text:
B-Mets Come Alive Late in Comeback Win, 4-3
BINGHAMTON, NY – Cesar Puello's two-run double down the first base line capped a four-run eighth inning in the Binghamton Mets 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Erie SeaWolves on Monday night at NYSEG Stadium. The B-Mets used three hits and two Erie errors in the decisive inning in the series-opening win.
After getting handcuffed for seven innings by Erie starter Warwick Saupold, the B-Mets broke through against the Erie bullpen. Facing reliever Michael Morrison and trailing 3-0, Alonzo Harris started the comeback by reaching on Corey Jones' fielding error at third. Darrell Ceciliani followed with a single and Josh Rodriguez walked to load the bases.
With Allan Dykstra at the plate, catcher James McCann fired to third in attempt to nab Harris, but his throw skipped into left field, allowing Harris to score. Dykstra followed by hammering an RBI double to left, cutting Erie's lead to one. Puello capped the comeback by bouncing a two-run, go-ahead double down the first baseline, plating Rodriguez and Dykstra.
The SeaWolves had jumped out to an early lead by tagging B-Mets starter Erik Goeddel for three runs in the first four innings. Daniel Field homered in the first, James McCann collected an RBI single in the third and Luis Castillo added a run-scoring double in the fourth.
Erie's run in the fourth proved to be their last. Goeddel battled to complete five innings and handed the reins to Josh Edgin in the sixth. The lefty allowed two hits, but no runs thanks to Cory Vaughn's strong throw to the plate, retiring Castillo to end the inning. Edgin returned for the seventh and posted a perfect frame.
Chase Huchingson (1-0) retired all three batters he faced in the eighth and became the winner after Binghamton's four-run eighth inning. Jeff Walters racked up his league-leading seventh save with a shutout ninth. Morrison (1-1) suffered the loss.
Saupold settled for the no-decision after tossing seven shutout innings. The righty surrendered just four hits and allowed only one runner to reach third base. Goeddel was taken off the hook thanks to Binghamton's comeback after giving up three runs on eight hits.
The B-Mets (13-11) continue their four-game set against the SeaWolves (12-10) Tuesday night at 6:35 PM. LHP Mark Cohoon (2-0, 7.11) fills in for Binghamton against LHP Matt Crouse (2-1, 3.68). The Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame Show begins at 6:20 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF.
POSTGAME NOTES: It was Binghamton's first win in 2013 when trailing after seven innings…Edgin made his 2013 B-Mets debut after pitching in 11 games with the New York Mets to start the season…Dykstra extended his hitting streak to ten games


text:
- Written by webmin
So, Hemmings Nation, Jack Shea has placed a good amount of faith in you. Noting what sleuthing we've done on the cars and locations in old photographs in the past, he sent along this photograph of his grandparents, one of a larger stash of photographs of them vacationing in New England in the 1930s and 1940s. Jack writes:
The one I enclosed is a typical shot with the car prominently positioned front and center! My grandparents on both sides where real car people, having bought more than the usual number in their life time. My Grandfather in the photo is Patrick Haligan a WW1 Veteran who also was a Jersey City NJ firefighter for 37 years and a New York City Liquor Control Officer from 1945 to 1954.
Jack also supplied a location of Watkins Glen, New York, though so far I've found no reference to a Sigrid Lodge or High View House in Watkins Glen. There was a High View House hotel in Haines Falls, New York, down in the Catskills, and another one in the Catskills near Liberty, New York, that made headlines in 1962 when it burned down, killing four people.
As for the 1936 Chevrolet, it appears to be a Master Deluxe, perhaps a sedan, judging from the distance between windshield and rear window.
Posted in Blog
Tagged Chevrolet Master Deluxe, family albums 'n four-speeds, High View House, Sigrid Lodge, Watkins Glen New York

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tagged: waivers
Phillies Fire Sale Still Burning
In an unexpected move today, the Phillies traded Joe Blanton to the Dodgers after he cleared waivers. The Phils will get either cash or a "player to be named later," which is usually a low-level minor leaguer. Blanton will join Shane Victorino along with many other players to join the Dodgers just this week. At least he will have company.
While the Dodgers are trying to buy a winner, the Phillies are trying dump a losing season. This last trade of Blanton clears about $3 million more in salary this year, which must be an attempt to avoid paying the luxury tax.
Blanton was as surprised as the rest of us by the move. He was slated to start tonight's game against the D-Backs and instead, wound up packing his bags just hours before first pitch.
It also looks like the Dodgers tried to claim Cliff Lee off waivers today, but Ruben Amaro Jr. says they will pull him back. However, with the rate the Dodgers are throwing money around, do not be surprised if Amaro is maybe planning a trade instead to squeeze a little more out of L.A. Just a thought…a very scary one.
So is the fire sale over? Amaro had better be careful to avoid burning this team straight down to the ground…
"LIKE" us on Facebook for more updates & photos!
Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography


text:
Woo Hoo!
Fox announced Thursday it renewed its Emmy-winning animated series "The Simpsons" for a 23rd season, or put another way, through episode 515. Ay Carumba.
"Like many 22-year-olds, 'The Simpsons' is extremely happy remaining at home, on Fox, and hopes it doesn't have to go out into the real world for many years to come," said Al Jean, the show's exec producer, E! News reported.
U.S. & World
Springfield's finest trails just two other prime-time programs in episode counts, according to New York mag's Vulture blog. "Lassie" was on the air through 588 episodes, while "Gunsmoke" survived for 635, Vulture reported.
While loyal "Simpson" viewers debate the merits and weaknesses of particular seasons, Homer and co.'s reach beyond the airwaves keeps expanding.
In June, Entertainment Weekly gave Homer Simpson the edge over Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the title of greatest character in pop culture.
The Vatican's official newspaper also claimed Homer last month, asserting that the oafish family patriarch was a Catholic because of an episode where Homer considered converting.
Jean told Vulture that the show, which Matt Groening created before the age of the PC, has "grown up with the Internet."
No doubt. A YouTube clip of a recent intro by graffiti artist Bansky boasts more than 5 million views. In the segment satirizing Fox, sweatshop workers are shown slaving over cartoon cells and Simpsons merchandise in an underground Asian lair.
The show also made headlines recently for booking Katy Perry as a guest star to appear in a live action segment after the artist's Sesame Street vid was deemed too provocative.
Expect Halle Berry, Jon Hamm and Martha Stewart to also make guest spot next season, according to E!


text:
BMW 1 series F20 1K2 Lowers Front/Rear 45/50 mm Suspension Lowering Springs
Brand New Genuine FK Lowering Springs
- Year: from 10/2011
- Lowering approx 45 up to 50 mm
- without approval
- Material: Chrome silicon steel
- Lowering springs FK
- premium processing
Would you like to improve the performance of your vehicle by lowering? Then you are in the right place.
FK are high quality lowering springs which are manufactured under the strict guidelines of DIN EN ISO 9001-2001 on CNC winding machines from chrome-silicon steel with plastic-coated and high-quality corrosion protection.
By lowering, the stability of your vehicle is improved, particularly in cornering which allows for a sportier driving style. These springs also give your vehicle a more dynamic look, which for many drivers plays an important role. With FK lowering springs you can reduce the ride height up to 75mm.
In addition to the sporty look, these springs will also improve your vehicle allowing a much sportier driving style.
• Reduced body roll
• Reduced rebound during acceleration
• No compromise on comfort.
You can use your standard OEM shocks when lowering up to 40mm. If lowering beyond 40mm you will need to use shortened sport shock absorbers otherwise the chassis may no longer work properly and can lead to loud noises, there is also the risk of tilted lowering springs. It is important to also ensure that the lowering springs and shock absorbers are optimally matched. You will also find lowering springs with shock absorbers in our shop.
See our shop for more aftermarket and performance parts.
This item may be despatched from Germany or the UK depending on stock availability so may take 2-3 working days to be despatched.
If you are working to a timetable please contact us before purchase to obtain a more precise delivery timescale.


text:
Water for Business, a new guide specifically designed for businesses to help them identify water tools and initiatives most suitable for business needs and environmental sustainability was released today by WBCSD, IUCN, and SustainAbility.
The guide, which is available online, will help businesses to use water more effectively and support their efforts in adopting more sustainable solutions in partnership with other stakeholders.
The guide outlines the benefits of the different tools available, illustrates how a combination of complementary tools can best meet wide ranging needs, and helps businesses to manage the complexity of water-related challenges.
Key Issues:
• We rely on water to grow our food, produce our goods, and generate our energy. "Business has a leading role to play in the management of natural resources, especially in the use of freshwater resources, for which there exists no substitute," says James Dalton, Coordinator, Global Initiatives, IUCN Global Water Programme. "The Water for Business guide can support businesses to find their way in tools aimed at managing water in a more equitable and effective manner, in the interest of companies' performance, balanced with growing population demands and healthy ecosystems."
• Businesses need to have frameworks within which they can measure, manage and assess their impacts, especially those moving into emerging markets. "This is an essential guide for business, especially when you consider that 80 percent of the global population now lives in areas where the threat to water security is high," says Joppe Cramwinckel, Director, World Business Council for Sustainable Development Water. "That, coupled with the spread of industrial and agricultural activity, is putting additional stress on local aquifers."
• Water is becoming an increasingly precious resource for businesses across sectors and around the world. "Managing water effectively—both within and beyond the facility fence line—is essential to ensuring that both businesses and communities prosper long into the future," says Jeff Erikson, Senior VP at SustainAbility. "Water for Business can help business leaders sort through the myriad of tools and resources available, and select the ones that are most useful for their individual situation."
For more information, please contact:
Vanessa Whittall, WBCSD Communications Manager, t +41 22 839 3157, e email@example.com
Claire Warmenbol, IUCN Water Programme, t +41 79 404 1973, e email@example.com
Jeff Erikson, Senior Vice President SustainAbility, t +1 202 315 4170, e firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
I am Anders Karlsson, and I have been working in the RDBMS industry for many, possibly too many, years. In this blog, I write about my thoughts on RDBMS technology, happenings and industry, and also on any wild ideas around that I might think up after a few beers.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Database Innovation, pleeease!
Talking about B-Trees, isn't it time we retired them soon? There should be better ways if indexing data. Look at something like Mongo. With MongoDB, you really want to have your indexes in-memory, all of them, without that, performance will be awful (there are exceptions though, but in general this is true). Now, a B-Tree is an index mechanism that has worked well, as the structure of it lends itself to good performance be it on disk or memory, although in general, a B-Tree is built for disk-based storage with caching; for in-memory use, there are better, more efficient, indexing (or access) methods. So if an index in Mongo is supposed to be in memory, why choose a disk-oriented indexing mechanism? T-Trees are there, they are optimized for in-memory use and has been around for ages? I guess the answer is tradition.
Tell you what, tradition is a BAD BAD argument for anything in an industry that changes as fast as the IT-industry. Would anyone suggest that Facebook base their hardware platform in Motorola 6800 CPUs? I think not. But the B-Tree predates the 6800 by far.
Which is not to say that the B-Tree is so bad (or that the Motorola 6800 is either), it's not, but we have much more diverse needs these days, so there should be more diverse access methods in use, but the B-Tree persists, despite that.
And look at SSD-disks. Yeah, the future, right? A largely random access style memory hooked onto an interface designed for electro-mechanical harddisks in the 1970's. Innovative? I think not. Apple got it right in attaching Flash on the Mobo and PCI-based Flash is growing and coming down in rice, so it seems things are moving there at least.
But in any case, Flash / SSD isn't an electromechanical disk with cylinders and sectors, despite what the SSD interface tells us. And if the B-Tree works well on disk, we talk electro-mechanical disks. Where is the access methods designed specifically to reap the benefits of direct attached Flash?
And to be honest, the SQL-Based RDBMS, something which I have spent my career with, in one shape or te other, for 25'is years, is hopelessly outdated, but that is not why I'm no big fan of the NoSQL movement. Rather, my problem is just that the NoSQL movement really doesn't represent something new or is a disruptive technology in any way. Where, my friends, is the disruptive database technology? A Technology built for (you are sitting down now, I hope) the 21st century, If you missed it, we are there now, since 11 years back actually, so start inventing.
And yes, I know about the different MySQL variations with sharding, storage engines etc. etc. But that is not terribly innovative or new. The closest we get to a disruptive technology in the database world recently, is the column based storage databases. But thses are not gereric enough in my mind, and also, most of them have a SQL based interface tucked onto them. And I understand why they want SQL, they need this to be able to sell it, as all consumers of database products (most at least) wants SQL to integrate it with some tool or infrastructure. And I understand this too, but it brings up a question. Where is the customer or end-users who is willing to sacrifice using a query language as old as Led Zepplin to instead get the benefits from some new disruotive database technology?
But this is, I'm afraid, a bit of and chicken-and-egg-situation. The customer isn't requesting innovative products as that technology doesn't exist much, and the products aren't developed and research isn't much done as the customers aren't there. This really has to change soon, and I am sure it will. If for no other reason so that I can retire in peace, knowing that my SQL skills are truly outdated and I will not have to work, because noone wants my skills!
Lookiing forward to retirement
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
MongoDB for MySQL Folks part 4 - Sharding
With MongoDB, it's performance depends on having large portions of data in RAM, and this is no different from MySQL, but it's even more true with MongoDB. But if you were running on a single machine, the amount of RAM you can use is limited, there is a limit to how much RAM you can (c)RAM into a single box. This is will limit performance of course, and is again not much different from MySQL. What is different is that MongoDB has a solution: transparent sharding (yes, I am aware of the different transparent sharding implementation of MySQL, like Scalebase, but that is a different story, that I will get into at a later stage).
Without Sharding, we would not have gone into using MongoDB here at Recorded Future. Why anyone would use MongoDB in the versions before when sharding was introduced, is beyond me.
MongoDB sharding from above
From a high-level view, this is how sharding works in MongoDB:
- Data is distributed across one or more mongo servers automatically. A server may be either a single MongoDB server or a replica set (more on this in a later post).
- Data is distributed in ranges in a user-defined shard-key. The shard key is, as is obvioious, a unique key. It may well be the unique _id identifier that MongoDB assigns to each document, but that is not necessary. Each such range is called a chunk and is some 64 Mb is size by default.
- Each MongoDB server holds a number of these chunks.
- Balancing a sharded setup involves moving chunks between the servers and this is automatic. In a perfectly balanced MongoDB shard setup, each involved server has the same number of chunks.
There are actually three kinds of servers involved here:
- Mongo shard servers. These are the MongoDB servers or replicasets that holds the actual sharded data. These are the same servers as for a non-sharded MongoDB setup, and there is no stopping you connecting to it just like that, accessing the sharded data in a non sharded way. Also, there is no stopping you adding databases, collections and documents to this server. The server may well hold both sharded and non-sharded data. The latter seems like an advantage, but actually is not and should probably be avoided. The number of mongo shard servers or shard replica sets determines how much data is distributed obviously, with 2 shard servers, each server will hold about 50% of the data etc.
- Mongo "router" mongos. The mongos process is the process that the application connects to, and it is responsible for distributing a query between to the appropriate shard servers for a particular query. This is a different program than the other mongo servers, and it also has the role of performing the automatic balancing. The interface to it, from the point-of-view of the poor old application, is the same though, so an application that works with a non-sharded MongoDB should also work with a sharded one, but it connects to mongos instead of mongod. You may have as many mongos servers as you please.
- The Mongo "config server". This is process that runs the usual mongod server, but it has a special role. Instead of storing the actual data, the mongoc manages the metadata, in other words, the config server data tells mongos in which mongo shard server an actual document is located, based on some query. It might seem like this server is a single point of failure, but it is not, you may have 3 of them, in which case they are replicated using a special mechanism.
Setting up MongoDB sharding
There are a couple of weird issues when you configure MongoDB for sharding, and some which are not so obvious. What I have described above is how the MongoDB server processes interact, and setting that up is difficult enough, although far from as difficult as it used to be.
You might be tempted to think that once the above setup is running, all data will be sharded just like that. And that would be nice and that would be the natural way for things to work, but hey, this is MongoDB, so it was close, but no cigar! No, you still have to tell the system that a particular database is sharded, and then enable sharding and determine the key to use for each and every individual collection in that database.
And again, as often is the case with mongo, some things are controlled from the commandline, some things are in configuration files and some things are stored in MongoDB itself. Also, in many cases, even though you have to set certain things in a configuration file, they end up in the database itself anyway. Why this is so you have to ask someone else than yours truly.
So, to get thing straight, this is how you set up sharding with Mongo in not so few and not so easy steps:
- Start your mongod daemons that stores the actual data. Start them with the --shardsvr option enabled. Apparently this is no longer needed, but I think it's a good thing to put it there anyway.
- Start your mongoc servers, you have 1 or 3 of these. These are mongod servers running with the --configsvr option.
- Wait until the config servers are up and running. All of them! This is not well documented, but mongos will not start unless at least 1 config server is running, and the first time around, ALL config servers must be running!
- Start your mongos servers (routers). Make sure that they actually start, if the config servers cannot be contacted, then mongos will just fail with a message in the logfile.
- Now, we must tell the config servers where our shards are, lets say we have two of them, "datasvr" and "datasvr2", both running on port 33010. Then enter the mongo shell, connecting to the mongos host and port (in this case mongos_host and 33011 respectively). First you must be in the admin database, and then you can add the shards:
$ mongo --host mongos_host:33011
mongo> use admin
mongo> db.runCommand({addShard: "datasvr1:33010"});
mongo> db.runCommand({addShard: "datasvr2:33010"});
- Now we can make sure that we shard the data we have, so enable sharding for the database in question, lets call the database "mydb". Enter the mongo shell and connect with one of the mongos servers, again in the admin database:
mongo> use admin
mongo> db.runCommand({enablesharding: "mydb"});
- And then we have one step left: enable sharding on the collections we want to shard, again from the mongo commandline connected to mongos. Here we specify the name of the collection and the key used for sharding. In this case, we use the always present unique _id column as the shard key and the collection is called mycoll:
mongo> use admin
mongo> db.runCommand({shardcollection: "mydb.mycoll", key: {_id: 1}});
Does the commands above that you run from mongos look weird to you? Like the key specification key: {_id: 1}? Yes, at first it looks awkward, even to me. But after a while you get used to it and can start to appreciate the strict Java Script / JSON syntax used all over the place in MongoDB, it is actually quite powerful and easy to use, once you get used to it.
Now, we have enabled sharding for one colletion here. If you have been through all this fuzz to create a sharded setup, I guess you would want all tables in that setup to use the powerful sharding mechanism? Like, automatically? Nope, can't do. You have to enable sharding manually for each MongoDB database and collection you create.
I plan to dig deeper into mongo in a later post, to show some monitoring features, how to use Java Script, how to set up replication and some other things. But for now, this is it!


text:
George Stewart from Apollo Blinds Hamilton has taken a big step closer to scooping the prestigious BFA HSBC 2010 Franchisee of the Year Award, supported by Express Newspapers.
He travelled down to London's Canary Wharf to face a panel of judges from The British Franchise Association led by Sir Bernard Ingham and senior managers of HSBC and Express Newspapers.
The award is the jewel in the crown of franchising, and franchisees from every BFA member company from McDonalds down, had the opportunity to put forward franchisees that have done something particularly innovative to drive their businesses forward in these difficult trading times.
George told judges how he had doubled his turnover since February this year by embracing social media to develop a new testimonial driven sales strategy. He explained that he's not completely comfortable with computers but he has persevered with it and has quickly reaped the results by using social media sites Facebook and Twitter, in conjunction with his own Apollo Blinds website.
The canny Scot explained that using social media is simple, easily transferable and, most importantly, free.
Apollo General Manager Gary Chambers, who also attended the panel interview, explained how George has become the vanguard of social media usage within Apollo Blinds and the rest of the network are now following suit.
We're all keeping our fingers crossed for George. He will find out whether he's scooped the title at a ceremony in Birmingham at the end of September.


text:
ONARCHITECTURE- Picture taking: Bank mural up for grabs
Last week we reported that developer Oliver Kuttner's design crew wanted to save the large painted mural adorning the inside of the old Boxer building on the Mall, which Kutter bought recently and is in the process of renovating. At first, according to construction foreman John Haywood, the idea was to leave it uncovered and simply work around it, a delicate task considering all the interior demolition going on. But now Kuttner and company have decided to have the painting removed.
"We wanted to give it a new home," says Gate Pratt, one of the architects working with Kuttner on the project. "And it looks like we might have a taker." Pratt says the owners of another commercial property on the Mall with a big lobby have expressed interest, but he declined to say who until they've formally accepted. In the meantime, Pratt says that anyone else interested in the mural, which Kuttner is willing to part with for free, is welcome to ask for it.
The 50-foot long, 10-foot high mural, divided in three sections, offers a sweeping pastoral image of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a view of Monticello from Montalto, and the City of Charlottesville beyond the tree line. It was painted by H. Warren Billings in 1955, according to his signature on the painting. And according to an accompanying plaque, it was commissioned and offered as a gift to Citizens Bank and Trust by Mrs. Inez Duff Bishop. But when Pratt tried to find out more about the painting and the artist, he came up empty-handed.
"Obviously, it doesn't belong in the Louvre," he says, "but I thought there might be some general interest in the painting and the artist."
Pratt called Jean Collier at the University of Virginia Art Museum, who managed to track down Billings' son, a professor of history at the University of New Orleans.
"I know the mural of which you speak quite well because I helped the artist, my father, hang it," Warren M. Billings wrote in an e-mail to Collier. "It was one of many he painted during his career. Dad died 20 years ago at the age of 92. It's nice to hear that it still hangs in the bank."
Later, Pratt contacted the younger Billings to let him know the painting was going to be moved.
"As you perhaps have discovered," Billings wrote, offering more details about its application to help in its removal, "the mural is painted on canvas. Dad painted it in his studio in Richmond, then rolled it up, carted it off to Charlottesville, and hung it using a high grade of wallpaper paste... I can say that it was wheat-based because I can still recall its dough-like smell.
"Once the mural was in place, Dad touched it up as necessary and blended the edges in with the surrounding wall. When everything was well dry, he gave the mural a wash of thinned buttermilk, which he said served to tone down any sharp highlights that could catch the sun."
Pratt is also hoping to locate an art conservator with the knowledge and skill to remove the painting and place it elsewhere without damaging it. "It's not as easy as grabbing it and yanking it off the wall," he says.
During the search for Billings, Pratt also stumbled upon some unique history about the building when he contacted local archaeologist Ben Ford. For instance, he learned that the eastern half of the building (the building was originally two buildings before the bank renovation) was the original home of Woolworth's, which opened in the early 1920s and was there for nearly 40 years.
Home to a bookstore and frame shop in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the corner lot the old Boxer building occupies was sold to Citizens Bank and Trust in 1930. Although no photos of the bank built on the spot in 1931 survive, an old article in the Daily Progress hailed it as a futuristic wonder.
"Its brick, concrete and limestone construction is pieced together in remarkable simplicity," the Progress reported of the new structure. "On the front are unique floodlights. One enters the building through modernistic aluminum sliding doors to step on a floor of terrazzo blocked off with brass strips.... The architecture was explained in detail by Elmer E. Burruss, who incidentally stated he believes the modernistic design set forth in the building will eventually dominate American construction. ...The entire design is one of magnificent simplicity."
Apparently, it was also the only bank in the United States to be opened at the height of the Great Depression in 1931.
It wasn't until 1965 that Citizens Bank and Trust (later Central Fidelity) bought the former Woolworth's space, expanded the interior, and built a new façade designed by architect Joseph C. Laramore Jr. (Architectural records also show that the two paintings on either side of Billings' signed central piece didn't go up until after the bank expanded the building.)
The new façade– made of marble, ceramic, and glass, and heralded as a modern "classic" by the Progress at the time– was an effort to blend the two buildings into one.
Forty years later, Kuttner and architects Pratt and David Kariel will attempt to unblend the two buildings and then blend them back together. Might the local press heap as much praise on Kuttner and company's new design as they did on the building's previous incarnations? Stay tuned.
Kuttner and Co. think they've found a home for this mural from the old Boxer building, but it's not quite a done deal.
"We wanted to give it a new home," says architect Gate Pratt of the mural in the old Boxer building. "And it looks like we might have a taker."


text:
Anyone sign up? www.nanowrimo.org SIGN UP, WRITE YOUR NOVEL. WE CAN FORM SUPPORT GROUPS. My story so far, please critique.
A cigarette dripping sloppy embers into the glass ashtray, the slight hum of the air-conditioner envisioned and brought to reality on my desktop, locked in my drab bare-boned bedroom, as I clutch at tufts of my hair, biting my lower lip, looking at the empty page in front of me, my other hand on my knees. My veins itch when I get upset. Lifting my head slowly, I rest my heavy fingers on the lead typewriter, my legs wrapped around the small wooden chair I live in.
HEY WHATCHA WRITING? The paper queried of me, its paper hands slowly pulling itself out of the golden typewriter.
Its the paper! A banshee wail escapes my lips as I look at the paper, two small pencil-eyes drawn around the radii, and a tongue hanging limply out of the corner. I sob and slam my hand into the table. The paper was 11, with a small bejeweled earring on its side, two hands, and feets like big white mouse gloves.
Nothing, paper. Nothing at all. I choke out, my whole body trembling. I havent slept in days, and my body burns with frustration. Will you help me?
I look down at my sleeves, wrapped around my elbows, small red scratches up my sinewy veins from the impatience.
A stoic look drapes onto the papers face, his tree-claw grasping my wrist as his bottom lip quivers, pulling a box out from his paper-ass.
I want I want to show you something. Do you want to see it?


text:
Police: Former Cecil Township police chief took DEA funds to gamble
John Pushak surrenders to face charges
A police chief who resigned after nearly 40 years as an officer in a southwestern Pennsylvania township has surrendered on charges that he took $10,000 from a federal Drug Enforcement Administration fund to gamble.
Sixty-four-year-old John Pushak resigned in April as Cecil Township police chief. He surrendered Tuesday on charges of theft and misapplying government funds, which state police say he used to gamble at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, also in Washington County.
Pushak's defense attorney declined comment Wednesday, but court papers indicate the former chief had repaid all the money by the time he resigned. Misusing the money still constitutes theft, however, because the money was only supposed to be used for drug investigations and police equipment.
Police say Pushak withdrew the money from automatic teller machines 31 times from 2010 through January 2013.


text:
This event has passed.
Ralphs- Spay/Neuter and Vaccines
March 3 @ 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
If you just need vaccines for your cat or dog no appointment is necessary. We do vaccines from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm at our clinics on a first come first serve basis. Click Here For Prices
Please call or email for a spay or neuter surgery at (855)-499-5829 or email us at email@example.com


text:
Reviewed By Simon G (Portland, OR) Reviewed for a 2013 Mini Cooper —5/21/2017 2:13 PM
As I'm not experienced with chains I chose this model on the promise of their being easy to put on. My first try in my garage was a bit of a pain but I soon got the hang of it. This all turned out for the best when I found my 2013 Mini Cooper Countryman S spinning after I parked in piled up snow at the edge of the street. Without gloves, and wearing only my gym clothes I was able to get both chains on in under a minute and immediately be on my way! Highly recommended


text:
Heidi Dettman
Executive Director of Curriculum (K-12)
Rockford Public Schools
Chair, Career Awareness Team
Bio/Professional Experience
I spent 10 years in the classroom teaching high school English. These past 4 years I have been in RPS 205: 2 years as Dean of Secondary Language Arts, 1 year as Director of Secondary Curriculum, 1 year as Executive Director of K-12 Curriculum, which is my current position.
You are new to the role as Chair for the Career Awareness Team. How would you describe your experience in this role so far?
So far, I've been getting to know the work of the team. I've participated as a member of the Capstone Committee for a few years, collaborating with teachers and community members to design the Capstone experience for our students. It's thrilling to see the project come to fruition through the Career Awareness A-Team and learn more about our community support system. The Career Awareness team is comprised of dedicated members who are committed to the success of our students. What a talented group to work alongside! This role has allowed me to greater understand the possibilities of working alongside Alignment Rockford to support our district's strategic plan and to consider the impact on our community as a whole when we collaborate.
Tell me about the initiative(s) the Career Awareness Team is working on?
Currently, we are supporting the pilot year of the English 12 Capstone project in each of our high schools. We are focused on bringing community members alongside our teachers and students to support innovation and problem-solving as students engage in real-world research grounded in issues present in our world today. Most notably, we featured industry leaders at our Capstone Kick-Off event who empowered our students with not only the information they need to drive their Capstone projects but also the confidence that our community believes in our students. Our current project is to bring community members into the classroom in two capacities: as workshop presenters and as small group consultants. We look forward to watching this course grow through such valuable partnerships.
What kind of results are you expecting from the Capstone Project?
We anticipate students who are increasingly engaged in school and in our community. We also anticipate stronger and deeper partnerships with each high school as our students and community members learn more about each other and explore the possibilities of working together. Finally, we anticipate learning a great deal to drive our success moving forward to create a sustainable model for the Capstone project as a culminating event in a student's course of study.
How do you feel that community involvement within the schools has impacted Rockford Public School students?
Judging by the conversations I heard at our Kick-Off Event and the students I have interacted with since then, I believe that having community involvement makes learning real for our students and provides a context for problem-solving. Students are beginning to see the application of their learning and, beyond that, application in their own community. It's powerful. And what's even better is that they are forming relationships with our community members, giving them even more opportunities to interact with people who believe in them and want to see them succeed.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thanks for a great opportunity to deepen this partnership to help us reach our goals!


text:
Farmer who was supported by community dies
Area farmers came together to help family
LYNDON STATION, Wis. — A farming community in the Lyndon Station area came together earlier this month to harvest a family's land after their father suffered a major stroke.
After the stroke, Bob Holig, 51, was hospitalized, partially paralyzed and put on a respirator.
Holig, a father of three, died on Sunday morning following complications from the stroke.
A family friend said Holig's family will continue their farming tradition in his memory.
When Holig was hospitalized earlier this month, 15 area farmers came together to help his family with the harvest.
A visitation is scheduled for Friday in Lyndon Station. Services and burial will take place Saturday. For more information on the funeral services and Holig's life, read his obituary here.


text:
David Allison necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 70 diseños de 15 diseñadores freelance.
Allisons - Trade Mark Agents and IP Consultants
Check out our website at http://www.allisons.com.hk . That will give a good description of who we are and what we do. Basically, we are an intellectual property firm based in Hong Kong and handle trade mark registration and general intellectual property matters in Hong Kong and the greater China region.
Please don't be constrained by the look and feel of the website - we knocked this up quickly just to have a presence. We are NOT wedded to this type of design/ look at all. However, the website will give you good information about what we do.
The key audience is other law firms worldwide who will use our trade mark services and other IP professionals.
We want a new logo which will be used for business cards, letter head, and websites.
We want a stand alone logo and not one that incorporates the name of the company or the letters of the company name. However, it would be good to see the finished logo on a sample business card or letter head just to get a feel of how it will work with the company name.
However, the goal is that the logo would be easily identifyable by itself as representing the firm - it will eventually be trade marked.
As an IP firm, we want something a bit creative, preferably with a high tech feel but one that will also appeal to professionals and lawyers. Simplicity also works for us.
Please no cartoons and please nothing involving "scales of justice", the "TM" or Copyright symbol or such like trite stuff.
Just get creative and show me something different ---I am really looking forward to your designs.
Please also provide designs in JPEG format and a format that will easily insert into a WORD document.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
I'm in town for a week and wind looks good on Thurs and Fri. I wanted to meet up with any kiters in the area. I'm a good kite launcher and would love to share an after session beer with anyone who wants to meet up and show me you home town spots.
Take it easy,


text:
Counting objects, inside and outside, longer and shorter, letter names, rhyming words and more.
Comparing numbers, names of shapes, consonant and vowel sounds, sight words and more.
Adding and subtracting, telling time, measurement, categories, nouns, verb tense, time order and more.
Place-value models, even and odd, regular and irregular plurals, contractions and more.
Multiplication facts, line graphs, possessive nouns, conjunctions, using a dictionary and more.
Adding decimals, calculating probabilities, synonyms, antonyms, homophones and more.
Quadrilaterals, adding fractions, prepositions, commonly confused words, modal verbs and more.
Percentages, variable expressions, Greek and Latin roots and affixes, personification and more.
Proportional relationships, rational numbers, phrases and clauses, allusions, connotations and more.
Linear functions, exponents, Pythagoras' theorem, active and passive voice, ellipses and more.
Quadratic equations, simultaneous equations, parallel language, figures of speech and more.
Congruent triangles, circles, surface area, audience and tone, word patterns, colons and more.
Trigonometric functions, polynomials, claims and counterclaims, supporting evidence and more.
Logarithmic functions, vectors, derivatives, writing arguments, supporting claims and more.
Prepare to test your limits: calculus skills are now available for year 12 and 13! Start practising
Pave the way for new readers and writers! English for reception and year 1 is here! Start practising
Find content to support nearly any lesson, with more than 5,000 skills covering maths and English.Browse skills
Pinpoint what your students know and exactly what to do next to help them improve.Learn how it works
See skill recommendations that help each student fill knowledge gaps and grow from where they are.Explore recommendations
Get real-time insights that help you make effective instructional decisions every day.View insights
My daughter loves the awards and is very keen to see what she has obtained after her hard work!
Angela D., parent
Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk


text:
Church Announcements
Area Church Events & News
Send a link to a friend
public is invited. All ages are welcome to
join in the games, snacks, songs, stories
and more fun -- and win prizes, too -- all
for free.
For answers to questions about the event,
call the church office, 732-6957.
The carnival is sponsored by the St. John
Christian Education Ministry.
[Text from
file received]
3rd Saturday
Logan County Love
Open to everyone
Logan County Love will once again provide a free
meal to anyone wishing to join. If you are
interested, please stop by and introduce
yourself as the group would love to see everyone
in the community. Come hungry and leave
fulfilled. For this month, the meal will include
chicken and noodles. If you are unable to drive
but would like a meal, call the church,
217-732-6957, between 5 and 6 pm.
St. John UCC, corner of
Seventh and Maple
5-6:30 pm
Lincoln Christian
Preschool will celebrate its 40th
year next year! Currently we are
accepting applications for the
2014-2015 school year.
Spots are filling every day, so
don't delay, sign up today! This is
an excellent opportunity for
children to prepare for kindergarten
in a Christian environment. Children
learn basic skills for reading,
writing, math and science as well as
socialization and self-care skills.
If you would like an application,
you may call the church office
(732-7618) or download one at
Spring Dinner
at Latham United Methodist Church
241 Walnut Street, Latham, IL
April 6, 2014 from 11am-1pm
Menu: Beef or Chicken and Noodles, Salad Bar, Dessert and
There is a lift, so don't let the steps stop you!
Carry-outs are available.
Garage and Bake Sale Saturday
April 12 from 8 to 1 pm at Lincoln Park District Ballroom,
Lincoln, IL Sponsored by Faith Lutheran Church, Lincoln, IL,
questions call
Middletown United Methodist Church
If you are in the area on any Sunday we invite you to stop in at
Middletown United Methodist Church. Service is at 9 AM and
Sunday School is at 10:30. We welcome you to worship with us.
Easter services are as follows
Maundy Thursday Service is 7 PM,
Sunrise Service is 6:30 AM with breakfast at 7:00AM.
What is so significant about this time of year? In the church
year it is the beginning of Lent. Jesus spent forty days in the
wilderness which was the beginning of events to come. Then it
was to be many events that led up to the resurrection of Jesus
from the grave. A victory that all mankind can be thankful for.
A few years ago I was privileged to visit the Holy Land. There
with the scripture one can be as if you were in 3D. Reading the
scripture and being right there when Easter took place. Realism
sets in like never before. There is some different thought as to
where the grave was but for sure the two chosen sites were both
We can be thankful for God's grace and Christ's sacrifice. We
are ALL recipients. This time of year we study the scriptures
that lead to Easter and those words that make us aware of His
goodness and mercy.
If you are in our area any Sunday we invite you to stop in at
Middletown United Methodist Church. Service is at 9 AM and
Sunday School is at 10:30. We welcome you to worship with
Intentional Church Conference
This conference sponsored by Lincoln Christian
University and Central Illinois churches
will be held on Saturday, April 26 at 9:00
a.m. at First Christian Church in Decatur, IL.
The featured speaker will be Dr. Don Wilson,
pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley in Arizona.
You may register online at
or by calling 217-875-3350
LCU Women's Conference
The 2014 Christian Women's Conference at
"Fear Not Tomorrow…God is Already There"
is coming April 30. Featured speakers will be
Dr. Ruth Graham (author and daughter of
Billy Graham) and Gwen Smith (author).
Lunch is included with the registration fee. You may register
online at
www.lincolnchristian.edu/cwc or by calling
217-732-3168 ext. 2215.
The quilting group will be meeting on Monday afternoons
each week at 1:00pm to make quilts for Harvest of
Talents. If you quilt or would like to learn how, come and
join us. Lincoln Christian Church, 204 N. McLean St,
Lincoln, IL.
< Top Stories index
Back to top


text:
|Steal the Spotlight with the Right Resume Format
by Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC
In this tough economy, employers can expect to weed through literally hundreds of submissions for a single job posting. That's why job seekers cannot expect a hiring manager to read every word of each resume he or she receives. There simply are not enough hours in the day to make that possible, since whittling down an applicant pool is a time-consuming task.
If an employer is only able to spend 30 seconds on your resume, you need to make sure the most important information is obvious. Otherwise, your resume will likely wind up in the rejection pile along with candidates who may not be as qualified as you are.
It's tempting to believe attracting an employer's attention can be achieved by opting for the most flashy resume possible. This often backfires, as job seekers tend to go overboard with visual bells and whistles when creating their own resumes. Utilizing too many options every word processing program offers for fonts, colors, and graphic elements can create more of a distraction than a solid presentation of your skills.
We already know that the audience being targeted is comprised of harried hiring managers reading a huge pile of resumes. Without realizing it, well-meaning job seekers who create multi-colored, crammed "works of art" are only hurting the eyes of important people able to give them a job!
The best format choice is simple, polished, professional – and most importantly, easy to read. If your resume contains any of the five features below, it's time to consider a redesign:
1. Lack of White Space
Are your margins pushed to the absolute max? Are you using 8-point font? A quest to squeeze in as much content as possible comes at a steep price. While it may look fine to you, most readers will find they need to keep a magnifying glass handy in order to read small print with ease. If your resume is too dense with text, you can bet the reader is just not going to make the extra effort to read through it.
It is better to be more concise in your wording -- or even sacrifice some content altogether. That way, you can hook an employer into reading some of what you did rather than overwhelming him or her with too much information that will not get read at all. Besides, you will have ample opportunities to expand upon your vast experience during an interview.
2. Colors
While some professions call for a more artistic flair on a resume, most do not. There's a big difference between a graphic designer and a corporate banker trying to pull off using a red page border. Rather than risk having your resume look amateurish with a rainbow motif, it's advisable to stick with basic black or gray tones.
3. Photos, Graphics & Logos
A resume is not the appropriate place for a photo, graphic, or logo for a variety of reasons. Strictly speaking about formatting, it's a bad idea. Such items will increase the file size of your resume, make it more likely to get snagged by a spam filter, and create an inconvenient and time-consuming downloading process.
4. Too Many Bullets
Bullets are a great formatting device to create emphasis, but some job seekers like bullets so much they bullet practically everything. If you bullet everything, the emphasis is lost because the text drowns in a sea of bullets. For example, if you have a job description formatted as a long list of bullets, it will be hard for the reader to identify what's important. Bullets should be used to draw attention to your achievements, but not to describe basic job duties. That way, if an employer does nothing more than skim your resume, he'll notice the most impressive accomplishments first.
5. Fancy Fonts
The only characteristic that makes a font best for a resume is that it is easy to read. Sticking to one typeface will also spare the reader from eye strain.
Less is often more where resumes are concerned. Let your qualifications shine by allowing them to be your resume's centerpiece, and you will set yourself apart from your competition.
About the Author:
Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country's leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm's credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the "best resume writers in North America," quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee -- interviews in 30 days or they'll rewrite for free!


text:
Welcome to Florida Red Line Shuttle
Florida Red Line Shuttle both a Shared and Private transporation service throughout the state of Florida. We offer both station to station pickup as well as door to door pickup. View our Frequently Asked Questions for information on traveling on Florida Red Line Shuttle.
Scheduled Shared Shuttles
Shared Shuttle routes are scheduled every day except December 25. Reservations can be booked 5 months in advance.
Current Routes
Private Shuttles
Do you have a large group to transport that does not fit in our schedule? We provide private shuttle service that will pick up and drop off at the location of your choice. Learn more about Private Shuttle service.


text: Our cornsnake made his Animal Encounter debut this week! The name cornsnake is thought to have originated from the markings on the cornsnake's belly that resemble the checkered pattern of kernels of maize. Others believe they were named for frequenting the corn cribs where farmers stored their harvested crops. We also welcomed two giant red sea cucumbers to our Feeding exhibit. Close relatives of sea urchins, sea stars and other echinoderms, these sea cucumbers have no heads or brains and can grow to be up to thirty inches long! In the face of danger, sea cucumbers discharge sticky threads to entangle their predators and sometimes even expel their intestines (which they later regenerate). Check out the video below to see this bizarre defense in action: Tags: animal-update-2, animals, cornsnake, giant-red-sea-cucumber, animal-encounter Categories: Animals Previous Post Next Post


text:
This entry will serve as a continuous entry as things just strike me.
Case in Point: In a recent article about a 10 year old boy who allegedly set his house on fire and killed four people, the pastor of a local church said he didn't think the boy set the fire because the boy is a 'churchgoer'. What the F###???
Where is the logic in the pastor's statement? Does he really live in a world that people who go to church do not commit crimes? People commit crimes on a daily basis. It happens. It's life. Just because someone goes to Church does not make them any more or less likely to commit a crime.
I just don't understand the warped logic that makes people think that just because someone goes to Church they cannot commit a crime. Whether the 10 year old boy set or did not set the fire is the question, not whether he could set or not set the fire because he goes to Church. I'm sure Ted Bundy went to Church. He also murdered a heck of a lot of people. Has anyone heard about the Catholic Church scandal? The priests allegedly invovled were leaders of the church and they allegedly committed a crime. Enough said.
Just my thoughts for today.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Things I Don't Get
This entry will serve as a continuous entry as things just strike me.
Posted by Scott at 10:17 AM 0 comments
Friday, June 08, 2007
Posted by Scott at 1:32 PM 0 comments
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Failure of Elected Officials
Why is it that elected officials are allegedly ignorant? See two separate examples below:
Nashville parks have recently installed cameras because: The homosexual sex is one of the reasons Metro Council Member Michael Craddock said he fought to have the cameras installed in the first place. Craddock said, "It has taken me a year... ...to get these cameras installed where they can use them to deter sexual deviants in the park." (wkrn.com)
New Hampshire passes a law legalizing civil unions for homosexuals. The response of one senator: "Let's just call it what it really is, no sugarcoating," said Republican Sen. Robert Letourneau. "This creates same-sex marriage. There is no right to marriage in either the New Hampshire Constitution or the federal Constitution." He goes on to say, "We don't let blind people drive or felons vote, all for good and obvious reasons," he said. (comcast.net – news – AP)
My response: Give me a break! I mean, really, people, grow up, get a life, and get a hobby!
First, Nashville Metro Council Member Michael Craddock – to the best of my knowledge, homosexuality is no longer listed as a deviant behavior, so, his statement is false. Homosexuality is genetics. It is not a choice. It is not something people 'try'. It is how they were born, just like Mr. Craddock was born heterosexual. He had no choice no his sexuality, just as I had no choice on my sexuality. It's all in the genes!
Second, Senator Robert Letourneau – Are you on drugs? I mean, really, "we don't let blind people drive or felons vote, all for good and obvious reasons." I understand why we don't let blind people drive and felons vote, the reasons both good and obvious, but what does that have to do with civil unions? Can a person make a more illogical statement?
Is there anything more to say on this subject? I don't think so. The logic, the intelligence, or lack thereof, of elected officials making important decisions for our communities, is frightening. I understand that some people choose to believe that homosexuality is a choice. It makes their hatred, their discrimination, their oppression, easier to swallow. It helps them sleep at night by calling someone a deviant, or making lame (blind people don't drive for obvious reasons) statements, that somehow (at least in their minds) make homosexuals somehow less than human.
In the end, perhaps humanity exists in greater measures in homosexuals, in women, in people of color, who have to deal with discrimination and oppression on a daily basis by allegedly intelligent people.
I truly feel sorry for Mr. Craddock and Senator Letourneau. I feel sorry for all the people affected by their alleged ignorance. I feel sorry for the voters who put them in office, thinking they were allegedly intelligent individuals capable of making logical and justified decisions. I feel sorry for the world that is not a better place because of the power these two men hold in their hand, expressing their personal views over the greater views of the public they were elected to serve. For, in the end, they were elected to their respective positions to serve the people, and not themselves. They have failed in that duty.
Posted by Scott at 3:00 PM 0 comments
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Don Imus - Double Standard
By now, the world knows what Don Imus called the Rutger's Women's Basketball team. His words are inexcusable. The media frenzy and retribution over those words, to me at least, is inexcusable.
Why? Simply put: double standard.
It is perfectly okay for rap artists, hip-hop artists, filmmakers of colors, to use such language in their music and films. It is considered cultural in those contexts. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition are protesting Imus, but I have yet to see them protesting the artists who perpetrate such language for the almighty buck. Why aren't Jesse and friends picketing the record labels and movie production companies? Why aren't the news personalities so strongly deriding Don Imus, doing the same thing? If it is wrong for a white person to make such comments, based on the cultural phenomenon of rap music and certain films, then why is it all right for others to make such comments?
Simply put: It is not. Or rather, it should not be. Plan and simple: double standard.
I do not agree in any way with what Don Imus said. I think it is wrong. It is ignorance at its worst. There is no defense for his actions, not even the rampant use of similar language by hip hop and rap artists. If he has no defense, then the hip hop and rap artists, the movie directors, etc., should not have a defense either. If the punishment for Don Imus is to get fired (which is happening, so it seems), then the same punishment should apply to rap and hip hop artists, et al.
Now, before the rage and indignation begins, before the name calling, and the protests by the Rainbow Coalition, please do remember I am a gay male who has heard more than my share of derogatory comments - faggot, queer, fairy, and so many other lovely terms. I am not defending Don Imus. I am simply protesting a double standard.
Society cannot change on its own. Society cannot (rather, should not) exist with the multitude of double standards. No one - black, white, or any other color - should be able to use the terms Don Imus used to describe the Rutgers Women's Basketball team. No one - gay or straight - should be allowed to use the term faggot, queer, fairy, or any of the other more colorful terms that exist to deride gay people. No one - men or women - should be able to use the term bitch to describe a woman. The fact is, within the Races, the Sexual Orientations, the Genders, there is a tendency to take the words, the derogatory terms, and empower them, limit the negative connotation, and create a positive connotation. My friends and I sometimes refer to each other as faggot, queer, fairy, nellie, etc. We take the negative and make it positive. It is wrong. Women do the same thing with the word 'bitch'. It is wrong. It is a double standard. We - society, one unit, not separate - must move forward as a group and stop. It is that simple. If one person is punished for using derogatory language, then all people using the same language - no matter the Race, Orientation, Gender - should receive equal punishment.
Posted by Scott at 4:20 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Homosexuality Cured!!!
Reported from the Associated Press - 02/06/2007
DENVER - One of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is "completely heterosexual."
Haggard also said his sexual contact with men was limited to the former male prostitute who came forward with sexual allegations, the Rev. Tim Ralph of Larkspur told The Denver Post for a story in Tuesday's edition.
"He is completely heterosexual," Ralph said. "That is something he discovered. It was the acting-out situations where things took place. It wasn't a constant thing."
News Flash - there is a cure for homosexuality, at least if you're Ted Haggard. See above article.
Now, let me carefully dissect that email for all concerned.
1st Paragraph - "disgraced minster emerged convinced that he is 'completely heterosexual'. Convinced! Convinced! Convinced! So, allegedly, Ted Haggard believes he is no longer a homosexual because he is 'convinced' that he is heterosexual. Can somebody spell denial?
I guess there's a lot of scientific backing to his claim. Isn't that how all scientists prove their theories? Excuse me, but we're convinced that . . . , said the scientist. Convinced, does not mean anything other than that the person believes in something, it does not make it a fact.
3rd Paragraph - his heterosexuality is something he 'discovered'. Hmmm, discovered, another tricky word that - again - does not provide scientific proof of a cure for homosexuality. It might well mean that Ted Haggard allegedly 'discovered' his heterosexuality so he can be reinstated into his church and rake in the money once again. It might mean that Ted Haggard allegedly discovered his heterosexuality so he could continue his campaign against homosexuality without having to feel guilty for being an alleged hypocrite.
1st Paragraph - the best part of all. Four ministers oversaw intensive counseling. So, the ministers technically brainwashed - a common occurence in cults - Ted Haggard to convince him that he was heterosexual. I think the man doth protest too much!
Okay, I know people out there - allegedly right wing conservatives - believe that homosexuality is a choice, and - by the above article - believe that there is a cure for homosexuality. Now, above article as proof, we can see that there is not a cure, but only 'intensive counseling' used to 'convince' a disgraced minister that he is 'completely heterosexual'. It was a 'discovery'.
I am just totally amazed at the lengths allegedly intelligent people will go to, in order to convince themselves that a) homosexuality is a choice versus genetics and b) that there is a cure for homosexuality. All I can say, is that Ted Haggard is allegedly in denial. His 'discovery' is nothing more than an alleged intensive brainwashing by four ministers probably more worried about the money not coming in because of Ted Haggard's alleged fall from grace, rather than a true belief that Ted Haggard 'discovered' he is 'completely heterosexual'.
As a final note, I'll tell the story of a certain young man who would kiss a man, have sex with a man, but was not gay because he did not have oral sex with men. Who knew that not having oral sex with a man meant you were not gay. Perhaps somebody should alert Ted Haggard to that fact.
Posted by Scott at 2:27 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
This past weekend I learned that a friend had died of a massive heart attack. Shock, disbelief, and so many other emotions accompanied the news. Death, even expected, is never welcome news. It is all the more suprising - shocking - when it happens so unexpectedly. Ron ate right, excercised, and lived a good life; and yet in one fell swoop, perhaps, genetics at its worst, all the eating right and excercising are for nothing.
Death makes me think. It makes me realize how short life is, and how - sometimes - no matter what a person does - it is just not enought to forestall death.
My partner and I, my friends and I, mourn the loss of Ron. He was a good man, of which I have no bad memories (and, trust me, I can't say that about everybody I know). His death - his loss - does not make much sense to me. He leaves behind a partner, a family, and so many people who knew him. His death teaches that life is for living. I guess any death teaches that lesson, but humanity (for the most part) fails to learn. We put off today, what we can do tomorrow, but sometimes, tomorrow just doesn't happen.
Tomorrow is about regret. Today is about life. Today is about living.
I wrote to a friend, in the aftermath of death, that I did not want to wake up old one day with a life full of regret. I am not sure if I can stop that from happening, but I can try. I can create balance in my life to do the things I want to do, along with the things I have to do. I can limit my regrets in life, by living my life today, instead of always waiting for tomorrow.
Posted by Scott at 12:00 PM 0 comments


text:
Taps to Riches for Archos 80 G9
- Review
- Download
- Screenshots
- Discussions
How to download free Taps to Riches for Archos 80 G9
Compatibility checkingIndicate
- Android version
- Android 9.0
- Android 9
- Android 5.0
- Android 4.4
- Android 4.3
- Android 4.2
- Android 4.1
- Android 4.0
- Android 3.2
- Android 3.1
- Android 3.0
- Android 2.3
- Android 2.2
To find Android version: go to "Settings" - "About the phone" - "Android version"
Installation options
With PC
Follow the link to Google Play and click "install"
Archos 80 G9
Enter link in your mobile browser or scan the QR-code
Guides: «How to create a Google Play account», «How to purchase apps in Google Play»
Questions and support
Read the review Taps to Riches
«Become a real estate tycoon»
Author: Brandon Girod 19 Apr 2017
Advisors add depth to the game, fun graphics
No real clicker mechanics, doesn't have a lot of overall depth
I've always been a huge fan of clickers. Something about passively, or sometimes non-passively, earning money/points/whatever is highly addictive. Taps to Riches for Android is a semi-clicker that really is more like a passive money generator than an...


text:
$Bags (Feat. Bone Crusher) - Stay Focused (Who Am I) [Unsigned Artist]
" BONE CRUSHER IS BACK!! Featuring Minnesota's #1 Rapper $Bags, with another hit "Stay Focused (Who Am I)" This song will feature on $Bags new album "Hail The Album" which is NOW availible on ITunes, Amazone MP3, Rhapsody, X Box Live."
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
> All Other Proteins
This protein carries a mouse IgG2a Fc tag at the C-terminus.
The protein has a calculated MW of 57.0 kDa. The protein migrates as 75 kDa under reducing (R) condition (SDS-PAGE) due to glycosylation.
>95% as determined by SDS-PAGE.
Lyophilized from 0.22 μm filtered solution in Tris with Glycine, Arginine and NaCl, pH7.5. Normally trehalose is added as protectant before lyophilization.
Contact us for customized product form or formulation.
Please see Certificate of Analysis for specific instructions.
For best performance, we strongly recommend you to follow the reconstitution protocol provided in the CoA.
For long term storage, the product should be stored at lyophilized state at -20°C or lower.
Please avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
This product is stable after storage at:
Human CD19 (20-291), Mouse IgG2a Fc Tag on SDS-PAGE under reducing (R) condition. The gel was stained overnight with Coomassie Blue. The purity of the protein is greater than 95%.
Loaded Mouse / Human chimeric FMC63 MAb (human IgG1) on AHC Biosensor, can bind Human CD19 (20-291), Mouse IgG2a Fc Tag (Cat. No. CD9-H5258) with an affinity constant of 0.487 nM as determined in BLI assay (ForteBio Octet Red96e) (Routinely tested).
Please contact us via email@example.com if you have any question on this product.
Price(USD) : $410.00
Price(USD) : $2400.00
High quality SARS-CoV-2 S protein, S1 protein and human ACE2 protein based on the human cell expression platform of HEK293.
ACROBiosystems has developed SARS-CoV-2 antigens specifically designed and optimized for serological test kits which are customized formulation available, capable of supplying in bulk order and functionality confirmed.
The affinity constant of SARS-CoV-2 S protein (active trimer) binding to human ACE2 protein was 35.3 nM as verified by SPR.
Binding signal of biotinylated human ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 S protein RBD was inhibited by SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor with the IC50 10.69 nM.
This web search service is supported by Google Inc.


text:
For English speakers
On this site, you can quickly look up words, phrases, names, titles, and so on. Discover new words and meanings everyday, and enrich your vocabulary with Omnilexica!
For English learners
Omnilexica was created with English learners in mind. It offers easy-to-understand definitions, synonyms, and other related words and expressions. Omnilexica provides various examples of words' usage in real-life situations. ESL students will be delighted to discover that the pronunciation pages in Omnilexica usually have audio examples of how words are pronounced by native speakers. English learners are often unsure if certain words are proper nouns. Omnilexica goes further than most dictionaries to address this problem by providing info on almost every person, character, place, or creation that you may encounter in a text. If you are unsure of how to correctly write a word or term, you'll see suggestions near the search box.
For translators
As a translator, you want more than just definitions. You need context of words and expressions in order to better understand their meanings. Omnilexica assists you by providing related content - including examples, photos, and videos. Since Omnilexica provides you with an expansive amount of encyclopedic content, you'll have all the information you need at your fingertips. You'll find yourself translating words and expressions quicker and with more accuracy.
For everybody
Omnilexica adapts to every user's screen. It can be used effectively on both very large and small displays. Pages print well, if needed. You can easily share pages that interest you to your friends and family on your favorite social networking sites - you'll be surprised who will thank you!


text:
Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee State Athletic Department has announced that the 2013 John Merritt Press Conference will be held on Thursday, Aug. 22 at LP Field.
The event will start at 11 a.m. and feature the Athletic Directors from both TSU and Bethune-Cookman as well as the Tigers' head coach Rod Reed.
This year's press conference will come nine days before the 15th John Merritt Classic on Sept. 1 and will allow both sides to give an update to their team's progress during spring and fall practices.
TSU's opener will be the first test on the road to building off of last year's 8-3 record that included a road victory over BCU on Sept. 22.
The Tigers return 18 starters from 2012 including all 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference's top-ranked defense. TSU also brings back Preseason All-American tight end A.C. Leonard and cornerback Stephen Godbolt III.
In last season's John Merritt Classic, the Tigers defeated the Rattlers of Florida A&M, 17-14, thanks to a pair of goal-line stands made by the Big Blue defense.
TSU is 10-4 all-time in John Merritt Classic games.


text:
DWTS Karina Smirnoff Celebrates Muscle & Fitness Magazine Launch With Joe Manganiello And Arnold Schwazenegger
Awww, so cute as always! Last night, Dancing With The Stars pro Karina Smirnoff attended a Muscle & Fitness Magazine party to celebrate it's launch with Joe Manganiello at Tru Hollywood Nightclub in Hollywood, California. You can see some fun pics of her with Joe at Zimbio Pictures. The Daily Mail has a nice write-up and pics on the event as well. Note how Karina talked with Arnold Schwazenegger who was there also. Wouldn't it be a cool "get" if TPTB could get Arnold or Joe on Dancing With The Stars?


text:
Like the gaudy peacock or majestic buck, the bachelor fruit fly is in a race against time to mate and pass along its genes.
"left"http://www.hypography.com/gallery/files/5/butterflywings_thumb.jpg[/IMG]And just as flashy plumage or imposing antlers work to an animal's reproductive advantage, so, too, do the colored spots that decorate the wings of a particular male fruit fly. To the ladies, the spots - waved frenetically by suitors in the fruit fly courtship ritual - connote sex appeal.
To a team of Wisconsin scientists, however, the origin of these decorative spots has proven to be a critical portal to unraveling a long-standing genetic mystery: What is it, exactly, that governs the development and evolution of form? Is it the genes themselves or the devices within DNA that control where genes are used in the making of the animal's body?
The answer, according to the team from the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute (HHMI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and published this week (Feb. 2) in the journal Nature, is that the heavy lifting of evolution is accomplished through changes in the genetic switches that direct how genes work.
"This is smoking gun evidence of how animal patterns evolve," says Sean B. Carroll, a UW-Madison professor of genetics and the senior author of the Nature paper.
While discovered in flies, it is almost certain that the same mechanisms are at play in all other animals, including humans, and help determine everything from the snout of an aardvark to the stripes of the zebra.
The discovery is important because it provides critical evidence of how animals evolve new features to improve their chances of reproductive success and survival. It is, says Carroll, convincing proof that evolution occurs as accidental mutations create features - a spot here or a stripe there - that confer advantages in attracting mates, hiding from or confusing predators, or gaining access to food. The mutations are preserved, according to the Nature report, as changes in a few of the millions of nucleotides - the chemical building blocks of DNA.
The fruit fly, says Carroll, proved to be ideal to study the fine print of evolution because one species, Drosophila melanogaster, is among the most-studied animals in biology and is a workhorse of modern genetics. But there are thousands of species of fruit fly, and unlike the very plain melanogaster, the wings of males of many species sport decorations that are as diverse and as beautiful as the wings of butterflies.
The data from the Wisconsin study, Carroll and his colleagues say, confirm the long-held idea that "evolution is a combination of chance and ecological necessity, which selects those things that are going to be kept. It means that (an animal's features) are just accidents - accidents that are preserved" because they confer some kind of advantage.
While the decorations on a fruit fly's wing begin as accidents of development, the patterns we see are far from willy-nilly murals of nature. The spots tend to occur along physical landmarks of the wing, at the junctures of veins, which provide contours and boundaries like those of a leaded-glass window.
"The patterns on a wing are not just random graffiti. The spots emerge at specific places," Carroll says.
"The structure of the fruit fly wing has been around for a long time, and the (different species) paint by parameters that are already there," says Nicolas Gompel, who, along with Benjamin Prud'homme, is a lead author of the new Nature report. "What we see in many different species is the repeated use of a pattern that is already built into the wing," Gompel says.
The new work by the Wisconsin HHMI team adds to the accumulating understanding of how evolution works at the most fundamental level, says Carroll. "The depth of our understanding of evolution is only growing," he says.
In addition to Carroll, Gompel and Prud'homme, authors of the Nature paper include Patricia J. Wittkopp, now of Cornell University, and Victoria A. Kassner.
Source: University of Wisconsin
Scientists find portal to show animals evolve
Started By Tormod , Feb 03 2005 01:47 AM
No replies to this topic


text:
Our president, and I use the term �our� loosely, has once again show his power of thinking to be quite inadequate. Mr. Obama selected 16 people to receive the �Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.�
Keep in mind that the award is the highest that the U.S. can give to a civilian. Then, consider this:
Bill Clinton got the award. Think back and remember that this is the President that had �no sex� with Miss Lewinsky, then he lied about it and was only the second president in our history to be impeached. How proud does that make you that he received such a prestigious award?
Then, Oprah Winfrey. She is without a doubt one of the wealthiest and influential people in this century but chooses to use her opportunities to address the people of this country with accusations of racism if you don�t like what our President does. It seems that she got the award more for her support of Obama�s presidential campaign.
And what about Ben Bradlee? He was the executive editor of the Washington Post during the Watergate coverage. Isn�t it funny how that one event against a conservative President deserves a Medal of Freedom award but President Obama has gotten away with crimes just as damaging to our Constitution? By the way, I, in no way condone the Watergate bugging and break-ins.
A baseball player, Ernie Banks has a remarkable record in baseball but someone needs to explain how that deserves a medal outside the sports arena.
Then, one of my personal favorites, Bayard Rustin was a gay rights activist.
A country music legend, Loretta Lynn.
Arturo Sandoval, a jazz musician from Cuba who defected to the U.S. Please tell me how this person deserves such an honor, I would really like to understand.
A psychologist that won a Nobel Prize in economics, Daniel Kahneman. Is it possible he was the one who told President Obama that raising the debt limit didn�t put us further into debt? Or, perhaps that government could do a better job with healthcare than private industry for less cost?
Just my normal disagreement with our President and his choices makes me ask; what did he do, put hundreds of names in a fishbowl and draw 16 at random?
A very few of his picks seem deserving so I only listed eight that I question. You may see others also not deserving. But, then again our President also won a Nobel prize so who am I to question?
One more question though. Since our freedoms are being eroded so quickly, how much longer can we issue medals of freedom?
Beauford Burton
Kings Mountain


text:
5-17-09 PNC Park
Since there was a lengthy delay last night, the game ended late. I knew there was a good chance that there would be no batting practice.
I was right.
My mission was to avoid getting shut out for the first time since August 2008. I began the day in the bullpen area waiting for two Rockies pitchers to finish their side sessions. When the pitchers were done throwing, they handed them to the bullpen coach, who then tossed them into the bag. I put in a request, but it was ignored.
I then went to the right field line as Rockies pitchers began to throw. Many pitchers threw in doors today, but some came outside to catch. I first lined up behind Jason Hammel and Taylor Buchholz (? i think).
Game: 1 Ball
Season: 120 Balls
Games; 24 Games (20 with BP, 4 without)
Average: 5.00 Balls per Game
Career: 286 Balls
Attendance: 14,545


text:
I've already written about installing Flash player 10 under 32 bit version. But, couple of our readers asked about installing Flash player 10 final version under Ubuntu Linux 64 bit edition. This small post will cover flash 10 Ubuntu Linux 64 bit installation.
Update [Oct-03-2009]: Please use this updated script for Ubuntu Linux 9.04 or above.
Alejandro has published a shell script to automate entire process. Open terminal and type the following command to install Flash 10 under 64 bit edition (please exit any browsers you may have running):
$ wget http://queleimporta.com/downloads/flash10_en.sh
$ sudo bash ./flash10_en.sh
Fire a Firefox and type about:plugins to verify installation:
Alternatively, visit Youtube to see flash videos.
A note about RHEL / CentOS / Fedora Linux 64 bit version
- Red Hat / RHEL / CentOS / Fedora 64 bit Linux user can install nspluginwrapper manually. You can install and use Flash, Java, Real Player 32 bit plugins under 64 bit Linux Firefox version using nspluginwrapper.


text:
- Products
- >
- Copper and Brass
Copper and Brass
SinoScan have been sourcing high quality copper and brass parts and products for 15 years in China. We supply a wide range of parts and products made from castings, forgings or bar material with all manual or CNC processes. For parts made from sheet metal please see Sheet Metal and Fabrication.
Industries currently served include processing, marine/offshore, automation, furniture, lighting and retail design and a large number of niche markets.
- Customer liaison and project management handled by engineering team in customer host country.
- Full CAD-capabilities for both parts and tooling.
- Specialized non-ferrous metal engineers and QC's.
- Day-to-day contact, supervision and development of suppliers.
- In-house VMM/CMM and a wide range of other specialized testing equipment.
- 3rd Party material certificates provided as needed.
- Documented quality control performed on all deliveries before shipping in accordance with our ISO9001:2008-certified quality management system.
- Quotations are provided by American, British, German, Danish and Canadian SinoScan market companies.
- All business transactions are conducted between customer and market companies.
- All quotations are provided with part specifications and include unit and tooling prices, based on documentation, batch size, stock arrangements, and estimated annual usage.
- 50 percent of tooling costs are paid at commencement of sample production and the remainder at sample approval. Tooling is the sole property of the customer.
- Prices are quoted DDP in customer's local currency or otherwise as per customer requirements.
- Unit Prices are adjusted when the combined change of material index price and currency rate is in excess of 5 percent of said unit price.
- Standard payment terms are 8 days after delivery.
- Local/off-shore Warehousing and/or vendor-managed inventory (VMI) services provided as needed.


text:
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day.
•Duke looks exceedingly Dukie in the early going, grabbing the lead from No. 4 Kansas State and never looking back. It was the 800th win for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, making him only the fifth coach to reach that total at one school. Looks like we'll have to wait a while for Devils' Advocate to provide any schadenfreude.
•Number 2 Michigan State didn't fare as well, falling to UConn in Maui. It might've been a different game if anyone on either team had been able to make a free throw in the closing minutes, but that's what happens when you send college kids to Maui, according to John Salley.
•Lakers/Bulls has regained a little bit of the cachet of the old days, but it wasn't the big names who mattered: Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown led the scoring and LA wins its fifth straight. So yes, Duke's good, the Lakers are good, the Yankees are about to sign a marquee pitcher; at least the Cowboys are going to get blown out tomorrow.
•Up three, 8 seconds left and at the free throw line, the Sixers figured it was over. But two misses, a foul on John Wall on a three-point faux attempt, a clutch Nick Young three in overtime and the Wizards won their second shocker over Philly this year. "Keep all sharp objects away from Doug [Collins]," said Flip Saunders. Fouling up three? Maybe you should keep all NBA teams away from Doug Collins.
•They've reached the inevitable "she wants money/he asked about money" stage in the Favre/Sterger mess. Meanwhile the NFL continues to wait for Favre to bench himself so they can suspend him without actually punishing him.
(Photo illustration via Ryan Hurst, h/t Jovan J.)
It's the day before Thanksgiving. We'll hang around if you will.


text:
How do I sign up for the Bertoni newsletter?
You always have two options for signing up for our newsletter.
You can either (1) scroll down to the bottom of the page, just above the footer. Here, you can fill in your email address and sign up.
Or, you can (2) go to our newsletter page and sign up.


text:
Minecraft aficionado Tsarcorp is the one responsible for this gigantic, 42 square mile map of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It incorporates an almost 1:1 replica of the Pripyat area, just as we've seen in the latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
The signature locations (Modern Warfare anyone?) of the abandoned city are all shown in the video, as well as instructions on where to get the map, and a list of mods that were used.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in Minecraft - Chernobyl Map [YouTube]


text:
Police are investigating what prompted a 64-year-old military veteran to stride into a suburban Detroit police station then open fire on officers, leading to an exchange of gunfire and his own death, authorities said Monday.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) ? Police are investigating what prompted a 64-year-old military veteran to stride into a suburban Detroit police station then open fire on officers, leading to an exchange of gunfire and his own death, authorities said Monday.
Officers fatally shot Harold Joseph Collins in the Sunday afternoon incident in the lobby of the police headquarters in Southfield, and a 50-year-old sergeant was hurt in the exchange of fire.
A preliminary investigation indicates Collins had medical problems, but it is not clear if that had any bearing on his actions, Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins told reporters. He did not specify the nature of Collins' health issues.
"Based on the behavior of this individual, my opinion and the opinion of the investigating officers, is that this person was struggling with some very serious internal issues," Hawkins said.
Collins walked into the building about 2:20 p.m. Sunday and used a .380-caliber handgun to confront an officer seated behind bulletproof glass.
"What's so unusual about this situation is that ... there were no words, whatsoever," Hawkins said. "The suspect approached the front desk officer and simply stared at the officer. I was told that the suspect appeared to be staring into the distance and not a word was said."
That officer sought cover and called for assistance. Other officers arrived from other parts of the building and ordered Collins to drop the weapon. Collins refused and gunfire was exchanged.
Collins later died at an area hospital.
Drema Sanders, 59, lives in same Southfield apartment building as Collins, who lived alone, and said she had just seen him at the mailboxes last Friday. Sanders said Collins had some kind of growth on the left side of his face that covered part of his mouth.
"He was always respectful," she said. "He would nod, because he couldn't really talk."
Angelica Mercado, the leasing manager for the apartment building, said Collins had lived there for about 1� years. He did not talk about his military service, she said, and described him as very active.
"I would never hear a complaint from him or from his neighbors about him," she said.
Hawkins did not reveal the name of the sergeant who was wounded in the shoulder but said he was in stable condition Monday at a hospital. He said at least five officers were involved in the shooting, but he would not say how many fired their weapons.
"We train these officers to deal with situations like this; to deal with the unusual, to deal with the unpredictable," Hawkins said. "And this certainly qualified. They performed exactly like they were trained."
Surveillance video that captured Sunday's shooting is part of the investigation and was not released Monday.
The shooting was the second at a Detroit-area police station in less than two years.
Four Detroit police officers were shot and wounded Jan. 23, 2011, by 38-year-old Lamar Moore at a west side station. Surveillance video showed Moore walking into the precinct and opening fire on the officers. He was shot to death in the exchange of gunfire.


text:
Table of Contents
This section contains information on editing the pkgsrc guide itself.
The pkgsrc guide's source code is stored in
pkgsrc/doc/guide/files, and several files
are created from it:
https://www.NetBSD.org/docs/pkgsrc/pkgsrc.pdf: The PDF version of the pkgsrc guide.
https://www.NetBSD.org/docs/pkgsrc/pkgsrc.ps: PostScript version of the pkgsrc guide.
The procedure to edit the pkgsrc guide is:
Make sure you have the packages needed to
regenerate the pkgsrc guide (and other XML-based NetBSD
documentation) installed. These are automatically installed when
you install the
meta-pkgs/pkgsrc-guide-tools package.
Run cd doc/guide to get to the right directory. All further steps will take place here.
Edit the XML file(s) in
Run bmake to check the pkgsrc
guide for valid XML and to build the final output files. If you
get any errors at this stage, you can just edit the files, as
there are only symbolic links in the working directory, pointing
to the files in
(cd files && cvs commit)
Run bmake clean && bmake to regenerate the output files with the proper RCS Ids.
Run bmake regen to install and
commit the files in both
pkgsrc/doc and
If you have added, removed or renamed some chapters, you need to synchronize them using cvs add or cvs delete in the htdocs directory.


text: Monday, August 05, 2013 Inconsistent and Burdensome Documentation Rules Removed From NY, CT LCD Policy New York and Connecticut physical therapists no longer have to follow certain burdensome documentation requirements that were in conflict with national Medicare policy. Thanks to efforts by APTA and the New York and Connecticut chapters, the Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) for those states removed 2 requirements from its local coverage determination policy: (1) for progress reports to jump from a frequency of every 10 treatment days to every 5 treatment days after services exceeded the therapy cap, and (2) for documentation of a physician reexamination for services that exceeded either 90 days or the therapy cap. Both requirements directly conflicted with national Medicare policy. APTA sent a letter on May 6 to the MAC, National Government Services Inc (NGS), expressing concerns about the documentation requirements and urging NGS to make them consistent with national Medicare policy. In response, NGS is removing these requirements in a revised policy that is effective for dates of service on or after August 1, 2013. For questions or more information, please e-mail email@example.com.


text:
Skrewed Up Dude of the Week – Terrence Williams
KENT, Wash. (AP) — A judge has set bail at $25,000 for Boston Celtics basketball player Terrence Williams after he was arrested and accused of brandishing a gun around the mother of his 10-year-old son during a visitation exchange.
He was booked into the King County Jail in Seattle early Monday for investigation of assault. Bail was set during an afternoon court appearance, and the judge scheduled another hearing for Wednesday.
According to a police report, the 25-year-old Williams went to the woman's apartment complex in the suburb of Kent to drop the boy off Sunday afternoon and displayed a gun during an argument. The report says Williams denied pointing the gun at anyone and told police he showed it because he felt threatened by the woman and her boyfriend.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Nicole Black, The Daily Record Newswire
Social media evidence is a hot topic these days, as lawyers are now realizing that there is a wealth of information available online that can be used to prosecute or defend legal claims. As attorneys increasingly seek to obtain access to the social media accounts of litigants, more cases are arising which address the discoverability of this type of evidence.
New York courts are no exception to this trend, and in January, yet another court handed down a decision which addressed a motion to compel the production of social media information.
In Fawcett v. Altieri, 2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 23010, the Richmond County Supreme Court addressed this issue of the discoverability of social media records. In this case, the mother of an infant plaintiff brought a personal injury lawsuit on her son's behalf against a high school and the parents of another student.
The claims arose from an incident where her son was allegedly injured during an altercation with another student that occurred on school grounds. During the discovery phase of litigation, the defendants brought a motion to compel the production of the infant plaintiff's social media data.
Prior to addressing the facts of the case on appeal, the court first reviewed the relevant case law and then set forth the appropriate standard: "A survey of cases dealing with the production of social media accounts, in both the criminal and civil contexts, reveal a two prong analysis before courts compel the production of the contents of social media accounts.
This inquiry requires a determination by the court as to whether the content contained on/in a social media account is "material and necessary;" and then a balancing test as to whether the production of this content would result in a violation of the account holder's privacy rights."
Next, the court differentiated between public and private social media postings, and elaborated on the necessary showing that a party seeking to compel the records must make: "Information posted in open on social media accounts are freely discoverable and do not require court orders to disclose them ... In order to obtain a closed or private social media account by a court order for the subscriber to execute an authorization for their release, the adversary must show with some credible facts that the adversary subscriber has posted information or photographs that are relevant to the facts of the case at hand."
Importantly, the court emphasized that overly broad requests were improper, in part because of the nature of the information often shared via social media: "The courts should not accommodate blanket searches for any kind of information or photos to impeach a person's character, which may be embarrassing, but are irrelevant to the facts of the case at hand."
Applying those standards to the case at hand, the court concluded that the defendants had failed to make the necessary showing. "This is a civil tort matter of a minor assault that should have a good faith basis other than supposition, hope or speculation that some comment was made that may be relevant to the case at hand." the court explained. As such, the court denied the motion to compel, since it was overly broad.
This case, like other recent New York cases, curtails unlimited access to all forms of social media data and treats this type of evidence no differently than other more traditional types of evidence, such as letters, diaries or recordings. Fishing expeditions should be discouraged and all motions to compel information shared privately, whether on social media or otherwise, should have a credible basis.
This decision, which upholds that standard, is further proof that New York's courts are doing a good job of applying traditional evidentiary concepts to the realities of life in the 21st century.
Nicole Black is VP at MyCaseInc.com, a cloud-based law practice management platform. She is also of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester and is a GigaOM Pro analyst. She is the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise. She speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes three legal blogs and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Good references — those who will speak highly of your skills and acknowledge your contributions — are one of the most important pieces of your job-search plan. Not everyone you have worked with will be a good reference and a reference who is reluctant to support your qualifications can be worse than no references.
It is a huge mistake to minimize the influence references can have on your chances of being hired. You do not want a former colleague or boss to put you in an awkward situation. For example, a job candidate recently provided a former supervisor as a reference, but the reference answered most of the potential employer's questions with more silence than answers. In the absence of good information, the potential employer is left to draw his own conclusion, and that's not an ideal situation.
Keep in mind that many people will agree to be a reference, but they're basically just being polite. They don't want to discourage you by refusing.
How can you find out what your references will say about you? Simply ask "what would you say about my skills if you were contacted by a potential employer?" Their answers will give you a good idea of how comfortable and confident they are with recommending you.
Good references are people you have worked with in the past. Choose those who liked your work the most. Your peers are not the strongest references. Instead, search for bosses or senior management who can talk about your quality of work. The more senior the position of your references, the more creditability they will provide. You want to select references who can comment about the quality of your work and your key skills. A strong reference can help influence a decision.
You can help those who are willing to serve as a reference by creating an updated skills sheet that gives a current snapshot of your accomplishments and projects. Highlight your most recent key skills and areas of responsibility.
Provide references with guidance, and keep them updated as you go through interviews. Then, keep building your reference relationships even after you have landed the job.
Have you ever had a surprise from a reference?