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In only approximate order of favoriteness, here is my year-end wrap-up. As usual, a few of the entries on the following list were released earlier than 2012, but that is when I discovered them, so I'm allowing some slack. Though most were actually released in 2012.
This year I acquired about the same amount of new music as last year: roughly 150 new releases from around 120 bands, almost all released within the last 3 years.
Number of those bands that I saw perform this year: 22.
Number of those bands that performed at DNA Lounge this year: 2.
Go Team.
Here's your shopping list:
Metric - "Synthetica"
I still prefer "Fantasies", and this one took a little while to grow on me, but now I think it's incredible. Except for the Lou Reed song, which should be killed with fire as soon as possible.
Garbage - "Not Your Kind of People"
It's been seven years since they released "Bleed Like Me", possibly their best album, but that's a long time and so I was worried. I'm happy to report that they've still got it. This one is maybe a bit more on the "rock" side, though they have some mellow numbers too. I do especially enjoy the Terminator name-check on "The One".
Blood Red Shoes - "In Time to Voices"
A bit heavier but less frenetic than their earlier stuff. I saw Garbage live for the first time ever this year, and then rushed over to another venue to catch Blood Red Shoes on the same night -- and though Garbage put on a great show, Blood Red Shoes blew them away. The fact that it was in a small venue instead of an impersonal, gigantic theatre helped, but still. Go see these guys!
Purity Ring - "Shrines"
I guess it's a testament to their success that, when I heard my first song by these guys at the beginning of the year, searching for "Purity Ring" turned up a lot of creepy Do Not Want, but these days, they seem to have taken over most of the first page of hits, so, well played. They have a sound like not a lot I've heard before, kind of an chopped-up underwater feel, and I like her vocal style. They also put on a very cool live show, with the stage filled with strange egg-pod-looking light-reactive midi triggers.
Ultraísta - "Ultraísta"
Layered mellow female vocals over heavily produced, noodly synths. Here's every other review of this band: blah blah blah Radiohead blah blah blah. I never liked Radiohead so I don't know, but this is good stuff. I enjoyed their live show, too; great use of visuals, and a lot of the vocal loops were done live with sampler pedals instead of backing tracks, which is always nice.
Vanbot - "Vanbot"
Icy electro-pop, maybe in the vein of the first Lykke Li album. This has kind of an 80s feel to it. The emotional plaintiveness of it will probably make it a great breakup album, so keep it in mind for that. This is definitely music to mope to. I mean that in a good way, honestly.
Voltaire Twins - "Cabin Fever" & "Apollo"
They said in an interview, "Our band has the most boring name ever: our last name is Voltaire, and we're really twins." Well, lead with your strengths. They both sing, and their voices work well together. Musically I'd compare them to Ladytron.
The Dollyrots - "The Dollyrots"
Good old-fashioned pop-punk! You can't really go wrong with these guys. I contributed to their Kickstarter for this album, which was a neat experience.
Wazu - "Robobo"
Both male and female vocals, drum machines, and spooky guitars with a little bit of a twang. There's some Depeche Mode influence in here, so if goths listened to any music that wasn't released in the 90s, they might listen to this.
DarkDriveClinic - "Noise In My Head"
My friend Rebecca from Stripmall Architecture and Halou made this album with John Fryer of This Mortal Coil (and who has produced NIN, Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode and a zillion other bands). It's much harder than Stripmall is; it's electronic enough that I wouldn't really call it "rock", but it does stray toward the "industrial" end of things. Her voice is awesome. She does some yelling.
Niki and the Dove - "Instinct"
A mechanically-separated cream of Fleetwood Mac, Thomas Dolby, The Knife and Kate Bush? I saw them twice this year! Their stage presence is weird and awesome, like it's dressed up in the 80s fantasy mysticism of a movie like Legend or Labyrinth.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - "Out of Frequency"
This is such an odd band, and very hard to characterize. I don't really listen to anything else that sounds like this. I guess you'd call it jazz/funk? Not usually my thing. But this gets its pop hooks into me. I liked the previous album, Fruit, more, but this one is fun, too. Heart Attack is a great, completely nonsensical song.
Desire - "II"
This band is Chromatics / Glass Candy with a different singer, so: sultry, morose and a little loungey. Presumably it's all from 19A0 like the rest of the Drive soundtrack (on which their song Under Your Spell appears: a song I find I can listen to on repeat a very large number of times.)
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling - "The New Number 2" & "Questions Are a Burden to Others"
These two write angry, girl-screamy post-punk about The Prisoner. Yes, the 60s TV series. I barely even remember the show, but I dig these songs. It actually makes me want to go back and watch the show again. I know I'll regret that. I should just stick to these albums instead. They also do a fabulous cover of First We Take Manhattan.
The Wonder Villains - "Zola", "Ferrari", & "TV"
Speaking of TV: The Wonder Villains don't technically have a full-length album out, but they have ten tracks on three EPs, so that's basically the same thing. I saw these guys at SXSW knowing nothing about them except that they seemed to have written a song about Heroes (yes, the TV series) and what I learned at that show was that they were really good, adorable, and write pop-rock songs exclusively about TV shows and crushing on celebrities. If you took my advice last year and listened to Fight Like Apes, you may notice a Casio-drenched similarity here.
Dwntwn - "Cowboys" & "The Red Room"
Another "no album but a pair of EPs" situation. Dreamy synthpop, some of which reminds me of the mellower side of Crystal Castles (musically, not so much vocally). I first heard of these guys when they played at Blow Up at DNA Lounge this year, which was unusual because they're not really the kind of music that that party tended to feature.
Dean Garcia - "Das Haus Volume One"
Dean Garcia was the non-singing half of Curve, and this is his latest solo thing, working with various vocalists who are not Toni Halliday. Musically it's all over (his) map, from shoegazer to industrial, so at least some part of this may help with your Curve withdrawl.
iamamiwhoami - "Kin"
Still completely nutty, still awesome. I wrote a long blog post about these guys a couple years ago.
Zambri - "Glossolalia" & "House of Baasa"
Spooky pop filled with lots of distorted atmosphere. They sound a little bit like Creep or Zola Jesus, so does that make them witch house?
Meg Myers - "Daughter in the Choir"
I picked up this album because of the song Monster, which is a great anthem of self-loathing, but it's the very odd song Tennessee -- enumerating a fantastic set of hipster douchebags -- that turned out to be my favorite.
Ladyhawke - "Anxiety"
It's more of a rock album than her first, but it still sounds like the second coming of Kim Wilde to me.
Of Verona - "The White Apple"
Moody female-fronted rock, in the Metric vein (but not that close).
Giana Factory - "Save The Youth"
I like to imagine that "Giana Factory" is the name of the Scandinavian facility where all of these icy, female-fronted minimal electronic bands are manufactured and assembled.
And with that, I've again run out of steam. Like I say every year, I find the writing of these reviews to be exhausting, but I hate it when I read the "top ten" lists of other people and they're just lists with no explanation, so I make a token effort. Here are a few more bands that you should also check out, and take it as no affront to them that I timed out before writing about them:
- Linea Aspera - "Linea Aspera"
- Blouse - "Blouse"
- 2:54 - "2:54"
- Poliça - "Give You the Ghost"
- Rebecca & Fiona - "I Love You, Man"
- Kap Bambino - "Devotion"
- Soft Metals - "Soft Metals"
And I'll throw these on the list as "honorable mention", despite their having not yet released an album's-worth of tracks:
- Nightmare Fortress - "Until the Air Runs Out"
- Glass Lux - "Glass Lux"
- Icona Pop - "Nights Like This"
- Lescop - "Lescop"
And finally, here's mixtape 124, which includes one track by (almost) all of the above artists.


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Genius | By Jeff Friedman
When Jeremy Wiggins announced he was a genius, Bobby Miller said, "a genius at what?" and Ronnie Rappaport raised his baseball bat and threatened to bonk him on the head, if he didn't "stop it with that genius stuff." It wasn't the first time Wiggins had claimed to be a genius, nor would it be the last. We were a class of geniuses: anyone could tell by looking at us—unruly as weeds, yet not quite teenagers. When Wiggins announced he was a genius, Mr. Wales, the gym teacher and recess monitor, ordered him to shut up and do a lap, "Get your fat butt moving." But Wiggins just stood there, dumbfounded by his own brilliance. Then Bobby Miller doing his best impersonation of Ed Sullivan proclaimed, "Right here tonight on our shoo—here he is: The Genius," which set off a chorus of boos from everyone, including Mr. Wales. "If you're such a genius," Greg Courtney, the best student in our class, challenged, "Prove it. Calculate the square root of 6400." Who knew if Courtney even knew the answer to that one. Mr. Wales certainly didn't. Louis Linder blinked cross-eyed and stuck out his tongue at the words square root. Ophelia Snyder blew a giant bubblegum bubble and popped it against Louis's cheek. Rappaport dropped the fat part of the bat on his own toe and hobbled off. What's a square root? I wondered, thinking that if Courtney knew it, it must be key to getting admitted to a good college. "Give me a minute," Wiggins said. "More like a lifetime," I replied.
NER Digital is a creative writing series for the web. Jeff Friedman's fifth collection of poetry, Working in Flour, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press in 2011. His poems, mini stories, and translations have appeared in many literary magazines, including American Poetry Review, Poetry, 5 AM, Agni Online, Poetry International, Prairie Schooner, Antioch Review, Quick Fiction, New England Review, Big Bridge, and The New Republic.


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Putting aside for a moment his pay-per-view footprint, Brock Lesnar's withdrawal from UFC 131 changed the dynamic of the event.
With Shane Carwin (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) promoted to headliner status opposite Junior Dos Santos (12-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), the selling point turned from world-class wrestler vs. world-class striker to two-world class strikers vying for a shot at heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez's belt.
Not a bad problem to have, right?
Everyone likes to see a slugfest. But by no means is that guaranteed, and if a few telling hints prove true, the fight could be closer in form to the one lost by Lesnar's illness (diverticulitis).
Dos Santos and Carwin square off Saturday at UFC 131, which takes place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The night's main card airs on pay-per-view, and Spike TV and Facebook split the preliminary card.
You'll never hear Carwin or Dos Santos promise anything other than an explosive end to the fight, as well they should to sell the event. They do have 15 knockouts between them to back predictions of ending the fight with their fists. One punch from either could end the night. In the first round, there is danger of a sudden stoppage.
"This is going to be an explosive fight," Carwin said. "I believe in my power and knocking people out, and I know he does as well."
But in deep waters, there are different skill sets put to the test (if nobody gets clipped early on). While Dos Santos has shown little interest in doing anything other than looking for the knockout, Carwin brings a grappler's toolbox to the fight.
That's why you haven't heard about knockouts to the exclusion of anything else from the full-time engineer. An amendment to win by ground and pound or a win by submission has acted as a kind of verbal insurance policy for Carwin, a way of justifying a plan that might or might not be as exciting as a firefight in the center of the octagon.
But taking the fight down is simply a smart move (and an entirely understandable one given Carwin's 11-month layoff and neck surgery that threatened his ability to compete at the highest levels). There's also the lessons learned from a loss to Lesnar at UFC 116 in which he completely gassed out throwing punches in the first round. Then there's the prize at the end of a win over Dos Santos: a shot at Velasquez.
Of course, with Carwin's raw power, just about anything gets exciting when he lets his hands go in any range. He could muscle Dos Santos against the cage, unload punches, and deliver the same result as in open range. He did so against Frank Mir at UFC 111 and won the interim title. But listen to the people around him, and you start getting a sense that something is afoot. Either there's a plan to make Dos Santos worry about the takedown so he's a bit more stingy with his punches, or yes, the plan is to put the Brazilian on his back.
"Shane Carwin is going to run through Dos Santos, put him on his back, (and) smash him out," Carwin trainer Trevor Wittman said.
The former plan might be taking effect, if appearances are to be believed. Dos Santos thinks it logical that when he starts throwing, Carwin is going to think twice about standing in the way.
"I think Shane Carwin is coming from wrestling," he said on Thursday in a pre-fight press conference in support of the event. "So I think I'm faster than him. As soon as he feels my hands (and) my speed, I think he's going to try to take me down."
Dos Santos' trainers are completely confident that Carwin won't get close enough to even contemplate a takedown.
"Before Shane can take him down, he's going to have to go through a barrage of punches, and that's going to be very hard to do," said Dos Santos' trainer Luiz Dorea.
Whatever Carwin's tact, you don't get the indication that Dos Santos is going to do anything else than swing until somebody falls down. He has yet to reach the top of the heavyweight mountain. He is 10 years Carwin's junior, and he's enjoying a seven-fight win streak. The only thing to test his confidence in his UFC run is a decision victory over Roy Nelson 10 months ago that proved not everyone falls to his punches. It would be hard to argue, though, that Nelson and Carwin are completely different animals.
The main problem Dos Santos has encountered is the adrenaline deficit brought by not fighting in 10 months.
"[I have] too much time stopped," he said. "But I'm not too worried. I'm glad because the UFC didn't change the date of the fight. So now I get to fight Saturday, and I'm ready for this."
But we'll find out Saturday who's bluffing in a promise to stand and trade.
Florian and Nunes vie for all-powerful "in the mix" spot
With UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo on the bench until perhaps the end of the year, the featherweights are lining up. And Kenny Florian (14-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) and Diego Nunes (16-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) might be second or third in queue with their co-main-event fight.
Florian brings proven street cred as a two-time lightweight title-challenger who hit a wall against the bigger wrestlers of the division. He's looking to establish a foothold at 145 pounds for a third shot at a title. It's his first time at featherweight after having started his UFC career all the way up at middleweight on "The Ultimate Fighter 1."
Nunes has been scraping it out in the WEC at 145 pounds and got an easy ticket to the big show when the promotion folded this past year. He's since made a big impression with a win over former WEC champ Mike Brown in his octagon debut, and a win over Florian would be a serious feather his cap.
"This is a dream come true," Nunes said on Thursday. "I've been wanting this my whole life, and I'm going to give it my all. I feel this is a gift from God, and I'm going to take it and run with it and do whatever I can to put on a performance for you guys."
Could a win over Maia put Munoz on title track?
Also on the UFC 131 main card, Mark Munoz (10-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Demian Maia (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) square off in a middleweight matchup.
Maia, an ADCC champion, looks to make it three and a row after his now-infamous title bid against Anderson Silva at UFC 112. Wins against Mario Miranda and Kendall Grove have highlighted his improving standup game, though it's likely he'll go back to basics against Munoz, a decorated collegiate wrestler who's also on a two-win tilt.
Since a split-decision loss to now-No. 1 contender Yushin Okami, Munoz has rebounded with a decision win over Aaron Simpson and, most recently, a knockout win over Simpson's teammate, C.B. Dollaway. In a division light with contenders and dominated by Silva, Munoz could make an argument for a title shot with a few wins by year's end.
UFC newcomers Einemo, Herman and Rocha make PPV debuts
Also, Jon Olav Einemo (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets Dave Herman (20-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a heavyweight matchup.
A former ADCC champ, Einemo returns to action after a nearly five-year absence from the cage. Now working with Golden Glory in the Netherlands, he's taking a big gamble on the biggest stage in MMA.
Herman, who originally was scheduled to meet Joey Beltran before Lesnar's withdrawal opened up a spot to fight Einemo, is a veteran of the Japanese circuit as well as a former Bellator fighter. He comes into the cage on a two-fight win streak.
Lightweights Donald Cerrone (14-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Vagner Rocha (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) also square off. Cerrone, a two-time title-challenger in the WEC, originally was slated to fight Mac Danzig before injury took Danzig off the card. Rocha, a decorated submission grappler under Pablo Popovitch, makes his octagon debut after one-fight stints in Bellator and Strikeforce.
UFC 131's full card includes:
MAIN CARD (pay-per-view)
- Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin
- Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes
- Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman
- Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
- Donald Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
- Yves Edwards vs. Sam Stout
- Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
- Mike Massenzio vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
- James Head vs. Nick Ring
- Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young
- Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa
- Darren Elkins vs. Michihiro Omigawa
For more on UFC 131, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.


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March 26, 2023
1598 E Niagara Road Montrose, CO 81401
We hope the atmosphere in our worship service will help you feel relaxed and comfortable. Our church family
is a friendly group and you will probably have the opportunity to meet
some of them. You will find people dressed comfortably and casually - we
want everyone to come as they are.
The music and worship are built around Biblical themes that are timeless. We sing a variety of styles of songs and a relevant message from the Scriptures is preached by our pastor. We work hard to create a worshipful experience in anticipation of an encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ.


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ADHD Treatment: Behavior Therapy & Medication Seem To Positively Affect The Brain In The Same Way
(Information provided by The Wellcome Trust 1 April 2010)
Read the original research paper HERE (PDF)
Medication and behavioural interventions help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) better maintain attention and self-control by normalising activity in the same brain systems, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust.
In a study published today in the journal 'Biological Psychiatry', researchers from the University of Nottingham show that medication has the most significant effect on brain function in children with ADHD, but this effect can be boosted by complementary use of rewards and incentives, which appear to mimic the effects of medication on brain systems.
ADHD is the most common mental health disorder in childhood, affecting around one in 20 children in the UK. Children with ADHD are excessively restless, impulsive and distractible, and experience difficulties at home and in school. Although no cure exists for the condition, symptoms can be reduced by a combination of medication and behaviour therapy.
Methylphenidate, a drug commonly used to treat ADHD, is believed to increase levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical messenger associated with attention, learning and the brain's reward and pleasure systems. This increase amplifies certain brain signals and can be measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG). Until now it has been unclear how rewards and incentives affect the brain, either with or without the additional use of medication.
To answer these questions, researchers at Nottingham's Motivation, Inhibition and Development in ADHD Study (MIDAS) used EEG to measure brain activity while children played a simple game. They compared two particular markers of brain activity that relate to attention and impulsivity, and looked at how these were affected by medication and motivational incentives.
The team worked with two groups of children aged nine to 15: one group of 28 children with ADHD and a control group of 28. The children played a computer game in which green aliens were randomly interspersed with less frequent black aliens, each appearing for a short interval. Their task was to 'catch' as many green aliens as possible, while avoiding catching black aliens. For each slow or missed response, they would lose one point; they would gain one point for each timely response.
In a test designed to study the effect of incentives, the reward for avoiding catching the black alien was increased to five points; a follow-up test replaced this reward with a five-point penalty for catching the wrong alien.
The researchers found that when given their usual dose of methylphenidate, children with ADHD performed significantly better at the tasks than when given no medication, with better attention and reduced impulsivity. Their brain activity appeared to normalise, becoming similar to that of the control group.
Similarly, motivational incentives also helped to normalise brain activity on the two EEG markers and improved attention and reduced impulsivity, though its effect was much smaller than that of medication.
"When the children were given rewards or penalties, their attention and self-control was much improved," says Dr Maddie Groom, first author of the study. "We suspect that both medication and motivational incentives work by making a task more appealing, capturing the child's attention and engaging his or her brain response control systems."
Professor Chris Hollis, who led the study, believes the findings may help to reconcile the often-polarised debate between those who advocate either medication on the one hand, or psychological/behavioural therapy on the other.
"Although medication and behaviour therapy appear to be two very different approaches of treating ADHD, our study suggests that both types of intervention may have much in common in terms of their affect on the brain," he says. "Both help normalise similar components of brain function and improve performance. What's more, their effect
is additive, meaning they can be more effective when used together."
The researchers believe that the results lend support from neuroscience to current treatment guidelines
for ADHD as set out by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). These recommend that behavioural interventions, which have a smaller effect size, are appropriate for moderate ADHD, while medication, with its larger effect size, is added for severe ADHD.
Although the findings suggest that a combination of incentives and medication might work most effectively, and potentially enable children to take lower doses of medication, Professor Hollis believes more work is needed before the results can be applied to everyday clinical practice or classroom situations.
"The incentives and rewards in our study were immediate and consistent, but we know that children with ADHD respond disproportionately less well to delayed rewards," he says. "This could mean that in the 'real world' of the classroom or home, the neural effects of behavioural approaches using reinforcement and rewards may be less effective."
Read the original research paper HERE (PDF)
Related articles by Zemanta
- Mount Sinai finds meta-cognitive therapy more effective for adult ADHD patients (scienceblog.com)
- What Do Girls with ADHD Look Like As Adults? (psychcentral.com)


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Artist Links
About The Doobie Brothers
There's no separating the unparalleled legacy of the Doobie Brothers from their latest release World Gone Crazy – not that anyone would want to. Nevertheless, the new album may be most remarkable for the extent to which it stands completely on its own. Yes, World Gone Crazy is another chapter in one of the great American music stories, but it's neither comeback nor nostalgia. An exhibition of aggressive and emotional performances, evocative storytelling, unapologetic attitude and world class musicianship, the collection is its own justification.
In a sense, World Gone Crazy is an analogy for the Doobie Brothers as a whole. With founding members Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons, and 30 year-plus veterans John McFee and Michael Hossack, the Doobies have perfectly honored the band's legacy with an offering that grows in unexpected new directions.
The songs on World Gone Crazy all feature Johnston and Simmons as writers and lead vocalists. Adding dimension to the project, in some cases there were co-writers involved, as well as some notable contributions or "guest appearances" by other vocalists.
Long time Doobie drummer Michael Hossack unfortunately passed away in early 2012, but his contributions on World Gone Crazy stand as a testament to his uniquely lyrical style of drumming. Producer Ted Templeman has said "He's the first band member-drummer in a rock group that was as good as or better than any session player out there…", and Michael's drumming is the rhythmic backbone of the album, continuing a tradition that began with his drumming on the band's first hit single, "Listen to the Music".
Multi-instrumentalist Doobie veteran John McFee says "I just tried to do what I could on this project as a team player to serve the songs and the band". Modest words from an in demand musician whose work can be heard on classic recordings with such artists as Van Morrison, Steve Miller, the Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Rick James, Link Wray, Glen Campbell, Huey Lewis and the News, the Beach Boys, and many, many others.
"This album has been in the mix for five years, but we didn't seriously start putting the nuts and bolts together until three years ago," Johnston says. Simmons adds, "We had been compiling songs with the idea we would eventually do a record. Our old producer Ted Templeman came by tour rehearsals one day and was impressed with how we were sounding. He asked if we were doing any new material or thinking about recording. And that's where it really started."
Aside from a few years of inactivity in the mid-eighties, the Doobie Brothers have continued to perform, create and record for over 21 consecutive years. "The Doobies have always been about playing live," Johnston says. "We're not a studio hot house group and we're not a concept album band. We've always just brought in the tunes we had, put them together and made an album. That's the way it's been from the very first album and that's still the way it's being done."
Reuniting with Templeman, whose first hit record as a producer included the playing of the Doobies' own John McFee (Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey album featuring the song "Wild Night"), and who produced all the band's albums through 1980, greatly influenced the project. "I've got a lot of songs on my home studio hard drive," Johnston says. "That was a boon of having Teddy involved. He came up to my house in Northern California and we went through everything."
"Tommy gave him some demos and I did the same," Simmons says. "It took off from there. He got together with both of us at different times, went through the material and collected certain songs he wanted to start with. We did a little warm up at a couple places and ended up cutting the basic tracks at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles."
McFee recounts "Teddy kept asking me to submit songs, but I really felt like this project was the time for me to step back from the songwriting and let Tommy, Pat, and Ted get back to the chemistry that got this train rolling in the first place." This from a Grammy nominated songwriter with numerous BMI awards to his credit.
Co-writers run the full spectrum from an enthusiastic young fan (P.J. Heinz) Simmons met years ago to musical icon Willie Nelson. The former contributed to the bittersweet love song "Far From Home" after years of musical encouragement from Simmons. The latter was a vocal collaboration as well, with Nelson joining Simmons in the studio for the recording of their composition "I Know We Won", which features Doobie Brother John McFee (who, as a member of the group Southern Pacific was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum's Walkway of Stars) on banjo, mandolin, and lead guitar.
Johnston says recording hasn't changed much, but that may be the only similarity to earlier albums. "…The way the song comes in has changed a great deal because I'm using software to write. It frees me up to write the drums, bass and everything else. I can sing the background parts and do all the guitar and keyboard parts I had in mind." This serves as a more complete guide of the writer's vision when the other players get together to do the actual recording.
Acclaimed pianist Bill Payne (Little Feat), Grammy award winning sax man and long time performing Doobie lineup member Marc Russo, Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo, Tower of Power horn legend Mic Gillette, Ringo Starr's drummer of choice Gregg Bissonette, Elton John keyboard player Kim Bullard and others joined the process over an extended period. "It's been on again, off again as much as we've been on the road – a lot longer than you normally spend doing an album," Johnston says. "But we've also utilized that time to really fine-tune stuff. It has worked out for the best."
Simmons agrees. "We were able to reach out a little further to do all the things on the songs we had been imagining, which in the past was not always the case. We'd run out of time or didn't have the opportunity to do some things we wanted. Because we weren't rushed with a deadline we were able to get to the end of our ideas so the tunes feel a lot more complete."
"I had a guy come in and play cello on one track," Simmons continues. "On another song I wanted to bring in our friend Norton Buffalo on harmonica. It took me a while to get it all arranged, but I was able to get that done. We went a little further this time."
"A Brighter Day," Johnston says, is a case in point. "The song went from okay to where it is now solely because it took us so long to do the album. That gave us the chance to sit back, listen and figure out what each song needs."
The project also gave Templeman an opportunity to address one of his longstanding frustrations. "Nobody," the band's first-ever single from their self-titled debut album, was never the recording Templeman hoped it would be – particularly the hard-to-distinguish rhythm section. "The nuts and bolts are the same, but there's
an intro that wasn't there before," Johnston says. "John's doing a new Dobro part and the drum pattern is different."
As the new album's lead single, "Nobody" brings things full circle. World Gone Crazy also offers classic Doobie style harmonies and rock edge on "Chateau." And the rhythm guitar work on "Old Juarez," unmistakable vocal additions from Michael McDonald on "Don't Say Goodbye" and doubled guitar work on "Young Man's Game" ring Doobie true.
"The rest of the tunes go to places the band hasn't necessarily visited before," Johnston says. "'World Gone Crazy,' 'A Brighter Day,' and other songs were written on keyboards, not guitar. The style of songs like 'Old Juarez' and 'New York Dream' are a departure from anything we've ever done." Simmons' touching ballad "Far From Home" with his distinctive finger picking guitar work augmented with cello melodies, and "Don't Say Goodbye" featuring John McFee's Stéphane Grappelli-like violin intertwined with Norton Buffalo's beautiful chromonica playing also break new ground.
And if fans have any understanding of what to expect from the Doobie Brothers, it's probably the unexpected. "In a certain sense, it's vintage Doobie Brothers," Simmons says. "It certainly has the two original writers and there's a certain signature there in terms of the vocal sound that comes from each of us as writers. As far as the songs are concerned, there are elements of things we've done in the past and some new ways we've applied them. There are also some newer approaches and elements we haven't used."
McFee says "The one thing that has always been true of the Doobie Brothers is an avoidance of limiting the music stylistically – it's always been about making the best music the band can do, no boundaries involved."
"The band is the band, and that's a good thing," Johnston says. "You don't want to go so far that people say, 'Who the hell is that?' The vocals are big identifiers as Pat and I have voices people seem to know. And a song like 'Old Juarez' has a Doobie-ish feel even though it's a Latin style track."
"That's been the goal with all of our records," Simmons sums. "To try to achieve that diversity but at the same time remain true to ourselves." And if World Gone Crazy is a microcosm of the (greater) Doobie Brothers, then the Doobie Brothers are as appropriate a projection of American music as can be found in one long running association of musicians. "This band represents a lot of American music styles," Johnston says. "From the finger-picking stuff that Pat does – and John can do as well – to blues, jazz, rock and roll. By the time you get done you've got, to lift a song title from another group, an American band."
Like the nation that spawned the many musical styles they've adopted, the Doobie Brothers' deepest traditions are change, growth, striving and an abiding faith in the future. And so World Gone Crazy pays tribute to the Doobie Brothers legacy the most appropriate way possible … by moving resolutely forward.


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NEW YORK (AP) — Stores can't keep them in stock. Parents are scrambling to find them. And some schools have banned them.
The mania for fidget spinners — the 3-inch twirling gadgets taking over classrooms and cubicles — is unlike many other toy crazes. They're not made by a major company, timed for the holiday season, or promoted in TV commercials. They're more easily found at gas stations or 7-Eleven than at big toy chains.
"It just took off," says Richard Gottlieb, a consultant at Global Toy Experts in New York.
Fidget spinners have been around for years, mostly used by kids with autism or attention disorders to help them concentrate. But they exploded in popularity this spring.
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Shannan Rowell, a sixth-grade special education teacher, says that after a weeklong break in late April more than half of her 25 students suddenly had one.
"They seem to be taking over classrooms," says Rowell, who lives in North Grafton, Massachusetts.
Gottlieb thinks it's likely a kid brought one to a playground and the craze spread from there. Recent YouTube videos of people spinning them on their noses, foreheads and shoes also helped.
Helen Holden heard about fidget spinners last month when her 7-year-old twins demanded she stop at a 7-Eleven to buy them. "I thought it was a drink," says the bank vice president and blogger from Los Angeles.
That store was sold out, and so were several other 7-Eleven locations that she called. The chain says spinners have "been flying off the shelves" since they went on sale in March.
Holden's kids said they needed them before school on Monday so they could practice spinning them. So she signed up for Amazon Prime, paid $5.99 for one-day shipping and had two $15 fidget spinners delivered on a Sunday.
"I totally got suckered by my kids," she says.
At Funky Monkey Toys, owner Tom Jones says he got a phone call about the fidget spinners in April. About 30 minutes later, another person called. "I said, 'Whatever they are, I need to get them.'"
Now, the phone has been ringing 20 to 30 times a day with people checking if they're in stock. His shop in Oxford, Michigan, can sell up to 150 in a day.
"We run out of them frequently," says Jones, who recently got a shipment of 2,000.
On Amazon.com, 18 of the top 20 best-selling toys and games were fidget spinners, ranging from ones that cost just a few dollars to $12 versions touting stainless steel bearings.
Five Below, which sells items for $5 or less, says on its website that customers can only buy two fidget spinners at time.
Toys R Us flew fidget spinners in this month from China, rather than wait for ship transport. It says Rubik's Cubes, yo-yos and other toys to occupy restless hands have been hot sellers since the beginning of the year. It also started selling $12.99 fidget cubes — the items that made up the rest of the Amazon best-sellers — which fit in the palm of a hand and have clickers, wheels and switches on the sides.
Unlike hot toys at the holiday season, which are often made by one company, manufacturers — mostly in China — are making the fidget spinners as fast as they can. Jim Silver, the CEO and editor-in-chief of toy review website TTPM, expects the fad to last into the summer and then fade as more of them flood into the market.
"Demand starts to waver," he says.
Engineer Catherine Hettinger says she came up with a toy that was similar but not exactly the same in the early 1990s, but a patent expired more than a decade ago after she stopped paying the maintenance fees. Hettinger, who lives in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park, Florida, says she is not making any money from the craze.
"No one has contacted me. Nobody has sent me a check," she says. "But once a patent expires, it's public, so I wouldn't expect anything at this point."
Despite being marketed as a concentration aid, some teachers say fidget spinners have become a distraction.
Rowell, the sixth-grade teacher, says students twirled them too fast, banged them against desks or tried to whirl them on top of each other. She lets students bring them into the classroom, but only if they spin them under their desks and follow the rules she hung on the wall: "YOU MUST BE LOOKING AT THE TEACHER," "YOU MUST BE LOOKING AT YOUR WORK" and "YOU MUST BE DISCREET."
Some schools have banned them. A middle school in Williamstown, New Jersey, wrote that spinners needed to stay in backpacks because they were a distraction in classrooms, hallways and during lunch periods. An elementary school in New York told parents to keep the gadgets at home because they were twirling into children's faces.
It's not just kids spinning them. Gottlieb thinks adults are reaching for spinners because they are more stressed out. "People don't smoke as much, so they have to figure out a way to work out their stress," he says.
Kim Juszczak, a lawyer from New York, whirls her red-and-black spinner on the subway or while she's thinking up legal arguments for a case.
"I'm naturally kind of fidgety," says Juszczak, who used to bend paperclips in her hand.
She first saw a spinner on Instagram, and got hers for about $6 on Amazon. Then she bought six more for friends and relatives.
"They're addictive," she says.
Associated Press reporters Terrance Harris in Orlando, Mike Householder in Detroit and Joseph Frederick in New York contributed to this report.
Contact Joseph Pisani at http://twitter.com/josephpisani


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It is reported that the DfE has decided not to allow international GCSEs to be allowed to be used in league tables.
This is not a surprise though I think it is bad policy. I will explain some background, my involvement in discussions about this before I left in January 2014, and why I think it is a mistake.
None of the boards' iGCSEs counted in league tables pre-2010. We thought this was a mistake. Some of the best private schools used the Cambridge International iGCSE. Some great state schools told us in Opposition that they wanted to do the same. It seemed reasonable to have more diversity in the system and let state schools do what private schools were doing particularly given the huge problems with standard GCSEs and the difficulty with reforming them.
During 2013, as standard GCSEs were being reformed, the issue arose of what to do about iGCSEs.
The issue was complicated by differences among the boards. I have never heard anyone claim that the Cambridge International iGCSE is easier than the standard GCSE. However, there were persistent arguments that other boards' iGCSEs were not as hard as GCSEs and private schools and others were being conned.
There was a piece of research circulating (from people very well known in the education world who are taken very seriously) that plotted the Cambridge iGCSE against the standard GCSE and another board's iGCSE, with the former harder than GCSEs and the latter easier than GCSEs. The research was not published because the people concerned were frightened of legal action (itself a telling detail about the epidemic dishonesty in the English debate on exams and standards, a dishonesty that, I think, most who discuss education policy greatly underestimate).
In 2013, officials and Ofqual argued that the reformed GCSEs starting from 2015 should completely replace iGCSEs which should not be allowed in the league tables. MG and I were not keen on this idea. I spoke to people about their concerns. I suggested the following path through (the below is not a quote from my memo, which I will dig out, but includes the main ideas)…
The DfE should announce that anybody who wants their exams, including iGCSEs, to be included in league tables will have to produce clear overwhelming and independent evidence that they are significantly more challenging than standard GCSEs. If they produce such evidence, we will include them; if not, not. This means that we avoid banning things that are obviously better than GCSEs but we also cull those exam boards who are abusing the system. We will also learn from the evidence presented and that exercise will be a useful thing – even if none of the boards submit anything we will learn something valuable. We're trying to move all of these debates towards people discussing evidence rather than hunches and this is a very good candidate for this approach.
The responses boiled down to two things.
1) Nobody had an argument against the idea as policy.
2) Nobody wanted to do it. The bureaucratic arguments amounted to: a) 'It's messy.' b) 'We'll get sued by the exam boards who are always cheating things and will hire fancy lawyers.' c) 'Ofqual doesn't want to.' Why? 'It's messy.' d) Unstated but hanging over the discussion – 'it's a lot of hard work on a marginal issue and nobody is going to attack us for being elitist if we ban them'.
Given this response, MG and spads thought we should try it.
Some time in autumn 2013, I can't remember when, I was tipped off that 'David Laws hates your idea, he just wants to ban them, there's a meeting shortly'. I went to the meeting. I was not optimistic and assumed I would have to torpedo him with 'SoS agrees with me', given the state of relationships by then given Clegg's appalling behaviour. My assumption was wrong.
The issues were explained. I gave him my argument. He had not heard it. I said that the bureaucratic arguments were not relevant – particularly absurd fears about legal challenges (an argument deployed daily) – and the best thing educationally was to give it a whirl regardless of some complexity and irrelevant media noise. Laws listened and asked questions. He was reasonable. He asked officials if anybody had a policy argument against the idea. Nobody did, the main argument was 'Ofqual really wants us to ban them'. It was also clear though that the issue was not closed and officials knew I was soon leaving.
It is no surprise to see the news today. The bureaucracy now has its clarity, but is it a good decision? Were Nicky Morgan / her spads given an alternative (it would not surprise me if the option was never presented to them)? What will the DfE say when a state school says 'Eton does the Cambridge iGCSE in X because they think it's better – why can't we offer our pupils the same thing, as you promised before the 2010 election?'? Can anybody see a downside to trying the other path, given one could always have reverted to banning everything if it proved unworkable?
It is of course possible that detailed work was done after I left and this decision was taken for reasons that are not public but are sound. If so, I am sure the new evidence-based DfE will make the technical arguments public.
Please leave comments, corrections etc.
UPDATE 1. This story strengthens my view that one of the most important things for the improvement of education in English state schools is the development of new exams that are outside the regulatory structure of the DfE and Ofqual – exams that are aimed purely at encouraging deep skills in mathematical modelling, extended writing and so on. It is not a coincidence that perhaps the most challenging exam taken in English schools – maths STEP – a) is not created by the domestic exam boards (Cambridge Assessment, not OCR), b) has zero input from DfE, c) is not regulated by Ofqual, d) has a clear educational purpose of encouraging deep skills needed for a serious undergraduate degree, and e) the people who use it as a tool would be horrified at the idea of the DfE, Ofqual, or 'education policy people' proposing Whitehall should have anything to do with it. I will blog soon on how I think a new 'post-GCSE & A Level' system could evolve.
UPDATE 2. As some emails winging from the DfE say, not all officials wanted the ban and some agreed with the course suggested above. True. (I tend to assume readers of this blog will assume the DfE is not monolithic.) But it was also clear which way Whitehall's gravity was pulling.
UPDATE 3. An email arrives from inside the DfE – a senior official who was involved in these decisions… He points to this research on iGCSEs. The C/D borderline figures are the most interesting.
I want to stress – I am not saying that international GCSEs are 'the answer' to the problems with the exam system. I do not think they are. I think the problems are much more fundamental and require much deeper changes. My point is that it would have been much better policy to ask the boards for hard evidence about the exams in order that the policy world can examine the issues on the basis of data rather than hunches and just 'officials say they're easier' / 'well why does Eton do them then?' etc, which is the level of debate over the past decade. If the DfE made the decision on the basis largely of the evidence in the link above, then it should explain this publicly so people can judge whether their thought process was reasonable, otherwise inevitably many will assume the decision was made for bureaucratic – not educational – reasons.


text:
Giulio Meotti's article Another 9/11 is on the horizon was unfortunately as likely as prescient as was the George Bernard Shaw 1903 quote he used which postulated a future where the survival of Western Society would come into doubt due to the insipid and foolish value system which would have replaced faith in Hashem and placing pleasure above family. George Bernard Shaw had written the following:
The day is coming when great nations will find their numbers dwindling from census to census; when the six-roomed villa will rise in price above the family mansion; when the viciously reckless poor and the stupidly pious rich will delay the extinction of the race only by degrading it; whilst the boldly prudent, the thriftily selfish and ambitious, the imaginative and poetic, the lovers of money and solid comfort, the worshippers of success, of art, and of love, will all oppose to the Force of Life the device of sterility.
Those who have read, or especially followed, BTC have read many an article on similar predictions, observations and desperate calls for our societies to awaken to their destructive practices and to turn towards the now seeming ludicrous ideals and cherished ideas of our forefathers from simply two or at most three generations back when family was the measure of a man and the dedication of both men and women. We referenced to such yesterday; so we will endeavor to take a different approach and tack and simply request you read the article from yesterday if you wish a different angle. Of course George Bernard Shaw knew well from what he spoke as he was alive during the peak of the Eugenics Movement, the perfection of the human race through selective breeding. Such a concept would in and of itself lead to a vast and hurried decrease in the size of society as with those determined to be genetically deficient, which would mean the poor, minorities, Jews, and all who would be determined by an elite group not to be as elite or perfect as the few selected to reproduce as they had the superior genetic makeup. These were the same as the envisioned Nazi supermen of the SS who chose males at least six feet tall (two meters), females of an attractive figure and above average height, all with clear blue eyes, blonde hair and an adequate mind and they would be required to reproduce prodigiously and required to change partners after each successful pregnancy so as to maximize genetic diversity with what would be obviously a smaller than optimum population to provide such diversity. Reducing the acceptable qualifying genetic properties by selecting only blonde hair and blue eyed specimen, the gene pool was already intentionally reduced drastically, as both are recessive traits requiring both genes to have that trait be the result, thus those genes will be repeated in all offspring. Further, by espousing eugenic principles one is determining who is permitted to have children and thus will necessarily reduce the population.
There are others who are also calling for a reintroduction of a form of eugenics and a limit on the numbers of offspring permitted in their society and would apply their restriction worldwide given half an opportunity. These people are not so much calling for an improved human race though they add that as long as the reduced population growth was being controlled to allow a merely ecologically sustainable population which would have sufficiently slight demand on the planet, this would permit the planet to heal and remain pure instead of blighted by the expansive destruction of human society with such wasteful things as highways, cities, populations centers and a planet dedicated to people over nature. To these fanatics, the human society is a disease to be wiped clean or reduced to a sustainable level so small as to have little if any detrimental destructive effects. The least strident of these are the Zero Population Growth (ZPG) who believe that the numbers of human beings on planet, or should we say starship, Earth must be frozen if not decreased over time but must never ever be allowed to grow. As this movement has existed since the 1950s and perhaps before, who knows how far before as there were likely such people believing such back in ancient Greece as this unfounded fear that the humans have used up all the space on the planet is a result of people residing their entire lives in cities where people are stacked ten deep or more. There is a reason the main ZPG movement existence is the San Diego to San Francisco California area and the Washington D.C. through Boston corridor along the East Coast and none exist in central Nebraska, well, almost nothing exists in central Nebraska other than a half dozen families on their farms. Perhaps these excitable ZPG movement members should be granted a free trip east to west and back again across Nebraska allowing them to feel comfortable at the start and finish in Omaha, a fair sized city, as there is nothing even close across the rest of the state of Nebraska, trust us.
The numbers of different groups over the long history of missing predictions, probably the most overestimated problem has been population of the entire planet. Thus far every last attempt to mitigate the dire predictions with real and implemented solutions have simply proven far more destructive and disastrous than the predicted problems would have caused. One of the most problematic and unfortunate results of any population control experiment would have to be the recently terminated China one child policy. This policy had exactly the result any sane person could have pointed out, the over propensity to have that one child be a male, which was the exact result. China now finds themselves with a massive imbalance between young male and female population. The obvious old school and historic means for resolving such an imbalance had always been to have a large scale and prolonged war until the imbalance was mitigated through casualties. This may have been one of the factors in the near continuous wars throughout history between the separate Chinese provinces or, after the unification of China, between India and China. Granted that most wars have far more earthly motivating factors such as desires for the neighboring tribes' women, cattle, fire starter, cave or other valuable item from times so distant that we could never discern their motivations any more than they could have understood our working for pieces of worthless paper which only have value because everybody agrees to honor the worthless pieces of paper, well, cloth actually.
The Crusades were a response to the loss of Jerusalem and the Holy Lands to the expansive colonialist armies surging out from the Arabian Peninsula initially centered around Medina and Mecca after its conquest. This surging of the young religion of Islam in its initial two centuries eventually spread forth across all of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) finally tuned back at Tours, France as they continued forth from Spain and again at the opposite end at Vienna which withstood a siege which was lifted by the combined armies of Poland, Hungary and the Holy Roman Army over a century later. Christianity's loss of Jerusalem was a bitter and challenging reality which resulted in numerous Crusades, military expeditions, to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Lands with their all meeting with varied levels of success or failure. Eventually the Christian world had to necessarily eventually accept this loss until their retaking the areas from the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Those soldiers who liberated the Holy Land and took Jerusalem did not necessarily have any reaction that these lands were at all special as religious values of the lands; even Jerusalem was at best a secondary thought, as the Great War was a brutal and all-encompassing horror that has dragged for years and introduced carnage beyond any previous war, a carnage which had been intimated by the horrors half a century earlier in the American Civil War. World War I is difficult to understand by the nations of Europe as the assassination of a leader would be treated largely as a criminal event than an act sparking a world conflict. The Crusades would be even more difficult for modern Europeans to understand as religion has become but a puff of smoke wafting away on the winds of time and of as little concern in the world today as they were the motivating factor of all of society those few centuries ago when the many Crusades had gripped a pair of continents.
Those on the other side of the Crusades have not progressed as has Europe, and the lands of Islam still hold the lands of MENA as they had during the times of the Crusades. The Byzantine Empire was the Islamic Caliphate at the onset of World War I and had sided with the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Germany much due to their fears and challenges of Russia to their north who were their mortal enemy at the onset of the war. After World War I the Allied powers made a decision to return rule to the peoples residing within the lands taking caretaking positions under the League of Nations approved Mandate systems. Nations were set with borders which either had carelessly ignored tribal boundaries or intentionally set the borders to prevent the nations from uniting behind a leader and once again forming the Caliphate which they blamed for their entry into World War I against the Allied powers. That system known as Sykes-Picot also redrew the lines of borders in Eastern Europe dividing up the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and shrank German borders in an effort to prevent another empire forming in the east and threatening France and Britain in the future. Obviously both presumptions are proving to have been erroneous. Germany partly due to restrictions and punishing debt leveled against Germany partly led to World War II and the disintegration across the nations of MENA and the rise of groups attempting to unify the people under their banner exclaiming their claims to be the new Caliphate.
The Western World and especially Europeans have strayed so far from their dedication to religious underpinnings in their societies that they are absolutely clueless to the reasoning and motivations behind many Islamic forces and the violence against them. The fact that there has also been many violent terrorist strikes in the Islamic World just as there has in the Western World has only increased the misunderstanding of the motivations in the increasingly violent actions between the two very different regions of today's world. The inviting into Europe, Canada, the United States and the remainder of the Western World of "Syrian refugees" when Saudi Arabia refuses to accept a single refugee, the Gulf States with all their oil wealth refuse to take a single refugee, Jordan holds the refugees in hastily constructed camps refusing to permit a single refugee to resettle in Jordan and Turkey has a very similar policy as Jordan is confusing beyond normative reasoning. One would reason that as these refugees are Arabs and mostly Muslims that Arab and Muslim nations would be granting them entrance to assist these troubled individuals who have the same religion and similar if not near identical histories. Obviously there is something amiss about these refugees and the complete refusal of the entirety of the Arab and Islamic worlds for permitting even family unification or any reason no matter how seemingly rational is the strongest reason that the nations accepting these "refugees" should probably take greater precautions. One has to think at some point that the Arab Islamic World knows something that the Western and formerly Christian World does not know but should be concerned and figure out what the big secret must be. Their survival may just depend on figuring out why their own people refuse to assist them just as they refuse to ever assist or permit a single Palestinian "refugee" to leave their camps and reside in their lands, even in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority areas where Hamas and Fatah rule over the Arab Islamic communities have refugee camps of fellow "Palestinian" Arab refugees where members of the same family reside within and just outside the fences around the camp and they refuse to allow unification. Why is it once an Arab Muslim becomes a refugee is it incumbent on Western nations to take them in and the Islamic and Arab worlds refuse any responsibility for their brothers and sisters. Apparently Islam has little compassion for their own people, their own brothers and sisters suffering and take no responsibility to alleviate such suffering while Christian nations plus Jewish Israel have allowed some of these refugees to live a normal life and even take them in even when there are questions about their actual motives and why the vast majority are military age men without anywhere near a concomitant female populations and children also joining them.
This coming at a time when the Western World has all but lost their ties to religion is even more ominous as there could be a religious underpinning to this possible invasion and with religion all but dead in the Western World which makes the coming times if there should be difficulties and societal trauma, the next generation will look to anybody offering a different path, a new approach as they will see their parent's methods as the reason and incapable of addressing the problems it is claimed they were causing and these children will become very open to Islam should it be presented as welcoming, open and liberating religion, just the picture that many Imams are selling. Sharia is not being brought into the relations attempting to convert Western liberal liberated youth who feel empty and lost and have no faith in Christianity which their parents have at best observed as an empty set of actions without meaning or any faith in Hashem. This will push their children to seek out those who honestly believe and believe deeply and such holding to faith will be attractive to the children being raised now in the Western World, especially if there are financial crises and political upheavals with collapse of the currencies and the society will be primed to be taken afield by Islam which will blame Christianity for letting the people down and not only allowing but contributing to these calamities. They will point to every fallen Priest, Rabbi, Minister or Christian religious or other leaders from the faith as the reason that Christianity has become a dead religion which has been replaced and that Allah is the one true god, the new face of the singular deity and that Islam is the replacement of Christianity just as Christianity replaced Judaism and that Muhammad was the final prophet who brought the new deity, Allah who is the last name, Allah who is the deity of Jesus, the same Jesus who will now be the messiah in a new manner of coming to ready the world for the return of Muhammad and who will serve as Muhammad's servant and dedicated follower.
Islam defines itself as the final replacement religion of Abraham. There is a problem with their story for the discerning and true believer will realize the difference immediately. Where Hashem, the deity of the Judeo-Christian religious family, Hashem is of Abraham along with Isaak, and Jacob; Allah is the god of Abram, before Hashem made his covenant and altered his name to Abraham and making his name now holy, Ishmael, and Muhammad. Different lineage even including Abram rather than Abraham and instead of the gentle Isaak and the most noble and nearly free of sin Jacob we have Ishmael and finally Muhammad. Ishmael was prophesized in Torah in the verse of Genesis 16:12 by the words,
וְהוּא יִהְיֶה פֶּרֶא אָדָם יָדוֹ בַכֹּל וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ וְעַל פְּנֵי כָל אֶחָיו יִשְׁכֹּן
"And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone's hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell."
Hashem and Allah are not the same and this makes the religions very different and not honestly all Abrahamic religions as Islam is an Abramic religion before Abram was renamed by Hashem into Abraham as a sign of their covenant and Abraham becoming the truth of Hashem. Abram became an entirely different person after making his covenant with Hashem and receiving his altered name adding new letters becoming Abraham and thus now being the individual capable of generating a just religion which would lead to the Messiah. These facts will not be explained nor are they even understood or known to the majority of wayward Jews and Christians who have lost their path walking with their religion. Many of these families may remember a few stories and quaint remembrances but other than a casual smattering of truths they know nothing. They know not the Bible, Torah, Proverbs, Psalms or the New Testament or that the United States was based on many biblical writings as well as common law, the Magna Carta and the most liberal political writings of their times. With a world failing and in utter confusion can we blame our children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren if they take to the seeming caressing arms of Islam if it be proffered as the salvation they seek rejecting that which they believe had forsaken their parents, grandparents and back as it had obviously failed when it had not failed, we had failed. Is there time to repair the damages and return and rebuild our society and give back to life meaning beyond carnal pleasures. Carnal pleasure is a poor base for a society and even less of a base for an entire society, let alone the world. Carnal pleasures will not long remain the basis for Western society and unless something is offered before Islam takes a foothold deeper than it has already established as we discussed yesterday, then our future youth will not be capable of refusing their sirens' swan song as the Imams call them five times a day and they bow to Allah forsaking Hashem, then where will things go. We know the answer and we must see to it that they are steered to a religion which raises the soul and not darkens life.
Beyond the Cusp


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Samsung can't seem to catch a break. Just last night, it was revealed the company is under investigation by the Department of Justice for its use of standard-setting patents. Today comes much worse news—a serious loss to Apple at the International Trade Commission.
An ITC judge ruled [PDF] four Samsung phones infringed four Apple patents. If the ruling holds up, it means a variety of Samsung products are likely to be banned from the US market. Kicking Samsung products off the market is the type of relief Apple is also seeking from the federal court trial it recently won in San Jose; however, it may or may not get such an order. The judge has yet to rule on those post-trial motions.
The Apple patents deemed infringed include one design patent and three utility patents. The design patent, D618,678, includes a diagram of the exterior of an iPhone, and has Apple higher-ups like Jonathan Ives and Steve Jobs listed as co-inventors. Patent 7,479,949 is related to multi-touch screen navigation, and also has Jobs listed as an inventor. Patent RE41,922 relates to how images are blended when more than one application runs at once; and patent 7,912,501 describes an audio plug that can tell if a microphone or non-microphone related device has been plugged in.
Samsung was found not to have violated design patent D558,757 or patent 7,789,697, which also describes a type of audio plug. Interestingly, Apple was found to not be practicing the '697 patent at all. (A patent holder doesn't have to practice their patents in order to sue in district court—thus, patent trolls exist—but any company going to the ITC for relief has to, in theory at least, show that a "domestic industry" exists that uses their patents.)
It's not immediately clear from the order what Samsung phones will be affected, but they will surely include some or all of the ones Apple mentioned in its initial complaint. Those phones include the Samsung Fascinate, Galaxy S 4G, Intercept, Transform, Captivate, and Infuse 4G. The Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1 were also accused.
The ITC order issued today is an "initial determination," and the judge's decision must still be affirmed by the full commission. That should occur in February. It's not at all unusual for the full commission to undo some or all of an ITC judge's ruling, so this is far from wrapped up for Apple. Finally, the decision by the full ITC can still be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The judge is the one who saw the evidence at trial, and his determination counts for a great deal. Overall, this is a clear loss and another sign that Samsung is losing its global patent battle with Apple.


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Harold Camping Wrong Again: Head of Family Radio Fails to Respond to the Media
Harold Camping has been proven unsuccessful at the prediction of the apocalypse on two occasions this year, and his California radio station, Family Radio, has been awkwardly silent.
Camping, who has now notoriously been dubbed the Doomsday preacher, has garnered a negative reputation for making false statements that the world would meet its end on May 21 and October 21 of 2011. He has also gained negative publicity after remaining silent about his false reports albeit the successful operation of his Family Radio website. As of today, Camping has made no commentary about his latest unsuccessful prophecy. However, his website features a silhouetted image of sheep on its banner, with a passage from Luke 12:32 beneath it, which reads "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
In addition to his new Doomsday preacher alias, Camping has recently been called another unsavory name by prison minister and author Marty Angelo, who is outraged that he has not yet spoken out about his second offense.
"I know prison convicts who are serving life sentences for much lesser crimes than what this Christian 'Bernie Madoff' Camping keeps committing," Angelo observed poignantly to a Los Angeles reporter.
"When someone doesn't provide a service or the product does not do what it is supposed to a customer is allowed to receive their money back or it could be considered a fraudulent transaction. But I do not see Harold Camping giving one red-nickel back to his donors or even apologizing for misleading them. It is amazing this man is allowed to walk the streets. Defrocked Jim Baker went to prison for far less offences," Angelo said.
Author Angelo has also questioned the methods of preachers who constantly discuss the end of times. His thoughts on futurism and the Rapture are reflected in his new book, Vision of New Jerusalem: Now. He argues that "futurism is destroying Christianity."
"It chips away at Christ's words and makes Him out to either be a liar or just plain wrong."
Angelo contends that Jesus Christ returned within his generation and "has been here for over two thousand years ... living within each one of His followers."
Meanwhile, Twitter users have reacted negatively to Camping's erroneous predictions. However, Camping has refused to speak with the media.


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Young to join GWU women's basketball staff
BOILING SPRINGS — Gardner-Webb women's basketball head coach Rick Reeves has announced the addition of Brittini Young to the Runnin' Bulldog coaching staff effective July 1.
Young comes to GWU after serving as a graduate assistant coach for Columbus State's basketball program over the last two years in Columbus, Ga. There, she worked primarily with the guard development, tape exchange, recruiting, workouts and office administrative duties.
"I first heard about Brittini from Brooke Wilkinson, a former student-athlete and assistant coach for me here at Gardner-Webb, who coached Brittini at Mars Hill. Brooke had the highest recommendation for Brittini, as did a number of other coaches that I know well and trust," Reeves said.
During her two years on the sidelines at Columbus State, Young helped to guide the Lady Cougars to back-to-back 16-11 seasons in 2012-13 and 2011-12.
A North Carolina native, she played at Eastern Randolph High in Ramseur for her father Jim Young. Young was also a three-time SAC all-conference selection (2009, 2010, 2011) at Mars Hill and was named to the SAC All-Freshman Team in 2008.
During her senior season, Young averaged 17.6 points per game, led the South Atlantic Conference in 3-point percentage and was second in the conference in both assists and free throw percentage. A Capital One Academic All-District selection and the 2010-11 SAC Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Young ended her career with five school records and was fourth all-time on the school's career scoring list with 1,731 points.
Young has worked at several different basketball camps and served as a referee on different levels.
Off the court at Mars Hill, Young served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee vice president in both her junior and senior years and as the secretary as a sophomore.


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The Committee on Rules will meet on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 5:00 PM in H-313 The Capitol on the following measure:
- H.R. 3192—Homebuyers Assistance Act
The Committee will also meet on the following emergency item:
- H. Res. ___—Establishing a Select Investigative Panel of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.


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From my inbox:
Monday, May 6, 2013
Dear City Schools Partners and Friends,
I am writing to you today to let you know that at the end of the current school year, I will retire and leave Baltimore City Public Schools and this great city to return to my home in New Jersey to care for my aging parents and begin an academic position at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It has not been an easy decision, because what we have accomplished together in recent years has been both important and extremely gratifying to me, professionally and personally. But life presents us with seasons, and it is time now for me to shift my focus.
I want to thank the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners for the opportunity to help lead this era of reform in City Schools and for its commitment to transformational change. But without your dedication to our kids, your incredibly hard work and your willingness to join me on this reform journey, we would not be where we are today, proud of many successes and poised to usher in the biggest reforms yet for our kids and the district.
With the recent passage of legislation that provides funding for our 10-year buildings plan—which could not have happened without you—the work to provide 21st-century buildings for our students is moving full-steam ahead. And we have laid the groundwork to roll out new academic standards next year, along with support and evaluation systems for teachers and school leaders to ensure the best possible teaching and learning for all of our teachers and students in every classroom, in every school. This next chapter in the transformation of our district will be the most critical yet, and I know you will continue to partner with City Schools to make sure it does its best work on behalf of our kids.
Starting July 1, City Schools Chief of Staff Tisha Edwards will serve as interim CEO throughout the 2013-14 school year, while the Board of School Commissioners conducts a search for a permanent CEO. Ms. Edwards has provided exceptional energy and leadership in the past several years, leading the implementation of key reforms and overseeing the day-in and day-out work of running the district. In partnership with you and our Board members and staff, she will build on the work we all started together. For the district's formal announcement and statement regarding the transition, please see today's press release.
Transitions can be hard, and they can be disruptive. But this is a timely transition; it is the right time for me, and it is the right time for the district. The district is poised for a new level of reform. Coupled with our clear focus on kids and the strength of current leadership, this momentum makes me confident the transition also will be a smooth one. I am handing my work over to an extraordinary individual who has worked alongside me for more than five years, to a great team here at the district office, to a supportive Board that understands the critical role of leadership throughout the district, to teachers and administrators who serve our kids in heroic ways every day and to an entire community—from our political leaders and fellow agencies to our advocates and parents—that continues to rally in support of the work we all have done together.
You have been essential to the progress of the last six years, and on behalf of City Schools, I thank you for your unwavering commitment to our students and their futures. I look forward to working with you for the next couple of months and to cheering from a distance as you continue to support and help guide City Schools in its work to ensure the success of our 85,000 tremendous kids.
Andrés A. Alonso, Ed.D.
CEO, Baltimore City Public Schools
Press conference will be live streamed at 1 p.m., here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/education-channel-77


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Cartier is one of the most recognizable names in luxury and their jewelry and timepieces are some of the most coveted in the entire world. Founded in 1847 by jewelry apprentice Louis-François Cartier, the company quickly became known for its high-quality workmanship and taste. Cartier became a supplier to the royal court of Napoleon III and by the end of the 19th century the company introduced branded watches. Louis-François' grandsons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques took over around the turn of the century and helped to establish the Cartier name worldwide.
The 20th century saw the rapid expansion and success of the firm. In 1904, they designed their Santos wristwatch for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, a design so popular that it is still in production today. Several years later, Cartier signed a contract with the luxury watch and clock manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre. By this time, Cartier had offices in London, New York, and St. Petersburg and was becoming one of the most successful watch companies in the world. Their jewelry was also enormously successful, characterized by light and airy designs which stood in stark contrast to the more formal and highly decorative accessories of the period. They produced some of the best pieces the world had ever seen, including their famous tutti frutti necklaces and bracelets, made of multi-color gemstones, and a necklace for the Maharaja of Patiala consisting of nearly 3,000 diamonds. For a brief period in the early 20th century they were also owners of the infamous Hope Diamond, which was then sold to New York socialite Evelyn Walsh McLean.
Unlike many companies, Cartier managed to survive the Great Depression and continued to expand globally. Louis and Jacques died in 1942 and Pierre carried on leading the firm until his death in 1964. In 1972, the company was acquired by a consortium led by WW2 French Resistance hero, Robert Hocq, and they set about buying all of the branches of Cartier and forming a single entity, which it remains to this day. Cartier continues to be considered one of the premier jewelers and watchmakers, worn by celebrities, world leaders, and the wealthy elite, and operating 200 stores in 125 different countries.
Upcoming Lots Cartier
Auction Results Cartier


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Sake (or Nihonshu) can be as involved and varied a subject as wine. Both have their experts, aficionados and divided opinions and, like wine, you can put all that aside and just enjoy the drink itself.
This is the precisely the aim of Ponshukan (or Sake Museum) in Echigo Yuzawa Station where you can taste 100 varieties of local sake – although it's not advised you do it all in one go. If you are not relaxed enough, there is also an onsen in the station with sake added to the water.
Just as the environment plays a vital role in the character of grapes used to make wine, the same is true of rice, the principal ingredient in sake. Niigata is famous throughout Japan for its rice, and the area around Yuzawa produces Koshihikari, the most highly regarded of all. The pure, clean water that melts off the mountains to fill the rice fields every year is the same used to make the sake. Great rice plus pure water equals fantastic sake.
Ponshukan is at the far end of Echigo Yuzawa Station opposite the main gates. Just look for the full-sized models of inebriated, be-suited commuters in various drunken poses, possibly giving a taste of what lies in store. Past the sake shop with a dazzling array of different bottles, you come to the main attraction: The Wall of Sake. As fearsome as it sounds, it's basically a giant vending machine with more than 100 kinds of sake available. For ¥500, you receive five tokens and a tasting cup to experiment at will.
A sake menu can be just as intimidating as a wine menu, but you are sure to find a sake style to suit your palette. Each box has the bottle label on, so it is easy to locate your personal favorite among the many on offer in the gift shop on the way out. There is also information on the grade and taste to guide you.
There are several big names, famous throughout Japan, such as Hakkaisan, that will elicit appreciative comments when you present them as omiyage. Another great brewery from Yuzawa is Shirotaki.
The adjacent hot spring containing sake is supposed to aid circulation and metabolism. After my detailed inspection of the tasting boxes (all in the name of research), it just gave me a head rush. After some great sake, good food and a hot bath, the journey to Tokyo will never seem so short. So, whether you have a serious interest in sake or just need to kill 10 minutes before your train, you'll enjoy the experience.
Web: www.ponshukan.com


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For chili purée
- 2 dried ancho chilies
- 1/4 cup cashews, raw or roasted
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 whole chicken legs (drums and thighs) plus 1/2 chicken breast (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped coarse
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander sprigs (wash and dry before chopping)
- a 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
- 1/2 cup cashews, raw or roasted
- 1/2 ounce fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate
- 1 cup canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Make chili purée:
Heat a small heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot and toast chilies, 1 at a time, pressing down with tongs, a few seconds on each side to make more pliable. Wearing rubber gloves, seed and devein chilies. In a blender purée chilies with cashews and broth until smooth.
Cut legs into drumsticks and thigh portions. Remove excess fat from chicken and pat chicken dry.
In a large heavy saucepan heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cool onion and garlic, stirring, until softened. Add cumin, chili powder, and salt and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chicken and stir to coat with onion mixture. Stir in chili purée, 2 tablespoons coriander, and tomatoes with juice and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking, 45 minutes, or until chicken legs are cooked through.
Remove pan from heat and transfer chicken to a bowl. With 2 forks shred meat, discard bones and skin. Return chicken to pan and stir in cashews, remaining tablespoon coriander, chocolate, and beans. Cook chili over moderate heat, stirring, until heated through and chocolate is melted. Chili may be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, before being chilled, covered.


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The December 22 edition of The Living Church is available online to registered subscribers. This edition features TLC's annual roundup of gift suggestions from a variety of editorial contributors and friends, including the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.
Rowan Williams writes, in part:
I recommend John Drury's book on George Herbert, Music at Midnight (Penguin/Allen Lane, 2013). Drury combines a clear and vivid account of the life of this greatest of Anglican poets with close, sympathetic reading of many of his finest poems. The book is scholarly and fresh, finely produced, and accessible to any reader with a little knowledge of English history.
Other ideas come from these writers:
|Jon Adamson
|A.K.M. Adam
|Georges Titre Ande
|Victor Austin
|John Bauerschmidt
|Katelyn Beaty
|Anthony Burton
|Betsy Childs
|Mark F.M. Clavier
|Prudence Dailey
|Kurt Dunkle
|R. William Franklin
|Matthew Gunter
|Jack Leo Iker
|Jonathan Kanary
|Cynthia Kittredge
|Nicholas Knisely
|Douglas LeBlanc
|Gary Lillibridge
|G. Jeffrey MacDonald
|Mark MacDonald
|Ian Markham
|David Marshall
|John Kingsley Martin
|Steven Miller
|Mother Miriam
|David Moxon
|Derek Olsen
|Yejide Peters
|Stephen Platten
|Chip Prehn
|Ephraim Radner
|Margaret Rose
|Grace Sears
|Dabney T. Smith
|James Stanton
|Justyn Terry
|A.C. Thiselton
|Patrick T. Twomey
|Christopher Wells
|Jared Wicks
|Clinton Wilson
Peace Breaks Out at Synod
Gift Ideas from Friends of TLC
The Body of Christ Grows into the Mind of Christ
By Richard J. Mammana, Jr.
Our Blessed Place
By Amy Lepine Peterson
Other Departments
Caeli enarrant
Sunday's Readings
People & Places


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1400 Page Mill: Structures Awards 2016: Green Project of the Year
Silicon Valley Business Journal Annual Structures Awards 2016. 1400 Page Mill receives Green Project Award. Therma-Fuser Systems specified on this net-zero project.
Silicon Valley Business Journal Annual Structures Awards 2016. 1400 Page Mill receives Green Project Award. Therma-Fuser Systems specified on this net-zero project.
Kaiser Permanente's Geary Medical Office Building in San Francisco, CA, is recognized for it innovative air-distribution system made up of Acutherm's Therma-Fuser VAV System.
A diverse group of professionals from around the world gathered at this pre-eminent meeting to discuss the technological basis for, and practical implementation of, actions to reduce energy use and the climate impacts associated with buildings. The Summer Study enabled sharing of ideas and dialog among leading thinkers, visionaries, and luminaries in our field. Kurt Herzog, President & CEO of Acutherm was invited to present on the topic of "Achieving High Satisfaction in High Performance Buildings." Co-Authors of the paper included, Wes Sullens, Manager of Green Building Policy & Advocacy at StopWaste.Org and Michael Ivanovich, Senior Director, Industry Relations at AMCA International.
CoreNet Global, the leading professional association for corporate real estate has
announced the winners of its three annual global best practice awards. 415 N. Mathilda received the Sustainable Leadership award, 2016. Therma-Fuser Systems were specified on this net zero project.
Source: 1200 Zones of Temperature Control with No Replacements Due to Failure Since 1981
Source: 30 Year Old Low Pressure Duct System Serves Over 900 Zones
Source: A Loaf of Bread, a Jug of Wine and Therma-Fuser VAV Diffusers
Source: Constant Volume System Upgraded for VAV Energy Savings


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Analysis of the MonetDB project and the technologies and companies it produces, including the open source MonetDB columnar analytic DBMS. Related subjects include:
- Data warehousing
- Open source database management systems
- Columnar database management systems
- VectorWise, a project spun out of the MonetDB research group
Greenplum is being open sourced
While I don't find the Open Data Platform thing very significant, an associated piece of news seems cooler — Pivotal is open sourcing a bunch of software, with Greenplum as the crown jewel. Notes on that start:
- Greenplum has been an on-again/off-again low-cost player since before its acquisition by EMC, but open source is basically a commitment to having low license cost be permanently on.
- In most regards, "free like beer" is what's important here, not "free like speech". I doubt non-Pivotal employees are going to do much hacking on the long-closed Greenplum code base.
- That said, Greenplum forked PostgreSQL a long time ago, and the general PostgreSQL community might gain ideas from some of the work Greenplum has done.
- The only other bit of newly open-sourced stuff I find interesting is HAWQ. Redis was already open source, and I've never been persuaded to care about GemFire.
Greenplum, let us recall, is a pretty decent MPP (Massively Parallel Processing) analytic RDBMS. Various aspects of it were oversold at various times, and I've never heard that they actually licked concurrency. But Greenplum has long had good SQL coverage and petabyte-scale deployments and a columnar option and some in-database analytics and so on; i.e., it's legit. When somebody asks me about open source analytic RDBMS to consider, I expect Greenplum to consistently be on the short list.
Further, the low-cost alternatives for analytic RDBMS are adding up. Read more
|Categories: Amazon and its cloud, Citus Data, Data warehouse appliances, EAI, EII, ETL, ELT, ETLT, EMC, Greenplum, Hadoop, Infobright, MonetDB, Open source, Pricing
|6 Comments
VectorWise, Ingres, and MonetDB
I talked with Peter Boncz and Marcin Zukowski of VectorWise last Wednesday, but didn't get around to writing about VectorWise immediately. Since then, VectorWise and its partner Ingres have gotten considerable coverage, especially from an enthusiastic Daniel Abadi. Basic facts that you may already know include:
- VectorWise, the product, will be an open-source columnar analytic DBMS. (But that's not quite true. Pending productization, it's more accurate to call the VectorWise technology a row/column hybrid.)
- VectorWise is due to be introduced in 2010. (Peter Boncz said that to me more clearly than I've seen in other coverage.)
- VectorWise and Ingres have a deal in which Ingres will at least be the exclusive seller of the VectorWise technology, and hopefully will buy the whole company.
- Notwithstanding that it was once named something like "MonetDB," VectorWise actually is not the same thing as MonetDB, another open source columnar analytic DBMS from the same research group.
- The MonetDB and VectorWise research groups consist in large part of academics in Holland, specifically at CWI (Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica). But Ingres has a research group working on the project too. (Right now there are about seven "highly experienced" people each on the VectorWise and Ingres sides, although at least the VectorWise folks aren't all full-time. More are being added.)
- Ingres and VectorWise haven't agreed exactly how VectorWise and Ingres Classic will play together in the Ingres product line. (All of the obvious possibilities are still on the table.)
- VectorWise is shared-everything, just as Ingres is. But plans — still tentative — are afoot to integrate VectorWise with MapReduce in Daniel Abadi's HadoopDB project.


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The Peoples Community Bank Online Banking Privacy Policy
Certain personal information about visitors to this Web site is being collected by The Peoples Community Bank, located in Mazomanie, Wisconsin. Personal information is collected from you at the time an application for a loan or deposit account is submitted to the Bank, at the time transactions are conducted through the online banking service, and at the time information is provided by you via e-mail (including the name, e-mail address, and any other information on the e-mail header).
Information is collected for the purpose of processing your application, transaction, or request for information. The information will be used for the purposes of meeting your banking needs and requests, and providing services to you in the future. The Bank does not sell or share customer information with any nonaffiliated third parties, except certain third party service providers. These entities are required to execute a confidentiality agreement with the Bank which requires adherence to the Bank's privacy policy and practices.
If you do not want your personal information collected, you may refrain from supplying the information, whether through e-mail or the Bank's online banking service.
Ensuring your financial privacy is of vital importance to the Bank and its employees. We are taking the following steps to ensure the privacy and accuracy of the information collected from or about you: The Bank limits employee access to confidential customer financial information to those with a business reason for knowing such information. Bank employees are trained to understand the importance of customer financial privacy and to properly handle confidential information. The Bank endeavors to maintain the most accurate and up-to-date customer records possible. If you find that your account information is not correct, current, or complete, please call or write to us at the telephone number or address on your account statement and appropriate corrections will be made as soon as possible.
Additionally, information you submit via our online banking service is protected by encryption technology which scrambles account information to reduce the possibility of access by unauthorized individuals outside the Bank. To further protect your online banking service, the Bank requires the use of an ID and password.
You may review the information we collect about you and correct any errors in that information by reviewing account statements and any other correspondence from us and notifying us of any inaccurate or outdated information at the address or phone number on your statements.
If you have questions about your personal information, or would like to inform us about the potential misuse of your personal information, you may do so by sending a letter to Deborah Steiner, The Peoples Community Bank, 222 W. Commercial Street, Mazomanie, WI 53560, sending a telefacsimile to Deborah Steiner at (608) 795-2133, calling the bank at (608) 795-2120, or by sending us an e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com. Since some e-mail transmissions may be subject to interception, if your correspondence contains sensitive information (e.g., your account number or social security number) you may want to send a letter or telefacsimile to us.
If you feel we have not met our obligations in the protection or use of your personal information, you may submit a complaint to the Bank. Any complaint will be handled in compliance with the Bank's Consumer Complaints Policy. Breaches of customer privacy are considered serious employee misconduct and may result in termination of the employee.
We recognize the importance of protecting children's identities and privacy online. Our website is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect or maintain personal information obtained from children.


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When I was on the missions trip with Grace Church serving the Livada Orphan Care ministry in Romania, the beauty of the country inspired me. I had the idea that when I got home to Arkansas I could paint these Romanian scenes and donate the paintings to Livada to raise money for orphan sponsorship.
Sighisoara was our one day excursion at the end of the trip – the touristy sight seeing adventure. After the group tour – the house in which Vlad Tepes, aka dracula, was born (now hosting a restaurant and a small museum of medieval weapons) – we had an hour or so to look around the city. This clock tower was our first stop and a photo op at that!
Image to Paint
Charcoal Sketch on Canvas
Painting Sketch (1st Coat)
Painting Sketch (2nd Coat)
Final Painting