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We found some really cool water activities for kids here at the EPA site
Thirstin's Wacky Water Adventure Activity Book PDF (16pp, 566K) - A collection of activities and coloring book pages.
* This link will open up a large file that may take several minutes to open based on your internet connection speed
Feel free to send us your finished pictures to share here too.
older kids / teenagers / Teachers
Help us "Face the Environmental Bullies "
Some of you may want to speak out against the threats to our local Environmental issues . Here are some ways YOU CAN HELP !
1) You are never too young to speak up for Your environment.
We welcome you to come with Your parents and stand up with us at our future rallies . Come to our meetings and learn about "What is happening around us like ... 8 million Tons of Coal ash to be Dumped in Lee county , Fracking coming to NC , Quarries TOO close to People!" .
Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside.
Find out about these events by clicking
2) You can help us to come up with Youth Related activities ! Give us ideas .
3) Make Posters for us to share here and bring to rallies and protest .
4) JOIN EnvironmentaLEE , become a volunteer .
5) Do a fundraiser for us .
Check the other tabs at the top for more information and flyers too


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It is a long way from Darlington to Pebble Beach, especially if you have to go via China and Florida for good measure.
Throw in a cancelled flight, a £353 taxi ride and a mislaid set of clubs and it is fair to say England's Callum Tarren has had one of the strangest journeys to the US Open of anyone in the 156-man field.
After graduating from college in the United States, Tarren returned to north-east England and took a variety of jobs to finance his professional career, but after missing out on a European Tour card, the 28-year-old opted to chance his arm in China.
The ultimate goal was a coveted place on the lucrative PGA Tour and after two years of solid performances, Tarren went into the final event of the 2018 season knowing a victory would secure his place on the next rung down on the ladder, the Web.com Tour.
A closing 62 left Tarren in second place and believing he had agonisingly missed out, only to be told that the only man ahead of him on the money list had bogeyed the 18th hole, meaning he had won the Order of Merit by around £250.
So far in 2019 Tarren has a best finish of 12th on the Web.com Tour but – after missing the cut in his most recent start in South Carolina – he headed to Florida for a 36-hole US Open qualifier and promptly won it with rounds of 64 – a course record – and 68 to book his place at Pebble Beach.
"I had no expectations after missing out by a shot last year (by three-putting the final hole) and thought 'just go for it'," Tarren told Press Association Sport.
"I had nothing to lose, everything to gain and came out of the blocks flying.
"I was seven under through 10 and shooting nine under in the morning just set me up for a good solid round in the afternoon. We only had 20 minutes between rounds so it was a quick bite to eat and straight out again.
"To be honest I felt a bit rushed but I got off to a great start again with an eagle on the first and birdie on the second.
"I had a bit of a wobble with a double bogey on the 12th but when I got finished, to be told I'm in the US Open was just unbelievable. I was so happy and I'm glad I'm here."
It was not all plain sailing from there however, Tarren experiencing the kind of nightmare journey he hoped he had left behind in China, when cancelled flights and nights sleeping on airport floors were all too common.
"We flew from Atlanta to San Francisco and were supposed to be flying to Monterey on Sunday night," he explained.
"We were about to leave but someone dropped an iPhone charger in the doorway and when they shut the door it crushed the charger and bent the door.
"We had to deplane and they had to pressurise the cabin to see if there was any leak. There was so they cancelled the flight and we took a USD 450 taxi to get here.
"They said the baggage would come on Monday morning so we went to the airport at 8am. My case was the second one out but my golf clubs had been re-routed to New Orleans and Denver and no one knew why."
Tarren borrowed a set of clubs for a Monday practice round with Tyrrell Hatton and was reunited with his own set that evening, leaving the world number 459 to fully embrace his first major appearance.
"The number one player in the world is over there hitting chips," Tarren said as he stood on the putting green.
"It's quite surreal but at the end of the day they're just normal people. They're great golfers and I look up to everyone but this is where I want to be.
"I love playing in America and I feel as though my game has been a lot more solid than my results have shown and for one reason or another I just haven't pieced it all together.
"But hopefully the qualifier and this week can kick-start the season and I can finish the season strong.
"I feel as though I can win out there and get onto the main tour. It's just a case of doing it."

subset: commoncrawl


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"Pride, Dignity, & Loyalty For The People Of Fulton County."
- Sheriff Jackson
Inmate Information
This database is offered by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office as a service to the public and members of the Fulton County justice system. It is updated once per day and, as such, no warranty is expressed or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of any information obtained through the use of this service.
Click here for Inmate Information


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*this post contains PR samples unless indicated otherwise


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Two weeks ago at this time, I was starting to have some contractions. In one sense it seems like forever ago, but in another it seems like just yesterday. I realize that makes little to no sense, but oh well. These past two weeks have been a blast. I'm really enjoying having two girls, and by God's grace, it hasn't been as challenging as I thought it would be. Getting up in the mornings is difficult, but thanks to DVR we have an endless supply of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I can lay on the couch and rest some more for an episode or two (or three or four...), knowing Charlotte won't be roaming around the house getting into trouble. I usually hit a brick wall in the afternoon, but the timing of Charlotte's nap with Naomi's feedings and naps have allowed me to sleep for an hour on most days.
Charlotte is still loving on her baby sister, but is not yet convinced that her name is Naomi. A coworker of Jared's asked her what her sister's name is and Charlotte answered "Baby". She still runs over to Naomi whenever she fusses or cries, which isn't often, and tells her, "It's okay, Baby." On the way home from the store yesterday, Naomi had a couple minutes of loud screaming, which Charlotte hadn't heard from her sister, and it really upset her. She has such a sweet heart :)
But enough talk, here's what everyone really wants... (they're in reverse order with the most recent first... I'm too lazy to change the order).
She managed to escape the swaddle
Look at those lips and cheeks!
Can you see the spit bubble?!
Staring at her Papa
Cuddling with her Grandmom
Charlotte holding Naomi for the first time
Giving Naomi some shade
Kissing her baby sister :)
Those cheeks!
The hospital picture... they managed one shot with her eyes open
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Naomi Faye
Two weeks ago at this time, I was starting to have some contractions. In one sense it seems like forever ago, but in another it seems like just yesterday. I realize that makes little to no sense, but oh well. These past two weeks have been a blast. I'm really enjoying having two girls, and by God's grace, it hasn't been as challenging as I thought it would be. Getting up in the mornings is difficult, but thanks to DVR we have an endless supply of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I can lay on the couch and rest some more for an episode or two (or three or four...), knowing Charlotte won't be roaming around the house getting into trouble. I usually hit a brick wall in the afternoon, but the timing of Charlotte's nap with Naomi's feedings and naps have allowed me to sleep for an hour on most days.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 9:08 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Life With Two
WARNING: Gushy, hormonal momma bragging on her babies in an excessively long post with no pictures. (Don't worry grandmas, I'll post more pictures in a day or two!)
I have officially survived my first week home with a toddler and a baby! Granted, this is only the second day I've been by myself with the girls all day, but still, quite the accomplishment, no?
Naomi is doing wonderfully. She has such a sweet disposition already and is a very relaxed and calm baby. She seems to be a typical second-born. The only times she has really fussed were when she had lots of air in her tummy or had an upset stomach from me eating too much dairy (Charlotte has issues with milk, as do I, but I didn't realize this until I weaned her to whole milk... What I thought was acid reflux when she was younger, I'm now pretty sure was lactose intolerance). But other than those couple of times of spitting up and burping enough air to fill a Macy's balloon, she hasn't really complained much. She is a cuddler, which I love, but she's also content to sit in her bouncy seat and look around.
Naomi is quite expressive. Her facial expressions crack us up. She's very ticklish, especially on her neck and cheeks, so of course she is
tortured tickled constantly by her Daddy. And I know they say babies can't smile or laugh at this age, but I am dead serious, she giggled in her sleep on Monday night. The belly and chest were bouncing, she had the biggest smile on her face, and she even made a giggling sound. Oh how I wish we had it on video! It was priceless!
How She's Sleeping and Eating
Naomi is a great sleeper! She has slept through just about everything. Jared was blowing off the back porch and the only thing between him and Naomi in her bassinet was about three feet and a sliding glass door. She was not phased one bit. Nor has she been phased by Charlotte's giggles, squeals, and loud talking.
Because she is such a great sleeper, she has a hard time waking up enough to take a full feeding through the night, so she tends to wake up every 2 hours. Last night I let her squirm for a little while and she got herself back to sleep so that when she did wake up to eat around the 3 hour mark, she was a more awake and ate more. I have a tendency to be a bit delirious through the night though, so when I hear her stir, I jump up thinking she needs to eat right away. After trying to wake her for a couple minutes, I've had enough time to come to and realize there's no waking her.
Breastfeeding has been much easier this time around. Not nearly as difficult or painful. For some reason she doesn't have a great latch on the left side so she takes in more air, but it seems to be getting better.
How Charlotte Is Adjusting
Charlotte has done a great job adjusting to the role of big sister. We have yet to convince her that her name is "Naomi" rather than "Baby", even though we talked about Naomi for months. She hasn't made the connection that the two are one and the same. :) She loves giving her kisses and gets very concerned when Naomi fusses or cries. She comforts her by saying, "It's okay, Baby. It's okay." Melts a Momma's heart! She hasn't shown any aggression towards Naomi and there haven't been any displays of jealousy. The only hint of anything of the sort was yesterday when I was feeding Naomi and Charlotte wanted me to see something in her room. I told her I had to finish feeding Naomi but as soon as I was done I would go with her. She looked at me with the most serious expression on her face and said, "Baby night-night. Baby in bed," telling me to just put the baby in her bed. It was a simple solution in her mind!
It took her a few days to realize that Naomi would be sticking around. One morning when either Jared or one of our moms was here, I walked out of the bedroom with Naomi in my arms, and when Charlotte saw her she said, "Baby again?!" Yes, Baby again... and you may notice a trend of Baby again from here on out :)
Labor and Delivery
I've had lots of questions about the labor and delivery. I guess that's what happens when you're only 5'1" and you birth a 9 lb. 3 oz. baby! I started having contractions around 9:45 on Sunday evening. They were 3-5 minutes apart but weren't really intense as far as contractions go. They continued throughout the night but didn't get any more intense for a while, and even started to get more time between them. I got really scared that it was false labor, especially since we had called/texted some of the family and we had 4 people here awaiting her arrival. Around 6 a.m. Monday morning they got much more intense and I was certain she would be born that day (December 7th, Pearl Harbor day and Charlotte's due date). We left for the hospital right at 8:00 and thankfully traffic was not an issue. I started bawling on the way there because I realized I had just hugged Charlotte for the last time as my only child. That still makes me tear up. Hormonal much?
The nurse checked my dilation and said that I was 7 cm dilated. I could have done cartwheels! When they first checked me with Charlotte I was 2-3 and progressed very slowly. Having all those small numbers behind me was so encouraging. By the time the doctor came in to check me, I was at 8 and he went ahead and broke my water. It wasn't long before I was at 9, then seemed to hang out around there forever. I felt the urge to push before the cervix was completely gone so I had to fight through that. Torture. Pure torture. Especially since the nurse was demonstrating how to blow through the contractions by blowing right in my face. I'm too nice to say anything, even in labor, but in my head I was throwing a pack of Tic-Tacs at her.
After maybe 15 minutes or so of feeling like I needed to push, I finally got the green light and began pushing away. It only took 15 minutes of pushing (as opposed to 20 with Charlotte), but it was much more intense and painful this time around. I guess an extra two pounds squeezing out will do that. I'm also really bad about pushing "with my face"- holding my breath and tightening all the muscles in my face while I push- so I managed to pop a blood vessel (or two or three) in my eye, which I did with Charlotte as well, but this time I also got lots of splotchy freckly bruise type marks on my face. They're faded now, but let me tell ya, I was scary looking for a few days! Red eye with a splotchy, swollen face. It wasn't pretty, ya'll!
Funny story about being pretty during labor... Shannon came to meet her niece and complimented the pearl earrings I was wearing. I laughed and told her that I had been planning for a while to wear them when I delivered Naomi. I had looked back at the pictures right after Charlotte was born and realized how horrible I looked. At the time, I couldn't have cared any less about that, but now when I see myself in those pictures I think, "Yikes!" And the Southern gal that I am, I believe pearls not only make any woman look better, they'll make you feel prettier too. So for the last month the only earrings I would wear were my ridiculously fake pearls so I would be ready for labor the moment it happened :) (Hindsight: The pearls really didn't do much for me looking better. They're pretty, but apparently not miracle workers.)
Almost immediately after delivering Charlotte I was sure that I would want to do that again. In the middle of delivering Naomi and even for a few days afterwards, I was pretty sure that would be my last delivery. It was just so much more intense this time around that I knew the rest of our children would be adopted. But a week has passed and I'm on board with the possibility of another pregnancy and delivery. The recovery has been much easier this time. I'm exhausted, yes, but I feel better than I did after Charlotte.
I was able to have another completely natural, drug-free delivery, which I am very grateful for, but I do have to give a lot of credit to my wonderful husband who coached and encouraged me through it all. After my delivery with Charlotte, he kept saying that Tim Tebow wore Brittany Rollins pajamas (a reference to the "Chuck Norris wears Tim Tebow pajamas" saying that was so popular amongst those in the Gator Nation). Naomi's birth was right after a game that doesn't need to be remembered so no Tebow references were made this time, but Jared was encouraging and supportive throughout the entire process. I know I would not have been able to make it through naturally if he weren't by my side.
Life With Our Girls
Having two is not as challenging as I expected it to be. Granted we're only one week into it, but things seem easier this time around. I'm not as nervous or anxious, I don't feel the need to call the pediatrician for every little spit up. I feel like I can enjoy it more now that we're parenting experts ;) But I really am enjoying it so much. I love saying "our girls." I love snuggling with a tiny baby again. I love seeing Charlotte give her baby sister kisses. I love that we're experiencing all of this for the second time at the same time of year that we did with Charlotte. I love the shock that I get when I put down Naomi and pick up Charlotte. She's not a baby anymore and having Naomi has made me realize just how far from the baby stage Charlotte really is. It has made me appreciate how much she is growing and changing, even within this past week.
God is so good to us. I can't get over how great of a life we have.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 7:42 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Welcome Naomi Faye!
Naomi Faye Rollins
Born 12/07/09 at 10:18 a.m.
9 lbs, 3 oz
21.5 inches
She is finally here! God has continued to bless our family beyond what we could imagine. I just cannot get over how much love I feel for my husband and my girls. Girls, did you catch that? It's plural. We have two now!
The hospital wouldn't allow any children under 5 in the labor/delivery area, so it was Wednesday before Charlotte was able to meet her little sister. Wednesday also happened to be our 3rd wedding anniversary! On the way home with my wonderful husband sitting beside me, our two daughters sitting in the back seat, and the first time we were all together as a family of four, it was easy to say that it was one of the best days of my life.
I'll post more pictures later, but here are a few to hold you over...
Her Daddy is already smitten
Snuggling with her Grammy
Meeting her Toto
Charlotte loves giving Naomi kisses and loved that she came home wearing a bracelet
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 7:17 PM 7 comments Links to this post
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Her Name Is...
Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll for Naomi's middle name! Kate was by far the most popular, with Lynn and Anne following, respectively. We also had a write-in for "Olivia" (thanks Stephanie!), but were really only drawn to a one syllable middle name for some reason. Having a one syllable middle name will be easier to yell when she's getting into trouble :) We also realized that we were favoring names with a long A sound. So after much deliberation, our daughter's name shall be...
Naomi Faye!
Yeah, I know, hate us that it wasn't even on the list. We fell in love with it a day or so after I made the poll. But that was one of the rules, remember? "As the ones who contributed DNA to this child, we reserve the right to pick the least popular, the one you didn't vote for, or one that isn't even on the list."
Faye also happens to be the middle name of my best friend, but I got her permission and she's on board with it too :) We weren't seeking out to use a name of someone in the family or someone we know (we actually tried to avoid that, as illustrated by us not using the name Olivia as a first name), but our families are too large and we know too many people to completely avoid that. And if Naomi will have to have a namesake, she could do much worse than her Aunt Shannon.
Whew! What a load off now that we have our child named! Now we're ready for the labor and delivery part... take a hint, Uterus!
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 8:21 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
STILL pregnant
Charlotte came three weeks early so I am in disbelief that I am still pregnant. Seriously. Every pregnancy is different, I know that. I've had so many women tell me, "Oh, my first was three days early, my second was a week late..." But I always silently thought, "Yeah, but three weeks early is a little different than three days or even one week." Then Jared's boss had to go and tell Jared that one of his kids came three weeks early and the other one came two days late. Heart-Breaking. So I'm trying to get it into my head that I might be dealing with the aches, pains, and discomforts of pregnancy for two or more weeks still. But I'm still hoping, praying, and keeping my fingers crossed that Naomi will be here sooner rather than later! In the meantime, I'll do my best to focus on enjoying the movements, kicks, and hiccups that carrying such a blessing brings.
Pretend like the lighting isn't absolutely horrific and that the mirror doesn't have toothpaste splattered all over it. But look how low I'm carrying her! It has to be soon, right?
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 7:00 AM 6 comments Links to this post
Monday, November 30, 2009
Christmas Traditions
The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year! And definitely not because of the after Christmas sales. I'm not brave enough (or crazy enough:) to go out in the wee hours of the morning and jab some elbows into other mommas on a mission for the latest toys. We continued our family tradition of going to WalMart to "cut" our tree. I don't know if it was because we went to the newer (nicer!) store that was recently opened near us, but WalMart was much busier this year than it was in years past. It wasn't horribly busy, but the past two years the store was practically dead so it was a little bit of a shocker.
Anyway, we got our tree, along with a few tree-decorating essentials (sugar cookies and egg nog). While we were picking out the tree, I saw a pile of limb clippings off in the corner. They had some trees on display to show the different sizes, so I'm assuming the clippings were from those few trees. Jared laughed at me, but I snatched those things up! There was no one out there for me to ask if it was okay for me to take them, but the way they were just haphazardly tossed to the side, I can only imagine they were going to be thrown away. I didn't want those beauties bio-degrading in a landfill without serving some purpose for greater beauty, so I'm giving them a home throughout our home. On the mantel. Maybe a wreath. Who knows :)
We got home and thus began the decorating. Except not till the next day. Actually, the day after that. Sunday. That's when we decorated. On Friday we were too tired. On Saturday we went over to Lake City to have our third and final Thanksgiving meal. This time with some of the local Rollins family. Charlotte had a blast playing with James, and has since not stopped asking about him, Toto, Pop, and Mel ("May-el" as Charlotte says, with a little Southern accent). On the drive home, Charlotte started screaming for no reason. She's not the best travel companion. We stopped in Baldwin to let her get out of her car seat and go to the bathroom, hoping that she might just have to poop. No poop, but she did calm down, until we tried to put her back in her car seat. She started freaking out again. We asked if she wanted the baby's seat to ride beside her. It was just tossed in the backseat, but after we snapped it in the seat beside her she calmed down. Strange child.
So, Sunday afternoon we finally began the decorating of the tree. And here come the pictures...
Charlotte glitterfied. All of this glitter was previously on a Mickey Mouse ornament. I am expecting to find some glitter in the toilet in the next day or two.
You might notice the red puffy eye in the above picture. She got into a fight with another mosquito. The mosquito won. This is what it looked like this morning.
Please disregard the fact that she was wearing the same outfit this morning as she was last night. I may or may not have been too lazy to put pajamas on her before bedtime. And this may or may not be the first time this has happened.
I'm sure you can't even tell, but her favorite ornaments were the blue, glittery balls.
She saw the topper, recognized it as a star, and from then on has been calling it a hat
Hanging an ornament other than a blue, glittery ball
We ended the evening by reading a musical book, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to her
This time of year is special to begin with, but having a child to share in the excitement makes it all the more fun and special. She gets excited about seeing the decorations, lighted trees, and all the hooplah of the season. I know that's not what it's all about (it's really the hokey-pokey, right? haha:), and we're doing our best to teach her what the true meaning is, but it's so much more fun for me now that I have a family of my own who I can enjoy it with (or "with who/whom I can enjoy it", since you're not supposed to use a preposition to end a sentence with :)... I know that's the rule, but dadgummit, sometimes it just sounds better with a preposition at the end. And do you really expect someone who uses a word like "dadgummit" to follow all the rules of grammar?)
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 7:22 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Friday, November 27, 2009
Funny Book
Now that we are officially in the holiday season, which is heavily based on family traditions, I thought I would share with everyone one of our family traditions. It's not something specific to this time of year, but a fun tradition nonetheless.
While Jared, his brothers and sister were growing up, his parents kept a "Funny Book" for their family. They wrote down all of the funny things the kids said or did to make sure they wouldn't forget them and be able to recall them to their prom dates :) It's something that we've started for our family as well, and now that Charlotte has started talking, we've been adding to it more frequently. A lot of the stories aren't as funny when written out, but it at least helps us remember each story, and we can remember how funny it was at the time. Even if it was a "You had to be there..." sort of thing.
Here are a few stories from our Rollins Funny Book...
Prior to Brittany's Lingerie Shower, Jared asked…"Do women try on the lingerie for each other at a lingerie shower?"
On the Honeymoon, leaning back in his kayak off the coast of Maui while gently rocking back in forth in the swell, Jared mused…"This is just like lying in a hammock, only uncomfortable."
One night in September of 2007 we were going over our family verse (Col 3:17-20) and Jared asked Brittany if she thought she was submissive. Of course she said she was, so he asked her to give him an example of how/when she was submissive. She said "No, I don't wanna!"
While working together in the nursery at Grace Community Church, Brittany was watching one of the children, Zack, play with a ball. It was inflatable and clear and had two smaller balls inside of it. Brittany asked him, "Are you having fun with that ball, Zack?" Jared replied, "I don't know that I would call it that…" because he thought she had said, "Are you having fun with that ball sac?"
While watching the pre-game activities of a Florida State football game, Charlotte saw the flame lit on the spear and ran up to the TV and began trying to blow it out. (Approximately 22 months old)
While loading up the van to go visit family, Jared and Brittany were making several trips in and out of the garage. Charlotte could tell we were all going somewhere and grew tired of the in and out (and the let-down of when we would come back inside), so she looked to her Daddy and asked, "Hey! Wanna go?!" (2 years old)**
**A prime example of something that you just can't explain how funny it was in words. But just having this story written down will help us remember her expression and the tiresome sound in her voice as she was asking if we would like to go already.
And in full disclosure, I must admit that I have the most entries in our Funny Book. Apparently, I say more dumb things than Jared. Or at least the dumb things I say are funnier or more memorable. Such a good thing to be the best at, right?
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 8:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone has as many things to be thankful for as we do. I could list them all, but I don't want to make ya'll jealous and start coveting my life. My life sure isn't perfect, but seriously, I have it so good and am grateful to the Lord for His blessings.
We started off the morning by watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving while eating homemade bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. I remember seeing the Great Pumpkin and A Charlie Brown Christmas as a child, but I think this may have been the first time I saw A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It's hilarious, folks. Jared and I were cracking up throughout the whole thing. "A must-see family movie," says Brittany.
We had planned to have Thanksgiving lunch with my stepmom's family today, but because of her stepdad's health, the lunch at his place ended up being canceled. So plans changed sort of last minute to spend the day with my dad's family over in Hampton instead. My Dad is the oldest of 11 kids. Nope, not a typo. 11. As in eleven. They grew up on a farm so I guess needed the extra help for milking cows :) Anyway, I suppose when you have 11 kids and an umpteen number of grandkids (in the upwards of 25... plus those who've married... plus the great-grandbabies), you get used to last minute guests. And like every Southern family, there's always way more food than can be eaten. So we spent the afternoon visiting with the few who were there (only 25 or so. A very small crowd for a Meng gathering.). Charlotte enjoyed chasing Pop's dog around the house. Pop's dog endured being chased around the house by Charlotte.
Like all grandparents, Grandma and Pop have lots of pictures of their grandkids around the house. Jared was holding Charlotte and pointed to the picture below and asked her who it was.
Charlotte, very confidentely, answered, "Charlotte!"
Can you say "Mini-Me"?!
Seriously, how cute is that picture of Aaron and I? Our arms around each other and everything. I'm pretty sure candy or ice cream was involved to get that pose :)
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 8:03 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
ABCs and 123s
No comments about my awful singing, the unmade bed, or clothes hangers scattered on the floor. I was going to get the mess cleaned up, but just decided to keep it real for you :)
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 8:08 AM 4 comments Links to this post
Monday, November 23, 2009
Naomi's Middle Name
Naomi still does not have a middle name. Poor thing. But we now have a list of names that we like! Baby steps, right? ("Baby steps", how appropriate...)
Naomi Anne Rollins
Naomi Kate Rollins
Naomi Lynn Rollins
I've put a poll up on the right hand side of the page. Please vote for your favorite! The only rule is that you can't be offended if we don't pick the one you chose or whichever one wins. As the ones who contributed DNA to this child, we reserve the right to pick the least popular, the one you didn't vote for, or one that isn't even on the list. Contributing DNA makes one pretty powerful in these situations.
Picking a name this time around has been quite the challenge. With Charlotte, the name Charlotte popped into my head, I asked Jared how he liked it, he said it was a winner. A couple days later, he asked how I liked Michelle for a middle name. Thus was Charlotte Michelle. Naomi, on the other hand, was not quite as simple. We had a list of names we liked but none that we really loved. Actually, Naomi was never actually on the list. We had seen it several times on baby name websites and books, but it never popped out to us enough to put it on the list. Then one day, Ta-Da! There it was, suggested to me by Nymbler, a website that you can enter up to six names that you like and it will give a list of an infinite number of names that it thinks you might like as well. I seriously spent hours on that site. I saw Naomi, fell in love, e-mailed it to Jared, he like it, that was that. Whew! I never understood the parents who made lists of names and couldn't decide. You hear a name, you like it, that's your kid's name! Unfortunately, not always.
Funny story. Not super funny. Just sort of, huh, that's kind of funny...
The one name that Jared and I both really liked was Olivia. But there is a little girl in our church a few months younger than Charlotte named Olivia and we didn't want to be the copy-cat couple, especially since they would be so close in age. So Olivia wasn't an option.
A name that I liked from the beginning was Claire. But I didn't like the sound of Claire Rollins. The "r" sound at the end of Claire and beginning of Rollins was too hard to say. So that wasn't an option.
The other name that I really liked that Jared never got on board with was Vanessa. His reason? It made him think of the character on the Cosby Show and he didn't want someone else to come to mind when he heard his daughter's name. Okay, I can respect that.
But once he said that I realized that three of my favorite names were all characters from the Cosby Show. How funny is that?! I know, not super funny, but sort of, huh, that's kind of funny... Right? Humor me, folks.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 10:29 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Sunday, November 22, 2009
No, I'm Not Having Twins
Throughout the pregnancy with Charlotte and Naomi (yes, I'm still pregnant with Naomi...), I have been quite amazed and appalled by some of the things people choose to say to a pregnant woman. I will grant you that I am in a slightly more hormonal state (if you speak with Jared, he will likely exaggerate this condition of mine. Please feel free to ignore his opinion:), so I might be a tad more sensitive to some comments received, but I do strongly believe people need a filter between their minds and their mouths. What you say to a pregnant woman is likely to be translated differently than what you said or how you intended it. And you do not want to make a pregnant woman angry. Or cry. So for anyone who has not been pregnant or been around a pregnant woman to know how she thinks, here are some things to put on your "What Not To Say" list.
"Are you sure you're not having twins?" or "Are there two in there?"
No, kind sir or madam, but thank you for implying that I am large enough to have two beings inside of me.
"Wow, you're huge!"
Umm, thanks. No one likes being told this when they aren't pregnant. Why would being pregnant change this fact at all? C'mon, folks!
"Are you pregnant or just fat/gaining weight?"
Don't mention the words "fat" or "gaining weight" to a pregnant woman. At one of my appointments during Charlotte's pregnancy, a doctor told me that my weight gain was a little high. While I know it is his job to be concerned and keep me informed of the progress of the pregnancy, if even a doctor's comment about weight is translated in a pregnant woman's mind as, "You're fat and you have a chunky butt," the layperson commenting on the subject doesn't stand a chance of getting out of that conversation without great offense to her. And to be on the safe side, just never ask this question. One day you will ask it of someone who is not pregnant and you'll be in an "open mouth-insert foot" situation.
"Are the doctors concerned about your weight gain?"
Seriously? Did you seriously just ask that?
"You'll never make it to your due date"!
Thank you for implying that I am that large. Much appreciated.
"This is your second? No wonder you're showing so early." or "... No wonder you're so big."
For the most part, unless you're telling her that she looks great or is "all baby", it's best not to comment on her size. Ask her how she's feeling or how much longer till she's due. But comments about her size are generally going to be taken badly.
And about the stomach-touching... It's always a good idea to ask if this is okay. Especially if you don't know the person. If I were to approach a non-pregnant stranger and begin patting and rubbing their belly, they would likely look at me like I was insane. Please do not be surprised if I give you, dear stranger, the same look when you touch my baby belly. I don't so much mind the touching from people I know, but for some women, the belly is completely off-limits for everyone. Ask before you touch.
Now, I do understand that there are some women who have gone through their pregnancy feeling beautiful, love being told how large they are getting, and love having people touch all over their baby bellies. They are an anomaly. A rare breed. Not the average pregnant woman. For the sake of not having your head bitten off, assume that all pregnant women have a crazy case of raging hormones not to be reckoned with. Play it on the safe side. Tell her she's beautiful. If she's in the latter part of her pregnancy, she likely doesn't feel it. And even if she may not look beautiful on the outside, she is carrying a precious gift from God and that is a beautiful thing. And just typing that thought made me tear up. My hormones are fine, I swear :)
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 1:12 PM 5 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Happy Birthday, Charlotte!
I can barely believe it, but two years ago at this time, we were holding our precious newborn, "ooh"ing and "aww"ing over how cute she was, and "oh.my.goodness"ing over the fact that she came three weeks early. She has brought so much joy and so many smiles to our lives. It really is hard to remember what life was like before she was here, even though it was only a two short years ago.
We had a small, family party for her this past Saturday and she had a blast!
Apparently, she was not a fan of our singing
Much more content after blowing out the candles
Ready to tear into all the presents
A little mommy
And here are just a few of my favorite pictures from her first two years...
On her birth day, in the arms of her proud Daddy
As if she wasn't gift enough, she gave us her first smiles on Christmas day
How I coped with things when she was two months old :)
The day of her Dedication
Seriously, this smile melts my heart
Just over one year old at her Aunt Shannon's wedding
Looking so cute in her Christmas dress!
Taking care of business in her Daddy's office
Happy Birthday, Charlotte Michelle!
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 2:24 PM 6 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Last week we down to Disney with some of Jared's family and we had a blast! It was the first time Charlotte and her cousins, Anson & Ella, had been there. Like any excited parent, I took a ton of pictures and will just give you a recap of the day in photographs...
Charlotte and Ella in their limousine
I thought I would be smart and take a picture of the sign for the parking lot we were in... You can see how well that worked out...
Riding the "Choo-Choo"
Anson riding down a slide in Toon Town... I can't believe how tall and skinny he's getting!
Pop and his girls
I've never even thought of doing it that way before!
Riding the Winnie the Pooh ride
Waiting to fly on Dumbo!
Ella and her Prince Charming
Not a great picture of the two of us but it's better than the three previous we took
Ready for Mickey's PhilharMagic show. Charlotte giggled and squealled through the entire thing! It was so much fun just to watch her!
Little Minnie Mouse
Family photo op on the Jungle Cruise
The kids "steering" the boats
All three of the kids were so good throughout the day, despite this being the only nap taken (and it was only 40 minutes)!
And my favorite picture from the day: Charlotte on her Prince Charming's shoulders when she saw Mickey Mouse for the first time!
The postcard-worthiness of this photo with the castle in the background, combined with how excited she was to see Mickey (with a few pregnant hormones thrown in for good measure), I was fighting a few tears. Charlotte loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the first thing she asks for when waking up is "Mickey"), so she was thrilled to see him in the parade.
We could not have asked for a more perfect day. The weather was fantastic, the crowds and lines weren't too bad, and the kids behaved themselves all day long. I know Charlotte won't remember this trip, but she had so much fun and seeing her face light up at seeing Mickey was so worth the trip down there. Plus, kids under 3 get in for free! And this was only the first part of our long weekend- I'll try to share the rest of the photos tomorrow (try to contain the excitement, folks!)
Arin will be blogging about the trip soon, too, and as soon as she does, I'll likely
steal borrow some of her pictures :)
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 9:36 PM 3 comments Links to this post


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UN questions Vatican over child abuse cases
- Published
A major UN child rights protection body has asked the Vatican to disclose details of thousands of paedophilia cases involving Catholic clergy.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) made the request ahead of its hearing with Holy See officials, scheduled for January.
It is the first time the UN has asked for such a wide-ranging appraisal.
After taking office in March, Pope Francis said cracking down on sex abuse was vital for the Church's credibility.
He said the Vatican needed "to act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty".
His predecessor, Benedict XVI, had promised to rid his Church of the "filth" of clerical sex abuse.
Observers said he went further than ever before in tackling the legacy of abuse, though critics said that was not far enough, accusing him of failing to protect children from paedophile priests.
'Room for optimism'
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a legally-binding instrument which, once signed by member states, commits them to protecting and nurturing the most vulnerable in society.
The Geneva-based UNCRC, which governs the convention, sent a "list of issues" to the Vatican in view of obtaining "detailed information on all cases of child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns or brought to the attention of the Holy See".
The information relates to all cases between November 1995 and January 2014, the UN said.
The questionnaire seeks to establish whether "perpetrators of sexual crimes" were allowed to remain in contact with children and what legal action was taken against them.
The appraisal also asks whether reporting of suspected abuse was mandatory. In addition it includes queries about support for victims, and any incidents where complainants were silenced.
The British National Secular Society said there was "room for optimism that [Pope Francis] will try much harder than his predecessor to address this issue which has caused so much pain, made so much worse by the Church's actions and inactions over decades, if not centuries".
But observers say that although the Convention on the Rights of the Child is legally-binding, the Vatican may be able to refuse this request from the committee.
The appraisal comes ahead of Vatican officials due to appear before the UNCRC in January to be questioned over clerical paedophilia as well as other issues.
The Vatican recently set up new guidelines to prevent future abuse, stressing that it would help victims, forewarn minors, train future clergy, rehabilitate abusers and work alongside civil authorities.


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AMD Eyefinity 3-panel Mixed Resolution review -
Play your games in Eyefinity ... on different monitors
AMD recently added a new feature to their Catalyst 14.6 Beta drivers, you can now mix several monitor resolutions and still create an Eyefinity (multi-screen) gaming setup. Funky stuff as you can now finally put these old dusty monitors on your attic to use, and yeah we just had to check that out ourselves. So we will take two Full HD monitors and combine them with an odd WFHD (2560x1080) resolution monitor to see if AMD's story holds up. The end result we'll show you is something wide, very wide. To be able to actually games on such a massive resolution we will pair the setup with the beastly AMD Radeon R9 295x2 and will show you that multi-monitor experience.
In the past if you wanted to create an Eyefinity setup, your monitors all had to be of the same size and resolution. Back it up even further into the past and the monitors even needed to be of the same series and brand. A lot has changed and now with Catalyst 14.6 Beta this new driver brought a couple of interesting features to all ya gurus including Mantle support for laptops with Enduro configurations, JPEG Ddecoding acceleration and expanded color control capabilities. In this article however we'll talk about Eyefinity setup in 3x1 solely, yes with Catalyst 14.6 AMD brings mixed resolution support to the table.
But Hilbert - what exactly is mixed resolution support ?
Simply put it allows you to create a single Eyefinity display group while each monitor runs at a different resolution. The feature has become available as with this update Eyefinity received two new display modes, Fit and Expand, which join the traditional Fill mode. With Fit and Expand mode AMD can now adapt to and compensate for mismatched resolutions by creating a 'virtual' desktop that has a different resolution than the monitors. Obviously there are some ground rules to follow, but we will address these in this article. So yes, we'll look at Eyefinity3, we'll build fairly simple multi-monitor setup that entails three monitors out of which one has a different resolution.
Now we'll also show some performance numbers as we'll use that uber-sexy Radeon R9 295x2 dual-GPU marvel of a graphics card, and sure this is Guru3D.com my man, we're all about the numbers man. The end result will be creating a monitor resolution of 6720 x 1080 pixels (yeah baby!). As such we'll record some rather very wide high-definition footage and show you gaming videos in that MASSIVE monitor resolution.
Hawt darn .. this is going to be fun ! But first meet the threefold setup showing it all ...
Don't let the photo fool you - that's a width of 180 CM / 71 inches of gaming screens
We review AMDs Eyefinity 3-panel with Mixed Resolutions. A new feature added to their Catalyst 14.6 Beta drivers, you can now mix several monitor resolutions and still create an Eyefinity (multi-screen) gaming setup.


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Our immediate care clinics provide treatment for minor illnesses and/or injuries that do not require hospitalization but need direct attention, such as cuts, sprains, minor trauma, upper respiratory infections, stomachaches, headaches, dizziness, colds or muscle pain.
Walk-in appointments are available. If you experience a life-threatening injury or illness at any time, call 911 immediately or visit the nearest hospital emergency room.


text: [i:Vibes] :: View topic - Tritonal - Broken (Remixes) [OUT NOW] Guidelines FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Bookmarks Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Main Menu Frontpage News Reviews Interviews Party Reports Artist Profiles Label profiles Diaries Tutorials What is... Links Radio-info Interactive Forum User Stats Info FAQ Crew-info i:Vibes Info Site Updates Tritonal - Broken (Remixes) [OUT NOW] [i:Vibes] Forum Index -> Music discussion (trance, techno, progressive and other genres) View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message KrisAHead BouncerVibes: 119.62Joined: 24 Nov 2008Member #: 26,996Posts: 573 Post subject: Tritonal - Broken (Remixes) [OUT NOW] Artist: Tritonal & Jenaux feat. Adam Lambert Release: Broken (Remixes) Label: Enhanced Recordings Stream / Download: https://enhanced.lnk.to/BrokenR Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6dxkI0x5DN6ZTYgSh9fIJg Tritonal, Jenaux & Adam Lambert's super-collab 'Broken' saw the enigmatic production talents of two of the scene's leading lights combine with vocal royalty in the form of Adam Lambert. Resulting in a genre-crossing Original, 'Broken' returns once again in a stacked Remix package featuring some of Dance music's most in-demand... Cash Cash & Tritonal's previous record needs little introduction. Rapidly hitting millions of streams and seeing its own nation-wide tour, the Tritonal x Cash Cash formula is an unbridled hit-maker. Injecting their piano-led style into 'Broken' Cash Cash once again display their addictive touch with a glitchy, sun-soaked edit. Up next, US outfit Louis Vivet supply a typically breezy Remix. Filled with smooth, flowing leads and jumping percussive FX, Adam Lambert's impressive vocal is left to glide through in a exquisite Remix. Enhanced's very own label stalwart Thomas Hayes steps up with a reflective, string-led rework - infusing a welcome breath of Australian Summer into the release, along side trance luminaries Super8 & Tab who deliver a superb progressive rendition fit for those peak time main stage sets. Enhanced's young British talent Codeko brings a typically melodic, chord lead masterpiece while Danish prodigy Toby Green delivers a twisting, building Big Room monster. Rounding out the package, LA producers Savi & TELYKast roll up next with a bass-heavy entry exploring every audio avenue possible with Adam's encompassing vocal delivery flowing throughout. Just as diverse as the Original - the 'Broken' Remixes deliver 6 outstanding new versions from some of the scene's gifted newcomers & established names alike. Connect with Tritonal Facebook: https://facebook.com/Tritonal Twitter: https://twitter.com/tritonal SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/tritonalmusic Connect with Jenaux Facebook: https://facebook.com/Jenaux Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenauxmusic SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jenaux Connect with Adam Lambert Facebook: https://facebook.com/AdamLambert Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamlambert SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/adamofficial Connect with Enhanced: Website: http://enhancedmusic.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/EnhancedMusicLtd Twitter: http://twitter.com/enhanced_music YouTube: http://youtube.com/EnhancedRecordings SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/enhanced Instagram: http://enhan.co/EnhancedInsta Post rating: 0 Rate this post: Not logged in Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 1:06 pm Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First [i:Vibes] Forum Index -> Music discussion (trance, techno, progressive and other genres) All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Spam----------------Spam posts Music----------------Music discussion (trance, techno, progressive and other genres)EquipmentArtist and Label NewsRadio BroadcastsMusic Production and DJ Mix PromotionClub Listings Non-music related----------------Other discussionBuy & Sell [i:Vibes]----------------Site Feedback and Help Content Discussion----------------News DiscussionReview DiscussionInterview DiscussionTutorial DiscussionWhat is...Party ReportsArtist ProfilesLabel Profiles You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou can download files in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


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It was the last school day before Thanksgiving, and Traughber Junior High's lunchroom crackled with adolescent energy and anticipation of a holiday break starting in just a few hours.
Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the Oswego school were busy polishing off selections from a multiple-choice menu that included tacos, salads and chicken patties, and even a serving of turkey.
But when asked what the beverage of choice was, the students had a clear favorite.
"Chocolate milk," said several Traughber students scattered at different tables.
An estimated 75 percent of Traughber milk drinkers favor chocolate over plain, a percentage in line with a 2010 national survey that reported that flavored varieties made up 70 percent of milk consumed in schools.
Kids like the taste, and fat-free chocolate and other flavored milks have the same critical vitamins and minerals as white milk, experts say.
"Because we do offer the flavored milk, it gives those students who wouldn't normally drink milk an option," said Linda Porth, who manages Oswego Community Unit School District 308 food service for Aramark, a nationwide school food service provider.
"Should those flavored milks not be present, those children may not choose milk at all to drink and then they would (miss) the calcium and Vitamin D," she said.
In northwest suburban Township High School District 211, the state's largest high school district with about 12,500 students, more than 27,000 cartons of milk are consumed in a typical school week.
"Milk and calcium are a focus for us at both breakfast and lunch," said Lauren Hummel, District 211 director of food service. "Both flavored and unflavored milk offer students a good source of calcium and other essential nutrients that teenagers are often lacking in their diets.
"Without serving flavored milk, student consumption would decrease drastically," she said.
Milk served in schools — whether low-fat or no-fat, plain or flavored — contains the same nutrients, including calcium, potassium and vitamins A, D and B-12. Flavored milk, however, has a higher sugar level and up to 60 calories more per serving than plain milk.
The Elk Grove Village-based American Academy of Pediatrics says adequate calcium consumption during childhood and adolescence is critical in developing strong bones.
Not surprisingly, dairy industry groups advocate consumption of milk and other dairy products, especially as part of school meals. But state and other nationwide health and nutrition groups also enthusiastically back the benefits of low-fat, no-fat and flavored milks.
And two physicians writing in the American Academy of Pediatrics' AAP News said that added sugar and sweeteners used in flavored milk are not a big deal.
"Unflavored milk is lower in sugar than flavored milk," Drs. Jatinder J.S. Bhatia and Frank R. Greer wrote in April 2007. "However, given the importance of calcium, vitamin D and other key ingredients in the diet of children and adolescents, flavored milks could be a nice alternative since the contribution of added sugars to the overall diet of young children is minimal."
For parents, chocolate milk definitely rules.
A recent online survey of 1,247 parents of school-age children found that 84 percent feel chocolate milk is an acceptable beverage to serve in cafeterias.
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, also found that 75 percent felt that milk's health benefits outweighed concerns about added sugar.
Moreover, 71 percent felt that chocolate milk was not a contributing factor to childhood obesity.
"While there is additional sugar in flavored milk, the amount that is added is said to only (make up) about 3 percent of the added sugars in children's diets," Hummel said, "whereas sodas and fruit drinks make up 45 percent of added sugars in their diet."
But not every district fully embraces chocolate milk.
Concerns about childhood obesity led Barrington Community Unit School District 220 to drop flavored milk at elementary schools in 2008.
A year later, it was back — one day a week — after students persuaded district officials to change their minds.
"The real impetus for returning it one day a week came from the students themselves," said district spokesman Jeffrey Arnett. "We had a group of students at one elementary school in particular who petitioned the superintendent and the administration to reconsider."
So each Friday, students at the district's eight elementary schools have their choice of flavored milks.
"We call it our Flavored Milk Fridays," Arnett said.
It was the last school day before Thanksgiving, and Traughber Junior High's lunchroom crackled with adolescent energy and anticipation of a holiday break starting in just a few hours.


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Makeup Artistry
simply put, i love what i do. after 15 years in the wedding industry (24 years total in the beauty business) it's still exciting...always interesting...always fresh & new. i've worked with clients from all over the world, have had the distinct pleasure of working with the best professionals the wedding industry has to offer, and i STILL get excited to go to work each day. to say that i am blessed is truly an understatement.
lori j white
© 2020 Lori J White | ProPhoto 3 by NetRivet


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West Hollywood Mayor: Prop 8 Engaged New Generation of Activists
In the hours after the passage of California's voter-approved ban on marriage for same-sex couples, thousands of people marched down Santa Monica and Sunset Boulevards in West Hollywood to express their outrage. Others in neighboring Los Angeles, New York City and other cities across the country took part in similar protests.
Did Proposition 8 inspire a new generation of LGBT activists to fight for LGBT rights?
"When Prop 8 passed, at least here in California, a whole new group of activists were born because they felt the sting of discrimination and that's often what it takes," said West Hollywood Mayor John Duran during a Feb. 27 interview at a Starbucks along Santa Monica Boulevard.
Duran spoke to EDGE less than three weeks after a three-judge panel with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld now-retired Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker's Aug. 2010 decision that found Prop 8 unconstitutional. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled on Feb. 22 that the federal government cannot deny health insurance to the wife of a lesbian staff lawyer with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals under the Defense of Marriage Act. A new Field Poll that was released on Feb. 29 indicates that 59 percent of Californians now support nuptials for same-sex couples.
Beyond California, the movement for marriage for gays and lesbians has gained significant momentum in recent weeks.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on March 1 signed his state's marriage equality bill into law, while Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a similar measure on Feb. 13. New Jersey lawmakers approved a bill last month that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry in the Garden State, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it. Maine voters in November will consider a ballot initiative that would allow gays and lesbians to tie the knot.
North Carolina voters in May will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. Minnesotans will decide a similar ballot measure in November, while New Hampshire lawmakers are poised to vote on a bill later this month that would repeal their state's marriage equality law that took effect in 2010.
Duran said LGBT historians will actually look back at Prop 8's passage as a "blessing" because it "really engaged a whole new generation of activists" as the AIDS epidemic did in the early 1980s and the fight to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.
"When Proposition 8 passed, the next night we had 10,000 people in the street here because people got hurt by the passage of Prop 8," he said. "Prior to that, trying to organize people to lobby their assembly member or state senator-we had marriage bills in the state Legislature-it was like pulling teeth to try to get people involved. So sometimes negative political circumstances are the greatest mobilizing tool we have."
Duran noted that "Prop 8 babies" who became involved in the movement after the passage of the voter-approved ban on marriage for same-sex couples remain impatient over the lack of nuptials for gays and lesbians in the state. He said the majority of his city's older residents, however, look at the issue from a long-term perspective.
"Those generations who have been around a little longer who have suffered political setbacks along the way, whether it was on the issue of employment discrimination or HIV and AIDS or gays in the military-we know that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon," said Duran. "It's often three steps forward, two back. Two steps forward, one back. It's just the way it is."
Duran, who is a member of a coalition of mayors from across the country that includes Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, does not expect the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the Prop 8 case. He remains optimistic that same-sex couples will once again be able to marry in California by the end of the year.
"We're ready to go again in City Hall," said Duran.


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Watercolor Rainbows - Hand Tied Bow
Regular price $5.75
Unit price
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Our simple and sweet, hand-tied bow is made with 100% cotton and attached to your choice of soft nylon elastic or alligator clips. All bows are hand cut, sewn and secured to prevent tiny hands from untying.
- Small bows measure (3" by 2" inches)
- Big bows measure (4" by 2.5" inches)
*Due to their handmade nature, there will be slight variations from the picture in print placement and bow shape. Each bow is unique!


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A Transition to a Green Economy Can Assist in Fast Tracking Food Security and More Diverse and Productive Landscapes
INDIACSR News Network
Rio de Janeiro: The world urgently needs to focus on maintaining and boosting the underlying ecological foundations that support food production, which face growing threats from human activity, to help ensure food security for a growing population, a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said.
The report, Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems, finds that food security must embrace the environmental services nature provides if the world is to feed its seven billion inhabitants – a population predicted to climb to over nine billion by 2050.
Inefficiencies along the food delivery chain further complicate the challenge, and the report highlights that an estimated one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to 1.3 billion tons per year.
The debate on food security so far has largely revolved around availability, access, utilization and stability as the four pillars of food security, barely touching on the resource base and ecosystem services that prop up the whole food system.
The report aims to increase the focus on these crucial environmental aspects, which are being undermined by overfishing, unsustainable water use and other human activities. It also frames the debate in the context of the Green Economy, calling for food production and consumption practices that ensure productivity without undermining ecosystem services.
"The environment has been more of an afterthought in the debate about food security," said UNEP Chief Scientist Joseph Alcamo. "This is the first time that the scientific community has given us a complete picture of how the ecological basis of the food system is not only shaky but being really undermined."
While pointing out the current challenges, the report also offers a clear way forward to shore up the ecological foundations and improve food security. It issues recommendations on the redesign of sustainable agriculture systems, dietary changes and storage systems and new food standards to reduce waste.
"The era of seemingly ever-lasting production based upon maximizing inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, mining supplies of freshwater and fertile arable land and advancements linked to mechanization are hitting their limits, if indeed they have not already hit them," said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. "The world needs a green revolution but with a capital G: one that better understands how food is actually grown and produced in terms of the nature-based inputs provided by forests, freshwaters and biodiversity."
The report, produced in collaboration with other international organizations including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), took a holistic approach to analyzing the food system. Eleven scientists and experts authored the report, covering many different areas of expertise including food consumption patterns, agricultural production, marine fisheries and inland fisheries.
They found that while agriculture provides 90 per cent of the world's total caloric intake, and world fisheries provide the other 10 per cent, these life-supporting industries face many threats, all of which are exacerbated by underlying driving forces such as population growth, income growth and changing lifestyles/diets linked to urbanization.
The report identified the following specific threats to these systems:
Competition for water. Some experts believe that future food demands need to be met by additional irrigated land, but there is already strong competition from rapidly growing domestic and industrial water withdrawals,
Conventional agricultural practices have a variety of ecosystem impacts, such as a reduction of on-farm biodiversity and attendant increase in pests and disease, soil loss, eutrophication and contamination of ground water
Traditional agricultural practices, if practiced inappropriately, can lead to severe land degradation
Deforestation and pesticide contamination of lands adjacent to farmland degrade "off-farm biodiversity", impacting pollinators and natural pest control of crops
Climate change and its impacts will compound the preceding threats to agriculture by shifting crop-growing zones and bringing an eventual decrease in crop productivity.
Marine Fisheries
Overfishing is the foremost force in undermining the ecological basis of fisheries. The FAO estimated that as of 2008, 53 per cent of global marine stocks are fully exploited, 28 per cent are overexploited, 3 per cent are depleted, and 1 per cent are recovering from depletion
Loss of coastal habitat such as coral reefs and mangrove forests. At least 35 per cent of mangrove forests and 40 per cent of coral reefs have been destroyed or degraded over the last decades
Bottom trawling, dredging and destructive fishing practices such as the use of dynamite and cyanide, which lead to habitat loss or modification
Degradation of coastal water quality. Nutrient runoff causes coastal eutrophication, zones of severely reduced dissolved oxygen and depleted aquatic life. Over four hundred dead zones have been identified in coastal areas
Climate change will lead to warmer water and a more acidified ocean, with many impacts on marine fisheries. The IPCC projects a global loss of 18 per cent of the world's coral reefs in the next three decades, shrinking a crucial fish habitat.
Inland Fisheries
Infrastructure developments such as dam construction in river catchments are destroying or modifying inland fishery habitats. More than 50 per cent of the world's large rivers have been fragmented by dams on their main channel and 59 per cent on their tributaries
Land-use change and removal of vegetation cover leads to increased runoff, erosion and sediment pollution of water. Human activities have increased sediment flow into rivers by about 20 per cent worldwide
Agricultural expansion disrupts connectivity between floodplains and rivers – floodplains provide some of the most productive habitat for inland fisheries.
Agricultural runoff and domestic and industrial wastewater discharges are degrading the quality of many inland waters. Wastewater loadings to inland waters in Africa may increase by a factor of four to eight between the 1990s and 2050.
While the problems are many and varied, the report issues a raft of recommendations that can shore up the ecological foundations and create the conditions for sustainable food production.
"The solutions are to be found along the whole food value chain – from the farms that need to grow food more sustainability, through the large companies that need to certify that their products are from sustainable fisheries and farms, up to the consumer who needs to think seriously about switching to a sustainable diet," said Mr. Alcamo.
"Of course, we have to deal first and foremost with all the socio-economic issues having to do with food security – questions of access and affordability of food, and so on," he added. "But ultimately we won't have enough food to distribute unless we find out a way to produce it sustainably without destroying its ecological foundation."
Among the key recommendations for ushering in more sustainable agriculture and fisheries are the following:
Build centralized storage and cooling facilities for small-scale farmers to help get their produce to market faster, thus avoiding food loss
Promote sustainable diets to avoid that the trend that as consumers become more affluent their diet often becomes unhealthier, in particular promoting lower consumption of meat and dairy products in developed countries
Re-consider quality standards for food that lead to unnecessary wastage
Design sustainable agriculture, not only on individual farms, but scaling up to the landscape and national level. Examples are improving soil management, making agricultural water use more efficient and integrated nutrient management
Sustainable agriculture can be scaled up by supporting farmers, extending land tenure rights to farmers to encourage stewardship and rewarding farmers and farming communities for ecosystem stewardship
Economic strategies consistent with green economy thinking are also fundamental to scaling up sustainable agriculture, such as:
Eliminating subsidies that contribute to overfishing (the global fishery sector receives up to US$25-30 billion) and habitat destruction, and redirecting funds into investment for sustainable fishery management and capacity building.
Providing incentives for sustainable fisheries such as subsidies for conversion of fishing gears to less-damaging alternatives
Introducing fiscal measures such as taxation and levies on harvest volume and increased fines on illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing
Draw small shareholders into the global food economy and make them part of the system of certifying sustainable practices in agriculture and fisheries
Where technically feasible, maximum sustained yields" of marine fisheries should be calculated and adhered to with enforcement arrangements and economic incentives. In poorer countries and for small-scale marine fisheries, a "co-management" approach can work in which fishers might agree to fish size or species limitations, seasonal closures of fisheries
Establish networks of Aquatic Protected Areas
Conserve marine fisheries by reducing land-based pollution sources that lead to "dead zones" in coastal areas
In summary, the scientists pointed out that hunger cannot be alleviated nor famines avoided by simply shoring up the ecological foundation of the world food system, but that to neglect this aspect would hamper efforts in the other four pillars of food security.


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The nurse who killed herself after being duped by Australian radio pranksters pretending to be the Queen tried to commit suicide twice before, according to media reports.
The Daily Mail and the Telegraph report that Jacintha Saldanha, 46, a mother of four, was treated in intensive care at a hospital in Mangalore, India, in January, after reportedly falling from a building.
A little over a week earlier, she reportedly attempted to overdose on pills during a family visit to India.
But Saldanha's family told the Times of India she never opened up about her mental-health problems.
Her brother said he visited in her hospital after her January fall.
"Even this incident (in January) was not discussed at home for the knowledge of it would have hurt my ailing mother Carmine," said her brother, Naveen Saldanha. "We told her that Jacintha was admitted to hospital for blood pressure problems."
Saldanha was found dead Dec. 7, hanged from a wardrobe with injuries to her wrist. This was just days after she put the hoax call through to a colleague who disclosed details of the treatment being given to Prince William's wife Kate, who was in hospital suffering from acute morning sickness.
The prank made headlines around the world.
DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, whose show has been cancelled, have since issued a tearful apology.
London Police have asked prosecutors whether Greig's and Christian's actions warrant pressing charges.
More than 2,000 mourners turned up to Saldanha's funeral in India last week.
tap here to see other videos from our team.


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For years people have been telling me that relations, love and happiness are the most important things in life…At present I realise that I'm able to take or leave all that as long as I have this technological advancement in the world.
A new bionic hand has been unveiled that can be remote controlled via a smartphone app.
The app's developer, Touch Bionics, unveiled the groundbreaking application, along with their latest prosthetic hand, in April of this year.
The hand's artificial thumb is controlled by signals from the users arm muscles, which are interpreted by the hand's internal systems. However, in a world first, it can also be controlled, very simply, via the use of the new app.
The app features an array of preset positions that can be selected by the user tapping the screen with her/his thumb. When a position is selected, the prosthesis can react instantly, changing to 'thumbs up', 'just a little bit' or 'OK' positions easily. The app is not limited to simple positions, however, and more complicated functions, such as holding objects, handling documents and even typing, are featured as preset options.
In addition to the app, the bionic hand also features improved dexterity due to the presence of new extra-sensitive fingertip electrodes. In addition, the thumb can now move into 24 separate positions, made possible either by the user or the app.
The Bionic Touch app configures the hand positions into playlist-like folders such as 'work', which feature all hand positions regularly used at work (typing, using a mouse etc), so that the positions are within easy reach of the user.
The app itself also features training modes designed to help people learn to use it quickly and easily as well as diagnostic features that can interact with the hand itself and troubleshoot any possible problems.
The app has already received a measure of positive feedback from users, Bertolt Meyer, who uses the new hand, was quoted by 'New Scientist' as saying, "Powered thumb rotation, combined with the mobile app and quick access to all these new grips, gives me natural hand function that I never imagined would be possible,"
Learning to use a prosthetic limb is an extremely painful and frustrating process, but this app may just make the process a tiny bit easier for those who use it.


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Red Hat Calm in Face of Microsoft's Renewed Patent Claims
Submitted by Rahul 2007-10-11 Red Hat 26 Comments
Red Hat is taking a business-as-usual stance in the face of renewed rumblings from Microsoft's Steve Ballmer over the need for Red Hat Linux users to pay up. Ballmer has repeatedly claimed that Microsoft IP is found in Linux. "People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation to eventually compensate us," said Ballmer at a Microsoft event last week in London. But Red Hat itself has adopted a stance that keeps it above the Microsoft patent fray. "At this point, please reference our previous statements on this topic," said a Red Hat spokesman contacted Tuesday about Microsoft's statements on Red Hat Linux users. The spokesman pointed out a Red Hat blog posted "after the last FUD statements from Microsoft" in May, she said. Shuttleworth agrees.


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A 24-year-old doctor and environmentalist from Nigeria has won the 2013 World Environment Day blogging competition after picking up almost half of close to 70,000 votes cast in an online vote organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Charles Immanuel Akhimien was one of ten short-listed bloggers whose entries were posted on the World Environment Day website (www.unep.org/wed) where WED followers could choose their favourite entry. After securing first place with over 31,000 votes, Charles will travel to Mongolia in June 2013 to report on World Environment Day (WED) 2013.
"As a doctor, I have found that the state of our environment is directly related to our personal health, so I have decided to champion environmental issues," said Mr. Akhimien
"I look forward to seeing some of the two million trees planted across Mongolia's vast desert regions since 2011, and to observe how Mongolia is using renewable energy by exploiting its huge solar power potential," he added.
Over 100 international bloggers submitted entries to this year's UNEP competition on the theme of food waste. The competition was held in support of the 'Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint! campaign launched by UNEP,the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other partners earlier this year. Food waste and food loss is also the theme of WED 2013.
For the final phase of the competition, Mr. Akhimien wrote a blog on the role of social media in encouraging sustainable consumption.
His winning entry is available on the WED website: http://www.unep.org/wed/blog-competition/bloggers/blog/?blogger=charles
Previous winners of the WED Blogging Competition have reported from Rwanda, India and Brazil.
World Environment Day - organized by UNEP - is the single biggest day for positive action on the environment worldwide. It is celebrated each year on 5 June. Organizations and individuals across the world are encouraged to carry out an environmental activity in support of WED.
More information is available at: www.unep.org/wed/
Updates on WED 2013 are also available on UNEP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Look out for the hashtags #WED2013 and #ThinkEatSave .
Source: UNEP News
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


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The SH7254R Group incorporates peripheral functions necessary for system configuration such as floating-point operation unit (FPU), high-capacity ROM and RAM, direct memory access controller (DMAC), various timers, automotive direct memory access controller (A-DMAC), Renesas serial peripheral interface (RSPI), user break controller (UBC), advanced user debugger II (AUD-II), advanced timer unit III (ATU-III), serial communication interface (SCI), controller area network (RCAN-TL1), A/D converter (ADC), interrupt controller (INTC), and I/O ports.
The SH7256R Group is the upper compatible lineup of SH7254R with enhanced peripherals which include FlexRay controller.
Main Solutions
Key Features:
- High-performance RISC SH2A-FPU CPU core
- 200 MHz 3.3 V/5.0 V
- SH2A-FPU instructions (112 available)
- On-chip high-capacity memory
- Powerful peripheral functions
- Powerful timers: CMT x 2 ch + ATU-III
- A/D converter: 12-bit, 37 ch (28 + 9)
- Serial: 5 ch
- DMAC: 8 ch
- A-DMAC: 78 ch
- FlexRay: 2 ch
- RCAN: 4 ch
- RSPI: 3 ch
- I/O ports: 144
- INTC (interrupt controller), AUD-II, WDT, etc.
- Power-down modes
- Sleep, standby, and module standby function support
- Package
- PBGA2121-272(21mm x 21mm 1mm pitch)
Pin Count / Memory Size Lineup:
Below you will find information to support the development of your application.
You can find an explanation of orderable part numbers here.
Resources for Software and Hardware
|My Renesas
|Create a My Renesas account to use our tool download services, receive e-newsletter/update notifications, and take advantage of our other services.
|Information for studying and learning about microcontrollers and microprocessors.
|Frequently asked questions and useful hints for development.
|A forum and community site to share technical information, questions and opinions with others who use Renesas products.
|Watch videos related to this product.
The information contained herein has been provided by a member of Renesas Partners. This information is provided on the Renesas website provided for convenience and informational purposes only. Renesas is not responsible for the contents of this page or any changes or updates to the information posted on this page. Certain links provided herein permit you to leave this site and enter non-Renesas sites. These linked sites are not under control of Renesas. Renesas is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any changes or updates to such sites. These links are provided for convenience and informational purposes only. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Renesas of any linked site.
Renesas's Publication of information regarding third-party products or services does not constitute an endorsement regarding the suitability of such products or services or a warranty, representation or endorsement of such products or services either alone or in combination with any of Renesas's product or service.


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We open with Adam Jones of Tool performing the national anthem on guitar.
The Miz & Alberto Del Rio & R Truth vs. Kofi Kingston & John Morrison & Rey Mysterio
Miz came out first alone, wielding a mic. He proclaimed that the most must see champion of all time has returned to Summerslam. He said that he wanted to thank each and every one of the fans for their insistence that he compete tonight and for all their unwavering support. He told them to sit back and steal the show as only he....
R Truth's music began and Truth came out. He said that he didn't know why The Miz would want to thank anyone in Los Angeles. He said that he hates spiders and they start with the letter "S" as does Summerslam. He tied Cee Lo Green into his conspiracy. He started in on the crowd, but Alberto Del Rio's music began. He came to the ring, where he got a nice positive reaction.
The babyfaces all made singular entrances as well.
Kingston and Miz started out. Miz ate a monkeyflip. Morrison tagged in and they doubled oin Miz. Miz was able to tag out to Truth. Morrison tackled him and slammed him into the turnbuckles. Morrison nailed a springboard kick to Truth's head. Truth came back with a big right and several kicks to the head. He charged Morrison in the corner but was kicked off.
Before Morrison could build any momentum, Miz shoved Morrison off the apron to the floor. Truth followed him down and slammed his face into the apron. Truth brought him back into the ring and locked in a rear chinlock after a snapmare. Miz tagged in and drilled Morrison with a kick to the chest for a two count. Miz cinched in a side chinlock, working over Morrison.
Morrison made his way to his feet. Miz went to pull him back down but Morrison kicked Miz as he went down and made the tag to Kofi. Kingston leapt in with a dropkick and followed up with several others. Miz manuevered him into the corner but was kicked off. Kingston hit a double jump bodypress for a two count. He fired up and nailed the Boom Boom Drop. Kingston set up for Trouble in Paradise but Miz ducked and went for the Skull Crushing Finale. Kingston reversed that into the SOS but Del Rio broke it up.
It broke down with the others battling. Miz nailed a cutter into a jawbreaker for a two count. That move will be stolen by everyone in a month. Truth tagged in and beat down Kingston. Truth lifted Kingston for a suplex and dropped him down. Del Rio tagged in. Big reaction for that.
Alberto nailed a textbook belly to back suplex for a two count and began mocking Kingston's mannerisms. Kingston kicked him away and almost made the tag but Miz cut him off and nailed a suplex. Kingston fired back but was cut off with a clothesline. Miz locked in another rear chinlock. Kingston fought back to his feet. He finally made the hot tag to Rey.
Rey came in with some hot offense on Truth and Miz. Truth went for a sunset flip but Rey rolled through and nailed a roundhouse kick to the head for a two count. Rey set him up for the 619. Miz got involved and was set up as well. Rey went for it but Del Rio tripped him up. Morrison dove on Rio. Rey nailed the 619 on Truth as Miz escaped. Miz was dispatched. Rey hit a top rope splash on Truth and scored the win.
Your winners, Kofi Kingston & John Morrison & Rey Mysterio
Good back and forth opener. I'd love to see WWE hold more six man tags on PPVs as it allows for all sorts of different combinations and fresh interactions. Rey was held out for the most part to protect his ailing knee but
Johnny Ace wanted WWE champ CM Punk to tell him that the kick on Raw was an accident and demanded a public apology. Punk just smirked and gave him a completely fake, asskissing apology. He smiled at Ace. Ace walked off and Punk sneered. He turned around and walked into Stephanie McMahon. She said she came to wish him luck. Punk said he finds that hard to believe and told her to run along to her husband or her father. They mentioned he's still Chairman of the Board. She told them that she spoke to both of them and they wished him and Cena luck, but what did she know, since she's just the clueless daughter. Punk agreed and said, "but you said it, not me. I said idiotic." She offered her hand and he said, "I would but I know where that hand has been" and walked off. Pretty entertaining. Stephanie's appearance didn't get the reaction you'd expect.
Video feature on Mark Henry. Really well done.
Mark Henry vs. Sheamus
Henry used his power to control Sheamus early. Sheamus fired back with a series of shots across the face and back, taking Henry down to one knee. Henry returned fire and they slugged it out. Sheamus was tossed to the floor. Henry continued the beating and brought Sheamus back to the ring, covering him for several near falls.
Henry set up Henry across the ropes and splashed him, doing the same move the Big Bossman used to do. The crowd reacted bigtime to that. Sheamus kicked up at two. The crowd began chanting for Henry. Sheamus fired back with punches but was caught with a backbreaker.
Henry continued the beating, whipping Sheamus into the corner. Henry went for the Vader Bomb splash off the ropes but Sheamus rolled out of the way. Sheamus made his way to hs feet first and drilled Henry with two big axehandles to the chest. Sheamus takes Henry down with another and begins dropping knee after knee.
Sheamus tied up Henry in the ropes and pummeled him with shot after shot across the chest. They clunked heads charging at the other. Sheamus made a comeback but missed the Brouge Kick and was taken down by Henry. Henry measured Sheamus and went for the World's Strongest Slam but Sheamus slipped over his shoulder and nailed the Brouge Kick. Henry went out through the ropes to the floor and was out.
Sheamus tried to pull Henry into the ring but Henry grabbed him and charged the ring barricade. They crashed through it and into the first row. Henry recovered first and returned to the ring. Sheamus struggled to return to the ring but didn't make it in by the ten count.
Your winner by countout, Mark Henry!
Solid match. Henry's aura and mannerisms improve by the week. They had some good back and forth exchanges and it was a solid slugfest. The ending was booked well as there's no way Sheamus lost any momentum with that finish. He will live to fight another day.
Josh Mathews interviewed World champion Christian. Christian promised that Orton was not leaving the PPV champion. Christian said he had an insurance policy and the entire WWE is the beneficiary. Christian said the match was going to be the epic Summer blockbuster while he's going to be like Harry Potter. He said Orton is going to be like Cowboy and Aliens, overproduced and overmatched flop.
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Florida Institute of Technology is currently searching for a Post-Masters Intern for The Scott Center for Autism Treatment. This is a full-time position.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Education/Skills required:
* Official transcript of all collegiate work must be sent directly from the attended institution to the Human Resources Office prior to the first day of employment. All international degrees must have a course-by-course official evaluation and translation sent to the Human Resources Office directly from an evaluation company affiliated with the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc. (NACES). *Required certification or license must be uploaded when submitting application for employment.
Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled


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Brad Paisley, LL Cool J deserve scorn and praise for 'Accidental Racist'
If you had asked me a week ago to guess which singer was about to set off a racial stink bomb on the Internet, Brad Paisley would not have been my answer.
But there he was on Monday, releasing a single titled "Accidental Racist" about a Southern man agonizing over the fact that his Confederate flag T-shirt upsets the (presumably black) man who waits on him at Starbucks. "I hope you understand, when I put on that T-shirt," Paisley sings, earnestness bubbling from every beat, "the only thing I meant to say is I'm a Skynyrd fan."
Oh, dear.
The often cringe-worthy lyrics depict a white southern man (Paisley hails from West Virginia) trying to navigate the thorny landscape of racism andbrutal legacy, "caught somewhere between southern pride and southern blame."
Then an LL Cool J rap enters the mix, and the song lurches from baffling to bizarre ("If you forget my gold chains, I'll forget the iron chains").It's hard to imagine that either man couldn't anticipate what was to come.
Big reaction
The song exploded on Twitter and other social media sites. The reaction was lightning swift and overwhelmingly unfavorable.
"Brad Paisley and LL Cool J Show How Not to Sing About the Confederate Flag," was Atlantic magazine's headline. Other posts used phrases like "awkward," "misguided," "regrettable" and "politely toxic" to describe the song. And those were the slavery's nicer reactions. Many others all but branded Paisley an ignorant redneck and ranked "Accidental Racist" as the worst "message" song ever written (somewhere, the guys who wrote "Billy Don't Be a Hero" sigh in relief").
As for LL Cool J, people seemed stunned and angry that he would serve as the voice of rapprochement in a song that can be accused of glossing over a disturbing chapter in American history. "C'mon LL," remarked Bay Area hip-hop activist and radio personality Davey D, "the iron chains can't be forgotten ... especially since those chains never left."
But the lion's share of the anger and derision was directed at Paisley, a surprising turn of events for a man who strikes me as one of the least provocative music superstars on the planet. I can't think of even one other time when he's been in the middle of a media blowup, especially one involving charges of racial insensitivity. He has always struck me as a steady, solid, obviously ambitious guy with a knack for turning out catchy, clever southern-fried country/rock, and whose flashiest moments come not from his mouth but from his fretwork (say what you want of him, Paisley is a gifted guitar player).
All of which made me think, "Wait a minute, is it possible Paisley could -- gulp! -- be getting a raw deal here?"
Well, maybe. A little.
I say this even though no one -- no one -- should claim to be surprised that the Confederate Flag is deeply offensive and hurtful to many people. I know some like to defend it as a stamp of southern pride and individualism, and nothing more, but you don't get to choose how symbols affect people, and this one will forever be associated with slavery and people who were willing to die to defend it.
Also, Paisley's lament that "our generation didn't start this nation, and we're still paying for the mistakes that a bunch of folks made long before we came," wrongly shoves the problem into the past tense. He should contact the Southern Poverty Law Center and ask researchers there if racial intolerance and hate-related violence are behind us.
Absence of malice
Despite all that, I don't think Paisley's a hateful person. I think he recorded "Accidental Racist" with the goal of raising questions that were troubling him (and maybe sell a few copies of his new album). And so the question becomes, if a country/pop singer decides to tackle a controversial, explosive topic, should he or she get at least a little credit for the effort, no matter how ineloquent and, yes, painful the results? A friend and colleague offered the term "noble failure" to describe the song, and I see some merit to that. The only trouble is when you fail on a topic that cuts as deeply as this one, it's going to hurt.
Few if any of Paisley's friends in the country music business have weighed in, either to defend or correct him, probably because none of them wants to get caught in the middle of a debate about racism. But to me, country music's silence on the matter, and its avoidance of such topics in general, is more damning than anything Paisley has done.
It's easy for a smug writer such as myself to slag on a guy like Paisley who exhibits what seems a dangerously outdated perspective on racism. But that perspective exists, no doubt in great numbers, and Paisley, to his credit, put it out there, earnestly, unabashedly and without malice, knowing his reputation would take a hit (for now, anyway, although wet paint dries fast on the Internet).
Maybe the best response isn't to jump on Paisley like he's a child murderer and walk away satisfied that we, of course, hold the only acceptable attitudes about racism. Maybe a better response is to engage in the dialogue Paisley seems to be inviting, even if the invitation makes you wince. Maybe one thing we should take away from the song is one of its few winning lines, delivered by LL Cool J:
"You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would."