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Baby Tiakohl cries inside the only home she has ever known.
It's a low-rise cottage with a playground out front, surrounded by lush green grass and a barbed-wire fence. Her compact room is outfitted with a crib, a change table and a rocking chair, as well the soft jungle toy she likes to jingle with her tiny hands.
According to her mother Amanda Edgar, she is babysat and doted upon, a carefully-watched source of curiosity and awe. The newborn, who wears Winnie the Pooh T-shirts and strawberry outfits, is the only child around.
Edgar is in prison.
And so is her baby.
The 27-year-old convicted thief is one of the few federal inmates in Canada now participating in the mother-child program. It's a little-known but controversial initiative that allows criminals to raise their babies in jail.
Each day, Edgar wakes up beside three-month-old Tiakohl, bathes and feeds her, and hands her over to a fellow inmate who babysits her daughter while Edgar attends prison classes such as Grade 11 accounting.
"Everyone loves the baby. And everyone's very protective of the baby and wants the baby to be safe," Edgar says from the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in Abbotsford, B.C.
"It's a great program."
Edgar and her baby embody the polarizing issue unique to women's incarceration: should convicted criminals be allowed to keep their children behind barbed wire?
Supporters say the program helps to preserve the maternal bond between mother and child, and it's better for the baby to be with the mother than in a bureaucratic child-welfare system.
They also contend babies help mothers and other inmates rehabilitate in prison.
"Just having the children around, women would describe as changing the whole environment," says Kim Pate, executive director for the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.
So strong is the conviction that mothers have an inherent right to parent, that a former inmate at a B.C. jail is taking the provincial government and a warden to court for cancelling that province's mother-baby program in 2008.
The case is scheduled for trial in B.C. Supreme Court next spring, and could have ramifications for the federal system if it finds mothers have a constitutional right to raise their kids in jail.
"That baby needs to be breastfed, that baby needs to bond," says Alison Grainger-Brown, a recreational therapist at Fraser Valley who also worked in the B.C. jail system.
Detractors, including those who work in federal prisons, tell a different story.
They say children are not safe in a prison environment, where drugs proliferate and violence is on the rise.
Victims of crime also question why women are entitled to be with their children after committing offences, since a loss of rights is fundamental to the concept of incarceration.
"You've given up that right, because you have proven yourself incapable of it and a danger to society," says Natasha Cartledge, 23, whose father Anthony was killed in 2006.
Anthony's killer, Lisa Whitford, was allowed to bring her baby into a B.C. prison the following year.
The future of the mother-child program is unclear.
It now appears to be virtually non-existent, plunged into uncertainty by a string of changes in 2008 and squeezed by the continued growth in the federal female prison population.
The program remains part of the mandate of women's corrections, which sets out that female offenders have different needs than men. A seminal document from 1990, which still guides the female prison system today, identified a huge concern over separating women from their children.
"I wish we could use the program more," says Kelley Blanchette, director general of the women's offender sector at Correctional Service of Canada.
"We've never had an incident in any of our institutions with the child. I think it's helped to preserve the mother-child bond and I see that as really important."
Yet, participation has dwindled from 12 women in 2001 to only one last year, according to prison documents obtained under Access to Information laws.
Sometimes, there are none.
As of Aug. 31, 2011, there were three women enrolled.
The concept first began as a pilot project at the new aboriginal women's prison — Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge — near Maple Creek, Sask., in 1996.
But internal documents show the alternative prison had no participants from March 2005 to September 2010.
In fact, the prison service notes the accuracy of such numbers is difficult to verify "as these are tracked manually."
Blanchette says the program is "alive and well," but acknowledges few women participate.
She suggests space in prisons is an issue. This comes as the number of federally sentenced women has surged by 40 per cent in the past decade, and is expected to rise as new federal legislation mandates longer sentences.
It's estimated almost 350 of the 500 federal inmates are mothers, many single parents.
The program operates full- and part-time for both pregnant inmates who give birth while behind bars, as well as mothers whose children visit them on weekends, holidays or school vacations.
Children who live with their mothers in prison can stay until they are four years old, while those in the part-time program can visit until they're six.
Even before the program was revamped in 2008, there were problems.
In 2001, at the Saskatchewan healing lodge, inmate Renee Acoby — who has since been declared a dangerous offender for five hostage-takings inside prison — had her daughter taken away after refusing a drug test. Acoby later admitted to smoking marijuana and taking Valium while serving time.
Upon learning authorities had removed her child, born inside prison, Acoby became distraught and took a guard hostage.
It wasn't until 2008 that public outrage sparked substantial changes.
B.C. convicted killer Whitford was allowed to bring her infant daughter, Jordyn, into the federal Fraser Valley prison.
Jordyn was born in provincial custody in 2007 to Whitford, who killed boyfriend Anthony Cartledge with a shotgun inside their home near Prince George, B.C., the previous year.
She was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to four years.
Whitford, who had a long history of being abused and drug addiction, fought to bring her baby with her to Fraser Valley, the first such case at the institution.
She spent the whole time with the baby. She sent me pictures of Jordyn and her by the cottage with grass and, of course, high wire fences around," recalls Whitford's former lawyer, Bruce Kaun.
But the victim's daughter from a previous relationship says Whitford should not have been allowed to raise her baby in prison.
"This is a woman, that regardless of the circumstances of her past and how hard her life was, she killed mine and my sister's father with a gun," says Cartledge.
"My biggest concern and sadness was they were focusing so much on teaching her how to be a mother, that I was worried that she wasn't focusing on just being a functioning human being."
The recently released Whitford breached her parole. In June, a Canada-wide warrant was issued for her arrest.
In 2008, Whitford's case set off a chain of events that led then-public safety minister Stockwell Day to review the program.
That June, Day unveiled significant changes, including the exclusion of women serving time for violent crimes — which includes more than half the female inmate population — from raising their babies in prison.
"I remember at the time, the case very well. But not being in government now I don't reflect on what should or shouldn't be happening," Day says today.
"There are the competing interests of the restoration of an offender to be fully reintegrated into society, and when it comes to kids, there's always the question of the best interest of the child . . . .
"Those are my feelings, and I believe that those are still the overriding principles and that they should be."
The changes also lowered the age for children to participate part-time from 12 to six, required an offender be approved by local child and family services, and threatened to terminate a woman's participation if she refused to allow her kids to be searched for drugs or contraband.
The program review, also obtained by Access to Information laws, noted there were few evaluations of similar international mother-child programs.
"No study has found any significant negative effects of such programs on either mother or child, and the majority of the studies appear to reflect positive results," it stated.
Mothers are expected to pay for the needs of their own children in prison, and it's not available to women serving time in maximum security.
The prison service document noted the program was relatively cheap, costing only $292,000 annually for six prisons to "address the myriad of issues faced by incarcerated mothers and their children."
Since the changes were made, participation in the program has dropped by 60 per cent, estimates prison ombudsman Howard Sapers.
"If we want to enhance the chances of releasing a more responsible person capable of sustaining herself and her dependents in a crime and substance-free lifestyle, then surely it is time to have another look at the eligibility criteria that unnecessarily restrict participation in the mother-child program," he writes in his 2010 report as correctional investigator.
On the flip side, the program can lead to fewer children being part of the welfare system, where costs average $40,000 per child each year.
At the Elizabeth Fry Society, Pate insists the program helps to break the cycle of incarceration which can happen when mothers are sent away, and keeps children off welfare.
"It's premised on not so much the needs of the women, but the needs of the children."
Proponents also include former B.C. jail warden Brenda Tole, who ran the provincial Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge where Whitford also raised her baby while awaiting her murder trial.
Tole started the mother-child program in 2004, in partnership with the B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre.
"The babies of the women did much better if they were with mom than they did if they were taken away from mom," says Tole. "They were able to be nursed, they were able to bond with their mom in those first very early, very very important times."
But some say it is not worth the risk.
The union representing Canada's guards says babies end up complicating the job of correctional officers, making prisons unsafe.
Guards also sounded the alarm in 2008 that children were being used to smuggle drugs into the institutions.
"We don't believe prison is a place for children," says Kevin Grabowsky, Prairie regional president at the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. "There's a lot of inmates that abuse children in there and now (the babies are) exposed to them."
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews sees no problem with the program, but he is more concerned with accommodating parent prison visits, as much as possible.
"I'm not passing judgment on any changes that were made on the mother and child program, maybe it isn't appropriate," he says.
"I did child welfare work for many years as a lawyer, and often, as bad as a mother can be, that mother is probably better than some of these children disappearing into the foster system."
In Edgar's case, she has seen both sides of that equation.
She was arrested in September 2010 for breaking into a family home in Abbotsford and stealing cash and jewelry to support her $1,000-a-month drug habit.
She's serving her first federal sentence, but has been in provincial jails.
Edgar found out she was pregnant with her third child while awaiting her fate in Surrey remand.
"I cried really hard, because I knew that I was going to be in jail for a long time, and I felt pretty hopeless," says Edgar in a high, girlish voice.
The former meth addict already lost custody of two daughters when she relapsed in 2005.
Now, she lives in a private room in a minimum-security cottage with four other inmates. One of them is Elena Banfield, a 30-year-old mother serving time for fraud.
"It is a joy to have a baby around," says Banfield, whose three young children are living with her partner in Ontario while she serves her sentence out west.
"I miss my kids, but at the same time it's nice to be able to give Amanda some guidance and some knowledgeable experience on what we've gone through as mothers ourselves."
Edgar says no outside visitors are allowed in her baby's room and insists the prison is a safe place for her child.
"There really isn't very many fights here at all, and the drugs, they don't come near me," she says.
She expects to be eligible for parole later this month, and hopes to reunite with the baby's father, who is living in Mission, B.C.
Edgar doesn't want to think what would've happened if she had lost custody of her daughter after giving birth in prison.
"I can't even imagine. I just know what happened . . . when I lost my last two children. I probably would have went berserk, honestly," she says.
"I would have been as bad as I can be. It wouldn't have been good. She's my whole world."


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When diagnosed with 3c 4c 5c 6c bulging discs with severe head pain and pain in your neck radiating into shoulders left arm and tingling in your fingers what all can be done is there a pinched nerve?
If the disks are herniated (bulging is another term) the
specific nerves causing your problems ARE being pinched/compressed
by the disks - that's what happens when you herniate a disk. The
diagnosis you describe is disk herniations between the C3/C4/C5/C6
vertebrae. I've had flattened disks between C5/6/7, with a
resulting fusion operation to correct it as well. In my case I had
no choice as my left arm was becoming paralyzed. I've also had 2
other major spinal surgeries.
You should already have received some kind of treatment plan,
likely Flexeril, and anti-inflammatory and / or a strong painkiller
like Percocet or Vicodin. It's important that you DO NOT LIFT
anything over a couple of pounds. I'm guessing that this happened
as either a whiplash injury or something similar.
If the problem is already causing tingling and numbness in your
fingers you need to report that immediately to your doctor. If
you're not already seeing a Neurosurgeon, you should be.
Orthopedists are useless in spine and disk problems as they
understand the bone aspects, but not the neurological complexities.
A general doctor just doesn't have the expertise required to treat
The reason you need to report it is that if you're having
tingling/numbness in your fingers (especially if it's creeping its
way from the tips to the knuckles) the disk inflammation isn't
getting any better and the pressure is enough that it's starting to
cut off the nerve impulses to your hand. Unless you get it looked
at and treated, you could wind up with long term nerve damage or
worse. I've already faced this and been through it, aside from
dealing with these problems myself for over 20 years. In my case,
within 2 weeks of the initial pain my left arm was almost
paralyzed, and my fingers were numb from the fingertips to the
first knuckle. The fusion I had included a bone graft from my right
pelvic area as well as a plate. It is not something to take
lightly. If your doctor is not treating it as a serious issue, you
need to get another one fast. I cannot stress the importance of
getting the disk pressure relieved off of the nerve in question,
likely the C5/C6 disk.
Also, do not do any activity requiring any lifting, arm
strength, etc., and don't drive if you can avoid it. If you're not
taking any anti-inflammatory drugs (which I'd be shocked if you
weren't) you need to start. Message me and let me know what meds
they have you on so far.
I had this category started because this is the one area in my
life in which I've dealt with for many years, and I've survived bad
doctors, diagnoses, hospital mistakes, pain on scales you can't
imagine (even now), and continuing spinal damage and severe pain.
Hopefully I can help you and others avoid the bad things that I've
been through. if you have specific questions don't hesitate to PM
2 sites you need to look at:
American Pain Foundation - http://tinyurl.com/8thkgm
Spine Universe - http://tinyurl.com/ysxy5l
If you eventually require surgery, let me know as there are
certain decisions you'll face where the wrong choice can have
consequences down the road.
TSD -RAVEN- - Category Supervisor
I hope this helps if someone told you all those disc were
bulging you must have had a mri? I just went threw the same thing
c5 c6 had a pinch nerve and they did therapy did another mri showed
nerve wasnt pinch anymore anyway to make along story short have a
Dr do a milogram and catscan this shows all around the disk. Worked
for me just had a fushion on c5 c6. Hope this helps.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tragic: Jennifer Hudson's Nephew "Julian King" Murdered. Body ID'd As Hudson's Nephew
ABC reports "Boy's body found in SUV on West Side CHICAGO (WLS) -- Members of Jennifer Hudson's family have identified a body found in an SUV Monday morning as that of the singer's nephew. The body of a young black boy was found inside an SUV wanted in connection to the disappearance of Julian King, 7. King had been missing since Friday. Police would not say how or where the boy died, but unconfirmed reports say King was shot."
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I'm on the last batch or pressies to wrap, the boys are out and all that's left is for me to make the house look presentable with some tidying and cleaning and that's me done! At least for a few days anyway.
I wanted to show you the lovely hostess gift I made this week but time ran away with me as usual and I didn't get to take any photos of it. I will be making another there's no doubt about that and I'll show you next week.
Today though is a page from December's Scrapbook Kit Club.
We used the Simply Scrappin' Kit 'Tickets & Tags' which isn't Christmassy but the colours are very contemporary and it seemed to work. The photo is of my boys taken a few years ago. Scott's birthday is 10th December and it's tradition in our house to have the tree up for his special day. It's usually the perfect photo opportunity but this year that didn't happen. Scott was 21 this year and a night out with his mates was more important than a family get together. That's why scrapbooking is so wonderful. At least I now have a lovely memory of what his birthday's used to be like.
The letters were die cut from my lovely new Big Shot Dies - Alphabet Simple Letters. Covered in chunky silver glitter.
So all that's left for me to say is
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thank you to all my blog visitors, friends, family, team members and customers for supporting me through this year!
I've big plans for 2012 and it all starts on January 1st.
Have a wonderful time over the holidays and see you next week with some sneak peeks of what's to come.


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Measuredup.com challenges companies to take the customer service "Pledge" this holiday shopping season
Leading website for customer service reviews invites business to demonstrate commitment to consumers and put up or shut up
New York, NY, December 4, 2007 – www.Measuredup.com a leading online customer service review site today announced the launch of "The Pledge Challenge" for companies that want to differentiate themselves this competitive and budget constrained Holiday season. The "Pledge" allows participating companies to demonstrate to online cyber shoppers and offline consumers that they care about Customer Service and satisfaction as much as the bottom line.
The Measuredup "Pledge" is a free downloadable customer service statement and logo that companies can download for free from the Measuredup.com website and post on their own websites so that consumers know that management, the company and brand are committed to trying to meet the consumers customer service needs.
The Measuredup.com site founded by Marc Karasu is designed to address the customer service void growing in the wake of technology's fast pace forward. The rise in Internet shopping, automated voice systems, outsourced—and off shored—customer service departments and other technology-driven trends have served mainly to distance customers from companies rather than bring them closer together. And while the Internet has helped customers become more informed in their purchasing decisions, it hasn't given consumers an avenue for holding businesses accountable for their customer service.
Measuredup.com addresses and resolves this void in a way that is both fun and empowering to consumers and valuable to companies who can use this information to improve and to create a conversation with consumers.
Through the Measuredup.com site, users can rate businesses or services on a 5-point scale in many categories from the expected to the unusual.
Measuredup gives new meaning to the phrase "The Customer is always right."
About Measuredup.com
Measuredup.com is a leading Customer Service review networking site where consumers rate and review their customer service and brand experiences in a public forum. The site's founder, frustrated by an increase in incompetent, rude and outright abusive treatment by businesses both large and small, sought to develop a platform where consumers could share their experiences, vent or praise as appropriate and, ultimately, effect change.
For interviews, quotes or discussion please call the founder and President of Measuredup.com, Marc Karasu. Contact info available here and on the site at www.Measuredup.com
Tags: Customer Service, Measuredup.com press release, Pledge


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Jim Dee necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 211 diseños de 23 diseñadores freelance.
NOTE: Something beyond our control has come up and our logo needs to be RawsterTour.com rather than Meet Rawster. We are so very sorry that this has changed so late in the design process. We hope it doesn't deter you from continuing to submit fantastic entries.
You'll be designing a logo for "RawsterTour.com," our rooster mascot for an upcoming initiative. His job is to wake people up, so we need this illustration to show the rooster crowing or waking people up in some way. The rooster needs to have character, yet be simply drawn, without a lot of detail. See description...
Meet Rawster
You'll be designing a logo for "RawsterTour.com," our rooster mascot for an upcoming initiative. His job is to wake people up, so we need this illustration to show the rooster crowing or waking people up in some way. The rooster needs to have character, yet be simply drawn, without a lot of detail. In addition to the rooster character, you'll need to include the words "RawsterTour.com" in the logo somehow as well. Also, the rooster needs to be wearing some sort of shirt that can eventually hold a small message or logo itself. For this work, just leave his shirt blank. While the word "raw" within "Rawster" is important, we leave it up to you whether to include it as "RAWster" or "Rawster" or in some other fashion to help convey this meaning (or not).
We plan to use this logo all across the USA as we travel around teaching people about raw foods. The rooster's name is "RAWster" because he "wakes people up" to our message about the raw and living foods diet. If you don't know what the raw and living foods diet is (not required), you can learn more at our other site http://www.PureJeevan.com.
We're Pure Jeevan, a husband and wife team committed to teaching people about raw and living food nutrition. We'll be traveling across the country in an RV, stopping in every state to so people can "Meet Rawster" (who will "wake them up" to the message of raw foods).
- Fun-looking, simply drawn rooster character
- An earthy/natural feel UPDATE: We're open to any coloring, since the earthy ones weren't looking so appealing to us. So, show us the colors you think look best.
- Playful, somewhat like a cartoon animation character
- Logo must include the words "RawsterTour.com" somehow
- Rooster character must be wearing a plain shirt that will hold words/graphics in the future.
- Vector format deliverable. (I need to be able to open this in Photoshop 7 and/or Illustrator 10).
- Use of color ok and encouraged
- Rooster must show expression
- Rooster should appear to be crowing or waking people up somehow
- Since this relates to food (fruits/veggies), it's okay if you'd like to incorporate, in some simple way, fresh fruits or veggies (though not required).
- design must not have a lot of detail because we would like to have him animated in the future (in short promo videos online)
- ability to animate your illustration/logo work in the future not necessary (but let us know if you have skills or thoughts about this)
- Questions? Ask away!!! We're enthusiastic about this and want to get the best logo possible!
- Prize is $200 and winner will be considered for all future illustration/logo work for the Rawster project.
- Do not deliver as a "flattened" graphic. Leave your layers intact.
- Do not make this overly detailed. Keep it simple.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Estimate Your Monthly Payment
G12 - 4505 Mclean Creek Road, KO Okanagan Falls in Okanagan Falls
This is a Single Family Listing with Garage parking.
G12 - 4505 Mclean Creek Road, KO Okanagan Falls in Okanagan Falls
Brand New Modular in Phase II of Peach Cliff Estates Mobile Home Park. The Builder; Freeport Industries are the proud builders of the 2017 and 2018 PNE prize home. Retire West Communities Ltd combined with Freeport Industries; Phase II is proving to be something amazing. All plans feature open concept design, 3 appliances, central air, gas hot water tank, gas furnace, lovely mountain views, attached garage and a 3ft heated crawl space. This park is conveniently located 15 minutes South of Penticton and 15 minutes North of Oliver. Peach Cliff Estates is a 55 plus park, pets are permitted with approval, rentals are not permitted. More lots and floor plans are available, contact Listing Agents to find a suitable floor plan and lot within your budget or let them help you customize the floor plan to suit your style. This price is based on the 16ft single wide floorplan; 1056sf with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a single car garage. Give John or Tracy a call for more information on this listing or to book a personal showing; John 250-487-8839 or 1- 866-973-7916 and Tracy 250-488-8399 or visit their website for more listings and information http://www.winecapitalproperties.com Information contained in this document has been gathered from sources that are deemed reliable and care has been taken to ensure all information has been reproduced accurately. However, the reader should be cautioned that mistakes do happen and none of the information herein should be relied upon without independent verification. All measurements are approximate, if important the Buyer should verify. (id:6289)
G12 - 4505 Mclean Creek Road, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia
Essential Information
- Listing #177916
- Price$214,400
- Price per Sqft203
- Bedrooms2
- Bathrooms2.00
- Square Footage1,056
- TypeSingle Family
- Sub-TypeLeasehold
- AmenitiesRecreation
- FeaturesPark setting, Flat site
- ParkingGarage, Parking Space(s)
- # of Garages1
- ViewMountain view
- ExteriorVinyl
- RoofAsphalt shingle
Community Information
- AddressG12 - 4505 Mclean Creek Road
- SubdivisionKO Okanagan Falls
- CityOkanagan Falls
- StateBritish Columbia
- Zip CodeV0H1R1
- AppliancesRefrigerator, Dishwasher, Stove
- HeatingNatural gas Forced air
- # of Stories1
Listing Details
- Listing OfficeRE/MAX WINE CAPITAL REALTY


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Nuclear vote turnout appears too low in Bulgaria
January 27, 2013
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Unofficial results show that more than 60 percent of Bulgarians voted Sunday in favor of building a new nuclear power plant, but the voter turnout was far below the threshold needed to make the referendum binding.
The issue, which has been seen as a barometer of the relationship between the European Union's poorest member and Russia, appears likely to head to parliament, where the center-right ruling party plans to block the project.
The pro-Western government last March canceled a deal with Russia's Atomstroyexport for a 2,000-megawatt nuclear plant at the northern town of Belene, arguing that estimated costs of up to €10 billion ($13 billion) were too high.
The vote was called by the opposition Socialist party in an effort to force the government to reverse its decision. It was Bulgaria's first referendum since the fall of communism in 1989. An unofficial vote count by the Alfa Research Agency showed that 21.8 percent of the 6.9 million eligible voters cast a ballot in the referendum, and 61 percent supported having a new nuclear plant. Official results were expected later this week.
The turnout appears well below the 60 percent needed to validate the vote, but if final results show it was above 20 percent and more than half of the votes were in favor, Parliament will have to review the issue within three months.
Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said Sunday that his ruling party, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, will again block the project. Analysts have linked the stance to the government's declared strategy of reducing the country's near-total dependence on Russian energy sources.
The Russian firm has filed a 1 billion-euro compensation claim at the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration. The referendum has polarized Bulgarian public opinion along party lines and could affect general elections in July. Analysts anticipated that most voters Sunday would be hard-core supporters of each camp, producing the low turnout.


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One of the qualifying questions was how many of each of these disorders I treat in a month:
|Needless to say, I didn't qualify
A Blog detailing the insanity of my medical practice and the stupidity of everyday life.
|Needless to say, I didn't qualify
With the number of patients with their head up their fundament, I would venture to guess that you see (if not actually treat) quite a number of these conditions on a regular basis.
stay safe.
Skidmark - You're thinking of craniorectal impaction. That didn't make the list. I'm sure Dr. Grumpy sees at least one of those a day.
Vulvodynia, is where they are holding the next Winter Olympics.
Maybe this is their way of making sure you are a neurologist? If you don't answer "0" to all of these, maybe you aren't qualified for the survey?
Of course that is probably giving the survey creators far too much credit.
Did someone mishear "urologists"?
It's easier to waste your time than to target the survey:-/
I get surveys all the time for you MD types, it shouldn't be that hard for them to note DVM.
They missed it by THAT much!
Is Dr. Pissy filling in your name when he needs to login somewhere but doesn't want to be bothered by spam? LOL!
Packer, I think you're wrong. I think vulvodynia is that thing the soccer fans use to make noise at the games.
Vulvodynia is going to be my superhero name when I get my super-powers which seem be taking an AWFULLY long time to arrive!
In the meantime, I'm designing an awesome costume.
holy cow your blog is hilarious. I always wonder if doctors want to stab me and now I know, they probably do, lol. Love this!
Looks like they went too far on the "If God was an engineer joke" and only gave you the plumbing questions.
Yes, God must have been an engineer, one said to another.
The EE said, "Well of course God was an electrical engineer...look at the nerves and spinal cord and how that all works.'
The ME said, "Yes, God was probably a mechanical engineer. Look at all those joints and how the skeleton is put together."
Nonplussed, the general engineer said, "I think God was a civil engineer."
The other two asked, "Why would you say that."
The GE replied, "Who else would put a sewer in a recreation area?"
(Ah, blast from the past when I worked with those rascally CEs who fought over the width of sidewalks and concrete density...)
Rehab RN, that is too funny.
Love it.
I was thinking the survey was meant for gastroenterologists, maybe gynecologists, maybe urologists....things that make you go hmmmmm.
Neurologist, urologist--sounds pretty similar to me
In a previous post, you mentioned you treated people with back pain. Thus it could be construed that you have some interest in chronic pain syndromes and the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th conditions listed could certainly be described as chronic pain syndromes.
Ok, a bit tenuous, but not impossible.
OK, maybe this is it.... the survey was meant for urogynecologists. They are a bit more like a urologist overall, but they also deal with some gynecological issues and they can also treat anything that deals with either urinary issues, defecation issues and pelvic pain issues. They cover a lot of ground medically speaking.
Neuros may need to refer patients to them at times.
Little Calf Creamery. Delicious homemade ice cream and food in Thousand Oaks!


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January 7 – February 8, 2013
Opening reception: January 12th, 3-6pm
View the Evite here
Entertainment by Soul in Motion
Artist talk: January 27th, 2-4pm
My work can be considered "Green" or "Re-purpose" art. I work with recycled paper and items that can be used as painting surfaces that we as consumers throw away. I have an abundance of the resource. The goal is to create with what is on hand. The medium is "mixed media" which consist of paper from magazines, shredded documents, paper towels, tissue paper and gift bags along with other found papers. I incorporate acrylic paint and utilize the leftover acrylic skins as well.
The choice of material is based on discovery and experimentation. I will start with a small version and work larger to see if the technique is repeatable and sustainable. The common theme of my work is generally female oriented, afro centric portraits with specific themes. Other pieces are abstract in nature exploring movement, color and materials.
My current work incorporates the use of shredded papers, acrylic paint and acrylic skins. The technique allows the work to take on movement based on the application. It can be bound together with color and gel medium or it can be applied color specific to create a surface that cannot be done with paint alone.


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Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alex Raisman, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber left little doubt during the team gymnastics competition, winning three of the four events to propel to U.S. to an easy victory over Russia and Romania, which took silver and bronze, respectively. It's the first gymnastics team gold for the U.S. women since 1996. Be sure to check back later for more from our gymnastics correspondent, Dvora Meyers.
For a handy master schedule of every Olympic event, click here.


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Cute Kittens Want You to Vote for Hunter Hayes as 2012 ACM Awards New Artist of the Year
Hunter Hayes wants to win the 2012 ACM Awards New Artist of the Year honor so bad that the singer and his digital promotion team recruited a quartet of super cute kittens to aid him in his quest and to emotionally blackmail you into voting. They're preying on your inability to ignore rampant cuteness.
One cream-colored feline is sandwiched in between three gray kitties. They are yawning and nuzzling, and are as precious as can be. You'll want to carry them around in your pocket and cuddle with them once you get a load of the video below.
The straightforward voiceover sublimely asks for your vote by using the kittens to try and achieve that goal without ever being overt.
Hayes isn't the only country artist who has resorted to employing adorable animals to help curry favor with fans and corral votes. Jason Aldean's stuffed bulldog and Taylor Swift's cat were also tasked with helping the superstars campaign for votes.
Can we get a collective "Aww?"
If the kittens have inspired you to throw or two a vote at Hunter Hayes for 2012 ACM New Artist of the Year, you can vote daily until Sunday, April 1.
Watch Hunter Hayes Cute Kittens Video


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Dear All,
I am using Java 5.0 for creating a web application. There is a security related implementation to be done. I have tried all my sources but all in drain. I would appeal to all experts who have handled security aspects in java or programmers who would want to give a helping hand to come forward.
Desired output: any page loads in an internet browser is stored for future reference in the history section, which is mostly accessible using shortcut Ctrl+H. I don't want my pages to be shown in the history at all.
Please help as our assignment is pending since long, we may end up losing the project. Any guidance would be highly appreciated.
I have tried below solutions which didn't give any success:
Solution 1:
1. <%
2. session.invalidate();
3. response.setHeader("Cache-Control","no-cache");
4. response.setHeader("Cache-Control","no-store");
5. response.setDateHeader("Expires", 0);
6. response.sendRedirect("home.jsp");
7. %>
Solution 2:
Response.Cache.SetExpires(DateTime.Parse(DateTime. Now.ToString()))
Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.Pr ivate)
Response.AppendHeader("Pragma", "no-cache")
Solution 3:
<body onload="history.forward()">
Solution 4:
response.setDateHeader("Last-Modified", System.currentTimeMillis());
Jaisingh Saini


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Chamillionaire Shows You How To Ride On ThanksGiving "New Track Preview"
Chamillionaire explains why he, "WONT LET YOU DOWN" as He & the Chamillitary Camp are on the Road this Holiday, November 22, 2007 gettin It on THAT GRIND early in the Morning
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.


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The Outlook Medium Rectangle is an In-Banner Ad that enables advertisers to reach audiences with unrivaled interactivity and engagement. This ad units can offer the full range of creative executions – from eye-popping animation, to video, dynamic data, interactive games, and more.
IMPORTANT: Click here to open the most up to date specs on the Microsoft Creative specs page - from there, you can click on the "In-Banner" spec link under the "Outlook.com" section which includes full technical specs for the 300x250 Outlook Medium Rectangle. It is vital that you download the full spec sheet, the specs included below are purely for quick-reference.


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Riding around with a cracked window shield is not a pretty sight, but AutoGlass LA fixed that problem. It started from a pebble that hit my car on the freeway and grew horizontally to almost the width of my windshield. I searched on the internet and noticed Google, Yelp, and Yahoo rated AutoGlass LA number one in customer satisfaction. This is important to me bcause I know they will treat me right.
The manager said AutoGlass LA provides the same quality service as the dealership, but their prices are better. I shopped around and he was right. As a matter of fact, some Los Angeles dealerships are customers of AutoGlass LA.
AutoGlass LA said they would fix my windshield while I waited and that sounded even better, but I also had the choice of having them drive to my home or work for free which could have saved me a lot of time if I wasn't close to their convenient location in Van Nuys. Another reason I chose AutoGlass LA is because they use the same quality sealant product as the dealerships.
While I waited, was able to work on my laptop and use their free wifi internet so it made the time go by even faster. I noticed the AutoGlass technicians take their job seriously. They are experienced and work as a harmoniously team and can skillfully do a few cars at one time. Windshield repair can be done under 15 minutes. They have hundreds of autoglass in stock and that's why they can do same-day installations. Other experienced installers will make you schedule an appointment and leave your car with them.
AutoGlass LA made my car look new again with a brand new shiny windshield. I was very happy with their work and I will go their again if I have to. They provide quality and professional auto glass with very competitive rates and free mobile service. I also feel at ease knowing that AutoGlass LA provides a lifetime warranty on auto glass leakage and workmanship for as long as I own or lease my vehicle.
AutoGlass LA is located at 6168 Sepuleda Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91411. For more information call 877.745.4577 or visit their website www.autoglassla.com


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Hi, I'm Nicholas Fidanza...Welcome to My Personal Page!
On Sunday, April 28, 2019, I'll be participating in the Paris to Ancaster: A Ride for Research at St. Joe's. Last year, more than 2,700 local cycling enthusiasts participated is this race.
Funds raised through the Paris to Ancaster will be directed to fund vital healthcare research so St. Joe's can continue to comfort and care for the patients they've been honoured to serve since 1890.
Every dollar we raise together will support hope, healing and discovery at St. Joe's. Please make a donation today and help me reach my fundraising goal!
Thanks for your support!
If you think this page contains objectionable content, please inform the system administrator.
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Gov. Bob McDonnell is launching a barnstorming tour, leaving a political scandal in Richmond behind as he promotes the positives of his Republican administration.
The governor has scheduled three stops Friday in southwest Virginia. His office says he'll be delivering some announcements when he visits Salem, Roanoke and Bristol. They include an announcement on passenger rail service in Roanoke.
McDonnell calls the statewide tour "This Commonwealth of Opportunity.'' It swings to Southside early next week, then on to Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore. The tour concludes Aug. 15 with stops in Alexandria and Fairfax.
McDonnell has been dogged in Richmond by questions about loans and gifts from a businessman and political supporter. He says he has done no wrong.
- Cuccinelli Asks McDonnell to Call Special Session on Ethics Reform
- McDonnell Won't Repay State for $53K in Legal Bills
- Cuccinelli: No Plans to Repay Williams Gifts
- McDonnell to Return All Remaining Gifts from Political Donor
- McAuliffe Wants "Fair Opportunity" for Latinos in Va.
- Firm Bills Va. $53,530 for McDonnell Gifts Probe
- McDonnell: No Thought to Resigning


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That wraps up our seventh year of The Kris Fade Show's 20 Schools in 20 Days. Massive shout out to DELL, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi and Splash Fashions for making this the biggest one yet.
We met with over 20,000 students and teachers across the UAE and they were phenomenal! If we came to your school, check out the pictures below to see we caught you on camera! We'll also have our highlights video coming up soon, so watch this space!
12:00am - 6:00am
The UAE's #1 Hit Music Station with no interruptions
6:00am - 10:00am
Where The Stars Live!
Everyone loves a custom background on the video chat apps - James has ideas of what you can use!
Next up it's singer Jay Sean joining Kris Fade to catch up including talk of how he almost became a doctor!
Gary Vee joins Kris Fade to talk about the quarantine and why he won't watch the Michael Jordan documentary on Netflix!
Not in the car so much while Kris, Priti and Rossi are on air? Check out the daily podcast here...


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Michael Raasch
Even during his design studies at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Michael Raasch was already concentrating on the design of lighting, furniture and accessories. His way of approaching his work was already comprehensive and his creations, such as...
read more
"Questioning what already exists and designing essential objects which are simply different, which bring new qualitative solutions to everyday life."
José Maria Reina
José María Reina is a versatile and self-taught designer. He belongs to the generation that promoted Barcelona as city of reference in the industrial design field.
José María Reina gives time a shape. He has been designing clocks since 2001.
read more
Nick Rennie
A leading light in the current Australian design world, Nick Rennie counts the foremost European manufacturers of furniture, lighting and various products figure amongst his clients. Thanks to his exhaustive knowledge of materials and technology, he...
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"Never ceasing to create simple, elegant and agreeable products."
Prisca Renoux
Born in Paris in 1988, Prisca Renoux began to envisage making design her career at a very early age. After a 'baccalauréat littéraire', she went on to study object design at the ENSAD, from which she graduated in 2012. She then completed her studies at the...
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"I seek to optimise the properties of a material with the aim of offering a simple, aesthetic and functional object."
Thomas Rodriguez
Born in 1972.
Lives and works in Paris.
A trained plastic artist, ESBA (Tours). Collaborations with Ligne Roset, Monum Hôtel Sully, Manufacture de Sèvres, Galerie Neotu P. Staudenmeyer, C&C italy, La Maison Martin Margiela.
read more
"Economy of materials, savoir-faire and timelessness."
Noémie Rognon
Born in 1987.
Studies :
BTS in product design, Lycée Jacques Duhamel, Dole (39). Mention complémentaire, Models & Prototypes, Lycée Léonard de Vinci, Villefontaine (38). Licence professionnelle éco-design, Faculté Sciences et Techniques,...
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Mona Ronteix
A graduate of the école Camondo (2016), Mona bases her work on the principle of experimentation. This exploratory work is conducted through graphic design, photography and film.The plasticity of light is the crucial point in her approach to each project. At...
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" Everything can be infringed and called into question, once we begin questioning that which surrounds us, in the spirit of doing things differently in order to do them better."
Alice Rosignoli
Born in Italy in May 1981.
Rosignoli studied industrial design at the University of Architecture, Florence, graduating in November 2005.
In 2006, she collaborated with the styling and technical design department of Ariete SpA.
She moved...
read more
"Improving daily life with pieces which are at once simple, timeless and poetic."


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Rants on Cycling and on Life:
Photos of people and bicycles that pass in front of my camera
Great photos!!! I was in the Men's "C" race and put myself in the "just happy to finish" category. My first cyclocross race, and, my God, that was INSANE and FUN!
as alwaysRIGHT CLICK and OPEN IN NEW WINDOW TO GET A BIGGER IMAGE
Post a Comment


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When Brian Cashman responded to Derek Jeter and company claiming that the Yankees were engaged in baffling negotiations by telling him to test the market, it seemed like Cashman was risking losing face in the public relations side of the contract battle.
That's become an increasingly large part of this exercise since we don't seem to be heading toward anything but a renewal of vows. The final contract numbers will tell one story, but the one that will be trumpeted in much bigger print is going to be about which side won the hearts and minds of the public. It might be insignificant in the long run, but it's going to be a talking point and Cashman's gruffness appeared to be working against him.
Like they say about the weather in many different places, however, if you wait five minutes things change completely.
Friday morning brings Bill Madden of the Daily News reporting just what exactly Jeter's side is looking for in these negotiations. For all of the talk, that's been shrouded in some secrecy beyond vague notions of four or five years while the Yankees side of things has been well reported. Per Madden sources close to the shortstop's camp, Jeter's starting point in the process is a six-year, $150 million contract that can come down in years, but not in the average annual value of $25 million.
Pot, meet kettle. Baffling doesn't begin to describe the notion of such a contract. There's no justification for it based on on-field production, obviously, and there are no past slights to make up for with a big balloon payment. Jeter's camp wants everyone to forget it, but the Yankees have already paid him more than $200 million over the years. That's hardly in line with their argument that the Yankees don't want to treat Jeter with respect.
The only justification, a word one should use loosely, for such a request would be the Alex Rodriguez contract. We've discussed how A-Rod has no place in these discussions before, but that was mostly about the way the media uses him as a straw man. This is different, this is Jeter being petty, jealous and greedy.
Those three things fly directly in the face of the image and brand he's cultivated over the last 15 years. They aren't the personality traits of a man who has long argued that winning mattered more than anything else and they aren't the traits of the selfless captain that he's been selling to the fans. It's delusional and it's impossible to believe that anyone with even a slightly reasonable view of the process will see it any other way.
Cashman presumably had this information when he bristled at being accused of dirty dealings, which makes it much easier to understand why he told Jeter to pound sand. If Jeter keeps asking for ridiculous things, he'll have more people on his side than anyone could have imagined.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.


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Items where Author is "Catley, Andy"
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Group by: Item Type | Uncontrolled Keywords | No Grouping
Jump to: Book Section
Number of items: 1.
Book Section
Morton, John F. (2012) 'Responsible companies' and African livestock-keepers: Helping, teaching but not learning? In: Catley, Andy, Lind, Jeremy and Scoones, Ian, (eds.) Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins. Pathways to Sustainability . Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp. 108-118. ISBN 9780415540711


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Apply for financing near Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma today with Classic Chevrolet. We are also happy to help you explore different online tools! Ask our team about the different lending options we offer..
Our application only takes a few moments to complete. Did we mention that we have bad credit financing options in Owasso, OK?
When you are finished, all you have to do is check out the value your trade tool or payment calculator to get a clear idea of your budget. We are happy to help!


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#15449 - CLUTCH SPRING (8000RPM/Red)
Baja 5B/For #15448/If used with #15440, engagement will be at 7,000RPM
Spare part for #15448 Baja 5B High Response Clutch Shoe/Spring Set. When used as standard, the clutch will engage at 8000RPM, which is great for low-grip or muddy surfaces. If used with #15440 Clutch Shoe/Spring Set, the clutch will engage at 7000RPM, ideal for high-grip surfaces.


text: by murilocardoso If you are a music enthusiast then you definitely know the thrill of discovering a fresh musician, a new noise, or a instrument. Some folks enjoy a single category of songs design such classic rock, jazz, blues, pop, nation, soul, ancient, show tunes, or heavy metal and rock. […] Set Everything to Music26 Aug, 2015 in Music tagged Associated Press / compact disc / elvis presley / Elvis Presley Birthplace / everything / Graceland / Memphis / Mississippi / Music / Non-denominated postage / Priscilla Presley / Tennessee / The Postal Service / Tupelo by Manuel Marino


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Linda and Rusty Jackson's 1932 Ford roadster - Turtle Wax Kansas City Top 100
Rusty Jackson, from Odd Rod Creations, finished up this roadster for his mom, Linda, that his father, Roger, had started before he succumbed to cancer. A late-model 5.7-liter Hemi and five-speed was added to the chassis, and an Odd Rod power steering system directs the action. The convertible body is from Dearborn Deuce, and all of the car's chrome came from Jon Wright's Custom Chrome.


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College football, as has been told to you countless times I'm sure, is back. Along with the fanfare, weather, gambling, insane fans, and Lee Corso looking like an idiot, tailgating before the games is easily the most non-game related event I look forward to. And while the food, drinking and interaction with fellow fans is a big part of that, my favorite thing, by far, are the tailgating games. I've only been privy to tailgates at Big Ten Schools - Michigan State, Ohio State, and countless at Penn State, and have seen them at Pitt, although I was too young to take it all in. While I'm not here to start an argument, I think Big Ten schools would obviously represent some of the best, although still missing out on traditions of those out west or down south. The games I've been lucky enough to play are staples at these schools. I'm sure many of you have played these before, and possibly feel as devoted to them as I do. Anyway, here are my rankings of the top 4 games that I've played. I'm sure you feel differently, but that's what the comment section is for.
Want to learn about the history of baseball stadiums and baseball leagues? What about the evolution of baseball rules? If so, check out this baseball history website and get great info on your favorite sport, baseball.
4. Beirut/Beer Pong
The staple of any collegiate party, Beer Pong can also be found at many tailgates. According to wikipedia, the version in which no paddles were used originated at Bucknell in the early 80s. I have it fourth for a couple of reasons. First, the wind factor. I'm a firm believer that beer pong should be played indoors, or at the very least on a porch. Nothing like losing a game due to a tiny wind gust. The second reason is you need a folding table the size of the one in your kitchen to play on. For alumni, it isn't that difficult to pack one in the RV, but tailgates run by younger generations, the ones who really embraced pong, either don't have one or can't fit it into their Toyota Echo. Third, you have a much better chance of running into a bunch of meatheads playing this game than any other. Finally, I couldn't decide if the mandatory drinking is a plus or minus. Most football games happen in the afternoon and there is nothing like sitting in the stands in the sun for 3 hours, dehydrated and delirious after you ran the table at the tailgate. This is only a problem in September, but September would be the best time to play anyway.
3. The Washer Games
Out of all the games I see the older alumni playing, the ones who were there to see Kerry Collins wear the blue and white in person, the Washer Game is it. I've never actually played the game before, which may be why I have it at 3, but the basic premise of the game is to throw a washer into a cup for 5 points, or in the pit around the cup for 2 points. There is a variation in which there are three holes in a vertical alignment, and points are scored by tossing the washers into the holes. The latter variation is the one I've seen the most. This game gets my good graces because I bet the creation of the game involved a bunch of guys standing around in a garage with beer and a need for something to do. Other than that though, it's too much like horse shoes.
2. Cornhole
I really wanted to drop this game down to number 3 because it originated in Cincinnati, but its simplicity mixed with some strategy has made this one of my favorites. Cornhole, if you have never played, is a rather simple game. There are two teams, each with two people, with the object being trying to throw a closed pouch filled with corn into a hole that is found on a raised platform.
Putting the bag in the hole scores you 3 points, landing it on the platform nets you 1 point. The game is usually played to 21, with many scoring variations. Anyway, why do I like this game? Because it is the only game in which the playing surface has such an influence. You get an unfinished and warped board, like the one above, and the bag will stick to the platform easily. If you play on one with varnish or made of plastic, the bag grips the board as well as Nate Washington holding onto a football. Plus the boards are easily transportable, often times with folding legs. For something easy that anyone can start playing and understand immediately, cornhole is it.
1. Ladder Golf
I played this game for the first time last week, but even that short taste of greatness motivated me to write this column. Ladder Golf involves three rung ladders, two golf balls connected by a string and called a bola, and at least two willing contestants. Each team has three bolas, and they take turns tossing them at the ladder in hopes of getting them to hang on one of the rungs. Each rung has a different point value; we played with the top rung being 3 points, middle 2, and bottom 1. But official championship rules, according to wiki, have the top worth 2 and the middle rung worth 3 points. The games are played to exactly 21 - going over will result in a bust, lowering your point total to what you had at the beginning of the round or subtracting the points from your score.
What I love about this game is the deceiving degree of difficulty. You can lob the perfect bola, watch it sail straight for the top rung, only to have the balls wrap around the ladder and smash into each other, causing the bola to fly back in your direction, aka the ballbuster. Which brings me to my second favorite thing about the game: the lexicon. The people I played with had their own words for everything. Ballbuster for the situation described above, grandfather clock for one ball near the rung while the other hangs low, bulldog for the bola that completely wraps around the rung leaving the two balls right next to each other at the rung, honeypot for putting all three bola on the same rung, and the cycle for putting a bola on each rung. The great part is that wiki has completely different names for these events, as I'm sure many people do. The amount of custimization is definitely a plus. The strategy doesn't hurt either, as attempting to knock opponent's bolas off the rungs or having to hit the second rung to win the game often gives the game a different dimension the other ones don't enjoy. Lastly, the supplies are cheap (the ladder is made of PVC) and can be disessembled to fit almost anywhere. You can't beat it.
This is just my take, let me know if I left off a glaring omission or if you completely disagree with the rankings.
End of Post


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|We celebrated the Wild-West theme party with a horse cake.
(Also useful for a Godfather theme party.)
Cake Success
52 comments:
- GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...
I don't think there could be two cuter little girls ~ LOVE the expressions on their faces... adorable!
And your cake sounds heavenly. It is now on my make list :)
Thanks a bunch for sharing!
- April 29, 2012 at 7:51 AM
- Becki's Whole Life said...
Your cake sounds wonderful. I am right there with you. I like the baking part, but the decorating part is always a bit hit or miss. I do a lot of polka-dots and squiggly lines on my cakes. The girls always seem to appreciate them though. I am sure your girls appreciated their birthday cakes and the horse cake is adorable. Ella had a horse themed birthday once and that would have been so cute. I am a lemon fan, too and I think that raspberry buttercream would taste great in a lemon cake. I like the chocolate combo, too.
- April 29, 2012 at 8:20 AM
- From the Kitchen said...
Lovely! I'm not much of a decorator myself. May I join you on the"wild side" of working crosswords in pen?
- April 29, 2012 at 8:23 AM
- Belinda said...
That horse cake is awesome!!! This cake sounds perfect!
- April 29, 2012 at 9:20 AM
- Valerie Gamine said...
Lol Beth! I kinda love the horse head cake. :D
I'm so glad this cake was such a huge success! (Amazing how fast it disappears.)I'm kind of really tempted to make it again after seeing your photos.
Go Team Lemon!
- April 29, 2012 at 9:26 AM
- Barbara Jean said...
Gorgeous looking photo! I will keep this recipe in mind for sure. And while I too complete crosswords (and Sudoku) in pen, I am Team Chocolate. :)
- April 29, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- Claudia said...
Oh - I am saving this! Love chocolate and raspberry flavors combined. And I have no fine motor skills - but bake and cake and frost it - yes!
- April 29, 2012 at 11:02 AM
- Bonnie said...
Beth, I, too have experienced the cake landslide. I love to bake, but frosting is a challenge for me. In fact, I've become the cupcake queen. Okay, I can't imagine doing my daily crossword with anything other than a pen, and yep, I much prefer a lemon square to a brownie...anyday. So add me to team lemon. Bonnie
- April 29, 2012 at 11:04 AM
- Anonymous said...
Beth, this cake looks and sounds wonderful. Love the raspberry filling and I have to try that frosting. Marshmallow cream? Wow!
- April 29, 2012 at 11:07 AM
- Beth said...
I'm glad to hear that I have so many friends on Team Lemon, although Team Chocolate rocks too!
And yes, Bonnie (and everyone else who does puzzles in pen). The wild side always has room for one more.
- April 29, 2012 at 12:51 PM
- Carol said...
Your girls are adorable! The cake looks fantastic, love the flavors. I'm team lemon but chocolate comes so close.
- April 29, 2012 at 12:58 PM
A slide resistant frosting? Yes, please!
- April 29, 2012 at 1:17 PM
- Vicki Bensinger said...
Mmm what a great combination and with sour cream in it so it stays ultra moist. I just printed this entire recipe. Now I'm going to head over to check out Valerie's site.
- April 29, 2012 at 1:55 PM
- Sissi said...
Beth, I am also not good in details such as cake decorations and I hate frosting and similar things. Your cake looks perfect though and the combination of raspberry and dark chocolate sounds fabulous.
- April 29, 2012 at 2:24 PM
- grace said...
pablo neruda! i keep seeing references, and i love it! nice job on the cake, beth--you should be proud!
- April 29, 2012 at 4:58 PM
- Neesie said...
Lemon or chocolate...lemon or chocolate? Oh my see what you've done Beth. Such a dilemma.
Definitely need to bake this cake! Need an occasion thought but maybe Monday is a good enough reason? ;D
- April 29, 2012 at 5:57 PM
- Ciao Chow Linda said...
I'd say you hit it just right with this cake. Who needs any other decorations? This looks fantastic.
- April 29, 2012 at 6:34 PM
- Cindy said...
Beautiful cake. I have book club next week, maybe I'll try this cake. It looks delicious.
- April 30, 2012 at 12:03 AM
- Miriam said...
Such a delicious cake! Sweet photos too :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
- April 30, 2012 at 1:35 AM
I know the feeling all too well! I've failed my share! It's helped me grown. But seriously, your cakes look amazing!
- April 30, 2012 at 3:24 AM
- Elaine said...
It's wonderful to make a decorated cake once in awhile for special occasions, but my favorites are cakes like these that are just frosted. It looks perfect! The chocolate raspberry combination sounds delicious.
- April 30, 2012 at 7:45 AM
- Joanne said...
I've gotten better at frosting with practice but I still can't do much more than just smear it on and try to get it as smooth as possible. :P You did an amazing job with this! It sounds like a dream.
- April 30, 2012 at 8:11 AM
- Lorraine said...
The decorating part of baking has always been my downfall until I took a cake decorating class which was one of the best things I have done in a while. It is amazing what you can accomplish with a little know-how. Your horse cake came out beautiful and I love your idea for a Godfather cake..lol The cake sounds wonderful:)
- April 30, 2012 at 8:49 AM
- Kitchen Riffs said...
I'm on Team Lemon too! Although I do like chocolate. Cake looks wonderful. And I agree on the decorating part - too tedious. Mainly because I never really learned how to do it (I prefer cooking savories to sweets, although I certainly enjoy eating sweets). Looks like a great recipe, though - I'll have to give this a try. Thanks.
- April 30, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Yummy, Beth! I love dark chocolate and with raspberries...yes, please!
- April 30, 2012 at 11:46 AM
I was just thinking about how I've never made a cake for one of my girls' birthdays. Strange isn't it, even though I'm an avid baker and cook. I'm trying to imagine how complex the 101 Dalmations cake was...or Harry Potter for that matter. What wonderful memories for your girls. This cake looks divine!
- April 30, 2012 at 12:00 PM
- Beth said...
Barb, I didn't mention this, but I posted a photo of the Dalmation cake shortly after I started blogging. It's on the August 19, 2010 post (although I made if years earlier). It was so simple to make!
Joanne, your technique is more or less like mine. It worked this time!
- April 30, 2012 at 12:40 PM
I can understand why the cake was the star. It looks soooooo good.
- April 30, 2012 at 1:18 PM
- Rita said...
I have not made a good chocolate cake in long time; getting lazy.. I by them...
But the weekend of the 12th, we are celebrating 2 special grandchildren birthdays and hopefully your cake will be on the table. I used to always put my first cake upside down.
Merci Beth you made my day.
- April 30, 2012 at 2:10 PM
- Barbara said...
Love Valerie's blog....you couldn't have gone to a better source. Your cake turned out beautifully. No wonder it was the hit of the book group!
- April 30, 2012 at 3:01 PM
- Jemi Fraser said...
I'm drooling... definitely bookmarking this page!
- April 30, 2012 at 4:52 PM
- Unknown said...
I'm the worst cake decorator in the world. Trust me on that. I got an F for mine in grade 12. It looked like the results of a natural disaster. :D
- April 30, 2012 at 7:21 PM
- Beth said...
It's a good thing I wasn't in your grade 12 class, Stina. I would have been failing right beside you.
- April 30, 2012 at 8:30 PM
- Sharon K. Mayhew said...
OMGOODNESS! That cake looks divine! I don't bake a lot because it leads to eating a lot, but I do enjoy baking in the summer at our cabin. I'll have to copy this recipe and try it. :)
- April 30, 2012 at 10:28 PM
- Lynne Daley said...
Wow! Awesome looking cake! I'm not very good at decorating cakes, but with this one, who needs fancy decoration!
- May 1, 2012 at 6:07 AM
- Cucina49 said...
Beth, what a beautiful cake! That raspberry buttercream is to die for.
- May 1, 2012 at 5:59 PM
- Julie said...
Beautiful cake! Delicious flavors.
- May 1, 2012 at 8:22 PM
- Katerina said...
You did an excellent job with this cake Beth. And if it tasted as great as it looks then is obvious why it took so many rave reviews from the group you were hosting!
- May 2, 2012 at 9:20 AM
Oh gosh, that looks delicious! I get stressed about frosting cakes and making them look nice. I took a cake decorating class, but unless you do it all the time (which I don't!), it can be a challenge.
- May 2, 2012 at 10:07 PM
A huge success I would say - this cake looks fabulous! Rich decadent and with so many awesome flavours to offer :)
Choc Chip Uru
- May 3, 2012 at 12:26 AM
- Jayanthy Kumaran said...
looks amazingly tasty
Tasty Appetite
- May 3, 2012 at 2:33 AM
I love chocolate and raspberries together.
I've never tried decorating a cake. I'm not sure if I'd be any good at it.
- May 3, 2012 at 5:17 AM
- Unknown said...
This is a beautiful cake, Beth. You'd better watch out or you aren't going to be able to claim that you and frosting are not friends! (I rarely make a pretty cake. Sheet cakes are more my style as well!)
- May 3, 2012 at 9:17 AM
- Rosita Vargas said...
Un pastel hermoso y delicioso rica combinación y Pablo Neruda es un gran poeta
- May 3, 2012 at 7:09 PM
- Gloria Baker said...
love this cake!!
- May 3, 2012 at 7:26 PM
- Gloria Baker said...
and love so much the little faces!!lol
- May 3, 2012 at 7:28 PM
- Sue said...
Raspberry cream sounds delicious! Your cake looks amazing, and I love the horse cake (and the photo) too! You have quite an impressive repertoire of cakes, Beth:)
- May 3, 2012 at 9:37 PM
- Jill | Dulce Dough said...
I love the combination of raspberry an chocolate! Sounds like an amazing cake. And that picture of your girls is adorable!
- May 4, 2012 at 1:59 PM
- Rita said...
I made your cakes, stored it in the freezer and will decorate it next weekend to celebrate 2 grandchildren's birthday.
- May 5, 2012 at 7:18 PM
- Beth said...
That's great, Rita! Let me know how it turns out!
- May 5, 2012 at 9:58 PM
Of course the Book Group cake looks fantastic. I'm a big fan of any cake that doesn't require that I tame icing. But, I must say that I gasped out loud at the horse cake. I made a nearly identical cake for a Cowboy themed birthday party, after which I swore to Never Again Carve Cake. :)
- May 8, 2012 at 10:26 PM
- Rita said...
Fantastic; will be posting about it soon. Big problem; you are not on my list of blogs that I follow anymore; trying to figure out how to follow you now.
- May 15, 2012 at 9:46 AM


text: Hi, i am working on a project for college that displays guitar tablature when the user types in a note. I want to have a graphical interface showing a guitar fretboard on the screen and when the user types in a note as a string, it displays it on the fretboard. Would someone know what would be the best way to go about creating and displaying the graphical interface. I was looking into Java FX but not sure. I really appreciate any help. Thanks


text:
Amenorpe Korsi Fume is a volunteer teacher at the Faith Baptist Community Church Child Development Center at Madina, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. Korsi Fume teaches the 12-year-olds at the center and is also responsible for leading prayer and devotion time. He sees children's sponsors as special people without whom the center cannot realize its vision.
For this reason, "Teacher Fume" (as he is commonly called among the children) never forgets to have the children pray for every sponsor any time the children meet collectively as a center to pray. Praying for you has never been missing from their prayer topics.
"We have made these children aware that they would not have the opportunity they now have if they had not been sponsored. So they have to be thankful to God and lift their sponsor up in prayer every day and night. They pray for their sponsors every time they are at the center. I speak with them and they tell me they pray even when they are not at the center."
Many of the children confirm this.
Voicelord, who is sponsored by Katrina, thanks God every morning for giving Katrina to him as a sponsor. He also tells God to protect her and let her work prosper so that she will earn more money.
Emmanuel has a couple as his sponsors, and when he prays he does not forget to pray for them.
"Lord God, thank you for everything. Thank you for Jesus; thank you for Compassion all over the world; thank you for all sponsors, especially my own sponsors — Kyle and Danielle.
"Thank you God for making them choose me. Please Father, bless them and all that they do; bless their families and everybody they love.
"God, there are some of my friends who do not have a sponsor; please Father, touch the hearts of other people to come and sponsor those who do not have anyone to support them.
"Father, I know that you would do this for me. Thank you. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!"
Grace's sponsor is a student named Morgan. Grace prays for Morgan.
"My heavenly Father, I thank you for this day. I thank you for giving me such a sponsor; please God guide her in everything she does. Help her in her studies at school so that everything she studies, everything will stick in her mind. Let her remember everything she learns so that she can do well in all examinations.
"Father God, take care of her and give her long life. Give her a good job so that she will prosper. Please God, bless her family and her friends and make her happy all the time. Amen!"
Emmanuella is 12 years old and in grade six at school. Her sponsor's name is Karen. Emmanuella knows a lot about her sponsor because they communicate a lot and ask each other many questions. Emmanuella prays:
"My Lord and Master Savior, thank you for giving me Karen. Heavenly Father, I thank you for my sponsor's life. I thank you for her family. I thank you for everything she has been doing for me. Heavenly Father, I want you to give her long life. Bless her family; bless her business and everything she does. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!"
Sandra is 12 years old. She prays for her sponsor Kami and Kami's husband.
"My Lord and Savior, thank you for the life of my sponsors. Thank you for the life of her family and the life of every member of her family. I pray that you bless her and help her in everything she does. Make her prosper; help her in her work; help her husband and everybody. Please God, give her long life and prosperity; everything she touches should be blessed. Let your blessing be upon them all the time. Amen!"
Okoe and Akwetey are twins. Their sponsors are Daralyn and Gayle, respectively. The twins and their family are very appreciative to God for their sponsors. Okoe's sponsor sent him a family gift, which helped to boost the mother's kenkey-making business and changed the family's life.
Kenkey is a typical Ghanaian dish eaten mostly by the people from Accra (Gas) and the Central Region (Fante). Kenkey is made from fermented corn dough. The twins' mother used to buy the corn on credit and in small quantites.
The gift money the family received was invested into the business. Now the twins' mother is able to buy a whole 50 kilo bag of corn outright. So the small, one-person business has expanded. She now has two people to help her, and she produces more kenkey and makes a better profit.
Before the gift money came, the family was living mainly on the profits from the kenkey the mother was selling. They could not think of providing a different dish for themselves to eat because the money was not there. But now because the twins' mother makes a better profit, she is able to cook rice and stew or some yams or plantains.
For this family, the sponsors are much appreciated. The mother says,
"It is my prayer that any of my children's sponsors should just get the means to visit Ghana so that I will get the opportunity to hail them and show them how much love I have in my heart for them. The children have been writing to them, but I do not feel that letters alone can say well how we appreciate them. I am praying to God to grant us physical meeting one day."
The father of the house is almost always not at home, so the mother sometimes joins the twins in prayer generally, with praying for the two sponsors being part of the main prayer topics.
Okoe's prayer for Daralyn is:
"Lord, I thank you for my sponsor. Take care of her health so that she will be healthy all the time. Please God do not make her sick; let her work prosper.
"Dear Jesus, let her know that I love her very much. Make her love me too. Lord, I know that you will one day make her to come to Ghana to visit me. Bless her, bless her family and bless her country. Amen!"
These are just some of the prayers that are said in Ghana for you as sponsors. Compassion would not be Compassion without you. The children would not have the lives they have without your response to Jesus. We in Ghana appreciate you and pray that your relationship with us will be a lifelong one. Amen!


text:
July 15, 2005. The 2005 edition of the Mitchum Crock was another great success. The Indianapolis Association of Wabash Men (IAWM) hosted over 130 golfers at the Golf Club of Indiana in Zionsville, Indiana. Despite a passing thunderstorm that halted play for a short time, and soaked the entire field, everyone played a full 18 holes of golf.
The Wabash golf team also participated in the outing providing "help as needed" on a par 3 and with a drive on a par 4. All told, the golf team raised a tidy sum of money to help offset their expenses for the coming year.
The winners of the 2005 Crock were Mike Sullivan '89, Pat O'Hara '89, Kevin Egan '89, and Drew Northern '89.
Many thanks go to the following: Brad Johnson '71, IAWM president, and the Crock committee: Lee Clark '73, Mike Shaver '73, Kelley House '90, and Tim Oliver '91.
For the photo album, click here


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Planning Council/January 05 2011
< Planning Council
Revision as of 12:01, 5 January 2011 by David williams.acm.org (Talk | contribs) (→Indigo Status)
|Meeting Title:
|Planning Council Conference Call
|Date & Time:
|Wednesday, January 05, 2010, at 1200 Eastern
|For the call-in numbers, see the "Project Review" number on Foundation Portal page.
PMC (and Strategic) Reps
Strategic Reps
- Welcome and introduce new members ...
Maintenance Schedule
Helios SR2
2/25/2011 (Fourth Friday of February)
For detailed RC schedules, see Service Release Schedule in master plan
RC1 is getting near ...
Indigo Status
- nearing M5
- Approved? exceptions for projects joining (late) in M5
- Jublula
- Window Builder (see also intro msg on cross-project list)
- Runtime Analysis Tools (see also intro msg on cross-project list)
- Enterprise Tools for OSGi (tm) Service Platform
- Subversive?
- GMF Tooling (GMF Codegen)?
- remember to aggregate project tracking, IP logs, docuware, etc., and update project meta-data as Wayne requested in cross-project note
Indigo Plan and Schedule
- See also Indigo Wiki page
Issues and Proposal for 3.7 versus 4.1
- See working notes in http://wiki.eclipse.org/Indigo/HowToAddress37And41Platform
Other business
- TODO: the question of "3.7 or 4.1" came up again ... I should add a FAQ item
- Discussion on build machine QoS (JohnA):
- Is build machine contention/availability currently an issue for projects?
- Do we need to adjust schedules to account for this?
- Consider other measures such as reducing continuous or regular builds during milestone periods?
- There was agreement this might become a problem (has been in the past), but not sure if it currently is, and not sure what to do about it if/when it becomes a problem. Its hard to pick favorite projects or take away resources from some committers ... though is is a shared, constrained resource, so might come to that. And by "take away" it it meant to reduce, have various rules about niceness level that are enforced, etc.
- TODO: I (dw) agreed to ask webmasters if there was some way to see who was using what how much, as improved understanding might lead to better solutions.
- Long term, if it is only a matter of "peak usage", may want to investigate (or, encourage others to investigate:) some sort of "cloud" solution so during final milestone/release weeks we could have 10 slaves, or something, whereas most of the time we just need one or two.
ToDo Items
- Note from Wayne, to Wayne: (from previous meeting) Remember to review plans starting after M4 (at latest) so questions can be clarified before "road map" produced. <== It is time?
- Wayne teased us all with promise of new tools to check CQs against downloads, which we projects can use ourselves ... but he wasn't ready to tell us about them today and he'll be saying more over next few days or weeks.
- Need common pages for a) plans b) migration c) N&N?
- A contributor (Hendy.rainbowpurple.com) added these for Eclipse project to Indigo Wiki Page ... but, shouldn't we have central page, with potential for each project to add links to their plans, migration guides, and N&N? Is there a better way?
Next Meeting
February 2, 12 noon Eastern
Simultaneous Release Roles and Simultaneous Release Roles/EMO


text:
With the wealth of The Dark Knight Rises material that's come out over the past few months, it's hard to keep track of it all. That's why we went back through our posts and put together this massive image gallery for you. Now you can enjoy all The Dark Knight Rises images and posters gathered all in one convenient location. Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Liam Neeson. It opens in IMAX on July 20th. Hit the jump to check out the gallery.
Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar(R) winner Christian Bale ("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar(R) winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar(R) winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar(R) winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox. The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on "Batman Begins" and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.
And here's some links to our recent coverage:
- New Footage to Premiere During the MTV Movie Awards
- Set Visit Preview and Four New Banners
- 2 New TV spots
- New Image and Poster Highlighting Bane's Mask
- Images of the Tumbler and Bat-Pod from the Tumbler Tour
- A new TV spot for The Dark Knight Rises for the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
- New images from The Dark Knight Rises.
- The Bat-Pod and Tumbler from The Dark Knight Rises Head Out on a Road Tour to a City Near You
- Warner Bros. Has Begun Selling The Dark Knight Rises Merchandise
- New Trailer for The Dark Knight Rises Shows Off a Sassy Catwoman and a Terrifying Bane
- The Dark Knight Rises Viral Campaign Begins Unmasking the New Trailer


text:
Girl, Interrupted
The Wolverine
Knight and Day
3:10 to Yuma
Walk the Line
The Sweetest Thing
Kate and Leopold
Oliver and Company
All James Mangold photos
All James Mangold films
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2020 FANDANGO MOVIES.


text:
The Not-for-Profit debate
The friction in this industry is impossible to ignore. On one side, commercial-club operators say that they are forced to do business on an uneven playing field. YMCAs and commercial clubs offer the same services, the operators explain, yet YMCAs enjoy the benefits of tax exemption. That, they argue, creates unfair competition.
YMCAs counter that they are community centers, not fitness clubs. They note that their facilities do more than build healthier bodies: They build healthier spirits and minds through programs that put Christian principles into practice, serving people of all incomes and abilities.
John McCarthy, IHRSA executive director, disagrees. He believes that Ys don't really serve people of all incomes. According to McCarthy, "rogue" Ys with fitness centers have forgotten their mission: They are concentrating their efforts in affluent communities, not in impoverished neighborhoods. And McCarthy is not alone in his thinking. Commercial clubs have already pledged more than $1 million to an IHRSA campaign designed to challenge the growth of tax-exempt fitness facilities in affluent communities.
David R. Mercer, national executive director of the YMCA, maintains that Ys do serve all communities. He claims that YMCAs nationwide raised $599 million in 1998 to aid the 16.9 million Americans (more than half of them children) whom they serve with "scholarships, subsidies and other services so that everyone who needs a Y can participate."
Mercer classifies commercial-club operators who criticize the YMCA as newcomers with a vindictive agenda against the 150-year-old organization. "Their vision is to weep and wail when YMCAs serve the community in a much more meaningful and more holistic way than they can dream of," he says.
In the state of Tennessee, however, the YMCAs in the community came under scrutiny when the State Board of Equalization examined 13 facilities operated by the YMCA of Middle Tennessee and concluded that "anything relating to health, fitness and recreational purposes of the YMCA should be considered noncharitable."
According to McCarthy, the board toured the 13 Ys and spent a total of 30 months determining whether the facilities primarily provided charitable services or competed with taxpaying fitness centers. In the end, the board concluded that "there is no factual disputing that the YMCA is in competition with the taxpaying health and physical fitness centers of Nashville and Middle Tennessee."
"The Y rhetoric would have you believe that they are immensely involved with youth and teenagers and the disadvantaged, but the reality, according to the State Board of Equalization, is quite the reverse," McCarthy says. "What the state board said is that the primary purpose of all these Ys is the provision of exercise facilities for the general public, not the provision of charitable services for the disadvantaged kids."
Mercer retorts that the board's conclusions overlooked the charitable acts of the YMCAs. "The recent staff report within the Tennessee State Board of Equalization is at this point no more than the short-sighted and non-binding opinion of just one person," he says. "It implies no state action or final determination. It fails because it fails to take note of the myriad of services performed on behalf of the community by the YMCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee: services such as teen leadership and senior adult fellowship programs, academic enrichment for school-age children and prevention programs for at-risk youths - as well as youth sports and swimming lessons. In 1998, the YMCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee provided $7 million in charitable subsidies, with one of every three members on financial assistance."
While the state board can't revoke tax exemption, it does share its findings with tax assessors. Each town has its own assessors, and the board has advised them that "there is probable cause that the tax exemption of the YMCAs should be revoked," McCarthy says.
Whether the 13 YMCAs will actually lose their tax exemption is another story. The assessors will consider the tax exemption for the 13 YMCA facilities on a case-by-case basis, and this process will take time. Still, in McCarthy's opinion, the board's conclusions have placed the Ys in a defensive position. "It puts the burden of proof on the individual YMCAs in the individual towns to prove to the local tax assessor that it deserves its tax exemption," he says.
Mercer is confident that the assessors won't make the YMCAs pay taxes. "It should be remembered that the Internal Revenue Service and court after court have already upheld the mission of the YMCAs and their right to charitable tax exemption," he reminds. "I am confident that in the state of Tennessee, as elsewhere throughout the nation, the charitable purpose of the YMCAs will again be upheld."
No matter what the ultimate outcome is, McCarthy hails the board's decision as a "major victory." "My sense is that this in a important precedent," he says. "The era where the YMCAs can maintain their exemptions on rhetoric alone may be coming to an end."
If commerical clubs feel that they have won a victory in Tennessee, then the YMCAs may have won a victory of their own in Pennsylvania.
In the first test of the commonwealth's 1998 Purely Public Charity Law, David J. Cohan, owner of the Sports Club, filed a lawsuit against the Ridley Area YMCA, contending that the Y branch and its expanded fitness center competed unfairly against his private health club. Judge George A. Pagano recently dismissed the action. Cohan appealed the ruling.
The Purely Public Charity Law states that a charity may not fund, capitalize or subsidize a "commercial business that is unrelated to the institution's charitable purpose as stated in the institution's charter or governing legal documents." The law grandfathered in charity's existing facilities, according to Cohan, but prevents new facilities and expansions that threaten or compete with small businesses. For that reason, Cohan, who took part in writing the law, maintains that the Y acted illegally when it expanded its fitness center last year.
Joe Mattson, the YMCA's attorney, argues that the plaintiff hasn't set forth a viable claim under the Purely Public Charity Law. "The statute doesn't really define unfair competition," Mattson explains. "All the statute says is that an institution of charity cannot do certain things that are in violation of its charter." And, he adds, the Ridley Area YMCA hasn't violated its charter.
What of accusations that the YMCA is running a health club and that running a health club is not a charitable purpose as defined by the statute? "Our defense is that we are not just a health club," Mattson answers. "What we are doing is allowed by our charter."
As for accusations of unfair competition, Mattson's position is that the YMCA and Sports Club aren't comparable enough to be competitors. "We don't compete with the Sports Club," he stresses. "We are a community organization. Yes, we do fitness, but that's only a portion of what we do."
Cohan says he has evidence to the contrary. He claims he requested - and eventually received - documents from the YMCA proving that the facility is clearly competing against private health clubs. He says that minutes from the Y's meetings include discussions of scouting reports of local health clubs to determine the level of competition. The minutes also include discussions of how to limit the usage of Y members who aren't bringing enough revenue, as well as talks of strategy to sell memberships for the expanded facility.
"An independent observer looking at these documents would determine that [the YMCA is] in business with a tremendous advantage because they have over the last five years received over $2.5 million in public money and donations plus their tax exemption and given a pittance of charitable help to anyone," Cohan says.
Although Judge Pagano dismissed the lawsuit and a state arbitrator ruled against the Sports Club in October, Cohan believes that the local court and the arbitrator didn't look at the Purely Public Charity Law. He has higher hopes for the superior court, where he filed his appeal. He says that the superior court will look at, and interpret, this young law, adding the superior court, unlike the common pleas court, can set a precedent with its ruling.
Cohan is confident the superior court will look at the Y documentation and rule in his favor. Mattson is waiting for Judge Pagano to write out an explanation for granting the Y's motion to dismiss. Even though Pagano dismissed the lawsuit without comment, he must now explain his actions because of the appeal.
In Florida, the Southeast Health, Racquet & Sports Club Association (SEHRSA) is fighting a battle of its own over tax issues. In this case, however, the organization isn't trying to revoke the tax status of YMCAs; instead, the organization is attempting to overturn a sales tax that the state imposes on memberships sold at commercial health clubs.
Since its inception two years ago, SEHRSA has made elimination of the six-year-old tax a top priority. Legislators, lobbying groups such as the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and IHRSA have lent their support to the cause. In fact, as state legislative sessions drew to a close in [month], SEHRSA officials felt they had the backing necessary to beat the 6-to-7-percent tax.
They didn't.
The case SEHRSA presented to the state House and Senate was that, by taxing health clubs, Florida was actually taxing health care. SEHRSA also argued that not-for-profit organizations, such as YMCAs and hospital-based wellness centers, provide the same services as commercial clubs, yet they are exempt from paying the tax.
The arguments did not sway legislators. Florida plans to give back $1.2 billion of a $3 billion surplus to taxpayers and small businesses, and commercial clubs won't receive any of that money.
Why? Bob Karshner, president of SEHRSA and secretary/treasurer of Shapes Total Fitness, a 12-club chain based in Tampa, has his theories. Health clubs comprise approximately 450 members in the large SIC category that pays this sales tax. The category, which includes martial arts studios, numbers 2,000 businesses total. The problem, according to Karshner, is that the SIC category fills plenty of tax coffers. That makes getting tax exemption difficult - even though, technically, health clubs only supply 25 percent of the money collected from this sales tax.
Despite the setback, SEHRSA is already working to get the tax over-turned next year. Still, the lack of support from commercial clubs has discouraged Karshner. He has urged health clubs in the Florida area to contribute to SEHRSA, but many have chosen not to participate.
SEHRSA may be suffering from a lack of support, but many commercial clubs have stood firmly behind IHRSA's lobbying efforts. And while these efforts may question the YMCAs, McCarthy stresses that his organization is not attacking charities. Charities deserve tax exemption, he says - as long as charity is their primary purpose.
"What we are seeing in hundreds of Ys across the country is that the charitable mission in now secondary, and the primary mission is the provision of athletic and fitness facilities for the general public," McCarthy maintains.
Then again, the YMCAs tell a different story. Who's right? Ultimately, it may be judges and politicians who decide.


text:
Budget Cuts to Hit Military School Districts First
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - While public schools everywhere will be affected by the government's automatic budget cuts, few will feel the funding pinch faster than those on and around military bases.
School districts with military ties from coast-to-coast are bracing for increased class sizes and delayed building repairs.
Others already have axed sports teams and even eliminated teaching positions, but still may have to tap savings just to make it through year's end.
The losses will come from cuts to a federal program known as "Impact Aid" that supplements property tax losses for districts that cover federal land, including military posts and Indian tribal areas.
That means about 1,400 school districts serving roughly 11 million children nationwide - including nearly 376,500 students from military families - could lose about $60 million this school year.


text:
The latest Urban Outfitters catalog features an image of two young women kissing and conservative groups are upset.
One Million Moms, the same group that attacked J.C. Penney in February for hiring Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson, has posted a message on its website, warning parents about the image that promotes lesbianism and encouraging them to express their outrage to the retail chain.
WARNING! The April 2012 catalog from Urban Outfitters has begun arriving in home mailboxes the last couple of days. On page two of this catalog is a picture of two women kissing in a face holding embrace! The ad and catalog are clearly geared toward teenagers.
Before your child has a chance to read the newest Urban Outfitters catalog call to unsubscribe from their mailing list at 1-800-282-2200, and then throw it away. When you call be sure to let them know why you are unsubscribing. Tell them you will also no longer shop at their stores if you hear this type of advertising continues. The content is offensive and inappropriate for a teen who is the company's target customer.
Urban Outfitters hasn't issued a public response. The company's president and CEO, Richard Hayne, is a known conservative and he donated over $13,000 to the Rick Santorum campaign. Hayne hasn't openly expressed his views on gay marriage, but he's thought to be anti-gay because in 2008 the retailer pulled pro-gay-marriage T-shirt from store shelves.
Urban Outfitters certainly isn't the only fashion brand to spark parent outrage. The industry is known for controversy, which becomes especially heated when children and teens are involved. Take a look at some of the most talked about fashion ads and spreads that have sent some parents and ad critics into a tizzy.


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Click here for hours of operation.
With 385 acres to explore at the Garden, where do you begin? Enjoy a tram tour for an overview of popular areas. Return each season to experience transformed views. Listen to an informative narration by your guide as you ride through the colorful landscape!
Tours run daily from late April through October and last about 35 minutes each. Upon your arrival at the Garden, drop by the Visitor Center, or stop at any ticket location to purchase ticket(s) for your desired departure time. There is no need to make a reservation. Trams are wheelchair accessible. Tour packages are available for groups of 15 or more.
Grand Tram Tour
Get carried away on this 2.3-mile narrated tour! Learn the history and science of the Garden while viewing highlights including the McDonald Woods, Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden, the new Learning Campus, and others. Enjoy views alongside the Garden's 81 acres of water!
Optional stops allow passengers to step off the tram to tour sites including the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center, Dixon Prairie, and the Regenstein Center.
Bright Encounters Tour
Enjoy an intimate .8-mile tour of selected gardens from the comfort of a tram. Relax as you explore the Heritage Garden, Krasberg Rose Garden, Waterfall Garden, Buehler Enabling Garden, and many other gardens and special features. See changing displays of annual flowers in spectacular combinations. Learn remarkable facts about the Garden's science and conservation projects. Uncover the mysteries of this living museum!
|Children (3–12 yrs)
|Children (2 and under)
|Ten-visit pass:
Generously supported by
Special offer to all BMO Harris Bank customers: Buy one ticket for the Grand and Bright Encounter Tram with any BMO Harris credit/debit card and get one ticket free (free ticket is equal or lesser value, on-site purchases only).