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Hotels in Key West
Southernmost Beach Resort508 South St, Key West 4.0 out of 5.0
This Key West historical district hotel is 2 blocks from Southernmost Point. Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, and Key West Lighthouse and Keeper's Quarters ...
Sheraton Suites Key West2001 S Roosevelt Blvd, Key West 3.5 out of 5.0
This casual resort is located three miles from the museums and boisterous streets of Old Town, and provides easy access to water sports at the popular Smathers ...
DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Grand Key - Key West3990 S Roosevelt Blvd, Key West 3.5 out of 5.0
Located on the quieter side of Key West, this tropical-style resort offers complimentary scheduled shuttle service to Duval Street as well as shuttle service ...
Best Western Key Ambassador Resort Inn3755 S Roosevelt Blvd, Key West 2.5 out of 5.0
Located on the Atlantic side of Island and just minutes from the Key West Art Society and Historical Downtown. Nearby points of interest include Smathers Beach, ...
The Inn at Key West3420 N Roosevelt Blvd, Key West 3.5 out of 5.0
Located within minutes of Old Town, the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, Mallory Square, Duval Street shops, restaurants, and nightlife.
Seashell Motel & Key West Hostel718 South Street, Key West 1.5 out of 5.0
Located in the heart of Key West, this hostel is within a 15-minute walk of Simonton Street Beach and Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. Audubon House and Tropical ...
Silver Palms Inn830 Truman Ave, Key West 3.5 out of 5.0
Silver Palms Inn is a half-mile from the Ernest Hemingway House and Museum and Key West Lighthouse, and 3 blocks from Duval Street. Mallory Square is a 3-minute ...
Parrot Key Hotel & Resort2801 N Roosevelt Blvd, Key West 4.0 out of 5.0
Situated on the waterfront, this romantic resort is within 3 mi (5 km) of The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Key West, Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, ...
Fairfield Inn and Suites Key West2400 N Roosevelt Blvd, Key West 2.5 out of 5.0
A 3-minute drive from Key West Airport and 10 minutes from Old Town, Fairfield Inn and Suites Key West offers easy access to attractions like Duval Street, Mallory ...
Casa Marina Resort - A Waldorf Astoria Resort1500 Reynolds Street, Key West 4.0 out of 5.0
Looking out over the Straits of Florida towards Cuba, this upscale resort places guests a 3-minute drive from downtown Key West. The Ernest Hemingway Home & ...
Get inspired in relaxing Key West, Florida
Made famous in song and spirit by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams and Jimmy Buffett, Key West offers travelers a tropical Caribbean vibe. Key West is part of Monroe County, yet it feels like a million miles away from the mainland with its self-professed status of Conch Republic and its laidback attitude, with a vibrant collection of artists, musicians and entertainment options.
Things to see and do
Key West beaches
There are small, manmade beaches scattered around calm waters, where you can wade into the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Smathers Beach is a half mile of manmade coast that is perfect for a sunrise snapshot. Concession stands, watersports rentals and available restrooms make this a nice spot for families with children.
The 87 acres of Fort Zachary Taylor State Park offer a beach, a historic fort, picnic tables and wonderful sunset views. Located within walking distance to restaurants on Duval Street, South Beach is a local favorite. The third longest barrier reef in the worldand America's only living coral reefis located just offshore from the Florida Keys, ready and waiting for explorers.
Literature lovers should visit the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, and take a guided tour of the house that the Nobel Prize-winner lived in for more than 10 years. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, the Key West Shipwreck Museum, and the Key West Lighthouse are all great choices for fans of nautical history and antiques. The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy offers the fragrance of flowers and the fun of butterflies alighting on guests' shoulders.
Water sports
Take a jet-ski tour around the island, sail off on a catamaran for a day of snorkeling, or head out to Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas State Park. Located about 70 miles west of Key West, Fort Jefferson is a great day trip for swimming, snorkeling or just relaxing on soft sand. Travelers can also take tours of the historic fort. If fishing is your thing, you need only walk along the docks for a bit before finding an offshore fishing charter or tour boat.
Special events
Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square
Held on the dock at Mallory Square, on the western side of the island, this event is a nightly carnival of jugglers, musicians, street artists and performers of all types. Once the sun sets, the nightlife continues onto the world-famous Duval Street where nightclubs, gourmet restaurants, and outdoor cafes keep the party going into the small hours of the morning.
Key West Food and Wine Festival
The Key West Food and Wine Festival makes its way onto the island in January. This delicious event covers six days of food demonstrations, music, dancing, wine tastings and themed parties.
Key West Lobsterfest
Lobsterfest takes place in August, and marks the opening of lobster season with street fairs, concerts, a lobster boil, Sunday brunch and the Duval Crawl, a nighttime trek to several bars along Duval Street. Participating bars include, among others, Coyote Ugly, the Hard Rock Café, Pincher's Crab Shack and the Sunset Tiki Bar.
Travel Information
Key West International Airport (EYW) and Marathon Airport (MTH) are excellent choices for those wanting to get to the Conch Republic as quickly as possible. A travel alternative is to fly into Miami International Airport (MIA), rent a car and cruise through the Keys, traveling across crystal clear water and through small fishing towns along the way.
Top Points of Interests in Key West
- Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum Hotels (6.79 mi)
- Audubon House and Tropical Gardens Hotels (6.95 mi)
- Mallory Square Hotels (6.84 mi)
- Southernmost Point Hotels (7.15 mi)
- Smathers Beach Hotels (5.2 mi)
- Key West Art and Historical Society Hotels (4.25 mi)
- South Beach Hotels (6.63 mi)
- Ripley's Believe It or Not Hotels (6.89 mi)
- Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory Hotels (6.65 mi)
- Key West Aquarium Hotels (6.98 mi)
- Key West Shipwreck Museum Hotels (6.98 mi)
- Hemingway House Hotels (6.77 mi)
- Jackson Square Hotels (6.87 mi)
- Higgs Beach Hotels (6.05 mi)
- Key West Golf Club Hotels (2.9 mi)
- Key West Cemetery Hotels (6.42 mi)
- Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden Hotels (6.6 mi)
- St. Paul's Episcopal Church Hotels (6.81 mi)
- Key West Museum of Art and History Hotels (6.97 mi)
- Casa Antigua Hotels (6.75 mi)
* Prices reflect the lowest "base rate" found over the next 30 days. Rates are subject to change and may not include taxes and fees, hotel service charges, extra person charges, or incidentals, such as room service. All rates are displayed in USD unless otherwise noted. Converted rates are provided for your convenience. They are based on today's exchange rate, but the hotel will charge you in the local currency.


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The Mirror Turns
UN Human Rights Committee says America is anything but the land of the free
By Kevin Uhrich 04/08/2014
Despite our government's many military entanglements and abuses of authority at home, most Americans still maintain a pretty high opinion of their country and the way it treats its people and others around the world.
Unfortunately, the unquestioning zeal regularly expressed for "our way of life" by cheerleading media personalities and politicians isn't something that's universally shared, according to a recent report issued by the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Whereas it is usually the United States that stands in judgment of other countries, and has traditionally used the UN to justify the wars it's waged since the Korean Conflict, the script has been flipped in this case, with America now being portrayed as a bully and a villain, not only abroad, but at home as well.
"The committee's recommendations highlight the gaps between US human rights obligations and current laws and practices," said ACLU Human Rights Program Director Jamil Dakwar in a statement issued last week by the organization's national office. "The Human Rights Committee rightly called out the United States for setting dangerous examples from counterterrorism operations to an unfair criminal justice system to inhumane treatment of migrants."
Local reactions to the report released on March 27 were no less critical of the United States, as well as the American media, few of which gave much play to the committee's findings.
"It is shocking that media in Los Angeles — print, broadcast and social — have nearly entirely ignored what can only be called a factual but nevertheless horrifying, detailed indictment of violations of human rights in our country," said local civil rights activist Marvin Schachter. Schachter is a longtime member of the ACLU, both its Southern California and Pasadena Foothills chapters. He is also a member of the Pasadena United Nations Association.
"Of course, we have made progress," Schachter noted in an email written to the Pasadena Weekly after reading the report. "Step by step, struggle by struggle, we have removed barriers, but the United Nations report reminds us of the progress that still must be made."
A lengthy list
The 29-page document concluded that the United States has some serious problems to overcome on a number of domestic fronts. Among them:
* The increasing criminalization of homeless people
* Racial disparities in education and the criminal justice system
* Racial profiling
* Use of the death penalty and solitary confinement
* Excessive use of force by law enforcement
* Gun violence and "Stand Your Ground" laws
* Immigration abuses, including extended detentions of suspected undocumented immigrants without legal representation, as well as shooting deaths at the border
* Corporal punishment of children in schools, penal institutions and the home
* Domestic violence
* Domestic spying by the National Security Agency
* Human trafficking and sexual exploitation
* Non-consensual psychiatric treatment of people suffering with mental illness
* Voting rights violations
* Violation of the rights of indigenous people
In its critique of US immigration policies, the committee noted that mandatory detention of undocumented immigrants may be a breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a major human rights treaty which the US signed in 1977 and ratified in 1992 but has mostly ignored over all these years.
The committee, the report states, "is also concerned about the mandatory nature of the deportation of foreigners without regard to elements such as the seriousness of crimes and misdemeanors committed, the length of lawful stay in the US, health status, family ties and the fate of spouses and children staying behind, or the humanitarian situation in the country of destination."
Finally, the committee "expresses concerns about the exclusion of millions of undocumented immigrants and their children from coverage under the Affordable Care Act and the limited coverage of undocumented immigrants and immigrants residing lawfully in the US for less than five years by Medicare and Children Health Insurance, all resulting in difficulties in access of immigrants to adequate health care."
According to the committee, the United States should "review its policies regarding mandatory detention and deportation of certain categories of immigrants in order to allow for individualized decisions, to take measures ensuring that affected persons have access to legal representation, and to identify ways to facilitate access of undocumented immigrants and immigrants residing lawfully in the US for less than five years and their families to adequate health care, including reproductive health care services."
Polo Morales, political director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said the country's current immigration policies — which criminalize people even further through ever-increasing penalties and programs such as Secure Communities, in which the Sheriff's Department turns over fingerprints of suspected undocumented people to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which then uses that information for either prosecutions or fast-tracked deportations — are lacking in basic humanity.
"This is something that is starting to impact a lot more folks, because when you increase the deportation of people who have been here for 10 or 20 years and you separate them from their families, their first inclination is going to be, 'How do I get back to my family?'" Morales said.
"What we are starting to see is a lot of folks who are being picked up in the border areas who are trying to get back with their families. So not only do they get deported a second time, if they are caught, they also spend time in detention centers and sometimes in jail and in prison," Morales said. "So that is just increasing the number of people who are getting caught up in the system."
Standing alone
The committee — comprised of one American, and one British representative serving as chair, with other members hailing from France, Algeria, Egypt, The Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, South Africa, Romania, Costa Rica, Argentina, Germany, Israel, Georgia, Suriname and Mauritius — also turned a collective critical eye toward America's role overseas.
The report condemns targeted killings of alleged terrorists with drones and the ongoing detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The committee also called on the United States to acknowledge and address human rights violations it's previously been accused of committing in the War on Terror.
"The Committee," states an advance unedited copy of its report, "is concerned at the limited number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions of members of the Armed Forces and other agents of the US Government, including private contractors, for unlawful killings in its international operations and the use of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in US custody, including outside its territory, as part of the so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques' program."
While welcoming a presidential Executive Order in 2009 terminating secret detention and interrogation operated by the CIA, "the Committee notes with concern that all reported investigations into enforced disappearances, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment that had been committed in the context of the CIA secret rendition, interrogation and detention programmes were closed in 2012 leading only to a meagre number of criminal charges brought against low-level operatives. The Committee is concerned that many details of the CIA programme remain secret thereby creating barriers to accountability and redress for victims."
In a separate but related development last week, The Associated Press reported that the White House instructed its intelligence officials to cooperate with the US Senate Intelligence Committee, which voted to release parts of a secret report that criticizes CIA interrogation techniques. The Senate committee, which has been sparring with the CIA over release of the report, is expected to see 500 pages of the 6300-page document. Committee Chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said, "The report exposes brutality that stands in sharp contrast to our values as a nation," reported The AP. "It chronicles a stain on our history that must never be allowed to happen again. This is not what Americans do."
But perhaps the biggest criticism leveled against the US was over standing outside the jurisdiction of the world governing body.
"The Committee regrets that the State party [the US] continues to maintain its position that the Covenant does not apply with respect to individuals under its jurisdiction but outside its territory, despite the contrary interpretation of article 2(1) supported by the Committee's established jurisprudence, the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice and state practice," the report states.
The committee's final report, based on its Observational Conclusions which include detailed recommendations to increase transparency and accountability for maintaining human rights at home and abroad, is due to be released sometime this month.
Right or wrong
"President Obama now has an opportunity to reverse course and reshape his human rights legacy by taking concrete actions like declassifying the Senate report on CIA torture and ending dragnet surveillance and unlawful targeted killings," said Dakwar, who attended the two–week session in Geneva.
"If we are identified by the world, by the UN, as having these really deep problems with detention and folks being separated from their families who are then penalized for coming back in and trying to be with their families, people who were here for 10 or 20 years selling hot dogs on the street as the primary breadwinner, there is obviously something wrong with that," Morales said.
"I think the UN report really points to the fact that there is something wrong that can be fixed. The US has the creativity and ingenuity to put our moral compass back on track and we can work on these types of detrimental systems that are in place and really create something that takes humanity into consideration."
"Perhaps," said Schachter, "this is a time to remember the definition of patriotism by a Civil War general: 'My country, right or wrong. When it is right, keep it right. When it is wrong, make it right."
To read the full report, visit http://www.nlchp.org/INT_CCPR_COC_USA_16838_E.pdf
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subset: commoncrawl


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July 17, 2003
Bluefield State College
Board of Governors
July 17, 2003
Members Present: Mr. John Barnes, Dr. Louis Aikens, Dr. Frank Ball, Mr. Michael Hanna, Mr. Daniel Frost, Ms. Ann Crowe,
Members Absent: Mr. Norris Kantor, Mr. Jack Caffrey, Dr. Lyn Guy, Mr. Frank Wilkinson, The Reverend Garry Moore
Guests/Staff: Dr. Albert Walker, Mr. Jim Nelson, Mr. John Cardwell, Dr. Don Smith, Dr. David Perkins, Vivian Sidote
Board Chairman Mr. John Barnes called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
A motion was made and seconded (LAikens/ACrowe) to approve minutes of the June 19, 2003 Board meeting as submitted. Motion carried.
Introduction of New Board Members
Chairman Barnes administered the Oath of Office to the three new board members - Dr. Frank Ball, Mr. Daniel Frost, Mr. Michael Hanna. Ms. Lala Wooten notarized their Oath of Office certificates.
New River Community & Technical College
Organizational Leadership
Dr. Perkins distributed the organizational chart for the New River Community & Technical College of BSC. He reported that the organizational structure did not include any new positions, adding that added duties and responsibilities were delegated to existing personnel. There was considerable discussion concerning the organizational chart. Chairman Barnes directed Dr. Walker and Dr. Perkins to contact the Higher Education Policy Commission to obtain direction related to personnel matters pertaining to the organizational chart, then report back to the Board of Governors.
Dr. Perkins said that the (Greenbrier) Library Commission is requesting that the Board approve an extension of the lease with the College, to provide additional time for initiating construction of a new library, so that funds could be raised for this project. There was much discussion concerning this. A motion was made and seconded (LAikens/DFrost) that the Board approve an extension of the deadline for starting the construction of a library until August 1, 2006. Motion carried.
New River Community & Technical College facility at Nicholas County
Dr. Walker reported that the College is honoring the lease arrangement created between Glenville State College and the County Commission for lease of the NRCTC facility in Nicholas County at the same lease payment as was already in effect. There was much discussion. A motion was made and seconded (MHanna/FBall) to have Jim Nelson take photographs of the facility for review of the Board at a future meeting. It was also decided to delete the last four lines of the lease agreement. Motion carried.
Academic Affairs Advisory Committee
Program Review
Dr. Smith presented a program review for B.A. in Social Science. He said that this Board has to approve this review and submit its recommendation to the Higher Education Policy Commission. A motion was made and seconded (MHanna/FBall) to approve the program review for the B.A. degree program in Social Science as presented. Motion carried.
Legislative Update
Jim Nelson gave an overview of the legislative tasks and timelines related to H.B. 2224 that Bluefield State College has completed and the timelines that BSC must still complete. These tasks include generating a report that identifies collaborative opportunities for BSC and Concord (submission deadline to HEPC, 9/1/03). HEPC will review and send recommendations concerning the report to LOCEA by 11/1/03. The College is also required to submit recommendations to HEPC by Fall, 2004 for elimination of low enrollment courses. By 12/31/04, independent accreditation of NRCTC must be obtained.
President's Report
Dr. Walker narrated a Powerpoint "President's Report," summarizing the most recent activities at Bluefield State College. Dr. Walker asked that Board members keep this copy of the presentation summary because it list the College's goals and objectives for the 2003-04 year.
1. Chairman Barnes asked that minutes of the past meetings as well as list of duties of the Board of Governors be sent to the new Board members.
2. Mr. Barnes mentioned that he wants to have some working meetings by having established committees.
3. It was mentioned that a training session for Board of Governors members will be held in October.
The next meeting is scheduled for August 21, 2003
With no further business to transact, a motion was made and seconded (LAikens/DFrost) to adjourned meeting at 9 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John Barnes


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Fascinating commentary by Kenny Young, Head of Audio at Media Molecule, gives you an inside look at the joys and challenges of designing sound from the bottom up for a video game in this article in Designing Sound. He discusses his work on Tearaway and offers several opinions about creating the audio for video games in general. For instance:
"Those of us who work in games have a massive advantage over those who work in traditional linear media – even if audio tends to be brought in later than other disciplines, the constant iteration and flux of a game during development provides opportunities for audio to influence the project."
"If there is one thing that is missing in the early stage of a game's development it is well-defined and reliable context, even more so when developing a new intellectual property from scratch… There is a leap of faith required whereby you need to let go of creating anything coherent and embrace your inner incompetent audio designer – kiss goodbye to doing any work that chimes on multiple levels. It's like being a beginner all over again, only more painful because you have the curse of knowing what it feels like to do good work.
"Sounds thrown at a prototype by a programmer are not going to develop and improve over time which prevents a more sophisticated audio aesthetic from emerging."
The article includes samples of work throughout to demonstrate the techniques used or solutions developed. He also talks at length about the decisions that went into creating what seemed like a simple idea – give players the chance to touch the record to make the music stop, scratch the record to scratch the music and have fun doing so – but it wasn't as simple as it sounded.
After reading the piece do you agree/disagree with any of his ideas?
Tags: Audio for Elder Scrolls Online, Elder Scrolls Online, Kenny Young, Media Molecule


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History of the Peace Corps in Macedonia
|History of the Peace Corps
|Since 1960, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries, more than 182,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in 138 countries all over the globe.
See also:
The Peace Corps received an invitation from the government of Macedonia in March 1996 to initiate and develop a program. By the beginning of June 1996, the first group of seven trainees arrived. They completed training in August and were assigned to the Ministry of Education's secondary school English education program. Over the next three years, Peace Corps/Macedonia grew to include programs in business, environmental education, and municipal development.
Because of the political unrest in neighboring Kosovo, the Peace Corps program in Macedonia was suspended in 1999. The confusion and tension resulting from the sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees in Macedonia were simply too great to safely continue Peace Corps operations. The surprisingly quick return of these refugees to Kosovo meant that the Peace Corps was able to resume operations after only a six-month suspension.
Long-standing ethnic tensions, however, began to flare up in the spring of 2001. Grievances between ethnic Albanians and the Macedonian majority led to armed rebellion in several ethnic Albanian-majority communities. The conflict, which was isolated primarily to regions in the north and northwest of the country, became progressively more intense over the next several months. Finally, on July 5, 2001, events on the ground forced the Peace Corps to evacuate its Volunteers and suspend its program. Once again, further development of the Peace Corps program in Macedonia was cut short by political instability in the region.
As the conflict in Macedonia continued, the parties involved conducted extensive negotiations and after several months signed the Lake Ohrid Peace Framework Agreement (Framework Agreement) on August 13, 2001. At the request of both parties, a NATO task force performed disarmament of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army.
The Framework Agreement was confirmed by the Macedonian Parliament on September 26, 2001, and continues to be implemented. The constitution has been amended and laws on local government and amnesty have been passed. Ethnically mixed police forces are working to reintegrate the territory of Macedonia, a task that was monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). National elections took place in September 2002, further confirming the future stability of Macedonia.
After a rigorous safety and security assessment of the situation in Macedonia, the Peace Corps determined that enough stability had been achieved to support the return of the Peace Corps. In November 2002, Peace Corps/Macedonia welcomed the seventh group of Volunteers to continue the contributions of previous Volunteers and their partners to the development of Macedonian communities.
The security situation has improved so much that in January 2004, the European Union's (EU) military force, Operation Concordia, was replaced by an EU police mission, Proxima, composed of only 200 mostly unarmed EU police. Proxima, in cooperation with the OSCE, completed training and deploying the newly integrated and ethnically mixed Macedonian police force. Proxima officially ended its activities on December 15, 2005. The international community has assessed that Macedonia now has capable security forces that can solve the issues of the country on its own.
Decentralization reforms, especially the Law on Territorial Division that reduced the number of municipalities from the current 124 to 84, were passed in 2005. These reforms decentralized authority to local government for education, healthcare, infrastructure, and other services. Financing these now local-level responsibilities will be critical to the success of this reform.
The peaceful municipal elections of 2005 and the parliamentary elections of 2006 took the country a step closer to membership in NATO and the EU. These memberships eventually will increase regional and international trade ties and political cooperation.
History and Future of Peace Corps Programming in Macedonia
Macedonia's objectives are to develop a multiethnic democracy; to provide economic opportunities for its citizens; and to move toward NATO and EU integration. Since the country gained its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it has made this integration a top foreign policy goal. A part of this strategy has been to encourage partnerships and cooperation with a wide range of international development organizations. The Peace Corps has worked closely with various government ministries in Macedonia to develop programs that will facilitate the attainment of this goal in several key areas. Since Peace Corps/Macedonia began in 1996, its program comprises two major sectors: English education development, and community development. The latter includes organizational development for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), municipal government, educational institutions, or other local organizations; business development; environmental improvement; youth development; and assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged group.
The objectives for each of these sectors are outlined in documents called project plans, which have been translated into Macedonian and are used as the basis for discussions with potential sponsors that have requested the assistance of a Peace Corps Volunteer. As in all Peace Corps programs, work is done in collaboration with counterparts to ensure the Peace Corps' goal of assisting countries to meet their need for trained men and women.
A number of different tasks are listed in each project plan, and you are likely to become involved with several of these tasks in addition to activities in the community. Information provided in the Volunteer Assignment Description (VAD) can be matched with specific tasks of the project plan for your sector. Both the project plan and the VAD explain how you can work with both your hosting organization's program and the local community. It is up to you, however, to take the first steps to become acquainted with, and involved in, the program.
English language teaching was the original Peace Corps program in Macedonia. There is a need for qualified English teachers at both the primary and secondary school levels, especially in small towns. Until 2005, it was illegal for a foreign national teacher to teach in Macedonian public schools. The law has changed, but the custom continues. As a "resource teacher," you will be paired with Macedonian teachers to work collaboratively. It would be very rare for you to have your own classroom. Volunteers work with their Macedonian counterparts to promote applicable and current teaching methods and approaches, especially interactive and communicative techniques. Many of the schools where the Peace Corps places Volunteers have limited resources for materials. Volunteers work with Macedonian colleagues and others in the community to develop strategies to improve the educational resources in their schools and communities.
Overall, Volunteers focus on assisting students to improve English writing, reading, and overall communication skills through creative and participatory language learning activities. Volunteers and their Macedonian colleagues have collaborated in many areas. These have included developing supplemental materials to support English language instruction and forming clubs at schools that encourage the use of the English language (writing clubs, drama clubs, an English or American film club, a debate club, and even a music club). Volunteers have also helped develop links among schools, communities, and the world through pen-pal exchanges and by creatively using computer labs and the Internet to enhance the use of information technology (IT). Volunteers are also encouraged to help the community at large, and they have assisted their communities to develop and implement a variety of projects that seek solutions to environmental, health, gender, and other social issues.
Peace Corps Volunteers in the community development program facilitate community development efforts in collaboration with local organizations. The program combines the knowledge and skills of Volunteers and their community partners in identifying common objectives, setting realistic expectations, and reaching informed decisions to address local needs. Volunteers are working with NGOs representing environmental, youth development, disadvantaged groups, women's groups, and other grassroots organizations at the local level as well as educational institutions and departments of local government. Volunteers help these local organizations develop internally to become sustainable and capable of delivering needed services through organizational and managerial development, increasing project management skills, increasing grant writing and fund raising skills, and increasing networking skills.
In organizations focused on local business development, Volunteers and their local partners conduct market research, prepare business and marketing plans, build networks with the business community, apply better use of information technology, and provide information and advice for local businesses and associations.
In organizations focused on environmental activities, Volunteers and their local partners identify and distribute environmental education materials to schools, youth groups, and NGOS; develop environmental education programs for local organizations; develop and promote environmentally-sustainable practices in forestry, agricultural organizations, and local farmers' associations; teach environmental classes in the public school system; work with eco-clubs to develop their capacity and improve their activities; participate in community beautification activities; organize community clean-ups; initiate programs for the collection, sorting, and/or recycling of waste; and organize community-oriented environmental awareness projects.
In organizations focused on youth development, Volunteers and their local partners provide information to youth via workshops and printed materials on topics related to social issues and physical and mental well-being, such as fitness, nutrition, prevention of violence, recognizing and handling substance abuse, self-esteem, gender equality, ethnic tolerance, and human rights. Volunteers and their local partners also organize activities that promote tolerance and equal opportunities for underrepresented groups, including those with special needs, the economically disadvantaged, and those from ethnic minorities; promote volunteer community service; and motivate youth to develop strategies and activities for the constructive use of free time.


text:
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From Action park, Bonville Farm 21-3-2013


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What will go down in the books as a Joe Blanton loss actually had nothing to do with the Kentucky chubster. The Phillies provided free baseball for everyone like it was treat. Truth be told, this game should not have lasted this long.
Call it typical or what to expect this season from the Phillies, but the offense was just nonexistent tonight. Seven hits over 10 innings is all this team could manage against a mediocre pitcher in Jeff Karsten. Karsten went six innings, allowed only a first inning run and confused Phillies hitters all night.
What was also very confusing tonight was the strike zone. Normally I will never mention this but there wasn't one tonight. The home plate umpire was all over the place. Who knows, really, what effect this had on anything. Cliff Lee pitched well enough to get a win tonight. He went six strong innings struck out four and the only run surrendered was on a passed ball in the sixth inning.
Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco provided over half the offense tonight getting two hits each while Hunter Pence picked up the RBI in the first scoring the only Phillies run. Lance Nix used his usual eyes closed, butt clinched style of hitting trying to crush everything. Even his bunt attempt went a million miles into the air.
Freddy Galvis has yet to pick up his first Major League hit going 0-4 once again tonight. It's no secret he wasn't brought up for his bat but he left four runners on and came up in some big time situations that would have really broken the game open. Granted, he showed off his warning track power but like I said it's not his bat that got him hear.
With that said, Galvis did make some nice plays in the field and the duo of him and Jimmy Rollins is looking smooth up the middle.
A big plus for the evening was the middle relief. Kyle Kendrick, Chad Qualls, Michael Stutes, and Antonio Bastardo each pitched very well for their situation. Bastardo did walk a batter on four pitches but induced an infield pop-up from the next batter. Crisis averted.
Blanton was brought in to pitch the tenth. Rod Barajas, who loves playing the Phillies, crushed a ball that hit off the front of the center field wall to start the inning and his replacement runner moved to third on a sac bunt. A pseudo hit by pitch had runners on first and third with one out.
An infield fly to Glavis made it two outs. Rookie Alex Presley then beat out an infield hit to score pinch runner Michael McKenry. Boom. Pirates win 2-1 and I just spent my Saturday night in with this.
Look, when Cliff Lee gives up only one run you say thank you. You don't dump all over it and not score any runs. The Phillies offense, yes we know is going to struggle but, will need to step up this season. This rotation will be great but will not do it all by themselves.
The Vanimal goes tomorrow in the final game of this series. Go eat, go pout, but as always go Phillies!
0 Comments
They should not be losing to the Pirates…. EVER. We have shown nothing at the plate and Charlie should be ashamed of himself…. being the hitting guru he is…. we have nothing. Why not start Thome at first shake the lineup a little, I mean the patience is not there, there is just nothing. Love the pitching staff hate the lineup, I mean I HATE the lineup, nothing scares me if I am a opposing pitcher… Our 3 hitter come on throw high fast balls and he will chase them all day, Lead off? Vic is less patient than Rollins at times. Pence has started in a slump, why well he has no one hitting around him. Mayberry I have a feeling is going the way of Ben Francisco:(
Okay I vented lets go figure it out tomorrow…. should be 2-0
Interesting stat…
We are tied for the least runs given up and tied for least runs scored….. my my my this is going to be an interesting year
It blows i understand the offense aint the same but we have to do better than just 1 run..
The key AB was actually Laynce Nix striking out in the first inning with runners on first and third base. But it is curious to have Rollins lay down a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second. There are two reasons why its curious. First, he has had success versus Karstens in the past. And, Rollins isn't likely to hit into a DP especially batting from the left side. I would understand the strategy with someone else but don't really understand it with Rollins.
Then you had Nix sacrifice in the 8th or so and he pops out. I can't see sacrificing as hard as Hanrahan throws. They brought him into hit. Just have to let him hit there.
According to David Murphy, Rollins decided to bunt on his own…
I read in the Inquirer that Manuel gave him the bunt sign. Either way it is a horrible play. If your third place hitter is thinking bunt in the first inning he shouldn't be hitting third.
If he's bunting for a hit on his own it's not quite as horrible a play. I'd still like to see the 3-hole hitter swing away there, but if he thinks he can get the bases loaded with no outs, that's a little more acceptable. If he was given instruction by the bench to sacrifice then it's an atrocious, indefensible play.
This is the kind of offense we were forewarned to expect without Utley or Howard. As Phillies manager, Manuel said in so many words, 'smallball' is the name of the offense and expect fundamental baseball that includes, sacrifice bunts, hit and run, aggressive base stealing, etc.
What bother me about tonight's game are the few lost opportunities to score. One specific moment in mind, is in that crucial 9th inning. Pirates have their reliever, Joel Hanrahan, a righthander, pitching. There are 2 outs; a runner on 2nd base. Ruiz is up at bat and you know they are going to pitch around him to get the "easy" out with the next batter, Galvis. Of course, Ruiz walks on 4 straight balls. Now comes the question, why did Manuel choose to have Galvis bat when you a lefthanded hitter, Pete Orr on the bench? Of course, Galvis kills the rally by striking out.
Galvis continues to looked overmatched against major league pitching. Time will tell, how much patience Manuel will have with him if the offense continues to struggle. Good field-no hit players usually don't last long in the big leagues. As I typed this, I'm thinking of Wilson Valdez's contribution to the Phillies when he played exceptionally well (hitting and fielding) in subbing for the injured Rollins last season. If we had him today, Galvis wouldn't be with the Phillies.
Tomorrow is another day and we can only hope the offense can get a spark from one of the key players, Rollins, Pence, Victorino, Polanco, Ruiz or even Mayberry.Let's go Phillies!
Galvis is definitely in over his head, we sort of knew that coming in to the season. His career minor league numbers are even worse than those of Michael Martinez. I once thought the Freddy Galvis experiment might last until May, but I doubt he'll be here by the end of the month.
Bruce, Happy Easter sir.
I have a disagreement with this statement –
"Good field-no hit players usually don't last long in the big leagues"
On a team that hits well, you can afford one or even two of those types. Unfortunately, the way this team is presently constructed, mostly due to injury, and to some extent age, they probably can't afford to keep a good field-no hit player.
But in the past there are dozens, maybe hundreds of examples of light hitting key defenders that existed in lineups for long healthy careers. And what makes it more interesting is that they are usually shortstops, Galvis' real position. Mark Belanger, Larry Bowa, Ozzie Smith, Omar Viquel, Dave Concepcion, Ed Brinkman- I could keep going on and on, these are all guys with career OPS in the .600's who had long careers.
I think it's too early to say Galvis is overmatched as you and others have suggested. It may well turn out to be true, but after just 2 games? I think he deserves – well I don't know how long, but longer than 2 games.
My opinion on Galvis has nothing to do with these first two games, it's his entire minor league body of work. Other than last year, the offensive part of his game was nonexistent. Even last season (dubbed by some as "his breakout season"), his offensive output was fairly mediocre. His minor career league numbers weren't even as good as Martinez's were, and we got a glimpse of how that translates to the big leagues. I feel bad for the kid, he's been put in a position in which he has no chance to succeed.
It could be that so much talk about the offense or lackoff maybe its got to the players heads. To early to panic yet but we need more than 1 run. Not fair to the aces if the Phils cant score more than a run, Even without Howard or Utley you have Polly, Pence, Shane and J-Roll. One or 2 of these guys have to do something.
By this i mean Cholly and company are so convinced that no one can hit that he is over compensating.
This is going to be a very boring baseball year for Phillies Phans at this rate! What are these guys making $$$? And they can't hit the ball….did I miss something?
Boring? Close games are anything but boring.
Frustrating maybe, agonizing surely, disheartening at times, but boring they are not.
Am I the only one who's bored already after 2 games? This lineup is not exciting at all. In fact, it should be used in the new Slowski's commercial to put junior to sleep! There's not one hitter in our lineup that puts fear into an opposing pitcher.
So today we get a taste of what Worley will be doing for the Phils this year. Hopefully, Cholly has seen just enough of the Nix experiment to start using someone else, its only game 2 but he has shown nothing, nothing at all.. Let's see more of Pierre. Lets see Pence relax good grief! Phils will need to score more than 4 today.
Probably the most excited I got about the game was when Rollins bunted them over. The fact that nobody else could do anything is another story .
The other atbats for Jimmy were wasted. He needs to learn patience as he was swinging at either the 2nd or 3rd pitch every at bat.
It's been TWO lousy games! It's really way too early to be so pessimistic.
I actually liked the bunt by Rollins. I have seen Jimmy pop up in those situations to many times. Lee had the guy struck out but the umpire changed his strike zone from the inning before. Nix's strikeout was huge. Phils should have won 2-0.
Whats everyone complaining about? We knew the lineup was gonna suck and it does. We knew all the games were gonna pretty much like this one and the first two were. RAJ wants to mix and match journeyman and rookies until Utley and Howard come back – whenever that is – and this is exactly what you will get. I have no problem with JRo bunting for a hit at anytime or at anyplace in the order. We have no No. 3 hitter….just a guy who happens to be hitting third. Whatever it takes to get a run when Cliff is on the mound…..do it….please. This lineup reminds me a lot of the mid 80's Cardinals – just without the speed. You know – the one where Tommy Herr batted third.
The Dipsy
Yeah I'm that guy. I mean you did it twice so figured it wasn't just a typo =]
Dismal game. Oh well I'm in Sweden for the next four days so I could care less if the Phils only score 1 run a game until then.
Anyone else wondering why Blanton got the call anyway? Not really blaming him but I don't understand putting him in the 10th. He's our 4/5th starter…..right? I didn't read anything about him starting the season in the 'pen.
I don't have a problem with using Blanton if it's the 15th inning or whatever. He doesn't pitch until Thursday which means he'd be going on full rest even if he had pitched a bunch of innings yesterday.
My issue is…why the hell use him in the first place when you've got Savery and Herndon, both of whom are better pitchers, still in the pen?
You're going to drop games… it's the second game of the season. As long as Halladay, Lee and Hamels are doing their thing, we'll be just fine. My panic meter is actually a notch lower after this game. Our 3-4-5-6 hitters left a lot of men on base (10 to be exact, including Thome, who batter for Nix)… we're getting men on base, we just have to execute getting them home. It will get better.
One thing that I'm still not thrilled about is this 1B platoon… if Wigginton and Nix aren't going to produce as every day players, you might as well give Brown those at bats (he had the game winning hit for the Iron Pigs yesterday). Start Mayberry every day at 1st and Brown every day in LF. I'm going to keep saying it because I believe it – when you have a lineup that is built around zero production at first, you're putting a lot of stress on the rest of your lineup. Eventually, we're going to have to give Brown time to adjust as an every day player… why not now?
Branderson yea it was announced Blanton would be starting the year in the Pen. I think the reason given was to build up arm strength.
Wigginton and Nix need to go away.
The Dipsy
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Orthogonal Polynomials and Special Functions
The activity group promotes basic research in orthogonal polynomials and special functions; furthers the application of this subject in other parts of mathematics, and in science and industry; and encourages and supports the exchange of information, ideas, and techniques between workers in this field and other mathematicians and scientists.
The activity group publishes the electronic newsletter OP-SF NET, maintains an electronic discussion group (OPSFtalk), sponsors minisymposia at the SIAM annual meeting, and maintains a web site, a member directory, and an electronic mailing list. The activity group also awards the Gábor Szegö Prize every two years to an early-career researcher for outstanding research contributions in the area of orthogonal polynomials and special functions.
- Chair: Walter Van Assche (1/1/14 - 12/31/16)
- Vice-Chair: Jeff Geronimo (1/1/14 - 12/31/16)
- Program Director: Diego Dominici (1/1/14 - 12/31/16)
- Secretary: Yuan Xu (1/1/14 - 12/31/16)
- OP-SF Talk moderators: Diego Dominici, Bonita V. Saunders
- OP-SF NET Co-editor: Kerstin Jordaan, University of Pretoria, South Africa
- OP-SF NET Co-editor: Howard Cohl, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
- OP-SF NET Co-editor: Sarah Post, University of Hawaii, HI, USA
- OP-SF Webmaster: Bonita V. Saunders


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Top 10 Sports Hoaxes of All Time
You pretty much need range, scope and span to break into this list. It helps if your hoax stretches across years or at least months. It helps if it can envelop a slew of people. If it can cross international borders and... more »


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Conference held on Steubenville defendants
STEUBENVILLE – A telephone conference was held Friday between attorneys with the Ohio Attorney General's Office and lawyers representing defendants indicted by a special grand jury investigating aspects of the Steubenville rape case.
The special grand jury held periodic sessions beginning in April to investigate if additional crimes were committed following the August 2012 Steubenville rape case that saw two Steubenville High School students convicted of the rape of a teenage Weirton girl.
A status conference is scheduled for March 4 for Steubenville City Schools Superintendent Mike McVey. McVey was named in a five-count indictment charging one count of tampering with evidence, two counts of obstructing justice, both felonies, and two misdemeanors, including one count of falsification and one count of obstructing official business.
The indictment claims McVey allegedly committed crimes starting on April 5, 2012.
Visiting Summit County retired Judge Patricia Ann Cosgrove at the status conference may set a trial date, unless both the prosecution and defense have worked out an agreement on a plea.
William Rhinaman, the former director of technology for the Steubenville City School District and the first person indicted by the special grand jury, will have a pretrial hearing in his case on April 7, at which time a trial date also may be set by Cosgrove.
Rhinaman was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, obstructing official business and perjury.
Rhinaman was charged with tampering with evidence by altering, destroying, concealing or removing evidence from Aug. 11, 2012, to April 25, 2013, according to the state attorney general's office.
Rhinaman also is charged with attempting to stop the prosecution of another person by either concealing or destroying evidence and getting the person to withhold information or communicating false information from April 8 to Oct. 4.
The third count charges Rhinaman with obstructing official business from April 8 until Oct. 4.
The perjury charge claims Rhinaman made a false statement under oath to the special grand jury during a July 8 proceeding.
Rhinaman's daughter, Hannah Rhinaman, is scheduled to enter a plea at 11 a.m. on Feb. 19 and enter a diversion program.
She was named in a three-count indictment on Oct. 23 charging her with two counts of receiving stolen property, a fifth-degree felony, and one count of grand theft, a fifth-degree felony.
According to a press release issued in October by the attorney general's office, the charges against Hannah Rhinaman are related to incidents that occurred at Steubenville City Schools. However, the charges are separate and unrelated to the previous indictment issued against her father, William Rhinaman on Oct. 7, the press release stated.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Hannah Rhinaman was employed by the city school district for approximately one month in 2012.
"She took property from the school district and sold it," DeWine said during an October telephone interview.
A status conference for Seth Fluharty, a wrestling and conditioning coach and teacher at Garfield East Elementary School, and Matthew Belardine, a former volunteer high school football coach, is scheduled for Feb. 11.
Fluharty was indicted on one misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse or neglect on Aug. 13.
Bellardine was indicted on four misdemeanor counts, including allowing an underage person to consume beer or liquor, obstructing official business, falsification and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child.
Lynnette Gorman, the Pugliese West Elementary School principal, who also was indicted by the special grand jury, reached an agreement with the state attorney general's office on Jan. 8 whereby the misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse or neglect will be dismissed by June if certain conditions are met.
Gorman must complete 40 hours of community service and speak to other teachers and administrators in the Steubenville School District on the subject of recognizing and reporting child abuse and child neglect.
(Law can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com)


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Training in The Gambia
|Training in [[{{#explode:Training in The Gambia| |2}} {{#explode:Training in The Gambia| |3}} {{#explode:Training in The Gambia| |4}}]]
|Pre-service training will probably be the most intense period of your Peace Corps service, as you will need to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to successfully serve as a Volunteer in just 10 weeks. While the training period will be extremely busy, it should also be a time of excitement, discovery, and self-fulfillment. The effort and challenges of adapting to a new culture will draw on your reserves of patience and humor but will be handsomely rewarded with a sense of belonging among new friends.
|[[Image:Flag_of_{{#explode:Training in The Gambia| |2}}.svg|50px|none]]}}
See also:
For information see Welcomebooks
Overview of Pre-Service Training
Pre-service training will probably be the most intense period of your Peace Corps service, as you will need to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to successfully serve as a Volunteer in just 10 weeks. While the training period will be extremely busy, it should also be a time of excitement, discovery, and self-fulfillment. The effort and challenges of adapting to a new culture will draw on your reserves of patience and humor but will be handsomely rewarded with a sense of belonging among new friends. The long hours of study and the accomplishment of difficult tasks will pay off in your ability to work effectively in a challenging job that will directly benefit a great number of people.
The training approach is best described as discovery-oriented and self-directed. Based on adult learning methods, it emphasizes individual responsibility for developing the competencies to function independently as a Volunteer.
Technical Training
Technical training will prepare you to work in The Gambia by building on the skills you already have and helping you develop new skills in a manner appropriate to the needs of the country. Technical training will include sessions on the environment, economics, and politics in The Gambia and strategies for working within such a framework. You will review your project's goals and will meet with the agencies and organizations that invited the Peace Corps to assist them. You will be supported and evaluated throughout the training to build the confidence and skills you need to undertake your project activities and be a productive member of your community.
By the end of training, health trainees will be able to contribute to the improvement of The Gambia's primary health care through the planning and implementation of educational activities that promote maternal and child health. Education trainees will be ready to teach computer literacy, math and science, social and environmental studies, and English, as well as to implement in-service teacher-training programs. Environment trainees will be prepared to teach agroforestry and improved agricultural and horticultural techniques to rural farmers, as well as to promote community forestry projects and environmental education in schools and communities.
Language Training
You will find that language skills are the key to personal and professional satisfaction during your service. These skills are critical to your job performance, they help you integrate into your community, and they can ease your personal adaptation to the new surroundings. Therefore, language training is the heart of the training program, and you must successfully meet minimum language requirements to complete training and become a Volunteer. Experienced Gambian language instructors teach formal language classes five days a week in small groups of four to five trainees.
Your language training will incorporate a community-based approach. In addition to classroom time, you will be given assignments to work on outside of the classroom and with your host family. The goal is to get you to a point of basic social communication skills so that you can practice and continue to learn the language once you are at your site. Prior to being sworn in as a Volunteer, you will work on strategies to continue language studies during your two years of service.
Cross-Cultural Training
One of the most important aspects of the training program is the experience of living with a Gambian host family. There is no other way to learn as much about Gambian attitudes, customs, and day-to-day life. Your host family can be invaluable in helping you learn the language and in introducing you to other members of the community. Many Volunteers form strong and lasting friendships with their host families.
Cross-cultural and community development training will help you improve your communication skills and understand your role as a facilitator of development. You will be exposed to topics such as community mobilization, conflict resolution, gender and development, nonformal and adult education strategies, and political structures.
Health Training
During pre-service training, you will be given basic medical training and information. You will be expected to take responsibility for your own health by adhering to all medical policies. Trainees are required to attend all medical sessions. The topics include preventive health measures and minor and major medical issues that you might encounter while in The Gambia. Nutrition, mental health, safety and security, setting up a safe living compound, and how to avoid HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are also covered.
Safety Training
During the safety training sessions, you will learn how to adopt a lifestyle that reduces your risks at home, at work, and during your travels. You will also learn appropriate, effective strategies for coping with unwanted attention and about your individual responsibility for promoting safety throughout your service.
Additional Trainings During Volunteer Service
In its commitment to institutionalize quality training, the Peace Corps has implemented a training system that provides Volunteers with continual opportunities to examine their commitment to Peace Corps service while increasing their technical and cross-cultural skills. During your service, a variety of training events may be conducted. The titles and objectives for those trainings are as follows:
- Reconnect in-service training: Provides Volunteers with an opportunity to assess their first six to nine months of service and make plans for the following year. Volunteers work with associate Peace Corps Directors to develop training to increase their technical, language, and project development skills.
- Life Skills Manual training of trainers: Provides interested Volunteers and counterparts with training to assist youth in building their self-esteem, making responsible decisions, fighting HIV/AIDS, and acquiring skills to enhance their upward mobility.
- Gender and development and information technology in-service training: Provides interested first-year health and environment Volunteers and counterparts with the skills and information necessary to teach gender issues in their schools and communities and to incorporate information technology in everyday life.
- Nursery management and fruit tree grafting in-service training: Provides first-year environment Volunteers and counterparts with information on these topics and strengthens the skills Volunteers acquired during pre-service training.
- Gardening in-service training: Equips Volunteers with the skills and information to grow and maintain vegetables and to encourage their communities in gardening for greater income and improved nutrition.
- Beekeeping in-service training: Provides first-year environment Volunteers with information on and skills in beekeeping, including honey harvesting, wax production, income generation, and nutrition.
- Close of service conference: Prepares Volunteers for their future after Peace Corps service and reviews their respective projects and personal experiences.
The key to the training system is that training events are integrated and interrelated, from the pre-departure orientation (staging) through the end of your service, and are planned, implemented, and evaluated cooperatively by the Peace Corps staff, the training staff, and Volunteers.


text:
5-13-09 PNC Park
I knew today would be a tough day snagging wise from the start. If you recall reading my entry from the Pirates Caravan, I won an opportunity to change 3rd base during the game and be recognized as the fan of the game.
When I received my letter from the Pirates with information, it stated that I needed to be in the security office by 5:30PM to check in, or I would jeopardize the opportunity to change 3rd base. This means that I would have less than a half hour to snag.
My wife and I arrived at the stadium and were near the end of the line to get in. When we did get into the stadium, the minutes ticked away without me snagging anything.
I got nothing from the Pirates.
It was about 5:20 and I still had no balls. Was I going to get shut out for the first time since August of 2008?
Luckily, no. All of the Cardinals pitchers were still warming up in right field when the Cardinals began hitting.
We waited on the field for about 50 minutes before I was introduced. Some movie "star" named David Conrad was to throw out the first pitch. He stood next to us on the field the entire time, but we didn't talk. Only one person from the crowd recognized him and asked him for a picture. He is in the cast of the Ghost Whisperer on CBS, and also had a small roll in Wedding Crashers.
Here he is:
Do you recognize him? I didn't. My wife didn't.
We then had to LEAVE the stadium, and re-enter through the gates to go to our seats. Why they wouldn't let us take the elevator up to the main concourse, I don't know. So, I used 4 tickets for the 2 of us (I used 2 of my season tickets for the first 30 minutes so I could snag a ball).
We reported to guest services in the 6th inning and were taken back down into the tunnel, where I joined the grounds crew. No one really said much to me. One guy said, "Here's the base." No instructions.
A few pictures:
I got to watch an inning from the top step:
The third out came, and all of the ground crew and myself rushed onto the field.
I went to third base, as Freddy Sanchez walked right past me and changed the base. It came right out, and was changed in a matter of seconds.
After changing the base, I was going to do a Rickey Henderson pose,
But decided I'd better just do a generic pose.
And that was it. We went back to our seats and watched the rest of the game. The Pirates won the game, and I was shut out at the dugout by the umpire.
Here's the one ball I got:
Game: 1 Ball (1 device) (worst snagging day of the season for me)
Season: 108 balls (47 hit, 48 thrown, 13 device)
Games: 20 Games (17 with BP, 3 without)
Average: 5.4 balls per game
Career: 274 balls
2 Comments
Hi Erik…
Sorry about the low count snagging day. It was kind of cool to change the base though. It makes for a cool picture. I've been shut out once this year and it does kind of suck to not get any balls. You get way more than me on average though. Your average will still be up there. Crazy story about Happy today huh?
Erik, At least you haven't been shutout yet. For a second though, I thought that's what was going to happen😡 Awesome feeling changing that base? A baseball fan like yourself, I would LOVE to do that. Unfortunately, New York ballparks don't let you do things as freely as they do in Pittsburgh
– Donnie


text:
Romulan scout ship
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The Romulan scout ship was a small starship used by the Romulan Star Empire for scouting missions during the late-24th century. They rarely ventured out as far as the Romulan Neutral Zone.
In 2366, the Romulan scout ship Pi crash-landed on Galorndon Core, inside Federation space, while conducting an unspecified covert mission. The Pi was destroyed with an ultritium explosive after the crash to prevent its capture by Starfleet. (TNG: "The Enemy")
A few weeks later, another scout ship was encountered crossing the Neutral Zone by its occupant, Admiral Jarok, who used his vessel to defect to the Federation. Following a pursuit across the Neutral Zone from a Romulan Warbird, Jarok, too, destroyed his ship to prevent its capture by Starfleet. (TNG: "The Defector")
Technical dataEdit
Physical arrangementEdit
The Romulan scout ship was green, with a "bird-of-prey" look. It had the same basic shape as the much larger D'deridex-class warbird.
Tactical systemsEdit
Very little is known about the capabilities of these vessels, including whether or not they were equipped with cloaking devices, but they were equipped with deflector shields.
Ships commissioned Edit
Background information Edit
The Romulan scout ship, which was initially created for its single appearance in the episode "The Defector", was the last Romulan ship model built for Star Trek until the Romulan shuttle in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "In the Pale Moonlight". For more information on this studio model, see TNG studio models.
In Star Trek: Armada and its sequel, the Romulan scout ship was named as being of the Talon-class. Additionally, vessels of this type are listed in the Starships expansion volume of Decipher's Star Trek Roleplaying Game as Theta-class shuttle/surveyors. The Decipher Star Trek Customizable Card Game, however, refers to the class as the Lanora-class scout. None of these designations have been used on-screen, therefore they cannot be considered canon.
External link Edit
- Lanora class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works


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My LO likes table food at almost 8months old. I mean I went to a restaurant and left her food at home. Well, I got her a side of mashed potatoes and she loved loved them. But I noticed if it is on my plate she wants it. When I give her baby food she will take a few bites and refuse to eat more. the only thing I have in the house that she can eat is cheerios and puffs.
I am going to make baked diced apples for her tomorrow.
What do I do? She loves feeding herself, but I think she is too young to be eatting solids. Her breakfast is oatmeal (made from organic oats I grind to a powder) and a fruit mixed up. She can not get enough. If I give her boxed rice cereal she will eat it up but then the iron is soo high she has a hard time pooping....anywho
sorry for rambling I am just looking for more ideas on what to feed her.


text:
Beacons Beach Clean Up a Success
Thanks to I Love A Clean San Diego and everyone who showed up! Beacon's is squeaky clean.
Julian Martin
Environmental Art Exhibition: The Many Faces of Trash
Happy Easter!
Encinitas Easter tradition, Sunrise Service at SRF.
Beacon's Beach Clean up Saturday morning, April 28th
Registration for ILACSD's annual Creek to Bay Cleanup is now open atwww.creektobay.org. Out of the 86 cleanup sites around San Diego county, there's bound to be one near you! Join us on Saturday morning, April 28th to be a steward of the environment and do more with your morning.
Ever wonder who volunteers their time every year to do the beach clean ups?
Read an interview with our King and Queen of Leucadia beach clean ups Jan and Bob Rogers!
San Diego Surf Film Festival Releases NAUTILUS - All Access Pass
This pass gets you into everything we have going on during the festival weekend….everything. My mom doesn't even get one of these passes. All three days to include 12 feature films, 18 shorts, shaping demos, filmmaker panel discussions, art lounge, and VIP private parties.
In addition, the Thursday night before the festival starts, George Greenough blessed us with permission to screen the groundbreaking classic Innermost Limits of Pure Fun(1969) which will surely blow your mind on the big screen.
(Tickets will not be sold to this screening and the only way to get in is with a Nautilus Pass.)
Come meet the filmmakers, surf legends and local heroes and celebrate what we all love about San Diego.
Pre-sale Nautilus passes are limited so do not delay.
$80 for the first 50
$100 for 51-100
Kobe and the Sea: Ben Shewry by Johnny Abegg
You're Invited, Art Show at Subtext This Friday, March 16th, 6-10
New Work created for the show by Susan Wickstrand:
(1st 2 images Collaborative Collages with Kevin Roche, "King Kelly, at Pipeline"image 2-6 Collaborative Collages with Tom Servais)
Download Baby Budda by Seth Pettersen for free!
This is one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums right now. Seth is a great guy and an amazing musician. Get Baby Budda for free and check out the whole album.
Support the Underground- WAX Magazine KickStarter
culture and surfing in and around New York City. We believe that beauty and
meaning can be found on sidewalks, boardwalks, skyscrapers and beaches
alike. We¹re interested in exploring the rich history of New York surfing,
its beaches and residents and in finding a pathway of cultural creativity on
and off the break. WAX will share the stories of area surfers who are also
artists, designers, authors and auteurs. Each issue is organized around a
unique theme, debuting with Issue #1: Dialogues in Spring 2012."
Vespa Gorl By John Culqui
A Dan With Dan Merkel 3.8.12 by Doug Walker
Pillage & Plunder
Swell Stuff Wetsuit Sale: March 2nd and 3rd 10-6:30.
Hand Made in Leucadia - Swell Stuff
GLYDER apparel
Joe Hodniki Vimeo Time-lapse of Vimeo xgames booth
Salt Creek Sessions-2012 by John Culqui
The Sea Is My Brother
Cheryl uses clipping from magazines and books to make her work.
This original collaged piece is an homage to her two loves - literature and the sea - and the connection between the two. There is much beautiful blue ocean imagery, as well as snippets of poetry and literary titles from works whose themes revolve around the sea.
You can buy it at:
14 Year Old Surfer Saves a Life
Turquoise Sequence
Peahi Paddle In's.
I got this email with commentary from my friend Eric Wells on Maui.
Here are a few shots his buddy Brian Parris took...


text:
Leon Bloy once wrote, "The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint."
Why? Because to be anything less than holy is to remain unactualized.
Let me offer an illustration: Suppose you went out and bought a flower pot containing one daffodil bulb buried in rich soil. You take the pot, put it in a closet, and for the next two weeks feed the bulb nothing but Coca-Cola.
This is a sad...


text:
June 1, 2004: Astronomers unveiled the deepest images from NASA's new Spitzer Space Telescope today, and announced the detection of distant objects including several supermassive black holes that are nearly invisible in even the deepest images from telescopes operating at other wavelengths.See the rest:
Supermassive black holes formed early in the universe and accompanied galaxy formation. Hubble research finds that they are common among galaxies. They are millions or billions of times more massive than black holes that are left behind after a star explodes.
AGNs active galactic nuclei are supermassive black holes that are accreting gas. The black hole heats the gas to millions of degrees, where it glows in X-rays. This makes the region around the black hole glow brightly across the universe.
Black holes were well-fed in the early universe. There was a lot of gas from them to accrete from galaxy collisions, which were more frequent when the expanding universe was smaller, so very distant galaxies are more likely to have AGNs.
Black holes can be hidden behind dusty, donut-shaped features, which are common in AGNs. Or, they can be so far away that all their light is stretched into the infrared region of the spectrum.


text:
" 'Hope' is the thing with feathers – / That perches in the soul – / And sings the tune without the words -- / And never stops – at all – " – Emily Dickinson
Hope, as the poet writes, can help one's spirit to take flight, to glide and even to soar.
It is the quality that brings a different perspective to one's circumstances, rising above the present to see the possibilities of the future.
It also helps one hold on amid the winds of change or the storms of life beyond one's control.
Hope is essential in recovery from illness, but no more so than when one faces mental health concerns.
But hope often can be hard to come by in the throes of depression or while battling post-traumatic stress disorder or schizophrenia.
That's why it is so inspiring to see members of the community leading the way to help others see that recovery is not only possible but also expected.
That was the focus of the fifth annual McHenry County Behavioral Health Foundation's Visions of Hope Awards, which took place Friday night at the Lakeside Legacy Arts Park in the Dole Mansion. The awards were held in conjunction with the Community Partners' annual art exhibit, which featured the work of area residents who have been served by McHenry County Mental Health Board-affiliated agencies or partnerships.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Visions of Hope Awards, which are given each year to an outstanding volunteer and an individual or organization for outstanding efforts to raise awareness of recovery from mental illness.
This year's Outstanding Leadership Award went to Dr. Richard Kirchhoff, who is the president of the board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of McHenry County. He also serves on the national board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and co-chairs the Illinois chapter.
As a former Army aviation officer, he also helps to raise awareness of the challenges faced by returning veterans and their families.
The Outstanding Volunteer Award was given to someone with whom Northwest Herald readers probably are familiar: columnist Dick Peterson.
Peterson, whom I've known since I was hired here in 1990, has been living with bipolar disorder, major depression and generalized anxiety disorder for more than a decade.
In the first dark days of his illness, hope was hard to come by. But little by little, and with a lot of support, he has found his way. In addition to writing a weekly column here, he serves as a state-certified recovery support specialist with Pioneer Center for Human Services.
He also leads Wellness Recovery Action Planning classes in the community, where he is able to speak from his own experiences about how he has been able to come this far.
Through it all, Peterson speaks candidly, openly and compassionately about living with mental illness. His life is dedicated to helping others find their way to recovery just as he has done.
He and Kirchhoff offer visions of hope.
I could not be more proud of my dear friend.
• Joan Oliver is the assistant news editor for the Northwest Herald. She can be reached at 815-526-4552 or by email at email@example.com.


text:
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#102158 - 04/30/03 01:28 PM not on your tintype
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
A hundred years ago, many portraits were taken on tintype, also called ferrotype.
1 a positive photograph taken directly on a thin plate of black-enameled iron coated with a sensitized emulsion; tintype
2 the process of making such photographs
3typed#, 3typ#ing to give a glossy finish to (a photographic print) by squeezing into contact with a highly polished surface, usually chromium-plated steel, stainless steel, or plastic
The exposure time had to be rather long, minutes, not fractions of a second. Interestingly, the result
was a positive image. Sad thing was that they slowly turned all black. I had one of my grandmother,
which when about eighty years old was almost all black.
There was an emphatic way of saying "No!" --- Not on your tintype!" I have been unable to
fiture out how it came to be used. Word-Detective's parents in their phrase dictionary said
they were unable to find its origin. Let's have some speculation on it.
#102159 - 05/01/03 07:51 AM Re: not on your tintype
Registered: 03/06/02
Posts: 1692
Loc: UK
Well, I'm familiar with tintypes and have a couple that have come down the family, but this is a new expression to me. I Googled it and found it quite common but seemingly only on US sites, I found three related usages, also on US sites:
Mull that over on your tintype, then, as we go forward.
What did the gladiator say? Blow it out your tintype. Finbad the Failer lives!
or ninny on your tintype, as people of Coppola's father's generation used to say
I dont read much into these as I think they are examples of people not understanding the reference and consequently misusing the expression.
Two possibilities for the origin come to mind.
One is that tintypes were originally rare, expensive and much prized (although eventually very common) and the thought was Not on your life not even on your tintype! I think this is quite unlikely to be the origin, but offer it for what its worth not a lot.
The other is that tintypes were seen as true impressions of reality (the camera never lies ha, ha) so that Not on your tintype! implied something that was *unreal. I think this is quite a feasible explanation.
#102160 - 05/01/03 08:17 AM Re: not on your tintype
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 7210
Loc: Vermont
One is that tintypes were originally rare, expensive and much prized (although eventually very common) and the thought was ?Not on your life?not even on your tintype!? I think this is quite unlikely to be the origin, but offer it for what it?s worth ? not a lot.
actually, dixbey, this was my thought as well. similar to "not on your life!".<-- I think I must be blind...
I have never heard the "not on your tintype" expression, however..._________________________
formerly known as etaoin...
#102161 - 05/02/03 12:04 AM Re: not on your tintype
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/09/00
Posts: 3065
Loc: Jakarta
In reply to:
Well, I'm familiar with tintypes and have a couple that have come down the family, but this is a new expression to me. I Googled it and found it quite common but seemingly only on US sites
While 'not on your nelly' seems to be almost confined to uk sites plus a few nz and au sites.
#102162 - 05/06/03 05:00 PM Re: not on your tintype
old hand
Registered: 02/11/03
Posts: 725
Loc: Oregon, USA
I've heard "not on your tintype" before, and agree with etaoin and others that it seems to be the same as "not on your life."
If someone is interested in locating the libretto for Meredith Willson's The Music Man, in the last act (I believe) you will find Charlie the Anvil salesman saying to Marion "not on your mother's tintype."
#204171 - 01/10/12 02:15 PM Re: not on your tintype [Re: wwh]
Registered: 01/10/12
Posts: 1
Loc: U.S.A.
The meaning should be obvious. Like saying "not on your life," it referrers to the possibility of a promise made by 'you' : "not even if you promised to give your life."
The idea that a tintype was as valuable as a persons life is rather absurd, even back in the day. People gave and traded tintypes like we might give business cards, so "even if you promised to give your tintype" it's a bit silly, like saying "even if you promised to give your business card." It is a type of American humor that could originally come from an actual spoonerism. But the content of the phrase is that it a rebuff to the person giving the offer, suggesting the offer is bogus or an insult. The offer isn't worth the paper it's printed on, isn't worth a tintype.
The phrase itself has merit as a tintype would be a ready and humorous synonym for worthlessness, but it may have it's origin in comedy.
This type of humor was very popular in low comedy, like vaudeville and burlesque, being the catch phrase of a comedian. These acts would travel to every major city, so the entire nation might be entertained by the same comedian, but the acts were rarely recorded or even written down, so without a direct record, review, journal entry, etc. it can be impossible to trace a phrase like this.
Regardless, these types of phases can be catchy and survive generations if they are clever enough, even though the original comedy is long forgotten. Often a catchy phrase like this would become a cliche or stock line for a certain 'type', in this case an angry man. This phrase may have been the catch phrase of a comedian in a long forgotten burlesque act.
P.S. there is a misconception that tintypes were "rare" or "prized" they were the cheapest form of photography, the Instamatic of the day, used by the lower classes. Albumen, Ambrotypes and Dagarotypes were much more expensive and preferred (Lincoln gave thousands of tintypes away on campaign buttons). As such tintypes were a code word at the time for worthlessness, much like business cards today which are practically forced upon people -something of value only to the giver not the receiver.
Tintypes were popular in the U.S. because it was cheap to establish a studio to make tintypes and for itinerant photographers to pack up a mule team and travel newly developing communities. Tintypes never caught on in Europe in the same way, which explains why the phrase is exclusive to the U.S.
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|Ward, TH, Danson, S, McGown, AT, Ranson, M, Coe, NA, Jayson, GC, Cummings, J, Hargreaves, RJ and Butler, J 2005, 'Preclinical evaluation of the pharmacodynamic properties of 2,5-diaziridinyl-3-hydroxymethyl-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone' , Clinical Cancer Research, 11 (7) , pp. 2695-2701. Item not available from this repository.
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text:
Ok I'll start it off...
One thing that the music has influenced me in is to always go for yours and to become better than the last. You can't let petty things stop you from reaching your goals.
Hip-hop/rap music has influenced millions of people throughout the years.
Since its beginnings in the 70's, hip-hop music has evolved immensely. Going from music that was played to "move the crowd" to becoming more realistic and telling us "the wrongs and the rights". And of course, going back to party music in the last decade or so. But along the way it has instilled many values in all hip-hop/rap fans.
Wether you learned "don't lick the ***** the first night, let her bless you..." Or help you remember your "Lost Ones" by playing Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's "T.R.O.Y.", rap has been influential to each and every fan at one point or another.
So, how has the music influenced y'all?
Ok I'll start it off...
One thing that the music has influenced me in is to always go for yours and to become better than the last. You can't let petty things stop you from reaching your goals.
nice thread Sly....rap has tons of different ways of influencing people
but me personally depends on my mood when you wanna get hyped up listen to Nas "One Mic" theres also the story songs " The Message"(two of my favorites) and Biggie, is the best flow and a great storyteller then theres Tupac(the best) and his influencing songs that make you see the reality of his music his music if very contradicting cause you'll have a song like "i get around" and then they'll be a song like "Keep your head up" but just shows the emotion he's going through and for that he cant be touched
many forms of rap for different moods and thats what gets me hype of just chill and smoke one loll
DaTPRiNCE...That EGYPTiAN Fella, #MeloMafia
Definitely, Prince. There's many types of songs for different types of moods.
Guys like 2pac, biggie, nas, big L and many other great emcees strive(d) to make songs that would influence their listeners. A great example is Big L's "street struck". The guy tells you about all the bad things he's done but still says that its not worth it, that you're better off doing positive things.
rap hip hop w.e cant influence anyone now a days like really why get influence by rappers that idol actors(scarface) todays rap game is a joke and is just full of *****s full of them selves and all they talk about is drugs and girls...hip hop died years ago unless you listen to music from back then then yea but if todays music influences you in any way...you should take a better look at yourself
My favorite hip-hop/rap song is Juicy. That song is the American Dream. My English teacher even referenced the song while we were reading Death of a Salesman. I also like Run D.M.C. more of a fun loving style of hip hop. Now I just listen to Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys. Kingdom Come is one of my favorite rap albums. I love the Beastie Boys because my favorite music is classic rock and they are able to sample my favorite band and song (When the Levee Breaks-Led Zeppelin) in Rythm and Stealin'. I love the song An Open Letter To NYC. It's just and ode to both pre/post 9/11 New York.
Imagine Biggie, Pac, or Big L for team one... facing 50 Cent, Lil Wayne and Soldierboy for team two.....all i can say is complete embarrassment for team number two.
Rap now is never about everday life, struggles, or anything that relates to the average person which is why guys like 2Pac had such a big fan base. Also if you add the fact that he was one of the best rappers overall.
Guys like Eminem, Nas, Snoop, Dre...should just sign some big name rappers to lead a whole new geration to return some real talent back in rap.
Mos Def and Talib Kwelli are a good combo as well.
The rappers that are still alive should recruit some real guys in here so I don't always HAVE to listen to old songs.
"The Knicks are back" - Amare
Kidd and Paul, I agree with what you guys are saying. Right now, rap is a mass produced product that is only good for dancing and partying. nobody new in the game has the balls(or the talent) to come out with an album that is influential or real.
What's sad is that this is suppose to be our generations music, and just like Paul, I'm still listenning to music from back in the day when I was 10 y/o and under because to me its the only rap music that is great.
You're right about that song, BigC. Notorious B.I.G.'S "juicy" is an influential song that talks about how he came from nothing and became somebody. It motivates you to achieve your goals.
Last edited by Kennedy Curse; Jan 10, 2009 at 23:39.
DaTPRiNCE...That EGYPTiAN Fella, #MeloMafia
"I wasn't POOR, I was PO, I couldn't afford the OR" - BIG L
Big L would of been crazy nice today. Even back in the day he was calling out rappers who rapped stupid ****.
Lack of knowledge is one of the reasons hip-hop/rap music is at this level. Kids nowadays don't know about the great mc's from before. When you mention NAS they only think about "hip-hop is dead" and not about "illmatic". If you ask a kid about Rakim, he'll tell you "isn't that a reggaton singer?" I also use to listen to rock about 6 to 8 years ago, and what I notice is that they use to play a lot of old school stuff, all day everyday. Something that hip-hop stations don't do. Even rappers talk about it, but they aint doing ****.
Everyone should do what they can to save the music. Older cats should kick old school flavor in young *****s' ears.
My lil bro (13 y/o) can recite nas' "it aint hard to tell" word by word. He could of easily been listening to this BS that's on the radio. Its about everyone doing what they can to let great music be heard. So that the newer generations can carry on tradition.
big difference between songs like
The Message, Juciy, Only God Can judge Me
and songs like
Lollipop, Can't Believe It, Live Your Life
tupac, biggie, nas are still much better to listen to then T.I and Lil Wayne...tupac Biggie Nas Jay-z etc is mostly what i listen to and its 1,000,000x better then Lil Wayne, T-Pain etc
DaTPRiNCE...That EGYPTiAN Fella, #MeloMafia
Like a Lollipop Lol
Yeah, there is a lot of trashy rap & hip hop, I listen to a lot of these songs and I even like some of the garbage ones.
I dislike the lyrics in songs like the "lollipop", "let it drop", "back that ass up", "shake that tail feather", but the beat structure or the song just being flat-out funny will be the elements that will at least keep the song worthy enough of being kept in my collection.
I posted some artists that send out quality messages to the fans/youth & mature adults alike. Such as Paris, Immortal Technique. You don't hear barely any rappers/hip hop artists rap or talk about the things that they speak on, gain influence from.
Those big botty remix's, lollipopping songs can sound aight and jus serve the purpose of entertainment but I usually would rather listen to things that are more realistic and orginal. When a particular rapper is going to revolve around that degrading shyt and not show any sign of originality then that dood is jus wack. (Souljaboy iz wack)
I can whip out dj editing tools righ now and make a big booty remix in a few minutes and make it sound better then the wack stuff soulja boy produces.
Kidd, I know what you mean; but you gotta understand you grew up in a different era, not too far from the era where Hip Hop culture was alive and well.
Now, Rap music is an entertainment business rather than an art.
Hip Hop culture still lives amongst those who grew up in a Hip Hop enviroment; example is the speech, dress style(not nearly as stressed as it was in the 90's), and preference in music artist (more of those DMX, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Big L, Tim Dog, Rakim, Onyx, Busta Rhmyes, and dudes like Mystikal, etc....those hardcore ass rappers that use to hype everyone up in the 90's, thats what I grew up to).
Rap is weak now, the South watered it down to the max. I don't see it coming back.
Especially since overrated rappers like Nas and Jay-Z are hogging up NYC's image and not letting anyone else take the spotlight.
Thats why NYC fails in rap entertainment.
Dudes in the South take turns being on top of the record sells.
I actually wrote a paper for school about the influences of rap music and its effect on the communities from which the rappers themselves come from. I also just bought a book (I'm not too far into it yet) called "The Hip Hop Wars" where it talks about the media's attack on hip hop culture.
The problem is that much of mainstream media does not understand rap or where the lyrics are coming from. Some may sound violent, but I specifically cited in my paper a song from the newest Mobb Deep album (I know, it's G-Unit Mobb Deep and not the real Mobb but it still has a lot of relevance), in which Prodigy I believe claims he feels left deserted by God in the hood and his projects. He says he will beat God down if he doesn't get into heaven because he was given no signs he was being watched over by Him and felt left alone. The issue is that white mainstream media (see: Bill O'Reilly) will claim this shows a violent nature. My paper basically was about not that the violent rap lyrics created violent and destitute neighborhoods, but rather that the violent and destitute neigborhoods create the violent lyrics. What white mainstream media fails to understand is a lot of the violence set forth in rap lyrics is a reflection of the neighborhoods in which people grew up. I cited Russel Simmons who criticized the government's war on rap stating that the government should, rather than attack the people talking about violence, attack the source of why the rappers see violence and destitution in their neighborhoods.
I agree with a lot of the sentiment on this board, that the south especially has watered down rap but it's actually a lot deeper than that. There is still rap out there that purports reflections on society. The problem is that white record executives want to sell an oversexualized black male and female image, that reflects partying and drinking and sexual promiscuity because it is a caricature of the black man. The white man holds the key to record sales, as most record execs are white (even if black people own the label, distributors are primarily white). Rather than sign people who have disdain for the the system and would look to revolutionize black people's roles in society (and thus limit white people's power over society), they will sign people they think will sell record, promote "club songs" and videos that keep the black rapper in a subservient position. I don't know if any body has heard Skills' 2008 Rap Up, but in it he makes a statement about the rap scene in general, making fun of T-Pain:
And y'all in his lane
with songs like "OHHH We Pop Champagne"
So Imma say this quick: We in a recession
Stop Lying
Y'all ain't poppin ****
If you haven't heard the Skills Rap Up get on that ****, it's hot and he's actually got a good message like "It's a time for a change/so don't go turnin inaguration into an all-star game/let's act right/and show these kids/we can turn yes we can into yes we did".
There's is rap with a message out there, but don't expect to hear it on the radio.


text:
|This BIOS Update Utility updates the BIOS (system program) and the Embedded Controller(EC) program stored in the ThinkPad system to fix problems, add new functions, or expand functions as noted below.
Supported ThinkPad Systems:
- X60, X60s
Supported Operating Systems:
- Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit
- Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit (*1)(*2)
- Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit
- Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit (*1)(*2)
- Microsoft Windows XP (Home Edition and Professional)
- Microsoft Windows 2000
*1: Windows Vista and 7 64-bit support Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors only.
*2: If Windows 7 or Vista 64-bit is already installed on your system, then you must use the bootable CD ISO format of this BIOS update.
|Additional information
Version 2.19
This section assumes to use Internet Explorer and Explorer.
[Downloading file]
[Extracting file]
[Updating the BIOS]
Finally delete the file saved in Step 4.
To view the update result, refer to the WINUPTP.log file created at the same directory of the package.
BIOS Initialization is suggested for some problems. To initialize the BIOS settings:
Each version of the System Program Service Utility contains the following system program (BIOS) and the Embedded Controller program. The BIOS Version and the date can be viewed by running ThinkPad Configuration from your operating system and selecting the System Information button or by invoking the BIOS Setup Utility.
The following conventional memory addresses are reserved by the BIOS and others. (When Intel Turbo Memory is installed in your system, conventional memory addresses are reserved 12 Kbytes more.)
Note: Certain addresses in this area will be reserved for CardBus Controllers or others by Operating Systems. The addresses vary and depend on the design of each Operating System.