text:
Jane N. RylandPresident Emerita, CAUSE, Boulder, CO
Community colleges, along with the entire higher education community, are truly setting forth on a new expedition into the 21st century. It is striking that the factors fueling a transformation of our education system are converging just as we embark into a new millennium.
Current Higher Education Environment
In today's environment, we are seeing an increase in demand for higher education. The higher education community, however, should not be misled by this phenomenon, because this demand has a much different character from that to which we've become accustomed in the past:
Much of the demand comes from new markets of learners of all ages, motivated by career changes, personal interests, and personal development.
The public in general values to a lesser extent the traditional post-high school educational experience, and increasingly viewed as less relevant; indeed, the high level of public support education once enjoyed has eroded somewhat.
Today's learners demand that education be cost-effective.
Today's learners demand that education be customized to the individual learner rather than provided in lockstep with students of varying preparation, learning style preference, and expectation.
Today's learners expect the time, place, and pace of education to be at the convenience of the learner, not the provider, to facilitate balancing work, family, and personal demands with learning.
Today's learners have less interest in gaining mastery of a predetermined volume of content (much of which will soon be obsolete as new content is generated) than they have in learning work-related skills that will measurably enhance their employment and earning prospects, and learning how to work collaboratively, find needed information, think critically, and use technology in their work.
Traditional education providers face significant competition from new entries in the market, including for-profit competitors, who, unfettered by artifacts of traditional education environments, offer and market education alternatives tied neatly to the new demands.
The new environment of today reflects a huge increase in the availability of information, much of it poorly organized, unauthenticated, and of little value.
Technology Trends
Not many years ago, technology barely surfaced onto the radar screen of the typical college president, perhaps rightly so as issues of reduced funding levels and spiraling costs took precedence. More recently, however, in the process of seeking solutions to economic problems, presidents remembered the oft-repeated promises by information technology managers and corporate marketing that technology would reduce costs while enhancing quality and access. Quickly, technology rose to the top of presidential lists, presenting the opportunity to prove what had long been promised.
But technology should not drive the strategic direction for any college. Rather, technology should be assessed with regard to its potential for helping achieve a college's strategic goals.
Several trends dominate today's technology environment. Community colleges seeking an appropriate yardstick for evaluating specific technology choices may want to consider the extent to which the specific technology contributes to advancing these trends. Today's seemingly "hottest" solution will pale before tomorrow's innovation, so maintaining flexibility will continue to offer high value in any technology planning.
Without doubt, the network has emerged as the single most important technology trend, because of its ability to facilitate communication with colleagues as well as with information resources. Few of us in the early days of computers would have predicted that the biggest contribution of computers would not be in expanded processing capability but in communication instead. The network facilitates both synchronous communication, where learners and teachers participate in the learning experience at the same time if not the same place, and asynchronous communication, in which barriers of time and place disappear.
Universal connection by means of networks forms a basic premise of the technology environment of today and tomorrow. Every computer, whether on a desktop, in a laboratory, or in a briefcase or pocket, will need to have the ability to connect to a network, and all networks should ultimately interconnect.
The universal acceptance of standard network protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) on which the Internet is based, contributed heavily to the rapid proliferation of the Internet as the mechanism for network interconnection. This protocol will most likely continue to mature and prevail as the networking protocol of choice.
Today, many of the network connections traverse physical infrastructures of optical fiber, copper wire, or coaxial cable. Increasingly, however, these connections can occur without the use of wires, occurring instead by means of infrared, satellite, and microwave wireless transmissions. Nicholas Negroponte, Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Laboratory, noted that the protocols for personal communications and broadcast communications have begun to shift. Personal communications such as telephone conversations, previously transmitted over wire, now use wireless transmission, and broadcast communications, such as television, previously transmitted in the air, are moving to wired or cabled transmission.
Convergence of Voice, Video, and Data
We soon will see a continuation of the intermingling of all such forms of information reduced to indistinguishable digital bit streams, then stored, accessed, and transmitted over the network, including voice and video interfaces, intermixed with keyboarded text.
Knowledge Navigation
Today's environment finds us at the very early stages of understanding how to manage and navigate through the huge volumes of information and knowledge being made available electronically through the World Wide Web on the Internet, reminiscent of the early days of libraries before the emergence of a Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress classification system. We can expect to see significant enhancements in this area as tools become available to facilitate classifying, tracking, and finding the needed information.
Technology will continue to give us faster and more powerful computers of all sizes and types, from the personal computer, to the server at the department or institution level to the supercomputer. Technology will continue to accelerate the cost-effectiveness of smaller, lighter, and more powerful computing and communication devices, all of which will be easily connected to the network. However, the average price for such computing and communication capability will not likely decrease. Instead, the current trend of greatly increasing capability and power at the same price level—and requiring those increased levels of power to accomplish basic tasks—will continue.
Mobile Computing
Parallel to the trend to universal networking runs a trend to mobile computing. The utility of computing and communication increases significantly with accessibility. We more readily use personal desktop computers than shared computing resources in laboratories; we more readily use laptop computers than desktop computers; and we more readily use notebook or palmtop computers than heavier laptop computers. In short we most readily use the resource closest at hand.
Smart Cards
Smart cards simply represent an extreme example of mobile computing that opens a wide range of new application possibilities. Capable of carrying user-specific information, typical smart card applications include authentication, authorization, security, and financial transactions.
Distributed Computing
Ubiquitous networking will make possible increasing transparent distribution of all components in the process, an extension of today's client-server computing. Parts of databases and information resources will reside apart from modular processing components, all appearing to the user as if locally resident.
Open Systems
Open systems standards will increasingly form the basis of technology architectures of the future with hardware and software components meeting specifications for functionality and interface, and allowing seamless interchangeability of components regardless of vendor. Today, open systems initiatives have extended to learningware, with EDUCAUSE's National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) already developing a set of Instructional Management System (IMS) standards in conjunction with corporate partners for all aspects of learning systems, from storing and access course content to tracing student performance.
Middleware encompasses many of the behind-the-scenes capabilities that allow systems to operate smoothly and transparently, including such functions as authenticating and authorizing specific users for access to specific resources and ensuring secure communication. Early computers, expensive resources generally shared by a stable and known set of users, soon included full functionality for authorization, authentication, security, backup, and recovery. But with a global and rapidly growing population of users with the capability to connect to resources anywhere on the Internet, all these capabilities must be revisited. Today, we have done little more than acknowledge the need for middleware; in the future, we can expect to move to seamless incorporation of such capabilities across the network.
Reliability and Ease of Use
Those of us who work with technology often find ourselves susceptible to "technophoria." We see the emergence of fledgling, rough-edged technologies and capabilities and immediately make the mental leap of seeing them in ubiquitous use (for example, for technology-enabled learning), seamlessly integrated into and instantaneously enhancing our lives. In fact, technology today remains largely difficult to use and suffers from unreliability. We interface with technology primarily by means of the keyboard, with rudimentary offerings appearing for voice, handwriting, and video interfaces. The hurdles of reliability and ease of use continue as perhaps some of the most difficult to overcome in achieving technology's promises, but we will ultimately overcome these hurdles. We can expect continued enhancements in these areas in the years to come, including seamless, automatic transitions between voice and written communications. In the meantime, adoption of simple, more mature technologies such as electronic mail can provide benefits more quickly than jumping suddenly into attempts at widespread asynchronous delivery of courses on the Web.
Neoelectronic Applications
Paul Evan Peters, the founding Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information, often characterized our current technological environment as the paleoelectronic age, an era in which we simply redo current practices using new technological capabilities, often with little or no improvement. However, he saw us moving rapidly into a mesoelectronic age, in which we would begin to experiment with new modes of operation as technology gives rise to innovation. He saw a relatively lengthy transition period to the neoelectronic age, where truly new and as-yet-unimagined applications of technology will change our lives. An example of such a transition was the paleoage automobile turn signal (an automated replica of an arm emerging from the car window), followed by the mesoage turn signal (a light at the end of the arm), followed finally by the neoage turn signal (the light moved to the rear of the automobile). Some of our experiments today in using technology to enhance teaching and learning, such as replacing lectures with passive electronic video recordings of the same lectures, reflect the paleoelectronic era of today. This natural technological evolution, however, suggests a lesson to be learned in avoiding disappointment at the marginal success of early applications of technology, recognizing these instead as necessary steps to ultimate transforming applications.
Strategic Implications for Community Colleges
While institutions of all types and sizes can expect to experience change as environmental factors intensify and technology advances accelerate, community colleges, perhaps more than any other sector of higher education, may find themselves well positioned for the future. Community colleges led the rest of higher education in confronting and learning to serve nontraditional students with individual needs, and in considering technological solutions for enhancing quality, expanding access, and containing cost by improving productivity. Community colleges, as evidenced by their names, have established firm positions within their communities, initiating collaborations with local business and industry. This strong position should not lead to complacency, however; most community colleges follow relatively closely the 80-20 rule, where perhaps 80 percent of revenues come from 20 percent of the courses offered, leaving the colleges vulnerable to entrepreneurial education providers attempting to cherry-pick the "cash cows" with skillfully marketed competitive offerings. The following suggested priorities for action may help community colleges to further position themselves for the future.
Learner-Centered Education
Technology facilitates customization of educational offerings, producing learner-centered education. The community college should emphasize increased customization of its offerings to accommodate differences in preparation, learning style, timing of participation, and pacing or duration of the offering.
Technology-based tools can assess level of preparation and learning style and present the course material accordingly. Asynchronous education offerings are made possible by technology meeting the requirements for learner-driven timing of participation and pacing. New student markets will demand certification of skill and content mastery. Community colleges should explore technology-based assessment tools to offer such certification, then direct the student to next-level college offerings.
Active Learning
As experience confirms that active learning exceeds passive lecture and in-class delivery of content in its effectiveness, and that understanding comes from involvement, the community college should employ technology to facilitate:
exploration and problem-solving, both individual- and team-based, using both information resources and access to masters and experts
multimedia and multisensory presentations of material to learners
creation of simulated learning environments such as science laboratories, geographic and economic models, and language-immersion simulators
student presentations to teacher and fellow students to enable "learn by teaching"
enhanced class discussion, made possible by electronic availability of study materials
teamwork, facilitated by technology-based collaboration and groupware tools
freeing faculty to serve as mentors and coaches, not just content deliverers
communication outside of class by means of electronic mail between the teacher and the student, among students, and beyond the class to fellow learners
Community Involvement
Some might expect the move to asynchronous learning to inevitably lead to the demise of colleges as physical campuses. Similarly, trends to individual ownership of personal computing and communication devices might suggest reduced investment in shared computer labs. Surely new markets will open, made up of learners who never set foot on a college campus, but strong demand will likely continue for place-based learning to satisfy a need for identity with a social institution. Despite the proliferation of personal computers and network access from anywhere, on or off campus, computer labs continue as some of the busiest facilities on campus. As previously stated, technology trends usually result in significantly increased capability at a fairly constant price rather than a dramatic reduction in the level of investment required for technology, putting personal computer ownership still out of the reach of many prospective learners for a long time to come. While shared computers in labs may have considerably less utility than personally owned computers, and community colleges should strive to put personal computers in the hands of all students, shared computers in labs will continue to have significant value nonetheless. And new software capabilities can now enhance the value of shared computers with features that, upon log on, present a trusted personalized configuration to each individual user, including access to private databases.
Community colleges should consider investment in facilities that can serve as community learning centers in which shared computer labs coexist with docking stations for laptop computers, food outlets, retail stores, libraries, meeting rooms, and study lounges. Such physical facilities can complement the strong links community colleges have (and should expand) with local business and industry.
Technology has often been marketed as a means of removing intermediaries—teachers and librarians, for example, who separate learners from knowledge—allowing unfettered direct access to information. To the contrary, in today's anarchistic information environment intermediaries can perhaps more than ever help learners find their way through oceans of irrelevant electronic information and learning alternatives. A world with too much information will greatly value the intermediary services of navigation, counseling, and coaching.
Financing Strategies
All too often colleges view technology as a one-time capital expenditure for acquisition of infrastructure, an expenditure that once made will enhance productivity and save money. Instead, technology should represent an opportunity for investment in a strategic asset of the college. As such, an objective up-front assessment can quantify the return expected from the investment in technology. Most colleges find that their investment in technology will initially result in higher rather than lower costs overall, and thus must carefully assess the return on that investment. Colleges should expect continued high levels of investment in infrastructure, with the constant introduction of new technologies offering new and compelling advantages. Even when all faculty, staff, and students have their own networked computers, budgets must anticipate the need to refresh those systems, at least every three years for hardware and every year or two for software. Careful institutionwide planning can help match varying needs with the appropriate level of computing and communication capability, allowing implementation of a program whereby as systems are replaced, the old systems recycle down to users with lower levels of need.
Achieving effective utilization of technology and supporting the growing community of technology users requires significant additional human resources. Support broadly includes initial and ongoing training, installation and maintenance of hardware and software (both initially and as regularly upgraded), help-desk resources to troubleshoot and resolve problems, and especially faculty support to change the teaching and learning process to accommodate technology.
Community colleges appropriately should look not just to capital budgets but to such alternatives as expecting students to bear some of the expense (through student computer purchase or technology fees), and redirecting funds saved by reengineered business processes.
Technology Organization
Perhaps never have we needed an appropriate and effective technology organization more than we do today. With technology affecting every aspect of the college community, each community college should establish an institutionwide strategy for technology to be established and implemented. If the college culture supports it, the president may wish to give overall responsibility for technology to a chief information technology officer or at minimum, to a single, high-level administrator. Administrative computing, academic computing, networking, telecommunications, telephony services, the library, and media services inextricably share linked roles in today's digital age. If not all a part of a single organization, then other means must exist to ensure cooperation and collaboration between and among all these related services. However, the technology organization cannot plan and implement the college's technology strategies in isolation; every sector of the campus community has an essential role of active involvement, commitment, and full awareness of the implications of the technology strategies. And just as the technology planning process should involve all sectors of the campus community, the chief information technology officer should participate fully in all institutionwide planning, not just technology-related planning.
Technology Planning
As perhaps the most important step in preparing for the future with regard to technology, each community college should consider initiation of a technology-planning process. While this process can benefit from guidance by a chief information technology officer, it must involve all sectors of the campus community, especially faculty, as a participative, cross-campus process. It must have clear executive commitment and visible support. Often, a number of already existing committees and structures can undertake both technology planning and ongoing technology-related functions such as prioritization in the allocation of resources. The resulting technology plan works best when brief and widely circulated. It should be driven by the college's vision for the future, with technology goals aligned with the college's goals and culture.
Most plans begin with vision and mission statements, emphasizing their alignment with overall college goals. An assessment of the current environment should include a gap analysis suggesting what steps need to be taken, and when to achieve the vision and mission. Infrastructure plans should include objectives for providing all faculty and staff with desktop computers and ensuring an appropriate ratio of computers available to students. The plan should address regular cycles of refreshing and recycling these computers, and specify universal high-speed connection of all desktop systems to the network, typically through local area networks that connect to a campus backbone and in turn to the global Internet through regional network service providers. Access to the campus network from off-campus sites has become an important factor as well, whether through dial-up capability directly into the network or through outsourcing to a local Internet service provider. The infrastructure plan should include specifications for technology-ready classrooms, and, where needed, for portable technology to be used in other classrooms.
A technology plan for administrative computing should address such considerations as how quickly to move to client-server computing based on open systems standards to take advantage of capabilities at both the desktop and server platform levels. It should include general guidelines for in-house development or acquisition of commercial systems; community colleges today usually find it more cost effective to buy proprietary administrative software than to develop it internally. The plan should further address to what extent of proprietary software modification is appropriate, weighing the necessity of changing business practices to match the software or bearing the considerable expense to modify and maintain proprietary systems to accommodate current practices. A willingness to consider reengineering business practices not only can prove more cost effective when installing administrative software but also can lead to significantly streamlined services. Many community colleges will want to consider the use of some type of data warehousing technique to separate production administrative systems from decision-support queries.
Academic computing plans should address the functionality needed to support new learning systems, including delivery of multimedia to classrooms, supporting communication between faculty and students and among students outside of class, supporting customized asynchronous learning, making available groupware for collaboration and teamwork, and providing Web access to library and media services resources (whether on campus or remote). Community colleges, which typically cannot afford to build as extensive libraries on site as four-year institutions, may begin to find themselves now able to compete effectively by providing access to these information resources electronically. Finally, an academic computing technology plan should address the development and/or acquisition of the learningware itself, with related supportive multimedia content.
The area of student services falls somewhere between academic and administrative computing and represents an important consideration for a technology plan. Just as learning can be conducted asynchronously, so can student support, from registration to grade reporting to advising to provision of general information by means of a campuswide information system, including the answers to frequently asked questions.
Many community colleges underestimate the magnitude of human resources needed to adequately support the entire campus community in its expanding use of technology. As faculty, staff, and students increase their use of technology, support requirements will escalate exponentially, well beyond the capabilities of most central technology organizations. Technology plans should address strategies for multiple levels of support, including help desks and the use of personnel in both academic and administrative departments as an extended support organization. For many faculty, changing to a teaching style that incorporates technology represents a difficult transition, with intensive training necessary to succeed in this endeavor.
Finally, a technology plan should address funding and financing alternatives, paying careful attention to ongoing, not just one-time, funding and financing.


text:
Book details how Scientology may have split Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman
When last we met, The Juice* was telling you all about how the Church of Scientology allegedly won over John Travolta, according to a new book by New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright called Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief. Now we're going to skim the part where Wirght says Tom Cruise left Nicole Kidman because of the church, and became very best good friends with honcho David Miscavige.
The book, which is heavily excerpted by The Hollywood Reporter, says that Cruise was big pals with Miscavige, who lavished attention on the actor. He built the couple a bungalow getaway at Gold Base, a Scientology location in the desert near Hemet, Calif. But Miscavige never trusted Kidman, and "viewed her as a gold digger who was faking Scientology." He allegedly started trying to declare Kidman as a Suppressive Person in order to get Tom to leave her.
That's exactly what happened in 2001 after the couple shot Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, catching Kidman by surprise. Cruise then underwent some 200 hours of intense auditing, and was trained to audit people himself. In one anecdote, the book says Cruise and Tommy Davis, a Sea Org member and son of actress Anne Archer who had known Cruise since Tom was 18, began assisting the actor, one time taking him to the parking lot of a Home Depot in Hollywood to guess the emotional state of people leaving the store, a process known as Tone Scale drills.
Some time afterward, the Church allegedly began trying to set up Tom with a new girlfriend. The book says in 2004, they set him up with Nazanin Boniadi, a 25-year-old Iranian-born Londoner with a Scientologist mother. She was interviewed and audited, but she allegedly once kept asking Miscavige to repeat himself because she couldn't understand him. Davis and Cruise allegedly lit in to her for that, with Cruise saying she had embarrassed Miscavige for not being able to communicate.
The book quotes Cruise thusly: "You don't get it, it goes like this," Cruise said. He raised his hand over his head. "First there's LRH [L. Ron Hubbard]." He moved his hand down a few inches. "Then there is COB." Bringing his hand down to his own eye level, he said, "Then there's me." (Cruise's attorney denies that this exchange took place or that the Church set him up.)
There is still no word on how much Scientology training Katie Holmes had, if any, but Cruise and Miscavige apparently grew so close, the leader would borrow Cruise's plane and discuss Church strategy with him, asking Cruise to lobby world leaders for Scientology favors, like persuading Bill Clinton to ask Tony Blair to get the U.K. to give Scientology tax-exempt status. Cruise even allegedly said in one conversation with Miscavige, "If f--ing Arnold (Schwarzenegger) can be governor, I could be president."
"Miscavige convinced Cruise that he and Tom were two of only a handful of truly 'big beings' on the planet," former curch official Marty Rathburn said. "He instructed Cruise that LRH was relying upon them to unite with the few others of their ilk on earth to make it onto 'Target Two' -- some unspecified galactic locale where they would meet up with Hubbard in the afterlife."
[Photo: Getty Images]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Fashion and history combine, with a virtual exhibit featuring iconic dresses worn by first ladies. Find out more about first ladies' influences on politics and history with these additional books and DVDs from the library.
The First Ladies
PBS Distribution
DVD 973.099 Fir
First ladies quotation book : a compendium of provocative, tender, witty, and important words from the presidents' wives
Foss, William O.
973.099 Fos
First ladies : the saga of the presidents' wives and their power
Anthony, Carl Sferrazza
973.099 Ant
Women in the White House
Nelson, Stuart
DVD 973.099 Wom
Behind every successful president : the hidden power and influence of America's first ladies
Anderson, Alice E.
920 And
America's first ladies : private lives of the presidential wives
Healy, Diana Dixon
920 Hea


text:
Del Taco has been serving fast, fresh, affordable Mexican food since it opened its first location in Barstow.
Fifty years and 546 restaurants later, the chain is celebrating its golden anniversary with a "Throwback Classics Menu," a nod to the past featuring the bun taco, small taco salad and orange shake, all priced from $2 to $2.99.
The menu is available through Sept. 3.
For locations, visit www.deltaco.com.


text:
By Paula Abernathy
Killeen Daily Herald
LAMPASAS Cute babies wobbling on unsteady legs and fancy-dressed puppies and kittens drew large crowds Friday at the Spring Ho Diaper Derby and Pet Parade.
About 65 little ones from crawlers under 9 months to new walkers at 24 months participated in the Diaper Derby. Divided into five categories, the young contestants crawled, tottered and ran from one family member across the mats to another.
Some were excited about the challenge, others confused. At least one little guy just sat down and enjoyed the excitement, and one little gal so enjoyed the running that she nearly didn't cross the finish line she just ran back and forth between her parents.
The Beta Mu Soroity has organized the Diaper Derby for over 25 years as a community service project. Each winner was given a small prize.
A few minutes after the Diaper Derby finished, the Pet Parade began. More than 100 entries filled the area next to the County Courthouse as the pets and their owners showed off their finery.
Led by a police escort and McGruff, the parade included "floats" made of playpens, strollers and wagons, many decked out to illustrate the Spring Ho theme, "Restoring the Past."
The festival continues today with the Spring Ho Grand Parade, beginning at 11 a.m. at South Street and Key Avenue in the downtown area.
Other events, including a carnival, games, arts and crafts, a barbecue cookoff and food booths, will be available all day in W.M. Brook Park, Hancock Park and at the Gavin Garrett Soccer Field.
The winners of the Diaper Derby competitions are:
0-9 months Kharis Castaneda, first place, parents: Monica Maldonado and Chris Castaneda;
Cooper Greiner, second place, parents: Clay and Jennifer Greiner;
Madison Vega, third place, parents: Chris Vega and Michelle Marez.
0-9 months Preslei Havins, first place, parent: Mariesha Havins;
Laurcy Belle Bender, second place, parents: Shawn and Traci Bender;
Avery Smith, third place, parents: John and Somer Smith.
10-12 months Kalista Buchanan, first place, parents: Christie White and Mark Buchanan; Erin Hornback, second place, parents Jackie and Stormy Hornback; Joshua Hudson, third place, parents Jody and Jeri Hudson.
10-12 months Dax Brookreson, first place, parents Larry and Sophie Brookreson, Quinn Pace, second place, parents: Margo and Ian Pace; Maci Jones, third place, parents: Benjamin and Denise Jones.
10-12 months Nathan Shuford, first place, parents: Kim and Charles Shuford; Jera Hudson, second place, parents: Jody and Jeri Hudson; Daelyn Ellis, third place, parents: Bryan and Tiffany Ellis.
13-15 months Tiley Hamilton, first place, parents: Jason and Juanita Hamilton; Houston Bockelman, second place, parent: Rebekah Bockelman; Kash Corbin, third place, parents: Casey and Joy Beth Corbin.
13-15 months Braeden Hopson, first place, parents: Chad and Christina Hopson; Kyli Davis, second place, parents: Chris and Sandi Davis; Zac Dishman, third place, parents: Dale and Becca Dishman.
16-19 months Kellie Kozma, first place, parents: Brian and Shelley Kozma; Stone Schwartz, second place, parent: Mikki Grime; Landon Sanders, third place, parents: Wayne and Joanna Sanders.
16-19 months Landon Mulcahy, first place, parents: Jeremy and Shelly Mulcahy; Peyton James Underwood, second place, parents: Jamie and Ashley Underwood; Lee Ann Parker, third place, parents: David and Beth Parker.
20-24 months first place - not claimed; Willie Sanchez, second place, parent: Maria Sanchez; Savannah Ebersole, third place, parents: Jeremie and Elizabeth Ebersole.
20-24 months Kylee Eckermann, first place, parents: Brandy and Heath Eckermann; second place not claimed; Brandon Straley, third place, parent: Shelly Straley.
20-24 months Lexy Ide, first place, parents: Kathy and Chad Ide; Holten Ramsey, second place, parents: Amy and Jesse Ramsey; third place not claimed.
Some parents did not turn in winners' slips to the event organizers.
The pets were judged in several categories:
Best of Show: Major, Tyler and Loden Atkinson, and Christopher Ybarra for "Dukes of Hazzard."
Reserve Grand Champion: Jack and Destiny Ratliff as Bull Rider and Farmer.
Best of Dog: first place Major, Tyler and Loden Atkinson, and Christopher Ybarra for "Dukes of Hazzard;" second place Tyler Jordan and Bubba Bear Connell with "Golden Hippies" and third place Tristin Lewis with his dog.
Best Use of Theme: first place Charlotte Morrison, Breana Slagle and Ronnie Taylor with "Construction Restoration Team with Dogs;" second place Braeden Howell and Beagle Bailey; third place Christiana De LaRue, Michaels and Jonathan Ellison with "Team Texas."
Best Group of Pets: first place Cohen M. White and River B. Ware; second place Jack and Destiny Ratliff as Bull Rider and Farmer; third place Katie and Sara Rowe and Tori Liverman in "Mardi Growl."
Most Unusual Pet(s): first place Cohen M. White and River B. Ware; second place Carmen Gonzales and Snowball in a covered wagon. (Also Honorable Mention in Best Use of Theme); third place Preslie Haven and Amanda Harbin with "Flintstones' Pebbles."
Best of Cats: first place Ashley Straley and Callie with "Stray Cats Struttin' to Spring Ho"; second place Cheyenne Burr, Seth Stair, Daphne Standefer and Rachel Standefer with "Kittens on Parade"; third place Katie and Sara Rowe and Tori Liverman in "Mardi Growl."
Best Dressed Pets: first place none chosen; second place Braedon Raub, Dawson Raub, Kade Norwood and Tye Dog; third place Mackentie Martin, Makayla And Makenna Martin and Layla the "Hot Dog."
Best Dressed Children: first place Jack and Destiny Ratliff as Bull Rider and Farmer; second place Braedon Raub, Dawson Raub, Kade Norwood and Tye Dog; third place Tyler Jordan and Bubba Bear Connell with "Golden Hippies."
Contact Paula Abernathy at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
BECOME A PREFERRED SUBSCRIBER+ Get 15% off Your Next Order
The BEST deals come to your inbox. Sign up for GEMPLER'S emails to get exclusive offers and first dibs on hot new products!
This durable, multi-purpose galvanized sign holder is crimped on four edges to keep sign in place. Use alone as stakes or add the optional base adapter, item number 16BA (sold separately). 5"W x 4"H. 18"L stake. USA made.
See all plant markers and tree tags
2017 Reference Guide: Page 362


text:
OCEANSIDE -- When the widening of Interstate 5 from La Jolla to Oceanside is completed, car poolers will likely have a direct access to the new car-pool lanes from an on-ramp near Oceanside Boulevard, officials said Monday.
As part of its plan to widen I-5, the California Department of Transportation is proposing to have one direct access ramp in each North County city.
In Oceanside, there are three options, at Bush Street, Brooks Street or at Oceanside Boulevard.
However, city and transportation officials said Monday that the new access ramp will probably be located at Oceanside Boulevard, with a new on-ramp providing access directly to the car-pool lanes in the middle of the freeway.
Arturo Jacobo, the project manager for the transportation department, said the on-ramps would allow the car-pool lanes to exit the highway from the center of the freeway, instead of having to cross what will be six lanes to exit the freeway.
Jacobo said each north coastal city will have its own direct access ramp to allow car poolers an exit in each city.
"It's really just a ramp on the inside instead of the outside," Jacobo said. "It's a direct link to the center of the freeway system."
The new on-ramps will be part of the $1.1billion widening of I-5. The $1.1 billion project calls for widening a 26-mile stretch of the heavily traveled corridor from Mira Mesa Boulevard at Interstate 805 and Genesee Avenue on I-5 north to Vandegrift Boulevard in Oceanside.
In Oceanside, the plan calls for widening I-5 to 14 lanes, seven in each direction, north of Highway 78. Those 14 lanes -- up from the current eight, four in each direction -- will include car-pool lanes along the center of the highway in both directions.
Jacobo said the car-pool lanes are needed to help move the huge volume of cars that are expected on I-5 through the year 2030. Currently, projections show I-5 carrying about 190,000 cars per day in some areas of North County, and 260,000 cars where I-5 and I-805 merge south of Sorrento Valley Boulevard in San Diego.
In addition, he said the new access lanes would make the car-pool lanes more attractive because users will be able to directly access and exit the freeway from the car-pool lanes.
Frank Watanabe, Oceanside's transportation manager, said the city is lucky because the state has the right-of-way to build a new direct access ramp just north of Oceanside Boulevard. Watanabe said Carlsbad and Encinitas could have difficulty finding room for new direct access ramps when the ramps are expected to be built in 10 to 20 years.
Watanabe said Oceanside Boulevard is a better location than Brooks or Bush streets because it will impact surrounding residents and businesses to a much lesser degree. City and transportation department officials met last month to agree on the Oceanside Boulevard access.
The car-pool lanes and direct access ramps will be added as part of the larger I-5 widening project.
A draft environmental impact report by is due by May 2006, a final version by December 2007, and construction is planned in 2009. Whether they can make that start date on construction and how long it will take depends on if voters approve an extension of the local transportation sales tax. It is now due to expire in 2008.
Known as TransNet, the half-cent sales tax was approved by voters in 1987. Since 1988, TransNet has brought in $2.2 billion for highways, public transit and local street projects. Voters in November will be asked to approve extending the tax for 30 years to continue funding transportation projects.
Jacobo said the transportation department wants final drawings for the highway improvements later this year when its officials will return to make presentations to north coastal cities affected by the project.
Contact staff writer Rob O'Dell at (760) 901-4067 or email@example.com .


text:
- 10x400's @ current 5k pace (6:15 mile). 1:33, 1:35, 1:27, 1:33, 1:30, 1:34, 1:35, 1:32, 1:35, 1:32. Finished these overall under goal pace.
- 12x400's @ current 5k pace (6:15 mile). 1:31, 1:27, 1:30, 1:29, 1:34, 1:34, 1:30, 1:28, 1:30, 1:34, 1:30, 1:33. Finished these overall under goal pace.
- 5x800's @ goal 5k pace (6:05 mile). 3:04, 3:03, 3:01, 2:59, 3:01. For the most part was on pace here and felt rather comfortable.
- 4x1000's @ goal 5k pace (6:05 mile). 3:47, 3:48, 3:50, 3:49. Planned on doing 5 here, but I took the first two excessively aggressive for me and had a difficult time recovering, so I decided to bag the 5th. This workout nearly did me in.
Raptor arm+heel strike+squishy abs does not equal speed
- Stop compensating proper running form for speed. Teach the body how to run naturally, then the speed will soon follow.
- Transitioning from heel striker to midfoot striker. This has been more difficult then I thought it would be, and requires a lot more awareness of my foot then I have been used to for the past 15 years I've been running. But just like any new skill in life, it will take some time.
- Trying for quicker turnover. The point of operation abort heel-strike is to turnover quicker with the foot landing underneath the body and not out in front, which takes longer to swing back around and requires more effort in the long run.
- Remember these beauties that I dropped a pretty penny on several months ago?
I've spent quite a bit of time in these neon kicks in the last 6 weeks
- My hips are outrageously tight on an almost constant basis
- The glutes are rather weak from years of neglect
- A pesky right shoulder joint from poor posture has been raising hell lately
- Went to a few classes where I was extremely frustrated because my body has resistance in nearly every exercise
- At first I thought the problem was the instructors because I attended several unconventional classes, but really it's me and my funky-dunky body
- Had an AH HA moment last week where I realized "duh, I'm tight because I haven't been stretching appropriately post marathon"


text:
It's been a long time coming and, while Samsung is yet to directly confirm it, odds are they've done just that by accident. The highly anticipated Galaxy Note 12.2 has allegedly been showcased for the first time at a private Korean event, with one of the attendees supplying the scoop to the media.
The biggest, most surprising tidbit revealed is the giant's market name, said to be Galaxy Note Pro after all, not Note 12.2. Coincidentally, Apple is rumored to be working on a "Pro" slate as well, the iPad Pro, which may sport a 13-inch display and land a little while after the Note Pro.
Odds are therefore that christening this bad boy the Note Pro (or Note 12.2 Pro) was not the plan right off the bat, and Sammy is now trying to troll and rain on Cupertino's parade. Elegant? Not even close. Amusing and smart? Damn straight.
The 12-incher's specs, leaked once before, are nearly set in stone following today's report, replicating those of the [easyazon-link asin="B00F3SOHNU" locale="us"]Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition[/easyazon-link] almost to the letter. Only, you know, with a sized-up screen.
The resolution is tipped at 2,560 x 1,600 pixels, there's a Snapdragon 800 CPU under the hood, 3 GB RAM, as well as a supersized 9,500 mAh battery (vs. Note 10.1's 8,220 mAh ticker). No laptop transforming abilities via a keyboard dock of sorts? There's nothing in the rumor mill yet, but there's still time.
Via [Phone Arena] and [Move Player]


text:
For those of you that know me, you know this: I don't really do "crafty." I do cooking. I do running. I do boozing. But crafty – not my thing. And crafty baking? Forget about it. Needless to say, I felt quite challenged when I needed to come up with some amazing holiday treats for a project I am working on with Harris Teeter. But perhaps this was a good thing. Because of my crafting handicap, I concentrated on producing holiday themed treats that anyone would be able to pull off, and I'm quite proud of the results.
You can visit: http://www.harristeeter.com/meal_planning/seasons_eatings.aspx to see all of my red and green treats. I was surprised at how cute that donut tree turned out, and was totally bummed that I couldn't throw back those Pomegrante Lemonade Cocktails. No booze when you're on the clock. Or so I've heard….
And because the juice didn't stop flowing when the photo shoot ended, I came up with one more red and green treat that you'll want to try!
Christmas Cherry Chocolate Skillet Cookie
Two rolls of chocolate chip cookie dough (from dairy section)
2 small bottles of Maraschino cherries, one green and one red
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts
Holiday Sprinkles
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. oil
Heat oven to 350°F. Spread 1 roll of cookie dough into the skillet. Press evenly.
In small bowl, break up remaining dough. Stir in fruit and nuts. Sprinkle mixture evenly over the dough in the skillet, press in lightly, then top with holiday sprinkles. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour.
Combine white chocolate chips with oil in small microwave dish. Microwave on High power 30 to 60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds. Stir until smooth, then pour into a ziploc bag, squeezing out the air. Cut off the tip of the bag, then drizzle back and forth over the top.
Allow chocolate to set completely, the slice and serve!0 Yum


text:
Education MEC Senzo Mchunu is taking a hard stance on tardiness.
He says pupils who are late for school should be locked out and sent home, and is adamant that the policy does not infringe upon children's constitutional right to an education.
Mchunu was speaking at a meeting of the provincial legislature's portfolio committee on education in Durban on Thursday when he affirmed the department's position and his readiness to engage with aggrieved parents.
While in agreement with the Education Department on the need to instil discipline, the Children's Rights Centre in Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal Parents' Association believe that they have to explore other ways of doing so.
However, Mchunu told MPLs that he had instructed school principals to take an uncompromising approach.
"(It is) an instruction. We are not negotiating."
He said he had once visited a school in the Umkhanyakude district on the North Coast and found that more than 500 pupils arrived at the gates late.
An MPL and chairman of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), Sipho Nkosi, questioned whether such a policy did not "interfere" with the constitutional right of the child to an education.
Mchunu responded that the constitution guaranteed access to a quality education.
"Nowhere in the constitution is any child guaranteed even if you come late you are still fine... Late-coming is a different matter, associated with ill-discipline," he said.
Asked for how long pupils would have to stay outside until they would be allowed back on the school premises, Mchunu responded that they must return home.
Mchunu is also prepared to take on upset parents, saying he wants to hear them openly say they want to protect the rights of their children to arrive late.
He said that simply noting the names of offenders was "legitimising" the behaviour.
Muntu Lukhozi, Mchunu's spokeswoman, said that locking tardy pupils out was a policy of the provincial department, not the national one.
According to Lukhozi a circular on the policy was sent to district officials last year. She said the onus was on parents to ensure their children were on time for school.
KZN Parents' Association chairman Sayed Rajack said he believed the policy was intended for high school pupils whose inexcusable tardiness was at "unacceptable" levels which compromised their education.
Asked about the safety of primary school children outside the safety of schools, left to find their own way home, Rajack said that in the case of primary school children, he did not think the rule was hard and fast.
Rajack said that while he understood the department's position, there had to be more creative ways of dealing with the problem.
The children's rights centre's Jacqui Joshua suggested "positive discipline" like community service or a merit and demerit system to stamp out lateness.
"Discipline is vital to running an effective school... (However) there are many circumstances around late-coming, and questions arise of whether these circumstances have been reviewed and given due regard.
"Is locking pupils out of schools, sometimes for whole days, consistent with the child's human dignity? Is it in conformity with the present UN Convention on the Child, which South Africa is signatory to? Unfortunately it is not... Schools need to be creative in finding positive and constructive ways of discipline that does not limit the child's right to an education, or their right to human dignity," Joshua said.
The KZN spokeswoman for the South African Principals' Association was unable to comment. - The Mercury


text:
It's finally starting to feel like summer here at UW-Madison. With spring florals all around on campus, I was looking for something a little different. As perfect as a spring skater dress is, there are ways to make that dress your own unique vision. Typically when we think of warm weather, we think bikinis and short shorts. For me, when I think of the onset of summer, I'm thinking leather.
I spotted this Fashionista rocking some statement leather pieces. Her caramel colored leather jacket is an amazing complement to her pastel blue skater dress with floral texture. She matched her jacket to a pair of brown leather boots with a slight heel, giving off a casual but flirty vibe. She kept her accessories simple with blue earrings and necklace and a hoop nose ring. I also loved that her glasses were a brown tone to match the brown leather in her outfit. While this ensemble is perfect for spring and summer, her daring leather pieces made her stand out on our large campus.
Leather can be difficult to pull off in the warmer season. If you think you will be frying in the heat wearing a jacket during the day, save the leather jacket for going out at night. Instead of a traditional black, opt for a caramel color for a softer look. Pair the item with matching boots for a casual look or sexy booties ideal for a date night or party. A floral skater dress finishes off the look as the perfect combination of girly and sophisticated.
Want to pull of leather in summer in a different way? Try a white, faux leather crop top that has delicate details with ripped jeans and stilettos for an outfit that is an even balance of edgy and feminine. Remember, leather doesn't always have to look tough. This spring and summer, challenge yourself to reinvent the way you wear leather.


text:
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has an interesting article about how new voter ID laws could affect the 2012 presidential election, especially if it's a close election. Over the last couple of years, as the article discusses, several states have tightened their voter ID requirements. Some election officials and experts predict that these new requirements will lead to a significant increase in the number of voters filling out provisional ballots. Federal law requires every state to offer a provisional ballot to a voter:
- who is unable to provide proper identification;
- whose name does not appear on the official registry list; or
- whose eligibility to vote is challenged.
But states have different procedures for verifying voter identity and deciding whether to count the ballots. In a close election, those procedures could come under scrutiny. (See OLR Report 2011-R-0372 for more information on states' new voter ID laws.)


text:
Continuing his efforts to advance the Middle East peace process, U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher has secured long-promised financial help for the Palestinian Authority from the Persian Gulf states.
Christopher's visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday followed a series of meetings last week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders aimed at advancing their long- stalled negotiations.
The Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, had pledged more than $100 million in financial assistance for the Palestinians last year.
But they reportedly had not officially turned over the money until Christopher's visit during the weekend with leaders of six Gulf states.
At his meeting the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah, Christopher also reportedly pressed the Gulf nations to end Arab boycott of Israel. At a news conference after the meeting, Bahrain's foreign minister, Mohammed al-Khalifa, said all the Gulf states had implemented legislation to terminate sanctions against countries trading with Israel.
Christopher told the news conference that he thought that the entire Arab League would lift the boycott against Israel itself "someday."
His wording was less optimistic than last November, when he predicted the move would take place soon.
Christopher's visit to the Middle East — his first effort at shuttle diplomacy in the region this year — began with a visit to Egypt on March 7.
He arrived in Israel two days later to the news that Israel and the Palestinians had earlier in the day agreed to set a new target date of July 1 for completing talks on an Israeli redeployment in the West Bank.
The agreement, which came at a meeting between Israeli Foreign minister Shimon Peres and Palestine Liberation Organization, was described by Peres as a breakthrough.
Peres told Israel Television last Friday that secret talks with the Palestinians had broken the deadlock in their negotiations.
Both sides had agreed to a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops in the West Bank and a transfer of responsibilities to the Palestinians, Peres said.
But Saturday, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian leaders denied that there had been any breakthrough with Israel, saying that fundamental differences remained.
Arafat met with Christopher last Friday to discuss the ongoing negotiations with Israel, which have been stalled in the wake of repeated terror attacks against Israelis by Islamic fundamentalist groups opposed to the peace process.
After his talks with Arafat, Christopher said he had received assurances that the Palestinian Authority would take new measures to "pre-empt terror."
"Gaza cannot be a safe haven" for terrorists, Christopher said. "There are important steps that can be taken."
Arafat maintained that his forces prevented 10 terrorist attacks and that the suspects are in jail.
The PLO leader pledged cooperation in the battle against terror, but cautioned that he had no "magic stick" to prevent further attacks.
During their meeting, Christopher outlined new American aid for the Palestinian Authority. He said the aid would include 200 surplus trucks and the dispatch of teams from the Defense and Agriculture departments for advice on medical, humanitarian and agricultural needs.
In addition to his meetings last week with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Peres, Christopher met with President Ezer Weizman and Likud opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile hours before the Christopher-Arafat meeting last Friday, Israel lifted its monthlong blockade of Lebanese ports.
The blockade had been imposed since Feb. 8. Israel had said the blockade was in retaliation for the Lebanese government's harassment of residents living in the southern security zone who supported Israeli efforts to drive the Iranian- backed Hezbollah movement from the area.
According to Army Radio, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin lifted the blockade as a gesture to Christopher's ongoing peace efforts.
Christopher left Saudi Arabia on Sunday to fly to Damascus, where he was scheduled to meet with Syrian President Hafez Assad about the long-stalled negotiations with Israel.
He was expected to return to Israel on Monday to brief Israeli officials on his talks with the Syrian leader.
According to local news reports, Israeli officials expected that Syria would agree to resume the ambassadorial and high-level military talks in Washington that were suspended by Assad in December.
But the Syrian media indicated that Christopher should not expect Assad to make any concessions to Israel.
The Syrian daily A-Thawra condemned what it called the United States' "absolute support of Israel" and said the Americans had yet to prove that they are fair and impartial mediators.
Rabin said after his meeting last week with Christopher that Israel is committed to and capable of peace with Damascus.
At the same time, a political source quoted by the Israeli daily Ha'aretz said Rabin does not feel a "sense of urgency" about negotiations with Damascus.
However, Peres called for an intensive effort to reach a political solution with Syria before the 1996 elections.
In a television interview, Peres said, "We have 20 months until the elections. The feeling that time is running out, and that perhaps there is a risk of losing peace, obligates us to concentrate our efforts to advance the peace."
Peres said Israel had analyzed the Syrian position and had concluded that "alongside the Syrian stubbornness, there is an inclination to make progress."


text:
Accomplices in the killing of fashion designer Richard Bloom and budding actor Brett Goldin will make another bid on Wednesday to be set free.
The pair's families have been advised that convicts Jade Wyngaard and Nurshad Davids have served six years of their 12-year sentences, but stand to benefit from an amendment to the Correctional Services Act and President Jacob Zuma's special prisoner remission.
Davids and Wyngaard were initially sentenced to 15 years each for robbery, kidnapping and possession of an unlicensed firearm, but three years were taken off because they agreed to testify for the State at the trial – which never happened because a plea bargain took place.
Brett's mother, Denise Goldin, said she had been advised that the pair were due to apply for parole from Drakenstein prison.
She said they understood that an amendment to the Correctional Services Act stated that prisoners "can be conditionally released after completion of half of the sentence".
The letter to Goldin warning them of the proposed hearing on Wednesday also said the two men, 18 and 19 at the time of their sentencing, would also get six months' special remission of sentence because of the amnesty.
On April 27, Zuma announced a blanket six-month remission to all prisoners, while a further 12-month remission was granted to inmates serving for non-violent crimes.
Goldin said she would oppose the parole again for the same reasons as in November.
Writing to Goldin last year, police investigator Kenneth Speed wrote: "Nurshad Davids was one of the occupants of the BMW who participated in the initial robbery and kidnapping. He was not involved with the murders."
But Goldin said in response: "If they are released, they will have served just five-and-a-half years, which would make a mockery of the judicial system."
Samantha Behrmann, sister of the late Brett Goldin, added: "This is no longer just about my brother, this is about fighting the moral decay of our society."
On the occasion of Davids's first application in November, Bloom's father, Tony, said: "We don't believe he has any right or recourse to apply for (parole)."
An online petition was established at the time, opposing the parole application.
Among those supporting the family is acclaimed actress Janet Suzman.
She told the Cape Argus: "I feel that it is time for zero tolerance.
"This man was an accessory to murder. Even if he did not pull the trigger, he played an onerous role in their murder.
"If he gets parole, if he prances out into the sunlight, it only says to the type of people he consorts with that 'See, it's not so bad!' '' she said.
The petition, which has now been resubmitted, reads: "On the 16th April 2006, Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom were hijacked/kidnapped/assaulted/robbed at gunpoint and ultimately murdered. The perpetrators were quickly brought to justice and convicted.
"One of the individuals involved in this heinous crime was not found guilty of murder, but of hijacking, kidnapping and armed robbery.
''He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment with 3 years suspended on condition he testify in the main trial. His effective prison sentence was 12 years. After serving only 5 years and 5 months, he has lodged an application with the parole board!
"We, as law-abiding citizens of South Africa, oppose this application in the strongest possible terms and demand that all the criminals in this case serve their full sentences as handed down by the High Court of South Africa."
Cape Argus


text:
Ultimate irony: indoor playgrounds in San Diego
For those whose lives are only about fun and games
Eve Kelly 1 p.m., Sept. 20
(Page 2 of 4)
That's not to say it's impossible to make money, but not a single winemaker with whom I spoke claims anything more than break-even status.
I queried Bill Schweitzer on the balance-sheet aspects of wine-making, starting with the acquisition of a suitable site. "Raw land is still relatively inexpensive here because prices haven't been inflated yet by the wine industry. [The going price for unimproved land in Ramona appears to be around $15,000 an acre.] You'll need at least three or four acres of grapes and a buildable lot. So, let's say you've spent $200,000 so far. You've got to have an irrigation system, soil testing and amendments, and trellises. Root stock is $3–$4 per plant, and 600 plants per acre is about average. All of that is maybe $10,000 an acre if you do everything yourself, or double that if you have other folks do it all."
Then comes the waiting. "You'll get a half crop in three years," says Schweitzer, "a full crop in five. You can expect approximately two tons of grapes per acre and each ton makes 48 cases or so of wine. Four acres equals roughly 400 cases, or 4800 bottles. If you wholesale it, you'll be lucky to get $10 a bottle; so it's easy to see why there's no profit in selling it to large retailers."
Which brings us back to the tasting room.
"If you're personable and you have a pretty setting, you can sell a lot of wine at a tasting room," says Schweitzer. And he's pretty confident that those rooms are going to be packed in the near future. "There are 10 or 12 really high-quality wineries; it's like visiting Napa in 1975 or Paso Robles in 1989." One winemaker told me that in San Diego County, there are 80 or 90 bonded wineries.
Just south of Highland Valley Road, dusty flatland punctuated with downscale ruritania gives way to manicured, trellised hills topped with a dedicated winery. In this airy, high-ceilinged building, which gives off a clean, Modern Swedish vibe, it's easy to see how nascent Napa prognostications might prove prescient. But not everyone wants to see an emerging Napa.
At Kohill Winery, I chatted with Scott and Tanya Pohlson, tasting-room regulars who make the short drive from Rancho Peñasquitos at least once a month. Whenever they run low, they pick up a half-dozen bottles, sometimes a case. "The problem is, if too many people find out about Ramona wineries, it's going to get crowded. Don't write anything good; I don't want my special places to be ruined."
But according to Kohill owner Mike Kopp, a tall, laconic guy from the upper Midwest, it's not yet time to summon the fire marshal.
"Yesterday, we had a group of 20 attorneys ride up on horseback from the Mt. Woodson area, but some days, it's just a car or two. You were the first people today, although the busiest time is between 3 and 5. I still get a lot of people that come in from San Diego who say, 'There are wineries in Ramona?' The word still hasn't gotten out to everybody."
Kopp didn't grow up in a wine culture. "I was more of a hard liquor, beer kind of guy," he admits. "I got into wine in the mid-'80s."
An ex-Navy man who went to boot camp in San Diego, Kopp has eight acres of property with a little over two under cultivation and an output of 500 cases a year. I asked him, "Did you plant it yourself?"
"Of course. We all started out as home winemakers in the garage. Didn't even have a business plan."
I also asked Kopp, a retired industrial engineer, whether he'd recouped the 500 grand or so that he's poured into the venture over the past couple of decades.
"I bought the property in 1988 for around $150,000. The first three years you make nothing, and we haven't broken even yet."
With a distance learning certificate from UC Davis (five semesters obtained online over two and a half years), he has more formal viticulture/enology education than most in the AVA, and his wines, notably "Aurora's Red" (a meritage-style offering named after his wife), have garnered praise. Two of his bottlings, a full-bodied Viognier weighing in 15.7% ABV (alcohol by volume) and a raisiny 2008 estate-grown Barbera, are forcing me to reconsider the regional pecking order of California wines.
When I queried Kopp on the California wine-prestige hierarchy and the "Temecula question," his answers echoed Bill Schweitzer's.
"I would probably say we're somewhere around Paso Robles. I don't do a lot of wine-tasting in Temecula; there are some nice wines there. But people who come in say that Ramona Valley wines are a lot better than Temecula wines. The problem with Temecula is that it's really not about the quality of the wine; it's just about the tourism. Temecula used to be the way we are today."
State and local comparisons aside, the dust has yet to settle from the ordinance struggle; it seems that a popular sport in the Ramona AVA is ratting on one's rivals for alleged violations of the boutique-winery provisions. Kopp smiles.
"Some winemakers don't understand what's legal under the ordinance. We never quite know who's turning in who. The county won't tell you, so there's a lot of speculation. I know who gets turned in because emails go around. [Kopp wouldn't say whom.] But no one really knows who turned them in."
But it's not just a jealous competitor who might prove to be a snitch, because even after the ordinance had been approved, the self-styled "San Diego Citizenry Group" took the county to court to appeal the passage. Their mantra was, "We have banded together to fight against intrusions on our way of life in the backcountry of San Diego." Although the officious intermeddlers lost, anti-winery activists haven't given up — they just work incognito these days.
"There's still opposition to wineries here," notes Kopp. "Ramona was the center of it — a handful of individuals who didn't want wineries next to them, even though it was zoned for agriculture. The feeling was, 'This is my neighborhood. We don't want agriculture here.' But I always say, 'If you don't want a vineyard, I'll put a chicken ranch in. Let's see how you like that — or pigs.' There could be worse things, that's the point."
Nice to know how Ramona is growing.
Mike is being coy. We all know who you are, Carolyn. So quit turning in your neighbors and go along for the ride. This is a beautiful thing for our community, our county and our state.


text:
I am trying to figure out a way to show the Album Track number on the left-hand side of the Media Player when displaying album tracks (rather than the arbitrary numerical order of the "playlist"). I've been trying to find a way to do this without having to develop another Media Player (that would basically be a clone of the native MP with a bit of extra functionality).
If I have 2 tracks from a 12-track album, it does no good to say tracks 1 and 2 if they're really album tracks 8 and 12. I was hoping there were a way to hack the existing GUI and change the variable. The track number is accessible via the public API (as are a couple other neat fields) as members of the MPMediaItem class:
NSString *const MPMediaItemPropertyAlbumTrackNumber;
NSString *const MPMediaItemPropertyAlbumTrackCount;
NSString *const MPMediaItemPropertyDiscNumber;
NSString *const MPMediaItemPropertyDiscCount;
So accessing them isn't an issue. And replacing text string constants is simple, but I am unfamiliar with if it is even possible to replace the existing variable without a programmatic change.
Anyone tried something like this? I often wonder why they decided that metadata wasn't important enough to include.


text:
34 35th St., Unit 26, Brooklyn, NY, 11232
Dunja Zupančič
|Eyebeam CV
|Exhibiting Artist
Dunja Zupančič graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1987, with a thesis on Eisenstein and the Russian avant-garde. During the '80s, using processes involving the montage of abstract textures and the construction of composites, she produced pictures of monumental size. During the '90s, using the engineering of pneumatic and hydraulic elements, she constructed mechatronic abstracts and art satellites (umbots). On December 15, 1999, she visualized and materialized Biomechanics Noordung, the first complete theatrical production performed in conditions of zero-gravity. Since 2000, she has devoted herself to substitutes of corporeality, which she translates into amorphous structures with the help of digital tools. In 2007, she devised an art satellite/technological demonstrator for a 50-year theatre production.
Tags: engineering, hydraulics, Postgravity Art :: Syntapiens, postgravityart, zero gravity


text:
Written on: 10/06/2014 by IreneQuartey (1 review written)
Why do we have to pay P&P on every item when you purchase at the same time I find it difficult to understand why you charge so much for P&P and returns when others give free postage or pay a reduced P&P when items are purchased at the same time or get free P&P when you purchased up to a certain amount. The amount we pay on postage and returns don't add up and prevent me from buying sometimes I hope you will review this and do something about it
Written on: 07/07/2014
I have emailed QVC on many occasions asking why they charge so much for P&P. The likes of Argos can deliver items (cheaply) for a flat fee. I even asked QVC if they could offer free P&P on Today's Special Value items but of course that fell on deaf ears. I have stopped shopping with QVC as the P&P charge wipe out any savings they offer.
As rated by our community of reviewers
" Studio's Credit Only Policy. " Read More
" Great price, same quality " Read More
" Poor all round " Read More
" Never again " Read More
" Why DHGate not accepting mastercard when they advertise it? " Read More


text:
Subscriber portal
Everything time I try and install Kinect on windows 8 to make it as a webcam I recieve the following errors
1:http://oi49.tinypic.com/iyltth.jpg (call to the DllRegisterServer error code 0x80070005)
What abouts should I do to fix the problem? and second question is it possible to have it as a webcam on windows 8?
I don't know about the DirectShow .ax filter you are using, but you will need to check with the author of the component.
As for the Kinect, it is not a web camera device and as such will not be recognized as one. You can use the Mic Array with the core media api's only.
Microsoft is conducting an online survey to understand your opinion of the Msdn Web site. If you choose to participate, the online survey will be presented to you when you leave the Msdn Web site.
Would you like to participate?


text:
This loaf of colored glass may not look like significantly from the outdoors, but slice into it and you will discover an extraordinary recreation of Leonardo da Vinci's painting Virgin on the Rocks.
Self-taught glass master Loren Stump has adapted a four,000-year-outdated Middle Eastern method to generate in depth photos that are only witnessed when the glass 'cane' is reduce into cross-sections.
Murrine may possibly be centuries previous, but generally consists of abstract or floral patterns, which are considerably easier to create. Stump generates his intricate photographs by layering hundreds of tiny glass rods in numerous colors and thicknesses, resulting in a 'loaf' that can promote for $ 5,000 per slice.
Oriole Way – a luxurious mansion with light and airy interior created by studio McClean Design. Private residence is situated on a picturesque hillside in Hollywood, California, USA, supplying 1 of the best views in Los Angeles city. Overlooking special panoramic views, a blessed and very carefully chosen location, from each space, the residence opens itself up in direction of the city beneath.
All we can only say that this luxurious mansion exceeded all our expectations. Architects took into account the complex topography of the land plot on a hill separating the garage and parking lot from the entry of the home, therefore possessing the chance to create a courtyard, filled with water and light.
Here are some tips that you can do to have the teak furnishings care. Initial, you ought to make positive that the property is regularly cleaned. You ought to clean your home every day in purchase to steer clear of the bad situation of your furnishings. 2nd, it is much better for you to preserve your home have the dry and clean condition. Don't forget, you must keep the humidity of the residence. Third, regularly, you should clean the dusks of the furniture each day. So, if you can preserve the cleanliness of your house nicely, the furnishings can be cared also.
When we speak about the present day decor inspiration, some folks feel that it demands some alterations of furniture with the new and up to date ones or fascinate the decoration with the color balance that reflects the modernity. This clean interior type of a single dwelling in Warsaw invented by Tamizo Architects depicts a serene strive against modern day-day residing vogue with a spacious open arrange vision in large distinction black and white.
Charles and Ray Eames are renowned around the world for their inventive patterns most of which are instantly recognizable. In 1948, they made the La Chaise Chair but it proved also expensive to generate. They created it for MOMAs "International Competitors for Minimal-Cost Furnishings Layout."
The chair did not win any awards and was never ever produced throughout the designers' lifetimes. Nevertheless, their Armshell style, which was in the very same competitors, won a prize and went on to turn out to be a fantastic success. In 1996, Vitra Global, their prolonged-time partner, lastly determined to generate the chair due to public interest and demand.


text:
- 12 total posts
- 1 review
- 11 comments
Reviews & Stories
RNY at Work - Washington, DC
Always being heavy, it started to kill me within the last 3 year's. I thank God for opening the doors for me to be healed in this way. You still have to work hard and stay true to yourself. If you don't actually the surgery will bring you together..lol ask me how I know? I feel so good and alive. I don't miss the food. I'm only three months out and have some time to go, but wouldn't trade it... READ MORE
Recent comments from ounces36
Hi, I'm 255. Looking to lose 65 more..I started at 420... READ COMMENT
You will get you appetite back. My doctor prescribed me appetite suppressants for three months...worked fine...and keeping my stomach small...it possible to stretch it out.. we don't want any weight gain back.. for the depression, I... READ COMMENT
Hey, Thanks for commenting... OK..It's been a while now so, How's your progress? Dr. Afram don't play.....lol...short and to the point.. READ COMMENT
Thanks for the comment.. I just posted a 21month update with pictures.. Hope it encouraging...lol...I think I did OK so far...more to loose too..at lest 65 more.. READ COMMENT
Thank you...did you have surgery or thinking about It? READ COMMENT


text:
N., Zakuan and S. M., Yusof and A. M., Shahroun (2009) The link between total quality management and organizational performance in Malaysian automative industry: the mediating role of ISO/TS16949 efforts. In: IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Management IEEEM2009, 2009, Hong Kong.
Official URL: http//www.dx.doi.org/10.1109/IEEM.2009.5373312
The principal aim of this article is to determine the impact of total quality management (TQM) and ISO/TS16949 efforts on organizational performance of Malaysian automotive industry. Based on theoretical considerations, a model is proposed linking the TQM constructs and ISO/TS16949 efforts to the organizational performance. Exploratory factor analyses and reliability analysis empirically verified and validated the underlying items of TQM, ISO/TS16949 and organizational performance. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the model drawing on a sample of 161 Malaysian automotive industries. Data analysis reveals that, TQM implementations have a strong and positive impact on organizational performance through direct relationship and also through a mediating role of ISO/TS16949 efforts.
|Item Type:
|Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
|T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
|Mechanical Engineering
|ID Code:
|Deposited By:
|Mrs Liza Porijo
|Deposited On:
|13 Oct 2011 14:38
|Last Modified:
|13 Oct 2011 14:38
Repository Staff Only: item control page


text:
Name Meanings
Popular Baby Girl Names In America Through The Years: How To Find Them
Many expectant parents refer to popular baby girl names in America through the years when they are deciding what to name their daughters. This can be a challenging task, as there are so many beautiful … [Read More...]
How To Pick The Right Name For Your Baby Boy
Having a baby is a glorious event in most parent's lives. There is so much to look forward to but it can also be stressful and a bit frightening. One of the more stressful decisions new parents will … [Read More...]
How To Find What Your Name Means
Name Meanings News
Celebrity Baby Names and Other Name Trends
"Expecting a baby? Congratulations! Now here comes the question you will hear over and over for the next nine months: What are you naming the baby? Over a hundred years ago William, John and Mary … [Read More...]


text:
CEC shuts out Superior, North Branch
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton tennis team's "Hell Week" turned into more of a "Heck Week" last week, with persistent rain playing havoc with the team's scheduled seven-match schedule.
On Tuesday, the team played its scheduled match against Superior and routed the Spartans 7-0, winning every match in straight sets.
Ryan Willgohs, Ryan Lind, Ben Tomhave and Anders Pertler swept the singles, with Daniel and Seth Stevens making debuts at third doubles and winning 6-0, 6-1.
After a scheduled day off Wednesday, matches on Thursday and Friday were rained out, with the Friday match against Hermantown to decide the LSC championship. That match may be made up on Wednesday, as this issue of the Pine Journal went to press, weather permitting.
On Saturday, the team traveled to Cambridge to face the Bluejackets and North Branch Vikings and came out on top. They beat Cambridge-Isanti 5-2, with Christian Pritchett returning to the No. 1 singles place for the weekend. Willgohs and Rob Sobczak won in singles while Joey Gotchnik and Tim Paczynski won at first doubles and Josh Keith and Ben Tomhave won at No. 2.
CEC ran the table against the Vikings as well, posting a 7-0 win, with Pritchett, Lind, Gotchnik and Tomhave winning in singles, with the latter two winning by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
On Tuesday of this week, the 'Jacks posted a 6-1 win at Cook County, with the Vikings forfeiting the third doubles match due to a lack of players. Willgohs, Tomhave and Pertler won in singles, with doubles teams of Lucas Tomhave and Paczynski and Josh Keith and Daniel Stevens posting victories.


text:
Troops Oust Haiti Rebels From Ex-Leader's Villa
Published: December 18, 2004
United Nations peacekeepers on Friday stormed the home of the former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to evict rebel former soldiers who seized the compound two days ago.
No shots were fired, and the rebels agreed to leave peacefully, said Damian Onses-Cardona, a United Nations spokesman. ''Fortunately everything has gone well,'' he said. ''Nobody is injured, nobody's hurt,'' he told reporters outside the walled property in a Port-au-Prince suburb.
It was unclear whether the United Nations troops, led by a contingent from Brazil, had arrested the ex-soldiers, who took over the villa on Wednesday and said they planned to use it to train a new army. Mr. Onses-Cardona said the 50 soldiers found inside would be taken to the capital's police academy.
Former members of the army, which Mr. Aristide disbanded a decade ago because of its proclivity for coups and bloodshed, had been hailed as ''freedom fighters'' by the interim prime minister, G?rd Latortue, for their role in ousting Mr. Aristide. But relations soured as they continued to demand the re-establishment of the army and 10 years' back pay.
Criticized by many for not doing enough to halt the spreading violence, the peacekeepers surrounded the compound shortly after the former soldiers occupied it but failed to persuade them to leave.
On Friday, the peacekeepers also surrounded a second compound where rebel former soldiers have been holed up for two months, and were greeted with voodoo curses.
Dozens of gunmen inside the former army base, in P?onville, blocked the entrance with wrecked cars and burning tires, and set out earthenware jugs to conduct voodoo rites to hex the peacekeepers.
''They have heavy weapons, but we have an even more deadly weapon -- voodoo -- and we'll use it,'' said one former soldier, Maxime Jovin, 45, who described himself as a voodoo priest.
A Brazilian soldier, displaying a crucifix, responded, ''Against voodoo, we have God.''
Ten months after Mr. Aristide went into exile in South Africa, rebel soldiers still control large areas, and about 200 people have been killed since early September in gang wars and clashes between Mr. Aristide's enemies and supporters of his party, Lavalas Family.
''I see civil war coming,'' said Marcelus Pierre, a passerby who hurried past the base in P?onville.


text:
|January 22, 2000, 05:14 PM
Join Date: December 21, 1999
Location: Huntsville AL USA
Posts: 37
what is the best skeet thower for the money
|January 22, 2000, 05:55 PM
Junior member
Join Date: October 7, 1999
Posts: 267
Someone with a strong arm.
|January 22, 2000, 09:31 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: April 4, 1999
Location: Mesa Arizona
Posts: 327
Gee Rosco,
That's what my dad thought too. Gee my arm would be sore some nights.
I was also the best TV remote for the money back in the days come to think of it...
|January 23, 2000, 12:56 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: December 20, 1998
Location: NE Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,640
OK more input needed. What kind of thrower, manual, electric, mounted or hand thrown type?
Lincoln makes some very good manual traps, a bit on the expensive side but very reliable. They are designed to be mounted on a framework that you sit on to operate the trap. As to electric machines, the Beomat line, made in Sweden I believe, has the best reputation but you will need to take out a second mortgae to buy one.
As to "strongarm" type hand throwers, any one that throws the bird will work.
Geoff Ross
|January 23, 2000, 05:19 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 20, 2000
Location: Oak Forest, IL
Posts: 661
My friend and I split the cost on an Outers Flight Master. We also got the second throwing arm. I think we paid $150 for the machine and $20 for the second arm. It works good for what we use it for (mainly a trap type setup). As for a skeet setup, we could probably set two throwers up. But since it is usually just my buddy and I shooting, it would be impractical. I still think the thrower has paid for itself as we don't have a 'thrower' that can be powered by soda pop and cookies.
If you do get the Flight Master, be sure to remove that stupid "safety ring". It makes the whole thing pretty awkward during transport to the farm where we shoot. I have also disconnected the main spring for storage so I can fold it up into a neat little package under my reloading bench.
[This message has been edited by jcoyoung (edited January 23, 2000).]
|January 23, 2000, 07:22 PM
Junior member
Join Date: October 7, 1999
Posts: 267
I am glad my sarcasm and wry wit is aproved of.
|January 24, 2000, 11:51 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 7, 2000
Location: Idaho
Posts: 6,073
I have had excellent results using those red plastic throwers that sell for under $10 at any Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. Don't know the brand name, but they're easy to find.
You get a lot of control that way--throw soft, throw hard, high, low, etc. And will throw much farther than the best arm.
The only downside is you can't shoot alone. You need someone with you to throw while you shoot, then trade off. But then, most TFL members consider shooting a buddy sport, anyway, right?
|January 24, 2000, 03:19 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 20, 2000
Location: Oak Forest, IL
Posts: 661
I think the cheapo...uhh...inexpensive, red plastic thrower you're thinking of is made by MTM.
I haven't had any experience with these, but I've heard they are terribly inconsistent. It probably depends on the skill of the thrower on how inconsistent it really is. Sure can't beat $10 though. I think it would be worth a try.
|January 25, 2000, 12:55 PM
Join Date: September 15, 1999
Posts: 97
Friend and I were out this last weekend with the red plastic thrower and had a blast - true, it does take some practice to get good with it, but once you have it down, it's fairly consistent. You can vary your throw distance, your flight angle and such very easily, and to boot, the shooter doesn't know exactly where it's going to go, either.
IME, it's a good way for you and a buddy to get good at shooting at 'real-world' targets rather than machine thrown targets. Plus, you'll build up your strong arm to the point that it'll make lugging groceries for the wife that much easier!
Seriously, for the money you can't go wrong with the red plastic thrower,
|January 26, 2000, 02:55 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 20, 2000
Location: Oak Forest, IL
Posts: 661
Natchez Shooters Supply has the MTM E-Z Throw II for the following prices:
Target Thrower: $3.71
Tar. Throwers, Med.Range: $9.98
Double Target Throwers: $8.57
The Outers thrower:
Outers Flight Master: $141.16
Trap Doubles Throwing Arm: $21.31
I have no idea what the differences are between the three MTM throwers. Maybe somebody else here at TFL knows. Or you could check it out at the MTM Case-Gard website.
Happy shopping.
|January 27, 2000, 04:20 PM
Join Date: September 15, 1999
Posts: 97
The MTM throwers are offered in 'standard' which is just the red thrower itself, looks like a super-heavy-duty flyswatter with GIANT "C" on the end, to which the clay bird is inserted prior to 'throwing'. The Medium Range thrower is the same red thrower with a long wooden rod screwed to it (about 3-4 feet long, IIRC), which allows you to get a greater swing on it prior to release, and the Double Arm thrower is the same red plastic handle with two 'heads' that lets you throw 2 birds at once (with or without the wooden extension attached).
I've only had experience with the 'basic' thrower. Let us know if you get one of the others, I'd be curious if they work as advertised. Sure can't beat the price!
|October 13, 2005, 01:59 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: October 13, 2005
Posts: 1
i have used the MTM EZ thrower and the EZ throw MR. they both work well, but the EZ throw MR is much better!! it is an awesome thrower, but you have to know how to use it. you have to hold it with a split grip, and then you snap it instead of using a big swing like a golf club. One of the coolest things is that you can make the clay curve in mid-flight and pull stunts like that. it takes some practice, but i would suggest spending the money for the EZ-thrower-MR. by the way, it is mounted on a fiberglass rod, NOT a wooden rod. That is important, because you get extra flex and play from the fiberglass. a few hints: vary your swing from starting up high to starting down low. i swear that the clay will hook and slice according to your swings. it is really awesome, and extremly challenging for the shooters.
i say shooters because i used to have multiple shooters line up and try to hit the clays i would throw. i once threw 14 clays without any of the 4 shooters making a shot!
|October 13, 2005, 04:48 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: July 6, 2004
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Posts: 1,443
Yup, red plastic arm. It can't be beat.
Boy will it put those things out there! It takes some getting use to....but it is a good challenge.
"The SKS is a rifle, made the way they should be, out of a heavy block of crappy commie steel, set in an inletted semi-reshaped 2x4."
Not my quote but I agree completely.
|October 14, 2005, 12:57 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: February 5, 2002
Posts: 1,819
Clay throwers come in all Price Ranges, Features, and Qualities.
Personally I am partial to and recommend the Trius 1 Step.
Portable, allows one to shoot by themselves, safe design , ease of use.
I have used the various simple Outers to the high dollar LaPorte's.
I have a special thing about Skeet Fields, clay games, and "bird shoots" out the middle nowhere places..farms, pastures.
These 1-Steps are sure great at teaching, learning and practice.
Not to mention the fun factor.
Use Enough Gun
TFL Alumni
|October 18, 2005, 05:54 PM
Join Date: February 4, 2005
Location: Medway, Ohio
Posts: 40
Double Thrower
The single red thrower' are great and it didn't take too long for me or my friends to learn hwo to throw. If it's cold try to warm them up (engine Block). Also they're pretty stiff the first couple times out but once broken in are extremely easy. I broke a double thrower once. Was throwing a pair and it broke off at the end of the handle and hit my Dad's friend's gun. Gl;ad I didn't hit him in the face. So stick with the singles!
|October 19, 2005, 01:20 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 6, 2000
Location: SE PA
Posts: 1,049
I will second those Trius 1 Step's. They are easy to tote and require no set-up at the range. We've oft times showed up, shot and left whilst others were still struggling to mount their throwers to a spare tire or secure them to the hard-packed dirt.
The only trouble with the Trius 1 Step's IMHO is that they throw kind of slow and doubles are barely moving. We often use ours in conjunction with the cheap red plastic throwers in order to keep things interesting. Siince it is a 1 Step, it is easy for the same operator to also hand toss.
"Freedom is not free"
Visit TheRallyPoint.org
TheRallyPoint at LRGC- Saturday August 26th
|Thread Tools
|Search this Thread


text:
Warning…proud papa ahead! My son, Bilijack Bell, was just named the 2012 Atlanta realtor of the year by the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors. He obviously takes after his mother! The Atlanta Business Chronicle did a feature article about him. In the interview for the article, he made a profound (did I mention I was proud?) statement: "I always choose optimism; it's just easier and allows me to be open to good things in life."
Let's dissect his wisdom. "I always choose optimism." He reminds us that an optimist attitude is not an innate condition. You cannot go your doctor and get an attitude transplant or have the doc prescribe an optimism pill for you. You decide if your approach to the world is going to be an outlook of optimism or pessimism. Winston Churchill wrote, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." It is the emotional mantle of winners. General Colin Powell called optimism a "force multiplier."
"…It's just easier." People with an assertively hopeful attitude seem to get more positive things happening to them. This self-fulfilling prophesy is the byproduct of a progressive mindset. Gandhi wrote: "Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." Bottom line…it's just easier!
"…And (it) allows me to be open to good things in life." Optimists have an expectancy of greatness; a belief in happy endings. Charlie Chaplin said, "You will never find a rainbow if you are looking down." Their propensity to see the bright side enables them to attract frontrunners and winners. As carriers of enthusiasm they lift others up and transform effort into excellence; dreams into dreams come true. Choose the power of optimism; as the Dalai Lama said, "It feels better." And, don't be surprised if you find your pathway easier and countless friends eager to travel it with you


text:
Nobody had to tell Ryan Braun he hadn't been swinging the bat well.
"The last week or two, my swings probably fluctuated somewhere between terrible and awful," said the Milwaukee Brewers' star rightfielder.
That changed in a big way Saturday night when Braun snapped out of a 7-for-43 skid (.163) in dramatic fashion. Jumping on a first pitch from Cincinnati reliever J.J. Hoover, Braun drove a two-run home run to right field with one down in the eighth inning to provide the winning runs as the Brewers toppled the Reds, 4-2, before 40,507 fans at Miller Park.
Braun actually had shown signs of snapping out of his drought in his previous two at-bats — a line drive to shortstop and a drive to deep center. But outs are outs, and hard-hit ones can be even more frustrating when you're knee-deep in a slump.
"Throughout that time period, I hit quite a few balls hard at people," said Braun. "But those two at-bats were an encouraging sign. All you can do as a hitter is hit the ball on the barrel.
"I've said it many, many times. You have very little control over results, so you just continue to compete every day, continue to put your work in and believe in the process. I've played this game long enough. I deal with this inevitably at some point every year.
"It's not fun, it's always frustrating but eventually things work themselves out."
Braun's home run allowed the Brewers to pull out a game that for the longest time was a tense pitchers' duel between right-hander Yovani Gallardo and Cincinnati's Mat Latos, making his first start of the season after coming off the disabled list. Gallardo allowed a first-inning run but that was it during a seven-inning stint in which he struck out eight.
It was the second consecutive strong outing for Gallardo, who shut out Pittsburgh over seven innings on the Brewers' last trip.
"I've felt pretty good the last two starts," said Gallardo, who allowed six hits and two walks. "The starts before that I would just get out of my rhythm. I was able to make pitches tonight.
MLB Headlines
Nobody had to tell Ryan Braun he hadn't been swinging the bat well.


text:
Very Important Standards To Use Twitter Marketing Software
Twitter is considered as possibly the most popular social networking websites in the world. It's the reason why lots of Internet businessmen want to take advantage of it. Millions of individuals are using Twitter so you may expect that you can find a lot of potential customers in this platform. Although Facebook is more popular, you shouldn't disregard Twitter as it is also a powerful online platform to stabilize your reputation on the web.
Doing some manual marketing on Twitter is a good thing, but if you'd like more convenience, using Twitter software is the best move. If you're still hesitating to use this software for your campaigns, we will offer you some of the important advantages that it will offer.
This software is more affordable than hiring team members to deal with your social networking websites, especially your Twitter account. You do not need to think about plenty of staffs to take care of the task since the software can do it.
You don't need to manually do everything as this software will post the tweets on the durations that you arranged. This will be a sensible approach to save time as well, specifically when you have other things to accomplish.
In today's society, it's really important that you save a couple of dollars when you are marketing your goods and services. This software will help you decrease your expenses substantially and increase the general effectiveness of your marketing.
You can save lots of time in using this software as it can target potential prospects without doing it manually. It will certainly take lots of time to find your target viewers because you will still need to differentiate them depending on their activities, likes and other factors. This is to make sure that they will have better odds of being a customer.
With the help of this software, you could easily find your viewers because it will do everything for you. It will filter the audience to aim for individuals who are more likely to avail your products and services.
If you at any time really want more suggestions on twitter marketing strategy: look here .
The software will target and research the individuals that you have to target so you will not need to spend plenty of time.
If you're quite busy with other things, you shouldn't worry too much on this software because it is always designed to offer comfort. This means that you may still publish tweets even if you're too busy with other things.
You may ready your tweets and schedule them with respect to the durations that you'd like. This will be a great method to get more leads since the end users see plenty of activity on your page. You could develop your reputation if you're posting some useful tweets that will surely help the end users.
As of now, a lot of businessmen are already using this software, so if you're not yet using this, you are being left out. You should not hesitate as this software will provide everything that you need if you would like your social media campaigns to be successful.
To get more information on the subject of internet; click through here.