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Latest Pic
Site Stats
Site Started: June 24, 2007
This is an unofficial fansite of Yoeng Geun. It is in no way affiliated with Moon Geun Young or her agent. Images remain property of their Respective Owners. Facts and stories are copyright by WikiPedia and Online site.
Moon Geun Young Fan Site
Welcome to MoonGeunYoung.net Fan Site!
Stand at 165 centimeter tall, she has a slim and elegant figure with just 45 kilogram weight.In her freetime, Geun Young likes listening to Music and Dancing. Still in teenage year as of 2007, the innocent sweet looking Geun Young has enrolled in Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul and will have a bright future ahead of her.
As a young actress, Geun Young has successfully attracted many company to have her as a spokeperson. The latest that I knew of is that Moon has signed a 1 year contract worth 500 million wons for one year for "shinWon" as a spoke person for its viki brand female cloth in 2005 even though previously he had experience in modeling for mobile phone, beverage and cosmetics. Source: News
Reasons I like about Moon Geun Young Are
Below is a video clip, a very short and cute one of Moon Young with famous korean boyband Shinhwa in a TV commercial. It is in korean that I couldn't understand but it is pretty cute so check it out!
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Today's search podcast covers the US Department Of Justice fighting
Google for search data that AOL, MSN and Yahoo released; seeing dates on cached
pages; Google ads show up in Google Earth; A9 gets people search; Yahoo gets its
toolbar in WordPerfect; Google & Yahoo win in customer satisfaction survey and more!
Tune-in by listening to this
MP3 file,
listening via WebmasterRadio at 11:30am
Eastern and repeated at 2pm Eastern Tuesday through Friday, via our
Odeo channel or through
iTunes via this
link (or use alternative iTunes instructions explained
here) or
though our Yahoo Podcasts
channel. Below are links with more information about the stories that were
- Bush
Administration Demands Search Data; Google Says No; AOL, MSN & Yahoo Said Yes
Ask Jeeves Includes the Date and Time Pages Were Last Cached
Still Seeing "Blue Pins" on Some Google Maps; Google Now Testing Paid Links in
Google Earth
WSJ: More Reality TV Type Programming Might Be Coming to Yahoo
Buzzmetrics and Intelliseek Join Forces and then Merge with Nielsen
Open Federation Comes to Google Talk
Selects ZoomInfo to Power People Search
Yahoo Toolbar Embedded into New Version of WordPerfect
Loomia Offers Podcast/Vidcast Search, Personalized Recommendation Service Now
Available for Site Developers
WSJ Profiles Digg News Technology Site
Report: Chinese Searchers Prefer Google Over Homegrown Baidu
Keynote Says Google, Yahoo Preferred in North America
Results from MSN Search Added to Jux2 Tool Metasearch and Results Comparison
Related reading
The continuing rise of voice search and how you can adapt to it
Google's I/O developer conference brought several huge announcements about Google's future direction and projects, including two new technologies which demonstrate just how ... read more
Five most interesting search marketing news stories of the week
Welcome to our weekly round-up of all the latest news and research from around the world of search marketing and beyond.
Six most interesting search marketing news stories of the week
Welcome to our weekly round-up of all the latest news and research from around the world of search marketing and beyond.
Google's recent SERP changes and tests: everything you need to know
Over the past couple of weeks, Google has been spotted introducing some interesting changes to the look and layout of its search results pages.

subset: commoncrawl


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Team members are sorted alphabetically by their last name. Please choose the appropriate letter:
Kurt recently joined Oberon as a Managing Director focused on financial services, energy / cleantech and technology. Kurt has 20 years of experience in investment banking, private equity and corporate development. Previously, he was a Managing Director at Bryant Park Capital's New York office where he executed over 20 engagements totaling over $1 billion in transaction value, including buy-side / sell-side M&A, corporate valuations, and private placements of debt and equity.
Prior to joining BPC in 2004, Kurt spent four years working as a consultant and corporate development executive with several technology and marketing companies, including NewView Technologies, Inc. (formerly eSteel, Inc.), a supply chain software company backed by $100 million in funding from leading venture capital investors (Goldman, Sachs & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bessemer Venture Partners), and CM Media Inc., a leading new media company. In 1996, Kurt joined Inverness Management LLC, a New York-based private equity firm with over $400 million of committed capital. At Inverness, Kurt pursued opportunities in a wide variety of industries and executed transactions with energy and financial services companies including the IPO of National Oilwell Varco (formerly National Oilwell, Inc.), today a $30 billion oil and gas services company, and the acquisition and sale of Financial Alliance, Inc., a merchant payment processor with over 60,000 accounts. Kurt began his career as an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co's M&A Investment Banking Group in New York City.
Kurt graduated from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Finance and Business Honors. Kurt is a FINRA registered securities principal (series 24).
Tim joined Oberon in 2015 to lead business and development growth initiatives for the Firm. With over 25 years of Wall Street institutional sales experience in both fixed income and equity markets with boutique and bulge bracket sell side firms. Much of his recent career has involved small cap debt and equity financing placements for investment banking clients across numerous industries, including Biotech and Healthcare, Natural Resources, Retail and Consumer, Technology as well as others.
Mr. Bonham began his career at McDonald & Company (now Keybank) in Cleveland Ohio, and was most recently at Guggenheim Securities in New York City where his focus was institutional equity sales. His experience also includes a position as Managing Director, Head of Equity Research Sales and Trading at a boutique investment bank that specialized in equity financings and M&A where he led the marketing and placement of numerous PIPE, Registered Direct, Private Placement and other structured investments for issuers.
Tim attended John Carroll University and holds a number of Finra licenses (series 7 and 24 among others).
Adam has been on Wall Street since 1993 and joined Oberon in 2002. He leads the firm's Business Services practice and has closed M&A and financing transactions with a number of Oberon clients including Select Staffing, NTS Communications, BiolineRx, Butler America, and Alanco Technologies.
Prior to joining Oberon, Adam was a Vice President of JP Morgan's Telecom, Media & Technology Group where he was instrumental in the creation of the firm's Wireless Data Investment Banking coverage effort. While at JP Morgan, Adam led the execution of numerous private placements, mergers and debt financings. Prior to joining JP Morgan, Adam worked at Merrill Lynch in the Leveraged Finance Group, underwriting high yield bonds and bridge loans as well as arranging syndicated loans and mezzanine financings. Adam also spent two years as a member of Merrill Lynch's Mergers & Acquisitions Group executing over $2 billion in completed transactions across a number of industry sectors including consumer products, healthcare and technology.
Adam holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School and a BA from Union College.
Harry joined Oberon Securities in 2015 as Managing Director with a focus on middle market omnichannel consumer and business marketers, digital and traditional media, marketing and business services and adtech. He previously worked with Agile Equity, a boutique technology, media and telecom investment bank in New York.
Previously, Harry was a managing director at Gruppo, Levey & Co., where he spent 14 years providing M&A and strategic advisory services to catalogers, marketing service agencies and publisher. In his 20 year investment banking career Harry has executed in excess of $4 billion of M&A and private placement transactions. Harry previously worked in the publishing industry for Cowles Media and Thomson Corporation, after finishing his assignment supervising nuclear reactor overhaul procedures for the Department of Defense.
Harry earned a MS in Journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.
Prior to joining Oberon, Richard was a Senior Partner with an investment banking firm headquartered in New England. The firm is a boutique investment bank specializing in Mergers & Acquisitions, recapitalizations, capital raising, and strategic consulting throughout the United States. Richard's industry focus centers around business-to-business services, industrial, construction, and manufacturing related markets. In his 10 years with the firm, Richard has executed dozens of transactions in a variety of industries including equipment and linen rental, oil and gas field services.
Richard is a former Group VP of Finance for a Fortune 500 oil and gas production, exploration and chemical company. In that position, he was financially responsible for executing a barter arrangement between the United States and Russia, exchanging phosphoric acid with the Russian counterparty for other elements that comprise fertilizer. He has also held various other executive level positions.
Richard received his Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Accounting from Northeastern University. He is a trained Certified Public Accountant with Deloitte and Touche and an entrepreneur himself, having either owned or operated several companies in a variety of industries.
John Eger has served as a senior executive in over a dozen companies, and as a strategic consultant to over fifty companies and organizations. He has led strategic teams to: facilitate succession planning, transition management, and corporate reorganizations; negotiate strategic alliances, technology co-development, counter trade agreements, and M&A; as well as equity and debt financing rounds both domestically and internationally.
He has over 35 years of buy and sell-side experience as well as advising entrepreneurs, inventors, Chief Executives, Executive Directors, and Directors in diverse vertical markets.
Over the last decade as Managing Director of Allen & Associates, a Santa Monica boutique corporate finance advisory firm, he negotiated: the sale of MLB general and limited partnership interests; the completion financing for the Oscar-nominated film Albert Nobbs; the acquisition of multiple international lottery licenses on behalf of a US client; and the reorganization of under-performing portfolio assets for institutional investors.
Prior to founding Oberon in 2001, Mr. Epstein was with Deutsche Banc Securities Inc. (formerly Deutsche Banc Alex Brown) in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group where he focused on innovative, leading-edge technology companies. Prior to the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, he was a member of the Financial Sponsor Coverage Group working with the top private equity firms on a wide range of transactions.
While at Deutsche Banc Alex Brown, Elad executed over $2.5 billion in completed transactions in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged debt and equity transactions. Prior to his employment with Deutsche Banc, Elad was a member of Oppenheimer & Co. Technology Investment Banking Team. At Oppenheimer, Elad executed over 14 public and private equity transactions, raising over $750 million for emerging growth technology companies.
Elad holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School and a B.A. from Tel Aviv University.
Lou joined Oberon Securities in 2013 from KPMG LLP where he was National Real Estate Advisory Leader and National Real Estate Investment Banking Leader. Prior to joining KPMG, Lou was a Senior Vice President in Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc.'s Real Estate Private Equity team and led deal teams responsible for bidding on companies and assets worth approximately $5 billion.
Before joining Macquarie Capital, Lou had been a Vice President in Goldman Sach's Real Estate Investment Banking Group where he was involved with closing approximately $25 billion in real estate transactions that included mergers and acquisitions, equity offerings and debt offerings.
Lou earned an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, a JD from William and Mary Law School and a BA from Princeton University.
Scott Friedman has over 20 years in the structured finance sector. Mr. Friedman was Managing Director of Riviere Securities (November 2008 to March 2011), with an expertise in securitizing, amongst other things, consumer assets based upon credit cards, nonprime auto loans, and mortgages. Prior to Riviere, Mr. Friedman worked in the US Securitization business for Fortis bank whereby he oversaw origination of over $5 billion of consumer and commercial assets for the bank's clients. Mr. Friedman was also employed by Societe Generale where he held several positions, first as primary architect of the Bank's Securitization Group Marketing effort as well as in charge of product development, whereby he won Euromoney 2004 Structured Finance deal of the year for credit card securitization, in particular for bringing a student college credit card issuer to the structured bond market. Mr. Friedman was promoted to Managing Director of Financial Institutions for the bank the last year at Societe Generale. Mr. Friedman was also employed by Standard & Poor's as a Director in their Structured Finance department. During this time, Mr. Friedman ran the European Commercial Paper conduit business in the London office as well as developed criteria for the European Market. He also worked primarily in development in the analysis of new asset classes and published dozens of articles on criteria and newly rated structures. Prior to his time at Standard & Poor's, Mr. Friedman worked as a Vice President in Citibank's credit card treasury unit, manager in Dean Witter's controller's office and as staff auditor at Cooper's and Lybrand.
James Kang is a Managing Director at Oberon Securities. James has spent 20+ years as a technology investment banker, Internet entrepreneur and venture investor. James has advised clients on over $20bn of Merger and Acquisition transactions and led equity, convertible, and debt financing transactions totaling over $100bn in proceeds. Prior to joining Oberon, James spent 8 years working at leading bulge bracket investment banks. Most recently, James was a Director in the TMT Investment Banking Group at Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers. Prior to joining Lehman, James was an Associate at Citigroup in their Technology Investment Banking Group. Prior to Business School, James was the Co-Founder and President of Kozmo.com, a pioneering Internet on-demand retailer which introduced one hour delivery of various products in urban centers. James holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BS in Finance from NYU Stern School of Business.
John Kinney joined Oberon Securities in 2012 bringing more than 20 years of experience in investment banking and corporate development gained as a senior banker in the investment banking departments of Deutsche Bank Securities, Dresdner Kleinwort Securities, Daiwa Securities, and UBS Warburg / PaineWebber where he generated and executed transactions across the consumer products, retail, technology, and general industrial sectors. He began his career with Chemical Bank and ABN AMRO completing more than forty public and private debt transactions for small and mid-cap companies.
Immediately before joining Oberon, John served as the VP/Head of Corporate Development for an early-stage renewable energy and feed company based in Florida as well as a Director in Business Development at Valens Capital, a billion dollar hedge fund focused on providing flexible, custom-tailored and cost-effective debt and equity growth financing solutions to small-cap public and private companies.
John received his MBA from the Stern School of Business of New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Timothy L. Marlo joined Oberon Securities as a Managing Director in 2015 with 30 years of investment banking experience. From 1985 to 2002, Mr. Marlo was employed by A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. where he managed several billon dollars of public and private corporate transactions and most recently was the head of the private placement group responsible for assisting middle market companies in issuances of non-registered debt and equity securities. Mr. Marlo began his career at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. as a mergers and acquisitions associate. In 2002 he co-founded STL Capital Partners, LLC, which, until 2015, advised middle market companies involved in various capital market transactions including private placements of debt and equity securities, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and valuations of securities, and provided merchant capital in private transactions.
Mr. Marlo received his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and his BSBA from the University of Missouri
Frank McGrath has spent thirteen years on Wall Street as an advisor, banker and asset raiser. Currently, Frank acts as a Managing Director at Oberon Securities, focused on natural resource initiatives and "alternative to alternatives investing". He consults with numerous market participants and observers - including many levels of government, family offices and First Nations.
Prior to his tenure at Oberon, Frank had been a senior principle at several asset managers - including the team that founded the Fairstream Fund, a global fund acquired by Nikko Asset Management in 2008.
Frank began his Wall Street career at Deutsche Bank in 2001 as a quantitative researcher in foreign exchange / commodities. He is a former US Army officer, a graduate of both Tulane University (BS-Mathematics) and Georgetown University (MBA).
John joined Oberon Securities in 2012 as Managing Director with over 15 years of investment banking experience focused on M&A and corporate finance. Before joining Oberon, he was a Vice President, Corporate Development at Par Pharmaceutical Companies and a partner with Ensemble Advisors providing strategic advice and capital raising to emerging healthcare and technology companies.
Prior to that, John was a Managing Director at Bear Stearns & Co. where he spent 10 years in the firm's Healthcare investment banking group providing M&A and corporate finance advice to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical technology and services companies and generating and executing transactions totaling over $170 billion. Previously, he spent 10 years in business development and project management positions with contract laboratory and data services companies.
John earned an MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Delaware.
Mr. Powell's practice covers international investment transactions across a broad range of industries with a focus on emerging markets. He has spent over 20 years as a corporate and commercial lawyer. For the past 12 years Mr. Powell has acted as General Counsel to a $700 million Family Office with real estate development, construction and financial services holdings in Europe, Canada and the Middle East. Whilst representing the Family Office's interests, he has advised and negotiated on real estate transactions and cross border investments valued in excess of $500 million.
Mr. Powell received his J.D from Boston University School of Law and his B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University.
Dan Ramsden has been active in corporate finance, capital markets and M&A for over 20 years on Wall Street and has completed more than $20 billion in transaction volume. He has covered media and telecom since the mid-'90s and for most of the past decade has been focused on Internet, software, digital technology and its connected systems.
Dan's career began in leveraged finance at Bank of Montreal and evolved to investment banking at BMO Capital Markets. He started and helped to build out the organization's U.S. Telecom & Media investment banking practice from 1994 until 2002, and he has subsequently been a Managing Director with two New York based middle-market firms founded and run by bulge-bracket firm executives. In 2009, Dan launched a merchant banking platform, CoRise, to advise and invest in early stage companies in information technology and related applications.
Dan received his MBA cum laude from Fordham University and BA from Cornell University. He is the author of The Age of Convergence (2013), a collection of essays about the information economy and its impact on enterprise, business building, entrepreneurship, technology, markets, valuations, and finance.
Prior to joining Oberon in 2004, Yoav was a Vice President with CIBC World Markets' Technology Investment Banking Group where he initiated banking coverage of the telecom networking equipment and voice-over-packet sectors. While at CIBC, Yoav led the execution of numerous equity financings including IPO's, secondary offerings, private placements, and mergers and acquisitions transactions.
Previous to joining the Technology Group, Yoav worked at CIBC's Leveraged Finance Group where he executed various financing transactions such as high yield, mezzanine, bank debt offerings, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring advisory assignments, and private equity investments.
Yoav is a lawyer, who practiced for over a year with M. Seligman & Co. in Tel Aviv. He holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a joint degree in Law and Economics from Tel Aviv University.
Scott joined Oberon Securities in 2013 with more than 15 years commercial real estate experience encompassing real estate credit rating analysis, capital markets and investment banking. Before joining Oberon, Scott was a partner at the middle market real estate advisory firm Cadence Capital Group, where he was involved in advisory and capital raising engagements totaling over $900 million supporting a range of investment opportunities including acquisitions, note purchases and property development. Prior to Cadence, he was a key member of the Citigroup real estate investment banking team and instrumental in securitization and syndication of various secured high-yield and unsecured corporate debt commitments ranging from $50 million to over $5 billion.
Scott's earlier experience also includes positions in REIT and CMBS credit analysis at Standard & Poor's, sell-side equity research at Macquarie Capital, acquisitions at Advanced Real Estate Services, and financing at BRT Realty Trust.
Scott received a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a minor in Accounting from the University of California, Riverside, and a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance from New York University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: MNR) and is a Clinical Professor at NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate.
Prior to co-founding Oberon, Nicole was head of the U.S. operations for Kentech Ventures, an Israeli-based VC, where she was successfully helping start-up software companies identify business opportunities, forge strategic relationships, amend and execute their business plans and source capital. Prior to joining Kentech, Nicole spent nearly seven years working on Wall Street as a senior equity analyst on both the buy and sell-side. Nicole is an expert on Internet, e-commerce, enterprise software, contract manufacturing, and IT services companies and wrote the definitive tome on the Information Security space in early 1998, while she was a Vice President / Director of Technology Research at CIBC Oppenheimer & Co. She started her finance career as an equity analyst on the buy-side at Hudson Capital Advisors, a firm which managed $1 billion in institutional assets.
Nicole is a lawyer and holds a B.A. in Political Science from New York University. She began her career working at The Segal Company, the premiere multi-employer employee benefits consulting firm, drafting pension plans and welfare plans for unions and their employers.
Bill joined Oberon in 2013 and has worked in investment banking since 1989 with a primary focus on technology, specifically IT Services and Communications Software, after starting his career as a generalist. Bill has previously worked for Tucker Anthony, Prudential Securities and CIBC World Markets, executing approximately 75 financing and advisory assignments totaling over $7 billion. Bill has also worked as the CFO of a private manufacturing company and a public sports event marketing company, both of which were sold.
Bill holds an MBA from the Darden Graduate Business School and a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia.
Chris joined Oberon Securities in July, 2015 as Managing Director with a focus on capital raising for middle market healthcare, technology and consumer companies.
Previously, Chris was a Senior Investment Banker with Middlebury Securities for six years and led it's Corporate Finance team. The team's primary focus was assisting private and micro-cap issuers with their financing needs, including, diligence, structuring and placement.
Before Investment Banking, Chris had been a leader of successful asset management teams specializing in structured lending investment strategies. Starting at Promethean Asset Management in 2000, Chris helped lead its Private Placement Group in becoming one of the most active in the industry, closing transactions totaling in excess of $500MM. In 2001, Chris sourced, structured and co-managed the third largest and one of most lucrative direct investments in Promethean's history, Excite@Home, which was structured as a $100MM Senior Secured Convertible Note. In 2007, Viking Asset Management brought Chris on to help launch a direct lending structured finance group and remained with the venture until transitioning into Investment Banking in 2009. Chris began his career in sales and marketing for a number of nationally recognized companies, including Fox Sports Net Cable Sales, National Cable Communications, TCI Media Services, and CB Commercial Real Estate.
Chris graduated with a B.A. from Colgate University in 1983.
Adam Taplinger, is an M&A and capital raising specialist in the Consumer and Retail sector, with a focus on consumer products, apparel, jewelry and the luxury markets as well as digital media. Adam has over 14 years of investment banking and consulting experience. He was previously a Vice President in the Asia Focus Group at Sagent Advisors, where his work centered on international Mergers and Acquisitions and capital raising activities. Prior to Sagent Advisors, Adam was a Vice President at Daiwa Securities, an affiliate of Daiwa Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and worked closely with Japan's largest corporations to help develop, implement and execute their global M&A initiatives. He completed numerous acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures on behalf of his clients. Adam offers clients a truly global reach with his extensive cross-border experience. He has led transactions of various sizes in numerous industries in over 15 countries.
Prior to joining Daiwa, Adam was a consultant to the CFO of J.Crew Group. At J.Crew, he built an institutional, centralized reporting process to enable the consolidation of the company's independent divisional FP&A functions. Adam began his career at JWGenesis Capital Markets, now part of Wells Fargo Securities.
Adam holds a BS from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and is a registered representative with FINRA. He serves on the Advisory Board for Public Allies, an organization that empowers young adults to strengthen their communities through leadership and civic participation.
Phil Toth joined Oberon in 2015 focusing on asset-based lending and specialty finance. Phil has over 20yrs experience in investment banking and institutional sales. Combined this experience includes several billion dollars transaction experience in the United State, Europe and Asia.
Prior to joining Oberon, Phil was a partner in two investment banking boutiques where he helped originate, structure and close equity and debt private placements, commercial real estate transactions and asset-backed financing. He has also held senior institutional sales positions at Sterne Agee & Leach, Cohen and Company (now JVB Financial) nd Janney Montgomery Scott.
Mr. Toth completed his undergraduate studies in finance at Michigan State University. He holds a Master in Business Administration from the University of Oklahoma, a Master in International Economics from SDA Bocconi (Milan) and a Master in Public Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University
Steven joined Oberon Securities in 2015 and currently supports the firm's investment banking efforts. Steven has nearly 15 years of investment banking, private equity, and corporate finance experience. Throughout his career, Steven has covered the origination, structuring, and execution of numerous transactions and served as strategic advisor to senior executives, providing advice on mergers & acquisitions, private equity, strategic relationships, and strategic positioning for capital-raising efforts and other corporate initiatives. Prior to joining Oberon, Steven spent 4 years as a Director with Miller Tabak + Co. where he was instrumental in the creation of the firm's consumer Investment Banking coverage effort. Prior to joining Miller Tabak, Steven managed a leading U.S. power generator's portfolio of environmental commodities both in and outside the U.S. while establishing the company's initial strategy for originating, trading, and structuring a diverse portfolio of direct investments across infrastructure and energy projects worldwide. Warsaw began his Wall Street career in 2002 working with Advest followed by Citigroup in their Asset Management groups.
Mr. Warsaw holds degrees in both Finance and Economics from the University of Delaware Business School as well as FINRA Series 3, 7, 63, 66, and 79 licenses.
Alberto recently joined Oberon Securities, LLC as a Managing Director to offer middle market corporate clients with financial solutions and advise on corporate funding. In this role, Mr. Washington offers corporate clients a diverse array of advisory services centered on its clients' business strategy and financial needs, from assisting clients in developing a growth strategy, to creating and implementing a financial strategy to better connect with the capital markets on any type of fundraising needs. In addition, Mr. Washington is the CEO and managing principal of Mercury Americas Financial Partners, LLC, a consulting firm offering global reach and boutique advisory services to Mexico and Latin America-based clients.
brings over 13 years of asset management and financial advisory and services to corporate clients and high-net-worth individuals. He brings expertise in offering clients services like: fairness opinions, public offerings, private placements, crowdfunding, real estate transactions, recapitalizations, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, real estate advisory, senior debt, mezzanine capital, equity, project finance, joint ventures, investment banking and business strategy. He previously worked at Greenhill & Co closing transactions in M&A, private equity and restructuring and at AQR Capital Management, LLC where he worked as a senior portfolio manager for a diverse array of investment funds.
Alberto holds a MSE in Financial Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a dual degree from the University of Pennsylvania from both the Wharton Business School and Engineering School.


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Welcome to the Archived, Readonly Zimbra Collaboration forums. Heres the place where we talked about all things related to Zimbra email products. Registrations and postings are disabled here.
Be sure to visit https://www.zimbra.com/forums to start new discussions and to find the latest answers to questions being asked.
Since this is a Yahoo product, it would be nice to be able to add Yahoo Emoticons to emails.
Forum Rules


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Sat. March 3, 2012Queer Queens of Qomedy | Asbury Park, NJ |Presented By Aww Mama Productions
Venue Information
Wonder Bar (MAP)Ocean Ave & 5thAsbury Park, NJUS 07712
Other Information
Featuring:Coming to Asbury Park NJ are Poppy Champlin, Michele Balan and Jessica Kirson for one hysterical night of laughter and good times.
At this time In Ticketing does not have any tickets available for purchase for this event. Note: This does not mean this event is sold out. Contact the venue to purchase tickets.
More Information There's a unique comedy revue that's touring the country with some of the funniest, edgiest, talented and most outrageous comics, united by the single theme . . . The Queer Queens of Qomedy.
Now in it's sixth year, Poppy and the QQQ are thrilled to announce that HRC has come on board as the official sponsor of the Queens in 2012.


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by C. Aaron Russell, author of Lessons In Faith—learned the hard way
Since the President's endorsement of same sex marriage in May, we've been under a barrage of attack from all news and media outlets with homosexual related headlines. In secular and Christian media alike, not only are we seeing headlines regarding SSM marriage, but also every angle of every issue involving homosexuals is being documented and debated.
Based on the amount of attention being paid to the debate, it would appear that right now SSM is the most important issue in politics, religion, and the upcoming Presidential election. That's a trap the Christian Church needs to avoid falling into.
First, let's define our primary purpose as Christians. It is not to try and put a stop to sin. That is a battle Christians cannot win, nor should we try to. Christ was not sent to create a perfect world. He was sent to us as a sacrifice, that we may repent for our sins and be forgiven. He did that for us because we serve a loving and merciful God, and the lone authority justified to weigh our sins. As sinners all, it is not our place to point fingers at other sinners, and preach how to live by the law and say, "don't do this and don't do that." That's what the Pharisees did.
According to James 4:12 (NKJV), "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?"
As believers, we come to the Lord with faith and love. Once saved, we are renewed in Spirit, in His time and for His purpose. As we grow and draw closer to God, He deals with each of us on our own sins and cleanses us. Our purpose as Christian is to do as Paul said and spread the Good News. We seek out the lost and share the joy of the Lord and His salvation, the same way we were called, with faith and love. If those lost come with an open heart and seek truth, the Lord is the potter that will form the clay to His vessel (Romans 9:21).
Next, let's look at homosexuality for what it is. Although some Christians and religious leaders have come out in defense of homosexuality, the bible is clear that it is a sin in the eyes of God. However, homosexuality is just one of a multitude of sins, sexual or otherwise, that can keep us from the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Homosexuality is not the most rampant sexual sin in our society or the church today. We cannot spend so much of our efforts condemning one sin, while so little time unconcerned with the rest. In today's wired world, we're blasted daily with images and messages of all sorts of sexual immorality through the internet, television, movies and countless other ways. How many of us, including those sitting in the pews, are or have been guilty of unmarried sex and promiscuity, pornography, masturbation, unfaithfulness and adultery, etc..?
Jesus tells us in Mathew 7:3 (NKJV), "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?"
We are almost all guilty, whether now or at some point in our lives, of sexual sin. Again, let's not concentrate all our efforts on the sin itself, but with the love of the Lord reach out to the heart of the sinner. If we focus on sin, we must focus on ourselves.
Lastly, there are many important issues for Christians, other than just same sex marriage, worthy of attention. Does that mean SSM should not be a concern or a political issue for Christians? Of course not. One could certainly argue it erodes the institution of marriage. One could also counter argue, with the divorce rate what it is, that's been happening tragically already for some time. Even if SSM is legalized in our country, that doesn't' make it a marriage recognized by God. It may be a sign that our nation is continuing to turn further away from God. However, let's put things in perspective and weigh in on some other sexual and reproduction related issues Christians should be concerned about as well:
1. Abortion– We are still in a nation that allows legalized abortion (around 1.3 million per year in the U.S., 43 million worldwide.) 70% of abortion clinics are in minority communities. There are African American communities in the U. S. where a child has a greater chance to be aborted than born. In China, there are 13 million abortions per year, where due to their one child law, many women are forced into abortion or sterilization.
2. Human Trafficking– Up to 4 million women and children are victims each year of human trafficking (up to 300,000 in U.S. alone), the vast majority for sex. 99% are never rescued. It's the largest growing illegal trade ( estimated $7 billion annual revenue), expected to surpass drug trafficking within 2 years.
3. Religious freedom and the HHS mandate– The recent Health and Human Resource mandate, a part of the new healthcare regulations, requires the health care plan of almost all employers, including church and religious organizations, to cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. At stake for Americans is the right of the government to force onto its citizens, practices that go against our core principles and beliefs.
4. Pornography– Internet porn has become a world-wide addiction and cancer. It is constantly becoming more graphic, violent, degrading and humiliating. It helps fuel the worst crimes of our society such as abuse of women and children, rape, kidnap, human trafficking, slavery, etc… We need true internet reform. Here are some startling statistics:
• Sex is the #1 search on the Internet
• There are 68 million porn search engine requests daily
• There are over 420 million pornographic internet pages
• 42.7% of Internet users view pornography
• 1/3 of children 10 years and younger have seen internet porn
• 4 out of 5 children16 and older admit to regularly watching porn
• 12 to 17 year olds are the largest consumers of internet pornography
• Porn has approximately $100 billion annual revenue worldwide
• The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink
It is not the intent of this article to defend or belittle the same sex marriage issue or excuse the homosexual lifestyle. Simply, it is to provoke critical thinking, understanding and consider that it may not be in the best interest of Christians to take the bait from secular society. We shouldn't let ourselves be lured into an ugly fight, put too much emphasis on this issue and too little on other important ones, or give homosexual activists and their cause more of what they're after, publicity. The secular media, left-wing political interests, and groups with an anti-Christian agenda can use this debate to villanize religion, stereotype Christians as bigots, exalt themselves as heroes of Citizens rights and forward more anti-faith related regulations.
According to Skye Jethani, pastor and author, " If conservatives, including those in the church, want to make same sex marriage the defining issue of 2012, I'm sure the Obama campaign will be happy to comply. Anything to ensure the focus isn't about how to revive the economy–a battle that is still far from settled."
This story adapted and published as part of the new book, Lessons In Faith—learned the hard way, by C. Aaron Russell, Christian writer, author, speaker and missionary with MenofMind.com
This article also published at The Christian Post and Examiner.com.


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Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Central to the financial aid process is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA can be located and completed online. This federal form determines a student's eligibility for state and federal funds by analyzing income and asset data. All recipients of Baker-funded aid must be enrolled full time.
The Office of Financial Aid uses the FAFSA to calculate the funds that can be expected from a family to meet educational costs at any college in the United States. This expected family contribution is subtracted from an established budget at Baker to determine financial need. Federal and state regulations prohibit students from receiving need-based aid in excess of their calculated financial need. Recipients of federal or state grants, loans, or campus work must be U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens.
Independent & Dependent Students
Independent/dependent student status is determined on the FAFSA. To be independent by age, the student must be 23 by Jan. 1 of the FAFSA year, a veteran, a ward of the court or an orphan, married prior to the completion of the FAFSA, in graduate school, or supporting a child or dependent parent.
Financial Aid Disbursement
Financial aid is disbursed to your account at Baker University. If excess funds exist after all tuition and fees are paid, a credit balance will be available.


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Promotion and Advocacy
- 2015 READ Posters
- 2013 READ Posters
- 2011 READ Posters
- Montana Libraries Transform
- What's your Story? Find it at the library
- ALA Professional Resources
- Montana Libraries Flickr Photos
- You now have the luxury of reviewing all the PR Hint of the Monthsfrom years past as well as choosing your own hint which suits your needs at the moment! The MLA PR & Marketing Committee is proud to present the MLA PR Hints Blog. It is available at http://mlaprhints.blogspot.com/. We certainly hope you'll review these hints and provide your own thoughts. Particularly if you have a best practice, or a learning experience, feel free to share these!
Public Service Announcements
- Montana Libraries Public Service Announcement
- Home Repair (mp3)
- Family Night (mp3)
- Finding Myself (mp3)
- Cooking in the Stacks (mp3)
- Database (mp3)
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Only 900 new jobs in Aug., but yearly growth strong
Is San Diego County's economic recovery fading?
If August alone is any indication, it's at least slowing.
Employers in San Diego County added only 900 jobs to their payrolls last month, and 8,900 people dropped out of the labor force. That brought the region's jobless down from 9.3 percent in July to 9.0 percent last month, the state Employment Development Department announced Friday.
"San Diego's jobs numbers on the surface showed some signs of improvement in August, but the actual outcome was not as encouraging," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University. "The unemployment rate fell for the wrong reasons."
In August 2011, for example, the county added 3,400 jobs. But consider at that time the unemployment rate was 10.3 percent.
Still, economists say the year-over-year job growth is strong. From August 2011 to August 2012, county employers have added 30,300 jobs to their payrolls. That's put a real ding in the unemployment rate, now in single digits.
Overall the growth is a little slower than it was from July to July, which saw payrolls rise by 35,100. But August's year-over-year growth is still much stronger than it was in May, for instance, when employers only netted 9,200 jobs in the preceding 12 months. Economists point out this August data is just one dip in the year-over-year number, and we will have to wait to see if it's just a blip.
"There has been some drop off, however, that still doesn't set enough evidence for a trend," said Esmael Adibi, director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University. "If next month it goes down to 20,000 or 25,000 then definitely something is going on."
The Real World
Whatever the numbers say, it doesn't mean finding a job is getting easier.
It also doesn't necessarily mean the jobs available provide enough income to pay the bills. While payrolls were up 30,300, the labor force grew by about 14,500 over the year, canceling out some of that 2.5 percent job growth.
"At this point, I don't really care about a career. I've had a career, I just need a job," said Debra Combs, 58, of Spring Valley, a former insurance adjuster who now works three hours a week at $9 an hour doing inventory (she used to earn $35 an hour). "I just want to be able to pay my bills and have a car."
If the county's employment growth does continue to slow — like the nation's job growth — economists are likely to attribute much of it to economic uncertainty.
The nation is fast approaching the year end expiration of the Bush tax cuts — known as the fiscal cliff. Also, it won't be known until November who will be president in 2013. Add to that the struggling economies abroad and some companies may hold back hiring for a time.
"I think businesses are still concerned over what's happening with the euro, what's happening with Greece, what's happening with Spain, what's happening with China, what's happening with Syria," said Phil Blair, CEO of Manpower San Diego. "I think companies have a pent up demand. They're just nervous."
What's growing? What's not?
In August, San Diego County's retail industry added 1,300 jobs, while accommodation and food services grew by 1,400 workers. The biggest loss was in professional and business services, which declined by 3,100 jobs.
Over the year, the construction field has added 1,100 jobs, for a total workforce of 58,400. However, that's still well below a pre-recession 2007 total of 77,980, leaving many workers displaced.
"Not all of them are going to get that old job back, so their option is to look at alternatives," Adibi said. "Some alternatives require skills, like professional and business services ... A construction worker cannot become an accountant over night."


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Battle of the bulges
Politics | Facing serious short-term budget deficits and enormous long-term liabilities, aggressive and controversial governors are seeking to uproot the way governments do business
The folks in Madison, Wis., still know how to throw a humdinger of a political demonstration. Forty-plus years after students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other radicals set the standard for anti-establishment protests during the Vietnam era, the city nicknamed "the Berkeley of the Midwest" once again is the site of tens of thousands of angry protesters.
But it's more than just a little ironic that this time the demonstrators in Madison are protesting in support of the status quo, not against it.
They began Feb. 12 with a small demonstration outside the home of rookie Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who had just announced a plan to make teachers and most other unionized state workers contribute for the first time to their pensions and to increase their contributions to their health coverage. By Walker's reckoning those free or nearly free benefits simply cost too much for a state facing a budget shortfall this year of $137 million, and a $3.6 billion budget gap by 2013.
After the demonstrations moved to the state capitol and the ranks of demonstrators swelled into the tens of thousands, the media descended on Madison with their satellite trucks and front-line correspondents. Initially the teachers welcomed the attention. But they soon recognized that most residents of the Badger State-like most Americans-were outraged to learn what a sweet deal they and other public employee union members had. So the teachers shifted gears and agreed to Walker's demands on pension and healthcare contributions.
But they did not back off their opposition to Walker's plan to truncate their collective bargaining power and get the state out of the business of collecting union dues via paycheck deduction. That threatens to disrupt the symbiotic relationship between public employee unions (who are among the largest donors in U.S. politics, see sidebar) and the Democratic lawmakers who overwhelmingly are the largest beneficiaries of union political contributions. But the governor says it's necessary in order to achieve the vision of a smaller, more efficient government that taxes its people less. "Our state cannot grow if our people are weighed down paying for a larger and larger government," Walker said on March 1 when introducing a budget that he says would reduce Wisconsin's "structural" deficit by 90 percent. Despite state Senate Democrats fleeing the state for three weeks to deny the body a quorum, Walker and Senate Republicans were able pass an amended version of the reform plan that greatly reduces most state employees' collective bargaining rights on March 9 when they bypassed the need for a quorum by stripping the fiscal provisions from the bill. The vote ratcheted up the intensity of the already angry protesters in Madison.
Political conservatives, libertarians, and especially Tea Partiers are cheering Walker and governors in other states who also seek to rein in state spending and the power of government employee unions. They have longed for the day when government-federal, state, and local-is less intrusive and less costly. But liberals and unionists adamantly are opposed to any diminution of government's power. Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, says governors are trying to "silence workers, lower their wages, cut their benefits and increase the likelihood that they will suffer injuries and fatalities at work. It's happening at breakneck pace and too little attention is being paid."
Union hyperbole? Maybe. But when the issue is understood that way, it's easy to see why the battle in Wisconsin has become such a big deal across the rest of America. Big Labor and its political allies are gearing up to preserve Labor's out-sized financial and philosophical influence and its powerful position in America's politics and economics. Meanwhile, governors and legislators-mostly Republicans but with some Democratic governors like New York's Andrew Cuomo-faced with big short-term revenue shortfalls and monumental long-term budgeting challenges, are seizing on Americans' growing concern over government's unbridled spending and its seemingly limitless reach into their personal, financial, and business lives.
No state has seen demonstrations on the scale of those in Wisconsin. But budget-cutting governors in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Michigan, New Jersey, California, New York, Iowa, Oklahoma, and even Texas are facing vocal opposition from public employee unions and their supporters over the governors' plans for resolving the deepest financial crises to hit the states since at least the Great Depression. And make no mistake about it, the state budget problems are widespread, and they are big: It's easier to name the states that aren't expecting big tax receipt shortfalls this year (Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Wyoming) than it is to list the 45 that are.
This year alone states face a combined $125 billion shortfall, as the effects of the recession that began in 2008-and technically ended in late 2009-hit states' budgets. In 2009 and 2010 many states used federal stimulus money to mask their budget gaps. Others borrowed money. Some did both. But, as with the federal budget, little real budget cutting took place at the state level over the last two years. In fact, most states' budgets grew. Now the stimulus money is running out, and borrowing more to fund daily operations-never a good idea-is especially risky for states already staggering under the weight of existing debt.
Still, simply balancing their budgets this year won't solve all the states' fiscal problems. They face even more daunting long-term financial pressures. Federal healthcare reform threatens to saddle them permanently with much higher bills for caring for their poorer citizens. The cost of providing state employees' healthcare coverage is skyrocketing too, as are required annual outlays for underfunded employee pension plans. And eventually all the debt that states like Illinois, California, and New Jersey piled on their books over the last couple of decades must be repaid. Many states in the Midwest, Northeast, and West also face an additional burden: shrinking tax bases as residents move to the South and Southwest in search of better employment opportunities, lower taxes, and more moderate costs of living.
Some states' financial predicaments are serious enough that some conservative lawmakers and policy wonks, most notably former House Speaker and potential 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, are floating the idea of legislation allowing states to reorganize their finances via a Chapter 11--like bankruptcy proceeding. States could use reorganization to break labor contracts, spread out interest payments on existing debt, and renegotiate contracts with thousands of vendors. But the idea likely isn't going anywhere soon. Labor fiercely opposes to the idea, and plenty of other conservatives, including some in positions of power, don't like it much either.
New House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and others think allowing states to use bankruptcy to escape their big financial obligations would create bigger problems than it would solve. They warn that the bond markets would be so soured that even states with relatively strong credit and healthy finances would be cut off from the debt markets. It also could push billions of dollars of losses onto bond investors-including millions of citizens whose retirement plans are heavily invested in supposedly safe state and municipal bonds-and trigger a potentially disastrous tsunami effect in the broader markets.
With aggressive new governors intent on keeping their states away from such a brink, Wisconsin and Ohio are getting the most national attention. In Ohio, a budget-cutting bill that restricts the collective bargaining power of public employees passed the state Senate on March 8 and is expected to be approved by the Republican-dominated state House. Echoing Wisconsin's Walker, Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich told the legislature, "Frankly, folks, the provisions of collective bargaining reform are examples of what we want to do to allow [local officials] to control their costs"-a comment that prompted jeers from the gallery.
In Wisconsin, in the wake of the passage of Walker's reform plan, seething Democrats say Republicans committed political suicide by passing restrictions on collective bargaining. They discussed potential legal challenges to the new law and recall efforts against some of the GOP senators who voted for it. But as angry protesters flooded into the capitol building late in the evening of March 9, Walker, in a statement, stood by the same themes he and the other reform-minded governors have emphasized since taking office: "In order to move the state forward, I applaud the Legislature's action today to stand up to the status quo and take a step in the right direction to balance the budget and reform government."
Ten Largest Donors in U.S. Politics (as of Feb. 7)
Corporations aren't the only big-money givers to American political campaigns. Unions, including the public worker union AFSCME, give millions to promote bigger government.
• ActBlue $51 million
• AT&T $46 million
• AFSCME $43 million
• National Association of Realtors $38 million
• Goldman Sachs $33 million
• American Association of Justice $33 million
• Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $33 million
• National Education Association $32 million
• Laborers Union $30 million
• Teamsters Union $30 million
Rethinking assumptions
Iowan tries to get churches and other groups to take on social services role
Efforts by Scott Walker, John Kasich, and other governors to rein in public employee unions' political influence are so controversial precisely because, when taken to their logical conclusion, they threaten to reverse the century-old trend of governments at every level extending their reach into every nook and cranny of society.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, another reform-minded Wisconsin Republican who this year took over as chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, tries to downplay the reforms being pushed in his home state by his long-time friend, the governor. "What's going on in Madison right now-there's a lot of confusion about how modest and moderate the Walker reforms really are," Ryan says. Under Walker's plan, teachers and most other state employees in Wisconsin would continue to have more collective bargaining power and more generous benefits than federal employees, he notes: "These aren't unprecedented reforms. They're not even draconian reforms. The problem we have in Wisconsin is we're running out of road to keep kicking the can down."
But Christian ethicist David Gushee of Mercer University in Georgia, who is not opposed to reduced government spending, nevertheless says that the reforms and budget cuts being sought by Walker and other governors around the nation just might be the big deal that liberals and Big Labor fear-and perhaps a bigger deal than the governors themselves realize.
"Let's assume for the moment that this is a chronic situation-that we will keep having these structural problems because we're spending more than we're willing to be taxed for. If that's so, I think we could be on the cusp of an opportunity to rethink the entire social contract that has existed in America for a very long time now.
"But to do that well," he adds, "virtually every American will have to be willing to suspend long-held assumptions" about the roles of government, individuals, and nongovernment institutions in society.
One man who may be leading the way in that process in Iowa is Chuck Hurley, an attorney and lobbyist who heads the Iowa Family Policy Center, an affiliate of Focus on the Family. Hurley is testing how willing churches and other groups are to take over some of government's responsibilities in serving the needy. He's trying to use his state's looming budget crisis to rally Christians, and perhaps others, to work with the head of Iowa's Department of Human Services to find alternative ways of providing some of the social services the state now renders. So far the response has been tepid.
"We have a standing invitation from the top welfare guy in Iowa to try and come up with solutions, to advance what I call 'welfare replacement,' to move away from bureaucratic, secular programs," Hurley says.
"Clearly the state-and not just Iowa but all the states and the federal government-cannot continue to spend the way we're spending," he says. "But I see this time as both a crisis and an opportunity. It's a crisis for government and taxpayers. But it's an opportunity for churches, and perhaps others like synagogues and other religious entities and good will organizations."
Hurley says that if just one "semi- to fairly-functional church of at least moderate size" were to step forward, others would catch the vision. "There'll be some trial and error," and perhaps some will get angry or become disillusioned as a result, he said. "But imagine in three years or so if 1,500 to 2,000 of the 5,000 functioning churches in Iowa were helping 2,000 to 10,000 families in this state. What a difference it would make, not only in the lives of those families being helped, but in the lives of the church members and others who get involved, and in state's budget."


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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the club are no closer to tying up a contract extension for defender Bacary Sagna. The 31-year-old France international will be a free agent in the summer and has been linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium but Wenger remains hopeful he will stay with the Gunners.
"At the moment they [talks] are not progressing. We know what we want from him, he knows what is on the table and that is where we are," said Wenger.
"The ball is not in our camp anymore, it is in his camp, and he needs to come back to us."
For breaking stories and all the great banter like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tribalfootball


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Edit Article
How to Decorate Your Front Porch for Christmas
Is it Christmas time? Do you need a great idea to decorate your front porch? Look no further, we're here to help!
This article has been tagged as a stub.
That means it's off to a good start, but still has room to grow into a more helpful resource. Until the article reaches its full potential, it will be hidden from search results. Can you help it flourish? If you think the article offers complete and accurate instructions, feel free to remove this tag.
1Find your theme. Do you want it to be traditional, extravagant, colourful, simple, or novelty? Find a theme that will suit your home and your personality.
2Look for lights. Nothing says Christmas more than lights at the front of your house. Consider where you want them. A great way is along your roof. If you can, staple gun them to your house for an extra professional look. Another thing you can do is wind them around your railing if you have one.
3Bows and ribbons! Tie some bows or ribbons in appropriate places like corners.
4Add a wreath. A beautiful wreath will make your front door look great. There is a huge variety of wreaths out there, or you can make one your self.
5Add garland if you like. Traditional green garland looks the best. Add it around your door or window.
6Consider extras, like blowup snowmen, moving reindeer, or giant candy canes. Place these strategically, so it doesn't look overdone.
Community Q&A
Ask a Question
- Have a partner to help you decorate. It makes things a lot easier.
- Make sure all elements stay within your theme to look nice.
- Just a note: incandescent lights have a warmer tone, while LED's look cooler.
- If you like, try to match your decorations with your neighbors for a coordinated look.
- Be careful of ice.
- When using a ladder, make sure someone is there to hold it.
- When using a staple gun, use caution. Don't staple directly in the wire, but make sure the staple is around it to avoid electrocution.
Things You'll Need
- Lights
- Garland
- A ladder
- Extras (see number 6)
- Wreath
- Staple gun
- Bows/ ribbons
Article Info
Categories: Stub | Christmas Decorations
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 11,785 times.
Did this article help you?


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AMES, Iowa The new Iowa State outdoor track, currently under construction as part of the Cyclone Sports Complex, will be named the Bill and Karen Bergan Track in honor of the legendary coach and his wife.
Forum Rules
All content owned by CycloneFanatic.com - All rights reserved 2005-09. By viewing this website you agree to the Terms of Service, Site Rules and Legal Disclaimer. The words, views, images and opinions expressed or provided by users do not reflect the opinions or views of CycloneFanatic.com or Iowa State University. The names, words, symbols, and graphics representing Iowa State University are trademarks and copyrights of the University protected by the trademark and copyright laws of the United States of America and other countries and are used on this web site under license from the University. Original site design, premise & construction by Jeremy Lind.


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Walk for safety, but leave your living room behind
In all the talk about rising crime in Minneapolis, and all the things we need to do to turn the tide on it, I haven't heard much talk about something that I think is one of the most obvious ways to make a neighborhood safer. I hear testimonials for my crime-fighting strategy every once in a while, when a new neighborhood group begins a walking patrol and notices how much of an impact a group of adults can make just walking down a city street a couple nights a week.
Now imagine adults walking down the street not just a couple times a week, but constantly -- and not only do you have a picture closer to what Minneapolis streets were like sixty or seventy years ago, but you also have a picture of how streets in European cities are different from those in most American cities.
In the first two decades of this century, the artist Giorgio di Chirico created a haunting set of paintings of vast cityscapes: buildings, streets, sidewalks, that were haunting for their emptiness. In his most famous image, the only human inhabitant of a vast street is a child playing a game with a metal hoop. Perhaps Chirico's work is not so haunting to us today, for what he predicted in his paintings was exactly what US cities and suburbs have become.
Walking the streets of Northeast is often like walking through a di Chirico painting; I am haunted and scared because, although I see all this city around me, I see an almost complete lack of people. Sometimes I see children, sometimes I see a senior citizen, but there are a couple generations who have almost completely deserted the sidewalks, and the streets of our city are far more dangerous for their absence.
Busy streets are safer
Long before there were organized police forces, cities far larger than Minneapolis remained livable and safe because the city was out there on the streets to be seen. Pedestrian activity stayed at high levels all day long because people walked for every trip they made, and if somebody was going to do something against the grain he or she would have to contend with the dozens or hundreds of people who would witness their act.
European cities maintain crime rates much lower than US cities in part because they still maintain a high level of activity on the street. I am so conditioned to the empty streets of Minneapolis that I often feel myself pulling away from crowds, but my instincts know better, and when I go to an unfamiliar city I keep to the streets where I can see people walking. This same instinct tells me that most of the streets of Minneapolis are scary places, when they may not be so dangerous as they are just plain empty.
People in machines
The adults haven't completely vacated the streets of Minneapolis: they did not stay in their living rooms lounging. They are moving about, but they're stuck inside machines, inside their cars. But even though they are in their cars, maybe they haven't left their living rooms.
As someone who doesn't drive, I can look inside cars with a little more dispassion than a driver can, and when I look into a car, I see a person in their living room. Cars have couches, easy chairs, and home entertainment centers, just like living rooms, and being in a car closes you off from the street just as much as staying in your living room does.
Of course, cars are useful transportation tools: they're the big guns of getting around. But you don't use the big guns for everything; a sign of a good carpenter is someone who knows the right tool for the right job. Too many people these days are bad carpenters -- for where transportation is concerned, they use the same tool for everything.
Now you don't need to take your living room with you everywhere you go, and it is very wasteful habit to get into -- for every time you drive somewhere, most of the energy goes to moving your living room, not you. And Northeast Minneapolis provides a wonderful environment for using other transportation tools, such as the set you were most likely born with. Most of Northeast Minneapolis was established before most people had cars, so it tends to be a very walkable place. Just about everything you could possibly need is within a thirty minute walk from your home. The problem is that so many people have become so dependent on taking their living room with them everywhere they go that a thirty minute walk is unheard of, but a thirty minute drive to go shopping or to a park is commonplace.
Use your imagination
Walking improves both the health of the person doing the walking and the health of the place in which they walk. Keeping this in mind, driving for a trip that could just as easily be accomplished by walking not only demonstrates a lack of responsibility toward oneself, but also toward one's community. San Francisco Examiner financial columnist Eric Tyson recently wrote, "Our dependence on the car often has more to do with our lack of imagination and willingness to be flexible than it does on any real necessity."
Now if more people in Northeast started thinking, "Do I really need to take my living room with me on this trip?" before reaching for their car, and walked several times a week instead, I really think we'd end up with safer streets. As a matter of fact, the probability that you will be hurt or killed in an automobile accident is much higher than the probability that you will be hurt or killed in a crime. So if we can really take a bite out of the number of car trips here and increase pedestrian activity on our streets, Northeast Minneapolis could very well become the safest place to live in the whole Twin Cities.


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MALL TOURS Holiday Homes
Holiday home in a log cabin style in the woods, on the lake
40 m²
liv. area
from on demand
0 reviews
contact data
Herr D. Hockauf
to the favourites
The Holiday house
QUERY LENGTH LIMIT EXCEDEED. MAX ALLOWED QUERY : 500 CHARSQUERY LENGTH LIMIT EXCEDEED. MAX ALLOWED QUERY : 500 CHARSsante packages, fishing deals and our details can be found on our website (mall-tours). Simply subscribe to our free email newsletter and receive monthly interesting information from the region as well as our latest Angebote.Hinweise: no pets Non smoking Holiday Homes allowed far from your shores of the lake (50m-150m) This is an automatically generated translation. See the original text by changing the language to german.
rooms and facilities
max. 4
40 m²
- total number: 2
- 2 double bedroom(s)
Bathrooms and WCs
- total number: 1
- 1 bathrooms with shower
exterior facilities
- garden
- barbecue
- children's playground
- private beach
- sandpit
- car parking
- terrace
interior facilities
Machines and equipment
- bed linen provided
- boat
- CD-player
- bicycles
- radio
- satellite-TV
- sun loungers
- crib
- baby's high chair show more
- garden chair
Kitchen facilities
- 2 ring stove
- freezer
- fridge
- non-smokers only
- pets are not allowed
- suitable for seniors
- children welcome
- wheelchair not accessible
Arrival and distancesdistance to next shop: 1.5 km
centre of the village: 4 km
distance to next airport:
Berlin - 100 km
distance to next railway station:
Fürtstenberg/Havel - 10 km
distance to next motorway:
Oranienburg - 70 km
Sport facilities nearby
horse riding
location and surroundings of object
Right in the Land of a Thousand Lakes (Uckermark-Mecklenburg Lake District), in the resort town Lychen, located in a rustic pine forest on the shores of crystal clear and full of fish Kastavensees (120m waterfront) located holiday homes. Here are the mushrooms and berries grow right outside your front door. With luck, you will be greeted in the morning by even a squirrel. Guaranteed on every case is a unique concert of thousands of birds. Our small holiday complex is located in the 17279 Lychen OT Kastaven. The OT Kastaven characterized by a more open development with bungalows, cottages and small houses. In the adjacent OT and OT Retzow Wurlgrund There is a campground, numerous hotels, inns and restaurants.
price calculator
rental price: from on demand
, included fixed additional costs
Minimum rental
minimum rental price on demand
prices are - per object - at an occupancy up to: 1 persons
|travel period
|minimum stay
|further night
(from the 8th night)
|from 23.04.16
|on demand
Terms and conditionsday of arrival: any
additional informationFind out more on our website (mall-tours) We offer numerous packages, especially attractive Wellnessreisen.Wir look forward to your visit
availability calendar MALL TOURS Holiday Homes
legend: free occupiedarrival or departure
last updated on: 14.01.2016
contact data
Herr D. Hockauf
we speak German
0049 (0) 0173-6176788
listing # 11588 at Tourist-Paradise.com
MALL TOURS Holiday Homes
4 persons
40 m² living area
2 Bedroom
from on demand
additional information
- Holiday Rental & Holiday Apartment Germany
- Holiday Rental & Holiday Apartment Brandenburg
- Holiday Rental & Holiday Apartment Uckermark
- Holiday Rental & Holiday Apartment Lychen
listing #: 11588
last updated on: 13.04.2016
Online for: 9 years, 9 months.
URL: http://www.tourist-paradise.com/11588.htm


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We have created a Unified Login System for the Slitherine & Matrix Games websites and forums so you do not have remember a separate password for each of them.
If you are an existing user, you can login to the Unified Login system using any of your credentials. Then you can merge the accounts together to create one unified login.
If you have any problems logging in please do not hesitate to contact us at email@example.com
Here is a full list of the armies available on Decline & Fall. Pick the one you prefer or build your own through the powerful D.A.G. (Digital Army Generator)
Early Byzantine
This list covers armies of the Eastern Roman Empire from the final demise of the Western Empire in 493 AD until c.550. Fore much of this period the armies of Justinian I were commanded by Flavius Belisarius, one of history's greatest generals. Under his leadership many areas of the Western Empire were recaptured including North Africa from the Vandals by 534 and Rome itself by 536. He also successfully defended Constantinople from the Bulgars in 559. During Justinian's reign the Eastern Empire also managed to recapture all of Italy from the Goths and various campaigns against the Persians. The Emperor Justinian I died in 565 within weeks of Flavius Belisarius.
Later Moorish
This list covers Moorish armies from the revolts against the Romans of the mid-4th century AD until the Arab conquest at the end of the 7th century.
African Vandals
Invited over to Africa from Spain in 429 AD to aid the Roman commander Boniface, once there the Vandals could not be dislodged. By 439 they had captured Carthage and made it their new capital, and developing a large fleet under King Geiseric conquered Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. They sacked Rome itself in 455 and in 468 defeated a large East Roman fleet but failed to take Greece. In 533 the Byzantines invaded under the commander Belisarius and King Gelimer surrendered in 534 ending the Vandal Kingdom. This list covers Vandal armies from 442 until 534.
Italian Ostrogothic
By 493 Theodoric the Great had become King of Italy after defeating King Odoacer at the request of the Eastern Roman Emperor. Theodoric also exercised dominance over the Visigothic kingdom in modern southern France and Spain. When the Visigoths were defeated by the Franks in 507, the Ostrogothic army managed to save them a costal strip. In 535, the Byzantine Empire invaded under the general Belisarius who captured the Gothic capital Ravenna in 540. However the Byzantine general was recalled and the Goths took back much of the kingdom, defeating several Roman forces. Not until 552 and again in 553 were the Goths defeated at by Byzantine forces. This list covers the Ostrogothic kingdom from the defeat of Odoacer 493 to the final Byzantine victory in 561.
Maurikian Byzantine
Having reached its greatest existence by 555 AD the Byzantine Empire started to contract again after the death of Emperor Justinian in 565. Most of Italy was lost to the Lombards and all of Spain to the Visigoths by 624. A Persian invasion saw many of the eastern provinces fall and in 626 Constantinople itself was under siege. Only by sailing up the Black Sea and attacking the Persians from the rear did Emperor Herakleios save the city. By this time however most of the former Yugoslavia and central Greece and much of the Peloponnese had fallen to the Slavs. From 634 the Arabs invaded and conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia from the Byzantines by 646. This list covers Byzantine armies from the adoption of the lance c.550 to the completion of the Thematic system c.650.
Western Turkish
This list covers the western Turks from the mid-6th to the 11th century. It covers Gokturks, Qarlugs, pre-Seljuq Oghuzz, Turgesh and Khaganate. Khazars were the most significant of these. Fully independent of the Gokturks by the mid-7th century, their empire in the Volga basin stood astride a number of important trade routes, from which they drew their wealth and power. The Khaganate was decisively defeated c.968 by the Kiev Rus, who sacked the Khazar capital, Atil. There is some evidence that a remnant Kazar state existed in North Caucasus into the 11th century.
Early Bulgars
The Bulgars were initially a coalition of Hunnic tribes. This list covers armies of the Khanate of Greater Bulgaria (around the sea of Azov) from 631, the end of Avar rule, until their defeat by the Khazars c.668, when the horde fled. Those that fled west formed the Danubian Bulgar Kingdom c.680. This list also covers that kingdom until its conquest by the Byzantines in 1018.
Thematic Byzantines
The Thematic system was initiated by the Emperor Herakleios in the first half of the 7th Century. The Empire was divided into the number of administrative 'themes' and the soldiers in each were granted land in return for part-time service. The state owned the land but pay costs were reduced. Their descendants were also expected to follow as thematic soldiers, removing the need for conscription. The commander was also a civil governor, reversing the separation made by Diocletian. This gave the Empire a resilience, allowing it to prosper for centuries. This list covers Byzantine armies from the completion of the system in c.650 until the accession of Nikephoros II Phokas in 963.
Early North African Dynasties
This list covered the armies of the North African emirates, from their assumption of independence from the Abbasid caliphate until the rise of the Murabits. The Idrisids formed their own rival Shiite caliphate in Morocco from 789 to c.926. The Aghlabids in Tunisia achieved independence by c.820. They subsequently conquered Sicily and held it until the late 11th century when conquered by the Normans. The Shiite Fatamids replaced the Aghlabids in Tunisia in 909, and this list represents their army from this date until their Egyptian state started to employ Turks and Dailame c.978. After the Fatimid conquest of Egypt the Zirid dynasty ruled Tunisia as their clients from 972, but were finally conquered by the Almohades c.1160. The Maghrawinids ruled Morocco from the early 11th century until c.1064 when conquered by the Murabids.
Khurasanian Dynasties
This list covers the Tahirid, Saffarid, and Samanid dynasties in the eastern provinces of the former Abbasid Empire. The Tahirids rose to power after Tahir ibn Husayn led al-Ma'mun's army to victory in the Abbasid civil war, and was made governor of Khurasan. They were overthrown by the Saffarids in 873. The Saffarids started as leaders of brigands and 'Alid secessionists but rose to conquer the province of Seistan in eastern Persia, and later Khurasan. However, they lost most of their territory to the Samanids in the early 10th century. The Samanids were the most successful of the Khurasanian dynasties, presiding over a renaissance of Persian tradition, although they remained staunchly Muslim. They fell to the expanding power of the Ghaznavids.
Dailami Dinasties
This list covers the armies of the dynasties from the northern Iranian Caspian Sea provinces of Dailam and Gilan. Never fully subdued by the Arab conquests they did not convert to Islam until the early 10th century. The most important dynasty was the Buwahids. They took power in Fars in 934 and Baghdad in 946, and thereafter ruled as a family confederation of emirates until c.1055, when they fell to the Seljuk Turks. Although they came to power through the strength of their infantry the Buwayhids needed cavalry support outside of the mountains, and recruited Turkish ghilman, and may have occasionally used small numbers of elephants. The list also covers the Ziyarids and Musafirids. These dynasties did not use ghilman and had to rely on Kurds and Bedouin for cavalry when needed.
The pechenegs were a nomadic or semi-nomadic Turkic people who defeated the Magyars in the mid-9th century and occupied much of the southwestern Eurasian steppe. They were commonly used as allies or mercenaries by the Byzantines. They came into frequent conflict with the Rus, besieging Kiev in 968, though they sometimes allied with the Rus against the Byzantines. They suffered a series of defeats in 1036-1122 by the Rus, the Cumans and the Byzantines. Thereafter they survived only as remnant populations.
Nikephorian Byzantine
Under the Macedonian dynasty the Byzantine Empire went on the offensive, initially meeting mixed success. However, the soldier emperors Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes reconquered Crete, Cyprus and parts of Syria. Basil II conquered the Bulgar Empire in 1018 after a 20 year campaign. Following his death the native army was reduced, and short term mercenary contracts were relied upon. The Normans conquered the last Byzantine possessions in Italy. In 1071 the main Byzantine field army was decisively defeated by the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in Asia Minor. Over the next few years most of Asia Minor was lost to the Turks. This list covers Byzantine armies from 963 until 1071.


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How to Fill Out a Credit Application
A credit application that has been submitted with requested information, signed and dated becomes a legal enforceable document. It is wise to learn how to fill out a credit application to get the best rates and higher credit limits.
1Review the credit agreement before completing or signing the application. The credit agreement is usually found in the last section of the application.
- The agreement outlines the terms and conditions to the consumer as required by the Federal Law Consumer Disclosure Act.
- It explains the binding agreement between the issuer and the consumer.
- The APR or annual percentage rate and the calculation process must be included. The APR can range from 0% to more than 25% depending on your credit score.
- Late charge penalties are the amount that will be charged in late fees for a late or delinquent payment on account.
2Answer the pre-screening questions. The questions regarding bankruptcy, delinquency and recent denials are used as preliminary review tools.
3Complete Part I of credit application. Part I requests the applicant's personal data. The personal information includes the applicant's:
- Name - Last, first, middle, surname, maiden name.
- Address - A street address is required for approval, but a P. O. Box can be used for billing purposes.
- Phone numbers - Primary and secondary numbers.
- The length of time you have lived at your current resident reflects on stability.
- Previous address and the length of time you lived there.
- Email address - Optional, but most financial institutions are going paperless.
- Social Security number, which is mandatory to secure credit. The number will be used for identification purposes and to obtain credit history.
4Give employment history, including the past and current employers.
- Name of employer - Write the complete name.
- Identify the type of business - Education, financial, food service, etc.
- Address - A business sometimes uses a street and mailing address.
- Length of employment - Start date and end date.
5Reveal your financial information and that of other applicants if you're applying for a joint account. The main purpose is to find your net worth.
- Annual income - Household.
- Bank information - Checking, savings, money market or IRA.
- Residence - Do you rent or own.
- Monthly rent or mortgage payments.
6Answer questions regarding references.
- References can be a relative, business associate or employer.
- Provide their addresses, phone numbers and their relationship to you.
7Submit the form and authorization to a financial institution. Review the application and correct errors or omissions. Sign and date the application, stating the information given is correct. Send it online or mail the application.
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- Make copies of completed the application for your files.
- Income from child support, alimony or the government is optional.
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Clinton fire investigators are trying to figure out what sparked an early morning apartment fire.
The blaze broke out at Hunter Oaks Apartments off Highway 80 shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Firefighters said two or three units suffered heavy fire, smoke and water damage.
Officials said no one was injured.
Property management worked to find the displaced families a place to stay.
The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.blog comments powered by Disqus


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Flight Star Kelly Reilly Talks Addiction And The Fear Of Acting With Denzel
By Sean O'Connell 2012-11-21 11:15:01 comments
Were making a big deal about Zemeckis and his return to live-action. He gets a lot of credit for being a technical director, but I feel he deserves even more credit for the performances he routinely gets out of his stars.
Yeah! I think that often gets overlooked. People talk about his eye for action, but they forget that the way he deals with characters hes so layered, and so compassionate toward all of his characters. Even the ones that were supposed to hate, he makes us find ways to love them. And thats not just the actors he gets to play them. Thats Zemeckis view on them.
As a non-actor, Im not sure Id ever be able to overcome the butterflies knowing I had to perform opposite Denzel Washington. Was that an issue, or am I making a big deal out of nothing?
Well, I had to get over that during my screen test. On day one of filming, it was almost like Id already gone through training, and it was time to step into the ring, you know? Youd already gotten yourself into the mindset. Its not longer about Denzel Washington. You forget that. But mostly, I was just doing my side of things and working with this man. It cant be, Oh my God, this is Denzel Washington! Otherwise Im not doing what I need to be doing.
But on my screen test, it really was like, Holy shit, this is terrifying! I really dont want to mess this one up. The way I feel about it, though, is that Im not 21 anymore. Ive worked a lot. Ive got a lot of experience. Ive worked with some wonderful people. And I just reminded myself of that as I walked into the room. I can be in that room -- you know what I mean? I can hold my own in that room.
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Hidden behind the blowing trees in a driving rain, this house at 20581 N.E. Highway 318 burned last Friday. "We're not sure how it started. When we arrived the flames were through the roof," said Williston Chief Lamar Stegall. "It was a new experience. I've never fought a fire before in 40 mph winds and rain blowing sideways." The Williston firefighters were assisted by units from Bronson and Morriston. Below, the overall scene near the intersection of 318 and U.S. 27.
It was a good day for incumbents in Tuesday's primary as three won re-election and others won their party's nomination for the November election.
Almost one-third of the county's registered voters, 8,216 out of 25,070, cast ballots in the primary. All results are unofficial.
While it was a primary to determine the nominees for the November general elections, three races were being decided as the Republican Party did not mount opposition for the Democrats.
By Lou Elliott Jones
Almost one-third of the county's registered voters, 8,216 out of 25,070, cast ballots in the primary. All results are unofficial. While it was a primary to determine the nominees for the November general elections, three races were being decided as the Republican Party did not mount have any candidates to oppose the Democrats.
Jason Sandora, 26, Commisory Road, Otter Creek, charged with domestic battery of a person over 65 and battery. The sheriff's report says Sandora, a relative and a third person were drinking at his home when Sandora had a disagreement with the relative and pushed him to the floor. The third person tried to intervene and was punched by Sandora, according to the report. Bond is $7,500.
The Williston Police Dept. announces the following arrests:
Michael Bonaccorsi, 25, of Northeast 46th Street, Williston, on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, Edocet which has an active ingredient of oxycodone, after he was searched during a traffic stop for an expired tag.
Kenneth Alex McClellan, 34, of Southeast 4th Street, Williston, was arrested on a warrant of civil order of arrest, failure to pay child support.
Twelve people have been arrested on drug charges in Williston, including one man with 72 arrests on his record and a second man with 31 arrests on his record - including failure to appear on in court on four drug charges.
The arrests by the Levy County Sheriff's Office and the County Drug Task Force this month are for offenses dating as far back as April.
The Board of Trustees, staff and consumers of the Levy Association for Retarded Citizens wish to thank everyone who came out to and participated in the LARC Softball Challenge game Saturday night at Strickland Park. It was a lot of fun watching the political candidates hit that ball and run those bases!
Saturday, August 23
* SHARE Distribution, 9-10 a.m., Cornerstone Assembly of God. Contact Elsie Neal 528-5709.
Monday, August 25
* AA Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Thompson Hall at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church.
* Lions Club 7:30 p.m., Lions Club 401 S.E. Sixth Ave.
* Levy Veterans Support Group, 7 p.m., Williston City Hall.
* CRA, 5:15 p.m. City Hall.
* Williston Senior Singles, Top of the Hill restaurant at 6:30 p.m. Alan Levine 495-1294 or Virginia Corbin 528-5407.
Tuesday, August 26
* Piecemakers, 9 a.m., Presbyterian Church.
4-H Roundup
to be Aug. 23
Levy County 4-H will hold its annual Roundup Aug. 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m at the Extension Office in Bronson. The Hartley Barbecued Chicken Contest will begin at 8 a.m.
Perkins State Bank held a celebration in conjunction with the Williston Area Chamber of Commerce last Thursday to celebrate the bank's 95th anniversary. Various bank officials and members of the business and political community attended.
Bank president Frank Etheridge welcomed the group, which got to view memorabilia from the years that the bank had been in service.
Below is a history of the bank provided by bank officials:
History of Perkins State Bank
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The Williston Pioneer is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Levy County and Williston, Fl, and the surrounding area.


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How sweet the sound
Enjoying an amazingly graceful interruption
We have things to pray about, my friend and I-personal concerns, national concerns-so we meet at the park to bear each other's burdens to the Lord. Fall is upon us, and the air almost too chilly for comfort, but we find a table under a picnic shelter, discuss the matters weighing on our hearts, share a few Scripture passages, and join hands to pray.
I am easily sidetracked; rather than levitate into the spiritual realm, I'm much more likely to remain firmly planted in the here and now, as my thoughts go skittering after trifles. Even while clasped in prayer with a dear friend, irrelevancies intrude: Is my hand sweating? My elbow's getting sore-should I move it? Oops-forgot to mention so-and-so when it was my turn; should I add a postscript to this prayer? A jogger cuts across the park and passes nearby, a maintenance man makes broad swipes in our direction with a lawn sweeper. Since we live in a small town with a strong Baptist influence, no one intrudes-all understand what we're here for, and, we presume, respect our mission.
Then, an interruption; and it's not the sort either of us could have predicted. On the other side of the lagoon, out of sight but certainly not out of earshot, the opening wheeze of a bagpipe charges at us-not rudely, but bumptiously. Bagpipes?! Who comes to the park to practice bagpipes? (I've since learned that practicing this particular instrument outdoors is much preferable to indoors.)
Despite its lack of nuance, I have nothing against the pipes (my maiden name is McRee, after all). But it's a most unexpected sound to interrupt a prayer. After a glance around to see where it's coming from (we can't see), and asking each other if we know who it is (we don't), we continue our prayer service with accompaniment. The piper begins with a conventional highland air, followed by "Amazing Grace" (popular at funerals and memorial services these days). But after that, the tunes that squall across the lagoon like gusty breezes are not the sort commonly associated with this medium: "The Old Rugged Cross," "Softly and Tenderly," even "Whispering Hope." The pipes lay them on a little thick, like peanut butter spread by an elbow.
But after the original jolt, we settle into the music. Anyone who knows the words can't help thinking them as the familiar melodies roll out: "I once was lost but now I'm found ..." "So I'll cherish the old rugged cross ..." "Ye who are weary, come home ..." Thoughts and longings going back 300 years or more, now freshly remembered.
I grew up on gospel songs, sung from a blue-backed hymnal with dog-eared pages and shaped notes. In time I grew away from them: "Messiah" they're not. My affection for them now owes something to nostalgia and fond memories of grandparents long gone-but the bagpipe rendition brought another dimension to mind.
Believers wrote those songs, and believers have sung them: in smoky camp meetings, in overstuffed parlors, in clapboard church buildings with creaky floors, with underconfident pump organs and overconfident sopranos. The notes haven't always rung pure and the theology was sometimes inadequate (surely that Old-Time Religion is much more than "good enough"!). Even so, those old tunes, warbled and trilled through the ages to be picked up by wheezing pipes on the shore of a park lagoon, spoke for untold thousands of a hope beyond this world.
We were going through some tough times, my friend and I, yet we still believed. Throughout the ages God has raised up believers like us, many of them called to believe through difficult times, uncertain times, even terrifying times. They wrote songs to encourage or admonish each other. Most of these songs have followed their authors to a well-deserved oblivion, but others have survived, as a testimony to the Lord's continuing work of building a church by building faith in each believer. From William Cowper and Isaac Watts to the unknown country hymn writer whose heart was broken, the old tunes look forward to a city not made with hands and a multitude no man can count, their purified voices raised in a heavenly theme: "Worthy is the lamb."
We continue in prayer, as the piper plays. An unseen cloud of witnesses may be hovering nearby, humming along. I hope so. As dark as the world may appear, as unlikely or transient our faith, we journey on, looking forward to the day we'll be singing with them.


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The highly-rated 20-year-old, a regular in the Addicks' Under-21 side his season, has agreed a one-month switch to the Abbey Stadium.
Pope, who moved to The Valley from Bury Town in 2011, could make his U's debut in Saturday's clash with Woking and is available to play a further six matches.
Cambridge are currently 12th in the Blue Square Bet Premier, 10 points above the relegation zone.
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Interactive Map: What's Your County's Unemployment Rate?
July 27th, 2012 | by Jon Whiten | Published in Blog, Economic Opportunity
In June, New Jersey's unemployment rate jumped to 9.6 percent, the highest its been since July 2010. While the statewide rate is now the fourth highest in the nation, much of New Jersey is suffering under even higher rates, as county-by-county June rates released today by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development show.
Almost all of South Jersey's counties have double-digit unemployment rates, with Cumberland County having the highest in the state (14 percent), while Northwest Jersey is generally faring the best (Hunterdon County has the lowest rate at 7.7 percent).
Click on a county in the map below to see its June 2012 unemployment rate.
Blue Counties: Under 9%
Green Counties: Between 9% and 10%
Yellow Counties: Between 10% and 11%
Red Counties: 11% and above
Help us help New Jersey's working families. Make a tax-deductible donation today.


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In a bright, uplifting showing of J.J. Abrams setting aside his usual ways to give audiences the fulfilling closure they're all hoping for, the ultra-secretive director and Paramount reportedly recently screened the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness for a sick fan as his dying wish.
According to reports, the tale unfolded on Reddit, beginning with a Christmas Day plea to give a cancer-stricken trekker named Dan the shot at seeing the film, or at least the nine-minute preview that screened before The Hobbit--which, due to his rapidly-degenerating state, he was unable to see in the theater himself.
The community got behind the cause and, amazingly, the message somehow got passed along to the right people; within a couple days, Abrams himself had contacted the ailing fan's wife to set up a private screening of the full, nearly-completed film. According to New York Asian Film Festival co-founder Grady Hendrix, who seems to have played a part in orchestrating the effort, Dan managed to see the film on the 29th "and loved it," which is great, because it would be really depressing if the story got this far and ended with "and it was a terrible movie and Benedict Cumberbatch ends up being Evil, British Riker, which doesn't even make sense."
Abrams and the studio have not yet commented on the story nor confirmed how it's sort of like the plot of Fanboys.