text:
Off the Press
May 15, 2012
Tragedy yields changed perspectives
Memories from the afternoon remain fresh months after the last gunshots echoed across the Clark Elementary School campus, even as the incident recedes deeper into the past.
Downtown Issaquah transformed into a crime scene Sept. 24, as a gunman menaced residents and later died in a police shootout.
The incident receded into memory for most people not long afterward. Still, the investigation continued and throughout the process, the events from Sept. 24 remained close to me.
A stack of documents from the King County Sheriff's Office investigation sits on my desk. Photos from the incident still flicker across my computer screen. I speak to sources about the investigation at least once each week.
The inquest into the incident starts May 21 at the King County Courthouse. I plan to report from the official inquiry into the event, too.
City reduces concealed pistol license fee
March 20, 2012
The cost of a concealed pistol license from the Issaquah Police Department has dropped by $2.75 due to a federal rule change.
Starting March 19, fingerprint checks cost $16.50 — down from $19.25 — and, therefore, the cost of a concealed pistol license drops from $55.25 to $52.50.
City residents can apply for the license at the Issaquah Police Department, 130 E. Sunset Way. The department processes fingerprints from 9-10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In Issaquah, applicants for a concealed pistol license must be at least 21 years old, a U.S. citizen or possess a valid alien firearms license. The applicant cannot have a pending trial, appeal or sentencing on certain charges.
The applicant cannot have any outstanding warrants for any charge from any court, any court order or injunction against possessing a firearm, or any felony convictions.
The state also prohibits a license for people determined to be mentally defective or incompetent to manage their affairs. The applicant must have never been committed to a mental institution.
Unincorporated King County residents must apply for a concealed pistol license at the King County Courthouse.
Important registration deadline arrives for Issaquah School District election
March 19, 2012
NEW — 6 a.m. March 19, 2012
Issaquah School District voters face a choice about a $219 million school construction bond in a special election next month.
The deadline for people to register online or by mail to vote is Monday. Qualified residents can also register in person at King County Elections in Renton or a registration annex at the King County Administration Building in Seattle.
In order to register as a Washington voter, a person must be a U.S. citizen, a Washington resident, at least 18 by Election Day and not under the authority of the state Department of Corrections.
In Washington, voters do not register by political party or declare political party membership to vote in primary or general elections.
City reduces concealed pistol license fee
March 19, 2012
NEW — 6 a.m. March 19, 2012
The cost of a concealed pistol license from the Issaquah Police Department has dropped by $2.75 due to a federal rule change.
Starting Monday, fingerprint checks cost $16.50 — down from $19.25 — and, therefore, the cost of a concealed pistol license drops from $55.25 to $52.50.
Issaquah residents can apply for the license at the Issaquah Police Department, 130 E. Sunset Way. The department processes fingerprints on Tuesdays and Thursday from 9-10 a.m.
In Issaquah, applicants for a concealed pistol license must be at least 21 years old, a U.S. citizen or possess a valid alien firearms license. The applicant cannot have a pending trial, appeal or sentencing on certain charges.
Nisqually earthquake anniversary is reminder to prepare
February 28, 2012
NEW — 8 a.m. Feb. 28, 2012
The ground shook for 45 stomach-churning seconds starting at 10:54 a.m. Feb. 28, 2001, as the last major earthquake to occur in the Puget Sound region rattled buildings and jangled nerves.
The earthquake cracked the Capitol dome in Olympia and caused widespread damage across the region, injured hundreds of people and left billions of dollars in property damage.
Tuesday marks 11 years since the Nisqually earthquake — a magnitude-6.8 temblor credited for changing attitudes about emergency preparedness in Issaquah, King County and statewide.
City leaders credited the temblor for alerting officials and residents to the importance of disaster preparedness and response. The city participates in regular disaster-response exercises, such as the regional Sound Shake drill.
Issaquah School District planners also learned lessons since the earthquake occurred.
King County Sheriff's Office deputies receive defibrillators
January 10, 2012
Local public health officials said equipment and training for King County Sheriff's Office deputies to respond to cardiac arrest could mean the difference between life and death.
King County Emergency Medical Services, a division of Public Health – Seattle & King County, plans to distribute 53 automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, to deputies interested in the training. Trained deputies can then be dispatched to a cardiac arrest call alongside emergency medical responders.
Equipped deputies arriving first at the scene of a cardiac arrest can start resuscitation and deliver the initial defibrillator shocks and, as soon as emergency medical responders arrive on the scene, they can take over resuscitation duties.
Officials announced the initiative Jan. 4.
Inquest ordered in Issaquah police shooting
January 3, 2012
Jury is assigned to fact-finding mission in death of gunman
The search for more information about a lethal September shootout on the Clark Elementary School campus is due to deepen soon, as a court inquest into the officer-involved incident opens.
Ronald W. Ficker, 51, died in a firefight against Issaquah police officers on the school campus. The gun battle ended a meandering midday journey across downtown Issaquah after the rifle-toting Ficker brandished guns at passers-by.
In a decision expected since the Sept. 24 shootout, King County Executive Dow Constantine on Dec. 27 ordered the inquest — a standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. The order directs King County District Court Presiding Judge Barbara Linde to assign a judge to set a date and conduct the inquest.
Linde did not set a date before county offices closed for the New Year's holiday.
King County Districting Committee reschedules public hearing
October 25, 2011
The panel responsible for redrawing King County Council districts rescheduled a public hearing regarding a proposed map to next month.
King County Districting Committee members planned to meet Oct. 3, but rescheduled the meeting to Nov. 1 to allow residents and city councils more time to review the plan and offer comments.
Citizens can attend the rescheduled hearing at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Council Chambers at the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Ave., Seattle.
Residents can also submit comments to the committee at www.kingcounty.gov/operations/districting/testimony until Nov. 1.
In a unanimous decision late last month, committee members agreed to release a final proposal for public comment and review. The plan must be approved by Jan. 15 for the 2012 elections.
The committee's proposed map keeps Issaquah proper inside Councilwoman Kathy Lambert's District 3 and rural areas outside city limits in Councilman Reagan Dunn's District 9.
Issaquah police encountered gunman in days, hours before shooting
September 28, 2011
UPDATED — 5:15 p.m. Sept. 28, 2011
Issaquah police officers contacted the Sept. 24 gunman in the days and hours before the lethal shootout at Clark Elementary School, but did not have reason to detain Ronald W. Ficker before the incident.
In the days before the shootout, Ficker told people he had been "communicating with the devil" and said, "Something big is going to happen."
County to host budget forum at Pacific Cascade Middle School
September 27, 2011
Citizens can offer input on King County's 2012 budget next month at a local forum.
County Councilwoman Julia Patterson, leader of the council's Budget Leadership Team, announced Pacific Cascade Middle School and other sites as locations for budget discussions. The budget team is seeking input on County Executive Dow Constantine's proposed 2012 budget.
Issaquah's representative, Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, and Councilwoman Jane Hague and Councilman Joe McDermott also serve on the budget team.
"These public hearings are an opportunity for the residents of King County to make their voices heard on the issues that matter most to them," Patterson said in a statement.
The budget team is scheduled to collect input from citizens at a series of meetings:
- 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 — Pacific Cascade Middle School, 24635 S.E. Issaquah-Fall City Road
- 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19 — Maleng Regional Justice Center, Courtroom 3F, 401 Fourth Ave. N., Kent
- 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 — King County Courthouse, County Council Chambers, 10th Floor, 516 Third Ave., Seattle
The county plans to offer coverage of the meetings on King County TV, channel 22 on Broadstripe and Comcast.


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It's a gorgeous OS that offers great performance and -- for the most part -- doesn't feel like a half-baked effort. Factoring the new functionality, ICS effectively throws a one-two punch of mobile wonderment in our face.Read the full review →
Heads up! A newer version of this product is out!
Critic reviews
Ease of use
Ecosystem (apps, drivers, etc.)
sort by
User reviews
Ease of use | 20 comments
Speed | 18 comments
Configurability | 13 comments
Ecosystem (apps, drivers, etc.) | 15 comments
Openness | 19 comments
sort by
Ice Cream Sandwich does succeed in moving Google forward, and reaffirming its staying power as a mobile OS. With its bold personality, Android 4.0 is also a sign of Google leaving less of its cultivation to the handset makers, and taking a stronger role in defining its 'Droidy personality.Read the full review →
Even with its quirks, Android 4.0 still provides one of the best Android experiences to date. Performance will vary from device to device, but overall it's one of the most stable mobile OSs that I've ever used.Read the full review →
Android enthusiasts will find a lot to like in the new version ... but will still probably find ... reasons to want to replace the stock applications with third-party alternatives. The major improvements to core components of the user experience ... do help to make Android better out of the box.Read the full review →
Good software does its job in a clean, consistent way. Great software does all that, but then delights you with its usefulness, the thoughtful moments peppered throughout by developers who really care about their work. That's the level Android has been elevated to with Ice Cream Sandwich.Read the full review →
Ice Cream Sandwich is the most accessible and easy-to-learn OS from Google, and that's going to be key in the wars against Apple and Microsoft.Read the full review →
BIG DIFFERENCES User Interface - If Matias Duarte was in front of me right now, I would hug him for an almost creepy amount of time. Finally it seems that Google put an emphasis on the design of the OS, and not just on commonly accessed apps, but throughout all the menus, buttons, settings,...Read the full review →
Ice Cream Sandwich, for me, is a step or two ahead of iOS. It's not much, but it's the reason I opted for the Nexus over the 4S. The OS is just more advanced at this point. It's easy to use, but a little laggy at times (due mainly to the way the Android OS handles rendering priority), and just...Read the full review →
Android has done it again. Merging the smartphone and tablet versions of the Linux-based OS, Google has brought forth ICS, a quick and speedy update to the world's most popular smartphone platform.Read the full review →
This is a great software release, but it's going to be crippled by the terrible Android ecosystem and faux-openness. Still, a commendable effort and a step in the right direction.Read the full review →
The newest OS version for android is extremely polished. Optimized for higher end phones with dual core the OS runs very smoothly. Newcomers to Android may have trouble starting up, but it is still user friendly.Read the full review →
My experience and thoughts on Ice Cream Sandwich are from my use of it on my Xoom WiFi. With Ice Cream Sandwich Android has finally hit prime-time. The look and feel of the OS is much more polished and fluid. My Xoom feels completely new and more responsive in regular use which has given that...Read the full review →
If you're on 4.0, don't worry about 4.1/4.2, you're not missing much.Read the full review →

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Situ Biosciences
Situ Biosciences, LLC.
2141 Foster Ave
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-483-9950 | email@example.com
Hours of Operation
8:30-5:30 Central
Location and Directions
Close to O'Hare and Downtown Chicago, we are conveniently located to serve our local and international customers. Contact the lab when in town to schedule a visit.
Click here for a Sample Submission Form. Please contact the lab prior to sending in test samples and let us know when ordering expedited testing.
Let us know how we are doing by calling the lab at 847-483-9950 or by emailing comments, suggestions or feedback to email@example.com.


text:
Harmony Ann is a Centerfold from Romania. She is listed on FreeOnes since 2009 and is currently ranked 14726th place. She currently has 28 gallery links in her own FreeOnes section.
Our records show that Harmony Ann is currently active which means she is still making movies, doing live shows and/or doing photo shoots.
|Amount of content
|Navigation & Browsing
|Price vs. Quality
|Quality of content
Harmony Ann.com is a site that is quite good value but only off the back of the fact that there are several very good bonus sites on board. Otherwise it really is struggling to hold its own because of a small collection that doesn't include any videos, and the fact that it no longer updates. Worth subscribing to, I would say, but perhaps only because of that network access though. Visit Harmony Ann


text:
- Aesthetics
- Allergy and Immunology
- Alternative Medicine
- Bariatric Medicine
- Bariatric Surgery
- Cardiology
- Chiropractic Medicine
- Cosmetology
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diet and Nutrition
- Ear, Nose and Throat
- Endocrinology
- Family Practice
- Fitness
- Gastroenterology
- General Surgery
- Geriatric Medicine
- Health and Beauty
- Hematology
- Internal Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Optometry
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Pain management
- Pediatrics
- Physical Therapy
- Plastic Surgery
- Podiatry
- Prosthetics, Orthotics, Pedorthics
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Rheumatology
- Sex
- Speech Therapy
- Sports Medicine
- Urology
- Vascular Surgery
- Yoga and Pilates
- Medical Supply
- Nursing Services - Home AIDE
- Hospitals
- Pharmacy
- general
- Allergy
- Obesity Medicine
- News and Articles
- Rx Pharmacy
Face-Lift vs. Ultherapy – Which is Best for You? Procedures That Help You Put on Your Best Face
Though the face-lift remains a popular way to smooth skin sagging and help create a more youthful look, the number of facelifts between 2000 and 2009 actually decreased. Why? Mostly because of new, alternative treatments that can get you great results without requiring incisions. One of these alternatives is called the «lunchtime face-lift,» or «ultherapy.» Might this be a better option for you?
What Happens To Skin's Natural Support?
Over time, natural aging, exposure to pollutants, sun damage, and more all contribute to the gradual breakdown of the skin's internal structure. One of the main problems is that the production of collagen slows down. Collagen is a kind of protein that works with elastin to give skin its strength and firmness. As levels decrease, the skin starts to sag, wrinkle, and look older. Cosmetic procedures—whether a face-lift, ultherapy, or other technique—seek to help firm up, tighten, and improve the appearance of skin.
What Is a Face-Lift?
A face-lift (also called «rhytidectomy»), is a surgical procedure designed to improve the visible signs of aging in the face and neck. There are several techniques by which a surgeon can perform the lift, but all usually involve the contraction and realignment of facial and neck skin, and in some instances, the removal of excess fat deposits. Skin-only face-lifts address the surface level of the face, while intermediate depth face-lifts go to a deeper level, achieving improvement from just above the bones of the face.
What Is Ultherapy?
Ultherapy involves the use of ultrasound technology to stimulate the deep layers of the skin (called the Superficial Muscular aponeuroticSystem or SMAS) to generate a tightening effect. During surgery, doctors typically manipulated the SMAS to create a lasting lift. With ultherapy, however, the doctor can stimulate this deeper layer without having to make incisions. «When the ultrasound device hits the SMAS area,» says Dr. Rayham of RR Plastix, «it burns small holes through it without actually burning the skin. The outer layer of the skin remains unaffected. As a result, the SMAS area contracts and creates new collagen during the healing process to generate tightness. We can create all this in one pass.» The procedure can be done in the office, and takes about 40 minutes to an hour depending on how many zones need to be treated. A patient will see some immediate improvement,then after about three to four months, will see significant improvement.
Which Treatment Is Better?
Both of these treatments are effective at taking years off your face. The question is, which one is better for you? An appointment with a professional like Dr. Rayham can help the best approach to reach your goals. Consider as well the following questions:
- How much sagging skin do you want to remove? Ultherapy is best for those who are seeing some sagging and drooping in the skin, whereas a face-lift may be better for those with deep sagging in the midface or loss of muscle tone in the lower face that has created jowls.
- Are you okay with surgery? Just like any surgery, a face-lift requires anesthesia and significant recovery time. Ultherapy, on the other hand, can be done over your lunch hour and you can go right back to work.
- What kind of results are you looking for? If you're looking for a dramatic change in your appearance, a face-lift may be best for you. If you're looking for a subtler tightening and lifting, you may be very happy with ultherapy. How much do you want to spend? Since ultherapy doesn't require surgery, it will be more economical than a face-lift.
- What are you expecting? Neither procedure guarantees you'll look like you did when you were 20, but both are likely to provide you with noticeable changes in your appearance.
Dr. Rayham offers a range of treatments from which you can choose, depending on your goals. For more information, call the RR Plastix/ New York Plastic Surgery Center. Double Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, Dr. Rayham can answer any questions you may have. Call 1-877-582-0400, or visit the website at www.rrplastix.com.
Dr. Leonard
Grossman, MD
Plastic Surgery
159 E 74th St, Ste 1M
New York, NY 10021
(212) 585-2133
Dr. Roman
Rayham, MD
Plastic Surgery
1616B Voorhies Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11235
161 Madison Ave, Ste 11W
New York, NY 10016
(877) 582-0400
Dr. Kaveh
Alizadeh, MD
Plastic Surgery
7401 4th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11209
(888) 757-3867
Dr. Michael
Belfiore, DO
Plastic Surgery
2209 Merrick Rd, Ste 100
Merrick, NY 11566
(516) 371-5800
Dr. Ian L.
Bourhill, MD
Plastic Surgery
205 E Main St, Ste 1-6
Huntington, NY 11743
(631) 424-4026
Dr. Luis A.
Cenedese, MD
Plastic Surgery
30 Central Park S, Rm 1Cd
New York, NY 10019
(212) 371-0468
Dr. Richard J.
Coburn, MD
Plastic Surgery
880 5th Ave, Ste 1K
New York, NY 10002
(212) 288-5100
Dr. Gregory A.
Devita, MD
Plastic Surgery
650 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 466-7000
Dr. Gregory J.
Diehl, MD
Plastic Surgery
11 Medical Dr, Ste B
Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
(631) 476-7300
Dr. Janis
Dipietro, MD
Plastic Surgery
155 E 76th St, Ofc 1
New York, NY 10021
(212) 249-0189
Dr. Randall S.
Feingold, MD
Plastic Surgery
833 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 498-8400
Dr. David
Feldman, MD
Plastic Surgery
925 49th St
Brooklyn, NY 11219
(718) 283-7022
Dr. Mark
Filstein, MD
Plastic Surgery
161 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10016
(212) 481-4041
Dr. Anup R.
Gheewala, MD
Plastic Surgery
2818 Ocean Ave, Ste 7
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 616-2330
Dr. Irene
Gladstein, MD
Plastic Surgery
2076 E 13th St
Brooklyn, NY 11229
(718) 382-8800
Dr. Lloyd
Hoffman, MD
Plastic Surgery
12 E 68th St
New York, NY 10021
(212) 861-1640
Dr. Andrew A.
Jacono, MD
Plastic Surgery
440 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 773-2424
Dr. Steven M.
Katz, MD
Plastic Surgery
107 Woodbury Rd
Huntington, NY 11743
(631) 423-9742
Dr. Daniel
Kaufman, MD
Plastic Surgery
2120 Ocean Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11229
(718) 705-9025
Dr. Paul E.
Kelly, MD
Plastic Surgery
292 Shade Tree Ln
Aquebogue, NY 11931
(631) 727-8050
Dr. Martin E.
Kessler, MD
Plastic Surgery
650 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 466-7000
Dr. Frederick N.
Lukash, MD
Plastic Surgery
1129 Northern Blvd, Ste 403
Manbasset, NY 11030
(516) 365-1040
Dr.Eric S.
Mager, MD
Plastic Surgery
650 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 466-7000
Dr. James C.
Marotta, MD
Plastic Surgery
267 E Main St, Bldg B
Smithtown, NY 11787
(631) 982-2022
Dr. Phillip
Miller, MD
Plastic Surgery
60 E 56th St, Fl 2
New York, NY 10022
(212) 750-7100
Dr. Peter R.
Neuman, MD
Plastic Surgery
1 Expressway Plz, Ste 201
Roslyn Heights, NY 11577
(516) 484-0800
Dr. Gerald H.
Pitman, MD
Plastic Surgery
170 E 73rd St
New York, NY 10021
(212) 517-2600
Dr. Joseph
Racanelli, MD
Plastic Surgery
1723 E 12th St, Ste 202
Brooklyn, NY 11229
(347) 587-5855
Dr. Clara M.
Rivera, MD
Plastic Surgery
112-41 Queens Blvd, Ste Llb
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 261-1759
Dr. Thomas
Romo, MD
Plastic Surgery
135A E 74th St
New York, NY 10021
(212) 288-1500
Dr. William
Samson, MD
Plastic Surgery
425 W 59 St, Ste 7B
New York, NY 10019
(212) 523-8287
Dr. Bradley F.
Schwack, MD
Plastic Surgery
97-85 Queens Blvd, Fl 3
Rego Park, NY 11374
(718) 261-9100
Dr. David
Shafer, MD
Plastic Surgery
10 E 53 St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 888-7770
Dr. Ayman
Shahine, MD
Plastic Surgery
334 86th St
Brooklyn, NY 11209
(718) 745-7172
Dr. Mark I.
Silberman, MD
Plastic Surgery
650 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 466-7000
Dr. Mia
Talmor, MD
Plastic Surgery
425 E 61th St, Fl 10
New York, NY 10065
(212) 821-0933
Dr. Rosa
Thompson, MD
Plastic Surgery
69-02 Austin St, Ste 300A
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 526-1839
Dr. Antonio L.
Uria, MD
Plastic Surgery
650 Northern Blvd
Great Neck, NY 11021
(516) 466-7000
Dr. Stephen
Warman, MD
Plastic Surgery
107-21 Queens Blvd, Ste 2
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 575-3322


text:
- Filed Under
After scoring more than 30 points in seven games in 2012, Cocoa Beach may have been adversely affected by graduation and a speedy Class 7A Liberty, which shut out the Minutemen 26-0 in the 2013 Kickoff Classic exhibition contest Friday night at Minutemen Stadium.
One year removed from its most successful season (9-2) in school history, Class 4A Cocoa Beach may be searching for new senior leadership, but according to head coach Tony Piccalo, the future is bright.
"It's (Liberty) a 7A school, and we knew that, that's good; we played a 7A school (Melbourne) in the spring also; we'll be OK," he said. ...


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HFMA staff and volunteers determined that Transfer DRG Revenue Recovery Service has met certain criteria
developed under the HFMA Peer Review Process. HFMA does not endorse or guarantee the use of this service.


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Relax into Sleep Guided Meditation
October 23, 2014
How often do you go to bed tired, but with your mind busy and your body restless? Our gift to you from our iSleep Easy app, this Relax into Sleep Guided Meditation is designed to help you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly.
It can take some time to unwind from the stress of the day. Your mind can be quite active as this "unwinding" goes on. This meditation helps you to unwind more quickly and easily. It gently guides you to relax, let go of the concerns of the day and allow yourself to drift into sleep.
You've undoubtedly noticed that the more you worry about falling asleep, the harder it is. It helps to let go of the concern about falling asleep and focus on simply resting instead. You can't make yourself fall asleep, but sleep will come on its own once you are relaxed. Just listen easily to the words of this meditation and allow your mind to drift.
Guided Meditation for Renewal
June 24, 2013
Every moment is fresh and new, unlike any that has gone before or will come again. So often expectations based on what has happened in the past cloud our ability to let in what is actually happening now. This latest Guided Meditation for Renewal podcast is an opportunity to let go of expectations, ideas about how things are or will be, and be open to change.
Life is constantly creating and renewing. We breathe in oxygen to enliven and nourish all our cells. The out breath carries away what isn't needed. Every cell in our body is being replaced with new cells. This meditation invites you to open to the flow of life energy, allowing it to renew you and your life on all levels.
This meditation was recorded live with my guided meditation group. I am thankful that they came up with this theme. It was interesting to hear everyone in the group describe their unique journey with this meditation. I would love to hear about yours!
Loneliness as a doorway to connection – guided meditation
March 15, 2013
Loneliness can be a doorway to connection. Contained within the feelings of loneliness is our capacity for connection. Our podcast meditation – Guided Meditation for Loneliness – encourages you to go deep into the feelings of loneliness to connect with yourself and ultimately with others.
So often we resist emotions that we feel are threatening or unpleasant. Most of us don't want to feel pain, but resisting our feelings alienates us from ourselves. This is especially true with loneliness. When we are lonely, we may feel deeply sad or have a strong sense of yearning. We might feel anxious, especially if we feel that there is something wrong with us for feeling they way we do. And yet going into the very heart of loneliness, experiencing it all the way, allows us to feel the most important connection of all — the connection to ourselves.
Remember — loneliness is a normal human feeling. It's a result of your natural capacity and desire for connection. I would love to hear about your experiences with this meditation.
Is meditation making me irritable?
January 9, 2013
Ideally meditation will make us less, not more irritable, but sometimes people do find that irritability or other uncomfortable experiences come up when they begin mediation. I just answered a question from Danielle who is having this problem. The question and answer are worth posting, as it's much easier to find articles about the benefits of meditation than about the challenges that may come along.
Q (from Danielle who recently started meditating):
"The past week I feel I'm more irritated than I usually am, mostly about other people. Is it possible that meditation makes you more sensitive to sounds, noise, etc? Have you heard it before that people become more irritated in a time where they meditate? Of course it is possible that other issues in my life attribute to this feeling. Do you have a suggestion or should I just let it be?"
A: "There could be a number of reasons that you are feeling more irritable and you will need to experiment with and explore them to see what is happening. As you say, it could be issues in your life and not have to do with the meditation. Some people become irritable when under stress. If it is related to the meditation, I can think of three possibilities:
1 – You are coming out of meditation too quickly. If you get deep into meditation and then come out really fast, it can cause a headache or irritability. Always take time to come out of meditation slowly.
2 – Sometimes emotions that are under the surface can come up in the deep relaxation of meditation. We may become more aware of things that we are feeling. This ties in with the life issues. You may be more aware of how you are feeling about things, perhaps something that you are angry about, or it could even been some stored anger from the past. In either case, let the feeling be there in meditation, letting go if you notice resistance. When you are out of meditation, see if you can find the source of the irritation.
3 – You are straining in meditation. Ideally meditation is effortless, or you develop the habit of backing off when you realize you are trying too hard. It could make you irritable if you are making too much effort."
I asked Danielle to keep me posted on what she discovers as she explores these possibilities. I'd love to hear from you if you have had similar experiences or challenges with meditation.
Healthy Body Guided Meditation
September 6, 2012
Our new podcast meditation is designed to help you visualize a healthy body. Many people have requested this, each with a different angle. Many wanted to visualize a specific goal. While I allowed time at the beginning of the meditation for people to set a goal, I created a meditation focused on the health of the body as a whole. This is like watering the root of a plant to benefit the whole plant, rather than focusing on any one part.
This Healthy Body Guided Meditation targets the core systems of the body which bring oxygen, nutrition and energy to the cells — the heart, lungs, and digestive systems. Strengthening those supports the health of all of the other parts of the body and can help the body with healing. Simply putting your attention on your body brings energy to it. You can use this meditation to enjoy a sense of well-being and enliven your body.
As with all of my meditations which involve visualization, be easy about the process. You don't need to follow every word or see everything clearly. You can simply sense something in a vague way. The important thing is not to strain to follow the meditation. Let it unfold in a way that is natural for you. Whatever comes to mind as you try to visualize or sense something is just the right thing for you at that time.
Of course, simply visualizing good health and healing is not enough. For a healthy body, we need a healthy diet, exercise, enough sleep and so on. For healing, it may be necessary to see a health care provider and use appropriate therapies. But visualization can play a big role in moving the body toward health, partly by helping us tune in to our body, listen to its needs and do what is needed to be healthy.
To learn more about visualization, read Dr. Andrew Weil's article on Guided Imagery — http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00468/Guided-Imagery-Therapy-Dr-Weil.html
For more on my approach to visualization, read this blog post — Intuitive Visualization in Meditation
A Gift of Acceptance and Self-Love
June 2, 2012
A visit from a friend the other day brought an unexpected gift. One of the greatest things a friend can do is to help us to love and appreciate ourselves more, and that's exactly what my friend did when she visited my home. My friend, also named Mary, is a beautiful woman, beautiful inside and out. She is always beautifully dressed, her hair perfect, and you could drop into her home at any time to find a picture perfect, lovely and orderly environment. We share a love of nature, and I have always admired her meticulously cared for, orderly (and weedless) garden and yard.
Mary always makes me feel special and loved, yet despite this I felt a bit intimidated about having her visit me at my home for the first time. I am not a perfect housekeeper. My garden, as filled as it is with beautiful things, is never weed-free and certainly not symmetrical or planned with any sort of special arrangement in mind. You could say that these things, as well as how I dress, is "casual". As I ushered her along the patio to the door, she immediately remarked on how beautiful my yard is. I was really struck by this. While I was seeing the weeds that need to be pulled, plants that need to be replaced and spots where something needs to be planted, all she saw was the beauty of the flowers and shrubs. Her appreciation was genuine, and what I saw as a "deficiency" in my gardening, she saw as delightful. She was enjoying the casualness and spontaneity of it, which mirrors nature itself.
Mary helped me see things, myself included, with new eyes. This continued once we were inside and she commented on the peacefulness and quiet in our home — that was what she noticed, not the details of the furnishings. I showed her a painting of wisteria by my mother. I have always enjoyed it as I love wisteria and the painting seems to capture it in a charming way. Mary said she liked it because of the way the wisteria is casually presented — not contained neatly inside the picture in a symmetrical way. There is a certain sense of abandon in it. Now when I look at the painting, I see it as a reflection of my garden and some of the traits my mother passed on to me.
Mary's visit left me with a greater acceptance, and even appreciation, of myself. My experience of my garden and yard is different. I see it with new eyes, and appreciate it more everyday. As I thought of sharing this story with you, I couldn't help but see the connection with the style of meditation I've embraced. It's one of acceptance of what is, including acceptance of oneself. I hope our visits together in the meditations bring you the same gift Mary's visit brought me.
All about meditation and sleep!
March 19, 2012
Will meditation help me sleep? I'm falling asleep during meditation, am I doing something wrong? Is it OK to meditate at bedtime?
"It depends…" is often the answer to these common questions. It depends on what kind of meditation you are doing. It depends on your unique nervous system and physiology. It depends on why you are meditating in the first place, what your goal is. That being said, I'll share a few thoughts on these questions from the perspective of our meditation style.
Will meditation help me sleep? Our approach is above all to promote naturalness and ease in living. We're all about trust — trust in life, trust in oneself. Ultimately, it's about relaxation — letting go of the tension that comes when we try too hard, resist what is happening, or are in conflict with ourselves. It's about relaxing into the flow of life and living. This approach to meditation, or any other meditation style that promotes deep relaxation, should certainly improve the quality of sleep. Sleep comes about as we relax and let go of the concerns of the day.
I'm falling asleep during meditation, am I doing something wrong? In the deep relaxation of meditation, the body takes what it needs. If you are not getting enough sleep, the body will naturally fall asleep. So many of us are not getting enough rest, so when sleep comes in meditation it's a blessing, even if it's an unplanned afternoon nap! Practicing meditation in the style we teach should lead to greater alertness and clarity. But that doesn't mean we have to be alert and clear during meditation. (After all, we are not alert and clear during sleep, but a good night's sleep results in greater clarity and alertness during the day.) If you were totally rested, your experience during meditation would probably be one of enhanced wakefulness and energy, but if that isn't what is happening, that's fine. Whatever happens is what needs to happen at the time. So we recommend not resisting sleep when it comes. The sleep you get in meditation will be particularly deep and refreshing to the system.
Is it OK to meditate at bedtime? There is no hard and fast rule about this. If meditation makes you more alert and energized, you wouldn't want to meditate right before bed. If meditation is mainly relaxing and you slip easily into sleep while meditating, then by all means meditate before bed. The ideal would be to have another meditation earlier in the day as well. Sitting up and meditating during the day will make it more likely you'll stay awake, and different benefits can be derived from that. If you can do it, make twice daily meditation part of your routine!
On guided meditation. As those of you know who listen to our podcast meditations or use our apps, guided meditations guide you in meditation. They can be designed to simply help you achieve a meditative state, or they can have a specific focus and take you on a journey with a particular theme. We have both kinds of meditations. Some will be conducive to falling asleep, while others will be more stimulating and may not work well right before bed. You will need to try the different meditations to see what works for you.
Our new iSleep Easy app. The guided meditations on our new app are specifically designed for bedtime, and one is even designed for when you wake up in the middle of the night. All of the meditations are designed to help you let go and relax, much like our other meditations, but they are more focused on falling asleep and promoting a sound sleep. The app also gives you the ability to create a Playlist with several meditations in a row. Currently the app is available on iPhone — you can read about it in the iTunes store. If you get the app, let us know how it works for you!
Guided Meditation for Compassion
January 22, 2012
Compassion, like gratitude, is something we love to feel. Even though compassion arises as we witness and empathize with another's pain, it is satisfying to feel this response in our hearts. It feeds our hearts. Hopefully, this new podcast meditation will help strengthen and develop your capacity for compassion, not only for others, but more importantly for yourself.
I recorded this meditation with my local group. You'll notice voices in the background in one part. I thought about editing that section out, but I had incorporated the noise into the meditation and thought you might enjoy that. When we hear noise as we meditate, the key is to let go of resistance to it and attempts to push it out. Although it's more pleasant to meditate in a quiet place, we can experience inner silence even in the midst of noise.
Let me know what you experience with this meditation. Hope it serves you well!
Non-resistance in Meditation
November 18, 2011
Comment from Kathy — "I have trouble meditating in general. I can relax completely but then the slightest things disturb me. Things like my eyelids fluttering or an itch. My limbs become restless. Can you advise any strategy to help deal with that so I can stay in that relaxed state?"
11-19-2011 — Meant to add my comments before publishing this post yesterday. So here they are now — better late than never!
The obstacle to staying in a relaxed state is TRYING to stay in a relaxed state. You can feel restless and have fluttering eyelids and still be relaxed. The key to remaining relaxed is non-resistance. Let it be OK if you feel restless or your eyelids flutter. Go ahead and scratch an itch. Although some meditation styles may require that you stay perfectly still, we don't subscribe to that approach. Naturalness is the key. Learning to let go of resistance to what is happening is the essence of the practice. Take it as it comes, and when you find your are resisting that, let it go. Even the resistance when it comes up, is part of the process. In our approach to meditation, you can't make a mistake. Everything is part of the process of meditation!
People are all the same…
August 16, 2011
The Cheers theme song has been playing in my head today ever since meeting a podcast listener while doing my grocery shopping today.
"You wanna go where people know, people are all the same, You wanna go where everybody knows your name."
When you have an online presence, or people hear your voice on a podcast or CD, they can imagine all sorts of things about you. The person I met today thought of me as a "celebrity", "movie star of the meditation set", someone larger than life. I'm sure that that all changed in our meeting! It was the most delightful, funny coming together of two people, and I wanted to share it with you.
I called out hello to Karen who studies hula with me. She said "Mary, do you have a minute? I have someone for you to meet." I said I had a little minute, but it stretched out to many enjoyable minutes. I was introduced to Carol who has been listening to the podcast for over a year. She immediately held up her hands and said "Mary Maddux, I think of you as way up here, a movie start of meditation!" All three of us were soon laughing as Carol recounted how she had assumed I lived in New York or LA, and was amazed when Karen told her that I live in the same small town with her. Apparently yesterday, Karen spotted me walking on a local bike path and called Carol to say "You want to see Mary Maddux, move quickly — she's walking on the bike path in pink!" Carol lamented that she was in another town and missed the great opportunity ;-). The whole situation was so heart-warming and fun, we were soon laughing and hugging near the checkout aisles. I suppose for Carol this was an unusual "celebrity sighting", in which it was revealed that the celebrity was woman much like herself. Hence the "people are all the same" line going in my mind.
It just so happens that tomorrow is our local guided meditation, and they will both join us. It feels like a coming full circle. My journey with teaching meditation and leading guided meditations was an "in-person" on for years. Reaching people through our podcast, CDs and apps has been an amazing and wonderful experience, but sometimes I miss the in-person part. This will be the second podcast listener to join our monthly meditation. At a time when our reach is growing so much that I have to cut back on answering emails, Facebook comments and so on, it's wonderful to have this personal contact. It's wonderful to be in a "place where everybody knows your name".


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by Sail-World
2013 Alpari World Match Racing Tour – the Monsoon Cup
Now in its ninth year, the Monsoon Cup, considered by many to be the most formidable leg of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour, will see 12 teams battling for the event title and six fighting for the World Championship.
Eight teams are tour card holders, three are wildcards and one Malaysian team who won the Liga Layar, the local match racing challenge which was held prior to the Monsoon Cup. British skipper Ian Williams and his GAC Pindar team are chasing their fifth World Championship title, which would surpass the current record holder – Australian Peter Gilmour with four titles.
The Monsoon Cup will be streamed from 26th – 30th November between 10:00 - 17:00 local time (GMT +8).


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BEA Account Code: DPCCRA3
For more information about this series, please see http://www.bea.gov/national/.
Source: US. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Release: Personal Income and Outlays
US. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Real personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy (chain-type quantity index) [DPCCRA3M086SBEA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DPCCRA3M086SBEA/, November 30, 2015.


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Program Summary
The College Access Challenge Grant program seeks to increase postsecondary degree attainment of prekindergarten to grade 12 students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. These students include first-time freshmen, transfer students, adults returning to college, and the military. It also works to increase degree attainment of Georgia's low income adults with some college credit but no degree.
The College Access Challenge Grant program emphasizes performance, partnerships, and the overall value to higher education as part of its metrics for success.


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Reports GERI REIMER of Hugo: "I found this old picture of our son and his first 'personal' friend, Nani, the dog who started his lifelong connection to the canine world! Nani was the first Gordon setter bitch to attain many titles in breed and obedience. Since then, this young man has trained dozens and dozens of dogs for other people, in obedience and in field work, and for the past 30-plus years has (with his now-deceased father) instructed 4-H kids how to responsibly care for and train their own dogs. And, with the advent of spring, the dog project will be starting up again with this guy, their teacher Karl!"
Reports Cousin Nan: "Subject: When Texting Isn't Enough.
"A friend of mine from Toronto is currently in London on vacation. This trip, she has a phone that can send text messages, and she's been sending me texts now and then. The text I just received is an illustration of the need for actual conversation: 'Tonight I met a one-armed man who lives in Mayfair, was born in Wales, lived in Toronto as a kid, was a millionaire, has had 6 wives, and wanted me to go to Borneo to work for his charity there. He had also met Elvis Presley.'
"Good heavens, this is the plot of a novel! I can hardly wait until she gets home so I can call and find out the details about the mysterious One-Armed Man. (Presumably he is not being pursued by a wrongly convicted physician....)"
Great comebacks
Red's Offspring, north of St. Paul: "Subject: Bon voyage!
"Periodically, three high-school classmates -- Jim, Mike and I -- meet for lunch. At our latest gathering, the conversation turned to people we knew (or had heard about) who had inherited wealth, missed a chance at wealth ('I could have bought stock in 3M, Coke, IBM, etc. at less than a dollar a share!'), or a young man Mike knew who had taken out loans to finance his college education, while investing all his money in Microsoft stock. Mike mentioned that this person now dwells in a fine home on Lake Minnetonka.
"Jim ended the discussion with this comment: 'The day my ship came in, the dock workers were on strike.
Clowning around
Here's "Genealogy of a Clown," from Tim Torkildson: "My family never got over the fact that I joined Ringling Brothers as a professional circus clown. Their attitudes ranged from blank disbelief to hostile embarrassment. 'No one,' each one of them affirmed, 'has ever had anything to do with show business in our family!'
"On my father's side, they were butchers and ranchers and sailors and barkeeps; going back to Norway, they were telegraph operators, royal groundskeepers and brewers of strong, musty ale, who also fished for whiting in the winter from the port of Trondheim. My great-great-grandfather, Ole Stuhlsted, was said to have come to St. Paul, back then known as Pig's Eye, by train, and, having stepped out and viewed the far-from-inspiring muck and mire of the pioneer community, muttered (to no one in particular) 'The hell with this!' and immediately got back on the train to go back to Trondheim, where he lived a rich, full life, always warning his children to stay away from America. Most of his grandchildren disobeyed his advice and wound up in South Dakota, scratching a meager living from the dry and windblown soil until the Dirty Thirties uprooted them to places like San Diego, California, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. My father was rumored to have already planted himself on the site of Aarone's Bar and Grill on East Hennepin before they built the place, so they simply constructed it around him and made him the official barkeep. He worked there into his late 70s. He told me he never so much as saw a Hollywood or local acting star during his entire career as a puller of levers labeled Schlitz and Hamm's. The clientele was strictly blue-collar, or frayed-collar.
"On my mother's side, there was a mix of English and Native American. My Grandmother Daisy came from an orphanage in Swanscombe, Kent, to Montreal, to work as a maid. There she met my dashing Grandfather Philippe, who was a wild Athabascan. As sometimes happened, even in staid Edwardian Canada, the two fell deeply in love and ran away to Minneapolis, Minnesota, across the border, to get married. But once the babies started coming, Grandfather Philippe proved to be a bit of a bounder; he took off and was not heard from for nearly 30 years, when it was discovered that he had been working for Pillsbury and had invented a whitening process for flour that made him rich -- and never a dime did he share with my Grandmother Daisy, the old rogue. Before him, there were only dim tales of voyageurs in birchbark canoes who traded furs with the Hudson Bay Company up in the Northwest Territories. No sawdust or clown white there.
"My parents produced one brother and two sisters, besides me. None of them have ever shown the slightest inclination to tread the boards. In fact, my brother's favorite joke, which he still tells me every Christmas, is: 'You ought to be on the stage -- it leaves in 10 minutes!'
"And it does not look like the clowning gene is going to run in my own family, either. I taught my kids to do balloon animals and even had them up on stage with me doing the Whip Cracker and Niagara Falls routines, but they have since fallen back to regular jobs as finance officers, SEO vice presidents, and college students. It's true my one daughter once told me she'd like to be a stand-up comedian, but that was after she had ingested several large bottles of Michelob -- she told me, at the same time, that she'd like to live on an iceberg with Tom Cruise.
"So I guess I'm a mutation. Was it nurture or nature? We'll never know ...."
Sounds of silence
Frosty of Linwood: "A good friend passed away recently. He was always the sparkplug at any gathering. He was an avid camper and a member of the motorhome club. His funeral was the full-blown Lutheran service with all the standard funeral hymns. Then as the casket was being taken out, they played Willie Nelson singing 'On the Road Again.' Smiles through tears."
Soul Sister: "I think I might like 'Centerfield' by John Fogarty. It's a great song. Always energizing. Even for people at a funeral, I'm guessing.
"A song I DON'T want: 'Is That All There Is?' by Miss Peggy Lee."
Cottage Grove Organist: "Several years ago, someone told me that, when the time came, she wanted me to play at her funeral. She must not have told anyone else, because when the time came, no one ever called me.
"I went to the funeral, just in case."
Papa on Elm Street: "My sister, who lives on a farm near Rush City, is having a scary time with wasps inside and outside her home. I went there to help her and her husband deal with the problem. At one point we saw, high up on the house, about a dozen wasps who seemed to be building a nest. When I wrote about what followed, I made a typo that my spell-check didn't catch.
"What I meant to write was: 'Dennis climbed high up on the ladder so he could get close enough to spray the dozen wasps.' I later found that I had omitted the letter 'r' in the word 'spray.'
"Come to think of it, that might have been more productive!"
Darnedest things
WARNING! Cute kid story ahead, from EmmaPapa of Woodbury: "Emma was 2-1/2 and was visiting the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Minneapolis, near Lake Harriet. The bookstore is well known for its books and the animals that live there -- at one point including a chicken that wandered through the stacks.
"Emma rounded the corner of one bookshelf and nearly collided with the chicken. She turned and scrambled up into Papa's arms nearby. 'It's just a chicken, Em,' I told her. 'It's not going to hurt you.'
"She replied: 'I like chicken, Papa. Just only on my plate.' "
Band Name of the Day: The Mutations
Website of the Day, from Double Bogey Mike: What happens to the water in a wrung-out washcloth in outer space, at http://tinyurl.com/cloth-space


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Give Your Membership Expanded Local Privileges
River Society provides access to a collection of private clubs and premium benefits in the Dayton and Cincinnati area.
River Society is a membership upgrade, available to existing Members of either participating clubs in the ClubCorp family or other private clubs in the Dayton and Cincinnati area.
Find Member savings on golf, dining, travel and more with our new Benefits Finder.
"Access the luxe life" through Private Clubs, our award-winning luxury magazine.


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The new user page is cool for many reasons, but I miss seeing the badges that the top users have collected. Can this be brought back, or at least some view where the same info can be seen?
What is meta? ×
Meta Stack Exchange is where users like you discuss bugs, features, and support issues that affect the software powering all 150 Stack Exchange communities.
This has been done, as I posted on the other question that Popular Demand pointed out.


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Archive for the 'Vocations' Category
Jesuit Strives to Care for Souls in the Digital Age
A year ago, The Jesuit Post, a website for the Facebook generation "about Jesus, politics, and pop culture; the Catholic Church, sports, and Socrates," launched. Jesuit Sam Sawyer, one of the four Jesuit scholastics who started the site, says during their years of formation the four have repeatedly asked one another: "How does the Church address itself to a contemporary culture that is no longer in contact with the institutional forms we've grown up with?"
For the past year, The Jesuit Post, which is independent of the Society of Jesus, has made a case for God in a secular age, with blog posts, essays, a Twitter feed and articles with headlines like "Contemplation After Gaga" and "Crowdsourcing the Saints." Sawyer, who is in theology studies at Boston College, is a contributor and assistant editor and says he and his fellow Jesuits are seeking out young adults who are "hard to reach through traditional modes" such as parishes and diocesan newspapers.
Sawyer found his own spiritual path to the Jesuits when he attended a lecture at Boston College during his freshman year where Jesuit theologian Father Howard Gray spoke about how the early Jesuits "bonded around a shared desire to care for souls," Sawyer recalls.
"That's the name for what I wanted to do — help souls," Sawyer remembers thinking. "I spent the next six months trying to pretend nothing happened."
After graduating in 2000, he taught for a year as a volunteer at a Jesuit middle school in Baltimore and then worked for three years as a software engineer on satellite communications and missile-defense radar projects in Boston. But along the way, Sawyer stopped "trying to pretend" and embraced his Jesuit vocation, joining the Society in 2004.
From 2009 to 2011, Sawyer taught philosophy courses at Loyola University Maryland, and it was a defining part of his Jesuit formation. Teaching "at the heart of the curriculum," Sawyer says, a professor can help students connect the classics to their lives and puzzle out their place in the universe.
Sawyer is now setting his sights on a lifelong ministry in higher education. And he plans to continue asking the kinds of questions that engendered The Jesuit Post: "How do we evangelize our nominally Catholic undergrads? What should our outreach look like in the classroom?"
For more on Sawyer, read the full story at Boston College's 2012 Annual Report: Becoming a Jesuit: Five Lives at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry.
Jesuit Shares Ministry and Vocation Stories on The Busted Halo Show
Jesuit Father Rocco Danzi, director of campus ministry at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, N.J., was a guest on The Busted Halo Show with Fr. Dave Dwyer last fall, where he discussed vocations, spirituality, pastoral ministry and what inspired him to join the Society of Jesus. "The movie that fired me up for the Jesuits was 'The Mission,' Fr. Danzi recalls. "I began to say to myself, what if I joined this group and found myself going over a waterfall? Well you have to watch what you ask for!"
Fr. Danzi first encountered real-life Jesuits when he attended Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. After college he was working as a teacher when he began to discern his vocation to the priesthood. Fr. Danzi says he felt a calling to the Society but was resistant because he was not sure he fit in. "I was selling myself short because the Jesuits I knew had doctorates and were professors at St. Joe's," he explains.
With encouragement he met with the Jesuits and entered the Society in 1989. "My own ministry as a Jesuit has been very pastoral. As a Jesuit you can do all sorts of things, with or without a doctorate," says Fr. Danzi. "It's not the degree, it's the heart. It's the call within the call and discerning what kind of ministry excites you the most."
As a campus minister, Fr. Danzi has enjoyed going on service trips with the students and says that many young adults are not sure about the prayer portion of the trip before they go. Fr. Danzi says that often changes. "Service seems to trigger and bring forth a lot of personal and spiritual things that come to the surface," he says.
Fr. Danzi has been inspired by his own service trips to Haiti while he was a Jesuit novice. "It's a place where I really encountered God and found that strength to keep going on that journey toward Jesuit priesthood and Jesuit ministry," says Fr. Danzi.
Listen to the entire interview with Fr. Danzi at the New York Province website.
Jesuit Installed as President of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association
Jesuit Lorenzo Herman's life is anything but predictable. Prior to joining the Society of Jesus in 2007, Herman – known for his nerves of steel – worked an in-flight refueling specialist aboard a KC135 Stratotanker, a flying gas station. After leaving the Air Force, Herman turned his attention to nonprofit work, spending the better part of a decade helping African-American and Latino HIV and AIDS patients navigate the healthcare system. This week, the Cleveland native takes the reins of the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association. Not bad for a kid raised a Baptist.
So how did Herman, now studying transformational leadership at Seattle University, end up joining the Society of Jesus? You can thank St. Ignatius for that. Herman's parents decided that St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, known for its strong academics, would be the perfect place for their son. Here, Herman encountered the Jesuits for the first time.
"When I was a senior, the Jesuits invited me over to their home for dinner to discuss Jesuit vocations," he recalls. But, Herman says, he didn't yet understand what a vocation meant. The next year he headed off to Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and became a Catholic.
After a year at Spring Hill, Herman joined the Air Force and was assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Wash. From 1994 to 2000, he worked as an in-flight refueling specialist, traveling all over the world with his flight crew to refuel aircraft in midair. While at Fairchild, Herman became involved with AIDS advocacy, volunteering as a case worker. He also reconnected with the Jesuits. While acting in community theater, he was part of several productions directed by Jesuit Father Jack Bentz, currently the director of vocations for the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus.
Herman moved to San Diego in 2001 to assist family, and he continued his work with HIV/AIDS patients. He also worked with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass HIV/AIDS legislation through the California State Legislature.
In 2007 he answered the call the Jesuits had asked him to consider back in high school. When he applied to the Society of Jesus, Herman said, "I didn't feel like I was giving up on something that I was so attached to. I knew at that moment that I would not look back on the decision and say I made a mistake."
Since joining the Society, Herman completed his bachelor's degrees in philosophy and African-American studies at Saint Louis University, where he was introduced to the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association. Founded in 1968, the association currently has 60 members, and Herman will serve as its president for the next year.
"As a Jesuit, I've been able to revisit all the things that I've done. I continue to do the HIV/AIDS work; I continue to do theater. The thing that makes it different for me is now God is working through me in all these things," says Herman.
Jesuit Embraces His Vocation with a Listening Heart
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has designated January 13 to 19 as National Vocations Awareness Week. Started in 1976, this annual weeklong celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States is dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering a vocation. In honor of Vocations Week, the USCCB invited a series of guest bloggers to discuss their vocation story. Today, Jesuit Father Chuck Frederico, vocations director for the New York, Maryland and New England Provinces of the Society of Jesus, shares his.
On June 10, 2006, I was ordained a Jesuit priest, a fact that likely surprised the master chefs who helped train me for two years of intensive study at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York. They predicted I would go on to great things – perhaps even own a restaurant in my home town of Philly – where my love of food first took hold. But, like any good vocation story, there's a twist, and in my case, God had other plans.
After graduation from the CIA, I discovered that restaurant life was not what I had expected. The hours were long, the work unrewarding. To hedge my bets against the failure of a long-held dream, I began to pursue a degree in food marketing at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
This led to my first real introduction to the Society of Jesus. While I had attended a Catholic grammar school where the nuns insisted that we write AMDG, shorthand for the Latin Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam (For the Greater Glory of God) and the Jesuit motto, on all our papers, I was not personally familiar with the Society. At St. Joseph's, I met Jesuits in person for the first time. They intrigued me because, regardless of their expertise – math, science, theology, or English – they all expressed a profound love of God through their particular academic lenses. God spoke to my heart and showed me men He had chosen to do His work. The more I learned about them, the more I found myself inspired, free, motivated to prayer and anxious to know more. I entered the Society in 1995 and never looked back.
Since the novitiate, Jesus has gently guided and taught me to turn my heart toward him daily. The people who have entered my life in ministry have reminded me that God uses us as his instrument. Finding where God calls us and responding to our own personal vocation is the key to our happiness. In my work as a vocation director for the Society now, I see how often God speaks to our hearts.
The listening heart has sustained me. As a priest, I minister to people in their happiest and saddest moments. I have learned the richness of investing my heart in God's mission. My heart and mind recall the people who have helped bring me to this moment in my life. Family, friends, fellow Jesuits and the people with whom I have worked in the Society have played a special role, whether through prayers, conversations, laughter or actually shared work.
One final thought. As I headed off to the Culinary Institute as a 17-year-old determined to be a chef, a diocesan priest suggested I note the letters ingrained in the marble at the school's front door: AMDG. Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam – For the Greater Glory of God. Turns out that the culinary school on the banks of the Hudson was for many years a Jesuit novitiate. Was God calling me to a vocation as I was learning how to master the five mother sauces of French cuisine and butterfly a lamb chop? My listening heart tells me that he was.
'God Didn't Forget My Bucket List,' Says Jesuit Chaplain of the House of Representatives
The 113th Congress recently convened and that means long, busy days ahead for Jesuit Father Patrick Conroy, who serves as the 60th Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The first Jesuit to serve as the chaplain to the House, Fr. Conroy says when he was young his plan was to be a U.S. senator. When Fr. Conroy's provincial asked him to apply for the chaplain position, Fr. Conroy says, "God didn't forget my bucket list."
In this Ignatian News Network video, Fr. Conroy talks about his unique ministry.


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The Hyattsville center point is approximately 2 miles southwest of College Park Aviation Museum and 2 miles east of Michigan Park.
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so far so good
I got this for my 16 mo. old daughter. We bought the smallest size they offered. She is petite so it is a bit loose on her, but she will grow into it. We have tried it out once at the pool and she seems to be comfortable in it. We like that you can adjust the bouyancy of the vest. We have swim class starting soon, so we will get the true test then, but so far so good!
Milwaukee, WI
Fit: Feels true to size
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Perfect for her!
this was perfect for my daughter to use while swimming in the lake. She is a good swimmer but due to murky water we wanted her to have some type of flotation that didn't interfere with her swimming. Cute fin she loved. Was tighter than I expected on her.
Charlotte, NC
Fit: Feels too small
My grandaughter loves her vest. She thinks she is a dolphin. (Grandma coaches the "Dolphins.")
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Opa Cove™ launched in 2009 after years of careful planning. It is a small, happy company based in Eugene, Oregon. With its deep ties overseas, Opa Cove can ensure high quality and reliable manufacturing of every product.
Opa Cove's mission: To enhance family life and create products that foster family interaction, children's safety, and fun.
It is a mission the brand has taken very seriously. Opa Cove creates water safe products that are exciting from a kid's point of view. Its' USCGA Sea Squirts Life Jackets and Swim Assist Vests are perfect examples of the safe, fun products your child will love.
By the way, the name Opa was picked because that's what the ancient Greek mariners yelled when they were having a good time. And everybody knows that a sheltered Cove is the best place to swim. Good times and safe harbor. That's Opa Cove's bottom line.


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Saskatchewan deal boosts flow of wine, spirits (with video)
B.C. wineries and distillers are gaining easier access to the Saskatchewan market as a result of an inter-provincial trade agreement.
Consumers in either province will be able to order wines and craft spirits directly from producers in the other and have them delivered once the deal takes effect next June.
The agreement was concluded by Premier Christy Clark and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall at a premiers meeting in Charlottetown.
Clark said the deal helps build momentum for freer trade with other provinces, long sought by the B.C. wine industry.
Previously, Saskatchewan consumers could only buy B.C. wines or spirits through provincial government stores in that province.
"Access to new markets is important as we look to build on the strength of our growing industry," said Tyler Dyck of the B.C. Craft Distillers Guild.
While Saskatchewan isn't known for its wine, craft distillers like Colin Schmidt of the Last Mountain Lake Distillery in Lumsden, Sask. are now hoping to tempt B.C. drinkers into trying his dill pickle vodka.
"We have a loyal following in Saskatchewan and cannot wait to share our award-winning spirits with consumers in British Columbia."
Talks among the premiers continue over options to liberalize trade in craft beer.


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Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Alternate title: The Savage
The Savage in this film is Sophie (Aurelie Gilbert), the 17-year old girl who comes into the lives of Michael and Alice (Murray Head and Angela Molina). Her father, a friend of theirs, has just died. It seems that he abandoned Sophie and her mother many years before. She has borne a tremendous grudge against the man ever since and, now that he is dead, she can never communicate her anger to him. Instead, she seduces and nearly ruins the life of her father's friend Michael. Curiously, this has the effect of liberating her from her demons, but leaves the lives of the couple who have befriended her in shambles. This intense drama is based on a novel by Katherine Fantod. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi


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That's because Arafat tried to over throw him (his father) year and years ago. Arafat, like bin Laden, is a guy that looks for trouble. Where he doesn't find it he causes it. He never should have been allowed to rise to this level.
post #321 of 369
2/28/02 at 7:54am


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Volleyball Headline
GatorZone.com Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. Planning a family vacation is nothing for Kris Rivers, the mother of Gators senior volleyball player Callie Rivers.
Making all the arrangements is relaxing compared to when her husband, Boston Celtics coach Glenn Doc Rivers, and their four kids show up for the fun and games. Once Callie and her brothers became teenagers and began to flash their dads competitive drive and athletic ability, Kris finally raised a white flag.
A couple of years ago during a family vacation in Key Biscayne, Kris thought it would be great for the family to get outside and play a friendly game of tennis. There was nothing friendly about it. She was worried more about broken bones than serves and volleys.
My kids are diving for balls, Kris said. They are psycho competitive, all four of them. Im ranked at the bottom of the totem pole. Im like, Why cant we all win and like each other and have fun? Everyone looks at me with total disdain with that.
It really all comes from my husband, 110 percent of it.
A former NBA All-Star and now in his seventh season as Bostons head coach, Rivers once told Florida volleyball coach Mary Wise that of his kids Jeremiah, Callie, Austin and Spencer his only daughter was probably the most competitive.
In her final season, Callie Rivers has been what Wise calls the heart and soul of the No. 1-ranked Gators, who open the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at home against South Carolina State.
She has really taken on the leadership role of this program, to the point where its one of the key ingredients of our success, Wise said. When you have that kind of talent, with that kind of leadership combined, that makes the coaching a whole lot easier.
Wise can even pinpoint the moment Callie emerged to become that leader.
Not surprisingly, it came after a loss at Tennessee during her junior season.
I stood outside the locker room for a very long time waiting for Callie to finish talking to her teammates, Wise said. She ran that meeting. It was a pretty high-volume type meeting. By the time I got in there, there was nothing I had to say.
She had said it all.
The Gators responded by winning the rest of their matches until a loss to eventual national champion Penn State in the NCAA Tournament.
More than a year later, Callie remembers exactly what prompted her to take on more of a leadership role following the match at Tennessee, which had followed a loss to LSU the only time in her career the Gators lost back-to-back matches.
I hate losing, she said. That was kind of the breaking point for me. I wanted everyone to kind of see it from my point of view, and I found out that a lot of people on our team felt the same way.
To really know what drives Callie, you have to know her family.
A perfect day for Callie would be if every practice was a game, Wise said. She loves to keep score.
Callie doesnt remember her dads NBA playing career much except for the final stages in New York and San Antonio, but she was in middle school in Orlando when he coached the Magic. It was a busy time around the Rivers home. When Callie wasnt running track or playing volleyball or soccer, she often was somewhere in a gym watching her brothers play.
Basketball has been the familys sport of choice. Doc Rivers is the nephew of former NBA player Jim Brewer, and the cousin of former NBA player Byron Irvin and baseball player Ken Singleton. Meanwhile, Rivers two oldest sons chose to follow in his footsteps.
Jeremiah is now a senior guard at Indiana, and Austin is a senior at Winter Park High and headed to Duke next season. Spencer is the baby of the bunch. Growing up with three brothers and blossoming as an athlete at an early age made Callie embrace the familys competitive nature instead of running the other way.
After flirting with track and soccer, she turned to volleyball full-time as a sophomore in high school and hasnt looked back. Callie earned first-team All-SEC honors this season, ranking second on the team with 2.58 kills per set and third in the SEC with 0.31 service aces per set.
With her career at Florida coming to a close, Rivers shared Senior Day recently with the people who prepared her to become a force for the Gators.
Everyone in my family, we hate losing, she said. My family competes over the most random things that you would think are not even possible to compete at. Well find a way to go at it. You just learn to find a way to win.
Sometimes its racing to the car to see who gets there first; sometimes its a game of Jeopardy at the kitchen table; and other times its a game of tennis that includes bloody knees and elbows.
Whatever it is, Kris knows that her daughter isnt going to back down.
Callie was taller than everybody and more coordinated [at an early age], Kris said. She could either go run with that or feel awkward. And Callie chose to make the most out of her height and athleticism.
Kris has already told the rest of the family that as long as the No. 1-ranked Gators (27-1) are playing in the NCAA Tournament, shell be there watching Callie, which means missing a big tournament in Winter Park that Austin is playing in this weekend and not traveling to any of Jeremiahs games at Indiana.
I think in four years, I have probably missed less than three home matches, Kris said. Its been such a treat to watch Callie. Looking back, its gone by in a blur.
No one is going to miss Callie more than Wise, who didnt even have to make a home visit during the recruiting process. Callie wanted to come to Florida, and Wise wanted her here.
Early on, Callie endured some difficult stretches, including earning a starting spot as a true freshman but later being benched as she adjusted to Wises system. But her talent and competitiveness made the benching temporary, and she has helped the Gators win three SEC titles in four seasons.
Her volleyball IQ has skyrocketed, Wise said. Who Callie is today is a reflection of the adult she is going to be. And that is a team-oriented, gifted player who sees the big picture. If I had my way, she would go into coaching.
She wants no part of coaching.
Rivers isnt sure whats next. She majored in telecommunications production and is interested in perhaps a career in sports broadcasting one day. Wise sees Rivers being successful at whatever she chooses. She also sees a lively personality who could go into acting after watching Rivers master impersonations of her teammates over the years.
Callie isnt ready to look ahead. She wants to appreciate the moment.
Its my last chance for everything, she said. So far, its been pretty ideal for a senior year. Hopefully if we continue to get better and work on what we need to work on, [this season] will finish as my best year.
If the Gators can win the NCAA title, that would undoubtedly put a huge smile on the player Wise calls the face of Florida volleyball.
Email Scott Carter | Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook | Carter's Corner


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Managers will have at least one challenge to use every game. If his challenge is upheld, the manager will retain the ability to challenge one more play during the game. No manager may challenge more than two plays in a game. Challenges must be made in a "timely" matter without unnecessary delay. Once the manager has exhausted his challenges, from the seventh inning on the umpire crew chief may invoke instant replay on any reviewable call. Home run and other boundary calls will remain reviewable under the procedures previously in place.
To review plays, a designated communication location will be established in every ballpark. The crew chief and at least one other umpire will have access to a hard-wired headset connected to the replay command center in New York, which will be staffed by MLB umpires. After viewing video feeds, a replay official will make the ultimate determination to uphold or overturn the call, based on the standard of clear and convincing evidence.
To determine whether to challenge a play, personnel in the dugout will be permitted to communicate with a video specialist in the clubhouse who has access to the same video available to replay officials. This communication will occur via dugout phone.
Both home and visiting clubs will have standardized technology to ensure equal access to all video. No monitors or additional electronic equipment will be permitted in the dugout.
Reviewable plays: home runs, ground-rule doubles, fan interference, stadium boundary calls, force plays, tag plays, fair/foul (outfield only), trap plays in the outfield, hit by pitch and timing plays (example: whether a runner scores before a third out).
Plays that are not reviewable: Ball/strike calls, the "neighborhood play" at second base (an infielder not always making contact with the base while attempting to complete a double play), judgment calls such as batter's interference or obstruction on the base paths, all other plays not listed above.


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A man drove off a Route 116 bridge under construction early Saturday morning in Mount Pleasant Township, according to state police.
Police said they responded to a single vehicle crash on Route 116 around 3 a.m.
They discovered Christopher Dennis Small, 25, of Littlestown, had failed to follow road closed signs while traveling in the eastbound lane and drove off the bridge, according to the release.
No other details were immediately available.
Also of interest
Several injured in weekend crash in Mount Pleasant Township
Driver injured in Highland Township crash