough votes among downtown business owners to make up a political constituency you need to court.
Not only did the mayor spar through both sessions with many of the speakers, but he made them sit at a table, while he wandered around, crossed his arms and appeared to talk down to them, making no concessions to any of their demands.
Most of the things the downtown business owners were asking for did not seem that onerous or expensive to me: Write more parking tickets so people don't hog spaces all day, clean up the snow and the ice and enforce shoveling ordinances, so that people can walk around, and open the city trash transfer station for a few hours on Saturday, so that working people can throw away their stuff.
No, no, no, the mayor said. We can't afford it.
That was - and I exaggerate a bit here - pretty much the mayor's answer to everything. The city is in a financial crisis. The City Council and zealous citizens have forced severe budget cuts, and these cuts in services are what you have to expect in return.
He seemed remarkably inflexible in this.
To each suggestion that maybe there could be a creative way to do more with less, the mayor said no, the answer is more revenue and, presumably, higher taxes.
"Work with what you got, man," one downtown property owner told him.
Candace Devendittis, owner of Dev's on Bank restaurant, suggested an interesting analogy.
Suppose, she said, you buy a restaurant and then discover the fryolater is bad, and the fries come out soggy. You still have to make the customers happy, she said, and figure out a way to work around the bad equipment.
Mayor Finizio's answer to this hypothetical problem summed up his differences with the business owners: Raise the price of your martinis and buy a new fryolater.
Of course, most of the businesspeople in the room knew that's the wrong answer. You can't just raise prices, like the mayor would raise taxes, because customers would stop coming.
Instead you find creative solutions. Give the fries away. Serve really good hash browns. Tinker with the machine. But your fallback can't be to raise prices if you want to stay in business.
"Quit telling us what you can't do and start listening to what we need you to do," a frustrated Devendittis told the mayor.
In general, aside from some obvious failings, like the broken pipe that didn't need to fill City Hall with steam all winter, the mayor's administration seems to have coped pretty well with diminished resources.
He says the city has seen a 25 percent reduction in staffing. That is a harsh loss, and, yes, citizens need to expect fewer services.
But I find it hard to understand why the transfer station could not close for a few hours on a weekday and open for a few hours on Saturday, when you know that's when residents most need it. How much could that cost?
I know the police force is understaffed, but wouldn't it be possible to direct a small fraction of resources to a little more daytime downtown parking enforcement, when business owners say parking has become a life-or-death problem for their struggling businesses.
Perhaps, Police Chief Margaret Ackley, who has been missing from public action for a long time, not even surfacing to talk about a sharp increase in major crime in the city, could write some parking tickets.
The mayor's inclination to invite business owners in for a discussion, when their complaints first surfaced publicly, was a good one.
It's too bad he then decided to step into the ring with them and begin his campaign to sell the city on an increase in taxes.
Many mayors and governors have lost their jobs over inadequate cleanup of storms that have brought much less snow than we've seen this winter.
More snow is in the forecast for this weekend, and if I were the mayor I would make sure the downtown is shoveled and accessible soon after, and show that he can do more than raise martini prices.
There will be lots of time later to sell his newest tax increase.
This is the opinion of David Collins.
Notre Dame to cover up murals of Columbus over depiction of Native Americans
President Pelosi? Will Trump defect? Where will the Connecticut GOP hide?


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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Theodore Dalrymple - time to quit
5 comments:
- worm said...
hmmm, agreed, he's now placed firmly in the Melanie Philips, Mark Steyn and Peter Hitchens folder...
- 2:19 pm
Hmmm, disagree. Sitting in Spain last summer watching London burn, I refused to think of myself as a right-wing freak by believing, not for the first time, that the conventions and truths I had grown up with, had been eroded and finally smashed by the liberal intelligentsia so despised by Dalrymple. He spent years at the rockface trying to understand (and help) the underclasses, and he has already taken your advice Brit and quit these septic (thank you Marina) Isles.
- 9:05 pm
- Brit said...
Dalrymple despises the white underclass in the same way that old, jaded schoolteachers despise children, but never acknowledges it is no more meaningful to say that they're 'what Britain is' than to claim it's all fox-hunting toffs. Both are minorities that inspire disproportionate fear and loathing amongst some middle-class commenters.
Per Peter Hitchens, although you know he's always going to end up blaming the 1960s, at least he varies in what it is he blames on them. The last 5 or 6 Dalrymple pieces I've read have been indistinguishable. He's played out.
Oh and if anyone wants to come along now and tell me that I live in a 'cossetted middle class area', I don't.
- 11:30 pm
- Outa-Spaceman said...
As a member of the "white underclass" I am moved to say 'twas ever thus' and chuckle at my Hogarth Pikchur Buk.
- 11:20 am
- David said...
England is a cosseted middle-class area. (Hmmm, good opening for an article....)
As for Dalrymple, it's simply impossible to bemoan the new English degeneracy while living in France.
- 1:41 pm


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Crowds Gather for Thatcher's Funeral Procession
Crowds of onlookers, protesters, and police assembled outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London for the funeral procession of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. WSJ's Cassell Bryan-Low reports via #WorldStream.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... the crowds the outside cycles SeaDrill ... as men is how to cook on its worst recession of the facts as cough then ... she makes her way to to get a job for you know is that it's ... it's it's a seventy thousand three hundred guests attending ... including VIP is Fred Hutchinson to countries that it is putting us as ... heads of states and they did a bit of creative but it's ... a heavy police presence paid to ... abacus that is about everything from protest is ... small or as serious trouble ... this multiple thousand additional police at on Elm Street today ... write screenplays ... it can sell Bryan Low boots beat that ...


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Delegates will be treated to a very special behind-the-scenes tour of English Premier League side, Fulham FC's 22,000-seat home, Craven Cottage, before a networking reception in McBrides sports bar. The tour will take in football's one and only Gin & Tonic Bar and provide insights on the exciting Riverside Stand redevelopment, which will get underway in 2019, expanding the stadium's capacity to just short of 30,000 and seeing the addition of new restaurants, cafés, bars, corporate hospitality and event space.
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage has been the home of Fulham Football Club since 1896. The stadium is located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, bounded by the River Thames to the west and Stevenage and Bishops Parks to the north and south respectively. The Club played at various grounds in west London before finally settling on Craven Cottage.
Early Days
In the early days the ground had only one stand (known as the Rabbit Hutch) which held around 1,000 spectators. In 1905 the Club engaged the services of Scottish engineer Archibald Leitch and he created terracing and the now famous main stand and corner pavilion, both of which are Grade II listed by English Heritage.
There was limited change at the ground in the decades that followed, although a record crowd of 49,335 was created in 1938.
The Club undertook various improvements in the 1960s and 1970s, including errecting floodlights and building the Riverside Stand.
Temporary Ground Share
At the end of the 2001/02 season the Whites played what they thought would be their last league game at the Cottage, as it was recognised. Preparing to play the following season at Loftus Road, the team were expecting to return to a brand new stadium a year later. However, opposition to the proposal obstructed the process and spiraling construction and legal costs resulted in the Club eventually abandoning the new stadium project.
Returning to the Cottage
Instead, in December 2003, plans were unveiled for £8million worth of major refurbishment work at the existing Craven Cottage to bring it in line with Premier League requirements. With planning permission granted, work began in earnest in January 2004 in order to meet the deadline of the new season. The team played its first game in the new-look 22,000 all-seater stadium in a pre-season friendly against Watford on July 10, 2004.
Incremental works has enabled the capacity to increase to its current level of 25,700.
Future Plans
The Club now regularly sells out its matches and has gained approval to redevelop the Riverside Stand. The new design will bring the capacity of Craven Cottage up to 30,000 and bring landmark improvements for both the Club and the local community. A major benefit of the project is the creation of a public riverside walkway, nearly 200m long, which will form an important part of the Thames Path.
Enhanced stadium facilities, floodlighting and an iconic design will ensure that Craven Cottage continues to provide a top class venue for many years to come.
Thames Clipper Boat Excursion to Venue co-sponsored by: LiveStyled and Wavework


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This is a place to talk about insurance quotes. Discuss and compare auto, health, life, home, renters, disability, cancer, long term care, and more. Please keep all posts in this forum related to insurance quotes.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
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BRISTOL — The Bristol Planning Commission looks poised to move ahead with a proposed town plan at its meeting next Tuesday when it considers a compromise on the proposed gravel mining prohibition zone.
Since fall, commissioners have struggled to agree on a chief component of the proposed plan: a zone that prohibits resource extraction in and around Bristol's downtown area. At the planners' last meeting on Jan. 17, four versions of the no-extraction zone were discussed.


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Jweizman needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 103 designs submitted by 25 freelance designers.
We manage 3 parisians hotels and would like to create a common logo to start creating a common identity and spirit.
The 3 hotels are in the heart of Paris downtown – with some central location to explore Paris by day and by night :
- one next to the Opera Garnier and the big Department stores
- one next to Place de la République, Gare du Nord and de l'Est, and the famous Marais district
- one next to the Eiffel Tower
Customers who wants to book online should feel confortable with the brand:
-Modern, Classy, Clean, serious and pleasure
The 3 hotels are 3 stars hotels but of different :
-size : one of 58 rooms, one of 51 and one of 34 rooms. So not too small and not too big.
- atmosphere and style : one modern baroque, one urban etnic, one classic chic
We ask for one Logo actually : Aida, the main one
The 3 others will only have the subtitle change:
-Aida Opera : classic chic
-Aida Marais: modern baroque
-Aida Eiffel Segur : urban ethnic
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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McCain Auditorium records, 1951–2010 | Morse Department of Special Collections
These materials are records documenting the development and history of McCain Auditorium, the campus cultural center for the live performing arts since 1970. The bulk of the collection consists of programs, broadsides, contracts, newspaper articles, administrative files, and photographs. Of note are programs from the first performance in the auditorium and early performance broadsides.
The McCain Performance Series includes handbills, programs, and season brochures of performances between the years of 1970 and 2010.
The Internal Records includes advertisments of McCain performances, contracts with performers, correspondence between McCain and the performers, financial reports on cost of events, grants written to help pay for various events, and press kits made available to newspapers, television and radio stations to advertise events. There are also 105 3.5" floppy disks and 62 5.25" floppy disks with internal documents. The 3.5" floppy disks include material such as advertisements, brochures, database files, events, and Friends of McCain mailing list. The 5.25" floppy disks include material such as advertisements, brochures, budgets, calendar events, fonts, lighting information, mailing lists, newsletters, photographs, post cards, posters, press releases, programs, sponsors information, surveys, system disks, and workshop information. There are two boxes that are oversized that houses advertisement mock-ups of performances and events.
Photograph and Slides includes of some of the artists participating in the McCain Performance Series and the Other McCain Performance and Events Series. Box 59 houses oversize photographs that includes photographs of McCain Auditorium and the Philharmonic of China.
Other McCain Performance and Events includes Kansas State University (KSU) organizations such as KSU Bands, KSU Chamber Music Series, Department of Music, Theater, and Dance, K-State Orchestra, K-State Players, K-State Singers, Men and Women's Glee Clubs, and Spring Dance.
The Friends of McCain includes advertising and promotion of Friends events, list of board of directors, monthly board minutes, yearly budgets, correspondence between the board of birectors and members of Friends, financial reports of funds raised and spent on events, reports from the KSU Foundation Center of donors designating their donations to Friends of McCain, fundraising brochures and campaigns such as the Yearly Holiday Home Tours, membership lists of Friends of McCain, Friends of McCain newsletters, and season campaign brochures.
Media: CDs, Audio Cassettes and Reel-to-Reel Tapes are made up of one box. It contains two CDs, 24 audio cassettes, three reel-to-reel tapes. The two CDs are titled McCain Movie and is not dated. The audio cassettes titles include Women Light 21, Women Heavy 40, Men Light 10 and 5, Men Heavy 13, 16 and 22 Dolby, Men Heavy 28 and 40, McCain Auditorium with Tag, Frances Mayes Lecture, Posing Music, Cathy Hougland and Women Light 25, David and Cathy Hougland "Cool the Exgines," Big River "Running to the River," and Reduced Shakespeare Company, "The Bible." The titles of the Reel-to-Reel tapes are New York City Opera National Company "Figaro" and La Boheme Radio Ads and Gypsy Radio Ad.
Newspaper articles about McCain Performance Series and Events are from the K-State Collegian and The Manhattan Mercury as they covered performances and events.
Oversize is made up McCain Performance Series and Other McCain Performance and Events Broadsides and Blueprints of McCain Auditorium. The broadsides are extra large posters advertising the date and time of a particular performance. The broadsides includes performances such as ballets, plays and musical plays, operas and concerts. Some ballets performed were The Nutcracker by Ballet Oklahoma, Kyiv Ballet and the Tulsa Ballet, Swan Lake by the Russian National Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty by Houston Ballet and Romeo & Juliet by Ballet West and The St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre. Plays and musical plays performed includes Winnie the Pooh, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by the Montana Repertory Theatre, Sweeney Todd, Cats, Hairspray, Babes in Toyland, Fiddler on the Roof, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Diary of Anne Frank by the Montana Repertory Theatre, The Sound of Music, John Amos in Halley's Comet and Ted Neely in Jesus Christ Superstar. Some operas performed includes La Boheme by the Texas Opera Theatre, Rigoletto and Madame Butterfly by the New York City Opera National Touring Company, The Barber of Seville by the Western Opera Theatre, Die Fledermaus by the Kansas State University Opera Theatre, The Merry Widow by the London City Opera and Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) presented by Mozart Festival Opera. Concerts performed includes Vienna Choir Boys, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, National Philharmonic of Russia, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, The Uptown String Quartet, Canadian Brass, Venice Baroque Orchestra and the Kronos Quartet.
The Blueprints of McCain Auditorium are of when the auditorium was first being built. These blueprints are of the lighting systems throughout the auditorium.
Series 1: McCain Performance Series, 1970-2010
Series 2: Internal Records, 1951-2007
Series 3: Photographs and Slides, 1970-2010, undated
Series 4: Other McCain Performances and Events, 1960-1995
Series 5: Friends of McCain, 1980-2007
Series 6: Media: CDs, Audio Cassettes and Reel-to-Reel Tapes, 1991,1999, undated
Series 7: Newspapers Articles About McCain Performance Series and Events, 1960-2006
Series 8: Oversize: McCain Performance Series and Other McCain Performances and Events Broadsides and Blueprints of McCain Auditorium, 1967-2010, undated


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Captain Hook, Bay Rum and Salty Sea Air Blend
Are you Hooked? Get it. Oh, Once Upon a Time fans, you know what I mean. Our Captain Hook blend combines bay rum and salt sea air for a deliciously masculine blend. **This was our best seller at the "Once Upon a Time" Chicago convention.**
In candles, the grey wax will be swirled with black glitter. **Wax Melts and Tea lights will not have glitter in them.**
You can purchase this blend in several forms:
Wax Melts: Soy wax melts are easy to use. You simply break off a piece of the cube tray and put into your wax warmer. The heat will melt the cube and release the fragrance. We find to get the most use out of your wax tarts that you should turn off the warmer once the fragrance fills the air. Doing this, we've been able to get our wax melts to last 6-10 hours (sometimes more). Your wax melt cubes are hand poured using earth friendly, soy wax. Our melts are made from soy so that we can provide you with a more natural, clean product for you and your family.
Candles: Our candles are made with a paraffin and soy wax blend to give you a great scent when the candle is burned. To help maintain your candle and get optimal use, we always recommend trimming your candle wicks and to burn until their is an inch of wax melted before blowing it out. Be sure to always follow the candle safety instructions listed on the bottom of the product and on our website. Learn more about candle care to get the most from your product and to learn best practice safety.
Room/Body Spray: Spray this air freshener around your room to cover up any odors your nose needs to change. Our air fresheners use witch hazel. Witch hazel is an age old natural astringent and helps the essential and fragrance oils blend with the water and disperse in the air. (Here's a secret, you actually can use our air fresheners as perfume if you need a spritz of scent.)
Perfume: Each of our "Nerdtastic Scents" perfumes are travel size. That means they are small enough to fit in your purse for the person because you never know when you need to freshen up. Made with coconut oil, the perfume is light so it blends nicely into your skin. Also, rubbing the oil on your pulse points (inside your wrist, base of your throat, inside elbow, behind the knee) will give you the best results. When you're done getting ready for the day, toss the bottle in your purse and go!
Product Notes
- Made in a kitchen that also makes foods with nuts and other allergens.
- Products that are used cannot be returned due to safety and health concerns.
- Due to the nature of hand blending colored wax, there may be some variation in color from the picture.
- Due to the use of natural products (soy), you may see some occurrences like frosting on your candles. Because we use soy in our candles and wax melts, they do react to things in our environment like temperature. Frosting, for example, is completely natural and will not impact the way your candle burns.
- Bath and body products with broken safety seals cannot be returned due to safety and health concerns.
- Use externally only. Do not drink. Do not apply around your eyes.
- Please review all ingredients before applying any of our perfumes and lip balms.
- Alcohol free. Phthalate free.


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Footprints still stamp the screen on the narrow front window where burglars trampled it, clearly showing the brand of one pair of sneakers—Nikes. Molly Evans' usually friendly dog alternately barks at me and huddles behind her leg as she invites me in. Thieves invaded Evans' modest house in the Northeast Heights sometime between 10 and 11am on Monday, Nov. 25, while she was working her day job as a hospice nurse. Worried calls from a neighbor—who saw her dog milling outside while the front door dangled wide open—summoned the law and brought Evans racing home once her shift had ended.
When she got there, she screamed.
She never screams.
"Police [later] said they 'saw no signs of anything missing,'" Evans says, who notes that they left before she arrived home. "It was a total mess. Things were strewn across my floor, drawers missing from my jewelry box. All the electronics just gone."
It wasn't the loss of her valuables but what they contained: 22 years of work as a published author.
Ironically, Evans writes about people who have lost everything—and find hope again—channeling her experiences into nine published medical romance novels. Her new paranormal series, The Resurrectionist, is about a Burqueña who raises the dead in order for them to seek the justice they were denied in life. Her 10th novel, the first of this series, comes out next year from Harlequin under the name Sierra Woods.
Evans' laptop with her new medical romance novel, under contract from Harlequin, was stolen, along with her iPad, all of her external backups and the fireproof case holding paper documents. Her manuscripts, her personal records and 10 years' worth of family photographs—
"I asked the officer, later, if anyone at the Albuquerque PD monitored Craigslist for stolen goods. He looked straight at me and asked, 'What's that?'"
So Evans put up a sign on her front lawn advertising an undisclosed reward, while friends helped her scour pawn shops and the internet for her belongings. She turned to her editors and agent to retrieve their latest copies of two of her books. But one of them was only the first 30 pages of a nearly-completed rough draft.
"It feels like someone snatched my children, like they took a hammer to my heart. My entire identity as a writer and artist is in there!"
But Evans refuses to be a victim, she says. "I'm not going to let this take over my life."
Unwilling to give up, she writes at coffee shops every weekend morning, busily reconstructing her lost novel. Now, Evans takes her computer with her when she visits patients, backs her work up to the online cloud using a SkyDrive and hopes that someone will come forward to claim the reward. Anyone with information can contact her at firstname.lastname@example.com.
She hasn't lost the mischievous sense of humor that permeates her recent writing, either, grinning as she tells me a story about the quirks of her trade:
"In … my second book, I had to take the word 'Starbucks' out and replace it with 'coffee shop.' But I could keep a scene with a blowjob in. I guess you don't have to pay royalties on blowjobs."
Like many authors, Evans' elderly mother reads her published work. "She gives all my novels to her church reading group—and wanted me to stick a warning on that page [with the blowjob]. So I put in a sticky note with 'ooh la la, hot stuff!' over it.
"And, you know—every single church lady went right to that page."
It's a wacky business, too.
"The writer has very little control over what happens to their book once it leaves their hands—we end up being responsible for it with the readers, but everything at the house is driven by marketing," Evans tells me.
"An editor will come back with crazy things like, 'Change this to The Italian Surgeon's Pregnant Midwife Bride'—that's a real title one of my friends got stuck with. It's all based on buzzwords. Things with 'surgeon' in them sell better. 'Cowboys,' 'firemen' … It's so strange. 'Brides,' 'babies,' 'pregnancy,' the more editors have turned younger, getting married, getting pregnant, the more they want those kinds of books from us."
Evans wrote her first romance in 9th grade, but only got serious about writing in her late 20s. She's also written several short stories and contracted for two more books with Harlequin over the course of her career.
The absolute best thing about being a writer, she says, is that, "I can be anybody I want to be temporarily."
And the worst?
"The neuroses. The insecurities. The days where everything I've written is just stupid. I've come to accept that that's a part of the process and that every other writer thinks the same thing. … Nobody turns in a perfect book."
She rolls her eyes. "I know, right? It was a revelation!"


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Rescon Basement Solutions Earns Esteemed Angie's List Super Service Award for 2nd straight year.
This award reflects the company's consistently high level of customer service
Feb 13, 2013, 07:47 ET
NORTH READING, Mass., Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Rescon Basement Solutions has earned the service industry-coveted 2012 Angie's List Super Service Award, an honor awarded annually to approximately 5 percent of all the companies rated on Angie's List throughout the country. More notable is that Rescon Basement Solutions has earned this award for service excellence for the 2nd straight year. Angie's List Super Service Award 2012 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, including earning a minimum number of reports, an excellent rating from their customers and abiding by Angie's List operational guidelines.
"We have been providing basement solutions for homeowners throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire since 1996. Over the past 17 years Rescon has been able to attract and bring together some of best people in our industry. Specializing in basements has really allowed our staff to focus on the client and the project, allowing us to deliver the highest level of service possible. This award recognizes that hard work and effort put forth by all the people at Rescon Basement Solutions."
Christopher R. Brown
Rescon Basement Solutions
With multiple divisions handling basement waterproofing, basement finishing and basement air quality. Rescon Basement Solutions provides clients with a complete line of services to transform the basement. There is no other company offering such a complete and high quality line of services for homeowners with basements.
"It's a select group of companies rated on Angie's List that can claim the exemplary customer service record of being a Super Service Award winner. Our standards for the Super Service Award are quite high. The fact that Rescon Basement Solutions earned this recognition speaks volumes about its dedication providing great service to its customers."
Angie Hicks
Angie's List
Rescon Basement Solutions has offices in North Reading, MA and Londonderry, NH. To learn more about the company visit their website at www.ResconSolutions.com or give them a call at 877-949-2938.
SOURCE Rescon Basement Solutions


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Doodle Flower Trail By Lori M ~ Download Here
Welcome to my blog! Many have asked that I share my doodles and things and a friend suggested I put them on a blog. All I ask if that you PLEASE leave the FILE NAMES INTACT! They will either end with ~LM or ~LoriM. I worked hard on these and I would appreciate it if no one changed the file names. I enjoy making tubes, doodles, blinkie temps, animations, alphas, scraps, etc. I hope you enjoy them too! Note: my work IS COPYRIGHTED! And can be used for personal use ONLY! xoxo Lori