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There is a century's old debate between metallists and chartalists on the origin of money. The metallist view is that the first spark of money emerged through barter and matured when the use of precious metals as money was discovered. The chartalists disagree. According to them, the use of credit preceded the use of precious metals as money.
At its core, the metallist/chartalist debate is a battle over the definition of the word money. In a moneyness world, there is no such thing as money. All we have are numerous media of exchange with varying ranges of liquidity. Whether moneyness first gets attached to credit or precious metals is really not important.
Imagine that a hunter encounters a trapper. The hunter has a deer. The trapper wants the deer but isn't sure what to offer. On the one hand, he can exchange the two rabbits in his belt for the deer. On the other he can offer his credit. In offering to exchange away his credit, the trapper is simply capitalizing his future earning power and bringing it forward for use in trade. Metallists and chartalists put tremendous importance on this first choice of credit versus rabbits, since one or the other will represent the so-called origins of money.
From a moneyness perspective, there are more interesting forces at play. Say that the trapper learns that the hunter will accept either his credit or his rabbits. The trapper next arrives at the realization that both items now have a degree of liquidity, or moneyness. He begins to attach a liquidity premium to both, for not only are the trapper's inventory of rabbits useful to him as food, but they can also be resold to the hunter, thereby providing the trapper with an extra range of liquidity services. The same goes for his credit. The trapper's future earning power is one of his key possessions. Now that it is tradeable, his future earnings power provides an extra margin of liquidity services. Over time the trapper will learn which one of his trade items is more liquid and will favor that item with a larger liquidity premium. A monetary economy has now emerged in which traded goods are appraised according to their degree of liquidity and carry varying liquidity premiums.
If we split the world into money and non-money, then debates over the what items make it into the money category will often be heated. The origins debate gets especially intense because it tries to define modern money by looking back to its so-called debut. Taking inspiration from gold's barter origins, modern day metallists want a pure real/commodity based money. Modern day chartalist, who advocate state-issued inconvertible paper, look back to money's credit origins to support their view that the essential nature of money is credit.
From a moneyness perspective, the money-or-not debate is distracting. The origins of liquidity and liquidity premia is complex and probably not subject to study. There never was a single dominant instrument that could claim the mantle of money, only multiple goods and forms of credit, each with different degrees of moneyness. As for the metallists and chartalists, a pox on both their houses.


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Good morning everyone! It's been quite some time since I blogged about our fabulous monthly challenges; I've been positively swamped with school and life, but I miss letting y'all know about the challenges and prizes and funfunfun! I think it's time to get back on the horse, don't you? 🙂
This week I will be spotlighting the buffet challenge hosted by Monica of ViolaMoni Designs! This month's buffet theme was designer's choice with a lovely fall-inspired palette to tie it all together. Here's a fun YouTube video created to show off all the awesome buffet pieces!
Love it! If you haven't grabbed any buffet pieces, head over to the store and get yourself a little treat. 😉 The only requirement for the buffet challenge is to use pieces from the buffet–any designer, in any way! The designers have created full kits, alphas, extras, templates and more for you, so you got lots to choose from! Check out some of the submissions we've got so far…
By altimasport
By Lisa
By mamaape
By melissavt
Ok yes yes, I cheated and picked four layouts to highlight this time instead of three–I couldn't help it! The designers made so many different themes this month, I had to show some off. We've got wine, gargoyles, pretty positivity and of course, Halloween! I love uniquely themed kits to scrap specific life moments and this month's buffet has several! 🙂
We're already a week into the month, so if you haven't started your post in the October 2013 Tracking Thread, now is the time to get the ball rolling! As always, all completed challenges earn you points towards a fabulous reward at the end of the month, so scrap scrap scrap!
That's it for today; see y'all next week! 🙂

subset: commoncrawl


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The Staley School of Leadership Studies is excited to be a champion for service-learning at Kansas State University. With a three decade plus history on campus, service-learning has engaged students, faculty, and community in teaching and learning that is transforming our world. Through initiatives like the Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives, the Community Service Programs Office, Leadership Studies and programs and more, historically has embraced the challenge of fostering engaged teaching and learning environments that dovetail the vision and aspirations of high impact student learning and community development and growth. Today, the Staley School of Leadership Studies is proud to serve as a resource for service-learning. Through our academic minor and programs like the International Service Teams, Alternative Breaks, and HandsOn Kansas State, we work to develop service-learning in and outside of the classroom as a way to engage students in deeper learning.
In 2012, Kansas State University convened a Service-Learning Task-force to explore the nature and status of service-learning at the university. Out of that task-force came a University definition for service -learning, the Staley School of Leadership Studies in concert with Kansas State University defines service-learning as:
Service-learning is experiential in that students learn from their direct experiences and their reflection on those experiences. It provides students with an opportunity to use and apply what they are learning to a current community issue. It is a high-impact educational practice in that an extensive body of research has been developed which indicates that service-learning is highly effective and beneficial to a range of students.
Service-learning powerfully advances the mission of Kansas State University by contributing to the development of a "highly skilled and educated citizenry" and by working to improve "the quality of life and standard of living of those we serve." It fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, multicultural competencies, and engaged research. It teaches teamwork and civic responsibility, preparing students for their careers and active engagement with diverse communities.
Service-learning practices are carefully aligned with student learning outcomes and with community-identified needs. These practices are valuable to the communities served and to the students who learn how to contribute actively to the well-being of the communities served.
Attendees of the 2013 Service-Learning Institute Described the Manhattan Community as:


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Holiday service projects will be the focus of the next general meeting of the Democratic Women of Clifton on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. The location is the Clifton Community Hall, 12641 Chapel Rd., Clifton, VA 20124. Following a short meeting, at about 4 p.m. the DWC will reconvene at a local restaurant in Clifton for a holiday celebration. Again this year, the DWC will participate in holiday projects with two local organizations.
*Toy and Coat Drive
For the second year, the DWC is coordinating with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) to collect toys for 3,000 needy children throughout Northern Virginia. These donated gifts will be the only ones many of the children receive for Christmas. The toy drive is the highlight of the holiday season for both the first responders and the young gift recipients.
In addition to toys, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department will accept monetary donations to purchase coats for area children. Last year, the department distributed nearly 3,000 new coats to more than 50 schools, shelters and nonprofits throughout Fairfax and Alexandria. The organization observes that "giving these kids a new coat builds such great self-esteem" that it helps them do better in school.
With the monetary donations received, FCFRD will purchase new coats from a nonprofit called Operation Warm out of Chadd Ford, for $15 each. Donations of checks or cash are tax deductible, and receipts will be provided for tax purposes (no coats, please).
If you wish to contribute to the toy drive, bring new, unwrapped toys to the Nov. 18 meeting of the DWC. Gift cards from Target or Old Navy are also welcomed for older children, who enjoy selecting their own gifts at these stores. If you can't make the meeting but want to donate, please contact us to arrange a drop off; gift cards may be mailed to Democratic Women of Clifton, P.O. Box 143, Clifton, VA 20124.
Donations to the coat drive may also be mailed to the DWC, with checks made payable to Firefighters and Friends to the Rescue. The toy and coat distribution event with the FCFRD will be held on Dec. 18, so we would like to receive your donations to both projects by Dec. 10.
*Gift Cards to Benefit Our Daily Bread
Also, the DWC is sponsoring a collection of grocery store gift cards to benefit Our Daily Bread, a Fairfax County nonprofit organization that provides food and assistance to Northern Virginia families experiencing financial hardship. Your gift card donation will be distributed to the families in January. Please bring gift cards of any denomination from any local grocery store or checks payable to Our Daily Bread to the DWC meeting on Nov. 18 or mail them at the address above. We will accept these until Dec. 31.
Questions? Email: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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FREDERICK, Md. – The York College women's soccer team picked up a 1-0 Capital Athletic Conference triumph over host Hood College Wednesday afternoon in Frederick, Md. With the victory the Spartans move to 3-6 overall and 3-0 in the CAC while the Blazers drop to 1-8 and 0-3 in conference play.
Sophomore Jordan Snook provided the game-winner for the Green and White in the 68th minute. Senior forward Lauren Ward pushed into a dangerous area before Snook found the ball inside the box on the right side. The forward wasted little time in finishing the opportunity high, inside the right post for the game's lone score. Snook has now tallied two of York's three game-winners this season.
York battled throughout much of the contest against a spirited Blazer squad. The Spartans posted 14 shots in the opening frame, yet Hood goalkeeper Kirsten Cacciola stood tall making nine saves in the period.
Tied 0-0 at half, York notched double-digit shot totals again in the second half as they recorded 11 attempts. It would be Snook's tally however, that would prove the deciding factor in the contest.
Defensively, senior captain Kathryn Leyendecker played exceptionally well for the Green and White. Late in the first half and through the beginning of the second, Leyendecker proved a solid ball-winner who provided much-needed bite for the Spartans. Junior Caitlin Aversa also put together a quality showing for York from her marking back position.
Spartan goalkeeper Sarah Spanarkel picks up win number three on the season as she made a trio of saves to snag the shutout. Of those three saves, Spanarkel made one potentially game-saving stop in the 55th minute when Hood's Stevey Markovich found herself alone inside the box on the right side. Markovich hit a low shot to the far post as Spanarkel dove to her right to keep the attempt out of the goal.
Hood's Cacciola put together an outstanding effort of her own as she registered 14 saves for the Blazers.
The Spartans return to action on Saturday, October 1, when they welcome CAC foe Wesley to Graham Field. Start time from York is slated for 12:30 pm.
Jordan Snook photo courtesy of Zach Clabaugh - www.sharpedgefoto.com


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several weeks ago
Here is to learning something new, taking something with you and leaving something behind…
A weekend of encouragement….just because…we share the same Saviour…"
so while i'm packing up the required cute shoes
you'll be thanking me for that phone this weekend :)
and, i love your texts ... ecspecially the one that greeted me this morning at 6am! love it that we can 'talk' that early.
have a wonderful time.... can't wait to get educated on the ISO/Ap stuff ...
Oh it sounds like fun! Don't worry about the "thinner, super duper cute" part. You'll fit right in! Personally, I was so admiring your (Easter?) outfit in the picture you posted Apr 07. You looked great.
Now, while you go learn how to be a better photographer, maybe I'll go pull out the instruction manual for my point and shoot!!
Have fun -- what a blast -- going on a road trip!
AM looking for a new phone, so am going to copy and try and get one just like yours, ok??
Love those prom photos -- ADORABLE!!
your daughter is b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.
love her in that pink. its the perfect color. and he's cute too!
have a great trip. sounds like fun!
Gorgeous dresses on gorgeous girls. Thanks for sharing so many wonderful pictures!
Happy Weekend!
I always get nervous before any type of a girls event, especially if I don't the girls attending very well.
Hope you have fun!
Your daughter is gorgeous and I still have a flip phone. I'm a little bit jealous of you new one.
You're too cute, so don't worry about a thing when it comes to meeting new gals. I'm sure y'all will have the best and all of your worries will fade right away. Happy, happy weekend to ya!
oh wow...you are going to have an AMAZING trip...and those pictures beautiful...that truck and those clothes...and your daughter...how beautiful!!!
Let those insecurities go...you are one of the most beautiful people!
Have a wonderful weekend!! Sounds like fun.
Your daughter looks absolutely beautiful. I love her dress.
Have a great day!
you'll have an amazing trip! i SO want to hide in your suitcase. have fun and many blessings.
oh and your daughter is so very beautiful!
enjoy these times, my friend.
Girlfriends are precious - enjoy yourself! Savor every moment, it sounds like it will be so much fun!
Your daughter is beautiful and that pink dress is stunning!
No road trips for us here. We are getting 16 inches of blizzard conditions and snow. I had the truck in 4H and I was still sliding all over the road.
BTW: Vavavoom, oooooweeeee those girls are a knock out!
Great post!!v I am with you on the old phone. Holding out for Verizon's new phone this summer. I wanted to go to Atlanta this weekend to see Beth Moore but didn't start making plans soon enough...Assuming that is where you and the girls are going. Have a great trip and remember Goodbye Insecurities!!
Ok, so in my lost in dates in the deep midst of crazy work deadlines and well...you know... these days it hit me say around 3PM today that I remembered your trip. Hence the "Hey Third Day is playing in Marietta for $10!" call to you. Oh, but your trip will be sooooo much more fun than that concert.
So very excited for you.
I pray you girlies have just the best time in fellowship, out-loud laughter, smiles and more precious memories and close bonds than you know what to do with.
Have a Blessing Blast is what I am trying to say.
Paige -- I hope you have a wonderful time this weekend and are blessed unmeasurable! Maybe when you get back you'll treat us all with your wisdom.
Plus I want a class when your done...I so need help...it's like a foreign language ISO/Apenture or I'm just slightly handicap in the camera speak.
Love the pictures, I'm still working on getting mine up. This weekend I promise.
BTW I still have a flip phone & love it!
Have a wonderful time this weekend! i have one of the old phones, texting is a pain!!
Have a wonderful road trip!
I love how real you are in this post - 'cause I would be worried about the much younger and thinner thing too :) Oh Savannah is just gorgeous - can't wait to see more photos!
Have fun and I like your your new phone (I lost my 'flip phone' last week and haven't missed it at all :)
Sounds like the perfect weekend! Enjoy your Girlie time :)
I hope you have a great time on your roadtrip! It sounds like a blast!
P.S. I love your new phone. I thought I was the only person left on the planet who had a flip phone!
Paige, have an awesome time with the girls. What a fun time it sounds like it will be. Can't wait to hear all about. So great how God puts certain people in our paths. I am wishing you a blessed time of fun and fellowship. Hugs!
You are a much braver soul than I am... I still have my flip phone and do not plan on surrendering it any time soon. I just learned how to text!!!:))))
Have a lovely, restful spirit-filled weekend, Paige!!!
How wonderful Paige! I hope you have an amazing, uplifting weekend and make new friends for life. Your new phone is super cool to me. Of course I'm so backwards that I've never even sent a text. Can we still be friends?
Have fun!!! can't wait to hear all about it when you get back. Your daughter is a real beauty...what a perfect color dress!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Glad I "stumbled" upon your blog. Beautiful pictures!
i just now got to read this post.....you are incredibly precious...can't wait to see the pictures from our craziness!!
thank you so incredibly much for taking a chance on having fun this weekend....i am certain that i am better because i have met you!!
lady, you crack me up! I love your writing - you have a way of sharing so clearly who you are through your words. please move to the west coast...
and, since when do teenagers look like that? we certainly didn't...
have a marvelous week mon amie,
hey friend! i know! i saw that you were going to the weekend thing with ashley! i was excited but then a little jealous! hehe! i would of loved to have gone and met you in person! i am a rep for bbtn! and i love it! i cant wait to hear all about it! xo
i know i am late in writing!! i hope you had a fabulous weekend, it sounds like it will be awesome! i just got a phone to text with too, lol! i love that your daughter wants to proof the photos, is this what i have to look forward to! she looks amazing though, that dress is so beautiful. oh i would give anything to jump back into my high school body for a few days (especially now!) ha!
ok. 1. I think Ashley looks like Lauren Graham and I love Lauren Graham.
I can't wait to heart!!
3. Your beauty of a daughter has such a beautiful dress!! :) Love it!
and 4. Thank god you upgraded the phone. one thumbed texting is sooo hard!! lol
Wonderful photos! Indeed, your daughter is stunning in her pink dress.
oh paige, that sounds like an absolutely perfect weekend. can't wait to hear all about it. cool new phone. don't ya feel like you just entered this century? when i switched it was like "wow". i love new gadgets.
Stories of Hope-Paige from gfc.tv Videos on Vimeo.


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In what arguably constitutes the biggest win for the franchise since blowing out the Cowboys in the 2009 postseason, the Vikings have beaten the other team from Texas, sending the squad with the best record in the AFC from 12-2 to 12-3.
The upset keeps the Vikings alive for a playoff berth, and it also puts the Texans in jeopardy of blowing the top seed in the AFC.
If the Texans lose next week to the Colts, where Houston has never ever ever never ever ever ever won, and if the Broncos win their last two games (vs. Browns and Chiefs) or if the Patriots hang on to beat the Jags and best the Fins next Sunday, the Texans will be the No. 2 seed at best.
And if both those things happen, the Texans will be the No. 3 seed.
The Vikings' path to the postseason is murkier; they need to beat the Packers next Sunday, and the Vikings need help. We'll break it all down as the dust settles on this afternoon's games.
Still, the Vikings may have a better shot at getting to the playoffs than Adrian Peterson has at getting the single-season rushing record. With 86 yards today, he needs 208 to break Eric Dickerson's high-water mark of 2,105.


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About Custom Baby Birthday Coasters — Chevron Edge
Chevron Edge baby birthday coasters come in multiple shapes—3.9" round, 3.9" square with rounded corners, and others. They are extra-thick, 58-point paper board. To give you an idea of how thick they are, a stack of a 12 birthday coasters is about 3/4" tall. They are made of absorbent pulpboard to help protect your tabletop. The coaster surface is coated with a smooth matte coating to provide beautiful, crisp printing. Each coaster is individually die-cut, so their top has a soft and rounded edge. Our baby birthday coasters are designed to be disposable, but they are durable and re-usable. If unused, they can be kept for keepsakes and will keep forever. They are designed to be used at your birthday party; when spilled on, they will absorb liquids as they are designed to do, and it will leave marks on the coasters. Coasters are printed on one side only, and on the blank back, a small Evermine logo is debossed. Baby birthday coasters come beautifully packaged in boxed sets of a dozen. Choose a color, shape, and then select the "Personalize" button to start customizing your Chevron Edge baby birthday coasters today.


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Two live performances are set for this weekend at The Red Room
Al Strong and Lynn Grissett, emerging entertainers on the jazz scene, will perform in live concerts this weekend in Kinston.
Strong is a Washington, D.C., native trumpeter, arranger and composer. Since he first emerged on the scene in 1998 as a jazz studies major at N.C. Central University in Durham, he has been an upcoming artist in jazz, described by The Independent as being �among those leading Durham jazz into a resurgence.�
Strong is an integral figure in the Triangle local jazz scene, having performed with or recorded for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Phonte Coleman, Mavis Swan Poole, Yahzarah, Peter Lamb and the Wolves (voted 2011 & 2012 Best Jazz Band in the Triangle), Clay Aiken, Big Daddy Kane, Orquesta Gardel, The Beast, Old Ceremony and the comedian SinBad.
He is an associate professor at Saint Augustine�s University in Raleigh and an adjunct professor in the N.C. Central University Jazz Studies program. He also is a founder of the non-profit jazz advocacy organization, The Art of Cool Project.
The Al Strong Quartet will perform Friday night.
Lynn Grissett, trumpeter, also has ties to the Triangle area. He is associated with the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program at UNC Greensboro and has played with many jazz performers in venues including the House of Blues in Chicago.
He has teamed with Ryan Hanseler, pianist, to perform classic Ragtime and Jazz, recently at the Bey� Caffe� in Durham.
Ragtime began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before it became popular towards the end of the 19th century. It is considered the first completely American music and enjoyed popularity for nearly two decades before jazz took its thunder.
Grissett will perform Saturday night.
The Red Room is open from 8 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with concerts beginning at 9 p.m.
Live at The Red Room
Al Strong Quartet Friday
Lynn Grissett Saturday
Music: 9 p.m. to midnight
The Red Room
221 N. Herritage St., Kinston
Info: 252-520-2000


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How do escorts react to gifts received in addition to money
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On the other hand, chocolates help to alleviate and raise the mood to good feelings. The exotic ones taste heavenly and dark chocolates especially offer particularly high benefits to the body in general. Dark chocolate has less sugar in it and contains a lot of other antioxidants which can lead to good health if consumed in moderation.
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In rare cases men may make a mistake in what to give. They may not have been very sure what their escort needs. On the other hand they may just decide that her accessories or electronic gadgets need some updating. They may want her to have a better and more stylish camera or computer, TV, refrigerator or even an oven.


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A bleary-eyed Prince William greets wellwishers outside the Royal Marsden Hospital on Thursday.
He did his best to hide it, but that was one sleep-deprived prince who showed up to open a children's cancer centre this week in Surrey, England.
Prince William had been up for about 30 hours by the time he arrived at the Royal Marsden Hospital, having just completed a 24-hour shift at RAF Valley in Wales, where he was doing his non-royal job of flying helicopter rescue missions.
He began his workday at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and it wasn't until well in the afternoon on Thursday that he would have even been able to catch 40 winks.
It turned into a busy day all around for William, not to mention his sidekick Kate, who looked considerably more rested than her husband during the visit to the hospital, which has been a favourite cause of the prince -- his mother Diana was its royal patron before her death in 1997.
During his night-day shift in Wales, he had a couple of mercy missions to complete. The first was rescuing a woman who suffered head injuries after a fall in the mountainous Snowdonia national park region. He was called out again in the middle of the night to pick up a sailor off a ship cruising near the Isle of Man so he could quickly get to a sick relative's bedside.
William to Sandhurst in Berkshire before heading back to base, where a flight to London awaited him.
Change into a suit, pick up Kate, quick limo ride, and presto, the Prince emerges at the hospital.
"It was a bit of an early morning," he joked as he greeted staff.
The eyes were a little droppy, but otherwise the Prince managed to avoid nodding off during the visit.
"If the Duchess is sprightlier than William, then that's the reason," a royal spokesman told People magazine, talking about the long night.
The visit was only the second royal engagement for the couple since they returned from their Canadian tour.
One wonders if the Prince was unwise to attempt a formal occasion after putting in an all-nighter. However, his mother's connection to the hospital and his responsibility as hospital president trumped a little shut-eye.
Besides, what's a sleepless night or two when you're under 30?


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A good quiz question is one in which, even if you don't know the answer, you can work it out through clues given in the question. Workoutable, thus, is not just about knowledge but also about problem-solving. Enjoy.
By Date
This character's creator described him as "insufferable", and called him a "detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep". On August 6 1975, the New York Times carried his obituary, the only time it has thus honoured a fictional character. Who?
In Texas Hold'em Poker, which hand is known as 'six tits'?
X is a song written by Y and famously covered by Z. Time Magazine's Josh Tyrangiel described it thus:
Y murmured the original like a dirge, but except for a single overwrought breath before the music kicks in, Z treated the 7-min. song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain, mostly just by repeating the word X. It's not only Z's best song — it's one of the great songs, and because it covers so much emotional ground and is not (yet) a painfully obvious choice, it has become the go-to track whenever a TV show wants to create instant mood. 'X can be joyous or bittersweet, depending on what part of it you use,' says Sony ATV's Kathy Coleman. 'It's one of those rare songs that the more it gets used, the more people want to use it.'
Name X, Y and Z.
In the book "The World of _____" by Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K Bealer, there is a photograph of a label from a jar of pharmaceutical-grade crystals. It reads:
Fill in the blank.
In 1981, Jimmy Page, Chris Squire and Alan White got together to form a band, and tried to recruit Robert Plant into it. Plant attended one rehearsal, chose not to join the band, and the project fell through. Had it survived, the band would have called itself XYZ. Why?
"I am a small eye poet." Who once wrote these words in a letter to his mother?
Who used to be known as Dileep Kumar, and is now married to Saira Banu?
In British Bingo, many numbers have nicknames, which are used while calling out the number. What number does the phrase "All the Steps" stand for?
Which is the only palindromic song by a palindromic group to have entered the US charts?
Herodotus once wrote:
"The counting was done by first packing ten thousand men as close together as they could stand and drawing a circle round them on the ground; they were then dismissed, and a fence, about navel high, was constructed around the circle; finally, other troops were marched into the area thus enclosed and dismissed in their turn, until the whole army had been counted."
Whose army?
On what list will you find the following:
61. King Harald V of Norway
83. Princess Margarita of Romania
92. Hereditary Prince Peter of Serbia
184. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
213. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
782. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
What is the name of this index?
In Japan, what are 'Soft Beckhams', 'Popular Beckhams' and 'Hardcore Beckhams' types of?
What it this?
It is a Sanskrit word meaning 'dwelling' or a building used for residential purposes. The first mention of this is found in the Yajurveda. The first book on this subject is believed to have been written about 3000 years back by saint Vishwakarma.Which word?
The self-portrait below is a homage to Vincent Van Gogh, and is painted by someone who once described herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance." Who?
Between 1976 and 1994, a sign hung outside the Cavendish General Store in southern Vermont:
Fill in the blanks.
This 1999 movie was based on a book by Homer Hickam. However, a poll conducted by Universal Pictures suggested that women over 30 would not watch the movie if it had the same title as the book did. So, in order to broaden the appeal of the movie, it was given a title that was an anagram of the book's title. Name the movie.
I ask you to forgive me for not fulfilling the hopes of those people who believed that we would be able to jump from the grey, stagnating, totalitarian past into a bright, rich and civilised future in one go. I myself believed in this. But it could not be done in one fell swoop… I am leaving. I have done everything I could… In saying farewell, I wish to say to each of you the following. Be happy. You deserve happiness. You deserve happiness and peace.
Who, and on what occasion?
Musician Richard Melville Hall has released music under a number of names. The one he is most well-known by is also his childhood nickname, and is in tribute to his great-great-grandfather, who was a famous writer himself. What name do we best know him by?
Complete this exhaustive list:
RE Foster (Dec 1903), Walter Hammond (Dec 1928), Walter Hammond (Dec 1928), Walter Hammond (Dec 1936), X (Dec 2006).
In Texas hold 'em poker, what two-card hand is sometimes called a "German virgin"?
This is the frequency graph of the size of something. What?
This catchphrase was first used in the 1984 advertising campaign of a major US fast food chain. It has since become a popular expression in everyday speech, acquiring the meaning of questioning the substance of an idea or argument.
What is this phrase?
Her first words to her future husband, spoken in 1929 after being discovered as a Stowaway were "Aw, shut up, ya bilge rat". In February 1999, after a 70-year courtship, she finally said " I do." Who?
Errata: Profuse apologies—an absent-minded error led to our giving the wrong answer below. The answer is not Minnie Mouse. Sorry for this!
Though his actual last name is Fowler, he uses his middle name as the last name in films. One of the standard entertainment urban legends is that he took that name by combining the first and last names of a two-time Oscar winning legendary actor. The urban legend has gained credence because of the coincidence that he himself has won 2 Oscars. But it is actually his mother's maiden surname. And he probably uses that name because of problems with his father, who was violent, alcoholic, and allegedly a member of the American Nazi party.
In 1962, John F Kennedy hosted 49 Nobel Prize winners at the White House. While welcoming them, he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House—with the possible exception of when X dined alone."
Name X.
About which movie did Val Kilmer remark "It was a one-dimensional cartoon which sold a lot of Ray Bans?"
Whose hand is this?
His most recognizable moniker is derived from his father's, which meant "good-natured" or "simple", and he was merely his father's son. During his extensive travels, he also picked up the label Bigollo, meaning "wanderer".
His most famous contribution to mathematics was originally proposed by an Indian mathematician named Acharya Hemachandra, and was presented to the Western world as an example of place values in counting, which made the Indo-Arabic system superior to Roman numerals.
This work was published as Liber Abaci or The Book of Calculations in 1202.
Who is this person?
Sample clues
9 across: Van Morrison classic from Moondance (7)
6 down: Order beginning with 'A' (12)
This Salman Khan deserves to be called a hero. Terrific educational videos. (Via Prashant.)
Elisabeth Rosenthal has some good Swine-Flu advice. (Via Griff.)
By Amit Varma in Miscellaneous
Sita Sings the Blues: The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told
Read more...
Dev.D doesn't flinch from depicting the individual's downward spiral
Read more...


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My Letter to HIV: A Letter and Video From Ruben Bermudez
Dear HIV,
Let me just tell you how much I love and hate you. Love and hate, yea I said it. I like to start off with the bad and end with good so let's start there.
I hate you because you have cost me so many things in my life. You cost me money, health, friendships, relationships, and my youth. You're a nasty Bitch, hateful, uncaring, blind, ignorant, and the list goes on and on. I'm sure by now you're hearing a lot from my friends who you've violated but now you're going to hear it from me.
How dare you show yourself in my life, my body and to my friends! Nobody asked for you to show up nobody wants you around. Get your shit, get your shit, and get the Fuck out!
I bet you're wondering about my tone and language but just like you I don't care!
At 18 years old I was suppose to enjoy my young life with friends, and some more-than-friends. I always wanted what others thought I shouldn't have because of you. Because of you that sexy perfect man I could never have, because of your baggage (the stereotypes and stigmas) people pushed me away, because of you people didn't bother getting to know me, and sometimes they even looked the other way.
For 10 years I let you grow within me. Multiplying and taking over my body and health because I almost decided to let you win. What the heck was I thinking! Oh HELLLLL NO! Once I found love within myself I was determined to kill you! I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. Remember those three good friends of mine that I introduce you to every night about 9 o'clock? Prezista, Norvir, and Truvada. Yea I bet you remember them. Don't worry, you are gonna run into them every night until it kills you!
No more will I miss taking my medicine. Allow you to make me depressed, allow you to prevent me from making or keeping friends, allow you to hold stereotypes in my life, allow you to prevent me from loving or being loved by anyone! I'm going to break you down 100 times worse then you did to me. So yea HIV good luck with that and when you die trust me I'll be there and so will a whole bunch of my friends and you're going to die forever!
Now, here's why I love you. I love you because you made me become educated about you. I know who you are, how you look, where you live, how you replicate, I know how you travel, and I know what you need to live. I love you because you allowed me to be a speaker of you to others in my life. Speak about what you can do to a person if they don't get help, medicine, and support. I love you because not only does the bad in someone make them weak but it can empower them to be a stronger person. I love you because one day someone will find out how to get rid of you and for now all we can do is control you.
So you do you HIV and I'm going to do me, but trust me: I'm going to win!
I'll see you at 10pm every night!
Never yours,
Ruben Bermudez


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Mashed Potato Crust Love. For Meatless Monday.
Why I've been craving mashed potatoes lately, I don't know. Spring has arrived here in the high desert. The days are longer and kinder. Apple trees are blooming. And all I can think about is a mound of soft creamy mashed potatoes. This means something.
Yeah. What it means is I am craving some serious comfort food in the form of a baked shepherd's pie- only my version is vegan and brimming with fresh vegetables. Forget the meat. And forget the lentils (so 1970's).
And fake meat- er, I mean, highly processed soy protein or vital wheat gluten?
I don't think so.
Seitan is evil.
That's why they call it seitan.
No, my shepherd's pie has to satisfy not only my potato comfort craving, but my hankering for vegetables, spice and flavor. You know what that means. I
live lived in New Mexico after all. It's gotta have some green chile in it. It's gotta have a little heat. Comfort food - for this gluten-free goddess, anyway- has got to have a little kick. Something to stir the taste buds awake after a long winter.
Bland is so, well, yesterday.
Karina's Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie Recipe
Recipe posted April 2007.
Veggie lovers, if you like your vegetable pie less spicy, use regular diced tomatoes and leave out the red chile flakes. But if you want a killer combo of heat, tang and sweet, try my version. It's not your mother's shepherd's pie, Darling. Promise.
For the mashed potato crust:
3-4 large gold or white potatoes, peeled, cut up
Vegetable broth or your favorite non-dairy milk or cream, as needed
Vegan buttery spread or olive oil, to taste
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Chopped fresh chives, to taste
For the filling:
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon mild curry spice
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets (about half a smallish head), cut to bite size
3 medium-large carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
1 zucchini squash, sliced and cut into quarter moons
1 yellow summer squash, sliced, cut into quarter moons
1 heaping cup shredded cabbage or slaw mix
1 14-oz. can Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles, with juice
2 tablespoons chopped roasted Hatch chiles or jalapenos
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1-2 tablespoons low sugar apricot jam, to taste- to balance the heat
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
Hot red pepper chile flakes, to taste (or use hot pepper sauce)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 14-oz. can butter beans, drained and set aside
Place the cut potatoes in a large pot and cover with salted cold water; bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about twenty minutes.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet and add the cumin or curry, and garlic. Stir one minute and add the fresh chopped vegetables. Stir and cook about five minutes or so.
Add the canned diced tomatoes with green chile, the chopped Hatch chiles or jalapenos, vegetable broth, vegan Worchestshire sauce or balsamic vinegar, apricot jam, sage, pepper flakes, sea salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce begins to reduce. You want the vegetables to be tender-crisp, not too done, and the sauce to be thickened and not too thin [if, by chance, you need a little more liquid to cook the veggies, add a splash more broth or water]. When this has been achieved, taste test the sauce for seasoning adjustments; then remove from heat, and gently add in the butter beans. Set aside.
Mash the cooked potatoes with a little liquid and Smart Balance or olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add chives if you like. Taste test. Don't add too much liquid or over-mix the potatoes or they'll get gluey. Gluey spuds = not so good.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Assemble your pie:
Spoon the vegetables into a casserole dish. Top with mounds of mashed potato. I like to leave a few peaks (they get a bit golden). Sprinkle with chopped chives or parsley. Bake in a moderate oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the pie is bubbling and heated through.
Serves 4 as a meal, 6 as a side dish.
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Imposing proportions and forceful, confident styling make the GLE a
striking addition to the Mercedes-Benz lineup. The GLE features striking
porportions and dramatic bodystyle, ensuring the imposing nature of the
GLE lives on. The front section is particularly eye-catching with its
dramatic air intakes, twin-louvre grille, and wraparound full LED
headlamps. Power domes on the bonnet further emphasise the
car's dynamic, purposeful character.
In a familiar position, above it all. Supreme comfort abounds in the interior of the GLE, which affords a generous feeling of space with its high-quality appointments and materials. And wherever the trip may take you, The GLE keeps you in touch with an even wider world.
Allow yourself to be touched by an elegance that is reflected in every last detail. From soft nappa leather in espresso brown to the warm grain of the fine wood trim. Aesthetically pleasing and intelligently thought-out spaciousness. Thanks to variable seats, you can use the rear space as you please. Quality and comfort – inextricably linked.


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The UP defines four phases, each of which address a different kind of risk:
- Inception. This phase focuses on addressing business risk by having you drive to scope concurrence amongst your stakeholders. Most projects have a wide range of stakeholdres, and if they don't agree to the scope of the project and recognize that others have conflicting or higher priority needs you project risks getting mired in political infighting. In the Eclipse Way this is called the "Warm Up" iteration and in other agile processes "Iteration 0". Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) also uses the term Inception phase.
- Elaboration. The goal of this phase is to address technical risk by proving the architecture through code. You do this by building and end-to-end skeleton of your system which implements the highest-risk requirements. Some people will say that this approach isn't agile, that your stakeholders should by the only ones to prioritize requirements. Yes, I agree with that, but I also recognize that there are a wide range of stakeholders, including operations people and enterprise architects who are interested in the technical viability of your approach. I've also noticed that the high-risk requirements are often the high-business-value ones anyway, so you usually need to do very little reorganization of your requirements stack. DAD has kept the Elaboration phase concept of proving the architecture, but instead of including an explicit phase for doing so it adopts the streamlined approach of doing so in the first iteration(s) of Construction.
- Construction. This phase focuses on implementation risk, addressing it through the creation of working software each iteration. This phase is where you put the flesh onto the skeleton. DAD includes an explict Construction phase, and Scrum focuses on this.
- Transition. The goal of this phase is to address deployment risk. There is usually a lot more to deploying software than simply copying a few files onto a server, as I indicated above. Deployment is often a complex and difficult task, one which you often need good guidance to succeed at. DAD includes an explicit Transition phase.
Each phase ends with a milestone review, which could be as simple as a short meeting, where you meet with prime stakeholders who will make a "go/no-go" decision regarding your project. They should consider whether the project still makes sense, perhaps the situation has changed, and that you're addressing the project risks appropriately. This is important for "agile in the small" but also for "agile in the large" because at scale your risks are often much greater. Your prime stakeholders should also verify that you have in fact met the criteria for exiting the phase. For example, if you don't have an end-to-end working skeleton of your system then you're not ready to enter the Construction phase. Holding these sorts of milestone reviews improves your IT governance efforts by giving senior management valuable visibility at the level that they actually need: when you have dozens or hundreds of projects underway, you can't attend all of the daily stand up meetings of each team, nor do you even want to read summary status reports.
These milestone reviews enable you to lower project risk. Last Autumn I ran a survey via Dr. Dobb's Journal (www.ddj.com) which explore how people actually define success for IT projects and how successful we really were. We found that when people define success in their own terms that Agile has a 71% success rate compared with 63% for traditional approaches. Although it's nice to that Agile appears to be lower risk than traditional approaches, a 71% success rate still implies a 29% failure rate. The point is that it behooves us to actively monitor development projects to determine if they're on track, and if not either help them to get back on track or cancel them as soon as we possibly can. Hence the importance of occasional milestone reviews where you make go/no-go decisions. If you're interested in the details behind the project, they can be found at http://www.ambysoft.com/surveys/success2007.html . More recent data can be found at ambysoft.com/surveys/ in general.
Done right, phases are critical to your project success, particularly at scale. Yes, the traditional community seems to have gone overboard with phase-based approaches, but that doesn't mean that we need to make the same mistakes. Let's keep the benefit without the cost of needless bureaucracy.


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Carpet Beetle Control in Schoenmakerskop
Carpet beetles cause extensive damage to natural fibers such as those found in carpets and clothes. They can be rather tough to control and identify although they are very prevalent here in Schoenmakerskop they are not well known as pests and therefor overlooked.
Schoenmakerskop Pest Control staff are trained and ready to treat and diagnose pests in Schoenmakerskop such as carpet beetles so that we can treat your home correctly and safely with minimal disruption to you and your loves ones.
A bit about carpet beetles in Schoenmakerskop:
Adult carpet beetles are mostly about 3mm long, the larval stage look like larger fluffy worms about 4mm - 5mm long. Carpet beetles mainly feed on wool or cotton found in clothes, carpets or furniture and cause extensive damage in corners and out of sight areas. Some species are classed as stored product pests attacking chocolate or cocoa.
Call Schoenmakerskop Pest Control now for a full identification of carped beetles in your Schoenmakerskop home and to arrange a treatment. Our friendly staff are on call to take your calls 24 hours a day and are trained to handle any type of pest control problem you may have.


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You see the following error when connecting to Xbox Live on your Xbox 360 console:
This may mean one of the following:
Solution 1: Verify your Microsoft Account security information
Solution 2: Delete the profile from the console, clear the system cache, then redownload the profile
To delete the profile that's stored on your Xbox console:
To clear the system cache:
To download your Xbox LIVE profile, follow these steps:
Note Not seeing Download Profile? This means that you're signed in under another profile. Press X to sign out, confirm and then select Download Profile.
Note If your account is an Xbox Live child account, the parent's Microsoft account information must be entered to download the profile.
After your profile downloads, restart the console and then try to connect to Xbox Live.
Solution 3: Troubleshoot your Xbox Live connection
If you're still experiencing the problem, troubleshoot your Xbox Live connection.
If you continue experiencing the problem after troubleshooting your connection, contact Xbox Support.
Thanks for your feedback!
Provide feedback for this topic
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "Error 8007007A occurs when connecting to Xbox LIVE" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


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The new Earthmaster from M&W combines disking and ripping functions on a stronger and larger frame. The new implement features rear shanks that penetrate up to 16 in. deep to lift and shatter compaction. Two shank styles are available for either minimum crop residue disturbance or maximum soil distribution. Front tandem discs, operated on a separate hydraulic system, will cut and mix crop residue into 8 in. of soil. Growers may adjust the disc action from 3° for little crop disturbance to 18° for major crop incorporation. A flexible coil tine leveler may be added to the implement to increase soil leveling. The first Earthmasters will be available this fall; prices will start at $26,500. Contact M&W, Dept. FIN, 1020 S. Sangamon, Gibson City, IL 60936, 877/408-3297, www.mw-gear.com.
If you need a fall tillage tool to handle tough stalks and heavy clays, check out the new Reel Till seedbed conditioner from McFarlane Manufacturing. The new tool is really four tools in one: a coulter for soil and residue cutting, a spiral reel stalk chopper, a five-bar flexible spike tooth harrow, and a leveling board. According to the company, a grower can turn hard-packed stalk stubble soil into seedbed condition in one pass. The Reel Till is available in cutting widths from 12 ft. 8 in. to 31 ft. It folds to transport widths from 12 ft. 8 in. to 17 ft. Price: $17,286 to $37,765. Contact McFarlane Mfg. Co. Inc., Dept. FIN, Box 100, Sauk City, WI 53583, 800/627-8569, www.flexharrow.com.
Equipment Technologies introduces a moderately priced, 500-gal. mechanical-drive sprayer. The Cherokee "Plus" sprayer with a mechanical drivetrain features a 140-hp John Deere engine, 48-in. crop clearance and 72- to 120-in. axles with manual adjustment. Booms are available in lengths of 60, 75, 80 and 60/80 ft. Retail prices range from the upper $70,000s to the mid $80,000s. The company expected to begin production of the sprayers in late March. Contact Equipment Technologies Inc., Dept. FIN, 2201 Hancel Pkwy., Mooresville, IN 46158, 317/834-4500, www.apachesprayer.com.
A new 2055 grain drill from Sukup handles no-till or conventional fields and has an optional no-till cutting coulter that allows a switch to pasture drilling. The planter features accurate seed depth adjustment with a T-handle design. It also offers a quick-adjust seeding rate system and easy clean-out seed meters to let growers quickly change seed. The 3-bu./ft. hopper is moisture-proof and easy to fill. Cost of a 7-ft. drill with 7½-in. spacing is $6,335. The 10-ft., pull-type model for no-till with a grass seeder costs $18,580. Contact Sukup Mfg. Co., Dept. FIN, 1555 255th St., Sheffield, IA 50475, 641/892-4222, www.sukup.com.
Brillion introduces its new Sure-Stand Alfalfa Seeder that stretches 36 ft. — triple the standard 12-ft. seeder width. The extra width reduces passes through the field. The seeder plants 20 lbs./acre at a speed of 5.5 mph and holds 69 bu. of seed in its hopper. As a result, the planter will cover 24 acres/hr. and 207 acres between refills. The seeder uses Brillion's Micro-Meter fluted feed cup system that delivers seeding rates as low as 4 lbs./acre and as high as 94 lbs./acre. It includes 102 seed meters set on 4¼-in. spacings and a double-roller seedbed conditioning system to ensure seed placement in the top ½ in. of the seedbed. Suggested list price: $69,600. Contact Brillion Iron Works Inc., Dept. FIN, 200 Park Ave., Brillion, WI 54110, 800/409-9749, www.brillionfarmeq.com.
Growers switching to specialty grains may want to try natural grain drying. Edwards Grain from Alberta, Canada, is now marketing a dryer in the U.S. to handle small batches of grain. Called the Rocket, the dryer will fit in any hopper cone bin. Under ideal conditions, it will reduce the moisture level of grain by about 1%/day, excluding the first day. The company recommends putting grain into the dryer at a maximum moisture level of 6% above the desired moisture level. A grower wanting grain dried to 14% would put grain into the dryer at 20% moisture or less.
Natural drying works best at temperatures 50° and higher. Natural drying is ideal for specialty grains such as popcorn, organic corn, rice, edible beans and chickpeas where the crop is harvested at slightly higher moisture levels to prevent harvest damage. A Rocket designed for a 2,000-bu. bin costs $900, and one designed for a 10,000-bu. bin costs $2,000. Contact Edwards Grain Guard, Dept. FIN, 3102 5th Ave. N, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4A2, 800/565-2840, www.edwardsgrain.com.
If you're looking for even manure spreading, check out the Hydra Ram 790 spreader designed by Pik Rite. The spreader with a unique sliding floor design hydraulically carries manure along the 16-ft. bed and pushes it out the beaters on the back. Because it has no augers or apron chains, it has fewer moving parts to service. The spreader is built with corrosion-resistant, high-strength steel throughout and poly-laminated floor and side panels. A slurry pan is standard to keep roadways clean. It holds 400 bu. of manure and is rated with a 11.3-ton load capacity. Price: $16,500. Contact Pik Rite Inc., Dept. FIN, 101 Fairfield Rd., Lewisburg, PA 17837, 800/326-9763, www.pikrite.com.
According to Great Plains, its new Kent seedbed conditioner will firm the soil, reduce air pockets, incorporate chemicals and break up clods. The new conditioner has heavy-duty, 16-in.-dia. reels and ten 1-in. spiraling rods. The wing sections flex up or down 15°, and the gangs overlap to provide a smooth seedbed for planting. A telescoping tongue and adjustable reel sections allow the conditioner to fit behind any tillage equipment. It is available in working widths ranging from 12 to 35 ft. Retail price: $4,000 to $7,700. Contact Great Plains, Dept. FIN, Box 5060, Salina, KS 67402, 785/823-3276, www.greatplainsmfg.com.
AGCO says its newly acquired Challenger MT865 is "like steel on steroids." And who can argue? The biggest of four new Challenger tractors pumps 500 gross engine horsepower, with 365 drawbar horsepower. Paired with a newly improved global positioning system, speed-sensitive steering, and upgraded track suspension, the big brute is still agile enough to tread lightly and keep its power in line between the rows. Prices start at $240,000. Visit www.cat.com.
Take care of your spraying needs with one of the new sprayer models and a controller from Hardi. The new Commander 1500 boasts a 1,500-gal. tank capacity along with a totally redesigned frame, spray system and wheel size to make it an affordable, high-performance sprayer. Boom lengths run from 80 to 120 ft. fully extended. Prices range from $45,000 to $55,000 for the pull-behind sprayer.
The Delta 3-pt. sprayer is a tractor-mounted sprayer boom for Cat. III wide and narrow quick-hitch connection. The hydraulic front-fold booms extend 80 and 90 ft. Price: $13,800 to $20,000, depending on accessories.
The Mustang 3500 electronic rate controller takes on more functions than any other controller in the industry, according to Hardi. The fully integrated sprayer controls the sprayer booms and foam markers as well as application rates. It will work with many precision farming terminals and pocket PCs. Price: $2,565 to $2,900. Contact Hardi Inc., Dept. FIN, 1500 W. 76th St., Davenport, IA 52806, 563/386-1730, www.hardi-us.com.


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QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITIONS IN DISORDERED ANTIFERROMAGNETS by Rong Yu A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHYSICS) August 2007 Copyright 2007 Rong Yu
Object Description
|Quantum phase transitions in disordered antiferromagnets
|Yu, Rong
|Author email
|Doctor of Philosophy
|Document type
|Degree program
|College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
|Date defended/completed
|Date submitted
|Restricted until
|Restricted until 24 July 2009.
|Date published
|Advisor (committee chair)
|Haas, Stephan W.
|Advisor (committee member)
Bickers, Nelson Eugene, Jr.
Dappen, Werner
Kresin, Vitaly V.
Zhou, Chongwu
|Recently quantum phase transitions have attracted the interest of both theorists and experimentalists in condensed matter physics. Quantum magnets provide a perfect playground for studying these phase transitions since they can be triggered by many control parameters such as frustration, lattice dimerization, and magnetic field. Most previous studies have focused on the magnetic properties in pure systems. In these systems, responses to the triggering parameters are found to be uniform, leading to homogeneous phases. However little progress has been made so far on the phase transitions and properties in disordered quantum magnets because they are more complicated systems, and few theoretical tools can be applied.; In this thesis we use the stochastic series expansion quantum Monte Carlo method to study quantum phase transitions in disordered magnets. We find that disordered magnets can behave quite differently from pure systems. The system inhomogeneity can strongly affect phase transitions by changing their universality class. We also find order-disorder transitions are often accompanied by the appearance of novel quantum disordered phases, in which magnetic properties behave highly nontrivial, even singular.; In this thesis two examples are studied in great detail. The first one is the phase diagram of an inhomogeneous, bond-diluted two-dimensional antiferromagnet near the percolation threshold. We show that the magnetic transition can be tuned by the inhomogeneity of the dilution from a classical percolation to a quantum phase transition. Interestingly the quantum transition still takes the nature of a renormalized percolative transition, with continuously varying critical exponents. A gapless quantum disordered phase with no magnetic long-range order but geometric percolation is found. The low-temperature uniform susceptibility diverges as a non-universal power-law of the temperature in this phase, indicating that this is a quantum Griffiths phase. In the second example, we study field-induced quantum phase transitions in two-dimensional site-diluted coupled dimers. We find that an extremely small field drives the order-bydisordered phase into a quantum disordered disordered-free-moment phase. The agnetization curve in this phase shows a series of pseudo-plateaus, which can be explained by the highly inhomogeneous field response of the free moments. A spin-boson mapping reveals that the disordered-free-moment phase can be understood as a low-field Bose glass phase, and hence the associated phase transition is a realization of a twodimensional Bose-glass-to-disordered-free-moment transition. This is confirmed by the entire phase diagram and the study of the scaling behavior of correlation length, order parameter, and spin stiffness in the critical regime.
|quantum magnets; disordered system; percolation; spin glass; quantum Monte Carlo
|Part of collection
|University of Southern California dissertations and theses
|Publisher (of the original version)
|University of Southern California
|Place of publication (of the original version)
|Los Angeles, California
|Publisher (of the digital version)
|University of Southern California. Libraries
|Legacy record ID
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Yu, Rong
|Repository name
|Libraries, University of Southern California
|Repository address
|Los Angeles, California
|Repository email
|Archival file
|Page 1
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Repository email
|Full text
|QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITIONS IN DISORDERED ANTIFERROMAGNETS by Rong Yu A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHYSICS) August 2007 Copyright 2007 Rong Yu


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Dan Carlton went home Thursday for the first time in months. But he didn�t return to his house in Hammock Bay.
Dan Carlton went home Thursday for the first time in months. But he didn�t return to his house in Hammock Bay.
Instead, the 31-year-old Seventh Special Forces Group (Airborne) soldier moved into a rental home in San Antonio with his wife, Juanita, and four young children.
The family will live there until at least October, so that Dan can easily access the rehabilitation facilities he�ll need.
Carlton, a Chief Warrant Officer Two, had to have his left leg amputated after being injured by an IED in Afghanistan on Nov. 29.
"Dan is doing extremely well, keeping in good spirits, looking forward to getting back to work, as crazy as it sounds," Juanita said. "He can�t wait to get on his motorcycle."
Dan returned to the states Dec. 5 and has been in San Antonio ever since. Juanita and their children, who range in age from 1 to 7, were waiting for him when he got there.
She and the children lived in a hotel across from the hospital for nearly two months.
Thursday was their first day with Dan in the rental home, which is being paid for by the U.S. Army.
But the family�s friends in Freeport are also raising money to help the Carltons with any extra expenses they might have.
They are members of Christ the King Catholic Mission, which is holding a Feb. 16 car wash and bake sale at the BP station at the corner of State Road 30 and U.S. Highway 331 in Freeport.
"She�s an inspiration to me as a mother," said Margaret Aresco, a church and family friend. "Her family is her top priority.
"She�s been living in a hotel room with four kids," she added. "It�s exhausting, I think. Really hard. She�s holding the whole family together."
While Dan was in the hospital, Juanita and the kids walked back and forth the street to visit him.
Since being discharged, Dan�s schedule involves three hour workouts and at least one other medical appointment every day.
Though Juanita homeschooled the children in Freeport, she has put the oldest two in a Catholic school in San Antonio.
Church friends have paid the children�s tuition through March.
"Public school is not going to work for our family," she said. "I want them (putting) God first."
She�s not sure yet how she will pay the tuition after March but isn�t worrying about that yet.
"One day at a time � that�s what they tell us," she said.
Accommodations have been made for Juanita, who is in the Army Reserves, to fulfill her obligation two hours a day rather than going away for a weekend each month. Dan, who is in a wheelchair, still needs assistance from her and is not able to take care of their children.
The couple misses Florida and hopes to be home by Halloween. Dan still needs to be fitted for a prosthetic leg and learn how to use it.
She is amazed by the support they have received from their church friends.
"The whole Christ the King family is very genuine, very sharing, very authentic people," she said.
And Dan�s fellow soldiers at the Seventh Special Forces Group compound in Crestview are amazed by his great attitude.
"He�s one of two that had that degree of injury and both of them are extremely positive," said Capt. Brian Connolly, Headquarters Company commander.
"He accepts his injury as another challenge he�s going to overcome. It�s very humbling."
HOW TO HELP: Christ the King Catholic Mission is holding a car wash and bake sale Feb. 16 at the BP station in Freeport. Call Margaret Aresco at 835-2610 to find out how to help the Carltons.
Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora can be reached at 850-315-4478 or email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn.


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Last year, I wrote (here) about how wrong I felt it was that SlideShare call their annual contest a "presentation" contest, when in fact it only features slide-decks. I believe semantics are important, and fixing the wrong equation of 'slides = presentation' is the first step to curing the communication problems of many companies and individuals.
I was therefore very interested to see that there is a new presentation-sharing site – and I can call this one a presentation-sharing site because it shows slides together with the video of the presenter. You no longer have to choose whether to upload your video to YouTube or your slides to SlideShare. This does both. It's called present.me.
To find out more, I interviewed two of the founders, Spencer Lambert and Richard Garnett, both of whom are presentation experts, and who were just as unhappy as I was about the absence of a good site for sharing video and slides together. (Only they decided to do something about it.) Now to be clear, I am not involved with present.me and I did not even know these guys a week ago, so I am not trying to sell it. But based on this interview, I do think it is quite promising.
The video of the interview is below (Spencer is on the left, Richard is on the right, and I'm not there at all in case you were wondering), and I've also included a transcript for those of you who may find it easier to read than to watch the video. In any case, I recommend you take a look at the site, experiment with it (basic accounts are free), and think how you might use it in your business. I'd love to hear what you think about it.
Transcript: philpresents.com interview with present.me
9 May 2011
Phil Waknell: I'm delighted to have with me Spencer Lambert and Richard Garnett from a new company called Present.me which aims to be an alternative to the other slide or presentation-sharing applications, but I'll let them say a few words about it. Spencer and/or Richard, can you give me an elevator pitch, just 20-30 seconds: what is Present.me?
Richard Garnett: Present.me is an opportunity for presenters to tell their story in slide form and also through their faces and their voices. I was an actor, I help people to present properly and I know it's not just about the slides, it's about how they present the slides, how they connect personally with the audience. And it's an opportunity, through the cloud, for somebody to present their slides and record themselves through their webcam presenting them, and then we join it up and they can publish it. If you like, it's YouTube marries SlideShare.
PW: So why are YouTube and SlideShare on their own not good enough? What does Present.me bring that they don't – or couldn't?
Spencer Lambert: With SlideShare, it's just your slides so that's only a small part of the story – you don't get to hear the presenter, see the presenter, and with YouTube you don't get the full effect of the graphics. A great presentation is a waltz between the presenter and their graphics, and when they are together they work very well.
RG: It's like a great double-act, and it amazed us because we're in the business with a lot of corporate clients, that there wasn't something out there that was able to do it quickly, easily and simply. And there are options, but they're complicated – a lot of our clients aren't techies and can't do it; or you hire a production company, which is really expensive… so we wanted to build something that somebody could do just from their desktop or their laptop, easily and simply because that's what great software does. We wanted to create something that even I could use!
PW: So that's the acid test – if Richard can use it, anyone can use it!
SL: Yes, and he's a hard man to please!
RG: I'm very stupid!
PW: So why are you the right people to be creating this? What made you decide that you are the team to create Present.me?
SL: I think it's a culmination of all our experiences. We've all come from slightly different areas in a related backgrounds, Richard with his corporate training, me with the graphics side – I've been a presentation designer for a long time…
RG: He's a PowerPoint genius!
SL: …and then there's Mike who's also been working in the presentation sphere as well, but he's been doing a lot of online software, so as a culmination of all our experiences it seemed like the perfect project. And there's Charlie who works with Richard as a presentation coach.
RG: And we've been incredibly lucky to find two fantastic coders who write in… what are those strange languages?
SL: They code in Flex and ColdFusion, those are the two main codes behind the site, and they are fantastic, great guys – they take what we say and turn it into reality, which is perfect.
PW: OK so it's a great idea and a great team. Now what do you think are the key success factors, and what is it going to take for you to get a step ahead of people like SlideShare who could decide to switch on a video option overnight?
SL: I think the key to the whole thing is just to keep innovating. You can't protect a lot of this stuff, there's no IP around what we are doing – well there may be some but is it worth us investing the time, money and effort to protect it? I don't think we can. So really what we need to do is to keep innovating, creating new ideas – we've got loads of ideas in the pipeline that we really want to bring out, and just keep bringing them out, one by one, and keeping ahead of everyone else.
RG: And I'm not a technologist, but I love my iPhone, because it's so incredibly easy to use, and what we want to create is a site that is incredibly easy for people to use and which is constantly innovating, and I think for that, the challenge I give these guys is, let's listen to the audience, let's listen to people who are using it, let's take their ideas, let's feed them in, because you constantly have to stay ahead, and we'll be led by the people who use the site. The ideas you've given us already Phil about the apps, for example, all of that is terrific feedback – our challenge is to build it and implement it, and quickly.
PW: At the moment you've been basing your technology as far as I'm aware on a Flash front-end, which makes it more difficult with iOS and Apple's well-known dislike of having Flash on its devices, so do you have plans to get around that?
SL: Yes, we do. Our first step is to build an HTML5 player – that's an easy win for us. The back-end technology supports us to be able to put an HTML5 front-end on, so we can very quickly do that, and then we're looking at building apps – cross-platform apps if we can. So something that we can get onto all those devices, because that's where a lot of it is ultimately going to be consumed – I don't know what the statistics say at the moment but it's probably 30% of all internet traffic is consumed on mobile devices, that's only going to grow, we've got to be there, it's the consumer end is where it's all at really.
PW: So I'm a consumer – what would I use Present.me for, apart from uploading a presentation that I've done for people to see later on? Are there some other uses that you're already thinking of?
RG: So education – we're already finding that teachers are using it as a platform for kids to load up presentations. I'll give you a simple one – my daughter is 14, and we went on a trip; in the past I'd take a camcorder and take hours of footage and never have the time to edit it – or I'd take photos and do a slideshow but it wouldn't capture her voice. Now what present.me allows you to do is to upload pictures of a trip, and then I got my daughter to talk about the trip and how fantastic it was. So I've got the photos, I've got her as she is at 14, the way she sounds, the way she looks, joined together – that's just a tiny little application. And incidentally she's talking about a trip to Bilbao, so somewhere like TripAdvisor where you have comments about hotels and holidays, you want some photos but you also want somebody live. And then we were thinking about PDF files, to talk about documents…
SL: Yes, one of the problems that our clients always tell us is they might have to share a document but there's usually one part of the document they want to focus in on, and no matter how you write it, you never quite get the meaning across. So imagine you could upload a document, zoom into a part of the PDF, and highlight a bit of it and talk around it, have a discussion, and tell them exactly what you are trying to get over.
RG: We have a coach, a mentor from KPMG who happens to be a client of mine, and he works on M&A (Merger & Acquisition) when companies are bought and sold, and there are lawyers fees, huge fees, just swapping documents to and fro – you'd be much better doing that live with loading up a PDF, and we're about 5-6 weeks away from having a live solution. So that's a tiny application and I'm sure business will come up with loads more. So we were thinking today – in future, instead of a CV, why couldn't you have a 3-minute "this is me", and companies would have a much clearer idea of whether somebody had impact by their ability to put together a presentation. There are folks we're talking to at the moment who've got algorithms that can measure your charisma through a webcam. There's a scientist at MIT who's got an algorithm which can measure that and we're looking to adapt his technology so you could do that through your webcam. So wouldn't it be great for us presentation skills guys, when somebody presents into a webcam, we could give them a percentage of how dull or interesting they are in terms of their performance? It's just a tiny thing that's in the pipeline, but it's doable: the technology is there, it just isn't being used yet.
PW: Effectively the sky is the limit and it sounds like you have lots of great ideas on how this could be used. I heard you mention live meetings there, so in fact your competitors are not just SlideShare but also people like WebEx.
SL: Absolutely, and I think it's going to create a fair bit of noise once we can add live in – people are already paying for that, so when we go to approach them, as a business case, they've already got budget allocated for live, so adding recording as well, it's a no-brainer almost.
RG: What I find fascinating is that the non-corporate world has discovered video on the web via YouTube and it's growing hugely. Business doesn't quite know what to do with it. Business still lives in a world of documents, and words, and emails, and I think there are massive applications for video on the web. I'll give you a tiny example: one of my clients pitches 1000 times a year for many millions of pounds worth of work. They have no record at all of those pitches. They've got no record of the good ones or the bad ones – they might just have a couple of slides. But wouldn't it be great to capture some of those fantastic pitches?
PW: Lots of opportunities there. So down to the basics: I can upload PowerPoint and Keynote files? Anything else?
SL: At the moment it's just PowerPoint. We are building the ability to upload PDFs. At the moment there is no server-side way of uploading Keynote files – Apple appear to have restricted that unfortunately, they're probably keeping that for themselves I would imagine, so if you've got a Keynote file, at the moment you'd have to save it as a PowerPoint file which isn't ideal; in the future, in the next few weeks, you can save it as a PDF and that can just go straight in. Then probably further down the line we'll have the ability to upload Word documents and maybe spreadsheets too.
PW: It's good that there is some solution for Keynote presentations because a lot of presentation designers do use Keynote nowadays, but you've got PowerPoint, that's still the majority of the market so I can see why you've started there. Now a question about animations and transitions – can we assume this is like SlideShare and it's effectively a static slide and then another static slide, or have you got animations in there?
SL: At the moment it is just static slides, and the free account will always be just static slides – that's a kind of restriction along with a 15-minute time limit – but if you've got a paid account, you'll keep your slide animations. At the moment that feature isn't finished so we've got some issues to try to iron out there, but once that's finished…
RG: How many weeks?
SL: It's not far off – three weeks…
RG: Three weeks! He said it!
PW: So that will be done by the end of May then…
SL: So essentially if you've got a paid account you've got your animations…
RG: And video, the ability to insert pieces of video…?
SL: I'm not saying yes or no to that at the moment, there are still some issues around that, but that's definitely going to happen at some time in the future…
RG: Thankyou Phil, this is a really useful call!
SL: I'm not committing to that one right now in terms of a date!
PW: You just mentioned elements of a charging plan, so obviously you've got a free model for basic users who are going to have a restriction on the time they can upload videos and also I guess a maximum total per month?
SL: Yes, there's a limit of 10 per month that you can upload as a free user.
PW: That's already plenty for a lot of people, but then as a premium user, you don't have those limits, and you don't have adverts as well I guess?
SL: That's right, no adverts, and you'll have slide animations, and privacy – that's another option you get as a paid user, so you can have your presentations hidden on the main site but still send a link out to people with a password or whatever.
PW: For companies, that is probably going to be very important, and that's an area where I guess your competitors that we've already mentioned don't have that kind of solution, apart from probably WebEx.
SL: Yes, one of two of them, but we've also got in the pipeline the business version, which would be a private space for multiple users, so if you're a company, you'll have your own subdomain, so http://yourcompany.present.me, your users would log into that, and you'd have your own private space where you could share presentations, so they would never actually appear on the main site unless you wanted them to.
PW: Well we've come to the end of the interview. Since we're all presentation specialists here, we know that people will only remember one, two, maximum three things, so what are the one, two or three things you want people to remember from this interview?
RG: The fact that we are YouTube marrying SlideShare, and the children are fantastic, and please, my beg and my ask would be, if you're in the presentation world, try it and please tell us what you think, and most importantly of all, tell us how it could be better because we're a small start-up, we can build it, and wouldn't it be great if we could build a solution that we all want and that we can use. We haven't got all the answers, but your input would be fantastic.
PW: So it's a presentation platform for presentation specialists, by presentation specialists. Thanks for your time today, and I look forward to seeing how present.me evolves.


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Deep within the pocket dimensions of the Wizardlands, the mighty Wizardkings plunge their hands greedily into their stashes of magical wizarding booze, desperately searching for more mana. Their time has passed, and they have faded into the drunken myths of obscurity. Some of them can still be seen on street corners, but most people just give them five zorkmids and walk away. While the Wizardkings have faded into the hangover-fuelled mists of time, their artifacts of power corrupt the world. Powerful wizarding keys, strewn about the Dungeons of Dredmor during a grand night out, threaten the very reality of existence. Mystical wizarding graffiti, spray-painted on the walls during a particularily good party, holds the secrets of other worlds. Once again, it is time to enter the Dungeons of Dredmor. (If you see the Wizard Triangulon, place his hand gently into a bucket full of warm water.)
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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In anticipation of the full Senate debating a new farm bill, Senate Agriculture Committee leadership is optimistic the 60 votes needed to pass the legislation are lined up.
The votes are not "in question," said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, during a Monday press conference. "These days in the Senate there are larger issues involved with leaders in terms of negotiating other bills coming up and so on. But, yes, we have the 60 votes to proceed. … I can't specifically tell you if we'll go directly to the bill and a cloture motion, and when. But we're fully prepared this week and fully anticipate moving forward."
Stabenow – touting "the most significant reform in agricultural policy in decades" -- also remains open to "ideas" from the South about farm bill concerns. However, that openness was tempered by her claims that analyses of the proposed legislation show that if it had been in place earlier, the South – particularly rice producers – would have seen greater benefits.
The analyses "indicate that in addition to crop insurance – which is obviously very important to the change to risk-based efforts and tools – the ARC (Agriculture Risk Coverage) program modeling shows that (it) is fair for all commodities. In fact, the ARC program would have provided substantial protection for American producers during the market collapse of the late 1990s. That's the last multi-year, low-price period for producers. In fact, we can show that using a five-year Olympic average … would have substantially cushioned and smoothed out the private marketplace for producers…
"Interestingly, we have a report that shows ARC would have provided approximately the same level of price protection for virtually all our commodities, except for rice, which would, in fact, have received more support. When we look at concerns – and we certainly appreciate and want to be fair to all regions of the country – with the FAPRI report we actually see similar levels of price protection under ARC. The one place it's different is with rice, which would get even more price protection."
For more on the FAPRI report, see here.
In a Tuesday morning press release, Stabenow's claims were rubbished by USA Rice Producers' Group Chair Linda Raun. Touting new analysis (see here) by Carl Zulauf, an Ohio State University economist, Raun said "I hope producers and lawmakers also read the recently released FAPRI (Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute) analysis. I know some have cherry-picked that analysis to make it conform to their talking points that the ARC program is equitable to all crops and regions, but the analysis does not say that. In fact, it actually points out the disproportionate budget hit that wheat, rice and peanuts take."
See more on the rice group here.
Stabenow said she'd spoken with a "wide variety" of rice growers the last week of May. "They were just asking us to continue the current program. … We told them we're open to ideas.
"But I should say that since that conversation, we've gotten a couple of different analyses from very credible folks. (Those) show something that the rice and peanut folks will be surprised about. When we look, for instance, for the five-year rolling average for price protection under ARC, that kind of approach does better for rice than any of the other commodities.
"So, as we get information out, we want to talk about any legitimate concerns and differences. But it needs to be based on a risk management model. In the past, everyone has said 'We've gotten 10 percent of the baseline' … and they designed a program to get X amount of taxpayer dollars regardless of risk or circumstance.
"We're not doing that. That's the difference. We're not saying 'this is about your piece of the pie in terms of a government check.' This is about making sure we absolutely have a program that works when you have a risk. … If times are (good) and prices are high, with the huge deficit in this country, we can't afford to just give a government check."
AEI study, booting gamers
What about the American Enterprise Institute study that says the proposed Senate farm bill could cost more than current programs?
See more on the AEI study here.
"The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) looked over a 10-year period," said Stabenow. "When they look at the policies (in the Senate bill), it shows we save $15 billion.
"Two things have been reported in the last week. One is a specific analysis of the ARC program. One is a more general analysis of what happens under a five-year Olympic average during price declines. There's been a lot of concern that there's no price protection in a price decline.
"I'm looking right at a chart that shows in 1990s, when there was the dip, the five-year Olympic price average would not have dipped as much. In fact, it would have maintained and more gently gone down rather than send farmers off a cliff.
"Over time, the Olympic average, over time, actually does better for the South than other areas in terms of rice. The ARC program is about the same."
Stabenow insisted the farm bill is also a jobs bill. "We talk about a lot of about jobs bills but I don't know of too many that affect as many as the farm bill. Sixteen million Americans are, in some way, dependent on agriculture.
"Agriculture has really been a bright spot in our economy and the underpinning of our economic recovery. That's why we want to move forward as quickly as possible."
U.S. agriculture, said Stabenow, is "one of the only sectors of the economy with a trade surplus totaling $42.5 billion in 2011. That's the highest annual surplus on record. Farmers exported $136 billion worth of goods last year – a 270 percent increase over the last 10 years. … For every $1 billion in agricultural exports, we actually create about 8,400 American jobs."
As for other reforms in the bill, "we tightened payment limits – in fact, cut them in half from the last farm bill.
"We closed the 'manager's loophole' so only farmers can receive farm payments, not someone sitting in a city office somewhere who's never set foot on a farm. (Such people) may be gaming the system by calling themselves a farm manager. (Under the new bill), managers have to be on the farm, farming."


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Traffic arrest in Orange; police suspect methamphetamine
In spite of his attempts to resist police, officers in Orange have arrested one man after a traffic accident in the 4000 block of West Park in Orange on Friday, Feb. 21 at about 6:38 p.m. led them to discover suspected methamphetamine in the man's possession, according to the Orange Police Department.
Officer Kari Mahaffey reported that upon arrival at the scene of the reported auto accident, an officer already at the scene said a white male who was identified by police as 33-year-old Michael Loyed Denmon of Orange, the suspect driver, was acting "strange and withdrawn" after the accident. According to Officer Mahaffey, two officers were trying to get him out of the roadway where traffic was at a standstill. While Mahaffey interviewed the driver of the vehicle reportedly struck by Denmon, she observed two OPD officer on the ground attempting to handcuff Denmon, who was resisting. Mahaffey rushed over to assist, according to her report, and threw herself onto the struggling suspect's legs. As she was holding his legs, Denmon was able to get one free and kicked out at her causing her to fall backward off of his legs, she reported. During the struggle, Denmon allegedly repeated, screaming, that he did not want to die. Eventually, the officers, with assistance from two unknown citizens, were reportedly able to place handcuffs on the man.
Even after officers handcuffed Denmon, Mahaffey reported, he continued to struggle, pushing back toward officers and kicking with his legs. He was patted down and arrested. According to the report, "Denmon was talking talking extremely fast and had a heightened sense of paranoia." One officer observed, based on training and experience, the symptoms are often indicative of methamphetamine abuse.
Denmon was transported to the Orange County Correctional Facility but was refused admittance pending medical evaluation. He was then taken to Baptist Hospital in Orange for jail clearance.
"Denmon was far too combative for Field Sobriety Testing or Intoxilyzer," Mahaffey reported, adding that he conceded to a blood draw.
Because of his resistance, officer were not able to search Denmon until they were leaving the hospital. Mahaffey reported they discovered two plastic baggies containing "a clear, glass-like substance" believed to be methamphetamine in his front jacket pocket. Denmon was taken to jail for changing lanes when unsafe, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance. Toxicology results and possible DWI charges are pending blood results.


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5 ways to keep track of kids at an amusement park
While vacationing to busy amusement parks, it can be easy to lose your kids unless you set up a game plan of how to stay together. Here are 5 tips to keep track of your family so your trip can go as smooth as possible.
1. Meet up location
Right when you go to the amusement parks, instead of running to the first ride, make sure you take a minute to find a meeting point if someone gets lost. That location could be a specific bench toward the entrance of the park, a sign, food place, or shop. Make sure the surrounding area is safe and that everyone knows where that meeting location is.
2. Have a travel buddy
Make sure everyone in the family has a travel buddy. The adults should usually be paired with the smallest children to make sure they have an eye on them throughout the entire day. Tell each child who their buddy is and how they need to stick with them the whole day.
3. Walkie Talkies
If kids do not have cell phones to take into the park, walkie talkies can be a cheap and great way to keep track of everyone. You can buy walkie talkies in packs so you can easily communicate, especially if you are going to split ways.
4. Wear color or hat certain color
When my family went to Florida every year, we would all wear the same fluorescent shirt or sweatshirt so we could easily identify where everyone was. Our large family would exit a ride and all of the sudden it felt chaotic trying to huddle us all back together. Wearing the same color or hat helped my parents easily find us and helped the kids always locate the parents.
5. Bracelet with phone number
One idea I found on Pinterest was a bracelet you could make for your little ones with your phone number just in case they get lost.


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|Located on a bench at the rear of the main Bitton House Building
A blog devoted to the study and preservation of cemeteries, transcriptions of tombstones,Grave Markers,Memorial Plaques, War Memorials, Burial Customs and other such items that are memorials and deserve to be recorded.
Monday, 10 June 2013
The Orangery, Teignmouth Devon
Yesterday we explored the local spot of the Orangery at Teignmouth. You can read that post HERE. Even in this small historical location there were a few plaques and I photographed them and shall post them here, but first a general view of the Orangery.
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Superfast laser pulses could pave way for beam weapons
Short bursts turn columns of air into energy conduits
Copyright U.S. Navy
Laser pulses lasting tiny fractions of a second have created superhighways in the air that are potentially capable of transporting megawatts of laser power. The advance should help scientists detect pollution in the atmosphere. It could also enable more exotic applications such as redirecting lightning and building practical laser weapons.
Lost in the hype surrounding President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative and other laser-based weapon systems was the fact that it's difficult to deliver large amounts of energy through the atmosphere via laser. Air absorbs laser energy, heats up and expands. That low-density air acts like a defocusing lens, causing the beam to spread apart and weaken.
To traverse meters or kilometers through the atmosphere intact, laser beams have to be released in short, intense pulses. But at about 50 quadrillionths of a second in duration, such pulses can't deliver enough sustained energy to remotely power an aircraft or burn