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- Full Description
Data mining is the process of extracting hidden patterns from data, and it's commonly used in business, bioinformatics, counter-terrorism, and, increasingly, in professional sports. First popularized in Michael Lewis' best-selling Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game, it is has become an intrinsic part of all professional sports the world over, from baseball to cricket to soccer. While an industry has developed based on statistical analysis services for any given sport, or even for betting behavior analysis on these sports, no research-level book has considered the subject in any detail until now. Sports Data Mining brings together in one place the state of the art as it concerns an international array of sports: baseball, football, basketball, soccer, greyhound racing are all covered, and the authors (including Hsinchun Chen, one of the most esteemed and well-known experts in data mining in the world) present the latest research, developments, software available, and applications for each sport. They even examine the hidden patterns in gaming and wagering, along with the most common systems for wager analysis.
- Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1. Sports Data Mining.
- Chapter 2. Sports Data Mining Methodology.
- Chapter 3. Data Sources for Sports.
- Chapter 4. Research in Sports Statistics.
- Chapter 5. Tools and Systems for Sports Data Analysis.
- Chapter 6. Predictive Modeling for Sports and Gaming.
- Chapter 7. Multimedia and Video Analysis for Sports.
- Chapter 8. Web Sports Data Extraction and Visualization.
- Chapter 9. Open Source Data Mining Tools for Sports.
- Chapter 10. Greyhound Racing Using Neural Networks.
- Chapter 11. Greyhound Racing Using Support Vector Machines.
- Chapter 12. Betting and Gaming.
- Chapter 13. Conclusions.
- Errata
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Gluten-Free Brownies and Entertaining with Special Diets
More and more guests seem to be gluten-free these days, and I'm getting better as a hostess accommodating their needs.
It's more than needs though, it's an actual caring about our guests and wanting to make them happy – to feel relaxed, worry-free, and content with their particular diets.
To be able to enjoy the conversation and not worry about "what's in the meal."
Up front, I'll tell them that everything is gluten-free!
I did make one mistake awhile back when I made soup that I thought had gluten-free pasta. My friend was really smart and she knew (she could tell by the color of the pasta – smart girl). I know for her, she would get drastically ill if she ate gluten, so I need to make sure I'm really careful.
Here's a post where I took the brownies to a friend, in a repurposed box (fun idea if you like to take meals to people).
So for special diets, I do pretty well if I have the time to prepare. But for last minute guests, it may be a little harder to throw a quick meal together.
When I have the time to plan and prepare, I actually enjoy trying new recipes and learning about new products.
What's your comfort level with special diets when you entertain? Or does it make you not want to invite others over because of their needs?
Here's the dessert I made for our gluten-free friends. It was delicious!
Recipe: Clare's Gluten-Free Brownies {ReluctantEntertainer.com}
Summary: The original recipes from her website, with cocoa powder.
- 3/4 cup gluten free flour (almond and sweet rice flour combo)
- 1 cup sugar (brown or white)
- 5 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening (butter, or GF margarine etc.), softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Melt the shortening in a glass bowl using a microwave, then add the rest of the ingredients.
- Add 1/2 cup of nuts, etc., if desired.
- Spread in an 8×8-inch baking pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool. Cut. Wrap and freeze.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
Here are two other gluten-free options for desserts, perfect for company!
12 Responses to "Gluten-Free Brownies and Entertaining with Special Diets"
- #1
Such a kind and thoughtful post, Sandy! As bloggers and hosts, we really do need to be mindful of the needs of others on special diets. My blog is dedicated to supporting those on a special diet. Today, I'm working on wrapping up a tutorial post on how to make your own gluten-free cake flour blend. Thanks so much for sharing and supporting our g-free friends! xo
- #2
My father-in-law is gluten free, and it hasn't been too hard to accommodate his dietary needs. I find that seeing as I cook largely from scratch, not much has hidden gluten.
We've had friends over with a huge range of food allergies and sensitivities and I enjoy the challenge of making delicious food and helping them feel safe with what we are eating. I agree that it is all part of being a considerate hostess!
Have you ever made black bean brownies? I've made those with great success for my father-in-law…and everyone else thought they were good, too!
- #3
Gluten free is no problem- adding in other allergens starts getting tricky! As an aside, many gluten free foods have xantham gum and it can actually contain a bit of gluten, so some people may be sensitive enough to react to that.
- #4
Aw…thank you for sharing my summer berry cobbler recipes with gluten free options with the link love, Sandy! *mwah!*
- #5
I try really hard to accommodate those with special diet needs – it makes for a much less stressful visit when we can all enjoy all the food!
- #6
You really hit it on the nose. Those with special diet needs can really stress over what they can or can't eat and as a hostess, it's so nice to put them at ease so everyone can have a good time and enjoy the meal!
- #7
It is hard for us to go to other people's house for dinner because of my hubby is gluten free. Even if people do know, if you are not used to it, it can be tricky to make a gluten free meal….so our remedy to that is to just invite people to our house, where we can cook – and KNOW the food is gluten free – and then we can just avoid the awkward situation of "Sorry, it looks great, but I can't eat that". Lucky for us, we love to host and cook, so it works out well :) Since our whole GF experience, I have become much more aware of food allergies in others around me. The brownies look great :)
- #8
I've become much more confident in making meals/desserts for those on special diets. I try to keep many ingredients on hand in case I need to put something together.
- #9
You're so thoughtful and considerate of your guests needs – I know you make an awesome hostess!! :) Great brownie recipe. Thanks for sharing!
- #10
I have a very close friend with nut, soy, dairy, gluten, egg and citrus allergies, and I try my hardest to make her things that she's able to have. She always appreciates the effort!
- #11
I love reading your blog, Sandy. It's usually the first one I look at before I start work at the office. I'm a bit of a reluctant entertainer as I stress too much about everything being perfect so your tips are always so helpful. You entertain with such ease! I love your giving nature and love reading about your baskets of food you give those in need / your friends – that is so special. Reading your gluten-free post this morning and wondered if you have ever read this blog: http://glutenfreegirl.com/. Although I'm not gluten intolerant, I just love reading Shauna's blog. Keep the posts coming please :)
Sue, Shauna lives on the west coast, too! She has a fantastic blog! :)

subset: commoncrawl


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Gearbox concept designer Scott Kester has revealed new character Zer0 was inspired by Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid.
The revelation was apart of the big Borderlands 2 blow-out in the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine (available today).
Zer0 has been based on loner characters such as Metal Gear Solid's iconic Gray Fox and when you compare the two characters below you can see the character similarities.


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Weekly Wrap-Up 5/27/11
GameZone follows up another great week in gaming with the latest coverage. Check out our full look back and scope out this week's reviews, a few prev Read More
GameZone follows up another great week in gaming with the latest coverage. Check out our full look back and scope out this week's reviews, a few prev Read More
GameZone follows up another great week in gaming with the latest coverage. Check out our full look back and scope out this week's reviews, a few prev Read More
Every fighter has a feature or a gimmick that it relies on for its success. Mortal Kombat has intense blood and gore; Street Fighter is known for its Read More
If you picked up Dead or Alive: Dimensions for 3DS today, take note: for the next week, Tecmo will be putting out daily costume and challenge downloa Read More
Portal 2 has finally been dethroned from the Amazon top five charts for each region (except in Japan, where it just arrived). That would be surprisin Read More
Another week has passed, and GameZone has managed to pack more content on the site for our loyal readers. This week we look at the latest reviews and Read More
Last week GameZone was fortunate enough to be introduced to Yosuke Hayashi, the current head of Team Ninja and the leading man behind Dead or Alive: Read More
The Entertainment Software Rating Board has had a busy week. They recently censored the eerie and awesome logo for Dead Island, which featured a hang Read More
MotorStorm: Apocalypse and Ryu ga Gotoku of the End aren't the only titles being delayed in Japan as a result of the recent tsunami and earthquake. T Read More
The crossover stage from Dead or Alive Dimensions Read More
There's no denying that it's a little difficult getting behind the Nintendo 3DS launch window. With only a few solid releases in store for the handhe Read More
In response to the drama surrounding the 3DS' limited battery life, Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi has made some claims regarding the soon-to-be-rele Read More
A trailer for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS fighter Dead or Alive: Dimensions surfaced last week and briefly showcased one of the most popular bounty hun Read More
 So last week Tecmo unveiled a trailer for Dead or Alive: Dimensions for the 3DS. Was pretty exciting, as not only did it show off some pretty impressive visual graphics, it also showed off a stage based upon the Metroid universe, even a stage hazard Ridley shooting fireballs at the fighters. The most exciting part of the trailer, however, would have to go to the appearance of Samus leaving her morphball near the end. It left many speculating that Samus could make an appearance in the game as an actual fighter. Seems this is not the case. In a conversation with EuroGamer, Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayoshi said that Samus is not a playable fighter in the game. Rather, she'll show up and assist fighters depending on certain circumstances in the fight. DoA games are already accustomed to external elements in a fight making an actual impact, so having Samus and Ridley interact with the fighters is pretty cool, although the idea of Samus as a playable fighter in her Zero Suit fits DoA as much as Kratos fits Mortal Kombat. That is to say, it would wok perfectly. Read More
And yes, it jiggles. Read More
Nintendo revealed their list of North American launch window releases for the 3DS, although specific dates are being kept under wraps at the moment. Read More
North America now has a launch date for the Nintendo 3DS. Gamers looking forward to the release of the handheld can expect it to land in the states o Read More
 You've heard by now that the 3DS will be coming to the United States on March 27 for $250. That's great, with some pretty fantastic titles on the way. However, some neat information has been leaked about this handheld, and a lot of it is pretty nifty. 3DS Friend Codes are on their way. However, unlike the Wii or DS titles, this code is locked to the system (and maybe a profile?), so once you become friends with someone, you don't have to enter a new one for each game. It's even better if you're physically next to someone, as you can "bump" your friend code information. So. Easy. Additionally, the 3DS can multitask, allowing players to send games and applications into stand-by while they search the web, take notes, or--excitedly--see what friends are online and what games they are playing. It might not be Xbox Live, but it's a step in the right direction. Twenty-three titles will be out by June. Some of these are big name titles, like nintendogs + cats, Pilotwings Resort, and Dead or Alive: Dimensions, and some of them are kind of lame. What the heck is a CRUSH 3D? Unfortunately, big name franchise titles like Ocarina of Time, Paper Mario, and a Metroid title are not here. Interestingly, it looks like there is an Other M stage in DoA: Dimensions, and there is a good chance Samus is a fighter. Don't believe me? Check it out here. DSiWare titles are transferable. This one is something everyone is thinking about with WiiWare too. When a new console comes around, what happens to the downloadable games purchased? Nintendo doesn't have a unified account system yet. Thankfully, Nintendo has gone on the record saying DSiWare titles will be transferable, and while they didn't say how (I bet it's through an SD card, which the DSi has a slot for). It's not a perfect system, but hopefully once titles are locked down, they will be tied to an account. Unfortunately, it'll be coming after the system launch. The 3DS is region locked. A major bummer, I know, but Nintendo claims this is to implement parental controls. Booo. All in all, there's some cool details about the device. The price is pretty high, but I've got to be real, the 3D effect is amazing. For me, $250 is a steal. March 27 can't come quickly enough. Read More
There's been plenty of 3DS news out of Nintendo's event this weekend (like the unbelievable fact that the battery life may be as short as 3 hours in some cases), so we thought it might be helpful to compile some of the highlights here for your viewing pleasure. You know you want to hit the jump. Read More
  Ever since I saw the 3DS at E3 2010, I have been buzzing with anticipation for the handheld. Seriously, the device does exactly as it promises, which in itself is an amazing achievement. I'm so excited, that at the age of 23, I'm saving up my pocket change to have enough to buy the device at launch. I'll be lucky if I can afford a game as well. Unfortunately, while we still wait for a North American release date, the Japanese can look forward to a February 26 launch date. Even worse, Nintendo has this semi-annual event called Nintendo World, a Japan-only event where they show off the latest games and hardware. Rubbing salt in the wound, Nintendo is showing off over 30 brand new 3D titles! Sure, only 15 of them are actually playable, and the others are just demos, that's a ton of content to let people play for a fresh console. However, trust me, this thing is hot, and knowing that Nintendo fans in Japan will get to play with these games before we even get a release date is a major drag. Mostly for me. Looking over this list, I do have to say that Paper Mario is the title that most excites me, with the 3D version of Metal Gear Solid 3 and Nintendogs + cats not far off. Of course, the 3D version of Ocarina of Time could be a goodie too. There are so many awesome sounding games! And I can't be the only one to notice that Pokemon Black and White is coming out not long after the rumored March 3DS launch, so maybe there will be some 3DS support inside? And what 3DS games are you excited about? The full demo list is after the jump Read More


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To link to this article, copy this persistent link:
(Mar 30, 2011) On February 11, 2011, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued consultative conclusions on proposed amendments to its Draft Guidelines on the disclosure of price-sensitive information, i.e., insider trading. (Consultation Paper on the Draft Guidelines on Disclosure of Inside Information [with Guidelines on Disclosure of Inside Information Draft in appendix] (Mar. 2010) [hereinafter Draft Guidelines], SFC website; Consultation Conclusions on the Draft Guidelines on Disclosure of Inside Information (Feb. 2011) [hereinafter Conclusions], SFC website.)
The revised Guidelines are to be issued in conjunction with amendments to Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) (Cap 571, Law No. 12 of 2003 (Apr. 1, 2003).) The amendments would add to the SFO new sections 101A-101G on disclosure obligations and safe harbors.
The purpose of the Guidelines is "to assist listed corporations to comply with the disclosure obligations to be enshrined in Part IIIA" of the SFO and "provide guidance on the interpretation of inside information, a new term used in the legislation to mean price sensitive information, and explain the application of safe harbours." (Conclusions, supra, ¶ 2.) Failure to comply with the Guidelines would be taken into account in determining whether the requirements have been met, even though the Guidelines are not legally binding. (Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Issues Consultation Conclusions on Insider Dealing, BLOOMBERG LAW REPORTS (Mar. 2, 2011), Bloomberg Law online subscription database.)
On the Definition of Inside Information
According to the SFC's Draft Guidelines, the definition of inside information in the SFO, based on sections 101A(1) and 101B(1) of the proposed amendments,
is the same as that of "relevant information" used in section 245 of the SFO which applies to insider dealing. The term "relevant information" has been the subject of consistent and definitive interpretation by the tribunals in Hong Kong over many years and those decisions will continue to offer guidance as to the meaning of the new term inside information. (Draft Guidelines, supra, ¶ 13.)
Proposed section 101A is on the interpretation of a Part IIIA, on disclosure requirements for listed corporations; 101B is the requirement for listed corporations to disclose inside information. The Draft Guidelines goes on to state that the concept of inside information comprises three key elements: the information is specific; it is not generally known to the market segment that deals in or is likely to deal in the given corporation's stock, and it is likely to have a material effect on the corporation's stock price. (Id. ¶ 15.)
Highlights of Conclusions
Among some of the highlights of the Conclusions are the following, reflecting responses by the SFC to the various public comments received.
-- Extension to two years of an SFC consultation service to assist listed companies with the statutory disclosure requirements, from the initially proposed period of 12 months. The SFC stressed, however, that while the purpose of the service is "to explain the key elements of the test [used] to determine when information constitutes inside information and the availability of safe harbours under certain circumstances," the listed company itself must ultimately make the decision as to whether a piece of information constitutes inside information. (Conclusions, supra, ¶¶ 14-16; Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Issues Consultation Conclusions on Insider Dealing, supra.)
-- Confirmation that analysts' research reports, electronic subscription news, and wire services will not automatically be treated as information that is "generally known." While such news and wire services "are commonly available to institutional investors, these services for which a subscription is required may not necessarily be readily available to unsophisticated retail investors." (Conclusions, supra, ¶¶ 22.) Therefore, in deciding whether information is generally known, listed companies should consider how widely the information has been disseminated, the information's accuracy and completeness, and how much reliance the market can place on the information. (Id. ¶¶ 22-25.) The SFC indicated that it would expand the Guidelines to provide further guidance on the matter of publication of information in various circumstances.
-- Addition of an "investor decision" test to the "price impact" test for purposes of determining material effect. In explaining inside information, the Draft Guidelines characterize it as information "likely to cause a change in the price of the securities of sufficient degree to amount to a material change." (Id. ¶ 26.) Based on a suggestion in a public comment and citing a decision of a Malaysian tribunal, the SFC will add to this "price impact test" an "investor decision" test, whereby "a piece of information is regarded as material if that information is likely to impact on a reasonable investor's decision in dealing in the shares." (Id. ¶ 27). A similar approach has been adopted by the European Union, the SFC noted.
-- Enhanced clarification of the term "trade secret." According to the SFC:
In general, a trade secret refers to proprietary information owned by a listed corporation (i) used in a trade or business of the corporation; (ii) which is confidential (i.e. not in the public domain); (iii) which, if disclosed to a competitor, would be liable to cause real or significant harm to the corporation's business interests; and (iv) for which the corporation must limit dissemination. To avoid any misinterpretation, we [the SFC] will clarify in the Guidelines that a listed corporation cannot regard the commercial terms and conditions of a contractual agreement or the financial information of a company as trade secrets since these are not proprietary information or rights owned by the corporation. (Id. ¶ 63.)
-- Expansion of the Guidelines to provide more details on the process by which the SFC grants a waiver from disclosure of inside information and on the appeal mechanism against such decisions, in connection with proposed amendment § 101E. (Id. ¶¶ 64-65.)
-- Elaboration of safe harbors (i.e., specified situations in which a corporation is permitted to disclose inside information to certain categories of recipients prior to public disclosure). This is done, according to the draft Guidelines, "[t]o strike an appropriate balance between requiring timely disclosure of inside information and preventing premature disclosure." (Draft Guidelines, supra, ¶ 9; Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission Issues Consultation Conclusions on Insider Dealing, supra.) Safe harbors are set forth under the proposed article 101D, on exceptions to the disclosure requirement of article 101B.
There are three types of circumstances in which non-disclosure is permissible, according to the Draft Guidelines: (a) the corporation takes reasonable precautions for preserving the confidentiality of the information; (b) the confidentiality of the information is preserved; and (c) one or more of five listed conditions applies: the disclosure is prohibited by law; the information concerns an incomplete proposal or negotiation, whose outcome may be prejudiced by premature disclosure; the information is a trade secret; the information concerns the provision of liquidity support; and/or the disclosure is waived by the SFC. (Draft Guidelines, supra, ¶ 47.)
The Conclusions state, in allowing for safe harbors, that "a listed corporation may, depending on the circumstances, disclose inside information to certain categories of recipients who require the information to perform their functions in relation to the corporation." Therefore, the SFC "will amend the Guidelines to explain the circumstances in which, and the categories of recipients to whom, the information may be disclosed." (Conclusions, supra, ¶ 56.)
Other Proposed Amendments to the SFO on Disclosure Requirements
Other proposed amendments to the SFO relating to disclosure requirements have to do with the manner of disclosure of information (§ 101C), the authority of the SFC to make rules to prescribe circumstances in which § 101B does not apply, and the duty of officers of listed corporations to ensure that proper safeguards exist to prevent the breach of a disclosure requirement (§ 101G). (Consultation Paper on the Proposed Statutory Codification of Certain Requirements to Disclose Price Sensitive Information by Listed Corporations (Mar. 2010), Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau website.)
The government expects to table a bill amending the SFO to codify the proposed disclosure requirements in the legislature's 2010/2011 session. The Guidelines will be revised on the basis of the Consultation Conclusions and finalized once the legislation is in place. (Conclusions, supra, ¶ 6.)
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Last updated: 03/30/2011


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Jiming Jin Lab Group
Back to Biometeorology-Climatology People
Jonathan Meyer
Doctoral Candidate
Jon's research focuses around the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.
Hongping Gu
Doctoral Candidate
Hongping's research focuses on the lake effect on regional weather and climate systems.The Great Lakes have a great impact on weather and climate processes over their surrounding areas. To quantify such an impact, a physical lake model has been coupled with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF3.2) model to simulate the thermal structure in the Great Lakes and study the lake-atmosphere interactions.
Lin Zhao
Doctoral Candidate
Lin's research focuses on climate simulation over the Great Lakes region. He is integrating remotely sensed lake surface temperature and ice cover with the Weather Research and Forecasting model version 3.2 to improve lake-effect precipitation simulations over the Great Lakes region. Results show that WRF with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) lake surface temperature and the National Ice Center (NIC) ice cover significantly improves lake-effect precipitation simulations over the Great Lakes region.
Yan Bao
Postdoctoral Researcher
Yan's research focuses on air quality and particulate matter (PM) of aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 micros (PM10). In a farming place like San Joaquin Valley (SVJ) in California, where there has long been a concern about air pollution due to intensive farming activities, PM10 is composed mostly of soil-derived material during spring and summer tillage or harvesting time in fall. The emission from the farming activities is generally dynamic and depends a lot on the temporal and spatial variation of meteorological conditions like the wind, air moisture, turbulences and stability conditions, and therefore is hard to catch by regular aerosol monitoring stations. Yan is setting up a field-resolute WRF/chem model to simulate the agricultural dust activity and how the meteorological conditions affect the PM10 dispersions and translations.
Ripley McCoy
Doctoral Candidate
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Juicy J – The Smokers Club Tour Vlog #2 (Video)
Juicy J drops the second episode of his vlog of The Smokers Club Tour. Shot by Morning Side Films. Enjoy.
Posted on August 2, 2012, in Interviews, Videos and tagged episode 2, Juicy J, smokers club, taylor gang, vlog. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.


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San Francisco Opera
General Director David Gockley's final season features some of his favorites: Verdi's Don Carlo, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Janáček's Jenůfa and a new production of Carmen. Secure your seats and subscribe today!
See directions, parking options, hotels and restaurants, and other attractions near the Opera House.
Watch season announcements, interviews, and opera excerpts.
Watch San Francisco Opera productions in HD at your local movie theaters.
Listen to San Francisco Opera from the comfort of your own home.
Browse our performance archive from 1923 to present by title, conductor, cast and more.
Browse Archives
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For Teachers
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For Families
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San Francisco Opera invites you and your family to attend FREE screenings of our Opera-in-an-Hour Movies presented throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn about where you can catch a screening of our family friendly operas, click here.
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David Gockley
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Download resources for the media, such as press releases and high resolution images.
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All contact info
Each screening features a live introduction. Bring the children and grandchildren for a fun opera experience!
The Magic Flute for Families
Bring your family on a magical journey with this 60-minute version of Mozart's famous opera, perfect for all ages. The Magic Flute is the charming story of Prince Tamino and bird catcher Papageno's journey to rescue Pamina, a beautiful princess who has been kidnapped by the magician Sarastro. Along the way they find their true loves and discover the virtues of wisdom and forgiveness. This production was presented for families at San Francisco Opera in 2007.
Date: Saturday, June 27, 2015
Time: 2pm-3:15pm
Location: Corte Madera Public Library
Directions: http://www.marinlibrary.org/library-location/corte-madera-library
To review educational materials about The Magic Flute, click here.
Click here to view scenes from the movie.
A 15-minute live introduction will precede each screening. The one-hour movie versions are produced by the Education Department for Bay Area School and Community Programs.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors will open 30 minutes before each screening.
San Francisco Opera


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Holy cow, I wrote a book!
The command processor CMD.EXE comes with a mini-calculator
that can perform simple arithmetic on 32-bit signed integers:
C:\>set /a 2+2
C:\>set /a 2*(9/2)
C:\>set /a (2*9)/2
C:\>set /a "31>>2"
Note that we had to quote the shift operator since it would
otherwise be misinterpreted as a "redirect stdout and append" operator.
For more information, type
set /? at the command prompt.
set /?
When you are doing GUI programming, you well know that
the message pump is the primary way of receiving and dispatching
The non-GUI analog to the message pump is the alertable wait.
A user-mode APC is a request for a function to run on a thread
in user mode.
You can explicitly queue an APC to a thread with the
QueueUserAPC function,
or you can do it implicitly by passing a completion function to
a waitable timer or asynchronous I/O.
(That's why the code that indicates that a wait was interrupted
by an APC is WAIT_IO_COMPLETION:
Originally, the only thing that queued APCs was asynchronous I/O.)
Of course, when an APC is queued, the function cannot run immediately.
Imagine what the world would be like if it did:
The function would interrupt the thread in the middle of whatever
it was doing,
possibly with unstable data structures,
leaving the APC function to run at a point where the program
is in an inconsistent state.
If APCs really did run this way,
it would be pretty much impossible to write a meaningful APC function
since it couldn't reliably read from or write to any variables
(since those variables could be unstable),
nor could it call any functions that read from or wrote to variables.
Given these constraints, there isn't much left for a function to do.
Instead, APCs are dispatched when you perform what is known as an
"alertable wait".
The "Ex" versions of most wait functions
(for example, WaitForSingleObjectEx,
MsgWaitForMultipleObjectsEx, and
SleepEx) allow you to specify whether
you want to wait alertably.
If you do wait alertably, and one or more APCs are queued to the thread,
then all the pending APCs are run and the wait operation returns
with a code indicating that the wait was interrupted by an APC.
If the APC you are waiting for has not yet run (maybe you were
interrupted by some unrelated APC), then it is your responsibility to
restart the wait and try again.
Why doesn't the operating system automatically restart the wait?
"Imagine what the world would be like if it did":
Suppose you want to issue asynchronous I/O and then go off and do
some other stuff, and then wait for the asynchronous I/O to complete
so you can use the result.
// When an asynchronous read completes, we fire off the next
// read request. When all done, set fCompleted.
BOOL fCompleted = FALSE;
BOOL fSuccess;
void CALLBACK CompletionRoutine(DWORD, DWORD, LPOVERLAPPED)
if (<finished>) {
fSuccess = TRUE;
fCompleted = TRUE;
} else {
// issue the next read in the sequence
if (!ReadFileEx(hFile, ..., CompletionRoutine)) {
fSuccess = FALSE; // problem occurred
fCompleted = TRUE; // we're done
// start the read cycle
if (ReadFileEx(hFile, ..., CompletionRoutine)) {
<wait for fCompleted to be set>
How would you write the "wait for fCompleted to be set"
if the operating system auto-restarted waits?
If you did an alertable infinite wait, say with
SleepEx(INFINITE, TRUE),
then the APCs would run, the operating system would auto-restart
the waits, and the sleep would just run forever.
You would be forced to use a non-INFINITE sleep
and poll for the completion.
But this has two serious flaws:
One is that
polling is bad.
The second is that the rate at which you poll controls how
quickly your program reacts to the completion of the read chain.
Higher polling rates give you better responsiveness but consume more CPU.
SleepEx(INFINITE, TRUE)
Fortunately, waits are not auto-restarted.
This gives you a chance to decide for yourself whether you want
to restart them or not:
// start the read cycle
if (ReadFileEx(hFile, ..., CompletionRoutine)) {
while (!fCompleted) SleepEx(INFINITE, TRUE);
The SleepEx loop just keeps waiting alertably,
processing APCs, until the completion routine finally decides
that it's had enough and sets the fCompleted flag.
A common performance trick is to reduce time spent in the heap manager
by caching the last item freed (or maybe the last few)
so that a subsequent allocation can just re-use the item rather
than having to go make a new one.
But you need to be careful how you do this or you can end up
making things worse rather than better.
Here's an example motivated by
an actual problem the Windows performance team researched.
Consider a cache of variable-sized buffers.
I will use only a one-entry cache for simplicity.
In real life, the cache would be more complicated:
People tend to have a deeper cache of four to ten entries,
and you would have to ensure that only
one thread used the cache at a time; typically this is done
by associating the cache with something that has thread affinity.
Furthermore, you probably would keep the size of the cached buffer
in a member variable instead
of calling LocalSize all the time.
I've left out all these complications to keep the presentation simple.
class BufferCache {
BufferCache() : m_pCache(NULL) { }
~BufferCache() { LocalFree(m_pCache); }
void *GetBuffer(SIZE_T cb);
void ReturnBuffer(void *p);
void *m_pCache;
If a request for a memory buffer arrives and it can be
satisfied from the cache, then the cached buffer is returned.
Otherwise, a brand new buffer is allocated.
void *BufferCache::GetBuffer(SIZE_T cb)
// Satisfy from cache if possible
if (m_pCache && LocalSize(m_pCache) >= cb) {
void *p = m_pCache;
m_pCache = NULL;
return p;
return LocalAlloc(LMEM_FIXED, cb);
When a buffer is returned to the cache, we compare it
against the item already in the cache and keep the bigger
one, since that is more likely to satisfy a GetBuffer
in the future.
(In the general case of a multiple-entry cache,
we would free the smallest entry.)
// Flawed design - see discussion
void BufferCache::ReturnBuffer(void *p)
SIZE_T cb = LocalSize(p);
if (!m_pCache || cb > LocalSize(m_pCache)) {
// Returned buffer is bigger than the cache:
// Keep the returned buffer
m_pCache = p;
} else {
// Returned buffer is smaller than the cache:
// Keep the cache
Why is this a flawed design?
I'll let you think about this for a while.
No really, I want you to think about it.
Are you thinking?
Take your time; I'll be here when you're done.
Okay, since I know you haven't actually thought about it but are
just sitting there waiting for me to tell you,
I'll give you a bit of a nudge.
The distribution of buffer sizes is rarely uniform.
The most common distribution is that small buffers are popular,
with larger and larger buffers being required less and less often.
Let's write a sample program that allocates and frees memory
according to this pattern.
To make the bad behavior easier to spot in a short run,
I'm going to use a somewhat flat distribution and say that half
of the buffers are small,
with larger buffers becoming less popular
according to exponential decay.
In practice, the decay curve is usually much, much steeper.
#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
// Since this is just a quick test, we're going to be sloppy
using namespace std; // sloppy
int __cdecl main(int argc, char **argv)
BufferCache b;
// seeding the random number generator is not important here
vector<void *> v; // keeps track of allocated memory
for (;;) {
// randomly allocate and free
if (v.size() == 0 || (rand() & 1)) { // allocate
SIZE_T cb = 100;
while (cb < 1024 * 1024 && (rand() & 1)) {
cb *= 2; // exponential decay distribution up to 1MB
void* p = b.GetBuffer(cb);
if (p) {
cout << " A" << LocalSize(p) << "/" << cb;
} else { // free
int victim = rand() % v.size(); // choose one at random
cout << " F" << LocalSize(v[victim]);
b.ReturnBuffer(v[victim]); // free it
v[victim] = v.back();
This short program randomly allocates and frees memory
from the buffer cache, printing (rather cryptically) the
size of the blocks allocated and freed.
When memory is allocated, it prints "A1/2" where "1" is the
size of the block actually allocated and "2" is the size requested.
When freeing memory, it prints "F3" where "3" is the size of the
block allocated.
Run this program, let it do its thing for maybe ten, fifteen
seconds, then pause the output and study it.
I'll wait.
If you're too lazy to actually compile and run the program,
I've included some sample output for you to study:
Still waiting.
Okay, maybe you don't see it. Let's make the effect even more
obvious by printing some statistics periodically.
Of course, to generate the statistics, we need to keep track
of them, so we'll have to remember how big the requested buffer
was (which we'll do in the buffer itself):
int __cdecl main(int argc, char **argv)
BufferCache b;
// seeding the random number generator is not important here
vector<void *> v; // keeps track of allocated memory
SIZE_T cbAlloc = 0, cbNeeded = 0;
for (int count = 0; ; count++) {
// randomly allocate and free
if (v.size() == 0 || (rand() & 1)) { // allocate
SIZE_T cb = 100;
while (cb < 1024 * 1024 && !(rand() % 4)) {
cb *= 2; // exponential decay distribution up to 1MB
void* p = b.GetBuffer(cb);
if (p) {
*(SIZE_T*)p = cb;
cbAlloc += LocalSize(p);
cbNeeded += cb;
} else { // free
int victim = rand() % v.size(); // choose one at random
cbAlloc -= LocalSize(v[victim]);
cbNeeded -= *(SIZE_T*)v[victim];
b.ReturnBuffer(v[victim]); // free it
v[victim] = v.back();
if (count % 100 == 0) {
cout << count << ": " << v.size() << " buffers, "
<< cbNeeded << "/" << cbAlloc << "="
<< cbNeeded * 100.0 / cbAlloc << "% used" << endl;
This new version keeps track of how many bytes were allocated
as opposed to how many were actually needed, and prints
a summary of those statistics every hundred allocations.
Since I know you aren't actually going to run it yourself,
I've run it for you.
Here is some sample output:
0: 1 buffers, 400/400=100% used
100: 7 buffers, 4300/106600=4.03377% used
200: 5 buffers, 1800/103800=1.7341% used
300: 19 buffers, 9800/115800=8.46287% used
400: 13 buffers, 5100/114000=4.47368% used
500: 7 buffers, 2500/28100=8.8968% used
37200: 65 buffers, 129000/2097100=6.15135% used
37300: 55 buffers, 18100/2031400=0.891011% used
37400: 35 buffers, 10400/2015800=0.515924% used
37500: 43 buffers, 10700/1869100=0.572468% used
37600: 49 buffers, 17200/1874000=0.917823% used
37700: 75 buffers, 26000/1889900=1.37573% used
37800: 89 buffers, 30300/1903100=1.59214% used
37900: 91 buffers, 29600/1911900=1.5482% used
By this point, the problem should be obvious:
We're wasting insane quantities of memory.
For example, after step 37900, we've allocated 1.8MB
of memory when we needed only 30KB,
for a waste of over 98%.
How did we go horribly wrong?
Recall that most of the time, the buffer being allocated is
a small buffer, and most of the time, a small buffer is freed.
But it's the rare case of a large buffer that messes up everything.
The first time a large buffer is requested, it can't
come from the cache, since the cache has only small buffers,
so it must be allocated.
And when it is returned, it is kept, since the cache keeps
the largest buffer.
The next allocation comes in, and it's probably one of the common-case
small buffers, and it is given the cached buffer—which is big.
You're wasting a big buffer on something that needs only 100 bytes.
Some time later, another rare big buffer request comes in,
and since that other big buffer got wasted on a small allocation,
you have to allocate a new big buffer.
You allocated two big buffers even though you need only one.
Since big buffers are rare, it is unlikely that a big buffer
will be given to a caller that actually needs
a big buffer; it is much more likely to be given to a caller
that needs a small buffer.
Bad effect 1: Big buffers get wasted on small callers.
Notice that once a big buffer enters the system,
it is hard to get rid of,
since a returned big buffer will be compared against what
is likely to be a small buffer,
and the small buffer will lose.
Bad effect 2: Big buffers rarely go away.
The only way a big buffer can get freed is if the
buffer in the cache is itself already a big buffer.
If instead of a one-entry cache like we have here,
you keep, say, ten buffers in your buffer cache,
then in order to free a big buffer, you have to have
eleven consecutive ReturnBuffer calls,
all of which pass a big buffer.
Bad effect 3: The more efficient you try to make your
cache, the more wasteful it gets!
What's more, when that eleventh call to ReturnBuffer
is made with a big buffer, it is only the smallest of the
big buffers that gets freed.
The biggest buffers stay.
Bad effect 4: When a big buffer does go away,
it's only because you are keeping an even bigger buffer!
Corollary: The biggest buffer never gets freed.
What started out as an "obvious" decision in choosing
which buffer to keep has turned into a performance disaster.
By favoring big buffers, you allowed them to "poison" the cache,
and the longer you let the system run, the more allocations
end up being big "poisoned" buffers.
It doesn't matter how rare those big blocks are;
you will eventually end up in this state.
It's just a matter of time.
When the performance team tries to explain this problem to people,
many of them get the mistaken impression that the problem is
merely that there is wasted space in the cache.
But look at our example:
Our cache has only one entry and we are still wasting over 90%
of the memory.
That's because the waste is not in the memory being held by the
cache, but rather is in the memory that the cache hands out.
(It's sort of like that scene in It's a Wonderful Life
where George Bailey is explaining where all the money is.
It's not in the bank; it's in all the places that got money from
the bank.)
My recommendations:
Here's a new ReturnBuffer implementation that takes
some of the above advice into account.
Instrumentation shows that three quarters of the allocations
are in the 100–200 byte
range, so let's cap our cache at 200 bytes.
void BufferCache::ReturnBuffer(void *p)
if (m_pCache == NULL && LocalSize(p) <= 200) {
m_pCache = p;
} else {
With this one seemingly-minor change, our efficiency stays above 90%
and occasionally even gets close to 100%:
0: 1 buffers, 400/400=100% used
100: 7 buffers, 4300/4400=97.7273% used
200: 5 buffers, 1800/1800=100% used
300: 19 buffers, 9800/9800=100% used
400: 13 buffers, 5100/5100=100% used
500: 7 buffers, 2500/2600=96.1538% used
37200: 65 buffers, 129000/130100=99.1545% used
37300: 55 buffers, 18100/18700=96.7914% used
37400: 35 buffers, 10400/11000=94.5455% used
37500: 43 buffers, 10700/11000=97.2727% used
37600: 49 buffers, 17200/18000=95.5556% used
37700: 75 buffers, 26000/26800=97.0149% used
37800: 89 buffers, 30300/31900=94.9843% used
37900: 91 buffers, 29600/30600=96.732% used
Don't forget to check out performance guru
Rico Mariani's
reminder that
Caching implies Policy.
As he explained to me,
"Cache policy is everything
so you must be dead certain that your policy is working as you intended.
A cache with a bad policy is another name for a memory leak."
Although I have been a passenger in a car many times,
I thank my lucky stars that I have never had to
be the person behind the wheel in Taiwan.
But if you decide you want to give it a shot,
you might want to pick up
some driving
tips from an American who spent time in Taiwan as an
English teacher,
part of his
Teaching English in Taiwan site.
My conclusion is simply that one should merely avoid driving entirely.
The text is largely disconnected from the pictures,
but that's okay.
The pictures just bring back memories of Taiwan
in both its scenic and not-so-scenic glory.
In the section on
learning Chinese, he remarks:
Most foreigners go through a difficult phase
after they know some Chinese,
in which they think they are speaking Chinese,
but actually, because their tones are unclear,
they are speaking gibberish which the locals literally cannot understand.
You will know that your Chinese tones
have arrived when you hear another foreigner speaking
during this phase of her learning,
and you discover that you can't understand a word they are saying.
Most foreigners go through a difficult phase
after they know some Chinese,
in which they think they are speaking Chinese,
but actually, because their tones are unclear,
they are speaking gibberish which the locals literally cannot understand.
You will know that your Chinese tones
have arrived when you hear another foreigner speaking
during this phase of her learning,
and you discover that you can't understand a word they are saying.
I guess that's good news for me, as my sense for Mandarin tones didn't take
long to develop
(having grown up with a tonal language, albeit a different one).
Too bad my vocabulary and grammar are still effectively nonexistent.
Although I can pronounce each of the tones,
I often just plain forget which tone a word is in!
(My cousin lent me some textbooks that use a different system
of representing tones:
Instead of treating the tone as an add-on,
it incorporates it into the spelling of the word.
Words therefore have no superscripts or accent marks.
This may actually stick, I'll have to try it out and see.)
You can select pens, brushes, fonts and bitmaps into a DC
with the SelectObject function, and from this
list, bitmaps are special.
Because, if you look carefully, bitmaps are the only modifiable
objects on the list.
Pens, brushes and fonts cannot be modified once they are created.
But bitmaps, oh, bitmaps.
A bitmap selected into a DC changes as you draw into it.
Selecting a bitmap into multiple DCs means that writing
to the bitmap from one DC secretly changes it in another,
which isn't a very nice thing to do to a DC.
So let's see, you can select pens, brushes, and fonts
into multiple DCs, but you can't do it with bitmaps.
You make the call.


text:
Toma Latino Radio-TR Network
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Weight Loss Support
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Weight Loss Support
Many factors play in to weight gain and the inability to
lose weight regardless of calorie restriction. We like to start with fixing the digestive system, including the
gallbladder. Many find they lose weight using our digestive kits such as the Gallbladder Starter Kit.
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text:
Inmate Weddings Are About To Increase In Texas
Up until now, if an inmate in a Texas prison wanted to get married, someone else had to stand in for the prisoner during a ceremony held somewhere outside the prison. That's about to change.
Up until now, if an inmate in a Texas prison wanted to get married, someone else had to stand in for the prisoner during a ceremony held somewhere outside the prison. That's about to change.
At the station we attach the Go Pro camera to lots of stuff. Cars, tripods, heads, poles, but never a whiskey bottle. That is where we went wrong, and these guys went right.
Wedding photos are usually a big snooze -- it's mostly just the photographer moving people around like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to get the perfect shot. Not in this case, though.
Women love to find ways to be unique on their wedding day. A Tennessee woman decided to be unique by attaching her one-month-old daughter to the train of her wedding dress.
Looks like this woman is already married...to her phone.
You said "I do" but now your ring won't come off your finger because you had an accident! Swollen fingers do not like to give up rings, but we can show you how.
She is no longer "Miss Independant" today Kelly Clarkson announced she made it official over the weekend.
Congrats to ChAvril! The two love birds got married yesterday (July 1) in the South of France after a year-long engagement.
Never one to change their lifestyle because they're making bank on reality TV, 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' matriarch Mama June got married this weekend in redneck style. And by that we mean "in a camouflage wedding dress with bright orange accents and rainbow colored flowers."
Miley Cyrus is ignoring more talk of problems in her relationship with fiance Liam Hemsworth -- the latest being that the wedding is postponed, although we weren't aware there was a set date -- focusing rather on having fun. The singer/actress shared a pic of her in a heather gray Chanel onesie and pink leggings. She doesn't look like a girl bummed out about her wedding being TBD.
Brides want everyone to know they said "I do."
Maybe it's the open bar, but these brides and grooms just can't seem to stay on their feet.


text:
Honda Repair in Rio Linda
Our master mechanics identify the best Honda repair shops in Rio Linda. Edit search×
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Family owned and operated since 1986. Largest A/C specialty center in Northern California. Full service auto repairs and maintenance with 2yr/24,000 miles warranty. A/C Delco TSS service center. We work on all makes and models including big rigs, motor-homes, and specialty vehicles. Vintage Air Specialist, Complete A/C installations for dealers and individuals alike.
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There are 29 Honda service shops and mechanics in Rio Linda. Edit searchSee other Honda repair shops and dealerships
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text:
March 2013 Update
Kurt & Barb Matthews (1990)
As you can see, Suzuki is our dog and we've finally got him to come to Ho with us. We had been trying to persuade him every time we saw him out in the village to get into the car with us, but he seemed frightened or apprehensive to come with us - until this past Thursday. We went out to HASU to have a meeting with the church leaders (more on that later), and toward the end of the meeting, Suzuki just walked in and put his head in my lap. It was almost like he was saying, "Okay, I've forgiven you for leaving me for so long. I'm ready to go with you now." After our meeting closed, Noah opened the door of the car and called him and he just got right in. Now he's staying at Vicki's house with us until we find our own place to live and serve. The kids are thrilled to have their long-time friend and family member back. Sometimes God uses the small things in life to encourage us.
When we arrived about a month ago, Ghana was in their dry season, called harmattan, where the dust from the Sahara blows down over all of West Africa (and all over everything in our houses!). But just last week, we enjoyed a good rain. It's really fun and exciting to see it coming and it's often accompanied with thunder, lightening, wind, and my favorite - cooler temperatures! So, we are told, now we have to wait for 14 days and then the rains will start to fall regularly. It's always amusing to me when people say things like that, but they are usually right. I'm looking forward to those regular rains to fall!
I would love to tell you all a million reasons why I think God is doing something big here, but it's not necessarily because of a million things that I think it. It's just a few observations that have led me to believe that God is planning to do something big. As I said earlier, we have had two meetings with the church leaders out at HASU so far. The first meeting was a reminder to us about how they want to build various buildings and develop their land. We also talked about the various ministries that we started before we left that died while we were gone. It was a difficult conversation and I'm not sure that we understood each other well. However, at the second meeting, which was this past Thursday, we really connected with one another and we were able to talk freely and openly. We learned that we had disappointed them greatly because we did not come back with a report that we had raised a large amount of money for them while we were in the States. You see, they had told us of their plan to build all these buildings before we left on furlough and we said we would pray for them. To them, that meant that we were going to raise funds to help them. So, when we returned without a load of cash, they were sorely disappointed. These kinds of misunderstandings and unmet expectations happen so often here! But the great thing is that this time we recognized it and we were able to openly discuss it. The meeting ended with all of us encouraged because we understood one another better than ever before.
While we were working through these things with our church leaders at HASU, we were also having some discussions with our team about how we can build up our relationships with our national brothers and sisters and reconcile with them. A lot of people have been hurt, both missionaries and nationals alike, because of misunderstandings. It's very challenging to work in a culture that is not your own. Anyway, we have decided that we will put on a spiritual life retreat for the national church leaders and missionaries together. This retreat is planned for March 15-17 and we are all spending a significant amount of time in prayer to prepare for it. Please join us in praying for this retreat. Our main goal is to reconcile and communicate our desire to fully join hands with them in order to do God's work here more effectively. This retreat will precede our master planning meetings scheduled for the end of this month and early next month. Both are equally important and one will build on the other. I just know that God is going to do a change in all of our hearts through this. I know it because Satan is working hard to oppose it and God is lining the details up perfectly for it to happen. Thank you all for praying and for your encouraging letters in response to my sharing from my heart each week. We couldn't be here without you.
Barb, for the Mathews' clan
March 10 Update
Dear Friends,
Noah will be 13 years old tomorrow and then we will have THREE TEENAGERS! Yikes! I call Noah my "walking calculator" because he's so good in math. He is currently in the eighth grade, but he is doing ninth grade math. He also likes to read and I can't seem to keep enough books in the house for him. God has really blessed Noah since we've returned to Ghana because he found a new friend. Prosper (in the picture above with Noah) is our "son", Mawuli's, younger brother. Since he lives kind of close to the campus here in Ho, he comes over to play often. He and Noah have become fast friends and I'm thrilled about it. Prosper is a very nice young man and he's Noah's age too. It's not often that the kids find friends who are their own age to spend time with. Usually, their friends are all older. So, we are really thrilled with this blessing from God to Noah.
This has been a pretty special weekend for Noah because we got to visit Vli Falls (about two hours from us) yesterday and he got to invite his new friend, Prosper to join him. The Junges had three girls from Cornerstone University come and visit them for the weekend, so we all planned the trip to spend the day together at the falls.
Then we stopped at the Volta Home again on the way home. It was great to see the kids at the home again. Leah and Moriah love them as much as I do, I think. They have already made several friends there.
I wouldn't mind it one bit if God led us to work with these beautiful children. Really, all of the children in Ghana are absolutely beautiful and I have a strong desire to show the love of Christ to them all!
Please continue to pray for us, especially this week as we are finishing up the planning for the reconciliation meetings with the church leaders and missionaries together. Our theme for the conference is ONE MIND, ONE VOICE from Romans 15:5-6.
• Pray for prepared minds and hearts.
• Pray for a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's leading.
• Pray for a clear understanding of what God has for all of us.
• Pray that everyone would be open to sharing about past offenses and willing to work through them to accomplish reconciliation.
• Pray for our children while they are away from us. They will spend time with a good friend while we are at the conference.
Thank you for partnering with us in prayer and through your financial gifts as well. We enjoy hearing from each one of you.
Barb, for the Mathews' clan
March 17 Update
Dear Prayer Partners,
This morning we closed from the Spiritual Life retreat with our Ghanaian church leaders and we are praising God that we have begun to understand what it means to have one mind and one voice. Our theme came from Romans 15:5-6, which you can read from the banner above. We know that through the weekend "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" was glorified! Amen!
The way that God worked out all of the details for this conference to come together is still flabbergasting to me. One member of our team came up with this 'radical' idea about three weeks ago and it was planned by six team members in less than three weeks and I believe it couldn't have turned out better! Only God can do that!!! It certainly wasn't our doing that prepared the hearts of everyone for reconciliation and unity.
Our guest speaker was Pastor Joseph Akakpo, who is an ABWE GAP missionary serving in Togo, his home country (although he was born in Ghana and we like to claim him as our own). Because he has lived in the US, worked with American missionaries for many years, and has also served across cultures in Cameroon, he was the best man who could come and stand in the GAP between us missionaries and the Ghanaian nationals with which we serve.
Pastor Joseph spoke from his heart and was obviously led by the Spirit as he spoke about forgiveness, remembering where we came from, and having attitudes of gratitude. A lot of people were convicted by the Word and there were several private conversations throughout the two days where reconciliation occurred. We praise God that our prayers were answered! Thank you all so much for praying!
One of the special blessings that Kurt and I had was that our "son" Mawuli was able to come and translate for Pastor Joseph. Mawuli is a gifted translator and helped all of us to be able to understand everything that was being communicated throughout the retreat. It was a difficult job because our schedule was very full and a lot of difficult things were communicated. Mawuli did an excellent job! It's amazing that he could pull away from his work in the capital city of Accra to come and help us. Again, that was just one of the ways that God worked out the details for this conference to happen.
Kurt and I also had the opportunity to share our personal testimonies about the things that God has been teaching us, especially while we were in the US. I was so nervous that I was shaking and on the verge of tears most of Saturday morning as that was the day I was to share. When I started speaking, it was with many tears and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get through my whole testimony because of the emotion. But God prompted Pastor Joseph to come and stand behind my chair while I was speaking. When he came to stand behind me, I felt like the Holy Spirit was empowering me to continue to say what was on my heart and I was able to finish my testimony with my emotions under control. God also gave me the words that I needed to express what was in my heart and I praise Him for that special gift! It has never been easy for me to share about my personal struggles in life, but I felt like this time I had the victory through Christ!
Another special blessing this weekend was a conversation that I had with Pastor Joseph during one of the meals. He was sharing about his children and their desires to serve God in West Africa in various ministries. One of his daughters is attending a Bible college in the US right now and studying Biblical Counseling so that she can come back to Africa and counsel girls. When he told me that, my heart leaped with joy! I have such a burden to help young people here, especially the girls who have suffered from abuse in the home. Joseph told me that his daughter would love to hear about my burden and he would connect us through email. I told him that I would also like to connect her with my friend in the States who is a Christian counselor who helped me a lot. The funny thing that we discovered is that his daughter and my friend share the same first name. Little things like that give me such joy!
Thank you all for praying for this weekend. God has begun a wondrous work that I'm confident He will complete. Our prayer now is that as we move toward our master planning meetings (on how we will reach the Volta Region for Christ), that we would continue to work together with one mind and one voice to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The master planning is currently scheduled for the end of this month. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do and how He's going to use us to do it!
Barb, for the Mathews' clan
March 24 Update
Dear Prayer Partners,
This past week we have been preparing the Bible college building and grounds for our upcoming master planning meetings. The meetings that we originally thought would be at the end of the month have been moved up to this week! Yikes! But we are really excited about hearing our national brothers' and sisters' ideas of how to reach the Volta Region for Christ. So, pray especially this Tuesday through Thursday that . . .
• we would continue to have one mind with our national partners.
• the Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts and minds to hear His voice.
• we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading and obey His voice.
• His will would be clear to all of us.
• we would know by the end of the meetings what God wants us to do and where we should live .
We have chosen six key forward-thinking nationals to help us with this process. I'm really excited to hear what they will have to say - what they see as the needs here and how we can partner to help meet those needs. Thank you all for praying for us during this crucial time of planning.
One thing that we have to do to prepare for our meetings is to plan for the meals we will serve for lunches and suppers for everyone involved. We decided to ask Enyonam, Togbe's daughter, who is a caterer currently out of work, to come and cook for all of us next week (since we will all be in meetings and not able to prepare the meals). So, on Monday, we will meet Enyonam at the market to buy the things we need. Now, when I say "the market", most of you are picturing a closed-in, air conditioned, well-organized building where you push a grocery cart around and collect all of the foods that you need before you go to the cashier and purchase them. Well, that's not our market at all!
Before we go to market, we have to figure out how we are going to carry everything around that we purchase (no grocery carts there!). So, I gather up my big cloth bags and my plastic baskets and my oldest children who can help me carry everything before I go. If I'm planning on buying eggs, I have to get the egg crates to fill. If I want to buy oil, I also need a container for that. So, now I'm ready for market!
When we arrive, we don't park our car in a nice parking lot. We try to find a place on the road side near the market where we think no one will box us in. Then we walk up the street to push through a throng of people to squeeze into a little entryway, leading to where the vegetable and fruit sellers are.
We carry whatever we buy from the vegetable seller around with us everywhere else we go, so we have to think through what we are going to buy and try to get the lighter things first and then buy the heaviest things last. We also have to watch out for anyone else around us who is carrying a heavy load as they yell "ago!" while they are walking through the market.
On Monday, we will buy some fish to serve with the yam slice and palava sauce. Choose which one you would buy.
Now, make sure you don't put your fish in the same bag as the rice or the corn flour because everything in the bag will smell like fish by the time you arrive home. Meanwhile, you are getting quite thirsty and maybe even a little hungry as you shop. Don't worry, here comes an orange seller. She will take down as many of those oranges as you want and cut off the top so that you can drink while you squeeze. Orange juice on the go! You can buy a variety of foods and drinks while you shop, which is quite handy. But you have to be in the right place at the right time and buy it when you see it because the next time you go to the same place, you may not find what you are looking for.
Okay, I'm getting hot and tired just thinking about going to market on Monday, so I will close for now. Thank you all for reading my ramblings each week. And thank you for praying for us as we live in this very different culture. What a creative God we serve!
Barb, for the Mathews' clan
3/31 Update
That truth is so encouraging to reflect on! We all shared at breakfast this morning why or what about the resurrection was meaningful to us. It was a great exercise and a good reminder of how important and valuable the fact of a RISEN SAVIOR is!
This is Kurt writing today. Barb is traveling to a village that has become one of the capitals of idol worship among several countries in West Africa. A friend of our team here, Cindy, is from that village. Her father is the chief there. Her mother is the head priestess. Cindy is slated to be the next high priestess - though she will have nothing to do with it of course. Thousands of people from all over Ghana and neighboring countries have come to this village this weekend to pay homage to the powerful gods in the shrine there. In fact, you cannot enter the village without visiting the shrine of the gods there. The Bible is mocked and all but banned and Christians are literally thought to be insane and not worth listening to. Cindy's father lives in England and only comes home a few times each year. This celebration is one of those times. He has graciously permitted Cindy to practice her faith (she is absolutely devout is her Christian walk) but she still struggles in many ways during these festival days while her father is home. Her father has surprisingly allowed Cindy's friends, the missionaries (us), to come and visit him and greet him - after which Cindy can leave. So I am home with a few kiddos while Barb, Sarah and the rest of the team are heading to this village. PLEASE PRAY FERVENTLY RIGHT NOW FOR CINDY'S LIGHT IN HER HOMETOWN AND FOR OUR TEAM AS MANY OF THEM WILL BE THERE FROM AROUND 2 PM TO 4 PM OUR TIME (10 am to 2 pm for you folks on the East coast).
During the last week we enjoyed another great time of working together with 'One Mind' and 'One Voice'. We invited 6 leaders from the churches here to partner with us in planning for the next 20 years or so. While our missionary team was together in Harrisburg last December, we had started working out a vision statement. As this past week started, we summarized all that we hope God will do through us in the next 2 decades through the following vision statement - 'Growing a new generation of passionate Christ followers'. There are not many words there, but let me tell you, that is a mouthful. Growing implies that our work is ongoing and that folks are not standing still in their faith. Every time we say that statement, 'Growing a new generation of passionate Christ followers,' year after year, generation after generation, as we repeat those words they should be true. Passion! That is something that needs some definite work here in many of our lives. The Gospel or the Truth of the Gospel is not some ho humy afterthought or an in-your-spare-time kind of activity! It is pivotal and crucial to everything - from farming to schooling to business to retirement to parenting! Christ is the key. People can be passionate about lots of things. It is our prayer that God will give us folks and help us train folks who are passionate about Him. With all the rest, the 'followers' part is almost a given. It is our desire and conviction to lead others to follow Christ. So our vision is so important.
We combined our vision statement with our thoughts of who we are as ministry partners and what we have to offer for the work of the Gospel here (some of us are preacher types, others are business minded, some are gifted in teaching and others in evangelism, etc.). Out of those exercises, we then identified six objective areas that we need to focus on in order for our particular team to move toward our long term goal. Our six major areas of focus are as follows: A Teacher Training College, Economic Development, Leadership Training, Regional Youth/Children's Ministry, Future Ministries and Team Development. Barb fits mostly into the teacher training college area and also the children's ministry. I will focus on youth ministry and leadership training. The 'future ministries' category is for additional team mates interested in flying on Lake Volta or starting some other ministries that will support our vision statement. Most of the work for those will be done when the personnel arrive on the scene here in Ghana. The 'Team Development' area is for directing our present team in terms of spiritual health and emotional health as well as in recruitment. Maybe we will be contacting some of you to help in a strategic ministry here for a period of time! You may have noticed with dismay that there is no objective area of discipleship, evangelism or church planting. Our reason for this is because all of everything we do is concerned with discipleship, evangelism and church planting. None of the six chosen objective areas would exist if they could not in significant and measurable ways help us to evangelize and disciple people for the establishment and building up of local churches.
The picture below is all of us giving input on the more detailed plan for each of the six objective areas.
I know many of you have been praying about our location and future ministries. Keep praying!! We do have some progress to report. Our family is now living under the same roof - which is a wonderful praise! Vicki has offered several times to move into an available mission house about 10 minutes away. We finally agreed. We are now all in the house she was renting on the campus (where Sarah has been staying the whole time). Granted, Noah is sleeping in the pantry (a 12 X 12 room), but we are thankful to be together again. We are thankful too for the Junges opening their home to us for the last few months. As far as our future ministry plans, we did cover a lot of ground last week and have some significant tools for guiding us, but we have not landed on one location for ministry yet. Please pray that over the next few weeks as we work out some details, we will have insight and peace in making that decision.
For the glory of the Lord!
Kurt for the family
Return to the Prayer & Praise List


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Wildlife rangers and police officials in Kenya are now on the hunt for a team of ten poachers who shot and killed an entire family of elephants.
The incident occurred this past Saturday in Kenya's Tsavo East National Park, and almost everybody refers to it as the biggest mass shooting of animals this country has ever seen, Daily Mail states.
As was to be expected, the poachers killed these 11 elephants for the sole purpose of collecting their tusks and selling them on the black market.
Information made available to the public says that, "The entire family of 11 elephants have been confirmed poached and tusks chopped off." Furthermore, "All the carcasses had bullet wounds."
The rangers and the officers who are now in pursuit of these poachers hope that the dogs and the aerial units they brought with them will help them locate and catch the elephant killers as soon as possible.


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18-song matching folio to the classic Stones album features transcriptions of: Rocks Off, Tumbling Dice, Let It Loose, All Down The Line, Stop Breaking Down, Casino Boogie, Torn & Frayed, Black Angel, Loving Cup, Happy, Soul Survivor, Shake Your Hips, Rip This Joint, and more. Also includes photos.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


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SinfulColors Feeling Great
2 reviews
100% would repurchase
Package Quality: 3.0
Price: $
Package Quality: 3.0
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on 3/12/2010 2:21:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm
Hair: Black, Wavy, Fine
Eyes: Brown
This is my first Sinful polish, and I'm very impressed! Feeling Great is a basic bright hot pink - perfect for spring and summer pedicures. For $1.99 you get a great quality, big-3 free polish. It was opaque in 2 coats although a third would've been fine too.
on 3/10/2010 9:11:00 AM
Age: 30-35
Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Neutral
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Green
Awesome color. Hot Pink Creme that looks great on both fair and tanned skin! Pretty impressed with the staying power considering it's so cheap! I can get these at Walgreens for 2/$3
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Saturday, May 2, 2009
First Two Cases of Swine Flu Confirmed in Juarez. Two More in Chihuahua. Cases Not Very Severe
The state of Chihuahua officially informed the public last night that four cases of AH1N1 Swine Flu--the first on record in the state--have been confirmed in the state, two in Chihuahua and two in Cd. Juarez. In all cases the patients are under care and are expected to recover fully. Authorities asserted that since current treatment procedures are highly effective, persons with symptoms of the swine flu--sudden fever, muscular pain especially in the back, irritated throat, cough, and fatigue--should call medical officials immediately to begin treatment and to assure that the disease will not spread.
Posted by Jose Z. Garcia at 8:00 AM
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Revered by all of the town's children and dreaded by all of its mothers, Huckleberry Finn is indisputably the most appealing child-hero in American literature. Unlike the tall-tale, idyllic world of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is firmly grounded in early reality. From the abusive drunkard who serves as Huckleberry's father, to Huck's first tentative grappling with issues of personal liberty and the unknown, Huckleberry Finn endeavors to delve quite a bit deeper into the complexities-both joyful and tragic of life.
"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we've had." –Ernest Hemingway


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About: Jonathan Santiago
Posts by: Jonathan Santiago
Game 10 Preview: Sacramento Kings vs. Brooklyn Nets
Previewing today's matinee match-up between the Kings and Nets.
Kings' Speech: Game 10 vs. Brooklyn Nets
Looking ahead to today's match-up between the Kings and Nets with coach Keith Smart and point guard Isaiah Thomas.
Game 9 Preview: Sacramento Kings vs. Atlanta Hawks
Previewing tonight's match-up between the Kings and Hawks.
Cowbell Kingdom Podcast Extra: Scott Howard-Cooper on Jimmer Fredette and city of Sacramento's approach to arena stalemate
The NBA.com writer weighs in with his opinion of the second-year guard and more.
Kings' Speech: Game 9 vs. Atlanta Hawks
At 2-6, the Sacramento Kings welcome the Atlanta Hawks to Sleep Train Arena tonight. The Hawks come into this evening's match-up at 3-4 after losing Wednesday night to the Golden State Warriors. The Hawks …
WATCH: Jason Thompson anchors 6 pm sports on News 10
The Kings big man puts his broadcasting degree to work.
WATCH: DeMarcus Cousins speaks publicly for first time since two-game suspension
The 22-year-old center speaks for the first time after missing the Kings' last two games.
James Johnson confident he'll turn around early offensive struggles
The Kings forward isn't losing belief in his ability on offense.
DeMarcus Cousins addresses suspension, Sean Elliott confrontation through statement
The Kings big man finally speaks out his most recent controversy.
DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton included on 2013 NBA All-Star Ballot
Fans can choose from three players to represent the Sacramento Kings in this year's All-Star Game.


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Lexington has a very supportive music scene. Everyone is constantly going out to see everyone else's gigs. The city itself is beautiful, the rent is cheap, and it's just small enough where you can drive 10 minutes and be amongst beautiful horse farms, parks, woods, etc. I first moved here in 2006 for school and met the noise guys. Hair Police, Caboladies, Cadaver In Drag, Warmer Milks…the crew my age was making pop and rock, and the older crew was making noise. Slowly we all merged together, and now it's just a bunch of weird pop music. I've noticed more and more good touring acts coming through town. When I'm on tour, people always say they've heard how great Lexington is. It's good to hear people are picking up on Kentucky.
Next page: Bands Worth Watching
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MAC Colourizations Pro Palette Eyeshadow Review, Swatches, Photos
Show of hands who's excited about MAC Colourizations?
This is a selection of eight Pro Palette Eyeshadows that contain two shades of shadow each.
At first I wasn't particularly excited about these as I was thinking Suite Array which was great packaging but really a poor formula. However, flash forward and the idea of a dual shadow palette that included two full size MAC Shadows at quite a nice price…well, I was quickly convinced these sounded like a treat.
Let's take a look and find out the real details!
Maybe I'm nuts or too much makeup passes by my desk lately but I'm not particularly thrilled with my once beloved MAC lately as the formula on products seems to somehow have changed. Could be me though.
The Colourizations Pro Palettes seem to be lacking something. The formula varies from shadow to shadow and finish to finish and some of the shades lack pigment plus the ease of use and blendability just isn't up to par with the normal MAC Eyeshadow range in my opinion.
I find it irritating that MAC kinda copped out by simply naming these "Double Feature 1, 2, 3…" and so on and so fourth. I'd have liked individual names for the shadows. I'm positive some of these shades look like they could be in my stash already so I wonder if the "Double Feature" namesakes are a clever little mask to keep us from checking our current collections for shades we already own.
The finishes on these vary with a mix of matte, veluxe pearl, frost, and satin so it's a mixed bag of formulas and you can choose your favorite finish but the problem is you'd never know which is which since MAC fails to label the boxes with the finishes. So you can either A. depend on your own knowledge of finishes and go to the counter to haul. B. Hope your MA knows her finishes. or C. Check references online prior to heading to your counter. As I mentioned above the formula varies so I felt like some of the mattes were a tad on the chalky side where as other finishes had excellent color pay off but a formula that blended very patchy and uneven.
Another thing that threw me for a curve ball are the shade pairings. I'm not very good at cocktailing colors and I depend on either inspiration from brands for my pairings or my favorite beauty blogs. Personally I felt like these had some rather odd pairings that I couldn't really work.
- Double Feature 1
This duo contains a bright buttery yellow (veluxe pearl) and an aubergine purple (frost). I really love this this duo as it works fabulously on my brown eyes. The yellow shade blends beautifully however the purple blends patchy.
- Double Feature 2
This duo contains a bright lime green (veluxe pearl) and a stormy grey (frost). The lime green is buttery and blends lovely however the grey is a rather interesting frost as it feels almost semi-matte to me as shows poorer pigmentation due to this.
- Double Feature 3
This duo contains a mid tone teal (matte) and a deep chocolate (satin). Both of these shades have a poorer formula as they blend patchy and I had a very difficult time building color up.
- Double Feature 4
This duo has a deep forest green (veluxe pearl) and a beige-y brown (matte). I find the green blends out beautifully and yields excellent color pay off but the matte proves a irritating to work with.
- Double Feature 5
This duo contains a frosty peach (frost) and a dark brown green pearl (frost).
- Double Feature 7
This duo contains a bright fuchsia (frost) and a cool toned black (satin). Again we suffer one shade working great and the other not so much. The fuchsia has a soft formula that blends easily where as the cooler black feels semi-matte to me and applies patchy on lids.
- Double Feature 8
This duo contains a fiery orange (frost) and a deeper navy (satin). Both shades have a hard texture and definitely do not feel like the MAC normal range as they are hard and yield very little color payoff without press hard into the pan.
I can't say I'm particularly thrilled with any of these. I want to rave them rather badly but overall they just don't seem to be doing the trick for me. MAC makes some superior eyeshadows but I fail to see that formula in any of the Colourization Pro Palettes.
It's a mixed bag of product here with a disappointing formula. You might be tempted by the two full size shadows at $25 each though which would normally set you back $14.50 each but I doubt that makes up for a formula that's sadly lacking.
MAC Colourizations hits stores August 4th, 2011.
I'm very eager to hear your thoughts on these after you've tried them as maybe I'm the nitpicky one here.
Note: This post will be updated with more images shortly.
This review contains a sample product sent for consideration by PR.
Read my full disclosure statement here.
7/12/11 14:43 Wendy:
I'm having dreams of the chartreuse and bright pink playing on my eyelids… but $50 for two eyeshadows? Meh. I wish they released these in pan form and you could pair them how you wanted.
7/12/11 14:47 Wendy:
I should have clarified, I meant I would need to pay $50 to get the two shades I want together LOL
7/12/11 15:25 Dana:
I think most of these look really shabby and not MAC like at all. Very cheap and I agree with the mismatched shades. Not to sound like MAC has a conspiracy, but maybe they mismatched so people would buy more duos for the single colors that want in each. ; ) ha.
7/12/11 15:59 Misato-san:
i like feature 1 and 3 but I will skip this collection for sure because it lacks of… consistency and vibrancy. those shades are really common to me, and in its permanent range MAC owns other versions that are better than these for sure!
7/13/11 7:03 Musebeliever:
I'm really disappointed by MAC this year…
7/13/11 9:40 Telle:
I am with Musebeliever…I am also generally not hugely thrilled with Mac this year…I would have likes another collection like digipops…maybe the holiday collections will be something to squeal over
7/17/11 4:21 Kharina:
Maybe I missed it, but what happened to DOUBLE FEATURE #6 ??
Maybe I'm nuts! I actually liked this collection. I bought DF 4 and DF 7. I love the color combos and I'm thinking about buying more. I like the combos because I don't have to think about combos. I truly wanted 6 of the 8. Hmmm….maybe I should rethink this, but I do love them. To each their own I guess…LOL!


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Yeah, we all know Medina, Julian, and Simpo rule Lowers. Their clips go viral while everyone else just quietly shreds in anonymity. Well this one is for the underated ripper, for Laura and Lakey, for Caio, Fisher, Lucasik, Brendon, and Stu.
It was just last year that I uploaded a video of a very little known Gabriel Medina (vimeo.com/23482301). Next year, one of these young bucks could own a gold trestle spike of his own.
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Treasure Coast, state political leaders share thoughts on bin Laden death
The following statements have been released from the elected officials who represent the Treasure Coast in the state and federal government.
"The noose has been tightening for months because of our intelligence operations. And we've finally cut off the head of the snake. This is a historic day, and we thank the men and women who carried out this operation."
— U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
"Just as every American will never forget where we were when America was attacked on 9/11, this moment will forever be remembered by each one of us as the day justice for that tragedy was finally served. I congratulate our intelligence and military communities on this monumental operation. Their persistence and relentlessness in tracking Osama bin Laden down have finally brought us this long awaited event.
"While this diabolical terrorist's death at America's hands is a moment to celebrate, we must never forget the serious terrorist threats that remain and will demand an enduring vigilance."
— U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
"The death of Osama bin Laden sends a message that the United States will not rest until justice is served to those who do us harm or wish to do us harm.
"We are all grateful to those in uniform and in the intelligence community who never wavered in their pursuit and whose service led us to this moment, especially to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Today will go down in American history as a great day in the fight against terror."
— U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta
"I commend our troops who have brought Osama Bin Laden to justice.
"Hopefully this will help close a very painful chapter in the lives of so many who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001."
— U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge
"We should all applaud the President and his administration, military, and our intelligence community, for their heroic efforts to capture and kill Osama bin Laden. The men and women serving in the military, intelligence and counterterrorism communities work courageously on the front lines each day to ensure the security of our nation and the world.
"Osama bin Laden, for 10 years, has held the title of scourge of the earth. I am glad that justice has been served. It is my hope that the families of 9/11 and the East African Embassy bombings can find a little more closure now.
"We must be extremely mindful that Al Qaeda has not been removed, nor has the sentiment of this very dangerous societal element. We must remain ever vigilant.
"The irony of two events on May 1 should not be lost. First, the late Pope John Paul II was beatified and moved closer to Sainthood. He spent his life blazing a path of enlightenment, peace, love, and uplifting humanity. Secondly, bin Laden spent his life lighting a path of murder, deceit, and the destruction of humanity. While one found Sainthood, the other found Satan. It is good that bin Laden no longer plagues the earth and the hope for human kind is that Pope John Paul II would be our exemplar of goodness."
— U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar
"I think we all heard the news last night that justice has been served, after almost 10 years.
"I also want to commend our commander in chief, our president, Barack Obama. Job well done. Job well done."
— Fla. Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island
"The death of Osama bin Laden marks a great victory for Americans and for freedom-loving people worldwide. Finally, some degree of justice has been achieved after nearly a decade of death, war and untold sacrifices because of that man.
"I am so proud of our dedicated military men and women and our intelligence community for not giving up in our pursuit of justice. President Barack Obama should also be commended for doing the right thing and following through with the promise of justice initially given by President George W. Bush."
— Gov. Rick Scott
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