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Want More Patrons? Make Your Bar More Fun!
If you're looking for a way to make your bar more attractive to patrons, it may be time to give it an upgrade! You'll be amazed at how many people you can attract by installing a few games in your bar, and you can increase your clientele without spending a fortune on advertising or marketing. Many bars have done this, and you can enjoy the same success that they have!
Great Bars to Find Games
The Nancy Whiskey Pub in Manhattan, New York offers an awesome shuffleboard game for their patrons, but the game has an added challenge to it thanks to the walls on the side of the game. Tournaments are hosted every weekend, and New Yorkers come from around the area to participate in the games and drink $5 drafts of Guiness.
Brooklyn is home to Barcade, a bar that features a number of popular arcade games. Drinkers can enjoy playing Contra, Donkey Kong, Arkanoid, and many other classic arcade hits, and it's a popular destination for gamers that want to play while drinking a cold draft of Captain Lawrence.
The Diamond is also found in Brooklyn, and it offers all manner of fun games in addition to chilled beverages. You can play indoor horseshoes, shuffleboard, and many other great games as you drink yourself silly on the weekends!
London, England is home to the Jetlag Bar, which features Wii gaming consoles every Monday night for the patrons. The bar offers patrons the chance to play their friends at games like Mario Kart, Winter Sports, and Wii Tennis, and the massive HD screen makes the game a whole lot of fun.
Great Games for Your Bar
Want some ideas of games to use in your bar? Check out the four games below:
Ping Pong — There's nothing like a round of ping pong to help people work up a thirst, and holding regular ping pong championships will attract customers of all sorts to come and drink at your watering hole.
Shuffleboard — A good game of Shuffleboard can be a great attraction for your customers. Investing in quality Shuffleboard Federation Tables will be a good way to use the professional gear to bring more patrons into the bar, and you can set up monthly or weekly challenges to get people playing.
Darts — Darts are a game from the Old Country, and it's a game that will get people coming to your bar. It can be a lot of fun to spend a few hours tossing darts at a dart board, and the mindless game lends itself to drinking, socializing, and running up a high bar tab!
Board Games — Obscure board games that no one has ever heard of can actually be a lot of fun, almost as much fun as seeing your tipsy patrons trying to puzzle out the rules of the games. Find some games that are brand new and unique, and it's guaranteed to attract patrons!
Related Posts
Posted in: Lifestyle
Tags: bars, darts, games in bars, Nancy Whiskey Pub, ping pong, shuffleboard


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Discover the Lone Star State during your stay at Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport. Our Houston Hobby Airport hotel's 287 deluxe guest rooms offer 32-inch plasma TVs, HD programming, digital media interface capabilities and comfortable bedding for the ultimate in relaxation. Experience our hotel near Hobby Airport with a health center featuring an indoor swimming pool, whirlpool and outdoor patio to help you unwind after a day of meetings or sightseeing. For added convenience, our Hobby Airport hotel's amenities include a Concierge Level with private lounge, 24-hour business center, ATM, sundry shop, valet, laundry services, complimentary parking and a 24-hour complimentary shuttle to Hobby Airport. Event hosts can wine and dine guests in 21,500 square feet of flexible meeting space that holds up to 1,000 people. Stay close to area attractions, including Toyota Center, Minute Maid Park, Reliant Park, NASA, University of Houston, Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston to experience the best of Houston.
9100 Gulf Freeway
(Off 45 (Gulf Freeway) South)
Houston Texas 77017 USA

subset: commoncrawl


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It was the diamond ring that launched a thousand tabloid covers. But despite its compliance with the Kimberley Process, a scheme initiated by the United Nations to prevent "blood diamonds" from entering the rough-diamond market, Angelina Jolie's conflict-free sparkler may not be so conflict-free after all, according to the program's many detractors. Among the critics is Global Witness, an advocacy group that helped establish the Kimberley Process in 2003 but withdrew its membership in December after citing flaws in an "increasingly outdated" scheme.
Once regarded as an exemplar of certification programs, the Kimberley Process has lost its luster over the years. Global Witness had expressed concerns about the scheme's perceived loopholes before, noted the New York Times, but the group was forced to act after a decision in November allowed Zimbabwe to export diamonds from the Marange fields, where reports of rampant human-rights abuses by government security forces abound.
Global Witness withdrew its membership after Zimbabwe was allowed to export diamonds from the Marange fields.
Global Witness withdrew its membership after Zimbabwe was allowed to export diamonds from the Marange fields.
Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation, whose members are accused of committing acts of violence against those who would oppose President Robert Mugabe, are said to directly benefit from "off-budget" diamond revenues. Allegations of illegal arms-dealing, fueled by profits from the diamonds, are equally widespread.
"Nearly nine years after the Kimberley Process was launched, the sad truth is that most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes," Charmian Gooch, a founding director of Global Witness, said at the time. "It has become an accomplice to diamond laundering—whereby dirty diamonds are mixed in with clean gems."
A scene from the 2006 film Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio
One of the main sticking points is that the Kimberley Process classifies stones as "conflict diamonds" only when the violence surrounding them stems from rebel groups, not governments, which human-rights groups argue is the case in Zimbabwe. Neither does the scheme cover human-rights violations, such as worker exploitation and child labor, nor post-mining operations like cutting and polishing.
Kimberley Process stones are classified as "conflict diamonds" only when the violence stems from rebels, not governments.
Kimberley Process stones are classified as "conflict diamonds" only when the violence stems from rebels, not governments.
Partnership Africa Canada, another key player in the scheme's creation, criticized the Kimberley Process for being "unable and unwilling to hold to account participating countries that repeatedly break the rules."
In a 2010 report on diamond-related violence in Zimbabwe, PAC described the story of the contested diamond fields as one of "political intrigue, ambition, and a complete disregard for decency or the rule of law." "But it is not just another black eye for a once great nation alone," the group added. "It is also a story of how the Kimberley Process—the international initiative created to ensure that the trade in diamonds does not fund violence and civil war—has lost its way."
Despite its provenance (or lack of it), it's entirely possible that Pitt and Jolie took pains to avoid diamonds from the region. After all, the power couple issued a call in 2009 to ban any sale or purchase of Marange diamonds until all violence against residents had ceased, according to Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, in a story by the Associated Press.
Evidence continues to mount, however, that the Kimberley Process is an inadequate determiner of that.


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With low corn prices and soybeans nothing to brag about, develop a 2014 marketing plan that prepares you for any good marketing opportunities that develop.
Dennis Shurtz, Arkansas City, Kan., is one grower biting the bullet and getting some 2014 and even '15 production marketed at prices much lower than a year ago. "I booked some 2014 and 2015 soybeans at $11.60 in late November (based on November '14 and '15 futures prices)," he says. "There are going to be a lot of beans planted. So you just have to reach back and sell beans at these lower levels."
Soybeans will make up about 40% of his 2014 production, with another 40% of his acres in wheat and 20% in corn. "I start making marketing decisions when I set my planting percentages," Shurtz says. "Most strategies revolve around options and futures, often at the same time. I am using $14 November call options to protect the $11.60 futures in the event of a market rally.
"If December corn trades up to $4.70, I'll market some near there. A lot of guys are having a tough time selling at these levels because they're used to selling $7 corn."
University grain marketing economists agree that "the highest prices for the year may be on the board right now – and they're near breakeven at best," says Corrine Alexander, Purdue University Extension grain marketing specialist.
"Farmers need to have a plan to take advantage of little rallies when they occur to bring up the bottom line," adds Chad Hart, Iowa State University Extension grain marketing economist.
Use your breakeven
Your breakeven price is still the foundation of any marketing plan. University budget models for 2014 show slim margins, at best. A corn price of $4 per bushel to $4.50 is a Corn Belt norm. Beans at $11-$11.50 per bushel are being projected.
Plug in your expected yields and gross revenue, and then subtract your fertilizer, seed, insurance, storage, fuel and other costs per acre. If there's projected profit, it's likely slim. "In past years, you knew you would profit," Hart says. "Now, with lower prices, you need to know exactly what your cost of production is."
Alexander says that if there are even normal corn and bean crops in 2014, "it may be difficult to obtain a breakeven price for either. "So it's not too early to start marketing your 2014 crops," she says. "Set down with your elevator or marketing consultant to get started."
Schedule periodic sales
"Look at marketing a little over a long time period, perhaps 5-10% per month, to get a price average," Hart says. "Be more aggressive in pricing opportunities (caused by weather, export sales or world tension)."
Those sales could be through cash forward contracts, futures or options sales. Alexander says that if growers are comfortable with using options, then a strategy can be established to lock in a floor price and leave the upside open.
For example, with a December futures price of $4.50, a portion of the expected corn crop could be protected by an at-the-money put at a cost of about 40¢ per bushel. That would provide about a $4.10 floor, less about 2¢ in brokerage fees.
"If we see a big crop to where we increase our inventory from 2 billion to 3 billion more bushels, we could see prices substantially lower," Alexander says. "So you have to look at what happens if the price the market offers today is the best you will see."
She says as put-call spread strategy early on could provide a strong price window. For example, late last year (2013) a grower could buy a $4.50 December 2014 put option for about 37¢. At the same time, he could sell a $5 December call for about 14¢. That provides a price window of $4.50 to $5 for a cost of 23¢ per bushel.
"This can cheapen-up your price protection and provide an opportunity," Hart says.
"They need to look at different risks and potential returns, especially on more complex strategies," Alexander adds, noting that similar pricing programs could be written into a soybean-marketing plan to help get sales made 5-10% at a time.
Hart says that November 2014 soybean futures in the $11.50 range, there may be better early marketing opportunities. "The bean market is still offering a better than breakeven price," he says. "We'll likely see farmers be more aggressive in short term marketing in the early winter.
"It looks like the soybean market is prepared to move down as we look into 2015."
Know your basis
Basis levels for both corn and soybeans can vary by 50¢ per bushel throughout the year. They typically narrow as the supply pipeline shrinks and widen when supplies increase. A $4.50 corn futures price and a 50¢-under basis is weak compared to $4.50 futures and 15¢-under or better.
"Our (Iowa) regional farmers had strong basis levels along with the weak futures prices (in November)," Hart says. "So we encouraged them to consider forward pricing their basis and leaving the futures price open."
Growers should lock in a favorable basis when it appears, Alexander says.
With the lower prices, it's likely that Revenue Protection insurance will see floor prices below the $5.65 for corn and $12.87 for soybeans seen for 2013. Prices are based on the year's November soybean and December corn futures prices on March 15.
"Again, be more aggressive in marketing at a price that offers a good margin," Hart says. "You can't afford to be picky. Prices won't be as hot."


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NEC cabling installation requirements are straightforward, but markings and new offerings may create confusion.
You're not alone if markings and listings are making your plenum cabling selection a confusing task. Fear not, help is out there. The requirements of Art. 800 in the NEC may provide guidance in the selection and proper installation of communications circuits, but what about new plenum cabling product offerings? Can you trust manufacturer claims of performance?
Learning the communications cable marking game.
NEC Table 800.50 (Cable Markings) lists the various types of communications cables, along with their respective cable markings and NEC section reference (Table 1). Of these cables, only the top two are listed as suitable for use in ducts, plenums, and other environmental air-handling spaces.
This table lists cable types in descending order of fire resistance rating. In other words, multipurpose plenum cable (MPP) and communications plenum cable (CMP) have the highest fire resistance rating while communications cable and limited-use (CMX) and undercarpet communications wire and cable (CMUC) have the lowest.
The Fine Print Note in 800.51(A) describes one method manufacturers can use to establish the performance of their low-smoke producing cables, citing NFPA 262-1999, "Standard Method of Test for Flame Travel and Smoke of Wire and Cables for Use in Air-Handling Spaces."
Table 800.50 lists multipurpose cables above communications cables because you can substitute multipurpose cables for communications cables. NEC Table 800.53 lists communications cable types and their respective permitted substitution (Table 2). You'll also find an easy-to-use substitution hierarchy in NEC Figure 800.53 (Fig. 1).
You may wonder why, except under conditions noted in NEC Sec. 800-50, communications wires and cables don't have voltage-rating markings on their jackets. The restriction is in place to prevent any installers from mistakenly using these cables in Class 1, electric light and power applications.
What about optical fiber cabling? The requirements of 770.50 state that you must use optical fiber cables listed as suitable for their respective purpose. Table 770.50 expands this requirement by providing specific markings for each cable type (Table 3 at right).
As with the guide for communications cabling, this table lists optical fiber cable types in descending order of fire resistance rating. That is, nonconductive optical fiber plenum cable (OFNP) and conductive optical fiber plenum cable (OFCP) have the highest fire resistance rating, while nonconductive optical fiber general-purpose cable (OFN) and conductive optical fiber general-purpose cable (OFC) have the lowest.
Again, the NEC cites NFPA 262-1999 as one method manufacturers can use to establish the performance of their low-smoke producing optical fiber cables.
Note that Table 770.50 lists nonconductive optical fiber cables above conductive cables; you can substitute the former cables for the latter. NEC Table 770.53 lists optical fiber cable types and their respective permitted substitution (Table 4 above). You'll also find an easy-to-use substitution hierarchy in Figure 770.53 (Fig. 2 below).
What cable can you use, and where can you use it? These are common questions for many datacom system designers and installers. The NEC notes the various types of communications and optical fiber cables and provides guidance in cable selections for specific applications. You need to read it very carefully, however, and try to match the cable callouts with the stated approvals.
To help you get through this quagmire, Tables 5 and 6 above provide an installation approval matrix for communications cables and optical fiber cables.
Air-handling spaces and plenums
The difference between these two systems' components can be difficult to spot. The requirements of Art. 100 state a plenum is "a compartment or chamber to which one or more air ducts are connected and that forms part of the air distribution system." Sec. 300.22 expands this definition by clarifying that a plenum is an air-handling space that is used only for environmental air. This section also points out the three types of air-handling spaces:
Ducts used for dust, loose stock, or vapor removal.
Ducts or plenums used for environmental air.
Other space used for environmental air.
As an example of the last type of air-handling space, Sec. 300.22 cites the space above a hung ceiling that is used as a return air plenum.
Although the NEC defines the first example as an air-handling space, it's not suitable for supporting any type of wiring system.
You do have alternatives for use in the second classification of air-handling space: MPP and CMP communications cables, MI cable, MC cable with smooth or corrugated impervious metal sheath but without an overall nonmetallic covering, EMT, flex, intermediate metal conduit, or rigid metallic conduit are all acceptable in plenums used for environmental air.
The NEC also permits AC cable and other factory assembled multiconductor control or power cable specifically listed for the use. In the third example of air-handling space, you can also use listed prefabricated cable assemblies of metallic manufactured wiring systems without nonmetallic sheath.
What about new products?
Limited-combustible plenum cables, which are relatively new to the industry, are listed by UL as CMP-50. These cables generate as much as 1,700% less smoke than conventional CMP combustible plenum cables, according to a paper titled, "Fire Sale — New 'Limited Combustible' Plenum Cables" by Jim Hoover of DuPont Specialty Polymers. The paper also states that these new cables have a fire load (potential heat) that can be 300% to 400% lower than conventional CMP cables.
The reported performance characteristics are noteworthy because the industry has seen the annual growth of new datacom cable installations often exceed 25% per year. With this growth comes a continuing accumulation of combustible cables in plenums and other environmental air-handling spaces. More importantly, the industry has noted a number of devastating fires involving combustibles in concealed spaces in buildings, which have resulted in an increased concern among inspectors about cable installations in plenums. It's also the reason the NEC added numerous references to the 2002 version of the Code on the removal of abandoned communications cables.
NFPA 90A, "Standard for the Installation of Air Conditioning and Ventilating Systems," sets mandatory performance requirements for construction products used to build plenum spaces. They include flame spread, smoke, fire load, environmental aging, and additional fire testing after aging and slitting. According to Hoover's paper, CMP-50 cables must meet all of these performance requirements, unlike CMP cables. Table 7 above notes the difference in performance requirements between both types of plenum cables.
The recent proliferation of cabling installations in data centers has placed a new emphasis on the importance of finding safe enclosed spaces for communications cabling. Air-handling spaces and plenums are the obvious choice, but the NEC is specific about which types are acceptable and the location of specific types of cabling. Pay close attention to Art. 800 before tackling such an installation.


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|Version 46 (modified by 12 years ago) (diff),
Notice: This plugin is unmaintained and available for adoption.
NOTE- the latest stable version is 0.3
This includes a new validation page which allows you to identify errors in your xml before you attempt to create the test run.
The latest and greatest in trunk now has the ability to point the test case managmenet plugin at a branch or tag folder. That way test runs can be generated for alternative test suites (say for an older release, or a release that is under stabilization in a branch). This also more explicitly ties testruns to versions becuase the testcases that are run are the testcases in the branch or tag. This version will probably become version 0.4 in the next couple of weeks.
I've developed a test case management tool that uses subversion as the testcase repository and uses the ticket framework in trac to create test runs.
Some of the common problems that any testcase management tool faces are:
- versioning of the testcases (taken care of by subversion)
- reporting (taken care of by trac custom ticket reports)
- generating specific test runs is done through the test management plugin
So what is a test run?
A test run is specific set of test cases for a particular milestone or version of the software under test for a particular tester. Each tester owns a single instance of a test case in the form of a ticket. This allows you to track the progress of individual testers as they complete their set of testcases. This is really powerful because you can take full advantage of the custom reporting engine in TRAC to look for open tickets of type testcase that belong to a particular tester, and also monitor the progress of a group of testers. There was some confusion about this as it seemed like a single ticket would be "owned" by multiple testers. TRAC's data model makes this impossible (also I think that assigning test tickets in that way would be really clunky). Essentially what happens is the testcase is an xml document stored in subversion. The testcasemanagementplugin creates a ticket with the test case details as the ticket description and assigns that ticket to a specific tester: one ticket per tester per testcase.
The advantage of having a testcase management tool in trac is that it removes the need to have yet another system that manages testcases...with all the usual problems of maintaing user account, system upgrades, licensing issues. The other advantage is that it adds more transparency to the testing process as the tool and any testcases are right there for anyone to see.
Test cases are stored in a very simple XML format. And you can specify collection of test cases (for example a smoke test) by specifying which test cases belong to a test template. This information is also specified in an xml file.
Note this plugin is designed to work with Subversion, although I don't use any specific subversion code. Potentially this plugin could work with other TRAC supported configuration management systems. I just haven't tried it.
Configuration steps required
- create a testcases directory within an existing subversion project. This is where your testcases and your testtemplates.xml file goes. We typically structure our development projects with a main project directory and then a source and build subdirectory. So when you add the testcases directory you might have something like this:
project/source/ <-- checked into subversion
project/build/ <-- this is not checked in but created when you build the application
project/testcases/ <-- checked into subversion
The nice thing about this is you add a lot more transparency to the testing process as testcases are bundled and versioned with the source code
- Add testcases and commit those testcases to your subversion repository using the example format (see attachment for correct XML format of the testcase file).
- Create a testtemplate file called testtemplates.xml, then specify which tests belong to which test tempaltes, for example the smoke-test (see attachment for correct XML format of the test templates file). Not all tests have to belong to a template, it's just a convient way to group tests together. This file goes into the same project/testcases directory.
- add to the trac.config file a new section:
[testManagementExtension] SubversionPathToTestCases=/relativePathToTestCasesInYour/Subversion/Repository
This is important because Trac can be set up against subdirectories so you often don't link trac to your root subversion folder, so only specify the full path from the root node if that's how trac was set up.
- add a new ticket type called testcase
- I also add a custom ticket type in the trac.config file for reporting purposes (although this is not required yet...just really useful)
[ticket-custom] testcase_result=select testcase_result.label= Test Case Result testcase_result.options=pass|fail|incomplete testcase_result.value =
- enable the plugin either through the trac admin plugin or by modifying the trac.config file:
[components] testManagementPlugin.*=enabled
- restrict ticket owners to only known users of the system. You do this by looking for the line retrict_owner in the conf file.
This is actually necessary because of an oversight on my part. I incorrectly assumed that most people would have turned this on.
restrict_owner = true
A bug has been entered about this (thanks for that), and I'll be working on a solution for the next release.
I've added some helpful debugging/error checking that should help if an error occurs. Probably the most likely error is you'll specify the relative path to the testcases incorrectly.
Bugs/Feature Requests
Existing bugs and feature requests for TestCaseManagementPlugin are here.
If you have any issues, create a new ticket.
Download and Install using easy_install
You can use easy install to install the testManagementPlugin by doing this:
(this version includes bug fixes for 1551 )
easy_install.exe http://trac-hacks.org/svn/testcasemanagementplugin/branches/testManagementPlugin0.3
If you don't know what easy_install is or don't have it installed go to : http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/PythonEggs
Windows users should add the python2X/scripts directory to their path.
You can check out TestCaseManagementPlugin from here using Subversion, or browse the source with Trac.
'Running a weekly smoke test.'
'Step 1(Create your test cases)' Take a look at the example test case I attached at the bottom of this page. It's a very simple XML format for specifying what a test case should be.
Inside the xml file you need to specify specifics about each testcase. A test case has an Id (which probably should be the file name without any extensions), a component (matching a real component in your TRAC project..case sensitive), a summary, a description, and a field for describing the expected results of the test.
Here's what a testcase might look like...remember one testcase per file. It helps if you give the file a name which reflects what the testcase is for. For example: map01_zoom.xml
<testcase> <id> map01_zoom </id> <component> map </component> <summary> This test verifies correct functionaliy of zoom on the map. </summary> <description> Steps: 1. Zoom around on the map. 2. etc. Note you can use TRAC formatting in the testcase if you want. </description> <expectedresult> The map should correctly zoom to the area specified by the user..etc. </expectedresult> </testcase>
'Step 2(Define any required grouping of testcases in the testtemplates.xml file):'
An example grouping would be specifying that tests: test1, test2, and test3 all belong to the smoketest.
<templates> - <template name="smoke"> - <testcases> <testcase>test1</testcase> <testcase>test2</testcase> <testcase>test3</testcase> </testcases> </template> </templates>
Make sure the tests and template file are checked in.
'Step 3 (Creating a test run)' Click on the TestManagement tab on the main trac menu.
Click on the Test Run link
Select users to assign testcases to (these have to be known users to the trac system).
Select the appropriate version, and/or milestone/sprint for this testrun.
Select the testcases, and/or the appropriate test template.
Click the generate test run button.
This will re-direct you to the custom ticket reporting page with a pre-built query that should show you all the test cases that you just created grouped by user. It will also pick up previously created testcases if they also exactly match the query criteria.
'Step 4 (Run the testcases)'
Open one of the created tickets and using the testcase_result custom field specify whether the test for this test run passed,failed, or was not run for whatever reason.
Close each ticket in the normal way by setting the ticket to "fixed" (or one of the other appropriate resolved states).
'Step 5 Reporting'
For reporting on testcase progress or results use the TRAC custom query page. Just specify where ticket type = 'testcase' assuming you've added that ticket type into your TRAC data base. TRAC is going to be adding the ability to specify which columns appear in the custom query results so this will only get better.
Recent Changes
Author: edunne
Attachments (3)
exampleTestCase.xml (288 bytes) - added by 12 years ago.
example test case
testtemplates.xml (151 bytes) - added by 12 years ago.
example Test Templates file
- testManagementPluginScreenShot.JPG (49.1 KB) - added by 12 years ago.
Download all attachments as: .zip


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Whiffed on a couple of the games featuring local teams last week, so I have some explaining to do to the likes of Aquinas and Ontario Christian, respectively.
Aquinas at No. 1 San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret's
Note for next year – don't pick against Aquinas at home in the playoffs. The Falcons dusted Sierra Canyon, making me look pretty dumb. And for good reason. However, they are on the road against the defending CIF and small-school state champions. I have to pick against Aquinas again here. Sorry fellas.
St. Margaret's 27, Aquinas 13
Fillmore 34, Bishop 18
Simi Valley Grace Brethren at Oak Hills
The Bulldogs redeemed my trust last week, ekeing past No. 3 seeded Kern Valley 21-19 to continue their historic run as a first-year school. Now they get another first – their inaugural home playoff game. Oak Hills is straight rolling and I'm not a huge believer in Grace Brethren. Plus, gotta keep my sleeper alive.
Oak Hills 38, Grace Brethren 27
No. 2 Pasadena Maranatha at Ontario Christian
All of a sudden, the Knights have become a tough out. They took Aquinas to the wire in the regular season finale two weeks ago and pulled the upset against a hot Twentynine Palms team on the road in the first round last week. However, OC is at home and they have a very explosive Maranatha team to face. I see the Knights' recent run of spunk coming to an end.
Maranatha 35, Ontario Christian 21


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OMG on WUSA9 on February 4, 2010
DC Native Austin Bisnow gets far in American Idol but then goes before the judges see what they have to say. Also, SVELTE TV takes us behind the scenes of Washington Life's "Young and the Guest List" photo shoot. Nationally, romance rumors for Taylor Swift and John Mayer.. and why Conan might not have such an easy hop to FOX.


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By CYRUS LEVESQUE
NEW HAVEN — The Champlain Valley Greenbelt Alliance (CVGA) considers the Charron family farm in New Haven "one of the most striking settings" on the stretch of Route 7 between Middlebury and Shelburne. Thanks to the Vermont Land Trust's recent purchase of development rights on a large acreage along that strip, the land will continue to be farmed for a long time.
With partial funding from the CVGA, the Vermont Land Trust in May bought a conservation easement on 198.5 acres of the Charron farm.
"It is important to have some open land and I hate to see good farmland growing houses," said Lee Charron, who has farmed the New Haven property with his wife, Brenda, since 1977.
By ANDY KIRKALDY
FERRISBURGH — Most of the 40 residents at a July 18 forum devoted to whether Ferrisburgh should accept a new sewer line were skeptical. But the developer who signed a deal with Vergennes for a possible sewer extension insisted that Ferrisburgh could benefit from the line and that the town would help determine how the line would be used.
At what was the second of three planning commission forums at Ferrisburgh Central School on the topic, Infill Group head Bill Niquette, who has a $1 million option to buy 100,000 gallons of daily sewer capacity from Vergennes, said he would not dictate how sewer capacity would be used, although he would like it to serve an intensive development on a key 32-acre parcel near the school and town offices.
By HARRIETTE BRAINARD
MIDDLEBURY — Two local residents who were recently asked to help create a report on how well state-run programs for the disabled and elderly are working, bring a lot of relevant background to the task. They are a founding member and advisor of Speak Up! Addison County, a Middlebury-based organization that helps people with developmental disabilities become more independent and better advocates for their own needs.
Randy Lizotte, 26, president of Speak Up! Addison County, and Lindsey Hescock, the group's founder, last week filed their contribution to a report being created for the Vermont Department of Health to judge outcomes of programs that serve the elderly and the developmentally disabled.
The pair has first-hand experience in helping such a program succeed. In the two and a half years Speak Up! Addison County has been in existence the group has tallied a long list of accomplishments. Most notably, they have presented a series workshops at local, state and national conferences, built connections to similar organizations around the state and created a working organization that helps local people help themselves.
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I just installed HHO kit on Pajero 2.4 litres. Bought it from HydroclubUSA.
I just want to know how much LPM is required to get maximum fuel savings. Also Is there any alterations in the engine or fuel pump to get maximum efficiency?
Currently I am running it on 14 amp but don't know How much LPM is producing.


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Sadly I missed Ark Royal coming into Portsmouth this morning, having been snowed in at my girlfriend's place in Felpham, just outside Bognor Regis (of King George V 'Bugger Bognor!' fame, or less famously Albert Steptoe's "but Harold we always go to Bognor!").
By all accounts it was a bit of a non-affair, not many boats to welcome her in, and I'm sure the crowds were much smaller than they would have been in more clement weather. I'm told that the Harrier flypast didn't happen either.
All this was probably quite convenient for the Government, who would probably far rather that the Royal Navy's decommissioned flagship went quietly and without a fuss. It's a sad day for the Royal Navy, for Portsmouth and for Britain. It's squeaky bum time for the next ten years, hoping that nothing happens that calls for naval-projected air cover – because we won't have any.
In other Carrier-based news, HMS Invincible has been put up for auction on the MOD's disposal website… in true ebay style the auction ends early in January 2011, and viewers of the website can even 'add to cart' the 20,000 ton warship!


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We all are, fighting against the grain as we do.
Serious point, I would like to know about pegs. That is pegs in holes for draw boring and holding joints together etc.
Has anyone used a square peg in a round hole? I know that people have used them as decoration on joined furniture, has anyone got any evidence for them being used anywhere else, timber framers? or even rake makers?
I have seen eight sided pegs what about 4 sided ones, or am I barking up the wrong tree?


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HHS to step up role in exchanges
The last thing the Obama administration wanted to do was come into a bunch of states and start running health insurance exchanges.
But when the new insurance marketplaces open for business late next year, it's clear that the Department of Health and Human Services will have a much bigger job than it wanted.
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States hesitant to put Obamacare into effect were waiting for the Supreme Court or the election to kill it off. Neither happened. So now, states that hoped they'd never have to carry out the law will see the federal government come in and do it for them.
No one would be surprised if it's a bumpy start.
Officially, 17 states and the District of Columbia say they will be ready to run their own exchanges, which are new online marketplaces where individuals and small business could comparison shop for health plans — and get subsidies for health coverage if they're eligible. That number could rise a bit, now that HHS has given the states another month to make up their minds.
But in the remaining 30 or so states, the government will likely have a prominent role. It will be taking on brand-new regulatory roles and charged with overseeing a massive IT operation. Open enrollment in all states starts next October; the exchanges begin covering people on Jan. 1, 2014.
Ultimately, the biggest challenge is developing a national IT infrastructure that can easily communicate with insurers and state Medicaid systems — many of which are old and in the midst of an overhaul. When open enrollment starts, exchanges are supposed to be a central location for people to find out whether they are eligible for subsidies — in the form of tax credits — to purchase coverage, Medicaid or other public assistance programs. Splitting the jobs between the government and the states makes that tougher.
"For any IT system to interact with that, that's a challenge," said Mila Kofman of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute who's a former Maine insurance commissioner.
"For the first time, there's going to be this infrastructure that allows different entities to talk to each other," she added. "It's very complicated and not a quick build process."
On top of that, HHS will have to step in for states that decide to cede some of their traditional oversight of health insurance. In some states, it will be the agency that has to certify that health plans meet the requirements to be sold on exchanges, maintain an appeals process and even set up a call center for consumer questions. The government has been lining up private contractors to take on some of these tasks.
States have been encouraged to share some of these responsibilities through a "partnership model." That means states would manage consumer assistance and health plan oversight while the government handles the more complicated eligibility and enrollment functions. Just three states appear committed to that direction for now, though more may sign up by the mid-February deadline.
Health plans have been nervous about the federal government's larger exchange role. The plans, which have long-established relationships with local regulators, are worried about a patchwork of federal and state requirements.


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Martin Luther's Definition of Faith
Faith is not what some people think it is. Their human dream is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not followed by good works or a better life, they fall into error, even though they speak and hear …Read More
The Works of Faith and Assurance
"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue" (2 Peter 2:5a). Saint Peter admonishes them to give evidence of their faith with good works. Since such a great blessing has been given to you …Read More
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation.