text:
The third person narrator begins with a separated eerie description of the town of San Gabriel. The town "emerges from the fog laden with dew," and the narrator describes a number of elements that serve to obscure it from view: clouds, rising steam and black smoke from the kitchens. The narrator is describing sights and sounds of daybreak in a very peculiar way: "an earth-colored spot shrouds the village, which keeps on snoring a little longer, slumbering in the color of daybreak."
The description then turns to the protagonist of the story, old Esteban, who advances up Jiquilpan road riding on the back of his cow, followed by his milking herd. The toothless man whistles to his cows, and when he hears the San Gabriel bell that rings at daybreak he gets down off the cow, kneels, and makes the sign of the cross with his arms extended. Esteban then climbs back on the cow, removes his shirt "so the breeze will whip away his fear," and continues toward San Gabriel.
He counts the cows as they enter the town, and grabs one of them by the ears. He says to her "Now they're going to take away your baby, you silly one. Carry on if you want to, but it's the last day you'll see your calf." The cow ignores the man and continues on. The narrator then speculates on the uncertain origin of the swallows in San Gabriel that constantly fly back and forth in a zigzag pattern.
Old Esteban explains in first person that he arrived at the corral and that they wouldn't open up the gate even though he was banging on it with a stone. He thought his boss, Don Justo, was asleep. The cows were waiting behind him so in order to keep them from following him he crept around the corral and entered it through a low point in the fence. Then he opened the corral from the inside. Just as he was doing this he saw Don Justo come out of the attic carrying his sleeping niece Margarita in his arms. The man crossed the corral without seeing Esteban, "at least that's what I thought."
The narrator then describes how Esteban then milked the cows, letting them into the corral one by one, and leaving the mother of the calf for last. He speaks to her and tells her that he'll let her in to see the calf one last time. He tells her that she is about to give birth again and yet she is still worried about the older calf. He says to the calf that he ought to enjoy his mother's milk while he can because it is actually meant for the unborn calf. Then the narrator says that Esteban kicked the calf when he saw it sucking on its mother's teats.
The narration then shifts back to Esteban's first person testimony, as he explains that he would have broken the calf's nose if Don Justo hadn't kicked him and started to beat him. He explains that the beating was severe and that he still has a great deal of pain. Esteban then says: "What happened next? I didn't know. I didn't work for him any more. Nor anybody else either, because he died that same day." He tells us that some people came to his house — where he was recovering from the beating under the care of his wife — to tell him that Don Justo was dead. They accused him of killing his boss, but Esteban says he does not remember doing this. He notes that since he is now in jail, perhaps that means something about his guilt. All he remembers is the moment after he hit the calf when Don Justo came towards him. After that he just recalls waking up and being cared for by his wife. Esteban explains that they have accused him of killing the man with a rock. He says that this information is relatively plausible because if they'd said he used a knife he would know if was false because he hasn't carried a knife in years.
The narrative then shifts back to that of the third person narrator. He describes how Justo Brambila left his niece Margarita on her bed in the room beside that of her crippled mother. Dawn is the only time when the mother sleeps, but she wakes up when the sun rises. The mother calls out, asking her daughter where she was last night, but "before the yelling started that would end by waking her up, Justo Brambila silently left the room."
At six in the morning Don Justo went out to the corral to open the gate for Esteban. The narrator tells us he also thought of going back up to the attic to smooth out the bed where he and Margarita had slept. Don Justo thinks to himself: "If the priest would authorize this I'd marry her," but "He'll say it's incest and will excommunicate us both. Better to leave things in secret." Don Justo then saw Esteban kicking the calf in the head and sticking his hands in the animal's nose. The calf's back seemed to already be broken, since its legs were flopping around and it could not get up. He ran down to Esteban and began to beat him, but then felt himself blacking out and falling back against the stone pavement. He tried to get up but was unable to, and as darkness enveloped him he stopped feeling any pain.
Esteban began to move when the sun was high in the sky. He stumbled back to his house with his eyes closed, dripping blood as he went. When he arrived he lay down on his cot and slept. The narrator explains that at eleven in the morning Margarita entered the corral looking for Don Justo. When she found him dead she had been crying because her mother had accused her of being a prostitute.
The narration then shifts back to Esteban's confession. He once again affirms that when the others accuse him of killing his boss, it could be true. Esteban says the man might have died of anger however, since he had a bad temper. He muses that now the authorities have him and will judge him for killing his boss. Esteban speculates that perhaps they were both blind and didn't realize they were killing each other.
The narration then shifts back to the fog which advances on San Gabriel at night. That night they didn't turn the lights on because Don Justo owned them. The church was lit up with candles for Don Justo's wake. The church bells rang until dawn, hereby closing the twenty-four hours that the story covers.
This story shares a number of similarities with "The man." In both stories the discourse shifts back and forth between multiple narrative voices and perspectives. While "The man" shares three different perspectives with the reader, "At daybreak" presents two: the narrator and old Esteban. In order to approach an understanding of both stories, it is necessary to gather information from both narrators and combine it in order to fill in the gaps. We learn in both cases that complete knowledge of the nature of the events narrated will inevitably escape us.
Beyond the narrative style of these two stories, Rulfo seems to outline two different forms of violence. In "The man" violence is willfully committed, and where it rears its head it inevitably begets itself and sets in motion a cycle of destruction which eventually hurts even the most innocent. In "At daybreak" violence is something that lies dormant inside us and is often beyond our control. It is determined by our environment and basic instincts. As a result, the protagonist in this story is almost "innocent." Esteban's senility is one possible explanation for his mistreatment of the calf, and it sparks his boss's anger. When Justo is found dead, Esteban can also no longer remember exactly what happened. For his part, Justo is clearly subservient to his instincts since he maintains an incestuous relationship with his young niece Margarita. We also learn he is perpetually "angry." Perhaps this is what drives him to react forcefully to Esteban's beating of the calf. If stories like "We're very poor" or "Macario" exhibit a tendency toward "unconscious" eroticism, in "At daybreak" the reader encounters the theme of "unconscious" violence. Violence has become so second nature that the protagonists cannot pinpoint what motivates their actions or even claim full responsibility for them.
As in "The man," there is certainly a cyclical nature to this violence, however. The story begins and ends with a somewhat dream-like description of daybreak. Nature is described as beautiful or even idyllic, but its tranquility is ominous because we know Rulfo's fatalist vision will soon take over. This nagging sense of foreboding reinforces the notion that—unlike in "The man," where violence is transferred back and forth through causes and effects across a chain of relationships between people—the protagonists of "At daybreak" do not know what the next day will bring and how or where violence will interrupt the peaceful dawn. Indeed, Esteban's killing of the calf seems quite unprovoked. Perhaps it is as a response to the unpredictability of violence in San Gabriel that the narrator enigmatically claims old Esteban removed his shirt "so the breeze will whip away his fear" that fateful morning.
Like "The man," "At daybreak" also deals with the theme of "official" justice. In both stories we find "confessions" or "testimonies" of characters who defend themselves from the accusations of the authorities. In "The man" we know the shepherd is innocent. In "At daybreak," the truth is more difficult to determine, although one interpretation of the story is that Justo died when he suddenly blacked out and hit his head on the corral's stone pavement. However, when people show up at Esteban's home, they tell him right away that he killed Justo without a doubt. In both the stories we realize that when the institutions of post-revolutionary justice are involved the guilt of the accused is assumed from the beginning.


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As shipments go, it was routine — about half a ton of supplies — except it was delivered by the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. SpaceX partnered with NASA in this new model, the brainchild of Elon Musk, who's behind Tesla electric cars as well. He left South Africa at 17, earned two U.S. undergraduate degrees and then made serial piles of dough pioneering online payment systems, including the one that became PayPal. Musk's persona inspired aspects of Tony Stark in the"Iron Man," but Musk's aspirations seem more like Buzz Lightyear's — to infinity, and beyond.
When the rover "Curiosity" lands on Mars on Sunday, will you be thinking, "That's what SpaceX will be doing one day"?
That's always been a goal of SpaceX. We're hoping to develop the technology to do that in probably 12 to 15 years.
Would you go to Mars?
I would. The first flight would be risky; if I felt comfortable that the company's mission will continue, that my kids have grown up, then I'd be on the first mission.
Did you choose the South Bay for SpaceX because of its aerospace tradition?
That's exactly the reason. I used to live in Palo Alto, and when I told my friends that I was moving to L.A., they all thought I was crazy. They view Southern California as being a little vacuous and Northern California as being more intellectual. But people in the Bay Area have forgotten that there's been a huge concentration of aerospace engineering talent here, for more than a century.
Is there a different entrepreneurial sense between north and south?
In Silicon Valley, startups are such a norm, and there are many success stories. In Southern California that's not so much the case. In the early days of aviation, Southern California was startup city. This was the huge entrepreneurial center.
People mention you in the same breath as Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic, but his space effort seems more tourist-driven and yours more industrial and scientific.
I've nothing against tourism; Richard Branson is brilliant at creating a brand, but he's not a technologist. What he's doing is fundamentally about entertainment, and I think it's cool, but it's not likely to affect humanity's future in a significant way. That's what we're trying to do.
The thing that got me started with SpaceX was the feeling of dismay — I just did not want Apollo to be our high-water mark. We do not want a future where we tell our children that this was the best we ever did. Growing up, I kept expecting we're going to have a base on the moon, and we're going to have trips to Mars. Instead, we went backwards, and that's a great tragedy.
Shouldn't government be doing projects like this?
Government isn't that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you've got to have commercial companies do it. The government was good at getting the basics of the Internet going, but it languished. Commercial companies took a hand around 1995, and then it accelerated. We need something like that in space.
SpaceX couldn't have gotten started without the great work of NASA, and NASA's a key customer of ours. But for the future, it's going to be companies like SpaceX that advance space technology and deliver the rapid innovation that's necessary.
But government can fund a space program without worrying about profits or stockholder returns. A commercial company could run into trouble, and there goes the program.
That's why I'm the majority shareholder in SpaceX. When I've recruited investors, I've made sure they're like-minded. SpaceX will create a great deal of value over the long term, but there will be times when that horizon is beyond what some investors would be comfortable with. I'm going to make sure I have sufficient control of the company to optimize for the very long term.
Should regular folks be able to buy a share of stock in space?
That's one of the top reasons I would take SpaceX public, in order to allow people to own a piece of the future. We don't actually need funding — we're doing well — but I do think we can broaden the base of support.
Neil Armstrong, the first human on the moon, was critical of private space ventures.
It was disappointing. He has never spoken to us or visited us, and we've made many invitations. I'm optimistic that he will visit us and learn more. We have a photo of the [SpaceX] launch signed by all the Apollo astronauts with the exception of Neil.
The movies provide us with two space future models: "Star Trek," where a government agency governs space, versus "Alien," where a private space mining company makes its own rules.
We need a new archetype. I've talked to James Cameron about this. He's got a script for a realistic Mars mission because there's not been a good Mars movie. That's another thing that bugs me: The Mars movies have been so bad. I mean, honestly! And it's going to be tricky getting funding for another Mars movie after"John Carter." It was a good comic book, and they totally screwed up the movie.
The plaque the NASA astronauts left on the moon says, "We came in peace for all mankind." Would that be true if there were a commercial free-for-all in space?
I think the body of regulation will grow — hopefully not too much. Sometimes we are a little over-regulated, and this can be difficult for new industry, particularly one that involves physical safety. There must be some ability to experiment to advance the state of the art. In the early days of aviation there was a great deal of experimentation and a high death rate. We don't want that — the public would not be accepting — but by the same token we can't have a situation where no deaths are ever allowed, because that would put innovation in a coffin too.
You gave the Caltech commencement speech in June. You said we should approach the future not from the perspective of the best way to make money but the best way to affect humanity.
There's nothing wrong with making money, provided it's done in an ethical and legal manner, which it mostly is. The things we read about in the newspapers are the exception, not the norm. But we need to consider what it's all about. What is the meaning of life? Are we doing things that extend the scope of collective human knowledge and understanding? We should do the things that lead us there.
What part of business do you dislike?
Sometimes the ways rules are set up make people do bad things. For example, the CO2 capacity of the atmosphere and oceans. We've not put a price on CO2 emissions, so the oil, gas and coal industry continue to pretend that CO2 dumping into the atmosphere is fine. [They say] that scientists disagree [about climate change].
The vast majority do not; you can find 2% of any group to disagree with anything — that the sun revolves around the Earth. We saw the same thing with the tobacco industry. The evidence was overwhelming, and yet the tobacco industry would say, "Scientists disagree." Naaah, not really!
Now, if the rules are set up correctly — and those who would lose if the rules were changed would fight them — then business functions well, and the economy functions well.
The whole CO2 thing — we're all culpable because we all do things that create CO2. Even though I've got companies trying to address the problem, I drive cars, I use more electricity than I should. It's tough to tell people you're causing long-term harm to the world, and even if you don't pay the penalty, your children or grandchildren will. So essentially we need to tax it, the way we tax cigarettes and alcohol, for the public good.
Apropos of Tesla Motors, you've said in 20 years half the new cars produced will be electric. What, we'll still have to drive cars? We won't move by means of molecular disassembly?
That'd be nice! There may be something cooler than a car in 20 years, but the most likely outcome is that we'll still have cars and they'll be predominantly electric.
Where will that electricity come from?
I think solar will be the largest source [he owns a solar company, SolarCity]. It's not obvious that solar will be a majority of power generation, but I think it'll be a plurality. [The rest will] come from a combination of some nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal. Power generated by burning hydrocarbons we'll use more sparingly, as it should be used, as something that's not going to come back; because it's not. We are being complete wastrels [with fossil fuel]. It's like some heir to a fortune who had nothing to do with creating the fortune and so gives no care to its consumption.
When you came to the U.S., it was the primary destination for the kind of enterprise you wanted to do. Is it still?
It is. If you want to have a significant impact on the world, the United States is the best place to do that. I'm not suggesting that things couldn't be better. We should be asking ourselves, have we made the environment better or worse? And I think it's really important that we stop sending college and graduate students back to their home countries.
Don't we have enough homegrown talent for those jobs?
If you're trying to create a company, it's like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion. There's certain special skills, especially in advanced engineering, that are the limiting factor in creating new companies; we send these people home after training them in our graduate schools.
One of the toughest things I've found is to recruit top-notch manufacturing talent. That's where I've had to go overseas. For a few decades, it just wasn't where the smartest kids in the class in America went. We had far too many smart people in the U.S. go into finance and law!
Speaking of finance, you must make Wall Street nervous with your companies' roller-coaster fortunes.
SpaceX has been profitable for four years and probably this will make it a fifth, and Tesla should be profitable next year and for the foreseeable future.
Profit is simply more money coming in than going out, and for a company where that's not true, it will cease to exist at some point, and it should.
California high speed rail is starting up, but you've proposed an alternative — maybe solar-powered, maybe on a pneumatic track — you call the hyperloop?
I've got to find the time to write up the details. I'm going to put it on a blog and open-source the idea. Why are we, in the center of high tech, doing such a bad job [with high-speed rail]? It's embarrassing. It says all sorts of wrong things about our state. I was thinking about what could be better, state of the art? That's where I came up with the idea for a fifth mode of Earth transport, apart from planes, trains, automobiles and boats. The hyperloop could go from city center to city center in not much more than a half-hour.
Commercializing space, electric cars — aren't you spread a little thin?
I've been going past the red line on the gauge for a while now. It's honestly not been fun, but I have to continue for a bit longer, because for Tesla in particular, we're at the stage where the company's survival is in question. The market has given us a good evaluation. We have great supporters and great detractors. The detractors have a point, that the last successful car company started in America 90 years ago. DeLorean and Tucker brought cars to market, but they were unable to scale up their production and reach profitability. The next six months will decide whether Tesla will be the first new [successful] car company in a century.
Do you think the last best hope of Earth isn't on Earth?
I'm reasonably optimistic about the future, especially the future of the United States, for the century at least. But it's important we get out there and explore the stars, both for defensive reasons and ensuring the continued existence of [human] consciousness.
This interview was edited and excerpted from a taped transcript. An archive of Morrison's interviews can be found at latimes.com/pattasks.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ugadi Event
By Mahesh Rao
'On Saturday, March 28, the Telugu community of Birmingham area came out and celebrated Ugadi in its own unique style.Read More
Community • Around Town •
Aashish weds Ashima
On January 1, 2009
Aashish is the son of Drs. Prakash and Suman Bharara of Birmingham, AL and Ashima comes from Chicago.
Read More
Community • Around Town • Living • Weddings •
Amitha weds Abhishek
On December 13, 2008
Amitha is the daughter of Dr. G.M. Anantharamaiah and Mrs. Sandhya Ananth of Birmingham, AL & Abhishek is the son of Dr. Dinesh and Kumud Parmar of Gadsden, AL
Click here to see a Wedding Photo Gallery
Community • Around Town • Living • Weddings •
ICAB Republic Day Event
Read More
Republic Day was celebrated with lots of fun on February 7.
Community • Around Town •
Most Recent
- Building the next generation of South Asian leaders in US
- Indian missions in US scramble to clean up visa mess
- Efforts on for release of abducted Indians in Iraq
- 'Phoren' dreams and big-buck hopes end in Iraq misery
- 'Humshakals': Hum Shock-Alls reeling under the farce
- Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde dies following car crash
- 'Citylights': An ode to the city's invisible populace (Hindi Film Review)
- Bhojpuri film 'Deswa' going places, wows viewers in Toronto
- Now a heritage scam in Chandigarh?
- Modi victory: Congress 'communalism' derailed UPA


text:
Review: Unburied Treasures/Strip Search, Rosemary Branch Theatre
Published in Time Out, 27.04.2010
Like a Heat magazine for the stone cold, Unburied Treasures exhumes apocryphal tales of celebrity corpses and spins them into a series of witty ditties. Mark Bunyan's book is a curiosity shop of posthumous peculiarities, covering everything from Evita's embalming to Ines de Castro's coronation.
However, for all Bunyan's ticklish turns of phrase and the relish of a well-balanced and characterful ensemble, it rather runs out of puff with half an hour remaining. Wry asides and contrived bickering can only sustain a show for so long and Bunyan's didactic finale, though drolly self-aware, is not quite recompense enough.
It makes an unusual aperitif – and, trust me, you'll need one – for Strip Search. Squaddie, a former teenage rent-boy and soldier, strips to fund a gambling addiction. His increasingly fiesty monologue, which weaves through his life story, is intercut with flashes of his striptease act.
It's uncomfortable viewing, which suits well the social injustices within, though the opportunity to use the act's choreogrphy and song choices politically is missed. Titus Rowe, himself Boyz magazine's Stripper of the Year, perfectly balances boyish vulnerability with cocksure machismo. Peter Scott-Presland's text is as clever as it is outraged, making Strip Search a (back, sack and) cracking piece of fringe theatre.


text:
Salaam -E-Ishq audio launch
Courtesy: IndiaFM
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Salaam -E-Ishq: A Tribute to Love, one of the biggest star casts to come out of Indian cinema is scheduled to have its audio release on 2nd December at a luxury hotel in Mumbai. Music directors Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are scheduled to be singing a few songs from the film.
At the event, designer Vikram Phadnis will be having a fashion show and apparently the proceeds will go to a charity. Also the buzz is that the stars of the film will be walking the ramp at the fashion show. Now with the starcast comprising of Vidya Balan, John Abraham, Govinda, Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Ayesha Takia, Sohail Khan, Perizaad Zorabian, Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla, this one is sure to be a hit audio launch.


text:
Shirt Restock
Dec 18, 201112:24AM
Posted by: Michael Z. Williamson
I have a WHOLE BUNCH of www.Skippyslist.com/list T-Shirts in. These are the officially licensed Skippy's List shirts. I have sand, black and OD through 3X, and need to stock up on some odd sizes, so order now and I'll try to get them out on Monday for Christmas delivery.
http://www.sharppointythings.com/tshirts.php order here.
Oh, No You Didn't!
Jun 11, 201101:42AM
Posted by: Michael Z. Williamson
Oh, yes we did.


text:
I love scalloped potatoes, so when Michael pointed out this Indian-spiced gratin recipe to me yesterday, I knew it would be delicious. The recipe takes a simple gratin and adds spices like curry powder, coriander, and turmeric to give it a yummy Indian flavor. We used a combination of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rutabaga to enhance the flavors in the dish.
Indian-spiced root vegetable gratin
(Serves 4-6)
By Jane and Michael's Gourmet Extravaganza (Adapted from Vegetarian, edited by Nicola Graimes)
- 2 potatoes
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1/2 of a small rutabaga
- 1/2 of an onion
- 1 Tbsp butter, divided
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp chili powder, divided
- 1 1/3 c low-fat milk
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Thinly slice the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rutabaga and place in a bowl of cold water to prevent discoloration. Thinly slice the onion and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tsp of butter in a small skillet, and add the curry powder, turmeric, coriander, and 1/2 tsp chili powder. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat. Gently stir in the milk.
Drain the vegetables and pat dry, then arrange them with the onions in a 3.5 quart baking dish, seasoning with salt and pepper as you layer them in. Pour the milk and spice mixture over the vegetables and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tsp of chili powder on top.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, dot with the remaining butter, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the top of the gratin is golden.


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George Westinghouse High (GWHS) Class of 1950 Alumni List
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Cinderella was the top movie in theaters in 1950, with a lifetime gross of over $85,000,000. Among TV shows in 1950, The Texaco Star Theater was the most popular of the year.
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text:
Sunday, April 22, 2012
What is this "growing old gracefully" shit?
Does it mean that you will not bitch
about aches and pains?
Does it mean that you will just smile
when all the young uppities call you "honey,"
when you'd really like to rap them about
the head and shoulders with your cane?
Does it mean that you will no longer be able
to hop on the table
at the dance
and drop your pants?
And if you did
would they all just snicker
instead of scream?
I like to think of grace
as maintaining my own pace.
Each morning the road is filled
with cars, trucks, motor homes, and bulldozers
gunning past me like I'm standing still
just because I'm doing only
five miles an hour over the speed limit.
If any of them had been on the Titanic,
they'd have learned to chill,
and immerse themselves in the journey,
cuz you're not always going to dig the destination
Another April has come and gone,
and I'm in less of a hurry
to get where I'm going--
more inclined to listen to music
instead of news--
so I'll take some time
to take the long way home,
and when I run out of road
I want the radio to be playing
this same silky sax
as I fade
into the topaz twilight.
26 comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
nice...like the sound of the sax...and really like that bit about the titanic, as there is def truth in that...and any time you want to jump on the table, they will at some point just dismiss it for age but you know there are always those willing to watch...ReplyDelete
Timateo, sorry for the deletion but after publishing I noticed many mistakes.ReplyDelete
What I had stated was; that your well worded piece was a timely one and appropriately relatable to my April which happens to be my birthday month.
I celebrate not for the aging but because I still can and for my friends and family still existing in this mundane journey.
The aches and pains are very real for me inspite of some friends and acquaintances wondering why I'm still in pain even though I have two totally new prosthetic hips. Why is it that people don't realize that the pain has not been replaced by an absence of pain, just the mechanical appendages have been.
The doc wants to perform invasive surgery to my deteriorating lower back but I told him in the three languages that I'm familiar with what he can do with his scalpels. His pocket book was not too happy :-p
Anyway, I hope that when I ride into that road of no end the radio plays the music that I like. That of course is any and all music.
Gracias for sharing my aches
Thanks, man. I'm hiring myself out for table dancing, if anyone is interested!
Thanks for your comment, and the personal insight you provided. Looks like my poem touched a nerve. (No pun intended.) I like your attitude with the doc. All they want to do is what they've been trained to do, and to them, that's the solution to everything. Most never look into the amazing power of the body to heal itself.
Many more happy Aprils ... hopefully ...ReplyDelete
Well, dear Timoteo... the first line had me laughing, and the last crying a little. Thanks for the fun and the wise words in between.ReplyDelete
The only thing graceful about growing old is learning that one should only bitch when one can do it entertainingly. At least in public--I have an ongoing and continual bitch with the universe, but it doesn't really seem to be paying any attention. I love the traffic images here, the Titanic reference, and the eloquent final lines, especially. You're playing that JT song in my head with them, 'the secret of life is enjoying the passing of time..."ReplyDelete
Nice reflections...I specially like the middle part...You got the part correct....the secret to growing old is to enjoy the journey ~ReplyDelete
Oh you KNOW how much I relate to this poem. I so loved it. Especially the last five lines, lit by a topaz haze.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the sentiment.
Very sweet and kind words!
I'm sure that's the secret to bitching, (or anything)do it entertainingly!
Thanks...since there really is nothing else BUT the journey while we're here, we've got to learn to enjoy it.
Thanks, dear one...I've been lit by a lot of other kinds of hazes at one time or another!!!
Excellent! That is exactly how I want to grow old, I will, as Dylan Thomas wrote, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light"ReplyDelete
really fun. Love the tone throughout and a great sense of humor clearly shines through. The slow down and take it all in is such good advice too. I think we'd all be better off living in such a manner. Great read. ThanksReplyDelete
yeah, i really love this one... i hope the long way home is really damn long. because i want more of your words, and mostly, i really dislike sax solos :)ReplyDelete
Forget about the topaz twilight and growing old gracefully. Dance and drop your pants..you'll get away with it because they will think you've got dementia especially if they find out you're a poet...you may even get a few screams..but maybe not for the reasons you were hoping for:)ReplyDelete
I loved this poem..it will make chortle all day long. Thanks.
i like the silky sax fading into the topaz sunlight, great imageReplyDelete
wealth of laughter senryu
i like it much...and when i run out of road..a silky sax playing would be my choice as well i think...oh...and i prefer music to the news as well..and always feel guilty..ReplyDelete
I'm thinking dance and drop 'em to the sound of the sax in "On the Road Again". Some bare-ass grindin music right there, dude!ReplyDelete
Of course, everybody's parts need to be serviceable.Replies
Hilarious response LOLDelete
Excellent write :)ReplyDelete
Each song's tempo;
Youth keeps up with this beat;
In age we save each precious note;
The Fountain of youth, over filled?
WEll, they say it is the cruelest month for a reason. I know I was being a bit sac religious, dying in the French sense of the petite morte by inches.... this is a wonderful, direct right. You have a gift for straight-forwardness...xxxjReplyDelete
SEMAPHORE, FRED, MARIAN, ZONGRIK, CLAUDIA, AYALA: Your sweet and kind words are much appreciated.ReplyDelete
RALLENTANDA: Yeah, once they know you're a poet, all bets are off!
MARBLES: The parts need to be serviceable, because I am all about service!
MAGYAR: Nice one. I think of the fountain of youth as those little cherub statues who are peeing in the pool...who wants to drink that?
JEN: Ha ha...I wasn't sure how you would take those comments, but then, you are a trooper!
this is melancholic, but accepting...ReplyDelete
it makes me ache a bit.
I'm 50 years old; in July I'll be hitting 51, but I don't think I'm old, though this rheumatoid arthritis tries to tell me otherwise and attempts to tell my body what to do. I laugh loud, sing soft and sometimes really hard and live every day with a smile and I chill with my friends or my young 18 year old niece. I've been told to start taking it easy, but I say if my bones are gonna hurt it's because I walked too much, jumped too hard or danced way too long. Forget the aging gracefully pooper scooper (excuse my mouth. LOL!), I'm going out kicking and screaming and I'm gonna go out a natural redhead...from a bottle!ReplyDelete
Enjoyed reading this; it was lots of fun. Be blessed.
Hell, you're just hitting your stride!


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BlackBerry is said to have let go of dozens of staff from its U.S. sales department yesterday, part of a continuing downsizing effort as the company tries to reduce costs and earn more money from its dwindling sales.
This may seem an odd move, since sales staff are key to achieving sales and thus income, but it makes sense if you consider that the core value of the BlackBerry brand lies in its technical expertise and its patent portfolio.
The company revealed in August it was in the process of looking at its options, a bleak suggestion that in the near future it would be looking for a buyer. Recent rumors suggested it wants to be bought by November, a timeline which may be adding pressure to cost-cutting moves like laying off staff.
[Image: Flickr user THE Holy Hand Grenade!]


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A late Worsbrough Bridge Athletic equaliser on Saturday left Knaresborough Town counting the cost of missed opportunities and two home points dropped.
Brian Davey's men dominating possession and chances for long periods of the game and their early efforts were rewarded when 17-year-old Mitch Hamilton found the net after two minutes.
Despite Worsbrough equalising after 25 minutes, Hamilton restored Knaresborough's lead from the penalty spot just after the half hour mark following a foul on Ben Parkes.
A steady stream of chances then followed for Knaresborough but Hamilton and Brad Walker, handed his debut by Davey, saw their efforts on target denied.
Knaresborough's inability to fashion a third goal proved costly as Danny Cawley grabbed his second of the game in the 86th minute, to the dismay of the Town manager.
He said: "We've played really well, scored a great first goal from Mitch and hit the bar. But if you don't get that third goal you could be in trouble.
"They scored with their first attack of the half and it was just from a total lack of experience.
2Our centre half has gone for a ball that maybe the goalkeeper should have claimed and it was a little bit of a mistake.
"We've been working so hard for 87 minutes and nobody had put a foot wrong. The young lads are going to make mistakes but as long as they keep their heads up and keep improving, we will keep playing them.
"After the initial shock of conceding in the last four minutes, we were sat in the changing room and were saying how well we have played and I was really pleased with that, especially after Christmas and New Year."
Davey stuck with his youth policy on Saturday and left a host of experienced players and said they will need to show the same commitment level of the younger players before earning their starting place.
He said: "I got the five substitutes in before the game to have a big chat and told them the responsibility was on them.
"The young lads deserve to be in the team because they turn up week in, week out when they are missing. They have to turn up to training on Thursday and the away games on Saturday before I contemplate putting them in from the start.
"Every one of them put their hands up and said that they wanted to stay and fight for their place."
Knaresborough travel to Sheffield on Saturday to play 18th placed Hallam.


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Servoweb is a Vancouver web design, develop and marketing company for companies looking for big results at an affordable cost!
Here's a quick rundown of our services:
- Web Design: Clean, professional website design that makes an impression.
- Web Development: Fast, search engine friendly code that looks great on almost any device.
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That's our work in a nutshell, but its really so much more than that. We help you understand the Internet and show you how it can benefit your organization.
Take a look at our portfolio for some of the projects we've been involved with in the past.


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Selected Projects > Vermont State Prison Farm | 900 acres, Windsor, Vermont
The State of Vermont hired a Whole Systems Design-led team for master planning of the Southeast State Correctional Facility's 900+ acre site in Windsor Vermont. We will be producing a vision, program and plan that will enhance inmate rehabilitation at the former working farm while regenerating agricultural practices, enhancing wildlife, recreation and other services of the site. The plan is aimed to articulate a new economic engine harnessing prison labor, regional interest in a more localized and sustainable food system, and the expansive underutilized former-farm site.


text:
- Why Colby?
- Request Information
- College Profile
- Scholars Programs
- Student Perspectives
- Alumni Success
- For Counselors
- Contact Admissions
Alumni Profile: M. Jane Powers '86
Occupation: Counseling,Education,Medical + Health
Majors: Psychology,Human Development
There are students who enjoy their four years on the Hill by
maintaining a respectable academic record and spending every weekend
with friends, and then there are students like M. Jane Powers '86 who
achieved all that in addition to becoming involved in a wide range of
extracurricular activities on campus.
Powers, a long-distance cyclist who annually partakes in an HIV/AIDS
fundraiser, manages to balance her essential role as a director in
Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts and her position as a trustee at the
College. Although she serves on a number of committees, Powers admits
"the Student Affairs Committee and EPC [Education Policy Committee] are
incredibly meaningful to me."


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A wholesaler trading in oils produced from genetically modified soybeans must allow food surveillance authorities access to its list of buyers. This decision was made by the administrative court in Berlin, which thereby dismissed a suit filed by the wholesaler. In order to inspect the correct labelling of foods prepared with this oil in restaurants and takeaways, the official food surveillance agency had demanded access to the list of wholesale clients.
Under reference to trade secrecy, the wholesaler had refused disclosure of its buyers. The court dismissed this claim, arguing that delivery records are necessary for on-site appraisal of labelling according to given requirements. Neither uncooked oil nor cooked meals prepared with oil can be tested to determine origin from conventional or from GM soybeans. The wholesaler has lodged a complaint against the ruling of the administrative court in Berlin.


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Alberto Molina Perez
3D-printed search and rescue modular robot wins 2016 Hackaday Prize
Dtto, a 3D-printed modular robot, was this week named the winner of the 2016 Hackaday Prize. In addition to the prestigious award, Dtto will receive the grand prize of $150,000 and a residency at the Supplyframe Design Lab in Pasadena, CA. Read more


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During our initial brainstorming sessions we acknowledged the need to spend some time exploring the physics-related aspects of the game. However, looking back, I think it's fair to say that we underestimated the complexity of the required computations. Naively thinking that our faint recollection of various formulas from old physics classes would suffice, we charged forward and planned to tackle all physics-related requirements as they arose. This resulted in quite a few learning experiences and code refactoring sessions as the overall complexity gradually rose over time. In the end we decided to integrate a robust, third party physics engine into the game. But before arriving at this final conclusion we implemented a number of our own home-brewed solutions.
In this post I will describe our original method for collision detection (such as between two cars). Although we are now using a powerful physics engine to handle much of this work for us, the engine itself also uses this method (among others) underneath the hood. My intention is to perhaps offer some guidance to anyone wishing to implement their own game physics or to just give a quick look at some of the inner-workings of what you see in the game.
At the core of our method of collision detection is the Separating Axis Theorem (Wikipedia link). The theorem simply states that if two convex objects are not intersecting, then there exists an axis for which the projections of the two objects do not overlap. Note that if you wish to test a concave object you must first break it down to multiple convex objects and individually test each one. SAT is an efficient, generic algorithm for detecting overlap between two entities and its ability to execute relatively quickly makes it often ideal for collision detection in games.
To picture this concept of "overlapping projections", take a look at the image below. In diagram a you see two squares which are clearly not intersecting. If you were to project their respective images onto the horizontal axis as pictured, their projections would not intersect either. As soon as you have found an axis in which these projections do not overlap, you can assert that the objects do not intersect. Conversely, the two squares are clearly intersecting in diagram b. For every possible axis, the projections of the two objects will also overlap, allowing you to assert that the objects themselves are overlapping. For any two polygons, the only axes you must test against are the normals of each edge. To obtain the normal of a vector you simply swap the coordinates and negate one (ie. [5,3] becomes [-3,5]).
Unlike the previous image, objects being tested for collision won't usually be simple, un-rotated squares. You might be dealing with a complex polygon with many vertices. You may be wondering then, what the best way to programatically project these polygons onto an axis is. The answer, luckily, isn't very difficult. You would simply loop over all of a polygon's vertices, perform a dot product between the vertex and the normalized axis to be projected on, and store the minimum and maximum result. Remember that there is a difference between a vector's normal and a normalized vector! In simple pseudocode, this would look similar to the following:
Projection function project {for (i = 0; i < vertices.length; i++) {dp = axis.dot(vertices[i]);if (dp < min)
min = dp;
else if (dp > max)max = dp ;}return new Projection(min, max);}
We now know enough to be able to assemble a simple function for determining whether or not two objects are intersecting. But in our racing game, we needed more than simply knowing if two cars are colliding. We also wanted to prevent them from simply driving right over the top of each other. For this reason it is beneficial to calculate the Minimum Translation Vector - a vector which tells us the shortest path to push the two objects apart to keep them from intersecting. Your final collision detection code might look similar to the following pseudocode:
for (i = 0; i < axes.length; i++) {
Projection p1 = polygon1.project(axes[i]);
Projection p2 = polygon2.project(axes[i]);if (p1 overlaps p2)
overlap = p1.getOverlap(p2);
if (overlap < mtv.getOverlap())mtv = new MTV(axis, overlap);
else// We can assert that the polygons are not intersecting
}// If we get to this point, we know that all axes are overlapping and the polygons are indeed intersecting
Don't forget that the array of axes in the above code would have to consist of both objects' axes needing testing.
This was a very simplistic overview of the algorithm we employed for collision detection in our beginning stages of development. Before using it yourself, you would likely want to spend some time making the algorithm more efficient (such as by not testing parallel axes) and adding additional functionality to handle curved features or to properly handle the case in which one object is completely engulfed by the other.
Collision detection is just one facet of our physics-related computations. Things seem to get exponentially more complex when you begin to account for resultant forces due to a collision, cancelling out a car's lateral movement due to traction, applying the appropriate amount of torque to turn a car just the right amount, etc. In future blog posts we will discuss our move to the JBox2D physics engine, how much easier this made our lives, and all the cool physics stuff we've been able to put into the game.
Collision detection is just one facet of our physics-related computations. Things seem to get exponentially more complex when you begin to account for resultant forces due to a collision, cancelling out a car's lateral movement due to traction, applying the appropriate amount of torque to turn a car just the right amount, etc. In future blog posts we will discuss our move to the JBox2D physics engine, how much easier this made our lives, and all the cool physics stuff we've been able to put into the game.


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Hi, I'm working on a kind of story based on notes found in bottles and some sort of underwater horror kind of thing. It can be found here under the tab Dusty Old Notes in Forgotten Bottles on Forgotten Shelves. I would love some feedback, as I'm new to writing anything not poetry outside of school things.
Date: 06 May 2017 20:33
Number of posts: 5
RSS: New posts
I like the idea of this, but I think it needs some work.
I hope that's some help.
I'm not sure that I really get what's going on here. Presumably the paragraphs1 are from different bottles from different eras from members of the same family? I'm not really sure. There seems to be a thread running through the stories, but there's no real tension or escalation. The last paragraph felt more than a bit narmy to me, as the "Enter the deep" bit came out of left field, only to be repeated a dozen or so times.
I think this is a potentially good idea for a story. This needs some modification, however. First, I would try to make the individual messages more apparently distinctive. Putting them in boxes ("> wordswordswords") would go a long way to making it clearer, and breaking up the paragraphs would make it more readable.
Second, try to make the characters more distinctive. Other than being told, there's really no indication that these are different characters. Someone born in the 1800s would have a very different writing style (assuming they can even read and write) and outlook from someone in the modern day. Make these more apparent.
Also, try to weave the horror aspect into the story more. As it is, it's a bunch of horror tropes in snapshots of characters that I don't really care about.
Honestly, this doesn't read like a bottle. Maybe more of a diary of some kind, but even then, it's not particularly compelling or realistic. If you haven't already, I would check out Survivor Type by Stephen King as an example of how to do lower-key horror via diary.
When you feel like you've got another draft, feel free to repost it in this thread or come onto IRC and discuss it.
Alright thanks for the suggestions and to be honest looking back parts of it are rather ridiculous. I'll be working on it. Thanks!
Please don't be discouraged by this. A lot of what I, myself, write looks a bit silly after a while, but this is just part of the process. The most important thing is to put ideas on paper. Even if you end up not using everything, you will often find that some of what you've written can be used in another story. If you don't write because you think it doesn't sound good on the first try, you may never get anything written at all. One of my highest rated stories, And We Slipped Away, is actually a very small part of an immense, sprawling story, that turned out not to work at all (i.e. it was stupid), but this one part was good, so I got rid of everything else, and kept what worked. Even if you don't use anything, you've still learned a lot about what doesn't work, and practiced the good habit of writing.


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|My friends and I battling the blizzard
A recent snowstorm had my friends and I skipping work and heading for the mountain. Fresh powder in mid March? Yes please!
|Chairlift view
Although I enjoy skiing on sunny spring days, I love powder turns in raging blizzards even more. Storm skiing days are the best. First tracks every time! And here in the PNW, our weather changes so quickly, it can be snowing one day and raining the next. If you wanna ski the freshies, you gotta act quick.
|What we really think about the lift stopping!
Of course storm skiing does have it's challenges. Visibility can be limited (skiing by Braille anyone?) And gale-force gusts tend to stop lifts. It's no fun to sit for several minutes on a motionless chair in the wind.
|Fluffy pow covers my skis
But the reward? Ankle deep fluff that covers your boards! Such a dream to cruise through.
|Winter wonderland
And Christmas-postcard scenes like these can't be beat!
|Young enjoys a brief sunbreak
Although the skies continuously dumped the white stuff most of the day, at the bottom of the lowest elevation lift we were treated to a rare brief sunbreak.
|Deep pow on Gemini
The day's best run was on Gemini. It's a trail most folks tend to overlook. Hidden in a valley, the deep snow tends to collect here. And boy was it a sweet ride! So good, we rode the lift back up and did it again.
While other folks are busy tending to gardens, hiking, or enjoying the spring blooms, I'm still in winter mode. With spring marching forward, powder days like these are becoming fewer and farther between. But as long as the storms continue to roll over the mountains, I'll be there - skis strapped on.


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More information here.
On May 6-7, the Senate House (University of London) is hosting a symposium on critical theory - "The Right to Freedom".
The speakers are: Axel Honneth (Frankfurt/Columbia), Lois McNay (Oxford), David McNeill (Essex), Jörg Schaub (Essex), Timo Jütten (Essex), and Michael Rosen (Harvard).
The symposium is free but requires registration.
More information here.
The symposium is jointly organised and funded by the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford; the Department of Philosophy, The Open University; and the School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex.


text:
Monday, 14 May 2012
Challenge #4
Time for another challenge, don't you think? This time, we would like to keep it very simple. All of you have to do is
Make a Scrapbook Page Or a Card Or an Altered Project using one of our Pins on Pinterest as an inspiration. It could be any of the pins.
Blog about this challenge showing the pin that inspired your project.
Post your photo in our album 'Challenge #4' on our Facebook Group by May 30th, 2012.
One lucky participant will win AED 25 gift voucher that can be redeemed at our store.
Now go on, get crafting!
9 comments:
Long back and after that many a times I had sent request invite to Pinterest...how come I still have not received invite to create my a/c?
or is there any other procedure which I am missing out? plz help...:(
just sent you an invite. let me know how it goes :)ReplyDelete
Hi NeeluDelete
Thanks Neelu 4 the prompt reply...but I didn't get invite:(
It was send to this email - email@example.com. Please check your Spam/Junk Folder.Delete
Hey Neelu did not even get in spam/junk...Delete
Not sure why Kunda. Why don't you try their Support page and see? https://support.pinterest.com/anonymous_requests/newDelete
can there be multiple entriesReplyDelete
You can use your Facebook or Twitter account to use as login, if you want.ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Ross "Smudger" Smith, an up and coming English Darts player will be playing the most important game of his career this month against the current PDC Order of Merit number four, Australian player Simon Whitlock.
At only 24 years of age, Ross who now lives in Bolton but hails from South East London, has already appeared in several televised tournaments in the UK and abroad and showed his fantastic potential in June this year when he hit his first televised 9 dart finish against World number three, Adrian Lewis. Smith also finished number one on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, winning four events during the year. The highlight of his career to date will be playing "The Wizard" Simon Whitlock. The two will go head to head on Tuesday 17th December in round one of this year's PDC World Championships at AlexandraPalace, London.
The PDC World Championships are available to view live online on http://www.livepdc.tv/page/LiveSchedule from December 13th- 1st January 2014.


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Vikas Kumar of Khotey Sikkey fame to enter CID
Who can forget the dynamic cop Senior Inspector Damodar Deshmukh in Sony Entertainment Television and Yashraj's Khotey Sikkey Yes, we are talking about actor Vikas Kumar who became a household name as the honest yet admamant cop who prepares a gang of youngsters to fight crime.
We give our readers the exclusive news that Vikas Kumar will be back on Sony Entertainment Television in a brand new avatar. Well, he will soon be entering Fireworks Productions' long running show CID.
Yes, you heard it right. After Janvi Chheda and Viineet Kumar (the news that we broke), it is the turn of Vikas to join the show. He will be seen essaying the role of a senior officer on duty. We had also written about CID turning tri-weekly from June 2012.
When contacted Vikas Kumar, he told that he has been approached for CID, and "talks are on". However, he asked us to call later.
Guess the popularity of Vikas will only surge higher with his entry in CID!!!
Also see Our New Sony Telly News Forums:
Also see Our New Sony Telly News Forums:


text:
An guitar is a grotesque instrument to use on a anniversary celebration! Today you will larn the guitar chords to a high up song!
We will initial bear a countenance at the lyrics:
Happy Birthday To YouPost ads:
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Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday Dear ...
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The calumny of the chords we dramatic work presupposes that your uke is tuned in C. This effectuation that your first-year yarn is an A.
Now you will revise the guitar straight line C-major:
This uke tab notational system will facilitate you to brainstorm which frets and section to use on your ukulele.
The early number tells you which lather to pinch low. The figure after the cut stand for the cord.
0/4 process that you gambol the open fourth yarn on your ukulele. Yes, an widen rope is a lead we don't compress feathers.
3/1 finances that you compress down the 3rd lather on the eldest cable.
You have to acquire one more chord in instruct to leap the front dash of singing part. It will be G7:
Time to try the ukulele chords for the first procession. I will put the chord calumny in advance of the voice communication where on earth you relocate chords:
Happy (C)Birthday To (G7)You
The adjacent smudge has the selfsame singing part but a antithetical chord fusion.
Happy (G7)Birthday To (C)You
You will entail to cognise one much ukulele straight line. That is F:
Time for the 3rd string. We will put a christen in the lyrics:
Happy (C)Birthday Dear (F)Martha
Now it's instance for you to execute this chant. The final line:
Happy (C)Birthday (G7)To (C)You
You can of course of instruction performance the ode in different keys on your ukulele. I will only bequeath you one more key to frisk you piece of music in.
I will sort a infinitesimal version array for you to use in command to let down your hair the limerick in D-major. First you will get the chords in D-major:
You will also use the chord A7:
and sooner or later G-major:
In writ to be able to romp Happy Birthday To You in the key of D you have to replace the chords in the later way:
C becomes D
G7 becomes A7
F becomes G
This evolution of key will provide you a haphazard to intone in a a tad greater sound property. Of education near are more keys that you can use. We have differing key preferences because of our of one's own melodious abilities but these keys are apposite for an undisciplined sound at lowest possible.
Now you can theatre the uke chords to the rhyme Happy Birthday To You in two keys!
There will be teemingness of opportunities for you to cavort this musical composition. Learn it by suspicion one dash at a case and you will be able to theatre the mantra where there is an uke.


text:
First up, this tweet from the New York Times over the weekend, which was apparently not a self-parody:
Yeah, because we'd all be so much better off if we were still hunter-gatherers. It would have saved us from Joe Camel and Philip Morris. Incidentally, there is evidence in evolutionary biology that the enlargement of the human brain may be linked to our species' use of fire. One biologist I know thinks we should be called homo igniferens. So now it's the New York Times that is skeptical or opposed to evolution. Heh.
And then what Monday wouldn't be complete without the latest climate change harangue? I missed the opening ceremonies, which apparently included some climate change propaganda. But in case you didn't get the message, there's this today:
Olympic Records Won't Come Easy in Rio as Climate Changes
Climate change warnings poignantly made during the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday are likely to resonate with athletes over the next fortnight as they struggle to train and compete in Brazil's soaring temperatures.
Marathon runners, swimmers, volleyball players and even soccer referees will succumb to extreme heat and lose concentration during the games, in some cases risking their lives to heatstroke, according to a report released Monday by Observatorio do Clima, a Brazilian civil society group.
"Because of warming, sport will never be the same again," and fewer records than in previous games are likely to fall as a result, the report said.
Global warming was a key theme of the opening ceremony, featuring maps, charts and graphics of rising global temperatures, melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels encroaching on cities from Amsterdam to Shanghai.


text:
Eastern bluebirds are known for their vibrant coloring and sweet songs.
Photograph by Richard Day/Animals Animals—Earth Scenes
Bluebird Range
Fast Facts
Average life span in the wild:
6 to 10 years
6.5 to 8.5 in (16.5 to 19 cm)
0.84 to 1.09 oz (24 to 31 g)
Group name:
Size relative to a tea cup:
There are three species of these colorful North American birds. Eastern and western bluebirds have a reddish brown breast, which contrasts with their predominately blue plumage. Their relative, the (male) mountain bluebird is entirely blue.
Eastern bluebirds are primarily found east of the Rockies, and range from Canada to Mexico and Honduras. They are much admired for their lovely coloring and for a distinctive song that many hear as "chur-lee, chur-lee." The eastern bluebird is the state bird of both New York and Missouri.
Western bluebirds are found west of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico. The mountain bluebird also inhabits much of western North America—often at elevations above 7,000 feet (2,133 meters).
Bluebirds eat small fruits and hunt insects, spiders, and other creatures from above. The birds perch, watch, and then swoop to the ground to pounce on their prey.
Pairs mate in spring and summer, when they construct small, bowl-shaped nests. Females lay four or five eggs and incubate them for about two weeks. Young remain in the nest, cared for by both parents, for an additional 15 to 20 days. Bluebirds often have two broods in a season. Sometimes, a young bluebird from the first brood will remain in the nest and assist its parents in caring for the second.
Bluebirds living in higher latitudes may head south if food becomes scarce or temperatures too cold. Mountain bluebirds typically migrate to lower elevations during the same lean seasons.
Bluebirds are considered fairly common, but their numbers have declined substantially during the last century. Populations have been given a boost by the birdhouse boxes that have become popular in many parks and backyards.


text:
Kylie Jenner aka the queen of Instagram made head lines with her selfie she posted of her voluminous lips the other day, the 16 year old had not gone under the knife or had lip fillers but with the help of lip liner it create plump luscious lips. Dispute all of the attention surrounding this picture the make up look is amazing so I gave it a go myself.
I used NARS sheer glow on my face and mac select cover up under the eyes and set the two with rimmel stay matte pressed powder.
For my brows I used my prestige brow palette in light and e.l.f brow gel to set them.
I lines my eyes with physicians formula liquid liner and serum and piled on the mascara.
And finally the lips I used a nude lip liner and coloured in my lips and drew a thin lip around them creating and illusion that they are bigger. Then dabbed nyx crème brûlée butter gloss in the centre, threw my hair up in a messy top knot and voilà your done.


text:
Today we have a guest blogger, Carl Horne
He has been working in insurance for 8 years with Healthmarkets. Their focus
has always been on helping families responsible for their own benefits, and the micro business. They broker with most of the highest rated Insurers and give you personal assistance in finding what best fits your needs for your, Health, Life, Supplemental and Disability insurance.
5 Keys to Health Insurance and Navigating the new Reform:
1) Review your health coverage:
Whether your plan is grandfathered(enrolled prior to March 23 2010) or
ACA compliant, talk to a licensed agent to understand your benefits.
The Affordable Care Act, has mandated many new benefits so it's best to
know what is covered by your Grandfathered plan vs ACA plan.
2) Use Preventative Care:
Part of the ACA mandates are coverage for preventative care. Everything
from Immunizations, Cholesterol and Blood pressure screenings, to
cancer screenings and colonoscopies are covered 100% regardless of your
deductible. Make sure and talk to your doctor about recommended
screenings and you can consult with your agent to make sure it is
3) Plan for out of Pocket Expenses:
Higher deductible plans and large out of pocket maximums have left many
unable to pay their medical bills.
With the high cost of insurance these plans are more attractive because
the premiums are lower. Unfortunately you are at
greater financial risk. A relatively inexpensive way to help is to look
into Supplemental benefits that will pay you if you have
an Accident, Hospital stay, or Critical Illness, and help offset your
financial exposure.
4) Understand How You Use Insurance
Many of my clients are self employed, healthy and use primarily
Holistic Healthcare.
Although it is counter intuitive, many of these benefits are not
covered well by insurance. If it is covered, you will
likely be paying for a much more expensive plan. I have typically found
that the higher premium you pay is more than
the cost of paying for benefits like, acupuncture, chiropractic, and
massage therapy out of pocket.
You may consider an HSA plan. These plans have higher deductibles, and
you pay out of pocket for everything except
preventative until you reach your deductible. After your deductible is
met the plan pays and protects you form the major medical bills.
With these plans you can set up a Health Savings Account with your
bank. The funds in this account can be used for all your out of
pocket medical expenses. The advantage is the amount that you fund your
HSA account is a tax write off.(up to the IRS limit). These funds of
course roll over year after year.
5) Better Protection
Pre existing conditions can no longer increase your rate or deny you
You can also no longer be dropped from coverage for medical reasons, or
have reductions in your plan benefits.
For more information please feel free to contact me
Carl Horne
Licensed Insurance Agent 0F46503
2107 N. First St Suite 350 ■ San Jose, CA 95131
firstname.lastname@example.com ■


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Take Advantage of the Gig Economy Job Searching
Grab Gigs with Your Smartphone and Start Earning
The age of the gig economy has brought more options for the temporarily unemployed than ever before. Characterized by companies like Uber, Lyft, Fiverr, AirBnB, TaskRabbit and Instacart, in many cases these jobs allow you to hit the ground running and start making money very quickly.
The work offered is geared toward freelancers and independent contractors as well as opportunities to make passive income selling a product or renting out space in your home.
Not surprisingly, this business model is surging in popularity. Those who participate love the flexibility of the work. In many cases, they can run their business through their smartphone after downloading an app provided by the employer.
Schedule Gigs Around Your Job Search Schedule
Many people make their entire income through the gig economy, working for multiple outlets or just one. However, the majority of workers are part-time for a variety of reasons.
As you can see, picking up a gig or two while searching for your full time dream job can be extremely helpful. You'll still have the flexibility to work around the time you need to devote to job searching, networking and going to interviews. However, you'll also be able to earn money during your hiatus from full time employment.
Explore a New Skill, Talent or Interest
Many of these gigs require just basic skills that just about everyone already has, such as driving a car. However, there are also freelance gigs for those who have interest or proficiency in graphic design, appliance repair, video editing, and much more.
If you're between jobs and stressing about bills, consider trying out the gig economy. You're only required to commit to one gig at a time, so there's tremendous flexibility every step of the way. And who knows; you may enjoy it so much you'll dive into the gig economy full time!


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Believe me, this is the most difficult post to write. I have been typing, deleting, typing, deleting… and I am still here!
I have been thinking of stopping blogging altogether. Because I am running on empty.
Yesterday, I have my first batch of printed materials out for my church's 40 Days of Purpose Campaign out. I am quite amazed by the result –
I have the blog setup and updated now and then –
I have also updated the Jubilee Celebrations blog at Wesley Golden Jubilee.
How could I have done all these when I am actually running on empty?
It's the presence of the Lord, loved ones, friends and even friends in blogging world…
So, I am here now, after I am on a
Yes, on second thoughts, why don't I just let myself run on empty at the other "home" and close this temporarily? Meet you there! Fill my tank, please!


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Sorry I have nothing more exciting to share, but this is what I've been up to the past couple of days. Taxes. No more need be said.
After procrastinating until the last minute I am racing through this paperwork trying to get finished as quickly as possible. I've promised myself that I can create some new stuff as soon as I'm done. I do have a few orders that I have to do tomorrow, but that's work. Enjoyable work. But still work. I'm itching to make something new!
Hopefully tomorrow I can manage to share a better and more exciting photo. :)


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College Student Life | All Colleges
10 Things To Do To Make The Most Of Your Travels
By Purva Indulkar of K.P.B. Hinduja College, Mumbai 07/29/14
Here are 10 simple things you need to do to immerse yourself deeply in a foreign culture while traveling abroad.
1.Read up on the history
Homework is simply an important aspect of planning a trip abroad. The amount of extensive effort you put into gathering information, the more you will know when you reach there. Learning about the major historical events which occurred in that particular area will help you learn why the locals have certain political and religious. If you are going to Spain, to example, reading up on the Spanish Civil War will help you see the massive impact it had on the ideologies of the people and explain the intense rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid.
2. Learn the language
This might be very difficult but it is essential to make an effort in this area. Learning the basics of the language will help you gain special favours from locals (you might find out about secret hangout spots other tourists are unaware of) and can give you a deep understanding into the psyche of the country as a whole. Also, depending on how much of the language you learn, watching Godard films without needing subtitles is definitely a major achievement.
3. Try cooking food from the local cuisine
Once you visit a new country, trying local foods in crowded restaurants frequented by the locals is a must. Going to a Michelin Stared restaurant and eating delicacies made by international chefs should also be on your bucket list depending on your finances. But while you are still in your house or dorm try making simple recipes such a tiramisu in a coffee cup if you are visiting Italy or making mini-baklavas.
4. Learn a typical hobby from that area
We all go on vacations and buy gifts for our friends but while buying intricate hand fans in Seville for your Grandmother is a must, she will also be equally impressed if you show her a routine of flamenco that you learned. You don't have to be a professional, just watch some videos on YouTube to down the basics and then when you finally reach there you can dazzle the locals and gain some more friends.
5. Also learn something that people from only that area know.
It doesn't have to be a very popular or majorly followed activity but it should be something unique. You can learn to dance the samba anywhere; you don't have to go to Rio de Janeiro for that! But if you are going to some place learn something small but intimate. Learn some ancient Chinese folk-tales in Hong Kong or how to make rice cakes wrapped in coconut leaves in Vietnam, these are small things but it is not something anyone can learn anywhere.
6. Do your research
The more you know about something, the more you realize how much you don't know. Every street in England has witnessed some history, every bar in Dublin was visited by at least one literary genius- you research can help you find out hidden gems around the area. You can arrive and visit the areas your guide takes you too, but your research will help you find things that are below the surface and will help you decide which places you do not want to miss.
7. Plan extensively
If you do some dedicated research planning become very easy. Simply jot down the places that you do not want to miss under any circumstances and make it a point. Are there any haunted or abandoned buildings you want to photograph? Do you want to try that fish that, if cooked incorrectly, can poison you? Do you want to visit the same pub that Charles Dickens went to while writing 'Great Expectations'? Plan all of the smallest details and then you can have a wonderful adventure! Mixing your planning with flexibility will ensure you can get the most out of each day.
8. Ask your teachers while on study abroad
They are the walking-talking encyclopedias who are not intimidating to they talk about the things they are passionate about. They will be overjoyed to oblige. Who doesn't like talking about their city and country? If you are visiting Paris, ask them about the mystery behind Mona Lisa's identity. If you are going to the Vatican, ask them about Bernini's theologically prominent sculpting.
9. Immerse yourself in their literature
The only way to pretend that you are already in New Zealand is if you read books that are based in New Zealand. Don't just read the books that are best sellers, read the stuff that the locals grew up reading. If you are going to London, acquainting yourself with the vast universe of Shakespeare is a must. If you are going to France, read up on some biographies of Marie Antoinette.
10. Do not ignore the effect of religion
Religion may not be your cup of tea but we cannot neglect the influence that religion has had on shaping civilization. Read about the Blue Mosque if you are going to Istanbul or a Buddhist monastery if you are trekking in Nepal. It will tell you what makes the locals sensitive and gives them strength.
If you are genuinely passionate about travelling, it will be very easy for you to jump head-on into unfamiliar culture. But even if you don't follow the above travel tips due to time constraints and end up going on vacation tomorrow without any preparation- remember to keep an open mind. You can make the most of your once-in-a-lifetime experience if you admire the culture, even if you don't agree with it.


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running, reading, and empty fields--all essential to my happiness and my go-to forms of procrastination.
puzzles. I like long-term projects, cross-cultural investigations and anything that allows me to be a modern-day Sherlock. My favorite stories are ones about humans, history, and home.
campfire, and the taste of lemon drops after runs in Oregon's Steens Mountain Wilderness.
jumping into the deep end. Got one for me?


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Radiants (New York) (Male Group) – Ra Cha Cha/ I'll Never Be Mean, '58 (Wizz 713) (Book cross-referenced this Radiants group to all the listed Valentinos groups. It is unconfirmed what, if any, relationship there is to these Valentinos group.)
Valentinos (Bronx NY) (ref Gilbert Valentin) – Let Me Be Your Girl/ A Kiss From Your Lips, '60 (Brunswick 55171) (Also released on same # asby Originals (ref Sonia Rivera). Gilbert Valentin was formerly connected to the Casanovas on Planet.)
Valentinos (Bronx NY) error – Mr Magic Moon, '63 (Kapp) (All sources indicate this is only by the Gleams on Kapp 565.)
Pearl McKinnon (BB The Valentinos) – Little Boy And Girl (U-tube of UGHA performance on 08-25-01) (This posting is FYI only. Pearl McKinnon was a female sound-alike-Frankie Lymon associated with the Kodaks/Kodoks and Deltars. The Valentinos named on the you.tube post are unknown.)
Valentinos (Acapella Group) (Members are unknown.)
– Whatcha Know New/ Easy To Fall In Love, '82 (Clifton 70)
– Peppermint Stick/ Moonglow, '82 (Crystal Ball 147)
– I Miei Giorni Felici/ On Sunday Afternoon, '92 (Clifton 101)


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SAS redefines seating policy on all aircraft
On Sunday June 9th 2013, SAS is launching its brand new service concept: SAS Go and SAS Plus, to replace Business Class, Economy Extra and Economy Classes.
This change reflects SAS' rigorous on going investment strategy to offer its customers the most modern flight experience in Europe.
After a very smooth transition, bookings opened on Saturday June 1st with the first flight taking off on June 9th.
The new service concept was developed in close dialogue with SAS' customers and employees and through suggestions posted through My SAS Idea, SAS' open forum for ideas.
"The service classes that were created 30 years ago do not reflect the needs of the modern traveller.
"Time is now in short supply for most people, and our passengers want time efficiency and attractive prices, without any hidden charges.
"SAS Go and SAS Plus meet both of these needs," said Richard Gustafson, chief executive, SAS.
The number of passengers who travel more than five times a year is increasing.
Traditionally, flying used to be divided into business journeys and leisure journeys, but passengers now want the same convenience and comfort whether they are travelling on business or for leisure.
"SAS' most important job is to get customers where they want to go, when they want to go, and to do this as simply as possible.
"Modern passengers want simplicity and convenience on their journeys, when they are travelling both for business or pleasure.
"These two new attractive service classes we are launching give these passengers exactly what they want," added Gustafson.
The prices for SAS Go are similar to the prices of the old Economy tickets.
With SAS Plus, passengers get better value for money as the 'from price' is on average around 30 per cent lower than the 'from price' of today's flexible products.
And they include more services.
In the price of the new service classes are included more services than before.
SAS Go always includes a checked bag at no extra charge, newspapers, coffee or tea on board, as well as several services to save time, including mobile check-in, and seat selection.
SAS Plus includes two checked bags at no extra cost, SAS Fast Track, lounge access, meals and drinks on board, as well as double the number of EuroBonus points; all of this is on top of the benefits offered by SAS Go.
Breakfast is served to all passengers on domestic flights in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The move to SAS Go and SAS Plus also includes a brand new concept on board, with the traditional airplane tray being replaced by an airborne cafe.
The launch of Our Cafe will see all passengers on board being offered the same range of food and drink.


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"Let it buffer." is the first Kleenex Girl Wonder album of songs written (in practice spaces) and recorded (in pro studios) by the band, and it shows: huge guitars, thunderous bass, and pounding rhythmic production lay the groundwork for Graham Smith's philosophically acrobatic lyrics.
This is the deluxe preorder. It includes the LP (with download code) or CD, along with:
- 13 9"x9" art-works (1 per song) by Brian Musikoff
- 4-color uncut proof Thoth Tarot deck with original art by Greg and Fake (11 x 17 poster)
- "Komplete Greatest Works vol. 1," a 30-song cassette with gems from KGW's early years


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Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation--Costs
B-401068.12: Mar 22, 2013
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
(202) 512-8278
Kenneth E. Patton
(202) 512-8205
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS) requests that this Office recommend reimbursement of the costs WPS incurred in filing and pursuing its protest challenging the award of a contract by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to National Government Services, Inc. (NGS) pursuant to request for proposals (RFP) No. CMS-2007-0013 to perform Medicare claims administration services.
We grant WPS's request in part and deny it in part.
Matter of: Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation--Costs
File: B-401068.12
Date: March 22, 2013
Steven S. Diamond, Esq., Ronald A. Schechter, Esq., Cameron W. Fogle, Esq., Stuart W. Turner, Esq., Emma V. Broomfield, Esq., Lauren L. Schlanger, Esq., and Derrick L. Williams, Esq., Arnold & Porter LLP, for the protester.
Jamie B. Insley, Esq., and Brian E. Hildebrandt, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency.
Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., and Sharon L. Larkin, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
GAO recommends reimbursement of protest costs where agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in response to a clearly meritorious protest that challenged the agencys evaluation of proposed personnel, but limits recommendation to the costs reasonably related to protesters pursuit of that clearly meritorious issue.
Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS) requests that this Office recommend reimbursement of the costs WPS incurred in filing and pursuing its protest challenging the award of a contract by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to National Government Services, Inc. (NGS) pursuant to request for proposals (RFP) No. CMS-2007-0013 to perform Medicare claims administration services.
We grant WPSs request in part and deny it in part.
In August 2007 CMS first published the solicitation at issue, seeking proposals to perform a cost-plus-award-fee contract as the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) in a geographic area identified as jurisdiction 6 (J6). Following the selection of an awardee in 2009, protests were filed challenging that selection decision. Thereafter, the agency cancelled the award, amended the solicitation, and sought new proposals.
As amended, the solicitation provided for award based on the proposal offering the best value to the government after considering two evaluation factors: offeror capability and cost/price. The offeror capability factor was divided into two subfactors: past performance and technical understanding.
With regard to demonstrating technical understanding, the solicitation required, among other things, that:
The Offeror shall submit a staffing plan that presents/outlines the Offerors staffing strategy for providing and retaining qualified personnel for the life of the contract across the prime and subcontractors. The Offeror shall identify the total number of FTEs [full time equivalent personnel] required for each CLIN [contract line item number] of the contract.
. . . . .
For each labor category, the Offeror shall provide a description of the activities performed and the minimal education and/or experience requirements.
. . . . .
The Offeror shall provide its proposed labor mix for performing the requirements of the SOW [statement of work]. . . . At a minimum, the Offeror shall provide its direct labor . . . by labor category, number of hours and FTEs.[[1]]
RFP at 108.
Initial proposals responding to the amended solicitation were submitted in July 2010. Thereafter, discussions were conducted and final proposal revisions (FPR) were submitted. In submitting its FPR, NGS significantly decreased the number of full time equivalent (FTE) personnel it proposed to perform the contract requirements, and changed the applicable labor categories for many of its proposed personnel. In evaluating NGSs FPR, the agency concluded that NGS had failed to provide sufficient information to support what the agency described as NGSs dramatic reduction in FTEs. Agency Report (AR), Tab 4a, Final Technical Evaluation Report, at 56. Specifically, the agencys contemporaneous evaluation documentation stated:
In the Technical Proposal, [NGS] failed to adequately document its approach or how this dramatic reduction in FTEs in some areas will enable it to perform at the same level in order to meet CMS requirements. For example, [NGS] did not indicate how it will impact its [redacted][2] strategy or how it [will] perform [redacted] without a [redacted] as originally proposed to perform [redacted]; [NGS] eliminated and/or reduced positions in many categories; for example, [redacted] positions were significantly reduced, [redacted] were inconsistently represented, and [redacted] staff were reduced from approximately [redacted] FTEs to approximately [redacted] FTEs. All reductions in the technical proposal are without explanation quantifying these reductions.
Nonetheless, the agency thereafter sampled a limited number of the contracts functional requirements, and concluded that a significant portion of NGSs proposed reductions were acceptable. AR, Dec. 14, 2011, at 6. In September 2011, the agency selected NGSs proposal for award. WPSs protest followed.[3]
In challenging the agencys September 2011 source selection decision, WPS challenged the agencys evaluation of NGSs FPR with regard to its reduction of FTEs. First Supp. Protest, Nov. 14, 2011, at 2-3. Additionally, WPS protested virtually every other aspect of the agencys evaluation of both WPSs and NGSs proposals. For example, WPS challenged the agencys evaluation of WPSs past performance, complaining that the agency focus[ed] on isolated audit findings and ignored WPSs responses to those findings, Protest, Oct. 24, 2011, at 8-10;[4] challenged the agencys evaluation of its technical proposal, complaining that the agency erroneously criticized the experience of WPSs proposed personnel and should have awarded more strengths for WPSs key personnel and proposed management team, Second Supp. Protest, Dec. 2, 2011, at 13-21; challenged the agencys determination that NGSs technical proposal demonstrated a superior understanding with regard to the solicitations home health and hospice (HH&H) workload,[5] First Supp. Protest, Nov. 14, 2011, at 39-40; and challenged the cost/price evaluation with regard to both offerors proposals. Second Supp. Protest, Dec. 2, 2011, at 60-78.
Following the agencys responses to all of WPSs protest allegations, this Office conducted a two-day hearing during which testimony was provided by various witnesses. Thereafter, the GAO attorney handling the protest conducted a conference call with the parties, advising that the protest would likely be sustained on the basis of the agencys evaluation of NGSs FTE reduction.[6] In response, the agency advised our Office that it would take corrective action, elaborating that it would either reevaluate proposals on the basis of the existing record or reopen the procurement and request proposal revisions.[7] E-mail from CMS to GAO, Jan. 25, 2012. Accordingly, we dismissed WPSs protest. Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corp., B-401068.8, B-401068.10, B-401068.11, Jan. 26, 2012.
On February 10, WPS submitted this request for our recommendation that WPS be reimbursed for the costs of all issue[s] pursued in its protest. Request for Reimbursement, Feb. 10, 2012, at 2. We grant WPSs request in part and deny it in part.
When a procuring agency takes corrective action in response to a protest, we may recommend that the agency reimburse the protester its protest costs where, based on the circumstances of the case, we determine that the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest. Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. § 21.8(e)(2007); Pemco Aeroplex, Inc.--Recon. and Costs, B-275587.5, B-275587.6, Oct. 14, 1997, 97-2 CPD ¶ 102 at 5. Nevertheless, we will not recommend reimbursement of protest costs in every case where an agency takes corrective action but, rather, only where an agency delays taking corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest allegation. Information Ventures, Inc.--Costs, B-294580.2 et al., Dec. 6, 2004, 2004 CPD ¶ 244 at 2; Triple Canopy, Inc.--Costs, B-310566.9, B-400437.4, Mar. 25, 2009, 2009 CPD ¶ 62 at 2-3. Further, we will not recommend that a protesters recovery of protest costs extend to issues that are not clearly meritorious where such issues are clearly severable from clearly meritorious issues. See Sodexho Mgmt., Inc.--Costs, B-289605.3, Aug. 6, 2003, 2003 CPD ¶ 136 at 29.
Here, the record establishes that WPSs protest challenging the agencys evaluation of NGSs insufficiently documented reduction of FTEs in its FPR was clearly meritorious. Further, this issue was first raised in the supplemental protest WPS filed on November 14, 2011. In responding to this specific issue, the agency maintained that its evaluation of NGSs FPR was proper--first, defending its evaluation in the agency report submitted to our Office on December 14 and, thereafter, during the hearing conducted by our Office on January 12-13, 2012. Following the hearing, the agency took corrective action on January 25. A reasonable agency inquiry into WPSs allegation would have revealed facts showing the absence of a defensible legal position. Accordingly, we conclude that the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest, and we recommend reimbursement of WPSs protest costs that are reasonably related to pursuit of this issue.
In contrast, none of the multiple other protest allegations raised by WPS met the clearly meritorious standard necessary for our cost reimbursement recommendation. For example, WPSs various complaints regarding the evaluation of both offerors past performance and its challenges to the evaluation of its own proposal with regard to technical understanding and cost/price were not clearly meritorious; further, we view these issues as severable. Accordingly, we decline to recommend reimbursement of WPSs protest costs with regard to protest issues that are not reasonably related to the agencys evaluation of NGSs FTE reduction.
WPSs request for our recommendation that it be reimbursed its protest costs is granted in part and denied in part.
Susan A. Poling
General Counsel
[1] Similarly, in connection with calculating the cost/price associated with each offerors proposal, the solicitation required each offeror to provide a crosswalk to the CLIN templates for the FTEs identified for each workload category. RFP, attach. J-07, Basis of Estimate Instructions, at 2.
[2] We have redacted protected information from this decision.
[3] WPS filed its initial protest on October 24, 2011, filed its first supplemental protest on November 14, and filed its second supplemental protest on December 2.
[4] WPSs also challenged the agencys evaluation of NGSs past performance.
[5] CMS views the HH&H requirements as presenting unusual challenges, including a high propensity for fraud. See AR, Tab 3a, Source Selection Decision, at 11.
[6] Pursuant to GAOs Bid Protest Regulations and our established practice, the GAO attorney handling a protest may conduct outcome prediction alternative dispute resolution (ADR) by advising the parties of what the likely outcome will be. See 4 C.F.R. §§ 21.10(e),(f) (2102); Pond Sec. Group Italia JV--Costs, B-400149.2, Mar. 19, 2009, 2009 CPD ¶ 61 at n.1.
[7] In February 2012, the agency reopened the procurement, conducted discussions with the offerors, and requested and received proposal revisions.
May 20, 2019
Ace Info Solutions, Inc.--Costs
We grant the request in part and deny the request in part.
May 17, 2019
Computer World Services
We deny the protest.
Pilot Xpress, LLC
We deny the protest.
CloudFirstJV, LLC--Costs
We grant CloudFirst's request.
IntelliDyne, LLC
We deny the protest.
Environmental Restoration, LLC
We deny the protest.
May 16, 2019
May 15, 2019
AeroSage, LLC
We deny the protest in part and dismiss the protest in part.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here


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· Ensuring all transactions are checked, approved and accounted correctly.
· Supervises accounting staff in the day to day operations of one or more accounting functions, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, ledger maintenance, revenue and asset accounting as well as associated analysis and reporting. In addition to supervisory role, Accounting Supervisors are also expected to participate in basic accounting functions, such as logging payments and maintaining financial records.
· Oversees calculating, posting, and verification of financial data for use in maintaining accounting and statistical records.
· Maintains the integrity of accounting records by ensuring that staff complies with organization accounting policies and procedures.
· Thorough knowledge of functional areas and departmental processes and budgets.
· Coordinating with internal and external audit teams.
· Generate month-end reports for finance department
· Cooperate and contribute as a team member with the finance team and more broadly in the company and group of companies.
Promote and exemplify a quality and low cost culture.
· Participate in a Quality Culture with the highest professional standards.
· Be respectful to others at all times in an environment of ethnic and gender diversity.
· Ability to engage with others in the department and in the company broadly to achieve stretch targets and contribute to the success of the company.
· Results oriented, particularly with meeting reporting or accounting deadlines.
Promote a "Low Cost" culture
· Contribute ideas for process improvements in the department.
· Continue to develop skills and qualifications of team members.
Accept feedback from others in the well-meaning spirit in which it is given.


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Cautious Fed sends stocks to record highs
Global stocks scaled record highs on Friday, capping their best week in over two months as the dollar stayed close to nine-month lows, with bets on a gradual U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike path and hopes for a strong earnings season boosting risk appetite. Ciara Lee reports.
Scaling record highs, global stocks ending the week on top. Asian equities rose for the fifth straight session, on signs the U.S. Federal Reserve will pursue a gradual rate tightening path. The MSCI World Index was almost 0.1 percent higher. Just a whisker below an all-time intraday high hit earlier and on track to end the week 1.6 percent higher. SOUNDBITE (English) OANDA SENIOR MARKET ANALYST, CRAIG ERLAM, SAYING: "When we see the Fed raising rates gradually I think that's something that markets tend to benefit from, the gradual raising of rates, a gradual rising of bond yields tends to signify a better economic situation, which would typically suggest that companies' earnings are going to rise as well." The reporting season to get underway with S&P 500 companies expected to report second-quarter earnings growth of 7.8 percent. But not all analysts are feeling so confident. SOUNDBITE (English) CMC Markets, Market Analyst, David Madden, saying: "Some of the economic data out of the United States hasn't been overly impressive. Also cast your mind back to earnings and updates we've had in the last three or four months, it hasn't been overly impressive. So there is a sense that the equity markets are boosted on big picture macro economic news because Miss Yellen isn't too keen on raising rates any time soon. But that's also sort of left traders in a wait and see mode." European shares were poised for their best week in more than two months on signs that major central banks would likely not tighten monetary policy. Stock markets have come a long way since they slid last month on the view that the era of easy money might be coming to an end. But investors have been soothed by a run of more dovish comments from central bankers. Concerns may now turn to Trump. Big criticism over the plan to dismantle Obamacare... and its potential to vex investors.


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Winter SolsticeReviewing: Dunne Books Winter Solstice | Rating:
I guess I've read every novel and short story written by British author Rosamunde Pilcher. She is absolutely my all-time favorite writer, and "Winter Solstice" is my favorite of the favorites. It's also her most recent book and according to Pilcher, unfortunately her last.
Pilcher takes the reader inside the lives of several characters in England and Scotland. She weaves their lives together effortlessly, telling several stories at the same time. In this book, her main character is Elfrida, an elderly lady who befriends a gentleman named Oscar and moves with him to Scotland.
I love the way Pilcher involves you in details -- the food, the way the homes are decorated, the shopping list. Her writing makes you want to pay a long visit to these characters. She is adept at family stories. Don't miss this great read!