text:
Serving the communities of Valley Springs, Burson and Wallace |
April 26 Dove Larsen, left, is the new postmaster relief for Burson Postmaster Wendi Sherman. Burson
postmaster receives a helping hand in the office By Nick Baptista
Burson Postmaster Wendi Sherman is about to relearn what it is
like to take an entire Saturday off.
Sherman is in the process of training a new "PMR" or
Postmaster Relief for the Burson Post Office. Dove Larsen of Burson has
been hired as the new PMR and she expects to go solo this Saturday.
In addition to working Saturdays, Larsen will serve as
Sherman's relief when she is on vacation, sick leave, or in training.
"She is me when I'm not here," Sherman said.
For Sherman, the addition to the post office could not have come
soon enough. She has been on a six-day schedule at the rural post office
for the past two years.
Larsen has been a Burson resident since 1992. The part-time
position works well for the busy mother and aunt who has a household of
children in sports. Her 16-year-old daughter plays for the Sliders
softball team and her 16-year-old niece plays volleyball for Calaveras
High School and a traveling team.
Larsen began working for the post office the beginning of April
and it has been very challenging to learn the new job, she said. She
will also be eligible to provide relief help at other post offices in
the area. Preparing to celebrate the opening of a new office are Country Oaks Realty staff, from left, Christine Reimer, Tammy Wilhelm, Cathy Nitchey, George Cavagnaro, Carl Wiese, Yvonne Wiese, Tina Patteson, Linda Frater, Michael Conrad, Jessica Neelans, Rebecca Sattler and Kelly Kannell. Not pictured are Judit Hart, Roberta Novo, Richard McCormick and Lola Zmak. Realtor
celebrates 30 years in the business By Nick Baptista
Country Oaks Realty, the longest established real estate office
in Valley Springs and possibly all of western Calaveras County, will
showcase its new office at 106-B Highway 12 on Saturday and celebrate 30
years of continuous operation in the community.
Broker-owner Yvonne Wiese came to the area 30 years ago with the
marketing firm that was selling the balance of the Rancho Calaveras
inventory for Boise-Cascade. When the Pacific-Hawaiian Land Co. sales
crew completed the task and began to move on to other projects, Wiese
decided to stay behind and launched her own real estate business in the
sales office at Highway 26 and Baldwin.
The approximately 500-square-foot building has been her office
for the past 30 years and now she is expanding the operation to the new
downtown Valley Springs location that is more than twice the size of the
original office.
The 1,040-square-foot office at the northeast corner of Highway
12 and Pine Street has room for seven desks and Wiese has an office of
her own, another first after 30 years in the business.
With the two locations, she boasts of having the first two real
estate offices on the two major highways leading into Valley Springs.
With the new office, Wiese has increased her staff to 19 members.
"I feel real fortunate all the way around with a close, caring
and devoted staff of people," she said. "I'm just the facilitator.
The staff is devoted to their clients and they're all raising families
and involved in the community. We're a family and we work around
family things."
Wiese was working for Nu-Laid Eggs in the Bay Area when she came
up to Valley Springs with a friend who was selling property. Wiese
bought some and decided to get her real estate license. Her boss at Nu-Laid
gave her a six-month leave of absence, but Wiese did so well that she
decided to stay here. Her first clients were Ron and Elaine Alves.
There have been ups and downs in the market, but the future of
Valley Springs looks bright and Wiese said she has no plans to retire.
"Retirement is doing what you enjoy in life," Wiese said,
"and I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now."
Although none of her children are in the profession,
granddaughter Jessica Neelans has picked up the torch.
"It makes me proud because I didn't think anyone in the
family was going to go into the business," she said of Jessica's
decision to get her license.
With the community in a growth spurt, Wiese said it is important
for the schools to be able to handle the population increase. In
addition, she said she hopes there are no freeways in Valley Springs'
future because they would ruin the area's charm.
Country Oaks' open house celebration will be from 1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday at both locations. Country Oaks Realty II at Highway 12 and
Pine Street will feature tri-tip sandwiches and salads, while Country
Oaks Realty I at Highway 26 and Baldwin will serve desserts. April 21 Participating in Wednesday's ceremony turning over the Gold Creek Estates Clubhouse to the Homeowner's Association were, from left, Gordon Perry, association board member; Whitnay Gillick of First American Title Co.; Julie Moore of First American Title Co.; Ryan Voorhees, Gold Creek Homes president; Paul Tarantino, association treasurer and Tami Allen of First American Title Co. Gold
Creek clubhouse presented to homeowners
Gold Creek Homes has turned over ownership of the subdivision's
recently completed 2,500-square-foot clubhouse to the Gold Creek Estates
Homeowner's Association. The clubhouse for the master-planned community of eventually 400 homes features a meeting room with rock fireplace and windows facing a 100-year old oak at the entrance to the development. There are restrooms, private offices and a workout room complete with exercise equipment and furnishings that have been provided by Gold Creek Homes.
The homeowner's association will operate the clubhouse
for the benefit of the Gold Creek homeowners and community.
"Ryan Voorhees, president of Gold Creek Homes, is executing
this master planned community in stages, and the clubhouse is a
very important element of creating a very special environment for the
homeowners at Gold Creek," said Gordon Perry, a member of the
homeowner's association board and marketing representative for Gold
Creek Estates. "It will provide the homeowners with a facility to
meet, hold social events, exercise...it will be the social hub of Gold
Creek Estates."
The transition was observed during a brief ceremony Wednesday
afternoon. First American Title Co. in Valley Springs provided
complimentary refreshments at the event. "This is a case where a home developer is going the extra mile to create not only good homes, but a nice place to live," Perry said. April 19 Phil Weaver, left, and Sal Manna, Society for the Preservation of West Calaveras History directors, display a branding board presented to the new organization by the family of the late George "Dutch" Schwoerer. Society
forms to save area's rich history By Nick Baptista
An organization dedicated to preserving the history of west
Calaveras County has been started. The Society for the Preservation of West Calaveras History has been formed as a nonprofit educational association, according to Sal Manna, one of the society's three directors.
"The towns of Burson, Wallace, Valley Springs, Campo Seco,
Paloma and Jenny Lind have a long and colorful history that needs to be
preserved, cherished and made available to its citizens as well as to
the citizens of the rest of Calaveras County, the state of California
and elsewhere," says the society's mission statement.
"We hope to work with the county historical society," Manna
said. He added that the Calaveras County communities of Angels Camp,
Mokelumne Hill and Murphys have their own historical societies.
In addition to Manna, the board is composed of Richard Taylor
from Regis Communications and Phil Weaver of Sheng Chi Kung Fu. Manna is
a free-lance writer and the president of the Wallace/Burson Association.
The long-term goal of the society is to obtain museum space or a
museum itself, Manna said.
"Many of the area's old-timers are starting to pass away and
we want to make sure important artifacts stay here and get exhibited
here," he said. "Too many people don't know we have any history
One such artifact was cited by Manna as an example why the
society was formed.
The relatives of Valley Springs native George "Dutch"
Schwoerer recently gave Manna a large board displaying the brands of
local ranchers.
"We believe Dutch went around to all of the ranchers back in
the 1950s and had them put their brand on the board," Manna said.
The Schwoerer family also donated hundreds of pre-1910 photos and
some as early as 1870.
The society will facilitate similar donations and those items
will be tax deductible. The non-profit status also allows the society to
seek grants from the government and private foundations.
Prior to having museum space or a museum, the society plans to
obtain display cases and prepare exhibits that can be seen at area
businesses wishing to participate, he added.
In addition to exhibits, the society plans to have public events
and the first one will be in September to honor the founder of Wallace,
John Wallace. The event will be at Wallace's gravesite in Stockton.
Those interested in making donations or contributions to the
society can contact Manna at (209) 772-0336 or write to him at P.O. Box
714 Burson, CA 95225.
The society will also have a blog on ourvalleysprings.com and an
email address.
The society can also be an economic asset to the community, Manna
"History is an asset," Manna said. "They're selling it
elsewhere and we have enough of it here." April 14 Toyon Middle School's Katie
Tanner (front), and from left, Samantha Golston, teacher Teresa Fasola,
Taylor Campbell and Sara Farmer are all smiles after receiving news that
two of their plays were winners in a recent play writing competition. Toyon foursome shines for playwriting abilities
Toyon Middle School has four talented young playwrights in its
Seventh-graders Katie Tanner, Taylor Campbell, Samantha Golston,
and Sara Farmer recently were notified that they are winners of the
Children's Fantasy Theater of Sacramento's 2006 play writing
Tanner and Campbell's "Finding Prince Charming" and Golston
and Farmers' "Little Milk Chocolate Girl" were chosen from entries
from all over the Sacramento and Central Valley areas to be performed by
the theater group now through June 3 at more than 100 schools in
northern California.
All four students wrote their plays as part of a class project in
Teresa Fasola's core class at Toyon.
Fasola is known for giving the students creative projects in
which they can express themselves through their writing.
She said she's been sending in entries for the past seven
years, but up until now, Toyon has only had one other year with a
winner. "This is our best
year ever!" said Fasola. "We are so excited to have two winners."
Principal Jan Matson was very proud of the four girls.
Though not surprised that Toyon has such exceptional students,
she noted that having two groups of winners was very special for Toyon.
"It's a record for us and I think also for Fantasy Theater"
said Matson about having a double win for TMS.
All the girls were excited about their win and happy that they
would be able to see a theater production of their works.
"I can't wait to see how they perform the play and the
costumes they come up with," said Tanner.
The plays were performed Tuesday at Toyon and will also be
performed May 22 at Valley Springs Elementary.
Tanner, Golston, and Farmer are from the Valley Springs area and
Campbell is from San Andreas. April 12 Supervisor hopefuls, from left, Victoria Erickson, Mike McDaniel and Russ Thomas tackled a number of questions during Monday's forum at Rancho Calaveras. Photo by Laura Baptista Supervisor candidates discuss issues By Nick Baptista
The trio of candidates running to represent District 5 on the
Calaveras County Board of Supervisors answered approximately 25
questioned posed by the media and the public Monday night at an election
forum hosted by The Valley Springs News.
The two-hour forum attracted an audience of approximately 75
people who heard the views of incumbent Victoria Erickson and
challengers Mike McDaniel and Russ Thomas on a variety of topics
including the general plan update, flood control, traffic congestion,
recreation, fire service, the jail and whether they were for or against
a box store in the Valley Springs area.
In opening statements, Thomas said his vision for future growth
in the county and especially District 5 "is firmly based on quality of
life factors, including realistic population densities, solving traffic
problems and the preservation of open space."
McDaniel outlined his 20-plus years of experience working with
developers, communities and citizens in developing communities. He said
District 5 was at a turning point where further "uncontrollable growth
will fracture the community."
He said the entire community should have a voice in the future of
District 5 and he would focus on representing the public at the board
Erickson said economic development in the county was important,
citing the disparity in unemployment figures between Calaveras and
Amador counties of 6.7 to 5.1 percent.
"It needs to be addressed," she said.
She cited Delta College's interest in locating a satellite
campus in the Valley Springs area as one way to increase local jobs and
said she was working with fellow Supervisor Bill Claudino "to make it
Vanessa Turner, KVML and MyMotherLode.com's Calaveras County
Bureau reporter, posed the first question to the candidates and it dealt
with their thoughts about retail development and increasing sales tax
dollars coming back to the county.
McDaniel stressed the need to avoid strip mall development and go
for high-end retail. Thomas said he had quality of life concerns about
too much retail development such as box stores and wanted to keep the
area's rural atmosphere. Erickson said the county receives only 6.3
percent of General Fund revenue from sales tax dollars so the need
exists for additional retail development. She said Valley Springs needs
to complete a community plan to outline what type of development
residents desire and then use that information to guide developers.
A week after flooding damaged at least 20 homes in the Valley
Springs area, the issue of flood control came up during questioning at
Monday's Rancho Calaveras forum for the three candidates running to
represent District 5 on the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors.
Erickson and Thomas backed the work the county, Calaveras County
Water District and the federal government are pursuing in regards to
flood control. McDaniel was critical of the current situation. He said
the areas prone to flooding had been well documented on federal maps,
but the data was not used at the county level.
In questioning from the media, all agreed the county jail was a
liability with limited inmate capacity.
McDaniel said he would seek ways to get funds not only for a new
jail, but new substations, which would also have jail facilities. He
would seek state funds, but if necessary, go to a bond election.
Thomas said he would support a bond issue to build a new jail. He
said it is a quality of life issue and believed voters would support
constructing a new jail to make sure sentences are served and the public
is safer. Erickson said
construction of a jail is one of the county government's highest
priorities and they are at work developing a facilities fee to address
the issue. She added she would support a bond if it took a bond to get a
new jail constructed. She added the early release of inmates is
discouraging to the county's deputies.
In regards to jobs and facilities for the area's young people,
the candidates were in favor of creating more parks. Erickson said she
was in favor of a countywide park and recreation system and would like
to see a park fee system in place. She also re-emphasized the need for
more commercial and retail development to create jobs.
McDaniel said the county needs to create a park district and
could lose some funding if it does not do so.
Thomas said he was accustomed to access to park when he grew up
in Modesto it was one of his objectives to create more recreational
opportunities in this county.
The 18-hole golf course being built off Ospital Road drew a
strong response from Thomas. The course was built on agriculturally
zoned land for personal use with little or no government oversight and
environmental review. The landowner now is seeking to add a number of
commercial aspects to the project such as a lodge, overnight
accommodations, a restaurant and banquet facility.
Although the owner has the "theoretical right" to build the
golf course, Thomas indicated if he were supervisor, he would make an
example of the project and not allow any additional uses.
"I'd make sure he gets to use it – exclusively," Thomas
He added that the golf course is an example of a way of doing
business in the county where some people go ahead and do what they want
and "ask for forgiveness instead of permission."
McDaniel said the golf course project was "outrageous" and
needs to be stopped.
Erickson said the project has been stopped and the golf course
will be part of the environmental impact review if the proposal
All three agreed an update of the General Plan should be the
county's top priority. When asked whether they supported some type
slowdown on zoning changes while the General Plan was being rewritten,
McDaniel said yes, Erickson said she would be in favor of a slowdown at
an appropriate time in the process and Thomas was nervous about
discussion of a slowdown or moratorium given his experiences with the
planning matters in Copperopolis that has been going on for five years.
Expanding fire service in the Valley Springs area was also raised
at the forum. McDaniel said the area's volunteer service is the best
he's seen, but it is inadequate. The area needs a full-time fire
department especially in light of recent growth. He added the insurance
industry is becoming aware that the local volunteer fire departments
cannot meet the demands and rates will go up.
Erickson said she was in favor of consolidating all of the
departments into one county fire department. The county made a big
mistake when it reorganized the departments, she added.
Erickson said the county should be responsible for fire
protection and she was working with fellow Supervisor Steve Wilensky to
bring the idea to the full board.
Thomas said he was not sure how much influence supervisors have
on fire protection, but the area has a need for full-time firefighters.
Whether they were in favor of a box store in Valley Springs drew
an emphatic "no" from Erickson, while McDaniel was in favor of the
retail development if it fit with the General Plan and did not cause
traffic problems. Thomas said he did not believe the public wanted any
large box stores, but he would follow their wishes if they asked for
When asked about their vision for the area, Thomas said he
didn't want the area to become another Stockton. He came here to look
at oak trees and economic development has to be done intelligently.
McDaniel said he wanted to see a concentrated retail and
commercial core in Valley Springs that would lend itself to pedestrian
traffic, while Erickson said it was time to shut the gate and fix our
problems first. However, she said it is not how she feels, but what the
community wants.
Making developers and contractors pay to repair roads damaged
during construction was another question from the public. McDaniel said
it happens because we allow it. Erickson said developers are required to
make the repairs and if they are not, citizens should contact the
county's public works department. Thomas said aggressive monitoring is
When asked about solutions for providing affordable housing to
the county's workforce, Erickson said the county should work with
developers to make sure they build affordable homes. Thomas said it
should be a proposed component in future development, while McDaniel
said some counties make it a requirement for developers.
Asked how they would vote on a proposal to eliminate the
Calaveras Council of Governments, McDaniel and Thomas said they would
keep it, while Erickson said she would wait until a study is completed
before making a decision.
The election for District 5 supervisor is June 6. The district
covers the communities of Copperopolis, Jenny Lind and Rancho Calaveras. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger answers questions from the media Monday during his visit to the Flood Operations Center. Governor's declaration provides state assistance to county Floodwaters continue to pose problems throughout western Calaveras County and on Monday Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Calaveras and six other counties.
Following last Tuesday's 3-inch deluge that damaged at least 20
homes primarily in the La Contenta area and forced an evacuation,
residents in the Jenny Lind area were put on an evacuation notice late
Friday afternoon when a breech occurred in a levee channeling water
releases from New Hogan Dam.
The initial failure was estimated at 80 feet in length and water
flooded approximately 35 acres in several agricultural areas.
On Thursday, the evacuation order for residents on several
streets in the La Contenta area was lifted, but residents were advised
that Tuesday's floodwaters were contaminated with untreated sewage
when Cosgrove Creek entered the Valley Springs Public Utility District
treatment ponds.
The governor's proclamation for Calaveras, Amador, Fresno,
Merced, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Stanislaus counties "direct(s) all
agencies of the state government to utilize and employ state personnel,
equipment and facilities for the performance of any and all necessary
activities to alleviate this emergency as directed by my Office of
Emergency Services and in accordance with the State Emergency Plan." April 7 Castle Rock Estates trailer park was under flood waters Tuesday afternoon. Two-inch downpour in 30 minutes causes havoc At least 15 homes damaged by flood By Nick Baptista
A downpour of 2 inches within a 30-minute period Tuesday
afternoon swelled already high creeks and streams rushing into Valley
Springs and by the time the rain began to subside at least 15 homes
along the Cosgrove Creek corridor had sustained significant damage.
In addition, residents in approximately 100 homes in La Contenta
later that night were ordered to evacuate while nearby Peachtree Pond
teetered on giving way and sending another wall of water downstream.
After nearly 10 inches of rain in March and another two the first
three days of April, Valley Springs received nearly three inches of rain
on Tuesday. Valley Springs Public Utility District General Manager Mike
Fischer reported the treatment plant received nearly two inches of rain
from approximately 1:30 to 2 p.m. |


text:
Kihei >
Nick's Fishmarket Maui4100 Wailea Alanui Dr, Kihei, HI | Directions 96753
20.675679 -156.441492 View WebsiteView More
View Less
Best Food on the South Side of Maui. It does not get any better than this! The food is always 5 star and the service is out of this world. If you can, ask for Andrew's team to wait your table. An experience not to be missed!
Top-Notch Service Bar None, July 2005.. The waiter gave us a wonderful, warm greeting and prompting our last name too. Before dinner, I excused myself to use the RR. When I came back my wife told me that as soon as I left the chair, one of the waiter folded my napkin back in place. Our 5 yr. Old daughter was very tired from swimming and told me that she's going to take a nap. She laid her head on the chairs armrest. Our waiter saw my daughter and said to us, I think she needs a bed and said hold on and Ill be right back. Two men each came carrying a small and plush lobby chair and formed a bed. Then our waiter put a pillow and big clean table sheet as her blanket. We were in awe. I also highly recommend their signature flambe desserts. Big Island Lobster and local fish was superb.
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subset: commoncrawl


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The First Amendment is Now a Taxable Privilege in Philadelphia
And I can't find any comment from notorious anti-car tosser and alleged economist Duncan Black, the Philadelphia-based apologist for Paul Krugman, regarding this absurdity.
What's up with that? I mean, Black's blog is obviously a money-maker, so is he going to be, as Joe Biden says, patriotic —or is he gonna fight the power?


text:
This article sponsored by Fellowes, maker of an impressive range of products to equip the work space, including paper shredders, binders and laminators, desktop accessories and records storage solutions. For more information, visit www.fellowes.com.
EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT identity theft in the workplace is more common than we think. Criminals can steal trade secrets, marketing research, consumer data and confidential employee information simply by Dumpster diving or accessing stolen laptops. The release of this proprietary information can have
d isast rous consequences for a business.
In the last two years, according to Ponemon Institute's "The Business Impact of Data Breach Survey" of May 2007, 85 percent of businesses expe- rienced a data breach with startling financial implications. In 2005 alone, the theft of proprietary information cost businesses and consumers an incredible $56.6 billion, according to the report.
The first step toward safeguarding proprietary information is to shred all documents, discs or CDs before disposal. Shredding in your home office or small business is convenient, and it provides a greater sense of security because you know the information has been destroyed immediately.
In addition to shredding, follow these tips to help protect your business from the threat of workplace identity theft.
• Keep sensitive information and files in locked drawers or file cabinets. • Limit access to electronic files—all files should be password protected and encrypted.
• Use updated anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software on all computers.
• Make sure wireless networks are protected with the proper security settings.
• Limit the use of Social Security numbers in the workplace and on items such as ID badges, time cards and paychecks.
• Conduct thorough background checks of potential employees.
• Use a locked mailbox to prevent mail theft.
• At the end of the day, log off computers and lock workstations or office doors.
• Pay attention to your surroundings when you travel and when you use a cell phone, laptop or BlackBerry. A
ATM receipts
Bank statements
Canceled checks
Credit-card statements and receipts
Insurance policies
Investment statements
Junk mail
Pay stubs
Retirement-plan contributions
Tax returns
Wills and other legal documents
Depending on the laws in your area or the nature of your business, there may be privacy, retention and destruction guidelines that you are required to follow.
BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS*Accounts receivablesClient contactsFinancial documentsInsurance recordsMedical recordsObsolete legal filesOccupational and Safety Health Administration 300 logsPayroll recordsPersonnel filesTrade secrets


text:
Bringing Harmony through Fair Trade
Posted by Zarah Patriana in Fair Trade News & Views on 27th March, 2008 | No Comments
Photo from Mirembe Kawomera website. The Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative, located in Uganda, is a prime example of how Fair Trade and coffee making can bring about peace and unity. Mirembe Kawomera, which means "delicious peace" in Uganda, is a coffee cooperative with members consisting of Bantu Jews, Christians and Muslims that are working together not »
Read More...


text:
Product Detail
SUPER FLY is a scientifically formulated combination of purified water, organic essential oils, extracted oils, emulsifiers, glycerin, fragrance, vanilla extract and other beneficial ingredients combine for a safe and gentle all-natural insecticide that has been proven to be more effective than anything else on the market! Lasts up to 40% longer than the competition. SUPER FLY contains a combination of organic essential oils that enhance your horses' coat, combat dryness and promotes shine while repelling and killing annoying insects and discouraging insect feeding patterns. It's gentle and safe! NO Pyrethrins, Piperonyl Butoxide or Butoxypolypropylene Glycol. DEA/MEA free.


text:
George's Bar
- about
- ratings & reviews(0)
George's Bar has reinvented the fish taco. Disks of yellowfin tuna are arranged on top of crushed corn nuts and filled with tuna tartare. They're served atop fried avocado with jalapeno aioli, radish and cabbage. According to Aarón, it's an "out of this ballpark" experience.
Specialty Dishes: Fish Taco
As Seen On
- Show: FoodNation With Bobby Flay San Diego CA Episode:
- Hosted by: Bobby Flay
- Show: The Best Thing I Ever Ate Reinvented Classics Episode:
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Houston, TX Metro >
Southside Place >
Restaurants >
4065 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77025
"The donut making machinery is fascinating and worth the stop."
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Get it Now


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Rigorous Software Engineering has evolved and changed its name! The new area is called : "Programming Languages and Tools (PLATO)".
We work on tools, languages and methodologies to dramatically increase the productivity of software development. We are interested in both analysis tools for existing software, as well as in asking questions about how software of the future should be designed.
Current focus
We are working on static analysis and testing to find bugs in programs and also guarantee certain properties about programs: Yogi.
We are working on a variety of techniques that combine information from programs together with a large amount of data about development process, as well data from users to help handle the information overload associated with large projects: DebugAdvisor, Holmes and Tark. We are also working on applications of Bayesian inference for specification inference, QBF solving and program synthesis: Merlin, other links coming soon.
We are working on new techniques that help programmers write correct concurrent programs by construction, and better programming abstractions to deal with the realities of concurrency and distribution: WYPIWYG, Isolator, Guesstimate, Speculative Parallelism, Molecular Transactions.
RSE Tools Downloads
- Guesstimate: Programming model for collaborative distributed systems
- Holmes: Automated statistical debugging for .NET
- Tark: Mining linear temporal rules
Past Projects
- SLAM is a joint project with the SRR group at MSR. SLAM is the engine that drives Microsoft's Static Driver Verifier.
- Preferential Path Profiling (PPP) is a joint project with the RAD group at MSR. PPP is a novel scheme for efficiently profiling paths in programs.
- InvCop uses a combination of static and dynamic analysis to find violations of object invariants.
- Darwin uses symbolic execution to root cause a test failure which used to pass in a prior version.
- Netra is a static analysis tool to analyze access control configuration information. It can be used to identify potential vulnerabilities at the level of configuration metadata.
- Aditya V. Nori and Rahul Sharma, Termination Proofs from Tests, in Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE), ACM, August 2013
- Guillaume Claret, Sriram K. Rajamani, Aditya V. Nori, Andrew D. Gordon, and Johannes Borgstrom, Bayesian Inference Using Data Flow Analysis, in Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE), ACM, August 2013
- Rahul Kumar and Aditya V. Nori, The Economics of Static Analysis Tools, in Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE, industrial track), ACM, August 2013
- Arun Chaganty, Akash Lal, Aditya V. Nori, and Sriram K. Rajamani, Combining Relational Learning with SMT Solvers using CEGAR, in Computer Aided Verification (CAV), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, July 2013
- Rahul Sharma, Saurabh Gupta, Bharath Hariharan, Alex Aiken, and Aditya V. Nori, Verification as Learning Geometric Concepts, in Static Analysis Symposium (SAS), Springer Verlag, June 2013
- Venkatesh-Prasad Ranganath and Jithin Thomas, Structural and Temporal Patterns-Based Features, in Proceedings of International Workshop on Data Analysis Patterns in Software Engineering (DAPSE) 2013, ACM, 21 May 2013
- Arun T. Chaganty, Aditya V. Nori, and Sriram K. Rajamani, Efficiently Sampling Probabilistic Programs via Program Analysis, in Artificial Intelligence and Statistics (AISTATS), April 2013
- Rahul Sharma, Saurabh Gupta, Bharath Hariharan, Alex Aiken, Percy Liang, and Aditya V. Nori, A Data Driven Approach for Algebraic Loop Invariants, in European Symposium on Programming (ESOP), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, March 2013
- Andrew D. Gordon, Aditya V. Nori, and Sriram K. Rajamani, Probabilistic Inference Using Program Analysis, in Off the Beaten Track (OBT '13), January 2013
- G Ramalingam and Kapil Vaswani, Fault Tolerance via Idempotence, in Principles of Programming Languages (POPL), ACM, January 2013
- Aditya Thakur, Akash Lal, Junghee Lim, and Thomas Reps, PostHat and All That: Automating Abstract Interpretation, in The Fourth Workshop on Tools for Automatic Program Analysis (TAPAS), Elsevier, 2013
- Sandeep Bindal, Sorav Bansal, and Akash Lal, Variable and Thread Bounding for Systematic Testing of Multithreaded Programs, in International Symposium in Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA), 2013
- Michael Emmi, Akash Lal, and Shaz Qadeer, Asynchronous programs with prioritized task buffers, in Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE), November 2012
- Ravichandhran Madhavan, Ganesan Ramalingam, and Kapil Vaswani, Modular Heap Analysis For Higher Order Programs, in Static Analysis Symposium (SAS), September 2012
- Michael Emmi and Akash Lal, Finding Non-Terminating Executions in Distributed Asynchronous Programs, in Static Analysis Symposium (SAS), September 2012
- Jose Faleiro, Sriram Rajamani, Kaushik Rajan, G Ramalingam, and Kapil Vaswani, Generalized Lattice Agreement, in Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC), ACM, July 2012
- Akash Lal, Shaz Qadeer, and Shuvendu Lahiri, Corral: A Solver for Reachability Modulo Theories, in Computer-Aided Verification (CAV), July 2012
- Rahul Sharma, Aditya V. Nori, and Alex Aiken, Interpolants as Classifiers, in Computer Aided Verification, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, July 2012
- Mohamed Faouzi Atig, Ahmed Bouajjani, Michael Emmi, and Akash Lal, Detecting Fair Non-Termination in Multithreaded Programs, in Computer-Aided Verification (CAV), July 2012
- R. Manikantan, kaushik Rajan, and R. Govindarajan, Probabilistic Shared Cache Management(PriSM) , in ISCA, ACM/IEEE, June 2012
- Aws Albarghouthi, Rahul Kumar, Aditya V. Nori, and Sriram K. Rajamani, Parallelizing Top-Down Interprocedural Analyses, in Programming Languages Design and Implementation (PLDI), ACM, June 2012
- Saurabh Joshi, Shuvendu Lahiri, and Akash Lal, Underspecified Harnesses and Interleaved Bugs, in Principles of Programming Languages (POPL) 2012, ACM SIGPLAN, January 2012
- Moritz Y. Becker, Alessandra Russo, and Nik Sultana, Foundations of trust management, in IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, IEEE, 2012
- Bhargav S. Gulavani, Supratik Chakraborty, G. Ramalingam, and Aditya V. Nori, Bottom-up shape analysis using LISF, in Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, ACM, November 2011
- Dawei Qi, Abhik Roychoudhury, Zhengkai Liang, and Kapil Vaswani, DARWIN: An Approach for Debugging Evolving Programs, in ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), ACM, August 2011
Click here for a full publication list
- Yamini Kannan <BITS Pilani, RSE, Berkeley>
- Monu Kedia <IBM, RSE, IBM>
- Krishna K. Mehra <IIT Kharagpur, RSE, Capillary Technologies>
- Kanika Nema <IIT Bombay, RSE, VMWare>
- Sai Deep Tetali <DAIICT, RSE, UCLA>
- Aditya V. Thakur <IISc Bangalore, RSE, Wisconsin>
- Abhishek Udupa <IISc Bangalore, RSE, UPenn>
- Lakshmisubrahmanyam Velaga <IIT Kharagpur, RSE, IIM Bangalore>
- Gopalan Nandathur (Minnesota, 2010)
- Anindya Banerjee (IMDEA, 2009)
- Supratik Chakraborty (IIT Bombay, 2007)
- Abhik Roychoudhury (NUS, 2008)
- Stefan Schwoon (University of Stuttgart, 2006, 2007)
- Prasad Sistla (University of Illinois, Chicago, 2006)
2010: Siddarth Agarwal (IIT Kanpur), Nels Beckman (CMU), Bharat Balasubramanian (UT Austin), Arun Chaganty (IIT Madras), Piyush Chawla (IIT Delhi), Neil Conway (Berkeley), Saurabh Joshi (IIT Kanpur), Abhishek Katyal (IIT Delhi), Nirmesh Malviya (IIT Kanpur), Hesam Samimi (UCLA), Rahul Srinivasan (IIT Bombay), Zachary Tatlock (UCSD)
2009: Jong-Hoon An (Maryland), Ashish Kumar Agarwal (IIT Kanpur), Vijay Victor D'Silva (Oxford University), William R. Harris (Wisconsin), Nicholas P. Johnson (Princeton), Vijay Anand Korthikanti (UIUC), Prakash J. Prabhu (Princeton), Rahul Sharma (IIT Delhi), Dheeraj Singh (IIT Kharagpur), Abhishek Udupa (IISc Bangalore), Shashank Yaduvanshi (IIT Delhi)
2008: Jyotirmoy Deshmukh (UT Austin), Bhargav S. Gulavani (IIT Bombay), Christopher Hayden (UMD), Michael Tschantz (CMU)
2007: Nels E. Beckman (CMU), Shilpa Bugde (SCIT, Pune), Pavol Cerny (UPenn), Pallavi Joshi (UC Berkeley), Akash Lal (Wisconsin), Robert J. Simmons (CMU), Christian Stefansen (DIKU), Pushkar Tripathi (IIT Delhi)
2006: Avik Chaudhuri (UC Santacruz), Prakash Chandrasekaran (CMI), Chris Conway (NYU), Madhu Gopinathan (IISc Bangalore), Bhargav S. Gulavani (IIT Bombay), Sumit Jha (CMU), Roman Manevich (Tel Aviv), and Kapil Vaswani (IISc Bangalore)
2005: Bhargav S. Gulavani (IIT Bombay), Aditya Parameswaran (IIT Bombay)
Microsoft Research India offers an unparalleled opportunity to conduct innovative and cutting-edge research and to see your research results improve the software used by most of the world. Microsoft Research's agenda combines world-class research together with our academic colleagues and a unique opportunity to put ideas into practice by working with Microsoft product groups. Researchers at Microsoft Research have an unequalled opportunity to conduct fundamental research with few resource constraints, publish in leading academic conferences, and at the same time, influence and improve software development in the world's largest software company and its customers.
We are still interviewing for researchers in the Rigorous Software Engineering group. You can apply here. If you know us from prior interactions, please send email to email@example.com. We get a lot of email from people who do not really have a research background, so please be considerate of our time when you send email.
We welcome applicants from all over the world, regardless of nationality. India, and in particular Bangalore, is booming with fresh energy and opportunities! If you have ever considered living in India, or returning to live in India, now is the time to apply!
We are also looking for interns throughout the year. We are fairly flexible about when we can start and end internships. For internships, please apply here (Select the "Rigorous Software Engineering" group).
- Bayez accepted at CAV'13!
- Verification as Learning Geometric Concepts accepted at SAS'13!
- Two papers (Probabilistic Programming and Fault Tolerance via Idempotence) at POPL'13!
- Generalized Lattice Agreement accepted at PODC'12!
- Three papers accepted at CAV'12: Corral, Mutant, and Interpolants as Classifiers!
- Tom Ball and Sriram Rajamani are receipients of the 2011 CAV award!!!
- Automatic Predicate Abstraction of C Programs wins the Most Influential PLDI Paper award!


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PR 101 eNEWSLETTER - SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
With simple tips and actionable advice, you'll be able to quickly and easily enhance the visibility of your product, service and brand.
"As President of a Las Vegas based boutique public relations firm working with limited staff and resources, I have found PR Newswire to be an extremely valuable tool in branding and marketing my clients. Representing small businesses and not-for-profit organizations with restrictive budgets (especially in the current economic climate), PR Newswire's distribution services allows for what I note as the 4Es: the most efficient, effective and economical means of Exposure. Exposure that spans the nation and beyond! In addition to the traditional media pick-up, there are hundreds of TOP internet news rooms which post PR Newswire releases "word-for-word." The internet news room postings have a two-fold effect: increasing the opportunity for media, businesses and consumers from across the globe to read the release, as well as enhancing the internet Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the client and its product/service."
Mary B. Vail, OSG
The Philanthropic Publicist
Richardson Launches New Research Study: Training's Role in the Implementation of Strategic Initiatives in the Sales Organization
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Many corporations are facing the challenge of how to effectively leverage their training organizations for internal learning and development needs. Further, when planning to implement strategic initiatives across internal organizations, the need for understanding and collaboration between functional groups is magnified. Richardson, a leading sales training and strategy execution company, in partnership with Training Industry, Inc., today announced the launch of a new research paper that explores and defines the role of the training organization when implementing strategic initiatives in the sales organization.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120914/PH74046 )
This study not only examines factors that differentiate very effective organizations from ineffective organizations, but also identifies best practices for:
- Improving the understanding of what's involved in supporting strategic sales initiatives
- Ensuring the alignment of training initiatives with goals set by sales leadership
- Sustaining the impact of training for the implementation of strategic sales initiatives
Key Findings of the report include:
- Overall, only 26% of learning leaders said their training organizations are very effective at supporting the implementation of strategic initiatives in the sales organization.
- When comparing very effective and ineffective training organizations:
- Very effective training organizations are twice as likely to purchase customized solutions as ineffective training organizations.
- Learning leaders from very effective organizations meet with senior sales leadership weekly to discuss the progress of the implementation.
- To better understand what's involved in supporting a strategic sales initiative, learning leaders need to be provided insight into training needs and a defined sales strategy and training goals.
- A majority of learning leaders said their companies effectively leverage their training organizations by creating a partnership between sales and training and by gauging performance and feedback.
To download a copy of the Research Report, please click here.
About Richardson
Richardson (http://www.richardson.com) helps leaders prepare their organizations to execute sales strategies and achieve business objectives. We have the expertise and resources to help you scale your initiative quickly and confidently across your entire sales force and supporting functions. With you, we establish sales best practices, evaluate talent, build capability and consistency through world-class sales training, and sustain necessary change. We ensure that your solution reflects your unique culture and values, which drives rapid adoption and lasting results.
SOURCE Richardson


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Webinar: The Hurdles Victims of Human Trafficking Face
Date: March 27 2013 12:00pm - 1:30pm Location: Webinar
The Hurdles Victims of Human Trafficking Face
A polyvictim is someone who has been victimized multiple times through different crimes over the course of his or her lifetime. Mounting evidence shows that polyvictimization occurs at alarming rates, especially within certain victim populations. Among those most commonly victimized multiple times are victims of human trafficking, who often suffer multiple crimes that go unrecognized and unprosecuted. This results in a unique set of hurdles and needs as these victims access justice and services to support healing.
Join attorneys from NCVLI and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) for a webinar entitled The Hurdles Victims of Human Trafficking Face. This presentation explores why trafficking victims are more likely to be victimized multiple times; the unique obstacles that victims of trafficking face in accessing justice and preventing future victimizations; and suggests some strategies for overcoming these hurdles, providing holistic services that address all of the traumas endured by these victims, and obtaining the rights these victims deserve.
This webinar is part of the Protecting Polyvictims' Rights Project Webinar Series, funded by the Office for Victims of Crime.
The first webinar in the Series, Polyvictimization: What It Is and Why It Matters to Victims' Rights, was facilitated on February 8, 2013 as a foundational webinar, providing information on the mental health impacts of multiple victimizations and an overview of victims' rights. A recording of this webinar is available on the trainings database of NCVLI's bar association website, NAVRA (www.navra.org) to Enhanced Members and will be provided for a limited time on NCVLI's website here.
Registration for this webinar is now closed
Terry L. Campos, J.D., Responding to Online Fraud Project Director, NCVLI
Prior to joining NCVLI, Ms. Campos was an appellate attorney with the Office of the State Appellate Defender in Chicago, Illinois. During her time at OSAD, Ms. Campos represented indigent persons on appeal in criminal cases. Ms. Campos interned for the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Campos has a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida and a J.D. from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College with a certificate in Criminal law.
Angela Me-Gyung Chung, Staff Attorney, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
Angela M. Chung, Esq., joined Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) in February 2012. Ms. Chung is a graduate of the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law & Policy at UCLA School of Law. As a Staff Attorney, Ms. Chung provides direct legal services to U.S. citizens and L.P.R. survivors of human trafficking and victim advocacy in the state and federal criminal court systems. She also provides technical assistance on human trafficking cases throughout the United States.
Prior to joining CAST, Ms. Chung was an associate attorney at Horton & DeBolt, LLP prosecuting employment discrimination and harassment cases, and a deputy public defender, providing criminal defense work for indigent clients in Los Angeles County. Before practicing public interest law, Ms. Chung was a community organizer in Oakland and Los Angeles dedicated to creating alternatives to incarceration and addressing racial and gender inequality. Ms. Chung speaks fluent Korean and is a local writer on politics.
Stephanie Richard, Policy & Legal Director, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
Stephanie Kay Richard, Esq., is the Policy & Legal Director at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) where she provides direct legal services to survivors of human trafficking and technical consultation on human trafficking cases nationwide. Ms. Richard has also worked as an attorney at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law and at the civil rights litigation firm, Swick & Shapiro. She is the author of State Legislation and Human Trafficking: Helpful or Harmful?, published in the Michigan Journal of Law Reform (Feb. 2005). She graduated summa cum laude from American University, Washington College of Law, where she was the recipient of a public interest/public service scholarship. She is licensed to practice law in California, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington, DC.
This webinar was produced by NCVLI under 2012-VF-GX-KO13, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this webinar are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.


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At the end of the Oakley Relay For Life that took place last weekend, hundreds of people pledged to keep the fight for a cure going, fulfilling Relay's third theme: Fight Back.
After celebrating the survivors and honoring those who have lost their battles to cancer, those who are left standing are asked to make a Relay pledge, a promise to keep searching for a cure until cancer is nothing more than a memory, a blip in the history books as a disease that no longer exists.
"Cancer is all around us," said Oakley Relay board member Joe Ballard. "As someone who has terminal cancer knows, if we don't fight back, who will? I'll never see the cure for cancer, but I know going to my grave that maybe some day, for our kids, that it (a cure) will come."
Ballard helped bring Relay to Oakley last year, serving as event chairman. This year, he stepped down as chair but remained involved in the organization of the event. While Relay is filled with many emotional moments, Ballard believes that the Fight Back ceremony, traditionally held at the end of the Relay event, is just as powerful as the Survivors Lap and the Luminaria Ceremony.
During the Fight Back Ceremony, participants pledge to keep the fight going, extending the Relay message throughout the community. Fighting back can take many forms. One way is to continue raising money for cancer research. Another is to educate friends and family about cancer risks or share your Relay experience. But some people take it a step further and make a personal pledge to change their lifestyle and lead a healthier life by quitting smoking, exercising more or improving their diet.
As part of the Fight Back movement, Relay participants pledge to keep the Relay message in the public eye for the other 364 days of the year. It's a call to action to encourage participants and teams to go out into the community and keep the Relay spirit alive so that the next year's event will be even bigger and raise even more money for a cure.
The residents of Oakley raised more than $70,000 this year, but the fight doesn't end there. Relayers around the nation continue to fight by reminding their friends and family to get annual cancer screenings, writing to members of Congress to make cancer research legislation a priority, or educating others about American Cancer Society resources.
Relay participants write their pledges on cards and share their vows with the audience. Cancer isn't contagious, but the disease doesn't discriminate. Until a cure is discovered, everyone is at risk. But fighting back in mass numbers holds the promise of putting an end to cancer sooner than later. Relay For Life events shine a spotlight on the fight against cancer, but once the purple banners are taken down and the track is cleaned up, the Relay message must continue to spread.
Although the Oakley Relay has come and gone, Relay is still very much alive in far East County. Brentwood's Relay takes place in June, but to get the buzz going, Relay teams will be Painting the Town Purple this weekend. On Friday, May 7, the Brentwood community is encouraged to decorate the city with purple banners, signs and bows – anything to draw attention to Relay.
For more information about Relay For Life and how to fight back, visit www.relayforlife.org.


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text: What is Wrong With This Picture?? Posted by Jess Kelley on Friday, November 16, 2012 3:50 p.m. CST Oh I know...the fact that this ONE Twinkie is on Ebay for $2,000. If this sells I will be SHOCKED or depressed I'm not sure which one. Maybe a little of both. Watch Jon and I's trip to Hostess this morning. Twinkies were WAY cheaper than $2,000 Comments


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Miguel has never told anyone in his hometown of Sand Springs what he discovered as a teenager. He was brought to the U.S. by his mother at age 8 without legal documents.
"I was in shock when my parents told me," said the 19-year-old. "I thought everything would be the same here as in Mexico in terms of rights. I was kind of mad at them because they are the reason I'm here."
The Tulsa World is withholding his name at his request due to a fear of retribution by immigration officials, resulting in deportation.
Miguel was among about 60 undocumented immigrants attending a clinic hosted Saturday by Dream Act Oklahoma at the Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 2801 S. 129th East Ave.
He is in the process of applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is a program created after President Barack Obama issued a directive June 15 giving relief to a specific group of undocumented youth.
Aspects of the qualifications mirror those contained in the DREAM Act, which is a decade-old measure pending in Congress. It gives a two-year reprieve from deportation and chance to get a work permit and Social Security number.
It does not give legal residency or path to citizenship, creating a type of legal limbo.
The Tulsa clinic allowed immigrants to consult with immigration attorneys Rebekah Guthrie and Eddie Irwin on their applications. In addition to the 6-page application, immigrants are required to provide a host of other supporting documents.
Miguel has since forgiven his parents, understanding why they risked the trip. "All they wanted for me is to get an better life and education," he said. "I want to make them proud and worth the effort they went through for me. Mexico was dangerous and violent. A lot of kids get married young and don't finish school. And it's easier to get into drugs and gangs. They brought me here to be safe and educated."
Miguel crossed the border in 2001 from Mexico into Arizona with his mother and older sister to reunite with their father, who was working in Tulsa.
"I was excited because we all wanted to come here for so long and be with him," he said. "He had been gone so long I could not remember what he looked like."
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Source: (c) 2012 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Distributed by MCT Information Services
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A Somoan Priest would like me to refinish a Ceremonial Bowl for him. What do they use to treat the bowl to make it very dark?
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How To Videos
Here are some instructional videos to help you get started with Majestic SEO.
Registering and using Majestic SEO for the very first time
(New version.) An introductory video of what Majestic SEO does and how to get started in a step by step guide. The video includes showing you how to get a full analysis of your own sites for free, by verifying the domains.
For many people, Site Explorer is the main point of entry to Majestic's data. Quickly learn the interface and the incredible value that you get from the start with Majestic SEO's Link analysis tool.
Creating Reports in Majestic SEO
When you have a handle on what Site Explorer gives you, it is likely that you will want to dig into the backlinks to a domain in more detail. This video shows the types of report you can generate and why you might want these.
There are different types of reports in Majestic SEO. If you are interested in the strongest links by anchor text, then the Standard report is ideal. Please look at "Creating Reports in MajesticSEO before seeing the Standard Reports video.
This video tutorial goes through the advanced report screens, filters and download options. Please look at "Creating Reports in MajesticSEO before seeing the advanced reports video.
What Majestic SEO gives you for FREE
This webinar was run in January 2011 and covers the main free uses of Majestic SEO and its data.
Majestic SEO's Backlink History Graphs
One of the most popular free tools that Majestic offers is used by SEOs around the world to quickly assess relative competition. This tutorial covers all you need to know to use this tool in your business.
Clique Hunter Tutorial: This formally introduces you to our Clique Hunter tool, which is a great way to find link hubs within your vertical. It is a more polished tutotial to replace: Using Clique Hunter Part 1 and Using Clique Hunter Part 2.
This more advanced presentation takes Clique Hunter to the next level – starting with a given keyword and ending with a per-filtered, prioritized list of link candidates in an Excel spreadsheet.
If you need to get headline information about the number of links from 10s or even hundreds of websites at once, this tool is almost instant and starts with a free service. Data can be exported to CSV for further analysis.
This short video shows off our OpenApps from a user's point of view and shows how easy it is for a developer to integrate Majestic SEO's customers into your own tools. Majestic OpenApps is available for developers on a Platinum package and can integrate any Majestic SEO subscription, whatever level it is.
This is an ingenious way of showing how your site is linked from around the world. It is especially useful if yor audience crosses several international boundaries.
Welcome To Flow Metrics – Training Video
For those of you who would like to understand exactly what Flow Metrics are, this video will explain everything, while also showing you around the new metrics.


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Architectural Supply, Inc., designs and imports ornate hand carved, solid marble outdoor garden fountains for residential and commercial applications. This includes wall and freestanding marble garden fountains of the Italian Neo-Classical, Grotto, Baroque, Tuscan, Romanesque and Art Deco periods. We do not deal in inferior concrete cast stone or cultured marble composite products but have found a way to compete, price wise, with solid marble. If your architectural style is Mediterranean or European in design then our discount pricing will appeal to your budget. Please contact us for a free quote on your photo or marble fountain design.
Architectural Supply, Inc. 9950 Hempstead Hwy Houston, Texas 77092 713-266-2033


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Last night's episode of American Idol was deemed, "Final Eleven Part Deux" by host Ryan Seacrest. After the judges used their onetime "save" on Casey Abrams, we had to know that every one of the final eleven were going to bring their "A" game. What we didn't expect was that nearly all of them would have almost perfect performances. The theme was to perform songs by legendary singer and song writer Sir Elton John. What amazed me is that every contestant (with the exception of Lauren) picked a song that completely fit their persona.
Scotty McCreery, our country prodigy, opened up the night by introducing his new guitar, "Scarlett", to the judges and then he used Scarlett to take over the stage. Scotty chose "Country Comfort" as to perform, and he made it his own; without a doubt. The judges went on to tell Scotty that he has come into his own on the show and that they felt like they were at his concert, not judging his performance. I told my wife, "…this kid's ready for Nashville," and I'm fairly certain Nashville is anxiously standing by.
Directly after Scotty's performance American Idol contestant, Naima Adedapo, took the stage, performing Elton John's "I'm Still Standing". Naima, who was one of the contestants that was saved by the judges during the final elimination before America's voting began, performed this song in her Rastafarian manner giving it a complete reggae twist. The judges told her that it just wasn't the right song for that style of music, but they all agreed that it was a good performance otherwise. I had to disagree, though I'm not a fan of most of her performances, but I think that Naima took a song that fit her perfectly and made us see that she has the ability and range to deliver music outside of the box.
Next up was Paul McDonald, with the pearly smile and the white, rose patterned suit (he promised to retire it after this performance), and unique lullaby voice, he performed a great version of "Rocket Man" that made the judges wonder why he was holding back. The judges told Paul that they think that he doesn't even recognize the potential in his voice, I couldn't agree more. He chose a song that Elton John performs with fireworks and gusto, and he made it a mix between "folk and fun"…and though I loved it, I can't wait to see him let loose.
When Pia Toscano took the stage, we knew we were going to get vocals that are nearly unchallenged. But once again, Pia chose to prove to the audience that she can sing a ballad…we know Pia, we know. Pia's rendition of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was spectacular; her voice is never an issue. But I couldn't help but wonder, after her performance, how many 14 to 40 year old viewers are ready to vote for the next Celine Dion? Though she is beautiful and sings like an angel, she'll never get my vote until she can make me excited about seeing her next performance…outside of Vegas.
After Pia, Stefano Langone took the stage to perform "Tiny Dancer" and I was certain he was about to ruin a song that has never failed to give me goose bumps. The song, which was released by Elton John the same year I was born, is, in my opinion, one of Elton John's finest, and anyone that is familiar with his work knows that for someone to say that they must truly feel it. Stefano was one of my early favorites, with his back story that could move even a rock like me, but he quickly made his way down the ladder with his inability to remove his particular "accent" from his vocals and his performances that never really "brought it" on stage. But with every passing note of his song he took a step back up that ladder. Stefano hit notes I hadn't thought he was capable of doing and he showed that he can connect with both the home audience, by using the cameras, and the live audience the same. Most importantly, his performance stayed true to the song and brought me the goose bumps I was sure he couldn't possibly elicit…
Lauren Alaina is far and above my favorite female performer. In my opinion this 17 year old girl has the most potential as a performer for the targeted age group, with lively stage presence and vocals that kind of remind you of the, "I'm a little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll" saying. Lauren was the only performer that I thought did not pick a song that I would have personally picked for them. While she performed a great rendition of "Candle in the Wind", I couldn't help but wish she was singing "I'm Gonna Be a Teenage Idol". The song is a fun song and it would have still allowed Lauren to show off her vocals while bringing us that stage presence that every fan wants. And, who knows, maybe it would have been the self-fulfilling prophecy that it was for Sir Elton.
Oh boy…James Durbin, what can you say? He lit a piano on fire (well it was just FX) and did the splits while performing "Saturday Night's Alright [For Fighting]". Could he have picked a better song for him? James, with is awkward, coolness, comes off as if he doesn't have a care in the world about the judges sitting right in front of him. It's as if, to him, he's not being judged anymore. Now it's all about having fun and making the audience "get their money's worth". This kid never fails to make me look stupid in front of my wife, because every time he performs I get as excited as a 12 year old school girl and start blabbering some nonsense about how awesome he is…I knew last night, from my wife's look, that she, most definitely, is still judging me.
Thia Megia, she brought us another ballad, yes, we got a one week break from them, but she delivered us the old Thia with her performance of "Daniel". Though I was not excited about seeing her perform another ballad, I must say she owned that song…she had me noticing every pitch and key (if those are musical terms) throughout the entire song, all the while tearing up thinking about my own brother. I told myself when she was done that she deserved to sing a song that actually came from the heart…and I feel like she did.
This brings us to the judge's save and everyone's favorite funny guy, Casey Abrams. With a fresh new haircut and a trimmed beard, Casey showed us that his past two performances, that may have lacked, were only a stumble. Casey sang "Your Song" and had the audience thinking that he validated the judges' one time use of the "judges' save". One can only hope that America doesn't make the same mistake two weeks running and we get to see more of this standout Idol that makes every normal 'Joe' believe that they, too, can be "sexy". For the record, if Jennifer Lopez told me I was sexy…na, never mind, what are the chances…
The vocals of the ever impressive Jacob Lusk took the stage next to perform "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". Once again Jacob gave the audience a near perfect vocal performance, but I can't help commenting on the monotony of his performances. As was pointed out in his interview, all I see from Jacob is him singing and that look as if he is going to cry during every performance. I get it Jacob, you "feel" the music, but maybe, just maybe you can pick more upbeat songs…regardless, I never come away from his songs thinking he did a bad job; he is consistent to say the least in his near perfect vocals.
Last, but…well, last was Haley Reinhart she took the stage and finally showed some stage presence after many weeks of criticism from the judges. Haley sang the ever fun and upbeat "Bennie and the Jets". Randy exclaimed "yo, yo…best performance of the night" and Steven Tyler told her "you sing sexy"… I couldn't agree more with Steven, she has one of the most unique female voices on stage and I love listening to her sing. The problem is, for me to truly enjoy her songs…boy my wife is going to kill me for this, since Haley is her all time favorite…for me to truly enjoy her songs, I need to close my eyes. Not to feel the music, but to avoid seeing her on stage. To me, watching her try to move around that stage is reminiscent of watching the episode of "Seinfeld" when Elaine starts dancing at the office party. I think at one point I saw her kick a leg and throw back an arm at the same time. So in that sense, I can't agree with Randy, sure she improved because she "moved" outside of her box, but for heaven sake, the awkwardness…
So, if one were to ask me who my performance of the night would go to…and since I'm the only one here I'm going to assume everyone is — only because I want to tell you — I would most definitely say Stefano's stellar performance of "Tiny Dancer" would hands down get my vote. Not only did he pull off singing such a difficult song, and show a great connection with his audience, he improved tremendously beyond his past performances…and most of all, he gave me goose bumps.
Unfortunately, tonight we must see two go…


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On 7/24/12 we took a short "drive through" School Street Cemetery. Where we got a disembodied child's voice in response to me asking for interaction with chi...
Tags: Apparition, paranormal
David, when i looked at the face(s), at first when the video started i seen a little boy. then at the end a teenager. maybe it was the way it was looking at the video camera.
Hi Laura I dont see the second fae but your right the one I do see seems to be of a teenager
David, i do not think i know that was a child's face, actually i believe that there were two faces. the first one was of a young child and the second (towards the end) was more of a teenager. both look to be female.
Ok Im watching this with out sound I dont know what your camera is pointed at, but I see a childs face, is it just patteren recognition or??? What do you all think??
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Why directors and trustees should care, and how they should play their part
The focus seems to always land on concentrations of credit. Concentrations are inevitable, especially for community banks. When concentrations arise, better risk management practices are looked for by examiners, including comprehensive stress testing. Lending officers and credit risk professionals understand their loans very well and stress testing the components is comparatively easy for them to learn and comprehend. But what about the board of directors? Board members may not be as familiar with loans and their intricacies, but oversight of any stress testing effort would seem to be a natural part of their job. First, boards must accept the need for stress testing. Then they must explore their appropriate role at each stage of the stress-testing process.
Why Your Bank Should Stress Test
An effective way to learn about a topic is to learn about past mistakes, and there are actually post mortems of bank failures that anybody with access to a computer connected to the internet can find and read.FDIC's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducts a look-back analysis, called a Material Loss Review, on failures. You can find these reports here. Reading these documents is a quick and easy way to learn that asset concentrations are dangerous. Many, if not all, of the recent reports point to the results of concentrations in acquisition, development, and construction projects and CRE lending as the cause of the bank's demise. Another source of information is the General Accounting Office's Report to Congress, titled Enhanced Guidance on Commercial Real Estate Risks Needed. This report is an intensive study on the regulatory treatment of CRE during examinations. The report found that there were inconsistencies in applying the 2006 Guidance, nothing that the guidance lacked clarity on how to comply with it. As a result, federal regulators are expected to enhance or supplement this guidance in the very near future. Stay tuned! (Regarding material loss reviews: The Dodd-Frank Act increased the threshold loss to the deposit insurance fund that triggers a review. It shifted to $200 million (from $25 million) for losses that occur between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2011. However, if the OIG determines there were unusual circumstances involved in the bank's failure, then a report called an In-Depth Review will also be issued.)
Your Role As A Board Member In Stress Testing
Let's outline the board's responsibility for overseeing an institution's portfolio level stress testing program. A good way to review this is through questions and answers.Q. Exactly what is stress testing? A. The Comptroller's Handbook states: "In Stress Testing, a bank alters assumptions about one or more financial, structural, or economic variables to determine the potential effect on the performance of a loan, concentration, or portfolio segment." The handbook also states that "All banks will derive benefits, regardless of the sophistication of their methods, from applying this risk management concept to their loans and portfolios."
Q. What is the bank director's role?
A. The director's role does not differ much with respect to stress testing from their overall role in the management of the institution. It can be summarized generally by the phrase: "Ensuring that management is effectively addressing the risk inherent in the bank's operations."
Q. What types of risk are we measuring?
A. There are three: • Credit: The risk that a borrower will fail to repay the loans as originally agreed. • Market: The risk that a bank's earnings and capital might be adversely affected by changes in interest rates. • Regulatory: The risk to earnings, capital, and reputation associated with a failure to comply with an increasing array of regulatory requirements and expectations.
Q. Why are we performing this exercise?
A. Because credit risk management, including managing commercial real estate, is the primary focus of regulatory examinations in today's environment.
Q. What is the governing regulatory guidance in this area?
A. There are two key documents: • Joint Press Release: December 12, 2006--Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound Risk Management Practices
Q. What loans are included in the guidance?
A. The guidance focuses on CRE loans for which the cash flow from the real estate is the primary source of repayment, rather than loans to a borrower for which real estate collateral is taken as a secondary source of repayment or through an abundance of caution. More specifically, loans that are for land development and construction (including 1-4 family residential and commercial construction) and other land loans; loans secured by multifamily properties; and nonfarm nonresidential property where the primary source of repayment is derived from rental income associated with the property or the proceeds of the sale, refinancing, or permanent financing of the property. Excluded from the guidance are loans that are relying upon the cash flow from the ongoing operations and activities conducted by the party who owns the property.
Q. What is the purpose of the guidance?
A. The 2006 Guidance reminds institutions that the board has ultimate responsibility for the level of risk assumed by the institution. It also reminds institutions that strong risk management practices and appropriate levels of capital are important elements of a sound CRE lending program, particularly when an institution has a concentration in CRE loans.
Q. What are the supervisory criteria?
A. The Agencies use the following criteria as a preliminary step to identify institutions that are potentially exposed to significant CRE concentration risk: (1) Total reported loans for construction, land development, and other land represent 100% percent or more of total capital. (2) Total commercial real estate loans represents 300% or more of the institution's total capital and the outstanding balance increased 50% or more during the prior 36 months. The supervisory monitoring criteria do not constitute limits on an institution's lending activity, but serve as a high-level indicator to identify institutions potentially exposed to CRE concentration risk. The criteria also do not constitute a "safe-harbor" for institutions if other risk indicators are present regardless of their measurement under (1) and (2).
Q. What does the guidance require?
A. Institutions involved in CRE lending should perform ongoing risk assessments to identify and monitor CRE concentrations. If the institution has significant CRE concentration risk, its strategic plan should address the rationale for its CRE levels in relation to its overall growth objectives, financial targets, and capital plan. In addition, the Agencies' Real Estate Lending regulations (Part 365) require that each institution adopt and maintain a written policy that establishes appropriate limits and standards for all extensions of credit that are secured by liens on or interest in real estate, including CRE loans. Therefore, the board of directors should: • Establish policy guidelines and approve an overall CRE lending strategy regarding the level and nature of CRE exposures acceptable to the institution. • Ensure that management implements procedures and controls to effectively adhere to and monitor compliance with the institution's lending policies and strategies. • Review information that identifies and quantifies the nature and level of risk presented by CRE concentrations, including reports that describe changes in CRE market conditions in which the institution lends. • Periodically review and approve CRE exposure limits and appropriate sublimits to conform to any changes in the institution's strategies and to respond to changes in market conditions. Institutions with CRE concentrations should also develop a contingency plan to reduce or mitigate concentrations in the event of adverse CRE market conditions. This plan can include whole loan sales, participations, and securitizations, in addition to curtailing new originations. Effectively reporting and stratifying the CRE portfolio requires a strong Management Information System. The sophistication of the system will vary with the size and complexity of the CRE portfolio and level and nature of concentration risk. But it should provide management with sufficient information to identify, measure, monitor, and manage CRE concentration risk. An institution with CRE concentrations should perform portfolio-level stress tests or sensitivity analysis to quantify the impact of changing economic conditions on asset quality, earnings, and capital. The sophistication of these practices should be consistent with the size, complexity, and risk characteristics of its CRE loan portfolio.
Q. How is this stress testing typically performed?
A. There are several methods currently available to bankers that include: • An Excel worksheet. • Automated solutions for community banks using loan file data and modeling assumptions. • Report writer type solutions that require a one-time loan data extract. • Outsourced services provided by a vendor or loan review firm. Whatever method bank management chooses, board members must become familiar with the techniques, requirements, and limitations.
Q. What questions do I, as a board member, ask?
A. When the bank's Senior Loan or Credit Officer presents findings to the board, there are several pertinent questions that you can ask to become more familiar with this exercise. These include: • Source data: Where does it come from? How old is it? How often can it be updated? • How reliable is the data?: If the method chosen by bank management requires the bank to extract every piece of information from the loan files, such as the Debt Service Coverage Ratio and Loan-to-Value ratios, are we comparing ratios that were calculated at loan origination for some loans while using updated ratios for other loans when the bank was able to obtain updated financial information? If this is the case, what steps did management take to address this inconsistency? • Scope: Was the exercise truly a portfolio level stress test or was the test performed only on a segment? • What were the stress test factors?: Was the stress test a multi-variable exercise? In this type of exercise loans were adjusted using more than one variable, such as interest rates rising along with a decline in the Net Operating Income of the subject properties. Can the stress test factors be altered when new economic conditions present themselves in the future? • Were any new concentration segments discovered during this exercise?: The method employed by the bank should help with concentration analysis in addition to stress testing. Often new concentration segments develop in an institution inadvertently and can go undetected for quite some time. This risk can be substantial, especially because it's not being monitored and mitigating steps have not yet been put in place. A key takeaway: Bank directors are not required to replicate the work of management. However, they should question the source, timeliness, and accuracy of the information that management and others provide. By asking these questions and others, bank directors are performing their oversight responsibilities.
Is Stress Testing Going To Help Your Bank?
Q. What are the results of undertaking stress testing? A. The guidance requires the results of the stress test to quantify the impact of changing economic conditions on the institution's asset quality, earnings, and capital. When the institution's senior loan officer or credit officer presents the findings, these elements should be clearly addressed. As a director, your job is to determine if the risk to the bank under the stressed situations is manageable. Community banks are supposed to assume a certain level of risk, otherwise they wouldn't be making money. But the key question is: Will the bank's capital base still be protected under these scenarios? • If the answer is yes, then the exercise was a success. This doesn't mean that it's the last time that the exercise should be performed. On the contrary, stress testing should be performed at regular intervals within the institution. • If the answer to question is no, then there is work to do. Addressing the findings of the test is paramount. Directors must take quick and decisive action when they are armed with the knowledge that the viability of the bank could be at risk under the stressed scenarios. Immediate actions include acting upon the steps outlined in the bank's contingency plan, among others. Once these steps have been taken, directors should revisit the limits put in place on the various segments and the total CRE portfolio along with any other steps deemed necessary. Ms. Lucci's firm, Banker's Toolbox, offers the Crest commercial real estate stress-testing system. It was recently endorsed by ABA's Corporation for American Banking. Trackback(0)
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Rockets: #5 Paper Rockets | ||
Students will construct small flying rockets out of paper and propel them by blowing air through a straw. Students will work at creating a rocket that will travel the greatest possible distance across a floor model of the solar system. | ||
This activity can also be found in:
Quilt: Science Grades: K-4: I1 5-8: I1 Quilt: Mathematics Grades: 3-5: L4 P4 Quilt: California Grades: K-5: G3 6-8: G3 | ||


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Print | SPORTS
Herd, Cincy tied at Bearcat Invitational golf tournament
HEBRON, Ky. -- Marshall University is tied with host Cincinnati after one round of the Bearcat Invitational men's golf tournament at The Traditions Golf Club.
Belmont leads the 13-team tournament at 1-under-par 287. Corey Richmond is the lead individual after firing a 5-under 67.
Marshall and Cincinnati are tied at 8-over 296.
Logan Lagodich led the Thundering Herd with a 72, Brian Anania shot 73 and Nathan Kerns carded a 74. Jeremy Rogers and Josh Holmes shot 77 and 83 respectively.
The tournament's start was delayed an hour and 40 minutes because of frost. Second-round play began Monday but stopped at 7 p.m. because of darkness. Play resumes Tuesday at 9 a.m. with completion of round two followed by the final round.
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Marshall women's golf is in 17th place after one round of the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate hosted by East Carolina at Greenville Country Club.
Maryland and UNC-Wilmington share the lead at 7-over-par 295. Marshall shot 322.
Juliet Vongphoumy from Maryland holds the individual lead after shooting 4-under 68.
Marshall players are Korakot Simsiriwong (77), Rachel Thompson (79), Samantha DiDomenico (83), Caitlyn Morrone (83) and Maria Battaglia (84).
The two-day, 54-hole event was reduced to 36 holes after second round action was rained out. Final round play begins Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.


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Fine foods and wine
On account of its geographic location, history and tradition, Venice has always been a crossroads of foods, tastes, customs and flavours.
Its connection with the inland parts of the Veneto and Friuli regions, the vast lagoon area and its trade relations with distant nations brought together many different culinary traditions, blending them together into a harmonious and varied cuisine.
Fish, shellfish and crustaceans are of course prevalent in Venetian cuisine.
The lagoon bed has always produced mussels, razor clams and small crabs, which, depending on their stage of development and the consistency of their shell, are harvested and cooked as either moèche or masanète.
The Adriatic Sea provides an abundance of oily fish, especially sardines, as well as cuttlefish, octopus and squid. Eel is also a popular catch.
The catch of the day reaches Venice every morning and is sold to the general public in the evocative setting of the Rialto Market, which is obviously one of the more famous parts of Venice for fresh and even raw fish dishes in the numerous establishments that have popped up around the market.
The sarde in saòr are floured and fried, then dressed with onions that have been lightly fried until translucent, pine nuts, raisins and vinegar. At this point the dish can be eaten cold or conserved for a long period of time.
Middle Eastern influence can clearly be seen in the preparation method, which also attests to a need to prepare foods that could be loaded onboard ships and consumed during the voyage without spoiling.
Despite the abundance of fresh fish, Venice also uses a considerable amount of baccalà, or salt-cod and dried stockfish from the distant Northern ports.
It would seem that the monks of the various convents throughout Venice once specialised in the preparation of baccalà. In fact, baccalà alla cappuccina – named after the Capuchin order - is a Venetian favourite. It seems that this talent for preparing salt cod derives from the rules imposed by the Council of Trento that prohibited the use of meat for extensive periods of time throughout the year. Given the fact that certain monasteries and convents found it difficult to acquire fresh fish on account of their location, baccalà became a popular alternative.
Even rice and cornmeal from the Middle East and the Americas hold places of honour in Venetian cuisine. Famous Venetian dishes include risotto al gò (the name for gobies in the local dialect, a fish indigenous to the lagoon), or risi e bisi (simply rice with peas and bacon cooked in broth). This dish was traditionally eaten by the Doges for St. Mark's Feast Day to celebrate the patron saint of Venice.
Cornmeal, both yellow and white, gave rise to polenta, which is often a side dish for fried fish, stewed cuttlefish cooked with their black ink, or Venetian style liver and onion.
The lagoon, with its small island and cane thickets, also supplied abundant game. Ernest Hemingway loved hunting here. Venetian cookbooks include many duck recipes, including a delicious duck ragout for bigoli. Bigoli are form of long pasta, like spaghetti, with an extremely rough texture, so are perfect for collecting the tasty Venetian sauces.
Bigoli are typically dressed with this duck ragout, or simply "in salsa", or with salt-cured sardines and lots of onion.
Another famous pasta dish is pasta e fagioli (pasta and bean soup), a country recipe that is very popular in Venice and throughout the entire region.
The lagoon islands, especially Sant'Erasmo, provide Venice with vegetables.
Sant'Erasmo produces the purple artichoke, a local speciality that risked extinction during the flood of 1966. An extraordinarily high tide completely submerged the island, inevitably destroying all the crops. Fortunately, this variety had also been sown in Tuscany, and so some of the original seeds were recovered and cultivation was recommenced.
This island also provides the best aromatic herbs in the territory.
A determining factor in the evolution of Venetian cuisine was the importation of sugar from Egypt and Syria around the year 1000, which gave patisserie new impetus thanks to the cutting-edge refining techniques, of which Venice was at the forefront.
Venetian dry biscuits are famous, with baìcoli, zaletti and crostoli – traditional Carnival and Mardi Gras cakes. Venice also has tasty frìtoe, soft round fritters with raisins that are filled with Chantilly cream of zabaione.


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i'm assuming by "free will" you mean contra causal free will and not, say, compatibilism.
i of course reject contra causal free will but i'm certainly a compatibilist.
we have the freedom of our choices, they're just constrained by past states.
then there's no responsibility?
you're alleging that there's not even an external reality? are you a nihilist?
Peace to you my friend.
Calling something a cop out isn't an argument, it is actually a red herring. "Not quite ready to succumb to the reality that we are machines with absolutely no control. All is an illusion made up by our brains." this is nothing but a straw man. no offense, but you are not making any arguments, you are merely exerting your views.
I would consider arguing with you that your body , what you ate the past week , the weather , the amount of time you have to prepare either item , how healthy you feel like being that particular day ... so many previous states of being and reality that are ALL factors in your 'free will' decision.
Something like this: If you per chance you know you don't have enough time to cook spaghetti and meatballs for lunch , but DO have enough time to slap together a sandwich , you don't really choose the sandwich. It's just rational to do so based upon other factors. It just makes sense to not be late for work and make a quick sandwich. Or your body could wake up one morning and just decide it wants peanut butter. That 'craving' one get's sometimes when they think about a certain food item ... subconscious feelings about health .. etc.
I compare this to the fact you didn't 'choose' to be an Atheist. It is just the most rational decision based upon evidence and reality.
OK, call me stupid here, but if what you say is true, that we did not choose to be atheists, then those inflicted with religion did not choose their worldview either. Correct?
I understand your PB&J sandwich reasoning, but explain this. If I am standing on a corner and a pair of identical twins are calling to me to sell me a knockoff Gucci bag with the exact same phrase, neither louder than the other nor closer to me than the other, wearing the exact same clothes, using the exact same body language, if I really want that Gucci bag I will have to chose one. What previous state could you image that would influence my decision?
Started by Unseen in Welcome to Think Atheist. Last reply by Morgana 1 hour ago. 41 Replies 0 Likes
Posted by richard vitzthum on May 25, 2013 at 11:38am 15 Comments 3 Likes
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Welcome Home Woodruff!
April 7th, 2006 by Peter SlutskyDoubleSpeak welcomes ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff home!
ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, a Bloomfield Township native, sent an e-mail to his colleagues Thursday saying that he's moving on to outpatient treatment, months after being severely injured in a bomb blast in Iraq in January. And on "World News Tonight," coanchor Elizabeth Vargas told viewers that Woodruff, 44, is home and "making excellent progress."
Woodruff, a father of four, wrote: "Though I know there is still a long road ahead, it's nice to be feeling more like myself again, reading bedtime stories and reminding my kids to do their homework."


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