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8th Japan Center Essay Competition (2012-2013)
Award Ceremony at Charles B. Wang Center (April 6, 2013)
Recognition at Ambassador & Mrs. Shegeyuki Hiroki's Official Residence (May 25, 2013)
High School Division Best Essay Award
1st Place: Madison Jaye LoFaso (Huntington High School)
2nd Place: Ravi Jain (Syosset High School)
3rd Place: Emily Linko (Hauppauge High School)
College Division Best Essay Award
Melissa Kavanah (Stony Brook University)
Uchida Memorial Award
Ali Syed (Stony Brook University)
Consul General of Japan in New York Special Award
Madison LoFaso (Huntington High School)
Merit Award
Charles Beers (Huntington High School)
Lewin Kim (Horace Mann School)
Natsuko Sato (Arlington High School)
Kate Snider (Herricks High School)
Thomas Abdelmalak (Valley Stream Central HS)
Santiago Alzate (Huntington HS)
Jenny Chan (Benjamin N. Cardozo HS)
Kaitlin Dayton (Huntington HS)
Arman Nasim (W.T. Clarke HS)
Tanu Rani (Benjamin N. Cardozo HS)
John Reilly (Huntington HS)
Rivka Schuster (Manhattan High School for Girls)
Yumiko Siev (Valley Stream Central HS)
Hakeem Donovan Jamal Abdella (Frederick Douglass Academy)
Jesse Chang (Stony Brook University)
Kyle Gallagher (Stony Brook University)
Brittany Lopez (Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies)
Sydney Kahn (Lynbrook Senior HS)
Christopher Kuhner (Saint John the Baptist Diocesan HS)
Hanna Murphy (Huntington HS)
Caitlin Rieger (Garden City HSl)
Daniella Schoen (Huntington HS)
Adam Lee Struhl (Syosset HS)
Selected Essays
Selected Essays
We begin our journey by walking through ornate bronze gates. Large Japanese maples dance in the wind. Around them lie small Japanese painted ferns. Everywhere, as if surrounded, I hear the sounds of running water and talkative birds. After the guide explains where these plants are usually found, we continue on to a small footbridge that crosses a narrow stream, fed from a vast pond. The path takes many twists and turns, and around each bend is something new and surprising. This tactic, called hide and reveal, is a common part of Japanese gardens.
From our guide – his name is Marshall – I learn that earliest recorded mention of Japanese gardens was nearly two thousand years ago! Apparently there are many different styles of Japanese gardens, and each serves a unique purpose. Some are designed to promote religious meditation, while others are meant as a simple escape from everyday life. There are Rock Gardens, which as the name implies, are made up entirely of rocks of all sizes. Tea Gardens surround tea houses, with a long relaxing stroll leading to the front door. Pond Gardens invite boaters to tour the garden from its central point in the Pond. Elements like sand and statues are commonly used.
According to the brochure in my hand, the John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden was built in 1960, after Ambassador Humes and his wife returned from Kyoto, Japan. This garden is four acres large and features a small tea house, bamboo groves, a wisteria arbor, a display hut for bonsai and ikebana plants, and a cascading waterfall. I pass a large tree and as the path takes a sharp turn, I suddenly hear music, which pulls my attention from the brochure.
There before me is revealed a magnificent waterfall and lush pond. As I approach the pond I see dozens of colorful koi fish. My attention turns to one that is jet black and darts around the others, stealing their food. I later learn that his nickname is Hoover, like the vacuum cleaner! The air around me is crisp and clean, and the notes of a shakuhachi flute can be heard from the Tea House. As I look to my left, I see our tour guide beginning to meditate. I am truly intrigued and I ask if we can join him. So we sit on the grass and quietly listen to all the sounds around us.
I unexpectedly hear a buzzing sound which pulls me back to reality. It's my phone. As I dismiss the call, I realize that I have been strolling this garden for over two hours…and I hadn't checked my phone once! We make our way back to the entrance and Marshall wishes us all a good day. My parents and I quietly make our way back to the car. I think back on the day and I am captivated by the designer's careful attention to every detail. I am particularly amazed by the bonsai trees, which are miniature versions of large trees found in nature. Such care and love is required to create them.
On the drive home it hits me; a feeling of regret for my behavior toward my parents at the start of the day. What if they relented and let me stay home? I would never have learned that aspects of the Japanese culture could have such an emotional affect on me. I only hope that someday I can travel to Japan and visit some authentic Japanese gardens.
"Japanese Garden." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation, 11 2012. Web. 5 Dec 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_garden
"John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden." The Garden Conservancy. The Garden Conservancy. Web. 5 Dec 2012. <http://www.gardenconservancy.org/garden-preservation/gardenpreservationservices/preservation-projects/john-p-humes-japanese-stroll-garden?view=standardlayout&title=61>.
Makela, Lee. "The Japanese Garden in its Cultural Context." Beyond Stone and Moss. Lee A. Makela, 30 2001. Web. 5 Dec 2012. <http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa/lectures/gardens/>.
Shea, Barbara. " Taking the Path of Enlightenment." Locust Valley. Simple Living, Inc., 07 2001. Web. 5 Dec 2012. <http://www.locustvalley.com/News/newsday 10-7-1 humes garden.html>.
Yang, Linda. " An Eye To The East More Americans Are Taking Cues From Oriental Masters In Their Garden Designs." SunSentinel.com. Sun Sentinel, 25 1988. Web. 5 Dec 2012. <http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1988-11-25/features/8803080843_1_japanese-garden-design-japanese-culture-landscape-architect>.
"A Song in My Heart" by Ravi Jain (Syosset High School)
During my early adolescent years, reading, music, and theatre provided a welcome escape from the reality of my undeveloped social skills, self-perceived unsightliness, and unsuccessful attempts to fit in with my classmates. Fortunately, works of fiction in various media afforded me the opportunity to empathize with the emotions and experiences of the characters I encountered. I read voraciously and broadened my appreciation for music and theatre arts.
Obeying the Broadway billboards that decreed, "All must visit the land of Oz," I saw Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz. Wicked sings the story of a college student struggling to fit into an intolerant world where appearance matters more than intelligence or courage. Its lyrics became a source of inspiration for me. While I did not possess Elphaba's animal activism, magical powers, or green skin, I understood her sadness and could hum her loneliness. Wicked encouraged me to look past my puberty-induced handicaps and focus on traits of which I could be proud.
Fast forward to the summer of 2012.
I was awarded a scholarship from the Center for Global Partnership to be an exchange student in Nagoya, Japan for six weeks. Without much embellishment, my parents dropped me off at JFK Airport with cash, my host family's address and phone number, and instructions to "learn something." Fourteen hours later, I landed in Tokyo; excited, exhausted, and unable to speak the language, I was helpless. I was reliving my adolescence—I soon realized I was more like Elphaba than ever before. (I even had a different skin color.) I felt I was the Wicked Witch of the Western Hemisphere who came to Japan to propagate fast food and bad manners.
"Watashi no namae wa Ravi desu," I said, hesitantly introducing my name to my Japanese host mother after meeting her for the first time. She giggled at my poor pronunciation and then embraced me as a son for a month and a half.
Over the next few weeks, thanks to my host family, electronic dictionaries, and intermittent language study, I had "learned something." I later became comfortable enough to even sing karaoke for the first time, to the horror of professionals everywhere. As I grew intimate with my new friends and family, I began to admire the Japanese even more for their unparalleled politeness. At school, I learned to play table tennis from the true pros – Japanese high school boys. At home, I learned to cook from my host mother, and spent the last night of my stay preparing what my host family claimed was an extraordinarily sumptuous feast (even if they hadn't liked it.) And of course, everywhere I went, I kept improving my Japanese.
Though I predictably acquired a profound understanding of Japanese culture, I somehow learned as much about myself, especially after my host brother introduced me to his cousin during a weekend stay in Kyoto. Kanako had vacationed extensively during college, but felt her travels were incomplete without a visit to the Big Apple. We discussed my favorite weekend activities in the city, and when I mentioned theatre, she confided she had dreamed of walking down Broadway for as long as she could remember.
Kanako had seen the Japanese version of Wicked and fallen in love with the tenderness of its raw passion. However, she knew that for an authentic experience she would have to watch it in English. Blushing, I inadvertently told her I had memorized the songs, and she delightedly suggested we sing them together. The idea was laughable. I spoke little to no Japanese, and, while Kanako's English was decent, she did not know the English lyrics. But when she started humming the tune, I hesitantly joined in with the English words, and she followed in Japanese. It worked. We had produced a brilliant duet, yet we hadn't even sung in the same tongue. Our mutual passion for Wicked transcended all barriers – language, gender, race.
I found myself in Japan. Somehow though, I was more proud of having found a friend.
"Spirit of Self Sacrifice" by Emily Linko (Hauppauge High School)
When I was in eighth grade, I moaned and groaned along with the rest of my classmates as I was assigned yet another research project; this one having to do with World War Two. After pondering over possible research topics, I decided to look into something I had heard about many times before yet never truly understood; the kamikaze. Sure, I'd heard the word used as a figure of speech, or even as a cocktail drink, and I had a general grasp on what the kamikaze were, but what I had never been able to comprehend was why.
Finally, after weeks of scouring the internet and library, I thought I had it figured out. The kamikazes, the Special Attack Unit, were the last efforts of Japan towards the end of the war as signs of its defeat approached on the horizon. War is war; the loss of life is always inevitable, and this method seemed to be an efficient way to make the most of each death. The kamikaze provided higher chances of destroying a target than conventional methods, and a blow to an enemy outweighed the cost of an aircraft and a pilot. From a military standpoint, the refusal of a duty such as that would have been a great dishonor. Finally, I understood. Or, at least, I thought I did.
The next year, in my history class, we started from the beginning, looking at how civilizations evolved and changed, and how different factors shaped their cultures into what we recognize today. We learned about Japan's geography, its culture, its emperors, its wars. Then one day we learned about the Mongols, and our class listened with rapt attention as our teacher told us the story of the island they weren't able to conquer, and the sudden typhoon that had destroyed their fleet. "The Japanese people called this typhoon the kamikaze, meaning "divine wind"; they believed it was sent by the gods, the kami, to protect them". And with that one sentence, I realized that I had not, in fact, understood, not in the least. The kamikaze, I suddenly realized, were motivated by much more than a sense of duty toward their superiors. They were spurred by the honor and loyalty that had been deeply ingrained in their culture for centuries, positioned to protect the island as the next "divine wind". And then, I was sure, I understood.
The earthquake in Japan had hit in 2011, and people were hearing about it in phases; first the emergency response, then the short-term fixes, then the inevitably daunting long-term cleanup. Along the way stories trickled in of the kindness and bravery of people there and from all around the world. The one that hit me the hardest was the tale of a group of elderly citizens who volunteered to help clean up the nuclear waste. They elicited a mixed response; some people finding them inspirational and others feeling they should enjoy their retirements in peace. When asked about their motives, the citizens replied that they didn't have long left to live anyway, so they should take the risk of contracting a disease from the radiation instead of the younger citizens, who still have their whole lives laid out in front of them.
I was floored. At their ages, most would want to settle down and take a well earned rest, letting the younger and more able bodied members of the population take care of new problems. But these people were willing to go out and put their lives and health on the line for others, others that most of them had probably never met. That was when it became clear to me; making such a tremendous sacrifice is about much more than just duty or honor; it's about loving your country and the people in it with every fiber of your being. It's about wanting to protect it and its citizens in any way possible, be it piloting a plane or trudging though toxic waste. And I realized, I had never really understood. Maybe I still don't. But maybe someday, I can figure out what runs through the minds of those who will willingly give up everything for duty, for honor, and for love of their country.
Dillow, Clay. "Japanese Elderly Offer to Take Over Fukushima Nuclear Cleanup."
Popular Science. Popular Science, 31 May 2011. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-05/japanese-pensioners-lobby-take-over-fukushima-nuclear-cleanup>.
Stearns, Peter N. World Civilizations: The Global Experience. 4th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004. Print.
"Understanding Impermanence" by Melissa Rose Kavanah (Stony Brook University)
The cherry tree is a favorite subject of Japanese art and poetry. Its blossoms, while extraordinarily beautiful, can also seem tragic; the delicate flowers bloom for a short while, a period of perhaps two weeks at most, before they fall from the tree. The flowers burst open, blossom like fireworks, and fade as quickly. How sad, one might think, that these blossoms should be so beautiful for such a short time, only to fall to the ground and decompose. One scarcely has time to fall in love with its beauty before the blossom is gone, and only the memory remains, like the afterimage of a firework in the sky.
I was not always able to accept the notion of impermanence being a beautiful thing. Shortly before I turned seventeen, my friend Ava passed away. Her death was sudden and unexpected, blindsiding friends and family alike in the way that only meningitis knows how. Being a headstrong teenager, I was furious at and terrified by the idea that things could just disappear.
I had lived my life up to that point secure in the notion that if I could only gather the things I loved towards myself, if I could only hold on to everything at once, I would be perfectly content. To have someone I loved torn away so swiftly, then, was shocking. When I came to terms with the fact that her loss was real, I felt compelled to re-examine my world view. I discovered a sort of vanity in the idea that I could bend the world to my will, using only the force of my own passions. I realized that I cannot and should not expect things to be permanent just because I would like them to be, and I began to try to accept that realization.
To the Zen practitioner, cherry blossoms and fireworks are beautiful in part due to their similarity to the human experience. People shape their happiness around temporary things, from material objects, to relationships, to simply being alive. Buddha teaches that suffering occurs when those things, which have always been temporary, are inevitably torn from the people who cherish them, much in the same way that cherry blossoms inevitably fade. To avoid suffering, Buddhists strive to eschew attachments. While it may seem that this would lead to a life without appreciation for joy and beauty, quite the opposite occurs; practitioners of Zen Buddhism become adept at perceiving a particular sort of beauty, the beauty of impermanence. Cherry blossoms are emblematic of this quality; they fade quickly, but they are no less beautiful for their transience. In fact, their beauty is intensified by the brevity of their existence; one must appreciate them deeply and immediately, fully experiencing the moment, in order to appreciate them at all. By understanding cherry blossoms, one can come to understand the limitations and joys of one's own existence; when one accepts that all things in this world are fleeting, the beauty of impermanence itself is what remains.
It has taken me some time to develop a new way of seeing the world, and I am still fine-tuning my model. I have begun to see the wisdom in eschewing attachments, although I am still very attached to many things. I have developed a deep respect for Buddhist thought, and have begun to try to incorporate some of its principles into my life. Throughout this process, I have come to find the cherry blossom to be a very appealing symbol. Its ability to embody the essence of Zen makes the flower of the cherry tree so well-beloved in Japanese culture. To truly appreciate the fleeting blossoms, one must detach oneself from the concept of the past and the future. To truly appreciate the world around me, I will have to accept that it is not eternal, and that it may even be illusory. That does not leave the world without beauty; it just means that I will have to change the way I appreciate beautiful things.
I think that I have come to understand something important through Ava's death. Ava was more of a burning firework than a gentle cherry blossom, but her beautiful existence was temporary, and so is mine. If I cling desperately to concepts, experiences, or people, the anguish will only be worse when they inevitably fade. Instead, I should will my passions quiet, and appreciate the pure, fleeting beauty in cherry blossoms, and fireworks, and the lives of those around me, for however long they last.
"Wabi-Sabi: Nothing Is Perfect, Even Gardens Have Weeds" by Ali Gilani Syed (Stony Brook University)
No one is ever comfortable derailing oneself, but I must. You see, in the past, I was not someone you would want as a friend. I was self-centered. Self-interested. Self-absorbed. Self-seeking.
Throughout adolescence, I had a hard time maintaining friendships. I was often consumed in studying and looking for tasks to 'pad' my resume. In short, I was a perfectionist geared toward financial success.
In school, I was not motivated by curiosity, but a good GPA. Conversations with friends mainly pertained to grades. I would find myself stressed with assignments, consumed by due dates, and struggling in relationships with family, friends, and myself.
Change was needed, yet I least expected it to arrive at a trivial dinner. During my freshman year, my friend Pavel casually invited me over. He introduced me to his Japanese step-mother, Sonya. When I mentioned my dad was from Delhi, India, she inquired about the Lodhi Gardens. My response, "How did you know about that?", was enough for her to discuss her love of gardens. Describing herself as a naturalist, she insisted I tag along with Pavel to visit her workplace, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.
With Pavel, I went to the site and Sonya gave us a tour through the collection of gardens. However, one site mesmerized me: the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. With its splendor and simplicity, the red torii (traditional Japanese gate) stood in glistening water. The edges of the lake were green in reflection from the surrounding foliage. The pink cherry-blossoms ushered a sense of aesthetic comfort.
The garden was centered on a pond with a small island in the center. Around the pond, clusters of Japanese iris flowers, violet in color. Most captivating was the waterfall; a thunderous splash of water over the rocks creating a soothing, relaxing façade. It all seemed wonderfully placed.
The entire garden was a provision of awe. A miniature paradise. An idealized landscape; a wonderful equilibrium between order and nature, a balance between pleasure and simplicity. Never had I seen nature so organized and formal. My first exposure to Japanese culture- a nihon-teien, a Japanese Garden.
Sensing my delight, Pavel invited me to more retreats. At first, I was reluctant, but my inner curiosity gave in. Over two months' time, I partook in activities I never did in two decades: kayaking, mountain-bike riding, canoeing, hiking, rock-climbing, and more.
Gradually, I realized nature provided a serene venue where I could remove my cloak of tension and anxiety. I could satisfy my youthful longings for privacy and tranquility and absorb the curative power of art and nature.
It was at this point in my life, I learned about wabi-sabi, a Japanese philosophy of seeing beauty in life's imperfections. Sonya described wabi-sabi as something that concentrated on the acceptance of impermanence and imperfection in life. Wabi-sabi taught that in life, "nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect" (Powell 2005). So why not enjoy it?
In nature, I could sense wabi-sabi everywhere. Everything had its flaws, yet nature was still beautiful. The rough bark of the trees. The asymmetry of the rocks. The decaying color of leaves. Unrefined and crude, yet stunning. My retreats became liberation from the mundane. The lens of wabi-sabi showed I could live life with my senses and absorb life rather than be consumed by it.
When my grandmother was battling breast cancer, I used the appeal of sakura-blossoms to acquaint her with Japan, a place she never visited. Amidst the Cherry-Blossom trees at the Sakura-Matsuri Festival, we were drinking sakurayu. There were no worries about grades or assignments, just happiness that my Nanijan (Hindi/Urdu: Grandmother)was there. Unfortunately, my grandmother would leave me, but my new-found outlook of life assisted me in accepting my loss.
To me, wabi-sabi meant there was one rule: learning to be content with life. Let life runs its course. Flaws exist, tragedies happen. Grow from them. Accept them. When you try to do something perfect or attempt to make something perfect, it just doesn't work.
Some parts of the 'old-me' still remain, as I can't instantly shed the previous eighteen years of my life. But, I will definitely learn and improve over time. As Sonya once told me, even "the most beautiful Japanese garden has weeds." I realize that there is so much to see in this world. In this short time period I call life, I am both a Gaijin (outsider) and a Yujin (friend). But above all, I am a Ningen (human) who appreciates beauty in imperfection.
Works Cited
Powell, Richard R. Wabi Sabi Simple. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2005. Print.
Fujisawa, Chikao. Zen and Shinto; the Story of Japanese Philosophy. Westport, CT: Greenwood,
1971. Print.
Juniper, Andrew. Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence. Boston: Tuttle Pub., 2003.
Kamachi, Noriko. Culture and Customs of Japan. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999. Print.
Mansfield, Stephen, and Donald Richie. Japanese Stone Gardens: Origins, Meaning, Form.
Tokyo: Tuttle Pub., 2009. Print.
Tames, Richard. A Traveller's History of Japan. New York: Interlink, 1993. Print.
"Putting Things into Perspective: Lessons from the Far East" by Charles Beers (Huntington High School)
It has been approximately four weeks since Hurricane Sandy struck Long Island and plunged our region into an unforgettable period of darkness and misery. While many have attempted to put those dark days behind them, it is impossible to truly forget the effects the storm had on everyday life. Almost all of Long Island went without heat and electricity for about two weeks, during which temperatures reached seasonal lows and tempers rose to new heights. I remember how each night I desperately hoped for the power to return, and how I was disappointed for more than a week. It was a miserable experience without electricity and heat and most days saw me and my family trying to stay warm and waiting for night to come. That feeling of helplessness and anger at the LIPA officials will always resonate throughout my life and I initially thought that all of Long Island had faced the true epitome of pain, especially the residents of Long Beach, who experienced the worst of the storm. Most of its residents had to relocate in order to have a roof over their heads and a place to sleep, as some of their houses and schools were completely demolished by the powerful storms (http://www.liherald.com). Because of all the tragedies across the island, kids were eager to return to their schools and try to return to normalcy, using their education as a cloak to all the grief occurring around them. I remember waiting eagerly for the daily message from our superintendent, hoping that each report would contain the message that the high school would reopen. For me, going back to school was the only way to move on from the crisis. Thankfully for me and my friends, the high school was waiting for us after the storm, and I could finally reunite with friends who I'd lost contact with over the course of those dreadful two weeks. However, as I was later reminded, kids around the world aren't always that fortunate. Even when I thought I'd been through the worst two weeks of my life, it only took a reminder of the 2011 Japanese tsunami to bring me back down to earth and make me grateful for all the things that I hadn't lost in the hurricane.
Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Japanese nation. As seen by previous disasters, this underwater seismic activity results in tsunamis that cause massive destruction to coastal cities and towns through colossal waves. These waves are virtually unstoppable forces of nature, capable of demolishing anything in their path. While the Japanese citizens have taken a multitude of safety precautions to counter these waves, nothing could have prepared them for what they saw in 2011. Over 10,000 Japanese citizens were killed from the disasters that ensued and millions lost their homes and even their cities from the damages. However, unlike Hurricane Sandy in our neck of the woods, children and parents across Japan had nowhere to turn after the tsunami has finally subsided. According to interviews, many Japanese schools, such as Togura Elementary School, had children in them when the waves appeared on the horizon, some of them even exceeding the heights that the officials were originally anticipating. When the tsunami hit, children and teachers had to run for their lives in order to reach an area high enough to avoid the deadly waves. The aftermath, though, was even more heart-wrenching to imagine. The same township where the Togura Elementary School resided was completely leveled, some reporters even stating that the town "now barely has any marks of human existence" (http://www.cnn.com). In short, nothing was saved from destruction, and the helpless children who suffered through this ordeal had nowhere to go and nothing to come back to. Trying to imagine these horrific events unfold was difficult for me to do and evoked newfound levels of grief inside me, as well as an equal amount of guilt. While I was worrying about when electricity would return to my house, children across the seas were worrying where they would live and go to school. Reflecting on their catastrophe should serve as a lesson for all Hurricane Sandy victims. Be grateful for the luxuries you have, such as friends and a school where you can be safe from harm, and when you feel like you have gone through the worst of times, always remember the Japanese tsunami survivors, the men and women who continue to persevere in spite of having the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Works Cited
Laje, Diego. "Stopped time: Japan tsunami hits school." CNN World (2011): n.pag. CNN. Com. Web. 25 Nov 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/japan.quake.school.minamisanriku/ index.html>.
Rifilato, Anthony. "It Takes More Than a Hurricane." LI Herald.com (2012): 4. Web. 25 Nov 2012. <http://www.liherald.com/stories/Two-weeks-after-the-storm-Long-Beach-students-return-to-classes,44481?page=1&content_source=>.
"The Tea Ceremony" by Lewin Kim (Horace Mann School)
Steam rises in the air as the tea flows from the pot into my ceramic bowl. The smell is faint, yet familiar. I'm conscious of the green and red flowers painted on the white surface of the bowl. As my fingers wrap around it, I kneel on a cushioned mat, balanced and calm. Sensei, in her emerald kimono that seems to change shape with each graceful movement, watches me. I take a sip, feeling the green tea's warmth travel through my body, down my arms, and to my fingers. Sensei offers me a bowl of sugar candy, explaining that it serves as a spiritual balance to the bitterness of the tea. We both stand and bow as a sign of appreciation and respect.
While this scene could have taken place in any teahouse in Kyoto, the ceremony transpired at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx on Japan Day. Although I was born in the U.S. and have no ancestral ties to the Japanese, this tea ceremony reminds me of what I value about their culture. My upbringing was shaped by years of watching Japanese films such as Princess Mononoke and picking up groceries from the Mitsuwa Marketplace. In school, I chose to study Japanese as my foreign language.
My parents took my family on a trip to Japan so I could see with my own eyes the beauty of the country. I was stunned by the bright and colorful lights of Tokyo at night. Exploring the Japanese countryside was equally impressive and was where I tasted the unrivaled softness of Kobe beef for the first time. It was also the first time I bathed in an onsen, a Japanese hot spring, which rejuvenated me both physically and mentally. What struck me was the level of inventiveness in Japan. While most people think of Tokyo Tower or other typical tourist attractions when they think of Japan, I was inspired by the newer, creative buildings such as Joypolis, a huge indoor amusement park that was built to look inconspicuous in the heart of Tokyo's offices and towers.
After my memorable trip, I wanted to continue my cultural ties to Japan while living in the states. As a high school freshman, I joined East Wind West Wind, a school club that promotes a better understanding and awareness between Eastern and Western cultures so I could share my knowledge and experience with others. I realized that Japan, despite being one of the smaller countries of the world, is a leader in creativity, ingenuity and hope.
Even as Americans, we can benefit from embracing Japanese culture because it is a culture of learning and teaching. Japan's traditional folk tales and stories emphasize the strength of family and dreams. Today, its movies carry valuable lessons: Hayao Miyazaki's imaginative films Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro touch upon the importance of friendship and reciprocation to others, and appreciation for nature. It is important to the Japanese to pass on their ancient traditions.
The tea ceremony gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge of Japanese culture with others who are unfamiliar with it. After the ceremony ended, one of my friends passed by and asked me what was happening. I explained the spiritual significance of the ceremony and encouraged him to try it. I led him to my sensei, and as my friend kneeled on the cushion, I introduced them. As I started walking to my next class, I caught a glimpse of my friend carefully raising his bowl of tea, while a harp softly played Gagaku, the traditional music of Japan, the sound bouncing off of every string with a light pluck.
"The Flower of Fire" by Natsuko Sato (Arlington High School)
The hot, stuffy air of summer mingled with the distinct smell of tako yaki and yaki soba coming from the shops, and the music from the bon-odori played softly in the background. I was at the matsuri—the Japanese traditional festival that was held every summer in my town.
The matsuri was almost over, and I relocated to the hillside to settle down to see the fireworks. Sitting down amongst hundreds of other people who were also there to see them, I gazed up at the dark starry sky, feeling my anticipation grow with each passing moment. I was ready for the magic to begin.
Huuuuuuu. Don! Suddenly, with a booming sound, the first of the fireworks was shot into the sky. The crowd around me clapped and cheered loudly—the wait was finally over. One after another, the fireworks shot up and burst out stunning streams of lights. The extravaganza culminated in a grand finale as dozens of fireworks of all different colors, sizes, and designs simultaneously shot up, brightly illuminating the night sky.
Throughout the entirety of the hanabi show, I was simply awestruck; awestruck at the magnificence of the scene and the sheer scale of it all that no words could possibly fully articulate my amazement. My eyes were simply glued to the spectacle unfolding before me and my heart was fully enraptured by those flowers that bloomed in the cobalt blue sky.
In Japanese, "hana" means flower and "bi" means fire. Loud, extravagant, and admired by hundreds of people, those flowers of fire are the symbols of Japanese summer. They are what move the Japanese's hearts and bring them excitement. Moreover, they represent the skill, artistry, craftsmanship, and hard work of the hanabi makers themselves. Like flowers, these hanabi beautifully captivate the viewers and create picturesque scenes in the night sky.
But the Japanese appreciation of hanabi is not solely based on its extravagance and the exhilaration that it brings. This brings me to my second story:
As much as I loved matsuri and the beautiful hanabi shows during the summertime, they were obviously not regular occurrences. So instead, I would often beg my grandmother bring me to the convenience store to buy a pack of house fireworks. And of course, being a typical, grand-child-loving grandmother, she would happily bring me to the store and buy me a nice pack of
miniature hanabi. In the pack were various types of fun-looking fireworks, from simple handheld ones to more thrilling "rocket" ones, which came in cute colored wrapping and designs.
Upon returning home, I would anxiously wait for the sun to set. And as soon as it did, I would grab the hanabi pack, call out to my family to come light them with me, and head outside.
"Don't point the tip of the hanabi at others!" my father warned me every time, "You don't want to light people on fire."
"I know," I always replied, "but they're just so pretty that I get temped to twirl them around!"
In any case, all of these hanabi sessions at my house concluded with the lighting of the senko hanabi—the sparklers. They were by far the most simple and frail-looking hanabi in the entire package. I took a strand of the senko hanabi and held it in my hand, dangling it down vertically to light the end of it with a candle. As the end quickly shriveled up into a ball of fire, I crouched down and tried to hold my hand as still as possible. I silently gazed at the ignited ball, which soon began spurting out branches of delicate sparks that progressed into more powerful and energetic sparks. I was quickly mesmerized by its beauty, but continued to concentrate on keeping my hand still. But before long, the sparks died down and the ball of fire quietly burned out.
Unlike those fireworks at the hanabi show, these flowers of fire are quiet, simple, and mainly only admired by the person holding them. But they are also beautiful in their own way. From them, the Japanese enjoy the sense of wabi-sabi, the concept of appreciating the ephemerality and imperfections of objects. The burning out senko hanabi evokes a sense of sadness, but allows the viewer to appreciate its brief but considerable magnificence. Some even say that the senko hanabi represents human life—frail, ephemeral, and imperfect, yet quite beautiful.
Both types of the Japanese flowers of fire continue to bloom and glimmer beautifully in my heart today.
"And In a Place So Different, We Are All The Same" by Kate Snider (Herricks High School)
"I was in love with the place, in my mind."
-Sufjan Stevens, Chicago
I tiptoed around upstairs, old wooden floorboards moaning under the weight of my body. When I reached my destination, my hands softly nudged the door open as I slipped inside and immediately became entranced with the musty scent of age, history, and the storage of time. My eyes scanned the length of the walls, taking in the remnants of 82 years of life. In the far left corner resided a deep brown bookcase, only decipherable by scarce patches of wood that breathed through the clutter. I started over to the bookcase, taking care not to knock over piles of loosely stacked cardboard boxes. My fingers grazed the buffet of memorabilia, feasting on the grand array of literature, clothing, dishes, and antiques. There were carved, wooden chopsticks, piles of books filled with poetry, recipes, and tales. A glass case highlighting a beautifully painted porcelain doll dressed in silk garments stood alone, an air of elegance to her every detail. These relics, these little moments snatched from space, now sat as reminders of a distant time. And even in a place so different than where they once resided, these items seemed to blend right in.
My Grandpa, born and raised in Brooklyn during the 1930s, has traveled to Japan thirteen times. It must have been a strange sight: a young wide-eyed business man from America weaving in and out of swarming Tokyo commuters, or singing loudly in broken Japanese for the entire karaoke house to hear. After his first visit, my grandpa was enamored with the culture. From the moment he stepped off the plane and into Tokyo International Airport, every cell in his body became electrified. And after returning home to his wife and three children, my grandpa longed for the day he would return.
There was much to love about Japan; however it was not the beauty, the food, nor the language that lured my Grandfather back countless times. Instead, it was the kindness and honesty that was sewn into the fabric of the culture. Etiquette was different in Japan, and unlike America, violence and deceit were rare disgraceful acts. Vendors and shops would leave display tables full of merchandise outside, certain that nothing would be stolen. Waiters and waitresses did not expect tips, as working hard was merely an act of civil service. Men with hunched backs due to years of bowing were not uncommon, lending as walking representations of genuine respect. This overwhelmingly widespread innate trait of kindness was nothing Grandpa had experienced before.
As a child, Grandpa would tell me story after story about his life, usually centered around both mine and his favorite topic: Japan. As a treat, he would welcome me into a what we called "the junk room", due to the amount of relics crammed into a tiny space - a space dedicated to the preservation of his memories and heartbreaking passion. He'd let me browse and rummage through the shelves and boxes of old Japanese keepsakes, taking the time to explain the origin of every minuscule item.
Grandpa learned a lot from his time spent in Japan, and in turn I did as well. High up in an building, Grandpa sat in a tiny bar and spoke to men who poured drinks as they poured stories of brothers and fathers killed in the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the very same attacks that spilt American blood. Yet these men knew grief, these men knew loss, these men were just the same. Grandpa, a WWII veteran himself, listened and understood that even oceans away we were all inherently similar.
Growing up around a man who was molded by the ideals of Japanese culture heavily affected the person I was slowly becoming, and the person I am still growing to be. I learned that a kind and gentle heart can fill a person with warmth, and that generosity is better than selfishness. I learned that classification only leads to separation, and that war does not discriminate. But most of all, I learned that as time passes and each generation brings new ideas to the table, the roots of culture still tie us together. As Japan is changing due to technology and westernization, the foundation of trust and respect remains the same. As I continue to wander through life, I will carry the lessons brought home from Japan by my Grandfather and store them here, in my own home. Just like the old antiques in Grandpas house I once adored, these lessons will now reside in a place so different from where they were taken, and yet seamlessly blend right in.
© The Japan Center at Stony Brook
8th Competition Award Ceremony Program (2013)


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chase1234life 3 years ago#1
Well, not quite. My 7950 is still in the mail, but otherwise I'm done. (i5-4670k OCed, 16 GB RAM)
Anyways, I'm looking for game recs. Anything but RTS and MMORPGs. I'm not much for warfare shooters, but that doesn't mean I won't play one.
If it means anything, I currently have Audiosurf, Portal 1 + 2, Amnesia: The Dark Decent + A Machine for Pigs, Driver: San Fransisco, Half-Life [each part], The Walking Dead [all episodes], and XIII; that might help in recommendations.
I don't particularly care how old the game(s) is/are. I haven't done much PC gaming since DOOM 3. I do have Steam and would prefer if the game(s) is/are on Steam; but not being on Steam is not an issue.
I'm trying to keep my purchases under the $15-20 range at the moment (spent most of my disposable income on my new Rig), though I'll soon be buying full priced games, so they're not off limits.
Free-To-Play is cool, as long as they're not horrible without micortransactions. I don't mind buying a few add-ons to make a game better, but I don't want to have to nickle-and-dime through a game just to make it playable.
So anything you feel like recommending is welcome!
(Oh, and if this topic seems familiar:
I wanted a new topic that just focused on recs)
J.O.B. Squad 4 life
Cool_Dude667 3 years ago#2
Sc2 and Shogun 2
Not changing this sig until Christ returns -- Started 30 A.D
3770K @ 4.2Ghz | 16GB Corsair Vengeance | GTX 670 SLi
Dust: An Elysian Tail - A enjoyable 'metroidvania' platformer with fast combat, upgrades for your character and a cute catlike bat thing that follows you around.
Hotline Miami - Topdown shooter with a great 80s soundtrack, intense unforgiving combat that gives you a challenge.
Mount & Blade: Warband - Start from peasant and climb your way to king/queen, gather a band of jolly screaming nord huscarls and watch the axes fly...
The Chronicle Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay/Assult on Dark Athena - Escape from butcher bay was a lot better than Dark Athena, but for first person stealth and melee there are really no better games for this. I honestly wish more games where made like Escape from butcher bay.
I think I'm the only person on gamefaqs with a daughterboard - ToastyOne
New with a moderation history more plentiful than karma. - Fossil (Moderator)
KabtheMentat 3 years ago#4
Can't go wrong with Borderlands 2 IMO.
It's also on sale right now at GreenManGaming for like $10.
Big Money. Big Women. Big Fun.
Skillz Ferguson
Deus Ex : Human Revolutions Directors Edition.
Gamefaqs game rating system : 10 = Best Game Ever. 8-9. Crushing dissapointment. Below 8 :Total Garbage. This is getting ridiculous. people agreeing so far 105
chase1234life (Topic Creator)3 years ago#6
wizardmon posted...
Dust: An Elysian Tail - A enjoyable 'metroidvania' platformer with fast combat, upgrades for your character and a cute catlike bat thing that follows you around.
Dust: Played it on 360, good game, loved it personally. But no need to re-purchase it.
Hotline Miami: Heard a lot of good things about the game, and seen a bit of it. Looks like a good game. Had totally forgotten about it until you mentioned it. I'll have to check it out.
Mount & Blade: I'll have to do more research on it before I say much else other than that I'll put it on my list of games to check out.
The Chronicle Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay/Assult on Dark Athena: One question; Are they as good as the Thief series? If so, I'm down with that.
Borderlands 2: I'm still conflicted on it. I rented it for 360 when it came out and was lukewarm on it. I loved how the game felt (Story, Setting, Humor, etc.), but wasn't engrossed in the gameplay. I'll have to give it another spin; but most of all, I would like to thank you for introducing me to GreenManGaming. They have some great deals that are hard to pass up and comparable to Steam Sales. So for that alone I have to thank you.
Deus Ex: Human Revolutions Directors Edition: Man, don't hate me for this, but I've never been a fan of the Deus Ex series. Don't get me wrong, I think they're great games, and I understand the love for them... but it's just not really my style so to speak.
J.O.B. Squad 4 life
Ultimate_Umbreo 3 years ago#7
Battlefield 2/2142 - Still good as long as you can get less than 100 ping.
http://i.imgur.com/M47pyxj.png http://i.imgur.com/ftCGgQx.jpg
chase1234life (Topic Creator)3 years ago#8
Ultimate_Umbreo posted...
Battlefield 2/2142 - Still good as long as you can get less than 100 ping.
60 Mbps brother! Sure, could be better, but I don't have a cap, so it's more than enough. And I did enjoy both of the games in the past (as well as 3), so I might grab them since I haven't touched them in awhile.
J.O.B. Squad 4 life
While full price BF4 (can get it for $48 on GMG or less if you are in Mexico) is the best BF game to date IMO. The maps look stellar and I absolutely loved Siege of Shanghai.
chase1234life (Topic Creator)3 years ago#10
7950 will be here on Wednesday!
J.O.B. Squad 4 life
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Remember iSwifter, the iPad app that lets you play certain web-based Flash games? The idea is that iSwifter acted as a kind of middleman, streaming the Flash gameplay to your iPad via the iSwifter servers. It's an interesting idea and services like OnLive have shown that streaming gaming can work, but honestly I haven't had much luck using iSwifter. Games are pretty laggy and even though the devs continue to add supported games to their library, it just doesn't go very far towards making up for that missing Flash plug-in for browser-based gaming. Still, it's a free app so I can't really complain and every so often it's a good way to kill some time. I'm not sure what their business model is, though.
[ Get news and reviews on tech toys in ITworld's personal tech newsletter]
Then yesterday I saw a post at Kotaku showing iSwifter being used to play Starcraft II on an iPad. Now that was something interesting to see. Of course you and I can't use iSwifter to play Starcraft II on our iPads, due to licensing issues. And even if we could, I suspect the experience would be very different if the streaming was happening over the internet (I'm assuming the video shows someone at iSwifter HQ playing through local servers). The solution? Let's convince the iSwifter people to sell a server app that we can run on our own computers that lets us stream our own licensed games to the iPad (and let's get an Android app ready, too; one that works with Google TV). I'm thinking something like PlayOn, only for gaming. Sounds like a plausible business model to me. You'd pay a set fee for the server and a nice bundle of gamepacks (used to enable specific titles) and then they could sell additional gamepacks down the line. What do you think? Would you pay for software that let you take your PC games with you? [Update: After posting this, some friends of mine told me about Splashtop Desktop, an iPad app that lets them play their PC games remotely. I personally haven't checked it out yet. Thanks to Brenda and Chris for the info!]
Peter Smith writes about personal technology for ITworld. Follow him on Twitter @pasmith.


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Your Cat, Your Life
The Scoop
Cat News, Politics
Meow-Out-Loud Humor
Cat Chic
Gear and Glam
Your cat loves a clean toilet -- don't we all? Catster's singing Cat Lady, Sarah Donner, explains why.
Cat Breeds
Foods & Treats
Health & Care
Behavior & Training
Cats & Cleaning
Cat of the Day
Photo Comments (1)
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Well Buddy, four years ago I had to let you go before the cancer consumed you. I still think about you and I wish we had more time together. In two more years you would have been gone for longer than when we were a family. It makes me wonder how long I should keep marking the anniversary of your passing.
Lena is getting better. I mean, eventually her kidney disease will kill her, but it probably won't be as soon as we feared. You two really got along. I'm glad I won't have to say farewell to her for a while.
Pepi is still Pepi, a bit of a pest - a loving pest though. If only she'd let me hold her and trim her nails it would be easier. She started venturing outside too with Lena. Fortunately she doesn't want to go far and it's easy to get her to go back inside. She only goes out when Lena does and I let Lena go outside because of her condition and I want to spoil her.
Anyway, I wish you were still here and I'll remember you for the rest of my life. Good times, Sarge. Good times.
I know this is a bit late. Catster has been broken for so long that sometimes I wonder if it's worth the effort to post anymore. I still miss Sarge and I always will. He was a special kitty and we didn't have enough time together. I made his life as special as I could make it and he did the same for me.
He passed the afternoon of my, at the time, favorite sci-fi convention. The support from my fellow fans was wonderful. For unrelated reasons, that convention is now pretty much gone as well. Life goes on, it always does. I'll remember Sarge always and the good times we had.
I almost forgot, thank you everyone who remembered and sent something. Thank you as well to those who came by. I deeply appreciate how so many of my Catster friends remember Sarge despite the condition of the website itself. We will not be forgotten.
May your year be filled with fond memories.
Copyright © I-5 Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
Visit Dogster


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My books
by: Sylvain Hébuterne • 405
All Android applications categories
by: Sylvain Hébuterne • 405
This application is made to inventory and organize your personal library. You can usefully store your entire book collection, inserting a book by simply scanning its bar code and then access the list in many convenient ways.
Main features to begin with:
- insert a book by scanning its bar code
- insert a book by typing the ISBN code
- insert a book by typing its title, author etc..
- View all books written by an author
You can import and export all your data to a file.
You may organize as you like your book catalog by creating a variety of lists classified by preferences which you decide to put up:
- Books to remind you to buy
- Books to read again
- Books you've enjoyed etc…
- Books you have lent to someone
The result of this application is a composition of various classifications you've generated by using filters:
- Genre, author, appreciation, reader…
And many others features to come very soon...
Enjoy it!
Updates :
04-27-2012 : first publication
05-03-2012 : version 1.1:
- Add the possibility to get a book by entering just its isbn
- Add a flag "Book to read again"
05-04-2012 : version 1.2 :
- Fix a bug on version 1.1 which prevented books to save on new installation.
Users who have install version 1.1 directly should reinstall to version 1.2, or wait until version 1.3. Users who upgrated from version 1 are not concerned.
05-04-2012 : version 1.3 : correct all bugs from version 1.1
05-22-2012 : version 1.4 : Add import/export command
06-29-2012 : version 1.4.1 : add sort by added date, bug corrections
07-20-2012 : Add support for book's cover + thumbnail view
Needed authorization :
Web access : to get a book by its ISBN
Storage access : for import/export features
Tags: widget ma bibliothèque , application my books , widget ma bibliotheque , widget bibliothèque afficher plus de livres , bibliothèque de code pour acceder au , ma bibliotheque widget , widget bibliothèque , my book ajouter a ma bibliotheque , ma bibliothèque de sylvain hébuterne
from 405 reviews
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Free - V3.5.2 - 3M
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text:
Only three countries are known to operate centrifuge technology similar to Pakistan's. Two of them, Iran and North Korea, are already accounted for among Khan's customers. The third and last country on the list: India, Pakistan's foe.
We are looking for the best Indian stories on the web. If you see something interesting, send us a link to the story.


text:
"Erik Murphy has served his punishment,'' head coach Billy Donovan said. "We're all disappointed with what transpired, but there's no question Erik has learned a great deal through the whole process and understands what a great opportunity and privilege it is to play college basketball.''
Murphy averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 2010-11. Heading into his junior season, he is expected to start on the frontcourt with center Patric Young. It will be a young frontcourt led by inexperienced players. Murphy's 66 games played make him the most experienced frontcourt player that will return for this season.
The Gators lost Vernon Macklin, Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus from last year's team. Florida will play an exhibition game at home on November 3 against Catholic University before hosting Jackson State to open the 2011-12 season on November 11.


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Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records and BMG are proud to announce the upcoming release of For the Sake of Heaviness: the History of Metal Blade Records on August 29th. Written by label founder and CEO Brian Slagel with Mark Eglinton.Read More
Sacred Reich
Sacred Reich to release 'Ignorance - 30th Anniversary' reissue on July, 28th on vinyl and Digi-CD! For the first time ever with the original artwork!Read More
On July 14th, Norwegian Death Metallers Execration will release their new album 'Return To The Void' via Metal Blade Records. Please surf over to youtube.com to check out the album opener 'Eternal Recurrence'!Read More
Evergreen Terrace
On July 14th, Metal Blade will release the Evergreen Terrace magnum opus 'Wolfbiker' for the first time ever on vinyl! It has been exactly ten years since its initial release and right on time for their upcoming European summer tour!Read More
New Releases
Upcoming Releases
Latest News
ALLEGAEON launches video for 'Of Mind and Matrix' online!
- 24/01/17 – Since the release of their new album, 'Proponent for...Read More
Swedish Heavy Metallers TRIAL (swe) finishes recording new album 'Motherless'!
- 23/01/17 – Announces name change! Swedish Heavy Metallers TRIAL (swe)...Read More
DESTRAGE launches guitar play-through for 'Dreamers' online
- 19/01/17 – Guitar transcription for new album, 'A Means To No...Read More
ANTROPOMORPHIA reveals details for new album, 'Sermon ov Wrath'
- 18/01/17 – Launches title track, starts pre-order! On February 24th,...Read More
ONI premieres video for 'The Only Cure' (featuring Lamb of God's Randy Blythe) via Billboard.com!
- 17/01/17 – 2016 was a breakout year for progressive metal band ONI,...Read More
Armored Saint launches 'March of the Saint (Live)' video online
- 13/01/17 – On February 24th, Armored Saint is releasing their new...Read More
Six Feet Under reveals details for new album, 'Torment'
- 10/01/17 – Launches first single, "Sacrificial Kill" On...Read More
TOMBS enters studio to begin recording fourth full-length album
- 09/01/17 – Brooklyn-based experimental metal outfit Tombs has entered...Read More


text:
Mark Christopher Auto Center
It's Cool To Stay In School
9th Annual Perfect Attendance Contest
Los Osos Grizzlies VS Chaffey Tigers
In the past years we helped raise over one million dollars for the Chaffey Unified School District by promoting perfect attendance through our "It's Cool to Stay in School" car give-away event. The Association of California School Administrators presented us with the Community award at their spring conference as we helped increase student attendance levels throughout the district.
Radio stations will be at our dealership doing a live remote from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. We will be providing tasty food, beverages & desserts for more than 1000 students and their families. Each eligible student will receive a free "Cool" t-shirt and be entered into the prize raffle where they can also win IPADS, XBOXES, flat screen TV's, IPOD Touch and $100 gift cards. And one lucky student will drive away with a brand new car.


text:
West Seattle 9-10's make it to the final with big win
By Ed Shepherd
Westside! Westside! Westside!
Sounds like a fireworks celebration, or, a rally into war even, but it's not. It's a cheer that West Seattle does for its games so it's 9 and 10 year olds get pumped as was the case in a 13-3 win over South Highline National in the Little League All Stars 9-10 District 7 Tournament at Pac West Fields Friday.
The win over South Highline National propels West Seattle into the championship game Saturday at 10 a.m., where they face a familiar foe, Seattle Central, which knocked West Seattle into the loser's bracket last Sunday, 12-5, in its opener of All Stars.
"Playing Seattle Central is the best case scenario," said Isaiah Brent, West Seattle's manager. "Our kids know what that team can do to them if they don't come ready to play."
Brent was talking to his players right after the win over National.
"What's better than one game," he loudly asked his players.
"Two," they shouted.
The sequence repeated two times, and, indeed, West Seattle, having come through the loser's bracket, is the team that must beat Seattle Central two times Saturday in order to go on to the state tournament representing District 7, happening around July 10.
"Westside, Westside, Westside," the players shouted in rhythmic cadence a few times during Friday's game.
"It makes us fired up," said Jack Peterson, who provided good offense for West Seattle early on in this game.
"It helps us be more confident, gets the rage higher. It makes sure that we stop every ball and hit the ball."
In the game against National, big-run production happened again for West Seattle, as they didn't score 20 runs again like they did the last two games against Renton and Rainier, but they did end this game via the 10-run rule after the fifth inning was completed, with the sixth inning not played.
In the first inning, West Seattle scored four runs on three hits as leadoff hitter Nolan Whorton singled, lacing the ball between second and first base. Maddox Brent singled to left field, so two runners on base. Will Godwin hit the ball hard, but right to the National shortstop who went to throw the ball to third base for the force out but the third baseman was not on the bag. So all three runners were safe.
Matt Accaregui, then, came up in the first and did a nice bit of hitting, getting out on a pop fly but that was OK Accaregui knew. "OK" because he was still doing a good thing, getting the run in by his sacrifice, as Whorton tagged up on third and scored.
"I was just trying to get a base hit and I thought if I hit the ball into the outfield Nolan would be gone," said Accaregui.
Gone to home plate to score was Whorton on that nice situational hitting by Accaregui. Then Jaxton Helmstetler hit it hard to center field and Brent scored to make it 2-0. Next, Jack Peterson came to the plate for the Westside team and he knew what to do with the ball with a runner on base.
"I scooted up in the batter's box and I waited for the pitch and I hit it into the gap between shortstop and second," said Accaregui.
That scored two RBI for Accaregui and gave West Seattle a momentous 4-0 lead."
Manager Brent liked the start of the team in this game, as the four runs scored by his players was a first in the All Stars tourney.
"In the first, we did a lot," said Brent. "We put up four that inning. That was the best offensive first inning to start a game for us in this tournament."
After that good blast of offense from West Seattle in the first came South Highline National rallying for a run on a couple singles to make it a 4-1 West Seattle lead.
West Seattle kept firing on offense, shouting, "West side. West side. West side." altogether in the dugout as Brent singled, Godwin drew a walk and Helmstetler's RBI sacrifice extended the lead to 5-1.
The cheer would come again in the third inning after having watched National benefit from a couple walks followed by a RBI sacrifice, cutting West Seattle's lead to 5-2.
So, in the West Seattle third, Felix Schlede singled and Whorton singled Schlede home to make it 6-2.
Godwin singled to shallow right field to make it 7-2 and Accaregui singled, too, adding another RBI to his day, and it was 8-2.
And, after National scored a run in it's bottom of the third to make the score 8-3, West Seattle added to its runs and what would be 12 hits for the game, with a crushing burst in the top of the fifth.
Accaregui and Jack Peterson and Jack Leers all drew walks to load the bases.
Then, a walk to Felix Schlede forced in Accaregui to change the score to 9-3.
"Let's get fired up, we are fired up," the dugout yelled.
Then, Triol, who pitched super in this game, hit a 2-RBI double, a hot grounder that zipped through the third base-shortstop hole before having enough pace to get by the left fielder, too.
Milo Sorensen then hit a 2-RBI triple and that made it 13-3.
Triol threw 17 pitches versus Rainier a day earlier so he could have been tired going out there to throw. But he did it, regardless.
He thought a lot of National's hitters who hit the ball well in the tournament, having beat Pac West, 11-10, and Renton, 27-2, before being up on Seattle Central, 10-4, going into the sixth inning where SC scored seven runs and won it, 11-10.
"I thought every single one of them could hit, but tried to make pitches low in the strike zone so they couldn't get lots of shots," said Triol.
And, with the sun beating down on him on the Fourth of July, Triol forgot about his arm and just did what manager Brent needed him to do in this game for the team to advance to the championship.
"I was a bit tired pitching all those pitches," said Triol, who threw 73 pitches against National. "Isaiah was thinking this could get us through to the championship game and through this team that beat us in TOC."
TOC is the "Tournament Of Champions," and South Highline National beat West Seattle in it, which was not All Stars but where each charter's first place team from the regular season play each other in a tourney.
Brent admitted he really wanted this one.
"That was a nice win," he said. "National had the same coach here in All Stars as TOC, and, he had, at least, five of the same players from his TOC team on his All Stars team, like my All Stars team carries five players from my TOC team. I wanted to beat him bad. The competition of it all."
And that they did, as this West Seattle team is really rolling now. And, those knowing this kind of All Stars tournament play say, it doesn't happen all too often, but, if a team does get in the loser's bracket early and catches fire, it can be hard to stop.
"We finally got going," said West Seattle third base coach Mike Triol. "The goal is to see the team play together as a team. There's a grace period where you learn to play as a team. We weren't doing it at first, not in practices, not in our first game, but we are doing it now."
Manager Brent echoed Triol's words.
"We are doing what we thought this team could do. "We did have some errors in this game, but no one error turned into two or three. You can get in a good rhythm, or a bad. All the kids need to stop a bad rhythm in a game together. And, they are buying into it."
Westside! Westside! Westside!
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text: The Case Against Hugging, Dead Authors, Sharon Jones Download this audio Want to embed this player? Use the code below. More info. <iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="130" width="100%" src="https://www.wnyc.org/widgets/ondemand_player/wnyc/#file=/audio/json/341308/&share=1"></iframe> Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email a Friend Sharon Jones' new album with the Dap-Kings, Give the People What They Want, comes out Jan. 14. (Kyle Dean Reinford / Courtesy of the artist ) i


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SJ Champ
Im an educated, aware and spiritual person. The environment, animals and all humans have a God given right to live their lives in health,safety and peace. The evil governments have no right to cause all this oppression in the world. PEOPLE ! PLEASE NEVER BELIEVE THE EVIL PROPAGANDA THAT MEDIA AND GOVERNMENTS SPREAD ABOUT ISLAM.-Islam never allows corruption, neglect and oppression.muslims love messengers Jesus and Moses( peace on them). Islam teaches love, tolerance, forgiveness, compassion, charity, mercy, and justice for all. Judge islam for what it teaches, not by the bad example of its followers! form your opinions WITH KNOWLEDGE. It is true knowledge of islam that they want to keep away from you..BECAUSE IT WILL SET U FREE.- do not allow the disease of atheism and materialism to darken your souls light. ALL ANIMALS AND HUMANS MUST BE RESCUED AND GIVEN THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE HEALTHY,HAPPY LIVES IN FREEDOM !!!!!!!!!!!!
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GE Healthcare has partnered with the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for an imaging research program to explore the role of 7T MRI technology.
GE will provide an investigational ultra-high field 7T MRI scanner to the college for the study of early neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, as well as bipolar disorder, brain tumors, stroke, epilepsy, drug abuse, attention deficit disorder, multiple sclerosis, head injury, visual disorders and schizophrenia, stated the Waukesha, Wis.-based company.
The research program also will work toward the development of new brain imaging techniques for earlier detection of disease and increasing the effectiveness of investigational therapies.


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|Jason McGee will be leading the second GWC Lab Chat this week on Wednesday, 4/20. The very timely topic is related to recent announcements from IBM regarding the IBM Workload Deployer (see previous posts). Entitled "Application-Centric Cloud Computing" the discussion will focus on the concept of deploying and managing your application workloads in a shared, self-managed environment rather than manually creating and managing the application middleware topologies. It places the focus on the application rather than the infrastructure. This concept promises to deliver greater simplicity, elasticity, and density among other things. It can position your business to react more quickly and efficiently to the increasing demands of your customers and free you from the managing all of the details.
|Many of you may have already heard Jason speak last week at IMPACT 2011 in the cloud mini main tent or perhaps at any number of other sessions that Jason was involved in. Jason is the key architect behind IBM's WebSphere cloud activities. Obviously, Jason understands the cloud space very well and has a clear view of the evolution into Application-Centric Cloud Computing. This GWC Lab Chat will provide the opportunity to get your questions answered and share your perspective on this technology.
|Jason will provide a brief introduction to the concepts and ideas and then lead an open discussion. Put it on your calendar and plan to attend - and please plan to bring your questions and comments to help foster a rich discussion. We want to hear from you.
|If you haven't registered yet it is not too late - learn more and register here. It is easy to register and there is no cost. This is a very timely event and a great way to dig a little more deeply into concepts you first heard at IMPACT or perhaps hear them for the first time. Don't miss it!
|-- Joe Bohn
A view from the clouds: Cloud computing for developers
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GWC Lab Chat this week with Jason McGee: Application-Centric Cloud Computing
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Haddon Hill Group and WebSphere CloudBurst
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Harness the power of the cloud with IBM Workload Deployer V3
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How do you do it?
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How would you like your Database?
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I've started to virtualize my systems .... isn't that a cloud?
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IBM CC4D Event
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May is almost here and that means that IBM IMPACT is right around the corner. Just like years past, IMPACT 2010 will be a great chance to get valuable education and insight into IBM WebSphere software and software from across the IBM software family. If you want to hear how IBM software is leading the march toward a smarter planet, register now.
IMPACT 2010 will be a great chance to hear the WebSphere cloud computing story. There will be multiple sessions on the WebSphere CloudBurst Appliance. These include customer-led sessions, internal adoption stories, overviews, and much more. I'll be there running a hands-on lab and delivering a session that discusses integration between WebSphere CloudBurst and IBM Rational tools. Of course, there is more to WebSphere and cloud computing than WebSphere CloudBurst. We have several other sessions that will detail all of IBM WebSphere's work in the cloud.
If you are interested, I put together a short video discussing some of the sessions on tap for WebSphere and cloud computing at IMPACT 2010. I'd also encourage you to check out the social media site for IBM IMPACT 2010. On that site, you will find tweets, videos, and blogs about the conference. Don't forget to sign up, and I hope to see you in Las Vegas! -- Dustin Amrhein
IBM Impact 2012
IBM PureApplication System - the cat's out of the bag!
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IBM Workload Deployer and Rational Application Developer integration
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IBM Workload Deployer V3.1 available
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EconSouth (Fourth Quarter 2005)
Louisiana Struggles to Rebuild in Storms' Aftermath
Rarely does a single state, especially one that makes up only 1.5 percent of the nation's population, drive national events. Unfortunately, this development did occur in 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck Louisiana. The hurricanes disrupted the flow of oil and natural gas from the state's offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, which produce a disproportionate share of the nation's supply of these resources. The storms further damaged petroleum refineries, natural gas processing plants, and onshore pipelines in the area. Short-term gasoline shortages and price increases were felt throughout the country, and natural gas prices have remained elevated. Additionally, damage and delays at Louisiana's ports at least temporarily affected import and export activity (see "Katrina's Effects Ripple Through Region's Ports").
|Photo courtesy of the Port of New Orleans
Locally, the hurricanes extensively damaged infrastructure, residential housing, and business establishments. The impact on housing in and around New Orleans was devastating. According to the Red Cross, some 283,000 dwellings were destroyed by direct damage from Katrina and subsequent flooding. In addition, almost 74,000 dwellings suffered major structural damage. Because of the hurricane, the state experienced a 12 percent drop in employment in September, and more than 300,000 individuals have received state and federal unemployment assistance benefits. The overwhelming majority of the job losses were concentrated in the New Orleans area, taking employment back to levels not seen since the early 1970s and eroding three decades of job growth.
The employment declines are widespread across all industries, and in October most were still significantly lagging behind prestorm and year-ago levels. A few industries, though, have seen employment levels increase in the wake of the storm (see chart 1). The mining industry, for instance, has been restoring damaged platforms, rigs, and pipelines, thus adding jobs. Employment service payrolls are up over the past year, and demand for temporary employees during the cleanup and recovery period is likely to increase.
The long-term impact of the hurricanes is quite uncertain. The tourism and convention industry is moving ahead with repair and rebuilding. The sharp declines in employment in most industries suggests, however, that the bigger issue for New Orleans' and Louisiana's recovery is whether businesses and workers will return after the initial cleanup phase.
Rebuilding will boost real estate and construction
The population of Baton Rouge, the state's capital, swelled by an estimated 250,000 in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, making it the largest city in Louisiana. This rapid population influx dramatically increased housing demand in the area. Real estate agents reported that September sales were up 150 percent and house prices rose an average of 32 percent. Residential construction will likely be extremely strong in 2006 as new construction and repairs get under way. But uncertainty surrounding potential changes in the building codes, the large backlog for building permits, and a shortage of workers are impeding the rebuilding process, as evidenced by the lagging levels of employment in the construction industry.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were almost 19,000 business establishments in the most severely affected areas of Louisiana. Many of these firms have relocated to surrounding areas, including cities as far away as Houston and Mobile. There is concern that some firms will be reluctant to return to New Orleans, especially given the shortage of housing for employees. However, most analysts anticipate that commercial construction activity will be very strong in the coming year even though the industry will also face delays similar to those in the residential markets.
Tourism hopes to regain workers
The leisure and hospitality industry in New Orleans, which normally draws more than 10 million visitors who spend more than $5 billion a year, took a crippling blow from Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, the famed French Quarter escaped the worst of Hurricane Katrina's damage, and many of the tourist attractions that were damaged have either reopened or have announced reopening dates. The severely damaged New Orleans' Morial Convention Center, one of the nation's largest meeting facilities, has partially reopened and has its first major convention scheduled for late May. Restaurants and accommodations are reopening almost daily, and plans are already in place for a scaled-down New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebration in late February. Harrah's Casino—the largest casino in New Orleans, which employed approximately 2,500 workers before the storm—has announced ambitious plans to reopen in time for Mardi Gras. The Audubon Zoo has already reopened, and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas is expected to reopen in June.
Although many analysts expect a relatively quick resurgence for the tourism industry in New Orleans, a major concern is that the housing shortage may make it difficult to attract a large enough workforce to sustain the recovery. Prior to Katrina, New Orleans employed over 85,000 workers in the leisure and hospitality industry, and many of these workers have found employment elsewhere. The revival of the industry will depend, at least in the near term, on the availability of trained workers.
Energy infrastructure remains afloat
During the first half of 2005, Louisiana's oil and gas industry continued to make repairs from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 while enjoying strengthening demand and rising prices. Hurricanes Dennis and Emily in July 2005 brought only minimal production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico, but Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in a loss, as of mid-December, of 18.6 percent of the Gulf's annual oil production and 14.4 percent of its natural gas production. These numbers represent 5.1 percent of the nation's annual crude oil production and 2.7 percent of its annual natural gas production. And production levels in both industries are still below pre-Katrina levels. While the increased level of oil imports and the release of strategic reserves helped hold down the price of crude oil, those avenues are not available for the natural gas industry. Thus, the price of natural gas remains well above pre-Katrina levels (see chart 2).
In addition, hurricanes Katrina and Rita had a significant impact on Gulf Coast refineries and gasoline pipelines. Over 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity was shut down as refineries lost electrical power and suffered water and wind damage in the wake of the storms. Power outages also temporarily crippled the Colonial and Plantation pipelines, which deliver gasoline to the eastern portion of the United States. Roughly 5 percent of total U.S. refinery capacity remained off-line at the end of November.
Hurricane Rita delivered a hard blow to western Louisiana, causing additional damage onshore, particularly to natural gas processing plants. The Henry Hub, the intersection of 13 natural gas pipelines that move approximately 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas to market each day, was shut down for two weeks because of flooding, contributing to uncertainty surrounding the natural gas supply.
|Pipelines in Louisiana suffered significant damage from both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Despite these setbacks, the outlook remains positive for the oil and gas industry in the Gulf Coast area. Strong oil and gas prices have encouraged the industry to repair or replace assets in the Gulf of Mexico, and new deepwater production facilities continue to be announced. The national focus on disruptions to oil and gas supplies have revived interest in new exploration, expanding petroleum refining capacity, and providing new ports for liquid natural gas imports.
Manufacturing faces challenges in 2006
Although Louisiana's manufacturing sector is relatively small, employing only about 8 percent of the state's workers, it represents a substantial share of the nation's chemical and shipbuilding industries.
Louisiana's chemical companies, which employed almost 23,000 workers in August, account for more than 20 percent of all North American production of ethylene and its derivative products. Most of these plants, which produce ingredients for everything from pharmaceuticals to toilet tissue, sustained minimal direct storm damage. Production was temporarily disrupted after the storms because of shortages of inputs and damage to the transportation infrastructure. The new year will provide additional challenges if higher input prices push some producers to relocate to cheaper facilities overseas.
Shipbuilding is another large industry in the state, employing approximately 16,000 workers. New Orleans–area shipyards, which were already facing declining demand, suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Katrina that has caused production delays. However, demand for boats to service the offshore oil and gas production facilities should be strong, hopefully providing a boost for the industry in 2006.
Southeast | Louisiana | Mississippi | Alabama | Florida | Georgia | Tennessee


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Slacker Friday
Research ››› ››› ERIC ALTERMAN
I've got a new Think Again column called "Still the Same," here.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, on the causes and consequences of climate change. For the first time the group asserted with near certainty -- more than 90 percent confidence -- that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases were the main drivers of warming since 1950, here.
AEI: We put our mouths where our sponsors' money is ("Real Scientists Need Not Apply").
Invading Iran, from the same smart fellows who brought you Iraq, here.
The shrill one pays tribute to Molly, here ($):
The highlights: Nov. 19, 2002: "The greatest risk for us in invading Iraq is probably not war itself, so much as: What happens after we win? ... There is a batty degree of triumphalism loose in this country right now."
Jan. 16, 2003: "I assume we can defeat Hussein without great cost to our side (God forgive me if that is hubris). The problem is what happens after we win. The country is 20 percent Kurd, 20 percent Sunni and 60 percent Shiite. Can you say, 'Horrible three-way civil war?' "
July 14, 2003: "I opposed the war in Iraq because I thought it would lead to the peace from hell, but I'd rather not see my prediction come true and I don't think we have much time left to avert it. That the occupation is not going well is apparent to everyone but Donald Rumsfeld. ... We don't need people with credentials as right-wing ideologues and corporate privatizers -- we need people who know how to fix water and power plants."
Oct. 7, 2003: "Good thing we won the war, because the peace sure looks like a quagmire. ...
"I've got an even-money bet out that says more Americans will be killed in the peace than in the war, and more Iraqis will be killed by Americans in the peace than in the war. Not the first time I've had a bet out that I hoped I'd lose."
So Molly Ivins -- who didn't mingle with the great and famous, didn't have sources high in the administration, and never claimed special expertise on national security or the Middle East -- got almost everything right. Meanwhile, how did those who did have all those credentials do?
With very few exceptions, they got everything wrong. They bought the obviously cooked case for war -- or found their own reasons to endorse the invasion. They didn't see the folly of the venture, which was almost as obvious in prospect as it is with the benefit of hindsight. And they took years to realize that everything we were being told about progress in Iraq was a lie.
Was Molly smarter than all the experts? No, she was just braver.
CNN Headline News invites Glenn Beck to come on the air and simply lie, here.
Purporting to present views of "constitutional scholars," NPR quoted only Bush admin. supporter, without citing his conservative bona fides.
ABC aired Limbaugh as "observer" on race issues in Biden controversy.
Alter-reviews: No reviews today, but I'm going to an American Songbook Tribute to my friends Alan and Marilyn Bergman tonight, and taking the kid back to Lincoln Center, this time to Merkin Hall for their Broadway Playhouse Series tribute to Charles Strouse. Sunday night, I got Jonathan Richman at the Knitting Factory. For those of you who like your bands replete with historical irony, I noticed a band called "Alger Hiss" playing at the Knit on 2/15. Ask them about the secret Far Asian protocol at Yalta.
Name: Charles Pierce
Hometown: Newton, MA
"Play it straight, or play it from left field/You got to play it just the way you feel."
Aw, dammit all to hell.
A year or so ago, we lost a gentle soul named John Ferguson, the first great editor I ever had, who'd cut his professional teeth at The Texas Observer under Kaye Northcott and Molly Ivins. Every great story John had, and he had a rack of them, began with the phrase, "One day, Northcott and Ivins..." and went from there. So, in 1980, when I met Ms. I. for the first time, I told her that I considered her, if not a professional mother, at the very least, a professional aunt. She got a very big kick out of that. (It was then, I believe, that I passed along the ultimate Boston compliment and told her I thought her work was "wicked smart." Hey, if she can drop the Texas lingo on me ...) When John passed, and she couldn't make the memorial service, she asked us to send along the eulogies we'd read. That was the last time I heard from her. Now she's gone, and so is Father Robert Drinan, S.J., a brave and decent man who entered The Society (as the Jesuits call it) shortly after my uncle Michael did, and who always returned my calls as a congressman, and as an ex-congressman, because of that. (My European history professor once said that there were only three things you needed to know about European history: the nobility is always corrupt, the middle-class is never ready to take control, and the Jesuits are always being expelled.) Two brilliant troublemakers, gone at a time in which there is so much brilliant trouble to be made.
I think the reason neither of them really fit the role of modern media celebrity -- I mean, Jesus, Gloria Borger is preferable on TV to Molly Ivins? Maureen Dowd is a better writer? Yeah, and I'm the Tsar of all the Russias -- is that they believed too strongly and too genuinely in too many things for an era in which we've spent two goddamn weeks talking about a caesura in a remark Hillary Clinton made in Iowa a flat year before anyone votes there. Molly made a point often of how much she liked good politicians and believed in the political system. And Father Drinan -- I know. I know. But the honorific is a tic of my Papist heritage that I can't lose -- was deadly serious about deadly serious topics -- war and peace, economic justice. That's not the way we do political commentary -- or politics, alas -- very much any more. What do we get? Michael Kinsley stuffing his IQ into a jar and defending Scooter Libby on the grounds of Business As Usual. Two weeks of idiocy about a caesura in a remark made by Hillary Clinton in Iowa a flat year before anyone votes there. (And let's not get into the fact that the very thought of an HRC candidacy seems to have driven Chris Matthews into some serious brain-fever). Snarky "Messiah Watches" about Barack Obama. The worst thing you can do at the Kool Kids table is be either sincere or serious. Sorry, you pack of smug, insufferable bastards -- a war's gone bad and the country's a mess, and you never were funny, anyway, not like Molly was. So go and take your little slambooks and wreck some other profession for a while. The grown-ups have work to do.
Name: Matt Shirley
Hometown: Gurnee, IL
Dr. Alterman,
I have no idea who Mary Ann Akers is. However, did you notice that she is perpetuating the smear job on Sen. Obama? She described Fox's mistake on this story thusly: "It was 'Fox and Friends' host Steve Doocy who aired the Insight magazine piece, which reported that operatives connected to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) found out that Obama, as a child, was educated at a Muslim madrassah in Indonesia."
Nowhere in her reportage is there any mention of the fact that Sen. Obama was NOT educated at a Muslim madrassah, or that Sen Clinton's "operatives" did NOT have anything to do with the false report. If there was an Olympic mendacity competition, Ms. Akers would blow the lid off of the degree of difficulty with this dive! She's managed to write a column about a discredited, false story in a way that implicitly perpetuates the falsehoods, AND made it sound like Sen. Obama is the bad guy for refusing to talk to the Network that first put it out there.
I guess this is how the "swift boat" script is going to run in 2008. [sigh]
Name: LTC Bob Bateman
Hometown: Currently at Sea, aboard USCG Cutter Dallas
Readers can rest assured that if and when I ever begin to look for reasons why any war waged during my career may be lost, I will start with looking inside my own shirt, and then work outwards. Given my personal beliefs about the benefits and value of the media, I don't think I will *ever* get there. Journalism protects our rights, just as my profession protects our liberty. They are, at least, equally important, and I don't think journalism has seriously let us down in about 104 years. You can Google "Bateman" and WNYC or NPR On the Media to get a full appreciation of the depth of my sentiments there. Or you can take my word for it.
Regards from the Deep Blue,
LTC Bob
Name: John
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Dr. A, I'm a bit confused. As mentioned in your article, Huckabee says "I think it's one thing to have a debate and a discussion about this strategy, but to openly oppose, in essence, the strategy, I think that can be a very risky thing for our troops."
So we can debate the surge, as long as everybody supports it in the end. Doesn't sound like a very spirited debate.
Name: Jonathan
Hometown: San Diego
On Sam Seder today, you mentioned you thought some people on Air America are "way out there."
I'm curious about who you meant. I'm a big listener to AAR, and your opinions mean a lot to me -- Janeane's not there anymore, so who were you referring to?
Eric replies: Well I was thinking primarily of Janeane, with whom I co-hosted for Sam a couple of times, and to be honest, I don't listen much, but when I appeared at a hearing on media bias with Randi Rhodes I did find her to be rather "out there."
Name: Catherine
Hometown: New York, NY
Hi Eric,
Thanks for your Think Again column about the protest last weekend. I marched in it as part of the CodePink contingent, and that we continue to be marginalized both amazes and saddens me. Two D.C. taxi drivers and one delivery man told me later that weekend that they wished they could have been there, but they had to work. From how knowledgeably they spoke about the war, I believed them. Dozens of others cheered us and gave us the thumbs up signs on the streets and subways as we made our way to the protest. How many more Americans would come to these kinds of marches if they were financially and geographically able to? One of the great things about keeping the minimum wage low, and the middle class financially unstable is how few of them can fully participate in our democracy.
We do now represent the mainstream of public opinion, and even though we were ahead of it, none of us that I know of are busy saying "I told you so." (Except to the politicians and pundits.) We're happy for the company. We'd like to have that reflected in both the media and in these statements and sound-bites made by politicians. The very same ones who were wrong all along and who somehow manage to sleep at night as they throw life after life into early and eternal graves, in a desperately pathetic and morally reprehensible attempt to come out of this with both their current and historical reputations untarnished. I don't even wish to know how they sleep nights. The very concept remains blessedly unfathomable to me.
Name: Janis Canon
Hometown: Traverse City, MI
Although I only knew her through her written words, I am also mourning the loss of Molly. Since I've always listed her as one I would choose to have as company on a desert island, it was nice to hear you confirm my belief that she would give me enough laughs and challenges to fill the otherwise empty hours.
I think Molly might like my choice of song lines:
Still, at the end of every hard-earned day, people find some reason to believe.
Eric replies: "Reason to Believe" was my original title for It Ain't No Sin, but my editor thought it reminded everyone of the Tim Hardin/Rod Stewart song. It's great, though.
Name: Jay Sherman-Godfrey
Hometown: Astoria, NY
So many...
How 'bout:
"To be a zombie all the time
requires such dedication."
-- Eno
Name: Paul Kingman
Hometown: New Bern, NC
"I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave."
Name: Catherine
Hometown: Chesterfield, VA
Maybe it's a little long for the contest, but I can't think of anything that comes close to this:
There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted
Name: Jim Coll
Hometown: Carnation, WA
Well, as once posted here on Altercation, I nominate the entirety of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," particularly the last two stanzas, which somehow I never learned in grade school.
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text: Translation of Allegory of the cave in English Translation Traductor Traduction Tradutor Traduttore Übersetzung Перевод Μετάφραση Çeviri لترجمة 翻訳 번역 Översättning การแปล Oversættelse Traducere Переводити Oversettelse Tłumaczenie अनुवाद Fordítás Vertalen תרגום ترجمه Translation Dictionary Thesaurus Tools Allegory of the cave Translation Online Translation > English Translation > Allegory of the cave Translation Babylon 10 The most popular translation software Download it's free Local Translation: Traductor Traduction Tradutor Traduttore Übersetzung Перевод Μετάφραση Çeviri لترجمة 翻訳 EnglishFrenchItalianGermanPortugueseSpanish--------------ArabicCatalanCastilianCzechChinese (s)Chinese (t)DanishGreekHebrewHindiHungarianPersianJapaneseKoreanDutchNorwegianPolishRomanianRussianSwedishTurkishThaiUkrainianUrdu To Choose A LanguageEnglishFrenchItalianGermanPortugueseSpanish--------------ArabicCatalanCastilianCzechChinese (s)Chinese (t)DanishGreekHebrewHindiHungarianPersianJapaneseKoreanDutchNorwegianPolishRomanianRussianSwedishTurkishThaiUkrainianUrdu Full Text Translation Dictionary definition of Allegory of the cave Synonym of Allegory of the cave in thesaurus More Languages:[top] Allegory of the cave Translation On Other Language: English Get Babylon's Translation Software Free Download Now! Allegory of the cave in English The Allegory of the Cave (also called the analogy of the cave, myth of the cave, metaphor of the cave, parable of the cave, and Plato's Cave) is presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work the Republic (514a–520a) to compare "the effect of education () and the lack of it on our nature". It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates, narrated by the latter. The allegory is presented after the analogy of the sun (508b–509c) and the analogy of the divided line (509d–513e). All three are characterized in relation to dialectic at the end of Books VII and VIII (531d–534e). See more at Wikipedia.org... Copyright: © This article uses material from Wikipedia® and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License Dictionary source: Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia More: English to English translation of Allegory of the cave Babylon Products Popular Translation Premium dictionaries About Babylon Online Dictionary Online Translation Online Thesaurus Webmaster tools Translation Software Human Translation Learn a Language English for Kids Translation Apps spanish translation english to spanish translation spanish to english translation french to english translation english to german translation Oxford Dictionary Merriam Webster Dictionary Encyclopaedia Britannica Privacy Policy Terms of Use Sitemap Copyright © 2014-2017 Babylon Software Ltd. All Rights Reserved to Babylon Translation Software


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One of the easiest repairs you can make to your own vehicle, is to replace a part known as the mass airflow sensor, typically located near the air filter box under the hood. The first indication you have a problem with the sensor is usually because the engine throws a code that lights up your Service Engine Soon light. Other indications are hesitation on acceleration and generally idle rough.
Last December, my car started hesitating every time I started off, and the harder I pressed down on the gas, then more it would sputter. However, once I got up to speed, it would even out.
Soon after those symptoms started though, my Service Engine Soon light came on and the hesitations and sputters seemed to get worse. Rather than taking it into a shop for a diagnostic test, I took it to AutoZone and they read the code free of charge. Once you have the exact code, you can diagnose what the problem is and possibly handle the issue yourself.
I should point out that I am referring specifically to a 2000 Nissan Maxima, but this information applies to a number of vehicles, particularly the type of codes that are read from your SES light. The OBDII codes are universal for all American, European and Asian cars.
I quick search online and I found a list of the codes and what each one refers to and quickly diagnosed the problem. This code indicates a problem with the fuel management system on the right cylinder bank. The right bank is also called the rear bank which contains cylinders 1,3,5.
It turns out it was Code P0171 – Fuel Injection System Too Lean (Bank 1).
The code explanation explained that the Front Heated Oxygen Sensor for the right bank sent signals to the Engine Control Module indicating an