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C-Suite September
C-Suite September
October 27, 2008
People moving into key executive positions
|Arthur E. Brown Jr. has been named vice president for human resource management and labor relations at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He recently served as human resource lead for the enterprise-resource planning project at City University of New York. He previously worked as director of human resources at CUNY and as assistant commissioner for human resources at the New Jersey Department of Personnel.
|Christopher J. Crowley has been named president at BeneSys. He recently served as president at Cofinity (formerly PPOM Inc.) and previously as that company's chief operating officer. Before joining Cofinity, Crowley worked as regional operations director at Healthsource, general manager at Hertz Claim Management Corp. and as a regional director at Cigna.
|Michael Gruber has been named chief operating officer at the RightThing. He recently had served as chief client officer. Before joining the RightThing, Gruber worked as assistant vice president of employment process outsourcing at Aon Consulting and as director of on-site exempt programs at Selective Staffing.
|Michelle Lewis-Blossman has been named a principal in the human resource effectiveness business at Mercer. She recently served as a director in the public-sector restructuring practice at Alvarez & Marsal. Before joining Alvarez & Marsal, she worked as southwest region manager at Interaction Associates.
|Stuart Kaplan has been named global chief operating officer of the leadership development solutions group at Korn/Ferry International. He recently served as director of R&D and capability development in the global-strategy consulting practice at Accenture.
|Adam Hyder has been named chief technology officer at Jobvite. He recently served as senior director of engineering for the advertising management platform at Yahoo. Hyder, co-founder of OneBuild, previously worked as chief technology officer and director of engineering at Yahoo HotJobs and as senior director of engineering at TradeBeam.
|Hewitt Associates has named Eric Fielder and Yvan Legris as co-presidents of its consulting division. Fielder recently served as leader of Hewitt's Asia Pacific consulting division. He previously worked as leader of Hewitt's Greater China market group. (Eric Fielder) Legris recently served as leader of Hewitt's U.K consulting and benefits outsourcing division. He previously worked as Hewitt's leader of client development in the U.K.
|Julie Davis has been named executive vice president and managing director at Aon Technology Group. She recently served as executive vice president and managing director of Aon Corp.'s Wired for Growth program. Davis previously worked as a vice president and account manager at Aon.
|Arjen "AJ" Althuis has been named vice president of consulting services at Guidant Group. He recently served as HR business partner for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Nike.
|Jennifer Harvey has been named director of corporate social responsibility at Crown Worldwide Group. She recently served as manager of Crown's "Inch by Inch" campaign for clients expanding into India and China. She previously worked as Crown's regional corporate services manager for the Eastern U.S. and as corporate services manager in Tokyo.
|Ranjit Kohli has been named chief operating officer at Consult2Comply. He recently served as founder and CEO at KMS BPO Solutions. Before KMS, Kohli was CEO at Acusign, leader of the business IT consulting practice at Verisign and product development leader at GlobalOne.
|Melinda Wolfe has been named head of professional development at Bloomberg. She recently served as senior vice president of executive talent and chief diversity officer at American Express. Before joining American Express, Wolfe was head of the office of global leadership and diversity at Goldman Sachs and director of the office of global recruiting and training at Credit Suisse Group.
|Scott Hadley has been named manager of benefit administration outsourcing at ArlenGroup. He recently served as the benefits department manager at Morrison & Foerster.
|Clarke Havener has been named a senior client partner and global leader of the aerospace and defense sector at Korn/Ferry International. He recently worked at Russell Reynolds Associates, where he formed and led the firm's airlines, aerospace and defense practice. Before joining Russell Reynolds, he was co-founder and president of The Abbott Group.
|Karla Gehlen has been named senior vice president of corporate human resources at Sterling Savings Bank. She recently served as the operating system OD process leader and as human resources manager at Honeywell International. Before joining Honeywell, Gehlen worked as vice president of human resources at Sunstone Hotels and regional human resources leader for the KFC division at Yum Brands.
|The Segal Co. has announced the promotion of several executives:
• Jason Adwin has been named a vice president, working with the Sibson Consulting division in compensation strategy and performance management. He previously served as a consultant at the company.
• Richard Berger has been named a vice president, working with pension and group health plans in the maritime and service industries. He previously served as a benefits consultant at the company.
• Alan Sofge has been named a vice president, working with multi-employer clients on health, pension and annuity funds. He previously served as a benefits consultant at the company.
• Miriam Lee Yoo has been named a vice president. She previously served as a consultant in the administration and technology practice.


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About the Sharing Power Conference
Sharing Power is about de-centralisation in the governance and management of biocultural resources. It is about enabling indigenous peoples and local communities to have greater rights and responsibilities in governance and management of the landscapes and ecosystems they live in and near. Communities and Cities can and do show leadership when Governments struggle at both national and UN levels as the Copenhagen Climate change talks clearly demonstrated. What are the successful models of indigenous and community managed natural resources? How can people better exercise their citizenship responsibilities to the environment?
A New Vision for Development suggests the current capital based model has flaws that have created social and economic inequities, and lead to large scale environmental damage. What other development models exist? What are the key components of shared responsibility in conservation management and governance change necessary to ensure a sustainable future? How can local and indigenous visions of development with sustainable conservation be nurtured?
There are a multitude of global initiatives underway which signal a rapidly growing movement amongst indigenous peoples and citizens generally, to look beyond capitalism without boundaries, and consider a future which requires us to make more of a commitment to nature - to Mother Earth. For example, the Earth Charter, the World Assembly of Inhabitants, the Vth World Parks Congress Durban Accord, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Bariloche Declaration, the Draft Universal Declaration of the Common Good of the Earth and Humanity (being considered in Cochabamba, Bolivia-April 2010) and many others.
These movements are diverse in origin, culture, and geography, but share the principle of solidarity through collectivity,and the common desire to build another possible world, including other models of cities.
This Sharing Power Conference noted these networks and aimed to build on them, as well as other initiatives and networks that IUCN and CEESP have been involved in for a long period of time.
|Key Issues Examined at the Conference

subset: commoncrawl


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A peck of pumpkins provides a punch of fall panache
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It all started, as so many decorating projects seem to do these days, with a visit to Pinterest, an online version of scrapbooking in which users "pin" photos of cool stuff to share with other viewers or just track for their own reference.
A photo of three good-sized candleholders topped with pumpkins instead of candles caught my eye. So cute, so simple. I thought about how else I could pair the bag full of little pumpkins in varying colors and textures that I've collected through the years with decorative items I already have.
It's a version of the "shop your own house" theory espoused by decorators to clients with pintsize budgets who advise them to look around their own houses before they go out and spend a wad on new accessories.
I dug the pumpkins out of a closet that's jammed with holiday items and also purchased a $5 mesh bag filled with miniature real pumpkins, actually gourds. Another $5 would have purchased some gourds in funky colors and shapes, but this effort was all about pumpkins. That was the only purchase I made to add touches of autumnal color to four rooms.
Candleholders, a two-tiered wrought-iron serving piece, several platters, a hurricane glass, crystal ice bucket and miniature glasshouse were all pressed into service. The bag of pumpkins also held a few orange candles and leaf-shaped tea light holders.
A walk through the woods and yard provided additional -- and free -- materials. Sprays of berries on a nandina bush had reached an orangish stage in their seasonal transition from green to red. A few intact hickory nuts that escaped the attention of voracious squirrels stood out among the empty shells littering the patio. The orange shells on the red berries of meandering bittersweet vine found along a roadside hadn't opened, but still added interest.
Other items spotted but not used were acorns, pinecones, leaves in red, orange and gold, gnarly bare branches, crabapple branches with yellow/blush fruit and showy red-berried hawthorn branches.
I gathered all the items on the dining room table and pondered possible combinations. The easiest and most obvious: the three candleholders. Topped with pumpkins and grouped on a sideboard with a fall topiary and lamp, they added an instant autumn look.
Seven of the orange orbs, three in an ice bucket, one under a candle in a hurricane glass holder, one perched on a sugar holder and two in the middle of green, gold, orange and russet plates brightened a table set for a cozy dinner for two.
Five little pumpkins -- wait. A song my children sang in kindergarten popped in my mind "Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate ..." they and their costumed classmates chirped in sing-songy voices at the Halloween party. The song stuck for the rest of the decorating session.
Anyway, those five pumpkins, a scattering of hickory nuts and a twist of bittersweet vine converted a two-tiered stand that usually held glasses into harvest display.
Two platters -- one beaten metal and one silver and gold -- received the pumpkin treatment to brighten up coffee tables in the living room and family room.
That left three pumpkins that needed a home for the holidays. A miniature glass greenhouse half filled with potpourri did not escape my notice. Placed on top of the potpourri, they completed the pumpkin push.
It was a fast and fun morning's work to add autumn flash without much cash.
Reach Julie Robinson at firstname.lastname@example.com or 304-348-1230.


text: I'll make you a deal, johnny/slim. If you reveal who you post as on AZBilliards, I'll give you all the information you crave about me. I actually made that offer once before and you refused, preferring to troll me instead. I'm making the offer again. Let's find out who really lacks integrity on here. Seems like a small price to pay to satisfy your obsession with my personal life. How about it? I'm calling you on your B.S. Are you a man or are you a coward?


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November 14, 2012
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The Bachelor Canada
Bachelor Canada: The women tell all
By QMI Agency
Bachelor Canada's Brad Smith.
'Bachelor Canada' recap
'Bachelor' live chat: Hometown dates
'The Bachelor' recap: Episode 4
'Bachelor' ready to show off cheesy side
Join QMI's Monique Beech as she talks all things Bachelor Canada beginning at 9:30 PM tonight.
'The Sing-Off' host Nick Lachey still has the "it" factor
Terminator TV series in the works
Paul Rudd, One Direction sing acapella on 'SNL'
'Gretl' from 'Sound of Music' movie bashes Carrie Underwood performance
Reality TV roundup: 'Survivor' suspense and a Kardashian Christmas
'Little Couple' star Jen Arnold has rare cancer
Kim still making waves in 'Hawaii Five-0'
'Bonnie & Clyde' front and centre on three channels
'Curb Appeal' co-host killed in San Francisco motorcycle crash
Super Mario actor Danny Wells dies at 72
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Perez Hilton to star in 'Gay Dads of New York' reality show
MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir resigns over Palin remarks
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'Mob City' seems very familiar
'Archer' star Jessica Walter says ignorance is bliss
Star Trek: Captain Worf is on the horizon
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'Family Guy' has nothing to lose
Kutcher, Stewart lead TV's richest stars
Eric McCormack personally praised for powerfully proper portrayal in Perception
When you're playing a schizophrenic, it's nice to know you're not crazy. From the get-go, Eric McCormack wanted to do an entertaining but believable job playing Dr. Daniel Pierce in Perception, the second season of which is airing Wednesdays ...
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From wires to domes to big fake boobs; TV's must-sees for the week of June 23
Top 10 TV must-sees for the week of June 23: 1 Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda Last year his Niagara Falls tightrope walk garnered massive ratings. This time Nik Wallenda crosses a portion of the Grand Canyon, live and without a tether. When: Sunday on ...
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Ex-bunny Leah Renee does some "trash talking"� about her new sitcom Satisfaction
What a glamorous job Leah Renee has. "The other day, you should have seen me, I was completely covered in garbage,"� Renee said. Um … that was part of your new show Satisfaction, right? "Yes, I probably should have said that first,"� Renee said. ...
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By Joseph Spector, Albany Bureau Chief
ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his plan to allow local governments to essentially smooth out their pension costs wouldn't be mandatory.
If local leaders have concerns, don't do it, Cuomo said.
"It's a financing option. If a mayor doesn't like it, don't take it," Cuomo said Tuesday on 1300-AM (WGDJ) in Albany.
In his budget proposal last week, Cuomo pitched a plan that would let local governments avoid major spikes in pension costs. They would be paying less now with the expectation that in future years, they would make up the difference when older employees retire.
Cuomo said the goal is to help local governments and schools deal with soaring pension costs over the next few years.
"We have a pension crisis in this nation, by the way -- not just in this state," Cuomo said.
Some local governments have embraced the proposal, while Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and the state Teacher's Retirement System are approaching it cautiously. DiNapoli and the teacher's pension fund would have to approve the deal, as well as the state Legislature.
"We are reviewing the proposal and continue to ask questions of the Division of the Budget," said DiNapoli spokeswoman Jennifer Freeman. "We have concerns about the impact on the fund but have an open mind until we finish our review."
In a statement, the Teacher's Retirement System said it would also take a wait-and-see approach. School pension costs are set to grow nearly 40 percent in the coming school year.
"NYSTRS will thoroughly review the governor's proposal for a flat rate pension contribution from participating employers," the fund said in a statement. "This review will be weighed along with the system's fiduciary responsibility to ensure the long-term soundness of the plan."
The state's pension fund, at roughly $150 billion, covers about 1 million current employees and retirees in state and local governments. The school pension fund, at about $88 billion, covers about 149,000 retirees and 277,000 active members.
Cuomo said he's open to different options, and he chided DiNapoli to increase the earnings of the pension fund -- which contributes to the rise or decline of contributions from local governments. DiNapoli is the sole trustee of the pension fund.
"If he has a better idea, I would love to hear it," Cuomo said. "Maybe he can increase the performance of the fund so he doesn't charge the localities as much."
An increasing number of local governments have entered into DiNapoli's amortization plan for pensions, which allows them to essentially borrow off the pension fund to limit spikes in expenses.
Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards said Monday he supports Cuomo's initiative. The city's pension costs have jumped from $19.5 million to $52 million over the past four years.
"When I looked at the budget and I looked at this particular proposal, it was the best thing there to getting us through another couple of years," Richards told reporters in Albany after he testified at a budget hearing.
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said she has concerns about the proposal, particularly whether it is simply delaying the problem for future years. The pension plan would delay some payments for up to 25 years.
"I fear that opting into this program could be a hasty solution for cities to fix immediate cash flow needs," Miner said in her budget testimony Monday.


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Is it still not possible to make Zimbra the default mail client in Windows? I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate, 32-bit and I don't see any way to do this -- Zimbra's own option to make it the default mail client is grayed out, as has been noted in other posts. What gets me is how can people (or developers) tout something as a replacement, or even an alternative to Outlook, when you can't even make it the defaut mail program, thereby making it useless in a variety of scenarios?
If there is a fix in the works, does anyone have any idea when the next version of Zimbra will be available?


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May 31, 2016
The sheriff in Jasper County, Miss., has resigned. After serving six months on the job, Keith Murphy announced his resignation Monday.
County officials said the resignation is due to personal reasons.
John Keenan has since been sworn in as the interim sheriff.
The 66-year-old Keenan is retired from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
A special election to fill the position for the remainder of the term will be held in November.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Oct 29
Posted by: lori on Oct 29, 2010
Tagged in: Sherwin Williams , Germain Racing , GEICO Racing , GEICO
Talladega, AL (October 29, 2010) – After a two-month break, 'Mad' Max Papis is back in the saddle of the #9 GEICO Toyota Tundra for this weekend's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Papis has an affinity for superspeedways, as seen earlier this spring in Daytona where he led his first-ever laps as a NASCAR driver.
If today's opening practice session is any indication, this weekend will be just as exciting as that cold February night in Daytona. Papis quickly took to the 2.66-mile high-banked tri-oval and rested atop the speed chart for over an hour of the two-hour practice. He ultimately ended up 10th fastest with a lap time of 50.417 seconds at a rate of speed of 189.936 miles per hour.
Papis and the GEICO Racing team now await qualifying. Truck Series qualifying can be seen live on SPEED beginning at 4:30 PM (EDT).
The Mountain Dew 250 fueled by Fred's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is on Saturday, October 30th, and it will be televised live on SPEED beginning at 3:00 PM (EDT), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.geicogarage.com
You can also follow GEICO Racing on Twitter: www.twitter.com/geicoracing
# # #
Contact: Doug Barnette, Player Management International
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Snowmobile KenKen® Puzzle
This difficult KenKen® puzzle is ready for your high school student to master! All he needs are good computation skills and a fair amount of logic.
Pajama Party KenKen® Puzzle
Help your high school student improve her mathematical ability and logical thinking skills by playing this fun KenKen® puzzle!
Prom Queen KenKen® Puzzle
This difficult KenKen® math puzzle will challenge your high school student to use mathematical operations and logical thinking skills.
Jet Ski KenKen® Puzzle
This high school KenKen®, a math logic puzzle from Japan, uses addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division!
Ski Boat KenKen® Puzzle
This KenKen® puzzle will challenge your high school student to use different math operations and logic in order to find a solution.
KenKen Printable: Sweet Sixteen
Your high school math student will need every ounce of her logic to solve this KenKen printable!
Jewelry Box KenKen® Puzzle
This KenKen® puzzle is guaranteed to get your high school student using math and logic in a way she never has before.
KenKen: Sports Car
This KenKen® puzzle will require your high school student to put his math and logic skills to the test!
Moped KenKen® Puzzle
Challenge your high school student to decode this KenKen® grid. She'll need all of her logic powers and a good understanding of mathematical operations.
Motor Bike KenKen® Puzzle
Engage your high school student's logic and critical thinking skills as he completes this KenKen® math puzzle.


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ClassicVue Max™ Single Hung SH600
No matter what the square footage or architectural style of your home, you'll discover a whole new dimension of satisfaction and performance with PGT ClassicVue Max™ products. Aluminum windows and doors are a low maintenance choice that can fit any budget. PGT's quality aluminum windows and doors are designed and manufactured for years of reliable performance, as well as continuously smooth, easy and quiet operation. The durable aluminum frame features an attractive painted finish in your choice of white or bronze. The energy-efficient design of these aluminum windows includes features such as a double weatherstripping and interlocking meeting rails to keep wind and water out – while keeping air conditioning and heating in. Every PGT ClassicVue Max window and door is custom-built to your exact specifications, leaving nothing to chance at installation time.


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Debt capitals
Neighboring states may share many things, but how they approach budgetary red ink is turning out not to be one of them
"Debt capitals" Continued...
It's no secret that the federal government is running up an enormous debt, but many state governments are not doing much better. The recession, by reducing the revenues flowing into state capitals, has been part of the problem, as have powerful lobbies that fiercely protect their pet programs.
Nearly every state has had big budget shortfalls, and they're dealing with them in different ways. In some cases, even culturally similar neighbors are taking sharply divergent paths. Four WORLD reporters took a look at state budgetary politics in four different parts of the country. Here's what they found.
Virginia & Maryland: Tightened belt vs. "death spiral"
It is a well-worn phrase, but elections really do have consequences. And for Virginians, last November's results likely lightened their tax load.
Before Virginia's outgoing Democratic Governor Tim Kaine left office earlier this year, he submitted a budget proposal that included $2 billion in tax hikes to combat the state's $4 billion shortfall.
But Kaine's successor, Republican Robert McDonnell, proposed a different solution: $4 billion in spending cuts and zero tax increases.
Unions balked at the reductions, claiming that 37,000 government jobs would be lost. But conservatives, like Michael Thompson with the state's Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, told me that making up the state's revenue gap with a tax increase would force greater job losses on a sector more crucial to a state's long-term economic health-private businesses.
In the end, McDonnell's plan prevailed, even in a Democratic-controlled state Senate: Virginia tightened its fiscal belt. It will eliminate travel expenditures, reduce administrative expenses, and consolidate agencies.
It is one of the largest spending reductions in state history. Few programs were spared-$646 million in education cuts combined with a new law making it easier to establish charter schools. But the state is trying to do what its citizens have been forced to do during this recession-live within its means.
After tax collections fell two years in a row for the first time since the 1930s, McDonnell put off his own campaign promises to boost dollars for classrooms, to create 100,000 more degrees at state colleges, and to improve the state's roads. "When you are in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging," explained Jonathan Williams with the right-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The rolling of state spending back to 2006 levels begins what state conservatives hope is a four-year experiment on limiting government's size and scope to core priorities. The mindset, epidemic among state governments, that when there is money on the table you have to spend it or lose it next year, must end.
"If there is a silver lining with this recession, it is giving government a chance to take a look and ask if we really need to do this?" Thompson said.
This marks a change from 2004 when then Gov. Mark Warner introduced the largest tax increase in state history. Then a GOP-controlled House of Delegates lacked the will to stop the hike. But this time the backs of lawmakers were stiffened by what Ben Marchi with the Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity called a "perfect storm": A worsening fiscal crisis combined with the recent growth of the federal government has fueled unprecedented grassroots activism.
Last week McDonnell signaled that he is not done. He proposed 96 amendments that cut $51 million more to the two-year $82 billion budget. These cuts ranged from the controversial (an additional $10 million cut to services for at-risk youth programs already facing a $86 million hit) and the obvious (elimination of dollars that allowed state employees to get erectile dysfunction drugs using their state health plans). Alas, the amendments included $42.1 million in new spending. Old habits die hard in the nation's state capitals.
When the 2010 edition of the Maryland General Assembly ended with its traditional midnight confetti drop during the first seconds of April 13, multi-colored balloons rained down onto weary lawmakers. But the 90-day session concluded with lawmakers failing to puncture one balloon that just keeps growing: the state's annual budget shortfall.
Nine of its 10 congressional representatives are Democrats, and Maryland's proximity to Washington means it continues to feed from the federal trough rather than make tough choices: The state's just approved $32 billion budget for the next fiscal year props up a $2 billion gap with federal stimulus money while cutting just $120 million in spending.
Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley proposed a bevy of one-time fund transfers ($300 million in highway user fees to the general fund) and borrowing that amounted to little more than accounting gimmicks. These short-term fixes have many worried that future sessions will have to deal with even bigger annual shortfalls. The lack of political will in Annapolis leaves the state facing near-record shortfall projections of $2 billion or more per year through 2015. It means tax hikes could be around the corner, especially if the state stays in Democratic hands after this November's gubernatorial election.
"We are in a death spiral," state Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a Republican from the state's Eastern Shore, warned his colleagues in the session's final days. Only two Republicans voted for the budget.
Former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who is trying to regain his post this fall, accused the lawmakers of "kicking the can down the proverbial alley . . . waiting for the monumental tax increases everyone knows is coming."
This state budget seems designed to get Democrats through to the next election without raising taxes. O'Malley held back his tax increase urges: In 2007, his first year in office, he raised taxes, including boosting the sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent. But three years later the budget problems remain.
Why? Unintended consequences often follow tax increases. When Maryland raised its top tax rate to 6.25 percent, the state lost $1 billion of its net tax base in 2008 due to migration. "You don't enact tax increases inside of a vacuum," said ALEC's Williams, also an author of Rich States, Poor States.
This time around, state legislators relied on a heavy dose of budget bailouts from Uncle Sam. Federal stimulus dollars account for almost $1.3 billion, or more than 8 percent, of the budget. Rather than stimulate, Maryland is using federal taxpayers' dollars to fund normal expenses. So when Washington's welfare for states disappears next year, Maryland will be facing a fall.
"Maryland has not been reining in spending at all," Gabriel Michael with the Maryland Public Policy Institute told me. "This is an extra billion dollars we will have to come up with. There will be a scramble to come up with the money." -Edward Lee Pitts
New Jersey & New York: Buried in debt
Jeff Scheininger is one of the millionaires whose tax return is at stake in New Jersey's budget battle.
"We're in the hose business," he says, barreling through his warehouse to show where his 18 employees manufacture stainless steel, Teflon, and silicone hoses for Flexline, the small business his father started in 1950. In the last eight years, he's seen his customers leave New Jersey and his business shift to Pennsylvania and overseas. "It's crushing. It's just crushing. I don't have anyone left to sell to," he said. Then he saw his taxes go up with the "millionaire tax," a surcharge on anyone, including small businesses, making over $400,000. In New Jersey's fight to close an $11 billion budget gap, the battle is coming down to the teachers versus the so-called millionaires. Republican Gov. Chris Christie wants the surcharge out. The teachers unions want it in.
Christie proposes cutting $820 million from school aid. He's enticing teachers to take a wage freeze to offset the cost, promising he'll give their districts the money the state will save on the teachers' Medicare and Social Security tax withholdings. So far, administrative staffs in 145 districts and teachers in 20 districts have agreed to the deal. Other union leaders aren't as open. A Bergen County (New Jersey) Education Association leader sent out a memo that joked, "Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor." The governor wants the union leader fired. The union apologized but refused to fire the leader: just one more battle between the two.
Michael Riccards, executive director of the Hall Institute for Public Policy-New Jersey, said unions usually like to make friends with public officials instead of enemies, but this time the unions early on have gone after Christie: "He returns their fire in kind." While Democrats control both the Senate and Assembly, Riccards said they haven't gone out of their way to defend the teachers unions: "I think they're a little fed up too."
Democrats are, however, pushing to restore the "millionaire tax"-a surcharge of 10.25 percent on incomes over $500,000 and an 8 percent bracket for those making between $400,000 and $500,000. This was supposed to be temporary and Christie proposed discontinuing it, to an outcry. So far he has held his ground but also broken a campaign promise, suspending a property tax rebate program in a move his opponents say will hurt suburban and middle-class families. Because of a deal former Gov. Jon Corzine cut with the unions, Christie will have to wait until January to lay off 1,300 state workers. So for now, state payrolls stay bloated.
An oft-quoted study by Boston College found that New Jersey has lost $70 billion of wealth between 2004 and 2008. Scheininger blames the punitive business climate and welcomes the end of the millionaire tax: "If you're a small business guy who's trying to keep your cash flow positive and have monies to invest, it can't hurt."
He adds, "We are a cautionary tale for the rest of the country. We are a cautionary tale for those members of Congress who think that the unprecedented [spending] levels that they're racking up now won't wreck economic activity. We're a cautionary tale for the Obama administration. The bills come due. They really do."
Across the East River, New York is in the same kind of gridlock. . Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch has proposed a plan that would let the state borrow up to $2 billion a year, but the money comes with strings attached. The state would have to use better accounting principles to make deficits more transparent. An independent financial review board would make sure the budget is balanced every quarter and if it's not, the governor would have the power to impound spending.
Elizabeth Lynam, deputy research director for the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), warns that if the state doesn't adopt the accounting standards that Ravitch proposes and simply borrows wildly, deficits will continue to balloon. Lynam said the state's temporary stopgaps are supposed to relieve financial pressure just until the state can get its finances in order. The stimulus was one stopgap, and this $2 billion in borrowing might be another. But "so far there has been no movement towards that future where we're reining in our spending," she said.
Gov. David Paterson, a lame duck governor dogged by allegations that he pressured a woman into dropping a domestic abuse case against one of his closest aides, has proposed the leanest budget so far. And even that one, CBC calculates, will leave the state with a $12.4 billion budget gap in 2013-2014.
The governor's budget raises $1 billion by increasing fees and taxes on things like cigarettes and sugary drinks. It also proposes $5.5 billion in recurring cuts, with the bulk of the cuts coming in school aid, Medicaid, and agency spending. New York spends $15,981 per K-12 pupil compared to the national average of $9,666. Even with Paterson's education cuts, the state will have increased education spending by 42 percent since 2003-2004.
The governor is cutting only $1 billion from Medicaid. The Empire Center for New York State Policy notes that although New York covers half as many people as California does, it spends 25 percent more on Medicaid. New York's Medicaid spending per enrollee is $7,927 compared to the national average of $4,575.
The Governor, Senate, and Assembly are still wrangling over the cuts, with the Senate and Assembly proposing plans that leave the state with a budget gap. The worst case scenario would be a repeat of last year: The governor and legislature cobbled together a shaky budget that didn't deal with future gaps. Revenue continued to plummet, spending continued to soar, and midway through the fiscal year the state found itself with a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit. -Alisa Harris
Indiana & Illinois: Alike and different
Indiana and Illinois have much in common. Both can claim Abraham Lincoln and the Wabash River as native forces that have shaped their heritage and landscape. Culturally, the people from the two states tend to enjoy basketball and country music.
When it comes to managing their finances, however, the two states' government officials have gone their separate ways.
In recent years, Indiana has ranked among a handful of states running a budget surplus-though now state officials are spending those reserves to compensate for the effects of the recession on state revenue. Illinois, meanwhile, must grapple this year with a budget deficit of nearly $13 billion. The Wall Street Journal in February identified the state as facing "one of the biggest state budget crises in the nation."
Indiana's fiscal discipline is partly an extension of its top elected office-holder's philosophy and style. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, famously earned the nickname "the Blade" when he worked under President George W. Bush as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The nickname sprang from Daniels' constant recommendations to slash federal budgets wherever possible, and he has continued his propensity for budget-cutting as governor.
He has cut about $800 million per year from the state budget in each of the last two years, according to state figures. He has directed most state agencies and departments to trim 20 percent from their budgets. Daniels aide Brad Rateike declared, "We've been cutting government spending since 2005, even before the recession was adversely impacting revenue collections. When you account for inflation and population growth, our spending has been reduced about 1.3 percent per year since the governor took office."
Over the past three years, Indiana has maintained a relatively flat budget of $13.5 billion since previous years' reductions.
The approach has earned Daniels both fans and critics. Daniels announced late last year that K-12 education would have to share in the budget reductions-trimming $300 million from public schools statewide.
This spring, districts across the state have been forced to lay off hundreds of teachers and other school employees. In school board meetings, school officials have routinely blamed the governor for forcing them into the painful exercise of handing out pink slips to teachers.
Daniels didn't like having to make that particular decision, either, Rateike said: "K-12 education was a last resort. Everything else was reduced earlier and much deeper."
In Illinois, meanwhile, the financial picture is bleak. "Illinois' bond rating is the second-lowest in the nation, just a few steps above junk status," noted Laurence Msall, president of an Illinois policy think tank called the Civic Federation.
The state has fallen far behind on scheduled payments to state-supported institutions and programs, Msall noted-currently owing nearly $500 million, for example, to the University of Illinois.
Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, has proposed increasing individual income taxes in his state to 4 percent from 3 percent as a first step to begin cleaning up the state's fiscal mess. Neighboring Indiana's state income tax rate is 3.4 percent.
Without the tax increase, Quinn has told legislators the state must cut $1.3 billion from K-12 education and $380 million from human services.
Illinois' fiscal problems predate the economic downturn of 2008, Msall noted. "Since 2002, the state of Illinois has run a general funds deficit, usually because of a deficit carrying over from the prior fiscal year," Msall said. "The scope and reach of the crisis has been made worse by inaction on the part of successive general assemblies and governors to curb spending."
Msall gives Quinn and the state's current legislature credit for taking steps to reform Illinois' pension system for state employees into a more affordable and sustainable program, but overall he sees few positive signs in Quinn's proposals for the state's fiscal future. "The governor's budget recommendation does very little to address the $12.8 billion deficit the state faces in the coming fiscal year," Msall said. "It is not a balanced budget and it relies heavily on borrowing to pay for operations."
Despite their proximity and similar cultures, Indiana and Illinois offer a sharp contrast on the matter of financing a state government. Perhaps, though, the disparate scenarios intersect at a common lesson on the importance of a state government-just like an individual household-living within its means. -William McCleery
Arizona: Cuts and rumors of cuts
Thanks in part to the housing market crash, Arizona's state budget crisis ranks second only to California's. The actual numbers are leagues apart-Arizona's shortfall is estimated at $2.6 billion compared to California's $20 billion-but as a percentage of state expenditures, they're in the same boat.
However, there's a big difference in the way the two states are viewed nationally when it comes to dealing with the problem. While the Democrat-controlled California legislature is roundly perceived as resistant to any spending reductions, Business Week highlighted Arizona as one of few deficit-facing states willing to make deep cuts. In a feature story on social services being sacrificed to fill in budgetary gaps, NPR cited Arizona as one of the "hardest hit." And Stateline.org, the online news arm of the Pew Research Center, called the cuts in the budget Arizona lawmakers approved on March 11 "staggering" and "dramatic."
While it's fair to say that the Grand Canyon state is more conservative and thus more open to budget cutting than its coastal neighbor (a recent Arizona Republic editorial joked, "In Sacramento, lawmakers can't bring themselves to cut a loaf of bread"), some local policy experts say that characterizations of Arizona as a cost-cutting trailblazer are wild exaggerations. They say many of the so-called cuts being alternately touted and condemned on the national stage amount to little more than creative accounting.
State Treasurer Dean Martin, who is running against incumbent Jan Brewer for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, argues that what appear to be large spending reductions in public education and Medicare are really just spending delays. "Everybody talks about saving billions, but a lot of that is on paper," he says. "The actual money being spent is only being reduced by $240 million." He points to provisions allowing the state to delay paying schools and hospitals for several months with the promise that the payments will be made up in the next fiscal year. "It's kind of like Wimpy from Popeye: I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today," says Martin.
Economist Byron Schlomach of the Goldwater Institute concurs with Martin's assessment that the governor's office is playing fast and loose with the term cut. As an example, he cites so-called reductions in public safety spending that were really a shift in funding sources. "What really happened is that we used gas tax money to pay for that instead of money from the general fund. Is that really a cut?" he asks. Schlomach also contends that the state's recent selling off of state-owned properties to investors-a move California is now looking to emulate-was merely a way to get around borrowing restrictions in the state constitution and not any kind of long-term solution.
The new budget has some real reductions in public service, but Martin says many of these were chosen more to push a tax increase than to address spending. In particular, he says it wasn't necessary to eliminate KidsCare, a program that provided health insurance for 37,000 children from low-income families. He claims the governor's office strategically chose emotionally charged cuts with the aim of making a media splash that would scare voters into approving a 1 percent sales tax hike. "The legislature pushed for a 10 percent across the board reduction in all departments," says Martin, "but the governor's office said, 'No, we will veto that.' They wanted specifically those cuts to health care and public safety identified [to the voters]." A better solution, Martin argues, would be to institute small co-pays for prescriptions and doctor's visits for everyone receiving free state health coverage. (Brewer could not be reached for comment).
However, there is one thing Brewer, Martin, and the Goldwater Institute agree on: One of the biggest obstacles Arizona (and by extension every cash-strapped state) faces in solving budget problems is the federal government.
Though the federal healthcare bill was not signed until after Arizona's 2010-2011 budget was finalized, the new regulations it imposes will strip the state of federal healthcare funding if it attempts to carry out the Medicaid cuts outlined in the new budget. This requirement, known as "maintenance of effort," has prompted Brewer to push for Arizona to join other states in bringing a lawsuit against the federal healthcare overhaul. Martin says that the new federal legislation may make many of the state-level debates on how to cover the shortfall moot: "The healthcare mandate blows a billion-dollar hole in our budget."
Similar federal regulations are in place to deprive states of matching funds if they try to cut spending on education. The fact that the two areas covered by maintenance of effort-education and healthcare spending-also happen to be every state budget's biggest expenditures puts states even more squarely between rocks and hard places. But soon, Schlomach warns, it may not matter what the administration mandates: "Quite frankly, we're at a point where we can't afford to spend enough to get the federal money." -Megan Basham


text: New Video and New Album from SUICIDAL TENDENCIES! March 15, 2013 The time has come. On March 26, 2013 Suicidal Tendencies will release their first new music in over 13 years. The upcoming full-length, entitled 13, will be released via Suicidal Records. Produced by Mike Muir and Paul Northfield (Rush, Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, Ozzy Osbourne, Hole, Marilyn Manson, Infectious Grooves). The release of 13 marks the 30th anniversary of the band!"Cyco STyle" first video from the first all new Suicidal Tendencies album in 13 years! Check it out below! Related News Related Events Related Galleries Related Videos Suicidal Tendencies ST IS BACK FROM THE DECEMBER SHOWS News February 06, 2013 Read More More Posts Back to Top


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October 10, 2013 | 1 comment | 19767 views
Despite Cuomo's help, a law still needs to be changed
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Many South Shore homeowners are breathing easier thanks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision last week to use money from the New York State Housing Recovery Program to compensate those whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Sandy, but whose flood insurance claims were rejected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency because the damage had been caused by "earth movement" rather than directly by floodwaters.
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KeywordsEditorial, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York State Housing Recovery Program, Hurricane Sandy, flood insurance claims, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, earth movement, National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP, Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, earth-movement exception, earth-movement clause, earth-movement damage, reimbursement, Rep. Maxine Waters, unintended consequences, Sen. Mary Landrieu
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If correctly fixed anyone who had an earth movement issue in sandy will never have it again.
Monday, October 21, 2013 | Report this


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Sloth Photobomb: Hairy Mammal Flings Himself Into The Frame In Costa Rica Snap
Source: Caters
This is the moment a sloth gatecrashed a holiday snap in the jungle.
A group of youngsters on an International Student Volunteers expedition from all over the world had been helping cut paths in the dense woodland on Costa Rica to allow researchers to get around.
And after completing their back-breaking charity work, they decided to have a group picture taken as a keep sake.
But what they didn't expect was this inquisitive sloth slowly lowering himself down into the frame as the group smiled for the camera.
Scroll down for a gallery of the funniest animal photobombs ever
Striking a pose: The fluffy fella agrees to join in a group photo
Manuel Ramirez, who is an anthropologist and tour guide for International Student Volunteers, had decided to take the snap, but was not aware that a fame hungry sloth was waiting above
Manuel, 44, said: "There was a big group of us helping cut paths in the jungle. I thought it would be nice to take a group shot.
"As I looked through the camera lens I could see something creeping in to the frame.
"when I realised it was a baby sloth I clicked the button as fast as I could, not that he was going anywhere fast "
He added: "I thought it was too good a picture opportunity and so rather than move I just took the picture with him in it.
"It has become a bit of a talking point for everyone. None of us will ever forget the trip, especially when we look back at this picture.
"I'm glad we saw the sloth that day as he made us laugh when we were very tired.
"Now we can share this moment with all our friends."
Get a room. (Via This Is Photobomb)
He knew what he was doing. (Via Flickr:Eamesker)
Not just any goat bomb, but a sarcastic goat bomb. (Via This Is Photobomb)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! (Via Cheezburger)
That cat is up to something, and we want no part of it. (Via WTFHub)
Cool speech, bro. (Via The Chive)
Classic. (Via TeleToon)
Nice costume, kid. (Via This Is Photobomb)
HEY! (Via This Is How I Will Get Famous)
A fun-filled day at the park.
This probably ended well. (Via CollegeHumor)
Double Bomb. (Via List Of The Day)
Poor dog never even saw it coming. (Via WTFHub)
Is this cute or just incredibly creepy? (Via WTFHub)
Bet he didn't see that coming. (Via Wonders Of The Animal Kingdom)
Frightening. (Via WTFHub)
Don't let the hair distract you from the bomb. (Via This Is Photobomb)
Quick window bomb before flying away. (Via This Is Photobomb)
That couch looks pretty comfy. (Via BuzzFeed)
In case you were thinking of going to the beach ever again in your life. (Via TeleToon)
Crashing penguin parties as well as our profile pictures. (Via This Is Photobomb)
Bears have needs, too. (Via List Of The Day)


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Went very smoothly, even more than the 6.0.7 upgrade.
The only things I had to be really careful about were a few manual customizations that were overwritten during upgrade. Viz.:
My /opt/zimbra/conf/salocal.cf.in has some custom scoring for additional RBLs. By keeping a copy of the original (pre-modification) file, I was able to confirm (using diff) that the upgrade didn't change anything in the default configuration, so I could just copy my custom file back into place. I also grep'ed the rbl addresses against /opt/zimbra/conf/spamassassin to make sure they hadn't been added to SA's default scoring during the upgrade. (If they had, I'd have adjusted or removed my custom scoring.)
/opt/zimbra/conf/clamd.conf.in needed a small modification to deal with Bug 48824 - Amavis/SA: Heuristics.Phishing.Email.SpoofedDomain not detected on delivery (see comment 8). Hopefully this will be fixed soon.
Due to the fact that ZCS 6's installation and zmschedulebackup can't write zmbackup with the --noZip option into the zimbra crontab, some manual customization was needed here, too. I found it was easiest to just do zmschedulebackup -D and then edit the crontab to add --noZip to the lines for full and incremental backups. Hopefully Bug 45634 - add noZip option to zmschedulebackup will be addressed sometime in GnR.
Otherwise, no hiccups whatsoever.


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May 31, 2016
People across our area are still in shock and disbelief following a school shooting that killed 26 people.
Authorities in Newtown, Connecticut say that 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and 6 adults during Friday morning's shooting at an elementary school.
Newscenter 11 talked to locals on Saturday about how they are making sense of such a senseless tragedy.
"My heart goes out, my heart goes out to every individual that was involved, the kids that were killed, and the man that did the shooting as well," Labrandy Moore said.
"I lost my son in 2007 to a tragic accident," Mary Johnson said. "He fell asleep at the wheel on the way back to his job. So I know how all those parents feel. I know what they're going through."
Authorities say they are still working to determine a motive in the shooting.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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A servant, not a god
National | RELIGION: Millions over the past century put their faith in civil governments to solve problems and close inequalities, but a look at the scriptural basis of the state should temper Christian expectations
RELIGION ONCE SEEMED TO HAVE little to do with the national political debate, but no longer. George W. Bush is the most overtly observant Christian to hold the presidency in a quarter century. The Democratic primaries drew as candidates an Orthodox Jew and an ordained (Pentecostal) minister. Wesley Clark and Howard Dean publicly (but not convincingly) proclaimed their deep Christian faith. John Kerry is a Roman Catholic.
Many conservative evangelicals look at U.S. policy toward Israel, Iraq, Palestinians, and Muslims in general through the prism of their faith. Liberal denominations and groups use religious images and rhetoric to oppose the war in Iraq and tax cuts. In November 2003 left-wing Christians announced the formation of the Clergy Leadership Network to counter such conservative organizations as the Christian Coalition and Family Research Council. So much for the naked public square, at least when it comes to political advocacy.
Which raises questions about the relationship of religion to politics. Should religious people-and particularly Christians, who profess to make up the vast majority of the American population-think, act, and vote differently because of their faith?
It is perhaps easiest to start with what believers should not do-treat the state as either a redemptive or an eternal institution. Even ancient Israel centered around Mosaic law could not bring salvation.
The Bible is helpful but not determinative in assessing the role of the state. The dominant message of the gospel, as well as of the Hebrew Scriptures, is man's relationship to God and his neighbors. Although many of these principles have some application to political relationships, the Bible provides no detailed blueprint for the state: Scripture gives much more guidance on how we should treat people than when we should coerce them, which is the defining characteristic of government.
What the Bible does is set boundaries for political debate. The state's most fundamental role is to protect citizens from the sinful conduct of their neighbors. The Bible indicates that government is to act to preserve order-people's ability to live "peaceful and quiet lives," in Paul's words-in a sinful world. "The one in authority," wrote Paul, "is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:3-4).
One goal of the state is just retribution. Another objective is deterrence, encouraging even evil men to respect others' rights. A third concern is nonviolent deprivation through theft and fraud of the resources over which God has made individuals stewards -a that matter was covered with great specificity in Mosaic law.
Another scriptural theme suggests a duty for believers to promote justice and righteousness. Civil rulers are to be just and righteous. However, corporate duty differs from personal responsibility. Individuals must respond virtuously to the needs and rights of their neighbors; government must regulate, coercively yet fairly, relations between both righteous and unrighteous men. In short, the contrast is personal virtue versus public impartiality. (An attempt by the state to practice the former rather than the latter is typified by the past century's great totalitarian levelers, the communist revolutionaries.)
The theme of the state as neutral arbiter and protector occurs throughout Scripture. Government is not to become a tool to rob and oppress. Said Solomon of the godly ruler: "He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor" (Psalm 72:4).
Protection of the needy is of special concern to God: They are, after all, the least able to vindicate their own interests, especially in the face of a government that is easily suborned to favor the powerful. However, extra sensitivity to abuse of the poor does not warrant prejudice in their favor. God commanded: "Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly" (Leviticus 19:15).
Biblical justice, then, protects all men in their enjoyment of God's blessings. In this way godly justice and righteousness focus on process. That differs from the modern notion of "social justice," which demands equality of economic and cultural outcomes. However appealing may be some proposals advanced under the rubric of "social justice," they are not matters of biblical justice.
Some argue that biblical strictures against "oppression" apply to seemingly neutral processes, such as the free marketplace, that allegedly lead to unfair results, such as wealth imbalances. Yet the apparent unfairness of market transactions -in contrast to the harmful consequences of individual cases of fraud and theft-usually results from coercion, almost always through state intervention.
Indeed, the Bible routinely links oppression to the use of force and perversion of the system of justice. The prophet Micah complained of evil men who "covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home." Israel's "rich men are violent," he added (Micah 2:2, 6:12). James pointed to the exploitative rich who had "failed to pay the workmen" and "condemned and murdered innocent men" (James 5:4, 6). None of these passages involves voluntary exchange, however "unequal" the parties' bargaining power.
This is not to say that such inequality is unimportant: It brings out personal responsibility to be just and generous and the Body of Christ's corporate responsibility to "do good to all people" (Galatians 6:10). It challenges otherwise comfortable believers to sacrifice to help their neighbors.
The form of economic oppression that would appear to come closest to the biblical meaning would be the use of government by influential interest groups to restrict competition, enhance their own market position, and extort subsidies. It is such lobbies, among many others, that the prophet Isaiah addressed when he proclaimed: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and rob My oppressed people of justice, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless" (Isaiah 10:1-2).
Less relevant today are God's rules governing virtually every aspect of the Israelites' lives. The moral purity of the collective body appears to have been God's primary concern. For instance, the death penalty was prescribed for those who sacrificed to other gods, violated the ceremonial law, engaged in forbidden sexual practices, and cursed their parents. Other rules governed everything from appropriate clothing to economic practices.
Enforcement of essentially "religious" laws would not seem to be the proper province of civil government today. Most obviously, the traditional Old Testament strictures were tied to the Israelites' status as the chosen people. That is, God established the law to mold the nation of Israel as part of His overall plan of salvation.
It should not be surprising, then, that the Mosaic Scriptures devote more attention to the Israelites' worship practices than to their civic responsibilities. Similarly, rules established to govern an individual's dedication of property to God were more complex than those governing his commercial transactions with his neighbors (Leviticus 27). Many rules, such as the cancellation of debts and restrictions on interest, applied only to Hebrews, members of the faith community (Deuteronomy 15:3, 23:20). In the same way the communal economics of the early Christian church appear to have involved only believers (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-35). Christians did not impose their practices on others.
Significantly, enforcement of many Old Testament norms required the active intervention of God, something no state today is likely to rely upon. By the time Jesus began His ministry, public enforcement of the old Hebraic rules appear to have been largely abandoned, and the Jewish world at that time-under a secular Roman leadership-looks much more like today's America than ancient Israel.
Another reason to doubt that today's state is mandated to enforce moral/religious rules is that most ultimately deal with matters of the heart as much as conduct. Paul wrote: "A man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code" (Romans 2:29). Meaningful enforcement of the moral law, then, requires God's direct involvement in the affairs of civil government, intervention that was possible only in a covenant nation like Israel. Government today fails to perform adequately even basic tasks, such as preventing crime; how can the state reasonably attempt to make men moral and sinless by cleaning up their hearts, consciences, and minds?
Godly people still have an interest in promoting corporate compliance with God's standards. But today God seems to have vested primary responsibility for society's moral health with the religious, rather than civil, authorities. Thus, while the Bible does not prevent the state from taking on a moral role, it also does not mandate it.
If Scripture requires the state to act in some circumstances (for instance, to punish the wrongdoer and promote justice), it also restricts how the state can act. The most important limitation flows from the first commandment given to Moses: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Although the "other gods" were usually such supposed deities as Baal, some secular rulers, notably the later Roman emperors, also claimed to be divine. God punished kings (such as Tyre's ruler and Israel's Herod) for making or tolerating such preposterous claims.
Today's secular rulers are more discreet in their formal pretensions, but many nevertheless act as quasi-gods. From the Pharaoh who held the Jews in captivity and ordered the murder of their newborn sons to the 20th-century totalitarians with their personality cults, civil authorities have often usurped God's role. What author Herb Schlossberg calls "the idol state" purports to give life meaning, set moral standards, meet personal needs, and otherwise direct human activity. The Bible suggests that an expansive government is bad not only because it might demand to be treated like God, but also because it will reflect the sinfulness of its participants and mistreat its citizens. The inescapable problem is that man is a fallen creature, all too willing to do wrong. For instance, God declared that His people "are skilled in doing evil."
This sinful tendency is exacerbated by the accumulation of power. God instructed the Israelites that their king was neither to acquire too many horses and wives, and too much gold and silver, nor to "consider himself to be better than his brothers" (Deuteronomy 17:16-17, 20). Similarly, when the Israelites requested that God give them a king, He cautioned -through the prophet Samuel-that the king would abuse his authority and that their calls for relief would go unheeded.
And while Scripture is ultimately more concerned about spiritual freedom-particularly liberation from sin-than political freedom, the latter remains an important theme for at least three reasons. First, the lives and dignity of human beings created in the image of God require respect by other people, including governors. In the end, the least important person for whom Christ died is of greater value than the grandest empire.
Second, people must be free to worship God and integrate obedience to Him into their daily lives. This concern obviously animated Peter and John when they rejected the demand of the Sanhedrin, an ecclesiastical body with considerable civil power, that they cease teaching in Jesus' name: "We must obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29). Paul, too, never hesitated to disobey civil authorities that denied him permission to preach.
Finally, Christ's injunction that believers be salt and light requires that they have at least some autonomy from the state. In the Soviet Union, for instance, the government outlawed private charity, probably the most important practical outworking of a person's Christian faith. The imperialistic tendencies of Western welfare states to take over communal life can ultimately have much the same effect as the USSR's formal ban.
To know what government must and must not do is critical, but only a start, since most issues fall somewhere in between. Moreover, most have been with us since biblical times. Poverty, for instance, as well as debasement of the currency and high tax levels, are hardy perennials. Although the specific manifestations of these problems are different today, broader biblical principles apply.
Consider poverty. God's concern for the poor, the vulnerable, and the weak is persistent, pervasive, and powerful. Notably, however, the Bible does not vest this responsibility in the state. While Scripture does not bar a public role, the alleviation of poverty is consistently presented as an obligation of individuals, families, and congregations, not government, and a duty to God, not a right of the recipient.
Moreover, the biblical model of limited assistance to those unable to work imposed responsibilities upon the recipients, and avoided the social destructiveness of the modern welfare state. Although Scripture does not formally proscribe a public role or broader approach, it implies that believers should fulfill their individual and corporate responsibilities before turning to government, and that any state programs should not violate other biblical norms, such as family formation.
Many other current public controversies, like corporate fraud, insider trading, the minimum wage, and the Export-Import Bank, are more esoteric. About them the Bible offers little specific guidance. Straining to find specific guidance leads to embarrassing proof-texting, such as that of columnist Brian S. Chilton, who cited Joseph's "successful administration of Egypt's food supply" in concluding of attempted nation-building in Iraq today: "If this president, as with Joseph, wants to spend money on a project while acknowledging God's direction and role, then he has my support."
But Joseph's program tells us nothing about George W. Bush's efforts. It certainly doesn't tell us that President Bush has correctly divined God's purpose. Godly citizens, no less than a godly president, have a responsibility simultaneously to seek God's will and apply wisdom. For most matters are more issues of prudence than principle and fall within the permissive area of government activity.
That is, there is neither a mandate for nor a prohibition against the government occupying Iraq, or regulating who may trade which securities based on what knowledge. The link between, say, concern for the poor and a particular federal job-training program is prudential, not spiritual. Churchmen who speak on such issues often look more like common lobbyists than godly prophets.
Although there is no formal Christian political philosophy, believers have good reason to be skeptical about using government to solve economic and social problems. The temptation to seize power in an attempt to do good is strong; the prospect of making people moral and righteous is alluring. But can there be greater hubris than the belief that one should forcibly remake individuals and transform entire societies? Literally thousands of years of history suggest that such a project is fraught with peril and doomed to fail.
One concern is the primacy of God. In a broad sense, political and economic freedom, particularly independence from the paternal welfare state, have a spiritual dimension, since liberty forces people to rely on God. The wider the latitude of decisions left to individuals, the greater the variety of situations in which they must exercise moral judgment and seek to implement biblical principles.
Moreover, believers must never forget that the basis of the state is coercion, backed by prison and, should a citizen resist, death. In general, throwing someone in jail cannot be viewed as an act of love. Thus, Christians should exhibit humility before resorting to coercion, and should do so only reluctantly. In some cases the only way to demonstrate love for one's neighbors is to punish miscreants, but we should be careful before turning disagreements, however serious, into crimes.
America's Founders, irrespective of their individual faith commitments, established a limited national government of enumerated powers because their shared biblical worldview warned against the danger of mixing sinful human nature and concentrated political authority. They saw a Constitution that restricted and decentralized state power as the only way to protect people from the actions of rulers who would most decidedly not be angels.
-Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute


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See All Contributors »
Wanted a poll that everyone could agree makes sense.
Since boneless wings are not wings this question is confusing to me.
Eyes closed, head first, can't lose.
Originally Posted by cjb1978
Wanted a poll that everyone could agree makes sense.
WTF is a non-bone wing, and do men honestly eat them?
Originally Posted by cjb1978
Wanted a poll that everyone could agree makes sense.
Yuck... I do not see the draw to BWW. To each their own, I guess.
Yeah, I love sauced-up breading. SOOO good.
Team Rainbo_
Originally Posted by VikesFan4Ever28
You have almost 5 crap tons.
Originally Posted by DistrictCyclone
WTF is a non-bone wing, and do men honestly eat them?
A chicken nugget.
I've never considered a boneless wing. Isn't that just a pre-sauced chicken nugget?
Originally Posted by Hawkeye11en1
Yeah, I love sauced-up breading. SOOO good.
I'm not sure if this is serious.
traditional by far
they bread those mofo's up wayyyyyyyyyyy too much
Self proclaimed 2012 CF Newcomer of the Year
I like the boneless wings. I don't care who knows.
Kansas Must Be Destroyed
Sic Semper Jayhawks
In before the "you're not a man if you don't eat your wings with a bone in them."
....Nevermind, too late.
Originally Posted by 3TrueFans
I'm not sure if this is serious.
I love the feeling of being bloated.
That help?
Originally Posted by 3TrueFans
A chicken nugget.
So, not a wing. I just checked this out; they look like the breaded chicken you'd find at a Chinese buffet.
OP, please reflect the poll to reflect the following options:
1) Wings, like real men eat.
2) Over-breaded pieces of chicken that pansies can eat with a fork so their fingers don't get dirty.
Its the same meat is it not? So what the difference?
Originally Posted by CycloneErik
I like the boneless wings. I don't care who knows.
I'm in. I don't feel like dealing with the bones, I'd rather eat a hassle free piece of chicken.
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Around the U.S. in 50 Days: Massachusetts
In 2010, Massachusetts sort of broke the mold as far as the midterm GOP wave went. The special election to fill the seat held by the deceased Ted Kennedy was filled by Scott Brown, a relatively unknown state senator who seemingly came from nowhere to defeat his Democratic rival, Martha Coakley. at the time, it was described as an "earthquake" in politics. However, the Democrats | Read More »


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Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Russell Martin sparked a five-run ninth
inning with a leadoff home run as the New York Yankees topped the Baltimore
Orioles, 7-2, in Game 1 of their American League Division Series at Camden
Ichiro Suzuki added a run-scoring single in the ninth and finished with two
RBI, while Robinson Cano also knocked in a pair of runs for the Yankees.
CC Sabathia (1-0) allowed the two runs on eight hits and a walk with seven
strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings in the win. He had been 0-2 in three starts
against the Orioles this season.
Jim Johnson (0-1) surrendered all five runs -- four earned -- in the ninth to
take the loss for Baltimore, which was coming off a 5-1 victory over the Texas
Rangers in the AL's one-game wild card playoff.
The Sports Network


text: Leave for your kansas trip feeling excited and well prepared. Search through our kansas travel guides, expert recommendations and featured vacations to plan the perfect getaway. kansas destinations have something to offer every type of traveler. With family-friendly activities, ... Moreromantic escapes and adventurous excursions, there has never been a better time to visit kansas.


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There are almost 100 parks in Bellevue, with a broad range of amenities and features, including indoor pools, lakefront beaches, community centers, golf courses, skate plazas, nature trails, indoor tennis courts and a boat launch. The city also coordinates lessons for many sports from tennis to swimming to golf, and coordinates youth and adult leagues for several sports.
The city is home to major weekend events, including a regionally famous arts and crafts fair, the Strawberry Festival, the Bellevue Jazz & Blues Festival and Wintergrass (a bluegrass festival).
Seasonal events include Magic Season downtown, the Family 4th at Downtown Park and the Sheep Shearing Event and Kelsey Creek Farm Fair, both at Kelsey Creek Farm Park. The Recreation and Events page tells you what events are coming soon.
People can pick their own strawberries and blueberries or buy other produce at the Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm. Fresh produce is also available at the Lake Hills Greenbelt Produce Stand or the Bellevue Farmers Market.
Connections Recreation & Activity Guide
Regional Parks Information and Registration
Parks & Community Services
450 110th Ave. NE
P.O. box 90012
Bellevue, WA 98009
Contact: Robin Haaseth, Public Information Officer
Phone: 425-452-6182
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Goodguys Southwest Nationals - Great Scottsdale! - Expanded For WebWritten by on March 17, 2008 There's A Reason Goodguys' Season Wrapper Takes Place In Arizona!
You've probably seen Scottsdale's Westworld on TV even if you've never attended the Goodguys Southwest Nationals there, as it's the venue for the Barrett-Jackson auctions that push the price of collector cars so ludicrously high. It's a great venue for a Goodguys Nats, though, because it's primarily an equine venue, which means there's plenty of grass to park on, in addition to asphalt, while the mountains that surround Scottsdale and neighboring Phoenix make for a picturesque backdrop. Add in fantastic weather for November and a great swap meet, and the bowl-like venue is perfect. Vendors have the luxury of setting up shop inside the building that houses the B-J auctions, and out of the still-hot-for-November Arizona sun.
Early arrivals on Thursday could partake in a tour of local shops hosted by Over The Hill Gang Phoenix, ending at RB's Obsolete open house in the afternoon, while Friday night saw the 1st Goodguys barbecue and new location grand opening for Hot Rods by Dean, leaving Saturday night free for participants to sample Scottsdale's restaurants.
Scottsdale is also close enough for us SoCal journo-types not to have to hop on a plane to attend, and it's surprising just how much swap meet treasure you can cram into a rental car when you have to, though even we drew the line at strapping a bargain '57 Chevy hood to the roof of an almost new car for a six-hour drive!
Being the final show on Goodguys' yearly calendar, Scottsdale also hosted a display of the winners in each of the organization's annual award categories, giving attendees the chance to admire the Custom Rod of the Year and Kustom of the Year, as well as Muscle Car and Truck of the Year, among others. That's if the nearly 2,000 registered cars weren't enough, of course.
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The one-piece Olds windshield, shaved trim and handles, frenched lights, and smoothed bumpers on John Denich's '51 are neat, but the gold paint and matching gold and white upholstery earned it a Top Tin award.Looking at Jack Lang's '50 convert, you'd never believe it once resided in a sand wash with the doors bent back onto the fenders. It's back with a bang, now packing a Ram Jet 502, 3 1/2-inch chop, and white leather upholstery.Scottsdale's Warren Alvord patterned his '34 after Salt Flats racers of the past. The 16-inch Halibrand knockoffs and Excelsior tires provide the perfect touch.Al and Kristina Manning trekked down from Paso Robles with their '41 convert, complete with a Total Cost Involved frontend, Nova rear, and 350 Vortec engine.If you didn't notice the fawn Ultraleather interior or ARE wheels, you'd think this was a neat old wagon, but underneath you'll find a 5.8L EFI Ford motor, AOD trans, and 8-inch rearend.Patrick Quinn's '40 Chevy is a homebuilt driver, with an LS1 engine, C4 Vette suspension, and a '49 Caddy dash. We featured it more than two years ago in our February '06 issue and it still looks fresh.You may have seen John St. Germain's '36 roadster before, but we like it enough to give you another look (we showed it in the April issue with the bumpers and hubcaps).You can't go wrong with a 392 Hemi in a '32 roadster, but finish it with plenty of nickel-plating instead of chrome, Sprint Car cowl steering, and nerf bars, and you'll have a winner. Or rather Norman Brown will, as he already owns this version.
Cole Foster brought out and displayed Kirk Hammett's '36 coupe, as it had been voted Goodguys Kustom of the Year.Ed LaBelle's '56 Buick Special is exactly that, thanks to a 455 Buick, 400 trans, and gorgeous white upholstery. Body mods include a louvered hood, recessed portholes, shaved doors and hood, and a custom grille.This is our kind of old-school rod-a black 'n' flamed '40 coupe with a blown '53 Caddy motor and four-speed Hydro. The while tuck 'n' roll with gold piping didn't hurt one bit either.We're already suckers for the bustle-back body style, so Tom Gossard's '32 Vicky caught our eye as soon as we saw its bright white paint and red grille. A 355 Chevy and a Muncie four-speed get the Halibrands turnin'.Goodguys gave this drop-dead-gorgeous Model A roadster the Period Perfect award, and it couldn't have gone to a more deserving rod; but then we're biased, as R&C featured this very roadster back in the '60s.Absolutely gorgeous, and a candidate for our Top Tin (except the Goodguys judges beat me to it for its Chicks Choice award), Frank McCrory's '49 Chevy featured peaked fenders to flow into the headlight rings, a peaked and molded hood, and billet wheels.Tucson's Mike Robillard motored out in this great little '27 track T. That's a four-banger under the hood, but what made us look twice was the pair of S&S motorcycle carburetors.The swap meet at Scottsdale was a good size and contained all sorts of treasures, including this early A roadster. Sans fenders and running boards, it had a finned Zepher intake and downdraft carb on the four-banger.
When was the last time you saw a '38 Chrysler coupe? Mind you, with a total production of less than 6,000, you'd be forgiven if you'd never even seen one.This super-cool little Model A-based modified ran a three twos-fed 327 backed by a 350, and was described by owner Justin Baas as a '28 Alumnafodge.


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Date: Jan 20th, 2013
Anoka County Library, in partnership with the Lyric Arts Theater, is pleased to offer a "Page & Stage" experience Sunday, January 20th, beginning at 12:00 pm at the Lyric Arts Main Street Stage. Lyric Arts Theater is located at 420 E. Main Street in Anoka.
Participants will take a closer look at the comedy Becky's New Car, written by Steven Dietz and directed by Robert Neu. Becky is a mid-American housewife who is fed up with her mundane and predictable life. She doesn't have it half bad, but she feels there has to be more to life. Things quickly change when her daily routine of working at a car dealership is flipped upside down. Enter a socially inept millionaire and the next thing you know, Becky has stumbled into an affair and a double life.
"We are fortunate to have a community asset such as Lyric Arts Theater and we are grateful for their willingness to work with Anoka County Library to give patrons this unique perspective of this quirky comedy," said Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart.
Come and ride shotgun with Becky as she faces her own fork in the road in this wickedly funny, inventive, and touching trip through the hazards of being a "woman of a certain age."
"Comedy, while enjoyable for the audience, can often be challenging for performers," said Library Board Vice President Cathy Montain. "Learn more about comedy straight from the actors and the director."
The program is open to ages 15 and older. Registration is required and seating is limited. To reserve a spot, contact the Main Street Box Office at 763-433-2510 extension 101 and mention the Anoka County Library Becky's New Car "Page and Stage" program. Participants must register by January 11th and are expected to take part in all aspects of the program, including pre-show and post-show discussions.
Once registered, participants will receive a copy of the script and a study guide to prepare for the pre-show discussion. Cristopher Tibbetts will facilitate the discussion of the script, its characters, and "what to look for" in the performance. Mr. Tibbetts has directed Miracle on 34th Street and Visitor from Hollywood at Lyric Arts, and has worked as a director, actor, playwright, and performance teacher at theaters and schools across the country. Participants will enjoy the performance of Becky's New Car and then stay for a post-show discussion where the cast and director hold a question and answer session with the audience.
To register for this free event, call 763-433-2510, extension101. This event is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. For more information about Lyric Arts Theater, visit lyricarts.org.


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Tidying Up the Front End of a 1946 Ford Roadster PickupWritten by on April 1, 2012
You know how there are some jobs that you just never seemed to get around to? The front of my 1946 Ford roadster pickup is a perfect example. It's been on the road for a few years now, yet I never seem to find the time to fit the front bumper or fabricate a lower pan. Matters were made worse by the ugly radiator mounts that were supposed to be temporary over a decade ago, and are not only still there, but were in plain view under the grille.
So, rather than re-mount the radiator (it fits just fine, why fix what ain't broke?), I decided to do the next best thing—hide those mounts behind a neat lower pan and bumper. I took the opportunity to move the bumper a lot closer to the body, and fabricated mounting brackets from 1 3/4-inch steel strap, figuring that it was so low it'd be worthless as an actual bumper, so I wouldn't need sprung steel brackets.
Armed with a 5x1-foot piece of 18-gauge steel sheet, 12 inches of 1/8-inch C-channel, some 1/4-inch plate, and 3/16x2-inch strap, I set to work, and have to say I'm pleased with the result. Now why didn't I do this years ago?
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
I also brought the bumper in way closer to the body than its stock position, eliminating the gap where once a gravel pan lived.Though the bumper hides most of the "gap" at the front, I wanted to fabricate a new panel, not quite a rolled pan. Borrowing the sheetmetal brake at Circle City Hot Rods, I bent up a C-channel, 4 inches wide, with 1/2-inch returns, from 18-gauge steel.Perfect. All it needed now was a gentle curve along its length. Note I used masking tape to protect the painted fenders.Using a shrinker/stretcher from Summit Racing, I shrunk the upper and lower return edges until I achieved the curvature desired.The jaws for the shrinker/stretcher are easily swapped. The stretcher jaws are on the left and the shrinker jaws on the right. It can be seen how, as the jaws are forced together, the angles dictate whether the jaws are pulled apart to stretch, or pushed together to shrink.Shrinking the return lip causes the panel to curve, as shown. This panel was shrunk a little at a time until the desired curvature was attained. Trial and error and experience will tell you how far to go.With the curvature matching that of the lower edges of the fenders, the panel was trimmed to length and trial fitted to the truck.
The new panel was then trimmed to fit between the end sections, and will be butt-welded to them. Fabricating them this way provides a neat 90-degree bend at the ends, rather than trying to weld on the corner.Whilst at Circle City Hot Rods I also formed a 45-degree bend in another length of 18-gauge steel, which would become a top section of the pan between the section I'd already fabricated and the radiator. Here I'm using a plasma cutter to trim a curve on the front edge to match that of the first section.It's not all fancy tools around here you know. I used an argon bottle top to form the curves at each end of this panel!Using the plasma to cut a relief, the radiused ends were easy to form. I could have made the ends separately, but why make more work for myself, and extra welding?This second section of the panel will have to be fitted to the first one from behind, but a trial fit showed it to be the perfect length, before unbolting the lower section to facilitate trimming welding it all together.With the upper section clamped to a steel bench, I used a hand-operated joggler to form a step in the sheetmetal, mainly to provide some strength, but also to negate the need for a 4-foot-long butt-weld and the accompanying warpage issues! The return edge of the lower panel will sit on this "step" …
With the welding completed—in short 1-inch sections to reduce the risk of warpage—the joints were ground smooth.Doesn't that look better? With small triangular fillets welded into the corners below the radii, the pan is almost complete. All it needed now were a couple of slots for the bumper brackets to pass through. First though I had to fabricate those brackets! Note the masking tape around the grille opening. This prevented any sparks from damaging the paint during the previous grinding session.I broke out the plasma cutter again and made a pair of brackets from 1/4-inch steel plate to weld to the chassis, as well as some 1 3/4-inch strap for bumper brackets. Note the holes in these are larger than those in the chassis brackets to allow for some adjustment.With the chassis brackets welded in place, the bumper brackets could be bolted on to check for length.Having access to a lift in our tech center sure made things easier, as I was able to lower the truck down over the bumper to determine the length of the bumper brackets.… then tack-welded to the rear of the bumper. Another pair of 4-inch-long lengths of steel strap were bolted to them, again through oversize holes, and welded to the bumper brackets.
A Rotabroach was used to drill the top and bottom of the slot, the remaining steel removed with a cut-off wheel followed by a file. Turns out I could have skipped welding the majority of the end sections to the pan, as the slots aligned perfectly with the welds!The bumper brackets now pass through the slots in the new pan. I'll probably use early VW Bug grommets here eventually.I figured while I was working with sheet steel I'd fabricate a couple of filler panels to fit either side of the radiator, not only to ensure all the air coming through the grille would pass through the radiator rather than around it, but also to hide the ugly ends of the abbreviated Caprice framerails! First I cut a paper template.The template was used to mark out the shape required in 18-gauge steel. Here's where a plasma cutter comes in handy again, as I was able to make the panels from single pieces of steel.And there you have it, a new lower pan, grille enclosure panels, and bumper. The front end of the pickup looks way better now. And all for under a $30 outlay, including hardware. Now you all know why Project Purple Pig isn't done; I've been trying to get the truck "finished"!


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Design By: Donna Collinsworth
Skill Level: Easy
Sizes: Christmas Bag: Finished bag about 9" tall x 7" wide.
Money Holder: Finished Holder about 4" wide x 7" tall.
Snowman- Worsted Weight Yarn Cornmeal (MC) - 2½ oz (70 g), 136 yd (125 m) White (CC) - 1 oz (28 g), 55 yd (50 m) Orange- 1 oz (28 g), 55 yd (50 m) Royal Blue - 1 oz (28 g), 55 yd (50 m) Light Blue - 1 oz (28 g), 55 yd (50 m) Black fabric paint; White Fabric Paint, Glue gun;
Holly and Ribbon- Worsted Weight Yarn Cornmeal (MC) - 2½ oz (70 g), 136 yd (125 m) Size 10 Crochet Thread: Scarlet - 100 yd; Green - 50 yd; Steel Size 7 Crochet Hook Thread needle Red Satin Ribbon - ⅛" wide, 4 yd
Peppermint Tree- Worsted Weight Yarn Cornmeal (MC) - 2 oz (56 g), 110 yd (100 m) Green (CC) - 1 oz (28 g), 55 yd (50 m) Royal Blue (RB) - 2 oz (56 g), 110 yd (100 m) Light Blue (LB) - 2 oz (56 g), 110 yd (100 m) Small amount of Brown Size 10 Crochet Thread: Scarlet - 100 yd; White - 100 yd; Steel Size 7 Crochet Hook Thread needle
Yarn needle; sewing needle and thread.
Crochet Hook: Size H-8 (5.00 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge.
Gauge: 5 hdc by 4 rows hdc = 1½"
Christmas Gift Bags Set 1 Crochet Pattern
A bag makes it easy to wrap odd shaped gifts, or small gifts that you don't want to get lost. Double up on your gift giving by making a crochet bag to use as a gift bag. The Christmas Gift Bags Set 1 adds a festive addition to the gift giving season. These quick and easy crochet bags made with colorful worsted weight yarn are designed just for the holidays by Donna Collinsworth. One of the greatest joys of the holiday season is giving gifts, especially handmade. Christmas Gift Bags Set 1 Pattern includes instructions for a Snowman, Christmas Tree and Holly bag. The bonus is that each bag comes with coordinating money holders to complete the merry set. Give these cute bags to a child and stick some coins in the money holder to give them a trill when the bag is opened.
Christmas Gift Bags Set 1 offers three easy to crochet patterns. All crochet skill levels will be able to stitch the bags quickly, just in time to use for the holiday season. The patterns use a worsted weight yarn color of your choice for the bag. Make the snowman, Christmas tree and holly embellishment separately, and then stitch these accents in place. The money holders coordinate with the embellishment on the outside of the bag for a complete set. Make one bag, or crochet all three and give them to a special person this holiday season. Christmas Gift Bags add a little bit of holiday joy to your festive gather or gift giving.
Other popular Christmas and holiday crochet patterns include:
Holiday Purse Set 1 Crochet Pattern
Holiday Purse Set 2 Crochet Pattern
Santa Toilet Cover Crochet Pattern
Christmas Tree TP Topper Crochet Pattern
Vintage Christmas Doilies Crochet Pattern
Christmas Ornaments Set 2 Crochet Pattern
Soft Sculpture Christmas Trees Crochet Pattern
Christmas Through the Home Crochet Pattern
Christmas TP Toppers Crochet Pattern
All skill levels of crochet can enjoy these holiday must haves!
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Our policy lasts for 60 days. If 60 days have passed since your purchase was made, unfortunately we can not offer you a refund. To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging. To complete your return, we require a receipt or proof of purchase be sent with your return. Please do not send your purchase back to the product manufacturer. There are certain situations where only partial refunds are granted: Books with obvious signs of use Any item not in its original condition, is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to our error. There are certain situations where no refund will be granted: CD or DVD that has been opened Clearance/Bargain Items - Only regular priced items may be refunded, unfortunately Clearance/Bargain items cannot be refunded.
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Maggie's Crochet Brand offers download versions of most of our products. Adobe Reader is required when opening the patterns. If you do not have Adobe Reader installed on your computer or device, you can download it here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/. Please note: Using other programs such as Preview or PDF Complete will cause printing errors and more. Due to the nature of downloadable products, we cannot and will not refund the cost of the item. If the item is a Maggie's Crochet Brand pattern, we can generally mail the pattern to you if you are having trouble downloading. Shipping and handling charges will have to be charged using a credit card by phone. Some downloads are not available to ship out - these are noted and all sales are final on those products. If you are not sure, please contact customer service.
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Any person in violation of our copyright will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This site is owned and operated by Maggie Weldon Designs. All the content on this site, including but not limited to photographs, pattern designs, logos and text is owned by Maggie Weldon Designs. All materials contained on this site are protected by both United States and International copyright laws and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Maggie Weldon Designs. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. A copy of downloaded patterns may be printed by the purchaser, for personal use only and are not to be distributed. Items made from Maggie's Crochet patterns may be sold, however a notice must be attached to each item giving credit to both Maggie's Crochet and the pattern designer.


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IHOP flips for Children's Medical Center
[1]IHOP will serve free short stacks all day long on National Pancake Day, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, in support of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. All local proceeds will go to the Georgia Health Sciences Children's Medical Center, the area's only children's hospital.
More than 1,500 IHOP restaurants across the United States, including four in the Augusta-Aiken area, will invite diners to enjoy a complimentary short stack of IHOP's signature buttermilk pancakes and to consider donating what they would have paid, or more, for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
Local participating IHOPs are located at:
• 2525 Washington Road, Augusta
• 3125 Peach Orchard Road, Augusta
• 4361 Washington Road, Evans
• 180 Aiken Mall Drive, Aiken
IHOP's Pancake Day brought in more than $3,200 for the Children's Medical Center in 2012.
"Those funds were used by our respiratory therapy team to purchase specialized equipment for patients with asthma and other breathing issues," said Catherine Stewart, CMN Development Coordinator. "The Children's Medical Center is a not-for-profit hospital, so we are truly grateful for the financial support from our community we receive through special events like National Pancake Day."
About GHS Children's Medical Center
The 154-bed Children's Medical Center is the second largest children's hospital in the state, providing the highest level of pediatric critical care and neonatal intensive care as well as a wide range of general and complex health care for children.
About IHOP
For 52 years, the IHOP family restaurant chain has served famous pancakes and a wide variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner items for all ages. IHOP strives to offer its guests an affordable, everyday dining experience with warm and friendly service. The first IHOP opened in Toluca Lake, Calif., in 1958. There are currently 1,438 IHOPs across the greater United States. IHOP restaurants are franchised and operated by Glendale, Calif.-based International House of Pancakes, LLC, and its affiliates.