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A few uniforms we'd like to see in the NHL again:
Vancouver Canucks 1978 - 1985: This one is crying out to be one of those retro jerseys used in a future Winter Classic or Heritage game. It's ugly, yes, but in that "so ugly it's good" kind of way. Mustard helmets are also rad.
New York Rangers 1976 - 1978: These were brought in by GM John Ferguson Sr. and they were a big break from tradition and not very popular at the time. But these look pretty sharp in retrospect and would make a nice third jersey.
Minnesota North Stars 1967 - 1991: Either the Dallas Stars or the Minnesota Wild would do well to bring back a variant of one of these classic sweaters. The simplicity of the older model worn by Tim Young is my favourite but the Hartsburg era sweaters with the shoulder yokes are right up there.
Toronto Maple Leafs 1970 - 1992: The Leafs wore these uni's through their wilderness years in the 70's and 80's under infamous owner Harold Ballard and there are rumours the Leafs may be bringing these back as a third jersey.
Ottawa Senators 1995 - 1997: They wore the white ones up until 2007 but discontinued the classic black a decade earlier. These second-set uni's (the first sweaters were similar but not perfected yet) were classy and pre-cartoon era. These were also the last dark sweaters with a normal waist stripe. Sadly, it will probably take a lot longer for the organization to realize they had it right in the first place. How many more gimmick uniforms are we going to be subjected to?
Ottawa Senators Horrific Blast From The Past
If there is one photo that could dissuade anyone from going back to these jerseys, this would be the one. Radek Bonk had a very underrated Kentucky Waterfall going on back in his draft year. I wonder how much his rookie cards are worth nowadays?


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Fineline Millwork is a manufacturer and retailer of high quality exterior window shutters, decorative brackets and window planter boxes. We specialize in making products that will add instant curb appeal and value to your home or business.
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We have experienced staff that is happily ready to help you before, during and after your purchase.
Thank you for visiting us and we look forward to serving you.
There are many different styles and types to choose from when purchasing exterior window shutters for your home. If you follow a few simple guidelines, the task will be much easier.
The first step in selecting your house shutters is to decide on the style. There are so many styles to choose from that it can be a bit overwhelming. The information below will help you decide exactly what style of exterior window shutter is right for your home. Here are a few things to consider:
Sometimes a quick drive through your neighborhood can help you decide if you want your outdoor shutters to blend in with all the others or, if your would rather have your home be the one that all the others envy. We have several very common styles of exterior window shutters including board and batten, raised panel and louvered that will fit in with most any neighborhood. We can also develop a custom design specific to your taste that will stand out from the crowd and gleam with a beautiful curb appeal.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Planning Briefs
Inflation: A Portfolio Risk That Never Dies
Published Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at: 7:00 AM EDT
The threat of inflation is nothing like the double-digit affair of the 1970s, but it's still there. Dormant for years, inflation may seem irrelevant, but it remains a risk. Here's a short lesson for managing this risk.
In the 48 years after it raged in 1970, inflation was a tale of two times, distinctly different but equal in length. The first 24 years was a high-inflation period and low inflation marked the last 24 years.
The median Consumer Price Index, a widely-watched inflation barometer, was 3.8% for the 48-year span. However, the CPI topped 3.8% just once in the past 24 years, while hitting 3.8% or higher in 18 of the previous 24 years.
The table below shows the average yearly returns for seven distinct types of investments over the two 24-year periods. Some important observations:
- Large U.S. stocks' nominal return in the low-inflation era was 13.08% and, after subtracting the small CPI increase, 10.8%. In the high-inflation years, a 10.8% nominal return shrunk to 4.7% after inflation. High CPI slashed real returns after inflation in half, a frightening risk to a retiree on fixed income.
- Stocks held up well in low-inflation times, because bonds - their chief competitor for investor capital - were yielding less income. Stocks performed okay in high-inflation periods, too. An escalating CPI eroded the value of bonds' interest income. Longer-maturity bonds suffered.
- Money market instruments are never big interest payers. But shorter-term income investments go up with inflation. They've been good for times of rising inflation.
- Real estate performed well in low-inflation years, which foster lower mortgage payments that encourage home buying. Yet real estate also performed in the high inflation era.
- A real wild card for investors in securities over the last 48 years was commodities. Oil companies dominate commodities in this class of securities, but it also reflects prices of gold, food and raw materials. Historically, prosperity increased demand for goods and boosted commodities prices. Low inflation meant the opposite happened.
- It's easy to think commodities are irrelevant, but long-term financial history indicates otherwise. The fact that they were losers after years of good stock returns demonstrate why they remain important in a diversified portfolio. If you did not have some investments underperforming, you're not properly diversified.
© 2023 Advisor Products Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More articles
- The Interest Rate Inflection Point And Your Portfolio
- New Ways To Influence The Next Generation
- Giving More To Loved Ones - Tax-Free
- New Deduction Rules For Business Owners
- A Bright Outlook For Consumer Spending
- Six Tips To Avoid Phishing Scams
- Bad News: The New Tax Law Curbs A Home's Deductibility
- The New Tax Law Gives Roth Converters A Little Less Wiggle Room
- Good Riddance To The Alternative Minimum Tax
- A Framework For Wealth Management We Believe In
- Earnings Drives Stocks, And That's A Good Bottom Line
- Bitcoin, Chasing Your Tail, And Investing
- Tax Reform Plan Puts The Squeeze On Securities Sales
- A Trust For Creditor Protection
- NINGs, WINGs And DINGs: Tax Angles


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Thank you for buying this Fisher & Paykel refrigerator/freezer. At Fisher & Paykel we aim to provide innovative products that are simple to use, ergonomic and kind to the environment.
These refrigerators/freezers combine size and storage space with the latest features and functions
Thousands of hours of food care research and refrigeration experience has been programmed into your refrigerator/freezer to give you the best possible performance.
We hope you enjoy your new product.
This guide covers all models listed on the inside cover of this book.
Diagrams above show examples of two of the models covered in this book.
Refrigerators with pocket handles differ in height from curved or flat door refrigerators.
A door with pocket handles is shown on the right.


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Here are a few quotes from Jon Gibbs that I thought were good little snippets everyone could use.
Thank you again, Jon, for your words of wisdom, and for going out of your way to help aspiring authors to Learn from your Mistakes
1. Dealing with shyness – He is shy. He is afraid of public appearances. To get through it, he imagines his grandmother saying "Okay go home – you will disgrace all your ancestors but that's fine." It helps him to trudge on.
2. Figure out what works best for you and then do that a lot
3. Write what you like, even if it seems out of date. If you enjoy it, someone else will, too.
4. Winning a contest (small) and putting it in your query letter makes you look like a newbie. Major awards are okay, though.
5. Writer's digest may seem good, but you have to pay to submit. Don't pay to submit.
6. Slush readers trash "Dark and stormy night" openers and don't read to the next line.
7. Jon learns more about writing listening to others critique his writing.
8. Young Adult needs a romantic element to be marketable*
*This is what a publisher told Jon when he was selling Fur Face as YA. However, a friend of mine was just asked by a publisher to remove the romantic element because it made them uncomfortable. You never know.
Jon Gibbs is the author of one of my son's favorite books: FUR-FACE, which was nominated for a Crystal Kite Award.
Jon is an Englishman transplanted to New Jersey, USA, where he is an 'author in residence' at Lakehurst Elementary School. Jon is the founding member of The New Jersey Author's Network and FindAWritingGroup.com.
Jon blogs at jongibbs.livejournal.com
Website: www.acatofninetales.com


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Advertising people are viewed as liars, only marginally more trustworthy than car salesmen.
But the truth is that we actually don't lie to consumers. In fact, it's the consumers who lie to us.
Yes, we probably exaggerate a little. And paint products in their best possible light. But that's just salesmanship - as employed by every industry. We don't lie. In fact there are strict rules against that. Having worked (briefly) in finance and in journalism, I can tell you that advertising is a far more honest business than either of those professions.
People, on the other hand, do lie to us.
Russell Davies was reminiscing the other day on his blog about "Endless focus groups with company car drivers - constantly lying about why they drove the car they did."
I remember once going to a car research group myself, where they had given the punters some magazines to flick through. From the other side of the one-way glass, I watched a bloke spend several minutes studying a text-heavy ad. Then the moderator asked the group - just to get them talking - whether any of the ads had caught their eye. "No," said the guy I'd watched read every single word.
In research, the punters always say they're not influenced by advertising. That they buy on substance, not on image. And that they'd far prefer a car ad that simply gave them the facts - the car's price, engine size, speed, etc.
And then they go out and buy purely on image.
Hardly surprising, I guess. According to a 2002 study conducted by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of adults can't have a ten minute conversation without lying at least once.
In business, it could be even higher.
But this is never discussed. Because to accuse someone of lying is a highly aggressive manoeuvre. There's no way back for a relationship after that.
Nevertheless, it goes on. It must do.
So, next time you're pondering something someone has said to you - whether they be a consumer, a client, or a co-worker - don't forget to factor in this extra little possibility into your assessment: they may be lying.
Though of course, you yourself don't tell any lies at work. Do you?


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The village of Bray is at a border post between South Africa and Botswana. The adjacent villages on each side of the border bear the same name.
Bray seems an appropriate enough name for a place where donkey carts are in regular use, and in the photo above, taken on the main road on the South African side of the border, two donkeys can be seen ambling down the road.
Posted by Carol


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ELECTION 2010 – Big loser: marijuana remains illegal in California. Big winner: the McRib is back!
WWN once again led the country in election coverage. Our reporters watched all the cable channels last night – at the same time. We reported to each other what we saw on the TV. We had up-to-the-second reports about what the pundits were saying.
Our analysts determined that the biggest winner of last night's election was: pot. Proposition 19 went up in flames last night in California as the ballot initiative was not passed. Marijuana will remain illegal in California. Many stoners who supported the measure (and support being stoned) were upset – though it was hard to tell they were upset because they looked so numbed out.
Here's a group of dejected stoners who fought hard for marijuana:
They worked the phones up until the last minute. WWN analysts concluded that the problem was that most of the people managing the cannabis phonebanks were stoned. "Instead of making 20-30 calls an hour, most of our pot phonebank callers only managed 2-3 calls an hour and they usually spent a few minutes talking about the double-rainbow," said pot supporter, David de Andrade.
The big winner, however, was the McRib. This was also on the ballot in California (Proposition 22). Voters in California overwhelmingly voted for the return of the McRib to McDonald's restaurants all across the state. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had banned the McRib due to its high calorie and high fat content.
But voters rejected Schwarzenegger's push for "healthy living." If we want a thick, juicy, McRib drenched in barbecue sauce, we're going to have it. The state can't tell us no!" said a three-hundred pound McRib supporter, Hank Jorgenson.
The McRib proposition passed with 87% backing the return of the McRib. Here's a happy McRib supporter:
There are rumors that the marijuana supporters are going to try to get McDonald's to add marijuana to the McRib recipe, but McDonald's spokesperson, Tammy Weigle, said "we don't want to ruin the McRib recipe, but we are considering offering pot brownies in California. We're just try it out in a few of restaurants in San Francisco first. We think it'll be a big seller up there."
So, there you have it. This is all you need to know about last night's election:
Marijuana bad.
McRib good.
Now, go out and enjoy your day!


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Gum Allograft
Gum allograft is a periodontal plastic surgery procedure designed to help restore damaged gum tissue. Gingiva that has been damaged due to periodontal disease, trauma, or any other factors can benefit from this periodontal surgery. Allografts have been used safely in millions of procedures for numerous years. Conventional methods of soft tissue grafting required harvesting patient's own tissue through a series of intricate incisions from the palate of the mouth. Although these methods have proven to be quite effective, patients often complain of discomfort following the procedure. Gum allograft is a great alternative to conventional soft tissue grafting methods.
What Is Gum Allograft?
The gum Allograft procedure requires the use of human tissue which is transplanted from one person to another.
How is Donated Skin Obtained?
The United States Food and Drug Administration regulate tissue banks throughout the country. These banks surgically remove a thin layer of skin from donors by utilizing sterile operating room techniques.
How is Allografts Used?
Allografts can be used to help replace gum tissue damaged due to periodontal disease and may also be used to correct cosmetic soft tissue defects.
Are Allografts Safe?
Tissue donors undergo rigorous screenings by the heavily regulated Tissue Banks. Medical and social history including cause of death is carefully reviewed and examined. Blood samples are stringently tested by Tissue Banks and donors must be found negative for Hepatitis B and C, HIV Types 1 and 2 antibodies, and syphilis. Allografts also undergo microscopic including various analytical testing both pre and post processing in order to screen for pathogenic contamination.
Allografts allow our periodontist to perform many soft tissue surgeries in a minimally invasive manner. This technique provides predictable aesthetics results, enhancing patient's quality of life and most importantly, their beautiful smile. Gum allograft surgery eliminates painful process of harvesting the patient's own tissue and minimizes pain.


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Sub It Clubbers have been working hard this past year. Members have made great strides toward their goals of publication, from connecting with critique partners in our Critique Partner Matchup, to perfecting pitches and queries, to sending submissions, to illustrator postcard mailings, and so much more. There are so many steps along the way to becoming published and it has been wonderful to be able to discuss the challenges, triumphs, and woes in the group, and to support and help each other out when we can. Here's to all of you who have been taking those steps towards your publication goals, no matter how difficult!
As we all know, signing with that agent, connecting with that right publisher, and of course, publication are the big goals we're stepping towards. So many Sub It Clubbers met those big goals 2016! And hey, don't forget film rights. A couple of Sub It Clubbers sold those too. Pretty cool. Let's celebrate these huge accomplishments Sub It Clubbers made in the past year. There is so much to celebrate!
Beth Anderson signed with Stephanie Fretwell-Hill at Red Fox Literary with her narrative nonfiction in February. Her book, AN INCONVENIENT ALPHABET, is about when Ben Franklin and Noah Webster become friends and start their own quiet revolution battling an inconvenient alphabet, sold to Simon & Schuster, Paula Wiseman Books to be released Fall 2018.
Tracy Auerbach signed with The Evan Marshall Agency in June for her YA fantasy and science fiction.
Annie Bailey signed with Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency in May!
Charlotte Barnes signed with Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Literary Agency for her children's picture books in August.
Author/illustrator Jeanette Bradley signed with Emily Mitchell of Wernick & Pratt in April and sold her picture book LOVE, MAMA about a young penguin who must cope with missing his mother (and vice versa) while she is away on a business trip to Roaring Brook to be released Winter 2018.
Elizabeth Brown signed with Sean McCarthy Literary Agency for her picture books in February.
Linda Budzinski's novel, THE BOYFRIEND WHISPERER was released by Swoon Romance in November: Lexi Malloy is Grand View High School's undercover Cupid for hire … so why is she stuck in the friend zone with her own dream crush? She alsosold the TV and film rights to her novel, EM & EM in which Emily Slovkowski doesn't want to leave behind her home at the Jersey shore, her gorgeous surf boy Zach, and basically her entire identity … but that's kind of how Witness Protection works!
Kara Cargill signed with Adria Goetz of Martin Literary Management in November!
TE Carter signed with agent Mandy Hubbard of Emerald City Literary for her YA Contemporary in March. Pitched as THE LOVELY BONES meets ALL THE RAGE in a town destroyed by the mortgage crisis, her book, I STOP SOMEWHERE, sold to Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan and is scheduled to be released in Winter 2018!
C. B. Catalano signed with Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary for her Middle Grade Fantasy Retelling in June.
Gloria Chao signed with Kathleen Rushall of Andrea Brown Literary Agency for her YA Contemporary in April and sold her book, AMERICAN PANDA to Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster to be released in Spring 2018. The book is inspired by the author's experiences as a second-generation Taiwanese-American, AMERICAN PANDA follows 17-year-old Mei, whose parents want her to become a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her germophobia and crush on a Japanese classmate.
Tina Cho signed with Adria Goetz of Martin Literary Management for picture books in December. Her article OPERATION COOKIE, about two boys who baked cookies (along with church families) for U.S. soldiers in South Korea, was published in Clubhouse Jr. Tina was also the1st Runner Up in the Scholastic Asia Book Award for her novel, CHASING FREEDOM: THE ASIAN UNDERGROUND RAILROAD which chronicles the journey of two North Korean children as they attempt to flee their home country.
Illustrator Abi Cushman signed with Ilse Craane of BookStop Literary for picture books in May. She was also awarded an Honorable Mention in the Illustrated Picture Book Category for the Tassy Walden New Voices in Children's Literature Awards for the PB dummy AARDVARK & ZEBRA STAR IN YET ANOTHER ALPHABET BOOK: When Aardvark discovers A is for Aardwolf, Zebra helps him look for a new spot in this funny, meta alphabet book.
Debra Daugherty's YA romantic fantasy/fairy tale, THE DRAGON'S RING was released by Astraea Press/Clean Reads in July. In the story,if the knight captures a unicorn, the king will give him his daughter's hand in marriage; but if the unicorn is not set free, it, and all the creatures in the Enchanted Forest, will die.Jamie LB Deenihan signed with Linda Camacho at Prospect Agency in June for picture books.
Lori Degman's picture book, NORBERT'S BIG DREAM, about Norbert, a pig who dreams of swimming the English Channel – if only he could find it, was released by Sleeping Bear Press in August. She also sold her picture book, JUST READ, about a group of kids in a reading book club who share what, when, where, how, and with whom they read to Sterling Publishing. It is scheduled to be released in 2018.
Laurie J. Edwards had 4 books released in new formats! 3 nonfiction books (Imperial China, West African Kingdoms, and Ancient Egypt) came out in hardcover, and Love & Profanity released in paperback. 3 Curious Monkeys released her first picture book as an author, Case of the Missing Parathas , about a girl who is planning a surprise party for her grandmother, but finds the food keeps disappearing. She also has a story in the anthology, Strange Magic (Sunbury Press).
New releases written under Laurie's pen name Rachel J. Good include Change of Heart (Charisma House/ Realms), the first book in the Sisters & Friends Amish series; the Amish Quilts Coloring Book (Golden Fairy Arts); and Angels Unaware (Golden Fairy Arts), an inspirational novella about the power of forgiveness and love.
She'll be continuing her Amish series in 2017 with 2 more books in the Sisters & Friends series (Buried Secrets and Gift from Above), 2 novels in the Hearts of Amish Country series (Hearts United and Secret Identity), and 4 books in the Love & Promises series. She also has another picture book and an Amish novella under contract.
Author/Illustrator Sally Fawcett's picture book WHAT COULD IT BE?, a book about exploring shapes in the real world and imagination, was released by EK Books in June. She also sold her picture book, THROUGH THE GATE, a story of resilience, as a little girl changes her perspective and mood by putting one foot in front of the other as she passes 'through the gate'. It will be released by EK Books in May 2017.
SM Ford's inspirational romantic suspense was published by Clean Reads in June. In ALONE, Cecelia's new live-in job affects her carefree heart, increases her dependence on God, and . . . puts her life at risk.
Kristen Foote signed a contract in July for two picture books with Innovation Press after they liked her pitch during #PBPitch. Both are creative non-fiction: HOW TO SURVIVE AS A FIREFLY and HOW TO SURVIVE AS A SHARK.They are unique and funny takes on insect and fish science that will entertain both in and out of the classroom. They are scheduled to be released in Fall 2017.
Kelly Garrett sold her novel, THE LAST TO DIE toPoisoned Pen Press to be released in April 2017. In the book, Harper is no saint, but she doesn't deserve to die. But when her burglary ring goes terribly wrong, and her friends start dying, she knows she's next on the list.
Dorina Lazo Gilmore signed with agent Victoria Selvaggio of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency for her picture book in December.
Steve Goble signed with The Evan Marshall Agency with his Historical Mystery in March then sold his book, THE BLOODY BLACK FLAG: A SPIDER JOHN MYSTERY to Seventh Street Books in a 2-book deal in August! In the book to be released Fall/Winter 2017, a reluctant pirate seeks the killer of his best friend aboard a pirate vessel. THE DEVIL'S WIND: A SPIDER JOHN MYSTERY is scheduled to release in Fall/Winter 2018.
Sam Hawke signed with agent Julie Crisp and sold his fantasy novel, CITY OF LIES, to Tor US to be released April 2018: After the Chancellor is poisoned and the city is besieged, a brother and sister charged with secretly protecting the ruling family must find the traitor before the city falls.
Lindsay Henry signed with Renee Nyen of KT Literary with her Young Adult Contemporary Fiction in June!
Hannah Holt sold her picture book DIAMOND/MAN, a double-biograph picture book, telling the story of natural diamond creation alongside the story of H. Tracy Hall, who invented a revolutionary diamond-making machine, to Balzer+Bray to be released Fall 2018. She was also the recipient of the SCBWI WIP Grant for picture book text for A FATHER'S LOVE, a colorful celebration of the best dads in the animal kingdom, from penguins to lions to seahorses.
Lauren Hough signed with Fletcher and Co. for her memoir. Her article, THE SHEPHERDS, a story of how Cult life is a little less lonely when you have a secret radio, was published in Granta in November.
Christina Hovland signed with Linda Camacho of Prospect Agency for her Romance in December!
Katey Howes signed with Essie White of Storm Literary and sold her picture book
MAGNOLIA MUDD AND THE SUPER JUMPTASTIC LAUNCHER DELUXE to Sterling Publishing to be released Fall 2017 in which nuts-and-bolts Magnolia must invent a Mudd-powered way to participate in her uncle's wedding, or get stuck tossing petals in a frilly gown.
Gayle C. Krause sold her picture book, DADDY, CAN YOU SEE THE MOON? about a little boy and his soldier dad who share special moments together by looking at the moon though they are separated by duty to country to Clear Fork Publishing – Spork Imprint to be released Spring 2018.
Kirsten W. Larson (who promises us a new submission bingo card in the new year!) signed with Lara Perkins at Andrea Brown Literary for her picture books in April.
Laura Lavoie signed with Jennifer Hunt of Booker Albert Literary Agency in September for picture books!
Suzy Levinson sold two children's poems to Highlights High Five magazine!
Hope Lim signed with Tanusri Prasanna at HSG Agency for picture books in November!
Sylvia Liu's picture book, A MORNING WITH GRANDPA, in which Met Mei and her grandfather teach each other yoga and tai chi–while each struggle with the other's activity, they enjoy each other's company, was released by Lee & Low Books.
Amy Losak sold her mom, Sydell Rosenberg's, haiku alphabet picture book, H IS FOR HAIKU to Penny Candy Books in October to be released late 2017 or 2018.
Tara Lubbe signed with Tracy Marchini at Bookends Literary in July and sold her picture book, SHARK-NATE-O about a kid who loves sharks but cannot swim, so he learns how to so he can feel like a real shark, to Little Bee to be released Spring 2018.
Renee Beauregard Lute signed with Cindy Uh of Thompson Literary Agency with a children's chapter book in June and sold a 4-book series to Magic Wagon, an ABDO imprint. The Winicker Wallace chapter book series follows the charming misadventures of a spunky girl in Paris as she tries to make friends in a new city.
Lydia Lukidis signed with Jen Hunt from The Booker Albert Literary Agency for her picture and chapter books in September.
Author/illustrator Nilah Magruder's debut picture book, HOW TO FIND A FOX was published by Feiwel & Friends in November. In it, a little girl, Equipped with a camera and determination, sets out to track down an elusive red fox, but it proves more difficult than she thought.
Nilah also signed two deals! One for her graphic novel M.F.K., a fantastic adventure following the story of Abbie, a deaf girl with a mysterious power, who is traveling across a vast desert to scatter her mother's ashes to be released by Insight Comics in September 2017.
Plus, Nilah is illustrating the upcoming middle grade graphic novel, CREAKY ACRES which sold in a 3-book deal at auction. Written by Calista Brill and scheduled to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers in Spring 2019, the story features a cast of characters at a run-down horse barn, including new girl Nora, who has to adjust to the change from fancy suburb to poor rural community, and from being one of the few black girls riding horses in her area to being the only black kid in the whole town.
Laura Noakes signed with agent Vanessa Eccles for her Middle Grade in May!
Rachel Noble signed with Essie White of Storm Literary Agency in July and sold her picture book FINN'S FEATHER to Enchanted Lion to be released in Fall 2017. In the book, Finn finds a feather and believes his brother in Heaven has sent it. He wants to protect it but his friend urges him to have fun with his precious gift.
Rosie J. Pova signed with agent Marisa Corvisiero for her children's writing in September plus she sold 3 books to Clear Fork Publishing. Rosie's picture books include: IF YOU WEREN'T HERE in which,in a series of simple and direct questions, Willy, a bear cub, seeks and receives his mother's reassurance of love and security as the two take a walk in the forest and SARAH'S SONG, the story of a granddaughter as she comes to terms with her grandmother's failing health and how that affects the special bond the two share. Rosie's Middle Grade Novel, HAILEY QUEEN AND THE ALIEN: PRANKING MAKES PERFECT is the story of nine-year old prankster Hailey who feels like an alien in her own world until an alien comes into her life and shows her what it means to be human. All to be released in 2017!
Laura Renauld won the Sparkhouse Family Picture Book Contest (which she learned about in the Contest Roundup!) and her picture book, PORCUPINE'S PIE, in which Porcupine and her friends share ingredients and begin a new tradition for Fall Feast Day, will be released in Fall 2018. She also sold FIND THE FACE: Craft and Game where, using recycled materials, children create Cap Characters that act as the pieces in a guessing game, to Highlights!
Elizabeth Roderick's Romantic Suspense. LOVE OR MONEY, was published by Limitless Publishing in January. In it, Riel was just released from prison on a drug charge, and now must fight to escape from the crime family that put her there…and to win the heart of the man she loves. She also signed for her Magical Realism/Romantic Suspense Series THE OTHER PLACE in February with THE HUSTLE released in May, The OTHER PLACE released in July, and LOVE AND WAR and SYNCHRONICITY to be released in 2017. In the series, Liria struggles with homelessness and heroin addiction, while Justin struggles to make a life as an artist while dealing with his serious mental health issues. Will their love sustain them, or drag them down?
Shari Schwarz's Middle Grade Novel, TREASURE AT LURE LAKE, in which Bryce stumbles upon a treasure map connected to an old family secret, was released from Cedar Fort Publishing.
Bethany Stevenson won an art award in the Oklahoma state fair for an abstract piece of art based on the imagination of writers and took 2nd place in short essay in the Oklahoma library young writers awards and 3rd place for short play.
Devon Sillett sold her picture book, THE LEAKY STORY, about a book that so longs to be read that the characters leak out, to EK Publishing for release in 2017. In November she also signed on with EK for another book to be published in 2018. The title is confidential. How mysterious and exciting!
Michael Sussman signed with agent Stephanie Fretwell-Hill of Red Fox Literary in May!
Christi R. Suzanne's flash fiction, FERRIS WHEEL WITNESS was published in The Gravity of the Thing last spring. This short fiction piece was read at an event in September and the editor of the journal was there. She asked Christi to send it in! Her article, WHISPERS was published in Midwestern Gothic in October. It is about a trip she took with her Dad to Girty's island in Napoleon, OH where they crossed the Maumee River in a blow up boat. She was also interviewed by Midwestern Gothic for their Contributor Spotlight.
Angie Thomas sold her book, THE HATE U GIVE to Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins in a 13-house auction to be released in February. Plus the film rights were optioned by Fox 2000! Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas's searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty.
Yvonne Ventresca's novel BLACK FLOWERS, WHITE LIES was released by Sky Pony Press in October: When strange events cause Ella to question her perception of reality, she desperately needs to find answers, no matter how disturbing the truth might be.
Jane B. Warren signed with agent Nell Pierce at Sterling Lord Literistic with her Young Adult Novel.
Isn't that a ton of great news! I feel so awed and lucky to be a part of a group full of so many amazingly talented people. May 2017 bring us inspiration, opportunities, friendship, perseverance, and more success!


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Continuing on my 2nd and 3rd question and my article on From Guestwriters and on "Looking for answers on the question Is there a God" in case we do have to assume there is a god or gods we should wonder what or whom that god or gods may be.
Looking for answers on the question Is there a God #3 Transcendence or Surpassing other gods and man
Are we willing to see a Omnipotent God Who is above all other god in case He exists? Is mankind willing to face a more intelligent Being than themselves? Most difficult thing to accept for human beings is that this Supreme Being would encompass everything while He is the Most High above everything, being able to be everywhere, to know everything and able to do everything. Most people want to have everything themselves under control and want to command others, not being commanded themselves. Come to know more about modern philosophers like Immanuel Kant their theories and transcendent beings in contrast to immanent beings, by clicking on the title of this article.
Have no other gods besides Me
Coming closer to the end-times it is very important that people do find the Most Highest, the Divine Creator of heaven and earth.
In this world we can find lots of so called Christians who are sinful at worshipping a three-headed god and by kneeling down in front of graven images. It is important for those who really love The Most Almighty God of heaven and earth, that they show others the Way to God and let the world know that we should step aside of all those heathen gods and pagan festivals and rituals, like the Spring-festival, Easter, Halloween, All saints, All souls, and Christmas.
In case we really love God we would not mind showing others that we do not want to be part of this world but want to be part of God's World, doing what He wants that we do.
Christians on that part still have to do a lot. Many of them still have to find the Way to God (Jeshua/Jesus) and to find the real God or Allah the Most High Whose Name is Jehovah
To remember
A writer looking at Jesus-the ideal man,-believing he fulfills the mark of perfection and is the focus of the whole Bible, giving us a restored image, where the ideal man is reflected in us, knows he fulfilled all of God's expectations and sets us free from the corruption. Though surprisingly enough he on certain articles and pages gives the impression that he believes the heathen idea of incarnation and that Jesus would have bean a god who came in flesh to restore his image in us.
Strangely enough he also writes he is realizing idolatry is a serious threat to his soul. We thought it interesting to share his study on idolatry.
He himself poses the question
Why is it so important that we "guard ourselves from idols" (1John 5:21)?
and tries to give answers, first, looking at the short biblical answer, but in our eyes the second most important answer:
We cannot be saved if we love the world and the things of the world (1John 2:15-17)!
The first being that we only should worship One and Only One True God.
He seems to accept that God made this truth absolutely clear with the examples in bible (1Corinthians 10:6) and by listing it in the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:7-8), but strangely enough he like many Christians steps aside or ignores those commandments.
He also seems to be aware that God isn't physical but seems to take Jesus as his god, even knowing that a physical picture of Jesus or crosses can be idolatrous.
After all, he said, do not form an idol "of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below" (Deuteronomy 5:8).
He looks at how the Israelites were rejecting Moses (vs.1) and could find a justification for the calf which likely stemmed from an acknowledgement that God was blessing them.
They got off when their hearts were filled with and focused on the abundance instead of God. They were caught up in the enjoyment of meeting their physical needs so much that it became a worshipful expression–that is a transition that occurs spiritually in the heart of man. While they literally worshipped a calf, we see how they shifted to another glorification.
While the bible describes idolatry specifically, all sin is idolatry. As Tertullian said,
idolatry is "[t]he principle crime of the human race…"
Preceding articles
2nd question: What or where is the beginning
3rd question: Does there exist a Divine Creator
Looking for answers on the question Is there a God #1 Many gods
Looking for answers on the question Is there a God #2 Pantheon of gods and celebrations
Related articles
I am realizing idolatry is a serious threat to my soul. I am also realizing I really don't have deep convictions about it and I feel moved to study it out. My study on idolatry has turned into multiple parts, some I want to share here.
Why is it so important that we "guard ourselves from idols" (1John 5:21)?
First, there's the short biblical answer: We cannot be saved if we love the world and the things of the world (1John 2:15-17)! Some will try to twist this truth in order to soften its blow, but I will avoid their influence as told by 2Timothy 4:3. Plus, God made this truth absolutely clear with the examples in bible (1Corinthians 10:6) and by listing it in the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:7-8).
Second, unless we lack the ability to perceive spiritually, we can take a reality check on the condition of our world. As disciples, we're called to be aware of the Devil's…
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Welcome to the first Wellness Weekend link-up in 2020! I hope the first eighteen days of January have gone well for everyone and you've got some time to warm up before tackling your New Year's plans with gusto.
Why Warm Up?
A warm-up is helpful at the beginning of a fitness session to get our mind and body ready for subsequent and more intense activities. In my previous post, I shared that one of my ten favourite experiences in Ecuador is hiking. The first hike that my sister and I did is an easy hike to Peguche waterfall near Otavalo. It's our warm-up hike to prepare us for more strenuous hikes later on.
About Peguche Waterfall
Peguche waterfall is 5 minutes northwest of the city of Otavalo which is located 110 km north of Quito and 2530 meters above sea level. Peguche waterfall is a sacred place in the culture of the indigenous peoples of Otavalo.
I categorize this hike as Easy because the trail is flat and well-defined. The length of the trail is just right (about 3 km return). There are a few points of interest along the way, and the highlight is a beautiful waterfall. Otavalo's spring-like climate in December also makes it ideal for hiking. So we headed to Peguche trail.
Once we entered the Peguche trail, we were surrounded by beautiful tall trees and lush green shrubs. The winding path was easy to walk on. Mosses and lichen covered the low rock walls that protect the trees from foot traffic.
The trail is about 1.5 km long. It took us about twenty minutes to reach the bridge that faces the waterfall. Peguche waterfall is a beautiful waterfall of 18 m in height, formed by the river of the same name, which starts at Lake San Pablo. The lush green vegetation embraces the waterfall. The clouds moved in and out to give us some sun.
We stood on the bridge for a while to enjoy the views before walking up the paths along both sides of the falls to reach the Lookout platform (Mirador), and onto some big rocks to get closer to the waterfall. We could feel great volumes of mist from the powerful waterfall.
The local people name Peguche waterfall Forest Protector (Bosque Protector), because all of the trees get their water from the waterfall's mists and the downstream gushing water. On the night of the summer solstice, the waterfall becomes the privileged place for community ritual bath, as a first step to celebrate the Festival of the Sun (Inti Raymi).
As we walked along the trail, I could hear bird songs and spotted a number of plants with pretty flowers. There were also lots of ferns and orchid plants that cohabit with tall eucalyptus trees. The sun came out and everything glowed.
Outside the Peguche trail, to the left is the Sun Dial (Inti Watana) site, also known as the Solar Calendar. The site includes a round adobe wall with a sun dial in the centre. People from different communities come together to offer their crops to the Sun god (Inti), and celebrate the summer solstice here.
It was a nice short hike on a beautiful morning in Peguche. Altogether we did about 3 km return trip (about 2 miles). We learned something new about Peguche waterfall. The warm-up hike and nature gave me new energy. I looked forward to more hiking in Ecuador. Happy trails!
Click here to join in the Wellness Weekend 2020 link-up and share your wellness-related post. As your host, I will read your blog and leave a comment.
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By Steve Young
On May fifth NYFA began their annual meeting and field trip with a visit to Nelson Swamp near Nelson, NY. We met on a beautiful sunny day just outside the village of Cazenovia and carpooled to a parking spot that provided easy access to the swamp.
The participants divided into two smaller groups so we would have less impact on sensitive areas. While some of us explored the mosaic of marsh and white cedar swamp to the west, the other group went into the swamp to take a look at spreading globeflower.
In one area we came across a beautiful expanse of false hellebore (Veratrum viride) in its early stages of growth as well as some nice meadows of Carex bromoides ("the other hummock sedge" as David Werier describes it). At the appointed time we exchanged places with the other group and listened to Dr. Sara Scanga talk about her work with Spreading globeflower (Trollius laxus) before heading into the swamp to look at the plant for real.
For some of the group it was the first time they had seen globeflower and Sara explained all of the interesting facets of its growth and ecology. You can learn more about her work HERE.
Fortunately the plants were in full flower and put on a real show for us.
You can learn more about spreading globeflower in New York at the NY Natural Heritage Conservation Guide.
After the field trip we drove to board member Ed Frantz's house near Cazenovia and enjoyed a delicious and bountiful lunch provided by Ed and his family. After lunch came a short business meeting with a board member vote followed by the first annual botanical quiz given by yours truly from an iPhone app called "Angiosperms." Even though there were a lot of groans at the questions, I think everyone enjoyed participating, especially the two groups that tied for the win!
We finished off the day's activities by voting for the 2014 Wildflower of the Year, a tradition that we will have every year to honor and publicize a member of our flora for the next calendar year. This year's win went to cardinal flower, one of our most spectacular and well-known wildflowers.
Many thanks go to the organizers of the field trip and luncheon and to the record number of participants we had for the meeting. It was one to remember.


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Download the report to explore current cap rates, expected returns on cost for value-add acquisitions, cap rate trends and expectations of cap rate movements over the next six months.
Analyze cap rates in your market by using CBRE's dynamic map tool for all classes and segments of stabilized assets.
U.S. Cap Rate Snapshot
Capitalization rates for U.S. commercial real estate assets were broadly unchanged in H2 2019. All property types across nearly all classes and segments changed by less than 15 basis points (bps). Industrial and multifamily cap rates tightened the most.
CBRE expects cap-rate stability in H1 2020 across property types, segments, classes and market tiers, except for a slight increase in the hotel sector.
U.S. Cap Rate Snapshot by Product
Cap Rate Commentary from Spencer Levy
Headline Risk = Opportunity
2020 will yield a bumper crop of news surrounding the U.S. presidential election and the geopolitical and economic events that may have some bearing on its outcome. Investors will be well advised to pay little heed to this news—a phenomenon known as "headline risk."
Headline risk can be an advantage. Most investors tend to overreact to macro/geopolitical risks and underreact to the micro/local ones. So, rather than getting spooked by headlines, investors are best advised to ignore them because they have limited impact on their business.
Read more on the Investor Hub.
Spencer Levy
Chairman, Americas Research | Senior Economic Advisor
"Rather than getting spooked by headlines, investors are best advised to ignore them because they have limited impact on their business."
Cap Rate Snapshot: Select Markets
One-page overviews of cap rates and expected returns on cost by property type, sector, class and/or segment for select U.S. Markets:


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The end of each school year produces a new group of freshly minted graduates eager to move on to the next phase of their life, either at college or in a career. You'd love to give them a gift that will simultaneously convey your pride and celebrate all their achievements. But we can probably all agree that finding the perfect graduation gift idea can be quite a challenge.
Just remember, a little extra effort on your part will be truly appreciated by your grad. So whether you're celebrating a high school or a college graduation, here are some great graduation gift ideas from the gift-giving experts at American Greetings that will surely be treasured for years to come:
- Handy reference library: In today's world, a grasp of the written word makes you stand out in the crowd. Consider offering the grad a great reference material, such as a letter writing manual, resume guidebook, or (career-depending) an updated copy of the AP Stylebook.
- Help them along their way: A gift card with a specific intention in mind will show how much you care about their needs. Gas and grocery cards for essentials, or even a department store card for new shoes or an interview suit, will help them toward a successful future.
- All eyes on the prize: Offer to have the graduate's diploma or degree professionally matted and framed. Or create a shadow box to display it with their mortar board and tassel. It'll be the finishing touch on an outstanding accomplishment and something they will treasure and display.
- Get crafty: Create a scrapbook of the graduate's school years, incorporating all their important milestones and achievements. Leave a few blank pages for graduation party guests to write in their words of congratulations and encouragement.
- Make a personalized correspondence kit: The new grad may find him/herself in need of sending handwritten notes, so putting together a set of stationery, stamps, and a return address embosser will help them to create a professional and memorable impression.
- Offer them an experience: Some of the most memorable gifts that can be shared are gifts of experiences. Whether it's concert tickets, cooking classes, or even just a fun evening out, giving them a unique adventure will create lasting memories.
- Customize a popular gift with a personal twist: Many graduates are greatly in need of extra money to help them along the way. But you don't have to sacrifice a personal touch with this gift. Pair it with a unique money holder and include a heartfelt message of congratulations.
If you're unsure what they need the most, don't hesitate to ask for help. If the graduate is too shy or humble to tell you themselves, oftentimes parents and siblings may already be clued into their desires.


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NORTH PLATTE, NE–Lifelong North Platte resident Fred Linder, 46, revealed Monday that he doesn't think he could cope with the fast-paced hustle and bustle of Omaha, the Cornhusker State's largest city.
"Oh, sure, I bet it'd be exciting at first, going to see 9 p.m. showings of movies, shopping at those big department stores, and maybe even eating at one of those fancy restaurants that doesn't use iceberg lettuce in their salads," Linder said. "But I just don't think I could put up with all that hub-bub for more than a day or two."
Added Linder: "And parking's a nightmare there."
Linder expressed doubts about Omaha's "hectic pace" while having dinner at the home of Pastor Bob Egan, the longtime spiritual leader of North Platte's Holy Christ Almighty Church.
"I'd just returned from a 'Prayer & Share' fellowship conference in Omaha, and I mentioned to Fred how much I enjoyed myself there," Egan said. "There's just so much to do: dining, shopping, seeing the sights–[wife] Margaret and I even saw a touring production of Phantom Of The Opera. But Fred just seemed uncomfortable with the whole idea of it."
The drawbacks to life in Omaha cited by Linder include the crime, traffic, pollution, and rudeness of Omahans.
"You read such awful stuff in the papers about that place," Linder said. "Every month, it's another murder. Between the drugs and the crime and the street gangs, it's almost as bad as Wichita."
Those familiar with Linder say his anti-Omaha stance has deepened since his sister left North Platte in 1998 to take a job as human-resources director at an Omaha insurance agency.
"Don't get Fred started on Omaha," friend Ken Carlson said. "He's always resented Amy for going there. They're a lot less close now than they used to be, and Fred feels it's because she's gotten a bit of an attitude since moving to the big city, like she's superior or something."
"Let's just say the glamour of city life has changed [Amy]," Linder said. "She's definitely 'gone Omaha,' if you catch my drift."
Linder has visited the Nebraska metropolis three times in his life, most recently in 1996 for a farm-equipment show.
"I prepared plenty well before that trip, you better believe," Linder said. "I bought a money belt and travelers' checks to protect myself from all those Omaha pickpockets and con men. And I made sure I had a full tank of gas before going, because I sure as heck wasn't about to pay Omaha prices for gas."
Linder said he has no plans to visit his sister in Omaha anytime soon.
"If Amy wants to come home only for Christmas, fine," Linder said. "If that means I only see her once a year, so be it. I just can't take the noise and commotion of Omaha. It gives me a migraine just thinking about it."
"That sort of running around at all hours of the day and night might appeal to some, but I believe there's more to life than the thrill-seeking, urban scene you find in a place like Omaha," Linder said. "The bright lights and fast cars may have seduced my sister, but they'll never get me."


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Hi there,
I'm sitting here in my front office at Mission Repair in Lenexa, Kansas and the snow just started to fall. Soon after, I heard lots of sirens and can see the commotion rumbling just down the street. The weather is starting to hit us, and the freezing rain is really what is causing the issue. Cars are starting to slide all over the place!
Here's a pic out into the parking lot as we speak:
I know that it doesn't look like much, but that little bit of snow on top of the slick roads makes a dangerous situation. It looks like I should probably put it into 4 wheel drive for a little while unit the road crews get their act together.
We've have several people come in during the "mess". I want to remind everyone that we are open until 7 pm, and if is suits your lifestyle to wait until the roads as a little better, then I recommend that you hang tight in your warm houses and offices while KDOT gets the plows up and down the highway. I bet that by 5 pm today it'll be just fine to move around the area.
Thanks again and drive safe everyone!


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Where you shop in the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge coming to Disneyland will depend on whether you favor the light side of the Force, lean to the dark side or prefer to keep you options open.
Theme park visitors will be able to pick their team and dress the part. Are you a First Order sympathizer? A Resistance loyalist? Or a rogue scoundrel hoping to mix in with the villagers?
Your allegiance will determine where you shop for clothing, accessories and supplies in the Black Spire Outpost village on the Star Wars planet of Batuu, the setting for the new 14-acre themed lands coming to the Anaheim theme park and Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.
Those loyal to the good guys will find everything they need at Resistance Supply. Bad guy sympathizers will gravitate to First Order Cargo. Scoundrels and villagers will head to Black Spire Outfitters.
Because of Disneyland's costume policy, guests over the age of 13 will not be able to wear some items of Star Wars clothing while in the park.
Galaxy's Edge apparel shops will sell clothing inspired by movie wardrobe pieces to help visitors live their own immersive Star Wars story. Disney's merchandise team worked closely with Lucasfilm's archives division to turn costumes from the "Star Wars" cinematic universe into authentic-looking clothing. If they opt to participate, visitors to the new land will play a role in a continually developing story line that evolves and progresses throughout the day.
First Order troops arrived in Black Spire Outpost a few weeks ago in search of Resistance soldiers rumored to be hiding in the forest next to the village, according to the backstory created for the land. Villagers have been gossiping about the shifting alliances of their neighbors and whispering about the loyalties of outsiders dropping in from Fantasyland and Frontierland.
How you dress says a lot about which side of the conflict you're on. Let's take a closer look at the three clothiers in Black Spire Outpost.
First Order Cargo
A menacing gunmetal grey First Order TIE fighter, never before seen in any "Star Wars" movie, will serve as the entry marque for First Order Cargo. Stormtroopers have set up the temporary shop in Docking Bay 9 of the Black Spire village.
Concept art shows a gray interior cast in an eerie blue glow from stark overhead lighting. Red flags bearing the First Order insignia hang from the ceiling. Stormtrooper helmets, Kylo Ren masks and First Order blasters fill the store's shelves and displays. An intimidating stormtrooper with his rifle at the ready stands guard near the front of the store. Shiny black R2-unit droids with silver trim wait nearby.
The store will be run by First Order troops from the 709 Legion, also known as the Red Fury. The shop doubles as a propaganda outpost where the First Order will try to win the hearts and minds of locals in Black Spire Outpost.
Shoppers can purchase First Order recruitment gear and supplies such as helmets, armor, pins, patches, caps, model ships and memorabilia.
Merchandise is expected to include TIE fighter and AT-ST walker toys, stormtrooper action figures and First Order logo clothing.
Resistance Supply
The Resistance has set up a military outpost in the nearby forest to avoid detection by stormtroopers stationed at the First Order base in the village. X-wing and A-wing fighters sit partially hidden in the woods near the rebel camp. High-tech military gear is scattered amid the trees and a warren of cavernous tunnels carved by an ancient civilization.
The Resistance has been hiding in the woods for a few weeks. Everything has a temporary nature to it, ready to be swept up by the rebels as soon as they receive the signal for the next mission.
Resistance Supply serves as a makeshift depot at the hidden command post as well as a gift shop for rebel gear and supplies in Galaxy's Edge. The secret Resistance post also doubles as recruiting station for those who want to join the cause and help defeat the First Order.
Concept art shows an impromptu market that looks like a cross between a swap meet and a garage sale. Camouflaged kiosks with fold-up sides and patchwork tents serve as improvised storefronts in the shadow of a towering rock outcropping. Pilots, soldiers and droids mill about the slap-dash retail shop. Battle helmets sit atop cargo crates scattered throughout the camp.
The merchandise stall will sell Resistance hats, pins, badges and accessories.
Black Spire Outfitters
Want to blend in with the locals? Getting ready to head out from Batuu on a smuggling run aboard the Millennium Falcon? Hoping to avoid the notice of that bounty hunter looking to collect a few galactic credits from you in Oga's Cantina?
Black Spire Outfitters will offer a wide selection of clothing to help you look like a Batuuan.
The apparel shop in the outdoor marketplace will sell a line of handmade robes, tunics, hooded scarves and belts based on wardrobe pieces from "Star Wars" films.
Employee costumes
Disneyland workers will build their own personas, backstories and wardrobes to help them become inhabitants of Black Spire Outpost.
Cast members, Disney parlance for employees, will wear costumes that place them into three distinct camps in Galaxy's Edge: First Order soldiers, Resistance rebels or Black Spire Outpost villagers.
Employees dressed as villagers will get to choose from a mix-and-match collection of costumes that can be assembled into 80 combinations. Cast members will get to pick their own pieces from a selection of tunics, wraps and vests as well as accessories like necklaces, scarves, hats and belts.
The First Order and Resistance looks will be more pre-determined for employees. The bad guy First Order soldiers will wear sleek military-style uniforms. The good guy Resistance rebels will wear flight crew gear with a jacket, vest and goggles on their hat.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens on May 31 at Disneyland and Aug. 29 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.


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Today, CypherofTyr, who started the #INeedDiverseGames tag on Twitter and eventual blogs and groups on various social media and gaming sites, posted this to Tumblr:
Please keep Veerender Jubbal in your thoughts. He's been targeted by GG yet again but this could get him killed. A bathroom selfie was photoshopped to make it look like he was holding a Quran, wearing a bomb lined vest and for some odd reason, a dildo was added. An Italian news outlet has run the story as true sadly, but Buzzfeed (for once was useful) and called out the obvious photoshop.
It looks like a piss poor photoshop, and it's a photo where he's staring straight ahead which someone else couldn't have taken. However news outlets are running this photo, and that piece of shit Milo Y of Brietbart/GG infamy is trying to harass him further by asking for an exclusive for Brietbart.
Veerender is a very young, sweet guy who's only asking for equality in games and more representation of Sikh's and brown men like him. For this, for his rightful anger he's been targeted yet again. The incorrect party line of "he's a Muslim terrorist" isn't new but with the strong anti-Muslim vibe going on because of Paris right now, I am really, really worried for his safety. Not tagging him so I don't bring hate to his FB.
If you follow him on twitter, please send some words of support, cute animal pics or something. I am very, very worried someone will believe that image is real and go after him.
They did this this weekend, AFTER Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris, for which ISIS has claimed responsibility. They did this in a time when anti-Islam sentiment is boiling over and Muslims all over the world are in danger of hate crimes.
It won't matter that this innocent man is a Sikh. Many Sikhs have been subjected to hate crimes, especially since 9/11, because most people are too ignorant to realize that they're not Muslims.
This is especially troubling because GamerGaters have been known to attempt murder-by-cop, in the form of something called swatting. Swatting is something that is done to a person who has been doxxed. The harasser makes some form of anonymous report to emergency services that something urgently bad is happening at a person's address. Like, they're holding a hostage or they're waving a gun or whatever. This is done in the hopes that police will show up and bust down the target's door with guns blazing.
Not that they'll admit that is the goal, they claim it's just harassment. But who living in the post-Ferguson world believes that it isn't actually attempted murder? Especially since the targets of several notable incidences have been black or trans people (such as in this incident last year in Portland) both of whom have every reason to be afraid of being murdered by police.
(Ironically, a few months ago I started writing the sequel to Player vs. Player, called Swatted. My protag is of Middle Eastern descent. Guess what happens.)
For over a year now, I've been posting occasionally about GamerGate. GamerGate became a thing last August, just as I was finishing up edits to Player vs. Player (a book which was inspired by harassment of Jennifer Hepler, a writer who used to work on the Dragon Age franchise at BioWare) and Anita Sarkeesian, a media critic who runs a site called Feminist Frequency and does a Feminism 101-level critique of the portrayal of women in video games.
I've posted before about how I wrote Player vs. Player a year too early, because it wasn't, in fact, informed by GamerGate. It just happened to be timely.
GamerGate claims to be about ethics in gaming journalism–which they basically define as preventing any gaming news outlets from posting any articles that might suggest in any way that women and minorities should receive better representation in video games. But here's the truth about how it actually started.
TL;DR version: posts speculating about Zoe Quinn's sex life kept getting deleted from legitimate gaming boards, and harassment posts kept getting deleted from other places. So the harassers decided they needed to try another tactic. Here are some of the posts leading up to these harassers deciding they were actually about "ethics in gaming journalism."
(Extreme TW: Misogyny, misogynist slurs, homophobic slurs, harassment, bullying)
So it's completely well-documented that the "ethics in gaming journalism" was a deliberate ploy on the part of these guys to put a veneer of legitimacy on their campaign of harassment of women. The #GamerGate tag was invented, coined by Adam Baldwin, and began spreading all over Twitter.
In the aftermath, the harassment spread to Anita Sarkeesian, who was already misogynist gamers pin-up girl, and to a woman named Leigh Alexander, who posted an article in which she asserted "gamers" are over. You can read the post and see for yourself what her meaning was, but misogynist gamer dudebros didn't look beyond the title, which they decided was an attack upon them and their identity, and they attacked back.
Then a game developer named Brianna Wu created a few memes mocking GamerGate. For that, she was driven from her home by death and rape threats. (TW: death threats, rape threats, extreme misogyny.)
In the process of crusading for "ethics in gaming journalism", there has been a flurry of awful behavior. #GamerGate co-opted antisemitic propaganda images to smear Anita Sarkeesian. (TW: antisemitism)
(Source: Weev: Gamergate is "the biggest siren bringing people into the folds of white nationalism."
They equated gamergaters to the #BlackLivesMatter protesters in Ferguson, and equated male gamers to black Americans in the Jim Crow era:
Source: Things #GamerGaters Actually Believe, Part 294: Gamers are as oppressed as African Americans in the Jim Crow era
They created the #NotYourShield tag, which was supposed to prove they weren't all white males, and then created sockpuppets posing as minorities to boost its population. Internet blackface.
(White nationalists are also claiming GamerGate is boosting their numbers. GamerGaters also frequently reference a trumped-up concept named Cultural Marxism, which is pretty much the next generation of the Nazi buzz phrase Cultural Bolshevism.)
A man named Davis Aurini, who outright confesses to being a white nationalist "on paper" partnered with another GamerGater to make a documentary called "The Sarkeesian Effect" and sought $15,000 per month for their trouble.
(This while accusing Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu of being "professional victims" capitalizing upon their harassment for sympathy and money. The irony astounds.)
They have committed ACTUAL acts of terrorism. In October 2014 Anita Sarkeesian had to cancel an appearance at Utah State University because someone threatened a campus massacre if she appeared (in the process referencing the actual 1989 massacre of several women on a campus in Montreal.)
This is on top of what Sarkeesian deals with on a daily basis.
When Felicia Day, popular actress and geek culture darling, timidly spoke up condemning GamerGate, they doxxed her. (Doxxing, for those who aren't aware, is the publishing of a person's personal and financial information–such as address, phone number, employer, family addresses, social security number, etc, for the purpose of harassment.)
Former NFL player and LGBTQIA+ rights activist Chris Kluwe, who had a couple days later posted an absolutely EPIC rant about #GamerGate, was also eventually doxxed. It is pathetic to note, however, that while Felicia Day was doxxed less than an hour after her post, it took them months to dox Kluwe. #GamerGate targets women much more aggressively than it does men.
They even spoke of trying to dox Brianna Wu's veterinarian in the middle of the night as Brianna Wu waited at the vets with her dying dog. And then, of course, rejoiced and celebrated and harassed Brianna about her loss.
Last year, a Canadian teenager was arrested for swatting female gamers all over North America.
That's not even close to the end of it.
The Venn diagram of GamerGaters and so-called Men's Rights Activists isn't quite a perfect circle, but I'd call it a short oval, at least. Paul Elam, leader of the MRA website A Voice For Men, initially voiced his support for GamerGate, but later seemed to walk to back. GamerGate is also supported by Roosh V, notorious pickup-artist who advocates for the legalization of rape (extreme TW: misogyny and rape apologia) and even confesses to committing rape (TW: rape descriptions).
The person who threatened the massacre if Anita Sarkeesian appeared at Utah State University referenced both GamerGate and repeated a lot of MRA rhetoric.
GamerGate also has a tremendous amount of overlap with neo-Nazi ideology. This really isn't surprising. All three groups exist for the purpose of upholding white male supremacy, and they echo a lot of the same rhetoric.
For instance, ranting against the concept of so-called Cultural Marxism. The only difference between the three groups is MRAs blame feminists for it, white supremacists blame non-white people for it (as well as feminists), and GamerGaters blame "SJWs" (social justice warriors) for it.
It should be noted that "SJW" is pretty much the "all of the above" option, seeing as how it encompasses any oppressed group advocating for equality, including the groups that MRAs and white supremacists hate.
Here's where it gets scary though:
Murder in the name of white supremacy is pretty much so universal that I'd be here for weeks listing them. Anders Behring Breivik springs to mind as one, but honestly it happens nearly every day in the US, frequently in the form of law enforcement killing black Americans.
MRAs has a history of celebrating men who murder women in the name of anti-feminism. They have stated Elliot Rodger would have been a hero if he'd just killed women and no men. They have blamed feminists for Rodger's actions, because Rodger was an "incel" (involuntarily celibate) and because feminists engage in "creep shaming."
Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot accused of crashing Germanwings Flight 9525, was called an incel hero and his actions an indication of the "beta uprising." Vox Day, fantasy author and all-around horrible excuse for a human being, opines that Lubitz wouldn't have crashed the plane if women and just jumped on his dick. MRAs also celebrated the recent massacre at Umpqua Community College.
PUA RooshV is so convinced that one day his followers will commit a massacre that he's already formulating his response to it.
GamerGaters are already trying to commit murder obliquely with tactics such as swatting, and "raids" on sites such as Tumblr to attempt to harass depressed trans people into committing suicide.
How much longer before they go for the direct approach? Will someone have to actually die before these guys stop being handwaved off as just trolls?
They've just spread images of a Sikh man photoshopped to make him look like a terrorist. In the aftermath of a terrorist attack when the entire world is on a hair trigger. How can this be anything but attempted murder?


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President Obama has been on tour to promote his investment agenda with photo-ops (light fixtures!) and new slogans ("Startup America"). But last year's health care legislation is getting in his way. A federal district court judge declared the law unconstitutional on Monday, and Senate Republicans are pushing for a repeal vote. How do you win the future when you're stuck in the past?
White House aides tried to dispatch the ruling with two arguments: First, this was just one of many rulings, and not all of them have been unfavorable. Second, the judge's weak ruling was politically motivated. The latter charge was based on what senior White House officials called his "unconventional" reasoning that relied as much on Tea Party propaganda as it did legal precedent. "This much more politicized rhetoric takes up more space than you'd expect," said a senior White House official, which "points to the weaknesses" in the argument. The Justice Department will appeal the ruling and implementation of the law will continue. Next?
This is a pretty standard response—nothing to see here—but it comes at a time when the White House is trying afresh to not let unplanned events knock it off its intended path. "We were too prosaic," David Axelrod told Maureen Dowd as he reflected on the last two years. "We all got sort of dragged down, you know; we were a triage unit. I think all of us have been guilty of neglecting that really important part of the presidency, where you're operating in the world of ideals and values and vision."
It's an open question whether the new approach Axelrod and other White House aides offer is even possible in the modern age. The in-box presidency has changed. Distractions are a constant. The twists and turns of health care in 2011 may offer the first challenge to this attempt at streamlining. The president says he doesn't want to relitigate the past, but he knows the health care issue must be managed, and in his State of the Union address he told Republicans he was open to tweaking the bill. It all sounds very prosaic.
The issue might consume more of the president's time than he'd like because there are vulnerable Democrats in the Senate for whom the health care issue could be an ongoing source of heartburn. Within minutes after the ruling was announced, the National Republican Senatorial Committee issued press releases targeted at vulnerable Democrats Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Bill Nelson of Florida, who supported the constitutionality of the law. (Possible 2012 candidates were also trying to grab the moment. Mike Huckabee sent out an appeal with the subject line: "Help Me Pressure the Senate to Repeal Obamacare.")
On the day of the ruling, Sen. Jim DeMint, the South Carolina Republican, announced that all 47 Republican senators had signed on to his bill to repeal the health care law. Could he get any Democrats to sign on with him? Twenty-three Democrats face re-election in 2012. Five of those races are rated toss-ups which means control of the Senate is in play. One from that group, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has said he would have voted against the bill.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, thinks the political environment might win him a few votes, perhaps on health care repeal. "How many of the 23 Democrats who are up in '12 are going to start voting with us?" he asked last week in an interview with Politico's Mike Allen. "And maybe my number is not 47. Maybe it's 51. Or maybe it's 60. How many of the Democrats in the Senate who are up in '12 are still comfortable with all of the ways they voted in the previous Congress and may want to go in a different direction this Congress?"
McConnell might be delusional about the number of Democrats he can pressure into coming his way. Even if he does win a few converts, he isn't going to win a repeal fight. If the Senate does pass a repeal, the president will veto it. Then McConnell would have to find 67 votes. McConnell also knows, of course, that it's not strictly necessary to repeal the law to use it against vulnerable Democrats.
To avoid the use of health care as a constant irritant against his fellow Democrats, the president might have to get working a little faster on those fixes he talked about in the State of the Union. By showing flexibility to tinker, Obama would help himself and vulnerable Democrats show that they are not blind to the law's flaws while allowing them to argue that there's much in the law worth saving. Tweak and keep rather than repeal and replace.
If the president were to actively engage in making this case, it would distract from his "new investment in the future" message and ruin the White House's new plan not to get dragged into tactical fights. But it would also secure Democratic allies he'll need for other fights, such as on budget cuts and investments. To make his vision of the future a reality, Obama may have to spend some of the present dealing with his past.
Become a fan of Slate and John Dickerson on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.


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Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber (Henry Holt and Company; $27.00; 296 pages)
On March 30, 1981, I was at the Orange County (California) airport – waiting for my return flight to Sacramento – when it became clear that something had happened back east. The new president of the U.S., and former governor of California, Ronald Reagan had been shot in an apparent assassination attempt. Three other persons were shot and it was not known whether Reagan, at his advanced age, would survive. It appeared that a hundred or so persons jammed into the airport's pub to watch the 19-inch RCA televisions broadcasting the dramatic events.
On that day, I assumed that a book about the near assassination of an American president would appear within 6 to 18 months, clarifying exactly what happened that day. Years and decades passed by and it did not appear… This, finally, is that book.
Del Quentin Wilber takes a micro-level look at the events of 03/30/81 in a style that recalls books like The Day Lincoln Was Shot, The Day Kennedy Was Shot and The Death of a President. It is an immediately engaging narrative which begins by looking at the schedules of Reagan (whose secret service code name was Rawhide), his secret service detail members and of the highly disturbed and bizarre individual who sought to impress a Hollywood actress. The language and mood become more intense as the hour of the assassination attempt draws near.
Wilber properly sets the stage by reminding us that this shooting came just three months after the killing of John Lennon, and followed the history-altering assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Wilber's sadness in relating these events is palpable, and informs the reader that this is a non-partisan account – one need not have been a political supporter of Reagan's to fear for his safety (and for the country's future) while revisiting that period.
"If Jerry Parr hadn't decided to redirect the limousine from the White House to the hospital, Reagan would likely have died…"
"(The) doctors had been keeping pace with Reagan's bleeding by pumping donated blood and fluids into his system. So far, the tactic was working… But this compensatory approach couldn't continue forever. They would have to stop the bleeding surgically."
In these pages, Ronald Reagan is a likeable and courageous man who was able to joke with his emergency room physicians. (He wondered what the gunman had against the Irish as all those shot on this day happened to be of Irish heritage.) But he was also a man who wondered if he was about to meet his maker. It was an open question because, as we now know, Reagan lost fully half of his blood volume as surgeons sought to remove the bullet that lodged just one inch from his heart. Those of us glued to the TVs in early 1981 had no idea that the president came this close to dying.
Once the danger period passed, the president was advised to convalesce for several months. But he was a uniquely physically fit and strong elderly man. Twelve days later he was back at the White House, and a mere month later a visibly thinner president addressed a joint session of the Congress.
There's more, much more, in this telling that disappoints only in that it seems to conclude too soon. The courage of the secret service agents who saved the president's life on this day is close to being incomprehensible. "(Agent) Parr's training had taught him one thing above all: when faced with an actual threat, he could never freeze. Not for three seconds, not for one second. Without fail, he had to respond instantly."
This is a fascinating and unique account, and constitutes a worthwhile addition to the historical record. Highly recommended.
Joseph Arellano
A review copy was received from the publisher.


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Women's Center Workshops Aimed at Helping Single MothersOGDEN, Utah –The Weber State University Women's Center will host a series of workshops specifically aimed at offering support, education and resources to single mothers.
The workshop series, "Single Moms United," will be held on consecutive Wednesdays beginning Jan. 13 and continuing through March 3. Classes will run from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the Shepherd Union room 331.
Topics will include relationship adjustment, dating safety, parenting and goal setting, as well as additional information and resources to help single mothers gain emotional and financial stability.
"The goal for Single Moms United is to reach out to single mothers on campus and the community and provide them with educational resources and a support network of other single mothers," said Sarah Stanton, Women's Center counselor advocate. "We're going to tackle topics that are most relevant to the struggles and challenges that single moms face."
The workshop, including materials, is free of charge and open to single mothers on campus and throughout the community.
Visit weber.edu/womenscenter and click on programs to learn more about Single Moms United.
- Gentry Reinhart, office of Media Relations
801-626-7295• email@example.com
- Contact:
- Sarah Stanton, Women's Center Counselor Advocate
801-626-6372 • firstname.lastname@example.com


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I recently submitted an application for a photo book voucher from Saal Digital and received it promptly. 👍 The voucher code lasts for 14 days.
For compiling the book, I tested the free design software provided by Saal Digital. In the first step, I chose the book format and style: a simple matte look and 28 by 28 cm square format with 28 pages. Further pages can be added or pages deleted later (it became 34 pages). The software allows to switch between auto-layout and manual layout. The photos are added by simple drag and drop and the program arranges them in a smart way. In addition, one can chose between different layout templates, including text. The only glitch I encountered was, that the text formatting kept jumping back to default value when changing the images. 👎 Else I found the software handy and easy to employ. 👍 I was especially curious how images and text spread across two pages would turn out.
Altogether I spent a whole day, selecting, editing and arranging the photos. It was a fun work and I found myself browsing archives spanning over nearly a decade.
I submitted my order digitally on the 9th of May. The voucher code was to be entered at the end of the order process. I ended up with a total of 11,90 Euro instead of 51,90 Euro (with shipping included). The confirmation e-mail told me to expect my book to be delivered on the 15th of May, but I already received it on Monday, 13th of May. 👍
I am very pleased with the overall quality. The matte paper is thick and not translucent at all. 👍 The biggest benefit to me are no fingerprints, as well as a natural look and feel, 👍 even though the colorful images may also look nice on glossy paper. The photos look vivid and show great detail in print. 👍 Any deviations in color are owed to my mean Photoshop skills (they show and I will correct them next time). Thanks to the layflat binding, the large images flow across two pages seamlessly (without any offset). 👍 I am further pleased with the crispness of the lines on my black and white illustration. 👍 Finally, I allowed for a tiny QR code to be added at the backside. It is really unobtrusive, but can also be left out (for a 5 Euro extra fee).
I tested the basic photo book without any extras. Next time I may opt for a black background on the cover and a smaller font. It may also be interesting to try out options with leather or linen weave, though 20 Euro extra on top of the 40 Euro base price are a bit of an obstacle. 👎
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 8 thumbs up for the overall service, quality and free software
👎👎 2 thumbs down for the text formatting glitch in the software and the comparably high prices on professional photo books


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Journalism students critique the changing news industry
As part of my Journalism 24/7 class at Stony Brook University, I require students to set up a blog on WordPress: [student's name]247.wordpress.com. The blog is worth 15 percent of the course grade, and the blog grade is based on the frequency of posting, with two posts per week — 24 total — required for an A. (One post per week is a C, 1.5 a B, .5 a D, less than than an F, with pluses and minuses awarded for quality of thought and writing and sophistication of blog elements: embedded photos and videos, links and so on.) Why such weight for frequency? Because, as I've learned, the blog is a relentless taskmaster, and a big part of success in anything is just showing up, or in this case, just posting.
Topics are limited to what we discuss in class: the changing news industry. Students are to reflect on class discussions, readings, news. Another class requirement is that students follow industry news through the daily news feeds from mediabistro.com and freepress.net, and they're welcome to blog about stories they find through those sources. One of the things I like best about this assignment is how often the students find things elsewhere and share them with the class.
Next semester, I'm also going to require that they have Twitter accounts. Twitter is no longer an optional tool for journalists — it's become as necessary as a telephone. It's getting to be time for journalism professors to incorporate the discipline of Twitter in their instruction.
The class has about 50 students. Those of you who teach are surely thinking, "How does she reead 100 posts a week, let alone follow all those Twitter feeds?" The answer is, I don't, and that's a problem. Even with the blogsurfer function on WordPress, which allows me to see recent posts from every WordPress blog I follow, I can't keep up, which frustrates me as well as the students. I do read every post in a daylong session at the end of the semester, but that's not ideal. Nevertheless, many students find the blogging worthwhile even without my steady feedback. During my end-of-term blog-reading marathon, I was pleased to see a few posts from students who marveled at how much they had enjoyed blogging. They found it helped them to comprehend the material we covered in class.
For the fall, I've requested a graduate teaching assistant whose job will be to read and respond to the blogs each week, keep track of the posting frequency and bring notable posts to my attention. Haven't figured out how the Twitter assessment will work — for the fall, it may have to be enough in and of itself, with some sort of end-of-term Twitter marathon replacing my blog marathon. Suggestions welcome.
I'd like to share some of the most thoughtful and creative blogs. Here are a few of the best:
http://mboyle247.wordpress.com/ — I'm delighted to see that Morgan Boyle has continued to post well past the end of the semester. I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing, Morgan.
http://gerani247.wordpress.com/ — Amanda Gerani is a business major, concentrating in marketing, with a minor in journalism. (All Stony Brook business majors are required to have a minor.) I liked how Amanda used her blog to examine the news industry's evolution from a marketing lens.
http://lew247.wordpress.com/ – Bryan Lew interprets the "industry" broadly and explores widely.
http://lcioffi247.wordpress.com/ — Lauren Cioffi uses her blog to help establish her "brand" — an idea espoused — proselytized, even — by most of the guest speakers who addressed the class this term: Joe Grimm, Paul Gillin and Chris Vaccaro especially.
http://fposillico247.wordpress.com/ — Frank Posillico is editor-in-chief of The Statesman, a campus newspaper for which he plans big changes in the fall, including a rebuilt website. He and other Statesman editors who have taken Journalism 24/7 plan to incorporate many ideas they developed in class, and I, for one, look forward to seeing what they do.
http://sdemezier247.wordpress.com/ — Sarah Demezier nicely incorporated her reflections on class speakers and discussions.
http://glowatz247.wordpress.com/ — Elana Glowatz is always whip-smart and often very funny.
http://dwhite247.wordpress.com/ — Domenic White, another business major/journalism minor, is a promising sports journalist. White, who is graduating in August, has been writing for professional sports websites since his sophomore year.


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'It just became a part of our lives': Airmen recognized for volunteering
FORT WALTON BEACH — A group of young, dedicated Hurlburt Field airmen have received an award for their work with Shelter House domestic violence center.
About two years ago, the then-president of Hurlburt Airman's Voice, an organization representing about 2,700 junior enlisted airmen at the base, reached out to Shelter House to ask what they could do to help.
Since then, they have collected more than 6,000 pounds of food and supplies, built a new playground near some of the group's safe houses, done countless hours of yard work and helped run major fundraising events.
What started with two or three people blossomed into a base wide effort.
"It just got stronger and stronger," said Airman 1st Class Rayna Yamamoto, the 29-year-old who now is president of the airmen's organization.
Last month, Shelter House decided to give their Volunteer of the Year award to the entire Airman's Voice group for their dedication and involvement.
Yamamoto, Senior Airman Joe McFadden and Airman First Class Emmett Unbehagen also were named for their leadership of the effort.
McFadden, the former president of the airmen's group, said that when he took over as the organization's leader it was more focused on what the community could offer airmen at Hurlburt.
"I wanted to look at the inverse. We're not going to ask what you can do for us, but what we can do for you," the 29-year-old said.
At first he recruited two or three people to come by and help with yard work. Each weekend the numbers grew: a dozen, then to about 30.
When they showed up at the Shelter House office after their first food and supply drive in 2011, junior enlisted airmen had donated enough to fill several trucks with 2,500 pounds worth of donations.
Once unloaded, the supplies spilled out the tiny food pantry onto tables and shelves throughout the whole building.
Michele Sperzel, executive director of Shelter House, said they were overwhelmed.
"It was fantastic," she said. "What was amazing about it was the not just the size of the donation, but a lot of it was groceries — name-brand cereal, Velveeta cheese, sodas, kids snacks. People actually went grocery shopping for a family, that's what they had in mind when they went out."
The organization was so grateful for their help and had such a need for volunteers, McFadden, Yamamoto and Unbehagen started coming out every weekend.
"This just became another part of our lives," Yamamoto said. "We're in the military but we're also out there helping out in the community."
For Unbehagen, his devotion to the work was personal. When he was 11, he and his family were victims of Hurricane Katrina. He depended on organizations that provide service in times of need, and he vowed then that he would always give back —not just with his work in the Air Force, but with other organizations as well.
The airmen recruited more than 50 volunteers for the Share the Shelter benefit in Santa Rosa Beach last fall. Many volunteers began to drop off as the long day wore on, but the airmen stayed on until about 2 a.m. when everything was finally done.
"I had no idea what I was getting into," Unbehagen said. "It didn't feel like work, though. We were having such a good time, meeting new people and it was for such a great cause."
They also helped with the organizations' Luminaria run, setting up thousands of luminaries and manning the somewhat chaotic event — they had expected 300 runners, but about 500 showed. At the end of the night, Unbehagen pushed a broken-down golf cart about 2 miles to the finish line.
Sperzel said the airmen's continued dedication has had a phenomenal impact on the organization, helping to change its face and bring awareness about the work they do to the rest of the base.
She said the airmen give with such gratitude.
"They are giving and then thanking us for the opportunity to be there at the same time," she said. "That's an amazing attribute to have in volunteers, especially in leadership roles."
Shelter House serves about 6,000 people a year through their shelters, support and outreach services.
More information is available at www.shelterhousenwfl.org.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4443 or email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.


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The Foundation for Applied Psychiatric Anthropology (FAPA) is a new organization founded by the anthropologist and social worker Rebecca Lester and the psychiatrist Davinder Hayreh.
The Foundation "promotes the use of ethnographic research and mixed-methods approaches to improve understandings and treatments of mental illness, broadly defined. FAPA facilitates collaboration among scholars and practitioners who wish to integrate clinical work with ethnographic research and advocacy initiatives related to culture and mental health."
FAPA also offers reduced-fee psychotherapy services to residents in the Saint Louis, Missouri area. To find out more, check out FAPA's description of its clinical services and approach.
Rebecca Lester is a professor of anthropology at Washington University in Saint Louis. You can read about her treatment philosophy. For researchers, Rebecca has put together a great list of books in psychiatric anthropology.
And here's Davinder Hayreh's LinkedIn profile. He is presently nearing the finish of his residency in psychiatry at Barnes-Jewish Hosptial in Saint Louis.
For more information, you can contact them at office @ psychanthro.org [remove spaces].