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With the seventeenth selection in the 2013 draft the Pittsburgh Steelers select . . .
We just are not up for the job of creating an actual mock draft, but thought we would take a moment to predict just who the Steelers will select in Thursday's first round.
After consulting myriad mock drafts, as well as player evaluations, here's who we think will be the top players still available when Pittsburgh makes their first round selection:
After consulting myriad mock drafts, as well as player evaluations, here's who we think will be the top players still available when Pittsburgh makes their first round selection:
- Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
- Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame
- Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
- Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
More than a few mock drafts have the Steelers addressing their need at the OLB position by choosing Mr. Jones, and we understand that. But the physical issues (i.e spinal stenosis), combined with his age (24), and the perception that he is not as stout against the run as some might like do not make this selection a slam dunk.
Meanwhile, there is Tyler Eifert, the 6'5", 250 lb. tight end out of Notre Dame. With Heath Miller out for an indefinite period, and despite the re-signing of Matt Spaeth (really??), a selection of Mr. Eifert would provide a solution to two problems the Steelers face -- a depleted receiving corps and a lack of an impactful player at the tight end position. The knock on Mr. Eifert is that he is a below average blocker, at least at this point, and that is a shortcoming that the Steelers are sure to consider very carefully.
With the advancing age of the Steelers' two safeties now might be the time to bring in a young player at that position, and Kenny Vaccaro -- a top 20 talent according to most evaluators -- could be that player. Decent size, and strong to defend the run, he would seem to have many of the traits Dick LeBeau looks for. On the downside, Mr. Vaccaro is seen as a "one speed" athlete who cannot maintain contact with elite receivers.
Finally, there is Sheldon Richardson. On the surface a choice like this does not seem to make a lot of sense. The Steelers have invested draft choices in the recent past to the defensive line, Steve McLendon has a new, three-year contract, and Casey Hampton could be re-signed. But Mr. Richardson is perceived by evaluators as a top-10 talent, strong against the run and an above average pass rusher who could bring good pressure up the middle.
So who doe we think the Steelers will choose? The guess here is that Jason Worilds is going to get his chance to replace James Harrison (the Steelers may look to later rounds for linebackers in order to address depth issues) meaning that Jarvis Jones will not be the selection.
We further submit that, despite our arguments for Sheldon Richardson, Kevin Colbert, et al, will not select a defensive lineman.
Which leaves us with Tyler Eifert and Kenny Vaccaro. A look at the current roster reveals that there are 13 defensive backs on the Steelers' roster . . . there have to be a couple who are capable of stepping in for Ryan Clark and/or Troy Polamalu, right? But with the loss of Heath Miller the tight end group might well be the weakest position on the Steelers. That, combined with the loss of Mike Wallace, seems to point to Tyler Eifert as the choice this coming Thursday.
Labels: 2013 NFL Draft, Jarvis Jones, Kenny Vaccaro, Mock Drafts, Sheldon Richardson, Tyler Eifert


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Lifelong learners appreciate Army science, technology
October 16, 2017
By Joyce M. Conant, ARL Public Affairs
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Oct. 12, 2017) – A researcher from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory spoke on the importance of Army science and technology at the University of Texas at Austin's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Sept. 28.
The Osher Foundation, which was founded in 1977 by Bernard Osher a respected businessman and community leader, seeks to improve the quality of life through support of higher education and the arts for learners 50 and 'better' who wish to pursue lifelong scholarship and community engagement. The lectures, seminars and experiential opportunities are taught by university and community experts and developed in partnership by peer and staff leadership.
Selected from a pool of female technology leaders in the Austin area, Heidi Maupin, regional director for ARL South, kicked off the academic year S&T lecture series to a group of nearly 70 people.
"The OLLI is a prestigious institute that provides peer learning at premier universities across the country, including Harvard, North Western University and University of Texas at Austin," Maupin said.
Through her lecture entitled "a new generation research model for the Army," Maupin explained how, through strategic partnering with leading experts in key technical areas, the Army Research Laboratory will rapidly advance warfighter capabilities to ensure dominant strategic land power.
Maupin said the timing of the lecture was perfect since most of the participants had been viewing PBS' Vietnam series and were very interested in how the military will be able to deter future war with the right technology development.
"The presentation was well attended and well received – the discussions were filled with zeal and creative ideas," Maupin said.
Maupin believes through outreach activities such as these she is able to increase the awareness and appreciation of Army research presence of an influential subset of Austin's community at large.
ARL South was established in April 2017 and is headquartered in Austin, with satellite partners throughout the state of Texas and surrounding states. Its mission is to establish strong research and development partnerships and collaborative activities with regional universities, start-ups and established companies to jointly fill technical gaps in the areas of biosciences, cybersecurity, energy and power, intelligent systems and materials and manufacturing to meet Army future requirements and achieve cutting-edge research results.
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, currently celebrating 25 years of excellence in Army science and technology, is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to provide innovative research, development and engineering to produce capabilities that provide decisive overmatch to the Army against the complexities of the current and future operating environments in support of the joint warfighter and the nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

subset: commoncrawl


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|The Haida Totems by Emily Carr
This month's March Art Bead Challenge painting is by Emily Carr a renowned Canadian artist. The Haida Totems are one of her many plein air paintings from her 6 week journey to document totems through British Columbia. The painting is subdued yet bright capturing the feeling of the totems and their locations.
|Brown Bear Necklace by BayMoonDesign
The mountains and woods in this painting reminded me of my trips to the mountains of Yosemite National Park in California and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. I saw bears in Yellowstone and evidence of bears in Yosemite. This brown bear necklace was inspired by the woods and mountains in the painting. This chunky wood statement necklace has a very handsome ceramic bear focal by ceramic artist Moriah Betterly. I made the focal for the second strand of this multi strand necklace from Greek Ceramic beads and a vintage wood bead that I used in the necklace. I pulled in the reddish brown, ochre, and green colors in the painting. This multi strand necklace has one strand made with large Vintaj natural brass chain and the other with red Irish waxed linen thread. The brownish red and ochre beads are vintage chunky wood beads. Reddish green Greek ceramic beads were added to give the wooden necklace more color. I used a bronze leaf clasp from Znetshows to add to the woodsy theme of the necklace.
I have found lots of evidence that there are bears in these parks. Most of the trash cans that are designed to keep bears out like the one above at Yosemite are often tricky for humans to open.
I think this road sign is designed more as a warning for humans to slow down. The roads in Yosemite are at high elevations, windy and there are few guardrails.
This inspiration piece and necklace brought back some great memories!
|Trash can with warning regarding bears
|Bear trap
While hiking in Yellowstone we found an empty bear trap.
|Road sign at Yellowstone
This inspiration piece and necklace brought back some great memories!


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Spill Kit Accessories
Customize your spill kit with a plug kit or shovel. Need a bracket to hang the spill kit or a dolly to transport it? Get just what you need to create the perfect spill kit for your facility or jobsite.


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2015 Chicago Auto Show - Mazda Unviels the 2016 Miata Accessories Concept Design
Feb 12, 2015
CHICAGO -- Feb. 12, 2015: The only thing better than the all-new 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata is a personalized 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Today at the Chicago Auto Show, where the first-generation MX-5 Miata was introduced to the world in 1989, Mazda revealed an MX-5 accessories design concept of the next-generation roadster tha ... Continue reading
Lincoln Motor Company: What's Going On?
Feb 20, 2014
RacoWireless Selected to Support the Next Generation of Audi connect
Feb 13, 2014
RacoWireless today announced that it has been chosen to support Audiâs new lineup of 4G LTE connected vehicles in the Audi connect program. The news comes shortly after Audi and AT&T made headlines at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas by announcing a partnership to provide the first-to-market ... Continue reading
Winnebago Touring Coach Travato Featured At Chicago Auto Show
Feb 11, 2014
Winnebago Industries, Inc. , a leading United States (U.S.) recreation vehicle manufacturer, announced the appearance of the Winnebago Touring Coach Travato⢠in the Chicago Auto Show, February 8 â 17, 2014. The Travato is appearing in the Ram Truck display at the Show, and was also featured in a private media ... Continue reading
Hyundai Wins Driving Engagement Award At Chicago Auto Show
Feb 11, 2014
Hyundai took home the second-ever Driving Engagement Award from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show. The Walking Dead Chop Shop campaign was chosen as the most innovative social media campaign of 2013. ... Continue reading
Feb 10, 2014
The all-new 2015 Ford F-150 will be the only light-duty pickup with a manufacturerâs snow plow prep option across all cab configurations F-150 owners with snow plow prep option can operate a plow installed via the aftermarket Maximum light-duty plow weight will be over 450 pounds ... Continue reading
Style-Focused Veloster RE:FLEX Edition Debuts At The Chicago Auto Show
Feb 10, 2014
Hyundai Motor America unveiled the newest addition to its popular Veloster line-up, the RE:FLEX Edition, at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show. Veloster RE:FLEX Edition goes on sale early this Spring, with a limited production run of 3,000 units, ensuring buyers they will own a truly unique Veloster model for years to come. ... Continue reading
Chicago Auto Show 2014: Nation's Largest Auto Show Opens Its Doors To The Public February 8
Feb 10, 2014
CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2014: The 2014 Chicago Auto Show opens to the public on Saturday, Feb. 8. The opening weekend of the show promises an exciting line-up of events with hundreds of different vehicles on display throughout, more than 1 million square feet of show floor space, three indoor test track and six outdoor test d ... Continue reading
Honda Wows Windy City with Real-Life Custom Forza Civic Si Coupe
Feb 10, 2014
Winning entry from the Forza Motorsport Civic Si Design Contest brought from the virtual world to the real world at Chicago Auto Show - One-of-a-kind Civic Si Coupe is the first vehicle to feature a design from the Forza Motorsport community - New Honda Legends Car Pack with 2014 Civic Si now available for Forza Motors ... Continue reading
Nutson's Automotive News Factoids - Week Of Feb 3-9, 2014
Feb 9, 2014
Automotive News Factoids - Week Of Feb 3-9, 2014 ... Continue reading
2014 Chicago Auto Show - The Auto Channel's Purdy And Cannell Wrap-up
Feb 9, 2014
CHICAGO AUTO SHOW 2014 HIGHLIGHTS By Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell TheAutoChannel.com Michigan Bureau lede photo CannellChicagoAuto2014-6062 Chicago February 9, 2014; Your TACh team was all over the Chicago Auto Show this week as a variety of manufacturers made news. Characteristically, here in the Windy City (and it wa ... Continue reading
Nissan Frontier Diesel Runner, 2015 Versa Note SR Debut At 2014 Chicago Auto Show
Feb 7, 2014
Frontier Diesel Runner Powered by Cummins⢠features 2.8-liter Cummins turbo diesel with nearly 200 horsepower, more than 350 lb-ft of torque - Technical study project offers estimated fuel economy increases 35 percent over current Frontier V6 - New 2015 Versa Note SR includes sporty aerodynamic styling, 16-inch sp ... Continue reading
Honda Accord Hybrid A MotorWeek Drivers' Choice Award Winner
Feb 6, 2014
CHICAGO IL., Feb. 6, 2014; Today at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show the EPA-rated 50 mpg1 city Accord Hybrid won a 2014 MotorWeek Drivers' Choice Award for Best Eco-Friendly vehicle. The award honors the 2014 Accord Hybrid for its class-leading combination of value, reliability and innovation. Built at the Honda manufacturi ... Continue reading
2014 Chicago Auto Show - Nissan Unveils Frontier Diesel Runner Powered by Cummins and 2015 Versa Note SR
Feb 6, 2014
CHICAGO â Nissan today debuted two special vehicles that form the centerpiece for the brand's display at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show â the Frontier Diesel Runner Powered by Cummins and the latest addition to the popular Nissan Versa Note lineup, the sporty new 2015 Versa Note SRel engine and plot a potential f ... Continue reading
The Auto Channel content library (since 1996) has grown to become the world's most extensive and complete interactive archive of automotive centric news, articles, reviews and intense event coverage, presented to viewers as Text, Video and Images.


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Do you want to serve your clients better, and have the statistics your funders require? Use Client Service Tracker!
Food pantry? Faith-based outreach? Shelter program? Counseling center? Other social service organization?
Use Client Service Tracker, a Microsoft Access database for PCs that also uses Microsoft Excel. Client Service Tracker version 9 allows small social service organizations to do a number of things, including the following:
- Store contact and demographic information about each client.
- Store name and demographic information about all household/family members, if needed.
- Keep freeform case notes on each client.
- Name and track the programs and services that are specific to your organization.
- Record service events (goods or services provided at a point in time) and service periods (goods/services provided over a time range) for each client.
- Record outcomes, tracking whether goals are met in the clients' lives.
- Track, for multiple persons in a household/family, their own case notes, service events, service periods, and outcomes, thus allowing multiple clients in a household/family.
- Print an Information (face) sheet and an Activity report for any given person.
- Generate up to 22 basic types of reports for groups of persons, using up to 9 different types of selection criteria, thus allowing for thousands of variations, as needed.
- Receive reports on groups of persons as Excel spreadsheets, thus allowing for further analysis and tabulating of the data, using all the tools that come in Excel.
- With Client Service Tracker, your data is on your computer, under your control, not in the "cloud." (You can put it in the cloud if you wish, but that's up to you.) You pay only a one-time fee to get and use the software, not an ongoing monthly charge.
"Client Service Tracker is so easy to use."
~ Comment often made by agency workers.


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phlip wrote:There are an infinite number of naturals, but each one individually is a finite number.
And at midnight after an infinite number of steps all the natural-numbered balls have been removed, leaving 'only' the infinitely many infinite-numbered balls behind.
How about looking at the problem as:
Evaluate 9N (number of balls left) in the limit as N->infinity
Evaluate N+1 (number on the lowest-numbered ball) in the limit as N->infinity


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"Where ya been?" my friends ask. "Where's Mom?" I hear all the time. "She's on her computer again", I hear even more. "I'll be right theeeeeere". It must be November in the Lyons home.
I've been in a deep dark editing hole, but am starting to see the light. At least long enough to post these (though while I was writing this my egg boiled until all the water was gone and popped, so I had to go clean hundreds of tiny egg and shell pieces off the ceiling. Egg shrapnel. It's not the first time. I should be banned from kitchens.) Needless to say, it's been wild around here, as it always is this time of year. Yummy Fall weddings, lots of editorial shoots, fun portrait sessions. I'll sleep in January, I keep saying.
But I love it, love it, love it all. Except for cleaning eggs off the ceiling, which is hard.
I recently photographed three incredible weddings. Three stunning, spirited, lovable brides and their sweet and adoring grooms. I met so many wonderful families. I mean, LOVED them. Each of these weddings deserves it's own post, with it's own description, but I couldn't wait to share them.
I am heading off to NYC for some much needed quality family time (I am so excited! I am also sneaking out to grab coffee in the big city with a new couple for a New York wedding next year I can't wait to meet). Packing is a challenge when your daughter insists she bring eight stuffed animals and three dolls to share the trip. Then after NYC I am hitting the turkey hard. So while I'm replacing large stuffed animals in the luggage with things we really do need (warm, warm clothes), grab a latte, turn up the volume and enjoy these stories, posted in no particular order.
I just adored these couples and their weddings! Also, I am trying a new larger slideshow format which takes a little longer to load so bear with, it pays off. Leave any comments if you had trouble viewing the shows, ok?
Click here for Randy and Meagan's Wedding in gorgeous Gloucester, Virginia.
Click here for Sam and Margaret's Wedding in beautiful Sea Island, Georgia.
Click here for David and PJ's Wedding in a fabulous place close to my heart, Richmond, Virginia.
Weddings and Weddings
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Hercules – Surviving College
Project: Update a historic story of our choice.
Medium: Print.
As the Art Director, I led a team of four of my peers in creating a cohesive series of humorous posters directed at prospective and current college students The posters are based off of the story of Hercules, with a modern reference on how to survive college. Thank you to Jon Jaques, Laura Allard and Aily Nola-Marie for helping me creatively execute my vision.


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I had my car insured with MIWAY insurance under my name as the regular driver. The car was stolen in Newtown outside a nightclub. My son who is a licensed driver was using the car at the time. The insurance threw out the claim as they stated that my Son was the regular driver and that i had not insured the car as such. My son was not the regular driver as i used this car on a daily basis. I'm not quite sure what the regular driver has to do with a car being stolen.
Insurance refuses to pay for stolen vehicle
- Posted on:
- 12 May 2016
- Category:
- Personal
- Posted by:
- Trevor Oberholzer
- Occupation:
- Region:


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Your Local Osteopathy Practitioners
West Perth Osteopathy was founded approximately 20 years ago, during the 1990s. It has always operated in Perth, however has changed locations three times to now reside in a beautiful and historic, 100-year-old cottage on Murray Street. With each location change came a larger, more inviting practice space, and we are proud to now offer an office containing five welcoming and practical consultation rooms for our growing team of Osteopaths.
West Perth Osteopathy is now run by Dr Ray Power, a passionate and highly-trained Osteopath who has been at the helm of our practice for over a decade. Along with his team of experienced Osteopaths and Naturopaths, Ray is able to provide individuals of all ages in Perth with high-quality, holistic, and helpful Osteopathy treatments to assist them with achieving whole body health.
The West Perth Osteopathy Difference
What separates our practice from other health practitioners is the fact that we employ a multi-faceted, hands-on approach to helping patients overcome their ailments or concerns. We offer lengthy and in-depth half-hour consultations to allow our Osteopaths to get to the bottom of what is causing a patient distress.
Rather than concentrating on only treating the source of pain for a temporary fix, the West Perth Osteopathy team place utmost importance on analysing how a patient's skeleton, joints, muscles, nerves, circulation, connective tissue and internal organs function together as a whole.
Dedicated and Highly-trained Osteopaths
Because the Australian standard of training for Osteopaths is five years of full-time university study within the field, you can be assured that our team are highly-knowledgeable in all aspects of Osteopathy, including areas such as anatomy, physiology, pathology, radiology, neuroscience, orthodox medical diagnosis, as well as Osteopathic philosophy and technique.
All of our Osteopaths are also registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Agency (AHPRA) and are members of the Australian Osteopathic Association (AOA).
Want To Learn More?
To schedule a consultation with our friendly and professional team, please call West Perth Osteopathy today!


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• peace, poesis & wild holy earth •
This question comes from an anonymous user over on Tumblr, where a post about my cat, Cu Gwyn, that I wrote last year has been making the rounds. Anon asks:
Do you have a familiar?
I should probably answer this question with a modest, "No." Especially if I don't want to piss off any Trad Witches, some of whom no doubt have spent years studying various medieval texts detailing the practices of cunning-folk and witch-trial testimonies about various dealings with faery cats, demon rats and otherworldly toads. They'd be justifiably angry with me if I went around claiming to practice something that has so many serious books written about it, of which I've read exactly none. Aside from the usual stereotypes about witches and their black cat companions, all I know about the concept of the familiar is what a quick Google search can tell me. I don't claim any extensive knowledge or experience about the use of familiars in magic, ancient or modern.
I'm also not really the New Age type who thinks, just because my cat happens to enjoy watching me wave incense around making a fool of myself in front of my altar, that he has any actual interest in my spiritual or magical development. If he is a wise old soul, he is of a relatively indifferent kind — I imagine that, of his nine lives or more, this incarnation must be his equivalent of retiring to Florida. (He is curled up on the couch next to me as I write this, and when I ask him his opinion, he barely deigns to twitch an ear, his eyes resolutely closed, as if to say: I'm well aware that you're trying to disturb my nap, which is why I'm ignoring you.) He is much more interested in what time I feed him dinner, than he is in aiding me in my rituals or spellwork.
Still, there is something about my Cu Gwyn that borders on the magical at times. The night after I found him as a stray 6-week-old kitten hiding under our car, I had a bizarre dream about being attacked by a horrible beast with knives for fingers… The next day when I took him in for his first checkup, the vet discovered some half-healed wounds on his belly, probably inflicted by a dog or another feral feline he'd encountered. I could shrug that off as coincidence, the result of an overactive and overly-sympathetic imagination. Except that I've had what seem to be "psychic dreams" on many occasions since Cu joined our family — the most vivid of them almost always involving chasing mice, a signal that I was sure to wake up the next morning to find evidence of them in the kitchen. My husband has had similar dreams. I'm a skeptic by nature, though, so I tend to shrug these experiences off as the promptings of my subconscious, which must have picked up on some subtle sign my conscious mind failed to notice.
But there's no arguing that Cu Gwyn positively exudes personality. I'm sure a lot of pet owners feel this way about their companion animals. I'm not ashamed of taking that feeling seriously, and treating our cat like a member of the family. Scientists may still argue over levels of consciousness and intelligence in non-human animals — coming to a grudging consensus recognizing non-human consciousness as recently as 2012 — but having lived with animals of various sorts all my life (including cats, dogs, fish, frogs, rats, mice and, on one occasion, a newborn wild rabbit), I have no doubt that these beings possess consciousness, intelligence and personalities all their own. (Hell, if even cockroaches have personalities, how can we doubt that our feline friends do?) It is not mere sentimentality that leads me to sense a wakeful, minded being before me when I look into my cat's sleepy eyes.
This is why I joke about my cat being my "familiar." Though he may not realize it, his very presence in my life is an abiding reminder to attend to the familiar things that I may otherwise overlook. Through his languid resistance to my requests for cuddles, he reminds me that the world is not made up solely of my own needs and desires. Cu Gwyn is my familiar when he reminds me:
It's about the simple companionship of ordinary objects and creatures and beings, and the way their presence shapes our lives even when we think we're not paying attention. A part of us is always paying attention. There is always something within us that is attending to the textures and contours of things.
Over the past few years as I've walked a path more and more shaped by animism, shamanism and totemic work, I've felt the pressing need to remain grounded in the real, physical beings that surround me and share the land with me. I attend to the birds in my neighborhood — not the idea of birds I read in some book, or the imagined experience of a bird in meditation — but these particular birds, here and now. The two finches, say, who return each year to nest in my front yard, whose quirks and calls and favorite perches become known to me the same way the habitual movements and muffled noises of my human neighbors do.
One of the challenges of totemic work, I think, is learning to resist the seductive call of the exotic, not to go rushing off towards some other cultural paradigm that seems more interesting than our own…. But instead, to stay rooted in the familiar landscapes and communities around us, which so desperately need us to wake up to our relationships with them. To truly awaken to these familiarities as fully as we can.
And there is nothing more familiar than the placid gaze of my cat beside me.
Do you work with familiars as part of your practice? Do you have a pet or companion animal who has shaped your spiritual path? (Are you a Trad Witch who would like an apology for how under-researched this post is?) Let me know!
Have another question for the Q&A series? Leave it in the comments below, ask me on Tumblr, or email me.
I think that he is definitely your familiar.. Just because he doesn't seem particularly interested in your magical practices.. Doesn't mean he isn't.. My familiar is my dog, Baby Girl.. She's a Border Collie, Australian Shepherd mix.. And she's always so comforting to people who need it and even protects me when I'm attacked by demons.. Which happens more often than not..
I absolutely love this. I do not have a familiar, no. I have a question: does Cu Gwyn mean white hound? In other words, you name your cat for his exact opposite? 🙂
Either way, lovely writing.
I love this! Especially your thoughts on the exotic versus the familiar.
I tend to shrug off apparent magical or psychic events that concern my pets, for the same reason. I wonder (after reading your post) if indeed their mere presence and mundane lives are enough to prompt our psyches – well, maybe that's just the mechanism by which their magic works.
I am most curious about our comment that your cat sees you "making a fool of yourself in front of your altar."
Why would anything you do at YOUR altar be "making the fool" of yourself? And then, The Fool is one of my favorite cards of the Tarot! Just sort of talking out loud here.
I have had a familiar but did not know it at the time. I was away from home working and was half asleep when i felt a familiar presence of my dog molly, so i moved so that she could sleep the way we always did (me on my side with my legs bent so she could lay behind me with her head on my feet). That woke me up and she was there but not there like i was seeing her with only half of myself. I got the call an hour later. But looking back she found the wood burl that is now my offering boul. And guided me when I was getting off balance. I have seen a true familiar only one other time with my frend and his cat, they are the reason i know that molly was mine.
I also have met guides and messengers whom i believe are sent By Mielikki. I wouldn't call them familiars but they've shown up when needed and to greet me when i go to the cabin. The first I met a doe on a trail on the way back to my family's cabin. instead of the normal bounding away she moved closer blocking the path. I don't know why but i pat her back and she even presented me her neck to scratch. After a few minutes there was a huge crash, a madrone tree that was up hill had given way. She stayed right where she was when the forest came back. She moved aside i went down the path turned the corner and the tree had fallen right where I would have been i couldn't go around it. I'd have to back track and find a new path. And there she was waiting for me i thanked her and was going to go back to a split she kept pace with me and bounded ahead blocking the path again till i got to her then she pushed by a bush on to a deer trail i hadn't known about she then looked at me i remember thinking ok i get it lead the way. She led me over two ridges using trails I now know by heart but had never seen before. The third ridge we came to she stopped at the top down the hill was my families cabin what would have been a half hour walk from that tree to my car (i always put a map printout on my windshield in a plastic sleeve with the trail i am doing and the time and date I've left with contact info and the radio 'wilderness protocol' i will fallow if in trouble) 45 min drive had turned into a four and a half hour walk. I had never ever thought to use my radio.
I went back the next day with a salt lick and grain and left them at that first deer trail to say thanks i have seen her a few times more since then i greet her every time by name i call her Kate. That next year a mallard duck (i call him Mal) started showing up on our deck the day i come up apparently according to the neighbors who are there year round the duck shows up at dawn sticks around for a little bit then goes away for 2 hours and comes back again after hearing this i set up a wilderness camera and its true he shows up the day i arive. The nabors now joke that they know if I'm coming up that day by me sending my scout. When i get there he get on the picnic table quacks a few times then flies off. The last is an unknown if it is truly a special animal, a test for me, or my own mind and confidence. Near the lake at the cabin (btw no matter where i live that cabin is my home) is a triangle of grass where we have played baceball for years. Two roads go along the foul ball lines 3ed base side has the feed river for the lake on the other side of the road crossing when it meets the blackberry bushes bordering the outfield the cabin is where the first bace road meets the blackberry bushes. During a game on the forth of July 10 years ago a 500-700lb bear came walking down the first base side road everyone started to freak out the game age range was 8-45. I hollered for everyone to be quiet calm down and don't run. I walked to where i was the closest to the bear and looked into his eyes then said directly to him "Arthur you are scaring people but don't worry about them they don't know why you are, so come with me for i understand why" i started to walk backwards but he caught up with me so i stayed beside him between him and the crowd. I walked him to the brige where he cossed and went back into the woods. I had seen animals even ducks do this on multiple occasions.
We do leave stuff for our winged frends. On the darker side of the cabin the eaves have been modified to house bats we have mud finches on the light side. Four humming bird feeders, four seed feeders a tub of water for the birds bath, a baking tray for the squirrels and a salt lick on the top of the ridge. I also carry corn feed when i hike now.


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Remember when: Twins play first World Series game
Fifty years ago — Oct. 6, 1965 to be precise — the Minnesota Twins played in their first World Series game.
The Twins hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1, which pitted Minnesota's Mudcat Grant against L.A.'s Don Drysdale, who was filling in for Sandy Koufax, who was sitting out due to the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur falling on that date.
While Los Angeles struck first on a second-inning home run from Ron Fairly, Minnesota tied it in the home second on a solo homer by Don Mincher. The Twins chased Drysdale with a six-run third inning, which included a three-run home run by Zoilo Versalles.
Grant would go the distance as the Minnesota took Game 1, 8-2.
If you've always wanted to see highlights from that game, you're in luck. Recently, the Associated Press made public a number of their archived video and among them is a newsreel which includes that opening World Series game.
You can see what the old Met looked like, see the above-mentioned home runs, witness the final out, hear some fake bat and crowd noise plus get a little history less on the Berlin Wall.
Follow Dave Heller on Twitter


text: I'm sorry for not providing an update for the past couple of weeks. Truthfully, there wasn't much progress to share. The projected and somewhat optimistic construction timeline ran into the inevitable snag. In this case, our snag turned out to be in the ventilation system. Evidently, the ducting for the HVAC system needs to be reconfigured in a fashion that the City of Naperville will approve. How that reconfiguration was to be done was beyond the contractor, the heating and air-conditioning people, or the architect. As a result, we've been waiting for an engineer to design new plans that could be submitted for approval. Thankfully that plan was received this week. With any luck we'll get the approval in a day or two and things should fall into place pretty quickly after that. What they have been able to do in the meantime is to get our flooring installed. As you can see from the picture, our new trendy carpet square flooring and linoleum in pretty well finished.


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Sweet and savory cheese appetizers are perfect for serving before a meal or for a cocktail party. They're delicious and easy to make too!
There's nothing better or more classic than the combination of cheese, nuts, dried fruit, and crusty bread….add in a little bacon and it's pure heaven. With that thought in mind I created these delicious sweet & savory cheese appetizers for my black & white plaid party. These are versatile enough to serve for a casual or rustic setting, or a more elegant, sophisticated affair. They are quick and easy too, making them the perfect appetizer!
Sweet & Savory Cheese Appetizers
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 4 oz blue cheese {Gorgonzola or Danish blue} crumbled and at room temperature
- 1/8 cup dried apricots, diced
- 1/8 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
- 4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
- 1 French baguette, cut into slices and lightly toasted
Mix together cheeses until well combined. Add dried fruit, nuts, and bacon and fold in until well integrated.
Spread mixture on baguette slices, and serve.
These are a wonderful combination of lightly sweet from the apricots, and salty from the bacon & blue cheese. I always love a little crunch too, so the nuts add that texture. I hope you'll give this one a try for your next gathering!
Have a great day!
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text:
Jonathan contributed two pieces to New Sun Rising: "Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall" and "Ueno Park".
He speaks to us about his work below.
What was the inspiration behind your pieces?
I was traveling through Japan and, in the case of the first poem, was awestruck by the sight of what had once been the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. Only a skeletal shell of it remains to serve as a reminder of what was unleashed that day. Along with the horror, there was also an eerie beauty about the scene, how nature reclaims these places of destruction. The second poem arose from a visit to Ueno Park, which is akin to New York City's Central Park: An enormous oasis of designed nature in the heart of a metropolis.
Why did you decide to donate this to charity?
Like most people, the tsunami left me feeling powerless. Being so far-removed physically and thus unable to remove debris and search for survivors by hand, I came across New Sun Rising and found a form in which I could offer my small modicum of assistance.
What sorts of works/genres/ materials do you normally produce?
I'm primarily a poet. In the past, I dabbled in novels and short stories, but not much came of that. I've simply gravitated towards poetry over time and am very happy I have.
What attracted you to this?
Upon hearing about New Sun Rising, I thought it very serendipitous: Here was someone searching for contributors to help in the wake of the tsunami, and I had written a fairly large group of poems about Japan a few years earlier. I couldn't think of a better place for these poems to appear in.
Who are your models or those you draw inspiration from?
Everyday people. Family members. My wife. A lot of my inspiration also comes from nature and from simple daily observation. And of course, other poets have been a huge inspiration for me, but to name all of them would take up several pages at the least.
What are you working on right now?
I'm working on a series of poems exploring the relationship between time and space, though they tend to range freely across all subject matters.
Where can I find some of your other works?


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wedding cake made out of divorce papers, a photo by ktyazoo on Flickr.
Okay, I know this is a wedding site, but I LOVE this paper Divorce Cake made of divorce papers.
Via Flickr:
sculpture project
(credit: carl taught me how to make the flowers - THANK YOU!)
still have to add the cake topper, which will be bride and groom with backs turned to each other.


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10 Things I Learned from #WritingBizNG
On Saturday 25th October, the New Lagos Book Club called a writers' assembly to discuss "The Business of Writing", the conception of which I find commendable. Incidentally, I have a book of that same titled, purchased in 2004 and which I have read over and over with other books on [freelance] writing and journalism, so I knew I would have lots to share.
It is the first time in recent years that Nigeria-based writers will come together to discuss the Naira and Kobo aspect of their craft—and what fun and learning we all had! Though I was invited to talk about how I have made money from writing over the years, I also picked up bits and pieces of useful gist from the other panelists as well as from the knowledgeable audience. There were so many take-home lessons (search #WritingBizNG on twitter to read all the tweets from that conversation), but here are a few I noted:
A book is a book—and so much more
Anyone who knows Joy Isi Bewaji (themagazineclub.com) will have heard about "Eko Dialogue" a novella she published some years ago. Earlier this year, that same book was revived as a stage adaptation, in collaboration with the Crown troupe of Africa. And it's been performed a couple of times since. Also this year, she produced "Tina's Shoes and Love Issues" as an audio book in two parts; she's (Ghost) written a book that I know and published so many other stories over the years and very recently, she scripted a radio play for ifooafrica.com. This is an individual exploring every possible option open to the writer beyond just the almighty book and squeezing every drop of Naira possible from such experiments. So if you are an aspiring writer or already published, take a cue.
Writers must define what they want to do and be
During the second panel, Chude Jideonwo got everyone literally hanging on his every word when he revealed the decisions he took years ago when he realized that writing was what he really wanted to do. "I told myself that I didn't want to be poor and I didn't want to be irrelevant as a writer," the publisher of the youth-focused Ynaija.com said. He took that decision after witching a group of established writers critique a piece of writing, particularly arguing almost endlessly over the style of the author. He thought that was a waste of valuable time, one that could lead to penury (and don't we all know brainy writers who are struggling to make ends meet nowadays?). Jideonwo followed through with his thoughts and he is now one very rich (?)—and influential—dude.
Writers must define their audience
At the opening session, Debola Omololu (@DebolaOmololu) who owned the now defunct Debonair Bookshop in the Sabo area of Lagos encouraged aspiring writers to know what demography they wish to target their writing at. Not to do so will be to misdirect their efforts, and this could result in them being irrelevant. He would also reveal that he closed down Debonair because it was costing him so much money (millions of it) in rent but contributing little (3%) to the bottom line. Now, he is partnering with another outfit to launch an e-commerce site soon, which will retail stuff, including downloadable books.
A writer must write—nothing more, nothing less
Famous romance writer and role model for many upcoming and now established writers Toni Kan focused in part on the industry a writer must imbibe if they wish to be successful. "A writer must sit down and discipline himself to write," the founder of the wave making sabinews.com says. He shared about how he had written 5,000 words of journalism that week alone, including a 1000+ word review of MI's newly released album, Chairman. "How many of you have written anything close to that this week? So don't aspire to be a writer—just write!"
Guerilla [self] Marketing pays
Port Harcourt (and Nsukka) based Bura-Bari Nwilo (@BuraBariNwilo) has just published a cute little book titled "Diary of a Stupid Boyfriend", a humorous account of one of his many romantic liaisons (the book is dedicated to his mom "and the many ladies I have loved". Published with the financial support of a friend, he's devoted almost every day since the book rolled off the press pushing it in peoples' faces on social media in a most creative and fun way. That's how he came to the attention of the New Lagos Book Club, which then invited him over to read from the book and share his marketing story. "What I did was tell everyone who had bought a copy to snap with it and then send the picture to me," Bura-Bari said, when he was handed the mic to share his experience with marketing the book on his own steam. By the day's end, nearly every one of the 50 writers present was intrigued enough to buy a copy.
Writers need managers
One of the points I made was about the challenges writers often face with combining the creative and the business sides of writing. I made reference to the parlous state of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), which continues to struggle financially decades after its founding. A writer-friend who has been shortlisted in the current year told me that often-time awards are given to authors without the associated cash rewards, because the money is just not there. If anything, I said, the ANA secretariat needs administrators to manage its affairs and writers will do well to have managers—just like the artistes do. These administrators and managers will handle the negotiations and whatnot, while the writers focus on creating their stories in peace. One writer I know who has done that is the enterprising Onyeka Nwelue (author of "The Abyssinian Boy") and the young man is currently on a tour of Europe with his second book, "Burnt".
There are better writers out there than the ones you know
Ayo Sogunro, whom I'd never heard about until that day at WritingBizNG, was my revelation of the day. A lawyer and social critic, he has built quite a reputation and following on social media; his blog posts, I learned, are a magnet for thousands of readers (Jeez!). And his writing is so good that poet and author Charles Ayo Dada ("The Ghost of Zina") singled him out for praise. He had visited a bookshop recently and stumbled on a book while browsing the shelves, titled: "The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales". Dada was overwhelmed by the quality of the narrative, without ever having met the writer behind it. "For me, that is the best book of the year," he said.
Writers need to grow their audience [before thinking of writing a book]
This is connected to points 3 and 7 above. Debola Omololu drove this point home when he said that an executive of an overseas publishing house told him that they would not consider publishing any writer wo didn't have at least 100,000 followers on social media. Writers need to test the waters, so to speak, by cultivating a loyal readership online upon which they can leverage their book projects.
Not every writer will make money from writing
Cheta Nwaze (@Chxta) said it as it is: "I don't make money from writing". Well, considering that #WritingBizNG was about making money from writing, I can imagine the room wondering what he was doing on the panel. But then, come to think of it: all the writers in the world cannot make money from writing; some, like Cheta perhaps, do it either for the fun of it or as a social service; most writers don't make enough to sustain themselves solely from writing and according to a statistic someone shared, only 2% of the writers in the world get rich from just writing.
You will write for free at some point [but you will also have to charge for same at some point]
I started out as a freelance writer and I was paid a token for my column piece in a newspaper. Over the years, I have written stories that publishers didn't pay for and I still do (by choice). But I know where to draw the line and charge for my writing. Many writers have had to write for free too, a sacrifice they endure as they grow their skill. It is nothing to be ashamed of; just to know when enough is enough and when your toil must be rewarded in monetary terms.
I started my contribution at the "Business of Writing" with a quote ("Don't ask yourself if your book will make interesting reading, ask yourself if it would make money.") by Gary Provost, whose book on freelance writing I have had for many years. I also shared his point of view that to succeed in the world of writing, a writer must be a pirate and a mule (whatever that means) and business-minded to succeed as a writer.
So now that you know, go out there and make those millions–good luck!


text:
After recording a voice or instrument we can record over it and add the sounds together. Using this, you can create layers of sound and eventually a unique homemade audio remix.
Related Core Concepts
You will need:
Want to try to make your own Audio Loop Station so you can make your own music? Follow the guidelines here to complete this challenge.
Project Guidelines


text:
on purchases over $50
on purchases over $65
on purchases over $80
If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact us. Click the button below.Speak to us
In this unit, the students will explore farming in Australia. The students will identify the different types of farms within Australia and will research facts about a particular type of farm. They will match everyday foods and items to the type of farm where they were produced. They will learn about the steps involved in the production of bread and will create a flow chart showing how another everyday item is produced. The students will investigate how farm machinery has made farming more efficient. They will discuss environmental issues related to farming, and will create a poster showing what farmers can do to take care of the environment. The unit will culminate in an excursion to a farm and a reflection on what the students know about farming in Australia.


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Attorney General
November 7, 2011
LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette today filed a lawsuit to permanently dissolve Health Care Clinic, of Delta Township, and the affiliated Women's Choice Clinic, of Saginaw and to enjoin the abortion clinic's owner, Richard Remund, from ever organizing any other company for a similar purpose.
The action comes as the result of an Attorney General investigation into allegations of improper medical records disposal at the clinics. In addition to the lawsuit filed today, Schuette referred evidence uncovered by investigators suggesting possible regulatory violations to the Bureau of Health Systems and the Bureau of Health Professionals, agencies within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
"To ensure accountability and patient safety, Michigan law requires medical facilities to be incorporated with a licensed medical professional at the helm," said Schuette. "Strict enforcement of the law ensures medical clinics cannot put profit ahead of responsible patient care."
"It's widely known that employees at these facilities tossed unborn babies in the trash, so it is not surprising to find more evidence of callous disregard for state laws intended to protect patient safety," said Senator Rick Jones. "I applaud Attorney General Schuette for taking steps to hold these facilities accountable."
"This commonsense enforcement of state law governing medical clinics is long overdue," said Representative Deb Shaughnessy. "No one should be exempt from following laws passed to preserve health, safety and welfare. I thank Attorney General Schuette for working to shut down this clinic and put patient safety first."
Schuette filed the Quo Warranto complaint today in Eaton County Circuit Court, asking the Court to dissolve the Delta Township Health Care Clinic, Inc. and its affiliated Women's Choice Clinic, Inc., located in Saginaw. The complaint also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions to halt clinic operations and prevent the clinic's owner, directors and shareholders from incorporating a similar facility. Schuette notes in the complaint that State law restricts the organization of for-profit corporations that provide medical care services to licensed medical professionals only. The clinics' owner, Richard Remund, is not a licensed medical professional.
In addition to filing today's lawsuit, Schuette made two referrals to state agencies requesting additional investigation to determine if state regulations governing medical facilities and professionals were violated:
Schuette asked the State Bureau of Health Systems to review evidence suggesting that 50% or more of the medical procedures performed at the clinics may be abortions. If that is the case, the clinics must be licensed under the Public Health Code as freestanding surgical outpatient facilities. Such a license would require the facilities to comply with more stringent state regulations to protect patient safety and welfare (MCL 333.20115).
Schuette asked the State Bureau of Health Professions to review evidence suggesting the improper disposal of medical records at the clinics. Disposing of medical records improperly may subject the associated licensed medical professionals to disciplinary measures.
After receiving a complaint in April 2010 documenting the improper disposal of unborn babies with ordinary trash in dumpsters outside the Health Care Clinic in Delta Township, the Attorney General's Office launched an investigation in coordination with the Eaton County Sheriff's Department, Eaton County Prosecutor Jeff Sauter, and the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department. Results of the joint investigation included evidence the clinics were improperly incorporated and may have violated additional state regulations
Due to shortcomings in the law, Representative Jones has since introduced legislation that would create a civil penalty for the improper disposal of fetal remains. Senate Bill 25 establishes requirements for the proper disposal, and SB 54 requires physicians to inform parents that state law mandates them to authorize the final disposition of their baby. Schuette supports the legislation, which has been approved by the Senate and is now before the House for consideration.
A civil lawsuit is merely an allegation and defendants are not liable until the Court enters a judgment in the case.
Click here to view a copy of the Quo Warranto complaint.
- 30 -


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THON Holds Final Canning Weekend
Penn State THON held its final canning fundraiser.
September 27, 2017
Filed under Campus Life, Showcase
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This past weekend marked the official start to Penn State THON fundraisers. For those who don't know, THON is the largest philanthropy, run by students, in the world which raises money to help families diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Last year THON raised over $10 million and in total they have raised $147,000,000 since the first THON in 1973.
Every year since 1977, to help raise money, THON held official canning weekends. Canning is when student volunteers from every Penn State campus go out to different locations all over Pennsylvania and raise donations from people in their area. Here in the Lehigh Valley, some locations that students canned at were: The Hotel Bethlehem, and the Dunkin' Donuts on Hamilton, Emmaus Ave, and on Nazareth Road. Canning started on Friday, September 22nd and concluded on Sunday, September 24th. The official amount raised from this weekend has not yet been revealed, but it was a great experience for the volunteers and they are always happy to give their time to raise money for this great cause.
When asked why he cans every year for THON, Penn State senior Aaron Young said, "I do it for a family friend whose son has cancer. It's very fulfilling to see how all the canners and THON volunteers come together for a such a great cause." This shows how the students volunteering their time are very selfless and generous, and whether they are helping someone they know personally or just helping the general cause, they are very happy to do it.
This weekend did mark the end of canning though, as past injuries, including the death of a student, resulted in major safety concerns. Although this was the first and final weekend, there are still many other events that THON holds to raise money and if you would like to check those out please visit their calendar of events. Also, if you would like to donate to THON please visit the official THON website.


text: Well, today in the second day of the second month of the year, Phil saw his shadow this morning. Which means that 6 more weeks of winter are ahead. If only he could tell me if that counts for England as well. Because I could use a bit more winter that includes some snow in my future, I'm tired of all this rain!


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To view the camera from Internet, please finish the below procedures.
1. Please fix your camera's IP and uncheck DHCP
Please check status of DDNS in camera's settings.
If it fails, please contact us for help.
3. Port forwarding
please open your router's page and do port forwarding manually.The address of router is same with your computer's gateway. The IP and port customer needs to forward is camera's IP and port. You could find help in the user manual of the router, or find help here.
http://portforward.com/english/routers/ ... rindex.htm
You can also search key words "your router's model port forwarding" in google to find some webpage.
You can open http://canyouseeme.org and input your camera's port number to check if port forwarding succeed and port is open
After DDNS and port forwarding succeed, you can open the address DDNS such as http://xxxx.mytenvis.org:xxxx (replace xxxx with DDNS user name and xx with the port of camera) to see live video anywhere in any computer.


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|Written by
|Carol Hall and Sam Pottle
In the Sesame Street song "I, Grover", Grover celebrates all of the things he can do by himself, such as putting on socks and shoes, or getting down cereal without spilling it.
- Audio
- The Sesame Street Monsters! (1975)
- I, Grover/Over, Under, Around and Through (single, 1976)
- Monster Melodies (1996)
- Sesame Street Best (1997)
See also
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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CBS airs first look at new Supergirl TV series
The most awesome thing on social media today is the release of the six-minute preview of CBS' Supergirl!
In a universe called television where DC characters have more interesting shows than their Marvel counterparts, Supergirl joins the ranks of Arrow and Flash in what looks like a super-fun romp at a genre that I, personally, could not get enough of.
In the television version, Kara Zor-El escaped amid the destruction of Planet Krypton with Kal-El, her cousin. Now at the age 24, she finally embraces her superhuman abilities to be the hero she was always meant to be.
The trailer looks very promising as it avoids the dark, serious mould embraced by some of the more masculine hero archetypes which is perfect for some light viewing and endless reruns. Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist (Whiplash, Glee), THE Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal), Chyler Leigh (Lexie Grey of Grey's Anatomy) and Jeremy Jordan (Smash, The Last Five Years).
The show airs Mondays 8/7 Central beginning November 2015.


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Spore infomercial spawns mad scientists
EA has heavily touted Will Wright's latest game, Spore, as a game about science and evolution, so much so that the game's limited edition included a 50-minute National Geographic documentary about it. However, as reported in the latest issue of the journal Science, some of those interviewed for the...
EA has heavily touted Will Wright's latest game, Spore, as a game about science and evolution, so much so that the game's limited edition included a 50-minute National Geographic documentary about it. However, as reported in the latest issue of the journal Science, some of those interviewed for the documentary say when they agreed to do the show, they weren't told about its strong ties to the commercial product.
"I literally never heard about Spore until I saw myself on television in this infomercial about the game," Harvard University geneticist Cliff Tabin told the journal. "It's an outrage."
University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin told the journal he was only told partway through his interview, when Wright showed him the game. Shubin said he doesn't endorse games, "particularly one that claims to be evolution." An EA representative had not returned GameSpot's request for comment as of press time.
The "infomercial" slant of the show can be seen from the tagline on its official site, which invites viewers to "journey into the billion-year history of the human, led by a computer game visionary, who might be revealing the secret genetic machinery behind life."
As for the claim that Spore might be revealing the secret genetic machinery behind life, a companion story on the Science Web site suggests not. The journal's "Gonzo Scientist" correspondent John Bohannon played the game with a handful of prominent researchers to grade its depiction of actual science. According to Bohannon, the game doesn't just dumb down the science involved, but actually "gets most of biology badly, needlessly, and often bizarrely wrong."
"The problem is that the game features virtually none of the key ingredients of evolution as we understand it," T. Ryan Gregory of the University of Guelph told the journal. For starters, there's no splintering of species into multiple off-shoots, no mutations or diversity within species, and no natural selection. And while creatures do change over time, they can completely overhaul size shape, color, appendages, and other features all within a single generation, as if a hummingbird could give birth to a tiger.
However, it wasn't all bad. Just as many reviewers found the game more engaging in its later phases, Bohannon's panel found the science involved improved toward the end of the game as well. While they gave Spore an "F" for its depiction of genetics and evolutionary processes in the cell and creature stages, the game's final space stage garnered an overall B for astrophysics, with an A for its galactic structure.
"Spore is essentially a very impressive, entertaining, and elaborate Mr. Potato Head that uses the language of evolution but none of the major principles," Gregory told the journal.
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10-Bagger Andor Set to Pay Maiden Dividend
LONDON -- Shares in scientific digital camera manufacturer Andor (ISE: AND.L) leapt more than 10% this morning to 425 pence at the time of writing, as the company's trading update announced it is to commence dividend payment.
The statement said: "We intend to adopt a progressive dividend policy which reflects the long-term earnings and cashflow potential of the Company, while taking into account acquisition and investment opportunities."
Chairman Colin Walsh commented:
While we experienced some challenges during the year, it is pleasing to now report that earnings are expected to be in line with the Board's expectations. We believe the business remains well positioned for continued growth and this confidence is reflected in our recommendation to introduce a dividend.
The board will recommend the payment of a final dividend of "at least 2 pence per shares" in respect of the year ending Sept. 30 at the next annual general meeting, expected to be held in February 2013.
This comes off the back of results that indicate revenue will be marginally ahead of the previous year, with earnings in line with expectations. The better-than-expected news follows an announcement in June that sales would be down because of a slowdown in orders placed by two of the company's U.S. customers. However, new orders were placed to the value of $3.2 million, with further orders expected.
Long-term holders will be delighted with the news; Andor's shares were selling at a low of 42.50 pence in 2008 and have now 10-bagged to their current price in just four years.
If you are keen to earn such handsome profits from shares, this free Motley Fool report -- "10 Steps to Making a Million in the Market" -- can help you on your way.
The report explains how tracking down small, dynamic companies is a vital step on the path to the magic million milestone. You never know, the next Andor could be out there right now ready to transform your wealth!
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The article 10-Bagger Andor Set to Pay Maiden Dividend originally appeared on Fool.com.Sam Robson does not own shares in any of the above companies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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All of us like the personal touch so you may be pleased to learn there is a supplier of custom-printed adult baby nappies in the UK; he kindly sent me a few to try.
The nappies themselves are plain white with printing across the tape landing zone. You can choose your own printing and so have whatever you like on your nappies. I have to say I was quite pleased to have some toddlerism.com custom adult baby nappies.
The printing is high quality and does not rub off unlike some nappies. It looks quite nice across the front of your nappy and you can show off anything you like about yourself, depending on the design you choose, as you walk about in you custom-printed adult baby nappies.
The nappies themselves are actually pretty good. Perhaps they feel a little thin but they've easily serviced me on an extended night's sleep after sneaking a bottle of daddy's wine-juice. They are comfortable too, easy to wear and, if you really care about this (and you bloody shouldn't), they are totally undetectable under street clothes. Here's a few pictures of me wearing one:
So good nappies with you choice of design: winner! What's the damage?
The maker, Keven, charges £1.50 per printed nappy plus post and packing with a minimum order of ten nappies. You can contact him by email here.
If you want some nappies with custom-prints then you can't go wrong. Your choice of design, quality, comfortable nappies that hold a reasonable amount and they are dead cheap into the bargain: beezer! I recommend Keven's service without hesitation.
By the way, Keven will be at NatNapUK in November.


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The biggest and most exciting tease of things to possibly, maybe, someday come was the mention of the name "Stephen Strange" in a rattled-off list of potential threats to be preemptively obliterated, threats generated by an Arnim Zola-created algorithm for the Hydra-pretending-to-be-SHIELD agents. I'm not sure why they left off the "Dr."...Strange didn't go to medical school all those years for nothing, you know. But anyway, comics-readers pretty readily noticed the throwaway reference and got a little excited about the prospect of Dr. Strange in the Marvel movie-verse.
And it is something to get excited about! The prospect of all those crazy dimensions and planes of existence that artist Steve Ditko set so many of Dr. Strange's adventures in being something that Hollywood artists have to wrestle with and make into a movie would be a fascinating struggle to watch, whether or not they succeed (In much the same way the Thor movies were exciting in large part simply to see how directors, set designers, prop masters and costume designers would go about turning Jack Kirby's designs into something more "realistic" for film-goers).
There is one big, immediately problem with the prospect of a Dr. Strange film, of course: Vincent Price is dead!
But Price passed away in 1993, meaning he won't be available to play Strange (Marvel Studios has had some success in casting the actors who inspired the designs of their characters in the past; Bryan Hitch drew Ultimate Nick Fury as Samuel L. Jackson in an eye-patch, and when the time came to cast a Nick Fury for the Marvel films, who did they end up casting but Samuel L. Jackson?).
So who could fill in for Price? Well, I got to thinking about this the other day, and one way to handle casting someone for a role that would under different circumstances be played by Vincent Price would be to look at actors who have played roles first played by Price himself. So I went to Price's IMDb.com page and started sifting through his 7 million or so credits for films that have been remade with different actors playing the roles he once played.
Here's what I came up with.
In 1948, Price played Cardinal Richelieu in that year's version of The Three Musketeers. One of the all-time-great villain roles in film history, it has been played repeatedly by a long list of charismatic actors known for playing villains, with Tim Curry (1993) and Stephen Rea (2001) Ben Cross (2001's Young Blades, among them. Of those still around and young and fit enough to play a middle-aged, two-fisted Sorcerer Supreme, I think Christoph Waltz from 2011's awesomely anachronistic Three Musketeers is by far the best candidate.
|Candidate #1: Christoph Waltz
In 1953, Price starred in horror film House of Wax, playing Professor Henry Jarrod, a talented sculptor who is badly burned and driven rather mad when his partner burns down their museum to collect the insurance money—with Jarrod still in it. It was remade in 2005, and was a pretty terrible movie, of which I remember little more than the fact that Paris Hilton was in it, and that it had a pretty striking poster.
The remake is so loosely based on the original that Price's character doesn't actually appear. The villain/s of the piece are played by Brian Van Holt, though.
|Candidate #2: Brian Van Holt
|Candidate #3: Jeff Goldbum
Also in 1959, Price starred in House on Haunted Hill, a well-liked William Castle haunted house movie that was remade in 1999 as the first offering from Dark Castle Entertainment, named after Castle. In the remake, Geoffery Rush played a new version of Price's eccentric millionaire character, now named "Steven H. Price" and sporting a thin, Price-like mustache.
|Candidate #4: Geoffery Rush, all Vincent Price-d out for House remake
In 1963, Price appeared in The Raven, one of his several collaborations with director Roger Corman on an Edgar Allen Poe-inspired picture. When John Cusack appeared in a film with the same name in 2012, he was playing Edgar Allen Poe himself, not the Dr. Erasmus Craven character Price portrayed in his The Raven. Still, John Cusack as Dr. Strange—what do you think?
|Candidate #5: John Cusack, shown here with appropriate facial hair
Finally, in 1964, Price played the title role in The Last Man on Earth, a film adapted from Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend. The book was adapted two more times, first in 1971 as The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston, and then in 2007 as I Am Legend, starring Will Smith.
Smith seems like he might be out of Marvel Studios' price range, but it's worth noting that casting Smith would give the Marvel movie-verse a black, headlining superhero (Right now, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America all have black friends, none of whom are on the Avengers, where the only man of color is green); there's nothing inherent to Strange's character that dictates that he has to be white; and Smith can grow a fine little mustache.
|Candidate #6: Will Smith
Whoever they end up casting as Dr. Strange though, I hope the process involves calling in many famous actors to do readings for the part, and for the line "By The Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!" to be one of he lines they have to read.
When I mentioned to a co-worker that Vincent Price was dead and therefore I had no idea who Marvel could get to play Dr. Strange, she thought for about two seconds before saying, "James Franco?"
I could see that. And hey, if they let Chris Evans play Captain America after first playing The Human Torch, I see no reason why they can't have the guy who played Harry Osborn go on to play Stephen Strange.
I've also heard Johnny Depp's name suggested a lot, but, like Will Smith, I imagine he's too expensive, and too...popular to play a Marvel superhero at this point. Like, Depp has become one of those actors who basically plays Johnny Depp in all his movies now, so it's hard to imagine him wearing a big red cape with a funny color and running around casting spells in a Marvel Studios production now. Although he does look great with little mustaches, doesn't he?
|Just picture an absurd collar behind him, and the Eye of Agamotto right where his shirt is unbuttoned.
a Champions movie at this point. (Actually, I think NetFlix is using the team name "Defenders" for a team-up of several stars they're supposedly building TV shows around, like Daredevil, Iron Fist and Luke Cage).


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These words of the Constitution are an abiding vision of a people united in a participatory democracy. Valley Interfaith Project is working to make that vision a reality.
Imagine Metropolitan Phoenix with:
- Rich networks of engaged citizens and capable grassroots leaders
- Strong faith and community institutions working across lines and boundaries that traditionally divide us
- Excelling schools in all parts of our community
- Innovative career pathways to rebuild the middle class
This is the community we are working to create, through a process of training local leaders in Metro Phoenix communities to be active participants in our democracy, reweaving our civic and economic fabric.
VIP is a broad-based organization of 40 dues-paying members from diverse faith congregations, schools, unions and non-profit organizations, committed to building sustainable social and economic change. VIP brings together low, middle, and upper income communities to develop and organize leadership for participation in public life, drawing on the strengths of our faith and democratic traditions, to create a more just society. For 22 years. VIP has been working on issues that promote human development. The need for this work has never been greater.
A Struggling Economy
The economic recession hit Metro Phoenix families hard. While the recession affected almost everyone, it significantly hurt the most vulnerable – the elderly, the poor, immigrants, and children. Here are a few key Arizona statistics:
- Between 2008-2011, more than 185,000 or 14% of Metro Phoenix homes went through foreclosure, resulting in huge disruptions to families and neighborhoods. Over 45% of all mortgages are still "underwater." [1]
- Arizona lost 370,000 jobs during the Recession, the highest percentage nationally. Only one-quarter of those jobs have returned.
- Arizona ranks 49th in per pupil spending. Almost half of our high school graduates do not pursue any higher education. Yet by 2018, 61% of all Arizona jobs will require post-secondary education. [2]
- Arizona's population is the 6th poorest in the nation, with 19% living in poverty. This results in 1.3 million, or 20% of Arizonans on AHCCCS, our Medicaid health care system.[3]
The burden is more than just financial and material. It is social and psychological, too. Families have difficulty determining why they are struggling and often view themselves as incapable to make a difference. This perception paralyzes entire communities and perpetuates the problem. To change the situation, we need to understand how we got here.
A Dysfunctional Budget
The recession is only a part of the story; deep structural issues play a huge role too. The Morrison Institute has shown that the state created a structural deficit that was exposed in the recession, a permanent shortfall in revenue relative to expenditures. This was due to systematically reducing its tax collected relative to personal income over the past 40 years. [4]
From 1971 until 2000, Arizona collected between $45 to $55 in taxes per $1000 of personal income. Since the mid-90s, Arizona frequently cut income and property taxes so that by 2010, the state only collected $30 per $1000 of personal income—the lowest levels since the 1960s. ASU Economist Dennis Hoffman calculates these cuts took $1.6 billion annually from our revenue.
Why didn't we notice the missing revenue until recently? During the peak periods, Arizona brought in growing revenues from sales tax on housing and construction. Rapid growth and the "housing bubble" masked the effects of the tax cuts. We made permanent cuts based on temporary tax surpluses. When sales tax dollars disappeared, our structural problem was exposed.
Three rounds of budget cuts drastically reduced spending on Education, Health Care, and Human Services. Figures from Governor Brewer's office show that about 85% of Arizona's General Fund of $9.6 billion budget went toward Education, Medicaid (AHCCCS) and Corrections. Only Corrections received an increase in funding in the downturn. Currently, Arizona spends $7,500 per student, well below the national average of $11,000. We pay $25,000 per year to house one prisoner.[5]
Arizona faces the sunset of the temporary one cent sales tax in by July 2013. Compounding this decline in revenue, Arizona enacted several tax cuts in 2011 and 2012, which will take effect in the next couple of years. According to the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee, we once again face a structural budget deficit by 2015.[6]
Is an $8.5 billion General Fund budget adequate for our state? 2010 Census data shows that our state has changed dramatically over the past two decades.[7] We have more children and seniors, who have added needs for education and health care. We're at the bottom of national rankings for Education, the uninsured, and poverty levels. Yet we now spend less per capita on these growing needs than 1980. If Arizona is to be competitive, it must invest in human capital.
The Challenge Ahead
Arizona faces a significant challenge ahead. The Great Recession means the end of easy economic expansion. During the housing bubble, we built an economy based largely on fast growth, real estate, and construction. This was a dangerous overreliance on the wrong thing. Houses don't build economies; economies build houses. As Urbanologist Richard Florida says, our entire region became a giant Ponzi scheme.[8]
According to Florida, the regions that train and draw talented, well-educated people will command a huge competitive edge. The world's 40 largest mega-regions produce 2/3 of global economic output and 90% of all new patents. These areas benefit from an accelerated rate of "urban metabolism"—successful areas grow faster and have an energy and dynamism that foster innovation. The Brookings Institute identifies the Sun Corridor from Flagstaff to Tucson as one of these potential "mega-regions." Brookings lists several factors, which will determine the region's success, most notably, future investment in Human Capital— K-8 education, higher education, and adult worker retraining.
As Arizona emerges from the Recession, it cannot just rebuild a rapid growth economy. The old jobs are not coming back. With increasing globalization, the Phoenix-Tucson corridor competes with the Mega-Regions of the world. In this New Economy, jobs will change frequently, and a higher skilled workforce is required. According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 61% of Arizona jobs in 2018 will require post-secondary education. They estimate that 227,000 jobs will emerge in the next few years for Arizonans with a post-secondary degree.[9] Yet only 25% of the Arizonan workforce holds a college degree today. According to the Arizona Board of Regents, only 9 in 100 students who enter high school will complete a four-year college degree within six years of graduation from high school.[10] As Arizona becomes a "majority-minority" state by 2030, tomorrow's leadership and high-skilled workers will be increasingly Latino. But in 2009, only 69% of young Latinos graduated from high school, and only 9% obtained a bachelors degree.[11] With a structural deficit on the horizon, will Arizona invest in education to meet the need for an educated workforce?
A Strategy for Engagement
There are no quick fixes for our economic, social, and political challenges. But we must find the opportunity presented to us. Now is the critical time to invest in economic and human development. According to Richard Florida, we can view the "reset" our economy has suffered as a chance to decide which innovative economic engines deserve our attention and resources, to invest in our human capital, and to refocus on sustainable living.[12]
We need a strategy to engage local citizens in the decisions that will shape our economic future as a region. Grady Gammage reminds us that in the past, Arizona "dealt with our challenging geography through collective action . . . through government; through making decisions as a citizenry."[13] Citizens must see their responsibilities to each other as being part of an on-going conversation about the direction and quality of our common life and the public sector.
VIP believes that institutions — congregations, schools, labor unions, among others–-play a crucial role in the development of public people. Through civic institutions we learn the values of trust, reciprocity, and negotiation. It is here where we learn to have real conversations, a lost art today, instead of monologues of pre-determined, intractable positions on vital issues.
Thoughtful, strategic work is required to rebuild the civic sector and the institutions that comprise it. Our civic institutions are battered by the same atomizing forces that are tearing at the middle class. Often they are focused on their own survival, and struggle to accomplish their vital mission. Rebuilding our civic fabric requires these institutions to reclaim their formative role rather than withdrawing from public life and further privatization. VIP is focused on a strategy to engage and strengthen local institutions by:
- Training and developing their leaders, many who had never before found their public voice
- Developing the capacity of institutions to be vital centers of leadership formation
- Building alliances between diverse community institutions
This requires doing the patient "spade-work" of identifying leaders, relationship-building, and approaching each community with an imagination of its true possibilities. VIP trains leaders in the skills of organizing through the Cycle of Organizing, which can engage an entire institution. And together, VIP institutions are working to bring the power of organized, well-informed citizens to the table with political and business leaders as we craft solutions for Arizona.
The Cycle of Organizing
VIP leaders organize through the following process:
Relational Meetings
The relational meeting is a face-to-face, one-on-one meeting where people share stories and concerns with one another. It is through these meetings that leaders begin to form public relationships with one another.
House Meetings
In these small group meetings leaders dig deeper into their institutions by listening to others' stories, discerning common issues, and finding new leaders. Through house meetings, the potential for action on issues begins to emerge.
Research Actions
As issues arise, leaders conduct research actions where they build their expertise and develop a course of action. Research actions involve conversations with key political, business, academic, nonprofit, educational leaders, and others who are knowledgeable about the issue of concern.
Civic Academies
With a newfound understanding of the issue, VIP leaders conduct civic academies in their institutions where they are able to teach others, hear new stories and concerns, and begin to move others into action.
Public Action
In public meetings with political, business, or other officials, VIP leaders seek action on specific proposals that will create positive change for their community. VIP leaders and institutions find allies in these public officials who will work with them on the agenda that has been developed through the Cycle of Organizing.
Reflection and Evaluation
Central to the Cycle of Organizing are reflection and evaluation. These are the primary tools by which leadership is developed. As part of a culture of reflection and evaluation, VIP leaders fine-tune their skills for public life and make their voices more effective.
The Impact
Engaged Citizens and Grassroots Leaders
VIP leaders organize through the Iron Rule: never do for others what they can do for themselves. VIP engages ordinary people in collective action, informed by our faith traditions and democratic practices. VIP demonstrates that the most important office in a democracy is that of the faithful citizen.
Bonnie Danowski: 22 years ago, I sat at the table in those first VIP meetings, dreading being asked what I thought. Passion burned in my belly but I was afraid and I didn't yet understand the power that lay in organized, educated, and empowered people, until I started to give voice to my own story, and heard others tell their stories.
Through individual and house meetings at the Franciscan Renewal Center and other congregation, we found that the long-term care system was failing our families, including mine. My husband was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 41 years ago, and is struggling with cancer. We conducted countless house meetings and 45 research actions one summer to gain the knowledge we would need to fix a broken system. The training for in-home caregivers was our brainchild and is now the standard for the state. In 2007 we drafted the Lifespan Respite Care Program legislation. We took our stories to nearly every legislator that session. Our stories led to their stories. Our passion ignited their passion. The Bill passed overwhelmingly–in one session. Our program is now recognized as one of the best in the nation.
The skills, the collaboration, most of all, the relationships that have been formed here stay with me. People ask me why I don't retire. I'm trying, but VIP is an organization that can make real change. Truly, hundreds of people have found their voice and are building those healthy communities that we set out to do 22 years ago. For me and so many others, VIP unearthed the passion that burns in my belly, helped me find my voice and exercise citizenship in the true sense of the word.
~ Bonnie Danowski, M.S. Society, Phoenix
Martha Espinoza: I'm a mother of two children who attend Creighton Elementary School in Phoenix. Our inner city neighborhood has many challenges, including crime. Many families in our neighborhood struggle with more than three part-time jobs just to make ends meet, and they have no money for childcare. I rely on Creighton School to be that safe place where my children can learn and be safe until I pick them up, but with City budget cuts two years ago, we lost our afterschool program. Many kids walk home along an unsupervised canal, and through an unsafe neighborhood to be latch-key kids. They sometimes get mixed up with gangs, and some have even been exposed to sex offenders. After hearing the stories of parents' concerns at Creighton and St. Agnes parish, we organized with VIP to learn more about the City Budget – and we learned that this year, the City had money. But they planned to give a tax cut. What about our kids? We attended budget hearings, and met with City Manager Cavazos, Mayor Stanton, and Councilman Johnson from our region. We told our stories, and insisted that they give the money to things that kids need most: afterschool programs, library hours, parks – things kids need to learn and be safe. We were thrilled that the City Council voted to restore nine afterschool programs for inner-city schools and to expand library hours. Councilman Johnson approached me after the vote to say, "Ms. Espinosa, I want you to know you made the difference in my vote." I know I'm not powerless to defend my kids, and I can make my city a better place.
Strong Community Institutions
As families struggle economically, they tend to withdraw inward as an instinct of self-preservation. But these are precisely the moments when we need to turn to each other and lift up our communities. Many of our families are finding it more difficult to be active in their congregations and schools as they struggle to make ends meet. VIP works to overcome isolation and disengagement by creating and supporting a relational culture in congregations and neighborhoods. Through hundreds of conversations in small group settings, people share their stories and learn that they can act together as a community. In the process of organizing to advance the issues of human development, they revitalize their institutions around their mission to be stewards of the common good. Clergy often find that the rewards of engaging in covenantal work with VIP bring strength and vitality to their ministry:
Rev. Miguel Gomez Acosta: Three years ago I began organizing with Valley Interfaith Project at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in West Mesa. We're a parish that is really two congregations: an older Anglo population and a younger Latino population, trying to build something new together. This is not easy given the anti-immigrant rhetoric that surrounds us, and the economic troubles we all face.
Right before SB1070, people were afraid of the police and we lost members of the congregation, but people weren't talking about it across the parish. So we began forming a Core Team of leaders who could listen to the stories of the people. Then there was a shooting of a man very near our parish school, at dismissal time. We organized house meetings to hear the concerns of school parents and members of the congregation. A community safety meeting became a VIP Action with the Mesa Police Department: our leaders told their stories, and we asked for and received commitments from the police department. For many of our leaders, this was the first time they had ever spoken publicly, or dealt with a public official. Their children saw them grow in stature and confidence, right before their eyes. And our neighbors who are not members of the congregation saw First Lutheran in a new light: we acted as guardians of the neighborhood. This recognition gave our congregation a new sense of purpose, and increased our resolve to integrate our two cultural communities.
~ Rev. Miguel Gomez-Acosta, Pastor, First Evangelical Lutheran Church, West Mesa
Monica Dorcey: The West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan member institution of Valley Interfaith Project, working in the West Valley, including El Mirage, Surprise, Youngtown, Sun City and Sun City West.
Our work is community organizing. That means getting into our neighborhoods and finding out what is really keeping people up at night and figuring out if their sleeplessness is being caused by an imbalance in the systemic relationships. To do this, we focus on training community leaders who can operate effectively in the civic sector. That is, we do the work of justice by creating right relationships and systemic change to truly solve community problems. At the core of every charitable need you are likely to find the need for justice. Without addressing the lack of justice, the need for charity simply grows. In the last 12 months, we have made significant strides in the West Valley:
- Local Bond Elections for the new El Mirage police station and community center and School Overrides
- Bringing ADEQ to monitor an old dump site along the Agua Fria River
- Building Leadership in changing neighbors such as Youngtown and El Mirage
- Public Transportation in Sun City area
Through WVNC, we create a safe public space where people can gather in a community they trust, where it is safe to tell their stories about their concerns, their fears, their vulnerabilities. One person talking about the isolation of her life cannot change the world, but her story can be immensely powerful when joined with those of others who are experiencing similar challenges.
~ Monica Dorcey, West Valley Neighborhoods Association
New Strategies to Rebuild the Middle Class: Arizona Career Pathways
VIP has piloted the Arizona Career Pathways (ACP) Initiative, a Labor Market Intermediary to connect disadvantaged and underemployed workers to long-term workforce training at the Maricopa Community Colleges. ACP helps to eliminate the structural obstacles that keep the underemployed and undereducated from receiving the long-term training that they need to reach life-long self-sufficiency. VIP holds outreach and training sessions in congregations and schools, both to recruit potential applicants, and to develop more leaders who will continue to develop a network of support for the program among key academic, political, and business partners, so that more workers can receive the training they need to reach family wage jobs with a career path and benefits.
Angelica Sawyer: I am a member of the Saint Andrew the Apostle Catholic faith community in Chandler. A year ago I started looking for a new direction and purpose in my life. As a waitress, I enjoy the interaction I get from meeting new people, but I was looking for a career that was more challenging and more rewarding. As a mom, my biggest concern is the lack of health care benefits within the food service industry. While reading our church bulletin, there was a notice looking for people who wanted a change in careers, and information about an upcoming meeting sponsored by Valley Interfaith Project. I went to that meeting and learned about different careers that Arizona Career Pathways sponsors students for. I am now enrolled in Gateway Community College where I am working toward my goal of becoming a physical therapy assistant.
Without the sponsorship from ACP, I don't know how I ever would have afforded to go back to school. To pay $343 for the anatomy/physiology class, and $185 for the books I needed was not even close to fitting into our budget. I finished my first class over the summer and cannot describe the feeling of accomplishment and the confidence I have gained. I plan on graduating with an associate of applied science degree where the starting salary is $45,000, more than double the income I earn right now.
I hope to specialize in geriatric therapy. More than anything I want to be a positive role model for my children, and I want my family to be proud of me.
A Broader Vision for Metro Phoenix
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to make the claim that a solid middle class was the engine of economic prosperity. [14] Lincoln's economic vision was that the government's role was to "clear the path" through internal improvements so that ordinary citizens could build on a firm foundation toward economic prosperity.
Strengthened by civic sector institutions, trained and skilled in the habits and practices of public life, alert and ready to work in alliance with people of different cultural, religious, and economic spheres, we envision ordinary people exercising citizenship in the public square and struggling to transform our cities into places that will educate and sustain our families. Valley Interfaith Project builds this critical dynamic network of leaders with strong connections to one another and the capacity to reweave our public and social fabric. Nothing is more crucial to build a competitive economy and renew our political life in Metro Phoenix and Arizona. Creating a constituency who will support investments in human capital will provide the solid foundation for our economic recovery and future. In cooperation with business, labor, government, and the civic sector we can establish life together more commensurate with the beauty that surrounds us.


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I was incredibly excited to have seen Abe twice on his recent visit to the UK on May 1st. He gave a speech at the "Invest in Japan-A Regional Roadmap" Seminar I attended, organised by JETRO in London, to support Governors from Mie and Hiroshima Prefectures and Mayors from Fukuoka and Kobe Cities in their efforts to promote their prefectures and tell foreign investors about the attractive incentives and support packages available to attract FDI. He then went to meet David Cameron, who released a joint statement and then he gave a key note speech at the first ever Japan UK Conference "Collaboration in Research and Education" to discuss how this relationship can be further developed.
I was then honoured to have been invited to a Dinner in the evening at the Guildhall, which was a grand occasion with excellent food, English wine, sparkling sake from Abe's own prefecture Yamaguchi and Suntory Whisky. He gave a very stirring speech about "Redefining Japan UK Relations" with poignant references to the Choshu 5, outlining his commitment to the EU Japan EPA, the future of Abenomics, womenomics, the opening of the Japanese market and opportunities for collaborating with the Olympics. The shared respect and love between the two countries was very evident as was the growing interest in the current changes taking place in Japan.
The next day Abe visited the Olympic Stadium to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation between UK and Japan to help British businesses share their expertise from the London Olympics and win business at the Tokyo Olympics. As I write this, he is in Brussels negotiating the EPA and the EU are expected to be satisfied that Japan meets most conditions for talks to proceed. All in all, a successful visit signifying not only the close ties between our two countries but the real opportunities that are there for co-operation and investment. 安倍総理 お疲れさまでした
New Agreement to Help Companies Win Work at Tokyo Olympics
Abe's visit to UCL Japan and UK Conference "Collaboration in Research and Education"Read more


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Nigerian singer, Olamide has penned an emotional message to his fans.
The singer wrote a tribute to loyal fans for supporting him over the years shared a message on Instagram yesterday, September 26, 2016.
According to him, the vultures in the industry tried to kill his shine by saying he stole DaGrin's style.
"The vultures in the industry tried to kill my shine saying I stole Grin style, we all love Grin but that was a tough one to overcome," he wrote.
"Maybe if we start appreciating each other, love and respect our differences the world would be a better place. God is love, spread love, we are magic," he ended it.
Below is the full letter


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Aladdin Doors of Sherman Oaks, CA looks for every opportunity to make customers satisfied with their garage door repair and services.
As a result, all the beautifully installed and professionally repaired & serviced garage doors you see in Sherman Oaks, CA that are serviced by us have very happy owners!
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