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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146372842014-12-14T18:53:33.356-05:00One Smoot Short of a BridgeCulture, social justice, queer issues, disability rights, arts, Boston, and stuff I think is cool.eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-90878739590465463272014-09-24T15:53:00.000-04:002014-09-24T15:53:01.537-04:00In keeping with a One Smoot tradition...

eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-61029461794447381292014-08-06T12:10:00.001-04:002014-08-06T12:10:03.366-04:00Capital One 360 not allowing transactions in Boston due to "security reasons"I spent the morning getting my card rejected at ATMs and stores whether I used it for debit or credit. I called Capital One 360 and was first told that my card had just been frozen for security reasons and they'd turn it right back on. Annoying, but OK, sure.

Then it kept getting rejected. After an hour on hold, they told me that they weren't allowing transactions go to through "in the area" because the area was flagged for fraud. I was out and about for work, and this "area" so far is roughly a triangle between Dudley Square, Longwood, and Back Bay station.

But wait, it gets more ridiculous. They're unable to tell me anything about which ATMs and stores are and are not flagged, because it's sensitive data. They won't even tell me the location of one ATM that is allowing transactions to go through. She told me to drive around and try ATMs in different areas. Which, if I didn't have to work, I could. I already haven't been able to buy lunch or pay for parking where I'd intended to park. Fortunately, I have enough gas in my car for today. She told me she can't tell me how long they block transactions in an area. She couldn't even confirm whether their own ATMs in their stupid cafes worked, and said those would get flagged too if there was fraud in the area.

We have a mortgage with them. We got it when they were ING Direct, and it was awesome until Capital One bought them. They seem fine with taking mortgage payments and interest from this area.

Anyway, does anyone know of any ATMs or stores that are accepting Capital One 360 transactions today? And would it be worth it to have Boston-area customers take their business elsewhere? Would it affect them, or are they so huge that it would only end up being a pain in the ass for the customers?eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-10581102117986191012014-08-02T12:12:00.000-04:002014-08-06T12:14:21.716-04:00Railfan

eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-25837064002601529112014-06-13T15:51:00.000-04:002014-06-13T15:51:01.272-04:00Helping a friend fundraise for gender-affirming surgeryThis is a page created by a friend of our family. Every time I think about her, I first get really happy, because she's an awesome person who frequently makes me laugh as well as make me think. But then I get really mad, because it's just so wrong that we live in such a wealthy country, yet money is the only thing standing between my friend and the healthcare she desperately needs. She spends entirely too much of her time dealing with harassment and anguish when she should be spending that time kicking ass in the sociology world and the world in general.

Pretty much every mainstream healthcare provider agrees that she needs this care, but our country's healthcare laws are made by politicians based on opinions rather than healthcare experts based on best practices, so she can't get it covered. It makes me really mad that pretty much the only option she has for having the correct body parts is to post about her genitals on the internet. No one should have to do that; I didn't have to post about mine on the internet to have the right ones show up. I think it's incredibly brave and admirable that she's doing this, but it's also extremely aggravating to me that she's had to. Please, if you're able, check out her beautifully written page, share it, spread the word that all insurance companies need to cover all medically necessary treatment, and donate to my friend if you can. Thanks!eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-45575329703087881632014-04-03T12:19:00.000-04:002014-04-03T12:19:10.499-04:00Kids' sports equipment is going beyond pointless gendering into, hm, antithetical gendering?I shop at REI when they have good sales, and basically consider them a good business, but I always wonder why they of all places have fallen into the mass-media-land trap of needing to specify the gender of children's items such as bikes, skis, raincoats, etc. While my general view is that I wish gender would just go away, I do get that items meant for grown adults are arranged by gender to help people narrow down what type of pubescent body things are meant for. Women's clothing accommodates butts and boobs and women's equipment often assumes a different center of gravity and different dominant muscles. But kids? Their bodies are the same before puberty except for their genitalia (which may or may not match their gender...), and I tend to discourage kids from involving their genitalia in their outdoor recreational activities.

The gendering of most of this stuff just doesn't make sense. REI seems to specify genders for all sorts of things, even ones that I would say come from the manufacturer as a pretty non-gendered product. (Sure, the manufacturer might specify a gender, but REI then does their own tagging on the website and in the store, and their system allows them to not specify gender on items.) Even if one is subscribing to western gender norms, wouldn't that mean that most things are either "girl" or "everybody?" We all know that most products are designed in the default version and then the female version, right? So shouldn't the plain black bike that looks like a bike be "everyone" and the pink bike covered in flowers and fairies be "girl?" Again, putting aside that I know plenty of boys who like pink flowers and plenty of girls who like robots and zombies, shouldn't "boy" be reserved for the things that are speficially conventionally gendered, like the bikes with flames on them or whatever? Why does REI label so much plain stuff as "boy"?

The way in which it's gendered gets interesting too, and is particularly odd with athletic brands. In the adult lines, outdoor and athletic equipment and clothing seem to have some traditional gendering between men's and women's items, but I would say that the female items exude girl power and feminine diva strength, not "I'm a pretty princess who will be sitting inside while you men hike." The children's items, though, tend to differ in that the boys' items look like they're encouraging vigor and perseverance, but the girls' look like they're encouraging, um, being pretty. Even the names reflect this! There's an identical-except-for-color Novara bike called "Stinger" for the boys and "Firefly" for the girls. While I actually think "stinger" sounds a little trashy and reminds me too much of professional wrestling, I want my female kids and my male kids to ride like a stinger, fast and fearless and with a goal in mind, not like a firefly that flits around being pretty.

It gets even better. Rossignol has a model of skis that are actually called princess skis! Other than the name, this particular model is kind of cute. When I googled it I found another model of Rossignol princess skis that actually have imagery of (white and blonde, naturally) princesses on them. I assume that when these arrive, they're just decoy skis that are designed for leaning up against while talking to handsome young men outside the lodge. I don't imagine that princesses do any skiing; those kinds of skills tend to throw a wrench in the plot of needing to be rescued by strong brave men.

This is not, of course, to say that there's anything wrong with feminine young girls. I definitely subscribe to a feminism that's more in line with Black feminism and womanism and encourages females to fully participate in the world in whatever way they see fit, rather than one of the "feminists need to emulate men while at the same time hating them" schools of feminism. But there is something inherently wrong with trying to appeal to young girls by slapping princesses on very non-princessy things. It's insulting to the girl to imply that "princess" is all she is. A girl (or a boy!) who loves flowers and frills and femininity should feel elated to delicately prance around the house, taking care to make sure her delicate white tutu stays white and unrumpled, but something is really not right when her bike is all-white and decked out in flowers and screams to be polished and decorated, while her brother's screams to be taken out and ridden through the mud.

I worry about girls (and boys) who are living in a culture where people aren't seeing the whole child. I worry that she has to be convinced to try getting out in nature and using her strength and endurance by the promise that the bike or skis have princesses on them, because female socialization has removed the instinct that most kids have to try different types of activities. In the same vein, I worry about the boys who are expected to like the bike because it's a bike, when maybe they like yoga or hiking better. I think if we downplayed gender several notches, it would be a lot easier to really think about our kids as individuals, and think about which kids might be happier with individual versus team sports, or high-stimulation activities versus low-stimulation activities. It's disappointing that the backsliding of gendering has gotten to the point that even companies selling outdoor equipment are sending the message of "buy our stuff, girls, but you shouldn't really use it." And that there's demand for this.eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-8807778724325843372014-02-27T10:42:00.001-05:002014-02-27T10:42:22.964-05:00Commonwealth employees continue to lack understanding of basic mathWe frequently have to verify our family income since we have a child who participates in a number of services that are state funded and need to collect data on income of people served. Like, we have to do this so often that I automatically scan in our income that's on paper and have a file on my computer ready to send to anyone who needs it.

Why is it that state agencies can't wrap their head around per-diem income? I've had this happen with multiple agencies now.

None of them seem to get that if a person doesn't have income from a particular company every week, they can look at the year-to-date figures and add them up to verify that there isn't a paystub skipped. Even when I explain this, the people say that they need a paystub for each of the past X pay periods. Some of the agencies have insisted that if I didn't work, there would be a paystub for that pay period showing zero income.

For the sake of making things easier, I asked my two employers if they could set their software to print paystubs with zeros on them. The finance and IT people both places said they had never heard of such a thing. One person told me it would be impossible to code the software to do this, which I don't think is actually true. (Couldn't it just be set so that every payday, if there's nothing inputed, it prints out a paystub with zeroes? Seems like a simple line of code.)

These organizations also don't seem to get how to calculate per-diem income. If they have three weekly paystubs over a six-week period, which means that the other three weeks were zero, they're dividing by three instead of six to get a weekly average. One place that uses a sliding scale called saying we owed them a bunch of money, because they insisted our yearly income was twice what it actually is.

I get that people who work for the state in non-financial positions don't actually understand simple math. I don't like that this is the case or agree that people should be making that kind of money as state administrative-type people when they don't understand basic math, but I get it. Can the state do something about this? Like writing a computer program that people who are verifying income are required to use, that uses the year-to-date figures and does the averaging for them? Or can there be a state law that gives people the option of using our tax return, where we've already done the math correctly, instead of requiring paystubs?

(Or, even better, can we just get rid of all these administrative departments and all this time spent not understand how paystubs work, and just have a single-payer system that provides health and social services to people with and without special needs at every income level?)
eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-32658980340820990992013-09-04T16:26:00.001-04:002014-02-27T10:12:43.669-05:00L'shanah tovah!

eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-21137154587016543782013-08-09T09:55:00.001-04:002013-08-09T09:59:23.500-04:00Dammit, Zappos!Hm, Zappos used to let you search by size without specifying gender. My preschooler likes a lot of colors and styles that get classified as "girls" as well as "boys," and I specifically liked that Zappos didn't make me go to both sections to browse stuff for my kid.

Are there ANY clothing or shoe places anymore that don't have the stuff separated by gender?! Locally, Fancy Pants does, but it's the only place I can think of.

EDIT: I figured it out; you can do shoes --> girls/boys --> size and then delete the gender in the top tab. But still, what? Why not just allow a search by size? Or not have them divided up by gender at all?
eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-64304075752989739542013-07-03T23:25:00.003-04:002013-07-03T23:25:59.615-04:00Longest German Word Was Very Long, GermanNY Magazine apparently also likes longass German words.eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-17523554708023845582013-05-24T11:11:00.001-04:002013-05-24T11:11:49.557-04:00Quickest, cheapest fix for all those "Thomas M. Menino, Mayor" signsJust print out a whole bunch of stickers in various sizes so people can paste "guy" over "mayor" on all of them once there's a new mayor. Then they won't ever have to redo it again. And it will make about as much sense to have some guy's name on every flat surface in Boston as the mayor's name does. eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-27851071636808627992013-05-22T10:13:00.001-04:002013-05-22T10:13:04.582-04:00No, really, people in Boston don't understand crosswalksAt this point, after 13 years here, I've basically accepted that drivers and pedestrians alike don't know the rules of the road, particularly as pertains to pedestrians crossing the street. For those who are thinking that everyone surely does know the laws about crossing the street, but people ignore them, I can point you to an interesting phenomenon; every time something comes up on Universal Hub about this very topic, inevitably, someone will insist that all people know about crossing in marked crosswalks and crossing only when they have a walk signal, but they just don't care. Then several people will chime in and insist that pedestrians have the right-of-way everywhere all the time, and that cars are supposed to stop on a green light when a pedestrian is walking out against a BIGREDHAND™. This of course is incorrect, and just illogical, because why would there be pedestrian signals at all if this were the case? The laws actually say that pedestrians have to wait for the walk signal when there is one (I think this is pretty universal in all cities in the world that have the lights, otherwise, again, why have them?), and that pedestrians have to cross inside the crosswalk unless there isn't one within 300 feet.

Nonetheless, it's a pretty pervasive belief that pedestrians have the right-of-way at all times. People frequently cross against the walk signal, while the BIGREDHAND™ is displayed, then yell at drivers to stop for pedestrians or that pedestrians have the right of way. It makes me wonder; are traffic signals and crossing the street safely not taught in elementary schools here? It's one thing to not care, but it's oddly fascinating that so many people really think the crosswalks and walk signals are just there for no reason.

The thing though that I really can't understand is all of the drivers who will stop and motion me across while I'm waiting at a BIGREDHAND™with my preschool-aged child, many of whom will get aggravated when I don't cross against the light as they've suggested. I've had people with their windows rolled down tell me they're letting me go, and what am I standing there for if I don't want to cross, etc. I assume it's coming from a good place, but then why do they become more aggravated when I tell them "I appreciate it, but...", then gesture toward the HAND™ and motion toward the child next to me?

No, really, I think people don't know what the lights are for. I mean, sure, I will cross against the HAND™ when no one is coming and I don't have my child with me, but are other people really not teaching their children basic traffic light rules while the kids are at that concrete stage where rules are rules? What happens when their kids see a segment on Sesame Street about traffic lights and ask about it? Or those street-light/street-sign posters that decorate so many elementary school classrooms? I'm honestly curious; are these families telling their children that the lights in Boston are different and don't mean anything? Or that our family doesn't believe in traffic lights? Or just telling them to shut up and walk out in front of the dumptruck?
eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-6911220497447202972013-01-16T14:27:00.001-05:002013-01-16T14:27:42.755-05:00Go home, MBTA. You're drunk.

eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-87417680743526939392013-01-09T21:55:00.003-05:002013-02-15T13:36:58.043-05:00Commonwealth of Massachusetts refusing to recognize same-sex marriages and adoptionsOn the state virtual gateway for getting info about our family's state health insurance, they have Spousal Unit and I listed as one another's spouse.

They also have me listed as our child's "mother" and spousal unit as child's "stepmother." "Stepparent," while often someone who provides amazing parenting to a child, is not someone who is fully a legal parent to said child.

We jointly adopted said child in Massachusetts, as a married couple. On our health insurance application, we listed ourselves as spouses and our child as our child.

Apparently the people who manage the healthcare benefits decided that the family relationships we have that are backed up by a bunch of legal paperwork aren't actually real.

Nice to see that the supposed equal rights laws haven't actually gotten us equal legal status.

EDITED 02/15/13:
They've now updated it so we are both the parents of our child. The computer had no problem allowing this. The person who entered our information did indeed change what we entered to match their homophobic assumptions.

Hey Commonwealth of Massachusetts! Your own Department of Public Health offers free trainings on providing appropriate customer service to LGBT folks. Maybe sign yourselves up for some?
eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-3531800259995406132012-12-05T14:07:00.002-05:002012-12-05T14:07:27.656-05:00Apparently sitting is no longer allowed at the Boston Public LibraryI was informed today, while sitting on the floor in a corner reading a book at the main library, that sitting on floors is not allowed, and all patrons must be in chairs. I talked to the person in charge of such things, mentioning that sitting on the floor is often more comfortable for my back because I can shift my position around, and was told that the policy is in place because, "blind people come in here and could trip over you."

I was told that if I am claiming to have a disability (which, I could go this route, since I do have a condition related to pain and lower-back and lower-body movement, though never really needed to put the two and two together since I've never been told in the 16 years I've had it that I couldn't sit on a freakin' floor somewhere), I could most likely get a reasonable accommodation, which would involve being allowed to sit on a specific place on the floor where the library people permitted me to sit during the visit and involve the staff informing all the other staff that I was allowed to be there. Uh, yeah, no thanks. I did ask for the person to e-mail me about looking into an accommodation though, because I'm really curious as to where this does or doesn't go.

The BPL website only says that blocking the aisles by sitting or lying in them is not permitted, not that no one can ever sit on any floor. It also doesn't say anything about prohibiting chairs, books, shelves, carts, potted plants, walls, toilets, backpacks, etc. that blind people could also trip over, because I assume the person who made the policy is aware that blind people are always prepared for the possibility of all different types of moving and stationary objects, just like anyone else.

I suspect that, like many things, this is an anti-people-with-persistent-mental-illness issue, aimed at behaviors common to people who tend to be tired, confused, medicated, sleep-deprived, etc. I've also heard, less recently, of BPL security guards telling people who fit this demographic that they need to have a book open in front of them or else they're "loitering."eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-87723783324726411062012-09-13T09:36:00.003-04:002012-09-13T09:38:06.638-04:00IKEA thinks Boston has two Zakim Bridges

eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-32261109102293143662012-05-28T21:19:00.001-04:002012-05-28T21:19:20.790-04:00Improve Boston in so many ways without spending a centFrom the City of Boston recycling page:

For every ton of bottles, cans, and plastic containers that residents recycle (rather than throw away in the trash), the City saves $80. That means that a 1% change in the City's recycling rate would save more than $200,000 each year.

Next time you complain about something in the city being underfunded, take a second to make sure you aren't putting recyclables in the trash. Even better, make sure you're telling your neighbors to do the same. The city trash regulations say that recyclables may not go in the trash, so if you're a landlord or a member of a homeowners association, make sure you're telling your tenants or your fellow HOA members that they need to be following the city regulations. Also, reduce your trash output even further by composting (there are many options for composting on a balcony or even in your kitchen) and encourage the city to start collecting curbside compostables.

But what we really need to do is get the city to do pay-as-you-throw metered trash:

Communities have doubled and even tripled their recycling rates after implementing the WasteZero System.

The programs are fair. When the cost of trash disposal is hidden in property taxes or charged at a flat rate, households that recycle and prevent waste subsidize their neighbors' wastefulness. Under Trash Metering, households pay only for what they throw away.

Or, at the very least, we need to get them to enforce the code when people are filling trash cans and trash bags with obvious recyclables. This would get revenue for the city and get people to stop killing the planet as much. Hmm, I wonder if a massive Citizens Connect movement over the next few trash days would get anything done? We could submit hundreds of reports of recyclables in the trash.

By the way, while we're talking about the city and its recycling programs, I still think the giant plastic recycling bags are stupid for the most part. I might get some once in a while for massive file-cabinet cleanouts, but otherwise, I still don't think these bags are going to get people to recycle who can't be bothered to put out recycling in paper bags or blue bins. However, if they're going to have such a program, how about if they sell the bags in all of the neighborhoods where the program is active? There aren't any locations in Roxbury, South Boston, or Mission Hill, all of which are allowed to use the bags. As usual, we know which neighborhoods city hall cares about.eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-24929677416829220182012-05-19T10:04:00.002-04:002012-05-19T10:04:40.251-04:00Let's play MBTA bingo!Over at Universal Hub, Adam is in the process of creating an MBTA bingo game. As one might guess, most of the boxes are annoying things -- train out of service, person sprawled across two seats, and bottle rolling around. There are also some positive/funny things, like clinical studies ad, Zipcar ad, and dog.

I love people-watching as much as the next guy, and my readers should know by now that this also includes a healthy dose of snarking, but really, I think the bingo cards need more happy things to look for. The T, as with any crowded space of randomly selected people, can be quite the annoying place as it is.

Here are the ones I've submitted so far:

Sweet parent-child interaction

Quietly reading a book

Colorful shoes

Person making something

Classy/subtle PDA

Litter-picker-upper

Operator visible from first car

Person offering seat

Healthy snack

What others can people think of? Positive, neutral, funny, annoying, happy, etc? Go over to the thread and add away!eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-41717128745235440902012-05-07T15:05:00.000-04:002012-05-07T15:05:26.500-04:00This bag is not a toyA plastic bag just showed up rubber-banded to our front railing. Look, it even has the mayor's name on it, lest you forget who the mayor is while putting it in a crib or whatever it is people do with plastic bags:

Oh, and it also came with an instruction sheet, including which neighborhoods are allowed to use it:

According to this sheet, not only can I put my recyclables in this bag, but I can also go spend my own money to buy more similar bags, rather than using the big wheely cart that showed up for free, or a box or paper bag that are also available in many locations for free

Now, I'm a huge fan of recycling, and I support anything that encourages recycling (and I especially support things that keep people's shit contained and not blowing around in my street), but what? The way that the city is choosing to encourage recycling is to spend money giving out plastic bags?

How about if they start enforcing the city code, which says that recyclables are not permitted in trash and that trash and recycling all need to be securely contained? They could change a lot of people's behavior really quickly and get a lot of revenue for the city if they fined all the people who put out bags and cans full of obvious recyclables. These bags aren't going to change the behavior of people who don't follow regulations and don't respect their neighborhoods.eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-2172778455285522032012-03-17T12:37:00.000-04:002012-03-17T12:39:08.308-04:00If you're too lazy to make a boiled dinnah...

eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-38034676251396936842012-03-13T22:52:00.002-04:002012-03-13T22:53:57.216-04:00Heard on the police scanner just now"The folks from the Blue Cross have now arrived on scene."

"...What? Do you mean the red or the blue?"

"Oh, sorry, the red."eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-24593948160349772012-03-02T22:33:00.003-05:002012-03-02T22:33:53.329-05:00There really should be a longassgermanword for...when you hear that some famousish person died, except you had no idea they'd been still alive any time recently.eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-30423028561645594372012-02-09T21:39:00.001-05:002012-02-09T21:39:43.509-05:00Delores Handy video of the dayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnZmTYZ0rL4eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-18289129802126937462012-02-05T23:16:00.000-05:002012-02-05T23:17:02.163-05:00Siri doesn't care about football either

eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-39478911775865739942012-02-05T11:39:00.002-05:002012-02-05T11:39:40.480-05:00One more gay-tax-related postSo, on my W2, my federal income is showing up as 5000-something higher than my state income. Based on the federal income number, my family makes slightly too much money to get assistance from the Good Neighbor Energy Fund, which we desperately could use after all of the unexpected medical bills and repair bills to various household things this year. (And the $1500 gay tax I probably will end up paying unless I decide to follow through with the previously mentioned subversive plan).

I'm going to get an appointment and see whether they will go by the Massachusetts figure. I would think that they would be required to be, since they're in Massachusetts, but this could be interesting since I don't expect anyone in their office to actually understand what I'm talking about. Most of the administration at my own job doesn't know about the federal gay tax and still doesn't understand it when I show them my forms when I'm trying to complain about how stupid and unjust it is.

Also could be interesting since the Salvation Homophobic Army doesn't have to abide by state or local nondiscrimination policies since it's legally a church even though they masquerade as a community agency and get referrals from nonsectarian nonprofits that would never refer people to an actual church that wasn't the person's stated religious preference. Which, again, I wouldn't expect anyone in their office to know or understand, because why would they? The SHA operates under so many layers of deceit that several people I know who've worked for them locally in social-work-type jobs had no idea that the national corporate website of their employer states that homosexuality is a sin.

I like taking their money periodically though. And making them uncomfortable.

Barring that though, does anyone know of anywhere that does energy assistance that would be aware and accepting? eekahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-14637284.post-49562112584894325512012-02-05T11:28:00.000-05:002012-02-05T11:28:13.700-05:00Trying to figure out a way to get back the money from paying the gay taxAs I mentioned in earlier posts, my employer* has decided to start putting the gay tax on our W2s instead of leaving it up to the employee whether to choose to pay it. My W2 this year shows $5783 in "other income," which isn't income at all, but is part of the money they've paid toward my family's insurance premium.

This is of course stupid, because it doesn't affect my employer in any way. They have to pay for the insurance anyway by state law. If my spouse or I legally changed one of our sexes, we wouldn't have that extra "income" on our W2 and we'd still have the same insurance and I'd still be doing the same excellent work for my employer at the same pay rate. However, my excellent work would still continue to be slightly affected by being pissed off every time I'm there that they pay people in same-sex partnerships less than people in different-sex partnerships instead of grossing up to offset it like progressive companies do.

Anyway, so I'm doing my taxes, and I'm trying to find a way to avoid paying $1500 to the federal government as a penalty for being gay. Right now I'm pondering IRS Topic 515: Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Losses. According to the IRS, "A theft is the taking and removing of money or property with the intent to deprive the owner of it. The taking must be illegal under the law of the state where it occurred and it must have been done with criminal intent." That seems like it should be applicable. It's illegal in Massachusetts for someone to impose a tax on queer people but not straight people, right? And it's the government; of course they have criminal intent. In terms of my employer, wouldn't it make it criminal intent since I've pointed out to them that my money is being taken because of their policies, and have shown them the information on how to gross up to make it fair, but they've decided to continue aiding and abetting the government. Sounds like theft to me.

*In the interest of avoiding being libelous, I will not refer to my employer as homophobic, since that's up to interpretation, but I will mention that they don't have any sort of LGBT employee resource group, don't have gender identity and expression in the nondiscrimination policy as is required by City of Boston law (even though I've brought this up to them), won't march in Pride like most other healthcare providers and nonprofits do because they say it's a political event so nonprofits shouldn't march in it, don't do any trainings on providing LGBT-sensitive healthcare or on being welcoming to LGBT employees, and out of 2000ish employees have only 7 people with same-sex partners on their insurance according to the benefits person in HR.eekahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com


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Backstage Photos From WWE WresteMania 29 PPV; John Cena With Stephanie McMahon & More
Backstage photos from Sunday, April 7, 2013's WWE WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view, courtesy of WWE.
PWMania.com is a subscription free website and relies on advertising and donations from people like you. If everyone reading this donates a few dollars, we can be fully funded for another year. Thank you so much and Happy Holidays! - PWMania.com Team =)

subset: commoncrawl


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10 Best Family Cars For Father's Day
6. 2013 Toyota (TM) Avalon
Starting price: $30,990
Until 2012, the Avalon had luxury car size but also luxury car mileage at a combined 24 miles per gallon -- yet a few too many plastic parts and rough fabric to be considered a luxury.Toyota's fixed that, upgrading the 2013 to a Lexus ES frame and trimming fuel economy to roughly 35 miles per gallon. It gave the Avalon LED taillights, noise reduction in all the right places, heated front seats, a moonroof, a touchscreen entertainment center, wood-grain trim and a backup camera. The mileage on the base model gets only up to a combined 26 miles per gallon, but that jumps to 40 mpg in the hybrid model. The cost jumps as well, with that efficiency coming at a $5,000 premium.
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DMA Mapping Error Analysis
I analyzed current calls to dma_map_single() and dma_map_page() in the kernel to see if dma mapping errors are checked after mapping routines return.
Reference linux-next August 6 2012.
The goal of this analysis is to find drivers that don't currently check dma mapping errors and fix them. I did a grep for dma_map_single() and dma_map_page() and looked at the code that calls these routines. I classified the results of dma mapping error check status as follows:
- No error checks
- Partial checks - In that source file, not all calls are followed by checks.
- Checks dma mapping errors, doesn't unmap already mapped pages when mapping error occurs in the middle of a multiple mapping attempt.
The first two categories are classified as broken and need fixing.
The third one needs fixing, since it leaves dangling mapped pages, and holds on to them which is equivalent to memory leak. Some drivers release all mapped pages when the device closes, but others don't. Not doing unmap might be harmless on some architectures going by the comments I found in some source files.
- Checks dma mapping errors and unmaps already mapped pages when mapping error occurs in the middle of a multiple mapping attempt.
- Checks dma mapping errors without unlikely()
- Checks dma mapping errors with unlikely()
I lumped the above three cases as good cases. Using unlikely() is icing on the cake, and something we need to be concerned about compared to other problems in this area.
dmap_map_single() - results
- No error checks - 195 (46%)
- Partial checks - 46 (11%)
- Doesn't unmap: 26 (6%)
- Good: 147 (35%)
dma_map_page() - results
- No error checks: 61 (59%)
- Partial checks: 7 (.06%)
- Doesn't unmap: 15 (14.5%)
- Good: 20 (19%)
In summary a large % of the cases (> 50%) go unchecked. That raises the following questions:
- When do mapping errors get detected?
- How often do these errors occur?
- Why don't we see failures related to missing dma mapping error checks?
- Are they silent failures?
However I propose the following to gather more information:
- Ehnance swiotlb or dma-debug infrastructure to track how often overflow buffer is triggered. I am working on this change.
- Enhance dma-debug infrastructure to track dma map and unmap errors - I am working on this change.
Detailed anaylysis that includes information on the nature of problems with dma mapping error checking, ranging from not checking mapping errors to not unmapping etc. are documented - please see the following:


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Beijing Olympics: Going for the Gold with RFID
The scope of the Olympics is staggering, with so many moving parts that it would make even the most experienced event planner start wheezing with anxiety.
"During the Games next year, China will host 280,000 athletes, referees, journalists and other workers from more than 200 countries and regions... About five million overseas tourists and more than 120 million domestic travelers will visit Beijing in 2008 and seven million spectators will watch the games at the venues, according to official statistics," reads a statement from the official Bejing Olympics website.
Not only do the Olympic coordinators need to create game schedules and make sure media coverage is flawless, but they also need to protect against counterfeit tickets, arrange food and beverage transportation, and even ensure the safety of food for athletes by tracking the path from farm to plate.
No problem, according to the RFID vendors who are creating over 12 million RFID-enabled tickets, and systems that protect the production, processing, and transport of food and beverage products to coaches and athletes.
Over the last five years, interest has spiked in the technology, but the Olympics' use of RFID will be somewhat different from other large-scale projects, according to Dan Mullen, president of AIM Global, the worldwide industry association for automatic identification and mobility.
"We've seen RFID in a variety of places where it's found incredible value, but many of those were in closed systems, in a controlled environment, such as toll roads, or access control and security," Mullen says.
The food and beverage tracking will be along these lines, but the ticketing is a broader, bolder step forward. ASK TongFang, a joint venture between French and Chinese companies, manufactured contactless inlays for 12.2 million tickets, including gate readers, software, and service.
The tickets are based on ASK's technology, which uses silver ink-printed antenna and flip chip die attach, according to a recent ASK release. The tags are manufactured at a plant near Beijing. As part of the implementation, nearly 1,000 terminal devices will be installed to verify authenticity.
Anti-counterfeiting printed security features are being provided by China Bank Note, for yet another level of protection.
The effort is an example of the ongoing collaboration that's been happening in the RFID space for years, notes Mike Liard, research director for RFID & Contactless technology at ABI Research. Numerous vendors are needed for the Olympic effort, and Liard anticipates that further alliances will be made after the games are over.
"As the RFID footprint expands, the collaboration has been pronounced," Liard says. "There are many partnerships that are being created by companies in different parts of the world, such as between European vendors and Chinese vendors. The main focus is on creating end-to-end solutions for customers."
At the Olympics, these partnerships will be significant, Liard added, because so many nations are coming together, and the RFID vendors running the ticketing and food transportation logistics are no exception.
"There's a chance here to show how people from different countries can work together," Liard says.
After the last gold medal is slipped around the head of an athlete, RFID in China could continue in a number of ways, Liard notes, and most particularly for its food safety issues.
The country's challenges with food and pharmaceutical safety has been the subject of numerous news reports focused on everything from tainted pet food to contaminated toothpaste to unsafe ingredients for widely-prescribed medications. In July, China executed its former head of the State Food and Drug Administration for taking bribes and showing dereliction of duty.
By implementing a more comprehensive RFID system similar to what's being put in place at the Olympics, the country could have a much better grasp not only on destination and arrival of food, but also how it's been treated along the way.
The RFID system at the Olympics is paired with sensor technology, says Mullen, which records the temperature of the shipment at every moment. For something like a case of sports drinks, this might not be so important, but for highly perishable foods like beef or pork, the information is invaluable, especially since it will be offered to thousands of athletes and coaches, as well as millions of spectators.
"As you can imagine, the amount of food moving into and around the game is pretty immense," says Mullen. "The RFID and sensor system allows someone with a reader to see if a food has gone outside a temperature range, rather than just reading a bar code to determine that it's the correct box. That makes the data more dynamic, and we can see that it could have a lot of impact in the future."
RFID and sensors are already being used in conjunction by some transport companies, mainly with pharmaceuticals that need to be maintained at a certain temperature at all times. But the massive scope of the Olympics could be an example to China and other countries for implementation of government-run systems.
Similarly, success with the RFID-enabled tickets could change how ticketing is done for other large-scale events. The technology will be used for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, for example, where it could be placed into nearly 70 million tickets, notes Liard.
"At this point, even bar codes can be forged," Liard says. "RFID tickets have been used before in China to defeat counterfeiting, such as for admittance at the Great Wall of China and tennis events, but the scope of this implementation is what makes it unique."
Also worth noting is how RFID can be paired with other uses, he adds, such as combining event admission and parking, or adding in concession stand features that will allow a user to hand over their ticket instead of carrying cash.
"Identification management has been an area where RFID has been used since the early days," says Mullen. "But now, with the ticketing aspect, you're going to see the anti-counterfeiting space really expand."


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Think local first
As the holiday hype and hysteria begin in the national media about Black Friday now becoming Black Thanksgiving Night and Cyber Monday (which itself has descended into Cyber All the Time), we are called to give pause and consideration to the idea of "Think Local First" — all the time, not just for a certain fiscally frantic weekend or two out of the year.
Rather than simply promoting "buying" local, we are suggesting a larger role as stewards. By "thinking" local, we can make choices that have dramatic impact on our local community, economies and environment.
We recognize we will rarely be able to buy everything we need or use from local independent businesses, but we are advocating that people first think local — look first for local and locally-owned sources of things we need and want to maximize the impact of our daily actions and purchasing decisions.
By thinking and perpetuating a local-first campaign throughout the year, we become aware of what's really here and then we can begin to understand the economic and social advantages that independent and local businesses bring to our community. The goal then is to help develop a thriving local economy by maximizing the potential of local businesses and transfer market share from non-local to local independently owned stores and shops.
One of the greatest things we can do to support Ottawa is to patronize our neighbor-merchants. Compared to their national competitors, local independent businesses recycle more money back into the local economy and give greater support to Ottawa's nonprofit and civic needs. Our local merchants are better positioned to respond to the special issues and concerns of the community because they are more tied to Ottawa's future.
Additionally, unlike a homogenized Anyplace, America, Ottawa reflects a community with vibrant independent businesses and thus retains its unique character as a great place to live and visit. In promoting our locals first, we support a thriving local economy and an above average quality of life.
At the end of the day, long after the ribbons and wrappings have been stashed or trashed, Ottawa will continue to experience an economic prosperity and an enhanced life filled with great landscaped walking trails, beautiful Victorian houses and storefronts, dining and performing arts that transport us beyond the mundane, and festivals and events that truly reflect a focused decision to put locals, both merchants and consumers, first.


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Creative strategies to accomplish your mission.
Partner with an experienced professional to connect with new audiences – by talking about shared values, and telling stories about solutions.
I help small businesses and nonprofits connect with the public through engaging and informative writing, smart social media practice, communications strategy, media relations, and website planning.
My work is based on a few simple ideas that I have tested and refined over more than 10 years of work in the ever-evolving world of communications:
- An experienced writer can provide enormous value to organizations in identifying the stories that resonate with their audiences.
- Communications means picking the right options to meet your specific goals – not simply ditching the newsletter and starting a Facebook page.
- Trying to reinvent the wheel is a waste of time. Learning from large organizations about what they are doing and why they are doing it is a good way to identify great strategies.
A big part of my life and work is St. Croix 360, an innovative and successful online news and stewardship project focused on the St. Croix River watershed in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I am constantly improving that effort, and have learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. I love to share that experience with other efforts.
My other work is also largely centered in the St. Croix Valley and the Boundary Waters region. While I focus on conservation, outdoor recreation, arts and culture, and related spheres, I am interested in any projects that offers opportunities for creativity, problem solving, and making a positive impact.


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- Artist:
- Danseizure
- Title:
- This is Danseizure – Album
- Format:
- Digital, CD, Net
- Cat No:
- Date:
- 2010
A journey encompassing sumptuous Skweee, engaging Electronica and melodic Electro. It's Dan Gorman's 3rd album and his most accomplished work yet.
This album was made over the course of 3 years of traveling. Music comes on without warning, swells up in my head and then bullies me into making something that sounds like it. That's what this album is, a nod of recognition towards the sounds in my head. Dedicated to all those who were there for the journeys, and especially to those who have moved on to their own journeys. – Dan Gorman
Now also available FREE or 'pay what you want' on Bandcamp
Download the 320K ZIP file here directly
If you wish to support the label, consider paying what you can on Bandcamp or purchase the release on iTunes, emusic, Amazon, Napster, Juno, Spotify for other services click the image below
Bird sounds recorded at dawn in a monastery in Syria.
Satellite Dish Crumbling Wall
Named after, and inspired by, the view out of my window in Damascus.
Blue Sunshine
Made for a gig at the Forest in Edinburgh. Attempting to make my music danceable. There's a discotheque in the mall called Big Daddies.
Who put your nose out of joint
The samples are mainly from the MGM urban exploration outing to Teufelsburg, Berlin. A WWII bunker and a cold war listening post.
Holes in walls
This is the sound of Danseizure's mind when he is sick in his stomach.
No ideas but in things (feat. Ryan Van Winkle)
Features the voice of Ryan Van Winkle who is a most excellent poet.
Take what you want
Samples mercilessly ripped off from the Telephone Losers of America. It's a dial-a-prayer.
I feel like I've been listening to music like this all my life.
Made during a break while recording with CMG during a lightening storm in Berlin.
This world is a sad sad place
Self-explanatory. But doesn't apply when you take action. Take action.
iTunes, emusic, Amazon, Napster, Juno, Spotify for other services click the image below
Recorded in: Damascus, Syria. Brčko, Bosnia. Berlin, Germany. Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mastered in CLA, Cambodia. Worldwide digital release 1st of November 2010 on Invisible Agent Records (Ireland/Cambodia). CD release will be available from Forest Records (Scotland) in 2011
Other Releases By Danseizure
Let's Not Go Out
Net EP / 2005
At Home With
Digital / 2002


text:
Welcome To Spirit HalloweenX
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So Much Fun It's Scary! - Only Days Until HALLOWEEN!
Halloween Costumes / ADULT / WOMENS / CLASSIC / Burlesque / Dancehall Darlin Adult Costume
Dancehall Darlin Adult Costume
$119.99 $29.97 USD — You Save 75%!
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The fee assessed is based upon the size of the product. Oversize items are excluded from shipping promotions.
Complete the Look!
Kick up your heels and show off your moves in this Dancehall Darlin adult womens costume. The black and red, corset-style dress features lace boy shorts, fingerless gloves, jeweled choker, feather headpiece and fishnet stockings. Step out of the Wild West and into this sexy womens costume.
- The Dancehall Darlin adult womens costume includes:
- Dress
- Boy Shorts
- Gloves
- Choker
- Headpiece
- Stockings
- Feather Boa and Footwear not included
Additional Product Information:
- Costume includes: dress, boy shorts, fingerless gloves, choker, feather headpiece, and fishnet thigh-high stockings.
- Does not include: boots or feather boa
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SpiritDancehall Darlin' Adult Costume
Reviewed by 2 CustomersSort by:
Displaying Reviews 1-2 of 2Back to Top
Great costume!
Gorgeous, Great Beautiful Costume
Was this a gift?:
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
Comments about Dancehall Darlin' Adult Costume:
Looks gorgeous, fits perfectly, great price, very good quality
Was this review helpful to you? Yes / No- Is this review inappropriate?.
[3 of 4 customers found this review helpful]
Sizing runs really small
Fun To Wear
Buy a size larger
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
Comments about Dancehall Darlin' Adult Costume:
Very cute costume but runs REALLY small. If you have hips at all, buy a size larger. The tanga shorts were also small.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes / No- Is this review inappropriate?.
Displaying Reviews 1-2 of 2Back to Top
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A bold logo that makes expert use of a single colour to make a statement. I particularly like the intriguing custom typeface. It's easily recognisable, something that's vital for any logo design.Posted in Branding → Logo
A beautiful site that gives the user access to fantastic user interface elements. I love the brutally clean and minimal design. The quality of the Twitter icon here really helps to grab your attention, as do the sleek buttons.Posted in Web Design → Design
A bright and beautifully designed calendar element that includes just the right amount of detail. I particularly like the use of colour and the texture chosen for the background.Posted in Interface → Other
A great site for a web and front-end designer based in Italy. I particularly like the use of blue as a strong highlight colour and the consistent theme of the site. The layout is intuitive while the dark background helps it to stand out from the crowd.Posted in Web Design → Design
A stunning icon for a new web app designed to help small businesses keep track of their expenses. I love the perspective and strong lines, the use of texture also helps to add depth to the design.Posted in Interface → Web App
An unequivocally earthy site for a seller of organic and flavoured coffee. I like the clear descriptive nature of the slider and the illustrations. There are some great elements to the design, although it's a little rough around the edges.Posted in Web Design → Food
A slick interface design for an ingenious app designed to find local dentists. I absolutely love the mark, it's relevant but not too 'toothy'. The interface is intuitive, with a simple four tab bar for navigation.Posted in Interface → iPhone App
A strong concept for a logo that has been executed with aplomb. I like the choice of colours, the fifth layer in particular. The font is unfussy and clean, very readable.Posted in Branding → Logo
Tweeki is a beautiful Twitter app for Windows 7, this is the icon. I really like the friendly graphical style and adorably sweet eyes. The use of the bird and specific blue colour helps to tie the icon in with the official brand.Posted in Interface → Other
A gorgeous example of an unfussy and subtle interface element. I really like the colour palette and utterly simple buttons. The typeface could be bolder, it pales in comparison to the background colour.Posted in Interface → Web App
There has been a slew of Google+ icons recently, but this is one of the best I've seen. I love the attention to detail and the stunning textures. Everything about this icon just 'works', it's gorgeous.Posted in Interface → Web App
A simply gorgeous redesign of the Skype icon. I love the incorporation of a camera and microphone into the icon. The attention to detail is great, as is the use of Skype's hugely recognisable colours.Posted in Interface → Other
A gorgeous set of user interface elements that could work perfectly in a variety of situations. I really like the use of colour and the simple twists on well recognised concepts.Posted in Interface → Other
A drop dead gorgeous site for a web designer that takes full advantage of HTML5. I love the illustrative style and intuitive navigation and scrolling effects. Even the way the highlight box moves as you progress down the site is a great touch.Posted in Web Design → Design
A great example of a twist on a clean user interface style. I really like the concept of worn and damaged switches, it's executed perfectly here. The colouring and detail adds some great depth to the design.Posted in Interface → Other
A simple but beautifully crafted site that subtly draws you in. I love the art on the cover of the EP and the use of photography. The simple music player is a nice touch, as are the social connection links.Posted in Web Design → Music
This particular site makes an immediate impact with its strong graphic approach. The paint splashes add interest and colour to what could otherwise be a functional and lifeless site. The consistent graphic style works well, although some of the paint splashes are a little distracting.Posted in Web Design → Design
A stunning media player design that has been beautifully crafted from wood and metal elements. I love the unity achieved in this interface, despite the differing materials.Posted in Interface → iPad App
A simple but useful concept for a web app element. A slightly different way to display ads in a web app. I like the concept and adherence to clean design.Posted in Interface → Web App
A brilliant example of an application icon, it's immediately clear what the application does. I really like the attention to detail and the use of colour throughout the design.Posted in Interface → iPhone App


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So, What's the Difference Between All the Types of Vacuums?
Tackle the mountain of options on the market with our clear guide.
By Amy Roberts
Upright Vacuums
What they are: With powerful suction, a tilt-and-push design, and bagged or bagless options abound, these traditional floor cleaners do back-and-forth floor cleaning with ease.
What theyre best for: Theyre standouts for deep-cleaning carpeting. Look for a brush roll that can be turned off for cleaning bare floors, and/or height-adjusted if you have rugs of various pile thicknesses. New cordless models promise full-power unencumbered cleaning, but their batteries may not last long enough for a marathon session.
Limitations: Uprights arent as versatile as canister vacs since they generally have fewer attachments, and may be heavier to push and pull than a canisters nozzle. While edge-to-edge suction is generally good, you may still need an attachment to get into tight corners.


text:
Who pays this?
I was just doing a search for a project I have in mind... (fund raiser for a shelter) ... and I about fell over when I found this fabric.
Anybody else got a good source for some quilting cotton type fabric with dog, cat & bird motifs?
------Video of how the Bionic Gear Bag works is here: www.BionicGearBag.com
Neglected personal blog is here: www.RipStitcher.com
Share pics on Instagram: RipStitcher
Tool junkie at heart!
Bernina 880 Sterling Edition & Bernina 550qe
Next up:
Babylock Sashiko
Babylock serger
& a new-new Sewmobile - see my last #sewmobile in Instagram
I loved the $3.95 shipping charge - per item!
Connecting Threads (connectingthreads.com) has some clearance fabric that might work but it's not very cutesy:
I've ordered from them before and found the fabric to be high quality and the customer service excellent.
Hancock Fabrics currently has some of their calicos on sale:
(I searched for the word "Dog" because I'm original like that). I've also ordered from them and have received my orders promptly.
Depending on your budget, Fabric.com has an entire section devoted to animal prints.
https://www.fabric.com/apparel-fashion-fabric-baby-children-39-s-apparel-fabrics-flannel-fabrics-flannel-animal-novelty.aspx (in case you're making snuggle beds or blankies).
You can also try sending an email to Fabric Mart. In the past they've been kind enough to search their inventory for my requests (though that's been garment fabric).
Have you looked at eQuilter? Their prices seem to range from $7-10/yard, and they have lots of animal prints.
Kitty fabric? Of course you go to Novelty fabrics at Joann's or Hancock's some is at Hobby Lobby & if you really want something Ebay & Etsy also has it .. put in cat fabric yardage & let the fun begin!
What you makin? Beddy byes?
------Home of the adorable Baby & Mittee girl >^,,^<
Meowy Christmas everyone!
Oh good, DH has now getting a nice part time job. Avg 20 hours a week.
The sewing workers:
Hello Kitty Kate (green), Hello Kitty Valerie, Dottie Kenmore, Bubba Kenmore the traveler.
Be still & know that I Am God +
Dear God...please help us out..Thank you..+
I just found this dog print fabric at Walmart. It's cotton, but feels a little like flannel. And, it was less than $4.00 a yard.
If your Walmart carries fabric, it might be worth checking it out. Ya never know...
------Doo-doo-DOO-doo, Doo-doo-DOO-doo......
You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Internet!
Not sure all the dogs will care. However, my dog flips his "bed" to the solid side.
His beds (one for each level of the house, including in the sewing area) has a print side and a solid side that zips open so the cover can be removed for washing.
The inside consists of two recycled king size bed pillows (was using them for bed shams) stitched together long one long side.
"I like big mutts and I cannot lie!"
-- Edited on 1/11/13 2:53 PM --
------"Improvise, adapt and overcome." - Clint Eastwood/Heartbreak Ridge
Walmart and Hobby Lobby are where I'd look first (in person) for cute animal fabric. And most (w/ HL sale) are under that price per yard (not per 1/4 yd! yikes) - I'd expect to pay about $5-7/yd. And at W, sometimes you find cool stuff for less than that.
I still haven't gotten past my fear of not being able to feel the fabric before purchase, so I don't order online. LOL
Oh that is very good!
Do you have a Dollar Tree by you? They have those tissues & everything in Dollar Tree is a dollar.
What about checkbook cover or ID case? I am not sure if you would like to make those but they are good fund raisers too.
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by: Michelle L
by: Acient3
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Grief is a natural consequence of any loss- friendships,death or other loss of a loved one or pet, loss of a job, loss of status or income, loss of community, and loss of beliefs. All grief takes longer than we think it should. Complicated grief can lead to long-term depression. It is important to seek help if you are experiencing strong or long-term grief. A therapist trained in grief counseling can help you successfully navigate the stages of grief and help you find resolution and acceptance. You will know you are getting better when you can develop new hope and new plans for your future.
Loss and Grief are a part of everyone's life. It is good to have someone to work through the tougher areas of Loss and Greif so that stuck points don't hinder healing,
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." II Cor 1:3-4
Client who are experiencing a loss can expect a compassionate ear and expert knowledge of the grief process. I help clients understand their feelings and look at what is coming their way through the process of grief. I help clients look at the griefs through out their life and find insight about who they are as a person grieving at this time. I strongly emphasize that grief is a process that always takes longer than anyone wants it to take. Together we can face the pain that has rocked your world and changed the planet you live on.
We work with individuals and families who have experienced loss and are unable to move through their grieving process. Areas of difficulty include: death and dying, divorce, financial loss, miscarriage, terminal illness, or the suicide of a child/parent/spouse. Healing from an unexpected loss can be particularly difficult. Call us if you cannot seem to stop thinking about your loss, feel sad or depressed most of the time, or find yourself unable to move forward in life.
Grief and Loss is a common experience in life, but that does not seem to make it any easier to bear. I can help you wade through the pain and to be someone to help shoulder your burden. There are many unhealthy ways to process grief, and many positive ones. I will guide you through the healthiest way and thus the best and probably quickest ways to heal.
If you are suffering the loss of a loved one, I can help. I have personal experience as well as professional training which makes me a well-qualified resource to help you heal from your loss. I work with all types of loss but especially focus on infant loss, miscarriage and complicated losses. I will offer a way for you to process your loss and find ways to move toward healing. I also offer group grief counseling where you can talk to others who can understand what you are feeling.
The death of a loved one is arguably the most traumatic experience any of us can face. The goals of Herriman UT grief counseling are recovery and acceptance. Herriman, UT trauma counseling seeks to help an individual process, debrief, and cope with an extreme stress. Recovery from loss through grief counseling Herriman, UT does not mean that all of the pain, memories or significance of a loved one are resolved, but that one is able to accept what has happened, and that those experiences and memories are an important part of life, but not all consuming. When you see a Herriman UT trauma therapist or Herriman UT grief counselor, you will find a listening ear. There are several stages of grieving, and compassionate therapy in Herriman UT can be a strong shoulder that will facilitate healing. Herriman UT grief therapy and counseling in Utah can help one move through the shock, trauma, and acute suffering, so that you are not destroyed by what has happened. Most likely, there are still loved ones in your life who need you, and if you are grieving, you may utterly lack any emotional energy at all to deal with them. Herriman UT grief counseling can help stabilize you.
If you have experienced the pain and trauma of loss, grief counseling Herriman UT with a licensed therapist can help you move through. A Utah grief and loss counselor has training and experience in helping people who have suffered loss to find strength, to cope, and move through the trauma. Herriman grief counseling can be an important tool to help you through this difficult time. And while nothing anyone can say can completely heal the pain, you can still find strength to cope and to find hope in the darkness. Therapy is a very important part of moving through grief. Please contact a Herriman, UT grief therapist below today.
You can move through the issues and find the new freedom that you hope for. We are here to help you make the first step. Make your journey the road you have longed to travel...don't be afraid to reach out, contact a therapist, and get beyond.
Theravive does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We provide information only. Theravive is intended as an informational resource of independent, private practicing clinics and counselors. We cannot guarantee the credentials or accuracy of any person or information listed on our site. Therapists on our site are not affiliated with Theravive. Please check and verify the credentials of any therapist you contact. Not all therapists listed are psychologists, and in any given city there may or may not be a psychologist listed. You are solely responsible for your use of information obtained on our site and are strongly advised to use due diligence before choosing a therapist.
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Horseback Riding in Mongolia Ask anyone who has spent much time in Mongolia, and they will confirm that seeing the country from the back of a horse is by far the best viewpoint, and... Read more
Horseback Riding in Mongolia
Mongolia is a unique area of unsurpassed geographical and human diversity, with forest, desert, steppe and lake lands populated by over 15 distinct ethnic groups. Join us on a horseback riding adventure in Mongolia to experience this culture first hand and from the saddle.
Horses are deeply embedded within Mongolia's culture; they are an indication of a man's wealth. The pace of life is governed by the speed of the horse and horses are woven into Mongolian song, verse and history. Infants are taught to ride before they walk, and a young man's prowess is measured by his skill as a horseman.
This offers an ideal setting for a small adventurous group to experience a way of life unchanged since the days of the Golden Horde, when Ghengis Khan's "devil horsemen" created the largest empire the world has ever known.


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text: Practice 3: Alonso fastest as Silverstone circuit finally dries up 7 July, 2012 Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari F2012 ended FP3 top of the timing screens Jul.7 (GP247) The rain finally stopped over Silverstone, and although the grass areas around the track resembled a swamp, Formula One cars were finally able to run in anger with last year's British GP winner Fernando Alonso ending the final free practice session top of the timing sheets. Fernando Alonso spins during FP3 in the Ferrari F2012 After a rain drenched and frustrating Friday, it was all action on Saturday morning – with many of the grandstands teeming with people despite the chaos all around the venue – as F1 cars queued to get out the pitlane and do some meaningful running. Alonso, who suffered a broken wing after an excursion on the previous day, was in a feisty mood as he grappled with and harried the Ferrari F2012 around one of the fastest road circuits on the planet. About forty minutes into the session the Spaniard, who has won the British GP twice before, went top of the timing screens. Not long after, sporting a new updated wing, Alonso spun and parked with about a quarter of an hour to go in the session. His best time of 1 minute 32.167 seconds remained unbeaten. Teammate Felipe Massa was down in 16th and 1.5 seconds off the top time. Jenson Button, defied his current poor form, to post the second best time of the 60 minute session in the McLaren MP4-27. On his final run the McLaren pitwall informed him the lap was "very good on a used set of option tyres." The other local hero in the McLaren team, Lewis Hamilton was sixth best 0.157 down on his team mate, but constantly among the top times during the course of the session. Third quickest was Romain Grosjean, who was also quickest in the rain on Friday morning, proving that the Lotus E20 is capable in all conditions around the high speed Silverstone circuit. Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in the sister car. The pair doing 25 laps each, more than any of their rivals. Splitting the black and gold cars on the timing sheets was Sebastian Vettel with the fourth best time, also in among the pace setters throughout the session. Williams were again impressive with Pastor Maldonado setting the seventh best time and team mate Bruno Senna 11th – the latter back in action after seriously wrecking his FW34 in FP2 the previous day. The team did a good job to rebuild the car and have it competitive for the Brazilian. Also showing handy pace, and probably capable of better than eighth and ninth in the session were the Sauber pair of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi respectively. Both drivers exploring the edge and going over it by spinning on a number of occasion sin the dying moments. In fact Kobayashi might have nabbed top spot on the timing screens had he no spun on his last flying lap. Nico Hulkenberg was faster of the Force India duo with the 10th best time, with Paul di Resta in 12th. Big hitters out of the top ten were Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg who ended the session 14th and 18th for Mercedes. Rosberg sat out a large chunk of the session as his team toiled away at the floor of the AMG W03 and as a consequence the German only managed 15 laps in the session. BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson predicts: "The Ferraris look pretty good with Fernando Alonso fastest while Felipe Massa, 16th fastest, was quickest in the mid-section. The two Ferraris, two McLarens, two Red Bulls, two Saubers and two Williams all look good. Qualifying is going to be about just getting that lap in and keeping the tyres alive until the last lap. I think we will see some very competitive times this afternoon." British Grand Prix Free Practice 3 – Saturday, 7 July 2012 Pos No Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:32.167 21 2 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.320 0.153 20 3 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:32.358 0.191 25 4 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:32.420 0.253 21 5 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:32.454 0.287 25 6 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.477 0.310 20 7 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:32.622 0.455 21 8 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:32.940 0.773 19 9 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.046 0.879 20 10 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:33.150 0.983 19 11 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:33.267 1.100 25 12 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:33.367 1.200 20 13 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:33.398 1.231 24 14 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:33.462 1.295 24 15 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:33.673 1.506 22 16 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:33.674 1.507 21 17 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:33.707 1.540 21 18 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.733 1.566 15 19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:34.298 2.131 18 20 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:34.781 2.614 20 21 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:36.605 4.438 18 22 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:37.060 4.893 14 23 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:37.269 5.102 23 24 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:37.429 5.262 17 Tweet Related NewsHamilton's Silverstone win was superb, but could have been betterRaikkonen should be banned say criticsFans enjoyed Alonso battle despite whinging says VettelGerman Grand Prix: Williams preview HockenheimRaikkonen fully recovered for German GPGerman Grand Prix: Renault preview HockenheimGerman Grand Prix: Marussia preview HockenheimGerman Grand Prix: Force India preview HockenheimTech Talk: Silverstone analysisWhiting: Lauda knows nothing about safety


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Recently a piece of news from an otherwise internationally unknown college attracted the attention of social media, news, and created a huge twitter and blog response. The object of such (probably unwanted) attention is the South Puget Sound Community College where staff members decided to hold a 'happy hour' to 'build support and community' for 'people of color' (interesting how this terminology is back by the way) as long as the color was not White. The exclusion of White people provoked the expected reaction of the 'happy hour' being canceled and the activity labelled racist in itself. Yet the organisers — after apologies — insisted that their request to exclude Whites originated from a rational and not racist fact: members of an in-group communicate and understand each other better. Continue reading
Anti-liberal attempts: between burqa and criticism demonization
Yesterday, the British Parliament debated the ban of a garment, something that the British Parliament had not discussed since Victorian times. This time it was not the length of skirts or sleeves that the honorable parliamentarians addressed, but rather the well known (but rarely seen in western cities) burqa; banned in France, threatened in the rest of Europe, and now also under threat in the UK.
As other attempts, however, yesterday's debate failed in imposing a burqa ban in the UK, and as the minister confirmed, Great Britain will not follow France.
The burqa is not an Islamic fashion per-se, but rather a tradition not opposed by Islamic teaching, which is probably the best way to present it. Covering the face, and in particular the mouth, has a geographical and environmental genealogy (such as the protection of skin and eyes from the dust and sand of, for instance, the Afghan desert). If such a garment is anything in Islam, it is a scholarly theological diatribe, with some sheikhs ready to wrap a baby in it, and others stating that it is not Islamic dress per-se. Continue reading
Why we need an anthropology beyond good and evil
As some of you may have noticed, not only has my blog shifted from a specialist focus within the field of anthropology to a more generally anthropological one, but the new name of the blog wishes to challenge how we do anthropology.
Overall my aim now is to push towards a different way of doing anthropology. When I say a different way, I do not mean a 'new' way. Indeed, the roots of my attempt have a rather well established pedigree in the field. Yet long years of self-criticism and reflection within the discipline known in the US as 'cultural anthropology' have caused many to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.
The established pedigree I am referring to originates with Malinowski and perceives anthropology as a scientific effort aimed to explain or to highlight facts about cultures and in particular, in my case, humans. Within this tradition, I can also mention another anthropologist whom has greatly influenced my work, Gregory Bateson, and another, whose theoretical discussion of anthropology and relativism I appreciate despite my strong criticisms of his study of Islam (Marranci 2008), Ernest Gellner. Surely in the case of Malinowski and most of the anthropology of those times, the issue of colonialism had an impact and should be considered. Yet in the attempt to get rid of the bath water (the moral mistake of colonialism), during the 1970s and in particular 1980s, anthropologists threw out the baby itself by adopting post-modernism and relativism as an approach to reality. Continue reading
Restarting from Anthropology Beyond Good and Evil
My blog Islam, Muslims and an Anthropologist started in 2007 and since then 228,803 people (an average of 38,000 per year) have read my posts concerning various aspects of Muslim lives.
During this time I had the honor of discussing events and topics with readers on this and other platforms. Some posts have been extremely popular such as Gaza: bad politics needs blood (which had 13,000 readers) to "Mamma li Turchi!!", Italy and the Saladin Syndrome (discussing the situation of Italian Muslims) and back in 2007, this blog was among the first to highlight the condition of Rohingya Muslims in The other, invisible suffering of Burma.
We also cannot forget the 'polemics' with some of the main demonizers of Islam, such as with Dr Denis MacEoin regarding his infamous report for Policy Exchange (my blog was the first to highlight the incredible problems with the methodology); or my, sometimes sarcastic, exchanges with Mr Jihad Watch.
Today Islam, Muslims and an Anthropology moves on to another more general dimension, a blog titled Anthropology Beyond Good and Evil, a blog which encompasses all my interests in the field of anthropology, from anthropology of religion, youth, globalization and modernization processes, to the anthropology of crime, identity, and so on. Surely Islam and Muslims will remain one of the main topics of discussion, but I felt that after six years I needed to expand the themes to more fully reflect my research and interests.
Another change will be the length of the posts. Other than for some exceptions, my posts will be normally between 500 and 1000 words in length, so that I can contribute more often than usual and keep up with current events with short commentaries.
I hope that many of you whom have followed Islam, Muslims and an Anthropologist for these past six years will find the change interesting and refreshing. As usual you are welcome to debate the posts and I hope to read more of your comments.
Think Tanks, weak research and the case of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Australia
Think Tanks, often linked to a party in the nation's political system, are becoming increasingly popular (particularly in the US and the UK), receive funds, and produce very easily digestible research, ready-made for the rushed politician. Think Tanks do not have to adhere to the same quality standards that university research has to or, when they are supposed to meet similar standards, there is no effective means of monitoring it. Ethical issues, ethical conduct of research and often methodology remains unexplained in reports written to impress more than explain complex issues. In an era where simplification often resembles "The Complete Idiot's" guides, Think Tanks provide a fast, public friendly, easy to use policy support for difficult decisions.
American Muslims, Muslimphobia, and dangerous chemerias
The debate concerning Islam and Muslims in the US is a very heated one – sometimes beyond metaphors. The fear that Sharia will rule in the land of the free is a strong one, so much so that there has been more than one attempt to legally ban 'sharia'. Newt Gingrich, former House speaker who led the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, exclaimed
Stealth jihadis use political, cultural, societal, religious, intellectual tools as a way to "replace Western civilization with a radical imposition of Sharia
The list of American anti-Muslim politicians, commentators and pundits is long and often all linked to the Christian Republican right. The most quoted are Ann Coulter, whom invited a Muslim student to take a camel instead of a plane, Fox News personality Sean Hannity, whom drew a parallel between Islam and Nazism, Glenn Beck, Daniel Pipes , as well as showbiz personalities such as the well known "Jihad watcher" and the "femme fatal" of fear mongering, author of "Stop the Islamization of America". Continue reading
Not all children are the same – some are collateral damage
President Barack Obama, looked terribly distressed at the vigil to commemorate the victims, twenty of whom were children. Obama's words, as well as his emotions, were sincere. He said
The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old..They had their entire lives ahead of them, birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own.
The Newtown shooting has been a terrible tragedy, so shocking that it has reopened the debate about gun crime in a country with 300 million of them among a population of 311 million. Could the massacre have been avoided? In the current situation, probably not. That school could have been anywhere, and the killer apparently acted out of his mind rather than out of a plan. Continue reading


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02 October 2012
SQL Developer tip: Don't open the table
One of things I don't like about Oracle SQL Developer is that if you are browsing and clicking on tables, it can automatically open the table on the right side of the IDE. There is a simple way to switch that off, just heard how to switch this feature off. Navigate to the Preferences settings:
Geplaatst door Alex Nuijten op 8:48 PM
Labels: PL/SQL, SQL, SQL Developer
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Intimate audio system for barfly sports fansFeatured, Industry News — By Colin on May 9, 2013 21:04
It's something barfly sports fans have been waiting for – a technology that allows them to tune out the chat and the piped chart hits and concentrate on what the commentator's saying on the big, muted screen in the corner. Could Audioair be the answer?
Download the (iOS or Android) app, scroll through the available channels, find the nearest Audioair-equipped sports bar, grab a drink, using the loyalty points available as part of the service, and settle down to watch the game in the privacy of your own headset. Users can even chat with other people who are watching the same game while using the service. The key to the service's success could lie in the attraction advertising opportunities for the venues and their suppliers who have to fund Audioair with no obvious benefits beyond attracting more customers.
Airborne – the startup behind Audioair – has already raised $3 million in seed funding and has rolled out the system in nearly 50 locations in the US, with plans to have a presence in around 800 by the end of the year. We'll hopefully be able to tell you about roll-outs in the UK and elsewhere in the near future.
Tags: Audioair, sport
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Hardware news tagged PowerColor
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
PowerColor Rolls-Out Radeon R290X Graphics Card with Liquid Cooling System.
PowerColor LCS R9 290X Features EK Water Blocks Cooling System
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
PowerColor Reveals Low-Profile Radeon HD 7750 Graphics Card with Support for Four Displays.
PowerColor Addresses Semi-Professional Market with LP Radeon HD 7750 with 4 mDP Connectors
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Graphics Cards Makers Start to Roll-Out "Tahiti LE" Graphics Cards.
PowerColor, Club3D Reveal Special Editions of Radeon HD 7870 Graphics Cards
Thursday, August 23, 2012
PowerColor Unleashes the Devil: World's First Dual-GPU Radeon HD 7990 Graphics Card Launched.
PowerColor Introduces Devil 13 HD7990 Graphics Card with Two Radeon HD 7970 GPUs
Monday, May 28, 2012
PowerColor Shows Off Word's First Radeon HD 7970 X2 Devil 13.
PowerColor Installs Two Tahiti XT Graphics Chips on Radeon HD 7970 X2 Devil 13 Graphics Board
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
PowerColor Develops Dual-Chip Radeon HD 6870 Graphics Card.
PowerColor to Demonstrate Dual-GPU Radeon HD 6870
Monday, August 30, 2010
LucidLogix Announces New "Unity" Multi-GPU Concept.
Lucid to Encourage Graphics Cards Makers to Install Hydra Chips on Boards
Thursday, May 27, 2010
PowerColor Wants to Wed ATI Radeon with Nvidia GeForce Using Hydra Chip.
PowerColor Installs LucidLogix Hydra Chip onto ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Card
Friday, October 30, 2009
PowerColor Installs Liquid Cooling System onto ATI Radeon HD 5870.
PowerColor Uses Liquid to Cool Down ATI Radeon HD 5870
Friday, September 4, 2009
PowerColor's Contest Can Point to ATI Radeon HD 5000 Launch Date.
PowerColor to Draw Three DirectX 11 Graphics Cards
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tul Introduces Another Graphics Cards Brand.
Tul Intros VTX3D Graphics Cards Supplier
Friday, May 29, 2009
PowerColor Officially Launches Radeon HD 4730 Graphics Card.
PowerColor Releases First ATI Radeon HD 4730
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
PowerColor Does Not Manufacture ATI Radeon HD 4770 for AGP – Company.
PowerColor Denies AGP Version of ATI Radeon HD 4770


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Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
"The recorder or English flute is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple. It is distinguished from other members of the family by having holes for seven fingers (the lower one or two often doubled to facilitate the production of semitones) and one for the thumb of the uppermost hand. The bore of the recorder is tapered slightly, being widest at the mouthpiece end and narrowest at the top on Baroque recorders, or flared almost like a trumpet at the bottom on Renaissance instruments...." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorder
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PaleyFest 2014: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Jeph Loeb, Jeffrey Bell, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen Talk AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
by Christina Radish Posted 272 days ago
For more than 30 years, PaleyFest has held panel sessions and screenings that connect the worldwide community of television fans with the casts and creators of their favorite TV shows. One of the panels was to celebrate the ABC television series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with its cast and creative team. Collider was there to attend the panel, and we've compiled some of the highlights.
During the presentation, executive producers Jeph Loeb, Jeffrey Bell, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, along with actors Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen, talked about how this show originally evolved, how they conceived the characters that make up this team, already knowing how Season 2 and Season 3 will end, how Agent Coulson on the TV show is different from Agent Coulson in the movies, the show's jaw-dropping surprises, that there are seven episodes left, that the events in Captain America: The Winter Solider will affect things in the April 8th episode, that Rocket Racoon and Scarlett Witch are welcome on the plane, that Bill Paxton's Agent Garrett will return this season, whether some of the S.H.I.E.L.D. cast could appear in the upcoming Netflix series, and how there's still no official pick-up yet for Season 2. Check out what they had to say after the jump.


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The new world currency - BitCoin
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 422
Originally Posted by
There is a difference between a fiat currency, which at least represents a nominal value within a national economy, and a completely unbacked virtual currency.
The USD can plummet if the U.S. economy gets screwed up badly. The Bitcoin value will plummet simply when the fad is over -- or if the Bitcoin system is compromised enough (which has already happened several times).
You can just as easily say that gold and silver are unbacked currencies. Neither have much of an intrinsic value. It doesn't stop people from investing in them. At least bitcoins can easily be traded.
The bitcoin system itself has not been compromised, exchanges and websites that deal with bitcoins have. This is why it is dumb to have an online wallet. This problem alone will not cause the downfall of the bitcoin.
There is no reason to believe that this "fad" will end any time soon. As long as people think the bitcoin has a reasonable chance to be an alternative currency it will have value and as long as it has value it will be an investment opportunity. Even if its value were to drop drastically tomorrow, it would recover most if not all of that value extremely quickly as people jump in to buy cheap bitcoins.
The thing that probably will result in the death of the bitcoin is some governments decisions to make them illegal. I believe we still have a ways to go before that happens though.
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