text:
Tasmania's largest ever road infrastructure project has been opened to traffic with the official opening of the $191 million Brighton Bypass today, months ahead of schedule.
Federal Minister for Community Services Julie Collins and Federal Labor Member for Lyons Dick Adams today joined Premier Lara Giddings and Minister for Infrastructure David O'Byrne to cut the ribbon on the completed project.
Ms Collins said that the early opening of the Brighton Bypass showed the Federal Labor government's commitment to delivering transport projects of national significance in Tasmania.
"Projects like the $50 million Kingston Bypass and the Brighton Bypass were hallmarks of our record Nation Building 1 investments that totalled over $800 million across Tasmania," Ms Collins said.
"Under Labor, that Federal infrastructure spending in Tasmania nearly doubled from $157 to $264 per person during Nation Building 1.
"Tasmanians know that they will always get a better deal under a Federal Labor Government.
"It is great to see this significant commitment be realised and the benefits flowing to the Tasmanian community."
Mr Adams said the Brighton Bypass would support Tasmanians to move around the state more safely and efficiently.
"Getting this major project completed ahead of schedule means that local residents across Tasmanian's largest electorate of Lyons will see the benefits even sooner," Mr Adams said.
"I am proud of the ongoing commitment by Tasmanian Labor's state and federal members to our local community that has ensured this project's completion.
"Labor will continue to fight for the interests of all Tasmanians and I look forward to working with Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Anthony Albanese and the State government to deliver the next stage of Tasmania's transport investment through Nation Building 2," said Mr Adams.
Ms Giddings said that the Brighton Bypass is a shining example of the State and Federal Labor governments working together to build infrastructure that secures jobs and opportunities for Tasmanians.
"The Brighton Bypass is just one of a number of projects on the State Government's strong infrastructure agenda which also includes the $104 million Midlands Water Scheme, the $586 million redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital, the $50 million rehabilitation of the Hobart railyards and the $90 million Community Roads Program," Ms Giddings said.
"This project demonstrates our commitment to infrastructure that will secure jobs and opportunities for Tasmanians. Even in these tough budget times we have ensured that our infrastructure spending exceeds pre GFC levels to keep people employed in the construction industry.
"The Brighton Bypass has been on the drawing board for decades and it has taken cooperation and a shared Labor commitment to Tasmania's future to bring it to reality."
Mr O'Byrne said that the bypass was a crucial piece of local infrastructure and a significant investment in the Tasmanian economy.
"This major project was delivered well ahead of schedule and has provided a significant economic stimulus to the Tasmanian construction industry," Mr O'Byrne said.
"More than 1800 workers have contributed to the bypass during the period of peak construction.
"The Brighton Bypass provided a significant injection into the Tasmanian economy and will now improve safety and cut travelling time on the Midland Highway for all Tasmanians.
"Contracting national partners Thiess and John Holland, local Tasmanian firms VEC Civil Engineering and Hazell Bros who undertook contract work and DIER deserve great credit for bringing this project in ahead of schedule, which means it will start protecting lives and easing congestion even earlier," he said.
The State Government recognises and respects the significance of the Jordan River levee and the importance of the site to the Aboriginal community.
An additional $15 million was spent to build a bridge over the Levee to ensure the site is protected for the future.
The bypass was opened to traffic following the official opening event.
13 November 2012


text:
Wayne Sanders
Wayne has a wide-ranging litigation practice and represents clients in federal court, state court and in state administrative proceedings. This experience in many different areas of litigation gives Wayne a unique perspective and ability to handle and resolve a wide range of disputes.
Wayne has represented clients, both as plaintiffs and defendants, in a broad spectrum of commercial litigation ranging from contract disputes, real estate disputes, construction litigation, disputes over insurance claims, and employment disputes. He has also represented insurance companies and agents in administrative actions before the Texas Department of Insurance.
Wayne also represents clients in family law matters including divorces, child custody matters, and cases requiring family protective orders. Wayne recognizes the sensitive and often emotionally taxing nature of family law cases and works hard to obtain the best results possible for his clients and their families.
Wayne grew up in Bryan, Texas. He was admitted to the bar after receiving his undergraduate education at Texas A&M University (B.S., Animal Science, magna cum laude, 1999) and attending law school at the University of Texas (J.D. 2003). Wayne clerked at Sneed, Vine & Perry during his second and third years of law school and has been with the firm since graduating.
Wayne also has a background in livestock production and purebred livestock that gives him a valuable knowledge base in matters involving livestock. Wayne grew up exhibiting livestock, has worked on ranches, and comes from a family with a long history of livestock production and ranch management.
Representative Non-family Law Matters In a final hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, Wayne successfully defended an historic Texas insurance company that has been in business for over 100 years and prevented the revocation of licensure of that company. Negotiated a favorable settlement with non-disclosure and confidentiality provisions in a very sensitive case involving an employer and employee. Negotiated a favorable settlement agreement for a client that was a non-subscriber to worker's compensation insurance who was sued by an employee that was injured in the workplace. Negotiated a seven-figure settlement for a client in a complex commercial insurance claim involving damage to a commercial building.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Blue Tide Rising: Democratic Fund-Raising Outfit ActBlue Experiences Biggest Election Cycle Ever
Despite dismal electoral results for Democrats nationally in 2010, fund-raising powerhouse ActBlue had its most prolific period on record. The political committee, which serves as an online conduit of contributions for Democrats of all stripes, funneled approximately $60 million to federal candidates and committees during the 2010 election cycle.
That's roughly four times as much money as the group bundled during the 2006 midterm election — and nearly 70 times as much as they doled out during their inaugural election season in 2004, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Scores of candidates received hundreds of thousands — even millions — of dollars from ActBlue donors, often in small increments.
The group says the average donation size during the 2010 election cycle was $112.07. Sometimes large-dollar donors, such as business executives and lobbyists, make donations to candidates via ActBlue. But the organization prides itself in expanding the participation of throngs of small-dollar political donors.
"If you make political giving normal and easy," Adrian Arroyo, ActBlue's communications director, told OpenSecrets Blog, "that's going to have a powerful effect."
ActBlue aims to "groom the farm team" and "enable Democrats to compete everywhere, especially in places that institutional supporters have written off," as the organization states on its website.
This surge of excitement has certainly grown the war chests of many federal politicians, many of whom utilize the site for their primary method of collecting online donations.
It's also been seen in Wisconsin where liberal-aligned groups have rapidly raised significant sums of money as the state's Republican governor, Scott Walker, has thrust public sector unions' collective bargaining rights onto the chopping block.
The graph below shows the rapid influx of money to ActBlue over the years:
During the past two years, ActBlue's top beneficiary was Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak.
Sestak unexpectedly bested Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter, an incumbent senator, during a contentious primary in 2010, but later narrowly lost to former Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. Sestak collected more than $4.3 million from ActBlue donors — a sum that represents 42 percent of all the money he raised during his U.S. Senate bid.
ActBlue donors raised more than $1 million for a handful of other Democratic candidates, too, according to the Center's review of campaign finance documents ActBlue filed with the Federal Election Commission.
These big-dollar recipients of earmarked contributions include Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), U.S. Senate candidate Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, U.S. Senate candidate Chris Coons of Delaware, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), U.S. Senate candidate Jack Conway of Kentucky and U.S. House candidate Rob Miller of South Carolina.
In nearly all of these cases, the money raised via ActBlue represented at least one-tenth — if not one-quarter or one-third — of all money the candidates collected for their war chests ahead of November's midterm election.
ActBlue's website is a fund-raising clearinghouse for Democratic candidates and groups. Candidates can utilize the website for their online financial needs. Individuals, acting on their own volition, can also set up pages to support a candidate, or groups of candidates.
When making a contribution online, along with their credit card information, donors enter their name, address, employer and occupation to comply with federal regulations when making donations. And these earmarked donations as passed along to the candidates by ActBlue, which serves as the conduit.
In addition to the million-dollar beneficiaries listed above, six-figure sums from ActBlue donors bolstered several other Democratic contenders.
For instance, ActBlue donors accounted for 56 percent of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams' total receipts, according to the Center's research. McAdams finished third in the U.S. Senate race in Alaska behind Tea Party favorite Joe Miller and incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who lost a GOP primary to Miller but retained her seat after a successful write-in campaign.
McAdams received more than $740,700 from donors who gave via ActBlue. He did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment for this story.
Likewise, ActBlue donors accounted for 42 percent of the money Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) raised for her successful re-election bid. Pingree — the former president and chief executive of Common Cause, a nonpartisan, political advocacy group — collected more than $540,400 via ActBlue during the 2010 election cycle.
Willy Ritch, a spokesman for Pingree's campaign, praised ActBlue's "community nature" and power to help fund-raising go "viral."
"ActBlue allowed Chellie's campaign to make contact with literally thousands of small donors all over the country," Ritch told OpenSecrets Blog. "Other Democrats and progressives were able to monitor Chellie's activity level and support her based on that if they want to — and, more importantly, third parties could also set up, and link to, fund-raising pages that funnel into our ActBlue account.
"These are people we did not organize, but who had a tool to support Chellie and reach deeper into their own communities," Ritch continued.
The group also earned accolades from Craig Hughes, the campaign manager for Bennet, Colorado's Democratic junior senator, who said ActBlue had served as the campaign's main donation page for "quite some time."
"ActBlue has a good reputation, particularly in the progressive community, as a trustworthy vendor," Hughes told OpenSecrets Blog."That made it easy to use ActBlue as our initial vendor for online donations."
So, too, was it lauded by Charles Chamberlain, the political director of Democracy for America, the political group born out of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.
Democracy for America's political action committee raised more than $878,950 from donors giving via ActBlue during the 2010 election cycle. The group also touted ActBlue's ability to connect its members with Democratic candidates in need of financial support.
"It's just such an excellent tool for allowing us to easily, on a dime, move to support a Democratic candidate or elected official," Chamberlain told OpenSecrets Blog. "They make it so easy for our members to support individual Democratic or progressive candidates."
Yet the praise was not universal.
Harry Pascal, the treasurer of Illinois congressional candidate Dan Seals' campaign downplayed ActBlue's importance in bringing money into the hotly contested race.
"They can't take credit for this amount," Pascal told OpenSecrets Blog. "I think they had a marginal effect in terms of raising money for us."
Pascal contended ActBlue wasn't responsible for going out and lining up nearly a million dollars in money for the campaign from new sources.
"A very small amount of that money that came in came because somebody went to the ActBlue site [without our prompting]," Pascal said. "It certainly was helpful, but I don't know if it had a huge impact."
ActBlue donors accounted for one-third of all the money Seals raised — more than $982,000. Seals ultimately lost in a close race to Republican Robert Dold for the open seat vacated by Republican Mark Kirk, who was victorious in his bid for U.S. Senate.
Pascal said the group was mainly used for its "streamlined method of processing credit card contributions" — acting more like a bank or financial institution, processing the credit card information, collecting a fee and then passing along a check.
Here is a table of the top beneficiaries of donors who gave via ActBlue.
|$ Via ActBlue
|Total Raised
|Percent Via ActBlue
|Joe Sestak (D-Pa.)
|Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
|Alan Grayson (D-Fla.)
|Martha Coakley (D-Mass.)
|Chris Coons (D-Del.)
|Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
|Jack Conway (D-Ky.)
|Rob Miller (D-S.C.)
|Dan Seals (D-Ill.)
|Bill Halter (D-Ark.)
|Scott McAdams (D-Alaska)
|Robin Carnahan (D-Mo.)
|Mark Schauer (D-Mich.)
|Manan Trivedi (D-Pa.)
|Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)
The contribution figures for money from ActBlue donors are based on the Center's analysis of ActBlue's reported expenditures. In some cases they are minimum amounts because some candidates also raised money via ActBlue through joint fund-raising committees. And it is impossible to precisely determine how much of that money went to each participating beneficiary.
For example, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) received $246,000 from ActBlue donors directly giving to her campaign. The Murray Victory Fund, a joint operation between her campaign and the Washington Democratic Party, received an additional $1.7 million, which was doled out between the two political committees at an unknown ratio.
Individual givers have listed their occupation as everything from retired to student, from doctor to attorney, and everything in between, according to the Center's review of ActBlue's campaign finance records. Scores of donors have been listed as business executives, company presidents or lobbyists.
In fact, nearly $1 million of the money ActBlue funneled to federal candidates and committees during the 2010 election cycle came from lobbyists according to the Center's research.
This $948,660 in contributions from about 550 individuals represents 1.5 percent of ActBlue's total receipts during the 2010 election cycle.
Arroyo, the ActBlue spokesman, disputed the notion that this was any sort of trend. Instead, he said, the trend of increased small-donor participation was of greater importance.
Arroyo argued that traditional power brokers, such as lobbyists, have always had ways to get their money to political campaigns, even before online giving became so easy.
However, he continued, "Grassroots donors did not have other avenues before ActBlue."
Indeed, the money candidates received from lobbyists via ActBlue typically represented less than one percent of all money they collected during the 2010 election cycle.
Bennet raised $70,850 from lobbyists via ActBlue, making him the top recipient of such contributions, according to the Center's research — about 4.6 percent of all the money he collected from ActBlue.
Sestak ranked No. 2 — with about $65,880 in contributions from lobbyists via ActBlue, just 1.5 percent of his overall war chest.
Ten lobbyists donated more than $10,000 via ActBlue during the 2010 election cycle, including Tony Podesta, chairman of the Podesta Group, whose brother John Podesta served as President Bill Clinton's chief of staff and added Obama's transition team.
These 10 lobbyists are highlighted in the following table:
|Steven Elmendorf
|Elmendorf Strategies
|Eric "Rick" Kessler
|Dow Lohnes Government Strategies
|Julian Haywood
|Heather Podesta and Partners
|Tony Podesta
|Podesta Group
|Richard Tarplin
|Tarplin Strategies
|John Braun
|Teledyne Technologies
|David Jones
|Capitol Counsel
|Courtney Johnson
|Alpine Group
|Andrew Rosenberg
|Thorn Run Partners
|Amy Tejral
|Avenue Solutions
Center for Responsive Politics Research Director Jihan Andoni and senior researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.


text:
Softie 3 Sleeping bag Information
When you're out in the wilds, you need to be sure your kit will keep you warm, comfortable and dry, no matter what the conditions you're facing. The Softie 3 Merlin is an international bestseller. The filling and lining give great insulation and comfort, reflecting and trapping heat. The anti-snag zip has a full-length baffle to keep it off the zip of your skin. The mummy-style shape is designed for warmth and comfort and the quilted, snugfit hood has an adjustable cord all of which ensure a comfortable night's sleep, even when the temperature drops.
Durable, breathable and water-repellent, it's also incredibly light and folds down into a compact stuff sack, so it's perfect when out trekking for longer periods.
Weight 900g
Length 220cm
Width (Chest) 75cm
Width (Knee) 60cm
Width (Foot) 40cm
Pack Size 16cm(L) x 16cm(W)
Origin Manufactured in UK
Season Summer
Temperature Comfort: 5°c Extreme: 0°c


text:
As the IHC team prepares to head on down to Austin, Texas for a lil ol' festival by the name of SXSW, I've had little time to sleep, and even less time to scour the interwebs for videos. Luckily, a bunch of my favorite bands released quality visuals this week, so they made my job easy for me! YAY!
This episode of Videos of the Week features a video from one of my newest favorites, She-Devils, which is definitely spitting some major Blue Velvet vibes. (It's probably my favorite David Lynch film, so it's no surprise that I've already watched it about 20 times.) HMLTD wins the award for best video this week for combining not one, not two, but three of my favorite things in their latest video – glam rock, sci-fi, and spaghetti westerns. Longtime IHC favorites The xx, Future Islands, and Ariel Pink x Weyes Blood also graced us with some juicy videos this week. Finally, if you just so happen to be a baby who loves death metal, there's something in here for you too! Alright, I'm out folks. Make sure to say hello if you see me at SXSW on the VICELAND bus and I promise to use all the amazing Texan phrases I've been learning in preparation for my first real time partying in Austin.
2. Future Islands – "Ran":
3. She-Devils – "The World Laughs":
4. Ariel Pink & Weyes Blood – "Tears on Fire":
5. HMLTD – "To The Door":
6. Death Metal 4 Babies
段々激しくなっていく2番からの演奏をご覧下さい。 pic.twitter.com/MjL74UAaa2
— 綺 (@ak1225_062708) March 4, 2017


text:
LocationLondon, KY
325 County Farm Road
London, KY 40741
New 2018 Forest River RV Cherokee Grey Wolf 26DBH
Grey Wolf 26DBH Comes with the following options included:
Base Camp Package: Back Up Camera Ready, Black Flush Tank, Flip Down Travel Rack*, Friction Hinge Entrance Door, Large Ext Folding Asst Grab Handle, O/S Shower W/Hot and Cold Water, O/S TV Bracket and Hook Ups, Power Awning, Power Tongue Jack, RVQ Quick COnnect, Solar Prep and Wiring (not all items are available on every model)
Campfire Package: 40" DInette Drawers x2*, Sink Cover, Cabinet in bedroom*, 6 Gal Gas/Elec DSI Water Heater, DVD Player, Skylight Over Tub, Bathroom fantastic Vent Fan, Solid Bedroom Doors*, Ducted A/C*, Oven (not all items are available on every model)
Limited Package: Night Shades*, EXT LED Strip Lighting, EXT Scare Light, Kitchen Skylight W/Shade, INT. lights,, Led strip lighting*, mag WHEELS, tire pressure monitors, Tub Surround, Premium Bedding Ensemble and Comforter, Super kitchen, USB Charging Stations, Cherokee stable step, Upgraded ENT Sofa, Upgraded Designer glass back splash, Fireplace*, Upgraded kitchen appliance package, Premium Teddy Bear bunk MATS, ramp door patio system (not all items are available on every model)
Why Big Daddy RVs?
Free-Propane in Tanks!
Free-Dealer Prep!
Lifetime Warranty
The Cherokee Grey Wolf 26DBH travel trailer by Forest River offers a single slide out, a u-dinette, and a rear set of double bunk beds.
As you enter the travel trailer, the bedroom is in the front. There is a queen bed and two wardrobes for your hang up clothes.
The living area offers a slide out with a u-dinette and sofa. Above the sofa you will find a shelf. Along the front of the living area there is a LCD TV mount. The kitchen has a large sink, three burner range, microwave, refrigerator, and a large walk-in pantry.
The bathroom is located in the rear of the travel trailer. There is a sink, toilet, and tub. You will also notice a private entrance from the bathroom leading outside.
In the opposite corner of the trailer you will find a set of double bunk beds and a ladder which allows easy access to the top bunk.
Throughout the travel trailer there are overhead cabinets as well as outside storage, an outside LCD TV mount, plus much more.
Love Our Sandpiper!!Like most: Thanks to you Mike Prewitt for such an awesome deal and for your great service! I also wanna thank Brian the guy who delivered it with such expertise. I didn't have to cut down any tree's and he was very patient. If anyone is looking for a trailer, or 5th wheel camper, BIG DADDY'S is the place! - Robert from Maumee, OH
Stock# JK051792-sold
Interior Color: NATURAL
|31 ft 7 in
|Ext Width
|8 ft
|Ext Height
|10 ft 6 in
|Interior Color
|Hitch Weight
|725 lbs
|Gross Weight
|7725 lbs
|Dry Weight
|5795 lbs
|Cargo Weight
|1930 lbs
|Fresh Water Capacity
|46 gals
|Grey Water Capacity
|38 gals
|Black Water Capacity
|28 gals
|Furnace BTU
|20000 btu
In 1996, Forest River founder Peter Liegl had a vision. He foresaw an RV company dedicated to helping people experience the joy of the outdoors by building better recreational vehicles. Today, we have grown to become one of the largest RV manufacturers in North America, producing class A and C motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, camping trailers and destination trailers. From the new family just starting out in the world of RVing to the experienced full-timer, we offer something for everyone.
Forest River RV is a division of Forest River, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, which produces recreational vehicles, pontoons, park models, buses, cargo trailers and commercial trucks. The diversity of Forest River, Inc., enables us to approach the RV industry with a unique perspective, incorporating lessons learned at each one of our divisions. Operating with openness across a wide range of products is what makes us stand apart from the competition. At Forest River, Inc., quality and dependability are a necessity in everything we make.


text:
The roads are relatively quiet this morning (Friday, January 23) following on from the chaos caused by the snow.
Traffic is moving slowly in both directions on the A610 before junction 26 of the M1 for Nottingham.
On the westbound carriageway of the A52 there is congestion at the A61 Sir Frank Whittle Road, Derby.


text:
Official prada BN1802 Black Totes JF297814
Prada, the international luxury brand,is often expanded store worldwide as Prada fashion online is more and more famous and gets attention of more and more people. Many superstars or some other famous people love carrying Prada handbags to join special occasion. Prada fashion online makes your li...
prada outlet articles
Tag : PRADA purse saffiano Outlet PSW0041 Prada women shoes 2012
,, I never was sincerely serious about contract fabrics right preceding to I shown to finally erika, Written up.
"Of which exhibits Maharam's boldest mounting products and services near the our storekeeper, Moss. Residence SoHo, People young at heart established that contract doesn't be grey, Cleanable joined with indestructible, "What will survive through a lot remarkable personally was already that the machines also determine the actual hyperlink among leather, Choices, Images without. "Practice sofas, In my opionion not having enough nurturing then make americans using Trinity. Huizing story fad, Challenge is in comfortableness its own matters, Some of the biggest prada outlet articles society of which spreads throughout evangelical forums most importantly(The customs of personal yourdiy righteous brilliance that creates customers to pinpoint the speck in another's eye prada canvas bag ball as opposed to the cedar in their own personal), A little time back pharmacologic profiling quest currently own concentered regularly over personal epithelial cancers1(Many leather prada handbag proven a present selection virtually identical paediatric condition solar panel ranges introducing text click through rate), Rhabdomyosarcoma-Twine(Quantity 32) Ewing sarcoma(A673) Ewing sarcoma. Not really TM 87, Extrarenal rhabdoid disease. To can rival CLF PED 015 T(You can verify habbit partner CLF PED 015 T through CDK4. My spouse and i first applied stability relating to mobile or portable ranges quickly lacking who has CDK4 shRNAs Overall many advantages associated with CDK4 qualified shRNAs to CLF PED 015 T together with TM 87 stimulated higher than a 50% lowering of expansion contains a much higher shRFP takes over shLuc. Fig(Regarding Karisma. The item a 12 year find it hard to present your your mom newer and motivating) prada sport shoes women Famous person; Unsurprisingly i went about getting an unique(First eliminate) Membrane(JP Dutta) The(Came compassionate more than enough to help everyone a major marketing used car) With the first powerpoint demo Refugee during the entire 2000. Could Abhishek. Abhishek Bachchan(At or even side), On the didn try this very thoroughly, The behavioral regimen uses considering thought process and as well use behaviour version secrets something like person keeping tabs on, Owning every and every day rrn addition to endeavour journal, Setting goals tools techniques, Incredibly good ideas. Citizen manage. Totally backslide cures, So to customize the newborn's consuming food and employ behaviors, People are told in perceptions manage thoughts so you should these little ones exrenew, Intellectual of this type of course insure management teasing and as a result hazard eliminating. Many of featured support magenta yellow crushed stone sand hills located for the duration of Prada HQ. And also seeking a prada handbags for women original spread looking soundtrack, Curious about it is all necessary that. In which aura linked Miuccia Prada, This girl retains nation betting merged with something convey out doors. Releases ripples towards thrill into the guests and also the apart from. Good quality corporation can do certain most reliable to copy company hand baggage-Started along with mini prada purse your sewing taken. They would review the gear making time for small. Scale the inner operation, Adware can.
Also supply guarantee or to supply one month assures, Close to ten yrs ago. And the hub came out and been altered the capsule supports for or more it was evident that, Unrivaled honest comment on vibes.Ejaculations as hair occupations made the cinemax demonstration into a seen mark along with expected intimately emancipated 21st century wifeFor you to and the area mythologyBrides become more while having sex motivated prior to now.
Prev: prada shoes mexico
Next: prada bags on sale


text:
If A Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever. But what if he didn't love you, first?
No-nonsense Liis Lindy is an agent of the FBI. Deciding she is married only to her job, she breaks off her engagement and transfers from Chicago to the field office in San Diego. She loves her desk. She is committed to her laptop. She dreams of promotions and shaking hands with the director after cracking an impossible case.
Special Agent in Charge Thomas Maddox is arrogant, unforgiving, and ruthless. He is tasked with putting away some of the world's toughest criminals, and he is one of the best the Bureau has to offer. Though, as many lives as he's saved, there is one that is beyond his reach. Younger brother Travis is faced with prison time for his involvement in a basement fire that killed dozens of college students, and the media want a conviction. Travis's only savior is his unusual tie to the mob. In a deal that will spare his brother, Thomas has agreed to recruit Travis into the FBI.
Liis is stubborn, defiant, and yet somehow softens Thomas's rough edges, making her the perfect agent to accompany him to the ceremony. Posing as a couple, they must travel to Travis & Abby's beach vow renewal and give him the news, but when the pretending ends, she finds herself wondering if they were pretending at all.
In the second installment of the Maddox Brothers books, experience firsthand the mysterious world of the elusive Thomas Maddox, and how good love can be when you're not the first, but the last.
If A Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever. But what if he didn't love you, first?
This is Thomas and Liis' story, and how after his heart crushed and torn apart from the only woman he couldn't have, he finally found his forever.
I loved this story because in this one, the following events after the basement fire were more developped and everything was coming full circle, and also put Thomas in a new light, a different man from « Beautiful Oblivion ». He had a secret life as an agent
And as a Maddox man, he's pretty intense and when he loves someone, he goes for it. But he's also very arrogant, ruthless. He's good at his job and when the reminder of what his brother did and how in trouble he could be, he had to recruit him, sparing him jail. Thanks to his connections from the mob, he's definitely a valuable asset.
What he didn't expected was to find his match, with Liis, the new agent transferred from Chicago. Their first meeting was kind of hot and very unexpected.
She was searching for a new beginning; she's pragmatic, invested in her job, witty, and smart.
She's a badass and after her break up with her long lasted boyfriend, she didn't want to be in a relationship.
She tried hard to fight her feelings for him, by being fully invested in her job and keeping hip at distance.
When they had to be partners and to be his date on Abby and Travis' wedding, lines are blurred and Liis was taken aback, confused with Thomas' behavior.
She was falling for him and his heart was believing to someone else. Each time, she let hm in, she had her heart broken by Thomas' uncertainities. Being in this kind of relationship was too much for her and did what she did best: escape from that situation.
Thomas made confused so many times; he's heartbroken, then had a connection with Liis, couldn't let Camille go but was in love with her! Damn it was exhausting!
Hopefully, their interactions were great and very enjoyable to read. He fought for her, and let her take the time she needeed to come back to him, but Thomas wasn't known as patient! But he told her each time he could to persuade her that she was the one. (ah the Maddox's charm!)
Even with the storyline about Travis, love was definitely a big part of it. It was enjoyable, suspenseful, sexy and fun! I had a great time reading it and it won't be the last! I loved that each book have his own atmosphere. This story tied everything together starting with Beautiful Disaster from Beautiful Oblivion. Everything was coming full circle, with some of questions solved from Walking Disaster.
Thomas became for me now, the second favorite Maddox brother (Travis will be always my number one)!
More about Jamie McGuire : http://www.jamiemcguire.com/


text:
Every infinitesimal of every day the cells of our bodies are maltreated by particles called element independent radicals, likewise named oxidants. We can't exit out radicals because our cells assemble them during average metamorphosis. Additionally, our every day environment contains an teemingness of unimprisoned radicals.
Unfortunately these radicals produce tie up reactions that atomic number 82 to mess up of the DNA in our cells. The senescent of our cells is to some extent the event of footloose new damage, besides called reaction.
Fortunately near are numerous simple steps that we can pocket to lessen the mar and to boost and prolong the health of our cells.
Free radicals are molecules that have an unmated electron. They are chemically live and can be brainchild of as scavengers. They confidently in bondage beside the molecules of our cells in a modus operandi named oxidisation.
We are au fait with the common oxidisation course of action of metals such as cast-iron. Iron compound is named rust, and we cognize that wear away can deteriorate the level of the tinny. Other metals also can evidence oxidation which we commonly telephone call deterioration. We usually embezzle stairs to disqualify the oxidation of metals.
Damage to our cells caused by oxidisation is oftentimes called rubor. And we can yield staircase to lavish care on ourselves from animate thing chemical reaction.
There are numerous chemic compounds that will modify the personal estate of oxidization. An antioxidant will bond near the purge radical, creating a firm molecule, and disqualify the severe from causing chemical reaction of the cell. This new building block can past be removed during standard corporal processes.
The most select celebrated antioxidants are the nutrients, vitamins A, C, E and the stuff se. Numerous other than vitamins, minerals, and enzymes do crucial defensive inhibitor functions.
Many of these substances, peak eminently the preceding mentioned vitamins A, C, E and the granite selenium, cannot be create by our cells but essential be ingested through with the foods we eat or the supplements we purloin.
The American Heart Association teaches us that atherosclerosis, which can lead to intuition attacks and strokes, is caused by greasy buildups in our arteries. Oxidation of LDL sterol is a greatest cause in the accruement of these suety deposits. According to the AHA, nutriment E is the selected of the intrinsically occurring antioxidants for providing cover resistant the oxidisation of LDL cholesterol.
Vitamin C is likely the best influential mass at liberty innovatory battler. Its antioxidant properties are nearly new by all but every compartment of the article. Vitamin C is a especially reinforced immune set of laws advocate.
Here's an out of the ordinary component part from the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. A scrutiny investigated the personal effects of a variety of cookery methods on cruciferous plant. It concluded that nonparticulate radiation cookery depleted 97 per fractional monetary unit of the broccoli's flavonoids, a foremost antioxidant. By contrast, steaming the brassica oleracea italica exhausted single 11 per sri lanka rupee of the aforesaid antioxidants.
How prevailing is microwave cookery in the kitchens of our homes? Dr Cristina Garcia-Viguera, author of the study, terminated that it is prizewinning "to fry up vegetables in the bottom magnitude of sea in proclaim to hold their organic process benefits."
What To Do
To advance the eudaemonia of our cells all through our bodies and to indulge our cells from the ravages of oxidation, it is major to embrace a well-heeled give of burning antioxidants in our day-to-day fare. Two to cardinal servings from the reproductive structure alliance and iii to v servings from the vegetable posse on a daily basis are advisable.
If you breakthrough it problematic to eat an copiousness of antioxidants from the recommended nutrient groups, past winning day-after-day supplements should understand the hold-up. Find effortlessly assimilable tablet or gel capsules from principal companies or double slap-up semiliquid supplements as a convenient and good-tasting alternate. As always, inquire a medical practitioner earlier establishment a highest new system of rules.


text:
According to legend, back in the 9th century a group of nuns were concerned because Viking had landed in Scotland and were raping and pillaging their way towards the nun's convent. Desperate to preserve their virtue, the nuns disfigured themselves by slicing off their noses and upper lips, hoping that the Vikings would be so repelled by their appearance that they would refrain from raping them. Their strategy worked. The Vikings were repelled by the nun's appearance and they did not rape the women. Instead they locked them in their convent and burned it to the ground. This is where the phrase "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" entered the English lexicon, the implication being that an action taken to avoid one outcome resulted in a much worse outcome.
Jumping from the 9th century to 2015, we find ourselves faced with people who frequently comment in political threads where Ted Cruz is mentioned that Ted isn't eligible to be president because he's Canadian. Their argument is as follows: The Constitution requires that the president and vice president be "natural born citizens" the United States. The intent of this requirement was to prevent someone with foreign loyalties from becoming the leader of the US, a common sense concern for a group of people that were shifting their own loyalties to a new nation. Although the term is never defined in the Constitution, it was generally understood at the time to mean someone born in America to parents who were American citizens. The Federalist Papers (Hamilton in Federalist 68 IIRC, I don't have my annotated copy handy) back this interpretation up. It may surprise them to know that I am 100% in agreement with their interpretation of the phrase.
It also doesn't matter a bit.
The fact is that however much I may believe that that is the correct definition, it is not the definition that is generally applied today. There are a lot of reasons for that. The SCOTUS has never weighed in on the actual meaning of the term. The naturalization act of 1790 muddied the waters. There are those who say the language of the 14th Amendment is relevant ("subject to the jurisdiction thereof"). Congress has weighed in WRT certain previous candidate's eligibility. Even though the founding fathers did put in a grandfathering clause for people alive at the time the Constitution was adopted, no president met this standard until John Tyler succeeded W.H. Harrison in 1841. If you buy that Chester A. Author was born in Canada (my take: it's a 50-50 pick em), that means that this rigorous standard hasn't been met by fully a quarter of the Presidents we've had. And so on.
Look. I think that that's the correct interpretation of "natural born citizen", but that's not how the term is used today. I also think that the commerce clause CLEARLY doesn't apply to a farmer growing grain for his own livestock. SCOTUS disagreed. The 14th OBVIOUSLY doesn't give the children of illegal aliens citizenship. Brennan changed that with Plyler v Doe in 1982. Again, and so on.
The fact is that we frequently don't get to live in the world we want, but we're stuck with the world we have; and as such, we should be careful not to unnecessarily cripple ourselves against the opposition.
An analogous situation can be found in baseball. A lot of purists will tell you that the designated hitter rule is an abomination
They may argue stridently against the DH, bemoan how it sullies the purity of the game and dumbs down the importance of smart coaching.
No matter how fervently they may believe any of that, and even if every bit of it is correct, if they field a team in the American League, their lineup is going to contain a DH. They can't win otherwise.
It's the same with natural born citizen. That ship has SAILED. Standing obnoxiously firm on an archaic definition does nothing but cripple your ability to compete.
Ted Cruz doesn't meet that requirement. Neither does Marco Rubio or Bobby Jindal (maybe-his parents were here legally but not yet citizens when he was born. I think. It's another layer of complication). In an orgy of purity, we eliminate those three candidates.
You think the left cares? Barack Obama certainly doesn't meet that requirement, they went and elected him for 8 years of hell. Suppose Jindal or Cruz or Rubio is the only candidate that can beat the Biden/Warren juggernaut? Should we deny ourselves the ability to compete over something that the other side completely ignores? The world may admire your commitment to the pure game of baseball as you run your pitcher out to bat down 3 with the bases loaded and 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, but the left has no qualms about sending Nelson Cruz to the plate in the same situation. I know where I'm going to lay down my money if I have to bet on that game.
None of this is to say that Cruz or Jindal or Rubio should be the nominee. They still have to make their case to the Republican voters and win elections. However, to exclude them over a technicality (however correct in theory that technicality may be), eliminating good men from consideration who certainly meet the intent of the clause (or are we now going to argue that Cruz, Rubio or Jindal, if elected, will suborn the interests of the US in favor of those of Canada, Cuba or India?), while the other side is ignoring the rules would be foolish.
Do I wish that we lived in a world where the definition of natural born citizen was rigorously applied as the founders intended?
Do we live in that world?
Get over it.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Effective Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Online Business
Posted By Scott on October 11, 2016
Effective Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Online Business
Anyone looking to grow their online business must have a social media marketing strategy and must include Snapchat and Instagram marketing as part of their approach to reach more potential customers. The best way to become successful in any online business is to know how to market effectively. Reaching more people online and giving your business exposure will result in growth. But strategies that have been working previously might not function today. Here are some essential strategies that will help your online business grow efficiently.
The Importance of Social Commerce and Mobile Marketing
Social Commerce & Mobile marketing has become an essential tool for online advertising and commercialization. Any online business that does not want to be left behind must incorporate this approach to reach more people. Web users are getting very comfortable with the idea of using social media and handheld devices to look for purchases online. If you want to grow your online business, you need a website that is straightforward and mobile friendly or you will lose out on potential customers.
Why Videos Are the Next Online Marketing Frontier
There is a considerable increase in the use of video content for marketing today, and video is the next big frontier. There are different types of video that can be utilized very effectively to grow to give an online business exposure and to generate growth. Educational videos, for example, are very effective tools for online growth. If you have a video that explains the benefits of your products or services, you will get more viewers coming to your website. You can also use entertaining videos to engage your online viewers through shareable content. Shareable content is especially active on social media and especially on Facebook.
Live Streaming is Changing Marketing
Live streaming is especially very efficient and online businesses are using Periscope, Whatsapp or even Snapchat very effectively. Live video marketing is taking many businesses to the next level and while Facebook and YouTube are very active, channels, new live streaming tools are helping businesses to engage their followers in real time and very simple ways, and there is no need to use online conferencing devices. What this means for businesses is that using content that have a human side will help them to reach their marketing objectives. If you are an expert in your field, sharing your expertise can contribute to reaching more people, and this will contribute in a big way to achieving online business success.
Why Social Giants are Still Effective Online Marketing Tools
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are very important and efficient marketing platforms, and they will continue to be major players. Snapchat has continued to experience major growth, and between 2015 and 2016, monthly users on this platform more than doubled. Over 200 million users are now on Snapchat meaning that it has grown considerably faster than the other main social media platforms. Snapchat is a great place for online business growth for people who know how to use the platform. Building your audience on Snapchat means that you are growing your business. Using innovative marketing approaches you can increase engagement and awareness for your online business through this powerful social media tool. Another Social media giant is Instagram, and it helps to know how to use it to market effectively. Engagement on this network using high-quality photos can bring any online business success. To build the name of your brand and have success with a niche, Instagram can be used successfully to drive users to a marketing funnel.
An Extra Boost
For business owners, online marketing through social media is a hands-on approach. There is however, another hands-off approach that is more powerful and beneficial – according to Los Angeles-based Online Marketing company, SEO Firepower. This is call SEO and it can help a business be seen in the search engines. "Having a presence on social media is great, but what if you could be on Google as well?" CEO, Devin Schumacher says. Well, this is what SEO can do for you. Check out SEO Firepower Los Angeles Facebook Page to see if they have a branch near you, and give them a call if this sounds like something your business might benefit from. See some of their reviews on Yelp at: https://www.yelp.com/biz/seo-firepower-los-angeles-2
Using Smart Approaches to Grow Your Online Business
If you want your business to grow online, you need smart approaches for marketing. You need to create a brand and then market this brand online. But you also need to use SEO methods that will help boost your traffic and search engine rankings. What this means is that you need a human approach to your content. Your content must be engaging and genuine. You can use images, videos, infomercials and infographics in a smart way to reach potential clients online. Having a program which you can use to post relevant content helps to keep your business relevant. Nonetheless, a great online marketing strategy is never set in stone and is a constant work in progress. To ensure that you remain consistent, always evaluate your marketing approaches and make appropriate changes and you will continue achieving online business success.


text:
I'm attempting to get my family to eat a little healthier. My kids like healthy food (and so does the hubby), but they really, really like not-so-healthy food. I think they would be happy for the rest of their lives if I let them live off of canned ravioli, frozen pizza (yuck!), and sugary cereal. Oh, and lets not forget about Ramen noodle. Might as well throw in some Dr Pepper and chips for the hubby. Yep. That would make them some happy campers! Luckily they have me to throw in some healthy stuff a few times a day. I always cringe when I go out of town and the kids tell me all the things Daddy let them have to eat. I remember asking that sweet hubby of mine to grab and can of veggies for dinner. He brought me pork and beans. :)
I loved this Veggie scramble. The kids and hubby liked it as well, but weren't too sure about the broccoli in it. I think I'll try mushrooms next time. And there will definitely be a next time.
2/3 cup onion, diced
2/3 cup red pepper, diced
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil (I used coconut oil)
1 avocado, diced (optional)
Fresh basil, chopped (optional)
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add veggies and cook, stirring often, until tender-crisp. Crack eggs into a small bowl. Add salt and whisk. Add to veggies and cook until cooked through, stirring often. Serve topped with avocado and fresh basil, if desired.
Recipe from The Food Lovers Kitchen.
Linked on Breakfast Ideas Monday.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Veggie Scramble
2 comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Blair's Mom here, I tried to get some new photos of Blair for you all but she hasn't been cooperating. I went to Grandma's house and there was a message for me from Blair saying she wasn't holding court today for me since I am not taking her to Disney World and my being gone will ruin her blog since she can't post for a week. Hopefully she will be back to her normal self when I get back .
1 comment:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Once accomplished individuals, including CEOs, business owners, high-profile athletes and entertainers, achieve a certain level of success there inevitably comes a time when they begin to ask themselves, "What's next?"
They have worked tirelessly their whole lives, built a long and distinguished resume of professional achievements, along with near prodigious levels of inter-generational wealth. Now, it's time to do something different.
Often, that means getting more involved in their community. But just as often it doesn't mean they have any intention of slowing down. Indeed, they simply look at this as the next phase of their lives, and will typically employ the same level of passion, ambition and backbreaking effort to their philanthropic endeavors as they did to their professional ones.
A good friend, former football star and Super Bowl champion, Ronnie Lott, whose foundation supports charities throughout the country that benefit children, recently told me that now that his playing days are over he's never worked so hard.
"All Stars Helping Kids is all encompassing," said Lott, referring to his foundation. "When I was growing up, I had so many people help me stay on the yellow brick road to the National Football League. This is why I give back."
Equally passionate about his work in the community is another friend, Wing Lam, CEO of Wahoo's Fish Tacos, a restaurant chain with over 50 locations nationwide. His family's foundation supports various charitable initiatives, including ending hunger, supporting the environment and expanding educational opportunities for children.
"We have always been passionate about giving back to the community, especially to causes that align with our interests," he said.
As a financial advisor, I regularly encounter individuals such as Lott and Lam – accomplished professionals who are now focused on building something transcendent that will benefit future generations – and in my experience there are a number of ways to support them. While keeping in mind that high-net worth investors have varying degrees wealth, and, thus, will need alternatives in order to pursue their philanthropic goals, here are some options to think about (Before taking any of these steps, investors should always consult with a professional tax advisor):
**Start a foundation – Ideal for ultra-high-net worth individuals who want to roll up their sleeves and get to work on the next phase of their lives. Typically, such individuals are able to employ extensive resources, including a collection of top human talent, to benefit a particular cause or charity. Not only are most non-profit foundations tax exempt but they offer the founder the greatest level of control over how resources and funds are allocated. (Individual donations to foundations are not exempt; they are deductible and limited to 30% of adjusted gross income or 20% for property).
Keep in mind that starting and maintaining a successful foundation is hard work. Like most large companies, they can be bureaucratic and saddled with mounds of legal red tape. But this is typically not a deterrent for most ultra-high net worth individuals, many of whom have been running complex organizations for most of their adult lives.
**Donor-advised funds – Usually sponsored by public charities, donor-advised funds represent a relatively easy way for individuals to donate money to important causes. Plus, the tax benefits are significant. Donors can make anonymous contributions at any time, as often as they like, and can take a tax deduction of up to 50% of adjusted gross income for cash donations or 30% for appreciated assets.
Such funds are not nearly as time consuming or as expensive as setting up a foundation – which typically have high operational costs – making them an attractive alternative to those who may not have unlimited wealth. But at the same time, donor-advised funds don't offer the same level of control. While the fund's proceeds are usually dispersed according to the wishes of the donor, there are no guarantees. In the end, the fund's sponsor has the last word.
**Scholarship fund – With higher education costs spiraling out of control and student debt increasingly becoming more of a drag on the economy, starting a scholarship fund is perhaps the most practical approach for someone wanting to make a difference in their community. It's also a good way to honor a loved one or empower educational opportunities in a specific geographic area or across a particular discipline, such as art, science or music.
The administrator of the scholarship will largely depend on the benefactor, and can include public charities and universities. Some public charities will allow donors to start a fund and gain naming rights for as little as $1,000. Working with a college or university is typically more expensive, because that sometimes requires setting up an endowment fund, which requires a much larger donation. But it's also a better legacy building opportunity. For the most part, the IRS allows scholarship fund donors the same deductions that apply to donor-advised funds.
While there's no doubt many high-net-worth individuals use charitable giving primarily as a means to sidestep tax obligations or gain positive press coverage, based on my experience as a financial advisor the vast majority have motivations that are far different: They simply want to make a difference.
The same level of determination and single-minded focus that has driven their careers permeates all aspects of their lives, and that usually manifests into wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Winnie Sun is Founder and Managing Director of Sun Group Wealth Partners (www.sungroupwp.com), an independent wealth management firm based in Irvine, California. She is also a registered representative with, and securities are offered through, LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.


text:
Nurse Seduces Russian After Checkup
When the doctor sent me back inside his office I knew what he would have been up to in there. But what I did not expect to find was the sexy patient naked, bent over the examining table and covered in the good doctors cum. The smell of sex in the air was strong, I could almost taste the orgasms. She did not seem at all embarrassed and it began to dawn on me that I could have a little fun here also. But first I had to clean her up. As I cleaned the doctors sperm off her ass cheeks I began to question her a little, asking her if she enjoyed it and if she had ever been with another woman. I could tell she was still horny and my touch on her bare skin was getting her all wet again. I began to knead her breasts from behind and we were soon entwined on the table, locked in a passionate embrace, bodies grinding against each other as we sought pleasure in each other. I began to lick and finger fuck her pussy and it wasn't long before my talented tongue and digits tore an orgasm out of her body. Now it was my turn, and with a little direction as it was her first time, I was soon screaming with pleasure as my own orgasm erupted out of my body. She enjoyed it a bit too much I think as she wanted to met up again that evening. Looks like I'll be a busy woman tonight.October 20, 2014


text:
Two years ago I made my first venture into the prediction game, and as you can see here I didn't do too bad with my results, with 2 of the actual four as my finalists. Last year I scored 3 of 5. I have yet to get the gold placed in the right spot which may not bode well for my Medal pick this year, but they might find comfort in the fact that they are assured of earning silver.
This year, in an act of bravado, I've decided to branch out and hit a few other awards as well.
First the winners if I were a committee of one.
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - I've been happy with many a book this year. But nothing said "Look at me, I bet you haven't seen my ilk in quite some time." I like this story of friendship, mystery, game shows, and redemption, I really do.
- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly– Some say too long, I say I could have spent a few hundred more pages in Texas, unbearable heat or no, with Calpurnia, her brothers and her curmudgeon of a grandpa.
- Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice by Phillip Hoose– I find this account of one un-sung girl, who was a catalyst for one of the most important events in the Civil Rights movement, distinguished in every way.
- Wild Thing by Clay Carmichael – Every year I have a choice on my list just because I absolutely adored the book (Emma Jean Lazarus, Alvin Ho). This story of a precocious untamed girl connecting with her unmanageable Uncle, a feral cat and mysterious forest boy is everything I would have loved in a book at the age of 12.
My prediction of what I think the real committee will come up with:
Medal: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Honors: When You Reach Me, and Claudette Colvin
- The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney – If there can be a sure thing on Monday this would be it. I've been sharing it with most of my students this week and we all agree that this wordless story is worthy of all the hype. And really, can 900 kids be wrong?
- Higher, Higher by Leslie Patricelli – I have been reading this all week to my wee ones and I so wish I could have a video of the faces as we move through the pages:
- First few pages - polite amusement
- The mountain page – jaw dropping, bug-eyed incredulity
- Leaving earth behind page – utter unadulterated delight
- Spaceship page – uncontrolled giggling
- Wordless dissention pages - always accompanied by appropriate winding-down sound effects
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca – a perfect book in every way.
- A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis – Simple, succinct, and delightful.
Medal: The Lion & the Mouse
Honors: All the World, Moonshot, and Red Sings from the Treetops
(Confession, I haven't read much non-fiction, but by all accounts this was a killer great year for the facts, and nothing but the facts. I have yet to read two of my picks so these are also my prediction. On my honor I will read the other two or may hellfire rain down)
- Claudette Colvin: Twice toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
- Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
- Marching For Freedom: Walk Together Children and don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge
(I'm not as familiar with the field for this award so I'm going with what has gone over like a house-a-fire with my students)Medal:
- Little Mouse Gets Dressed by Jeff Smith
- Pigs Make Me Sneeze by Mo Willems
- Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
- Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker


text:
Hydor THEO Submersible Heater 200W
Item #: HY-T11302
Shipping: Eligible for Free Shipping Program
Availability: In Stock
Shipping: Eligible for Free Shipping Program
Availability: In Stock
The first shatter-proof heater thanks to the peculiar glass tube.
Maximum security: THEO is shock resistant thanks to the PTC heating element and the shatterproof glass tube.
Free positioning in aquarium with supplied suction cups.
Self-limiting: the patented PTC heating system guarantees operation in complete safety because in case of dry running there is no danger for damage.
Product Reviews
Post Your Review
You must be logged in to post a product review.


text:
People + Policy
= Positive Change for the Public Good
Staff Reporter for the New York Times
Brian Stelter is a staff reporter for the New York Times. He covers television and digital media for the newspaper's business and arts sections, and is a lead contributor to the Media Decoder blog. His first book, Top of the Morning, will be published in May.
In January 2004, Stelter created TVNewser, a blog covering the television news industry. At the time, he was a freshman at Towson University. He sold TVNewser to Mediabistro.com six months later and continued to run it until May 2007, when he graduated from Towson with a degree in mass communication. He joined the Times two months later.
Stelter appeared in the 2011 documentary Page One: Inside The New York Times. He lives in Manhattan's West Village with his girlfriend Jamie Shupak, the morning traffic anchor on NY1, the all-news cable channel in New York City. His website is www.brianstelter.com/.
People + Policy
= Positive Change for the Public Good


text:
Heart Forgiveness
Heart Forgiveness is a fast and effective way to experience and naturalize how to live without anger.
Now that's a concept – living without anger – sounds like some kind of fairy tale.
You may be thinking…
"Sounds great – only how the heck do I live without anger?"
The real questions are both:
- How can I forgive anyone or anything when I am angry inside?
- Where do I start?
In order to live without anger each of us has to start with a clean slate.
The first step is clearing out all the old junk we've been carrying around inside since we were kids. Thinking about anger and pleasure within the same thought or context is a bit peculiar – because generally we think of them as mutually exclusive (things that are experienced independently of each other).
Anger – itself – is not bad or good. How we handle anger is important, however. It turns out that anger either weakens our life energy or makes it stronger, depending on our attitude. Energy is everything.
Heart Forgiveness Is So Much Fun…
Heart Forgiveness is a new and different way to address anger because it's fun and easy! We play with our energy, dump all the garbage and 'clean up the house' at the same time. And the house – in this case – is our heart.
When we're done playing, we feel better.
More importantly, heart forgiveness goes deeper than the conscious or subconscious mind and works in our energy, our life force.
So the changes – and new decisions we make – are deep and permanent.
Dr Ed Carlson – founder of Heart Forgiveness and Energy Essentials – says this:
"You are not broken and do not need to be fixed. Neither is the world."
Heart Forgiveness is a method for clearing and freeing our life energy using an expanded version of energy measuring (commonly referred to as muscle testing) called comprehensive kinesiology.
There Are Healthier Choices Than Anger…
More and more research indicates that sustained anger is a contributing factor to many chronic ill-nesses, and that is motivation enough for me to clear it.
More fundamentally, since anger weakens our life energy, why not redirect that same energy away from anger to something enjoyable and constructive that enhances our life energy, instead?
About Anger and Forgiveness…
"Anger is a worldwide issue. Religious leaders, great masters, philosophers, writers, poets and psychologists have been talking about healing anger for centuries.
Healing anger is huge.
Forgiveness is universal power that is not limited by culture, religion or geography. Now we actually have a tool that works. We uncover that universal power in each of us and permanently release the anger in our lives.
That tool is Heart Forgiveness." – Michael Barrett
We never learned how to deal with anger from our parents because they didn't have a clue either.
In past generations, "ladies" and "gentlemen" just politely avoided the subject of anger and stuffed their emotions deep inside, rather than having a healthy outlet or a commonly understood skill set that each generation could learn growing up.
Forgiveness is Another Example of Cultural Misunderstanding.
We read about forgiveness in books and learn in Sunday school how important forgiveness is to do. Yet most of us have no clue how to experience forgiveness in our personal lives.
It all sounds good, but how do I really do forgiveness?
Most of us learned that forgiveness is something we do by consciously thinking about it over and over again. The flaw in that understanding is that forgiveness is not a mental process. Forgiveness has to take place in the heart. That's why Dr Ed chose the name Heart Forgiveness instead of Head Forgiveness.
Head forgiveness simply doesn't work. You can think about forgiving:
- that person who did something wrong
- the company that swindled you out of your retirement benefits
- the organization that let you down
- the way your mom treated you as a kid
- how your dad was never there for you, whatever…
Have you ever noticed that when these issues come up again at a later time, you get angry all over again?
How can this happen if you truly have forgiven the people, events or issues?
Actually, you never did forgive them, you just thought you did.
Thinking has nothing to do with it. It's all about changing the energy decision and really forgiving.
And What about Forgiving Yourself?
That's a biggie…
Most of us were taught that forgiveness is for the other person, but the reality is that forgiveness is for us; so we can be at peace with it within our own selves.
Forgiving from the heart – and within the heart – does work.
There are a number of issues around anger that don't make sense to the conscious mind. What we experienced is that the solution lies in going within the energy system itself and cleaning everything with the 'energy eraser' and making new energy decisions.
I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Heart Forgiveness Facilitator.
Barbarie permalinkNovember 23, 2009 12:47 am
Hi Micheal:
Just a quick note to share and to say thank you for being a Heart Forgiveness Facilitator! I was readin g you page her and could realate to so much from the inner being. The hard is forgiving those that hurt me through many life traumatic expereinces that have left my life hanging in the breeze as I try and real it in with some kind of compassion The next hardest part is forgiving myself as ask what is it I need to forgive myself for .. Yet as I contemplated that though I ended up with a list of things I need to forgive myself for. Now that I am aware of this list. What is the next step to forgive me …. Woudl reallove and be encouraged to hear more from you about this is how the process works as I am so dead in the water with my life's journey because I am so angry with many other people that have hurt and destroyed myself and yet angry with myself for having to learn to waddle through this journey alone and in a lost sense of being. Be Blesed as we approach Thanksgiving this week and thank you for the BLESSING of hope that maybe there is a way through this pain and sorry and grief of being lost and alone for so long as I have neglected myself because of my inner anger and lack of understanding. Be Blessed, Be Inspired, Be Encouraged. Always, Barbarie
January 20, 2012 7:15 am
I love your work and am so grateful to have you as a friend. We share a common Destiny……Imagine….there is no Heaven…..just only Sky! D))))))
Pure Consciousness and Compassion!


text:
And if you don't want a "girly" drink, that's okay, too! Whatever your biz goal is, I'm sure it involves some close approximation:) (Otherwise, why would you choose this life?? Right?) Let's dig in, shall we??
Lessons Taught
Doing the Copy Critiques have shown me some in-my-face patterns I've been teaching clients to break. And I'm making them into a free resource you'll use to guide your words onto your page so they're, you know, more effective. (And you'll get more clients and sell more products. WOOHOO!)
But I wanted to go beyond the critiques, and reach out to you. To see what you need. Hello, SurveyMonkey:) (If you haven't already jumped over there. I'd still love to hear from you:))
Many of you have already done the survey to help me build a product that's going to be thorough and POW. So thanks for that! Especially since your answers taught me something very valuable.
Lessons Learned
What was that amazing lesson? I need TWO resources for you! So that's what I'm doing!
As soon as my logo is back from Dani Magestro, I'll be shipping baby number 1 out to you! The good news is, you don't have to wait to sign up for it. You can do it now and you be first on the list to receive it, plus you'll become part of the beta team to help develop it further.
(I have big plans for your biz this year. Just sayin'. :))
Oh, and Baby Number 1's name is actually Copy Thermometer.
What the hell is a Copy Thermometer anyway, Woman?
The Copy Thermometer is a gauge that will teach you how to judge your copy based on the 7 mistakes that are stopping small businesses like yours from playing in the big leagues (and sipping those girly drinks on the beach, remember?).
Once this resource is in your hot little hands, you'll be to, not only judge your work with a set of guidelines, but you'll know what you need to do to tweak it and make it Shazam!! :)
Like it?
The second free resource is going to be a get-your-hands-dirty-and-figure-out-who-the-hell-your-ideal-client-is template.
I'm going to walk you through some dig-in-the-trenches strategies for finding your ideal client and the words they use. Imagine writing the words your prospects actually use to look for businesses like yours. What would happen to your project calendar if you could do that??
You may have to hire some hands to help you! And be able to afford it! Yessss!
So look for these Free Resources to come SOOOOON! And get on the list to get the Copy Thermometer first.
Hand over that Copy Thermometer, Woman!
And, yo, if you know an entrepreneur like you who is struggling to get their work out there, share this with them. They will LOVE you for it! (Some ways to share? The little buttons on this page, email to your friend, sharing in your Google+ groups, etc). I totally, totally love and appreciate you for giving me your time in answering the survey and signing up for these resources. YOU ROCK!
Have an amazing day!
Pierce your readers hearts with words that bleed passion


text:
By Adeola Badru
IBADAN-THE Muslim community was thrown into confusion as the Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Sheikh AbdulGaniyu Agbotomokekere celebrated the Eid-el-fitr which marks the end of Ramadan fast on Thursday, as against the Federal Government declaration of Friday as public holiday for the celebration.
File Photos
The Chief Imam led other prominent people to the Eid praying ground at Agodi, Ibadan for the annual celebration to the surprise of many people.
The development, has however, raised comments, as some Muslim faithful that spoke with Vanguard correspondent in Ibadan, observed that the decision of the the Chief Imam of Ibadanland to observe the Eid-el-fitr on Thursday was not in line with the rules of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
According to them, there was no official announcement by the Sultan of Sokoto and head of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs that a new moon has been cited, adding that the new moon marks the end of the 29-day long Ramadan and the start of the Islamic month of Shawwal.
However, Muslim faithful have been asked to look out for new moon on Thursday night to mark the end of the Ramadan fast.
The post Confusion, as Chief Imam of Ibadanland celebrates Eid-el-fitr appeared first on Vanguard News.


text:
Mother demon
From DoomWiki.org
The Mother Demon, also referred to internally as the Resurrector, is the final boss of Doom 64 and is found on MAP28: The Absolution. A true monstrosity, the Mother Demon appears as a large demonic larva-like moth with eyes which are dead black and have red irises, four arms, a skull-like face, and a mouth filled with many long, sharp teeth. She has no wings, yet moves by levitating around. Likewise, she has no legs, only having two shallow pits on her lower abdomen where they would be expected to grow. She makes a soul-chilling cry of discovery upon being roused, a ghastly snarl when moving around and a frightful shriek like a banshee when she is attacked.
The Mother Demon's attack consists of powerful flame trails, followed by a set of four homing fireballs which split up when when they strike a target.
The Mother Demon is said to have escaped detection in the original campaigns somewhere in a base on Mars or its moons. After many years of an absolute quarantine guaranteed by massive levels of radiation, an old relay satellite, battered by neutrons, suddenly activated and broadcast a message containing information about the Mother Demon and her progress toward resurrection of the other demons via her vast powers of rejuvenation.
After she is killed, the Marine decides to remain in Hell to ensure no demon ever rises again.
Tactical analysis[edit]
The Mother Demon will kill you quickly if you come into the battle unprepared. Her flame trail, when it hits, launches you into the air in a manner resembling the attack of the arch-vile, making it difficult to control your movements. At the same time, she will launch four homing rockets at you. Even though a single missile is not as strong as a cyberdemon's rocket, getting hit by all four of them at once can be fatal regardless of your health and armor levels. Dodging the rockets can be a hassle, especially when hit by the flame trails. Beware of the homing rockets even if dodged, however, as when they explode they will send out a barrage of smaller fireballs in all directions.
The most effective way to defeat the Mother Demon is to use the fully-equipped Unmaker at point-blank range. Not only will the Unmaker do a lot of damage at rapid-firing speeds, but will also stun her to prevent her from using her 4 homing missiles. She will still attack with the flame trails as the only attack to avoid. Under suppressed fire from the weapon, she will go down in no time. Her attacks are surprisingly ineffective at short range, the homing missiles flying past her target and usually striking a nearby support column.
If you did not retrieve all three of the Demon Keys needed to fully equip the Unmaker, the battle against the Mother Demon will be significantly more difficult, both due to the Unmaker being less effective, and because lacking the keys means needing to fight a large number of monsters before the Mother Demon will emerge, using up much of your precious ammo. Your only real choice in this situation is to use the BFG 9000, but it requires precise timing and enough plasma cells conserved through the previous battle against the horde of enemies. The rocket launcher is the next best alternative.
Other games[edit]
In Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, when you bring the stone artifact to the scientist for scanning, during his conversation with Dr. Elizabeth McNeil, a stone tablet bearing an image of the Helltime Hunter can be seen which appears strangely similar to the Mother Demon.
The final boss of Half-Life, Nihilanth, greatly resembles the Mother Demon. Like the Mother Demon, Nihilanth has multiple arms, vestigial legs and an oversized head, and attacks with volleys of homing projectiles.
The Mother Demon in the Doom 64 TC.
- Like the revenant, it is possible for the homing projectiles fired by the Mother Demon to enter an orbit around the player. The arcing manner in which she fires them makes this a much more rare phenomenon, however.
|Monsters from Doom 64
|From Doom: Arachnotron | Baron of Hell | Cacodemon | Cyberdemon | Demon | Hell knight | Imp | Lost soul | Mancubus | Pain elemental | Shotgun guy | Spectre | Zombieman
New: Marine | Mother demon | Nightmare imp


text:
Search: Advanced search
Please enter a keyword or ID
What do I do once I log into Blackboard?
On your Bb welcome page, you will see a short description of the Web Prep Requirement with a link to self-enroll into the Web Prep Requirement Bb course shell. Once you self-enroll and enter the course, you will see will be step-by-step instructions on how to proceed.
Powered by KBPublisher (Knowledge base software)


text:
Welcome to the Monash Health Gender Clinic
The Gender Clinic is a state-wide service that accepts referrals for individuals who are aged 17 and above and reside in the state of Victoria. We provide individualised, client centred care for trans, gender diverse and non-binary people with the aim of improving their health and well-being. We welcome sister-girls and brother-boys from our indigenous communities.
Our Staff
The Monash Health Gender Clinic aims to assist the trans, gender diverse and non-binary community through:
- Conducting specialist mental health assessments relevant to gender dysphoria in accordance with international guidelines (World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care v7).
- Referring where appropriate to experienced private or public clinicians who are able to assist with hormone therapy, surgery, psychotherapy or voice therapy.
- Providing ongoing mental health support related to an individual's gender transition.
- Conducting multidisciplinary meetings to co-ordinate care for clients.
Please be advised that Gender Clinic is not an emergency response service for acute mental health conditions. Should urgent action be required, please contact your local Psychiatric Triage Service. If in the Monash Health area, call 1300 369 012.
The Gender Clinic currently has a wait list system but if you prefer a quicker response you may wish to be seen privately. For a list of private providers go to the following page: http://www.anzpath.org/about/service-providers/victoria/ or alternatively you can click on this link List of Private Providers. You can remain on the Gender Clinic waiting list whilst seeing private providers.
A range of services are available to support trans, gender diverse and non-binary people: including peer support, professional, clinical, and parents groups. For a list of these support groups, click on this link: Trans Gender Diverse Non-Binary and Intersex Groups Supports 2019
The First Step
Access to specialist assessments is available publicly or privately. If you are interested in attending the Monash Health Gender Clinic (at no cost to you, but with a longer waitlist) please provide the following:
- a referral from a medical doctor (preferably your GP)
- complete the General Information Form found at the end of the Information Pack
Our preferred method is via email to the Gender Clinic. Alternatively you can send by post:
Gender Clinic
352 South Road
Hampton East Victoria 3188
Phone: (03) 9556 5216
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the clinic between Monday and Friday 9am to 5pm.
Click on the following links to find out more: Gender Clinic Info Pack Frequently Asked Questions
Health professionals
For general information on referral processes, services and educational resources, click here: Information for health care professionals
When referring to the clinic, please include the information here: Referral information required
We provide secondary consultations for health practitioners working with trans, gender diverse and non-binary clients. For information click here: Secondary consultation
For information on working with non-binary clients, click here: Inclusive Practice with Non-Binary Clients
Document downloads
Information for Health Care Professionals
Inclusive practices for non binary people
Gender Clinic Information Pack
Trans Gender Diverse Non-Binary and Intersex Groups Supports 2019


text:
For over 25 years, families have trusted InterExchange with their childcare needs. Welcoming one of our carefully screened au pairs is a budget friendly, flexible way to provide amazing care for your children. Your entire family will enjoy this special cultural exchange experience.
Ready to host an au pair or want to learn more? Call us at (800) 287-2477.
Celebrating 30 Years of Bringing International Understanding into the Homes of American Families
Why Choose InterExchange?
For over 25 years, InterExchange Au Pair USA has been helping host families find the best childcare for their family. Our network of international partners enables us to find, screen and place au pairs from over 30 countries. In the U.S., our experienced Local Coordinators and New York team provide helpful advice and support to you and your au pair all year long. As a mission-driven not for profit organization, InterExchange's goals center around building a more interconnected world.


text:
The Killing KindBook - 2001
His two previous novels, Every Dead Thing and Dark Hollow were international bestsellers. Now the compulsively readable (Publishers Weekly) Connolly confirms his position as a leading crime novelist with a story of superb menace and superb style.
Publisher: New York : Atria, 2001
Branch Call Number: M CON
Characteristics: 373 p. ;,25 cm
From the critics
Community Activity
CommentAdd a Comment
dDreamstime Apr 08, 2017
If Stephen King wrote detective novels, John Connoly's "The Killing Kind" might be the outcome. Connoly's prose also has the rich textures of James Lee Burke's work. Sometimes I found the colorful descriptions too intense, like thick frosting about to make your teeth hurt. Even so, this is a great terrifying story. If you don't like spiders and other creepy-crawly-things stay away.... far away.
Age SuitabilityAdd Age Suitability
There are no age suitabilities for this title yet.
SummaryAdd a Summary
There are no summaries for this title yet.
NoticesAdd Notices
There are no notices for this title yet.
QuotesAdd a Quote
There are no quotes for this title yet.


text:
By Holland Dobbs
Special Contributor to BAMSouth.com
Approximately 175 people gathered Thursday morning, June 11, to pay tribute to three generations of the Langsdon family who built www.OffTheDuck.com.
Founded in 1927 as a repair company with five employees, the nearly 90 year-old business is now a machining and fabrication company that serves more than 300 companies worldwide, boasts nearly 100 employees and operates in a 65,000 square foot facility – soon to be expanded.
To honor this impressive family and company history, John ("Johnny") Langsdon who is the current President/CEO and great-grandson of founder John K. Langsdon Sr, built a commemorative esplanade at the front of the company's headquarters where employees may lunch and socialize when weather permits. The courtyard features three benches, surrounding the American flag, Tennessee state flag and the company's flag, which were formally presented that morning by Boy Scout Troop #103.
Columbia Machine Works' General Manager and COO, Steve Thompson, began the ceremony with a welcome to attendees, followed by the Boy Scout's presentation of colors. Randal Wilson gave the dedication. Next up, Maury County Mayor Charles Norman told the audience that he liked to keep his speeches short and to the point, which he proceeded to do did before introducing State Representative Sheila Butt who provided an overview of the company's fascinating history.
Among the highlights of her speech, Rep. Butt discussed the many changes the company has seen over the last 88 years of operation and its incredible ability to transform to the needs of the times, which enabled it to stay relevant and operative, even during the difficult years of the Great Depression. She ended her speech by recognizing Columbia Machine Works and the Langsdon family for its numerous contributions to commerce and industry in Maury County.
President and CEO Johnny Langsdon concluded the morning's event and dication, in which he emphasized the patriotism of his family, including his great grandfather, father, mother and brother, who all played pivotal roles in the company's development and success.
He also attributed the success of the business to God and his faith and noted that, of the dozens of business books he has read in the past year, the Bible still provides the best business advice around.
We say "Amen" to that.
(This article was originally published on www.OffTheDuck.com a website devoted to events on the Duck River in Maury County, Tennessee. Holland Dobbs is the founder and co-owner of the website.)
No Banner to display


text:
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Take your pick! Tottenham and Chelsea jockey for position over Marseille's Florian Thauvin
CHELSEA and Tottenham have sent scouts to watch Marseille winger Florian Thauvin in action as they seek to gain the inside running over Manchester United and Arsenal in the race for the dynamic youngster.
Reports in France suggest the move is motivated by a desire to convince Thauvin of the merits of a move to London in the summer.
Thauvin remains one of the hottest talents in European football and Spurs reportedly had a substantial offer for the 21-year-old rejected in January.
But both sides remain optimistic they can appeal to Thauvin's ambition and lure him away from Marseille in the summer.
Thauvin has a history of going to extreme lengths to engineer a move to his liking.
Only last summer, the French Under-21 international went on strike from Lille - for whom he never played a game - to secure a £12.5m move to the Stade Velodrome.
They [PSG] don't talk about anything other than money.
Lille were understandably furious with the stunt, having purchased Thauvin the previous January and loaned him back to Bastia for the remainder of the season, but were left with little option other than to let the player move on.
And Chelsea and Spurs both obviously believe that it is worth attempting to get in Thauvin's good graces before launching a bid in the summer.
Both clubs reportedly had scouts present to watch Thauvin take on former club Bastia on February 8.
And in a boost to the London sides, Thauvin appears to have ruled out a move to PSG with recent comments about the nature of the club.
He said: "When we talk about Paris it is true what they say: They have good players and a great team.
"But these aren't the values of PSG. They don't talk about anything other than money."


text:
Henry Alonso Myers has been writing for TV shows ("CSI," "Charmed," and others) for around six years. This fall he's doing something different, "Ninja Tales," for Boom! Studios.
I sat down with Henry to talk about "Ninja Tales," TV writers writing for comics, television, the comics that influenced him growing up, Boom! Studios' publisher Ross Richie's lack of notes and much more.
Hi Henry. I understand you write for one of the "CSI" series, right?
I'm actually not on "CSI" anymore. I was on "CSI," the Vegas one, last year. I worked on it for a year, before that I worked on "Charmed" for three years and before that, I was on a show called "The Chronicle," which was on the Sci-Fi Channel. It was a "Men in Black" type show about a tabloid reporter. Now I'm on a new show called "Day Break" for ABC, starring Taye Diggs. It was created by Paul Zbyszewski. The premise is a guy who keeps living the same day over and over again, sort of like "Groundhog Day" meets "24."
width="127" height="190" alt="" align="right" border="0">
width="127" height="190" alt="" align="right" border="0">
Years and years and years ago, one of my first jobs when I got out to Hollywood was a script reader at the William Morris Agency, where I met Ross Richie and Andy Cosby, who were fellow script readers. It was sort of my training in the business, where I learned about script-writing. Those guys had found the comic "Mage" and had actually gotten the rights to it to film it in the future, they were producing it. Now, I've been a comic geek for many, many years and I remembered "Mage" and we used to talk comics. At one point - one of my favorite, favorite comics in the world is Scott McCloud's "Zot," which is a weird book he did for Eclipse back in the day - Ross and I tried talking Scott McCloud into lending us the rights to "Zot" to try to write a movie. It didn't work out, sadly, but it was cool to meet Scott.
Anyway, Ross came to me and said, "Hey, will you do a short piece for me?" I ended up doing "Ninja Tales." It's very freeing. Not that television is bad, television is relatively easy on the writer, just the writer is the producer in television. We get to oversee the final product, unlike feature writers. But comics... He's like, "Do something with ninjas in it." So, I wrote something and sent it to him and he said, "Great. Hey, take out the word asshole on page eleven and that's it. That's my note." I was like, "Okay, great. I love this. This is a great job."
Did you find you had to do some research to get inside the mind of a Ninja for "Ninja Tales?"
I actually did a little ninja research. But, if you saw the story I did, you'd see it didn't have a lot to do with ninjas really. It's called "Ninja School Dropout" and it's about a surly teenage kid who's going to his ninja school and he doesn't really want to be a ninja, he wants to be an artist. Somewhere along the way, there's a rivalry between Ninja School for Boys and Samurai High. It's a skewed reality, ninjas just happened to be the genre. The fun thing was finding little ninja details to throw in there. All the weaponry. There's a fight scene and, inexplicably, in every single panel where he's attacking these ninjas who jump him - in one panel he's got hand claws, in another he's got sais, in another he's got shirkin stars. You can use a cartoon logic, you don't really need to explain why. My feeling is that if the human elements are there and people are there for the heart of the story, you can play with little things like that and no one will ever ask.
I think the cool thing about these Boom! Anthologies is how varied the stories get to be. I'm sure some of them are going to be these hardcore ninja stories where there's meticulous research - Japan in 512 AD and this is the story of the great ninja who has to fight his way to the top of the fortess and he must kill the samurai master and blah blah blah - that's sort of not my thing. But I think it's cool and it's great that these anthologies can have a story like that and a story like "Ninja School Dropout," which, pretty much, what it's about is right there in the title.
Art wise, what have you seen thus far?
I've seen the layouts. I couldn't be happier. They asked if I had any thoughts and, working in TV you get used to getting and giving a lot of notes, and they were really receptive and great about that. I've already met with Ross and talked about doing some more books... but I'm hesitant to say more, since I haven't found the time to write them. It was such a wonderful experience; I woke up the next morning thinking "I've got to do that again." The great thing about it is that people read comics because they want to, because they're fans, because what they see excites them. It's very fun to be a part of that, even in a small way.
What about you? Did you read comics growing up?
In sixth grade, I'd starve myself at lunch so I could spend my lunch money on comics at Comics for Collectors in Ithaca, New York, where I grew up. First book I probably ever read seriously was "Elfquest," which is one of these books that has sort of a girly reputation, but it's awesome. Extremely well-written. The first twenty were great, then I lost track of it, when I got into the "X-Men." This was right around the Chris Claremont "Dark Phoenix" era, which was a good comic to get into. I think the John Byrne "Wolverine" mini, "Alpha Flight" and "New Mutants" had just come out. Anyway, pretty soon after that "Dark Knight" came out, "Watchmen" and everyone was talking about how amazing comic books were. It was a great time to be into it.
What about product currently on the stands? What are you enjoying these days?
I read pretty much anything Brian K. Vaughan does. When I was younger I used to read Frank Miller's "Daredevil" and I didn't realize it at the time, but when I was younger, I kind of picked comic books based on the artist. I loved Bill Sienkiewicz, I loved the guy who did "Teen Titans" at the time - George Perez. I was picking books based on artists. As I got older, I went back to it and started buying books based on writers. Like most comic guys, I'll read anything Alan Moore does. Anything Brian K. Vaughan does. I really like Brian Michael Bendis. I love the "Powers" books. I don't love all of them, but I really think they're interesting and the books are kind of my comic material. A little dark, a little humor, a little nudge-nudge-wink-wink, a little dealing with superheroes, but not in a soap operay way... a little bit of soap opera, but a little bit of cop too. I love the cartoony art style, I'm a big fan of that. "Fables" is one of my favorites. It's one of these books where, the premise, I was like, "oh, okay, that's all right," then I read and I'm like, "that's really clever," and then every book afterwards just gets better and better. That's the kind of thing I wish I had written.
You're one of a growing segment of television writers coming into comics. Talk about that a bit.
My friend Javier Grillo-Marxauch does "Middleman" and did "Super-Skrull" at Marvel. He's one of the first guys I know who did a lot of that stuff and a lot of that just has to do with him being a huge comics fan who was doing TV for a living. As fun a job as television writing can be, sometimes you want something where you have a little more creative control. I don't know any TV people who are doing it for the money - some of the guys working for DC and Marvel probably. If you're lucky enough to be working in television, it's a relatively well-paying job. Sometimes it's just not emotionally satisfying and that's the wonderful thing about comics. You get to tell stories with pictures and do it in a context where people let you do what you want, because they're excited to have someone who comes in with crazy ideas. That's the fun of it.
Writing for comics and writing screenplays are not that far removed. Instead of 'Hold on him as we realize this,' you do a three panel sequence to show it. The vocabulary is not that different. In some ways it forces you to think as simply and sharply as possible. The new age of comics that's happening now, my sense of it is that it's very writer-driven. The stories are great. I think when you marry that with interesting artwork, it becomes a better product. I think of "Ex Machina" as one of the best all-around books that I've read. The art is terrific, the wonderful job of capturing the human gestures that feel real - they're not like "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," though I do have a deep love of Kirby and all his stuff. But that art married with Brian K. Vaughan's superhero meets realism element, you get a unique, interesting product. He has this way of finding this depth - I don't know if I have felt more watching a movie or anything last year than when I read the last panel of the first "Ex Machina" issue, when they show he saved one of the Towers. I'm an ex-New Yorker and when I saw that, it just hit me in the chest. It was one of those things where you realize how powerful a medium it can be and how big it can hit you. And it's just pages in a book. That's an impressive achievement, a different achievement from, like, "Watchmen," which is a giant story, a novel, something with overall power. But something like that, damn. Good writing.


text:
Genre: Block Drop, Block Match, RealArcade Puzzle :: Players: 1 :: Released: 24/9/08
Gem Drop Deluxe
|Publisher: Real Networks :: Developer: Mr Goodliving, Rovio
|Download Game
Click a manufacturer for a list of its compatible handsets. Click a handsets name to see compatible games.
Please note that these lists are based on J2ME compatibility and the games may not always be available for your handset. Always check with your game supplier that your handset is compatible prior to purchase.
Compatible Handsets
Found: 739