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As controversial as some fringe theories about religion are, theyre just too interesting to ignore. They give a new perspective on what would have just been another plain old orthodox doctrine, no matter how crazy that perspective may be.
10The Roman Empire Invented Jesus
Although weve already discussed the considerable evidence backing up the existence of Jesus, doubts as to whether He lived at all persist. In one of these Christ Myth theories, the controversial biblical academic Joseph Atwill claims that the Roman Empire created Jesus in the first century to quell Jewish insurrections.
According to Atwill, the Roman Empire knew that the Jews were waiting for their prophesied messiah to lead them in revolt against their rulers. Instead of waging another physical campaign, the Romans banked on psychological warfare, creating a religious system emphasizing the complete opposite of rebellion.
Instead of fighting, the new religion of Christianity urged its followers to obey the authorities and turn the other cheek. Atwill adds that various rulers and governments have exacted obedience from their people using Christianity.
9Black People Are Cursed Because Ham Sodomized Noah
Throughout history, black people have received all kinds of discrimination and oppression. One reason for this was a long-standing belief that they descended from Canaan, Noahs grandson, whom Noah cursed after the Flood.
The Bible says Noahs son Ham saw him drunk and naked inside his tent. Noah then cursed Hams son Canaan into serving the descendants of the two other sons, Shem and Japheth. The Bible leaves unclear, however, if Ham did anything else to deserve this curse. Some scholarly texts say Ham mocked his fathers drunkenness. Some say he slept with Noahs wife, his own mother. Others accuse Ham of castrating or sodomizing his father.
Whatever the case, the curse supposedly darkened Hams skin. This relegated his descendants into eternal servitude, a view supported by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scholars of various eras.
8The Devil Had Sex With Eve
In one of the more bizarre interpretations of Genesis, the Serpent Seed Theory holds that the devil tricked Eve not just into eating fruit but into sleeping with him.
Eve tells God that the serpent beguiled her, and some say that this word meant not only deceived but also seduced. The serpents subsequent punishment by God (losing his legs and crawling on his belly for all of eternity) implied that he had previously had a human-like form.
The theory is widely believed by white supremacist groups such as those from the Christian Identity Movement. Members consider themselves Aryans, descendants of the good brother Abel. Conversely, they believe that every other race, especially the Jews, descended from evil brother Cain, the product of Satan and Eves unholy union.
7Witch Cults
While nothing could justify the senseless killings of thousands of women (and men) suspected to be witches, the Witch Cult Hypothesis holds that during those periods and even earlier, witches really did exist.
The hypothesis states that witches were the adherents of a prehistoric pagan fertility religion from Europe. The followers continued practicing their rituals even when Christianity became the dominant religion. The subsequent witch hunts were a campaign pitting two organized religions against each other.
The majority of scholars do not believe the theory, mainly because no actual evidence corroborates the existence of such cults. All that exists are the unreliable testimonies of those tortured into making such confessions.
6Jesus Used Marijuana To Work His Miracles
Different religions across the world have regularly used psychoactive plants or entheogens for their rituals. Jesus Himself may have availed of those plants to carry out his supposed miracles, according to one theory.
Proponents say that Jesuss anointing oil contained a high amount of keneh-bosem. This mysterious substance is said to be either calamus or (more controversially) cannabis. Jesus could have healed many people using the cannabiss medicinal properties. Anointing Himself and His disciples with the mixture could have also produced the otherworldly religious experiences that built Him up as a miraculous holy man.
In fairness to Jesus, He may have merely been adopting the pharmacological practices of the Jewish people. Several of His prominent religious predecessors have also been suspected of using entheogens. Moses, for example, is thought to have been high on psychedelic mushrooms when he went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.
5Buddhism Influenced Christianity
Similar to the that Jesus spent his lost years traveling in the Near East before studying India and Tibet, this theory says Buddhism and Christianity are so similar because monks preached Buddhist tenets to the natives of Palestine. Later on, these doctrines (which include peacefulness and non-violence) were incorporated by Jesus and His followers into their new religion.
Although Buddhist monks did contact the Western world centuries before the birth of Christ, reaching as far as Greece and parts of the Mediterranean, few scholars think Buddhism influenced Christianity, at least during the latters inception. The evidencewhich includes a biblical mention of the wheel of birthis too scant for such a conclusion. Accordingly, scholars hold that the two religions (aside from passing references made by their respective theologians) remained largely unknown to each other for another 1,500 years.
4Moses Was The Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (Or His Priest)
The Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten tried unsuccessfully to institute a monotheistic religion during his reign. Some believe this religious maverick was actually the very same person as the Hebrew leader Moses.
According to believers, the two led lives too parallel to be coincidental. Both floated in a basket downstream to avoid being killed by a murderous pharaoh. Followers of Akhenaten supposedly referred to him as Mose, Meses, or Mosis (which translates as The Chosen One). The obscurity surrounding his death has also helped to fuel the theory; supposedly, Akhenaten led his followers out of Egypt after being threatened with a revolt by the priests.
In a variation on this theory, no less than Sigmund Freud believed that Moses was actually a priest under Akhenatens monotheistic religion. When the Egyptians rejected this religion after his death, followers including Moses fled Egypt to avoid persecution.
3The Jesuits Little Black Book For World Domination
Conspiracy nuts love secretive societies, and the Jesuits arent immune to the theories. Theyve even been accused of killing Lincoln. And if one document is to be believed, they also have a plan to dominate the world.
The document is titled Monita Secreta (Secret Instructions) and was written by expelled Jesuit Jerome Zahorowski in the early 1600s. It allegedly contains tips from the Jesuit leader Claudio Acquaviva to all his subordinates on how to increase the power of the Society. Methods include obtaining the wealth and secrets of their patrons, recruiting wealthy young men into their ranks, and persuading rich widows to hand over their estates.
Although the document has been dismissed as an imaginative fraud, that hasnt stopped people from believing that the Jesuits really are up to something. The anti-Jesuit Dr. Frederick Littledale dismisses questions of the documents authenticity, saying the authora former Jesuitclearly had access to the Societys inner workings.
2Todays Jews Did Not Descend From The Tribes Of Israel
In a controversial argument to undermine the Israeli claim to Palestine, Tel Aviv Universitys Shlomo Sand contends that the modern Jewish people cannot claim Palestine as their own. They never descended from the ancient Israelites in the first place.
Instead, Sand holds the theorywhich first popped up in the 19th centurythat todays Jews owe their ancestry to the Khazar Khaganate. This central European empire existed between the 7th and 10th centuries, and its people converted en masse to Judaism. After the empires disintegration, the people dispersed into different areas of Europe and converted the locals around them, creating a non-homogenous Jewish group composed of many races. Sand also claims that the Palestinians are the real descendants of the ancient Israelites, who converted to Islam at some point.
Evidence against Sands contention includes DNA tests showing that todays Jewish people possess common genes which can be traced back to the Levantine areaIsrael included.
1Everyone Is Descended From The Jews
One strange fringe theory claims that the British are the long-lost descendants of the Jewish people. The Two-House or Ephraimite Theory takes that view even further, claiming that todays non-Jewish Christians and even the whole of mankind are descended from the 10 lost tribes of Israel.
This belief is espoused by the fringes of Messianic Judaism, whose followers believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Its based on several biblical passages wherein God promises to make the descendants of the Jewish people as numerous as the sands of the sea. Accordingly, these 10 of Israels tribes dispersed after being defeated by the Assyrians to fulfill that promise.
It is believed that these descendants scattered even further and settled in different parts of the globe through the ages. They have yet to reunite with the other two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) that comprise todays Jewish people.
Marc V. is always open for a conversation, so do drop him a line sometime.
Posted Via: http://busymumsmagazine.co.vu/10-controversial-fringe-theories-about-christianity-and-judaism/


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Welcome to www.duncanmais.com, the best resource on the web for all the latest on this talented british actor. Here you will find Duncan's latest movie news, information, pictures, videos, media and much more. Thank you for visiting and welcome back!
Latest Roles:Snow White And The Huntsman
In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.Jack The Giant Slayer
A modern day fairy tale in which the long-standing peace between men and giants is threatened, as a young farmer leads an expedition into the giants' kingdom in hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess.Batman: The Dark Knight Rises
The third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film series. The Dark Knight Rises will see the return of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, and Lucius Fox, respectively. The film will introduce the characters of Selina Kyle and Bane — portrayed by Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy — two villains from the Batman mythology.Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy
In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.X-Men: First Class
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.Captain America: The First Avenger
A brave, yet mild-mannered young soldier named Steve Rogers, volunteers to undergo a series of experiments for a US army Super Soldier program. When a Nazi plot reveals itself Rogers becomes Captain America and he earns his way into the hearts and souls of every American, bringing hope and justice to a war-weary nation. Later, during a mission to Germany to stop his archenemy Captain America sacrifices himself and winds up frozen in ice for almost six decades! Revived, Steve Rogers now must join forces with new heroes and become an Avenger of the modern age.The Man That Married Himself
Oliver has a mid-life crisis, and decides to get married - to himself. This is the story of his relationship, and how he discovers some truths about life and love on the way.Thugs, Mugs and Violence
Duncan Mais stars as Alfie Davis in this fast-moving feature directed by Djonny Chen which plays on the double crossing of London's gangland scene mixed together with slick one liners and beautiful women...The Rapture
This feature film sees Duncan Mais make his big screen debut as Ray Powers in this intense thriller directed by William Steel and starring Martin Kemp, Danny Dyer, Lois Winstone, Billy Murray, Jamie Murray, Ian Virgo, Roland Manookian, and Geoff Bell.

subset: commoncrawl


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Remember our report about a new Motorola Droid, the 4th in the makings, codenamed Maserati? Well its as real and it just got leaked in a few screenshots.
What you see in the leaked image above is the upcoming Motorola Droid 4 with an illuminated slide-out 5-row keyboard and RAZR styling body case. According to the source Droid4 has the best slide-out keyboard seen so far on any mobile device.
The device has Verizon logo in the front at the bottom under its navigation buttons (see photo above) and its 4G/LTE enabled. Other mentioned features are the 1080 HD video recording capability (no details about front and back cameras), a 4.0-inch touchscreen display, Moto ACTV syncing, HDMI out and comes with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS installed. That's all we know so far about its hardware specifications, but make no mistake about it, we will keep you posted as soon as we hear more.
As the device is still a prototype, given only to engineers for testing purposes we should expect it to debut 2 to 4 months from now.


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The Healing Drum – Book – Yaya Diallo & Mitchell Hall
The Healing Drum – Book – Yaya Diallo & Mitchell Hall
In Stock
Product Description
About the Author: Born and raised in Mali, West Africa into the Minianka (Bamana) tribe, Yaya Diallo learned to play balafon and hand drums under the instruction of his grandfather and spiritual mentor, Nangape
The Healing Drum traces the extraordinary cultural legacy of the Minianka tribe of West Africa, for whom music serves a sacred, healing function for the individual and society. The authors explore the Minianka view of humanity, music, and the cosmos relative to work, celebration, herbal medicine, dance, trance, initiation, and death. The first book of its kind, delivering a message of untapped wisdom and power from a little-known culture through the universal medium of music.
"The Healing Drum is more than a literary autobiography; it includes considerable ethnographic information about Minianka culture"
Shaman's Drum
"Together Diallo and Hall have collaborated to produce a text that combines anthropology, sociology, philosophy and music in a potent and thought-provoking read."
The Jazz Report
"This is not actually a scholarly book, but that is part of its strength: the subjects discussed in Part One, about Minianka culture as a whole, are those covered in standard ethnographic studies."
"Part two provides examination of the more public role of music as a sacred healing practice in Minianka culture."
Timothy White
Editor of Shaman's Drum


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more Granite Peak
Click to enlarge
Close up of the last couple of hundred feet. The "Keyhole" is the leaning block up there. To climb up directly underneath the Keyhole is reportedly 5.4 (exposed) climbing and people rappel this pitch on descent. I got just below to size it up---I would not solo that route, so started looking for other options. The party descending said thunderstorms were building to the west. Time was running out. If I had gone further to the right as my partner had suggested, we could have got up this last bit. It was a long approach and then to not finish the last 200 ft was very disappointing but still a good effort for just a day trip. We should have either carried a rope, started earlier (3 a.m.) or camped out.
These two fellows actually had a rope but they, too, turned back. They had camped just 1 hr from the peak, behind a big stone windbreak yet for some reason, we were ahead of them, starting 7 hours from the peak. Had they got up at a good early hour, they would surely have made the top long before the notorious mid-day thunderstorms built up.
Group descending Granite Peak, taken from just below the Keyhole. Bad weather is reportedly coming, and folks are headin' down as fast as possible.
Downclimbing a chimney with another group hot on our heels. They convinced us to turn around and suggested we couldn't do it without a rope since they had used one. At my partners' insistence we did slog up nearby Tempest Mountain on the way back as a consolation prize. I was really dragging my ass by that point. Grouchy, too. It was past the point of fun.
We are well on our way back along Froze-to-Death Plateau with no storm to worry about anymore. It Fizzled out. Our day started from the car at 4 a.m. and we got back 20 hours later at 12:20 a.m. exhausted. It sure felt like we had bagged the peak, because that peak had sure bagged us! Our next mountain attempt was to be Borah Peak highest point in Idaho, after short visits to Yellowstone Park and the Tetons.
For more info on Granite Peak and other USA other highpoints visit www.americasroof.com/mt.html Most parties would need 2-3 days for Granite Peak and the technical difficulty of the final ridge is not to be underestimated.
Home Introduction Scrambles Climbs Ski ascents Photo tour Links Guidebooks
© all photos copyright by the author 1999.


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Hey, I'm Stephanie, a Graphic Designer and Creative Maker, living in Meppel, The Netherlands.
I create my designs in my home studio, surrounded by inspiration, especially my little 'lieve', my daughter. ('Lieve' means dear, love or sweety in Dutch).
I love incorporating clean lines, colour and typeface when creating my downloadable prinatable art and home decor prints.
But sitting in front of a computer all day can become tedious, so I like to enjoy some down time by creating garlands and hanging decorations from felt and fabric.
I sell my designs online via my Etsy shop. Why not pop over and take a browse or visit my Facebook page to see what I am currently working on.


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TechnoServe is a non-profit organization that seeks to alleviate poverty in the developing world by partnering with enterprising people, to create and develop businesses that can generate income and jobs. TechnoServe has operated in Kenya for four decades, helping build capacity for more than 500 small and medium-sized businesses. In addition, it is helping thousands of farmers "boost their incomes and connect to broader markets". In its role as a catalyst, TechnoServe is now promoting sustainable mobile solutions for agriculture development through the Connected Farmer Alliance (CFA), which began in October 2012.
We recently spoke with Mike Elliott, Director of the CFA project at TechnoServe, Kenya.
Hello Mike, can you tell us a bit about TechnoServe and its work in Kenya?
Kenya's has witnessed a period of recent stability, with increased credit access to the private sector, investment in infrastructure, and growth in key sectors such as tourism, renewable energy, and information and communication technology (ICT). At the same time, unemployment and poverty rates in the country remain high, with 35 percent of Kenyans living on less than a dollar per day, and food insecurity looms large due to poor farming methods and vulnerability to drought. TechnoServe is looking to address these challenges through market-led approaches. Currently, TechnoServe is focusing on livestock, coffee, horticulture, food processing, sustainable mobile for agriculture development and entrepreneurship development, with an emphasis on engaging the youth and women.
What is the Connected Farmers' Alliance (CFA) and what does it do?
The CFA is a 3-year partnership between Vodafone, USAID, and TechnoServe focused on developing mobile solutions for agriculture. For us that falls into three categories: 1) mobile supply chain solutions that enable agribusinesses to engage more effectively with their smallholder suppliers, 2) mobile financial services to that smallholders, including savings, insurance and credit, and 3) identifying and supporting entrepreneurs that are engaging in the mAgri space. With the Vodafone partnership, we are testing a model whereby private sector players can engage profitably and sustainably in the agriculture sector. At TechnoServe, we are doing the ground work to make sure it's successful. For more information, see connected farmers alliance.
Why Vodafone?
For USAID and TechnoServe, engaging the private sector in program is a way to ensure long-term sustainability. The work that CFA is doing in developing and scaling products will continue after the program ends, as the commercial products will be embedded in our local Vodafone partners where they will receive continued focus and investment. As for why Vodafone specifically, they're really committed to agriculture, and understand the value of working with stakeholders like NGOs and the public sector. They're making a significant investment in this space, and are bringing the managerial focus required for us to be successful. In addition, we get to leverage the M-Pesa system, a mobile money platform that Vodafone pioneered and is now leveraging for interesting and innovate uses.
How are you going to gauge the success of the CFA program?
Well, there are two main success criteria. First, the products we develop must be launched and commercially supported in the market by Vodafone and their local partners. This will prove our business model, and ideally crowd-in other players in the mobile agriculture space. Secondly, we would like to engage half a million farmers through our products by the end of the program.
What projects are Kellogg-CRTI Fellows involved with at TechnoServe for the summer?
Nirav is engaged in designing two mobile financial services that will address the unique needs of women farmers. Women do a large proportion of work on the farms but have a lower degree of control over the production. He has been conducting field and desk research and holding focus groups of women to inform potential solutions. At present he's identified two potential products and is building out the business case and pitch deck that will enable us to find a home for these products.
Preeza is identifying ways that a local tech incubator can better support entrepreneurs looking to develop Value-Added Services (VAS) for agriculture. She has developed a suite of services and events towards this end, and is embedding these within Safaricom, TechnoServe and the incubator itself.


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Math Artist in Residence
Math Artist in Residence
Sadly math is a gatekeeper for far too many of our students. STEM learning Lab believes that math should not be a privileged subject that is accessible to only certain segments of the population. We believe that all students can, and should, be mathematically literate in today's digital world and we are on a mission to make this a reality.
At STEM Learning Lab, we approach teaching math through a unique, research-based pedagogy based on cultivating students' visual spatial skills to develop conceptual understanding and increase math performance and efficiency. We understand that strong spatial skills are critical for success in mathematics, science and engineering (Uttal, Meadow, Tipton, Hand, Alden, Warren & Newcombe, 2013). We know that spatial skills are a strong predictor of achievement and attainment in STEM fields (Kell, Lubinski & Benbow, 2013). Teaching math spatially can be especially powerful especially for student that struggle as they leverage their innate spatial temporal abilities to make sense of mathematical concepts.
Through our Math Artist in Residence program, schools and students will work with a mathematics learning scientists to strengthen students mathematical skills including visual spatial skills and problem solving through a number of different techniques, including innovation spatial temporal software, game theory, engineering and design thinking.
To learn more or to register your school, please email us at email@example.com


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Over the weekend, I decided to whip up a coffee cake for the kids to have at breakfast. This coffee cake was one of the first things I remember making when I was learning how to cook. My dad would frequently encourage me to bake one *wink*. It's a quick and inexpensive recipe that calls for ingredients you probably already have…my favorite kind of recipe!
I've posted before about making your own "Bisquick"-type mix for making pancakes, waffles and biscuits. My kids love pancakes…especially when I make them Mickey-shaped! Boxed Bisquick in the stores is pricey. It's quick, easy and cheap to make it yourself at home, read on!
There are dozens of variations for coffee cake using Bisquick on the Betty Crocker website. I made the double-streusel version, adding chopped walnuts in the middle.
Before you make the coffee cake, you'll need a batch of your "bisquick".
Here is the quick and easy DIY recipe. I store it in a big zip lock bag to have on hand for quick pizza dough, pancakes, waffles and drop-biscuits.
DIY "Bisquick"
- 6 cups All-purpose Flour
- 3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 1 cup Vegetable Shortening
Use a fork or the whisk attachment on your mixer to cut in the shortening until the mixture is a fine crumb. Use in place of Bisquick in your recipes!
Betty Crocker Double-Streusel Coffee Cake
Streusel –
- 2/3 cup Bisquick mix
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp cold butter or margarine
Coffee Cake-
- 2 cups Bisquick mix
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- Optional –
- Chopped walnuts or pecans
- Heat oven to 375°F. Spray bottom and side of 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
- In small bowl, mix 2/3 cup Bisquick mix, the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until crumbly; set aside.
- In medium bowl, stir coffee cake ingredients until blended. Spread about 1 cup of the batter in pan.
- Sprinkle with about 3/4 cup of the streusel. Add the optional chopped nuts at this time, if desired.
- Drop remaining batter over top of streusel; spread carefully over streusel.
- Sprinkle remaining streusel over top.
- Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or cool.
I was excited to taste it and cut into the cake a bit early so my piece was too hot and fell apart…oops! It set together much better the next day after I'd let it rest. So nice to make a special dish using ingredients that I had on hand. Using my own "Bisquick", this was also very budget-friendly!
Enjoy your treat with a cup of coffee like my dad used to do or with a straight-up glass of ice cold milk like my kids!


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Likely in your lifetime you have either hosted someone or been hosted by someone. What you may or may not have known is that it's the little details that make a difference to someone in their stay with you. A Southern Belle prides herself in making someone "feel at home." What's expected and what's above and beyond? I'm here to share that bit of information with you today!
Now, to be perfectly frank, in our current home, we do not have a separate guest room – one of the only downfalls I find with our house. Therefore, if someone is staying the night with us, the kiddos bunk together, and we generally put them in our daughter's room. Every bedroom in our house is en suite, so guests have plenty of bathroom privacy – something I love about our home.
Here are a few things I do to make sure someone has a comfortable stay.
- Provide plenty of towels and bath rags. I usually make sure they have two towels and two rags per person. Of course, I also have a cabinet of "extras" available in case.
- Toiletries – In the bathroom (out of ordinary reach of our kids), I have shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash and lotions that I set out if we have someone stay with us. I also have mini tubes of toothpaste and a couple of inexpensive toothbrushes readily available.
- I have a spare blow dryer that I usually keep in the master bath that I place in their bathroom.
- Medicine – I usually have a small bottle of Tylenol I put in the bathroom. Again, this is not something I keep in there all of the time, due to it being my daughter's bathroom.
- It should go without saying, but just in case, I make sure everything is CLEAN. I wash the actual pillows. I make sure the bedspread is washed. Toilets are cleaned right before arrival, etc.
- I have a list of emergency numbers and the wifi password for their use. Now, most of the time my mother-in-law is our guest, so I want to make sure she has all numbers needed in case of emergency, but I think this is handy regardless.
- Provide bottles of water. I don't go to the extent of placing these in the bedroom because I prefer chilled water, but I do make sure to have bottles on hand and in the fridge for guests to drink. Likewise, I also try to get an additional favorite drink, whether it's a particular wine or, in the case of my MIL, diet coke.
Now, AS a guest in someone's home, I have a few go-to rules that seem to apply, regardless of familiarity with your host(s).
- Pick up after yourself. Again, this should go without saying, but they are not your maids.
- Bring a hostess gift. This can be something simple like a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates. You can also bring something a bit more personal, such as a monogrammed kitchen towel or a bottle of their favorite wine.
- Pick up the tab once every three days. If you are staying with someone for the weekend, etiquette suggests you take them to dinner as a thanks for their generosity. They are purchasing extra food, drinks, taking time, etc., so this is a small way of showing how appreciative you are. If you cannot do this or if you're at a place like a lake, offer to buy and cook dinner at the house. The point is to simply show that you are thankful.
- Make the bed until it's time to change it. If you're staying the weekend, it would be kind to offer to change the bed sheets on your last day. Until then, make the bed, even if you do not do so at your own home.
- Send a note. Following your visit, send a note letting them know you enjoyed your time with them and appreciate their hospitality.
Do you have ideas to add to the list? I'd love to hear them! As always, thank you for reading.


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Friday, June 27, 2014
Syria...! No doubt too many dead and too many refugees...! It is an international problem long ago...!
UN on Syria: Must a million die? - Inside Syria - Al Jazeera English
A top United Nation's aid official has expressed his frustration at the obstacles to humanitarian aid in Syria. John Ging, the director of operations at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said three years into the conflict, the crisis in Syria was getting even worse.
He said: "The valid question to ask those political leaders is ... how many poor people will you accept to be killed before you do something different? It's 5,000 a month at the moment and it's over 150,000 already. Is it 200,000? Is it a quarter of a million? Is it a million people?"
. . .
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text: 18 Oct Day 30: Cascading Braid and Roll-Up Day 30: Cascading Braid and Roll Up Level of Difficulty: Challenging Time to Completion: 10-15 minutes Hair Condition: clean to 2nd day hair Hair Length: Medium to Long Hair Type: All Hair Types Tools: hairties, bobbypins We made it!!! This challenge was so fun to try all these new styles out and I realized I can do a lot more of these on myself than I imagined before starting this! I spent my evening last night watching YouTube and being inspired by many different stylists with many different


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I have REALLY been neglecting this blog. I'm finally done with this quarter at Bel-Rea and am off for an entire month! So hopefully I can finally catch up on some blogging :)
These are our anniversary photos from the end of October. I love them all! A friend of mine also took some more photos, but I'm still waiting on those to be finished before I can post them.
Photos are by Ali from Fifth and Ephesians Photography.
Looking forward to taking some pictures together with Stacey Dinch Photography coming up this month!!


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2 ltrs milk, Cardamom
Take 1 ltr of milk in a pan
Another 1 ltr of milk in a bowl..
Break the milk by adding citric juice (lime)
Squeeze the excess lime out of the broken milk and the remaining stuff will be used as a panneer..
Grind the sugar crystals to make a thin powder..
Boil the milk in a pan
Take Badam, pista and Cut them into small pieces..
Now add panneer into boiled milk, stir it thoroughly...then add sugar powder, pieces of badam and pista into the mixture..cook for some time till the mixture gets settled..
Now that's Kalakand!!! Indian sweet!!!


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If You're Happy and You Know it
Action Song for the Early Years
in stock
Book Format: e-resourceView the book that this e-resource is taken from here »
£ 0.99
Product details
- Released date: Nov 09, 2015
- Pages: 2
- Type: Reproducible e-resource with embedded mp3 file
- Subjects: Art and Music, Language and Literacy
- Age groups: 0 - 5 years
Learn the words, play the instrumental track on the interactive pdf and sing along.
The song is suggested for use with Drama Activities for the Early Years.
Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 is needed to use this resource. It is available to download from the internet for free.
There are no market restrictions for this e-resource.


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After the release of Instagram the much awaited Android app, and within a day or so there almost 1 million downloads all over the world. In case you haven't heard, Facebook had bought Instagram for a $1 billion. At present officially the app is only available for Android users and iOS users, and an app called Carousel supports on the desktops running on Mac OS, But no where you can find the Windows involved, but there is nothing to worry if you are a Windows user, there are many Instagram Desktop Apps too.
It has been quite some time Facebook has acquired Instagram and the whole lot of hype that was created during the acquisition. But since then there was no big news about the world's most popular photo sharing app. And this is probably the first time since then we got a news about a major update in Instagram in iPhone.
Facebook has released Version 2.5 of Instagram for iPhone users. Though there is no major design or layout change in the app but a remarkable update is been done by adding a whole new 'Explore 'button on top, replacing the 'Popular' section- which used to show the photos with most likes.
With the new 'Explore' option it has become lot more easily to search pictures, if you are looking for a particular type and name. This can be done by search the photos with username and hashtag and the existing feature for viewing the most liked image remains intact under the 'Explore' option.
Logic behind buying followers or likes or comments on Instagram
When you can simply buy Instagram followers, and even likes and comments, that too for free, why would you still believe in being in the long queue with those waiting for others to see your photographs and then give you what you want? It is not just time wasting but also being unreasonable. Or you can also try instagram followers hack.
It may or may not be politically correct, but it will give you want, i.e., likes, comments, followers, and overall, happiness.
This thing known as "to buy Instagram followers, likes and comments" can be called unethical, but as they say, all is fair in war, and this is definitely war.


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I was surprised to find out that overnight, a unique identifier had jumped from 6 to 1012 and upon investigation, it looks like SQL Server, when restarted, messes up the seed of the unique identifier to a new value (this is why you should never use ints for primary keys!)
Don't expect identity values to be dense. For example, a rollback when inserting a row will cause an identity value to be "consumed" leaving a gap in the numbers.
I wrote a small SP which can be used to re-seeed the identity of a table in a all DBs on a server:
USE [master] GO SET ANSI_NULLS ON GO SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON GO ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[ResetOrderIdentityAfterRestart] AS BEGIN begin TRAN SET NOCOUNT ON; DECLARE @db_name varchar(280), @SQL nvarchar(500); PRINT '-------- DB Reseet Report --------'; DECLARE db_name_cursor CURSOR FOR select DatabaseName + '.dbo.table' from tblClients WHERE ACTIVE = 1 OPEN db_name_cursor FETCH NEXT FROM db_name_cursor INTO @db_name WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0 BEGIN PRINT ' ' print '----- Resetting count: ' + @db_name -- Declare an inner cursor based -- on vendor_id from the outer cursor. SET @SQL = ' declare @id int = 0 SELECT @id = MAX(ID) FROM ' + @db_name + ' DBCC CHECKIDENT (''' + @db_name + ''', reseed, @id) ' exec sp_executeSQL @SQL FETCH NEXT FROM db_name_cursor INTO @db_name END CLOSE db_name_cursor; DEALLOCATE db_name_cursor; Commit END
Then add it in to Start up by using following syntax.
EXEC sp_procoption 'ResetOrderIdentityAfterRestart', 'startup', 'on';


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The Factors You Must Keep In Mind Before Choosing A Fitness App
In a life surrounded by constant work and stress, plenty of fast food, and more convenience, it is extremely easy for any individual to get spun out of shape instantly. These reasons are mainly why so many people are unhealthy and unfit in the world right now. However with the fast development of smart phones and other software, it has opened a new door for all of us who are trying to stay fit. If you have a smart phone, it is going to be extremely easy for you to get a hold of certain dieting apps, fitness apps and tracking apps that will help you lose weight the right way, and faster at that as well. There is also no known negative side when it comes to using such apps on your mobile phone too. But if you do search for these kind of apps, you are going to find a hundred apps that are going to be tell you the same thing. So you must be careful when you are selecting these kind of apps to make sure you are using what is best for you! Here is how you must start to look for the correct app for your needs!
Identify your goals
The first thing anyone who is looking for hpb steps trackers or fitness app must do is, try and identify your goal. You must try and figure out if your goal is to keep fit with work out regimes, or just to track your diet or if it is something else. This way you can find a good app that is going to help with exactly what you want. The reason for identifying your goal is so that too can make plans about how you should continue your activities in order to reach this goal. Having goals is going to motivate you to work harder to achieve that gaol as well, and motivation is an important factor here.
Specialty items
While you can find an app that either helps you with work out ideas and counting calories easily, it is not going to be enough to make you actually want to reach a certain goal. If you are really in need of dieting or staying fit, then you must choose an app that has other specialty items such as healthy 365. Find an app that not only counts the calories but recommends right food for you, an app that shows videos of work out patterns, apps that play music suitable for when you work out etc. These are specialties not available in every single app so make sure the app you choose is special!
Review ratings
When you are choosing an app, try to look at the app reviews and ratings to get an idea about how the app really is. When you look for an app of your choice, you can also look for its own ratings and reviews online and this, apart from these ratings letting you know how the app works it also shows how users have managed to find it useful as well. This is then going to either make you want to make a decision or look for a different, better app.


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Patriot 4GB PC3-19200 Specifications
Memory is getting faster and faster and Patriot has released a very fast memory kit lately. We are going to look at a 4GB Pc3-19200 2400MHz memory kit from Patriot today. How well does it perform, and how fast is it really compared to 1600MHz memory that alot of people use these days?
About Patriot:
Find more information about Patriot on their website, http://www.patriotmem.com/company/index.jsp?pg=contact
|PC3-19200 (2400MHz)
Extreme Performance PC3-19200 (2400MHz)
Enhanced Latency (9-11-9-27)
Voltage: 1.65V
Equipped with advance aluminum heat-dispersing shields
100% Tested and Verified
RoHS Compliant
Tested on Intel® P55 chipsets / Intel® Core™ i7 CPUs
Tested and Qualified on Asus P7P55D, Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD7 and MSI Big Bang Fuzion
Lifetime Warranty
The Product:
Please click on thumbnails for bigger pictures
The ram comes packed in this little box where the ram sticks are placed in a plastic cover to protect it vs damage. The heatsinks on these things are huge, so it will be very intresting to see how cool and stable this ram stays under load.
Please click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture
Each memory stick has a sticker on them that descibes the model and latency. Overall nothing to different compared to other ram sticks.


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The Shakespeare Murders
Dear reader,
I just wanted to explain a little of what I am hoping to do here with this book. I have loved detective fiction ever since I read a selection of Sherlock Holmes stories as a child of twelve (back when being twelve meant that you were still a child). Over the years I discovered Christie, Chesterton, Sayers, Collins (although I do have to admit I have gone two rounds with The Moonstone and lost both times) and found myself even more enamored with this genre. Add to this mix such TV shows as the old ITV Sherlock series (starring Jeremy Brett), NCIS, Death in Paradise and the BBC series Sherlock and you get close to the heart of how I like to see detective fiction. The classic whodunnit, in which we see chaos brought back to order through the detective's diligent pursuit of truth, mixed with the peril of the thriller and the humour that is inherent to everyday life.
Thomas Brown is a character that I have dreamt of for a long time and have, at various times, sat down to commence an account of the adventures that a crime-solving teacher would find themselves immersed in. This is also a love-letter to the city of Sydney and the region of Greater Western Sydney, a place I have been thankful to call home. Yes, you will probably be able to find many of the locations mentioned on Google maps, even the addresses with Shakespearean names (how did we do research for novels before the internet?), but unfortunately none of these characters exist in real life.
Because this book is so firmly based in a geographical and cultural setting you are going to find there are words and phrases that will be outside of your experience. I encourage you to seek and find, or even leave a comment on my tablo page so that you can make your reading experience better. I do not apologize for this. How else will you grow unless you run into something that you don't know?
Ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to present the incredible Mr Thomas Brown!
Soli Deo gloria!
(c) Jon Bailey, 2014
I'm here/
Also great because it's an Australian company :)!
Oooh yes I use Canva to make the Tablo social media quotes etc. It's v easy to use :)!
Thanks for that. I use a website called Canva to create them. I have a little design background, but Canva makes it impossible to get it wrong.
The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge. - Hamlet
You only need half a litre of blood to completely cover a room.
That was the first thing they noticed on entering the house. There was easily more than that here in this crime scene. The team's training kicked into gear as they set to work. Sketch the scene, collect tissue samples, photograph blood stains, find samples of gun residue. If it wasn't for the large, festering carcass of a pig lying in the middle of the scene, any passerby would have assumed that this was the scene of a violent crime and that the figures populating it were trained technicians.
The students were looking at each other, confusion in their eyes. Something wasn't right. As far as they could see everything they needed to solve the 'crime' was there in the room. But something set them all on edge. What was it?
Thomas Brown chewed his lip. He could sense it, something WAS missing. He looked over the room again, carefully weighing in his mind the evidence available. There was the pig's carcass, his head had been removed in a 'ritual' killing and placed at the other end of the room. There were the corresponding blood stains for the injury across the carpet and the wall. You had to hand it to the lab technicians, he thought, they knew how to put on a spectacle.
Then he saw it. At first it looked like a blood stain that related to the 'victim' on the floor. But what if...? He walked over for closer inspection.
"Guys, there's another body."
"Come again?" said Paul Reid, Thomas' best friend, who had just stuck his head inside the door from where he had been taking photos outside.
"This stain can't have come from this injury," said Thomas, pointing out the carcass and the stain that had perplexed him. "In fact if you get down here you can see that a second body has been dragged from here across the room in this direction."
Thomas followed the trail to a cupboard that everyone had been ignoring on the other side of the room. Growing out from underneath its doors was a pool of blood. With a raised hand he called for Paul who unstrapped the dummy pistol that he had been given and trained it on the door.
Taking a breath, Thomas opened the doors and stood back.
"Who had the bright idea of looking in the cupboard?"
The class had cleared the crime scene and where now seated, still wearing their stained clean suits, in a class room debriefing from the scene. Thomas and Paul sheepishly put up their hands. Their lecturer smiled.
"You ought to be congratulated. The lab technicians have set that scene several times for all of the forensic classes for their last assignment and no one has ever noticed the blood trail leading to the live victim in the cupboard."
The other students clapped, some enthusiastically, some wishing that they had been able to deduce the same conclusion from that scene. The lecturer continued.
"This class has passed with flying colours, firstly because you thoroughly documented every shred of evidence that had been left for you in the scene and secondly because you discovered the second victim and successfully got them to hospital, she's going to live."
The class had broken up and were going there separate ways. Thomas and Paul were walking to catch their train. Paul broke the silence.
"Great call, by the way. I would never have picked the second body."
"Well, you know how it is," Thomas batted him off modestly. "The gaps in your evidence chain can be more eloquent than all of the collected evidence together." Paul laughed and gave his friend a punch in the shoulder.
"Yeah, but you're the only guy I know who would go in the face of all the other evidence in the room."
The train arrived at the station shortly after they had, and they had parted company once they got off at Paramatta Station, Paul to his apartment and Thomas to his parent's house.
Thomas walked up the drive and noted that his mother was out. He let himself in to the dark house and walked through it to the master bedroom to check on his father who was sleeping quietly. That was good, the pain mustn't have been to bad today. He closed the door and slipped quietly down the hallway to the kitchen.
Thomas found the note from his mum on the kitchen bench. That was so typical for mum, even though she knew he had a mobile phone she would rather leave him a note on a scrap of paper than call or send a text message. Very well then, she would be back later. Thomas found the meal she had left and reheated it in the microwave.
The sound of the phone ringing in the hall broke the silence of the house. Thomas hurried from the kitchen to answer it, picking up the receiver.
"Hello, This is the Brown residence."
"Am I speaking to Mr Brown?"
"This is his son, may I ask who's calling?"
"I am speaking from the emergency room at Westmead, it's about your mother. . ."
That opening paragraph....I have no words. Wow.
Chapter 1
…truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long; a man's son may, but at the length truth will out. - The Merchant of Venice
Thomas Brown looked up at the clock and sighed. Eleven forty-five and still half of his year twelve papers to mark. Why did he always do this? He loved giving his students creative space, allowing them to be inventive in their responses. But this always left him with a pile of marking of dubious proportions. His parents were in bed and now the night was his, even if it now had to run later than he liked. He reached over to the bottle of Cola and poured another glass. Thus fortified, he continued his reading, interrupting it only to put red marks across the student's work.
Another hour had passed, the pile had diminished and he only had a few essays left when he was interrupted by the persistent ringing of his phone. Thomas hated interruptions to his work, especially ones that came this late in the evening.
"Hello, Thomas?"
"Well you didn't expect to get the Pope on this line! Do you realise what time it is Paul?"
"I know, sorry it's so late. I didn't disturb. . ."
"No, mum and dad would sleep through a marching band. What couldn't wait till the morning?"
"I need you Tom, can you meet me at the Macca's on New Line road?"
"If this is anything less than a national emergency I'm hanging up. I've got marking to finish, but a cop wouldn't get that."
"Well, this cop needs to talk to an old friend, now."
Thomas paused. He looked at the pile of marking. It was only Friday after all. He could get it done on the weekend.
"I'll see you there in five minutes."
Pulling into the car park Thomas was greeted by Paul who was dressed in civvies, even though he was driving a police car. They stepped inside and ordered their coffees. Not a word passed between them until they were seated. Paul was the first to break the silence.
"So how are David and Margaret?"
"What's there to tell? Dad is still in and out of hospital with his mesothelioma and mum hasn't taken a single step on her own or spoken a word since the day of her accident."
"I'm sorry man. Do you have help?"
"Home care nurses every day for mum, Dad can look after himself to a degree."
"And how's your teaching going"
"What can I say? Good, solid, regular nine-to-five employment can not be beaten. Some classes are tough but you get used to that, you know what I mean? I can also arrange my timetable to maximise time at home with my parents."
"Nice. What subjects? No, wait," Paul interrupted Thomas' answer. "Let me see if I remember. You teach English and History?"
"How does someone studying forensic science wind up teaching kids about poetry and famous dead people?"
"I was an all rounder at school, you know. There was no subject that I really found too difficult and they were the ones that are guaranteed employment."
"Smart. Very smart." Paul picked up his coffee and took a long pull. Thomas decided now was a good time to cut to the chase.
"So who died?" Paul, taken aback, slowly put his cup on the table as he responded.
"Four people, actually."
"And I'm here because. . ."
"Because none of it makes sense and I need your help"
"Be reasonable Paul. You know I have done nothing in the way of forensic work since Uni. It's been too long."
"Ah, but you were singular, even then. And I've watched you. You were the best at reading a scene. Try your hand one more time, for my sake." Paul paused with a pleading look in his eyes. Thomas sat thinking. Paul looked up from the table, watching to see if anyone else was listening.
"Paul, no one else is here. And what could you possibly have that would. . ." but Paul's expression left the words dying in his throat.
"I have a serial killer on the loose." Thomas sucked in a sharp breath, as if the words had hit him like a bullet.
"How long?"
"In the last month, four murders."
"How are they connected".
Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone, handing it to Thomas. "He always leaves a coded message and each message was signed in the same way." Thomas raised his eyebrows at the photo on the screen.
"Is that what I think it is?", he said pointing to the signature.
"Yes. A perfect copy of the signature of William Shakespeare, in the victim's blood no less." Thomas sat and stared at it and passed the phone back to Paul.
"So," Thomas started again, "Is there a pattern to the killings?"
"No. The cause of death in the first case is as yet undetermined but we strongly suspect poison. The second was a stabbing and the third was a strangling. Number four was a drug overdose, but the evidence suggests that it was forced on the victim by the murderer." Thomas sat quietly, thinking through the information.
"Can I see the messages again?" Paul handed the phone to Thomas. Thomas hated codes, they had always left his head spinning when he had attempted to work on them. He found this code had just the same effect as all the others. He pushed the phone back to Paul with barely disguised disgust and focussed his attention on his coffee.
A dilemma now presented itself to him. Thomas had always enjoyed mysteries and had shown no small amount of promise when studying to be a forensic detective. But it had all been brought to a screaming halt with his mother's accident. He had changed degrees, changed jobs and changed houses in order to help look after his parents. He set down the cup, keeping his focus on the table without looking at his friend.
"You do understand I can't just take this up? I have another job, teaching. It kind of occupies all my spare time."
"I know, but I don't think it will take that long for you to work out. The code isn't the thing you need to worry about, we have another guy who can help you with that. We just need some lateral thinking from a guy who doesn't miss a clue." Thomas looked up at Paul, the pleading tone in his voice all too evident in his eyes.
There was no way that Thomas Brown could get involved in something like this, not now. Besides, was this even legal. Paul, without breaking eye contact continued his pitch.
"You would be hired as a consultant, nothing more. I just want you to come to the station, sift through some photos and data from the crime scene. See what sets you off."
"Paul, I. . .it's not that. . ."
"If you come in tomorrow, that should be all I need. I'm just asking for one Saturday afternoon."
Thomas looked down at the table top. He couldn't help but feel that a door he once felt was closed had now been opened for him and he couldn't imagine an opportunity like this ever coming his way again. Besides, it was only one day, and the home care nurse would be able to cover for him with his parents. He looked up from the table.
"Right. I'm in."
Good so far


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More Louisiana schools need to meet basic technology requirements in order to administer tests tied to the educational standards known as Common Core, Superintendent of Education John White said Wednesday (Jan. 15).
(NOLA.com | Times-Picayune archive)
Two-thirds of Louisiana school districts now have enough computers to effectively administer tests tied to new, more rigorous educational standards called Common Core, state Superintendent of Education John White said Wednesday (Jan. 15). But while massive strides have been made in schools' technological capabilities since 2012, at least an additional $6 million will need to be invested to bring the rest up to scratch, he said.
As of this month, 47 of Louisiana's 69 school districts meet a minimum standard set by the state of one computer per seven students, White said. This is a huge jump from just 17 districts a year ago, and 38 last July. Two parishes, St. James and Iberville, even boast a 1:1 ratio. Ascension is almost there.
"I think we've got a long way to go, but a lot to celebrate in this realm," White told lawmakers convened at a joint legislative committee meeting in Baton Rouge on Wednesday.
But during his presentation, White said school districts will need to invest between $6 million and $20 million to ensure that the improvements are made before new tests are administered. This estimate includes only one-time purchases and doesn't take into account ongoing maintenance costs.
Louisiana's technology guidelines state that each school should meet the minimum 7:1 computer-to-student ratio, and that each computer should be updated with, at minimum, Windows XP and 512 MB of memory. While the guidelines are not a state mandate, education officials say schools need to meet the guidelines to be able to administer the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, tests.
White said a lot more needs to be done before next fall, when PARCC tests will first be administered. Twenty-two school districts need to meet the 7:1 ratio; 11 still struggle with Internet access. The Department of Education has not yet issued an analysis of the Recovery School District's technological readiness.
Districts have some time to get ready, after the state approved testing delays for grade school and middle school students in schools that are not technologically up to par to administer the tests; high schools won't be asked to take the tests in 2015 as previously planned.
The extra millions of dollars needed for districts to meet these benchmarks could be met by an increase in annual state dollars for public education. Districts could also dip into local or federal funds, or access other pots of money like the Excellence Excellence Fund, set up by the state in 1999 using money won from the 1998 Tobacco Settlement.
Lauren McGaughy is a state politics reporter based in Baton Rouge. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or on Twitter at @lmcgaughy.


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Obama 'deeply concerned' about Mandela's health
March 28 - U.S. President Barack Obama says he's keeping Nelson Mandela in his prayers after learning the former South African leader was hospitalized. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) U.S. president Barack Obama expressed concern for former South African president Nelson Mandela on Thursday (March 28), who was admitted to the hospital for treatment of a recurring lung infection "Obviously, we're all deeply concerned about Nelson Mandela's health," said Obama, after a meeting with the leaders of Sierra Leone, Senegal, Malawi and Cape Verde. "He's a hero I think to all of us. I'm sure that I speak for the other leaders here. And we will be keeping him in our thoughts and prayers, and his entire family." Obama called Mandela a "inspiration" and praised him for his leadership and unflagging commitment to the South African people. "We all recognize that he has given everything to his people, the people of South Africa, and to the people of the continent, and he's ended up being an inspiration to all of us," said Obama. "When we think of a single individual that embodies the kind of leadership qualities that we all aspire to, the first name that comes up is Nelson Mandela." The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader is renowned at home and abroad for spending 27 years in prison fighting the last bastion of white rule in Africa and then promoting the cause of racial reconciliation. Mandela was briefly hospitalized earlier this month for a check-up, and spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones. That was his longest stay in hospital since his release from prison in 1990 after serving almost three decades for conspiring to overthrow the white-minority apartheid government. Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner.


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I love getting paid on the weekend
I didn't post over the weekend, but that doesn't mean I didn't earn any dividends.
"But you always post about your dividends," you say. "What gives?"
Those of you who follow my blog know I try to post each and every time I take a step, no matter how small, in my march toward a $1,000,000 portfolio. Steps can be dividends or purchases and, ideally, I add one of the two to my Dividend Farm every day the markets are open, which basically boils down to five times a week.
My posts aren't always long, but there's always a point to them; I aim to track my portfolio and get other people who may not invest the way I do, or invest at all, to see there are a ton of different ways to win the game. No one way is right, and my way may not be right for you, but investing can be a life-changing thing for those willing to get started. The first step is the hardest, but every one after that gets you a little closer to your goal, whatever that may be.
My goal is to build a passive income stream. Simply put, that's it. Maybe I'll use it to retire early or fund my kids' college educations. I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do with the dividend income, but I know I want a $1,000,000 portfolio full of dividend-paying stocks. At an average yield of 4%, a portfolio of that size would spit out $40,000 a year.
That's what I'm shooting for. My family and I could do a lot of stuff with that kind of free cash.
The dividends would supplement my income in a way no other job or side gig could. It would allow me to build my wealth without spending any time doing it. Once you buy the dividend-paying stock, there is nothing left to do but sit back and wait for them to roll in.
Maybe that's what I'm after … the flexibility to do what I want when I want to do it. That, honestly, is why I didn't post about the two dividends I earned over the weekend. I have been trying to unplug as much as possible. With three boys, the oldest in 1st grade, you can image the week days can get pretty crazy around the house. The weekends are crazy, too, but the time I'm able to spend with my family is worth more than any divided .. especially the small dividends I earn. I love blogging about my investing journey, but I guess what I'm trying to say is I have better things to do with my weekend.
That said, let me catch you up …
Today's – and this weekend's – dividends
Spending some time away from the market, my blog and social media over the weekend usually isn't a big deal. The market, for one thing, is closed and I almost never earn dividends on Saturday or Sunday.
This weekend, though, I earned a dividend both days. Earning money is always great, but getting a little piece of the pie when you normally wouldn't is even sweeter.
I didn't know I earned anything until I logged into Robinhood this morning. I saw I had, coupled with today's dividend, $5.99 in cash that I didn't have when the market closed Friday afternoon.
Here's why:
IBM: I only have one share if IBM, but it was good enough to earn me $1.50 in dividend income Saturday. This was the second straight quarter the company paid me $1.50/share.
Target: The IBM dividend was nice, but TGT, one of my biggest positions, shelled out an even nicer payment. I have six shares so, at $0.62/share, the company hooked me up with $3.72 on Sunday.
Exxon Mobile: XOM paid me $0.77 for the one share I own Monday. It was my second straight quarter getting paid from the company.
The three dividends boosted my September dividend income to $14.51 and my 2017 mark to $214.28.


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We are now well into 2017, so I thought I would review all of the significant advancements in the world of general aviation future fuels, especially the development of an unleaded 100 octane avgas.
But there were none.
We have had a lot of talk about the candidate fuels, testing, new specification, etc. We have also seen the engine manufacturers make small adjustments so their engines can maybe run on mogas or unleaded sub 100 octane unleaded fuel.
As always, no one talks about the elephant in the room. If a 100 octane unleaded fuel is ever introduced into the GA market, it will face a huge liability exposure from knocking complaints, which may lead to engine damage, exhaust valve recession claims, plus many other lawsuits.
But who will they sue?
The oil company that supplies the fuel will claim that it meets the new spec. The engine manufacturers will claim the FAA research said that it was safe. And it will go round and round — the lawyers will make money and GA will die a little more.
I have received numerous questions asking how the research into unleaded fuels hurts general aviation.
Well, it hurts the industry as a whole because instead of working on updating their engines to at least 1960's technology, the engine manufacturers are playing with these fuels. They could be working on electronic fuel injection, electronic ignition, liquid cooling and many other technology advancements that the rest of the world has been using for almost 50 years.
So what is going to happen in the future?
There is a possibility that the new administration will look at the whole unleaded avgas thing and conclude it is just a complete waste of time and pull the plug on the funding. This would leave a bunch of companies holding the bag and no place to go.
However GA is such a small market, and it would not affect many people, so it would not generate any big headlines. So, the administration may not bother with it.
The other big effect that GA may note from the change in administration is the availability of mogas without ethanol. This is going to be a real crapshoot.
If the new administration looks at the big ethanol picture, it would cut all government subsidies and let ethanol fight it out in the marketplace. But that may not happen because this would hurt the Big Ag business community. And no politician wants to bite the hand that feeds them. I am guessing that not much will happen.
So what will change for GA in 2017? Not much, and I will probably recycle this column in 2018.


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- Interview with Kevin Nix, SAP Senior VP of Enterprise Mobility
- Interview with Ahmend El Adl, Director of Mobility, Pricewaterhousecooper
- Interview with Mark Goode, VP of Sales at DSI
I believe the saying, "content is king!" Although I would add that "content and business processes are king!" Applications that add unique functionality and value to the SAP ecosystem will have longevity. Companies that are only providing interesting views of existing SAP data are subject to being quickly replaced by the next teenager with a cooler UI.
Mobile applications developers must add deep value to be able to gain mindshare and then defend their positions in the longterm. They need to demonstrate unique innovation, deep expertise, and extend value in manners that are defensible.
The term "mash-up" is used often at Sapphire to refer to aggregating data from multiple sources. This is a very interesting concept. Pulling data from many different sources to add unique value on mobile applications that are geospatially aware. This is interesting.
I have seen some absolutely fantastic mobile applications at Sapphire that help companies make collaborative decisions and harvest enterprise's institutional knowledge. These are mobile knowledge and decision management applications. This is a very interesting area to me. It is new value. Not mobilized versions of existing SAP systems.
I have heard and witnessed a lot of chest thumping at Sapphire. The bottom line is how many SAP customers does a vendor have in production.
Mobile micro-applications are being labeled as "instant value" applications at Sapphire. I like this description. It is good marketing.
Inspections, assessments, asset management and field services are still very interesting areas as there is yet a lot of new value that can be created and provided on mobile devices.
Sybase is not known for their mobile applications. They are a great mobile middleware company. It will be interesting to see if they can compete with the incredibile mobile applications that I have witnessed here at Sapphire from ecosystem partners.
There is a persistent rumor that HP may try to outbid SAP for Sybase. Crazy times!
More later...
Kevin Benedict SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor,CEO Netcentric Strategies LLC
Mobile Industry Analyst, Author of the report Enterprise Mobile Data Solutions, 2009
Mobile Strategy Consultant and Web 2.0 Marketing Services
***Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant and Web 2.0 marketing expert. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.


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Le 22 September 2016, 11:34 dans Humeurs • 0
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My inspiration for November and (by lack of rigorous blogging) December was knots - macrame knots, crochet knots, rope necklaces, macrame pendants, and so forth.
I made one macrame rope necklace and am working on another.
Here is a little of what you were up to in November and December.
A DIY cameo plate at The Feminist Housewife.
An Anthropologie inspired ruffled scarf at Sew Homegrown.
A Nina Ricci inspired flower sash at Ruby Mines.
A no-knit scarf at Honestly.
A rugged leather journal cover at Craft Stylish.
A DIY acrylic clutch at Honestly.
Bargain Ballard knock-off mirrors at Green Street.
A creative necklace display at Cup of Te.
A DIY spikey Jonathan Adler-ish paper ball at How About Orange.
A simple white apartment (maybe too simple) at Dwellers without Decorators.
A fireplace makeover at Chic Modern Vintage.
A new Inspired blog party/roundup will be posted shortly, so get ready to share your projects and inspiration.


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The Electronic Freedom Foundation and their coalition of allies had a significant victory in the protection of your online freedom of speech. Specifically, they are making progress on requiring government to get the proper search warrant before reading your emails. Below is an update from their December 2012 newsletter. If you want to learn details about this issue, read this page on their site. The Electronic Freedom Foundation has been protecting the internet for over a decade and is on the front lines of the battle to defend net neutrality.
Yesterday was a watershed moment in the fight for electronic privacy: the Senate Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly passed an amendment that mandates the government get a probable cause warrant before reading our emails. The battle isn't over — the reform, championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), still needs to pass the rest of the Senate and the House, and be signed by the President to become a law. But yesterday, thanks to thousands of people speaking out, we were able to begin the process of overhauling our archaic privacy laws into alignment with modern technology. Read the rest of this entry


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Soulja Boy really turned his swag on for his 21st birthday, by buying himself a Jet. Yep, you heard right, a JET.
The young rapper bought himself a private aircraft worth an estimated $55 million as a coming-of-age gift.
The jet cost $35 mil … but that's just the beginning. We're told the birthday boy is dropping an additional $20 million to pimp out his ride with all sorts of cool stuff … like 12 custom Italian leather seats, flat screen TVs, 4 liquor bars, a special travertine tiled floor, and Brazilian hardwood cabinets.
We're told S.B. is also gutting the in-flight lavatory — and replacing it with a giant, LUXURIOUS bathroom. Oh, he's also giving the jet a custom paint job … to include his logo.
Most 21 year-old's get a car, Soulja Boy gets a Jet.


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How to make fresh mochi, or pounded rice, at home, with ease, and without a mochi making machine.
A new article in The Japan Times about toshikoshi soba. Plus, a little about my favorite food-eating model, Lena-chan, and her brother Lyoh.
A recipe for a very simple yet delicious cake, suitable for the holidays or any time of the year.
I finally made it to Taimeiken, an old time yoshoku restaurant in Nihonbashi, to indulge in the original Tampopo Omuraisu (rice omelette). Yes, that Tampopo.


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If there could ever be an "accidentally great" movie, the new remake of "All the King's Men" might be it. On the one hand, it's a big political action drama that lacks action, lacks drama, and lacks a real sense of purpose. On the other hand, it accomplishes either a wonderful stumble or a sublime piece of greatness in mirroring our current political system and most of its participants: There's a lot of activity and talk, but not much action or message.
In that way, "All the King's Men" is an expensive and dressed-up version of a TV docu-drama: We were exposed to the characters but not much got solved.
It's been a while since I had been so excited to go to the movies. As a culture blogger and political novice with an interest in spiritual reflection, I wanted to enjoy a big movie with big thoughts about big issues, such as power, money, empowerment, the rich, the poor, and the politics and history of leadership. And this was supposed to have it all: Big stars. Big trailer. Big run-up. Big anticipation. Big themes. Big message. And, in the end, Big Thud.
I'd nominate this for an Academy Award for Art Direction and, for maybe one-third of its score. It had all of the impact of, say, a televised Presidential debate: The characters feel extremely impressed with their own importance, but it's just not making it through the screen. I was sad when it ended, partly because I was waiting for the impact moment and partly because I knew it wasn't coming.
Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is inspired by Louisiana governor Huey Long, surrounded by an all-star cast of trite, typical characters even for today's political landscape. Jude Law's Jack Burden, Patricia Clarkson's Sadie Burke, Kate Winslet's Anne Stanton, Anthony Hopkins' Judge Irwin, James Gandolfini's Tiny Duffy, and Mark Ruffalo's Adam run the range of principled to corrupt to leveraged to irrelevant. Stark navigates his way from idealist to electable to crusader to anti-hero. He gets elected as a voice for the everyday Joe but gets lost somewhere between lost idealism and found ambition. Sort of. It's hard to tell how much of Stark's hysterics are self-realized and how much are just, well, Sean Penn.
In the end, I'm not sure there's enough of a message here, but on the other hand, I'm sure whatever your own message is, you could impose it on this film. And in that way, I guess it is spot on accurate in today's political climate. Except, of course, there weren't any spin doctors to explain it after it was over.
One of these days, the best of our actors and the finest of our scriptwriters will get the funding to bring us an intelligent political movie about the haves, the have-nots, and each of our roles in between. This, sadly, just isn't it.
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Poster-child for dead-beat dads!!!!
Posted on : 16-08-2013 | By : Freedomfighter101 | In : California, Deadbeat Dads
My kids' dad is a pathological liar, a perpetual victim and a professional mooch. He hasn't worked in 3 years, hasn't paid child support in 3 years for 4 children. Two of which are mine, ages 7 and 10; 1 with another woman, and another with yet another woman. He lives off of women. (Whichever ones are stupid enough to tolerate him and to believe his sob story!!!!). He doesn't pay child support or do anything positive in any of their lives. The two older ones suffer as a result. Their school records reflect what dead-beat dad damage does to the success of impressionable young men who need a positive male figure in their lives; yet are sadly disappointed with the broken promises and lies of a loser who cares about nothing but his own selfish wants and needs. It's sickening.
HIs latest stunt to try and get off the hook was a failed attempt to file false allegations of neglect and abuse against me. He bold-faced lied, and filed for an ex-parte hearing during my finals week at school, expecting that I would not show up. He thought for sure that he would be granted the request for full physical and legal custody that he asked for, which also included a request to give me monitored visitation. Imagine that!!!! I showed up to his ex-parte hearing however, and foiled his scandalous plan. When the judge asked him for evidence to support the specific incident that he claimed would warrant granting him emergency custody of the children; he began to say: "in 2008…." the judge reminded him that he wanted evidence to support his allegations. He had none… Hence he's been discredited and his motives were revealed. Loser!!!!!!


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Friday, January 23, 2015
Pumpkin Patch
So this one time, we went to a pumpkin patch with my sis and her *new* family. And it was great.
This is kind of belated, I know, I know! But I just couldn't resist.
Trying so. very. hard.
Oh. No? Ok.... I'll just KARATE CHOP IT.
Oh guys, meet my nephew Lucas! I'm kind of obsessed with him.
These people right here? I really love them. I'm not one for commercialized pumpkin patches where they charge you 5 bucks to bounce on a dang moonwalk buuuuut it was totally worth it. Even just for this picture. PRECIOUS.
By the way, that's my brother. Not the baby daddy... cause that would be weird. Just had to put that out there (:
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A great approach to boudoir photography is putting in emotions along with the equation.
This is something that you will need to play up and maximize as much as possible if you would like your boudoir photography style or approach to be a success and to really bring out the best side of the client that you are working with. What moods make her feel sexy and the most confident about herself?
Ask her this before you start out the photo shoot and so that you have a certain theme to work around one way or the other. It doesn't have to be anything overly complicated and convoluted. The simplest of themes oftentimes have the most substance because the long and short of it is that you are only working with one client and she is the main focus of the entire shoot. Keep the approach a little direct and a little straight to the point so that the person watching or looking at the picture will be able to decipher how the photos will pan out at the end of the day.
Make the lighting work for you and not against you.
Have a basic understanding of how lighting works because this is one of the most important things that you will have to deal with when it all comes down to it. Lighting can be quite unflattering if you are not able to put a handle on it. At the end of the day, boudoir photography is all about bringing out the sexy and the most confident side of a certain client so this is something that you need to be really quite keen about when it all comes down to it. Try to avoid overhead light as much as possible since it can create ugly looking shadows from beneath the eyes and it can make the client look tired and a little depressed. You should at the same time avoid the kind of lighting that comes directly from below because it can give off a somewhat haunted look that is not flattering at all.
Fluorescent lighting is one of the most unflattering kind of lighting in the book so you should by all mean do away with it as much as possible. On the contrary, the best possible look that you could ever go for is light that comes from a glass window. The glass surface works as a natural diffuser that makes the light fall in all of the right directions when it all comes down to it and it is something that will really get to bring the best out of your client during the boudoir photography shoot.
Be aware of the effects of distortion.
Take note of the fact that the object that comes the closest to the camera sensor can look quite large and that can be a real issue in boudoir photography. Train yourself in being able to angle your camera sideways so that the lines are cleaner and much more flattering compared to doing a full frontal. Be picky with the kind of lenses that you mount on your camera as well. A wrong one can spell disaster for your boudoir photography Scotland shoot.


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While much of the focus regarding President Obama's tax deal has been on the discontent in the Democratic caucus, a slew of House Republicans have also voiced their opposition, on the grounds that the package includes too few tax breaks and too much help for the jobless. Today, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on CNN, and explained that she is against the tax deal because it not only extends unemployment benefits, which she has continually characterized as "massive new spending," but because, in her mind, it increases taxes.
When a perplexed John King asked her what she was talking about, Bachmann replied that the estate tax cut Obama and the Republicans included is actually a tax increase, because a Bush-era budget gimmick set the estate tax at zero this year. Under current law, the estate tax will go to 55 percent next year, with a $1 million exemption, but under the tax deal, it will be set at 35 percent with a $5 million exemption. This cut costs about $25 billion, and benefits only those in the wealthiest 0.25 percent of households in the country.
During the interview, Bachmann insisted at least five times that this constitutes a "tax increase." Watch a compilation:
Not only is Bachmann framing a tax cut as a tax increase, but the bill is laden with a whole slew of tax cuts: tax cuts for rich, tax cuts for the middle class, tax cuts for workers, tax cuts for those with children, ethanol tax credits, and on and on.
But later in the segment, Bachmann turned right around and railed against the tax deal for its impact on the deficit, while simultaneously claiming that deficit impact of the income tax cuts in the bill shouldn't be considered. "I don't think letting people keep their own money should be considered a deficit," she said. Watch it:
All told, the tax deal costs about $950 billion over the next two years, $480 billion of which goes to maintain the Bush tax cuts. But Republicans have magicked themselves into a fantasy land where the things they like in the bill are free, but the things Obama wants cost money. On a final note, The Wonk Room pointed out that there is a legitimate problem in the bill that could result in a tax increase for the working poor and public employees.


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Yam CakesFrom chefmeow 10 years ago
- 1-1/4 cups cooked yams mashed shopping list
- 2 cups all purpose flour shopping list
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar shopping list
- 1 teaspoon salt shopping list
- 3 teaspoons double acting baking powder shopping list
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil shopping list
- 1/2 cup milk shopping list
How to make it
- Preheat oven to 425 then place yams into large bowl and set aside.
- In another bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
- Combine oil and milk then pour over yams and blend well with a fork.
- Add flour mixture and mix lightly with the fork.
- Turn out on lightly floured surface and knead 1 minute.
- On a floured surface roll out pastry to desired thickness and cut with floured biscuit cutter.
- Lightly grease and flour a baking sheet then place rounds on baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.
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Great idea for the pancakes! Love sweet potatoes, will be trying soon!juels in Clayton loved it
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Facts: Father and Stepmother petitioned to terminate Mother's parental rights to Child so Stepmother could adopt Child.
The proof showed Mother was a heroin addict. She earned money through prostitution to support her drug habit.
During the four months preceding Mother's incarceration, the trial court found Mother earned income from prostitution and used that income to purchase heroin.
Based on these findings, the trial court found Mother willfully failed to support Child during the relevant four-month period. It also found that termination of Mother's parental rights was in Child's best interest. Mother's parental rights were terminated.
Mother appealed.
On Appeal: The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court.
Mother argued that although there was evidence she was earning income by engaging in prostitution, there was no evidence regarding how much she was earning, or whether this would've been sufficient income to allow her to provide support for Child.
Grounds for termination of parental rights by "abandonment" may be shown when a parent has willfully failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child during the relevant four-month period.
The party seeking termination of parental rights must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the opposing party had the capacity to pay support but made no attempt to do so and did not have a justifiable excuse.
Tennessee courts have indicated that in addition to evidence of the parent's income during the relevant time frame, the party seeking termination must also present evidence of the parent's expenses during that time. Without that basic information, the court is unable to determine whether the parent had the capacity to provide support.
The Court found the proof of Mother's income and expenses lacking:
Here, there was some evidence that Mother was employed as a prostitute at various times throughout the child's life. In addition, Mother, without providing dates, testified as to other jobs she held over the years. No proof was introduced, however, as to Mother's actual or approximate income during the relevant four-month period. Furthermore, the record contains no evidence of Mother's expenses during the relevant time period from which this Court could conclude that Mother had the capacity to pay support. Under these circumstances, [Father and Stepmother] failed to present clear and convincing evidence that Mother failed to pay support despite her capacity to do so.
The trial court's ruling as to willful failure to support was reversed. The trial court terminated Mother's parental rights on other grounds, however, and the termination was affirmed by the Court.
K.O.'s Comment: The trial court found that during the relevant four-month period Mother "was prostituting in order to obtain money to satisfy her drug habit." Must one show exactly how much Mother was earning and how much she was spending on heroin? This opinion suggests as much. I doubt Mother kept records. Compare this case with In re Courtney N., where the mother's purchase of a cell phone was sufficient to show she "had money available to her, from whatever source, and decided not to pay child support without any justifiable excuse."
In re Michael B. (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section, October 6, 2016).
Information provided by K.O. Herston: Knoxville, Tennessee Divorce and Family-Law Attorney.


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Get all of my family together and have a bbq in my grandparents back garden
Wednesday, 8 June 2016
Summer Bucket List | 2016
Get all of my family together and have a bbq in my grandparents back garden
8 comments
You have got some great ideas for this summer! I hope you manage to achieve them! Have a great summer! XReplyDelete
Thrifty vintage fashionReplies
Thank you, I hope you do too! :) xxxDelete
Absolutely love this post! Writing in the sunshine definitely makes it more interesting :) xxReplyDelete
Glad you enjoyed! I know I love it! :) xxxDelete
I love the saying on that notebook! What a great bucket list. I've been thinking of putting one together myself so I don't let it slip away too quickly. Hope you cross off as many things as you can!ReplyDelete
Via SoraReplies
It's great isn't it! Yeah I'm hoping having this list motivates me to do the things I want to before it's over, thank you! :) xxxDelete
I really like the idea of doing such a list! I think I should do that too. ;)ReplyDelete
Can't wait for summer !
Do it! :) Glad you enjoyed! xxxDelete


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It's finally getting warm outside. I went to my dresser to pull out my collection of shorts and summery clothes. None of them fit me. Not a single pair of shorts. Which means I have to break down and buy more shorts. Which means I have to drag my fat ass to the store and try on more shorts and talk myself out of feeling upset that, yet again, I've gained at least a whole size (or two) over the winter.
What the fuck? No, really, what the fuck?
I don't think I have a terrible diet. I don't eat any fast food, or junk food, or fast junk food. I don't drink sodas of any kind. And for the last couple of months, I don't drink much alcohol.
Yes, I eat eggs and butter and cheese and bread. But I also eat vegetables and beans.
So, in an attempt to really get a handle on what I'm eating, and where I'm failing, I'm going to start keeping a clearer record of all the food I consume. Starting today (not counting yesterday's once-in-a-long-while bacon cheeseburger and fries).
Breakfast: Two slices of homemade white bread (yeah, I know, next loaf I'm making is whole wheat), peanut butter and strawberry jam. A glass of iced-tea with a moderate amount of sugar.
Lunch: One slice of the same bread with slightly less peanut butter. More iced tea. A small portion of chocolate chips.
OK. So that doesn't support my statement about either whole grains or vegetables. I'll do better with dinner, I promise.
My dread is even if I meticulously record everything that I consume, and keep my calorie counts within the appropriate range, I still won't lose weight.
In all my 40 years, I have only lost weight twice. And once was because of a thyroid problem, in 1988. The other was a fluke in 1993 and I suspect was still related to my thyroid. All through my triathlon training, I've never been able to lose any weight. And, over the last couple of years, my weight has just gone up and up and up. I know that it's because of what I eat, and my lack of consistent exercise.
But it doesn't help that over the last couple of years, when I have cleaned up my diet and was able to work out consistently, I still didn't lose weight.
I'm back on the exercise bandwagon now. I'm riding regularly, and have committed to running at least three times a week, and hope to make that four times as I build back my strength.
Maybe I'm eating too much?
Maybe I'm eating the wrong things?
Maybe I've been letting my stress and worry about school and my future and whatever else be my excuse for not doing the thins I need to do?
Maybe it's time to really do things differently.