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Advertising around long-range scopes can be misleading, or at least marketers try to get you to focus on features that differentiate them from their competitors … even if they aren't really that important. I created this post to boil it all down to the biggest features you should focus on when comparing long-range scopes. Of course you are likely going to have to make trade-offs between different features, unless you are willing to pay $3,000+ for a scope (which many shooters do). But if you're on a budget like most people, this list should help you make sense of all the different specs, give you an idea of which are more important, and help you filter out some of the marketing noise when researching rifle scopes.
Most Important Features To Look For In Long-Range Riflescopes
- Quality Glass – High-end glass cannot be overvalued in a long-range scope. It is the biggest difference between a $200 scope and a $4000 scope. Clear, sharp glass can make it easier to see at lower power magnifications. This is especially important for reading mirage, which is how you can judge what the wind is doing at the target. In long-range shooting, the wind may be very different at the target than it is at your shooting location. Unfortunately there isn't really a good spec that quantifies how good of glass a scope has. It is just a subjective factor, but is usually obvious when you compare scopes side-by-side. I once thought "Light Transmission" was an emperical way to compare this, but there isn't a standard test methodology for that and most manufacturers really game the system on that to make themselves look better. After talking with multiple scope manufacturers, my suggestion is to ignore that spec all together. The best way to go about this is side-by-side comparison with your own eyes, but when you don't have that luxury … the next best approach is to stick with one of the manufacturers that is known to use high quality glass:
- Schmidt & Bender
- Swarovski
- Nightforce
- U.S. Optics
- Premier Reticles
- Higher-end Leupold models
- Higher-end Zeiss models
- Milling Reticle – You need a reticle that has evenly spaced dots or hash marks (in either mils or MOA) along the vertical and horizontal axis. Essentially for long range shooting, most people "hold for wind" and "dial for elevation". Dialing for elevations means you estimate or measure the distance to the target, calculate what the drop would be, then rotate the turrets on the scope to account for the drop so that you can put the crosshairs dead center on the target like it was at 100 yards. However, people "hold for wind" because wind changes so fast, that you can't really turn the turrets for the adjustment and get back on the gun in time to fire the shot before the wind changes (especially in west Texas). So they make the adjustment on the scope for vertical drop, which allows them to hold dead center on the vertical axis … but just hold a little to the left or right to account for wind (always in the direction the wind is coming from). They calculate how much they need to adjust for a 10mph wind for example, and maybe that adjustment is 3 mils at whatever distance they are shooting. But right before they pull the trigger they feel the wind die down just a little, so they shift to a 2 mil adjustment at the last second and hit dead center. If they would have kept the 3 mil hold they originally had in mind, they may have missed the target completely. The diagram below shows what "holding 2 mils" would look like in this example.
If you look at the different reticles below, there are only two that have marks on the horizontal axis. The Bullet Drop Compensation reticle has a few on the vertical axis, but that doesn't help you "hold for wind". That just makes it so that you could "hold for elevation" and in long range shooting most people don't do that. I personally prefer the finer hash marks and "floating crosshair" like the Nightforce MOAR reticle shown.
- Zoom Range/Power – I think you need at least 18x for long range shooting. The difference between 18-25 is not as much as you think it would be. If you are using the rifle for hunting, the low end of the zoom range is important too. If an animal pops up at 50 yards it is hard to find in a scope that can only be zoomed out to 8x. The sweet spot is probably 5-25.
- Elevation Adjustment Range – This is simply how much adjustment does the scope allow internally. When you are shooting long range, the more the better. I prefer something with at least 100 MOA (27.3 mil) of elevation adjustment. If your ballistics say you need to adjust by 55 MOA for the shot you are about to take, but your scope bottoms out at 50 MOA of adjustment … uh oh. You end up having to hold for elevation for 5 MOA, and if you are also holding for wind you end up with the target floating out in the middle of nowhere in the reticle. It is difficult to make those shots. One thing that can help the amount of elevation adjustment available is a larger tube diameter. Common scope tube diameters are 1", 30mm, 34mm, and 35mm. According to OpticsPlanet.com, "The larger main tubes are most useful for allowing for a greater range of elevation adjustments, not greater light transmission. In fact, most 30mm scopes have the same size lenses that are in one inch tubes."
- Objective Size – More light is always better, so it makes sense that a larger objective lens (56mm) would be able to gather more light than a smaller one (40mm). But there is a diminishing return the benefits of a large objective size, and once you start getting over 50mm the only scenario where you might notice a slight difference in the amount of light is in very low-light conditions when the scope is set to the highest power. Of course for hunting, low-light conditions are the most critical (dusk and dawn), so that does matter some. There is also the problem of being able to mount the scope low enough to get proper eye alignment. Without a stock that has an adjustable cheek rest, its hard to get good alignment with the bigger objective lens sizes. I personally prefer a 50mm objective, although 56mm are more popular among long-range shooters.
- Matching Reticle & Turrets – If you decide to go with a mildot reticle, you should make sure the turret adjustments are in mils (typically 1/10th mil clicks). If you get a MOA reticle, you should make sure the turret adjustments are in MOA (typically ¼ MOA clicks). Lots of scopes (especially low to mid-range scopes) have a mildot reticle with MOA adjustments … that doesn't make a lot of sense, and can make life a lot harder. Essentially if they match, you can watch your bullet impact … and if you were off, you can measure the distance using the reticle then make that adjustment to the scope. If they don't match, you get to do a lot of complex math and/or have a dope sheet with both units. There is no major "inherent advantage" to the mil or MOA system (see MIL vs MOA comparison for more details on this), but whichever one you pick … make sure the reticle and turret adjustments match, either MOA/MOA or mil/mil. The only argument that might be able to hold water between the two systems is that MOA is more natural if you think in "yards" and mils are more natural if you think in "meters".
- Front Focal Plane – This is a debatable point, but is a big feature on long-range scopes. Reticles are on either the front focal plane or the second focal plane, which just means it is located in front of or behind "the zoom" on the scope. On front focal plane scopes, when you adjust the zoom on the scope the reticle will appear to change size. When you zoom in it will get bigger, when you zoom out it will get smaller. That might mean the reticle is "too thick" when zoomed all the way in, which can obscure the target … or it might be "too thin" when zoomed all the way out, which can make it hard to see, especially for closer, quick reflex shots. The advantage to front focal plane scopes is that the lines are always the same relative distance apart. If you are using a mildot scope, the dots are always 1 mil apart regardless of the zoom setting on your scope. This is a big deal, because it essentially takes out one more thing you have to check or think about before taking a long range shot. On second focal plane scopes, when you adjust the zoom the reticle remains the same size. However, that does mean you have to be at a very specific zoom setting for the marks to be the correct size. That is just one more thing to remember before you take a shot, but some people prefer it in order to avoid the too thick/thin reticle issues.
- Other Features – There are a lot of other wiz-bang features marketing tries to get you to focus on, like Zero Stop, Locking Turrets, 1/8 MOA adjustments, illuminated reticles, and a million other things. Some are cool, but none are in the same class as these features. I do like the Zero Stop for using a long range setup in hunting scenarios. I hate 1/8 MOA adjustments … most people can't shoot between those numbers, so ¼ MOA is almost always enough fine control and is more speedy and less error prone to dial the correct adjustment. I have a scope with an illuminated reticle, and I never use it … ever. It's one of those things that seems like a good idea, but you probably won't ever actually use.
Best Rifle Scope For The Money
Under $500:
Nikon Buckmasters 6-18x40mm Mildot ($275 street) – Without a doubt this is a huge value. The mildot reticle model is exclusively sold through MidwayUSA.com. Dollar for dollar, it would be hard for any scope to compare to this one. It isn't the best glass, but is good. It does have a mildot reticle with MOA turret adjustments, but you can live with that for the price point. The scope tube is only 1" and the objective is 40mm … but seriously, for this price it packs a lot of punch.
Leupold Mark AR 6-18x40mm Mildot ($550 street) – I personally used this scope for long range shooting while I was saving up for my Nightforce, and it is legit. I was able to hit at 1350 yards on a rifle setup with this scope before some other shooters that were with me could, and they were using Nightforce scopes and even a $4000 Schmidt & Bender. Honestly, it might have been luck … but it shows this scope is capable of a lot for the price. The newest version features a mildot reticle with mil-based turret adjustments, which is ideal. It does feature a 1" tube and 40mm objective, which are a little small. But the glass is good (not great), and the zero is fairly repeatable … not like a high-end scope, but better than most in this class. This scope is a HUGE value for the money, and I've recommended it to a ton of my family and friends. Don't let the "AR" in the name fool you, this scope pairs well with bolt-action rifles too.
This is a hard spot for me. When you are spending this much, it would be tempting for me to just save a little more and jump to the next level of scopes. I feel like for $500 more you could upgrade to something with the high-level glass, but having said that there are a few good options at this price point.
- Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 6.5-20x50mm Mildot ($1300 street) – But the Leupold Mark 4 is a nice scope, with improved glass, a 30mm tube, 50mm objective, and more elevation adjustment range. Lots of people swear by these scopes, and some competitive shooters go with a Leupold setup like this. Leupold also has an "Extended Range" (ER) model that has a few improvements over this "Long Range" (LR) model … but it is $1700, and at that price you've entered the next price bracket and I think there are better options out there.
- Bushnell Elite Tactical 3.5-21×50 G2DMR ($1400 street) – This has become a very popular scope, because of its incredibly wide range from a impressive 3.5x on the low end, and 21x magnification at the top end. It has a quick Horus-style reticle that was designed in conjunction with GAP (i.e. G.A. Precision). It is used by quite a few guys in the Precision Rifle Series. I've looked through this scope side-by-side with a Nightforce NXS and a Schmidt & Bender, and it isn't in the same class as those guys. But, its undeniable that this scope packs a lot of punch for the money. In fact, the fanatics over at Rifles Only sell some great products in their Pro Shop, but under optics there is only 1 choice for a scope … this one. To me, that says a lot.
- Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x50mm MOAR ($1770 street) – This is my go-to scope, and I love it. I actually have the Zero Stop option on mine, which adds about $200 … and I'm not sure if it's worth that much now that I've been using it for a while. The image clarity on these are great through the entire zoom range, although not as clear as the Schmidt & Benders. I have compared side-by-side on multiple occassions and that is just the truth. The zero is very repeatable, even if you adjust all the way out and then back down to zero … you are dead on. They have high-speed turrets, which have 20 MOA of adjustment per revolution. It is also available in a 56mm objective for the same price, although I prefer the slimmer 50mm. I've looked through both side-by-side and there is very little difference, even in low light. Nightforce also came out with a new ATACR 5-25x56mm model for $2300 street, which uses a 34mm tube instead of the 30mm that the NXS uses. It supposedly uses ED glass, which is supposed to be a little better than the NXS model. However, I have a good friend that owned several NXS models and bought an ATACR only to be disappointed. He didn't think it was as good of a scope as the NXS series and ended up trading it in. You can get the NXS or the ATACR in mil-based reticles as well, with the MLR being the most popular. There are a ton of serious shooters out there like Bryan Litz that swear by Nightforce scopes. In Bryan's new DVD training he mentions that he has seen a lot of bad scopes in his career, but he has never had a single Nightforce scope that didn't track well. They are machined from a single piece of aluminum that is thicker than all other scopes out there (that I'm aware of), so they are very rugged as well. Note: I paid retail out of pocket for my scope and Nightforce has never given me anything for free … so this is real advice, not a paid advertisement.
- Vortex Razor HD 5-20×50 EBR-3 MRAD ($2000 street) – Vortex is a newer company on the scene, but is making a splash in the long range community with their Razor HD scope. In fact, in the Precision Rifle Series this past year there were 5 Vortex scopes represented among the top 20 finishers. Only Schmidt & Bender had more scopes in the top 20, and you'd have to spend $1,500 more to get an S&B. I've not used one of these scopes personally, but there are a lot of competitive shooters that have started using them and the specs are impressive.
Money Is No Object ($2500+):
Schmidt & Bender PMII 5-25×56 P4 Fine ($3700 street) – I know some people have strong opinions about S&B, but this is the best glass … period. Two of the guys I shoot with have these, and I can't deny they are clearer and sharper than any other scope I've ever looked through. It does have a couple drawbacks, including the fact that the elevation only allows two revolutions of adjustment, meaning the elevation range is more limited than most scopes in this class. But other than that … this scope has it all. It definitely has the best glass of any scope, which is the most important feature and really doesn't fall short anywhere else … except maybe value. They also offer the Schmidt Bender PMII 3-20×50 H2CMR model ($3500 street) that provides lower power magnification, which some people prefer. The H2CMR reticle is a popular choice, as is the MLR reticle. In the Precision Rifle Series this past year half of the competitors in the top 20 were using one of these scopes. You just might have to sell a kidney to buy one!
People Who Liked This Post Also Read …
Results for the High-End Tactical Scope Field Test: This is an epic scope field test focused on 18 long-range, tactical rifle scopes in the $1,500+ price range. It's an unprecedented, data-driven approach to evaluating the best tactical rifle scopes money can buy. Hundreds of hours have gone into this research, and both the scope line-up and the tests I conducted are built on advice and feedback from some of the most respected experts in the industry. My goal with this project was to equip fellow long-range shooters with as much hard data as I could reasonably gather, so they could see what they're paying for.
Best Tactical Scopes – What The Pros Use: This post shows the scopes and reticles the best precision rifle shooters in the country are using. It is based on what the top 50 long-range shooters brought with them to the most recent Precision Rifle Series (PRS) Finale. Target engagements for a PRS match can range from 25 to 1,200+ yards, but there is definitely a focus on the "precision" rifle part regardless of the range. This is some unique "hard data" about what optics the pros are using.
Long-Range & Short-Range Optics Setup: Lots of people have asked me about what the best scope setup is for a long-range rifle that they plan to use hunting. The problem with most long-range scopes is that it can be almost impossible to engage targets that pop-up at close ranges unexpectedly. Nothing is more frustrating than bumping up a trophy animal at close range, and struggling to find them in your scope to take the shot. There are a couple other options for handling the combination of long-range and close-range shots with the same gun, and I explain a few options in this post.
MIL vs MOA – An Objective Comparison: There are a lot of articles and forum threads out there comparing MIL and MOA, but most either aren't objective or they're overly complex. I'll try to avoid both of those pitfalls in this article. Includes contributions from Bryan Litz, author of Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting and Chief Ballistician at Berger Bullets.


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Now that Cherri has rejoined us on Babestation, so of her older content from her first stint on the shows has come out of the woodwork, and we're putting it all on the Babestation website!
In this hot shoot, Cherri dons a Little Bo Peep style dress, but she's no childrens character, this is strictly adults only as she flashes the camera and you get to see her cute bum!
If you like the look of this shoot and want to see all of it, as well as Cherri's other red hot content, old and new, get yourself over to the Babestation website now!
Click here to see the full photo shoot (and much more) on Babestation1 Comment


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The 2013 Inner City 100, a list of the 100 fastest-growing urban businesses in America, was published today in FORTUNE, and ICA Companies are well represented. These 100 inspiring businesses, ranging from a pet relocation service, a wine lifestyle marketer, to a scrap metal regenerator, are creating jobs in America's urban cores.
For the past 15 years, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) has compiled its Inner City 100 list, highlighting the fastest-growing urban small businesses in America. This year's list includes 28 women-owned businesses, a double in percentage since 1999, the list's inaugural year. While many of these businesses are taking advantage of the burgeoning "mommy market," several are breaking into industries heavily dominated by men, including construction.
In addition to an interactive interface highlighting all 100 winners, FORTUNE published several articles about the winners' unique growth stories. Find those stories here.
As you can see the Bay Area winners below, we will have a lot fo celebrate during our ALL IN event on June 12, 2013. A round of applause will go to:
#2: Revolution Foods (ICA Company, Oakland…second year in a row at #2)
#32: Premier Organics (ICA Company, Oakland)
#55: Xantrion (ICA Company, Oakland)
#72: The On-line 401K (San Francisco)
#73: KW Engineering (Oakland)
#80: Yerba Buena Engineering & Construction (our very own, Miguel Galarza, San Francisco…also got inducted into the Inner City 100 Hall of Fame!!)
#83: Alpi International (Oakland)
It's urgent that we grow more local businesses to create good jobs for people with high barriers to employment. This is the most effective way to increase the quality of life for everyone in this region. You can help this cause by donating to attend ALL IN 2013 on Wednesday, June 12th, 6pm at the Historic Fox Theater in Oakland.


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Below is the poem entitled THE LONELY BULLET which was written by poet
shankar. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.
Read Poems by
Vasu Shankar
There rusts a bullet
With your name
Within my heart;
For a long while.
Yes, it could be easily removed;
But alas, with my life alone.
And as you know,
I don't want to die;
For death is not the name of love.
And death is not the end of birth.
Therefore let it be there,
The lonely bullet.
Because it is my second heart.
Let it be there;
For we are twins,
Male and female,
Man for short.


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text: 12-22 HS Sports Xtra: Game of the Week 12/22/2012 08:17 PM 12/23/2012 10:30 PM 12-22 HS Sports Xtra: Game of the Week 12/23/2012 10:30 PM The Game of the Week features a battle of first place teams in the Fox Valley Association Kaukauna hosts Neenah in a contest for control of the FVA. Copyright 2013 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. Page: [[$index + 1]] high school kaukauna neenah sports


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The Mary Kay Guilt Trip
Written by sadnpink
Guilt and shame are two of the most powerful manipulative tools in the tool box of MLMs and especially Mary Kay. It is one reason so many women stay in the company and find it difficult to leave.
The thought of "who am I going to let down if I leave" can be strong enough to keep us in a holding pattern when we know we should go.
At the very beginning of my MK career, I came in to have fun and use the products. It was my third go round with MLM, but I thought Mary Kay was different. After all, I was told it was "dual marketing." not multi-level marketing. I bought into that thinking even though my husband informed me that there was no difference. The "guilt trip" for me did not begin until I started to attend weekly meetings as an adoptee. It was there that I quickly learned about recognition. Those who did not bring guests, recruit someone, or order enough to be a star did not receive the time of day let alone recognition. So I jumped on the bandwagon to prove that I was no slacker.
As I moved up the ladder of success, I found more and more pressure beginning to be added to my plate at each conference I attended. The goals got tougher and things were said like: "God wants you to be great" or "God doesn't give you a dream that He doesn't give you the ability to achieve." This played into my psyche since I am a Christian. Certainly I didn't want to let God down.
So when I began to have difficulties as a Sales Director making production, I began to look at myself and say, "What's wrong with me? I must be a bad leader. I don't see anyone else struggling like this so it must be me." I even began to question whether my spiritual life was okay because God was not blessing me the way I saw others blessed. Do you see how guilt can be destructive? I began to lose confidence in my ability as a leader, so I worked over time to prove I was successful. Little did I realize that it was a failed system – not me – that kept me from achieving my dreams.
A more subtle method of applying guilt comes through an hierarchy mentality in this company. You are NOBODY unless you are in the top ten as a consultant, red jacket or director. At each level, unless we stand out, we do not get the praise, recognition, or assistance we desire. Who wants to feel left out? Yet, all you have to do is go to seminar or some banquet and sit there all evening long while others are lauded and you don't even get a nod. Somehow, I was told that in Mary Kay we were "praised" to success. Where was the praise and recognition for at least helping to support the whole pyramid? I had that thought from the time I was a consultant all the way through directorship.
Over and over again we are told to be a "team player"… meaning order up and churn women as recruits. If we fail to do this, we don't get phone calls from our director or those upline from us. The silence is all the guilt we need. We are also told that this business is simple. Just book, coach, sell and recruit. If we do this consistently 3+3+3, we can write our own ticket to success. So the implied message is… if you cannot do this, it is your own fault. You didn't work hard enough, or work the numbers enough. The reality is much different. 99% do not succeed in any MLM. 99% fail in Mary Kay. I didn't know that or realize it so for a long time I kept running as hard as I could to make it work. I appeared outwardly successful but inside, the guilt was piling up.
When I finally could no longer take the emotional roller coaster, I resigned. However, I felt a lot of shame. I felt as though I had let a lot of people down. I think this is the reason that keeps many from leaving Mary Kay sooner. You see, I did not know that there were others out there asking themselves the same questions and dealing with guilt too. We are told not to be negative or to even talk with those who question. Yet that is mental suicide. Why would a smart woman not ask questions? We should and we must!
Let me close with this example. In a recent call to red jackets, a NSD told her people to get the prize booklet for the new quarter out and show it to her children. Let them see the beautiful pink piano for children in the flyer. Tell them that you are going to win this for them with your business. This will help you set a goal.
Can you see the manipulation in something like this? How would you feel if you didn't order enough to get that prize for your child? How would your child feel? Things like this are said all the time in Mary Kay to make us dance to a certain tune. Guilt and shame often keep people trapped in a sick, dysfunctional relationship for decades. These two tools can also keep women from leaving a business that does not work. We need to recognize that we do not have to please or answer to any company or upline. The guilt and shame are false and based on greed, envy and power. None of these bring out the best in any of us. In a true business opportunity, we would be trained on how to sell the product, encouraged at every level and not made to feel spiritually inferior if we do not hit a goal.
This summer don't take "the Mary Kay Guilt Trip" . Take a real vacation and leave Mary Kay behind!
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Comments (7)
MLM Radar
Can you see the manipulation in something like this? How would you feel if you didn't order enough to get that prize for your child?
A good demonstration lesson for children is to take them to a carnival, spend $20 and a lot of time to win a games booth prize (a stuffed animal), then let them handle the prize and see its low quality. Next, take them to a toy store and show them how that same $20 could have gotten two or three much nicer stuffed animals of their own choice.
Once they understand that, explain that the pink piano in the catalog is exactly the same type of prize as the carny booth stuffed animal. It's poor quality, it's badly overpriced, and there's no guarantee that the time you invest will win the prize.
well, gals, guilt is a very powerful motivator. Personally I was guilted lots of time to "stretch for the team". The worst one for me was when my SD invited my pastor to speak at my debut, rented the room, and invited all of my MK friends to my debut when I hadn't even finished. The guilt and sense that I was disappointing everyone if I didn't finish was overwhelming.
Looking back now, I am ashamed that I let that guilt push me into finishing up my DIQ with my credit card. I can't believe that I played into emotional abuse as easily as I did. Now, I have promised myself that I will never, ever support any MLM period, ever.
I left MK as a single IBC and worked my but off… never worked… As of today, it was carrer conference in Montréal and saw a lot of pictures on Facebook…. Still as that powerfull idea that MAYBE I could've made it… And still asking why I wasn't able to make it… The guilt trip is so strong… Still think, even after reading all the posts, that I did something wrong…
MLM Radar
Every one of those women at Career Conference was practicing Fake It Til You Make it, acting like they were in the pink to impress the other apparently successful fakers, while secretly knowing they were really in the red and panicking about their overdue credit card bills.
So, in a sense, you DID make it. You WERE at least as successful as the rest of them. But you were honest enough to admit it. The only thing you did wrong was suppress your doubts temporarily and keep chasing what you knew wasn't working.
Welcome to the sunlight.
princess lea
It is scary how when a consultant is active in Mary Kay that she isn't aware the guilt pressure tactics that are being used. It is when we finally decide to break free that their manipulation becomes obvious…
Here is one that I heard very often, in relation to the weekly 'success events' which of course would carry over to Career Conference, etc:
"Winners sit in front, sinners sit in back."
Not only is that a guilt tactic, it is an abuse of faith that also runs rampant in the Mary Kay world.
And then there's the line your director would lay on you about hearing her heart on something. The direct translation of "hear my heart" is if you do not listen and do not do what she says then not only are you unable to empathize, and are uncaring, but you also are not trying hard enough in your business.
After leaving the MK world of guilt and pressure, that line has become my favorite 😉
Deflated Pink Bubble
I never heard the winners and sinners comment. Good thing too cause I'd have gone off on someone over that!
princess lea
Extreme guilt trip in two words or less:
I.E. If you are not being Go-give, you deserve to be shamed! Your are selfish and self-absorbed. You will NOT succeed in MK.
IF you are Go-give, then, well, uh… You get attention and a pretty sparkly. So there.


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Protect the youth
The kids are back home, school has started back and the drug dealers are walking on Cooley Street. Got to protect the youth. Aiken County do something.
Slalom course
Why has no one complained about how nice Pine Log is to drive now? My beloved pothole slalom course is no more. My source of extra income is gone, as hubcaps are no longer found by the side of the road. No longer heard is the banging and crashing of big trucks and little work trailers as they encountered the road anomalies; in fact, I can barely hear traffic going by at all. It is wonderful!
Back door
I also had a young man who was obviously high on something try and break in my back door. Instead of being arrested, the police just took him home.
Drug dealers
I see the drug dealer on Sharyn Lane has been arrested. My thanks to Sheriff Hunt. Bonneview Estates used to be a nice place to live until the homes were turned into rentals. The landlords should ask themselves if they want these people living next to them.
I see that the City is seeking outside ideas for the Northside of Aiken. I know one good way to improve Crosland Park would be to get rid of the drug dealers in there.
Assault rifles
There is a photo showing S.C. Reps. Limehouse and Taylor with assault rifles. Someone needs to explain to me why they need assault weapons.
Sonic Olympics
Congratulations and good luck to the Sonic team competing in the Sonic Olympics. I hope their salaries reflect their commitment to excellence.
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Do any of you adore Amy Butler as much as I do? Oh my goodness! If I had a million dollars, I'd FOR SURE spend a good chunk of it on Amy Butler fabric. Her patterns are so bright, happy and springy!
My mom made me this absolutely adorable teacher bag that I completely treasure and love.
I've honestly used it all throughout winter (even though it isn't very wintry looking), but I'm loving it even more now that spring has arrived. Check Amy Butler out! Her patterns SCREAM, "Get pregnant ASAP so you can decorate a baby's room!" Not to worry, folks! A baby won't be coming for a long, long time. Who needs a baby when you have 22 little darlings at school?
Also, the amazing, wonderful, and SUPER talented Michelle over at The 3AM Teacher completely inspired me to go out and buy a Wacom tablet. Don't you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her? I discovered her blog a few weeks ago and she has completely hooked me. Her humor, generosity, and amazing talent always keep me coming back for more. Check out her blog and all of her wonderful graphic designs (she's having a giveaway at the moment!) I dream of being as talented as she is (so much that I went out and bought a Wacom tablet…wish me luck, friends!).


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text:
January 9, 2013
Contact: Kevin Coburn
Phone: 802-287-8926
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Green Mountain College Hosts Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard's Kennedy School
POULTNEY—Green Mountain College will host Timothy Patrick McCarthy, director of the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard's Kennedy School, for a public address January 24 at 9:30 a.m. in the East Room (Withey Hall). McCarthy will speak as the school's 2013 Voices of Community Plenary Speaker in honor of the ideals of Martin Luther King, Jr. The title of his talk is "Human Rights, Human Wrongs: The Long History of Slavery and Abolition," and focuses on modern slavery and the sex slave trade.
A historian of politics and social movements, McCarthy is a lecturer on history and literature and on public policy at Harvard University, and is the author of four books including The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the American Radical Tradition and The Indispensable Zinn: The Essential Writings of the People's Historian. His fifth book, Stonewall's Children: A Modern Story of Liberation, Loss, and Love, will be published next spring.
In addition to his writing and teaching, McCarthy has devoted his life to public service and social justice, particularly around issues of racial, sexual, and socioeconomic justice, and educational equity. Since 1990, he has been a Big Brother to Malcolm Green, now 26, whom he met while volunteering in the Cambridge public schools as an undergraduate. As founding director of Harvard's Alternative Spring Break Church Rebuilding Program, he has spent the last fifteen years organizing groups of undergraduates to help rebuild African-American churches destroyed in arson attacks. In honor of this work, McCarthy received the 2007 Humble Servant Award from the National Coalition for Burned Churches, and the 2010 Advocate Award from the Phillips Brooks House Association.
Since 2001, McCarthy has also directed and taught in the Boston Clemente Course, a multi-disciplinary college humanities course offered free of charge to low-income adults through the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester, Mass.
McCarthy graduated with honors in history and literature from Harvard and earned his M.A., M.Phil., and PhD in history from Columbia University.
The only son and grandson of public school teachers and factory workers, McCarthy is an award-winning teacher and advisor whose courses are consistently among the most popular and highly rated at Harvard. He is the recipient of Harvard's Stephen Botein Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2000), John R. Marquand Award for Exceptional Advising and Counseling (2003) and the Derek Bok Certificate for Teaching Excellence (2006-2012).
The event is free and open to the public.


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I recommend watching the online multimedia (video) at
to learn more about chinese culture. It contains many video presentation of chinese culture. You need to know Mandarin to watch them.
For Romance of 3 kingdoms cartoon, go to
Multimedia Site at Speak Mandarin Singapore
Started by General_Zhaoyun , Oct 07 2005 02:56 AM
3 replies to this topic
Posted 07 October 2005 - 02:56 AM
"夫君子之行:靜以修身,儉以養德;非淡泊無以明志,非寧靜無以致遠。" - 諸葛亮
One should seek serenity to cultivate the body, thriftiness to cultivate the morals. If you are not simple and frugal, your ambition will not sparkle. If you are not calm and cool, you will not reach far. - Zhugeliang
Posted 08 October 2005 - 12:01 PM
I have the Video Casettes of the 4Kingdoms...a total of 6 casettes I think. It is dubbed in Taiwanese Chinese...hur hur hur.
Maxim-Ivan Illustrations
Chief Editor and Founder
Our Deviantart Site
Chief Editor and Founder
Our Deviantart Site
Posted 17 October 2005 - 02:11 AM
The videos were very nice, I have a copy in my room! Although the videos shown here are merely parts, we could enjoy them nevertheless. By the way, how come the downloads are instaneous? But the video clips take minutes.
Posted 23 June 2011 - 10:50 AM
Now the first one can't be open
1 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users


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CONTACT HIGH FIVE RECORD RELEASE w/ Bike Problems, Capitalist Kids, The Millipede
Thu. 07/28 | 9:00PM - Thu. 07/28
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Unlocking the Key to Deep Sleep
By Sarah Fenske
Making the Ferguson Commission Matter
By Danny Wicentowski
My Fake Boyfriend Became a Real-Life Crush
By Lindsay Toler
Rep. Jeffrey Pogue Bill Would Ban Unisex Bathrooms
By Danny Wicentowski
Darren Wilson Gives Speech to Nonprofit
By Danny Wicentowski
Angel Stewart and Other Victims of Violence Ask for Mercy
By Jessica Lussenhop
Obama Praises St. Louis' LaunchCode
By Lindsay Toler
By Lindsay Toler
A father of six, Bacon has a round baby face that prompted his grandmother to nickname him "Dumpling," later shortened to "Dump." At trial he testified that he dropped out of high school a few months shy of graduation and made a career out of rehabbing houses. In 2002 he founded a rap label called Lock 'Em Down Records. The venture went sour in 2007 when his cousin and co-CEO Dewanzel "Jazz" Singleton pleaded guilty to felony cocaine-conspiracy charges. (For more see "Lock 'Em Down, Lock 'Em Up," in the January 9, 2008, issue of Riverfront Times, available online.)
Bacon says he took good care of his dogs and provides a copy of a recent vet bill to prove it. (He paid the $118 tab in cash and used an alias.) He says dogfighting is viewed differently in his community, that the lives of animals are not valued the same as those of humans. But again and again he returns to the question of how the authorities can justify their dogfighting exploits while condemning him for his.
"How can the Humane Society keep letting you do these dogs like that, if it's so wrong?" he asks bitterly. "The officers have dogs, OK. But how far do you let it go? You're setting people up at the expense of a dog's death. And not just one — you're going from state to state. Evidently you don't care about the dogs neither."
Mills says the dogs the investigators acquired for their kennel were eventually turned over to the Humane Society for adoption. Callahan, the U.S. Attorney, says there's no hard and fast rule that determines when and if an undercover investigation should be halted.
"It's always a balancing act and judgment call that you make, and that's made as honestly as one can," he says. "If you cut off an undercover investigation too soon, you foreclose on the possibility of discovery of a wider range of criminal activity. At some point if you wait too long, you've allowed something to go on that shouldn't be allowed to go on. Somewhere in between you make your best judgment."
Peter Joy, director of the Criminal Justice Clinic at Washington University's School of Law, says the boundaries for undercover agents are typically determined on a case-by-case basis. Still, he notes that "they have to have limits to what they can do" and points to several instances in which undercover officers blurred the lines between right and wrong, including a case in Cleveland where drugs that were initially sold by police to suspects later turned up at a local high school.
"There's an almost psychological, sociological dimension to this," Joy says. "When you embed an officer deep in certain kinds of criminal activity, does that somehow change the character of the officer?"
Local attorney Albert Watkins, whose client Ricky Stringfellow received a yearlong sentence for his role in hosting fights and electrocuting Addison's dog, maintains that Mills, Heath and their bosses pushed the envelope too far.
"It's one thing being an undercover officer selling narcotics as part of a sting," Watkins contends. "It's a whole other thing to be participating in the very crime for which others are being charged. It would not be unlike an undercover agent in a prostitution sting actually engaging in sex activities across state lines with a minor."
The investigation has been almost universally applauded by animal-welfare organizations. Mills, Heath, Rickey and Held were named the ASPCA's Law Enforcement Officers of the Year in 2009; Rickey left the Humane Society of Missouri to become the ASPCA's senior director of field investigations and response.
"Hopefully it will be duplicated," Rickey says of the landmark case. "We saved more than 400 animals and a countless number of their offspring from being born into a life of torment and torture. Even more impressive long term is the message that we sent to dogfighters throughout the country. This case really shook the dogfighting community up. They realized law enforcement is serious about this and remain very nervous that they are being infiltrated."
The sentencing precedent set during the court cases in southern Illinois (one of five district courts in which the dogfighting cases were tried) might make dogfighters even more apprehensive.
In 2008, the year after Congress cracked down on dogfighting, another new federal law upped the maximum sentence for animal fighting to five years. Federal guidelines, however, still specify that only zero- to six-month sentences should accompany typical convictions. The exception: crimes accompanied by acts of "extraordinary cruelty."
In Southern Illinois district court, Judge Michael Reagan composed what amounts to a 22-page research paper on the history of dogfighting. The document includes 125 footnotes and touches on everything from the "immense" popularity of the activity among American policemen and firefighters in the early 1800s to the current dogfighting craze in Afghanistan, where fights in Kabul now "draw as many as 2,000 people" and "betting pots run as high as $10,000."
Because the guidelines don't take into account factors like the number of dogs involved or whether the defendant was deeply involved in dogfighting as promoter or breeder, Reagan created a three-tier system of "professionals," "hobbyists" and "streetfighters." He decided that the pros — especially ones who kill, maim or mistreat dogs outside the ring — deserve the most severe sentences. He also ruled that the men must seek permission from the court if they want to own dogs as pets after their release.
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Four-hundred years and counting
Yearly Archive for 2011
My very own Christmas vandalism
I love, love, love Deb's blog, My Christmas Miracle. Stories like that make me so happy and restore my faith in mankind. My story, however, quickly un-restores that faith. We returned home the day after Christmas to our very own Christmas vandalism. It wasn't quite the magnitude of the Capital Holiday Lights vandalism that I […] [Read More]
Saluting APD's senior man: Officer James Leahy retires Friday
James Leahy's plan was to become a state trooper. The South Troy native joined the Albany Police Department in 1971, at age 22, looking to get a couple years of experience under his belt. His hometown police department wasn't an option, he said, because his uncle, James Doherty, was the chief at the time. "I […] [Read More]
My Christmas Miracle
Trying to get excited about Christmas this year was going to be a challenge to me. Things have been very, very tough since I went out of business in 2010. At my age, it's difficult to find meaningful work, or any work at all. The Hubby and I haven't even given each other a present […] [Read More]
Is the hunt for a parking space about to get much harder?
I wrote for Sunday's paper about about two upcoming shocks to the city's downtown parking ecosystem: Thousands more state workers are expected to move downtown to fill vacant office space while some 2,500 on-street spaces are about to become off limits for all-day parking to anybody residents through the city's permit parking system. Even as […] [Read More]
From the archives: Real or fake Xmas tree?
(I really enjoyed the comments this blog got when I first published it in December 2009, so I decided to resurrect it.) Last year, the BF and I got a free fake Christmas tree off of Craigslist. It was in decent condition, but it had no more than a couple years of life left in […] [Read More]
Owner of Trinity Church: I'm not the owner of Trinity Church
In a strange twist in the ongoing saga of the demise of historic Trinity Church in the South End, the Bronx woman who bought the 163-year-old building at auction last year finally appeared in court today and claimed that she is not actually the owner of the church. While Albany County insists Amanda Indarpaul was […] [Read More]
Have the holiday lights grown too big for Washington Park?
Is it time to pull the plug on Capital Holiday Lights in the Park? I've got a story in today's paper that the Washington Park Conservancy wants the massive annual holiday light show put on by the Albany Police Athletic League to find a new home, arguing the 15-year-old tradition is doing lasting damage to […] [Read More]
A Personal Letter to Thanksgiving Eve
Dear Thanksgiving Eve, You are one of America's most celebrated nights of the year, and you are about as sweet as a brick. Your brick-ness is neither crumb-topped nor fructose-centered; nonetheless, I will pick you up, year-after-year, as if we had never met and take the plunge: a squinty-eyed lick; a red, reluctant come-hither. Tongue […] [Read More]
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Tortuguero & Tropical Forests
Central America
Countries Visted: Costa Rica
8 days / Trip Code: CST 116
(double / per person)
Trip Overview:
This trip begins with two days in wildlife-rich Tortuguero National Park. This is Costa Rica's "little Amazon" and is dominated by rainforests and has abundant wildlife. Then fly back to San Jose where you will be picked up and driven to Arenal Volcano via the cultural road of San Ramon. Following "the fireworks" at Arenal you travel west into the mountains to visit the lush cool forests of Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Reflective of its name, Monteverde is the striking result of a forest shaped by regular and prolonged cloud baths.
This Adventure Includes:
As specified in the above itinerary, lodging, transportation within Costa Rica, meals [B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner], specified entrance fees to National Parks & private Reserves, guide services, ground operator support within Costa Rica and taxes. Optional Tarpon Fishing
This Adventure Does Not Include:
International airfare, airport departure taxes, meals not specified in the itinerary, alcoholic beverages, personal equipment, extras in hotels (laundry, phone calls, room service), gratuities, or costs associated with changes in your itinerary for reasons beyond our control.
Service Level:
The Standard Level
(Our Standard Level service features 2- 3 star accomodations and comfortable transportation throughout the itinerary. Some meals may be provided. The standard level provides private guides and transfers.)
Physical Demand Rating:
Departure Info:
Departs anytime - Minimum 2
During July to September, green sea turtles come ashore at night to nest on the beach
in the Tortuguero National Park.
Additional Trip Notes:
Child cost age: 3-11 = $539.00
Adventure Type:
Budget Adventures, Eco Adventure, Family Explorer
$1501 ~ $2000
Arrive San Jose and transfer to hotel
Tortuguero National Park
Start your journey to Tortuguero National Park in the northeastern lowlands. With its abundant wildlife Tortuguero is one of the best areas in Costa Rica for viewing wild animals! You will have the chance to see everything from a variety of bird species; howling, white-faced, and spider monkeys; sloths; crocodiles; iguanas, basilisk lizards and more from the comfort of your boat. During July to September, green sea turtles come ashore at night to nest on the beach.
Hotel: Evergreen Lodge or similar (2 nts)
Meals Incl: 2B, 2L, 2D
Arenal Volcano
Flight back to San Jose. On the way to Arenal Volcano stop en route at the community's agriculture town market of San Ramon. This market offers a variety of tropical fruits and vegetables, including some that are rarely seen outside the tropics. You will continue on with a visit to the Cocora Private hummingbird and butterfly gardens. Cocora is located in the cloud forest belt at 3000 feet elevation and offers the visitor attractive tropical plants and colorful butterflies and hummingbirds. After a traditional lunch at Doña Rosa´s house, you will continue on to your Arenal area hotel, travelling in the north central lowlands of Costa Rica among farmlands of tropical crops and cattle ranches. (L)
Hotel: Arenal Observatory Lodge or similar (2 nts)
Meals Incl: 2B
Arenal Zip lining & Monteverde reserve
Today in the morning you will visit the Zip lining or private horseback riding tour. After your rainforest tour, you will travel up into the mountains on your way to the world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
Next day in the morning you will visit the Trapiche ('sugar mill') that first began operation in 1948. The Monteverde Trapiche is run by a local family, and on your tour you will not only learn about the local process of making sugar, but also about the other important agricultural products of the region. There you will enjoy a refreshment of sugar cane juice or lemonade, eat picadillo de arracache (a typical Costa Rican food) and make candy out of sugar cane (everyone makes their own candy!).
After lunch enjoy a guided visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, one of the premier natural history destinations in Costa Rica. The forest consists of lush, verdant vegetation containing understory palms, majestic canopy trees, arching "ropy" lianas, bizarre "strangler" fig trees and epiphytes-small plants that grow on the trees. As you walk through the forest, you may encounter a variety of wildlife including white-faced capuchins, white-nosed coatis and two-toed sloths. Among birds, you may see the Resplendent Quetzal, hummingbirds, toucanets, guans and solitaires.
Hotel: Fonda Vela or similar (2 nts)
Meals Incl: 2B
Monteverde - San Jose
Explore the main community of the area, Santa Elena, before going back to San Jose or being transferred to the beach or other destination. You may just want to take advantage of banks and supermarkets or visit the local cheese factory, women's cooperative (CASEM) or one of the many art and craft galleries to purchase some souvenirs or gifts for the folks back home. Local coffee, wood sculptures, embroidered clothing, and paintings by resident artists are just some of the offerings available. Overnight San Jose at selected Hotel.
Departure and return flight
Transfer to San Jose International Airport for your departure flight.
Pre-Trip Travel Information:
Planning for your vacation requires research and fact gathering. Please take a look at the Essentials page and the Guidebook icon located at each country home page Our mini guidebook page to each destination provides general information, facts, what to expect, weather & season facts and some helpful tips to make your trip more enjoyable.
Cancellation Policy:
For More information, please review our Term & Conditions link
60 or more days: $150
30-60 days: $300 Advance payment cost unless deposit is higher
29–8 days: 40% of trip cost
7–0 days No refund
Client Note:
Some cruises and operators may require an additional deposit and have different cancellation policies. We will advise this at time of reservation. We strongly recommend travel insurance.
Required Deposit Per Person:
Deposit Note:
A required deposit per person is $300.00 unless otherwise noted. The balance is due within 60 days of departure. This may vary depending on destination and requirements of our travel partners.
Adventure Expeditions, LLC 2010
AdventurACCESS, SoJourners, and AdventurTrip Builder is a pending service trademark.


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by DJ Pizzo
16 August, 2013@6:26 pm
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16 August, 2013@6:26 pm
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Caveat takes on New Jersey breakthrough trio, Cash Cash's "Take Me Home", for this official remix, to be released soon on Beatport.
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Sometimes, it takes a little faith—along with a healthy dose of analytics—to make a community healthier.When leaders at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, a seven-hospital system based in Memphis, Tenn., set out to improve the health of residents in their community, they capitalized on one of the city's greatest assets—its high concentration of churches. Four years ago, they formed an innovative partnership with local churches inspired by similar collaborations between medicine and religion in South Africa.As a faith-based health system, Methodist recognized the value of using churches to help address the socially complex issues that were driving residents to seek out emergency departments (EDs) for routine care. "We couldn't do it alone from inside the hospitals," says Teresa Cutts, PhD, director of research and innovative practice. "Instead, what we needed was a bridge into the community to understand what was driving people to use care."Today, the churches provide that bridge. Called the Congregational Health Network, the partnership includes more than 500 faith-based organizations throughout Memphisand North Mississippi. The goal of the network is to improve access to care in areas marked by poverty and health disparities. As part of the network, the health system employs 10 full-time navigators who work with more than 600 church volunteers. These volunteers act as community liaisons and help residents find more appropriate health services in their neighborhoods.
To target the communities where the network could have the most impact, leaders at Methodist turned to their planning department for assistance. They developed a population health model focusing on communities marked by high costs and high utilization."We realized that we needed to manage patients at the neighborhood level if we were going to have an impact on community health and charity care," says Razvan Marinescu, MD, MHA, FACHE, associate director, planning and business development. In 2010, inpatient visits accounted for 9 percent of total visits and 69 percent of the total dollars that Methodist provided in charity care (for which the health system did not receive, nor expect to receive, payment).To locate the hot spots of high costs and utilization, Marinescu and his team created maps using spatial analysis, a process that identifies geographic patterns in data. To do this, the team pulled data from the health system's electronic health record (EHR) and cost accounting system. The analysis revealed that one zip code—38109—was a hot spot for intervention because of the high visit volume and high variable costs in several geographical areas called block groups. (For details, see the two exhibits below.)
Administrators then identified the patients who were the top 10 ED users in that zip code and drilled down into the EHR to get a better understanding of these patients' particular challenges (see the exhibit below). Most suffered from problems such as homelessness, substance abuse, and mental illness and used emergency services as a safety net. Some were visiting Methodist's EDs more than a dozen times each year.To help these patients access more appropriate health services in the community, leaders at Methodist used a geographic information system (GIS) to "map" clinics and other resources in every zip code. Hospital employees and church volunteers use these maps to connect residents to care in their neighborhoods.
So far, their efforts are paying off: Residents served by the Congregational Health Network have 20 percent fewer readmissions and half the crude mortality rate, compared with non-network patients. Their median time for readmission is 120 days less for all diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), compared with the total population. And the health system has saved about $4 million a year, or about $8,000 per capita, in charity care write-offs.Based on this success, Methodist recently received a $100,000 seed grant from the system's largest payer, Cigna, to expand its efforts in population health management. The grant aims to address health disparities in one Memphis community where 98 percent of the residents, who are primarily African American, live below the national poverty line.
Leaders at Methodist offer this advice for developing a community network to address health disparities and charity care:Select one organization to anchor the network. It doesn't need to be health system, but it should be an organization that has cultivated goodwill in the community. This could be a foundation, a congregation, or a safety net organization.Develop a "data backbone" to track metrics. At Methodist, finance and planning leaders worked together to integrate data from the system's EHR and cost accounting system with GIS tools. They also needed to develop an appropriate methodology for calculating charity care write-offs.Invite community leaders and operational leaders from the hospital to early discussions. When designing a community network, it's easier to start with everyone at the table.Approach the network as a long-term partnership. Don't approach community health as a pilot project. Commit to it over the long haul.Find champions at the board level. At Methodist, the chair of the faith and health committee is the board's champion for "what's going on in 38109."Investigate resources on population health. Two places to start are:
Although Methodist is not yet getting paid for keeping patients out of the hospital, system leaders see the program as a precursor to population health management projects designed to reduce unnecessary utilization and bend the cost curve."Instead of just crediting and debiting charity care, you need to be proactive," says Edward M. Rafalski, PhD, MPH, FACHE, senior vice president, strategic planning and marketing. "Charity care is not something that happens to you, it is something that you can actually intervene in and change."
Laura Ramos Hegwer is a freelance writer and editor based in Lake Bluff, Ill.Interviewed for this article: Teresa Cutts, PhD, is director of research and innovative practice, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Memphis, Tenn.Razvan Marinescu, MD, MHA, FACHE, is associate director, planning and business development, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Memphis, Tenn. Edward M. Rafalski, PhD, MPH, FACHE, is senior vice president, strategic planning and marketing, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Memphis, Tenn. This article is based on interviews and a presentation at the American College of Healthcare Executives Congress in March 2013.
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