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LONDON – The founder of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, rages at the "hypocrisy" of the international community in focusing on chemical weapons and overlooking the "endless bloodbath" in war-ravaged Syria.
Day after day, from a base in the drab central English city of Coventry, the exiled Abdurrahman and his volunteers have counted the human toll of Syria's civil war ever since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
"In Syria, out of more than 120,000 people killed, 500 were killed with chemical weapons. Are these more horrendous deaths than the others?" the moustachioed Abdurrahman asked in an interview in London.
Abdurrahman, who is in his 40ss and wears a dark suit, gestures feverishly with his hands to show his frustration and disgust at the situation. "Nothing has changed at all. The clashes continue. Blood continues to be spilled and the intensity of the conflict increases," he said, speaking in Arabic through a translator. "With the focus on chemical weapons, we forget about the daily deaths of the Syrian people by shelling, tank fire, gunfire, car bombs, mortars falling on civilian areas."
President Bashar Assad last month offered to give up Syria's chemical weapons in a Russian-brokered deal aimed at staving off a possible Western military strike.
But Abdurrahman says that according to his figures, the conflict is still killing 4,000 to 5,000 people a month, from soldiers, militia members and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters to rebels, jihadis and civilians.
The Observatory's gruesome tally is followed by all major international news organizations and by foreign governments, with journalists increasingly staying away from Syria because it is too dangerous.
"The regime commits dozens of atrocities every day," said Abdurrahman, but he added that the other side is also responsible for war crimes, as al-Qaida-affiliated groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Al-Nusra Front try to establish an "alternative dictatorship."
Many of the pictures and videos of the conflict that the Observatory has collated on its website are so gruesome they are almost unwatchable.
'We document, verify and report'
From dawn until late at night, Abdurrahman is glued to the telephone. When there is a major incident, he will deal with two calls at the same time, a phone to each ear.
During his interview he took some 20 calls, while his phone pinged constantly with the sound of email alerts.
The former businessman has been exiled from Syria since 2000 and set up the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in 2006. He says the organization has "230 activists within its structure — teachers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, as well as news provided by more than 5,000 people across the country." They include officials from the Assad regime, soldiers, rebels and jihadis, he says. Six of them have already been killed.
The Observatory has to sift the facts from propaganda and disinformation. Accuracy is vital, given accusations from some quarters that the group is, variously, a Qatari mouthpiece, an agent of Western powers and a part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Our objective is to release the truth about what is happening in Syria. We document, we verify and we report," Abdurrahman said. "Our only agenda is defending human rights and reaching a democratic state."
He says they have to be as accurate as possible in compiling the details of the violence, whether it is a deadly blast in southern Deraa province, a rebel assault on Aleppo's central jail, fights between rebel groups, the burning of Catholic churches or the destruction of a statue deemed idolatrous by the Islamists.
'I have two children — the Observatory and my daughter'
In recent months Abdurrahman says he has had to step up security.
"Because of the constant threat by jihadists, by the regime militias, by the regime itself and by warlords, I had to take extra precautionary measures."
With his work for the Observatory taking up most of his time, he has left his day job of running a clothes shop to his wife. His family life has also suffered.
"I don't have time. My wife takes care of the shop. I don't have time for my daughter, who is 7," he said. "I have two children — the Observatory and my daughter. Possibly, she was neglected."
"I might look like I haven't had much sleep and I have all kinds of illnesses, but our suffering is nothing compared to the sufferings of our people in Syria," he added.
Born in Baniyas to a Sunni family, the Assad regime locked Abdurrahman up three times for links to Amnesty International before he finally fled.
"Since I was young, I have always dreamed of democracy and freedom from oppression. Hopefully one day I will see that."
But the immediate future is bleak, he says. "If the situation continues, if there's no changes, I see only civil war. I see Somalization and a new Afghanistan."


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The Pacific FC Lightning GU 13 soccer team is advancing to the Nor Cal State Cup Gold 1 Division Finals next weekend with wins over Heritage Soccer Club Pride and Cal Blues.
In the quarter finals match the Lightning went 0 – 0 with Heritage during regulation time. During golden goal overtime Alexis Abraca scored the game winner on a cross from Whitney Devine. Delaney Dietz and Corrin Clemons had standout performances. Sabrina Searls had a shutout performance in the goal.
In the semi finals match the Lightning beat Cal Blues 3-0. Goals were scored by Whitney Devine, Bailey Franklin and Mia Niemantsverdriet. Amber Feng had an assist. The defense was anchored by standout performances by Camille Ramirez and Katie Musgrave. Sabrina Searls had another shutout performance in the goal.
This is the third year in a row the Lightning has reached the Nor Cal State Cup Championship game.

subset: commoncrawl


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One of the biggest and most relevant victims of this "global economic downturn" (at least to us) was Circuit City. The electronics chain closed its doors late last year, but its Web site has recently re-opened, showing that the company, at least in name, is not dead yet.
Circuit City is back from the dead
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Mon May 25, 2009 2:34 PM
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Sony's Online Entertainment division is rebounding itself to a sustainable strength after the Sony PSN attack that massively took down the Sony's PSN bringing it to a state of dormancy and inaccessibility for weeks together.
This clearly is one of the biggest online disasters as PSN users lie crippled and cut-off from their online entertainment arena and the blissful online multi-player gaming and content-downloads store.
Sony has been trying to restore its services and will continue to offer the plethora of services through the PSN once its back to a state of normalcy, which isn't entirely possible very soon as Sony is testing the new system for security and strength against any vulnerabilities or threats in the infrastructural design.
Meanwhile, Sony has released an infographic (a flyer was given to the press attendees on May 1st) that explains how actually the Sony PlayStation Network was hacked and the accounts of the unsuspecting PSN users were compromised.


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Model Mayhem Admin
Frances ParkModel Female London, England, United Kingdom
My MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/francespark
Mayhem # 118207
About Me
Im a dancer and model looking to get some new exciting photos for my portfolio....currently in Thessaloniki so shout me if you are! Looking for a fashion and more dramatic look also interested in body shapes etc....
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Photograpic - Fig Leaves lingerie model
Face of breast cancer dual wrist bands campaign
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T.V - Gwynneth Paltrows body double - Clockwork Films
Gymtronix Ab Advance advert, CJ Stones 'Dont Look Back' music video- IDP
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Nathalie Keryan
When petty thief Olivier (Gerard Depardieu) breaks into an apartment and unexpectedly stumbles into an S and M dungeon, he's stunned. But even more surprising, when he meets Ariane, the dominatrix (Bulle Ogier) who owns the flat, the two hit it off. Soon, the mismatched couple is going at it full swing, with the sexually assertive Ariane schooling her new friend in the ins and outs of her kinky profession.


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Nearly half of all workers cash out 401(k) savings when they change jobs even though they have to pay personal income tax and a ten percent penalty for early withdrawal.
401(k) at old job? Don't cash out! - CBS News
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:20 AM
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Jersey Mike's 'Day Of Giving' Benefits Tyler and Longview Non-Profits
You can be supporting great East Texas non-profits when you head out for lunch this afternoon. All four East Texas Jersey Mike's Subs locations are donating 100% of their sales today to better our community. Today's big fund raising day wraps up a month long campaign for giving.
Today's give back day will benefit the following East Texas non-profits:
CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children – Tyler locations
Feeding Locals – Longview locations
The give back begins at 10a and goes until close at 9p. Participating East Texas Jersey Mike's Subs locations are:
4754 S. Broadway (Macy's Plaza) – Tyler
1690 S. Beckham (@ Fifth St.) – Tyler
2199 Gilmer Rd. – Longview
3312 N. 4th St. – Longview
With your healthy appetite along with others in East Texas, we can generate quite a bit of money to support these non-profits with thanks to Jersey Mike's Subs.


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Bay-Scallop Ceviche with Melon Pearls
In ceviche, seafood marinates in lemon or lime juice, which turns it firm and opaque, eliminating the need for cooking. Serve this version, made with scallops and tiny balls of sweet honeydew and cantaloupe, in scallop shells or inner leaves of Boston or Bibb lettuce.
- Servings: 8
Source: Martha Stewart Living, July/August 1996
- 1/2 pound tiny bay scallops, muscles removed, or sea scallops, halved
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 honeydew melon, seeds removed
- 1/3 cantaloupe, seeds removed
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper, or less to taste, sliced into paper-thin rounds
- 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
Toss together scallops, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate until scallops are opaque to the center, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Meanwhile, working over a bowl to collect juice and using a 1/4-inch (or smallest possible) melon baller, make 2/3 cup melon balls from each melon. Add melon balls, juices, jalapeno, and cilantro to scallops. Toss well to combine, and serve.


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NEW YORK – British artist Banksy has donated a "vandalized" oil painting to a New York thrift shop to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for HIV patients and the homeless.
It was the latest stunt in the graffiti superstar's monthlong pop-up New York street exhibition, which has fascinated hipsters and enraged critics.
Bought from and donated back to a charity shop run by Housing Works, which provides life-saving services to the homeless and HIV/AIDS patients, an online bidding war was fought for the painting. Bids opened at $74,000, with some people expecting them to reach $1 million, on the site www.biddingforgood.com.
The price jumped by several hundred thousand dollars in the final moments, and the painting sold for $615,000 on Thursday evening. The identity of the buyer was not immediately known.
Artwork by the England-based graffiti maestro, who has never been formally identified, can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars in upmarket galleries.
Rebecca Edmondson, public relations director at Housing Works, described the gift as "pretty exciting" and said all money raised would go to its charity programs.
"We're constantly, constantly looking for funding . . . so anytime we get something so unexpected, so generous that can provide such immediate help . . . that's always just a real gift to all of us and to our clients," she said.
The gift was dropped off anonymously at the Housing Works store in chic Gramercy Park where two months earlier a customer had bought the original canvas for $50.
To the landscape of a lake, snow-capped mountains and autumnal trees, Banksy painted in a bench and a Nazi soldier sitting with his back to the viewer.
He renamed the picture "The Banality of the Banality of Evil," and under the signature of the original artist, "K. Sager," he added his own "Banksy" flourish.
It has been hung back in the Housing Works shop on East 23rd Street.
Edmondson said Housing Works had no idea who originally bought the painting but said a woman returned it Tuesday morning.
"Pretty much simultaneously, someone from the Banksy team contacted our visual team, which does our stores and windows, to let us know that it was authentic."
It was Banksy's intention to auction it off, Edmondson said.
Housing Works, one of the biggest grass-roots aid organizations in New York, sees it as Banksy's way of donating something of benefit for people in the city.
"We're now (at) more than $200,000. A couple of art folks have said to us this could go for a million. Already we're happy," Edmondson said before the auction closed.
Banksy posted photographs of the painting on his website, www.banksyny.com, and his Instagram account, which each day announces his pop-up exhibition.


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Chaim Grade
|Chaim Grade
1968 dust jacket photograph
April 4, 1910
Vilnius, Lithuania
|26 April 1982
(aged 72)
The Bronx, New York
|Writer, Poet
|Notable works
Chaim Grade (April 4, 1910 – April 26, 1982) was one of the leading Yiddish writers of the twentieth century.
Grade was born in Vilnius, Lithuania (at the time occupied by the Russian Empire) and died in The Bronx, New York. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Saddle Brook, NJ)
Grade was raised Orthodox-leaning, and he studied in yeshiva as a teenager, but ended up with a secular outlook, in part from his poetic ambitions. Losing his family in the Holocaust, he resettled in New York, and increasingly took to fiction, writing in Yiddish. Initially he was reluctant to have his work translated.[1][2]
He was praised by Elie Wiesel as "one of the great—if not the greatest—of living Yiddish novelists."[3]
Chaim Grade, the son of Shlomo Mordecai Grade, a Hebrew teacher and maskil (advocate of the Haskalah, the European Jewish Enlightenment), received a secular as well as Jewish religious education. He studied for several years with Reb Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, the Chazon Ish (1878–1953), one of observant Judaism's great Torah scholars. In 1932, Grade began publishing stories and poems in Yiddish, and in the early 1930s was among the founding members of the "Young Vilna" experimental group of artists and writers. He developed a reputation as one of the city's most articulate literary interpreters.
He fled the German invasion of Vilnius in World War II and sought refuge in the Soviet Union. In the Holocaust he lost his wife Frumme-Liebe (daughter of the Rabbi of Glebokie) and his mother Vella Grade Rosenthal (daughter of Rabbi Rafael Blumenthal). When the war ended, he lived briefly in Poland and France before relocating to the United States in 1948.
Grade's second wife Inna (née Hecker) translated a number of his books into English; she died in New York City on May 2, 2010.
Grade's postwar poetry is primarily concerned with Jewish survival in the wake of the Holocaust.
Grade's most highly acclaimed novels, The Agunah (1961, tr. 1974) and The Yeshiva (2 vol., 1967–68, tr. 1976–7), deal with the philosophical and ethical dilemmas of Jewish life in prewar Lithuania, particularly dwelling on the Novardok Mussar movement. These two works were translated from the original Yiddish into English by Curt Leviant.
Grade's short story, "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner," describes the chance meeting of a Holocaust survivor with an old friend from the mussar Yeshiva. The narrator has lost his faith, while the friend has continued to lead a pious and devoted religious life. The former friends debate the place of religion in the postmodern world. The story has been made into a film, The Quarrel and a play.[4]
While less famous than Isaac Bashevis Singer or Sholem Aleichem, Chaim Grade is considered among the foremost stylists in Yiddish. His work is now hard to find in English.
Literary estate[edit]
His papers were very numerous and consumed much space of the apartment he shared with his wife Inna in the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative in the Northwest Bronx. The public administrator of his papers, Bonnie Gould, made requests to several institutions, including Harvard University and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research to assist in cataloging Grade's papers.[5] As of August 31, 2010, the papers have been transferred to YIVO offices, for sorting.[6]
In 2013 the Public Administrator of Bronx County awarded the YIVO Institute and the National Library of Israel rights to the estate. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the assets of the estate will be permanently housed at YIVO in New York City. Materials will be shared and made available to the National Library of Israel once its new building opens in Jerusalem in 2017. YIVO and the National Library of Israel have agreed to digitize the entire archive and make it accessible online.[7]
- Fiction
- "Mayn krig mit Hersh Raseyner" ("My Quarrel With Hersh Rasseyner") 1951. Translated in A Treasury of Yiddish Stories. Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg, eds. New York: Viking Press, 1954.
- Der shulhoyf 1958. Includes
- Reb Nokhemel der Malve.
- Shrifrele.
- Der brunem Translated, The Well, Philadelphia: JPS, 1967.
- Di agune 1961. Translated, The Agunah, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974. ISBN 0-672-51954-2
- Tsemakh Atlas [a name] (2 volumes) 1967-68. Translated, The Yeshiva, 'Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1976-77. ISBN 0-672-52344-2
- Di kloyz un di gas (Synagogue and Street) 1974. Translated, Rabbis and Wives, New York: Knopf, 1982. ISBN 0-8052-0840-2 (Republished as The Sacred and The Profane).
- Der shtumer minyen (The Silent Minyan) 1976. Short stories. Untranslated.
- Memoir
- Der mames shabosim, 1955. Translated, My Mother's Sabbath Days, New York: Knopf, 1986. ISBN 0-394-50980-3. Portion republished in The Seven Little Lanes. New York: Bergen Belsen Memorial Press, 1972, which contains the texts "On strange soil," "The seven lanes of the Vilna ghetto," and the story "My quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner."
- Serialized stories published in Yiddish newspapers
- Froyen fun geto (Women of the Ghetto) c. 1960's. Published in Forverts.
- Beys harov (The Rabbi's House) c. 1960's-70's. Published in Der Tog and Forverts.
- Fun unter der erd (From Under the Earth) c. 1980-82. Uncompleted serialized novel published in Forverts.
- Poetry
- Yo (Yes). 1935.
- Musernikes (Musarists). 1939.
- Doyres (Generations). 1945. Contains poems in Yo and Musarnikes.
- On the Ruins. 1947.
- Pleytim (Refugees). 1947.
- Farvoksene vegn (Overgrown Paths). 1947.
- Der mames tsavoe (My Mother's Will). 1949.
- Shayn fun farloshene shtern (The Glow of Extinguished Stars). 1950. Translated in "The Golden Peacock: A Worldwide Treasury of Yiddish Poetry", Ed. Joseph Leftwich, 1961.
- Poem about the Soviet Yiddish Writers. 1962. Published in "An Anthology of Modern Yiddish Literature", Ed. Joseph Leftwich, 1974.
- Der mentsh fun fayer (The Man of Fire). 1962. Translated in "An Anthology of Modern Yiddish Poetry", Ed. Ruth Whitman, 1966.
- Parchment Earth. 1968.
- Af mayn veg tsu dir (On My Way to You). 1969.
- ^ Shepherd, Richard F. (July 1, 1982). "Chaim Grade, Yiddish Novelist and Poet on the Holocaust, Dies". New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ Grade found most translators did not understand Orthodoxy and Orthodox use of Yiddish. Leviant, Curt (2011). "Translating and Remembering Chaim Grade". Jewish Review of Books.
- ^ "Review of The Agunah". The New York Times Book Review. September 1, 1974.
- ^ http://www.thequarreltheplay.com/Play.html
- ^ Beekman, Daniel (August 15, 2010). "Writing of legendary Yiddish author Chaim Grade could become trash in hands of Bronx bureaucrats". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- ^ Joseph Berger, "Researchers Start Job of Sorting Out Yiddish Writer's Papers," "New York Times," August 31, 2010 http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/researchers-start-job-of-sorting-out-yiddish-writers-papers/
- ^ YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The YIVO Institute and the National Library of Israel Jointly Acquire the Estate of the Late Yiddish Writer, Chaim Grade. 12 Feb. 2013. Web. http://www.yivo.org/about/index.php?tid=154&aid=1145.
Further reading[edit]
- Colby, Vineta (ed). World Authors, 1975-1980
- Kerbel, Sorrel (ed). Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century


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*FINISHED* Kayleigh Rims is 17and is abused by her...
Liam's Girl
- by Abby_Louise1224
- Rating:
- Published: 31 Dec 2013
- Updated: 28 Jul 2015
- Status: In Progress
Liam's Girl: Jessie and Liam have been best friends since birth. During One Directions winter break (2 1/2 months off) they are staying at Jessie's place. All but one of the guys have their eye on Jessie. But, Jessie has her eye on one... her best friend. But does he like her back?
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I have a couple of questions regarding sales tax.
What is the correct method for calculating sales tax for a US based business/website - by entire order total or by individual line item (i.e. order subtotal * tax rate versus sum(line item * tax rate))? From everything I've seen, it's by order total, not by line. Can anyone confirm?
If you're calculating sales tax based on order total, when issuing a return do you simply recalculate tax based on the remaining order total, after subtracting the return, and then take original tax - new tax and refund the different along with the line item(s) being returned?
If a sales tax rate is changed for a given area/zip code and a return is being issued, would you refund the customer based on the sales tax rate of when the order was purchased, or the sales tax rate that is currently in effect at the time of the return? (I'm assuming it would be based on the rate when the order was originally purchased)
The total order. I should add, however, that shipping may or may not be taxable, all depending upon the state (nothing like every state making up its own rules, is there?).
No matter which way you go, the most you are going to be off is one cent here. If you want to do it the correct way, though, you would refund the difference between the portion of the order that was kept (plus tax) and what was returned. In other words, if the total on a $100 order was $107 including tax (7%) and a customer returned a pre-tax $40 item, the new total would be $60 + 7% tax = $64.20. Subtract $64.20 from the original amount ($107) and the refund would be $42.80. (I don't think I have had to do this EVER!)
When the order was purchased.


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I love Julier Bugge on the cover of Husk, one of the emerging magazines I'm most fascinated by. It brought back to mind this interview I had done with Julier for the latest issue of Spur. I had to transcribe it sitting on a bench in The Louvre under serious deadline. Re-reading it now , I appreciate how Julier represents maximum relevancy as a current and contemporary taste-point in beauty .
Julier Bugge
Julier Bugge's Maximum RelevancySubmitted by Wayne on Mon, 2012-11-12 19:24.
2PM: WHERE AESTHETICS MEETS ETHICSSubmitted by Wayne on Wed, 2012-08-08 16:12.
Next Generation from Peter Damgaard on Vimeo.
As Copenhagen Fashion Week SS 13 cycles up today for its 6 day spin, TI's spotlight swings towards 2pm, The Copenhagen based management company founded in 1999 by Peter Damgaard and Michelle Jensen. On my visit earlier this summer I had wound my way to the courtyard offices of 2pm and found it an oasis of thoughtfulness crossed with great taste. During an al fresco lunch with Peter and his team of managers I was struck by the entirely holistic bent of 2pm's enterprise. There was something clean and fresh and modern in the merger of commerce and conscience that struck me as being so timely as to signal a future way of managing the new ideas emerging around fashion itself. After 10 years of being completely entrenched in the New York City way of model management, I was really moved by the display of critical intelligence welling up on a mother agent level. The true story, as Peter communicated , was not centralized, but thoroughly globalized and as such I followed up a few weeks later with the lingering questions our initial meeting triggered. This is what Mr Damgaard had to say.


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Last night, Lady Gaga performed as Jo Calderone at the VMAs. A few weeks ago, we met Jo on the You and I single album cover. At the time, it was clear that Gaga recognized gender as a performance. But during Jo's monologue before his performance of "You and I," he reveals his desire for Gaga to be real, at least with him. He also relays Gaga's response, "Jo, I'm not real, I'm theater, and you and I, this is just rehearsal." Because Jo is literally part of Gaga's persona and not a separate person, the voicing of Jo's desire for Gaga to be "real" and Gaga's response become really interesting in terms of gender fluidity and identity, and their relation to performance.
Gaga's proclamation, "You and I, this is just rehearsal," is key. Not only does it indicate performance and a relational connection between "you" and "I" (the two genders of Jo and Gaga), it also indicates that this performance is just practice, that something else will come of it. I don't mean to suggest that Gaga has plans in the works that would produce some kind of finalized "product" of gender melding or splicing. A finalized "product" is not the point, and is also contemporarily more utopian than realistic.
What I am suggesting, however, is that in labeling this performance as a "rehearsal," Gaga/Jo recognizes the potential for new formulations in the future of gender performance/production that press/shift boundaries in ways we can't begin to estimate.
What do you think of Gaga/Jo's performance and monologue? Did you notice the close-ups of some of the audience members? What do you think their impressions were? How are they the same or different from your own?


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Christmas Week Cruise: Eurodam Cruise Review by nhwelber
Overall Member Rating
Christmas Week Cruise
Destination: Eastern Caribbean
Embarkation: Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
One caveat about this review: We tend to be very easygoing. That means that things that might bother others don't bother us.
We were very impressed with the Eurodam and Holland-America. We arrived around 1:30 and it was crowded More at the port. It was somewhat chaotic for us because we were missing one piece of luggage and we had to go shopping to outfit my husband before coming to the ship (we arrived the night before - highly recommended for a winter cruise coming from a northern climate and a snowstorm). My girls and I were tearing apart shopping bags and putting the clothes into a new duffel at the port. Everyone was understanding. There was a long line to embark but it kept moving. This is in contrast to other experiences we have had on other lines. The wait didn't bother as long as the line kept moving.
We were able to get into our rooms immediately and some of our bags were already there when we arrived. (Alas we never got the lost bad and we had Delta ship it back to Detroit - the front desk was great about helping us with it as was our travel insurance company. The travel insurance made the lost bag a good story to tell. We recommend buying the insurance.) We had adjoining staterooms on the 8th deck with verandas. We had booked guaranteed staterooms in the front of the ship with the possibility of an upgrade. We definitely got the upgrade and ended up just below the Lido deck and just aft of mid-ship.
The staterooms were quite spacious and had a lot of storage. In addition to the drawers under the bed, we had storage above our couch, although our daughters' room did not have this extra cabinet. We also discovered that the closets could be converted to allow for more shelf space and less hanging space because some of the shelves folded up. They also give you plenty of wooden hangers. One tip: if you don't use them all and it gets rocky one night, put them on the floor of the closet or they will tap as the ship sways and you may not be able to sleep.
The furniture in our room was very comfortable, including on our veranda. We were docked across from a Princess ship in St. Maarten and it was clear that the furniture on our verandas was much nicer than on the Princess ship. The lighting in the room was a little odd, although I really loved the reading lights over the bed that could be adjusted to many positions.
The room was extremely quiet. We never heard sound from either adjacent room or in the halls. Our daughter asked if we could hear the music she was playing for an hour one evening. Not a note. Likewise, I was concerned that it might be noisy being just below the pool or the Lido buffet. The only time it was a problem was when the ship was rocky and something was making a noise from above. It wasn't so loud that we couldn't sleep.
The only true complaint was that the room didn't have a clock. If you want a clock, bring one with you.
The bathroom was the best we have seen on a cruise. It was nice to have a tub and the water pressure was incredible with excellent fixtures in the shower.
In general, since the ship is brand new, everything looks fresh. We thought the furnishings around the ship were very well done. Very classy. Not glitzy but comfortable with a contemporary feel. We found all of the common areas to be done in relaxing hues and with furniture that was inviting and comfortable. Check out the art on the ship. The contemporary art is quite interesting. In addition, look at the photos the old Holland-America ships. It was poignant for me. My grandfather came to the U.S. on the Noordam in 1903. It was not so luxurious for him. I think he would have approved of the upgrade.
We thought the food was wonderful and we are usually pretty critical of cruise food. It was some of the best food we have had on a cruise and it was very consistent.
We ate breakfast and most lunches in the Lido buffet. At breakfast, be sure to check out the specialties of the day in the "entree" line and in the omelet line. You can have Eggs Benedict served in about 6 varieties daily. The muesli is great if you like that (I do). The orange juice is fresh-squeezed. The only disappointment is that they do not have a great variety of fruit. We were all hoping to have tropical fruits like guava, papaya and mango each day at breakfast and, as far as I know, they never had them. Not that we ever went hungry.
One thing that we found out during the cruise, is that in the Explorations lounge on the 11th deck, they have cinnamon buns everyday that are like Cinnabons. Unreal. And on our cruise they did a cooking demonstration for the cinnamon buns and gave out the recipe.
We did not eat in the dining room for lunch. We did eat at the grill on deck and they have every type of burger you could want (including fish and lamb). Really good. In the Lido they have a great salad bar every day and a good sandwich bar. They had hot entrees that were good. But we like eating the daily variety of Asian food that they served. I knew it was good when I saw members of the crew eating it for lunch since you know that the menu doesn't vary much week to week.
The Lido is open pretty much all of the time for snacks like ice cream and dessert and other items like Mexican food and Italian food. On the last night they had mussels on the hot bar at about 5 pm. They were one of the best things I ate that week. One thing that's great is they don't nickel and dime you on the food. The ice cream was all free. Not so on other ships. Also, most nights they had a late night snack in the buffet. I think we went once or twice, although mostly to look, since I'm a bit of a "foodie", I wanted to see what they were serving, even if I didn't partake.
We ate dinner in the dining room each night and we thought the food was excellent for a cruise. There was nothing that anyone ordered that wasn't at least very good and most was excellent. The lamb chops and prime rib were served as ordered and were as good as in any steak house. They had special menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas (as well as a special midnight buffet on Christmas Eve)and they were very good with items like goose and pheasant on Christmas Eve and Filet Mignon and lobster tail on Christmas. The evening we were in Tortola we opted to eat at the barbeque on deck which was a nice break from the heavy meals, not that we lacked for anything to eat that evening either.
We had "as you wish" dining. We enjoyed it and ended up eating pretty close to what would be second seating, as it turned out. You could reserve a time to eat each night and if you want to do that, I recommend doing that when you get on the ship to be sure you get the time and the table size you want. We would have liked to have shared our table with other people so we could meet people. We were only able to do that once. If you want to do that, tell them when you make reservations that you have, say, four in your party but you would like to sit at a table for eight.
We did eat at the Pinnacle Grill one night. It is absolutely worth the upcharge. We thought it compared more than favorably with the upscale steakhouses that are in major cities. It was clearly the best meal we had on the ship. We didn't eat at Tamarind, although we heard only mixed reviews from those who had.
During the day, we very much enjoyed being on deck. The ship was full but there were plenty of deck chairs. We don't use the pool that much so we couldn't comment. The hot tubs were fine. The one curious thing was that the pool that had the cabanas and the padded deck chairs was the family pool. On other ships, that was the adult pool. There were so few kids, it didn't really matter. It was different from our experience on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.
This ship doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that other cruise ships have. Our younger daughter said she would rather go without the rock wall that she might climb once in favor of nicer amenities on the ship. That sums up the Eurodam quite well.
One amenity that I really enjoyed was the Culinary Arts Center. I really liked the Food Network-style cooking demonstrations. It was part of the reason we chose this ship. Get to the demos on time. They are pretty short, maybe half an hour. A good break from the sun on a sea day.
We also spent a lot of time in the gym. It was a very good facility and it generally had more than enough equipment, except maybe the first morning. The equipment was high quality and all of it worked. The sap was nice, although we didn't pay to use the pools that were available. Those who did said they were great.
At night we went to the shows. The shows were a bit over-produced for our taste - a lot of special effects that sometimes got in the way of the singing. The theater is very nice. Again, very comfortable, not glitzy, but classy in its style. Our girls went to the club each night to hang out with the other 20- somethings. (Be sure they carry ID. They carded and they wouldn't always rely on the ship room key pass to see if they were over 21 - which they both are.) We also went to the Piano Bar a lot. We weren't fond of the layout of that room since there weren't many seats around the piano and the others were somewhat distant. However, it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Bob has left the ship by now so they should have a new "piano man" who will hopefully be as much fun as Bob.
We thought the service on the ship was outstanding. The crew had a very positive attitude and were great from top to bottom. I'm not sure that Shane, the cruise director, ever sleeps. It's clear that the captain and have set a good tone for the crew. The crew is very engaging and hard-working. We liked that we actually had a team of two cabin stewards who were very efficient and friendly. They actually knew one another in Indonesia. The other aspect we think is terrific is that most of the service crew is either from Indonesia or the Philippines. We thought that having only two cultures made for a more cohesive team and that there were few cultural problems among the crew members, especially since it is clear that the anyone regardless of their background could be a waiter or a steward. On other ships, people of different nationalities were stratified into certain jobs and we found that offensive. On Holland-America, they celebrate the cultures by serving food from Indonesia and the Philippines and by having a crew show, our week, by the Indonesian crew.
One other touch that was nice. It was Chanukah the week we were on the ship. Each night the arranged for a menorah so we could have a candle-lighting and they served potato latkes (with incredibly good applesauce) as is traditional. They also gave out Chanukah gelt (chocolate candy) and dreidels (traditional tops) one evening. A lot of people went each night for the candle-lighting.
We didn't do any shore excursions, although we signed up to parasail but it was too windy. In general, we weren't interested in what they offered on this cruise.
We really liked the itinerary because we had two full days at sea and then two half days between Grand Turk and Tortola. If you like to be on the ship, this itinerary is a really good mix.
Finally, I enjoyed the Walk for the Cure for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It was also a very nice touch.
All in all, I would highly recommend this ship. However, if we were to go back when it wasn't a a holiday, we would probably travel with friends just to be sure that we aren't the only ones under 70 on the ship. Less
Published 01/08/09
Cabin review: ?
Very quiet. Lots of storage but you may have to look for some of it under the bed or in fold-out shelves. Bring your own clock.
Port and Shore Excursions
I would say that if you're not going diving, this isn't a great port. Nice beach but not much else going on. The rest of the Caicos are really where the resorts are.
One tip: If you go to Orient Bay, the taxi drivers will drop you at the most expensive beach where beach chairs and an umbrella are $25 for two. Walk down the beach a little to get better deals.
Read Cruise Critic's Eurodam Review >>
Never Disappoints
Sorry to report
A very pleasant surprise
July 4th in Alaska
Alaska Cruise
The Good and the Bad
Alaska Cruise
Awesome cruise
Great scenery and service, but...
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[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[Author Index]
Another strange cursor behavior in 6.0
I get a stange cursor behavior in editing an Input cell when I use Enter
(for a new line) in combination with something else (of which I am not
certain, maybe when there is a red comma in the syntax) and the cursor jumps
to a new Input cell above the cell I was originally working in. Using
Windows 32-bit Vista.
David Park
djmpark at comcast.net


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By Kathryn Watson | Watchdog.org, Virginia Bureau
ALEXANDRIA — Voting Tuesday? Some groups in Virginia are trying to find out, and in some cases they will share your information.
The State Board of Elections has received complaints from Virginians who say the Democratic Party of Virginia, the left-leaning Voter Participation Center and the conservative Americans for Prosperity have sent mailings that could be seen as intrusive and intimidating efforts to get out the vote.
"The chart below shows your household's public voting record in past elections as well as an empty space which we will fill to indicate if you vote in this year's election on Tuesday, November 5th," reads one letter, identified as coming from the Democratic Party of Virginia. "We intend to mail you an updated chart after the election that will show whether or not you voted. We will leave the space blank if you do not vote."
A letter from the Voter Participation Center compares a resident's past voting history with "your community." Your voting score is "BELOW AVERAGE," reads one "voting report card" marked from the VPC and obtained by Watchdog.org. The Americans for Prosperity letter concludes with, "After the election, we will re-evaluate your voting record and hope to share it with your neighbors to see if there is improvement," said Nikki Sheridan, confidential policy adviser for the State Board of Elections, quoting the letter.
Sheridan confirmed the complaints.
The Democratic Party of Virginia and Americans for Prosperity did not respond to Watchdog.org's requests for comment. But the VPC did.
"The Voter Participation Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing the participation of unmarried women and other historically underrepresented groups in our democracy," the VPC said in a statement emailed to Watchdog.org. "We want to make sure as many Virginia residents as possible participate in our democracy. In some of our mailings, we use publicly available information to show voters how often they vote as compared to other voters in the state. This letter is meant as a reminder, and a suggestion, to get to the polls."
Who votes in what election is public information with the State Board of Elections. Who someone votes for is not.
The League of Conservation Voters Education Fund also dispersed a letter, saying: "The Virginia State Board of Elections official voting records are public information that show whether you cast a ballot, but not who you voted for," a letter marked from the LCV and obtained by Watchdog.org reads.
The SBE received no complaints about the league's letter.
All of the groups are technically nonpartisan, but they have political leanings. The League of Conservation Voters has given more than $1.6 million to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe this year, and the Voter Participation Center has come under fire for some of its extensive voter registration strategies. AFP hasn't been financially involved in this year's state races, but its political arm did pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign ads against Barack Obama last year.
Pressuring voters by mail isn't new. Moveon.org sent similar letters to voters in the November 2012 election. It's a strategy that works — especially when social pressure is involved.
In a study of Michigan voters during the 2008 election cycle, three political scientists sent four different mailers to groups of potential voters.
"The general finding was that as we ratcheted up the amount of social pressure, the effect on turnout went up," one of the study's authors, Christopher Larimer, a political scientist with the University of Northern Iowa, told Watchdog.org. "And it went up significantly."
The first letter simply informed them of their civic duty to vote. The second letter informed residents they were being studied for voter turnout. The third letter told residents that whether they voted was public record and showed a list of the voting history of everyone in the household for the past two election cycles. The fourth letter listed everything in third, but it also indicated whether neighbors had voted.
"The idea was you would know whether or not your neighbors voted, and they would know whether or not you voted," Larimer said.
It worked.
Residents who received the third mailer with household information were five percentage points more likely to vote than Michiganders who received no such letter in the mail. And those who received the mailer with data on neighbors voting were eight percentage points more likely to vote than those not sent a similar letter.
"This was a pretty cheap and easy way to get a big increase in turnout," Larimer said.
Kathryn Watson is an investigative reporter for Watchdog.org's Virginia Bureau, and can be reached at [email protected].


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Indiana Ready to Cut Planned Parenthood Funding?
Indiana Ready to Cut Planned Parenthood Funding?
703 results for 'cuts'. Showing results 577 - 594
Indiana Ready to Cut Planned Parenthood Funding?
Sen. Paul's Budget Cut Plan: Nothing's 'Off Limits'
Drivers Look to Cut Corners as Gas Prices Rise
House Passes $6T Budget Cut Plan
Obama, GOP Square Off over Deficit Plan
Budget Deficit: Will Obama's Plan Work?
Obama's Deficit Cutting Plan Starts with Tax Increases
As Clock Ticks, Can Gov't Shutdown be Avoided?
Prison Chaplains May Be Cut from Texas Budget
Tea Party to GOP: Budget Cuts Not Deep Enough
Budget Talks to Avoid Gov't Shutdown Resume
Americans' Tax Cuts Going into Gas Tanks
Tempers Flare as Budget Deadline Looms
Thousands in Britain Protest Spending Cuts
House Votes to Cut NPR Funding amid Scandal
Union Debate: Taxpayers Getting a Fair Shake?
Saudis Vow to 'Cut Off Any Finger' of Opposition
Wis. Senate Cuts Union's Bargaining Rights


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From the Pre-Crime Division comes this fun bit of news for you bike-riding fitness freaks:
From the Pre-Crime Division comes this fun bit of news for you bike-riding fitness freaks:
This kinetic sculpture by artist Ron Shroer in Jacksonville, Florida combines a pedal-powered Jansen's linkage walking mechanism with a wooden penny-farthing style wheel. Boneshaker Big Wheel 2014 incarnation from Ron Schroer on Vimeo. On his One Spark project page, Shroer writes "I'm just a boring old fart who, after going through chemo, realized if I read more »
Do you remember my excitement yesterday over the possible restoration of bus service to Big Basin Redwoods State Park and Waddell Beach? That excitement might be premature. Budgetary juggling at the Federal and regional level may end up leaving Santa Cruz METRO a little short of cash.
Behold the United States of bike sharing! Bike symbols are active bike share programs, question marks are planned or proposed systems, and red triangles are defunct bike share systems. View The Bike-sharing World Map in a larger map
Larry Banuelo builds these amazing kinetic sculptures with wood in San Jose, California.
Video captures cyclists on Chicago's Lake Shore bike path washed out to Lake Michigan as huge waves pound the popular commute route last Friday.


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Wes Larsen
Clay Marzo: Just Add Water
Directed by Jamie Tierney, this absorbing documentary chronicles the story of 18-year-old surfing phenom Clay Marzo (nicknamed the "Rubber-Band Man") and his struggle with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. Interviews with physicians and competitors such as Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds, Andy Irons, C.J. Hobgood and Tom Curren are interspersed with eye-popping footage of Marzo wave riding in Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii, Spain and Australia.


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Juicy Couture - Faux-Fur Bomber Jacket
i'm so obsessed with fur coats right now because of 'the rachel zoe project.' this one is faux, so no guilt is involved.
my new fashion inspiration, rachel zoe, recently wore a very similar dolce & gabbana dress. i like hers a bit better, but this scarf dress is nice too.Tags: fashion, style, dresses, scarves, dolceandgabbana, rachel zoe, multi print, mixed printAdded 9 Years Ago from eLuxury


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By Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY
In the past year, Hawthorne Heights often felt like screaming.
But the band had lost its screamer.
When guitarist and vocalist Casey Calvert died from an interaction of prescription drugs on the band's tour bus in November 2007, his loss devastated the group musically as well as personally. Calvert played primal foil to sweet-voiced singer JT Woodruff, Calvert's guttural screams giving voice to the churning internal emotions that Woodruff's lyrics only suggested.
When the surviving members chose to continue as a four-piece group rather than replace Calvert, it meant abandoning a distinctive feature.
"We're pretty much not the same band now," says Woodruff, 30. "We've had to figure out different ways to write and different ways to keep our music interesting."
Naturally, Hawthorne Heights' new album, Fragile Future, marks a shift in the band's sound. With heavier reliance on Woodruff's melodies, it's more easily accessible than the group's two previous albums, 2004's platinum-plus The Silence in Black and White and 2006's If Only You Were Lonely. Fragile Future sold more than 20,000 copies last week, making its debut at No. 23 on Billboard's album chart, and single Rescue Me is receiving airplay not only on alternative radio, but also at top 40.
Not having Calvert forced the band to rewrite some songs and scrap others. Song structures may sound familiar to fans, but the arrangements are different. Parts where Calvert's screams would have fit are now quieter instead of louder. In other places, the band uses a variety of instruments to build intensity.
"We looked to other techniques to bring that energy to the table," says drummer Eron Bucciarelli, 28. "Some of that involved adding extra guitar parts, guitar solos, vocals, choirs, keyboards, organs, strings — all sorts of instrumentations that we'd never played around with much before. We looked to fill that void."
Calvert's absence also has changed the band's dynamic in concert.
"Casey would help me talk on stage," Woodruff says. "He was kind of my sidekick. Now, it's just me up there, talking and trying to get the crowd pumped up. Casey was more of the hype man. He made sure everybody was moving around and singing along."
Hawthorne Heights' music has always had a dark edge, but the specter of grief hovers over Fragile Future. One song, Four Become One, deals directly with the band's response to Calvert's death.
"We originally titled it Five Become Four, but we decided to change the name," Bucciarelli says. "We didn't want everybody to be bummed and sad for us because we lost our best friend. We wanted people to see the positive of everything that Casey's done, and realize that a tragedy like this can bring people together.
"We decided to make it more about the rest of us honoring Casey."
Hawthorne Heights also has resolved a lawsuit with the band's record label, Chicago-based independent Victory Records. The group filed suit in August 2006, accusing the label of failing to pay royalties. The label countersued the band and Virgin/EMI, which Victory owner Tony Brummel claimed was trying to sign Hawthorne Heights away.
Calvert's death led the band to put the litigation behind them.
"Pretty much the day after Casey passed away, we figured out, 'Hey, look, this isn't what we signed up for,' " Bucciarelli says. "We went and talked to Victory. We made some compromises; so did they."
Brummel says he always expected Hawthorne Heights to return to the Victory fold.
"It's such an unfortunate thing, but when something like that does happen, it really opens up people's eyes to life in general and what makes sense and what doesn't make sense," he says.
Hawthorne Heights recently has returned to the road as part of Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour and plans a headlining tour for the fall.
At the band's shows, audiences have assumed Calvert's role on the old songs, screaming his lines back to the band. "They just started doing it," Woodruff says. "It's great to hear the support in their voices as they scream Casey's parts."
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.


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Kentucky 34, Samford 3: Jalen Whitlow threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the first quarter as the host Wildcats snapped an eight-game losing skid by blasting the Bulldogs.
Raymond Sanders ran for 123 yards and a touchdown as Kentucky (2-9) rushed for 342 yards.
Whitlow tossed his second touchdown of the season when he found Gene McCaskill for an 11-yard strike to open the scoring. The freshman quarterback then scampered 20 yards for another score 7:07 later to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead.
Kentucky made a statement prior to halftime as defensive tackle Donte Rumph jarred the ball away from quarterback Andy Summerlin. Defensive tackle Tristian Johnson picked up the ball at the 25 and scooted in for the score to give the Wildcats a 31-3 lead.
Samford (7-4) converted only 2-of-12 attempts on third down and struggled to generate any consistent offense.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The contest was the last home game for Joker Phillips, who was officially fired Nov. 4. The coach elected to finish out the season once he was certain that he wasn't perceived as a distraction. ... Rumph returned following a one-game absence with a knee injury. ... The Wildcats held a 266-52 edge in total yards at halftime.


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I am having a really hard time and I'm usually fairly good at troubleshooting
these things. I bought a new Acer Media Center with WMC and Windows Vista
My cable normally comes in through a set top box and then to the TV on a
normal cable wire, and then goes out of my cable box on either a normal wire
or component video to my TV. When I hooked up the computer, I connected the
cable box to the TV tuner card in the computer (YUAN Card) instead. On the
computer, the signal comes out garbled when I load it in WMC. On the TV, the
signal comes out fine if I move the cable over.
I can get the lower channels on the TV Tuner if I connect the cable from the
wall directly into the TV Tuner card on the computer, bypassing the set-top
box completely but I can't get the upper channels under any circumstances.
Anyone have ideas for me? I know so little about this technology that I
don't know where to start. I do have an IR transmitter of some kind as well
which might help... but again I'm not sure.
Any help appreciated.


text: SANParks.org Forums Discussing the National Parks of South Africa 2011-12-05T06:21:13+02:00 https://www.sanparks.org/forums/feed.php?f=68&t=57962 2011-12-05T06:21:13+02:00 2011-12-05T06:21:13+02:00 https://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57962&p=1597670#p1597670 Welcome to the forum! You don't possibly have a pic or can you describe what it looked like? Hopefully someone with more knowledge will come by. Statistics: Posted by JenB — Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:21 am ]]> 2011-12-05T05:12:41+02:00 2011-12-05T05:12:41+02:00 https://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57962&p=1597648#p1597648 Statistics: Posted by mapleleaf — Mon Dec 05, 2011 5:12 am ]]>


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Better Believe It
Better Believe It's Journal
Profile Information
Member since: Sun Mar 16, 2008, 11:41 PM
Number of posts: 18,630
Number of posts: 18,630
Journal Archives
Pro-Life Leader: "I think contraception is disgusting-people using each other for pleasure.
When Did the Catholic Church Endow Sperm With Inalienable Rights?
Most pro-life organizations more accurately should be labeled pro sperm.
by David Morris
March 15, 2012
Recent events make clear the need for a new language to describe the raging debate about sex and birth. Consider the problematic word that dominates our conversation: pro-life.
Most pro-life organizations more accurately should be labeled pro sperm. For they insist the sperm has the inalienable, indeed the God-given right to pursue the egg without human enabled interference. Joseph M. Scheidler, the National Director of the Pro-Life Action League memorably declared, I think contraception is disgusting-people using each other for pleasure. Judith Brown, President of The American Life Lobby asserts its opposition to all forms of birth control with the exception of natural family planning.
The Catholic Church is fervently pro-sperm. Decades before the Church mobilized against abortion it mobilized against contraception. As late as 1960, many states outlawed sales of contraceptives. The Catholic Church was the driving force behind these laws. In the 1940s, Connecticut legislators introduced bills allowing physicians to prescribe contraceptives only for married couples if a pregnancy would be life threatening. The Catholic Church swung into action. One historian describes the process; priests became heavily involved Their efforts were not confined to anti-birth control sermons on Sundays. They engaged in voter registration drives, they encouraged parishioners to support anti-birth control candidates for the legislature, and they actively campaigned to defeat any changes in the birth control laws. The bills failed.
Prior to 1930, all Christian denominations held that contraception was contrary to Gods will. Then one by one, beginning with the Church of England they began to accept birth control.
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Fri Mar 16, 2012, 12:24 PM (93 replies)
Santorum Denies Global Warming: "The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant ...."
Santorum Denies Global Warming
March 15, 2012
Even for a party that wears its anti-science label almost with pride, the GOP has recently been outdoing itself on global warming.
"The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is," presidential contender Rick Santorum said at the Gulf Coast Energy Summit in Biloxi, Mississippi, on March 12.
And to prove that this wasnt just off-the-cuff rhetorical excess, Santorum penned an op-ed for the conservative website Red State. He portrayed a belief in science as part of a deficient, anti-Christian, anti-American mindset.
Of all the GOP candidates, I am the only one who has not bowed, and will never bow, to this liberal orthodoxy, Santorum wrote in a March 10 column. I did not pander when global warming seemed cool to the press and to Hollywood. We know that climate changes over time, that the Earth warms and cools over time. The apostles of this pseudo-religion believe that America and its people are the source of the Earths temperature. I do not.
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Fri Mar 16, 2012, 12:15 PM (19 replies)
AFL-CIO Calls for Across-the-Board Raise in Social Security Benefits
AFL-CIO Calls for Across-the-Board Raise in Social Security Benefits
by Donna Jablonski
March 14, 2012
America has a retirement security crisisnot a Social Security crisis, the AFL-CIO Executive Council said today in its annual winter meeting in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. And the answer is an across-the-board increase in Social Security benefits.
"Half of working Americans have no retirement plan at all at work. Most of those who have a retirement plan are in 401(k) savings accounts where the median balances are less than $30,000. Taking into account all sources of income, it is estimated that the gap between what working Americans need to maintain their standard of living in retirement and what they actually have is $6.6 trillion .Fewer and fewer workers are now covered by defined-benefit pension plans. Retirement savings have been decimated by losses in the stock market. Working families have lost trillions of dollars of home equity with the collapse of the real estate bubble. The stagnation of wages has made it harder for workers to save for retirement. And the inexorable rise of health care costs is taking a bigger and bigger bite out of retirement income."
If America were to craft a solution to the retirement crisis, it would have the same components as Social Securityshared responsibility, pooled resources, portability and security, for example. But instead of increasing Social Security benefits to meet the real needs of real working families, foes of Social Security are attempting to cut it and "have spent enormous amounts of money spreading misinformation about the program."
"The truth is that Social Security is not in crisis. It can pay all scheduled benefits through the year 2036 and three-quarters of all scheduled benefits thereafter. If Social Security were a pension plan, it would be in the green zonethe healthy zoneunder the Pension Protection Act. Social Security does not contribute one dime to the deficit, it is legally prohibited from borrowing or going into debt and it is not a significant driver of long-term fiscal imbalances."
March 14, 2012
While Social Security is an obvious solution to the crisis, its current benefit levels are too modest. Social Securitys income replacement rate is one of the lowest of all the industrialized countries. To compensate for the decline of traditional pensions and the loss of retirement savings, Social Security retirement benefits must be increased across the board, which would be especially meaningful for low-income seniors. In addition, Social Security COLAs need to take into account the higher health care costs faced by seniors. Finally, too many employers look for ways around making their contributions to Social Security through labeling their workers as independent contractors.
Needless to say, the Social Security debate in Washington, D.C., has not been centered on across-the-board benefit increases. On the contrary, it has focused almost exclusively on benefit cuts of various descriptions, which would only make the problem worse. The AFL-CIO has repeatedly stated our opposition to any reduction of benefits, such as an increase in the retirement age or a reduction in cost-of-living adjustments, regardless of who proposes them.
In fact, there is no justification whatsoever for benefit cuts. A number of plans put forward in recent years have demonstrated that cutting benefits is not necessary to close Social Securitys modest long-term funding shortfall. One thing all these plans have in common is they would all tax income above the existing taxable earnings cap, and this must be part of any solution. However, the AFL-CIO reaffirms its longstanding position that mandatory coverage of all public employees must not be part of any funding plan.
The reason why the debate in Washington, D.C., has gone so far in the wrong direction is that the enemies of Social Security have spent enormous amounts of money spreading misinformation about the program. The truth is that Social Security is not in crisis. It can pay all scheduled benefits through the year 2036 and three-quarters of all scheduled benefits thereafter. If Social Security were a pension plan, it would be in the green zonethe healthy zoneunder the Pension Protection Act. Social Security does not contribute one dime to the deficit, it is legally prohibited from borrowing or going into debt and it is not a significant driver of long-term fiscal imbalances.
Read the fulll statement at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Thu Mar 15, 2012, 10:24 PM (15 replies)
Over Two-Dozen Controlled Trials Demonstrate Pots "Statistically Significant Pain Relieving Effects"
Cannabinoids' "Statistically Significant Pain Relieving Effects"
Over Two-Dozen Controlled Trials Demonstrate Cannabinoids' "Statistically Significant Pain Relieving Effects"
March 8, 2012
New York, NY: Cannabis and its active constituents appear to be safe and modestly effective treatments in patients suffering from a variety of chronic pain conditions, including neuropathy (pain due to nerve damage), according to a literature review to be published in The Clinical Journal of Pain.
An investigator from New York University, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, conducted a PubMed search to survey the percentage of positive and negative published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing cannabinoids as treatments for pain. Of the 56 hits generated, 38 published RCTs met inclusion criteria. Of these, "71 percent (27) concluded that cannabinoids had empirically demonstrable and statistically significant pain relieving effects, whereas 29 percent (11) did not."
Cannabinoids appeared to be most effective in treating hard-to-treat neuropathic pain conditions. "[F]or notoriously difficult to treat conditions such as HIV neuropathy, ... cannabinergic pain medicines, particularly inhaled cannabinoid botanicals, are one of the only treatments that have been shown to be safe and effective with the highest levels of evidence," the review states.
Five to ten percent of the US population is estimated to suffer from neuropathic pain at some point during their lives.
The study concludes, "Overall, based on the existing clinical trials database, cannabinergic pain medicines have been shown to be modestly effective and safe treatments in patients with a variety of chronic pain conditions. ... Incorporating cannabinergic medicine topics into pain medicine education seems warranted and continuing clinical research and empiric treatment trials are appropriate."
A separate paper, published in January in the Harm Reduction Journal, concluded: "Prescribing cannabis in place of opioids for neuropathic pain may reduce the morbidity and mortality rates associated with prescription pain medications and may be an effective harm reduction strategy."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: email@example.com. Full text of the study, "Cannabinergic pain medicine: A concise clinical primer and survey of randomized controlled trial results," will appear in The Clinical Journal of Pain.
Posted by Better Believe It | Wed Mar 14, 2012, 11:42 PM (2 replies)
Scant US Public Support for Israeli Strike on Iran
Scant US Public Support for Israeli Strike on Iran
Despite misinformation campaign and misleading polls, Americans don't seem to want another Middle East war
by Common Dreams staff
March 14, 2012
Only one in four Americans favors Israel conducting a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, according to a new poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) and the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland. Nearly 70% of those polled favor the continued pursuit of US and other major powers to negotiate with Iran, a position that is supported by majorities of Republicans (58%), Democrats (79%) and Independents (67%).
"Meanwhile," reports Jim Lobe at Inter Press Service, "a second public opinion poll released Tuesday by the New York Times and CBS News found a slight majority (51 percent) of 1,009 respondents who said they would support the U.S. taking military action in order to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons." Thirty-six percent of respondents would oppose such a strike.
However, The NYT/CBS poll, notes Lobe, "did not offer an option for continued diplomacy or negotiations." And as Think Progress' Eli Clifton points out, this poll makes misleading assumptions about the existence of an Iran nuclear weapons program, by casually asking if the respondent would support U.S. military action against Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon even though no evidence exists that Iran has such a program.
Juan Cole, at Informed Comment, argues the PIPA poll shows that "a broad consensus across parties, wants the Iran nuclear enrichment issue dealt with through negotiations. They even want to entrust the issue to the UN security council. They think that the US should discourage Israel from attacking Iran. They are convinced that an attack would be a disaster and lead to a long-term conflict. And they hold that if Israel goes it alone and does strike Iran, the United States should remain neutral."
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Wed Mar 14, 2012, 11:37 PM (5 replies)
The war on teachers: Why the public is watching it happen
The war on teachers: Why the public is watching it happen
By Mark Naison
This was written by Mark Naison, professor of African and African American Studies at Fordham University in New York and chair of the department of African and African-American Studies. He is also co-director of the Urban Studies Program, African-American History 20th Century.
March 12, 2012
All over the nation, teachers are under attack. Politicians of both parties, in every state, have blamed teachers and their unions for the nations low standing on international tests and our nations inability to create the educated labor force our economy needs.
Mass firings of teachers in so-called failing schools have taken place in municipalities throughout the nation and some states have made a public ritual of humiliating teachers. In Los Angeles and New York, teacher ratings based on student standardized test scores said by many to be inaccurate have been published by the press. As a result, great teachers have been labeled as incompetent and some are leaving the profession. A new study showed that teachers job satisfaction has plummeted in recent years.
Big budget films such as Bad Teacher and the documentary Waiting for Superman popularize the idea that public school teachers prevent poor children of color from getting a good education, while corporate funded organizations perpetuate the idea that the only way for children to excel is if their teachers lose their job security and bargaining rights.
Why has this campaign attracted such strong bipartisan support and why has the public failed to speak out loudly against it?
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Tue Mar 13, 2012, 03:43 PM (6 replies)
White House relaxes key rule in new healthcare law to ease health insurance exchanges requirements
New rules aim to ease state-run health insurance exchanges
The exchanges are a key feature of President Obama's healthcare law, but questions and criticism have grown as the deadline approaches for setting them up.
By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau
March 12, 2012
In the face of mounting resistance from Republican state leaders and other critics, the Obama administration moved Monday to ease development of state-based insurance exchanges, a key feature of the new healthcare law.
.... the administration has been wrestling with how to set standards for the exchanges to protect consumers without saddling states, insurers and businesses with crippling new regulations.
The rules issued Monday give states some flexibility in deciding how to run their exchanges, while also allowing states that are not ready by 2014 to get help opening their exchange a year later.
Thus far, only 12 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation creating some kind of state-based health insurance exchanges, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Tue Mar 13, 2012, 11:56 AM (3 replies)
Washington Post: "End the Afghan mission" now by Eugene Robinson
End the Afghan mission now
By Eugene Robinson
Opinion Writer
March 12, 2012
It was clear before Sundays horrific massacre of civilians that its past time for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan to end. Now the only question should be how quickly we can get our troops onto transport planes to fly them home.
What are we accomplishing, aside from enraging the Afghan population were allegedly trying to protect? How are we supposed to convince them that a civilian massacre carried out by a U.S. soldier is somehow preferable to a civilian massacre carried out by the Taliban? How does it make any of us safer to have the United States military known for burning Korans and killing innocent Muslim children in their beds?
This is supposed to be a period of transition from U.S. occupation to Afghan government control. But what do we expect to accomplish between now and 2014, when our troops are supposed to come home? We can be confident that the Afghan government will still be feckless and corrupt. We can anticipate that the Afghan military will still lack personnel, equipment and training. We can be absolutely certain that the Taliban insurgents will still constitute a threat, because and this is what gung-ho advocates of the war fail to grasp they live there. To them, Afghanistan is not a battlefield but a home.
Its their country, not ours. In increasingly clear language, Afghans are telling us to leave. We should listen and oblige.
Read the full opinion piece at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Tue Mar 13, 2012, 11:35 AM (1 replies)
The Massacre Underscores the Message: End the Occupation of Afghanistan
The Massacre Underscores the Message: End the Occupation of Afghanistan
By Matthew Rothschild
Editor of The Progressive
March 12, 2012
It is time, it is way, way past time, for the U.S. military to leave Afghanistan.
The grotesque massacre on Sunday by a U.S. soldier only underscores the point.
And the massacre was almost inevitable. When you have 100,000 soldiers under stress in a foreign country where theyre not wanted, when you have soldiers on their fourth tour of duty as this one was (who reportedly spent three tours in Iraq), at some point, someones going to break.
We must end the occupation, end the bidding for a permanent military presence there, and let the Afghan people decide their own fate.
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Mon Mar 12, 2012, 11:32 PM (0 replies)
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Concerned about Police Surveillance
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Concerned about Police Surveillance
by Common Dreams staff
March 12, 2012
Protesters from Occupy Wall Street continue to report troubling incidents of excessive police surveillance.
A lawyer representing three protesters who were arrested and allegedly strip-searched by New York City police in November, told the New York Times that his clients are considering a lawsuit against the city for violating their constitutional rights. Not only are the police disrupting peoples rights to free expression, said Vik Pawar, the lawyer for the protesters. They are taking pre-emptive steps by arresting people who might be just thinking about exercising their rights.
The Times report includes numerous interviews with organizers who have been monitored, intimidated and in some cases, arrested by city police.
This is just the latest news regarding governmental monitoring of the Occupy movement. In February, an internal Department of Homeland Security report about Occupy was published by Wikileaks, spoke of the agency's efforts to "control protesters" within the movement.
Read the full article at:
Posted by Better Believe It | Mon Mar 12, 2012, 09:40 PM (2 replies)


text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 6:32 AM
Town Square
13-year-old skateboarder killed in Livermore accident last night
Original post made on May 9, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 6:32 AM
Comments (7)
a resident of Livermore
on May 9, 2012 at 9:38 am
Our hearts and prayers go out to this family.
a resident of another community
on May 9, 2012 at 10:32 am
I am deeply saddened by this news. I have worked with Nate's father for 16 years, and I have also met Nate and the rest of the family. What a great young man he was! I cannot imagine what they are going through right now. I am so sorry! RIP
a resident of Livermore
on May 9, 2012 at 12:05 pm
incorrect info-He was riding south on Kara Place towards Lomitas when he turned onto Lomitas and hit the truck broadside. Just saying
RIP nathan
a resident of another community
on May 9, 2012 at 1:28 pm
I am so sorry to hear about what happened to Nathan. My heart and prayers go out to the family. I heard about the tragedy from my daughter who is a teacher at Williams school. I'm sure that there is much sadness at the school today.
a resident of Amberwood/Wood Meadows
on May 9, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Nathan was a good and kind boy I go to mendenhall and it was sad it almost made me cry. He shouldn't of died. He should be alive. We love you Nathan..<3.... R.I.P Nathan Strube... Rest in paradise
a resident of Highland Oaks
on May 9, 2012 at 3:49 pm
How could this horrible accident have been avoided?
a resident of Ridgeview Commons
on Apr 25, 2017 at 4:11 pm
Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?
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Tri-Valley cities rank high in poll
By Tim Hunt | 4 comments | 613 views
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text:
David Ortiz 'humiliated' and 'embarrassed' by offseason
OAKLAND – Next offseason is going to be different. David Ortiz is certain about that. No more arbitration process. No more one-year deal. And possibly no more Boston Red Sox.
The longtime Boston favorite, who at 36 is enjoying an eighth All-Star season, remains bitter about the club's decision to reject his request for a two-year contract last offseason and instead offered him arbitration, a process he called "humiliating" and "embarrassing."
The sides agreed on a one-year, $14.575 million deal in February, hours before an arbitration hearing.
About 2½ hours before belting the 400th home run of his career Wednesday in a 3-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics, Ortiz told USA TODAY Sports in an extended Spanish-language interview that he'd like to stay in Boston but not if he was treated the way he was last offseason.
"If you go crazy and give contracts to whoever comes along despite not knowing how they're going to do, then you don't give me my due consideration, even though I do my thing every year, (expletive) that," said Ortiz, the Red Sox lone All-Star representative. "I'm going to be open to anything. My mentality is not going to be, 'I like it here.' It's going to be, 'Bring it to the table, and we'll see what happens.' "
The Red Sox signed outfielder Carl Crawford to a seven-year, $142 million contract before the 2011 season, when he batted a career-low .255. This came a year after giving free agent right-hander John Lackey a five-year, $82.5 million deal. He is 26-23 with a 5.26 ERA in his two seasons in Boston.
Because of injuries, neither has played a game this season.
Ortiz, meanwhile, leads the club in all major offensive categories, including home runs (22) and RBI (55). His .997 on-base-plus-slugging percentage ranks second in the American League.
He has been one of the few bright spots for a disappointing Red Sox team. Boston (42-40) enters today's day off in fourth place, 7½ games behind the first-place Yankees.
Manager Bobby Valentine acknowledged that his team's struggles put a damper on Ortiz's landmark.
"I wish he could celebrate," he said. "David is a team guy, and he knows it's a great individual accomplishment. We all know that. But it's tarnished."
Humiliating and embarrassing
Last season, his ninth as the Red Sox's designated hitter, Ortiz batted .309 with 29 homers, 96 RBI and a .953 OPS but could not persuade the club to give him a multiyear deal. He could have entered the free agent market but instead accepted Boston's offer of arbitration.
"It was humiliating. There's no reason a guy like me should go through that," he said. "All I was looking for was two years, at the same salary ($12.5 million).
"They ended up giving me $3 million more than that (actually $2.025 million), and look at my numbers this year. Tell me if they wouldn't have been better off.
"And yet they don't hesitate to sign other guys. It was embarrassing."
Reached via e-mail, general manager Ben Cherington offered the Red Sox's take on the negotiations: "We have enormous respect for David, and one of our offseason priorities was keeping him with the Red Sox. We talked about a number of ways to do that, but ultimately David's acceptance of arbitration focused our efforts on a one-year deal. We were glad to reach a settlement with David prior to a hearing.
"David is having a terrific season and has been a leader on and off the field for us. We remain hopeful that David will finish his career with the Red Sox."
Cherington added the Red Sox would not look to start negotiations on an extension during the season.
Ortiz said he didn't look at his current performance as a career renaissance but rather a continuation of his stellar decade in Boston.
After posting an OPS of at least .961 and driving in more than 100 runs for five seasons in a row, Ortiz slumped badly in 2009, when he failed to hit a home run in the first six weeks and saw his OPS for the year tumble to .794.
He finished with 29 homers and 99 RBI but batted .238 and heard speculation that his career was on the decline.
His previous feats, which included seasons of 54 and 47 home runs, also came under scrutiny that year when The New York Times reported that Ortiz had been among some 100 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during survey testing in 2003.
Baseball has since strengthened its policy against the use of PED, and Ortiz's continued production — he averaged 30.5 homers, 98 RBI and a .926 OPS the last two seasons — has quieted talk that he might be washed up.
"The one bad year I had, a lot of players would tell me, 'I'd take a bad year like that,' " Ortiz said. "But people were used to seeing you hit 40 home runs. The thing is, people need to know baseball is not something you go to the drugstore and buy. It's a hard game."
A fearsome force
Ortiz said losing 30 pounds in the last offseason by cutting out sweets and alcohol has helped him feel better but added that he gets plenty of aches and pains that remind him of his age. The wisdom that comes with that age and experience, though, has allowed him to adjust as a hitter.
"I wish when I came up to the big leagues I had the mind I have right now. I would have 700 home runs," Ortiz said.
"I don't go to the plate just to swing anymore. I go up with an idea of what the pitcher may throw me, because I know I don't have the ability I had six years ago."
He remains a fearsome force nonetheless. Ortiz leads the AL with 46 extra-base hits and 10 intentional walks while ranking second in runs and tied for fourth in doubles.
In becoming the 49th player to reach the 400-homer plateau, Ortiz left behind Hall of Famer Al Kaline. Former Dodgers star Duke Snider is next on the all-time list at 407.
Ortiz got the ball he hit as a memento in exchange for giving the fan who caught it a bat, a jersey and a signed ball.
There was no celebration in the somber Red Sox clubhouse, though, as the club completed a seven-game West Coast trip by getting swept by the A's. Boston scored a total of five runs in the three games.
"I know it's only a small group that has gotten to that number," Ortiz said. "(The loss) is the reason you don't see me going crazy. This is a productive lineup that hasn't been hitting. Let's hope things change soon."
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text: Earlier this week, a number of iOS and Mac users reported iPhones, iPads, and Macs being remotely locked by hackers who then demanded a ransom for their recovery. The attacks primarily affected those located in Australia. While there have been many theories about common points of attack, no one theme has emerged. Some users also deny that passwords were shared with other services. ZDNet reports that Apple has issued an official statement denying that iCloud itself was hacked. A growing discussion thread on Apple's support forums is following the issue. Thanks Dominik Article Link: Apple Denies iCloud Hack as Cause of Locked iOS Device Ransom Demands


text:
Lupus and Social Security Disability
Here is an explanation of Social Security's five-step process to determine if an lupus patient qualifies for SSDI:
1. Determine if an individual is "working (engaging in substantial gainful activity)" according to the SSA definition. Earning more than $1,040 a month as an employee is enough to be disqualified from receiving Social Security disability benefits.
2. Conclude the lupus disability must be severe enough to significantly limit one's ability to perform basic work activities needed to do most jobs. For example:
3. Ask if the lupus disability meets or equals a medical listing. Lupus is considered under the Immune System Disorders and has several specific medical listings or categories. To satisfy the listing criteria, a person with lupus must have:
- Walking, standing, sitting, lifting, pushing, pulling, reaching, carrying or handling
- Seeing, hearing and speaking
- Understanding/carrying out and remembering simple instructions
- Responding appropriately to supervision, co-workers and usual work situations
- Dealing with changes in a routine work setting
4. Explore the ability of an individual to perform work they have done in the past despite their lupus. If the SSA finds that a person can do his past work, benefits are denied. If the person cannot, then the process proceeds to the fifth and final step.
14.02 Systemic lupus erythematosus.As described in 14.00D1. With:
A. Involvement of two or more organs/body systems, with:
1. One of the organs/body systems involved to at least a moderate level of severity; and
2. At least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss).
B. Repeated manifestations of SLE, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (severe fatigue, fever, malaise or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at the marked level:
1. Limitation of activities of daily living.
2. Limitation in maintaining social functioning.
3. Limitation in completing tasks in a timely manner due to deficiencies in concentration, persistence, or pace.
5. Review age, education, work experience and physical/mental condition to determine what other work, if any, the person can perform. To determine lupus disability, the SSA enlists medical-vocational rules, which vary according to age.
For example, if a person is:
Under age 50 and, as a result of the symptoms of lupus, unable to perform what the SSA calls sedentary work, then the SSA will reach a determination of disabled. Sedentary work requires the ability to lift a maximum of 10 pounds at a time, sit six hours and occasionally walk and stand two hours per eight-hour day.
Age 50 or older and, due to the disability, limited to performing sedentary work, but has no work-related skills that allow him to do so, the SSA will reach a determination of disabled.
Age 55 or older and, due to the disability, limited to performing light work, but has no work-related skills that allow him to do so, the SSA will reach a determination of disabled.
Over age 60 and, due to the disability, unable to perform any of the jobs he performed in the last 15 years, the SSA will likely reach a determination of disabled.
Any age and, because of lupus, has a psychological impairment that prevents even simple, unskilled work, the SSA will reach a determination of disabled.
Contact Us
Request a no-cost, no obligation disability evaluation to determine your eligibility for Social Security disability.


text:
WORLD Cup fever came to Stretford with the Stretford High School Community World Cup Festival.
The event was sponsored by Manchester United Foundation's partnership with SHS and encouraged young people and wider communities to take part and celebrate the World Cup in a competitive and friendly atmosphere.
The Community World Cup was kick-started by an opening ceremony including a bhangra drum procession and the trophy unveiling.
Welcoming teams from across the country, Saturday's event at the Stretford Sports Village offered something for all the family, headed up by a 16-team football tournament. Entertainment included donkey rides and a bouncy castle.
Opening the festival, Suknam Singh, Director of Pastoral School and PE Teacher at Stretford High School said: "Many people say Football is a religion and I agree… What other sport can get the wider communities to celebrate together in a friendly and competitive tournament?."
Old Trafford FC won the competition after a hard-fought final against rivals Catalonia.


text:
The stage of seroconversion is the first stage of HIV disease. This is not the stage of AIDS and might never lead to AIDS if proper medications and precautions are taken. The symptoms that are common during this stage are very similar to that of flu. This often prompts to inaccurate diagnosis. It has been found that one-third of all the HIV patients, remain unaware about this disease at this stage, as the symptoms are so usual and curable. This stage is also called by a number of other names like the Acute Stage of HIV, Acute Retrovial Syndrome and primary HIV infections.
What is seroconversion?
It is the first stage of HIV. In this stage, the virus starts generating cytotoxic lymphocytes and HIV antibodies that works towards the destruction of the T-cells (seat of immunity in human body). In this stage the HIV, within our blood cells, multiplies very fast, striving to worsen the immune system. This is the longest stage of the HIV infection and lasts for seven or more years.
Characteristics of SEROCONVERSION PERIOD
Importance of identifying the stage of seroconversion:
HIV can be diagnosed with RAPID AIDS TESTING method technique or ORAL AIDS TESTING method. Devices like Unigold, Oraquick and Orasure can be useful. However, it has to be noted that, the test will not detect the disease, if the HIV antibodies have not been produced. This is the common case, when the test is conducted at the early stage of seroconversion. Therefore, one should undertake a HIV test from time to time, so that the accurate diagnosis come up once the antibodies are formed.
This stage, is however not as harmful as the other following stages. If a proper diagnosis is done and enough precautions are taken, then it may be treated to delay the arrival of the last stage of AIDS. A person who is prone to having HIV should be tested several times. These groups include the MSM, the heterosexuals, the ones with multiple sex partners, the IDU etc. The people who are closely associated with the high risks groups, like their wives, husbands and children, should also be encouraged to go for several HIV tests.


text:
what was your dream about..
Islamic dreams about Nude Fight Man Woman find dream interpretations. Meanings & explanations for Nude Fight Man Woman dictionary!
Nude Fight Man Woman dream interpretations
Nude Dream Explanation
— (See Naked)
Marriage of a
to a
Dream Explanation
— If a person sees himself marrying an unknown young
, it means he will gain victory over his enemy. But if he is known and there is no enmity between them then he the "bridge" will acquire some goodness from either the "groom" or someone who resembles him in name or personality.
Fight Dream Explanation
— In a dream, a
means deception, betrayal, misleading or trickery. A
in a dream also means inflation and rising prices, plague, food lines, adversities or stress. If a soldier sees himself engaged in a battle in a dream, it means that he will receive benefits and a rewarding success. Fighting unjust people in a dream means triumph over injustice, supporting the needs of one's father or mother first, or being protective of one's wife or husband. Fighting against the truth in a dream means aligning oneself with heedless people or going astray. (Also see Disbelief; Killing; War; Wrestling)
Fight Dream Explanation
— The rule of interpretation in dreams involving fighting and wrestling is that if the two adversaries are of different kinds, like
and animal, he who wins in the dream will triumph in reality. Otherwise, it is the winner who is the loser.
Losing a
Dream Explanation
— (Defeat; Depression) Losing a
in a dream means joy. Losing a
in a dream also could mean vanquishing one's enemy if they are compatible. Otherwise, the winner of a
is a dream denotes the loser in wakefulness. (Also see Defeat)
Dream Explanation
— (See Punch)
An Old
Dream Explanation
— If an old
is seen speaking to him or giving him something, it means he will succeed in whatever he is pursuing. If the old
is of a pleasant personality and good looks, it means his pursuit is of a favourable nature. Otherwise, it is of an unfavourable nature.
Man Dream Explanation
— (Person) When a
is recognized in a dream, he is the same person in wakefulness, or it could be his brother, or a person with the same resemblance or name. If he takes something valuable or cherished from the person having the dream, it means the opposite, and one will receive from such a
what he wishes for in wakefulness. If he takes a shirt or a rope in the dream, it means that he will accept a promise from the person seeing the dream.
Man Dream Explanation
— If he takes a child away from him, it means enmity between the two. As explained under Human being " seeing the children of Adam in a dream is an exalted thing in general. Each category of people conveys a different interpretation. The category of rulers and judges in a dream means courts. The category of government authorities represents fear. Soldiers mean travels. Craftsmen in a dream mean profits, or they could represent their respective trades. Women in a dream signify temptation, while pious people represent devotion. (Also see Human being; Mankind)
Dream Explanation
— (See Elderly person)
Dream Explanation
— If one meets an unknown young
whom he dislikes in a dream, it means that such an enemy will surface and people will abhor him. If one happens to like him in the dream, then it means that he will face an enemy whom most people like and sympathize with. If a young
sees himself turned into an old person in a dream, it means that he will suffer major losses in his life. A young
or a teenager in a dream mostly represents an enemy, for a teenager rarely respects or heeds the advice of his peers. A young
in a dream also represents deceit, betrayal, energy, or stubbornness, though he also could represent blessings and gratitude.
Dream Explanation
— (Teenage boy) An unknown young
in a dream represents an enemy. If the young
is known in the dream, then whatever strength, harshness, weaknesses, deceit, perfidy, or character he displays, they denote the same character in wakefulness. Walking behind an unknown young
in a dream means pursuing one's enemy and conquering him.
Dream Explanation
— A chronic disease which is characterized by the enlargement of certain parts of the body, especially the legs and gentiles. In a dream, an elephant
represents love for the world from the wrong angle.
Slaughtering a
Dream Explanation
— This indicates that the slaughterer will subject the
to oppression, for slaughtering something that is not edible is oppression.
with a Pudenda Dream Explanation
— The Arabic word for pudenda is farj which connotes openness, vastness, ease, comfort, luxury, joy and relief after sorrow. Thus, if an
sees himself with one it means comfort, affluence and joy after sorrow. If he sees himself being copulated in the pudenda by some known person it means his needs will be fulfilled by that person but after much humiliation. And f the person is not known to him it suggest humiliation and disgrace.
Dream Explanation
— (See Fox's fur)
Man of the year Dream Explanation
— (See Boiler; Kettle; Roasting)
Dream Explanation
— (See Auctioneer; Broker)
A Sheep Mounting a
Dream Explanation
— If a person sees a sheep mounting him and riding on him it means some powerful and strong
will subjugate him, rendering him powerless.
Excreta of
and Animals Dream Explanation
— This symbolises wealth. If it gives off a bad smell it symbolises unlawful wealth. The stronger the odour the greater the unlawfulness.
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