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The Obamacare tax cliff
Americans for Tax Relief:
$1 Trillion Obamacare Tax Hike Hitting on Jan. 1
On January 1, regardless of the outcome of fiscal cliff negotiations, Americans will be hit with a $1 trillion Obamacare tax hike.
Obamacare contains twenty new or higher taxes. Five of the taxes hit for the first time on January 1. In total, Americans face a net $1 trillion tax hike for the years 2013-2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The five major Obamacare taxes taking effect on January 1 are as follows:
The Obamacare Medical Device Tax: Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. In addition to killing small business jobs and impacting research and development budgets, this will increase the cost of your health care – making everything from pacemakers to artificial hips more expensive.
The Obamacare Flex Account Tax: The 30-35 million Americans who use a pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work to pay for their family's basic medical needs will face a new government cap of $2500. This will squeeze $13 billion of tax money from Americans over the next ten years. (Currently, the accounts are unlimited under federal law, though employers are allowed to set a cap.)
There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are several million families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. This Obamacare tax provision will limit the options available to these families.
The Obamacare Surtax on Investment Income: This is a new, 3.8 percentage point surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income:
The table above also incorporates the scheduled hike in the capital gains rate from 15 to 20 percent, and the scheduled hike in dividends rate from 15 to 39.6 percent.
Capital Gains Dividends Other* 2012 15% 15% 35% 2013+ (current law) 23.8% 43.4% 43.4%
The Obamacare "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deductions....
The Obamacare Medicare Payroll Tax Hike....
...This is more evidence that Democrats love taxes and mislead voters about the effect of the healthcare law. It is going to stifle the economy in numerous ways and stymie job creation. It is more evidence that liberals vastly overrate their intellect.


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1891 - The Grove City Library was started as a private club in 1891. Public-spirited citizens pooled their private libraries in Harsh's Drug Store, located on Broadway, just north of Kingston Avenue. Membership was $2.00 a year.
May 1917 - Women's Civic Club gave $63.00 to establish a public reading room. It was free to the public and staffed by volunteers. The library was located in the Director's Room, First National Bank, at the southeast corner of Broadway and Columbus Streets. The bank donated the space and utilities.
January 1923 - By this date the library had moved to a small building at the southeast corner of Broadway and Civic Place. The $15-a-month rent included lights, heat, and daily janitor service.
November 1923 - The library was reorganized as a township school district library eligible for tax revenue.
January 1924 - Library trustees hired Miss Irene Harper as the first librarian with a $30 monthly salary. The civic club gave the new Jackson Township Library the use of all the former library's books and equipment.
1931 - The library began to receive funding through the Ohio Intangibles Tax.
January 1935 - After Miss Harper's death, H. Kathleen White was named librarian. White was a graduate of the Ohio State University School of Journalism.
1936 - The Jackson Township Library was relocated to the second floor of the Rolla White building at 3708 Broadway.
1940 - Library trustees set aside $500 as a building fund, the first step toward a board-owned building.
1944 - Library trustees change the library name to Grove City Public Library.
1946 - The building fund contained over $9,000, so trustees formed a building committee to recommend a location for a new library building.
1947 - Library trustees purchase Lot #5, otherwise known as 35 Park Street, as the permanent home of the library system headquarters. The house that stood there was rented, with profits added to the building fund.
1949 - Library building bond issue fails.
July 1951 - The library was deeply saddened by the death of Kathleen White after 16 years of service.
September 1951 - Audrey C. Earl is hired as the new librarian. A graduate of the Western Reserve School of Library Sciences, she was the first professionally trained librarian at the Grove City Public Library.
March 10, 1954 - The new library building opened at 35 Park Street a cost of $81,119. The library held 15,000 books with space to add 10,000 more. Audio-visual service was added at this time.
1956 - South-Western City Schools is formed as Jackson, Pleasant, Prairie, and Franklin Townships, 129 square miles with a population of approximately 56,000. Grove City Public Library is a school district library, so it expands to the same boundaries.
1961 - First formal contract for Grove City Public Library to provide services in South-Western City School buildings. The school district provided space, furnishings, and utilities while the library provided materials and staff.
1962 - Grove City building is expanded south to Civic Place.
1965 - Kathryn Hannon succeeded Audrey Earl as librarian.
April 1, 1968 - Donald V. Schuler was hired as the library's first Director. He held a Master's Degree in Library Science from Case Western Reserve University and a law degree from Marshall Law School.
1969 - Under Mr. Schuler's direction, the library board filed an appeal before the State Board of Tax Appeals resulting in a dramatic increase in state funding for the Grove City Public Library.
1970 - The school libraries are turned back over to the school board.
November 8, 1970 - The Harrisburg Branch opens at 1036 High St. in the village of Harrisburg.
September 10, 1972 - The Prairie Branch opens in Lincoln Village Plaza, 4740 W. Broad St., to serve Prairie Township.
1974 - The Grove City library building is expanded at a cost of $350,000.
January 6, 1974 - The Franklin Branch opens at 973 Harrisburg Pike in Franklin Township.
1975 - After Mr. Schuler's death, William Cramer was appointed director.
1977 - Frederick E. Allison is appointed director. Allison held a Master of Library Science degree from State University College at Geneseo, New York.
1978 - Franklin Branch phased out due to lack of use.
1978 - Harrisburg and Prairie branches expanded and remodeled.
1984 - Library moved to automate many library operations. Within 18 months, card catalogs were replaced with a computerized online catalog and circulation and collections functions were automated.
October 1986 - Operating funds are inadequate for library expansion, so a 2.2 mill operating levy is placed on the ballot. It failed.
1988 - After negotiations between the seven Franklin County Library systems, the Franklin County Budget Commission adopts a new funding formula designed to make funding distribution more
April 1988 - Frances Black is appointed library director. Black holds a Masters Degree in Library Science from the University of Alabama.
November 1988 - Library system renamed Southwest Public Libraries. The change was designed to reflect the library's large service area, approaching 100,000 people over 127 square miles.
1989 - 2.9 mill tax levies placed on the ballot in May and November
1989 - Library trustees decide to concentrate service in the district's two large population centers--Grove City and Prairie Township.
December 5, 1989 - Bookmobile service is established with a grant from the federal government.
1990 - Harrisburg Library is phased out. Community demand leads the library board to allow residents to operate the library with some SPL financial support.
October 19, 1991 - The expanded and remodeled Prairie Library reopens as the Westland Area Library. The 21,000-square-foot building provides the same services and collections as the Grove City Library.
May 1993 - SPL enters Discovery Place Libraries consortium with the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Worthington Public Library, and Franklin University Library. By year's end the library's circulation and online catalog functions are fully converted.
December 13, 1993 - SPL establishes the library's first connection to the Internet via OHIONET.
January 1, 1994 - Library and Local Government Support Fund, which provides state funding to public libraries, reduced from 6.3% of the state income tax to 5.7%.
June 1994 - The first summer reading program in cooperation with the Columbus Metropolitan Library and Worthington Public Library is held.
November 8, 1994 - Seven-tenths mill property tax levy fails at the polls.
January 24, 1995 - Library trustees vote to donate the Harrisburg Library building to the village of Harrisburg.
July 1996 - DiscNet, a collection of CD-ROM reference products operated by the Columbus Metropolitan Library, becomes available at SPL locations.
July 1996 - Bookmobile service was discontinued; the bookmobile was eventually donated to South-Western City Schools.
November 7, 1996 - A one mill property tax levy fails at the polls.
December 1996 - One Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN) terminal, providing Internet access and commercial databases, is made available at each SPL location.
April 1999 - Library and South-Western City Schools administrators meet for the first time to discuss a possible joint library venture.
December 1999 - SPL receives a $22,150 grant from the Ohio Reads program to assist English as a Second Language students. This is the beginning of library programming targeted toward diversity in the district.
October 14, 2001 - Westland Area Library celebrates the 10th anniversary of its' building.
August 26, 2002 - SPL begins providing services at the Central Crossing Library. Located in Central Crossing High School on Big Run Rd., this library is a joint venture between SPL and South-Western City Schools.
September 29, 2002 - Director Frances Black retires. Mark Shaw is named director; Shaw has an MBA from the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University.
February 2003 - Due to continued reductions in state funding, Southwest Public Libraries is forced to eliminate Sunday hours. Some weekend-only staff are laid off for the first time in library history. Salaries, benefits, and public service are also frozen or reduced.
May 2005 – Self-Checkout is implemented. Over 50% of circulation is handled by self-checkout
January 1, 2008 - The Ohio General Assembly adoptes a new funding formula for public libraries. The new formula moves away from reliance on personal income tax and provides libraries with 2.22% of all General Revenue Fund Taxes.
October 2008 – The near-collapse of U.S. financial markets triggers the most severe recession since the 1930s. Library funding is severely impacted.
June 2009 – In response to the severe recession, the Ohio General Assembly reduces the Public Library Fund from 2.22% of all General Revenue Fund taxes to 1.97%. In response, SPL lays off 15 staff members, reduces hours by one-third, and reduces purchases of books by 75%, and closes the Central Crossing Library. Since 2001, SPL's funding from the State of Ohio has decreased 33%. In addition, all staff members take a 10% pay cut through an unpaid furlough.
June 2010 – SPL Board votes to place a 1 mill, 10 year levy on the November 2 ballot in order to replace funding lost since 2001. Former library trustee and community leader Jeff Davis is appointed chairman of the levy campaign.
November 2010 – Voters approve a 1 mill levy with a duration of 10 years. Funding from this levy is approximately $2.5 million annually and now makes up 45% of SPL's funding.
February 2011 – As a result of the passage of the 1 mill levy in November, 2010, seventeen hours are added back to the operating schedule, purchasing of new library materials is resumed, and programs for children are expanded.
May 2012 - SPL completes a comprehensive community survey to assist with long-range strategic planning. District residents express strong support for the return of Sunday hours and purchases of more library materials. Residents also reject the idea of a smaller branch located east of I-71 in Grove City; preferring an expanded Grove City Library in Grove City's Town Center.
June 2012 – SPL adopts new logo designed by Communications Manager Amy Shaw and launches a rebranding campaign to reinforce its primary mission of lifelong learning and to improve brand identity and recognition within the library district. SPL's old logo had been in place since 1988.
July 2012 – Negotiations begin between SPL and the City of Grove City to build a new, expanded Grove City Library somewhere in Grove City's Town Center.
September 2012 – In response to overwhelming customer support, SPL reinstitutes Sunday hours for the first time since 2003.
May 2013 – SPL and the City of Grove City formally agree to a partnership to build a new Grove City Library at the corner of Broadway and Grant Avenue in Grove City's Town Center. The City of Grove City agrees to contribute $2 million and to pay SPL $2.5 million for the existing library on Park Street with SPL contributing an additional $ 2 million to the project. The remaining construction costs are to be paid for with a 30 year bond issue with SPL and the City of Grove City splitting the payments on the bonds. At the end of the 30 year bond issue, the Grove City Library will be owned outright by SPL.
May 2013 – Southwest Public Libraries along with Columbus Metropolitan Library and Worthington Libraries made the strategic decision to join the Central Library Consortium (CLC). This partnership resulted in 11 library systems serving 1.4 million residents across six counties. At this time, SPL transitioned from Discovery Place to Polaris as its new ILS (integrated library system).
October 16, 2016 – The new Grove City Library opened to the public at 3959 Broadway in the Grove City Town Center. The 48,000 square-foot building has twice the amount of public space as the Park Street location, large meeting rooms, quiet space, more public computers, more parking spaces, and a dedicated teen room. The Youth Services area includes Harper's Grove, an early literacy center with games, toys, and other features that promote the skills children will need as they learn to read. Harper's Grove is the result of a generous donation from Laura Harper in honor of her late husband John and his aunt Irene, the first SPL Librarian.
February 2017 – For the first time, SPL offers online booking of meeting rooms and study space through a feature of Evanced Solutions.Timeline 2

subset: commoncrawl


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Computer Science ColloquiumIm Rahmen des Informatik-Kolloquiums, das von den Instituten des Fachbereichs Informatik, der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Informatik (ÖGI), der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Datenverarbeitung (ADV) sowie der Österreichischen Computergesellschaft (OCG) abgehalten wird, spricht
DI Tobias Jeske
TU Hamburg-Harburgüber das Thema:
A Compiler for Optimised Zero-Knowledge Proofs of KnowledgeZeit: Tue 23.11.2010, 13:45, 60 Minuten
Ort: T642
ZusammenfassungIn electronic environments in which user actions can be easily traced there is a natural human want for privacy. A typical example of this is an application in which a user uses a mobile phone as a virtual door key. In this scenario it is easily possible to log the time whenever a valid user enters the door. In some practical environments even this (theoretical) possibility of privacy breach prevents the usage of electronic door access systems. A Zero-knowledge proof of knowledge is a powerful cryptographic building block which can solve privacy issues in protocols. What is problematic is that this privacy protection is paid by a significant increase of protocol complexity. It becomes quite cumbersome to efficiently implement such proofs by hand, especially for non-experts in cryptography. In addition, the processing speed drastically decreases by using zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge. This is a serious problem, especially on mobile devices where the processor speed is much lower than on desktop computers. In our department we are working on finding solutions for these two problems. Firstly, we simplified the development of privacy-preserving protocols by using a high-level language. The developer specifies the protocol on the basis of building blocks, which hide the internal cryptographic details. Secondly, our compiler supports the possibility to optimize the proofs and outputs code for various platforms (e.g. desktop computers, mobile phones) to increase performance.
Einladender: o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jörg R. Mühlbacher
Liste aller Vorträge


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Ima Market is a noteworthy fixture in the city of Imphal. Located mere meters from Kangla Palace, the most noteworthy historical site in the city, it's the hub of basically all commodity trade in Manipur. Walking or driving toward it is actually fairly difficult, as it attracts so many customers that the area surrounding it becomes congested at any time of day with rickshaws, autorickshaws, cars, mopeds, and pedestrians all competing for road space.
The marketplace is lauded as the largest all-women's market in Asia. One article I found about the market actually claims it is the only exclusively women-run market in the world. Several Google searches, however, could not confirm nor deny either of these claims, so for the sake of this blog post I'll take them both as true. I can definitely see how this could be so; you take one look at the place and are immediately impressed and awestruck.
The market is comprised of three buildings that look like this:
One is just for fruits and vegetables and two are for mostly woven products and jewelry. Beyond these covered market buildings, the fruit and vegetable vendors also sprawl out on an open floorspace outside.
I'm told that there are over 3,000 women vendors registered to sell at this market. It seems that the rules for becoming a vendor are somewhat lax. At home in California, for example, in order to register as a vendor in my community's famers markets the farmers have to prove that they grow their produce themselves (or make their goods themselves). Here, it seems as though many vendors actually buy their produce or products from someone else and then sell it at the market at a slightly higher price. If one were to visit the market early in the morning, before it officially opens at 9 AM, they'd find women buying and selling goods in bulk to other vendors at a discounted price.
I've spent quite some time roaming the aisles and outdoor areas of Ima Market; I'm a big proponent and admirer of farmers markets back in the U.S. so walking around in Ima feels a little like home. It's also a huge comfort to see the amazing variety of fruits and vegetables found here. We've got everything from eggs to eggplant, apples to pineapple; you can find something like 4 different varieties of what we would call English peas, 6 varieties of what we know as green onion, and at least three kinds of bananas (my personal favorite are the small apple bananas – you know, the short and very sweet ones you usually find in the tropics).
Pricing is pretty uniform around the market, although you'll find that the vendors located inside the covered market area have to charge slightly more (or sell more expensive produce) since they have to pay to rent their stall spaces. I'll tell a personal story to give you some examples.
I always, always buy tangerines. Ever since I was a child, tangerines have been a staple fruit thanks to my mom's insistent quest for her children's health. I'm not sure whether it's out of habit or taste that I continue to buy them, but either way it's almost a guarantee that I'll have tangerines in my kitchen throughout the duration of their season.
First of all, I was relieved to find that tangerines are plentiful at Ima Market. They tell me it's one of the only fruits in season right now. As I peruse the stalls inside the covered market building, the vendors all trying to get me to buy their produce by calling me beautiful (I accredit this to the fact that they don't see many --- really any – foreigners here), I stop along the way to ask prices of tangerines. Woman after woman tells me "100 per kg". I continue on my way, telling them that's too expensive for me.
To give you a frame of reference for pricing, Rs.100 is about 2 USD right now. Compared to other edible goods, I'll just say this: a loaf of sliced bread costs Rs.10 and a cup of tea at a tea stall costs Rs.5 or Rs.10 depending on its location.
As I continue my journey outside, the pricing begins to change. I start hearing "90 per kg" and then finally "80 per kg." This is where I stop to buy.
The pricing is actually much more complicated than differentiation by market real estate. Manipur is plagued by pretty frequent "bandhs" or protests instated by insurgent groups throughout the state. These groups are all after different things, but the root of most of them is that these groups want independence from India. Some insurgent groups want independent states for their respective tribes. Some groups simply want money. The tactic by which to achieve these goals is by instating bandhs; they block the roads in and out of Imphal, isolating the city from the surrounding areas.
During a bandh, commodity prices escalate. Charcoal, cooking and vehicle gas can cost up to 50% more than usual. Fruits and vegetables are not immune to these price increases either, because most of the produce for sale in Imphal comes from surrounding villages.
Last week, there was a bandh by one of the more powerful insurgent groups. Luckily, it only lasted three days, but from what I am told the last bandh this group imposed lasted three months. In three days alone, the prices of tangerines, to return to my oh-so-useful example went up to Rs.140 per kg. Not all bandhs have this effect, as not all groups can successfully block all the roads into and out of the city; some simply don't have the manpower or weaponry to hold their ground.
Given this knowledge, I've found it particularly useful to go to the market with someone who is actually from Imphal. First of all, I did not know Rs.100 was too much to pay for a kilogram of tangerines. I also did not understand why one day the price was Rs.140. I thought that perhaps they were of a better quality, and I was actually tempted to buy them assuming they'd be sweeter. Turns out, there's very little difference in quality of produce found in Ima Market. The distinctions you can draw, however, are between local and non-local produce, as well as organic and non-organic products. The issue is that there is no surefire way to know "what's what." Asking gets you nowhere; if you ask if something is local the answer is "yes" and if you ask if something is organic the answer is "of course," sometimes followed with an "I grow it in my yard." These women know the answers buyers are looking for, and aren't afraid to lie to make a sale. I've even been told that women who sell eggs use tea to dye their farmed eggs the color of the local eggs, trying to pass them off as local eggs for more money.
I've picked up another useful tip for determining whether a product is organic; they say if it's ugly it's organic, if it's pretty, it's not organic. I have been employing this method. Unfortunately, there's really no way to tell whether something is organic while you're preparing or consuming it, so I will just choose to believe everything I've purchased is organic to appease my Californian attitude.
Beyond that, it has been suggested that I get to know certain vendors. I've been introduced to one woman who is from one of the villages in which WSDS works, so now I can buy certain products from her, knowing they are local and organic. It turns out there are two Kiva clients who sell at the market as well, and in my next installment about Ima Market I will introduce you to them. I'll also introduce you to the Secretary of the market, who has a truly inspirational opinion about what purposes the market serves beyond its practical use of buying and selling.
For now you can all rest assured that I will continue, with assurance, to buy organic/non-organic local/non-local produce from the largest and/or only exclusively women-run marketplace in Asia and/or the world.


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Hi! I just called the West Riding Independent in Mirfield. As you suggested, I quoted "Richard with the Super V8" and they confirmed. I am going to see them today at 3:00 PM just to have an introduction chat. I know that I need a new right front wheel bearing anyway very soon. But I will also schedule with them some type of diagnostics checkup for my Son Baby Jag, you know, like you said, just to know what's up with it. I've had it for 2.5 years now but made only like 6,000 miles on it. So far: £1,620 purchased in May 2014; £375 four brand new tyres; £700 new clutch and dual-mass flywheel, £175 both new front road springs; £64 new battery; £160 welding fix of small corrosion underneath in the area where you put the jack to lift up the car in the rear passenger side; and other smaller insignificant costs. So thank you very much for the referral. I will keep you informed. Paul
Senior Member


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Secretary of State John Kerry's surprise stop in Baghdad Sunday made him the highest-ranking Obama administration official to mark the 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq where it took place.
But Secretary Kerry's visit had little to do with marking a milestone and much to do with invoking what dwindling influence America still has in postwar Iraq on two important issues for Washington: Iraq's acquiescence at least to Iran's use of Iraqi airspace to ferry arms to forces fighting for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and worrisome signs of a resurgence of sectarian divides and political power-grabbing in Iraq.
The United States wants Iraq to rigorously inspect Iranian cargo flights destined for Syria for arms shipments. And on the domestic political front, the US wants Iraq's Shiite-dominated government to reconsider a decision to suspend provincial elections set for next month in two provinces with important Sunni populations. More broadly, it wants Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to do a better job of upholding democratic principles and promoting an inclusive political system.
The rub for the US is that despite a nearly $2 trillion war and occupation in Iraq, its rapidly shrinking presence in the country leaves it with little sway over events – much less already, say many regional experts, than that of neighboring Iran.
From Baghdad, Kerry proceeded to make a second surprise stop Monday, in Kabul, where he held a meeting with another problematic US partner: Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Kerry has experience dealing with the often-prickly Afghan leader, having served as President Obama's periodic envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan during the president's first term. But US-Afghan relations have recently hit a rough patch over details of the US military drawdown set to be completed at the end of 2014.
In Baghdad, Kerry appeared to acknowledge the modest prospects for US influence on Mr. Maliki's decisionmaking, saying that he held out "hope" for progress and that his discussions with the Iraqi leader had been "spirited."
On the Iran overflights, Kerry said he reminded Maliki that "success" in governing a country includes "the resolve to defend the sovereignty of the country and its airspace."
He said he told Maliki the overflights are "helping to sustain President Assad and his regime," and made clear to the Iraqi leader that many in Washington, including growing numbers in Congress, are wondering "how it is that Iraq can be doing something that makes it more difficult to achieve our common goals."
On Iraq's political turmoil, Kerry said he reminded Maliki that democracy is "about inclusion and compromise," and he asked that the cabinet reconsider its decision to suspend provincial elections in Anbar and Ninewa provinces next month.
But he said he also told Sunni leaders, including the speaker of the parliament, that the Sunnis' decision to pull out of the government had paved the way for the election suspension to take place.
Kerry said Maliki pledged to take the election suspension decision back to the cabinet.
The top US diplomat said he didn't want to come off sounding too negative on the profound changes occurring in Iraq. Last year, the country had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, he said, and he noted that "for the first time in the lives of many Iraqis, they are able to express opinions" freely.
That said, "It would be disingenuous not to come here and say there is still a lot of work to do," Kerry added.
A key challenge for the government is renewed terrorist violence. Noting there are "dozens of deaths every day," a senior State Department official, speaking before Kerry's meeting with Maliki, said the secretary would remind his Iraqi host of the "links between terrorist groups in Syria with groups in Iraq."
Militants with Al Qaeda in Iraq are known to have crossed over in considerable numbers into Syria, and recently fighting has sparked along the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Kerry wanted to underscore to Maliki that allowing Iran to use Iraqi airspace to deliver arms into Syria was putting him and his country "on a dangerous track," the senior official said.
The problem for Kerry, and the US, is that American influence in the country is waning. The US has a Strategic Framework Agreement with Iraq that established regular dialogue and cooperative efforts between the two countries. But the last US troops left Iraq at the end of 2011, and the substantial US-funded police training program that was to be the major US footprint in the country after the departure of combat troops has been scuttled and will shut down by the end of the year.
The shrinking US role in Iraq is evident in the precipitously declining numbers of Americans and diplomatic support staff in Iraq.
Today, 10,500 US diplomatic personnel and contractors are in Iraq – down from 16,000 a year ago, the senior official says. By the end of this year, the number will have been sliced in half – to about 5,000, with a once-huge diplomatic corps in Baghdad and throughout the country down to about 1,000.


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Mom Interviews
Mary Ostyn, author, "A Sane Woman's Guide…
Blogger and author
Mary Ostyn has a work-life juggle that would leave most of us breathless. A writer who works at home while parenting and homeschooling 10 children, her first book, A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family, was released this spring; her second, Family Feasts for $75 a Week, is due out in September.
Keep reading...
Tamara Monosoff started her first two businesses when she was just 9 years old. Now the CEO and founder of Mom Invented, Monosoff lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and their 8- and 6-year-old daughters. She took some time recently to share her wisdom with Work It, Mom!
Keep reading...
Showing 1-9 of 80 Interviews
Naomi Dunford, Founder of Itty Bitty Marketing
Founder of Itty Bitty Marketing
Naomi Dunford spent 10 years in marketing and corporate communication for Fortune 500 companies, but decided to find a way to work from home when her youngest son, Jack, now 1, was born. The 26-year-old mom of two (son Michael is 8) became a microbusiness marketing consultant, working from her home near Toronto, Canada, blogging at ittybiz.com and running her company, Itty Bitty Marketing, which caters to people with very small businesses. Work-at-home-moms, take note!
Member Close-Up: Kate
Works as an IT Project Manager
Each week, we introduce you to another member here at Work It, Mom!; this week, we chat with Kate, who lives in Virgina with her husband and their 1-year-old son.
Beth Avant
Freelance Director at a PR Agency
Beth Avant is a freelancer with a PR agency in San Diego, where she lives with her husband and three year-old son. Beth transitioned from working full time in PR to working on a more flexible schedule and then to eventually working as a freelancer. In this interview she shares some great perspectives for how to organize your life if you are freelancing, how to deal with feeling overwhelmed at work, and why she sometimes has a hard time relating to other working moms.
Nancy Traversy
Founder and CEO of Barefoot Books
Nancy Traversy is the founder and CEO of Barefoot Books, a wonderful and independent publisher of children's books and gifts that operates in the UK and the U.S. She has managed to create and run the company for the past 15 years while being a mom to four (yes, four!) kids, who are now 10, 11, 13, and 14! In this honest and revealing interview, Nancy talks in depth about the inspiration for creating her company, the many challenges that she and the team have faced over the past 15 years and what has helped her overcome them, and why she thinks that having a mom who is an entrepreneur has been a positive influence on her kids.
Tamara Monosoff, CEO of Mom Invented
Tamara Monosoff started her first two businesses when she was just 9 years old. Now the CEO and founder of Mom Invented, Monosoff lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and their 8- and 6-year-old daughters. She took some time recently to share her wisdom with Work It, Mom!
Interview with Mir Kamin of The Cornered Office and Would Coulda Shoulda
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Mir Kamin was not yet a blogger at Work It, Mom! But, having been great admirers of her work, we asked her if we could interview her about her life as a freelance writer and mother of a daughter and son. Of course, then we swooped in and gathered her up for our very own, and you can read her blog The Cornered Office here weekly at Work It, Mom! She also blogs regularly at Want Not, Ty's Toy Box, Maya's Mom, and Drool,icio.us. In her own words, here is a closer look at Mir.
Jenna McCarthy
Author of "The Parent Trip"
Jenna McCarthy has been writing for magazines for 17 years, as a freelancer and as a staff member at publications including Seventeen, Mademoiselle, and Shape. "Oh yeah, and I recently made two people, right in my body, practically from scratch," she says. "No wonder I'm exhausted half the time."
Interview with Manya Chait, VP of Public Relations with VistaPrint
We have the great fortune this week to have been able to snare Manya Chait, the Vice President of Public Relations with VistaPrint, for an interview. Manya is also a working mother, married, who has very young daughter. She gives us a peek at her day, her surprising work schedule as a company executive, and how she pulls it all together.
Michelle Goodman
Author of The Anti 9 to 5 Guide
Michelle Goodman is the author of The Anti 9 to 5 Guide, a great book for women who want to run from the corporate life and strike out on their own as freelancers. This book is smart, easy to read, and most importantly, filled with practical tips that can actually help you succeed in building your own freelance business. Michelle was kind enough to share some of her insights with us - if you're a freelancer, small business owner, or are thinking of becoming one, don't miss this interview.


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Back in December, the Knicks signed Jeremy Lin as a free agent. Of course, the sole reaction from Knick fans were like, "huh?" because literally no one, unless you were a basketball blogger or die-hard NBA fan that followed the league at regular intervals, knew who he was. When the signing was made, I then read Howard Beck's article on Lin. The name struck me, but like the majority of the people, I had little to no idea who this dude was. I'm starting to read Beck's article, and then I realized that he played against the Knicks while he was with the Warriors. Lin's minutes in that game were essentially garbage time minutes. He played close to an even 3 minutes on the court. After I read the Beck article, I had a clear idea of what Jeremy Lin's story was and it was an interesting story. An undrafted player out of Harvard is definitely not a story you would hear frequently at all. Hearing about players being undrafted was frequent ie: John Starks, Udonis Haslem, Ben Wallace, just to name a few. But a player being undrafted out of the most prestigious university in the United States? Pretty interesting. Not to mention that former Knick great and former three-term New Jersey senator, Bill Bradley, went to Princeton, but wasn't undrafted, as he was one of the three territorial selections in the 1965 NBA draft. Throughout franchise history, the Knicks have had quite the brains.
I live in a very diverse community. That being said, I go to school with people of a lot of different cultures, which is great. Most of the people had little to no interest in basketball, unless they were playing the sport itself. Most of the people are Laker fanboys and Knick fans at the same time, which irks me and doesn't make absolute sense, but at least they're fans of the game. My friends were messaging me on Facebook about the Lin signing. One of my many friends, Russell, messaged me on Facebook; "James, did you hear about the Knicks signing Jeremy Lin?" I simply said "Yes." Then, he says "I know you're a huge Knick fan and I really wanted to ask you this: do you think Jeremy Lin will be playing anytime soon?" I stopped to think about that question for a moment. The locked out NBA season was in it's baby steps phase. The Knicks were coming off of a valiant Christmas Day win against the savant Celtics and the struggle within the Knicks prior to the season starting was for a legitimate point guard that wasn't the struggling Toney Douglas. With confidence, I said to Russell "I think that Lin will definitely start for the Knicks, not anytime soon, but he will start, considering what they're going through right now in terms of point guard issues. All I have to say is: patience." Russell said "do you really think so?" "Yes." I said. Then Russell had to go. The last thing he said was "Thanks for your opinion, James. You're a good friend when it comes to talking about basketball. Ttyl." "Thanks. I really appreciate it. Hopefully my prediction will be fulfilled haha. Ttyl."
If Russell didn't have to leave, I would of said "I didn't know you were a fan of basketball, Russell." but since he had to get off, all I could of done was to conclude the conversation since he was concluding it. As I said in the last paragraph, the people in my school had the least amount of interest in basketball, for the most part, and Russell was one of those people. The Knicks were really struggling. At the time, Knick fans were relying on Baron Davis, who was still coping with a back injury, to fill in the point guard role. Toney Douglas was talking through his hat, he had no damn idea how to play as a starter. It looked like someone took a gargantuan dump on his game. It was god awful. As much as I liked Toney Douglas, words couldn't describe how atrocious he was playing as a starter and even off the bench in garbage time minutes. It wasn't just Toney Douglas that was a mess, Carmelo Anthony was also putting up some horrific numbers, which generally, shooters tend to do a lot, but Melo's numbers were just nefarious to a point where people were blaming him for losing all the games the Knicks lost whenever he had a crappy shooting percentage.
Of course, that's what happens when you play in the heftiest sports market in the United States. The fans are a barbaric behemoth that likes to feed on vulnerable prey, the vulnerable prey being Carmelo Anthony in this case. Going to school the following day after that stretch of games was annoying because of the people that were so-called Knick fans were eating the shit out of the "blame Melo" bait unlike the Knick fans that were knowledgeable and intelligent that knew that there were other reasons why the Knicks were on this weary roller coaster of a stretch. "Melo sucks," TRADE MELO," and other generic battle cries to get Melo out of New York were looming over New York. Oh, it wasn't just about Melo too, it was also about now former coach Mike D'Antoni. "Fire the coach" alarmists were everywhere. "Mike No D'Antoni" was the most popular insult according to so-called Knick fans in my school. The Knicks were a mess. Plain and simple.
Jeremy Lin started to get notoriety from his garbage time minutes when he was subbed in for Iman Shumpert against the Bobcats. He played close to 6 minutes and scored 8 points along with dishing 4 assists and was even tagged with 3 fouls. The next day in school, I'm starting to hear some buzz, but the minutest of buzz about Lin. You know how there are rumor mills in high school? For example "oooh, he's going out with her?" That's what the Lin buzz seemed like in my school. Four days after the Charlotte game, he played just over 20 minutes in the Knicks loss against the Rockets. The Knicks as a team was horrendous that game. The excessively bleeding Toney Douglas shot 3-13 from the field scoring 7 points and dishing 4 assists while Lin came off the bench scoring 9 points along with 6 assists. Despite shooting 3-9 from the field, Lin had better numbers than Douglas.
The Knicks were 7-13 through the first 20 games of the 66 game locked out season. As it was expected, fans were displeased with the Knicks performance through that stretch, as they should. "Where's our point guard?" was still the main question of concern among Knick fans. Back at my school, Knick fans were so dysfunctional. A lot of them were mostly casual bandwagon fans that converted to Net fans (this is when they were still in New Jersey. They're incredibly dumb). Russell, who was starting to talk more about the Knicks only with me, and another one of my friends, Daniel, who is a Laker and Knick fan (ugh…still doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever) was expressing his harsh criticism about the Knicks dismal playing. Here I am still crying in a corner (not literally) about their playing, still defending Melo's crappy performances, telling bandwagon fans and some real Knick fans that it's not just Melo's fault when the team as a whole is playing like crap.
On Monday January 30th, two days after the Knicks lost to the Rockets, I had a little debate with my friend, Daniel, about why the Knicks are playing like crap. To me, it was quite obvious: the level of effort was in the red. The debate happened anyways and it only lasted for about 2 minutes. "Griffo, why are the Knicks playing like this?" said Daniel. "I swear to god, if you take this out on Melo you're gonna—" Daniel cuts me off. "No, I'm not taking all of it out on Melo. Not all of the blame should go on him." said Daniel. "Well, obviously not." I said. "The lack of effort from everyone is clearly why they're playing like the poo poo. Part of why they're playing like crap is because of Melo's abysmal shooting woes, but not all of it is. Forget the starters for a moment, the bench is playing like…crap, just crap. And finally, the whole team is playing like the Washington Generals. I love the Washington Generals for some reason." Daniel couldn't stop laughing. "Hahaha" Daniel said. "I agree with everything you said. I couldn't have said it better." That was essentially the whole conversation. The conversation was the equivalent of a 30 second phone call confirming that you're on your way to someone's house.
It was not until February 4th where the whole basketball landscape changed dramatically. It seemed like another ordinary winter day. My Dad, sister and I decided to go to Dave and Buster's. The Knicks were also playing the Nets at MSG and at D&B's, there were millions of TV's with the Knick game on. My whole wardrobe is basically jerseys and Levi's skinny jeans (don't knock on me because of me wearing skinny jeans). I wore my favorite Bernard King jersey and my Knick hat. While I was playing the Guitar Hero arcade machine, (I play expert if you're wondering what difficulty I play on) I heard drunk dudes at the bar going batshit crazy. I thought there was a bar fight going on, but it turns out that wasn't the case. What was actually happening: Jeremy Lin was tearing up the court, lobbing passes to Tyson Chandler for mesmerizing alley oops, crossing over Deron Williams, and driving to the hoop with his uncanny first step. For all I know, Lin was a folk hero by half time. But no, he scored 25 points, dished 7 assists along with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. After I finished playing "Rock You Like A Hurricane" on the Guitar hero machine, I ran right over to the bar where all the TV's were. Drunk dudes were giving me random high fives, performing pseudo-emphatic movements and just being plain demented. It was a jolly ole time (and outlandish time) at the bar.
On my iPhone, my Facebook and Twitter push notifications exploded as did the Internet. When I got home, I immediately went on Facebook and Twitter because my iPhone was spazzing out like you wouldn't believe. Daniel messaged me approximately 10 seconds after I logged in. "GRIFFO! LINSANITY!" he said. "THE LIN DYNASTY HAS BEGUN IT'S REIGN!" I said. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM RIGHT NOW!" Daniel said. "Oh, I know how happy you are. You're happy happy joy joy. Everyone else is probably going bonkers like you." I said. And thus, Linsanity (The Lin Dynasty, The Jeremy Lin Experience, and whatever Lin pun was acceptable, primarily Linsanity because it was trademarked) was born.
Monday February 6th, I'm back in school. Walking through the hallways at the end of every class was joyous for me because I kept hearing the numerous amounts of people raving about Lin. They sure were raving Linatics. NBA fans in my school were talking about Lin's superlative performance against the lowly Nets. My gym teacher, who's a huge Knick fan, was also talking to me about the game. Linsanity was just beginning. Against the Jazz, Lin struck back again with another outstanding performance scoring 28 points, and dishing 8 assists, but with 8 turnovers as well. The Knicks still crushed the Jazz 99-88. Two days later, the Knicks played the lowly Wizards and Lin posted a double-double (23-10). Linsanity was spreading like wildfire, especially after this cross-over and dunk finish on John Wall. Now, the people that didn't care about sports in my school were talking about Lin, comparing it to Tebowmania. Those people were dumb as a blonde and they still are dumb as a blonde for thinking that.
The Knicks were on a three game winning streak and the greatly frowned upon Lakers were coming to town. I asked Daniel "So, who are you rooting for?" He said the Knicks, assuming because of Lin and I respect that answer. "You gotta stop with being a Laker fan. I just never understood the concept of being a Laker and Knick fan. It's so asinine." I said. "Whatever." Daniel said. "My uncle bred me as a Laker fan." "Tell him that there's a new sheriff in town right here in New York, the sheriff being Jeremy Lin, although he probably knows by now." I said. Daniel laughed.
For some reason, I've always liked Derek Fisher. I would always goof on him. And when Jeremy Lin spun around Derek Fisher for this enthralling layup, my mental state was bonkers. This game was Lin's best scoring game, scoring 38 points and dishing 7 dimes with 6 turnovers. Yes, Lin was setting NBA turnover records, but almost no one gave a rat's ass about his turnover numbers. All they cared about was the resurgence of Jeremy Lin. Meanwhile, on Facebook, I'm laughing at all of the people posting statuses about bandwagon Knick fans, when the people that were posting those statuses were the bandwagon Knick fans to begin with prior to Linsanity occurring. On Twitter, the blogosphere was coming up with brand spanking new Lin puns. The same day, the Knicks were visiting Minnesota going up against the Timberwolves with other local sensation straight outta Barcelona, Ricky Rubio. The Knicks narrowly escaped this game, thanks to Steve Novak coming up big in the 4th quarter. Lin had a sloppy shooting night going 8-24 from the field. Despite his shooting woes, Lin still managed to score 20 points, dish 8 assists and grab 6 rebounds with 6 turnovers. That was certainly not Lin's best game whatsoever, but the Knicks won their 5th game in a row, bringing their record back up to 13-15.
The Knicks next game was against the Raptors. It was also Valentine's Day. It was just another ordinary day of school for me. I'll never forget this: After school, this guy gave a Valentine's Day card to a girl. The funny thing was that the two barely knew each other. I still know both of them to this day. The guy blurted out the cliche "will you be my Valentine?" and he also gave the girl a bag with wrapping in it. She took the wrapping out of the bag and a name and number Lin Knicks shirt was in the bag. The two then proceeded to make passionate love outside. I couldn't believe what was going on, but I gotta admit, it was such an epic sight to see. No, not just because of the kissing, it was because of this one athlete that was essentially becoming a part of these people's lives.
The Knicks were en route to their 6th straight win against the Raptors, but the Raptors, a sub-500 team, made the game a lot more diffcult for the Knicks to win. The Knicks were expected to blow out the Raptors, but in the closing seconds of the 4th quarter with the game tied up at 87, Lin isolates from everyone else with Jose Calderon defending him. Lin puts up the shot and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as he drained the game winning three. At that point, the Internet exploded again. Once again, everyone that I basically knew was going crazy on Facebook, and I literally scared my dog after that game winning shot. That game was the peak of Linsanity. Despite having another double-double (27-11) Lin almost had acquired a triple-double with 8 turnovers, thus Lin setting turnover records for most turnovers in the NBA since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. For people that hated Lin, which I don't know why people would hate him considering his awe-inspiring story, turnovers were heavily an anti-Lin subject of matter.
The following day, Russell, a few other friends and I went to play handball at the school's handball court that's located between the two gyms in the school and everyone was talking about basketball more than ever before. Never in my life have I ever heard Russell and my other friends talk about basketball in my life. They were following the league because of Lin. That night, the Knicks were up against the Kings at the Garden. Russell and my other friends were talking about how the Knicks can win against the Kings while we were playing intense games of American handball. The Knicks would then win against the Kings, winning their 7th game in a row. Lin posted a double-double (10-13) with 6 turnovers. This would be the last game the Knicks would win until they lost to the sub-par Hornets, even without star shooting guard Eric Gordon due to a knee injury, ending their 7 game winning streak with Lin as their starting point guard.
But that didn't mean Linsanity was necessarily gone. The Knicks were facing the defending champion Mavericks. Newly acquired J.R Smith debuted as a Knick finishing with 15 points. Lin had another outstanding performance finishing with a double-double (28-14), but again with 7 turnovers. The stretch of 7 games the Knicks won with Lin was all without Carmelo Anthony, who was being questioned by reporters, bloggers, and fans about whether he could co-exist with Lin. I thought the skepticism was a bunch of poppycock. The Knicks lost to the Nets in which a vindictive Deron Williams torched the Knicks for 38 points and 6 rebounds. Now, people were forced to start treating Lin like an actual point guard. My friends, were starting to experience what it's actually like to be a Knick fan. I'm sitting at my lunch table talking with friends and Russell is there along with 8 other people. Yeah, my lunch table is colossal. We were all discussing about the Knicks. I still couldn't believe that people that had the least minimum interest in basketball were getting into basketball because of Lin. When people tell me that they're bandwagon fans, I ignore those people because for once, people are getting into basketball because of this disciple among men.
At my school, there was a 3v3 basketball tournament that was being planned by the Student Council. Daniel, who plays baseball, but is pretty good at basketball as well, cordially asked me to join his 3v3 team. The other kid that joined our team was a tall kid that was taller than me named Sean. We had a few days to brainstorm a team name. All of a sudden, Daniel texts me saying that our team name should be "The Raving Linatics" after I shouted out that Lin pun one time during my lunch period. "LET'S DO IT!" I said. On the day of the tournament, I wore my Bernard King jersey with a pair of classic black and white Chuck Taylor's. Bernard didn't wear Chuck Taylor's, but he did wear Converse. That was the most similar shoe I had to reminisce Saint Bernard. Daniel wore his newly bought Jeremy Lin name and number t-shirt and Sean was wearing a Melo name and number t-shirt. "The Raving Linatics" reigned supreme. The end result: we won the tournament and we were all happy happy joy joy.
Where Lin started to really slow down was against the ferocious Miami Heat. Lin shot an atrocious 1-11 from the field, scoring 8 points and causing 6 turnovers, along with 3 steals and 3 assists. That game against Miami was the turning point of Linsanity. Linsanity was driven off of a cliff. Lin was now getting used to the consequences of being a point guard. New York sports fans and sports radio show hosts were acting like a bunch of assholes (like they do a lot) by saying that Lin should be traded because he had bad games where he was struggling. Um, so, he's not allowed to have bad games? Ok then… The same exact thing was being said at my school by the dimwits who felt like bashing on Lin because of his ethnicity in the midst of Linsanity. Stupid degenerate futile assholes they are. The Knicks went on a 6 game losing skid, against tougher teams, like the Celtics, Mavericks, Spurs, Bucks, Sixers and Bulls, and Lin was getting his ass kicked out on the floor. Pessimism from Knick fans was back in the air. But the Knicks struck back against the Blazers and whipped them to snap their 6 game slide, along with getting former Blazers coach Nate McMillan fired the following day. The Knicks went on one last five game winning streak with Lin as the point guard, but unfortunately, Lin's improbable season was cut short by arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Russell, Daniel and all of my other friends were like "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" And thus, Linsanity had officially ended. Because of Lin, he boosted the Knicks into the playoffs as a 7th seed. Later, the Knicks lost to the eventual champion Heat in 5 games in the first round of the playoffs, but at least they won one game unlike getting swept again aka: a gentleman's sweep.
Now that Jeremy Lin is a Houston Rocket, I would like to say this: I hate you James Dolan. As it says in the title of this post, THANK YOU JEREMY FOR THOSE FEW WEEKS AND THANKS FOR MAKING MY FRIENDS JUBILANT! Thank you for bringing my school together (except the racist idiots) for those few weeks. Thank you for being inspirational to so many people that had the least amount of interest in basketball. That doesn't mean I don't have faith in Raymond Felton, though. P.S, Jeremy, your first game back at MSG is going to be so damn thrilling. Once again, good luck in Houston!
Follow James on Twitter @j_griff
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English Learners overview
The primary goal of the English Learners (EL) program is to help students to use U.S. academic English, understand the culture of U.S. schools, and be successful learners. In our program, students will understand:
- English is used to communicate for a variety of purposes in social, cultural and academic settings.
- English language strategies support academic achievement in content areas.
- English language mastery requires proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
When should a student be assessed for the EL program?A student should be assessed for the EL program if another language besides English is indicated on the home language questionnaire section of the student registration form:
- Which language did the student learn first?
- Which language is most often spoken in your home?
- Which language does the student usually speak?
- Is an interpreter required to communicate with anyone in your family?
Students will be assessed in four domains; reading, writing, speaking and listening of academic English.
Where are students assessed?Students who meet the criteria are assessed at the Family Welcome Center in the Coon Rapids Family Center Mall, 11224 Crooked Lake Blvd. NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433. The Family Welcome Center can be reached at 763-433-4680 during regular office hours (7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday).
What happens after students are assessed?Students receive an ineligible or eligible status.Ineligible: If a student is not eligible for EL services based on his/her test scores, families will schedule a registration meeting with their child's school. The student will not receive English support from EL staff.
Eligible: If a student is eligible for EL services based on his/her test scores, the test information is shared with the assigned school offering EL support. Families will also meet with their child's school. Free transportation is provided for students to attend an EL center-based site.
Who is responsible for teaching EL?Most students in the EL program receive their instruction in mainstream classrooms. EL teachers provide support in a variety of ways depending on student need. Some of these are:
- Working with students in mainstream classes.
- Teaching sheltered English language classes.
How do students leave the EL program?A student must show proficiency in English by:
- Meeting state and district criteria on the ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) assessment.


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Respondus is a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to Blackboard Learn, Brightspace, Canvas, Moodle, and other learning systems. Exams can be created offline using a familiar Windows environment, or moved from one LMS to another. Whether you are a veteran of online testing or relatively new to it, Respondus will save you hours on each project.
Authoring Features
- Distinct user environments (called "personalities") for Blackboard Learn, Brightspace, Canvas, Moodle, and IMS QTI (see system requirements)
- Create exams and assessments offline using a Windows interface
- Supports up to 15 question types, including calculated and algorithmic formats
- Import questions from MS Word (including embedded images), rich-text, QTI, and tab/comma delimited formats
- Access to thousands of Respondus-compatible publisher test banks – FREE to instructors who adopt a participating textbook
- Use the Exam Wizard to create an assessment in minutes
- "Spell check" an entire exam file (includes dictionaries for American English, Canadian English, British English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, and a comprehensive medical dictionary)
- Add tables, bulleted lists, font changes, and enhanced formatting
- Insert mathematical and scientific symbols using the Respondus Equation Editor or MathType
- Use the Media Wizard to add images, audio and video to assessments and create links to content on other servers (e.g. YouTube, Picasa)
- Create random sets of questions in seconds with a one-step wizard
Preview, Publish and Printing Features
- Preview questions before publishing them to the LMS
- Publish exams and assessments directly to an online course (media files are automatically uploaded)
- A "batch publish" feature allows assessments and surveys to be published to multiple courses in a single step**
- Determine point values and exam settings offline
- Print exams/surveys directly from Respondus, or save files to MS Word or rich-text format
Retrieval and Reporting Features
- Retrieve exams from the leading learning platforms, complete with media files*
- Retrieve custom reports, such as student scores, summary statistics, and answer distributions*
- Download answer databases for quizzes or surveys and save them in an Excel-compatible format*
- Archive and restore exam/survey projects (including media content) with one click — ideal for providing a colleague with a ready-to-use exam
More Information
*This feature can only be used with certain eLearning systems
**This feature is only available to institutions that have a Respondus Campus-wide License


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Inspired by Dai Vernon's "Twisting the Aces", "The Last Trick of Jacob Daley", and Ryan Swigert's "Kickback".
A card is selected, signed, and lost back into the deck. Taking only the 4 Aces (deck discarded), you perform the cleanest of the "Twisting the Aces" routines - with the Aces reversing one by one with no false counts.
The black Aces are now placed into the card case - there is no doubt at all that they do go into the case - leaving the red Aces, "These will now magically produce your signed card." The spectator holds the red Aces but nothing happens. Or does it. On turning his two cards over he finds he is now holding the black Aces!
Finally, you tip out the cards from the card case revealing the two red Aces - but they have one card caught between them....the signed selection!
Comes complete with 8 page instructional booklet and necessary components.
Do you own this product? Write a review.


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|checkout | customer service
Bratt Décor has been designing and crafting baby cribs, baby furniture and kid furniture since 1995. Since then, Bratt Décor has grown to be one of the worlds first choices in childrens furnishings. Their line includes baby cribs such as this Jane wood baby crib as well as iron cribs like theVenetian Gold Crib. They also offer a beautiful collection of baby cradles, baby changing tables, kid twin beds and childrens dressers. Enjoy browsing the gorgeous line of Bratt Décor products and coordinating accessories and bedding.


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This letter is in reference to the need for a new library in Lancaster. I live in Kershaw and we need a lot of things there. I agree that our roads need attention, along with several other things. However, I work in Lancaster and frequently visit the Lancaster library. I go at least once every two weeks and sometimes once a week. My workplace is close enough that I can walk there. I also go to the one in Kershaw several times a month.
On behalf Senior Helpers, we wish to express our appreciation for excellent coverage The Lancaster News gave about our dementia trainer, Teepa Snow.
We were pleased that we could schedule her for the Lancaster area. When the July 25 arrived and we saw the attendance for both sessions, we were aware that the newspaper's advance article on her was largely responsible for the numbers.
Our thanks goes to Aaron Morrison for the photo coverage. As always, he is very thorough on how he photographs his subjects.
The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic men's service organization founded in 1882 by a Catholic priest in New Haven, Conn.
There are about 2 million members. Its principles are charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. During the last decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated almost $2 billion to charity.
It's also provided about 700 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.
Our local council, Lancaster, S.C. Council 10066, was formed 25 year ago by members of St. Catherine Catholic Church.
This is an opinion page. W.B. Evans expressed his opinion; I expressed mine. Recently, Joanne S. Graves expressed hers. Anyone who chooses to may do the same. How wonderful this is.
By doing so, we are expressing our freedom of speech and The Lancaster News is reflecting its freedom of the press rights. How fortunate we are to live in a nation that embodies such freedom.
The end of every September, the treasurer's office mails out property tax bills for real estate (homes and commercial buildings) and personal property (boats, business furniture and equipment, manufacturing, etc).
While nobody likes getting a tax bill, it's important that they are sent to the correct address. Having the correct address is the taxpayer's responsibility, and that prevents you from having a late fee due to never receiving the bill.
One, two, let's hope the next one is not three and out. The infamous Lancaster County Council has done it now. Council has turned many yes votes into no. The yes in the northern part of the county is lost because their roads didn't make the list.
The yes in the center of the county is lost because they've shunned half of a library and fire departments will say no because their radios, which are lifesavers for all of us, have been rejected, well, not completely, but they might as well be. Why? Because our council cannot get its act together.
A recent article regarding the "bust" of a meth lab in Indian Land should have all of us grateful to Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile, and his drug task force.
These well-trained men and women should be recognized for a job well done.
Lancaster County Council, which holds much of the sheriff's purse strings, should understand, that as Lancaster County grows, so will the crime.
What an impressive rebuttal letter, "W.B. Evans, an intelligent source?," Dianne T. Evans wrote in the July 27 edition of The Lancaster News. She was referring to some recent comments W.B. Evans wrote regarding FOX News and Dr. Charles Krauthammer. Not only did she attempt to elevate Krauthammer to unrealistic heights of intelligence – nay, genius – but at the same time impress us with her own linguistic artistry and ability. However, there are different levels and forms of intelligence – fluency of expression is only one.
I've heard that members of our Lancaster County Council ain't supposed to talk or do stuff behind our backs. You know make decisions that benefit some and hurt others.
I just wonder if they can talk to each other without breaking parliamentary rules? From what I read reported in The Lancaster News, it shore does seem like they are, at times, confused over matters. Some claim they never heard of some stuff going on.
Is a council member in the wrong if he or she ventures over onto another council person's turf?
I am not interested in the John Lage-Carolyn Taylor verbal interchange.
However, letter writer W.B. Evans' remarks, in regard to that interchange, do interest me. Please note the following in reference to his remarks as posed in "Fox News an intelligence source?" in the July 16 edition of The Lancaster News.
Copyright © 2019
The Lancaster News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lancaster County and Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding area..


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Ear wax: We all have it. We all want it gone.
Most audiologists are often asked about ear wax. What is it? Why is it sticky? Why do I make so much? How can I get rid of it?
Say "yes" to ear wax.
Ear wax actually helps to keep your ears clean.
The wax traps dirt, dust and debris such as dead skin cells from the ear canal, dried shampoo and shave cream and possibly the occasional flea or gnat. This debris is held together by oil and wax secreted by glands living in your ear canal. The secretions also have natural antibiotic properties that help keep bad bacteria from growing in the warm dark and cozy environment of ear canals. And you thought it was just a nuisance!
What kind of wax do you produce?
Ear wax or cerumen comes in two varieties: wet (honey-colored and sticky) and dry (grayish and flaky). Ear wax type is highly heritable and considered a Mendelian trait that follows the laws of genetics. The trait of wet or dry ear wax was once attributed to a single gene but today, research has identified another gene contributing to this sticky situation. Your ear wax type was determined by your ancestry. Almost all people with European or African ancestry have wet wax. If you have northeastern Asian ancestry will most likely have the dry and flaky variety.
People have no trouble cleaning belly button lint and removing mucus from the nose, but most have no clue how to safely take care of excess ear wax. For most people the ear is self-cleaning and ear wax is removed by the natural flow of the wax out of the ear. Ear wax problems are typically self-inflicted. If you listen with ear phones for long periods of time, (at safe loudness levels please) wax can become trapped because the natural flow of wax out of the canal is blocked with the ear phone.
However, most problems arise when the wax becomes impacted up close to the ear drum— down deep in the ear canal. This usually occurs from attempts to clean ear wax using implements of destruction such as cotton swabs, hair pins and tooth picks. If you choose to use these tools to clean your ears, you run the risk of puncturing the ear drum (ouch!) or impacting the wax in the canal in an area beyond the oil secreting cells.
The soft wax dries up into a hard ball and can cause a temporary hearing loss or dizziness until it is professionally removed. Contact an audiologist if you think ear wax may be the cause of your hearing or dizziness problems. Audiologists will advise you on how to prepare for a professional ear cleaning. They often provide ear wax removal. And if you make more than is typical, the audiologist will schedule appointments once or twice a year to keep things under control.
Do you have too much of a good thing?
Stress (even physical exercise) and anxiety can increase wax production as well as medications that either activate or diminish the "flight or fight" response. Anatomical structures of the ear canal can cause wax to become trapped. When the ear canal twists and turns or narrows a bit, the wax will not easily flow from the canal. Even normal aging increases wax production.
Just as grandmother reminded us…put nothing smaller than your elbow in your ear and let Mother Nature do her work.
What other common questions do you get from patients in your audiology practice?
Pamela Mason, M.Ed., CCC-A is the director of audiology professional practices at the ASHA national office. She is a member of ASHA's SIG 8, Public Health Issues Related to Hearing and Balance.


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Our Sacred
Keth had professional PhotoGraphy Studios in East Lansing, Birmingham and Rochester Hills Michigan, then moved to Maui Hawaii and currently is in New Port Richey, Gulf Coast Florida. We work with Canon 5-D and 7-D professional Digital Cameras and many extra lenses and Lighting Equipment
Model & PhotoGrapher Jan, Keth's Partner
Paid Modeling Portfolio Services
Keth Luke: Modeling Portfolio PhotoGrapher
Higher SoundLight
Professional PhotoGraphics for
Special Events, Weddings, Public Relations,
Products, Advertising, Business, Art, Unique Promotional, Natural and Pet Portraits. We have photographed
hundreds of Special Events, Models, Business's, Weddings, Parties, People and Animals.
Have us create your
best Images with Love. Creative Digital
Photography or Video. Contact us for more info or a quote 727-842-6788.
Promotional PhotoGraphy
Adding new work often, need Models.
Call for Project Pricing
Sample PR, Brochures & Collages with Keth's PhotoGraphy .pdf files
Gulfside Hospice "Mending Hearts" Kid's Camp 6/08
Gulfside Hospice
"Mending Hearts" Annual Holiday Party 12/08
Keth's Suncoast News "Maverick Healer" Front Page Article 3/07
Special Event, Wedding, Portrait, Model
Galleries The Latest Events PhotoGraphy by Keth and Crew
and Pet Portraits
: Animal Photography
DrLight Our Mascot, His web page, his Photo Album
Dr Light
Senior Higher Service Dog
DrLight's Photo Gallery in Action with his friends.
We can help with your Pets reincarnation too.
PhotoGraphic Sessions
PhotoGraphy Gallery
PhotoGraphy by Keth Luke
Sacred Sites of the World from our Sacred Site Tours
From Jan & Keth's Sacred Tour to Egypt with ASAR-RASA through
the Temples of their past.
Sacred Site Photo Gallery -
Aug/Sept 2001
Keth meditating in Stonehenge UK
Fun Enlightening Portrait/PR
Photo Session, and a Photo CD $100.
Special Private Paid Personal Portrait Sessions Like Custom Glamour Shots
Sample Galleries
Jan's Modeling Portfolio Gallery I 2002 Tampa Bay Area by Keth. Jan was a professional Fashion Model in Denver CO and Chicago IL more many years doing runway and advertising for newspapers, magazines and on TV.
Goddess Models Wanted !
Would you like to try Modeling? See how good you can look? Need Promotional PhotoGraphy?... Activate and Unleash the Goddess inside you..
Keth is looking for Goddess Models for his new Portfolio and Art work. He is willing to do Modeling Portfolio Photography, offer Model/Talent Showcase web space, Art Prints or Portraits of you in exchange for Modeling for his Art PhotoGraphy. No experience is necessary, just a willingness for a new Adventure, but any prior experience in modeling, dance, goddess, music, theater, sports or TV can be beneficial. It is a fun, adventure some, playful, healing and creative process, you can experience and actually see a beauty in yourself you may have only dreamed of. Bring any ideas, themes, outfits, costumes or fantasies you may have and want to try out. A safe space is created to express yourself in. Keth has just put together a new mostly natural light studio. He also likes to shoot out in beautiful natural places and with unique and creative lighting. Now fantasy backgrounds and special effects are possible too.
Calling all Gorgeous Goddesses
These Images are not by Keth, but much great Art, Nudes and Photographic ideas...
by other
wonderful artists and photographers.
These are ideas toward the
Photo-Art I would like us to Create... click
on the links above, below or paste the one below in your browser to see. I
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Contributionsand Credit Card Payments are Welcomed through PayPal or by Phone 1-727-842-6788, Paypal is a secure way to handle credit card payments. Skype: drlight Free calls Worldwide, even Video Calls, email us so we can be on when you want to talk ( www.Skype.com to download the Skype communication software).. (Click to "Make a Donation" button below to pay for our Products and Services). Also Please contribute to our Traveling House of Grace Church Motor Home Fund...and our Sacred Land Trust to save our Sacred Natural Lands... We are asking for the Contribution for or of a reliable, quality Traveling Motor Home for our Church, home and office: good for secure long distance travel... prefer a newer efficient Diesel, 34-40' with lots of storage, for long distance economy and reliability (i.e. Revolution, American Dream or Tradition, Country Coach, Mountain Aire,..
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We'd love to assist you in creating your registry in-store with one of our local registry consultants. Our professional and knowledgeable staff can help you with all of your wedding registry needs and questions.
Our exclusive registry perks include special savings on fine jewelry, dresses, men's and much more! Plus, receive a $100 Splurge Card when you complete $500 from your registry.
Visit a store near you to create your perfect wedding gift registry.


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Yarn PumpkinsSeptember 26, 2013 | FILED UNDER: Uncategorized
These little yarn pumpkins will look sweet adorning your mantel throughout the fall!
The pumpkins were the result of a crafting accident of sorts. I had thought of making pumpkins out of yarn pom-poms (I know, enough with the pom-pom crafts!!), but they didn't turn out great. The round shape of the pom-pom didn't feel very pumpkin-like.
But in the midst of making the pom-pons, I noticed that they look quite a bit like squat little pumpkins right before you cut them into pom-poms!
So pretty much these are unfinished pom-poms. You can make one in 5 minutes – here's how!
Supplies for Yarn Pumpkins
How to Make Yarn Pumpkins
If you've never made a pom-pom before, refer to my pom-pom tutorial for more detailed step-by-step instructions. Here's the condensed version:
1. Wrap yarn around four fingers about 120 times or so.
2. Cut a ~10 inch piece of yarn and stick it between your fingers to wrap it around the big yarn loop
3. Line up the piece of yarn in the middle of the yarn loop, and tie – pulling taut and wrapping around the backside as well.
4. You now have your basic pumpkin shape. Cut a 2 inch piece of pipe cleaner and tie to the pumpkin using the two loose strands of yarn from Step 3. Don't trim the strands yet!
5. Wrap the pipe cleaner around itself to form the stem.
6. Pretty up your pumpkin by tucking in any loose loops
7. Once again using the loose strings on the pumpkin to tie them around the twine. Continue making pumpkins until you have enough for your garland!
These would also look cute as stand-alone yarn pumpkins scattered down the middle of your dining table or mixed in with some real mini pumpkins on the mantel as well!


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|Geometric Progression
|Figure 2.1 The Statistical Value of Human Life
|What is the Earth's Carrying Capacity?
|Moore's Law
|From the shower, I nearly saved the world
|Population growth model
|SOY! SOY! SOY! Soy makes you strong! Strength crushes enemies! SOY!
|geometric sequence
|Unexpected consequences
|Roach bait
|Dream Log: November 26, 2002
|acceleration phase
|The Computational Beauty of Nature
|Technological drift
|common ratio
|service industry
|Project Euler
|zombie computer
|Everything2 Help
|Chinese weights and measures
|linear differential equation
|March 27, 2003


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The polish is a jelly so I decided to make a glitter sandwich with it. I started out with two coats of BHG Beautiful followed by one thick coat of Essie Set in Stones and one more coat of BHG Beautiful. The whole thing was topped off with a top coat for shine. I just love the depth of glitter sandwiches. This one makes me think of a sangria with berries beneath the surface. Yum...
A closer look at the glitter...
A peek at what it looked like before the final coat of BHG Beautiful. Essie Set in Stones is a silver glitter in a clear base. It usually applies much thinner and would need a few coats to build up to this much glitter, but I was feeling lazy so this is one thick, messy coat of the Set in Stones with no top coat. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of glitter for the sandwich...
Taking apart the sandwich even further, BHG Beautiful itself is a deep wine jelly. I'm not sure if this is just a relabel of one of their standard polishes, but I wouldn't be surprised. Application was good and it covered well in two coats. The formula is shiny enough that the swatches here are without a top coat. Looking at the photos I see some bald spots toward the cuticles which were not visible in real life, but since I was layering over it, this didn't really matter...
|Swatch Details
|Brand: Essie
Collection: none
Color Name/Number: BHG Beautiful
Number of coats: 2
Top Coat: No
Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)
I would love to know what you think of this!
Have you ever gotten a fun surprise in the mail before?
Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)


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Congratulations to Deborah Coen, associate professor of history, Andrea Miller, dance faculty member and guest artist, and Annie Baker, adjunct lecturer in the theatre department, who have received Guggenheim Fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
In its ninetieth annual competition for the United States and Canada, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded 177 fellowships to a diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists. Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants.
"It's exciting to name 178 new Guggenheim fellows," said Guggenheim Foundation President Edward Hirsch in the official announcement. "These artists and writers, scholars and scientists, represent the best of the best...It's an honor to be able to support these individuals to do the work they were meant to do."
Read the full press release.
Prof. Coen joined Barnard's faculty in 2005. Her research centers on the history of the physical and earth sciences and the cultural history of central Europe. She is currently studying how climate came to be understood in terms of the exchange of energy among systems at a spectrum of scales, from the molecular to the hemispheric.
Andrea Miller is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of New York-based company Gallim Dance. She created a new work entitled "Fall, Recover, Recover" this year's Barnard/Columbia Dances at Miller presentation.
Annie Baker is an award-winning playwright who serves as an adjunct professor and thesis adviser at Barnard.
Prof. Coen and Ms. Baker join a long list of Barnard faculty recognized by the Guggenheim Foundation over the past decade, including Prof. Lynn Garafola, Prof. Faye Driscoll, and Mr. David Parker who received fellowships in 2013.


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King Street
By Duende Camarón
for samples and more info.
For Sale: 1995 Jose Romero Classe 1A Concert Falmenco Guitar
Tue, 05/03/2016 at 10:54:51 AM EDT -
El~Kabong !!!
Hello all;
It's been a very long time since I've posted here. Some of you may remember me; newer members may not.
The reason I haven't posted in a few years now is due to the fact that I'm simply not playing flamenco guitar anymore. Sad but true...
Hence the sale of a few of my flamenco guitars.
First up is this great '95 Romero blanca...
1995 JOSE ROMERO "Classe 1A/ Especial CONCERT FLAMENCO GUITAR
"The Spanish luthier José Romero is a fine craftsmen who learned his trade in the workshop of José Ramirez, but is now concentrating on making his mark in the world of flamenco guitars.
This impeccably crafted, handmade guitar uses fine woods of the highest quality. This concert flamenco possess a wonderful, burning flamenco voice, and a great Flamenco snarl!
The trebles are clear and concentrated. The basses are firm. The balance between trebles and basses is excellent. All of this, in a very musical instrument-- that possess all the qualities one expects in a great flamenco guitar."
*The above was borrowed from Zavaletas site because it perfectly describes this Romero guitar as well!*
This is undoubtedly one of the best flamenco guitars I have ever owned.
The specs are:
Top: German Spruce
Back & Sides: Royal Spanish Cypress
Scale: 655mm
Nut: 52.5 mm
Tuners: Fusteros Antiguas"
Although it is 21 years old; this guitar has not seen much play. I believe it to be one of the proverbial Kept under the bed in its case guitars. Truly!
Yet when you play it; it has all the sounds of a well matured & played in instrument. The action is incredibly easy The response is instant! It is a featherweight guitar & thus incredibly lively in sound.
Condition is amazing. The soundboard has almost no signs of play.
There are a few minor scratches & tiny dings on the sides; but nothing major. The back does have a few belt buckle marks in the finish. But nothing through or into the wood. All, purely cosmetic scuffing. So minor I couldnt even capture it for these pics.
Fingerboard & frets like new.
Comes with a mint condition Superior hardshell case
These standard versions of Jose Romeros guitars are listed on the internet for $6,000.00 plus on most sites. (Please check). My asking price is $4800.00 USD (OBO) + S&H
I have had many eBay transactions. My eBay username is el-kabong! Please check it too see that I have had 461 All Positive transactions there with no negatives at all.
Feel free to contact me with any questions . Ill be happy to oblige.
*** I will post pics later today***
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El~Kabong !!!
on Tue, 05/03/2016 at 10:58:38 AM EDT.
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Drink, Shop and Do? Don't mind if I do!
This December, BFFs Kristie Bishop and Coralie Sleap are making the run up to Christmas that little bit cooler with the launch of their 'Drink Shop & Do' events. For the first 3 weekends of the month 9 Caledonian Road, a lovely old Victorian bath house right near Kings Cross Station, will be transformed with vintage furniture and crafty Christmas cheer to create a rather distinctive drinking, shopping and socialising experience.
"We realised there was a gap in the market for a place to be entertained, inspired and to socialise. By working together and combining the things we love to do we are creating something exciting and unique." says Coralie. And the things Kriste and Coralie love are things we love, and we're sure you will too!
There will be craft nights with Stitch & Bitch (3rd December), Finishing School (4th December), Smack My Stitch Up (17th December), plus a Otesha Project DIY ethical fashion workshop. If you're not feeling up to crafting yourself, there's always a chance to buy, rather than make. And with lovely refreshments in the form of cocktails, cake, tea and sandwiches, what's not to love?
Drink Shop and Do will be open 12pm to 12am, Thursday to Sunday for the three weekends in December (from the 3rd to the 20th)
Find out more at www.kristieandcoralies.com
By: Sarah Barnes, 28.11.2009 | Comments (0)
Tagged: Christmas, Coralie Sleap, Craft, DIY, Do, Drink, Finishing School, Kings Cross, Kristie Bishop, London, Otesha Project, Shop, Smack My Stitch Up, Stitch & Bitch


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The new "10th Edition Smile For The Camera - A Carnival of Images" is taking place, and this is my entry into the carnival to "Show us that picture that you found with your family collection or purchased that shows the costumes of the rich to the not so rich, from the civil war to the psychedelic sixties."
I love the photos of my Great Aunt Fern Edna Blanding. She was born 22 Sep 1889 in Skyberg, Goodhue Co., Minnesota, spent some early years in Madison Lake, Blue Earth Co., Minn, on to Sibley, Georgia by 1900, a couple years around Palm Beach, Florida where her father help construct one of the Breakers Hotels. Then on to Los Angeles, California by about 1905. These photos were taken in Los Angeles around 1910 I would imagine.
These photos are of Aunt Fern. The first in a big feathery hat for a glamor pose. Nicely dressed for the studio photo. The next photo shows her in a Salvation Army uniform. I don't know exactly how long or what she did in the Salvation Army, but last year while visiting a distant cousin in Lake Elsinor, CA, I saw another photo that showed Aunt Fern and her sister, Pearl, both in Salvation Army uniforms.
Aunt Fern never had any children of her own, but she did have four husbands! She was an excellent seamstress. When my mother was a little girl she made 352 dresses for her one year! I remember that nearly every dress I had growing up until about 7th grade, was made for me, by the loving hands of Aunt Fern. She was married in 1928 to Fred George Bullock at Whisky Slough, California. She died 13 April 1962 and is buried at Montecito Memorial Park, Colton, CA.
I think hats were a big part of looking nice in those early days. Another photo of Fern Blanding in a hat. These days a big hat like this is seldom seen, and perhaps only at the Kentucky Derby or on a member of the Red Hat Society. It must be a fun thing to wear such a big hat even though Fern was not cracking a hint of a smile in the photo to the left.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Costume Customs - Fern Blanding Bullock photos
Posted by Donna Hague Wendt on Friday, January 16, 2009
3 comments:
- Apple said...
I can sew but I don't think I could match your aunt's speed! I love the hat pictures. I really think hats should make a comeback.
- Saturday, 17 January, 2009
- Greta Koehl said...
What a fabulous sense of style your Great Aunt Fern had! She even looks stylish in her Salvation Army uniform.
- Tuesday, 03 February, 2009
- Judith Richards Shubert said...
What a beautiful lady, Aunt Fern! I like the lace insertion on her blouse in the first photo. I wonder if she made that? Probably did considering the number of pieces you say she made in a year's time!
- Monday, 16 February, 2009
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Maj. Nidal Hasan rested and said nothing during the sentencing phase of the Fort Hood shooting trial Tuesday.
Sentencing will begin at 9 a.m. Central time Wednesday. That's when the jury will be given instructions and closing arguments will be made.
The prosecution rested on the second day of testimony, then the jury went to lunch, with Hasan set to present his defense starting at 2 p.m. Central time.
He could have made a sworn statement subject to cross examination, an unsworn statement with no cross, or both. Instead he chose to rest without saying anything to the jury.
Hasan was convicted Friday of killing 13 people and wounding dozens more. Now, the jury is deciding whether he will receive the death penalty or life in prison.
Hasan originally said he'd like at least half a day to prepare a sentencing-phase defense. But he said Tuesday more time wasn't necessary.
He mounted virtually no defense during his trial and is not expected to call any witnesses or present any documents in his defense.
Prosecutors presented testimony on the effect of the crime Monday and Tuesday, while asking the panel of 13 high ranking military officers to impose a death sentence. Jurors will have to come to a unanimous verdict in order for Hasan to be put to death.
Family members described the terrible hours before learning what happened to their loved ones after learning about the November 2009 shooting.
Teena Nemelka, stepmother of murdered Pfc Aaron Nemelka said two soldiers came knocking on her door around 11:30 p.m. that night.
"You just freeze, you don't want to open that door. You don't want to hear that news that you lost your son," she said.
Jerri Krueger said her daughter, Sergeant Amy Krueger, joined the Army after September 11, 2001.
"When a parent loses a child it's something permanent," she said. "There's apart of you missing. I live with that every day." Krueger said.
Retired Lt.Col. Randy Royer was shot twice that day and still walks with a cane because of his wounds.
He received a medical discharge from the Army after the injuries he suffered in the shooting at a crowded medical processing building.
Royer said he also has anxiety problems, especially when visiting the local pharmacy.
"They have all the chairs lined up. I don't do well," Royer said.