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Carrie Underwood Amongst Stars Featured in Rock Hall of Fame Broadcast
Carrie Underwood had a big honor recently when she was asked to perform alongside Emmylou Harris and Sheryl Crow, as well as Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt and Glenn Frey to honor Linda Rondstadt during her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Tonight (May 31) the performances will be broadcast for fans to watch.
HBO is airing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at 9PM ET. Fans can catch the five females during their tribute as well as a lot of other artists during the broadcast.
The women sang some of Ronstadt's biggest hits like 'Different Drum,' 'Blue Bayou,' 'You're No Good,' 'It's So Easy' and 'When Will I Be Loved.' Sadly, the singer has been badly affected by Parkinson's Disease and is no longer able to sing. She was diagnosed with the disease last year but says she had seen many symptoms years prior.
Ronstadt wasn't the only musical legend inducted this year. Cat Stevens, the E Street Band, Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, KISS, Hall & Oates, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Beatles manager Brian Epstein were all also given the honor.
The broadcast will air this Saturday (May 31) across several HBO channels. Full listings for the broadcast are here.


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Just a shot in the dark from an oldbie.
A long time ago, before the Nine were corrupted, TORC had different colored banners.
One of the fairest was the Blue Lothlorien banner.
Does anyone still have a copy of this banner saved?
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Aleksandra Slavkovic, an associate professor of statistics and public health sciences at Penn State, has been honored with membership in the International Statistical Institute. Members are elected "by virtue of their distinguished contributions to the development or application of statistical methods, or to the administration of statistical services, or the development and improvement of statistical education."
Slavkovic conducts research focusing on developing and applying statistical methods for issues of data privacy and data confidentiality. One goal of her research is to limit the release of sensitive information from statistical databases about individuals and groups, while allowing for accurate statistical analysis of the data. Slavkovic is a lead investigator on the National Science Foundation Cyber-Enabled Innovation and Discovery program for a research project on integrating statistical and computational approaches to privacy. With colleagues from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Penn State, and from Carnegie Mellon and Cornell Universities, Slavkovic uses a multidisciplinary approach combining statistics and computer science to study how research data in the social and health sciences can be made more widely available without compromising privacy. She also serves as a data-privacy officer for Penn State's Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
In addition to statistical approaches to confidentiality and data disclosure, Slavkovic is interested in interdisciplinary research in such areas as the application of statistical methods to social and behavioral sciences, human-computer interaction, algebraic statistics and causal inference. She serves on a steering committee for the Penn State Big Data Social Sciences Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training program, which aims "to understand the social contexts and behaviors behind collected big data and to advance social science research by developing the next generation of researchers with technical and theoretical expertise."
Slavkovic is an associate editor of the Annals of Applied Statistics, and the Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, and a data-privacy column editor for CHANCE magazine. She served as an associate editor of the Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation from 2009 to 2011. From 2011 to 2012, she served on the National Academy of Sciences's Panel on Measuring and Collecting Pay Information from U.S. Employers by Gender, Race and National Origin. This interdisciplinary panel evaluated currently available and potential data sources, methodological requirements and appropriate statistical techniques for the measurement and collection of employer payroll data to assist the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enhance wage-discrimination law-enforcement efforts. From 2001 to 2002, she also served as a consultant for the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence of Polygraph. Slavkovic has presented invited talks at conferences and workshops across the United States and internationally.
Slavkovic received a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in psychology at Duquesne University in 1996. She received a master's degree in human-computer interaction in 1999, and master's and doctoral degrees in statistics, in 2001 and 2004 respectively, from Carnegie Mellon University.


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Ground Beef Stuffing Recipe
If you're Vietnamese, you've probably heard your mom say "tội chết" ("dreadfully sinful" in Vietnamese) in regards to wasting food. The lesson was definitely hammered into me, and now that I'm an adult, I intend to follow in my mom's footsteps and teach the same values to my daughter.
I love Acme brand green onion slab bread. It's very flavorful, moist and delicious. I went a little over-board buying 4 loaves at Costco. I made panini sandwiches the day before and had one left-over on the kitchen counter. Today, my goal was to come up with a creative way to use it all. I made stuffing using the onion bread with ground beef, artichoke hearts, tomato paste and mozzarella cheese. I moistened the bread with beef stock I had stored in the freezer. It makes a wonderful one-dish meal once the little casserole dish is heated and broiled in the oven. And if the slightly stale bread didn't have green onion in it, I could have made pain perdu (french toast) as well!
Yields: 4 servings1 (16-ounce) loaf day-old green onion slab bread
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ cup olive oil
½ pound ground beef
1 cup canned fire-roasted tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons Greek-style plain yogurt
½ sprig oregano, finely chopped
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon homemade chile garlic sauce (click on the link for the recipe), or store-bought
1-½ tablespoons tomato paste
2-½ cups warm beef stock
1 fresh mozzarella ball, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons curly parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Making croutons:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cut the bread into about 1-½-inch cubes. No need to cut off the crusts. Spread the bread cubes on a greased baking sheet. Add 2 cloves of garlic and toss well. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well. Bake for about 6-8 minutes. Toss the croutons once half-way through the baking process. All sides should be slightly golden. Remove from the oven. Set aside to cool.
Cooking ground beef:
Heat the oil in a large, deep non-stick pan. Add half the onions and cook until golden brown. Increase the heat and add the remaining clove of garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add the chile garlic sauce. Decrease the heat and add the tomatoes, oregano and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley . Simmer until a little of the liquid evaporates and the mixture becomes thicker.
Bring the heat back to high and add the ground meat. Separate the beef in the pan until the meat changes color; add the yogurt (that way the meat is very tender). Stir the meat occasionally. Add about ½ cup of beef stock. Wait for the mixture to reach a full boil, then immediately turn the heat down to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes. Check the liquid and periodically add ¼ to ½ cup of additional water if all the previous liquid is absorbed. Check seasoning.
Cooking the artichokes:
In a large pot, add the remaining chopped onions. Sauté until the color is translucent; season with salt and pepper. Add the artichokes. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Finish with 1 tablespoon parsley. Transfer to a plate.
Assembly time:
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In the same large pot, add a cup of beef stock. Once the liquid has reached a boil, add the croutons and stir well. Add the tomato paste, honey (if used), the remaining beef stock with the artichoke and ground beef mixtures. Stir well. The entire mixture should be moist, but not mushy. Adjust the seasoning. Add more salt (if necessary) and black pepper. Finish with the remaining parsley. Stir well.
Place the beef stuffing in a greased casserole dish. Cover with mozzarella slices.
Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes and then broil for about 2-3 minutes to get a nice, golden top.
Serve warm.
Bon appétit!
Instead of placing the stuffing in a casserole dish, you could stuff a whole artichoke for a pretty presentation as a reminder of the filling.
Waste not, want not. Croutons are a perfect way to recycle stale bread. Check out my other version with brown butter baguette. You can also make bread crumbs for mac & cheese or garlic bread for soups and salads.
I used Acme brand green onion slab bread. It's very flavorful, moist and delicious. You can find it at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. The address is Marketplace Shop #15. You can also find this particular bread at Costco and at Milk Pail, 2585 California Street, Mountain View, CA 94040.
I made my own beef stock but you can use canned if you like.
Check out more recipes with bread.Published By: on January 6, 2012.


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Watch how to make this recipe.
In a nonreactive dish or large resealable plastic bag, combine all ingredients except steak and mix thoroughly. Add steak and turn to thoroughly coat. Cover dish or close bag and allow to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. (If you are making ahead, cover, and place in refrigerator. Can be marinated up to 24 hours in refrigerator.)
Once steak has marinated, remove from refrigerator and bring to room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Heat a lightly oiled grill pan to medium-high heat. When pan is heated, remove steak from marinade, shake off excess, add to pan and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes per side for medium rare.
Transfer to a cutting board, season with additional salt and freshly ground black pepper and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice thinly across the grain and serve.


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That became more apparent Friday night after they collected a season-low two hits in a listless 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays and Shaun Marcum that extended their losing streak to three games.
Manager Ozzie Guillen plans to drop Jermaine Dye to sixth in the batting order in Saturday's game while starting Pablo Ozuna at second base in place of Juan Uribe and starting cleanup hitter Paul Konerko, who missed his second straight game Friday night because of a sore right hand.
Guillen, however, said the moves have more to do with splitting up the Sox's lineup against the Blue Jays' three left-handed relievers than the fact they were shut out for the second time this season and have scored seven runs in their last four games.
"There's not really a whole lot to do," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "You can move Jermaine down. You can move me down. You can move [ Carlos] Quentin up. You can move [ Joe] Crede up. You can move Uribe to leadoff.
"What the heck are you going to do? Guys have to hit where they're going to hit. It comes down to we're not getting hits."
During the Sox's pre-series scouting meeting, Guillen told his players not to worry after noticing a dejected atmosphere following Minnesota's two-game sweep Wednesday.
He reiterated this faith in a club that currently lacks speed to create runs.
"If we have kids on this club, things would be different," Guillen said. "We have guys who have hit in the past and have struggled in the past. And they know their way to get out of the slump. It's a shame when our pitching staff is doing well and we don't help them to win games.
"You keep waiting and waiting, and all of a sudden you don't see any results. This game is about results. It's not about waiting and living in the past. We got to try to get the results as quick as we can, and I think everyone, hopefully, isn't losing confidence in themselves and keep plugging."
Nevertheless, the Sox had only one scoring opportunity in the seventh, when they loaded the bases after two outs. But reliever Jeremy Accardo induced Uribe to fly to right.
That typified Mark Buehrle's second frustrating outing in as many years at the Rogers Centre. A throwing error by third baseman Crede with two outs in the first preceded hits by Vernon Wells (a lifetime .517 hitter against Buehrle) and Shannon Stewart (.400 off Buehrle) and two runs.
"That's the second time they broke this kid's heart," Guillen said of the Blue Jays.
Buehrle pitched a two-hit complete game against Toronto on May 31, 2007, but left with a 2-0 loss after allowing solo homers to Aaron Hill and Frank Thomas.
"If one good thing came [out of Friday's loss, Buehrle] pitched great," Pierzynski said. "There's no time for moral victories, though."


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Bus Runs Over Soccer Trophy After Player Drops It [VIDEO]
[/caption]Real Madrid won the Spanish Cup earlier this week over their rivals, Barcelona. As you can see from the thousands of soccer fans who lined the streets of Madrid, this is a really big deal.
The winning Spanish Cup team receives a large trophy, which Real Madrid's players showed off to their supporters as they drove through the all-night celebration on top of a double-decker bus.
When it was defender Sergio Ramos turn to thrust the trophy above his head, he proved that his athletic talent comes from his feet, not his hands, and dropped it right in front of the bus.
The bus promptly ran over the trophy, causing major damage. Ramos kept his sense of humor about his blunder, joking that he didn't drop the trophy; rather it jumped off so it could be closer to the fans.
Check it out the unfortunate moment below.


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Home >
Brentwood >
Academics >
Schools and Colleges >
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences >
Department of Criminal Justice >
M.S. in Criminal Justice
The 36-credit Master of Science in Criminal Justice is designed to provide the skills and understanding necessary to address the emerging public interest problems of the 21st Century.
The program offers a core curriculum that lays the foundation for the understanding of crime and high technology and the ability to think critically. Graduates of the program are equipped to pursue careers such as working at research institutes, with juveniles, alternative-to-incarceration programs, victims' rights groups, corporate security, defendants' rights groups, and treatment and rehabilitation programs in addition to traditional law enforcement positions at the federal, state and local levels.
- Learn more.
"I applied for the bachelor's degree in criminal justice at LIU Brentwood the same day I learned about it. When I graduated, I went straight into the criminal justice master's degree program. I'm interested in a career in law enforcement, but down the road, I also want to teach criminal justice, like my professors. LIU Brentwood is giving me the education I need to serve my community and build my career."
Robert Smith, Class of 2013
LIU Brentwood alumni have distinguished careers as federal agents, security officers, corrections counselors, FBI agents, homeland security agents and private security professionals. We can put you in touch with these working professional alumni who will volunteer their time to discuss different career opportunities and methods to how to achieve success.
To apply to the program, complete the LIU online application for admission, or speak with an admissions counselor or faculty member at 631-273-5112.
You may also complete our online Request More Information form.
Courses are taught by a distinguished faculty who includes published authors, researchers and widely-consulted authorities on American and world criminal justice systems. Adjunct faculty members are working professionals include attorneys, judges and law enforcement officials. Our professors will engage and inspire you to exceed your expectations. Learn more.
Grants, discounts and scholarship opportunities can help make your education at LIU Brentwood a more affordable one, particularly for graduates of St. Joseph's College, and Long Island University.
Learn more about our generous scholarship opportunities.
Michael J. Grant Campus 1001 Crooked Hill Road Brentwood, NY 11717 | Telephone: 631-273-5112


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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
The programs in this video library show classroom teachers and arts specialists using the arts in a variety of successful ways. The 14 video programs, filmed in elementary schools around the country, along with a print guide and this companion Web site, serve as a professional development resource for K-5 teachers seeking new ideas for integrating the arts into the classroom. Teachers featured in these programs include specialists in dance, music, theatre, and visual art, as well as classroom teachers from kindergarten through fifth grade.
For example, you can see how:
Programs in this video library explore a broad range of teaching methods and feature extensive classroom examples. In each program, you can find ideas and activities you can take back to your own classroom, as well as insights into the planning and implementation process. Correlated national standards for programs are indicated where relevant.
The Arts in Every Classroom: A Video Library, K5 was produced by Lavine Production Group in collaboration with KSA-Plus Communications and the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts.
A companion to the video library is The Arts in Every Classroom: A Workshop for Elementary School Teachers, an eight-part professional development workshop for K5 teachers.
Video Library Home | Site Map | About This Video Library | Support Materials
© Annenberg Foundation 2017. All rights reserved. Legal Policy


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The Lock Haven University Small Business Development Center is a member of the
Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers, a statewide, non-profit, network of university based centers that provide in-depth, quality business and economic development assistance to small businesses and prospective small businesses.
The Lock Haven University SBDC provides consulting services and educational programs to entrepreneurs looking to start or grow their small business. SBDC consultants work with entrepreneurs in confidential, one-to-one sessions to help them with a range of business issues including testing a new business proposition, shaping a business plan, investigating funding opportunities, and much more.


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Deena Elana Grant, PhD
Associate Prof of Theology, Hebrew Scriptures
Deena Grant is associate professor of Hebrew Scriptures at Barry University. She received her BA from Brandeis University in Near Eastern and Jewish Studies and her PhD from New York University in Hebrew and Judaic Studies, with a focus on the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern setting. She also studied at Drisha's Institute for Jewish Education in Manhattan, Hebrew University's Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem and Midreshet Lindenbaum Yeshiva of Talmudic Study in Jerusalem. Dr. Grant previously taught at Hofstra University and Drisha's Institute for Jewish Education. She received the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture International Doctoral Scholarship for Studies Specializing in Jewish Fields as well as the Dorot Award at the 37th Annual Conference for the Association of Jewish Studies. Dr. Grant's primary interest lies in the field of biblical and Israelite religion.
- Divine Anger in the Hebrew Bible, CBQMS 52; Washington DC: CBA, 2014.
Buy Online
- "Fire and the Body of Yhwh," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 40/2 (2015) 1-23
- "Human Anger in Biblical Literature," Revue Biblique 118 (2011) 339-61.
- "Reinterpretation in Hymn to the Creator," TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism 16 (2011) 1-10.
- "Wrath of God," The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 5. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011) 932-37.
- "Ancient Near Eastern Deluge Myths," World History Encyclopedia Classical Traditions, 1000 BCE-300 CE (Edited by Kevin McGeough. Vol. 5. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011).
- "A Brief Discussion of the Difference between Human and Divine HMH," Biblica 91 (2010) 418-24.
- Review of Corrine L. Carvalho ed., Pastoral Essays in Honor of Lawrence Boadt, CSP: Reading the Old Testament. Review of Biblical Literature.August (2015).
- Review of Eun-Woo Lee, Crossing the Jordan: Diachrony versus Synchrony in the Book of Joshua.Catholic Biblical Quarterly. 76 (2014) 531.
- Review of Peter Altmann, Festive Meals in Ancient Israel: Deuteronomy's Identity Politics in Their Ancient Near Eastern Context. Catholic Biblical Quarterly. 75 (2013) 336-38.
Popular Publications
- "Parshat Haazinu - God's Fiery Flaming Anger," Project TABS, Torah and Biblical Scholarship.http://thetorah.com/gods-flaming-fiery-anger/
- "What was the Golden Calf?: Exodus Versus Deuteronomy," Project TABS, Torah and Biblical Scholarship. http://thetorah.com/what-was-the-golden-calf/
- "The Absence of Punishment in Deuteronomy's Account of the Golden Calf," Project TABS (Torah and Biblical Scholarship, July 27, 2013) www.thetorah.com.
- "The Rise of the Israelite Monarchy: 1-2 Samuel," Bible Today 51/4 (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2013) 219-224.
- "The Eternal Flame," Vehigadet Livitekh (New York: JOFA, 2006).
Academic Presentations
- "The Difference between Human and Divine Anger in Prophetic Literature," at the National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature Conference in Baltimore, November, 22-26, 2013.
- "Covenant Kinship and Anger in Deuteronomy," at the 75th International Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association at Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, July 29-31, 2012.
- "Divine Anger as a Weapon of War in Israel's Early Poetry," at the 74th International Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association at Assumption College, Worcester MA, August 6-9, 2011.
- "Divine Anger as Fire in Israel's Early Poetry and in Judahite Prophetic Literature," at the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion of the Society of Biblical Literature, Louisville, KY, March 4-6, 2011.
- "The Moon and Monotheism," Living the Lunar Calendar: Time Text and Tradition, 30th January- 1st February 2010, Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem (in collaboration with University of Haifa, Hebrew University and the CAENO Foundation).
- "Shifting Grammar in the Bible's Representation of Human and Divine Anger" Anger," at the 41st Annual Conference for the Association of Jewish Studies, December 2009.
- "Human Anger in Biblical Literature," National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, California, November 2007.
- "Human Anger in Biblical Literature," NYU-Notre Dame Conference on Jewish and Christian Scholars on the Study of Judaism and Christianity, New York University, June 2007.
- "Reinterpreting Scripture in a Hymn from Qumran (11QPsa)," at the 37th Annual Conference for the Association for Jewish Studies, December 2005.


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It's been widely assumed that Mitt Romney will moderate his positions on immigration to make inroads among Latinos in the general election, perhaps by supporting some sort of GOP version of the DREAM Act.
But what if Romney has no room to execute any such pivot?
I just got off the phone with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an adviser to Romney on immigration. He stated flatly that he didn't think Republicans — or Romney — should, or would, support any version of the DREAM Act that provides undocumented immigrants with any kind of path to legal status.
If Romney sticks to this — and Kobach said he would — there's very little room for him to moderate his approach to immigration. In addition to advising Romney on immigration, Kobach is a national GOP voice on the issue, suggesting the right would not permit any move of this kind.
"I'd absolutely reject any proposal that would give a path to legal status for illegal aliens en masse," Kobach said. "That is what amnesty is. I do not expect [Romney] to propose or embrace amnesty."
Romney was overheard at a Florida fundraiser the other day suggesting we need some form of "Republican DREAM Act." Senator Marco Rubio has also been working on his own version. The Dem DREAM Act would provide a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants in the military or in college. Rubio's version, which is still being worked out, would stop short of this, but would allow young illegal immigrants who came to America with their parents to apply for non-immigrant visas and to stay to work or go to school. The distinction is between citizenship and legal status.
Such a compromise might enable Republicans to soften their hard edge on immigration and begin making inroads with the crucial Latino constituency. But Kobach drew a sharp line, claiming that any path to even legal status is unacceptable, and said Romney wouldn't cross it.
"I haven't seen the details of Senator Rubio's plan, but if it involves the giving of lawful status to illegal aliens en masse then it is unacceptable," Kobach said. He also said: "A path to legal status for someone who is here illegally is amnesty by definition. It gives the alien what he has stolen."
Asked if he thought Romney might embrace such an approach, Kobach said: "I don't think so...I expect him to hold firm on his opposition to amnesty."
Separately, a little flap arose yesterday when Politico's Glenn Thrush asked the Romney campaign if Kobach is still an adviser. A Romney spokesperson told Thrush that he is now merely a "supporter," leading some to speculate that Romney's pivot is underway. But Kobach then clarified to Think Progress that he is indeed still an adviser.
Asked to explain the discrepancy, Kobach confirmed to me that the Romney campaign had privately assured him that his status is unchanged. "I'm still providing policy advice on immigration to the governor and his team," Kobach told me. "I spoke with them yesterday afternoon, and they confirmed that nothing has changed."


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California Department of Transportation
District 5 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties
Jim Shivers or Colin Jones
(805) 549-3237 or (805) 549-3189
July 15, 2010
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY - Caltrans announced today that work has begun on a $2.5 million pavement improvement project that will result in a smoother, safer ride for motorists on State Route 154. The project is financed primarily ($1.5 million) by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act).
"My Administration is working hand-in-hand with President Obama's team to ensure stimulus dollars are pumped into California quickly and responsibly to stimulate the economy and in this instance - invest in the future of California's transportation infrastructure," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The project will resurface 18 lane miles (nine miles in each direction) of pavement on SR-154, a busy commuter and tourist route. Roadwork is expected to be completed by the end of August. All businesses and attractions in the Santa Ynez Valley/Santa Barbara area will remain accessible via SR-154, which will not be closed at any time during construction.
"Funding from the Recovery Act is helping us put people to work rebuilding California's transportation system while providing a shot in the arm to California's economy," said Caltrans Director Cindy McKim.
"We are pleased that stimulus funds will allow us to improve the highway and create jobs," said Craig Flowers, Project Manager of Granite Construction in Goleta, the project's contractor.
Under Governor Schwarzenegger's leadership, California has obligated nearly $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funding obligated to 931 highway, local, street, and job training transportation projects statewide. For more information on the Recovery Act visit: http://recovery.ca.gov/


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|watercolor and acrylics on paper - size A4
May 5 and that is when I will randomly select a winner.
Paint Party on a Friday. :) Let me know in the comments if you want her or not. I don't wanna send you anything that you don't want. :) So let me know.
Registration for my Cotton Candy Girls On-line Workshop is now open. Click on the banner to take you there. :)


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Blakelock, Ralph Albert
Blakelock, Ralph Albert,1847–1919, American landscape painter, b. New York City. The son of a doctor, he was educated for a medical career but abandoned it for painting, in which he was largely self-taught. His life was one of hardship. At first his work, although exhibited in major exhibitions, was largely rejected by the public. Later, those who purchased his paintings took gross advantage of him. Unable to support a family that included eight children, beginning in 1891 he suffered a series of nervous breakdowns. Diagnosed with a mental disease now thought to have been schizophrenia, he was committed to an asylum in 1899, where he painted many small landscapes. Released in 1916, he did not paint again. By this time his paintings had been accorded recognition and brought high prices to dealers, but nothing to him.
Typically, Blakelock's landscapes are painted in great detail with strong lights and silhouetted dark masses, expressing a melancholy and romantic temperament. The subjects, including landscapes with small Native American figures, are often drawn from his early journeys (1869, 1870, and 1871) to the West. He is particularly noted for his moonlight effects. Among his well-known works are Brook by Moonlight (Toledo Mus. of Art); Indian Encampment and Pipe Dance (Metropolitan Mus.); and Sunset and Moonrise (National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.). Blakelock's work has been among the most often forged of any American painter.
See biography by G. Vincent (2003); studies by L. Goodrich (1947) and N. Geske (1987).


text: Hello everyone - DigDug here - just a quick introductory note. I am a 28 year old Steeler fan stuck in the middle of KC Greif land (sucks - I know, huh!!). Steelers fan as far back as I can remember (since birth - maybe before). Keeping the non-believers of the Steeler supremacy in check is my real full time job - even though I work in the medical field. I look forward to hearing from everyone. Thanks for letting me into the fold.:tt02::hail::helmet::cope:


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- About Us
- Our Clients
- Our Expertise
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- Contact Us
At Farris, we aim to provide services of the highest calibre in every area of the law. Our Partners, Associates, Management, Staff, and Students share a strong sense of loyalty and a collective responsibility – to our clients and to each other – to perform at nothing less than the highest standards.
For over a century, Farris has been practising law in BC and beyond at all levels with great success. Farris is a high performance law firm, with a diverse client base ranging from individuals to some of the largest public institutions and private corporations in British Columbia. We balance a strong regional and national presence with an expanding international practice that includes U.S., European, and Asia-Pacific based clients.
Our lawyers, students, and staff share a common goal – excellence in all that we do. We expect nothing less than each other's best efforts at all times, and vigorously foster an environment that encourages the individual and supports the team. The unique qualities that each individual brings to the collective effort are fundamental to the continued success of our firm and its clients, and we proudly acknowledge their contributions to our past... and to our future.
The success of our firm has only one measure: the success of the clients we serve. At Farris, we have long been guided by a tradition of doing the best that we can for our clients by doing good work. This tradition continues to serve as our foundation – and our inspiration.
Today, doing good work for our clients means advancing our position as knowledgeable, multi-disciplinary service providers with global competence. Our lawyers continue to demonstrate their qualities as innovative strategists, well able to manage the complexities of emerging industries, advancing technology, and variable, international economies to maximum advantage.
Our capacity to manoeuvre quickly at the global level reflects an equally efficient internal structure. Our firm is not managed by committees, which enables us to better focus on our clients and our work. That means minimal committee meetings, no billable hour targets and few Partner meetings.
And, our unique Partner admission policy – encouraging our Associates to approach us when they believe they are ready for partnership – further reveals an environment that is unencumbered by formalities, cultivates service excellence, and rewards innovative thinking.
Farris' CSR program supports local community events and charities that have a connection to our firm, employees, and clients. In addition to financial contributions, Farris lawyers and employees often participate in charitable events providing both leadership and support. Our firm is among the leading law firm community contributors in BC.


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If you work hard, you deserve what you get
Contractor tip of the month
By Damian Lang
It took some time for me to believe that. And I have a theory as to why it took so long. Many of us choose (subconsciously) not to have the nicer things in life, and it stems from one sentence we hear over and over again as we grow up. "I wouldn't want to be like that!"
In 1974, at 9 years old, I began working summers and nights on a produce farm. It was steady, fun work, for 75 cents an hour. I couldn't wait for the boss to call to say he needed me the next day. Especially when I knew that, if I never got called, I'd still have to work on my family's farm without pay anyway!
I remember dad driving me to work. He'd often repeat advice: "Son, if you want to keep your job, you have to work just as hard when the boss isn't watching as you do when he is right there next to you."
My older brother told me that the people driving by the farm were watching us work the fields that were right along a busy road. He'd say "We better show them we're good workers, they may want to hire us someday." With the sound of the passing cars and the thought that my boss may be in the trees watching, I spent nine years on that produce farm working my tail off. This, along with always having cash I earned in my pocket, gave me a passion for working hard.
With nine kids in the family, things were tight growing up. Dad worked at a local plant and on our farm with all of us to make ends meet. Mom was a great help as she watched her spending closely. Garage sales were a favorite shopping place for clothes for us kids, and believing it was normal, we had no issues wearing second-hand clothes. Things must have been tough on mom and dad, but for me, with the cash I earned at the produce farm, I felt I was rich.
School was where I first heard kids talk about reasons to never want the nicer things in life. That's where that one sentence took a foothold, "I wouldn't want to be like that!" We'd see someone with a nice car and say, "I would not want that car, because I wouldn't want to have to clean it every day." A big house was something we never wanted as we would have to walk from one end to the other to get something, and who wants to do that? Nice boats were out of the question, as the muddy river near us would just stain the bottom of it. And, everyone knows all the members of the country club were snobs, so we vowed to never be a member as those people may turn us into snobs, too. All this negative chatter we experienced as kids had us subconsciously talking ourselves out of rewarding ourselves in the future.
Shortly after high school, I started my first business. Working hard paid nice dividends, and I had a few thousand extra dollars that seemed like a million or more at the time. But it wasn't long until I began to feel guilty, believing that I never deserved the things I was now able to buy. In fact, I bought a Mercedes convertible that I had always wanted a few years back. Can you believe that I never drove around town for fear of what the town would think about me driving a car like that? After leaving that nice car sit in the garage for years, I eventually sold it.
Like me, many of you have struggled to get through the last few years. It is hard to explain the feeling that you just got set back 20 years of your work life, virtually overnight. Still, I believe you have to keep digging and digging, working hard even when no one is watching. You'll get knocked down a time or two. Just dust yourself off and get back on the horse. By working hard (and also working smart), you should someday, again, be rewarded. And, after all the blood, sweat and tears, when you receive the rewards, know that you earned it and deserve it. We are not kids anymore; there is no dishonor in working hard to get ahead and no shame in enjoying the fruits of your labor.
I have never regretted learning to work hard at a young age and knowing the value of a dollar. Perhaps our hardest job now is to keep these values alive in teaching the next generation those same traits, so we don't continue to add to the entitlement philosophy that has our country in quite a turmoil. So, I still say, if you work hard, you deserve what you get in return, and I hope that we aren't too late teaching the next generation the truth about that.
About the Author
Damian Lang is a mason contractor in southeast Ohio and inventor of many labor saving masonry systems and products. Lang has served as the Marketing Committee Chairman for the Mason Contractors Association of America. He is also author of the book Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry. To network with Damian on contractor tips or tips you have and would like published, contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com or 740-749-3512.


text: Hi, I have successfully setted up Iredmail mail server latest version in my office(LAN) .All the features are working as expected.I created multiple sub domains with multiple user accounts.All the users were able to send and receive the mail each other from all the virtual domains. Now my question is how do i setup my iredmail server to send the mails to public domains on the internet like yahoo,gmail...etc? I have got an static ip in my office.Please guide me to achieve this... Any help highly appreciated.


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First off, I'd like to thank you all for your support, kind words, and encouragement! I'm so excited to start my new job at Plate & Pitchfork, and your support means a lot.
In all the excitement of preparing for the new job (and training my replacement at the old job), I've not had a lot of time to cook. Honestly, I've not had a lot of time to do anything (Laundry, housecleaning, etc.). It's just a busy season in life.
But, I bought a few pints of strawberries at the Montavilla Farmer's Market last weekend and they sort of forced my hand. I used up some of the strawberries to make Minted Strawberry Shortcakes with Lemony Whipped Cream.
But I was over-zealous in my strawberry purchasing (they looked so good!) and I had a lot of strawberries leftover. They were just sitting in the fridge, begging me to use them. I noticed that a couple of the strawberries were beginning to brown, and I knew I had to do something about it. I couldn't let them go to waste!
So I roasted the strawberries and then blended them with garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and spices. I transformed the last of my strawberries into a vinaigrette (and a darn good one, at that).
I saved the strawberries and got a delicious salad dressing out of the deal.
It's a win-win situation.
(Slightly Adapted from Glow Kitchen)
Makes 1.5 cups (or so) of vinaigrette.
1 pint of ripe strawberries (2 cups)
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
14 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
Salt & pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is preheating, de-stem the strawberries and slice them in half. Line a baking pan with tinfoil and place the strawberries on the lined baking pan. Bake, until the strawberries are roasted and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
Remove strawberries from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, blend the strawberries together with the rest of the ingredients, using a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Depending on your preference you can add more olive oil (or water) if the dressing is too thick.
Store the vinaigrette in an airtight container in the fridge. The dressing will keep for a week (or more).


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ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – The York College men's swimming team put together yet another solid performance at the 2012 Capital Athletic Conference Swimming Championships on Saturday. After the second day, the Spartans currently hold the third spot with 334.5 points. Mary Washington sits atop the list 665 while St. Mary's (Md.) has posted 363.
Both of York's relay squads would turn in third-place showings on Saturday, taking the bronze in both the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. In the medley, the men's opening event of the evening finals, Cody Latchford, Jamie Hicks, Andy Woods, and Richard Janosky combined for a 1:38.85. On the other side of the evening, the Spartans would close out the day-two racing with a 7:15.17 in the freestyle. Alex Diehl, Tyler Ziegler, Latchford, and Jack Gottschalk teamed up in that event to secure third-place relay points for York.
Individually, Woods put together a solid day for the Green and White. Qualifying for the finals in both the 100 butterfly and the and the 100 backstroke, he notched top-eight points for his squad in both events. Woods posted a fourth-place 53.42 in the 100 fly, moving up two spots from his sixth-seed qualifying time, before posting a fifth-place 54.83 in the 100 backstroke. Both of his finals times proved season-best marks for the junior.
York actually registered a trio of top-eights in that 100 backstroke. Aside from Woods' performance, Latchford swam to sixth with a 54.93 while fellow rookie Bryant Hughes collected eighth-place points and swam to a 57.01.
Steven Mercer, York's current record-holder in the 400 IM, swam to a sixth-place finish in the aforementioned 400 IM with a 4:28.40.
In the 200 freestyle, Gottschalk and Latchford both qualified for the finals and then finished a close seventh and eighth. Gottschalk grabbed seventh with a 1:47.76 just touching the wall before Latchford came in at 1:47.85. In the consolation finals of the event, Diehl bested his heat, out-touching 10th-place Eric Phung of Mary Washington by just two-tenths-of-a-second, and slashed over three seconds off his personal season-best time to record a 1:47.82. Diehl won his heat despite being seeded fourth in those consolation finals.
Qualifying for the finals in the 100 breaststroke, Ziegler and Hicks deadlocked at 1:02.59. That performance had the pair of Spartans tie for seventh in the event. Notably, rookie Ryan Callahan, who had qualified 16th in the 100 breaststroke, moved up a spot in the evening finals. Swimming in the evening finals for the first time in his college career, Callahan registered a 1:08.46 as he cut over five seconds off of his previous season-best time.
A grueling day for several York swimmers, Latchford swam a total of six times for the Green and White while Woods, Hicks, and Ziegler each raced five times including preliminaries, relays, and individual finals.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday for the final day of the 2012 CAC Championships. Morning preliminaries are slated for a 10:00 am start while the evening finals open up at 5:30 pm beginning with the senior recognition ceremony.
PHOTO: Tyler Ziegler, Alex Diehl, Cody Latchford, and Jack Gottschalk stand on the podium after receiving their third-place medals following their performance in the 800 freestyle relay.


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Track update: vet track is open and ready to go. We had a couple of set backs this morning but expect to have the main track open by noon. Supercross track will be open at 11 and the rest of the facility to follow.
Get coupons and other deals sent straight to your inbox!


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Friday, June 7, 2013
10-287: Austin Nicely
He was a 2013 Rawlings 3rd Team All-American. Keith Law ranked him #78 in his Top 100, but interestingly he was not in Baseball America's Top 250.
Spotswood coach Mike Thompson had this to say about Nicely before his junior year:
"Austin is a rising junior who throws left-handed and is being clocked in the upper 80s. He has a very determined attitude on the mound and in the field. I had a senior pitcher last year who was excellent which is why Austin did not get as many starts, but he was still 3-2 with a 2.13 ERA as a sophomore. He struck out 28 in only 18 innings of work. He was all district and 2nd team all region as a DH which shows he is more than just a pitcher. I look forward to seeing Austin be ace #1 of our staff at Spotswood for the next 2 years. Austin also starts at quarterback on our football team, so you can imagine what kind of athlete he is. Austin is a great young man to have on a team and I cannot wait to see his leadership grow."
Jonathan Mayo says this:
"Nicely suffered a stress reaction in his back last spring and didn't play all of last summer. He returned to the mound in time for late-fall showcases and has been healthy this spring. Nicely's fastball generally sits in the upper-80s, occasionally touching 91 mph. The left-hander also throws a changeup and curveball, both of which need work. Nicely has good athleticism and helped Spotswood High School to a runner-up finish in Virginia's Division III state basketball tournament. In time, Nicely could add velocity as he gets stronger and eventually have three solid offerings. He is committed to Virginia."
His profile at Perfect Game USA is here.
6 comments:
So he's a high school junior? How would that work? Would he skip his last year of high school?
- June 7, 2013 at 7:13 PM
- Cockroach said...
No, he's a HS senior; those comments were just taken from an article following his sophomore year. He committed to Virginia two years early, though, so I'm thinking this could be a very tough sign.
- June 7, 2013 at 9:09 PM
Baseball players that we might draft in your opinion in rounds 11-40 Mr Cockroach?
- June 7, 2013 at 9:34 PM
- Cockroach said...
I'm not a scouting expert by any means, but I have to believe that Cavan Biggio comes off the board pretty early tomorrow, and I think there's no likelier destination for him than Houston. The fact that he hasn't been drafted yet means that teams don't think he's signable, but if anyone is gonna be able to sign him, I feel the Astros have the best shot (for obvious reasons). I'll be surprised if he's not our 11-1 or 12-1 pick.
- June 7, 2013 at 10:46 PM
Thank you I appreciate it
- June 7, 2013 at 11:07 PM
I'd wait a year on Cavan. I'm fairly certain getting picked by the Astros is the only way he doesn't play at Notre Dame next year with his older brother on the team.
Craig, Cavan and Luhnow could have a handshake deal in place. We could pick him first next year or whenever he projects high
- June 8, 2013 at 2:28 AM


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ACT NOW: Protect the Grand Canyon
The mining industry is pushing hard to open the land around the Grand Canyon to claims to dig for uranium and other metals. This could have catastrophic affects on the wildlife and waterways in and around the park and expose millions of people to radioactive uranium pollution.
With your help, we can stop this from happening. And with little time left in office, it is more urgent than ever that President Obama act now to protect the Grand Canyon -- forever. Add your name to our petition:


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Cal is likely to play the 2014-15 basketball season without center Kameron Rooks, who has undergone surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, the school reported Thursday.
Rooks was on the mend from a late-season stress fracture in his left foot.
"Kameron has worked hard this offseason to return from a previous foot injury and it is very unfortunate to have a setback like this," Bears coach Cuonzo Martin said. "It is difficult to predict when we can expect him back."
The son of one-time Arizona star Sean Rooks averaged 1.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game as a freshman last season.
Venus Williams has entered the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. She's played in the tournament 11 times, winning the title twice. Williams will join her sister Serena, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and defending champion Dominika Cibulkova on July 28-Aug. 3 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. For ticket information go to www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com or call 866-982-8497.
Staff writers Jeff Faraudo and Elliott Almond contributed to this report.


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Winners and losers
Daylight saving time notwithstanding, it's always darkest before the dawn — an adage that proved true once again this week in our offices.
Last week, we twice published correct dates to make up for an error the week before in which we listed the original rather than rescheduled week for a high school play.
Still, we endured a tongue-lashing on social media over the weekend. Forgetting that there were competing college basketball games, a frenzy of Facebook followers blamed our original error for less than stellar attendance on the second night of what was, by all accounts, a stellar production.
Truth is, we did screw up two weeks ago, and we failed to do everything we planned to correct it a week later. However, the poison-pen postings of people who rarely have a good word about anything were nowhere near the hair shirt we put on ourselves for that error and another, when 5- and 6-year-olds gave wrong names both to a reporter who was writing a story and later to their teachers, when we were trying to correct the error.
We won't bore you with the four pages of changes we're implementing to try to stop such errors in the future. What we will tell you is that in the middle of our internal inquisition came much-needed good news: an announcement from Kansas Press Association that we had won 12 major statewide awards.
Most gratifying was first place for community service — something that, despite what naysayers might contend, is our sole reason for existence. It's the second time in three years we won in that category — strong testament to the work of news editor Adam Stewart and his superb staff.
We also won both first and second place in feature photography, first place in column writing (tremendous recognition for reporter Jennifer Stultz), first place in story/photo package, first place in news photography and first place in advertising design (for an ad for The Lumberyard).
In addition, we won second place for news and writing excellence, best editorial pages, and best photo package in the state. We also won both second and third place statewide for coverage of youths — something you wouldn't have guessed we were any good at had you been reading the Facebook feeding frenzy over the weekend.
All in all, we've won an unprecedented 43 statewide awards in the past three years. The latest honorees, in addition to Jennifer (who also had a second award), include Ben Kleine (twice), Janet Post, and Melvin Honeyfield.
Sad as we might be when we mess up, it's nice to know that someone, somewhere appreciates the tireless and typically excellent work of our staff.


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As provided for in Sections 2.5 and 5.4 of this ITN which was published to the Vendor Bid System (VBS) on October 3, 2018. The VBS can be accessed at: http://www.myflorida.com/apps/vbs/vbs_www.main_menu. The Meeting of Negotiation Team to Develop Recommendation for Award is where negotiators will develop a recommendation as to the award that will provide the best value to the State based on the criteria set forth in Section 5.3.1. A copy of the agenda may be obtained by contacting firstname.lastname@example.com.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 3 days before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Lisa Stephany, email: email@example.com or (850)717-4557. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).


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Although the death of Christine Wilson will soon reach its 10th anniversary, her name is still alive and well.
Although the death of Christine Wilson will soon reach its 10th anniversary, her name is still alive and well.
The ninth annual Christine's Christmas concert is slated for Dec. 8 in the Capitol Theatre in the Riffe Center in downtown Columbus. Proceeds will benefit the Nationwide Children's Hospital Burn Center.
The concert is named after Dublin resident Christine Wilson, one of five young people who died in a 2003 house fire near the Ohio State University campus.
Neighbor Mark King started the Christmas concert eight years ago to honor Wilson and raise money in her name.
Since its beginning, the concert has moved venues and added performers.
Evolving the concert for returning guests while keeping it simple has been a focus for King.
"I have to be really careful to maintain the simplicity," he said.
"A tragedy spoke to people so powerfully when I started it ... I want to make sure they walk away feeling the way they had when they saw it first," he said.
The concert will include the Dublin Jerome High School A Cappella Choir, the CMC Conservatory Chamber Orchestra and vocalist Willie Grove.
Other guests are trumpet player Ben Huntoon, Nathan Kufchak, drummers Kyle Fox and Ron Perks and vocalist Denise Alexander.
"The group of musicians I have is incredible," King said.
"This started off as me as a soloist and bringing in these other people has been great from a musician's point of view," he said.
"I get a tremendous amount of joy working with these people. They get involved with something that benefits the community and it's incredible to see the passion they have for it."
Traditional Christmas songs are on the playlist for the evening.
"It's pretty traditional Christmas songs done in a way you won't hear or experience anywhere else," King said.
A story about Wilson will also be woven into the concert.
"What I'm doing on that night is not primarily raising money, I'm telling a story," King said.
"I love the story. It's a story about a baby that was born under the most humble of circumstances and changed the world.
"This story is told in the context of the friendship I had with a person who lived in our little city of Dublin, whose life changed mine," King said. "The parallels to me are very striking."
Since the creation of the Christine Wilson Foundation and Christine's Christmas Concert, money has been raised for central Ohio organizations benefiting children and scholarships.
"The other part is understanding that bad things happen," King said.
"You'd love to be able to take it back," he said, "but there are a couple ways things can go.
"You can let it drain you and sink you, or you can choose to turn it into something that is good.
"I believe that's what the Dublin community has done," King said. "It's really the Dublin community that has risen to the occasion.
"They come and celebrate this event with me. The whole community is involved and that shows what a community can do as a group to rise out of a tragic situation."
Tickets for Christine's Christmas Concert are $75 and $25 for students. Tickets include appetizers and a dessert buffet after the show.
Appetizers and a silent auction will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the music set to follow at 7:30 p.m. After the show, the silent auction will continue, along with the dessert buffet.
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or by contacting Courtney Cahill at 614-355-0818.


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It was the first use of an atomic bomb: On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay bombed the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 and hastening the end of World War II. (When another Superfortress, Bock's Car, dropped a second atomic bomb three days later on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered.) The two missions averted a planned U.S. invasion in which casualties were projected to run into the millions.
The image of those mushroom clouds was unforgettable. For the next 50 years, the nightmare scenario of another attack of such magnitude kept the two nuclear superpowers locked in a tense and costly cold war.
The B-29 was the world's first nuclear-capable aircraft. It also was the first with a pressurized compartment for the flight crew and the first U.S. bomber with an integrated radar to supplement its Norden bombsight. With a maximum takeoff weight of 140,000 pounds, the four-engine, 11-crewman B-29 could carry up to 20,000 pounds of bombs. It was flown from 1943 to 1954, although the Air Force continued flying variants as tankers until 1978.
Late in World War II, three B-29s made emergency landings (a fourth crash-landed) in Vladivostok, Siberia, after bombing runs over Japan. The Soviets kept them, studied them, and copied them, producing the Tu-4 bomber. Until about 1955, the Tu-4 was the main bomber of the Soviet Union—America's cold war enemy.
5. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
Still a hot-looking airplane 59 years after it entered service, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 made its mark during the Korean War as the Soviet Union's first jet-powered day interceptor with a pressurized cabin and an ejection seat.
The MiG-15's mission was to pick off U.S. B-29 bombers, which led to storied dogfights between the MiGs and the B-29s' fighter escorts, North American F-86s. Though an improved version of the MiG-15 could climb higher and faster than the F-86, U.S. Air Force pilots generally made up the difference with better aerial combat training. Still, the 670-mph MiG-15 put the world on notice that the Soviets could build cutting-edge aeronautical technology.
"The MiG-15 gave the Soviet air arm legitimacy and lethal potential in the early years of the cold war," says Von Hardesty, NASM's curator of Russian aviation history. "The MiG-15 also possessed a certain aesthetic quality: sleek, fast—the very embodiment of what a jet fighter should be."
Its performance must have reinforced that impression. More MiG-15s —12,000—have been made than any other jet aircraft in history. (Counting licensed versions made in other countries, the number reaches 18,000.) The type has been sold to 43 countries—from Sri Lanka to Cuba to Uganda.
6. Sikorsky S-55
While the helicopter — with its enviable ability to hover, dart in all directions, and land virtually anywhere—had achieved a measure of success in the 1930s and 1940s, it wasn't until the Sikorsky S-55 made its debut with the U.S. Navy in Korea in 1950 that rotary-wing history was utterly transformed. "For my money," says Roger Connor, NASM's vertical flight curator, "though other models pioneered various military and civil applications, the S-55 was the one that saw a real return on the investment put into helicopter development."
The dazzling success of the S-55—both nationally and internationally—was based on the aircraft's ability to fill multiple roles: troop and cargo transport, air assault, and casualty evacuation. That versatility resulted in unprecedented demand—1,700-plus were built, more than any previous helicopter type.
The design was brilliant: Sikorsky Aircraft completely reconfigured its earlier layouts to create the first helicopter with a cabin capable of carrying 10 passengers or seven stretchers, and moved the engine to the nose, enabling easier maintenance and solving the center-of-gravity problems previous single-rotor models had experienced. By the end of the Korean War, Sikorsky's machine had rescued downed pilots, saved the lives of 10,000 wounded soldiers, and delivered escaped prisoners from behind enemy lines.
In addition, the S-55 served as the core of counter-insurgency efforts by the British in Malaya and the French in Indochina, pushing both nations to establish their own aggressive helicopter programs. In American and foreign civil service, the S-55 pioneered helicopter airline transport.
Says Connor, "The accomplishments of the S-55 shifted public opinion—as well as the opinion of military and aviation insiders—from seeing the helicopter as an amusing but not terribly practical curiosity to a necessary tool of the modern age."


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This presentation package, created by Family Care International and Ipas, aims to foster understanding of this issue, enhance public discussion, promote partnerships, and encourage the provision of safe abortion services to the extent allowed by law. It is based primarily on the World Health Organization's 2003 publication: Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidance for Health Systems.
The package includes advocacy tools in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Russian that can be used with a range of audiences, from policy-makers to health care providers, from members of the media to members of the community. (2008)


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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope this year is a wonderful year for you! I know it will be a great year for us here at GingerScraps! How do I know that? Well let's just say I know who is guesting for us this year (we have some BIG names coming). I have some designers that are starting (a few will be here soon!). Plus we have a new challenge reward system with some new challenges! This will be a fantastic year!
Let's start this new year off right! What better way start then with a $1 Bake Sale! This Bake Sale will last for 5 days!!
We also have our new grab bag which you can have for free! Free you ask? That's right! You get this grab bag for free when you spend $10 in the store. Marie H Designs worked very hard and let me tell you how CUTE it is!
As always we have our Buffet kits too! This month's buffet is called "Colors of my Life" and our designers did a great job. These will also be $1 for 5 days!
This buffet is all about a pop of color. Make you Layout stand out in the crowd! Also perfect for all your 365/52 Layouts. Choose where you want the pop of color to highlight your weekly memories. Set against a lovely array of smokey tones- there are a variety of bright and dramatic colors, creating a truly eye catching and memorable layout. Colors of My Life is a buffet you will not want to miss!
Here is what our creative team did for us!
Let's keep it going with our Guest Designer!
Ive known Ryan for a while and she is such a great person! I can't wait for you all to get to know her better! Here is what she had to say about herself!
Hello everyone! My name is Ryan, I'm 26 years old, I have a 5 year old 'big boy' (according to him) named Gavin, and a boyfriend, whom I might as well be married to, since we've ben together for 6 years now, this last December..
Here are just a few of her goodies! Her store has TONS more so make sure you look!
Now I know I mentioned new challenges so let me tell you about a new challenge. Each month you will be given a challenge to use the previous month's daily download. Now that you know that you will need the daily download for a challenge, you can buy December's Daily Download – Just Keep Smiling by Connie Prince right now. You'll need it!
Beautiful huh? Now is the time to start collecting January's Daily Download! This month was brought to you by LauraMarie! The image is linked with the download for Day One, then make sure to head to the blog each and every day to pick up every peice of this lovely kit!
Day One Link: http://bit.ly/tlZCoz
*Link is Expired*
Last but not least, a new issue of the GingerScraps Street magazine came out today!!
There you have it! We here at GingerScraps hope this year is filled with nothing but happiness!


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Research by the Atlas Institute shows that the conversion rate from Search advertising is 22% better when used in conjunction with Display advertising.
The study demonstrates that there is a quantifiable "synergy" between these two channels and will hopefully encourage advertisers to take a more integrated approach to their online marketing.
The research is welcome because there are still companies out there who are shifting their budgets from display advertising into Search without a full understanding of how this might affect their conversion success or long term prospects.
Esco Strong, the Atlas research author, says that there are three key reasons why the synergy exists.
(Synergy is a word I like to see used sparingly – and never in the plural – but it seems apt in this case.)
To summarise …
1) Display advertising generates brand awareness and increased purchase intent, reinforcing messages from other channels.
2) Display ads can help win over interested users who may be "on the fence" about purchasing.
3) Search may be used as a navigational tool on a repeat visit to sites which users have previously visited via a display ad.
As the study makes clear in its recommendations, online marketers need to have a better overview of how different online channels are performing and what balance is most effective, for example by ensuring they do enough display advertising without reaching the point of diminishing terms.
Organisations need to have the right technology in place as well as co-operation and consistency in reporting between different online departments.
The good news is that, as online marketing has become more strategic, companies have appointed managers and directors with an overall responsibility for different online channels. It is part of their remit to have the right co-operation and analytics in place.
However, more organisations need to recognise that the money they are giving to search engines and affiliates for clicks and sales, for example, does not necessarily give an accurate proportional representation of which online channels are giving them the most value.
For practical reasons, there is a culture of giving credit to the channel at the last point of the customer journey before conversion.
Strong told Clickz News: "The ROI model that has been used for so long, where the last transaction gets credit for the sale, is a very simplistic view. It's really a multi-dimensional problem that requires looking across different channels … People have been complacent with this simple view, but there's growing interest in measuring across channels."
This research will hopefully provide some impetus for many advertisers who need to work on building a clearer understanding of their customers' journeys (both offline and online) so they can allocate their marketing funds as appropriately and effectively as possible.
To help this process, it makes sense for businesses to choose technology platforms and analytics which can enable marketers to compare "apples with apples".
We are due to publish our 2006 Web Analytics Buyer's Guide next month and it is encouraging that leading vendors are increasingly keen to stress that they have the technology and services to facilitate an integrated approach to online marketing.


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The Enrollment Challenge
Retirement readiness decisions are a daunting task for most employees. According to a 2012 Participant Engagement Study conducted by Lincoln Financial:
- 41 percent of employees are only somewhat engaged or fully disengaged from any retirement plan
- 7 percent of employees only are fully engaged and interact with their retirement plan on a regular basis.
Plan communication and education can provide people with the financial knowledge needed to better understand their employee benefits and make better enrollment decisions to achieve better outcomes.
Communication Is Key
The U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration's ERISA Advisory Council published a key report in 2010 on how plan communication practices and design options impact participation and contribution rates. They researched strategies for tailoring communications to different subgroups of employees through direct communication, and their effectiveness in influencing participants of diverse demographic market segments, including segments categorized by income level, household status, generation, gender, and ethnicity.
The report then provided recommendations of best practices for enrollment that are statistically proven to be effective, including education to plan sponsors on specific proven techniques and communication practices. In evaluating what communication methods are most effective in encouraging participants to save for retirement, the following considerations were made:
- Cost: an effort was made to balance the need for comprehensive plan communications against cost.
- Delivery: A variety of methods were explored including the use of current and emerging social media.
- Plan Design: The study reviewed how plan designs relate to increasing participant enrollment and savings. In particular, the Council studied the use of automatic features. Automatic enrollment plans automatically choose the employees' contribution percentage and enroll the participant in an investment vehicle. This raises participation rates to close to 90 percent. However employees enrolled at low contribution rates of 3% or less tend not to deeply consider or increase their contributions.
9 Recommendations and Best Practices
The Council found that effective plan communication and education can provide people with the financial knowledge needed to understand their employee benefits, make better financial decisions, and achieve better outcomes.
Given that the most successful plan communications make use of many channels from print to external websites, online tools, social media, and creative marketing, the Council highlighted best practices that balance personalized, targeted content to help employees evaluate benefit offerings with cost efficiency. They highlighted specific techniques and communication practices that have been statistically proven to be effective in increasing the involvement of employees in saving for retirement. The following are 9 recommendations:
- Communications tailored to particular segments drive results
- One-on-one or small group meetings increase participation
- Immediate "on the spot" communication is most effective
- Short, simple and focused communication drives participant response
- Multiple "touches" with various creative formats increase participation
- Increased technology use is effective and cost efficient
- Behavioral economics and "social norming" can increase participant involvement and savings
- Incentives given by sponsors and "gamification" help trigger participant involvement
- Responsive marketing principles may assist plan sponsors in improving communications
Here is a brief synopsis of these 9 practical recommendations and some best practices:
1. Communications Tailored to Particular Segments
The Council found that communications that target participants based on their interests, background, and/or economic status were more successful than the "one size fits all" approach.
Understanding the culture and background of the workforce being targeted is key. For instance, since Hispanics will soon constitute one-third of the US population, Council member Donna MacFarland of Lincoln Financial Group stated that in her experience education materials typically are translated from English to Spanish, whereas she recommended that sponsors design the material using the reverse approach, developing materials first in Spanish to address specific cultural needs and language differences.
Human Resource professionals also have found that allowing employees to map out an action plan rooted in realistic scenarios is an extremely effective tool. Some plan sponsors have successfully used a "three-pronged" approach to reach out to their participants by combining simple income replacement projections, behavioral finance strategies and a personalized message. For example, JP Morgan developed 36 different personas based on three age groups (younger than age 30, age 30-50 and older than 50). The firm also targeted participants based upon their regional median income (e.g., Kansas' median income is $30,000 while in New York City it is $70,000). The basis for this approach was to enable these groups to compare themselves against their peers and take the appropriate action toward saving for retirement.
By narrowly tailoring their target audience on behalf of the plan sponsors that retained them, JP Morgan subsequently monitored whether employees opened their email communications and took action toward saving for retirement. If the individual took action, that person was considered "active," while someone who opened the email but did not take action was considered "interested." Based upon the action taken by the individual, the participant received specifically targeted information. This technique resulted in three to four times the response rate of participants who were not targeted.
However, some witnesses advised that there is a general concern regarding the use of targeted communications because complex data collection may provide gender or ethnic identification. Thus, there is concern over whether specific segments identified based upon race or gender could raise discrimination or deferential treatment issues. The Council heard testimony from Donna MacFarland of Lincoln Financial and Thomas Ryan of Fidelity that the use of particularly sensitive demographic information causes concern among plan sponsors. There are also practical concerns about housing information technology. Nevertheless, the overwhelming opinion received during testimony was that targeted communications work.
Branding helps targeting through the use of communications that include a unique positive image that is the group can relate to.
Here are some best practices of participant-centric communication methods:
- Best Practice 1 – The Power of Example: Trustees of the Elevator Constructors 401(k) Plan used materials featuring the story of three employees who made different savings decisions during their careers. The narrative of the three employees was used throughout one-on-one sessions with printed materials to demonstrate how a 401(k) contribution would benefit participants in a variety of circumstances including temporary layoffs, hardships and early retirement. As a result, plan participation rates increased from 26.56 percent to 29.82 percent in 2011. The plan also experienced an 85 percent increase in plan activity from meeting attendees.
- Best Practice 2 – Employer/Employee-Centric Content: M.A. Mortenson Company, an international construction firm, employed construction-related themes in its financial education to engage participants and foster pride in the company. Financial education was made mandatory and workshops were divided by career stage, age, and gender. The plan sponsor focused on participants' preferences by surveying them after the workshop and making recommendations based on their feedback to yield desired results.
- Best Practice 3 – Bilingual: Consolidated Citrus Limited Partners wanted to 1) increase attendance at plan educational meetings, 2) increase plan participation, 3) increase deferral rates and 4 encourage participants to maximize their match. Ninety percent of the workers spoke only Spanish, and the majority of their day was spent in the orange groves. An in-language campaign was initiated. The company's Spanish speaking leaders met with small groups in the orange groves. Straightforward collateral in both Spanish and English Collateral were available on site, including announcement posters. By bringing the meetings to the employees, 95 percent of the targeted group attended the meetings. Plan participation increased from 40 percent to 75 percent and deferrals expanded from 4 percent to 8 percent.
- Best Practice 4 – Branding: The Animation Guild 401(k) Plan was implemented for artists working at Southern California animation studios. The sponsors worked with the Guild's representatives to obtain insights and develop a branded communication urging participants to remember to enroll. The response rate increased over eight percent from the previous year, with 135 new enrollees. Another employer cited in the research increased participation by 30 percent by keeping the message fun, simple and "cool" to target younger workers.
- Best Practice 5 – Multicultural: The Four Seasons 401(k) Plan needed to convey an important plan change to an employer profit sharing employer matching contribution. The sponsor obtained feedback from bilingual meeting presenters in designing the campaign, and provided materials tailored to Hispanics and presentations also were created in Spanish designed to be culturally and linguistically accurate. As a result, the average deferral rate of the targeted group rose from 2.9 percent to 5 percent, and significantly increased beneficiary designations.
2. One-on-One or Small Group Meetings
After a study by Lincoln Financial found that 66% of participants prefer one-on-one guidance, Lincoln made it a component of its financial education model. They found that the need for individualized information is particularly acute for groups with low participation rates, including women and minorities. Various studies have shown good enrollment and contribution results when employees request in-person group workshops facilitated by financial experts.
- Best Practice for One-on-One Meetings:In 2012, MassMutual representatives spoke with 150,000 employees in face-to-face meetings. Forty-six percent of these individuals took action to improve their retirement readiness and, in one-on-one meetings, 75 percent of employees took action.
- Best Practice for Small Group Meetings: Costs and timing may prevent plan sponsors from providing one-on-one meetings, but small group meetings and audience segmentation have also been successful. The FINRA funded Nurses Investor Education Project had small group meetings for well-educated nurses interested in taking action toward their retirement. They found that generally, the nurses' lack of basic knowledge, or their perception that they did not know enough to attend these sessions, prevented them from attending their plan sponsor's meetings. As a result of using small group meetings as a forum, the nurses perceptions changed and attendance at their employer's retirement plan sessions improved.
3. Immediate "on the spot" Communication
The ability for participants to take action at the time they are thinking about retirement savings is more effective in increasing enrollment. For example, having computers in the room at the time employees are learning about the plan would allow them to sign up and take immediate action.
- Best Practice: A US Army mandatory financial management course found that providing the enrollment forms for the Thrift Savings Plan during the financial management course resulted in a sizeable increase in participation, with soldiers signing up for the Plan before leaving the classroom.
4. Short, Simple, Focused Communication
Behavioral studies show that the most effective communications use simple, straightforward language specific to a participant's personal situation.
- Best Practice: Time constraints mean that any impediments to action should be identified and mitigated. For example, on a website, any extra step, such as the need to retrieve a PIN, may prevent employees from taking action. Solutions include sending the PIN directly to their email account or a mobile number, or mailing a postcard with the website's uniform resource locator (URL).
5. Multiple Touches With Various Creative Formats
Consistent, continuous and on-going meaningful communication can be achieved by repeatedly sending out simplified mailings. Social media can help alleviate the cost of additional touch points, and yet, few companies use social media channels for retirement information.
- Best Practice: The Council's Professor Madrian cites a company in which the third mailing of a simplified reply form requiring the checking of a box to enroll doubled enrollment from 22 percent to 45 percent of non-participating employees.
6. Cost Effective Technology
Every demographic group is now using the Internet as a preferred source of information, via home computer or mobile devices. In addition, electronic media provides the ability to track responses, which is unavailable when the communication is sent through printed materials and regular mail. Another cost effective technological advance is Dynamic Page Publishing, reviewed at the conclusion of this article.
A Deloitte study in 2012 that found:
- 93 percent of Americans place Internet access as the most valued household subscription;
- 54 percent of Americans own smartphones, and the rate is increasing 29 percent annually.
- One of three Americans over age 50 has downloaded an application to a smartphone, and 28 percent access their bank accounts via smartphone.
Engaging Millennials: Electronic media is the most effective method of communication to engage younger generations in retirement planning, including Generation X (born between 1965 and 1979). In order to combat inertia caused by competing financial priorities, such as student loan debt, it is important for this group to be engaged through "YouTube" videos, Facebook forums, Twitter, email and mobile delivery, including providing "one click" transactions and incorporating elements of "gamification." Millennials also demand simple, personalized, and action-oriented communications, and prefer human contact for complex tasks.
- Best Practice – Email: Thomas Ryan of Fidelity Investments testified to the Council that Fidelity makes all channels of communication accessible, and finds that email communications have generated higher response rates than direct mail.
- Best Practices for Engaging Millennials – Fidelity: Fidelity has studied the preferences of Generation Y, or "Millennials" for using electronic communication, and found that this group tends to rely heavily on the Internet to interact with representatives from Fidelity, although they appear to be the least engaged when it comes to the frequency of contact. Millennials serviced by Fidelity have the lowest 401(k) participation rate, at 58 percent, compared to 67 percent for all other populations. Design changes made to simplify online interaction with Millennials resulted in a 40 percent increase in web utilization by this group.
- Best Practices for Engaging Millennials – Putnam: Lori Lucas of Callan Associates discussed Putnam's roll out of a plan primarily for Millennials that encouraged participants to bring their tablets to an nteractive meeting to log on to the benefits website. As a result, 40 percent of attendees increased their deferrals within 90 days after attending the meeting.
- Best Practices for Engaging Millennials – MassMutual:: Offering enrollment and savings increases using iPod Touch devices in group meetings resulted in action rates of 85 – 90 percent among those attending. The use of targeted and tested mail and email campaigns resulted in $150 million in new deposits over three years and a 3.9 percent increase in action rates.
7. Behavioral Economics and "Social Norming"
The way certain information is presented can have a resounding impact, including the way choices are presented to the participant, a method referred to as "anchoring"
Presenting options in a different order or with a higher default percentage has increased deferral rates. While communications traditionally list contribution percentages in ascending order from one to five percent, studies have shown that reversing this order so that the first option shown is five percent markedly increases enrollment in the five percent option. This method is referred to as "placement."
"Social Norming" reflects the fact that people tend to benchmark themselves against their peers. Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that participants tacitly compete against peers in similar socioeconomic conditions.
8. Incentives and "Gamification"
The use of games (gamification) is an effective tool in reaching individuals who may not be easily engaged in retirement decisions ("non-savers"). Gamification can be used to reward people if they engage in the correct behaviors. Plan sponsors may also use incentives to provide rewards to participants with who exceed a certain benchmark contribution amount. Other techniques include raffles.
- Best Practice 1: The NFL's "Play 60" campaign incorporates the use of the NFL brand to incentivize children to play a game for at least 60 minutes a day.
- Best Practice 2: A rug manufacturer in northern Georgia had a series of meetings for people working multiple shifts, giving away lottery tickets to encourage attendance, and experienced standing room only for the meetings.
9. Six Marketing Principles Improve Communications
Communications that are uninspiring and difficult to understand leave employees confused, bored and unmotivated. The communicator's "curse of knowledge" is a bias in which the communicator's knowledgeability makes it difficult to demonstrate it from the perspective of lesser-informed people. The Council highlighted six principles of communication that plan sponsors should consider when drafting documents or presenting to their participants that will inspire action:
1. Show Empathy
To determine the relevance of a message to an audience, it is necessary to engage them and ask questions that the content of the presentation or the communication should then be tailored to answer. For example, an energy company developed a program to help consumers understand and lower their energy bills, using this computerized question:
Can I help you with your bill?
- Yes, help me understand my bill.
- Help me save money.
- Both of the Above.
- I'm Here for Something Else.
By showing empathy to what the consumer cared about and giving information and tips to help them feel more in control, these questions presented helped raise consumer satisfaction.
2. Use Metaphors and Analogies
Communications also reference a metaphor or visual picture to help the recipient relate to the message. For example, when Ridley Scott presented the screenplay for Alien to his producers he used the popular movie Jaws as a reference, and the metaphor "it's like Jaws in space," to frame a concept that the producers easily understood
3. Use Storytelling
People tend to forget facts that are presented but usually remember a story. Stories are easy to absorb when people are overwhelmed with information. They also eliminate extraneous facts to capture the recipient's interest and relate to him on an emotional level.
4. Use a Conversational Voice
Using overly technical information, compliance or legal jargon can loose an audience. For example, it is difficult to convey the benefit of voluntary life insurance individual and spouse buy-up options in which election of coverage for a spouse can equal up to half an individual's buy-up, depending on the desired level of coverage. An effective way of communicating this is as follows:
"The company is going to buy life insurance for you. If you want, you can buy extra life insurance. Whatever extra life insurance you buy for yourself, you can also buy up to half that amount for your spouse. Now, depending on how much additional insurance you'd like, one or both of you may need to answer some questions about your health to see if you qualify for it."
5. Surprise the Recipient
Unexpected methods of engaging the recipient get the individual's attention when a subject is ordinarily challenging and abstract. The use of humor, as shown below, can be considered an example.
6. Use Humor
Using a little humor in the message will keep the audience engaged and make the message easier for audiences to relate to.
Plan Design Considerations
Automatic Enrollment
A study by Brigitte Madrian and Dennis Shea shows that automatic enrollment increases average participation rates from 65 percent to 85 percent. It is particularly helpful for low-income workers with annual wages under $20,000, where participation increased from 27 percent to 82 percent. Average participation for employees under age 30 doubled from 41 percent to 82 percent, and the best improvements have been among the segments that had the lowest participation rates. This was corroborated in as presented in the testimony of Lori Lucas.
Mandatory Contributions and Automatic Escalation
Defaults that are too low can impact workers who would otherwise have contributed more. Since studies have shown higher default contribution rates have not increased opt-out rates, employers should consider recommending higher default contribution rates.
One solution is a stretch match (increasing the maximum amount of pay that can be matched and decreasing the percent matched, to keep the employer's costs flat.
Another way to increase savings is automatic escalation in which sponsors automatically increase a worker's contribution rate by one to two percent of salary at each pay anniversary until a cap, such as 12 percent of pay.
Best Practice – TIAA-CREF: David Richardson of TIAA-CREF found that 403(b) plans typically have much higher contribution rates, ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent of pay compared to 5 percent to 7percent for all 401(k) plans, due to mandatory contributions from both employers and employees as a requirement of employment. The 403(b) plans TIAA-CREF administers experience much higher annuitization rates — 40 percent compared to 4 percent for all 401(k) plans.
Conclusions and Implications
The Council found that continuous, simplified, personalized communication using multiple channels, connected with humor and empathy, are effective ways to communicate with plan participants to encourage participant engagement.
Benefit Program Marketers seeking to increase employee plan participation need to be more flexible, customizable and responsive than ever to introduce, present, promote and clarify the particular offerings and choices the employer has agreed to sponsor. Dynamic Publishing platforms are becoming a key tool in executing this strategy DPP is a way of designing publications in which layout templates are created which can contain different content in different publications. In cases where the same content is being used in multiple layouts, the same layout is being used for several different sets of content, or both, dynamic page publishing can offer significant advantages of efficiency over a traditional system of page-by-page design. Future articles will explore Dynamic Publishing in greater depth.
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