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The Celtic Connection
Orange, particulate-laden light slants down Norfolk Street as a sweltering Houston day becomes sweltering Houston dusk. Inside McGonigel's Mucky Duck, despite a packed house early on a weekday evening, there's a feeling of being somewhere cooler, somewhere north of Texas and halfway around the world. On the stage in the corner, a seated half-circle of nine musicians with fiddles, guitar, banjo, flute and bodhran play a mystical Celtic air for each other and the lone microphone hanging down from the ceiling.
Animated conversation and peals of laughter from the crowded tables mute the barely amplified band-with-no-name; for those standing among the whirlwind of discussion and beer at the bar, only the four fiddles can be heard. With a break that ripples through the room like waves from a pebble, the pair of bodhran players pound a louder, faster tempo that speaks of matters martial. Suddenly, the music isn't speaking of castles in the mist and little folk in a sun-dappled forest. The mood now is one of memory, not myth -- memories centuries old, of lonely, rain-swept villages along rocky coasts from Brittany to Erin, where the pounding of the hand-held war drums warn that Viking longships are sweeping in from sea, and the flute and fiddles scream a call to arms in defense of home and kin. The hubbub in the audience dies down, attention focusing on the intense faces of the players on the stage, as the music swirls ever louder around the room before coming to a crashing peak, and calling forth subsequent applause.
What's taking place on this Wednesday night, just as it's taken place on every Wednesday night for the last 18 years or so at varying locations around Houston, is the Irish Session. For the people in attendance, it's as much family reunion as performance. Unlike most of the long-standing musical jams around town, here there's no sign-up list, no performer with some degree of local name recognition serving as host. The sharing of a centuries-old tradition and the preservation of cultural heritage seems more important than egos. Indeed, if anyone claimed to be in charge, they would probably be laughed out of the room.
It was sharing, teaching and learning that started the Session in the first place. Concertina player Gary Coover, whose recently ended stint as longtime host of KPFT/90.1 FM's "Shepherd's Hey" program makes him a reluctant spokesman for the Celtic cultural crowd, remembers, "It all started with the Houston Folklore Society. There were people who knew traditional Celtic music, and musicians who wanted to learn. There were people interested in playing, people who wanted to learn the traditional dances. We would get together at people's houses, 'Sing-along with Uncle Gary,' 'Sing-along with Uncle Mike,' until it got big enough and loud enough for the neighbors to complain. Since then it's been held all over town, at the original Rudyard's on Kipling, where in a year and a half we went from six people on a Wednesday night to a full house. They wouldn't give us a break on beer prices, so we went to Munchies on Bissonnet, to the old Parlor until it burned, the Gingerman, the Heights Diner, the Red Lion until it burned ...."
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Coover acknowledges that the direction of the Session has changed with time. "At first it was for learning tunes, people showing each other new tunes and techniques," he says. "It's gone though spells where it's like a school of fish, being lead by whoever is the loudest and strongest, without so many opportunities to ask questions."
The Mucky Duck incarnation of the Session, if for no other reason than the frequent participation of younger musicians, gives a very real sense of tradition passed on and history handed down. Maggie Drennon, singer with Houston's Ceili's Muse, boasts of a County Mayo heritage that surfaced despite a West Texas upbringing. "I refound it myself. I'd never even heard 'Danny Boy' until I was 18," she says. "I've been entranced and stuck ever since." Members of Ceili's Muse, the Gypsies and the Flying Fish Sailors -- the most visible Celtic-influenced traditional bands around Houston -- make participating in the Session a regular, energy-charging part of their regular routine.
Though there is among many of the patrons at the Mucky Duck a passion for the Emerald Isle, the name Irish Session is actually a bit of a misnomer. Nationalist anthems about Thompson guns and the wearing of the green are nowhere to be heard. What is celebrated instead is the whole of Celtic culture, and a musical tradition that, over the centuries, has become as much an American roots music as bottleneck guitar. The drums of western Africa are what gave American music its rhythm; more often than not, though, the melody is Celtic. The diaspora from the British Isles to America, especially to what became the southern United States, was very much a Celtic migration. In trickles and waves over the centuries, Scots, Welsh, Irish and Cornish settlers seeking land, religious freedom, and a general release from Anglo-Saxon meddling found their way -- by choice or "transportation" -- across the Atlantic.
With them they brought the reels and ballads and jigs and chanteys that preserved their history, traditions and legends. By virtue of numbers, this largest of immigrant groups became perhaps the most assimilated -- or perhaps the Celts assimilated everyone else. The melodies of the highlands and bogs became an integral part of the music that evolved along with the United States' national identity; without the Celtic traditions of Appalachia, Nashville would be just another town in Tennessee. But as the Celts became Americans, and their music became hillbilly, bluegrass and country, that music also somehow, inexplicably, survived as something very close to what it had been in times and places where English was regarded as a foreign language.
The popularity of Celtic folk music is either a testament to the timeless appeal of these sometimes haunting, sometimes hilarious, sometimes jig-inspiring tunes, or perhaps an argument in favor of the nebulous theory of racial memory. A heartbeat that quickens to the pounding of a bodhran may be no proof of an ancestral line that survived the Vikings, the English and the Tennessee Valley Authority, but statistically speaking, many multigenerational Americans whose knowledge of their own ethnic heritage has become somewhat vague could probably find, if they looked hard enough, a Scots-Irish ancestor who mucked through the swamps of colonial Georgia carrying a fiddle or mandolin.
Celtic blood-ties real, suspected and imagined have given many the impetus to learn the folk-arts of the ancient tribes; that's just one reason why the Wednesday night Session at the Mucky Duck is as much a school and tribal gathering as a musical event. The musicians on-stage seem more interested in learning, and passing on, a hard-earned ancient tradition than they are in playing to the crowd. Indeed, away from the tables close to the stage where most of the musicians take their breaks, the Session is as much cultural bonding as music appreciation.
A timeless dance step, learned on the dancer's latest pilgrimage to Dunoon or Dublin, can draw as much rapt attention as the music that fuels the steps. Conversations around the bar lead to information about lessons in Scots Gaelic and tour-group trips to folk-music festivals in Brittany; a comment on the Celtic knot-work logo on someone's T-shirt can lead to a stirring discourse on the merits of the religion of the Druids. And on-stage, the music that introduced this extended family to its common roots plays on.
After each song, the musicians hold their instruments in their laps, heads coming together and beer glasses coming up as the next selection is decided by committee. A fiddle player sets his instrument against the wall and heads toward the bar, a journey that is interrupted several times for handshaking, backslapping and laughter. A pair of musicians, bearing bodhran and tin whistle, come up and take chairs on-stage, inserting themselves into the conversation that splinters and fades as a loud, insistent guitar builds the framework of an air that is soon fleshed out by the other instruments, drowned out a few feet from the stage by the buzzing of the crowd.
When bones and bodhran player Rex Shaver notices that three vocalists with ties to Ceili's Muse are in the audience, he invites Drennon and longtime (although not necessarily current) Muse-mates Melanie O'Sullivan and Mary Maddux on-stage. After warning the crowd that squeamish pet owners should leave, the trio, with soaring harmonies and hysterical gestures, launch into "Nobody's Moggie Now," a soprano-trio tribute to a dearly beloved feline that is now, well ... flat, as in road kill. Returning to their chairs as the audience roars, Maddux is asked what relevance traditional Celtic music has to American culture. Without hesitating, she replies, "If it was relevant it would be a hell of a lot better culture -- and Guinness is very good for you." Meanwhile, on-stage, a cappella harmonies have been replaced with instrumental ones, the harmonizers blissfully uncaring about their alleged irrelevance, playing and passing on something that, to them, is vastly more important than 15 minutes of fame.
There's no need for anyone to be in charge, so no one is. Anyone with the self-confidence to take the stage is welcome to do so when the mood strikes them; it's not unusual to see a performer join in or leave the stage in mid-song on a whim or a mission.
There's no disrespect intended by the patrons who ignore the music to converse, and no offense taken by the performers, who do their share of gabbing when they take their breaks. Standing at the bar, Shaver, who has been a Session regular "only for about ten years," comments, "It's good to have the kids come in and play. I like knowing this music is going to outlive me."
Predominate among the "kids" is Diehl Moran, who, celebrating his 14th birthday, has been playing violin since the age of five, "but only seriously since I was about nine." Still, a balance of classical training and lessons from Greg Harbaur of the Gypsies stands him in good stead, enough so that he's accepted as an equal. To celebrate his birthday, Moran takes the stage to sing his own version of "The Wild Rover" -- detailing the agonies of being a working musician seven years before he can go into a bar unaccompanied by his parents, a prospect which seems not to bother Moran's mother and father a whit.
Most refreshing of all is the presence of musicians whose love of playing is in no way tied to a desire to see themselves aggrandized, or in some cases even known. A fiddler with a shaved head and goatee, caught making a beer run, declines to give his name on the grounds that he's in the Witness Protection Program, on the run from the International Anti-Irish Mafia. In a reasonably authentic Guinness-fueled brogue, he blarneys "... and so is everyone else here, so if they see my name in the paper and track me down, it would be a disaster for everyone involved."
Shyness, rather than questionably real paranoia, seems to influence a blond woman in purple velveteen shorts, who remains on-stage throughout the night, a blissfully ecstatic look on her face as she plays flute and tin whistle. At the evening's close, accompanied only by gentle, rhythmic thumping on guitar and fiddle, she sings in muted tone to a crowd of a dozen stragglers a long tale of the hard life of a woman, blushing gently with the outrageously bawdy double entendres. When asked her name, she blushes again, declines and goes into the night until the next week, another Session player keeping an ancient tradition alive and vibrant.
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ISBN10: 0739365169 ISBN13: 9780739365168 Edition: Audio CD; 2008-05-13
In the tradition of Frances Hodgson Burnett�s The Little Princess come Noel Streatfeild�s tales of triumph. In this story, three orphan girls vow to make a name for themselves and find their own special talents. With hard work, fame just may be in the stars! Originally published in 1937.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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You're the Target: New Global Marlboro Campaign Found to Target Teens
All governments should comprehensively ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in accordance with the international tobacco control treaty, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Only comprehensive bans can prevent PMI and other tobacco companies from initiating similar youth marketing activities in the future.
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text:
Ford, Foster spar over fundamentalism and science
ST. PETERSBURG — Former City Council member Bill Foster attempted to portray opponent Kathleen Ford as intolerant of his Christian conservative beliefs during a heated mayoral forum Wednesday.
"Every time she mentions science, science and science, it's like my belief in the Bible somehow makes me unable to address science and technology," Foster, 46, said at the Suncoast Tiger Bay event. "The fact that I believe in the Bible, I just can't believe it is now being seen as a character flaw."


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"Magnus Hagander" <mha(at)sollentuna(dot)net> writes: > Attached is a patch with adds a environment variable based version of > locale_messages_assign(). It's not a pretty solution, but I think it's > probably necessary. Applied with minor cleanup. I'm still concerned about the order-of-operations issue, but some desultory experimentation on Linux (Fedora Core 3) did not find any cases where setlocale(LC_MESSAGES) would fail because of a contradictory LC_CTYPE setting, so maybe that theory is all wet. Still it seems there is *something* fishy going on, given the number of reports we've seen. regards, tom lane
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The Work of Sartre: Search for Freedom and the Challenge of History
István Mészáros' updated study of Sartre is a valuable exploration of the political implications of that great philosopher's commitments and ideas
István Mészáros, The Work of Sartre: Search for Freedom and the Challenge of History (Monthly Review Press 2012), 380pp.
István Mészáros' newly expanded critical study of Jean-Paul Sartre not only makes a powerful case that Sartre was one of the great philosophers of the twentieth century, but also underlines his continuing importance as a thinker whose lifework is 'manifestly representative of our time' (p.141). In demonstrating Sartre's strengths and integrity, Mészáros also reveals how his very failures are sources of illumination. Some of Sartre's most ambitious works remained unfinished, and the reason lies in the contradictions at the core of the philosopher's thinking, and also, as Mészáros points out, at the heart of late capitalist society.
There are several themes which run throughout the work, some of which relate to the philosophical premises of Sartre's thinking, and others which reveal the political consequences of Sartre's thinking. One of Mészáros' contentions is that there remained, throughout all the key stages in Sartre's work, certain continuities at the level of fundamental premises. These premises at once fuelled Sartre's critical energy, but also became more problematic the more he identified himself as a Marxist and a revolutionary.
Sartre has often, particularly in recent years, been taken to task for his insufficient condemnation of Stalinist Russia. Given the context of the Cold War, and Sartre's thoroughgoing opposition to his own state's vicious colonial war in Algeria, the fatuous moralism of this charge should be clear. However the importance of Sartre as a philosopher and activist does not lie in the details of the particular positions he adopted at different points.
Neither are there singular principles to be extracted from his writings. Rather, Sartre's value lies in his consistent and uncompromising stance against power and exploitation, and the ambition of his attempt at a total critique of existence in class society. As Mészáros puts it, in philosophical terms: 'we are captivated by the process of nihilating objectification that produces the lifework, and not necessarily by particular results' (p.27). Sartre's position was that 'freedom' was an irreducible fact of individual existence, but the institutions of bourgeois capitalism seek effectively to eliminate that freedom by the reduction of individuals to atomised and alienated units of an objectified mass. To succumb to this process is to be 'serialised'. In his revolt against alienation, or serialisation, and in his demand for an authentic freedom that capitalism cannot provide to the mass of people, Sartre subjected existing society to relentless critique with revolutionary ambition, that is, to a process of nihilation.
Sartre did not begin as a Marxist, or even as a political activist in any sense, but rather as a writer and existential philosopher. The 1930s and 40s drove him leftwards, and by the closing stages of his intellectual career, he made the monumental attempt in the Critique of Dialectical Reason to marry his existentialism with Marxism. Only the first volume of this appeared in his lifetime, and many have been quick to label it a failure, as a short-cut to dismissing Sartre and his commitment to the revolutionary left. Yet, the very problems of the Critique, and the persistent dilemmas that run through Sartre's work, are themselves diagnostic of wider problems in capitalist society. It is in this sense that Sartre not only intervened significantly in his times, but reflected their contradictions also.
As always, it is where thinking starts from that is crucial; if you accept the premise, almost everything else a good philosopher has to say will necessarily follow. Sartre's philosophical premise shows the same flaw as the generality of western thinking in the modern era; he starts from the point of view of the individual. In the consistency of this one intellectual move, the link between the intellectual sphere and the prevailing social order is revealed. Originally, nineteenth-century existentialism as a school of philosophy was typically conservative in nature. From Kierkegaard to Dostoyevsky, its individualist premise led it towards pessimism and the rejection of social change as a possibility. In the twentieth century, the German existentialist, Martin Heidegger was complicit (at the very least) with Nazism, and yet his work remained influential on the left….
Read the entire review on Counterfire


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Jerry and Karen Drudi, of West Springfield, are pleased to announce the engagement of their son, Jason Drudi, to Janessa Myers, both of Arlington. Janessa is the daughter of Ken Myers, of Oceanside, N.Y., and Donna Myers, of Bethpage, N.Y.
The future bridegroom earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Lasell College in Newton. He is employed as a regional sales director with Kenexa Technologies Inc. in Waltham.
The bride-to-be earned a bachelor of science degree from Lasell College and a master of education degree in elementary education and special education from Rivier College in New Hampshire. She is employed with the Lexington school district.
An October wedding is planned.


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Toon Talk: King Arthur
Page 1 of 2
Toon Talk
Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt
(c) Disney
King Arthur
Round Table Redux
Rivaling the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan, the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have endured cinematic interpretations ranging from the good (Excalibur) to the bad (Quest for Camelot), including such diversions musical (Camelot), comedic (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and family friendly (Disney's own animated The Sword in the Stone). One would think that the well had been drained long ago for any fresh take on the tales, yet along comes King Arthur, whose gimmick is that it is based on the historical figures who supposedly inspired such legends in the first place.
Pushing the story back from Medieval times to the Dark Ages, this film (directed by Antoine Fuqua with an stultifying solemnity similar to his over-rated-B-movie-hiding-behind-an-A-list-star, Training Day) strips away the more fantastical and romantic aspects of the legend, such as Merlin's magic and the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love triangle; yet, while it still retains such iconic images as the Round Table and Excalibur, what remains is rather bleak, with muddied extras and gloomy landscapes reminiscent of the two films it obviously is aspiring very hard to be, Braveheart and Gladiator, and frenetic battle sequences that ape the style of Saving Private Ryan yet still pale in comparison to the epic sweep of those found in the recent Lord of the Rings trilogy.
(c) Disney
On the eve of the end of Roman rule over Britain, the elite fighting squad of knights, under the leadership of Arthur (Clive Owen, who, if the rumors are correct, at least proves here that he's got the action chops to take on the role of one Bond, James Bond), finds themselves at a crossroads: whether to return to their lives that they left before their indentured service, or to continue to fight together against the impending threat of the Saxons, (lead by an almost unrecognizable Stellan Skarsgard, of Good Will Hunting fame, enouncing his lines in a basso profundo voice that is almost as laughable as his fierce ponytails) a brutal warrior race bloodthirsty for conquest. And although they are a ragtag lot (including 102 Dalmatians' Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot, Ella Enchanted's Hugh Dancy as Galahad, Star Wars-Episode II's Joel Edgerton as Gawain and that Sexy Beast himself, Ray Winstone as the big lug Bors), there's still enough chivalry amongst them to band together for the common good, even though the odds are against them.


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Riga (Aug. 11)
Many schools using German as the language of instruction have been closed down in Latvia during this year. The reason is the growth of National Socialist sentiment among the Germans in Latvia, resulting in the withdrawal of Jewish pupils.
As Jews provide the largest proportion of pupils in the German schools, many of these were compelled to close down. The Erik Germanus School, one of the oldest and largest German institutions in Latvia, has been closed this week on this account.


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WATCH: Tourist info controversy continues despite positive numbers
VERNON – Vernon's new downtown visitors centre reports in its first full month of operation the number of visitors was up 12.1 per cent compared to the number of people who came into its old south location last July.
The city used to have two tourist information centres north and south of the downtown core.
Those are now closed and have been replaced with a centralized location on 39th Avenue.
Critics of the planned move raised concerns that if visitors couldn't find or access the new location they might take their tourism dollars elsewhere.
Some still don't believe local politicians made the right decision on the issue.
"It's not the people, but the location is just wrong. People have actually got to find it rather than have it come to them," says Mike Mattinson, who operates Silver Star Bed and Breakfast.
Some city councillors are waiting to see the final numbers for the season before drawing their conclusions about the move.
Vernon councillor Mary-Jo O'Keefe says the recommendation for a centralized downtown information centre came from the city's Tourism Advisory Committee, which includes local businesses that make their money off of tourist dollars.


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text: Tavis Rudd wrote: > > On Monday 28 May 2001 18:05, Tom Schwaller wrote: > > after installation I found a small typo: > > /usr/lib/python2.1/site-packages/TemplateServer/ServletFa > >ctory.py", line 26, > > from Compliler import wrapTemplateCode > > should be > > from Compiler import wrapTemplateCode > > Just uploaded a fixed copy. Thanks. yep. works nice otherweise.. > > Maybe one could add an Examples directory in PlateKit and > > uncomment the line > > app.addContext('TemplateExamples', > > appServer.serverSidePath('../PlateKit/Examples')) > > Uses the name PlateKit instead of TemplateServer. So > > after putting PlateKit into the Webware directory one > > would have an out of the box example. just an idea.. > > That's a good idea. I'll have a look at it now. I'll send you a copy of my modified files in a minute.. I produced the *.tmpl files and changed all links to the file extension agnostic links (e.g. /communicate instead of communicate.py or communicate.tmpl) > This trace indicates that an error handling bug in > AsyncT.A.S or in asyncore is obscuring the real error. > I've never seen this one before. Let me know if you track > it down. Is this also occurring on > http://localhost/wpy/TemplateExamples/communicate.py ? yes, same behaviour. Nod idea what that is right now. I'ts also the first time I see this... -- Tom Schwaller tschwaller@... http://www.python.de


text:
Harris County Positions
Thank you for your interest in employment with The Children's Assessment Center (CAC). The CAC is a department of Harris County. All qualified applicants should apply through Harris County. Open positions and position numbers are listed below. To apply for a position, please click here.
Current Openings (Harris County)
Development Director
CAC Foundation Positions
For CAC Foundation Positions please email resumes to email@example.com or mail to the attention of Dorota Jankovsky, HR Coordinator, The Children's Assessment Center, 2500 Bolsover Street, Houston, TX 77005
Current Openings (Foundation)
Facilities Technician


text: What started as a rest house in British India became the rage in the U.S. in the early 1900s. The bungalow style defined Americans' desire for simple house plans that were affordable and cozy. At the bungalow's height, when manufacturing was at a boom and cities were flourishing, young families wanted a permanent home, close to town yet away from the sights, sounds, and smells of the business districts. Today, as more young Americans are drawn to putting down roots near an urban environment, the bungalow style house has experienced a reawakening among Generation X and Y.Read More


text:
Bill Bradshaw's last act as athletic director!
NBC 10 reports that Temple University has asked a Canadian high school to change its "mascot" -- although they really just need to change the logo design -- and the school has agreed.
The only noticeable difference -- other than the color -- is the addition of ears.
Kelowna Secondary School began using the symbol in 2002, after Temple had trademarked its image.
It's not clear how the mascots ended up looking alike.
Photoshop was created in 1989. It's pretty clear how the mascots ended up looking alike.
John Lamb of OwlsBlog, your thoughts?
Suck it, Canada. RT @nbcphiladelphia: Temple University asks school in Canada to pick a new mascot bit.ly/YhOP5J
— John Lamb (@owlsblog) May 2, 2013
The article goes on to state that "A Temple spokeswoman says they appreciate the school's swift response," which likely went something like this:
Any of you read the first 12 issues of the relaunched Batman comic? You guys know what I'm talking about.
Photo via DC Comics Database


text:
Author: Timothy McCorkell
Published: 12-Apr-07 Revised/Updated 30-Jan-16
Print: Print This Story
She wanted to have sex in a public place with him. He resisted a first, but then he gave into her wishes,
* * * * * * *
"Dam'n she was hot. Its been about four years now since we had Sex al Fresco in her back yard. I wonder if I should wave to her. Ah, to late, she's getting off the bus. Oh, she's waving, she does remeber me."
"Hey Paul, how are you doing"
"Hi Linda, You're looking better than ever. How is everything going"
"Not to good Paul. I just visited my deceased husband at the cemetary. I think I loved him to death. He was just so hot. But I should have let him take a breather. The Doctor said his heart just gave out."
"Sorry Linda, I didn't know, but you can't blame yourself. A lot of guys have a bad ticker and just don't know it till, till ah,"
"Till what Paul Till a nyphomaniac like me kills them." You can say it Paul, I'm sure you remember all the rombs we had just about anywhere we could, and we almost got caught a few times. Well, at least your heart could take it, but my husbands heart just couldn't.
"I didn't mean for it to sound like that Linda. It just came out all wrong, Sorry,"
"You have nothing to be sorry for Paul. Its not your fault that I'm oversexd. He's only been gone three weeks, and I'm already horny as hell."
"I was headed to the Museum. Why don't you come along. I'll buy you a coffee and we can talk."
"Sounds good Paul, I've been meaning to check out "The Temple Of Dendor over there anyway.
"Sure Linda, I'll check it out with you. I'll crab that cab coming our way and well be there in about two minutes flat.
"Thanks Paul, I need a friend today and, and oh, never mind."
"Never mind what Linda"
"Oh damn you Paul, I need a friend and a booty call. Its been three weeks for me, When was the last time you had it"
"Its been long enough. I've hardly had any time for romance the last few months because my company went through a re-structuring."
"Oh, my Paul, a few months. Are you sure all the plumbing is still in working order. Lets skip the coffee and go right into "The Temple Of Dendor." Here, read this story on my lap top and see if it gives you any ideas this winning entry called "The Movie," that is obviously about the Sex al Fresco craze now going on in the UK."
"Good grief Linda, their having sex in a crowded movie theater. Hardly the place you would expect to find a griefing widow. Well were here."
"Please don't chastice me Paul, I'm both griefing and horny at the same time. That's just the truth, and you know I'm a very honest person.
"Sure Linda, no ptoblem. Can I take your hand."
"Please do Paul. Lets walk deep inside the Temple. You know, legend has it, that if you make love in this Temple, you'll have good fortune. And you know where the only ones inside the Temple right now. So what do you say"
"You mean, you want to make love here, right inside the Temple with all these people so close by. I think its just a tad bit dangerous. But how about a kiss, I think that's safe enough."
"Oh, you're still a great kisser Paul. It feels good to have your arms around me again. Let me just run my hand under your shirt."
"Okay, but no more than that Linda, we don't want to get swept up in the moment."
"Oh don't worry Paul. The Museum people expect couples to make love here, They now about the legend and they give couples a wide berth. In fact, I have a few friends that have said they made love here recently.
"No, please stop unbuttoning yout blouse Linda. someone could come."
:"Oh, we would hear them Paul, there's a good warning ehco here."
"Please but your bra back on Linda, Your breasts are as beautiful as ever, but someone could come."
"Touch them Paul. Please touch my btreasts.
"Okay Linda, I'm touching them and they feel wonderful, but this just isn't the place."
"Hold me, just hold me Paul."
"Allright Linda, I'm holding you and it feels wonderful, but,"
"No buts Paul, no more buts, I'm unbuckling your belt now. Take me, take me now Paul."
"This is mad, but allright, okay. I want you. I do want you. Oh, damn, you feel so good."
"Oh, yes Paul, give it to me. give it all to me. Oh, thank you Paul, that was super.
"That was thrilling Linda, absouletly thrilling."
"So, the Sex al Fresco gives you a rush to then Paul."
"Yeah Linda, I never thought it would, but it does. For those few minutes, I was free from every worry at the office. I feel great. In fact, I feel good enough that I'm going to cancel my appointment with my therapist and do the town with you.
"Lets go home first to my back yard Paul."
"Oh, what a little devil you are Linda."
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One Summer Holiday - Owlman
My Wife's Future Maid of Honor Has No Honor - Van Kleve
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The Long Weekend Trip to Visit Friends - Chapter 1 - Van Kleve
The Long Weekend Trip to Visit Friends - Chapter 2 - Van Kleve
My Wife Expresses Her Desire to Have an Orgy - Van Kleve
Getting to Know My Future In-laws - Tim S.
How to Locate the Female Clitoris


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Gimme gimme
Waiting for the city to fix your street? Waiting for them to help your elderly neighbors with basic home repairs? To do anything at all to improve your neighborhood?
Don't hold your breath.
The money's there--$22 million in federal funds. The problem is, the city council and the mayor have better things to do with it, mainly pork-barrel projects for well-wired special interests.
Before the recent city council election, Mayor Ron Kirk and a slew of council candidates all talked big about getting "back to basics," focusing on potholes instead of on big-ticket luxury deals like a new sports arena and the 2012 Olympics bid. They all said they had heard the voice of the people. Two weeks after the election, they're deaf again.
The biggest chunk of easy money for neighborhoods is the $22 million community development block grant--budget-free money from the federal government, with a stated legal purpose of helping decaying neighborhoods.
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At the first official council hearing on the CDBG budget a week ago, the back-to-basics thing was already in the ditch. First of all, fully a third of the CDBG money that is supposed to go straight into curbs, gutters, potholes, and fire stations is going instead to the coffers of a handful of nonprofit agencies.
Rather than spending the cash on street repairs, for example, the proposed budget calls for giving away $100,000 to the African-American Men of Peace, a southern Dallas nonprofit that works with young people. The line item in the budget calls for the city to make the donation to AAMP for a "building expansion."
In reality, according to a spokesman for AAMP, the money will help the organization move out of the back of a church, where it now has its offices, into a new proposed $1 million office and sports complex a block away.
The budget also calls for giving twice that amount, $200,000, to the Artist and Elaine Thornton Foundation for the Arts to convert an abandoned industrial building into a light manufacturing facility and school of theater arts.
Other groups in store for major gifts from the city are Kathy's Sunshine Outreach Center, Inc., down for $100,000; The Alameda Heights Community Outreach Center, for $175,000; the Dallas Life Foundation, for $100,000; and Fahim Minkah's Southern Skates roller-rink.
Southern Skates has already received a million dollars in CDBG money from the city to build a private nonprofit rink for inner-city kids. This year's $60,000 is for the skates.
In all, if this budget stands as proposed, a handful of nonprofits will rake in $750,000 from the city's 1999-2000 CDBG funds. One of the biggest stumbling blocks in any back-to-basics campaign, in a city with an estimated $3 billion backlog of infrastructure repairs, is that major repairs can wipe out poor homeowners. That's because the city, by law, must assess property owners for a stiff share of the cost of adjacent street and alley repairs.
Since poorer homeowners could be forced out of their neighborhoods by costly new alleys and curbs, they seldom petition to get the work done. That's why one of the major aims of the whole CDBG program is to give grants to poor neighborhoods and help them pay off their street-repair assessments.
In this year's $22 million citywide proposed CDBG budget, what's the amount proposed to help poor homeowners shoulder the cost of back-to-basics streets repairs?
$52,375. Citywide.
That's less than what they want to give away for roller skates.
At last week's hearing, a few council members did seem struck by the enormity of what was being proposed. Lois Finkelman questioned the basic drift in recent years of hundreds of thousands of dollars in so-called public improvement funds to non-profits ($300,000 last year to the Urban League alone for its new building).
She raised an interesting point: Most of the money isn't even going into programs carried out by the nonprofits to help people. It's going for new buildings to house the nonprofits. So what if the nonprofits go out of business?
"We are spending public taxpayer dollars in the private sector with no guarantee," Finkelman said, "that those dollars will continue to be out there with an organization or an entity that is going to continue to provide the same kind of services. In other words, if they go under, those bricks and mortar dollars are gone, and there is no benefit to the public."
The Dallas Observer asked Karen Bradford, the city official in charge of all this money, if the city does any kind of due diligence checkup on nonprofits in line for major CDBG grants. Bradford said the nonprofits fill out an application for money. Later in the process, after the city council has approved them for a grant, the nonprofits provide some financial information as part of actually signing a contract with the city.
At first Bradford said she would fax a list of the nonprofits that have applied for money in recent years along with their applications, and she indicated that the Observer would be able to view the contracts and backup financial declarations.
Later, Bradford called to say the Observer would have to talk to the city attorney about looking at the financial information or the contracts. Still later, she said by fax that she would not be able to provide even the names of organizations in time for this story that have been granted money in the past, let alone those that have applied and been turned down.
All of which raises an interesting possibility: Maybe there is no due diligence or backup information to provide.
Artist Thornton II, who is the chief financial officer of the foundation formed by his parents, longtime southern Dallas community activists and actors Artist and Elaine Thornton, laughed out loud when the Observer asked whether there was anything confidential or secret in the information he had given the city as part of his grant application.
"We don't have the capability of having anything to hide," he said. "In terms of dollars, we don't have any to hide. In terms of being funded, this [the proposed $200,000 city grant] would be our first funding opportunity."
Thornton's parents are respected community leaders in southern Dallas with a long track record. They led the fight for the development of the South Dallas Cultural Center in 1986, paid for by the city with $1.5 million from the 1982 city bond election. Thornton II, who wrote his master's thesis at North Texas State on corporate support for nonprofits, said a circuitous route had brought him and his parents to the knowledge that CDBG money might be available for their theater school. He said people in the Texas Commission for the Arts steered him to a nonprofit job-training and arts program in Pittsburgh, where the executive director advised him to ask city officials in Dallas about CDBG money.
From his point of view, Thornton was just being an effective nonprofit manager, seeking out available financial support. But council member Laura Miller--one of a very small minority on the council last week who found anything amiss in the proposed CDBG budget--saw something wrong with this picture. Only the nonprofits that are well-wired politically get the cash, she said. The rest don't even know it's there.
"With all of the conditions of our parks, our recreation centers, libraries that need work, this long waiting list that we have on the home-improvement program, for us to be spending hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars and giving money to nonprofits for their building projects is bizarre," Miller said. "It's not like we have a policy of doing that. It's not like we're asking all of the nonprofits in the city to compete for this money. It just happens to be which nonprofit gets the ear of somebody and gets on this list."
But council member Sandy Greyson spied something in the proposed budget that may be even more audacious than giving so-called "public improvement" dollars to private entities. What Greyson found may be proof that City Hall suffers from some kind of financial attention deficit disorder.
Two years ago, in response to criticism that the city was spending CDBG money on itself--on staff salaries--and precious little of it on the neighborhoods for which it was intended, the city council ordered a mini-reform. The point was to shift $1.5 million of the staff salaries out of the annual CDBG budget. The city could pay its own staff out of its own tax revenues and put the federal money where it was intended to go.
The shift of $1.5 million per year would be phased in over three years: the amount available for neighborhoods in the first year's budget would be $500,000, in the second year $1 million, and every year thereafter $1.5 million.
In its resolution, the council said the freed-up money was to be spent on housing needs. The first year, that's what happened. The CDBG budget shifted the $500,000 for salaries to housing programs. This year, in the second year of the reform, Greyson assumed there should be $1 million in new money budgeted for housing. Indeed, the CDBG budget had cut the amount for staff salaries this year by $1 million as planned. But the amount of new money budgeted for housing was still down at the $500,000 amount.
They saved the extra $500,000. So why wasn't it going to housing too? Where was the other $500,000? Greyson asked.
The answer was here, there, and everywhere. This year's $500,000 had wiggled off into the slop of pork-barrel projects favored by various council members.
Bradford, who is in charge of community development, told Greyson the council's resolution technically said only that the money saved by not paying staff salaries had to go into housing the first year. It never specified that the saved money had to go to housing every year.
The real trick in all of this, of course--in spite of the objections by Finkelman, Greyson, Miller, and Alan Walne, who also seemed uncomfortable with some of it--is that the city council itself is the trickster here. This budget technically is proposed to them by the Community Development Commission, and then the council holds a series of hearings to review it.
But the members of the Community Development Commission, which devised the proposed budget presented last week, are appointed by the council. They're the council-persons' pals. They didn't shift that second $500,000 into favored little pork-barrel deals here and there because they thought it would make their council-persons mad.
In fact, when the CDC was going through its own budget process earlier in the year, city staffer Bradford recommended they put that second $500,000 annual increment into housing the way they obviously were supposed to. It was the political appointees on the CDC who said no, gimme-gimme. Later, at their direction, Bradford came up with the deal about "you never said every year."
The truth is that the gimme-gimme deals are wired long before they ever get to the council. And according to remarks most of the rest of the council made last week, those deals aren't about to get unwired.
So if your street needs fixing or your alley needs paving, ask yourself a question. How wired are you? If the answer is "not very," then ask yourself another question. How well do you skate?
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Photos are for members only!!
Peachmate is a 100% free sex site for adults looking for fun with no strings attached.
Escort ads, casual sex groups, personal ads, video chat and much more.
I'm looking for a woman who is sex served or can't get enough. I have a fetish for oral and will give you multiple orgasms. Married and single both welcome. .


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Trailer trash: Even more 'Watchmen' for you
We cannot begin to explain to you the depths of the geekery that will unfold by March 2009 when Watchmen hits the screen. And the more Zack Snyder's vision of the Alan Moore graphic novel comes to light, the more the dorks will slobber. Seeing Doc Manhattan come to life is like ringing a Pavlovian bell for fanboys.
And yet, the big deal about the new trailer playing before Quantum of Solace is apparently the music, which blogs across the InTArWebz are buzzing about. After Smashing Pumpkins was featured in the first, this time around we get Prophecies from the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack and then Take a Bow from Muse. Neato. But also cool: They seem to have gotten Rorschach down pat. See, George Lucas, that's how you use CGI effectively.


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Head to theageofmammals.com/burgers. Poke your mouse around. Revel in seconds of hypnotic burger* overload.
*Ok, not just burgers, but Filet-O-Fish and McDonald's chicken sandwiches as well.
Check out more odd things from artist Guthrie Lonergana at theageofmammals.com.
[via Food Republic]
About the author: Robyn Lee is the editor of A Hamburger Today and takes many of the photos for Serious Eats. She'll also doodle cute stuff when necessary. Read more from Robyn at her personal food blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything.


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By Renson Mnyamwezi
Taita Taveta, Kenya: The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) will conduct an aerial census of elephants in the expansive Tsavo National Park in Taita-Taveta County and the Mkamazi ecosystem in Tanzania next month.
According to a senior KWS official, the Tsavo-Mkamazi wildlife census exercise will start from February 4 to 10 this year.
The exercise has been supported by various stakeholders including Daphne Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants, Africa Elephant Fund, Save the Elephants and Tsavo Trust.
A number of pilots have also volunteered to join the exercise conducted every two years, said KWS Corporate Communications Manager Paul Udoto.
He said the Tsavo census usually covers Mkomazi in Tanzania, Tsavo West, Tsavo East and Chyullu Hills national parks, South Kitui National Reserve as well as the outlaying areas of Taita ranches and Mackinnon in Kwale.
Mr Udoto said the census would seek to establish the population, trends and distribution of elephants as well as map out human activities inside and outside the protected areas.
Policy makers
"The results help policy makers and park management make sound decisions on resource allocation for security operations and conflict management," he said yesterday.
The Tsavo ecosystem census started in 2002 and is conducted every three years.
In a statement, Udoto said previous aerial census in 2011 in the same area showed that the elephant population stood at 12,572 up from 11,696 recorded in the 2008 census.
He said the census is a requirement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The county harbours the largest elephant population in the country, as 65 per cent of the region is occupied by the Tsavo ecosystem.


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Last word -- for now -- on Bucs' restricted free agents
I explained in an earlier post about the status of the unsigned restricted free agents and what happens now.
Well, the NFL had a nice rundown of the process on its labor site that I thought I should share. I'm not suggesting any of this is going to come into play where the Bucs are concerned, particularly with Donald Penn, but it's just to answer any questions you might have.
Here's an excerpt from the story:
"For the 90 RFAs who have not signed contracts as of April 15, the original clubs retain exclusive rights to sign the player. All RFAs can sign by June 1 the contract their original club tendered before March 5 — the first day of the 2010 league year. If a player does not sign by June 1, the original club can extend the qualifying offer and thereby retain exclusive rights to the player.
"If the original qualifying offer is greater than 110 percent of the player's 2009 base salary and the player does not sign that contract by June 15, the team can substitute the June 1 tender with a new June 15th tender of 110 percent of the RFA's 2009 base salary and continue to retain exclusive rights to the player. If the player does not sign by Week 10, he cannot play in 2010."


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Plummeting coverage and soaring costs characterize the nation's health insurance crisis. With much coverage for the nonelderly based on employment, job loss contributes to this misfortune. In response, Congress seems headed to emulate the 2006 Massachusetts "reform." That's an unpromising prescription because it seriously increases costs — just the opposite of what President Barack Obama cogently and correctly asserts that we need.
The "reform" requires all adult residents to obtain medical care insurance through individual purchase if they are not covered by an employer-provided plan, Medicaid — called MassHealth and limited to those with very low incomes — or CommonwealthCare, a means-tested subsidized program for those with income above MassHealth's limit but below 300% of the poverty line.
The Massachusetts Reform Model: Increasing Costs, Not Reducing Them
None of these programs produces efficiencies. The design does not reduce total health insurance outlays. Rather, CommonwealthCare adds massive costs to determine eligibility and then the amount of subsidy due, on top of the subsidies themselves. Those individualized determinations must be done hundreds of thousands of times in Massachusetts (many million times if applied nationally), not once but again and again because incomes don't hold still.
Moreover, the "reform" does nothing to reduce the untamed costs of matching hundreds of thousands of billings with thousands of plans containing differing, confusing rate schedules. Hordes of provider personnel must generate the billings, and then hordes of insurer administrators process them and pay — or often reject — billed items and then frequently wrangle over them with providers and patients. These procedures consume hundreds of billions of nonbenefit dollars a year. CommonwealthCare imposes not only premiums, but also deductibles and copays, which further complicate and add costs to processing bills. Those features often prevent the "insured" from using their insurance.
Individuals and families with incomes above 300% of the poverty level get no subsidy, but they must participate in their employer's insurance plan, if there is one. Many employees have declined employment-based insurance because they could not afford the premiums, deductibles, and copays required. Under the "reform," with those costs rising, they must participate or incur a penalty — over $1,000 in 2009. They can obtain an exemption only by persuading the Commonwealth Connector, the entity administering the program, that they cannot afford the least costly available policy. Success means no penalty — and no insurance.
The Connector, which solicits policies from private insurers, rejected all of the initial proposals as unaffordable. The insurers responded with policies with lower premiums but higher deductibles and copays. The law permits annual deductibles up to $2,000 for an individual or $4,000 for a family. Little wonder that the Connector has so far exempted more than 62,000 employees.
So the "reform" increases nonbenefit costs by the tens of billions (that would be hundreds of billions if used nationally) to ascertain eligibility, more tens of billions to ascertain how much subsidy each applicant qualifies for, plus the tens of billions for those subsidies. Then add the estimated 4 percentage points of cost to operate the Connector.
Subsidies Through Tax Credits: Dishonest And Inefficient
Reportedly the Senate Finance Committee favors providing the subsidies through tax credits, a favorite legislative dodge to hide the costs. (Tax expenditures, the government revenue lost through targeted favorable tax treatment, are the functional equivalent of direct government expenditures for purposes of determining deficits but are much less efficient.) And they require people to apply. Many people simply do not know what's available and how to navigate the bureaucratic maze. So the tax dodge incurs costs and discourages participation.
On top of these obvious inadequacies, the cost of medical care insurance continues to rise for employers and employees. State and local governments see increased costs for their own employees and for government programs. The Massachusetts individual mandate does not reduce the second major factor in our crisis – out-of-control costs. It does just the opposite.
President Obama sensibly proposes that we build our economy on rock, not sand. But few programs are so shifting as means-tested programs, as the history of Medicaid demonstrates. State governments repeatedly downsize such plans when the economy worsens, demand for benefits increases, and tax revenues to pay for them shrink.
If Massachusetts Can't Afford Its Reforms, Who Can?
As candidate Obama pointed out repeatedly, individual mandates are costly and hard to enforce. The commonwealth is struggling to meet the costs of the program, which are running higher than originally projected. Massachusetts has a high-wage economy that generates above average-tax revenues. But that income is proving insufficient to pay for the "reform"; as a result, the state is poaching on the funding for other health programs. If wealthy Massachusetts is in a bind to pay for this brand of reform, what can we expect of less fortunate states?
Massachusetts provides subsidized coverage to individuals and families with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level. Only nine other states have equally generous limits. With state budgets now stressed by falling income and property tax revenues and increased outlays caused by growing unemployment, it is dubious that other states could afford to match Massachusetts' level of subsidies even if they wanted to. Nevertheless, the House reportedly is fashioning a Massachusetts-like measure with subsidies available up to 400% of the federal poverty level.
The Massachusetts "reform" that congressional committee chairs seem about to advocate will neither provide universal coverage nor rein in costs. Nor will the toothless "pledge" by the "health care industry" to save two trillion dollars "voluntarily." Announced by President Obama on a Monday, the pledge had been disowned by hospital, insurer, pharmacy, and doctor participants by Thursday.
Until we confront the billions wasted by matching hundreds of thousands of bills with thousands of differing plans, we will not achieve the savings needed to pay for covering everyone comprehensively. Our present course seems headed for reform in name only.
A Better Way: Medicare For All
There is a better, easier way: simply expand Medicare to non-aged and non-disabled Americans. Medicare has been up and running for over four decades, has a better cost-restraint record than both private insurance and public means-tested programs, and actually put reasonable limits on provider payments. It would cover everyone without the huge costs of means-testing. Medicare uses private insurers for administration and should continue to employ thousands of their experienced employees. Eliminating the nonbenefit costs of private insurance — commissions, Wall-Street-size executive compensation, and advertising — would save tens of billions of dollars. Simplifying billing — by using one payment schedule instead of thousands — would save hundreds of billions.
Medicare for All offers the most practical way to achieve universal coverage and reduce per capita costs. Now that's reform we can believe in.


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Next year, the Legoland California Resort will add a new Ninjago-themed land, which will include Ninjago: The Ride. Guests will enter the new Ninjago land through a giant archway behind the resort's Imagination Zone, which is designed to lead them into a courtyard where they begin their ninja training.
Legoland California Resort Spins Out New Ninjago Land
Marvel Comics Touring Attraction Teams Up with Hollywood Veteran Jerry Rees
As reported by Los Angeles-based entertainment company Hero Ventures, Jerry Rees will lead the creative team responsible for producing The Marvel Experience, an innovative, traveling attraction that affords guests the opportunity to actively participate with dozens of Marvel super heroes.
Rees is a director, producer, and writer of live-action, animation, and theme park attractions. He has directed 16 Disney Theme Park attractions around the world in California, Hong Kong, Florida, and Paris. [Read more...]
All Aboard for Thomas Land in North America
A full-scale Thomas & Friends attraction is set to debut in South Carver, MA next summer. This marks the largest permanent Thomas & Friends attraction in North America.
This family amusement park – which is currently in development with HIT Entertainment, a division of Fisher-Price – will be conveniently located within Edaville USA, near the greater Boston and Providence areas.
Thomas Land will cover 11.5 acres and feature 14 rides based on the Thomas & Friends Island of Sodor. The rides will feature iconic characters Thomas, Diesel, Toby, Cranky the Crane, and Harold the Helicopter.
Legoland Florida Theme Park Adds Duplo Valley Expansion
The Legoland Florida theme park has officially opened its latest expansion, Duplo Valley. The new extension brings the Lego Duplo line of preschool building toys to live with new farm-themed attractions, an air-conditioned indoor play area, and a water play area for toddlers ages 2 to 5.
Duplo Valley was designed to be an environment where parents can play and relax with their toddlers. New outdoor attractions include Duplo Train, Duplo Tractor, and a Duplo Splash & Play area. The barn-themed play area includes private nursing and changing stations, rocking chairs, microwaves, bottle warmers, high chairs and cell phone charging stations.
Guests can also purchase the all-new Preschool Pass, which includes weekday admission to Legoland Florida and standard parking for one child under five and one adult for a full year.


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Table of Contents
Generally, you may deduct losses to your home, household goods, and motor vehicles on your federal income tax return. However, you may not deduct a casualty or theft loss that is covered by insurance unless you filed a timely insurance claim for reimbursement. Any reimbursement you receive will reduce the loss. If you did not file an insurance claim, you may deduct only the part of the loss that was not covered by insurance.
Determine your cost or other basis in the property before the casualty or theft.
Determine the decrease in fair market value (FMV) of the property as a result of the casualty or theft. (The decrease in FMV is the difference between the property's value immediately before and immediately after the casualty or theft.)
From the smaller of the amounts you determined in (1) and (2), subtract any insurance or other reimbursement you received or expect to receive.
The decrease in FMV of the entire property.
The adjusted basis of the entire property.
You must reduce each casualty or theft loss by $100 ($100 rule).
You must further reduce the total of all your losses by 10% of your adjusted gross income (10% rule).
We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.
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You can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com. Please put "Publications Comment" on the subject line. You can also send us comments from www.irs.gov/formspubs. Select "Comment on Tax Forms and Publications" under "Information about."
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You can get help with unresolved tax issues, order free publications and forms, ask tax questions, and get information from the IRS in several ways. By selecting the method that is best for you, you will have quick and easy access to tax help.
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E-file your return. Find out about commercial tax preparation and e-file services available free to eligible taxpayers.
Check the status of your 2011 refund. Go to IRS.gov and click on Where's My Refund. Wait at least 72 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of your e-filed return, or 3 to 4 weeks after mailing a paper return. If you filed Form 8379 with your return, wait 14 weeks (11 weeks if you filed electronically). Have your 2011 tax return available so you can provide your social security number, your filing status, and the exact whole dollar amount of your refund.
Download forms, including talking tax forms, instructions, and publications.
Order IRS products online.
Research your tax questions online.
Search publications online by topic or keyword.
Use the online Internal Revenue Code, regulations, or other official guidance.
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Figure your withholding allowances using the withholding calculator online at www.irs.gov/individuals.
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Ordering forms, instructions, and publications. Call 1-800-TAX -FORM (1-800-829-3676) to order current-year forms, instructions, and publications, and prior-year forms and instructions. You should receive your order within 10 days.
Asking tax questions. Call the IRS with your tax questions at 1-800-829-1040.
Solving problems. You can get face-to-face help solving tax problems every business day in IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers. An employee can explain IRS letters, request adjustments to your account, or help you set up a payment plan. Call your local Taxpayer Assistance Center for an appointment. To find the number, go to www.irs.gov/localcontacts or look in the phone book under United States Government, Internal Revenue Service.
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Refund information. To check the status of your 2011 refund, call 1-800-829-1954 or 1-800-829-4477 (automated refund information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Wait at least 72 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of your e-filed return, or 3 to 4 weeks after mailing a paper return. If you filed Form 8379 with your return, wait 14 weeks (11 weeks if you filed electronically). Have your 2011 tax return available so you can provide your social security number, your filing status, and the exact whole dollar amount of your refund. If you check the status of your refund and are not given the date it will be issued, please wait until the next week before checking back.
Other refund information. To check the status of a prior-year refund or amended return refund, call 1-800-829-1040.
Evaluating the quality of our telephone services. To ensure IRS representatives give accurate, courteous, and professional answers, we use several methods to evaluate the quality of our telephone services. One method is for a second IRS representative to listen in on or record random telephone calls. Another is to ask some callers to complete a short survey at the end of the call.
Products. You can walk in to many post offices, libraries, and IRS offices to pick up certain forms, instructions, and publications. Some IRS offices, libraries, grocery stores, copy centers, city and county government offices, credit unions, and office supply stores have a collection of products available to print from a CD or photocopy from reproducible proofs. Also, some IRS offices and libraries have the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, Internal Revenue Bulletins, and Cumulative Bulletins available for research purposes.
Services. You can walk in to your local Taxpayer Assistance Center every business day for personal, face-to-face tax help. An employee can explain IRS letters, request adjustments to your tax account, or help you set up a payment plan. If you need to resolve a tax problem, have questions about how the tax law applies to your individual tax return, or you are more comfortable talking with someone in person, visit your local Taxpayer Assistance Center where you can spread out your records and talk with an IRS representative face-to-face. No appointment is necessary—just walk in. If you prefer, you can call your local Center and leave a message requesting an appointment to resolve a tax account issue. A representative will call you back within 2 business days to schedule an in-person appointment at your convenience. If you have an ongoing, complex tax account problem or a special need, such as a disability, an appointment can be requested. All other issues will be handled without an appointment. To find the number of your local office, go to
www.irs.gov/localcontacts or look in the phone book under United States Government, Internal Revenue Service.
Internal Revenue Service
1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway
Bloomington, IL 61705-6613
Your problem is causing financial difficulties for you, your family, or your business.
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Current-year forms, instructions, and publications.
Prior-year forms, instructions, and publications.
Tax Map: an electronic research tool and finding aid.
Tax law frequently asked questions.
Tax Topics from the IRS telephone response system.
Internal Revenue Code—Title 26 of the U.S. Code.
Links to other Internet based Tax Research Materials.
Fill-in, print, and save features for most tax forms.
Internal Revenue Bulletins.
Toll-free and email technical support.
Two releases during the year.
– The first release will ship the beginning of January 2012.
– The final release will ship the beginning of March 2012.
Purchase the DVD from National Technical Information Service (NTIS) at www.irs.gov/cdorders for $30 (no handling fee) or call 1-877-233-6767 toll free to buy the DVD for $30 (plus a $6 handling fee).
|More Online Publications


text:
Automated defect inspection for MEMS, LED and Semiconductors
Advanced manufacturing control techniques (inline defect inspection, automatic defect classification, source analysis) are required to increase die size while reducing defect densities.
Rudolph Technologies NSX® Series is designed to meet the unique challenges of LED inspection; including bare wafer inspection, unique substrate automation, high die count, sawn wafer inspection, severe die rotation, partial wafer inspection, reconstituted wafer inspection, and completed package inspection. The product line offers a single source inspection solution from incoming to finish product positioned with advanced resolutions required to detect the defects of interest at a low cost of ownership.
Automated defect inspection for MEMS, LED and Semiconductors


text:
The Nativity Set
Three-year-old Elizabeth watched as her mother arranged the ceramic nativity set on the low table in front of the sofa. Her mother had made the set many years earlier. Each year she told the children that she had painted each figure. Then she reminded everyone to be very careful because the figures could be easily broken.
Elizabeth loved to look at the figures, especially that of the baby Jesus. One day, she picked it up and held it reverently.
Mother walked into the living room at that moment. "Elizabeth, those pieces are breakable," she gently reminded her.
Elizabeth carefully replaced the figure. "I know, Mommy."
Each day, Elizabeth was drawn to the nativity set. She frowned when she noticed that the camel couldn't see the Christ child. She moved the camel closer to the manger. Then she saw that the Wise Men, shepherds, and other animals couldn't see Jesus either. She set the manger in the center of the table with all the others surrounding it.
She smiled. That looked much better.
When Mother saw what Elizabeth had done, she explained again how special the nativity set was and then replaced the figures in their original places.
The next day, Elizabeth stared at the nativity set. Once again, she set the baby Jesus in the center with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, Wise Men, and animals looking on.
When Mother walked into the room and saw the nativity set, she wasn't happy. "Elizabeth, I told you—"
"Don't you see, Mommy?" Elizabeth asked. "Everyone wants to see the baby Jesus."
Tears rolled down Mother's cheeks. "I see, Elizabeth. I finally understand." She kissed the top of Elizabeth's head. "We'll leave it just as it is."
In the years that followed, the nativity set was always grouped as Elizabeth had arranged it. Jesus was in the center, where everyone could see Him.
Gift Tags and Ornaments
To make Christmas gift tags and/or ornaments, you will need: scissors, heavy paper, ruler, old Christmas cards or wrapping paper with pictures you can easily cut out, glue, marking pens or crayons, a hole punch, and yarn or string.
Gift Tags
Cut the heavy paper into rectangles about 2″ x 3″ (5 x 7.5 cm).
For each tag, cut out a figure or scene from the old Christmas cards or wrapping paper, small enough to fit on one side of the rectangle, and glue it on (see illustration).
Ask an older person to print To: and From: next to the picture, then punch a hole near the left edge of the tag at the corner or middle (see illustration).
Thread a short piece of yarn or string through the hole and knot the ends.
Cut out small figures or scenes from the old Christmas cards or wrapping paper.
Glue as many as will fit on pieces of heavy paper, then cut each one out.
With an older person's help, punch a hole at the top of each ornament where it will hang the best (see illustration).
Thread a short piece of yarn or string through the hole in each ornament and knot the ends.
Hang the ornaments on your own tree or give them as gifts.
The Christmas Story
Tell the story of Jesus' birth as you point to each figure. Or as someone reads the story in the scriptures, point to the appropriate figure. (See Luke 2:1–20; Matt. 2:1–14.)
Illustrated by Jenny Lynn Esplin