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Mario Kart 7
I don't play many video games, but I do love the Mario Kart franchise, so when I heard that Mario Kart 7 was coming out for the 3DS, I not only went out and bought the game, but had to buy the handheld system as well. After a couple weeks of playing it, I'd say both of my purchases were well worth the money!
Mario Kart 7 brings fans the same great racing action that they've come to expect from the series, with a few added twists. For example, you can now customize your kart by choosing the frame, tires, and kite from various presets and unlockables. Yes, I said "kite" — there's also some fun flying action in the game when your kart takes off from a particularly long jump! In addition, you can do tricks over each jump (this was introduced in the Mario Kart Wii version) for an extra little burst of speed upon landing.
The physics of the racing itself has remained pretty much the same, so if you're a veteran of the Mario Kart series, it shouldn't take you long to master this game. Also, out of the 32 available tracks, 16 are brand-new and 16 are old favorites from previous incarnations of the game. And some of the tracks are just a long, single-lap race instead of the standard 3-lap race that you might be used to. But those are still fun.
The unlockable characters aren't all that great. You get the bee from Super Mario Galaxy, the big caterpillar from one of the Mario Kart tracks, the ghost (I don't know the thing's name, but it's not King Boo), and something called Metal Mario that is basically a silver Mario that looks like it's made of metal (and sounds like it's talking from under water).
There are also the familiar mini-games/challenges, time attack mode, and balloon battle, as well as online gameplay.
Overall, Mario Kart 7 is a worthy entry into the series, and a fun game that Mario Kart enthusiasts simply must buy. I highly recommend this one!


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Hi all intredpid FOD riders.
Im doing the Enduro1 on sun and was wondering what the conditions are like at the mo and what they are likely to be like Sun (Forecast is for showers all day). Is the ground holidg up ok to the recent rain or is it turnign to a mudbath?
Any advice appreciated.

subset: commoncrawl


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Eckoh, the operator of Richard & Judy's You Say We Pay premium-rate phone quiz, has been fined a record £150,000 by regulator Icstis.
The premium-rate phone regulator said the Channel 4 programme had shown a "reckless disregard" for viewers by inviting them to take part in a phone-in competition after the potential winners had already been selected.
Today the full scale of the You Say We Pay scandal became clear after Icstis revealed that between January 29 and February 16 this year 47% of the calls to the You Say We Pay competition were received after the shortlist of winners had been chosen, meaning they had no chance of winning the prize.
Icstis also said that almost 5 million viewers had paid £1 each to enter the competition since 2004.
The regulator ordered that all the money be paid back to viewers affected and has referred the case to Ofcom, which may impose its own heavy fine if it concludes the broadcasting code has been breached.
Ofcom last week fined Channel Five £300,000 for breaches of the broadcasting code in its premium-rate phone-in quiz, Brainteaser, made by Endemol UK subsidiary Cheetah.
Announcing the £150,000 sanction, the highest ever imposed by the regulator, the Icstis chairman, Sir Alistair Graham, said it reflected the "very serious nature of the breach of our code of practice" and "fundamental failings in the winner selection process".
"Winners were being chosen before the competition closing deadline, whilst millions of additional viewers were still encouraged to phone in and pay to enter competition but were denied the opportunity of fair consideration," he added.
"Such reckless disregard for viewers is unacceptable. In this case, viewers were not only 'paying competition entrants' but also consumers who enjoy a high degree of consumer protection already provided by Icstis.
"There is no doubt that the public thoroughly enjoys taking part in premium rate competitions and votes on television. However, as well as being entertaining and fun, services should be reliable and trustworthy.
"Consumer protection should be at the heart of television rather than a broadcasting philosophy of 'the show must go on'. The public should be able to use these services with absolute confidence. Consumers must get a fair deal."
Icstis revealed that almost 5 million viewers had entered the Channel 4 competition since October 2004. Its investigation showed that 47% of the calls were received after the shortlist of winners had already been chosen, meaning they had no chance of winning the prize.
The competition was suspended in February this year after allegations first emerged that viewers phoning into the show, produced by Cactus TV, were being ripped off.
Channel 4 has already announced that the You Say We Pay phone quiz will not be returning.
· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email firstname.lastname@example.com or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332.
· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".


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Region games are the main attraction in Week 2 of the 2013 high school football season.
Region games are the main attraction in Week 2 of the 2013 high school football season.
Gadsden City looks to log its first win under first-year Titan coach Matt Scott. The team welcomes Lee-Huntsville to Titan Stadium for its Class 6A, Region 7 opener Friday in The Gadsden Times' Game of the Week. Gadsden City struggled offensively in its 28-7 loss to No. 8 Florence last week, but the Titan defense was stout behind tackle Chris McElderry's team-high 11 tackles. The good news for the Titans comes with having depth at the offensive skill positions, and those players are extremely athletic. Senior Jay Copeland and sophomore Ahmad DeRamus both saw playing time in Week 1 and provide the Titans with multiple options, as does junior quarterback Sloan Tyler.
Whoever the signal caller is at whatever time in the game, look for Dante Rudolph to make catches and runs. Rodney Bozeman figures to get his share of touches as well.
Lee defeated 5A Columbia 52-20 last week. The Generals will need the confidence gained from a home win in Week 1 to keep up with Gadsden City, which has the speed on defense to curtail the Generals' running game. Gadsden City should win this game by at least two touchdowns, and I'm thinking more than that, provided the Titans don't commit costly turnovers. Gadsden City 42, Lee 20.
Etowah will be looking to give first-year Blue Devil coach Drew Noles his second straight win in another home opener. Etowah hosts Fort Payne in a 5A, Region 7 matchup. The Wildcats returned only three starters from last year's region title team. Etowah will pass just enough to run to a 21-14 win behind Devin Horton, Marquavious Britton, Stacy Williams and Paul Ruiz.
Sort-of new coach Swane Morris, who returned to Gaston this year after three seasons at Scottsboro, will lead his Bulldogs into a 2A, Region 7 battle with Sand Rock. Last week's home win over Randolph County surprised some, including me, but not enough. Sand Rock 28, Gaston 21.
In other area games, Pell City 34, Albertville 21; Piedmont 42, Ashville 14; Boaz 21, Brewer 13; Cedar Bluff 35, Valley Head 28; Alexandria 35, Cherokee County 21; Collinsville 48, Jacksonville Christian 7; Donoho 31, Coosa 6; St. Clair County 31, Crossville 7; Fairview 38, Douglas 6; Fyffe 35, Westbrook 14; Gaylesville 42, Spring Garden 7; Plainview 21, Geraldine 20; Glencoe 31, Weaver 24; Jacksonville 28, Hokes Bluff 14; Sardis 49, Locust Fork 35; Southside 42, Columbia 14; Sylvania 21, New Hope 7; Ider 38, West End 14.
Times Sports Editor Kim Craft can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @GT_KimCraft.


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Get a free shipping quote.
Ellanore (who's name means Unicorn) or Elly as we call her is an 8 year old cremello mare. She's approximately 15.2 hands tall and very stoutly built. She trail rides, picks her feet, round pen works, trailer loads, and bathes. She has a super sweet manner to her and loves people. She is an "in your pocket" kind of horse. We ride her mostly in a hackamore but she can also be ridden in a snaffle bit. She does not like nor needs spurs.
She has a very laid back canter and smooth trot.... (read more)
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Bakersfield, CA


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Hello to all.
Here´s a sugestion of a new Linux software portal that i´ve been working for the past year and a half on my spare time.
This is a place for promotion of the best Linux software. Either commercial or open source.
You can find plenty of useful software and games in here.
Most of the software has an apt link.. so just click to install.
The site is still on beta stage (has been online for about two monts only) but is quite usable.
Feel free to visit and post a comment if you wish.
Hi to all.
I´m very sorry that the site was down all this time.
The hosting server has vanished from the face of the earth along with the domain name.
After a couple of weeks trying to communicate with them to at least get my domain name back i had no response. I gave up and bought another domain. This time on a reliable server.
Thank God i had a backup.. That´s what we get with cheap hosting services.
So.. here´s the new domain. Enjoy.. and sorry for the downtime.


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THE FACTS: The Minnesota Timberwolves snapped their five-game skid in Sacramento, besting the Kings 97-89 Tuesday night in front of a small Sleep Train Arena crowd.
Kevin Love destroyed the Kings frontline, finishing with 23 points and 24 rebounds in just his fourth game back from injury. Luke Ridnour had an efficient 18-point, five-rebound night, while Nikola Pekovic finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas did their best to keep the Kings in the game late. Evans dropped 20 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while Thomas scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Big man DeMarcus Cousins finished with 20 points and five rebounds, but he took 22 shot attempts and played just 28 minutes due to foul trouble.
QUOTABLE: "It's not about me, it's about the team getting a win. We needed to get off that slump we were on."
-- Love on his big night
THE STAT: The Sacramento Kings failed to shoot a single free throw in the first half. Instead of being the aggressor like they have over the last week, they settled for perimeter jumpers. When the jumpers stopped falling, the game was all but over.
TURNING POINT: In the closing moments of the fourth quarter, Love threw up a prayer as the shot clock wound down. Instead of a four-point deficit with the ball for the Kings, Love found the bottom of the net, giving the Wolves a big six point lead late.
QUOTABLE II: "The way we've been struggling, we had the lead and everything, I was going to go for this win. I wasn't going to worry about anything else."
-- Wolves coach Rick Adelman on playing Love and Kirilenko big minutes on the first night of a back-to-back
HOT: After a lackluster 1-for-5 start in the first half, Love dominated the third quarter. The All-Star forward scored nine points and grabbed an incredible 10 rebounds, while his Wolves pulled away from the Kings in the third.
NOT: The last time these two teams met, Jose Barea scorched the Kings off the Timberwolves bench, finishing with 21 points and five assists. Tuesday he wasn't nearly as successful. The former Mavericks point guard scored just two points on 1-for-5 shooting. He did contribute six assists and four rebounds, but he wasn't nearly the game changer he was last time around.
GOOD MOVE: Kings coach Keith Smart had his team switch to zone in the fourth quarter and for a long stretch it worked. The Kings recorded four steals and scored seven points on the break as they fought their way back in the game.
BAD MOVE: Love is a great rebounder, but the Kings' roster is filled with plus rebounders. Allowing one player to grab 24 rebounds is unacceptable when you have players like Cousins, Jason Thompson, Chuck Hayes and Thomas Robinson in the post.
NOTABLE: After missing much of the first month of the season, this was Love's first 20-plus point and 20-plus rebound game of the season. Last season he accomplished the feat three times and on all three occasions, he finished with more than 30 points and 20 rebounds.
UP NEXT: For the Timberwolves, Wednesday @ L.A. Clippers, Friday vs. Milwaukee, Tuesday @ Philadelphia. For the Kings, Friday vs. Indiana, Saturday @ L.A. Clippers, Wednesday vs. Toronto.


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You are here
USDA focuses on 2014 crop-season
The featured presentation at today's session of the USDA's annual Outlook Forum gave updated acreage numbers compiled by USDA economists. The estimates were 92 million acres of corn and 79.5 million acres of soybeans. That's fewer bean acres than the market was expecting and the main reason November bean futures were the upside leader, with prices moving 8 cents higher.
Actually, the overall total acreage pie presented by the USDA looks a little small. With lower prices, one would expect that some marginal acres would not be planted. But there are 1.5 million acres recently released from the CRP and a total of 8.3 million acres that were "prevented planting" in 2013. Most are looking for an increase in cotton and possibly hay acres, but not 10 million acres! It may take the farmer surveys in the first part of March for the USDA to better judge the total acres farmers hope to plant.
Tomorrow, more details will be released, including a first look at supply and demand tables for the 2014-15 crop year.
Also out early Friday morning will be the export sales report. Soybeans, as in past weeks, will gather the most attention. The market continues to look for clues regarding Chinese purchases. Will they cancel any outstanding sales on the books? Will they shift to more Brazilian beans? Or did they over-purchase US beans in an attempt to avoid the delays of last year? Corn sales could be interesting, as the market wonders if the unrest in the Ukraine causes any opportunities for increased US sales.
Once the Outlook Forum data becomes old news, the market will have to wait until the end of March for some survey based data—the Prospective Plantings and the March Grain Stocks numbers. Otherwise, the most exciting numbers could be the estimates of South American production from different groups that will surface periodically.
The risk of loss in trading commodities can be substantial. You should therefore carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial situation.


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Lawn Bowls / European Finals / Israel Takes Fourth Spot in Cyprus
Israel's four-up squad of two men and two women bowlers finished fourth in the biennial European Championships last week in Cyprus. The foursome - Zvika Hadar, Tami Kamzel, Arie Ben-Dor and Irit Grencel - were up against top ranking players from the powerhouses of the four U.K. countries, which usually dominate the top log slots. This year, however, Israel finished above Ireland and Wales.
Scotland won overall with 248 points, two ahead of England on 246, followed by Guernsey on 218 and Israel on 208. For Scotland this was its fourth win in the seven tournaments, England having won twice and Ireland the first-time winners in 1997.
Finishers below Israel in the overall log included Jersey, also on 208, Ireland on 204, Spain on 202 and Wales on 194. This was Israel's second best performance in six tournaments, having finished fifth in 2007, sixth in 2005, second in 2003, sixth in 2001 and fifth in 1999.
The overall singles winner was Jersey's seasoned international Cyril Renouf, with 69 points out of a maximum 84, followed by Guernsey's Lucy Beere with 68 and Scotland's Colin Peacock with 67. Among the 64 players, best for Israel was Arie Ben-Dor in 13th slot with 59 points, followed by Tami Kamzel with 51, Zvika Hadar with 50 and Irit Grencel with 48.
Points were based on the number of sets won in the two-set games, the overall score being a tally of the points scored in the individual singles games and the mixed pairs.
In the seven 14-set round-robin games in each discipline, Ben-Dor won ten, Hadar nine, Kamzel eight and Grencel eight with one peel. In the pairs Ben-Dor with Kamzel won nine sets and peeled one, while Hadar and Grencel won seven.
The event was held in Paphos for the second consecutive time at a magnificent four-green seaside complex. The next tournament, in 2011, will be in Holland. Israel, however, reluctantly turned down the opportunity due to unavailability of funds.
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Sunday, April 23, 2006
Anthony W. Grant, at a Pierce County Superior Court hearing in June, pleaded guilty to "communications with a minor for immoral purposes." He was a registered counselor at Washington's only state-run psychiatric hospital for children. His state credential was revoked.
Photography home | Most viewed photos | Purchase photos | Video home
© 2006 The Seattle Times Company


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The Publish 2012 Fall/Winter lookbook shows off casual street style that is cozy for the colder seasons. The collection is named 'The Officer and the Gentleman.' The collection has a slight prep style to it, but mostly keeps to a modern hip-hop style alla Pharel.
The Publish Fall/Winter collection includes flannel shirts, t-shirts and quilted down vests and jackets. The clothes make a great wardrobe that can transition you from the early days of autumn when the summer warmth is fading to that time of winter when you have to take out your enormous parka (at least up here in Canada that happens.) The collection keeps to a slim fit that keeps everything looking smart and sophisticated.
The Publish 2012 Fall/Winter lookbook shows some casual fashion that keeps you looking sharp.
Unpublished - Did not make the cut
Cozy Casual Street Apparel
More Stats +/-
Hip-Hop Swagger Apparel
Urban Cultural Gangster Photography
Family Swagger Street Wear
Surf-Inspired Streetwear
Lost Boy Street Wear
The Publish 2012 Fall/Winter Collection Sports Loads of Quilted Options
- By: Trenton MillarSep 21, 2012
References: publishbrand & selectism
References: publishbrand & selectism


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BARRINGTON — Rarely heard anymore, in these parts at least, is the plaintive, repetitive call of the Whip-poor-will. Recently a friend reminded me of this sad fact, noting he hadn't heard one in years. Neither have I.
There seems little doubt that Whip-poor-will numbers have declined in our area. For the 1994 Atlas of New Hampshire Breeding Birds, only one "confirmed" nesting site was found, although a number of "probable" sites were located, primarily in the southern half of the state. Annual population surveys are conducted by highly-qualified birders who travel specific routes in the wee hours during late spring, stopping every mile to identify and tally the various bird songs heard.
Whip-poor-wills nest on the ground, but since their typical nesting grounds are woodlands bordering fields and orchards, much of this habitat has been lost to subdivisions or paved over for huge parking lots.
How many times can a Whip-poor-will repeat its nocturnal serenade? In 1908 a patient gentleman recorded 1088 repetitions.
Rarely seen is the ruby crest of a male Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Unlike the Golden-crowned Kinglet, whose crest—of both male and female—is always visible, the Ruby-crown's is usually hidden from sight, displayed only in courtship or when alarmed. Recently I accidently startled one that was foraging for insects in a low hemlock, and as it flew up it raised its crest to full brightness. A lovely sight, although I was sorry to interrupt its feeding.
There seem to be lots of both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets passing through, but these tiny green birds are such active foragers, it can be difficult to get a good look at them. According to the Atlas, Ruby-crowns continue north to the upper half of New Hampshire and beyond to breed and raise their young, as do most Golden-crowns, although some linger to nest in the western part of the state.
At the Wednesday, May 8 Seacoast Audubon meeting, Mike Speltz of the Society for the Protection of NH Forests and Duane Hyde of Nature Conservancy will be the guest speakers. They will tell how the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership has invested millions of dollars protecting thousands of acres of land around Great Bay. They show the results to date, and explain how the trust works with landowners to conserve their land. The meeting will be held at the Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne State Park in Rye and begins at 7:30 p.m., with refreshments at 7 p.m. Guests are welcome. A bird walk beforehand might render a few migrating warblers.
Dan Hubbard will lead his ever-fruitful bird walks at Pickering Ponds on Sunday, May 12, 7 a.m. to noon, and Wednesday, May 15, 7 a.m. till 9 a.m. Meet at the parking area (opposite mailbox #374) about a mile east of the Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant on Pickering Road.


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A mixed-use development on Route 35 with ground floor commercial space and 12 apartments above — four of them "affordable" — gets a public hearing this week
So far, Michael Eppoliti's plan for 159 Danbury Road appears to be drawing less public concern than other construction proposals under the state affordable housing law, 8-30g, which has facilitated approval of several high density housing projects in town.
"The mixed use 159 Danbury Road proposal does indeed seem to be less controversial than other purely residential 8-30g applications located in residential zones," Town Planner Betty Brosius said.
"I would agree that this project is not controversial since it is essentially a commercial project in a commercial zone," said Mr. Eppoliti, who also initiated one of the controversial 8-30g housing proposals. "Hopefully that will hold true at the public hearing."
The Planning and Zoning Commission hearing will take place Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 in the town hall annex, 66 Prospect Street.
The project's one-acre site is near the north end of the Copps Hill business district at 159 Danbury Road, the Bone Jour dog care facility, between Copps Hill Road and the Recreation Center. The property is just north of the Pamby's auto service center and south of The Enchanted Garden.
Mr. Eppoliti and architect Doug MacMillan designed the project's two connected buildings facing north, to take advantage of its visibility to southbound traffic heading into Ridgefield on Route 35.
"The location is fantastic. It really is the first business property you're going to see entering downtown Ridgefield," Mr. Eppoliti said.
The B-3 commercial zone that applies in the area permits a variety of business uses, but not retail stores. Mr. Eppoliti said he doesn't have tenants lined up.
"As far as commercial tenants, I have no particular target other than uses that are permitted in the B-3 zone," he said. "My best guess is that the space will be occupied by service type uses since the space is on the first floor and because of the building's visibility."
With four of the 12 apartments designed to qualify as a affordable under the state's 8-30 law, the proposal will be exempt from most zoning restrictions. But Mr. Eppoliti, who unveiled his plans in the fall, said he and architect Mr. MacMillan have made efforts to keep the plans in compliance with most of the demands of B-3 zone that governs the area.
He plans eight two-bedroom and four one-bedroom units.
The affordable units are projected to rent at $1,463 a month for a two-bedroom unit at 80% of the state's $88,800 median income for a family of three. The cheapest rent would be $899 a month for a one-bedroom apartment with tenants at 60% of the state median income for a family of one and a half — a size state regulations envision.
"The site is connected to the municipal sewer and water systems and is located within walking distance to all of the amenities of uptown Ridgefield including retail shops, grocery stores, pharmacies, dry cleaners, banks, restaurants and the Ridgefield Recreation Center," Mr. Eppoliti said.
The Bone Jour building, a converted house, would be demolished. In its place would be two connected buildings, each with about 3,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space and six apartments above.
"Both buildings shall have identical architecture in order to maintain a consistency within the project and the neighborhood," Mr. Eppoliti said. "The residential units will be housed on the second and third floors of the new structures and will be served by an elevator."
"The project as designed complies with all of the dimensional standards of the underlying B-3 Zone," he wrote.
The plans call for a 30-foot front yard setback and about a 90-foot rear setback. The building will be facing north, and sit close upon the lot's southern boundary — about four feet from the Pamby's property. On the south side where the building's facade looks toward the Enchanted Garden property, will be a setback of more than 65 feet, according to Mr. Eppoliti.
"The total coverage on the site, once developed, will be approximately 48%, well below the 75% permitted by the B-3 zone," he wrote. "Also the proposed building coverage is approximately 15%, well below the 25% permitted by the B-3 zone. Accordingly, approximately 52% of the site remains undeveloped.
The buildings would be below the 40-foot maximum height allowed in the zone.
The proposal calls for 37 parking spaces.
Ms. Brosius, the town planner, said that in addition to zoning considerations, the commission would use its powers as the Inland Wetlands Board to review the application.
"The Inland Wetlands Board will have to be convinced that the proposed development in the wetlands buffer is justified and properly designed to mitigate potential impacts to the wetlands from storm water runoff," she said.


text: So... I knew that ghc was a memory hog.. but I am suddenly running into it dying with messages like the following: ghc: out of memory (requested 5997056753664 bytes) make[1]: *** [jhc] Error 1 Before I go out and find a machine with 6 terrabytes of RAM, I figured I'd post here first :) now the strange thing is, this started happening at the same time for both ghc 6.12.1 and 7.0.x (will report exact version later) so clearly something about my code is tickling ghc the wrong way. Though, ghc 7.0.x is slightly better in that it requests only one and a half terrabytes of ram :) Hmm.. I will try to track down a smaller test case, or narrow down what change caused it, but everything looks quite benign. I did recently add NoMonomorphismRestriction, NoMonoLocalBinds, and OverloadedStrings to my standard options, which is the only global change across the board I can think of... John


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Once LeBron A Time
Good morning and greetings, change of season fans. Last Friday in North America, where I like to do most of my shopping, the summer solstice began at 10:04 am, as we moved from spring to the late Donna Summer. At that exact moment, Miami Heat fans were still dancing in the streets of South Beach, as LeBron James and company captured their second straight NBA title. It was the end of a glorious Estefan season, as this roller coaster ride of a series had incredible drama, with end to end non-stop action, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and that was just during the TV timeouts.
They say champions are made, not born or bought. And that it is better to give than to receive. How true this was in this series, as without some very timely help from the San Antonio Spurs, there would have been no joy in little Havana. As Mother Theresa once said, "If you can't feed one hundred people, feed just one." And that would also describe the play of the Miami Heat in the crucial fourth quarter of game seven, with the one being fed, Finals MVP LeBron James.
In an act of incredible generosity that would have buckled Mother Theresa knees, the Spurs gave game six of this best of seven series away to the Heat on a silver platter. This was with less than a minute to go in the final quarter, with the MVP ballots counted and the championship trophy literally waiting courtside to be handed to the Spurs. But they somehow let this golden opportunity get away, as the victory that would have annointed them as a dynasty slipped away because of a couple of missed free throws and rebounds.
Confucius said, "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." Well, after the Spurs tanked a couple of crucial free throws and didn't grab a couple of rebounds, legacies from both franchises were changed forever, as history was changed in an instant. It was so amazing that I could barely believe it was happening, as the Heat overcame a five point deficit to tie the game in regulation before going on to win in overtime.
After watching thousand off games, I had never witnessed a turnaround like this, in one of the most crucial games in NBA history, and I'll be the first to admit that I didn't see it coming. And that is the beauty of sports. It is totally unscripted, and if you watch long enough, you'll be an insider to an experience that fans will be talking about for decades. And this was one of these nights, one of those crazy, crazy old nights.
Unfortunately, a segment of the hometown crowd in Miami missed out on this experience as they left the arena in the final minute, thinking that they were at a Dodger game. Seems wanted to beat the traffic back to Fort Lauderdale. When they heard the announcement of the comeback from speakers outside American Airlines Arena, they tried to reenter the arena, only to be turned back at the doors. And what an overtime period they missed, as the defending NBA champions turned on the after burners and forced a final and deciding game seven of this epic championship series.
Fans were in a state of shock back in Texas, as this stunning turn of events made the Alamo almost looked like a win. The great Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." And the Spurs climbed to the top of the Unfortunate 500 Club charts as they gave away a championship. It was a shocking turn of events in a game that will go down as one of the best in NBA history.
Tim Duncan and the Spurs will be haunted by this untimely event for years to come. It was the championship that got away, and was so close they could have more than tasted it.
The following day, with my voice sounding like a young Demi Moore because of my incessant ranting and raging during this unbelievable overtime contest, I was able to recount the highs and lows, the twists and turns, the incredible ups and downs on the radio as the "NBA Insider," which is what my mother used to call me when I was still camped out in her womb. She claims I was collicky as a fetus, but I was just preparing for life on the outside. I believe it was either Karl Marx or Carl Jung who said, "He who looks outside dreams. He who looks inside awakes." I prefer the former, as I'm not a big fan of fracking for natural gas or deep understanding of myself.
And here's the most amazing thing. Game seven ended over 72 hours ago, and I'm still buzzing with excitement from the events that unfolded that night and over the last two months. NBA action, it really is fantastic.
So the NBA season and spring 2013, like trying to figure out what's happening with Don Draper on "Mad Men," is now history. But summer is in the air, and the weather last week, like LeBron James' performance in game 7, was outstanding. The mornings were warm, as I'm always surprised when I don't need to be wearing my full metal jacket when parading down West Cliff.
The nature highlight of the week came last Tuesday, as my wife and I were strolling along the coast when a long chain of pelicans appeared off shore. I stopped in my tracks to count their number, as my wife was regaling me with a story about the Kabbalah and the late Tony Soprano. The count was over 80 birds, and their flight was truly one of those Animal Planet moments. It's the magic at the edge.
But I know that despite this teasing of warm summer days and nights, the fog was hovering somewhere off the coast, waiting to invade and spoil the weekend plans of visitors from the inland empire. We on the central coast are so lucky to be living in this Mediterranean climate, where the temperature is never too hot or cold and the ocean water is chillier than my reception back in 1970 at the Selective Service office. America, change it or lose it.
So last Friday was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. On this morning, thousands gather around the world to greet the sunrise and pay their utility bills. And that leads us into our photo segment of today's program, a lovely sunrise from the morning of January 19. The sky did its usual winter dance at Lighthouse Point and on the sand at Its Beach, and I was lucky enough to be invited to the recital. Seeing the sunrise over Monterey Bay is never a bad way to start the day.
On to some late night humor. "President Obama is in Ireland for the big G-8 summit. Security for the overseas presidential trip is unbelievable. He has 14 limousines, trucks loaded with sheets of bullet proof glass to cover the hotel windows, and fighter jets flying in shifts. That's to protect the president. Joe Biden gets a pair of running shoes and a can of pepper spray. The Taliban is now recruiting women to become suicide bombers. And it's not easy to qualify. The women must be able to push a car loaded with explosives because, as you know, they're not allowed to drive over there." –Jay Leno
"Germany is mad at the United States for the NSA eavesdropping. This, ladies and gentlemen, from the country that gave us the Gestapo. This story comes up about twice a year. They think they have located the body of Jimmy Hoffa, the former Teamsters union leader, after 40 years of being dead. Nothing on the NSA whistle-blower, but we think we know where Jimmy Hoffa is." –David Letterman
"NASA is challenging Americans to help them figure out a better way to find threatening asteroids. Americans said, 'What do we get if you pick our idea?' And NASA said, 'To live.' "The Senate's new immigration bill is apparently more than a thousand pages long and weighs 24 pounds. That doesn't sound like an immigration bill. That sounds like a menu at The Cheesecake Factory." –Jimmy Fallon
"Obama decided we're going to arm the rebels in Syria. Yes! This is why I voted for Obama in the first place, so he could carry out McCain's bad ideas.
The great news about getting into another war in the Middle East is that the next one's free. Syrian President Assad crossed a red line. He used chemicals weapons. Using harmful chemicals to hurt your own people – who does he think he is, Monsanto?" –Bill Maher
Now for a joke. A couple is lying in bed, on their 20th wedding anniversary. The woman suddenly feels her husband touching her in ways that he hadn't done in years. He started at her neck, and slowly traced a line downward, past the small of her back. He caressed one shoulder, then the other, and continued down across her breasts, stopping just below her navel. Next, he placed his hand on her left inner arm, and caressed down her side, stopping at her hip. He started over again on her right side, then brushed gently across her buttocks, and down her leg. As his hand was making its way up the inside of her left leg, he abruptly stopped and rolled over. She had become very aroused by all of this attention, and asked in a loving voice, "That was amazing, darling. Why did you stop?" He cleared his throat, looked at her and said "Found the remote."
So that's our NBA report. We'll catch you showing the world why, despite just falling short of a championship this season, you're a class act and one of the greatest power forwards of all times. Aloha, mahalo and later, Tim Duncan fans.


text: We have a basic policy of environmentally-sensitive waste management which includes bringing as little paper, tin and plastic into the wilderness as possible. All waste brought in is separated at the source and stored according to its recycling status: organic, paper, glass, and dangerous or toxic materials. All non-organic materials are removed and sent to the closest town of Punta Arenas to be recycled or disposed of and organic material is fed to a neighbouring pig farm.


text:
Standard & Poor's Upgrades Aspen's Credit Rating to
Contact: Don
Taylor, City of Aspen, Finance Director, 970-920-5027 or
Aspen, Colorado – April 23, 2014– The City of Aspen is pleased to announceStandard
& Poor's Rating Services has raised its credit rating from AA to AA+ for
the City's general obligation housing
refunding bonds as well as upgraded Aspen's issuer credit rating from AA to
An organization's
credit rating is an indication of the financial health of the entity. The highest rating for Standard & Poor's
is AAA+. This is the second rating
increase the City has received in recent years.
Strong debt to assessed value ratios are one of the reasons the City's
credit rating continues to improve. The
City also maintains healthy reserves in its operating funds to insulate itself
from economic downturns.
Standard & Poor's report stated, "We
consider Aspen's economy strong, with projected per capital effective buying
income at 206.3% of the U.S., and a per capita market value of $1.6 million in
fiscal 2014," and The city's budgetary performance has been very strong overall, with a
surplus of 9.2% for the general fund operating result in fiscal 2012 and a
surplus of 21.8% for the total governmental funds operating result. We
anticipate Aspen will likely have volatility in general fund revenue due its
tourism-based economy."
report was issued on April 16, 2014.


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Hello everyone, we have had an exciting couple of years as we have moved out of the Frank McCourt era into the Guggenheim era. After 2 years it is looking like their plan for the Dodgers is coming into focus.
Current Payroll: ~$240 million (not including Jansen and Ellis arbitration, filling out the bench, and possibly Tanaka or Arroyo)
That number looks really imposing, but let's take a look at some of the contracts that will be coming off the books next season.
Josh Beckett: $15.75 million
Chad Billingsley: $12 million (Unless the Dodgers miraculously pick up his 2015 option for $14 million)
Dan Haren: $10 million (Unless he gets to 180 IPs, in which case we got him for 1 more year)
Unless Haren has a big bounce back year this year, I don't see any of these guys coming back to the Dodgers in 2015. That is almost $38 million in savings in one season. Suddenly that $240-$270 million doesn't seem so monstrously high (though obviously it is still up there).
Then after 2015, the following contracts come off the books.
Brian Wilson: $10 million
Brandon League: $9.5 million
JP Howell: $4 million
Juan Uribe: $7 million
Suddenly another $30 million comes off the books again. So in the next two years the Dodgers have ~$70 million coming off of their payroll. That is quite a bit of flexibility that they know they have.
All those positions have potential to be filled in house.
Zach Lee - He may even come up this year
Chris Anderson
Julio Urias
Ross Stripling
Chris Reed
Can fill in the bottom 2 SP positions (or 1 if we get Tanaka) and also maybe fill out our bullpen.
Corey Seager steps in for Uribe
So basically after the 2015 season it becomes about waiting for 2019, when a lot of the big contracts come off the books


text:
15 Pughe Street, Ajax, ON
I just finished uploading this Detached Home for sale, 15 Pughe Street, Ajax, ON
Welcome to the beautiful neighbourhood of Canterbury Trails in NOrth Ajax. This impressive home is approximately 2 Years old with upgrades throughout and gorgeous trendy finishes! The open floorplan allows you to maximum the use of space and configure The Way You Like! This Great Room architecture has become a fond type of home for young families and people who wish to entertain and have common areas! Some of the features that are part of this house are: Rich Custom Hardwood, Halogen High End Potlights, Large Kitchen With Breakfast Bar, Impressive Master With Ensuite And His/Hers Closets,Well Appointed Kitchen With Upgraded Cabinetry,Sunken Main Floor 2-Piece and Upgraded Staircase.


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The overwhelming majority of big investment banks saw revenues fall across nearly all of their business lines in the first half of 2012.
That's according to new data out from Coalition, which carried out the analysis of first-half revenues at 10 global investment banks.
The Coalition Index measures the performance of 10 banks: Bank of America (BAC), Barclays (BCS), Citi (C), Credit Suisse (CS), Deutsche Bank (DB), Goldman Sachs (GS), JP Morgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and UBS (UBS). It found that the banks' revenues declined 7.5% to $86 billion in the first six months of 2012, down from $93 billion year-over-year, as 10 out of their 13 largest business units recorded drops. Credit, commodities, equity derivatives and debt capital markets all experienced double digit declines.
The only two other business areas to experience increased revenues were prime services in equities, (+2.2% to $5.6 billion), and global emerging markets within fixed income, (+2% to $8.3 billion).
This may spell bad news not only for investors but employees as well: Analysis by Dow Jones' Financial News of eight large investment banks found that investment banking jobs fell by around 100,000, or 5.6%, in the last year.
Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they're all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.
The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.
Write to Ben at email@example.com


text:
Beer Here!
Find current releases in our brewery Bottle Shop.
Chicagolanders can utilize this BeerHunter site for the city and suburbs.
To find it beyond... you're on your own. (Hint: Look up 12% Imports.)
Year Round Beers
Seasonal Beers
Other Beers Out There Now...
Beers from Days Past...
DAWDLE| 6.2% | Barrel Aged Scurry
Being the smug brewers we are, we made a bunch of beer right when we opened. When all that beer didn't sell instantly like we planned, we got taken down a notch and had to find something to do something with the excess beer. So we got some barrels and put some Scurry in them and hoped for the best. Later that year, it took a silver metal at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers. So now we can be smug brewers again, I guess.
Availability: Draft only
Papillion (750 mL bottles)
Batch One of Papillon won gold at 2014 FOBAB...though you may remember it as "We Can Do This Too, Cory King." We were able to get our grubby little hands on enough gin barrels for aging a big enough batch to actually bottle it (even if it is only 118 cases). Which is good because we have all these wild yeasts and bacteria around, and everyone here likes gin. The oldest beer in this blend has been in our first barrels (the ones that taught us you can't fit a full sized gin barrel in a Honda Civic) for three years and is blended with two year old beer from wine barrels and "freshened" with a little one year old wild ale also aged in wine. Unfortunately, all these barrels were pitched with varieties of our indigenous house cultures and not spontaneously fermented so we can't claim Jester King's Method Gueuze. Would have been pretty sweet to rename it "We Can Do That Too, Averie Swanson." Oh well. She's dead to us anyway.
Moderately acidic and highly floral. On the first sip, dense wood wood immediately supplies structural tannins before bursting with honeysuckle, gooseberry, juniper and lychee that flashes to jasmine in an unbelievably light, ephemeral finish. A study in duality. Subsequent search finds layers of funk, sweet tarts and a surprisingly present malt character for a beer this old.
Waddle Oktoberfest | 6.5% abv
A draft only offering to celebrate the wedding of one of our favorite ten employees! Brewed in the classic style of an Oktoberfest lager, except if you see it after October, then it is a Marzen.
Prairie Dog Attack | 7.5% Farmhouse Ale
Brewed with Prairie Artisan Ales
Chase Healey, founder and brewmaster of Prairie Brewing, recently paid Off Color a visit to collaborate on a beer. Chase, Dave and John brewed a beer so dry some claimed they didn't use water. The resulting beer was a deliciously palatable Tettnanger dry hopped farmhouse ale fermented with Prairie's saison yeast and Off Color's lactobacillus colony.
Tonnerre Neige | 8.5% Belgian Strong Golden
Brewed with Three Floyds
Echoing the constant bickering between Belgium's French and Flemish speaking regions, we brewed a beer halfway between a Belgian Strong Golden and a Super Saison. Then we pitched in both Belgian yeast and French Saison yeast to let them fight it out.
Availability: Draft, Spring and Summer of 2013... of what wasn't pigeonholed away
Beer Geek Mus! | 3.5% Russian Serf Stout
Rather than a typical Imperial Stout, which quickly decimates you and buries you in the yard, this delicate beauty wraps a warm scarf around your neck and just tightens it, ever… so… gently. Exclamation point optional, but preferred.
Availability: Draft, Summer and Fall of 2013
Smoked Bock | 6.5%
Brewed with Metropolitan
Dave went to home depot, spent $45 and built a home-make malt smoker. Then him and Doug smoked a bunch of Vienna malt with maple wood and used it in a classic bock recipe. John meanwhile met with the insurance agent to get insurance. Both ventures were successful.
Availability: One half-barrel, March 10th, 2013- March 11th, 2013
Pink Pils | 5.0%
Brewed with Metropolitan
We used a heritage strain of purple rice in a pils to trick Doug and Tracy into making their first adjunct lager. Unfortunately, they were onto us from the start. They're smarter than we are... which is good because we learned most of what we know about building a brewery from them.
Availability: One half-barrel, March 10th, 2013- March 11th, 2013
Halfbock | 3.5%
Brewed with Haymarket
We wanted to make something super small so we would have something to drink all day at our popup bar without falling over. Then, we figured there's a bock and a doppelbock so why not half of one? It didn't work. Well, the beer did but John stood up on the bar half naked and drunkenly rambled at everyone for unknown reasons. Or, as he tells the story, "I was calmly drinking a bottle of rum and then woke up at home."
Availability: Draft, Spring 2013
RADIOLARIA | 4.5 % ABV | American Wild
Our collaboration with Jester King in our first large format release.
Availability: Get it before it is gone forever
Malts: Pils, Flaked Wheat, Special Aromatic
Hops: Sorachi Ace
Secret Ingredients: House blends of indigenous yeasts and bacteria from the wilds of Texas and the frozen depths of Chicago.
RATS IN THE ASHES| Belgian Half Quad
Brewed with Three Floyds
When Three Floyds comes knocking at your door with a half barrel of Alpha King asking to do another collaboration... you say yes. This time around we brewed as standard strength Belgian style Quad with D2 sugar and some yeast the Floyds stole from Belgium.
Availability: Draft only
Availability: Draft, Late Summer 2013
CORYBANTIC | Wild Ale Brewed with Side Project
WHISKERS | Rose Style Wild Ale Aged in Wine Puncheons brewed with Central State
Silver Medal winner - FoBAB 2015


text:
ARSENAL have been rocked by star winger Santi Cazorla reportedly wanting a transfer back to Spain, with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid at the head of queue.
The Spanish star, who only joined the Gunners two years ago, is keen to return to his homeland, and at least one Atletico player has been doing a decent job selling him the benefits of life back in Madrid.
"I'm trying to convince everyone that no one should leave, and with many of the selection (Spanish national team) I'm trying to convince them to come to Atletico Madrid. Santi (Cazorla) is one of them," said defender Juanfran, according to The Daily Express.
Spanish paper AS claims the club already know the player wants to move, but the 29-year-old wouldn't come cheap, with a price of around $40 million being freely mooted
Meanwhile, Arsenal look to be back in for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema after the Frenchman reportedly stunned the Spanish club with his wage demands for next season.
Benzema, according to The Daily Expres s, wants to be paid on a par with Gareth Bale. Not going to happen!
Arsenal though would seemingly be willing to accede to his wishes.
Originally published as Gunners star wants to head back to Spain


text:
Proven under toughest conditions. Argoshield®: GMA welding of structural steel.
The collective term 'structural steel' refers to unalloyed and low-alloyed steels, fine-grained structural steels that are suitable for welding, including tubular and mild steels, unalloyed high-grade steels, as well as other alloyed steels that are not classified as stainless steels. The choice of the most suitable shielding gas depends mainly on the type of filler metal, the material thickness and surface condition of the base metals, the degree of mechanisation, working position, arc type and the requirements of the welded joint.
GMA welding with solid-wire electrodes and gas mixtures, consisting of Argon, CO2 and O2, such as Argoshield® Universal, is by far the most common method for joining structural steels. Owing to their unbeatable advantages in terms of quality and economy, gas mixtures are now much more widely used than pure CO2. Thus, the general rule of thumb applies to how much active gas, CO2 or O2, should be used: as little as possible and as much as necessary. Due to the increasing degree of mechanisation and the greater use of pulse techniques, mixed gases with a reduced CO2 or O2 content are becoming increasingly popular.
However, a lower level of active gases results in lower heat input, which can jeopardise fusion penetration and welding performance. In this respect, helium ad mixtures have proven effective in many applications.
A Helium content of 20–40% can improve heat transfer from the arc to the component, however, without the known disadvantages of the oxidising components. The increased efficiency of Argoshield® 100 gas can be used either for achieving higher welding speeds or for improving quality, such as better gap bridging or for reducing the risk of lack of fusion.
The shielding gas for metal-cored wires is selected according to the same criteria as those for solid-wire electrodes. These cored wires are flexible with regard to special alloying components and are characterised by a generally soft arc. Thanks to the powder filling, the power required for melting is lower than at comparable melt-down rate with solid-wire electrodes; this can also lead to a lower heat input.
Slag-forming flux-cored wires offer advantages for certain tasks. For example, when welding out of position, a quickly solidifying slag can act as a backing. By carefully defining the filling composition, the chemical and metallurgical reactions in the weld pool can be affected. As a rule, Argoshield® 52 or CO2 is used; lower levels of CO2 are not recommended since penetration can become critical.
Suitable gases are:
Competence Line®
- Argoshield® Light
- Argoshield® Universal
- Argoshield® Heavy
- Argoshield® 40 (AU only)
- Argoshield® 54 (AU only)
- Argoshield® MCW
- Argoshield® 52 (AU only)
- Carbon Dioxide
Performance Line®
- Argoshield® 100 (AU only)
- Argoshield® Pro (NZ only)


text:
Services for Kathryn M. Bradbury, 67, of Lubbock will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday in Resthaven's Abbey Chapel.
Burial will follow in Resthaven Memorial Park under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.
She died Saturday, July 15, 2000, at her home.
She was born Jan. 4, 1933, in Floydada. She graduated from Lubbock High School in 1951 and had attended Texas Tech. She married Ernest Bradbury on June 26, 1957. She was employed by the Lubbock city attorney for a few years, then by Texas Tech in various departments. She retired after several years with Haley's Research Library. She was a member of Broadway Church of Christ and had been a resident of Lubbock all her adult life.
Survivors include her husband; a son Ernest Jr. of Lubbock; three grandchildren.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today.
© 2017. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


text:
The Linguistically-Diverse Student
In this paper, I present the findings of a longitudinal study into the perceptions of linguistically and culturally diverse practicing teachers in a graduate program in the United Kingdom (UK) with regard to pedagogic practices deemed successful in helping them negotiate access to an academic community of practice. It is argued that an approach which seeks out these students' views, and the ways these change over time, enables new, more comprehensive, and more critical understandings of the relationship between notions of cultural and linguistic diversity, learning, and pedagogy which can inform both practice and theory for the WAC movement.
In the UK, as in many countries, while linguistic and cultural diversity have been commonplace in higher educational settings for a considerable time, the pedagogical implications for this have only recently started to be debated. In large part this been prompted by the dramatic and exponential growth of international student numbers, particularly from South East Asia (UKCOSA, n.d.). This has meant that linguistically and culturally diverse students have a more visible presence in many classes and may even, in some programs, be a majority of the student body (McNamara and Harris, 1997). As Singh and Doherty (2004) note, in particular, the increasing internationalization of classrooms in higher education has begun to raise concerns among educators as to how to cope with the needs and demands of these disparate student bodies.
Support for linguistically and culturally diverse students typically takes two forms in universities in the UK. Firstly, to help learners reach the language proficiency levels deemed necessary for study in higher education in the UK and to familiarize them with the academic written protocols, pre-sessional courses, before they formally enrol, are run by special units within the university (usually referred to as English language centres). Students may also elect to make use of in-sessional support provided by these units, such as one to one tutorials or study skills classes once they have started study in their academic departments (called "faculties" in the UK).
Secondly, to assist faculty in their work with these students, special workshops run by staff development units are increasingly commonplace. These courses seek to raise awareness of the ways in which international students' socio-cultural and linguistic background, which they are assumed to transfer to the new university setting, will lead them to hold different linguistic and other behavioral norms from those promoted in a western academic community. Armed with this knowledge, faculty members are then invited to reflect on pedagogic strategies to help assimilate and accommodate these students.
One of the most common ways in which cultural and linguistic differences are addressed in these workshops is, following the approach developed by cultural anthropologists such as Hofstede (1984), to identify central tendencies of a given culture to help "position" and "predict" the potential areas of communication breakdown. Employing this attempt to dichotomize cultures, Cortazzi and Jin (1997, p. 78) highlight differences in academic expectations between the UK and many south-east Asian contexts such as individual orientation versus collective consciousness, active involvement versus passive participation, creativity/ originality versus mastery/ transmission, and critical evaluation versus assumed acceptance.
In this paper, I will argue that these approaches for working with international students are limited and problematic on two counts. First, because they are based on overly simplistic conceptualizations of international students as defined by pre formed linguistic and cultural dispositions. Second, because they are informed by theories of learning which fail to give adequate prominence to a view of learning as a situated and dynamic response experiences in the new setting.
With regard to the dichotomizing cultural comparison approach outlined above, there is a danger of over generalization and reductionism in the ways in which culture is seen to define individual actions. On one level, this is because it promotes an under theorized monolithic view of culture which fails to acknowledge the richness and diversity within cultures (see for example Zamel, 1997; Kumaravadelivelu, 2003). On another level, the approach denies the role of agency in determining the multifarious ways in which individuals can choose to realize and engage with culture. As Guest (2002) points out, we need to acknowledge that linguistically and culturally diverse students' decisions and actions are not merely a reflection of culture—something we readily accept when accounting for the actions of individuals in our own culture. If we fail to do so, we lay ourselves open to charges of cultural stereotyping and may even confound rather than facilitate the development of practices to support these learners.
Overemphasizing learning as an individual cognitive process of meaning construction related to pre-existing socio-culturally determined norms is also problematic as it denies a view of learning as social, situated and formed through on-going interactions with significant others (Kirshner and Whitson,1997). Moreover, it fails to acknowledge that successful learning has more to do with the acquisition of the social practices of a given community than it does with the acquisition of discreet skills and facts (Lave and Wenger, 1991). These social practices refer not only to linguistic practices such as the use of certain genres and lexis but also to many other practices and values that distinguish communities from one another (Johns, 1997).
Wenger (1998) suggests that gaining membership of a community of practice requires that individuals move from marginal through to peripheral to fuller membership. Thus, as Thesen (1997, p. 487) notes, learners are likely to find themselves in a state of "unsteady transition" as they move from one community of practice to another. This will take them through a process of relinquishing or "unlearning" unhelpful agentive responses acquired in previous learning settings. More importantly, given the situated nature of learning, it takes them through a process of how to successful "learn" or take up new agentive positions within the new community.
To sum up, I suggest that the assumption that the learning dispositions of linguistically and culturally diverse students are culturally determined, fixed and transferred wholesale from one setting to another is highly problematic. Rather, following Sfard (1998), I argue that learning dispositions are best described as situated responses to the act of participation in a particular learning community and as dynamically constructed and transformed through on-going engagement. It follows from this, as Zamel (1997) has observed, that attempts to make faculty sensitive to the linguistic and cultural background of their students, while well-intentioned, are of only limited value in seeking in assisting linguistically and culturally diverse learners with the process of socialization into a new community of practice. Of more value is to critically evaluate the pedagogic opportunities provided by the community and to consider to what extent they facilitate legitimate peripheral participation in the community of practice.
On the basis of the discussion above, an important starting point for identifying appropriate pedagogic strategies for working with linguistically and culturally diverse students who are typically positioned as "silent recipients" of educational processes (Neito,1999, p. 192) is to prioritize research which aims to seek out their voices with regard to the ways in which they negotiate their understanding of the learning opportunities afforded by the community. Focusing on these learners' perceptions of the "constraints and affordances" (Wertsch, 1998, p. 45) of the pedagogical practices promoted in a higher educational setting as the study reported on here seeks to do, enables, as Thesen (1997) argues, potentially unexpected and more critical understandings of both learning and pedagogy to emerge.
Not surprisingly, this is a stance increasingly advocated in the literature on student learning in higher education both in general and with regard to WAC programs in particular. Hawthorne (1998, p. 58) for example, in her study of learners' perceptions of the value of academic writing support at a university in the US, argues that studies of students' perceptions are essential since: "to create a better educational experience for students, we need to hear from students about what happens to them within, because of and in spite of our writing programs".
In the same paper, echoing earlier comments by Becker (1992), Hawthorne (1998) also highlights a need for more longitudinal studies of learners' perceptions to capture the unpredictability of learning with regard to writing. This view also finds support amongst researchers seeking to capture what Bloomer (2001,p. 429) calls the "temporal connectivity" of learning and is an important stance to take where learning is viewed as the dynamic process of gaining access to a community of practice.
The research reported here focuses on the views of fourteen linguistically and culturally diverse graduate students with regard to classroom practices which are perceived to facilitate or constrain their learning during a one year Masters in TESOL program at a university in the UK. This program is comprised of three terms of study. The first two focus on the delivery of a range of modules which are assessed through written assignments of varying lengths. These are taught by a number of different full-time and part-time faculty members who employ a variety of teaching approaches, including lectures, seminars, task-based learning approaches, practical workshops and student presentations. The third term is devoted to the completion of a dissertation through research.
Additional support for learning during the program is provided in a number of ways:
In addition to the above, all international students are encouraged to take a five-week study skills course provided by the English Language Centre and are able to obtain one-on-one support for assignment writing on a weekly or bi-weekly basis from a tutor provided by the same unit.
The international students participants for this study were drawn from a range of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Four were from mainland China, five from Taiwan, one from Japan, one from Thailand, one from Malaysia ( of Indian ethnic background ), one from Saudi Arabia (originally from Nigeria) and one from South Korea. Other members of the MEd in TESOL classroom community included eight students from the UK, six of whom were of white UK background and two of whom were from ethnic minority groups (Bangladeshi and Sikh). All students were qualified and experienced primary secondary or post-secondary teachers.
For the majority of the participants, this was the first time they had studied in a degree program out of their countries of origin, although five participants had studied in the UK for short periods of time: two on three month teacher training programs at other universities, two on year-long language programs immediately prior to joining the MEd in TESOL, and one had completed a masters degree in business at the same university in the previous academic year. In addition, eleven of the fourteen participants had joined the pre-sessional academic and language support program provided by the English Language Centre at the university for one month immediately preceding their entry onto the MEd in TESOL.
Before going on to describe the design of the study below, it is important to stress from the outset that as I am an instructor on this program, the research was on my own working context and its practices. Moreover, all of the participants had at some time during the program elected to take modules run by me. As Cohen et al. (2000) acknowledge, all approaches to research come with costs and benefits. While I acknowledge that my position as a faculty member in this program might have meant that participants found themselves compromised to some extent in sharing insights with me, I believe that my role as informed insider was valid and beneficial in this particular research project. First, since the primary means of data collection was a series of semi-structured interviews, I felt my position as an insider better enabled me to build the sense of trust and rapport employing these entails. Based on my previous experience of using interviews as a means of data collection with international students, I have found that limited proficiency in the second or foreign language together with a lack of familiarity with the interviewer make it difficult for participants to feel comfortable in sharing their views with researchers who are outside the community and lack experience of working with these kinds of students. Secondly, as Holliday (2002) observes teacher researchers are well- placed to undertake research as they are better able to see interactions, complexities, and dynamic processes from a more holistic perspective, leading to a deeper understanding and greater insights about a particular issue.
To ameliorate the effects of my dual role as faculty member and researcher, I endeavored to follow established ethical protocols for undertaking qualitative research of this nature. Thus, informed voluntary consent was obtained from all participants before the research got underway, and they were given the right to withdraw at any stage and for whatever reason. In addition they were assured of and received privacy and confidentiality at all stages of the research. I also sought to maintain a questioning stance with regard to my pre-conceived assumptions and to be alert to my subjective biases.
The research study sought to address the following research questions:
To collect data, I undertook a number of semi-structured interviews which were carried out with each participant at three points during the year. A baseline interview was carried out two weeks after the start of the program, a further interview at the start of the second term, and a third interview at the start of the third term. I transcribed each individual interview and summarized salient points. In the subsequent interview, these points were re-presented to participants for checking and clarification. They also served as a springboard for discussing perceptual shifts. In the first interview, I focused on establishing their previous learning experiences and previous experiences of intercultural learning as well as their expectations of the new learning setting. In the following interviews, I focused on how expectations and assumptions about learning, teaching, and culture were seen to be shifting in response to their on-going engagement with the new learning community. I also sought to identify what participants attributed these changes to. Thus it was hoped that a sense of the developing interface between learning and pedagogic practices could be traced.
In addition, to create a sense of shared context and to serve as a platform for discussion, I undertook observations of a variety of classes in different modules throughout the first two terms. Participants also permitted me to have access to the reflective learning portfolios they developed throughout the year as an assessment requirement for one of the modules. Several also responded to my invitation to share email discussions about their learning. Finally, towards the end of the third term, I undertook focus group interviews with small group of participants to cross check themes I identified as emerging from my analysis of the various data sources and to seek additional clarification of points of interest.
Before proceeding to outline and discuss key findings of the study, it is important to make two points. First, I need to acknowledge that an individual participant's perceptions of pedagogical practices were seen to be related to their distinctive learning trajectories as they progress through the program, reflecting the unique ways in which they managed and constructed their identities within this community with reference to their previous experiences, other concurrent experiences, and their imagined futures. Nevertheless, it was also the case that a general picture of trends and tendencies among the participants could be identified as emerging from the data, and my discussion of the results will focus on this. Secondly, for the sake of brevity, in this paper I will only employ data from individual and focus group interviews to support my interpretations.
The findings of the study suggest that these advanced students are active and strategic both in the ways they orientate themselves towards the practices promoted in this learning community and in their on-going attempts to become part of the community. The results also shed light on the students' shifting perceptions of helpful classroom practice as they progressed through the course.
The results of the study challenge essentialist and over-generalized views of linguistically and culturally diverse learners learning dispositions. Baseline interviews revealed how individuals from similar cultural backgrounds held different views and attitudes towards learning as well as different expectations of the MEd in TESOL program. These differences related to their previous experiences of studying in western universities, their early personal experiences as learners, and in several cases, to their previous experiences of marginalization within their own cultural setting.
Moreover, in these interviews, participants seldom alluded to cultural norms as explanations for the ways they engaged with learning practices during the program. For example, with regard to initial difficulties all fourteen participants claimed to have with engaging in whole class discussions, only one attributed this to culture saying: "Sometimes it's because I remember how in my context we think we should keep silent and think twice before speaking ... I keep that in mind." More typically, initial difficulties were attributed to personal failings or the failings of others, such as lecturers or other students. For example, nine participants highlighted how their lack of contribution was due to personal qualities; ten, because they lacked knowledge, eight. because they had nothing to say, nine, because they lacked interest in the topic; twelve, because they felt their language was poor, and seven. because they did not want to lose face or, as one said: "I can't think quickly enough". Six participants also stated that it was because they didn't like the lecturer and the same number claimed their lack of contribution was because students with a better command of English took all the turns. As one said, "Native speakers take our opportunities away."
In addition, eight of the participants felt that some of their early difficulties were at least as, if not more, attributable to the mismatches they encountered between their expectations and assumptions about what studying at a western university would be like and the reality of the situation they found themselves in. In early interviews, five participants commented on how they assumed that as post graduate learners and as adults, they would be expected to be independent and autonomous. This assumption prevented them initially from taking up and utilizing formal support mechanisms built into the program. For example, it was noticed that while learners were unanimously favorably disposed to the principle of tutorial support, six participants made very limited use of this at the start of the program. It became clear in later interviews that this was because initially they were unsure as to how they should engage with this support. Some felt that seeking support would suggest that they were "weak" or "problem" students. As one student explained: "I didn't expect much support—for me doing a masters is very independent."
It is also apparent from interviews undertaken at the start of the program that from the outset, participants were actively engaged in the process of orientating themselves to the new learning community and in trying to identify community practices. They were strategic in their attempts to deal with these. For example, while the vast majority of participants (12) claimed to be more used to lecture formats and didactic teaching approaches in their previous studies, all participants expressed a preference for small group learning within a few weeks of starting their studies. Small groups were construed in terms of the small classes which were a feature of some modules or, more frequently, as opportunities for pair and group learning within large classes. They seemed to recognize that working in small groups was an important way to enable them to actively contribute in this learning setting and that this was highly valued. For example, as one participant stated: "Students in my country don't need to speak but here students need to express their opinions—group work can help me with this." Another commented: "In my country you learn by listening but in this country you emphasize learning by doing ... it's the way to be successful so I changed to wanting to have tasks and that means group work."
It is interesting to note from these extracts from the data that in choosing to use the term "in my country" at this stage of the program, these participants saw their broad national cultural identities and their previous learning dispositions as serving as useful reference point in their attempts to make sense of how they were seeking to strategically realign themselves with the requirements and perceived expectations of the new learning community. The flexibility and adaptability exhibited in the responses resonates with findings about a number of studies of South East Asian students in particular (see Biggs ,1999, p. 130, for a summary of these).
Discussions with participants also showed them to be highly attuned to the "peculiarities" of a particular community of practice and "what joining takes" (Lave and Wenger, 1991, p. 13). For example, when asked about how far previous experience of studying in other Western educational settings gave students an advantage in this setting, almost all participants (12 in total) argued that any initial advantage was short-lived, as practices were often very localized and specific to a particular academic community. As one participant said of her previous experience: "It's not the same atmosphere here as there ... I don't have any advantage in this course." Another went so far as to claim: "My past experiences are a waste of time. They can't help me here."
From the above it is apparent that from the outset, these post-graduate students could be seen to be actively engaged in seeking to gain a purchase in the new learning community. As part of this process of adjustment, results suggest that where pre-formed dispositions were perceived to be unhelpful, these were readily relinquished. On the one hand, this process comprised the "unlearning" of agentive positions students had assumed in other learning communities but also the readjustment of their presuppositions of what learning in this new setting would be like. On the other hand, it comprised a strategic attempt to acquire the agency necessary to maximize their possibility for success in the new community.
The results provide a number of useful insights into the pedagogical activities participants perceived to be helpful in scaffolding their attempts to negotiate their understanding of community membership and practices at the start of the program. They also show how these perceptions shifted over time in response to their ability to renegotiate their understandings and seek out new positions within the community.
In the early stages of the program, group work and a well-structured learning environment were unanimously regarded as important ways in which these students could be helped to gain access to this community of practice. All participants commented on how, in the early stages of the program, they preferred to work in small groups as this gave them an opportunity to contribute. As one commented: "It makes me feel I'm a participant not an observer." Six participants also suggested that their preference for small group work was closely related to the fact that this often entailed tasks requiring them to process new knowledge which they perceived to be a core value of the practice community. As one remarked: "Here we focus on applying knowledge not just on getting it."
Ten participants also observed initial preferences for working in groups which comprised other international students, due to the perceived disparities in their language proficiency relative to those students who spoke English as a first language. As one participant remarked about her preference for working in groups with other international students: "They are like me. I don't have to care about my grammar or anything—they won't laugh at me."
Results also provided insights into how students felt they could best be encouraged to take part in whole class discussions. In particular, they mentioned how lecturers' ways of encouraging contributions had a negative or positive effect on them at this stage. Seven participants felt that directive questioning was very unhelpful and meant that they lost face. As one said: "I prefer to listen not to be forced to speak." Four felt that directive questioning was necessary to ensure they were included but that lecturers needed to understand that while they appreciated this, it did not always mean they would be able to answer. For example, one said: "You can ask me a question, but please understand that I may not be able to answer."
The second identifiable general preference at the early stage of the program was for a well-structured learning environment. While one participant said he felt this was because this was what he was used to in his previous learning setting, the majority focused more on how this helped them deal with the demands of the new learning community. Things they valued in the program as a whole were study groups ( mentioned by eight participants), the opportunity to write a formative non-assessed assignment (mentioned by ten participants), and the program meeting (mentioned by seven participants). With regard to the lectures, ten participants claimed to value those for which instructors required pre-reading and pre-class tasks and six mentioned that they valued mini assignments to help prepare them for the final assessed assignment. They also valued well-organized classes. For example, one participant said about an instructor: "I liked her class ... she has a plan and she follows it.." In contrast, another said: "Lecturers don't always do what they say they will at the beginning of class and some of them go back and forth which is problematic for me." Eight participants also mentioned the importance of handouts. A typical comment was: "We want it written down. It gives us a chance to digest."
In addition to the above, twelve participants remarked how they felt both the formative and other assignments were major ways in which they felt they learned what was required of them. Although they found this a demanding process, the fact that they had to produce on average six or seven written assignments was perceived to greatly assist their learning. This reflects the findings of Hawthorne's (1998, p. 58) study where she found that learners cited "the cumulative effect of a writing intensive curriculum" as a major contributor to their growth as learners and writers.
As learners progressed through the program, a symbiotic, dynamic, and transformative relationship between the positions that participants negotiated within the community and their perceptions of helpful pedagogic practices was seen to emerge. Thus, it was through their engagement in pedagogic practices in the early part of the program that they found ways of taking up initial positions in the community. In doing so, they acquired the forms of agency which in turn enabled them to renegotiate new positions in the community. This then led them to reappraise earlier views on what were seen to be supportive or unsupportive pedagogic practices and in so doing, in some cases, to try to reconfigure these to better meet their needs.
For example, it seemed that in scaffolding their early entry into the community, group work helped many participants to acquire the self confidence in their language proficiency and knowledge-base which in turn enabled them to feel more comfortable in and come to appreciate the benefits of whole class learning opportunities more as time went on. By the middle of the second term, seven of the participants reflected that they no longer found group work so helpful or necessary in supporting their learning. Five participants also talked of new-found benefits in whole-class discussions. As one said: "I find now that it is possible for me to get interaction opportunities within a lecturing format." Another talked of the value of questioning to her as she looked back on Term Two: "I've realized over time that questioning illuminates and stimulates your thoughts."
The participants' views on tutorial support also changed significantly with time. In particular, four of the six participants who professed initial difficulty in seeking out tutorial support had, by the start of the second term, started to actively request this support. Several became quite vociferous in their demands that support mechanisms be increased. As one participant who had initially been reluctant to sign up for tutorials commented, "I found things so different that I realized that I did need support and that I needed as much as I could get." Another participant said, "I didn't expect much but found I needed it."
Ten of the fourteen participants also changed their views on what kind of support they felt they needed from their lecturers. They attributed their changing needs to what one participant described as better understanding "how to play the game" which was seen to involve two major abilities: acquiring the self-directedness that the program sought to promote, and mastering the academic genres and register, with a greater understanding of critical writing. With regard to the latter, one participant described his shifting understanding of "good" academic writing in the following way: "I've moved from a view of academic writing as read and write to read think and write." He added though that he felt he still needed some support, it was a different kind of support from that he had required earlier in the program. This view was echoed by six other participants. With regard to tutorial support in particular, in term two, all of these ten participants felt less of a need to seek out help to address difficulties they had with academic protocols, but felt they still needed and appreciated the chance to discuss aspects of subject knowledge with a tutor. As one participant said: "I still need support. I always need support. But now it's different. Now I know how it (academic writing) works but I still need help with my ideas. I have my ideas but I need the teacher (sic) to help me decide or confirm whether it's a good idea, to raise questions, and to suggest some more reading."
Bloomer's (2001: 442) foregrounding and backgrounding metaphor is helpful in seeking to describe this process of shift and to emphasize that needs will fluctuate over time in response to students' "changing relationality and interpretation of experience." That is to say, that while at some stages of learning, certain needs will be prioritized, at other times, other needs will come to the fore. It is important to realize too, that this will not necessarily be a linear and tidy process. As one student commented: "How much support I need changes all the time. In Term Two I needed less support ... now, I am starting to write my dissertation, I find I need more support again!" Thus, as Bloomer (443)argues, it seems important to be aware that learning is transformed in ways that are "subtle, irregular, unpredictable and multi rather than uni-dimensional."
In focusing on linguistically and culturally diverse students' experiences of learning in higher education in a western university setting, this study has sought to enable the often marginalized and silenced members of our classes to gain a voice in the debate about pedagogy for widening participation. The findings present a picture of students as active in strategically realigning themselves and investing in the practices of the new community as well as readily relinquishing unhelpful dispositions developed in previous learning settings. They also suggest that participants identify certain learning opportunities as particularly helpful in scaffolding their on-going attempts to gain purchase in this new community of practice. More generally, pedagogic practices are perceived to exert a considerable influence on their success throughout their studies.
The results raise some important questions with regard to the validity of current attempts to support faculty in working with linguistically and culturally diverse students outlined in the introduction to this paper. In particular, they challenge the common essentialist approaches to understanding these students' experiences purely in terms of linguistic and cultural background. Not only do these fail to account for individual agency but also encourage faculty to persist with a view of these students' difficulties as due to inherent cultural and linguistic deficits, thus downplaying the need for faculty to consider the ways in which their own practices may contribute to these students' success or failure.
It is important to stress, that while the findings reported here may well prove to be of broad relevance to discussions of appropriate practices for linguistically and culturally diverse learners in higher education, it is necessary to corroborate these finding by undertaking similar studies in other faculty and in other institutional settings, particularly among more novice (undergraduate) students. As Morita (2004) observes, academic socialization entails learning how to join a number of communities simultaneously including the general academic community, disciplinary community, institutional community, but also localized classroom learning communities. Thus while the results reported on here may be indicative of the general perceptions of linguistically and culturally diverse students concerning successful pedagogic practices to facilitate their socialization into an academic community, it is important to also understand that these results need to be seen as situated responses to their attempts to join a particular community in a particular department and may not be generalizable. Further studies will also help establish how far the fact that the participants were all experienced teachers adept at reflecting on educational experiences and engaged in studying educational theory, impacted on the results obtained.
These potential limitations of the study do not, however, detract from the value of the study, namely, the importance of focusing on learners' accounts of their experiences as an important way of providing the "thick" descriptions necessary to effect local change. Indeed, my colleagues and I have found the insights gained from this study a valuable platform for introducing new initiatives into our own practice. A significant point of learning for us has been to understand the need to see communities of practice as co-constructed, emergent, and responsive. That is to say, in deepening our understanding of the ways in which these students manage the parameters set by the community of practice, the findings have led us to consider how the community itself might be transformed and be more responsive to the needs of these learners. This is an important area for future research.
As Lave and Wenger ( 1991, p. 98) argue, a community of practice should not be defined as "a set of dictates for proper practice" but should provide the scope for flexibility and be seen to unfold and evolve in the on-going interactions between participants. I would suggest this view of learning community is not one which is currently embraced in higher education, but is one which can greatly enhance the chances for the development of more equitable pedagogy. As a result of undertaking the study in the particular community I work in, insights gained into these students' experiences have led us to critically reflect on this issue and to acknowledge that an appropriate pedagogy for our program needs us to recognize the right of all participants to contribute to the on-going process of how this community is defined. That is, as Duff (2002, p. 290) argues, the study has helped us to conceive of a community of practice as cohesive, one in which all members of the community are seen to engage in the negotiation of identities and subject matter together in "respectful and equitable ways." Such an approach, I suggest, is an important way of seeking to meet the challenges posed by widening participation in higher education both in the UK and beyond.
Becker, R. (1992). Evaluation of using writing-to-learn in Global iii 1990-1992 Bayside, NY: Queensborough Community College of CUNY, Queensborough Institute for Writing and Critical Thinking.
Biggs, John. (1999). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Buckingham: Open University Press
Bloomer, Martin. (2001). Young lives, learning and transformation: Some theoretical considerations. Oxford Review of Education 27(3), 429-449.
Cohen, Louis., Manion, Lawrence, and Morrison, Keith. (2000). Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge/Falmer.
Cortazzi, Martin. and Jin, Liu. (1997). Communication for learning across cultures. In McNamara, D. and Harris, R. (Eds), Overseas students in higher education: Issues in teaching and learning (pp. 76-90). London: Routledge.
Duff, Patricia A. (2002). The discursive construction of knowledge, identity and difference: An ethnography of communication in the high school mainstream. Applied Linguistics 23(3), 289-322.
Guest, Michael. (2002). A critical checkbook for culture teaching and learning English. Language Teaching Journal 56(2), 154-162.
Hawthorne, Joan I. (1998). Student perceptions of the value of WAC. Language and Learning Across the Disciplines 3 (1). Retrieved February 1, 2005, from http://wac.colostate.edu/llad/v3n1/hawthorne.pdf
Hofstede, Geert. (1994). Cultures and Organisations. London: HarperCollins.
Holliday, Adrian. (2002). Doing and Writing Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
Johns, Ann M. (1997). Text, role and context: Developing academic literacies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kirshner, David, and Whitson,James. (1997). Situated cognition: Social, semiotic and psychological perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). Problematising cultural stereotypes in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 37(4), 709-718.
Lave, Jean, and Wenger, Etienne. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation.New York: Cambridge University Press.
McNamara, David, and Harris, Robert. (Eds). (1997). Overseas students in higher education: Issues in teaching and learning. London: Routledge.
Morita, Naoko. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language academic communities. TESOL Quarterly 38(4), 573-603.
Nieto, Sonia. (1999). Critical multiculturalism and students' perspectives. In S. May (Ed.) Critical multiculturalism: Rethinking multicultural and anitracist education (pp. 191-215). London: Falmer Press.
Sfard, Ann. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher 27, 307-322.
Singh, Parlo, and Doherty, Catherine. (2004). Global cultural flows and pedagogic dilemmas: teaching in the global contact zone. TESOL Quarterly 38(1), 9-41.
Thesen, Lucia. (1997). Voices, discourse, and transition: in search of new categories in EAP. TESOL Quarterly 31(3), 487-512.
UKCOSA Higher Education Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20th, 2004, from http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/pages/hestats.htm.
Wenger, Etienne. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Zamel, Vivian. (1997). Towards a model of transculturation. TESOL Quarterly 31(2), 341-352.
Sarah Rich is a lecturer in TESOL
at the University of Exeter in the UK. She is the author of several articles
concerning pedagogic practices for intercultural learning at tertiary level.
She is currently undertaking research into multicultural classroom ecologies in
higher educational settings with a particular focus on the dynamic interface
between identity and learning. She can be reached at:
School of Education and Life-long Learning
University of Exeter
Heavitree Road
Exeter, UK
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The 1,300 gypsies of Al-Zuhoor Village are among the most vulnerable minorities in Iraq's southern Diwanyah Province. They have faced discrimination since arriving in the 1920s. In 2004, their village was razed by the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, who bulldozed their mud-brick homes and the leveled the school.
Over the past seven years, villagers have slowly returned even though Al-Zuhoor has no electricity, running water, sewage disposal, medical facilities or classrooms. Today, with assistance from USAID, Al-Zuhoor does have a Community Action Group (CAG), a committee of four women and eight men who have prioritized their village's needs and pressed the local government to establish basic services.
"We need electricity and education," says CAG member Abbas Hussein Ayiz. "We emphasize electricity because to do other projects – to run schools and workshops – we need electricity."
Forming a CAG was a huge step for the residents of Al-Zuhoor, who are mostly unemployed and uneducated. They had no experience in community organization and were unfamiliar with the workings of government even though they are Iraqi citizens.
The gypsies, who migrated from Central Europe to the Arabian Peninsula at the end of the Ottoman Empire, are seen by many as outsiders even thought they have lived in Iraq for nearly a century. They cannot find work and do not own farmland. A police checkpoint keeps non-residents from entering the village.
"We've wanted to do for ourselves. But we needed a push," says Abbas, referring to USAID's help establishing the CAG and promising Community Action Program support funds once priorities were established.
The community has received the local government's approval for connection to the electrical grid. USAID will provide the wire and transformers; the villagers will provide the labor. USAID's efforts have begun dialogue between the community and the local government encouraged the community to advocate for its needs, and the government to support Al-Zuhoor's residents.
Last updated: August 21, 2013


text:
Sam is three times as Serious now
Subject: General Tech | February 22, 2012 - 05:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, serious sam 3 bfe
If you are a fan of old style shooters which involve nothing more complicated than killing everything that moves then you will probably enjoy this post over at The Tech Report. It covers the new Serious Sam 3:BFE and all of its explosive joys. One of the more attractive new features is the expanded co-op mode with up to 16 people able to coordinate their firepower against hordes of beasties. Check out the 'big, stupid fun' and see if this is the game you need to help you blow off steam.
"In his latest blog post, TR's Geoff Gasior gets sucked into Serious Sam 3: BFE, a retro shooter that puts a coat of fresh paint on a franchise famous for over-the-top FPS combat."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Gotham City Imposters (PC) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
- HTML 5 Gaming: Classic and Modern Titles You Can Play for Free Today @ TechSpot
- Guild Wars 2 Opens Beta Sign-Ups For 48 Hours @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Swoop In The Tribes: Ascend Beta This Friday @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- The Vita game guide: impressions of 14 launch titles @ Ars Technica
- I play LoL; What should I know about Dota 2? @ LanOC Reviews
- Super Meat Boy Review @ eTeknix
- Gotham City Imposters Game @ HardwareHeaven
- Asura's Wrath (XBOX 360) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven
Serious Sam takes his PC gaming ... seriously
Subject: General Tech | December 21, 2011 - 04:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, serious sam, serious sam 3 bfe
In a nice change from many other recently released games, Serious Sam 3 was obviously designed with PC gaming in mind. While it is still a DX9 game, the developers spent a significant amount of effort pushing DX9 as far as it could go to provide you with great visuals and an options screen that gives you a lot more control than other recent
console ports games. [H]ard|OCP's testing shows the game scoffs at high resolutions, with the performance at 2560x1600 being essentially the same as at 1920 x 1280. AMD holds a slight lead in performance over NVIDIA, though not enough to really brag about, either manufacturer will give you a great experience while playing this game. Check it out here.
"Croteam's latest installment in the Serious Sam series takes us back to a time when first person shooters were designed around fragging endless waves of zombified enemies, cover did not exist, and rocket launchers were semi-automatic weapons. This DX9 game comes packed with graphics options that push the current generation of graphics cards to the limit."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Winter's Already Here, Silly: Game Of Thrones @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Hooray! A Skyrim UI Mod: SkyUI @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review: 3D Vision 2 Experience @ Hi Tech Legion
- Gaming's biggest joys—and most bitter disappointments—of 2011 @ Ars Technica
- Skyrim LAA Patch @ [H]ard|OCP
- The Highly Anticipated Grand Theft Auto V @ kitguru
- PlayStation Move Games Roundup December 2011 @ HardwareHeaven
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