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Art of a lifetime: Exhibitions celebrate the past while offering a hint of the future
By Christina Hennessy
One artist is just getting started, while another has been in the public eye for more than 40 years. But for two women who are serendipitously enjoying retrospective shows in Stamford, their art has always been their constant.
"I would paint every weekend," said Henriette Simon Picker, a 95-year-old artist who had her first solo exhibition last year. A lifelong artist, Picker, who works out of her studio in Dutchess County, N.Y., fit her first passion in and around a thriving 45-year career as a shoe designer, manufacturer and importer, and as a member of an active family, which included her late husband, Julian, and three children. Early on in her professional life, she completed her formal art training at The National Academy and the Arts Students League of New York, building upon a natural talent that first showed itself when she was just a child.
"I never stopped," she said, adding that in the past several years she has finally found the time to devote herself full time to her art. Such time and dedication led to a show's worth of new work for last year's exhibition in Hudson, N.Y. Beginning on Sunday, March 3, the PMW Gallery will host a retrospective of her work, which will end Sunday, April 14.
Simon was in Stamford recently for a sneak peek at the exhibition. It was a brief moment of rest. Since recovering from a bad fall and hip surgery last May, her artistic output has rarely slackened and her perspective has become more vibrant.
The beauty of the world she saw intensified, she said, leading her to reach for her acrylic colors in earnest. "I hauled out my paint box and used every color in it," she said. "The experience opened up the whole world for me. I couldn't get enough color."
Patsy Whitman, who runs the gallery out of her home, recalled the day she first saw some of Picker's pieces, which had been sent by the artist's son Tobias Picker, a distinguished American composer who knows Whitman.
"As soon as I saw her work ¦ I knew others would enjoy seeing them," Whitman said.
The retrospective, which includes 51 paintings from 1948 to 2013, shows an evolution in color, from the dark, somber tones of the earliest piece to the vibrant color that dominates her most recent work. Picker populates her canvases with scenes from the places she has been and the things she has seen throughout her life. There is the geometrically-inspired take on a village in Spain. Purple clouds ride above vividly green farmlands, cyclists in multicolored jerseys make haste and cows and houses intermingle in an imagined landscape.
Picker still seems a bit bemused by all the attention. Exhibiting is not something she sought, but she said it has been fun to see the reactions of the people who came to her last show.
"It will be interesting to see their reaction," she said, of the visitors expected at the March 3 opening, which she will attend. "It's very unusual to find two people who like the same thing."
Meanwhile, Constance Kiermaier, 85, whose work is on display about 5 miles away at the UConn Stamford Art Gallery, hopes those who come out for her retrospective will see it as a good representation of her life's work -- paintings, collages assemblages, drawings and what she calls "planks," wooden beams that she uses as canvases
"One of my daughters went to the show ¦ and she said, `It really does speak to what you have done,' and that is what I wanted," said Kiermaier, who works out of her Norwalk studio. Her retrospective, "Delving Forward and Backward," runs through Friday, March 15, with an opening reception Saturday, March 9.
Similar to Picker's life, Kiermaier has carved out time for her art amid a life as a commercial artist, a mother, a wife and a teacher. But, she has had more time in the public eye, with works featured in more than two dozen solo and group exhibitions.
Filled with paintings, collages, assemblages, drawings and 6-foot tall wooden beams (organized in series), the UCONN gallery reveals an artist who seems most inspired to use multimedia to celebrate natural wonders, as well as all those symbolic objects and mementos -- the trinkets, the toys, the cufflinks, the baby shoes -- that come to represent and celebrate a life.
A graduate of the School of Fine Arts at Yale University, Kiermaier's evolution has been a gradual shift from painting to a more sculptural use of her materials.
"Over the course of my life, a sense of three-dimensional got into a lot of my work ¦ somehow, just doing a painting isn't what I do anymore," she said. The wide-eyed curiosity that spurred them when they were budding artists appears to be driving them in their bloom, too, or perhaps it always has.
Picker said she still listens to her "inner child," her muse who gives her the drive to create and leads her to unexpected places.
"She tells me what to do," Picker said, smiling. "I have never looked to see what the next painting will be, it just sort of came."
firstname.lastname@example.com; 203-964-2241; http://twitter.com/xtinahennessy
PMW Gallery, 530 Roxbury Road, Stamford. Henriette Simon Picker "A Span in Time," Sunday, March 3, to Sunday, April 14. Opening reception: Sunday, March 3, noon to 4 p.m.; "walk and talk" with artist Sunday, March 31, noon to 4 p.m. Hours by appointment: 203-322-5427, http://www.pmwgalleryplus.com.
UConn Stamford Art Gallery, One University Place, Stamford. Constance Kiermaier: Retrospective, "Delving Forward and Backward," through Wednesday, March 15. Artist's reception: Saturday, March 9, 3 to 5 p.m. Gallery hours: Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 203-251-8400, http://www.stamford.uconn.edu/ArtGallery.


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Car insurance companies are getting the hang of high technology, it seems.
Continue Reading Below
According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2013 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, released Thursday, overall satisfaction among customers who filed claims increased over the last year, largely because insurers are using high-tech methods to communicate and pay claims.
But the survey found that repairs are taking longer to complete and are less likely to be done correctly. (See "Car accidents: What you need to know.")
The customer-service giant asked 3,000 claimants to rate their satisfaction on a number of items related to insurance claims, such as interaction with the company, the appraisal and repair processes, and settlement. Overall satisfaction increased six points to 861 on a 1,000-point scale, and satisfaction with claims professionals has reached an all-time high, the survey found.
Proactive insurers keep drivers happy, says Mark Garrett, research director at J.D. Power and Associates. "Claims professionals are keeping customers informed of the claim progress at higher rates than in the past."
A process once dominated by phone calls is now complemented by e-mail and online status updates, technologies that showed a steady increase in use over the last 12 months, Garrett says.
Settlement satisfaction saw a big increase, jumping 11 points. Electronic payments put settlements into customers' hands more quickly. Days required to pay a claim fell from 16.4 in 2011 to 13.9 in 2012. Total loss claims saw the biggest improvement, with the average dropping 5.1 days to 18.5 while repairable claims were settled 1.3 days faster.
Faster checks are great, but the study found that the perceived fairness of the settlement carries almost equal weight. (See "What you need to know about insurance claims.")
While insurers improved their standing with customers, repair shops are falling behind. The study found that the average cycle time for repairs increased 1.2 days to 13.5. In addition to an increase in repair time, satisfaction with the repair process dropped two points to 862. Failure to fix the vehicle right the first time is largely responsible for the drop in satisfaction, with only 89 percent of repaired vehicles passing this test, compared to 91 percent in 2011.
Improper repairs had a big effect on satisfaction, says Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "Failure to repair a vehicle correctly is critical to the customer experience," he says. "Average satisfaction scores tumble over 100 points for those who had to bring their vehicle back for repeat repairs."
The original article can be found at CarInsurance.com:Faster checks, but slower repairs

subset: commoncrawl


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US moves closer to a possible default on debt
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States moved closer to the possibility of the first-ever default on the government's debt as Speaker John Boehner adamantly ruled out a House vote on a straightforward bill to boost the borrowing authority without concessions from President Barack Obama.
With no resolution in sight, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Sunday that Congress is "playing with fire" as he called on lawmakers to quickly pass legislation re-opening the government and a measure increasing the nation's $16.7 trillion debt limit.
The government shutdown precipitated by the budget brinkmanship entered its sixth day with hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed, national parks closed and an array of government services on hold.
Lew said Obama has not changed his opposition to coupling a bill to re-open the government and raise the borrowing authority with Republican demands for changes in the 3-year-old health care law and spending cuts.
Boehner insisted that Obama must negotiate if the president wants to end the shutdown and avert a default that could trigger a financial crisis and recession that would echo the events of 2008 or worse. The 2008 financial crisis pushed the country into the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"We're not going to pass a clean debt limit increase," Boehner, the top House Republican, said in a television interview. "I told the president, there's no way we're going to pass one. The votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit, and the president is risking default by not having a conversation with us."
Boehner also said he lacks the votes "to pass a clean CR," or continuing resolution, a reference to the temporary spending bill without conditions that would keep the government operating. Democrats argue that their 200 members in the House of Representatives plus close to two dozen pragmatic Republicans would back a so-called clean bill if Boehner just allowed a vote, but say he remains hamstrung by the hardcore conservative tea party caucus.
"Let me issue him a friendly challenge. Put it on the floor Monday or Tuesday. I would bet there are the votes to pass it," said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.
In a series of Sunday television appearances, Lew warned that on Oct. 17, when he exhausts the bookkeeping maneuvers he has been using to keep borrowing, the threat of default would be imminent.
"I'm telling you that on the 17th, we run out of the ability to borrow, and Congress is playing with fire," Lew said.
Lew said that while Treasury expects to have $30 billion of cash on hand on Oct. 17, that money will be quickly exhausted in paying incoming bills given that the government's payments can run up to $60 billion on a single day.
Treasury issued a report on Thursday detailing in stark terms what could happen if the government actually defaulted on its obligations to service the national debt.
"A default would be unprecedented and has the potential to be catastrophic," the Treasury report said. "Credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, U.S. interest rates could skyrocket, the negative spillovers could reverberate around the world."
Private economists generally agree that a default on the U.S. debt would be extremely harmful, especially if the impasse was not resolved quickly.
"If they don't pay on the debt, that would cost us for generations to come," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. He said a debt default would be a "cataclysmic" event that would roil financial markets in the United States and around the world.
Zandi said that holders of U.S. Treasury bonds would demand higher interest rates which would cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars in higher interest payments in coming years on the national debt.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite who has been a force in pushing congressional Republicans to link changes to the health care law in exchange for keeping the government running, spelled out his conditions for raising the borrowing authority.
"We should look for three things. No. 1, we should look for some significant structural plan to reduce government spending. No. 2, we should avoid new taxes. And No. 3, we should look for ways to mitigate the harms from 'Obamacare,'" Cruz said, describing the debt ceiling issue as one of the "best leverage the Congress has to rein in the executive."
Some Republicans, such as Rep. Steve King of Iowa, dismiss the warnings about a government default as an exaggeration, suggesting U.S. credit won't collapse and calling the talk "a lot of false demagoguery."
Asked how the standoff might end, Boehner said Sunday on ABC that he was uncertain: "If I knew, I'd tell you." He added that Obama can call him any time to start negotiations to end the shutdown. "He knows what my phone number is."
Privately, administration officials say they don't think Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell want a default as they realize it will be far worse than a shutdown, but the two don't know how to avoid it or when to try.
In one promising development, several hundred thousand furloughed federal employees are headed back to work starting Monday, and those who remain at home or are working without paychecks are a step closer to getting back pay once the partial government shutdown ends.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered nearly all of the 350,000 furloughed Pentagon civilian employees back on the job. Hagel said he based his decision on a Pentagon interpretation of a law called the Pay Our Military Act that was approved by Congress just before the start of the partial government shutdown.
The Senate will try to vote this week on a bill that passed the House unanimously on Saturday to pay federal workers for days missed due to the shutdown.
Boehner and Schumer were interviewed on ABC's "This Week," and Lew and Cruz on CNN's "State of the Union." Lew also appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," ″Fox News Sunday" and NBC's "Meet the Press."


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Jan56 on Family Tree Circles
sort: Date Alphabetical
view: full | list
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Journals and Posts
I have been researching my Family history now for 12 months, and with a number of names particularly Irish ancestors I am now hitting my brick wall on a number of them.
If you are researching any please make contact.
Patrick O'Kane 1798-1844/ Ann Jane Hergarty 1819-1865, B Kilrea Londonderry, D Moneysallin
James Armstrong 1780, B Clones Fermanagh
Robert Davis 1840 D Killeshandra, Caven
Manus McClafferty 1820 B Killult, Falcarragh
Daniel McGee 1820/ Mary Curran 1822 B Killult
Thanks Jan
- Displaying 1-1 of 1 Journals
- 1
- of1


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Using clever skin-tracking technology the Barclaycard Toys are springing to life right in the palm of your hand.
Thanks to the augmented-reality magic of Toys Unleashed, our miniature friends are here to play their favourite games. Just use your phone and your thumb to play a trio of uniquely fun games. As the levels get higher, things get faster, so don't forget to share your best scores with friends.
Key features
• Augmented reality: play in the palm of your hand
• Play with 3D animated characters
• Easy to pick up and play, but things get harder as the levels get higher
• Enjoy three different games
• Each game offers a different challenge: easy, medium and hard
• Share your scores with Facebook friends
The toys are celebrating our Barclaycard TV ad. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it at http://www.youtube.com/barclaycard - and keep your eyes peeled for a familiar face or two.


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James Bliss
From one developer to another, I just want to say that this is a godsend!
For years, I've puttered around with throwing CSS at it until something tolerable came out. I've been reading the bootstrap docs, and it suddenly feels like the sky's the limit on what I can do. Drop downs scared me before, but now I can use them just as richly as their desktop counterparts.


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Brand Label: Jessica Sanders
ITEM MOVED TO ARCHIVE: On February 22, 2017 1:09 pm, Fashion Stylist Online noted this item may be out of stock at macys because it was not referenced in their latest online catalog. If this item is out of stock at macys, you may be able to find similar fashions sold there or elsewhere on our Jessica Sanders Designer Brand Directory.
Available for Purchase Online at macys for $200.00Pin It
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This item was published for sale online by macys on February 22, 2017 10:40 am and last updated by us February 22, 2017 1:09 pm.
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A fined-tuned blend of select natural-organic nutrients with 8 strains of beneficial Mycorrhizae and Humic Acid, all specifically formulated for vigorous vegetative growth during all phases of plant development. A banquet of plant nutrients with quick to slow release availability. This formulation doubles as both an excellent grow and a general purpose fertilizer that will sustain lush growth and abundant flowering for all indoor and outdoor leafing, flowering, and fruiting plants. A single application will feed most plants for 12-16 weeks.
This item is sold individually. The case size is listed for your convenience for instances where you wish to order in case quantities.
— Ships from H: WA, CA, CO, MI, TN, PA, FL USA.


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Living the single life and loving it
"… I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith, to be content" (Philippians 4:11).
What is the "therewith" you find yourself in today?
An e-mail from a good friend of mine started like this: "Well, I am alone again, but don't worry, I am happy." Reading further, I discovered she had parted ways with husband No. 2. She ended the e-mail by saying being alone does not necessarily mean being lonely. I thought about that phrase for a while and found I agree with it. I personally can be alone for hours or days and be completely at peace with it because I find things to do. Loving to read, I can grab a good book, sit out by the pool, eat when and what I want (or if I want), go where I want to go, and visit with whomever makes me happy. I catch up on long overdue correspondence, travel if I choose, shop if needed, or watch TV with the remote in my own hand.
Now before any of our good readers fear my husband and I have broken up our marriage or that I am trying to muscle in on "Dear Annie," let me assure that all is well in the Henley household. I lived as a single woman with children for many years and did fine. I admit I learned a lot and I had to change my way of doing things, but not only did I survive, but I also thrived and found I was much stronger than I knew. I also had wonderful friends and family who were there to help should I need them.
During the years I lived alone, I discovered creativity I did not know I had, learned to work in a completely different environment, took on new challenges, and feel that in my quiet and private space, I had a real opportunity to grow. I believe I also learned to find contentment in and with myself. A lecturer I heard not long ago said that humans must first learn to love themselves before they can really learn to love others.
Now, of course, there are some funny sides to living alone, and I would be remiss if I did not mention some of them. With no one else in the house, you don't have to dress if you don't choose to do so. You can wear those gosh awful pajamas all day if it pleases you. If you want to get up at 3 in the morning and read or watch TV, you can without anyone worrying about you or trying to get you to come back to bed and get your rest. Did I mention cooking? You can or can't, whichever you choose. So you like to eat ham out of the package, a chunk of cheese with crackers, or cookies in bed. Take out is good.
Ah, singing and dancing, even if you're not very good at it. You can grab that spatula or spoon, pretend it's a wired microphone, and sing to the rooftop. And control of the TV, CD player or radio — that's a real winner! Cleaning becomes a matter of priorities. No one notices the dust or the piled up laundry other than you, or your mom when she comes over to visit. Having a bad hair day? Who cares? And if you're a girl, the toilet seat is always down. Toothpaste tubes are your prerogative — cap on or off? Vacation about to come up? You choose where to go. There's no one home to tell on you.
Even though these things are humorous to some extent, it does give single folks, men and women, something to think about during a time in your life when you might be feeling a bit blue or discouraged. Make the most of your single years. Travel where you'd most like to go. Continue your education. Take up a sport. Volunteer when opportunities present themselves. Get a pet you love. Perhaps try your hand at writing, photography or collecting.
You still need people with whom to share your life, and you will much more likely meet someone new and interesting if you are involved in your community. Be grateful for the good things in your life. If you're healthy, thank God for that. If you have supportive family and close friends, make sure they know you are grateful for their love. Gratitude determines attitude in 99 percent of the instances that most affect our daily lives. The very worst thing one can do is panic and feel that every day must be spent in finding that right person with whom to share life. In so many cases, people have said when they stopped looking, God sent the right partner. Your "singledom" will not likely last a lifetime. The air of desperation is by far the worst signal you can emit to others.
Think of it instead as a time that God has allowed for you to get to know yourself.


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Hurricane Sandy: Which Stocks Will Sink or Swim?
GameChangers Investment strategist Hilary Kramer joins Markets Hub to discuss which stocks are expected to surge or shine following Hurricane Sandy.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... I ... mm ... mm ... mm ... mm mm mm ... eulogy a live satellite TV of Hurricane Sandy as it approaches the goes through parts of the Eastern seaboard ... the hurricane ... is post two ... resorted touch land in this post to ... make it sweet or snorkel for the coming day ... joining us now is investments traded investment strategist ... at Hilary Kramer v New York City ... killer a obviously ... the storms of this nature ... can wreak havoc on investor portfolios not just because markets are closed because they have an impact ... on corporate earnings what are the types of companies that you really are taking a peek at today and worried about ... what could it mean for them the fourth quarter and the going into next year ... I'm very concerned ... regarding transportation ... I've that the airline top Apple Brady Hino ... operate on him in March and we know that that dire situation American airline and a renegotiation ... here companies like United Delta and JetBlue which I ... frogged with pink ... over by JFK John F Kennedy airport ... to be ... on the airline to take such a case that had to clean the house ... aam MP it was in the past year ... and he he part of an ... epic comeback in you think about the profit and now ... we know about your one PT don't include Delta what about ... some of the other companies to keep trucking companies are can pop band ... aid he and and ... it means alot to me on ... because of the nineteen eighties ... I worked in the IPO a parking lot that ... can damage cost the company or the period ... Warner enterprise WDR and make transportation came back ... on weight the end of the of ... the two particular companies ... the hit number one ticket get cricket are going up ... in the queue because obviously they have to hold an alternate to it aam printing who suffered ... a freak and ... on to catch up on interactive delivery and distribution ... will ... he be if not weeks ... and remembers some of them have found to have good ... there ... um and there are that content for ... your delicate summer tripling that are high here and ... it's really important ... he noted it down to the trough ... are are are holding them safely ... they think and feel the pain or an improvement in the package ... aam never Ryan and I was told that it is that a few years ago that there was a little hop ... lighting can it be better but it added ... aam house ... and my package that ever don't ... go and Manchin can be damaged in the that that the package is Earl G and optimistic ... has your mixes clients or our our nation is well and are there some retailers ... and others who were in the fourth quarter were getting into ... the time the year when the Jewish family go from red to black is that a second also weighed about yes ok but ... that that's ... actually the high in discretionary retailers like Abercrombie Michael Couric be maddening ... even even that good can replace the whole ... they don't have the kind of they and their ... high chopper to ... go for like it didn't affect water Wal-Mart the need for pay or if the home ... Depot in love with the really important to the tothe stocking up the content ... here's a preview and damage control after the hurricane but no one is going to like you don't wander into Abercrombie and Fitch ... you know and buy whatever you know you're not going to happen now ... on the stock ... what a lot about it wonderful a half ... hour of trading ... and on Friday I washed it opted to ... get a hold on AMD and remember Friday morning thinking that a long time ago now video about the Apple reported Amazon reported ... an upturn in the stock in a park meaning of going with extended added how can sentiment time to get a ticket today to kick a ... possible because ... they depend on UPS The depend on federal expressed ... in the mail or Kathleen Koch ... everything pretended to be a prom people meet the hall ordering on line while there were the ... two were made his ... debut ... on ... the opening half the current transportation why um I think you're a much greater concern ... today um there and that I'm going to do it if you can lose a few days ... in terms of time to retreat in order to weaken the power outage it ... across the country to Mohali we thank you so much for joining us ... that was killer Kreamer investment strategists ... talk about the impact of retailers ... airlines trucking companies you name it obviously ... insurers were also on imported sector to watch out for ... in the coming weeks and especially coming days


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Thursday, August 08, 2013
La Vie en Rose
22 comments:
Beware of Pink! (Just kidding)ReplyDelete
Lovely, lovely paintings. And it was about time someone painted the town, er, cherries pink!
I remember my first Swatch..wish I still had it~ReplyDelete
Some things you keep..and why?
Others you don't..and WHY?:)
So save the black one for rainy days and buy the pink for sunshine:)
I am in the midst of preparing a pink post..little girl.. pink Anemones..
..being surrounded by boys now....which I love....but they seldom wear pink..I snapped up an occasion at Lucas' party to snap pinks:)
How sweet is that Blonde girl in white w/ the pink runners?
Almost as cute as your aquarelle(I bought more cerises today too..)..and your new artist's studio w/ chaise rose.
Good to see Bear has a comfy place to rest! (I like the desk in that shot, too.)ReplyDelete
I'm glad that the weather is pleasant.....
I haven't seen pink here - let's see if the trend gets to New England.
Oh, I love it - a pink watch to match your pink chair. How could you resist?! (I think you should get the pink backpack, too!)ReplyDelete
Love those shots of the Tuileries. Brings back so many wonderful memories of wandering through Paris. And, of course, you know that I love the shot of Bear! Looks like he's meditating - perhaps planning his next watercolour painting?
- Anonymous7:31 PM
we went to Ikea last weekend. There was this couple with a little girl all in pink. We were going through the adult office section and there was a pink desk and chair that she ran right up to and sat at. It was so cute. I even pointed it out to Brenda. The kid knew what matched. Would have been a great photo for you.ReplyDelete
Rick Tulka
Just like you to sit at your screen looking absolutely fabulous!ReplyDelete
Love your pink chair and Swatch, Carol! Have a TERRIFIC WEEKEND! XXReplyDelete
Love Rachel Khoo. You deserve a pink backpack just because.ReplyDelete
Viva pink. It is definitely a color to embrace.ReplyDelete
What luck to find that chair! On my homeward ride tonight on the R train, the doors opened at 23rd Street, and a tall young man wheeled a comfy, sturdy looing office chair into the car. He remained standing, for the next stops until I got off at Times Square. Of course, this being NYC, his chair was black.
Thank you for reminding me to sample some 2013 cherries very soon.
I love this post. I love pink! and you FOUND the chair for free? Wish someone would leave something fun by my door. :) Love your desk area you have to paint at. The little peek of the open window makes it feel like Paris. Love how you captured the ride swirling around perfectly. Go exchange your black bag for the pink! Pink is a happy color. :)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous3:38 PM
I read every detail of Paris Breakfast. Tres charmante!ReplyDelete
I'm visiting Paris in September and have memorized What 2 Wear. XO Sarah
Love your cerises, Carol--wonderful. Sounds like a perfect pink day. I can't wait to see what yo do at Giverny!ReplyDelete
I love your new studio. Looks cozy.
That is the PERFECT pink! Lovely!ReplyDelete
Loving this.... perfect!ReplyDelete
Aha pretty in pink. Daughter just bought a new pencil case saying she loved pink too. But wonders if it's more to do with the singer than the colour. Love the look of your workstation. Always have. Makes me feel tidy. You going pink?ReplyDelete


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Im just Wondering how many tennis pro's are part of this group
So if you dont mind leavinga comment of some sort that would be great
Views: 139
Replies to This Discussion
Hi Javier,
I am a tennis pro.
If you need some more information, feel free
to contact me and I will be more than happy to help you out.
Take care,
hey alex thanks for the reply, i just want to see how people pro's there are to set up a gathering at some point in the next few weeks to hangout play alittle bit and exchange tips, im part of one in Buena park hosted by Don Henson
That is no problem, I am currently in Europe and will be coming in US, mid to end of October.
Perhaps we can get together, once I am there.
Take care.
yea man sounds like a plan !
Hi Javier,
I am going to be back end of October.
Talk to you soon.
Take care
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2018 F-150 Super Cab 4x2, Pickup (Stock #JKD69446)
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2018 Ford F-150 XLT EcoBoost 2.7L V6 GTDi DOHC 24V Twin Turbocharged ABS brakes, Compass, Electronic Stability Control, Illuminated entry, Low tire pr… essure warning, Remote keyless entry, Traction control. 20/26 City/Highway MPGThanks for visiting us at Penske Ford. We understand you need as much information as possible to make a vehicle buying decision . If you have a few questions to ask . Just send us an email, give us a call 619-464-7777 or even better stop by at our convenient location in La Mesa at the crossroads of I 8 & RT 125. Price does not include sales tax, license and fees. Price includes: $2,750 - Retail Customer Cash. Exp. 04/01/2019, $1,500 - Bonus Customer Cash. Exp. 04/01/2019, $500 - EcoBoost Bonus Customer Cash. Exp. 04/01/2019
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Police: Cell phone sparked killing at Conroe MLK park
A 19-year-old man has been arrested in a fatal shooting during a fight about a cell phone at a park in Conroe Tuesday night.
Jerome Faggin is accused in the slaying of 19-year-old Geovany Ponce-Reyes about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday at Martin Luther King Jr. Park at 1001 MLK Place South, according to the Conroe Police Department.
Faggin was arrested Wednesday night without incident at a relative's home in Conroe. He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
Police said officers were dispatched to the park on an emergency call about a disturbance with a weapon. When they arrived, the found Ponce-Reyes dead in his car. He had been shot.
Witnesses told investigators Ponce-Reyes was sitting inside his vehicle when he had a fight with a man outside of the car. The man pulled out a gun and shot Ponce-Reyes.
The suspect then ran away through the park.
Investigators later determined Faggin was the gunman. They said he and Ponce-Reyes had a struggle about a cell phone.


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A collection of thoughts and photos of my life and work in the northern Great Plains of North America (and occasionally other places in the world).
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
And a partridge in a ..... well close anyway.
Posted by John Carlson at 11:20 AM
4 comments:
- MTWaggin said...
How about 4 calling birds? LOL Merry Christmas and I'll take those over a partridge any day.
- December 25, 2012 at 5:42 PM
- Anonymous said...
thanks for sharing.
- December 25, 2012 at 11:34 PM
- John Carlson said...
I like that Sherry - Four calling birds. Perhaps "four chuckling birds" in this case.
- December 26, 2012 at 7:44 AM
- Kevin Dwyer said...
Seeing that picture reminded me of blue grouse ( now dusky I guess ) when flushed flying up into the nearest conifer. To some this was taken as death wish and they were dispatched by a .22. Of course, that was in the dark ages of the late 60's I doubt that would happen today.
- December 27, 2012 at 12:22 PM
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That's odd... Nothing I've seen before. It might be a handmade thing.
The lamp Dale won for me actually looks different from pics of the ones I'd seen that were (supposedly) sold in the US. The one Dale one looks much cooler, actually, and more Star Wars-centric while the other ones I saw basically were a simple Lava Lamp with a little ROTS logo on it.
Page created in 0.031 seconds with 14 queries.


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ROCK FALLS – Two Rock Falls men were in Whiteside County Jail on Friday in connection with a string of vandalism attacks that has plagued Rock Falls, most notably Centennial Park, since the summer.
Cameron Keefer, 23, and Cordell Kiersey, 18, were arrested Thursday by Rock Falls Police after an anonymous tip, Rock Falls Commander Tammy Nelson said.
Nelson said the two men had admitted to the vandalism attacks as well as to other crimes, and that more arrests are forthcoming. She estimated the damage will cost the city thousands of dollars.
Nelson said that during interviews, Keefer and Kiersey indicated that they damaged the properties "just for fun" and because they had "nothing else to do."
Keefer is charged with six counts of criminal damage to government supported property, and Kiersey is charged with five counts of the same offense.
Keefer's bond is set at $50,000; Kiersy's is $25,000.


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quote:Originally posted by Guest5001The stats do not speak for themselves.If you take the average goals per game and point per game totals of Mario Lemieux, and then add the same amount of games played by Gretzky to Mario that he WOULD have had if he didn't fight cancer and miss so many games, he would end up 9 points shy of Wayne Gretzkys career points mark, and over 50 goals more.Fun huh?
quote:Originally posted by Guest4786It'sFirst of all, people on this blog have made the mistake of saying that the both of them basically played in the same era. It is true that there is only a 4 years difference between them but those 4 years makes all the difference. Gretzky peaked in the early-mid 80s. That's when he posted incredible numbers. After 1988, he only posted 50 goals once. He peaked when the conditions were perfect for him to break records. The game was slower back then, there was considerably less hooking, goalies had small equipment, coaches didn't rely on air-tight defensive systems and the quality of the 3rd and 4th lines guys was clearly not as good due in part to the lack of intensive systematic conditioning programs as we see today. Plus Wayne had his peak when he was part of the dynasty-era Oilers. Mario's peak was in the late 1980s. The game had changed, goalies had gotten better.As time went on, the game got tougher and tougher and Gretzky lost his a bit of his aura. He never racked up 50 goals in the 1990s and he was limited to 20-goal something seasons for the few last seasons he played whereas Lemieux was still scoring 50 goals when he first retired and added 35 in 43 games when he came back in 2001. Don't get me wrong, Gretzky was great, but he dominated when the stars were aligned and as the game changed, his dominance faded slowly. Gretzky failed to bring the gold home in 1998 and he wasn't even picked during the shootout against Hasek. If there would have been a shootout in 2002, you can bet your ass that Lemieux would have been a part of that. If someone asked me to choose between Gretzky and Lemieux, I'd pick Lemieux simply because he could do it all, even when the conditions of the game were bad, something Gretzky could not really achieve.
quote:Originally posted by Guest4705For me it comes down to one simple scenario. Tie game with one minute remaining, who would you rather have on the ice to score the winner? Sorry gretzky fans but even you will admit we should put Mario on the ice. those who disagree are lying to themselves.
quote:Originally posted by Guest7060 I will end this topic right now. take both players in their prime give them each a decent goalie, is there anyone one that thinks gretzky would even touch the puck in a one on one game. end of discussion
quote:Originally posted by Guest9299Heres my $.02Switch Gretzky and Lemieux around and think about it. Put Lemieux on those Oiler teams of the early 80's and Gretzky on those horrendous Penguin teams and think of the difference it would make. Then think about Lemieux spending his prime years in the run and gun pond hockey nhl of the early 80's instead of his prime years when the game switched to a defensive trapping style in the early 90's and i think the record books would look vastly different. The league style was totally different when they put up their best numbers when Gretzky was in his prime scoring years the league was averaging almost 8 goals per game whereas with Lemieux when he was entering his prime years the league was averaging just around 6 goals per game. You say how crazy his scoring marks are but they are bloated by a wide open run and gun league whereas Lemieux averaged almost as many points per game when the league tightened up considerably defensively
quote:Where were you in 80-84? During that time in Edmonton, he was heads and tails better than his teamates and the rest of the league. Any that was without all the Physical gifts that Mario had better than Gretzky. He may not have physically dominated the game or had the better breakaway skills, but his head for the game was/is unmatched, period! Not a bash on Mario who had the best Physical gifts the game may have ever seen. I never seen Orr play and some will say he had the best physical gifts.
quote:Originally posted by Guest9299Heres my $.02Switch Gretzky and Lemieux around and think about it. Put Lemieux on those Oiler teams of the early 80's and Gretzky on those horrendous Penguin teams and think of the difference it would make. Then think about Lemieux spending his prime years in the run and gun pond hockey nhl of the early 80's instead of his prime years when the game switched to a defensive trapping style in the early 90's and i think the record books would look vastly different.
quote:Originally posted by Guest0182I love this topic. I could go on for ages and ages. But I'll give you guys the short version here. Gretzky, as a player, in terms of skill, could not play with Mario. This is really a joke topic, because stats aside, just LOOK AT THE TWO OF THEM PLAY!!! If you play hockey and love hockey, it's kinda a no brainer. Mario was like a god out there. Gretzky was not like a god out there. I saw both play live too, btw. No f------ contest whatsoever.
quote:Originally posted by GusteroniOn December 31/88 against the Devils, Lemieux scored a goal at even strength, on the power-play, shorthanded, on a penalty shot, and into an empty net for a total of five goals, five different ways. We have the Gordie Howe Hat-Trick so what should this be called?"There are only two seasons in Canada...hockey season and not hockey season."
quote:Originally posted by Guest0376One thing people are forgetting here.If you surrounded Lemieux with half the talent Gretzky had to draw on he woulda blown Gretz outta the water. I can barely skate and I woulda got 50 goals playing on thoseEdmonton teams.
quote:Originally posted by Guest0376...and later Rangers he was mere average...
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"Einstein on the Beach" was first performed in 1976. Philip Glass composed the music, Robert Wilson directed the production and Lucinda Childs choreographed the opera. The Los Angeles Opera production is the last stop in the opera's North American tour, and it will be the last time the three originators will collaborate on the production. There are three performances from Oct. 11-13.
Here are five things you should know before you go:
1 You decide what it means:
This masterpiece of modernism is a non-linear, non-narrative operatic event. Everyone will walk away with a different interpretation of the avant-garde production. "Einstein on the Beach" is visually stunning, musically mesmerizing, and breathtakingly choreographed, and it will challenge the way you think, hear and see. For a preview, check out this YouTube video.
2 There is no intermission:
"Einstein" is four and a half hours long, which would challenge the sitting skills of even the most steadfast opera fan. However, "Einstein" allows audience members to come and go from their seats in the auditorium. Use the restroom, buy a cocktail or a snack. There will be souvenier beach towels designed by Robert Wilson for sale, too.
3 It's OK to Tweet:
L.A. Opera has arranged for a Social Media Lounge on the third floor of the pavilion, where free WiFi will be provided for those who can't wait to share the experience with friends.
4 Go early:
Caltech's Einstein Papers Project will be displayed on the third floor of the auditorium, where you can see a dozen large portraits of the famous physicist in his natural habitat — as well as in and around L.A. An hour before the opera starts, Pulitzer Prize-winning classical music critic Tim Page will give a free lecture and answer questions prior to each performance.
5 If you want more:
UCLA is hosting two programs to celebrate the work. The highlight is a panel featuring Glass, Childs and Wilson in conversation at UCLA on Oct. 12. Tickets are $25-$50. 310-825-2101; cap.ucla.edu.


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This is a place for my genealogy. At this time I am researching Isaac John Wardle History. He was a Mormon handcart pioneer.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Letter from Isaac to Home July 2, 1879
July 2, 1879
Wigan Lancshire ED
To my Deer Wives and Children it is With plusher that i have this privleg to anser you faver of June 11[.] i was glad to hear that you all was Whell and all so to hear that Mother Was thrue safe her confinement so fare and to heare that she had a sone[.] i sent a Name for him but the 1 you have sute me very Well[.] take good Care of him and all of the oters and your selves till i Come home so that i Can have the privlig to see you all againe[.] i hope that you are all Well[.] i ham a little Beter than When i Rote last[.] this Climit is very ingures [injurious] to meny of the Elders[.] I have Been posted to go home this somer if i may Call it somer[.] it as Raned Every Day but 4 [page 2] Month[.] it is as Cold all the time as it his in April at home[.] i hope i shall be hable to stand it so that i Can Do the Work i Came for to Doue[.] it is hard Work for me to speek out Dones My Lung is so bad With the Damp Whather but We hope to have somer after awile[.] be of good Chear[.] all Will Bee Well[.] i Was glad to Reseve the present you sent me[;] the baby haire[,] all so the 5 $[.] i Did not knowe how to get a Long for Want of money[.] i have not had a nuf to pay maile Makers sinc i Came to England so you see that i Neaded it[.] the sants Wood Doue more for me if thay Cood. But thay have not got it to Du Wilth[.] all of the Elders have had to have help from home or bring it With them[.] [page 3] i Mean all i have seene[.] i was at Liverpool Esisting to fit out the Last Compney of sants Which No 622 soles[.] the 1 before Was 170; the 1 before that was 173 total 965. This is Doing Well for this year so far[.] thay Will more in the fonte?[.] be kind to Eney of them that Come to see you as some Will come if thay Can[.] tell John Spencer i Will visit is brother if Can before i come home but i ham so bisey at present that it makes it imposeble at present[.] tell Brother Winward that i have Not seen his sister as yet[.] i Do Not knowe when i ahsll have the privlig to Do it[.] We the Elders are very Bisey and have not time to go to see frends as yet[.] i Rote to him but have Not [page 4] Receved aney anser[.] if he as Not got it tell him to Right to me[.] tell my Duck mother Egbert to bee good to father Egbert and all the family and to you give my Love to Mother Becksted and all the Nebers[.] Let all the Children Right a Litle to father is nomore than 1 word a peace[.] i send you a peace of poetry Wich Was given to me [be] a sister[.] tell minty to larnet so that shee Can sing it to me When i Come[.] i Du not Whant to have my Liknes taken again yet[.] i mist conclude this short Later praying god to bles you all[.] i Remain your husbend and father f[as] away from home[.] Isaac J Wardle
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The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a component of the National Institutes of Health, seeks to reduce the burden of mental illness and behavioral disorders through research on the mind, brain, and behavior. NIMH provides a wide range of information based on that research. Publications are available through the NIMH Web site or by calling the NIMH information center for information and to order publications.
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This template download contains 3 color Beauty&spa slider design.
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Ethernet communication adapter for AC drive
A dual port EtherNet/IP communication adapter is now available for the Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 525 AC drive from Rockwell Automation. The communication adapter is designed to provide more connectivity options and offers device level ring (DLR) functionality over EtherNet/IP networks. The dual port EtherNet/IP card provides OEMs and end users the option of using a wide range of topologies including ring, linear and star.
The dual port communication adapters add support for DLR functionality, which can give a system resiliency from the loss of one network connection and provides fault-tolerant connectivity for optimum drive availability. The PowerFlex 525 AC drive has a modular design that is not affected by the addition of a dual port EtherNet/IP adapter.
Rockwell Automation
– See more Control Engineering industrial network products.


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Back in 1996, Ash Vij was a student pilot on a solo flight, heading his Cessna 172 to the practice area. But something just didn't feel right.
"I started feeling uncomfortable," he remembers. "So I turned around and headed back to the airport."After landing, he took the plane to the mechanic. "It was due for an oil change," he recalls, "but I also mentioned that I thought I had smelled something funny."
What the mechanic discovered on further inspection was that the 172's exhaust had broken and carbon monoxide was pouring into the cabin.
"If I had been on a long cross country flight, I would have been a statistic," Vij says.
An aircraft structures engineer by trade, Vij started researching the use of carbon monoxide detectors in airplanes. What he found was disheartening. "Nobody was making them," he says.
Oh sure, airplanes had a little black dot in the cabin, designed to detect CO levels. "But that dot had been black for years, and no one really pays attention to it any way," he says.
Two years of research led him to design and certify a carbon monoxide detector for GA. Unlike home-based detectors, which are chemically based, the airplane detectors have solid state sensors that set off alarms if CO levels measure above 50 parts per million. The alarm includes both an audio alert and a light. Pilots can even configure the alarm so that it goes off in their headsets.
After getting FAA certification, CO Guardian went on the market in 2001, but the GA community has been slow to wake up to the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
"There is still resistance in the market," Vij says. "It's like seatbelts in cars — people want them, but until they became mandatory, they just didn't go for them."
Cost, of course, is an issue. The units go for around $500, says Vij, noting that FAA certification is what makes them so expensive. "I'd like to sell them for $200, but I can't because I need a quality control manager and a production manager and all the other things the FAA requires."
Boosting CO Guardian's sales — and visibility — is the fact that three major GA players — Cessna, Diamond and Columbia — have added the units as standard equipment on their new planes.
What hasn't helped is a 2004 recommendation from the NTSB that all GA airplanes have carbon monoxide detectors installed on them.
"People always think "it's not going to happen to me, it's going to happen to the other guy,'" Vij says.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless toxic gas that is produced as a by-product of combustion.
When CO is inhaled, it combines with the body's oxygen-carrying hemoglobin to form carboxy-hemoglobin, which does not carry oxygen. As CO toxicity increases in the bloodstream to 200 ppm, pilots will suffer a variety of symptoms from headaches to fatigue to nausea.
At 800 ppm, dizziness, nausea and convulsions begin. Without relief, death can occur within two to three hours.
Symptoms vary and are based on exposure levels and duration. One recurrent theme is the "flu-like" symptoms of headache, dizziness and nausea. This often leads people to delay in getting treatment, which can be fatal.
It is estimated that 200 people die each year from CO poisoning, while another 5,000 are made sick.
A carbon monoxide detector is "truly a life-saving device," Vij says. "You only need it once for it to pay for itself," he says. "It gives you peace of mind."
But even as he exhibits the product at airshows and fly-ins across the country, Vij continues to run into resistance among pilots about spending that $500.
"It can be hard to justify until you need it," he says. "But if you consider that some people pay $7,000 to $8,000 on an engine monitor to keep an eye on their engine, $500 isn't a lot of money in the overall scheme."
For more information: 800-639-7139


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I commute most days. I've become accustomed to a much smaller commuting population in the winter months, but this year there appears to be a pretty solid lift in numbers. As I wind my way out of downtown at night there's a pretty steady stream of folks working their way along the bike-friendly routes.
Last night, as I was cruising up Eastlake I rolled up on a guy and greeted him with an "evening" as I passed him. Not a second later I got a big, "Hey BikeHugger!". I had my green kit on and the guy (Mike) was a reader. He started commuting this summer and has been diligent about sticking to it. He lives up past UW by Sand Point and has been commuting home most every night (he takes the bus down in the morning). He's lost 20 pounds and says he's never felt better. Very cool – and sort of exciting to see that the Hugger is getting recognized!


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Monday, August 24, 2009
Google reveals anonymous blogger's identity
A reminder - model Liskula Cohen wanted to sue the anonymous blogger for defamation after derogatory posts were published. She sued Google to force them to reveal the name of the blogger and the court ruled in her favour.
I said at the end of the post: Whether Google will appeal the decision hasn't been announced, nor has how or when the bloggers name will be revealed. I guess it could be in open court or privately to Ms Cohen and her lawyers.
In fact Google simply obeyed the court order. It's reported that the blogger's identity was initially concealed, but somehow it's now in the public domain.
The outed blogger is Rosemary Port, a 29-year-old New York fashion student.
The story will run for a while yet because she says she's planning to sue Google for breaching her privacy.
Talk about naive: "Before her suit, there were probably two hits on my website: one from me looking at it, and one from her looking at it," Port said.
"That was before it became a spectacle. I feel my right to privacy has been violated."
Rosemary, you publish something on the web and it's there for the whole world to see. You want your written thoughts to remain private, write it with a pen in an old-fashioned paper diary and lock it in a cupboard.
When you read the new details it's a case of two women being bitchy to each other which has got out of hand.
Now the lawyers are involved, offering them huge publicity, not to mention a good percentage of any damages awarded, it will just go on and on.
Mr Murdoch's rag the New York Daily News has been running the story and it'll be fodder for the tabloids for a long time yet. The gossip angle will probably throw a smoke screen over the serious aspect of it all.
I read the latest chapter of the story in The Sydney Morning Herald, which rightly puts it in the Technology section.
16 comments:
- eric blair said...
Perhaps you have spent too much time away from democracy, but in democracy one has a right to truly free speech, which is uninhibited speech free from reprisal. anonymity is an important tool to prevent reprisal. while this specific case in prima-facie insignificant, its precedent is extremely dangerous and undemocratic.
- August 24, 2009 4:37 pm
eric is right
silence is defeat
dissent is patriotic
blog freely and anonymously here
- August 24, 2009 4:48 pm
- rosh said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- August 24, 2009 5:31 pm
- rosh said...
Well then, so much for the A-holes Google! They track users as is - blatant invasion of user privacy! Use Scroogle folks!
- August 24, 2009 5:32 pm
- Seabee said...
in democracy one has a right to truly free speech, which is uninhibited speech free from reprisal
What a breathtakingly naive and uninformed comment EB. Are you unaware of the laws in democracies pertaining to libel and slander, to racial vilification, to incitement to riot, to denial of the holocaust and many many more laws governing 'free speech'?
Do you not understand that this case is in the USA, a leading democracy?
in democracy one has a right to truly free speech, which is uninhibited speech free from reprisal is a fantasy. Here's a starting point from which you can learn the reality.
- August 24, 2009 5:41 pm
anonymous free speech is protected by the first amendment of the US constitution and reinforced so by the supreme court of the land on multiple occasions
the article you posted clearly states that australian and us laws are almost opposite when it comes to libel and burden of proof. perhaps you are inferring from what is more familiar.
i invite you to closely study the laws of the united states (which is actually a constitutional republic and not a democracy) before cherry-picking suitable information from the interwebs
- August 24, 2009 6:23 pm
- Seabee said...
boxster of course I agree that all countries have their own laws relating to defamation and curbs on 'free speech'. They nevertheless have them, whether they are democracies or not.
Indeed the US Constitution does protect free speech - but that doesn't mean that the US allows unfettered free speech (which is what EB claimed for democracies). There are many laws curbing what people can say, a few of which I pointed out above - and which the case I posted about demonstrates.
Other democracies also have strong laws governing what may and may not be said or written. London is known as 'the world's libel capital' for example.
I gave the link I did because it was one that related libel laws to the internet, and I did say it was a starting point - it's impractical to give them all. There are many many others which refute EB's untrue claim in democracy one has a right to truly free speech, which is uninhibited speech free from reprisal. That was the only point I was debating.
Correcting a point you made: united states (which is actually a constitutional republic and not a democracy).
The US is not a democracy?!
A democracy is defined as a country which has a government elected by the people and the US is certainly that. Under the democratic system there are variations in the way the government is set up.
- August 25, 2009 11:20 am
- Michael Roberts of Rexxfield and Mile2 said...
Really guys, let's drop the rhetoric about what's legally permissible and cut to the chase, and that is what's right and what's wrong? The availability and universal accessibility of Internet blogging technologies has caused a 21st-century pandemic in the form of Internet smear campaigns. Some of these are initiated by normal people experiencing a temporary emotionally charged episode of poor impulse control. However, most of these are initiated by the moral minority (maybe the 3% of the population who have antisocial personality disorder) who are fueled by other people's pain.
Anonymous free speech is a wonderful thing, I would never want to see it threatened, at least the original intent of its encouragement. And that is honest and relevant dissent and whistleblowing. How many children have been saved as a result of anonymous alerts of sexual predators moving into a community? How many investors have had life savings rescued, or at least damage is mitigated, as a result of white-collar crime whistleblowing?
Benefits notwithstanding, there is no such thing as free speech! All speech has a cost, it may come at the expense of a criminal or predator in some cases, which is an acceptable, moreover beneficial cost. But when innocent people minding their own business become targets of narcissists or sociopath hellbent on destroying their family, career, business, relationships, and emotional well-being, the cost is simply unacceptable.
Rabid advocates of absolute free speech need to develop a "repulse reflex" To the garbage posted on the Internet and try to meet these victims at their level. Until somebody has personally, or through someone they love, experienced debilitating anguish associated with a relentless and malicious Internet smear campaign they simply cannot relate to how painful it is.
Respectfully submitted, Michael Roberts. Internet libel victim's advocate.
- August 25, 2009 11:34 am
- Seabee said...
MR I'm in complete agreement with you.
The focus of my original post on this case was that it confirmed that bloggers are subject to existing laws, such as libel, the same as anyone else.
I started that post by saying: "I've always believed that we're governed by the laws of libel, decency and honesty which apply to any other published material. The fact that we're the new phenomenon of blogging, are amateurs and publish only on the web is immaterial."
The creation of the internet has meant that what would have been slander to a handful of friends in the past now can be libel accessible to a billion people.
- August 25, 2009 12:56 pm
- eric blair said...
allow me to clarify. the structure of the internet guarantees all kinds of free speech whether we like it or not. ("the internet regards censorship as damage and routes around it") ergo, for shall we say, 'regrettable' speech it has become the responsibility of the audience to filter the unnecessary, predatory, and repulsive. the idea of restricting speech is antiquated and impractical. this fact of the present day is a realization of the dream of the framers of the US constitution.
- August 25, 2009 5:40 pm
- Seabee said...
You may not like it, you may choose to not believe it, but the law says differently EB, whether it's the internet or any other form of communication.
- August 25, 2009 6:15 pm
I like this phrase you posted:
"Rosemary, you publish something on the web and it's there for the whole world to see. You want your written thoughts to remain private, write it with a pen in an old-fashioned paper diary and lock it in a cupboard."
It hits the dartboard right in the bull's eye. For all I know, we have an option in blogger not to allow search engines to index the posts or at least only invite people we trust. Rosemary should have used that option first hand if she didn't want her thoughts and ideas to be public.
Anyway, the damage is done and all we can do is wait and see. - Philippines Blogger -
- August 26, 2009 8:59 am
In the United States people vote, but the president is selected by the Electoral College. This choice often, but not always, coincides with the will of the people (see Bush vs Gore and others).
The mechanisms to curtail the popular passion have been put in place by the founding fathers to avoid corruption of statesmen by their acting to please the public, rather than remain calmly concerned with state affairs.
Read the first sentence of this:
- August 26, 2009 1:59 pm
- Seabee said...
Boxster are you still on about the US not being a democracy?
It's going off at a tangent a long way off the point of my post, which was reporting a court case in the US and commenting that it confirmed that everyone, bloggers included, are subject to existing laws.
However, as you still seem to insist that the US is not a democracy, read Webster's definition: Government exercised either directly by the people or through elected representatives.
Or, if you're from the US call your elected representative and ask the question. Or call the nearest US embassy and ask them.
- August 26, 2009 2:27 pm
Mr Murdoch's rag is the New York Post. The Daily News is Mort Zuckerman's rag.
- August 27, 2009 3:03 pm
- Seabee said...
True, email@example.com, thanks for the correction. There's a strong rumour that Murdoch will buy the News this year and I got the two mixed up.
As you say, they're both rags anyway.
- August 27, 2009 3:40 pm


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Extra time in today's Spanish Supercup second leg went like this: Barcelona was up 3-2 on Lionel Messi's wonderful second goal of the match. So, Real Madrid defender Marcelo decided it would be a good idea to take a cheap shot at just-got-into-the-match Barca noob Cesc Fabregas. That's when the benches cleared and shoving, throat grabbing and whatnot ensued. At one point, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho seemed to aggressively pinch (or possibly deliver a wet willy to) an assistant Barcelona coach and got a head shove in return.
Good times were had by all.
Messi double fires Barca to Spanish Super Cup triumph [Reuters]


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Galesburg, IL -
The Prairie Fire offense had a big day, piling up the highest point total in a game in nearly six years. Lawrence University, however, had an even bigger day offensively and came away with a 63-42 victory Saturday in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams at the Knosher Bowl.
The Fire and the Vikings combined for 60 first downs and 1,159 yards of offense while players from both offenses entered the record books as a result of the shootout.
Lawrence quarterback Luke Barthelmess completed 28-of-39 passes for 549 yards and six touchdowns. He set a new Midwest Conference record for passing yardage in a game, besting the previous mark of 532 by former Knox quarterback Bob Monroe established in October of 1986 against Cornell College. The six TD passes by Barthelmess ties him for second in league history.
Sophomore quarterback Drew Diaz (Niles, Illinois) tied a Knox College football record with five touchdown passes. Diaz, who completed 21 of his 40 attempts for 313 yards, shares the honor with five others: Monroe, Jim Wise, Todd Monken, Mike Erwin, and Anthony McClenathan.
Junior Clarke Cuthbert (Oak Park, Illinois) caught eight passes for 181 yards. He moved into ninth place all-time for receiving yards in a game by a Knox player.
The Prairie Fire had 31 first downs in the game, which is tied for eighth all-time in MWC history and one short of the school record set in 1986 against Grinnell College. In addition, the 42 points scored by Knox is the most since a 57 point outburst and victory on October 15, 2005 -- the Homecoming game -- against Grinnell College.
The Prairie Fire took a 7-0 lead when Diaz hit sophomore Jonas Mack (Algonquin, Illinois) with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 7:24 to play in the first quarter. Junior Doug Lillibridge (Byron, Illinois) made all six of his extra point attempts.
Lawrence (1-1, 1-0 MWC) answered back at the 5:44 mark of the quarter with a touchdown when Tyler Mazur caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Barthelmess. The Vikings, after a penalty, went for a two-point conversion that was snuffed out by Knox to keep the score at 7-6.
Cuthbert scored on a 22-yard pass reception to give the Prairie Fire (0-2, 0-1 MWC) a 14-6 lead with 3:07 to go in the first quarter. The Vikings responded with 28 unanswered points before the Prairie Fire closed the gap to 34-21 on a 16-yard run by senior Luke Northam (Colorado Springs, Colorado) 3:28 before halftime. Neither team scored the rest of the first half.
The teams combined for over 600 yards through two quarters of play with Lawrence holding a 391-218 advantage. All but 10 of the Vikings' yards were through the air.
Lawrence outscored the Prairie Fire 14-7 in the third quarter to take a 48-28 lead into the final stanza. Mazur scored on a 14-yard pass from Barthelmess at the 13:16 mark and on a 3-yard run with 5:23 to go in the quarter. The Prairie Fire fought back, scoring with 50 seconds left in the quarter on a 23-yard pass play from Diaz to Northam.
Lawrence scored quickly in the fourth quarter. Mazur capped off a 3-play, 78-yard drive with a 72-yard touchdown reception with 14:43 to play in the game for a 55-28 advantage. The Prairie Fire, just 28 seconds later, scored on the first play of the drive -- a 62-yard pass from Diaz to Cuthbert -- that sliced the deficit to 55-35.
The teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way. Barthelmess scored the final TD for Lawrence on a 20-yard run with 12:36 to play and sophomore Zach Belk (Peoria, Illinois) caught a 9-yard pass from Diaz for his first touchdown of the season at 7:56 for the final points of the afternoon.
The Prairie Fire ran 90 plays and piled up 503 yards of offense. Sophomore Derek Mortensen (Crystal Lake, Illinois) had 18 carries for a game-high 84 yards. Knox ran the football 48 times for 190 yards.
Lawrence had 656 yards of offense -- 573 through the air and 83 rushing. Mazur led his team with eight catches for 220 yards and five touchdowns, four of them receiving.


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Diane Kruger: Holiday Shopping at The Grove!
Diane Kruger checks messages on her iPhone while doing some holiday shopping at The Grove on Saturday (November 10) in Los Angeles.
The 36-year-old singer's new movie The Host doesn't hit theaters until next year, but the trailer will be released next week in front of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2!
Here's the film's synopsis: A parasitic alien soul is injected into the body of Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan). Instead of carrying out her race's mission of taking over the Earth, "Wanda," as she comes to be called, forms a bond with her host and sets out to aid other free humans.


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Studio One FREE available!
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Intended for beginners who don't yet need the advanced features in Studio One Artist, Producer, and Professional, Studio One Free provides all of the recording and editing features needed for basic music production — and as its name implies, it's free.
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PreSonus/KristalLabs unveiled Studio One!
Posted on 04/01/2009 by
Studio One, a new music creation and production application for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista, developed by KristalLabs in cooperation with PreSonus has been unveiled at Musikmesse Frankfurt.
After three years of development, Studio One (formerly code-named K2) is a fresh and innovative new platform, that surely will kick ass the existing DAWs! If you started with KRISTAL Audio Engine, you will love its advanced possibilities and professional features. Your existing projects can be seamlessly imported into Studio One.
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K2 User Pre-Registration online!
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K2 is the codename for a new music production tool, developed by KristalLabs.
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User Forum moved to new server!
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The KRISTAL User Forum has been moved to a new server.
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KristalLabs Software Ltd., a privately held company co-founded by the lead developer of KRISTAL 1.0, Matthias Juwan, has taken over all rights on K2 source code. All the hard work invested in the K2 project over the past two years, will be used as foundation for developing new commercial-grade music production tools by KristalLabs.
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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
by Maddy Matthews
Chief Bruce Mack of Wheatfield's Frontier Volunteer Fire Co. recently was awarded the Liberty Mutual Firemark Award, during a drill with his fellow firefighters.
This award is given to career and volunteer firefighters in local communities who exhibit not only bravery in their life-saving efforts, but who also demonstrate commitment to their community by going above and beyond what is expected or required of them.
Mack knew from a young age that he wanted to be a firefighter. He started as a youth firefighter when he was 14, and became a full firefighter at age 18 in 1988. Four years ago, he became chief.
Ed Tase, a member of the fire company, nominated Mack for the Firemark Award.
He describes the chief as someone who "would not think of asking any person, firefighter, or EMS person to do anything he would not do himself."
He also describes a man who is hands-on and is more than willing to take the time to help those around him by teaching them what they need to know, and working as a team to get the job done. "Chief Mack is a true volunteer." Tase says.
Tase recalls a time a number of years ago when members of Frontier Volunteer Fire Co. lost one of their own in the line of duty, and Mack stepped up to lead his community through the difficult time. Tase described Mack during this time by saying "He put his professional hat on."
When asked why he does what he does, Mack simply replied, "I'm just trying to help out. It's in my nature, I guess."
He also talks of his father and grandfather who were both firefighters, and how he is attempting to follow in their footsteps.
It is because of this modest character that he openly shares his shock when he found out about the award. He never considered doing anything he's done for recognition; he just did it because it was the right thing to do, he said.
Liberty Mutual Group sales representative Debbie Dworzanski said safety is very important to Liberty Mutual. The company started this award in 1986 to recognize and honor firefighters whose bravery and selflessness keep communities safe and protected. Recipients receive a personal award and official recognition at their local fire station or Liberty Mutual sales office. Liberty Mutual has recognized hundreds of firefighters across the nation who they feel fit the character of this award.


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2005 Ultimate Adventure Ultimate 1975 K10 Part 2Posted in Ultimate Adventure: 2005 on May 1, 2005
Ultimate K10, Part 1
Ultimate K10, Part 2
Ultimate K10, Part 3
Ultimate K10, Part 4
Last month we laid out a plan to build up an Ultimate Adventure truck out of a 30-year-old beater as kind of a break from our norm of turning a late-model truck into a turnkey wheeler. But we thought building an everyman 4x4 like this '75 1/2-ton seemed cool because people actually wheel these things. We knew we had a wish list of parts we wanted to run and a few crazy things we wanted to try, but the first order of business was to find a shop insane enough to help us with the project. The techs at GM Truck Center in Burbank, California, are pros when it comes to solid-axle GM trucks and are experts on everything from lift kits to complete truck restorations. In no time our UAK10 was stripped down to cab and frame and sent out for a steam cleaning, while we hung out at the beach ... er, rounded up some parts back at our office. This month we show you how we cheated with a no-adapter-required engine swap, and prepped our Chevy truck for a Ford-style front Dana 60. In the next installment, we'll show you our brutally simple suspension plan and whatever else we can sneak in under our deadline.
Solid-axle Chevys are notorious for having frame problems around the steering box. GM Truck Center has fixed a hundred of them but as luck would have it, our '75 was one of the worst they've ever seen. John Hughbanks ground out the cracks and pieced the frame back together with a Hobart Ironman 250 MIG. To keep it from cracking again, Hughbanks added a reinforcement plate ($70) from J.C. Whitney and then bolted in an Off Road Design steering-box brace ($120) to keep everything in place.
Try not to puke on the screen ... but we're going to put a Ford transfer case in our Ultimate K10. We'll get to the "how" in a minute, but we'll start with the "why." First we tried to use an NV271 case from a Super Duty because it's got a great low range (2.72:1), fixed flanges on both outputs (32-spline front/34-spline rear), and a 7,890 lb-ft input torque capacity. Unfortunately they're also too wide to fit in the frame of our K10! So we went with the time-tested Ford NP205.
Why not the GM NP205? Well, the Ford version is more common than the GM. And all Ford 205s have the big 32-spline output shafts front and rear. Plus if you're like us and want to use your 205 behind an Off Road Design Doubler you need the big bearing input gear that the majority of Ford 205s have. Which bring us to the "how." By the nature of the $785 ORD Gen II Doubler ("Doubler Low-Low Range Transfer Case," July '05), your NP203 range can be adapted to work with a Dodge, GM, or Ford NP205 - which is perfect for us 'cause we want to run a '78-'79 Ford high-pinion Dana 60 (driver-side differential) front axle.
To keep things simple we could have bolted the Ram Jet up to our original TH350 transmission - and if it were in good shape we might have. But for the kind of use this truck was going to see, we gave TCI Auto a call and spec'd out a Truckmaster TH350. TCI recommended we go with its optional 2.75 ratio First gear (stock is 2.52:1) and a heavy-duty case (PN 311210) for $1,784. We put a lot of faith in TCI's products because every transmission it builds is for an enthusiast application. Everything in the transmission, from the friction material used to the way the shift feel is calibrated is done for a 4x4 that is gonna get used hard every time we get behind the wheel. Since we had our Ram Jet 350 on the hoist, we bolted the TCI TH350 to it with a flexplate for an '89 Blazer with a 350 ($43 at Autozone) and a 12-inch TCI torque converter ($269).
The strongest engine you could get in a '75 K10 was the optional 400ci small-block rated at 175 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque. That's nothing to brag about and wouldn't have been enough for 39-inch tires and a truck that's gonna weigh almost 6,000 pounds. Last month we told you that our buildup was going to require at least 350 hp, fuel injection, and would have to stay small-block based for weight and cost concerns. After crunching all the numbers, we just couldn't beat the value of the Ram Jet 350 ($4,900) from GM Performance Products. For the price of some aftermarket fuel-injection systems, you get the complete engine-oil pan to air filter-with the multiport fuel injection, computer, wiring harness, 350 hp/400 lb-ft of torque, and 2-year/24,000-mile GM warranty. The Ram Jet 350 can be installed in any vehicle that came with a small-block Chevy, but to make sure ours stays in place when Editor Rick Pw hammers it, we fastened it in with Off Road Design's competition-style motor mounts ($165).
While Hughbanks was manning the engine hoist, we slid under the truck to fit the original '75 crossmember back in place with new Daystar polyure-thane transmission mounts ($82). We didn't have to fabricate anything or use any adapters because it all went together like the stock parts did. The lowest point on our truck will still be the transmission crossmember, so we'll plan to build a skidplate to protect it and the TCI finned-aluminum transmission pan ($140) that holds two extra quarts of ATF.
Next month we'll pick up where we left off with the engine wiring, cooling, and fuel plumbing. We're probably gonna have to test fit a few different kind of headers to find some that will clear our driver-side driveshaft, yet still fit in the '75 framerails. And we're also tracking down a cheap accessory drive system that will let us run a serpentine belt--and maybe even get the A/C working again. If you've got one let us know.
Ultimate K10, Part 1
Ultimate K10, Part 2
Ultimate K10, Part 3
Ultimate K10, Part 4


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Think my next kite would be a Renegade
the blue one!
Legend! Hope your house survives Dimitri! See you on the weekend Marc. Ps. Not sure my van is even 8 feet longDimitri M wrote:JamesVegas,
I just gave Marc (2) 8 feet EPIC stickers to put on each side of your van. So now you can ride NORTH kites with an EPIC van
I second that. I am glad you, your family and your home are safe.sburlo wrote:Holy smoke! Keep safe Dimitri. Hope your community recovers quickly.
nice one.Kites are looking good fellas, now what is that Greek flag doing there? Is that the kite Cameron will be using at the next olympics?
Users browsing this forum: BillyGoatGruff, Google [Bot], IBaKiteboarder, jw009, Pierrot, Ulrik, zloilyoha and 18 guests


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Selecting your vehicle's make, model, and year allows us to display only parts and items specific to your car's model and year.
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Part Type: (P) High Performance, designed to improve performance
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Wilwood stainless steel brake lines are manufactured to meet the demands of the most rigorous braking conditions. For use with any of our front hub kits, each set features premium -3AN hose with the correct ends and fittings for a hassle-free connection between your brake lines and calipers. Lines are sold in a standard 14" length.


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Black Law Students / Re: Black Law Student Discussion Board« on: July 03, 2009, 12:20:35 PM »
it has been a minute. i was talking to celie last night and we briefly discussed the site and she was telling me how dead it is.i remember when we used to post consistently but everyone has gotten so busy. it is sad however that newer members didn't keep the site going. i believe that many people benefited from blsd. it looks like some of us are still around and peek in every now and then. are we trying to make a comeback of sorts? lol


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Doug Immel recently completed his custom-built dream home, sparing no expense on details like cherry-wood floors, cathedral ceilings and stained-glass windows — in just 164 square feet of living space including a loft.
The 57-year-old schoolteacher's tiny house near Providence, Rhode Island, cost $28,000 — a seventh of the median price of single-family residences in his state.
"I wanted to have an edge against career vagaries," said Immel, a former real estate appraiser. A dwelling with minimal financial burden "gives you a little attitude." He invests the money he would have spent on a mortgage and related costs in a mutual fund, halving his retirement horizon to 10 years and maybe even as soon as three. "I am infinitely happier."
Dramatic downsizing is gaining interest among Americans, gauging by increased sales of plans and ready-made homes and growing audiences for websites related to the niche. A+E Networks has begun airing "Tiny House Nation" a series on FYI that "celebrates the exploding movement."
The pared-down lifestyle allows people to minimize expenses and gain economic freedom, said architect Jay Shafer in Cotati, California, who founded two micro building and design companies and is widely credited with popularizing the trend.
"It shows people how little some need to be happy, and how simply they can live if they choose," said Shafer, 49, who shares a 500-square foot home with his wife and two young children.
Despite gains in the labor and housing markets, Americans choosing mini houses remain wary of tethering themselves to a mortgage.
People want "a more modest lifestyle now," said Derek Diedricksen, who travels nationally to lead building workshops. Those who opt for super-small structures don't want to "waste their time or be a slave to a house they don't fully use."
Defined as 500 or fewer square feet, tiny houses range from primitive 96-square-foot huts to award-winning displays of sustainable architecture with elegant streamlined design. While many are built on wheels to avoid regulations, mobility isn't the main draw.
Aldo Lavaggi, 36, can support himself as a folk musician in New York's Hudson Valley thanks to the 105-square-foot home he built on a friend's farmland in the Berkshires and has lived in since August 2012.
"There's a fallacy of limited options," he said, arguing that people don't need stellar credit, thick wallets or even a full-time job to own a house. His residence runs on a car battery and energy from two solar panels. He pockets enough cash to splurge on artisanal bread and gourmet cheeses from the local market. "I'm earning more than I spend," he said.
Even with the micro-trend, the number of tiny houses in the United States is, well, tiny — just in the thousands per unofficial industry surveys. Their popularity is growing, however, as the U.S. homeownership rate has fallen to 64.8 percent, the lowest in almost 20 years, and the median size of new single-family houses is the biggest ever — 2,384 square feet in 2013, a 3.4 percent increase from 2012.
Historically, residences under 500 square feet weren't considered "tiny." In 1950, houses averaged 983 square feet, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders. The first units in the iconic early American suburb of Levittown, New York, were 750 square feet.
When Laura LaVoie began writing and blogging about the movement in 2010, "there were only one or two tiny house blogs and now there are hundreds," she said.
She quit her Atlanta-based job as a recruiter at a staffing company, sold her 2,700 square-foot house and pursued a career as a freelance writer by building a place with her husband in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
"I felt really trapped," she said. Moving to a 120 square-foot space enabled them "to live in a different way, take control of our lives."
Postings on online marketplace Tiny House Listings have increased in volume since 2011, while the site's Facebook fan count hit 182,000 on July 8, up 5,500 from the previous week. Google trends shows national interest in the search term "tiny house" surging since May.
"Since I got into the small-house game 15 years ago, every year seems like it's the biggest ever," said Shafer, who founded the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company in 1999 and started another, Four Lights, in 2012. "The need for it just becomes increasingly apparent."
Some advocates are refugees from the recent real-estate bust. Macy Miller's 2,500-square-foot Idaho home was foreclosed on in 2007, following her divorce. "I have absolutely zero interest in tying myself up with that kind of loan ever again," she wrote in an email.
In 2011, Miller literally took matters into her own hands, building a 196-square-foot timber home on a trailer in Boise, Idaho. She completed it in 18 months for $11,000 with zero debt, pays $200 a month to rent the land and shares the space with her partner, their baby and a 100-pound Great Dane named Denver.
Aspirants to the lifestyle tend to "skew female," according to Tumbleweed's web traffic, said Debby Richman, the Sonoma, California-based company's chief marketing officer.
"Tiny houses are no longer strange," she said. "They are now 'cute.' The cultural mores have changed."
The largest share of inhabitants, 23 percent, are between ages 31 and 40, according to "The Tiny Life" blog, which surveyed more than 2,600 dwellers in the U.S. Almost 90 percent said they had at least some college education and 61 percent had zero credit-card debt.
"This is the second coming of the Sears Roebuck house," said Richman, referring to the ready-to-assemble mail-order kits. Sears sold about 70,000 of these homes between 1908 and 1940, according to the company archive website.
There are several geographic hot spots, according to Richman. While it's easier to build in rural areas where zoning laws are less restrictive, Portland and Seattle have attracted builders because of their "open-mindedness," she said.
"Wherever you find expensive housing on the East Coast or the West Coast, you find a higher concentration of tiny houses because people understand the need," Shafer said.
In Washington, D.C., Boneyard Studios advocates mini homes as a solution to underutilized spaces, known as infill. The site showcases three places in a triangular alley lot, once filled by illegally parked cars. There's a communal fire pit, hot tub, outdoor oven and garden. Boneyard has a legal address, electricity and uses incinerator toilets and a rainwater- collection system with RV-like water pumps.
The homeowners, who lead tours every few weeks for approximately 50 guests, can't call these structures permanent legal residences because of zoning restrictions. To get around that, Boneyard's builders constructed the houses on wheels, making them technically travel trailers.
The codes exist to maintain standards, said Ellen McCarthy, director of the city's Office of Planning, as she praised Boneyard's "high-quality" and "environmental stewardship."
"We need some level of controls so people aren't setting up squatter camps in alleys," she said. "We're trying to recognize that people's situations require a variety of different living arrangements." The planning office recently proposed easing restrictions that could pave the way for legalizing tiny houses in backyards.
Until recently, the movement was so small-scale it flew under the radar of local, state and federal authorities. The lack of legal parameters might be the biggest barrier to growth, said LaVoie. "People feel intimidated by zones and coding," she said.
Pent-up demand will drive legislation, said Matthew Campbell, co-founder of Frontier Fortress, a Wyoming-based tiny- house company. "The laws are going to change. They will have to."
On a personal level, the psychological hurdle of parting with one's possessions restrains a large number of people from going tiny. While liberating for some, dramatic downsizing can prove too taxing on the psyche for others.
Shafer, the movement's champion, said it took him "years" to figure out how to thrive with less.
Immel, the schoolteacher who finished his home in late 2013, said he wasn't sure the lifestyle would suit him long- term. He built the house with resale in mind, "just in case."
His home, which has a façade that's 20 percent glass, doesn't feel claustrophobic, he said, and heating it through the harsh winter was next to free. With total expenses about $900 a year, including about $112 for propane and the rest for electricity, his $40,000-plus salary easily sustains him — and his savings account.
The best thing about his little house, he said, is how it gave him "complete peace of mind."


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Chloe Moretz all grown-up at Elle Style Awards
Just a day after celebrating her birthday, the teenage actress stunned red carpet watchers at the gala in a grown-up monochrome Stella McCartney dress and matching shoes - and then collected one of the gala's biggest honours from Silver Linings Playbook star Chris Tucker.
The funnyman's co-star Bradley Cooper was also a big winner, picking up the Best Actor honour, while Scottish singer Emeli Sande was named Best Music Act and McCartney claimed the Best International Designer prize.
Other winners included Game Of Thrones (Best TV Show), Anja Rubik (Best Model) and Christopher Kane (Best British Designer of the Year), while newlywed Ronnie Wood presented Les Miserables star Samantha Barks with the Breakthrough Performance prize.


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Kevin Bacon calls for Christmas charity donations
The Footloose star has written a holiday message to stress the importance of charitable giving over the Christmas period and he is encouraging people to give donations to good causes in lieu of gifts.
In an article for the Huffington Post, he writes, "We wait all year for this season of kindness and giving, and many of us literally wait until the clock runs out on December 31st to support the causes close to our hearts (and get that tax credit). We are the Generous Procrastinators and this is our last-minute chance to make a difference. Just look around. There is an opportunity to give on every street corner, at every cash register, and in every other email hitting our inbox."
Bacon also asks fans to support charities through his SixDegrees.org website, adding, "Let's answer the call! Together, we can activate our 6 degrees networks to send off 2012 with a flourish of generosity... It's a small world. You can make a difference."