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Also, I couldn't save enough for my trip to Europe, which means that I still have credit to go to the other side of the world and I must use it before February 2nd and that is quite a bummer... I might end up sleeping in the train stations if I get to go... I am still not sure because it takes some money to...
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Kaicito you are too sweet :) I am just starting to get a hold of SG's new design and just realized about the faves, now that you tell me!!Well, my "next" trip will be planned even for the unexpected hehe and more places around Europe, that's for sure. Happy New Year to you as well!!... Binx_ I am on the same page as you!! :/
Aww, I never saw this until today... you shoulda tagged me! Hope things are going well for you! <3


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subset: commoncrawl


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Protecting the Kidneys
How serious is protein in the kidneys of a type 2 diabetic and what can happen?
This is potentially a very serious problem. Protein in the urine is the first sign of progressive kidney disease in a diabetic. In its very earliest stage, it appears as a tiny amount of protein (or albumin) that is called "microalbuminuria" (i.e., microscopic amount of albumin in the urine). If detected at this early stage, the progression of diabetic kidney disease may be slowed, halted (and possibly even reversed) by the use of medications called angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). If untreated, diabetic kidney disease can go on to produce much larger amounts of protein in the urine, followed by gradual kidney failure that eventually leads to "end stage renal disease" requiring dialysis.
Other factors that may help in the prevention and treatment of diabetic kidney disease are:
- Meticulous control of blood sugars
- Aggressive treatment of hypertension, especially with the drugs mentioned above (ACE inhibitors and ARBs)
- Treatment of hyperlipidemia (elevated blood cholesterol)
- Smoking cessation
- Weight loss
Diabetic kidney disease, often accompanied by hypertension and atherosclerosis, is the most common cause of kidney failure in the United States. Any diabetic with protein in the urine should be seen by a nephrologist (kidney specialist). Any treatment that is given for the kidneys – such as the ones listed above – will also benefit the rest of the body, particularly the cardiovascular system, and it is hoped that other complications of this disease may be prevented as well.
For more information:
Go to the Quality Health Care and You – Diabetes health topic.


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It's easy to forget just how beholden the Cy Young Award was to pitcher wins. Sure, wins are still plenty important in the Cy Young voting, but you look back a couple of decades and you realize: Wins used to mean pretty much everything. It's no wonder that the last few years have been such a shock to the system for some people, as wins have lost their kung fu grip on the Baseball Writers of America.
Look: From 1961 through 1985 -- 25 seasons -- you had 45 Cy Young winners (it's an odd number because Denny McLain and Mike Cuellar shared the American League Award in 1969). Of those 45 winners, 40 were starting pitchers. The five relievers were Mike Marshall, Sparky Lyle, Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers and Willie Hernandez. We'll talk about relievers and the Cy Young Award in a minute.
For now: Forty starters. Do you know how many of those 40 did not either lead or finish second in the league in wins? Take a second. Think about it.
Answer: Zero. They all either led the league or finished second in wins.
Yep. Every single year, the award went to the pitcher with the most wins ... or, if he could not fulfill his duties because of a high ERA or an unseemly won-loss percentage, it went to the first runner-up. Mike Scott in 1986 was the first Cy Young winner in a quarter century to not finish first or second in wins.
Scott finished third, so, um, that wasn't exactly a quantum leap forward. But it was something. Scott led the league in ERA, struck out 300 and allowed a mere 5.9 hits per nine innings. The combination overwhelmed the voters. On top of that, the two pitchers with higher wins totals -- Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Krukow -- did not finish in the Top 10 in ERA.
It would be another five years before the Cy Young voters chose a starter who did not lead the league in wins (that was Roger Clemens in 1991, who dared to finish fourth).
I would argue that pitcher wins were the most powerful statistic in sports -- powerful like the old tobacco lobby. I think the name of the stat had something to do with it. "Win" is a powerful word for a statistic. It pretty bluntly insinuates that the pitcher won the game. Well, heck, it doesn't just insinuate it ... it SAYS it. The pitcher won the game. You know: Singlehandedly.
That's how we use the word "win." Nobody says: LeBron James won his 34th game Sunday night in Portland. Nobody says: Tom Brady earned another win as the Patriots beat the Lions. That would just sound wrong.
But that kind of language has just become a fundamental part of baseball. It's pretty obvious that pitchers don't really win games by themselves. The game is basically divided into two parts -- scoring runs and preventing runs -- and that cuts 50% off the pitcher's contribution right there. And of course, winning pitchers can't get the whole 50% because we know that defense plays a big part in the game too. And, of course, pitchers can't even get what's left over because they rarely go nine innings, so they have to share some of the credit with relief pitchers.
In other words: Pitchers do not win games by themselves. We all know it. And yet, we use that same terminology all the time. We keep talking about pitchers getting the win and taking the loss and what their won-loss record is and so on. The language matters.
* * *
Have we moved past pitcher wins as a nation? In 2010 Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young Award with a 13-12 record. This was, supposedly, the break from the past. Traditionalists shrieked. Modernists cheered. Hernandez, I think, was the best pitcher in baseball -- he led the league in innings and ERA and finished just one back in strikeouts. But he was much more than that, he was a cause celebre, and nothing would ever be the same. Or so we were told.
Last year the leaders in wins, Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw, both won Cy Young Awards. Verlander was the only choice in the AL, but Kershaw was not as clear a choice. There were some pretty powerful arguments that Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee both had better years.* Kershaw had an amazing season -- he won what has become known as the pitcher's Triple Crown (most wins, most strikeouts, lowest ERA). But ask yourself this: Was Kershaw's 21-5 record the deciding factor (compared to Halladay's 19-6 and Lee's 17-8)? The Eight Ball says "Very Likely."
*Among those arguments: Kershaw's numbers were greatly aided by pitching half his games in the cavernous pitcher's park that is Dodger Stadium. Kershaw went 12-1 with a 1.69 ERA in L.A. The fact that Halladay and Kershaw put up virtually identical numbers while pitching half their games in the much more hitter-friendly Citizen's Bank Park speaks pretty loudly.
This year, I predict that David Price (20-5) will win the Cy Young over Justin Verlander (17-8). Price had a spectacular year -- but I don't think the won-loss record has much to do with it. Was he the better pitcher overall?
Price did have the lower ERA ... though, because he pitches half his games in a great pitcher's park, Verlander had a better ERA+ (that's ERA adjusted for ballpark factors). Price also threw 27 fewer innings and struck out 34 fewer batters. Verlander's WHIP and strikeout-to-walk were both better. It's close. I think Verlander had the slightly better year.
Verlander's 2012 season was very, very close to his 2011 season. He made one fewer start, struck out batters at the same pace, walked them at a slightly higher pace, allowed fewer home runs and led the league in complete games. In 2011 he won the Cy Young Award unanimously and won the MVP award. In 2012 I predict he will finish second in the Cy Young. Why?
I think it more or less comes down to this:
2011: Justin Verlander, 24-4.
2012: Justin Verlander, 17-8.
R.A. Dickey finished second to Gio Gonzalez in wins, but Dickey still won 20 and I think he will win the NL Cy Young. He led the league in strikeouts, complete games, shutouts and innings pitched, and his ERA was better than Gonzalez's. Clayton Kershaw, the third finalist, is very similar to Verlander in that he, too, was just about as good this year as in his Cy Young Award season.
* * *
If R.A. Dickey wins, he will become the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Others who got close:
• Bob Purkey finished tied for third in 1962. There was just one Cy Young for both leagues back then, and what's interesting is that all four players who received votes pitched in the National League. It's hard to say who would have won the American League Cy Young that year -- the wins leader was the Yankees' Ralph Terry, but Cleveland's Dick Donovan got more MVP support.
• Phil Niekro finished second in 1969 to Tom Seaver. He later finished third, fifth and twice finished sixth. Niekro was probably the best pitcher in the league in 1978, when he threw a ridiculous 334 innings and completed 22 games. But he went 19-18 and Gaylord Perry, with a 21-6 record, took the award.
• Wilbur Wood finished second in 1973. He led the league in wins that year, but the voters gave the award to Jim Palmer. Wood finished third the year before.
• Joe Niekro finished second in 1979. He led the league in wins with 21, but for some reason the writers decided that year to go with a reliever, Bruce Sutter. Niekro finished third in the voting in 1980.
• Tim Wakefield finished third in the voting in 1995.
* * *
Here's a pointless aside:
I must admit that learning how to throw a knuckleball, a real knuckleball, is on my list of things I must do soon. I know how to juggle, do a few card tricks, play "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on the piano, hit the through-the-legs tennis shot, do various yo-yo tricks and drive a stick shift. If I'm reading my, "Things a Dad Should Know How to Do" manual correctly, I'm pretty much down to spinning a basketball on my index finger and throwing a knuckleball. I'll never spin the basketball, so knuckleball is it.
* * *
People sometimes ask this question: Should relief pitchers be eligible for the Cy Young?
Well, of course they should be eligible -- the award is for the best pitcher, and they are pitchers. But would I ever vote for a reliever? I wouldn't make a hard and fast rule about it, but I doubt I would vote for a pitcher who threw fewer than 100 innings. I just don't think there's enough value there.
Here's my point. Let's look at the relievers who won the Cy Young Award with fewer than 100 innings pitched (not counting strike years):
Steve Bedrosian, 1987 (40 saves, 2.83 ERA, 89 innings)
The next year, Bedrock had a 3.75 ERA, the next year he was traded, the next year he was traded again.
Mark Davis, 1989 (44 saves. 1.85 ERA, 92 2/3 innings)
The next year, he signed for a big deal with the Kansas City Royals, and instantly became unpitchable. He posted a 5.11 ERA, then a 4.45 ERA, they Royals dumped him, the Braves dumped him, the Phillies released him, the Padres released him, and he was never able again to regain the magic.
Dennis Eckersley, 1992 (7-1, 1.91 ERA, 51 saves, 80 innings)
The next three years, he posted ERAs higher than 4.00 for the A's, who finally traded him to St. Louis. Eck finished his Hall of Fame career in Boston, a good trivia question.
Eric Gagne, 2003 (55 saves, 1.20 ERA, 82 1/3 innings)
He had a good 2004, but not nearly as good as his 2003 season, and then he had arm troubles and though he kept trying to regain his place, he never again got 20 saves in a season.
Now, let's be clear: What follows the season has nothing to do with whether or not a pitcher deserves the Cy Young Award (and plenty of starting pitchers have followed up Cy Young years with dreadful seasons).
But I do think that the numbers that relievers put up are very often illusory ... and you see it the very next season. Look: A pitcher who throws hard and throws strikes and gets on a roll can have a great season over 60 or 70 or 80 innings. But that doesn't mean the pitcher is really great. Mariano Rivera, yeah, he did it year after year after year. Few others have.
I ran a little statistic you might find interesting: Who has had the most seasons with at least 30 saves and at least a 3.0 Wins Above Replacement? Mariano Rivera is the answer, of course, But even I didn't expect it to be by this much.
Seasons with 30-plus saves and 3.0-plus WAR
1. Mariano Rivera, 10
2. Dan Quisenberry, 4
3. Jonathan Papelbon 3
(tie) Joe Nathan, 3
(tie) Keith Foulke, 3
(tie) Trevor Hoffman, 3
(tie) Bruce Sutter, 3
I love this chart for two reasons. One, it's another bit of ammunition that I can use in my continuing effort to make everyone realize that Dan Quisenberry was a Hall of Famer. But two, it shows just how rare Mariano Rivera really is. Relief pitching excellence is, in almost every instance, a fleeting thing. One minute you are Jose Valverde closing out 49 saves in 49 opportunities. The next minute you are Jose Valverde, and you can't get anybody out.
There should be a meaningful relief pitcher award given out by the BBWAA (the Dan Quisenberry Award!). But as great as Craig Kimbrel was this year, as magnificent as Fernando Rodney was, as awesome as Aroldis Chapman was ... I just don't think their values stand up to the best starters in the game. They should be eligible for the Cy Young Award. I don't think, though, that they should win it.


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Latest media releases
UBS provides more detailed information on unauthorized trading
Zurich/Basel, 18 September 2011 - On September 15, 2011 UBS announced that it had discovered unauthorized trading in its Investment Bank. This trading was conducted by a trader in its Global Synthetic Equity business in London. The trader in question has been charged by UK authorities with fraud by abuse of position.
Before making a further announcement, we needed to be certain that we understood the positions that were booked and that we knew the amount of our resulting loss.
We have now covered the risk resulting from the unauthorized trading, and the equities business is again operating normally within its previously defined risk limits. The loss arising from this matter is USD 2.3 billion. As previously stated, no client positions were affected.
The loss resulted from unauthorized speculative trading in various S&P 500, DAX, and EuroStoxx index futures over the last three months. The positions taken were within the normal business flow of a large global equity trading house as part of a properly hedged portfolio. However, the true magnitude of the risk exposure was distorted because the positions had been offset in our systems with fictitious, forward-settling, cash ETF positions, allegedly executed by the trader. These fictitious trades concealed the fact that the index futures trades violated UBS's risk limits.
Following inquiries directed to him by UBS control functions that were reviewing his positions, the trader revealed his unauthorized activity on September 14, 2011.
UBS's Board of Directors has set up a special committee to conduct an independent investigation of the unauthorized trading activities and their relation to the control environment. The committee will be chaired by David Sidwell, the Senior Independent Director, and will report to the Board of Directors. The other members of the committee are Ann Godbehere and Joseph Yam.
Media contact
Switzerland: +41-44-234-85 00
Americas: +1-212-882 58 57


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Fifa: Employee of the Month July 2018
The rules for playing football are well-known and fixed: spectators can reasonably expect 90 minutes of fair play. The rules for running international football organizations are secretive and broken, supplanted by deal-making. Under FIFA's guidance, the World Cup became defined by corruption, authoritarianism and getting away with as much as you can. When the stench of […]Continue Reading →
Virtue and Violence: The Olympics and Political Conflict
In the weeks leading up to the official start of the 2012 Games, the world's Olympic teams were photographed, reported on, blogged about, critiqued, praised, and generally fussed over. This first bout of international attention was not directed at the athletes themselves or the amazing feats they perform, but at the outfits they would […]Continue Reading →
Calling a truce: on sports, diplomacy and human rights
Perhaps the most famous incident of sports and truce comes from Christmas Eve, 1914, British and German soldiers called a truce to the battles of World War I. Meeting in no man's land, they exchange gifts, repaired some of their defenses, and played a football game.
Sports harbor the potential for violence and political […]Continue Reading →
Sudan and South Sudan's Sporting Chance
Just over a year ago, on July 9, 2011, South Sudan achieved its much-coveted independence. At the celebrations in Juba, alongside innumerable presidents, foreign minister and heads of international organizations, were Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA and Issa Hayatou, head of the Confederation of African Football. For the new country, admission to international sporting associations […]Continue Reading →
The Olympic Dreams of so-called Failed States
The Olympic countdown clock informs us that in 8 days and an ever-decreasing number of hours, minutes, and seconds the 2012 Olympic Games will begin. For those of us based in the U.S., this means television coverage only of sports where Americans are expected to either 1) win medals or 2) […]Continue Reading →
Tagsadvocacy Africa African Union arms trade atrocities AU book review Bosnia conflict data corruption Disorder Drugs Egypt elections Employee of the month Ethiopia famine foreign policy gender genocide human rights memorial Indonesia intervention Iraq justice Libya mediation memorialization migration new wars peace political marketplace Re-Framing the Debate Research Saudi Arabia Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Syria trafficking UK UN US Yemen


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Robert Griffin III, Mike Shanahan at fault after Redskins' loss?
- Published: Jan. 7, 2013 at 12:19 p.m.
- Updated: Aug. 7, 2013 at 05:17 p.m.
- 0 Likes | 0 Comments
Plenty of critics have emerged after an injured Robert Griffin III proved unable to make it through the Washington Redskins' playoff loss. Did Mike Shanahan do the right thing? Our analysts debate.


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Mandel had started out years earlier building tenement buildings with his father. He soon lost interest in tenements, however - Henry Mandel wanted to make a bigger splash. As the 20s progressed he built progressively larger and more elaborate projects. Sometimes referred to as the Donald Trump of the '20s, he began buying up the properties on 23rd and 24th Streets between 9th and 10th Avenues.
Clement Moore, the author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," had developed the block when he divided up his family estate, "Chelsea." On the 23rd Street block, in 1845, he commissioned Alexander Jackson Davis to design 36 elegant Greek Revival brownstone townhouses. The row was designed to appear as a single, uniform structure or "terrace." Unusual for Manhattan, each had deep front yards planted with shrubbery and trees.
|When Mandel began buying up the 1845 Alexander Jackson Davis-designed London Terrace residences in the 1920s, they were mostly intact; some having been extended upwards -- photo NYPL Collection
He called his development "London Terrace."
By October 1929, a few weeks before the collapse of the stock market and the onset of the Great Depression, Mandel had acquired and demolished all the structures on the enormous block of land. All except for Tillie Hart's house. Tillie leased 429 West 23rd Street and, although her lease had legally expired, she refused to leave.
Tillie fired a barrage of bricks and rocks at anyone who approached the sole-surviving house. A court battle ensued while she barricaded herself inside. Finally, just four days before Black Tuesday, sheriffs gained entry and moved all of Tillie Hart's things onto the street. She held out one more night, sleeping on newspapers in her once-grand bedroom, then gave up. The following day her house was destroyed.
The Depression did not impede the indefatigable Mandel. He was fond of the Tuscan-influenced designs of the firm of Farrar & Watmough and commissioned them to design his gargantuan structure. In 1930 the central ten buildings were completed and a year later the four corner towers were finished. Mandel used Clement Moore's name for the project, London Terrace.
|photo NYPL Collection
To describe the new London Terrace was to use superlatives. Consuming the entire city block, it was the largest apartment building in the world with 1665 apartments. It boasted the largest swimming pool in the city – 75 feet by 35 feet, with mosaic walls and viewing balconies. Twenty-one stories above the street a "marine deck" was designed to mimic that of a luxury ocean liner. It had a fully-equipped gymnasium, a recreation club, a rooftop children's play yard with professional supervisors, and a large dining room. The doormen were dressed as London bobbies.
In the 1930s, before ubiquitous telephones, a message center took incoming calls and delivered messages to tenants' apartments. There was a free messenger service for hand-delivering notes or packages around the city. The tenants published their own newsletter, The London Terrace Tatler.
On May 1, 1933 The Tatler said "London Terrace is on historic ground, but, in its own way, it is establishing its own history and its own traditions. To those of us who have lived with it and in it from the first days of its construction it is the place we had always hoped to find in a crowded metropolis. There is nothing else quite like it."
|interior during the 1930s --photo NYPL Colletion
While the London Terrace was being completed Mandel had Farrar & Watmough busy designing the equally immense Vendome apartments on West 57th which were completed in 1931.
|The rooftop "Marine Deck"
In 1948 the development was broken up and sold to independent concerns. The ten central buildings were sold to a partnership of four contractors while the corner towers were purchased by a separate management company.
The leviathan, aging development suffered during the 70s and 80s both inside and out. Tenants complained of leaks, mold and deteriorating window frames and the façade was in serious need of maintenance. In 1987 the corner towers were converted to co-ops and the center buildings, which remained rental units, were renamed London Terrace Gardens.
The sponsor of the co-ops initiated a $10 million renovation including new windows, new plumbing, restoration of the pool and façade restoration. In 1997 a two-year project headed by Sygrove Associates addressed the lobbies. That venture repaired seriously water-damaged ornate plaster ceilings, replacing damaged marble walls with new stone and bringing back period paint colors.
Although celebrated names like Chelsea Clinton, Debbie Harry and photographer Annie Leibovitz moved in, as late as 2005 maintenance problems still existed. But five years later the entire complex has undergone major repairs and renovations bringing it back to Henry Mandel's big vision.


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Thirteen Paris firefighters held over 'hazing rape'
Thirteen firefighters have been detained in France in connection with the alleged rape of a new recruit, officials say.
The attack, said to have taken place on a coach returning from a sports competition, was caught on a mobile phone, according to legal officials.
The man alleged he was raped by one of the group in an initiation ceremony that went wrong, reports say.
The Paris fire brigade said the incident was "particularly serious".
It said there would be a thorough investigation into the matter.
'Pinned down'
The firefighters had been part of a sports team travelling back from a gymnastics competition in Colmar in eastern France when the alleged attack took place.
As part of the alleged hazing incident, the young man was stripped and bitten, according to Le Parisien newspaper.
When he protested, several other young firemen pinned him down while one man sexually assaulted him. According to the claims, an officer was present but did not intervene.
Commentators say the affair threatens to damage the reputation of the Paris brigade, which has an 8,500-strong staff of men and women. Firefighting is one of France's best-regarded professions and the Paris brigade is highly thought of.
Two investigations are under way: one involving the Paris prosecutor and a separate, internal inquiry by the fire brigade.


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Order a Free Catalogue & product samples!
Pitmaster - American Hickory Traditional Wood Tops Description:
The surface is lightly brushed to allow for a uniform darkening of the wood with a lightly smoked appearance. Usually straight grained, but occasionally wavy or irregular, hickory has a somewhat coarse texture. Hickory is a very strong wood that, if treated well, will last a lifetime with minimal wear.
Pitmaster - American Hickory Traditional Wood Tops Specifications:
Thickness: 1 ½"
Edges: Eased or Milled Profile
Texture: Brushed
Recommended Finish: Hardwax Oil
Optional Finish: Commercial
Proper product installation is the key to success in every job! From installation to recommended care & maintenance. We'll always be here to help you with your project every step of the way. And when it's done and you have the time to enjoy the look and feel and aura of the wood, make sure you take that time. It's as good for you as laughing a half hour a day, or going on a walk with a child and a dog. This wood has lived. Really lived.
Acclimating wood products
Proper acclimation of wood products prior to installation is essential to a successful finished product. Always allow plenty of time after receiving any wood product for the material to properly and completely acclimate to its new environment. This is typically accomplished in a week or two by placing the material as close to its final installation area as possible. HVAC systems should have been running prior to material arrival and set at normal living conditions for a proper acclimation of the wood products.CalculateArea size: square feetPlease use numbers only


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(ISN) – June 06, 2014 – Canada pulled off a five-set win (25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 25-20, 14-16)
against Belgium as the team entered its second weekend of 2014 FIVB World League
competition in Liège, Belgium.
Despite the win, Canada got off to a slow start, and head coach Glenn Hoag said his
players still need to improve. "It was a good game," he said in the post-match press
conference. "Belgium's (Frank) Depestele is one of the best setters in the world. So
it was a difficult match for us. We still have to improve – especially on serve,
which is not our strongest point. The Belgians played with discipline, patience,
good passing and a good volley. It was nice to play in front of this crowd, even if
they whistled on our serves. The victory is important, because we have to learn from
this kind of matches."
Belgian coach Dominique Baeyens also had mixed feelings: "We had too many much ups
and downs," he said. "We played at a much better level than against Australia. This
kind of match is why we have to play in the World League."
Gord Perrin of Creston, B.C., was Canada's top scorer with 18 and Saskatoon's Gavin
Schmitt contributed 16 points. Ottawa native Adam Simac, in his 2014 World League
debut, was in fine form with 14 points – including seven blocks.
Belgium, also known as the Red Dragons, saw standout performances from Bram Van den
Dries and Sam Deroo, who had 17 points each.
Canada is now 3-0 in World League play, after banking two matches against Finland
last weekend in Calgary, Alberta.
Canada's next game is in Antwerp on Sunday, and will be live on Sportsnet ONE at
9:55 am Eastern (please check your local listings). Both teams then travel to
Vancouver for two games – June 13 and 14 – at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sport


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To quickly find all the values associated with a particular geographic location, use the Find Location button in the Map group.
You can go to any location on the globe whether it is in your data set or not. Type any region or point of interest, and 3D Maps navigates and zooms to that location, showing it in the center of the window and looking directly down.
Click Find Location.
In the Find Location box, enter the location and click Find.
Tip: You can also type latitude and longitude (in decimal degrees) in the Find Location box. For example, typing 47.6381966,-122.1313785, takes you to Redmond, Washington.


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This website requires cookies to provide all of its features. For more information on what data is contained in the cookies, please see our Privacy Policy page. Continuing to use this website implies that you accept the use of cookies.
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Cuprinol 5 Year Ducksback has an advanced, wax enriched, formulation that colours and weather protects rough sawn garden wood for up to 5 years. The formulation is also showerproof in 1 hour. Its non-drip formulation minimises mess during application. It is quick drying, low odour and safe to use to use around plants and pets.
Ducksback is ideal for restoring and enhancing the appearance of sheds and fences and will help to keep them looking good for years to come.
Coverage: A 5 litre pack covers to to 24 square metres with one coat.
Availability: In stock
© 2019 Wonkee Donkee Tools
Developed by GloverSure Ltd.


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The 5/8" round steel holders contain powerful 1/2" rare-earth magnets, covered with a soft, high-friction pad to make them non-marring in use. Placed into the blind side hole, a 1/4" rod is suspended between opposing holders placed just outside and above the window trim.
Simply thread a 1/4" diameter rod through the curtain, pop a magnetic holder on each end and stick it to the door. Quarter inch wooden dowel can be used, but we also offer 1/4" glass-fiber-reinforced rod. Not only is this substantially stiffer than even hardwood dowel, but it is also molded white to help conceal it within your curtain. The rod can be cut with a hacksaw to suit your requirements.
Holders are gold plated, sold in pairs and made in Canada. Rod is made in the USA.


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Find information on common issues.
Ask questions and find answers from other users.
Suggest a new site feature or improvement.
Check on status of your tickets.
When people join this site and make their profiles public they will appear here.
Use the sorting and filtering options to see members listed alphabetically, by their organization, or the number of contributions they have.
Use the 'Search' to find specific members if you would like to check out their profiles, contributions or message them privately.
Go to the Groups page.


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You may not be too familiar with Foursquare, a social app for your mobile phone that let's you "check-in" to different places you visit. But if you've been interested in trying it out, now's the time - from July 23 to July 31 jcpenney will donate a $1 dollar to the USO for every "check-in" to one of their stores up to $50,000! That's in addition to the $1 million donation they've already made to the USO!
Need to know how to get started? Download one of Foursquare's mobile apps on your phone. They provide apps for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. "Officially unofficial" apps exist for Nokia's S40, S60 and MeeGo platforms, along with Windows Phone 7 and Palm. If there's no app for your phone, you can check in through Foursquare's mobile site or via SMS. Once you've set up your Foursquare account, head on over to your closest jcpenney!
To check in, open the mobile app on your phone and Foursquare will use your phone's GPS to find your current location. Click the 'Check in' button or tab to see a list of nearby places where you can check in. If the place you're looking for isn't in the list, you can search for it or add it directly from your phone.
When you check in, you'll have the option to share your location with your Foursquare friends and with Facebook and Twitter. If you check in without sharing with your friends, your check-in will be private and only seen by you.
And while you're there, be sure to let them know you'd like to round up your purchase to the nearest dollar for the USO. The difference will be donated to the USO too!
You can help our heroes with the little things that will mean so much this year like a phone call home, comfort foods or a place to relax.


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Subjecting Local Congregations to Off-Site Control
In the New Testament, no one ever served as a spiritual leader for a congregation that he wasn't also feeding. God's Word prescribes no leading where there is no feeding. Every "elder" in the New Testament was required to faithfully teach the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:24), and to serve alongside the believers in that particular congregation. The word "elder" in the New Testament is interchanged with the words "overseer," "pastor," and "bishop."
Biblical church leaders must manage and lead not only in administrative tasks, but more importantly, in "prayer and the ministry of the Word." (Acts 6:4) Safe leaders in a church are those whose primary passion and calling is prayer, the proclamation of the Gospel, and the teaching of the Scriptures. The church is not a business, even though it has necessary financial matters to conduct. The church is a spiritual organism. You cannot lead a spiritual organism with people who are less than qualified spiritually....or who are as absent from the family as a "deadbeat dad." Whatever other abilities they may have, their spiritual qualifications are what determine whether or not they are safe to lead and fit to feed.
At one point in history, Christians began to experiment with "out-of-town" church officials who were given authority over congregations which they were not personally feeding. Bad idea. God's blueprint is the way to go. Congregational ministry needs to produce strong leaders from within who are fully capable of serving and supervising their own congregation. Every New Testament church had a plurality of on-site overseers; that is, a plurality of pastors or bishops or elders (whichever term you prefer) who were active disciples in that particular congregation.
It would be ridiculous and dangerous for one "father" to supervise and lead the families of ten different homes. We might call such an arrangement a "cult" because of how much power it gives to that one man. He may call himself their "father," but that is not how the Bible speaks of a "father" and "mother." When people invent their own system in order to give a man much authority over multiple homes or multiple congregations, it quickly produces followers who seem unable or unwilling to break free from such control. These followers are conditioned to continually subject themselves to that type of long-distance authority.
When a congregation, whether Catholic or Protestant, relies upon out-of-town church officials to supervise their ministry, they have handed the children over to parents who don't live at home. Like a "father" or "mother" who supervises ten homes, this hierarchical arrangement with a "mother church" will not produce enough mature local leaders in a congregation. It will keep most of the power and control in the hands of the out-ot-town officials, which is of course just the way they like it. This unhealthy dynamic is never promoted in the New Testament and is a very unfortunate development in the history of Christianity.
The strongest case against this type of church polity is the example of our Lord Himself. Jesus did not mentor His disciples from an out-of-town office. He was with them constantly. His feeding and leading among them took place daily. Therefore, church officials who are not feeding the local sheep have no business leading and supervising the local sheep. Let those officials ask God to help them find their own congregation to feed and lead....if indeed they are truly called by God to serve as New Testament elders rather than denominational employees.
Out-of-town church bureaucracy is unnecessary and actually harmful to the healthy development and growth of congregational leaders. Power corrupts....and so does unnecessary politics in the church. Any association of Christian congregations that gives out-of-town officials power over multiple churches is a system that caters to the global human organization (the denomination) more than to the local spiritual organism (the congregation) which Jesus instituted. Whether they realize it or not, congregations don't need that crutch. It actually stunts their growth and "freezes" them from stepping out in faith unless their "mother" approves. That is the life of a child....and not the life of a grown man, woman, or congregation of mature believers.
Man is very talented and persuasive, both in the business world and in the church, at selling the need for his product and his services. And it almost always seems to involve money. Church officials in global organizations are adept at intentionally creating a codependency between themselves and the local congregations in their region or district. After all, someone has to pay for the salaries of these out-ot-town church bureaucrats....as well as the global programs they chose to fund from their corporate offices. By creating a system where congregations are required to continue breastfeeding from the milk of the mother church, you have created a church culture that feels "normal" and even necessary for the advancement of the Gospel.
Go back to that example of the "father" who is supervising ten homes. What if the children in each home were expected to send a portion of their earnings to that man? Now he sounds more like a pimp than a loving dad. Pimps don't like people to mess with their system. It stops the flow of money and it forces them to find new avenues of income to support their lavish spending habits. I guess this means that pimps aren't safe to lead their "family."
So what am I saying? That all church officials who oversee dozens or hundreds of congregations are intentionally "pimping out" those churches? No. A good number of those denominational employees are solid Christians. Unfortunately, they have voluntarily become part of a hierarchical system that is not based on the New Testament....anymore than the actions of a cult or a pimp can be justified by the Word of God. Good men who serve within highly politicized systems often end up settling for what is best for the "company," even if some of the "little guys" get shoved aside now and then. I can hear some out-of-town officials saying in response, "OK....so maybe this isn't the way Jesus led his disciples....but He didn't have our bills to pay either." Precisely.
Jesus was too busy preparing to pay a much larger debt. It seems like that message of the cross should be the focus of every Christian congregation....rather than whether or not the out-of-town "company men" approve of the local efforts to make disciples. Who died and made them king? Again I say....let each out-of-town official go and prayerfully find his own congregation to feed and lead....if indeed he is called by God to shepherd Christ's flock.


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The Theater Project to Host Peace Event Following BURY THE DEAD, 2/1-3
Michael T. McPhearson and Madelyn Hoffman are among those who will represent area peace groups at Friday night's discussion after The Theater Project's staged reading of BURY THE DEAD, Irwin Shaw's 1936 anti-war play. Anna Berlinrut will be a discussant at the Saturday and Sunday performances.
The drama focuses on six soldiers killed in battle who rise up and refuse to be buried and forgotten, in spite of the pleadings of generals, their families, and society.
Michael T. McPhearson is the National Coordinator for United for Peace and Justice and a current board member as well as a former Executive Director of Veterans for Peace. His military career includes 6 years of reserve and 5 years active duty service. He has been an active member of the Greater Saint Louis Association of Black Journalists, the American Civil Liberties Union, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace. Michael's son joined the Army in January 2004 and served one tour in Iraq in 2005-2006.
Anna Berlinrut is a co-founder of the Essex County Chapter of Military Families Speak Out. Her son is a Marine currently serving in Afghanistan on his 6th deployment in harm's way. She believes in the necessity of a strong military for defensive purposes. Ms. Berlinrut was a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against President George W. Bush to have the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq declared unconstitutional on the grounds that Congress lacks the authority to delegate its responsibility to declare war to the President.
The Theater Project, an award-winning New Jersey theater company at the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts in Maplewood, is known for presenting outrageous comedy as well as drama with social commentary. Last November, the company tackled marriage equality, presenting a one-night-only reading of "8" by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the play chronicling the historic California challenge to same-sex marriage.
BURY THE DEAD brings together twenty Theater Project actors, and will be directed by Artistic Director Mark Spina, who was awarded a 2012 best director award by the Star-Ledger. Each script-in-hand performance will be followed by a discussion with the audience and special guests, February 1 and 2 at 8 pm, and Feb 3 at 2 PM at the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts, 10 Durand Road, Maplewood, NJ. Tickets ($20) may be reserved by calling 973.763.4029 or purchased through The Theater Project website, www.thetheaterproject.org.


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January 10, 2003LOS ANGELES — The Anderson School at UCLA and the G. and R. Loeb Foundation, Inc. invite business, financial and economic journalists from print and broadcast media to submit entries for the 2003 Gerald Loeb Awards. The Loeb Awards, now in their 46th year, are considered the most prestigious in business journalism and recognize writers, editors and producers who make significant contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy.
Loeb Awards are given in 10 competition categories:
- Large Newspapers
- Medium Newspapers
- Small Newspapers
- Magazines
- Commentary
- Deadline Writing
- Beat Writing
- New Services or Online Content
- Television Short Form
- Television Long Form
Consideration is limited to articles and segments published or broadcast in the United States during calendar year 2002. Completed entry applications and accompanying materials for the 2003 competition must be submitted to the Loeb Awards program office — postmarked no later than Monday, January 27, 2003.
For more information or to receive an entry brochure by mail or e-mail, please contact Mary Ann Lowe, Loeb Awards program manager, at (310) 206-1877 or firstname.lastname@example.com. You may also visit the Loeb Awards Web site at loeb.anderson.ucla.edu to download the entry brochure in PDF format.
A committee of preliminary judges, consisting of business, financial and economic journalists and faculty members of The Anderson School at UCLA, reviews all entries and selects finalists in each category. The finalists are submitted to a distinguished panel of final judges, chaired by the dean of The Anderson School at UCLA, which selects the winners.
Winners in each category receive a $2,000 honorarium (that is divided equally among all participating entrants of a winning entry).
The Loeb Awards is also accepting nominations for (1) the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes exceptional career achievements in the field of business, financial and economic news, and (2) the Lawrence Minard Editor Award, which recognizes career contributions in business journalism editing. Nomination procedures for both awards are included in the entry brochure.
Loeb Awards Final Judges:
Rance Crain, president and editorial director, Crain Communications, Inc.
Lou Dobbs, host of "Lou Dobbs Moneyline," CNN
Mary Anne Dolan, former editor, Los Angeles Herald Examiner
Steve Forbes, president and editor-in-chief, Forbes
Soma Golden Behr, assistant managing editor, The New York Times
John Hillkirk, managing editor, Money Section, USA Today
John Huey, editorial director, Time, Inc.
Robert G. Kaiser, associate editor, The Washington Post
Mark Morrison, managing editor, BusinessWeek
Allan Sloan, Wall Street editor, Newsweek
Paul E. Steiger, vice president and managing editor, The Wall Street Journal
Richard C. Wald, consultant, ABC News
Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief, Bloomberg News
Bruce G. Willison, dean of The Anderson School at UCLA
About the Loeb Awards
Established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of E.F. Hutton, the Loeb Awards recognize journalists who have made significant contributions to the public's understanding of business, finance and the economy. The judges select winners based on quality of reporting and writing, news and analytical value, originality and exclusivity, and in the broadcast categories only, production value and visual impact. In 2003, The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA is celebrating their 30th anniversary of presenting the Loeb Awards.
For more information about the Loeb Awards, please visit the Loeb Awards Web site at loeb.anderson.ucla.edu.


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Best Of :: People & Places
Forget the women up around Northwest Highway — the ones "working their way through college" or whatever. The best stripping act we've seen for years in Dallas came last year when Erykah Badu strolled up to Dealey Plaza and stripped with a purpose at the spot where John F. Kennedy was killed. Oh yeah, then she died (metaphorically, on film). The act was shot as the music video for "Window Seat," the lead single off of Badu's brilliant New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, and the message was a simple stab at the world we live in: If we let society look through us, if we let others dictate our actions, if we're too scared to show our true selves to the world, then we're killing the best parts about us. The Dallas Police Department didn't think it was a very powerful statement: They slapped Badu with a $500 fine for disorderly conduct after a single complainant, after the video was released (and months after it was filmed), came forward. Our stance? Dallas could use more daring and provocative types like Badu. Progress shouldn't draw a fine.
"Hotel art" is a phrase that makes many cringe because, well, there's a whole lot of underwhelming abstract prints and landscape scenes to be seen in most hotels. But the Belmont is just too cool for bad art, and that's why the hotel displays art from local talents on the walls of the lobby in their Art with a View series. The hotel has always been a hip destination for poolside parties and now even pop-up shops, but Art with a View brings a certain refinement to the kitschy hotel.
We don't think we'd offend local NBC affiliate KXAS-TV news anchor Jane McGarry if we called her a cougar — mostly, we think, because she seems to know she is and embrace it. Such is especially true in the social media world of Twitter, where McGarry uses her fairly dirty mind to express herself — and pretty much never on the topic of news. Where would she find the time, between sending flirty tweets to KTCK-AM 1310 The Ticket radio personality Gordon Keith and D Magazine editor Tim Rogers, and flippant innuendo after flippant innuendo? Not long ago she tweeted about a producer pointing out "poles" on the news set. Then she tweeted — and, for reasons we're not altogether sure about, with a winking emoticon — about somehow losing her skirt somewhere. Are we reading too much into this? We don't think so. And, before you accuse us, no, we're not jealous of the other media types getting her attention, either. We just prefer to watch.
They say Deep Ellum is Dallas' premiere neighborhood for music. Well, "they" must never travel down to the just-east-of-downtown neighborhood during the day. With its classic brick wall backdrops, splashy murals and — get this — buildings that are more than 10 years old, Deep Ellum's greatest export these days is most likely its wedding photography. Every single day, it seems, another couple can be seen, dressed in tux and white gown, following a hip-looking, camera-toting cat around the neighborhood, looking for romantic — yet undeniably urban — settings for their wedding photo collections. It's easy to understand why: Shooting your wedding photos in this setting says, "Hey, we're cool! We don't just get our music from Starbucks. Hell, we probably even have tattoos!" True or not, that's a sentiment people like to express about themselves.
Because it's The Mansion. What? You were gonna say something else? Let's hear it then. Didn't think so. Next.
Yes, the Dallas attorney writes about only one thing: Texas Rangers baseball, and all the minor-league properties associated with the big club, but he does it better than anybody — with thoughtfulness, an understanding of the game, an affection for the players and the passion of a fan willing to forgive but critical nevertheless. Sometimes that adds up to greatness. From mid-June: "Reminder to self: It's not easy. It's not supposed to be easy. It wouldn't have the chance to be as great if it were easy." So goeth 40 years of Rangers fandom, and Newberg's been there for all of it as fan, as chronicler. The team's lucky to have him. Guy's money, ball.
From the moment you park your car in the lot of Carrollton's no-kill shelter, Operation Kindness, you can see the oversized screened-in cat patio full of cats palling around. Inside, there's an open play area where most of the cats hang out and kennels for kittens and cats with "special needs" and behavioral "issues." The open spaces, though, are literally crawling with cats, bounding over toys and each other. It's a revealing environment and a great way to check out your furry friend's demeanor, how he acts around other felines and how he may behave in your house before you commit to him forever.
Lily Pad Cafe sits at the sidelines of Main Street Park like a charming little oasis, its covered patio shading the sun and creating a mini-fort among skyscrapers. With a name like Lily Pad and bright green adornments, it might truly be the most adorable place to hang out in the city. While pedestrian life in downtown Dallas generally leaves something to be desired, an afternoon snack of hummus and pita or a post-work beer on the cafe's patio offers a peek into a more vibrant slice of downtown. It's the perfect stage for people-watching as locals walk their dogs, children play in the fountain and kickball leagues compete in the park. Homeless people drawn to the surrounding park benches are typically of the friendly ilk and add some color to what is otherwise a small island of sun-dressed urban euphoria.
Broadcast news is a sweet gig for main anchors in big cities, with such perks as six-figure salaries and wardrobe allotments. It's a long way up the ladder, but Fox 4 anchor Steve Eagar has a naturally competitive nature. When his pro-baseball career went south, he switched to an equally cutthroat career in journalism. The bosses at KDFW make good use of Eagar's smooth delivery by placing him at the helm of the only local 5:30 p.m. show and pairing him with Heather Hays at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. They're the quintessential homecoming king and queen everyone wanted to be in high school. Eagar's sardonic edge makes local news worth watching, especially the often hilarious Viewer's Voice segment.
With apocalyptic drought still choking us, worrying about water-logging your wheels seems unlikely. But with inconsistent curbs and questionable drainage systems, rushing water is an occasional reality come rainy time in Little Forest Hills. Leave the neighborhood and navigational concerns still exist: There's the spillway heading south on Garland Road that could be called a spillover. There are the low areas of Buckner Road that turn trying to get to Northwest Highway or Mockingbird Lane into a dare. There's Buckner Road's nosedive before the Loop 12 and Interstate 30 overpass. And there's that one part of Garland Road near Centerville that doesn't flood, per se, but gushes. Sure, Little Forest Hills is a great neighborhood — and so are Forest Hills and Casa Linda Estates, for that matter — if you get to work using water wings. Winter? We'll let that topic just slide on by.
Anything you need on a Saturday afternoon (or any afternoon, really) can be found on or around the intersection of North Henderson at McMillan avenues. Get a damn good coffee at the Pearl Cup, a funky art print or gift at We Are 1976, a couch at Again Design Studio, Sputnik Modern or Form, a Bloody Mary at Barcadia and a pomerita at Café San Miguel. Do some yoga at Padma Yoga if that's what the day calls for and you're still sober. Groceries and bulk snacks at Sunflower Farmers Market are only a block out of the way. By then, Louie's, the Slip Inn and Beauty Bar will be open and you can drink knowing you have helped save the world through capitalism and fuel conservation.
Boat parties, bass fishing, art exhibitions, fairs, cooking expos, runs, dog park days and more celebratory events marked the 100th anniversary of our fair lake. Oh, and a huge lake clean-up, which might be the most celebratory of them all. For a century, White Rock has provided cooling lake breezes, a scenic route for exercise, a place for rowing crews to practice and a home for migratory birds. It's a jewel that we haven't always treated as such, but hopefully the rash of celebration events this year has inspired Dallasites to treat it with respect.


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Though his Wolverines were knocked out by the Ohio Bobcats in their opening game of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Justin Meram currently leads the Crew bracket challenge after two rounds with 124 total points. No one's bracket was hit harder by upsets than Tom Heinemann's. The St. Louis native had the Missouri Tigers winning in the National Championship, but Mizzou was shocked by 15-seed Nofolk State on Friday. However, Heinemann tied Meram in correctly predicting eleven of the Sweet 16 teams. Cole Grossman currently sits in last place after his Duke Blue Devils were upset by Lehigh in their Second Round matchup.
The complete standings:
- Justin Meram: 124 points
- Ethan Finlay: 116
- Josh Williams: 111
- Tom Heinemann: 108
- Eric Gehrig: 107
- Cole Grossman: 102
Possible points: 176


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Edmund Henry Wuerpel Beyond the Marsh circa 1920 Oil on canvas 23 in. x 19 in. Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Gift of the artist, 1928
The Arkansas Arts Center is the preeminent arts institution in the State of Arkansas. Established in 1960 as an expansion of the 1937 Museum of Fine Arts and expanded again in 1975, 1982, 1989 and 2000, it houses an extraordinary drawing collection, giving it an international reputation for excellence.
That collection combines a systematic representation of Old Master works with a larger group of 20th-century and contemporary drawings. The drawing collection is also known for its recognition of emerging artists. In addition, the AAC collection includes paintings and works of art that provide a broader exposure to the arts for a statewide and regional audience, for students, and for other visitors. Among the other areas of collecting for which the institution is known are its contemporary crafts, encompassing clay, fiber, glass, metal, and wood, and Impressionist and early modern paintings and drawings.
The Arkansas Arts Center began its focus on collecting Drawings with the purchase in 1971 of drawings by Willem de Kooning, Morris Graves, and Andrew Wyeth. From this inspired beginning the AAC now has over 5,300 drawings. Museums have collected drawings for centuries, but drawing as a standalone art form dates from the late 1960s. Almost all artists make drawings so there is a universal connection to artists; drawings are typically more affordable than paintings; drawings are generally easier to store; and drawings often reveal the journey of the artist through his struggle and experimentation often leaving the evidence on the page so we feel an intimacy with the artist and the creative process. Along the way the AAC has also collected Contemporary Objects in craft media: ceramic, wood, fiber, glass, and metal. The AAC collection has over 1,000 contemporary objects. These two collections work beautifully together. The three-dimensional objects warm up the galleries and lead to a better understanding of the surfaces and abstract elements of the drawings.
The Drawing collection now includes the Figure, Abstraction, Landscape, Narrative, Surrealism, Minority Artists, Women Artists, Self Taught Artists, Drawings by Sculptors, Drawings by Object Makers, and more recently Post Minimalism, and Conceptual Art. The collection is primarily 20th Century & Contemporary but also includes about 125 Old Master Drawings – the earliest, a German silverpoint and ink drawing dated circa 1465.
Special Collections of drawings includes 133 works on paper by French Neo-Impressionist Paul Signac received as a gift from James T. Dyke - the largest collection of Signac drawings and watercolors outside of France. ; 150 Post Minimalist drawings by various artists from the Wynn and Sally Kramarsky Collection in New York; 1,300 ink drawings by Peter Takal; 79 drawings by New York painter Will Barnet; 34 watercolors & drawings by Arthur Dove; 116 watercolors by Robert Andrew Parker done in 1970-71 to illustrate the WWII poems of British poet Keith Douglas for an anti-war experimental film titled "How to Kill;" and about 100 drawings and objects received as gifts through the joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art.
Business Hours: Mon – Fri 9 AM - 5 PM Address: P.O. Box 2137, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-2137 Phone: 501.372.4000
© Copyright 2019 Arkansas Arts Center. All rights reserved. All text and images are copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without written permission from their respective owners.


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Cape Wind inks local firm for $15M in work
BOSTON (AP) — The Cape Wind offshore wind project has signed a $15 million deal with a Falmouth company to do the upland construction work needed to bury the project's electric cables.
Cape Wind announced Monday that Lawrence-Lynch Corp. will also build a conduit between Cape Wind's buried land cables and its submerged ocean cables.
Lawrence-Lynch president Chris Lynch says deal is a great opportunity for his company and means work for both management and the local trades.
The $2.6 billion Cape Wind project aims to be the nation's first offshore wind farm. The 131-turbine project was proposed in 2001, but has been delayed by lengthy review and opponents who say it will ruin the sound and that its power is significantly overpriced.
The project aims to start construction by the year's end and produce power by 2015.


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Simply fit the two-part replacement slider onto the teeth and tighten the integral thumbscrew. Two pulls are included, a split ring and a string tab, which can be attached to either side of the slider. Corrosion resistant, the sliders are die-cast zinc with a dark nickel plating. The thumbscrew and spring are stainless steel.
Available in medium for size 5 to 8 zippers and large for size 8 to 10 zippers (click the Tech link below for information on determining your zipper size).
Made in USA. A great addition to a "just in case" repair kit.


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It is requested that all members of the Photographic Society of America (PSA), whether individuals, Chapters, Clubs, Councils or other organizations, respect the privacy of fellow members with regards to their email addresses. The email addresses in the database, which are available to all members, are there for convenient communication between members. They are not to be harvested for mass mailings or commercial uses. While the Society reserves the right to send out eNews items to all members, PSA will never sell or supply email addresses to outside entities, including PSA-recognized exhibitions.
The Society does realize that from time to time, Chapters, Clubs or Councils may have a need to communicate with members in their own geographical areas. For such purposes, please contact the Chapters, Clubs and Councils Vice President who will furnish such email lists, as has been done in the past.
Area and state membership directors, under the supervision of the Membership Vice President, are free to communicate with PSA members in their own geographical areas of responsibility.
Presently some divisions are using member emails to send Newsletters and it is expected that eventually division members will receive eNews from division officers.
In the normal course of business, the headquarters staff will find it necessary to send out emails to distinct groups, but when a mass emailing to all members of the Society is necessary, headquarters will contact the Public Relations Vice President who will coordinate such emails.
It will be the responsibility of headquarters to keep the database up to date. When new honors or distinctions are conferred the database will be updated within 10 business days.
All such emails must have an unsubscribe feature and must be signed by a member, preferably an officer of the Division, Chapter, Club or Council, and an email address must be supplied for responses.


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I'm trying to download Mathematics of the Discrete Fourier Transform so that I can read through it off-line on my iPad (which doesn't have an Internet connection)
I have used
wget in Linux. It seems that the OSX alternative is
curl, but I cannot find how to download recursively anywhere in the mammoth manual page.
Is this even the right tool for the job? If so, how to use it?


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The Federal Trade Commission has hired the prosecutor who got Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh the death penalty to lead its investigation into potential anti-trust violations by Google, report David Streitfeld and Edward Wyatt of the New York Times.
Her name is Beth Wilkinson.
Experts tell the Times her hiring sends "a strong signal that [the FTC is] prepared to take the Internet giant to court."
According to Streitfeld and Wyatt, the government's concern with Google is that "Google has manipulated its search results, making it less likely that competing companies or products appear at the top of a results page."
"The general issue underlying the investigation is whether Google abuses its power in the market for Internet search. Google controls about 66 percent of the United States search market, according to comScore. Microsoft's Bing accounts for about 15 percent of Internet searches, with Yahoo gathering 14 percent."
Streitfeld and Wyatt say the lawsuit is just like the government's anti-trust case against Microsoft in the 1990s. That case, they argue, "transformed the tech industry, reining in its most powerful company and allowing for the rise of new companies like Google."
"Now Google wields the same sort of power that Microsoft once did, and is under the same sort of scrutiny."
The whole thing - the FTC's case and the way the Times is covering it - is infuriating. All of it indicates a serious and dangerous misunderstanding of how the technology industry works.
Google does not have the same power Microsoft did in the 1990s.
Disruptive technology companies do not need the FTC to "allow" their rise.
In the 1990s, one platform dominated all of enterprise and consumer computing: Microsoft Windows.
Today, entrepreneurs, merchants, developers, content-creators, and investors have multiple platforms on which they can place their bets.
Google search is one of those platforms, and a very powerful and successful one at that. But search is just one platform - or method of discovery - on the Web, and there are many alternatives.
Facebook is the biggest. Twitter is another. Jonah Peretti, one of the cofounders of the Huffington Post, has raised $15.5 million to build a media company that is supposed depend on both for traffic far more than Google.
Google search makes money as a platform because it helps navigate commercial activity on the Web. But it's not the only company on the Web making bank doing that: Another is Amazon.
Merchants large and small can sell through Amazon. And right now, through Amazon Prime, Kindle, and a coming phone, Amazon is carefully building a wall around that activity, hoping to lock consumers into an Amazon life. The buzz in the Valley is that this plan is working, and that more and more, consumers are skipping Google for commercial Web searches and going straight to Amazon.
Some e-commerce companies have skipped both Amazon and Google, and are building stores for Facebook. One such startup is Payvment.
The other crucial point that the FTC (and the people quoted in the Times article) seem to have missed is that while Google is still a dominant platform on the Web, the Web itself is just one platform for Internet-connected computing. There are an increasing number of alternatives for entrepreneurs, developers, merchants, content-creators, and investors.
The most powerful alternative to the Web is the mobile app ecosystem, which some experts say will have more users than the desktop-based Web by 2015.
In Android, Google has an offering in the mobile-only app world, but, at the moment, it's getting smoked by Apple's iOS app ecosystem.
According to Jay Yarow, the top 200 grossing apps in iPhone's app store generated four times as much revenue as the top 200 grossing apps in the Android app market.
Instagram, which sold to Facebook for $1 billion, was an iPhone-only app for all of its independent life until two weeks before Facebook took it out. Clearly, Instagram did fine without the FTC's help.
Google is not only number two in mobile; it's also not the only powerful company chasing Apple. Facebook is coming out with a phone. So is Amazon. Even the manufacturers who use Google's Android OS are potential competitors. Meanwhile, 1990s power Microsoft is pouring billions of dollars into making the Windows Phone an attractive place for entrepreneurs, developers, merchants, content-creators, and investors to do business.
So let's review:
- Google search is a platform on the Web, to which there are many alternatives - including Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon.
- The Web itself is just one platform for Internet connected computing, to which there are alternatives - the most powerful of which is mobile, where Google is getting smoked by Apple and is under attack from Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Google is a very powerful company. No doubt.
But it's a very powerful company that is riding out a pair of platforms (search and the Web) that are rapidly being disrupted from within (social is disrupting search on the Web) and from without (mobile apps are disrupting the Web).
Small companies like Facebook are turning into big ones, and big ones like Apple are turning into huge ones thanks to this disruption.
Google is fighting for its life to stop this process. There's a chance Google will win this fight. It has a lot of resources. But so far, thanks to Google+ and the astounding popularity of the iPhone, it's actually losing.
All of this is happening without the help of the FTC or a lawyer who is famous for getting a terrorist electrocuted.
And that's how the process should continue.
Google must be allowed to fight for its life without government interference.
Get the latest Google stock price here.


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Fun on the Farm, a free event for the whole family, is scheduled for Saturday at Therrel & Marie Brown�s home, 6236 N.C. 87 North in Caswell County. The A-O Civitans are once again sponsoring this event for persons with autism and their families. There will be hay rides, horseback riding, moonwalks, live bands ,inflated slide and lots of good food. RSVP by April 17 to the Browns at 336-585-0908. Rain date is Saturday, April 27.
The second session of Single Family Empowerment Conference continues on Saturday, at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 508 Apple St., Burlington. Presenter Mildred Hardy will conduct Signs of an Unhealthy Relationship; Christine Morrison will present Building on a Healthy Relationship. Lunch and childcare provided.
The Alamance-Caswell Hospice League general membership meeting is scheduled for Monday at 5:30 p.m. The location for this meeting will be at the Hospice & Palliative Care Center Administrative Office, 914 Chapel Hill Road, Burlington. All members and guests are welcome. For more information please call 336-229-0490.
The open house event scheduled for Shamrock Golf Club for Friday evening has been postponed until Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m. There�ll be hot dogs, soft drinks and mats on the driving range for those who might want to hit a few � but more, a chance for everyone to get acquainted with the folks who want revive the now-closed course.


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When it comes to waiting in line, the best ground rules are those taught in kindergarten: no cuts, no loud talking and no shoving.
When it comes to waiting in line, the best ground rules are those taught in kindergarten: no cuts, no loud talking and no shoving.
Even the most devoted cybershopper or mail-order catalog enthusiast is going to encounter at least one long, seemingly unmoving line this holiday season. Although few find them fun, there are ways to make the experience more bearable for yourself and for your line neighbors.
No cuts. That includes what Anna Post calls the "bait-and-switch," when someone with only a few items joins a line, only to be joined by a partner with a full shopping cart.
"If you forgot your oranges, then of course your spouse can run and get them," said Post, author and spokesperson for The Emily Post Institute and great-great-granddaughter of the etiquette maven. "But if you have a pie tin and then your spouse walks up with a lot of items, that's not fair. The people behind you probably would have chosen another line if they'd seen you coming."
Brooke Gabbert, spokesperson for Six Flags Great America, said the theme park takes "line jumpers" very seriously. The offense is a quick way to get tossed from the grounds.
"People get really, really mad about jumping in line," she said. "Tensions are already high, so we try to avoid those potentially explosive situations."
Gabbert said the park is considering a system in which line jumpers could be reported to the park via a text message, but crowd justice usually does the trick.
"They're not shy about it. They'll point people out (who cut)," she said.
Get off the phone. Yes, this means you.
"Don't yap," Post said. "People are stuck next to you. You're all in this together, and they don't have a choice in the matter. They need to be in line, too. It grates on everyone's nerves very quickly."
Quick calls to family members are OK, Post said, but avoid the long chats.
"They don't need to know about your sister's divorce," she said.
If you are on the phone, hang up when you get to the cash register, Post said.
"The checkout person is a person. Be respectful of that and get off the phone," she said.
Quit complaining. Talking about how much you hate waiting isn't going to make it any better.
"There's nothing more annoying than standing there and having a conversation about how long the line is," Gabbert said. She said Six Flags discourages people from using cell phones while in line.
"We're all going to run into long lines. We're all not going to like it, and we all have to sit through them," Post said. "Complaining, rolling your eyes, making it known how ridiculous you think this is — I'm sorry, but do you think you're any better than anyone else?"
Be neighborly. That includes saving a spot in line for a few minutes and not doing things like smoking or hollering while waiting for a store to open up.
Post recommends agreeing to hold someone's spot if you're waiting in a line, especially one that's outside, for a few minutes. But don't feel obliged to protect it with deadly force.
"You're within your rights to say 'If the line moves, I'm moving, and I can't promise I can save it,'" she said. "We've all found ourselves in a spot where we've been in line and we have to use the restroom."
Six Flags prohibits the practice, however, and considers it line jumping.
"Anytime you leave the line, you can't return in front of other people," Gabbert said. "If you went to get a soda pop and came back, technically you'd be violating the policy. It's probably tolerable if it's one person running to the bathroom, but if you're one person in line and six people walk up and join you, that's not going to work."
Don't confront rudeness. You never know what could happen, Post said.
"Chances are people may talk back, and you'll get into an argument that's far worse than waiting in line," she said. "Pick your battles."
If someone violates line etiquette, you'll get a better response with a smile and a soft tone, she said.
"The tone of voice will carry the day here," she said. "If you are nice and sympathetic to the person, chances are they'll say they're sorry. If you say 'Do you mind?' with that strident inflection, they may say 'No, not at all' and cut in front of you."
Even worse, you could find yourself on the receiving end of a fist.
"You don't know what you're going to get. If they're already riled up, you could set them off," she said.
If you're tempted to throw the first punch, don't. It's a likely trip to jail, and at the very least a trip to the curb.
"We don't tolerate any sort of fighting. It would be totally self-defeating," Gabbert said.
Sean F. Driscoll at (815) 987-1346 or email@example.com.


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This week, I wrote a guest-blog post over at the Botanical PaperWorks blog. If you've ever wondered how new product ideas pop up and come to life, you'll want to read my post called "Wouldn't it be cool..." or How We Came Up With Menus That Grow Carrots.
Also this week on the blog, we wrote about New Ideas for Personalizing Wedding Favor Pillow Boxes. It's an update to the free printable pillow box favor template.
Next week is Canada Day and 4th of July, so which ever holiday you're celebrating, don't forget to print out your free printable flag buntings. Have a great weekend!


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While there may have been some localised post-Flood disasters, the sedimentary deposits of a continental scale can only have been deposited by the Flood.
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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


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Scientists call for action to tackle CO2 levels
Scientists are calling on world leaders to take action on climate change after carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere broke through a symbolic threshold.
Daily CO2 readings at a US government agency lab on Hawaii have topped 400 parts per million for the first time.
Sir Brian Hoskins, the head of climate change at the UK-based Royal Society, said the figure should "jolt governments into action".
China and the US have made a commitment to co-operate on clean technology.
But BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said the EU was backing off the issue, and cheap fossil fuels looked attractive to industries.
The laboratory, which sits on the Mauna Loa volcano, feeds its numbers into a continuous record of the concentration of the gas stretching back to 1958.
'Sense of urgency'
Carbon dioxide is regarded as the most important of the manmade greenhouse gases blamed for raising the temperature on the planet over recent decades.
Human sources come principally from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.
Ministers in the UK have claimed global leadership in reducing CO2 emissions and urged other nations to follow suit.
But the official Climate Change Committee (CCC) last month said that Britain's total contribution towards heating the climate had increased, because the UK is importing goods that produce CO2 in other countries.
The last time CO2 was regularly above 400ppm was three to five million years ago - before modern humans existed.
Scientists say the climate back then was also considerably warmer than it is today.
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, said a greater sense of urgency about tackling climate change was needed.
"Before we started influencing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, over the last million years it went between about 180 and 280 parts per million," he said.
"Now, since the Industrial Revolution and more in the last 50 years, we've taken that level up by more than 40% to a level of 400 and that hasn't been seen on this planet for probably four million years.
"But around the world, there are things happening, it's not all doom and gloom," he added.
"China is doing a lot. Its latest five year plan makes really great strides."
China's plan for 2011-2015 includes reversing the damage done by 30 years of growth and increasing the use of renewable energy.


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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg penned an open letter in the Washington Post Monday morning acknowledging the company had not handled privacy settings well, and promised a simpler interface.
"Sometimes we move too fast -- and after listening to recent concerns, we're responding. [M]any of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark."
Facebook has been under criticism for its cryptic and confusing privacy settings.
The New York Times recently pointed out to set every preference in your privacy settings, you must deal with 50 buttons and 170 options.
"The new opt-out settings certainly are complex. Facebook users who hope to make their personal information private should be prepared to spend a lot of time pressing a lot of buttons." said the Times, which pointed out Facebook's privacy policy is longer than the U.S. Constitution.


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Okay, so as we saw with Romney's off-the-cuff disaster about not being concerned about poor people last week, he's not exactly another Great Communicator. But if he wins, maybe he could do America and the presidency a service by shutting up. From The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents:
There are two main reasons for the development of the presidency as we know it today. The first is that the theorists of the Progressive Era, especially Woodrow Wilson, sought deliberately to eliminate the Constitution's limits on government power, and especially to inflate the power and status of the president. But also, presidents simply started talking too much.
Today it is forgotten that presidents before the twentieth century spoke publicly very seldom, and then usually in the most general terms, such as greetings or "information about the state of the union." Our first twenty-five presidents gave an average of just twelve speeches a year. And even this low average is skewed upward by late-nineteenth-century presidents, who began giving more speeches around the country after the spread of the railroads made presidential travel more feasible. George Washington averaged three public speeches a year; John Adams only one; Thomas Jefferson five; and James Madison—zero. Even President Andrew Jackson, thought with good reason to have introduced a measure of populism into presidential politics, was reticent about making too many speeches. He averaged only one public speech a year as president.
Two of the nineteenth-century exceptions to this pattern of rhetorical modesty are exceptions that prove the rule. It is nearly forgotten today that one of the charges of impeachment brought against President Andrew Johnson in 1868 was that he simply talked too much, and in a manner that we would today call "divisive." In contrast to all of his predecessors, President Johnson toured the nation giving campaign-style speeches to drum up support for his policy proposals and to attack the Republican Congress. One of the articles of impeachment read, in part:
"That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful of the high duties of his office and the dignity and propriety thereof … did … make and deliver with a loud voice certain intemperate, inflammatory, and scandalous harangues, and did therein utter loud threats and bitter menaces as well against Congress as the laws of the United States . . . . Which said utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues, highly censurable in any, are peculiarly indecent and unbecoming of the Chief Magistrate of the United States, by means whereof … Andrew Johnson has brought the high office of the President of the United States into contempt, ridicule, and disgrace, to the great scandal of all good citizens."
Come to think of it, maybe we should dust off this article of impeachment and apply it to the current occupant of the White House?


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Many of our communities and their libraries have been affected by Sandy. We will not know the full extent of the damage or impact until all power is restored.
In response to numerous requests, New Jersey Library Association has created a way for those in New Jersey and all across the country to donate to the Rebuilding New Jersey's Libraries Fund. All monies will be distributed to New Jersey's Libraries once more assessment is completed.


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Coq Au Vin Chicken Braised in Red Wine
- Serves 4
- Brian Streeter
- Pairs well with:
- Pinot Noir, Carneros, Napa Valley
Chef Brain Streeter's elegant but hearty chicken and wine dish. A nice blend of red wine, herbs and garlic. Serve this over mashed potatoes or your favorite pasta. Enjoy with Cakebread Cellars Pinot Noir.
2 lbs. chicken thighs
2 onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 c. red wine
2 T. olive oil
2 c. chicken stock
12 button mushrooms, quartered
12 pearl onions, peeled
2 T. parsley, chopped
Place the chicken, onions, carrots, celery and garlic in a stainless steel bowl or pan and cover with the red wine. Allow all the ingredients to marinate over night, two days is even better.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Strain off the vegetables and set aside, reserving the marinade. Place the chicken on a paper towel and pat dry. Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan over medium heat. Place the chicken in the pan fat side down. Cook the chicken until the skin is crispy. Turn the chicken and cook the other side until it's browned. Remove from the pan and place it on a paper towel. Add the reserved vegetables to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Place the chicken back in the pan. Pour the wine marinade and chicken stock overtop. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and place in the oven. Cook for one hour. Add the mushrooms and pearl onions and cook uncovered for 30 more minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and reduce the liquid by half to a light sauce consistency. Serve over mashed potatoes or your favorite pasta Garnish with chopped parsley.


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Get all the major supplies needed to make this project with the Color Me Glossy Cards & Tags Set, or you can order them separately.
"For you" Color Me TagBy Susan Cobb
Designer Tip: This time I mixed raspberry and pebble ink for a lovely plum color, in two shades; for the darker plum shade, I used 3 drops raspberry and 4 drops pebble ink and blended it onto the paper with the applicator dampened with blending solution. For the lighter shade, use less ink and several drops of blending solution. I covered the tag with the inked paper.


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Going green: Re-evaluate your home's eco-footprint this Earth Day
Re-evaluate your home's eco-footprint this Earth Day
OTTAWA — You recycle your plastics, separate organics from trash and use eco-friendly cleaners, yet your home's energy bill shows you can do more to reduce your consumption and green your living space. Having an eco-friendly home doesn't require a massive remodel to include solar panels and geothermal energy systems; reducing your home's environmental footprint can begin with smaller steps.
Find air leaks with an energy audit: The best thing homeowners can do to increase a home's energy efficiency is to control air leakage, says Roy Nandram, owner of RND Construction and a green building advocate. "Air leakage is accountable for 30 per cent of the energy loss from your house." An energy audit costs a few hundred dollars, but Nandram says finding those leaks and blocking them can reduce your energy bill by 25 per cent or more.
Insulate the attic: "One of the cheapest ways to increase your home's energy efficiency is to add insulation to your attic," says Nandram. Beefing up attic insulation is inexpensive, non-destructive and can significantly improve your home's energy waste. Bungalows stand to benefit the most.
"In a typical bungalow, your largest surface is your ceiling," says Nandram. Trapping heat indoors by adding a few inches of insulation can have a huge impact in terms of lowering energy consumption.
Stop contamination of indoor air: "We spend so much time inside, so not bringing things into the house that off-gas is important to maintaining a clean air space," says Ross Elliott, owner of Homesol Building Solutions. Shop for a low- or no-VOC paint (VOC stands for volatile organic compounds), throw out mouldy carpets, get rid of air fresheners and toxic cleaners that contaminate air space and avoid buying furniture made of particle board that off-gases formaldehyde into your air space.
Get a built-in vacuum: Although vacuum cleaners may be marketed as able to pick up 99.9 per cent of dust and trash, Elliott says that remaining 0.1 per cent "that goes flying through the air is the finest dust that gathers on furniture and gets into your lungs." He recommends swapping your upright vacuum and broom for a central vacuuming system. "I think they're one of the most important things you can do for your air quality."
Brighten up with LED lights: Although more expensive than compact fluorescent bulbs, Elliott says LED lights will last forever. "If you put in an LED light, you'll never have to change that light in your lifetime." Plus, you won't have to worry about disposing of mercury-containing compact fluorescents.
Eliminate phantom energy: Even though you aren't using them, your appliances, chargers and television are sucking energy from your home. Elliott says the biggest culprits of phantom energy are cable and satellite boxes. "Those things sit there 24 hours a day sucking energy," he says. Install a power bar with a timer that will give your box a break from midnight until 7 a.m. when you're not watching television.
Replace ceramic tile: Cork isn't only for wine bottles. Cork flooring is more sustainable and warmer than ceramic tile, helping to trap heat inside your home and reduce your energy consumption. Made from the bark of trees, cork flooring is relatively new to Canada but has been used in Europe for hundreds of years.
"Cork is such a great sustainable option," says Tosh Serafini, whose store, The Healthiest Home, custom stains cork flooring in a variety of colours. Using a natural oil finish makes the project even more organic and sustainable, although the floor will need to be re-oiled every three years.
Choose bamboo over hardwood: Although bamboo is relatively new to the North American construction market, it's been widely used in East Asia and the South Pacific to build houses, furniture and even bridges and is another great sustainable choice, Serafini says. It looks similar to wood, but bamboo is actually a treelike grass that grows extremely fast, making it a rapidly renewable resource.
While hardwood takes about 60 years to reach harvesting age, Bamboo matures in about four years. Look for FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified bamboo to ensure your flooring was grown using sustainable practices.
Save energy in the shower: A low-flow shower head uses up to 70-per-cent less water than standard shower heads and reduces the cost of heating water by about 15 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
No soliciting: Add a "no soliciting" sign to your mailbox. The Native Forest Network estimates each household will receive 560 pieces of junk mail each year. With 44 per cent of junk mail unopened and unread, that's a lot of paper waste.


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|An Urbana and a limo, both looking sharp, both illegally parked. Courtesy Urbana.
My first thought after checking out Urbana is that it looks a lot like the Capital Bikeshare ("CaBi") bikes, which I believe are also made in Canada. This observation is intended as a compliment - CaBi bikes aren't sitting unused in someone's garage. They are outside in the elements and are ridden by multiple riders on multiple trips every single day.
Haniya from Urbana has been after us to test ride an Urbana, and I promised I would, but I haven't had time recently. The fact that she is urging a test ride is a good sign; it means she thinks the bike will sell itself. Urbana is now available in the United States; in D.C. you can find them at the relatively new bike shop Bicycle Stations (which should not be confused with the CaBi bike stations).
While we have not given the Urbana a full test ride, it has been tested by other bike bloggers, including one of our favorites -- "Yokota Fritz." He has written about Urbana on Cyclelicious and Commute by Bike. He gives it high marks, and in fact he's commented that if he had to be limited to just one bike, it would be the Urbana. You can also find a review at Cycling for Beginners.
Here are some promotional materials and the specifications that Haniya sent to my co-blogger Tom:
|Specs. Click for big. Courtesy Urbana.
If you have an Urbana or have tried one out, let us know your thoughts in the comments.