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Author Archives: nhandler
Google Summer of Code Update #3
Last week was a rather slow week. I did some work on allowing the dashboard to store and process information that does not come from the BTS. This exposed a few issues with the way we were storing and presenting … Continue reading
irssi bansearch.pl script
As a freenode staffer and Ubuntu Operator, a frequent question that I am asked is, "Why can't I join #channel?" or "Why can't I talk in #chanel?". To answer this question, I normally check the ban and quiet lists for … Continue reading
Google Summer of Code Report #1
Here is my first official Google Summer of Code report. As I still had classes, the first week of coding was rather slow. However, after my first phone call with my mentor, Matt Zimmerman, things started to pick up. I … Continue reading
Google Summer of Code Update #2
I've been spending the past few days working on a dashboard for DEX. I've been using Python, javascript, and jquery to create this dashboard (partially as a learning exercise). Earlier today, I started thinking that a visual mockup of the … Continue reading
Google Summer of Code Update #1
I just got off the phone with my Google Summer of Code mentor, Matt Zimmerman. Some things that we discussed were that Debian Developers are quite partial to the BTS. We agreed that using the BTS to store as much … Continue reading
Hello Planet Debian
Hello everyone. Per tradition, I will use my first post to Planet Debian as a bit of an introduction. My name is Nathan Handler. I am Ubuntu Developer and a member of freenode staff. Currently, I am participating as a … Continue reading
For a while now, I have been attempting to use the various popular video editing applications to create basic photo slideshows with music. However, I have recently discovered a tool called dvd-slideshow. This blog post is designed to serve mainly … Continue reading
SSH Key Support Added to cr-48
A while ago, I was lucky enough to receive one of Google's cr-48 laptops to test out. I decided not to flip the switch to put it into developer mode (for several reasons). This meant that I was stuck with … Continue reading
Ubuntu IRC Council Nominations
As was previously announced on the mailing list, the terms of Benjamin Rubin and Jussi Schultink on the Ubuntu IRC Council are coming to an end. There is currently an open call for nominations to fill these spots. All nominations … Continue reading
Ask Ubuntu Stats on Ubuntu Hall of Fame
Ask Ubuntu has been gaining more and more popularity each day. I recently created a script that parses http://stackexchange.com/leagues/31/week/askubuntu to find the top 10 ranked people for the week. Thanks to some help from the awesome Daniel Holbach, the output … Continue reading


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First off- Has anyone that lives in Texas stepped outside yet? It actually feels like fall! Cool and crisp. A wonderful surprise!
This weekend I am headed to Houston with my friend Molly for a dinner and exhibition by the one and only Gray Malin. Famous for his photography (you must know his Marfa/Prada prints) which he started selling out of a flea market in LA and has since displayed them in the Dallas Museum of the Art and the Julia Dean Gallery in Venice. His work is known across the world as his pictures always capture a certain feel that is extremely intriguing. check it out here.
I love his work!!! So beyond jealous… What an awesome event to attend! Have the best time!!
So cool! Enjoy the trip!! – I am so obsessed with his work! I actually got one similar to this for my living room with a horse instead of cowboys on One Kings Lane a few weeks ago!
love the picture!
this is awesome — enjoy your trip!!
xo Diana
Join my Jeweliq Giveaway to win a FREE jewelry piece of your choice!!

subset: commoncrawl


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Cotton Bags
Promotional bags have always been a popular branded product, and you'll find we offer a wide selection of different styles to choose from. Cotton or canvas shopping bags, jute bags, drawstring bags and backpacks are all popular choices, or for a more professional look you may want to consider conference and laptop bags, ideal for promoting your company in the right light. We can even provide branded carrier bags, and these are one of our most popular items.
Ethical and green
When you order carrier bags from EverythingBranded.co.uk, you can be sure that you're making an ethical choice. All our bags are ethically constructed and we only deal with reputable suppliers from across the globe – that means no poor working practices or child labour. Many of our carrier bags are 100% recyclable and biodegradable (just ask if you're not sure which) and we only use cotton from 100% sustainable crops. For a truly eco-friendly choice, our non-woven promotional bags are made entirely from recycled drinks bottles, and make a great talking point for any event or campaign.
Carrier bags
You can choose from 4 different styles of carrier bags:
• Punched out handles
• Loop handles
• Duffle bag style (ideal for active or sports brands)
• Party bags (great for freebies or children's events)
With all of these bags, you can add the logo or design of your choice, which makes them great for promoting a specific product or your company. We offer printing from just one colour to full colour artwork, and you can request free samples to make your decision before you place an order.
Cotton bags
Cotton shopper bags are a fashionable choice, seen adorning the arm of many celebrities, and they're also a green choice, helping you to reduce your carbon footprint. You can choose from a range of styles on our website, from duffle bags to fold up bags or coloured cotton shoppers, with prices starting from under £1.
Make an impact
For conferences, business meetings or travel, conference bags are a great way to showcase your brand. Available in a range of colours and sizes, from messenger bags to travel suitcases for an overnight stay, you can choose from solid colour logo printing, embossing or engraving, depending on the type of bag you select. Our friendly team is always here to advise on the best style to suit your needs.
Whatever type of promotional bags your company requires, you can order online, via email or over the phone, and if you need to speak to somebody about your design ideas, our team are waiting to take your call on our sales helpline. Or why not pop in for a cup of coffee and a chat with our creative team in the showroom? Don't forget that we offer free samples of products so that you can see what you're getting for your money before you buy. The right promotional bags could be the difference between a successful event and one that falls flat – so make sure you have the best carrier bags at the trade show and order yours from EverythingBranded.co.uk.


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Soooo märchenhaft schön!
Was ich much schon immer gefragt habe: muss bei einem solchen Oberteil …
Great tops! I especially like the green one! Now I have to look for the pattern!
Great dress and photos!
So cute and perfectly made!
Beautiful, a dream!
What a great and beautiful bag! Sewing a bag like this can be really tricky but you did a perfect…
I made this dress out of silk dupioni for a wedding as the invitation asked for "black tie".
I used Burdastyle 08/2010 for the bodice but used the skirt part from another pattern instead of the o…
What a beautiful dress! Now I have to put that pattern on my future projects list…
What a great dress! Love your modifications and the color too!
I agree, a wonderful LBD!
So beautiful! Both your dress and the photos!
A beautiful dress, and great idea with the zipper!
What a cute dress! Your sister must be very happy with it!
Gorgeous dress! And I think that the fabric you chose goes really well with the pattern, you look…
Hi, thank you so much! The photo of the back is now added, hope that helps! If you want, I can al…
I love it! Great work!
Great blouse! This pattern is on my sewing plan, too, so it's nice to see that yours came out so …
Fashion & Trends
Style this favorite tank for late summer and fall.
See all entries and vote.
See more prize details and how to enter...
Enter the Grand Prize Sewing Contest
Editors' Pick
Cool greys transition from summer to fall in a shirt dress, flowing maxi skirt, and new jackets.
Make the Drawstring Shirt Dress
Backstage Report
8 patterns, a web seminar, and technique videos for sewing menswear.
You must allow our "request for permission" request to login to Burdastyle with Facebook.


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122 E Ashley Ave, Folly Beach, SC 29439
So cool! Nice little outdoor shaded area where the kitchen is inside a building. Beach bar off the main road. Options are: fish, pork or chicken tacos. Beans & rice with or without goat cheese. Coke, beer, and water are the drink options. I was told no gluten in the whole restaurant (besides beer).
341 Johnnie Dodds Blvd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
Great food. Knowledgable wait staff. Wings are normally fried in shared fryer, but ask and they will bake them for you so they're glutenfree. Tons of options and lots of sauces!! Gluten free menu if you ask. Very clear and easy to read.
7325 E Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
So many options!! Wings, pizza, pasta, lasagna. Great food, great service. Also, gluten free brownie heaven- seriously! This locations is the best too ;) sign up for their emails and get a free one on your birthday!!
1865 E River Rd, Tucson, AZ 85718
Dedicated fryer upon request- sweet potato and reg fries. Gf buns
1739 Maybank Hwy, Charleston, SC 29412
They do a good job where cross contamination is considered- all things considered. It is a sandwich place after all so it looks like condiments and toppings are all shared, but the staff said the fryer has "never had gluten or meat in it" so it's gf and vegetarian. They only charge $.50 for gf bread and it's Udis. Sweet potato fries and regular are tasty.
2 Copper Queen Plaza, Bisbee, AZ
Decent Gf menu. But pizza is all shared everything. Our waiter was absolutely terrible which makes me think there isn't good staff training. Shared fryer for French fries. I got fruit and chicken sandwich. Tasted decent but honestly not impressed by staff and not convinced on cross contamination.
7355 W 88th Ave, Westminster, CO 80021
Awesome. Huge Gf menu. French toast & peasant potatoes are amazing.
201 N Court Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701
So good! Great atmosphere. Outside seating in the courtyard with live music. On Tuesdays they support a different local nonprofit and donate a percent of your meal. Lots of choices, clearly marked with an asterisk on the menu.
1303 E University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85719
This chik fill a has a smaller menu and does not carry the grilled chicken nuggets. They do have the grilled breasts tho.
2995 East Skyline Drive, Tucson, AZ 85718
Amazing, but pricey gf pasta!
3801 Dylan Ct, Lexington, KY 40514
Great gf crust. Soft and not chewy with aftertaste. Baked in separate foil container to avoid cc in oven
7000 N Resort Dr, Tucson, AZ 85750
This restaurant has lots of gluten free options on their menu! I had the Churiso and egg taco with beans and salsa on corn tortillas. An excellent authentic Sonoran breakfast. They also have gf banana, blueberry and raison muffins which come in separate cups.
7147 E Rancho Vista Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Ah so wonderful! Fabulous cross contamination prevention- everything can be gf and it's amazing and so safe. You will not have to worry. They also have Julia's cupcakes and cinnamon rolls and other deserts by innocent indulgence. So good! We gotta keep this place in business!!
75 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA 94108
Eh- not the best. Cookies very dry and crumbly. And cross contamination- the cookies were below glutened cookies and others were right next to gluten products with crumbs an issue in the same case. Would not return :/
656 Long Point Rd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
Delish!!! Pizza in a separate bowl thing that makes it not touch the oven racks!! I got the chicken and four cheese- ask for separate gf menu/ it says what toppings are gf! Wonderful and fast!
311 N Court Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701
Best chicken tortillas!!! Amazing Mexican food- corn tortillas are so so. Love the soup though! I go here a lot- flan can be made gluten free but you must not get the stuff on top!


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Brad Johnson speaks with the Tribune's Tom Davis
[size=18px]Minnesota Viking Brad Johnson speaks with the Tribune's Tom Davis[/size]
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Tribune Staff Report
Minnesota quarterback Brad Johnson talked recently with Tribune Managing Editor Tom Davis following a practice session at the Vikings training camp in Minnesota. Here are his thoughts on a variety of things:
On the return of center Matt Birk following his injury last year:
"Matt's resume speaks for itself. To come back from (sports hernia and hip injuries) is pretty remarkable. He's a leader on the team. A leader of the offensive line."
On motivation for returning from injuries to play again:
"You can work the rest of your life. You don't get football back."
What does it take to be successful in the NFL?
"If you are going to win, you have to have one of the better defenses in the league. The only team that maybe didn't was St. Louis, when they won the Super Bowl. But when they did (win), they won 10-6 and 17-13 (in the playoffs). If you're going to win, you have to have a good defense and offense can't turn the ball over and create short field (situations). You have to make each other better. "
How did Tampa Bay practice?
"The year I won in Tampa, the practices were live everyday. You're talking about potential hall of fame players, a lot of pro bowl players out there making each other better everyday."
How does he feel about his experience with the Buccaneers?
"That was a lot of fun."
What is (former Buc teammate) John Lynch like?
"John Lynch is a jerk. I can't stand that guy. No really, he's great guy. He's one of my best friends."
Minnesota Viking Brad Johnson speaks with the Tribune's Tom Davis
"If at first you don't succeed, parachuting is not for you"
08-09-2006, 01:22 PM #2Prophet Guest
Re: Brad Johnson speaks with the Tribune's Tom Davis...What is (former Buc teammate) John Lynch like?
"John Lynch is a jerk. I can't stand that guy. No really, he's great guy. He's one of my best friends."
08-09-2006, 01:53 PM #3Jersey Retired
- Join Date
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Re: Brad Johnson speaks with the Tribune's Tom Davis
Well, that was pretty much a waste of space in that Indiana newspaper.Kentucky Vikes Fan
When you require nothing, you get nothing; when you expect nothing, you will find nothing; when you embrace nothing, all you will have is nothing.
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The NFL lockout is over but the new collective bargaining agreement is not quite done yet. The players are expected to vote to today to formally finalize the new CBA which will officially kick off the new league year. We've been working in this strange transition period in the last week where the league is kind of open, but not officially.
Once the players vote to approve, it'll be done, and the league year will start. That means every team needs to be under the salary cap by Friday, according to a report from Pro Football Talk.
PFT reports there are seven teams that were over the salary cap as of Tuesday: Raiders ($17.3 million), Steelers ($11.5 million), Texans ($8.5 million), Vikings ($5.6 million), Lions ($5 million), Cowboys ($3.7 million), and Panthers ($939,000).
Getting under the cap isn't that hard because the numbers can be poked and prodded to mean a lot of different things. These teams could make a few cuts to get under the cap or they could restructure some existing deals.


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It ended with a boom: a 40-year relationship and two lives -- one dead and gone, the other alive and alone. Jorge Arrojas and his partner, Miguel Larrieu, were heading home, fresh from a dinner party in Bal Harbour around midnight last August 10 on I-75 when a red 2009 Ferrari 430 Scuderia smacked t ... More >>
Ryan LeVin, the hard-partying, bad-boy scion of an Illinois costume jewelry company, came clean to a judge today, admitting that he mowed down two British tourists in 2009 and fled the scene in his Porsche. LeVin's punishment: He got grounded.Judge Barbara McCarthy decided to throw the book at Le ... More >>
Ryan LeVin, heir of an Illinois costume-jewelry family, who was indicted in a 2009 hit-and-run that killed two British businessmen, will be back in front of a judge Friday. And it looks like he plans on changing his not-guilty plea, according to court documents. David Bogenschutz, the high-profil ... More >>
While you enjoy your Irish coffee, a few local headlines:Accused hit-and-run driver Ryan LeVin was arrested last night by Fort Lauderdale police. He's been charged with vehicular homicide in the February 13, 2009, deaths of Kenneth Watkinson and Craig Elford, two British tourists. [Sun-Sentinel]A ... More >>
CookA just-released Fort Lauderdale Police affidavit describes how Ryan LeVin and Derek Cook partied all night February 12, then into the morning of February 13, a party that came to a gruesome end around 2:18 a.m., when LeVin's speeding Porsche careered off Seabreeze Boulevard and struck two Bri ... More >>
One of the attorneys representing the family of Craig Elford, a victim of the hit-and-run accident last February in Fort Lauderdale, says he expects the suspect in that case, Ryan LeVin, to surrender to police tomorrow."I haven't heard that he was missing," says Seth Miles, whose Coral Gables firm i ... More >>
Photo: Broward Sheriff's OfficeDerek CookSince February 2009, Fort Lauderdale police have been looking for Derek Cook, the Tamarac man who was allegedly racing a Porsche on Sea Breeze Boulevard when he lost control and struck two tourists from Great Britain, killing them.This morning, just before ... More >>
LeVinFort Lauderdale police have yet to announce who they believe was driving the Porsche that veered off Seabreeze Boulevard on February 13 and killed two British tourists. But there's no doubt in the mind of Coral Gables attorney Seth Miles, who's representing the family of Craig Elford in a ci ... More >>
Claire Elford, widow of Craig Elford, one of two British tourists killed in February after a Porsche lost control and struck them on Seabreeze Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, filed suit yesterday against the Porsche's owner, Ryan LeVin, and his friend, Derek Cook, the Tamarac man who LeVin told police ... More >>
A source close to the Porsche hit-and-run investigation suggests that a Sun-Sentinel story may have hindered police efforts to make an arrest in the case.Locals were shocked when two British businessmen were killed in the early-morning hours of February 13. Craig Elford, 39, and Kenneth Watkinson, 4 ... More >>


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just bought my first subaru...i have always wanted one since playing gran turismo lol i love my new ru
This is a discussion on new sti owner from texas within the New Member Hangout forums, part of the Community - Meet other Enthusiasts category; just bought my first subaru...i have always wanted one since playing gran turismo lol i love my new ru...
just bought my first subaru...i have always wanted one since playing gran turismo lol i love my new ru
The Big 2011/2012 Mod Thread
Ooh,hang on. That is the throb of a turbocharged flat four engine. A sound which,all over the world,heralds the imminent arrival of a moron - JC.
Welcome. Where at in Texas?
My Build: http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/builds...uild-date.html
Welcome, pics
2011 Subaru WRX Premium
1988 Ford Mustang GT
2000 Jeep Wrangler TJ
- Will
First Mods: What to do and what not to do
Current Car: 2014 Golf TDI
Previous Cars:2012 WRB WRX Hatch, 2004 RSX-S, 1998 Grand Prix GTP
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Welcome to the site
2005 WRX STi (Mods | Virtual Dyno)
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"Never trust anything that bleeds for a week and lives ..."
welcome! would love some pictures to look at!
sorry for the slow reply just got a new computer too lol thanks for the warm reply Attachment 103793Attachment 103794
Congrats on the purchase. If you need any parts or advice let me know.
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im all about modding the scooby... there is so much i want lol i bought it with the injen sri already installed...i really dont know where to start with it
Congrats on your new purchase. Looks like its in pretty good condition
2012 DGM WRX Hatch // SPT CBE // Cobb AP Stage 1 // 35% tint
Welcome and congrats on the Scooby!
2015 CWP WRX STi ... But how did I get roped back into an EJ motor?!
Zax's utterly unimaginably stock 2015 STi build thread
Zax's Shaggin' Wagon Build Thread Now tuned for 99% pure Unicorn Jizz!
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Trent Hunter set to return in late January.
I just read on Yahoo Sports Islanders team report that Trent Hunter had resumed skating and should be ready to return by the end of the month. It also stated that Doug Weight has resumed skating as well but no time table yet for his return. Most of you probably know this already but I thought I would take this opportunity to make my first Fanshot.


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- Current Students
- Future Students
Information For:
Profiles Detail
Kristin D. Mickelson
Education: Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University (1995)
Research Area: Social Psychology
Specialty: Health and Inequality
Research Interests
My research revolves around a core theme of social relationships in a social context - specifically, understanding how stress impacts social relationships and health. I am interested in how these processes are altered by various social contexts, such as socioeconomic status and gender. My research over the years has covered topics including perceived stigma, discrimination, gender attitudes and social support. My current research is focused on 1) psychosocial models of SES disparities in low birth weight and headaches and 2) understanding the transition to parenthood for fathers and mothers. To address these questions, I utilize field research and secondary data.
Lab Site: Social Relationships & Health Lab
Courses Frequently Taught
- Inequality in Societies (undergraduate)
- Individual and Society (undergraduate)
- Social Structure and Individual Lives (undergraduate)
- Psychosocial Aspects of Health (graduate)
- Multivariate Techniques in Sociology; Advanced Data Analysis (graduate)
- Social Psychology (graduate)
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Biehle, S.N., & Mickelson, K.D. (2012). First-time parents' expectations about the division of childcare and play. Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 36-45.
Claffey, S. T., & Mickelson, K. D. (2009). Division of household labor and distress: The role of perceived fairness for working mothers. Sex Roles, 60, 819-831.
Mickelson, K. D., & Demmings, J. L. (2009). Impact of support network substitution on low-income women's health: Are minor children beneficial substitutes? Social Science & Medicine, 68, 80-88.
Mickelson, K. D., & Williams, S. L. (2008). Perceived stigma of poverty and psychological distress: Examination of interpersonal and intrapersonal mediators. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 903-930.
Williams, S. L., & Mickelson, K. D. (2008). A paradox of support seeking and social rejection among the stigmatized. Personal Relationships, 15, 493-509.
Mickelson, K. D., & Claffey, S. T., & Williams, S. L. (2006). The moderating role of gender and gender role attitudes on the link between spousal support and well-being. Sex Roles, 55, 73-82.
Mickelson, K. D. & Kubzansky, L. D. (2003). Social distribution of social support: The mediating role of life events. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 265-281.
Mickelson, K. D. (2001). Perceived stigma, social support, and depression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1046-1056.
Kessler, R. C., Mickelson, K. D., & Williams, D. (1999). The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40, 208-230.
Mickelson, K. D., Kessler, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1997). Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1092-1106.


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EDIT: Cyan or Charcoal (Black) Type Cover 2
Which one do you like better?
via i0.wp.com
via i.gzn.jp
EDIT: Well, thanks for the responses. I like the cyan, but it may get dirty. I don't really have to decide anymore. I was going to go to BestBuy tomorrow and pick one up, because my pre-order from microsoft was backordered, but I just received notification that I receive it tomorrow. Thanks for the responses!


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Contact Us
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Buckley AFB/ 460th Space Wing
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Space Innovation and Development Center
Posted 6/22/2010
Printable Fact Sheet
Space Innovation and Development Center
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The mission is to advance full-spectrum warfare through rapid innovation, integration, training, testing and experimentation.
The SIDC is composed of the 595th Space Group and these three divisions; the Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities, or AF TENCAP; the Integration Division; and the Plans, Programs and Requirements Division. The organizations work together to conduct wargaming; integrate space into exercises and experiments; rapidly prototype, field and exploit integrated air, space and cyberspace capabilities; provide advanced space testing, training and range Infrastructure; and execute AFSPC Force Development Evaluation and Operational Test programs.
595th Space Group
The 595th SG is responsible for executing HQ AFSPC's space systems operational test and evaluation activities, developing space control tactics and techniques, demonstrating cutting-edge technologies, providing advanced training and operating the Air Force's only space test and training range. The 595th SG comprises six squadrons:
595th Operations Support Squadron
enhances Air Force space superiority and improves force readiness by providing mission support functions to the test, education, space threat replication and space tactics development missions executed by the 595th SG. The 595th OSS also provides intelligence support to the SIDC Commander, Center wargamers and rapid prototyping and development efforts.
17th Test Squadron
validates and enhances warfighter capabilities through operational testing and evaluation of space systems. The 17 TS is responsible for planning, executing and reporting on command-directed testing of AFSPC's space assets and tactics, techniques and procedures across the spectrum of operational test and evaluation events.
14th Test Squadron
is a Reserve Associate Unit to the 17th TS. The 14 TS provides expertise and continuity in three distinct areas of test; Cyber System Vulnerability Assessments, Specialized testing on non-traditional acquisition programs and personnel support to the 17 TS's Warning and Surveillance test mission.
Advanced Space Operations School
is AFSPC'S only unit providing world-class, advanced training on space sub-systems, and theater deployment training to our space deployers, enhancing delivery of space and missile capabilities to the Warfighters. Additionally the unit offers introductory and senior-level space training to space professionals within the DoD, sister services, and foreign allies.
25th Space Range Squadron
is responsible for the operation of the Space Test and Training Range, a capability that allows units to exercise space capabilities in a safe, secure and realistic environment while eliminating the risk of unintended collateral effects. The 25 SRS owns the advanced concepts environment, which simulates a target, weapon system and environment for training and rapid reaction prototype development. The 25 SRS has also deployed equipment and personnel to support theater operations.
3rd Space Experimentation Squadron
is AFSPC's premier organization for space-based demonstrations, pathfinders and experiment testing. The unit identifies concepts of employment, training, education and technical skill sets required to field selected future AFSPC missions. The 3rd SES will develop a core cadre of space professionals to serve as subject matter experts for all future AFSPC space-based endeavors, demonstrate operational utility of selected demonstrations and apply lessons learned from demonstrations and pathfinders for use in future initiatives.
Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities
In 1977 Congress directed the establishment of AF TENCAP with three primary missions: exploit space systems for tactical applications through rapid prototyping projects; influence the design of future space systems for tactical applications; and educate warfighters about the capabilities and tactical utility of space systems. AF TENCAP demonstrates leading edge space technologies with potential to enhance combat capabilities of units in the field, then transitions these combat systems to warfighters much more rapidly than traditional acquisition processes. AF TENCAP is responsible for keeping abreast of the latest technologies and influencing emerging space systems to make them more supportive of fielded combat forces.
Integration Division
The Integration Division, or ID, brings space to the fight by focusing on the integration of air, space and information operations to create aerospace power for warfighters. ID operates two specialized facilities. The first, the Distributed Mission Operations Center for Space, conducts exercises and mission rehearsals in a virtual environment to present status as if it were real world events. DMOC-S support includes space injects, such as missile launches, blue-force tracking data, and Combat Search and Rescue injects while also planning and executing exercises for the command. The DMOC-S is designed to provide integration support and testing along with the development of models and simulations that support space and cyberspace participation. The second, the Aerospace Fusion Center, provides real-time data fusion and distribution of on-orbit infrared non-imaging systems. The AFC leverages its analysis capability to develop tools for technical intelligence and battlespace awareness and provides those tools to warfighters. The Wargaming Branch promotes the understanding and effective use of space and cyberspace power through the Schriever Wargame Series. The Schriever Wargames provide strategic and national policy challenge scenarios and construct the wargame to the objectives defined by the AFSPC commander. Over its history, the Schriever Wargame Series has influenced acquisition, operations, and plans inside the command and at USSTRATCOM. The branch supports Title 10 wargames by providing space and cyberspace operational expertise, and by direction of the AFSPC commander, is actively integrating the Schriever Series with the Unified Engagement Wargame.
Plans, Programs and Requirements
Plans, Programs and Requirements, or XR, is the backbone of the SIDC, providing overarching support to all other SIDC divisions. XR manages SIDC communications and computers, security, acquisition, logistics, policy, planning, programming, financial support, manpower and personnel. XR is the SIDC commander's authority on reviewing, coordinating and consolidating all SIDC inputs to AFSPC Directorate of Strategic Plans, Programs, Analysis, Assessments and Lessons-Learned Modernization Planning Process and AFSPC Directorate of Plans and Requirements' associated Requirements Generation System. XR also serves as the SIDC's representative for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force's Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century initiatives. As the lead SIDC programming and requirements agency, XR integrates SIDC views and initiatives into these AFSPC-level programming systems to solve warfighter deficiencies through space capabilities. As the SIDC's executive agent for the submitting program objective memorandum inputs, XR develops strategy, policy, doctrine and long-range plans to control and exploit space. XR programs and advocates manpower, resources and organizational development for long-term success of the SIDC's mission.
In the fall of 1992, an Air Force Blue Ribbon Panel on space recommended establishing a dedicated Space Warfare Center to exploit the capabilities of space-based assets. Combat operations during Operation Desert Storm relied on space support more than in any past conflict; however, an analysis of these operations revealed shortfalls in the Air Force's ability to leverage space capabilities. In order to better exploit space capabilities, the SWC was stood-up and officially dedicated on Nov. 1, 1993. The SWC was redesignated as the SIDC on March 1, 2006,
Today, the SIDC supports the Overseas Contingency Operations by expeditiously transitioning innovative combat effects to the warfighter. The center also improves exploitation of air, space and cyberspace capabilities through wargaming, exercises, advanced space training, experiments and space-range development. The SIDC provides independent, thorough space and missile operational testing results for Headquarters Air Force Space Command.
(Current as of June 2010)
Point of Contact:
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Eurosport Group and RCS Sport have lengthened their existing partnership for an additional four years, with extended and upgraded live production and broadcasting in HD.
The terms of the deal, brokered on behalf of the content rights owner by audiovisual rights consultant IMG Media, includes all 70 territories covered by Eurosport in Europe and Asia-Pacific region and involves 2013-2016 TV and digital rights for the Giro d'Italia as well as five other major Italian cycling races: Milan - Sanremo, the Giro di Lombardia, Tirreno-Adriatico, Strade Bianche and Roma Maxima.
The deal will also see more live action produced, with three hours of live coverage per stage for the Giro and a minimum of two hours live coverage per day for the other races of competition. All races will also be available in HD for the first time.
Eurosport will also have sub-licensing rights for the Italian races in all the European territories where Eurosport is exclusive. Digital rights will see all races broadcast on Internet and mobile on the Eurosport Player online video streaming service.
Commenting on the deal, Giacomo Catano, RCS Sport chief executive officer, said: "We are so proud and happy about this contract renewal with Eurosport for the TV coverage of our cycling events. Eurosport has been our partner since 1998 and we appreciate this continuous partnership based on mutual trust. We are confident that it will grant both RCS Sport and Eurosport improved results in terms of quality of production and consequently a high audience."
Added Laurent-Eric Le Lay, chairman, Eurosport Group said: "Eurosport has been a long-term partner of Giro d'Italia since 1998 and contributed to the continuous growth of this premium property in Europe and to the development of its [popularity] in Asia and Pacific."


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Oxfam to help Syrian families through 'brutal' winter
– Oxfam's Syria crisis response manager Francis Lacasse
Families have arrived exhausted and traumatised. Some have faced bombs and bullets to get here.
Now, they are trying to get through one of the most brutal winters in the last two decades with almost nothing. Most families have to rely on the generosity of relatives and neighbours.
Along with local organisations Oxfam is trying to help thousands of families through this difficult winter period; but we could do so much more if we had more funds.
People wanting to donate to Oxfam's Syria appeal can donate by calling 0300 200 1999 or by visiting the charity's website.


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Sacred Heart-Immaculate Conception Church
Father Jay Atherton
PO Box 379 Haines Falls, NY 12436
Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 24, 2014
Immaculate Conception Church
67 North Lake Road
Haines Falls, NY 12436
History: At the beginning of the twentieth century, the tourist trade within the parish had become immense in the Haines Falls area, with the Catskill Mountain House, the Laurel House, Hotel Kaaterskill, the Lox-Hurst, Haines Falls House and dozens of other smaller hotels, boarding houses, as well as the flourishing private resorts known as Twilight and Sunset Parks. for a short time in 1905 and 1906, Father Keefe celebrated Mass at the Antlers Hotel on Mountain House Road in Haines Falls, but in 1906, he purchased the Levi Haines property and began construction of a new church. The Hunter Review of July 12, 1907 published a lengthy description of the building and the ceremonies as Father Keefe celebrated the first Mass in the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday, July 6, 1907. According to a small brochure put out by Father Keefe in 1906, the entire projected cost for the new church was $5000. Shortly after the completion of the new church, the pastor transferred his residence from Hunter to Haines Falls to the former Haines Home, which remains the rectory. (Exert from: The Legacy "A History of the Church of Saint Mary of the Mountain")
Church of the
Sacred Heart
710 Route 32A
Palenville, NY 12463
History: Palenville is a summer resort community at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. While a very old settlement, it never became a large year round community. However, the city dwellers of the New York Metropolis and New Jersey turned out in great number to enjoy its scenic beauty. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass began to be celebrated here in June of 1921 in the Community Recreation Hall. Father Aloysius o'Malley, O.F.M., was the first priest to service the community, commuting from St. Anthony Seminary, Catskill. After property was acquired in the choice center area of the settlement, a pre-fabricated wooden structure served as the first Church of the Sacred Heart, Diocese of Albany. Due to the ample donations of the George Ehret family and in particular of Mrs. Josephine Ehret Burghard, a new brick building was erected and opened in July, 1923. His Excellence, Bishop Edmund F. Gibbons, D.D., of Albany, dedicated the new church on June 15, 1924. The parish has always been serviced from St. Anthony Seminary, Catskill, until the last Franciscan pastor, Father Bonaventure Bionda. Rev. Anthony Motta became administrator January 1, 2008 and pastor on March 7, 2009. Immaculate Conception, Haines Falls, and Sacred Heart, Palenville merged by July 1, 2009, maintaining two worship sites under the guidance of the same pastor.


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A collection of news and information related to U.S. Customs and Border Protection published by this site and its partners.
Top U.S. Customs and Border Protection Articles
Displaying items 45-55
Customs to review how it tracks private planes after pilots complain
It's the U.S.-Mexico border, not the Wild West
Oscar Protest: Visual Effects Protestors Take to StreetsStory | Mar 2, 2014 | 6:30 PMMidday drizzle provided some relief from California's parching drought but it was the Golden State's withering visual effects industry in focus as visual effects artists took to the streets of Hollywood Sunday. It was the second consecutive year the...
Obama's drug czar confirmed as border chiefStory | Mar 6, 2014 | 4:41 PMWASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed Gil Kerlikowske on Thursday to be the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, allowing the White House "drug czar" to take on his new post overseeing the Border Patrol. Kerlikowske came to the White House as...
Border Patrol ordered to stop shooting at vehicles, rock throwers
In the battle between rocks and bullets, Border Patrol does the right thing
Border Patrol restricts agents' use of force
Automated passport kiosks arrive at Midway
At Border Security Expo, companies keep eyes on lucrative U.S. market
Slug catches ride from Mexico, forces customs to destroy mint shipment to Elkridge
California border officer gets prison time for helping smugglers


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Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack will continue serving as the head of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) during President Barack Obama's second term.
According to a recent Bloomberg article, widespread drought and the lack of a Farm Bill are two of the main challenges Vilsack faces. In 2012, nearly 80 percent of U.S. farmland suffered from drought, which affected crop production and food prices. Unable to pass a new Bill before the 2008 version of the Farm Bill expired, Congress extended the Bill for another year to give Congressional leaders time to agree on a new one.
In a recent speech to the American Farm Bureau Federation, Vilsack emphasizes the importance of expanding agricultural alliances to include immigration reform advocates, nutrition groups, and renewable energy proponents. "I'm going to do all I can this year to work with Congress and secure the sort of comprehensive, long-term Food, Farm and Jobs Bill that will continue growing the rural economy," he says. "But I need the help of those across rural America to reach out, to expand partnerships and to tell the story of the modern and innovative rural America that provides so much to our nation."
Critics of Vilsack, however, think his focus on biofuels and pharmaceutical crops reveals an alliance with Big Agriculture instead of small sustainable agriculture. In 2011, Vilsack supported deregulation of Monsanto's genetically modified alfalfa, raising alarm among environmentalists about potential contamination of organic or conventional crops.


text: Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks will waive entrance fees in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.Visitors are encouraged to experience the parks' winter recreation opportunities. Park officials said snowshoeing and skiing are the most popular activities at GNP. They also advise visitors to be prepared for changing weather conditions between lower and higher elevations.To learn more about visiting our national parks during the winter season, click here.


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We first met Johnette Ney about a year ago when feral hogs were getting a little too close for comfort.
"The hogs have been really bothering me for two years. Last year, we caught several and now this was the first on this year," explained Ney.
Coming up from the swamps behind her Moss Bluff home, the wild animals are tearing up her yard. Like she did then, she's once again called in hog hunter Doc Hanks.
"People like Miss Ney call me up when they've got a problem. She's scared to come out of her house," Hanks said.
Her fears are justified.
According to Hanks, the animals are not only territorial but vicious.
"If you run up on a sow that has piglets that is like running up on a bear in the woods with cubs. It is going to attack you. And as you see behind me they are not friendly at all," Hanks said. "They have tusks on the sides and they will hit you with their head and it will just cut you wide open just like a razor blade."
Hanks has been hunting wild hogs for more than a decade and said they are smart and can usually smell danger.
"They are not easy to catch. You got to outsmart them. You can't come out here smoking a cigarette, use the restroom or anything ... Don't spit on the ground. They will know you are here," Hanks said.
While he was able to cage this hog, there is reason to believe there are more in hiding.
"We're still looking for some more to be caught and I hope we can get them," Ney said.
Meanwhile, this piggy may not be going to market but he's certainly not escaped becoming a good meal.
"Oh yeah. We are gonna eat it. All I can say is yay - bacon in the makin sha! Thank you," said Hanks.
Hank warns anyone who encounters a wild hog to maintain their distance and call a professional to take care of the problem.
Copyright 2012 KPLC. All rights reserved.
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ROYERSFORD Ś The fact that the Spring-Ford girls basketball team has reached the PIAA Class AAAA final is a tribute to the RamsÆ roster of ultra-talented and ultra-unselfish players.
It is also a tribute to the RamsÆ ultra-prepared coaching staff.
When Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 champon Spring-Ford (31-2) takes on District 3 No. 5 seed Cumberland Valley (26-6) for the state championship Friday night at 6 p.m. at HersheyÆs Giant Center, it will no doubt be the high point for the 14 girls who suit up for the Rams varsity.
It will also mark the apex in the 19-year tenure of Spring-Ford coach Jeff Rinehimer, as well as his first-rate group of assistants.
Rinehimer, right-hand man Mickey McDaniel (the schoolÆs athletic director who is a volunteer assistant), assistant coach Jeff Mast, JV head coach Geoff Kahler and volunteer assistant Stacey Huntington will all be on the Rams bench attempting to come up with a winning scheme.
ōThey always push us to get better, and we couldnÆt have made it this far without them,ö senior forward Sarah Payonk said. ōThey always have our best interests at heart, and theyÆre a big reason why weÆre playing in the state championship game.ö
The 44-year-old Rinehimer has compiled a 320-166 career mark at Spring-Ford, highlighted by five PAC-10 championships, two District 1 titles and four trips to the PIAA tournament (all since 2007).
A 1986 Boyertown High grad who played for the BearsÆ boys basketball squad, Rinehimer first delved into coaching at the tender age of 19. During his sophomore year of college at Alvernia, Rinehimer was informed by Crusaders athletic director Sandy Slabik of junior high coaching openings at Berks County school Conrad Weiser, and encouraged to apply.
After serving a seven-year apprenticeship of sorts that included three years as a Weiser junior high girls assistant, two years as a varsity boys assistant under Bob Hillegass at Boyertown and two years coaching BoyertownÆs Junior High East squad, Rinehimer took over the Spring-Ford girls varsity job in the 1994-95 season, succeeding Tom Link.
The 57-year-old McDaniel, a 1973 Spring-Ford grad, has been by RinehimerÆs side for all but one season. McDaniel started out an an assistant to Rams boys coach Rich Simon in 1986-87, then assisted boys coach Dave Caldwell up until the 1994-95 seasons.
After a year off, he joined up with Rinehimer, and the girls program gradually ascended to its current lofty height.
ōWhen I got the job I was younger and had never had a head varsity job,ö Rinehimer said. ōStepping into the big time on my own, most of all I needed someone that was experienced. Coming from Coach CaldwellÆs program, he (McDaniel) brought so many ideas on how to run a program and organize things, and that was something I really needed at the time.ö
McDanielÆs chief responsibilities are as the squadÆs ōdefensive coordinatorö and drawing up inbounds plays.
Mast Ś the head coach of the RamsÆ PAC-10 titlist golf team Ś is in charge of the teamÆs on-court rotation. Kahler, who like Mast has been with the program for the better part of the past decade, also provides valuable in-game input. And Huntington, in her first year, charts stastical trends using in iPad.
The quality of the Spring-Ford staff extends to freshman coach John Murtin, a tireless advocate of the programÆs feeder system, and his volunteer assistant, Dan Brittingham.
Which is a big reason why, at this point, the RamsÆ talent cupboard wonÆt be bare any time soon.
RinehimerÆs staff spends countless hours on all aspects of the game, from group film sessions to one-on-one work with individual players. Once the game starts, they can X-and-O with the best of them. A prime example came in TuesdayÆs 53-49 semifinal win over Cardinal OÆHara, when Hinnant was switched on Lions star Shanice Johnson and the move paid off in a big way down the stretch.
ōThey definitely know what plays to call at the right time,ö said senior reserve Kirsten Landis.
According to senior guard Brittany Moore, the message the RamsÆ coaches try to deliver resonates loud and clear.
ōThey taught us a lot,ö she said. ōOne of the main lessons I learned from Coach McDaniel was to always believe in yourself, follow your dreams and stay true to yourself. And another one from Mr. Rinehimer was to come out and play hard every chance you get and never leave anything on the court.ö
The Spring-Ford staff also knows how to get the most out of the RamsÆ players.
ōTheyÆre really good at motivating us and keeping us on track with what we should be thinking,ö senior guard Sammi Haas said. ōTheyÆre just really good at communicating with us what needs to be done.ö
ōThey have our best interest at heart,ö echoed senior forward Courtney Hinnant. ōThey push us hard and want us to succeed. They want us to play our best.ö
ōEvery practice they expect more and more out of us,ö junior guard Sammy Stipa said. ōThey always strive for perfection.ö
ōThey push us to play to our full potential,ö is how junior forward Shelby Mueller put it. ōThatÆs why theyÆre so hard on us, but I kind of like that, because it makes me want to work harder and motivates me to do better every game.ö
And that motivation has resulted in the most memorable basketball campaign in school history.
ōIt really truly is like a family,ö McDaniel said. ōI would say the most rewarding part for me is having a chance to have a positive impact on their life in some way, and with the success theyÆve enjoyed, theyÆve allowed me to be part of that. I think itÆs always rewarding to see, as an athletic director or coach, for any of our young men or women not only be successful in their program or sport, but also be successful away from that sport and do it with class and dignity. A state championship in girls basketball would just be icing on the cake.ö
Follow Darryl Grumling on Twitter at @MercSmokinD.
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by Steven Martin, guest contributor
Fans give the three-fingered salute of District 12. The gesture is one of admiration, meaning thanks or goodbye to one's beloved. (photo: Doug Kline / © 2012 PopCultureGeek.com)
I was certain I was going to hate it. All of my four kids have been fans of the series of books by Suzanne Collins since before they were cool; therefore when the movie was announced, we all knew the midnight screening on the night of release was a must-do.
But in the run-up to last night's trip to the IMAX theater, the reviews I read and heard helped confirm my feeling that this would be a disgusting movie: violent, gratuitous in every way, repulsive to my social conscience.
I was wrong. Very, very wrong.
I tend to approach these cultural phenomena with a concern that my comfort level will be jolted. What I should be concerned about is what these phenomena say about our culture, and in the case of The Hunger Games, what it says about the generation that elevated the story to its current status. With an eye to the latter, I drove home early this morning with a deep satisfaction that my kids were smarter than I was at their age, and that their generation understands something mine did not.
First: yes, the movie is violent, and disturbingly so. The story is one about a future world in which a wealthy ruling class dominates a world that it is linked to, but separate from, itself through overwhelming police and military power, and entertainment that both enthralls and intimidates the underclasses. The focus of the story is an annual gladiatorial ritual in which representatives from the "districts" under domination give up children to a tournament of slaughter and death. Yes, this movie is based around images of children killing each other.
It is a valid question to ask: why must we tell stories that constantly elevate the level of violence necessary to grab our attention? Why is it now necessary to portray children killing other children, and children dying by each others' hands? This is indeed an important question for our society to wrestle with. But more importantly, we should direct our moralizing to the question the film itself seeks to ask: why are we satisfied to be part of a society that finds it necessary to feed upon its young?
Viral successes like The Hunger Games reach mass audiences because they strike a nerve. The audience for the books and the film, the "millennial generation," is not lost on the message. Our society is held together by a craving for violence. What is, say, middle-school football, after all?
We should ask: is it tolerable for us to send our young boys into a game that breaks legs, destroys knees, causes concussions, and otherwise changes the course of life forever? Of course it is! Not only does the game bring our community together, provide economic opportunities, but for the lucky few, college scholarships and professional opportunities. For the players, they are willing to risk limb and even life for a lottery-styled shot at fame and fortune. For the audience, we are willing to cheer when the fallen player limps off the field, or worse, is carried off to the emergency room, sighing a concern or uttering a prayer for the well-being of the child who may suffer permanently in the name of our entertainment.
The Hunger Games causes us to consider other forms of this structural violence. Not to only pick on the venerable institution of football, the film's prevailing metaphor can be applied to all kinds of American institutions of empire: soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan, Treyvon Martin, state-sponsored gambling (the lottery), Wall Street, and so on. Face it: our society is one that eats its young. Through its horrific portrayals of a society that dominates via a tournament in which children kill children, The Hunger Games might well shock us into seeing the way we ourselves do it.
After the movie, my kids wanted to know my reaction. Did I just see it as yet another violent kid-pic? "No," I said, "I didn't expect to come here and see a movie about the young Israeli soldiers sent to occupy the West Bank."
In return I asked if, when they read the books, they saw them as overtly political. "Yes," my fourteen- and seventeen-year-old kids replied. And while they discussed on the way home the ways the movie changed story details of the books, I went to bed at 3:15am knowing that the major theme was not lost on them.
It gives me hope.
Steven D. Martin is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, and activist. He currently serves as a founder and executive director of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. You can read more of his thoughts at the Uncommon Voices.
We welcome your reflections, essays, videos, or news items for possible publication on the Being Blog. Submit your entry and contribute a deeper understanding of the world around us.
by Luke Hankins, guest contributor
(photo: The Consumerist/Flickr/CC-BY-2.0)
I was verbally and physically assaulted in a parking lot at a local grocery store by four people because they thought that my shorts were too short and that I looked like a "faggot." They didn't try to take any money. They didn't try to steal the beer I had just bought. They only wanted to hurt someone. And so they left me with a swollen face and jaw and a black eye, with a confused mind and troubled heart. I was up all night with tears and nausea and roiling emotions, then went to the ER. Three fractures in my face.
Below is a poem I wrote about the incident. I don't feel anger against the perpetrators, only confusion and pity and sadness. I also don't take credit for not feeling anger. It's simply the natural course my mind and heart have taken. But I will say that it has allowed me to recover psychologically from the incident in a way that I don't believe would have been possible if I were plagued by anger and desire for vengeance. I'm grateful for this grace.
The Way They Loved Each Other
What to be more astonished at:
my calm as the fist made contact
and I saw a flash of white
and the world went silent
as if I had stepped out of it
momentarily, only to be brought back
with a rush of sound and visible objects—
the way I asked them to help me
find my glasses, expecting them
(even as they taunted me,
even though they had just assaulted me)
to feel underneath the violent tribal urge
the obligations of empathy—
the way even as one of them found my glasses
and smashed them again on the ground
I refused to believe that was really
what he wanted to do—the way
they loved each other
in the most primitive manner
but loved each other nonetheless
despite feeling the need to punish a "faggot"
who did not dress like them, because
he did not dress like them—
the way tears and nausea overwhelmed me
nightlong much more than had the blow itself—
the way such small suffering can feel
unbearable—the way no strength is found
for what seems to have no explanation,
a troubled mind more harmful
to the body than fractured bones.
Luke Hankins is an associate editor of Asheville Poetry Review and lives in Asheville, North Carolina. His poems, essays, and translations have appeared in Connotation Press, Contemporary Poetry Review, New England Review, Poetry East, and The Writer's Chronicle, as well as on the Being Blog. He is currently editing an anthology of poems due out next year from Wipf & Stock Publishers entitled Poems of Devotion. He regularly posts to his blog, A Way of Happening.
We welcome your reflections, essays, videos, or news items for possible publication on the Being Blog. Submit your entry through our First Person Outreach page.Comments
by Debra Dean Murphy, guest contributor
"I Think I'm Ready to Fly Away" (photo: DiaTM/Flickr, by-nc-nd 2.0)
"However much we try to distinguish between morally good and morally evils ways of killing, our attempts are beset with contradictions, and these contradictions remain a fragile part of our modern subjectivity."
—Talal Asad, On Suicide Bombing
You can often detect it when a politician or journalist uses a word like "barbaric" to describe the actions of any suicide bomber before, on, or after 9/11: the assumption that "Islamic terrorism" represents an uncontainable hostility toward modernity.
The extremists, on this view, are primitive; we are civilized. They are irrational; we are people of prudence and reason. This is the "clash of civilizations" narrative that has held sway in the West for generations, but with a special power in the last decade.
Yet as anthropologist Talal Asad points out, the histories of Europe and Islam are not so neatly separated and thus the clash of civilizations rhetoric ignores a rich legacy of mutual borrowings and continuous interactions among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. More than that, though, the very selective heritage that shapes a people (that strange, unknown hybrid called Judeo-Christianity, for instance) often bears no relation to the hard facts on the ground — to the way people self-identify, to what they do, how they negotiate the world, and so on.
The concept of jihad is a case in point. Asad notes that the term is not central to Islam, but Western histories of the religion have made it integral to an Islamic civilization rooted in religion. In fact, jihad has been a subject of centuries-long debate among Muslim scholars of different historical and social contexts. It is simply not part of a transhistorical Muslim worldview but rather belongs to, as Asad writes, "an elaborate political-theological vocabulary in which jurists, men of religious learning, and modernist reformers debated and polemicized in response to varying circumstances."
All of which is to say that the West's tidy narration of Islam vis-a-vis modern liberal social orders has posited a set of very persuasive yet fictive binaries: freedom vs. repression; savagery vs. the rule of law; legitimate warfare vs. terrorism. So much so that in the deeply partisan, brutally contentious world of American politics, both Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, routinely employ a model in which, Asad says, "rational democrats in the West react defensively to destructive terrorists from the East."
The point here — mine and most certainly Asad's — is not to condone or justify atrocities committed by extremists. Osama bin Laden was a bad guy and the violence he was responsible for indefensible. Period. The point, instead, is to question the moral high ground America regularly claims in response to criminals like bin Laden and to ask the difficult questions that arise from inhabiting such a lofty perch.
The point also is to be willing to entertain unsettling answers to these questions — to name the contradictions that beset our attempts to rationalize, and celebrate, state-sponsored violence while we categorically condemn, and punish, rogue terrorism.
Can we begin to acknowledge that violence is embedded in the very concept of liberty that lies at the heart of liberal social orders like the United States of America? As Wendell Berry puts it in a poem, "When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know."
Can we begin to acknowledge that there is no moral difference between the horror inflicted by state armies and the horror inflicted by insurgents? Shot-off limbs, dead babies, destroyed livelihoods — these are the on-the-ground realities whether the munitions come from teenage suicide bombers or the U.S. military.
Can we begin to acknowledge that Americans seem to take a de facto stance in which war is condemned only in excess but terrorism in its very essence?
Can we begin to acknowledge that terrorists often talk about what they do in the language of necessity and humanity (as do five-star generals and American presidents)? But, as Asad notes, the banal fact is that "powerful states are never held accountable to [war crimes tribunals], only the weak and the defeated can be convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity."
Can we begin to acknowledge that, as Asad perceptively puts it, "human life has differential exchange value in the marketplace of death when it comes to 'civilized' and 'uncivilized' peoples" and that "this is necessary to a hierarchical global order."
Can we begin to acknowledge that events in recent days ought to disturb us sufficiently to resist the prepackaging of acceptable responses by corporate-controlled media outlets?
To entertain the possibility that the violence wrought in the name of "liberty and justice for all" bears a moral equivalency to that waged by operatives of al-Qaeda is not to impute sinister motives to the American military or its leaders. Not at all. That's the easy, cynical view born of occupying the moral high ground on another plane.
But the uneasy truth remains: Osama bin Laden is dead, and we have killed him. And the story of violence continues — his, ours, and the inextricable link between the two.
Debra Dean Murphy is an assistant professor of Religion and Christian Education at West Virginia Wesleyan College and serves on the board of The Ekklesia Project. She regularly blogs at Intersections: Thoughts on Religion, Culture, and Politics.
We welcome your reflections, essays, videos, or news items for possible publication on the Being Blog. Submit your entry through our First Person Outreach page.Comments


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Meet the Outdoor Team
Woodlore Field Staff Biographies
Woodlore has long been recognised as the UK's premier Bushcraft school, having run courses and overseas expeditions for over 30 years. Based on our combined first-hand knowledge and understanding of the outdoors, we believe we have the best and most experienced team in the business.
Every year Woodlore invests further resources in recruiting and training the field team so that we can continuously improve the quality of instruction to our clients. Inevitably over the years we have had staff changes, however this only serves to make the team closer and stronger. Therefore we are in no doubt that our current team is our best yet.
Our field team are all first aiders, individually CRB checked and have been trained in Food Hygiene.
We are sure you will enjoy spending time with our staff on our courses. Below are some biographies so you can start to get to know them before you arrive.
Founder of Woodlore
Ray MearsRay is one of the few true outdoor legends and for nearly 30 years he has been running courses in the UK and overseas, sharing his knowledge with those who have sought to learn more about our unique world. It is often said that before Woodlore, there was no Bushcraft in the UK.
During Woodlore's near 30-year history, Ray has led courses in many diverse environments, including the Arctic, Jungle, Temperate Rainforest and Desert, and has spent time with some of the last remaining indigenous peoples in some of the remotest places on the planet. Tracking has long been a passion of Rays and with 40 years dedicated to the study and interpretation of sign, Ray brings a unique wealth of knowledge of this specialist skill to the team.
Quietly spoken, Ray is recognised worldwide as a true master of the outdoors. Having spent the majority of his life learning to be at home in places others describe as hostile, he has unparalleled experience and in-depth knowledge. It is this that enables Ray to design, develop and lead exciting expeditions for Woodlore. Ray continues to work tirelessly to share his understanding so that others may "drink from the well of bushcraft".
Fundamental InstructorsWith more experience Aspirant Instructors can put themselves forward for the rigorous Woodlore Fundamental Instructor test. If passed they become a Fundamental Instructor and at this level the member of staff is able to lead most of the courses we run in the UK and will most likely be assisting on overseas expeditions. This is a very high level and so far we have only had two people pass this test.
Becoming a Fundamental Instructor is a milestone in the progression of our staff, marking a high level of competence in skill, knowledge and communication. A highly respected qualification that serves as a gateway to further learning.
Dan HumeDan, our full time Head of Operations was born and grew up in Suffolk. He enjoyed many outdoor activities including fishing and shooting. Dan was lucky enough to have lots of countryside near his home and was able to practice his bushcraft skills that he had learnt from Ray's programmes. It was Dan's love of the outdoors that inspired him to travel to Cape York Peninsular, Australia on the Norfolk and Suffolk Wing Expedition with the Air Training corps in August 2006.
After assisting the Woodlore team during his work experience and then attending the Fundamental and Woodsense courses Dan was invited to join the Woodlore Team in 2007. During his time at Woodlore he has gained much experience in bushcraft and is especially talented at making fire and tracking. Dan's interest in tracking started when he attended the Woodsense course in 2006 and continued on the Namibia course in 2007, learning African Bushcraft and Tracking with Ray, which culminated in spending time with the San Bushmen. In 2009 Dan also attended our Arctic Experience course learning the fundamental skills of Arctic bushcraft with Lars Fält. In 2009 Dan passed the Fundamental Instructor test and was awarded the Woodlore Instructor knife.
During the course season Dan can be found in the woods leading various Woodlore courses. As Head of Operations he is also responsible for the recruitment and welfare of the outdoor team, as well as creating new courses.
Aspirant InstructorsOnce members of staff have been an assistant for a few seasons, should they wish to and should they fit all necessary requirements, they are able to take the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor exam. Passing this assessment of practical and theoretical knowledge, they become an Aspirant Instructor. At this level they are able to lead our Fundamental Bushcraft course, Junior Fundamental Bushcraft course and our Introduction to Bushcraft course; at first under supervision.
Keith WhiteheadKeith, our full time Quartermaster and Aspirant Instructor, was born in Lancashire where he spent many long and happy formative hours with his father, exploring the moors and hills. These experiences were the foundation of an abiding passion for the outdoors that runs through his life.
After studying Horticulture at Merrist Wood college Keith worked within the industry for many years, before deciding to read a BSc. Hon. in Social Biology. This study led Keith to look more closely at the interactions between animals and their environment. He paid particular attention to humans, their ancestors and to indigenous peoples, their cultures, and technologies.
It was this shift in focus that led him to Woodlore and the Fundamental Bushcraft course. For Keith this was "a life changing experience", bringing together all the strands of his life. He applied to Woodlore as an assistant soon afterwards and joined the team in 2007. He has since learned many new skills through private study, practice, and the wisdom of his peers. Keith says: The passion of the people with whom I work is infectious and it is truly a pleasure to spend time with colleagues and clients in such a beautiful environment. The outdoors has always been my retreat and source of inspiration. I relish the opportunity to share this with anyone who is willing to learn with commitment. In 2010, Keith passed the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor test and received his Aspirant Instructor certificate.
During the course season Keith can be found in the woods leading and assisting on various Woodlore courses as well as looking after all of the course equipment. During the winter Keith is in charge of maintaining, and replacing equipment used for courses as well as helping out in the office.
Sarah DayJoining the Woodlore team in 2006, Sarah arrived at her interest in Bushcraft after a childhood spent camping with family, cooking dough twists and kippers over open fires and scouring the beaches for fossils. At the age of eight she was bought Ray Mears Survival Handbook. In the years since, she has tried many of the different Bushcraft skills including cordage using a variety of natural fibres, basketry, dyeing using vegetable dyes, pottery, flint knapping, bone working, bow making (and archery) and, of course, shelter and fire.
Many of Sarah's skills (fibre work, basketry and pottery in particular) were also acquired as a result of her continued involvement in reenactments of Tudor life at a local manor house in which she has been taking part since the age of seven. Sarah's love of creative work led her to starting a degree in fashion and textiles in September 2007. Sarah also enjoys sailing, hiking, hill walking, and has been involved with the Scouts as an assistant leader. Sarah is working her way through solo and tandem canoeing certificates, a relatively new interest sparked by two months working at a canoe camp in Canada in the summer of 2005.
In 2010, Sarah passed the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor test and received her Aspirant Instructor certificate.
Brian FoxBrian joined the Royal Marines in 1980 and during this time he served in many countries ranging from desert to arctic, jungle to mountains. Brian completed several survival courses within those terrains. After leaving the forces, Brian obtained a Law Degree, and is also a qualified teacher in the Longlife Learning Sector which has enabled him to teach law and procedure within the West Midlands Police.
Brian's love of the countryside has continued where he spent many a foray hill walking, scrambling and camping. Brian's interest in Bushcraft was inspired by Ray's many television programmes and books on the subject. Brian pursued this interest by attending many courses with bushcraft becoming his number one pastime. Brian joined the Woodlore Team in 2008.
Brian has recently been promoted to Sergeant at a very busy police station in Birmingham.
In 2010, Brian passed the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor test and received his Aspirant Instructor certificate.
Nick ThompsonNick has always enjoyed being outdoors and amongst nature. Growing up in Cornwall, this took the form of hours spent investigating streams and finding their sources, and exploring the beautifully varied, fascinating coastline.
His passion for the outdoors has taken him through a career in Arboriculture, which has both sated and increased a love of trees and woodland environments. Married to "the most beautiful woman ever created", he is the proud father of four fantastic children.
Nick says:
In 2010, Nick passed the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor test and received his Aspirant Instructor certificate.Modern Western culture seems to exorcise natural rhythms and richness from our lives; by combining primitive living skills, agrarian crafts and modern technologies, my study of Bushcraft enables me to interact with nature in a more harmonious and profound way. Working with the Woodlore team is very rewarding; both learning and sharing with others, who have an empathy for people and nature that I recognise within myself.
Tom SewardTom was born and brought up in Wiltshire where he developed a love of the outdoors. On family orienteering and camping trips, Tom spent many a happy hour exploring and making shelters in the forests and landscapes he visited. With strong Welsh roots, summer holidays were spent on the North coast of Pembrokeshire where he developed his range of water skills – fishing, surfing, kayaking and coasteering. Always a strong swimmer, Tom is a former Junior Welsh surf swim Champion and professional beach lifeguard. He has worked as an assistant instructor at an outdoor activities centre in Pembrokeshire, leading surfing and coasteering groups and developing his climbing, walking and kayaking skills, also improving his knowledge of the local environment.
Tom was introduced to Woodlore through a Fundamental Bushcraft course that he was given as an 18th birthday present and after completing his Campcraft course the following year, he was invited to attend a recruitment weekend. Tom says:
In 2011, Tom passed the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor test and received his Aspirant Instructor certificate.I once took a day off school (with parent's permission) to attend a book signing by Ray at a local bookshop in Marlborough, where my mother asked Ray if he did apprenticeships. Although Ray laughed and declined the offer, I am delighted to be where I am today and I'm looking forward to developing my experience further!
Rob BashfordRob first joined the Woodlore team in 2006. He is a keen outdoorsman and qualified RYA Senior Dinghy Instructor, RYA Powerboat Instructor and Summer Mountain Leader. Rob enjoys hillwalking, skiing, camping, shooting and, of course, sailing. Rob grew up in the Kent countryside and spent his formative years in the Scouts and Cadets, including participating in orienteering and shooting competitions. Rob now resides near the Highlands in Scotland.
At the end of the course season in 2008 Rob took a break from teaching bushcraft to pursue his interests in sailing and travelling. At the start of the 2011 course season we were very pleased to see Rob back as part of the Woodlore team once again.
About working for Woodlore Rob says:
When he's not working for Woodlore Rob tends to like to travel, either to work or for pleasure and has travelled to New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Rob's most recent trip was leading a group on a two-week expedition to Morocco, summiting North Africa's highest mountain and camel trekking in the desert.I enjoy being outdoors in all weathers, learning lost skills, working with a diverse range of people and passing these skills onto them.
In 2013, Rob passed the Woodlore Aspirant Instructor test and received his Aspirant Instructor certificate.
Senior AssistantsAs assistants gain experience some are promoted to the level senior assistant. They are required to guide the more junior members of our team and teach some lessons. This is a challenging role.
Kevin MacLeodKevin has recently re-located to the Kent & Sussex borders where he enjoys the stunning wooded countryside of this area. Most of Kevin's interests revolve around outdoor pursuits including, sailing, jogging, fell walking, camping, motorcycle touring and skiing (both X-Country and Alpine.)
In 2005 Kevin attended his first Woodlore course as a client and then made this a habit over the following couple of years. Having applied for a position in 2007, early in 2008 Kevin joined the Woodlore team as an Assistant, providing support for instructors. Commenting on his time with Woodlore so far:
I have found it so very satisfying and rewarding to see how Woodlore's customers can begin a course with uncertainty and trepidation but finish with confidence and a hunger to learn more but most of all a big smile.
Adrian NewtonAdrian's interest in the great outdoors began at a very early age living on the edge of the Pennines in North Derbyshire. He was extremely lucky to be surrounded by friends and family who enjoyed many aspects of the outdoors. He went fishing and camping with friends all over the country, from Scotland to Cornwall. He had friends that taught him to sail and canoe on a reservoir and the Rivers Trent and Dove near his home. Another friend taught Adrian and his brothers to ski in a field on a local farm which led to a life long interest in all snow sports including Nordic Skiing and Snowboarding. He has snowboarded all over Europe and North America.
After a period of living in the big cities of Milan and London, Adrian had the urge to get back to the nature he had previously enjoyed. This led Adrian to Woodlore's Fundamental Bushcraft course in 2004. The rest, as they say, is history!
Adrian has worked as a carpenter for twenty years now and through his love of this job, he has developed a keen interest in many of the craft aspects of Bushcraft, including greenwoodworking, carving, birchbark craft and knifemaking. Adrian joined the Woodlore team in 2008.
Darren BatesDarren was born and grew up in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. Luckily for him as a child he was always outdoors playing and enjoying the countryside. Like most boys he would be building dens and making fires. He has a love and enjoyment of any outdoor activity may it be shooting, watching wildlife, photography, canoeing and of course practising bushcraft skills. "Getting the chance to work for Woodlore was like a dream come true", Darren says, and he has met some of the nicest people and made some of his greatest friends. Being a client on the Fundamental and Woodsense courses really opened Darren's eyes to how much he loved being outside with nature, watching the seasons change and dealing with all the conditions. Keeping calm and upbeat along with a good sense of humour helps in those circumstances. For Darren bushcraft is a subject he has really grown to love and to see glimpses of things that most people haven't, is a treasure in itself.
Callum HilderHaving grown up in the fields and woods of Sussex, Callum's inspiration for the natural world, its inhabitants and the uses to which the plants, trees and animals can be put has intensified with every outing. Every time Callum is in the countryside he appreciates its ever changing cycle, beauty and the way that every second, something changes.
Callum was born and bred in Shipley, West Sussex, on the Knepp Castle Estate. From an early age he always played in the countryside surrounding his house, sleeping out in his father's old army sleeping bag and non waterproof poncho, making fires, building shelters and catching rabbits with bits of string and wire. This progressed into beginning to learn the subject of Bushcraft and from that moment Callum has not stopped wanting to learn as much as possible about the natural world. Callum has a particular interest in trapping, wild foods, deer and fire-making.
Callum began working on the Knepp Castle Estate assisting the gamekeeper and is now in his final year of a National Diploma in Game and Wildlife management and will be leaving to go into the game keeping industry.
Callum attended the Junior Fundamental Bushcraft course when he was thirteen and then did two work experience placements before joining the Woodlore team in January 2010.
Callum says:
The key is to be able to discover what has changed and why, and that is what is truly fascinating about the subject of Bushcraft for me.
Wayne EgertonWayne was born and bred on the Isle of Wight, where he still resides with his wife and two young children. Growing up he enjoyed many outdoor activities based around the sea, including windsurfing, fishing and coastal camping. Wayne joined the scouting movement at a young age and later became a keen outdoor sportsman including shooting and ferreting, generally anything associated with the outdoors!
Wayne has enjoyed travelling to many countries over the years, and has come to realise how this develops you as a person, giving you both experience and confidence in dealing with life's situations. Closer to home he enjoys spending time in the varied habitats the Island has to offer, from salt marshes and shingle beaches to pine forests and open downland.
A keen follower of Ray's work, Wayne embarked on the Arctic Survival Course with Lars in February 2009. This he thoroughly enjoyed and learnt a great deal about the very extreme environment. Following this, he attended the Woodlore Selection Process and began work as an assistant in 2010.
Wayne comments:
Since working for Woodlore I have been impressed by the high standards and level of professionalism demonstrated by the entire team, and have been able to add to my skills through training and guidance.
Mark BootonMark has had a love of the great outdoors and nature since an early age. Spending his childhood close to the Surrey/Hants borders, he spent many enjoyable hours building camps with his brother in the woods and studying wildlife. As he grew older, Mark's sense of adventure and yearning not to be confined to an office led him to a career in the armed forces, where he spent 6 memorable years travelling around the globe with the Royal Marines.
Upon leaving the forces Mark set up home back where he grew up, and is now married and has two very adventurous little boys of his own! Despite being widely travelled, Mark believes fulfilment and adventure can always be found closest to home and he is now never happier than foraging for mushrooms and other edible wild produce in his local woods.
In 2010, Mark attended the fundamental bushcraft course and found it truly inspiring and, soon after, he applied and was lucky enough to be selected to join Woodlore. Mark says he feels "very privileged to be part of such a devoted and professional team" and is looking forward to expanding his knowledge and continuing to share his passion for bushcraft with others.
Ross BurtRoss was born and grew up in Devon. He has benefitted from living so close to Dartmoor throughout his childhood and this has developed his love of the outdoors.
Ross was lucky enough to have uncles who were interested in the outdoors while he was growing up. They taught him to fish, hunt, shoot and camp.
On leaving school Ross embarked on a career in Engineering, but soon realised that his love for the outdoors was not diminishing. He therefore decided to find work in the outdoors and is pleased to be part of the Woodlore team, joining the company in 2011. Ross explains:
I have many interests including; tracking, fishing, and hunting. Ray's books and programmes have just fuelled my interest.
Steve CorbynAs a child growing up in Wiltshire, Steve spent much of his spare time in the outdoors cooking over a campfire, camping out with friends and has always enjoyed being in the woods.
When he was older Steve didn't lose this passion, instead it progressed into hill walking, deer stalking and starting a career in conservation. Being in natural places, feeling that he is a part of that ecosystem and knowing that he has the self discipline to not only survive there but to live and be a part of it is key to Steve. As a practical conservationist Steve understands how humans are part of nature rather than believing we are outside of it. Steve comments:
Steve feels bushcraft is a fun and practical medium to allow us to see and use the vast diversity of renewable resources that our natural world offers and therefore gives us a deeper respect for nature.Spending time in a natural environment reminds you that you are not separate from the woods, you are a part of it. I love the feeling of just taking a few belongings to make life possible and relying on your skills and wit to live comfortably.
David SoutheyBorn and raised on Salisbury plain, David spent a lot of his youth exploring the wide open spaces, secluded valleys and copses. During his childhood he spent family holidays in the Lake District, on the south coast, Dartmoor and in the West Country.
David was a member of the Army cadets which meant a lot of his time was spent outdoors on exercises and adventurous training. His first navigational lesson was from his father on Dartmoor at the back of Oakhampton camp aged 8, which fired his great interest in map work.
Serving for 5 years in the Army, working in and undertaking survival courses in the jungle of Guyana, arid lands of the Middle East, Norway and temperate environments here in the UK showed David what a person is capable of beyond their own expectations.
Enrolling on the Woodlore Fundamental Bushcraft course in 2007, while living in Plymouth, changed how David viewed his trips out to Dartmoor; he began wanting to enjoy the journey as well as the destination.
David spent a lot of time building on the skills learnt at Woodlore by reading, watching and listening to any source of knowledge on Bushcraft, then getting out trying things, be that in the garden or the highlands of Scotland. David joined the Woodlore Team in 2011 as an assistant.
David says:
I love the countryside of Britain, though I enjoy travelling to other countries, Britain still holds me in awe of the places people seem to dismiss as found, conquered and tamed. This just isn't true; you only have to spend a night outside in any piece of our green land to know how wild it still is.
AssistantsThis is the level at which we usually recruit outdoor staff. As an assistant one would be required to assist in all camp duties such as; maintaining camp hygiene, shopping, cooking, aiding clients with skills and helping to prepare lectures. They play a vital role in the running of our courses.
Mark CallardMark was born and raised in Devon and was fortunate to spend his childhood years growing up on a farm on the South Devon coast. This gave Mark the childhood every boy should have, making dens, camping, raft making, and canoeing. A passion for Dartmoor arose through his teenage years and he is now fortunate enough to be passing on Dartmoor's secrets to his three inquisitive children.
Mark has learnt most of his outdoor skills from spending time in the woods and from watching Ray on television and reading his books. After being convinced to send his C.V to Woodlore, Mark found himself taking part in Woodlore's recruitment process in 2011 which was "fantastic in itself". Mark joined the Woodlore Team in 2012 as an assistant and is now continuing to improve his skills with the team. Mark says:
After finally meeting Ray with my family and him captivating my children, it's a dream come true to be on his outdoor team. This is only possible with the enthusiasm, love and support from my family and friends.


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The government expressed hope that the fiscal deficit targets remain achievable and pegged a higher growth rate of more than 6 per cent for the next fiscal.
The Economic Survey for 2012-13, which was presented by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday, projected that the Indian economy is likely to grow between 6.1 per cent and 6.7 per cent in the fiscal year that begins from April 1.
"The downturn is more or less over," the survey said.
The Economic Survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan, was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday, a day ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget for 2013-14.
The survey is a report card on the state of the economy, with recommendations for the way forward.
Though the Indian economy is estimated to grow by nearly 5 per cent in the current fiscal, a number of economic reform measures taken by the finance minister have raised optimism about a growth revival in the economy.
The survey projects inflation to ease further in the next fiscal year, adding that softening price pressures will give room for the central bank to lower interest rates.
For more news from Business Today, follow us on Twitter @bt_india and on Facebook at facebook.com/BusinessToday


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From: watchkalibrun.com
The NFL is the most prosperous sport in America right now. Several franchises are worth over a billion dollars. While the most successful MMA organization, the UFC is barely on par with a single NFL franchise, not counting the league value, stadiums and television contracts.
We as Americans simply cannot get enough of NFL gear, fantasy football, tailgating, ribs, beer, and seat licensing. But the dirty secret that is becoming blatantly more obvious is that football is the most violent sport in America.
Take this past weekend. Anquan Boldin, Clifford Russell, Andre Frazier were all carted off the field with neck injuries. If anyone is experiencingKevin Evertt de ja vu, you are not alone. But it wasn't just neck injuries. The Steelers on Monday night football lost Carey Davis, Kendall Simmons and Rashard Mendenhall, two of which are done for the year.
As someone who digests the NFL with glee and excitement I am included in the group of people who truly do not understand the violence of the game. These men collide with force comparable to small killer whales, on every play. While the pads protect, albeit somewhat, in the short term, they do not protect against the long term degradation that occurs.
Why is it that so many football players pass away in their sixties and fifties, even ones in the who appear healthy in the public eye like Gene Upshaw. Iron Mike Webster, a Hall of Fame center for the 70's Steelers, body was crippled and destroyed by football. He died alone and in pain as described by his son testimony before Congress with other football players in attempt to get more health benefits and preventive measures in the NFL.
The violence in football is masked by the rules of the game, score a touchdown it is six points, field goals are three points, pass interference, holding and the tuck rule. But make no mistake the fundamental element of football is hitting your opponent as hard as is humanly possible. What makes that different then MMA, nothing. The comparable damage to the human body is far worse in the NFL than in MMA and that is what makes football the most violent sport in America (I've written this before). It is our collective duty as MMA fans to debunk (intelligently not Dana White style) those who claim MMA is the most violent sport in America, because it is simply untrue.


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ANDERSON, Ind. — The scene is the dark and eerie world of a Transylvanian castle with a horrible secret. Don't be deceived – it's anything but. It's merely the set for the hilarious, madcap musical that Anderson's Mainstage Theatre soundly delivers beginning tonight. "Young Frankenstein" opens this evening, another comedic coup for our community theater.
Tommy Thomas directs this truly fun Mainstage production. The play is based on the 1974 film written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, which turned Mary Shelley's classic on its head and then some. The classic was transformed into a musical by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan and first appeared on Broadway in 2007.
"Young Frankenstein" tells the story of Frederick Frankenstein's return to the ancestral Transylvanian home of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, which he has inherited. Despite his initial rejection of the notion, he is drawn into recreating his grandfather's experiment in "reanimation."
Prepare to laugh. The Mainstage production of "Young Frankenstein" is filled with all sorts of comedic elements delivered wonderfully by a devoted cast. It is a production to be savored by an adult audience, with plenty of loaded innuendo and the occasional use of coarse language. It all serves to make everyone laugh, and laugh well.
Gabe Porch as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein seizes the stage when he first turns to face the audience, announcing his absurdly pronounced name and singing "The Brain" with command. He keeps a firm hold on it all the way to the end of the play, along with several other very strong characters.
Bill Malone apparently couldn't help but fully embrace the character of Igor. Clad in his black hooded garb with the roving humpback, Igor prances with splayed jazz hands, plays the French horn upside down between his legs, and makes a startling snatch with his teeth in just a sampling of his zany moments.


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Stealing from Sports: Really Useful Coaching #DareConf Mini
Jan 20th, 2014 by Meri in Conferences, Development, Management, Personal Development, Presentations
1 Comment
Great presentation. I also find it fascinating that the best coaches aren't always the best players. What comes to mind is that old saying "those who can't do, teach." I've actually always found it belittling to those who teach. It takes a lot of skill to teach, coach, or mentor effectively.
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