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Hope College will host its 39th annual Model United Nations conference for high school students on Thursday and Friday, March 9-10.
More than 700 students and faculty from the greater Midwest will compete in the various simulations, making the event the largest Model United Nations conference in Michigan. Acting as delegates from the 192 member nations of the United Nations in two General Assemblies, eight Security Councils, an International Court of Justice (ICJ), and an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the students will be faced with issues pertaining to the current international affairs.
Issues that will be included in this year's conference include endangered species and the loss of biodiversity, the international drug trade, global currency, the Internet and human rights, global vaccinations, and the human rights of migrants.
The purpose of Model United Nations is to give high school students an opportunity to take on the roles of professional diplomats with the goal of achieving a particular country's national objectives while fostering a desired international consensus for real solutions to the questions facing them. HopeCollege's department of political science sponsors the event.
Participating students, with the help of faculty advisors, have been preparing for weeks for the conference by working to identify the current issue positions of countries they have selected to represent. Throughout the event, they will discuss with their peer delegates in order to attain solutions that they feel best resolve various international problems.
ECOSOC, Security Council and ICJ members begin their sessions Thursday evening and continue throughout the day Friday. General Assembly members arrive Friday morning and will debate during the day.
In addition to the various sessions, students participating in ECOSOC, Security Council and ICC will attend an opening banquet Thursday. This year's keynote speakers will be Hope senior Aftan Snyder of Bigfork, Mont., and Hope junior Ziye Liu of Chongqing, China, who will reflect on the quote by Gandhi "my life is a message" and speak about their international experiences.
The Model United Nations will conclude with an awards ceremony on Friday, March 11, in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The featured speaker will be Martha Larsen from the Michigan Peace Team. Larsen will speak at 3:50 p.m., with the awards ceremony following. The public is invited to both the address and the ceremony, and admission is free.
The Hope College Model United Nations is organized by students in a political science course aimed at the understanding of international politics and the role of the United Nations in international disputes. The Hope students serve as session chairpersons and perform other administrative tasks throughout the formation and execution of the event.
The secretary generals for this year's conference are seniors Alison Bernard of Windsor, Calif., and Shannon Brenneman of Wadsworth, Ohio. The directors for Introductory General Assembly are senior Katlyn Rowe of Midland and junior Michael Dirksen of East Grand Rapids; for Advanced General Assembly are seniors Emma Porter of St. Charles, Ill., and junior Laura Helderop of Grand Rapids; for Security Council are seniors Alyssa Zeldenrust of Winfield, Ill., and Stephen Pedersen of Vernon Hills, Ill., junior Derek Jager of Asheville, N.C., and sophomore Jeff Sweet of Petaluma, Calif.; for Economic and Social Council are senior Angela Griffore of Holland and junior Joshua Wunderlich of Traverse City; for International Court of Justice are seniors Allison Bryan of Grand Rapids and Kevin Haley of Lowell, Mass. Serving as high school coordinator is senior James Colten of Wheaton, Ill.
The faculty advisors to Model United Nations are Dr. Virginia Beard, assistant professor of political science, and Dr. Jack Holmes, professor of political science.


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My good friend, Sensei Angel Lemus, has created a very interesting and useful website called One Minute Bunkai. The URL is oneminutebunkai.com. I hope that you will visit it and watch the bunkai videos -- no music, no verbal explanations... just the techniques shown in a very clear and easy to follow format. I really enjoyed them.
I am very lucky. Through our Hawaii Karate Kenkyukai training sessions, I have had the opportunity to see Lemus Sensei execute such bunkai. He reminds me of a jazz musician, just jamming! He seems to be able to effortlessly transition between techniques and applications -- something I am always working on myself. I have occasionally been on the receiving end of Lemus Sensei's applications, and I can say that they definitely work.
I always say, if you don't know what you are doing, then what are you doing? Bunkai is the meaning of what we do in Karate. One Minute Bunkai is an excellent idea, and I am grateful to Lemus Sensei (and his students) for sharing it with us.
Charles C. Goodin
One Minute Bunkai -- Angel Lemus
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Monday, January 30, 2012
Lecture: Karate in the Ryukyu Kingdom (2/9/12)
On Thursday, February 9th at 3:00 p.m., Sensei Pat Nakata and I will give a lecture at the University of Hawaii. A poster is above (click the poster for a larger pdf file) and the information is included below. Please feel free to distribute this information to anyone who might be interested. I am very honored to give this lecture with my good friend and senior, Sensei Nakata Sensei.
I have asked my good friend, Sensei Angel Lemus, to take video of the lecture and we hope to be able to present it on YouTube after the event.
I am very encouraged that this lecture is sponsored by a the Center for Okinawan Studies at the University of Hawaii. The subject matter of Karate and its place in Okinawan history and culture is truly worth of study. Those of us who are fortunate to practice and teach the art, are caretakers of this great tradition.
Charles C. Goodin
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Karate in the Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawa Prefecture, and Hawaii
How is Okinawan Culture Spread through Karate?
Learn about the origins of Karate (Tudi, "Tang or China" Hand) among members of the highest levels of Ryukyuan society. Karate was part of the upbringing of selected sons of noble and samurai families who were trained to become bushi, cultured gentlemen. Based largely on Chinese martial arts and values, Karate was usually taught secretly or in private.
About twenty years after the Ryukyu Kingdom was abolished and Okinawa became a prefecture (1879), Karate became a part of the public school curriculum. Taught publicly and to a large number of students for the first time, Karate had to adapt to Japanese values and objectives. But the old form of Karate still existed with the new. Explore why the myth of Karate being developed by Okinawan farmers and peasants was spread in Japan... and still exists today.
Karate came to Hawaii with the very first Okinawan immigrants starting in 1900. Originally limited to members of the Okinawan community, the art is now widely practiced by students of all ethnic groups. Through Karate training, students are provided an opportunity to learn about Okinawan history and culture.
Speakers: Sensei Pat Nakata (Okinawa Shorin-Ryu Karate Association) &Event is free and open to the public.
Charles C. Goodin (Hawaii Karate Museum)
Date: February 9, 2012 (Thursday)
Time: 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Location: Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room)
For more information or disability access, please contact:
Center for Okinawan Studies, tel. 956-0902 / 956-5754
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Finding Yourself
I often hear young people say that they have to find themselves. My reply is that "your self is not something you find, it is something you make."
Finding yourself is not a miraculous thing. It is not a matter of where you live, but rather how you live. If you can't find yourself here, you won't find it over there. It takes work. It is the result of your interactions with other people. It is the result of the challenges you face and how you face them. It is the result of caring about others and things, and sometimes of loss. What are you willing to do for others?
Finding yourself is really experiencing life... and paying attention to the process and results.
Alcohol and drugs can certainly make the process much harder. There is a saying that most people are born sleeping (unaware because of inexperience) and die drunk (unaware because of excess). Watch it! Beware and be aware!
I am still making my self... a little each day. Karate training is part of this process.
Charles C. Goodin
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Repost About Work and Work Ethics
This is a combined repost of two posts I had written in March of 2011 about work and work ethics.
- Anything worthwhile takes work.
- When they complain that a task is difficult, I say, "That's why they call it work."
- If it was easy, they could easily hire someone else could do it.
- A job worth doing is worth doing well.
- You might not be stronger or smarter than another person, but you can accomplish more by working harder.
- Chotoku Kyan used to say, "If he practices three times, I will practice seven!" With this work attitude, Kyan Sensei became a great Karate expert.
- Fall down six times get up seven.
- When you work for someone, give them 100%. Don't show up late, leave early, call in sick unnecessarily, or spend time on private calls. You are there to work. Earn your pay.
- If your boss has to lay someone off, who do you think he will let go -- his best worker or his worst? (That is assuming that the worst worker is not a relative.)
- A job is not done until it is done. (Keep working at it until it is done.)
- A commitment made is a commitment kept. (If you say you are going to do something, do it.)
- If you can learn to work hard at Karate training, you can apply that same attitude to school, work, family obligations... anything.
- There is no shame to being less skilled than another Karate student, as long as you are still working at it.
- In Karate, the work is never done.
- Work on your character is never done either.
- Life is easier if you enjoy your profession (job).
- Generally, you can get a better job (in terms of pay, benefits, prestige, etc.) if you get a good college education. If you have the opportunity, get a graduate degree.
- No matter how good your job may be (in terms of pay, benefits, prestige, etc.) you have to consider your quality of life.
- Opportunities rarely come by chance, you have to make them.
- You make your luck.
- Fish or cut bait.
- Crap or get off of the pot.
- The sooner you start the job the sooner you will finish it.
- Thinking about the job is often harder than doing it.
- A lazy employee is like dead wood.
- If I have to ask you to do it, I might as well do it myself.
- Don't ask me if I need help. I will always say no. If you want to help, help. If you don't want to help, don't was time talking about it.
- If you help someone, forget about. If someone helps you, never forget it.
- Some workers do the work of three people.
- Honest work is always worthy of respect.
- Do it now. Do not put it off until tomorrow.
- Don't say it, do it.
- A large weed was once a small weed. Why didn't you pick it then? It would have been much easier.
- Finish one job, begin another. Don't waste time in between.
- It is hard to find the time to do everything you need to do. You have to make the time.
- What you did (accomplished) yesterday is good, but what are you doing today?
- No matter how much education and special training you might have, you work for your client. He might have no such education or training, but he is your boss. You are lucky to have him. Don't forget it.
- People who work in ivory towers are resented.
- I met many attorneys and doctors who had children who did not want to pursue education or a profession. One day when I stayed late at the law office where I worked, I met a cleaning lady from the Philippines. She had come to Hawaii with her husband. He was a cleaning man too. They had ten children (as I recall): three doctors, two lawyers, two engineers, a school teacher, and two children in college. I was in awe of that couple's accomplishments!
- Don't just work hard, work smart.
- If you have to walk to the other side of the building to get something, ask yourself if there is anything you could take there.
- Karate training is always a work in progress.
Charles C. Goodin
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
What Makes a Dojo?
One of my sons is getting married soon and is in the market for a house. I recently told him, "What makes a house a home is not the square footage, the furniture, or the location. What makes a house a home is the people inside it."
The same can be said about a dojo. People make the dojo. Everything else is just "things."
The dojo is the place where people get together to practice Karate. When you practice Karate in your daily life, that is your dojo.
Charles C. Goodin
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Thursday, January 05, 2012
The Objective of Karate
What is the physical objective of Karate? What is the reason we practice potentially destructive Karate techniques?
To me, the goal is not to win or defeat an opponent. I am not training for this reason. If someone attacks me, he is not an opponent -- he is a criminal. I have not agreed to fight, to a game. I am an innocent victim. I am a victim of this criminal.
My goal is to avoid being injured or killed. If I can run away -- great! If I have to defend myself, my goal is still to avoid being injured or killed. I am not trying to win or defeat the attacker. It may be that the only way to avoid being hurt is to injure or kill the attacker. If so, that is unavoidable. But that does not mean that I defeated the attacker. It is not a win. It is a terrible, but necessary and unavoidable thing.
The goal of Karate is neither to win nor to lose. These apply to other subjects. The goal of Karate (at least the self defense aspects of the art), is to avoid being injured or killed by an attacker. I am never a fighter. If someone attacks me, I am a victim. I am exercising my right to self defense... not fighting.
It's like catching a puhi (moray eel) and trying to take the hook out. You have to expect that it will try to bite you. It's not the eel's fault. It just wants to get away.
Charles C. Goodin
Better Than or Worse Than
This is a story.
Bill and Dave were talking in the dojo as they watched Sam perform a kata.In Karate training, there will be many students who are better than you, and many students who you may be better than. Learn from the former and help the latter. But don't ever let it bother you.
"I hate Sam," said Bill.
"Why?" asked Dave.
"Because he thinks he is better than me."
"He is better than you," said Dave.
"I know that," conceded Bill. "I hate him because he knows it."
Too many people say that such and such a person is "great!" So what? How did that person become great? If he was born great, that won't help you. But if he worked at it, perhaps you can also become great by working the same way.
And if someone attacks you, it doesn't matter that you are better or worse than other students at the dojo. What matters is what you will do at that very moment.
Charles C. Goodin
Perfect Effort
Instead of trying to perform a kata perfectly, try to make a perfect effort. Let's say that you enter a tournament and perform a kata the very best that you can. Who is going to evaluate it? The judges? How do they know how well you did? Do they even know your style and kata? And even if they do, how do they know what you were thinking, how focused you were, whether there were any gaps between your thoughts and actions?
The focus should not only be on the result, which is a subjective thing anyway. The focus should also be on the effort.
If you learn to make a perfect effort, everything you do will improve. If you only learn to copy one thing "perfectly," so what?
Now, you do not make a perfect effort by sitting seiza and yelling: "I will seek to make a perfect effort!" It is not something you can get by yelling, writing, or thinking. It is something you have to do.
So the next time you perform a kata, don't concentrate solely on the moves and timing, concentrate also on the effort you are making. If you truly try your best... congratulations! Now do that all the time.
Charles C. Goodin
Celebrity Sensei
One of the worst things a student can do is to turn his Sensei into a celebrity. You take a quiet, humble, down to earth, extremely skilled teacher and turn him into a media star. There is a saying that observation changes the result of the experiment. To what extent do the perceptions of the students and the public change the Sensei?
Even if some degree of notoriety is unavoidable, you have to ask what the effect of having a celebrity Sensei is on the student. Is the student learning Karate... or how to become a celebrity? The Sensei is a role model. So what is he a role model of? A student is rarely influenced by only one aspect of a role model.
Try this. Write down all the characteristics of your Sensei. Now circle the ones that you admire and seek to be like.
For me, I do not seek celebrity status. I don't want to be anyone's master or soke or hanshi. I just want to be myself. I like being an "unknown" person. Even if I write articles, very few people visually associate me with that "author" (that is one reason I rarely include my photograph with articles).
Through Karate training, I am working on myself. This is a personal, rather than a public journey. Celebrity status, if anything, would be a distraction. The focus is and should always be training.
You might think that this post is unnecessary. But have you seen any Karate Sensei celebrities? Did you ever see how the students react to them? Have you seen them posing for photos, asking for autographs, asking to have their books signed, wining and dining, rubbing elbows, hanging on, dropping names, etc.? Back in Okinawa or Japan, this person is normal. Here he is a celebrity. What happened?
And, of course, some people are quick to point out that their celebrity Sensei is more well known than your celebrity Sensei.
I will tell you who the real "stars" of Karate are to me: the Sensei who teach in their home, garage, carport, yard, or the park; the Sensei who teach in a recreation center or church and have to pay out of pocket for the rent because they do not charge tuition to students who cannot afford it; the Sensei who work with special needs students; the Sensei who come straight from chemotherapy to the dojo; the Sensei who truly "walk the walk" and talk little about it; and most of all, the Sensei who are dedicated to training and polishing their character.
What counts most is not that you are well known but that you know yourself well.
Celebrity status requires too much baggage.
Charles C. Goodin
Lessons From Fishing
Yesterday, the last day of 2011, I went fishing... and essentially got skunked. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed it, but no big fish for New Year's lunch.
From time to time, people stop by at my fishing spot. Usually, they wonder what I have caught.
"Catch anything?" they ask.
"Only little," I often reply holding my hands a few inches apart.
And then comes the line. "That's why they call it fishing, not catching."
I smile and agree.
Karate is like that. We think of "Karate" as a noun, but it really should be verb. "Training" is the word that comes closest to the idea. When we say "Karate" we really should say "Training."
Then when we are practicing Karate and a person walks by and says, "Are you a black belt or good yet?", we could say, "That's why they call it training."
I did get a new fishing pole, a 9 foot, medium action Ugly Stick. I can cast much father with it, and am confident that I will catch more and better fish next year. I also received a nice pair of scissors as a gift, which I am using when I make my rigs.
But whatever the result may be, I will be fishing and training.
Charles C. Goodin
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Sunday, January 01, 2012
Resolutions for Karate Students for 2012
Here are some Resolutions for Karate Students for 2012:
- Practice Karate because you enjoy it. If you do so, your happiness will be attainment of the goal you seek.
- Focus on skill and conditioning, rather than rank and titles.
- Try to get a little better every day.
- Ask your Sensei if there is anything you can do to help him (or her).
- Arrive at class early to help set up. Stay late to help put things away.
- Try hard to get better at just one thing this year. If you can do that, you can apply what you learn to other aspects of Karate.
- If you haven't already done so, begin the serious study of body dynamics.
- Pick one junior student at the dojo and make it your mission to help him (or her).
- Be a positive influence in the dojo.
- Be humble.
- Be respectful of and kind to other people (whether they study Karate or not).
- There is no end to improvement in Karate. Remember: not yet, not yet. Mada, mada, mada.
- Try to win a tournament (just joking, unless you view daily life as a tournament).
- Seek to dig deeper rather than climbing higher. The keys are inside you.
- Learn something about other styles of Karate. At a certain point, styles become irrelevant.
- Try to remain calm and focused the next time you are in a dangerous situation, like an earthquake, a hurricane, or a car accident. Be prepared.
- Read a book about Okinawan history and culture.
- If you can afford it, plan a vacation or stopover in Okinawa.
- Don't forget to spend time with and pay attention to your family.
- Apply the principles of Karate in your daily life.
- Enjoy Karate in 2012.
Charles C. Goodin
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Sunday, January 01, 2012

subset: commoncrawl


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In the log in area you canView your order historyAccess your invoicesRe-order at a click of a button.
Pricing is for 610mm wide per metre.You can get the quantity discounts by mixing any of the colours in this range.If ordering multiple metres of a colour we will supply, where possible, the colour on a single continuous roll.
Your Trolley Is Empty


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A launch failure that sent three GLONASS satellites to the bottom the Pacific Ocean in early December is expected to have little impact on Corn Belt farmers who use sophisticated navigation technology that accesses the Russian satellite system.
Despite the launch glitch, the GLONASS system is expected to have 22 working satellites in place in the coming months. Although that is two short of the optimal 24-satellite constellation, GLONASS will continue to enhance accuracy and reliability of navigation systems that can access both GLONASS and GPS satellite systems, says Matt Darr, a precision agriculture specialist at Iowa State University.
"In the past couple years, RTK receivers that have the ability to work with both GPS and GLONASS satellites often have been able to access between 13 to 15 satellites, which is excellent," says Darr. "In my opinion, not having the extra satellites isn't a big issue. If you were only using GLONASS, it would be. But GLONASS is an enhancement for us, not a primary solution."
The GLONASS enhancement comes into play when ag vehicles are operating in tough conditions, such as along tree lines and hills, says Darr. Having lots of satellites makes up for temporary losses from these obstructions, which can degrade reliability if satellite counts fall below minimums.
More on the launch failure here.


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In Spring 2014, Dell for Entrepreneurs announced its first-ever class for the Founders 50, an exclusive group of emerging companies that have technology as a critical backbone and are poised for rapid growth. Just recently, it announced the new Founders 50 Fall 2014 cohort, which for the first time includes a global contingent representing five countries – the U.S., UK, Canada, France and the Netherlands. These high-growth start-ups are companies to watch and were chosen based on their record of disrupting their respective industries through innovative products and creative solutions.
As with the first Founders' group, Dell will provide these organizations with access to resources, solutions, mentorship and exclusive marketing efforts to help them continue to grow their businesses. The Spring 2014 group has already shown impressive results from this mentoring relationship, having collectively raised over $2.2 billion in capital and having been backed by a number of notable angel investors and venture capital funds.
"Zoom has experienced rapid growth over the past six months," said Eric Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom, a member of the Founders 50 spring class. "We have surpassed 25 million participants, 20,000 business customers and 1,700 higher education customers. Dell has provided incredible support for this growth, from providing servers for our scalable infrastructure to offering marketing opportunities for us through the Founders 50."
When Founders 50 companies complete their two-year term, they become Founders Club Alumni, joining other companies that have participated, including Skyera, CloudFlare and Mass Relevance.
Related Topics : Vulnerabilities and Patches, Resellers, Broadcom, Broadband Services, Supercomputing
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LONGMONT — Boulder County prosecutors on Thursday charged the owner of a Longmont-based janitorial business with four counts of sexual assault causing submission by physical force.
Raglan Yapp is accused of sexually assaulting an immigrant woman who worked for him multiple times while on job sites in Boulder between March 2009 and Oct. 18, 2010, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Boulder police.
Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett said immigrants sometimes hesitate to report crimes.
"Mr. Yapp, of course, is presumed innocent, but we do receive complaints from immigrants from time to time and investigate them like any other case," Garnett said.Yapp is out of jail on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 10 for a preliminary hearing in the case.
According to his arrest warrant affidavit, the woman reported the assaults to investigators in October. She said Yapp physically forced her to give him oral sex while they sat in a work van outside of a restaurant the company was contracted to clean on the 900 block of Pearl Street. She also described other incidents of violent forced intercourse in bathrooms of Boulder restaurants and said he would corner her while she was cleaning and used his size against her and implied he would call immigration authorities if she resisted, according to the warrant.
She told investigators the final attack was at about 1 a.m. to 1:15 a.m. while she cleaned a restaurant bathroom. She told investigators she finished her shift at 8 a.m., he paid her, and she never returned to work.
"She said that she didn't try to fight him because he was so much bigger than she was and she was afraid of him," according to the warrant. "She said that he treated her like she was a slave and never saw her as a worker or a person."
Pierrette J. Shields can be reached at 303-684-5273 or email@example.com.


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Showing results for Heathlands to Delhi forSee Fare Calendar
Book your flight tickets from Heathlands to Delhi at lowest airfare. Get best offers on international flight bookings when you fly from Heathlands to Delhi. Also Check flight schedule, status and low cost airlines for Delhi to Heathlands flight. Use promo code YINTSALE and get flat 25% eCash (Up to Rs.15,000 Off)


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I've held a camera so long as I can remember.
As a child I would use my parents old cameras as toys as an adult I am now pursuing what I love, making photographs, recording memories and sharing in the some of the most important moments of my clients lives.
I can't imagine life in any other direction so please, come and join me and be a part of my journey.
All recent photography work can be found at:
and for travel / lifestyle blog you'll find me at:
« Wedding: Matt and Bethany
Wedding: Jonny and Jess »
© 2019 Christina Willows, Photographer, Vancouver, BC|ProPhoto Site by NetRivet


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Robbie '69 emphasizes innovation, creativity
The Dartmouth
May 18, 2011
Design thinkers must use empathy, creativity, collaboration and playfulness when addressing complex problems, Thayer School of Engineering professor Peter Robbie '69 said during a Social Enterprise and Economic Development Society lecture Tuesday evening. Design thinking is a unique method of problem solving that attempts to satisfy individuals' needs in a manner that is both feasible and profitable, according to Robbie.
While production consists of "exploiting existing knowledge and perfecting repetition," innovation centers around "trying to explore new knowledge," Robbie said. Robbie cited the development of the Toyota Prius as an example of a production company creating a truly innovative product.
"The development of the Toyota Prius totally debunked the image of Toyota as a safe, boring company," Robbie said. He added that developing the hybrid car required the company to assume greater risks than it had in the past.


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The Wall Street Journal's Sharon Ng and Jean Eaglesham have an exclusive with David Sokol that's giving us chills.
Sokol was the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary executive that many considered to be a frontrunner to replace Warren Buffett as CEO.
In 2011, Sokol resigned in the wake of what appeared to be an insider trading scandal.
However, the SEC dropped its investigation into Sokol yesterday, and now he has broken his silence.
From Ng and Eaglesham:
Mr. Buffett had praised Mr. Sokol's contributions to Berkshire upon the executive's departure and said he didn't feel the trades were "in any way unlawful." But weeks after the resignation, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO made scathing remarks about Mr. Sokol's actions, calling them "inexcusable" and "inexplicable" and saying they violated the company's code of ethics.
Mr. Sokol's lawyer said Thursday that he was informed that the Securities and Exchange Commission wouldn't take action against his client.
In a sign that the rift is unlikely to heal soon, Mr. Sokol on Friday lashed out at the 82-year-old Mr. Buffett.
"I will never understand why Mr. Buffett chose to hurt my family in such a way, but given that he is rapidly approaching his judgement [sic] day I will leave his verdict to a higher power," Mr. Sokol wrote in an emailed response to The Wall Street Journal.
Read the whole report at WSJ.com.


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Thursday, February 27 2014
Statements from Mohegan Sun
The following are statements from Mitchell Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, and Kevin Brown, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, following today's referendum vote in Revere.
Statement from Mitchell Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority
"Today marks an important milestone in our efforts to bring a spectacular destination resort to the city of Revere. Mohegan Sun is proud to have earned the strong support from Revere and our surrounding communities, and we are honored to call this city home.
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Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here today to present the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriation requests of the Social Security Administration (SSA). I appreciate the Committee's interest in and support of SSA in the past, and I look forward to continuing to work with you.
Overview of SSA's Programs and Overall Budget
I will begin by providing you with a brief overview of SSA's mission and overall budget. SSA advances the economic security of the Nation's people through compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America's social security programs. These programs include Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance, commonly referred to as Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSA also provides service delivery support to the Medicare, Medicaid, Black Lung, Railroad Retirement, and Food Stamp programs. Our budget request is driven by our Agency Strategic Plan, which focuses on four strategic goals: service, stewardship, solvency and staff.
For FY 2006, SSA will spend $574 billion to pay monthly benefits to more than 53 million people. SSA's administrative expenses, driven by the size of the programs we administer - both in terms of the amount of work we do and the number of people we need to do it - are less than 2 percent of total outlays.
SSA has four appropriations requests before this Committee, totaling $50 billion: Limitation on Administrative Expenses, Office of the Inspector General, Supplemental Security Income, and Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds. Social Security trust fund benefit payments are permanently appropriated, and therefore, are not part of the budget requests before this Committee. However, it is important to note that the administrative resources that SSA needs in order to pay Social Security benefits are part of the appropriation requests that we are asking you to support.
Let me give you a sense of the vast number of tasks that our dedicated employees will perform in FY 2006. We will process over 8 million claims for benefits; issue 17 million new and replacement Social Security cards after obtaining and evaluating evidence of identity; process 264 million earnings items for workers' earnings records; handle approximately 58 million transactions through SSA's 800-number; issue 140 million Social Security Statements which provide individuals with a personal record of earnings on which they have paid Social Security taxes and estimates of future Social Security benefits; adjudicate appeals of Agency decisions; process millions of actions to keep beneficiary and recipient records current and accurate; and conduct continuing disability reviews (CDR) and non-disability redeterminations to avoid improper payments to Social Security and SSI beneficiaries if factors affecting their eligibility or monthly benefit amount have changed.
President's Request for SSA's Limitation on Administrative Expenses
The President's budget includes $9.403 billion for SSA's Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE). This is less than 2 percent of total estimated outlays of approximately $586 billion under current law, and an increase of $670 million in discretionary budget authority from our FY 2005 appropriation. This budget places a priority on service to claimants, beneficiaries, and taxpayers, for which adequate funding is critical.
The requested increase is needed to provide the salaries and benefits, facilities, computer and telecommunications equipment, and training required to deliver service to the American public. Approximately 68 percent of our administrative resources are used for personnel costs. Due to mandatory increases in these costs, such as annual Federal employee pay raises and benefit and retirement cost increases, the requested increase is absolutely necessary to maintain a stable level of effort for SSA's traditional workloads.
With the President's budget, SSA will be able to keep up with growing core workloads, over which SSA has no control, including the recent increase in disability claims. SSA will continue to reduce the time it takes to process a claim for disability benefits. The Agency will meet its new responsibilities under the Social Security Protection Act and the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). Further, SSA will prepare for the future through service investments, such as continuing the implementation of our electronic disability project (eDib).
Almost half of the requested increase will be used to fund SSA's ongoing work related to Medicare modernization, in particular, the Medicare prescription drug program. When it passed the MMA in 2003, Congress included $500 million for SSA's initial implementation of the Act, to be used in FY 2004 and FY 2005. SSA used $54 million of that funding in FY 2004 and expects to use the remaining $446 million in FY 2005. However, our responsibilities extend into FY 2006 and beyond. The FY 2006 President's budget for SSA's LAE account includes resources to continue this activity, consistent with the enacted legislation.
SSA will meet its responsibility to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars by conducting CDRs and SSI redeterminations to improve program integrity and reduce improper payments. Further, SSA will provide actuarial analysis, strengthened research and policy development capability, and appropriate public education to support achieving sustainable solvency.
SSA plans to obtain efficiencies through automation, electronic service delivery and/or process change, amounting to a 2 percent productivity gain at the Agency level. SSA will maintain its green status on four out of five PMA initiatives, work to get to green on the remaining one, and use Program Assessment Rating Tool recommendations to achieve improved results. Additionally, we are working on the Administration's recent initiative to address improper payments.
SSA is an agency committed to technology and innovation, but it is also an agency which believes that its devoted employees are the heart of its success. SSA has made excellent progress towards meeting its goals, but still has a long way to go. This budget provides the Agency with sufficient resources to support its workforce: the men and women who are faithfully serving the American public.
Mr. Chairman, for your Subcommittee, this request represents an increase in discretionary budget authority of $670 million for SSA's LAE appropriation. I realize that this looks like a large increase to you. However, please consider that when Congress passed the MMA in 2003, $500 million was included for SSA for its MMA implementation responsibilities in FY 2004 and FY 2005. In FY 2006, however, the President is requesting resources for SSA to perform ongoing work associated with MMA as part of the LAE appropriation. If you look at the increase in budget authority for traditional SSA workloads only, the President has requested a 4 percent increase. As I've said before, this increase is vital to our ability to provide adequate service to claimants, beneficiaries, and taxpayers.
SSA's Recent Accomplishments
In FY 2004, SSA made benefit payments monthly to over 51 million people for an annual total of over $521 billion. In addition to carrying out this responsibility, SSA has made progress in meeting a wide range of challenges despite tough choices required to operate within appropriated resources.
SSA is continuing its implementation of eDib, which will significantly reduce processing times and contribute to improved decisional accuracy for initial disability claims and hearings. SSA made the commitment to implement eDib, and we are meeting that commitment - on time and on budget.
SSA is improving service delivery by offering safe and convenient online transactions such as filing claims, submitting changes of address or direct deposit information, requesting replacement Medicare cards, and verifying benefits. In addition, Social Security is providing better service for the business community by automating employer wage reporting. This increases our efficiency. In FY 2004, 60 percent of all employee wage reports (W-2s) were filed electronically, compared to 27 percent in FY 2001, just three years earlier. Another notable achievement - in just one year, we saw a 47 percent increase in the number of applications for Social Security benefits submitted online - from 148,000 in FY 2003 to 217,000 in FY 2004.
SSA increased productivity by 2.1 percent in FY 2004. Further, in FY 2001, the Appeals Council processing time was 447 days. By the end of FY 2004, it was 251 days - a reduction of almost 200 days. Additionally, in FY 2001, it took 106 days on average to process an initial disability claim, and in FY 2004, it took 95 days - an improvement of 11 days.
SSA continues to be a leader in effective management, as shown by our green status scores in four of the five President's Management Agenda (PMA) items: Improved Financial Management, Strategic Management of Human Capital, Budget and Performance Integration and Expanded Electronic Government.
I would now like to address five key areas in SSA's FY 2006 budget.
Achieving our Service Delivery Goals in the Face of Growing Workloads
SSA strives to deliver high-quality, citizen-centered service to every claimant, beneficiary, and American taxpayer. SSA's daily work affects the lives of millions of people, and the employees of SSA are very much aware of the impact their work has on those individuals and families. Commendably, the Agency's employees are producing results amidst significant growth in core workloads due to America's changing demographics.
The President's budget supports our service delivery goals by providing resources to maintain staffing, continue to improve service in the disability programs, expand SSA's online service options, perform new duties associated with the Medicare prescription drug program and the Social Security Protection Act, and handle the millions of transactions necessary to keep up with the Agency's day-to-day workloads.
One of SSA's highest priorities is to improve service to the public in the disability programs, from the initial claim through the final administrative appeal. In FY 2006, we will meet our commitment to process as many initial disability claims as we receive, keeping the number of pending cases level. SSA will address hearings backlogs by continuing to provide resources for Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hiring, and also continuing to improve productivity, resulting in more cases processed. Additionally, we will accomplish all of this while maintaining the accuracy of our decisions.
In order to make immediate service and efficiency improvements in the hearings workload, SSA is expanding video teleconference (VTC) hearings and marketing this new technology to claimants and their representatives. With VTC hearings, the claimant does not have to travel a long distance and the hearing can be held sooner, resulting in a more timely decision. ALJs are more productive when less time is required for travel to remote sites. VTC hearings also facilitate workload transfers and significantly broaden the pool of experts available for expert testimony at hearings. In FY 2004, with capacity in approximately 160 hearings rooms, we held about 8,000 hearings using VTC. In the first 4 months of FY 2005 alone, we've already held close to 5,400 VTC hearings. By the end of FY 2006, SSA plans to have equipped every hearing room with VTC, for a total of over 360 systems in place.
Investing in Technology and Implementing an Electronic Disability Claims Process
SSA places a high priority on information technology investments. Our FY 2006 budget authority for information technology is increasing from $370 million to $494 million, an increase of $124 million. SSA plans to invest in infrastructure and office automation necessary for the support of ongoing operations, including maintenance of SSA's National Computer Center, telephone services, and hardware and software nationwide.
The most notable strategic investment is eDib, a major Agency initiative that will move all components involved in disability claims adjudication and review to an electronic business process through the use of an electronic disability folder. EDib is expected to reduce processing times significantly over the long term. Implementation began in January 2004, and the project is truly revolutionizing the way we do work. EDib is essential for making changes for the long-term. To date, SSA has begun implementation of the electronic disability folder in 30 States, Puerto Rico, and the Federal Disability Determination Service, and expects to complete implementation in all States in FY 2006.
Claimants can now visit SSA online at www.socialsecurity.gov to submit disability information, which is used in the adjudication of their cases. Further, the Agency has begun using an electronic version of the authorization to release medical records, and is moving towards an electronic system to receive medical evidence. Once we have rolled out eDib to all States, SSA will have the largest repository of medical records in the world, and we will see real progress in eliminating avoidable delays in the disability claims process.
Signature proxy is another major Agency initiative underway that will improve benefit application services to claimants who file online, by phone, or in person. This process removes the requirement for a "wet" signature on benefit applications and continues the Agency's progress to a totally electronic environment. For online applicants, clicking a "sign now" button at the end of the application constitutes a valid signature. For people applying for benefits by phone or in person, claims representatives ask them to verify that they are filing for benefits and understand the penalty for giving false information. The applicant's response is added to the electronic claims record. In all cases, certain proofs, such as birth and marriage certificates, evidence of earnings, and medical evidence for disability claims, are still required to determine if a claimant is eligible for benefits. Signature proxy continues Social Security's progress toward a totally electronic claims process.
In addition to applications for benefits, other online services allow current beneficiaries to check their benefits, enter changes to their address or direct deposit information, and obtain replacement 1099s and proof of income letters. In FY 2004, usage of our Internet transactional services increased by over 80 percent from FY 2003. In FY 2006, we will further expand the usage of these services by focusing on improving their usability, encouraging the public to use SSA's Internet website, and partnering with other Federal, State and local entities to promote consolidated service delivery. SSA has invested substantially in electronic service delivery and will continue to do so as a critical means of providing service to millions of baby boomers.
Ensuring the Integrity of SSA's Programs
SSA's mission demands that we balance our commitment to service with our obligation to be good stewards of the programs we administer. We fulfill this obligation through cost-effective program integrity work such as CDRs, periodic non-disability redeterminations, overpayment collections, and strengthened management of our programs. Overall, these activities will reduce the Federal deficit in 2006 and beyond.
This budget supports SSA's efforts to improve payment accuracy through a broad range of activities designed to prevent and detect improper payments. These efforts include significant budget investments in CDRs and SSI non-disability redeterminations, as well as increased emphasis on the use of computer matches to identify and prevent overpayments. In FY 2006, SSA will process 2.1 million redeterminations.
The President's budget proposes $601 million in dedicated administrative funding for cost-effective CDRs in FY 2006. Further, the President's budget proposes that discretionary spending caps be reinstated in any budget reform legislation that Congress considers. If caps are reinstated, the President proposes to adjust the caps for program integrity work, including $189 million of SSA's CDR funding. I know the Committee is familiar with the cap adjustment for CDRs under the previous discretionary spending caps. In FY 2005, SSA will process 1.4 million CDRs, and in FY 2006, SSA will process 1.6 million. These reviews result in $10 in program savings for every $1 in administrative cost.
SSA has significant new responsibilities as a result of the Social Security Protection Act (SSPA), designed to combat fraud and improve program management. Many of the new responsibilities relate to the representative payees that SSA appoints for individuals who are incapable of managing or directing the management of their benefits. The SSPA strengthens SSA's oversight and control of these individuals and organizations. Its provisions place stricter requirements on representative payees and hold dishonest payees who misuse benefits liable for their actions.
In addition, the SSPA requires SSA to issue a receipt to disabled beneficiaries each time they report their work and earnings. It extends to Title II the current Title XVI prohibition on paying benefits to persons fleeing prosecution, custody, or confinement after conviction and to persons violating probation or parole. It closes the Government Pension Offset loophole and requires SSA to send a modified Social Security Statement to non-covered employees that describes the potential benefit reductions that may result from the receipt of a Federal, State, or local Government pension based on non-covered employment. The Act also authorizes cross-program recovery of overpayments paid under one program from the benefits paid under another program.
This budget also supports SSA's long-term effort to combat SSN misuse and identity theft. The Agency has taken many steps to strengthen its capability to prevent those with criminal intent from obtaining Social Security cards for fraudulent purposes. SSA verifies immigration documents for all non-citizens with the Department of Homeland Security and verifies refugees' documents with the Department of State. SSA is also implementing provisions of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458) which place limitations on the number of replacement Social Security cards an individual may request. Additionally, based on the positive evaluation of the Brooklyn Social Security Card Center, SSA plans to establish a card center in Las Vegas in FY 2005, and is evaluating further expansion in other metropolitan areas, dependant on overall service delivery needs and available resources.
Administering the Medicare Prescription Drug Program
SSA's service delivery efforts will also focus extensively on its ongoing responsibilities under the MMA, related to the prescription drug program premiums and subsidies. SSA will identify low-income beneficiaries who might be eligible for drug benefit subsidies, make low-income subsidy determinations, withhold premiums appropriate to beneficiaries' selected plans, and calculate Part B premiums for high-income beneficiaries.
In 2003, Congress provided funding for SSA's initial MMA implementation in FY 2004 and FY 2005. However, our responsibilities extend into FY 2006 and beyond. The majority of SSA's costs for these significant new Medicare workloads will be associated with the employees needed to handle them. SSA has already begun to hire additional front-line staff needed to process the new workloads in FY 2005, and this budget provides the resources needed to support this new staff in FY 2006.
Increasing SSA's Overall Productivity
In FY 2004, once again we exceeded our Agency-wide productivity goal. We achieved a 2.1 percent increase in productivity, due largely to the dedication of our employees. Considering that we had a 5.1 percent increase in productivity in FY 2002 and a 2.1 percent increase in FY 2003, our continued success in achieving productivity improvements is even more noteworthy. Our goal for FY 2006 is to again obtain efficiencies through automation, electronic service delivery and/or process change, amounting to a 2 percent productivity gain at the Agency level.
SSA has a number of technology-related initiatives underway to improve productivity, including: eDib, enhanced Internet applications, signature proxy, improvements to the earnings process, 800-number enhancements, and further automation of our SSI systems. Further, we have several management and policy initiatives underway to improve productivity, including instituting centralized screening units in the Office of Hearings and Appeals and implementing our new cross-program recovery authority.
Other FY 2006 Appropriation Requests
I would like to turn now to a brief summary of the other appropriation requests for FY 2006.
Office of the Inspector General
$93 million for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) - Since becoming an independent agency in March 1995, we have had our own Inspector General whose mission is to protect the integrity of SSA's programs. A strong OIG, working together with SSA employees in local offices, is the most effective means we have to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in the programs we administer. A strong OIG also is essential given the need to continue working with law enforcement in conjunction with homeland security efforts.
The request for FY 2006 represents a $3 million increase in resources from the FY 2005 appropriation. This increase covers mandatory payroll related costs such as Federal pay raises and benefit rate increases. The increase allows OIG to maintain its current staffing level to adequately continue its stewardship activities and Homeland Security responsibilities, including participation in anti-terrorism task forces. With the resources included in this request, OIG will continue major initiatives focusing on key areas such as SSN misuse, disability fraud (through the Cooperative Disability Investigations program), and expanded ability to impose civil monetary penalties against violators as result of enactment of the SSPA.
Supplemental Security Income
$41 billion for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program - The SSI program ensures a minimum monthly level of income to eligible aged, blind, and disabled individuals. An individual's income, resources, and living arrangements are evaluated to determine the monthly SSI payment. This request includes $38 billion for Federal benefit payments to approximately 7 million aged, blind, and disabled beneficiaries and $3 billion to reimburse the Social Security trust funds for SSI administrative expenses, $52 million to provide for vocational rehabilitation services, and $27 million to fund extramural research and demonstration projects.
This represents a decrease of $594 million or 1.4 percent from FY 2005. Estimates of current benefits are driven by the number of recipients eligible for monthly payments and the amount of the monthly payments. Even though the number of recipients will increase by 199,000, the benefit payments will decrease because fewer monthly payments will be made in FY 2006 compared to FY 2005. SSI monthly payments are normally paid on the first of the month. However, when the first of the month is on a weekend or holiday, the payment is made on the preceding business day. Monthly payments will total 13 in FY 2005 and 12 in FY 2006.
Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds
$20.5 million for Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds - This request will serve to reimburse the Social Security trust funds for the costs of certain benefits and administrative expenses. This represents an increase of $16,000.
The President's FY 2006 administrative budget for SSA, including $9.403 billion for LAE and $93 million for the Inspector General will provide the resources to help us: maintain service in the face of growing workloads; fully implement an electronic disability claims process; continue to increase overall productivity; ensure the ongoing stewardship of our programs; and, help administer the Medicare prescription drug plan.
I am proud of our record of accomplishment in management of the Social Security Administration. We've earned the highest status score - green - on the President's Management Agenda in four of the five initiatives: improved financial management; strategic management of human capital; expanded electronic government; and, budget and performance integration. In a letter to Federal employees at the end of January, OMB Deputy Director for Management Clay Johnson highlighted SSA as one of the most successful Agencies at instilling the management disciplines and habits that are part of the PMA. SSA is one of only four Federal agencies to have four green status scores and no red status scores; no agency has yet scored green on all five initiatives.
We have received unqualified opinions on our financial statements since 1994 and the Association of Government Accountants Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting for the past six years. We received the Microsoft Government Solutions Award in the Government to Citizen category at the first-ever Microsoft Solution Recognition Awards Ceremony. We were recognized for "effective use of Information Technology in helping government perform its mission more effectively or provide superior service to citizens." The award specifically cited the Internet Social Security Benefit Applications. A congressional report card rates Social Security's computer security efforts among the best in the Federal Government. SSA has been among the top-ranking government agencies in each of the four years the report has been issued, twice earning the top grade of all Federal agencies.
SSA's service and accomplishments are recognized by the President, other Federal agencies, numerous associations and companies, as well as the public we serve. In the annual University of Michigan Public Satisfaction Survey, which measures household consumption experience provided by 70 Federal agencies, SSA was in the top ten percent for 2004, receiving a satisfaction score of 81 percent from retirement benefit recipients. The Federal Government's overall satisfaction score last year was 72.1 percent.
Today, I've explained the progress we've made, our plans for the future, and the recognition SSA has received. Clearly, I am very proud of our successes, and I believe they prove that we manage our resources well. However, I would be remiss if I did not give credit to the more than 65,000 SSA employees and 14,500 State DDS employees who truly are the best in Government. Their dedication to serving the public effectively and efficiently, and doing so with compassion, is unmatched. Nevertheless, I know, and our employees know, that we cannot rest on our accomplishments. We must continually strive for improvement. The FY 2006 President's budget for SSA will allow us to maintain stable staffing to meet the performance goals outlined in the budget justification provided to you, and to help implement the Medicare prescription drug program.
Thank you for the opportunity to present SSA's budget request to the Committee. In addition to serving as a steward of the public's funds, Social Security, unlike most Federal agencies, provides direct service to the American public. In FY 2004, we made payments to over 51 million people each month, and we served approximately 28 million visitors to our more than 1,300 field offices in communities across America.
Although I recognize that there are many competing priorities, I believe the Social Security Administration deserves your full support. I look forward to working with you and appreciate your continued support of our programs and people.


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20753 Surnames | 136295 Records | 2775 Reunions
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Photo #85082
Last Name: MCCONNELL
First Name : WILLIAM
Middle Name:
Subject's City:
Subject's State: PA
Subject's County:
Subject's Country:
Date: 1851-1900
Photographer's City: Sharon
Photographer's State: Pa
Type** : CC
Comments: WILLIAM MCCONNELL (Nee: ) | PA | 1851-1900 | Comments: Circa 1887 cabinet photo identified as Will + King McConnell.
Photo was taken in Sharon, PA, Mercer County.
YES, these are boys in the photo!! Despite their clothing. Very common practice during the era.
I was able to confirm their existence as the sons of John M. and Mary Ellen McConnell. The family lived in Clarksville, Mercer County PA, as of the 1900 census. By 1910, the boys had moved on, while the parents were living in Fairview PA.
King was born in Dec of 1883 and died in 1913. Named after his mother, whose maiden name was King.
William was born in Aug of 1885. These years were confirmed on the back under their names.
Based on these dates, I am dating this photo as 1887.
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I am redesign the uprights to accept bolt on hub bearing assembly to resolve the problem with the bearings going out regularly and the hubs not being available any longer for the Noble and Rossions.
This new design will fit both the Noble and the Rossions.
The dilemma is do I design it to use the current rotors the are Noble Rossion use. Which is only used for the Noble And the Rossion or do I use the C7 Corvette that we can get of the shelf at an parts store. I will design it to continue to use the Noble Rossion Ap calipers.
It will also be upgradable to 6 piston Ap calipers in the front and or rear


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The question I've been asked most is - Will the course change? The answer is yes, a little bit.
The 2010 course had a lot going for it - the mix of coastal, forest and even subalpine scenery was fantastic. And, overall, the roads were quiet. But a few changes can make it even better.
We'll probably tweak the first 20km to reduce the number of punctures.
On the way out of Nelson we'll join the new NZ Cycle Trail to Richmond, if it's finished (and might not end up going round the Wairoa Valley).
We'll see if the farmer is happy for us to go through McDonald Downs Station closer to the time. If not, we may go through Ashley Forest.
If we can get permission to go via North Bank in the Wairau valley, we might go via the Rainbow Valley rather than Molesworth. We'd change that if we got word that the Molesworth Rd would be maintained in January (which seems unlikely). If we do go via Molesworth, we'll pop into the riverside single track a bit later (near the Wither Hills MTB park entrance).
You'll note there are no plans to avoid the Waiuta Track. I seriously considered that, despite many riders saying it was a highlight (in hindsight) but DoC are fixing it up and it sounds like it'll be in much better condition next year. Here's their progress report:
"What we have done is
- Cleared the old windfalls, the full width of the track and open up potential riding lines.
- Explosives leading into stream crossings
- The entrance track at Waiuta has been completely re-benched and gravelled.
- Across the whole section we have done a heck of a lot of hand grubber of slips, erosion etc.
- We have a digger and two power carriers still in at the St George mine where we have re-benched sections and gravelled a long flat sections of timber corduroy (that will be out this week).
- We also took a digger along Big River road to improve drainage, so we had the opportunity to fix the road and some sections of track just after the hut.
- Our last goal is to extend the board walk of the pakahi across the red tussocks.
There is still some carry section but we have isolated them to the worst of the corduroy (where it was clearly too expensive to upgrade)."There will probably be some tweaking to the rules - maybe an extension of the compulsory down time (to 6 hrs per day) and the recognition of 2-person teams. Other suggestions welcome.
I've heard a rumour that there will also be a brevet in Central Otago, but have no details. If anybody knows anything about that, please let us know. Hopefully the timing is right so that we can do both events (if it's more than a rumour).
Pedal on!


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Naomi1980 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 134 designs submitted by 33 freelance designers.
Ruby Public Relations
A new boutique public relations company is about to be launched! Ruby Public Relations is a sophisticated and upmarket brand that needs to stand out from the crowd.
Ruby Public Relations will focus on providing public relations, event management, media relations, social media and online marketing services to small business owners.
The Ruby Public Relations logo needs to be really creative, a strong brand, with a feminine edge. The logo needs to be corporate, something a little bit different. The preferred dominant colour is 'ruby' red. We visualise 'Ruby' to be the dominant word, with 'Public Relations' in smaller appearance. But please feel free to be creative and do what you think is best. We look forward to seeing your work!
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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User account
Primary tabs
Mission: To Live; To Learn; To Lead
Vision: We inspire our school community in developing academic and leadership skills by teaching "The 7 Habits," making connections throughout the curriculum, and involving everyone in leadership roles. We serve each other, our families, and our community. We achieve and inspire greatness.


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Blue Beaufort Sea Ice
High Resolution
Last update: June 27th, 2019 at 5:00 am
Mosaic image of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea created by the Digital Mapping System (DMS) instrument aboard the IceBridge P-3B. The dark area in the middle of the image is open water seen through a lead, or opening, in the ice. Light blue areas are thick sea ice and dark blue areas are thinner ice formed as water in the lead refreezes. Leads are formed when cracks develop in sea ice as it moves in response to wind and ocean currents.
DMS uses a modified digital SLR camera that points down through a window in the underside of the plane, capturing roughly one frame per second. These images are then combined into an image mosaic using specialized computer software. Credit: NASA / DMS.


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We have decidedly entered the beauty queen's no-man's-land. It is winter. Now let out a great big sigh and get over it. There are plenty of ways to have fun with your face despite whipping winds, freezing rain, and generally dismal winter weather. Sure, sparkles are fun (hehe), but what about leaving the confines of the season in the dust and opting for a pop of summer when you need it? Jensy won't scoff.
The summer of 2011 was ALL about neon, from the bikinis to the cocktails to the lipsticks… everywhere from Dior to Old Navy, neon was the only thing that seemed to matter. And sure, by next summer we'll all be hanging on tightly to a new trend wagon, but there is no reason you can't nurse your neon hangover now. Before 2012's bright color wave announces itself, cling dearly to those neons and use them wherever appropriate. Shall we start with the lips?
I wear a crap-ton of hot pink lipstick for a few reasons. The first is, I really just like it. I think it's utterly girly, really fun, and it's one way to beat the blues of a conservative daily lifestyle without offending anyone. I find that a bright pink lip counteracts myriad sins–from undereye bags to pimples, and everything in between. It's a simple way to appear polished, and it literally takes one sweep to perfection. Personally, I choose to go matte for day because my job requires me to look professional. To avoid being too coquettish, steer clear of hot pink glosses for day and stick with a stick. The two I receive the most compliments on are Chanel Rouge Allure in Super, and Maybelline Color Sensational lip color in Fuchsia Fever.
Now, that's what I call living in color.


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Genetics Expert to Talk Nutrition at South Dakota State University
BROOKINGS - The president of the American Society of Human Genetics will be at South Dakota State University next week to talk about the role nutrition plays in genetics.
Jeff Murray is a professor of pediatrics, epidemiology, nursing and biological sciences at the University of Iowa. He will give a speech titled "The Personal Genome and Nutrition" at 4 p.m. Monday in the Volstorff Ballroom at SDSU's Student Union.
Murray says scientists are developing a better understanding of how people respond and absorb nutrients.
The speech is free and open to the public.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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how to stop periodontal disease naturally
This website will offer up a couple (4!) inexpensive ebooks that tell you how to cure or stop periodontal and gum disease... something my dentists told me could not be done! But they are wrong! You can STOP periodontal and gum disease! My 4 inexpensive ebooks show you how. THE BEST $9.75 YOU EVER SPENT!


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Beaufort News
Renovation takes historic St. Peter's Chapel back in time
Standing in the middle of St. Peter's Chapel on Friday, Beekman Webb painted a picture with words, describing what the church once was and what it could be again.
The peeling walls will be covered with fresh drywall and painted, according to Webb, the owner of Beekman Webb Construction of Beaufort. The flooring will be covered with smooth planks. Exposed rafters will be hidden by a new ceiling. The 1960s-era, multicolored stained glass and aluminum windows will be replaced with wood and period-style glass to look as they did when the chapel was built in 1846.
"I don't think anyone alive has seen it like this," said Webb of the eventual finished product, which will be as close to its original appearance as possible.
St. Peter's Catholic Church is restoring the chapel where its congregation started. It was the only Catholic church between the Broad River and Charleston until 1987, said the current pastor, the Rev. Paul MacNeil.
The intent is to open the chapel for special services, small weddings and funerals and, eventually, public tours a few afternoons a week, parishioner Pat Green said. She already is fielding phone calls from those seeking reservations.
"I think everyone is just so excited to see life being put back in the building," she said.
For almost 150 years, the downtown chapel, which seated up to 140 people, was the center of Catholic life in the area. In 1987, St. Peter's moved services to a 450-seat church on Lady's Island. A sanctuary with a capacity of 1,200 was completed in 2006 on what is now a 30-acre campus on Lady's Island Drive.
The chapel's lot at 710 Carteret St. was deeded to the church in the early 1800s by Michael O'Connor for $33, and records indicate he paid to build the chapel. It was badly damaged by a hurricane in 1898 and repaired the following year.
In the 1940s, the building was expanded to twice its original size by enclosing the front porch and adding the front altar. Those changes will remain, Webb said.
Determining how it originally looked has been a challenge.
Webb is basing the renovations on photos from church archives, but those only date to about 1920, he said. The current windows, which were stained by monks in Georgia in colors influenced by the Lowcountry, will be replaced with restoration glass. A parishioner is donating the difference in the extra cost for the windows, he said. The window panes will arrive in about a month.
In 2007, the chapel was closed when St. Peter's began shoring up the building's foundation, which had begun to shift, causing the walls to bow.
Webb said the foundation is now stable.
"Unfortunately, when they built these old buildings, they didn't know about Highway 21 and the (Richard V. Woods Memorial) bridge and these big trucks that would be idling in front of the church," Green said.
The renovations will take several more months, Webb said.
Meanwhile, Green looks forward to sharing the historic chapel with the community. She calls it "a big part of the Lowcountry history."
Related content:
Renovations expected at downtown Beaufort St. Peter's Chapel
St. Peter's Chapel begins renovations, May 18, 2007
In need of repairs, June 2, 2006


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How to Use
the Readings
Inquiry Question
Reading 1: The Soldiers' Home
In March 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill to provide care for volunteer soldiers who were disabled through loss of limb, wounds, disease, or injury during service in the Union forces during the Civil War. Initially called the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the name was later changed to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers because of the negative connotation of the word "asylum." The first three homes opened in Togus, Maine; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Dayton, Ohio. Eventually, there were 11 National Home branches across the country. Requirements for admission were that soldiers had been honorably discharged from military service and that they had contracted their disabilities during the war. Men admitted themselves to the home voluntarily and could request a discharge. The homes were run in a military fashion: men wore uniforms and were assigned to companies; bugles and cannons signaled daily schedules. The homes provided schools, churches, hospitals, and gardens thought to be therapeutic for the veterans.
In 1867, the government purchased land and began construction on the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton. By 1868, the Central Branch was equipped to care for 1000 disabled soldiers. As the campus grew, it eventually covered 627 acres, complete with living quarters, hospital, library, and chapel. It was constructed in part using lumber recycled from the nearby Camp Chase where Confederate POWs had been confined. By 1884, the Dayton Soldiers' Home, as it became known, had become the largest of its kind in operation, accounting for 64% of the veterans receiving U.S. government institutional care. Dayton's veteran population reflected the diversity found in the Union Army, including black veterans, who the Dayton Home was the first federal institution to admit. More than 200,000 African-American soldiers and sailors served in the Union military, and many went on to serve on cemetery details after fighting ceased. The Dayton Home was progressive in other ways, as well. It operated according to the philosophy that exercise, reading, music, healthcare, and occupational training in preparation for reentering society-all taking place in a picturesque environment-would improve the health and wellbeing of the veterans under its care. Modern innovations included steam heat, indoor plumbing, and elevators.
Henry Howe described the Dayton home in his Historical Collections of Ohio:
The SOLDIERS' HOME at Dayton, the Central Branch, is by far the largest and most important branch in point of numbers. The citizens contributed $20,000 towards its establishment. Its land area is 627 acres -- nearly that of a mile square. Its location is three miles west of the court-house in Dayton, on the gentle bounding slopes of the great Miami valley, which is here some five or six miles wide. It is a unique place; a small city mainly of graybearded men, few women, and no children, excepting those of the families of the officers. It is a spot of great beauty, from its location, its fine buildings, its green-houses, flowers beds, and for the display of the triumphs of landscape gardening. These features render it a great place of attraction in summer for visitors, who come by thousands in excursion trains from all parts of Ohio and the adjacent States of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, etc. The other Branches have like attractions in the way of landscape adornments with pleasant walks and drives, and whatever contributes to the comfort of the veterans, and are like places of resort for the public. The visitors at the Dayton Home number annually over 100,000.¹
In 1930, the federal government consolidated veteran benefits under a single agency, the Veterans Administration. National Soldiers' Homes continued run into the 1930s when the Veterans Administration took them over. The homes also housed veterans from the Spanish-American War and World War I. By the beginning of World War II, the soldiers' homes were phased out due to the high cost of hospital care and the fact that veterans were receiving medical treatment and returning to civilian life rather than staying at the homes. Today, the Dayton campus houses the Dayton National Cemetery and the Veteran Affairs Medical Center, which provides important medical care and out-reach services. It is operated by the Veterans Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Questions for Reading 1
1. For whom and what purpose were the national soldiers' homes designed? How many were eventually established? If needed, refer to Map 1.
2. Why might the term "asylum" have negative connotations?
3. Why was the Dayton home considered progressive? Which group of veterans was the Dayton Home the first federal institution to admit? Why was that significant?
4. What kind of environment and what services did the Dayton Soldiers' Home provide? Were soldiers expected to spend the rest of their lives there?
5. Why do you think the home attracted so many visitors? Would you enjoy visiting a place like this? Why or why not?
6. Why were soldiers' homes phased out? How do you think the role of the Veteran Affairs Medical Center differs from that of the soldiers' homes?
Reading 1 was adapted from Jeffrey M. Hull and Matthew J. Jeffery, "Central Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers," (Montgomery County, Ohio) National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2003; and other sources.
¹ Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio in two volumes (Cincinnati, Ohio: C.J. Krehbiel & Co., 1888), 286.


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Description: Multiserver CommunicationHewlett-Packard Part# 340912-B21
Overview: When customizing your network you should be aware that substituting an incorrect communication cable can result in equipment damage. Compaq offers this 12 foot Server Communication Cable for your Scalable UPS card. You know that you can rely on Compaq for high quality components to power todays technology. Take full advantage of the potential of your scalable UPS card with this quality 12 foot Server Communication Cable by Compaq.


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Why See Postmodern Jukebox?
taking on the '20s!
A pet project of jazz pianist Scott Bradlee, Postmodern Jukebox have gained a loyal following through their Youtube channel. The collective cover modern pop tracks (and some old classics as well) in a big band style. Everyone from Miley Cyrus to TLC has got the Postmodern Jukebox treatment. The band's latest record was this year's Swing the Vote, which included unique takes on Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River' and Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl' amongst many others.
Postmodern Jukebox's forte is taking a track too easily dismissed by some more 'highbrow' music lovers as disposable music for tweens and giving it a classy, big band twist. Scott Bradlee himself is a self-confessed former pop skeptic, but once users starting requesting covers from him of the latest chart hits, he began to see their innate artistic merit. He hopes that by isolating these songs from any genre or cultural baggage, Postmodern Jukebox will do the same for others.
Additional Information
Performance date: 3 May 2019
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HOLLYWOOD -- In a move that could boost the city's psyche and pump millions into its economy, cable giant HBO is developing a new TV drama to be set in the New Orleans music community.
"Treme," named after the iconic New Orleans neighborhood where many musicians live, will marry one of television's most prestigious networks with creator David Simon, one of television's hottest series masterminds.
Simon created HBO's the "The Wire," which just completed a five-year run. While not a huge ratings success for the network, "The Wire" was one of the most critically acclaimed shows in television history.
Simon confirmed that HBO will film the first episode of "Treme," possibly sometime later this year. If HBO gives the green light for more episodes, production would resume in 2009.
Simon, a frequent visitor to the city and a longtime New Orleans music fan, said this week that the stories told in "Treme" would reach beyond the music scene to explore political corruption, the public housing controversy, the crippled criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.
"It's basically a post-Katrina history of the city. It will be rooted in events that everybody knows," Simon said. "What it's not going to be is a happy stroll through David Simon's record collection. It should not be a tourism slide show. If we do it right, it (will be) about why New Orleans matters."
Simon is also co-writer and co-executive producer of "Generation Kill," an HBO miniseries adapted from an account by a magazine reporter embedded with Marines during the invasion of Iraq, due to debut Sunday at 8 p.m. The seven-part miniseries is generating positive critical buzz.
Approval of the pilot episode of "Treme" does not guarantee that it will launch as a series. But HBO doesn't create pilots of as many scripts as broadcast networks traditionally do. That, combined with Simon's pedigree, makes the chances of "Treme" going to full series status comparatively high. The show, like the pilot, would be filmed in New Orleans.
Simon also filmed "The Wire" on location in his hometown of Baltimore. "The Wire" was an unflinching fictional portrayal of crime, urban decay and civic dysfunction, informed in part by Simon's former life as a newspaper crime reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
The "Treme" pilot is expected to be announced publicly today in Hollywood during the Television Critics Association summer TV tour, where Simon today also will promote Sunday's "Generation Kill" premiere.
Hosting a TV series is considered a bonanza for the local film-and-TV production community. Though a critical and ratings dud, "K-Ville," the Fox cop drama that shot 11 episodes in the city in 2007, pumped an estimated $1 million per episode in cast and crew salaries and production expenditures into the local economy.
Local production recently wrapped on the first season of the upcoming Disney Channel series "Imagination Movers," said Jennifer Day, director of the city's office of film and video, so news of a possible new series to be filmed locally would further boost the area's film-and-TV production scene.
Day has read the "Treme" pilot script and said it's less "sensationalized" than "K-Ville."
"It's a lot more realistic," she said, adding that New Orleanians "will see themselves more in the characters than they did in 'K-Ville.'
"I loved it. It's a very emotional, character-driven storyline."
"Treme" is not the first time HBO has backed a post-storm project in New Orleans. The network backed filmmaker Spike Lee in the development of Lee's award-winning Katrina documentary, "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts."
Dave Walker can be reached at email@example.com or 504.826.3429.


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I've been seeing quite a few posts the last few weeks talking about the horror of Facebook's changes to their Edgerank algorithm for Pages. For example, here's a post about Mark Cuban's complaints about the recent changes.
In the article, a company named Pagelever disagrees with Cuban's analysis, saying this (among other things):
Facebook has been putting posts with low or negative engagement toward the bottom of its algorithm, while allowing highly engaged posts that don't attract negative feedback to be seen in more news feeds.
So. Simply stated, to fix this supposedly huge Facebook Page problem … just create good content. Create content that is engagement-worthy, that your followers and fans want to Like, Share, and comment on. Focus on that, and your organization's Facebook posts will start to appear in your Fan's newsfeeds.
Problem solved. Now go get busy.
Pic by iabuk