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The capital unscrupulously pumped from poor neighborhoods by way of
predatory loans whizzes along a high-speed financial pipeline to Wall
Street to be used for investment. "It's about creating debt that can be
turned into bonds that can be sold to customers on Wall Street,"
explains Irv Ackelsberg, an attorney with Community Legal Services in
Philadelphia who has been defending clients against foreclosure and
working to restructure onerous loans for twenty-five years.
Household-name companies like Lehman Brothers, Prudential and First
Union are involved in managing the process of bundling loans--including
subprime and predatory--into mortgage-backed securities. They often
provide the initial cash to make the loans, find banks to act as
trustees, pull together the layers of financial and insurance
institutions, and create the "special vehicles"--shades of Enron--that
shield investors from risk.
Four securities-rating agencies--Moody's, Standard & Poor's, Duff
& Phelps and Fitch--provide bond ratings for all of Wall Street;
before assigning the acceptable rating that will draw investors, they
assess the risk firewalls constructed by the securitizing company. It
becomes a complex matrix of financial operations designed to generate
capital and minimize risk for Wall Street with the unwitting help of
borrowers. "This whole business is about providing triple-A bonds to
funds that you or I would invest in," says Ackelsberg. "The poor are
being used to produce this debt--what you have is a glorified
money-laundering scheme."
Ackelsberg and his colleagues frequently find themselves struggling
through a tangle of companies to find a party legally liable for remedy
when a client is in foreclosure due to a bad loan. Often the company
that originated the loan doesn't actually own it but, rather, is acting
as a servicing agent--assuring the cash flow to a securitization trust.
Frequently shifting ownership also complicates attempts to create
accountability: In one case, United Companies Lending, once hired as a
trust by Lehman Brothers, went bankrupt; EMC Mortgage Corporation, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Bear Stearns, placed the highest bid for the
right to service the outstanding loans and collect the servicing fees.
Sheila Canavan, a Berkeley-based attorney who recently won a settlement
that will pay out some $60 million to the plaintiffs in a fraud lawsuit
against First Alliance Mortgage, says, "The industry and lawyers make it
as complicated and arcane as they can so people don't understand." They
also, she adds, want to distance themselves from the frontline predators
who hawk the loans.
Government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Ginnie Mae
(GNMA) have long bundled conventional loans--in the 8-percent range--to
create mortgage-backed securities. During the mergers and acquisitions
boom in the mid-1990s, when banks began absorbing subprime lenders, Wall
Street caught on to the potential of bunching subprime mortgages,
including predatory loans. "The banks realized that this was a
moneymaker," says Shirley Peoples, a social research analyst for the
Calvert Group, an investment fund specializing in socially responsible
lending. "They put a legitimacy on it, but it still is what it is."
"Wall Street, since it got into securitization, needs product, needs
mortgage loans to pull together," says Canavan. The securities are then
aggressively marketed, she says. "The Wall Streeters go around the
country, pools of loans are sold to institutional investors, pension
plans, universities."
And while it looks as if the lenders themselves set up the difficult
loan terms, Canavan says that Wall Street encourages the gouging
practices. The big financial institutions fronting cash for predatory
loans have information on the loans' interest rates and know very well
what it takes to trap borrowers into those rates. They also build in
incentives for dubious practices: "The loan originators are compensated
with late fees," Canavan says, by way of example. "They're going to make
sure payments don't get there on time, that they get lost or, as the
industry says, 'drawered.'"
It's tough for a mutual fund investor to know whether investment dollars
are going toward supporting a predatory loan scheme. The investor who
knows the names of the biggest offenders may be able to detect them in a
prospectus, but many times the information is not included or the names
of the companies change. Socially responsible funds such as Calvert and
organizations like the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
have been meeting face to face with banking interests to probe their
policies and positions on bundling the predatory loans. And many in the
industry argue that a rash of bankruptcies and financial failures has
pressured the industry to reform.
But not all consumer advocates buy that.
"These companies come and go," says Ackelsberg, "but the residue of
their abusive activity remains because the mortgage loans are still out
Outraged at lenders who prey on the poor, activists are striking back.
Agnostic's what he was, had always been.
He'd never prayed a prayer, confessed a sin.
He's thinking, though, if Martha goes to jail,
On Sundays henceforth he will never fail
To be in church. In fact, forevermore,
He'll be in synagogue the day before.
It's not as if this man's the sort of pill
Who wishes fellow human beings ill.
But he's convinced: If Martha takes the fall,
There is a God in heaven after all.
Dead ends, new beginnings--the industry's twenty-five-year crisis
The Africa trip of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Irish rock star
Bono produced a bumper harvest of photo ops and articles about aid to
Africa. Unfortunately, media coverage was mired in the perennial and
stale aid debate: Should we give more? Does it work?
If the O'Neill-Bono safari resulted in Washington finally paying more of
its proper share for global health, education and clean water, that
would be cause for applause. But any real change requires shifting the
terms of debate. Indeed, the term "aid" itself carries the patronizing
connotation of charity and a division of the world into "donors" and
At the late June meeting in Canada of the rich countries known as the
G8, aid to Africa will be high on the agenda. But behind the rhetoric,
there is little new money--as evidenced by the just-announced paltry sum
of US funding for AIDS--and even less new thinking. Despite the new
mantra of "partnership," the current aid system, in which agencies like
the World Bank and the US Treasury decide what is good for the poor,
reflects the system of global apartheid that is itself the problem.
There is an urgent need to pay for such global public needs as the
battles against AIDS and poverty by increasing the flow of real
resources from rich to poor. But the old rationales and the old aid
system will not do. Granted, some individuals and programs within that
system make real contributions. But they are undermined by the negative
effects of top-down aid and the policies imposed with it.
For a real partnership, the concept of "aid" should be replaced by a
common obligation to finance international public investment for common
needs. Rich countries should pay their fair share based on their
privileged place in the world economy. At the global level, just as
within societies, stacked economic rules unjustly reward some and punish
others, making compensatory public action essential. Reparations to
repair the damage from five centuries of exploitation, racism and
violence are long overdue. Even for those who dismiss such reasoning as
moralizing, the argument of self-interest should be enough. There will
be no security for the rich unless the fruits of the global economy are
shared more equitably.
As former World Bank official Joseph Stiglitz recently remarked in the
New York Review of Books, it is "a peculiar world, in which the
poor countries are in effect subsidizing the richest country, which
happens, at the same time, to be among the stingiest in giving
assistance in the world."
One prerequisite for new thinking about questions like "Does aid work?"
is a correct definition of the term itself. Funds from US Agency for
International Development, or the World Bank often go not for economic
development but to prop up clients, dispose of agricultural surpluses,
impose right-wing economic policies mislabeled "reform" or simply to
recycle old debts. Why should money transfers like these be counted as
aid? This kind of "aid" undermines development and promotes repression
and violence in poor countries.
Money aimed at reaching agreed development goals like health, education
and agricultural development could more accurately be called
"international public investment." Of course, such investment should be
monitored to make sure that it achieves results and is not mismanaged or
siphoned off by corrupt officials. But mechanisms to do this must break
with the vertical donor-recipient dichotomy. Monitoring should not be
monopolized by the US Treasury or the World Bank. Instead, the primary
responsibility should be lodged with vigilant elected representatives,
civil society and media in countries where the money is spent, aided by
greater transparency among the "development partners."
One well-established example of what is possible is the UN's Capital
Development Fund, which is highly rated for its effective support for
local public investment backed by participatory governance. Another is
the new Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, which has
already demonstrated the potential for opening up decision-making to
public scrutiny. Its governing board includes both "donor" and
"recipient" countries, as well as representatives of affected groups. A
lively online debate among activists feeds into the official
Funding for agencies like these is now by "voluntary" donor
contributions. This must change. Transfers from rich to poor should be
institutionalized within what should ultimately be a redistributive tax
system that functions across national boundaries, like payments within
the European Union.
There is no immediate prospect for applying such a system worldwide.
Activists can make a start, however, by setting up standards that rich
countries should meet. AIDS activists, for example, have calculated the
fair contribution each country should make to the Global AIDS Fund (see
Initiatives like the Global AIDS Fund show that alternatives are
possible. Procedures for defining objectives and reviewing results
should be built from the bottom up and opened up to democratic scrutiny.
Instead of abstract debates about whether "aid" works, rich countries
should come up with the money now for real needs. That's not "aid," it's
just a common-sense public investment.
Attempts to organize are squelched by a flying column of
Would it be too early to sense a sudden, uncovenanted shift against the corporate ethic, if ethic is the word? I can barely turn the page of a newspaper or magazine without striking across either some damaging admission, or at least some damage-control statement, from the boardroom classes.
The camera pans across the room
To see what she has made:
An omelette or a spring bouquet
Or just an inside trade.
"How many times can you say 'unbelievable'?" my wife asked the other
morning, as I was rattling the newspaper and again exclaiming over the
latest outrageous news from American capitalism. Maybe it was the story
about the CEO of Tyco International, a very wealthy and much admired
titan, being indicted for evading the New York State sales tax on his
art purchases. Perhaps it was the disclosure that the soaring market in
energy trading, a jewel of the new economy, was largely a fabrication
built on phony round-trip trades. Or the accusation that Perot Systems,
after designing California's deregulated energy-trading system, turned
around and showed the energy companies how to blow holes in it (and
generate those soaring electric bills for Californians).
It is unbelievable--what we've learned in the past six or eight
months about the financial system and corporate management. The
systematic deceit and imaginative greed--the sheer chintziness of
personal finagling for more loot--go well beyond the darkest hunches
harbored by resident skeptics like myself. Indeed, the Wall Street
system is now being flayed in the media almost daily by its own leading
tribunes. Listen to this summary of the scandals: "The failures of Wall
Street's compliance efforts are coming under intense scrutiny--part of a
growing awareness of how deeply flawed the US financial markets really
are. The watchdogs charged with keeping the financial world honest have
all lost credibility themselves: outside auditors who bend the rules to
please corporate clients, analysts who shape stock recommendations to
woo investment-banking customers and government regulators too timid or
overwhelmed to keep track of the frenzy." You might have read those
points in The Nation, but these words appeared on the front page
of the Wall Street Journal. A week later, another page-one
Journal story crisply explained the implications for global
investors: "Boasts about world-class corporate disclosure, bookkeeping
and regulation of American financial markets have become laughable in
the wake of Enron and Arthur Andersen scandals."
When radical critique becomes mainstream observation, change may be in
the air. In my view, this is a rare historical moment--conditions are
ripe for reforming and reordering the system, an opportunity unmatched
since World War II. How things really work is on the table, visible to
all in shocking detail, authoritatively documented by the torrent of
disclosures, with more to come. The libertarian ideology that colonized
economic affairs and politics during the past two decades (markets know
best, government is an obstacle, greed is good) has been pulled up
short. The conservative orthodoxy is vulnerable--actually breaking
down--because it has no good explanations for what we now understand to
be routine malpractice in business and finance. Political tinder is
spread all around the landscape, but who will strike the match?
The potential downside of this moment is also palpable and quite
ominous: Nothing will happen, nothing will change--nobody goes to jail,
no significant reforms are enacted. If so, the main result will be
confirmation of an already endemic public cynicism and the further
poisoning of American values. The revelations, instead of provoking a
sea change in political thinking, may be smothered by the alignments of
corporate-financial power, diverted into false reforms and complexified
to the point that media attention and public anger are exhausted. In
that event, the consequences for the country will be less obvious but
profoundly corrosive. The system would go forward in roughly the same
fashion (perhaps tarted up with public-relations rouge), and everyone
would understand that corruption is the system. In markets and in
the popular culture, the message would be: Forget that crap about
ethics--might as well take the low road, since that's how the big boys
get theirs.
The stakes are enormous, and it's much too early to predict the outcome.
But there's already abundant evidence that the business establishment
expects to ride out this storm and is working the usual political levers
to insure it. The politics resemble the S&L debacle in the late
1980s, when Congressional Republocrats put out lots of noise and smoke
but left the high-priced suits unruffled and stuck the public with the
bill. Our current galaxy of scandals is far more grave because it is
systemic. Anyone with courage among the Democratic presidential hopefuls
could seize this moment and reorder the agenda for 2004, but no one so
far has found the guts to break ranks with corporate power. Smoldering
public anger, however, may yet find a way to express itself, perhaps in
the fall elections, and rouse the reluctant politicians.
For now, the best hope seems to be that the bankers and business guys
will react to the fact that financial markets have been severely damaged
by the scandalous revelations, as have the high-flying moguls of
corporate America. Who can trust them? Who wants to pour more good money
after bad? In other words, this scandal stuff is bad for business,
especially bad for the faltering stock market. Henry Paulson Jr., chair
of Goldman Sachs, delivered that message recently in a sober speech
before the National Press Club and endorsed a number of useful reforms.
His remedies are insufficient (even the Journal editorial page
was happy to bless them) but are a fair start. A chorus of high-minded
anguish from elite circles might persuade Washington that this problem
does need fixing.
The scandals of Enron et al., unfortunately, must compete with another
story--the war on terrorism--that's more exciting, and threatening, than
dirty bookkeeping or the looted billions. The two crises are intertwined
in perverse ways. The smug triumphalism of Bush's unilateralist war
policy could be abruptly deflated by economic events--which probably
would be a good thing for world affairs, since Washington couldn't run
roughshod over others, but terrible for US prosperity. The financial
scandals have provided yet another chilling reason to be wary of the US
stock market, and if overseas investors decide to take their money home
in volume, the already declining dollar will fall sharply. Credit would
thus become suddenly scarce, since our debtor-nation economy relies
heavily on capital borrowed from abroad, and such a convergence would
trigger an ugly downdraft in the US economy. In that event, the
fashionable boastfulness about America, the only superpower, would
implode as swiftly as Enron's stock price.
Labor-backed politicians are being asked to return the favor in union fights.


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Definitions for cacotechny
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word cacotechny
Webster Dictionary
a corruption or corrupt state of art
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"cacotechny." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/cacotechny>.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Global IT Services Industry
The world software and services market exceeded $2.35 trillion in 2010, according to research from MarketLine. Market growth is expected to slow to just over 7% yearly until 2015 to reach almost $3.31 trillion. Within the overall industry, IT services make up the leading market segment, and reached almost $1.12 trillion in 2010 for nearly 48% of overall industry value.
On its own, the world IT services industry is expected to record yearly growth of 4% between 2010 and 2014, reports TechNavio. Market growth is driven by rising numbers of smaller IT consulting outfits. Cloud computing is also driving market expansion as a prime service delivery channel.


text:
Posts tagged: Norway
I poured the first cup of coffee of the morning and opened my email. There was the usual flood of messages: personal notes from friends, updates from editors and scattershot public relations pitches. And there was one surprising note. It read:
Hello Cheryl-Anne!
My sister and I were so inspired by your articles about your Norwegian cruise last summer that we decided to copy you! We have booked a cabin on the (Hurtigruten) Midnatsol for August.
Do you have any advice for us? Is there anything you would do differently?
Jane and Carol
I read the email again. And again. You may not know it, but this is a rare thing.
Like most writers, travel writers in particular, my job is to translate an experience. To make it come to life. That's the goal anyway, but whether or not anyone beyond family and friends is actually inspired to make the journey is unknown.
I wrote back with a few tips, but they sound like women who who like to travel and know what they're doing.
The one thing an American traveling on one of Hurtigruten's Coastal Cruisers should know is they are not cruise ships the way most American's envision them. They are more like floating trains, the way train travel used to be in this country and still is in other parts of the world, moving people from town to town on time and in comfort. The cabins are well-appointed and the food is plentiful and reflects the locale. But this is not a luxury cruise
Norwegians use the Hurtigruten cruisers to travel from place to place and they move on and off the ship during the voyage. Occasionally, you might find someone sleeping in a corner of the lounge. It's frowned upon, but it happens. To me, this kind of mingling was a bonus. Why travel if you aren't going to meet new people around the world? And I enjoyed the conversations I had with the Norwegians who were on the ship with me.
I would remind anyone taking the cruise to dress for any kind of weather any time of year. And, of course, to bring a camera. The landscape is like no other.
And what would I do differently? Well, I might close my eyes a bit more. The midnight sun may be waning by August but daylight still lingers most hours day or night. There are port excursions at any hour and it can be exhausting to try to do too much. I never want to miss a thing so I booked a lot of excursions. And kept my curtains open most of the time so that whenever I opened my eyes I would instantly see the view from my porthole, which meant my eyes opened often and I slept too little.
Of course, that's what I say but, truth be told, probably not what I would do if I took the trip again. I never want to miss a minute.
I hope the sisters enjoy their trip and I hear good things when they return. I do admire their spirit. Life is short and it's a big, wonderful, world out there. When inspiration comes our way, why not strike out on an adventure when we can?
I don't expect to grow old and die without a few regrets. No one can. But I hope one of them won't be the journeys I didn't take.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap's audio essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of "Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons" and can be reached at email@example.com
There was a soft summer rain falling, but that didn't keep people away. Tucked under umbrellas, wrapped in raincoats, the crowd—locals and tourists like me—strolled through the main gate of Vigeland Sculpture Park near the center of Oslo, Norway. We all moved down the wide path and across the bridge lined with carved figures. Without the harsh glare of sunlight, the the rain seemed to soften and illuminate the sculptures, adding warm life to cold metal and stone.
Oslo's Vigeland Sculpture Park is unlike any other; it showcases the work of only one man—Gustave Vigeland. In 1921 Vigeland, already an established artist, made an agreement with the city of Oslo. In return for a home and studio at Frogner Park, Vigeland would create a park built around the bulk of his work and it would forever belong to the city.
For 20 years, the last two decades of his life, Vigeland lived and worked there, creating more than 200 projects for the park. The work includes the impressive entrance, impressive two-dimensional iron gates, a bronze fountain with a tableau of the circle of life. The pinnacle is a five-story monolith of the bodies of men, women and children—more than 120 figures—carved from a single column of solid granite.
The bridge leading from the entrance to the crest of the hill is lined with more than 50 bronze figures, including the famous "Sinnataggen" a furious toddler in captured in full tantrum. The figure of the angry baby has become the park's signature and his left hand shines from the constant touching and rubbing of visitors.
The theme of the garden is life and all its stages. Vigeland's figures show mankind from birth to death and the sculptures are arranged in groups along a series of pathways.
Gustave Vigeland's figures, especially those in granite, are massive, but there is a striking delicacy to each piece. Especially in the rain. I found myself circling them, looking deeply at the expressions on each face, at the language of each body. Taking one photo after another, trying to capture what the artist had expressed.
The true magic of Vigeland Sculpture Park is the way the sculptor imbued granite and bronze with human emotion. His figures carry the joy, anguish, fear and desire of life. They draw you in and stay with you after you leave.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a travel writer whose audio essays can be heard each week on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons and blogs about antiques and collectibles at Treasure Hunting. She can be reached at email@example.com
There are only so many ways most of us experience a place as we travel. We are usually on a schedule, with a plane or ship to board at the end of the day or week. We have to make the best of the time we have at any destination so we buy a map, take a tour, or hop on and hop off a bus that hits the highlights. What we take away is uniquely our own, but on the surface may seem similar to what any other tourist experiences.
I thought about this recently when I stepped off the Hurtigruten ship at Bergen, the final port on my cruise along the coast of Norway. Touring the city, I took the same photo a million others have taken of the Bryggen quarter, the row of colorful old buildings on the waterfront that seem to be leaning against one another. I ate fish and chips at the fish market. I climbed the Rozenkrantz Tower and looked out on the ships on the river. I shopped for souvenirs. I visited museums and monuments. But then, strolling across a wide square, someone slipped a flyer in my hand. There was to be a free performance of Ibsen's Peer Gynt by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra—one of the oldest in the world—on the square that night.
Excited, I made my way back at the end of the day. A large platform had been erected and the orchestra filled the stage. A large crowd had gathered and more people continued to come into the square until there were thousands of us standing shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the large screen that projected the images of the musicians and actors. I could see people in the windows and on the rooftops of apartments that overlooked the stage but on the square there were no chairs, no benches, no tables with wine and cheese.
For more than an hour, the crowd, silent and attentive, was focused on the performance. No one complained about standing on cobblestones or that anyone was blocking their view. The music, familiar and dynamic, was wonderful. The actors were compelling. The language didn't matter. It was a come-as-you-are celebration of art and humanity and national pride.
Isn't that what we're really seeking when we set out to see the world, the chance to turn a corner in some foreign place and step into a moment that strikes us and burns into us like lightning?
I believe it is.
I could have missed the man with the flyer. I could have spent the evening on another side of town ignorant of the incredible performance in the square. But, as sometimes happens, I was in the right place at exactly the right time. When centuries of history and culture, music and art came together to silence the restless crowd and bring a city to life.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a travel writer whose audio essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of 'Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons' and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
When I choose a port excursion while on a cruise, what they're going to feed us on the excursion is usually not my first priority since food is more than plentiful on most ships. I almost always opt for some kind of unique experience I couldn't have anywhere else, but the King Crab Safari in Kirkenes, Norway, a small waterfront town only 30 kilometers from the Russian border, offered as a Hurtigruten excursion, was intriguing. And not just because it promised a feast of fresh crab.
I was there in August, but the water can still be dangerously cold. First we had to put on heavy insulated suits, designed to protect us from the cold waters of the fjord if we were to fall in. On top of that went a life jacket and we were given gloves to wear. After we were all suited up we boarded the boat. Instead of seats we straddled benches, holding onto the safety rails in front of us as our guide pulled the boat out onto the fjord and picked up speed.
While touring the coastline and listening to the history of the area, after skimming swiftly over the surface of the water and moving slowly along the cliffs where we could see the remains of a Nazi bunker from the German occupation of Norway during World War II, we stopped to check one of the numerous crab baskets that sit on the bottom of the deep fjord. Our guide attached a hook to the basket and used a motor to pull it up from the bottom. As it broke the surface we could immediately see the basket was filled with some of the biggest crabs I've ever seen. (Those that weren't absolutely massive were thrown back to grow in the cold, dark water.)
We pulled up to what looked like a small fishing shack on the shore. The small house, just big enough for the long table that ran from one end to another, was the place where we would have our meal. Our guide unloaded the dozen or more giant crabs from the trap and began to prepare our dinner while we settled around the table on benches covered with skins and pelts.
When they were done, steamed to perfection, the giant crab legs were piled onto platters and placed on the table. The meal was simple: fresh King crab legs and slices of good bread. There was butter for the bread and lemon slices to squeeze over the crab if we wanted it. That was all and it was all we could want.
We turned on the platters of crab legs like we were starving. For a few minutes all conversation stopped and everyone around the table concentrated on getting to the delicious crabmeat in the shells. We ate until we could not hold another bite.
Fresh, simply prepared and served, the meal was good enough to be added to my list of favorites. There was no fancy dining room. No music. No upscale atmosphere. And the view of the fjord through the small windows reminded us with every bite that we weren't just having a meal, we were feasting on a real Norwegian adventure.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a travel writer whose audio essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of 'Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons' and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
This is not cruising the way most Americans think of it.
There is no giant video screen flashing images of oiled sunworshipers sprawled on lounge chairs on the top deck. There is no driving, thumping, music always in the background. There is no casino and no Vegas-style entertainment.
The bar is a sedate corner, surrounded by deep, comfortable chairs and wide windows. The restaurant serves three good meals a day and there are occasional surprises such as fresh local shrimp steamed and delivered to the ship by the fisherman and then served to guests by the chef. But, unlike the floating party palaces that come to mind when most Americans think of cruising, there is only one star attraction on Hurtigruten ships and that is the view of Norway. Any season, and in the deepest part of summer, any time of the day or night, everything revolves around the stunning landscape.
I boarded the Hurtigruten ship Midnatsol in Kirkenes and for the next week we moved south, along the breathtaking coast of Norway.
It was August but the sun was still hanging over the horizon far into the early hours of the morning. The sky was never completely dark. Even knowing I wouldn't sleep as well as I would in a dark room, I still didn't close the curtains in my cabin. Instead, I surrendered to the midnight sun. I hadn't flown across the world to dream. I kept my camera near the bed and when I woke, usually when we made short stops at small ports along the way, I frequently picked it up to snap a photo of the window. Small towns, jagged peaks, brilliant skies striated by dramatic clouds, the view changed constantly but it was always beautiful.
For 120 years Hurtigruten Coastal Cruisers have been steaming up and down the Norwegian coast delivering people and goods to the cities and small towns that dot the coastline. And, as if the physical landscape is not breathtaking enough, the seasons add their own drama. In the winter snow covers the rocks and trees and the Northern Lights wash the dark night sky with colors that flicker and dance. In the summer the midnight sun takes over and one day becomes another without a sunset and the water is a smooth as glass.
Hurtigruten passengers are an interesting mix of travelers—mostly European and mostly German—and locals hopping from one port to another. Early one morning a young Norwegian woman and her newborn son boarded, saying goodbye to her husband as she traveled to introduce the new baby to her parents a few hundred kilometers away. We shared a quiet corner as she nursed the baby and I sipped my first cup of coffee of the day.
In the afternoon I stood on the bow, the wind on my face, chatting with two women from Chicago. They were on the trip of a lifetime, taking a voyage they'd dreamed about and saved for, and they told me it was everything they'd hoped it would be.
At night, my server told me she had family in Washington State (Interestingly, there are more Norwegian Americans than there are Norwegians) and she was hoping to visit them in Yakima and Spokane this summer. I gave her my card.
During the journey there were excursions to sights and attractions in the larger towns and cities. I traveled to the North Cape and watched Reindeer graze on the mossy rocks near the top of the world. I took a small boat to the Vega Islands and learned about the unique and complex industry of caring for the Eider Ducks and harvesting the down the females leave behind. I rode a gentle Icelandic Pony along the beaches of the Lofoten Islands, on the spot where Vikings launched their ships.
When we docked at Bergen at the end of the cruise, yet another UNESCO Heritage site, I was sorry to see the end of the line. That night, in a dark hotel room when I should have been able to sleep, my head was too full of images; dark mysterious fjords, small red cottages sitting on a rocky shoreline and fiery skies over a sun that never quite set.
My trip down the coast of Norway wasn't a cruise the way most people I know think of cruising. It was something much harder to find. It was an authentic travel experience, making a journey the way people have been doing for more than 100 years. It was everything I hoped it would be.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a travel writer whose audio essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of 'Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons' and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


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LANSING — Dayton starting pitcher Nick Travieso and relievers Pedro Diaz and Zack Weiss combined to allow just three hits as the Dragons defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon. The win was the Dragons second straight in the series and third straight overall. They will try for the series sweep on Thursday night.Travieso (10-5) moved into a tie for the league lead in victories with the win. He worked six innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Diaz replaced Travieso to start the seventh and tossed two scoreless frames, allowing two walks but no hits with three strikeouts. Weiss earned his second save by working a scoreless ninth inning. He stuck out the first two batters in the inning before allowing an infield single and then getting a grounder to shortstop to end the game.The Dragons scored all three of their runs in the top of the first inning. Jamodrick McGruder walked to start the game and stole second. With one out, Robert Ramirez reached on an infield single to shortstop as McGruder advanced to third. Phillip Ervin's sacrifice fly brought in McGruder to make it 1-0, and Ramirez advanced to second on the throw home. Tanner Rahier followed with a hit to center to drive in Ramirez, and Rahier scored on Jon Matthews' run-scoring single to make it 3-0.Lansing scored their only run in the second inning, taking advantage of a defensive letdown by the Dragons. Dayton committed three errors in an inning for the first time this season, leading to one unearned run by the Lugnuts. The run scored on a misplayed ground ball with the bases loaded, but Travieso was able to avoid further trouble when he got the next hitter, David Harris, to ground into an inning-ending double play with three runners aboard. Lansing was able to advance only two runners as far as second base the rest of the day. The Dragons collected eight hits. Matthews, who came off the disabled list before the game, went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI. The Dragons (18-20) will try for the sweep against the Lugnuts (18-20) on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Dayton's Jackson Stephens (2-3, 4.60) will oppose Lansing's Jeremy Gabryszwski (6-3, 4.14). All Dragons games can be heard on WONE Radio (980 AM) and via the internet at wone.com and through the Dragons Mobile App.
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|Collection Name:
|African American Richmond: Educational Segregation and Desegregation
|Repository Name:
|Virginia Commonwealth University. James Branch Cabell Library. Special Collections and Archives. Virginia Black History Archives [Repository Details]
|Repository Location:
|Richmond, Virginia, United States
|Material Formats:
|[18 documents with text]
|Dates Spanned:
|This portion of the VBHA is comprised of fourteen oral history interviews conducted in 1992 by Virginia Commonwealth University students with African-Americans residing in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. While the interviews focused on the educational experiences of these individuals, other subjects and issues affecting the lives of African-Americans were also discussed by the participants. The typed transcripts of the oral histories were scanned in 1994 to be included in the Virginia Black History Archives database and are accessible from this site. A listing of the transcripts, with a brief index of topics discussed, can be found below.
|Estimated Total of Interviews:
|[18 interview(s) listed in this collection]
|Broad Subjects:
|Race Relations; Ethnic groups
|ASP Subjects:
|African Americans--Education; African Americans--Segregation--Virginia; Fisk University, Nashville, TN; Oral history; Race relations; Racism; Richmond, VA; Segregation--United States; Segregation--Virginia; United States; Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA; Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA
|Collection Code:


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Yale musical group sings at Westover
|Shades. Credit: Yale University
Shades, a Yale University a cappella group, will perform at Westover School in Middlebury on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the school's Louise B. Dillingham Performing Arts Center on South Street.
Reservations for the free performance may be made by calling 203-577-4535. Parking and entrance to the Performing Arts Center are on South Street.
Drawing on the rich ethnic and musical backgrounds of its members, Shades strives to achieve the most dynamic and powerful musical presentation possible, with a focus on African-American music, particularly R&B, gospel, jazz, pop, and traditional music, a release said.
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Germantown, MD — WeatherBug®, a leading provider of live, local weather information for consumer and professional users, today announced that its premium weather application for mobile devices, WeatherBug Elite, is now available for BlackBerry® smartphones. During the first week since release, WeatherBug Elite has consistently been a top paid download on BlackBerry App World™. The new WeatherBug Elite app is also the first weather app on BlackBerry App World to leverage the BlackBerry Push API, so weather alerts are immediately delivered to the user's device instead of being pulled by the device upon launching of the app.
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Battlements & Crenellations
6 Years, 8 Months ago
I am not a stacker, but sometimes it is useful to define an elevated area. The most obvious raised (finished) surface useful to fantasy gamers is probably the battlement of a castle or fortress.
We get by just setting out 2"x2" floor tiles to simulate a castle's battlements, but (someday) I'd like to see tiles built with 1/3- or 1/4-height crenellated walls. This set would largely mimic the standard Fantasy line, but would have different walls and might have a different floor surface. It might also include L-shaped "inside corner" pieces, as well as 2"x2" and 4"x4" curves (both inside and outside). Finally, some accessories such as "flat stairs" (similar to the stairs-going-down" floor tile) would allow non-stackers to show where stairs to different levels (or into the interior/courtyard areas) are located.
Another way to go would be a set of low crenellated walls designed to fit alongside (against the edges of) standard 2"x2" tiles. That allows us to use the floor tiles we already own (of any style, Fantasy or DoE or MBS or even Cavern), gives us the option of using the new set by itself as plain old walls, and reduces the final cost because there would be less actual material.
My questions are:
Would such a set be useful?
Is stacking (height) -- or lack thereof -- a deal-breaker?
What kinds of tiles/accessories would you include in a B&C (expansion) set?
Minotaur Lord
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Battlements & Crenellations
6 Years, 8 Months ago
Well, I'm all for ANYTHING DF wants to put out, because it's usually so well done.
However, I have to admit I'm not crazy about a battlements set. There are several problems with that, I think.
1. There are already good "castles" on the market, so it's not like we need DF for that kinda game. Both WK and GW made fortresses, and the WK one (which I thought was a fantastic, both in terms of its modular design and its general "look") was a huge failure, indicating that there may not be a market for that kinda thing.
2. This sorta thing is primarily useful for tabletop wargaming on an open field, while DF tends to be used for RPG or skirmish playing indoors. It seems like this is a step in the direction of using DF to make a fortress on an open plain for a siege, and while I think that could be cool, it feels like it "breaks the mold" a bit too much of the market niche DF occupies. Not that it would necessarily be a bad thing to broaden out a bit, but given the failure of WK's siege attempts... well...
3. Hirst Arts is still out there -- sure, the typical DF fan may not want to mess with it, but it still counts as something on the market to satisfy this and that means a potentially smaller market share for DF.
I also have to admit, on a personal level, I already have more than I can use of this sorta thing. I have the GW fortress (in fact I sold it, since it took up so much room and I have so many of these things) I have the WK castle stuff. I have the GW Helm's Deep, which is just stunning. I don't have the GW Minis Tirith, but you get the idea. Plus I have HA. There really isn't a hole in my collection here...
Of course, if someone posts some really neat ideas about how to execute this idea, I'd probably come around.
Minotaur Lord
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"In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play."
-- F. Nietzsche
Battlements & Crenellations
6 Years, 8 Months ago
I was primarily thinking of skirmishes ON the battlements, rather than the open-field siege; instead of doing large-scale combat (unit vs unit), do melees atop the castle wall. Where ladders hit the wall, you would have a spawn point -- fight off the foes who climb the ladder, and perform a strength feat to get rid of the ladder itself. If you can get an opponent against the wall/edge, you have a chance of pushing him off and eliminating him from the combat. Random events like catapult shots or artillery spells might make the combat more difficult. But the focus is on the little fights and not on the larger battle, although different objectives might be set to determine a successful battle -- if more than half of the friendly archers on the wall are killed in melee, the greater battle will be lost; if more than X opponents get to the stairs leading down to the courtyard, the refugees sheltered there will be slaughtered.
You could also use the set to create balconies and overlooks to supplement indoor sets. If the set-up is a castle interior, then balconies would be a point of egress, alternate routes between rooms (Climb or Swing roll to get from one balcony to another, then Pick Locks to get back inside), or a hazard (back your opponent against the rail, then toss him off the balcony). If the set-up is a dungeon in a cliffside, then there might be places where ledges have been worked to form battlements ranging up the side of the cliff. One might even put a crenellated wall against the edge of an underground canal or lake or chasm.
I do not consider HA in my ideas for DF. I think it's a great product, but I consider the do-it-yourself component to be a big enough difference from DF that I don't regard them as direct competitors. That may be short-sighted of me.
The main difference in what I'm suggesting and the existing products (that I know of) is that this would have little to no height/volume. I think the products you mention are very well done, but the reason I didn't buy them was a combination of cost, awkwardness of use on a medium-to-large table, and unwillingness to store the sheer bulk involved. (I also think that packaging on some of them is not conducive to storage -- blister packs do not protect very much once they are opened.) The B&C concept I'm promoting (just the floor and the short wall) would have a lower profile than standard DF products, which means it stores like DF, doesn't hide figures or tokens from any angle, and may cost less than most other castle products.
Additionally, DF's modular-ness is at 2"x2", as opposed to most castle pieces (which are often 6" or larger) -- this allows us to build interesting layouts in much less space than most available castle products.
Your point abou the failure of other castle products is a very good one, and probably the one that should be the absolute make-or-break consideration. However, I will point out that Mage Knight's attempt at a modular dungeon was also a failure. I don't know if Ainsty folded because their modular products didn't sell, or if it was something else (overextension, one or more parties pulling out to do other things, etc.)
If a DF Crenellatiions set was restricted to JUST the low crenellated wall and some floor tiles (and a few specialty tiles and accessory pieces), I think it would be sufficiently different from the other castles on the market to find its own niche.
Minotaur Lord
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Battlements & Crenellations
6 Years, 8 Months ago
I don't know if Ainsty folded because their modular products didn't sell, or if it was something else (overextension, one or more parties pulling out to do other things, etc.) .
The owner passed away.
Posts: 299
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mission rates approaching 1 GB/s will be required. Distributed computing and extensive use of microprocessors will form the basis of both triggering and data analysis systems. Enhanced pattern recognition techniques and software algorithms will be required to sort out signatures in detectors recording tens of simultaneous events with hundreds of tracks each. What applications, if any, these developments will find in other fields is impossible to predict, but based on history it is safe to say that many will find application in areas beyond experimental particle physics.
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- Vietnam in HD Blu-rayTwo years after setting the new standard in war combat documentaries with its Emmy-winning masterpiece WWII in HD, History shifts its focus to a different generation and to one of the most controversial wars in American history. Vietnam In HD, an epic six-hour miniseries, captures the…$19.99Add to Cart
- Patton 360: Season 1 Blu-ray It was a war�and a series of military campaigns�like no other. Now HISTORY� puts you in the action with Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. as he leads his heroic soldiers in North Africa, in the invasion of Sicily, and in the charge across Europe to defeat Hitler�s Third Reich. Following on…$24.99Add to Cart
- Life After People: Season 2 Blu-rayWelcome to Earth: Population 0. If humans vanish from the face of the earth, what happens to the world we leave behind? HISTORY offers another amazing glimpse of what that might look like. Expert engineers, biologists, geologists and archeologists create scenarios while CGI effects present…$34.99Add to Cart
- Life After People Blu-rayIf humans were suddenly to disappear, what would happen to our planet--the structures we�ve built, the everyday items we take for granted, animals domesticated and wild, plants, trees? What would become of the things that define our species and leave our mark on this Earth? Visit the…$34.99Add to Cart
- JFK / Untold History Of The United States (Double Feature) Blu-rayThis double feature includes: JFK: The Director's Cut Director Oliver Stone added 17 minutes of previously unseen footage for the "director's cut" edition of his hypnotic courtroom epic about the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That…$24.98Add to Cart
- History In 3D Blu-rayThis unprecedented gift set collects three of HISTORY�s most acclaimed specials in immersive 3D. WWII IN 3D: WWII in 3D creates a fully immersive portrait of history�s largest and bloodiest conflict. From the rise of the Nazis and their sweep across Europe to the Allied counterattack and…$39.99Add to Cart
- WWII in 3D Blu-RayWWII IN 3D tells the story of the war from the rise of the Nazis, their sweep across Europe, the Allied counterattack and the fall of Nazi Germany. For the first time, you will see dramatic moments of WWII that were captured in 3D with stereographs and then shuttered away in secret archives…$14.99Add to Cart
- Battle 360: The Complete Series Blu rayFor nearly a decade, the legendary World War II aircraft carrier USS Enterprise held a pivotal place on the turbulent seas of war, engaging in some of the fiercest multi-front battles ever witnessed in modern combat. The only carrier to be front and center in every major sea conflict in the…$24.99Add to Cart
- The Universe: Season 5 Blu-ray The Universe Season 5 Blu Ray Complete Set takes you into the amazing regions of deep space. From the Mars Rover to NASA probes, the series captures incredible images of stars being born. The Season 5 Universe Blu Ray gives you access to the experts as they bring the history of space…$29.99Add to Cart
- Ice Road Truckers: Season 3 Blu-rayJust when you thought trucking couldn�t get more dangerous�ICE ROAD TRUCKERS: THE COMPLETE SEASON THREE brings you to the most treacherous landscape on earth: northern Alaska.In Prudhoe Bay (250 miles north of the Arctic Circle), a network of ice roads in the tundra crisscross river…$24.99Add to Cart
- IRT Deadliest Roads: Season 1 Blu-rayIRT: DEADLIEST ROADS sends today�s toughest drivers to navigate the world�s most dangerous roads as they haul their way through India�s Himalayan highways, some of the most historic � and lethal � on the planet. From the crowded streets of Delhi, to treacherously steep, narrow and congested…$24.99Add to Cart


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MediaGet 2.01.3013
Ad-supported installation and simple-to-handle environment
While the setup process does not take longer than a minute, it is important to be careful during it, as it offers to download some products that are not actually necessary for the program to work properly.
The interface was designed to be as user-friendly as possible, so as to allow even beginners to find their way around the app and to enjoy torrent files. A search function is featured in the main window, while also a navigation panel enables you to get around it with ease and find all options incorporated.
Refine results, assign priority levels and limit the speed
It is possible to refine the search so as to make sure that the results are relevant, by simply specifying the desired size range for the files, or by creating a keyword exclusion list. Results are displayed in a list, each item having a rating corresponding to its speed – the better the speed, the higher the rating.
Once a download thread is started, one can assign it a priority level, or set the download and upload speed limits. This way, users can make sure that the process does not affect the overall performance of the PC.
Use the integrated multimedia player and shut down the computer
Another function provided by MediaGet is that of playing multimedia files – in other words, while waiting for a file to be downloaded, one can use the very same utility to watch videos or listen to music. Most popular formats are supported, such as MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AVI, MPG, MPEG, MP4, MKV, MOV, FLV and WMV.
Not only can users specify their desired destination folder or use a proxy server for managing their torrent files, but they can also set the tool to shutdown the computer when all downloads are completed.
Performance and conclusion
The amount of resources required in order to properly run this piece of software are quite insignificant and therefore, the computer's performance is not going to be hampered in any way. The response time is good, the interface is suitable to all user categories and we did not come across any errors, hangs or freezes in our tests.
In a nutshell, while it is not a very complex Bittiorent client, MediaGet can help beginners get familiarized with torrents, while experts get a basic tool to find and download files.
Reviewed by Giorgiana Arghire, last updated on December 5th, 2014
- file size:
- price:
- license type:
- Ad-supported
- developed by:
- MediaGet lcc
- operating system(s):
- Windows 2K / XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 2003
- category:
- C: \ Internet \ File Sharing
In a hurry? Add it to your Download Basket!
- What's new:
- Social network http://vkontakte.ru is integrated, now you can share files with your friends
- Search and download from website http://rutracker.org has been added. You should have an account there to use it.
- Information about number of people uploading and downloading the file has been added to the search
Application descriptionMediaGet is a handy application designed to help you search and download media files.It often happens that some files ...
Users are advised to pay attention while installing this ad-supported application:
- Offers to change the homepage for web browsers installed in the system
- Offers to change the default search engine for web browsers installed in the system


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|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|3 nights
Bienvenidos! Casita del Mar is the ideal surfers getaway for anyone looking to enjoy a great time in the jungle with family or friends! Only a few hours from San Jose or Liberia by car, or fly into Nosara directly! The house is located on a secure, dead end street in the original "K section" of Playa Guiones and is just a short 5 minute walk from the beach.
As you walk up to our house ready to start your getaway the first thing you notice are the tall privacy hedges of hibiscus lining the front of our property and bordering our gate. We also have security guards that patrol our street to make sure the house and you are secure. Once you pass through the wood and wrought iron gate that leads into our small piece of tropical paradise you may notice the large mango trees that dominate the front yard, or the palm trees in the corner that have fresh coconuts to eat and drink, or maybe a small iguana will be sunning itself, but soon the pool and house will catch your attention. The pool is the perfect cure for those hot afternoons in Costa Rica, just hop in and relax. It has a negative edge and a large shallow end that is perfect for lounging, cooling off, and letting the kids swim. You can set a chair in the shallow end and watch for monkeys or enjoy a good book. Once you've cooled off, you will notice a large patio area, an outdoor shower great for washing the sand off when you come back from a morning surf, a dining table hand made from a Guanacaste tree that has six chairs plus room for a few more, a couple Adirondack chairs for lounging and two powerful fans to keep you cool. Add a bit of LED lighting and some tunes and you have a really cool pool party spot.
After the pool and outside, as you enter the house, the entry has a bathroom with a shower located conveniently next to the pool and a large bodega is across from the bathroom. As you walk farther into the house you will see the laundry room that has a washer and dryer that you can use, (during the dry season, things dry faster outside) and a nice surfboard rack that will hold up to seven or eight boards, depending on size. Next is the kitchen and dining room, both of which are painted with bright colors and are quite spacious. The cabinets and countertops in the kitchen are solid pochote, a beautiful tropical hardwood, and we have a fully furnished kitchen with a full array of cooking utensils, a blender, a toaster, coffee maker that can grind beans, a microwave, a stove and a refrigerator/freezer. Once you pass through the kitchen you enter into a large living room with hand made wood furniture, 2 daybeds that are very comfortable twin beds, and a TV with a DVD player. The walls of the living room are decorated with several pieces of art from local artists and compete with the windows for your attention. On the far end of the living room you get to the 2 bedrooms, both of which have comfy queen beds in them and built in hardwood closets. The master bedroom also has a small safe in the closet to help keep your valuables secure. Each bedroom has a separate full bathroom with a spacious shower in both. All the rooms in the house have windows looking out into our beautifully landscaped yard, with glimpses of flowers and wildlife at every turn. Each room in the house has its own air conditioning unit and there is wireless internet, which you are free to use as much as you want.
Now that you've experienced the house, let me tell you a little bit about what our area has to offer. There are several restaurants in the area, including the Gilded Iguana that offers live music on Tuesdays and Fridays, and everyone in town shows up to listen. The Banana, a local favorite for dancing and partying is located fairly close by and can be a great time. Of course, the main attraction for most will be the beach and almost endless surf provided by the pacific. The waves on Playa Guiones are extremely rippable, ranging in size from waist high all the way to double overhead at times, with the majority of the waves coming in the chest to head high range. Don't be worried if you aren't already a surfer, there are numerous surf schools inside of a 10 minute walk from the house that all teach on Playa Guiones. There are both male and female instructors and many schools offer discounts on multiple days or multiple people. You can also rent boards at several locations close to the house.
Aside from the surfing, the list of activities goes on and on. If you like high flying adventure you can check out a canopy tour with Miss Sky Adventures, or if you prefer to stay on the ground you can hike miles of trails with breathtaking scenery. If you want a chance to catch some fresh fish for dinner you can go fishing off of the beach or head over to Garza, which is about a 15 minute car ride and charter a boat to take you out all day deep sea fishing for tuna, marlin, sail fish, mahi mahi and more.
All in all, this lovely 2 bedroom 3 bathroom Casita with a great pool, located minutes away from the beach access is the vacation destination you've been searching for. Come and find out why we love Playa Guiones so much.
If you have any additional questions or concerns please let us know. We'll be happy help.
Keywords: Casita, Casita del Mar, casa, rental home, surfer pad, rental property, playa guiones, nosara, pool, jungle, walk to beach, Costa Rica, secluded, secure, safe, k section, surf, surfing, pacific getaway, close to beach, air conditioned, house, casa
We are a family of four from New Jersey. We love sailing, travel, yoga and anything to do with the beach.
paula giblin purchased this house in 2013
We stayed at the house for 3 weeks in November/December of 2012, and we liked it so much that we bought it! The location is perfect. The walk to the beach is short enough that the kids never miss a surf session and I never miss a sunset. The neighbors are great and everyone really felt at home here.
Great deep sea fishing, close restaurants....walking distance, surf lessons available nearby, surfboard rentals nearby, consistent waves, tours including canopy tours and sea turtle observation. The howler monkeys enjoy our area due to food sources.
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
High Season
Nov 1 2014 - May 1 2015
3 night minimum stay
|Refundable damage deposit
|Tax Rate
|Christmas, New Year's and Easter $1800/wk
Payment is usually accepted in the quoted currency (USD) unless the currency and the amount is specifically agreed in advance with the owner / advertiser.


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The first thing that strikes you about Druid's New Electric Ballroom is the shockingly spare stage design. The lavish promises of the play's title are dispelled immediately upon seeing the set. Immense grey walls wrap a raked floor and bare furniture. And with that misconception firmly in place, the gaudy colours of hope, regret and habit splash across the stage in Walsh's absurdist tragedy.
The setting, while indisputably Irish, is not any physical place, but that recognisable hinterland that borders Beckett and Ionesco, a place where ideas wear the flesh of people. 3 female siblings are trapped in an epic regurgitation of their memories of the New Electric Ballroom. For the youngest, her incarceration in these memories is vicarious- she is so familiar with the stories of a place she's never been she prompts the elder sisters in their faltering and reluctant retellings of the dashed hopes of romance.
It was interesting to hear some of the audience react to a repeated monologue: its first rendition delivered in a (virtuoso) rush by Rosaleen Linehan, almost in attempt to purge it, had passed many by. The writing is at times so dense that the constant repetition is welcome, allowing first a taste and then a savour of the brilliantly mundane dialogue.
All the performances are strong, but Mikel Murfi and Rosaleen Linehan deserve special mentions, and the play contains one of the most breathtaking moments of theatrical transformation I've ever seen.
Enda Walsh is this generation's Brian Friel.


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bTg daboi
Senior Member
Hey summoners I am daboi and i am going to show ya'll how you get out of bronzeee =PP i am running a stream at: http://www.twitch.tv/startohello/new i have good music going on come by and watch. ill be showing some key things to do in low elo.
After all it is bronze II so at least you know your guaranteed a laugh.
Thanks from the Brasilian
© 2014 Riot Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Riot Games, League of Legends and PvP.net are trademarks, services marks, or registered trademarks of Riot Games, Inc.


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We shot our first every Holiday lookbook. Featuring all the styles you will need to glitz, glitter, glam, stud, shimmer and shake up your holiday season. We have you covered no matter what your holiday needs. We will have the lookbook up Dec. 5th—with our IN THE SPIRIT video as well. Stay tuned.
Behind the Scene pics from Tina of Team Solestruck, should keep you satisfied until then.
Nice!! Look's lovely!!
Looks fabulous! You guys always take great bts photos!


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Last Words - Death & Resurrection
Biblical answers to questions relating to the last words of Jesus Christ.
Last Words
- Jesus was in pain and dehydrated on the cross, and His statements were often short. But his longest saying comes from Psalm 22 and reveals much about Him.
- Can you think of someone right now whom you cannot imagine ever being a follower of Jesus Christ? I would challenge you to start praying for that person by name. No one is beyond the reach of God's hand. Jesus prayed for the very people who crucified Him. Can you pray for someone who has wronged you?


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I have lost weight throughout my pregnancy - I am actually about 30 lbs down from my PPW. Baby is developing fine - all measurements are right on target - so your weight is not the end all indicator people make it out to be
BUT you are supposed to gain the bulk of your weight in the second trimester and it is common to start losing small amounts of weight in the third trimester. Loss of appetite is common as the baby is taking up more room, leaving less room for your stomach - making you feel full.
I'm sure your doctor has a threshold of how much is OK to lose in a week at this point and will let you know if there is any cause for concern - but I'm sure everything is FINE!
Good luck!


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Just imagine – everyone you know and love suddenly packs up and disappears for days. It's just you, a little food and water and that raggedy toy. Oh, maybe that kid from next door freshens the food or empties the litter. But your days are definitely long, lonely, and boring.
Is this what happens to your pet??
Or worse – a humiliating kennel cage?
Don't leave your loved ones all alone.
At K-9 Country Club they can run and romp and spend the day in the company of other cats and dogs.
You can feel less guilty knowing they are receiving almost the same level of personal attention you give them at home. This family owned animal care service is operated by a registered nurse who LIVES ON THE PREMISES.
She has over 30 years experience with all dog breeds. She and the staff specialize in making your pet's experience as close to the home experience as possible.
Leave your beloved friend with the pet sitters most highly recommended by area vets
There's doggie daycare for daily stays
Roomy, INDIVIDUALLY HEATED SUITES for dogs, and A / C for cats
A large fully fenced outdoor area with plenty of shade and a DOGGY POOL!
Full service GROOMING by NEPGP professionals – any and all breeds
Tours are always welcome
K-9 Country Club is located just off Route 495, within walking distance of the Lakeville T
36 Main Street
Lakeville, MA 02347
Ph: 508-947-5270
Drop by and Get to Know K-9 Country Club:
We're looking for new friends from Mansfield, Brockton, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Middleborough, Tauton and all surrounding areas.
Give your cat and dog the suite treatment. Call K-9 Country Club at 508-947-5270.


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I understand that this album review is a little belated, but I feel that Chelsea Grin is one of the most recognized "deathcore" bands of our generation. They had made their presence with an impact locally and nationally after the release of their first self-titled E.P., and continued to blow out consumers' speakers with their second album "Desolation of Eden". Their most recent production is entitled "My Damnation" which was released on July 19, 2011.
"My Damnation" starts off with the very typical "deathcore" style of vocals, with heavy guitars and blasting drums following suit. After listening to the intro song "The Foolish One", I was quite excited to listen to the rest of the album. This was one of the best tunes on the CD, unfortunately. Vocals didn't have much of an impact with the rest of the songs. As the listener, the instruments had to battle with the vocals to get my attention. The songs that had really stuck out to me were "The Foolish One", "Kharon", "My Damnation", and "All Hail the Fallen King". The transition from "Kharon" to "My Damnation" was a curve ball that I had not predicted to see Chelsea Grin throw. It showcased a different side of the band, which I enjoyed hearing. Guest vocals were also a great touch to the album. I have no complaints about them. Phil Bozeman and Nate Johnson added a bit more flavor to their respective songs.
After researching the band a little bit more, I haven't come across much evidence that Chelsea Grin was very open about their faith. Some of their lyrics make it seem as if they are another Christian band, but they have yet to release a statement in that regard.
I can't help but laugh when bands now a days are modifying their voices for a phrase or two to make it sound as if they are asking a question. A great example could be found at around the 3:20 mark in "My Damnation". Chelsea Grin is not the only band that is doing this, and I just ponder at why that is starting to get popular with bands..
"My Damnation" is a solid album, but unfortunately that is about it. Just solid.It didn't really push the genre in any other direction than where it already is. This album is getting to get a 7/10 from me. There could have been more variety in the songs, and majority of them are easily forgettable. I am sure that fans will enjoy this album for what it is worth to them, but I feel as if this may be deleted after a couple of months off of my phone because there is something more worthy of being on my sd card. Hopefully their next release won't follow them to the depths of damnation.


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Special Meeting Dec 18, 2014 7:00 p.m.
View Posting here. read more
Business Office Holiday Hours
View times here. read more
School Cancellation Information
Click on the Picture for Details read more
Elementary Holiday Concert Information
View Schedules here. read more
Our District Mission and Vision Statements
MISSION STATEMENT The Kalkaska Public School District, in cooperative partnership with students, staff family and community, believes all students can learn. We will provide a caring environment that promotes academic . . . read more
**JV and Varsity Boys Basketball Date Change**
Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball has moved their game FROM Friday December 19th to THURSDAY December 18th, 2014. Go Blue BLAZERS!! read more
Central Office Staff
Central Office Staff and E-Mail Addresses Click here. read more
Thank you, Shopko Foundation
The Shopko Foundation recently presented Kalkaska Public Schools with a check for $2,000. The funds will be used for the IB program, which is being introduced in our district. Shopko has donated several thousand dollars to our . . . read more
Myths and Facts About International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
Click here to read more read more
Passed with Flying Colors
Each year, KPS buses are inspected by the Michigan State Police, and once again they passed inspection with a high rating. While the district works with the Kalkaska Area Transit for most student busing, the district does operate a fleet for . . . read more
Laws for kindergarten enrollment have changed
A recently enacted Michigan law amended the Revised School Code (MCL 380.1147), which changed the minimum age requirement for a child enrolling in kindergarten. Currently, a student must be five years old by December 1st to be eligible for . . . read more
KPS earns district-wide accreditation
Hard work and intense scrutiny by a team of educators culminated with great news recently: Kalkaska Public Schools has earned district-wide AdvancED accreditation. The news was announced on March 7 to the Board of Education, teachers, . . . read more
Has your telephone number changed recently?
This is important in case we have a school closure
If you have changed your telephone number recently or dropped your land-line phone service, please let your child's school buildings know. We use these numbers to make automated calls on snow days. If you don't tell us when you make a change, . . . read more
KPS follows state and federal guidelines for determining the existence of a severe learning disability in a student
With consideration of federal guidelines and state requirements, specific learning disability eligibility is evaluated using a pattern of strengths and weaknesses. The "Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses" method is based on both . . . read more
"District Directory" Information
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Notice of Directory Information The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that Kalkaska Public Schools, with certain exceptions, obtain your . . . read more
Non Discrimination Policy
The Kalkaska Public Schools Board of Education complies with all Federal laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination and with all requirements and regulations of the U.S. Department of Education. It is the policy of Kalkaska . . . read more


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These organizations could see changes should a proposed cap to the charitable tax deduction included in President Obama's budget plan pass.
The U.S. Senate has already passed the provision that would cap or limit itemized tax deductions — including the charitable deduction which allows donors to deduct gifts to charities. The purpose of the provision, according to those promoting it, is to redirect those vital charitable dollars to help plug the federal deficit … but it would also reduce donations by billions of dollars nationwide and cut or eliminate vital services for millions of people.
Here in Cleveland and Bradley County, that could mean services provided to thousands of needy each year would be greatly limited, and some organizations might actually have to cease operation.
At United Way of Bradley County, there are four impact areas we are addressing: education, health, self-sufficiency and supporting the most vulnerable. We cannot do that adequately without having funds available for our partners that provide services which address these areas.
If lawmakers tamper with the charitable tax deduction, we run the risk of losing our nonprofit community's ability to provide food and shelter, prepare our children for success in school, work and life, help families become financially stable and strengthen heath care services for our most vulnerable citizens.
Americans understand the need to reduce the federal deficit, but statistics show that they also understand the need to give to help our less-fortunate neighbors. According to United Way Worldwide, 79 percent of the country believes reducing or eliminating the charitable tax deduction would have a negative impact on charities and the people they serve.
Sixty-two percent of current donors indicate they would have to reduce their contributions by a significant amount … 25 percent or more.
For every $1 a donor can deduct, research shows that the public receives approximately $3 of benefit to the people who need our help the most. No other tax provision generates that kind of positive public impact or return on investment.
As we are still reeling from the effects of the recession, we have seen an increased demand for services. It is difficult to understand why limiting or capping the charitable deduction, which in turn reduces funds available to nonprofits, is a good idea.
Though we at United Way cannot speak on behalf of other nonprofit organizations in our community, we can most assuredly say that a reduction in charitable donations to them — which could result from the passage of this legislation — would affect the way they help others.
We ask that the U.S. House and our local representatives look closely at this legislation and analyze the impact it will have. We trust them to make the right decision for the people who are dependent on these valuable charitable dollars.
(Editor's Note: This guest "Viewpoint" has been written and submitted by Chuck Krecklow, chairman of the board of directors for United Way of Bradley County Inc. He has served in several volunteer capacities with the nonprofit organization, just a few of which include fund distribution and campaign co-chair, and as a member of the board and executive committee for many years.)


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Developer Description
Sela the Space Pirate and her loyal robot Botte are flying through an asteroid field when they suddenly destroy a giant meteor that contains a huge alien nest. There's no time to lose ! Help Sela to clean up space and get rid of those parasites to reach her only goal: pillage and fill her ship with juicy money. But that won't be an easy task because the Space Bunnies Police Force won't let...
App Activity
- TouchArcade News Feb 8, 2013 More
- New App: $1.99, v1.0.0 Feb 14, 2013 More
- $1.99 -> $2.99 Mar 1, 2013 More
- Version 1.0.1 Mar 27, 2013 More


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Bob Fisher, president and CEO of the Nevada Broadcasters Association, introduces 2013 inductee Ed Henry, Fox News' Chief White House correspondent, during the NBA's Hall of Fame gala at the Red Rock resort.
FOX news' chief White House correspondent Ed Henry honored
Rules for posting comments
Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Stephens Media LLC or this newspaper. This is a public forum. Read our guidelines for posting. If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon next to the comment.


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9 inches of wrist cock, babeh.
9 inches of wrist cock, babeh.
Parmi | #1 draft pick | Jake King is **** | Big Bash League tipping champion of the universeCome and Paint Turtle
why don't you all marry gannon
Indians can't bowl - Where has the rumour come from as I myself and many indian friends arwe competent fast bowlers ?
With the English bid I said: Let us be brief. If you give back the Falkland Islands, which belong to us, you will get my vote. They then became sad and left
Good stuff from Silk again. Excellent start to his fc career so far.
Was lucky enough to watch the final session today, Silk is absolutely phenominal. My friends in the know tell me that Cricket Tasmania are absolutely crazy about him, and understandably so.
he's no david dawson or nic bills though
Can see Silk joining Sandhu as an Ashes bolter.
Well played Silk. Great patience from a young bloke.
WWCC - Loyaulte Mi Lie
"People make me happy.. not places.. people"
"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." - Samuel Johnson
"Hope is the fuel of progress and fear is the prison in which you put yourself" - Tony Benn
#408. Sixty three not out forever.
wouldn't be surprised if silk ended up being an injury replacement on the australia a your
although it wouldn't surprise me if they rushed him into the team from the start
Getting behind Silk for the long haul
Is there a stream anywhere for the final like last year?
Ah Rhino. Would to god you had decent knees :-(
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(1 review)
renemy on 12/20/2004 1:09:00 PM More reviews by renemy
Age: 19-24 Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm Hair: Black, Straight, Medium Eyes: Brown
I really wanted to like this, as I've been searching for a light green-blue - aqua maybe? This was way too "white", with just the tiniest bit of greenish pigmentation.
Is this review helpful? Yes No
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