text:
The great thing about sports rivalries is you can truly throw out the standings when certain teams meet.
Such was the case over the past seven days in both Capital District boys and girls basketball involving Hanover, Atlee and Lee-Davis. The week was filled with clutch performances, big comebacks, last-second shots, and even an overtime.
Shining brightest was the Atlee girls team, who celebrated Senior Night Thursday breaking open a close game to defeat Hanover. The Raiders went on a 30-1 run over a six-minute span of the third and fourth quarters to seal a 60-47 win. Cierra Shelton led the Raiders with 22 points, while Ashley Weaver added 14 and senior Stephanie Staples led the home court for the final time in style with 13 points.
There was no defining run when the Raiders traveled to Lee-Davis Tuesday night. The Confederates would scrap, claw, and fight their way through the game, forcing a memorable final two minutes.
The Raiders forced three quick steals in 90 seconds to begin the game and held a 9-8 edge after one, 29-24 at halftime. When the Raiders upped the lead to 10 at 47-37, the game seemed well in hand. Back came Lee-Davis, going on a 9-0 run to start the final period. Staples would score four points after an Atlee timeout to quell the rally, but the Confederates fought back, with back-to-back three-pointers by Kerstin Winston and Lauren McIntyre helping to tie the game at 54. Staples drew a foul and made one free throw to give the Raiders a 55-54 lead with two minutes to play.
Imani Boothe drove for two to give Lee-Davis the lead. Ten seconds later, a basket from Shelton gave Atlee the edge again, this time for good. Ashley Weaver stole the ball from Lee-Davis with 25 seconds left and scored for a 59-56 final. Lee-Davis had a chance for a tying three-pointer at the buzzer, but couldn't get a shot off in time.
"That was too close!" exclaimed Atlee head coach LaTanya Collins courtside after the game, her face overflowing with relief.
The Raiders (5-6 in Capital District play, 9-8 overall) were led by Staples with 15, but Shelby Hill had 11 key points to aid Atlee. The Confederates (2-10, 5-14) had four players in double figures, including 13 from Olivia Tuck, 11 from McIntyre, and 10 each from Boothe and inside force Kori Hughes, who added 17 rebounds just a week after breaking the school record for rebounds in a game with 22.
The Atlee boys felt the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Thursday at home, against favored Hanover, they positioned themselves for a win after being down by as many as nine points in the second half. The Raiders scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, later cutting the Hawks' lead to a point on a free throw from Brian Miller, who scored 18. When Quincy Randolph nailed a trey with 3:09 left, the Raiders finally led at 63-61.
The Hawks responded with a 6-0 run of their own, but Rashaun Winters put the Raiders on his back, scoring to cut the lead to 67-65, then stealing the ball and feeding Miller, who scored to tie the game. On both plays, however, Atlee was fouled. On both occasions, Winters and Miller missed their free throw. Hanover could have been down two, and knew they were lucky to be tied.
Freshman Jalen Elliott calmly took control, drawing an Atlee foul and sinking one of two free throws for a 68-67 lead with 21.7 seconds left. A Raider possession ended in a held ball, and with the possession arrow favoring the Green, Hanover took possession with 12.7 seconds left. On the ensuing play, a collision occurred between three players going after the ball. When the whistle blew with 8.2 seconds left, it was not for any foul, but for another held ball. Atlee had the ball, but their sophomore guard Brett Ayer was writhing in pain at mid-court.
After a pause, Atlee inbounded the ball, but Hanover's Donte Haynesworth got his hand on it, knocked it out of bounds, killing five crucial seconds off the clock. The Raiders inbounded again from mid-court, and Mac Gray raced to the baseline. His three-point prayer just before the buzzer went long and the Hawks survived.
The Raiders swung the pendulum at Lee-Davis Tuesday, rocketing to a 22-12 lead after a period on Senior Night for the Confederates. Lee-Davis overcame their usual slow start and slowed the game's pace much more to their liking. The Raiders scored only 21 points in the next two periods, holding a 43-37 edge into the final stanza. Ladarein Autry knocked down two threes down the stretch of the third to put the Confederates in position to wrestle the lead away. With 2:38 to go, two free throws finally gave Lee-Davis the lead at 51-49. Winters answered with a three for Atlee, then Autry found Austin Rice in the paint for a layup and it was 53-52. The teams traded baskets again, then Winters went to the line with 25 seconds left down one. He made one of two for the 55-55 tie. Lee-Davis had two shots at victory in the final seconds, but both fell short, and the contest went to overtime.
Mac Gray opened play with a critical basket to set the pace for Atlee, who wouldn't give up the lead again. The Raiders extended the lead to four in the final minute, but Tariq Caldwell nailed a three with 11 seconds left to draw Lee-Davis to within 63-62. Winters was fouled on the inbounds pass, and he missed both free throws. Lee-Davis called timeout and set up the final play. They had five seconds left to inbound the ball, drive the length of the court, and get off a shot.
The play call worked to perfection, as point guard Josh Brown took the ball right down the court and launched a baseline runner from 10 feet just before the buzzer. It hit the rim, falling short, and Atlee escaped The Asylum with the win.
"I just tried to stay calm throughout the game and stay patient," said Gray, who scored 15 in the victory. "We weren't worried about overtime. We actually were happy about playing another four minutes."
"He [Gray] kept hitting big buckets throughout the game," said Atlee head coach Phil Reynolds. "He's got a really good mid-range game. With his volleyball experience, he just elevates and jumps over people."
Gray's contribution was critical in light of Lee-Davis' ability to keep Raiders leading scorer Brian Miller to only eight points.
Both of Atlee's district wins have come against Lee-Davis. The Raiders are 2-10 in Capital play, 4-15 overall, and finish the regular season Friday at Highland Springs. The Confederates are 0-12 in the Capital, 4-15 overall under first-year head coach Rob Rice, a season filled with opportunity and frustration in easily the toughest district in Central Virginia and one of the best in the state.
"Lee-Davis has a great fan base, and I told Coach Rice he came into the district at a rough time. Those kids have played really well," Reynolds said.
For Hanover, though, the going was rough after the Atlee win, playing four more games in the next five days due to snow makeups, losing all of them. After home losses Friday and Saturday to the district's top teams Henrico and Armstrong, Hanover went to Glen Allen Monday night, but couldn't duplicate their win over the Jaguars from December, falling 70-58. Tuesday night at Highland Springs, the Springers rolled over the Hawks 95-50.
Chris Gilliam was lost to a foot injury for the stretch, and, in the second half against Glen Allen, the Hawks seemed tired, leaving shots short. They were also outrebounded 43-20. But head coach Darren Thornton thought the issue was more mental than physical.
"I think it was more frustration than our freshness. I think it was more us upset about us missing free throws and being down. We knew this [Glen Allen] was a game that we really wanted to have," Thornton noted.
The Hawks, 4-8 in the Capital and 9-8 overall, finish the regular season Friday at Varina, then look to the Capital District Tournament beginning Tuesday as their chance for redemption.


text:
Earning My Ears
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 15
Hi! Newbie here!
I've been lurking on your boards for the past few days so I figured it's only fair that I introduce myself
Aloha!! You can call me K. I'm 31 and live in Hawaii with my husband and 2 beautiful kiddos. DH and I are huge Disney fans - we've taken a bunch of trips together and are excited for our next trip in April! We haven't been able to get to WDW together yet - it's a little far for us - but we hope to get there in a few years. About our kids - our son is 5 and our daughter is 2.5. This next trip will be our son's 2nd and our daughter's first! DS's favorite Disney character (at the moment) is Captain Hook. DD loves the princesses and Tinkerbell. They both love watching all the Disney movies and I know they'll be SO excited to go to DLR when we surprise them! Anyway, i'm excited to be here and to learn all about Disney from you, the experts!
Me DH DS5 DD2
My Disney experience: October 1991 - Disneyland (1st Disney experience for 10th birthday) * July 1994 - Disneyworld (1st trip to WDW at 13 for brother's honeymoon :D) * December 1996 - Disneyworld (trip w/high school band) * December 2006 - Disneyland (late honeymoon) - Travelodge Anaheim * May 2007 - Disneyland (me and DH just for fun for 6-month anniversary) * February 2010 - Disneyland (DS' 1st trip at 2 1/2) - Anaheim Fairfield * November 2011 - Disneyland (5th wedding anniversary) - Park Vue Inn * April 2013 - Disneyland (1st trip for DD at 2 1/2, 2nd for DS at 5) - HoJo! |
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text:
The Global Intelligence Files,
files released so far...
Index pages
by Date of Document
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The Global Intelligence Files
On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.
AFGHANISTAN/IRAQ/US - Afghan MPs, observers warn against early US military pullout
Released on 2012-10-12 10:00 GMT
Email-ID | 728771 |
Date | 2011-10-24 12:14:06 |
From | firstname.lastname@example.com |
To | email@example.com |
List-Name | email@example.com |
Text of report by Afghan privately-owned Shamshad TV
[Presenter] Analysts have said if the USA makes the same decision on
Afghanistan as it has made on Iraq, to withdraw its troops from there,
it will have dangerous consequences.
They have said that withdrawal of the foreign forces is not advisable
unless the Afghan government is strengthened and the Afghan forces are
well equipped.
These remarks follow the announcement that all the foreign troops are
going to withdraw from Iraq within two months.
[Correspondent] US President Barrack Obama announced on Friday that he
would withdraw all his troops from Iraq within the next two months.
American troops were sent to Iraq in 2002 on orders from George Bush,
the US president at the time.
They overthrew the then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein from power. In
the beginning, 165,000 troops were sent to Iraq, but when Barrack Obama
came to power, he withdrew a great number of these troops leaving 39,000
troops in Iraq.
Regarding whether the problems have been solved in Iraq or not and what
will happen in Afghanistan if the foreign forces withdraw, some Afghan
experts and MPs have different opinions.
Some believe despite Obama's decision, the plan might not be implemented
in practice, because the USA's main goals have not been achieved in Iraq
yet. They have also said that a similar treatment of Afghanistan would
have bad consequences.
[Analyst, Zobair Shafiqi] First of all, I believe the USA will not
withdraw its troops from Iraq unless all their goals and interests have
been ensured and secured in Iraq regardless of making announcements of
[Unknown MP] Afghanistan is in a situation when its people are still
suffering from hardship. Withdrawal of the NATO, or foreign forces from
Afghanistan would create a new crisis for the region and the world
unless the Afghan army and police forces have been strengthened and
equipped properly to be able to fight against terrorists or their
[Unknown expert] There are problems in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan.
The Afghan government is unable to ensure security even in the cities.
The government cannot control the Afghan territory at all without the
help of foreign partners.
[MP Mirbat Khan Mangal] If they leave Afghanistan as they are leaving
Iraq, new 9/11 attacks will take place in the USA and other countries
again very soon.
[Correspondent] According to the experts, the Afghan government should
be provided with the needed facilities and equipment before the foreign
forces can withdraw. Shafiqi said that the international community will
not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in the short-term as from Iraq,
because they have not achieved what they planned yet.
[Shafiqi] Withdrawal of foreign forces at a time when the Afghan
government is very weak and its military forces are not self-sufficient
is a problem, because domestic conflicts as well as interference by the
neighbouring countries will resume once again.
[Correspondent] US President Barrack Obama has said that his country
will continue support for Iraq and maintain strong relations with this
The Iraqis asked the USA to leave 5,000 troops in Iraq to train their
national troops provided that violations by American soldiers would be
tried in Iraq, but the USA did not accept the precondition and decided
to withdraw all the troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Source: Shamshad TV, Kabul, in Pashto 1430gmt 22 Oct 11
BBC Mon SA1 SAsPol bbu
(c) Copyright British Broadcasting Corporation 2011


text:
It was 88 degrees here in North Texas yesterday and the high today is 58. Only a few more weeks and the plumies are outside!!! Can't wait. Lonnie |
Follow-Up Postings:
I hear ya Lonnie. Here in Tulsa it was 73 yesterday and 39 this morning with a high of 45 today. mike |
It's crazy here in Austin too - very high winds a couple of days. 86 yesterday, 68 today, low tonight 33. it's all over the place. More than anxious to get the plants outside!!! |
K do you pull and replant some of yours directly in the ground. I have wanted to do this but a bit nervous to try. Mike |
Awhhhh! Too cute "K"! Glad it had a happy ending. Peg |
Good question Mike - so you dig up your big trees and store them bare root? And GREAT SAVE with that little guy!!! He's precious, thanks for saving him and getting him to a kitty family! |
Mike, E, This is the first season of in ground planting for me. I am starting with these two well established Celadines. These two are my oldest (rooted in 2001). After seeing the arbitrary storage at the Water Garden place and knowing my South/Central TX winters are quite short I am confident they will be just fine with much less care than we all seem to think. However, I will probably use George's mulch storage method or Jandy's bag method for overwinter. I'm thinking about in ground planting a big Lei Rainbow, and a Jeannie Jr. as well. |
- Posted by beachplant 9b (firstname.lastname@example.com) on Sun, Mar 10, 13 at 18:54
Mike, stick them in the ground. A lot of growers here, like Emerson, dig theirs up every year. I have a friend on the north side of Houston who plants a few hundred in her yard every spring then digs them up every November 1. It's much warmer here and I just leave mine in the ground. Really mild this winter and most of them didn't even lose their leaves. I took the seedlings out a few weeks ago and am planting them all this week on my days off. This has been a weird winter, the pecan tree started to leaf out last month and it's been in the upper 40's in MARCH! Even the few plummies that lost leaves started puttting out new leaves a few weeks later, crazy. Happy spring! |
awww such a cute kitty! and so glad he got back to a mother kitty. Seems abit sad when kittens that young have to be formula fed because they have lost their mum...glad its a happy story :) |
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text: Bonny, this is a great way for everyone to view what pins MJ has! I cannot believe how much her collection has grown since we saw you guys at the end of June! I can only imagine the size of board you are going to have by the time our next trip rolls around!


text:
Wiegel Brothers Marine
704 1/2 Elk St.
Franklin, Pa. 16323
Tel. 814-437-2077
Fax. 814-437-3840
Home Page
New Boats
For Sale
Used Boats
For Sale
New Engines
For Sale
Used Engines
For Sale
Financing & Insurance
Lines We Carry
Contact Us
Business Hours
& Location
Canoes & Kayaks Division
Our full-service shop is available to take care of your every need, from winterizing your engine, to helping you maintain your trailer and electronics. Our Certified Technicians help you keep your boat on the water with high quality workmanship and affordable service. If you are looking for accessories, check out our fully stocked store.
Engine Services - specializing in:
· Major & Minor engine repairs
· Tune-ups
· Powerhead/lower unit repairs
· Standard Maintenance
· Winterize & Spring start up
Boat Services - specializing in:
· Lighting
· Trolling motor installation
· Livewell systems
· Steering systems
· Rigging
Trailer Services - specializing in:
· Bearings, tires & wheels
· Brake systems
· Winches, couplers & tongue jacks
Other Services - specializing in:
· Jet Conversion
· Boat Shrink Wrap (Call for details)
Additional Services
· Financing
· Boat and Trailer Title and Registration
· Canoe and Kayak Registration
All pictures displayed on our website may vary from items in stock. Images may be shown with options and/or accessories. Wiegel Brothers Marine, Inc., reserves the right to change prices and/or boats listed at any time and without notice.


text:
the know it all bag – the assisted knitting purse with led-lights
wir alle kennen es: das schwierigste am muster stricken ist wohl das memorieren des zu strickenden rapports.
aber jetzt gibt es : the know it all bag!
Fast Tube by Casper
"Knitting on the go, in pattern, can be tricky. How do you balance your pattern and your yarn and your needles while on the train, in the car, or in a waiting room?
Yep, this bag knows everything. It knows your row number, the chart for your stitch pattern, and where you are in that stitch pattern. Unlike the other know-it-alls in your life, it will gladly share information with you by displaying your row number and a chart for the current row of your stitch pattern in lights! The 10 LED lights act as a row counter and a charted pattern. And more important: just about any knitter could pull this off.
Really. Any knitter with a thirst for adventure and a few projects under their belt can do this."


text:
Skip to content
You are here > Cumbria Constabulary > News > Latest News > Cumbria Police Launch Cybercrime Campaign
Date Published: 10/02/2014 10:11
Cumbria Police launch a week-long campaign today (10th February) to highlight the issue of cybercrime.Tomorrow is Safer Internet Day and Cumbria Police are using the opportunity to encourage people to take simple steps to stay safe online.Cybercrime is not necessarily a new type of crime, it is often simply traditional crimes such as harassment, sexual exploitation or fraud committed using a different method via the internet. Since 2011 there have been 152 reports of crime to Cumbria Police which in some way relate to Facebook or Twitter, as an example.However, there are some new emerging threats in the form of denial of service attacks and hacking, which particularly impact on small to medium sized businesses in our communities, and it is accepted nationally that cybercrime is under-reported.Detective Superintendent Andy Slattery explains:"In this digital age we live in it is becoming increasingly important that people understand how to keep themselves safe on the internet. This week we aim to give people straightforward advice and guidance to protect themselves, their families and their businesses from internet crime."
"Without taking simple precautions people can put themselves at risk of fraud, exploitation and other serious crimes. The internet and social media are a key part of everyday life – however it is important to remember that safety in the 'online world' is now just as important as safety in the 'real world'.
"Children and young people are particularly vulnerable to some of the dangers of the internet. Sexual exploitation and cyberbullying are increasing concerns and I hope this campaign will encourage both parents and young people to make sure they are internet-savvy."Cumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner Richard Rhodes, in welcoming the initiative said:
"At a time when the internet is playing a central role in peoples' day-to-day lives, it is essential that we all take the necessary precautions to help keep ourselves safe from this type of crime. I would urge people to take heed of the Constabulary's safety messages and advice."The campaign will focus on three key areas:
Tuesday – Social media
Wednesday – Risks for children and young people online
Thursday – Online fraudSafety messages and advice will be sent out via the Cumbria Police Twitter and Facebook channels.
For more information about staying safe online please visit www.cumbria.police.uk/onlinesafety
More internet safety advice can be found on the Government's 'Cyberstreet' website: www.cyberstreetwise.com
Get in touch (non emergency) 101
Sign up to our newsletter, SMS or voice messages
Making a complaint
Email us here
Other ways to get in touch


text:
The Hopi Tribe will appeal a recent ruling in favor of the City of Flagstaff's plan to sell reclaimed wastewater to Arizona Snowbowl.
The Tribal Council recently told its lawyers to appeal the decision by the Coconino County Superior Court.
In his ruling in late December, Judge Joe Lodge said that the major issues in the case have already been decided in federal court.
The tribe's latest suit claims that treated sewage water cannot be used for snowmaking because melted snow could flow into water basins outside of the ski resort.


text:
Hepburn Shire Council - Preparing for Emergencies
Preparing for Emergencies
My Emergency Plan
Hepburn's Emergency Preparedness
Township Protection Plans
Places of Last Resort - Neighbourhood Safer Places
An emergency can occur quickly and without warning, whether it is a storm, flash flood, bushfire, power outage or other major disruption. It might only cause you minor disruption if you are not directly affected, but it could be devastating for you and your community. It makes common sense to plan for such an event.
Be prepared
My Emergency Preparedness
You can take some simple steps in advance that can help minimise the impact of an emergency on you and your family. This link will guide you on how to develop your own Personal Emergency Plan
Hepburn's Emergency Preparedness
The Hepburn Shire Council has been active in planning for emergencies, particularly for the Shires greatest risk, bushfire. This link will inform you on what the Hepburn Shire Council has been doing to prepare for an emergency event.
Fire Prevention
Places of Last Resort - Neighbourhood Safer Places
Township Protection Plans
External Web Links
RSPCA Victoria - Preparing your animals for an emergency
Date Printed: 30/01/2015
© Hepburn Shire Council 2015
Source: http://www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/
This information is provided from the Hepburn Shire Council web site and is for information purposes only. Although all care has been taken in the preparation and updating of the information no claim is made as to the accuracy or authenticity of the content. The Hepburn Shire Council, its employees, agents, consultants and representatives do not accept any liability to any person for the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) which is provided or incorporated into it by reference. The information is provided on the basis that all persons undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance, accuracy and currency of the information. Fees and charges are subject to change without notice.


text:
Proposed panhandling law too broad, critics say
Getting at crime or the homeless?
It's a Sunday afternoon and, just across the street from the downtown Seattle Art Museum, a panhandler by the name of Gerald is walking a fine line in the eyes of city law.
As pedestrians pass him at the corner of First Avenue and Union Street, Gerald thrusts out a paper coffee cup and asks for change. At other times, he walks up to passersby with his cup, in some cases coming up behind them after they have passed.
No one appears troubled by the nearly toothless 52-year-old, who says he got hit by a car years ago and hasn't worked since. He's been homeless off and on and now lives in a subsidized downtown studio, which he pays for with $339 a month that he gets from a state disability program. But that, he says, doesn't cover food, clothing or laundry. "The only way to earn my living expenses," Gerald says, "is with panhandling."
If Gerald were to step in front of anyone, he could risk being charged under a 1993 Seattle law that prohibits aggressive panhandling as a form of pedestrian interference. But in the near future, if he keeps walking up behind people or should get too close to a parking meter or bank machine, a controversial new law proposed last week by Seattle Councilmember Tim Burgess could subject Gerald to a $50 ticket from a police officer, whether or not a passerby complained about him.
Burgess says his aggressive solicitation ordinance is patterned after a similar law passed in Tacoma in 2007 and is narrowly aimed at specific behaviors
Curious was the Joel Connelly piece in the P-I where he used the subject to take a free shot at (paraphrasing) the 'obstructionists' exercising their rights on the Viaduct and 520. Go figure! Just another example of the City council grasping at straws to raise more revenue in a sinking economy. All this will do is create more (prisoners, prisons). But of coarse then they can increase our bill for Law Enforcement again. So maybe the CAN get more money out a half asleep public. We have a law in Milwaukee against aggressive panhandling. Problem is that interpretation is used by the arresting officer with no complainant needed to discourage homeless folk from some of the more fashional parts of the city. Tickets that cant be paid add up and it just weighs against an already taxed court system and jail. I've already contacted Burgess directly about the increasingly hostile attitude toward the poor, especially downtown. But now I have an additional wonder--if people are hit with tickets, and can't pay them, will they be disenfranchised, as felons too often are for being too poor to be able to pay fines? You neglected to mention that the aggressive panhandling restriction is just one part of an overall plan that is positive for all downtown residents, homeless or not. On balance, I think it's a reasonable approach. A majority of downtown residents are sick of aggressive panhandlers, and identical laws have worked well in Tacoma. The Burgess plan includes: 1. Return of fixed-beat police foot patrols in specific areas. 2. Continued hiring of new police officers to enable full implementation of the Neighborhood Policing Plan. 3. Well-defined restrictions on aggressive solicitation on city streets. 4. Expanded scope and better coordination of street outreach offering support services to homeless individuals. 5. Increased housing capacity combined with support services for the homeless and individuals struggling with mental health and/or chemical dependency challenges. Just another step to gentrification. Loss of income from the de facto decriminalization of marijauna leads councilmen seeking to roust more tax money from our pockets through the dispensing of fear. The "crime problem" in the South Lake Union area has increased in direct proportion to the increase in development and tenancy in that same area. The statistical percentage per capita holds: there is no crime wave, as we would be led to believe. Further marginalization of the poorest sector of the community ( and they are part of the community, whether you like them or not ) WILL lead to higher crime rates as desperation leads to action. A hungry man is an angry man...whether they hunger for food or booze or drugs. Panhandling is percieved as a nusiance to what? To the "Haves" being shamed? Time and time again, the results of police and municipalities using these tactics has shown that the old adage rings true: Beg, Borrow, Steal. A homeless person cannot borrow, for they have no property. If you dictate that they cannot beg, where do they end up? Of course, the bigot will put the cart before the horse. "Not so, say Burgess and City Attorney Pete Holmes, whose office worked with Burgess on the legislation. Both say police officers will be well trained in the types of situations in which to issue tickets and that the law will serve as a tool to help get people off the street and into services offered through the city I lived in Seattle and it is one of the cruelest cities towards homeless and mentally challenged. Should Council members intact ordinances upon the public without credible research and study? "aggressive solicitation ordinance" ???? Let's ponder this. I can't stop the aggresive solicitation in my snail mail. I can't stop the aggresive solicitation in my email. I can't stop the aggresive solicitation from taking over my computer. I can't stop the aggresive solicitation on my phone. I can't stop the aggresive solicitation from my own government. I can't stop the aggresive solicitation takeovers by corporations destroying America's small business competition. You can try AGGRESIVELY with everything you've got to stop these LEGAL parasites, and you can't. PERIOD. But, the city wants to make it illegal to ask for spare change? I aggressively SPIT on the city council.Commenting is not available in this channel entry.


text:
Dogs strut their stuff at Expo Center
By Amy Lavalley Post-Tribune correspondent October 26, 2013 11:20PM
Michelle Breen of Cincinnati grooms Cole, a standard poodle, on Saturday at the Porter County Expo Center during the annual dog show sponsored by the Valparaiso Kennel Club. | Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 28, 2013 6:57AM
VALPARAISO — Indy was really patient.
Michelle Breen of Cincinnati fluffed the black standard poodle's fur with a pick, the finishing touch on a lengthy grooming process.
"I do it in stages, but if I did it all straight through, it would take six hours," she said, adding she would shave the dog the first day, bathe and blow-dry it the second day, and use a scissors for shaping on the third day.
Indy wasn't the only dog getting prettied up Saturday during the annual dog show at the Porter County Expo Center. The show, sponsored by the Valparaiso Kennel Club, includes 544 dogs in 105 breeds.
The 37th annual show continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and is free to the public.
The majority of handlers and owners in the show are from the Midwest, though there are some from each coast, said Scott Wasserman, the show's co-chairman. The event features five show rings, as well as vendors offering supplies, treats, clothes and other dog-themed wares.
Breen has been showing standard poodles for nine years. Indy is ranked 13th in its breed in the country, she said. She also brought Indy's son, Cole, to show, which she's been to before.
"We pick the shows based on the judges, judges who've liked our dogs before, and we try to figure what the competition will be there and whether we have a good shot against the competition," she said.
New at the show was a booth for the U.S. War Dogs Association. John Meeks, executive director for a chapter of the association based in Kokomo and representing the Midwest, said the kennel club asked him to come to the show because it's so close to Veterans Day.
Meeks was a dog handler in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He and his German shepherd, Artus, served as a scout team, going out ahead of a company or a platoon.
"He would alert to anything out of the ordinary. He actually alerted to a trip wire one time," Meeks said, adding Artus died of a gunshot wound after being passed on to another handler.
These days, 3,300 dogs serve in the U.S. military, including 200 in Afghanistan, Meeks said, adding his organization promotes the history of war dogs and supports dogs serving now.
"I do this in memory of Artus. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. I owe him everything," Meeks said.


text: … and it's REALLY short. There's still a fair wait until "Game of Thrones" returns, but if your days are flying by as quickly as mine, I guess it will be here before we all can shout "House Targaryan!!". Check out the latest "Game of Thrones" teaser below and heed the words of the matriarch.


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HOW TO MAKE AN EXTRA$54,000 PART-TIMEyour first year...in your ownOFFICE CLEANING BUSINESSI did it... you can too!NO INVESTMENT - NO EXPERIENCEYOU CAN START RIGHT AWAY
My name is Sam Rodman. I have been in the office cleaning business for more than 10 years. As an employee, I worked hard for other people and was paid well for my services of running a cleaning crew. I saw first hand the big profits being made in the office cleaning business and started my own back in 1992.
I realized that anyone can do the cleaning, but the key is "getting the accounts."
I started with a spray bottle and a borrowed vacuum cleaner. After only the first few months of working for myself, I was bringing in $4500 dollars a month and I was only working 4 hours, part-time in the evenings on Monday thru Friday to get it. That's $54,000 dollars per year, which was more money then I'd ever made. I wasn't trying to get any more business. I was working less than 20 hours a week, going fishing on the weekends and enjoying my free time.
Order Here To Get Started


text:
[b]Ian Brown[/b] is set to release the second single from his fifth solo album 'The World Is Yours' next month.
'Sister Rose' features two guesting [b]Sex Pistols[/b] on the track, [b]Steve Jones[/b] and [b]Paul Cook[/b] on guitar and drums.
The single out on December 3, is just one of the tracks that feature guest artists on Brown's latest solo effort. Ex-[b]Smiths' Andy Rourke[/b] and [b]Sinead O'Connor[/b] also appear.
More details about the album and a Q&A with Brown about 'The World Is Yours' is available here.
Ian Brown's current 35-date UK tour continues:
[b]Carlisle, Sands Centre (November 26)
Oxford, Carling Academy (27)
London Brixton Academy (29)
London Brixton Academy (30)
Doncaster Dome (December 1)
Aberdeen AECC (3)
Glasgow Academy (4)
Wolverhampton Civic (5)
Manchester Central (7)
Manchester Central (8)[/b]


text:
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A team of over 150 people


text:
Wild ride for history-making NIU football team
BY NEIL HAYES firstname.lastname@example.com December 2, 2012 10:04PM
Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch (6) scrambles during the first quarter of the Mid-American Conference championship NCAA college football game against Kent State, Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Updated: December 3, 2012 6:07PM
What likely will be remembered as the wildest weekend in the history of Northern
Illinois football featured a double-overtime victory against Kent State in the Mid-American Conference championship game Friday, coach Dave Doeren accepting the N.C. State coaching job Saturday and the Huskies receiving an Orange Bowl berth Sunday.
Oh, yeah. NIU also got a new coach, with offensive coordinator Rod Carey being named Doeren's successor.
''When you say it like that, it makes my head spin still,'' said Carey, who learned he was being promoted Sunday evening. ''It has been crazy; it has been nuts. That's the only way to explain it. But it's been good; it has been wonderful. And what a privilege for our kids to go to the Orange Bowl. You should've seen our kids. They were so excited, they could hardly stand it.''
The Huskies (12-1) became the first MAC team to earn a berth in a BCS bowl after
they finished 16th in the BCS standings. They will play Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State (11-2)
in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day in Miami.
Carey said the final touches still are being put on his five-year contract. Although he doesn't know which assis-
tants will go with Doeren and which will stay, his first order of business is finding a way for quarterback Jordan Lynch, who leads the nation in rushing yards (1,771) and total yards (4,733), and NIU's 15th-ranked offense to score against the Seminoles'
No. 2-ranked defense.
''You don't get in this game unless you're a good football team,'' Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. ''They've earned the right to be here and have this opportunity, and they're going to try to maximize it and make the most out of it. We know we're going to have an inspired opponent.''
Carey said that while leaving for N.C. State was the right decision for Doeren, he's committed to the Huskies.
''I've wanted to be at this place a lot of times in my
career,'' he said. ''Now that I'm here and this has happened, I don't know why I would want to go anywhere else.''


text:
I love apple sauce (I have made apple sauce and apple butter a few times already this season!) and will have to give your raw version a try. Thanks!
]]>I love the spicy applesauce – and I used to eat applesauce with milk & honey when I was little. Yum. I should do it again with soy & agave. Loved reading more about you, too.


text:
Despite all the wonderful imagery of being retired, maybe it's not so great after all. Vacations are more fun because of work. Food tastes even better when we're starving. Finding a nice Four Seasons hotel bathroom after eating incredibly spicy Thai food that's ripping through your system is heaven. Soaking in the outdoor hot tub after eight hours of skiing can't be beat. Finding true love in your loneliest time trumps them all.
Every time I go on vacation, I like to pretend I'm retired and leading a location-independent lifestyle. It's fun to day dream as my goal is to retire within 10 years and live off my savings, investments, and online initiatives. It's exciting to go on test drives without any pressure to buy the car. Having a robust 401k that I've been maxing out for over a decade is really comforting.
It's important to have confidence retirement is right thing to do, because once you remove yourself from the work force, especially in this market, it may be hard to return if you change your mind years down the road. I've got this grand plan of being laid off the last day that I want to work so I can get some severance and maybe even some of my tax dollars back in the form of unemployment benefits. Tell me I'm not the only one who has this idea? Ah, to dream.
Here's an example of a typical vacation day in Hawaii:
7am: Wake up and work online for an hour.
9am: Eat breakfast consisting of my favorite fruits: papaya, mango, and pumelo.
10am: Go to the beach, play tennis, or go golfing for another 2-4 hours.
12noon: Lunch at a favorite local restaurant (Hawaiian, Korean BBQ, or Italian Japanese fusion)
1:30pm: Come home and check online communication for 30 minutes.
2:30pm: Take a 30-minute nap.
3:00pm: Spend time with the family playing tennis, surfing, body boarding hiking, or laying by the pool.
6:30pm: Have dinner with friends.
8pm: Watch a movie or go to a show.
10:30pm: Work online for another 30 minutes to an hour.
Midnight: Read, go to bed and dream.
Pretty standard things that probably mimics a lot of what you would be doing on vacation too, except for perhaps the work part! I love to work and the ideal amount is 2 to 4 hours. I think if everybody were able to work less hours a day, they'd probably love their jobs that much more and last that much longer too.
Everybody has a responsibility to keep finding something they really enjoy doing for work. We've only got one go around, so instead of settling, we owe it to ourselves and to our family to find happiness. My happiness simply includes everything I've written in a typical day above in the time increments I want them to be.
One of the big problems with retiring in your forties and fifties is that you have to walk away during your prime earning years. For argument's sake, let's say you work in one of the numerous high paying industries that pays over $250,000 a year at the age of 40. You've always been a diligent saver and have never lived off more than half of your income.
Despite saving 50% of your earnings for a couple decades, you've also gotten used to living a very comfortable lifestyle, which includes a fabulous house, a vacation home, membership to a couple clubs, charitable commitments, and two-week long family vacations, two to three times a year etc. Meanwhile you have a 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son in school to support as well.
Even if you have millions in savings and retirement investments, and a large cushion of property equity, walking away from a job making $250,000+ a year won't be so easy. All you've got to do is work another 12 more months and your bank account will be flush with another $50-$75,000+ in after-tax savings! Even though you've been making that kind of money for a decade, you still realize it's a lot of money to walk away from.
If it pleases you, replace $250,000+ in your forties and fifties with $100,000 or whatever amount is reasonable in your line of work. I think the results are the same given you've been used to making that money for a while and everything is relative. It's tough to walk away during your prime earning years!
The fear of walking away during our prime working years is that we'll never be able to make that type of money again. There's also a risk that we fail to achieve our potential. Instead, perhaps an easier way to deal with retirement is to retire even earlier, say in your thirties where you never will experience your full potential as a person in the workforce. It's easier walking away if you are earning less and have less responsibility.
Conversely, you could work throughout your forties and fifties and retire at a more conventional age of 60-65, thereby maximizing your highest earning years, giving yourself the best opportunity for a financially secure retirement, and minimizing any work-related regrets of not giving it your best.
Working until you are 60-65 might bring you some other regrets such as not doing more while you were younger. There is of course another risk that you die soon thereafter. However, hopefully you have maximized all your vacation days at your firm wisely to relax and go on great adventures.
You can plan all you want, but nothing always goes according to plan. Always think in 5 or 10 year chunks when you do things. Yakezie.com, for example, is currently on year 2 of a 10 year chunk. It would be great if my online initiatives and investments can achieve 100% of my day job income in 5 years time. I doubt it, but I won't know if I don't try. It will be even harder walking away with double the income.
Perhaps it's best not to plan too tightly for the future. When it comes to deciding when to retire, it's a fools game to set a specific age. Deciding when to retire is perhaps very similar to when we know it's time to propose or have children. We have a rough idea of when, but it's only when our hearts push us forward, do we finally find the conviction to let go.
If you are retired, I'd love to hear your perspective on how you decided it was the right time, if it was up to you. What were your fears when you finally made up your mind? What are the things that would have made it easier for you to retire even earlier.
If you are not retired, how will you know?
Please read, "The Dark Side To Early Retirement" for more thoughts on why it might not be a good idea to retire early.


text:
This is a syndicated post from The Daily Register. [Read the original article...]
By Jimmy Akin |
The book of Genesis records an instance in which Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, by pretending to be his brother.
He does this so that he can inherit his father's blessing.
All of this seems to happen in fulfillment of… (184)


text:
In an interview, Kip Viscusi reports that the efficiency of Superfund of money spent per case of cancer eliminated: $7 billion. Imagine if a fraction of Superfund money was instead spent on curing cancer. (via Tabarrok)
Superfund: your government at work
{ 2 comments }
- 1 08.15.07 at 8:08 pm
The $7 billion figure seems low to me. After many years of follow up at love canal, there was no evidence of anybody being hurt at all. The problem there was poor the esitmations of exposure.
The current hysteria is with the tiny amount of "lead" in paint on toys. The word "lead" is equated with "danger", but only relatively high exosures to lead can cause a problem. A trace of lead in one or two of a child's toys is nothing to worry about. For decades children played with lead toy soldiers without any problems.
- 2 08.16.07 at 5:36 am
Yeah but the lawyers made a bundle and the Democrats campaign donations went way up as a result.
Comments on this entry are closed.


text:
Within the Paleo community, few things seem to create more division as milk. Milk can cause some people some fairly serious problems, but should milk be cut out for everyone?
Let's start with talking about why it is that milk can cause problems in the first place? Here's my Laymen's understanding of the process. Milk contains a sugar called lactose. This lactose is broken down and used by the body by an enzyme within us called lactase. The only problem with that is that lactase stops being produced by the body after infancy, and so usually only exists in us when we are babies. This, in theory, makes every adult on the face of the planet unable to digest lactose (in other words lactose intolerant) and can cause some fairly serious (and embarrassing) consequences for those who consume it.
And now for the 'But'. Clearly some people can consume milk with no problems and the benefits of consuming milk are very advantageous for those who can (good source of usable protein and calcium). Why is this so? The theory is that about 7000-8000 years ago, the people living in the Northern European/Scandinavian region developed a genetic mutation that allowed them to tolerate milk consumption. This added source of nutrients gave them an evolutionary advantage and thus the gene was passed down.
This is reflected in the fact that today approximately 90% of people with a northern European background are considered to be tolerant to lactose, as opposed to only 10% in equatorial populations (although the news is not all bad for people of equatorial heritage where almost the opposite can be said for their ability to tolerate fructose, the sugar found in fruit).
Not all in the paleo community think that milk should even be off the menu. Notably Mark Sisson, author of 'The Primal Blueprint' has stated (on Robb Wolf's 'The Paleo Solition Podcast) that he believes that milk should be part of the modern diet, as it was probably introduced into the human diet long before the onset of agriculture. He reasons that Paleolithic cavemen would have used as much of an animal they had killed as possible, including the udders of milk bearing mammals.
So the question is to consume milk or not to consume milk. I still believe that the best protocol to follow for this situation is Robb Wolf's 30 day exclusion diet, where you take diary, grains and legumes out of the diet for 30 days (after which you can begin to reintroduce them). Most of us don't have genealogical records or DNA analysis telling us what exact lineage we have, so the safest way is exclude all potentially problematic foods and then reintroduce them (one at a time) after the 30 days to see the effect.
At the end of the day lactose tolerance is not a black and white thing. There is a small percentage of the population that are totally intolerant and a small percentage who are super tolerant. The rest of the population sit on scale from fairly intolerant to fairly tolerant. Knowing what foods you can and can't tolerate is really an essential part of tailoring your eating habits. We are all different, so why should our gastrointestinal tracts be any different.
In the interest of full disclosure I should divulge that I am a milk drinker, so I am a bias towards having it in the diet. However I have gone without it and I found that benefits of having it in my diet far outweigh any possible problems (although for me there are none. Good Viking heritage I guess). as I was alluding to before though, your diet is exactly that – Yours, so you should take the time and effort to see if things like milk work for you.


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Is Kashmir white a quartzite, or a granite? If we go with a granite (still trying to decide), I need a bulletproof stone that's not prone to staining, so have ruled out the gorgeous Super White quartzite I originally fell in love with. Does anyone know where Kashmir White stands?
Thanks so much. |
Follow-Up Postings:
I believe it's granite, and I've heard that it's fussier than most as many "white" granites tend to be. Have you investigated white/light quartz? |
- Posted by aimskitchen (My Page) on Fri, Nov 2, 12 at 14:41
I have been looking at the lighter quartz and there are some I really liked. I did hear that some of them are way backlogged, looking at something like April for delivery, and that won't work for me. I need to ask around locally to find out what's the norm with quartz and the waiting period. I'd also be interested in other light or gray granites that would be durable. Thanks! |
It's granite, without a doubt. Suzanne - what have you heard about its fussiness? My Mom just decided on Kashmir White today for her kitchen, so I'd be keen to know if there are issues with it. thanks! |
- Posted by Madeline616 (My Page) on Fri, Nov 2, 12 at 19:37
My Mom just decided on Kashmir White, too :) I have a friend who's had it for about 3 years. She has 3 young boys and they've had no staining. Here are a couple of GW threads on it: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg021837581106.html http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0718581422311.html |
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text: This law is really messed up. I got a sober DUI last week. I have a medical card. I just got done walking my dog for 1.5 miles, running about 3 and hitting the gym. Then I showered and got behind the wheel. No way was I impaired. I wasn't high, buzzed or anything. I've been toking for decades, every day. So my blood is gonna be positive. I was an idiot who agreed to the FST because here I am stone-cold sober, thinking I'll just show them I'm sober. F'n BS law.


text:
The Recall Lindsey Holmes group went to the Division of Elections yesterday and submitted our signatures for the recall application. I have to admit, it feels really good to have them submitted. It feels a little like climbing a long …
Legal Disclosure
Opinions and Commentary
Opinion: Read Between the Lines in the Voting Record
At some point in the next few months, you will likely hear Representative... read more
Opinion – Why Voting Isn't Enough Anymore
Tuesday is Election Day in Anchorage, and to varying degrees, I am sure that... read more
This Recall Should Be A Nonpartisan Issue
I am actually a little surprised. When I go door to door in our neighborhood,... read more
Opinion: "I Don't Care" – Words From a Neighbor
Going door to door for signatures has been a very rewarding experience so far,... read more
Opinion: Yes, We Are Keeping Score
Representative Holmes salve that she applies to her angry constituents is to... read more


text:
{{ title }}
{{ link.name }}Keywords
A view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus also known as the Istanbul... News Photo 156529625Aeroplane,Black Sea,Bosphorus,Channel,City,Connection,Environmental Issues,Flying,Horizontal,Illustration,Illustration Technique,Istanbul,Natural Resources,Night,Offbeat,Sea of Marmara,Setting,Strait,View,Water,navigablePhotographer BULENT KILICCollection: AFP 2012 AFPA view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus, also known as the Istanbul Strait, a navigable channel of water which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, on November 16, 2012, as seen from an airplane flying over Istanbul. The Bosphorus is considered as the physical and geographical boundary between Europe and Asia. AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)


text:
Boston's Brad Marchand had his day with the Stanley Cup on Monday, which kicked off with hockey's Holy Grail getting filled with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. After his complete breakfast, Marchand took the Cup to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax and then took part in a pair of celebrations around the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Marchand should be fairly accustomed to this exercise by now, even if it is his first with the Stanley Cup; the mayor of Halifax, Peter Kelly declared January 12th 2008 'Brad Marchand Day' for the Hammonds Plains native's gold medal performance with Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championship:
Whereas The residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality wish to recognise the outstanding achievement of Brad Marchand as he represented Halifax Regional Municipality and Canada at the 2006-07 and the 2007-08 World Junior Hockey Championships in Sweden and Czech Republic; and
Whereas Brad Marchand, became the first two-time Canadian Junior Hockey Gold Medalist, born and raised in Hammonds Plains in the Halifax Regional Municipality, has returned to our community; and
Whereas The residents of Halifax Regional Municipality wish to convey their best wishes to Brad Marchand on his debut today with the Halifax Mooseheads Hockey League;
THEREFORE, I, Mayor Peter J. Kelly, on behalf of Halifax Regional Council, do hereby proclaim January 12, 2008, as Brad Marchand Day in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
We'd assume that at some point during a Brad Marchand Day that there would be copious amounts of alcohol consumed and that roughing up feeble men while giving up five inches is commonplace. You can sign us up for at least half of the activities of any given Brad Marchand Day.
Quick Hittin'
Devils to hang Scott Niedermayer's No. 27 from the rafters in December? [Fire & Ice]
Burns and Vlasic have the makings of a premier shutdown defensive pair in San Jose. [Fear The Fin]
Offseason winners and losers, Down Goes Brown style. [DGB]
Carter Ashton and Brett Connolly visit with the Tampa Rays prior to their Monday night game in Toronto. [The Heater]
The 'Scary Gary' Roberts diet is all the rage. [Globe and Mail]
12 Penguins games that thePensblog is looking forward to for next season. [Pensblog]
Could Filip Kuba be what the New York Islanders are looking for on defense? [Pro Hockey Talk]
Marginal playoff efficiency or, fun with math and hockey. [Copper & Blue]
Marginal Over


text:
Wavii groks the news so you don't have to
Has Techmeme met its match? Or Flipboard? New semantic news analysis company Wavii is launching its automated, personalized news "feed" app today. It's a more modern and more pretty, deconstruction of the overwhelming news barrage we're all buried under. Wavii CEO Adrian Aoun's pitch: "Facebook is good for keeping up with friends, but it's kind of annoying that you can't keep up with your world this way."
Wavii is a smart timeline of the news. Its core value is that it runs its semantic engine against several hundred news feeds and … Read more


text:
Events calendar
Dates are subject to change
Displays (14)
14 displays matching the date today
Photograph of the Month
1 December 2014 - 1 February 2015
Room 31
The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered
12 September 2014 - 1 March 2015
Room 1, 2 and 3
Hidden: An unseen portrait of Oliver Cromwell
10 July 2014 - 19 October 2015
Room 5
Recent investigation has revealed what may be a hidden portrait of the Parliamentarian commander Oliver Cromwell beneath a portrait of the army officer Sir Arthur Hesilrige.
Favourites: Art and Power, 1600-1800
18 July 2014 - 1 September 2015
Room 16
Throughout British history, the reigning monarch has operated a system of favouritism by which loyalty, support and achievement have been rewarded with privileges, titles and membership of exclusive groups. This system has been central to the hierarchy of traditional British society and has helped to protect the monarch and assert the crown's authority.
Old Titles and New Money: American Heiresses and the British Aristocracy
25 November 2014 - 1 August 2015
Room 23
A focus on the late-nineteenth-century phenomenon of American heiresses marrying into British aristocracy. The display will explore how women such as Mary Curzon and Jennie Churchill became charismatic leaders of British society.
Thomas Carlyle: Historian of Heroes
14 July 2014 - 30 March 2015
Room 24: case display
This display focuses on the eminent Victorian historian and literary figure, Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). Carlyle established his reputation through the major works Sartor Resartus (1833-34), The French Revolution (1837) and Frederick the Great (1858-65), as well as shorter books and essays such as his collection Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850).
Painting Parliament: The Fine Arts Commission 1841 – 1863
12 August 2014 - 10 May 2015
Room 25: case display
This display focuses on the committee of key Victorian figures appointed to oversee the decoration of the newly-built Houses of Parliament.
'The artist's cause at heart': M.H. Spielmann, Collector and Donor
18 November 2014 - 1 August 2015
Room 28: case display
A range of nineteenth century Punch self-portraits, photographs of sculptors and Jewish personalities throws light on the writer and art historian Marion Harry Spielmann's work, and his decades of generosity towards the Gallery.
Henry Tonks: Studies of the Artist
18 November 2014 - 1 July 2015
Room 29
This display showcases three self-portrait sketches by one of the most influential art teachers of the twentieth century, Henry Tonks (1862-1937). The studies were made on the eve of the First World War, while Tonks was a teacher at the Slade School of Fine Art.
Suffragettes: Deeds not Words
1 July 2014 - 10 May 2015
Room 31
Keep the home fires burning
1 July 2014 - 15 February 2015
Room 31: case display
This display will cast a spotlight on the stars of the music halls, musical revues and comedies who kept the public entertained during the First World War. Their performances were diverting, comforting, occasionally critical, and their songs have since become an evocative part of public remembrance of the conflict.
Grayson Perry: Who Are You?
25 October 2014 - 15 March 2015
Room 32
Sponsored by Coutts
Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry turns his attention to portraiture and British identity for this display of new works, including a self-portrait and a tapestry, made during his Channel 4 series Who Are You?
Colour, Light, Texture: Portraits by Matthew Smith and Frank Dobson
5 August 2014 - 6 April 2015
Room 33
Snowdon: A Life in View
26 September 2014 - 21 June 2015
Rooms 37 and 37a
This display celebrates a major gift of photographs from Lord Snowdon to the Gallery in 2013, and coincides with a new monograph published by Rizzoli.


text: So I was telling my friend about 3fatchicks.com last night, I told her to join and check it out. Well, this morning I was talking to her before she leaves to visit her relatives and I told her to be sure to check out this site, stating the name again. Well she replies, "Oh, it's THREE fat chicks dot com? That explains a lot." I looked at her funny:?: and then she says, "I thought it was TWO fat chicks. You know if you go to two fat chicks dot com it's a bunch of porn." :o


text:
CAIRO - The evacuation of a mosque in the West Midlands region of Walsall after the discovery of a suspicious item in the worship place is coming as a new shock to the Muslim community in Britain.
It's a very big shock for the local community, Ali Mahmood, the chair of the local traders' association in Walsall, told The Sun newspaper on Sunday, June 23.To see the road cordoned off like this is shocking.
Mosque Stabbings Add to UK Muslim Pains Bradford Muslims Remember Fallen Soldier Mosque Invitation Counters UK Fascists |
A suspicious item was found in the grounds of Aisha mosque and Islamic center in the Caldmore area of Walls.
Army bomb disposal experts were dispatched to the area to inspect the item and ordered the evacuation of around 39 homes surrounding the mosque.
"People in the affected area and who are unable to make alternative arrangements are being taken to Walsall Town Hall where they will be cared for," a police statement said.
Bomb disposal experts are still working to establish whether or not the package is an explosive device.
"We were told by the police that there was an incident of a serious nature, said Viyja Kainth, the vice-chairman of a residents' group.
"The residents were evacuated in the early hours of the morning," he said, praising the work of Walsall Council in helping those who had to leave their homes.
Superintendent Keith Fraser said police were "taking this extremely seriously".
We have launched a full investigation into the suspicious item that has been found, and what's going to be the key to this is the public's help in relation to helping us to understand why that suspicious item was in the area, he said.
It's a shock to the local community and the force is treating this very, very seriously.
Residents are worried that the suspicious item is the latest in a series of attacks against British Muslims.
There is a good community spirit at the mosque, Mariyah Gilani, a resident, told ITV website.
It sounds like an anti-Islamic attack as there was an EDL protest in town recently and you hear about attacks in London and the repercussions.
But here we are just very much a part of the community, I didn't see anything like this coming.
British Muslims, estimated at around 2.7 million, have been in the eye of storm since the machete killing of an army soldier by two converts of immigrant origin in Woolwich, near London, last month.
According to Tell Mama project, which monitors anti-Muslim attacks in Britain, 212 anti-Muslim incidents have been reported after the Woolwich attack.
The figure included 11 attacks on mosques, in a series manifestation of anti-Muslim sentiments.
Three Muslim worshippers were stabbed after the night prayers in Birmingham two weeks ago.
A fire also gutted the Darul Uloom Islamic school in Foxbury Avenue in south-east London last week, a blaze described by the police as suspicious.
It came after a suspected arson attack on an Islamic centre in north London.Initials of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) was found scrawled on the side of that building.
Reproduced with permission from OnIslam.net


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Our certified yoga teachers provide excellent instruction to newbies and experienced practitioners. We offer a full schedule of weekly classes, private instruction, private groups, and special workshops. Classes are held in the Living Room - our beautiful, new yoga studio at the Inn at Stratton Mountain; the Sports Center; on Stratton's Summit, Mid-Mountain, and other resort locations. Practicing yoga helps one increase flexibility, strength, balance, focus, and mindfulness. It is perfect for athletes who are strong and tight, as well as seniors, children, and everyone in-between.
Yoga Guidelines: Yoga is practiced barefoot. Wear comfortable clothes. Drink water before and after class. Do not eat within an hour of class. Tell instructor if you have to leave class early. Turn cell phones off. Do not enter class after start time. Bring an open mind and a willing spirit.
"Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are." ~ Jason Crandell
See the full schedule of both Yoga and Fitness Classes HERE!
Laura Brown
While living in Brooklyn, Laura began yoga teacher training with Eileen Muir at Karuna Yoga and Healing Arts Center in Northampton, MA. Laura has continued to inform her practice and her teaching through intensives, immersions and several 10 day Vipassana meditation retreats, as taught by SN Goenka. She hopes that by continued and determined practice she may be of service to others on the path, linking breath to movement, and linking movement on the mat to a life of courage and sincerity off the mat.
Living Room: The Living Room, located at the Inn at Stratton Mountain, is our beautiful new, 1800 SF yoga studio. Sunlight streams through a bank of windows on the northern wall, and a big, beautiful fireplace on the opposite wall boasts a toasty, roaring fire all winter long. Wood floors, warm colors, soft lighting, and open space, provide a welcoming, soothing place to practice yoga. We encourage you to bring your own yoga mat, however mats, and props are provided for your use.
On-Mountain Yoga: Ride the gondola up the mountain for Summit Yoga, held on the deck of Hubert Haus, or at the top of the Kiddebrook trail. Join us for a hike to the Mid-Mountain Lodge deck for yoga, or a hike to a beautiful bridge, where we practice yoga to the sound of the brook below. Bring your own mat, water, suntan lotion, bug repellent and a smile. Yoga is all about practicing being in the present moment. Being on the mountain, outside in nature, helps us quiet the mind and be present.
Yoga Flow explores traditional yoga poses, with basic to challenging options offered. Calming breathing techniques and the meditative aspect of the practice may be featured. No experience necessary. Newbies and experienced practitioners are welcome.
Power Yoga is a vigorous, flowing yoga class linking postures, motion and breath. Be prepared to work hard and to sweat a lot! Prior experience practicing yoga is recommended.
Yoga on the Summit meets at The HUB in the Village, and departs promptly at 10AM to ride the gondola to the summit of Stratton Mountain for an all-levels Yoga class. Please arrange for & bring your own yoga mat, water bottle, sunscreen, and bug spray. In case of inclement weather, class will happen in the Living Room: 10:15 - 11:45AM.
Hike to Mid-Mountain & Yoga meets at The HUB in the Village, and departs promptly at 10AM to hike up to mid-mountain, stop outside for an all-levels Yoga class on the mid-mountain deck, and then hike down. The hike is moderately difficult and there's no access to indoor facilities. Please arrange to bring your own yoga mat, (be prepared to carry it), your own water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray, and wear proper hiking attire. A bag for mat, water, etc. is recommended. In case of inclement weather, the yoga class will happen in the Living Room: 10:15 - 11:45AM.
Coming soon! - hotel reviews by


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I was not aware of this "Disney Week," but I thought this warrented posting here. These kinds of promotions can affect crowd levels.
From PR-Inside.com:
AAA's Disney Week Prepares for Summer Travel
2007-05-03 21:14:23 -
DEARBORN, Mich., May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- When the destination is Disney, nobody beats AAA Travel, and during the week of May 7 - 12, Michiganians are in for lots of incentives to pack their bags and head south. AAA Travel books more Disney vacations than any other travel agency, which provides it the buying power to offer savings and perks on AAA Vacations Disney packages not available anywhere else.
Full press release here: http://www.pr-inside.com/aaa-s-disne...er-r113856.htm


text:
In his weekly "Stories I'd like to see" column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com.
1. Pinning the $ on the politicians:
Much of the press covering the testimony of Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's CEO, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs last week about his bank's $3 billion trading loss said Dimon got off easy. Some accounts, like this one in Politico cited a money connection: Dimon, Politico reported, "fielded mostly softball questions from a panel of senators who've taken thousands of dollars in contributions from his firm."
Pointing out the money connection makes sense, but I wish the press would take the trouble to give us more. Why not put a parenthetical next to any senator who is mentioned in an article like this, detailing how much money he or she got from Dimon or JPMorgan-associated PACs in the last five years?
As in "said Tennessee Republican Bob Corker ($64,000)"?
Or: "explained Democrat and committee chair Tim Johnson of South Dakota ($38,995)."
There are several sources, such as OpenSecrets.org, run by the Center for Responsive Politics, where this information can be gathered quickly, and from which I gathered these real Corker and Johnson JPMorgan-linked dollar tallies in about two minutes.
In fact, at a time when most Americans are appalled at the role money plays in politics, why not take advantage of these databases and post the dollar tallies whenever any politician is written about as taking one position or another on an issue? As a standard form, just have a parenthetical that reports the amount of contributions received from interests on one side or the other of the issue the senator or congressman (or maybe even a state legislator) is depicted in the article as addressing.
There could be a note added if the contribution was from an interest whose side the politician didn't appear to take, and an additional note if he or she took money from both sides.
And if the newspaper or website lists the actual votes of legislators, why not put the same parenthetical dollar sign next to each vote?
At major news organizations, compiling this information - linking politicians and money from major interest groups, businesses and unions so that reporters covering these stories would have it at the ready - seems like a great job for a summer intern.
Would all these parenthetical dollar signs next to the names of our elected officials look smarmy? You bet. That would be the point.
2. Cancer Treatment Centers of America: Leading the way, or luring the vulnerable?
The Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) has been running a ubiquitous ad campaign pitching its hospitals as the best answer to the health crisis facing families that have been suddenly confronted with a C-word diagnosis.
Its website - featuring "Care That Never Quits" as a registered trademark and describing a network of "all-digital" hospitals, whatever that means - boasts on its "results" page a slew of impressive cure rates: for example, 88 percent for breast cancer detected within one year, versus a national average cure rate (according to the National Institutes of Health, the website says) of 60 percent. Or 30 percent versus 11 percent for pancreatic cancer.
Is that true? If it's not true, or if the statistics are spun deceptively to CTCA's advantage, what are the rules, if any, governing that?
The one relatively recent news clip[$] I found about the company (at least, I think it's a for-profit company) says that it features flat fees for treatment of major cancer types, such as $10,000 for prostate cancer and $14,500 for lung cancer.
That's right: flat, manageable fees instead of the usual pile-it-on fee-for-service regime that is bankrupting patients and taxpayers. Plus, high cure rates. And thrilled patients, as evidenced by the testimonials that fill the website. If that's all real, this could be a great story about a breakthrough in healthcare.
Another thread found in a Google search pointed me to a blog article saying that Cancer Treatment Centers of America founder Richard J. Stephenson is a member of the board of FreedomWorks, the conservative organization that helped propel the Tea Party, and that he is also the president of International Capital and Management, "an organization specializing in making hospitals more efficient and cost-effective." A subhead in the same blog post says that in 1996 "CTCA Settled With FTC After Allegations Of Making 'False and Unsubstantiated Claims' About Treatments." The blog's link to an FTC press release appears to substantiate this account.


text:
About this series
This three-part series (see Resources) on the AIX® disk and I/O subsystem focuses on the challenges of optimizing disk I/O performance. While disk tuning is arguably less exciting than CPU or memory tuning, it is a crucial component in optimizing server performance. In fact, partly because disk I/O is your weakest subsystem link, there is more you can do to improve disk I/O performance than any other subsystem.
Unlike the tuning of other subsystems, tuning disk I/O should actually be started
during the architectural phase of building your systems. While there are virtual
memory equivalents of I/O tuning parameters (ioo
), the best way to increase disk I/O performance is
by properly configuring your systems and not tuning parameters. Unlike virtual
memory tuning, it is much more complex to change the way in which you structure
your logical volumes after they have been created and running, so you usually get
only one chance to do this right. This article discusses the ways that you can
configure your logical volumes and where to actually place them with respect to
the physical disk, and it also addresses the tools used to monitor your logical
volumes. Most of these tools are not meant to be used for long-term trending and
are specific AIX tools that provide information as to how the logical volumes are
configured and if they have been optimized for your environment.
Part 1 (see Resources) of this series introduced
, but it did not address using the tool outside
of viewing Asynchronous I/O servers. Part 2 uses iostat to monitor your disks and
shows you what it can do to help quickly determine your I/O bottleneck. While
is one of those generic UNIX® utilities
that was not developed specifically for AIX, it is actually very useful for
quickly determining what is going on in your system. The more specific AIX logical
volume commands help drill down deeper into your logical volumes to help you
really analyze what your problems are, if any. It's important that you clearly
understand what you're looking for before using these tools. This article
describes the tools and also shows you how to analyze their output, which helps in
analyzing your disk I/O subsystem.
Logical volume and disk placement overview
This section defines the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) and introduces some of its features. Let's drill down into logical volume concepts, examine how they relate to improving disk I/O utilization, and talk about logical volume placement as it relates to the physical disk, by defining and discussing both intra-policy and inter-policy disk practices.
Conceptually, the logical volume layer sits between the application and physical layers. In the context of disk I/O, the application layers are the file system or raw logical volumes. The physical layer consists of the actual disk. LVM is an AIX disk management system that maps the data between logical and physical storage. This allows data to reside on multiple physical platters and to be managed and analyzed using specialized LVM commands. LVM actually controls all the physical disk resources on your system and helps provide a logical view of your storage subsystem. Understanding that it sits between the application layer and the physical layer should help you understand why it is arguably the most important of all the layers. Even your physical volumes themselves are part of the logical layer, as the physical layer only encompasses the actual disks, device drivers, and any arrays that you might have already configured. Figure 1 illustrates the concepts and shows how tightly integrated the logical I/O components relate to the physical disk and its application layer.
Figure 1. Logical volume diagram
Let's now quickly introduce the elements that are part of LVM, from the bottom up. Each of the drives is named as a physical volume. Multiple physical volumes make up a volume group. Within the volume groups, logical volumes are defined. The LVM enables the data to be on multiple physical drives, though they might be configured to be on a single volume group. These logical volumes can be either one or multiple logical partitions. Each of the logical partitions has a physical partition that correlates to it. Here is where you can have multiple copies of the physical portions for purposes such as disk mirroring.
Let's take a quick look at how logical volume creation correlates with physical volumes. Figure 2 illustrates the actual storage position on the physical disk platter.
Figure 2. Actual storage position on the physical disk platter
As a general rule, data that is written toward its center has faster seek times than data written on the outer edge. This has to do with the density of data. Because it is more dense as it moves toward its center, there is actually less movement of the head. The inner edge usually has the slowest seek times. As a best practice, the more intensive I/O applications should be brought closer to the center of the physical volumes. Note that there are exceptions to this. Disks hold more data per track on the edges of the disk, not on the center. That being said, logical volumes being accessed sequentially should actually be placed on the edge for better performance. The same holds true for logical volumes that have Mirror Write Consistency Check (MWCC) turned on. This is because the MWCC sector is on the edge of the disk and not at the center of it, which relates to the intra-disk policy of logical volumes.
Let's discuss another important concept referred to as the inter-disk policy of logical volumes. The inter-disk policy defines the number of disks on which the physical partitions of a logical volume actually resides. The general rule is that the minimum policy provides the greatest reliably and availability, and the maximum policy improves performance. Simply put, the more drives that data is spread on, the better the performance. Some other best practices include: allocating intensive logical volumes to separate physical volumes, defining the logical volumes to the maximum size you need, and placing logical volumes that are frequently used close together. This is why it is so important to know your data prior to configuring your systems so that you can create policies that make sense from the start.
You can define your polices when creating the logical volumes themselves using
the following command or smit fastpath: # mklv
# smitty mklv
Monitoring logical volumes and analyzing results
This section provides instructions on how to monitor your logical volumes and analyze the results. Various commands are introduced along with the purposes for which they are used, and you examine the output as well.
A ticket has just been opened up with the service desk that relates to slow
performance on some database server. You suspect that there might be an I/O issue,
so you start with iostat
. If you recall, this command
was introduced in the first installment of the series (see
Resources), though only for the purposes of viewing
asynchronous I/O servers. Now, let's look at iostat
more detail. iostat
, the equivalent of using
for virtual memory, is arguably the most
effective way to get a first glance of what is happening with your I/O subsystem.
Listing 1. Using iostat
# iostat 1 System configuration: lcpu=4 disk=4 tty: tin tout avg-cpu: % user % sys % idle % iowait 0.0 392.0 5.2 5.5 88.3 1.1 Disks: % tm_act Kbps tps Kb_read Kb_wrtn hdisk1 0.5 19.5 1.4 53437739 21482563 hdisk0 0.7 29.7 3.0 93086751 21482563 hdisk4 1.7 278.2 6.2 238584732 832883320 hdisk3 2.1 294.3 8.0 300653060 832883320
What are you seeing here and what does this all mean?
- % tm_act: Reports back the percentage of time that the physical disk was active or the total time of disk requests.
- Kbps: Reports back the amount of data transferred to the drive in kilobytes.
- tps: Reports back the number of transfers per second issued to the physical disk.
- Kb_read: Reports back the total data (kilobytes) from your measured interval that is read from the physical volumes.
- Kb_wrtn: Reports back the amount of data (kilobytes) from your measured interval that is written to the physical volumes.
You need to watch % tm_act very carefully, because when its utilization exceeds roughly 60 to 70 percent, it usually is indicative that processes are starting to wait for I/O. This might be your first clue of impending I/O problems. Moving data to less busy drives can obviously help ease this burden. Generally speaking, the more drives that your data hits, the better. Just like anything else, too much of a good thing can also be bad, as you have to make sure you don't have too many drives hitting any one adapter. One way to determine if an adapter is saturated is to sum the Kbps amounts for all disks attached to one adapter. The total should be below the disk adapter throughput rating, usually less than 70 percent.
Using the -a
flag (see Listing
helps you drill down further to examine adapter utilization.
Listing 2. Using iostat with the -a
# iostat -a Adapter: Kbps tps Kb_read Kb_wrtn scsi0 0.0 0.0 0 0 Paths/Disk: % tm_act Kbps tps Kb_read Kb_wrtn hdisk1_Path0 37.0 89.0 0.0 0 0 hdisk0_Path0 67.0 47.0 0.0 0 0 hdisk4_Path0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 hdisk3_Path0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 Adapter: Kbps tps Kb_read Kb_wrtn ide0 0.0 0.0 0 0 Paths/Disk: % tm_act Kbps tps Kb_read Kb_wrtn cd0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0
Clearly, there are no bottlenecks here. Using the -d
flag allows you to drill down to one specific disk (see
Listing 3. Using iostat with the -d
# iostat -d hdisk1 1 System configuration: lcpu=4 disk=5 Disks: % tm_act Kbps tps Kb_read Kb_wrtn hdisk1 0.5 19.4 1.4 53437743 21490480 hdisk1 5.0 78.0 23.6 3633 3564 hdisk1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 hdisk1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 hdisk1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 hdisk1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0
Let's look at some specific AIX LVM commands. You examined disk placement earlier and the importance of architecting your systems correctly from the beginning. Unfortunately, you don't always have that option. As system administrators, you sometimes inherit systems that must be fixed. Let's look at the layout of the logical volumes on disks to determine if you need to change definitions or re-arrange your data.
Let's look first at a volume group and find the logical volumes that are a part
of it. lsvg
is the command that provides volume group
information (see Listing 4).
Listing 4. Using lsvg
# lsvg -l data2vg Data2vg: LV NAME TYPE LPs PPs PVs LV STATE MOUNT POINT data2lv jfs 128 256 2 open/syncd /data2 loglv00 jfslog 1 2 2 open/syncd N/A appdatalv jfs 128 256 2 open/syncd /appdata
Now, let's use lslv
, which provides for specific data
on logical volumes (see Listing 5).
Listing 5. Using lslv
# lslv data2lv LOGICAL VOLUME: data2lv VOLUME GROUP: data2vg LV IDENTIFIER: 0003a0ec00004c00000000fb076f3f41.1 PERMISSION: read/write VG STATE: active/complete LV STATE: opened/syncd TYPE: jfs WRITE VERIFY: off MAX LPs: 512 PP SIZE: 64 megabyte(s) COPIES: 2 SCHED POLICY: parallel LPs: 128 PPs: 256 STALE PPs: 0 BB POLICY: relocatable INTER-POLICY: minimum RELOCATABLE: yes INTRA-POLICY: center UPPER BOUND: 32 MOUNT POINT: /data LABEL: /data MIRROR WRITE CONSISTENCY: on/ACTIVE EACH LP COPY ON A SEPARATE PV ?: yes Serialize IO ?: NO
This view provides a detailed description of your logical volume attributes. What do you have here? The intra-policy is at the center, which is normally the best policy to have for I/O-intensive logical volumes. As you recall from an earlier discussion, there are exceptions to this rule. Unfortunately, you've just hit one of them. Because Mirror Write Consistency (MWC) is on, the volume would have been better served if it were placed on the edge. Let's look at its inter-policy. The inter-policy is minimum, which is usually the best policy to have if availability is more important then performance. Further, there are double the number of physical partitions than logical partitions, which signify that you are mirroring your systems. In this case, you were told that raw performance was the most important objective, so the logical volume was not configured in such a way as to the reality of how the volume is being utilized. Further, if you are mirroring your system and using an external storage array, this would even be worse, as you're already providing mirroring at the hardware layer, which is actually more effective then using AIX mirroring.
Let's drill down even further in Listing 6.
Listing 6. lslv with the -l
# lslv -l data2lv data2lv:/data2 PV COPIES IN BAND DISTRIBUTION hdisk2 128:000:000 100% 000:108:020:000:000 hdisk3 128:000:000 100% 000:108:020:000:000
The -l
flag of lslv
all the physical volumes associated with the logical volumes and distribution for
each logical volume. You can then determine that 100 percent of the physical
partitions on the disk are allocated to this logical volume. The distribution
sections show the actual number of physical partitions within each physical
volume. From here, you can detail its intra-disk policy. The order of these fields
are as follows:
- Edge
- Middle
- Center
- Inner-middle
- Inner-edge
The reports show that most of the data is in the middle and some at the center.
Let's keep going and find out which logical volumes are associated with the one
physical volume. This is done with the lspv
(see Listing 7).
Listing 7. Using the lspv command
# lspv -l hdisk2 hdisk2: LV NAME LPs PPs DISTRIBUTION MOUNT POINT loglv01 1 1 01..00..00..00..00 N/A data2lv 128 128 00..108..20..00..00 /data2 appdatalv 128 128 00..00..88..40..00 /appdata
Now you can actually identify which of the logical volumes on this disk are geared up for maximum performance.
You can drill down even further to get more specific (see Listing 8).
Listing 8. lspv with the -p
# lspv -p hdisk2 hdisk2: PP RANGE STATE REGION LV ID TYPE MOUNT POINT 1-108 free outer edge 109-109 used outer edge loglv00 jfslog N/A 110-217 used outer middle data2lv jfs /data2 218-237 used center appdatalv jfs /appdata 238-325 used center testdatalv jfs /testdata 326-365 used inner middle stagingdatalv jfs /staging 366-433 free inner middle 434-542 free inner edge
This view tells you what is free on the physical volume, what has been used, and which partitions are used where. This is a nice view.
One of the best tools to look at LVM usage is with
(see Listing 9).
Listing 9. Using lvmstat
# lvmstat -v data2vg 0516-1309 lvmstat: Statistics collection is not enabled for this logical device. Use -e option to enable.
As you can see by the output here, it is not enabled (by default), so you need to
actually enable it prior to running the tool using
# lvmstat -v data2vg -e
. The following command takes a
snapshot of LVM information every second for 10 intervals:
# lvmstat -v data2vg 1 10
This view shows the most utilized logical volumes on your system since you started the data collection tool. This is very helpful when drilling down to the logical volume layer when tuning your systems (see Listing 10).
Listing 10. lvmstat with the -v
# lvmstat -v data2vg Logical Volume iocnt Kb_read Kb_wrtn Kbps appdatalv 306653 47493022 383822 103.2 loglv00 34 0 3340 2.8 data2lv 453 234543 234343 89.3
What are you looking at here?
- % iocnt: Reports back the number of read and write requests.
- Kb_read: Reports back the total data (kilobytes) from your measured interval that is read.
- Kb_wrtn: Reports back the amount of data (kilobytes) from your measured interval that is written.
- Kbps: Reports back the amount of data transferred in kilobytes.
Look at the man pages for all the commands discussed before you start to add them to your repertoire.
Tuning with lvmo
This section goes over using a specific logical volume tuning command. The
is used to set and display your pbuf tuning
parameters. It is also used to display blocked I/O statistics.
is one of those new commands first introduced in
AIX Version 5.3. It's important to note that the usage of the
command allows changes for LVM pbuf tunables only
that are dedicated to specific volume groups. The ioo utility is still the only
way to manage pbufs on a system-wide basis. This is because prior to AIX Version
5.3, the pbuf pool parameter was a system-wide resource. With the introduction of
AIX Version 5.3, LVM manages one pbuf pool for each volume group. What is a pbuf?
A pbuf is best defined as a pinned memory buffer. LVM uses these pbufs to control
pending disk I/O operations.
Let's display your lvmo
tunables for the data2vg
volume group (see Listing 11).
Listing 11. Displaying lvmo tunables
# lvmo -v data2vg -a vgname = data2vg pv_pbuf_count = 1024 total_vg_pbubs = 1024 mag_vg_pbuf_count = 8192 perv_blocked_io_count = 7455 global_pbuf_count = 1024 global_blocked_io_count = 7455
What are the tunables here?
- pv_pbuf_count: Reports back the number of pbufs added when a physical volume is added to the volume group.
- Max_vg_pbuf_count: Reports back the max amount of pbufs that can be allocated for a volume group.
- Global_pbuf_count: Reports back the number of pbufs that are added when a physical volume is added to any volume group.
Let's increase the pbuf count for this volume group:
# lvmo -v redvg -o pv_pbuf_count=2048
Quite honestly, I usually stay away from lvmo
and use
. I'm more used to tuning the global parameters.
It's important to note that if you increase the pbuf value too much, you can
actually see a degradation in performance.
This article focused on logical volumes and how they relate to the disk I/O subsystem. It defined logical volumes at a high level and illustrated how it relates to the application and physical layers. It also defined and discussed some best practices for inter-disk and intra-disk polices as they relate to creating and maintaining logical volumes. You looked at ways to monitor I/O usage for your logical volumes, and you analyzed the data that was captured from the commands that were used to help determine what your problems were. Finally, you actually tuned your logical volumes by determining and increasing the amount of pbufs used in a specific volume group. Part 3 of this series focuses on the application layer as you move on to file systems, using various commands to monitor and tune your file systems and disk I/O subsystems.
- Use RSS
feed to request notification for the upcoming articles in this series:
- Optimizing AIX 5L™ performance: Tuning disk performance
- Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Tuning your memory settings
- Optimizing AIX 5L performance: Monitoring your CPU
- Check out other parts in each series:
- "Storage Management in AIX 5.3" (Shiv Dutta, developerWorks, April 2005): This article focuses on some of the features that have been introduced in AIX 5L Version 5.3 to enhance the scope, functionality, and performance of the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) and Enhanced Journal File System (JFS2).
- For information on developing a logical volume strategy, see the Choosing an Inter-Disk Allocation Policy for Your System section of the book, Storage Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices, from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
- Improving database performance with AIX concurrent I/O: Read this white paper for more information on how to improve database performance.
- IBM Redbooks: Database Performance Tuning on AIX is designed to help system designers, system administrators, and database administrators design, size, implement, maintain, monitor, and tune a Relational Database Management System (RDMBS) for optimal performance on AIX.
- Power Architecture: High-Performance Architecture with a History: Read this white paper.
- "Power to the People; A history of chip making at IBM" (developerWorks, December 2005): This article covers the IBM power architecture.
- "Processor Affinity on AIX" (developerWorks, November 2006): Using process affinity settings to bind or unbind threads can help you find the root cause of troublesome hang or deadlock problems. Read this article to learn how to use processor affinity to restrict a process and run it only on a specified central processing unit (CPU).
- "CPU Monitoring and Tuning" (March, 2002): Learn how standard AIX tools can help you determine CPU bottlenecks.
- IBM Redbooks: AIX 5L Practical Performance Tools and Tuning Guide is a comprehensive guide about performance monitoring and tuning tools that are provided with AIX 5L Version 5.3.
- "AIX 5L Version 5.3: What's in it for you?" (Shiv Dutta, developerWorks, June 2005): Learn what features you can benefit from in AIX 5L Version 5.3.
- IBM Redbooks: The AIX 5L Differences Guide Version 5.3 Edition focuses on the differences introduced in AIX 5L Version 5.3 when compared to AIX 5L Version 5.2.
- Operating System and Device Management: This document from IBM provides users and system administrators with complete information that can affect your selection of options when performing such tasks as backing up and restoring the system, managing physical and logical storage, and sizing appropriate paging space.
- IBM Redbooks: For help in obtaining IBM certification for AIX 5L and the eServer® pSeries®, read IBM Certification Study Guide for eServer p5 and pSeries Administration and Support for AIX 5L Version 5.3.
- Check out other articles and tutorials written by Ken Milberg:
- Popular content: See what AIX and UNIX content your peers find interesting.
- AIX and UNIX: The AIX and UNIX developerWorks zone provides a wealth of information relating to all aspects of AIX systems administration and expanding your UNIX skills.
- New to AIX and UNIX?: Visit the New to AIX and UNIX page to learn more about AIX and UNIX.
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