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When Carl's Jr. looked at expanding its international fast-food franchise operation earlier this year, several emerging markets were muted. But after a trip to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in June, company officials made sure Brazil was on the list.
Why? The country's young, meat-eating population is growing, which is important to the American chain, says Mike Stout, director of international franchise sales.
But Carl's Jr. also had other motives that speak to Brazil's newfound economic robustness.
"Disposable incomes are increasing and more and more people are moving into the middle class," Mr. Stout said in a telephone interview from St. Louis, shortly after a two-week visit here. "The economy is growing and inflation is stable. From a business perspective, we love the market."
Add to that lower interest rates and easier credit, and you have the reasons Brazil is emerging as an investment magnet. Direct foreign investment to Brazil doubled last year as companies as diverse as real-estate developer Tishman Speyer and agricultural machinery producer John Deere looked to the Southern Hemisphere as a place to do business.
It is a remarkable turnaround for a nation accustomed to boom and bust and strengthens Brazil's place as Latin America's economic powerhouse. Although many countries in the region are doing well – Latin America is enjoying one of its best periods of economic growth in 40 years, the United Nations reported last month – Brazil is outpacing its neighbors. Moreover, the good times seem set to roll: As the rest of the world tightens its belt in fear of a downturn, Brazilians are putting their hands in their pockets and pulling out cash.
"I've definitely been spending more, on clothes, shoes, books, travel," says Neusa Neves, a retired teacher who was poring over coffee-table books in a store window on São Paulo's main street recently. "Things are much better and we are going through a good phase."
Enjoying steady growth
There are several factors behind the nationwide spending spree, economists say. High food and commodity prices – Brazil is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of minerals, soy, beef, chicken, and grains – have brought in cash and created jobs.
Prudent economic policies have kept inflation to below 5 percent and annual growth at about the same rate. The currency is at its strongest level against the dollar since 1999 and investors are so sure Brazil is on the right track that it was recently given "investor grade," a Wall St. qualification that confirms its status as a good place to invest.
Perhaps most important, rising wages, falling unemployment, and a government-assistance program that has put money in the pockets of the poorest families, have helped lift as many as 20 million people into the middle class, economists and researchers say.
Car, home sales on the rise
Those people have money to spend and they are flaunting their newfound liquidity. Sales of domestic appliances rose 17 percent last year, the number of cellphones in use went up 21 percent, and sales of notebook computers and plasma and LCD televisions almost tripled.
For major purchases such as cars and houses, the figures are even more revealing. The number of home mortgages rose 72 percent last year to its highest number ever, and the amount of money being borrowed to buy vehicles jumped 45 percent. Car production last year hit a record high of almost 3 million and rose 21 percent in the first five months of 2008.
"We always knew that there was a very significant portion of the population who were excluded," says Humberto Barbato, president of the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association. "There is a whole new group of people coming into the consumer market."
Much of the spending has been made possible by falling interest rates and easier credit. Until recently, interest rates were so high and Brazil's economy so unpredictable that banks would not lend for any extended period.
But President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has proved a careful steward of Brazil's economy. Although many believed the former leftist would abandon Brazil's conservative fiscal policies, he has kept monetary policy tight, especially during his first few years in office. Since then, he has gradually overseen a fall in interest rates from 25 percent when he took over to 11.25 percent last year. The Central Bank has since increased the rate to 12.25 percent in a bid to combat inflation.
Even though the rate is still among the highest in the world, it is low by Brazilian standards and interest payments are more manageable than at any time in years.
Lenders are thus more inclined to give credit, and consumers can reduce their payments over longer periods. Mortgages once available for only a five-year term are now available for over 30, automobiles can be paid up over seven years, and even domestic appliances are on offer for 24 monthly payments.
Millions more could join the spree
Experts agree that while consumers are taking advantage of the favorable credit conditions, interest rates are still, in the words of Mr. Barbato, "at money-grabbing levels." Millions are holding off until the rates fall further.
"We're tempted [to buy a car on credit], but we'd rather save our money and buy something outright," said Fernanda São Paulo, a merchant out shopping on a recent Sunday with her husband. "It's easier today, but we haven't taken advantage because of the interest rates. You could buy two cars for what you end up paying."
That sentiment is still widespread, especially among the better educated. It sends a clear signal to bankers and economists that if rates drop further, millions more people could start spending.


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It has been two months since I last blogged. I have been working very long hours at work recently, been extremely productive. But I can't recall the last time I scrapped/sewn that could considered fun. I feel kind of sad for making very little crafting,scrapping and blogging. I missed those days when I scrapped and sewn quietly at night while the girls are asleep. The chats I had with my online scrapping and crafting buddies. I'm honestly too tired to do my personal stuff or blog properly when I get home. Most time, I veg-out by reading my e-mail and surfing websites to gather more mental clutter that I will never have time to use at work.
Life is about a journey. With 2 young kids who always need a lot of my time and energy, I find that my me time has virtually vanished. Big Missy will be in P1 the year after next and Little Missy will be in Nursery next year. Time flies! Nevertheless, I am thankful that I am able to bond with the girls, together with hubby daily every night before bedtime, be it reading or making small with them and lastly, put the girls to bed.
Ok, some random pictures to share here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Amazon Considering Online Pay-TV Service
Live TV Channels Would Compete With Cable, Satellite
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Guadalupe Davila Jr. isn't standing at the pulpit of his small church in El Mirage preaching to the congregation about living a godly life. He isn't inside the baptismal font, waist-deep in water and immersing new members and cleansing them of their sins. And he's not at the church's learning center giving children a lesson about the evils of lying.
Instead, on this warm day in May, the 47-year-old is sitting in a crowded El Mirage courthouse waiting for his turn to stand before a city judge. He fidgets, crossing and uncrossing his arms and legs. He places his left ankle on his right knee and anxiously shakes his foot.
The pastor with graying hair swept up into a faux-hawk is here to answer allegations that he repeatedly harassed an ex-girlfriend.
False Profit: How an El Mirage Preacher Swindled Followers
The young woman had been his secret lover for about two years, but she ended the relationship after realizing she wasn't the only church member with whom he was sexually involved. She obtained an order of protection last November.
Davila started barraging her with calls, text messages, and e-mails almost as soon as she stopped attending Primera Iglesia Bautista Camino al Cielo, once affiliated with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention.
He sent her hundreds of erratic communiques — one minute telling her he misses her and that God loves her and the next that she's a "fucking bitch" and a "fucking liar." In others, he writes that he's "unsettled with remorse" and that he'll pray for her.
Davila ignored a warning from an El Mirage police detective to stop the campaign, and he was arrested March 22 on two counts of aggravated harassment and for violating a court order. He spent several days, including his birthday, in a Maricopa County lockup.
He pleaded guilty in May and was ordered to attend domestic-violence-intervention counseling and pay more than $650 in fines.
His court appearance for harassment is just the latest of his troubles, evidence that a deceitful world he built has started to crumble.
See the complete slideshow here.
Former church members and volunteers also sit in the courtroom gallery. The once-loyal parishioners, who donated thousands of hours and dollars to refurbish the church and build up a learning center for children, pulled away from Davila just as he launched another fundraising campaign. His goal was to draw even more money from nearby retirement communities and neighboring churches.
Estranged congregation members tell New Times they believe that as they helped the church and its children, Davila helped himself to donations.
In a promotional video shot in late 2012, Davila pleaded for more volunteers, as well as for window blinds, folding chairs, a big-screen television, and "continual monthly financial support." He used stories of neglected children, photo montages of little brown faces fading in and out, and a backdrop of woeful gospel music.
"We need your help," he implored. "Do it for the little children."
They called him Pastor Lupe.
When volunteers first arrived in 2010, they were smitten by the children living across the street in a strip of worn, government-subsidized apartments. They fell in love, too, with the charismatic, suave preacher.
Without hesitation, they started to improve the learning center and give the church a facelift. They were eager to donate to the cause, opening their hearts and wallets and bringing in other volunteers.
A fundraising campaign surely would attract more of what the longtime parishioners called the "big-money people" — generous Sun City retirees.
Tens of thousands of dollars in cash, checks, gift cards, and materials poured in — not just for the learning center but for the major renovations to the church.
None of it was carefully tracked.
In fact, no one knows for sure how much money was donated. Davila may know, but during a visit to the church in May, he stood with his arms crossed tightly and told New Times repeatedly that he had nothing to say.
When confronted a second time outside the El Mirage Municipal Court about other irregularities at the church, including what appears to be an invalid tax-exempt number he used to collect donations of food and other items from local stores, including Costco, he said several times: "I don't have to tell you anything."
He also wouldn't discuss what happened to money he cleared out of a bank account set up for contributions to the children's center.
Volunteers started coming after Davila enticed a few members of Calvary Church in Surprise to go see the dilapidated church and meet its children. Word quickly spread, drawing more volunteers. Other churches decided to make monthly contributions to the poor El Mirage church.
By spring 2011, Calvary agreed to take on the learning center as part of its outreach ministry. Church volunteers called it the Nehemiah Project, after the biblical prophet said to have led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.
At first, no one saw past Davila's whitewashed veneer.
After all, he'd spent years cloaking himself in Holy Scripture. His personality, piety, and the children with whom he surrounded himself made him an endearing character in El Mirage and beyond.
He developed a bond with certain retirees, a few of whom he even called Mom and Dad. And, when he needed or wanted money — which he frequently did — he knew they were good for it.
He often told a story that he'd been ordered by God to care for poor children.
"You will start a learning center, my servant," he'd claim God told him. "And you will help the deprived children of El Mirage, Arizona, with their needs."
The children arrived twice a week for help with their homework, lessons about Jesus and hygiene, and a hot meal prepared by volunteers from other churches.
He concealed from members and volunteers that he'd been involved in sexual relationships with two church members at the same time. And until his arrest in March, those closest to him didn't know he'd chronically violated an order of protection filed against him by the young woman who ended the relationship.
Davila didn't disclose to parishioners that he's a former Goodyear police officer and a felon. He was busted in 1998 for stealing money earmarked for drug buys while he was working undercover on a special task force connected to the FBI. He was arrested, pleaded guilty, and spent five months in a federal prison near Seattle in 1999.
He didn't tell them, even though they asked, that none of the requisite paperwork had been filed with state and federal officials for the church's nonprofit, tax-exempt status.
After he welcomed them into the church, he was careful never to give them as much as a peek into the church's finances.
Donations for the children's center weren't the only sources of revenue during those flush times. Some Calvary volunteers started to regularly attend Camino al Cielo, and its Sunday offerings skyrocketed from a few dollars, some of it loose change, to several thousand dollars in a typical month.
Former parishioners Elizabeth Rojas and Dolores Garcia say they were at different times in charge of counting the offerings, and the money coming in was significant.
"One lady — I was shocked — we got $1,500 from," Garcia says. "And, every now and then, she would give $500 or $600. And we had other people, the snowbirds, we got nice amounts from them."
Other churches also took on Camino al Cielo as a part of their mission, including Happy Trails Christian Fellowship in Surprise. Happy Trails made a $1,500 donation, and it was poised to set up an ongoing monthly contribution to Davila.
Surprise's Radiant Church sent over its members to improve landscaping, add a playground and volleyball court, and paint Camino al Cielo's exterior — everything was donated and installed by volunteers.
Some came from Horizon Church, also in Surprise, to work with the children, and they reached deep into their pockets to help Davila.
Skyway Church in Goodyear had provided a $300 monthly donation to the El Mirage church since Davila's dad was at the pulpit. Skyway Pastor Greg Brown had known the senior Davila for decades, and it was he who ordained Davila Jr. as a minister of God on November 9, 2011.
And on March 29, 2013 — eight days after Davila's arrest — it was Brown who stripped Davila of his ministerial license and ordination, telling him in an e-mail that he was in need of help because of his dangerous "patterns of dishonesty and deceit."
Davila also solicited donations by calling in regularly to a talk show on Family Life Radio, which broadcasts to about 15 million listeners across 11 states, and talked about his church and its "many needs." For ministering to children and the poor, the station recognized Davila as a Hope Hero of the Week in March 2012 — although Davila likes to say he was dubbed "hero of the year."
Volunteers tell New Times that, about that time, the church also received out-of-state donations.
Money was coming in from many directions — and church members who requested an accounting of it say Davila rebuffed them. Those who pressed too much for answers were shamed, by name, from the pulpit as Davila openly prayed to God that they leave his church.
Alan Thompson, an associate pastor at Calvary Church in Surprise, rests his Bible on his crossed legs as he reads aloud from 2 Corinthians.
"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ," he says. "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."
He reads a few more verses before he sets down the Good Book and pulls off his reading glasses.
"That sums up what we're seeing," he says of Calvary's experience with Davila. "There has been a lot of deception."
Calvary Church started helping Camino al Cielo in spring 2011.
When members first heard about the church in El Mirage, Thompson recalls, the congregation thought that helping it would be a great way to make a difference.
Calvary and other volunteer groups repaired the church's frayed electrical wires and installed new wood floors and new windows. Some drove to Sedona to pick up newer pews, bought appliances (including a new kitchen sink), painted the church, and added playful and artistic murals to the building.
They even added a bell to the church tower and renovated the pastor's office.
Amid all the work, including tending to children, money kept coming. Well-intentioned volunteers stuffed donations for the children's center in an envelope and kept only a rudimentary accounting. They say donors also gave funds and gift cards directly to Davila, but they have no idea how much money was involved.
They agreed to open a joint bank account in January 2012 to keep better track of how the money was used. Davila, however, arrived at the bank early and opened the account himself, with volunteers getting limited access as "signers" on the account.
It wasn't long before Davila claimed that a family had an emergency, forcing him to pull money out of the children's fund. Some suggested that he get the money out of the church's general fund — not the specialized account — but they relented after he insisted. Bank records show that he took out $200 and that he didn't repay the account another $250 he owed.
One woman gave about $300 in Walmart gift cards to Davila for window coverings. She later asked some of the volunteers whether they had received them. They said no but that it surely was just an oversight by the busy pastor who'd forgotten to pass along the cards.
When they asked him, they say, he acknowledged receiving the cards but said he'd forgotten them at home. Each time they asked about the cards, they say, he had a ready answer.
The cards never materialized.
One of Davila's former lovers says she saw Davila take liberties with church donations, including exchanging donated gift cards for Visa gift cards to use in nearby casinos.
Church volunteers overseeing the Nehemiah Project called for a meeting in late March 2012 to discuss these issues. What they didn't realize was that Davila already had quietly emptied the account of its nearly $3,600, bank records show.
And, as he'd done with others who'd demanded accountability, he shoved Calvary out the door.
During the meeting, he told volunteers to "be on board" with what he wants or "they could leave." After this meeting, Calvary decided it was time to cleanse itself of Davila.
In an April 4, 2012 e-mail to Thompson, Davila wrote that Camino al Cielo had voted that his group needs to move on with another ministry.
"No way is Calvary Chapel in Surprise in charge of our accounts," Davila wrote in a two-page e-mail. "The funds have been frozen, since many of your people and those [who] are [listed on] the accounts have resigned."
However, Wells Fargo records show that the account wasn't frozen but zeroed out on March 23, 2012 — 12 days before Davila sent his e-mail to Thompson.
Davila then accused Calvary members of "spreading rumors" and ordered them to "stop their mouth immediately in the name of Jesus." He lamented that Calvary members carry a "seed of division" and harbor "jealousy and anger" toward Camino al Cielo.
As Thompson goes over the e-mail, he shakes his head.
He says he reached out to Davila at least five times, but the preacher refused to meet him or to return his calls. As a pastor himself, Thompson says, he felt obligated to call other churches involved and express concern about Davila's operation.
Naomi Holtan, a member of Happy Trails Christian Fellowship, says her church cut off funding and its association with Davila after learning that he was "not living as a Christian" — that is, having affairs with church members and refusing to be open about church finances.
"He was doing lots of good for the children, and he had a good thing going," Holtan says. "But he wasn't practicing what he preached. It's sad, but the devil never sleeps."
Erin Wiens, a representative of Radiant Church's outreach programs, tells New Times that Radiant's relationship with Davila and was limited to sending 300 volunteers to the church for two hours to put in volleyball courts, install a playground, upgrade landscaping, plant trees, and provide clothing for families.
Skyway Church's Brown tried reaching out to Davila when calls started coming in about his behavior.
"You are a man in need of real help," Brown wrote in a March 28 e-mail to Davila, criticizing him for returning to the church after he was released from jail.
"Your speech to the people did not contain all the facts of your failures, but a mixture of enough truth combined with manipulative words . . . to sway the crowd, to make you [seem] like the victim."
Brown noted that Davila and his "ways of deceiving others to get [his] way" hadn't stopped, adding:
"I can no longer give you the credentials to be a minister of the gospel . . .Your license and ordination to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ will be revoked immediately."
Some were shocked when they learned of Davila's arrest, even wanting to rush to his aid, certain he'd been wronged.
Among the last volunteers to step back were Donna and Rod Hennig, church members heavily involved with the learning center.
The couple opened their house and even set up a bedroom in which Davila could "rest." He stayed there from time to time during summers, when they were out of town, calling their home his "oasis."
Only later would they learn that he brought one of his lovers to the oasis.
"We were all suckers," says Donna Hennig. "He's such a manipulator."
Rod Hennig, whom Davila appointed as principal of the learning center, had trouble seeing past the children.
He and Donna first heard about the church when they were in Seattle and received a call from a Calvary Church member excited about helping El Mirage's kids.
"When we came back, we rolled our sleeves up and started working," Donna says.
As Brown said about Davila's behavior, the preacher told them and other volunteers that he was a victim or was under attack by those raising questions about his administration of the church.
"He always had a plausible explanation, every time," Rod says. "We were defending him."
Drawn in by the children, the couple says they personally got taken by Davila for at least $6,000 — not including their donations to the church and money they spent buying items for the learning center.
The couple says they gave Davila money for backhoe classes that he never took and for a landscaping trailer that he never bought. When he was fired from a landscaping company, they gave him money to hire an attorney because he said he was wrongfully terminated. He never hired a lawyer.
Several volunteers at the children's center hired Davila, who claimed he was a master gardener, to do landscaping. They say he took their money up front and didn't finish jobs.
In retrospect, the Hennigs can see the many problems with Davila.
"All the treasurers did was count the money on Sundays," Rod says. "[Davila] was solely responsible for finances. And when we asked about it, he would say he was going to add us to the bank account. Or that he was too busy to talk about it because he was on his way to pray for a child dying of cancer."
After police accused Davila of violating the order of protection and arrested him, members quickly called a meeting. Unbeknownst to them, Davila was out on bail and showed up at the church. He told them he was stepping down, but he never did.
"There were a lot of older people, retirees, with good hearts. They just wanted to help," Donna says. "But he just saw dollar signs."
Davila's proclivity for easy money landed him in federal prison for five months and cost him his career as a cop, even though he earned a reputation in law enforcement as a top undercover detective.
Davila's supervisors "in an elite Arizona anti-gang unit have praised him for an uncanny ability to infiltrate the tightest gangs, bust up drug rings, and shut down operators dealing explosives and guns," the Arizona Republic reported in July 1998.
His arrest on corruption charges came after Davila "encouraged an informer to sell drugs on the side and took $6,000 while promising to shield the informer from arrest," the Associated Press reported a month later.
The AP report noted that "financial problems were apparently plaguing Davila at the time. He said he told the informer he needed $1,000 to pay a credit card debt."
Though he lost his law enforcement career, the skills that allowed him to deceive drug dealers and gang members and, according to the AP article, "switch gears at a moment's notice" came in handy.
Dealing with church volunteers requesting financial accountability must have been, at first, a breeze for Davila after tangling with violent gangs.
But Dolores Garcia, who attended Camino al Cielo for about four years and treated Davila as a son, says, "He [eventually] played with the wrong people, and they wanted facts."
He took "money from different people who aren't as forgiving," she says. "I don't want to call him a moocher, but I think that's why he's in trouble."
After comparing notes with other volunteers, Garcia says, she and her husband discovered that they'd given Davila money for some of the same expenses that volunteers such as the Hennigs already had covered.
She doesn't hold a grudge but says she's through with the man she and her husband took on vacations with them, including a trip to Las Vegas.
When they invited Davila to go with them to a Vegas casino, she says, he "never had money."
But when he took his girlfriends to local casinos on his own, Garcia found out, "He was dishing out money out of I don't know where."
Between casino romps, sexual liaisons, and keeping church finances cloaked, Davila kept delivering Sunday sermons about forgiveness and humility, about living a life according to God's word. He even chastised one churchgoer publicly for living with a man while her husband was in jail.
Few knew, but many suspected, that the preacher hardly practiced the morality he preached.
Davila's harassed ex-girlfriend showed New Times the text messages and e-mails he inundated her with after she broke off the relationship.
They hardly are the stuff that pious pastors are supposed to be made of.
The 27-year-old says the relationship started when she reached out to Davila for counseling for past sexual abuse. She says things quickly became intimate.
When she learned that he was living with a woman in Phoenix and dating others besides her, she says, she broke it off. That's when he started sending her more than a thousand erratic, sexually charged text messages.
In October 2012, he texted her in detail about having a sexually transmitted disease, as well as lice, that he claimed he contracted from her.
He and his doctor, he wrote, "did a time [chart] of yours and my sexual activity. We have been sexually active vaginally, orally, and [anally], and these are the ways to cont[r]act the disease. It took it about [three] weeks for it to cause me the drip."
Then, he questioned whether she'd been faithful to him.
She mostly ignored his messages but eventually replied that she wasn't sick and asked him to leave her alone.
By January, as volunteers pondered where the church money was going, Davila blamed the woman and her family.
"U and ur mom better not contact my friends. If u guys do, I will execute my legal options . . . u guys have hurt me and defamed and slander[ed] me enough," he texted on January 25, 2013.
But that evening, he sent more messages, telling her his "heart is unsettled with remorse" and that he wanted her to forgive him.
In February, he again accused her of slandering him.
"So you slander me with Calvary Church people, but when you were [f]ucking me and sucking my d[i]ck, you were on my side. What a hypocrite you turned out to be. See you in court. Stop talking sh[i]t and quit slandering me. Bye."
But among such messages was this one: "Happy Valentine's day. You are loved, and I will always be your greatest fan. You inspire me in so many ways. Loves always, [L]upe."
Longtime parishioners tell New Times that they recall Davila as unpredictable and temperamental when his father still was pastor, which gave them pause about inviting him to lead the church.
Camino al Cielo not only had suffered the loss of its pastor in August 2008, but the man who stepped in to take his place — Raymundo Santiago Ramos (Davila Jr.'s brother-in-law) was arrested for molesting a 12-year-old girl from the church just eight months later, on March 14, 2009.
County Superior Court records show that a judge sentenced Ramos to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty. He told police that he touched the girl's breasts only so "they would grow." He admitted touching her other private parts, having her touch his, and offering to lend her pornographic movies as a way to educate her "about different sexual body parts."
Church members, like sheep without a shepherd, reached out for help from the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, the entity that had donated their building to them in 1980.
Some recall that the Convention dispatched a pastor after the Ramos debacle, and after a couple sermons, he declared the church dead because of its paltry attendance.
Members reluctantly turned to the younger Davila.
When he took over, Davila listed Elizabeth Rojas as church treasurer on annual reports required by the Arizona Corporation Commission. He misspelled her name and listed her home address incorrectly.
"I never signed anything," Rojas tells New Times, adding that she was unaware that Davila even used her name. "I used to count the money, but he never let me see any of the bank statements or let me deposit the money."
Dolores Garcia has a similar story about her role as treasurer. She, too, would only count the money and turn it over Davila.
"That's what he told me to do," she says. "I would ask him about it, and, every time, he would just tell me that the bank would send me statements. I never did get a statement from the bank" over four years. When she suggested that she should deposit money to maintain the integrity of the treasury, she quotes him as telling her: "Well, I get to do that because I'm the pastor."
Rojas says the church ran differently when Davila's father was alive — there were business meetings and regular public accountings, complete with details of what was spent and how much was collected in donations.
Davila Jr., however, is known to have yelled at churchgoers if they asked about money. And he never hesitated to boot out detractors.
One banished member had attended the church since the 1970s. He was baptized in 1982 by Davila Sr., pastor for three decades.
The man pulls from a pile of papers an index card, dated November 2011, informing him that he'd been "removed from membership per vote of the church."
Other members confirm that there never was such a vote to oust the man whose only sin was questioning the pastor too often. The detractor never returned to Camino al Cielo.
A few longtime congregation members who were removed from the church, or left in disgust, tell New Times that they suspect Davila's holding on as pastor in anticipation of a much larger payout.
Plans long have been under discussion among state, county, and city officials to expand El Mirage Road from two lanes to five. Though there are no immediate plans to expand the road along church property, the church will have to be torn down when the thoroughfare's eventually widened. Then, the church must be financially compensated.
The county Assessor's Office lists the value of the church at $86,600. But because of volunteers' renovation of it, the building's worth far more, members believe.
Certain members say Davila told them that, if they supported him as pastor, he'd split the money with them when the payoff comes.
The church is owned by the membership — the deed is in the name of Primera Iglesia Bautista Camino al Cielo and is signed by Davila's late father.
Lately, Davila has scrambled to get documents filed with the Corporation Commission in an attempt to restore the church's tax-exempt status.
A search of federal tax databases doesn't yield any record of the church or the identification number Davila or his members were required to present when collecting food and other donations from places such as Costco, Fry's, and home-improvement stores.
Once word got back to those companies about Davila's arrest and the church's uncertain tax-exempt status, they also stopped donating, the Hennigs say.
Volunteers who never before spoke out — Davila posted messages on his Facebook page that they shouldn't — now are exchanging stories with former members about Davila.
A woman who lives in an apartment complex across from the church obtained an order of protection against Davila this month after he sent threatening messages to her Facebook account.
He contested the order granted by a judge. And before his court date, the church member got this message: "You better not show up to court or [you're] going to get it."
Other messages that prompted the order of protection: "Don't be surprised if you and your friend Donna get hurt"; "I don't care if you told Donna about me [threatening her with] burning down her house. There's no proof I said that. And no one will believe you"; and "Your the one that's going to burn along with the rest of the trashy people that live there. I'm saved. There is no way I [can] burn. The devil don't want me."
Moments later, another message came through: "I'm sorry. It's just that I miss you. You were my best friend and now you turned on me."
Some of the members feel broken spiritually after their experiences with Davila. Others are angry and want Davila held accountable. A few find it easier to just move on.
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Garcia is among the latter.
She says she and her husband found a new church that "speaks from the Bible." The "last year or two, at Camino al Cielo, it was all about the pastor — him, him, him. Nothing biblical, and we weren't getting anything out of it."
Dianne Pratt Doerschel, a retired teacher who volunteered to teach the young students who showed up at the church after school, says:
"We were so bamboozled. And he had all of these wonderful people involved. It could have been so amazing. And he ruined it."


text: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Retail sales of videogame software in the U.S. fell by 25% in October compared to the same month last year, according to data from the NPD Group released late Thursday. Hardware sales plunged by 37% during the period. Take-Two Interactive TTWO, +0.82% had the top-selling game with "NBA 2K13," while "Resident Evil 6" from Capcom took the number two slot. Nintendo's NTDOY, +0.75% new versions of "Pokemon" Black and White were also big sellers, as was "Dishonored" from Bethesda Softworks. The "Madden NFL 13" and "FIFA Soccer 13" sports titles from Electronic Arts EA, +1.91% remained in the top-ten list for a second month, though the publisher's combat shooter "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" only made its debut on the 8th place slot for the month.


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- Follow Trendy Treehouse via Google Friend Connect
- Link up only posts related to this challenge. Not your home page
- VERY IMPORTANT...Include a link to the original PIN. (where you got your inspiration) They deserve credit for their hard work too!
- Please DO NOT link up none Pinterest related posts, shops or giveaways.
- Share the i took the {PINTEREST} challenge button somewhere on your blog or in your post.
- Visit at least 3 other link ups and leave meaningful comments.
- Come back next week to see if your link has been featured and to share another fun Pin Inspired Project
Friday, February 24, 2012
Pinterest Challenge - Family Dates Print
3 comments:
Oh how I love your project! Its so wonderful. thank you for sharing the font link too. Once again, thank you for hosting and giving me the kick-in-the-pants to get things DONE on my list. Once our May wedding is done I can do some of the really artsy things Id like to try.ReplyDelete
I made one of these the moment I saw it on pinterest! I loved it. I made mine in picnik though. You can see it here:ReplyDelete
Aww i love your project! its AWESOME! And thanks for hosting the party! Have a great day!!ReplyDelete
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a comment. We appreciate every comment and try to reply via email to as many as we can. Have a fantastic day!
UPDATE...Sorry I had to update my comments to be approved. Spam is now getting through. :(


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Search Results: French
Apple-Cheddar Chicken Tartines with Honey-Dijon Roasted Potatoes
Apple-Cheddar Chicken Tartines with Honey-Dijon Roasted Potatoes is a quick, healthy, and absolutely delicious meal for any night of the week.
Blueberry Muffin French Toast Souffle
If french toast and blueberry muffins had a love child, this would be it!
Baked French Toast Sticks
Baked French Toast Sticks are a fun and sweet way to start your day. Freeze leftovers for a quick and yummy breakfast any day of the week!
Biscuit au Chocolat (Baskoot bil Chocalata)
When we interviewed Ameirah, she said she wanted to feature this recipe for no-bake dessert: biscuit au chocolat. And who can say no to delicious chocolate fudge surrounded by crunchy biscuits!?
Best Ever French Onion Dip
Best Ever French Onion Dip is the ultimate French Onion Dip!
BEST Garlic Bread
Dinner will be a hit when this BEST Garlic Bread recipe makes an appearance! It's so easy and delicious!
Big Macs
Homemade Big Macs that taste just like the originals, only infinitely better! Fresher and healthier because you control the ingredients.
Beurre Blanc
This classic French sauce is smooth and creamy with a bit of tang. Perfect over fish.


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MAKERS is a landmark digital and broadcast initiative from AOL and PBS showcasing compelling stories from women of today and tomorrow. A 3-hour documentary "MAKERS: Women Who Make America " premieres on witf TV on Tuesday February 26, 2013 at 8pm. The film tells the story of how women have helped shape America over the last 50 years in one of the most sweeping social revolutions in our country's history, as they pursued their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity and personal autonomy.
witf has created a local version of this project to complement the film. We're collecting inspiring and untold stories of remarkable Central Pennsylvania women. MAKERS is supported locally by Partners In Women's Health & Ella Health, with an additional grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Support for WITF is provided by:


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Home: chronicle of a north country life
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Apr 1, 1996 - History - 143 pages
Brought to life with full-color photos taken by the author, this is a story that will educate and inspire with its profound ability to strike a resonant chord in anyone who has yearned for a simpler life in the country. Filled with rare insight into the earth beneath and the sky above, Home is a powerful celebration of the paths we choose and the journey we take to find a home. 70 photos.
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - oldblack - LibraryThing
Not just beautiful writing but magnificent photographs that together show Beth Powning as a person who is closely in touch with the physical world around her. She must surely rank among the most fully ... Read full review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - Aspenhugger - LibraryThing
"In the tradition of our great nature writers -- Barry Lopez, Gary Synder and Annie Dillard -- Beth Powning tells the story of her personal journey to forge a bold new life in the wilderness of the ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
alders autumn barn Bay of Fundy birds blue blueberries branches brook Brunswick bushes chainsaw childhood cold cows coyotes crickets daisies dark dream drift dropped Dutchman's breeches earth edge empty eyes farm feel felt fence ferns fiddleheads fields fireweed flowers forest frost garden Gary Snyder goldenrod grass gray green hands hear hill hollow imagined kitchen knew leaf leaf mold leaves light listen live logs maple meadows memory morning mystery Nasturtium nests night pasture pink planted pond pull ridge rising road roots seed shadows silence smell snow soft soil sound spider webs spiders spring sprout spruce trees stars stone walls stood storm stove sugar maples summer swallows There's timothy tiny tossed tractor trail trout lily trunk twisting valley vanished walked watched white-throated sparrow wild Wild cherry wild strawberries wildflowers wind winter woods yellow


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If you are having problems with logging into the site, please email us on firstname.lastname@example.com. Or alternatively use the contact form - especially if you don't hear back from us, or you didn't get the registration email when you tried to sign up.
Please note: Commtap is not responsible for events and courses not provided by Commtap.
The activities on www.commtap.org have been developed by speech and language therapists, specialist teachers and others. Anyone can contribute further ideas to the site - although all these contributions are checked first. It is your responsibility to decide on the suitability or otherwise of any activities or strategies on this site for your particular situation - if you are in any doubt, you should seek the advice of a speech and language therapist or other appropriate specialist. Commtap CIC is a partner member of the Communication Consortium. RSS. Site map. Cookies. Donate. Present and past supporters. Donate. Contact. Data privacy.
This project has received support from: UnLtd | The Canary Wharf Group | Tower Hamlets NHS Speech and Language Therapy | Tower Hamlets Education
Copyright information.


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Possible Duplicate:
Inverse of $y=xe^x$
I would like to solve the equation $x \cdot\mathrm e^x=1$. I know it has an answer, I could find it with a calculator, but I don't remember how to solve it on paper.
Any help?
I know the answer is $x \approx 0.567143$. I don't want the answer, I want a method to find it.


text: Discover the Secrets of Nature's Garden at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, a 134-acre site where nearly 1000 species of plants native to Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley region thrive in naturalistic settings. Stroll on trails through woods and meadow, near a pond and creek on a self-guided or guided tour (offered seasonally). Enjoy native wildflowers, shrubs, trees and ferns, birds and wildlife throughout the seasons. Educational programs offered year-round. Shop for native plants and nature and gardening books and field guides. Visitor Center with exhibits, bird observatory, museum of mounted birds, nests and eggs, display garden and free information for home gardeners and naturalists. Check the web site for a calendar of events and programs.


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Are we at the moment where the retail investor is finally going to get into stocks again?
If so, here's a fun chart that might be worth keeping an eye on.
It's a Google Trends search volume chart for the word "investing."
Talk about being in secular decline.
Searchers for the term are about a 3rd as heavy as where they were in 2004. Keep an eye on this one.
And here's one for the term 'Online Trading'


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Direct from my Things-I'm-Not-Supposed-to-be-Working-On File, allow me to present Subject A:Cozy sportweight socks worked in my own handspun (the grey/pink/white/blue/brown bits) and a comparable weight of Zwool from Zeilinger's in Frankenmuth, MI. Subject A has been known to answer to the name of "Walkerville."
Basic socks with a hearty cuff-- rustic and comfy and warm. Yes, there will be a pattern.
Diversionary Tactics
4 comments:
- drMolly, the BeanQueen said...
OK! I like those colors - good show!
- April 19, 2011 at 2:10 p.m.
- Kate/Massachusetts said...
Oh, so pretty! I love the yarn colors
- April 19, 2011 at 3:51 p.m.
- Kelly said...
I love pulling things from my What-I'm-Not-Supposed-to-be-Knitting File -- or should I say, bin.
Kelly @ all. about. knitting
- April 21, 2011 at 9:08 p.m.
- Ledra said...
I have often thought that I should knit both mittens or socks simultaneously on two sets of needles. Is that what you do?
Love your blog!
- April 26, 2011 at 9:26 p.m.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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My Discovery of America
Hesperus Press, 2005 - Literary Criticism - 138 pages
In My Discovery of America, now in its first English translation, the leading poet of Revolutionary Russia offers a fascinating account of his travels in the U.S. Touring America, by way of an enforced sojourn in Mexico, Russian poet and indefatigable traveler Vladimir Mayakovsky was able to observe firsthand what he considered to be the model for Soviet development. Although ideologically at odds with much of American culture, and taking every opportunity to propound his own political beliefs en route, he delighted in the creativity and advancement he saw, believing it to be the future for mankind. His impressions, presented here in full for the first time in English, form an inspired collection of sketches, thoughts, jottings, and poems. Vladimir Mayakovsky was the foremost poet of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and one of the founders of Russia's Futurism movement.
From inside the book
19 pages matching Soviet in this book
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Common terms and phrases
already American Armour artist Brooklyn Bridge brother building bullfight cafes cent Chapultepec Park Chicago cigarette cinema colour Colt Colum McCann Communist comrade Cruz Daily Worker David Burliuk deck Detroit Discovery of America dollars dozens electric eyes factory five floor Ford French front Futurist girls half Havana hour houses huge hundred Indians labour lady Laredo light live look Marquita Mexican Mexican Communist party Mexico City Mikhail Bulgakov million minutes morning Moscow motor car Negroes newspaper night o'clock ocean organised Osip Brik party poem poet poetry political president Pushkin railway rain revolutionary Russian Russian Futurist poet shops side sort Soviet spit stand station steel storeys street struggle stuck swear there's thing third class thousand ticket town train turned union United V.G. Korolenko Vladimir Mayakovsky walk whole woman women word workers yell York


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Publisher: APC MONTEVIDEO, 05 November 2009
Workshop 1: A code of good practice on participation, access to information and transparency in internet governance
This workshop is organised jointly with the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the Council of Europe. A draft code of practice has been developed in a process which started at the Athens IGF. The workshop will allow different stakeholders an opportunity to discuss the current draft.
Workshop 2: Content regulation, surveillance and sexuality rights
"Harmful content" and "protection" have been anchoring the content regulation debates – at the IGF and in national and regional ICT policy. APC's women's programme and the Alternative Law Forum will open this workshop with a video from ONI. We'll present findings from new exploratory research on sexuality and the internet. Speakers will include young people and women – actors consistently cited as the intended beneficiaries of the content regulation debate.
Global Information Society Watch 2009
For the third consecutive year, APC will launch our watchdog report. Published together with Hivos, this year's report focuses on access to online information and knowledge to advance human rights and democracy. The report will be launched on Monday November 16 in the evening.
The new APC ICT policy handbook
We'll be announcing the release in digital format of the second edition of APC's policy handbook, first launched in 2003 at the Geneva World Summit on the Information Society and now completely rewritten.
We hope you'll join us at one of the workshops, launches or just drop by our stand.


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A rising fashion star visits Denver
Sure, what you know is important; who you know counts for an awful lot, too.
Wes Gordon is one of the fashion world's fastest-rising stars, and he came to Denver last week to show pieces from his fall-winter collection at a private cocktail reception co-hosted by his former babysitter, Angela Pak.
See pictures from the designer's Denver visit
"Angela was his babysitter 14 years ago, when he was 10 years old," says Holiday Goodreau, another of the co-hosts. "They've remained friends ever since."
The reception was held at the home of Goodreau's mother, Barbara Grogan, and was attended by about 80 people, including fashion retailers Max Martinez and Lawrence Covell; Rebecca Gart; Katherine Gold; Charles Goldstein; Melissa Marvin; Taylor Pardun and Ken Downing, the senior vice president/fashion director for Neiman Marcus nationwide. Downing was in town to speak at the Denver Art Museum's Luncheon by Design.
"Ken Downing just loves Wes Gordon," Goodreau said. "I think someone said that Neiman's is going to have Wes back for another event later this year."
Gordon grew up in Atlanta and developed a taste for fashion early on. He attended the prestigious Central Saint Martins University of Art and Design in London, whose graduates include John Galliano, Stella McCartney and the late Alexander McQueen. He also had internships with Tom Ford and Oscar de la Renta.
Gordon presented his first collection at the 2010 fall-winter New York Fashion Week, and initial orders came from Harrods and Saks Fifth Avenue. Favored fabrics are velvet, hammered cashmere and Italian silks.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or email@example.com; also, GetItWrite on Twitter


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Fly Fishing Articles
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WebTribes: Online Network For The Ill
While WebTribes is in no way designed to be a substitute for therapy, FitzGerald points out, the feedback from members has been extremely positive.
[Health News]
It's a fact of life that everyone has problems.
Some people have much larger, more complex problems than others. Those with mental illness, addiction, or HIV/AIDS, often face challenges that those who have never battled such problems simply don't understand. Dealing with illness is often a lonely, heartbreaking experience that can hinder the healing process.
Now those who battle such things have an online hub in WebTribes (http://webtribes.com), where they can find support from others in similar situations. WebTribes Inc, a social networking organization, that features five separate Web sites, also referred to as tribes: www.DepressionTribe.com , www.AnxietyTribe.com, www.OCTribe.com, www.AddictionTribe.com, and www.HIVAidsTribe.com.
Each tribe is designed to offer a platform for members to share stories, offer support, and to interact with others who understand their plight. "WebTribes is the first and only network of online social networking support Web sites designed for people with life-consuming illnesses," explains founder Ryan FitzGerald. "Each tribe is designed with the latest in social networking functionality, giving members the ability to express themselves through profile page design, blogging, forums, chat and more."
In addition, they offer privacy settings, ensuring members receive the level of protection with which they feel most comfortable. Many members, however, openly interact with others. However, members don't just focus on their problems. They can also conduct fun polls, chat on the tribe's forum, and join in online tribe events.
While WebTribes is in no way designed to be a substitute for therapy, FitzGerald points out, the feedback from members has been extremely positive.
"Members of our tribes have been overwhelmingly positive about the impact it has had on their lives," he says. "Many members are finding that having others who understand what they're going through is a healing, positive experience."
To comment or to subscribe to or advertise in New York's leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper, or to send us a news tip, please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to email@example.com
Also visit out sister publications Harlem Business News www.harlembusinessnews.com and The Groove music magazine at www.thegroovemag.com
"Speaking Truth To Empower."
Latest comments
- Ann GarrisonFebruary 22,2018 @ 08:03 PM
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
googletag.pubads().definePassback('6785150/BENN/BlackStarNews', [[300,250]]).setTargeting('fold',['BTF']).display();


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Monday, February 22, 2010
What Do I Do??
Posted by Shauna at 1:53 PM 9 comments
Celebrate with a Friend!
Go on over and visit a dear friend of mine:
Titus2:3-5: Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
She is having a little party, and you can get in on the fun too! Also add her to your reading list as she has many insightful things to discuss and I have found her writing to be such an encouragement! Thanks Tyler!!
Posted by Shauna at 1:16 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 19, 2010
Our Family Day
On Monday, February 15 we celebrated Family Day by going to the Calgary Zoo. The weather was beautiful and we were excited about "changing it up a little" in terms of our routine. So, Wes let me sleep in a little in the morning and we decided kind of last minute that is what we would do with our day. It was so much last minute that I ended up forgetting the diaper bag at home by the door. We did not realize this until we got the kids all packed up in the stroller in the Zoo parking lot...so back in the van we went and headed to the nearest Wal-Mart to purchase diapers, pre-made formula, a bottle and baby wipes. There was a time when I might have let this minor set-back throw me right off and destroy my whole day...but then I met Wes. Through him I am able to see that things that once seemed like the end of the world, really aren't and we have the choice to how we are going to let it affect us and the rest of our day. God is also revealing this to me as my Fruit of the Spirit are ripening within me.
So the photo above is once we got into the African exhibit where the giraffes are. I have never been to the Zoo in the winter, but as you can probably imagine, the smell in those buildings without the priviledge of fresh air coming in can get pretty STINKY! Addison was the only one who reacted quite negatively to the smell, holding his nose the entire time and pretty much just wanting to get the heck outta there. He didn't care about seeing the animals indoors, and I found in the 2nd building we went to he reacted even more negatively by throwing a little temper tantrum that he didn't to see the monkeys (and that is all he had been talking about all day!).
Asher looking up like "are you my mommy?" Haha...so cute!
My oldest boys acting like the crazy animals they are :) My boys constantly show me the differences between girls and boys and I still have a lot to learn. I thank God for Wes everyday that he can give me a little insight as to how boys think and why they act the way they do....Abigail is going to be easy breezy if you ask me :)
Posted by Shauna at 10:18 AM 3 comments
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Whenever I have heard of Lent I only heard of people giving certain things up like coffee or chocolate and never did explore what the real meaning of it was....until this year.
After some research online, I learned that Lent is the period of the year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose is the preparation of the believer through through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial. (What is penitency and almsgiving you might ask?? It is ok, I didn't know either as I read this definition in Wikipedia. Pentinency-the desire to be forgiven. Almsgiving-involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue) Lent runs for 40 days (calculated differently by different religions) to represent the time that Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry where he endured much temptation by satan. Sundays are not calculated in the 40 days as Sundays are already celebrated for the Resurrection of Jesus. So, I am committing my Lent time until April 3, 2010.
There are many sites that give information on Lent, research it for yourself. You will find some people who take it seriously and some people who say they are "would" do something "BUT"....
I am choosing to join the "I WILL" club and look forward to this time as a time of spiritual growth and reflection and am excited to see how God will work in my life during this time. I have decided to give up Facebook. Does that seem silly to you? It seems silly saying it. The reason that I need to deny myself access to Facebook is that it is a major distraction to me. When I am home alone with the kids I go online and check FB at least 5 times throughout the day...this 5 times a day might only require a few minutes to read status updates but moreoften times it includes me joining groups (photography mostly) which leads to looking at photographers websites and then I start reading blogs...and before I know it the kids are pulling at my arms and an hour has gone by. God has been telling me that this is not productive and that I should be spending this time with Him and the Word. He wants my time and why do I want to put my time into such mindless activity...really...
So, there you have it...me....Lent...40 days of giving my FB time to someone that really matters. Look forward to more posts about what I am learning in this time and how God is working! Praise Him with me today would you??
Posted by Shauna at 4:03 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Gold Medal
That is Aidan in the air with the "red" chest protector. An awesome first match as he was fighting a boy that was his age but a belt higher. The first match seemed to build Aidan's confidence and he came out roarin' at the second match. I have never seen him so aggressive and he definitely intimidated the competitor.
Posted by Shauna at 1:44 PM 2 comments


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Some cool tools for spring 2017
Holiday 2014
0 Comments | Posted in 0 1 2 By Mary Young On 17th November 2014
Green Compass Rolled into Town
0 Comments | Posted in 0 1 By Mary Young On 14th November 2013
Rabbiting Spade Makes Transplanting Easy
Rabbiting Spade Makes Transplanting Easy: Moving plants from one place to another is risky. There's a 50/50 chance of survival with many plants, and as we dive into the process, we go in knowing it may not end well. It helps to know that every job has the perfect tool, and with my trusty new Rabbiting Spade from Clarington Forge, I felt confident to face those dicey transplanting odds.
Guest Post by Christy Wilhelmi


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Famous Quotes and Alchemy by J.K. Rowling
by Hans Andréa
Quote 1.
"Rowling said she couldn't answer the questions about the book's religious content until the conclusion of book seven."
Quote 2.
"If I talk too freely about whether I believe in God I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books."
Quote 3.
"I've never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist, now that's a different matter. To invent this wizard world, I've learned a ridiculous amount about alchemy. Perhaps much of it I'll never use in the books, but I have to know in detail what magic can and cannot do in order to set the parameters and establish the stories' internal logic."
Quote 4.
"[You can't reverse death is] a given. Without it the plot would fall apart, though in Book Seven you'll see just how close you can get to the dead."


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Oracle and Forrester Guest Speaker Brendan Witcher Get Personal:
How to Deliver Individualized Experiences in Modern Retail.
How can cloud technologies help unleash retailers' business agility? With an integrated suite of Oracle Retail cloud services that combine reliability, security, cost savings, seamless interoperability, and embedded machine learning and AI, you can shift focus from maintaining current systems to designing future initiatives.
Under pressure to expand into new channels or countries? Struggling to achieve real-time, personal engagement with your customers? Oracle Retail's cloud solutions empower retailers to better anticipate customer demand, simplify operations, and inspire associates and consumers alike.
Retailers worldwide, including Gap Inc., Groupe Dynamite, and Samsonite (to name a few), are moving their mission-critical applications to the cloud. By streamlining their technology strategy they are able to achieve a single view of customers, inventory, price, and promotion across their entire retail organization. From merchandising to planning, supply chain, stores, and ecommerce, retailers who embrace cloud as a strategic go-forward are better equipped to deliver a seamless, personalized experience that drives customer loyalty and brand ambassadorship.
Lenox upgraded their legacy ecommerce platform to Oracle Commerce Cloud in less than six months. Their CIO shares lessons learned and value gained, including empowering business users.
"We chose Oracle Retail Cloud Services to synchronize our global initiatives and deliver state of the art functionality to INTERMIX."
—Paul Chapman, CIO, Gap Inc.
Chalhoub Group, a leading luxury retailer across the Middle East, successfully deploys Oracle Retail Xstore Point-of-Service to provide a highly personalized and engaged customer experience.
lululemon athletica's Director of Merchandising Planning Systems shares how Oracle Retail planning solutions deliver a level of clarity and crispness to the global retailer's planning process.
Oracle Retail Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Webster shares insight into how Oracle Retail informs retail strategy and innovation to empower commerce.
Learn what it means to be customer obsessed and deliver individualized experiences.
Learn 6 valuable tips from leading retailers on successful merchandising operations projects.
Catch up on our latest customer success stories and Oracle Retail updates.


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The #1 Selling Mobile Battery Case Brand in the U.S.*
Power that comes along for the ride.
Designed for iPhone and iPod with a 30-pin connector, the mophie powerstation reserve™ delivers a compact and lightweight power solution, cased in an aesthetic fit with a convenient key ring means you're always ready for a quick charge whenever you need it.
Special high-output battery allows for ultra fast charging with it's rechargeable 700mAh lithium polymer battery.
Innovative design.
By integrating new elements into the design, the mophie powerstation reserve™ is a super compact keychain with integrated charge cables so its ready for you to grab it and go! With the hidden USB Connector, no cables are needed! The Flexible USB and hidden connector stay concealed until you're ready to charge. The USB charging cable and 30-pin iPod/iPhone connector are built-in. Compatibility chart ▸
Added features for ease of use.
The mophie powerstation reserve™ features a black soft-touch finish exterior, integrated LED charge status indicator, and improved conversion efficiency for maximum power transfer from battery to device.
For further ease of use, you can power up the powerstation through the built-in USB cable, which is also hidden on the device. To top it off, invisible LEDs on the bottom keep tabs on charging mode and current battery life of the powerstation.
WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Tech specs
Battery Capacity
iPod & iPhone 30-pin connector
1.49 x 3.03 x 0.51 in (37.8 x 77.0 x 13.0 mm)
1.58 oz (44.8 g)
Product Skus
2 Year Warranty
In the Box
powerstation reserve
Frequent Questions
Will the juice pack reserve charge the iPhone 4S/4?
You bet. In fact, it will charge any Apple iPhone or iPod with 30-pin connector. See the compatibility chart.What about my iPhone 5? This device is not compatible with lightning connectors. This reserve will only charge iPhone or iPod devices with a 30-pin connector.What are the best methods for charging my juice pack? Connect the mophie juice pack reserve to a power source using the USB cable that came with your juice pack. The USB cable can be plugged in to your computer or any "works with iPhone" wall-plug style power source w/ USB out.
How do I use the juice pack's built-in charging connector?
The juice pack reserve comes with a built-in USB charging connector that stows away nicely around the sides of the housing. Connect the juice pack to your computer or any "Works With iPhone" wall-plug style power source with USB out including the standard iPhone USB adaptor. (The LED power indicator will blink red, then transition to orange, then green and will remain blinking until completely full.)How many charge cycles do you get in the juice pack reserve? The reserve is rechargeable for over 500 cycles (These are full cycles. Partial cycles don't count as full. So, you can charge your juice pack 10% of the way 10 times before it counts as a complete cycle.) Don't be afraid to top it off!Can I charge my iPhone or iPod while charging the reserve? No. There is no pass through charging.


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Does your parent need home care, but you just don't know how you're going to afford it? Many options exist and determining which financial strategy is best for your loved ones can be hard to decipher. However, one option that can provide you with peace of mind is a pooled income trust. For example, with… Read More »
Posts Tagged: Business tax
Why Do I Need a Trust?
No one likes to think about his or her end of life, but you can't avoid the inevitable. Planning financially for you and your family's future can help put your mind at ease. Having a solid plan in place can ensure your family is well taken care of after you are gone. As such, a… Read More »
My House Is Owned By A Trust, Can I Still Take Advantage Of The Capital Gains Exclusion?
Recently I received a telephone call from a client looking to sell their home. The home had been transferred to a trust years earlier and they wanted to know if they would qualify for the $250,000 (per resident owner) capital gains exclusion on the sale of their home. Generally speaking, the Internal Revenue Code provides,… Read More »
SSI And The "Able" Account
Kelly is 24 years old. She is on the autism spectrum and is receiving SSI. She is doing her best to be independent, but the monthly stipend is limited and it is difficult to live on her own with minimal funds. What is her best option to keep her benefits and have the means to… Read More »
8th Annual Health Care Professional Open Forum
Please join us for our 8th Annual Elder Law Open Forum for Health Care Professionals on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at The Cuban of Garden City. Health Care professionals are invited to enjoy lunch with some of their colleagues and attorneys of Russo Law Group while receiving updates on elder laws and special needs. The… Read More »
Make Sure That You Have The Right Supplemental Needs Trust!
Recently I received a call from a long-time client in a complete panic. She had been talking to her friend about the planning that they each implemented and the friend insisted that the client established the wrong trust for her niece. The niece is on government benefits and the friend had her convinced that if… Read More »
Trusts – Do I Need One?
Interested in Learning Trusts? We will be hosting free educational seminars entitled, Trusts—Do I Need One? During these seminars, we will be discussing why someone may need a trust and which trust, irrevocable or revocable, would fit their situation best. Join us: August 10th from 9:30 am – 11:30 am at Russo Law Group Bay Shore Office… Read More »
Can I Fight a Nursing Home Discharge?
It can be extremely upsetting to be told by a nursing home that your loved one must leave. Unfortunately, sometimes a nursing home will have an ulterior or nefarious reason to want to discharge a resident from the facility. Perhaps the resident is difficult. Or maybe the family members are being difficult. It may even… Read More »
Just Released—New York Elder Law and Special Needs Practice, 2019 Edition
I am excited to announce the release of an updated and expanded edition of my book, New York Elder Law and Special Needs Practice, which, much to my delight, has been and continues to be a working tool for many elder law and special needs practitioners. The new edition addresses the planning needs of everyone… Read More »
Do I Need a Power of Attorney?
YES, YES, YES! If you are over the age of 18 (and chances are if you're reading this you are), you should have a power of attorney. Unless you would rather leave it up to a judge. A power of attorney is a legal document where you are giving your agent(s) the power to sign… Read More »
Are Gifts Made During My Lifetime Includible In My Estate For Estate Tax Purposes?
The answer to the question "Are gifts made during my lifetime includible in my estate for estate tax purposes?" depends on several factors. Federal For purposes of the Federal Estate Tax, yes, any taxable gifts you make during your lifetime are includible in your estate. However, this does not necessarily mean that those gifts… Read More »
Seminar: How to Qualify for Medicaid and Protect your Assets
Join Vincent J. Russo for this Free Educational Seminar and Learn: How to Access Quality Long Term Care How to Pay for Long Term Care How to Protect your Assets and Income What will Happen if you Don't have a Plan Date: Jul 17, 2019 Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM Location: Borrelli's Italian Restaurant… Read More »
What are Letters Testamentary?
Sometimes when a loved one passes away, an individual who believes he or she inherited assets from the decedent will be told at a bank or financial institution that they will need "Letters Testamentary" in order to collect those assets. The question most people have at that point is "What are Letters Testamentary?" Letters… Read More »
Alzheimer's Disease and Planning for the Possibility of Incapacity
June is National Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, a time to show support for the millions of people struggling with this debilitating disease—and, a good time to think about planning for the possibility of needing long-term care. Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that leads to memory, thinking, and behavioral problems. It is… Read More »
Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living?
Generally, the answer to this question is "No". However, Medicaid does have a program, aptly named the "Assisted Living Program" (or "ALP") that does provide Medicaid coverage for an assisted living. There are a number of facilities in New York, and about a half-dozen or so on Long Island, in the ALP program. Most assisted… Read More »


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Susan Calhoun, Chris Thompson and Charlie Morgan, associate professor of sociology at OHIO, are pictured with Chubu University Vice President Izumi Nakashima and Dr. Yoshihiko Nimomiya, director of Chubu's Research Collaboration Support Center.
Photographer: Jill Wallenhorst
Nov 20, 2013
By Jill Wallenhorst
This year marks the 40th anniversary of formal relations between Ohio University and its sister institution in Japan, Chubu University, which made a Chubu delegation's visit to OHIO for International Education Week (IEW) all the more fitting.
OHIO celebrated its first IEW Nov. 12-16 and during three days of the week played host to a four-member delegation from Chubu. The delegation included Izumi Nakashima, vice president at Chubu; Dr. Daijiro Tsuchiya, director of Chubu's Center for International Programs (CIP); Dr. Yoshihiko Nimomiya, director of Chubu's Research Collaboration Support Center; and Michiko Ishinabe, an OHIO graduate and office manager for Chubu's CIP.
The delegation's visit included a tour of the site where the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine's Dublin Campus is under development, meetings with various OHIO administrators including President Roderick J. McDavis, and attending the Awards for Excellence in Global Engagement reception.
The delegation also renewed its longer-term ties to the Department of Linguistics, the Center for International Studies and Alden Library and initiated new friendships with the College of Business, the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, and with OHIO research units such as the Edison Biotechnology Institute, the Diabetes Institute and the Center for Electrochemical Processes and Technology.
During its visit, the delegation was also updated on the most visible symbol of this 40-year relationship and partnership – the Yoshino cherry trees that line the bank of the Hocking River on the Athens Campus.
Dr. Christopher Thompson, chair of OHIO's Department of Linguistics and executive director of Japan programs, knew that a visit to the cherry trees and an update on the trees' status would be a must for the Chubu delegation's visit.
"We want our colleagues at Chubu to understand how much we enjoy the cherry trees and how important they are to us," said Thompson.
Chubu University donated 175 Yoshino cherry trees to OHIO in 1979 in honor of Ohio University's 175th anniversary and in celebration of the strong relationship between the two universities that began in 1973. Storm damage and Ohio's harsh winters had severely damaged all but 97 of the trees by 2003. In honor of OHIO's bicentennial, Chubu replaced the damaged trees and then some, bringing the total number of Yoshino cherry trees to 200 for OHIO's 200th anniversary in 2004.
The trees have been a hallmark of the Athens Campus' beauty, and each year the OHIO community celebrates the arrival of the cherry blossoms and the welcoming of spring with the Sakura (cherry blossom) lighting.
Susan Calhoun, OHIO's landscape coordinator, works hard to ensure that this gift and symbol of the OHIO-Chubu partnership remains alive and well. The Shafer Street site where the trees are located is a rather exposed environment for Yoshino cherry trees, but Calhoun tracks any trees that are performing poorly and replaces them when needed.
"We prefer to replant with young trees instead of being forced to remove and replace an entire section all at once," Calhoun said.
Calhoun's efforts to maintain the trees are helped by cherry tree "guru" Mr. Kozo Ihata, director of grounds at Chubu University, who communicates with Calhoun on all that needs to be done to care for the cherry trees and keep them at optimal condition.
"I get point-on-point instruction on any type of care from him," said Calhoun. "We actually once shipped a specific product for the trees all the way from Holland."
Calhoun's work was admired and appreciated by the two members of the Chubu delegation who attended the tree update during IEW and who walked along the trees, snapping photographs as they went.
The delegation was also presented a full, printed report from Calhoun that highlighted the tree care and maintenance and featured photos of the trees throughout the different seasons of the year.
"This is a first-time visit for me to Ohio University," said Nakashima. "It is very impressive. My delegation and I have been welcomed very warmly."


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PopCap Games' VP of video game platforms Greg Canessa has left the company, accepting a position with World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment. Though what Canessa will be working on has yet to be revealed, an unnamed source told Joystiq that it is an "unannounced project in the online space."
One of Canessa's main responsibilities at PopCap was bringing the company's casual properties to platforms outside of the PC world, including Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, as well as portable platforms like the Nintendo DS and iPhone. Prior to that role, Canessa was the general manager for XBLA.
As for PopCap, the developer says that Canessa's departure won't affect its expansion plans.
"We are sorry to see him go and we wish him the very best," PopCap's Garth Chouteau told Joystiq. "It's been a pleasure working with him and his move is largely predicated on it being a big personal and professional opportunity for him. This isn't going to have any material impact on our console presence and our strategy with respect to the consoles and the DS and the areas that Greg was heading up. We're still very committed to those."
The big question, of course, is why exactly a company like Blizzard—which specializes in large-scale games like WoW, Starcraft, and Diablo—would need someone like Canessa, who's experience lies mainly in the casual games realm. There is some crossover between Blizzard and PopCap, as there have been add-ons released for WoW that allow players to play games like Bejeweled and Peggle in-game. It's possible Canessa will be working on expanding these kinds of offerings in WoW, or it could have something to do with one of the company's mystery projects.
Whatever it is, the results should be interesting.


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01743 770063
Independent Property Care Association Specialists (PCA members) Damp-Proofing & Timber Treatment Surveyors Providing Damp survey, Woodworm Survey, Dry rot Survey & Specialist Damp and Timber Surveys & Reports for Homeowners, Buyers, Sellers, Mortgage Lenders, & Re-mortgage / Equity Release Companies Based in Ludlow.
Are you in the process of purchasing a property in Ludlow? It is always advisable to have a pre-purchase general home condition survey / property survey carried out by a building surveyor. It is also in one's best interest to have an in-depth pre purchase specialist timber & damp report carried out by damp specialists, especially if problems have been highlighted in a surveyors home buyers report. It is important to have a property checked for rising dampness & woodworm infestation, prior to exchanging contracts, so the cost of any damp-proofing repairs and timber treatment for wood boring beetles can be negotiated with the vendor.
Property care services offered by Damp Aid, are to control and prevent any rising damp, timber decay and woodworm infestation, We provide independent damp and timber surveys which will accurately diagnose any dampness & decay issues using, when appropriate, in-depth surveying techniques which are sympathetic towards buildings, an approach widely ignored by most damp-proofing and timber treatment companies based in Ludlow . Our comprehensive and impartial damp and timber reports come complete with recommendations for any remedial work which are usually chemical free & environmentally friendly solutions.
Damp Aid surveyors have been providing damp and timber reports since 1984 and are recognised as one of Ludlow's most established and respected damp specialists in surveying and diagnosing problems with rising damp, penetrating damp, condensation, dry rot wood rotting fungi, woodworm. We have carried out countless surveys and saved many clients thousands of pounds on unnecessary chemical damp-proofing & timber treatment work on properties in Ludlow.
If a more in-depth damp and timber survey has been requested by your mortgage lender, home buyer / building surveyor, it may seem like a worrying prospect, especially if you are a first time buyer, but be assured, this is normal practice and should not discourage you from your house purchase. It is important for you to ensure that your new property is free from any damp and timber defects which could get progressively worse and depreciate your investment.
If you have been informed by the vendor that previous damp proofing & woodworm treatment has been carried out by other specialist property care companies, which is guaranteed, you and your solicitors are advised to check exactly which areas of the property have been treated, if the company is a registered member of the Property Care Association (PCA) and if the contractors guarantee is valid. Never assume that the property is entirely covered and check that the damp & timber treatment company in Ludlow is still trading.
We provide pre-purchase damp and timber reports for mortgage purposes along with reports for owners selling or applying for equity release loans. These timber & damp reports are usually required by banks and building societies as a condition of a mortgage offer being accepted.
Damp Aid C.S.R.T. qualified specialist damp-proofing and timber treatment surveyors will carry out a thorough survey of the property and test to determine the exact cause of any defects. We will expose timbers and lift floor boards wherever possible, take random moisture reading, using a calibrated moisture meter and inspect the property externally to check for building defects. You will be issued with a comprehensive report from property care specialists, detailing our surveyor's findings and what remedial work is recommended, including images and a floor plan.
You may be enticed by the offer of a "free survey" by other damp-proofing & timber treatment companies in Ludlow, however some damp-proofing contractors and surveyors invariably state that your property has rising dampness and will routinely recommend the installation of a chemical damp-proof course together with timber treatments. These treatments offered by most damp-proofing specialists & woodworm treatment companies in Ludlow are rarely required and completely unjustifiable.
Damp Aid surveyors undertake independent damp, timber and mould surveys for homeowners, buyers, sellers, estate agents, management letting agencies, banks mortgage lenders, landlords, tenants, solicitors, housing associations, and equity release companies located in Ludlow. So if you live in Ludlow and think that you have any problems with dampness, woodworm or timber decay and need free impartial advice then please call Damp Aid who are property care association members / specialists in Ludlow on 01743 770063 or email us by clicking on the survey enquiry button where you are guaranteed a fast, friendly & personal service.


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Earlier today, at a wedding at the newly-renovated Sheraton Society Hill in Philadelphia, an incredibly confusing and enormous brawl broke out between two different wedding parties . It gets real when the bride hits the ground and the insanity just keeps happening on top of her. It's obviously totally awful but I kinda love the color commentary from the man taking the video — "It's my friggin' birthday, go to bed!" and "Did they just deck the bride?"
Unfortunately, Radar reports that this special day ended in death.
The 57-year-old uncle of one of the brides was found unconscious outside of the wedding at 2:06 am. He was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead of a heart attack.
Well, I guess it's not clear if that was because of the brawl or just, you know, awful luck. Either way, it's clear that the bride's not gonna be able to resell that dress. Moral of the story: ELOPE.
'Did They Just Deck The Bride?' Wedding Brawl Captured On Video [Radar]