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As many of you know, the Foundation suffered a significant loss in its corpus during the last several years. The leadership of the Foundation has now appointed a new Investment Committee, led by Mr. Ezra Merkin, who also serves as chairman of the New York UJA investment committee, one of the largest Jewish endowment funds in North America. We hope that in the future the new Investment Committee will help us restore some of our losses.
During this period of financial difficulty, the Foundation was forced to curtail some of its programs and activities. Nonetheless, the Foundation's leadership maintained the maximum support possible for the Foundation's Scholarship and Fellowship Program, one of the most valuable aspects of the Foundation's work. This program continues to go forward at the highest level of quality.
The Foundation's mandate for the reconstruction of Jewish cultural life after the Holocaust has largely and most effectively been expressed through this program by raising up a new generation of scholars, writers, academics, rabbis, researchers, intellectuals and artists that replaced the cultural elite of the Jewish people that were destroyed in the Holocaust. The men and women supported by the Foundation's Scholarship and Fellowship Program represent a mosaic of Jewish cultural and religious leadership around the world today.
No less important are the hundreds of young men and women from the Diaspora who, with Foundation support, studied to prepare for professional careers in Jewish educational and communal work and returned to Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Africa and Australia to serve there.
One of the vital foci in this program has been support for the future cultural leaders of Jewish communities around the world. Most impressive among the list of Foundation recipients who received such support are the thirty-three recipients of the Israel Prize, the most distinguished award in Israel.
Thus, the Foundation's Scholarship and Fellowship Program has not only played a major role in the dynamic recovery and growth of the Jewish people in the post-World War II period, it has simultaneously fostered remarkable cultural creativity within the Jewish community, helping assure the continuity of Jewish civilization in the 21st Century.
Cultural Leadership in the CIS
The Foundation's support to institutions is no doubt valuable. But where we are successful in identifying promising individuals early in their careers and supporting them, these individuals often create or shape institutions to address needs and challenges in their communities in innovative ways. Let me cite two such individuals as examples, demonstrating the wisdom and impact of the Foundation's unique focus on support to individuals.
Ilya Altman of Moscow is today the leader in the development and dissemination of Holocaust educational materials in the former Soviet Union, where almost nothing existed before Glasnost. I met Ilya Altman right after Glasnost when I visited the Russian State University for the Humanities, in connection with a project to create a catalogue of Jewish archival materials in state institutions in the former Soviet Union. He had at that time almost no connection with Jewish life.
With four Memorial Foundation scholarships grants in the early 90s, he commenced a new career, first identifying and collecting archives and documentation pertaining to the Holocaust in the former Soviet Union. This, in turn, led to his becoming the Director of the Russian Holocaust Foundation, established in Moscow in 1991, as well as its Center for Holocaust Research and Education, organized in 1992, the first Jewish organization of this type registered in Russia.
Prior to Glasnost, the Soviets had blanketed the Holocaust with silence; other times distorting or falsifying Holocaust facts. The obliteration of the memory of the Holocaust was undoubtedly initiated in the Kremlin. No mention of the word "Jew" was allowed on the monuments to war casualties in the former Soviet Union, even those erected in Jewish cemeteries.
Ilya Altman and his colleagues at the Holocaust Center have played a major role in addressing this problem. He is largely responsible for introducing Holocaust curricula in Russian schools, both Jewish and non-Jewish, with the endorsement of the Russian government. He and his center also published Russian language teaching aids on the Holocaust, a volume for teachers, "History of the Holocaust in the USSR 1941-1945," and a book for pupils, "History of the Holocaust, 1933-1945."
Ilya initiated a Library of the Holocaust in Russia, which consists of catalogues, exhibitions, memoirs and documents designed for use in the classroom. He also published "The Holocaust and Jewish Resistance in the Occupied Territories of the USSR," the first textbook for university level courses based on previously inaccessible Russian archives.
Ilya Altman early recognized the importance of training teachers for Holocaust educational programs and established a pedagogic unit for this purpose within his center. He participated actively in the seminars sponsored by the Association of Jewish Schools and Principals in the CIS, which the Memorial Foundation created after Glasnost, for its more than 40 constituent members. He also organized tens of educational seminars in the CIS with other bodies, working and receiving support from Yad Vashem, the Jewish Agency, the American Joint Distribution Committee and other groups. His foundation was also instrumental in creating a Holocaust museum in Moscow.
Ilya also engaged in scholarly work, editing "The Unknown Black Book," published in 1999, the first major review of research and archival materials on the Holocaust in the republics comprising the former Soviet Union, and wrote "Victims of Hate: The Holocaust in the USSR, 1941-1945."
No outside agency or representative of an external body could accomplish Ilya's pioneering work in the introduction and adaptation of Holocaust educational materials eminently suited for use in, and compatible with, the cultural climate of Jewish and non-Jewish educational institutions in the CIS.
This example has other ramifications for the field
of Holocaust Studies. Almost all funding in this area is currently
given to institutions. The Memorial Foundation's view is
that support for individuals in this area is no less important
than that given to institutions. Individuals often play a critical
role in the creation and dissemination of materials, raising Holocaust
consciousness in the Jewish and non-Jewish communities around
the world. Ilya Altman is the best proof of the effectiveness
of this approach.
The second example is Grigori (Grisha) Lipman, a professional Russian educator, who became a principal in one of the first Jewish schools established in Moscow after Glasnost. I met Grisha at the first meeting of the Association of Jewish Schools that the Foundation organized in the CIS after Glasnost, where he subsequently rose to become President of that organization.
Grisha, and many of the other principals in the Association, received Community Service grants from the Foundation for their participation in training seminars, including those organized by the Foundation in cooperation with the Association of Jewish schools in the CIS. One of the first seminars in the early 90s was held in the U.S, so that these budding Jewish educators could visit Jewish schools there and be exposed to the rich fabric of Jewish education in the most vibrant Jewish community in the Diaspora.
What impressed Grisha was the range of educational options that existed in Jewish schools in the U.S. When he returned to Moscow, he began to contemplate both the adoption and adaptation of those options and the creation of others that would be compatible with his conception of what a Russian Jewish school could constitute. This ultimately included programs in Jewish family education, social services, a museum and other cultural programs. In essence, what he conceived and created was a model communal Jewish school. In addition to socialization of children, it serves as a cultural institution for the community, disseminating Jewish values there. It is both a pro-active and provocative body, enriching both the school's students, their families, and the surrounding Jewish environment. This he accomplished in less than a decade.
Some of you may recollect that when the Foundation
met in Moscow in July 2001, we spent an evening visiting this
school. All who attended were deeply impressed with the teachers
who guided us, the emotional impact of the students' performance
that evening, and the visit to the marvelous museum in the basement
of the school.
Even more impressive is Grisha's leadership in recent years in shaping the Association as a vehicle for professional support and training for the senior Jewish educators in the CIS, and identifying and filling needs not being adequately addressed by outside educational groups. Two examples suffice to show the quality of his leadership. Grisha launched and completed a project, together with Hana Rotman – another Jewish educator we supported from St. Petersburg – that developed curricula material for the teaching of Hebrew, Jewish tradition, and Jewish history that was compatible with the needs and goals of the principals in the Association of Jewish Schools. He also organized an in-service training program for teachers in the Association's schools, who received formal certification for their attendance from the Russian educational establishment.
While Grisha has been successful in obtaining support for his ideas and programs from a variety of external agencies and other sources, he has always maintained his vision of what he believed Jewish schools in the CIS should be and become. This is reflected in the program of a pedagogic center he helped develop in Moscow.
Grisha's success is not only the result of his many talents and deep commitment to his school and Jewish education. He has demonstrated the critical importance of indigenous leadership in shaping the philosophies, purposes and programs of Jewish education in the CIS.
Were there no Grisha Lipman, we would have to create or clone someone like him to help achieve the miraculous evolution of Jewish education in Russia.
Other scholars, intellectuals, religious and communal leaders that the Foundation has supported that play(ed) important roles in the cultural leadership of CIS Jewry include Professors Mikhail Krutikov, Vladimir Shapiro, Arkady Kovelman, Alexander Militarev, Ilya Dvorkin, Mark Kupovetsky, and Valery Engel; writer David Markish; and Rabbi Adolf Shayevich, Rabbi Beryl Lazar, Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, and Zinovy Kogan.
Second and Third Generation Leadership
These two leaders that I have described, whose training and activities were supported by the Foundation, are part of the second generation of Russian leaders that are shaping both the content and parameters of Russian Jewish life in the future. These individuals currently bridge the connection between external and local agencies, where they intersect programmatically and politically
In the decade since Glasnost and the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, enormous change and progress has taken place in the Jewish communities in the CIS. Immediately after Glasnost and until several years ago, external Jewish bodies were providing the bulk of financial support and the programmatic resources for the Jewish community there.
There is abundant evidence today that an accelerating change in the balance between the role and activities of the external Jewish bodies operating in the CIS and the local Jewish agencies is occurring. The "locals" have now begun to articulate their own long-range cultural agenda, and are simultaneously increasing their political and financial clout in relationship to the external bodies.
Indeed, the Jewish community in the CIS is becoming more like its counterpart Jewish communities in Western Europe, a more normal Jewish society.
Yet the unique configuration of organization and personalities in the CIS is still very much in flux, with its ultimate cultural contours still unknown to us. Russian Jewry is truly a work in progress. The growing strength, power and influence of the local bodies will undoubtedly, at the end of the day, be responsible for the ultimate configuration of the Russian Jewish community, one compatible with their needs, ideologies and sensitivities. Much will depend on the quality of the Jewish leadership that emerges there. We, and others, concerned about CIS Jewry, must take these new developments into account.
As part of our regular Scholarship and Fellowship Program, close to 2,000 grants were awarded to individuals in the former Soviet Union and Soviet Bloc countries, and now in the CIS. With the earliest grants, we helped train the first leaders for the Russian Jewish community globally. Among them are former prisoners of Zion and dissidents Yosef Mendelevich, Yosef Begun, Yuli Edelstein, Eliyahu Essas, Shimon Grilious, Zeev Dashevsky, and Benjamin Fain; and communal leaders Iossif Zissels, Gregory Krupnikov, and Mikhail Chlenov.
These individuals, the first generation of Russian Jewish leadership, helped build the "movement" of Jewish Renaissance in the former Soviet Union. Today the critical step is to help Russian Jewry expand and develop a second and third generation of indigenous leadership, like Ilya and Grisha, to bring the community building process they launched to fruition.
Thus, the Memorial Foundation's Scholarship and Fellowship Program has a special, ongoing role to play in the CIS in the development of its incipient professional, communal, religious, and cultural leadership. It is an assignment that the Memorial Foundation and world Jewry needs to address with the same enthusiasm that characterized our earlier efforts to reconnect CIS Jewry to Jewish life and culture.
Warm regards.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Jerry Hochbaum
Executive Vice President


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On March 4, 2013, 86% of Kenya's registered voters turned out to elect a president, legislators, county governors, and other officials in the general election, the first held under the new constitution that came into effect after the 2010 referendum. The constitution's reforms were devised to resolve issues arising from the disputed 2007 election. Voters, candidates, security agents, and international observers were relieved that voting was mostly peaceful, avoiding the widespread violence that had followed the previous election. The two presidential front-runners were Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta , the son of Kenya's first president, and Raila Odinga, the outgoing prime minister. With 50.07% of the votes, Kenyatta won by a narrow majority and thus avoided a runoff election. Odinga challenged the electoral result in the Supreme Court, but his petition was dismissed on March 30. His acceptance of the judgment showed a willingness to work within the new framework for democratic government. As one of the leaders of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, he became a major opposition figure in the National Assembly.
President Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, had to deal with a political terrain very different from that of their predecessors. The new constitution had transformed the former U.K.-style parliamentary system into a U.S.-style system marked by a separation of powers and headed by an executive branch composed of the president, the deputy president, and a cabinet of appointed officials rather than elected politicians. An increase in women's representation was guaranteed by provisions for 18 nominated senators and 47 elected representatives.
Meanwhile, both the president and his deputy faced trials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on charges of having facilitated postelection violence in 2007–08. Throughout their electoral campaigns they had repeatedly called for their cases to be dropped. In September their demands gained national support when Kenya's parliament approved a motion to leave the ICC just prior to Ruto's initial appearance there. Moreover, on October 12 the African Union buttressed this move at an extraordinary session in Addis Ababa by resolving that the two trials should be suspended until Kenyatta and Ruto had completed their terms of office. African leaders generally believed that the international judicial system represented by the ICC discriminated against Africans. A resolution that sought to delay the trials for one year was introduced before the UN Security Council in November, but it did not pass. Although Ruto's trial had begun in September, Kenyatta's trial had been delayed until February 2014. In December, however, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda requested that Kenyatta's trial be postponed for three months because she needed more time to gather evidence after the loss of two key witnesses, one of whom claimed that he had lied during previous meetings with the prosecution and another who was no longer willing to testify. Her request was not expected to be ruled upon until January 2014.
International attention was focused on Kenya on September 21–24 when a group of al-Shabaab gunmen carried out a well-planned terrorist attack on the upscale Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi. It resulted in at least 72 deaths, including those of 61 civilians from 14 countries, 6 Kenyan soldiers, and 4 attackers. More than 200 were wounded. Al-Shabaab spokesmen declared that the attack was in retribution for Kenya's military action in Somalia. The government pledged to investigate the effectiveness of its security services after the president admitted that the police and the military had "bungled" their handling of the situation.
In November the government introduced a pilot program, called Huduma (a Swahili word meaning "service"), to offer fully digitized government services through which Kenyans could register businesses, obtain drivers' licenses, and apply for other government services. Its goals were to counter inefficiency in public service, save time, and curb corruption. This program demonstrated Kenya's place as one of the most technologically advanced countries in Africa.
The British government moved to heal old wounds by officially expressing regret for human rights abuses inflicted by the colonial government on thousands of Kenyans from 1952 to 1963, including the abuses that occurred in relation to the Land and Freedom movement (also known as the Mau Mau uprising). It promised to pay about $31 million in compensation to survivors. According to official figures, 12,000 Kenyans died and 150,000 were detained in brutal camps during that era.

subset: commoncrawl


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Skybar Chill Cubes
A good glass of scotch deserves a better fate than having melting ice cubes dilute it. Scotch/whisky rocks can be used to remedy this problem, but now Skybar has come up with a solution that's less "rough around the edges".
The Chill Cubes are solid cubes made of stainless steel that, when transferred from your freezer to your drink, will quickly cool it down to the right temperature. Judging from the size of these things they should also be able to cool your 3rd and 4th ones.
Pick up a pair at Amazon – 40$.


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Rumsfeld: Pakistanis may not have known
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday that Pakistani officials may not have known that Osama bin Laden was living inside a walled compound so close to the country's capital.
"I think it's possible," Rumsfeld said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "You go from the Pentagon up the Potomac River and look at those big estates up there with gated walls and trees and hidden from sight; we don't know what is going on there. It is possible that someone like that, with a support system ... could very likely hide in plain sight."
He added, however, that questions needed to be asked about which Pakistani officials knew.


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Electoral Competition and Incentives to Local Public Good Provision
Local public good provision from different government levels is subject to many bias coming from the political process; incentives indeed, vary with the size of the beneficiaries' set and costs may affect the results of political competition by reducing total resources available for redistribution. Present work represents a first attempt to look at these issues together; indeed, it considers the situation where politicians have a finite budget to use both for redistributive policies and for the provision of a public good that affects the utility of a fraction of the electorate. In this setting it is not enough that benefits balance costs, in order for the public good to be implemented; the required level of efficiency moreover, is influenced by benefits concentration. If those interested in the public good are less than half of the electorate, concentration increases the efficiency threshold; on the contrary if they amount for more, benefits concentration decreases the required level of efficiency. Classification-JEL: D72, H41
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- Nicolas Sahuguet & Nicola Persico, 2006. "Campaign spending regulation in a model of redistributive politics," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 28(1), pages 95-124, 05.
- Baye, Michael R & Kovenock, Dan & de Vries, Casper G, 1993.
"Rigging the Lobbying Process: An Application of the All-Pay Auction,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 289-294, March.
- Baye, M.R. & Kovenock, D. & De Vries, C.G., 1991. "Rigging The Lobbying Process: An Application Of The All- Pay Auction," Purdue University Economics Working Papers 1002, Purdue University, Department of Economics.
- Baye, M.R. & Kovenock, D. & De Vries, C.G., 1992. "Rigging the Lobbying Process: An Application of the All- Pay Auction," Papers 9-92-2, Pennsylvania State - Department of Economics.
- Ellingsen, Tore, 1991. "Strategic Buyers and the Social Cost of Monopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(3), pages 648-657, June.
- Ellingsen, T., 1990. "Strategic Buyers and the Social Cost of Monopoly," Papers 05-90, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration-.
- Bertoletti, Paolo, 2006. "On the reserve price in all-pay auctions with complete information and lobbying games," MPRA Paper 1083, University Library of Munich, Germany. Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)
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India to release September-quarter GDP data with the economy expected to show marginal pick-up in growth.
Pair headed for a second week of losses, down 0.9 percent; however, on a monthly basis, it is up 1.3 percent.
Month-end oil-related dollar demand will keep the pair bid.
The central bank's special FX swap windows, which have garnered over $25 billion, will close in end-November, leading to some jitters on flows.
The pair may be in a 62-62.50 range during the session.
Foreign funds were buyers of $16.5 million in Indian equities on Thursday, provisional data showed.
Quote: Markets Top Gainers, Markets Top Losers
Asian currencies are mostly trading firmer.
The euro rose to a five-year high against the yen on Friday, as the Japanese currency faced heavy pressure on expectations it will be used as the funding currency of choice for carry trades given Japan's commitment to easy monetary policy.


text: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/01/13/divisional/5.html 2. I think I've never seen a son follow in the footsteps of his coaching father quite like Kyle Shanahan with his dad, Mike. An offensive coordinator with the Texans at 28. Amazing. "His knowledge is far beyond his years,'' said Texans coach Gary Kubiak. Obviously. But the hiring of Alex Gibbs, who has been such an excellent tactician in the running game, as assistant head coach, is just as important. It's likely Kubiak will still call the plays on offense, and Gibbs, who has coached offensive line play in the league for 23 years, will orchestrate the running game. It's a brilliant way to work Shanahan into a lead role in the offense over time, with two tutors he knows from his years being around his father, the Denver coach. That's where Kubiak and Gibbs cut their NFL teeth. Smart move by Kubiak. Plus, the quarterbacks trust Shanahan and know he doesn't have his job just because he's Mike's son. Didn't see it posted.


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Three county departments to add staff
Three Washington County departments will hire staff for jobs ranging from in-home nursing visits, security in county parks and an additional assistant county attorney, the Board of Commissioners learned Tuesday.
The Community Services Department adult mental health unit will add one registered nurse through a state Department of Human Services grant. Commissioners approved the additional position Tuesday.
The nurse will be hired through a $128,000 grant that pays for staff costs, benefits and expenses. The hiring will be done with the State Operated Services from July 1 through June 30, 2014.
The new nurse will provide in-home nursing services for an individual with a serious and persistent mental illness to assure their success living independently and prevent hospitalizations.
Commissioners also approved a request from Sheriff Bill Hutton to hire one full-time and two half-time deputies to exclusively patrol the county's parks.
Historically, park staff handled security duties. But a 75 percent increase in county park visitors that last 15 years, with more than 1.6 million park visitors and a rise in documented incidents in parks last year, increased the need for public safety.
Although WCSO deputies occasionally patrol county parks and answer calls from park staff, no deputies are permanently assigned to parks. That situation is a problem in Lake Elmo when deputies patrolling the city respond to Lake Elmo Park Reserve calls.
The County Attorneys' Office will add an attorney in its juvenile division after commissioners approved the request Tuesday.
County Attorney Pete Orput said an increase in juvenile cases, case complexities, number of serious physical and chronic neglect cases, increased need to address truancy and school safety issues to divert juveniles from the criminal justice system led to his request for another juvenile division attorney.
Orput added that the on-going need for the new position would be reviewed as part of the 2015 budget process.
Local agency to manage volunteers
Local non-profit Community Thread will continue recruiting and managing Washington County's Medical Reserve Corps-registered volunteers after the Board of Commissioners approved a nearly $55,000 contract Tuesday.
It will be the ninth year the Community Thread will manage the Medical Reserve Corps. The cost is paid by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health Public Health Emergency Preparedness.
The Medical Reserve Corps is a national Citizens Corps initiative to mobilize and coordinate volunteers responding to all sorts of disasters. The agreement calls for Community Thread to:
- Maintain a system of health care professional volunteers, including volunteer readiness, deployment and response.
- Recruit health care and related support volunteers and provide credential verification.
- Provide volunteer orientation and training coordinated with the county Department of Public Health and Environment.
- Develop and maintain non-emergency public health volunteer roles within DPHE, strengthen public health services emergency response initiatives.
Radio tower will be lowered
A Somerset, Wis., radio tower owned by Washington County will be lowered and get new lights after the Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved a $169,500 contract for the work.
The 1,050-foot tower will be lowered to 350 feet and the county will lower its microwave dish on the tower to 346 feet so the microwave systems continues operating.
The work will be paid by an emergency management system grant.
Once the tower height is 350 feet and the lights replaced, the tower will not need major work for 20 to 30 years. The county will continue inspecting the tower and guy wires, but it will be less expense with a lower tower.
The Somerset tower was constructed in 1986 as a 1,050-foot broadcast tower for a Twin Cities FM radio station. The county bought the towner in 2008 to use in its 800 MHz radio system. The highest county antenna mounted on the tower is the microwave dish at 400 feet. All other antennas are below the microwave dish and the county does not need to mount antennas higher in the future.


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Another Paris Hilton Album — Really?
Subscribe to Mix 94.9 Today's Best Mix on
Remember Paris Hilton's album from 2006? Don't feel bad…you and the other 99.99% of people on planet earth don't either. But, that's not stopping Paris or her new label – Cash Money from spending a ton of money on her next musical outing. I know Paris can't sing a lick and even though she's currently touring as a DJ I hear she can't mix with a blender. We all know Paris is known for one thing and one thing only – being Paris. Ok, two things…that porn video! Kinda like her old girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, who she helped introduce to the world. Here's the amazing thing…don't be surprised to hear some monster hits come off this album project. With her coin, Lil Wayne, the Cash Money Family and producer Afrojack behind the knobs chances are there's gonna be some bangers!
Until we get something of hers to nibble on later this year, I'm gonna fill your ear canal with sonic bliss. I've got brand new HK remixes on Selena Gomez – "Come & Get It", Pitbull – "Feel This Moment", Icona Pop – "I Like It" and Avril Lavigne – "Here's To Never Growing Up". Your head is gonna explode when you here what's been done to Florida-Georgia Line – "Cruise". I also plan on bangin' out brand new beats for Kelly Clarkson – "People Like Us", Imagine Dragons – "Radioactive", Demi Lovato – "Heart Attack" and tons more. It's all goin' down Friday and Saturday night at 10pm right here on Mix 94.9.
Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK.


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TAIPEI ( TheStreet) -- This month China again expanded offshore trading of the tightly controlled but highly coveted yuan currency. The latest target, Taiwan.Officials in Beijing had already done the same for Hong Kong. As a result, the Asian financial hub handled trade worth 1.915 trillion yuan ($307 billion) of a total 2.081 trillion yuan in transactions made outside the mainland in 2011. Taiwan has a ways to go before reaching Hong Kong levels, though Asian currency analysts say it has the right hardware in place. Yet, I'm about to bet some forex here that for most of the world it's not that big of a deal. The island that once flirted with the idea of war with China won the currency settlement deal because five years ago it dropped its tough stance that had killed prospects of any deal with the huge, ever-harder-to-ignore Chinese economy. China still claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its turf, but the two sides have quit mentioning it. Beijing hopes the currency agreement, among others that help Taiwan's economy, will make formal unification attractive to a largely leery public. But it was already too late to stand out. Taiwan will vie for offshore investors with Malaysia, where 11 financial institutions have signed up to allow trade settlements and electronic yuan fund transfers. Then comes the famously liquid financial center Singapore. The city-state in Southeast Asia said last year China was planning to pick a local bank to clear yuan settlements. Even London is working on a yuan scheme. Not all that many years ago, the yuan was all but non-negotiable outside mainland China. You had to get yuan in the country. One you had it there, you spent it there. Beijing's goal is to reward other regions for being friends of China or to inspire more support. As in Taiwan, people in Hong Kong remain squeamish about allying too closely with Beijing despite its huge economy and common ethnic heritage. The world's second-largest economy is also promoting offshore settlement centers to extend the use of renminbi in global trade. What better for nationalism than to have other currencies converted to yuan instead of U.S. dollars on millions of documents?
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AAA is again urging New Year's Eve party-goers who've had too much to drink get a free ride home and tow for their vehicle with its annual Tow-to-Go program.
The free program provides a 100% confidential ride and tow home from any Nashville area restaurant or bar.
"It's just for safety, to keep everyone safe and eliminate any car crashes that might be because of drunk driving," said Deborah Turner with AAA of Middle Tennessee.
Since it began in the late 1990s, Tow-to-Go has safely kept more than 16,000 drunk drivers off the roadways.
"A lot of the tourism around here revolves around the bar scene and I think it's cool that people can get a ride home at the end of the night," resident Chad Omen told Nashville's News 2.
Flinn Pomorey added, "Nashville has a really high rate for DUIs. It's better to be safe and have your car there as well so you don't have to come back and pick it up."
Tow to Go is designed to be a last resort. How long drivers have to wait for a ride depends on the availability of tow truck drivers.
The number to call is 1-800-AAA-HELP.
The program is available to both AAA auto club members and non-members.
Read more at AAASouth.com.


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OSSCS to Launch 44th Season with New Music Director Clinton Smith, 9/28
Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) launch a stunning 44th season with a dynamic new music director, Clinton Smith and a compelling roster of seven concerts inspired by different facets of the human spirit. Smith's inaugural OSSCS concert, titled Love and Adoration, is at 7:30 p.m. on September 28th at the First Free Methodist Church on Queen Anne.
Smith also conducts the return of OSSCS' beloved Messiah on December 5th as well as the final three concerts of the season in March, April and May of 2014. Smith chose to open and close this season with a Bach motet "to honor the history of OSSCS's championing of Bach's music." And for the first concert of the season the theme of love and adoration rings especially loud with the world premiere of a new work by Carol Sams, a longtime friend of OSSCS and its beloved founder George Shangrow. Sams' Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra was commissioned by the family members of OSSCS violinist and violist Jim Lurie as a birthday gift to him.
Guest conductors Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, music director of the Seattle Youth Symphony and Stilian Kirov, associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony will lead the November and February concerts (respectively). The seven concerts for this milestone 44th season are all inspired by the human spirit and include:
Love and Adoration
Saturday, September 28, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Clinton Smith, conductor / Roxanna Patterson, viola
Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Duruflé: Ubi caritas, Op. 10, No. 1
J.S. Bach: O Jesu Christ meins lebens Licht, BWV 118
R. Strauss: Serenade in E-flat, Op. 7
Monteverdi: Toccata from L'Orfeo
Sams: Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra [WORLD PREMIERE]
Mealor: She Walks in Beauty
Ravel: Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
Clinton Smith's inaugural concert as OSSCS music director explores "love and adoration" in music spanning the centuries. The opening and closing pages of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde are, Clinton notes, "full of longing, rapture, anxious sighs, hopes and fears, laments and wishes, all things we experience when we fall in love." Maurice Duruflé's setting of Ubi caritas begins with the timeless words "where charity and love are, God is there." Bach's funeral motet "fits beautifully with our concert theme: in death, we offer up our greatest admiration and adoring thoughts about our loved ones." The wind serenade by 17-year-old Richard Strauss pays homage to his father, a virtuoso horn player, while demonstrating the young composer's love for the music of Mozart. Ravel's virtuoso showpiece for orchestra and chorus comes from the finale of his ballet Daphnis et Chloé, which "depicts the two young lovers reuniting after Pan rescues Chloé from a band of pirates." Welsh composer Paul Mealor set a poem of Lord Byron that "speaks of a woman's stunning beauty."
Passion and Enchantment
Saturday, November 9, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, conductor
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes
Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Radcliffe leads OSSCS in Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, beginning with the overture-composed at age 17-that George Grove deemed "the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music." Mendelssohn's celebrated scherzo and familiar wedding march alternate with rarely heard selections for solo vocalists and women's voices. Brahms composed his famed Liebeslieder Waltzes for chorus and piano four-hands, but later orchestrated the accompaniment to several of them himself. He also created two versions of his variations on a theme he believed to be by Haydn-one for two pianos and the other for full orchestra.
Tradition and Faith
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 3:00 p.m.
Clinton Smith, conductor
Angela Mortellaro, soprano
Sarah Larsen, mezzo-soprano
Brad Benoit, tenor
Charles Robert Stephens, baritone
Handel: Messiah
No other piece has become more closely associated with OSSCS than Georg Frideric Handel's most celebrated oratorio, Messiah. For four decades, audiences have delighted in these complete and uncut performances. After a three-year absence, Handel's masterpiece returns, with a new roster of soloists and with our new music director on the podium (and playing one of our two harpsichords).
Friendship and Imagination
Saturday, February 8, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Stilian Kirov, conductor
Liadov: The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64
Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition
Felix Mendelssohn wrote his beloved violin concerto for Ferdinand David, his friend since childhood, who provided the composer with technical advice throughout the work's six-year gestation. When Russian painter Viktor Hartmann died at the early age of 39, his friend Modest Mussorgsky loaned several paintings from his own collection to an exhibition in the artist's honor. The event inspired Mussorgsky to compose-in a mere six weeks-a suite for solo piano that depicted in music several of Hartmann's drawings and watercolors. During the next 150 years many composers have transcribed Mussorgsky's piano music for various ensembles, but none more famously than Maurice Ravel, whose brilliant orchestral palette proved the perfect match for Hartmann's artistry and Mussorgsky's tone painting.
Death and Remembrance
Saturday, March 15, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Clinton Smith, conductor
Mark Salman, piano
Lindsay Ohse, soprano
Melissa Plagemann, mezzo-soprano
Wesley Rogers, tenor
Stephen Fish, bass-baritone
Jones: Elegy
Liszt: Totentanz
Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626
Samuel Jones composed his Elegy for string orchestra over the course of four days in the immediate aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, encapsulating the grief and shock that swept the nation in reaction to a president's death 50 years ago. Liszt's Totentanz ("Dance of the Dead") consists of a set of variations on the Dies Irae melody that has haunted so many composers, including Berlioz and Rachmaninov. For what may be Liszt's most dramatic work for piano and orchestra, we welcome back Mark Salman, a frequent collaborator with Orchestra Seattle over the past two decades and a renowned interpreter of Liszt's music. The circumstances surrounding Mozart's Requiem remain shrouded in mystery: "an unknown, grey stranger" commissioned the work in remembrance of unnamed loved one, but as the composer struggled to complete the work on his deathbed, coming to view the work as his own "funeral song, which I must not leave incomplete." Although Mozart's untimely death at age 35 did prevent him from finishing the Requiem, it has nevertheless become the composer's best-loved choral work.
Reverence and Spirituality
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Clinton Smith, conductor
Catherine Haight, soprano
Melissa Plagemann, mezzo-soprano
Wesley Rogers, tenor
Stephen Fish, bass-baritone
J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
"I chose Bach's Mass in B Minor piece for several reasons," explains Clinton Smith, "one of which is for OSSCS performers to revisit an old favorite. The work represents Bach at his best, and as a devout Christian, his most reverent praise and glory to God can be heard through his music." Bach completed his Mass in B Minor shortly before his death, drawing upon liturgical music he had composed over the preceding 35 years, assembling these diverse sources into a seamless whole. The work was not performed during Bach's lifetime, and its true purpose remains something of a mystery: it is not particularly well suited for performance in either Lutheran or Catholic religious services. Perhaps, as with the Goldberg Variation and the Art of the Fugue, Bach intended this late-in-life composition to be a magnum opus, encompassing all he had learned as a composer of religious music. As Bach biographer Karl Geiringer has noted, this monumental mass "belongs to the immortal documents of man's quest for the eternal truths."
Reflection and Wonder
Saturday, May 10, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Clinton Smith, conductor
Karin Wolverton, soprano
Sarah Larsen, mezzo-soprano
Ives: The Unanswered Question
Fauré: Après un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1
J.S. Bach: Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Elgar: The Music Makers, Op. 69
Clinton Smith notes that in Ives' The Unanswered Question "The strings modulate from harmony to harmony represent the ethos or the continuum of the universe, while solo trumpet (asking the question) repeats a figure seven times and flutes (steadily gaining in frenetic energy in response to the question) represent human beings reacting to the question of existence that cannot be answered." Fauré's Après un rêve, "a gorgeous meditative piece originally for voice, depicts a dreamer's longing for a person encountered in the dream." Bach's motet for double chorus is an old favorite of the Chamber Singers.
Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 sets to music excerpts from an ode to childhood by James Agee, remembering the summer before his father's death. Barber dedicated the work to his own father, casting a solo soprano "as a young child who sometimes acts as an adult, and painting the nostalgia of childhood and reactions to the world around oneself as a child in a familiar place." Elgar's The Music Makers quotes from a number of the composer's previous works, most notably the "Nimrod" movement of the Enigma Variations. In their first entrance, the chorus sings, "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams." Indeed, notes Clinton, "the performers of OSSCS are the music makers and this rarely performed masterwork provides the perfect anthem with which to conclude our initial season together."
Clinton Smith is artistic director and principal conductor of the St. Cloud Symphony and currently serves on the music staff of Santa Fe Opera covering and preparing performances of La traviata and Le nozze di Figaro. He will also conduct at the University of Michigan Opera Theater's production of IL Barbiere di Siviglia in the coming season.
Recently Clinton served as cover conductor for Juilliard Opera's production of The Cunning Little Vixen and Portland Opera's Don Giovanni. He was assistant conductor and chorus master for San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program, assistant conductor for Glimmerglass Opera's productions of Tolomeo and The Tender Land, conductor of Madama Butterfly at Hamline University and Mademoiselle Modiste for Skylark Opera, music director of Western Ontario University's Canadian Operatic Arts Academy, and guest coach at the National University of Taiwan. He also served on the music staff for Kentucky Opera's Don Giovanni and Ash Lawn Opera's productions of Gianni Schicchi, Die Zauberflöte and The Music Man.
For four seasons, Minnesota Opera engaged Clinton as cover conductor and chorus master, covering the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Opera Orchestra in over 20 productions. In 2011, Clinton conducted a workshop and prepared the world premiere of Kevin Puts' opera Silent Night, which subsequently won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. For Minnesota Opera's New Works Initiative, and as an avid fan of new music, Clinton prepared workshops of Douglas J. Cuomo's Doubt, Ricky Ian Gordon's The Garden of the Finzi-Continisand the North American premiere of Jonathan Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio, as well as Dominick Argento's Casanova's Homecoming and Bernard Herrmann's Wuthering Heights. With the St. Cloud Symphony's Young Composer's Competition, Clinton premieres a new work every season.
Previous positions include music director and conductor of the Franco-American Vocal Academy in France; the Austrian-American Mozart Academy in Salzburg; and the University of Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra. Clinton served as assistant conductor for the Austin Symphony, International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy, the University of Michigan Opera Theater, and the University of Michigan Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras.
A native Texan, Clinton received his D.M.A. ('09) and M.M. ('06) in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler and Martin Katz, and a B.M. in Piano Performance ('04) from the University of Texas at Austin.
Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) is a thriving volunteer based organization with deep roots in the Seattle community. It consists of a 60-member semi-professional orchestra and a 45-voice chorus. Membership in both groups is by audition and includes professional musicians, music teachers, and highly skilled amateurs who came together to work under the direction of OSSCS founder and visionary George Shangrow. During its 44-year history, OSSCS has made an extensive tour of the orchestral and choral literature and has sought to promote new music by Northwest composers using the finest local instrumental and vocal soloists. The ensembles have attained special recognition for their interpretations of the music of Handel and Bach and have introduced rarely-heard choral masterpieces to Seattle audiences, such as Handel's Israel in Egypt, Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers, and Haydn's The Seasons. Praised by critics for their vibrant sound and spirited, disciplined singing, the Seattle Chamber Singers also delight in performing classics such as Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and Brahms' German Requiem. After George Shangrow's unexpected and tragic death in 2010, OSSCS presented three seasons of concerts led by guest conductors. In 2013 OSSCS welcomed Clinton Smith as music director to usher in a new era of music by, and for, the Northwest.


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Convention Calendar
Convention Calendar
GAF Corporation
Wealth Builder Conference
The Grand America
Runs through • Friday
Attendance • 400
Int'l Association of Plumbing
and Mechanical Officials
IAPMO Technology Meeting
Sheraton Salt Lake
Runs through • May 4
Attendance • 100
Economic Calendar
New economic numbers to be released this week:
National Association of Realtors • Existing home sales for March
Commerce Department • New home sales for March
Commerce Department • Durable goods sales for March
Labor Department • Weekly jobless claims
Freddie Mac • Weekly mortgage rates
Commerce Department • First-quarter gross domestic product
IPOs Planned
No scheduled IPOs this week.
Utah Events
Workshop • The University of Phoenix is hosting a free "Personal Branding" workshop from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at its North Davis Learning Center, 1366 Legend Hills Drive, Clearfield. The workshop is designed to give those in attendance insight into career advancement. To register visit http://uopxutah.eventbrite.com
Symposium • Utah Business magazine will present a healthcare reform symposium from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City. The conference will bring together an elite group of experts to help those in attendance understand how healthcare reform will affect their organizations and what they must do to adapt and comply with the new legislation. The cost is $159 per organization and includes breakfast, lunch and tickets for two individuals. To register go to www.bit.ly/ZdnZJ5.
Submit information about upcoming events to email@example.com. Put biz calendar in the subject line


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It's a familiar story: A woman wants a divorce from her husband. In any American film, the concept would be predictable, commonplace and hardly worth making a movie after. But in Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation," a familiar story is told in an unfamiliar way.
In the film, Samin (Leila Hatami, "There Are Things You Don't Know") wants a divorce from her husband, Nadar (Peyman Moadi, "About Elly"). Nadar is not a bad man, and treats his wife well, but they differ on what they think is best for their daughter, Termeh, and Nadar's father, who has Alzheimer's. Samin wants to take Termeh out of Iran to give her a chance at a better education, while Nadar feels he must remain at his father's side, refusing to commit him to a care facility.
The two are at an impasse as a judge denies Samin's request for a divorce or signature for her exit visa, which, according to Iranian law, a wife must obtain from her husband before she can leave the country without him. Frustrated, both begin a period of separation.
While Termeh stays with her father, Samin moves in with her family. It is then that Nadar realizes he must hire help to take care of his father during the day while he is a work. He employs Razieh, a mother and housewife trying to help pay off her husband's debts who quickly makes a bond with the broken family. Despite growing close, when Nadar comes home one day to find his father on the brink of death and Razieh nowhere to be found, he throws her out of his home, telling her to never return.
But Razieh was keeping a secret from her employer, one that will bring the families back together, only to further push salt deeper into their already gaping wounds.
The strength of "A Separation" comes from its flow of storytelling. The plot is divided in two parts: before and after Razieh's expulsion. While the first half of the movie may seem odd and disjointed, it is crucial that the audience remembers every conversation and action of every character. The transition between the two halves is almost unnoticeable as the film flows from a family portrayal to a court case that puts everyone involved at risk of severe consequence.
The film's narrative is a hybrid of straightforward plot that then twists itself in its second half to one concerned with morality and choice that makes its audience think hard and engage with characters on a deep level. With a unique perspective, the film forces viewers to recall precisely what happened as the case progresses and differing testimonies are given.
Each character has a specific motive, making it all the more difficult for viewers to discern exactly who is telling the truth and who is not. A shaky camera brings about a sense of urgency during every judicial interaction and adds to every worried expression exchanged between the diverse cast. Emotions are worn well on all actors' faces, making it hard to distinguish who is innocent and who is guilty. While a viewer may sympathize with Nadar or Razieh one moment, the film does its best to make you question your alliances as the plot thickens with each passing moment.
The most fascinating aspect of "A Separation" is its showcasing of life in Iran. With strict borders and blockades on information, getting a glimpse of the human side of Iran's residents and daily lives is difficult, and when achieved, breathtaking.
The film doesn't feel too foreign to be enjoyed by audiences, and what is foreign only adds to the film's appeal. As the trial continues, we see how the judicial system of Iran operates and how different it is from that of the United States. While poverty is an issue in Iran, there is a clear upper-middle class and social hierarchy. The different mannerisms and ways of speaking in Iran are also highlighted in "A Separation," and are very understandable.
Iran's government is too all-encompassing in our perceptions of the country as a whole; "A Separation" breaks down these preconceived notions of the people of Iran and shows how their culture is different from that in the U.S., but their social and everyday problems and struggles are not so different from ours.
"A Separation" is not trying to stand out. It does not have an incredible score behind it nor is it try to highlight Iran as a country through spectacular visuals. It is, however, an amazingly well thought-out and put together film with a unique way to tell its story that will have audiences thinking well of it after the movie is over. Its Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is well-deserved.
4.5 out of 5 stars


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30 Rock star Tina Fey is on the cover of the April issue of InStyle! In the magazine (on newsstands Friday, March 18), the seven-time Emmy award-winning actress explains why it's clear that kids are really the ones in charge, and how she's recently been able to relate to another celeb mom, Gwyneth Paltrow.
"Any time you talk about being a working mother and you complain about it in any way, people eat your face," says Fey.
I remember reading some interview where Gwyneth Paltrow said something like, 'I missed my kids on the set one day and I was crying.' And I thought, 'Yeah, I've totally done that.
"But on the website where I read it there were these furious comments. 'But you're a movie star!' Yes, it's much worse for a mom serving in Afghanistan. Of course. But there's just no forgiveness," says Tina.
As the one calling the shots on the set of 30 Rock, Fey admits that it's helpful to be able to bring her 5-year-old daughter, Alice, to work where she enjoys playing with actor Jack McBrayer (who wouldn't?). But there has been one minor problem…
"She's figured out that it's funny to show people your butt," says the Bossypants author.
And when it comes to calling the shots at home, Tina reveals that her household is no different than any other home with small children.
"Kids are definitely the boss of you," says Fey. "Anyone who will barge into the room while you are on the commode is the boss of you. And when you explain to them that you're on the commode and that they should leave but they don't? That's a high-level boss."


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The thrower's shoulder is subject to conditions and injuries that non-throwing shoulders are not. A unique set of injuries can occur, and it has been shown that it is possible to prevent most of these injuries by simple stretching and exercises.
The Normal Throwing Motion
The throwing motion has been broken down into phases, and this page diagrams and explains each of these phases
Injures in the Thrower's Shoulder
This section will describe injuries that can happen in the shoulder of throwers that can result in time out from playing or need for season or career-ending surgery


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'Metallica Loves Abu Dhabi'
DUBAI: We went, we saw, we were conquered. Patricia from the Philippines simply said it was "the most awesome concert" she has ever seen. Aaron from Dubai, in one word, said it was "epic". As for me, I still haven't got back from Yas Island where on Tuesday night I witnessed Metallica rock our socks off.
Playing to over 25,000 metal fans, the world's biggest rock band delivered a performance that must rank as the best rock act so far in the region's rock history. Despite being on the World Magnetic Tour since October 2008 the band were far from sounding tour-weary. In fact, they were in for a surprise: they found inspiration in Abu Dhabi, in the chanting of passionate metalheads from countries across the Middle East.
Following the customary The Ecstasy of God intro, the act kicked off, rather exploded, with Creeping Death. The force of it grabbed the audience by the throat and set the night on lava. Then came For Whom The Bell Tolls, Fuel, and Ride The Lightning in a row.
James Hetfield was so moved by fans' response he repeatedly thanked the "Metallica family" for the support and minced no words in declaring "Metallica loves Abu Dhabi".
During Fade to Black, the fifth song of the set, the band came to a pause, just before the heavy-riff-driven chorus section. Hetfield, standing right atop the stage prop, his right-hand fist thumping his chest, shouted: "Do you feel it? Do you feel what I feel inside?"
A deafening roar greeted the call. And the band continued from where they left off - with one of the most loved riffs from Metallica's repertoire.
The act touched its most explosive moment during the back-to-back rendition of One and Master of Puppets. That is not to say other tracks were less awesome, but this was the part that took the audience to a level akin to musical orgasm through the band's sheer energy, breathtaking speed, loudness and masterfully accurate playing, amply supported by hysterical fan participation in singing.
Other high points were Sad But True, The Memory Remains, Nothing Else Matters, and Enter Sandman where the audience nearly took over the vocals duty. Hetfield was so impressed he simply exclaimed, "Good singing." And yes, the audience screamed back in jubilation.
Talking of audience, we were packed like the rush-hour crowd on the Dubai Metro. Bodies pressed against me from all sides. You could see cameras falling off hands. It got a bit worrisome when a bunch of shirtless youths got extra aggressive as they headbanged and jostled around. My friends left the spot and took shelter in a calmer area. I held on as I couldn't give up my vantage point - my eyes were fixed on the four men on stage.
Bassist Robert Trujillo was a unique figure. Looking more like a long-haired basketball player, he was sheer athleticism. I wonder if any other bassist slings the guitar lower than he does - it almost touches the ground. And to play it, he bends, he tilts, he squat-walks, and goes through a complex range of postures, with his right hand reaching down below knee level as his fingers ram the strings.
Blistering shredding
As for lead guitarist Kirk, I have been waiting to see the former Joe Satriani student play those lightning lead solos live. On Tuesday night he gave us ample evidence why he is one of the finest shredders on the planet as he ran through his repertoire of riffs, licks and solos. I was a bit disappointed as his revered solo on One didn't strike me in the face as I expected it to (blame it on the sound guys), but he made up for it in Motorbreath during the encore section where he played like a possessed artist.
Meanwhile, frontman and vocalist Hetfield was in complete control, not only of the proceedings on stage, but also of the entire venue. He was the one in the driver's seat, taking us on a metal trip towards a dimension only Metallica know exists. As for his playing, nobody has struck the power chords heavier than Hetfield and he is one rhythm guitarist who commands respect even from soloists and last night was another proof of this fact.
And lying hidden among the maze of tom-toms and cymbals and yet whose part hit the audience the most was Lars Ulrich. His bashing of the skin, from steady to breakneck-speed pounding, was what held together the metal rituals - and he never lost a moment to raise his head, or stand up and stick his tongue out to greet the fans or to receive their adulation.
A little over two hours later from the first song and 15 minutes from midnight, the band wrapped up the act with a three-song encore (Am I Evil, Motorbreath, and Seek And Destroy). The night came to a close with the band throwing guitar plectrums and drum sticks into the crowd and Lars declaring the band's desire to see the Middle East fans again soon. When will that happen no one knows, but in my mind I am still at Yas Island - I haven't quite got back.


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Why Speak If You Don't Have An Opinion?
There is a certain t.v. 'personality' that drops in from time to time to offer what in the old school days was called an "editorial". It used to be these guys would offer an opinion on current events and sometimes stir the public to action. While I no longer watch that station, I went by the website in passing only to see an editorial that basically says "emergency responders are good". Seriously, is that what you're offering? More after the jump.
These days with increased competition and political correctness everyone is afraid to offer an opinion. We constantly hear from p.o.ed people who say "you're wrong, and I'm never going to listen to you again". Well sorry, but I'm not going to go the bland vanilla yogurt way through life. Sometimes things need to be pointed out and if a few people get their feelings bruised, then you know you've made a connection.
To make your editorial topic "EMS works in the snow" is to dumb things down for an audience that hasn't made it beyond six grade. What I'd like to know is what caused that ambulance to flip over and is there going to be an investigation to keep it happening again? Are they top heavy? Should the 1st responders be required to use slower speeds in snowstorms? Can we help the families of these guys? Seriously, we as Lubbockites do owe these folks a debt of gratitude for being on duty in the snow (but then again, there were people on duty at Taco Villa and convenience stores and other places). What needs to be asked is, 'how can we make it safer for our first responders to work in bad conditions"?
My point is, once again, this is a missed opportunity to make things a little better for some folks. Instead what we get is basically a public brown nosing. I hope some of you are starting to notice this pablum version of journalism as well. We are all dumber for having witnessed it.


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Maataku Maata: Chandrababu vs. Jagan - NTv
Thu, Sep 08, 2016, 11:40 AM
Amidst the din of all Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh (AP), Chandrababu's reaction to Jaitley's announcement of Special Package and not special status, was that he welcomed the monetary support but there is much more to come from the Centre. His words were used by Jagan in the Assembly today, to accuse Chandrababu of passing resolutions for special status on one hand and welcoming package on the other. Jaitley had clearly stated that there would not be special status, he pointed out.


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Culture vultures will love this spot by Perth Concert Hall, Perth Theatre and Perth Museum
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Hotel plus airport parking
FROM EDINBURGH - Exit M90 (J10), take the 1st exit on to A912 signposted City Centre. Head straight through the mini roundabout on to Edinburgh Road and continue through two sets of traffic lights. At the T junction, turn right on to Marshall Place (A989). Take the 1st exit at the mini roundabout onto Tay Street. Then take your second left on to High Street, then the next right onto George Street. Finally take the first left on to Bridge Lane. Continue until Mill Street. The hotel is on the right hand side, next to Perth Concert Hall. FROM ABERDEEN - Take the 2nd exit on to A90, signposted M90 Edinburgh/Dundee. At the Inchmichael Interchange continue straight. Branch left, then merge on to the A85 signposted Perth. At the second set of traffic lights, turn left over the Perth Bridge A85. Turn left from the bridge on to Tay Street A989. Take the second right on to High Street, then the next right on to George Street. Take the first left on to Bridge Lane and continue on to Mill Street. The hotel is on the right hand side, next to Perth Concert Hall. FROM GLASGOW - At Broxden roundabout, take the 1st exit on to the A9. Continue onwards, at the next roundabout, take the 3rd exit on to the A912. At the next two roundabouts, take the 2nd exits to stay on Dunkeld Road. At the next roundabout, take the 1st exit on to Dunkeld Road. Follow the A85 slip road, until the road splits. Immediately turn left on to A989, Atholl Street. Take the third right on to Kinnoull Street and the third left on to Mill Street. Continue along Mill Street. The hotel is on the left hand side, just before the Perth Concert Hall. PARKING - Use postcode PH1 5LU. This hotel has limited parking which is charged at 5GBP per night. Alternative parking is available on Kinnoull St at approx 9GBP per 24 hours. Car park open 7am - midnight Mon - Sat and 10am - midnight Sundays.
Sat Nav Directions:
When programming your Sat Nav device, use the following postcode: PH1 5LU
Hotel Parking:
This hotel has very limited chargable parking available at £5 per night. Alternative parking is available nearby at Kinnoull St open 7am-midnight Mon-Sat and 10am-midnight Sundays. Approx £9 for 24 hours.
Transport and local information:
Black Watch Castle & Museum 1/2 mile
Branklyn Garden 1 mile
Scone Palace 2 miles
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- May 26, 2014, 12:20 PM
Winners of the annual European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) Safety of Flight Awards were announced at last week's EBACE 2014 show in Geneva. GlobeAir AG won the Bronze Award for 20 years or 40,000 hours of accident-free operation. London Executive Aviation took the Silver Award for its 30 years or 60,000 accident-free flight hours of operation, and the Gold Award went to Flying Service for 40 years or 80,000 hours without an accident. Three companies took Platinum Awards, representing at least 50 years or 100,000 unblemished hours of flight: PrivatAir, Tyrolean Jet Services and VistaJet.


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A Lux survey found profits average 12.9% industry-wide and identified new technologies and start-ups promising to create additional opportunities, Lux Research says
Despite a drumbeat of pessimism, the $600B water industry boasts of a sizeable number of profitable large companies. What's more, new entrants are bringing emerging technologies that will disrupt the industry and create new opportunities, according to Lux Research.
A review of 150 companies across the value chain – representing 23% of the market – found average operating profit of 12.9%, torpedoing claims that it's impossible to make money in the water business. Customer-facing sectors in public service and small consumer systems do even better, clocking 14% profits.
"To read recent headlines in the water industry, one might think the sector is impossible to navigate, but that couldn't be further from the truth," said Brent Giles, Lux Research Senior Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, "Making Money in the Water Industry." "By targeting worthwhile market sectors and keeping in mind some key sector-specific principles, a company can build a successful business."
Lux Research analysts also drew on a survey of over 150 start-up companies to map emerging technologies where new players can find ways to enter – and where established companies will find both opportunities and threats. Among their findings:
The report, titled "Making Money in the Water Industry," is part of the Lux Research Water Intelligence service.
To find out more, register for the complimentary Lux Research webinar, "Profiting from the Highly Fragmented Water Industry," on February 11th at 11:00 EST.
About Lux Research
Lux Research provides strategic advice and ongoing intelligence for emerging technologies. Leaders in business, finance and government rely on us to help them make informed strategic decisions. Through our unique research approach focused on primary research and our extensive global network, we deliver insight, connections and competitive advantage to our clients. For more information, visit www.luxresearchinc.com.
SOURCE: Lux Research


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… Here's a quick yet ingenious use of Instagram by a marketer. Working with Forsman & Bodenfors (of Cannes Lions-winning Jean Claude Van Damme Volvo fame), Swedish department store Åhléns uploaded three stop-motion videos featuring products such as furniture, clothes, etc. to their Instagram account. Viewers who were able to grab…


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|Reviews for Good Girls go to heaven Bad girls go to Labyrinth
| anexel14 chapter 20 . 7/21/2016
Okay, this story was really interesting and cute... but what the hell?! They essentially just said that Jareth gets a few decades of loving a woman as he quite quickly in his perception withers away before him and then he's resigned to never loving or marrying again! I feel like this needs a sequel that shows us an older Sarah returning to the kingdom to rule and Jareth desperately looking for a way to stop/slow her aging process. I had figured being connected to the labyrinth like that would have helped her but that thread was kinda dropped unfortunately.
| WRose chapter 20 . 8/6/2015
Not that I'm support it but sometimes it would be fun just to put them in a room
| 96Tsubasa chapter 20 . 5/27/2014
I loved this story! .
| hetvu chapter 1 . 3/14/2013
| KristinaJ chapter 8 . 1/6/2012
The storyline is so good, it's interesting to read it but there are just so many grammatical errors.
| Kidnapkid chapter 18 . 6/18/2011
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress, running like a water colour in the rain. Don't bother asking her which direction, she'll just tell you that she came, in the year of the cat."
| Kidnapkid chapter 9 . 12/1/2010
Well someone plays Dungeons and Dragons. Tell me do you have a character based on Jareth?
| Tsuki Doriimaa chapter 20 . 2/27/2010
::happy sigh:: Oh but to claim being that guys girlfriend! _
You know, in the parts that had everyone wondering who exactly Sarah was.. and in this last chapter, I kept thinking up the lyrics to Madonna's "Who's That Girl" song. LOL _~ Awesome story hun!
| shadowchsr chapter 20 . 12/16/2009
I must say that you are my favorite author for Labyrinth based fanfiction. I always look forward to new chapters of your work and hope you never stop having inspiration for new ways of our favorite couple to cross paths. Part of me keeps hoping that someday you'll find inspiration for a sequal to this particular story. I just loved the dynamic between Jareth and Sarah in the story and how open it was left when it ended. To have a continuance would be great. I don't think you've ever had Jareth Court Sarah in the mortal realm while she knew who he was. And here she's fully aware of who he is and what he wants from the beginning. I just think our beloved Goblin King would have way too much fun not to play in both worlds. He's got the proper above ground alias that allows for interaction and transitions between the worlds and I just would really love to see this particular dynamic explored further if you can find the inspiration to do so. Again I love your works and please, never stop writing.
| lonely 27 chapter 17 . 12/5/2009
loved it
| lonely 27 chapter 16 . 12/5/2009
great ch
| lonely 27 chapter 15 . 12/5/2009
what kinda pain? great ch
| lonely 27 chapter 14 . 12/5/2009
loved it
| lonely 27 chapter 13 . 12/5/2009
great ch
| lonely 27 chapter 12 . 12/5/2009
i loved it


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Introducing Energy Medicine - United Kingdom
March 19, 2013
Manchester, England, United Kingdom
An Evening with Donna Eden and David Feinstein
Sponsored by Vision For Living
In these evening workshops Donna will introduce you to some of the core techniques of Energy Medicine
Learn how to:
- Boost your energy level using simple, fun techniques
- Reduce stress and alleviate pain
- Identify and remove energy blocks
- Use energy medicine to bring more vitality, joy and spirit into your life
This evening seminar will help you engage your natural healing abilities, optimize your energies and empower you to a more healthy joyful life.
The Great UK Tour
When: March 19, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.
Where: Renaissance Manchester Hotel
Manchester M3 2EQ UK
Cost: £25
Registration Info: Visit the Vision For Living for more information.
Recommended reading: Energy Medicine.


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- AHA News Home »
- All articles »
- House approves measure to keep government running as hospitals brace for Medicare cuts
House approves measure to keep government running as hospitals brace for Medicare cuts
AHA News
Feb 22, 2013
With funding for government agencies set to expire March 27, the House March 8 approved a measure to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, and give the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) flexibility to manage the funding cuts that took effect on March 1. The measure otherwise keeps the $85 billion in fiscal year 2013 cuts in place, including the 2% automatic reduction in Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers.
The continuing resolution, H.R. 933, moves to the Senate, where Democrats and the White House are in negotiations with Republicans on changes that would give domestic agencies the same type of flexibility that the Pentagon and VA would receive in administering the cuts.
The provider payment cuts won't begin to take effect until April 1. They are the result of an unpopular budget tool known as the sequester, which was included in the 2011 "Budget Control Act." The legislation required Congress to find $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction on their own.
Lawmakers' failure to do so in December 2011 started a one-year countdown to the automatic cuts.
In the past year, Congress and the White House have been unable to come up with an alternative to the sequester, or reach a long-term budget deal that would allow them to turn it off. In total, the sequester will cut $1.2 trillion in spending across the federal government over the next decade if left untouched.
Just days before the sequester began, hospital leaders expressed their concern about the Medicare cuts with their legislators on Capitol Hill and urged them to protect payments for hospital care. Participating in the AHA's Feb. 26 Advocacy Day meeting in person and via webcast, hospital leaders were briefed on the latest developments related to the sequester and other approaching fiscal deadlines. They later urged lawmakers and their staff to support targeted reforms, rather than arbitrarily ratcheting down provider payments, to achieve health care savings.
The AHA presented its case for targeted reforms in a report released today called "Ensuring a Healthier Tomorrow." The report calls for strategies that promote and reward accountability – to patients, their families and community; and use limited health care dollars wisely – in ways that eliminate inefficiency and promote the quality of patient care (for more on the report, see pages 4-5).
That message is echoed by hospital and health system leaders across the country, who are bracing for Medicare cuts.
The $550,000 in sequester cuts facing Chicago's 230-bed Norwegian American Hospital "could not have come at a worse time for our community," said hospital President and CEO Jose Sanchez. He said the hospital has the nation's highest incidence of diabetes, along with disproportionately high incidences of asthma, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, mental illness, substance abuse and HIV.
"Hospitals across the nation are going to be seriously affected by cuts to Medicare," said Rod Boula, CEO of 25-bed Elizabethtown (NY) Community Hospital. He expects to lose about $200,000 annually under the sequestration.
"Hospitals will be paid less when caring for patients who have Medicare as their primary form of insurance; typically the older population," he said. "The cost of providing an X-ray isn't falling. The hospital will still be expected to maintain its equipment and staff quality, but the amount that the hospital will be paid for it will be reduced. From a practical stand- point, this is money that the hospital cannot ...
Topic: Advocacy and Public Policy
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Power Play (Hardcover)
Tor Books, 9780765317865, 352pp.
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Dr. Jake Ross, a university astronomer, wants nothing more than to teach a few classes each semester and continue on his research. However, he is being aggressively recruited to be the science advisor to Frank Tomlinson, an ambitious politician with his eye on the US Senate.
Tomlinson is in need of an edge that will allow him to defeat his opponent at the polls, and Dr. Ross can contribute just that: MHD.
MHD, or magnetohydrodynamics, is a new innovation that will allow electricity to be generated efficiently and cheaply. The senate is essentially guaranteed if Tomlinson can deliver unlimited energy to voters at less than half the price of nuclear power. But MHD is still in its infancy, and although the outlook is extremely promising there are great—and deadly—risks.
The incumbent senator will not give up his seat without a fight, and as Dr. Ross discovers, the world of politics carries its own dangers. Nothing has prepared Dr. Ross for the extreme tactics that desperate and powerful people are willing to use.
Power Play is a timely thrill-ride by Ben Bova, one of science fiction's most respected novelists.
About the Author
Praise For Power Play…
"Unpredictable at every turn, [Power Play] is sexy, intriguing, and timely." —Booklist
"Power Play features a strong, plot-driven story; snappy dialog; and characters, uncluttered by backstory drama, whose personalities still leap off the page." —Library Journal
"Bova proves himself equal to the task of showing how adversity can temper character in unforeseen ways." —The New York Times
"Bova gets better and better, combining plausible science with increasingly complex fiction." —Los Angeles Daily News
"A cautionary but hopeful thriller . . . Modern twists and a genuinely surprising ending." —Publishers Weekly on The Green Trap


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These Are the World's 10 Happiest Countries
- By Robbie GramerRobbie Gramer is a staff writer at Foreign Policy. He writes for The Cable, FP's real-time take on all things, well, foreign policy. Before he joined FP in 2016, he used to think in a tank, managing the NATO portfolio at the Atlantic Council for three years. He's a graduate of American University's School of International Service, where he studied international relations and European affairs. He has lived in both Washington and Brussels, though he grew up in Idaho and Oregon, so he's a West Coaster at heart. When he's not busy reporting, he's probably busy starting three new books before he has finished the last one or planning a trip to a national park he hasn't visited yet.
- robbie.gramer
- @robbiegramer
And the numbers are in: Norway is the happiest country in the world. That's according to the fifth annual United Nations World Happiness Report.
The report tracks global well-being by asking people in 155 countries to rank their quality of life on a scale of 1 to 10. From there, researchers crunched numbers by country, measuring factors like social support, generosity, health and life expectancy rates, perceived freedom to make life choices, corruption levels, poverty levels, and GDP per capita (because even though money can't buy happiness, it sure can help.)
Norway took the top spot for the first time ever. It ranked fourth in the last two years, but it leapt over three-time champion Denmark to steal the title.
Behind Norway comes — surprise surprise — a lot more annoyingly perfect Nordic countries. Rounding out the top 10 are Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden. The United States came in 14th, falling behind one place from last year.
But the report's not just about bragging rights. Experts say the research showcases how government leaders can change policies to improve their citizens' happiness. "As demonstrated by many countries, this report gives evidence that happiness is a result of creating strong social foundations. It's time to build social trust and healthy lives, not guns or walls. Let's hold our leaders to this fact," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Solutions Network initiative that released the report.
The proof is in the Norwegian pudding. Norway is flush with cash from its massive oil sector. But it has dodged the resource curse stereotype by investing its oil proceeds back into the country's social structure. "By choosing to produce oil deliberately and investing the proceeds for the benefit of future generations, Norway has protected itself from the volatile ups and downs of many other oil-rich economies," said Professor John Helliwell of the University of British Columbia. "This emphasis on the future over the present is made easier by high levels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good governance," he added.
African countries rank among the most unhappy in the world. Eight out of 10 of the bottom-ranked countries are African, with the other two being war-torn Syria and Yemen. Researchers devoted an entire chapter of the report to explain this phenomenon, and concluded it wasn't all bad news. "Africa's optimism may be exceptional," researchers wrote. Citing the continent's massive young and hopeful population, "this optimism might serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy for the continent," researchers concluded.
Photo credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images


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So, it's comes to my attention that our Transportation Security Administration, or TSA for those with acronym deficiency syndrome, is in the business of taking weird blue pictures of our nether regions for freedom.
Because that's why the terrorists hate us. Our "freedom."
The TSA security professionals also freely grope us when we tell them that we'd rather not have our nakedness captured in wonderful Smurf-blue 3D during our holiday travels.
At this point, most of you have heard about or seen the video of Oceanside resident John Tyner, who balked at having his happy ending pat down done at the airport without his consent. He also coined the now famous phrase, "If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested."
I agree with Mr. Tyner to an extent, but I think he was putting on a show for himself and his soon-to-be YouTube followers.
Prior to his incident with San Diego TSA security officers, Mr. Tyner very publicly asked how he should handle his security situation because he had an upcoming flight with family members. I sense a bit of a setup since he also had the time and presence of mind to record the entire situation on his cell phone.
As much as a part of me wants to tell him to just go through the screening process and we promise not to laugh at his digital ding dong, I also would react completely differently if my wife or daughter were subjected to this kind of treatment.
And if you really think they don't pull aside and scan children, feel free to research it. It happens, often, and if the sight of a 3-year-old with a Thomas the Tank Engine backpack being hawked over by a tubby TSA agent doesn't make you instantly irate, then perhaps you're not paying attention.
The more I researched the TSA, the more nervous I actually got about these people checking our bags and our bodies.
They make anywhere from $11 to $16 per hour and are allegedly our first line of defense when it comes to safely traveling via commercial airlines. Transportation security officers have an attrition rate of 30 percent among full-time employees and 50 percent among part-time employees. If they're that unhappy about their job, do you really think they're doing a bang-up job of keeping us safe?
When the political whining and bureaucratic nonsense wains, it comes down to safety. Would I care if when I traveled to a country where I fit a very specific physical characteristic of a dedicated enemy of the state was therefore subject to a more thorough screening process than most? No. Simple as that.
If that meant I was profiled, I would welcome it. That just means I have peace of mind knowing the people whom are paid to keep my family safe are indeed doing that job and not looking over their shoulder for the PC police to give them a slap on the wrist.
So, it's comes to my attention that our Transportation Security Administration, or TSA for those with acronym deficiency syndrome, is in the business of taking weird blue pictures of our nether regions for freedom.


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At first, I thought Tim Martin's column on Charles Hurwitz was satire ("Charles Hurwitz died for our sins," Times-Standard, April 20, Page A4). But it was disappointing in that regard. I would be surprised if some in the Christian community were not offended by the idea that Mr. Hurwitz "died for our sins." Especially in a column appearing the day of Easter Sunday.
Charles Hurwitz spends significant money on charitable causes. In this he certainly is a good man. His rabbi extolled his virtues to me when we had a conversation. Mr. Hurwitz had a long conversation with me as he was concerned about comments I made about him and his understanding of his Jewish religious heritage. In any case, he was not criticized by me, the environmental community, or the United Steel Workers for his lack of charity.
Mr. Martin cavalierly dismisses wrongdoing by Mr. Hurwitz with the assertion that he was "pure and simple, a money motivated businessman." Mr. Hurwitz is presented as a really good guy whose reputation was besmirched by those who did not like him. Did Mr. Martin base his views on the fact that a federal court dismissed the charges of wrongdoing against him? If so, it is telling that U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken barred lawyers from telling the jury that Hurwitz's management of Pacific Lumber had been characterized by hundreds of citations for violating California's Forest Practice Rules, that PL's timber operator's license was revoked after the company racked up 126 violations in 1997, or that PL, under Mr. Hurwitz's watch, is the only timber company in California history to have lost its harvesting license for violating state laws.
Mr. Hurwitz's business dealings with two Kaiser Aluminum plants in the State of Washington is also lamentable. One of his first actions in taking over these plants was to ban union workers. At nearly the same time, he laid off PL workers (right before Christmas) telling them it was because of environmentalists that he had to let them go. Then he gave them transportation to Washington telling them he had temporary jobs there. He didn't tell them it was to be strike breakers at the aluminum plants. The lockout of union aluminum workers ended after the federal government threatened to charge Kaiser with violating labor laws. Then, Kaiser turned a profit by selling the smelters' contracted allotments of electricity back to the Bonneville Power Administration, which had produced the power in the first place. Kaiser registered $135 million in power sales from October to December 2000. At year's end, with its entire U.S. production operations idle, company CEO Raymond Milchovich was paid a bonus of $978,000, on top of an annual salary of $630,000 while 900 steelworkers were unemployed. As Steelworkers Local 329 steward Wayne Bentz said at the time, "There's no way they should be profiteering from reselling federal power and then ask us to draw unemployment."
Is this what Mr. Martin calls simple, legal, capitalism? Is it mere capitalism that these businesses were acquired via business deals and money from the likes of Michael Milken and Marc Rich (who both went to prison over the ways they handled money)?
In the end there isn't much point in my arguing about business matters. I am a rabbi and business is not my strong suit. In my conversations with a MAXXAM Board member and Mr. Hurwitz himself, it was repeatedly made clear that I didn't understand business. I was told the Talmud admonishes us one "may not interfere with a man's right to conduct a legal business." So my most important counter to Mr. Martin's column is that I have spiritual problems with those who believe in conducting business as Mr. Hurwitz did here on the North Coast. And this is my problem: There is a new morality in Judeo-Christianity. It is a growing ethic of how we should deal with the earth and its non-human inhabitants which God entrusted to us. By standards of this new environmental morality, Mr. Hurwitz has fallen far short of following the ethics of Judaism. I realize it is a new ethic but it was also just such a new ethic which abolished slavery. As I read Mr. Martin's essay I could not help but think that had Mr. Martin lived in the 1830s he might have said of some slave owner he championed, "He is really a nice guy and simply a money motivated capitalist."
Rabbi Les Scharnberg resides in Bayside.


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Lillie Mae Middlebrooks Coleman (nee Greene), 91, passed away Sunday, January 5, 2014, at Mercy Hospice in Lorain. She was born July 5, 1922, in Manchester, Georgia, to George and Mattie Lee (Holt) Greene.
Born and raised in Manchester, Lillie carried many of her earliest lessons throughout her life. "You should look good and behave well at church - God is watching.", "Speak your mind and speak clearly." and "Coordinate your hat, glove and shoes with your outfit!" - are just a few statements that could be attributed to her over the years. Her hearty, infectious laugh was a well-remembered calling card. And Lillie's laugh could be heard quite a bit when she pursued her favorite activities; traveling, church activities, checking in with grand and great-grandchildren, and shopping (especially for hats!). Lillie was an employee of U.S. Steel and retired from Lorain City Schools. She was a member of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church for more than 50 years, where she served in a number of leadership positions including Deaconess, the superintendent of Sunday school and president of the Missionary Board. She also was a life-time member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW).
Lillie was predeceased by her parents; sisters, Sallie Amy Mills and Georgia Lee Bonner; and husbands, Charles R. Middlebrooks and Raymond Coleman.
She is survived by her children, Helen Sharp of Florence, South Carolina, Gwendolyn Knox, Richard Middlebrooks, and David Middlebrooks of Lorain; stepdaughter, Janet Chapman; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and hundreds from her church/community family.
The funeral and memorial service will be held Saturday, January 11, 2014, beginning at 10 A.M., at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1516 E. 30th St., Lorain. Interment will be at Resthaven Memorial Gardens, 3700 Center Road, Avon.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made, in Lillie's name, to Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Sunday school/Vacation Bible School or to your home church's educational ministry.
Arrangements entrusted to Carter Funeral Homes, 3001 Elyria Ave., Lorain, (440-244-5200). Online condolences can be sent to www.Carterfuneralhomesinc.com


text: i was talking to some fellow intermediates (strong 3.5 or weak 4.0 depending on how your pro rates) and they were mentioning losing matches recently because they ran into guys who hit alot of topspin and couldn't handle it. i have similar experiences albeit against guys who are 5.0 or 5.5's (and maybe one 4.5 guy)..... but the worst thing i find is that my stroke breaks down completely against these guys. almost all my shots go very long.... it's either trying to return with topspin and not being successful or hitting flat but the ball being much higher than expected on contact. what can we do about this???? i hit with eastern forehand maybe slightly towards SW forehand. i think the others are similar.... i hit flat to medium topspin and maybe heavy topspin defensively, but NOT offensively. more practice against these types?? move my forehand grip to SW? hit the ball on the rise??? .......... what has worked for intermediates dealing with alot of topspin. i know, don't play these guys till you get better.... but i could run into this at my own level, albeit with alot of inconsistency by opponent. thanks again in advance.