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Paul Haggis Confirms Scientology Was 'Auditioning' Girlfriends For Tom Cruise
"Before you send the first one over, does this angle make me look like I love vagina? Because I do, I love it. Even the tentacles."
If you had nothing better to do this weekend, you probably caught the Vanity Fair piece touting their upcoming expose into the Church of Scientology's failed attempts to "audition" new girlfriends for Tom Cruise after Nicole Kidman and Penelope Cruz turned out to be independent women with free will and fuck that. Well, one of those women have come forward to talk about the "audition" process which wasn't so much an audition as white-collar slavery with horrible consequences if you don't obey your master:
Nazanin Boniadi, an Iranian-born, London-raised actress and Scientologist, was selected and dated Cruise from November 2004 until January 2005. Initially she was told only that she had been selected for a very important mission. In a month-long preparation in October 2004, she was audited every day, a process in which she told a high-ranking Scientology official her innermost secrets and every detail of her sex life. Boniadi allegedly was told to lose her braces, her red highlights, and her boyfriend. According to a knowledgeable source, she was shown confidential auditing files of her boyfriend to expedite a breakup. (Scientology denies any misuse of confidential material.) The source says Boniadi signed a confidentiality agreement and was told that if she "messed up" in any way she would be declared a Suppressive Person (a pariah and enemy of Scientology).
Things eventually do go south after Nazanin politely asks Scientology head David Miscaviage to repeat himself because she missed something he said. (No, really, and seriously do yourself a favor and scope out the Vanity Fair piece.) This results in her being immediately cut off from Tom Cruise, which to Scientologists is like being told you can't hang out with Jesus anymore, and shipped off to their ominous-sounding "Celebrity Centre" presumably because they ran out of engine rooms to lock her in:
When a friend at a Scientology center in Florida, where Boniadi was subsequently sent, asked why she was crying all the time, Boniadi broke down and told her about her relationship with Cruise, which she had been forbidden to do. According to the knowledgeable source, the friend reported her. Boniadi's punishment was to scrub toilets with a toothbrush, clean bathroom tiles with acid, and dig ditches in the middle of the night. After that she was sent out to sell Scentology founder L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics on street corners. Boniadi and her mother are no longer involved in Scientology.
Naturally, the Church of Scientology immediately denied the whole story, so yesterday former-scientologist Paul Haggis wrote an open letter to Showbiz411 confirming Nazanin's account:
I've met quite a number of people who have been treated shamefully but are afraid to speak out. This story will draw attention because of our fascination with celebrity. Most of the others are just ordinary people whose stories, if told, would not appear in a magazine. They live in fear of retribution, legal, financial or personal, even some famous ones. They fear an incredibly wealthy organization that boasts that it seeks truth, empowers people, brings families together, encourages independent thought and free speech, and champions human rights. I would like to say that i don't know how its members, many of them good and intelligent people, can remain so purposely blind when they are faced with evidence like this every day, but then I am no one to talk. I was happily blind for many years, so I know the shame that Naz feels.
Now, how all of this led to Katie Holmes, a non-Scientologist at the time, eventually being married to Tom Cruise has yet to be revealed, but I think we all know how that went down
marriage contract mind powers. From there, a five-year-long process of Katie's father Martin working diligently in a lab with Chris Klein until they finally discovered a way to block Tom's powerful mind beams.
MARTIN: And so from there, our device will absorb Tom's projections, convert them into pornographic images of naked women and then fire them back into his psychic center creating, at minimum, a 10-second window which will give us time to instruct Katie to run, so you're going to have to be ready to move, understood?
CHRIS: But what if he starts flying, Mr. H?
MARTIN: You let me handle that. *cocks shotgun*
Photos: Fame/Flynet, Getty, WENN


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If you're planning a holiday to Europe – or anywhere else for that matter – don't leave exchanging your travel money to the last minute. Purchasing Euros at foreign exchange counters in airports or high street banks can set you back up to 14% more than the general market rate.
Exchanging money at airport counters will see you get far fewer Euros for money than anywhere else. These agents pride themselves on offering a "premium" service, as they are open from first to last flight, 365 days a year. Essentially, you'll pay a lot more for a little extra convenience.
While your local bank is a better option than airport currency counters, even these can charge up to 5% more than the market rate when changing Pounds to Euros.
Beware of signs saying "zero commission" when you're exchanging your currency at a high street bank. While it's likely that you'll save on fees, it isn't always indicative of a good deal. Banks often make up for the loss of commission by offering you a poorer exchange rate.
You may wonder "now what"? Preloaded currency cards, will likely get you a better exchange rate than bank branches, but there could be potential extra costs you aren't aware of. Make a point of looking up charges for inactivity or putting money back into your UK bank account at the end of a holiday.
If you want to get the most Euros for your money, it's best to use an independent foreign exchange provider. They monitor the markets and buy and sell currency in bulk, saving them money on purchases and allowing them to give their clients better rates. More often than not, they also have online portals which allow you to complete transfers whenever it's convenient for you.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hypokalemic periodic paralysis (hypoPP) is a disorder that causes occasional episodes of muscle weakness and sometimes a lower than normal level of potassium in the blood. The medical name for low potassium level is hypokalemia.
HypoPP is one of a group of genetic disorders that includes
Periodic paralysis - hypokalemic; Familial hypokalemic periodic paralysis; HOKPP; HypoKPP; HypoPP
HypoPP is congenital. This means it is present at birth. In most cases, it is passed down through families (inherited) as an autosomal dominant disorder. In other words only one parent needs to pass the gene related to this condition on to their child in order for the child to be affected.
In some cases, the condition may be the result of a genetic problem that is not inherited.
Unlike other forms of periodic paralysis, people with hypoPP have normal thyroid function. But they have a very low blood level of potassium during episodes of weakness. This results from potassium moving from the blood into muscle cells in an abnormal way.
Risk factors include having other family members with periodic paralysis. The risk is slightly higher in Asian men who also have thyroid disorders.
Symptoms include attacks of muscle weakness or loss of muscle movement (paralysis) that come and go. There is normal muscle strength between attacks.
Attacks usually begin in the teen years, but they can occur before age 10. How often the attacks occur varies. Some people have attacks every day. Others have them once a year. During attacks the person remains alert.
The weakness or paralysis:
Other symptoms may include:
The health care provider may suspect hypoPP based on a family history of the disorder. Other clues to the disorder are muscle weakness symptoms that come and go with normal or low results of a potassium test.
Between attacks, a physical examination shows nothing abnormal. Before an attack, there may be leg stiffness or heaviness in the legs.
During an attack of muscle weakness, blood potassium level is low. This confirms the diagnosis. There is no decrease in total body potassium. Blood potassium level is normal between attacks.
During an attack, muscle reflexes are decreased or absent. And muscles go limp rather than staying stiff. Muscle groups near the body, such as the shoulders and hips, are involved more often than the arms and legs.
Tests that may be done include:
Other tests may be ordered to rule out other causes.
The goals of treatment are relief of symptoms and prevention of further attacks.
Muscle weakness that involves the breathing or swallowing muscles is an emergency situation. Dangerous irregular heartbeats (heart arrhythmias) may also occur during attacks. Any of these must be treated right away.
Potassium given during an attack may stop the attack. Potassium can be taken by mouth. But if weakness is severe, potassium may need to be given through a vein (IV).
Taking potassium supplements will not prevent attacks.
Avoiding alcohol and eating a low-carbohydrate diet may help.
A medicine called acetazolamide may be prescribed to prevent attacks. Your provider may tell you to also take potassium supplements because acetazolamide may cause your body to lose potassium.
If acetazolamide does not work for you, other medicines may be prescribed.
HypoPP responds well to treatment. Treatment may prevent, and even reverse, progressive muscle weakness. Although muscle strength starts out normal between attacks, repeated attacks may eventually cause worsening and permanent muscle weakness between attacks.
Health problems that may be due to this condition include:
Call your provider if you or your child have muscle weakness that comes and goes, especially if you have family members who have periodic paralysis.
Go to the emergency room or call the local emergency number (such as 911) if you faint or have trouble breathing, speaking, or swallowing.
HypoPP cannot be prevented. Because it can be inherited, genetic counseling may be advised for couples at risk of the disorder.
Treatment prevents attacks of weakness. Before an attack, there may be leg stiffness or heaviness in the legs. Doing mild exercise when these symptoms start may help prevent a full-blown attack.
Jurkat-Rott K, Rudel R, Lehmann-Horn F. Muscle channelopathies: myotor and periodic paralyses. In: Darras BT, Jones R, Ryan MM, De Vivo DC, eds. Neuromuscular Disorders of Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2015:chap 38.
Kerchner GA, Ptacek LJ. Channelopathies. In: Daroff RB, Jankovic J, Mazziotta JC, Pomeroy SK, eds. Bradley's Neurology in Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 99.
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Jammu and Kashmir (J & K SET 2013) online application form fill up. Jammu & Kashmir State Eligibility Test 2013 information, last date to apply, fees. exam centres, important dates of J & K SET 2013 details are below :
Jammu and Kashmir board is inviting application form for the SET 2013 (State Eligibility Test for J&K). The written exam will be held on 18th August 2013 (Sunday).
Important Dates of J&K SET 2013 :
- Online Application & generation of J& K Bank Pay-in-slip for Fee deposition: 21st May 2013
- Last date for Applying Online: 8th June 2013
- Last date for receiving the printout of Online Application Form :15th June 2013
(one copy) at the respective SET Centres opted by the candidate
(with fee receipt & category certificate(s)
- Date of Test: 18th Aug 2013
The Jammu & Kashmir SET Agency announces holding of the State Eligibility Test (SET) on 18th August 2013 (SUNDAY) for determining the eligibility of J & K State subjects for the Eligibility for Lectureship in universities and colleges of Jammu & Kashmir
The result of the J&K SET to be held on 18th August, 2013 will be made available on the Kashmir University website: www.kashmiruniversity.ac.in as and when it is declared.
Eligibility for Lectureship
Coordinating Universities (SET Centres)
i) University of Kashmir
ii) University of Jammu
Candidates who have secured at least 55% marks (without rounding off) in Master's Degree OR equivalent examination from universities/institutions recognized by UGC in Sciences, Humanities (including languages) and Social Science etc. are eligible for this Test. The Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/ Persons with disability (PWD) category candidates who have secured at least 50% marks (without rounding off) in Master's degree or equivalent examination is eligible for this Test.
Candidates who have appeared OR will be appearing at the qualifying Master's degree (final year) examination and whose result is still awaited OR candidates whose qualifying examinations have been delayed may also apply for this Test.
However, such candidates will be admitted provisionally and shall be considered eligible for award of
Lectureship eligibility only after they have passed their Master's degree examination or equivalent with at least 55% marks (50% marks in case of SC/ST/PWD (Persons with disability) category candidates). Such candidates must complete their P.G. degree examination within two years from the date of SET result with required percentage of marks, failing which they shall be treated as disqualified.
The Ph.D. degree holders whose Master's level examination had been completed by 19th September, 1991 (irrespective of date of declaration of result) shall be eligible for a relaxation of 5% in aggregate marks (i.e., from 55% to 50%) for appearing in SET.
Candidates are advised to appear in the subject of their post-graduation only. The candidates, whose post-graduation subject is not covered in the list of subjects in item No. 8, may appear in UGC-NET.
Candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC (Non-creamy layer)/PWD category are required to submit attested copy of the category Certificate along with online printout of their Application Forms (obtained while applying on-l i n e ).Other candidates are not required to submit any certificates/documents in support of their eligibility along with printout of their Application Form. Therefore, the candidates, in their own interest, must satisfy themselves about their eligibility for the Test. In the event of any ineligibility being detected by the SET Agency at any stage, their candidature will be cancelled and they shall be liable for legal action.
Candidates with post-graduate diploma/certificate course(s) or foreign degree/diploma should in their own interest, ascertain the equivalence of their course(s) with Master's degree of recognized Indian universities from Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi (www.aiuweb.org)
Age Limit : There is no upper age limit for applying for lectureship eligibility.
Exam Fees and Mode of Payment :
For General candidates: Rs. 800/-
For OBC (Non-creamy layer) candidates: Rs. 500/-
For SC/ST/PWD candidates: Rs. 400/-
Official Website of J&K SET 2013 : http://kashmiruniversity.ac.in
J&K SET 2013 Official Notification
J&K SET Previous Year Papers Download
J&K SET Cut Off Marks


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Posted on August 10, 2016 by: acid stag
featuring: Oscar & the Wolf, Allday, KINDER, Pierce Fulton and Otis English
We claim no credit for any images, music and/or videos posted on this site unless otherwise noted. All audio and visual content is copyright to its respectful owners. We are also in no way responsible for, or have control of the content of any external web site links. This website was created as a promotional tool. Please support the artists and purchase their work.


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Anybody for Murder? by Brian Clemens and Dennis Spooner, and produced by John Fisher, is set on a remote farmhouse on an equally remote Greek island, and murder is afoot.
The comedy is presented by the Western Players and the murder takes place from Wednesday, June 20, to Saturday, June 23, at 7.30pm in The Arts Centre, Devizes Road, Old Town. Ticket are £7, £6 concessions on 07575 711522.


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Aug 12 & 13, 2017
Aug 19 & 20, 2017
Aug 26 & 27, 2017
Sep 09 & 10, 2017
Sep 09 & 10, 2017
Sep 23 & 24, 2017
Sep 30 & 01, 2017
Vanderkaay\'s impressive resume as a three-time Olympian, four-time Olympic medalist and world record holder makes him one of FFT\'s most elite clinicians. Peter will teach you how to the technique to get the most power out of every start, turn, breakout, finish and stroke.Read More
Alyssa is one of the best American freestylers. She is a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and 2011 World Champion on the 800 freestyle relay. Alyssa has a great way of connecting with participants of all ages at clinics and explaining the importance of drills and certain swimming nuances such as \"feel for the water\".Read More
This special Performance clinic is for competitive swimmers ages 12 and older and younger swimmers swimming at a championship level. Participants will learn and practice technique that will enable them to take their practices and racing to the next level.
Performance Clinic Custom Curriculum - Galt, CA
Take a photo while wearing clinicians' medals, get autographs, and pick up a full color Fitter & Faster Tour 2014-2015 Yearbook and a special welcome bag that contains gifts from our sponsors!
Inquisitive, Educated Swimmers are Faster Swimmers. Sign up before tickets sell out.
Each FFT clinic is designed to focus on the unique strengths and experiences of the clinicians at that specific clinic. That's why participants have been to three, four or five and more FFT clinics throughout the United States.


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On the radio this morning a mother spoke with evident sincerity about her prematurely-delivered 22 week baby. Left to die by the hospital, he survived, not 10 minutes as predicted, but 36 hours - long enough for the NHS to put its protective arm around him. The boy is now a healthy 10.
Naturally, mum was in favour of MPs voting tonight to lower the legal limit to abortion, currently 24 weeks. Fair enough as an individual opinion. But it doesn't change things. As the Guardian has repeatedly reported in recent weeks survival rates are still 18% at 23 weeks, much lower at 22 weeks - despite advances in medical science.
Of the four most contentious issues in the human fertilisation and embryology bill this is the one which, ostensibly, mixes science and divergent views of morality, not to mention the costs to the NHS - potentially long-term costs - of saving borderline babies.
It's mainly a Catholic thing, though other faiths, notably Islam, nowadays even dear old wishy-washy CoE, also raise objections.
I'm glad they do, even though they're wrong. I've never met anyone who regards abortion as a life-affirming experience, usually more of a sad necessity.
In last night's votes MPs easily saw off the opponents of so-called hybrid embryos, as we knew they would. Simon Hoggart's Guardian sketch rightly mocks Tory MP, the Catholic Edward Leigh, for trying, not to blind MPs with science - his charge against micro-biologist, leftie Ian Gibson - but to "blind everyone with his complete lack of science".
Today's Daily Mail treated itself to a rare degree of apocalyptic prediction. "Millennia of moral, religious and scientific belief were defied last night by MPs who voted to allow the creation of human/animal embryos." But Hoggart's counterpart, Quentin Letts, treated himself to a note of dissent. Good.
"Saviour siblings" also survived the night's votes, opposition to which struck me as flimsy to the point of spurious. My hunch tonight is that the status quo will be upheld on abortion by a cross-party majority, though it may be tight.
The one to watch is the clause which removes the "need for a father" in IVF cases, this to be replaced by "the need for supportive parenting" - a gesture towards lesbian couples. Well, that's a social judgment, not a scientific one, and makes a lot of people uneasy - including me.
As the saying goes, some of my best friends are lesbians and I know they can provide as much love to children as anyone else.
But to formalise in law a proposition which suggests that fathers are not necessary to the raising of children - a fashionable feminist view of my youth which has persisted despite the wreckage we see all around us - strikes me as pushing our collective luck.
We have pushed it quite far since the sixties overthrew traditional morality in all sorts of spheres - and we are paying a price in unbridled social chaos, largely confined to a small minority, but the cost to the rest of us is considerable and pervasive.
Socially acceptable illegitimacy and too-easy divorce have a lot of answer for, and I don't care if I am agreeing with Iain Duncan Smith.
Talking of which, I am reading Cherie Blair's book, Speaking for Myself. When Dad - sitcom star, Tony Booth - announced in the local paper that he had a new family in London, Cherie and her Liverpool family, respectable working class folk in Waterloo, were shamed and mortified. That was in the sixties too.
Cherie, incidentally, sheds a characteristically frank light on Catholic morality, the practice not the theory which allows bishops to defend the unborn more than they protect the born from paedophile priests.
By page 64 we have established that Cherie is not a girl to play too hard to get with a string of nice boyfriends.
"It might seem odd that a girl with my Catholic upbringing was being so flighty. But it's like contraception: most Catholics use it as much as anyone else; otherwise we'd all have families in double figures."
Yes. Right. I see. But what happens if the Pope reads this book?


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Description: This basic piezo sensor from Measurement Specialties is often used for flex, touch, vibration and shock measurements. A small AC and large voltage (up to +/-90V) is created when the film moves back and forth. A simple resistor should get the voltage down to ADC levels. Can also be used for impact sensing or a flexible switch.
Comes with solderable crimp pins and a mass attached to the tip. This mass increases the sensitivity to motion.
how sensitive is this? I'm looking at sensing different vibration profiles from a mobile phone?
anyone every use these to power a micro-power device?
Any chance of having SignalQuest vibration and tilt sensors here in the future? No idea about the price, but they look very interesting. Alas, no luck yet finding a seller.
I love these little guys and need to order some more for an upcoming project. Any idea when we can expect the next shipment to come in? It's crazy, but every time I check in these things are sold out.
Has anyone ever tried to replace the mass? Could you teach me how? I bought this because I need to attach the mass to a magnet… turns out its copper XD. I don't want to use tapes. I hope you can help me :)
Maybe glue? It's not rocket science, it just needs to stick.
I'm trying to read the motion of something that moves up and down ~1mm at approximately 5 Hz. Can this read that or is there a better sensor on this site? (I tried the FlexSensor but the motion is too small.) Thanks!
How does the mass increase the sensitivity of this?
Inertia. The device moves and the mass doesn't, until it catches up.
how the design circuit for generated voltage from this piezo?…please help me…email me at email@example.com
how much power can be produce by this piezo? can i directly use this circuit http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9946? i like to use this in my energy harvester.
I would like to attached this to large piece of machinery as vibration sensor. Has anyone built anything with this sensor? What was the maximum frequency?
Download the datasheet, above. All that info is in there.
I'm using this to power a flashlight abaxas1! All though I'm prototyping I got a successful voltage swing of around 1volt when vibrated very quickly. A joule thief would help get the voltage up for a flashlight/a couple of LEDs!
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Daring. Outspoken. Inspired.
Inspired by the most amazing city in the world. A city where everybody dares to be different. A city where things change everyday. A city where everything is outspoken. A city where dreams come true. An architectural marvel portrayed through the beauty along prince and mulberry, buildings throughout the high line, Central Park and Fifth Avenue brownstones and the iconic skyscrapers along 34th street. A city full of energy exposed through its vibrant pulsating lights.
Thank you, New York.


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But instead of a measured and inclusive speech, executives ranging from Telstra's David Thodey to Macquarie's Nicholas Moore listened to an angry lecture – a 30-minute tirade from Rudd about just what his government had done for them.
Given the ferocious battle between the resources sector and the government, the evening had been an opportunity to pour oil on troubled water. Rudd instead lit a match.
Stunned, many business leaders switched the internal dial to "off". Others are still recounting how, in sharp contrast to Rudd's rant, then deputy prime minister
On Wednesday morning, a group of Labor MPs, including
After the football, MPs reached their offices by 8am. Some had already seen the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald. For those who hadn't, a clipping service waited in the office. The story that captured everyone's attention – a report that Rudd's chief of staff
If an excuse were needed, here it was. Pressure had built for weeks, if not months, to replace Rudd with Gillard. Rudd's polling had steadily sunk and he seemed incapable of bringing the mining sector into the government tent. Now Rudd could be publicly tagged as having run divisive machinations from his office to shore up his position through a young staff member.
Rudd's difficult personal style, his practice of excluding competing voices, and his retreat to the circle of youthful advisers with whom he surrounded himself, meant there was no heavy-lifting player who had his ear, or, more importantly, his back. There was no Peter Barron à la Hawke, and no Bob Hogg. Neither Treasurer
In one of the great ironies, the public polls had been Rudd's only support base. Now they had become his exit lever. Rudd had no Graham Richardson to count numbers, to seek support now, in exchange for favours down the track. He had cultivated none of his colleagues. Credit for the government's past gains had not been shared around. And now, when it was time to apportion blame for government blunders, that blame would be narrowly focused on Rudd.
By the time the right-wing Victorian powerbroker and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities,
Meanwhile, Labor polling on Liberal leader
The party mood towards Rudd had turned toxic. But no one quite knew how to put him to the knife. Shorten began Act VI with a visit to Gillard to apply the pressure and assure her the numbers were building her way. Gillard, long aware her star would rise sooner or later, had the lawyer's taste for detail and structure, and was not ready to hurl herself into the fray immediately.
A long shadow was falling across Rudd but he seemed unable to demonstrate the skills expected of a leader. As the hullabaloo about the resource super profits tax grew, it broke out in party forums. Former ALP national secretary,
Gray, long loyal to Rudd, would make a crucial shift, putting his weight and influence with the party powerbrokers moving to draft Gillard. The opinion polls for the past three months had been heading just one way and it meant a wipe-out for the government. Somehow, the reviled Abbott had made his case to voters, while Rudd, their own populist, had turned voters off.
On Wednesday, Rudd's fate unfolded largely out of sight until dinner time. When the morning football game with the Malaysians was over, NSW Right powerbroker Arbib met Victorian MP
At 9am, Arbib and Feeney marched off to Gillard's office. They were there for 15 minutes, with no time for the niceties of tea or coffee, much less water. They told Gillard how unhappy they were with the story. It was a breach of trust, they said. They told Gillard they had sounded out right-wing MPs across the party and most believed the government was set to lose the election.
Gillard in turn said she was furious. And she was preparing to do something about it.
What followed was an angry meeting between Gillard and Rudd, their relationship broken down, trust evaporated. An arrangement was made for another meeting early in the evening. During the day, Gillard met Shorten and MP Tony Burke.
Other key players entered the story through a long Wednesday afternoon, but one significant element was yet to unfold.
Finally, at 6pm, on the east coast of Australia, a very powerful union prepared to flex its muscle. The Australian Workers Union, which dated its existence to the cradle of the Labor Party, had traditionally stood with the Labor prime minister of the day, with the notable exception of its support for Hawke in deposing Bill Hayden in 1983.
National secretary
The big wheel of Queensland Labor, Ludwig was as shrewd a hatchet-man as the ALP could deliver. He and Howes talked for half an hour. The AWU had the largest bloc of aligned MPs in the party. Howes and Ludwig phoned AWU-aligned caucus members and several AWU state secretaries.
At 7pm, with the phones ringing incessantly after early media reports of a split between Rudd and Gillard, they turned the phones off for a while.
Howes knew Gray was now onside for Gillard. It added significantly to the dimension of her support. Howes and Ludwig were convinced Rudd would lose the election, heralding the onset of tough new workplace laws. They would do whatever it took to prevent this.
At 8pm they turned the phones back on. They would dump their policy of backing party leaders, and they would dump support for Rudd. Word of the AWU intervention enveloped Canberra, sparking charges that the faceless men were in control. But from the perspective of Gillard's backers, the AWU decision provided a dramatic shot in the arm for Gillard and noisy media momentum for the destabilisation of Rudd.
By the time Gillard, with her fresh titian hair and French-polished nails, and Rudd, with his silver schoolboy-cut and blunt fingers, faced each other in the Prime Minister's office for a stand-off, the assassination campaign which had begun with bad polls had virtually reached its conclusion. Rudd had lived by the numbers. Now, he would die by the numbers.
The Australian Financial Review


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Thomas Chatterton
Thomas Chatterton Poems
- A New Song Ah blame me not, Catcott, if from the right way ...
- A Hymn For Christmas Day Almighty Framer of the Skies! O ...
- February Begin, my muse, the imitative lay, Aonian doxies ...
- Eclogues Eclogue the First. Whanne Englonde, smeethynge ...
- Ælla, A Tragical Interlude (Ex... FYRSTE MYNSTRELLE... ...
- Apostate Will In days of old, when Wesley's power Gathered ...
- Colin Instructed Young Colin was as stout a boy As ever ...
Thomas Chatterton was born in Bristol on November 20, 1752 and is generally regarded as the first Romantic poet in English.
Throughout his early childhood Chatterton showed no signs of talent. He was regarded as little better than an idiot until he was about six and a half years old, because he would learn nothing, refused to play with other children, and spent most of his time brooding in silence. He was expelled from his first school as a dullard.
It appears that he underwent a considerable transformation in his seventh year. The story goes that one day he found his mother tearing up for waste paper some old music folios which had been brought home from the church ... more »
Click here to add this poet to your My Favorite Poets.
Quotationsmore quotations »
''There is a time for all thingsExcept Marriage my dear.''Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770), British poet. Reply, April 9, 1770, to a note from an admirer who bids him be patient, "for there is a time for all thi...
Comments about Thomas Chatterton
A New Song
Ah blame me not, Catcott, if from the right way
My notions and actions run far.
How can my ideas do other but stray,
Deprived of their ruling North-Star?
A blame me not, Broderip, if mounted aloft,
I chatter and spoil the dull air;
How can I imagine thy foppery soft,
When discord's the voice of my fair?
If Turner remitted my bluster and rhymes,
If Hardind was girlish and cold,
If never an ogle was got from Miss Grimes,
If Flavia was blasted and old;
I chose without liking, and left without pain,
Nor welcomed the frown with a sigh;...
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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A Very Short Song
Dorothy Parker


text: After having the privilege of photographing Arantxa and Eli's wonderful wedding, I am now applying for honorary Basque citizenship. What do you expect after being treated to seven courses of heavenly Basque food and drink? Now for the bride: Arantxa's elegant style pulled in elements of timeless bridal fashion, such as her long veil, punctuated with Iberian flair (note the fabulous red roses on her shoes.). Her wonderful husband, Eli, wore an unforgettable smile all day and led his new bride to the dance floor, for a smooth and commanding choreographed "first dance." Later in the evening, guests made their way to our Photo Lounge for memorable and fun portraits. Felicidades a Arantxa and Eli!


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Sunday, June 29 at 11:15 a.m., Christ Church is hosting a home energy workshop conducted by the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP—a non-profit organization which helps homeowners save energy), and Interfaith Power & Light (a national religious group responding to global warming by promoting energy conservation and efficiency, as well as renewable energy). This workshop is free and open to the public.
Learn how electricity is produced, and practical steps to conserve energy at home. As a result, reduce your carbon footprint, help create green jobs, and quite probably conserve your own financial resources.
The Christ Church Environmental Stewardship Committee proposed the workshop to further the goal of helping to develop each person's ability to be a good steward of God's creation and to see how one's actions may have an impact on the world.
Historic Christ Church is a historic church with an active congregation. Located at 118 N. Washington St. in Alexandria, VA, Christ Church is home to 2,400 parishioners and provides ministry to communities local and global. The parish home of George Washington and many other government and legislative leaders since, Historic Christ Church has long been at the center of the religious and public life of the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. Nearly all the Presidents have attended Christ Church during their term of office. Other visitors include British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Senator Elizabeth Dole, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, Rosa Parks, Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo West, former Chief of Staff of the Army Gordon Sullivan, former White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen, and former Assistant Secretary of State Hodding Carter.
Facebook: ChristChurchAlexandria
Twitter: @HistoricCC
Instagram: ChristChurchAlexandria


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Matix Domepiece ($70)
If you really want to flood your noggin with noise, look no further. The Domepiece's half-dome shape caps the sound right around your ears and seals it tight. The gold plated plug ensures audio clarity and the 20mm sized drivers deliver it. With subtle accents and a smooth adjustable fit, you'll find auditory peace in this piece.
Photo: Chris Wellhausen


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5 (0)
80% Nylon/20% Spandex
This information is shown as a guide only and not a guarantee.Actual fitting may vary.
Do you think your friend would like to know that DDS has this item? Just fill in the following information and we will let them know!
The 13 year olds in my dance number had their C cups completely stuck out the sides of this uni and couldn't get them back in or wear a bra, bandeau, stickers or shelf.
Age: 15-18
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This uni was my daughters dance number costume; her team loved it, said it was comfortable and pretty and wore it to classes too. It shone beautifully in the spotlights, too. However, (these girls being 10-13), they all had awful headlight experiences, and were unable to wear a bra, tank, bandeau, stickers or shelf without looking positively ridiculous. The two 13 year olds (B cups) eventually had their busts sticking complete out the sides of the uni, caught under the straps. They ran mortified off the stage and never returned to Jazzy Jazz Academy.
Age: 30-39
My daughter said it's not the most comfortable costume, but it's not bad. Anything worn under it will show lines. The quality is good and just as pictured. Runs true to size.
I am looking for a shorty unitard that comes in multiple colors, but I have some busty ladies who will not be able to go without a bra lining.
This item does not come with lining. If you needed more support we do offer undergarments.- DDS Customer Service (03/08/2013)
No, it doesn't have a shelf bra, and anything worn under it will show lines. - Aeea (11/29/2013)
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text: The beautiful Madison Chandler is just not getting completely satisfied by Jake. The girl's close friend suggests professional support. The pair is referred to Brandi, a sex counselor, which is an expert in youthful couples. Jake isn't so sure regarding the experience to begin with, however when this guy acknowledges he will end up being sexually focused on by 2 fabulous sexy women he decides to give it a try. Ms. Brandi perceives what needs to be done and takes control of the problem immediately. Sex Expert, Brandi commands Jake to sit down and look at what she does to The sexy Madison Chandler.


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Articles of Incorporation
We, the undersigned natural person all being of the age of eighteen years or more, acting as incorporators under the Utah non-Profit Corporation and Cooperative Association Act, adopt the following Articles of Incorporation for such Corporation:
Article 1. Name
The name of the corporation is The International Triticeae Consortium
Article 2. Duration
The period of duration of this corporation is perpetual.
Article 3. Purpose
The specific purposes for which the corporation has been formed are:
Article 4. Members/Stock
The corporation shall not have any class of members or stock.
Article 5.Bylaws
Provisions for the regulation of the internal affairs of the corporation shall be set forth in the By-laws.
Article 6. Trustees
The number of trustees of this corporation shall be three, or more than three, as fixed from time to time by the By-laws of the Corporation. The number of trustees constituting the present Board of Trustees of the Corporation is 3, and the names and address of the persons who are to serve as trustees until their successors are elected and shall qualify are Mary E. Barkworth, Roland von Bothmer, and Abdullah Jaradat.
Article 7. Incorporators.
The names and addresses of the incorporators are:
Mary E. Barkworth, 397 Lauralin Drive, Logan, Utah 84321-4362, U.S.A.
Prof. Roland von Bothmer, Department of Plant Breeding Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-26831 Svalöv, SWEDEN
Dr. Abdullah A. Jaradat, c/o ICARDA, P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, SYRIA
Article 8. Registered office and agent
The address of the corporation's initial registered office shall be:
International Triticeae Consortium, 397 Lauralin Drive, Logan, Utah, 84321-4362
Such office may be changed at any time by the Board of Trustees without amendment of these Articles of Incorporation. The corporation's initial registered agent at such address shall be: Mary Barkworth
I hereby acknowledge and accept appointment as corporate registered agent: [original signed]
Article 9. Principal place of business
The principal place of business of this Corporation shall be 397 Lauralin Drive, Logan, Utah 84321-4362. The business of the this Corporation may be conducted in all counties of the State of Utah, and in all states of the United States, and in all territories thereof, and in all foreign countries as the Board of Trustees shall determine.
Article 10. Distributions
No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its trustees, officers, or any other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Article 3 hereof. No substantial part of the activities of the corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Articles of Incorporation, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended or supplemented, or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under Section 170© (2) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended or supplemented.
Article 11. Dissolution
Upon the distribution of the corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of Section 501© (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended or supplemented, or shall be distributed to the federal government or to a state or local government for a public purpose. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by the District Court of the county in which the principal office of the corporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes.
In witness whereof, we, Mary Barkworth, Roland von Bothmer, and Abdullah Jaradat, have executed these Articles of Incorporation in duplicate and say:
That they are all incorporators herein: that they have read the above and foregoing Articles of Incorporation; know the contents thereof and that the same is true to the best of their knowledge and belief, excepting as to matters herein alleged upon information and belief and as to those matters they believe to be true. [original signed]


text:
Corporate Gifts
Thomas Lyte's Corporate & Bespoke Luxury Gift service is built on years of experience and expertise. From travel and office accessories to Cufflinks and barware, we offer a range of premium corporate gifts, across both men's and women's products, to suit any budget.
Our business collection is unmatched in its craftsmanship and quality, crafted from the highest quality materials with exquisite attention to detail. Thomas Lyte's bespoke service allows you to design the perfect gift, tailored to your brand and corporate livery, in which most silver items can be engraved with your logo and leather products can be silver and gold foil or blind embossed.
With a long list of distinguished clients such as BP, Team GB, The FA and 10 Downing Street, we pride ourselves on our ability to turn your aspiration into a beautiful business gift to delight your clients or show appreciation to your colleagues.
Find the perfect engraved staff and employee presents here. We offer a wide range and hold stock of most items in the UK, which ensures a faster turn around time.


text:
Skip to Content
(603) 225-2711
Home > Wellness > Health Library > Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP)
Browse and register for related classes.
Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) is a surgical method
of removing tissue from the cervix using a fine loop of wire. The wire is
heated with an electric current until it is extremely hot and can cut through
LEEP can be used to take a sample of tissue for a biopsy and
diagnosis or to remove tissue.
The woman usually takes ibuprofen or a similar medicine before
the procedure and has a local anesthetic applied to the cervix.
Current as of:
February 25, 2016
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine & Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org.
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Indian Land's biggest proposed shopping center is inching toward a major announcement soon, but some of the details are already out, including four tenants that have filed construction plans with the county.
Promenade at Carolina Reserve will have 500,000 square feet available for leasing, making it almost half the size of Carolina Place mall in Pineville.
Four thousand homes and businesses in eastern Lancaster County woke up without electricity Tuesday morning. The power is not expected to be back on until 10 p.m. Tuesday, said Lancaster County Administrator Steve Willis.
At least two major power lines deep in the woods were taken down by fallen trees. Two of the poles will have to be dug by hand because forest density will not allow access for a backhoe, Willis said.
A Lancaster man was arrested at Walmart in Indian Land last week after an employee accused him of committing lewd acts while following women and children around the store.
Roger Mervin Powell II, 42, of 3671 Lamplight Road, Lancaster, was charged with one count of breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature and banned from the store, according to a Lancaster County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Two men have been arrested and sheriff's deputies are looking for a third in connection with shootings at a Lancaster mobile home park Wednesday evening, one of which was captured on video by a witness and posted online.
Lancaster County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to 130 Melton Park Circle in Lancaster Wednesday about 7 p.m. in regards to a shooting in progress.
Investigators said the incident began with a fight between women that ended with gunfire that left a 21-year-old Lancaster woman with two shots to the stomach.
Editor's note: Hannah Strong joined us a year ago, fresh out of Winthrop. Today she begins an occasional column on what her first reporting job is teaching her about herself, her profession and Lancaster County.
The operator from an S.C. prison says, "You have 15 seconds left on this call."
"Let me call you right back," the woman tells me.
She has been jailed for attempted armed robbery since 2013.
I'm talking to her because her 19-year-old son has been shot dead in Lancaster.
Water samples from two of three tested locations on the Catawba River registered high for bacterial contamination days after a massive sewage spill in Charlotte, state environmental regulators reported Thursday.
High bacteria counts showed up in water samples taken from the Catawba River at Sugar Creek, where the sewage runoff entered the river, and the Catawba Indian Nation landing about 4 miles downriver, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Mike Oliver knew he wanted to be a Highway Patrol trooper at age 6.
He was standing up in the backseat of his parent's car on Doc Garris Road south of Lancaster when a drunk driver sideswiped them and sent them into a ditch. The driver didn't stop.
"Daddy was able to turn around and follow him home," Oliver recalls. "I can remember the trooper coming to the scene, and me and Daddy got in the car to show him where the man lived."
The trooper went inside the man's house and hauled him out to face charges.
A woman suffered nonfatal injuries during a dramatic shooting in Lancaster Wednesday evening that was caught on video and posted to Facebook.
The shooting happened about 7 p.m. at 139 Melton Park Circle, just off West Meeting Street across the road from the old Joslyn Clark Controls building, according to Lancaster County sheriff's spokesman Doug Barfield.
The woman, who was shot twice, was the only victim in an incident that began as a fight and ended with at least 30 shots fired at a fleeing vehicle.
More than 40 kids attended Mount Carmel AME Zion Church's Motivated Reading program on Tuesday.
In its fifth year, the free event targets students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Program coordinator Tammie White said the church has always been interested in getting students to read.
"Teachers stress during the summer months that students need to read," White said. "We're trying to keep them motivated."
Indian Land's much-delayed RedStone commercial project has a new expected opening date – February 2018.
Michael Bilodeau, development manager for MPV Properties, talked about the project Thursday. He said the anchor tenant, the 14-screen cineplex RedStone 14, has topped out at the site, and work on 11 of the 13 other announced businesses is under way.
Bilodeau said he feels very confident of the new opening date now that construction has started.
Copyright © 2017
The Lancaster News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lancaster County and Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding area..


text:
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Listen, Learn and Grow was initially formulated as a gift for all babies born in Tennessee hospitals and follows the scientific evidence that the rhythms, structure, and high frequencies of classical music stimulate the neural pathways of developing minds, fortifying the intelligence and well being of young listeners. This compilation of great composers, including Bach and Mozart, is designed for tots through preschool age, though older children and adults will enjoy these pieces as well. A delightful mix, Rossini's Overture from The Barber of Seville builds from subdued strings to crashing cymbals and lively woodwinds, while Haydn's "Cello Concerto No. 2; Rondo: Allegro" soothes and invigorates like sunshine after rain. Pachelbel's well-loved "Canon" is dignified and courtly. And the uptempo "Autumn" and vivid "Winter" movements from Vivaldi's grand Four Seasons are destined to become favorites, along with Handel's "Menuet" from the Water Music suites, a piece that trickles, tinkles, and rushes forth like a secret fountain in the wood. --Paige La Grone


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Fiennes May Find Our Kind Of Traitor
And Smiley's People is still planned
With the success of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, everyone is looking to get a little Le Carre on to their slate. StudioCanal, which helped to bring Tinker to cinema screens, is at work on another of the author's books, Our Kind Of Traitor, which is now looking to rope in Ralph Fiennes and Mads Mikkelsen.
Snowtown man Justin Kurzel is directing from a script by Hossein Amini, and the cast already boasts Ewan McGregor as part of a couple who get tangled up with a money laundering Russian oligarch.
Both Mikkelsen and Fiennes are in what's called "advanced negotiations" but have yet to commit because they're still juggling schedules to see if they can find the time to shoot. If they do jump aboard, Mikkelsen would be the Russian moneybags looking to defect, and Fiennes would be British government fixer Hector Meredith (hope he kept his Whitehall togs from Skyfall, then).
Packing $35 million to play with, Kurzel is scheduled to begin shooting this summer in London, Paris, Marrakech, Moscow and Switzerland.
Oh, and if you were wondering whether the company is still going ahead with an adaptation of Smiley's People, AKA the third in John Le Carre's Karla Trilogy, there is hopeful news. Talking to Screen Daily, StudioCanal's Ron Halpern confirmed that progress continues. "We are working on Smiley's People with Working Title. It's still at the development stage – but, yes, the old team of Peter Straughan and Tomas Alfredson is back together. The same Tinker Tailor actors whose characters would reappear are well aware of what we're doing. We're hopeful for a 2014 shoot".


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Jeffrey R. Matsen is a graduate of Brigham Young University, cum laude, and received his law degree with honors (Order of the Coif) from the UCLA School of Law. Jeff served as a Captain in the US Marine Corps and is the Founder and Managing Partner of Matsen Voorhees Law, the Estate Planning and Business Transactions Department of the Orange County California law firm of Bohm Matsen. Matsen Voorhees Law provides legal services in the areas of estate planning, asset protection, business formation and transactional matters, probate and trust administration and real property law.
Attorney Matsen's knowledge, professionalism, responsiveness and integrity have vaulted him to the top of his field culminating in his designation by Worth magazine as one of "America's Top 100 Attorneys", by Los Angeles Magazine as one of California's "Super Lawyers" and by OC Metro Magazine as one of "O.C.'s Top Lawyers." The Nationally Renowned Attorney Rating Service, 'AVVO' has rated Mr. Matsen a perfect "10/10 Superb" and he has continued to achieve the highest "AV rating" and has been designated a "Preeminent Lawyer" by the only other prestigious attorney rating directory, Martindale Hubble. He is internationally recognized in the areas of Asset Protection, International Trusts and Offshore Business Entity Formation and has a myriad of world-wide legal, financial and business connections.
Recently, Matsen has authored and published his new book entitled: "The Ladder of Success: An Asset Protection Planning Primer." In addition, Matsen regularly presents continuing education seminars for the California State Bar, the National Business Institute, WealthCounsel, STEP, The Advisors Forum and a myriad of other organizations on the subjects of estate planning, asset protection and entity formation. Jeff has been a Professor of Law in Business Planning and Estate Planning at Western State University College of Law, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law, and an instructor at the Golden Gate University Program of Advanced Taxation. A Fellow of The Center of International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, Jeff has served as a visiting professor at the law school in Maribor, Slovenia.
Jeff is certified in Business Appraisal by the National Society of Appraiser Specialists and is a member of WealthCounsel, The Advisors Forum, the International Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners ("STEP"), the State Bar of California, and the American Bar Association.


text:
Consciousness and the Moral Permissibility of Infanticide
Date of Original Version
Rights Management
All Rights Reserved
Abstract or Description
In this paper, we present a conditional argument for the moral permissibility of some kinds of infanticide. The argument is based on a certain view of consciousness and the claim that there is an intimate connection between consciousness and infanticide. In bare outline, the argument is this: it is impermissible to intentionally kill a creature only if the creature is conscious; it is reasonable to believe that there is some time at which human infants are not conscious; therefore, it is reasonable to believe that it is permissible to intentionally kill some human infants.


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The National Research and Development Center on School Choice welcomes a distinguished set of academic researchers from the nation's leading universities and research centers to the National Conference on Charter School Research.
DALE BALLOU, Vanderbilt University
Dale Ballou
is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University. He currently serves as Associate Director of the National Research and Development Center on School Choice. His research interests concern the role of regulations and incentives in the training, recruitment, and retention of effective teachers, as well as the assessment of school and teacher effectiveness and the use of assessments in systems of sanctions and rewards.
Prior to completing his doctoral studies, Professor Ballou spent several years teaching in a variety of settings, including a middle school in Indiana, an adult education center in New Haven, Connecticut, and a private boarding school in Massachusetts. He taught in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1989 to 1992. As an economist, his research has focused on policies affecting education reform, particularly the role of incentives and regulation in the training, recruitment, and retention of teachers. His work has appeared in professional economics journals and publications for a broader audience such as The Public Interest and Education Week.
Professor Ballou has testified before the United States House of Representatives on education issues and has advised the Massachusetts State Legislature and Massachusetts Board of Higher Education on policies related to school financing, teacher licensure, and teacher compensation. His recent projects deal with personnel policies in charter schools, teacher testing, and the role of unions in education reform.
MARK BERENDS, Vanderbilt University
Mark Berends is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University. He currently serves as Director of the National Research and Development Center on School Choice, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Throughout his research career, Professor Berends has focused on how the organization of schools and classroom instruction are related to student achievement, with special attention to disadvantaged students. Within this research agenda, he has applied a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the effects of various school reforms on teachers and students. For example, Professor Berends led the summative evaluation of the New American Schools (NAS) whole-school reform effort in various districts across the United States. At the time, NAS was the largest privately funded reform effort aimed at developing "break the mold" schools to promote student achievement in urban settings. Although key findings have been published in several of his books and articles, the overall finding was that a great deal of further development of the reform models and careful alignment of the school system needed to take place to promote innovative instructional strategies and gains in student achievement.
Due to his research on NAS, the U.S. Department of Education requested his participation in the national evaluation of Title I and of the Comprehensive School Reform programs. Alongside these evaluations, he examined the relationships of changing families and schools on student achievement between 1972 and 2004 to better understand how these changes during different periods of reform relate to the black-white and Latino-white achievement gaps. A key outcome of this work was that secondary school curriculum differentiation (tracking) became more flexible for black and Latino students, which was one of the factors associated with the closing of the achievement gap. Relying on experimental and quasi-experimental designs, his current research and evaluation projects focus on the effects of school choice (e.g., charter and magnet schools) on student achievement growth and on the scaling-up of a peer-assisted learning strategies program and early reading achievement. Using survey and observational methods to understand the instructional conditions within these choice and reading programs plays a prominent role in these various projects.
ROBERT BIFULCO, University of Connecticut
Robert Bifulco
has a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Dr. Bifulco is currently on faculty in the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy where he teaches classes in education policy, state and local government finance, and program evaluation. Before coming to the University of Connecticut, Dr. Bifulco held a post-doc position at Duke University's Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He has also worked as a program analyst in the New York State Education Department, where he helped formulate regulations governing the state's low-performing schools program. He has research interests in the areas of school finance, performance-based accountability, school segregation, and school choice. He has published research articles on the measurement of school performance, whole-school reform, and racial disparities in access to educational resources in several peer-reviewed journals including The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Evaluation Review, and Economics of Education Review. His most recent research is focused on charter schools and has examined their effects on student achievement, black-white test score gaps, racial segregation, and parental involvement. Dr. Bifulco is an active member of the American Education Finance Association and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
DOMINIC J. BREWER, University of Southern California
Dominic Brewer
is Professor of Education and Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California, where he also co-directs the Center on Educational Governance. Prior to joining the USC faculty in 2005, Dr. Brewer was a Vice President at RAND, where he directed the education policy research program for more than five years. Dr. Brewer is a labor economist (Ph.D., Cornell University) specializing in education policy. He has overseen major projects focusing on educational productivity and teacher issues in both K-12 and higher education, and published more than 50 journal articles, books, book chapters and monographs. He co-led the state-sponsored evaluation of California's charter schools (Charter School Operations and Performance: Evidence from California, 2003), and is one of the authors of Rhetoric Versus Reality: What We Know and What We Need to Know About Vouchers and Charter Schools (2001). Dr. Brewer most recently spearheaded RAND's effort to assist in major K-12 reform in the State of Qatar, the centerpiece of which is a system of charter-like government funded schools. He is a member of the Charter School Research Consensus Panel at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington.
RICHARD BUDDIN, RAND Corporation
Richard Buddin
is a senior labor economist at the RAND Corporation, a Professor of Economics in the RAND Graduate School, as well as a Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Buddin has conducted several studies on school choice. Dr. Buddin recently completed a series of papers on student achievement in charter schools. In an earlier study, Dr. Buddin examined the theoretical and empirical issues associated with an educational voucher system. The study examined what factors affect the private/public choice in the absence of vouchers and then anticipated how a voucher system would alter those choices. Dr. Buddin is currently leading a four-year project sponsored by the Department of Education on whether scores on teacher licensure tests are a valid measure of teacher effectiveness.
Dr. Buddin has recently completed work on two studies of educational finance issues. He conducted a two-year evaluation of the so-called "Impact Aid" program that provides federal funding to local school districts to offset a portion of the educational expenses of the children of military members. The analysis examines the equity of the federal funding formula and compares the educational opportunities of military children with those of their civilian counterparts. In another study, Dr. Buddin examined employer-sponsored programs to provide tuition assistance for employees enrolled in college programs. The study examined what types of employees used tuition assistance and whether program users were more likely than non-users to remain with the firm.
ELLEN GOLDRING, Vanderbilt University
Ellen Goldring
is a professor of education policy and leadership at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Professor Goldring's research interests reside in two main areas. One strand centers on understanding and shaping school reform efforts that connect families, communities, and schools with a focus on school choice. Her research addresses questions about access and equity including how parents choose, why parents choose and teaching and learning conditions. Much of her other scholarly work focuses on the changing role of school leaders as the organizational contexts for schools become more complex and varied. She studies the features of schools and leadership that affect leadership effectiveness. She is currently involved in a number of projects that are studying expertise in school leadership, leadership assessment and evaluation, new models for professional development for school leaders, and linking leading and learning.
JAMES W. GUTHRIE, Vanderbilt University
James Guthrie
is a professor of public policy and education, chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations, and director of the Peabody Center for Education Policy at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. He instructs both undergraduate and graduate courses, and conducts research on education policy and finance. He also is the founder and chairman of the board of Management Analysis & Planning, Inc. (MAP), a private sector management consulting firm specializing in public finance and litigation support. MAP offices are located in Davis, California.
Previously a professor at the University of California, Berkeley for 27 years, he holds a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Stanford University, and undertook postdoctoral study in public finance at Harvard. He also was a postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford Brookes College, Oxford, England, and the Irving R. Melbo Visiting Professor at the University of Southern California.
Professor Guthrie has been a consultant to the governments of Armenia, Australia, Chile, Guyana, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Romania, and South Africa, and has had extensive experience in consulting for The World Bank, UNESCO, and the Organization of American States. He currently is president of the American Education Finance Association, and frequently serves on National Academy of Sciences panels. He is the author or co-author of ten books, and more than 200 professional and scholarly articles. He was the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of American Education, published in 2002. Professor Guthrie resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
PAUL T. HILL, University of Washington
Paul Hill
is a Research Professor at the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, and Director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which studies alternative governance and finance systems for public K-12 education. Dr. Hill's recent work on education reform has focused on school choice plans, school accountability, and charter schools. He chaired the National Working Commission on Choice in K-12 Education, which issued its report, School Choice: Doing it the Right Way Makes a Difference, in November 2003. Dr. Hill holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Ohio State University and a B.A. from Seattle University, all in political science. He is a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Brookings and Hoover Institutions.
CAROLINE M. HOXBY, Harvard University
Caroline Hoxby
is a professor of economics at Harvard University, the director of the Economics of Education Program for the National Bureau of Economic Research, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a member of the Koret Task Force on K–12 Education. Hoxby's research has received numerous awards, including a Carnegie Fellowship, a John M. Olin Fellowship, a National Tax Association Award, and a major grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Development. She has written extensively on educational choice and related issues.
HELEN F. LADD, Duke University
Helen Ladd
is the Edgar Thompson Professor of Public Policy Studies and Economics at Duke University. Most of her current research focuses on education policy. She is the editor of Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education (Brookings Institution, 1996) and is the coauthor (with Edward Fiske) of When Schools Compete: A Cautionary Tale (Brookings Institution, 2000) about school reform in New Zealand and of Elusive Equity: Education Reform in Post Apartheid South Africa (Brookings 2004 and HSRC 2005). From 1996-99 she co-chaired a National Academy of Sciences Committee on Education Finance. In that capacity she is the co-editor of two books: a set of background papers, Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance, and the final report, Making Money Matter: Financing America's Schools. During the past few years she has written articles on teacher quality, charter schools, school-based accountability, market-based reforms in education, parental choice and competition, intergenerational conflict and the willingness to support education, and the effects of HUD's Moving to Opportunity Program on educational opportunities and outcomes.
JOE NATHAN, University of Minnesota
Joe Nathan,
senior fellow, directs the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. The Center seeks to help transform public education and to produce significant improvements in student achievement. The Center has received support from among other sources, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Annenberg, Rockefeller, General Mills, Cargill, Blandin, and Frey foundations. Current projects include work with governors in six states and with district high schools in three communities to help increase achievement and the percentage of students who graduate ready to do college level work. Nathan has received awards from parent, student and professional groups for his work as a public school teacher and administrator. He coordinated the National Governors Association education reform project, Time for Results. His specialty areas include parent and community involvement, school choice, charter schools, and youth community service.
Nathan has testified before twenty state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. He regularly publishes commentaries in major U.S. newspapers and has appeared on several hundred radio and television programs. The American School Boards Journal named his most recent book, Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity for American Education, one of the seven best books written about education in 1997.
Nathan holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Minnesota. He has been married for 32 years to a woman who has been a St. Paul public school teacher for 25 years. The Nathan's three children attended St. Paul's public schools, K-12.
PAUL E. PETERSON, Harvard University
Paul Peterson
is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Editor-In-Chief of Education Next, a journal of opinion and research on education policy. He is a former director of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and of the Governmental Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Peterson is the author or editor of over one hundred articles and twenty-two books. Three of his books have received major awards from the American Political Science Association. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, he was a professor for many years there in the Departments of Political Science and Education. Peterson chaired the Social Science Research Council's Committee on the Urban Underclass and has served on many committees of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the German Marshall Foundation, and the Center for Study in the Behavioral Sciences. His various research projects have been supported by the Department of Education as well as the Achelis, Bradley, Bodman, Casey, Dillon, Ford, Fordham, Friedman, Gund, Hume, Packard, Olin, Rockefeller, Smith-Richardson, and Walton foundations. Most recently he was awarded the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation prize for Distinguished Scholarship, part of their Excellence in Education award program. He has also been appointed to a Department of Education independent review panel to advise the agency in evaluating the No Child Left Behind law.
MICHAEL PODGURSKY, University of Missouri at Columbia
Michael Podgursky
is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He has published numerous articles and reports on education policy and teacher quality and co-authored a book titled Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality. Dr. Podgursky's research has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Commission on Employment Policy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and various foundations and state government agencies. Dr. Podgursky is a member of the advisory boards of the National Center for Teacher Quality and the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence. From 1980 to 1995, Dr. Podgursky served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
MARK SCHNEIDER, National Center for Education Statistics
Mark Schneider
was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on October 24, 2005 for the remainder of a term expiring June 20, 2009. NCES is one of the four centers of the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. He is on leave from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he is Distinguished Professor of political science. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1974. He has written widely in the areas of urban politics and public policy. His articles have appeared in all the major political science, sociology, and policy journals. His 1989 book, The Competitive City, won special recognition by the American Political Science Association's Urban Politics Section for its theoretical contribution to the study of urban politics. His current work focuses on education policy and his most recent book, Choosing Schools: Consumer Choice and the Quality of American Schools (Princeton University Press, 2000, with Paul Teske and Melissa Marschall) won the Aaron Wildavsky best book prize from the Policy Studies Organization. His new book, Charter Schools: Hope or Hype? will be published by Princeton University Press in 2007. Schneider has also done extensive research connecting school facilities to educational outcomes.
Schneider has been active in his professional organizations, having served as the Vice President of the American Political Science Association 2000-2001; President, American Political Science Association Public Policy Section, 2000-2001; Program Chair, Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings, 2001; and on the executives council of the Midwest Political Science Association, the APSA Urban Section, and the APSA Public Policy Section. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, New York City, September 1997-July 1998 and at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, August 1990-August 1991. Earlier he held a Fulbright Hays Senior Fellowship, 1980-1981, at Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
CLAIRE SMREKAR, Vanderbilt University
Claire Smrekar
is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University. She received her doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University in 1991. Dr. Smrekar has conducted qualitative research studies related to the social context of education and the social organization of schools, with specific reference to family-school-community interactions in public, private, and choice schools. Her current research involves a study of school and neighborhood effects associated with school choice plans in the post-court order busing era. Professor Smrekar is the author of two books: The Impact of School Choice and Community: In the Interest of Families and Schools (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996) and School Choice in Urban America: Magnet Schools and the Pursuit of Equity, with E. Goldring, (New York: Teachers College Press, 1999).
Dr. Smrekar was a member of the technical advisory panel for the national evaluation study (released January, 2004) of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program, U.S. Department of Education. She teaches two courses in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations: "The Social Context of Education" and "Qualitative Research Methods".
SHEREE T. SPEAKMAN, WCLS Group Limited
Sheree Speakman
joined WCLS Group Limited, a London-headquartered company, on March 1, 2005 as Chief Operating Officer, North America. She is responsible for the U.S. operations that operate under the name British Schools of America (BSA) (www.britishschool.org). BSA's five schools are located in Washington, D.C.; Houston, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; and, Charlotte, N.C. BSA schools are private schools delivering the English National Curriculum and current enrollment exceeds 1300 students. The National Curriculum is supplemented with intensive, modern foreign language instruction and high ability, differentiated learning. The schools begin educating children at age 3, in both English and a second language. Education continues all the way through the U.S. equivalent of 12th grade with the final two years spent studying in the Diploma program of the International Baccalaureate. Nationally, the parents of BSA students are half American and half international company transfers resident in the U.S. for a short-term period.
Prior to joining BSA, Ms. Speakman was a consultant for 11 years to state policymakers and public school districts. From 2000 forward, Sheree consulted with a number of national foundations and corporations in the area of planning for the start-up and implementation of new charter schools across the country. This work includes strategic planning, policy design and drafting, school funding and building coalitions for multi-year projects. Her latest collaborative work from 2005 in school finance was the study "Charter School Funding: Inequity's Next Frontier." Authors and editors included Chester E. Finn, Jr., Bryan C. Hassel and Sheree Speakman. The study was released by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Ms. Speakman is an authority on information-driven decision-making, performance management and school finance for K–12 education. As President of Fox River Learning, Inc. from 1998 to 2004, she led Fox River's focus in policy and school consulting that focused on the valid measurement and use of costs and learning gains in school districts and states across the nation. From 1993 through 1997, Sheree was the national partner-in-charge of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.'s national efforts in the areas of K–12 financial analysis and consulting work. Sheree is a leader in establishing expenditure benchmarking guidelines for instructional and non-instructional practices in public education. From 1994 to 1996, Ms. Speakman led the design, system development and release of In$ite®, a commercially available software product for district and school-level presentation and analysis of school finance. Sheree's publishing and speaking activities focus on understanding school finance norms and practices in public education and resource investment.
MATTHEW G. SPRINGER, Vanderbilt University
Matthew G. Springer is a research assistant professor of public policy and education and director of the federally-funded National Center on Performance Incentives. Professor Springer joined the faculty of Peabody College in 2006, after completing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University. Professor Springer's research interests involve educational policy issues, with a particular focus on the impact of policy on resource allocation decisions and student outcomes. His current research includes studies of (1) the impact of performance-based incentives on student achievement and teacher turnover, mobility, and quality; (2) strategic resource-allocation decision making of schools in response to No Child Left Behind; and (3) the impact of school finance litigation on resource distribution. Professor Springer's research is currently funded by the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Texas Education Association. Professor Springer has served on several advisory committees charged with designing performance-based compensation systems for teachers and/or principals, and conducted analyses of school finance systems in Alaska, Kentucky, and South Carolina. He is a co-author of the textbook, Modern Education Finance and Policy.
HERBERT J. WALBERG, Stanford University
Herbert Walberg,
a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Stanford University Hoover Institution and a member of its Koret Task Force on K-12 Education, is Emeritus University Scholar and Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses on educational productivity and human accomplishments. In the fall of 2004, Walberg was confirmed as a member of the National Board for Education Sciences for a three-year term. Walberg joins two other Koret Task Force members in this advisory role to the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Walberg also chairs the board of directors of the Heartland Institute, an independent, nonprofit research center headquartered in Chicago. The Heartland Institute provides policy analysis to 8,500 elected government officials. Walberg joined the board of directors in 1993 and as its chair in 1995.
Walberg has written or edited more than 60 books, including Radical Education Reforms with Koret Task Force member Chester Finn. He has also written approximately 350 articles on such topics as the causes and effects of learning, teaching and instructional effectiveness, national comparisons of achievement, and educational measurement and evaluation. His articles have appeared in widely circulated journals, including Daedalus, Educational Leadership, Kappan, and Nature and in such newspapers as the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. Walberg is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Statistical Society (London), the American Psychological Association, and the Australian Association for Educational Research. Additionally, he is one of about a dozen U.S. members of the International Academy of Education and currently serves as its vice president.
Walberg earned his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Chicago and has held research posts at the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin. He previously taught at Harvard University and has been frequently called to testify before U.S. congressional committees and federal courts on educational matters.
KENNETH K. WONG, Brown University
Kenneth Wong
holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair for Education Policy and serves as the Director for the Urban Education Policy (UEP) program at Brown University. Wong is one of the nation's leading political scientists whose work focuses on issues and questions in education. He has conducted extensive research in urban school reform, charter schools, state finance and educational policies, intergovernmental relations, and federal educational policies. He was the founding director of the National Research and Development Center on School Choice, funded by a $10 million IES grant. He is the author of Funding Public Schools: Politics and Policy (1999), and City Choices: Education and Housing (1990), and a coauthor of When Federalism Works (1986). He has edited/co-edited about a dozen books. Since July 2003, he has served as an editor of the journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Further, he was the immediate past president of the Politics of Education Association. Wong earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 1983.
RON ZIMMER, RAND Corporation
Ron Zimmer
(Ph.D, Public Policy, University of Kentucky) is a policy analyst at RAND focusing his research on educational finance and school choice, in which he has published numerous articles and reports. In the past, he has led projects examining California charter schools and is currently leading a national evaluation of charter schools. He also has either lead or been part of teams that have examined Edison schools and the privatization of Philadelphia schools


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Vermont Medicaid covers the expenses of medically necessary services for qualified residents. Medical services should be specified by a doctor and provided by a Medicare approved health care agent.
Following are the services covered under Vermont Medicare:
Ambulance services are provided for patients under emergency conditions or for transportation of hospital inpatients.
These include periodic cleaning, prevention and diagnosis, root canal treatment, oral surgery for removal, replacement of teeth and dentures. Coverage of dental care services for adults is limited to certain amount per year.
This program provides wide range of services such as physical exams, lab tests, vision screening, immunizations, hearing and dental screening and health education for newborns, children and young adults.
These services include nursing facility; speech therapy, physical and occupational therapy; medical supplies and equipment suitable for home use.
Medicaid provides coverage of Hospice services to terminally ill patients for both inpatients and outpatients. These services have a maximum limit of 210 days.
This program offers long-term health care to the elderly or physically disabled residents, by the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.
These services are provided only to beneficiaries below 21 years, enrolled in Dr. Dynasaur program. The attendants providing personal care should be employed by nursing service or home health agencies.
These services are provided by professionals, including psychologists and psychiatrists by many mental health centers.
These include routine visits and check-ups, diagnostic tests and immunizations which are provided in hospital, home, office or nursing centers.
These services are meant for non-routine foot treatments such as treatment of wounds from infection and surgery for the removal of ingrown nails.
Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, in association with other organizations, provides education, prevention, treatment and recovery services.
Pharmaceutical supplies include drugs, vitamins and other items, which can be obtained from pharmacies. Covered items must be prescribed by a doctor.
Other services covered by Medicaid include audiology, acupuncture, abortion, chiropractic services, vision care, family planning and certain transportation facilities.


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Click Here for Cleaning Instructionsand to Learn More
Today's homes have casual sophistication, not a lot of do's and don'ts. This sofa has style and ease all wrapped up in a generously scaled 99'' sofa from the Paula Deen Home collection. It features details like loose border back cushions, beautiful English arms, and familiar turned wood legs. It's also got five accent pillows for a decorative touch and Paula's exclusive Down Blend seat cushions for a long-lasting, comfortable feel. This style has a special bonus feature too. It comes two different ways: first, as a standard 3 seat sofa (see style P734350BD); and second, as shown here, with an optional chaise lounge on one end that can be reversed to either side at any time! Also available is the matching loveseat, chair 1/2 and ottoman.
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