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More than 2,000 mourners packed the Nessah Cultural Center in Beverly Hills this summer to bid farewell to Hacham Yedidia Shofet. During the funeral, the powerful sound of the shofar blended with the recorded voice of Shofet, who at his own request, led a prayer at his funeral. His seeming presence made it seem all the more difficult to believe that he was gone â after being the anchor of the community for so long.
This High Holiday season marks a milestone for the Iranian Jewish community in Southern California, which numbers nearly 30,000. For the first time since Iranian Jews began to settle here in large numbers, Shofet will not be present as either their actual or symbolic leader. Shofet had been a spiritual force for more than seven decades â most of that time in Iran, where heâd played a powerful political role, as well.
Shofet died early this summer at 96, after several years of declining health. His passing leaves behind a community in transition, one that revered him, but also one that relied less and less on his influence and direction. Itâs a community that had begun to see him more with a sense of nostalgia than as a leader.
However, he always commanded respect, and when he called for unity in the community, the Iranian Jewish diaspora took the injunction seriously. With his passing, tensions and factionalism that had been roiling behind the scenes could become more open and intense.
âSo long as Hacham Yedidia Shofet was alive, the deep respect and feeling of reverence that the community held for him prevented the younger rabbis from wandering too far from the mainstream on either side,â said Sam Kermanian, secretary general for the Iranian American Jewish Federation, a community umbrella organization.
Now the mantle of spiritual leadership falls to Rabbi David Shofet, the middle-age son of the late leader. Like his father, he practices an Iranian style of Judaism, developed over more than 2,500 years, that balances elements of Conservative and Orthodox traditions.
However, heâs inherited a restive flock. The offspring of the immigrant generation is pulling in different directions. Some are shedding much or all of their religious practice or even exploring other religions; many others are turning to Orthodoxy.
None of this internal disintegration seemed possible in Iran, where Jews struggled against frequent oppression to hold onto their religion and culture. In many ways, they succeeded spectacularly. For more than 2,500 years, Iranian Jews lived in relative isolation from the rest of the Jewish world, but they remained Jews, held together by leaders such as Shofet.
The community understands the debt they owe to Shofet and his predecessors.
Following the funeral services, a motorcade and five rented buses were necessary to transport all those who wanted to attend the burial at Groman Eden Memorial Park in Mission Hills. Even that wasnât enough of a goodbye for the 96-year-old patriarch. Approximately 5,000 mourners attended a later memorial.
Shofet served in a quasi-political capacity as representative of the nearly 100,000 Jews in Iran. He spoke for Jews and protected their interests during the reign of the shah, and also for two years under the Islamic regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini that followed.
He immigrated to Southern California in 1981, where he tended to religious and social issues within the Iranian Jewish community here. The issues in the United States were not as immediately perilous as those in Iran, but Shofet soon found he had to deal with fractiousness and assimilation that threatened to erase an Iranian Jewish identity thousands of years in the making.
While many Iranian Jews have been saddened by the loss of Shofet, theyâve had to shift their focus to the future. Community feuding, which had been kept in check out of respect for Shofet and by Shofetâs delicate diplomacy and voice of moderation, are likely to re-emerge.
A serious rift became apparent nearly 10 years ago between those practicing traditional Iranian Judaism and Iranian Jews who adopted a more religiously observant Eastern European form of Orthodox Judaism. Young Iranian Jews have been drawn to more than two dozen Orthodox synagogues in the Pico-Robertson area and along Ventura Boulevard in Encino.
Critics of the new Orthodoxy say that it has broken up families, because the young adult proselytes frequently reject their parentsâ generation for not being religious enough.
âItâs just ridiculous, [Orthodox rabbis] have used religious issues of the bedroom and food as weapons that [have] been given to our children to be used against us,â said Pouran Mogahvem Cohen, a West Los Angeles resident.
She organized a support group for families in conflict because of religious differences between the older and younger generations.
âEveryone involved in our group has the main goal of bringing unity in the community by not creating divisions in families or brainwashing our children to drop their university studies and careers, only to go off to some yeshiva across the country,â she said.
A different perspective comes from leaders of the Orthodox shuls. They insist they are addressing the communityâs true spiritual needs, which were suppressed in Iran but can achieve full expression given the religious freedom of the United States.
âIn Los Angeles, there are hundreds and hundreds of fully observant Persian families, and this past Passover, just through me, we had 1,000 families that sold their chametz, which shows that definitely a good portion of our community is becoming more observant,â said Rabbi David Zargari of the Torat Hayim Center in the Pico-Robertson area.
To reduce the tensions of these religious differences, Cohenâs group in late 2003 organized three question-and-answer seminars held at the Nessah Center, Beverly Hills High School and the Eretz Cultural Center in Tarzana, respectively. She said each seminar was attended by nearly 2,000 Iranian Jews. Also attending were various social and religious leaders, including those from Orthodox synagogues, whose leaders participated as panelists. It was the sort of unity-building exercise that Shofet approved of â except that nothing was settled, Cohen said.
âTheir rabbis had no answers for us, and there was nothing resolved,â Cohen said. âOur main achievement was in making people in the community more aware of this problem to protect their children from this type of fanaticism.â
But efforts at peacemaking continue. Last year, the Iranian American Jewish Federation passed a resolution calling on all religious factions in the Iranian Jewish community to accept each other and respect the rights of community members to practice Judaism as they wish.
The intervention was âmeant to calm everyone down and to promote the social unity of the community,â Kermanian said. âIn essence, what it meant was that any attempt by any single faction to dictate religious policy to the entire community was unacceptable, and the only solution was for all to be free to pursue their own ways of practice.â
This goal doesnât get any easier in the absence of Shofet.
âThe community was his family, and he believed in the well-being of all people, not just Jews,â said David Shofet of his father. âHe loved every Jew no matter who he was unconditionally, and his tremendous spirituality is why old and young people were drawn to him.â
Which means that David Shofet, who looks to be in his mid- to late 50s, has big shoes to fill, though he, too, is well regarded after working alongside his father for more than 25 years.
The community is never likely to have another figure as revered and influential in the United States as the elder Shofet was in Iran.
According to Shofetâs 2001 memoirs, written in Persian by Manucher Cohan, he was born in the central Iranian city of Kashan into a family with 12 generations of rabbis. Over the years, Shofet gradually gained prominence among Iranâs Jews and non-Jews for his eloquent speeches and his ability to connect easily with all who approached him for help. Ultimately, he became a liaison and spokesperson for Iranian Jews before the shah, government officials and even Islamic clerics. Thereâs no such equivalent position for an Iranian Jewish leader in the United States.
However, in Iran, Shofet commanded enough respect to intervene when Jews were in dire trouble, for example, with the Iranian government. He was instrumental in persuading the shah and other government officials in the early 1950s to allow Iraqi Jews, who had illegally left Iraq, to find temporary refuge in Iran before eventually immigrating to Israel, said Ebrahim Yahid, a close colleague of Shofet.
âWe had many rabbis, teachers and hachamim in Iran, but he was the most open minded and most beloved of them all,â Yahid said. âHe was even respected by the most fanatic Islamic clerics in Iran who did not have friendships with Jews â all because of his gentleness and humility.â
Following the 1979 Iranian revolution, Shofet, along with thousands of other Iranian Jews, eventually immigrated to Southern California. While no longer working as a liaison for Iranian Jews, he continued to serve as a symbolic religious figure, urging Iranian Jewish families to preserve their Jewish traditions. In the United States, Shofet, with his son and other community leaders, helped establish the Nessah Center, first in Santa Monica and then in Beverly Hills.
Over the last five years, Shofet was gradually forced to retire from community work due to failing health. His son took over day-to-day leadership duties.
âReplacing Hacham Yedidia is impossible. The closest we can come to him is his very able son, Rav David Shofet, who has dedicated his life to Iranian Jewry like his father did,â said Andy Abrishami, a Nessah board member and the elder Shofetâs son-in-law. âItâs hard to be a rabbi under any circumstances, especially when youâre a rabbi for Iranian Jews, because their expectations are much higher, but he [David Shofet], with his humility and dedication, has captured the Iranian Jewsâ favor.â
If David Shofet canât bring the often-divided community together, it isnât clear who can.
âThe crucial test for our community now is whether it can hold the center together,â Kermanian said. âAt this point, this seems like an extremely tall order, which only Rabbi David Shofet, Hacham Yedidiaâs son and our communityâs preeminent rabbi, has the chance to fulfill.â
Cohen, the critic of the new Orthodoxy, expressed similar hopes, saying, âWe have no expectations from [Orthodox rabbi] Zargari or the others, but we are looking to David Shofet for real, true leadership. This community wants him to truly be a father figure to us. [And] we want him to be as open-minded as his father was.â
Zargari, for one, said heâs open to dialogue with Jews who donât practice his Orthodoxy: âThey are my brothers and sisters. I donât look down on them or think that Iâm better than them in anyway. And it must be mutual. We have to learn to be tolerant and respect each other.â
Thereâs hope for the future in such sentiments, said Dr. Shirzad Abrams, co-founder of the Graduate Society Foundation, a local organization that promotes the continuity of Iranian Jewish history and Judaism among young Jews.
âThe fact that there is contact between [different factions] is positive,â he said. âIâd be very afraid and totally frustrated if they stopped talking to each other.â
This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
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11 NCAA Div. III individual championships
ST. LOUIS, MO.—A partial squad of distance runners and multi-eventers competed for the Central College men's and women's track and field program at the Washington University (Mo.) Invitational Friday night.
The men's 5,000-meter run saw a number of good performances, most notably from Eli Horton (sophomore, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) and Cole Decker (freshman, Des Moines, West Des Moines Dowling HS). Horton finished fourth in a time of 14 minutes, 33.77 seconds, while Decker crossed the line in sixth with a time of 14:36.59. Those marks rank second and third on the early-season Division III performance list.
"A lot of good things happened in the men's 5k," said coach Joe Dunham. "Overall five of our seven distance runners had personal bests tonight."
Results for the multi-event competition were unavailable, but newly-minted national champion Eric Larson (sophomore, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) is in second place after one day of competition in the decathlon.
"We had several really strong efforts across the board today," said Dunham.
The decathlon competition will resume Saturday at 9:30 a.m. while the heptathlon is slated to start at 9:45 a.m.

subset: commoncrawl


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Bill and Hillary Clinton go woo with Dr. Mark Hyman and "functional medicine"
Dug the Dog strikes again.
I was all set to write about a mass of pseudoscience published in a prominent online news/comment site, one that addressed a topic near and not-so-dear to my heart, mainly EMF and cell phone radiation as an alleged cause of cancer and many health problems. Ready to rip into it with gusto, I did have a bit of reservation because I had recently addressed the very same topic when Dr. Oz engaged in a bit of fear mongering about it. It must have been posted to various breast cancer forums or forums dedicated to discussing the purported health issues due to cell phones, because every so often, for the last three months, outraged commenters would show up and lash out at me. But, then, I was made aware of an article that appeared in the New York Times a couple of days ago that brought up memories of something I haven't written about for a long time.
Besides, I can always blog about the other execrable article on my not-so-super-secret other blog. That's what it's there for.
In any case, the NYT article appeared, appropriately enough, in the Fashion & Style section, not the Health section, and is entitled "He Tells the Clintons How to Lose a Little. Dr. Mark Hyman: Advising the Clintons on Their Health." It's written by Amy Chozick, a reporter I've never heard of, probably because I know the names of most, if not all, of the health reporters for the NYT and national news outlets, but am blissfully unfamiliar with reporters covering the fashion and style beat. Actually, it turns out that Chozick is a political reporter "with a focus on covering Hillary Clinton." Obviously her focus isn't on covering health, as her article makes clear.


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We have a project for everyone! Projects include foods and nutrition, livestock projects, shooting sports, computer science and technology, photography, and so much more.
Tuesday, Sept. 3 from 3-8 p.m. the Extension Office will be open for an open enrollment night. We encourage anyone interested in joining 4-H to stop by for a visit. Refreshments will be available.
To find out more about your local 4-H program, please contact your local County Extension Agent, Meagen Dennison, at 830-780-3906. More information can be found at texas4-H.tamu.edu.


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Inkjet Sublimation Information.
Inkjet sublimation is another imprinting process that offers great possibilities. It can be a start-up business by itself and an excellent opportunity for an existing business to further diversify, by offering their customers a broader selection of products.
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Pricing and terms are subject to change without notice. Copying from this site is permitted for individual personal use. No other permission is granted.


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It's no secret that chocolate is a guilty pleasure for many. Appeal to a wide audience when you add your brand name to everyone's favorite treat with help from ePromos! We have dozens of options for confections currently awaiting your custom logo. Gift out chocolates as a present to customers, or offer them as an incentive at big events and trade shows. Give your marketing campaign a little something sweet with promotional chocolate gifts that are sure to appeal the palate, along with your bottom line!
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The Labor Industrial Relations Appeals Board (LIRAB) is being forced to pay a workers' compensation claim to a former technology coordinator at Lahainaluna High School on Maui after a ruling Thursday by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Click here to watch Andrew Pereira's story.
In the unanimous 51-page decision, the high court said Lynedon Van Ness' claim was valid because "the slightest aggravation or acceleration of an injury by the employment activity mandates compensation."
Van Ness, 54, worked at Lahainaluna from July 2005 through Nov. 2006. He is now living on the mainland.
Van Ness filed a workers' compensation claim in September 2007 after stating vog from Kilauea volcano made his asthma significantly worse from October 2005 through April 2006. In court documents, Van Ness said he worked outside 95 percent of the time since he had to go from classroom to classroom to service computers. Van Ness also claimed the layout of the Lahainaluna campus forced him to repeatedly climb stairs.
"[The vog] basically reduced the amount of air I was able to breathe," he told the court.
"Those people are more susceptible to having problems with their lungs to begin with, but being outside with the vog and the irritability makes them more susceptible to having attacks of their asthma," said Dr. Ronald Kuroda, who practices emergency medicine at the Queen's Medical Center.
Both the Department of Education and the LIRAB denied Van Ness' claim for workman's comp since other Maui residents were faced with the same elevated levels of vog.
Van Ness' attorney, Wayne Mukaida, did not return phone calls placed to him by KITV4, but he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that "It's been a long fight, and we're glad with the outcome to date."
The state attorney general's office believes Van Ness' claim won't have a broader impact on other employees or employers, since the ruling depended "upon both the unique facts and circumstances underlying" the case.
However, attorneys contacted by KITV4 say that's absolutely false, and precedent has indeed been set.
"It's very, very clear that all that is needed is some type of exacerbation," said Honolulu labor attorney Elizabeth Jubin Fujiwara. "All you need is for the injury to have flowed from the work condition, or the disease to have flowed from the work condition. That's all you need."
Fujiwara's partner, Joseph Rosebaum, said the high court's decision will impact both government and private-sector workers in Hawaii, and any attempt to screen future workers with asthma would be deemed illegal.
"That would actually bring to light violations of the law," said Rosenbaum. "Asthma clearly could be defined as somebody with a disability; that would be an inappropriate question to be asking an applicant."
The Hawaii Supreme Court ordered the LIRAB to pay Van Ness' claim, but it's unclear at this point how much he will receive.
"He would just be allowed the remedies under the workers' compensation law," said Rosenbaum. "He would only be allowed a portion of his wages that he would have earned had he not been afflicted by the vog."


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2008 Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG
Italy: Tuscany
Mission Briefing
Tutti Chianti!
Another incredible offering from Contemassi, today's 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG is the winery's tippy-top wine. We are crazy about it, and we offer it to you, our Italophiles, with our boldest recommendation.
Cask-aged for 24 months and bottle-aged for another year, this wine was held back by the winery until it was perfectly ready. And, boy, is it ready! This is a classic and elegant Chianti that possesses supreme balance, wonderful flavors and heady, old world aromatics.
If you are a fan of Chianti, in this price range it doesn't get much better than today's delightful wine from Contemassi.
Tasting Profile
Translucent ruby at the core. At the edge, a characteristic Chianti brickish hue encircles the wine.
Braised cherry, toasty sweet spice, blackberry, dusty bramble, candied hazlenut and toasted oak all meld together in wonderful harmony.
Bright and superbly balanced with young cherry, young blackberry and dark chocolate-covered cherry. As the wine opens, it reveals fig, dusty earth, subtle neutral oak and a very subtle and lovely hint of vineyard dust.
Mouthwatering and bright, with a very gradually spreading dryness. Hints of pomegranate and subtle balsamic punctuate the finish.
This classic Chianti begs to be enjoyed with nearly any Italian meal. A chicken Parmesan or a hearty pasta dish would be perfect.
What the Winery Says
This Chianti Classico is produced from specially selected Sangiovese grapes grown in the vineyards of the Chianti Classico appellation, the most ancient Chianti area. Fully mature grapes are crushed immediately after harvest. When the primary fermentation is complete, the wine is racked in Slovenian oak casks, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and ages for a minimum period of 24 months. The refinement is completed in dark bottles.
- Appellation
- Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva
- Region
- Tuscany, Italy
- Fruit Variety
- 100% Sangiovese
- 13%
About the Winery
The origin of the name Chianti is not certain. It may have originated from the Latin word clangor (noise), reminiscent of the sounds of hunting in the forests of the area, or from the Etruscan word clante (water), indicating the area had resources that favored the growth of the grapes.
Contemassi is a premium winery in the Tuscany wine growing region that specializes in producing a range of flavorful yet smooth Chiantis.


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A guide to years ending in 4January 03,2014War, famine, pestilence and death the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been well represented in years ending in 4, but probably not disproportionately so. A look at memorable moments in the last seven of these just might lead to optimism for the one thats upon us. Or not.
1944: Those of us who dont remember this year are lucky; a soldier cited in Rick Atkinsons brilliantly horrifying saga of the last two years of the war in Europe, The Guns at Last Light, quotes King Lear: The worst is not, So long as we can say, This is the worst. The end of the war was in sight; getting there was the trick, and millions were killed in the interval. Things have not been this bad since.
1954: If there was a golden era of U.S. foreign policy, it ended here, as Eisenhower warned against involvement in Vietnam while espousing the domino theory. Good: Joe McCarthys power began to ebb. Not good: The words under God were added to the Pledge of Allegiance.
1964: The last year of the baby boom was mind-blowing. In the 28 months beginning that January, Bob Dylan made five of the best albums of the era and there were the Beatles.
Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison, and Lyndon Johnson single-handedly sent everyone into a tizzy by signing the Civil Rights Act, sending more advisers to Vietnam, talking about bombing North Vietnam and proposing the Great Society. Huh? The first anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and draft-card burnings took place. Pot smoking officially began. (Not really, but sorta.)
The civil-rights workers Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney were found dead; just writing that gives me chills.
1974: The mid-70s were glum. We can gloat about Nixons resignation, though dont forget he founded the Environmental Protection Agency. Gerald Ford gave his predecessor a better deal than he gave draft evaders. He also determined that we needed to Whip Inflation Now, as oil passed $10 a barrel. Everyone made jokes about him, with reason.
Patty Hearst was kidnapped. Ted Bundy disappeared many people. Augusto Pinochet declared himself supreme chief of Chile and disappeared many more.
The high point may have been the Ramones debut at CBGB.
1984: Big Brother was not (yet) our biggest problem, but this was not a good year. President Ronald Reagan, presumably not yet stricken by Alzheimers, remarked over an open mike that the bombing of Russia would begin in five minutes. Geraldine Ferraro became a vice-presidential candidate, and lost. Margaret Thatcher went to war with miners, and won. Indira Gandhi was assassinated and a Union Carbide leak in Bhopal killed untold thousands.
The virus that causes AIDS was discovered. People started smoking crack. And Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father.
1994: Whoa: Not only did Nelson Mandela not spend his life in jail, but he became president. The Brady Law went into effect, and Bill Clinton signed the assault weapons ban. (It expired in 2004.) O.J. Simpson spurred a national obsession. Four bombers were convicted of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.
Reagan was implicated in the Iran-contra cover-up, but it seemed more important to torture the Clintons over a bad real estate investment. (Still, Paula Jones wasnt the Republicans fault, was she?) Clinton fired Joycelyn Elders for discussing masturbation.
The first credit default swap was created. Nearly everyone in Rwanda became either a killer or a victim, or so it seemed. And there was that messy thing in the former Yugoslavia.
Netscape Navigator was released.
2004: Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic convention and there seemed reason for hope; then John Kerry went windsurfing and W., incredibly, became president again (what were 62 million of us thinking?) several months after endorsing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which Massachusetts had already legalized. (By 2013, even Utah is on the right side of this issue.) W. also promised to improve education and access to health care; we all know how that worked out. Lance Armstrong won his sixth Tour de France; we all know how that worked out, too.
The Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 230,000 people. Martha Stewart went to jail. And Johnny Ramone (born 1948) died.
2014: President Barack Obama is calling this the year of action. Heres hoping hes not bluffing and begins by demonstrating how popular progressive legislation is by circumventing Congress in areas of food, energy and climate change. The alternative could be a visit by the Four Horsemen.
Mark Bittman is a columnist for The New York Times.MORE IN Election Letters
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The Power of His Glory
You want to know what your problem is? You don't love Jesus enough. I know this not because I know you, but because I know me. I've got the same problem. My wife has the same problem, as do my …Read More
The Constancy of a Pilgrim's Life
It has been said that one hallmark of the Puritan view of the Christian life was the emphasis placed on being "constant" (or being steady and unchanging). Remember how John Bunyan puts the challenge to us to learn from the …Read More
In the Dungeon of Giant Despair
At one point on their pilgrimage, Christian and his companion Hopeful stepped aside from the true Way, into By-Path-Meadow, because it looked easier and seemed to be going in the same direction as the Way. Soon they realized their mistake …Read More
Vanity Fair
For John Bunyan, a Puritan to his fingertips, the Christian life was an experience of conflict and tension with this world. Imprisoned for upwards of twelve years, he experienced firsthand the world's hostility. Cheerful and sanguine by temperament, his portrayal …Read More
Progress Redefined
The world measures success in terms of that which is tangible — by what is bigger, faster, and by what draws the most attention. For many people, success is defined solely by numbers and circumstantial outcomes. True success, however, cannot …Read More
With Great Joy
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A Woman Richly Blessed
Imagine a contemporary teenage girl who becomes convinced, without a doubt, that God especially favors her. She knows God will bless her richly, beyond what any other woman ever has known. What does she expect that to mean? Surely God …Read More
Somebody to Love
Why should I love other people? It's a good question, and a question that all of us have asked from time to time as we've been challenged in our relationships. If that's an important issue for you right now, this …Read More
In the Face of Death
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Are you afraid of dying? I have seen some people overcome their …Read More
Hearts Aflame: Reformed Piety
Calvinism is well known and widely respected for its theology. But can we say the same thing about its piety? It is sometimes said that Calvinists do not make very good Christians. According to one critic: "Nothing will foster pride …Read More


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States with the highest gas taxes
Published On: Jul 02 2013 09:09:17 AM CDT
As you hit the road for the Fourth of July, find out where you'll be paying more for gas.
The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.


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District Judge Starr Bauer imposed the sentence Tuesday on Javier Omar Hernandez.
Last week, visiting District Judge Thomas Lee sentenced Hernandez's accomplice, Rene Cantu, to 40 years for his part in the same crime.
Both men pleaded guilty after agreeing to a plea bargain that would cap their sentences. Cantu's sentence was limited to 45 years, and attorneys agreed to limit Hernandez's sentence to 40 years.
José Aliseda, district attorney for Bee, Live Oak and McMullen counties, said the agreements kept the victims from having to testify in front of the men who had robbed them in their home at gunpoint.
Assistant District Attorney James Sales, who prosecuted the case in court Tuesday, told Bauer that Hernandez and Cantu broke into the victims' home in the 1600 block of North Tyler Street with the intent of collecting money from a local drug dealer.
But the suspected gang members kicked in the wrong door, and when the home owner went to investigate the noise, he was confronted by two men holding handguns.
"They realized their mistake and still proceeded to pistol whip the husband and threaten the wife, who were made to lie on the floor while their home was ransacked," Aliseda said this week.
The two men then stole several electronic items, including a computer.
Texas Ranger James Bennett and Beeville Police Department Detective Art Gamez investigated the crime and managed to track down the two suspects.
Later, Cantu was taken into custody in Corpus Christi by the two lawmen. They were accompanied by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, deputies with the U.S. Marshal's Service and officers with the Corpus Christi Police Department.
Hernandez, who was 22 at the time, was later stopped for a traffic violation and arrested.
Aliseda said that Sales argued during the sentencing hearing that "in addition to the property, the defendants had robbed the husband, wife and their children, who were home at the time, of their peace of mind."
Sales asked Bauer to hand down the maximum sentence on the defendant to protect all citizens of Bee County and to deter criminals who might be thinking of committing a similar crime.
"Judge Bauer and Judge Lee sent their own messages loud and clear," Aliseda said.
Gary Kent is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 120, or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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(10) Customer Reviews
Price Range: USD $112.99 to $191.99
Availability: Yes
Enter zip/postal code to calculate shipping amount
All orders are verified for fitment guarantee.
You'll receive an alert as soon as this item is available for order.
Upgraded grip and a smooth, long-lasting ride for an awesome
everyday drive.
Provide excellent all-weather bite and responsive handling that enthusiasts demand.
Reinforcement where it counts for a comfortable ride and crisp handling.
g-Wedge™ sidewall stabilizer (H/V series only) and rigid shoulder blocks.
BFGoodrich racing heritage puts performance into everyday driving with authentic go-fast looks.
Signature aesthetics.
Designed to provide maximum water evacuation.
Deep, wide circumferential grooves..
Bad tires. Had to replace after 21,000 miles.
Do not buy theses tire. They won't Last.
Size: 215/60R16
Vehicle: 2008 Toyota Avalon 4 Dr Sedan XL with 33789 KM of Tire Wear
made this review on 10/19/2016 and is a
Cautious, Reserved Driver
Very bad, within one month one tire got damaged within 6 months the treads were gone after 9 months need new tires. Bought them at Costco, even with warranty had to pay 70$+ for a replacement. Really good tires before they wear out, which is too soon. They really need to make them better.
Size: 235/60R17
Vehicle: 2012 Toyota Sienna 5 Dr Mini Passenger Van LE with 6436 KM of Tire Wear
made this review on 1/26/2016 and is a
Confident, Experienced Driver
Handles like you're in at 10 mile to 15 mile an hour wind all the time when there's no wind... Would not recommend...
Size: 225/55R17
made this review on 8/2/2015 and is a
Confident, Experienced Driver
Ok, this is actually the first time I do an online review, because these tires deserve it.
First off, I have a 2011 Nissan versa that came with ContiProContact 185/65 R15 (Horrible tires: very noisy, poor performance, and the rubber started cracking at around 20K miles.
I replaced the four tires with the BF 195/65 R15 and I feel the difference right away. They stick much more than the Conti (they are 195mm vs the 185 mm stock), so I have much more control of the car in wet and dry, and when turning, which is when I notice the most.
Although these tires are wider than the original ones, the noise has reduced a lot!! I find very exciting how these tires made such a big difference in terms of comfort and noise.
The potholes (horrible, I live in Mexico) are much less noticeable, although this can be due to the extra wall on the tires.
I've been using these tires for 3 weeks, so I cannot comment on durability yet, but even if they don't last much, I will be happy to buy them again.
I cannot comment on fuel consumption, since I did not notice a difference. Also, all the ratings I give to this tire are given from my perspective, and the difference I noticed when driving my versa in the road conditions I do, I give a "1" in snow because I don't drive in snow.
Bottomline: The Nissan versa is neither a high performance nor a very comfortable car by any means, but changing the horrible Conti tires with these made such a dramatic difference in terms of handling and comfort. If you are thinking about buying them, just do it.
Size: 195/65R15
made this review on 6/17/2015 and is a
Cautious, Reserved Driver
do NOT use these for snow driving. no traction in ice or snow. PERIOD.
Vehicle: 2007 Pontiac Torrent 4 Dr Sport Utility Sport with 16090 KM of Tire Wear
made this review on 2/18/2015 and is a
Confident, Experienced Driver
To see all 10 reviews on tire reviews page
All orders are verified for fitment guarantee
Verified by tire & wheel expert
We honor the fitment.
If your vehicle information is present on your order, we will verify fitment to qualify you for the 100% Fitment Guarantee. If your order arrives and the tires or wheels do not fit your vehicle, we will honor an exchange and pay for freight for the return and new set.If there are concerns about your order we will contact you about potential fitment issues.
Our Fitment Guarantee applies to orders that come with full vehicle information (Year, Make Model, Sub-Model). If you are confident that the vehicle information is not necessary for your order, we will proceed without checking fitment. However, in the event there is a fitment issue with your order, we will honor a return/exchange, as per our
return / refund policy.
You will be responsible for freight charges (both ways).


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Escorted Travel
Escorted tours of the Eastern & Southern States feature a professional English-speaking tour manager to handle all of your needs. Maximize comfort and value, while taking advantage of the camaraderie that comes with traveling as a group.
Eastern US Flight, Hotel & Car Rental Packages
Set your own pace with an independent fly & drive vacation on the East Coast. Suggested itineraries include the most popular routes with hotel accommodations included.
Atlantic & Caribbean Tour & Cruise
Independent Tour & Cruise Packages include pre or post nights in addition to your cruise; Escorted Tour & Cruises include an English-speaking tour manager to handle all of your needs throughout your land tour. While aboard the cruise, all activities and shore excursions will be organized by the cruise line and its representatives.
We put the world at your fingertips with a selection of affordable escorted tours, independent vacation packages, and build-your-own travel itineraries.
"Working with Virgin Vacations was easy and the customer service excellent." - Annette M
Don't see exactly what you want? Speak with a Destination Specialist. No booking fees!
*Prices include airfare, fuel surcharges, airport taxes and fees. All prices are per person based on twin occupancy. Air & land tour prices apply from the gateway airport or city specified in the Package Highlights. Prices will vary from alternative gateway airports or cities and may be higher. The total price will be clearly displayed prior to any deposit being required. Additional baggage charges may apply.


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Ben was born in Refugio, on Nov. 16, 1964 to Francisco and Celia Escamilla Tijerina.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and sister Mary Merrill.
Survivors include two sisters Felipa (Gabriel) Rivera of Woodsboro, and Terry (Sonny) Lopez of Houston; two brothers John (Diana) Tijerina of San Antonio, and Greg Tijerina of Bayside; and Washington and brother-in-law Jack Merrill of Washington.
Visitation will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Resthaven Funeral Home in Sinton. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. the same evening, at the funeral home.
Arrangements are under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home, Sinton


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by Anton Shilov
Alienware, a leading maker of high-end gaming PCs that belongs to Dell, has introduced the world's first small form-factor personal computer that is designed for gamers. The Alienware X51 is based on mini-ITX mainboard and relies on Intel Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" microprocessors, Nvidia GeForce GTX graphics cards and some exclusive technologies from Alienware.
The SFF Alienware X51 is powered by dual-core or quad-core Intel Core i3/i5/i7 "Sandy Bridge" microprocessor, Intel H61 core-logic and Nvidia GeForce GT 545 or GTX 555 graphics card with 1GB of memory. The system can be equipped with up to 8GB DDR3 memory, 1TB 2.5" hard drive, slot-loading DVD or Blu-ray disc optical drive, 7.1-channel audio, 1Gb Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n W-Fi, USB 3.0, USB 3.0 ports and so on. The system comes with pre-installed Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. The compact gaming PC weighs only 5.49 kilograms. Alienware X51 may be equipped with up to 330W external power supply unit (PSU).
The system has limited upgrade options despite of its small sizes. Still, it will not be able to support extremely power-hungry microprocessors and graphics cards due to moderate PSU and internal space limitations.
All Alienware laptops and desktops come with Alienware Command Center, which provides intuitive, user?friendly access to exclusive applications and controls, including AlienFXTM lighting effects and the AlienFusion power management system. AlienAdrenaline, a new module for the Alienware X51, enables gamers to create unique profiles that launch a series of customizable events when activated, such as opening specific programs, changing AlienFX themes, opening key web links and more. Updates and new releases download directly into Command Center, creating a constantly evolving tool for users to modify and personalize their system.
"The Alienware X51 allows us to bring the exciting nature of high-definition, immersive gaming within reach of more gamers than ever before. With the X51, we've expanded our gaming desktop offering to cater to all gamers in addition to our core enthusiast and competitive gamers. Now everyone can enjoy the latest games on a sleek, powerful, compact and customizable system. The X51 desktop delivers an incredible feature set for its size and price," said Arthur Lewis, vice-president at Alienware.
Alienware X51 is available now on Dell.com and Alienware.com with a starting price of $699.


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serves 8 to 10 as a full meal, but can get stretched to feed 16 or so if served over rice or chips
there are a lot of cans. recycle. make the environment happy.
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes and chiles (Rotel)
Use the largest slow cooker you have in the house --- this is a BIG recipe, you need a 6-quart or above.
Stir well, and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.


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Melting ice is causing a rise in sea level and the place where that will be felt the hardest is Hawaii, according to a new study out this month from a university in Italy.
The research says that ice melt would lead to an uneven rise in sea level around the world.
Like any mass, ice generates a gravitational field and pulls in surrounding water. As this ice melts, that pull weakens and the water flows away, causing the sea level to actually drop at the poles.
The study says that is one of two reasons sea level would rise unevenly.
The other cause, according to Charles Fletcher of the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, "As the ice melts from Antarctica and Greenland, the land rebounds upward. And so the sea floor deepens around Antarctica and Greenland meaning that again, sea level falls around where the ice is melting."
Flecther is not involved in the research, but is familiar with it. He said other studies show a global one-foot rise in sea level by mid-century.
With the new findings, that means, "We may see a few inches more than what the average global sea-level rise will be," Fletcher said.
Scientists say a sea-level rise of just one inch would cause the shoreline to move inland by about 8 feet. A rise of one foot would cause the shoreline to move inland about 100 feet.
In Waikiki, Fletcher said, "Waves will run up over the beach and into some of the terraces, and into some of the below ground parking levels, parking structures that are located along the shoreline."
We'll also see water coming up storm drains and manholes and that our water table underground would rise, Fletcher added.
"Raise all that one foot and we might start seeing the groundwater table cropping out above the land surface, creating wetlands."
Sea-level may rise two to six feet by the end of the century, according to Fletcher.
"We have time, if we get started soon, to adapt to sea-level rise and the negative impacts of sea-level rise."
Fletcher emphasized that there are still a lot of other variables and unknowns and that scientists don't fully understand sea-level rise just yet.


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Ohio House Passes Critical Puppy Mill Bill: SB130
ASPCA encouraged by passage of SB 130,
Requires commercial dog breeding facilities to be licensed, inspected
The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) yesterday applauded the Ohio House of Representatives for passing Senate Bill 130 by a vote of 89-5. This bill is crucial and something that I have talked about multiple times before on the blog, requiring commercial dog breeding facilities to be licensed and inspected for the first time in the state's history.
The ASPCA had worked to strengthen the bill, recommending that critical provisions which had previously been removed from the bill, be reinstated.
"The Ohio General Assembly has been considering various puppy mill bills for over six years," said Vicki Deisner, state director of ASPCA Government Relations for the Midwest region. "Ohio has taken a critical step today by regulating commercial breeders, which will improve the living conditions of breeding dogs destined to spend their whole lives in these barren, commercial breeding facilities."
Sponsored by Senator Jim Hughes (R-Columbus), SB 130 unanimously passed in the Ohio Senate last February. While the Senate version of the bill contained many strong provisions, the current version has been stripped of several of the vital requirements that would most improve the lives of Ohio's puppy mill dogs.
The ASPCA had recommended to the Ohio House Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee that every breeding dog receive a hands-on veterinary exam once a year, and that facility inspections be performed by state-level inspectors only.
"In order to ensure that all breeding dogs are healthy and safe, each dog should be examined by a veterinarian at least once a year," said Cori Menkin, senior director of the ASPCA Puppy Mills Campaign.
"In its current form, SB 130 does not require this, but the legislation is still a step in the right direction. We look forward to eventually working with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to ensure more humane standards of care are instituted."
Ohio has become a haven for puppy mill operators, which is why in addition to its legislative work, the ASPCA has focused part of its national "No Pet Store Puppies" campaign on the Columbus area.
The campaign aims to reduce the demand for puppy mill puppies by urging consumers to pledge not to buy any items—including food, supplies or toys—from stores or websites that sell puppies.
Last year, a poll conducted by Lake Research Partners revealed that while 86 percent of Columbus-area residents would not purchase puppies if they knew they came from puppy mills, 74 percent of Columbus area residents are unaware that most puppies sold in pet stores come from them.
The ASPCA believes that convincing consumers not to shop for anything, including puppies, at pet stores that sell puppies is a necessary part of stopping the demand for puppy mill dogs.
To learn more about the ASPCA's efforts to eradicate puppy mills, please visit www.NoPetStorePuppies.com.
The ASPCA is not the only group concerned with what is going on here in Ohio, my home state (I live on the lake in Cleveland, about two hours north of Columbus.)
Several other groups have slaved for years on petitions, awareness, etc doing very honorable work to ensure Ohio citizens are aware. And though their work may not specifically be about SB 130, we Ohio animal welfare groups support one another, helping each other to spread each other's work, "liking" things on Facebook, and writing, Tweeting, and Pinning where ever asked.
The Humane Society of the United States was also applauding Ohio yesterday; they were involved in the passage of this SB130 as well – their heavy lobbying efforts undoubtedly had an effect. They noted in a press release yesterday that Ohio is one of 22 states with no regulation or oversight of commercial high volume breeding kennels.
"S.B. 130 is the product of careful consideration, intense labor and a spirit of cooperation," said State Rep. Dave Hall, Chairman of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. "Thanks to Senator Hughes, we had a good base. I'm pleased to say that the House Agriculture Committee was able to work with both sides of this issue to clarify and strengthen certain aspects that were critical for its passage. We were able to find that elusive 'middle ground.' As someone whose family has taken care of several rescue pets, I can say with confidence that this bill's passage is a major victory for all Ohio dog lovers."
Other local groups involved include Columbus Top Dogs, which works on many fundraisers and local issues, the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions, which works tirelessly on banning the awful auctions which purport the puppy mill problem, and the Nitro Foundation, which is currently working assiduously to amend legislation and make a first-time offense of animal cruelty a felony in Ohio. Currently, Ohio is one of only 4 states where a first count of animal cruelty is a misdemeanor. Offenders rarely get more than a measly slap on the wrist, fine and warning for doing things like beating, burning and killing dogs and cats.
If I missed your organization, please share in the comments. But A HUGE CONGRATS goes out from ThoughtsFurPaws to ALL involved in the passing of SB130 in both the Senate and the House finally. A rousing "thank you" also goes out to my legislators – now please listen to us animal welfare advocates on the other issues we've been writing and calling about, ie HB 108!
We have been waiting for years as you will see from the old blog posts (search Puppy Mills, or Animal Welfare Ohio SB 130).
I will soon be writing another post on this because many small time breeders and rescues feel this bill is a burden.
Stay tuned to read their perspective…
About the ASPCA®
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is the first animal welfare organization in North America and serves as the nation's leading voice for animals. More than two million supporters strong, the ASPCA's mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach and animal health services. For more information, please visit www.ASPCA.org, and be sure to follow the ASPCA on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.


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NPC Quick Reference - Complete Set
Model NPC
All 10 NPC Polygraph Quick Reference guide sheets available as one set.
NPC Quick Reference - Acquaintance Tests
Model NPC-QR1
Acquaintance tests have been used since the beginning of the polygraphy. The best acquaintance test will be the one that achieves the goal of assisting in the discernment between truth and deception.
NPC Quick Reference - Adjunct Techniques
Model NPC-QR2
Introduction and explanation of the Concealed Information Test and the Peak of Tension Test.
NPC Quick Reference - EPPA
Model NPC-QR4
This guide is a resource for examiners when conducting examinations under the Employee Polygraph Protection Act.
NPC Quick Reference - Numerical Scoring
Model NPC-QR5
Covers Definitions, Featured Charts, Scoring and Decision Rules of Numerical Scoring.
NPC Quick Reference - Post Conviction Sex Offender Testing
Model NPC-QR6
Post Conviction Sex Offender Testing aids in the management of the convicted sex offender who has been released or is being prepared to be released into the community.
NPC Quick Reference - Relevant / Irrelevant Screening Test
Model NPC-QR7
The Relevant / Irrelevant (RI) multiple-issue polygraph technique offers flexibility of content and sequence, utility across many settings, and resistance to many countermeasures.
NPC Quick Reference - Quality Assurance
Model NPC-QR8
The movement toward quality assurance (QA) reviews represents the next advance in the field of polygraphy. This National Polygraph Consultants (NPC) Guide will help polygraph practitioners conduct QA reviews of their own work, and the work of peers.
NPC Quick Reference - Utah and Federal Zone Comparison Technique
Model NPC-QR9
One side is Utah Comparison Technique and the other side is the Federal Zone Comparison Technique.
NPC Quick Reference - Empirical Scoring System
Model NPC-QR12
The Empirical Scoring System can be applied to any CQT format with DLCs or PLCs, including Federal ZCT, You-Phase, USAF MGQT 1 & 2, Utah ZCT, Utah MGQT, and DLST - two to four relevant questions - three to five presentations of each question.
Conventional Polygraph Accessories
Find Lafayette


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CPSC does not regulate children's drugs and their accompanying dosing devices such as dosing cups or separate dosing droppers. These products are excluded from the definition of "consumer product" under the Consumer Product Safety Act. However, the CPSC regulates the child-resistant packaging for certain drugs as required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA). If any drug, for children or adults, is required by a CPSC regulation to be in child-resistant packaging, the importer or the domestic party that packages the children's drug must issue a certificate of conformity with the special packaging requirements of the PPPA.
No. A dosing cup or similar device that accompanies a children's drug is not a "children's product" under the new CPSIA because it is not a consumer product. By definition these items are considered outside the scope of consumer products under the CPSA. However, a dosing dropper that can be used in lieu of a cap as a closure mechanism on a children's drug would be subject to the PPPA's special packaging requirements and require certification.
The importer or the domestic party that packages a PPPA regulated substance in special packaging must issue the general conformity certificate. The child resistance and senior friendly testing data (also known as protocol data) obtained in accordance with the procedures described under 16 C.F.R. 1700.20 may be used by the importer or domestic packager to support its certification. The packager can rely upon this data as the basis for the reasonable testing program. There is no expiration date on these tests and no requirement to retest so long as the tests adequately reflect the current packaging used. (Commission staff does not consider the European tests (ISO 8317, EN 14375, and EN862) to be the equivalent of the tests required by the CPSC regulations.)
No. Bulk drugs provided to pharmacies are not subject to the special packaging requirements of the PPPA and therefore no certificate is required.
No. The empty container is not subject to the special packaging requirements of the PPPA and does not require certification.
No. Certifications are not required for direct delivery of a clinical trial drug to a physician.
The CPSC is providing this information as a public service. This information is maintained on this server to enhance public access to information on CPSC programs and regulations. This is a service in which updates continually occur. These pages are provided for your convenience and may not always contain the latest version of materials available. Therefore, we make no express or implied guarantees. The Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, the U.S. Code, and the Public Laws remain the official source for regulatory information. We will make every effort to correct errors brought to our attention.
View Regulated Products and Related Regulations, Laws and Business Guidance
View Products Outside of CPSC's Jurisdiction
Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA)
Poison Prevention Packaging
Statements of Policy and Interpretation
Exemption Petition Procedures and Requirements
Nine out of 10 poison incidents involving children occur in the home. Unintentional poisonings are preventable. Check out CPSC's Poison Prevention Information Center for valuable details and resources for keeping your family safe from the risk of poisoning.
Check out the converstion on Twitter: #PoisonPrevention
The link you selected is for a destination outside of the Federal Government. CPSC does not control this external site or its privacy policy and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information it contains. You may wish to review the privacy policy of the external site as its information collection practices may differ from ours. Linking to this external site does not constitute an endorsement of the site or the information it contains by CPSC or any of its employees.
Click Ok if you wish to continue to the website; otherwise, click Cancel to return to our site.


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Makalu Business and Portfolio WP Theme
WordPress 4.2 compatible
23 Meticulously-scripted and professionally-produced HD video
tutorials for beginners worth 79$
Makalu is a responsive business and portfolio theme . It is suitable for users with zero programming skills as well as advanced developers. It is suitable for any kind of websites – environmental, law, agency, hosting, nonprofit, gym, medical, parallax, one page, corporate, spa and shop.
Complete list of features
New in Makalu
- New – Revolutionary and easy to use Drag & Drop page and post builder.
- New – Revamped Admin Option Panel.
- New – 900 Premium Icon Set – $39 Value!.
- New – Layered Slider Responsive WordPress Plugin – $15 Value!
- New – Support for the premium plugin – Mega Menu.
- New – Support for the premium plugin – Quform.
Next-generation features
- Retina ready
- Responsive liquid layout (320px to 960px).
- Hardware-acceleration on sliders and all javascript.
- Touch Enabled Sliders with swiping.
- Gracefully degrades in older browsers.
Top notch customer support
- Help Desk with one on one email and ticket support and dedicated support staff ready to assist you.
- Response times usually less than 8 hours.
- Video tutorials for beginners.
- Extensive set up guide for beginners.
- In-Dashboard Contextual Help. ?here are little helpers everywhere in the interface, that let you retrieve quick information about the particular fields you are currently viewing.
Endless layout possibilities
- Boxed and full-width layout.
- Option to enable or disable responsiveness.
- Any page can be home page. Set-up your own home page as you wish! Unlimited Homepage variations
- Flexible 6 sidebars in body and in footer.
- Flexible left, right or both sidebars on inner pages and posts.
- Unlimited Dynamic Sidebars.
- Unique widget areas for posts/pages.
- Global archive templates.
- Per page and per post option panels.
Powerfull theme options
- New – Revolutionary and easy to use Drag & Drop page builder.
- New – Revamped Admin Option Panel.
- Drag & drop slider management.
- Shortcode generator.
- Tons of shortcodes with tiny MCE visual integration!
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Makalu is professionally translated into English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
WPML support
Full localization support for the languages that have not been translated yet (contains .po/.mo files) All of our themes have been localized for easy translation. Included with each theme are sets of .mo and .po files that can be used to translate the theme, which means you wont have to spend hours searching through PHP files for English words.
Unlimited styles
New – 900 Premium Icon Set – $39 Value!
30 + custom ready to use pages with amazing design.
Theme skin switcher with 4 predefined skins.
200+ Shortcodes All our themes include Custom Shortcodes that allow you to easily add buttons, boxes, social buttons, columns andmore to your posts, pages and widgets.
Fullscreen background images Set a different background image for each page Set a different background color for each page.
55 + color pickers to style every element The theme will let you customize the style and typography of every element in the design. Packed with 100+ options, it allows you to make your website look exactly like you want!
Child Theme Support for Advanced Users
- Vamtam Rock Solid Theme Framework.
- Lighting fast. Exceptional page-load performance straight out of the box.Nothing's required but a standard PHP web hosting and CDN.
- Valid HTML5 and CSS3 design following all modern best practices. Designed primarily with CSS, minimal graphics means minimal load-time.
- Consistent code structure.
- No timb tumb.Native WordPress Thumbnails support
- Easily modify the theme options pages with our meta programming options generator.
- Very well-maintained and minimalistic code structure.
- Pixel perfect design.
- Custom post type support for Portfolios and Slides.
- Unobtrusive CSS3 and jQuery-powered effects.
Page/Post drag & drop builder
The VamTam drag & drop page is a very rich tool with simple interface for building any page or post layout with simple drag & drop. You don't need to touch one line of code for creating your page layout and elements. This tool will save you lots of time on building your pages or posts.
The VamTam drag & drop page builder is tightly integrated with tinymce editor and you can switch to visual or text editor at any time without losing any changes.
Drad & Drop page builder works with blog and portfolio posts
One-click demo content install
- Integrated Envato Toolkit – you can update the theme from the admin panel.
- Demo content and configuration one click install.
- Widget importer.
Retina ready
Out-of-the-box HiDPI/Retina support
This theme doesn't use any images – instead, we use vector icons which look perfectly sharp on high resolution screens. We've also made sure that any images uploaded by you (featured images, etc.) have twice the width of the available space.
Sidebar manager
Custom sidebars for posts and pages. Sidebar Manager allows you to replace all widgetized sidebars in our themes with unique custom sidebar.
Font replacement
You can change any text on your site to the font of your liking and you can preview fonts in the admin panel
- Google fonts support – 400+ fonts
- Font Face
Contact Form 7
- Create forms easily with Contact Form 7
- Working Contact Form – right out of the box.
10+ portfolio layouts
- Re-sizable full screen portfolio with categories and touch swipe support.
- Ajax portfolio.
- Filtered portfolio with cool CSS3 animations.
Mobile support
- Responsive liquid layout (320px to 960px).
- Out-of-the-box HiDPI/Retina support.
- Responsive Sliders.
- Responsive full width portfolio with categories and swipe support.
- Option to enable or disable responsiveness.
- Hardware-acceleration on sliders and all javascript.
- Touch Enabled Sliders with swiping.
- Gracefully degrades in older browsers.
- Dedicated mobile design, looks perfect on your Iphone and Ipad.
Responsive sliders
- New – Layered Slider Responsive WordPress Plugin – $15 Value!
- Drag & drop slider management.
11 custom widgets
- Vamtam Post Formats Widget.
- Vamtam Ads Widget.
- Vamtam Video Widget.
- Vamtam Popular Posts Widget.
- Vamtam Contact Widget.
- Vamtam Twitter Widget.
- Vamtam Sub Navigation.
- Vamtam Flickr Widget.
- Vamtam Social Icons Widget.
- Vamtam Google Map Widget.
- Vamtam Author Widget.
SEO friendly
Built with semantic best practices and search engines in mind!
Support for All in one SEO pack plugin.
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text: My son is teething and when ever he is going through this he starts to nibble on my breast. It's not hard nibbles butenough to irratate me. The teeth that are coming in are the last set until his two year molars. We share the family bed and he nurses through the night. He'll do this because it soothes him. But it starts to hurt after awhile and than when I release him from my breast he starts to scream. Is there anything I can do to ease the pain at night when I'm exhausted and want to get some rest. I really am sick of using tylonal and rather use something more natural. I was wondering if anybody else has any suggestions. And has gone through this in the middle of the night. I just would like to get some sleep. Thanks Mandy


text:
Exclusive to Scrappin Doodles, our New Year Kids collection includes adorable New Year themed graphics. Great for craft projects, teaching projects, teaching lesson plans, teacher papers, student handouts, scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking, paper crafting, card making, etc.. Graphics come in JPEG and PNG format 300 dpi for perfect printing. I created these graphics large so they are suitable for printing and Digital Scrapbooking projects and can be easily resized smaller to suit other needs, graphics measure up to approx 7". Graphics shown at approx 12% of actual size. Original Artwork by Scrappin Doodles
Key words: new years eve, party, January 1st, celebrate, midnight, count down, stick people, stick figures, stick kids, cute, clip art, clipart, graphics, illustrations, card making graphics, paper crafting graphics
NOTE: Quality has been reduced in sample picture to prevent digital piracy, you will receive crisp clear 300 dpi images
Product 21/28
This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 28 December, 2013.


text:
Welcome to the Department of Sociology
Sociology is the study of social relationships among people, institutions, and organizations. It is a discipline that uses the methods of science to explore the concerns and affairs of society and culture. Sociologists examine how groups and institutions are created, maintained and transformed and how group life shapes individual members of society. They describe, interpret, understand, and predict human interactions, social processes and trends. Sociologists enhance community life and ameliorate social problems, and guide other forms of social change.
Sociology allows us to develop the sociological imagination and tools necessary to see ourselves within the social context. It takes the blinders off and broadens our vision to see the world as a social system. Sociology explores the interaction between society and the individual.
If you are interested in working in social settings, you need a sociological perspective. If you want to understand the power structure in your community, you need a sociological perspective. If you want to understand why your father/mother, husband/wife, son/daughter, brother/sister, friend/foe interact as they do, you need a sociological perspective. If you want to understand why people and society are they way they are - you need a sociological perspective!
The Sociology major at Nyack is a rigorous program of study that retains enough flexibility to accommodate students with diverse career goals and plans. It insures that all students are trained in the major theoretical and methodological traditions of Sociology, and permits considerable variation in students who are considering graduate studies in sociology and related social science disciplines. The Sociology major provides a strong liberal arts education for undergraduates interested in the study of contemporary society and social problems.
Students who major in Sociology enroll in a central core of Sociology courses and may choose one of six concentrations. The central core cultivates knowledge and understanding of social systems at all levels from interpersonal through global. Students learn life-structuring impact of social class, gender, ethnicity, religion, race, and other social categories. Each student learns the principles underlying social order, social structural causes of social issues, and social change. The core Sociology curriculum emphasizes the utilization of the scientific method in testing theory and developing practical knowledge across the discipline. Classroom experience focuses on solution-centered analysis of important contemporary issues. Students are required to participate in a senior internship in paid or un-paid off-campus experiences under supervision. The internship allows students to integrate prior course knowledge with work experience in their possible career interest.
This major is offered at the Rockland Campus.
SOC101 Introduction to Sociology
SOC240 Social Theory
SOC337 Statistics for Social Science
SOC344 Social Problems
SOC355 Social Stratification
SOC357 Social Science Research Methods
SOC470 Sociology Integrative Seminar
SOC490 Sociology Internship
SOC366 Faith, Politics and Society
Sociology electives (12 credits)


text:
2012 - 2016 STD Disease Intervention Services
FAU Control #1108121229
Issued by New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute, Division of Epidemiology Evaluation and Research, Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention and Epidemiology
Schedule of Events
|Questions Due
|November 3, 2011
|Questions, Answers and RFA Updates Posted
|November 17, 2011
|Letter of Interest Due
|November 23, 201
|Applications Due
|December 7, 2011 by 5:00 P.M.
Contact Information
Submission of All Substantive Questions in Writting:
Mr. Robert J. Reed, Bureau Director
Bureau of STD Prevention and Epidemiology
New York State Department of Health
Empire State Plaza
Corning Tower, Room 1168
Albany, New York 12237
Phone: (518) 474-3598
E-mail address: email@example.com
Submission of Written Applications:
Valerie J. White
Deputy Director, Administration and Data Systems
New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute
ESP, Corning Tower, Room 478
Albany, New York 12237
- Request for Applications (PDF, 405KB, 67pg.)
- Attachment 2: Sample Letter of Interest (DOC, 25KB, 1pg.)
- Attachment 3: Application Checklist (DOC, 27KB, 2pg.)
- Attachment 4: Sample Letter of Commitment from County Commissioner or Equivalent Official (DOC, 30KB, 1pg.)
- Attachment 5: Disease Intervention 2009 Report Grid (DOC, 58KB, pg.)
- Attachment 9: STD Disease Intervention Services Training and Professional Development Staffing Plan (DOC, 42KB, 1pg.)
- Attachment 10: Solicitation Budget Forms (XLS, 278KB)
- Attachment 12: Application Cover Sheet (DOC, 24KB, 1pg.)
- Questions and Answers (PDF, 23KB, 3pg.)


text:
Consists of two broad collections of 18th and 19th century texts. The American Founding Era contains the papers of Dolly Madison and George Washington. The 19th-Century Literature and Culture collection includes papers from Kristina Rosetti, Matthew Arnold, Emily Shore, Herman Melville (text of his novel Typee), and an 19th century novel about slavery by a slave. Each database also contains supplemental and interpretive materials.
Miami University has a long and proud tradition of student involvement in both radio and television productions. This exhibit will celebrate five decades of students in broadcasting. Many of these productions can be found online in the WMUB Archives. For questions about the exhibit, contact Marcus Ladd at email@example.com or (513) 529-0462.
Classic Catalog | OhioLINK | Lane Public | WorldCat |
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Databases A-Z
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Staff Spotlight—Thom Gerrish
New in November: Leisure Reading
ALA President Dr. Julie Todaro Releases Statement on Libraries, the Association, Diversity and Inclusion
Leonard Cohen (1934-2016): playlist and notable resources


text:
if you didn't get to meet a Bengal in person last year in New York City, you'll have another chance at this year's Meet the Breeds co-hosted by The International Cat Association (TICA) and the American Kennel Club (AKC).
You can reserve your tickets now online at www.MeettheBreeds.com. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children if reserved in advance.
Even if you did come last year, don't miss this year's event and see the Bengal, Persian, Siamese, Havana, and other representatives of TICA's more than 50 recognized breeds of cats.
To see what you missed last year — or had fun seeing! — you can watch some photos from last year's event at www.akc.org/meet_the_breeds/2011photos.html


text:
Changes in the RFS are coming, but not from Congress. EPA will likely reduce the annual percentage standards for biofuels in the RFS for 2014, says Brian Jennings, executive vice president, American Coalition for Ethanol.
While the repeal of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is currently off the table, opponents have been trying to "reform" it, said Brian Jennings, executive vice president, American Coalition for Ethanol during the ACE Conference last week in Des Moines, IA. "But, the change won't come from Congress. It will come from the EPA," he said.
The EPA already has the flexibility and authority to change the annual percentage standards for the RFS for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel. If any of these fuels fails to reach the minimum level in two consecutive years, by law EPA must adjust the levels, but not before 2016. "That is why getting cellulosic ethanol production off the ground is so important," Jennings said. He also predicted that EPA will reduce the total and advanced biofuels in the 2014 proposed rule.
Some 2.5 billion renewable identification numbers (RINs) were carried over from 2012 into 2013, Jennings said. This, coupled with the industry's ability to produce a sufficient amount of ethanol and biodiesel, enabled refiner compliance with the volumes required by the RFS for 2013. However, there will not be that kind of RIN cushion in 2014, Jennings said. As a result, the use of biofuels, such as E85 and E15, should continue to rise next year as long as neither Congress nor EPA make severe cuts to the RFS levels, he added.
Note: RINs are credits that can be traded, enabling obligated parties (blenders) to comply with the RFS. Each RIN corresponds to a gallon of renewable fuel.
Brian Jennings at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Conference last week.


text: Thomas Jefferson's Family (5) tv-pg Play video Select your TV provider to log in to have full access to videos Select your TV provider See all providers Don't see your TV provider? Learn more You can access this video on the free HISTORY® app. *You must verify your TV provider towatch this video on the App Your Parental Control settings do not allow you to view this content. Thomas Jefferson's Family (5 min) tv-pg Thomas Jefferson marries Martha Wales Skelton in 1772 and builds a family at Monticello.


text:
Using a rule engine provides a framework that allows a way to externalize business logic in a common place. This will in turn empower business users and subject matter experts of the business to easily change and manage the rules. Coding such rules directly into the application makes application maintenance difficult and expensive because the rules change so often. This article goes into detail on how to architect and build a service that uses Drools to provide business decisions. This service can be part of the overall enterprise SOA infrastructure. As such, it can either be a standalone service that is consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted consumers, or part of a composite service that provides a complex business functionality. To illustrate this point, the article shows how a service using the Drools rule engine can hide the complexity of automating mortgage underwriting decisions that a mortgage company needs to make on a daily basis.
A rule engine such as Drools offers matching algorithms that can determine which rules need to be run and in which order, and provide a means of addressing conflict resolution. It allows facts to be reassessed by rules as they are being evaluated, causing the consequence of one rule to affect the fact base, or causing other rules to fire or retract as needed. By using a rule engine, rapidly changing business policies/rules can be externalized so that they can be maintained separately in one place. The rest of the enterprise applications can access the functionality through a service layer with well-defined contracts. The behavior of the service can then be modified without changing the interface contract or needing to recompile/redeploy. Rules are stored in human-readable form in a file so they can be changed with a text editor or rule editor. Many leading industry analysts have concluded that it is significantly more productive to build and change complex, decision-intensive applications with rules-based systems than with custom code.
Drools is a JSR-94-compliant rule engine that uses Rete, a matching algorithm developed by Charles Forgy. In the simplest terms, Rete builds a tree from all the rules to form a state machine. It begins with facts entering the tree at the top-level nodes as parameters to the rules, and working their way down the tree--if they match the conditions--until they reach the leaf nodes (rule consequences).
For this article, we use the JBoss Rules Workbench IDE as a tool to write and test the rules. The JBoss Rules workbench is delivered as an Eclipse plugin, which allows you to author and manage rules from within Eclipse. This is an optional tool; any other tool can be used to author and deploy the rules, provided the appropriate Drools libraries are included. Detailed instructions on how to obtain and install this plugin can be found at the Drools documentation site.
The following is a short description of the main libraries that constitute the Drools rule engine:
Package or
RuleBase objects.
There are other dependencies that the above components require; for an exhaustive list please refer to the Drools documentation.
The following section goes into detail on how the Drools rule engine can be used to architect an automated mortgage underwriting service as part of an overall enterprise SOA initiative. Even though we are talking about mortgage underwriting as a case study, this discussion can be easily applied to any other business sector other than financial services (healthcare, telecommunications, etc.) that needs to externalize a set of business rules as a enterprise service.
The example has been kept simple for the sake of clarity and emphasis has been put on highlighting Drools rule engine features. Figure 1 shows a simple example of an underwriting engine architecture.
Figure 1. Underwriting engine architecture
The architecture describes three components:
We start by writing a basic JUnit test that contains two test methods:
testSuccessfulApplication() simulates a successful loan application and
testAllFeedbackMessages() simulates a failed loan application and displays all the feedback messages.
public class TestUnderwritingService extends TestCase {
public void testSuccessfulApplication() throws Exception{
Borrower bo = new Borrower();
// Call the CreditScore Service to fill the credit score
CreditScoringService css = new CreditScoringService();
css.setScore(700); // Value hard-coded for testing purpose
// Call the affordability model service
AffordabilityModelService ams = new AffordabilityModelService();
Property po = new Property();
// Call the PropertyValue service
PropertyValuationService pvs = new PropertyValuationService();
pvs.setPropertyValue(800000.0); // hard-coded for testing
// Create a Loan Application
LoanApplication la = new LoanApplication();
// Calls the underwriting service
UnderwritingService ue = new UnderwritingService();
System.out.println("\nTesting successful application");
System.out.println("Feedback message size=" +
System.out.println("Affordability Flag=" +
System.out.println("Underwriting Decision=" +
//assertEquals(la.getStatus(), LoanApplication.PASSED);
assertEquals(la.getStatus(), Flag.PASSED);
public void testAllFeedbackMessages() throws Exception{
Borrower bo = new Borrower();
// Call the CreditScore Service to fill the credit score
CreditScoringService css = new CreditScoringService();
// Call the affordability model service
AffordabilityModelService ams = new AffordabilityModelService();
Property po = new Property();
// Call the PropertyValue service
PropertyValuationService pvs = new PropertyValuationService();
// Create a Loan Application
LoanApplication la = new LoanApplication();
// Calls the underwriting service
UnderwritingService ue = new UnderwritingService();
System.out.println("\nTesting all feedback messages");
System.out.println("Feedback message size=" + la.getFeedbackMsgSize());
System.out.println("Affordability Flag=" + la.getAffordabilityFlag());
System.out.println("Underwriting Decision=" + la.getStatus());
assertEquals(la.getStatus(), Flag.FAILED);
The test case instantiates the business objects
Property, and
public class LoanApplication {
private double loanAmount;
private int creditScore;
private double loanToValueRatio;
private Flag affordabilityFlag=Flag.AFFORDABLE;
private int feedbackMsgSize;
private Borrower borrower;
private Property prop;
private Flag status=Flag.PASSED;
private ArrayList<String> feedbackMessages =
new ArrayList<String>();
.../... // getters and setters
public class Borrower {
int age;
double setAffordableLoanAmount;
double grossIncome;
int creditScore;
public class Property {
private Flag type;
private Flag purpose;
private String zipCode;
private int yearBuilt;
private double value;
The following enumeration class contains all the flags used in this article:
public enum Flag {
As I mentioned before, the support services
AffordabilityModelService, and
PropertyValuationService populate parts of the application, but for this article, they are dummied out and return hardcoded values.
The other class that is being used by our JUnit test is the
UnderwritingService, which contains the call to the Drools rule engine APIs.
public class UnderwritingService {
public void evaluate(LoanApplication la)
throws Exception{
doRun("/Underwriting.drl", la);
doRun("/Decision.drl", la);
private void doRun(String ruleFileName, LoanApplication la)
throws Exception {
RuleBase ruleBase = readRule(ruleFileName);
WorkingMemory wm = ruleBase.newWorkingMemory();
private RuleBase readRule(String ruleFileName)
throws Exception {
Reader source = new InputStreamReader(
getResourceAsStream(ruleFileName) );
PackageBuilder builder = new PackageBuilder();
builder.addPackageFromDrl( source );
Package pkg = builder.getPackage();
RuleBase ruleBase = RuleBaseFactory.newRuleBase();
ruleBase.addPackage( pkg );
return ruleBase;
Let's highlight some important methods from this class:
readRule: Loads all the rules stored in the file
ruleFileName and returns a
RuleBase object that contains the rule package.
doRun: Creates a new instance of
WorkingMemory, uses
assertObject to place known facts (
Borrower, and
Property objects) into the memory, and calls the
fireAllRules() on the
WorkingMemory class. We are using the
RuleBase object returned by the
readRules() method to create a new
WorkingMemory for each session, and then discard it when finished.
We will start by describing the underwriting process and policies and how to define rules from these policies. Two .drl files will be provided: Underwriting.drl contains the underwriting policy rules and Decision.drl contains the underwriting decisions rules. The underwriting process typically has two stages:
Two considerations go into assessing whether an applicant will be able to repay.
Policy rules surrounding the applicant and loan, such as the minimum criteria that the applicant must satisfy to qualify for the loan. The criteria may cover, for example, minimum and maximum age of applicant, unacceptable credit history, minimum and maximum loan amounts, maximum loan-to-value ratios (LTVs), maximum income multiples, and thresholds or cut-off points for the credit score. Typically, these criteria are specified by the lender.
Affordability assessment: The affordability model service can provide this type of service to assess whether the applicant can afford the loan applied for.
These rules can be written in Drools Underwriting.drl as:
rule "Age verification"
Borrower(age < 18)
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
rule "Credit score"
Borrower(creditScore <= 600)
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
rule "Loan Amount limits"
$loanApp : (LoanApplication(loanAmount <= 100000.0) or
LoanApplication(loanAmount >= 400000.0))
rule "Maximum Loan-to-value ratio"
$loanApp : LoanApplication(loanToValueRatio > 80.0)
rule "Income multiples"
salience -3
Borrower( $grossIncome : grossIncome )
Property( value > (new Double($grossIncome.doubleValue()*3)))
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
rule "Affordability Model"
salience -4
Borrower( $affordableLoanAmount : affordableLoanAmount )
Property( value > (new Double($affordableLoanAmount.doubleValue())))
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
Two considerations go into assessing the adequacy of the property.
Policy rules surrounding the property, such as the minimum criteria that the property must satisfy in order for the loan to be granted. The criteria may include, for example, type of property, construction method or materials, and date of construction. These criteria are typically specified by the lender, but may reflect the requirements of insurers.
Valuation of the property: The property valuation service can provide this valuation by using different methods to calculate the property value offered as security in a mortgage application.
These rules can be written in Drools Underwriting.drl as:
rule "Property type"
Property(purpose != Flag.OWNER_OCCUPIED)
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
rule "Property age"
Property(yearBuilt < 1965)
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
Once these rules have been evaluated, an underwriting decision needs to be made based on the outcome. The following rules from the Decision.drl are used:
rule "Underwriting decision"
$loanApp : (LoanApplication(affordabilityFlag == Flag.NOT_AFFORDABLE) or
LoanApplication( feedbackMsgSize > 0))
Once all facts are inserted into the working memory, where they may be modified or retracted, the rule engine will find all possible matches for the facts. All candidate rules found during this matching stage are added to the rule engine's agenda. The agenda manages the execution order of these conflicting rules using a conflict resolution strategy. Conflict resolution is required when there are multiple rules on the agenda that are candidates for execution. The rules that are candidates for execution are examined to determine the next set of rule actions to execute based on a predetermined resolution scheme. Since firing a rule may affect the state of the working memory, the rule engine needs to know in what order the rules should fire.
Drools uses different strategies for conflict resolution (please refer to the Drools manual for an in-depth discussion). For this article we use salience, which is the most-used strategy. For this strategy, the rule author specifies that a particular rule has a higher priority (the higher salience rule) than the other matching rules. The highest priority rule is picked from all the matching rules.
When writing and authoring rules, one shouldn't make an assumption that the rules will fire in any particular order or follow some sort of flow. This minimizes the need to resort to any of the conflict resolution strategies described above.
Let's illustrate how conflict resolution is applied to the affordability assessment example described earlier:
rule "Income multiples"
salience -3
Borrower( $grossIncome : grossIncome )
Property( value > (new Double($grossIncome.doubleValue()*3)))
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
rule "Affordability Model"
salience -4
Borrower( $affordableLoanAmount : affordableLoanAmount )
Property( value > (new Double($affordableLoanAmount.doubleValue())))
$loanApp : LoanApplication()
To make an affordability assessment, lenders can apply either the income multiples rule or use the affordability model rule. The application of the affordability model rule may result in a value that exceeds the value obtained from the income multiple rule. When this happens, lenders usually will disregard the affordability model rule and make their final affordability assessment from the income multiple rule. This is accomplished in Drools by giving the income multiple rule a higher salience value.
The example was tested using JBoss Drools 3.0.4 and JDK 1.5. A run of the JUnit test displays the following results:
Testing successful application
Feedback message size=0
Affordability Flag=AFFORDABLE
Underwriting Decision=PASSED
Testing all feedback messages
Property should be built after 1965
Type of property should be Owner Occupied
Credit score should be greater than 600
Borrower minimum age should be 18
Loan to value ratio should not be greater than 80
Loan Amount should be between $100,000 and $400,000
Feedback message size=6
Affordability Flag=NOT_AFFORDABLE
Underwriting Decision=FAILED
A feedback report can be created out of this data and displayed to the lender for further analysis.
In this article, I have shown how the Drools rule engine can be used to abstract complex business rules in a service that can be part of a larger enterprise service framework. A service that automates mortgage underwriting decisions was used as a case study; the patterns used to implement this service using Drools can be applied to many other problem domains that are well-suited to a rules-based approach. The article highlights through a real-world example important features of the Drools rule engine: externalization of rapidly changing business policies using rule-based programming, runtime evaluation of rules, and conflict resolution. The article did not cover deployment considerations or change-management issues.
Birali Hakizumwami is currently working as an application architect.
Return to ONJava.com.
Copyright © 2009 O'Reilly Media, Inc.


text:
Best places to live in 2032
Published On: Aug 13 2012 11:06:47 PM CDT Updated On: Mar 19 2015 02:00:00 AM CDT
Some states have a higher predicted future appeal and quality of life. Check out the top-rated places in the United States in 17 years.
The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.


text:
Acclimating to Acronyms!
There was a time when I would have been offended if you didn't know what HR meant. Or RBI. Or SB.
Don't quite understand VORP? UZR? PECOTA?
But the baseball basics? I thought everyone knew them.
I was wrong.
And rightly so. Not everyone's interests align with mine; I shouldn't look down on those who eschew the grandest game on earth (feel sorry for them, yes; patronize them? No.). Of course, I know this — NOW — after being way out of the loop on a conversation revolving around physics and something called… AFV.
"What is this curious AFV?" I kept asking myself as the cognoscenti carried on, oblivious to my poorly hidden obliviousness. The conversation dipped and rolled, skipped and scooted… "the air to ground ratio" this and "the hyperbolic arc" that.
Later, when I was all alone, I googled this curious AFV, only to find out that I'm a windmill-chasin' idiot. Because AFV stands for America's Funniest Videos.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
The lesson is clear: know your acronyms. And since we live right in the middle of technocracy's jumbled white noise, we'd all do ourselves a favor by learning the hard ones. So, of course, the RSBS interns got to work on providing you, dear readers, with three of the most up-to-date acronyms you'll ever find:
(Heterosexual Life Partner)
My HLP is Albert Pujols. He doesn't know this (yet), but he is. He will know sooner if the GD cops would stop throwing this GD order of protection in my face. Uh… it's getting in the way of my DESTINY*, Mr. Police MAN.
(Lou Intending to Actually Retire)
Admittedly, this is an odd acronym as it only pertains to people named Lou who hold whoop-dee-doo press conferences with the idea of hanging it up for good. And, considering the nature of our thought processes, it requires us to juxtapose the truth with a LIAR. If you're confused, it's okay. You should be. Lou Piniella intends to be in the Bobby Valentine and Buck Showalter retirement camp: waiting for a bigger, better paycheck.
Believe me.
And don't hate me 'cuz I'm right.
(Determined Effort to Stalk Top Infielders Nightly, Yearly)
8 Comments
Torre, Sweet Lou, Showalter, Valentine…are all lined up to take someone's job. Who's will it be?
Bobby Cox's? I dunno. I just hope they get off Sportscenter. Not quite their thing… in my opinion.
I must be really naive. I believed Lou when he said he was retiring! Does that make me a DINGUS?
No, Jane, you're no DINGUS. You're a HASF (Hip & Awesome She-Fan)!
Makes me think of 'Good Morning Veitnam'. VP, MP, VIP, Kp, and all that. Funny stuff.
'Minoring In Baseball'
Hadn't thought about that gem in a loooong time, Mike. Good call!
The Mets are looking to trade my HLP (Jeff Francoeur); somehow I'll find a way to go on.
Prince… I feel your pain, man. I feel your pain.