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During the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency, advocates for comprehensive sex education saw positive changes. After nearly 30 years of strong support for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, two-thirds of federal funding for these ineffective programs has been cut. At the same time, nearly $190 million has been provided for evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention and comprehensive sex education. These new programs will help young people make safe and healthy decisions about their sexual health. With the results of the 2010 election, however, it is unknown how much further progress we will be able to make over the next two years.
We must thoughtfully chart our next steps toward the goal of comprehensive sex education -- including discussions of abstinence, contraception, and prevention of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and unintended pregnancy -- for all school-age youth. Comprehensive sex education programs must also address self-esteem, healthy relationships, communication and decision-making skills, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This article details how far we have come at the federal level, where we need to go, and with the recent election results in mind, what we may see in the coming years.
Teen Pregnancy Prevention
The President's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI) funds medically accurate and age-appropriate programs designed to reduce teen pregnancy. At least $75 million of the funding is for programs that have been proven to reduce teenage pregnancy and its risk factors, while at least $25 million is for testing other models and innovative strategies.
In September, the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) awarded a total of $110 million to several grantees: $75 million to 75 grantees for pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective through rigorous evaluation, and $35 million to 40 grantees to test innovative strategies. The OAH had received over 1,000 applications, demonstrating that public health agencies, community-based organizations, and public schools are hungry for funding to carry out effective, innovative, and comprehensive programs.
While sex education advocates support the TPPI, however, some also worry it may fall short of its true potential. Over half of young people have had sexual intercourse by the age of 18 and are at risk of both unintended pregnancy and STDs. It is unfortunate that the funding focuses only on teen pregnancy and does not specifically address the equally important health issues of STDs, including HIV. Nor does TPPI require a discussion of abstinence and contraception when sexual activity is discussed. While, because of strong advocacy efforts, the legislation does ensure that programs that address risk behaviors related to pregnancy can be covered, allowing HIV/STD prevention programs to be funded, the Obama administration and Congress missed an opportunity to provide comprehensive sex education that promotes healthy behaviors and relationships for all young people, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT). Unfortunately, several abstinence-only programs did receive grants through the innovative portion. These programs are far from cutting edge and were proven not to work in the government's own study.
Personal Responsibility Education Program
In March, President Obama signed the health care reform bill -- the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. While it unfortunately included the extension of an abstinence-only-until-marriage program, it also created the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), which provides $75 million per year from 2010 through 2014 to fund complete, medically accurate, and age-appropriate sex education to help young people reduce their risk of pregnancy and STDs, including HIV. Over $55 million of it is dedicated to state grants. Additional funding is available for Indian tribes and tribal organizations, research and evaluation, and innovative approaches. This new funding stream is the first of its kind and will go a long way toward providing comprehensive sex education across the country. Programs funded by PREP are also required to teach life skills, such as healthy relationships, communication, and decision-making skills.
PREP programs must use approaches that have been proven by research to change behavior or must incorporate elements of effective programs. This includes delaying sexual activity, increasing condom or contraceptive use, or reducing pregnancy. They must place significant attention on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and STDs, including HIV, and are required to be carried out in a culturally appropriate manner. The response to PREP has been positive: 43 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories submitted funding applications.
For more than two decades, the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) has worked with schools to coordinate an approach to the health issues that affect our nation's 56 million students. DASH was created as a response to the HIV epidemic, and recognizes that schools are uniquely positioned to support prevention programs. It encourages state and local education agencies to work with health departments so young people receive health education that addresses HIV, STDs, and pregnancy.
Health departments are usually unable to incorporate prevention programs into schools without partnering with education agencies. DASH is the only funding stream that coordinates the two. In 2010, DASH received nearly $60 million, with just over $40 million being dedicated to HIV prevention and other sex education.
When President Obama released our nation's first National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) in July, sex education advocates were pleased, but not overjoyed. While there is mention of sex education, the Strategy does not include a call for comprehensive sex education for all youth in public schools. It also does not target youth, despite the fact that one-quarter of new HIV infections occur among people aged 13 to 29.
The NHAS Implementation Plan does, however, outline several of DASH's ongoing and upcoming activities. This includes its work to ensure that school health education provides scientifically sound information about HIV and risk-reduction strategies. By the end of 2011, the CDC will develop a toolkit and work with states, cities, and school boards to carry out HIV education. It will also consider partnerships, such as with private businesses, to expand HIV/STD prevention.
Abstinence-Only Funding
In the fall of 2009, after nearly 30 years and over 1.5 billion taxpayer dollars spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, we briefly saw the end to all funding for them. Sadly, conservatives in Congress were successful in bringing back the Title V abstinence-only program in the recent health care reform bill. This means another $250 million for these ineffective programs will be available over the next five years.
While the Obama administration did issue new guidance for these programs that allows for more flexibility, programs funded with abstinence-only dollars must still exclusively teach abstinence. To qualify for these funds, programs must be designed so that abstinence is the expected outcome, and no funds can be used in ways that contradict the federal definition of "abstinence education." This means that states still cannot use these funds to provide information about condoms and contraception.
When the Title V abstinence-only program first expired in June 2009, nearly half of the states had chosen not to accept the funding. Now, with the relaxed guidelines, 30 states and Puerto Rico applied for funding in 2010. While some of the states may carry out programs that focus primarily on younger ages or mentoring, this increase may result in even more young people not receiving the information they need to make healthy decisions.
The 2010 election will force those advocating for effective, comprehensive sex education to fight against bringing back old, or creating new, funding streams for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Ending the Title V abstinence-only program is key to ensuring that young people are not misinformed and misguided. With a large body of research proving abstinence-only programs ineffective, Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2010. This would eliminate the Title V abstinence-only provision that promotes marriage as the only acceptable lifestyle, marginalizes LGBT youth, and censors information on avoiding pregnancy and STDs, including HIV. If the bill is passed, it will also transfer funding for the Title V abstinence-only program to PREP. This bill will be reintroduced in 2011.
Next Steps
Sexuality education should be a nonpartisan issue. Poll after poll has shown that a majority of voters, no matter their party affiliation, believe young people should be given comprehensive information about both abstinence and contraception to protect themselves from HIV, STDs, and pregnancy. History, however, has shown us that elections matter. The recent shift in the House of Representatives will present new challenges to advocates for more comprehensive approaches to sex education. With the culture wars back in the halls of Congress, federal funding for sex education will likely be in danger. The fight will not only be to quash the new more comprehensive approaches but also to bring back the ideologically driven and ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs sex education advocates have fought against for years.
If Republicans are able to bring back funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, this will be considered a win to their conservative base. In one breath they will be calling for cuts to the federal deficit and "out of control" federal spending, but in the next they will be expecting immediate results that show the far-right is back in power. Science and sanity were once again prevailing in our nation's capital. We must keep up the fight to ensure we hold our ground and build on our successes so we can provide our youth with the information they need and deserve to lead healthy lives.
Jen Heitel Yakush is the Director of Public Policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).


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The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a Standard designed and maintained by the Object Management Group [1] that lets software developers and systems engineers graphically represent the requirements, specifications, structure, and behavior of the systems they are designing. Model-driven development (MDD) technology extends the UML, making productivity gains possible over traditional document-driven approaches. MDD does this by letting you specify systems and software design graphically, simulate and validate the system as you build it, and ultimately produce full production code from the model for the target system, resulting in shorter development periods and (presumably) higher quality designs.
While the object-oriented and C++ embedded community have rapidly adopted these technologies, adoption by C developers has been sporadic. C developers normally follow one of two design stylesfunctional decomposition or object-based design, which is essentially a subset of object-oriented design. UML is an object-oriented language and has a natural fit with object-based styles. Thus, for C developers who want to use the object-based approach, UML-based MDD is a natural fit. While UML and MDD have posed problems for functional C developers, these issues can be overcome by extending UML with concepts natural for C developers. Another barrier to MDD involves code reuse. Using code-visualization technology, C developers can reuse legacy code. With these innovations, UML-based MDD can bring the same benefits to the C community that the object-oriented and C++ community have been experiencing.
One of the main reasons that C developers have not adopted UML is because they are used to function-based programming, and UML was always designed for object-oriented programming. By letting you program functionally by placing files, functions, and variables on diagrams in UML, you can use familiar concepts while representing them in a UML diagram, letting you design and think the way you normally do. This enables C developers to adopt UML-based MDD with a shorter ramp-up time than switching to an object-oriented approach or another language.
It is not enough to only develop in a natural manner; the code produced from the model must be structured and have the same look and feel as typical hand-code would. In addition, there may be times when the code must be written or modified by hand to facilitate debugging, ensure proper interaction with the hardware, or achieve maximum performance. Thus, for C developers to extract the maximum benefit from MDD, they must be able to program and edit at either the code or model level while ensuring that the model and the code always remain in sync. Providing model/code synchronization and producing structured code further lowers risk by letting UML and MDD fit into existing processes and environments. In other words, there's no need to change current coding standards, compilers, debuggers, or target hardware.
Another important element of existing environments is legacy code that can be used "as-is" or incorporated into the model to be further developed using MDD. When you want to keep legacy code as-is without any edits or modifications, code visualization can link to and display the code in diagrams as a part of the model while leaving the code untouched. If you want to use code as a starting point with modifications and enhancements, simply reverse engineer the code into the model and edit at both the model and code level to receive the benefits of MDD.
Object-Based Design For C Development
Because the basic concept of the object is relatively easy to understand and adopt, C programmers generally have little problem with this. The idea of objects communicating via relations is less natural and often takes C programmers longer to assimilate and master. On the other hand, the concept of inheritance, or "generalization" as it is known in UML, is more complicated. Using it effectively requires a lot of training. The use of virtual inheritance and multiple inheritance can also mean higher demands for memory. So by "object based," I really mean using object-oriented design without inheritance. You can still get the advantages of object-oriented design, such as abstraction and encapsulation, yet keep the size of code to within reasonable limits.
To illustrate how UML and C work together, consider the example of a
Timer object, which can keep track of time. It could have attributes, such as minutes and seconds, and perhaps methods or operations, such as
reset and
tick. The
reset operation could initialize the attributes to zero, and the
tick operation could increment the time by one second. In UML, you can create a simple object-model diagram such as Figure 1 that shows a single object called
Timer, which has attributes
minutes and
seconds of type
integer, as well as public operations
tick() and
Figure 1: Timer object.
In C++ you would see a class, but in C you can use a
struct, so this is what the code could look like:
struct Timer_t { int mins; /*## attribute mins */ int secs; /*## attribute secs */ }; /* Operations */ /*## operation reset() */ void Timer_reset(); /*## operation tick() */ void Timer_tick();
The attributes are contained inside the
struct, and the operations that can be invoked on these attributes have been prepended with the name of the object. This is what most people would have expected. Using a tool to do this enforces the naming convention at all times without extra work.
Functional Development Within UML
You can program functionally with UML diagrams by using a UML element called a "file," which is simply a graphical representation of a source file. This file is capable of containing all the elements that C developers are used to dealing with, including variables, functions, types, and so on. But it can be entered on to a UML diagram the same way a class would be in classic object-oriented programming.
The code generated from the model appears similar to the structural coding styles C programmers are familiar with. Rhapsody [2], a UML 2.0-based MDD environment from Ilogix (the company I work for) represents .c and .h files that have the same name and couples them together as one element on a diagram. The result is called a
File. If you do not use this .c and .h file coupling in your code, then you can represent just a .c or .h file individually on the diagram. This means that you do not need to learn how to do object-oriented design, but can bring the file concepts that they have always used into the next level of abstractionthe model.
Take, for example, a
File, which could have the responsibility to keep track of time. It could have variables such as
minutes and
seconds, and perhaps functions such as
reset and
tick. The
reset function could initialize the variables to zero, and the
tick function could increment the time by one second. In the UML, you can create a simple structure diagram (Figure 2) that shows a single
File called
Timer that has variables
minutes and
seconds of type
integer, as well as public functions
tick() and
Figure 2: Structure diagram.
The C code for this file would look like you would expect a typical C program to look like:
extern int mins; extern int secs; /*## operation Reset() */ void Reset(); /*## operation tick() */ void tick();
This code looks the same as what a C programmer might write, except it was generated from adding these elements into Figure 2.
You can type in the C code if you want to, or generate it from StateCharts or Activity Diagrams. Here is the C code for the
tick function:
void tick() { secs++; if (secs > 59) { secs=0; mins++; } }
Moreover, in UML, you can depict functions and/or variables as private. In Figure 3, a minus goes in front of the element that is private. The question is, "What does this mean to the C code since there isn't a private keyword, as in C++?" Actually, it is pretty simple.
Figure 3: A minus goes in front of the element that is private.
A "private" function is one that can only be invoked from within the
File, so in C it makes sense to not declare this function in the specification (.h) file and to declare it as static in the implementation (.c) file. So, if you wanted the
reset function to be private, you could use this declaration:
Static void reset() { mins=0; secs=0;
A private "local" variable can only be used within a
File, so in C it makes sense to not declare this variable in the specification (.h) file. Rather, declare it in the implementation (.c) file and no longer have it declared as an
Reusing Legacy Code
Most projects have legacy code, and with MDD tools, you can reuse that code and receive the full benefits of MDD. One way to reuse legacy code is to let the MDD tool represent your legacy code as diagrams through a unique process called "code visualization." These diagrams (see Figure 4) are only representations of the code and all edits to these dynamically generated models take place on the code level only.
Figure 4: Generated code knows about external code automatically in Rhapsody.
The ability to generate these visualized diagrams lets legacy code seamlessly integrate with model-driven development environments while protecting the code's integrity. This method of using known good code without modifying it reduces the risk of having a bug and avoids wasted development and test time because no new code needs to be created or unit tested. The process simply creates a wrapper that acts as an interface or a facade to the legacy code; it can then be shown on diagrams and the legacy code can be linked in as a library. Figure 5 is an example of a model that has been visualized utilizing legacy Bluetooth code.
Figure 5: Visualization of all code artifacts in Rhapsody.
Another way to reuse legacy code is to reverse engineer the code right into a model. Once a part of the model, it is easy to modify, enhance, and further define the legacy system, and to gain all the benefits MDD and UML 2.0 provide, including full production-code generation, model-code associativity, and design for testabilitywhich allows errors to be found and corrected earlier in the process and ensures that the code and the design captured in the model always remain in sync. The legacy code becomes part of the modeled application and is generated, updated, refined, and tested within the MDD environment. This can be done all at once or piece-wise in an iterative reverse engineering of the system. Incremental testing of the new pieces of the system through model execution fosters a better understanding of how the legacy will fit within the modeled application and how your system performs as you incorporate it into MDD.
There are times in which you have legacy code that you wish to keep as-is, and some code that you would like to modify within your MDD environment. This is easily achieved. Select the code you wish to keep as-is to be visualized and select the code you wish to modify to be reverse engineered. You can also start off by visualizing the code as-is and then, if you decide you need to make changes, you can reverse engineer the code into the model.
Validating the Design Using the Model
In a typical system design, it is never clear that the model is correct until it has been executed. Technology is available to allow graphical back animation, which basically means that code can be generated automatically from the model and instrumented so that, when executed, the model is animated. This means that the same diagrams used to describe the model can be used to validate the model. For example, you are able to see the value of the variables, see what each relation is set to, see what state each file is in, trace the function calls between files on a sequence diagram, and even step through an activity diagram. This animation can be done at any time during a project and lets you spend more time being productive doing design (the intellectual property) than spending time doing the tedious bookkeeping portion of coding. By being able to test and debug, you design at both the model and code levels. Problems are detected early on and corrected when they are cheaper and easier to fix.
Generating Code from the Model
C code can be generated directly from the model; all the code for the
File, for instance, can be generated automatically. In fact, for most models, between 65-90 percent of the code can be generated automatically. The remaining 10-35 percent is code that you write such as the bodies for the
tick and
reset functions. Code can be generated automatically for the dependencies, association, files, functions, variables, StateCharts and Activity Diagrams, and so on. You just need to specify the functions and actions on the StateCharts.
Keeping the Model and Code In Sync
Typically, programmers spend time creating a model, then generating the code. Later, the code is modified to get it to work and nobody ever has the time or energy to update the model. As time goes on, the models get more and more out of sync with the code and become less and less useful. Again, technology is now available to ensure that any modifications to the code can be "round tripped" back into the model, ensuring that the code and the model are in sync at all times. This is important during the maintenance phase as well as when features need to be added to a new version.
C programmers can now experience the benefits of UML and MDD, whether they want to follow an object-based or functional decomposition method. The introduction of natural C concepts such as files, functions, and variables into UML let C programmers receive all the benefits of MDD, while thinking and working the way they are used to. Through the process of visualization, you can incorporate legacy code into the development environment without changing a single line, letting you reuse legacy code, either as-is or as a starting point. Outputting production-quality structured code directly from the model further lowers risk by allowing UML and MDD to fit into your existing processes, reducing the risk of adopting these technologies and saving development time.
Martin Bakal is a senior application engineer at I-Logix. He can be contacted at [email protected]

subset: commoncrawl


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About EYA
Founded in 1992, EYA has built more than 3,000 homes in the Washington Metropolitan Area, including ten communities in Alexandria. With a vision to develop innovative urban neighborhoods that complement the architecture and ambiance of the surrounding communities, we've selected prime locations near shopping, dining, and business districts. We are dedicated to developing neighborhoods with a sense of place, a sense of pride, and a sense of excitement. Learn more at EYA.com.


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The Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative has been receiving small format art quilts called Priority: Alzheimers Quilts since 2006. They convert those quilts to cash for Alzheimers research through monthly online auctions, online sales, and at International Quilt Festival in Houston each fall. They are supported by quilters all over the world.
The April online auction is currently underway. Have a look and see the nice variety up for sale, including the quilts shown here.
AAQI has taken in 9968 quilts at the time of this writing.
They are nearing a milestone of 10,000 quilts. If youd like to make and donate a quilt, read the guidelines here.
Most people know someone who has been affected by this illness.
Take a minute to read about all the ways you can help today. And thanks in advance from Quiltmaker and the AAQI.


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Pastor & Spiritual Advisor Rev. Thomas Graner
Parochial Vicar Rev. Prabhakar Marneni
Principal Mrs. Kimberly Anderson
Preschool Teacher Mrs. Laura Swanson
Kindergarten Teacher Miss Jenna Heilman
First & Second Grade Teacher Mrs. Jenna Brandt
Third & Fourth Grade Teacher Miss Katie Libert
Fifth & Sixth Grade Teacher Mrs. Julie Mosher
Music Teacher Mrs. Glenda Mack
Librarian Sr. Jean Louise Schafer, OSF
Custodian Mr. Harold Volk
Secretary Mrs. Rita Mitzel
Business Manager Mrs. Linda Schneider
Teacher Aide Sr. Mary Ruth Huhn, OSF
Volunteer Mrs. Eileen Jaeger
Head Cook Mrs. Rita Stigen
Cook Mr. Luke Schlag


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From a small walled town in 1884, Taipei has mushroomed into an international high-tech business centre capped by one of the world's tallest skyscrapers, Taipei 101. While in Taipei, visit the Wufenpu garment wholesale area, night markets, museums, monuments, temples, outlying hot springs, white sand beaches, and several golf courses. Experience local life to the fullest and enjoy more space than a luxury hotel with your money-saving Taipei holiday rental apartment.
Enjoy easy access to the Taipei International Convention Centre (TICC) and Taipei World Trade Centre complex from your money-saving Taipei holiday rental apartment. Take the kids to the Taipei Zoo, conveniently next door to the Convention Centre. Check the Taipei 101 views from the 85th floor restaurants and indoor and outdoor observatories. Wander modern malls and big department stores. Take the whole family to Discovery Centre of Taipei, which details the city's history and explores the future. Watch the hourly changing of the guard at the palatial National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, near City Hall and the Puppetry Art Centre of Taipei.
Wanhua is packed with temples, restaurants, and shops. The family will enjoy the unusual birdcages, macaws, toucans, cockatoos, and parrots on Bird Street. Admire the bronze dragons at Longshan Temple. Marvel at the variety of Chinese medicines in Herb Alley. Pray for less suffering at Dizang Wang Temple. In Datong, shop along Nanjing Road and at Dihua Street's shop-houses. At Dadaocheng Wharf, rent bicycles and check for boat tours and Danshui River ferries heading north to Danshui and the white sand beaches of the golden coast.
From Zhu Wei Wharf, bicycle Danshui's riverside parkway. Play carnival games and snack alongside locals on yu su (fish crisps), tieh dan (iron eggs), and yuwan tang (fish ball soup) en route to Teng-Feng Fish Ball Museum. Visit the old European colonial and missionary outpost at Fort San Domingo. The riverside bicycle trail passes the Mangrove (Hungshulin) Conservation Area, where egrets, snipes, and 30 crab species live. Learn swamp ecology at Hungshulin Station's Mangrove Swamp Exhibition Centre. Park your bicycle at the foot of Guanyin Mountain and cross the Bridge of Time at Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology.
North of the Keelung River on Zhongshan Road, Shilin Night Market is Taipei's oldest and largest. View priceless Imperial art and Chinese history at the National Palace Museum. The Shezi Island Bicycle Trail from the Keelung and Danshui River confluence leads past rice paddies and vegetable fields to the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines. Enjoy a mug at Taipei Brewery. Let the kids eat shaved mango ice and play at Hisashi Yasushi park while you do last-minute gift shopping on Yongkang Street.


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Book your YourLocalSkipHire.co.uk skip by typing your postcode into the box above. We'll then get back to you with a no-obligation quote for delivering the skip you want to hire to your Monk Hesleden address. It couldn't be simpler! You can also give us a call on 0330 1130 700 to discuss your skip hire needs.


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"Are These Robert Gates's Pants?"
Blog ››› ››› BEN DIMIERO
Prepare your face for palming.
In a new article today at American Thinker, graphic artist Mara Zebest -- who is identified as working "closely" with Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Cold Case Posse "in providing evidence on Obama's forged birth certificate" -- highlights some supposed anomalies in a Situation Room photo from the day of the bin Laden raid in order to prove... something.
The American Thinker, which regularly publishes embarrassing drivel like this, is viewed as credible by prominent conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, who has called it "one of my most favorite and thoughtful blogs," and Lou Dobbs, who has cited them on his Fox Business program.
The first mystery of this photo, per Zebest, concerns what may or may not be a pair of phantom pants under Obama's outstretched arms, and to whom they "would be attached." (Note: some of Zebest's images have been resized for this post.)
Zebest herself concludes the obvious: that the "pants" in question are actually not pants at all! Rather, they are fabric from Obama's jacket. Now, you might be asking yourself: "Why, if Zebest knew they weren't pants, did she speculate that they might be pants?" It's not clear, but see if you can follow her (generously defined) reasoning:
In all fairness, the initial impression leads the eye to believe that the beige fabric under the right armpit belongs to Robert Gates' pants (standing near Obama on the right). However, if that were the case, then who would be attached to the pant leg under the left armpit? It's not intuitively obvious, and it takes the viewer a little time to eventually come to a conclusion that these fabric strips are side panels built into the jacket design. Maybe the New York Times found the presence of this fabric an odd distraction as well -- and the reason behind their cropped version.
Ah-ha! Obama caught in the act of wearing a confusing pants-like jacket! Impeach?
If Obama was hoping to distract image detectives with trouser-esque outerwear, he underestimated Mara Zebest's preternatural ability to distinguish pants from other, non-pants articles of clothing.
Other highlights from Zebest's analysis: Obama has "an abrupt chunk" taken out of his ear!
Something about Robert Gates' "transparent eyes and hair"!
She saves her most embarrassing gaffe for last, wherein she attempts to point out a "few more problems" with a separate Situation Room photo and figure out why one top-secret document in the photo was blurred, "while the binder sitting on Hillary's lap is left untouched."*
Zebest ponders why, if the codename for the Bin Laden mission was "Geronimo," this document says "CODEWORD NOFORN." She floats as a possible explanation that this was "another disturbing attempt to casually release confidential information to our enemies." Unfortunately for Zebest, "NOFORN" is not actually a secret codeword: it means the document is "Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals."
As usual for Obama conspiracy theorists, this is both incredibly embarrassing and par for the course.
Zebest's article is a sequel of sorts to a piece she penned earlier this month also alleging that Obama had been photoshopped into a Situation Room photo from the day of the bin Laden raid. And, as noted above, Zebest has also applied her peculiar skill set to "proving" that Obama's long-form birth certificate is fraudulent.
Perhaps next she can crack the case of the photoshopped football.
*Updated language for clarity.
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Updated rules for commenting are here.


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research papers of interest on theological and scientific topics.
Surf around. More will be posted at this site as time goes
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An interesting paper is posted in our
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how this has a bearing on Daniel 9's 70 weeks.
Presently, our material on the Left
Behind series is one of our hottest items. Check out Steve Wohlberg's
latest book on the topic,
End Time Delusions.
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Google: Hate Competition? Come Compete On Our Fiber Network
from the keep-your-enemies-closer dept
Back in February Google announced that the company would be deploying 1 Gbps fiber to the home connections for a lucky community or two. Google's plan is to create a playground to test next-generation ad delivery and to explore fiber deployment options. The announcement has been nothing short of a PR miracle for Google -- the resulting clamor created by the thousands of cities eager to be the target market has kept the Google brand consistently present in the media every single day since and all without a single byte being delivered. The network itself will operate under an open access model, with Google inviting ISPs to come in and compete, and this week Google's Minnie Ingersoll extended an invitation to Comcast and AT&T to participate:
"We (sic) definitely inviting the Comcasts, the AT&T service providers to work with us on our network, and to provide their service offering on top of our pipe -- we're definitely planning on doing that. Our general attitude has been that there's plenty of room for innovation right now in the broadband space, and it's great what the cable companies are doing, upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0, but no one company has a monopoly on innovation. We're looking for other service providers to be able to come in and offer their service on top of our network so that residents have a choice when they open up their accounts. They get the connection from us, and then they have a choice as to who they subscribe to."
While that's sweet of Google, it's unclear that the nation's wealthiest carriers will want to come over and play today. These are companies who spend millions of dollars each year lobbying to eliminate competition of any kind -- and probably aren't keen to participate in a trial designed (in part) to highlight how competition keeps prices low, keeps service quality high -- and organically limits network neutrality violations. The nation's wealthiest carriers already disliked Google for the company's positions on everything from network neutrality to white space broadband. They, of course, see (correctly) that products like Google Voice pose a serious disruptive threat to traditional cash cows, and these carriers spend a lot of time smearing Google by using outsourced policy wonks.
These same carriers will probably feel even less cooperative after being subjected to several months of national coverage with one central theme: they aren't providing the broadband speeds or prices people want. Keep in mind too that part of this network's purpose will be to collect a mountain of data -- the kind of data these carriers don't like to share (congestion, bandwidth delivery costs, etc.) all of which will be useful to Google in their political battles against these same operators. While Google has repeatedly stated they aren't interested in being an ISP or in expanding this project beyond 50,000 to 500,000 users -- this new network (whenever it actually gets built) might be a more suitable playground for smaller ISPs; smaller ISPs eager to show what open access and competition can really do for a community in an environment free of the influence of the usual assortment of monopoly/duopoly carriers.
Filed Under: broadband, fiber, google voice
Companies: at&t, comcast, google


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'The Patriarch,' by David Nasaw
The Patriarch
The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy
By David Nasaw
(The Penguin Press; 868 pages; $40)
The very word "Kennedy," Harry Carr reminded readers of the Los Angeles Times in 1928, sent Hollywood executives "shrieking for the fire escapes." The Boston banker had a controlling interest in F.B.O. Studios and Pathé. Rumors had it that he was about to purchase Universal Studios. And since Carr had made no inquiries "during the last few minutes," he did not know whether Kennedy now owned Paramount, MGM and Fox.
Although his stint in the dream factory was short, and the films he made were not very good, Joseph P. Kennedy made a lot of money as a movie mogul. He made even more in the stock market. A multimillionaire at age 40, he retired - and held several important positions in the Roosevelt administration, including chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, chairman of the U.S. Maritime Commission and ambassador to Great Britain. Most important, of course, he founded one of the greatest dynasties in American politics.
In "The Patriarch," David Nasaw, a professor of history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the biographer of Andrew Carnegie and William Randolph Hearst, provides an exhaustive - and at times exhausting - examination of Kennedy's public and private lives.
Nasaw acknowledges that there is some truth in allegations that Kennedy was a stock manipulator, an adulterer, an appeaser, an anti-Semite and an isolationist. He says, however, that Kennedy was a brilliant entrepreneur who overcame discrimination against Irish Catholics, a dedicated public servant and an outsider, whose "realistic, pragmatic, and non-ideological" foreign-policy positions had the (increasingly rare) virtue of consistency.
Nasaw is a scrupulous and skillful historian. He portrays Kennedy as a competent and complicated man. And Nasaw busts some myths about him. Despite persistent rumors, he writes, no credible evidence exists that Kennedy was a bootlegger, with ties to organized-crime figures. Nor did he swindle the actress Gloria Swanson, his mistress, through the deal he structured with Pathé and Gloria Productions.
Nonetheless, "The Patriarch" tends to leave intact the popular perception of Kennedy as dangerously wrongheaded. Nasaw's treatment of Kennedy's tenure as ambassador to Great Britain, which constitutes the core of the biography, provides detailed documentation of his response to the looming threat of Nazi Germany. His knowledge, flair for publicity, blunt candor and self-confidence, Nasaw indicates, did not serve him well in London. He broke State Department rules and protocols, and persisted in publicly airing his views, even when they were at odds with those of the Roosevelt administration.
Obsessed with the failure of the United States to recover from the Great Depression, Kennedy thought the American government should borrow methods from German and Italian fascists to control the economy. Having no doubt about the superiority of Germany's armed forces, he urged President Franklin Roosevelt to find a modus vivendi with Hitler while England and France were at war with him. Convinced that Jews had "unfairly, perhaps criminally," seized control of the news media and other industries, the ambassador did not even make their fate under Hitler "a consideration."
During the Cold War, Nasaw adds, Kennedy denied that the Soviet Union was committed to expanding territorially or that it posed a threat to the security of the United States. He recommended that the American military remain in the Western Hemisphere, even if it meant that Europe and Asia went communist. And he predicted that democratic institutions and economic freedom would be casualties of a protracted arms race in conventional and nuclear weapons.
As he faded from public view in the late 1940s and 1950s, Kennedy concentrated his time, energy, connections and money on boosting the political careers of his sons. He was indispensable, it seems clear, in helping John F. Kennedy get elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and the U.S. Senate in 1952.
But since the advice he gave often wasn't very good, Nasaw's assertion that past experience convinced Jack Kennedy that his father "more often than not knew what he was talking about" seems a bit of a stretch. As do his claims that father and son approached foreign policy in similar ways - and that the line from John Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Address, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" bears a "striking resemblance" to Joseph Kennedy's lifelong insistence that his children commit themselves to public service.
Joseph P. Kennedy was a combative man, who rarely forgot and never forgave a slight to his family. When the American hierarchy of the Catholic Church failed to support Jack Kennedy's bid for the White House, for example, Joe saw to it that Cardinal Francis Spellman was not invited to the inauguration and withdrew a $1 million pledge to the diocese.
Kennedy took pride that he called them as he saw them. Although he chafed at times in his backstage role during the 1950s and '60s, we can take him at his word that he got "the thrills and excitement" he needed from the careers of Jack, Bobby and Ted. And, thanks to Nasaw, we can feel the devastation he felt when his children died, one after another.
"The Patriarch" provides all the details we'll ever need about Joe Kennedy's life and times. And with its title, Nasaw reminds us that if he deserves to be remembered at all, it's as a dad.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. E-mail: email@example.com


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China-based iPhone5Mod, makers of many unique iOS accessories and some of the first Lightning docks to hit the market, today announced a new hybrid controller/keyboard for iPhone 5. Dubbed "the lightest and thinnest keyboard for iPhone ever-made," the hybrid controller case comes in three parts: a back case that attaches to your iPhone 5, and a controller and keyboard that are both 2mm thin and made of sturdy aluminum. The controller and keyboard attach magnetically, connects with Bluetooth 3.0, and provide 40 hours battery life from 1 hour of charge.
You can buy it now from iPhone5mod.com for $50 in black or white.
Main Features
- Interchangeable Keyboard / Joypad Controller
- Supports both portrait and landscape mode
- "Feather-Like" weight keyboard, lightest in the world
- 2mm thickness, thinnest keyboard in the world
- Ultra-portable, All-in-one solution for any type of users
- Made of sturdy durable aluminum material
- Bluetooth 3.0
- Long lasting usage of 40hrs
- Standby time: 160 hours
- Charging time: 1 hour only
- Water-proof and dust-proof


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Boys Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt Sale
Wearable ROCK!
- An electric guitar built right into your shirt!
- Comes apart and can be machine washed.
- Included mini-amp goes all the way to 11!
Here at ThinkGeek were just wishing for a fully playable guitar built into a t-shirt when along came the Pixie of ROCK... she wailed with face melting guitar solo and *POOF* there it was in our hands...The Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt.
We turned on the mini amp, cranked the volume to 11 and started to rock. As the Pixie explained, the Electronic Guitar Shirt is incredibly easy to play because each button on the neck is a major chord. She went on to mention how you can play dozens of classic rock songs with very little skill. However she warned us never to use the Guitar Shirt for evil.
Now you can purchase one of these fine Electronic Rock Guitar Shirts and get a little wearable ROCK magic for yourself. The Electronic Guitar Shirt is not a toy that plays pre-canned musical riffs, it is a real musical instrument that allows you to play your favorite songs and sound great doing it.
All major chords are recorded from a real electric guitar. The included mini amp clips to your belt and gets plenty loud with great sounding amplification circuitry. The tone knob on the amp lets you adjust the sound just like a real guitar.Now the young-uns can get in on some amazing shirt based rock as well. Finally we've got kid sized versions of the Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt. Check the sizing chart below for the best fit on your mini-human.
|T-Shirt Size
|Generic Age Range
|S Kids
|43 - 55 lbs.
|6 - 8 years
|M Kids
|56 - 73 lbs.
|9 - 12 years
|L Kids
|74 - 100 lbs.
|13 - 16 years
Product Features
- Belt out your favorite rock tunes on this t-shirt based real playable electric guitar
- Great real rock sound
- Play all major chords
- Strum by touching the string area on the front of the shirt
- Mini guitar amp speaker clips to your belt
- Volume goes to 11
- Adjustable tone knob
- Electronic components are easily removed from the shirt for washing
- Requires 4 x AAA Batteries. Not included


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Here are the
Each piece is created with an eye for unique design and creative details. Functional, beautiful and timeless, affordable jewelry for the savvy shopper isn't out of reach, and custom pieces are only an email away.
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Round Leather Wristlet with Leather Ruffle Flower Made to Order
Round Leather Wristlet with Leather Ruffle Flower- Brown Suede


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GRAHAM � Until Oct. 1, 2010, William Gauldin was known for his station wagon.
His wood-paneled 1987 Oldsmobile wagon was loaded with his collections: NASCAR memorabilia, Hot Wheels collectibles, discontinued goose-down military sleeping bags and jackets, tool sets and power tools. People recognized him when they saw the 82-year-old�s station wagon pulling into store parking lots.
By summer that year, he�d had to park the wagon because it�d been crammed so full of goods that he couldn�t sit in or see out of it to drive, Gauldin said. He estimated the value of the car�s contents at $13,000 during a court hearing Tuesday.
On Oct. 1, 2010, he returned home and discovered the station wagon missing. It turned up a few days later at CMC Recycling on Park Road Extension in Burlington, looted and half-crushed in the demolition process.
Brian Scott Robinson, 38, of Forestdale Drive, Burlington, sold the car to the recycling company for $323.
Gauldin�s was one of four cars Robinson was accused of stealing and selling, either to private buyers or recycling businesses. He pleaded guilty to four counts of larceny of a motor vehicle and four counts of obtaining property by false pretense on Oct. 31 but wasn�t sentenced until Tuesday because investigators were still tabulating how much Robinson owed Gauldin and others.
Gauldin testified that some of the items in his car were irreplaceable. Most of the goods were in their original packaging and in mint condition. He�d been keeping them inside for at least 10 years.
�Whoever took it unloaded hundreds of items,� Gauldin said.
The wagon itself was worth about $5,000.
Defense attorney Natalie Jones said Robinson disputed the value of the items, claiming that most were mildewed, dusty and moldy from sitting inside the car so long.
Superior Court Judge James E. Hardin Jr. ruled the car and items were worth $10,754. Additionally, Robinson will have to repay Joy Hinshaw $10,500 for three cars he stole from her and sold.
Robinson was given a suspended sentence on four consecutive five- to six-month sentences and ordered to complete 36 months� probation. Hardin also ordered him to repay court costs and attorney�s fees and have no contact with the victims or be at CMC Recycling.
Robinson, who had no prior criminal record, apologized for the crimes.
�It�s a time of my life I�d rather forget, for these families and my own family as well,� Robinson told the judge.
In exchange for the plea, the state dismissed one count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, attempted obtain property by false pretense, break and enter a motor vehicle and injury to personal property.


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How can we help you?
Call us at 250-545-0455
Retirement Residences Orchard Valley Retirement Residence
Whether you're fully independent or need some assistance, this is a place where you can live life your way. With lots to do everyday, you'll also benefit from attentive service and the peace of mind that comes with 24/7 on-call support.
Resources to help you decide
Look here for information on everything from how to get started to frequently asked questions.
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DOE A to Z: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
Frequently Asked Questions about the Educational Stability Law
Research shows that when a child, especially one in a resource family home, changes schools, the child's ability to succeed in school, to be engaged in school activities and to thrive socially, emotionally, behaviorally and academically can be harmed. For a child who is already fighting an uphill battle in his/her home life as a result of abuse or neglect, the support of a stable school environment and school relationships can be the key to the child's ability to succeed in many or all other aspects of life.
When DYFS makes the decision to remove a child from his/her current home, it always strives to keep the child close to home and in the same school to limit further disruption in the child's life. DYFS also works to minimize the trauma on a child by placing him/her with family members or individuals close to and familiar with the child. Staying with a grandmother or aunt, for example, is often the best resource family home placement for a child. This is true even if these family members do not live within the child's current school district. DYFS weighs various factors, including education, in an attempt to make the child's first resource family home placement the best resource family home placement. This reduces the likelihood of the child having to move into more than one resource family home.
Not necessarily. The federal government has stated it will provide limited funding reimbursement to support school transportation costs for Title IV-E eligible children in a resource family home. But only around 35% of New Jersey's children in resource family homes are eligible for Title IV-E funding, which is based on the income of the child's parents and other factors related to the resource family home placement of the child. The federal government has not said how much funding it will provide to states. We do know that it will only provide partial reimbursement for funds the state has already expended on Title IV-E eligible children. DCF, however, is ready to work with local school districts on ways to maximize federal reimbursement of transportation dollars expended.
A school district will use the same methods to provide transportation to a student placed in a resource family home that it currently uses to provide all transportation, including vehicles for students attending out-of-district nonpublic and vocational schools, out-of-district private schools for students with disabilities and homeless students housed outside of their district of residence. Examples of existing methods follow:
- Use existing routes run with district-owned or contracted vehicles;
- Enact a quoted contract to provide transportation services that will be within the bid threshold after obtaining three quotes;
- Go out to bid in order to find a school transportation contractor to operate a new route;
- Form jointure agreements with other school districts or use coordinated transportation services agencies (CTSAs) located within or outside of their county to provide the service;
- Sign a contract with the resource family home parent (called a parental contract) in which the resource family home parent agrees to provide the child with transportation for a fee paid by the resident school district; or
- Provide students with bus tickets for use on a preset route run by a common carrier.
The receiving district will utilize the existing tuition process to bill the district of residence for the services provided to the child.
If a parent moves after the Application for State Aid (ASSA) count on October 15, the existing district of residence remains unchanged in the current school year. For subsequent school years, the current resident district can request a district of residence determination to identify the new district that is fiscally responsible for the child.
If an existing district of residence believes that a parent no longer resides in the district, the district must contact DCF and the child's case worker and file a request to have a new district of residence determination made. DCF forwards the request with the relevant information about the child and parent to the DOE, Office of School Finance, where the determination is made. Once a determination is made, the district made responsible has two levels of appeal: 1) the Assistant Commissioner of Administration and Finance and 2) the Commissioner of Education.
There should be no disruption in the child's education. The district where the child attends school is obligated to provide all required services, and the parents' identified district of residence must pay for those services, while questions of district of residence are resolved.
Like all other students, multiple factors including the student's educational placement will be considered when assessing the best interests of the student. There is a presumption that the student will remain in his or her current educational placement, if appropriate, but that could be affected by the best interest determination which considers multiple factors.
No, the student's placement would not automatically change because the student is placed in a resource family home. In fact, the law presumes that the student's educational placement will remain the same. However, transportation services would change based on the new residence from which the student would be transported. The school placement would not be affected by a move to a resource family home unless it was determined that the current placement was not in the child's best interest. In that case, the IEP team would have to be convened to identify the appropriate program and placement.


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Sir Percival David Collection of Chinese Art
The new Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies is custom-designed to house Sir Percival David's unparalleled collection of Chinese ceramics
A new state-of-the-art gallery and study centre at the British Museum, designed to house Sir Percival David's stellar collection of Chinese ceramics, will open on 23 April 2009, the year the British Museum celebrates its 250th anniversary. The Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies, made possible thanks to the support of one of the Museum's most generous benefactors, will display Sir
Percival David's collection in its entirety. Formerly housed in a university museum administered by The University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and known chiefly by scholars and students, the Collection will now be accessible to the Museum's approximately six million
annual visitors.
The Sir Percival David Collection, comprising some 1,700 objects, is one of the world's foremost collections of Chinese ceramics, whose scholarly value and extraordinary beauty is recognised around the world. Visitors will be able to view at a glance the rich variety of Chinese ceramics and see outstanding
stonewares and porcelains from many kilns and dating from the 3rd to the 20th century AD. As part of the preparations for the new display, a dedicated team of conservators has seen to the cleaning and care of the important collection.
One of the highlights in the Collection is the pair of Yuan Dynasty "David Vases" (AD1351), the earliest precisely dated examples of blue-and-white porcelain in the world. The Collection is also rare for boasting a significant holding of exquisitely painted porcelains, decorated by imperial command in the Forbidden City during the Qing Dynasty. A handscroll dating to AD1728, which depicts antiquities and porcelains in the collection of the Yongzheng Emperor (lived AD 1678-1735), and which remarkably includes a porcelain bowl in the Percival David Collection, is also part of the display. Due to its fragility, the scroll will be unrolled a section at a time in order to regulate its exposure to light.
A selection of two hundred of the most outstanding ceramics will be displayed on a single level in cases in the centre of the room that encourage visitors to walk around them. The remaining 1500 exhibits will be arranged more densely in rows of glass shelves in tall, narrow wall cases to create a "library" of ceramics. This display evokes the Qing dynasty tradition of multishelved cabinets that the emperors favoured for putting on view a maximum number of collectables in the palace. It is also reminiscent of the "cabinets of curiosities" typical of the Enlightenment era, and which can be seen in the Museum's own Enlightenment Gallery.
The gallery provides some traditional written labels, but more innovatively, visitors will be able to consult four touch-screen computers to access information and close-up photographs of the collection objects. This information includes recent scholarship and transcriptions and translations of Chinese inscriptions. The same images and text will also all be available worldwide online through the British Museum's website.
This new exhibition space will be at the heart of the Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies, which is dedicated to encouraging research on Asian ceramics at the British Museum. The Centre will also feature a brand new study room, including shelving for the Department of Asia's books. The study room is
available by appointment for professors and their students and for researchers to study objects in the Museum's Asian collections.
For more information and images please contact:
Maria Marques, Brunswick Arts: firstname.lastname@example.com +44 (0)20 7396 1290
Notes to Editors
Whilst the Sir Percival David Collection is displayed at the British Museum, the ownership of the Collection resides in the Percival David Foundation, an independent body with its own Trustees.


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We recommend using Transport for London (TFL) for the most up-to-date information on how to get the Gallery.
By tube and train
The nearest stations are Charing Cross (National Rail, Northern, and Bakerloo lines) and Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines)
Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines) and Embankment (Northern, Bakerloo, District, and Circle lines) are also nearby.
Please check TFL for up-to-date tube and train information.
By bus
Routes 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 24, 53, 87, 91, 139, 159, 176, and 453 stop near Trafalgar Square.
Please check TFL for up-to-date bus information.
By bike
The nearest bike stands are on Orange Street, St Martin's Street, St Martin's Place, and Duncannon Street. Please check Urban Cycle Parking for further information.
The nearest Santander Cycles docking stations are on St Martin's Street, Craven Street, Pall Mall East, William IV Street, Charles II Street and Oxendon Street.
Please check TFL for up-to-date information about nearby Santander Cycle docking stations.
By car
There is a parking space on Orange Street for Blue Badge holders only. Please book in advance by calling 020 7747 2885.
There are designated parking bays on St Martin's Street. Please phone Westminster Parking Information Service on 020 7823 4567 for more information.
Public car parks are available nearby in Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.
By river
The nearest pier is Embankment.
Please check TFL for up-to-date information about river services.


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- Make sure the kids see you reading every day (books, newspapers, magazines...they all count).
- Provide a variety of materials, at a variety of reading levels, and make sure they are easily accessible.
- Visit the library, and take advantage of library and book store story time.
- Have your children read to their pets.
- Read together and take turns. My son is 13, and we still take turns and share our reading time.
- Discuss what your child is reading.
- Accept that what you want your children to read might be very different from what they want to read.
"My child won't sit still long enough to read"
- Let your child stand while they read.
- Give your child a stress ball to squeeze during reading time.
- Allow your child to draw while you read to them - ask them to draw a picture that relates to what you are reading aloud.
- If it won't cause too much distraction, have your child sit on an exercise ball, and bounce a bit while reading. Or, get a rocking horse or something similar that gives the child a place to stay while also allowing them to move a bit.
- Is your reading space comfortable? My son likes to pile up a ton of blankets and pillows and then sit in the middle like a bird in a nest.
- Get out of the house for your reading session. Lay in the grass to read, go to a coffee shop to read, sit on a park bench while you read.
- Read while walking - I actually really like to read while I walk. Obviously this causes some problems - how do you read and watch where you are going at the same time? It takes practice, but can be done... Or, have the child read, while you keep a hand on their shoulder to guide them while you walk together.
Frequently I hear from parents of boys when it comes to reading issues, and often the complaints could all be easily resolved by engaging in the above activities and behaviors. Obviously if there is a learning disorder, then that needs to be addressed by a professional.
For more on reading with your kids, in particular on reading with boys, check out these books and links:
- Guys Read
- Boys and Books - article at Reading Rockets
- Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope? - New York Times article
- Getting Boys to Read
- The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do by Peg Tyre (book available at Amazon.com)
|Reading together...I was reading a book while leaning forward, and JP grabbed his book and used me as his pillow.


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Good question. Even though I'm hosting the Healthy Money Summit (starts Monday. Sign up for free. Listen live or later via recording) I'm not sure what it will take to have a healthy economy, healthy financial system or healthy currency. In view of how destructive the economic system is to life and limb (tree and bush and animal), is it possible to have a life-giving life-serving system?
Let's break that down a bit – as I will in my Healthy Money Summit session. I see several functions for money. The first and most familiar is as a means of exchange. Money facilitates everyday trading for life's necessities (and comforts and luxuries and excess). Money buys groceries and cars and a roof overhead and boats and vacations and flowers for our sweethearts. Resourcefulness says there are many ways to meet the needs these things provide (sharing, swapping, free, alternative currencies, growing your own, gleaning), but still, money is a brilliant invention for trade.
Money is also a 'store of value" – we save for a rainy day, for a time when you aren't earning (enough) but you are spending beyond income. You need wealth. Resourcefulness says wealth resides in more than money, but still, money is a brilliant invention for greater security in old age or infirmity.
So where is the illth (opposite of health) in money.
First, it's that the power to issue currency has been given to the banks which, as honorable as a few may be, is a bit like having the fox guard the chicken yard. Banks have the right to loan money they don't have and charge interest on the loan. This debt based currency drives growth which, on a finite planet, is no longer the point. It is in the bank's interest to send us into overshoot, since all debt to the bank is equal: a source of income.
Second, the government (through laws, subsidies, taxation, regulations) makes the rules of the game that can – and do – favor the holders of wealth. This is the classic "rich get rich and poor get poorer" scenario. Which isn't healthy for any society.
Third, we are in overshoot, using more resources annually than the planet can regenerate, yet our economic system gives us no danger signals. In fact, when resources seem to be drying up, we simply get more clever about getting more elsewhere. Perceived scarcity doesn't trigger conservation in our economic body. It triggers stepped up efforts to harvest and use what resources we have – and sooner than our competitors.
Fourth, in a de-sacralized (another word for materialistic, as having faith only in material existence) society, our worth is equated with our material possessions. When money and the things that money can buy are tied up with basic human social needs like belonging, respect and participation, then money isn't healthy. In the economy as a whole, this valuation of money as worth makes growth king. A shrinking economy (good for nature) is such utter failure in a materialistic society that what must be done (tone it down a bit) can't be done.
Seeing this you see that maturity – as in putting the desires to please, defend, impress, prevail into perspective – is part of healthy money. You also see that having a spiritual understanding of life – whatever religion holds that for you – also puts your life in a values context. You have something intangible but incredibly valuable (your integrity, your relationships, your capacity to make a positive contribution) against which to measure your money choices. The first person narratives about "simple living" all have this message: that by toning down material pursuit, something far more precious has room to grow.
To go a bit further out on the woo-woo limb, I'd say that healthy money is about:
- gratitude for what you have
- discernment – the capacity to "Inquire within" about your needs, wants and desire – to see which are worthy of your attention and effort and of those, which really require money or stuff to be fulfilled.
- generosity so that money is about what flows out from you, not just what comes into you
We start the Healthy Money Summit Monday at 8 AM – it's going to be quite a ride as there are 23 amazing speakers in just 4 days. I intend to learn a lot, to listen for inklings about how we can personally and collectively have a healthy relationship with money. I hope you will come.


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Some years back when the West University Elementary School was still having their Annual Spring Home Tour (why did they ever quit – those were the best shows?!?!) – there was one tour that was particularly memorable: on Albans, you first toured interior designer Ginger Barber's house, and then further up the street you went through another beauty: The Stone House. Built in 1939, this West U house is a rarity. It might just have the cutest facade of all the original houses, as it was built with Austin limestone over 60 years before that stone became hip and cool and in high demand.
Massive curb appeal: Austin limestone circa 1939. Today, almost every other new house in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin uses this limestone either inside or out. Notice the front doors – inside shutter close off the panes of glass.
I remember going on this particular house tour very well. It was a tortuous one, the kind that leaves you wishing you could just move and start all over in a new place. It was depressing enough to tour Ginger Barber's house. Not only was her zen-like back yard to die for, but the inside, as expected, was just so Ginger: casual, warm, friendly, cozy. And then – to have to tour the Stone House right up the street - well, it was just all too much. You know the feeling, you want to go home, scream, and then bomb it to the ground. When I toured the Stone House back then, I left there thinking, why can't my house look like this? The owner had decorated it herself, though at the time I thought perhaps Ginger had or maybe Carol Glasser. It just had "that look" about it: seagrass, slipcovers, chinoiserie tray tables, antique bamboo and pine furniture, rattan baskets filled with Kenneth Turner candles – that English Country Manor look that Houston does so well. Room after room was prettier than the next. Through the years it has, of course, been added on to – the space between the house and garage was enclosed and became a much needed family room with a master bedroom suite above. I was mad for it. So, recently, when Sally Wheat called me to come photograph The Stone House – I leapt at the chance to revisit the house that had so tortured me. The owner was very welcoming – she is a doll, just as cute as her house is. The mother of two daughters and a baby son, she loves her home and proudly showed it off – who can blame her? But, as they say, all good things must end, and they are now looking to move on. Yes, The Stone House is up for sale. I have a funny feeling it won't be on the market for too long.
The foyer: stunning double front doors with interior wood shutters.
The double front door is quite beautiful with it's pewter hardware and wood panels that close off the glass panes. To the left is an antique bamboo cabinet and a Louis Philippe mirror. The owner quipped that I should name this The Bamboo House, after all her antique bamboo furniture. While walking through it, I had actually thought of that title, but the beautiful original stone exterior was too defining. Everyone in West U knows this as the stone house on Albans.
Close up of the wood panels that close for privacy and security. The hardware is so beautiful, and so French!
Walking in through the front door, the living room is to the left, the dining room to the right, and the seagrass covered stairs are straight ahead. There is another set of stairs at the back of the house.
Walking into the living room, I immediately loved the dusty salmon pinks and creams found in the ticking curtains and the toile. It's all so warm and cozy, especially with the custom cut seagrass. This color palette is found throughout the house.
A large built in bookcase is at the back of the living room. Wonderfully accessorized with old leather books, coral and blue and white porcelains – the bookcases are the focal point.
This house is English Country Manor inspired – artfully cluttered and layered. An antique Louis Philippe mirror is flanked by a collection of prints while a skirted table is on one side of the sofa with a cricket table on the other. A chinoiserie tray doubles as the coffee table.
A pine mantel, blue and porcelains, toile and religious art: The English countryside comes to West U!
The view towards the front door. The tall clock is a French antique.
Between the two bookcases is the hall to the family room, and to the right is the bar, which leads to the kitchen.
Right past the bar is the charming kitchen.
The kitchen is filled with antique accessories. Here – a large collection of antique cutlery sits in another collection of horned cups.
Looking back through the bar which leads to the living room, or to the left, which leads to the dining room and the front door. The pantry is hidden behind French doors that are draped to hide the grocery boxes. Notice the hardware on the pantry doors.
Adjoining the kitchen, the dining room is located at the front of the house, to the right of the foyer. Silk curtains and a linen skirted table share the space with a large antique French buffet and a Louis Philippe mirror.
Here you can see the living room and the kitchen which both lead off from the dining room.
Back in the living room, the hall leads to the powder room on the left and the family room on the right.
The powder room continues the salmon pink and cream color scheme. Another Louis Philippe mirror rests above the marble vanity.
The family room is all white slips and a custom cut seagrass rug with a blue and white striped dhurrie layered over it. The backyard is through the door, again with panels that close off the glass panes. Above the chest is a collection of horns, memories from the many African safaris which the homeowner has gone on.
The view of the family room, looking back towards the arched doorway that connects the family room to the living room. The TV is hidden behind the shutters.
Outside the family room is the side yard with its stone fountain on the left wall. The kitchen can be seen through the small window. The family room is located in the section that was added onto the original stone house. This section connects the house to the garage with its large apartment above it.
The back stairs are connected to the family room. On the left is the garage. The laundry room is located behind the frosted double doors.
The guest bedroom is found off the back stair hall and next to the family room. An antique bamboo night stand holds a baluster lamp.
Upstairs are three bedrooms – here the two daughters share a room and bathroom. The checked fabric continues the soft salmon pink and cream theme. Wall to wall seagrass is found throughout the upstairs.
The girls bathroom has a wonderful tiled floor. Notice the sink inset into a wood vanity. I love the European styled glass half shower door.
The baby boy's nursery is furnished with grown up antique pine furniture.
The crib is white iron. Notice the table is actually an antique cut down to child sized height.
The master bedroom with its vaulted ceiling is located behind frosted glass double doors and is in the new section over the family room. The salmon pink shows up in the paint behind the arched built in shelves.
Simple brown and cream ticking striped fabric is used for the tufted headboard, dust ruffle and curtains. The lamps are made from metal urns and are topped with cowhide lampshades.
Adjoining the bedroom is the large master bathroom and closets. The walls are papered in a creamy texture. Notice the cabinet's carved feet – so charming! A large bamboo mirror is part of a vignette along with an antique rug and a tufted slipper chair upholstered in the brown and white ticking.
Past the master bedroom is the back stair hall which connects the upstairs with the garage apartment. The apartment has a bathroom and kitchen and is now used as offices for both the homeowners. The larger office is furnished with more African memories including the zebra rug.
The smaller office is dominated by a large antique bamboo bookshelf which holds a collection of decor magazines. Again, the check is in the same salmon pinks and creams – seen throughout the house. The shade is a Bennison toile.
The bathroom in the garage apartment features this iron stand turned into a sink. Due to the tight space, the faucet is attached to the wall.
The Stone House, located on a corner, is currently for sale - to see the listing go HERE. In this picture of the house from the real estate listing, you can see how the new addition is visible from the back side of the house. The stone on the addition is found on the ground floor, while the second story is clad in clapboard. The clapboard area is actually the master bathroom while the first floor guest room is directly below it.
I hope you have enjoyed this tour. A huge thank-you to the homeowners for opening their house to Cote de Texas readers!
In other news:
A special note – the new Skirted Roundtable is now online HERE. This week we discuss jealousy in blogging! It's a good one!!!
Photography by Lecia Wolf Phinney
And, Lecia from A Day That Is Dessert blog has recently opened up an Etsy store HERE featuring her fabulous photography. Good luck Lecia on your new endeavor!!!!!


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My Lie not only deals with your particular story, but the larger question of what is truth. Your talk at Berkeley Arts & Letters is titled "How Do We Come to Believe Lies?" What is it about our society that permits people to create their own truths, to insist their version of the world is accurate, to be self-delusional?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Meredith Maran and My Lie: A story of false incest
My Lie not only deals with your particular story, but the larger question of what is truth. Your talk at Berkeley Arts & Letters is titled "How Do We Come to Believe Lies?" What is it about our society that permits people to create their own truths, to insist their version of the world is accurate, to be self-delusional?
5 comments:
- recovered memory wiki said...
There are several problems with Maran's book. She never had any real detailed memories. Many with recovered memories of child abuse have corroboration for these events.
There was evidence the children at McMartin were abused. Nine of the eleven jurors at the trial believed they were abused.
People like her disgust me. WTF should her father forgive her? What a self-serving, narcissistic sociopath who justifies everything to herself because it fits the pathetic framework she needs to justify to herself. She's an imbecile. I'm much younger than she is, and a man, and I would have cut her out of my life like a cancer. She has a VERY distant relationshp with the trut and reality. Get a life, loser. I feel sorry for her sons. She likely treated their father like an unnecessary inconvenience leaving them rudderless in life.
There was no evidence of abuse in re the McMartin Preschool by the preschool. Maybe by their histrionic parents, yes. The preschoo? No. This same tired lie has been played out in Wenatchee, Washington; Boston, Mass; Bakersfield, California and several other locations. All with the same results. Overzealous prosecutors, police and social workers/CPS fabricating evidence, coaching children what to say, withholding exculpatory evidence and, years later, paying MILLIONS of dollars to those illegally incarcerated for crimes that never happened. All done to serve their own desire to increase their power. Makes you really want to have children, doesn't it?
I think she is a very brave lady, if only my mother could admit her mistakes, having accused my dear father, along with my 2 of my mentally unstable siblings of abuse (everything rings true in her story). Do we really want to hear details of the abuse-it can go on and on as it is pure fantasy (no bodies ever found after my dad was accused of satanic abuse!). I have argued with the 3 of them about lack of evidence and the coincidence of all 3 'remembering' at the same time. They blind themselves to the huge contradictions in their arguements and are stuck in their'victimhood', blaming my dad for all their problems. I can't reason with them as they are basket cases
- Amanda Fleming said...
Maran is brilliant, in my eyes. In previous comments she is being criticized for how she handled a false memory. Why do you think she wrote the book? It is obvious that she realizes that what she did was damaging to many people, and in writing the book made it less likely to happen to other people. Even though I have never been through anything similar to what she has, reading this book brought me to the realization as to the stem of my bulimia. I'm contemplating writing Maran a personal letter thanking her for sharing her experiences and thoughts.


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Sequestration happens � and it is the only way Washington can be forced to cut the growth of spending.
Sequestration happens � and it is the only way Washington can be forced to cut the growth of spending.
Remember, the $85 billion politicians are howling about (out of a $3.7 trillion dollar budget) is only a 2.2 percent cut. It is a reduction in the growth of spending, not in spending itself.
Democrats play the spin game by threatening us with all the bad things that will happen to us with this 2.2 percent cut in spending growth. Heads of the 1,200 different government programs, projects and agencies are induced to threaten us and blast the cuts by warning, through their compliant media, of overblown dire consequences. They squeal that �750,000 non-essential� employees will lose their jobs. Has anyone asked why we have 750,000 non-essential federal employees in the first place?
They say things like 2 million kids will be denied medicine, the TSA will get even slower, and FAA workers will be furloughed. Never mind that domestic air travel is down 27 percent from pre-9/11 levels while the FAA�s budget is up 41 percent.
After welfare reform passed in the 1990s, liberals said the poor would be on the streets. Kids, hadn�t you heard about that non-event? Give your racist aunt some wine coolers and ask her.
Reagan fired all air traffic controllers after they struck. Nothing happened. It is only about their budget and jobs, so they threaten to use the government to punish us.
Obama parades out kids, firemen, teachers and the like as props to evoke a maudlin response. In reality, a 2 percent cut means one fewer bureaucrat in the Education Department�s Jungle Gym Safety and Green Sustainability Bureau. They would go from 50 to 49 administrators, which is still probably 40 too many.
A recent federal study revealed that billions of taxpayer dollars could be saved in D.C. by eliminating many overlapping and duplicate programs. When he read this report, Obama probably ordered another study to look into it.
Our government loves to leave us at the mercy of one manufactured crisis after another. The lack of transparency makes it almost impossible to follow our money. For example, the administration probably budgeted the pending war with North Korea under �Office Supplies.�
The amount of money Washington spends is staggering. In truth, the government could not run a church bake sale. The U.S. Postal Service, which hemorrhages cash, hired Lance Armstrong and paid him millions. Now they want to open a mail-order line of postal clothing outfits. If you want to receive haute couture U.S. Postal-wear on time, I suggest you have your order sent via Fed-Ex.
There is a huge party going on in Washington � financed with our money. The Democrats want to continue to party until the cops bang on the door; then they will all run out the back door while blaming the Republicans.
This �crisis� has been coming for a year, ever since Obama cynically proposed sequestration to push the fiscal cliff beyond his November election. Other than one short call, he has not spoken to House Speaker Boehner in weeks. Republicans are right: Obama is �all talk and no action,� or, as I call it, high school dating.
Democrats politicize everything with cheap threats to the taxpayers if their agencies� budgets suffer even slight cuts. If Republicans want to get our budget �out of the red and into the black,� Democrats will say this is a veiled racial attack on Native- and African-Americans. They cannot move past the drama to actually govern.
If blame is placed on those Republicans firmly adhering to their principles, so be it. Should Republicans not maintain their insurrection more than four hours, they should consult Dr. Ron Paul.
Republicans, while not as theatrical, lament their half of the cuts to their beloved war machine, the Pentagon (which they prefer to be called the �Octagon�). The Defense Department orders tanks the services do not want for wars we do not need. The Joint Chiefs (a group that is not as fun as the name implies) should be more concerned about military effectiveness than size. Since the only women around commanders like Generals Petraeus and Allen are mistresses, they are led to believe that only size matters.
Lawmakers congratulate themselves when they �save us� from fiscal cliffs of their own creation. Maybe they should authorize the printing of a $1 trillion bill with pictures of Thelma and Louise on it.
Ron Hart is an op-ed humorist, author and TV/radio commentator who formerly lived in Columbia. Email email@example.com or visit www.RonaldHart.com.


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Online Social Networking: Instant Messenger
Filed Under Books, Communication, Networking and Marketing Strategy | 5 Comments
Who says you can only do online social networking using social networking sites?
For quite a few years Max Steingart has been showing people how to use Instant Messenger to develop new friendships and business contacts online.
Today we have social networking sites available to us, however the real-time aspect of Instant Messaging makes IM a great social networking tool.
I recommend that you visit Max's site, join his mailing list, and download a copy of his e-book, Make the Internet Your Warm Market.
Some of the key topics Max covers in his book are:
- "What is your Warm Market and how can the Internet replace it?"
- Why you want to use Instant Messaging
- The Member Directory
- The required steps to making a new friend or gaining a new client
- Searching for the right people
- How to start a conversation
- Internet etiquette and safety
Not only will you learn another way to network, the training you will receive can help you network more effectively using any social networking site.
Don't miss any posts. Register, it's easy, or subscribe to my RSS feed!


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The need-a-new-stadium wheels did not start turning with the inspiring year that was the Atlanta Falcons' 2012 season, but the speed of those wheels was certainly increased by it. The Atlanta City Council's 11-4 vote approving the stadium-financing resolution Monday night has all but made the new stadium a certainty.
Or has it?
The Georgia Dome is twenty years old. Aging? Yes. Worthy of being unceremoniously torn down to make way for a new, bright, shiny stadium worthy of a new, bright, shiny Super Bowl future?
Not necessarily, but maybe.
There is plenty to be said for preserving historical landmarks, and this safeguarding wasn't much taken into account when building the Dome. A new stadium does offer the possibility to make amends for the wrongs done when the Dome was built. A chance for needed downtown revitalization brings with it needed jobs as well. Renaissance done correctly would bring more people into the new area, to the new stadium…and with them comes their money. But the cost, the true cost, remains unknown.
The factoring-in of hotel taxes notwithstanding, the price will be passed down to the consumer, i.e., the fans who attend the games, the curious who come to investigate the newly restored area surrounding the stadium. Do they realize now what is coming later? Will they realize what was sacrificed in terms of communities and benchmarks to make way for their coming? With today's economy on the downturn, how cost-effective will this be? Can the payoff counteract the consequences?
Questions? Many. Definitive answers? Few.
The powers-that-be of the city and the doyenne of the Falcons are very confident in the feasibility of their decision. Time alone will tell; hopefully the actuality will be positive for all involved.
Leigh Allen is an NFL Atlanta Falcons writer for RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter, like her page on Facebook, and add her to your network on Google+.


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If the Ravens want to be serious contenders again, this is the draft where they have to find impact players.
Their last two drafts appear to be solid but in 2016 the Ravens have the No. 6 overall pick along with Nos. 36 and 70. They should be able to come away with three starters in those spots.
If they do, then they could fill several holes, and one of the oldest teams in the NFL has a promising future. If not, the Ravens have to take a hard look at what went wrong with their drafting from the time they moved here in 1995-96 until now. If not, they must consider if changes need to be made.
"I guess it would be easy to say if you look at these drafts compared to...


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Without digging up that old horse, I saw little value in "show the first frame" of APNG - if you want an animation, the first frame is practically useless. Even worse, it may give the user the impression it's supposed to be a static image, while a "missing support" box lets the user know it's supposed to be something else.
Still, flawed comparison: Opus is indeed better in every way, Wayland and systemd are not.


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The Ames Straw vote results out of Iowa are in, and Michelle Bachmann appears to have won with 29% of the votes, or 4,823 of the 16,892 votes cast. Bernanke nemesis Ron Paul placed second, just 150 votes behind Bachmann, at 4,671, or taking down 28% of the total. For those stupefied by this result, a source on the ground informs us that Bachmann proceeded to hand out 6000 free tickets at $30 each with a mandatory registration at her booth to gain concert entrance. Furthermore, final results were probably tabulated by the BLS. As for other frontrunners, Pawlenty came in a distant third with 14% or 2,293 of the votes. The Hill has more: "A House member has never finished in the top two; extraordinarily, two House lawmakers finished nearly neck-and-neck toward the top. Bachmann is the first woman to ever win the straw poll. "We're very excited," said Alice Steward, a spokesman for Bachmann. "it's a very emotional night for her, she's excited and thankful all the hard work of the supporters and volunteers paid off...Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) won about 10 percent, pizza magnate Herman Cain finished at about nine percent, and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) drew just 35 total votes. Murmurs of huge crowds at Waterloo native's splay on the campus of Iowa State University persisted throughout the day, suggesting that momentum was with — and never waned — from Bachmann's campaign." Rounding off the field were Santorum with 10% of the vote, Herman Cain with 9%, write ins Perry and Romney with 4% and 3%, respectively, and Gingrich getting 2%. We are not quite sure if this is the cue to laugh or cry. Our money is on the latter.
More from The Hill:
A rousing late-day speech that stressed social conservative credentials and Bachmann's ties to the Hawkeye State culminated with Bachmann beckoning undecided voters to her tent, which boasted air conditioning, seating, and performances by country star Randy Travis.
"Join me, I'm heading over to the voting booth right now," she said. "Come with me now."
Pawlenty's failure to finish in the top spot raises new questions about the core health of his campaign. The former Minnesota governor has failed to raise his poll numbers outside the single digits, and had poured most of his remaining resources into the straw poll, where he hoped a victory would infuse his campaign with new momentum.
"We made progress in moving from the back of the pack into a competitive position for the caucuses, but we have a lot more work to do," Pawlenty said in a statement. "This is a long process to restore America -- we are just beginning and I'm looking forward to a great campaign."
Pawlenty had set expectations at a finish somewhere in the top-tier; he's said repeatedly that a first-place finish wasn't essential. But even Pawlenty acknowledged Friday that a disappointing finish would force him to "reassess" his campaign, which has set itself up as more of a traditional, nationally-oriented campaign.
As for Paul...
Paul's showing caps off an effort of almost five years, dating back to his first bid for the Republican nomination way back in 2007, when he started to assemble the vast grassroots organization that propelled him to victory in today's straw poll.
He made a midday speech to straw poll participants that was heavy on playing up the Texas congressman's opposition to abortion rights; he also emphasized his opposition to the war in Iraq and criticism of U.S. monetary policy — views that tend to place him outside of the Republican mainstream.
Paul's finish Ames makes Paul's candidacy look less like a longshot, and more like a realistic possibility. The straw poll is a good, if imperfect, indicator of Republicans choice to win next February's caucuses, and Paul's finish on Saturday makes it seem increasingly plausible that he could win those contests.
Of course, if Paul were to eventually become president, we would advise him to not come within 100 miles of any school book depositories. Also to avoid prepared food, theaters, public speeches, pope mobiles (in fact any form of transportation that goes over 15 mph), to run like the wind from any and all hot tubs, jacuzzis, swimming pools, and baths, and in general to conduct his long overdue gold standard policy from a bunker several miles underground if possible.
Alas, this may all be just a tad optimistic.


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Air Conditioner Installation & Replacement Lee's Summit, MO
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If your Lee's Summit area home's air conditioner is over 10 years old, call us for a free no obligation in home consultation from one of our N.A.T.E. Certified Comfort Specialists who will compare the cost of operating and maintaining your current AC System with a new energy efficient air conditioning system.
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Find Your Perfect Home.
Dryden Real Estate
Dryden is located in Michigan. Dryden, Michigan has a population of 941. Dryden is more family-centric than the surrounding county with 40.62% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 31.95%.
The median household income in Dryden, Michigan is $43,000. The median household income for the surrounding county is $53,016 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Dryden is 41.8 years.
Dryden Weather
The average high temperature in July is 81.6 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 14.4 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 32.8 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
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I recently became an empty nester and was looking for a change in my life that would maximize my time left on this great planet. So I sold my house, bought a Ford F-350, an Arctic Fox 990 truck camper, and hit the road. This is the story of my adventures with travel, photography, and RV tips designed around living the boondocker lifestyle. South Africa The focus of this boondocking adventure is South Africa. Of course I could not take my truck camper to South Africa in two weeks, but sometimes a boondocker needs to park their adventure vehicle and hop on an airplane. It is very possible for a United States citizen to rent an RV in South Africa. Rates for a Toyota Hilux ...Read More »
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