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MONDAY, Nov. 5, 2012 (Medpage Today) — LOS ANGELES — Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) significantly improves outcomes compared with drug-eluting stents for diabetes patients with multivessel coronary disease.
The composite risk of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke over five years was 30 percent lower with surgery than with stenting, Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues found.
The absolute 7.9-percentage point advantage was driven by fewer deaths and heart attacks, though at the price of more strokes early after the procedure, they reported here at the American Heart Association meeting.
The NHLBI-funded FREEDOM trial results also appeared simultaneously online in the New England Journal of Medicine as well.
Practice Changing Findings
In a separate analysis, CABG also appeared to be "highly" cost-effective in the trial, costing $117,000 per quality life-year gained over 5 years but just $8,132 per QALY over a lifetime compared with stenting.
This data is "compelling evidence" that should finally settle the controversy, Mark A. Hlatky, MD, of Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., argued in an editorial accompanying the NEJM paper. He served as a discussant at the late-breaking clinical trial press conference.
"The results are clear," Fuster told reporters. "I think they are going to change practice."
The FREEDOM findings mirror those of the BARI trial nearly two decades earlier, showing a survival advantage of bypass surgery for diabetes patients in the bare-metal stent era.
The NHLBI issued an alert after that trial recommending CABG as preferred for multivessel disease in diabetes, and it reaffirmed that stance with FREEDOM.
"These results confirm that bypass surgery is a better overall treatment option for individuals with diabetes and multivessel coronary disease and may assist physicians' efforts to prevent cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and deaths in this high-risk group," Gary H. Gibbons, MD, director of the NHLBI, said in a statement.
BARI didn't lead to the kind of uniform shift away from stents in this population that the agency called for then, perhaps in part because many cardiologists have discounted the BARI results as outdated due to use of bare-metal rather than drug-eluting stents, Hlatky explained.
Interventionalists Cite Limitations
There was some indication of pushback from interventional cardiologists at the meeting, suggesting that something similar could happen with FREEDOM.
Interventionalist David O. Williams, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard in Boston, agreed that the findings should "strongly influence" practice.
"I think this will push the recommendation for CABG to a level I recommendation," he told MedPage Today. Current guidelines state that CABG is preferable to PCI for patients with diabetes, but it is a level II recommendation.
But he argued that application of the FREEDOM results should be limited to the type of patients included inthe trial, which he said represented about 20 percent of CAD patients.
"It is well established that there are patients with multivessel disease for whom CABG offers no benefit in death or MI over PCI. FREEDOM, limited to patients with diabetes, likely represents a different type of patient," he said at the press conference.
Coronary disease in diabetes tends to be be more diffuse than focal, which may explain the advantage of CABG for them, Alice Jacobs, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, said as discussant at the briefing.
Both pointed out that FREEDOM enrolled only 10 percent of patients screened. It excluded single-vessel and left main disease.
Also, "those with low SYNTAX [surgical risk] scores may not have been well represented," Williams noted.
Another key consideration is patient preference, as Fuster noted that 40 percent of the eligible patients who declined enrollment did so because they wanted stents.
Many patients may be more afraid of surgery and the higher stroke risk that comes with surgery than lured by the promise of a longer life with CABG, Hlatky added.
Numbers Tell the Story
The FREEDOM trial included 1,900 patients at 140 centers internationally who had diabetes and at least 70 percent stenosis in two or more major coronary vessels (83 percent three vessel disease).
Patients were randomized to CABG or percutaneous coronary intervention with a drug-eluting stent, both atop a background of optimal medical therapy with recommended agents to keep cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels under control.
The patients were followed for a minimum of 2 years (median among survivors, 3.8 years).
For the primary composite endpoint of death from any cause, nonfatal MI, or nonfatal stroke, 5-year rates were 18.7 percent with CABG versus 26.6 percent with stenting.
That included a substantially lower rate of MI at just 6.0 percent compared with 13.9 percent among the stented group at 5 years.
All-cause mortality also came out lower in the surgery group, with a 5-year rate of 10.9 percent versus 16.3 percent in the the PCI group. While statistically significant, the researchers cautioned that the trial wasn't powered to look at this outcome on its own.
But a similar effect was seen in subanalysis of the BARI trial and other trials, Fuster's group pointed out.
"The increased use of internal mammary grafting in these trials has been postulated to play a key role in the improved survival with CABG," they wrote in the paper.
"When considered together, the data provide a convincing signal that PCI results in increased long-term mortality, as compared with CABG, in patients with diabetes and multivessel coronary artery disease."
As seen in virtually all prior trials, though, there was a disadvantage to CABG in terms of stroke.
The 5-year stroke rate was 5.2 percent with surgery compared with 2.4 percentwith stenting, a difference seen only within the first 30 days after the intervention.
Major bleeding events didn't differ significantly between groups at 30 days, but acute renal failure requiring dialysis was more common with surgery.
The investigators acknowledged that the study was not blinded but pointed to the objective and independently-adjudicated endpoints and the lack of difference between groups in medical therapy received.
The wide variation in surgical-risk SYNTAX scores was actually a strength rather than a limitation, they argued, because it "reflects real-world practice."
The high, intermediate, and low SYNTAX score groups all had between a 6 and 10 percentage point advantage for the primary endpoint with CABG versus stenting, with hazard ratios of 1.46, 1.46, and 1.14, respectively.
Cost-Effectiveness "Robust"
In the cost-effectiveness analysis, upfront costs were higher with CABG, at $34,467 for the index hospitalization versus $25,845 for stenting.
Cumulative costs over 5 years rose, from more repeat revascularizations in particular, for stenting, to end up favoring CABG with a differential of $3,641, Elizabeth A. Magnuson, ScD, of the Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute and University of Missouri in Kansas City, presented the findings here.
Cost per incremental quality life-year gained remained under the conventional $50,000 threshold for cost-effectiveness under a broad range of sensitivity analyses and across subgroups.
The benefits of CABG in diabetes patients with multivessel disease "provides not only better long-term clinical outcomes...but these benefits are achieved at an overall cost that represents an attractive use of societal health care resources," Magnuson concluded.


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An amazing posting on it.hobby.cucina today: Someone asked how to prepare cardoons (similar to celery but extremely bitter in the artichoke fashion). One reply suggested frying them (didn't specify if batter was used, hopefully not) and then stewing them in sugo d'anatra (tomato sauce in which duck had been cooked).
Also those who read French should check fr.rec.cuisine for recipes and discussions about how to cook certain dishes.

subset: commoncrawl


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Are you ok is up!May 23, 2014
The build instructions for my are-you-ok widget is up on SparkFun! How neat!
This isn't the end for that project. I've been working on getting email on Maxwell (surprisingly not difficult). I'm going to visit Hugh this weekend to see why his accelerometer is fussy.
In a couple weeks, Elizabeth will be on the podcast again to talk about what needs to happen next, if she's happy with the system and what changes to make. There is a rumor that SparkFun will have a kit of parts for me to give away at that time to podcast listeners. (I need a contest! Guess a number? The quotes are too easy thanks to google.)
For someone who seems to be always starting a contract next week (sigh), I have been busy. My EELive talk is going up on element14. I'm staying about a week ahead though this week I have to do the summary and I'm not ready. Also, on element14, Sophi Kravitz asked me questions about consulting but I kept distracting her with RTOSs and stories of are-you-ok widgets. I'm happy with her resulting interview.
I went to the SOLID conference. it was interesting and eclectic. O'Reilly gave a big stack of my books away while I signed them and stress-chatted with people. I was there as press, recording things for the podcast. But Christopher says the noise level is too high, the results are too difficult to listen to. Argh. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I do need to do something to "pay" for the press pass (and all the people I talked to).
I am still working with the Beagle Bone Black, though slowly. I updated my MacBook Pro from Win7 32-bit to Win7 64-bit which lets me use more than 2G of RAM. That is a complete re-install so I'm still finding things I forgot to back up (my bookmarks!). One reason to do this was to run virtual machines so now I have Linux running too. (It is the Oracle 6 one which seems to be Fedora based, I'm still orienting on how things work.) I'm trying to build Angstrom, just to update the OS that is on the board (step 1: update with known good image, step 2: update with my built image that should be the same as the known good, step 3: break everything).
I'm currently installing Python 2.7 because some precursor to actually building Angstrom needs it. It just gave me an error in the build process of python because it doesn't have some library it needs. This is exactly how I remember Linux being.
I hope you have a good, relaxing weekend. I plan to.


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Seth Kauffman reached the 1,000 point club on Tuesday night (Feb. 17), joining Eliot Friesen ('97) who has 1146 points, as the only other Bruin boys basketball player to reach the mark. Seth recently passed Jordi Buller ('02), who had 987 points, for second on Bethany' boys basketball career chart. Jill Troyer Miller ('89) with 1188 and Kari Heusinkveld ('08) with 1035 have reached the 1,000 point-mark on the girls side.
With Jimtown double- and tripleteaming Seth whenever he touched the ball, he was often passing the ball to open teammates and only managed 6 points himself in the team's 30-28 win. Coach Buller notes that this is characteristic of Seth. "He is an unselfish, team-oriented player."
Coach Buller further describes Seth as a "team leader who works hard in practice and plays intense on the court. He is as fine a person as he is a player and has been a real treat to coach."
Seth will be honored before the Bethany home game vs. LaVille on Saturday, Feb. 20. Come out and show your support for Seth and the team as they try to extend their winning streak to 7.


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Battle to save the world.
The action franchise that started it all is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an all-new adventure on Nintendo DS! Set after the events of Contra III: Alien Wars, the game follows mercenaries Bill Rizer and Lance Bean as they battle to save the world from a new extraterrestrial threat. Contra 4 takes advantage of the dual screens of the Nintendo DS to deliver larger than life action, with massive enemies, detailed platform gaming and mind-blowing set pieces. Using a variety of upgradable weapons, take the fight to the alien army of the Black Viper and reclaim Earth for mankind in single-player action or 2-player co-op mode.
- Fast-paced 2D side-scrolling action from the franchise that defined the genre
- Collect multiple power-ups to create new and explosive weapon combinations
- Unique dual-screen presentation allows for frantic action and massive boss encounters
- New grappling hook accessory lets you access hard to reach areas and dodge enemies
- 2-player cooperative action lets you take on the enemy with twice the firepower


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416792064076825073.post8500846368808763622..comments2016-02-20T15:38:33.796+00:00Comments on Confessions of TwiCrack Addicts: Justin talks RPattz and a darker EclipseLinsane firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416792064076825073.post-15481343020321928782009-09-20T21:13:33.804+01:002009-09-20T21:13:33.804+01:00who is that guy????????? federicozarco.blogspot.c...who is that guy?????????
 federicozarco.blogspot.com Federico Zarcohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416792064076825073.post-27585477500683340052009-09-20T20:45:02.002+01:002009-09-20T20:45:02.002+01:00I feel bad for other twilight casts that even in t...I feel bad for other twilight casts that even in their own interview, when it's supposed to be their moment to shine, it always end up becoming a Rob/ Robsten email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2416792064076825073.post-67621643959935148962009-09-20T19:12:49.264+01:002009-09-20T19:12:49.264+01:00I love how the pic comparisons come back to Rob bu...I love how the pic comparisons come back to Rob but they aren't about Rob the style is from another era.

B&W, smoking, intensity, aloofness, smoldering - it's been done over and over for decades. It is one of my favorite pictorial styles. But the love of Rob always brings it back to him like he pulled this look out of his behind. I guess that is why it is called ROBsessed - ha!TJBhttps://email@example.com


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Phil Way replied to the forum topic Going to the 2014 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in the group Going to the German Grand Prix at Hockenheimring 3 years, 9 months ago
Booked for next July 2014, any reccomendations on campsites. Will have a car but would be keen to be in walking distance of the track. Is it best to book in advance or pay on arrival.
Phil Way became a registered member 3 years, 9 months ago


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Welcome to Massage By Staci!
I offer personalized therapeutic massage and relaxing bodywork using a variety of techniques for your specific needs. My goal is to provide healing treatments that restore, rejuvenate and reenergize your body and mind, while making massage accessible to everyone. These personalized sessions are held at my office located in Long Beach within Olive Yoga. Thank you for supporting my practice!
Find information on pricing and scheduling an appointment.
What are people saying about Massage By Staci?
"Staci is by far one of the best massage practitioners I've come across. She's attuned with the needs of your body and is super thorough. I always feel grounded and balanced after a session."
"Staci is very professional and talented as a massage therapist. While I don't usually budget money to get a monthly massage, I would definitely consider it now."
"Every time I am on the table Staci is able to hone in on the particular areas that have been bothering me the most, even if I am unable to articulate them. After a massage with Staci my posture is better, my back and leg flexibility is significantly increased, and I can feel every area she worked on without feeling pain."
Latest News!
I was honored to be recently featured in VoyageLA. You can read about it here:
Meet Staci Nicoletti of Massage by Staci in Downtown Long Beach


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Welcome to our community!
12 Blocks West is a shared community effort involving our local school district, faith-based and civic organizations, business and community leaders, the cities of Independence, Sugar Creek and Blue Summit, Missouri, and most importantly neighbors. Our charge is to build upon existing strengths in area neighborhoods to promote safe, stable, multi-income neighborhoods where families, schools and businesses thrive.
Our momentum is strong and progress is real. We believe through common goals, open and structured communication, good education, and a belief in a better tomorrow that we can greatly affect the lives of thousands of individuals today and for years to come.
We hope you take the time to learn more about the 12 Blocks West initiatives. We invite you to join us as a neighbor, a partner or supporter.
The mission of 12 Blocks West is to collaborate with community partners and residents in western Independence, Sugar Creek, and Blue Summit, building upon existing strengths, to promote safe, stable, multi-income neighborhoods where families, schools and businesses thrive.
We value stable neighborhoods
We value economic opportunity and vitality for all
We value a well-educated community
We value a community of health and well being


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" Manufacturer: ASDA / Type: Water "
I first got this Soda water when I was going through a 'healthy' phase and wanted to have something different other than just water. When walking down the aisle I spotted this and decided to give this a try after not having Soda water in years. I bought it for 50p however if I remember rightly there was an offer that was 4 for £1.50 meaning you save 50p if you was going to get four anyway.
After getting home I decided to put it in the fridge and waiting for it to become ice cold before drinking it, this is something I highly recommend to people to do with any drink. The bottle was an average size bottle of what you'd expect. It was a 1 litre bottle and it felt sturdy enough, I find sometimes if you drop a bottle if it's cheap it can split easily.
The taste was not too much and it was a soft touch of carbonated water rather than a very heavy touch in which you find it hard to drink due to it been very carbonated. Primarily it should be used as a mixer as by itself it can become very boring very quickly. I suggest it with orange cordial as it blends quite well together. Definitely put it in the fridge before drinking as this gives it a "refreshing" feel.
Lately whilst on holiday (which I am now lol) I have really been trying to lower my caffeine intake. I live on caffeine! Whether it be coffee, cola drinks, energy drinks or energy pills last time I saw my Dr he went nuclear at me over it all and my terrible habits!
However I have been trying out other drink alternatives to try kick my addiction and lately I have been supping soda water by the gallon! My usual option is one from Tesco purely cos that's for some reason I get it from and that's it really lol No other reason. However running out and remembering I had when shopping in Asda I decided it was high time to try it from somewhere else and this costing 45p for a litre seemed a good buy to me!
The Packaging:
1 litre as I've already stated clear plastic bottle with a blue label around it's middle and a screw on black plastic cap to the top of it. On the label there is a picture of bubbles and I'm clearly told it is Asda Soda Water. On the back of the bottle other information includes ingredients, nutritional information and contact details for Asda.
The Drink Itself:
Clear, slightly bubbly liquid with no real smell to it at all. It isn't overly fizzy or gassy but just right in my opinion and this if done up properly and stored in the fridge lasts a good 3-4 days without losing it's life. Also when poured it stays with life in it for a good couple of hours and you can add juices, squashes or of course alcohol to it...whatever!
Taste wise well all this soda water is made up from is Carbonated Water and Sodium Bicarbonate and due to those ingredients you get the fizz from the former and slightly salty tangy taste from the latter. If you like drinks with a slightly tart flavour this is great and to me when added with sweet juices etc the saltiness this drink contains actually pops out flavours.
Me and my friend love this drink, it makes a change from water, is great quality and stays fresh for a good length of time and so yep we recomend it to everyone and at the moment any 3 Asda 1 litre mixers are on offer at 3 for £1.20 so you can try a few offerings on the cheap!
Nutritional Information:
Contains only a trace of sodium, no salt, no fat no sugars and of course it is suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans (I know cos we're told that on the bottle!).
This review is also posted on Ciao under this same username.


text: What's a good scale for measuring out pt/pd and other alternative chemistries? I was sort of thinking of a double-platform scale with a good set of weights. This would help trim costs. But, will it be sufficient? I know that a scale like this can only measure weights in quantum increments. But the water or solvent used can be continuously measured in volume, so I should be able to match any concentration that I want. What are other scales that people use that are reasonably priced. What level of accuracy do I need? The amounts of chemistry can get pretty small, for example, when measuring amounts of the oxidizer to increase contrast.


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An introduction to percussion music and instruments. Shots of a snowy landscape are described in a descriptive poem; at the end of the poem percussion music begins to play. To create the icy sounds in this piece a number of different percussion instruments are used.
- This clip is from:
- Music Makers, In the Snow
- First broadcast:
- 20 March 1998
Classroom Ideas
This clip can be used when looking at percussion instruments. Show the clip and then help the children to think of other objects that can be turned into percussion instruments such as pots, bells, bottles filled with rice or lentils or cardboard boxes. Perhaps ask them to bring in an object they would like to turn into a percussion instrument. Also look at the history of percussion instruments. Why do the children think they might have been the first instruments created? Perhaps look at the classification of percussion instruments such as idiophones, membranophones, chordophones and aerophones and invite the children to find the correct term for their own percussion instrument.


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> -----Original Message----- > From: Dave Steenburg [mailto:dsteenburg(at)rogers(dot)com] > Sent: 20 June 2003 04:52 > To: PgAdmin Support Group (E-mail) > Subject: [pgadmin-support] Did NSIS install go anywhere? > > > Hi. I'm new here. > > Back in 2001, Jean-Michel Poure and Dave Page were talking > about a full PostgreSQL installer for Windows using NSIS. Hi Dave, That was Jean-Michel's puppy, but I don't think it really went anywhere at the time. I know Justin Clift has been working on a proof of concept however - please see http://techdocs.postgresql.org/guides/Windows if you are interested. Regards, Dave.
Next: From: Dave Page Date: 2003-06-20 07:33:29 Subject: Re: Bug report for pgAdmin III Previous: From: Dave Page Date: 2003-06-20 07:12:33 Subject: Re: Can't login after changing the text font.


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Street Style Looks of the Week Inspired by Readers 2011-02-27 03:06:05
Looks of the Week!
Looks of the Week!
It was another chic week for Fab readers! My favorite stylish ensembles were flower power, you + me = meant to be, you were born an original. . . don't die a copy., chartreuse, two half a clown, outfit #1, hiking heels, feathers and gold, black and blue, and simple staples. Congrats all!
0previous images
-21more images


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Contact InformationRustling Pines Homeowners Association, Inc.
92 Sand Pine Dr
Midway, FL 32343
Other InformationEntity Status: Active
Type of Entity: Non Profit Corporation
Entity Creation Date: May 03, 2005
Days in Business: 4527 days
Company Description
Rustling Pines Homeowners Association, Inc. is located in Midway, Florida and is listed as an active Non Profit Corporation. Rustling Pines Homeowners Association, Inc. was started on May 03, 2005 which was 4527 days ago.
EmployeesDwayne Cisrow: President
Tiffany Palmer: Secretary And Treasurer
Registered AgentRustling Pines Hoa
92 Sand Pine Dr
Midway, FL 32343
Edit ProfileEdited: 12/1/2011
To edit this profile, please click here. You will be able to add a custom description, social networks, website, phone number, and many more features to your ISHCC.org profile.
Reviews0 Reviews
To add a review, please click here (you must be logged in to add a review).


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MADISON, Wis. — Santa Fe, a leading manufacturer of free-standing basement and crawlspace dehumidifiers, announces the launch of the new Santa Fe Force featuring dual exhaust that are specifically designed to provide the optimal amount of airflow in crawlspaces and basements
"The new Santa Fe Force is engineered to deliver the airflow that customers have been asking for to keep every corner of their crawl space and basements dry," said Kathie Mau, Santa Fe Pest Sales Manager. "The dual exhaust powerfully circulates the air throughout the entire space and ensure installation flexibility, in order to deliver the maximum amount of treated air in a shorter time frame.
The Santa Fe Force removes 120 pints of water a day and conditions basements and crawlspaces up to 2,900 square feet. The unit is optimized for low temperature operation, provides MERV 8 air filtration and is Energy Star rated. The Santa Fe Force is engineered for extremely quiet operation.
For more information on the Santa Fe Force and the company's full line of moisture control products, visit www.santa-fe-products.com or call (800) 533-7533.


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The long-delayed audit that closes the city's books for fiscal 2010 and paves the way for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to borrow $100 million for deferred maintenance projects next spring is finally done.
The city's outside auditing firm, Macias Gini & O'Connell, issued its audit opinion Wednesday and reported no major issues with how the city reported its finances for that year.
The overdue audit — which normally would have been completed last November or December for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010 — has been a source of constant consternation inside and outside of City Hall as it represented a step backward in the mayor's push to right the city's beleaguered finances. When Sanders took office in 2005, the city had a backlog of delayed audits after the revelation that past city leaders didn't properly disclose a burgeoning pension deficit to investors.
The city didn't catch up on its books until early 2009, the final hurdle to restoring the city's creditworthiness on Wall Street and giving the city the ability to borrow money at lower interest rates. The accomplishment was short-lived, however, as last year's implementation of a new citywide financial management system caused unforeseen accounting issues that delayed the 2010 audit's completion until now.
Jay Goldstone, the city's chief operating officer under Sanders, said the delay was regrettable but didn't have any real-world impacts on the city or taxpayers. He said the city could still borrow money throughout the delay, but Sanders has decided to wait until the 2011 audit is complete before taking that step.
"The delay had absolutely no negative impact on the city," he said. "It had no cost to the taxpayers."
The audit opinion now goes before the City Council's Audit Committee for public review at hearings scheduled for Sept. 12 and Sept. 26. Then it is expected to go before the full council in October for final approval. Work has already begun on the audit for fiscal 2011, which ended June 30, and it is expected to be finished on time in December.
City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, chair of the Audit Committee, said the panel will vigorously pour through the financial information before giving its consent. He said it's important for city finances to be true and correct even if it took longer than usual for the audit to be completed.
"It's a very positive first step to get a clean opinion," Faulconer said. "A lot of hard work has gone into this and the delay was unfortunate."
Former City Attorney Michael Aguirre, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the delayed audit, has repeatedly said the purported reason for the delay — a computer glitch — doesn't pass the smell test. He reviewed the audit and opinion Wednesday and said it failed to adequately explain the computer problems in the detail required by generally accepted accounting standards.
"This is a flawed audit that doesn't tell the user of the financial statement that the appropriate audit standards were applied to explain why there was a delay," he said. "The reason that that is significant is that the city's financial condition is horrific."
Goldstone dismissed Aguirre's criticism. "He's blowing smoke," he said. "This is the same B.S. that Mike Aguirre espoused while he was city attorney. There were absolutely no shenanigans going on."
The initial backlog of audits followed a series of revelations about the city's handling of its pension system and market disclosures. The retirement fund developed a massive billion-dollar-plus deficit, while the city failed to properly acknowledge it, or other financial burdens, in documents offered to credit agencies. The situation attracted the attention of federal regulators, who found that San Diego violated securities laws. The first of the six delayed financial audits — for fiscal 2003 — was released in March 2007 after a three-year examination by KPMG, one of the accounting industry's four major firms. With that audit delayed, the city also fell behind on reports for each subsequent year.
The city caught up in 2009, but then the city's switch to a new financial system in January 2010 led to accounting issues. Timecard errors led to some employees' salaries being charged to the wrong city accounts when the new system went live, and it took city officials more than a year to fix the mistakes. None of the errors affected take-home pay for workers, just how pay was accounted for.
City officials didn't hand over the 2010 financial information to the outside auditor for review until July of this year. That review released Wednesday said the reported finances "present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position" of the city and only explains in broad terms that the delay stemmed from implementation of the new system.
If all goes according to schedule with the 2011 audit, Sanders plans to borrow $100 million in March or April that would be used for street improvements, facility repairs and other deferred maintenance projects.


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Respect them for being hard working intelligent equines edition. -Sethfix
Equestrian Tides Podcast: Episode 5
The Equestrian Tides podcast find themselves trapped inside a dark room somewhere below SugarCube Corner. This week's episode features Seargent Sprinkles, also known as Derpy416, author of the "Grimdark As F**k" fanfic: Cupcakes.
Tune in and hear the compelling origin story of this infamous tale straight from the horse's mouth! Viewer discretion is advised, what you discover may be too horrible to forget!
EFR Episode Promo
These guys sent us a promo for their episode on Monday! Foreshadowing! Have some copypaste:
Someone has given us homework over the holiday weekend! Oh no!
I wonder what this means we'll be having on Monday when we get back to school?!
I wonder what this means we'll be having on Monday when we get back to school?!
Filly Synchtube Banner Contest
I love when people send us copypaste stuff! Makes my job a lot easier, lemme tell you. Anyway, the Filly Synchtube is having a banner contest! Details below.
Hi there! We're running a banner contest over at the Filly synchtube channel. The theme for the banner contest is "Ponies enjoying the Holidays" The best banner will get its new home at the top of the channel for all to see! The banners resolution must be a maximum of 1000x300 pixels. It will be voted on by everyone in the channel on the date of 12/2/11 at 5:00 PM Pacific. Any submissions to the banner contest should be sent to [email protected] and it would be preferred to be uploaded to imgur.com
A reward for first place would be:
15$ Steam game of their choosing
Second and third place runner ups would get
-their banners up in the channel for a day each
-a 5$ steam game of their choosing.
New Podcast: Brony Talk
Yup, another podcast! This one is currently at four episodes.
Have a link here.
Chris Bryne "Toy Expert" Mentions Bronies
No idea who this guy is, but apparently he mentions bronies! It's near the end, according to the email, and 'nothing bad'. The clip is here.
Fellow Brony In Need This Thanksgiving
An interesting story landed in our inbox today- a brony named Nicktae has fallen upon some hard times. Her family owns a sustainable, organic chicken farm, and her father actively battles against corporations who factory farm chickens in horrendous environments, and educates the public on how livestock can be raised in large numbers without cruelty and with minimal environmental impact.
Unfortunately their house has burned down due a wood stove fire.
GoldX3, the person who emailed us, has put up a donation page with more details where you can send gifts or any kind of support you can to Nicktae in their time of need.
The link is here.
Pony Cake!
Never gets old, really.
Nintendo 3DS Image Creation Project
Never really got into portable gaming devices. Nevertheless, a pony named Primal Moon has created a portable 3D EQD ad as a proof of concept. You can find the details and the necessary files here.
The Hub Uses Fanart, Artist Freaks Out (In A Good Way)
Totally didn't even notice this when it was up. Apparently the Discord image used in the Hub's Naughty or Nice contest was fanart by a pony named Briskby.
You can find the original image here, and the artist's reaction here.
Latin Versions of Pinkie Pie songs from Episodes 2 and 3
At least they didn't make her into a dude cough Spitfire cough.
Playable Version of Rainbow Dash's Filly Flier Race in New Dejobaan Game
PONY ALL THE THINGS. Have a copypaste description:
Basically what the title says: the level designer for Dejobaan's new game, AaAaAA!!: For The Awesome, is a brony, and he made a playable version of RD's race from "Cutie Mark Chronicles".
Successful Meetups / Guilds / Looking For More
Successful Fourth Warsaw Ponymeet
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A new entry on the PlayStation.Blog has made a few new announcements regarding the best-selling karaoke game SingStar. The first (and most underwhelming) is that SingStar ABBA is now available for PS3 and PS2. But Sony have shown their commitment to SingStar's online store by announcing over 60 songs will be released in the next few months. Titles include UB40's "Red Red Wine" and Pink's "Get The Party Started". Additionally, a Christmas pack will be available for just under $7, featuring a selection of well-known Christmas songs to sing along to.
The most unexpected announcement, however, comes in PS2 disc swapping. Those of you familiar with the PS2 versions of SingStar will know that this is nothing new, but this is the first time the feature will work cross-platform. The best part? It works on any PS3, regardless of PS2 compatibility. Although disc ripping in the style of Rock Band 2 is unlikely, this is still a welcome feature for anyone that resents having to pay for the same song twice.


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Our Mission
- To fashion the Eucharistic celebration as the center of our Catholic faith community's unique encounter with the risen Christ.
- To promote weekend liturgies where the faith community truly becomes "church" as activities, ministries, and programs find their meaning and sustenance in the celebration of holy Mass.
Our Goals
- To fashion various liturgical and para-liturgical celebrations such as Liturgies for Children, Mass of Remembrance, Anointing of the Sick, Parish Feast Day Mass, Lenten and Advent devotion, Divine Mercy Sunday, and Benediction.
- To interact with all parish ministries and organizations to celebrate "around the altar" the "richness" of the virtuous works they each contribute to the faith community.
- Father Gene Gianelli 203.387.7119
- Mrs. Janice Wivagg
- Mrs. Patricia DiBuduo
- Dr. Keith Smolinski
- Mr. John DeSarbo
- Healthcare Ministry Representative
Our Invitation
- The above liturgical roles are always in need of new members, to join please contact Father Gene Gianelli directly.
Special Information
Activities and Volunteer Opportunities
- The committee oversees and trains lectors, altar servers, Special Ministers of the Eucharist and ushers.
Alter Servers
- Boys and girls, grades 4 through senior high school, assist at weekend liturgies and weddings. Adult servers assist at funerals.
- If you are interested, please contact Mrs. Denise Herbert 203.387.7119.
Lector Ministry
- Lectors publicly proclaim the Word of the Lord during daily and Sunday Mass and on special liturgical feasts.
- If you are interested in becoming a Lecturer, please call the rectory or Chairperson Mrs. Rosemarie DiRienzo at 203.389.9698.
Eucharistic Ministry
- Pope Paul VI authorized Special Ministers of Communion to share the body & blood of Christ with fellow worshippers at Mass and with those confined to their homes.
- If you are interested in becoming a Eucharistic Minister, please contact the Father Gene Gianelli at 203.387.7119.
Usher Ministry
- Ushers are the ministers of hospitality welcoming and helping people, distributing bulletins, collecting weekly offerings, and answering questions about upcoming events.
- If you are interested in becoming an Usher, please call the rectory or Chairperson: Mr. Ben DiCenzo 203.393.2077.
Altar Linens Mission
- The purpose of the Altar Linen Committee is to provide clean linens for the priest to use during mass at both church locations.
- If you are interested, please contact Mrs. Theresa DeSarbo at 203.393.3105.
Small Christian Communities
- The mission of the Small Christian Communities is to promote and support small Christian groups that meet regularly to increase spirituality and knowledge of scripture.
- There are two groups in the Church which meet in parishioners' homes. One group meets on Wednesday mornings and the second group meets on Thursday evenings.
- If you would like more information, please contact Mrs. Denise Herbert at 203.387.7119.


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The Quick 10: 10 Things You Didn't Know Had Names
1. You know how it smells after it rains? That clean, greenish smell when rain lands on dry ground? That's petrichor, from the Greek petra (stone) and ichor (the blood of Greek gods and goddesses). The term was coined by two Australian researchers in 1964.
2. Originally, a zarf was a metal chalice keep the heat from your coffee from burning your fingers. The name for the fancy cupholder has morphed into the modern-day cardboard sleeve that comes wrapped around your hot coffee.
3. Chanking: Chewed-up food that's been spit out. (Try to avoid giving us reason to use this one, OK?)
4. Scroop is the rustling, swooshy sound ballgowns make. More specifically, it's the sound produced by the movement of silk.
5. If you've put your shirt on backwards, you have your arms in the wrong armsayes, which are the armholes.
6. People with expressive faces often end up with wrinkles in their glabella—the space between the eyebrows.
7. Not only is the word "nef" rather esoteric, the ornamental, ship-shaped stand it describes is fairly uncommon as well.
8. You know the words "lock" and "tendril," but did you know the similar feat? Aside from being an act requiring great strength, it describes a dangling curl of hair.
9. Playful, joking banter can be called badinage.
10. Libel is one thing, but a damaging lie made publicly known for political effect is a roorback.
11. Bonus! How about something that doesn't have a name? There is no medical terminology for the back of the knee.
What are some of your favorite interesting, uncommon nouns, _flossers?


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Originally published on the Health Blog.
There is a Dallas man who may win $50,000 for his-rapid fire texting. Wow. I wish him a lot of luck. That should be just about enough (without much change) to pay for the joint-thumb replacement surgery he will need in 15-30 years.
Perhaps I am being a little harsh. But, teenagers and text-obsessed adults should be wary. Repeated over-use of the thumbs can lead to inflammation of the joint. Inflammation over time will lead to pain. This inflammation or (what I have termed) " Teenage Texting Tendonitis" (TTT) will lead to long-term joint problems in the thumbs if continued wear and tear takes place, which could eventually result in non-reversible arthritis and chronic pain.
At least iPhones do not require the same compression pressure of the buttons compared to phones that have raised buttons that must be "clicked" in order to activate letters and numbers. Thumb pain with texting (or TTT) had been termed "Blackberry thumb" in the past. Back about 10 years ago, TTT had a different name, "Nintendonitis" (For pain associated with overuse with the Nintendo game hand-held console).
Perhaps this is all a bunch of hype. Perhaps I am overstating the problem. Perhaps my daughter is right. I am a "Debbie Downer" when it comes to upsetting teenagers over activities they feel are pleasurable. The thought does not bother me too much.
WB 33 actually featured a story on one of our patients when I first termed the phrase "Teenage Texting Tendonitis". It features a review of one of my teenage patients with TTT. You may become a believer.
I will admit, I do not see as much of this problem now, but I do expect more in the years to come. Inflammation from over-use can take a long time to take its toll. But do me a favor and perform this simple self-assessment: Gently squeeze the base of your thumb with pressure applied mostly to the palmar side of the hand. Then repeat this test your teenagers thumb and determine who is more tender. You may be surprised. You have hit a sore spot. Perhaps it is yours. Perhaps it is your teenagers. I suspect you are both affected in some way by TTT.


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Re PSA, Glaucoma, and other screenings:
I believe every American should read
"OVERDIAGNOSED: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health", H. Gilbert Welch and colleagues, Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Beacon Press, 2011
Shared Decision Making in Prostate Screening Holds Lessons for Primary Care — Physician's First Watch
Shared Decision Making in Prostate Screening Holds Lessons for Primary Care
By Joe Elia
A trio of articles on shared decision making in prostate screening — although arguably rendered moot by the 2012 USPSTF recommendation against PSA-based screening — points to better ways of engaging patients. The articles appear in the Annals of Family Medicine.
One study, using 2010 National Health Interview Survey data, found two thirds of men between 50 and 74 had had no discussion with their physicians on the pros, cons, and uncertainties of PSA screening. Another study found that physicians who'd completed a 30-minute interactive educational program were more likely to engage their patients in screening discussions. A third study found that physicians who'd undergone the interactive training were more likely to mention no screening as an option and to encourage seeking advice from others.
Looking at these results, the journal's editorialists suggest that "rather than implementing a series of disease-specific shared decision-making interventions, it would make sense to approach shared decision making developmentally, as a learned skill."


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Leica's tradition of excellence in Sports Optics began 111 years ago with the development of the first pair of binoculars. To mark this milestone in the history of Leica, the company has joined forces with expert leather maker, Hermès, to create a new limited edition pair of the Ultravid binoculars.
Fittingly, an exclusive 111 pairs of two versions of the Leica Ultravid binoculars will be available from selected Leica Stores around the world from January 2016. Precision, craftsmanship and tradition are the essential core values of both Leica and Hermès and together they have created an exceptional, unique version of these binoculars to celebrate Leica's anniversary.
The two versions – the Leica Ultravid 8x32 HD Plus "Edition Hermès" and the Leica Ultravid 10x32 HD Plus "Edition Hermès" - pay homage to the tradition of Leica Sport Optics, combining traditional, vintage style eyecups with modern, state-of-the-art technology. In addition to its own unique serial number, each pair of binoculars also bears one of a series of consecutive limited-edition numbers, making it a truly singular product.
One of the highlights of these black anodised binoculars is their Hermès swift calfskin leather casing in the illustrious 'Rouge H'. This extremely fine and supple leather is used not only on the body of the binoculars, but also for the shoulder strap included in the set. Each pair also comes with an exclusive handcrafted swift calfskin leather and canvas Hermès bag. In the past, the two companies have collaborated to develop special editions of the Leica M-System: the Leica MP "Edition Hermès" (2003), the Leica M7 "Edition Hermès" (2009) and the Leica M9-P "Edition Hermès" (2012).
The Leica NOCTIVID – designed to provide an extraordinary, unparalleled viewing experience, whatever the weather or lighting conditions. Based on more than 100 years of optical and mechanical expertise, we have developed this next generation of premium, full-size binoculars to...
The 10x42 Trinovid Binocular from Leica is a high-end, piece-of-art binocular in a class by itself. Leica has endowed this finely engineered glass with their superior optical enhancements. P40 phase correction coating decreases internal light path interference resulting in improved...
Inspired by the outstanding reputation of the Trinovid series, these compacts offer a fantastic viewing experience for a wide range of situations. The high-quality Trinovid 8x20 BCA are handy lightweight binoculars that are ideal to take along wherever you go....


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Johan Earl, who runs the Australian-based special effects company ARMZFX, is now producing and writing a psychological thriller titled, "A Perfect Life", which, as you may expect when it comes to thrillers, is not about a perfect life.
The film follows the life of a Andrew Walters (Earl), and as is the norm for those young (presumably) executive sorts, his marriage isn't enough, so he starts an affair with one of the women from the office. Which woman? Rachel, the crazy woman. Like most of these kinds of relationships, things turn out ugly. Rachel decides that she's sick of Walter's empty promises, and ends up tying him to a lie detector and to some kind of torture device while his wife watches over a TV monitor from the room she is chained up in. From the looks of it, the rest of the movie is spent with both women asking really awkward relationship questions.
Based on what we know of the plot, this film could be anything from being intense to being boring as shit, although I'm leaning towards it being unbearably painful. Why? Because that's how Earl describes it:
It certainly isn't easy to watch. For the most part it's grainy, dark and very uncomfortable. We experimented with a few looks and processes but we didn't want a glossy pretty picture that was easy to watch, in a way we want the audience to be in as much pain as our main characters.
I also can't help but wonder why the wife is asking him awkward relationship questions. Doesn't she realise she's chained up by a crazy woman? Whatever the case, the trailer doesn't look half bad:


text:
WHO recommendation on influenza vaccination, as a SARS precautionary
measure, highlights differences in policies for healthcare workers across
Editorial team (firstname.lastname@example.com),
Eurosurveillance editorial office
WHO hopes that by reducing the number of influenza infections, and the
respiratory complications, such as pneumonia, that influenza can lead to,
any infections of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that may occur
during the winter season will be recognised more easily and diagnosed earlier.
A recent paper (2) shows influenza vaccination recommendations in 50 countries
in 2000, and the Table below shows these recommendations in the countries
of the European Union (EU). When the data was collected, a few countries
did not recommend vaccination of healthcare workers.
Table. Influenza vaccination recommendations and vaccine
utilisation in EU countries in 2000. Source: adapted from reference 2.
* All countries recommended vaccination for people who have chronic cardiovascular,
respiratory, diabetes mellitus (except Norway), renal (except Denmark, Norway
and Sweden) conditions, or who are immunocompromised for six months or longer.
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"Gundam SEED" Lead Us Forward to a New Destiny, Gundam!
After a long journey, the finale of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is here. The first half had its difficulties, but the second half so far has grown to fill the shoes any Gundam title should.
ZAFT officially enters the battle between the Dominion and the Clyne Faction, with Flay jettisoned to the Dominion with a special data disk. Unfortunately, the contents of the data disk allows Azreal to use nuclear weapons again, which doesn't take long. The Earth Alliance, reequipped with their ultimate weapon, launches an all-out attack on the PLANTs. The Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi race to protect the PLANTs as Patrick Zala decides to show off his newest toy, the GENESIS. And even though the Freedom and Justice have their sparkly new METEOR units to give them extra power, Rau is also loose with one of the most powerful Mobile Suits in existence: the Providence. As GENESIS targets the Earth and the Alliance targets the PLANTs, only Kira, Athrun, Cagalli, and the rest of the Clyne Faction have what it takes to stop a genocide on both sides, but Rau isn't about to let his master plan be foiled by a bunch of teenagers in high-powered Gundams.
After what seems like forever, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED finally ends, and boy does it go out with a bang. Explosions are everywhere and Cagalli displays a surprising new ability. The action in all five of these episodes is more intense, especially the final battle. Duel, Buster, Freedom, Justice, Strike, and the Strike Rouge all get their fair share of screen time, and, in a bit of an innovation for a Gundam show, each mobile suit gets a chance to fight different opponents. And it wouldn't be a Gundam show without a whole lot of death. Early on one of the supporting players bites the farm, and the final battle between the Archangel and the Dominion is extremely well done. After all the slowness and the mediocrity we had to put up with early on, this is a satisfying conclusion.
But even though it rocked overall, there are still some problems. Obviously, the METEORs took "overkill" to a whole new level, with their never-ending supplies of missiles (and 77 different launchers to fire them from). Considering how powerful Freedom already is, the METEOR seems redundant. And there's a design problem: Rau's new Gundam, Providence, is essentially the original RX-78 Gundam going on a camping trip. I mean, it's awesome that it's able to damage Freedom so badly, but the fact that a remake of my 2nd favorite Gundam is being piloted by one of the "bad guys" irritates me.
Thankfully, the animation team stepped up for the series finale. We get some very nice fighting between our favorite nuclear-powered Gundams and the druggies, and the final battle between Kira and Rau is just awesome to watch. All sorts of stuff blows up (including ships, bases, Mobile Suits, and even people), which is all very well animated. Unfortunately, the flashback overload returns, though it doesn't get anywhere near as annoying as Volume 8, and the METEORs use lots of stock footage. And the credits are still untranslated. But the animation is pretty good and if you liked it in previous volumes, you'll like it again here. Transfer is the same as well, though if you watch it on a Hi-Def set or a computer screen, you'll see lots of jagged lines.
Toshihiko Sahashi once again produces a wonderful score that easily carries the scenes. Coupled with some above-average (for the most part) voice acting from both parties, this disc contains some of the best audio ever heard for a Gundam series, especially among the series released in the U.S. My only bone is that Lisa Ann Beley and Sarah Johns don't go far enough during the final warship fight. But the rest of the dub cast is wonderful, especially Andrew Francis as Azreal, Mark Oliver as Rau, Trevor DuVall as Mu and Matt Hill as Kira.
The songs are still untranslated. Twice in this volume the ending theme "Find the Way" is extended, running minutes into the episode before starting the credits. The only subtitles appear during the last verse in Phase-46. Phase-50 receives nothing at all, which gives the discs a sloppy, rushed feeling.
Extras are slim pickings, as usual. The textless version of the final ending joins the Gundam Encylopedia and, one last time, Nami Tamaki's "Believe" music video. As much as I like to see Ms. Tamaki dancing in that tight outfit of hers, it couldn't have been that much of a hassle to get the "Realize" music video too, couldn't it? The best extra is actually the little booklet of term definitions, as the tech talk is thick on this disc. Best of all, it fills up the entire two pages, which is always nice.
If you've liked the pace of the last few discs, you'll love this final disc of Gundam SEED. And if you're like me, you'll be eagerly anticipating the eventual Reigon 1 release of its sequel series Gundam SEED Destiny. Here's hoping that Bandai fixes some of the transfer mistakes and provides more complete subtitles and extras in the future.
Episodes on Volume 10: Day of Destiny
Phase-46: A Place for the Soul
Phase-47: The Nightmare Reborn
Phase-48: Day of Wrath
Phase-49: The Final Light
Final Phase: To an Endless Future


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Related Products:
This struck bar was made by Sunshine in 1982. It has a large logo that displays "SUNSHINE SILVER" in a circle around a flying eagle just beneath the year "1983". Beneath the logo reads ".999", "FINE SILVER", and "100 TROY OUNCES". Just below that reads "SUNSHINE MINING" in a rectangle. A unique serial number is listed at the bottom. This is a secondary market bar with light contact marks.
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Posted 5 years ago
(134 items)
I love this elephant!!! It is still in working order and it very quick to walk! I love the happy face and the little overalls. Everything about this one I love but I have no history for it! If anyone has ANY information about this elephant wind up please let me know!


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Unqueue -- Click element; pull-to-push converter
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Ports: 1 input, 1 output
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The Padres nearly wasted a career performance by Eric Stults, but Will Venable's walk-off RBI single clinched a 3-2, 10-inning victory over the Mariners on Wednesday at Petco Park.
The Good:
Missing bats. Entering Wednesday, Eric Stults' season-high for strikeouts in a game was seven. His career-high was nine. It took him just 88 pitches to set a new career-high, as the lefty reached double-digit K's in the top of the seventh. He finished with 12 strikeouts over eight innings. Granted, this came against a Mariners lineup employing Kelly Shoppach as the five-hitter, but credit Stults for hitting his spots tonight; he didn't issue a ball-four among his 106 pitches (68 strikes).
Stoppers. Wednesday's clunker of an offensive show did include more strong play from two of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. Even as he went 0-for-3 at the plate, Seattle's Brendan Ryan, who last season won a Fielding Bible Award as the majors' best fielding shortstop, lived up to that billing by making a number of slick plays on the left side. Cabrera, who went down swinging with the bases loaded in the eighth, wasn't afforded as many opportunities to show off his range, but still impressed on a couple of strong throws. It should be noted that, in the bottom of the 10th, Cabrera sneaked a single by Ryan when the latter vacated his spot on a hit-and-run.
The Bad:
At a loss. Huston Street hadn't pitched for eight days since notching consecutive, hitless saves. More than a week later, it's clear he still hasn't solved his home-run problem. Jason Bay's solo shot to lead off the ninth was the seventh homer Street has given up this season. The closer remains 11-for-12 in save opportunities, but it hasn't been nearly that easy. In 20 innings, his strikeout-to-homer ratio is an unsightly 13:7.
Punchless. First, it was Aaron Harang. Wednesday, it was Joe Saunders, not exactly a world-beater himself. Against the two typically hittable pitchers, the Padres mustered just eight hits in this series, their lone run supplied by a Chase Headley home run on an 0-2 mistake by Saunders. The pitching duel of the home-and-home set had figured to arrive Thursday, with Felix Hernandez and Andrew Cashner squaring off. It arrived a day early, thanks to a lack of punch by the Padres offense, which later came up empty with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.


text: How Walgreens' Digital Marketing Group Translates Innovation Into Action By Diane Merlino / February 19, 2013 Share 1 -- When Walgreens decided to launch an online marketing group following the introduction of the company's ecommerce division in 2008, they tapped Rich Lesperance for the job. Lesperance already had an impressive resume. He's built new businesses for major brands in the U.S. and Singapore and had worked for Dell with responsibility for a $4 billion P&L. Lesperance says he likes to combine "executive-level acumen with scrappy entrepreneurship."A lot has changed in the four-and-a-half years since Lesperance launched Walgreens' online marketing group as the rapid-fire introduction of new technologies continue to render "the big new thing" into a traditional approach in just a couple of years. "There's really no more digital marketing and traditional marketing, or online marketing and offline marketing," says Lesperance, Walgreens' senior director of Digital Wallet and Rewards. "I think it's a sign of the times that you're seeing a lot more digital CMOs in charge of marketing at traditional companies."Lesperance spoke with Travel Weekly PLUS Editor in Chief Diane Merlino about the evolution and impact of digital marketing technologies at Walgreens and their applicability to other industries. Merlino: When you launched the digital marketing group for Walgreens in 2008 it was a brand new endeavor for the company. What was that like? Lesperance: It's a lot of fun to come in when there's a clean slate, and to have the ability to build something from the ground up. It wasn't a case of having to undo a lot of things, which can be a challenge in a lot of big companies. And Walgreens is an amazing organization. As a company it's very forward looking.Merlino: What was Walgreens' objective in creating the group? Lesperance: Our goal is to get people to use new channels in a way that helps them do their jobs differently or better, more efficiently. If you do it right, you actually don't need a separate team for every new channel that comes along. When I joined Walgreens four years ago to launch digital marketing, we always said that I would be launching myself out of a job.Merlino: Has the group's focus shifted over the last four years? Lesperance: As we moved into 2010 and 2011, we moved our focus to social and mobile because those were emerging at the time. In 2008 and 2009 the focus was email segmentation, paid search optimization, and launching an SEO team — all the channels that you would call traditional online marketing channels now because they've matured so much. In 2000, you remember, paid search was very much an emerging technology. Now the window for technology is going from the next new thing to a standard thing in a lot less than 10 years. Now it's about two years; now everyone is doing social media, everyone has got a mobile app. Now we're pivoting to the next new thing. My team has always been focused on that next new thing, but with an eye toward how it will eventually fold into the organization for the good of our customers.Merlino: What's the "next new thing" you're focusing on? Lesperance: There's certainly no lack of new technologies, and everyone is talking about how to apply them, whether it's a QR code or NFC, which is near field communication that allows you to tap a PIN pad with your phone. All these things are very exciting and have huge potential. It usually starts with a lot of rapid experimentation. The most interesting part for me is thinking about how the technologies will change the in-store shopping experience. It's interesting to see just how dramatically a whole industry has pivoted from "we can make our website better" to "how do we bring digital into the store experience?" Now that half of U.S. consumers have a smart phone the whole game has changed. People who have spent their whole career thinking about Web technologies are walking into their local store for the first time with their phone in hand, and saying, "Gee, I wonder how I can solve this problem, or build an app for that, or use a new technology for that." It's going to be really exciting to see what happens in the next five to 10 years. In 2000, when I was getting out of grad school, all the best minds in digital were going to pure-play companies like Amazon. I went to Dell, which is a great direct company. Now a lot of the best minds are going to omni-channel companies, so it will be interesting to see what everyone comes up with. Merlino: Walgreens launched its smart phone app in 2009, starting with the iPhone then following up with versions for Android and BlackBerry. How has your strategy for using the app, and for mobile technology in general, evolved since then? Lesperance: Our core businesses have been around for a very long time: we've been in the pharmacy business since 1901. I think the biggest thing that mobile in particular has done for us is to have us look at the businesses with new eyes, seeing that innovation isn't so much about adding a channel, like adding another arm or a leg. It's really about changing the way you do business. As an example, our first big mobile success was the ability to scan a prescription bottle to order a refill with the Walgreens mobile app. You can order a prescription refill in about 17 seconds, including the time it takes to take the phone out of your pocket, unlock it, and all that. We have a YouTube video out there somewhere showing that, so I can back that up. Customers loved it so much that they actually said they wished they had more prescriptions to fill.Merlino: How many people are currently using the mobile app and the scanning capability for prescription refills?Lesperance: We have shared publicly that 40% to 50% of our online prescriptions come from mobile, and a lot of them are using the scanning feature. It obviously has the most value to people who are juggling a lot of prescriptions. The fastest way to order before this method was to pick up the phone and use our touchtone or IVR ([interactive voice] systems, unless you wanted to go to the store and drop it off. It really was a game changer for us, and we looked at the business with new eyes. We could just add mobile as a channel and not take advantage of the fact that there is a camera on this phone and there's a way to develop scanning technology, which we have several patents for. And that's where innovation gets exciting, because you're thinking of using technology in a way no one has thought of before. In our case, we're a pharmacy, a photo business, and a retail destination for health and daily living, and we want to deliver something new and exciting that's never been done before. Merlino: What lessons have you learned introducing innovations with mobile and other technologies that would be of use to people in other industries, like travel? Lesperance: Speed is really the key for us. We found that moving quickly and being first really matters. It's as relevant to mobile as to social media, and it's not always correlated to the level of investment you make. It's more of a mentality, and it's a talent question. You find the people who thrive on speed, and give them the proper training and tools. That's an important ingredient. On Super Bowl Sunday we got some coverage for our real-time content that we sent to our Facebook fans and our Twitter followers around the power outage that happened. Walgreens was one of maybe three brands that were mentioned. Oreo also got some great kudos for doing a real-time ad. We sent out kind of a cheeky tweet about how we sell batteries and candles. It's that authenticity that's important. Obviously it wasn't canned and pre-written by a committee. It was created by real human beings who are well trained and understand our brand, who are being creative. In order to have speed like that, you also have to be willing to give people power to make those decisions, and not treat it like a lot of other things that would normally go through a nine-month release cycle. It's an interesting cultural shift that's great for customers; it got a lot of likes on Facebook. Merlino: It sounds like a whole new way of defining marketing. Lesperance: It's a different way to approach messaging your customers. Another interesting thing has been that we're blurring the lines between what you would call marketing, product development, and communication with your customers. We can still call it marketing, but I think most marketers today know that marketing as we knew it is dead, and we need to create an authentic dialogue with customers in social media. That's actually a way you can start your marketing campaigns. Rather than social being an add-on to other channels, it's now evolving to where the primary call to action can be social in nature, and the other channels support it. That's the inverse of the way it was a few years ago. NEXT ISSUE: Rich Lesperance covers "the next big thing" in emerging technologies that will have an impact on brand marketing. New media image provided by Shutterstock.


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An Elegant Vintage Wedding in Santa Barbara, CA
The Bride Lisa Kassabian, 31, a Los Angeles county deputy district attorney The Groom Alan Jackson, 46, also a Los Angeles county deputy district attorney The Date July 31 Lisa and Alan decided on an elegant vintage theme, letting the cool-blue color of their linens lead the palette. Pale-yellow accents and flowers in cream and ivory filled out the day's overall design. -- Amanda Black


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96 Percent of Americans Knowingly Burn Their Mouth on Hot Food or Drink
I enjoy good coffee, but I don't enjoy waiting for it to cool. Most fresh coffee is too hot for me, but as much as I'd like to drink it I choose to wait.
A new survey suggests that I am in the minority and most Americans enjoy pain.


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By Mark Struczewski on Thu, 01/02/2014
Dear Apple,
I don't know whether you read this blog or not, but I'm going to assume (pretend?) that you do.
First Things First
I came over from the dark side in November 2012. That was when I purchased my first Apple product: the iPhone 4S. I'd always heard how great Apple products were and so I was not surprised that the 4S lived up to all the hype from my friends and colleagues regarding your products.
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With the 4S, I immediately became an Apple fan. I began to follow what others wrote about you and your products. In the spring of 2013, I got excited about the iOS 7 rumors and was thrilled after the announcement when most of the rumors came true. I love almost everything about iOS 7.
Then you went ahead and released the iPhone 5s and 5c. I was so stoked.
The day before Christmas 2013, I upgraded my 4S to the 5s (and gave my 4S to my wife, converting her to Apple too!)
But, Apple, We Have a Problem
When iTunes Radio was announced with the iOS 7 announcement, I was very happy. Once I had downloaded iOS 7, I subscribed to iTunes Match and canceled my Pandora One subscription. I thought life was grand. Until...
For reasons I can't understand, there are volume issues with iOS 7. I have spoken to your very helpful tech support people and they are unable to help me.
Bleeding Ears and Going Deaf: My Choice
When I was out on the trails riding my mountain bike or cutting my lawn (with a motorless lawn mower), I noticed that the volume for songs played on iTunes Radio or purchased via the iTunes Store was not as loud as Pandora One was. I also noticed that music I had the CD for (and had uploaded to iTunes Match) didn't have volume limiting issues either.
Things got even more confusing when I downloaded some songs from the same album that I had downloaded other songs from another site. The songs downloaded from iTunes didn't play as loudly as the songs I downloaded somewhere else. I found that very odd. You would think that all the songs from the same album would be played at the same volume. Not so with iTunes.
I experimented with the various EQ settings. Nope, that wasn't it.
It all comes down to the fact that songs from iTunes or played on iTunes Radio/iTunes Match are at a lower volume than songs that were not purchased from iTunes.
I don't know why there is a volume limiting issue with iTunes/iTunes Radio/iTunes Match. It's very frustrating. If I want to listen to music so loud that my ears bleed or I go deaf, that is my choice. It's not up to you to protect me.
Do you care? I Have no Way of Knowing
And what's interesting is that with iTunes Match, you scan my computer for songs I have that are also available on iTunes Match. Theoretically, if the songs are in iTunes, there is no upload, but I get to listen to the high quality version that has been mastered for iTunes. However, as in the album I downloaded songs from someplace else, these songs still play louder than iTunes version.
I will not abandon you, Apple. You are a great company that produces great products. But I really wish you would take care of this volume issue. Maybe it's just me. But that's okay. I'm allowed to voice my disapproval. I want to be able to listen to music at the volume I want. Pandora lets me do that. Why don't you?
A confused but happy Apple fan.


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The most notable names of 2013—a few of which were awaited with great anticipation– are borne by prominent personages in the realms of religion, royalty, politics, the tech world, and of course, entertainment. Here are our picks for the twelve names most emblematic of 2013—along with a few others that slipstreamed in their wake.
Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer are two women who made business news this year— Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, who started a whole movement with her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, and new mom Mayer for insisting workers lean in not from home but from the offices of Yahoo, where she's President and CEO. Sure, both women are brilliant and powerful, but could alliteration have helped to make their names more memorable and famous?
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[Pss 77:1] I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he will give ear unto me.[Pss 77:2] In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted.[Pss 77:3] I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah[Pss 77:4] Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.[Pss 77:5] I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times.[Pss 77:6] I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; And my spirit maketh diligent search.[Pss 77:7] Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more?[Pss 77:8] Is his lovingkindness clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore?[Pss 77:9] Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah[Pss 77:10] And I said, This is my infirmity; (But I will remember) the years of the right hand of the Most High.[Pss 77:11] I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old.[Pss 77:12] I will meditate also upon all thy work, And muse on thy doings.[Pss 77:13] Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: Who is a great god like unto God?[Pss 77:14] Thou art the God that doest wonders: Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.[Pss 77:15] Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah[Pss 77:16] The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled.[Pss 77:17] The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad.[Pss 77:18] The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightning's lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook.[Pss 77:19] Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known.[Pss 77:20] Thou leadest thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron.I. An eclipse of faith (vss. 1-9).II. A wise decision (vss. 10-15).III. An example of divine deliverance (vss. 16-20).Asaph was the human author of Psalm 77. A glance at various psalms shows that he wrote Psalms 50, 73-83. Who was Asaph? He was a Levite who lived in the days of David and undoubtedly was a great musician. From I Chronicles 16:4,5 we learn that David appointed him as the minister of music, the choir director of the Temple singers. He was not only a musician, but was also a poet. At least one would judge this to be true from the fact that God used him in writing twelve of the psalms. Men select people who have qualifications for the positions which they wish filled. God uses the same wisdom. When He wanted certain portions of His Word put in the form of poetry, He selected men who had poetical talents to do the writing. But let us remember that the Holy Spirit inspired the biblical writers, giving them the thoughts and the very words by which the thoughts were expressed―combining spiritual things with spiritual words. While all of this is true, we may conclude that God used the poetical talents of Asaph when He wished these twelve psalms written. We may conclude from the data which we have that he was, to a certain extent at least, temperamental. This we conclude from a careful study of Psalms 73 and 77, for in these poems are reflected the human frailties of this great man. In Psalm 73 we see that jealously and envy got the upper hand of him and his mind became warped that he reached erroneous conclusions―until he went to the house of God and laid his situation before the Lord; when he saw facts and truths as they are. It is certainly a great encouragement to us to know that, notwithstanding our shortcomings and failures, God can and will use those who, even in a limited way, desire to do His will. With these introductory remarks, let us now turn to the investigation of Psalm 77.This psalm falls naturally into three main divisions which are: (I) an eclipse of faith (vss. 1-9); (II) a wise decision (vss. 10-15); (III) an example of divine experience (vss. 16-20).
77 "I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he will give ear unto me.2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not;My soul refused to be comforted.3 I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. (Selah)4 Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times.6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: And my spirit maketh diligent search.7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will he be favorable no more?8 Is his lovingkindness clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? 9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? (Selah)" (vss. 1-9).
According to verse 1 the psalmist declared his intention to bring his case before the Lord and was confident that his prayer would be answered. The basis for such a conviction is expressed in verse 2, where he recounts a past experience. At this former time, Asaph had been in trouble. He turned to the Lord in dead earnest, looking intently to Him to answer his petition and to deliver him. Though he does not tell us that the petition was answered, we may assume that it was from the fact that he uses this instance as a basis for praying at the time of which he in this psalm is speaking.Notwithstanding the psalmist's intention to bring his case before the Lord and to leave it there in faith, we see from verse 3 that there was an eclipse in his faith. As he remembered God, he became disquieted. Fears began to grip his soul. Because the prayer was not answered immediately, it seems that he began to complain. When he did this, his spirit was overwhelmed. It appeared to him that there was a vast gulf between him and the Almighty. In fact, he seems to have fallen into a state of despair. To him the fellowship seemed to have been broken and he felt that there was no approach to God. Such an experience of this type is quite frequent. Many of God's noblemen today are brought to their extremity at times. They become baffled. They pray, but no answer comes. Many of them are not conscious of sin in their lives separating them from God or disrupting their fellowship with Him. They appear helpless and bewildered. God seems afar off. They are unable to get a grip upon themselves and continue to "wrestle with the Lord" in prayer until the day dawns and the light of His presence again shines upon them. Such experiences are, doubtless in many instances, the result of some special attack by Satan. Again, it may be due to physical weakness; or again it may be the result of one's letting up in his devotional and prayer-life.In verse 4 the psalmist has his eyes focused upon the Almighty. Though he cannot see the Lord physically, he is looking upward and trying by faith to see Him. Notwithstanding this attempt to get in touch with the Almighty, he is so very much overwhelmed that he cannot talk. In his great anxiety he looks toward heaven, but seems to be staring into blank space. Doubt seems to be getting in its deadly work. Questioning God's existence and His love for one is the work of Satan, as we see in the case of Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen., chap. 3).After staring into blank space as he looked toward heaven, the psalmist breaks his silence by asserting that he has "considered the days of old, the years of ancient times." It is not quite clear as to what he meant by these expressions. It is possible that he was referring to the early primeval times, the beginning of the human race. Again it is altogether possible that he was referring to the early years of his life. The implication of this verse possibly is that during these former times, God had not been afar off and that He had been in touch with His followers. When everything is taken into consideration, it is quite likely, however, that the psalmist was speaking of his earlier days when he was in close touch and fellowship with the Lord. This thought is confirmed by the next verse in which he tells us that he called to remembrance his songs in the night. The suggestion of this past is that he had been living in close touch and fellowship with God and that his joy at that time was abounding. As he continued in this retrospective mood, he examined his own heart and made diligent search concerning his spirit.The questions which he put to himself are found in verse 7-9. To him it seemed that the Lord had cast him off forever and that He would be no longer favorable to him. If the Lord had cast him off forever, what would be the use of praying? The answer is that there would be none. As he mused upon his condition, he asked whether or not the loving-kindness of God had gone forever and would God fail to keep His promise? From verse 9 we see that Asaph was in doubt as to whether God had forgotten to be gracious anymore. "Hath he," he asked, "in anger shut up his tender mercies?"From these questions we can see to what depths of despondency Asaph had plunged. Do you, my dear Christian friends, or I, ever have our faith eclipsed and give utterance to such doubts concerning the grace, mercy, and love of God? Do we ever question His faithfulness? Do we ever conclude that in His anger He has shut up His mercy against us forever?These questions, found in verse 7-9, are to be answered in the negative so far as the truly born-again children of God are concerned. The Lord may, for good and sufficient reasons, seemingly turn from a genuinely saved person and cause him to pass through trying experiences which seem for the time being to indicate that God has completely forsaken him. The Lord tested Abraham's faith by commanding him to offer his son Isaac upon the alter. That was a supreme trial, the like of which the Lord has seldom given to any of His children. But the patriarch wavered not through unbelief. On the contrary, he marched forward confidently in the path of obedience, prepared to carry out the divine command. When he had thus demonstrated his unswerving faith and his loyalty to the Lord, the Almighty prevented his going any farther. Thus Abraham received a wonderful blessing.There is no hour so dark and no experience so grave that we cannot by faith look up into the face of our God and see His smile. When, however, such testing times come, we should call in other good Christian friends to unite with us in approaching the throne of grace. First, however, we should search our own hearts to see whether or not there is anything between us and the Lord. If we discover something, we should confess it and turn from it. Then in the strength of united prayer, having agreed as to the thing for which we should pray, we should bring our petition to the Lord who guarantees that He will hear, answer, and deliver.
10 "And I said, This is my infirmity; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.11 I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old.12 I will meditate also upon all thy work, And muse on thy doings.13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is a great god like unto God?14 Thou art the God that doest wonders; Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph" (vss. 10-15).
In these verse just quoted, we see a changed attitude on the part of the psalmist, and an entirely different outlook on life is apparent. It seems evident that Asaph had "prayed through" in regard to his own case; for he tells us that "This is my infirmity." What is his infirmity? The answer is, The experience which he had just narrated, found in the first nine verse of his hymn. One may judge that he was more or less temperamental and that he often fell into these moody states during which times he questioned the goodness of God and the continuance of His mercy and loving-kindness toward His people. Those, who are temperamental and by nature are subject to times of introspection and consequent reactions of doubt and despondency, should take their eyes off themselves and center them upon God, earnestly imploring Him to deliver from their evil case. To much attention to self is always disastrous. Comparisons are not only odious but are also detrimental to the spiritual development of the child of God. Asaph was given to doing these very things; "For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Ps. 73:3). May the Lord deliver us from all the juniper-tree experiences like that of Elijah! He can and will do this for us if we will trust Him.According to the first nine verses it would seem from verse 10 of Psalm 77 that Asaph was coming out from behind the cloud of doubt which was seemingly enveloping him. He seems to have gotten hold of himself and to have recognized that he was again in one of his moody, complaining states of mind. Realizing this, he admitted that this was a weakness of his. It is well for us to examine ourselves honestly and conscientiously in the presence of God to learn our weaknesses and to ask the Lord to deliver us. He will give power and ability and enable us to rise above all such experiences.In the Revised Version there is a marginal reading of the first part of verse 10 which is as follows: This is my grief that the right hand of the Most High doth change. Of course, the Hebrew does yield this translation, as well as that which is found in the text. If we accept the marginal rendering, we see that Asaph simply said that this was his "grief," or, expressed in the parlance, his "hard luck"―that "the right hand of the Most High doth change." In other words, he said that it was just to bad for him that God changed His tactics and methods in dealing with him. The implication of this statement is that God had been good to him in the past, but that he was no longer treating him thus. If this is the meaning, we can understand why it was that the Lord was no longer dealing graciously and bountifully with Asaph and pouring out the riches of His blessing upon him. The trouble was with him and not with the Lord. Whenever the Lord ceases to bless one of His children, such a one may come to the conclusion that something is wrong in his life, right-about-face, come back to the Lord, learn what the trouble is, rectify the wrong, and allow God to bring back into his life the fullness of His blessing. In this connection let me say that I am inclined to believe that the text reading of verse 10 is to be preferred above the marginal note. As stated above, the psalmist was coming to his senses, seeing his mistake, and admitting his sin.Taking his eyes off himself and God's dealings with him, he looked into the distance past―back to the time of Exodus―and began to enumerate God's dealings with His people Israel. He declared,"I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah; For I will remember thy wonders of old."In the first part of this verse Asaph speaks of God in third person, "of Jehovah," but in the latter part he changes quickly to the second person, addressing Him and saying, "I will remember THY wonders of old." Such a change of pronouns is common in the Book of Psalms, and this shift from one to another should occasion no difficulty in interpretation. This custom is easily understood when we remember that in our ordinary daily conversation a father, speaking to his child, says "Come to me, son; come to Daddy." In such an instance the father speaks of himself first as "me," (first person), and then as "Daddy," (third person). The child, however, understands perfectly what his father means.Asaph mentioned "the deeds of Jehovah"―the works―His "wonders." He was talking about the miracles at the time of the Exodus. This is clear from verse 15, which we shall consider presently. The biblical writers frequently recount God's wonders which He performed at the time of the Exodus. For instance, Moses in his final orations―the Book of Deuteronomy―constantly referred to what God had done in bringing Israel out of Egypt. Certain Levites, the leaders of Israel in the days of Nehemiah, did the same thing (Neh. 9:5-38). Of these mighty acts Asaph sang of in Psalm 78. The same deeds of Jehovah are recounted in Psalms 105 and 106. In his great prayer (Jer. 32:16-27) Jeremiah spoke largely of these wonders. Ezekiel, a contemporary of Jeremiah, likewise recounted God's dealings with Israel in delivering her from Egyptian bondage (Chap. 20).Although the wonders which God performed in behalf of Israel when He delivered her from Egypt were indeed marvelous, those which He will perform in behalf of the faithful remnant in the end of the Tribulation will far eclipse those which he performed at the Exodus (Jer. 23:7-8).As Asaph meditated upon God's works and mused upon His doings, he came to this conclusion: "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary ..." The marginal reading of this wording is, "Thy way, O God, is in Holiness." The word rendered sanctuary also means holiness. This intrinsic characteristic of God, which is apparent in all of His dealings, was emphasized by the solemnity and reverent atmosphere of His house―the Temple. Everything connected with the Tabernacle and the Temple emphasized the holiness of God. The sacred structure was, figuratively speaking, God's house, in the midst of Israel. He resided among the people and dealt with them upon the principles of holiness. Such seems to be the thought that is expressed here. God's way with His people, which He directed from the sanctuary, was in holiness. Shall not the Lord of all the earth do right? He is righteous, just, and holy. There is no one like unto our God. In verses 14 an 15 the psalmist tells us that he was speaking of God's wonders which He performed when He, in loving-kindness, delivered Israel from her servile bondage. He performed such miracles that the surrounding peoples recognized the presence of Jehovah and His superiority to their gods.
16 "The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled.17 The clouds poured out water: The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad.18 The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook. 19 Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known.20 Thou leadest thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron" (vss. 16-20).
Having in verses 14 and 15 spoken of God's wonders in delivering Israel, Asaph now mentions some of these details. For instance, in verse 16 he speaks of God's separating the waters of the Red Sea in order that Israel might pass through. He thinks of the waters as persons who, terrified by the presence of God, ran from Him affrighted. God caused a strong east wind to blow which separated the waters and opened up the path for Israel to pass through. The waters congealed, as we see from Exodus 15:8. After Israel had crossed over to the opposite side, the Lord caused the waters to roll back upon the Egyptians who were attempting to follow them, thus drowning Pharaoh's host in the sea―a mighty deliverance by divine power.In verse 17 Asaph mentions God's having sent rain at that time. The inference is that these rains were sent for Israel's special benefit. Those who have been in the Sinaitic Peninsula can appreciate the cooling effect of the rain, especially during the hot summer. We should read this portion of the Psalm in connection with the record found in the Book of Exodus. When we take all the facts into consideration, we might speak of God's "air-conditioning" the desert by sending the clouds by day and the pillar of fire by night―the clouds as an umbrella protecting Israel from the heat and also reducing the temperature by falling rain. The pillar of fire by night was to warm the desert in the winter. In verse 17 and 18 the psalmist speaks of the rain, and of the lightning and the thunder that accompanied it.Although the Lord was present in mighty power, working various miracles for Israel's good, the people did not have spiritual vision enough to recognize His footsteps and presence with them. Not only did the Lord air-condition the desert, but he gave them, water from the rock and provided them manna, as well as quail. Their clothing did not wear out. Everything that was necessary for their life was provided bountifully for them.According to the last verse God lead His people like a flock, "By the hand of Moses and Aaron." They had an efficient leader, who had been trained especially for forty years in the wilderness for the job of leading Israel during the forty years of her wanderings.When we are discouraged, thinking all is lost, let us take our eyes off self and look at the wonders of God as He works in behalf of others. Let us praise Him, over and over, for His eternal goodness to us and for His guiding providence.