text:
The beautiful half of one of the 20th century's most notorious dictatorships, Imelda Marcos has spent two decades fighting attempts to jail her and trace a reputed fortune of billions. On the 20th anniversary of the revolution that ousted her and Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, she talks exclusively about her wealth, their legacy — and those shoes.
Twenty years ago this week, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were settling down to exile in Hawaii, after millions of Filipinos had jeered the couple out of Manila's Malacanang Palace during the so-called People-Power Revolution. Television pictures captured protestors waltzing wide-eyed through the palace's drafty corridors and uncovering Imelda's hoard of 3,000 pairs of shoes in a joyous celebration of the oppressed.
By the time the brilliant ex-lawyer and his beauty-queen wife boarded a U.S. helicopter on Feb. 25, 1986, they had become synonymous with the corruption and cronyism that made the Philippines one of the poorest nations on the planet. To his eternal credit, Marcos ordered his army not to fire on Manila crowds before he left, but then he expected to be back within days. Instead, he was to die in Hawaii three years later, leaving Imelda to carry on the Marcos legacy.
Today, astonishingly, Imelda is back in Manila and again a force in Philippine politics. Many believe the beautiful young country girl who caught the eye of the ambitious Marcos and helped him win a million votes in 1965 was the real power behind the throne by the end of their reign, when Ferdinand was desperately ill. Her political survival "makes a mockery" of the 1986 revolution, according to one of her biographers.
Now living on the 34th-floor suite in one of Manila's most exclusive apartment blocks, the former first lady seldom gives interviews because she is invariably skewered by incredulous journalists when she brandishes her innocence and new poverty. She was, after all, once one of the 10 richest women in the world.
"I am poor not only in material things but in the truth. But I believe the truth will prevail. The truth is god and if you are on the side of truth and god who can stand against you?"
Outside, Manila's smoggy landscape stretches into the distance; inside, the walls groan with original art works: a Picasso here, a Gaugin there. A Michelangelo bust peers over a collection of photographs on the piano showing Imelda in her prime with the great and the good: disgraced U.S. President Richard Nixon plays the piano; Chairman Mao kisses her hand; Japan's Emperor Hirohito stands stiff and helpless beside her retina-burning allure.
Oil paintings even hang in the toilet. "I love beauty and I am allergic to ugliness," she sniffs, as a half-dozen servants in white coats scurry around ministering to her needs. "Beauty is god made real."
Her lawyer Robert Sison explains: "You have to realize that when Mrs. Marcos talks about being poor, she does not mean poor like you or I. She is being relative, compared to the life she used to lead before."
The woman once dubbed the "Steel Butterfly," the beautiful half of the sticky-fingered conjugal dictatorship that ruled the Philippines for two decades of chaos and plunder, is now a doughy 76. Although the famous jet-black bouffant is still stubbornly in place, the beauty that charmed everyone from Henry Kissinger to Pope John Paul II has faded, replaced by a sort of flinty, hard-worked glamour; the once sultry topaz eyes now rheumy and guarded.
Imelda, though, remains enraged at her subsequent treatment. "We found ourselves in Hawaii, penniless, homeless and name-less," she says, slapping the table for emphasis. U.S. Customs records showed the family arrived with nearly $9 million in cash, jewelry and bonds.
When Ferdinand died in 1989, aged 72, Imelda had to fight U.S. federal grand jury charges alone: principally that the couple stole over $200 million from the Philippine treasury and spent it on a real-estate spree in New York. After enjoying the backing of five U.S. presidents, and the close friendship of Ronald and Nancy Reagan (with whom she shared an interest in astrology), the shock of America turning on her was profound.
"They did this to me when I was alone, widowed and orphaned," she says, on the verge of tears. "Even the Bible says there are special places reserved in hell for those who persecute widows and orphans. And it was not individuals who did me in, it was governments and superpowers."
Though acquitted, few expected Imelda to survive the humiliation of being ditched by the White House, lampooned in the media and chased across the world by prosecutors who accused the pair of plundering the Philippines of $10 billion or more. But showing the irrepressible energy and brazenness that made her a legendary force in Philippine politics, Imelda bounced back, returned to Manila in 1992 and won a senator's seat in 1995 after a failed bid for the presidency.
Today, she is again the matriarch of a minor political dynasty. Her son, Ferdinand Jr., is governor of Ilocos Norte Province in the north of the country, where daughter Imee is a congresswoman. Her nephew, Alfred Romualdez, sits in the congressional seat she vacated, and her brother is mayor of Tacloban City. She has been acquitted several times on domestic charges of corruption and extortion and, of the 901 separate cases she claims were filed against her family, she is now down to the last three. Considering her regime was recently ranked as the second-most corrupt (after Suharto's Indonesia) of the late-20th century, it is not a bad end to a life. "I am still standing up at 76, fighting superpowers."
Still, there remains the question of the origins of that mind-boggling wealth in a country where eight out of 10 people live in grinding, $2-a-day poverty. Tales of Imelda's bacchanalian extravagance could fill a telephone book: her $5 million 1983 shopping spree in New York, Rome and Copenhagen, or the time she dispatched a plane to pick up Australian white sand for the opening of a new beach resort, or her reputation as the world's largest collector of gems. And then the final Marie Antoinette moment, when ordinary Filipinos raided her palace closets after she fled — to find bullet-proof bras, gallons of perfume and 3,000 pairs of shoes.
Imelda dismisses criticism of her extravagance, saying it was her "duty" to be a star for the poor. "You have to be some kind of light, a star to give them guidelines," she once said. She is adamant that there was nothing ill-gotten about her gains. "My husband was rich before I met him," she protests, dismissing claims that she raided the treasury, squeezed businesses and pilfered World Bank loans to finance their lifestyle. "He was a gold trader. He had a mountain of gold when he entered politics in 1949."
By the late 1950s, Marcos had a personal fortune of 7,500 tons of gold, she claims. "This is the first time I'm telling anyone this." In the 1970s, after gold went up to $800 an ounce, the Marcos family, she says, was worth a staggering $35 billion when Bill Gates was still a dropout software developer.
Why did the man who professed to love his countryman "like a father loves his children" not give this wealth to the people he ruled? "You can't just give money, you know," explains his wife. "Henry Ford II told me it is hard to make money properly, but harder still to spend money properly. First, he had to make institutions and introduce freedom, justice and democracy."
Marcos' contribution to freedom, justice and democracy was to declare martial law, lock up his opponents and close the few newspapers not already run by his cronies. "The Communists were in the streets and in the gateway of the palace," cries Imelda. But analysts say martial law made radicals out of thousands of ordinary Filipinos. Washington looked the other way, content that Marcos protected U.S. bases and businesses; in 1981, then U.S. Vice President George Bush toasted Marcos at a reception, saying: "We love you, sir, we love your adherence to democratic principles."
Where did it all go wrong? Certainly greed did not help. In the 1980s, the president decided to take over the country's mines, a decision taken, claims his wife, for the sake of "the people."
"He said to me, all of these mines I am not entrusting to anyone except a foundation that will ensure it belongs to the Filipino people to serve as a guarantee for all development programs unto infinity," says Imelda, displaying the curious blurring of the public and private that was a hallmark of their regime.
"When he was president there was no distinction between him and the country and the world in general, because he had three visions: [for him], for his people, for his country. He said: What is good for all is good for me."
Sitting atop his mighty mountain of gold, Ferdinand sent Imelda shopping for New York real estate in the 1980s. After rejecting the Empire State Building (which was going for $750 million) as "too ostentatious," Imelda bought the $51 million Crown Building, the $60 million Herald Center and two more prime slabs of Manhattan. All were subsequently seized and sold, along with much of her jewelry and the bulk of the art she had collected over the years. She still has a glossy catalog of what was taken — 175 pieces; more Michelangelos, Botticellis, Canelletos.
"They sold them for a song," she laments, flicking through the catalog pages, eyes again brimming with tears. "Why? I had already placed them in a museum. They took it all, including my shoes. But that was my No.1 defense, because when they went to my closet they found no skeletons."
Many of those famous shoes are now on display in the Marikina City Footwear Museum in Manila, which Imelda opened in 2001 in another example of her breathless chutzpah. "The shoe industry of Marakina was worth about half a million dollars and it is now worth $100 million or more. The shoe industry I supported is a symbol of gratitude."
Has she cut down on her shoe consumption? "I probably have more now. Everywhere I go, the people give me shoes. I'll end up having more than what they stole from me. I am such an optimist. I believe I'm in heaven."
As proof of her optimism, she outlines her pet projects: a plan to build a tunnel across the center of the country, and the development of hydrogen water power — a revolutionary clean energy that involves extracting hydrogen from water by splitting the water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen gas, which is then converted into electricity. The seas around the Philippines, she says, have the world's highest concentration of heavy hydrogen — deuterium. "Our problems are temporary. All I am waiting for is for my lawyers to end these cases against me and I will bring about a new economic order."
On the wall, a poster shows a triangle superimposed over the Philippine archipelago with Gold, Oil and Deuterium at each corner: GOD.
She is bounding around the apartment now, pointer in hand, with the energy of a woman 20 years younger, screening a power-point presentation "proving" that the Philippines was one of the most democratic countries in the world during the Marcos reign. The presentation begins with a mythical Filipino version of Adam and Eve, and concludes with a beatific portrait of her and her late husband. She ends with a flourish: "The bigger we are as human beings the more greedy we become," she says, again slapping a table.
It is not difficult at times like this to imagine the young, naive, fun-loving Visayas beauty dazzled by the ambitious senator Ferdinand Marcos and the jet-set life he promised; much harder to put this tearful, almost childish woman together with the picture painted of her in many biographies. Did she really offer her archrival Benigno Aquino $1 million to stay in U.S. exile, then order his 1983 assassination in broad daylight and in front of the world's press when he returned? Would the money she and her husband embezzled really, as many say, pay off the Philippines foreign debt?
And the biggest mystery of all: why have the people who threw her out accepted her back?
"Some people look at the chaos now and think things were probably better then under Marcos," says taxi driver Mike Avila. "He was strong and kept people in line. Things don't seem to have improved much since they left."
Imelda has no doubt that history will be good to her, despite the enormous odds against it. "Why is Mrs. Marcos still accepted by the people? The truth is coming out; the best test for the truth is time. My philosophy in life is that the only things we keep are those we give away. Long after I'm gone, the hospitals I built, the cultural centers, the hotels, the this, the that; many of these things were not built with government funds. It was my creativity. And they will be there after I'm gone."


text:
Is the Government telling deaf people to PIP off on disability benefits?
Posted by Ian Noon on February 28, 2012
It took me a while but I finally read through the Department for Work and Pension's consultation on the eligibility criteria for the new benefits for disabled people, Personal Independence Payments. Otherwise known as PIP. To be fair, there were three, rather long documents, to read through to understand what was being proposed. And I'm still not sure I've got it.
For those that don't know, PIP is the new DLA (Disability Living Allowance), a benefit for disabled people to fund the various additional costs associated with being disabled. Though the Government keep implying otherwise, it's not linked to employment status. PIP will be introduced from next spring for disabled young people aged 16+. Disabled children have a stay of execution and will remain on DLA for now.
The Government have confirmed that when the move to PIP happens, 500,000 disabled people will lose their PIP. Yup, that's half a million people who will be worse off. And looking at the guidance, it seems that many deaf people will be among the losers.
This is because in order to get the new "standard" rate of PIP, a deaf person would have to show that they couldn't understand "basic" information when communicating out and about. Difficulties in understanding anything more than basic information will, on its own, not get you the points you need to qualify. Examples given in the document seem to suggest that only deaf people who communicate entirely and solely in sign language will be eligible for the new PIP. Everyone else, it would seem, nothing.
Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions recently said that deafness was a "moderate" disability. The policy intention is that funding needs to be taken away from deaf people and given to those with more severe disabled needs. This is obviously a rather narrow way to frame political choices. It's also an approach that treats deaf people as being less "deserving" of support, regardless of any additional support that may be needed to understand more than just "hello" and "bye bye" and which ignores the additional costs and disadvantaged associated with being deaf in a hearing world.
The National Deaf Children's Society have drafted a short guide on what the changes might mean for deaf young people. This also include some tips and suggestions on how to respond to the consultation. If you think the changes are unfair, I would encourage you to have your say and ask the Government to raise the threshold of support to make sure deaf people get the help they need.
5 Responses to "Is the Government telling deaf people to PIP off on disability benefits?"
February 28, 2012 at 9:01 am
So let me take this in…..
We all know that the government is messed up, full of arrogant selfish 'ministers'
See if we truly need to cut the benefit fundings, i would understand but have you seen the figures of how much these guys earn?!
It's not the deaf people that's the problem, its the bloody government.
If they want to go ahead with the PIP, they should have a scale of deafness, not just the deep end of deafness.
I'm bearly meeting the months end WITH DLA, so without it is just horrible.
February 28, 2012 at 9:06 am
[…] to raise the threshold of support to make sure deaf people get the help they need. This article was originally posted on Ian Noon's own blog, Musings from a deaf campaigner. Ian Noon has been profoundly deaf […]
February 28, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Funnily enough I woke up this morning thinking this needs blogging, as this came up in a meeting on Sunday. I've only written about this some weeks ago on Facebook. I'm glad you've written about it.
Not necessarily only those who communicate in sign language, will get it. Look at the criteria for ESA, where there is also a criteria for "basic communication". Use that as a guideline. Basic communication means something like the location of a fire escape, without needing assistance from another person.
This is the ATOS handbook: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wca-handbook.pdf
"Cannot understand a simple message due to sensory impairment, such as the location of a fire escape.
This descriptor relates to an individual's ability to understand communication at a very basic level. Those with severe hearing restriction can often lip read but if they are unable to this descriptor must be considered. Vision would have to be considered in this area. The descriptor reflects only basic comprehension of writing and is not intended to reflect any higher level of literacy."
None of this of course reflects what happens in real life, the criteria is very artifical. As I said on Sunday, most deaf people will not get PIP and I don't think people realise it.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Boosted by a big Republican turnout, political newcomer Henry Wilson Jr. pulled off a stunning upset Tuesday over incumbent Michael Cox to win a seat on the Pasco County Commission.
Wilson, a 37-year-old Republican who works as a managed care director in Tampa, knocked off the commission's lone Democrat by winning 52 percent of the votes for the District 4 seat.
Meanwhile, Pat Mulieri, the Republican incumbent in District 2, took 70 percent of the votes, easily holding off challenger Clay Colson, a Land O'Lakes activist who ran as an independent.
It's the Wilson win that will have everybody talking.
Cox, a 46-year-old financial planner, was running for his second four-year term. He was one of the county's most high-profile commissioners and is widely credited with helping land financial firm T. Rowe Price and getting the county to devise strategic and business plans.
Widely known in business and civic circles, Cox raised $162,000 — more than Wilson, Mulieri and Colson combined and only about $22,000 short of the Pasco GOP's take. He'd spent $154,000 of that.
Wilson had no political experience other than being a Republican precinct chairman. He raised less than $9,000, did not attend County Commission meetings and never mounted a very public campaign — except when he made a couple of missteps, including filing an inaccurate campaign finance complaint against Cox, that landed him in the news.
But as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, turnout among Republican voters in Pasco outnumbered Democrats by 18,000.
"I was worried all day when I saw the Republican turnout," said Cox. "I just couldn't overcome that. At the end of the day, it was better to be a Republican than a Democrat."
Wilson said his campaign focus on making sure the people's voices are heard paid off.
"They wanted new, fresh blood," he told Bay News 9, the partner station of the St. Petersburg Times.
Just recently, Cox's campaign conducted a poll of likely voters. It showed him winning, he said.
Cox said he didn't take his loss as an indictment of his time on the board.
"I stand by a lot of decisions I made on the commission," he said. "I stand by all of them. … I didn't do anything wrong other than have a D behind my name."
Wilson's victory was reminiscent of the one then-newcomer Jack Mariano, a Republican, pulled off in 2004 when he beat incumbent Commissioner Peter Altman, a Democrat who had a 3-to-1 fundraising advantage, a record of accomplishments and name recognition. Back then, Mariano, too, got a boost from a big Republican turnout for races further up the ticket.
In recent weeks, Cox's campaign tried to capitalize on mistakes by Wilson. One mailer, which was paid for by the Tallahassee-based group Florida Mainstream Democrats, knocked Wilson for running unlicensed home businesses.
Wilson also filed an inaccurate complaint against Cox with the Florida Elections Commission, something that Wilson did not correct until reporters notified him of his mistakes.
In the District 2 race, Mulieri, 72, the Republican incumbent, was seeking her fifth term on the commission. She is a retired English professor at Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Her campaign, financed by a $88,495 war chest, had focused on her experience; her work on behalf of veterans and her support from law enforcement and firefighters unions.
Colson, 55, a longtime Land O'Lakes community activist, was making his first run for public office.
Cox said he'd had better nights, but he'd be okay in a few months. "The good news," he said, "is they don't take you out back and shoot you."
Jodie Tillman can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or (727) 869-6247.


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>Technical Support>Daily Vitals
I'm using Running Wizard, and when I enter the recovery indicators, I can then go to Running Ahead, view the Calendar, click on Daily Vitals, and then make minor edits. For example, in the RW page, the weight accepts no decimals. So I go to the Daily Vitals to edit it and enter the weight with decimal values.
1. Is there any way to allow the recovery indicators to accept decimal values so we don't have to use a roundabout method I just described?
OK, now let's say I forgot to enter my recovery indicators one day. What I have typically done in those cases is enter the recovery indicators for today, and then edit the Daily Vitals, including the date, to enter the missing data. That will also typically clear the Recovery Indicator values in RW. I can then go into RW and re-enter the values for today, and all is well. But today, I noticed that the trick didn't work. When I went to the calendar, there was no Daily Vitals to edit. However, when I looked at Workouts and tried to edit them, the value for heart rate and weight were saved.
2. Is there any way to directly access Daily Vitals, even if no entry was made, for any particular date?
MTA: I was able to figure out another round-about method to make up for a lost entry. When I went to Calendar, then Daily Vitals, I clicked on Copy instead of Edit, and that allowed me to create an entry, so I think that takes care of #2 above. However, when I went back to RW, the recovery indicators show that I slept for 16 hours instead of 8! It's a minor bug that probably doesn't require fixing.


text:
Biopsy Study for Sculptra (Poly-L-Lactic Acid)
This study has been completed.
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: March 25, 2009
Last updated: June 22, 2012
Last verified: June 2012
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study has been completed.
|Study Completion Date:
|May 2010
|Primary Completion Date:
|May 2010 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)


text:
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text:
Marc By Marc Jacobs | 'Sabrina' Sateen Combo Dress
I love how beautifully ink blue and black wear together. They exude subtle confidence; the woman who wears them together has a serious sense of style. WIth this Marc by Marc Jacobs dress, my eye was drawn to the colour combination and also the sweetheart neckline. It's cut above the knee, but it's still conservative. And it's completely classic.


text:
Massimo Buso - [email protected]
April 2003Last modified: Milan, 26 April 2003
From www.irchelp.org:
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) provides a way of communicating in real time with people from all over the world. It consists of various separate networks (or "nets") of IRC servers, machines that allow users to connect to IRC.
[ ... ]
Generally, the user (such as you) runs a program (called a "client") to connect to a server on one of the IRC nets.
From RFC2810 (please consider RFC1459 as the original and basic RFC for IRC, while RFC2810/RFC2811/RFC2812/RFC2813 are actually updates; so RFC1459 is the reference for this document when IRC is involved):
The IRC Protocol is based on the client-server model, and is well suited to running on many machines in a distributed fashion. A typical setup involves a single process (the server) forming a central point for clients (or other servers) to connect to, performing the required message delivery/multiplexing and other functions.
An IRC network is defined by a group of servers connected to each other. A single server forms the simplest IRC network. The only network configuration allowed for IRC servers is that of a spanning tree where each server acts as a central node for the rest of the network it sees. A sample small IRC network follows:
1--\ A D---4 2--/ \ / B----C / \ 3 E Servers: A, B, C, D, E Clients: 1, 2, 3, 4
The IRC protocol provides no mean for two clients to directly communicate. All communication between clients is relayed by the server(s).
From www.irchelp.org:
The recommended order for a client to register follows (item 1. is not mandatory):
After registration, the JOIN message is used by a client to start listening a specific channel:
A botnet is a federation of IRC bot, logically group together thanks to IRC distributed architecture. An IRC bot is a program which connects to an IRC server, joins a specific channel and awaits for commands.
Illegitimate use of bots are IRC channel takeovers (IRC wars), remote access/backdoors, DDOS (Distributed Denial Of Service). Of course, as usual, the botnet concept is not malicious in principle, you can use for example for file sharing, but commonly this name addresses some sort of illegal use.
IANA registered ports for IRC are:
In the real Internet world, the most common used port is 6667/tcp and udp is not used because of reliability. Anyway IRC servers tipically listen on several other ports by default including 6660-6669/tcp and 7000/tcp.
In this area the term "binary log file" means raw packet logging into a file. Tcpdump and ethereal can save the packets they capture into a binary log file by using "-w <filename>". Snort can produce binary log file in a tcpdump binary format by using a line in the snort configuration file like
output log_tcpdump: <filename>The tcpdump format (it would be better to call it libpcap format) is not the only one; for example others are snoop/novell LANalyzer/MS network monitor and many more.
Looking for TCP connections originated from the honeypot towards outside, we use tcpdump with a filtering expression to capture SYN/ACK packets incoming from outside servers (second phase of TCP/IP three-way handshaking):
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'tcp and dst host 172.16.134.191 and tcp[13]==18'By using command above, we build the pipeline:
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'tcp and dst host 172.16.134.191 and tcp[13]==18'|cut -d ' ' -f 2|sort|uniqand the output is (each line is in the form <A.B.C.D IP address>.<TCP PORT>):
22.214.171.124.80 220.127.116.11.80 22.214.171.124.80 22.214.171.124.80 22.214.171.124.80 184.108.40.206.80 22.214.171.124.80 22.214.171.124.80 188.8.131.52.80 188.8.131.52.80 22.214.171.124.80 22.214.171.124.80 126.96.36.199.80 184.108.40.206.80 126.96.36.199.80 188.8.131.52.80 220.127.116.11.6667 126.96.36.199.80 126.96.36.199.80 126.96.36.199.80 188.8.131.52.80 126.96.36.199.80 188.8.131.52.80 18.104.22.168.80 188.8.131.52.80 22.214.171.124.6667 126.96.36.199.6667 184.108.40.206.80 126.96.36.199.80
So IRC servers are:
First let's examine the traffic generated from/to the IRC server IP 220.127.116.11. We use the textual version of ethereal in this way:
tethereal -x -n -l -r sotm27 'ip.addr==188.8.131.52 and tcp.port==6667 and irc'After playing a little bit with the text/hex dump view of our traffic, we decide to write down a little piece of code to print the TCP payload of the interesting packets. The fact of the matter is that ethereal's IRC protocol support is not as strong as we need. No fear: we need only to print the raw TCP payload.
/* Compiled under RedHat 7.3 with: gcc -o ircsniff -I/usr/include/pcap -Wall -lpcap ircsniff.c */ #include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #include <pcap.h> int main(int argc,char **argv) { u_char emptymsg[]="\x20\x0d\x0a\x00\x00\x00"; pcap_t *pcap_pkt; char ebuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE]; struct pcap_pkthdr pcap_h; unsigned char *pkt; int i; pcap_pkt = pcap_open_offline(argc!=2?"-":argv[1],ebuf); while ( (pkt=(u_char *)pcap_next(pcap_pkt,&pcap_h)) != NULL ) if ( !(pcap_h.caplen==60 && !memcmp(pkt+54,emptymsg,6)) ) /* not empty msg */ for (i=54;i<pcap_h.caplen;i++) printf("%c",*(pkt+i)); pcap_close(pcap_pkt); return 0; }
This piece of code needs libpcap library
to be compiled. Minimal approach is used: no error management, no
clean parameters management, etc., just it should work for our current
If it's called exactly with one argument then this must be the
filename of tcpdump/pcap binary file from which packets are read,
otherwise the standard input is used.
Each packet is considered only from each 55th byte, so as to print the
TCP payload only.
Using our 'ircsniff' program:
tethereal -l -w- -r sotm27 'ip.addr==188.8.131.52 and tcp.port==6667 and irc'|./ircsniff > irc.188.8.131.52
the file "irc.126.96.36.199" we get contains (partial):
NOTICE AUTH :*** Looking up your hostname... NOTICE AUTH :*** Checking Ident NOTICE AUTH :*** No Ident response NOTICE AUTH :*** Found your hostname NICK rgdiuggac USER rgdiuggac localhost localhost :rgdiuggac :irc5.aol.com 001 rgdiuggac :Welcome to the Internet Relay Network rgdiuggac :irc5.aol.com 002 rgdiuggac :Your host is irc5.aol.com[irc5.aol.com/6667], running version 2.8/hybrid-6.3.1 NOTICE rgdiuggac :*** Your host is irc5.aol.com[irc5.aol.com/6667], running version 2.8/hybrid-6.3.1 :irc5.aol.com 003 rgdiuggac :This server was created Sun Jan 19 2003 at 19:04:03 PST :irc5.aol.com 004 rgdiuggac irc5.aol.com 2.8/hybrid-6.3.1 oOiwszcrkfydnxb biklmnopstve :irc5.aol.com 005 rgdiuggac WALLCHOPS PREFIX=(ov)@+ CHANTYPES=#& MAXCHANNELS=20 MAXBANS=25 NICKLEN=9 TOPICLEN=120 KICKLEN=90 NETWORK=XNet CHANMODES=be,k,l,imnpst EXCEPTS KNOCK MODES=4 :are supported by this server :irc5.aol.com 251 rgdiuggac :There are 0 users and 4752 invisible on 4 servers :irc5.aol.com 252 rgdiuggac 1 :IRC Operators online :irc5.aol.com 254 rgdiuggac 4 :channels formed :irc5.aol.com 255 rgdiuggac :I have 346 clients and 1 servers :irc5.aol.com 265 rgdiuggac :Current local users: 346 Max: 348 :irc5.aol.com 266 rgdiuggac :Current global users: 4752 Max: 4765 :irc5.aol.com 250 rgdiuggac :Highest connection count: 349 (348 clients) (378 since server was (re)started) :irc5.aol.com 375 rgdiuggac :- irc5.aol.com Message of the Day - :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - WELCOME TO AMERICA ONLINE'S - IRC SERVER :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - !!! WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING !!! :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - !!! THIS SERVER SCANS FOR OPEN PROXIES !!! :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - !!! PORTS: 8080,3128,80,1080,23 !!! :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - So if this is a legal problem in your :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - country please disconnect NOW! :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - We do this to make your IRC experience :irc5.aol.com 372 rgdiuggac :- - more enjoyable. :irc5.aol.com 376 rgdiuggac :End of /MOTD command. :rgdiuggac MODE rgdiuggac :+i MODE rgdiuggac -x MODE rgdiuggac +i JOIN #xàéüîéðìx :sex0r [...]
Interesting information can be uncovered such as:
Now we are close to the answer: "how many bots populate the botnet".
It's worth to remember that when a JOIN command - used to join an IRC channel - is accepted successfully by an IRC server then it sends back the list of users who are on the channel. If we assume an exact match between users and bot compromised site, in this way we can calculate the number of hosts on the botnet.
The command response code to use is 353 - RPL_NAMREPLY, so we can filter messages like:
grep ':irc5.aol.com 353 rgdiuggac #xàéüîéðìx' irc.220.127.116.11And finally we build a pipeline with the grep command above and a perl command to clean out just the "grepped" part above:
perl -p -e 's|:irc5.aol.com 353 rgdiuggac #xàéüîéðìx :| |g'
So the final command is:
grep ':irc5.aol.com 353 rgdiuggac @ #xàéüîéðìx' irc.188.8.131.52 | perl -p -e 's|:irc5.aol.com 353 rgdiuggac @ #xàéüîéðìx :| |g' > irc.126.96.36.199.users
So now the file "irc.188.8.131.52.users" contains the list of users space-separated. Rapidly we do the grand total:
cat irc.18.104.22.168.users | tr -s ' \n\r' '\n' |sort|uniq|less|wc -land the result is 3458.
3457 * 56 kbps, which approx equals to 189 Gbps
Our analysis is done using a different approach for UDP,TCP and ICMP. The UDP traffic from outside can be processed by
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'udp and dst host 172.16.134.191'|cut -d ' ' -f 2|cut -d '.' -f 1-4|sort|uniqGiving as a result 113 hosts from 100 class B subnets.
TCP traffic from outside can be found running tcpdump and use a capture filter to get packets originating from the honeypot with SYN / ACK flags both set (second phase of the TCP three-way handshaking of a external-originated TCP session):
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'tcp and src host 172.16.134.191 and tcp[13]==18'|cut -d " " -f 4|cut -d "." -f 1-4|sort|uniqGiving as a result 69 hosts from 67 class B subnets.
Using again tcpdump we discover that no other protocol except UDP and TCP are in our binary log file:
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 '!(udp or tcp)'
Combing the two results obtained for TCP and UDP we have the following list
of 128 attacking hosts:
18.104.22.168 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 169.254.205.177 22.214.171.124 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 184.108.40.206 126.96.36.199 184.108.40.206 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 184.108.40.206 184.108.40.206 126.96.36.199 220.127.116.11 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 184.108.40.206 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11 184.108.40.206 184.108.40.206 126.96.36.199 18.104.22.168 22.214.171.124 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 188.8.131.52 126.96.36.199 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 18.104.22.168 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 22.214.171.124 22.214.171.124 126.96.36.199 18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 18.104.22.168 184.108.40.206 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 22.214.171.124 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 184.108.40.206 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 126.96.36.199 220.127.116.11 220.127.116.11 220.127.116.11 126.96.36.199 184.108.40.206 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 188.8.131.52 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 184.108.40.206 188.8.131.52 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11 220.127.116.11 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 188.8.131.52 184.108.40.206 126.96.36.199 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 220.127.116.11 126.96.36.199 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 18.104.22.168 22.214.171.124 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11 184.108.40.206 22.214.171.124 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 126.96.36.199 126.96.36.199 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168
Snort will be used to uncover potential attacks to the honeypot. We use the standard stable ruleset and the following configuration file (suppose it's located in "/etc/snort/snort.conf"):
var HOME_NET 172.16.134.191/32 var EXTERNAL_NET !$HOME_NET var DNS_SERVERS $HOME_NET var SMTP_SERVERS $HOME_NET var HTTP_SERVERS $HOME_NET var SQL_SERVERS $HOME_NET var TELNET_SERVERS $HOME_NET var HTTP_PORTS 80 var SHELLCODE_PORTS any var ORACLE_PORTS 1521 var AIM_SERVERS [18.104.22.168/24,188.8.131.52/24,188.8.131.52/24,220.127.116.11/24,188.8.131.52/24,184.108.40.206/24,18.104.22.168/24,188.8.131.52/24,184.108.40.206/24] var RULE_PATH /etc/snort ################################################### preprocessor frag2 preprocessor stream4: detect_scans preprocessor stream4_reassemble preprocessor http_decode: 80 unicode iis_alt_unicode double_encode iis_flip_slash full_whitespace preprocessor rpc_decode: 111 32771 preprocessor bo: -nobrute preprocessor telnet_decode preprocessor conversation: allowed_ip_protocols all, timeout 60, max_conversations 32000 ################################################### output alert_full: snort_full output alert_fast: snort_fast ################################################### include classification.config include reference.config ################################################### include $RULE_PATH/bad-traffic.rules [...] include $RULE_PATH/local.ruleswe omitted all the "include" lines for each snort rule file: all available rule file is included.
snort -c /etc/snort/snort.conf -r sotm27We summarize snort processing with the following part of the standard output during snort execution:
=============================================================================== Snort processed 54536 packets. Breakdown by protocol: Action Stats: TCP: 54350 (99.659%) ALERTS: 67 UDP: 186 (0.341%) LOGGED: 67 ICMP: 0 (0.000%) PASSED: 0 ARP: 0 (0.000%) EAPOL: 0 (0.000%) IPv6: 0 (0.000%) IPX: 0 (0.000%) OTHER: 0 (0.000%) ===============================================================================
A first inspection to the alert (fast log "snort_fast") suggests
to eliminate a FP (False Positive), the one identified with SID
(Snort ID) 615
- SCAN SOCKS Proxy attempt.
Then we can trace the IP addresses of the offending hosts by using:
grep -v ':615:' snort_fast|perl -p -e 's|^.*\s(\S+):\S+ -> 172.16.134.191.*|$1|g' | sort | uniq
and so we have back:
18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 22.214.171.124 188.8.131.52 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 188.8.131.52 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 188.8.131.52 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 22.214.171.124 18.104.22.168 188.8.131.52 220.127.116.11 184.108.40.206 220.127.116.11 188.8.131.52 126.96.36.199 184.108.40.206 188.8.131.52 22.214.171.124 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 126.96.36.199 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 18.104.22.168 126.96.36.199 184.108.40.206 188.8.131.52 184.108.40.206 126.96.36.199 126.96.36.199 22.214.171.124 18.104.22.168 18.104.22.168 220.127.116.11
The total number of the above hosts is 48. Two possible attack types are indentified by snort:
The first type rappresents the this year most famous worm based on a known vulnerability on Windows 2000 and SQL 2000. Only W2k sp3 or bug fixed systems are immune. Attacks of this type use 1434/udp port of the honeypot. The confirmation of attacks success will be done in the next section.
The second type rappresents attempts to inject a shellcode into an ip session (look at snort rule of sid 1390) which in our case is an HTTP session. The possible attack could have exploit a race condition in the Microsoft web sever (buffer overflow) and later a shellcode is tryed. As a matter of fact Microsoft web servers unpatched (our case) suffer a lot of vulnerabilities (i do not want to start a religion war here): possible candidate!
At a very end we have to notice that because the honeypot administrator password is very trivial (blank password) then sessions not considered by snort (e.g. NBT - NetBios over TCP/IP) are dangerous. We will consider this in the next section.
We start collecting protocol statistics about the binary log file:
tethereal -n -z io,phs -R '!frame' -r sotm27
=================================================================== Protocol Hierarchy Statistics Filter: frame frame frames:54536 bytes:17247037 eth frames:54536 bytes:17247037 ip frames:54536 bytes:17247037 udp frames:186 bytes:49962 nbns frames:129 bytes:26852 data frames:2 bytes:120 dcerpc frames:55 bytes:22990 tcp frames:54350 bytes:17197075 nbss frames:3769 bytes:2219209 smb frames:2506 bytes:511805 dcerpc frames:20 bytes:3800 pipe frames:1276 bytes:258208 dcerpc frames:1259 bytes:243638 samr frames:523 bytes:109330 malformed frames:1 bytes:1138 srvsvc frames:4 bytes:1416 data frames:17 bytes:14570 data frames:9 bytes:12466 data frames:69 bytes:104466 nbss frames:13 bytes:19682 data frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 nbss frames:1 bytes:1514 http frames:12028 bytes:11481571 data frames:918 bytes:185975 ssl frames:1 bytes:105 irc frames:9809 bytes:1632635 ===================================================================As already noted, no ICMP packets flows from/to the honeypot. This means that any UDP session from outside have found honeypot UDP port open because no "ICMP Port Unreachable" packet is sent back.
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'udp and dst host 172.16.134.191'|cut -d ">" -f 2|cut -d "." -f 5|cut -d ":" -f 1|sort|uniqand the result is: 137/udp, 1434/udp, 28431/udp.
Similarly to what done for UDP, we would like to collect TCP sessions from outside to the honeypot. By using tcpdump we are looking for TCP packets with flags SYN and ACK active and originated from the honeypot (same idea already used before):
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'tcp and src host 172.16.134.191 and tcp[13]==18' | cut -d "." -f 6 | cut -d " " -f 1 | sort | uniqand the result is: 25/tcp, 80/tcp, 135/tcp, 139/tcp, 445/tcp, 4899/tcp.
So a summary of open ports in the whole binary file are:
|135/tcp ; 139/tcp ; 445/tcp ; 137/udp
|sql dcerpc
So the suspect that the SQL worm attack were successful is very high. The final word is given by a statistical analysis of the packets over the time:
tethereal -x -n -tad -r sotm27 -R '!frame' -z io,stat,1800The output of this command shows that there are holes in the bandwidth, sometimes and for hours, just when the 1434/udp packet arrived. This is exactly the effect of the worm; SQL work attack: success!
Then, we have to confirm the shellcode injection into the MS web server. From the snort log file we have that the host originating the attack has IP 126.96.36.199; then we use tethereal to look to the session it generates:
tethereal -l -x -n -r /root/sotm27 -R 'ip.addr==22.214.171.124 and http'
We can argue that (ordering by time from the oldest to the newest event):
Looking through packets from 1841 to 1887 we can suppose that the effect of the malicious code should be to open a socket on the honeypot at port 99/tcp. The attacker is looking for that but that's not happen: attack unsuccessfull!
We are missing two issues:
The first issue, radmin, can be investigated by:
tcpdump -n -nn -r sotm27 'dst host 172.16.134.191 and tcp dst port 4899'|cut -d ' ' -f 2|cut -d '.' -f 1-4|sort|uniqWhat results from here is that only the host of IP 18.104.22.168 has session to this tcp port.
However a close analysis:
tethereal -n -l -r sotm27 -R 'ip.addr==184.108.40.206 and tcp.port==4899'reveals that at the beginning of the packet captured this port was not opened and this up to packet 1355-1356, and only at packet 2070-2071-2072 the tcp three-way handshaking successfully established a socket.
So the honeypot was violated by host IP 188.8.131.52, and this happens in the range of packets from 1357 to 2069. This happens exploiting NBT sessions, last chance. In fact the attacker by exploiting the weakness of the Administrator password, copied the radmin server into the honeypot and the put it into execution.
Firstable, i understand for what's better tcpdump and for what ethereal, that is the first is better for up-to ISO/OSI level 3 analysis, while ethereal for 4 to 7.
Second, I have studied botnet a little and i have to say that ideas behind are very fashinated.
Finally, to find common attacks is best to think simple.
Blocking NBT traffic at border routers.
Enforcing password policy (host basis and eventually at the Domain Controller)
Upgrading operating systems and installed software according to vendors bug/security fixing
Minor issues:


text:
About the Book
Photos from Mexico on a trip aboard the M.S. National Geographic Sea Bird.
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About the Creator
Jamie Friedland
Los Angeles, CA
I am a 25 year old Duke graduate from Chicago. Currently in law school at UCLA.
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text:
Dale EarnhardtBorn: 1951-04-29 - Died: 2001-02-18
Cause of Death: Racing Car Accident
There were rumors that he had not been wearing his seatbelt properly, and evidence of a torn belt. This led to the founder of the seatbelt manufacturer resigning from his company that supplied belts to nearly all of NASCAR.
Who was Dale Earnhardt : Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was a stock car driver in NASCAR.
He made the number 3 legendary by NASCAR standards and one can often see his emblem donned on car windows across America.
He had 4 children, one of which is also a NASCAR driver, and actually participated in the very race that claimed his father's life.


text:
4th of July Honey Sweet Potato Poblano Salad
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
20 mins
2 sweet potatoes or yams, cut into ¼ inch strips lengthwise
2 poblano peppers, stem and seeds removed, cut in half lengthwise
For the dressing
3 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
pinch of salt and pepper
Turn on grill.
Once grill is hot, place your sweet potatoes and poblanos directly on grill.
Keep an eye on the veggies because they will burn easily. After about 5-8 minutes or until sweet potatoes and poblanos have grill marks on one side, flip them. The poblanos will cook quicker at need less time on the grill.
While your veggies are cooking, whisk together dressing ingredients, tossing in the pumpkin seeds at the end.
When veggies are done cooking, let cool for a couple minutes then dice them on up!
Toss sweet potatoes and poblanos in your dressing and serve!
Oh wait, turn grill off! Safety first.
Recipe by
PaleOMG - Paleo Recipes
at http://paleomg.com/4th-july-honey-sweet-potato-salad/


text:
Connecticut Repertory Theatre Presents INTIMATE APPAREL, 10/24-11/4
Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present Intimate Apparel, Oct. 25 – Nov. 4, as the first show in its Studio Works Series in the Studio Theatre on the Storrs campus. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.
At 35, Esther is lonely. A skilled African-American seamstress in 1905 Manhattan, she makes exquisite undergarments for clients including a sincere socialite from tony Fifth Avenue and an earnest prostitute. Strong, practical and confident Esther resists her landlady's insistence on marriage for marriage's sake while cautiously allowing an unexpected friendship, filled with longing, to grow between her and her fabric merchant, an immigrant Jew. After exchanging letters with a West Indian laborer, Esther finally accepts his invitation and marries this man she has never met. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage stitches a tale of romance, greed and ambition – and also a tender story of seeking real friendship across the vast social gulf separating a seamstress and a socialite, the yearning of inter-racial as well as inter-faith love, and the persistence of spirit as Esther tries to craft a life as beautiful as one of her camisoles.
Intimate Apparel offers both a historical exploration into the black experience in America in the beginning of the 20th century, as well as a personal exploration into how societal constructs directly affect an individual's opportunities and choices.
Artistic Director Vincent J. Cardinal said, "Intimate Apparel explores The Common thread of love and aspiration across racial, social, and cultural divides."
Intimate Apparel won the 2004 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award and the Outer Critics Circle Best Play Award. Ms. Nottage has received a MacArthur "Genius" Grant (2007), two NAACP Theatre Awards for performance and the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEN/Laura_Pels_International_Foundation_for_Theater_Award" target="_blank">PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for a playwright in mid-career (2004). Ms. Nottage won the OBIE Award for Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined in 2009. In 2010, she received the Distinguished Playwright Award.
Intimate Apparel partly had its origins in Lynn Nottage's own family history, her great-grandmother was a seamstress. Lynn Nottage said of one of the inspirational figures in her life, "What he taught me was the joy of ritual. He taught me that, through playwriting, we could discover our ancestors. We could explore issues. We could find our history."


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text:
MIAMI — The end is in sight. The Pirates have four games left in the 2010 season, starting with tonight's game against the Marlins at Whatever It's Called This Week Stadium.
Lefty Zach Duke will make his final start. In his career, Duke has pitched seven-plus innings in 56 games — in those games, he's 28-11 with a 1.94 ERA. The Pirates have won six straight games, including five this season, when Duke's worked seven-plus.
By the way, they're calling it Sun Life Stadium this week. The venue, which opened in 1987, also has been called Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium and Land Shark Stadium.
»»» Altoona Mirror writer Cory Giger, who today broke the story about the Pirates firing Curve manager Matt Walbeck, will have Walbeck on his radio show tonight. Here's the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sports-central-with-cory-giger
Lineups for tonight's game:
Pirates (56-102) – 1. Andrew McCutchen cf, 2. Jose Tabata lf, 3. Neil Walker 2b, 4. Garrett Jones 1b, 5. Pedro Alvarez 3b, 6. John Bowker rf, 7. Ronny Cedeno ss, 8. Chris Snyder c, 9. Zach Duke (8-14, 5.63) lhp
Marlins (77-81) – 1. Emil Bonifacio cf, 2. Osvaldo Martinez ss, 3. Logan Morrison lf, 4. Dan Uggla 2b, 5. Gaby Sanchez 1b, 6. Mike Stanton rf, 7. Wes Helms 3b, 8. Brad Davis c, 9. Chris Volstad (11-9, 4.63) rhp


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Holiday goodies
Posted by Ilise Benun on
Since no one seems to be in much of a business mindset, today we're sharing our favorite holiday recipes.
If you have one to post, please do.
Here's the one I'll be making this week: from Martha Stewart by way of Marketing Mentor client, Jezra Kaye, of Communicate with Power and Ease,
Mrs. Fields Mocha Chunk Cookies
(world's best cookie recipe)
- 2 ½ c. all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. instant coffee crystals (Bustelo instant espresso is great)
- 2 tsp. coffee liqueur (may substitute dark alcohol like rum, scotch)
- 1 c. white sugar
- ¾ c. dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 c. salted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 c. (10 oz.) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- Walnuts to taste
- Preheat oven to 300°
- In a medium mixer or Cuisinart bowl, combine butter, sugars and cocoa. (If mixing by hand, beat until thoroughly blended.)
- When smooth, add eggs and coffee crystals, dissolved in the alcohol.
- Sift (or mix) flour, soda and salt.
- Add to liquid mixture and stir until blended (don't overmix).
- Add chocolate chunks and walnuts, if desired.
- Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, and bake for 18-23 minutes. Dough should still be soft when taken from the oven.
- Transfer to a flat surface and cool before eating—if you can wait that long!
Yummy Gingerbread
(from a generous woman named Carrie whom I met at a party almost 20 years ago):
Here's my old stand by for delicious and sturdy gingerbread people and houses:
- 8 cups flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon salt (may not need that much)
- 1 tablespoon each of allspice and ginger (feel free to double or triple these)
- 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and clove
- 1 1/4 cup of molasses
- 1/2 pound of butter
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Add the molasses and mix.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices and stir those in.
- Bake it at 375 degrees. You'll know when it's done.
- Then, let them cool and decorate.
Double Layer Pumpkin Pie (posted anonymously on a blog from last year)
Good compromise between pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Yum!
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 T milk
- 1 T sugar
- 1 8-oz tub whipped cream (Cool Whip, etc.)
- 1 graham cracker pie crust
- 1 cup cold milk
- 1 16-oz can pumpkins (for pies)
- 2 pkgs (4-serving size) instant vanilla pudding
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- Mix cream cheese, 1 T milk and sugar in large bowl with wire whisk until smooth.
- Gently stir in 1.5 cups of whipped topping. Spread onto bottom of crust.
- Pour 1 cup milk into large bowl. Add pumpkin, pudding mixes and spices. Beat with wire whisk until well mixed. (Mixture will be THICK!)
- Spread over cream cheese layer.
- Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Garnish with remaining topping.


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The investigation of amenorrhoea in women can be quite complex and tests depend on what the doctor finds out about you at your first visit.
Initially the doctor will ask you about your menstrual function since puberty, your life style and your sexual activity. They will want to know about any other condition you may be suffering from and what drugs you are on.
They will probably carry out a physical examination and want to take a blood sample. The blood sample is usually for the measurement of hormones such as chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), luteinising hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin. Other hormones which may be measured are thyroid hormones, testosterone and oestradiol. But blood analysis depends on what the doctor finds out from you and what he suspects may be the cause of your amenorrhoea.
Other, later tests may include ultrasound scanning of the ovaries and possibly a scan of the head, genetic investigation and further blood tests.
Treatment depends on the cause of the amenorrhoea.


text:
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Shoppers Were Hamming It Up in 2007, Says Pork Board
Entree hams will move especially well during the coming spring holiday, the pork group predicts.
With Easter fast approaching, retailers have a chance to capitalize on the spring holiday to move more ham out of the meat case, according to Des Moines, Iowa-based National Pork Board (NPB).
The commodity board said FreshLook Syndicated Data 2007 shows overall dollar sales for ham were up in 2007after a slight decline in 2006. Entree hams, a segment made up of whole, halves, quarters and portion hams, continued to generate the greatest sales at 81 percent over ham steaks, 14 percent, and refrigerated ham dinners at 1 percent. But all segments showed good growth from previous years.
Over a two-year period, 2005 to 2007, spiral cuts saw an 11 percent increase in dollar sales; and at the end of that period possessed a 35 percent share of total dollar sales in the entree ham segment. While spiral cuts showed this significant growth, non-spiral cuts still make up the largest portion of entree ham sales at 65 percent.
When looking at bone-in vs. boneless, bone-in hams represent the largest share of volume. But FreshLook Data shows that boneless hams are still the most profitable.
For more information on ham sales, visit www.pork.org.


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Our family of schools is truly global, with 160 private and independently owned schools spanning 52 countries.
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|4 reviews in total
i don't think the other person who wrote a comment is right i like
daddio. its funny and it always helps a programme if the
actors/actresses are well-known, and when i first saw it i only stayed
to watch because i knew martin spanjers from 8 simple rules so i wanted
to see what daddio was like. and its funny and it like shows how a dad
can cope if his wife leaves him and the kids or if she dies.
some people might think chris is kinda like the mom because he stays home all day but the show goes against stereo typing so that made it more effective for me because i had just been talking to one of my friends about stereo typing (she's black) and so i thought it was good when he was always defending himself about that fact against barbic.
anyway x bye x
i enjoyed this series no end just because of its star Michael Chiklis.
I know him from the shield and the fantastic four and seeing him in something like this is just brilliant.
I understand that if you do not know Michael Chiklis from anything then this series will not have so much appeal but for any Chiklis fan this is a must see.
Because of the success of the shield and now Chiklis's movie career this is sure to obtain a cult following.
If there are any Chiklis fans out there who follow his career like me and my friend you may be interested to know that he had a cameo in a Seinfeld episode.
Like i said if you like Michael Chiklis you will love Daddio, to see him in this role is truly golden comedy.
i was in this sitcom!! i loved working with the director Matt Berry. he
was a fun and energetic person to be around.
i also enjoyed working with the cast. Christian Boewe and Mitch Hollowman were my best friends on the set, and all the other actors/actresses were absolutely wonderful to be around!!! Michael Chicklis was a fun and a great man to be around. his daughter Autumn was my friend as well. though she was like a foot taller than me, we still had a great time. Suzy N.played my mom,
Holly Martin. we had so much fun on the set of Daddio, i could never forget it!!!!
Well, first off, I cannot believe that I am the first person to comment on this show and how horrible it was. I hated it with every fiber in my body. Daddio represents everything wrong with sitcoms. This sitcom is so bad, you would expect it to be on ABC, between "Two Guys A Girl and A Pizza Place" and "Dharma and Greg." I seriously think this show was the death of the sitcom. Have you noticed that all of the modern primetime shows are totally different from this stuff? I noticed that none of the new sitcoms have laugh tracks, which is just awesome. It brings me back to the days of stuff like the Wonder Years where YOU decided what was funny. Seriously, I despise the NBC executives for this. This show aired the same year that Freaks and Geeks got cancelled. Read my rant on Freaks and Geeks to see how I feel about THAT.
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text: Meta Battle Subway PokeBase - Pokemon Q&A Login Register All Activity Questions Unanswered Tags Users Ask a Question Rules Chat Speed issues- breloom and cloyster? 2 votes 1,854 views Both Breloom and Cloyster have identical base speed stats. In the the event of both having a jolly nature and max speed investment, which would go first? If Breloom were to move first, it could spore it, allowing it to set up or deal with Cloyster however it liked. If Cloyster were to to move first it would likely KO Breloom with Icicle spear. Both have super effective priority moves but both would likely survive a hit. Besides which, if both used their respective priority moves at the same time, a speed tie would still ensue. Either one could beat the other if it moved first, which is of course why speed is so crucial. Are speed ties like this resolved on a coin toss, 50-50 chance sort of way, or is it something as simple as whoever sent out theirs first would go first? If theres some sure way that one of these Pokemon could outspeed the other at +0 speed and without a choice scarf, could you let me know? speed breloom priority asked Feb 11, 2013 by Mechanism L Please log in or register to add a comment. Please log in or register to answer this question. 1 Answer 1 vote Best answer It's a 50-50 chance. Source: Previously asked questions http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/109040/pokemon-with-speed-aqua-bullet-punch-quick-attack-would-first answered Feb 11, 2013 by Justice SwordsMaster selected Feb 11, 2013 by Mechanism L I see. thanks. hate it when stuff like that's decided on a coin toss. though i suppose the pokemon's iv's would maybe swing it. commented Feb 11, 2013 by Mechanism L Please log in or register to add a comment. Related questions How was my Mega-Salamence at -1 speed able to outspeed a Gardevoir and Breloom? Who goes first if you have equal speed? Carracosta speed issues? Will a +2 Jolly 252 Speed Cloyster outrun a Modest 252 Speed Choice Scarf Volcarona? Trick Room and Priority Move? Technician + Choice Band Breloom and Mach Punch? How do I get Spore and Focus Punch on my Breloom in gen 5? Countering Breloom and Kangashkan? Useful Meta Posts How to change your username How to add a user avatar Why was my post hidden? The points system Question etiquette Flags vs Downvotes Anime FAQ


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When the Indiana Pacers announced right before the season that Danny Granger would be out indefinitely with patellar tendinosis in his left knee, I foolishly assumed he'd miss about a month. Knee issues can be tricky, however, and just a week into the season it was announced that he would miss three months after receiving an injection performed by Dr. James Andrews.
Granger participated in shootaround on Friday and will resume non-contact activities any day now. The initial three-month projection, which falls two weeks from now on Feb. 7, seems like it could be met -- but the Pacers will undoubtedly be cautious with the $13 million knee.
The Pacers have played well without Granger despite a slow start. They won four of their first 11 games, but have gone 22-9 since and are presently third in the Eastern Conference. Indiana has thrived thanks to the emergence of Paul George, who has blossomed into an All-Star caliber wing in his third season.
You could see George maturing, as early as 2011's first round series with the Bulls, but he has taken a considerable leap in the first half of the season. The question is -- would George have broken out this drastically if Granger was healthy?
He is averaging career-highs cross the board -- 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals in 36.6 minutes per game. He's taking 15.1 shots (including 5.6 threes per game) an increase of more than five attempts. His usage rate has increased to 23.9 percent, which is a jump of 4.6 percent, but is second to team-leader David West (24.7 percent).
George has a 17.3 PER, again second to West, and the pair are atop the team's list of Win Shares along with George Hill at 4.5 wins contributed. He has been extremely valuable because of his ability to take on some of the shots usually reserved for Granger, while also playing tremendous defensive against the league's best wing players.
"He's been a little bit more assertive and carried more of an offensive load for us with Danny out, but I think he's just going to continue to get better," West said. "He's also helped make us be one of the top defensive teams with his ability on the wing."
On Jan. 18, George produced the type of performance that has both the Pacers and the rest of the league buzzing. He scored 31 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including seven threes, and added six rebounds, five steals and three assists in 43 minutes. Perhaps even more impressive was his effort on the other end of the floor. He held James Harden, the league's fifth-leading scorer, to 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting. The outing snapped a streak of 22 straight games with 20 or more points.
"It wears you down, but it's something that I've been getting better at," George said earlier this month when I asked him if elite assignments exhausted him. "It definitely takes a lot out of you when you have to guard an elite guy and then try to come down the other end and produce as well."
Despite his emergence as a budding star, George is an unassuming player. He can make a spectacular play in a variety of ways, but rarely changes his expression on the floor and blends well into Indiana's locker room.
Granger is the longest-tenured member of the Pacers and the assumed leader, even though West is the roster's backbone. There has to be some concern as to whether George's game will change when Granger returns to the floor. As you might expect, he isn't concerned.
"Yeah, but that's in the long run," he said when asked about what Granger's return will mean for his game. "I'm taking it game-by-game right now. I haven't really worried about his return; I'll just continue to play at this level and try to be aggressive."
It will take some time before Granger returns to the level of play we've come to expect and he'll likely see reduced minutes and might even sit out the second night of back-to-backs early on. Still, if he returns in early February, he should be assuming the role he had in 2011-12 as the playoffs arrive.
In Frank Vogel's first full season, using a balanced attack, Granger played 33.3 minutes, attempted 15.2 shots per game and had a 25.9 percent usage rate. Let's assume for the sake of argument that by April, Granger is not only back, but also playing 30 minutes per game and attempting 14 shots.
It's unlikely that George will see a reduction in minutes, unless Vogel tries to keep the young buck rested for the postseason, but with Granger back in the fold Lance Stephenson and Gerald Green will see less time. Dominic McGuire, currently on his second 10-day contract, will have to look for employment elsewhere.
The main concern is that George will defer to Granger, but his teammates don't believe either player will let that happen. George said recently that Granger has been pushing him along all season.
"I have no worries about that," Roy Hibbert said. "He's got to stay aggressive and keep doing what he's doing on the offensive side of the ball."
"Danny's only going to add to what we are doing," West predicted. "PG's gotten better and he's on track in terms of his career, Year 3 is a big year for most guys, and he's proven that he's capable of playing at a high level. If anything, it's going to help him having another high caliber threat like Danny out there on the floor."
West might be onto something. George is shooting a career-low 42.5 percent from the floor and his TS% (.528) and eFG% (.496) are also three-year lows. He's had to carry more of a load and with Granger drawing attention he'll have better looks with fewer forced looks. For those that watch the Pacers regularly, it should also mean fewer 10-second segments of the Paul George Dribbling Show.
The best case scenario would simply see Granger absorb minutes currently reserved for Stephenson and Green, with Green seeing the biggest reduction in minutes. Stephenson has shown flashes, while Green has been a disappointment.
Green, a poor defender signed for his offense and athleticism, is shooting just .354 this season. Close to half of his shots have come from three-point land and he's hitting just .286 of those attempts. On a defensive-minded club, he can be exposed.
The Pacers lead the NBA with a 98.8 defensive rating, but Green carries a 103 rating. That's a large differential. George leads the team with a 95 defensive rating and Granger is a much better pure defender than Green.
Conventional wisdom suggests that Granger's return will make the Pacers that much better, but that hinges on George remaining the two-way force he has been. Vogel doesn't simply want to swap George for a health Granger. He wants two above-average wing players leading what should immediately become an improved defense.


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Police, Acropolis must work together instead of closing restaurant down
Syracuse city officials are going overboard in their attempts to shut down Acropolis, a popular Marshall Street hangout.
City officials issued Acropolis a nuisance abatement letter and the owners have a hearing on Dec. 11. At that time, it's possible that the pizza shop may be closed for any time between a month and a year, which could be detrimental to the financial state of the business.
The nuisance letter was issued for three specific problems in and around the Marshall Street establishment during the past 24 months. But the problem is not necessarily directly correlated to Acropolis' business style. It also is not necessarily Acropolis' fault that crime is occurring outside the establishment.
There may be other restaurants on Marshall Street and the city of Syracuse that should be issued these nuisance letters, but these establishments may not be monitored as closely as Acropolis is because they do not have a bad reputation.
Acropolis has already taken steps to solve the problem, including hiring a security guard. There are plans to buy and install cameras, and an identification card reader to prevent underage drinking.
Police officers have asked Acropolis to close earlier than 3 a.m. to deter crime. But other establishments on Marshall Street are open until 3 a.m. or later and have not been asked to close earlier. Closing Acropolis could shift crime to other locations, and the overall problem will persist.
Officials at the December meeting should remember Acropolis has started to take steps to fix the problems. Instead of working against Acropolis, police officers should work with Acropolis owners and managers to fix the problem.
Published on November 15, 2012 at 3:00 am
Contact: email@example.com


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Dr. Bill Carlile is the Chief Horticultural Scientist with Bord na Móna since 2006. He has 45 years experience in the world of horticulture both professionally and as a hobby.
Being the author of numerous scientific papers, having 25 years experience in compost research and having written two books on plant protection Dr. Bill would be only too happy to answer any of your horticultural questions.
Email your questions to: email@example.com
Resolved questions and answers will be published on this page each week.
Visit Bord na Móna's website...
I notice in many supermarkets there are products on the shelves to grow your own tomatoes from hanging devices. Are these suitabale for my apartment balcony, which only gets direct sunlight for the first early hours of the day and is drenched in shade from about 10 am onwards?
Now, you have a difficult situation here: trying to grow tomatoes in a hanging basket with sun only in the morning. We think you might be able to grow in these conditions but need a good summer to help. You'll need a hanging basket with a good volume of compost- 10 litres or more, to avoid drying out especially when the plants are large. Use of Growise Multipurpose or Tub and Basket will help since it has a natural moisture retaining agent. We'd recommend using the tomato varieties Tumbler or Balcony Red. Plant firmly into the hanging basket : water regularly and start of feed with a standard tomato fertiliser when the tomatoes begin to form. Good luck: pray for a warm summer!
I got a potted Hibiscus in Woodies last week with impressive yellow blooms and numerous buds. I have it in a warm bright room. The original bloom fell off in full bloom. It appeared to go dormant for a day or two and then another spectacular bloom appeared, which also dropped off in the full of it's bloom. Temperature and watering are steady as per instruction. Any idea what's happening?
You bought a plant that whilst beautiful, needs care especially in an indoor environment. It's been used to a moist glasshouse-type environment & shifting to a drier (home) situation can trigger bud and flower drop: it's very common. Hibiscus like steady moist warm environments: keep the soil/compost moist but not overwet ie water little & often. You can tell if the compost is moist enough by lightly pressing a bit of kitchen towel on to the pot surface: it should come away damp: if not, water. You could also mist the plant with a fine spray of water from an atomiser (an old perfume dispenser is ideal). Try to avoid high/low temperature fluctuations.
In rare cases bud & flower drop may be caused by thrip insects: look carefully at the flowers: but if you just bought it, these should not be present.
Basically treat it like a loved one...
I am currently building a decking / patio area around my conservatory and was wondering if I should plant a hedge around it to act as a wind break and for privacy. The hedge will be grown on raised beds approx 400mm wide and 400mm deep. Would this be sufficient for a hedge. I am looking to grow the hedge to 5ft tall and as narrow as possible. I am concerned that a hedge will attract a lot of insects / birds etc? What would you recommend for a suitable hedge given the above information.
Thanks for this and the clear sketch enclosed. We feel that the space allocated for your hedge is limited, especially if you want to grow up to 1.8 metres ( 5 foot) and have it as 'narrow as possible'. You could use beech or hornbeam but both are slow growing: Cupressus of which I am not a fan would spread laterally.
Can we suggest an alternative?: Why not erect a trellis and grow an upright drought resistant species through it? One such would be Cotoneaster lacteus, an upright form of cotoneaster which is commonly seen as a ground cover plant. This would weave itself into the trellis and its bright red berries would provide interest during the winter months. They are generally the last berries to be eaten by birds! The Cotoneaster would provide refuges for insect life too. You would need to keep the cotoneaster cut to stop it spreading laterally, but it is tolerant of drought, which might occur in the narrow beds of soil you propose. Plants should be set about 1m apart.
After the most difficult winter in decades me plants are not the best- Please recommend the best compost in your new range for me. My House plants are starved. My Patio plants are dead but will buy new ones and my Vegetables are ruined!
You're not the only one! Some of my container plants froze through & have thus died. In future with strong frosts, protection might be the answer: up against a south facing house wall, or fleeced in a cold frame or glasshouse.
However, looking forward; for your house plants I'd use our Growise Multipurpose compost: it's got plenty of nutrients including trace elements from the added green compost. If your plants are pot-bound move them to a larger pot and pot up with Multipurpose. You could use the Multipurpose for your container plants too, but Growise Tub and Basket is specially formulated for containers. It's also rich in plant nutrients. For vegetables, you could use one of our range of planters: they have more compost than a conventional growing bag & thus need less watering & feeding. If you intend to grow in the garden, our Organic Living Peat-free compost is a useful addition to raised beds: it has slow release nitrogen and trace elements from the green compost.
We have a Cordyline Tree in our garden that has been severely damaged by the harsh Winter we had this year. Can it be saved or should we just cut our losses and cut it down?
Many cordylines, yuccas and canary island palms have suffered during the winter of 2009-2010. The extent of damage depends on the type you have & where it was grown. If it's been in a container & this has frozen through, then the plant, roots and all may be killed. If it is in the ground, its roots may have survived. If there is no growth showing at the moment, cut the foliage down to about a third & see if any leaves sprout by the end of May. If not, I fear it is probably dead. It may however, sprout away & recover when the weather warms up, although it may never gain its former appearance.
The green cordylines tend to be hardier than the variegated forms: if your plant is one of the latter & has died, you might want to replace it with a green type of Cordyline.
What do I need to do to grow butter nut squash. Could I use one of the growise packs and if so when do I transfer and what do I transfer? Do I transfer and what size pot do I put it into.
I assume you are growing the squash from seed: if so plant a couple of seeds in Growise Multipurpose compost in a 7.5 or 10cm pot and keep in a warm place; as soon as the plants have germinated remove one and keep the other in a warm well-lit place. Squashes do not like frost although I think the risk is just about over now.
You can grow the squashes like courgettes: once they get going they grow very quickly. After the roots begin to appear in the bottom of your pot, transplant into a Growise growing bag..just ONE plant per bag. If you need more, I'd recommend the Growise tomato planter where you can put one plant in either end of the planter. Keep in a warm well lit place; a cold frame or greenhouse preferably. If you intend to grow outdoors, try growing against (or even up) a south facing wall.
Even though Growise planters and growing bags have a good supply of nutrients, you'll need to feed the plants. You should feed as soon as the squash fruits begin to form. Use a tomato feed and once vigorously growing, feed twice a week at full strength. You will also need to water regularly; squashes take up a lot of water, especially in sunny weather. Remember these plants can travel...they can trail for up to 5 metres. Give them space.
I live in a one bedroom flat in the city and therefore have no access to a garden or a balcony. I would love to have flowers and have a south facing window, are window boxes my best option? If so, could you tell me what flowers might be suitable for a small ledge?
You are quite right: window boxes would be the best option without a balcony. Make sure you have a sturdy box, about 15-20cm tall and obviously shorter in length than the window ledge. You'll need a tray under the box to retain any water straining.
I'd recommend Growise Multipurpose or Tub and Basket as the compost with its natural water retaining properties. I'd also recommend using plants that are fairly resistant to heat and drying out such as marigolds: especially dwarf French marigolds. These would be great on a south facing window. Buy a six pack from your local Woodies or other store, and space them about 6 inches (15cm) apart. Plant them firmly into the compost. They will give a lovely display for months if you remember to dead head them: take off the flowers once they have faded. Don't overwater; keep the compost moist: if you push a piece of kitchen towel into the compost with your finger, it should be slightly damp. After a month in the compost you'll need to feed: use a tomato feed at half strength once a week.
Finally one of the problems of growing on a window ledge is that the plants will lean towards the light. To get round this you can turn the whole tray round every two days, but a trick you might want to use is to put the plants in 4 or 5 inch (10-12 cm) pots and insert the pots into remaining compost in the window box. You can then turn each pot round every two days without the need to turn a whole (sometimes heavy) window box. Good luck!


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10 Oct 2012, 10:13am
5 comments
5 comments
Cat's Eyes
Quote: "Now, every time I feel anxiety caused from some past experience, I ask myself a few different questions: Is that situation relevant now? Was that situation even that serious? Am I blowing it out of proportion? Was that situation in my control? Does what that person/family member/friend said actually have any validity or are they just acting out?" ~ Ryan Nicodemus on Mental Decluttering


text: I've just jumped in here. I had been doing my own little re-watch anyway, but my favourite is still stargate Atlantis. I wish that could have kept going, at least for another 5 seasons. I know with all of them that there is a tendency to have similar themes for episodes, especially those horrible replicators. I really detest them. Even more than the wraith and Ori put together. I suppose its because they were so destructive. No dialogue for peace there. *blowing rasberries at the replicators*


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[Note: I wrote this post two years ago during my time as an au pair in Germany, but what I feel about hitchhiking still stands today. More than just reliving the good ol' days of thumbing my way around town, I would like to share again the beauty of this seemingly-outmoded way of travelling for those who are heading to Europe or the Americas, or wherever it's legal and safe to do. Unfortunately where I'm living right now, it is an illegal (and unfashionable) way of getting around – a damn shame really. I hope this post helps my fellow wanderbugs out there. I have also made some updates — the price of a Happy Weekend Ticket or Schönes-Wochenende Ticket has increased from €37 to €44 now.]
There are mostly two reactions when people talk about hitchhiking. It's either a lifestyle, or an absolute no-no. More than two weeks ago, I would rather walk or pay for an exorbitant ride than embark on such a supposedly dangerous activity. I mean, we often see on TV and in movies where the guy picking the hitchhiker up is some sort of serial killer who would undoubtedly kidnap the hapless traveller and slice him into pieces, not before torturing him à la the movie Saw.
I have never considered hitchhiking as a viable transport solution. First, I was worried that the driver might turn out to be someone on the wrong side of the tracks. Also, I did not believe that I was brave enough to stop a stranger's car and ask for a free ride. I know tons of people probably do this everyday, especially seasoned but cash-poor travellers, but when you have already passed the coming-of-age period marked by wilful rebellion and a serious lack of inhibition, you become 'old and boring', that is, always fearful and suspicious of the people around you.
I wasn't about to think of myself as 'old and boring'! I want to think young, think wild, think freely. Or basically, stop overthinking and start doing. Embrace the situation. Have faith in people.
Finally, it took me a desperate situation to take the plunge. Continue reading


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ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES AND THE UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE: Rethinking Bok's "Underachieving Colleges†Thesis
Using data from the 2008 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey, we show that study time and academic conscientiousness were lower among students in humanities and social science majors than among students in science and engineering majors. Analytical and critical thinking experiences were no more evident among humanities and social sciences majors than among science and engineering majors. All three academically beneficial experiences were, however, strongly related to participation in class and interaction with instructors, and participation was more common among humanities and social sciences students than among science and engineering students. Bok's (2006) influential discussion of "underachievement' in undergraduate education focused on institutional performance. Our findings indicate that future discussions should take into account differences among disciplinary categories and majors as well.
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
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|01 Mar 2011
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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Philip Babcock & Mindy Marks, 2011.
"The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data,"
The Review of Economics and Statistics,
MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 468-478, May.
- Philip S. Babcock & Mindy Marks, 2010. "The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data," NBER Working Papers 15954, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Babcock, Phillip & Marks, Mindy, 2010. "The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt7rc9d7vz, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
- Arcidiacono, Peter, 2004. "Ability sorting and the returns to college major," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 343-375.
- Arcidiacono, Peter, 2002. "Ability Sorting and the Returns to College Major," Working Papers 02-26, Duke University, Department of Economics.
- Brint, Steven & Allison M. Cantwell & Robert A. Hannerman, 2008. "Two Cultures: Undergraduate Academic Engagement," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt53g8521z, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
- Martins, Pedro S. & Walker, Ian, 2006. "Student Achievement and University Classes: Effects of Attendance, Size, Peers, and Teachers," IZA Discussion Papers 2490, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Philip Babcock, 2010. "Real Costs Of Nominal Grade Inflation? New Evidence From Student Course Evaluations," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(4), pages 983-996, October.
- Jeffrey S. DeSimone, 2008. "The Impact of Employment during School on College Student Academic Performance," NBER Working Papers 14006, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Charles L. Ballard & Marianne F. Johnson, 2004. "Basic Math Skills and Performance in an Introductory Economics Class," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 3-23, January. Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)
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Need Appliance Repair Help? Ask a Technician for Answers ASAP
Hi,Welcome to Just Answer, My name isXXXXX will be helping you with your appliance issue today.
Is this a squealing noise? Is it a rumble? Can you describe the noise to me?
Okay great, copy and paste the link below and it will take you to all the diagrams for your machine,
http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/part-model/Amana-Parts/Dryer-Parts/Model-LEA50AWPLEA50AW/1268/0151200?searchedModel= LEA50AW&blt=15
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Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Groat, Derek R. Author's Email Address email@example.com URN etd-0423102-144103 Title Effects of Feeding Strategies on Growth of Florida Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) in Closed Recirculating Systems Degree Master of Science (M.S.) Department Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Robert C. Reigh Committee Chair Charles R. Weirich Committee Member Edward J. Chesney Committee Member Ronald F. Malone Committee Member Keywords
- feeding strategies
- recirculating systems
- pompano
Date of Defense 2002-04-12 Availability unrestricted AbstractDue to its high market value, Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) has long been regarded as a promising species for aquaculture. Although pompano exhibit several favorable traits for culture, previous studies have indicated that fish larger than 200 g exhibit poor growth. This study was conducted to determine the effects of different feeding strategies on production characteristics of pompano raised in closed recirculating systems.
Results of Experiment 1 indicated that mean weight of fish (initial mean weight, 17 g) fed a fixed ration at two and six feedings per day was greater than that of fish fed only once per day. Weight gain of fish fed twice per day was greater than that of fish fed once per day. Results of Experiment 2 revealed that growth was not greatly affected by the stocking densities evaluated (1.3 and 2.6 kg/m3). However, mean weight and weight gain of fish (initial mean weight, 74 g) fed to satiation were greater than that of fish fed a fixed ration and reared at the low density. Results of Experiment 3 demonstrated that mean weight and weight gain of fish (initial mean weight, 215 g) reared to market size while receiving four feedings to apparent satiation per day was greater than that of fish receiving two feedings to apparent satiation per day. Whole body composition analysis revealed exceedingly high lipid levels of fish throughout the study. Market size pompano had dressed carcass yields greater than 70% and fillet yields greater than 45%. Feeding strategies used in this study had little, if any effects on feed efficiencies and specific growth rates. Survival of fish in each experiment was greater than 90%.
Growth of pompano in this study was not restricted to 200 g. Pompano achieved market size after approximately 4.5 months and reached an average weight of 712 g after approximately 8.5 months. Our results show that market-size pompano can be grown from juveniles in closed recirculating systems under the conditions used in this study.
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