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Planned departures are always very fluid -- you can never say we'll leave on such and such day and really hope to leave that day. It's usually just the first day you think you'll be ready to leave and the actual day can be a few days to a week later..... or even a year as was the case with our original plans to leave for the Galapagos.
Our departure day from Zihuatanejo was planned for sometime this week -- we thought Tuesday through Thursday. Well, it's Thursday and we're still here! We're provisioned and the boat's ready to go, but this time the Captain isn't quite ready. He's still recuperating from some kind of flu bug he picked up last weekend and we're waiting for him to be 100% before we set off. Much easier to get the rest and fluids he needs here at anchor than out at sea. He's on the mend and his temperature is dropping so now our "hope to leave by" date is sometime this weekend.
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
A lot of people have asked me "how did Sailfest turn out?" The following is an email from our faithful leader telling us exactly how much we raised for the children of Zihuatanejo:
Dear Volunteers,
The Sailfest 2012 results are attached. Hijole! You performed your usual miracles for the kids. I sincerely hope you had a lot of fun, along with all your hard work and dedication to this noble and compelling cause.
On behalf of Zihuatanejo's wonderful children, I'd like to express our heart-felt gratitude. You are turning dreams into reality.
(Note: The following release will appear, in some form, in several magazines and newspapers.)
In February, 38 sailboats cruised into beautiful Zihuatanejo bay to celebrate the Eleventh Annual Zihua Sailfest. They were enthusiastically welcomed by the local community, who have come to admire and respect the cruisers' heart-felt volunteerism. The Municipal Director of Education estimated that more than 2,000 disadvantaged children are attending school because of the cruisers' dedication to Zihua's bright-eyed young scholars.
Uncharacteristically overcast skies and occasional rain showers did not dampen the spirits of the cruisers and their 50+ local volunteer allies; all events were eagerly attended. More than 200 local businesses donated thousands of dollars in gifts and services for Sailfest auctions and raffles. 30 local and international musicians donated their talents to perform at three (two sold-out) benefit concerts. Several fine-dining restaurants competed in the Chili Cook-off. The cruisers welcomed 113 paying guests on board for the Sail parade. Saturday, the cruisers and local volunteers hosted 100+ school children at a beach party where fun, games and giggles ruled the day. All in all, quite a wonderful week to be in Zihuatanejo.
Zihua Sailfest 2012 raised $471,132 pesos in support of the cruisers' vision of providing an educational opportunity to each and every child in Zihuatanejo, regardless of income level or social status. The funds will be administered and distributed by Por Los Niños de Zihuatanejo, AC, Sailfest's Mexican charity. An advisory committee composed of bilingual Mexican educators, local international residents and cruisers is responsible for all funding decisions.
The funds from Zihua Sailfest 2011 ($477,039 pesos) provided the construction materials to build three, three-room, rural schools. The dedicated parents and the local community donated their labor to build these safe and welcoming learning environments for their deserving children. Sailfest 2011 awarded 16 English language scholarships, 5 high school scholarships and 6 university scholarships to high-achieving, low-income students. Sailfest, and our partners, donated approximately 850 reading books to the Municipal Library's "Rural Children's Reading program". The City of Zihuatanejo, Rotary International and Los Niños, Inc., inspired by the cruisers' success, also donated generously to Sailfest-supported projects.
Margaret Reid, our photographer, has posted her Sailfest 2012 photo albums with download permission at:
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
We arrived in Puerto Escondido Saturday afternoon and began the process of turning Cetus from an out of the water storage unit to the boat we call our home.
First we had to take all the outside stuff that we'd stored below back out where it belongs: Wind generator, wind vane, life lines, surf board, overboard pole, life ring etc etc.
Then I could clean up all the surfaces -- vacuuming up the boric acid powder that we laid to prevent unwanted guests. We were very pleasantly surprised that the interior looked so good -- no bugs, no mold -- not even any dust! So a quick wipe down and we were ready to begin loading on all the boxes and tubs of "stuff" that we brought down with us.
Up and down, up and down the ladder we went -- I would work on finding places for all the new things == food, clothing, spare parts, new parts, art supplies, new games, new linens etc etc.
The next couple days we will load on the remaining items and also put the rebuilt Max prop on. The yard is painting the bottom for us -- the first time in the 27 years we've owned her that we haven't had to do the bottom painting -- and I am thrilled!
I'm also very happy to be able to stay at a nearby hotel while we're doing all the work, so after a long hot day we can come back here and swim away the heat of the day.
So so far so good on making Cetus our home again!
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
We built our first cruising boat, Cassiopeia, from a bare hull in our backyard in Gig Harbor. Building a boat wasn't something we set out to do, but when the boatyard in Alameda, California went out of business before completing the boat we were to get in a semi-completed stage, we became boat-builders.
That Golden Gate 30 was a great cruising boat and after launching her we sailed her throughout Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands before finally taking the big step and sailing her to Hawaii and across the South Pacific.
She was the perfect boat for our small family, but when that adventure was coming to a close and our daughter was growing older, we knew we wanted a bit larger boat to continue our cruising lifestyle. So we sold Cassiopeia to an American couple in American Samoa, flew home and two months later bought Cetus.
We didn't ever expect to see Cassiopeia again, but by a strange turn of fate, the couple that bought her relocated to Washington State and sailed her to Olympia where we got to go see her again. After another year or so, they sold her and we lost track of her.
But, another strange turn of fate brought us face to face with her again. We were leaving on our 2nd bluewater cruise -- this time aboard Cetus -- and during a short stop in Port Townsend on our way out of Puget Sound while walking to the store, there she was on stands in the boat yard!
No owner was around so we left a note hoping to hear from someone, but we never did. That was in 1998.
I've been busy going through lots of old photo albums scanning the pictures so I have digital copies of those early years and its stirred up lots of good memories of our life and travels aboard Cassiopeia.
Just thought I'd see if anybody out there reading this blog has seen or knows anything of the fate of Cassiopeia, an off-white, 1981 Golden Gate 30. Memories.......
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
With winter passing it's time to head out in to the Sea for some more exploring. We've had a taste of what's out there on our several trips out to the nearby islands, but we've always returned to the comforts (read: showers, laundry, grocery stores, cell service, internet and shore power) of life at the dock.
This next adventure will be of much longer duration and have us traveling much farther north. We will leave on the 2nd or 3rd of March and don't plan to return to La Paz until sometime in June, when we need to be back to travel up to the Northwest for a wedding in July.
So, we're busily planning and preparing, very excited to get out there again. We won't have the large grocery stores we've come accustomed to here in La Paz, so we're doing major provisioning to sustain us for a full three months -- even though we will be able to replenish some along the way.
In addition to all the preparations for the trip, we've been spending several hours each day working on editing and revising Terry's new book -- a sequel to Rick's Place.
Monday we said goodbye to Vicky aboard Inspiration at Sea -- she's on her way to Zihautanejo and then El Salvador. She left her van here for us to use since we'll be driving it back north for her this summer. It was a great help today when we went to City Club (much like Cost Co) to do provisioning today -- and we're really excited to get to do the drive up Baja this summer!
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
For any family and friends that haven't had success sending emails to our winlink address, please drop a note to followcetus at gmail dot com from the address you'd like us to add to our address book. Winlink won't receive mail unless the address is entered in its address book in an attempt to block spam. So if you've tried and not succeeded drop us a line and I will enter, re enter or correct your address. Thanks! Heidi
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
11/03/2009, Shelter Island, San Diego
Jim and Ellen have left Ventura and should be passing by San Diego about 4 am! They'll give us a call when they're about 2 hours away and we'll slip out of the harbor to meet up with them. Now it's getting exciting!
Tomorrow's trip will only be about 12 hours, but we need to get such an early start because the sun sets so early -- about 5 pm -- and we don't want to take a chance on getting there after dark.
Most of my time today has been spent with food. First we made one last trip to the grocery store for fresh fruits, vegetables, milk and bread. Then I started preparing what we call our "passage food".
It's always nice to have a warm meal when you're out traveling so long. But it's not so nice to have to try and fix that meal on a rocking boat. So I've taken to preparing meals and wrapping them in foil then all I have to do is warm the oven and toss them in when we're ready to eat.
For breakfast I do either breakfast sandwiches on English muffins or breakfast burritos. For a dinner I'll throw some meat and veggies in foil, sometimes with potato or rice. It's always a treat to have a good meal -- with no dirty dishes to clean up!
I also will have a thermos of hot water ready that we can make cocoa or tea or a cup of soup. And our must have food on any passage is popcorn! I also baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies for the occaisional treat as we head down the Baja coast.
So now we're all set to go!
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
07/23/2009, John Wayne Marina, Sequim Bay
Years ago we began calling the day before the beginning of a long passage Leave Eve.
Leave Eve is a very special day, filled with all the last minute preparations fueled by nervous energy.
Lists of things to do: Stow the dinghy, prepare easy to get to "traveling food", doing laundry (don't know when you'll get to a laundromat again!), getting out charts and setting waypoints on the chartplotter.
It's a busy, exciting day.
We plan to leave tomorrow morning for Neah Bay. We have several possible anchorages we can go into if we can't travel fast enough to make it all the way to Neah Bay, but for now the weather forecast and tide/currents seem to be favorable, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Once to Neah Bay we will wait for a good weather window to begin our trip down the coast. Right now, that looks like we'd be good to go the next day, after spending just one night there, so it's possible, if the forecast holds, we'll be starting down the Washington Coast on Saturday!
Hurray! It's Leave Eve!
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
way down on the lower right column are some new links to some fun info.
One is the latest posts on other Sailblogs -- fun to browse through.
The other is the link to the Cruising Sailor's Site Ring which gives access to many other blogs and web sites.
Lots of fun reading and good info to be found on both. Enjoy!
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
I mentioned in an earlier blog that I would start the bulk of my provisioning in May, but I actually have started buying already.
In May I'll take my lists and do some major shopping, but in the meantime I am watching adds for my local stores that often have some great deals -- like buy one get one free, or 10 for $10 -- that beat the price I'd pay at Costco. A couple weeks ago the Bartell's ad featured some canned goods so I stocked up on those. They also had a variety of different cup of soups, cups of noodles and mashed potatoes that you just add hot water to -- which are great foods to have handy on a long passage when it can be hard to fix a hot meat -- so I also loaded up on those.
People always ask us, "how do you know how much ___________ to take?" And that can be anything from toothpaste to chili. Well, here's what I try to do.
Make a master list of all the non perishable products you usually buy at the grocery store, drug store or a big box store. Then for a week or two or even a month make a note of about how much of it you use (how many times do you change a roll of toilet paper in a week?).
Next plan out how long you could have to go without being able to purchase these items. With our current plans we will be leaving Gig Harbor May 31st and our first big stop will be when we spend the month of October in San Diego. So I would like to be provisioned up to last 4 months, since I will re provision in San Diego. I will, however, stock more than 4 months of something that I find a great deal on instead of waiting to buy more at a regular price.
Then I just multiply the months or weeks I'll be gone by the approximate amount I use in that time period and you have a good guess at how much you should buy.
The exception to this method of figuring out what to buy by what you typically use at home is when it comes to canned food. Most of us don't use a lot of canned food when we have such wonderful selections of fresh meats, fruits and produce at hand. But on long passages and even while traveling through many areas, fresh foods can be hard to come by. A good rule of thumb is to plan to have on hand enough canned goods to provide at least 1 full serving of protein per person per day. That can be canned tuna, chicken, roast beef, soups, stews, chili -- what ever you like. And be sure to augment that with canned fruits and vegetables to round out your meal. Hopefully, you'll find great markets and catch lots of fish to keep eating fresh, but you must have the canned goods to fill in the gaps. Plus, they are usually nice "quick to fix " meals when you're cooking in a rocking boat!
Buying all the goods is just the first step, however. Once you get it all down to the boat, where will you put it all? More on that later.........
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
BTW, we love those "instant" potatoes as well!!
Hope to see you on the water!!
One of the challenges in preparing to be away from home for an extended period of time is how to handle mail and bills.
There are services set up to help with this -- some designed especially for cruisers. For a yearly fee they give you an address that you have everything go to and they hold and then repackage all your mail and send it to you when you let them know you're in a port long enough to receive it. I hear they work well.
I've always been lucky to have someone back home that was willing to do this for me. On our first cruise aboard Cassiopeia, my sister Monica took on the task so I had our mail forwarded to her and she took care of us well. She took on the task again when we set sail aboard Cetus in 1998.
This time our good friend, Liz, is going to step up to the plate! She also took care of things when we returned to Cetus in Tahiti in 2002, so she comes with experience, too. The big advantage to having her handle it is that she lives right here in Gig Harbor, so I can continue to have our mail go to our same PO Box instead of doing changes of address or forwarding mail. Thanks Liz!
The key to making it manageable for whoever is handling your affairs is to get everything as simplified as possible. Ideally you wouldn't have any bills or payments to be made while you're gone. But there are always some things that are there -- in our case it's property tax, homeowner's dues and insurance. For the most part, everything can be set up for auto deposits and auto pays so things pretty much take care of themselves, but you never know what can crop up. I'll leave several signed blank checks with her to take care of any unusual things that need attention. For some regular mail in payments that I haven't been able to set up on an auto pay (such as the property tax) and a monthly deposit to our "spending money" account I will have a file folder divided by month with envelopes addressed and stamped with the checks inside so all she'll have to do is at the beginning of the month take them out and drop them in the mail.
It's also easier now than it was when we set out on Cassiopeia 16 years ago because of the improvements in communication. Back then I could call back home to check in about once a month, at best, depending on what country we were in. Now, we are able to keep in email contact from the boat anywhere -- even in the middle of the Pacific -- through our Ham Radio. And there are internet cafes everywhere where I can take care of business just like I was back home.
I also keep two checking accounts. The main one is for all the business as usual, but the second one is the "spending money" account I mentioned earlier. In this one we'll have a preset budgeted amount deposited monthly for things like food and entertainment. It's not only a way to keep us within our budget, but it's also a security that if our cards to this account are lost or stolen only a small amount of funds will be in jeopardy.
When we get to a spot where we will be long enough to get some mail, I'll contact Liz and let her know where to send it. But I'm really looking forward to having her just deliver it in person when she and her husband Tom come to visit us along the way!
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes
One important thing I'm working on today is typing up inventory lists.
Every cupboard, drawer or minute storage space has a name and we have a diagram of the boat that shows each location with its name.
The name consists of a letter (or letters) which indicates what room its in followed by a number or possibly another letter to indicate where in that room it's located. For example a cupboard in the Vberth would be V1 or V2. The hanging locker, or closet, in the Aft Cabin is AC (aft closet) and the space in the chart table in the Nav Station is NCT.
This enables us to make a master list of all the items we've got stowed away for future use -- so that when we need it we don't have to dig through several places as we try to remember where we put it -- we simply look at the list and go to the right spot.
Right now we're doing it for all the spare parts and basic supplies, but soon we will be doing food provisioning and it really becomes important then so you always have a running total of how many cans, boxes or jars you have of this or that -- and where they are.
That way you don't spend hours searching for a can of corn that doesn't exist -- or you don't go to the store for peanut butter when you have six jars stowed in the bilge.
When we're living aboard here at the dock, we don't worry about keeping inventory lists -- things are pretty accessible and easy to see what's here. It's just when preparing to go off on a long adventure it becomes important when you start utilizing every available space so you can take everything with you.
|Blog Posts: Behind the Scenes


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APR 01, 2014 - Chicago Sun-Times
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The Illinois State Police have revoked the certification of a Bolingbrook firearms instructor who was found to be offering concealed carry classes over the Internet. According to state law, students must have 16 hours of in-person classroom instruction before being allowed to apply for a concealed carry permit, said State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. In addition, the instructor was offering as few as eight hours of instruction, Bond said. A total of 327 applicants trained by the instructor will be notified that their application has been denied due to improper training. Those applicants
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Stanford, P. Kyle (2002) No Refuge for Realism: Selective Confirmation and the History of Science. [Preprint]
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Realists respond to Laudan's Pessimistic Induction with what I call the selective confirmation strategy: arguing that only idle parts of past theories have been rejected, while truly success-generating features have been confirmed by further inquiry. I argue first that this strategy is unconvincing without some prospectively applicable criterion of idleness for theoretical posits, and second, that existing efforts to provide one either convict all theoretical posits of idleness (Kitcher) or stand refuted by detailed consideration of the very examples (optical/electromagnetic ether, caloric fluid) to which they appeal (Psillos). Additionally, available avenues for improving on these proposals are unpromising.
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|[2002] Philosophy of Science Assoc. 18th Biennial Mtg - PSA 2002: Contributed Papers (Milwaukee, WI; 2002) > PSA 2002 Contributed Papers
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|23 Mar 2003
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Founded in 1940, the Allentown, Penn.-based Air Products first became an SAP customer when the company determined its highly customized payroll system in the United States could no longer be supported and its HR system in Europe was inadequate for its current and future needs. "The effort was led by our CIO, Joe McMakin, who recognized the need for a global, integrated human resource/payroll system," says Gary Tyler, director of the mySAP HR implementation at Air Products.
When it came time to select HR software to help manage its employee data worldwide, the company went through a very rigorous evaluation process. "We had close to 85 people from HR, IT, and payroll--both in Europe and the United States--evaluating the software," says Tyler. "It came down to PeopleSoft and SAP. SAP was the clear winner."
The choice to go with SAP was based on the software's global reach and also on its ability to meet the company's requirements. "We wanted to reengineer our business processes worldwide with mySAP HR to take advantage of the best practices incorporated in the design of the solution," says Tyler.
Air Products quickly saw the value of the comprehensive SAP®offering and began taking advantage of the Internet-powered solution's wide range of capabilities--such as employee self-service (ESS). "We're extending employee self-service to countries that never had access to this type of tool, enabling all employees to become stewards of their personal information," remarks Tyler. Air Products is also running mySAP HR capabilities such as training and events management, appraisals, compensation planning, human resources planning, manager self-service and workflow and has developed a global time entry capability through the cross-application time sheet (CATS) functionality. mySAP HR also enables the HR team members to focus on what they do best. "They can bring more value to the job and have a greater impact, rather than having to spend time on transactional and administrative tasks," says Tyler.
The company also uses mySAP HR to ensure that its employees are making the most of their talents--and that they are placed where they can bring the most value. "With mySAP HR, we can collect information about employees' relative performance and career potential, and then consolidate it on a global basis," says Tyler. "With mySAP HR we can identify talent pools, perform analyses, and make better, quicker, more thoughtful decisions about the deployment of our employees. It has been a real advantage to the company to have that capability."
All in all, having a highly integrated HR system has added value at the company. "Having a single system, streamlining our processes, and gaining some consistency of process--all of which help reduce mistakes and increase productivity--translate into a reduction in costs," says Tyler. "We captured a tremendous amount of savings and value as a result of putting everything on a single system." The implementation has gone quite smoothly, and SAP has proven to be a solid partner.
Workforce, July 2003, p. 64 -- Subscribe Now!


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I want my baby no matter what -- so should I skip some prenatal tests?
I can't decide whether to get the triple screen test. No matter what the results are, I know I want to have this baby. But I'd like the extra assurance that everything's okay. What should I do?
Posted: 02/17/2004 by a BabyCenter Member
Mom Answers
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I only got the tests done that were absolutely neccessary. I am 38+ weeks now. I will love my baby no matter what. I feel that there is no need to have any extra worry about test results. There are alot of false positives for downs but even if he did have it it wouldn't matter to me.posted 03/01/2008 by lmconverse
I am on my second pregnancy - 5 weeeks.I took the tests during my first pregnancy, at age 35 and my results came back very low for any disorders.When I went for my 20 week ultrasound everything looked great.Then the Ultrasound doctor kept pressuring me to have an aminio.I read what everyone had to say about aminios and they scared me into not having it done.But I was also scared becuase the Ultrasound doctor was pushing for an aminio.I talked to a genetic counslor and decided not to have it becuase the only reason it was suggested was becuase of my age.However, I worried the rest of my pregancy. My son was born healthy.I plan on having the aminio done this time.I think that you need to make the decision that is best for you. Reading the messages about aminos is very scary. Almost all of them are against aminios.I am going to a good facility that deals with high risk pregnancies so I am coinfident that my baby and I will be OK.posted 09/12/2007 by Wilma2006
Hey to all the moms to be out there took the amniocentesis test three weeks ago and just got my results back and they came back with every thing being normal.I am so happy all you have to do is faith in GOD and believe that he is almighty and that anything is possible with him.the test it self did not hurt that bad it was just a little uncomfortable but it was worth having just to knowposted 11/12/2005 by Tashakids
My first pregnancy I had my AFP done which came back very high. I had no idea what this meant. I didn't realize it meant something could be wrong. My doctor then did a sonogram that showed my son had gastroschisis (intestines on the outside). I am so glad that I had the AFP done because I got to pick the surgeron, the hospital was prepared at birth, my doctors were prepared for a C-secion, etc. I truly think that the AFP test saved my son's life. If I had just thought it was too stressful on me, then I wouldn't have been able to get the best care for my child. For me, it was never about 'wanting my baby', it was more about educating myself and my doctors on my baby's health to make the best outcome. False positives happen with everything, even pregnancy tests- that doesn't mean you don't take one and don't find out your pregnant!!!posted 08/24/2008 by twinva10
It is time for me to decide about the tests as well, and I think I'm going to skip them- they have such a high false positive rate. I'm a little worried, like most moms, but in a few weeks, I'll have an ultrasound anyway. The defects that the AFP detects can also be detected on the ultrasound. In fact, the ultrasound is the next step if you get a positive. I don't want to stress over a potentially false positive and put a baby at risk by having to do the more invasive follow up tests.posted 12/31/2005 by a BabyCenter Member
I'm 14 wks w my 1st baby, 36 yo & I KNOW I'll have my baby no matter what. I told my doc I didn't want screening unless something could be treated prior to birth (if so, TEST ME UP...). She said the results would change NOTHING about pregnancy care but she still "strongly encouraged" it b/c "you should know" & "at your age, it's very important" (huh). Baby's father & I tried to be strong but she was so insistent, we let her talk us into seeing a genetic counselor. LUCKY for us, the counselor was very understanding. She went over our genetic profile & said she didn't see increased risk for inherited disorders & the decision to screen was totally up to us (& our doc's practice is "very pushy" about it). As a result, we're not testing AND we're switching to a local birth center for care! That said, for some, it may be the right thing. We knew ourselves & it would have stressed us too much w/o gain. But for some, prep is key. I say know what you'd do w/ the info & let that be your guide!posted 10/20/2008 by a BabyCenter Member
I am the proud mom of two healthy boys. I am also strong in my faith and believe that God doesn't give my anything I can't handle. When I found out I was pregnant with my first I did not have the triple screening. I didn't have it done with my second child either. It did not matter to me if my child had something wrong with it. Even if it did, why worry about it through your pregnancy and stress your self out even more. Those test are just another way to put a dollar in the doctor's pocket. So if you want your baby no matter what, be adamant, stand up to your provder and tell them you're not interested and just pray to God that your baby will be healthy.posted 08/21/2008 by h_huffman_21
I find genetic testing to be a slippery slope. For anyone who has studies statistic, you have to understand that they are made up of chances and probabilities, they are placing you in a population and they do not say what THIS baby will have. As mothers and mothers-to-be we're being asked to makes a decision about something that has already been created and you cannot control at this point, except to decide to either keep or not keep the baby. Personally, I see this is what it comes down to and if you do wish to have the baby, then I would say it depends on whether statistics will add or help your worry. All the best--and I hope you have a great outcome! :o)posted 03/24/2008 by Niki36
Last winter, we were pregnant with our first. We went in for our u/s to determine the sex and condition of the baby and got bad news - our baby had a cystic hygroma. We had passed on all the blood tests because of the false-positive rates and since we would never terminate the pregnancy. Only after the diagnosis from the u/s did we finally consent to doing an amnio. A cystic hygroma means a nearly 100% pre-birth mortality rate - at this point the amnio would only help the doctors be more prepared with what they needed to do. We went in a week later for the amnio, but it was unnecessary. The baby had during the week between. We are now pregnant again and approaching the time when we will be asked about all the screening tests. I still think we will only do an ultrasound and go from there. The risks associated with the other tests to me outweigh their benefit. If we see on our 18-20 week u/s that that there is a problem, we will make a decision at that point.posted 10/04/2007 by ccroden
We felt the same way. We only agreed to tests that were non-invasive. (i.e test through blood draws or ultra scans) We decided in the beginning that we would not do an amnio. We are due in 2 weeks and can't wait. We also chose not to know the sex of the baby Goodluck!!posted 09/26/2007 by sissybear10
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With the Tournament starting today the games will be close and some of the calls even closer. Personally I am tired of the players reactions to close calls.
From all the faces...
I was always taught that if a close call went against me to just move on and not make a face at the official. Because it could come back to bite me in the butt. Let the coaches deal with the officials and the calls.
That being said, I think it will continue to happen until the NCAA and the officials do something about it. If I was an official and a player made one of those "no way I can't believe you called that faces towards me" I would first give him a warning, and then probably a technical if he continued or did it again.
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For your pleasure and edification, I'm comparing my own all-numeric power rankings with Joe Fortenbaugh's power rankings.
My rankings are based solely on 2013 football game results. Mr. Fortenbaugh is allowed to look at coaching and player changes since the end of the 2012 season. I'll try to note Mr. Fortenbaugh"s record of these changes, especially when his results differ considerably from mine.
Both of us use our numeric rankings as a baseline to determine the point spread between any two teams on the list, with factors such as home field, bye weeks and so on factored in. As many of you remember, my rankings and point spread numbers tend to get seriously accurate between week 3 and week 16 of each season, as good as you'll see anywhere in the world, and free to you. This is my fifth season of all-numeric prediction. Joe isn't exactly chopped liver himself.
My rank / team / my power rating / Mr. Fortenbaugh's power rating / Mr. Fortenbaugh's rank
1 sea 13.5 88 3
2 ne 13.1 85.5 7
Fortenberg: The losses of pass-catchers Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez, the absence of a vertical threat on the outside and the injury concerns surrounding Rob Gronkowski are all reasons to dismiss the Patriots in 2013. As is the fact that the defense ranked 25th in the league in 2012.
Me: An entirely new pass-catching unit seems to have materialized out of nowhere. Philadelphia's defense was being completely shredded in two practices, and not for lack of effort. The vertical threat has suddenly appeared and it's not just one player. An ace tight end suddenly appeared. Don't ever look at the Patriots' defensive yardage and smirk -- Bill Belichick has a perfectly legitimate defensive philosophy that gives up not too many points and that generates large numbers of interceptions. Joe, you're toast here.
3 sf 12.6 88.5 2
4 den 11.7 89 1
Me: I expect Manning to continue to go downhill. Denver gets my "old" moniker.
5 gb 11.2 87 5
6 bal 10.5 82.5 12
Fortenberg: Players don't work as hard during the offseason following a Super Bowl win, complacency sets in and before you know it, somebody else is hoisting your trophy. The Ravens will be tough in 2013, but won't be a serious threat to repeat at any point.
Me: I'm with Fortenberg! Plus, Baltimore is way old and that spells trouble in December as the grandpas get injured. I have a theory that teams who outperform themselves in the playoffs will revert to their regular season form next regular season, and this team finished their season on a 1-4 bender.
7 atl 10.3 86.5 6
8 nyg 10.1 83.5 10
9 min 10.0 78.5 26
Fortenbaugh: one of our top-2 teams headed for a regression in 2013.
Me: Why? Your say-so? They were a pretty tough team in 2012. I'll listen to sound reasons.
10 car 9.8 79.5 21
Fortenbaugh: It's the Panthers, not the Buccaneers, who should be considered the dark horse to win the NFC South this season, after the team won five of their final six games in 2012 when they had every reason to throw in the towel.
Me: My numbers reflect those wins. So if you want to make them the dark horse, why are they #21 in your rankings?
11 chi 9.8 81 16
Fortenbaugh: under new head coach Marc Trestman,
Me: Given the coaching change, #16 is reasonable.
12 was 9.5 82.5 13
13 hou 9.1 86 6
Fortenbaugh: But the organization will need to take its game to a new level and avoid another late-season meltdown in order to make that possibility a reality.
Me: Did you see how this team melted away against Indy? Against other teams too? I'm sticking with #13.
14 cin 9.0 83 11
15 stl 8.7 80 20
Fortenbaugh: Could be on the rise in a hurry under head coach Jeff Fisher,
Me: Already has been on the rise, Joe, already was there last year. All that St. Louis really lacks is a public reputation in Vegas.
16 mia 8.1 80 19
17 dal 8.0 82 14
18 no 7.9 84 9
Fortenbaugh: It would take one hell of an effort out of Rob Ryan for this defense to play worse then it did in 2012. Improvements on that side of the football coupled with the return of head coach Sean Payton should see the Who Dats return to form this season.
Me: I'll grant some argument that N'orleans will play better this year. However, there's always a possibility that the loss of a first round pick is an impediment only in the second year and that the coach got his ears permanently clipped by the commish.
19 pit 7.7 84 8
Fortenbaugh: The Steelers ranked first in the league in total defense last season,
Me: Then why couldn't they rank first in point differential? Offense wins championships too. For starters, where is Pittsburgh's all-star quarterback? Is Joe's rating partly based on Pittsburgh's excellent front office which manufactures good players from nowhere each year?
20 sd 7.6 78.5 24
21 tb 7.0 79 22
22 ind 6.5 81.5 15
Fortenbaugh: Too low? Well then consider the fact that last year Indianapolis became the first team in NFL history to win 11 or more games during the regular season while being outscored by its opposition. In addition, the Colts posted negative numbers in both the sack differential (-9) and turnover differential (-12) departments last year. That's unheard of and, in our opinion, signals that a regression is on the horizon for 2013.
Me: This team played so many fuzzy bunnies last year it got a tickle fit. I think that Fortenbaugh caved into the Indy optimists a bit so that he's still too high. On the other hand, Indy is a young team and they'll grow a bit this year.
23 az 6.2 76.5 28
Fortenbaugh: Yes, Carson Palmer is an upgrade over everything else that Arizona has thrown under center over the last few years, but the guy will turn 34-years-old in December, completely flamed out in Oakland and is playing behind an offensive line that will likely be destroyed by San Francisco, Seattle and St. Louis.
Me: Sounds logical. #28 it is.
24 det 6.2 81 17
Fortenbaugh: Was the team's 2011 playoff run the anomaly or was it last season's 4-12 clunker? We side with the latter and believe that the Lions' front four will pave the way for a return to the happy side of a .500 record in 2013.
Me: NFL stands for Not For Long, and if Detroit didn't have their mojo in 2012 they won't magically go back to 2011. I'll stand by my 6-10 prediction.
25 cle 5.9 77 27
26 buf 5.9 76 29
27 nyj 5.1 76 30
Me: who says that my numbers aren't ever kind to Rex Ryan? Well, just a bit kind.
28 phi 4.3 79 23
Fortenbaugh: The Chip Kelly era in Philadelphia is off to a less then glamorous start. This team could win 11 games or they could flame out and win only four.
Me: New coach with radically new offensive philosophy meets old players with old skills and old conditioning level. At least this year, go with the four, or even less. Andy Reid wasn't that horrid a coach last year.
29 ten 4.3 78.5 25
30 oak 2.8 75 32
31 jac 1.8 75.5 31
32 kc 1.4 80.5 18
Fortenbaugh: The switch at quarterback from Matt Cassel to Alex Smith should cut down Kansas City's sack and turnover numbers, while the transition from Romeo Crennel to Andy Reid gives the Chiefs a much-improved position from a tactical standpoint.
Me: Can't have it both ways department: jumping from Philly to KC, Fortenbaugh is running the very same Andy Reid up to the heavens and I'm running Reid down. It's a new coach and a new quarterback getting installed, which is inherently bad for production across the NFL. Plus, KC probably has most of the same old porous team that it had last year. Did they fire last year's bozos this spring and start with brand new bozos, or did they keep the old ones? Same difference.


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|Overhead Bins On The A380 posted Tue May 13 2008 07:16:30 by LH4116
|Overhead Bins Creaking On Takeoff And Landing posted Sat Mar 17 2007 04:03:47 by Braybuddy
|No Winglet On Every A320? posted Wed Nov 15 2006 01:25:08 by Gabypn1992
|"No Liquids Rule" Effect On Retailers posted Sun Sep 3 2006 23:55:23 by Triley1057
|Why No 777-style Pivot Bins On Boeing Narrowbodies posted Mon May 8 2006 21:38:44 by 1337Delta764
|Larger Overhead Bins On B6 posted Thu Aug 4 2005 00:05:14 by JetBlueAtJFK
|Why Do FA's Run Thier Arms On Top Of Overhead Bins posted Thu Mar 11 2004 22:49:21 by Cmckeithen
|No Winglets On A320 And A340 posted Thu Jan 29 2004 16:02:09 by Karlok
|No Overhead Bins posted Sun Sep 17 2000 01:16:08 by AT
|Why No Findings On Afriqiyah And ET Crash? posted Fri Aug 19 2011 10:01:10 by comorin


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Friedel on vital run-in: We're all in this together
Brad Friedel has assured claret and blue fans on the eve of their survival run-in: "We're all pulling together as one."
USA goalkeeping ace Friedel insists the team are absolutely determined to charge up the Barclays Premier League table.
The 39-year-old says the players are taking the perilous situation "incredibly seriously" as they look to move away from the drop zone.
But he is adamant the team has enough quality to come through the final eight-game showdown.
He said: "We've got eight cup finals.
"We've got enough quality in the changing room and we're confident to get the points on the board to stay in the Premier League.
"It's a shame we're in the position we're in. I can assure the fans that we're all pulling together as one. We're going to be taking these games incredibly seriously.
"We're determined to get enough points on the board to ensure our top-flight safety.
"In the summer we can have a look at the things that went right and wrong and we'll try and correct them next season.
"We're going to do nothing more than fight for Premier League survival."
Friedel insists the team will be looking to take care of themselves in the remaining games although he admits it will be difficult not to check out the results of other sides pushing for progress.
He added: "You try and concentre on your own results, but it's impossible not to look at the other results.
"It's much easier to look at other results when you've got three points under your belt.
"This weekend we've got a difficult game at Goodison Park but we're going to try and get the three points."
Get behind the lads in crunch home clash against Newcastle United - click here.
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I'm about to purchase my first real bike. I live in a part of town where drug deals and prostitution is rampant, heck the neighbors on both sides of my place deal out of their windows. I also live in the only gated community in the neighborhood (but the walk-through gate can be opened simply by reaching over the gate and turning the knob). I live in a room in a condo owned by an older couple. My current beater sits outside, unlocked and under an all-night lamp. There is NOTHING to lock anything to...no pipes no nothing. I was thinking about just parking my new bike between condos where it can't be seen from the street.
Or...am I just S.O.L.?
Oh and my new bike's going to run me 350...which may not seem like a lot of money to some but it's a lot to a kid who has to resort to eating ramen noodles every morning/night.


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High-Gloss Paint Job - The LookWritten by on September 1, 2010 How To Achieve The Ultimate Show Car Finish For Your Street Rod
Arguably one of the most important aspects of car building is body and paint. This single aspect of a car makes up 90 percent of its appearance. It not only has the biggest impact on a person when they first see the car, but it is also one of the things people will still be talking about after they are done looking at it. After all, so much can be said about the quality of a car just based on the body and paint. A super-straight, high-gloss paintjob with incredible depth shows just how much patience and time was spent getting the car to that level. Plus, if the body and paint is that good, the same can probably be said for the rest of the car.
If you don't believe that body and paint is that important, think of how many times you have looked at a car and thought, "I can't believe how straight it is and how deep the paint is." Chances are if you've ever been to a car show of any kind, you have uttered some form of that phrase a time or two. Then of course, that statement is usually followed with a question, "How did they do that?" You know you're doing the same steps they are, but you're ending up with different results. After all, you've block sanded for hours on your car and it's straight, but not that straight. Not to mention your paint. It shines and has a deep reflective finish, but it's nothing like that.
Well, just like everything associated with car building, body and paint is hard work. Especially if your goal is to make the car as straight as possible and the paint as deep as the eye can see. Just the thought of having to do body and paint scares a lot of hobbyists from doing the work themselves. Plus it is recommended that most of today's paint be sprayed in the controlled environment of a paint booth, which is something the average hobbyist doesn't have.
Nevertheless, there are still a lot of award-winning paintjobs coming out of less than desirable environments that are not paint booths. It is all about choosing the right products for your environment. This is something that can easily be determined by your local paint jobber. However, the paint materials you use are only part of the equation. The bodywork underneath is just as important, if not more important, than the paint itself. Luckily, there are a number of products that can help in this area too.
The truth is, a show car finish isn't as unobtainable as you may think. Not to mention that if you use the right materials it can make the job seem not so hard. To learn more about the subject, we turned to Mike Hilyard and Brian Grubb at Asa Custom Concepts for some insight on getting that impressive show car finish. Between the two of them there is almost 40 years of experience in body and paint, and incredible finishes are just one of their specialties.
Asa Custom Concepts uses a number of products from Spies Hecker to obtain that elusive ultra-straight, ultra-deep show car finish. For those unfamiliar with Spies Hecker paint products, it is a true European finish and is also a division of DuPont Automotive Finishes. Asa Custom Concepts found that this system works the best for their environment and gives them the desired results.
Since a whole book could be written just on bodywork, Asa pointed out that a lot of problems incurred with the paint not being flat and deep enough is related to the clear and how it is applied and buffed out. If you are starting with a good, straight panel, the application of too much clear or insufficient color sanding and buffing can create an orange peel finish no matter how straight the panel is.
In order to best explain how they get "the look", they allowed us to document them step by step as they cleared and polished out the paint on the trunk lid of a '51 Chevy Sedanette. Although it is just one panel of the car, the same concepts can be applied to the rest of the body. Even though it is difficult to explain everything that goes into body and paintwork, this should give you a basic guideline for what it takes to get that incredible show car finish.
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
Spots like this become visible after a swipe of the squeegee. This is a spot where solvents came to the surface in the drying process and there wasn't enough air movement across the surface. This spot needs more sanding, but it's important that the sanding isn't concentrated over that spot or an inconsistency in the finish will occur.Sanding through the clear and base will ruin your day. The clear is OK because another coat of clear is to follow the completion of sanding with P800-grit, but not the color. Spies Hecker's base clear is very forgiving and is easy to fix.At the beginning only two coats of clear were applied instead of four. By doing this, they have reduced the chance for orange peel buildup by applying two coats and then color sanding it. It will also give the desired amount of clearcoat. Now the last two coats of clear are being sprayed (once the spotted in base dried) for a total of four coats.The base color is sprayed onto the spot where it was sanded through. The base was sprayed to cover a much larger area than just that one spot. This helps keep the surface consistent.After the last coats of clear were applied it was given plenty of time to cure in a place where air could move across it. There is a little distortion in the reflections, but not much. This will all disappear after it is sanded and buffed.The clear is first sanded with P800-grit sandpaper using a soft block and constant saturation of water from a spray bottle.When final sanding, there will be a total of four different grits used to hand sand, followed by 3,000-grit on a DA. The grits are gradually increased to help reduce sand scratches. It's important not to jump too many grits at once or scratches will become an issue during the buffing stages.Before sanding, the entire surface area is sprayed with a coat of white guidecoat. It might sound like overkill, but there are many benefits to this method.
The trunk lid is completely sanded with P800-grit. It was dried off and lightly sprayed with guidecoat once again.Not only does the guidecoat amplify any imperfections when soaked with water, it also shows exactly where it has not been sanded enough by filling in the scratches from the P800-grit. When these white scratches have all disappeared, it is time to move onto the next grit.After the entire surface was sanded with 1,000-grit, the trunk lid was wiped down and blown dry with an air hose.It might seem a little redundant, but guidecoat is sprayed again on the trunk lid before switching to finer grit sandpaper.This time Brian has switched to 1,500-grit for this round of wet sanding. He continues to sand broad areas at a time, continually saturating the surface with water and alternating directions he sands.It's important that he equally sands the curve from the top to the bottom working off of the flat surfaces sanding a broad area. If he were to just sand in the curve he would end up creating a rut or low area in the curve, much like concentrating on just a low spot.Once the trunk lid was completely sanded with 1,500-grit, Brian switched to 2,000-grit only after he had wiped it down and sprayed the final guidecoat on it. This will be the last step of hand sanding for the clearcoat.
With all of the sanding complete, the surface is wiped clean of any contaminants and is ready for buffing. It's key to have the surface clean before a buffing pad is run across it because any small particles can attach themselves to the buffing pad and scratch the paint.To properly buff the paint, a variable speed electric buffer with a wool pad will be used along with System One polishing compound to bring out the shine in the paint.Buffing is a multi-step process. The first part begins with a wool pad being spun at roughly 1,500 rpm with plenty of compound to avoid burning the paint.It's important that whenever buffing an edge the buffer is spinning away from that edge, and the backside of the buffer is held up. That way the buffer doesn't catch on the edge as it's spinning and burn the paint or tear up the pad.Another important tip about buffing is that one should frequently clean their buffing pad. Brian is using a buffing wheel spur held firmly against the buffing pad as it spins to clean off the built up compound and fluff up the pad.When buffing the curves of the trunk lid, Brian switches to an air powered 3-inch buffer. This size buffer is easier to maneuver around the curves and easier to hold flat to the surface, which makes it less likely to burn the paint the way the regular buffer might.After the trunk lid is entirely buffed with the wool pad it's cleaned with a soft cloth and water mixed with isopropyl alcohol. The water and alcohol mixture help provide the cleanest surface by removing any residue from the buffing compound.A white waffle foam pad, which is a medium cut buffing pad, now follows up the wool pad. With System One the same buffing compound is used from start to finish with the buffing pads doing all the work.
With the buffing complete, the trunk lid is now wiped down with a soft cloth and the water alcohol mixture.To get a finish with a deep gloss and shiny depth, a coat of Prestige Polish from PPC is applied with an orbital buffer outfitted with a soft bonnet. Prestige is a polish with a unique formula of concentrated cleaning agents, specially developed polishing ingredients, and catalyzed weather-resistant UV-absorbing sealants that provide outstanding durability.Last but certainly not least, the Prestige Polish is followed up with PPC's Speed Nano Spray. This product not only enhances the slippery high-gloss appearance of the paint, but it is also anti-static and allows the surface to stay cleaner and dust-free longer.After all of the hard work, hours of block sanding, and plenty of polishing, they have created a mirror finish that is glossy and deep. Not to mention the bodywork is incredibly straight and flat, just the way a show car finish should be.


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Aspen Global Health and Development
Aspen Global Health and Development
The Resolve Award
The Resolve Award celebrates progress made by governments toward delivering on the promise of universal access to reproductive health. This highly competitive, non-monetary award is designed to honor innovative and scalable approaches in accelerating progress toward universal access to reproductive health. Innovations and awards will be considered in financing, policy development and service delivery.
- Financing: Countries will be recognized for identifying or developing new ways to fund reproductive health services. Examples could include: resource pooling; voucher systems; collective health insurance; or leveraging the private sector.
- Policy Development: Countries will be recognized for adapting, developing or improving the design and implementation of policies that remove barriers or facilitate progress toward universal access. Examples could include: adapting or developing a national reproductive health and/or adolescent reproductive health plan; public policy influencing private sector involvement; policies focused on reaching marginalized and/or vulnerable groups.
- Expansion of service delivery: Countries will be recognized for expanding access to reproductive health services and information. Examples could include: workforce expansion; integrated services; community-based distribution of contraceptives; task shifting; youth-friendly pharmacies and services; introducing new service delivery protocols, training curricula, and educational approaches.
Applications will be selected by the Global Leaders Council members and secretariat, in partnership with experts in the reproductive health field. Up to three awards total will be made in any combination of the three categories: financing, policy development, and expansion of service delivery. Representatives from the winning countries will be invited to speak on their country's innovation at the annual Geneva Policy Dialogue Series for Reproductive Health event held at the time of the World Health Assembly. The award will be presented by members of the Global Leaders Council.
To learn more about the award and to apply, read on:
The Problem
Seeking Innovations
Who Can Apply and What We're Looking For
Timeline and How to Apply
Or download the brochure to learn more. Applications for the 2015 Award will open in July 2014. Nominations can be submitted for the first deadline of 14 November 2014, or the final deadline of 16 January 2015. Please note that the Resolve Award is honorary and does not include monetary recognition.
The 2014 Resolve Award was given to Tanzania and Peru, with Afghanistan and Cambodia receiving special mentions. Three countries—the Gambia, Kenya, and Zambia, with a special mention given to Sierra Leone—received the 2013 Resolve Award for demonstrating leadership and political will. Learn why they were selected and watch the celebration of the incredible progress made by these countries at the 2013 Resolve Award Ceremony. Nepal, Malawi, Rwanda and Ethiopia were awarded the 2012 Resolve Award, with a special mention presented to Yemen. Learn more about the 2012 Resolve Award country winners, pictured below, why they were selected, as well as the 2012 Resolve Ceremony.


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May 31, 2016
The Atlanta Braves and Detroit Tigers are swapping left-handed relievers with Detroit sending Macay McBride to the Tigers for Wilfredo Ledezma.
Ledezma is 3-1 with a 4.79 ERA in 23 games out of the bullpen this year.
The 24-year-old McBride, selected by the Braves in the first-round of the 2001 amateur draft, was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 18 relief appearances with Atlanta.
The Braves bullpen needed a lefty after Mike Gonzalez had season-ending elbow injury.
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Euro biodiversity project taps big data
15 European countries along with Brazil, Israel, the Philippines and more than 30 associated partners, have started a research project called EU BON, or "Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network." The project started earlier this month.
First outlined this spring in Rome at the sixth GEO European Projects' Workshop, the project now has almost $12 million in funding to help it advance biodiversity knowledge by building a European gateway for biodiversity information.
This gateway will integrate a wide range of biodiversity data from on-ground observations to remote sensing datasets, and will make it accessible for scientists, policy makers, and the public, phys.org noted.
The official kick-off meeting for EU BON will be in mid-February in Berlin, according to phys.org.
Dr. Christoph Hauser from the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, whose presentation from the workshop can be seen here, said on phys.org that global problems arising from rapidly changing environmental conditions and biodiversity loss require internationally coordinated solutions.
"Current biodiversity observation systems and environmental data are unbalanced in coverage and not integrated, which limits data analyses and implementation of environmental policies. A solution seems impossible without real integration of biodiversity data across different spatial, temporal, and societal scales," Hauser said.
EU BON will be built on the GEO principles of open data sharing.
For more:
- see Christoph Hauser's presentation
Related Articles:
Science community looks to the cloud for big data management
Helping newborns, infants fight their fight
Can scientific misconduct derail big data?


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STARmeterSEE RANK
Up 5,531 this week
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)
Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in his ancestral estate Yasnaya Polyana, South of Moscow, Russia. He was the fourth of five children in a wealthy family of Russian landed Gentry. His parents died when he was a child, and he was brought up by his elder brothers and relatives. Leo Tolstoy studied languages and law at ... See full bio »
Born:Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula Governorate, Russian Empire [now Tula Oblast, Russia]


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American Banksters from Opportunity Agenda on Vimeo.
Meet the characters:
A mortgage broker in his mid-40's, who introduces us to the Family. The Wall Street Crime Family.
A retired grandmother in her mid-70's who is galvanized to action by the loss of her home. When Margaret assembles her friends and moves on the Family, it provides a useful roadmap for us all.
He led cartels of robo-signers to falsify documents.
He took the riskiest loans, chopped 'em up, mixed 'em in mortgage backed securities and resold them. The genius part was that he was betting they'd fail at the same time.
He and his buddies targeted minorities with sub-prime loans.
The Regulator was nicknamed Dee Regulator, because the banksters kept him doped up to make sure that there were no rules in place, and nobody got sent to the big house.
Writer / Director: Shalini Kantayya
Producer: Cédric Troadec
Director of Photography: Shane Sigler
Editor and Visual Effects: Zachary Ludescher
Production Designer: R. Kelsey Hall
Costume Designer: Astrid Brucker
Composer: Simone Giuliani
Casting and Location Manager: Seana Cavanagh
Production Manager: Richard Walker
Gaffer: Paul Dickover
Sound Recordist: Colin Alexander
Sound Designer: Tom Gambale
Production Assistant: Alex Nelson
Production Assistant: Abigail Sanford
Documentary Photography: Courtesy of Kelly Creedon
Margaret: Harri Molese
Johnny: Stephan Goldbach
Freddy "5-Fingers" Fargo: Shawn Gianella
Jesse James Morgan: Ron Fallicia
Goldie "Pretty Boy" Zax: Nikolai Delevante
Dee Regulator: Giovanni Roselli
The Dealer: Michael Murray
Grandmother 1: Elaine Liebmann
Grandmother 2: Esther Jackson
Special Thanks
The Wayland NYC
Vanessa Nisperos
Sabine Hoffman
Mesh Flanders
Cece Carpio
Karin Hayes
A 7th Empire Media Production.


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I recently had a guy college student in my home, a man seeking to follow Christ and walk in purity. He was lamenting over how a woman he knows — herself also a Christ-follower — was, in his opinion, acting immodestly in her interactions with the men she knew. He talked about the actions he saw her engaging in and how it was affecting his heart. As he spoke my heart went out to him because I've been there. It seems to hurt the most when it's someone you have feelings for or perhaps once had feelings for, but it's still sad when it's someone who's just a friend. You can't really expect much different from someone who doesn't know Christ, but from someone who has begun that relationship, someone who has henceforth been commanded to walk in a manner worthy of the calling they've received, it is particularly frustrating and heart-breaking. I speak this criticism over not just this one individual, and certainly not just over women, but over all who claim the name of Christ and yet take lightly the need for modesty in various aspects of relating to the opposite sex.
My college student friend expressed how he wished he could speak into her life on the subject but he knew that, circumstances being what they are, it would be inappropriate for him to do so. What he really wished was that a mature, Christ-following woman would challenge her on the subject. Or, if not that, for there to be some way for healthy, grace-filled dialogue on the subject to take place.
That desire sparked my memory. Back in the spring semester of 2006, when I was a senior at FSU, there was an FSU Navigators women's small group called Yajua, which means "before the sun" in Swahili. They met once each week at the crack of dawn. Not being a member of the group, plus the fact that it took place five years ago, I don't remember all that the group covered. But one significant thing that came out of the group, at least significant to me, was an initiative to start a dialogue on the subject of modesty between the men and women of the FSU Navigators ministry. They asked the student and alumni men who'd been part of the ministry for a while to give their input on three questions:
- What things do women wear/say/do to make it hard for men to live in purity?
- What things do girls wear/not wear/say/do that are encouraging for men in this area?
- Are there any other thoughts you want to share on the topic?
The women in Yajua answered the same questions, explaining how men encourage and discourage their pursuit of personal purity. The answers were compiled into two documents and distributed to anyone interested in the answers. The authors of the specific answers were kept strictly anonymus. It made the subject approachable and less taboo to talk about. I jokingly called this whole process The First Council of Tallahassee (after all, I was a Religion major at the time).
After all these years I still have these documents on my hard drive. I've decided now to post them on my blog. I hope this doesn't offend anyone who was originally involved in their creation. (I suppose if someone really takes issue with my decision they can tell me and I'll pull them down.) A few things to keep in mind as you read them:
- All the respondents were unmarried men and women in their late teens and twenties. All the respondents were professing Christians. All had been involved in one capacity or another with The Navigators at FSU. Some were in college still while others were alumni.
- Understand that these reflections are a five-year-old snapshot in time. Each person making the observations has no doubt changed since then. For those of you who know the FSU Nav alumni from the past decade or so, don't assume all their opinions on the subject have stayed the same.
- The results of this exercise were never meant to become a "new law." Legalism is just as dangerous as turning a blind eye to an issue. I think once you read the documents you'll see that the tone of the content does not communicate legalism as the answer to the problem.
- While much of what's been said in the answers is based in Scripture, there's also plenty of opinion expressed.
- These aren't meant to be exhaustive treatises, but rather a starting point.
- The two files are organized differently. The thoughts from the men for the women were kept divided by respondent, whereas the thoughts from the women for the men were compiled from the answers of all the women participating and divided by question. But something you'll notice in both is a lot of repetition since the answers from multiple people are being stated.
- Before posting the files on the web I edited them for spelling, grammar and punctuation (and, in one case, to remove names of specific people). I did not edit for content.
My hope is that these answers would once again bless and serve young men and women striving in their singleness to live in purity with their brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly those students now involved in the FSU Navigators campus ministry. I've embedded the documents below along with links to download them. Your reactions are welcome; you can leave them in the comments.
Download: Thoughts from the Guys | Thoughts from the Women


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...all that remains is our one-to-one with the winner, which will be taking place shortly. But to hear about that you'll have to check back in tomorrow...
In the end there was something inevitable about Mantel's win, despite our prediction that it would be Self's year. She'd been the bookies favourite on and off for months, and no one doubted that Bring Up The Bodies was a formidable achievement, easily on par with her 2009 winner Wolf Hall. When he name was announced there were no groans, but no gasps either. A solid win for a solid piece of work.
As ever, there is a feeling of sadness for the shortlisted novels that didn't make it, but nevertheless their fortunes will be transformed forever by having association with Britain's premier literary price - and rightly so.
It may not have been the winner you were hoping for, but no one can doubt the strength of a shortlist that saw a real return to form for the Booker.
Congratulation to everyone involved - we're off for a glass of bubbly.
Mantel: "It's not the Olympics, it's not a competition, you're only as good as your last paragraph - and I haven't even written one of those today."
"3 years ago I said I'd spend it on sex and drugs and rock and roll... this year, probably rehab!" jokes Hilary Mantel.
Mantel: "When I start writing again I'll forget all this. Every new day you feel like a beginner."
The Booker Prize 2012 winner Hilary Mantel faces the cameras.
To give you a flavour from the ground, this involves a row of 20 or so photographers shouting 'HILARY!' in her direction as she turns in a semi-circle of imperceptible degrees, smiling. The formal press conference will begin soon.
A brief and restrained speech from Mantel, who joked:
"You wait 20 years for a Booker to come along, and then two come at once!".
"Now I have to go away and write the third part of this trilogy. Believe me I have no expectations I will be standing here again!"
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies
"Someone said to me last year that we didn't select novels that they could read on the beach. No, I merely wanted novels that they wouldn't leave behind on the beach."
The lead judge reasserts the tradition that the Booker is not about "finding best-sellers". Again distancing himself from last year's 'readable' shortlist. Good to see.
Peter Stothard is finally at the stand, seeming only slightly tipsy, opening with comparing past Booker winners to "great cities and seaside towns... we go back to them at different time and seasons... they go in and out of fashion but always there."
Mad as a fish this guy.
...If the Booker were to be decided by a fist fight - arguably the very antithesis of beautiful prose composed in solitude - who would win?
Hold that thought.
Surreal moment.
Here in the press room we're about to be shown, via the wonders of technology, the Booker Prize dinner as it happens - i.e. the heavyweights of British literature gorging themselves on whatever pigeon and cous-cous concoction that passes as posh grub these days (Giles Coren's not unimpressed, the grumpy bugga - see below).
Little concerned it will be an 'Animal Farm moment' in reverse, and instead of standing on two legs pontificating over brandy we'll see AS Byatt, David Willetts et al rustling around on all fours, braying like mad bastards over piles of crap-encrusted hay.
Will report as soon as the screen goes live.
The Booker Prize 2012 shortlisted authors stand as one, a model of dignity and decorum... all except for one man.
What is Mr. "The Booker means very little to me" Self saying as he hoists his dense Modernist masterpiece aloft like an itchy-pitted Spartacus? We'll leave it to you to decide in the comments below.
The winner gets an authentic Guildhall glass flute, if we can smuggle it past the surly bouncers out front. No promises.
|@ gilescoren : Booker Prize dinner and they've overcooked the lamb. Does this mean it'll be Bring Up The Bodies after all? http://t.co/NgvxDGPe
...Is watching you!
Or rather this is the screen we'll be watching from 21:00 when the winner presentation begins. To give you a little 'behind-the-scenes' insight, right now journalists from around the country are gathered in an incongruously grand corner of the Guildhall sipping coffee and exchanging pleasantries. Except us of course. We have our eyes wholly, dementedly on the prize. That first winner's name tweet WILL BE OURS!
Now we have time to relax a little, it's only fair to share with you not who we think will win, but who we think should tonight's Booker Prize...
Alison Moore's The Lighthouse is a flawed novel. The metaphors are - at times - too blunt. Futh - the protagonist - occasionally strays into being a little too naive to quite believe in. But it's the book that has resonated with us the most since we finished it.
It's the story of what happens to people when they're burnt too young in life to truly recover: not in a outwardly traumatic, hair-pulling way but with a kind of British, all-consuming but quiet agony. And yet from his mother abandoning him to his obviously unfaithful wife, his cautious optimistic outlook is inspiring in its own small way. In this he reminded us of one of great unsung heroes of modern literature, Forrest Gump. Couple that with a plot as taunt and tightly structured as any literary novel has any right to be, and for our money you're looking the most powerful novel on the shortlist - even if it is also the most brief.
There you go. Our two pennies' worth. Do you agree?
The literary elite have retired for supper, leaving us lowly journalists to fend for ourselves for an hour. So far the mood at the Booker Prize has been jovial, but expect things to get just a little more tense as the big moment approaches...
We'll be back with you shortly. Feel free to leave a comment on who you think will win below.
Great to see someone so excited to be on the shortlist, and it's debut novelist Alison Moore whose book The Lighthouse we absolutely loved. Acknowledging that this is a big night for Salt (her publisher) as well as her, she just told us:
"I'm very, very excited. It's just wonderful to be part of things. I'm over the moon. My publishers are on tenterhooks because depending on what happens tonight it could change everything for them."
Could she really win? It's an outside bet but how magical would that be? We'll find out in just over two hours...
Lot of James Bond look-a-likes in the house!
If 007 cancelled his gym membership and subscribed to The Economist, we mean.
|@ ManBookerPrize : The string trio play to guests arriving at the #manbookerprize dinner http://t.co/unC0G9dF
Surprisingly, the Booker organisers rejected calls for Azealia Banks to play the ceremony.
...We realise, of course, that unless you have microscopes for eyes this picture is completely useless to you - but here is the guest list for this evening anyway.
Actually, having microscopic eyes would be horrific, wouldn't it? Every time you glanced at your own hands you'd see a muddle of wriggling bacteria. How could you ever eat a sandwich again?
Anyway, we digress.
We just spoke with a very glamorous-looking Hilary Mantel, who also just so happens to be one of this evening's favourites to win (her second) Booker Prize for historical novel Bring up the Bodies.
She told us:
"Just because it's familiar, it doesn't make it any less tense. It's going to be a very long evening. By the end of the night you're just thinking 'oh please, let me go home!'."
Go home?! With so many flutes of bubbly on offer Hilary?
...Will I learn not to wear 'smart jeans' to formal functions? Sniffy looks from tuxedo-wearing gentlemen are flying in like Daphne du Maurier's birds. Ah well, never mind Mum, at least I'm through the door...
...and it's none other than cheeky TV wisecracked (and esteemed editor) Ian Hislop, talking to HuffPost's @alice_emily
He told her:
"I think Mantel's got a chance, but it could be Will's year, if the judges are looking for the innovative... but really I know zip!"
Siding with the two favourites there Ian, very shrewd...
...A little later than promised, so apologies for that. To make it up to you, here's a picture of the spectacular exterior of Guildhall, one of London's oldest buildings and the scene of tonight's festivities.
We're inside, under-dressed, but well-prepared to bring you all the happenings from the Booker Prize party. Hold onto your seats.
All the very Booker best to you till then...
|@ sturdyAlex : RT @davidschneider: Booker Prize spoiler alert. Apparently it's been won by the EU.
OK so here's how tonight is going to work.
In approximately half an hour we're going to brush the cat hairs off our best jackets, pop our laptops in a bag and head over to London's Guidhall for what they call the Winner Ceremony Reception at 6.30pm.
There the great and the good of literature will be gathered, fiddling with their bow ties and sipping Champagne, including (deep breath):
AC Grayling, Aminatta Forna, Anne Robinson, Anthony Quinn, Ben Okri, Charles Saumarez Smith, Chris Mullin, Dame AS Byatt, David Willetts, Deborah Bull, Ed Vaizey, Francis Wilson, Harriet Harman, Helen Fielding, Howard Jacobson, James Daunt, James Naughtie, Kate Mosse, Mariella Frostrup, Maureen Lipman, Michael Holroyd, Michael Portillo, Ronald Harwood, PD James, Shami Chakrabarti, Sir Peter Bazalgette, Stephen Kelman and VS Naipal.
We'll be doing our best to take surreptitious snaps of them with our camera phones and, where ever possible, asking for their verdict on tonight's winner - then reporting back to you.
Then, at around 7:30 - actually, let's call it 19:30, that feels more exciting - at 19:30 there'll be a short break before the Winner Press Conference begins at 21:00.
After some more pithy commentary from yours truly, at just after 21:45, we'll be told exactly who is this year's Booker Prize winner - at which point every culture journalist in the land will be pawing at their Blackberries like drunks trying to stop their last pound rolling down a drain, desperate to be the first to Tweet the winner's name.
Welcome to journalism in 2012 everybody.
Well, doesn't he??
…And while we're reminding you of the shortlisted authors, we might as well remind you of the five towering figures of the literary establishment controlling their fates: the judges.
From left to right…
Bharat Tandon, the academic, writer, and reviewer who has lectured at both Cambridge and Oxford on literature.
Amanda Foreman, the award-winning historian and international bestselling author.
Sir Peter Stothard, the Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and Top Gun fanatic (possibly)
Dinah Birch, the Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool
…and Dan Stevens, the bloke off Downton Abbey.
No, to be fair to Dan, he did study English Literature at university (unlike, say, everyone else working anywhere in publishing) and he does…


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NEW DELHI: Against the backdrop of serial blasts in Bodhgaya, BJP today charged the government is not only soft on terror but has also interfered with the working of bodies like CBI and IB which are dealing with such issues.
"We condemn the attack in Bodhgaya. The NIA is going to probe the matter. Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for it as per newspaper reports.... Increasingly the impression is going around that we are soft on terror," Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference here.


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Have you gotten in the habit of renting more movies than you buy? It's certainly an easy pattern to fall into thanks to Netflix bringing DVDs right to your door and Redbox bringing their DVD rental boxes to grocery store parking lots across the country, but if you're a junkie for special features, it may soon be a habit you have to break.
A Consumerist reader recently wrote in to the consumer advocate blog to let them know that he had discovered the 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' DVD he had rented from Blockbuster contained no special features. The $3.99 price tag he paid for the rental disc got him the menus for the special features, but any attempts to access them were met with a message proclaiming, "This disc is intended for rental purposes and only includes the feature film. Own it on Blu-Ray or DVD to view these bonus features and complete your movie watching experience."
Sadly, it's not just 'Scott Pilgrim,' either. Copies of 'Get Him to the Greek' (which is also a Universal title) have been found to sport the feature-only initiative. And, according to HackingNetflix.com, Netflix copies of 'UP' have been found to be missing the option for "closed captions," (by which they most likely mean subtitles and not closed captioning for the hearing impaired). We should also note that 20th Century Fox kicked off this recent trend last year, and it made headlines after they accidentally shipped a bunch of rental DVDs minus special features to stores for people to purchase. See our original story here. Now this practice looks to be spreading to other studios.
So what do you think about all of this? Most studios have manufactured rental-only copies of films for years (it's not like they just throw away the boxes), but traditionally those discs have been identical to the retail discs. Now that that's no longer the case, do you feel like rental outlets should do a better job of disclaiming when a disc is feature-less? Netflix' page for 'Scott Pilgrim' does only list "Color; interactive menus; scene access" as the DVD's other features, but the outlet doesn't exactly go out of its way to make that clear (though it is good to know they haven't gone so far as to rent out black-and-white versions of the film). Or does this ultimately not even bother you in the slightest?
Let us know below, and, please let us know if you find any other rented movies lacking in special features.
categories Dvds, Hot Topic, Cinematical, Blu-Ray Dvds


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With a name like "Smucker's," it has to be good. And so it follows that, with a last name like "Swallow," you're bound to make food (or porn). Luckily, sisters Meg and Ellen Swallow went into the food business, creating Phro*ZEN, their own line of vegan ice cream — or vegan "frozen dessert" to be exact, since there ain't no cream in their cruelty-free concoctions.
There is, however, a variety of milk substitutes (from soy to coconut), fat in the form of soy bean oil, plant-based thickeners and emulsifiers and a healthy base in Buddhist philosophy (that's where the "ZEN" part comes in; the "phro" is pretty self-explanatory). Each pint — and uplifting Facebook message from the company — comes with a Buddhist saying.
"(The philosophy) is mostly about feeling at peace with what you're eating, just a holistic approach to food," Meg says. "It's really important to me to feed yourself well and to enjoy what you're eating. And the Buddhism aspect kind of stemmed from the vegan aspect. Knowing what you're eating. It pertains to the idea of sharing with each other, whether you're vegan or not, and enjoying the product, whether you're vegan or not, and having that understanding and connection with each other."
Ellen, the younger of the duo at age 18, was a practicing vegan, giving it up after realizing you can't stay healthy dining out on a diet of french fries.
"(Ellen) visited me at school," says Meg, now 22, "and she would have to bring a cooler of her own food. You shouldn't have to make someone feel out place because they have a dietary need or restriction."
Despite the fact that neither has any culinary training, the sisters have always cooked together with a predilection for creative experimentation in the kitchen. Non-vegan example — Gummy Bear cookies, which came out horribly, Meg says. The experimentation came to a head when Meg came home one day with a vanilla bean.
"I wasn't satisfied with where my life was and I needed a release," she says.
"I had this craving to do something really creative and to do something that felt good. I got home from work and I had a vanilla bean … and I looked at it and went, 'All right. What would be delicious on a July summer day?' And I thought, 'Well, we have an ice cream maker,' a hand-crank ice cream maker and 'I have this vanilla bean,' and I thought, 'OK, ice cream."
Although she started with ice cream (the real kind, with milk), Meg quickly partnered with her sister to create a dessert everyone could enjoy.
"Vegan ice cream is one of those things," Ellen says, "you're ready to sit down with some and you're like, 'This is awesome!' and then you sit down and take a bite and go, 'This is not awesome.' "
The common complaint with non-awesome vegan ice cream is that it tends to crystallize easily, needing to "rest" on the counter before you dig in.
"I did some research and went through vegan cookbooks and looked at vegetarian cookbooks and looked at regular ice cream recipes, just comparing fat percentages," Meg says. "I worked really, really hard with Ellen on the recipes to get it to the point where vegans would enjoy it — because there's a different standard when you understand that it's a substitute — but not only vegans, but the people that love them or who are with them that are not vegans."
It took the duo about two months to find a vegan recipe they could scoop right out of the freezer that gives you "the same mouth feel" as ice cream, Meg says.
"I think we both danced around the kitchen for 20 minutes because it was just so satisfying knowing it was possible to make something that's cruelty free and delicious. Not one or the other," she says.
Now they're going one step beyond vegan.
"We're starting our allergen-free line in the next couple of weeks," Meg says, adding that they're donating part of their profits to the allergy clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
The inspiration came from a family that asked Meg to create an allergen free ice cream for their young son.
"I couldn't use anything within the top eight allergens," she says, "and I thought, 'How does this mom prepare meals for her family every night?' and I thought about how the entire family has to be allergen-free because of one member and they were willing to do that. That's love — to sacrifice to make sure that one family member is safe.
"I brought the allergen-free ice cream over and this was the first time the boy was able to not worry and just have a bowl of ice cream like a normal kid and he licked the bowl!"
"It's really about love when it comes down to it," Meg continues. "Loving your body. Loving animals. Loving the food that you're eating, and loving the people that you're eating with, whether they're vegan or not. Everyone can enjoy it and not have to sacrifice anything for it."
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Images: 20th Anniversary of T.A.P.S [Image 12 of 17]
Photo by Sgt. Mikki Sprenkle
U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III, attends the 20th Anniversary of Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors (T.A.P.S) in Washington, D.C., March 27, 2014. Friends of T.A.P.S who share a demonstrated commitment to our nation's military families and veterans attended the event. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mikki L. Sprenkle/Released)
This work, 20th Anniversary of T.A.P.S [Image 1 of 17], by SSG Mikki Sprenkle, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.
Date Taken:03.27.2014
Date Posted:03.28.2014 10:50
Photo ID:1203502
Size:8.86 MB
Location:WASHINGTON, DC, US


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I hope I'm alive in time to play I Am Alive. Frankly, it would kind of suck if I wasn't, because the upcoming Ubisoft disaster game is set to come out in Spring 2009.
In I Am Alive, you're forced to navigate a Chicago "left in ruins" after a major catastrophe in the form of a devastating earthquake. Players are required to "think, react and take risks that will directly affect themselves and those around them."
The game is speculated to be helmed by Jade Raymond, the charming producer of hit 2007 title Assassin's Creed. Although there's no confirmation this is a PlayStation 3 title, the game is targeted for release on "current generation video game consoles," and, judging from the below teaser, that's very likely to include the PS3. We'll have more on I Am Alive as it becomes available.


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Behind the Headline: Obama Makes Unexpected Push for Improved Math and Science Education during Final Debate
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Obama Makes Unexpected Push for Improved Math and Science Instruction
The Hill| 10/22/2012
Behind the Headline
Education and Economic Growth
Education Next | Spring 2008
In Monday night's presidential debate, President Obama argued that improving math and science education would boost the American economy. In a study that was published in Education Next, Eric Hanushek and three colleagues found that the performance of students on tests in math and science has a large effect on a country's subsequent economic growth rate.
— Education Next
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Boy band Big Time Rush was selected by poll takers in the lead with 8000,000 votes as the premiere winners of Parade and Wetpaint Entertainment's boy-band smackdown. As first place winners the band got to be on the cover of this months magazine which launches this Sunday. The band in second place was One Direction, and the third runners up were The Wanted.
The band includes four members Kendall Schmidt, 21, Logan Henderson, 22, Carlos Pena Jr., 22 and James Maslow, 22.
Nickelodeon's famed boy band was recently interviewed by writer, Connie Shultz, and the full interview will be published on newstands. The foursome are a motivated group who are genuine when fans seek their attention even if it is for a minute to say hello. "For us to even say hi to someone, to change their day around or change something inside of them—that's a pretty cool feeling." said Henderson. When discussing the collaboration and dynamics of the group Henderson said,"Yeah We argue like brothers, but we love each other."
The band has been traveling across the country on their summer 2012 concert tour. Rushers buy your tickets because this hot boy band may be touring your local town!
Launch the gallery to view the heartthrob boy band of today Big Time Rush at the Verizon concert on 2012 summer tour!


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Hello everybody. Today I'm going to tell you that the brand new game I just got for my Nintendo Wii. It's known as Zumba Fitness. There are actually two installments of this game, the next one being called Zumba fitness number two clearly, having said that i only decided to buy the first. It was revealed in Nov of 2010 however I only just purchased it recently. Well let us get straight into it and I'll share a little bit with you about this video game and the reason why it's my new favorite game.
First off let me start with stating that I had been hunting for a video game for our Wii which was a thrilling time which made me get active. I have difficulties staying active due to the fact I am on the computer a lot and I require a video game which will… Read more