text:
David and Lisa Bundy knew adopting four orphans at once from Ukraine would be stressful.
But it wasn't until the bullets started flying and homemade bombs exploded outside the apartment where they were staying in the capital of the eastern European country that the Alabama couple discovered just how stressful it could be.
Last week, the Bundys, of Montgomery, stayed in an apartment in Kiev a half-mile from Independence Square, the center of violent protests. They listened to gunfire and explosions, and the children played games and tried to sleep as bullets whizzed by their balcony.
"It was a constant boom, boom, boom," said David Bundy in an interview at the couple's Montgomery home Monday, a day after he returned with three of the children. "It was three or four explosions every 10 seconds."
The couple had planned to return home together after the last of the four adoptions, that of 16-year-old Nastia, was finalized, but decided it would be best if David Bundy headed home early with the others to escape the violence.
He arrived in Montgomery on Sunday night with 14-year-old Karina; 11-year-old Max; and 9-year-old Alla. Lisa Bundy remained behind in Kiev with Nastia.
"The children became afraid of what was going on, and then it became more of a safety issue," David Bundy said.
Bundy, a 47-year-old freelance photographer, and Lisa Bundy, 40, an emergency room physician, began looking at adoption after not having any children of their own. They first looked at domestic adoptions, but got dismayed by the paperwork and long wait.
In the summer of 2013, the couple volunteered with Bridges of Faith, a program that brings orphans from Ukraine to Alabama for a month of cultural enrichment. Through the program, they met Nastia and made plans to adopt her. Later, they met Karina and her siblings and decided their home could handle four children.
"Something felt very right about them being with us," Bundy said.
Bundy said adopting from Ukraine costs about the same as a domestic adoption, but can be challenging as it requires working with lawyers and courts outside of the U.S. The couple arrived in Kiev on Nov. 22 and rented an apartment near Independence Square because it is where restaurants, shops and government agencies are located.
Bundy said the protests in the square began about a week before they arrived, but they didn't think anything about them because they were peaceful.
"We had to deal with protesters constantly. It was part of our daily routine," Bundy said.
Gradually, however, the protests turned into violent clashes with police and the police disappeared from Bundy's neighborhood. "The protesters themselves became our police department," he said.
Despite the violence, government agencies and courts stayed open, and the Bundys were able to complete three of the adoptions. Nastia's was held up by a paperwork problems and a judge's illness, David Bundy said.
He recalled a night last week when the family tried to sleep despite repeated explosions. Two of the younger children crawled in bed with Nastia. "It was Nastia's first opportunity to be a big sister," he said.
David Bundy, who has worked as a photographer for newspapers in Mississippi and Alabama and done freelance work for The Associated Press, ventured out occasionally to take pictures of the violence. On Friday, the whole family went to Independence Square to see the burned buildings and torched cars. They inadvertently walked into the memorial service for a slain protester.
"I wanted to have something sort of as a historical record for our family," he said. "It is not just Ukrainian history. It's our family's history."
David Bundy and the three children celebrated their arrival in the United States on Sunday with a pepperoni pizza. Meanwhile, Lisa Bundy and Nastia moved to a safer area on the outskirts of Kiev to wait for her adoption to become final, hopefully on March 3.
With an interim government under construction, Bundy worries about delays. He notes the couple would not have been able to adopt Nastia if they had waited until after her 16th birthday.
"We are Nastia's last hope," he said.
Assuming the adoption finishes on time, Lisa Bundy and Nastia will fly home for a delayed Christmas celebration. David Bundy and the other children put up the Christmas tree Monday morning. By that afternoon, Max had already found the closet where their presents were hidden.
"It didn't take 24 hours," Bundy said.
Before heading to Ukraine, the Bundys remodeled their home to accommodate four children and made plans for helping the children learn English and start their American educations. But they still have one little problem to address: They both drive MINI Coopers.
"I love my MINI Cooper. I'm trying to see if there is a way to put a side car on one," the new dad said.


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FS : Navy ostrich leg with tone on tone stitching and hibiscus lining for Cartier
FS : Navy ostrich leg with tone on tone stitching and hibiscus lining for Cartier
Welcome to Aaron Bespoke aka Combat Straps
We are a professional leather craftsman atelier located in the beautiful city of Montreal, Canada. All watch straps are entirely handcrafted and hand stitched with the highest quality materials and techniques. We put 4 hours on each strap unlike no other to achieve the perfect result.
Feel free to play with the colors, textures and threads to make the custom made strap that will personalize your watch.
Please contact me by e-mail or phone for pricing, as well as for any other inquiries. I can also make suggestions if you need help in deciding.
[email protected]
Price for this strap is $210 ( for custom orders )
We ship internationally
We accept Paypal
Watch not included, clasp not included

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Are you looking to get noticed by college coaches? Then you need to attend a Perfect Game Showcase!
PG Showcases garner national exposure, social media visibility, and the opportunity to improve your player rankings.
Virginia is back in familiar territory. The Cavaliers began the 2014 campaign atop the Perfect Game College Top 25 rankings. But while ACC counterpart Florida State had occupied the top spot in the rankings the past few weeks, the Cavaliers are back at No. 1 after a 3-1 week that included a home series win over Clemson.
Florida State dropped from the top spot to No. 4 after losing a tough road series to Georgia Tech, while the rest of the top five includes No. 2 Louisiana-Lafayette (4-1 last week), No. 3 Cal Poly (4-0 last week) and No. 5 Oregon State (2-1 last week). Meanwhile, the rest of the top 10 includes Texas, which moved from No. 8 to No. 6 following a road series sweep over Oklahoma, Louisville, which moved from No. 10 to No. 7 after sweeping Houston on the road, and LSU, South Carolina and of course, Washington, which entered the top 10 after improving to 12-3 in the Pac-12 with a series win over Stanford.
Alabama, Ole Miss, UC Santa Barbara and Miami made sizable jumps this week. 'Bama moved from No. 18 to No. 11 after a home series win over Auburn, Ole Miss went from No. 20 to No. 13 after a road series win over Mississippi State, UCSB went from No. 19 to No. 14 after taking two of three from Cal State Fullerton, and Miami moved from No. 25 to No. 17 after improving to an impressive 14-4 in the ACC.
Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Kentucky dropped significantly in this week's rankings. The Commodores went from No. 9 to No. 19 after losing a home series to Texas A&M, Mississippi State dropped from No. 13 to No. 22 after losing a tough home series to Ole Miss and Kentucky dropped from No. 14 to No. 21 after losing a series to Missouri.
Tennessee, Cal State Fullerton and Arkansas fell out of the rankings after unsuccessful weekends, while Florida, Indiana and Pepperdine entered at No's 18, 24 and 25, respectively.
The Perfect Game College Top 25 is released every Monday during the regular season. COLLEGE CHAT: Check out Kendall Rogers' chat transcript


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Modcast Episode 13, Dave, Ryan and Mike tell you all about the news and releases from the previous week. Included in this weeks discussion is Predator: The Head of the Jungle, GoldenEye Source, Lemming Ball Z and Rise of the Reds.
- Developer Banter: Project Reality
- The Nameless Mod Preview
- Dystopia
- Eternal Silence
- Stargate Empire at War
- Preator: The Heat of the Jungle
- The Great Forever Tomorrow
- GoldenEye Source
- HL Rally
- Lemmingball Z
So that's it for this week modders, but don't fear we will be back next week with more mods and goss for you all to enjoy! Don't forget to send your modding/gaming questions to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will answer the questions on the show!


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How is command line history stored when I use multiple terminal windows? I know it is stored in .bash_history
but I can't see the logic on what history is used if I open new window.
It almost feels nondeterministic in a sense that I never know what command I will see if I try to use up arrow in new window.
Can someone explain this?
Is there a way to control history in such way that I can reuse history from particular window?


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This article is more than 1 year old
Obama's got a Google problem
The Oompa Loompas are everywhere
Obama has created an exquisite problem by hiring so many senior executives from Google - some of the Oompa Loompas don't seem to realise they no longer work for the company. Now a Congressman has called for an enquiry.
The issue was made apparent when a trail of correspondence by administration official Andrew McLaughlin was exposed recently. McLaughlin is Obama's deputy CTO - a freshly minted post, with CTO meaning either Citizens Twitter Overlord, or Chief Technology Officer - we believe it's the latter. He was previously Google's chief lobbyist, or 'Head of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs'.
McLaughlin's contacts were also exposed. In an irony to savour, the exposure was by Google itself, as it introduced its privacy-busting Buzz feature in February. As our Cade pointed out, it would be hard to imagine a better Google story.
Now GOP Congressman Darrell Issa, a ranking member of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has asked why the Deputy CTO is prattling away on Google's email service. Issa wants to know whether private, non-governmental emails are archived, as they should be.
He also wants to know what the retention policy is for information posted on Twitter and Facebook, who decides these things (pdf). Issa wants answers by 22 April.
As I noted last June, there are interesting parallels with the influence of think tank RAND on US policy in the 1960s - and some interesting differences. RAND's most famous contribution was developing a nuclear policy based on game theory, developed by Robert McNamara, who went on to apply RAND analysis (disastrously) first to escalate, then to prolong the Vietnam war.
Google is merely a corporation, I noted. Then, the following month, Obama tapped the Berkman Centre, a pretty New Age techno-utopian think tank attached to Harvard Law School, to conduct an "independent" review of broadband deployment and usage. Like Obama, McLaughlin is himself a graduate of Harvard Law - the class of 94. McLaughlin had two senior stints at Berkman, from 1998 to 1999, and once again before joining Google.
Google is a Berkman sponsor.
There's a broader issue than archiving emails here, and it's eloquently illustrated by Andrew McLaughlin's Gmail Buzz contact list. It's that the range of ideas that Obama can draw upon, via his Googlers, is extremely narrow and ideologically rigid.
The boundaries of what he's permitted to think are defined by Google. And that's isn't really in the best interest of either the President, or the US public. ®


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This article is more than 1 year old
El Reg cuts ribbon on new Special Projects Bureau
Black ops garden-shed boffinry to follow PARIS spaceplane
We're delighted to inform our beloved readers that as of today, El Reg has a dedicated Special Projects Bureau, which will henceforth be Vulture Central's nerve centre of black ops and garden-shed boffinry.
The resounding success of our our audacious Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) project (see pic) convinced us there was plenty more mileage to be had from scientific tomfoolery, or indeed matters which require more serious staring into an oscilloscope while puffing on a pipe.
So, you'll be asking yourselves, what exactly will the SPB - as it's known to its chums - be doing for the advancement of humanity towards a better, brighter future?
Well, first up, there's the question of maintaining the UK's space programme in the form of LOHAN - the sequel to PARIS. Naturally, we're mulling once again pushing the envelope of space paper technology, but are keeping an open mind on just what form the LOHAN beast should take, and what its mission objectives should be.
We're sure you lot have an opinion on the matter, so why not give us your thoughts?
Our second aim is to present astounding reader projects to an amazed planet. We'll shortly be inviting submissions for what has provisionally been dubbed the "Reg Grand Challenge", where private individuals and companies, universities and schools will have the chance to pitch their groundbreaking experimentation for the scrutiny of the Register readership and further SPB investigation.
Thirdly, the SPB's crack team (seen left at the Vulture 1 recovery site) will be getting their own hands dirty with a selection of experiments conducted in our Iberian fab bunker.
The first of these will be, as promised, the construction and consumption of the Middlesbrough parmo - the nutritious snack we'll be pitching against other international delicacies in the ultimate post-pub nosh deathmatch. Watch this space.
There you have it. If you've got any suggestions as to other stuff the SPB should be reporting, investigating, or running away from at high speed, drop me a line here. Your input will be warmly welcomed. ®
Previously from the SPB...
- Our dedicated PARIS section, with all previous updates, is right here.
- You can find our release, pursuit and recovery photos here...
- ...and our onboard camera photo album here.
- Our PARIS Flickr page, for your viewing pleasure.
- Check out our lovely YouTube channel.


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By: Joseph Jacobs
The so-called "Stone of Destiny," forming part of the coronation chair of the kings of England in Westminster Abbey, is said by tradition to be the identical stone on which Jacob rested his head when he saw the vision of the angels going up to heaven (Gen. xxviii. 11-12). According to some, the stone was that on which Abraham had intended sacrificing Isaac (see Rye, "Visits of Foreigners," p. 10, and compare Pirḳe R. El. 35, where the two stones of the Biblical stories are identified). According to a legend first found in the "Chronicles" of John of Fordun, the stone was transferred from Palestine to Egypt; from there Gathelus, son of Cecrops, King of Athens, who had married Scota, daughter of Pharaoh, transferred it to Spain, whence it was carried by Simon Brech, son of Milo the Scot, to Ireland. There it was used on the sacred Hill of Tara as the "Lia Fail," or "Stone of Destiny," on which the kings of Ireland were anointed. Fergus More, the founder of the Scotch monarchy, is said to have borne it from Ireland to Dunstaffnagge about 500, and it was ultimately taken by Kenneth II., about 840, to Scone. All the kings of Scotland were crowned upon it, until it was removed by Edward I. to Westminster Abbey; and upon it every king of England from Edward III. to Edward VII. has been crowned. An attempt to get it back was made by the Scotch in the reign of Edward III., and that king even wrote to the Abbot of Westminster ordering him to return it (Legg, "London Coronation Records," Westminster, 1901, p. 77); but the people of London would not allow it to be taken (Holinshed, "Historie of Scotland," p. 132). It has always been one of the chief attractions of Westminster Abbey, and is referred to as such by Addison ("Spectator," No. 329) and by Goldsmith ("Citizen of the World," letter xiii.).
The veneration with which the stone is regarded is undoubtedly due to the legend connecting it with Jacob; but Dean Stanley suggests that it was originally connected with St. Columba, and geologists are inclined to trace its origin to the island of Iona, the scene of St. Columba's last days.
The Anglo-Israelites make much of this connection of Jacob's stone with the coronation chair, and largely base upon it their claim to the identification of the English people with the Lost Ten Tribes (see Anglo-Israelism).
- A. P. Stanley, Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey, 2d ed., London, 1866, pp. 60-67, 557-562, (illustration on title-page);
- E. Hine, Forty-seven Identifications, pp. 32-33;
- W. F. Skene, The Coronation Stone, Edinburgh, 1869.


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By Dr. Jenn Berman
In a report issued by The Alliance for Childhood it was revealed that kindergarteners' play time has greatly diminished. The study found that children spend four to six times as long being instructed and tested as they do in free play.
In the hopes of creating a smart child, many parents discount the importance of play. But play is crucial to developing minds. Studies show that play promotes problem solving, creativity, learning, attention span, language development, self-regulation, social skills, increases IQ and even helps children work through difficult life events. Play is the "work" of children.
Here are eight reasons parents need to fight for play in the schools and make sure their children have free play at home.
Play develops problem solving abilities. Researchers put a desirable toy in a clear box and told four and five year olds to get the toy out of the box without moving out of their chairs or leaning towards it. One group of kids was allowed to play with sticks and toys, while a second group was shown a solution to a problem but were not allowed to play and a third group did not get either opportunity. The children who were allowed to play did much better than either of the other two groups. They worked more eagerly and persistently and demonstrated better problem-solving abilities.
Children get to experiment with being in charge. Throughout their day kids are told what to do. During play children get to experience what it feels like to be in charge and gain a sense of mastery.
Play with other children helps social development. Play helps children learn important social skills like taking turns, collaboration, following rules, empathy, self-regulation, and impulse control.
Play helps children assimilate emotional experiences. Pretend play, in particular, helps children integrate emotional experiences they need to work through. It allows them to express the things that they may not be sophisticated enough to talk about with adults.
It improves concentration. Attention and concentration are learned skills. Play is one of the most natural enjoyable ways for a child to begin developing these skills. We have all seen a child so lost in play that they don't even hear a parent calling her name. This focus is the same skill that one needs years later to write a term paper, listen to a lecture or perform a piano concerto.
Helps develop mathematical thinking. Because play teaches children about the relationships between things, it actually helps develop the type of reasoning that aids in mathematical performance. According to Professor Ranald Jerrell, an expert in development of mathematical thinking, "Experimental research on play shows a strong relationship between play, the growth of mathematical understanding, and improved mathematical performance."
Play promotes language development. Play, especially dramatic play, requires children to use and be exposed to language. In a study of four-year-olds who frequently engaged in socio-dramatic play, researchers found that when compared to a non-socio-dramatic play group, these child exhibited an increase in the total number of words used, the length or their utterances, and the complexity of their speech.
The repetition of play creates neural pathways. Each time a child performs a play activity, like stacking blocks, the synapses between brain cells are activated and over time the level of chemical needed to make that connection becomes less and less, making it easier to perform the task.
In a rush to give our children academic and intellectual advantages, misguided schools and parents are pushing children to focus on reading, writing and testing. This, however, comes at the detriment of play which is so crucial to their development.
In a study of academic preschools and traditional play-focused preschools, researcher Kathy Hirsh-Pasek found that there were no differences in the intellectual skills of the children in either group. She did, however, find that the children in the academic group were more anxious and less creative than the children in the other group.
Dr. Jenn Berman is a Marriage, Family and Child Therapist in private practice in Los Angeles. She is the author of the LA Times best selling books SuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First 3 Years and The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy Confident Kids.


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SWGEmu End of the Year Update 2018
January 2019
SWGEmu Team
SWGEmu End of the Year Update 2018
Table of ContentsSWGEmu Project Updates
- Project Update
- Staff Updates
- Quick Stats
- Staff Round-Table
- Closing
Major Additions/Changes
- 10/19/2018 - Lordkator magic.
- 10/25/2018 - Finished moving everything to one server for the project
- 11/01/2018 - Highest donations for a single month in the history of the project ($8,510.00 USD)
- 12/25/2018 - Death and Taxes
Staff Updates
SWGEmu is Recruiting!
SWGEmu is an ever-changing and growing organization where new talent is always being sought out. We especially would like to mention the need for more developers, please see this thread for more information.
SWGEmu is also in need of other positions filled. For anyone interested in spending some of there free time toward this project, please consider to join in on our SWGEmu Internship Program . We are in need of CSRs.
Quick Stats
Developer Code Commits/Changes:
I'm sorry that I have nothing to display here, but I where not given the data in time for when this post had to be posted
Registration Statistics:User Activity Statistics (Users online in one day):
- Daily:
- January 06, 2018 - 89 accounts registered
- March 02, 2018, November 15, 2018, November 29, 2018 - 12 accounts registered
- Monthly:
- January 2018 - 1474 accounts registered
- November 2018 - 633 accounts registered
- Yearly:
- 2018 - 11,468 accounts registered; average 955.7 per month
New thread statistics (Posted threads):
- Most users online: August 09, 2017 - 1,597 users
Most users online: 1,657 (05-11-2011 06:22 PM)
- January 2018 - 1636 new threads
- November 2018 - 780 new threads
Most viewed thread: SWGEmu Timeline
Most replied thread: What are you listening to right now?
Most popular forum: Basilisk Trade Forum
Top poster: Same one (32,819 posts)
Staff Round-Table
Lordkator - DevOps Engineer
Farelli - Quality AssuranceThis year we ran into some financial challenges and the community stepped up in a way that invigorated our staff. In my mind 2018 was the year of getting organized, thinking about where we are and where we are going. I see 2019 as the year of hope, we're starting to look beyond the 1.0 release and thinking about what comes next. I've been coding a bit more now and I'm playing the game with my wife and taking lots of notes on what sucks and what feels like fun.
I think my biggest observation from 2018 is that none of us played SWG. We all played our own game in a framework created by SWG. Many of us felt betrayed when that framework was broken and we lost the ability to carve our own story out of the game. As a team, we've done a lot of soul searching on this topic. I'm excited to think deeply on this topic with such a great team. I'm inspired by our staff and our community and that inspires me to invest more energy towards our future vision.
Hakry - Quality AssuranceAnother year completed. Three years on the project now for me. Time really does fly when you're having fun.
Thanks to our community, which supports and rallies behind this project and the staff repeatedly. You all are the reason we do this.
Thanks to our staff, who make every day working on this project an absolute blast. I continue to learn from all of you.
Finally, thanks to our founders, without whom this project might never have existed.
To infinity and beyond!
Bigevil - Community RelationsThough many community members have not yet seen the hard work that has gone into the project throughout 2018, there has been some amazing changes throughout the year.
It is an honor to work with the current group of individuals that make up our team and I expect only the best of things from us all as we move forward. Another year lays ahead of us, with the project ever drawing nearer to our long awaited goal.
Thank you everyone for your hard work, dedication, patience and perseverance. Also a big thank you for the community stepping up to support the project in the times of need, so we may continue to pursue the dream.
Vlada - AdminAnother year comes to a close and again the community has shown repeated solidarity and a desire to see their passion continue. Several times we were faced with difficult circumstances and odds that could have put us down. All of you showed your true colors as always and rallied around staff and other community members to prove what I have known for a very long time.... this community is solid. We may not be 100k strong, we may be fairly niche, but those that are here, are here are here for all the right reasons. Keep testing and playing and helping to refine the amazing product the staff and contributors have put together. We are getting ever closer!
You guys and gals are great. Here's to a great year moving closer toward our goals! Ever forward!
Lolindir - Forums Lead ModeratorAnother year behind us. Sigh...
Another year done! We are so close to the end... I feel 2019 might be the year! Well, we will see
When the chips were down and we were in financial trouble the community stepped up and kicked donations into high gear. If we can continue to hit our 100% goal each month we will have a good financial foundation to keep our services running while we move the project forward. Thank you all for the vote of confidence. We realize not everyone can donate money and we appreciate all contributions monetary or not. We always need people to track down bugs, test new ideas, there are many ways to contribute. Think about how you could contribute in 2019 and reach out to us with your ideas.
Much of our progress this year has been quiet and behind the scenes, we've been able to make our deployment processes more automated; we've had amazing discussions about what we think SWG is to the community and each of us as individuals. We're thinking deeply about the future of this project beyond the 1.0 release. Many of us are reading books, forum posts, old posts from the CURB discussions, we are regularly looking for input that will help us shape the future of the game for our community. We've engaged industry vets on these topics and we've continued to hone our thinking.
In 2019 you will see us push out more pub's that will get us closer to the 1.0 release and we will engage the community in a discussion about our vision for what happens next.
PS: We will wipe Basilisk on April 1, 2019... "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
Happy New Year SWGEmu!
~The SWGEmu Team


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Related links:
ACE Launch
The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) was launched at 10:39 a.m., August 25, 1997.The ACE was launched aboard a Delta II rocket. Mission lifetime is expected to be two years for the primary mission with an expected three year secondary phase.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab provided launch operations support while NASA Goddard is providing ground system support.


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• bon vivant •
Pronunciation: boN vi-vawN • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Someone who enjoys the good life in luxury and elegance, someone with epicurean tastes in food, drink, and entertainment.
Notes: George Herbert (1593-1633), the clergyman and poet, once wrote, "Living well is the best revenge." If that is true, the bon vivant is someone who enjoys life with a vengeance; indeed, bon vivant is French for "living well" (see Word History). The plural is bons vivants or bon vivants, pronounced the same as the singular either way. This is one of a series of phrases borrowed from French containing bon "good, well". Others include bon voyage "good voyage, fare well", bon appétit "good appetite", bon mot "good word = witticism" (as our Good Words try to be).
In Play: Bon vivants are known for living the good life, usually among the 'beautiful people': "Herb Vinaigrette is a bon vivant who dines and dances his life (and his mother's money) away with great vigor, pleasure, and finesse." The successful bon vivant then, as you can see, needs not only highly developed tastes in wine and cuisine, but also the wherewithal to acquire them: "Perry Moore thinks himself a debonair bon vivant but he dines a lot by himself at McDonald's."
Word History: Bon vivant in French means "good living" or "one who lives well". Bon is the French revision of Latin bonus "good", which we find in many words other than English bonus: bonny, boon, and bonanza are based on this root, as is bonbon, the chocolate coated goody. The English word debonair also originated as an Old French phrase, de bon aire "of good family or disposition". The root of Latin bonus, bon-, is an ablaut form, which means that it has a variant, ben-. This alternative form is also found in multiple English words referring to goodness, including benefit, benediction, benign, and benefactor. (Today's Good Word comes to us courtesy of James Stemwedel, a lexical bon vivant with excellent taste in words.)
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!


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PITTSBURGH -- They entered the postseason as the only team with a negative goal differential to make the playoffs -- and the lowest outside expectations of any team.
They left the postseason as one of the last four teams standing. By that measure, it was a magical run for the Ottawa Senators, even if they fell one win short of playing for a Stanley Cup against the Nashville Predators.
It raises expectations in Ottawa heading into next season. Here's a look at where the focus should be to try to meet them:
1. Convince Vegas to take Bobby Ryan in the expansion draft


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Showing 1-11 of 11 results
Cigar cases are handcrafted with the finest Italian leather. From expandable to sturdy leather, each cigar case is handmade to hold cigars of various lengths and ring gauges. Each cigar case is individually made using old world ways, by hand pounding leather over steel forms to obtain their contoured shape. The cases are made to shield every cigar from the environmental elements, performing as pocket humidors. Cigar Boulevard cases are big enough to hold cigars of most ring gauges, yet small enough to easily fit in your pocket when you travel. They are one of a kind and are guaranteed to be fully enjoyed or you get a full refund of the merchandise price.


text:
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Find out why Space Case is the leader in quality for grinders.
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Comes with custom pollen scraper.


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What Happened to Table V.C7?
Alicia H. Munnell is a columnist for MarketWatch and director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Replacement rate numbers deleted from 2014 Social Security Trustees Report should raise serious concerns.
Each year the Social Security actuaries project the system's financial outlook over the next 75 years. This report usually comes out in April but this year was delayed to the end of July. This delay raised the question whether the delay was driven by controversy and intrigue or by the inability to get six people (the Social Security Commissioner, the Secretaries of Treasury, of Health and Human Services, and of Labor, and two public trustees) in a room to sign the document. At first, I thought the delay was more administrative than substantive, given that this year's report looks very much like last year's. But upon reflection, I think that the push to delete replacement rate data from Table V.C7 may have held up the release.
So, what is Table V.C7 and why is the deletion a big deal? The table shows for workers at different places in the income scale (very low, low, medium, high, and maximum) future benefits adjusted for inflation and benefits as a percent of pre-retirement earnings – commonly referred to as replacement rates. The trustees have deleted any measure of replacement rates from the report.
The deletion is the culmination of a concerted effort by a band of critics who argue that all is right in the world: people will have plenty of money in retirement. With respect to Social Security, these critics contend that the reported replacement rates grossly understate Social Security's contribution to retirement income. In 2013 testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, one critic reported that according to his calculations Social Security replaced 69 percent of pre-retirement earnings rather than the 40 percent reported in the tables (Biggs 2013).
So what's going on here? Replacement rates arise in two contexts. The first pertains to financial planners' advice to clients. The second is in the context of national pension plans, where replacement rates are an important guide to public policy. In the individual context, financial planners, who are usually dealing with people who have consistent earnings and above average income, often suggest that people need about 70 percent to 75 percent of their pre-retirement earnings to maintain their standard of living. In the national context, where the pattern of earnings varies widely and where many workers have zero earnings in the years just before retirement, a different metric is required. The United States follows the definition recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of calculating replacement rates as a percent of lifetime earnings revalued in line with economy-wide wage growth.
Truth be told, it would be best if the 70-75 percent "target" recommended by financial planners and the quoted replacement rates from Social Security were based on the same definition when gauging the contribution of Social Security to meeting retirement income goals. But given that the two numbers are calculated using different measures of preretirement income, the question is an empirical one. How different would Social Security replacement rates look if they were calculated on the basis of, say, the last five years of earnings.
A recent analysis by the Social Security actuaries of a random sample of 200,000 workers claiming benefits in 2011 provides an answer. The average retirement age for this group was 63.75. At the mean, the replacement rate for this group was 38.8 percent using the lifetime earnings indexed for wage growth and 39.2 percent using the last five years of significant earnings. Thus, empirically the two approaches provide the same picture.
How do critics get such high replacement rates? They use earnings in the last five years including years of zero earnings. In 2011, 15 percent of people claiming benefits had no earnings in the 5 years immediately prior to claiming. For these workers, the replacement rate would be infinite!! It makes no sense to include zero years in the denominator of the replacement rate calculation.
In short, no rational case can be made for deleting replacement rate numbers from the Trustees Report. And doing so has serious policy implications. If the only numbers provided to policymakers are dollar amounts rising over time – without any reference to the earnings these benefits are replacing – they will think that slowing the rate of increase would do little harm. But slowing the growth in inflation-adjusted benefits reduces the percent of earnings replaced. If Social Security replaces less, then future workers must depend on what is now a fairly wobbly 401(k) system for more. Without replacement rate numbers, policymakers will have no idea what they are doing to the retirement security of future workers as they consider alternative Social Security provisions.
This is not inside baseball. This is important.


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He poked me on Facebook. Twice. Was one poke just not enough? We had only gone on one date, and it was just a cup of coffee in Gramercy on a Saturday afternoon. And immediately after he texted me that he had a good time. That's it. And then a week later, when I had not texted back, he thinks about all the ways he could get in touch with me – phone, email, text, singing telegram, fax – and decides after much consideration I imagine, nope let's go with a poke. That'll get her heart. So when I didn't answer him back, hoping he'd get the point, this guy throws the Hail Mary of Facebook communication and pokes me again.
Now that we were two pokes in, I knew I had to officially let him down. This might come as a surprise, but up until this moment I've only had the experience of telling guys I'm not interested after very ordinary interactions. None of my mother's lessons in etiquette even remotely prepared me for post-JDate Facebook poking. I never even dreamed Facebook poking would be something I'd have to deal with. So I was completely on my own when I sat down to write him back and convey that I wasn't interested and while I know he meant well, Facebook poking after a date is just wrong. So, so wrong.
Hi D—,
I really was hoping I didn't have to write this message. I think you're a great guy, however, I don't think we clicked when we met for coffee. I don't know how to say what I am about to tell you without sounding harsh. I've thought of a ZILLION ways to say this nicely, and this is the best I can come up with: Poking someone on Facebook, especially after an interaction like ours, doesn't come off charming. It was really awkward – both times – and I didn't know how to react. I'm only saying this because I think other girls might have the same reaction as I did. A message is much nicer and more upfront than a poke (I'm sorry if that sounded as mean as I think it does. I just really wanted to let you know for the future).
Take care,
I thought about this recently when I told a guy I wasn't interested in him after 3 dates. I was shocked when he asked me where he went wrong. He said I could think of it as a favor, as he wanted to learn from this experience. I gave him a little feedback, and I think he genuinely appreciated my honesty. You know, maybe it wasn't my place to tell the Facebook poker that poking is creepy, but part of me wanted to save him. What if no girl ever had the chutzpah to break it to him that poking is socially unacceptable? Would he still be Facebook poking girls innocently thinking that he was flirting? I really believe that all of the guys I've gone out with – well, at least for the most of them – deserve a fair shot. And besides, if you can't learn from your dating mistakes after a JDate, when can you?


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The U.S. economy is experiencing its strongest across-the-board growth of the year, as private companies hire more people, some manufacturers expand and the stock market surges on a plan to ease Europe's financial crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 490 points Wednesday, an increase of more than 4 percent.
But analysts say the economy isn't growing robustly enough to lower unemployment, stem government layoffs or revive a housing market that remains extremely weak.
Wednesday delivered a number of hopeful developments, particularly in the job market, where private-sector hiring is up — posting its highest growth of 2011 — and layoffs are down.
"We haven't had a lot of unexpectedly good news," Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo, said. "Maybe it's a bit of a Santa Claus rally."
One important indicator, the ADP National Employment Report, found that privately owned businesses far exceeded expectations by adding 206,000 jobs in November. Many economists had predicted an increase of just 130,000 jobs, the same total added to payrolls in October.
The report, from Automatic Data Processing Inc. and the consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers, is widely regarded as a gauge for the federal government's monthly employment report, to be released on Friday. While the ADP report counts only private-sector jobs, the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics release will tally the beleaguered government sector.
Fewer Layoffs Expected
I think this is more than a flash in the pan. I don't think we're looking at the economy booming, but, then again, the risks of a double-dip recession seem to have gone away.
In addition, planned layoffs among U.S. employers dropped slightly. A report by the outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that companies announced 42,474 layoffs in November — down 0.7 percent from a month ago and 13 percent from the year earlier.
Another key indicator, Chicago-area manufacturing activity, rose above expectations for November. That production gauge increased to a seven-month high, and new customer orders rose to their highest level since March. Analysts say the data indicate that Midwest-based manufacturers are expanding despite a lack of demand from Europe, thanks to surging demand among U.S. energy companies ramping up exploration for oil and natural gas.
And, finally, an upturn in real estate: Pending home sales for October jumped 10.4 percent, the highest level of the year.
"I think this is more than a flash in the pan," Mariman Behravesh, chief economist for IHS Global Insight, said of the developments. "I don't think we're looking at the economy booming, but, then again, the risks of a double-dip recession seem to have gone away."
Help For Europe Cheers Markets
U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday morning in reaction to a decision by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and central banks in Britain, Switzerland, Canada and Japan to collaboratively help ease Europe's financial problems. The central banks agreed to infuse European banks with low-interest cash loans, mostly in dollars.
The intervention is aimed at addressing a tightening credit market in Europe, driven partly by investors — worried about the stability of the European Union — selling off their euro-based assets and buying up dollar-based assets.
The blue-chip stocks on the Dow Jones industrial average soared by 490 points, or 4.2 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 51 points, or 4.3 percent. And the technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite index rose nearly 105 points, or 4.2 percent.
Holiday Sales Start Strong
This all comes after consumers opened their pocketbooks and did their part for the economy this past weekend. From Black Friday, the heavily hyped day-after-Thanksgiving shopping fest, to Cyber Monday, customers spent $52 billion, up 9 percent from the year earlier, according to the National Retail Federation.
And the $1.25 billion in online sales on Cyber Monday was the biggest day for Internet commerce in history, according to research firm comScore Inc.
Once the holiday shopping craze ends, though, the economy still faces strong headwinds. Economists widely expect the strong seasonal spending to boost economic growth to a 3 percent annual pace for the fourth quarter, followed by a slowing in early 2012 to below 2 percent.
In the job market, stronger private-sector hiring is expected to be offset by continued cuts at all levels of government. Many economists anticipate Friday's employment report to reveal a gain of roughly 125,000 jobs for November — not enough to cut the nation's 9 percent jobless rate.
Government Job Cuts Hurt
The government sector has announced 180,881 job cuts this year, more than three times the number of cuts in the financial sector, the Challenger report shows.
The situation for government workers is expected to eventually worsen owing to the failure of Congress' supercommittee to agree on a debt-reduction plan. As a result, some $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts will kick in starting in fiscal 2013, with half of them to be made in domestic programs and half in defense spending.
Another bad omen: Personal income increased $48.1 billion, or 0.4 percent, in October, not nearly enough to keep pace with inflation. All the while, Americans are dipping more deeply into their savings.
No Sign Of Housing Recovery
And the housing market remains deeply troubled, despite the October sales growth. National home prices in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, showed virtually no increase from the previous quarter, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index. Prices in most big cities, including those hard hit by the mortgage collapse, declined.
While the help for Europe has delivered a short-term boon, Wells Fargo's Vitner said the crisis eventually will affect the U.S. He said Europe's weak demand for exports will cause American-based companies with operations in Europe to scale back hiring.
"We're just kind of bumping from crisis to crisis," he said. "We get past one and there seems to be a little bit of relief, and then there seems to be another one lurking around the corner."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. Nathan Deal's re-election campaign is reporting $322,000 in contributions for the first two weeks of the year, while Democrat Jason Carter received just over $149,000 during the same period.
Deal campaign manager Tom Willis said Friday the campaign has $4.3 million in cash on hand.
Carter, a state senator and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, is the likely Democratic nominee for governor. Campaign manager Matt McGrath says Carter has about $1.36 million on hand.
The report covers the month of January, but elected officials are prohibited from raising money during the legislative session, which began Jan. 13 and is expected to last into March.
Fundraising numbers for Deal's Republican primary opponents, state schools Superintendent John Barge and Dalton Mayor David Pennington, weren't immediately available.


text: You can do something about prisons expanding indefinitely! Only 2% of a pilot group using this program returned to criminal habits; while the return rate in a control group not on this program duplicated the national average of 80%. Criminon activities and courses made this possible. If you know someone in prison, send them a course request, and have them send it to Criminon WUS, PO Box 9091, Glendale, CA 91226. If you know someone who needs help so they don't end up in prison, sponsor them on a course. Courses for those not yet inmates are $150 each. Contact Criminon West to enroll them. Both individuals and companies can sponsor a page! You can volunteer to help at Criminon. You can make a donation using PayPal or by sending a check. Help us NOW, and make true rehabilitation of criminals a reality! |


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Steve Jobs' death from cancer on Wednesday at age 56 left many musicians mourning a man whose inventive intelligence utterly reshaped how their work is bought, sold, and heard.
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being," the company said in a statement on its website. "Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve lost a dear friend an an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."
Many musicians were similarly effusive in their praise for the man who, after his return to Apple in the 1990s, went on to pioneer the digital music industry. In 2001, Apple launched the iPod. The iTunes Music Store followed in 2003. Since then, the company has added the iPhone smart-phone and the iPad tablet. Apple now stands as the largest music retailer, and it has a 70% share of the market in digital music players, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A Twitter post from Coldplay sums up much of the online response from the music world. "Just learned the terrible news of Steve Jobs' passing," the post says. "What an incredible, inspiring life. Changed the world in so many ways. RiP Steve."
Also Read
Compact Discs: Sound of the Future
From Snoop Dogg to Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, other performers shared similar sentiments, often thanking the late Jobs for all that he developed. Nicki Minaj called him "an innovator," Janelle Monáe remembered him as "an eternal inspiration,"while to Diddy, Jobs remains "a Bad Mother fucka!" Fall Out Boy rocker Pete Wentz lauded "a true legend"; indie-poppers Passion Pit eulogized "a true magician."
Some of the artists honoring Jobs took a more personal approach. The Decemberists' Colin Meloy remembered writing stories on "a squat, beige Mac" his father brought home in 1984. Public Enemy's Chuck D recalled wanting two Apple computers as payment instead of cash after a 1996 webcast for the company at Madison Square Garden.
Such is Jobs' legacy that the technologies he innovated made the tributes to him possible. Atlanta garage-punks the Black Lips wrote, "I wouldn't even have the means to be tweeting this dumb ass Shit if it weren't for Steve job. Sent from my I phone." Added Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij: "Steve Jobs R.I.P. #tweetedfromanapplecomputer." Brooklyn indie rockers the Antlers tweeted their respects from their iPhone, while as Brooklyn indie-poppers Hooray for Earth put it, "Highly likely that without Steve Jobs I'd be playing music alone in my apartment forever."
Twitter posts honoring Jobs' innovations also came from Blink-182, the Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am, Weird Al Yankovic, the Roots' ?uestlove, She and Him's Zooey Deschanel, Good Charlotte's Joel Madden, and hip-hop rapper-producer Swizz Beatz, among many others.
Watch: Steve Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001


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Report: Oregon's Chip Kelly to Become Philadelphia Eagles Coach
According to ESPN, Chip Kelly has agreed to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, despite statements that he was going to return to the University of Oregon.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie released the following statement: "Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles. He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team."
ESPN reported:
The Eagles had interviewed Kelly early in its search for a replacement for longtime coach Andy Reid, talking to the coach in Arizona after the Ducks' 35-17 Fiesta Bowl victory over Kansas State. But sources had told ESPN after the meeting that Kelly had decided to stay at Oregon. The school never made an official announcement regarding Kelly's employment with the team, however.
Kelly re-emerged as a candidate recently and an agreement was just reached Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.
Oregon has been under investigation for possible NCAA violations. The question is: are the sanctions coming down so great that Kelly decided the time was right to jump ship?


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Learn Algebra from the best teacher we hand-picked for you.
Experience the 'A-ha!' moment in every topic with entertaining teaching.
See Algebra teacher and course rating
算术评论所必需的数学的基础知识to understand the concepts in Algebra 1, with lessons to help you learn and practice with problems relating to order of operations, fractions, percents, simplifying expressions and more. Topics include:
Solving Equations
Solving Equations will teach you how to solve problems with equations that contain variables and help you to study the concepts necessary to doing your homework on solving equations, and simplifying ratios and proportions. Topics include:
Solving and Graphing Inequalities
Solving and Graphing Inequalities will help you learn how to interpret inequalities and their graphs and how to do exercises in your homework related to solving inequalities with variables and graphing them both on a coordinate system and a number line. Topics include:
Absolute Value
Absolute Value will help you study concepts related to the absolute value function and to practice doing problems that you will find in your homework, such as graphing and solving equations and inequalities that contain an absolute value. Topics include:
Graphs and Functions
Graphs and Functions teaches an introduction to using a rectangular (Cartesian) coordinate system, and provides the help necessary to study the basics of graphing functions, including how to plot, identify quadrants and interpret graphs, determine whether a relation is a function and find its domain and range. Topics include:
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Linear Equations and Their Graphs introduces you to the concept of a line and how to graph and interpret lines in various applications using the different forms of a linear equation, including slope-intercept and standard. Topics include:
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- Finding the Equation of a Graphed Line
- How to Graph a Line using y=mx+b
Solving Systems of Equations
Solving Systems of Equations teaches material covered in lessons involving finding the intersection of two or more equations and provides students with problems that relate to systems, including different methods for solving such as substitution, elimination, graphing and matrices. Topics include:
Word Problems Using Systems of Equations
Word Problems Using Systems of Equations helps students learn methods for solving word problems that call for one to solve for more than one variable, and teaches through examples involving mixtures, rate, work, coins, age, digit sums, percentages, and more. Topics include:
Exponents introduces students to the definition of an exponent, teaches exponential properties and the behaviors of their graphs in various cases. The problems used involve simplifying expressions with exponents and using their properties to expand or combine different exponent terms and are good practice to help students understand how to solve problems on their homework. Topics include:
Polynomials explains how to define polynomial functions, provides practice on how to interpret the graphs of basic polynomials and their transformations, and how to multiply and divide polynomials with long and synthetic division. Topics include:
The factoring unit explores simple factoring methods such as finding the greatest common factor and factoring by completing the square. Also, this unit explores how to factor trinomials and expressions with special cases. Topics include:
Quadratic Equations and Functions
Quadratic Equations and Functions introduces students to the graphs of quadratics and teaches them to find the intercepts, discriminant, domain and range and interpret the graph in relation to these qualities. It also teaches students how to solve quadratics by factoring, completing the square and using the quadratic formula. Topics include:
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Radical Expressions and Equations
Radical Expressions and Equations reviews how to simplify radical expressions and perform simple operations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing these expressions. This unit also explores how to solve and graph radical equations. Topics include:
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Rational Expressions and Functions defines rational expressions and discusses their domains and asymptotic behavior as functions. Students can learn and practice methods of simplifying, solving and graphing rational functions through various exercises they would find in their homework, including word problems dealing with distance, rate and time and those dealing with work. Topics include:
Introduction to Statistics
Introduction to Statistics covers the fundamental statistical topics such as mean, median, mode, range and scatterplots. This unit also explores how you can use probability to solve everyday problems. Topics include:


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Hi! I'm Kendra Highley, and I write books for young adults (and adults who love YA).
I also bake cookies, weep during sappy commercials and have a tendency to sing (badly) in the car. Thanks for stopping by for a visit! Here you'll find my blog, news about upcoming releases and current work, and a few odes to dark chocolate. You can also sign up for my newsletter or subscribe to the blog — just check out that nifty sidebar. It'll tell you what to do.
So, welcome! Take a look around, settle in, and I'll come by with a plate of cookies soon.


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The Kingdom of Sweden has been revered by supporters of big government around the world for decades, cited by statist college professors and policy makers everywhere. It started with the myth that its "socialist" system could simultaneously provide freedom, prosperity, and generous welfare benefits to all. But now, the illusion is beginning to crumble.
The Swedish government has become notorious worldwide in recent years: Its blatant and sometimes brutal suppression of religious freedom, educational liberty, and the traditional family is well known among Western nations. In 2003, the Justice Ministry investigated the Holy Bible for "hate speech." A few years later, a Christian preacher was sentenced to jail for criticizing homosexuality. Last year, the government passed a law banning homeschooling and religious instruction in so-called free schools. All educational institutions will soon be teaching the government curriculum — including the notion that there is no difference between genders. Examples of the state run amok are near endless.
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One recent tragedy exemplifies the government's attitude: the internationally known case of the Johansson family. Almost two years ago, following years of harassment by the municipal social services, the Johansson family made plans to leave Sweden for good. The government had been pestering the parents about putting their young son, Domenic, into daycare. They refused. Later, instead of enrolling the young boy in government school, the parents decided to educate Domenic at home until they left for India, the mother's homeland. Homeschooling was — despite draconian restrictions — still legal in Sweden, after all.
But as they were sitting on the plane, just minutes before takeoff, armed police stormed onboard and seized the then-seven-year-old boy. There was no warrant, no suspicion of physical abuse — just an angry social-service bureaucracy that couldn't stand the thought of the Johansson family escaping its iron fist. After the family was torn apart over the education matter, the government also made an issue about the boy's not having received all of his optional vaccines. On top of that, a pair of baby-tooth cavities the family had scheduled an appointment to treat in India were also later included in the allegations against them.
Now, years and countless court hearings later, the family is still separated. An appeal in Stockholm on May 11 drew some protesters and countless letters of support from advocates around the world, but the government won't budge. The involvement of half-a-dozen high-profile organizations in Scandinavia and elsewhere on behalf of the family has not helped, either.
The parents were unable to attend the most recent hearing due to health concerns: The mother, Annie Johansson, was so traumatized by the tragedy that she's been hospitalized at least six times since then. They worried that if they showed up and had any sort of breakdown, the government would use it as more evidence that they were not competent to parent their child. It was just as well they didn't come: According to numerous attendees, the court proceeding was a charade. They were kicked out after ten minutes so the proceeding could continue behind closed doors. The Johansen's were represented by an appointed court attorney, despite their protests.
Supporters of the family did come out. With time, more Swedish people are becoming aware of what is going on in their country, despite a virtual media blackout. As the clampdown accelerates, Swedes are speaking out. Jonas Himmelstrand, the president of the Swedish Home Education Association and the founder of the family-policy think tank Mireja Institute, has been traveling the world warning of the dangers of Swedish family and education policies. In the last year he's been to Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Canada, Hungary, and more — sometimes invited by government. Soon he will be sounding the alarm at the United Nations in New York.
"You have to see [the attack on homeschooling] in the broader scope of the view of family in Sweden," Himmelstrand told Crisis Magazine, citing the state daycare system that now cares for more than 90 percent of children older than 18 months. "Our government has basically taken on the role of child-rearing to a certain extent." He also noted that Swedish schools are under heavy criticism for producing poor results, both socially and academically — which may lead more parents to discover how successful homeschooling actually is.
The Domenic Johansson case, while not unique in Sweden, has homeschoolers in particular very worried. "This is a case which seems incomprehensible to many Swedes," Himmelstrand explained, noting that he understood why it would lead to protests. "It's not the only case where the social authorities have done something which seems to lack all sense and all humanity."
He said one of the most alarming elements of the Johansson case is that homeschooling and not attending daycare were used as a justification to seize the child in an earlier verdict. The government alleged it had somehow damaged the boy — a claim for which there is, "of course, absolutely no proof whatsoever," Himmelstrand noted. "That's the scary part: We have social authorities who cannot seem to understand sometimes what a healthy family is." The whole case is "a tragedy" and something that is "very upsetting to Swedish homeschoolers," Himmelstrand concluded.
Pro-freedom advocates in Sweden agree. And the case is indicative of a much more troubling trend. "I think the Domenic case very well illustrates the Swedish government attitude against individual freedom," explained Joakim Fagerström, a father and the president of the liberty-minded Ludwig von Mises Institute in Sweden. "The reason for this is that it is very important to keep the kids in government-run schools, since this is where you put the foundation for our statist minds. Even the government in Sweden understands that they can't just use pure force to make the citizens to do what they want –and that is why education is so important to form our kids to be statist to the core."
Fagerström added that the long-term consequences of Sweden's approach would not be good, noting that the quality of its government-run schools was getting worse every year. "I am afraid that this trend is accelerating," he said. "Of course, our goal is to reverse this trend by educating people on the benefits of individual freedom." That, as he freely admits, will be a long and tough process — especially considering Swedish society's general apathy on issues of liberty.
But people who have had bad experiences with the social services are also speaking out. Daniel Hammarberg, for example, compiled a book called The Madhouse, which details some of the more outrageous and well-known scandals to rock Sweden, such as the Domenic case. "It definitely proves that the state considers children its property, especially when they seize the boy just as they're about to leave," he told Crisis. "It also shows that they don't care about international law and verdicts from the European Court of Human Rights, which state that you can't remove children just because you feel they'd be better off in another home."
Asked about why the government pursued the Johansson family with such vigor, he said "a single intact family standing up and protesting might inspire the whole lot of society to follow them. So they have to make sure they get to indoctrinate every single child." Like many others knowledgeable about the barely disguised "growing totalitarianism," as Hammarberg put it, he also explained that government agencies are generally very suspicious of religious parents. "There's a strong anti-religious atmosphere here," he noted. The Johanssons, of course, call themselves devout Christians — a very rare phenomenon in secular Sweden.
Attorney Mike Donnelly, the director of international affairs for the U.S.-based Home School Legal Defense Association, has been one of the prominent American voices speaking out about the Johansson tragedy and the overall attack on homeschooling and educational liberty in Sweden. "The treatment Domenic Johansson and his family have received from Swedish authorities is deplorable," he said. "As a government, Sweden should be ashamed. Its policies toward families and particularly homeschoolers are completely at odds with the values acknowledged by western democracies — specifically the right of parents to direct their children's education."
Donnelly referred to the nation's "reprehensible" approach to education as "increasingly totalitarian." He's even ranked Sweden at or near the bottom internationally in terms of educational freedom, in the company of ruthless dictatorships like North Korea and communist China. The HSLDA is one of the organizations — along with the Alliance Defense Fund and others — involved in appealing the Johansson case to a European-level court.
The Domenic case and another similar tragedy where a family was ripped apart over homeschooling, combined with Sweden's upcoming ban on alternative education, has provoked a furor overseas. The last Western country to try to ban home education was Nazi Germany. But even in the Nordic kingdom, where people traditionally have a great deal of trust in authorities, the consequences are beginning to show. Numerous families have already fled, going to places like Canada, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, among others. Many more will emigrate once the prohibition on homeschooling goes into effect this summer. Some are even seeking refugee status to avoid the growing persecution of homeschooling families.
Where the Swedish saga will end remains to be seen. Sweden has made some uneven moves toward liberty. The welfare state has been reduced in size and scope in many areas; just a few decades ago, the government even ran a fast-food chain. Some industries are gradually being privatized, too. But even though the immense tax burden has been declining over the last ten years, there's still a long way to go. And in terms of religious and educational freedom, the trends are troubling.


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Pajé is an interactive and scalable trace-based visualization tool which can be used for a large variety of visualizations including performance monitoring of parallel applications, monitoring the execution of processors in a large scale PC cluster or representing the behavior of distributed applications.
Current Version: 1.98
- Released: December 20, 2011
- Licensed: LGPL
Users of Pajé can tailor the visualization to their needs, without having to know any insight nor to modify any component of Pajé. This can be done by defining the type hierarchy of objects to be visualized as well as how these objects should be visualized. This feature allows the use of Pajé for a wide variety of visualizations such as the use of resources by applications in a large-size cluster or the behavior of distributed Java applications.
- Benhur Stein
- Vincent Danjean
- Edmar Pessoa Araújo Neto
- Geovani Ricardo Wiedenhoft
- Gregory Mounie
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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The stormwater utility is a unit within the City that provides stormwater management. Like water, wastewater, solid waste, recycling, and electric utility - the Stormwater Utility generates its revenue through user fees. These fees are used for maintenance and operations of stormwater management devices, for stormwater systems planning and construction.
By establishing a storm water utility, the city will be able to take a more aggressive approach to storm water management. The additional funds raised through the storm water fee will allow the City to provide and increased level of system maintenance and repair, as well as enable the city to construct additional capital improvement projects.
Show All Answers
If you would like additional information on the Storm Water Utility Rate, or have specific concerns about storm water issues, please contact Ken Clarke, Stormwater Technician.
ll nonresidential, developed properties have the opportunity to install, maintain, and operate facilities and do other associated non-structural best management practices that benefit the local community, those parcels will then have the option to request a credit on their stormwater utility rate. Application forms are available by emailing Linda Taylor or calling 360-403-3526. The proposed ordinance includes the following credit allowances, upon submittal and review of a credit request.
ESU stands for Equivalent Service Unit and is used to convert the impervious area on non-residential property to service units equal to the base ESU of 6,000 square feet. To determine the number of ESU a non-residential property 's impervious area is measured and the total square footage is divided by the ESU to determine how many units will be charged. For example, if a non-residential property has a total of 18,000 square feet of impervious area, the property will be charged for 3 units (18,000 divided by 6,000 equals 3). Its stormwater charge would be 3 times the residential/base rater or 3 time $7.34 per month.
In order to determine how much impervious surface is on a piece of developed property, the City utilized Geographical Information System (GIS) maps of our area to determine the total square footage of the impervious surface on a parcel and the actual lot size. Because lot sizes and impervious surfaces vary from residential parcel to residential parcel, the Council and the Stormwater Rate Structure Committee decided to establish an Equivalent Service Unit (ESU) of 6,000 square feet as the base unit/residential unit. Every Arlington home or equivalent residential unit is equal to one ESU.
Arlington's Design and Construction Standards can be downloaded from the Construction and Utility Permits page.
The inspection line phone number for Water is 360-403-3526. For Sewer it is 360-403-3508. For Stormwater it is 360-403-3523. Please give 48 hours notice.
With a storm water rate, users are charged a fee for runoff discharged from their property to the City's storm water management system, not by the amount of rain falling on their property. Property owners control the level of development on their properties, which directly impacts the runoff characteristics of the parcel. Rate payers also contribute to the management and maintenance of the stormwater systems on all of the public roads the parks and parking lots utilize for personal, industrial and commercial activities.
The money gathered through the user fee will go towards better stormwater management, and you should gradually see results in terms of better flood management, stormwater maintenance and regulatory compliance. In the field, we will be keeping a photographic log of areas when work is done. We will also be posting signs and providing news releases on projects as they are completed. Maintenance of the system is recorded in the Cartegraph database. Priorities are identified in the Stormwater Comprehensive plan, and considered as new problems arise.
The City addresses stormwater problems in three ways.
As precipitation falls on agricultural and undeveloped areas, it is primarily absorbed into the ground or slowly runs off into streams, rivers, or other water bodies. However, development resulting in rooftops and paved areas prevent water from being absorbed and create a faster rate of runoff. This development often causes localized flooding or other water quantity or quality issues. The rainwater that comes in contact with the streets and parking lots carries the automotive related heavy metals and petroleum products in to our streams and groundwater if not treated. There are nutrients and bacteria associated with fertilizers and pet waste that result in risk to human and fish health if not managed properly.
The City is responsible for managing all aspects of storm water within its jurisdiction. The city operates and maintains drainage facilities that are located within the public right of way or public easements. The city does not maintain facilities that are located on private property or that fall under the jurisdiction of other governmental jurisdictions. However, the City is responsible to assure that all private facilities are maintained and operating as designed. Some of the other important components of this program include:
The current senior citizen utility billing credit is available upon application for water, sewer and stormwater. Council and staff are in the process of researching the implementation of a low-income credit that would also apply to all utilities.
The Storm Water Revenue Fund will be similar to the City's existing Water and Sewer Revenue funds, but will be a separate fund responsible for providing service to Arlington's existing and expanding storm water drainage system. This enterprise fund allows fees to be collected and used to address flooding problems as well as improve water quality by reducing storm water pollution. Like Arlington, many cities throughout Snohomish County, Washington State and nationwide have established storm water management utilities.
Historically, the allocation of funds has not been sufficient to address all of the city's storm water service needs. Although the city has done a good job providing storm water services on a limited budget, the backlog of storm water projects has grown and some maintenance activities have not been performed. Local, state and federal laws also require that municipalities address the environmental impacts of storm water pollution, but do not provide the funds to do it. Consequently, the City must investigate alternative means for raising revenue.
A storm water user fee is charged based upon the contribution of storm water runoff to the City's storm water management system. This is a more fair and equitable approach than charges based on property value.
You may not have a problem, but the runoff generated from your property is contributing to problems downstream. The approach being taken through this program recognizes that everyone contributes to the problem (runoff and pollution) and everyone will share in the results (improved water quality, reduce flooding, unimpaired access to roads, etc.).
The stormwater utility fee is used specifically to address citywide stormwater issues. A septic tank is used to treat wastewater at a specific location. This wastewater is water that comes out of individual households or businesses. Properties that use septic tanks are not charged for sanitary sewer service. It should be noted that properties that are connected to the sanitary sewer system do pay for the sanitary sewer service as well as the stormwater utility fee.
The utility fee is included as a separate item on the City of Arlington utility bill received for municipal water and wastewater. It is due bimonthly through the bimonthly utility bill.
By utilizing residential dwelling units as the basis for storm water user fee, charges among parcel types can be compared to this Equivalent Service Unit (ESU).


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Phil Wright
Great article.
We are flirting with agile methods of design/development – almost all of our sites are application based – and are moving towards an iterated prototype model, rather than a very print design based approach of showing 3x visuals with greek text in them, almagamating elements of said visuals and then figuring out how to code them.
Designing in browser, for me, is indicative of a broader problem-solving approach that hinges around addressing the content, the purpose and the environment of the design, rather than just the look of the design.


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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Greg Biffle says he plans to apologize to Jimmie Johnson for how he handled his displeasure with the five-time champion at Martinsville.
Biffle angrily grabbed Johnson by the collar and spun him around while Johnson was being interviewed on pit road after Sunday's race. Biffle believed Johnson had run into the back of his car, causing the bumper to fall off and preventing Biffle from racing for the win.
Biffle said Tuesday he's going to call Johnson to apologize. He says he wishes he'd had a private conversation with Johnson, and should have grabbed his arm to get his attention.
But he remains convinced that contact from Johnson ripped off the bumper, and fans who claimed the damage was done by Dale Earnhardt Jr. are wrong.


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Video: Interns at the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea, FL, get hands on experience working with marine life and equipment.
Rob Diaz de Villegas WFSU-TV
We're on a boat, speeding through Apalachee Bay on our way back to land. We've accompanied Cypress Rudloe and two Gulf Specimen Marine Lab interns on a trip to collect samples. Buckets full of octopus and sea urchins slosh as I take a good look to my left and right and get a firm perspective of where I am. We're several miles from the St. Marks Lighthouse; it stands out unmistakably as it was designed to do. Smoke unfurls over it and into the Gulf, from a controlled burn on the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. I look left and see the mouth of the Ochlockonee River, and follow the contour of the land as it curls out of sight to Alligator Point. These interns are preparing for a life that keeps them in places like this. Bravo.
Of course, it's more than merely being outdoors that they're getting out of the deal. They're learning about sea turtle rescue, collecting specimens in the wild, and outreach activities. This includes leading tours and taking the Seamobile out to where kids who don't always make it to the coast can touch a horseshoe crab. The day after our trip, the Seamobile is going to Thomasville, GA for a festival. The stingray and horse conch that inhabit the tank at the rear of the mobile aquarium will be traveling dozens of miles from their home, but to a place bound to their home nonetheless. Making that connection is part of the educational outreach that interns perform.
"We take the Seamobile around and do programs on sea turtles, coastal watersheds, marine invertebrates," Tom Harrah told me as he loaded some critters into one of its tanks. Tom manages the Seamobile and the intern program at Gulf Specimen.
Just a few miles west of Thomasville is the upper Ochlockonee River. This makes it a part of Apalachee Bay's coastal watershed. If rivers are the strings that connect places like Thomasville to the bay, then standing on this boat I am over a knot. Two watersheds meet here, the Ochlockonee and St. Marks, rivers whose mouths I can alternately see by turning my head one way or the other. Somewhat by design, every video I've produced over the last few months tugs at this knot, and standing here I trace my way backwards to farms and through underwater caves.
In our last segment we covered two farms in the Ochlockonee watershed. Full Earth Farm co-managers Katie Harris and Aaron Suko are cognizant of where their farm is in relation to the river, and it influences the way they work their land. "We don't want to negatively impact the local waterways and the groundwater." Aaron told me. "That's, I'd say, one of the primary reasons we don't use synthetic fertilizers." In our first segment on the Red Hills Small Farm Alliance, I talked to Louise Divine. She and her husband, Herman Holley, run Turkey Hill Farm just east of Tallahassee, and near to a small waterway named Black Creek. Like Full Earth, Turkey Hill is an organic food grower. And like Aaron and Katie, Louise and Herman are well aware of their place in the watershed. "I think about it every day." Louise said. "I think about it when I drive down the highway and I see Roundup sprayed everywhere. And I know that that Roundup ends up in Black Creek and I know that Black Creek goes into the St. Marks and I- it makes me insane."
Excess nitrates from fertilizers figure prominently in stories we've done on Wakulla Springs. It runs off of lawns in Tallahassee and down streets, into sinkhole lakes like Upper Lake Lafayette or into Lake Munson, a heavily polluted waterway that drains into Ames Sink. Dye trace tests have linked Ames Sink to the springs, its water running through one of the largest underground cave systems in the country. Nine miles or so after its water emerges from Wakulla Spring, the Wakulla River meets up with the St. Marks. Wakulla Spring has suffered from an increase an algae due to excess nitrates. Perhaps due to tidal influence, the lower river's water appears to be cleaner.
Both the St. Marks and the Ochlockonee provide an important influx of freshwater to coastal ecosystems. "There's a high level of biodiversity in this area" Tom Harrah said. "There are a lot of rivers coming into the ocean, dumping nutrients. And there's just animals everywhere."*
Tom was new to the area when he volunteered at Gulf Specimen as an FSU biology major. Eight years later, he's still here working and enjoying these natural resources. Intern Cara Borowski's love of these natural resources manifested itself in a different way, as we cover in the video above. For her, the thrill is getting kids interested in ecology and fostering a spirit of stewardship. When she entered the program, she was aiming to be a research biologist. Now, she's thinking more about education. Without an opportunity to host field trips and take the Seamobile to schools, she might never have considered this career path.
*If you're confused about the roles of nutrients, which can cause lethal algal blooms but also provide a foundation for all life on earth, I'll direct you to this blog post written by Dr. David Kimbro about the nitrogen cycle.


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HBCU files complaint seeking review of bus search
Shaw University President Paulette Dillard has accused law enforcement officers in Spartanburg County of racially profiling the 18 students traveling on a contract bus from Raleigh, North Carolina, to a conference in Atlanta on Oct. 5. The post HBCU files complaint seeking review of bus search appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A historically Black university in North Carolina announced Monday that it has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice seeking a review of a search of a bus carrying students during a traffic stop in South Carolina last month.
Shaw University President Paulette Dillard has accused law enforcement officers in Spartanburg County of racially profiling the 18 students traveling on a contract bus from Raleigh, North Carolina, to a conference in Atlanta on Oct. 5.
Two South Carolina sheriffs have denied that racial profiling played a part in the traffic stop and said the bus was pulled over because it had been swerving.
But at a news conference Monday, Dillard said the issue is how the alleged minor violation turned into a drug search, whether every stop prompts such a search and, if not, what does trigger a search.
"The harmful effects of eroding individual rights under the pretext of law and order are real – and they are rampant all over the country," she said. "Let's be clear… racism is about power and systems; and just because there isn't a knee on someone's neck doesn't mean that no harm is being done."
At a news conference last month, Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright called the racial profiling accusations "just false." Officers stopped the unmarked bus with tinted windows because it had been swerving, he said. The stop was part of "Operation Rolling Thunder," a weeklong anti-drug campaign in which deputies and officers with agencies from around the state patrol the county's highways.
"If anything we're ever doing is racist, I want to know it, I want to fix it and I want to never let it happen again," Wright said. "But this case right here has absolutely nothing to do with racism."
A leashed dog "ran through the baggage," turning up nothing illegal, Wright said. Police body camera footage shows officers searching several bags in the bus' underbelly storage. The driver received a warning.
The university's complaint states that a lane violation would be insufficient justification for a drug search and students' right to privacy was violated because while the driver consented to a luggage compartment search, passengers didn't consent to a search of their individual luggage. It also alleges that Operation Rolling Thunder disproportionately targeted Black drivers.
Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller said the officers "didn't do anything wrong" and could not have known the races of the people inside the bus when they pulled it over.
Wright and Mueller declined to comment Monday on the complaint.
Democratic members of North Carolina's congressional delegation asked the Justice Department last month to investigate the incident.
The traffic stop comes after an April incident in Georgia, where sheriff's deputies pulled over the Delaware State University women's lacrosse team bus and searched it for drugs. Tony Allen, the president of the HBCU, said he was "incensed" and accused the law enforcement officers of intimidation and humiliation.
Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman, who is Black, said in May that deputies had found drugs on a different bus that same morning. The team's chartered bus was stopped because it was traveling in the left lane, a violation of Georgia law, according to Bowman, who said deputies searched the bus after a drug-sniffing dog "alerted" alongside it. No one was arrested or charged and the driver received a warning.
The post HBCU files complaint seeking review of bus search appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.


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Simeli Mountain
There were once two brothers, the one rich, the other poor. The rich one, however, gave nothing to the poor one, and he gained a scanty living by trading in corn, and often did so badly that he had no bread for his wife and children. Once when he was wheeling a barrow through the forest he saw, on one side of him, a great, bare, naked-looking mountain, and as he had never seen it before, he stood still and stared at it with amazement.
While he was thus standing he saw twelve great, wild men coming towards him, and as he believed they were robbers he pushed his barrow into the thicket, climbed up a tree, and waited to see what would happen. The twelve men, however, went to the mountain and cried, semsi mountain, semsi mountain, open up, and immediately the barren mountain opened down the middle, and the twelve went into it, and as soon as they were within, it shut.
After a short time, it opened again, and the men came forth carrying heavy sacks on their shoulders, and when they were all once more in the daylight they said, semsi mountain, semsi mountain, shut yourself, then the mountain closed together, and there was no longer any entrance to be seen to it, and the twelve went away.
When they were quite out of sight the poor man got down from the tree, and was curious to know what was secretly hidden in the mountain. So he went up to it and said, semsi mountain, semsi mountain, open up, and the mountain opened up to him also. Then he went inside, and the whole mountain was a cavern full of silver and gold, and behind lay great piles of pearls and sparkling jewels, heaped up like corn. The poor man hardly knew what to do, and whether he might take any of these treasures for himself or not.
At last he filled his pockets with gold, but he left the pearls and precious stones where they were. When he came out again he also said, semsi mountain, semsi mountain, shut yourself, and the mountain closed itself, and he went home with his barrow. And now he had no more cause for anxiety, but could buy bread for his wife and children with his gold, and wine into the bargain. He lived joyously and honorably, gave help to the poor, and did good to every one. When the money came to an end, however, he went to his brother, borrowed a measure that held a bushel, and brought himself some more, but did not touch any of the most valuable things. When for the third time he wanted to fetch something, he again borrowed the measure of his brother.
But the rich man had long been envious of his brother's possessions, and of the handsome household which he kept up, and could not understand from whence the riches came, and what his brother wanted with the measure. Then he thought of a cunning trick, and covered the bottom of the measure with pitch, and when he got the measure back a piece of gold was sticking to it. He at once went to his brother and asked him, what have you been measuring in the bushel measure. Corn and barley, said the other. Then he showed him the piece of gold and threatened that if he did not tell the truth he would accuse him before a court of justice.
The poor man then told him everything, just as it had happened. So the rich man ordered his carriage to be made ready, and drove away, resolved to use the opportunity better than his brother had done, and to bring back with him quite different treasures. When he came to the mountain he cried, semsi mountain, semsi mountain, open up. The mountain opened, and he went inside it.
There lay the treasures all before him, and for a long time he did not know which to grab first. At length he loaded himself with as many precious stones as he could carry. He wished to carry his burden outside, but as his heart and soul were entirely full of the treasures, he had forgotten the name of the mountain, and cried, simeli mountain, simeli mountain, open up. That, however, was not the right name, and the mountain never stirred, but remained shut.
Then he was alarmed, and the longer he thought about it the more his thoughts confused themselves, and all his treasures were of no help to him. In the evening the mountain opened, and the twelve robbers came in, and when they saw him they laughed, and cried out, bird, have we caught you at last. Did you think we had never noticed that you had been in here twice.
We could not catch you then, this third time you shall not get out again. Then he cried, it was not I, it was my brother, but let him beg for his life and say what he would, they cut off his head.


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"For significant contributions to enhancing efficient energy use, particularly for applying physics and economics to optimize energy-efficient appliance standards."
Dr. Goldstein received a B.A. in Physics in 1973 from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Physics from the same institution in 1978. He has worked on energy efficiency and energy policy since the early 1970s and currently co-directs the Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Dr. Goldstein has worked with state, regional, and national governments, as well as professional organizations, to develop and implement energy efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances. He negotiated the agreements that led to the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, and the Amendments of 1988, and has helped design and direct energy efficiency programs for buildings and appliances with utilities and state regulatory agencies. He was a founding director of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, and is also on the boards of four other market transformation organizations.
Dr. Goldstein initiated and directed research on the dependence of automobile ownership and use on neighborhood infrastructure, and developed the Location Efficient Mortgage.
He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, and twice recipient of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy's Champion of Energy Efficiency award.
Tina Marie Kaarsberg (Chair), Henry H Barschall, Kevin Aylesworth ('96 Recipient), Mark Sakitt (Vice Chair), Ralph A Alpher


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As reported in the last ASI update, the forecast Dipole has now set up. Yesterday's last analysis chart provided by Environment Canada, at 18Z, showed the high pressure moving in via the Bering Strait at 1037 hPa, while a rapidly weakening storm that had moved in from Siberia (lowest central pressure was 967 hPa, two days ago) was still at 974 hPa on the other side of the Arctic. This then evolved to a massive 1041 hPa on one side of the Dipole, and 977 hPa on the other:
That's a humongous pressure gradient of 63-64 hPa! You don't see that often around this time in the Arctic, a not so nice story for the grandkids. Right now, the high is still at 1041 hPa, but the low has weakened further to 980 hPa. That's still a pressure gradient of 61 hPa.
It means very strong winds are blowing over the ice pack, from Siberia to Canada, compacting the ice pack and further pushing open water towards the pole, as can be seen on this animation of Uni Bremen sea ice concentration maps:
If one looks carefully at the ice in the so-called Wrangel Arm, you can clearly see the ice flash in and out of existence. There comes a point where the ice no longer flashes back, but in the meantime it makes for wild swings on the CT sea ice area graph, as calculated by Wipneus:


text: Stephen Decatur High School senior field hockey players recently provided a tea for Gull Creek residents. The girls spent time talking with a special group of Gull Creek ladies while serving tea and cookies. Students from SDHS choir provided singing. Students pictured, from left, are Lindsey Parker, Meg Shockley, Katie Nichols, Cami Runyon and Emily Smith. Submitted Photos


text: On Mon, 28 Jul 2008, Eugen Leitl wrote: > On Sun, Jul 27, 2008 at 07:19:56PM -0700, Jim Lux wrote: > >> bear in mind that ordinary ethernet both coax and twisted pair is >> galvanically isolated. > > This is strange, because I've seen (small) sparks and received (mild) > shocks from both, in two different locations. Ground loop. Very dangerous. You go first...;-) rgb > > As you say, http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/FLUU-5T3TLT_R1_EN.pdf > claims Ethernet is immune, yet I've read somewhere that Gigabit ethernet > is more susceptible than Fast Ethernet. I've got (cheap) UPSen for > almost all equipment, maybe they're the problem and not the switching > power supplies. > > In any case I'll have an electrician diagnose the problem. Unfortunately, > I anticipate his solution would involve pulling through a new large-crossection > ground wire to several locations. It is at this point that lack of wall > conduits will become quite painful. > > -- Robert G. Brown Phone(cell): 1-919-280-8443 Duke University Physics Dept, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Web: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb Book of Lilith Website: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/Lilith/Lilith.php Lulu Bookstore: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=877977