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Staff Reporter
06 Feb 2012 06:43
Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney coasted to victory in the latest of the party's presidential nomination contests, the Nevada caucuses, but his main rival, Newt Gingrich, vowed he would not drop out.
Romney won about 48% of votes compared with 23% for Gingrich, 19% for Ron Paul and 11% for Rick Santorum, according to a near-complete tally early on Sunday. The former Massachusetts governor has now won three of the five opening contests.
But Gingrich sought to ruin Romney's post-election celebrations, calling a press conference to deny he planned to quit and blaming exit rumours on the Romney camp.
"I am not going to withdraw," he said.
Gingrich instead set out a strategy for a protracted campaign.
Underlining the extent of division and bitterness created by the contest, Gingrich again described Romney as "blatantly dishonest", a line that Democrats will happily replay if Romney becomes the nominee to face Barack Obama for the White House in November.
Bullish mood
Romney, in his victory speech in Las Vegas, was in a bullish mood, recalling that he had won Nevada in his failed bid for the Republican nomination in 2008. "This is not the first time you have given me your vote of confidence and this time I am going to take it all the way to the White House," he said.
Gingrich, at a Las Vegas press conference, was defiant, predicting conservatives in the forthcoming contests would not vote for a pro-abortion, pro-gun control Massachusetts moderate.
"Our commitment is to seek to find a series of victories which by the end of the Texas primary will leave us about at parity with Governor Romney and from that point forward to see if we can't actually win the nomination. We will continue to campaign all the way to Tampa," he said.
Gingrich's defiant tone came after a meeting with about 60 financial backers, including the billionaire casino and hotel owner Sheldon Adelson.
Gingrich described Nevada as a "very heavily Mormon state" in explaining his rival's big win. A survey of caucus-goers showed about 25% were members of the religious group. In the 2008 nomination battle 95% of Mormons who took part in the caucuses voted for Romney.
Late start
Romney was helped too by having had full-time staff and volunteers working in the state for months. Gingrich and Santorum only began organising over the last few weeks.
The winner in the Republican race needs to secure 1 144 delegates to the party convention in August.
Nevada has 28 delegates, distributed among the candidates based on share of the vote. Although Romney takes the biggest share, Gingrich and Paul will receive a portion.
Ominously for Obama, for whom Nevada is a swing state in November, four out of 10 of those surveyed going into the caucuses said their priority was to force him from office. They also cited the economy as their primary concern.
Nevada is one of the most recession-hit states, with high unemployment and a collapsed housing market.
Although Romney has established himself as favourite, there is still a route available to Gingrich if he can take big states such as Ohio, Georgia and Texas in March and April and sweep up the remaining southern states.
Paul and Santorum did not stay in Nevada to watch the results. Paul spent the day campaigning in Minnesota; Santorum did the same in Colorado. Both states vote on Tuesday. The Maine caucuses have begun and are due to be completed on Saturday.
Romney spent the day campaigning in Colorado before returning to Nevada for his election night speech. He plans to take Sunday off, a sign of confidence about the forthcoming contests, and also recognition of the futility of trying to compete with the Super Bowl.
Although Santorum came in fourth he indicated he was not planning to quit soon, claiming to be hopeful of a decent result in Colorado and Minnesota.
Before Nevada, Romney had 87 delegates; followed by Gingrich with 26, Santorum with 14 and Paul with four.—
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Kent Whitaker, better known as ōThe Deck Chef,ö claims a pure love of traditional barbecue, grilling, and a life-long passion for cooking. He enjoys traveling and collecting recipes and stories along the way. KentÆs Famous Barbecue Cornbread recipe won the 2003
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Last Saturday, October 11, was National Coming Out Day, when the privately gay among us are encouraged to go public.
As it happens, in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Saturday also marked the final performance of Bent, a chilling two-act drama that handsomely illustrates why coming out can be a terrible and deadly idea.
We'll call it an unfortunate coincidence.
The play, first performed in 1979—with no less than Ian McKellen as its original leading man—chronicles the torture, imprisonment and mass murder of gays by Nazi Germany before and during World War II. (At the time, "bent" was another word for "queer.")
For all that European Jews suffered as a singular target of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich during the Holocaust, Bent argues that the plight of the continent's homosexuals, while not on the same scale, was no less ugly—and far less known by the public, then and now.
(From the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: "Between 1933-45, an estimated 100,000 men [in Germany] were arrested as homosexuals, and of these, some 50,000 […] were sentenced. Most of these men spent time in regular prisons, and an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 of the total sentenced were incarcerated in concentration camps.")
The Boston production of Bent, performed by the Zeitgeist Stage Company, centers on a volcanic performance by local actor Victor Shopov as Max, a promiscuous gay coke user/dealer in 1930s Berlin. In the opening scene in his apartment, Max witnesses his one-night stand getting his throat slashed by a group of bloodthirsty SS officers as part of Hitler's 1934 crackdown known as the "Night of the Long Knives." Soon enough, Max and his boyfriend, Rudy, are themselves apprehended and forced aboard a train for Dachau, from whence they will never return.
Upon arriving at the camp—in the play's most controversial sequence—Max finds a two-tiered system amongst his fellow prisoners: There are the Jews, who are made to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing at all times, and there are the gays, branded with an inverted pink triangle. While the Third Reich abhors and mistreats both groups, an inmate explains to Max that homosexuals are considered the lowest life form of all.
Quick-thinking schemer that he is, Max endeavors—successfully—to convince the prison guards that he is Jewish and not gay, in order to secure a yellow star and (comparatively) favorable treatment.
That's right: As the Holocaust was getting underway, certain victims determined—perhaps rightly—that assuming a Jewish identity was the least bad option.
That, in short, is what it meant to be gay in Germany in 1934. That was the reward for "coming out" as the person you really were.
(How, you may ask, does Max go about "proving" to the Nazis that he is heterosexual? The phrase "you don't want to know" may be an overused cliché, but in this case, you really don't.)
Faced with this horrifying yet undeniable epoch in recent human history, we could content ourselves with the belief that the tenets of Nazism have long since vanished from the Earth, replaced by such appealing alternatives as pluralism, tolerance and democracy. That announcing you are gay—or merely being suspected of it—is not the potential death sentence that it once was, and that everyone today is free to be precisely who they are.
We could say these things as many times as we like, but they wouldn't be any less of a lie. The point of Bent—much like every creative work ever made about the Holocaust—is that the past is never really past, and that all the evils perpetuated by preceding generations are forever at risk of reasserting themselves in all corners of the globe. That is, when they haven't been there the whole time.
When it comes to the systematic persecution of gay people, the contemporary examples thereof are almost too numerous to count, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. When open homosexuals are not being rounded up and massacred by the score—as they are, in some cases—they are being denied the basic dignity and autonomy of straight people through legal proscriptions on their employment, their sex lives and their freedoms of speech, assembly and expression.
I underline this grim reality—on the heels of National Coming Out Day, no less—because, as I have said before, this is the best time in the history of the world to be gay. A closet case in 2014 has fewer reasons to remain as such than anyone at any other point in time—particularly here in America, where gay marriage did not exist in 2003 but is now legal in 29 states and counting.
(I would be remiss not to mention that Berlin, where the Bent horror show begins, has had a gay mayor since June 2001.)
In other words, the act of coming out is probably always going to suck in one way or another. For the typical person, it will never be an easy or obvious thing to do and will forever carry all sorts of risks, even though the rewards are as legion as ever before.
I realize this is about as ambivalent as coming out advice can possibly be, and slightly less than encouraging for someone currently weighing the pros and cons, knowing that in announcing one's homosexuality, there is no turning back.
However, as a general rule—and based on personal experience—I maintain that being honest about your sexual identity is a prerequisite to true happiness in life. Coming out does not solve every problem, but staying in the closet means denying yourself the possibility of being loved by another person. In the absence of that possibility, the pursuit of happiness—the notion of having a fulfilling life—is not merely difficult, but impossible.
The moment I first took coming out seriously was seeing Gus Van Sant's movie Milk, because it showed how much fun being openly gay can be—particularly for someone with an outsized interest in politics. From then, it took me about eight months to work up the nerve to break the news to my closest friends, and another three years to tell my parents, who provided unconditional support without batting an eyelash. That I could have ever feared otherwise, in retrospect, seems just plain silly.
But I am not necessarily typical. In this and other ways, I consider myself just about the luckiest man on the face of the Earth, with a loving family in an open and welcoming society. I have never suffered because of what I think or who I am, and have never felt that pursuing my true desires was either dangerous or brave.
And so seeing a play like Bent, as I did on Friday, was as much of an eye-opening experience for me as it would be for the average straight person, since it takes place in an environment no less alien to my own than, say, the story of Anne Frank, even though she, like me, was a Jew.
In perhaps the play's most audacious moment, Max and his most trusted fellow prisoner, Horst, stand several feet apart, both looking straight ahead, and begin a steadily-intensifying erotic verbal exchange that would put a present-day phone sex hotline to shame.
You see, the two of them have been employed by the SS in the task of carrying a large pile of heavy stones from one end of a field to the other and back again, 12 hours per day, every day until further notice. This exercise, they soon understand, has no purpose except to slowly drive them both insane and squelch any hope they might have of ever getting out of Dachau. What is more, under no circumstances are they permitted to touch or make eye contact—a detail torn straight from the pages of Nineteen Eighty-Four—and speaking to each other is frowned upon as well. At the start, a heavily-armed guard assures them, "I will always be watching."
In this environment—one that is inhuman by design—they decide to make love the only way they can. Yes, it might get them killed, and it certainly won't improve their physical circumstances in any case. It doesn't matter: Their love for each other has become unavoidable and, to them, is worth following through on. Their act of love is also an act of defiance. Before they die, they are going to live.
That, finally, is why coming out is worth it in the end: Because it's the key not just to happiness, but to life itself. There isn't one without the other.


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(d) any alteration or repair by you or by a third party who is not one of our authorised repairers; or
(e) any specification provided by you.
6.4 You should note that certain products have a different warranty period (e.g. products specified as 'refurbished'). Please refer to our standard terms and conditions of sale for further details.
7. Returns and cancellation policy
7.1 You should notify us as soon as possible and in any event:
(a) if items are missing or the products are not as specified in the order confirmation, no later than 8 hours after delivery;
(b) if products are found to be damaged on delivery, no later than 8 hours after delivery;
(c) if products are not delivered, no later than 7 days from receipt of the invoice for the products.
7.2 In the event that products are found to be defective at any time within the first 30 days from delivery (or 90 days in the case of Cisco products) we will arrange for the products to be collected, at our cost. It is your responsibility to package and secure the products prior to collection to prevent damage during their return to us.
7.3 All returned items will be checked and tested by us within 7 working days of receipt. Where returned items are found to be faulty we will either (in our sole discretion) repair or replace the product, Where no replacement is available, we will issue a full refund. Carriage cost of this return will be your responsibility.
7.4 Where returned items are found to be in good working order without defect or it is evident that the defect has arisen because you have failed to follow our or the manufacturer's instructions as to the storage, installation, commissioning, use or maintenance of the products, or if you have altered the products without our consent, then we reserve the right to refuse or limit any repair, replacement or refund and/or to return the products to you, and the carriage costs of this return, together with the original collection costs, will be your responsibility.
7.5 If products become faulty more than 30 days after delivery (or at any time in the initial 30 day period if you prefer) then you are advised to contact the manufacturer and use their warranty procedure (if any). If you wish to make a warranty claim, you should comply with the manufacturer's instructions and warranty procedure. In order to resolve your problem as quickly as possible, we are happy to refer you to the product manufacturer who will deal directly with the return. In these instances, we will provide you with the contact information for the relevant manufacturer.
7.6 If an order has been accepted by us, you may not cancel the order in whole or part except with our agreement and you will be charged a re-stocking fee of atleast 30% of the product price (with a minimum payment of $10). You will not be permitted to cancel an order if the products have been used or, in the case of software, DVDs or CDs, if the packaging has been unwrapped or the security seal has been broken.
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8.2 Subject to paragraph 7.8 above, our liability in respect of all claims arising in connection with or arising out of the provision of products to you and/or the Contract shall not exceed: (a) in respect of a claim for a single product supplied, the price of that single product; and (b) in respect of all other claims, the aggregate price of all products supplied to you under the Contract.
8.3 We will under no circumstances whatever be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with the Contract for:
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Photography Classes in Hampton SC
Looking for photography classes in Hampton SC? Whether you are a professional, beginner, or hobbyist, the best approach to improving your photography skills is through hands-on classes with skilled instructors.
There are many accredited and recognized photography schools in South Carolina. Topics taught in photography classes include lighting techniques, digital capture, outdoor photography, exposure, composition, and many other basic and advanced camera techniques. Becoming a skilled photographer can lead to a prosperous professional career or lifelong hobby.
There are numerous Photography Classes in Hampton SC:
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Hampton SC Photography Classes
Savannah College of Art and Design
342 Bull St
Savannah, Georgia 31402-3146
Phone: (912) 525-5000
55.97 miles away
The Art Institute of Charleston
24 N. Market St
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
Phone: (843) 727-3500
70.28 miles away
University of South Carolina-Columbia
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
Phone: (803) 777-7000
77.29 miles away
Coker College
300 E College Ave
Hartsville, South Carolina 29550
Phone: (843) 383-8000
119.97 miles away
The Art Institute of Charlotte
2110 Water Ridge Parkway
Charlotte, North Carolina 28217-4536
Phone: (704) 357-8020
158.48 miles away
North Georgia Technical College
1500 Georgia Hwy 197 N
Clarkesville, Georgia 30523
Phone: (706) 754-7700
183.54 miles away
Southern Crescent Technical College
501 Varsity Rd
Griffin, Georgia 30223-2042
Phone: (770) 228-7348
184.61 miles away
Gwinnett Technical College
5150 Sugarloaf Parkway
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043-5702
Phone: (770) 962-7580
184.70 miles away
Catawba Valley Community College
2550 Hwy 70 SE
Hickory, North Carolina 28602-0699
Phone: (828) 327-7000
194.93 miles away
The Creative Circus
812 Lambert Dr
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
Phone: (404) 477-6701
197.24 miles away


text:
3 Responses to "'When we have sentencing that allows men like Dinsley and Bayley to walk free, we have sentencing that is broken': support stronger rape sentencing"
August 19th, 2013 at 6:42 pm
I was particularly struck by the line " there are too many of us " because it is so true. How can so many women be victims of this devastating crime and nothing is done. I know the laws were written by men for men but it just cannot continue to be the case that our society gives permission for male aggression, degradation and humiliation of women and girls in epidemic numbers. I work with victims of this crime and sometimes people imply that women are able to deal with and accommodate this violence as the 'norm'. I'd like to say that all the evidence shows that every incident of abuse, of violence, of humiliation, injurs – psychologically and physically – every single incident…
truthful nacho
August 20th, 2013 at 4:10 am
Laws or rules will not fix anything. The police are here to preserve disorder. They serve their masters.
Cops/enforcement agencies must stop what they are doing, quit their jobs, go help victims get justice on an individual basis. Anyone who claims to work for justice has to say "I'll hold him while you castrate". THAT is justice. THAT is damage control.
Until men are willing to go that far for women's lives, they are not worthy of the life they've been given by woman, and nothing will change. Women will continue to be massacred in spite of any law.
August 20th, 2013 at 6:44 am
It continues to disturb and sadden me to hear of the abuse that our women have to endure. As a male, I am continually ashamed of the looks and the comments that my sex makes toward women, let alone the way they treat them. I will continue to rage against such behaviour while dealing with the damage incurred in my own soul because of the pornified world in which I was raised.
Why do we continue to cheapen the value of life by allowing the re-offenders of such atrocities to go free? Why do we even continue to extract taxes from innocent people to pay for their incarceration? The death penalty for certain re-offenders would be just. I would have no hesitation in passing that sentence. It may stir those with similar problems to cry out to the God who can save them and get counselling help a lot faster!


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The KBO League's Samsung Lions and Hanwha Eagles left their benches twice and fought in Sunday's game. A total of six players and coaches have been punished for their roles.
On a 2-2 count with two outs in the third inning, Lions pitcher Yoon Sung-hwan nicked the Eagles' Kim Tae-kyun. The two stared each other down and the benches cleared, but nothing further happened.
After everyone settled down, Yoon used his very next pitch to plunk Wilin Rosario. The former Rockies catcher was furious, the benches cleared again, and players threw punches.
Here's an eight-minute version of the events for those who want to fully soak in the angry glaring, as well as a shorter recap with a Street Fighter soundtrack by the always-valuable Dan Kurtz:
The KBO announced punishments today for both teams. Yoon received a six-game suspension; Lions pitcher Zach Petrick was fined 2 million South Korean won; and Samsung coaches Kang Bong-gyu and Kim Jae-geul each received a five-game suspension and were fined 3 million won. Eagles pitcher Carlos Villanueva—who tore a ligament in his pinkie in the fight—was suspended six games; Hanwha's Chung Hyun-suk received a five-game suspension. Each club was also fined 5 million won.


text:
I am not a slam poet:
I do not slam,
I cannot ram
My words
Down your throat.
I do not pout
Or drool,
I cannot shout
And sway
With tree-like arms
And snapped off sounds
I have no charms
For you baying hounds,
I am sorry,
Oh so sorry,
For you.
© andrew rossiter 2011
I rage,
I am raging,
Not white hot,
Not roaring,
But a cold
Of rage
Held closely
To my breast
It keeps me young
This rage
Without stamping feet
Or hammered fists
Or shouted words
It keens my eyes
And blades my tongue
With bile
And the object
Of my bile?
He has kidnapped
My bike,
Holding it hostage
Against an unknown ransom
Which he hasn't yet decided
Because the bike is not
A good hostage
It has not
With the kidnappers
It has not
A Stockholm syndrome
(Or, perhaps
it has
They are in
It is costing him time
Which will cost me
My rage
Hands me a list
Of possibilities
Of lawyers visited
Letters written
Of complaints made
At the highest level
But what keeps
My rage
Alive and curdled
Is the sure sight of me
Nodding dumbly at
The bill.
© andrew rossiter 2011
I wrote short stories
Because I was too lazy
To write a novel.
I wrote poetry
Because I was too lazy
To write a story
I tweeted Haikus
Because I was too lazy
To write a poem
I am writing a novel
Because Haikus
Are much too much work.
© andrew rossiter 2011
The radio clatters on,
As if it had something to say,
Oblivious to the fact
That God has been put to sleep:
A rocket shot
Through his heart,
And a man put on the moon
And if that wasn't enough,
The politicians
Have turned their cold gaze
On thought itself
And are hugely pleased
To see it too,
Shrivel and die
At their giggling funeral pyre
Perhaps they shouldn't be
So pleased with themselves:
Poor thought is a fragile thing
Easily stamped upon
Just for the sake of it,
Her diaphanous wings
Easily torn and snapped
In ignorance.
© andrew rossiter 2011
The world got all puffed up
In her boisterous colours,
Parading and twirling
In her lush garments,
Like a vapid diva
Or that naked Emperor
Until God, sullenly slumped
In his uncomfortable throne,
Suddenly decided to give her
A lick of cold white paint
To muffle her unnatural
And sighed heavily
As all his animals,
Treading tentatively
On her new fluffy lining,
Declared it a wonder
And began to dance.
So, with a grunt,
He invented Christmas instead.
© andrew rossiter 2010
The toy boy in tie,
Angle poised hand
Propping the greying tooth
Of the cubicle door
Open, peers over
Crunched shoulders
At the rippled puddle
Of card chopped crystals.
Heaving and sighing
To and fro,
Quivering little kids
Lined up at the poolside,
Keeping their flickering eyes,
And jostling feet,
As they nakedly wait for the whistle,
And the cold splash of powder.
Braying donkey head
Thrown back, he snorts
And gags,
The acrid, powdered sentiment
Throwing a fist at his throat.
Glass eyes rolling
A lurid smile,
He dashes for the bar,
Settling the kick
With a champagne swish,
As a gabbling gander
Struts away with his mouth
Babbling down
At the next bright smile,
Decorating an elongated limb
And clapping haw haws
Of tinsel laughter,
While a stray hand
Warms itself
On hob hot promises.
But the night's
Twists and turns,
And yelps and sighs,
Leave them bewildered
As to why the cough and sneeze
Of the bleak morning light
Had to break its promise;
But that bitter taste
Will just have to wait
Until the next wash of the bars.
© andrew rossiter 2010
The spray of her sneeze
Drowns in the spray of the sea,
As it gnaws at the cavities
And caves of the rotting cliff:
One more tooth waiting to fall
Into the roiling mass
Of the spitting grey maw.
And the water roars
At the paddling tourists,
Poured fresh from the bus,
Tickling its salty tongue
With their wriggling feet,
Squealing like pigs
Crying for slaughter.
And the lifeguard,
All courage in red,
Curls up his tongue
At the reckless wave
Leaping in insolence
For the house on the summit,
And thinks of his supper,
And that little girl's hand.
© andrew rossiter 2010
Across the way, in the flat
Opposite mine, stands an old man
On his flower lined balcony,
Clutching an angry fag
In cruel fingers, watching his days
Pass by, watching me
Haunting my window.
But I have nothing to offer,
Apart from my belches and my farts,
Lost in the void between us.
We never wave, for fear
Of breaching the bleak beauty
Of our grass greened gulf
Filling it with smells,
And unwanted noises.
© andrew rossiter 2010
I experienced strange things in Japan:
I went to a small school where four people
Learnt Turkish drumming, taught by a tired man
And he turned me into mister DJ,
Making me start and stop a selection
Of music according to his own rhyme;
The others, too, struck their drums to his whim
And I was pleased to be able to help;
I even drank some tea and ate some cake,
But, still, the drums maintained their innocence.
© andrew rossiter 2010
Unbeknown to our sniggering faces,
A widow's legacy hung on the walls,
Staring at us as we skated around the rooms,
All clicking tongues and rolling eyes,
While the kids played tag,
Among the dull window panes
To a dead man's dreams;
Not that the kids cared.
Arrest came through intervention
At the behest of the earnest
Old widow, pleading the diligence
Of the deceased, as he toiled:
Fifteen hours a day, everyday
Until an untimely, paint filled death,
At the spiteful age of sixty one.
We looked at our toes and didn't ask why…
But managed to exchange a few niceties,
Together with some pleasantries, but no cash.
The careening children came to rest,
After a sharp bark or two,
And, as a mark of respect, peered at the woman
As if she might be a work of art,
And we shut up our sniggering 'til outside
But the dead man's dreams remained just dreams.
© andrew rossiter 2010
Go to Japan, Go to Ikea, Eat Hotdog, and Buy a Blue Bag
The other week I flew
All the way to Japan,
To Kobe, to meet a friend.
We went to Ikea,
Ten minutes from Sannomiya,
Ate hotdogs, and
Drank tepid coffee
After buying a desk,
A few knick knacks, and
Most importantly, a bright blue bag.
If that is not profound,
Then I don't know what is.
© andrew rossiter 2010
Shuffling jam-packed saucepans,
Crammed on a hob of glowering sunsets,
With your long, skinny arms,
Yelling at the twitching shawl,
"Grub's up, darlin'!"
The grim old shawl nods slowly,
A grey claw reaches out from beneath,
Snatches the sweating plate of steam
From your outstretched hand;
Her coins are as hot as your stove.
The pan smiles like an evil cat,
The insects rustle as the yoke breaks,
A marauding sea of yellow slammed
Between two fat chunks of frothy white bread,
And the cry: "One egg sani, comin' up!"
Tipping and stirring, scraping
And tossing, you the plughole to this
Caterwauling maelstrom
Of eggs, chips and peas,
Fried slices and two teas.
A mouth breaking yawn cracks the day,
Work steamed eyes peer tiredly
From under grease permed hair,
Your apron hangs dejectedly at shift's end;
You wave a limp "Cheerio," with your thin hand.
© andrew rossiter 2010
Stooped, was what she was,
As we passed on by, looking the other way,
Stooped over a battered litter bin,
Pulling out a crumpled plastic bottle,
Carefully wiping off the smeared detritus,
And placing it in the bottle bulging bag
Hanging from her brawny arm
Wrapped in a dirty Macintosh
That had seen better days than this.
An errant seagull tittered meanly overhead,
And a dog of a wind licked lasciviously
At the torn hem of her dress,
A fetching blue Formica floral pattern,
Which she fussily patted down
With an old man's wrinkled hand
Hanging from the wrinkled Mac
Like an obdurate squatter
Waiting to be evicted.
And then, bugger me, he caught my eye,
Smiled like a wide trousered salesman, saying:
"Ich war ein Manager, ich bin ja schuld."
A peaked policeman strolling past,
Officiously bundled him off,
And we stood there gawping,
As he quietly trundled away,
Gobstoppered bags bursting
From under his arms.
A passerby, all wrapped in fur, asked,
"How could he be so fucking brazen?"
Stooped, indeed.
© andrew rossiter 2010
The reek of the unwashed,
Puts two long fingers up your nose,
And your elbows creak,
To the whine of the weighted pulleys,
Slowly extricating,
Tired arms from aching sockets,
And you shower in salted tears,
Lathered with ugly groans,
Pumiced with gritted teeth.
A heaving pause and the gym,
rolls in on its telling mirrors,
Stories of pummelled flesh,
Tautly singing and flabbily guffawing,
Pushed and pulled with grunts and sighs,
Bodies tied to wracking machines,
Like some medieval poorhouse,
turning the wheel,
grinding the stone.
From the left, the thump
Of the running machine,
From the right, the canned strains
Of emaciated notes toiling,
In their stereoed concentration camps,
And the wheeze of their chubby cheerleader,
Sex struts on by in a burst of hope,
Death helplessly giggles in the corner,
As we try to avoid his gnomic advances,
By running on the spot.
© andrew rossiter 2010
He rambles, braced by the solidity
Of the building marking his position
With a plastic plaque on his office door;
It buys him his verdant, woolly freedom,
In which he can romp to his heart's delight,
For as long as his student's eye is scratched
By sonorous wool, and shivering awe.
To hide this, and more, they lounge in a bar,
Sipping cheap wine and rustling smudged papers
Back and forth, playing an elaborate
Game of cards, the hand dealt always sleighted
Against the student, legs crossed, toes tapping,
Clothed in bright cloth playing a pair of shoes;
Hope bright eyes pleading for sufficient mark.
And I watch, commiserate and labour,
To put them out of their unwholesome misery,
My words a tombstone to their nervous play,
As I put their stuttering scene to death,
Scratch by black scratch, mortified in white fields.
A blind old professor, who failed to see,
What was happening to his lamed pupil,
Withering before him, struck by the strokes
Of my pen, and the bite of his vapid
critique, is likewise embalmed, encased and lost.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Turn, and turn again as the pillow bites
Back; colours dance behind closed doors.
Twist, and cry once more as the sheets strangle
Sleep; and wayward thoughts bully serenity.
Count, and count again as muscles spasm
Awake; old friend pain plays his thudding song.
Soothe, preach calm to grating jaws crumbling
Teeth, and a tired heart bitterly pounding.
Read, and turn the page away from its mocking
Words; while Europe sleeps, we must hold our vigil.
Hollow vigil, lost in the mutterings
Of the sleepless damned. I cannot sleep.
© andrew rossiter 2009
To what do we owe this fleeting pleasure?
With twenty houses lined along the street.
Twenty pairs of twitching eyes that treasure,
As cold insect eyes swivel on their stalks,
Peering impassively as Jack stabs Joe.
"But at least we caught the little bastard,"
Cries the copper at Joe's tear stained Mum,
Who strikes him hard, shouting, "but where's my son?"
And the cameras turn, and nod their heads
At the louts slugging in the shout loud streets,
Who raise their fingers in dismal salute,
Just for us to see, safe at home, on TV.
Faces marked, and asbos served, they'll go down,
To be followed by friends and family,
Who'll make sure we'll have our weekend repeat,
and not spoil this grimy little industry.
Yet to delve one deeper, to peer behind,
There, the camera's little eyes just stare
They tape the pleas, but as if they're blind,
And so they watch the things fall and degrade;
A sightless excuse for doing nothing,
As they see the terrorist and his bomb,
Blankly record the blast, telling no-one,
For that would spoil the game, and take its fun.
So, do videos of concrete labyrinths,
Haunts of hooded boys with sharp little toys,
Their scifi laser looks erasing all,
Really solve sad Joe's untimely demise?
Or, let things fester in some dark, blind spot,
Ignoring the plight of those less well done,
As cameras turn heads the other way,
while we more fortunate, run wild and play?
© andrew rossiter 2009
A glass of rich wine being poured,
The auditorium slowly fills,
With gaily coloured scarfs and handbags,
held delicately in all too dainty hands.
Stems of warm wine,
Stalk nervous communion,
In flighty smiles and diminutive discourse.
Sagging jumpers pulled too long,
Pencil thin trousers stretched too tight,
An overcoat dribbles carelessly onto the ground.
Two professors pontificate Iran,
In their traditional baggy pants,
While performers, smartly groomed,
Tap their tidy feet nervously.
Callously claimed chairs,
Are scraped, scuffled and shuffled.
Tweaks of conversation flutter
In the air, a hovering hum.
Eyes wide with attempted witticism,
Minds dull with angry affectations,
Peer, as performers scramble to the stage.
Above it all, the conductor sniffs,
And raises her thin arms,
To greet the ensuing hush.
A sunbeam rushes to catch a face,
Rapt in a single sonorous note,
Cleaving the beguiled audience,
From their singular vanities.
© andrew rossiter 2009
A finger lickin', stainless, shimmering surface
Is my goal, its shine my pride, its glance my solace.
Ceramic white, scrubbed to blinding;
Tiles twinkling to their chamois rub.
Dust devoured in the roaring vacuum;
A black greasy rim, routed from that tired old tub.
And, sweat pouring, I scrub and scrub and scrub.
To what neuroses am I driven
As hate fills my scrub numbed skull?
At little Jenny with her sticky fingers,
At industrious John with his dirty drill.
At the empty household that screams at me,
As I desperately seek dust drunk crannies long forgot,
On which to work my ire, as dismal thoughts run free.
Exhausted I sink within the couch,
To sup my cup of tea,
And nibble quietly at my other joy,
A toasted crumpet, with late afternoon TV.
Till my beloved dirt blind children charge home,
Shouting, smudging and besoiling, to ensure sufficient toil for me.
Likewise, an earnest hubby, who asks, "good day today, honey?"
© andrew rossiter 2009
Testing taunts and jeers,
were the meat of our
raging childhood years.
Gobstoppers and dares,
Fuelled those tiny,
Wild insanities
Horns blared at chicken
Runs, skateboard chiseled,
Grit bitten knees, hurt.
Street corner fight grounds,
Flashing little fists,
Tugged hair and mean kicks.
Lookouts for the boys,
Smashed glass, in and out,
Tales for school, not Mum.
Sweetshop raid, distract
The man, hungry hands
Grab the booty, out!
Angry words, biting laughs,
Death and friendship,
Ran hand in hand.
Tom hates Jimmy,
Jimmy hits Pat,
He tells tales, the rat.
Then teatime called us,
Running home to Mum,
God, we were happy.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Strutted long legged walk, swivelled hips swing,
Easy guttural beats, words fucked senseless,
Touched, the crowd vibrates as the rock fuck sings,
Impaled, they writhe in strange caterpillar
Sex, in their lovely, lonely gang bang, kings.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Breath, wide mouthed, gasp snatched,
Lead clothed lung heaving tart mist,
Steel braids silkened, breathe.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Red rawed nose tickles,
Steep stepped breaths tilt aching head,
Band snapped nose spewed splash.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Body so stiff and
midriff thick with too much
beer, just one thing for it
A round of yoga with
my personal trainer.
Honey toned, digital
abs, she entices me
to stretch, to touch, to bend,
again and again and
again, my pushy Wii.
Oh woe is me, poor Wii
has died. One stretch too far
her circuitry done for,
a single sigh, that was all,
now she's gone, I'm off t' bar.
© andrew rossiter 2009
A gaggle of students,
Macs at hand, phones to ear,
Laughter their symphony.
A single lone woman,
Bright young face frown furrowed,
Eyes in a book burrowed.
Tell me, did we do this?
Books, once revered and precious,
Today, sold by the pound.
Have you paid enough?
Knowledge, one time priceless,
Now, bartered to the hounds.
Are you vapid enough?
Reading so much googling,
analysis tweeted.
No worksheet on Ezra?
Simplicity is the rule,
The cud of Enlightenment.
Or was it always so?
Complexities of knowledge,
Kept enshrined for the few.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Selling Points
Fluttered flyer, flipped chart and gilded card,
Shake, hand, shake, nod and smile,
Twist, beg and barter, pin striped leg with hollow laughter,
Product segmented, customer profiled, contract closed, customer beguiled.
Quick door openers, dark closed faces and tapping toes,
Perspiring palms, slickened presentations in short, quick breaths,
Sips of coffee, downward glances, papers whispering,
Wayward gazes, a tired cough, slam of a book, the next tired knock.
© andrew rossiter 2009
Man and Woman
In silence they lay, post coital, after
Play, uttering small noises, which can go
One way, or another. "Hush darling" said
The woman. "Your murmurs begin to make
Me tremble in anticipation of
What is to come. I wonder, will it break
Me? Or will your words soothe me and take me
Higher?" The man grunted and turned to rest
Upon his elbow, in that arrogant
Way that men often have. "Why, woman, dwell
You `pon this hankering for entrapping
Me in doubtful words and guileful phrases?
I, yes I, am a Man. And, as well you,
A woman, should by now know, as Man, I
Must be free. Do not overly weep, Woman,
For your loss my freedom means. Now go I!
"You return so soon? Is freedom so quick
To find?" asked the woman as she relaxed
In the shade of a low tree. Strided Man
Toward her, looking, to all intents, as
If he had some purpose within his mind.
"Wizened by my troubles, and though weary
Be, I thought. And in my thinking saw I
How merciless and cruel I had been
To you. For here, alone and uncertain
Have I left you, grieving in your loss of
Me. Thus have I returned, my heart with
mercy full. Together shall we go, freedom
Our goal." "Oh" said the woman, with some doubt,
"Wouldn't you rather come here and lie with
Me?" With mercy in his good heart Man smiled,
"Before we go, may take you, fill of me."
"Woman!" boomed Man, "With sex you berate me
To stay. Tell you I, that these snares of your
Body will not long hold me. Now go I
In search of freedom. Stop me and I will
Beat you." The woman looked at Man strangely.
"You will beat me?" She asked in a tired voice.
Man with laughter roared. "Yes, beat you I will!"
"Tell me, Man" she said "with what will you beat
Me?" "Woman, do not foolish be. With hands
Will I beat you. With feet will I kick you.
With teeth will I bite you. With sharp sword will
I cut you!" With that he strode toward her.
"Wait" she cried "Oh Man, you have no sword."
"A quibble, I need it not. Male strength shall
In this matter prevail." "Oh Man" cried the
Woman, "You cannot see what I speak of."
Man halted in his tracks. "Of what can you speak
That I, Man, cannot see?" With gentle voice
Spoke she: "Dearest Man, you search for freedom
With no eyes to see. You travel so far
With no feet to walk. You hit so hard with
No hands to strike. But worst of all you chew
On words, with no teeth to bite. Though both you
And I may vociferous with seeming
Intent be, from where does our intent come,
And to where shall we go? We neither feel,
Nor think, but simply play on difference
found between words. Man and Woman are games,
Played in the funniest and saddest ways.
To strike in the name of Man, or Woman,
Is the saddest game of all." Reasoning
Man said: "This is true. I will think on it,
And then write a great book, which you may read."
© andrew rossiter 2009
Programmers and Businessmen
The Programmer worships,
the deaf Queen called Logic.
His prayer is convoluted,
and occasionally obscure,
but not without elegance
in its careful dance. It is
His syntax, his currency,
but his Queen plays a hard bargain,
And he must toil to please her.
The businessman, toe tapping
and unbelieving,
derides the old harridan's charms,
and piles up his money,
amid the woeful cries
of the besotted Programmers.
But woe to the businessman,
who casts aside his atheism,
to delve into the mysteries
of the Programmers' belief.
For his purse will soon be empty.
© andrew rossiter 2009


text:
Men.com says: Dario Beck is getting used to life on the road. While at a truck stop he signals to the sexy stud in the next stall that he's horny and down to fuck.
Massimo Piano signals back as he is all too eager to have his tight ass slammed by Dario's big, trucker cock. Dario fucks Massimo doggy style, before going for a ride of his own on Massimo's throbbing dick.
[This post contains video, click to play]
All the Men.com updates right here!
Originally posted 2015-12-09 14:33:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter


text: Here are a few exclusive behind the scenes pics from the set of Pusha T's upcoming video for his single "Looking For Trouble" featuring Odd Future's Tyler the Creator. In the pic above the duo is styled in Pusha's look, which consists of an all black Givenchy double tank top, Naked & Famous denim jeans, and Balenciaga sneakers in charcoal from the Fall/Winter 2011 Collection. In the second pic (seen below) they're styled in Tyler the Creator's signature look, which features them wearing Supreme hats, and American Apparel tee and socks along with Vans Authentic Royal sneakers.


text:
"Winners never quit and quitters never win!" I've heard it a million times - I simply do not agree.
I am working diligently to make positive things happen for me and my family and it seems that my intention and tenacity are beginning to pay off. It is not lost on me that this turn for the positive came shortly after I let go of other projects that were time, labor and money intensive - all with little progress. Yes, I quit.
I quit pouring money into a business idea that was not making money. When Dave and I started this business in 2008, we intended to see wild success. We spent more than $60,000 and didn't make anything close to that amount in return. It simply is not good business to continue to spending, spending, spending with no return.
Those of you who know me personally know that I am an optimist. I can recite all the motivational quips and quotes that assure us that if we just hang on a little longer, success will break through! I know how many of the mega-successful entrepreneurs filed, in some cases, multiple bankruptcies before finding that formula for success, and on and on and on the hype goes. I want to know the stories of those same Disneys and Trumps recognizing that a plan is not going to come to fruition and pulling the plug. Oprah did it with OWN when she let go of 130 people, it was a step back to move the big picture forward. In my case, the step back was closing the business and putting our resources to work for our future, our new dreams, and who-knows-what-else might be on the horizon for us. I feel it's important to note that what might be around the corner might have been missed while my nose was to the grindstone of the business that was not producing any thing even remotely close to success.
With all this said, I do not believe winners never quit, I feel strongly that winners do good business and that is knowing when to hold 'em and yes, when to fold 'em. I'm a winner and I quit!


text:
Medicaid Expansion, with an Exit Strategy for Texas
Medicaid Expansion in Texas
The federal government is offering to send billions of Texans' taxpayer dollars to the states that expand Medicaid coverage to all those earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level. As further enticement, the federal government will fund 100 percent of that expansion for the first three years and at least 90 percent thereafter. But it is up to each state to apply for and implement the expansion to receive these extra federal dollars. Because Texas has the most uninsured citizens in the country, under the Medicaid expansion the state is poised to regain a significant chunk of the tax dollars sent to Washington, D.C. Thus far, it is unclear whether or not Texas leaders will approve the expansion.
Benefits to Uninsured Texans
Roughly 25 percent of all Texans are uninsured – that's 6.3 million of our fellow Texans. Rice University estimates the Medicaid expansion would reduce the number of uninsured Texans by half by 2014. The expansion would streamline eligibility requirements by allowing workers and families making below 138 percent of the poverty line ($30,675 for a family of four in 2012) to enroll in Medicaid. There will also be a more efficient application process. More important, it will prevent millions of Texans from having to go to a state or federally run health insurance exchange – and sending more money to the federal government.
Benefits to State, Businesses and Taxpayers
While reducing the number of families without insurance is obviously the main goal of the Medicaid expansion, its byproducts provide even more incentives.
Expanding Medicaid coverage will protect large businesses from the penalties they will incur if their entire workforces aren't covered when the Affordable Care Act fully takes effect.
Hospitals currently forced to serve low-income, uninsured and high-cost patients for free will be reimbursed, cost-shifting onto other patients will decrease and state and local tax burdens will be relieved. A recent Vanderbilt University study shows that without implementing the expansion those same hospitals will likely face unexpected budget cuts due to reductions in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements.
Perhaps most important for the coming legislative session is the expansion's ability to help legislators build a bridge to balanced budgets for the next biennium and beyond. As more people gain coverage under the federally funded expansion, the number relying on state fiscal resources should decline.
Make no mistake. Expanding Medicaid costs money. It would require Texas to begin saving now for the day when the state will have to pick up ten percent of the expansion's tab – a difficult task in these uncertain economic times. The state's 10.71 percent cap on increased state spending may also complicate those savings. Others have suggested an even lower spending level by tying Texas budget increases to population growth and inflation. Further, Texas has already underfunded the existing Medicaid program by nearly $5 million.
The federal government is offering to pay 100 percent of the cost of covering "newly eligible individuals" (those not eligible under the current Medicaid plan) in 2014, 2015, and 2016, 95 percent in 2017, 94 percent in 2018, 93 percent in 2019 and 90 percent by 2020. The expansion will cost Texas an estimated $5.7 billion from 2013 to 2022, with the federal government sending back to the state $65.6 billion over that same period.
Texas already faces tough decisions in budgeting for other necessary state services. A Medicaid expansion may be viewed as just adding yet another line to the appropriations bill. Or it may be viewed as an opportunity to use Texans' federal taxpayer dollars to help fellow Texans rather than other states' uninsured citizens.
Medicaid Expansion, With an Exit Strategy
Without the Medicaid expansion, our state will lose billions in Texans' taxpayer dollars to other states while remaining at the very bottom in the nation in health insurance coverage. The over six billion insured and uninsured Texans and their families will watch as their federal income tax money is sent to help workers and families in other states gain coverage.
Fortunately, if the expansion proves too expensive or otherwise problematic, Texas retains the right to end it at any time (even after the first three fully paid years).
2 thoughts on "Medicaid Expansion, with an Exit Strategy for Texas"
Hello Friends,
Governor Rick Perry millions of under-privileged poor Texans who do not have any Health Coverage will be covered under The Affordable Care ACT (ACA) expansion of MEDICAID!
My Physician wife's practice is partly dependent on MEDICAID and its viability. Please allow the expansion of MEDICAID to occur in Texas under The Affordable Care ACT.
Believe it or not IT IS A FACT: If states choose to expand Medicaid, the federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs from 2014 to 2016. The feds' contribution will begin to decrease in 2017, but will never be less than 90 percent, under the ACA.
That's why I created a petition to Governor Rick Perry, Texas Governor, The Texas State House, The Texas State Senate, and Governor Rick Perry, which says:
"Please ACCEPT the FREE EXPANSION of MEDICAID under The Affordable Care ACT."
Will you sign this petition? Click here:
Ajay Jain
Twitter Handle ajain31.
Mobile: 214-207-9781


text:
Since today is Earth Day, Cara and I decided that it would be an appopriate theme for Team-Up Thursday today. Man, oh man. This was a tough one. I took tons of different shots, but in the end chose the one with a little bit of a message. Cara's shot is beautiful and exactly what I had in mind when we chose the theme. The photo has such an awesome perspective plus I love me some flair.
Click here for more Team-Up Thursday.


text:
Nathan currently owns his own Professional Consulting Company. He previously served as Deputy District Director for California State Board of Equalization Vice Chair Diane Harkey. Nathan also previously served as District Director to then 40th District Assemblyman Mike Morrell, now a State Senator.
In his first bid for elected office, Nathan was elected as Trustee for the Riverside Community College District in November 2012. He currently serves as Secretary of the Board, Chair of the Riverside Community College District Facilities Committee and spearheads efforts to close the gap between graduation rates and college readiness. Nathan was also recently tapped to serve as a voting member on the Riverside County Committee on School District Organization. This Committee aids in the redistricting of Riverside County At-Large K-12 School Districts to Single Member Districts in compliance with the California Voters Rights Act.
Prior to working in politics he worked in several diverse fields from minor commercial acting and opening/managing new restaurants for the Cheesecake Factory to his position as Telescope Operator for the large telescope at the Griffith Observatory.
Nathan attended California Polytechnic University, Pomona earning a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science with completed coursework in Astronomy and Physics. Nathan is married to Heather, a Norco native and together they live in Corona with their three children: Max, Michelle and Alexander. Nathan grew up in Manhattan Beach and if he has free time, you will likely find him surfing and at the beach with his family. He and his family also enjoy camping and count Sequoia and Kings Canyon as one of their favorite places to visit.
Nathan believes that in pursuit of success in all things, there is no substitute for hard work. His lives by the philosophy that if the ends one pursues are truly virtuous, the means by which one attains such ends must be equally virtuous. You can always succeed justly with integrity; you just might have to work longer and harder to get there the right way.


text:
Twitter Joke Ideas
Never get stuck at 140 characters again!
HashNewsGrams 2.0 breaks the Twitter 140 character limitation barrier. You can post essentially a lot of text, pics, video, audio recordings, freehand drawings and acticons-action icons.
Click on image for free iPhone app.
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text: sailingpj 18 Posted October 21, 2010 "Of course, there's nothing that says we can't have one more, eh? Why not post your question and let folks respond? Beavah" This is one of the biggest reasons I like this forum, you all are willing to answer a question time and time again. There are some forums where nobody posts questions anymore because they are just going to get a dozen replies telling them to use the search function. So, I thank and applaud all of you who are here answering questions and disseminating information all the time. I hereby present you all with one GIANT e-pie(the great thing about an e-pie is you get to decide your own filling!). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Shifty Bits Game Review
Games are maybe the best things that can entertain us for hours. In this era of smartphones we're living in, the development of game apps has increased and got on a much higher level. There are many types of games available on the iOS platform, but most of them are either too violent or too engaging. This can become annoying, because sometimes we want to enjoy a game that relaxes, but at the same time, trains our brain. Usually the kind of games that do that are the puzzle games, so that is why we tried to find some new and fresh in order to share it with you.
Searching through the App Store, we discovered an amazing puzzle game, called Shifty Bits. It got us all addicted and we still can't stop playing it. It is developed by Niels Jansson and designed with colorful background, fun animations and even more engaging sounds and sound effects.
Shifty Bits contains unique gameplay. When you first download this game, you will be amazed by everything it offers. You play along with the coolest character ever, a robot called Blip-Blop. He will be your companion and he will guide you through the whole gameplay. Using fun dialogues, the robot will tell you how to play and show you some hints. Your main goal is to slide the tiles on the puzzle board in order to match the colors. The background of the tile has to be the same color as the tile you're moving. You can slide them in any direction you want, but be aware, you have limited moves. Play and match the right colors in order to win as many levels as you can. Shifty Bits contains 100 fun and challenging puzzly levels. As you play, you will experience the difficulty progression, meaning that it will get harder when you reach higher levels. Also, there will be more colors added for you to match.
In the settings menu, you can turn on/off the music and the sound effects, you can choose to play between two gameplay modes (easy and hard) and pick from multiple languages. It is a multilingual game and it supports English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, German, Chinese and Korean. Play with Blip-Blop and join him on this puzzle journey with fun dialogues, multiple color configurations and levels, animations and many more. Get ready for hours and hours of fun, because Shifty Bits will glue your hands to your device. It is compatible with both iPhone and iPad, appealing for all ages and it can be downloaded for free from the App Store.


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Product Description
Our rose veal is welfare friendly and farm assured. Where does our veal come from? They are bull calves that are an inevitable by-product of dairy farming and if they were not reared for veal, they face being shot at birth or exported to Europe as they have no value in the UK beef market. They are kept in small groups in large pens with room to run around with deep straw bedding to sleep on. They are fed on a varied diet including milk, whey (by-product of our cheese), locally grown cereals and straw. The calves are reared to 6-7 months, the same age as most pork and lamb and considerably older than the vast majority of poultry on the market. Because of the way our calves are reared, the meat produced is a rich pink colour, hence the name rose veal, rather than the white veal which results from more dubious welfare practices. Why eat Veal? Well it is a healthier option in comparison to other meats as it is very lean with little fat, it has a lovely tender and juicy taste and is simple to cook. Once you have tried our veal you will be back for more, guaranteed. So try our veal and taste the exceptional product. Being Farm Assured means that we adhere to a high standard of animal welfare practices on and off our farm and by doing so allows you to have complete confidence in our products.


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I asked my mum if this outfit was a little too bright for a Sunday walk around the park and she said no, and you have to trust your mother don't you?
Dress - Numph
Cardigan - Itchi
Necklace - Pouss
Belt - Primark
very beautiful! i especially love your hairdo!
Loving the cardigan, and I don't think there is such a thing as too bright ;) Lx


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Warwick is really rocking with the campaign by a group of local businesses & residents who started to unite in the hope of winning the Portas Pilot Bid to improve Town Centres. After failing to win the Bid but not failing to be a vital part of Mary Portas, all the supporting businesses & residents decided a grant was not vital to improve a town centre but the great minds of the people and the great sword of communication. The hub of the campaign which is still very much active is the Warwicktweetup run mainly by 3 amazing individuals who also have jobs & families yet put a huge amount of time & effort into the community work. The twitter community in Warwick & surrounding areas is huge, creating networks between people & businesses & that is what a town needs to make an improvement & impact.
With questions, answers, recommendations & referrals flying out on twitter, Warwick is the place to be and 'great leaders are the ones to be followed!'
We are proud to be Rocking with Warwick!!
Follow Aqua on Twitter
If you haven't been already, you are missing out on the experience. One of the most loved & talked about feature of our Warwick restaurant has been the Bedouin Tent in the rear garden Terrace. The mood of Aqua where you can have pre meal drinks or after, relax with a mint tea & sheesha (arabian fruity waterpipe), or just kick back with a glass of wine & enjoy the tranquil arabian music in the ambient candle light. The Bedouin tent is open just for drinks too & makes an amazing alfresco area in the summer!
The food & mood is at Aqua…….


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BC: The End
FC: The Bahamas
2: In the Bahamas, the climate is generally warm. In fact, they only have two seasons, summer and winter. Summers in the Bahamas are usually in the mid-80's while winters are in the mid 60's. The temperature has a big effect on the crops grown in the Bahamas. The temperatures make it hard to grow anything other that very warm weather crops. The Geography in the Bahamas is very bad for growing crops. Most of the land is either very rocky or very swampy.
3: Geography and Climate
4: Main Agricultural Products
5: The main agricultural products of the Bahamas are citrus fruits. Major products include pineapples, grapefruits, limes, and papaya.
6: Size | The Bahamas have an area of about 294,900 square miles
7: The main religion in the Bahamas is Christianity. The Main language in the Bahamas is English.
8: The Bahamas became an independent country in 1964. One common custom among the native people is basket weaving. Bahamian Goombay is the traditional Bahamian style of music.
10: During the holiday season, specifically December 26th to January 1st, the people of the Bahamas celebrate Junkanoo. Junkanoo is very similar to Mardi Gras and Carnival.
12: Native
13: Dishes
14: 2 med. conch, clean & remove skin small sweet pepper 1 small onion 1 stalk celery 1 egg 1 cup milk 2 T. tomato paste 1 t. baking powder 1-1/4 cups flour 1 t. hot sauce 1 t. salt Put conch, sweet pepper, onion & celery through a meat grinder. Add remaining ingredients to make a batter. Drop batter by tablespoon into hot oil and fry for approx. 10 min. or until golden. | Conch Fritters
16: 2 cup sugar 1 1/2 cup oil 3 eggs 2 cup flour 1 tsp baking soda 2 tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice, clove, nutmeg and cardamom 1 tsp salt 2 cup grated carrots 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained 2 tsp vanilla 1 cup coconut, walnuts (pieces) 1/2 cup raisins or cranberries | Beat sugar, oil, and eggs together. Add dry ingredients fold in carrots, pineapple, coconuts, raisins or cranberries and vanilla. Bake in a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour. When cooled frost with cream cheese frosting. | Bahama Mama Carrot Cake
19: Pigeons With Pineapple | 1/2 ripe pineapple 4 squabs (young pigeons) 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup pate 4 tablespoons brandy or rum if preferred salt, to taste pepper, to taste 1/2 cup pineapple juice Peel, slice and dice pineapple. Wash and dry squab. Into each body cavity put 1 tablespoon pate and a piece of pineapple. Close cavity and rub squabs with salt and pepper. Melt 1/2 of the butter in a heavy casserole and brown the squabs. Do not prick the skins. Flame with 1 tablespoon brandy or rum (heat, ignite and pour over squabs). Pour in the remaining butter, and roast squabs in 350 F oven uncovered, basting often, for about 45 minutes. While squabs are roasting, poach slices of pineapple in the rest of liquor for 10 minutes. Arrange slices on the squabs to serve.
20: 12 -15 large guavas 3 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder teaspoon salt cup sugar cup butter cup Crisco 2 eggs , separated 2 teaspoons vanilla | Peel and core guavas. Rub cores through sieve to obtain some of the pulp, and mix with cut up guavas. Add sugar to taste. Beat butter, Crisco with sugar, then beat in egg yokes. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt and fold into butter/egg mixture. Add vanilla. Divide dough in 3 balls. Refrigerate 1/2 hour until firm. Spread out each of the balls on a piece of foil; cover with Guava. Starting at one end, fold into roll. Cover with foil, place in baking bag and seal. Boil 1 hour in large pot with hot water. Slice and serve warn with Sauce.
21: Guava Duff
22: Stuffed Pawpaw | 1 green pawpaw (just streaked with yellow) 2 onions 2 cloves garlic 2 tomatoes 2 slices of ham or bacon 1 sweet pepper 1 hot pepper 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs 1 egg Salt | Wash pawpaw. Cut off end and scoop out seeds. Chop onions, garlic, pepper and tomatoes and stew for 20 minutes. Grill bacon and dice. Mix with breadcrumbs, egg and salt. Add to the vegetable stew on pack into pawpaw. Cover with foil and set in a pan with a cup of water to bake in a moderate oven for an hour. Skin should not be eaten.


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The Event:John Legend at Madison Square Garden with special guest India.Arie
What We're Looking Forward To: The sheer musicality of these two very unique but fully complementary singer-songwriters is impressive. Chart-topper and Stevie Wonder collaborator India.Arie's albums have been getting more political of late - and she's got a fierce Earth mother vibe thing going these days. And with his ivories-tickling sets, unstoppable Grammy collector and anti-poverty activist Legend always manages to make even a mammoth arena like MSG feel intimate. Also, that guy can really wear a suit. Any chance he'll bust out "Nutmeg," his sexy tune from the Stephen Colbert Christmas Special? A girl can dream.
Where and When: Madison Square Garden, 8/13; 8PM.
Cost: $46-$90.50
More Info & Tickets:Website


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An Introduction to the "Holistic Vision" Project about Eye Floaters from the Newsletter written by athor Floco Tausin.
Eye floaters are dots and strands appearing in our visual fields and following the eyes' motions. Frequently they are also described as dark spots, streaks, thin hairs, small black lint, fluff balls, dust particles, little worms, rings, flitter, as well as cobwebs, threads, circles and oblong strings etc. It lies in the subjective nature of eye floaters that they wake different associations in different observers. Exact observations, however, reveal clear structures and regularities. Some of them are held basic by the seers of the Emmental (see Holistic Vision 1/09), and they shall be presented here. With some practice and patience, these basic observations can be made by most people:
The morphological regularity of eye floaters
The observation of eye floaters reveals dots (or spheres) and strands. The strands are filled with spheres more or less visible. The spheres are perfectly circular and concentric and show a core and a surround. Two contrasting types of spheres can be distinguished : such with bright surrounds and dark core, and such with dark surrounds and bright core.
The two contrasting
kinds of eye floater spheres.
"Relaxed" and "concentrated" eye floaters
Spheres and strings prove to be very dynamic, not only regarding their mobility but also regarding their size or "state": the very same sphere may appear big and diffuse or small and focused. The transition of one state to another is fluent and a matter of minutes or even seconds. For the sake of simplicity I distinguish between an initial or relaxed state and a final or concentrated state. Generally it seems as if most eye floaters were, at first, relaxed and thus bigger, nearer, and more transparent. With increasing time of observation, however, they change into a concentrated state. After abandoning the concentration, this latter state of the spheres and strands will change into the state of relaxation again; a quick glance to somewhere else may suffice.
The two kinds of eye floater spheres in transition from the relaxed state (left) to the concentrated state (right).
The light in the eye floaters
In the state of relaxation, eye floaters seem transparent. With increasing concentration, however, they become brighter. Small concentrated dots or spheres shine very intensively. This effect may be influenced by "outer" factors: brighter lighting conditions as well as greater proximity of the concentration point (e.g. if floaters are seen in an area near the nose tip) favor this illuminating effect; looking at the spheres through the eyelashes or a pinhole in a sheet of paper also makes them seem concentrated. The "inner" factor of one's ability to concentrate is crucial, too, since the shining state of floaters can be established purely by observation and concentration – and is relatively fast lifted again by diversion.
The sinking of the spheres and strands
Eye floaters react sensitive to eye movements. It seems as if they would always move in the direction in which we look. But as soon as we keep the eyes still and observe the floaters from the angle of vision, we recognize that they sink – sometimes faster, sometimes slower. With regard to this, proximity plays a role: the bigger and nearer spheres and strands sink faster while the smaller dots in the back move down more slowly. This sinking is not irreversible: a firm look upwards suffices to make disappeared eye floaters reappear in the visual center again.
Source and Literature:
Tausin, Floco:
Mouches Volantes. Eye Floaters as Shining Structure of Consciousness. Bern: Leuchtstruktur Verlag 2009 (ISBN-13: 978-3033003378)
Leuchtstrukur Verlag, Switzerland (Distribution of mystic books)
Website: http://www.eye-floaters.info
News "Holistic Vision": http://www.eye-floaters.info/news/news.htm
Tags alternativ treatment, spirituality, consciousness
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Address Postfach 1357
City/Town Bern
State/Province Bern
Zip 3072
Country Switzerland


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Master Surgeon in Thoracic Surgery
The Master Surgeon in Thoracic Surgery (MSTS) program is focused on improving the safety and quality of thoracic patient care worldwide and lowering the overall costs associated with successful treatment. Data from MSTS participants will be used to determine which treatment works best for which patient under what circumstances. This information enables clinicians, patients, payors and policymakers to make informed decisions that improve healthcare at the individual level and for the patient population as a whole. The MSTS program helps position thoracic surgeons at the forefront of care and demonstrate the improved outcomes and cost savings that result from a quality initiative.
If you're interested in accreditation, please complete the Accreditation Program Information Form or contact email@example.com.
1: Surgical Experience
The applicant has served as the primary surgeon for at least 200 thoracic surgery procedures in their lifetime and performs at least 150 procedures annually.
Procedures performed at any facility may be used toward volume. Surgeons must have served as the primary surgeon for a procedure to qualify. If the surgeon's role as primary surgeon has been properly documented, procedures performed during fellowship may qualify. Cases in which the surgeon served as co-surgeon or assisting surgeon do not qualify.
Each procedure used for volume must be thoroughly documented to enable a medical chart review. Volume waivers may be approved in some circumstances.
Procedures that do not qualify include:
- Diagnostic procedures
- Biopsies
2: Equipment and Instruments
The applicant performs thoracic surgery in a facility that has a full line of equipment and surgical instruments to provide appropriate perioperative care for their patients. The applicant's facility has documented training for appropriate staff in the safe operation of this equipment.
3: Surgeon Dedication
The applicant spends a significant portion of their effort in the field of thoracic surgery and has active, full privileges in thoracic surgery at the facility participating in their inspection.
The applicant is board-certified or an active candidate for board certification in thoracic surgery by the highest certifying authority available.
The applicant completes at least 24 hours of continuing medical education (CME) focused on thoracic surgery every three years. Only American Medical Association Physician's Recognition Award Category 1 Credits or similar credits from a CME accrediting body outside the United States or three national or international meetings qualify.
4: Clinical Pathways and Standardized Operating Procedures
The applicant formally develops and implements clinical pathways that facilitate the standardization of perioperative care for thoracic surgery procedures. The following pathways are required:
- Anesthesia, including monitoring and airway management
- Perioperative care, including monitoring, pain management and airway management
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention and management
- Instructions for identification, evaluation and management of early warning signs of complications.
- Preoperative patient preparation, evaluation, patient education, consent and plan of action for discharge that includes follow-up and any necessary patient education
- Preoperative multidisciplinary evaluation, education, preparation, admission workup/evaluation and informed consent of the patient
- Preoperative pulmonary preparation and long-term postoperative pulmonary patient rehabilitation
- Smoking cessation education and support
Each applicant surgeon performs each surgical procedure in a standardized manner as allowed by variations in operative circumstances.
Each applicant surgeon uses a template for operative note dictation that ensures proper collection of data for surgical procedures.
5: Surgical Team and Support Staff
The applicant has nurses and/or physician extenders who provide education and care to patients. The applicant performs thoracic surgery in a facility that has an operative team trained to care for thoracic surgery patients.
The applicant ensures appropriate staff are provided with ongoing, regularly scheduled staff education in-services to ensure they have a basic understanding of thoracic surgery and the appropriate management of the thoracic surgery patient. In-service topics must include:
- Signs and symptoms of common postoperative complications
- Equipment and surgical instruments
- Clinical pathways
6: Patient Education
The applicant must provide all thoracic surgery patients with comprehensive preoperative patient education.
The applicant must also have a process for obtaining informed surgical consent and selecting procedures that are most appropriate for each patient's condition.
7: Continuous Quality Assessment
The applicant must collect prospective outcomes data on all patients who undergo thoracic surgery procedures in SRC's Outcomes Database (or a similar qualifying database) in a manner consistent with applicable patient privacy and confidentiality regulations. This de-identified data must be available to SRC for initial and renewal inspections or upon request.
Initial Fees
Application Fee: $1,650 USD
- Discounts may be available for surgeons that participate in multiple accreditation programs. Contact SRC for details.
- Upon payment of application fees, applicants achieve Provisional Status and gain access to SRC's Outcomes Database at no additional charge.
Site Inspection Fees
Site Inspection: $1,175 USD
- Inspections for Master Surgeon accreditations are performed on site at the surgeon's location.
- The site inspection fee covers a one-day inspection with one site inspector and includes one Master Surgeon. A day will be added to the site inspection for every additional co-applicant surgeon. Each additional day is $925.
- Applicants are responsible for arranging and paying for the site inspector's hotel, ground transportation and, if needed, an interpreter/translator. These items are not included in the standard site inspection fee.
- Renewal inspections are required every three years to ensure ongoing program compliance.
Recurring Fees
Annual Fee: $1,650 USD
- Annual participation fees will be billed one year after applicants achieve Provisional Status and each year thereafter.
Fees are subject to change without notice and are not refundable. Payment of required fees does not guarantee accreditation.


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Ace Ratchet Collar
Mekjarvik 14,
4070 Randaberg,
Sales Office Western Hemisphere
5750 N Sam Houston Pkwy E, Suite 403
Houston, Texas
Ace Ratchet Collar (ARC)
The Ace Ratchet Collar (ARC) is a patented tool that reliably anchors accesories to casing without a complex installation process or tool with troulbesome set screws. The 2-piece design is press-fit together to securethe collar to the casing off-line. The ARC permanently locks together to deliver extremely high holding forces under all opertating conditions without affecting drift, and can be used with any 3rd party centralizer or casing accessory.
The ARC can be taken drectly from the shelf and installed onto any size and grade API pipe in yield strenghts up to 140kse. The ARC is available in standard, slim & ultra-slim models, and are manufactured from 4140 steel or chrome materials. Non-standard sizes or materials are available upon request.
Slim design for close-toleranse applications
No reduction of casing ID
Install at the pipe yard or rig
Hand-held installation tool
Mounts directly to pipe
Quick and easy installation
Independent of weight, grade & thread
Minimal inventory