text:
An Atheist With Gandhi
by Gora (Goparaju Ramachandra Rao)
Gandhi with Gora
oil painting by V. Veerabrahmam
Table of Contents (File 2; modified for HTML format)
Gandhiji lived a full life. So he spoke with knowledge and experience on subjects as varied as life itself. But his views on atheism are little known, perhaps, because no avowed atheist went sufficiently close to him.
I am an atheist and I had the privilege of close association with him for four years. We talked together about atheism several times during this period and I know his views on atheism to the extent to which they were revealed in our talks.
We discussed atheism on such occasions mainly to understand each other in relation to it and with no intention to publish the conversations. So there is no written record of our talks. However, he fixed February, 1948, for us to meet in Sevagram Ashram for almost ten days, for half-an-hour every day, to give clear shape to our thoughts and views on atheism. Had we met accordingly, much of what I am writing now, and perhaps more, might have appeared over our joint signatures. But that was not to be.
Since his assassination, I hesitated all these days to publish Gandhiji's views on atheism, as I understood them, lest I should be taken to put into his mouth statements which he did not make. I have no testimony for the truth of what I write here now except my good faith and the corroboration of my friends with whom I was discussing my talks with Gandhiji from time to time as they were taking place. I now venture to publish them, for what they are worth, so that they may not be lost altogether.
Except for the three letters from Gandhiji, the book consists of gists of my conversations with him which I reproduce from memory. All these conversations were carried on in English and I have a sufficiently vivid recollection of the talks because I received them as lessons and imprinted them on my heart.
My first contact with Gandhiji was through correspondence, some time early in the year 1930. I addressed a very short letter to him at Sabarmati Ashram. It consisted of only two sentences:
"You use the word god. May I know its meaning and how far the meaning is consistent with the practice of life?"
Gandhiji replied:
"God is beyond human comprehension."
Of course the reply did not satisfy me. How can anything that one talks of be beyond his comprehension? As the Salt Satyagraha Movement started just then, I could not carry on further correspondence with him on the subject.
I was a college lecturer till 1940 when I had to give up that profession because a ban was imposed on me for expressing my views on atheism. Soon after I went to the villages and engaged myself in adult education and the removal of untouchability. Atheism provided the background for my work.
After one year of village work, that is in September, 1941, I wrote a letter to Gandhiji to Sevagram narrating my antecedents and said:
For one year I have tackled the problem of untouchability with the atheistic outlook. I have a few co-workers who agree with me in the atheistic approach. The atheistic approach mainly consists in the non-recognition of sectarian labels like Hindus, Muslims and Christians.. We take man as man. Thus by discarding the labels and mixing up people in the general stream of humanity, we hope to remove untouchability also.
Our programme of work so far has been confined to systematic and periodical cosmopolitan dinners in which the guests pay for their fare which is always simple and cheap. The dinner is open to all and about forty to fifty guests, drawn from all castes including 'untouchables', take part in the dinner. The persons vary from time to time.
In the village atmosphere where caste restrictions continue to be rigid, open cosmopolitan dinners are not easy to accomplish. Yet we succeed, because we find that the atheistic attitude brings definite cosmopolitan outlook in its wake. The positive cosmopolitan outlook pushes out all sectarianism including ununtouchability.
The results of one year's work encourage us to proceed along the same lines. Before we do so, we desire to seek your advice. All of us have great regard for your wisdom and experience. We want to be told and warned of the possible pitfalls, if any, that lie in the way of our atheistic approach. In the light of your advice, we are prepared to revise our outlook and programme. If you like, I will go to Sevagram for a personal talk with you.
Gandhiji replied from Sevagram:
Via Wardha, C.P.
Dear Friend,
Atheism is a denial of self. No one has succeeded in its propagation. Such success as you have attained is due to your sincere work among the people round you. I am sorry I cannot invite you to come here. I have no time to spare for talks.
Yours sincerely, M. K. GANDHI
My co-workers and I yearned for close contact with Gandhiji, as we considered him the touchstone of public life. But the reply denied to us the opportunity.
Further the reply showed how much misunderstand- ing surrounded atheism. To us atheism is not a denial of the self; on the other hand, it is the fullest assertion of the self. Yet, instead of complaining that the meaning of atheism has not been properly understood, it is the duty of those who have taken up the cause of atheism, to clear the misunderstanding and to show what actually atheism is. So we decided to carry on the work in our own way. Nevertheless we hoped that, if we went earnestly about our work, some day we should attract the attention of Gandhiji, for he always valued earnest work.
And that day was not far off.
Then came the 1942 'Quit India' movement. My co-workers and I were frequently in gaol till 1944. Among us was a young man, Shri D. Ramaswamy, who had been in Sevagram Ashram before he joined us in 1942. Soon after Gandhiji's release in 1944, Shri Ramaswamy again went to Sevagram Ashram. In rendering an account of his work to Gandhiji, he had occasion to describe the atheistic approach to the problem of untouchability -- a work with which he was intimately associated during the two years he was with us in the village of Mudunur.
The following is the authorized gist of Shri Ramaswamy's conversation with Gandhiji as noted down by Shri Pyarelal, Gandhiji's secretary:
Faith in God and Constructive Work
The programme laid before the country by Gandhiji, i.e. the constructive programme, is not a new thing. He has always held that countrywide execution of the fifteen-fold programme in its entirety means independence for the people of India. He has often said that he is not a politician. He is essentially a man of religion and a social reformer, and to the extent political factors have come in his way he has been unwillingly drawn into the political sphere. Politics divorced from religion or social reform have no use for him.
Execution of the fifteen-fold programme means re-organization of the village life and evolution of non-violent society. Purged of communal disharmony and washed of the sin of untouchability, the 7,00,000 [sic] villages in India, healthy, self-sufficient and literate, cannot be kept in subjection. the task is tremendous. the majority of our people are attracted by political meetings, processions and the like; but quiet labour in the villages is too insipid for them. The following discourse that Gandhiji had with a young graduate will be of some use to workers faced with such a predicament.
This young fellow saw Gandhiji at Sevagram the other day in order to present him with a report of his work and seek his help and guidance. He told Gandhiji that he had a cosmopolitan outlook and did not believe in God. Gandhiji was pleased with his report. "Re-organization of the villages is a very intricate problem," he said, "but if we can find even half a dozen workers of the right type, we can solve it in due time. The time factor is important, but given the right start the thing will grow like a snow ball. You have heard of Booker T. Washington. We have to product better workers even than im in order to achieve our object."
"As for you," he continued, "your ambition will be fulfilled if, beside your ability and enthusiasm, you introduce something else in your life, i.e., a living faith in God. Then all insipidity will vanish. A cosmopolitan outlook is a necessity but it can never be a substitute for God. God is there, but our conception of God is limited by our mental horizon and by our physical environment. For instance when you read the Bible, you find that the God of the Hebrews was quite different from the God of Jesus Christ. You are dissatisfied with the prevalent idea about God, for the simple reason that those who profess belief in God do not present a living God in their own lives.
"Unless you have a living faith in God to sustain you, when failure stares you in the face there is disappointment for you. You may develop a revulsion for the work that you have taken up. You may begin to feel that after all what Dr. Ambedkar said was the right thing and you made a mistake in rejecting the high posts which you had been offered. My advice to you is that you should not leave this Ashram till you have found God. In spite of my limitless failings I am a seeker after Truth and so are my companions in this place. The Ashram, apart from its inhabitants, the sum total of energy that it represents, the principles for which it stands, may enable you to know God to the extent that you may be able to say 'God is', just as you can say 'Truth is'."
"I can say that in the sense that Truth is the antithesis of false-hood," replied the young friend.
"That is good enough," said Gandhiji. "The seers have described God as
(Not this, Not this). Truth will elude you. The sum total of all that is true is Truth. But you can't sum up all that is true. Like most of those who have had Western education, you have got an analytical mind. But there are things that can't be analysed. God who can be analysed by my poor intellect won't satisfy me. Therefore I do not try to analyse Him. I go behind the relative to the absolute and I get my peace of mind."
Friend: "I have carefully gone through your writings in the Harijan and Young India. Your way of life appeals to me very much. It offers scope for the exercise of individual will. The idea of God introduces a determinism and that limits man. It interferes with his free will."
Gandhiji: "Is there such a thing as free will? Where is it? We are mere playthings in the hands of Providence."
Friend: "What is the relationship between God and man, between Truth and God?"
Gandhiji: "I used to say 'God is Truth.' That did not completely satisfy me. So I said 'Truth is God.' He and His law are not different. God's law is God Himself. To interpret it man has to resort to intense prayer and merge himself in God. Each one will interpret the same in his or her won way. As for the relationship between man and God, man does not become man by virtue of having two hands. He becomes man by becoming a tabernacle of God."
Friend: When my idea if God itself is not clear, your talk of man becoming a tabernacle of God makes things still more confusing...."
Gandhiji: "Yet it is the true conception. Unless we have the realization that the body is the house of God, we are less than men. And where is the difficulty or confusion in conceiving Truth as God? You will concede that we are not tabernacles of Untruth: we are of Truth."
After a moment of silence, Gandhiji continued, "Every one who wants to live a true life has to fact difficulties I life, some which appear insurmountable. At that time it is faith in God that is Truth along, that will sustain you. The fellow-feeling which makes you feel miserable because of your brother's misery is godliness. You may call yourself an atheist, but so long as you feel akin with mankind you accept God in practice. I remember of clergymen who came to the funeral of the great atheist Bradlaugh. they said they had come to pay their homage because he was a godly man.
"If you go back with a living faith in God, in Truth, I have no doubt that your work will flourish. You should feel dissatisfied with everything until you have found Him and you will find Him," he concluded.
The friend has decided to stay at the Ashram for some time at least and he is trying to find God through labour for the service of his fellow beings.
From the above conversation it is clear that Shri Ramaswamy just presented the atheistic outlook to Gandhiji. Gandhiji's reaction conformed to the common meaning of atheism, namely that atheism is something incapable of and even contrary to goodness and goodwill. This is evident in his remark, 'The fellow-feeling which makes you feel miserable because of your brother's misery is godliness.' the remark suggested that fellow-feeling was the outcome of godliness, and conversely that those who had no belief in god could have no fellow-feeling either. This is the way in which atheism is now understood and the first reaction of Gandhiji to Shri Ramaswamy's presentation of atheism conformed to this kind of understanding of atheism.
During the conversation Shri Ramaswamy had occasions to refer to his
association with me. Then Gandhiji wanted to know me. I was invited to
Sevagram Ashram. I went there in the last week of November, 1944.
Shri Ramaswamy who was continuing his stay in the Ashram, was the first to receive me at Sevagram. He introduced me to Shri Pyarelal, Gandhiji's secretary, and to the other ashramites. He acquainted me with the details of his conversation with Gandhiji on atheism, reported in the last chapter. He told me that Gandhiji desired to know me.
Gandhiji was particularly busy those days with the many deputations that waited upon him. So it was two days before an interview with Gandhiji could be fixed for me. The time for the interview was Gandhiji's evening walk.
On the appointed evening I waited outside Gandhiji's hut. Just at 5-30 p.m. Gandhiji came out of his hut for the usual walk. I was introduced to him. He greeted me with a broad smile and the first question, "What shall I talk to a godless man?"
We both laughed heartily and I replied, "Bapuji, I am not a godless man, I am an atheist." Then the conversation continued as we walked together.
Gandhiji: How do you differentiate between godlessness and atheism?
I: Godlessness is negative. It merely denies the existence of god. Atheism is positive. It asserts the condition that results from the denial of god.
G: You say that atheism is positive?
I: Yes. In positive terms atheism means self-confidence and free will. Atheism is not negative in meaning though it is negative in form. Look at the words: non-co-operation, non-violence, ahimsa. They have positive connotations, though they are negative in form. To express an idea that is unfamiliar, we often use the negative of a negative. For instance 'fearlessness' for 'courage'.
G: You are talking of words.
I: Atheism bears a positive significance in the practice of life. Belief in god implies subordination of man to the divine will. In Hindu thought man's life is subordinated to karma or fate. In general, theism is the manifestation of the feeling of slavishness in man. Conversely, atheism is the manifestation of the feeling of freedom in man. Thus theism and atheism are opposite and they represent the opposite feelings, namely, dependence and independence respectively.
G: You are too theoretical. I am not so intellectual. Go to professors and discuss.
The remark pulled me up. I realized that Gandhiji's bent of mind was primarily practical. So I adjusted myself and said:
I: If atheism were only theoretical, I would not have cared for it, nor wasted your time. We have practical programmes based upon the atheistic outlook.
G: Ah, ah, I know that, so I am talking to you. Tell me what you are doing among the villagers.
I: We conduct cosmopolitan dinners regularly on every full-moon night. We have selected the full-moon day for the dinner because we get moonlight and there is no need of lamplights. For the dinner the invitation is open to all who pay one anna towards the cost of their fare. One anna per head is sufficient in a village, because, the menu is very simple, we get fuel and vegetables free and we collect buttermilk from the villagers. At the cosmopolitan dinners we care more for eating together than for eating full or well. The venue of the dinner is changed every time, a common place in the Harijanwada or a friend's house in the village. Normally forty to fifty guests drawn from different castes partake in the dinner. A host is selected every time and the guests pay him their annas at least a day in advance of the full-moon. The host holds himself responsible for the arrangements in connection with that dinner. The balance of money, if any, is credited to the next month.
Some of us do not attend public functions and wedding celebrations unless they include cosmopolitan dinners. Besides cosmopolitan dinners, we hold night literacy classes in Harijanwadas and adult education classes for the general public of the village. The adult education mainly consists of newspaper reading, map pointing and explanation. Everywhere we encourage cosmopolitan habits. Social mixing is not an easy affair especially in the villages now. It becomes more difficult when Harijans are brought into the picture.
G: Yes, I know that. But you could carry on this programme without atheism.
I: My method is atheism. I find that the atheistic outlook provides a favourable background for cosmopolitan practices. Acceptance of atheism at once pulls down caste and religious barriers between man and man. There is no longer a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian. All are human beings. Further, the atheistic outlook puts man on his legs. There is neither divine will nor fate to control his actions. The release of free will awakens Harijans and the depressed classes from the stupor of inferiority into which they were pressed all these ages when they were made to believe that they were fated to be untouchables. So I find the atheistic outlook helpful for my work. After all it is man that created god to make society moral and to silence restless inquisitiveness about the how and the why of natural phenomena. Of course god was useful though a falsehood. But like all falsehoods, belief in god also gave rise to many evils in course of time and today it is not only useless but harmful to human progress. So I take to the propagation of atheism as an aid to my work. The results justify my choice.
Bapuji listened to me patiently and in the end said stiffly, "I should fast even because atheism is spreading."
I: I will fast against your fast. (I answered at once.)
G: You will fast? (Gandhiji said looking straight into my face.)
I: Yes, Bapuji; but why should you fast? Tell me how atheism is wrong and I will change.
G: I see, your conviction in atheism is deep. (Gandhiji said slowly.)
I bowed.
G: The present conduct of people is giving room for the spread of atheism. (Gandhiji said reflectively.)
By then we had walked and conversed together for about twenty minutes. Gandhiji looked at me thoughtfully. There was a pause.
Shri Pyarelal who was all the while walking behind us and talking with others, joined Gandhiji and said that he wanted to tell Gandhiji something in private. Immediately those who were walking with us stepped aside a few paces. I too said Namaste to Gandhiji and was leaving him when he told me amidst laughter, "You can remain; privacy will not be disturbed as you do not understand Hindustani." All of us enjoyed the joke. Thereby Gandhiji perhaps suggested that I should pick up Hindustani.
With folded hands I took leave of Bapuji. He smiled and said that he would fix up for me another interview with him very soon. I retired to my room in the Ashram and thought over the talk with Gandhiji. Two things became apparent to me.
First, Gandhiji was pre-eminently a practical man. He judged theories and ideologies by the results they yielded in practice. Indeed that is a safe method to settle differences.
Secondly, Gandhiji had the same views and prejudices against atheism as the common man. But in his characteristic way he clothed them with courtesy, when he remarked that the present conduct of people gave room for the spread of atheism. Evidently he thought that atheism had developed in reaction to the misbehaviour of god-believers and that better conduct on their part would render atheism unnecessary. But I felt differently. The theistic outlook is fundamentally defective and it is bound to corrupt social behaviour. The misdeeds of the theists are neither whims nor forced by circumstances but the direct consequences of their theistic outlook. So the call for atheism is not out of disgust for the present conduct of people who profess the theistic faith, but out of a desire for a better way of life. The conduct of people cannot be improved unless the atheistic outlook is adopted. Atheism and theism represent opposite forms of behaviour and each is positive in its own way.
All this I wanted to make plain to Bapuji at the next interview.
After three days, Shri Pyarelal informed me that I could meet Bapuji that evening for half an hour at 4 o'clock.
I knew that Bapuji was very particular about punctuality. So I stepped into his apartment exactly at 4 o'clock by my watch. Bapuji who had just finished talking to an interviewer, looked at me and then at his watch and said to me smilingly, "You are half a minute too soon!"
"I am sorry, it is 4 o'clock by my watch," I replied stepping back.
"No, no, come in," Bapuji said, "watches may disagree, but let us not." It was a good joke.
He pointed out a seat to me and before I said anything to him, he started with a volley of questions. Each question required not more than a few words in answer from me. Within that half an hour he put me somewhere about what seemed to me a hundred questions. They related to minute details of my daily life, habits and the reactions of the villagers to my programmes. He inquired closely into my needs and difficulties and the help I had to meet them. He wanted to know the varied aspects of my relations -- with my parents, sisters and brothers and cousins and relatives far and near. He was particular on questions that referred to my wife and to my children and their education and their health. Now and then he would say, "I wanted to know....", wait for a moment or two and then he would put the question to me.
The series of questions revealed not only what intimate knowledge he had of the devious ways and practical difficulties of workers but how well he prepared himself to tackle me during that half an hour.
Toward the end he asked me whether I could stay longer in the Ashram. But on that occasion I had not gone to the Ashram prepared for a longer stay than a week. So I had to take leave of him with the promise of another visit to the Ashram in the near future.
I left the Ashram the next day deeply impressed with the immense interest that Bapuji took in me and my work. I was particularly happy to find that I could make Gandhiji take interest in my atheism, the cause which I represented.
During the week I was in the Ashram I visited frequently the adjoining village of Sevagram where experiments were carried on in village work under the guidance of Gandhiji. I also gained the acquaintance of the ashramites and the sister institutions, namely the Talimi Sangh, the Charkha Sangh, the Goseva Sangh, the Dawakhana, Gopuri and Gram Udyog Sangh.
I was not attending the prayers, of course, and none seemed to mind my absence, though prayers in the early morning hours and towards the evening time formed important items of the Ashram routine. My friend, Shri Ramaswamy, was not attending either. Shri Bhansali, an old inmate of the Ashram, also was not attending the prayers; he was not an atheist, though.
Thus ended the first phase of my personal contact with Gandhiji in the cause of atheism. It opened the way for further attempts at closer understanding.
Now, I was not a guest; I was admitted as an inmate of the Ashram. I was entrusted with the routine duties of the Ashram like latrine-cleaning, earth-work, vegetable-cutting and flour-grinding. Because I had been a teacher for some time, I was also entrusted with the teaching of science to the nurses of the dawakhana (Ashram Hospital).
I was partaking in all the activities of the Ashram, except the prayers, and was trying to understand Gandhiji from the life therein. Out of the several object lessons that the Ashram life provided, three incidents impressed me particularly.
A doctor who had evolved a new system of medicine came to Bapuji for his blessings. The learned doctor's therapy was based upon an elaborate theory and he wanted to explain it to Bapuji. A five-minute interview was granted to the doctor after three days of waiting. But the doctor returned from the interview before the five minutes were over. On inquiry, the doctor told me that Bapuji pleaded lack of time to understand his theory of medicine in detail and so requested the doctor straightway to prove the efficacy of his system by treating a chronic patient who was ailing in the Ashram then.
The incident showed me how Gandhiji judged theories by their practical
* * *
Another time a gentleman was granted a ten-minute interview. It was a silent interview in which Bapuji wrote out his answers on a slate. I too was present at the interview.
The interviewer eloquently explained his problem to Bapuji for seven minutes and sought Bapuji's advice in the end. Bapu wrote the reply: "The fact you talked so long on the problem shows you have not understood the problem."
The gentleman was dumbfounded. Bapuji wrote again: "A worker goes straight to the practical difficulty."
The gentleman felt humble and said meekly, "I have difficulties, Bapuji."
Bapu wrote in reply: "Go and work. Work solves your difficulties."
The ten minutes were over and Bapuji turned away his face.
Bapuji could be stern in his admonitions.
* * *
One day I wanted to dissect a frog to demonstrate the phenomenon of heart-beat to the nurses' class which I was teaching. The nurses objected to the dissection on the ground that it went against the principle of non-violence (ahimsa). The matter was referred to Bapuji and he replied, "Dissect the frog, if that is the only way to explain the heart-beat." And I dissected a frog.
Evidently Bapuji's conception of ahimsa was different from what it was often supposed to be.
Thus I was living and learning in the Ashram. What handicap I had on account of my meagre knowledge of Hindustani was made good by the special attention the ashramites paid to me. I was on the whole happy in the Ashram.
Yet the wonder grew in me why Bapuji had not called me to talk about atheism. It looked as though he avoided any reference to atheism in his dealings with me at that time. But, strangely enough, he asked me to call my wife, my children and my co-workers to the Ashram. It was a privilege for any one to be invited to the Ashram. So some significance was read into this call and it became plain later on.
I intimated Bapuji's desire to my village centre. My wife, children and co-workers came to the Ashram in batches. During the few days they stayed in the Ashram they engaged themselves in all the routine work except the prayers.
In spite of his talking hours being limited, Bapuji talked in the morning for ten minutes with every batch of my co-workers that came to the Ashram. Though my friends were ill-conversant with Hindustani or English, Bapuji enjoyed their broken expressions and tried to know from them about their work in the village and their reactions to Ashram life.
In this way I lived in the Ashram for three months and at last Bapuji called me for a talk.


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We received this email from Laura W:
There are several excellent children's books on this-ask any elementary teacher or librarian. My mother used to collect quilts and quilt samples to make reading these books more alive for her 2nd grade class. My favorite: The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy, pictures by Jerry Pinkey (intergenerational family, grandma and grandchild work on quilt from family clothes, grandma gets too sick to work on it, eventually mom picks up where grandma left off, fine illustrations too).The Patchwork Quilt
In my mother's memory, I've hung the colorful quilts all over my entry/stairwell walls so it's the first thing everyone sees when they come in. Plus they look really great there.
Thanks for your fascinating blog,
My grandma made a small quilt for my first child and it was from the scraps of all the dresses she had sewn for me while I was growing up. What memories those scraps evoked!
Beautiful idea. And there's also the time the quilter spent working on the quilt…stitch-by-stitch, in a labor of love.
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The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, an Xbox 360-only indie game that a Russian pirate "ported" over to PC as "a restoration of justice" will get an official PC release, the game's studio said this evening.
Ska Studios said a PC version of Vampire Smile had always been envisioned since the game released in 2011, but the time and money of bringing it out for that platform got in the way of other projects the indie shop was working on, such as its upcoming game Charlie Murder, due this summer.
"The reason The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is not on PC is not because of something secret and evil," James Silva wrote. "Porting is a huge hassle, it's not trivial, and I simply haven't made time for it."
That said, the cracking-and-porting job done by one "Barabus" has focused attention on the game and therefore Silva's attention toward officially releasing it on PC. "Of course, we can't condone it, but we definitely recognize that the only thing we can really do about it is the original plan: port to PC," Silva wrote.
"Nothing's set in stone, but we got the go ahead to make a pre-announcement: we'll be working with Microsoft to bring our stuff to PC," Silva promised.
To Kotaku, Silva said "the PC port was something I had been wanting to do for awhile," and something his studio had brought up with Microsoft on Friday, four days before the hack. "Once that news hit, we all decided it was a good opportunity to follow up with an announcement. It was a bizarre coincidence, and we're actually more flattered by the positive attention Vampire Smile's getting than anything, but I've said that already.
Vampire Smile, Charlie Murders [Ska Studios]


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Artist: The Orlons
Album: Miscellaneous
Genre: R&B
The Orlons
Don't Hang Up
Don't Hang Up
The Orlons
Don't hang up (No No)
Oh don't you do it now,don't hang up (No No)
Don't hang up like you always do
I know you think I want you to
I'll explain the facts to you,don't hang up
Give me a chance or our romance is through
Don't hang up,Oh don't you do it now,don't hang up
I took a walk with Mary Lou
I ran around to visit Sue
She had some boys I never knew
Don't hang up
They took a ride so baby I went too
Stopped at the record hop I had to be a sport
We jumped and we did the slop
Then you walked in....and I was caught
Don't hang up, Oh don't you do it now
Don't hang up
A- you got some explain'in too
A like that chick I saw with you
So talk fast like you always do
Don't hang up, you've got one chance
or our romance is through
Then you walked in and you were caught
Don't hang up Oh don't you do it now don't hang up
I didn't say our love was through
But if we made a fool for two
Cause making up is fun to do
Don't hang up
Cause no one eles will ever do but you
Don't hang up Oh don't you do it now
Or you'll be sorry baby
You know I love you baby
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text:
Quality doesn't matter.
Don't get me wrong. Quality will matter – a lot – down the road. But right now, at this pinpoint in time, this exact moment – as you struggle and scramble to whip your first draft into shape – as you sweat and shake and feel like smashing your computer against the wall – as you glare at the books on your shelves, wondering how they do it, all those talented, successful, published bastards – as you look for advice and inspiration through your writing books, and find none – as you convince yourself that you have no talent, and never did, and never will, no matter how hard you try – as you flip back through old files, old pages, muttering to yourself, "crap, crap, crap, more crap" –as you practice writing exercises, futilely searching for some breakthrough that you know, just know, will never come – at this moment – this moment here – this moment now – Quality. Doesn't. Matter.
So what does matter?
Completion. The only goal of a first draft is to complete it. If you put in some nice dialogue, great. If you build a solid structure for future drafts, great. If you have some decent characterizations, a tight plot, a sweet turn of phrase, great, great, great. But those are ancillary benefits, separate from your goal.
And the chase for those ancillary benefits lead many a writer to abandon first draft after first draft, halfway through. If only they realized that quality doesn't matter. It's a first draft. It's not supposed to be perfect. And by completing it, you've already done more than 99.9 percent of people who call themselves writers ever accomplish.
Later, I'll write more about techniques for completing your first drafts, and about the ever-important revising phase. But this post isn't about craft, or technique. This post is about reminding you that first drafts are about completion, not quality.
By the way, I've written this post straight through, with no revisions. This is a first draft. It's the only first draft I will ever post on this blog. But I wanted to make a point. Glancing over it, I think it's crap. But you know what? Quality doesn't matter. I completed it. And that's what matters.
Now go complete your first draft.


text:
What Michael Vara saw on his computer screen simply blew him away.
"It was the newspaper story of the fire in my building several years ago and it went on to talk about two people - one child and one adult - who died in that fire. The father died trying to leave the building and the little girl died hiding in the bedroom closet in my bedroom."
Vara then understood another thing that had been happening each night. He said he always "closed and secured it" his bedroom closet at night but in the morning, he would find it "wide open."
That night, he and his stepson set up the recorder in hopes of getting some EVPs.
"I began asking questions like, who are you, why are you hear and do you know you're dead? Then I proceeded to direct any spirits in the apartment to go to the light."
When they rewound the tape to listen, they heard "grunting and even a man saying in a Freddy Kruger style voice, 'the light." But the "big breakthrough" did not come until the following night. He set up the recorder in the living room with "just a dim light. To my left was my very dark kitchen."
In pursuit of more proof, he decided to try aggravating the spirits like was done in the White Noise movie.
"Guess what?" he asked. "It worked! I said, 'Ohhh this cigarette is good," he told the unseen spirit. "Want some? Oh that's right; you're dead. You can't have any."
At that same moment, Vara said, "I saw off to my left on the kitchen wall, a circle of light appear, with a dark letter 'A' in the middle of it. Then every hair on my body stuck straight up and that was enough for me!"
Vara called his friends who owned the apartment building.
"I told them that I was moving and why I was moving. My friends thought I was crazy," but they let him out of his lease. From then on, he said, it seemed that "my new ghostly friends" did not want him to leave.
"As a matter of fact, some may say they were heated over the idea, so much so that I awoke my last morning there to a nasty burning smell, and sat up quickly only to find my blinds off the window and clear across the other side of the bedroom lying on my electric heater melting."
He promptly got up, packed his belongings, and he and his stepson left. They moved "down the road where I never had any more problems."
And Vara soon remembered that the name of the girl who had died in the fire began with the letter A.
After he left, one of the building's owners decided to take over that same apartment for a few months. However, Vara said he ended up "selling the building three months later. When I asked why they sold it after just pouring a ton of money into fixing it up, they would not comment."
But perhaps worst of all, that "beautiful woman" who had come to his apartment, "never returned and never even picked up the phone for me again!"


text:
Cheat Sheet
QuickBooks Simple Start For Dummies
Keeping track of your accounting with QuickBooks Simple Start means organizing your debits and credits, applying user interface tips, using calculating and editing tricks, working efficiently with keyboard shortcuts, and right-clicking on your mouse to perform basic tasks in QuickBooks Simple Start.
Keeping Your Debits and Credits Straight in QuickBooks Simple Start
To keep track of your debits and credits in QuickBooks Simple Start, remember that the left (debit) is the natural balance for asset accounts, and the right (credit) is the natural balance for liability and owner's equity accounts. Remember: Assets=Liabilities +Owner's Equity. (The exceptions are contra accounts and expense accounts that add or deduct from other accounts to form a net amount.)
|Account Type
|Increase asset accounts
|Decrease asset accounts
|Decrease liability accounts
|Increase liability accounts
|Owner's equity
|Decrease owner's equity accounts
|Increase owner's equity accounts
|Decrease income accounts
|Increase income accounts
|Increase expense accounts
|Decrease expense accounts
QuickBooks Simple Start Keyboard Shortcuts
When you're working in QuickBooks Simple Start, take advantage of keyboard shortcuts for efficiency. Although they may take a while to internalize, keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time. This guide represents the PC keys to press and the action that occurs:
|Press This PC Shortcut
|And QuickBooks Does This
|Activates the menu bar so you can select command names by pressing the underlined letter in the menu or command name
|Exits the QuickBooks program
|Displays the Chart of Accounts window
|Copies your selection to the clipboard
|Within a register window, deletes the selected transaction
|Within a register window, opens the selected transaction so you can edit it
|Displays the Find window
|Goes to the other side of a transfer transaction
|Displays the Create Invoice window
|Displays the Customer list window
|Ctrl+ N
|When you're working with a window—such as the Create Invoices window or the Write Checks window—displays an empty, fresh window so you can add a new transaction
|Pastes the contents of the clipboard
|Moves your selection to the clipboard
|Undoes your last action — usually
|Inserts a line into a list of items or expenses
|Deletes the selected line from a list of items or expenses
Right-Click to Perform Common Tasks in QuickBooks Simple Start
To perform a common task related to a window, transaction, or item in QuickBooks Simple Start, you can use the right mouse button to display a shortcut menu. For example, right-clicking often displays commands for deleting or voiding the transaction or creating a QuickReport on the transaction. The commands vary depending on the type of transaction you select or the window you've right-clicked.
In a register, select and right-click a specific transaction
In a list, right-click an item
In a form, display a transaction and right-click a blank area of the form.
In a list window, right-click somewhere inside the window.
Some QuickBooks Simple Start User Interface Tricks
Working your way through QuickBooks Simple Start is easier when you use these tricks to navigate through the QuickBooks Simple Start program and interact with the system's displays. Here are a few user interface tips:
To get help, press the F1 function key. QuickBooks starts the Help program and shows you information about the part of the QuickBooks program you're working in.
To move quickly to a specific list box entry, press the letter.
To select a list box entry and choose a dialog box's suggested command button, double-click the entry.
To move the insertion point to the beginning of a field, press Home.
To move the insertion point to the end of a field, press End.
To move to another program, click the other program's button on the Windows task bar. To move back to the QuickBooks program, click the QuickBooks task bar button.
To minimize the QuickBooks program window (so you can see or work with whatever is underneath the QuickBooks program window), click the Minimize button in the upper-right corner of the Quickbooks program window. The minimize window shows a picture of a task bar button.
Some QuickBooks Simple Start Calculation and Editing Tricks
These Quickbooks Simple Start tips can help you work easily through math calculations if you're in the amount field, and editing the day if you're in the date field. Here's a guide for help:
If the selection cursor is on amount field, you can use these symbol keys to make calculations:
|What Happens
|To add the number you just typed to the next number you type
|To subtract the next number you type from the number you just typed
|To multiply the number you just typed by the next number you type
|To divide the number you just typed by the next number you type
If the selection cursor is on a date field, you can use these tricks to edit the date:
|What Happens
|Adds one day to the date shown
|Replaces the date shown with today's date
|Subtracts one day from the date shown
|Changes the date to the first day in the year
|Changes the date to the last day in the year
|Changes the date to the first day in the month
|Changes the date to the last day in the month


text:
Former Nightwish Vocalist Anette Olzon 'Beaten Down and Robbed' by Junkie
Scary news to report as former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon was attacked and robbed in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Scary news to report as former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon was attacked and robbed in Helsingborg, Sweden.
A new group of Finnish stamps pay tribute to Children of Bodom, Nightwish, HIM, Apocalyptica, Hanoi Rocks and the Rasmus.
Nightwish's new song "Shudder Before The Beautiful" is available for streaming over on the website of the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
Nightwish will cross the pond to join Delain on a series of spring 2015 North American tour dates.
Nightwish drummer Jukka Nevalainen has stepped away from the band due to an ongoing issue with chronic insomnia.
'Soaring Highs and Brutal Lows: The Voices of Women in Metal' features female vocalists from bands such as Nightwish, Epica, Delain and Kobra and the Lotus.
Former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon just dropped a huge bombshell about her exit from the Finnish symphonic metal act. In a new interview, Olzon claims she was unceremoniously fired from the band and likens her departure from Nightwish to that of original vocalist Tarja Turunen.
About a year ago, Finnish symphonic metal act Nightwish made the surprise announcement that they had parted ways with vocalist Anette Olzon. Shortly after, Floor Jansen came on board as their touring singer and now the band has revealed that she will remain a permanent fixture in the band. In fact, Nightwish have expanded their official lineup to a six-piece ensemble, also adding touring member Troy Donockley on pipes, whistles and vocals.
Finnish symphonic metal masters Nightwish have been working on a film to complement their 'Imaginaerum' album, which was released to critical acclaim. Along with a new trailer for the movie, Nightwish have just announced that they will be creating Imaginaerum wine to bring the experience to a completely new sense.


text:
|Results: 54Comments by: Zathan666
|File: Healer Mana Watch10-22-14
Re: Opacity request
Would love an update for 6.02 Kick ass addon :banana:
|File: Vocal Raid Assistant07-30-14
good add-on idea. I'll try it
good add-on idea. I'll try it
|File: whoa UnitFrames11-05-13
Clique works but only on the target...
Clique works but only on the target's portrait. Would it be possible to "fix" it so CLique works on the whole "target" frame. Just a small quirk that really bothers me as a healer.
|File: bUnitFrames11-05-13
Not sure if it's just me, but if I...
Not sure if it's just me, but if I turn off the raid/party frame in /buf config, then the default blizz raid frames stop working. They don't show up at all.
|File: tullaCC11-01-13
I'm using it with Bartender4. Is it...
I'm using it with Bartender4. Is it possible to make the icon "gray" when the spell is on cooldown (grayscale). Would it be related to Bartender or TullaCC
|File: bUnitFrames07-26-13
How do you show the minimap button...
How do you show the minimap button again after turning it off? There's no option to turn it back on so I guess I need to edit the *.LUA Any help would be appreciated
|File: LagBar07-04-13
Is it possible to edit the LUA to r...
Is it possible to edit the LUA to remove the "border". I'd like to make it more seamless. Adding transparency would also be pretty nice! thx
|File: CircleHUD06-30-13
Thanks for a great add-on. Just a q...
Thanks for a great add-on. Just a quick question though. If I want to customize the "empty" life color from white to something else, what part of the code should I modify?
|File: oUF Phanx02-07-13
Was excited for the new release but I'm really sad that you still haven't "fixed" the healing "buff" issues. In its current state, it's extremely frustrating as a healer -- even "unusable" in some fights. We have to be able to see more than 2 HoTs on a target. Best exemple is Tsulong in Terrace of Endless Spring. back to bUnitframes
|File: whoa UnitFrames02-05-13
Is there any way to make the unitfr...
Is there any way to make the unitframe longer? I like the width but wished they could be longer. Width adjustment option would be nice. I would prefer a slightly longer unitframe
|File: bUnitFrames02-05-13
health %
Very good but I have a suggestion. For PvE raiding, if the unit is casting a spell, it doesn't show the unit health %... because the castbar hides it. Some bosses cast a lot and you can virtually never see his health %. It disturbs me greatly because I need to know when the next phase is coming etc.. and I can't see the damn health %...
|File: oUF Skaarj12-14-12
Very nice. Did some custom adjustme...
Very nice. Did some custom adjustments but it looks pretty nice out of the box. The best ouF layout by far! Commendable! You know your stuff Edit: Is there a way to "show only player buffs on target" ?
|File: IfThen12-07-12
Balance DoTs
Anyone know if it would be possible with this addon to make a macro to automatically change a castsequence depending on current eclipse state (for balance druids)? For example, if I'm in Lunar eclipse, I would like my mousebutton5 macro to do: /castsequence reset=target/combat/5 Sunfire, Moonfire and if I'm in Solar eclipse,...
|File: oUF Phanx11-30-12
Druid stuff
Ahh rejuvenation for druid has incorrect spellID. Proper one should be: auras = 2 -- Rejuvenation Also, here's a screenshot of the target frame "buff limit" bug that I'm experiencing: http://i.imgur.com/RZ7Bg.jpg thanks for the updates
|File: oUF Phanx11-29-12
Misc stuff
I've noticed that the first cast upon login seems to be always "corrupted"; The player castbar stays full for the whole duration. Is there a "buff" limit on target frame? I can only see (1) healing over time spell on the target buff frame. I would like to see at least three. For example, on Tsulong in terrace of endless springs you...
|File: Quse Boss Styles11-27-12
I like the bar/skin but the font is...
I like the bar/skin but the font is disturbing me. It's too small and if I try to increase it, it becomes really blurry for some reason. It would be cool if you could maybe add another font option or something
|File: oUF Phanx11-09-12
I'll post a screenshot for amber-sh...
I'll post a screenshot for amber-shaper Unsok in a few days if you still need. By the way, I'm not sure what your philosophy is about potions and trinkets procs etc, but if you ever want to add these in aurafilter: = 4, -- Potion of the Jade Serpent (+intel potion) = 4, -- Potion of Mogu Power (+str potion) = 4, -- Blessing...
|File: oUF Phanx11-07-12
Re: Boss Debuffs/stacks
Here's the new screenshot for the brew explosion debuff/stacks: http://i.imgur.com/3EPNU.jpg
|File: oUF Phanx11-05-12
Here's the result: http://i.imgur.c...
Here's the result: http://i.imgur.com/QqO1n.jpg The debuff appears fine on Tidyplates but nothing on the target frame (ouf_phanx)
|File: oUF Phanx11-05-12
Alright no problem. Thanks for the...
Alright no problem. Thanks for the tips and explanation. I have a question regarding Boss debuffs though. For example, on the first boss on Stormstout Brewery (Ook-Ook), when you run barrels into him we can't see the debuff at all nor the stacks # of the Brew Explosion. Same thing with Amber-Shaper in Heart of Fear (the stacking de...
|File: ChronoBars11-02-12
Just one problem I noticed... the d...
Just one problem I noticed... the dual spec option doesn't seem to work. What I mean is that when you switch spec, it doesn't swap to your specified profile. I would love if you could fix that.
|File: oUF Phanx11-02-12
I started using Ouf_Phanx again. Af...
I started using Ouf_Phanx again. After trying all other Ouf layouts, Phanx is the one I always come back to. Nothing else come close in my opinion. I would suggest to add to aura.lua for druids: auras = 4 -- Starfall auras = 4 -- Barkskin (default spellID seems incorrect) and in the config.lua for "focus": castbar =...
|File: Boss Mod: Text-to-Speech10-24-12
Just did a quick and dirty fan upda...
Just did a quick and dirty fan update to make it work for MoP. I've added pretty much all new text to speech voice for Mogu'shan Vaults raid (including some heroic only abilities). If you read this Rinu, please send me a msg I'd like to talk with you (original addon author). http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info21806-BossModT...
|File: bCastBars10-13-12
Really nice but I have a suggestion...
Really nice but I have a suggestion. I feel like this addon could be 10x better if you could add a clear "shield" bar like blizz default castbar for non-interruptable spells and a different color for channeled spells (purple).
|File: bUnitFrames10-13-12
Ctrl+ Click doesn't disable the cas...
Ctrl+ Click doesn't disable the castbar. Very frustrating...a fix would be awesome. Very good job


text:
Sonnet 55
by William Shakespeare
Analysis: Speaker
Wait a minute. Doesn't speaker = writer = Shakespeare? Not so fast. Although it's reallllly tempting to map him on to his poetry, there's no autobiographical evidence that the "I" of the sonnets = the i in "Will." What we do know is that the speaker is male and up to his eyeballs in love with a younger man, the same "fair youth" that the first 126 sonnets are written to.
So does that make the speaker gay? The debate continues. Some scholars have argued, "Yes, of course, because he's a man in love with another man." Others are less sure, claiming that these sonnets are less about romantic or sexual attachment and more about general admiration. It's true that in Elizabethan England the beauty of young men was more openly celebrated than it is today, by both men and women. On the other hand, 126 sonnets is a lot of love poetry to write to a guy you aren't really into.
So is it gay, or can't really say? Take your pick.


text:
Migrant labourer kidnaps Muslim girl from Vadakara
Fathima Shahida, a 13-year-old girl from Vadakara has been allegedly kidnapped by a migrant labourer, according to her relatives. Anthaj Ali Mallick, a native of Bengal reportedly wooed Fathima and got her to agree to go with him. The police has extended investigation to West Bengal in order to trace the couple.
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text:
Download Setup File from Downloader (100% Working Link)
- Windows Xp,7,Vista,8
- Ram: 512 Mb For Xp,1 Gb For 7,Vista
- Video Memory:128MB 3d
- Hard:600 MB Free Space.
- Cpu: Pentium 4,2.4GHz
Euro Truck Simulator 1 Game
what is the winrar password.
thanks admin x-)ReplyDelete
it says wrong password
it dont have real colour it is like blue ;-(ReplyDelete
it do not have the real colour it is dark blue and i cant see anything please
tell what to do :-?
Which type of this game is?
is it racing
what is installing password plz rplReplyDelete
Read Method From This lInk.
How do I install?ReplyDelete
Read Method From This lInk.
hey admin, setup installation passwordReplyDelete
Its working, bro thanksReplyDelete
what's the password!?Delete
Copy URL And Paste...
worked perfectly bro
thanks a lot...................
Thanks bro for upload...it work..ReplyDelete
sir, the password for installation is not working please send the real password....
Read Method..
The second rar file shows some corruption while extracting... what can I do now bro?ReplyDelete
Dear! Download Both 2 Parts Then Extract.
Read More INFO.
is it trail version or full version????????/ReplyDelete
Its Full....Delete
you need to download all the part before you install?
i am extracting the part 1 why its cannot extract?ReplyDelete
password ?ReplyDelete
Copy URL And Paste...
Read Installation Mehod..
PLZ ADMIN UPLOAD THE SIMS 3 AMBITION. GAME PLZ PLZ PLZ REPLY FAST ADMIN 'CAN YOUDelete
my euro is error :euro truck simulator is having problem and is unable to draw graphic on your computer (no valid graphics device was found)ReplyDelete
Dear! Your Video device Not Support this game
you have need
Video Memory:128MB 3d
is it a full vision or trial? ;-?ReplyDelete
Installation password was wrong plz post me original password brotherReplyDelete
Dear use ky From This Link
Installation password post me brotherReplyDelete
Use Ky For Installation From This link
Is this can sure 100% full version game free download???ReplyDelete
thanks is workingReplyDelete
sir how can I install this game? plz give me stepwise instructions....ReplyDelete
thanks :)) broReplyDelete
thanks a lot bro
admin this game trial or full version?ReplyDelete
thanks admin :)
thanks.. it's workReplyDelete
Is this a full version game ?ReplyDelete
yes this game is full.
please password tell you broReplyDelete
Thanks admin awsm game and websiteReplyDelete
it is a full version ? :-?ReplyDelete
thanks admin.... can you upload bau simulator or digger simulator plzzzReplyDelete
Dear Admin, How to download this game? No links are working!!!! Please help me to download this game...I want it... Its my favourite. .ReplyDelete
Dear! Link Repaired you can now download..Delete
Thanks a lot Admin....This is the best website I have ever seen!
But the same same problem is in Euro Truck Simulator 2 and UK Truck Simulator....Kindly repair those link...
Thank you so much brotherReplyDelete
thanks bro! it's AMAZING!!ReplyDelete


text:
When a court finds that one spouse is at fault for a divorce, it may bring personal satisfaction or vindication for the other spouse; it may also have an impact on the divorce decree in terms of alimony, property division and custody. On the other hand, divorces based on fault may be more time consuming and costly for the couple. The availability and usefulness of filing for a fault-based divorce is highly dependent on the laws of the state where you live.
State Law Overview
Before considering whether to file for a divorce based on fault, you must determine whether your state allows you to do so. Many states, including Oregon and Florida, are purely no-fault states, meaning you may not place blame on either spouse when filing for divorce. Instead, the only reasons you may ask for a divorce are on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, irretrievably breakdown of the marriage or similar grounds. All states recognize no-fault divorce, while some also allow couples to divorce on fault-based grounds, such as adultery, bigamy or cruelty.
Separation Period
In many states, if you pursue a no-fault divorce, you must live apart for a period of time before you may file the divorce petition. The mandatory separation period may be six months to as long as five years, depending on your state. However, filing on fault grounds generally means you do not have a mandatory separation period, so you may file for divorce even if you and your spouse are still living together.
Effect on Divorce Decree
In some states, proving that one spouse is at fault for dissolving the marriage may have an impact on property division, alimony and custody. Even if you filed for the divorce on no-fault grounds, in some cases you may bring up marital misconduct to get a better divorce settlement. Marital fault most often comes up when determining alimony or spousal support, as many states consider fault when making a spousal support determination. In terms of property division, whether or not fault will be considered depends on whether you live in an equitable distribution state, which may consider fault in deciding how to fairly divide property between the spouses. In community property states, such as California, the court typically divides marital property equally without regard to marital fault. Additionally, custody determinations are made based on the best interest of the child and marital fault may only be considered if the misconduct affected the child in some way or demonstrates a parent's unfitness to take care of the child.
In order to succeed in filing for a fault-based divorce, you must provide evidence and convince the court that the other spouse's misconduct caused the dissolution of the marriage. Furthermore, the other spouse may be less likely to agree to a divorce based on fault, particularly if you are placing the blame on him. As a result, you are more likely to have a lengthier and more costly divorce proceeding.
References & Resources
- American Bar Association: Alimony/Spousal Support Factors
- American Bar Association: Grounds for Divorce and Residency Requirements
- American Bar Association: Deciding Custody
- Nassau County Bar Association: Judicial Conscience: Wherefore Art Thou?
- State Bar of California: What Should I Know About Divorce and Custody?
Photo Credits
- Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images


text:
Inserting WordPress shortcode outside the loop in a template
4 Comments · Posted by Jonny in Template Development
Shortcodes were properly introduced back in WordPress 2.5 – they are usually used in the post content area for doing all sorts of cool things, both with core code and plugins… but what if you need to call a shortcode OUTSIDE of a post (loop) in your template?
You insert WordPress shortcodes like this [shortcode option1="value1" option2="value2"] into your main content area- but if you want to use WordPress shortcode outside of the loop in your template use the following PHP:
<?php echo do_shortcode('[shortcode option1="value1" option2="value2"]'); ?>
4 comments
Stanley @ SEOAdsenseThemes.com · April 13, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Thanks. Just what I was looking for right this very moment. Came in real handy indeed.
Mariostella · April 19, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Argh! I've been battling with this for days…it does not work for me…it simply echoes the shortcode, as if no php were involved! I am trying to use your function call with NGG but I just get [slideshow=255] on my page. Why? Thanks
Jadeb · April 21, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Thanks for this short but very useful posts. Most plugin authors assume that everyone wants their content styled on a post by post basis. Some of us,by reason of convenience or sheer laziness would like to implement some of these things sitewide. It would be nice if we were given information about how to execute these functions from our template files and not have to google all over the place lookin for that information.


text:
Facilitating with Ease! Core Skills for Facilitators, Team Leaders and Members, Managers, Consultants, and Trainers
Questions About This Book?
Why should I rent this book?
How do rental returns work?
What version or edition is this?
What is included with this book?
- The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any CDs, lab manuals, study guides, etc.
- The Used copy of this book is not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included.
- The Rental copy of this book is not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. You may receive a brand new copy, but typically, only the book itself.
Author Biography
Ingrid Bens is a consultant and trainer whose special areas of expertise are facilitation skills, team building, conflict management, and employee and organizational change. Bens is the founder of both Participative Dynamics, a consulting firm located in Sarasota, Florida, and Facilitation Tutor, an on-line learning portal.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Understanding Facilitation
What Is Facilitation?
What Does a Facilitator Do?
What Do Facilitators Believe?
What Are Typical Facilitator Assignments?
Differentiating Between Process and Content
Facilitation Tools
Core Practices Overview
What Does Neutral Mean?
How Assertive Can a Facilitator Be?
The Language of Facilitation
Conversation Structures
Starting a Facilitation
During a Facilitation
Ending a Facilitation
The Rules of Wording
Effective Note Taking
Focus on Questions
Best and Worst Facilitation Practices
Chapter 2 Who Can Facilitate?
When to Use an Internal Facilitator
When to Use an External Facilitator
When Leaders Facilitate
Facilitation Strategies for Leaders
Best and Worst Facilitation Practices for Leaders
Facilitation as a Leadership Style
Additional Role Challenges
Chapter 3 Facilitation Stages
1. Assessment and Design
2. Feedback and Refinement
3. Final Preparation
4. Starting a Facilitation
5. During a Facilitation
6. Ending a Facilitation
7. Following Up on a Facilitation
Seeking Feedback on Your Facilitation
Chapter 4 Knowing Your Participants
Conducting an Assessment
Group Assessment Survey
Comparing Groups to Teams
Understanding Team Stages
Forming—The Honeymoon Phase
Storming—The Potential Death of the Team
Norming—The Turning Point
Performing—The Ultimate Team Growth Stage
Adjourning—The Final Stage
Facilitation Strategies Chart
Team Effectiveness Survey
Chapter 5 Creating Participation
Creating the Conditions for Full Participation
Removing the Blocks to Participation
High-Participation Techniques
Group Participation Survey
Encouraging Effective Meeting Behaviors
Group Behaviors Handout
Peer Review
Peer Review Worksheet
Chapter 6 Effective Decision Making
Know the Four Types of Conversations
The Four Levels of Empowerment
Clarifying the Four Empowerment Levels
Shifting Decision-Making Paradigms
The Decision-Making Options
Decision Options Chart
The Importance of Consensus
Things to Watch for in Decision Making
Effective Decision-Making Behaviors
Steps in the Systematic Consensus-Building Process
Consensus-Building Worksheet
Symptoms, Causes and Cures of Poor Decisions
Decision Process Survey
Chapter 7 Facilitating Conflict
Comparing Arguments and Debates
Steps in Managing Conflict
The Five Conflict Options
Conflict Management Norms
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Making Interventions
Wording an Intervention
Dealing with Resistance
The Right Approach
Common Conflict Dilemmas
The Collaborative Conflict Management Process
Interpersonal Conflict Worksheet
Group Conflict Checklist
Conflict Observation Sheet
Conflict Effectiveness Survey
Chapter 8 Meeting Management
Meetings That Work
Our Meetings Are Terrible!
The Fundamentals of Meeting Management
Sample Process Check Survey
Sample Exit Survey
Meeting Effectiveness Survey
Facilitating Virtual Meetings
Chapter 9 Process Tools for Facilitators
Sequential Questioning
Facilitative Listening
Gallery Walk
Written Brainstorming
Affinity Diagrams
Gap Analysis
Force-Field Analysis
Root-Cause Analysis
The Five Whys
Decision Grids
Needs and Offers Dialogue
Constructive Controversy
Exit Surveys
Survey Feedback
Systematic Problem Solving
Systematic Problem Solving Worksheets
Troubleshooting Worksheet
Chapter 10 Process Designs
Introduction to the Sample Agendas
Sample Design 1 Creating a Mission Statement and Objectives
Sample Design 2 Work Planning, Roles, and Responsibilities
Sample Design 3 Priority Setting/Cutback Planning
Sample Design 4 Inter-Group Negotiation
Sample Design 5 Finding and Solving Problems
Sample Design 6 Core Program Development
Sample Design 7 Survey Feedback/Issue Census
Sample Design 8 New Leader Integration
Sample Design 9 Transition Planning
Sample Design 10 Process Improvement
Sample Design 11 Project Retrospective
Sample Design 12 Team Adjournment
Session Planning Worksheet
About the Author
Additional Resources


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Radney Foster has officially released "Everything I Should Have Said," his first disc of fresh music since 2009's "Revival," and it's on his very own Devil's River Records that's distributed by Think Indie.
"I'm always trying to find a little piece of the truth," the Texas-graced Foster said in a May 14 email shared with Examiner.
Regarding the songs on his new album, the truth is laid bare. Per his PR camp, Foster's"first collection of new songs in five years opens with 'Whose Heart You Wreck,' a stormy lament to a fickle muse and closes with the title track, an unflinching apology for things done and left undone. In between, Foster uncovers the smaller truths in life, whether in the confessional 'The Man You Want,' the frustration behind 'Lie About Loving Me' or the playful frankness of 'Unh, Unh, Unh.'"
Says the singer-songwriter: "My challenge is, how do you have another take on a love song? How do you keep it interesting?" In this instance, Foster said he felt he had to leave Music City in his rear-viewer mirror and unpack a suitcase full of songs and like-minded musical friends to Louisiana.
"I wanted the album to have a band feel, and to do that I knew we needed to get away from schedules and cell phones." he shared. In turn, Foster and his chosen musicians parked themselves at Dockside Studios, a little pocket of soul alongside the Louisiana bayou. The space is the site of a long-forgotten brothel, and far from the sterile studios of Nashville.
"When you're sitting with the moss is hanging from the trees and the bayou rolling by, you can't help but have your songs slow down and get swampier," Foster said.
Not surprisingly, then, the difference in locale is evident from the album's first tune,"Whose Heart You Wreck (Ode To The Muse)"
"The song is about the crazy struggle of inspiration, and we recorded it using a bunch of found objects," explained Foster, referring to the first track. "The drum kit was made up of trashcans, a piece of angle iron, and a big gear plate. There were a lot of Tom Waits-style atmospherics going on behind me, but I was playing a straight-up, double thumb style guitar blues, almost like Doc Watson would have done."
Meanwhile, on numbers such as "California" and "Holding Back," these songs also boast the introspection of recording at a remote spot. And on "Hard Light of Day" and "Unh, Unh, Unh," the late-night groove is evident.
Word has it that album co-producer Justin Tocket encouraged Radney to dig deep. The recordings were magic—fun, loose and lasting late into the night. Foster and Tocket intentionally chose not to over polish, preferring to keep the sweat and tears on the tracks, such as "Everything I Should Have Said," which Foster has described as being the emotional centerpiece of the record.
"I've gotten to an age where I feel like I don't have anything to prove," Foster revealed. "And that's very freeing when it comes to playing, singing and recording. "Telling stories is embedded and ingrained in my DNA. My grandfather was a cowboy raconteur and a storyteller. He didn't sing songs, but he sure told stories around the campfire. There's a long, long history of yarn spinning in Texas, and I like to think I come from that tradition."
Considered an elder statesman of Texas singer-songwriters, Foster has been a friend and mentor to many younger artists on the Texas scene. He's written and produced songs for Randy Rogers, Jack Ingram, Kacey Musgraves, Wade Bowen, Josh Abbott, Pat Green, Cory Morrow and many others. His songs are regularly mined by superstar acts such as Keith Urban ("Raining on Sunday," "I'm In,"), Sara Evans ("Real Fine Place," "Revival") and the Dixie Chicks ("Godspeed").
Foster grew up in two worlds – herding cattle on horseback at his grandfather's East Texas ranch in the summers and hunkering over a transistor radio in West Texas hometown, listening to border radio.
"My house in Del Rio was a mile from Mexico, so I heard everything growing up – from country to conjunto," said Foster, who considers that hybrid of influences as being the reason that his sound is sometimes tough to categorize. Still, as country fans know, his first success was with the seminal country/cowpunk duo Foster & Lloyd, whose first single, "Crazy Over You," went straight to No. 1. His subsequent solo albums told tales through a honky-tonk lens and yielded enduring hits "Just Call Me Lonesome" and "Nobody Wins."
In the mid-'90s, Foster went through another turning point. In the midst of a divorce, remarriage and custody crisis of his young son moving overseas, he gave up trying to please country radio, he said, and recorded a CD that brought him to a whole other audience.
"'See What You Want To See' changed the way I make records," Foster said. "It was such a tumultuous period in my life, but it made me realize that when you are that close to the bone honest, you make great music. I think this is one of the most emotional records I've made since then."
Foster's slated a string of tour dates in support of "Everything I Should Have Said." Below is a list of his current show dates.
May 15, Red Clay Theater, Duluth, Ga.
May 18, Americana Jam - Gruene, Texas
May 21 - Superfly's Lone Star Music Emporium, San Marcos, Texas (In-store performance 6pm)
May 22, Mucky Duck, Houston, Texas
May 23, Cactus Music, Houston, Texas (In store performance, 5 p.m.)
May 23, Mucky Duck, Houston, Texas
May 24, Mark's Blue Water Saloon, Canyon Lake, Texas
Jun 5, Courtyard Theater, Plano, Texas
June 7, Knuckleheads, Kansas City, Mo.
Jun 12, The Walnut Room, Denver, Cloo.
Jun 13, Pikes Peak Pub, Manitou Springs, Colo.
Jun 14, Wright Opera House, Ouray, Colo.
Jul 11, Dosey Doe, The Woodlands, Texas
Jul 12, Levitt Pavillion, Arlington, Texas
Aug 1, Gruene Hall, New Braunfels, Texas
Aug 7, Live from the Divide, Bozeman, Mont.
Aug 8, Braun Bro Reunion, Challis, Idaho
Aug 23, Love and War in Texas, Grapevine, Texas
Oct 14, House of Blues, Houston, Texas
Tour date updates are available at radneyfoster.com.
- Video bonus: To sample Radney Foster's "Whose Heart You Wreck (Ode To The Muse)," a track contained on his new CD, please access the clip embedded with this post.
Suggested Links
- Radney Foster marks 20th anniversary of 'Del Rio, TX,1959' with 'Unplugged' CD
- Examiner announces its 'Top 5 Female Country Newcomers' of 2014
- Red-dirt alert: Medicine Stone fest returns to Diamondhead Resort in Oklahoma
- The Band Perry readies to crank up new 'Chainsaw' video for fans
- Marshall Tucker Band set to launch CMA Music Festival for 2nd consecutive year


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Eager to see a U.S. premiere of a French film? Col Coa, City of Lights, City of Angels, celebrates the end of their French film festival on Monday, April 28, 2014 with the choice of two free film screenings - Mea Culpa and In the Courtyard. Both films start at 7:45 p.m. at the Directors Guild (DGA), located at 7920 Sunset Boulevard. One will run in the larger Renoir Theater, and the other will screen in the smaller Truffaut Theater. Don't fret about your French - they both have English subtitles.
Mea Culpa is a fast-paced chase film that never lets up for 90 minutes. It stars Vincent Lindon and Gilles Lellouche. Click here to watch the trailer.
In Dans La Cour (In the Courtyard), a down on his luck, alcoholic ex-rock singer's life changes when he winds up becoming a concierge at a Parisian apartment building that has seen better days. This 97-minute film stars Catherine Deneuve and opens in France on April 23rd. You can watch the trailer, which lacks subtitles, here. Both of these premieres are screened out of competition.
Arrive early. It's first come, first served.
Mais oui!
Details: Mea Culpa or In the Courtyard - free screening. Col Coa Film Festival April 28, 2014 at 7:45 p.m. Directors Guild. 7920 Sunset Boulevard at Hayworth. Los Angeles. 310.289.5346.


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Have you ever read the credits before or after a movie and wondered to yourself what all those people do? What those titles even mean? Why there seems to be 7,500 different types of "producers"? Here's your explanation, straight from The Gorilla's current project.
"Producer" is a broad title. It varies from being eye-roll worthy (slapped on someone for political reasons or because no other position fits) to being The Most Important Person In The Room. But, in a nutshell, a producer is someone who makes the creative idea happen. Either financially (they provide/manage/allocate the dollars) or logistically.
These guys are Associate Producers (AP's).
I'm starting with them because I like them. I worked with the one on the left on the movie where I met my husband. I hired the one on the right many, many moons ago on a television show and he has worked for The Gorilla on and off since. I take full credit for any and all of his successes.
Associate Producers, like most producers, function in a variety of ways depending on the project. On this movie, these guys research and find ways to make a stunt happen. For example, if the idea was to have a grizzly bear chase someone up a tree, then they would find the grizzly bear. When they work for The Gorilla on a television show, they would also be responsible for finding the tree. But on the movie they have a specific Location Manager for that.
Often times these two Associate Producers' research leads them to another idea that hadn't been considered yet. That's when they're part of the creative team. You can tell by looking that these guys aren't exactly the bean counter-types. In their personal life, they are two of the most creative people I know.
Once they've facilitated the planning of the idea, they then follow through with executing the idea. Other positions may help with that, too, like Production Coordinators, Production Managers, and the above-mentioned Location Manager. But the AP's will be on set, planning for the next setup and helping manage the current one.
If you can believe it, there are two other types of Associate Producers on this movie. Same title, totally different function. We'll cover them down the road.
Are you going to picture these scruffy, hatted guys next time you see the AP title float up the credits? Because that's what I'm going for. End credits education.


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Brian's exclusive forecast for Baltimore, Annapolis, and northern Delmarva:
Today: Variable cloudiness with occasional snow showers. Snow may accumulate up to 1/2 inch in some places. Windy with a high around 30. SW wind 10 to 20 with a few higher gusts.
Tonight: Variable cloudiness with scattered snow showers. Windy and cold with clearing toward morning. The low will range from 15 to 20.
Sunday: Mostly sunny and chilly with westerly winds 10 to 20 m.p.h. at times. The high will be in the mid to upper 20s.
Sunday Night: Variable cloudiness with a low in the low to mid 20s.
Monday: Mostly cloudy with occasional snow showers early, then windy and clearing late. Turning colder with a high in the lower to middle 30s, then dropping into the 20s during the afternoon.
Monday Night: Windy and much colder with a low around 10.
Tuesday: Sunny, breezy, and very cold with a high around 15.
The extended outlook calls for clouds and sun on Wednesday with a low from 0 to 5 and a high from 15 to 20. A chance of snow showers early on Thursday, then clearing. The low will be around 10 and the high will be in the upper 10s. Mostly sunny on Friday with a low around 10 and a high near 30.
Temperatures this morning were mild compared to recent days due to cloudiness and a southwest flow of air. Consequently, lows only dropped into the lower 20s at most locations around the bay. Occasional snow showers have impacted the region today with some locations picking up a dusting to a half inch, particularly over northern Maryland and the upper Eastern Shore. The snow is associated with a cold front moving from west to east across the region. A few snow showers may persist into the evening hours, which may cause some slippery roads as temperatures fall back through the mid 20s. Once the front clears the area overnight, winds will shift to the west and temperatures will drop from afternoon highs in the upper 20s to lows on Sunday morning from 15 to 20 degrees. On Sunday, high pressure will briefly dominate the region with sunshine and cold temperatures as highs will only reach the mid 20s with a gusty west wind. Yet another, stronger arctic front will quickly follow on Monday. A southwest flow ahead of the front will keep temperatures in the 20s on Sunday night and allow highs to climb near, or slightly above, the freezing point on Monday. Very cold air will surge into the eastern states on Tuesday with highs only around 15 degrees and lows by Wednesday morning from 0 to 5 degrees. Wednesday will be cold as well with highs in the upper 10s. By Wednesday nigh and Thursday morning, a storm system may impact the coast; however, computer forecast models currently indicate that this storm will move out to sea. Nonetheless, a small difference in the track of the storm could bring snowfall to parts of the Chesapeake Bay region by Thursday morning. Looking at the long-range, a moderation in temperatures is expected by next weekend with highs in the 30s.
On the Maryland portion of Chesapeake Bay, a Small Craft Advisory is in effect through Sunday morning. A Small Craft Advisory is in effect from Sunday evening through early Monday morning. Winds on Sunday will come out of the west at 10 to 15 knots with gusts over 20 and waves from 1 to 3 feet. Winds on Sunday night will come out of the south at 10 to 15 knots with gusts over 20 and waves from 1 to 3 feet. Winds on Monday will come out of the west at 10 to 20 knots with gusts over 20 and waves from 1 to 3 feet. Visibility may be reduced in snow showers. Marine information is provided as general guidance. Boaters should always stay tuned to the latest forecasts and advisories from the National Weather Service.
The average high temperature for January 25 is 42 degrees and the average low is 24 degrees. The records at Baltimore on this date are 75 degrees in 1967 and 0 degrees in 1897. Today's sunrise will occur at 7:19 and the sunset will occur at 5:19. Weather data courtesy of the National Weather Service. For more weather updates, please visit my Chesapeake Bay Weather page on Facebook, and if you're heading to Ocean City feel free to check out my Ocean City MD Weather page on Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter @chesbayweather.


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Let us start here in these United States. We have a President who really should not be in office. In this world of the 21st century we need a president who has some knowledge of world affairs. Barack Obama was elected and in his first term he had only been on the national stage for two years. He had no real knowledge that would have made him a great a president. Our congress is about the worst we have ever had in the history of this country. They took off some two hundred days last year and when you look at the fact that there are only 365 days in a year they had a lot if vacation time. In addition they passed the fewest bills in the history of congress and what's worse they wanted to pass themselves a raise. All this was done because we have a black president and they wanted to make him look bad when in reality they simply suck at their jobs.
Let us move on to say the Ukraine. Why would anyone want to fight over Eastern Ukraine. There really is not much there to be fighting over. Oh these rebels say they wanted more autonomy over their little spot on the planet. They were upset because Kiev was leaning toward the West rather than Russia, yet the only reason they thought this way was because Putin put the idea into their heads. Putin wanted the Crimea because of the oil in the Black Sea and he got it. So give it to him. He will be dead and gone before Russia gets one drop of oil out of the area. He is now in such a pickle that some if his countrymen will go without food this winter. Just another idiot who is in charge of a country.
Let us head to the Middle East and all the fun they are having there. We have a group called ISIS who are terrifying even their fellow terrorists. This group is in every state of the Middle East and if you don't agree with what they are selling they will destroy you. It does not matter who or what you are they hate everyone. Israel and Hamas, well what can we say here. They simply hate each other and are still fighting after all these years.
If you head to Africa then you have Boko Haram and their adventures in Nigeria. Same type of Islamic mentality as ISIS. They hate all who are not them. Enough said about Africa.
In Asia they just keep having to deal with an idiot in North Korea. His father was nuts and the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
Heading to South America you have drugs, drugs, and more drugs. Simply put they are poor and they are high.
The bottom line is that for most of the world the arguments are the same ones that have been going on for centuries. They are the same stupid petty disagreements that have been disputed over and over. The time has come for everyone to just try and get along. We are all human beings and we have the same rights that everyone should have while alive on this planet. If the idea is to just kill everyone off then why don't we just set a date and nuke the planet. Otherwise it is time to stop whining and learn to live together. We are the world so let's learn to enjoy it.


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Live Blog: WHO Flu Update
The WHO's Keiji Fukuda is talking with reporters about the latest on the flu outbreak. Here's what he's saying.
11:07 We continue to see an increase in cases being reported by countries. The most recent numbers: 1,490 laboratory-confirmed cases and 30 deaths. The deaths were primarily in Mexico, with one reported in the U.S. This is an increase of 405 cases and four deaths since yesterday. I expect those numbers to be updated and increased later today, so I wouldn't be too focused on the numbers. But they're an illustration of how the situation is evolving.
11:10 There's a science conference going on. I was over there and don't have prepared notes. But this was a call in which investigators from a number of countries were reporting what they're seeing and their understanding of the information at this time. We've been talking about the clinical illness specifically. So far, among cases being seen everywhere, including countries with a lot of cases, the people being infected continue to be relatively younger — younger than 60 in almost all countries. The average age of people getting infected is often around the mid-20s, a little above or a little below.
11:11 A lot of infections have been in people traveling, so one question is whether travelers tend to be younger in general. Another possibility is that this is an infection that primarily goes to younger people because there may be something about older people which is preventing them from being infected. Often with flu in general, infections go to younger people first and to older people later. That's possible here. Or it's possible there may be something about older people that protects them from this infection.
11:12 In all of the countries, males and females are getting infected at about the same rate. This is similar to what happens with typical influenza.
11:13 As for incubation, the most recent estimates are that it's from one day to a week or one day to five days, which is closer to what we expect for influenza viruses. These estimates will continue to be refined.
11:14 In people who are developing generally milder illness, this is similar to other influenza illnesses we see. Fever, cough, body aches, headaches — this is generally in keeping with what the milder spectrum of illness is. It's clear we're seeing severe illness in at least a couple of countries. For example, in Mexico there have been a number of pneumonia cases and people requiring hospitalizations, as well as fatalities. In the U.S. there have been hospitalizations. These have generally happened because people have developed severe respiratory illness, such as pneumonia. The question is how often this is occurring.
11:15 There have been a few health-care workers infected, but it's not certain they got infected in a health-care setting.
11:17 A number of different countries have instituted a number of different kinds of disease-control measures. We are contacting them to ask them about the actions being taken and the public-health justification for those actions. I won't go into specifics of the countries and don't want to talk about actions being taken by any one country. (A reporter had asked about China.)
11:20 A number of countries in Europe have reported cases. We've been in close contact with the United Kingdom and Spain. We don't believe we are seeing community transmission in the same way we're seeing it in the U.S. and Mexico. In Spain the cases are closely related to travel, and in the U.K. there's transmission in schools, related to travel. But we're looking for transmission not just in institutions, but rather out in the broader community.
11:21 With almost any infectious disease, you see a spectrum of illness. That is certainly true for influenza virus infections. With this new H1N1 virus, more people have had mild illness than severe illness. The reasons for that are not clear. I don't believe it really reflects differences in treatment. Most of the people did not receive treatment with Tamiflu, some people did.
11:22 It's true that seasonal flu viruses kill people every year. Although there aren't precise estimates for the world, it's estimated that about half a million people per year can die from seasonal flu infections. With seasonal flu, we see that most people who get really severely sick are either very young or old or are people with different medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease.
The reason why we're paying so much attention to this virus is that the seasonal flu viruses have been around and circulating for many years. We understand their behavior and know most people have had previous infections and some immunity to them. When a new virus enters the human population and people do not have immunity to this virus, then the levels of serious illness and the levels of death can be higher than what we see with regular seasonal influenza.
At the beginning, there is a great deal of attention paid to monitoring the spread and to understanding the severity of the illness. We're careful to say that we don't know how this situation will evolve.
11:25 In the past, we've seen pandemics cause relatively fewer deaths, and some cause relatively huge amounts of death. One of them started out mild in the spring and over the course of several months became a severe illness. This is a situation in which things can evolve, and can do so quite differently. That's why so much attention is being paid to what's going on and why we're jumping so hard on it. If it stays mild and people stay healthy, then that is great. But if it turns severe, then it's something we have to know about, be prepared for and jump on.
11:27 The reports of diarrhea vary from country to country. In some countries, the percentage of people developing it is different. This is still being sorted out. While some of the diarrhea may be associated with other reasons, such as water sanitation, that doesn't really explain the phenomenon.
11:28 Given that we have better medical resources than we had in 1918, hopefully we won't see a repeat of what happened during that pandemic. But the reality of these global health events, is that the resources we have can be overwhelmed. The technology is excellent, but that doesn't mean medical systems themselves can handle a lot of disease.
11:31 It's extremely important for countries to share information. Back in 2005, all member states of WHO joined together to put in place international health regulations. One of the essential concepts is that in order to deal with international public-health emergencies or other large infectious or non-infectious disease events, you need cooperation among countries. You have to make information available to your neighbors and to other countries. That's the heart of these regulations. That's one of the reasons we're pushing hard on global conference calls.
11:32 Chronic heart or lung conditions make people more vulnerable to flu viruses in general. People with HIV infections can be susceptible to a number of other infections. With flu, HIV-positive people can be somewhat more heavily impacted than people who are healthy.
11:35 For people who are infected now and recover from illness, it would be expected they would be more protected than other people in the future if they get exposed to the virus again. However, infection with flu viruses does not give you protection for a long time. Generally it lasts a couple of years, but then the viruses change enough that they can infect you again.
11:36 Most of the infections are still in North America. There are no large outbreaks reported in the southern hemisphere. But I think this is still early in the spread of this virus, and the southern hemisphere is entering into the winter months, so we want to monitor this closely. It is quite possible we will see activity there. Africa is not yet reporting any infections.
11:37 The fairest thing to say about the virus now is that we are assessing it. Clearly many of the infections are mild, but if large numbers of people are infected, what percentage will develop serious illness or death? When influenza viruses spread, you see hundreds of millions of people get infected. So even if relatively small percentages of people develop serious disease, that can mean very large numbers of people. So it's too early to make pronouncements of what we're seeing. We need to monitor it.
11:38 There have been some labs including at the CDC in Atlanta that are developing candidate viruses to go into vaccines. As soon as these viruses are ready, they will be gotten out to the vaccine manufacturers so they can see how well these candidates work with their production systems. That is being worked on very hard right now. I expect that within weeks these viruses will be out to manufacturers.
11:40 I don't believe that all travel-related cases are related to travel just to Mexico. We've learned of a travel case being related to travel to the United States. If people are moving around, of course we will expect to see travel-related cases from different countries.
11:41 On the issue of quarantine, this is up to different countries analyzing their situation. In some cases it may be a reasonable control measure. Under any situation, people who are in quarantine should be treated well. I don't think there's any question about this.
11:42 I don't have a lot of details right now about the people who died specifically, except to say that in general that similar to the other cases, many of the people who died tended to be younger people.
11:43 Quarantine is when you have people who are not sick, are not showing symptoms, and they go into an area which is quarantined off, so you've minimized contact between them and other people. The instances when this is taken is when you're very early in the disease, you may use quarantine to limit the spread of the disease.
Another reason you may institute it is if you know some people have been in close contact with somebody who has been sick, it's a way to identify people who are at highest risk for being infected. There are different reasons when you can apply quarantine — it depends on an assessment of what's going on and what you're trying to do at that time. It's not a simple yes or no answer.
11:45 The increase in cases reflects both testing of specimens that were collected from previous infections, and lab work is catching up to it. But we're also seeing new infection occurring. Both of these things are going on simultaneously.
11:47 There are two important issues related to the production of a vaccine against this new virus. The first: When do you begin production? The second: When would you recommend stopping seasonal flu vaccine? Right now we're in a period where there is work going on to develop the new vaccine. We're not at the point yet right now where we need to decide whether to produce a new vaccine and whether to stop the seasonal vaccine. This will be done in consultation with a number of expert groups that advise WHO on immunization/vaccination issues. We'll also get input from regulatory agencies and a number of other experts, as well as industry.
11:48 There is much greater vaccine capacity than there was a few years ago, but there's not enough to instantly make vaccine for the entire world population. The capacity will also depend in part on what kind of vaccines are made. Adjuvanted vaccines will stretch out supply more than non-adjuvanted vaccines.
11:49 The call is over.


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Allstate Foundation and teen pop singer Austin Mahone launched a campaign to encourage teens to be mindful about safe driving. The campaign is called #GetThereSafe and last week Sacramento Charter High School was featured in California as one of the early adopters.
Raising awareness about being mindful behind the wheel is important for everyone, but especially teens – as they are inexperienced drivers and distraction is the main reason for crashes. According to the Center for Disease Control motor safety, motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of teens; and among teen drivers, those at especially high risk for motor vehicle crashes are:
- Males: In 2010, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 16 to 19 was almost two times that of their female counterparts.
- Teens driving with teen passengers: The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers. This risk increases with the number of teen passengers.
- Newly licensed teens: Crash risk is particularly high during the first months of licensure.
And unless your teen is in the habit of turning off the smart phone, mobile connectivity poses an ongoing distraction. According to a recent Digital Journal Op-Ed by Larry Alton, Apple's recent filing of a patent for a mobile lock-out mechanism to prevent users from using their devices while operating a vehicle is in response to the growing threat distracted driving has become to public safety.
#GetThereSafe campaign is a teen-led program. "[This campaign] raises awareness around the dangers of the three risky driving behaviors that frequently cause fatal teen crashes – speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and being distracted by other teen passengers in the car," reads the press release..
Related reading: Understanding the parent power to discourage texting while driving: There is an app for that
Morgan Mitchell is a student at Sacramento Charter High School was selected to join teens from high schools across the country help raise awareness for smart teen driving. "Safe driving is important to me because I'm a teen and I just started driving a lot. It's way more important to stay safe than have fun," she said. "From #GetThereSafe, I've learned I can drive with no distractions, slow down and of course, wear my seatbelt!"
Now through Aug. 8, teens have a chance to show where and how they get there safely by entering the #GetThereSafe Challenge. The winner of the Challenge will win a meet and greet with Mahone. For more information, visit: TeensGetThereSafe .