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We are pleased to announce that we are now able to offer you the ability to immediately purchase a gift certificate on our website. While we have always offered gift certificates, previously you had to call and we'd take you information and mail a gift certificate to you. Now you can purchase a gift certificate in any denomination and pay immediately and print out a receipt. Your purchase online is secure and immediate. You can still call and we can take your information and mail a gift certificate to you that you can present to someone special.
Archive for the 'Sailing' Category
Gift Certificates
November 29th, 2013 by billfarrell
Beechwood Art Museum
July 18th, 2012 by billfarrell
As recently announced in the Newport Daily News, Astor's Beechwood mansion which was purchased by Larry Ellison of Oracle about two years ago is slated to become the new home of Beechwood Art Museum which will house Ellison's collection of 19th Century art. For those who do not know, Larry Ellison is the founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation and is the fifth richest person in the world. Larry also owns MBW Oracle Racing, sailing America's Cup yachts. His team was just in Newport, Rhode Island in the 2012 America's Cup Series races.
Ellison hired Newport architect Richard Grovesnor to reconstruct and restore the mansion to the way it looked when Richard Morris Hunt restored it in 1881. Along with the purchase of the Beechwood Mansion, two other properties north of the mansion were acquired and will be torn down and reconstructed due to the amount of work that needed to be done. When all is said and done, the Beechwood mansion will house Ellison's collection in the large rooms on the first floor, while the second and third floor will be used for his residence. When Mr. Ellison is not in residence, the second floor will be opened to display his art in a residence setting and will be one of the finer mansions in Newport. With the amount of work that is being put into the mansion, this may become one or the more popular mansions to see on Newport's fabled Bellevue Avenue.
2012 Newport County Calendar of Events
January 23rd, 2012 by billfarrell
2012 Tall Ships Festival Newport, Rhode Island
October 21st, 2011 by billfarrell
State officials and local business leaders recently announced the 2012 Ocean State Tall Ships Festival. With an anticipated $92 million dollar economic impact locally and statewide, the Tall Ships visit from July 6-9 and the America's Cup World Series events that will precede it from June 23 – July 1 are sure to draw tourists, visitors and sailors from around the world. Previous Tall Ships events in Newport and Rhode Island have been large draws for the city and the state but with the Americas Cup World Series this year, Newport will sure to be the place to be to view these exciting events.
The most recent Tall Ships event was in 2007 and drew an estimated 200,000 people to Rhode Island and had an economic impact of more than $20 million dollars. The organizers of the 2012 event are expect the numbers to far surpass the 2007 numbers. Local businesses are eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the Tall Ships and the Americas Cup events preceding it.
The 2012 Tall Ships event will be part of the Tall Ships Challenge sponsored by Tall Ships America. Participating ships will begin in Savannah, Georgia form May 3-7, go on to Charleston, South Carolina, May 10-14 and will then be in Greenport, New York from May 24-28 before heading to Newport. When the Tall Ships depart Newport, they will sail for Halifax and other Nova Scotia ports on July 18-2 and July 24-30th. These events are all part of the celebration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.
The Spring Seasons Inn currently has availability on these dates but we would expect the month of June and July, 2012 to fill up soon so if you are thinking of coming to Newport to participate in or view these events, it is a good idea to start your planning immediately as the B&B's and hotels are expected to sell out soon.
Art Newport – Aboard the Megayacht Venue
June 29th, 2011 by billfarrell
SeaFair, a forty million dollar mega yacht has docked in Newport for what is planned to be a two month floating art show/sale. Florida base art dealers, David & Le Ann Lester have based their art show on what have become hugely popular land based art fairs and have taken it to the high seas, docking in ports up and down the east coast. A recent showing in Sarasota, Florida attracted 18,000 visitors in five days.
While the ship is docked in Newport, visitors will have the opportunity to tour the ship, admiring art from prestigious presenting paintings, sculputure, photography, solver, jewelry, design and fine art glass among other things. With five decks, a glass walled restaurant, luxe lounge, international coffee bar and open air sky deck bar and bistro, the Sea Fair promises to be a once in a lifetime visit.
Guests of The Spring Seasons Inn and Tea Room are eligible to receive special pricing on admission to the exhibits. Please call for details.
J-Class Regatta Announced for Newport, Rhode Island
March 17th, 2011 by billfarrell
JANUARY 27, 2011, Newport, RI – David Pitman, secretary of the J-Class Association, announced that the first event in the J-Class Global calendar will be staged in Newport, Rhode Island. Racing in the fabled waters of the America's Cup, the J-Class will use this regatta to kick off a four-regatta series culminating in a race around the Isle of Wight in July of 2012 for the finale regatta, which will be for the newly-minted Hundred Guinea Cup.
In 1930, Newport was the venue for the start of the remarkable J-Class era. Between 1930 and 1937 there were just 10 of these stunning yachts constructed for the purpose of winning the America's Cup. Two of the originals (Shamrock V and Velsheda) will participate in Newport, together with Ranger, a true replica of the original. Negotiations continue with two other new J-yachts to have them join the regatta.
Lars Loftus, Captain of Velsheda, said, "Our team looks forward to racing in Newport. Brad Read of Sail Newport has given us an exciting course inside the bay, and we look forward to showing our friends on Shamrock and Ranger how a big yacht performs!"
In response, Dan Jackson, Captain of Ranger, said, "The pleasure will be ours to show Lars and his team the proper way to get the most out of a J-Class yacht."
Sail Newport and the J-Class Association are responsible for the on-water race management of the regatta. The yachts and their teams will be based at the Newport Shipyard with crews staying at the Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina.
The regatta series of five races will be run from June 15 to 19, 2011, with starts and finishes off of Fort Adams. Viewing stands will be set up on the northwestern corner of Fort Adams, and other excellent viewing options will be at Castle Hill Inn and various spots in Jamestown. Working with the U.S. Coast Guard, Sail Newport will establish safe water viewing areas along the entire course. Mr. Pitman closed the announcement by saying, "This will be the first competitive J-Class regatta in the U.S.A. since the America's Cup event of 1937 between the defender Ranger and the challenger Endeavour II.
"We hope to provide the most exciting racing seen in Newport since then, and with the continued support of the state and the city of Newport, we look forward to confirming arrangements for a major regatta in Newport during 2014, featuring up to ten J-Class yachts."
While participating or watching these fascinating races, make The Spring Seasons Inn in Newport your home away from home.
Doris Duke's Sporty Side in Newport Exhibit
March 6th, 2011 by billfarrell
Saturday, March 05, 2011
GoLocalProv Lifestyle Team
From the beach to the bowling alley, from surfing to skiing, Doris Duke was a woman who loved to play.
A new exhibit at her Newport mansion Rough Point reveals the sporting side of the noted heiress and historic preservationist's personality. Visitors can admire Doris Duke's stylish sportswear alongside items of her personal sports equipment in Dressed to Play: The Sporty Style of Doris Duke. The exhibit illustrates her athletic lifestyle, which included surfing in Hawaii and daily swims in Newport. Fun, playful fashions from the 1940s-1970s will make visitors nostalgic for the classic styles of their mothers and grandmothers era. A collection of her personal sports equipment, including a surfboard, tennis racquet, golf clubs, scuba gear, riding habit and bowling ball, is displayed along with never before seen images of Doris Duke in action. The exhibit opens on April 14, 2011.
The active heiress
Doris Duke lived an active life filled with sports well into her later years. She swam off the rocks of Rough Point, surfed at her home in Hawaii, and bowled and rode horses at Duke Farms in New Jersey. She studied dance with choreographers around the world and was a member of Martha Graham's Dance Company in New York. She had tennis courts at each of her homes – a passion that began as a child playing tennis with her friend Alletta Morris on the courts at the Newport Casino. Daily swims were an important part of Doris Duke's regimen of healthy living. For many years, she swam off the rocks behind Rough Point. Later, she had a salt-water swimming pool installed in the house's basement.
Exhibit highlights sporting gear
Two of the exhibit's highlights are equipment related to Doris Duke's love of water sports. The first is a Velzy Surfboard, ca. 1960, made of foam polyurethane and fiberglass. Created by Dale Velzy, who is believed to have opened the first conventional surf shop in California in 1949, the surfboard was used by Doris Duke at Shangri La, her home in Hawaii. It is notable as one of the first boards Velzy created using the new foam polyurethane material; boards were previously made of balsa wood. The second item is a pair of wooden water skis, circa 1935, which measure nearly nine feet in length. The large size of the skis helped to maintain stability on rougher ocean water. Both pieces are on loan from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art which runs Shangri La.
Soon after settling at Shangri La in 1938, Doris Duke became involved with surfing. She quickly became friends with the Kahanamoku family. Duke Kahanamoku, an Olympic diver and celebrated champion surfer, and his brother, Sam, taught her to surf. Her aptitude for the sport is evidenced by a gold and sapphire powder compact included in the exhibit, inscribed January 22, 1939, recognizing Mrs. James H. R. Cromwell (as Doris Duke was then known) and Mr. Sam A. Kahanamoku for winning first prize in a Waikiki tandem surfboard paddling contest. This piece is also on loan from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.
Dressing for play
Doris Duke's active lifestyle required a wardrobe that included comfortable, practical clothing to participate in a number of sporting activities. Sportswear, which began in the 1920s as specialized clothing for activities like tennis and hunting, became part of mainstream fashion during the 20th century. Social norms about public sports and activities for women expanded during this time, allowing sweaters, pants, skirts, blazers, and casual dresses to become regular items in a woman's wardrobe. Exhibit curator Kristen Costa Francoeur explains, "These clothes may seem like everyday items to us now, but Doris Duke was on the cutting edge of fashion – she was wearing sportswear as it was being created and her busy lifestyle is shaping her wardrobe."
Doris Duke's wardrobe included a wide range of casual and active apparel made by American and European designers such as Jantzen, Valentino, and Giorgio Sant'Angelo.
One of the clothing highlights of the exhibit is a 1958 sundress by Tina Leser, one of the earliest American sportswear designers. During the 1930s-1950s, the United States was producing some of the best sportswear in the world. This sportswear was designed by women and it was the first time female designers had their name in the limelight.
"Dressed to Play: The Sporty Style of Doris Duke" will be on exhibit in the galleries at Rough Point through early November 2011. Guided house tours, which last approximately 75 minutes and include the exhibit, cost $25. Children 12 and younger are admitted for free. Tours are offered 10-2, Thursday-Saturday, April 14 – May 14. From May 17 to November 5, tours are offered 9:45-3:45, Tuesday-Saturday. For those wishing to see only the exhibit, gallery hours are offered on Saturdays from 1-4 for $5. In addition, the galleries are open during a series of special evening events offered as part of Newport Gallery Night, held on the second Thursday of each month. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.NewportRestoration.org or call (401) 847-8344. The Spring Seasons Inn is close to Rough Point and offers room packages that include admission to Rough Point
Newport could be back in the Americas Cup Race
December 16th, 2010 by billfarrell
By ALex Kuffner Journal Staff Writer
Five months after Newport learned it had lost the race to host the next America's Cup, the City by the Sea may have gained a second chance.
With ratification of an agreement between San Francisco and the Golden Gate Yacht Club threatened, a member of the GGYC's board of directors was set to travel to Rhode Island to meet this week with Keith Stokes, executive director of the state Economic Development Corporation, to talk about whether Newport could step in to host the prestigious yachting race.
Stokes told The Providence Journal on Sunday that he would talk with the board member, Tom Ehman, who is also head of external affairs for America's Cup champion BMW Oracle Racing, on Monday to set up a meeting.
"BMW Oracle reached out to us to reopen discussions," Stokes said.
Rhode Island submitted a proposal on Dec. 8 to host qualifying races for the Cup, but the talks this week will focus on the final Cup series.
"They asked, 'Could Rhode Island provide the proper amenities for not only the championship races, but also the final events?' " Stokes said. "Which we absolutely can do."
Stokes said that by Dec. 20 the America's Cup Rhode Island 2013 Planning Committee would select an engineering firm to design improvements at Fort Adams State Park so it could host the qualifying races. Those improvements could be done quickly, he said.
"Most of our facilities are in place," he said. "Our improvements are nowhere near the scale and cost of San Francisco's. And being such a small, compact state, we not only have a history here, but we can also ensure a streamlined build-out process."
America's Cup official Stephen Barclay said he considered San Francisco to have come up with the winning bid in early November, when city officials and the yacht club negotiated an agreement that was then sent to the Board of Supervisors to begin the approval process.
But he said the Port Commission recently changed key points in the agreement that would put too much of a financial risk on the America's Cup Event Authority, which has been contracted by the GGYC to run the regatta.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget and Finance Committee will hold a final hearing Monday, and the full board is expected to vote on the agreement Tuesday. "They're holding on by their fingernails at the moment," Barclay told The Associated Press on Saturday from his home in Auckland, New Zealand. "It was theirs to lose and they were told that."
In a letter sent to Mayor Gavin Newsom and other city officials on Saturday, the GGYC said San Francisco would lose the right to host the next Cup races if a deal is not signed by this coming Friday. Barclay said the GGYC — which sponsors BMW Oracle Racing — set the deadline because the America's Cup Event Authority is committed to informing participating teams of the venue choice by Dec. 31.
BMW Oracle Racing swept Alinghi of Switzerland in two races off Valencia, Spain, in February to return the oldest trophy in international sports to the United States for the first time since 1995.
San Francisco officials have estimated that hosting the America's Cup would be worth $1.4 billion in economic benefits and create 8,000 jobs.
Barclay said the GGYC has reopened talks with Italy to hold the America's Cup in 2013. He also said that Ehman was set to reopen negotiations with officials in Newport. Ehman also is a member of the New York Yacht Club, which defended the America's Cup in Newport from 1930 until 1983, when Dennis Conner was beaten by Australia.
Barclay is chief operating officer of BMW Oracle Racing and a member of the GGYC's America's Cup Committee. BMW Oracle Racing is owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, whose Oracle Corp. is based in Redwood City, south of San Francisco. Ellison also owns a mansion in Newport.
Italy is in the mix because Club Nautico di Roma is the Challenger of Record, which represents the interests of all challengers.
There might even be a third option. BMW Oracle Racing officials are said to have remained in the United Arab Emirates following the recent Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, perhaps to initiate talks about the America's Cup being sailed in the Middle East. Mayor Newsom's spokesman, Tony Winnicker, confirmed receipt of the letter from Barclay.
With reports from Associated Press
America's Cup In Newport Again
February 27th, 2010 by billfarrell
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:42:21Jim Donaldson: America's Cup in Newport is always half full
08:51 PM EST on Saturday, February 27, 2010
There are some folks whose fondest memories of those glorious, halcyon days when the races for the America's Cup were held on the blue-green, white-capped waters off Newport, are of the victorious American 12-meter — and, until that disastrous day in 1983 when the Aussies made off with our sterling-silver ewer, the Americans always were victorious — sailing past Castle Hill as resounding cheers reverberated off the rocks, and the boat horns of the spectator fleet, bobbing happily all the way from the tip of Beavertail to the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, blasted in congratulation and celebration.
My fondest memory, however, is of the arm of Ted Turner, champagne bottle in hand, the only visible part of his anatomy, reaching up from beneath the press table in the old armory on Thames Street.
That was a few, mirthful moments before the re-emergence of the rest of the playboy yachtsman's saltwater and French bubbly soaked body, his sunburned, windburned face sporting a silly but triumphant smile as wide as the Atlantic after skippering Courageous past Alan Bond's Australia in 1977.
While the bluebloods in blue blazers at the New York Yacht Club, sipping cocktails on their green, sloping lawn overlooking Newport's colonial-era harbor, like to remember the contests for the Cup as great boat races, the rest of us –– those of us who occupied stools at the bars that are as ubiquitous as sea gulls in the City by the Sea –– recall Cup summers as one long, wonderful party.
Although, if you recall too much of those times, then you didn't have a good enough time.
That's why not just Newporters, but all Rhode Islanders, ought to do everything possible to bring back the good times; why we should make every effort to bring the America's Cup races back to where they belong — in Newport.
San Francisco, the current favorite to host the next competition for the America's Cup, is my favorite city in America. And I can't say a single bad thing about the other prime contender, San Diego. Well, okay, one — the traffic on I-5 can be ridiculous.
But, unless the races are held on Lake Pontchartrain, beside the city of New Orleans, there is no better place than Newport where yachts roll on the waves while the good times roll on shore.
It's been a while since I owned a pair of Topsiders, and even longer since I went out on the town wearing a pair of Breton red slacks. But I'm going to have buy some if, indeed, the Cup races come back home to Newport.
At least I won't have to spend any money on socks.
That was the uniform of the day, as the Navy boys used to say, back in the days when Uncle Sam had more boats in Newport than the yachtsmen, lobstermen and commercial fishermen combined: Polo shirt — with blazer if you were going to the Candy Store — Breton reds, Topsiders, no socks.
It was the uniform of the night, too.
At least those nights when, their 12-meters safely tied up beside the wharves, the sailors cut loose. Which was just about every night.
Having spent the day plying the waters of Rhode Island Sound, the sailors — and even more pseudo-sailors; because, since few people ever actually saw the boats in action, who would know if you weren't a crewman for Turner, or Dennis Conner, or the handsome, young Russell Long — would then troll the watering holes of Thames Street, America's Cup Avenue and Bannister's Wharf for debutantes and divorcees.
There was more action in town than there ever was on the water. At least more than most people ever saw, or cared about.
Yacht racing is not exactly a spectator sport.
As the late Red Smith, the greatest sportswriter of his — or, arguably, any other —– generation wrote while covering the America's Cup races in Newport in 1970:
"In many American newspapers, the most absurdly overplayed event in sports is the 'competition' for the America's Cup. A dentist filling a tooth offers livelier entertainment for spectators. It commands substantially less reader interest than the Treasury's statement of gold balances. Still, there are papers that assign one or more staff men to the story for an entire summer, publish lengthy daily accounts of the trials leading to selection of a challenger and a defender, and devote six or eight columns of space to the predictable results while the races are underway."
The Journal was one of those papers (as was, by the way, Smith's New York Times) and I was one of those fortunate staff men.
As our late sports editor, Gene Buonaccorsi, said when assigning me (thank you, thank you, thank you) to Newport in those Cup summers: "You know port from starboard and you don't get seasick."
It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.
Day after day, I would work diligently on my tan (and, oh, yeah, my story), sandwich in one hand, cool beverage in the other (and, oh, yeah, notepad somewhere nearby) while sprawled on the bow of the boat the Journal shared with the Times, the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, waiting near the buoy at the end of the downwind leg to see the spinnakers come down and the tacking duel begin.
Those were, indeed, the good old days. And nights.
As a sporting event, the America's Cup isn't much. As a social event, it's the best. And there's no better place to enjoy it than Newport.
International Yacht School and Boating News
May 13th, 2009 by billfarrell
Wed, 13 May 2009 13:45:47
by Bruce Burdett EastBayRI.com
NEWPORT — The International Yacht Restoration School of Newport marks the official opening of the newly restored 1831 Aquidneck Mill building with ceremonies this Thursday, May 14.
The event begins at the school's 449 Thames Street campus at 11 a.m. Ceremonies will be followed by an open house that runs until 2 p.m. to allow time for visitors to tour the historic building which is one of only two surviving mills in Newport.
Built for textile manufacturing, the mill has been converted to provide space for expansion at IYRS, a maritime research library, the school's new visitor center, and leased space for 12 companies.
"There are wonderfully layered benefits to this restored mill," said Terry Nathan, president of IYRS. "It also satisfies the long-term mission of the school to preserve the entire historic campus, and what a beautiful improvement to the quality of life in this neighborhood. The entire mix of benefits is very gratifying."
Newport Collaborative Architects served as architects of the $7.5 million project and construction was managed by Farrar & Associates of Newport.
Most tenants have involvement in the marine industry and the IYRS campus. One such company is Nautor Swan, builder of semi-custom, ocean-going yachts in Finland.
Other marine businesses now located at the mill include Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, Confident Captain/Ocean Pros, Dunning & Associates naval architects, The Gowrie Group, Jamestown Distributors, and Newport Yacht Management. Additional tenants include Hilltop Motors, The Rhode Island Foundation Newport County Fund, Wild Things, and Worldways Social Marketing.
The upper bay sailing season gets going on Sunday, May 17, when the Barrington Yacht Club hosts the Prett Gladding Memorial Race at 11 a.m.
The pursuit race (staggered start) is a clockwise circumnavigation of Prudence Island from a start near the Ohio Ledge buoy. Like the end-of-season Bud Humphrey Race, it is a family-style, non-spinnaker competition.
The race is the first in the 2009 GMT Boat of the Year competition. For entry details, call the yacht club.
Kiley joins GMT
Jay Kiley has been named director of sales and marketing at GMT Composites, company President David Schwartz has announced.
Mr. Kiley has spent his entire career in the marine industry, including seven years selling superyacht rigging for both Global BSY Rigging Service and OYS Service. He has also run a ship chandelry, sold boats and managed marine finance divisions. He is an avid sailboat racer.
Mr. Kiley is married with two children, one of whom is now completing her first trans-Atlantic crossing under sail.
J-Class reborn
The great J-Class yachts of the 1930s, some of which were built at the Herreshoff company in Bristol, are staging something of a comeback many decades after America's Cup contenders moved to smaller, more affordable boats.
Hanuman, the new replica of Endeavour II, was launched recently at the Royal Huisman yard in the Netherlands. In 1937 the original Endeavour II was built of steel at Camper & Nicholson's yard in England for T.O.M. Sopwith to challenge for the America's Cup against the defender Ranger.
Meanwhile, the aluminum hull of Atlantis is almost complete in Holland, and work is well along on Lionheart, also in Holland, for a spring 2010 launch.
They join the restored Shamrock V (often seen in Newport), Endeavor I and Velsheda, and replicas of Ranger, Enterprise and Rainbow.


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Bachelorette Party in NYC
Museum Hack is a subversive, fun, non-traditional museum tour company. We love hosting classy bachelorette parties in Manhattan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Let's chat! To brainstorm something fun. Also read these: Blog post 1, Blog post 2, Recent photos.
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Your private tour guides will playfully guide you through the 2.3 million square feet and 270,000 works of art to reshape how you view the most intriguing and the most overlooked pieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Each tour is different and customized on the fly based on your private party. On most tours, we will visit the Temple of Dendur, the American Wing, Musical Instruments, Modern and Contemporary Galleries, and Asian Galleries, to name a few. Guides are also always happy to take requests ahead of time to guarantee a magical evening for the bride-to-be.
More wine, basically.
Your guide will show you the other side of some of the Museum's heavy hitters. If you visit a Met highlight, you're going to get the saucy backstory. We can customize the entire evening for you and your group to highlight your favorites, or show you new areas of the Museum that you may have never seen before.
Like romance?
We've got a dozen Love-themed pieces, including this one.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Butts is a new thematic tour offering that we can debut for your Bachelorette Party in NYC. This tour focuses on over 6000 years of butt history and looks at the enormity of the Met's collection through the lens of butts and all things butt-related.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Duo Queue Restrictions
Players, We're continually working towards improving the quality of ranked play. Beginning with patch 4.10, we're introducing a new restriction for ranked duo queues so players will only be able to duo queue with teammates ranked between one full tier above or below them. For example, if you are Silver, you'll be able to duo with players ranked Bronze to Gold. We found that the vast majority of duos already invite players within these thresholds and games that had duos outside of these limits are perceived as lower quality. This also closes some loopholes that allow the potential for undermining the matchmaking system via smurf accounts. Unseeded players who played in the previous season will use their previous season solo queue rank to determine duo eligibility. Unseeded players who have never played ranked will be able to invite Gold, Silver or Bronze players. We strive to make ranked the pinnacle of competitive League play, and this restriction is meant to uphold the integrity of that competition while still allowing play between friends. As always, share your comments and feedback below. Happy hunting, Socrates
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Chapter 7 : Catalyst
|Rating: Mature
|Chapter Reviews: 6
Background: Font color:
I'm about to announce something to the Daily Prophet. There may be a fallout from it at school. If you have any concerns don't hesitate to come home, even if it means skipping classes.
Love, Mum.
"What the hell can this mean?" I demand of Scorpius, shoving the note in his face.
"It means," Scorpius explains calmly, "She's going to suggest a controversial piece of legislation, and there'll be people in the school who don't agree with it."
"But she told me to skip class," I point out, extremely concerned. "This is my mother, telling me to skip class. What the hell is going on?" I can hear my voice rising in panic.
"She didn't tell you to skip class. She told you to go see her if you have any concerns, even if it means skipping class. You know your mum, she worries too much about everything."
"She also forced me to go to school when I had appendicitis," I point out dryly. "I was eight, and the Muggle teacher sent me straight to the hospital."
"Maybe she's calmed down a bit since then?" Scorpius suggests.
"Okay, if your mum told you something was going to go down, and to take classes off to see her if you had any concerns, what would you think?"
"That she's gone off her rocker, but she's a Charms professor, not Minister of Magic. Your toast is going cold."
I pick up said piece of toast, take one bite of it and drop it back on the plate. "Not hungry."
"Bullshit," Scorpius declares. "It can't be that bad. What does she think will happen, we'll all go after you with torches and pitchforks because you're the minister's daughter?"
"They'd be more likely to go after Hugo, he wouldn't fight back."
"Exactly. Now eat your breakfast, quit worrying about your mum, and worry about the Potions essay we were meant to have written last night."
"It's half done."
"So you're only half dead, then. Isn't that nice?" Scorpius pulls out a piece of parchment with the words "Properties of Veritaserum" written on the top. "Here's my essay."
"Hand it in, I dare you."
"You know what will happen if I do?" he asks, pulling out a quill and bending over the parchment. "Rochester will go to Mum, Mum will restrict the hours we can practice on the pitch for, and Mum will go after me threatening to make my life a living hell in the holidays, OR threaten to expose various secrets of my personal life to second-year Charms."
"Your mum is awesome."
"My mum is batty," Scorpius counters. "When do we have Potions? Second, right?"
"Yeah, and History of Magic first, so you can write it then."
"An excellent plan. When does the Prophet come out?"
"Lunchtime, they changed the issue time because all the major announcements from the Ministry are made in the morning."
"Understandable. Don't go crazy before then, all right?"
"That was stupid advice."
"I know it was, but I had to say something. Supportive is in the job description of boyfriend, last I checked."
"I'd be interested to see that job description at some point, see how long ago I should have fired you." I push my chair back and walk around the table to return to the dungeons.
"Love you too!" Scorpius yells after me.
Several hours later I'm in the Great Hall to collect lunch and Daily Prophet when a hundred owls come flying into the hall carrying papers for the few students who care about the world around them and not just their grades, their friends and their hormones.
An owl flies towards me, recognising me as a subscriber, and I pull the paper off its leg and send it on its way, unravelling the paper and scanning the front page.
"Holy shit!" I yelp, scrunching up the paper and sprinting out into the quadrangle where Scorpius, Jeremy and Alyssa are sitting.
"Where's lunch?" Jeremy asks immediately.
"Who gives a shit about lunch?" I cry, throwing the paper onto the grass. "Look at this and tell me you're worried about lunch!"
"Statute…Of…Secrecy…Set…To…Go," Alyssa reads aloud. "You can't be serious!"
"My mother is!" I wail, dropping to my knees and forcing myself to read the article.
Statute of Secrecy Set To Go
In a shocking move, Minister of Magic Hermione Weasley announced plans this morning to remove Britain from the International Statute of Secrecy agreement. The move would see policies of secrecy lifted across the country and the integration of various areas of wizarding and Muggle life.
"It's high time we did away with the Statute," Weasley said in a statement to the Prophet this morning. "Since its inception in 1692, it has led to escalating views of blood purism by wizards. In alienating ourselves from the Muggle world, we encourage elitism, ignorace, intolerance and hatred, views that threaten to destroy us. Let none of us forget that Lord Voldemort and his followers' principal purpose was to terrorise and hunt down Muggles and Muggleborn wizards. We can only move on from this so much with the Statute of Secrecy still in place."
Weasley intends to begin integration as early as next year, saying, "We will, of course, enlist the help of the Muggle Government. The Minister of Magic has always made himself or herself known to the Muggle Prime Minister, and I have talked to him on a number of occasions. We will no longer have to regulate the playing of Quidditch, the transportation and keeping of magical creatures, or the use of magic in front of Muggles. We will coexist with them, in their cities, in their schools, in their universities and workplaces, and build a culture of integration, tolerance and friendship. It will no longer be a case of us and them, but us."
"She's serious," I manage in a hollow voice. "She's dead serious."
"Wow," Scorpius articulates.
"This," Alyssa says, picking up the paper, "Is not going to be popular. Jeremy and Scorpius, you're now Rose's bodyguards."
"I really don't think that's necessary, Alyssa," Jeremy says wryly. "If anyone's going to go after anyone, they'll go after Hugo."
"That's what I told Scorpius this morning," I agree.
I take a look around the quadrangle; a few people are coming back from the Great Hall with their papers, running towards their friends and yelling. I can't see a single person holding a paper who seems calm, and a sense of foreboding settles over me. Oh Mum, what have you done?
"What the hell is this shit?" a Hufflepuff yells at me as he runs past, waving the Prophet.
After a long silence, Scorpius clears his throat. "So, ah, what are our thoughts on this?"
"I need time to think," I say flatly.
"I think we all do," Jeremy agrees, "Though I'm leaning towards a negative reaction, myself."
"Likewise," Alyssa says, nodding. "No offence to your mum, Rose, but this…"
"She'd be lucky if she survives the night," Jeremy finishes.
"Jeremy!" Scorpius says angrily, and I look at him in surprise. He hardly ever raises his voice in anger, and certainly not to Jeremy.
"It was a joke, man," Jeremy says hastily.
"It's not funny," Scorpius says, his voice shaking. "Because there are wizards out there who would do that, Jem, wizards out there who would do anything in their power to stop this from happening…I know, my grandfather's friends with them. My grandfather would agree with them for all I know."
"Scorpius, stop it," I say quietly. "I don't want to talk about this, I don't even want to think about this." Terrifying images of wizards in masks breaking into my house flood my mind, and I fight the urge to break down or run away.
"I'm sorry," Scorpius mutters. "I didn't stop to realise you'd hear that."
No I'm sure your mum will be fine, I'm being paranoid I'm sure. Just you weren't meant to hear that. The fact that Scorpius, always so calm, analytical and sensible, confirmed my fears makes me feel sick to my stomach. I know I'm prone to overreacting, but for Scorpius to agree…
"Come with me," Scorpius says suddenly, seeing my face and pulling me to my feet. "Let's go for a walk."
We walk in silence down to the Great Lake, holding hands and waiting for the other to speak.
"Are you scared, Rose?" he asks finally.
"For Mum, yeah," I say at length. "You're right…there are wizards who would stop at nothing…The best thing to happen would be if she gets kicked out of office now, at least she won't have any deadly enemies…"
"She won't be kicked out," Scorpius says simply. "She can't be. Maybe if there's no support behind it, it won't get off the ground. It'll be time to worry if there's a group of supporters big enough to make it happen. Then she'll have enemies. Rose, no matter what I said to Jeremy, we've come a long way since the days of Voldemort. There'll be opposition, but the Death Eaters…they're in Azkaban or they're dead. They're the only ones likely to go to extremes. I'm not trying to offer you meaningless words of comfort. The shit might not hit the fan at all, but if the shit hits the fan, I'm here and I always will be."
I turn to him, burying my face in his robes. "Thank you," I mumble into his chest.
"I haven't done anything yet," he points out, wrapping his arms around me.
"You're here. That's all I need."
Lorcan and I meet Damascus, Natalia and Emily in the Room of Requirement that evening. Damascus, to my slight surprise, immediately steps forward and extends his hand towards Lorcan. "I'm Damascus," he says.
"Lorcan," he returns, shaking Damascus's hand.
"I take it we all saw the Prophet today," Natalia begins.
"Yes," Lorcan says coolly.
"What are we thinking?"
Emily's watching Lorcan again. I get the feeling he's almost being tested.
"It's unthinkable," Lorcan says flatly. "There's a reason that Statute was established in the first place. Just because a few hundred years have passed doesn't mean we're going to be any more accepted now than we were then."
"If Hermione wants to be burnt at the stake by a bunch of angry Muggles that's her problem," I add. "But to condemn us all?"
"I'm glad we're on the same page," Natalia says. "The wizarding world has gone from strength to strength since the Statute was put in place."
"It has," Damascus agrees. "That, and how, exactly, are we going to integrate? Our worlds are entirely different. There's no middle ground. It's always going to be an us and them. Hermione Weasley's asking us to throw away our culture, our heritage, our lives by throwing away the Statute, and I won't stand for it."
"Well said," Lorcan agrees, and Damascus smiles at him.
"Now, what we're here for," Natalia begins. "Does anyone have any ideas on what we want to work on?"
"Start off with some extra power in the standard spells, perhaps," Damascus suggests. "We can get into the heavier stuff later, but stuff like stupefy can be much more effective if we can cast them strong enough. I heard of a wizard who could knock people out for days with his stunners."
"Good idea," Natalia agrees. "The standard ways of casting spells more powerfully are, of course, related to intent, concentration and natural ability. For example someone like myself or Lily would naturally cast a stronger Stunning spell than someone like Emily."
"Granted," Emily says softly.
"We won't actually stun anyone as yet," Natalia continues. "We'll just practice casting the spells at the walls for now. You should be able to sense the extra power in your spellwork. Eventually, we'll choose a guinea pig, and we'll get some pillows."
We spend the next half an hour practicing our stunning spells on the walls, and slowly I can feel myself improving; my aim is better, but more importantly I can feel the power running through me, almost buzzing; a strength beyond what I've felt before. It's almost intoxicating.
By the time we decide to start practicing the spells on the others, the Room of Requirement has supplied us with a large pile of cushions.
"That almost looks fun to fall into," Damascus observes. "You can Stun me first."
"With pleasure," Natalia replies, and in seconds she's whipped around and fired the curse towards Damascus, who's thrown off his feet and flies several metres across the room to land on the pile.
"Rennervate!" Emily calls, and Damascus flounders to the top of the cushion pile, glancing at his feet and across the room to where he was, an expression of respect forming on his face.
"Nice work," he tells Natalia. "You sent me flying."
"I think we should extend the crash zone a bit," Natalia says. "That wasn't my best work, and you nearly went off the edge."
"Good thinking," Damascus agrees, shifting the pillows around.
"Lily's turn," Natalia says, waving me forward.
I summon all my power, concentrating hard on sending Damascus flying across the room.
Like a detonator, the word goes off in my head and the spell explodes from my wand, striking Damascus hard and flinging him high into the air. We watch in awe as he comes to a rest at the very edge of the extended crash zone.
"We were right about you, that's for sure," Natalia observes.
I'm buzzing for the rest of the evening, long after Lorcan and I have left the Room of Requirement and slowly started making our way back to our respective towers.
"It's brilliant, isn't it?" Lorcan asks quietly. "Having that much power, and being able to use it. I never knew I could cast a stunner with that much force. Those three are intense."
"They are," I agree. "It's rewarding, do you feel that? Like you're just drunk on your own power. I've never noticed it before, but now that I have…well, it's like flicking on a light switch, isn't it? The magic we learn at school barely scratches the surface of what we're capable of."
"That's exactly it," Lorcan says enthusiastically. "Breaking down the barriers of what's expected."
"You've never had a problem with that," I comment, though my words come out more bitter than I intended them to be.
"I have," Lorcan counters. "I just choose to rise above it. I don't have to go out of my way to be different. I just am. Mum, Dad, Lysander…they've all got their heads in the clouds. I don't want to be like that. I want to have a purpose-driven life…to strive for something and achieve it, to know who I am, what I'm doing and everything that's happening around me. That's just me. I didn't just wake up one morning and pull my head out of the clouds."
"But that's just it," I say. "I don't know who I am. I've been living out of other people's expectations of me for sixteen years."
"You do know who you are," Lorcan says. "Either that, or I know better than you know yourself. Maybe that is the case. But the real you, Lily—the real you is what I see in DA and what I saw this evening. The real Lily is a powerful and capable witch. The real Lily commands respect."
"You think?"
"What do you think?" Lorcan asks, turning to me. "You don't really need me to confirm that, do you? You already know. You know because ever since DA started and you began duelling with a higher calibre of wizard, it's like a fire's been lit inside you."
"You do know me better than I know myself," I say finally. Every word that Lorcan's just said resonates within me. He's right. He knows the real me. So do Natalia, Damascus and Emily. My parents, brothers, cousins, friends—they don't.
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Routine Vaccination Recommendations
What vaccinations are routinely recommended for adults, adolescents, and children?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are presently 15 diseases that have recommended vaccination schedules. The goal is for all US citizens to receive the vaccinations to prevent the spread of these infectious diseases, and ultimately to eradicate them.
Specific vaccine recommendations vary depending on age, geographic location, and other risk factors.
These basic vaccinations are often given in combination to reduce the number of injections. The following diseases can be prevented by following the CDC guidelines for immunization:
- diphtheria - a highly potent, bacterial toxin that inhibits protein development and is often fatal
- hemophilus influenzae type B - bacterial infection that leads to conditions such as meningitis
- hepatitis A - a type of viral hepatitis transmitted through oral contact with feces, which affects the liver, but is usually less harmful than other types of hepatitis
- hepatitis B - a potentially more severe form of viral hepatitis transmitted through blood and body fluid exposure
- human papillomavirus (HPV) - a common sexually transmitted disease that can cause genital warts called condylomas
- influenza (flu) - an acute infectious respiratory disease caused by various strains of influenza viruses
- measles - an acute viral infection marked by fever, a dusky red rash, and inflamed respiratory mucous membranes
- meningitis - inflammation of the brain or spinal cord due to various bacterial or viral infections
- mumps - an infection of salivary or parotid glands and sometimes other areas of the body
- pertussis - an acute bacterial infection of the throat causing high pitched coughing spasms (whooping cough)
- pneumonia - inflammation of the lungs from viruses, bacteria, chemicals, trauma, or other organisms. Vaccination prevents the most commonly occurring bacterial pneumonias.
- rotavirus - a highly contagious virus which is the leading cause of severe diarrhea among children
- rubella - sometimes called German measles, an acute viral infection characterized by a rash
- tetanus (lock jaw) - a disease marked by painful contractions of the muscles
- varicella (chicken pox) - an acute contagious disease, usually occurring in children, caused by the varicella-zoster virus and marked by skin eruptions
Please visit the Online Resources page for the most up-to-date guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Click here to view the
Online Resources of Men's Health
Disclaimer - This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information provided is intended to be informative and educational and is not a replacement for professional evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional. © 2009 Staywell Custom Communications.


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Log in using your Facebook, Windows Live, Google or Yahoo! account
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Real Madrid CF's Xabi Alonso tells Champions Matchday that Cristiano Ronaldo is the "most ambitious player I have met", calls José Mourinho a "leader" and discusses the "décima".


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Gladys Rodriguez is the Director of R.H.R. of Miami, Inc. and inactive roles in one additional company .
R.H.R. of Miami, Inc. filed as a Domestic for Profit Corporation in the State of Florida filed on Monday, August 12, 1985. This corporation is approximately thirty years old according to documents filed with Florida Department of State. R.H.R. of Miami, Inc. also lists Ramon H. Rodriguez as President.
Gladys Rodriguez's additional active roles include:
Gladys Rodriguez is connected to other officers through these corporate roles. One of the top connections is Ramon H. Rodriguez who is the President for R.H.R. of Miami Bobcat, Inc and has interests in other companies, including President of R.H.R. of Miami, Inc. .
Gladys's past corporate interests include the Director of Hex Foundation, Inc. .
R.H.R. of Miami Bobcat, Inc also lists Ramon H. Rodriguez as President, in addition to Gladys's role of Vice President. This corporation was registered twenty years after R.H.R. of Miami, Inc. as a Domestic for Profit Corporation in the State of Florida on Wednesday, December 14, 2005.
Key roles for Gladys Rodriguez
R.H.R. of Miami, Inc.
Director, Vice President President
R.H.R. of Miami Bobcat, Inc
Vice President President
Hex Foundation, Inc.


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One owner 45476 miles from new So California car in outstanding original condition. Equipment include 400 CID engine, automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes,... More
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Easily manage your HOA meetings, members and dues!
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Amber King Suites are 70 m2. Decorated predominantly in orange color, Amber King Suite, offers an accommodation choice for those who want to be renewed by increasing their vitality and energy, be in an atmosphere that inspires fun and happiness; absorb the energy of success, competition and risk taking concepts after a busy Istanbul day. Orange expresses energy. Orange is vibrant. It's a combination of red and yellow so it shares some common attributes with those colors. It denotes energy, warmth, and the sun. But orange has a bit less intensity than red, is calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.
Amber King Suite which comprises of a bedroom, living room and a kitchen and a bathroom on an adjoining spacious lounge features the following:
- Separate LCD TV, satellite connection in each room
- Telephone
- Air conditioner
- Mini-bar
- Free Wireless internet connection
- Hair dryer
- Central heating
- iPod Docking Station
- Electronic Safe


text: The PLT 503 mini indicator lamp is designed for long lasting and reliable performance. Manufactured to exact standards, this automotive replacement lamp features high quality pieces such as a nickel-plated brass base which improves heat dissipation for long term reliability. The 503 operates at 5.1 volts and 0.15 amps. It is can be used into automotive and optoelectronic applications.


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Boarded-up and falling down, hundreds of Baltimore's vacant and blighted rowhouses are scheduled for demolition in coming months in a stepped-up effort to rid the city of its most visible sign of decades of urban decay.
Over the next 21/2 years, the city is budgeted to spend nearly $22 million to tear down 1,500 abandoned houses — a move urban planners say could transform Baltimore visually and clear a path for struggling neighborhoods to attract future development. Previously, the city had been spending about $2.5 million a year on demolition.


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Since the guys at printshop didn't tell me their printers cut 5mm off every edge and didn't bother to fit to paper… I give you the .pdf version: http://www.kiberpipa.org/~oskar/dmp/docs/pamphlet.pdf
Just an old video I made and wanted to share with some people, since Youtube is being silly.
The Helldudes Gaming Group (Ljubljana, Slovenia) traditionally attend the Agram Arena Summer Warhammer 40k tournament (Zagreb, Croatia) every year. This year was no different; we even scored… *khm* …very well and we have videos to prove it!
More smartass comments in the full post.
A short time lapse with camera circling the house in a helix pattern. Had some more interesting ideas, but time is short. Maybe later.
Maybe next time I'll even bother to embed it. Must sleep now.
Well, here's some UVW mapping, more raytraced shadows from actual lights, some furniture… I don't know any more. Way too tired. Hope you'll enjoy these as much as I enjoyed making them.
In all seriousness, though, I have learned a lot doing this; what looked like an insurmountable problem is now as easy as pie. Mmm, pie.
Edited post, quality fixed:
Hopefully you can now hear some traffic which bothered me immensely, along with the lovely sound of nature.
Having some fun with vector graphics… Not much to say. Haven't exactly worked much with Illustrator before, and for all my needs Inkscape seems to work better for now. Plus it's open source, which just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


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Your relationship with the BAC doesn't end when you graduate. Whether you live in Boston or across the globe, you can stay connected with the BAC.
A new Alumni webpage is currently being built. We hope that this new destination will keep you informed on alumni events, news, and the stories and accomplishments of your fellow alumni.
If you have questions or comments, or ideas on how to make this page function better, please contact Catalina Rojo Ianetta, Alumni & Development Officer, at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 617.585.0146.
Give Back
The generosity of BAC alumni provides invaluable support for the BAC's most important programs and priorities. By making a gift to the BAC, you are supporting the future of the College and making an education in design possible for BAC students.


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UTSA newsletters
» UTSA Expressions -- Student Center for Community Engagement and Inclusion
UTSA magazines
» Giving
» Discovery -- UTSA Research
» Innovations -- College of Engineering
» Ovations -- College of Liberal and Fine Arts
» Spectrum -- College of Education
UTSA President Ricardo Romo honored by San Anto Cultural Arts
(July 31, 2013) -- San Anto Cultural Arts has announced the selection of UTSA President Ricardo Romo as King Huevo for its 2013 Huevos Rancheros Gala in October.
Each year, San Anto Cultural Arts crowns King and Queen Huevo, two outstanding individuals who have made an impact on the cultural and artistic vibrancy of the San Antonio community. In the 16-year history of the gala, local leaders and artists including Lila Cockrell, Rosemary Kowalski, Carmen Tafolla, Alex Rubio, Juan Miguel Ramos and Cruz Ortiz have been honored.
Romo will accept the award Oct. 5, along with San Anto Cultural Arts 2013 Queen Huevo Maria Lopez de Leon, executive director of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC).
In 2014, Romo will celebrate his 15th year as president of UTSA. Under his leadership, UTSA has become an emerging Tier One research institution. UTSA recently was recognized for the second consecutive year by Times Higher Education as one of the Top 100 Universities in the World Under 50 Years Old. Additionally, in just four years, UTSA has surpassed its $120 million initial financial goal for We Are UTSA -- A Top-Tier Campaign. Campaign gifts have supported student and faculty initiatives across the campuses including the creation of 135 student scholarship funds and 26 endowed faculty positions.
Since Romo joined UTSA in 1999, UTSA has become a university of first choice for students from Texas, across the nation including three U.S. territories and more than 90 countries. As a result, enrollment has grown 68 percent to more than 30,000 students.
Today, more than 58 percent of UTSA students are from underrepresented groups, and 55 percent are first-generation college students. Additionally, approximately 70 percent of UTSA graduates opt to stay in San Antonio, contributing more than $1.2 billion to the city's economy annually.
In addition to leading UTSA, Romo commits a great amount of time to community service. In 2011, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He also serves as a board member for several nonprofits including Humanities Texas, United Way of San Antonio and the National Western Art Foundation.
Romo and his wife, Harriett, are avid art collectors. More than 60 prints from their collection recently were on display at San Antonio's McNay Museum in the exhibit "Estampas de la Raza." The traveling exhibit portrays the Latino experience in the United States through the work of 44 Mexican-American and Latino artists. These amazing prints are now on view at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and will continue to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, followed by the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angeles.
The 2013 Huevos Rancheros Gala will start at 9 a.m. Oct. 5 at Plaza Guadalupe. San Anto Cultural Arts hopes to welcome nearly 800 guests at this year's event, which is expected to raise $40,000. The group's mission is to foster human and community development through community-based arts.
>> Learn more about UTSA President Ricardo Romo.


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I got a new notebook computer a couple of days ago. Here are some specs (details):
Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-52 at 1.60 GHz
Memory: 1 GB DDR2
Video: integrated ATI Mobility Radeon X1200 on PCI-E x16
Display: 1280 X 800
WiFi: Atheros AR5006EG/AR5006X
Software: 32-bit Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Now, all this is delicious stuff, except for the Microsoft Windows Vista part. Naturally, I proceeded to wipe Windows off the disk. I popped in my Kubuntu 7.04 Live CD, pressed [Enter] at the graphical menu, and waited for the system to start and load KDE.
It didn't.


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Barclaycard PayTag Win a contactless adventure ← Back to case studies
- In →
- Travel and Culture
Unmissable was briefed to find a prize solution to link in with revolutionary Barclaycard PayTag system. After all, being one of the first to pay with a Barclaycard PayTag makes you special and that's certainly a feeling the brand wanted to tap into. So to encourage sign up, we gave Barclaycard the opportunity of offering customers the chance to join another exclusive club and be one of an elite group to experience a ZERO-G flight over Orlando in the USA. The winner and a friend will win the opportunity to enjoy a once in a lifetime, totally weightless experience throughout 2012. This VIP travel incentive, devised by Unmissable for Barclaycard, includes a personal chauffeur to and from the airport, 7 nights 5-star hotel in Orlando, car hire and return flights to Florida. The highlight of the incentive includes an incredible Zero-G experience in Fort Lauderdale and a gourmet meal with champagne to celebrate their return to earth. Journeys of a lifetime provide emotive and engaging stand out, particularly in a busy Olympic marketplace.


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You are in a crowded room near home surrounded by your mother, father, aunt and uncle, their kids and some close friends. The doors are locked. You hear men's voices outside. You know that they have guns. You are scared and wonder, "what is going to happen to me?" Now, you hear banging on the door. You have no delusions about their intentions: they are here to kill you.
The reason? It's nothing you did. It's just because of who you are.
You are waiting, hoping, praying for somebody to protect you.
You wish you could call 9-1-1. But this is Darfur. Here, twice the population of Toronto don't have anyone to call. They face almost certain death, rape, or the loss of an eye or an arm. Many Darfuri men, women, and children hoped for help, but it never came. Like the Armenians in 1910s, Jews during the Holocaust, Cambodians in 1970s, Rwandans and victims of Srebrenica in 1990s they have been left alone.
The results have been devastating.
"The story of the eldest girl who was sent to get needed firewood for her mother and young brother, but was raped", "The story of the young boy who awoke in his hut to the roar of engines, only to look outside and see family and friends running from bombs and armed men on horseback" and "The story of the woman hearing 'now your babies will be Arab' as she's being violated" are a stories that paint a picture of life as a victim of genocide.
These stories are maddening. The images of these people's experiences sear into our minds. If you believe, as I do, that no man or woman should be a target simply because of his or her ethnicity, that every children born into this world should never have to see men on horseback rape their mother and kill their father, that no person should ever be victim of genocide sixty years after the "lesson" of the Holocaust, then these actions are an affront to your beliefs.
These attacks against your entire worldview, stir your emotions. You feel, as I do, sadness, fear, rage and most importantly an urgency to "do something" about it.
But – unfortunately for victims – too often, our outrage is followed by a sense of helplessness. I experienced this four years ago. I was riled after reading a story in the New York times about a woman who was told 'now your babies will be impure' while being raped. But I was stuck.
"What can I do? This is a genocide – the crime of all crimes. This is happening so far away. The situation seems so complicated. The names of key players are hardly pronounceable. "
"Yes," we say, "people are dying. But it is so big and so far away. I have to work today and pay my bills. What can one person actually do?"
We all get stuck.
This is the true challenge that the world faces with Darfur: how can we, the mass of people who care about Darfur, overcome the set of obstacles that prevent each one of us from acting to end genocide in Darfur?
Collectively, we have the manpower, will, influence, and money to end the crisis. We have put a man on the moon, ended cold wars, defeated fascism in Europe, and freed millions from apartheid in South Africa, and so too we can end a genocide. But feelings of apathy and powerlessness, a lack of information and motivation prevent us from tapping our world-changing potential.
Enter Stand.
The job of each of our volunteers, supporters, and allies: make it easy to act against genocide. Make it easy to overcome the challenges – one by one – to help each person that feels "I must do something about Darfur". Help them take action.
If it isn't easy for you to make your difference for Darfur, we'll make it so.
Feel powerless to make a difference?
We are there to tell you that you can. The Stand volunteer on your campus will tell you stories to convince you so. We will share stories of meeting the Prime Minister, of Canada sending 100 armoured personnel carriers to protect those protecting civilians, of students traveling to Darfur with Members of Parliament to forever make them allies in our fight. You can make a difference.
Don't know where to start?
A Stand volunteer can show you how easy it is to begin to make a difference. You can start by meeting like-minded friends in your community through Stand – in-person or online. You can work on a project of significance to Darfur: plan a rally to put Darfur's story in the headlines, invite your Member of Parliament to meet your group, create a calendar to raise money for the cause. Thousands of people have attended hundreds of events put on by dozens of groups from communities across Canada. The net impact is obvious: each new voice can inspire an action for the cause. Each action may be the one to tip the scale towards life for a Darfuri teetering on the brink. You can have impact with Stand.
Don't have the time?
Everybody has three minutes to act against genocide. Call 1-800-GENOCID(E). Get talking points about what Canada can do for Darfur. And leave a message for the Prime Minister. Each call to 1-800-GENOCIDE moves Darfur up the list of issues important to the Prime Minister. One high school in Toronto called the Prime Minister's office so many times in one day, that the Office called the principal of the school and asked students to stop calling. Thankfully, the principal told them no. That day, the Prime Minister noticed Darfur. A few minutes can make a difference for Darfur.
Want to call your MP right now but don't know what to say?
Read Stand's Darfur Digest. Just by glancing at the executive summary, you can know more about Darfur than 95% of MPs and have the confidence to voice your opinion about what's right for Canada to do to prevent on-going genocide in Darfur. It is read by high school students and national not-for-profit CEOs, and everybody in between. A few minutes can make you an effective advocate.
Consider a world without Stand and its allies. People read about Darfur. We are "educated" about it. We care, but our engagement stops there. The world would exist with a massive gap: a body of people who need help in Darfur, and a mass of people who care about Darfur but feel helpless. In that world, millions fall victim to genocide in Darfur, and the next Darfur in Asia, or South America or Africa. The idea "never again" dies along with the hope of a generation.
Stand bridges that gap, making it easy for those caring people to act against genocide in Darfur and wherever else it may next appear.
Back to that crowded room with armed men pounding at the door. Darfuris don't have 9-1-1. But we have 1-800-GENOCIDE. Let's keep calling on their behalf until we create a world free of genocide.
Ben Fine
Volunteer, Founder


text:
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Subtotal: $26.45
Items in Cart: 5
Enjoy a unique look you can call your own with the Imperious man of war leather strap! Choose from durable black or blue. Each comes with silver-tone pins and a tool to change out your strap. Both options taper slightly to 23mm W at the last hole. "IMPERIOUS" is engraved into the silver-tone stainless steel buckle.
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text:
The following is an archive of a post made to our
'vox mailing list'
by one of its subscribers.
DCN (Davis Community Network) is once again inquiring if
LUGOD would like to put on a "Linux Applications Basics"
class. This would probably be on a Tuesday or Wednesday
evening, sometime in October or November.
If you have some small amount of teaching experience and
are interested in participating, please reply to
email@example.com, or to me.
Again, see http://lists.lugod.org/vox-outreach to join the
vox-outreach mailing list.
-- Rod (your LUGOD class coordinator)
vox mailing list
Hosting provided by:
Sunset Systems
Sunset Systems offers preconfigured Linux
systems, remote system administration and
custom software development.
LUGOD: Linux Users' Group of Davis
PO Box 2082, Davis, CA 95617
Contact Us
LUGOD is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
based in Davis, California
and serving the Sacramento area.
"Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.


text:
Filter by:
Content type:
Stage 1&2
Stage 2&3
Stage 3&4
Stage 4&5
Challenge level:
There is a clock-face where the numbers have become all mixed up. Can you find out where all the numbers have got to from these ten statements?
Can you order the digits from 1-3 to make a number which is divisible by 3 so when the last digit is removed it becomes a 2-figure number divisible by 2, and so on?
Can you work out some different ways to balance this equation?
On the planet Vuv there are two sorts of creatures. The Zios have 3 legs and the Zepts have 7 legs. The great planetary explorer Nico counted 52 legs. How many Zios and how many Zepts were there?
Tom and Ben visited Numberland. Use the maps to work out the number
of points each of their routes scores.
Using the statements, can you work out how many of each type of
rabbit there are in these pens?
Look on the back of any modern book and you will find an ISBN code. Take this code and calculate this sum in the way shown. Can you see what the answers always have in common?
This problem is based on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Investigate the different numbers of people and rats there could have been if you know how many legs there are altogether!
Can you find which shapes you need to put into the grid to make the
totals at the end of each row and the bottom of each column?
Can you complete this calculation by filling in the missing numbers? In how many different ways can you do it?
Zumf makes spectacles for the residents of the planet Zargon, who
have either 3 eyes or 4 eyes. How many lenses will Zumf need to
make all the different orders for 9 families?
This magic square has operations written in it, to make it into a
maze. Start wherever you like, go through every cell and go out a
total of 15!
Can you fill in this table square? The numbers 2 -12 were used to generate it with just one number used twice.
What do you notice about the date 03.06.09? Or 08.01.09? This
challenge invites you to investigate some interesting dates
Katie had a pack of 20 cards numbered from 1 to 20. She arranged
the cards into 6 unequal piles where each pile added to the same
total. What was the total and how could this be done?
Try adding together the dates of all the days in one week. Now
multiply the first date by 7 and add 21. Can you explain what
There are 44 people coming to a dinner party. There are 15 square
tables that seat 4 people. Find a way to seat the 44 people using
all 15 tables, with no empty places.
48 is called an abundant number because it is less than the sum of
its factors (without itself). Can you find some more abundant
Have a go at balancing this equation. Can you find different ways of doing it?
Can you arrange 5 different digits (from 0 - 9) in the cross in the
way described?
Suppose we allow ourselves to use three numbers less than 10 and
multiply them together. How many different products can you find?
How do you know you've got them all?
We can arrange dots in a similar way to the 5 on a dice and they
usually sit quite well into a rectangular shape. How many
altogether in this 3 by 5? What happens for other sizes?
Can you work out the arrangement of the digits in the square so
that the given products are correct? The numbers 1 - 9 may be used
once and once only.
There were chews for 2p, mini eggs for 3p, Chocko bars for 5p and
lollypops for 7p in the sweet shop. What could each of the children
buy with their money?
In a Magic Square all the rows, columns and diagonals add to the 'Magic Constant'. How would you change the magic constant of this square?
Ben's class were making cutting up number tracks. First they
cut them into twos and added up the numbers on each piece. What
patterns could they see?
Use your logical-thinking skills to deduce how much Dan's crisps and ice-cream cost altogether.
If you had any number of ordinary dice, what are the possible ways
of making their totals 6? What would the product of the dice be
each time?
A group of children are using measuring cylinders but they lose the
labels. Can you help relabel them?
This challenge encourages you to explore dividing a three-digit number by a single-digit number.
Cherri, Saxon, Mel and Paul are friends. They are all different
ages. Can you find out the age of each friend using the
This number has 903 digits. What is the sum of all 903 digits?
Here are the prices for 1st and 2nd class mail within the UK. You have an unlimited number of each of these stamps. Which stamps would you need to post a parcel weighing 825g?
Amy has a box containing domino pieces but she does not think it is a complete set. She has 24 dominoes in her box and there are 125 spots on them altogether. Which of her domino pieces are missing?
This problem is based on a code using two different prime numbers
less than 10. You'll need to multiply them together and shift the
alphabet forwards by the result. Can you decipher the code?
Find out what a Deca Tree is and then work out how many leaves
there will be after the woodcutter has cut off a trunk, a branch, a
twig and a leaf.
Can you design a new shape for the twenty-eight squares and arrange
the numbers in a logical way? What patterns do you notice?
Use 4 four times with simple operations so that you get the answer 12. Can you make 15, 16 and 17 too?
A game for 2 people. Use your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to blast the asteroids.
Where can you draw a line on a clock face so that the numbers on
both sides have the same total?
Find the product of the numbers on the routes from A to B. Which
route has the smallest product? Which the largest?
This multiplication uses each of the digits 0 - 9 once and once only. Using the information given, can you replace the stars in the calculation with figures?
If the numbers 5, 7 and 4 go into this function machine, what
numbers will come out?
Mr. Sunshine tells the children they will have 2 hours of homework.
After several calculations, Harry says he hasn't got time to do
this homework. Can you see where his reasoning is wrong?
EWWNP means Exploring Wild and Wonderful Number Patterns Created by Yourself! Investigate what happens if we create number patterns using some simple rules.
What is happening at each box in these machines?
There are four equal weights on one side of the scale and an apple
on the other side. What can you say that is true about the apple
and the weights from the picture?
Go through the maze, collecting and losing your money as you go.
Which route gives you the highest return? And the lowest?
This article for teachers looks at how teachers can use problems from the NRICH site to help them teach division.
These sixteen children are standing in four lines of four, one
behind the other. They are each holding a card with a number on it.
Can you work out the missing numbers?


text:
Holidaymakers who fly with no-frills budget airlines often face heavy charges for excess baggage. Arun Malhotra of Cranford, Middlesex, is patenting a neat way to avoid this (GB 2378255).
An otherwise conventional suitcase has a digital weighing mechanism, similar to those found in bathroom scales, built into its base. To find out how heavy the case is, pressure-sensitive legs are pulled out from the base, and the scale gives an instant read-out on an LCD screen near the case's handle. Malhotra suggests that every night while on holiday, you weigh that day's souvenirs in the case, to make sure you're not in for a shock when you check in to fly home.
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.


text:
Associate Professor Mitchell Smith
Clinical Associate Professor
General Practice, Westmead Clinical School
|+61 2 8778 0770
|8778 0790
Biographical details
Public health physician involved in the health care of refugees for over 20 years, overseas (Pakistan and Hong Kong) and in Australia. Since 1999, he has been Director of the NSW Refugee Health Service, which undertakes health assessments, health education, teaching and research regarding people of refugee background living in NSW.
Dr Smith provides advice on refugee health policy at local, state,andnational levels. He is a member of the Refugee Health Network of Australia and the NSW TB Advisory Committee.
Research interests
Health status of, and health care for, those of refugee background living in Australia
Teaching and supervision
Health status of, and health care for, those of refugee background living in Australia
Selected publications


text:
GSK IMPACT Awards
About the awards
2015 GSK IMPACT Award winners
Our congratulations go to the 10 charities who have won 2015 GSK IMPACT Awards for their outstanding contributions to improving the UK's health and wellbeing.
Find out more about the winners and runners up
About the awards
The GSK IMPACT Awards have been running since 1997 and are designed to recognise and reward charities that are doing excellent work to improve people's health. They are funded by GlaxoSmithKline and managed in partnership with The King's Fund.
The awards are open to registered charities that are at least three years old, working in a health-related field in the UK, with a total annual income between £25,000 and £2 million.
Benefits of winning a GSK IMPACT Award
- up to ten winners will receive £30,000 plus the overall winner will receive an extra £10,000
- up to ten runners-up will receive £3,000
- you do not need to present a new project, and you decide how to spend the award money
- award winners will be offered free training and development valued at up to £6,000
Free training
Award winners will be offered two free places on the GSK IMPACT Awards Development Programme. They will then be invited to join the GSK IMPACT Awards Network, which connects past GSK IMPACT Award winners, both online and at meetings held across the UK, allowing them to get and give support, share best practice and continue their professional development.
Publicity, films and national recognition
The awards provide organisations with an important quality mark. Winning organisations will be visited by a photographer, have a professional film made about their work and will receive support with press and publicity.
The GSK IMPACT winners will be presented with their awards at a high profile ceremony at the Science Museum in London in May 2015. With up to 400 guests in attendance, it provides an excellent opportunity to showcase work and raise profile.
Applications for the 2016 GSK IMPACT Awards
The 2016 GSK IMPACT Awards will be launched in July 2015. If you would like to receive details please email email@example.com with your name and address. Thank you for your interest in the awards.
Development Programme
GSK IMPACT Awards Development Programme
As part of their prize the ten winning charities are given the opportunity to take part in a development programme and join our network of GSK IMPACT Award winners.
The intensive three-day programme focuses on developing leadership skills and gaining knowledge across a wide range of specialist areas. In 2014 participants worked on:
- financial management and governance
- evaluation and knowledge spread
- digital that delivers
- having difficult conversations and HR
- approaches to service improvement
- developing authority and personal impact
- developing a range of leadership skills.
Organisations are then invited to take part in the GSK IMPACT Awards Network, which connects past GSK IMPACT Award winners, both online and at meetings held across the UK, allowing them to get and give support, share best practice and continue their professional development.
The Development Programme and Network, valued at up to £6,000 for each organisation, is funded by GSK and hosted by The King's Fund.
Feedback on the 2014 Development Programme
Previous participants commented on the excellent training and facilitation, its relevance to their work, how it motivated them and the unique value of working with other award-winning organisations facing similar challenges.
These are some of the comments from our 2014 programme:
- 'It was the most inspirational training I have ever been on.'
- 'The high calibre of the trainers was evident throughout. There was no session that I didn't get something out of (usually a light bulb moment!)'
- 'I have returned to work more confident and positive and I have spent a great deal of time reflecting rather than just reacting to situations.'
- 'I went to London with a clear idea of how I was going to recommend to the trustees we spend the £30,000 and came back with a totally different set of ideas. I will now be recommending some of the funds are used for staff support and development.'
- 'I cannot express how valuable it was having time, in a safe environment, to reflect.'
GSK IMPACT Awards Network
The GSK IMPACT Awards Network is a unique learning network that supports health and wellbeing charities to develop their leaders, share experiences and expertise, and build the recognition of their significant and vital contribution to the health and social care system.
What does the GSK IMPACT Awards Network aim to do?
The GSK IMPACT Awards Network aims to:
- develop leadership skills, providing participants with the skills to respond to the challenges of their environment
- share experience, knowledge and expertise
- build recognition of the charity sector's contribution to health and wellbeing.
Which organisations are involved in the network?
To become a Network member, a charity must have won a GSK IMPACT Award, for which they will have competed with more than 400 charities and have been through the rigorous assessment and judging process.
Network members' inspiring work is diverse, tackling health issues like childhood obesity, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol misuse, trauma relating to childhood abuse, social isolation of older people and healthy living. As well as helping those in need, their services can reduce pressure on health and social care services and can demonstrate impressive results.
More than 70 award-winning charities are now represented in the Network and are committed to ongoing professional development, collaboration and improving services for the people they serve.
How does it work?
The Network, funded by GSK and hosted by The King's Fund, was created in response to clear feedback from the GSK IMPACT Award winners who wanted to continue their professional development and joint work. A steering group, made up of award winners, helped us design the Network and jointly-run events. There is an emphasis on developing leadership skills - including influencing and improving personal impact and other skills that are critical for the sector.
Feedback from the charities taking part has been very positive; they report that the Network has a unique value, giving free access to excellent trainers and facilitators, peer support with no competition and helps them to work in a very challenging environment. Feedback from wider stakeholders suggests the Network offers valuable and unique expert advice on how to tackle some of the most entrenched, complex and costly health issues in the UK.
To learn more about the Network please contact: email@example.com
Feedback on the GSK IMPACT Awards Network
- 'Having access to excellent training is unusual, but the dual combination of excellent training whilst working with a whole range of award-winning charities who are all striving for excellence is unique.'
- 'This Network provides a safe context where we, as a group and as individuals, can explore difficult and challenging issues.'
- 'Working as a CE can be a lonely place to be sometimes. The GSK Network events offer so much to advance both personal development and support.'
- 'I thought the facilitation was excellent, reflective and responsive, delivered with authority and knowledge.'
2015 winners
2015 GSK IMPACT Awards winners
Our congratulations go to the 10 charities who have won 2015 GSK IMPACT Awards for their outstanding contributions to improving the UK's health and wellbeing.
The following organisations will receive a £30,000 donation, plus two places on a unique training and development programme and an invitation to join the GSK IMPACT Awards Development Network with its programme of free meetings and events. The overall winner will be announced at the GSK IMPACT Awards Ceremony on 14 May.
The winners
- Alzheimer's Support - based in Wiltshire, helping improve diagnosis and support for people with dementia.
- CoolTan Arts - based in Southwark, helping improve the lives of people in mental distress through creativity, self-advocacy and volunteer opportunities.
- The Deborah Hutton Campaign – based in Islington, helping prevent smoking among young people through peer-to-peer education and campaigns, including its Cut Films project.
- Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust – based in Islington, is the only UK charity supporting women affected by cervical cancer and cervical abnormalities and focuses activity on raising the profile and understanding of the disease and ways to prevent it.
- National Council for Palliative Care – a members' organisation campaigning to help everyone approaching the end of life have the right to the highest quality care and support.
- Neuromuscular Centre – based in Cheshire, providing physiotherapy, training and employment opportunities for those with degenerative neuromuscular conditions, as well as assistance for their carers.
- Off the Record – based in Bristol, helping young people to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
- RESTORE – based in Oxford, supporting people with mental health problems to gain or maintain employment.
- The Junction – based in Leith, helping children and young people make positive choices that promote their health and wellbeing and reduce harmful behaviour.
- Wave Trauma Centre – based in Belfast, offering care and support to anyone bereaved, injured or traumatised through the violence in Northern Ireland.
Runners up
The following runners up receive a £3,000 donation.
Winners' archive
Winners' archive
Previous winners of the GSK IMPACT Awards can be accessed below.
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2014 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2013 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2012 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2011 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2010 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2009 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2008 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2007 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2006 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2005 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2004 winners
- GSK IMPACT Awards: 2003 winners


text:
The WAC's final season will come down to Utah State, Louisiana Tech and San Jose State. The Aggies and Bulldogs meet in Ruston on November 17 and San Jose State hosts the Bulldogs on November 24. The Spartans are handicapped by their loss to Utah State on October 13.
Virginia Tech needs two wins in its last three games to become bowl eligible and salvage its 19-year bowl string. The Hokies host Florida State on Thursday night, then visit Boston College before wrapping up the regular season at home vs. Virginia.
At this point, only three ACC teams are bowl eligible. Clemson and FSU are 8-1 while Duke is 6-4.
At this point, none of the Big Ten's four bowl eligible teams have fewer than two losses. Nebraska and Northwestern are 7-2 while Michigan and Wisconsin are 6-3.
FBS vs. FCS:
No such matchups took place this week.
This year, 101 FBS teams play a total of 108 games against FCS foes. UTSA is in its first year of transitioning from the FCS and plays 4 such schools. Cincinnati, Florida State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M each play two such games.
Here are the results of the FBS losses to FCS schools this season:
Oregon - Won 12 straight overall and 14 straight road games. Won 62-51 at USC on Saturday.
Northern Illinois - Won 14 straight conference games (MAC), 20 straight home games and 9 straight overall. Won 63-0 vs. UMass on Saturday.
LSU - Saw it's 22-game home winning streak snapped. Lost 21-17 vs. Alabama on Saturday. The Tigers have won 41 straight nonconference games.
Michigan - won 12 straight home games (2nd-longest in nation). Won 35-13 at Minnesota on Saturday.
Southern Miss - Lost 9 straight overall. Lost 27-19 vs. UAB on Saturday.
Akron - Lost 25 straight road games, 20 straight FBS games and 14 straight conference games (MAC). Lost 35-24 at Kent State on Saturday.
Kansas - Lost 18 straight FBS games, 18 straight conference games and 17 straight road games. Lost 41-14 at Baylor on Saturday.
UNLV - Lost 20 straight road games. Won 35-7 at home vs. New Mexico on Saturday.
Here are this week's games for each new head coach:


text:
Information on Synchro Judge training
Read on to learn more about how to become a Judge in the sport of Synchro.
The following Judge training courses are scheduled to be held in 2015. Click on the contact to download further details (when available):
|Date - 2015
|Sat 7 February
|NTC-10 General Judge (Routines)
|SportPark, Loughborough
|Julie Thompson
|Sun 8 February
|NTC-11 General Judge (Technical)
|SportPark, Loughborough
|Julie Thompson
|Sun 22 February
|Basic Judge (RTC-10)
|Tracy Wyke
|Sat 7 March
|Basic Judge (RTC-11)
|Rugby, Warwicks
|Alex Smith
|Sat 7 March
|Basic Judge (RTC-12)
|Kentford, Suffolk
|Sam Dowson
|Sun 8 March
|Basic Judge (RTC-13)
|Reading, Berks
|Kate Coupar
|Sat 7 March
|Basic Judge (RTC-14)
|Jo Bean
|Sat 14 March
|NTC-13 General Judge (Figures)
|SportPark, Loughborough
|Julie Thompson
|Sat 9 May
|Basic Judge (RTC-21)
|Reading, Berks
|Kate Coupar
|Sun 5 July
|Basic Judge (RTC-32)
|Tracy Wyke
|Sat 19 September
|Basic Judge (RTC-30)
|Wellington, Somerset
|Mary Hooper
Judge Training
There are three levels of Synchro Judge:
- National Judge (N) – Judges who have passed the FINA / ASA examination
- General Judge (G)
- Basic Judge (BJ)
General & National Judge Training
Current "G" Judges, and those who have previously attended a Basic Judge course, may wish to train to become a National Judge.
The following courses may be attended, in any order, and it is not essential to take all three courses if individuals wish to specialise in one or two areas only. However, it is only possible to qualify as a National Judge when all three General Judge sections have been passed. This should be achieved by December 2017, as this is the date after which all Judges will be required to attend further updates (to align with FINA changes.)
General Judge (Figures) - (1 day, with examination)
General Judge (Routines) - (1 day, with examination)
General Judge (Technical) - (1 day, with examination)
The courses are examined through a written examination which includes questions related to judging figures and routines, and marking of routines from video.
- Candidates must be 18 years of age or over
- Candidates will be an existing Judge, or have previously attended a Basic Judge course and gained experience at novice competitions.
Basic Judge Training Course
This is a one day course introducing potential Judges to judging figures and routines for Under 12 National Age Group figures.
There is no assessment or examination.
- Candidates must be 16 years of age or over
Guide to Judging Skills
To download a copy of the Guidelines on Judging Skills (levels 0, 1 and 2) click here


text:
PROPERTIES belonging to Local Government minister, Ignatious Chombo risk being attached after the Zanu PF politburo member allegedly failed to honour terms of the agreed divorce settlement with ex-wife, Marian.
This emerged after the Sheriff of Zimbabwe recently served Chombo at his Makombe Building offices, with a High Court application for an order to enforce terms of the divorce settlement.
The two divorced by consent in September 2012 after four years of haggling over the distribution of Chombo's properties.
Marian said in accordance with the divorce order, Chombo was supposed to sign all documentation necessary and legally transfer the agreed properties to her name.
But she said over a year after the divorce judgement was passed, Chombo had not effected title change of immovable properties into her name.
Marian said Chombo had also not given her a truck horse and AVM bus, together with their registration books.
"I have engaged 1st Respondent [Chombo] several times requesting him to comply with the order of this Honourable Court," she said in the court application. "Sadly, he has always found excuses for not doing so. Consequently, I now fear that the attitude of 1st Respondent is to simply disregard the order of this court."
Marian said the Sheriff of Zimbabwe should be empowered by the court to "do all such things" (attach the properties) and sign all transfer documents as required to facilitate transfer of all properties granted to her.
She said some of the properties were held by companies in which the two were co-directors. She said the Sheriff should also be given the power to sign any company documents as may be necessary to achieve the terms of the consent order.
Last year, Marian's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa wrote to Chombo's lawyer, Wilson Manase seeking to know why the Zanu PF secretary for lands was not complying with the provisions of the court order.
Manase could not be reached for comment yesterday.
But last year he told The Standard that Chombo was struggling to raise money to transfer the properties into Marian's name as he was "poorly" paid as a cabinet minister.
The Chombos' married under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 in Harare on 21 May 1993.
Under their divorce settlement, Marian among other things got six trucks, three trailers, an AVM bus, Toyota Landcruiser, Mercedes Benz, Twin Cab Hardbody and Nissan Wolf.
She also got the Greendale home, four flats in Queensdale, two flats along Mutare Road, two Shawasha Hills Stands, a Glen View 7 house and a plot in Ruwa.
Chombo on the other hand, retained a stand in Norton, four flats in Queensdale, two flats in Rhodesville, Mica Point stand in Kariba and all implements at Allan Grange Farm in Raffingora.