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I took just a smidge more than a week off because my three nephews were visiting, and they are considerably more than a handful. The oldest just turned 9, the middle one is 6, and the youngest is 3. My sister is something of a saint, no? I foolishly thought I'd have time to update during their visit, but I'm happy to report that I was SO wrong and spent every moment I could with my three favorite gentlemen.
I am also super happy to report that The Charlotte Gusay Literary Agency requested a full manuscript. I shared the news on my Facebook page, and someone commented, "No. They sent me the same letter. They want money," or something to that effect. I did some research and it seems they do ask for $35, which is not something literary agents typically do. However, the latest incident reported was five years ago and $35 seems a small fee if the agency likes my manuscript and wishes to work with me. I wonder how much of the online reporting is reliable, and how much of it is colored by pissed off people who never made it.
No reward without the risk, right? That being said, I sent an email – which I now regret – inquiring about the "fee." I hope they don't think I'm a jerk, unprofessional, or unwilling to pursue this offer. I act impulsively most of the time, which has mostly proved problematic and left me with more than a handful regrets. But that's not an invitation to a pity party; only a smooth segue to this week's blog post.
Enjoy! Read. Comment. Share.
WEEKLY WRITING PROMPT #4.2017: "He's attractive, he's funny, he's rich. Why am I not interested?"
The leather couch looked fancy as hell. It was made of brown tufted leather, the upholstery buttons had a warm golden finish, and the actual shape of the couch was kind of urban and retro. It did not scream comfort so much as it did elegance, so it was exactly the kind of couch one would picture being in a reputable yet chic therapist's office. The couch perfectly matched the mahogany desk and bookshelves and everything was just so bourgeois and it made Gemma feel worse.
When she had stretched out along the sofa, the leather groaned and drew more attention to itself than Gemma had wanted. She knew, just knew, that Dr. Hoffmann was appraising her cheap cotton shirts and plain cotton tee-shirt, sizing her up to be something worse than what she was (if that was even possible). Gemma should have dressed for the occasion, but what does one wear to their second therapist appointment? She didn't know; she didn't know anything, really. And the only instruction Dr. Hoffmann had given was to talk. But what should she talk about? She had chewed her bottom lip for a minute or two in agonizing silence before Dr. Hoffmann finally offered some direction: "How's the love life?"
Gemma barked a laugh, a masculine guffaw that she immediately regretted, that embarrassed her. She covered her burning face with her hands and apologized. Gently, Dr. Hoffmann reminded her that she had nothing to apologize for and asked about that interesting, swift response. "It's been complicated," Gemma said. She slid her hands down her face, stretching the skin and smearing her makeup. "I had my heart broken or whatever – I mean, I guess it was pretty traumatic – but there's this new guy now. He's attractive, he's funny, he's rich." Gemma groaned. "Why am I not interested?"
"Well, I think the answer to that question is fairly obvious, don't you?"
Gemma bolted upright. It wasn't Dr. Hoffmann's voice that had asked the question, but someone else. It was someone she had never ever wanted to see again, and someone she hoped she bumped into randomly every day. It was strong but melodic, unremarkable but wonderful, full of contradictions just like its owner, who had been so beautiful and awful all at once. Slowly, like a B-actress in the climax of a fairly predictable horror movie, she turned her neck to the side and saw him sitting in the chair, looking as handsome and smug as ever. It was the heart breaker himself, Jax.
His real name was Ajax; his terribly pretentious parents had actually named him after a Greek god, and its meaning was "powerful eagle," or something equally as absurd when not living in Ancient Greece. Maybe it wasn't Jax's fault he was a complete and total douche bag but more a fulfillment of destiny. How could a guy be anything but a twat waffle with a name like that? His future of seersucker pants and canvas boat shoes had been inescapable. And Gemma had fallen for it, had fallen for it hard.
Gemma was furious and wanted nothing more than to leap to her feet in a manner that exuded that anger and some confidence and she wanted to be intimidating. But her thighs ripping from the leather and the way the leather groaned whenever she made the slightest movement made the whole thing unimpressive and lame. "You can't be here. This isn't possible."
"And yet here I am," Jax grinned, showing a quick flash of teeth before he smoothed his countenance into something so forced and serious it was comical. "Now, I'd really like to discuss this lack of interest in a suitable partner." He wasn't in his usual attire. He was wearing a tailored three-piece suit and looked every bit the medical professional. He even crossed one leg over the other, mindful of the fabric and of creating any unseemly creases.
"Go to hell," Gemma said. "That's none of your business. You need to leave." She surveyed the room quickly. "How'd you even get in here?"
Jax rolled his eyes and his tone was impatient. "You brought me, obviously."
Gemma shut her eyes tight and shook her head. This didn't make sense, couldn't actually be happening, and she had to come back to reality. "I need to find Dr. Hoffmann." She opened her eyes and headed towards the door. Gracefully, Jax moved to block her exit.
"Then what? You get someone to come in here and find that I'm gone? Or that Dr. Hoffmann's been here the whole time? They'll send you to a psychiatrist and you'll spend most of your remaining days heavily sedated." Jax smiled sadly. "Imagine the damper that'll put on your social life."
"So what is this? Why are you here?"
"You tell me."
Gemma gritted her teeth. "Don't act like you're a therapist and just tell -"
"No, no, I'm serious," Jax interrupted. "Believe me; I am not here of my own free will. You brought me here to deal with me."
"Deal with you? I'm so done with you, Jax," Gemma growled. She pushed past him and returned to the couch. She also returned to her prostrate position and returned to the idea that if she closed her eyes real tight and then opened them, this would all go away.
"That's obviously inaccurate. If it were true, you could have talked about me to Dr. Hoffmann no problem, but you tried to gloss it over and now here I am," Jax said. "And you won't look at me. And you can't date anyone else."
"That's not true," Gemma shouted. Her eyes popped open and she turned to look at Jax. "I didn't avoid discussing you, I just didn't know what to talk about. And I think it's perfectly normal for me to not relive every single disappointment with you."
"I was disappointing?" Jax asked, surprised.
Gemma rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling. "What would you call it when you think you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone and they just slowly phase you out? You stopped hanging out, you stopped calling and texting; it just ended."
"You wanted to spend the rest of your life with me?" Jax asked, touched.
Gemma didn't answer. She continued staring at the ceiling.
"If that's true, you didn't fight very hard."
"Seriously?" Gemma challenged. She sat up. "Danielle always says that if a guy wants to spend time with you, he will."
"Oh, and Danielle knows me really well, does she? She knows all the intricacies of our relationship?"
Gemma faltered. "No, but -"
"It can't be all on me all the time, Gemma. Was I an asshole? Absolutely. You knew I was an asshole from the beginning though, to be fair." Gemma was about to protest but Jax continued. "But you kept me from being an asshole and I helped you be a little bit more of an asshole. That's why we worked. You made me a more thoughtful man and I helped you be less of a doormat."
"Why did we stop working?"
Jax looked away and shrugged. "I don't know. That's probably a conversation we should have though, isn't it?"
"Yes, definitely," Gemma said.
And Jax was gone. She was looking at a terribly confused Dr. Hoffmann. "Excuse me, Gemma? I asked you why you laughed."
Slowly, Gemma sat up. "What?"
Patiently, Dr. Hoffmann leaned forward and said, "When I asked you about your love life, you laughed. And then I asked you why you laughed, and you told me, 'Yes, definitely.' I'm just confused."
Gemma laughed. "Me too, Doc. Or at least I was." She looked around the room. "Do you think I could step out a moment? I just need to make a quick phone call."


text:
In this section you will find training and support materials for products and applications.
If you are a Communications Provider who wants to use Openreach's portfolio of products, our Customer Establishment Team will help you through the customer establishment process.
Openreach Customer Test Services (CTS) provide a range of facilities for you to test your systems and networks when you are establishing or upgrading to consume Openreach Equivalence Management Platform (EMP) products.
Click 'more' to access the customer service plans homepage. Access requires a customer login.

subset: commoncrawl


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The UN Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank say that a recent peace agreement has given Africa´s Great lakes region, which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, the "best chance for peace and economic development in many years."
In a joint Op-Ed published in many leading world newspapers, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General and Jim Yong Kim, the President of the World Bank, write that the region today has the chance to achieve something that has eluded its war-weary people for several decades. "It can silence the guns, boost trust and trade between neighbours, educate millions of out-of-school children, empower women, and create economic opportunities that will help the countries forge a path to prosperity, good governance, and lasting stability."
The Op-Ed is written on the eve of a joint trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda, where the UN and World Bank chiefs meet the region's leaders and announce a range of specific commitments to accelerate development and consolidate peace on the basis of an agreement signed by 11 countries in the region.
The pact was the fruit of a concerted effort between the United Nations, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union.
The two leaders warn that the implementation of the agreement will require hard work and point out that 70 percent of people in the DRC live on less than $1.25 a day and some 6.3 million people require food support; while sexual violence continues at appalling levels throughout the country. In addition, more than three million Congolese have fled their homes for safety, including 2.6 million displaced inside DRC and 450,000 refugees in neighbouring countries.
"By restarting economic activity and improving livelihoods in border areas, by promoting cross-border trade, by steadily increasing economic interdependence, by rooting out corruption, and by ensuring that natural resources are managed for the benefit of all, we can steadily build confidence and improve well-being, income, and opportunity," the UN Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank write in their joint Op-ed.
Written, Arni Snaevarr, Nordic Desk
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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Equity futures are up this morning, seesawing in a rising symmetrical pattern. The dollar is up fairly sharply with the Euro still descending with the lower channel trendline. Oil is up slightly after a large decline yesterday; gold is down, correcting yesterday's up move.
The worthless MBA Purchase Applications fell deeper into record territory by losing another 4.1% in the past week. Refinancing activity, however, supposedly rose 2.4%. This fall in activity over the past month bodes ill for the home sales reports coming this June and July.
The number of layoff notices tracked by Challenger for the month of May grew over the month of April, here's Econoday:
Challenger's job-cut count held at a pre-recessionary 38,810 in May, little changed from April and compared against 111,182 in May last year. The report said state and local government, hit even harder now by budget gaps, is a key weakness. Otherwise it notes that summer is the slowest time for downsizing. This report supports expectations for sizable payroll gains in Friday's employment report.
Motor vehicle sales will be released throughout the day, and the Pending Home Sales Index is released at 10 Eastern this morning.
I know that it's hard to follow waves unless you're up on the Elliott Wave rules, but let's take a look at a daily chart of the SPX and RUT and discuss what we see and what McHugh sees:
To me this is an obvious leg one down into the flash crash pin lows, a wave 2 bounce, a wave 3 down that is followed by a wave 4 bounce, and what appears to be the beginning of wave 5 down. But that's not what McHugh sees and he's the expert, so I spent a little time trying to figure out why he sees it differently.
What he sees is the flash crash low as wave 1, then a wave 2 bounce, and then the decent into the most recent low as wave 1 of 3 (of 1), the bounce over the past few days as wave 2 of 3. He believes wave 2 is most likely comprised of an a,b,c and that we probably made most of b yesterday and are getting ready for wave c to take us up into the SPX 1,140 area. His alternative is that wave 2 truncated and that we just began wave 3 of 3 (of 1).
Why does he think that? Because on all the indices except the RUT, what I was counting as wave 3 is not as long as wave 1 if you count the flash crash pin as a part of wave 1. Therefore wave 3 must be longer, and that means that we were only looking at wave 1 of 3, follow? On the RUT, however, wave 3 exactly equals wave 1 and so it is possible that we made a wave 4 movement and are just starting wave 5 down.
The bottom line is that I think we do need to count the pin lows and that McHugh's count is most likely correct but we need to watch the action to see what the market is saying.
Yesterday's action was relatively benign until later in the day and then volume was quite heavy on the decline. Believe it or not, yesterday was another 90%+ down day (92%), the seventh since the April 26 high. Again, the ability for so much volume to be traded in the down direction on a day that was up for a good portion of the day shows how fast the HFT machines are at chasing the direction. This is not healthy for the market, it is a very bad omen in my opinion. Just imagine and let's say that the vast majority of the market liquidity comes from only 4 players… What happens when just one of the players decides, for whatever reason, to stop playing? Uh, huh – and we already know what happens when they all stop playing, that equals no bids – in other words no real market participants.
Yesterday at the close we did have some extreme readings, so I think we need to be on our toes today. Normally you would expect a fairly strong bounce following readings like that, but then again we are in the danger zone.
If McHugh is right about his count, it's quite bearish as wave 1 still has quite a way to go. Again, his possibilities are that we are either going to bounce here to finish wave 2 of 1, or that we have already begun wave 3 of 1. Subwave 3 of 3 will likely feel like a crash. Right now support is at 1,070, once we get below 1,040 we'll break the large H&S neckline and that will produce a target down around 860.
Are the fundamentals really that bearish? Yes, they are. Spain, whose top rated debt recently lost its AAA rating, has 5 times the amount of debt as Greece. Most of Greece's debt is held by banks in Europe. A large percentage of Spain's debt, however, is held by banks in the United States. When defaults or write downs happen, our banking system is going to be left standing naked and dramatically over leveraged – as in insolvent. This is inevitable. Why? Because incomes cannot possibly support the debt that's been created. Creating more debt will not work. The only reason our major financial institutions still stand today is because of accounting fraud – period.
Jim Morrison - When the Music's Over:


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Cheap Hotels in Paris, France
See all Hotels in Paris
Hotel | 1.9 km
We are a friendly 1* Hotel with easy access to all the tourist sites in beautiful Paris.from 25.97 USD
Hotel | 2.0 km
Hotel Gerando is a small, friendly hotel ideally in the heart of Montmartre.from 31.81 USD
Hotel | 4.0 km
Yooma Urban Lodge offers beautiful and modern private rooms for 2, 4 5 and 6 people near the Eiffel Tower.from 56.38 USD
Hotel | 2.2 km
Between Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Opera Bastille, Hotel des Arts is a Paris hotel offering budget private rooms in the La Bastille district.…Read more Charonne station is only 100m walk away, and Gare de Lyon is 15 minutes away.from 59.19 USD
Hotel | 2.2 km
Bonsejour Montmartre is an elegant hostel in Paris, located right in the heart of Montmartre near the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. The Opera and famous…Read more Champs Elysées are both only 20 minutes away, and the nearest station is Abbesses.from 41.07 USD
Hotel | 2.9 km
This basic 1-star hotel in Paris is conveniently situated in the 11th arrondissement, just a short walk away from the Canal Saint-Martin and…Read more the rue Oberkampf, famous for its nightlife.from 22.65 USD
Hotel | 3.5 km
This Parisian townhouse offers several beautifully-decorated studio apartments with private bathroom and kitchenette at great prices.from 42.28 USD
Hotel | 2.0 km
Why stay in a dorm, when you can have your own private room and bathroom? Located in the heart of historical Montmartre, Le Grand Hôtel de…Read more Clermont offers double and triple rooms with private bathrooms. On the ground floor, the world renowned Café Chez Ammad with more than a century of history, is still a meeting point for international artists and philosophers. The hotel is located less than 200 meter from Abbesses, Pigalle and Blanche metro. No TV = no noise at night Free high-speed Wi-Fi.from 44.82 USD
Hotel | 2.7 km
With a reasonable price, at the Hotel des Mines you may enjoy Paris charm and style. It's in the center of the capital.from 37.75 USD
Hotel | 2.1 km
Hotel Marignan offers an excellent quality and service with recently renovated rooms close to the historical center of Paris.from 37.75 USD
Hotel | 1.8 km
Villa des Princes is a a typical Parisian building built in the 17th century, located in Saint-Germain-des-Pres area, the very heart of Paris,…Read more between the Latin Quarter and Notre-Dame...from 66.44 USD
Hotel | 1.5 km
Welcome to the friendly Hotel Saint-Honore in Paris.from 89.39 USD
Hotel | 4.4 km
The hotel « café hôtel de l'avenir », is an ideally choice of accommodation for your stay in Paris. Customers staying during the month of November…Read more will receive a free welcome drink.from 35.64 USD
Hotel | 1.9 km
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Hotel | 2.9 km
Hotel du Globe 18 is located in the Montmartre area of Paris. You can easily access to the Sacré-Coeur by foot at only 5 minutes from the hotel…Read morefrom 27.18 USD
Hotel | 3.6 km
A budget two-star hotel in Northern Paris, only metres from Brochant metro station. Hotel Viator is a short walk to Montmartre, and close to…Read more both the Opera and Champs-Elysées.from 29.74 USD
Hotel | 2.5 km
The Eiffel Rive Gauche is situated on a lovely quiet street, in the heart of the triangle Tour Eiffel, Invalides and Champs-Elysées. This…Read more family run and owned hotel offers harmony and tranquility amidst the parisian bustle. The warm welcome and quality service will assure you a pleasant stay at the hotel Rive Gauche.from 138.52 USD
Hotel | 3.6 km
Hotel Le Villiers is a charming hotel in the heart of Paris, 10 minutes away from Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe!from 46.30 USD
Hotel | 3.3 km
Renovated in 2012, Hotel Angleterre Etoile offers a modern, comfortable place to stay perfectly located between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc…Read more the Triomphefrom 41.68 USD
Hotel | 2.7 km
We here at Sully Hotel provide an excellent service ideally located just a stone's throw away from lively area of the fashionable district with…Read more lots of entertainment close by.from 31.71 USD
Hotel | 0.2 km
Feel the charm of Oscar Wilde and enjoy contemporary comfort at Hotel Louvre Marsollier Opera, located in the heart of historical Paris.from 30.20 USD
Hotel | 1.8 km
A two-star Paris hotel located near the Butte Montmartre and the Opera district, Riviera provides an ideal base from which to explore the city.…Read more The Sacré Coeur, Musée Grévin, Moulin Rouge, Opéra Garnier and Place Vendôme are all a short walk away.from 39.26 USD
Hotel | 2.0 km
Perfect for Eurostar travellers, this two-star Paris hotel is located a quick walk from both Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est. All rooms were refurbished…Read more in 2007, and some boast views of the Eiffel Tower. The Sacré Coeur, Montmartre and Canal Saint Martin are only minutes walk away, alongside numerous shops, bars and bistros. Promotional offer: Breakfast is free until the 2nd of February.from 23.76 USD
Hotel | 1.9 km
Luxelthe Hotel offers nice rooms and a staff available 24h in the heart of Montmartre, right in the center of Paris!from 39.26 USD
Hotel | 4.0 km
A favourite for sightseers, the two-star Korner Eiffel Hotel in Paris is located just fifteen minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower in the commercial…Read more Beau Grenelle district. The Seine River and French Statue of Liberty are also only 10 minutes walk away, and Charles Michels station is metres from the hotel.from 69.46 USD
Hotel | 1.0 km
The hotel is ideally located near the Opera Garnier, perfect location for those who want to discover Paris.from 27.18 USD
Hotel | 5.4 km
Hotel Rachel is a cozy hotel in the heart of Pré St Gervais just in front of the city hall, with easy access to the city center.from 14.98 USD
Hotel | 4.1 km
Hipotel Paris Buttes Chaumont is located in the heart of Belleville, the native district of Edith Piaf. You can easily reach the centre of Paris…Read more thanks to bus and metro nearby.from 24.76 USD
Hotel | 2.1 km
Hotel Hippodrome offers comfortable accommodation in the heart of Montmartre just 100 metres from the world famous Moulin Rouge, between Place…Read more Blanche and Place du Tertre.from 70.06 USD
Hotel | 5.3 km
Hipotel Paris Belgrand offers comfortable rooms in Paris's 20th district, near the Père Lachaise Cemetery and flea marketsfrom 26.58 USD
Hotel | 0.9 km
Hotel Cordelia is a beautiful 3-star hotel ideally located in the city centre of Paris. Hotel Cordelia is the perfect hotel for those who are…Read more looking for a romantic place.from 53.15 USD
Hotel | 1.3 km
France Albion is a small and charming hotel situated in the heart of Paris.from 42.28 USD
Hotel | 2.8 km
Step across the threshold and you already feel at home... The opulent lobby décor, the woodwork, the leather armchairs reflect the warm atmosphere…Read more that give Hôtel de la Félicité its special personality. Tucked away in a quiet 17th-c. neighbourhood near the Champs-Elysees, Montmartre and the Grands Boulevards, this is the perfect spot for discovering and enjoying Paris at a tranquil pace. Holiday-goers and business travellers harmoniously rub elbows in this friendly setting.from 26.58 USD
Hotel | 4.2 km
Located just 7 minutes from the center of Pairs , Hotel Briand offers suitable accommodation for any type of clientele: businesses, groups…Read more or private individualsfrom 34.23 USD
Hotel | 2.1 km
A two-stars Paris hotel located right in the centre of Montmartre next to the famous Abbesses street, renowned for its brasseries, shops and…Read more beautiful Sacré-Coeur. The Grand Palais and Palais Garnier are both close by, and the nearest metro station is Abbesses.from 38.66 USD
Hotel | 1.7 km
Garden Opera is a charming, recently renovated hotel offering you all you need after a good Parisian day.from 32.92 USD
Hotel | 3.7 km
Entirely refurbished, Modern Htel accommodates you all the year, 24H/24 in the heart of Paris. rnfrom 43.79 USD
Hotel | 2.8 km
Villiers Hotel Residence offers elegant accommodation and modern facilities, in a residential district of Paris, near Charles de Gaulle Etoile…Read more Square, Champs Elysees and Monceau Garden.from 51.34 USD
Hotel | 2.9 km
Hotel Arc de Triomphe Etoile offers beautiful and stylish private rooms in a privileged location near the famous Place de l'Étoile.from 78.52 USD
Hotel | 2.6 km
The Hotel Edouard VI is located very close to the most beautiful parisian coffee shops and numerous show places.from 63.42 USD
Hotel | 1.9 km
A friendly and warm three-star Paris hotel, Goldhotel is located at the doorstep of bohemian Montmartre, only metres from Blanche station. The…Read more famous flea market of Saint-Ouen and the Moulin Rouge are both a short walk away. (The hotel reserves the right to request a pre-authorization form on the customer's credit card number.) Please note that the city tax of €1.07 per person and per night is no longer included in the price.It has to be paid at the hotel upon arrival.from 26.18 USD
Hotel | 0.3 km
Hotel Regina is perfectly situated in the heart of Paris' 18th district, just 600 metres from the Sacré-Coeur Cathedral and 400 metres from the…Read more Moulin Rouge.from 32.01 USD
Hotel | 2.1 km
Grand Hotel Magenta is a 1-star budget Paris hotel, located in the very heart of the city. The hotel is situated just a few minutes walk from…Read more the Gare du Nord Station and not far from the beautiful Sacré Coeur church.from 33.58 USD
Hotel | 5.8 km
Hotel Comete Paris is a 3-star hotel located in the 20th arrondissement.from 57.98 USD
Hotel | 2.3 km
At the foot of Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, the Hotel Nation Montmartre welcomes you for your excursions in Paris. Very near…Read more the hotel you will find museums, theatres and concert halls (Moulin Rouge, the Cigale, the Elysée Montmartre), the Place du Tertre, and many stores and transport facilities for travelling around the capital. All of this makes it an ideal base in Paris.from 44.30 USD
Hotel | 1.6 km
The 3 star Comfort Hotel Paris Lafayette is ideally situated. The interior design of the hotel is stylish and contemporary. In this relaxed and…Read more trendy atmosphere.from 36.24 USD
Hotel | 6.8 km
Hotel Princesse Isabelle located in La Defense area, 10 minutes away from Paris is a popular choice for travelers.from 39.26 USD
Hotel | 1.4 km
Corona Rodier offers a cosy atmosphere in a contemporary setting and tasteful décor in the heart of the 9th arrondissement.from 36.24 USD
Hotel | 3.1 km
Hostel Madrigal is located in the heart of the 15th district, 2 steps only from Montparnasse train station!from 50.74 USD
Hotel | 1.4 km
In the Lebron Hotel you will find that modern comfort blends with traditional Parisian features, giving it a distinguished air, perfect for your…Read more stay in the 'City of Light'.from 41.68 USD
Hotel | 4.0 km
Our Hotel is located in the heart of the Denfert district. Offers you a friendly base and we always strive to offer our customers attractive…Read more prices.from 51.94 USD
Hotel | 4.1 km
Located in Paris in the Ile de France region . Featuring a bar and rooms are equipped with air conditioning, a flat-screen TV with cable channels.…Read morefrom 33.22 USD
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Eschenbach Optical Systems can look back on almost 100 years of history. The company's breath-taking history began after its foundation in 1913 in Nuremberg by Josef Eschenbach.
The firm's binoculars are especially popular. With its 'Trophy' and 'Farlux' series, Eschenbach offers excellent binoculars at affordable prices. These are very popular with nature-watchers and amateur astronomers. Eschenbach's range of spotting scopes offers attractive spotting scopes for the birdwatchers and nature-watchers at reasonable prices. Eschenbach also offers biological microscopes for beginners. Eschenbach's stereo magnifiers are suitable for use both by nature lovers, who want to examine their environment more closely, and for professional material testing applications.
Eschenbach Optik GmbH was founded in 1913. Today, the company has 550 employees, including 330 in Germany, and markets its binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, magnifiers and weather stations in more than 80 countries. The head office is in Nuremberg, and there are subsidiaries in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the USA, Japan, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic.


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About the course
About the course: The course will provide an update on current diagnostic standards, best practice and new developments in clinical practice relating to the young onset dementias.
A case-presentation session at the end of the meeting will give delegates an opportunity to have difficult cases or management dilemmas discussed by an expert panel.
Delegates will see clinical and research facilities, talk with our specialist doctors and nurses, and learn about opportunities for research collaboration. The overarching aim of the course is to bring delegates fully up to date in the emerging and increasingly important clinical field of young onset dementia.
After attending the course, delegates will have an improved understanding of:
The features that distinguish early stages of neurodegenerative dementia in people under 65 from the worried well or the effects of depression or anxiety.
The diagnostic processes that lead to the recognition of Alzheimer's disease, the frontotemporal dementias and other, rarer types of dementia in people aged under 65.
The support that is available to people with young onset dementia after diagnosis.
You will be provided a certificate of attendance and CPD will be sought by the Royal College of Physicians.
Attendees: General practitioners; psychiatrists (consultants and trainees); neurologists (consultants and trainees); dementia specialist nurses; dementia support workers.
For more information: please see: www.sgul.ac.uk/dementia or contact us at email@example.com


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I'm having trouble filling the steps in this guided proof of Riesz's representation theorem. (I already have a proof I can understand, but I'd like to understand this one too.)
Let $H$ be a Hilbert space, and $\varphi : H \to \mathbb{C}$ a bounded linear functional. If $\varphi = 0$ then we are done; otherwise, by scaling, we may assume without loss of generality that $\| \varphi \| = 1$. So, for each $n$, there is a unit vector $h_n$ in $H$ such that $| \varphi(h_n) | > 1 - \frac{1}{n}$. By multiplying each one by an appropriate complex number of unit modulus, we may assume $\varphi(h_n) \in \mathbb{R}$ and $\varphi(h_n) > 1 - \frac{1}{n}$.
Now I run into a problem — I can see that everything follows from the first step, but the first step is eluding me at the moment.
$h_n \longrightarrow h$ for some $h$ in $H$. Why? If $H$ is finite-dimensional then certainly there is a convergent subsequence, but I don't see how we can assert the existence of such an $h$ without knowing more about the relative distances of the $h_n$.
$h$ is orthogonal to the kernel of $\varphi$. I think the idea here is to show that $\| h - u \|$ is minimised over $u \in \ker \varphi$ when $u = 0$, by exploiting the fact that $\| h - u \| \ge | \varphi(h - u) | = | \varphi(h) | = 1$.
$\ker \varphi \oplus \operatorname{span} \{ h \} = H$, by e.g. rank–nullity or orthogonal decomposition.
Hence $\varphi(x) = \langle x, h \rangle$ for all $x \in H$, by decomposing $x$ using the above decomposition of $H$ and linearity.


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Technical and Economic Aspects of Designing an Efficient Room Air-Conditioner Program in India. 2017. 2001048..
"Assessing the Cost-Effective Energy Saving Potential from Top-10 Appliances in India." 9th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL). 2017..
Impact of Large Scale Energy Efficiency Programs On Consumer Tariffs and Utility Finances in India. 2011. LBNL-4258E..
Techno-Economic Assessment of Deep Electrification of Passenger Vehicles in India. 2017. LBNL-1007121..
"Working Paper 006: Economic and environmental benefits of market-based power-system reform in China: provincial versus regional grid optimization." 2019..
Accelerating Energy Efficiency Improvements in Room Air Conditioners in India: Potential, Costs-Benefits, and Policies. 2017. LBNL-1005798..
Using Cool Roofs to Reduce Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Urban Heat-island Effects. LBNL, 2011. LBNL-4746E..
The Operation Result of the Demonstration of Energy Networks of Electricity, Heat, and Hydrogen at an Apartment Building in 2007. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2008..
Technical summary of climate change 2001. Vol. 12. 2001. LBNL-48186..
Summary for policy makers. Vol. 12. 2001. LBNL-48184..
"Electrifying urban ridesourcing fleets at no added cost through efficient use of charging infrastructure." Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 105 (2019) 385 - 404..
"Electrifying urban ridesourcing fleets at no added cost through efficient use of charging infrastructure." Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies 105 (2019)..
"Experimental study of biogas combustion characteristics and emissions in a HCCI engine for power generation." 1.53 (2011) 154-162..
"Experimental evaluation of strategies to increase the operation range of a biogas HCCI engine for power generation." Applied Energy 97 (2011) 618-629..
"Numerical Analysis of Biogas Composition Effects on Combustion Parameters and Emissions in Biogas Fueled HCCI Engines for Power Generation." ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power 135.7 (2013)..
"A Sequential Chemical Kinetics-CFD-Chemical Kinetics Methodology to Predict HCCI Combustion and Main Emissions." SAE 2012 World Congress & Exhibition, April 24, 2012. Detroit, Michigan, United States , 2012..
Assessment of Carbon Leakage in Multiple Carbon-Sink Projects: A Case Study In Jambi Province, Indonesia. 2006. LBNL-61463..
Business Case for Energy Efficiency in Support of Climate Change Mitigation, Economic and Societal Benefits in the United States. 2011. LBNL-4683E..
Baselines for Land-Use Change in the Tropics: Application to Avoided Deforestation Projects. 2006. LBNL-61456..
"Project-based activities." Land Use, Land-Use Change And Forestry. Vol. 8. 2000. LBNL-60365..


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Luxor marble-shooting in true 80's arcade style, featuring mPOINTS, the premier universal virtual reward currency, redeemable for gift cards, promotions, or donations to charity.
This retro-styled arcade shooter, is a faster, more intense LUXOR, unlike any you've seen before. Completely revamped, harkening back to arcade classics, LUXOR Evolved has faster chains, more awesome power-ups, and a more stealthy the shooter.
Packed with more bonuses and a quickened pace, the number one marble shooter game offers up excitement, secret levels, and power ups to keep the surprises coming and your shooter firing.
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PLUS! Bonus levels to defeat
Visit us on the App Store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mumbojumbo/id312416866
to find more amazing casual games from MumboJumbo including: the Luxor Series, Midnight Mysteries Series, 7 Wonders Series and more!
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Other Luxor Games from MumboJumbo:
Luxor: Amun Rising
Luxor 2


text:
I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving! I know a few ladies who will be out and about shopping tomorrow so I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of this deal over at Bed, Bath & Beyond. For all of your back hair shaving needs... the Mangroomer!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving! I know a few ladies who will be out and about shopping tomorrow so I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of this deal over at Bed, Bath & Beyond. For all of your back hair shaving needs... the Mangroomer!
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 7:56 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Fall Fun
After raking some leaves yesterday, I decided that the front yard with the few piles would make a cute spot for some pictures. So I put Charlotte in a cute dress and she humored me so I could get some cute shots of her.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 7:00 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Monday, November 24, 2008
Birthdays, Fires, and Gator Games
Charlotte seemed to really enjoy all of her birthday festivities. On her actual birthday, she ate her first cookie! I didn't get all of the crumbs cleaned out of her high chair, so the next day she had a great time finding all the little pieces left behind.
Last week there were record lows for this time of year, and we had the first fire in our fireplace to cozy things up a bit. Charlotte loved it and wanted to offer lots of help.
(Yes, that is paint on her butt. These were the jeans she was wearing when she was "helping" me paint the trim on the house. The paint is finally out from underneath her fingernails!)
On Saturday we went to the Gator game to watch them put a beating on The Citadel. We knew it wasn't going to be a nail biter, but it was the only game we could get affordable tickets for. It was fun to watch them score touchdown after touchdown after touchdown. We were four rows from the top so when they did the flyover we reached up and gave the pilots a high five :)
Chad, Abby, Megan, Gavin, me, Jared, and Dad
And then on Sunday afternoon, the real party festivities began! The first few birthday parties are more for the parents and grandparents rather than the kids themselves, so we didn't want it to be a big to-do, but just inviting the local family and close friends made it a party of 15 adults and 2 babies. Quite the crowd! Charlotte had a great time and ate up all the attention... and the cake! She racked up on sweet gifts as well - a few very cute outfits and several new toys that she's been having a ball playing with. Of course, after a while of going from one toy to another, I noticed that she was entertaining herself with a spoon. Go figure.
The beautiful cake that Amber made! It was delicious!!!
The cake that I made for her... I'm no Melissa, but I think it turned out pretty good for someone with no cake decorating experience.
She seemed to thoroughly enjoy her first cake!
And a cute shot of Charlotte playing with her Pop's hat
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 11:42 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Happy Birthday, Charlotte!
It is hard for me to believe, but Charlotte is one year old today! Everyone told me that the first year would fly by, and I believed them, I just did not expect it to fly by quite this fast. It seemed like I was pregnant with her forever. But then I blinked and she was smiling. Another blink and she was sitting up. Once more and somehow she's now walking around all over the place, showing all kinds of personality, and turning into a "little girl" rather than my "baby girl".
At this time last year, I was in the hospital bed in some serious pain, contemplating asking for some serious painkillers, but was able to push my way through the pain, literally and figuratively! I felt my first contractions while we were at the movies, but they were more uncomfortable than painful so I thought they were Braxton-Hicks and didn't think anything of them. When we got home we decided to finish getting her her room ready. We moved all the furniture around and ended up with it exactly as it had started, then we hung her pictures on the wall. When we finished, I patted my belly and told her, "Okay, we're ready for you. You can come any time you'd like!" My painful contractions started thirty minutes later.
After eleven and a half hours of painful contractions, the doctor considering sending me home because I hadn't dilated quite quickly enough, me refusing to go anywhere because of how uncomfortable and in pain I was, Jared developing carpal tunnel syndrome from rubbing my back for so long, and pushing for twenty minutes... Jared caught Charlotte Michelle Rollins as she entered this world at 10:50 a.m.
Our whole world has changed, but it has all been for the better. It has been such fun for us to get to know Charlotte and watch her grow and develop. She brings a joy to our lives and keeps a smile on our faces. She has a strong personality and I am so excited about the woman she will become. I know God can do great things with her strong personality and strong will and I'm excited for all the future holds for her.
And I might be going into picture overload here, but with a baby so cute, how could I not!
Charlotte and her Daddy, just a few minutes old
The first family photo
Getting ready to go home
Our gift from God
A little over one month old, Her first smiles on Christmas day
Two months, Sweet smiles to her Daddy, and an amazing photo by Pam Saxon
Three months
Four months
Five months, At the Grand Canyon Skywalk and San Diego Zoo
Six months
Seven months
Eight months
Nine months
Ten months
Eleven months
One Year, photo by Pam Saxon
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 6:45 AM 6 comments Links to this post
Monday, November 17, 2008
"For Thy Pleasure"
I have had a growing sense of peace about the miscarriage over the past week. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, at which I am expecting to get a good report. Without going into too many details, I'll just say that everything the doctor said to expect to happen, happened last week. I never thought that I would be praising God for miscarrying, but I am grateful that it happened naturally and I do not need the DNC.
Several godly women who have been through this before have pointed me towards Scripture that helped them through their grief. Revelation 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." God does the things that will please Him. I don't always understand it and have many moments of tantrums where, kicking and screaming, I believe that I know what is best. But who am I to question Him, the One who created me, created my husband, and through us, created our baby. Psalm 139:16 "your eyes saw my unformed body..." He wanted that precious baby with Him. He was gracious enough to share him or her with us for a few weeks, and in those weeks we had such joy knowing that we were parents to another gift from God. And as that baby was never really ours, we cannot be angry that He wanted him or her with Him. The loss still hurts and it feels like a piece of my heart is missing, but much like in the same way that Christ filled the void in my heart when I accepted Him as my Savior, my heart will be whole again when I get to Heaven. I will see my Savior face to face and will have the sweet surprise of a baby boy or girl to hold in my arms. As if eternity with the King is not enough to look forward to.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 11:21 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Final After
We've repainted that awful "'Fired Brick' that looks more like 'Auburn Orange'" trim to the 'Sealskin' black and are much happier with the outside colors of the house now. We're wanting to paint the living and dining rooms as well, and we're just accepting the fact that we'll go through two colors per room through the process.
The Before
The First After
The Final After! Much better, no?
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 4:29 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Go Gators!
This morning we headed over to Melrose to see Dusty, Arin, Anson & Ella while they were passing through on their way back to Atlanta. I love seeing the kids play together, especially since they don't get to very often because of the distance. The girls were so cute and were both immediately drawn to the tiny bench at Toto & Pop's. We were able to visit with Pawpaw, Jared's grandfather, and the boys played soccer while the ladies stayed in and played with the kiddos and fought them all to take a nap.
From there we went to Charlie and Stephanie's house to watch the game. We were kind enough to give them at least a ten minute warning that almost the whole Rollins gang would be coming over, even though they wouldn't be there. They were very gracious and made us feel very welcome. Stephanie, I hope we didn't leave a mess! If you and Charlie weren't such sweet and warm people, you wouldn't have to worry about last-minute visits:)
Charlotte had fun playing with Luke and Wyatt's toys during the game. Here she is modeling her armor of God
And a couple cute pictures from the past few days...
Charlotte was playing in the living room while I was in the office yesterday. It got quiet for a few minutes, which always worries me, and when I went to inspect the situation, I saw her smiling at me from the recliner. I'm not sure how she managed to get up there, but she was as content as could be just sitting there.
I usually go in to check on Charlotte and make sure she's covered up right before Jared and I go to bed. Last night she was snuggled with her legs tucked underneath her and her hiney in the air.
And for those who didn't catch the game, we blew out South Carolina and are well on our way to the national championship game! Two times in four years... not too shabby, Urban. It's always exciting to watch Tebow play because he is going to be our son-in-law one day. He may not know it yet, but he and Charlotte will be getting married!
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 9:27 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Friday, November 14, 2008
Election Results
I have had a hard time swallowing the fact that Obama is our President-Elect. It turns my stomach to think of a man like him holding that kind of power. The timing of the election with the miscarriage is making it extra difficult for me, and it's been a struggle to not take it personally. Knowing that so many people bought into the "change" he promises, all the while completely ignoring or, even worse, supporting his views on the sanctity of life... it just breaks my heart. There are people close to me, even in my family, who I know voted for him. And I consider a vote for Obama to mean that they don't value or respect the life that Jared and I lost. As much as we are grieving over not being able to see our baby be born and grow up, the Obama supporters turn their noses in the air and say, "Your baby just isn't that important. What concerns me most is how much I will have in my bank account next year."
On Sunday our pastor gave a wonderful much-needed sermon on the "Right Responses to Questionable Leaders". I really needed to hear it and am trying to apply the principles on which he spoke to my life. I'm struggling to get past the anger and bitterness. If anyone is interested in listening, the audio version is here. It is the 11/09/2008 sermon and you can either play it from there or download it onto your computer. I know God is sovereign and works all things out for good, but I am struggling with the fear of what will be done over the next four years under Obama's hands.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 12:48 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Warren Tisdale!
On Saturday my best friend, Shannon, married Thad, her boyfriend of three and a half years! I was honored to be the matron of honor and stand beside her as she said her vows to become Thad's wife. She was absolutely gorgeous and planned a beautiful wedding. Unfortunately, I only took two pictures the entire day: one of us eating before we got ready and one of her and her dad before the ceremony. I figure no one cares about seeing us stuff our faces, so here is the sweet picture of Shannon and Mr. Gary :)
It was such a fun afternoon and evening as we helped her get ready and celebrated with all of their friends and family. It was great to see so many of the "Keystone folks" and I really enjoyed getting to know some of Thad's family that I have heard so much about these past three years. I shared this in my toast, but right before Shannon walked down the aisle at my wedding, she looked at me and told me she felt like she was losing her best friend. Now I understand what she meant by that, but I am so happy that she has Thad forever and always. They are just perfect for each other and I'm excited to see what God has in store for them.
To see a few amazing pictures from the day, head over to Pam's blog.
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 9:56 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Thursday, November 6, 2008
One Day At A Time
I just wanted to say a quick "Thank You!" to everyone for all of the prayers and kind words. It is such a blessing for us to have so many family and friends who care as much as all of you. It has been a very tough week, but each day gets a little bit easier. The nights are the worst, when all the distractions have quieted down, but even those are getting easier to get through. God is keeping us strong and we are trusting Him for the plan He has for us. It still hurts to know that we won't be able to hold our sweet baby in our arms in May, but we are rejoicing that we will have a baby to hold in Heaven.
In unrelated news, we had our house painted earlier this week. Jared's brother, Dusty, runs a painting business so when his guys had a break between their regular commercial jobs he sent them down our way. As you can see from the picture below, our house was in desperate need of a little face lift and it looks soo much better now! We're notoriously bad at picking out paint colors, and the trim isn't quite the right shade of red we were hoping for. So now we're thinking we'll just paint all the trim black and then paint the door red or maybe green. We're still not sure. :) But even like it is, it's much better than it was!
Posted by Brittany @ The Rollins World at 4:28 PM 1 comments Links to this post


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Albert, Prince Consort
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling monarchs. At the age of 20 he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria, with whom he had nine children. At first, Albert felt constrained by his position as consort, which did not confer any power or duties upon him. Over time he adopted many public causes, such as educational reform and the abolition of slavery, and took on the responsibilities of running the Queen's household, estates and office. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Albert aided in the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by persuading his wife to show less partisanship in her dealings with Parliament—although he actively disagreed with the interventionist foreign policy pursued during Lord Palmerston's tenure as Foreign Secretary.
He died at the early age of 42, plunging the Queen into a deep mourning which lasted for the rest of her life. Upon Queen Victoria's death in 1901, their son, Edward VII, succeeded as the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, named after the ducal house to which Albert belonged.
See also


text:
Part 1: Getting off the treadmill
Part 3: Whose problem is it, anyway?
Editorial: The achievement treadmill
The high school environment does not generally promote or support a path to purpose, according to Denise Pope, a lecturer with the Stanford University School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success, an organization concerned about students who compromise health, integrity and learning due to performance pressure.
"Our school system is set up to sort people," Pope told the Weekly, noting that the school structure tracks kids by age, subject areas, grades, scores, lanes and learning abilities. Purpose is not emphasized in school in part because "finding yourself is in opposition to a sorting factory," she said.
Schools have been robbed of their capacities to inspire purpose by "high stakes" standardized tests as the current chief measure of school performance, according to William Damon, Stanford School of Education professor, psychologist and a former Gunn High School parent. Metrics have put the squeeze on the core missions of instilling a broader vision of the world and a robust motivation to learn.
"The main objective of the classroom becomes imparting a rapid familiarity with facts, names, places and formulas that students have little interest or skill in applying to problems beyond the classroom," he writes in "The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life."
Pressure to cover volumes of material has displaced deeper exploration of big ideas. One consequence is too little engagement, meaning and joy.
"Students are just performing," Pope said. At all levels this can lead to negative stress.
Michele Dauber, Stanford law professor and organizer of the school stress-reduction advocacy group We Can Do Better Palo Alto, agrees: "The contemporary elite public school in its drive for ever higher scores... has bled all of the 'purpose' out of students' lives."
The amount and type of work assigned in high school, she said, is like a large "boulder these kids are carrying." The only thing many are passionate about is surviving, she said.
"School is the structure where kids need to climb a ladder to go to college," Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann said. Recommendations matter, so it is difficult for students to feel safe showing weakness.
This dynamic drives an unwanted wedge between teachers and students, Dauber said.
"The pressures are to conform," Gunn High School graduate Miranda Chatfield said. "It's a rigid system. ... The point of going to school should be to educate oneself, but the schools have lost a lot of that, they've lost the vision. The schools have just become the machines that churn out students to go to colleges."
Palo Alto High School graduate Trevor Bisset and others describe how the pressures to perform can lead students to "escapist" behavior.
"At Paly, you'd be shocked to know how many kids were high in class, drunk in class, 15-year-olds on a daily basis," he said. "So many kids are cutters, so many girls walking around with pretty beads and bracelets all over their arms and nobody realizes they have gashes underneath them. Kids overeat, kids drink, kids act out sexually."
In Weekly interviews with Palo Alto high school grads, parents and teachers, "treadmill" and "hamster wheel" were regular descriptors of high school life, symbolizing relentless, directionless effort. "It's in the air," "it's impossible to escape," or "it's embedded in the culture," were frequent conclusions about the origins of this dynamic, and the negative stress it induces.
Damon thinks the momentum underlying these forces springs from the side of human nature that "craves something that is limited, that is hard to get, that has a lot of status and celebrity attached to it," like the current handful of elite colleges with too few spaces.
The colleges themselves bear some responsibility for feeding and exploiting this craving through their marketing efforts and manipulation of numbers to enhance their images of selectivity.
"They're creating the game in a sense, for their own purposes," Damon said. "They want to attract donors, get high in the U.S. News rankings, and all that."
Along with this atmosphere of craving goes fear. Paly journalism teacher and teacher-adviser Paul Kandell described the "hysteria" this year over college decision announcements as the worst he had seen. Some students were "paralyzed with anxiety" when decisions were announced, as well as worried weeks before and weeks afterwards. When decisions were posted at 3 p.m. this year, school was still in session with a later dismissal than past years, causing classes to be disrupted. Kandell recounted shouts, wailing and tears -- a mixture of joy and despair depending on the news received.
Howell has seen his share of kids rejected by schools they worked years to get into.
"I think one of the things that is just heartbreaking is the college acceptance time," he said. "It's just heartbreaking to me because that shouldn't be the goal."
According to several accounts, some less-able students cling to the high academic lanes for advantage in the college selection process and become highly stressed by the demands, often sacrificing their joy in learning.
"To succeed, they have to push themselves beyond their limits," said Gunn 2010 grad Yoni Alon, now a UCLA sophomore.
Teachers often justify heavy loads and fast pace as necessary to prepare for college, according to student reports. Pope said this should not drive the high school curriculum.
"Teachers should help move students forward, but without breaking them," she said. Pope refers to this as the "just right" challenge, part of the "art of teaching," and what good teachers know how to determine through connection with their students.
Many people confuse load and pace with preparation for college, she said, but instead it is the deep understanding -- gained through rigorous, interactive, collaborative learning environments -- that best lays the groundwork for future educational endeavors.
Kids need to live in their high school moment," Pope told the Weekly. "If students are always urged to look to the next stepping stone, sooner or later the stepping stones will disappear and the lack of meaning in that journey and the resulting stress will manifest."
Palo Alto parent Sally Bemus, involved with We Can Do Better Palo Alto and Project Safety Net, a community coalition focused on youth well-being that was formed in 2009 in response to student suicides, believes that "students are succeeding despite our schools," which she describes as "ramped up" and resistant to innovation.
"I used to think that about 20 percent of the kids were not being served by the schools," Bemus said. But now she thinks it's the other way around, that only 20 percent are able to do well with what is asked of them; the rest are too stressed, she said, citing examples of students with emotional struggles from both ends of the achievement scale.
"High stress isn't good for anybody, but it's more dangerous for some than others," Dauber said. In cases of genetic forms of depression (like bipolar disorder), avoiding protracted extreme stress can be a matter of life and death. While certain factors, like a sense of purpose, can help decrease factors for depression and promote mental wellness, Dauber, whose adult daughter suffered major depression and died by suicide unrelated to academic stress, said: "There's no panacea against suicide."
Then there is the topic of school homework, which generates questions of quantity and quality that often divide communities. Palo Alto is no exception.
Attempts to place restrictions on the types and amounts of homework, according to numerous educators and press accounts, can encroach upon a teacher's sense of professional judgment and discretion. In high school, mandates can also present logistical problems, including coordination among multiple teachers and lanes, student work-pace differences, and enforcement issues. Even within teacher and parent groups, a range of views often exist about the proper balance between mental health and academic rigor.
Experts advise school districts to include teachers, parents and students in any effort to set homework policies, according to the National Education Association.
Still, when students are showing alarming levels of stress associated with workload, many see no choice but to enter the difficult territory of exploring policies to restrict homework type and amount.
Excessive homework for the wrong reasons can create "stressful, horrible situations" for kids, according to Damon.
"Homework should not be driven by the college admissions process," he said. "That's not a good reason to do homework, or load up on a huge amount of homework."
However, Damon believes that it's a "really big mistake" for people to be emphasizing lowering the number of homework hours as the goal.
"I'm not saying that some teachers don't give too much homework. Anything can be excessive and it's important to get balance," he said. "But it's not the answer. ... It's the quality, and it's the reason for it. It's why the kid does it and whether the kid finds meaning in it, that's the point."
"Kids can do a lot of things in life without getting stressed out, and feel great about it, if there's a certain quality to their experience. And that quality needs to be self-motivated, it needs to be meaningful, that the kids can believe in," Damon said.
Psychologist Madeline Levine, co-founder of Challenge Success, believes it's hard to engage joyfully in learning when students are consumed with pressures to excel.
"When external measures are all kids can think about, their ability to find meaning in their work is diminished," Levine writes in "The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Unhappy Kids."
Gunn's Alon had a strong interest in learning, took classes he liked, enjoyed the work, and did not compare his achievements to others.
"If you internally have a sense of purpose (about schoolwork), then workload doesn't matter," he said.
Damon supports the idea of "regular serious homework assignments" to help kids learn discipline and to develop good work habits.
In implicating homework loads, he cautions against throwing the baby out with the bath water, the baby being teaching kids about their responsibility to do their work on a consistent basis.
According to Pope, school homework policies need to address purpose and relevance, "not just time on task." Pope writes: "While other researchers have recommended a specific maximum for hours of nightly homework ... we hesitate to provide a hard and fast rule, given that quality of homework is more strongly associated with students' mental health than homework load."
Pope advocates further research to examine the question: "How much 'useful' homework can still be considered healthy?"
Gunn's Chatfield agreed that schoolwork should be meaningful: "Homework is a good thing, but busywork is not a good thing."
Citing many math and science problem sets as busywork, she said she was often kept up until 3 or 4 a.m. doing homework.
Paly grads Bisset and Zev Karlin-Neumann ('07) also complained of busywork, both citing the requirement to annotate 800 pages of Tolstoy for AP English class as one particularly onerous example.
Dauber believes Palo Alto high schools currently assign excessive quantities of homework, much of questionable value. While some small percentage may handle it, "the average kid is drowning," she said. "Two in the morning comes and they're still doing it -- and that means they're sleep deprived, too."
We Can Do Better Palo Alto advocates a district-wide policy on homework that sets standards for purpose and volume. The group's efforts have helped lead the school board recently to adopt "focused goals" committed to examining the issue.
"We're going to try to stop the arms race. We're looking for strategic arms control here, so teachers aren't constantly ramping up," Dauber said. "Let's impose a limit so that our kids can thrive."
As part of these efforts, former Paly parent Karen Kang spoke at a school board meeting this spring. She said her daughter and Paly friends "found it physically impossible to complete their school assignments in a normal day." They suffered in silence, "not wanting to appear like losers," she said.
Kang read a statement written by one of her daughters who has had a history of eating disorders, anxiety and depression.
"The five years I spent under the spell of this religion of achievement were a complete waste -- I spent time working hard at what I didn't care about, got physical and mental health problems, and was extremely miserable. I've had to put every ounce of my energy for the past few years into unlearning those backward lessons I learned as a student in Palo Alto," her daughter said.
This is consistent with Pope's research, which found students doing more than 3.5 hours of homework per day were at risk for higher stress levels affecting physical and mental health.
The National PTA and the National Education Association recommend guidelines, suggested by Duke University professor Harris Cooper, of 10 minutes per night per grade. For a high school senior, this means 120 minutes, or two hours. According to Harris Cooper, writing in the New York Times, "many high school district policies state that (students) should expect about 30 minutes of homework for each academic course they take, a bit more for honors or advanced placement courses." That level is "consistent with the conclusions reached by our research analysis," he writes.
This is the kind of empirical standard We Can Do Better Palo Alto is seeking. According to Dauber, it is the school district's responsibility to lead and make decisions about what constitutes a healthy, productive learning environment, and then set limits around that for everyone to live by.
According to Dauber, "the PAUSD board and administration have a tendency to not understand the negative effects of this competitive environment, and when pressed, they will say, 'It's not our fault; it's these other parents.' I think that is just a red herring. I don't believe there is a constituency for pressure. I think there is a constituency for rigorous, challenging curriculum, but I think that is utterly disconnected from insane quantities of homework."
Palo Alto school district superintendent Kevin Skelly, however, refuted Dauber's comment about the district board and administration: "I just don't hear that from my fellow administrators nor from the board."
He called the examination of homework issues, "good for our community."
"We look forward to the dialog about purpose and amount of homework."
Skelly said he believes there will be a wide range of views about desired amounts, with some saying there's too much, others too little and others just enough. He also said that differing student motivations and abilities affect time on task as well as the quality of the experience.
"If kids aren't motivated academically, homework means slogging around and reduces the quality and increases the time students spend on the topic. Contrast that to a student who loves Shakespeare or math or science. They will devote hours to this without considering it work of any kind!"
Skelly also stressed the importance of good communications and expectation-setting between teachers and students so that students are not spending too much time on assignments.
While Dauber sees the most urgent priority as "turning down the speed of the treadmill" by limiting homework hours, she also affirms the importance of focusing on the quality of the students' learning experience.
"I agree with Bill Damon about purpose, but it has to go hand-in-hand with a realistic assessment of volume," she said. "No one can find their purpose when they're doing three or four hours a night of meaningless busywork.
"We are putting students under so much time pressure and emotional pressure and fear. ... We have to turn down the homework-o-meter on these kids and give them time and space to think about the important questions of what do I want to do, who I am, and what can I do for others."
Related stories:
Finding purpose: a bigger job than before
Profiles of purposeful youth
Teens, school staff unite against stress
Why college feels less stressful
To facilitate discussion all comments on the cover package "Driven to succeed" are being consolidated here: Town Square discussion: 'Driven to succeed'


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testing sites,
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Dr. Michael Ripchinski, Chief Medical Information officer for Lancaster General Health, says patients will start to see more specific diagnoses when they sign onto health care providers' online portals.
Find our contact forms and phone numbers or give feedback on a recent experience using Care to Share.
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In D&D4, I'm playing an Invoker. One of the rituals is:
Once per day, you can use Hand of Fate without expending components
I don't think I've ever used this ritual. Part of it is me just forgetting about it (you get it at first level, which means you can't even use it for a while), and part of it is probably our gameplay style of "let's barge in and worry about consequences later."
Two questions are:
What does it mean by "course of action". The examples in the book are dealing with objects and ways to go, but can I ask for more general questions? Like, "Should I purchase this item" or "is this message to meet in private a trap?"
How have others used this ritual to make the game more interesting?


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Speak to us on [email protected] or, if you've been dealing directly with a certain member of the Exclaimer staff, ask them to help get your renewal processed – we're happy to help.
Yes. The 3-year SMA deal offers a 20% saving year-on-year and avoids the admin chore of renewing: it saves time, effort and expenditure.
The advantages – update protection, upgrade protection, remote technical support via GoToAssist, telephone, email, VOIP, etc. – are covered best on the Exclaimer Software Maintenance Agreement overview page.
After purchasing your renewal, you will be sent a new license by email. Instructions on how to apply your license are attached to that email, but can also be found in the resources section for the relevant product on this site.
Yes. You're free to renew your SMA guarantee before it runs out or step up to a 3-year SMA at any time – we'll simply start your new SMA from the date your current contract expires.
The software should display its supported status on the 'Licensing' tab – but feel free to contact us on [email protected] at any time if you need assistance.
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Canucks place David Booth on waivers for buyout purposes
Winger David Booth won't be a Vancouver Canuck come the 2014-15 NHL season as the team placed him on waivers Tuesday for the purposes of buying him out of the final year of his contract.
Photograph by: Joel Auerbach , Getty Images
VANCOUVER — David Booth didn't have to wait long to see where he fit into the picture with the Vancouver Canucks' new management team. He didn't.
The 29-year-old left winger was placed on waivers Tuesday for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract. His cap hit was $4.25 million and his real salary was $4.75 million. He will be paid two-thirds of the dollars owed but his cap hit will disappear off the Canucks books as their second compliance buyout.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, every NHL team was permitted two compliance buyouts. Booth was the Canucks' second, following defenceman Keith Ballard who was jettisoned last year.
Booth's agent, Mike Liut, explained that Canuck general manager Jim Benning called him late Monday to inform him the team was cutting Booth loose.
"We didn't expand on the why, and the why doesn't matter," Liut said. "It wasn't something that was unexpected and, therefore, you push on. David's response was that it's an opportunity to start over again and that he's excited about it. The way the season ended for him, in his mind, he knows he can play. He's getting back to 100 per cent and it's a new challenge."
Booth, oft-injured, never became the second-line goal-scoring winger that former GM Mike Gillis had hoped for when he acquired the Detroit native from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 22, 2011. Booth suffered a knee injury his first season, then had groin issues and a badly broken ankle that required surgery during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. He appeared in just 12 outings that season.
In 134 games as a Canuck, Booth wound up with 26 goals and 51 points. He was reduced to a third-line player this past season and was rarely deployed on either the power play or penalty kill units by ex-coach John Tortorella.
Benning released a statement on the Booth decision, offering nothing more than the standard goodbye.
"We wish David all the success in the future and thank him for his contribution with the Canucks," Benning said.
Assuming Booth clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent July 1. It will be Liut's job to find him a landing place. Booth's buyout money from the Canucks, $3.166 million, will be spread out over the next two seasons, making him a bargain for potential suitors.
"What you're looking for is, okay, let's find someone who understands your game, likes you as a player and understands they're getting you for below market value," said Liut. "David is somebody who can score 20 goals and you need depth to win, right? No depth, no win. I expect David will play very well next year but he's got to stay healthy and have a little bit of good luck. Everybody needs that."
Booth, by the way, was married last weekend to Ashley Durham, a former Miss Tennessee.
ICE CHIPS: The Canucks are planning to hold their summer development camp from July 4-10 while the YoungStars tournament in Penticton is slated for Sept. 12-15.


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Hi Wanterkeelt,I am living in Central Europe (Slovakia), mine Box Set arrived 10 days ago, that's not far from the place where you live. Actually, how big was your order? I am just asking, because bigger orders (over 500 grams) can be now shipped from/to US only by cargo flights and not by commercial flights like before. These safety restrictions by US government are valid since the beginning of December, don't know for how long... But don't worry, even smaller mailings have many delays, sometime it takes ages... I just received yesterday little parcel (under 500 grams) shipped from Raleigh, North Carolina with shipping date December 21st, so exactly one month on the way. This was shipped by USPS, just the same way Steve uses for his orders. As far I remember the first Box Sets were shipped by Steve around January 5th... Anyway, I hope you will enjoy your Box Set very soon... Richard
Got mine on Saturday. The Parnham collaboration is a real winner and the Immersion discs are a nice change from the more static earlier volumes in the series. I bought this box with the Grace Cathedral concert disc, and that's the one I've been playing most. What an awesome concert that must have been.


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Hi everyone, Im happy to share with you my new project, its a PCDesk Mod
Well since my last mod didnt receive the "shares" I wanted from the brands (HAF in HALF video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67tdCmEaEc0 ) that supported the build, I wanna move foward to this one and make something unique and possible for everyone, thats something I always try to pass for those who see my content, everyone can do this you just gotta plan everything well enough to avoid major problems.
Why a desk? Well I dont like big cases and since "setups" are starting to be a trend I wanna remake my own so nothing better than make a new desk with a PC built in.
So key words are:
- Confort
- Performance (air flow/temperatures)
- Simplicity
Well still need to edit all the content about it, but for now this is what I have to show
Best Regards Tankian


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Alexander Skarsgard is now apparently the top runner to take the lead in "The Crow" remake. Please update your t-shirts accordingly, Hot Topics of the world.
I'm not the least bit ashamed that I am petrified of Eric Bana. Olivia Munn not so much. But the two of them together will leave me feeling just fine when they hit the big screen on January 16, 2015 in "Beware the Night". The film is Scott Derrickson's follow up to "Sinister" and follows a New York cop who investigating real life demon possessions, exorcisms and werewolves after dark. So that's just shy of two years away. Get pumped kids.
"The Town That Dreaded Sundown", a remake of the 1976 film with the same name, has found it's leading youngster in the form of newcomer Travis Tope. Tope will plat a high school student who lives in a town that is tormented by a serial killer. He's never done anything before. I have no ammo here. Well played Hollywood.
Rob Zombie was miserable making the "Halloween" remakes, he wanted to make "The Blob" remake dark and gritty and he actually paid some poor company to have "Freebird" in a movie of his. That and other exciting news in this new interview.
So, of course, the big news today is former Fangoria staffer James Zahn's loud 'n 'proud Facebook missive against his former employers. The major consensus is that he's just confirming what everyone figured about the behind-the-scenes of the magazine, but the real surprise, for me, at least? That Fangoria might have folded! The last issue I bought was about three months ago, after a two year hiatus; I was shocked by the $27 cover price and the 84-page tribute to Twilight. But, I gotta say, I loved the article entitled "Kane Hodder's 12-Minute Killer Ab Workout". I lost five pounds! Thanks, Fango!
In Horrorhound Weekend news, it's been announced that at this March's Indy convention that the full, uncut version of Clive Barker's entertainingly silly "Nightbreed" will be screened for the first time ever. It sucks that I'll be missing it because I'm gonna be chugging Jim Beam while partying with about eight-to-ten BBWs in the BGH room's hot-tub. If you're reading this and you're a plus-size fox, well, you're fucking invited.
Susan "Bag 'Em and Tag 'Em" Sarandon's daughter, Eva "Godzilla Tits" Amurri has been gaining a bit of notoriety lately, especially after a saline-filled performance on Californication (whatever that is) and palling around with Olivia "Do You Like Me Yet?" Munn. She must be learning quite a bit from Munn, because she's going after your nerd-dollars now with a lead in "Isolation", a horror flick set in a... wait for it... hospital... and she has no memory how she got there! Oooh! I'm guessing she got there because of a botched boob-job. Speaking of botched boob-jobs, let's bet money now this goes straight to DVD. ZING.


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CHICAGO, IL -- An investigational drug to treat Type 2 diabetes, empagliflozin, lowers blood pressure in patients with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure), a new study finds. The results were presented Sunday in a late-breaking abstract at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and The Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.
This improvement in blood pressure reportedly was accompanied by a reduction in blood glucose (sugar) levels after 12 weeks of treatment with the drug, which is under development by Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma.
"Tight blood pressure control in patients with hypertension and Type 2 diabetes is known to reduce the risk of death and complications related to diabetes," said a study co-investigator, Afshin Salsali, MD, executive director of the Diabetes and Metabolism therapeutic area for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma, which funded the study. "Our results suggest the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events with long-term treatment."
However, he emphasized that this hypothesis awaits confirmation in the long-term EMPA-REG OUTCOMETM trial (NCT01131676 on ClinicalTrials.gov), which is expected to complete in 2015.
The researchers tested two doses of empagliflozin, 10 milligrams (mg) and 25 mg, compared to a placebo, or "dummy" pill, in patients with Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, which ranged from 130 over 80 to 159 over 99 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Of the 824 patients, 276 received the lower dose of empagliflozin and another 276 received the higher dose; 272 patients received the placebo. All patients wore a blood pressure cuff that monitored their blood pressure at regular intervals for 24 hours before the start of the study and after 12 weeks of treatment. They also gave blood samples for checking their hemoglobin A1c, a measure of long-term blood sugar control.
Study data showed the differences between the average decreases with empagliflozin treatment and the average increases in results of patients treated with placebo. Empagliflozin at the 25-mg dose demonstrated the greatest 12-week reduction in both systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and diastolic blood pressure (bottom number). On average, blood pressure fell 4.2 mm Hg in comparison to placebo for systolic pressure and 1.7 mm Hg for diastolic in the group receiving 25 mg of empagliflozin. Patients who received the 10-mg dose had average decreases of 3.4 and 1.4 mm Hg compared to placebo in systolic and diastolic blood pressures, respectively.
From the start to the end of the study, the average hemoglobin A1c level dropped 0.62 percentage points with 10-mg empagliflozin and 0.65 percentage points with the 25-mg dose compared to placebo.
Salsali said empagliflozin improves blood sugar levels by reducing glucose re-absorption in the kidneys, leading to glucose elimination in the urine. He also said patients tolerated the drug well, with no increased rate of side effects in the empagliflozin groups compared to placebo. Most adverse events reported in all three groups were mild in intensity.
Founded in 1916, the Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, the Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 17,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Washington, DC. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.


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UConn prepares to open doors with flat enrollment projections
STAMFORD -- After an unusually large freshman class matriculated last fall, the University of Connecticut's Stamford campus projects its enrollment will remain essentially flat when classes start Monday.
However, Terry Reilly, director of enrollment and outreach services, said she has received calls from students asking about signing up for fall classes in the last couple days.
"I am guessing some people are just deciding last-minute to sit tight and stay local," Reilly said in an interview Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Peter Nicholls, the university's provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, provided an audience of faculty and community members with an update on the UConn system during a meeting and awards ceremony at the Stamford campus. Although the state began its fiscal year July 1, it has not yet finalized a budget, so UConn is permitted to expend funds at a rate that doesn't exceed last year's, Nicholls said.
That takes into account a five-percent budget reduction UConn received last year, and Deborah Gunzelman -- assistant director for non-credit programs at the Connecticut Information Technology Institute at the Stamford campus -- said she's concerned about the implications.
The Stamford campus has cut about nine adjunct faculty positions, with roughly half of them slated to be replaced by graduate students based at UConn's main campus in Storrs.
In an interview after the meeting and awards ceremony, Gunzelman said the adjuncts -- typically professionals who teach part-time -- brought real-world expertise to their classes.
"I don't understand how a graduate student can do that unless they are 50 years old and going back for a Ph.D.," she said.
Michael Ego, associate vice provost of the Stamford campus, said the switch represents a trade-off because the graduate assistants are involved in research. Only certain sections of courses were eliminated so that students' progression would not be affected, Ego said.
Reilly said enrollment at the Stamford campus has either increased or remained flat every year over the past decade. Despite a significant jump in freshman enrollment last year, the number of first-year students is expected to decline slightly this year. However, Reilly said that because of the economy, she anticipates an increase in transfer students, particularly adults returning to school.
UConn's five regional campuses, including Stamford, are projected to fall about 100 students short of a goal of enrolling 1,260 freshmen, said Lee Melvin, interim vice president, division of enrollment planning and institutional research. Transfer students' enrollment may also be down, but only slightly, he said in a Wednesday interview.
Final enrollment numbers won't be available until the 10th day of classes.
After the awards were given Wednesday and ceremony attendees trickled out of the auditorium for an indoor picnic, Associate Professor of Chemistry Peter Love said he felt the biggest challenge the Stamford campus faces is the need for dormitories for students commuting from Bridgeport or Hartford.
The campus would grow considerably with dorms, Love said.
"I am optimistic," he said, adding it may be a while before the campus gets dorms.
Legislation sponsored by Stamford's state legislative delegation in the spring requires a study of uses for the school's parking garage, located across Washington Boulevard from the campus. Some view this area as a potential site for dorms.
Mayor Dannel Malloy, an adjunct faculty member at UConn who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, said the Stamford campus needs dorms, more faculty members and additional course offerings. Malloy, who spoke at the meeting, said in an interview afterward that the university's administration views the Stamford campus as a stepchild when it should be a full second campus.
"The relationship between the Stamford campus and Storrs is evolving. I would evolve it more quickly," he said during his speech at the meeting.
Staff Writer Wynne Parry can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or 203-


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At Credit Libanais, we aim to become the preferred bank in Lebanon, by customers and employees alike. We continue to develop a respected, successful and innovative financial institution, which embodies the core values of customer focus, teamwork and quality performance.
Credit Libanais is the Preferred Bank in Lebanon for Customers and Employees.
Credit Libanais' Core Values are Customer Focus, Innovation, Teamwork, Ethics and Integrity as well as Reward for Performance
Credit Libanais' Purpose is to Enhance Shareholder, Customer and Employee Value.
Credit Libanais is Primarily a Retail Bank and serves Selected Corporate Customers.


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New products and changes introduced over the last week include a new China small-cap ETF from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, and Manning & Napier launched a new microsite for advisors.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) DeAWM Launches China Small-Cap ETF
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has announced the launch of the db X-trackers Harvest CSI 500 China A-Shares Small Cap Fund (ASHS), which provides investors with direct access to small-cap China A-shares equities. DeAWM has partnered with subadvisor Harvest Global Investments Limited to launch this product, which has an expense ratio of 0.82%.
ASHS will seek to track the CSI 500 Index, which holds 500 small-cap companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. To be considered for inclusion in the index, securities must meet minimum liquidity requirements.
2) Manning & Napier Launch Microsite on Fiduciary Risk for Advisors
Manning & Napier has announced the launch of its new microsite on fiduciary risk for advisors, which addresses the concern among plan fiduciaries concerning plan failure risk (PFR)—an increasing concern because of previous siloing of health and wealth benefits. The site can assist advisors to help plan sponsors develop a coordinated strategy that incorporates both retirement and health care objectives, in order to drive positive outcomes and avoid plan failure risk.
The microsite's interactive prioritizer tool will help plan sponsors begin to set a short- and a long-term objective. In using the prioritizer, plan sponsors receive a report that will help them to define an effective, actionable benefits strategy for their business. A short video on the microsite explains the key components of avoiding PFR in simple terms: careful evaluation of benefits program offerings, knowing what an organization is able to spend on benefits, and clearly defining near and long-term objectives. The infographic also includes a comprehensive timeline of the evolution of employee benefits, and how health care and retirement have converged.
Read the May 16 Portfolio Products Roundup at ThinkAdvisor.


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Purses, Pouches and Handbags
People use purses, handbags and coin purses for functional and specific purposes. To carry valuable identification, money, toiletries, hair combs, grocery lists, pretty much to carry the things they believe are necessary to bring with them where ever they go. Handbags come in a seemingly endless variety of colors, sizes, shapes and designs. That is because people who carry handbags prefer fashion as well as function and choose between different styles to match their choice of attire or dress.
Modern purses for males are variations of backpacks, leather satchels and messenger bags. These bags are available in a variety of shapes and sizes and usually have masculine or unisex appearance names like man bag, man-purse and murse. Challenge the young budding artist with these fun beach bags and high fashion handbag and coin purse images. Print and color these purses and handbags with crayons or markers.
Hold a designing contest in the classroom and vote on the best design. Print on shrink art media and color to create fun charms for bracelets or ear-rings and necklaces.
What would we do without purses and handbags? The oldest known purse was a pouch worn by Ötzi the Iceman over 5,000 years ago. Originally, purses or money bags were designed as small bags or pouches to hold coins. Purses were constructed of soft fabric or leather and carried equally by men and women. Many 17th century women's purses were beautifully embroidered works of art.
The modern purse, handbag, clutch and pouch developed during the Industrial Revolution in England due to increased travel by train. Small purses proved inadequate for the journey by rail both in size and durability. The first modern set of luxury handbags were introduced in 1841. The set included a clutch and a tote which was referred to as a 'ladies travelling case.' The term handbag, first referred to men's hand-luggage during the early 1900s. Handbags eventually encompassed women's accessories. Another type of women's handbag is the reticule; a small bag made of fabrics like silk, velvet or embroidered, with a drawstring pull. This purse was carried over the arm with wrist straps, a cord or chain. Reticules were often hand made by the wearer and decorated with embroidery or beading. Coin purses for males eventually evolved into pockets in pants and trousers.
View a photo gallery of traditional and contemporary handbag types on Wikipedia.


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Polycom Telepresence Technology Integrates with Microsoft UC
A strong proponent of IP communications interoperability, Polycom has introduced videoconferencing control technology that works with a number of Microsoft apps.
"Video conference vendor Polycom introduced Monday new technology for setting up telepresence conference sessions while also touting how its technology integrates with Microsoft's Unified Communications platform," writes Network World's Robert Mullins.
"Polycom has been making video conference systems for years and has recently introduced more advanced "immersive telepresence" systems with high-definition video and screens large enough to make participants at a distant location appear life-size and seemingly in the same room as those participating locally," Mullins writes
"In introducing its new Immersive Telepresence OTX HD 300 series, Polycom made a point of highlighting its "deep native integration with unified communications systems" (lower case, meaning all brands), but we spent a lot of time talking about Microsoft's Unified Communications (UC), the brand name," Mullins continues.
Click the link below to read the full article:
How Microsoft helps Polycom and vice versa


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I'm looking for an easy way to quiet an in-wall speaker without turning down the whole system.
I am having two speakers mounted in the wall on each side of my headboard. I want to be able to turn them down (or up) separately from the TV they'll be hooked to. My wife wants a speaker mounted next to my head so I can watch TV and she can sleep without hearing it as much!!! I am hard of hearing and tend to have the TV too loud for her!!!


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If your child sucks strongly on a pacifier or his thumb or fingers beyond 2 to 4 years of age, this behavior may affect the shape of his mouth or how his teeth are lining up. If your child stops sucking on a pacifier or his thumb or fingers before his permanent front teeth come in, there's a good chance his bite will correct itself. However, if the bite does not correct itself and the upper adult teeth are sticking out, orthodontic treatment may be needed to realign the teeth and help prevent broken front teeth.
As a first step in dealing with your child's sucking habits, ignore them! Most often, they will stop on their own. Harsh words, teasing, or punishment may upset your child and is not an effective way to get rid of habits. Instead, try the following:
The good news is that most children stop their sucking habits before they get very far in school. This is because of peer pressure. While your child might still use sucking as a way of going to sleep or calming down when upset, this is usually done in private and is not harmful. Putting too much pressure on your child to stop may cause more harm than good. Be assured your child will eventually stop the habit on her own.