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1 | Go quickly through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and get knowledge, and make a search in her wide places if there is a man, if there is one in her who is upright, who keeps faith; and she will have my forgiveness. |
2 | And though they say, By the living Lord; truly their oaths are false. |
3 | O Lord, do not your eyes see good faith? you have given them punishment, but they were not troubled; you have sent destruction on them, but they did not take your teaching to heart: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they would not come back. |
4 | Then I said, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God. |
5 | I will go to the great men and have talk with them; for they have knowledge of the way of the Lord and of the behaviour desired by their God. But as for these, their one purpose is a broken yoke and burst bands. |
6 | And so a lion from the woods will put them to death, a wolf of the waste land will make them waste, a leopard will keep watch on their towns, and everyone who goes out from them will be food for the beasts; because of the great number of their sins and the increase of their wrongdoing. |
7 | How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women. |
8 | They were full of desire, like horses after a meal of grain: everyone went after his neighbour's wife. |
9 | Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this? |
10 | Go up against her vines and make waste; let the destruction be complete: take away her branches, for they are not the Lord's. |
11 | For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have been very false to me, says the Lord. |
12 | They would have nothing to do with the Lord, saying, He will do nothing, and no evil will come to us; we will not see the sword or be short of food: |
13 | And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them; so it will be done to them. |
14 | For this reason the Lord, the God of armies, has said: Because you have said this, I will make my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and they will be burned up by it. |
15 | See, I will send you a nation from far away, O people of Israel, says the Lord; a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language is strange to you, so that you may not get the sense of their words. |
16 | Their arrows give certain death, they are all men of war. |
17 | They will take all the produce of your fields, which would have been food for your sons and your daughters: they will take your flocks and your herds: they will take all your vines and your fig-trees: and with the sword they will make waste your walled towns in which you put your faith. |
18 | But even in those days, says the Lord, I will not let your destruction be complete. |
19 | And it will come about, when you say, Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us? that you will say to them, As you gave me up, making yourselves servants to strange gods in your land, so will you be servants to strange men in a land which is not yours. |
20 | Say this openly in Jacob and give it out in Judah, saying, |
21 | Give ear now to this, O foolish people without sense; who have eyes but see nothing, and ears without the power of hearing: |
22 | Have you no fear of me? says the Lord; will you not be shaking with fear before me, who have put the sand as a limit for the sea, by an eternal order, so that it may not go past it? and though it is ever in motion, it is not able to have its way; though the sound of its waves is loud, they are not able to go past it. |
23 | But the heart of this people is uncontrolled and turned away from me; they are broken loose and gone. |
24 | And they do not say in their hearts, Now let us give worship to our God, who gives the rain, the winter and the spring rain, at the right time; who keeps for us the ordered weeks of the grain-cutting. |
25 | Through your evil-doing these things have been turned away, and your sins have kept back good from you. |
26 | For there are sinners among my people: they keep watch, like men watching for birds; they put a net and take men in it. |
27 | As the fowl-house is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: for this reason they have become great and have got wealth. |
28 | They have become fat and strong: they have gone far in works of evil: they give no support to the cause of the child without a father, so that they may do well; they do not see that the poor man gets his rights. |
29 | Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this? |
30 | A thing of wonder and fear has come about in the land; |
31 | The prophets give false words and the priests give decisions by their direction; and my people are glad to have it so: and what will you do in the end? |


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Women's History Month is a celebration of women's progress and the American piece of this epic story began in Lawrence, Massachusetts, when 25,000 mill workers took to the streets to protest for better wages. One particularly memorable account from the Bread and Roses strike involves several women who surrounded a police officer, stole his gun and then his pants and then tried to throw him in a river. The officer was saved from an icy dunking by fellow members of the force (who were colluding with the mill owners to stop these fierce women from striking). Here in the U.S., we will best honor our sisters past and present by ensuring that women's progress doesn't come to a grinding halt on March 29th in the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court.
Tomorrow the Court will hear arguments in one of the most important civil rights cases in the country's history. Their decision will pave the way for further progress or stop it dead in its tracks. In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, one million employees take on the largest public corporation in the world in a case that could cost the company $1 billion. But this case is about something much bigger than $1 billion; it is about whether or not any American citizen will have the ability to try to stop illegal bias in the workplace. In David v. Goliath, the Supreme Court will decide who gets the slingshot.
The case started when seven female employees of Wal-Mart figured out the corporation was paying men more than women for comparable jobs and was promoting men more often than equally qualified women. More than 100 women presented their personal cases of illegal bias and statistical evidence showed that the preferential treatment was true across the company — in every region and across job categories from entry level to management. As a result, District Judge Martin J. Jenkins determined — and the Ninth Circuit agreed — that the one million women who worked at Wal-Mart in the last decade should be treated as a "class" and as such be able to fight the world's largest corporation together, rather than one at a time. Wal-Mart, which serves about 100 million customers a week, appealed, arguing that no one could manage a group of one million people and, because of that, these women could not argue their case as a single class. How will the Court decide and what will be the results?
Consider this — it is infinitely cheaper to pay off one employee (or bury her in legal fees) and to continue the illegal pay disparity than it is to pay all employees what they should have been paid all along. By limiting the ability of similar individuals to act as a group, the Court will diminish the individuals' power to challenge a bigger (and richer) wrong-doer. It is only the ability to challenge illegal bias as a group that renders the action economically viable for the plaintiffs (and yes, for the lawyers who work for them). Similarly, it is only the threat of action by a group that makes illegal bias economically un-viable for a corporation.
As it happens, in matters of law and money, size does matter.
If the Supreme Court upholds the Ninth Circuit and agrees that "mere size does not render a case unmanageable," regular Americans will be able to challenge illegal bias in the workplace. If the Supreme Court strikes down the Ninth Circuit's decision, they won't.
Slingshot or no slingshot?
With a slingshot you have a chance against Goliath, without it you have none.
By attempting to limit the size of a class, activist conservative judges are reversing years of precedence and weakening the power of individuals to fight illegal bias in the workforce. It's worth noting that after years of discrimination, Lilly Ledbetter has not received a dime of compensation — thanks to the Supreme Court. A recent study from Cornell Law found that in employment discrimination suits in the federal court of appeals corporations consistently do better, managing to reverse rulings 41 percent of the time compared to 9 percent for plaintiffs.
One hundred years ago, it was 25,000 mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, who fought for rightful pay and dignified working conditions. Since that time, women have become 50 percent of the U.S. workforce. They are the sole breadwinners in 34 percent of families with children; and the owners of eight million small businesses. Women currently receive 58 percent of bachelor's degrees, 60 percent of Master's degrees and 55.5 percent of Doctorates, our progress will continue. Unless the Supreme Court decides to stop it.
Tomorrow, 1,000,000 women of Wal-Mart will take their place in history, but like the strike of Bread and Roses, this fight is about much more than a single company — or a single group of people regardless how large. This case is about an ongoing and winnable fight to secure the 'Blessing of Liberty' for all of our citizens.
After all, what is more liberating than a paycheck and the economic security that comes with it?
This originally appeared on The Huffington Post.
Erica Payne is Founder and President of The Agenda Project.

subset: commoncrawl


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Graves in the park
When Fontana Lake was constructed during WWII, some communities were submerged by the rising lake while others were merely rendered inaccessible.
The only road in and out of a 44,000 acre area where about 2,000 people lived got flooded, effectively cutting them off. So the area was evacuated and made part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Those who were evacuated not only left behind homes and farms, but family cemeteries.
Many elected to have their loved ones remain where they were rather than dug up and relocated. The next of kin for each grave had to sign a contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority stating their preference: to leave the grave or move it.
Those who elected to leave the grave where it was were warned upfront that visitation to the cemeteries wasn't going to be easy.
"It will be necessary to walk a considerable distance until a road is constructed in the vicinity of the cemetery, which is proposed to be completed after the war has ended," the TVA contract stated.
Although families were given fair warning access would be difficult, they were also given hope that a road into the area would be built back one day. Those with family members buried on the North Shore have hung on to that hope, but it has been 65 years now and no road is in sight.
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Road or cash
When Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson came to the Swain commissioners meeting last week, road supporters didn't pass up the chance to demand the long-promised road. County Commissioner David Monteith, a spokesperson for the pro-road group, suggested tapping the public works stimulus package being debated in Congress for money to build the North Shore Road.
But Ditmanson leveled with the audience.
"The road will never be built," he said.
A cash settlement in lieu of the road is now the county's best hope of being compensated for the broken promise to build the road. But negotiations over the amount of the settlement appear to be stalled.
Supporters of a cash settlement floated the figure of $52 million, a long-standing amount used repeatedly over the past decade when discussing a cash settlement. It is based on the value of the old road through the area that was flooded when the lake was created, adjusted for interest and inflation.
The Park Service itself adopted the figure, but now that rubber is meeting the road it appears a figure cannot be agreed on. Swain County leaders have said they will not settle for anything less.


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By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON–The tea party scored a victory over the Republican establishment Tuesday, with Nebraska voters choosing conservative Ben Sasse as the party's U.S. Senate nominee.
As is happening in Republican primaries across the country, however, the difference between tea party and establishment has blurred.
The tea party-aligned Sasse, the Harvard-educated president of Midland University, is a former George W. Bush administration official and corporate consultant. The youthful dad of three swept several other candidates after an outpouring of tea party support that included campaign stops by Sarah Palin and hard-line GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
The Nebraska seat came open with the retirement of Republican Sen. Mike Johanns and is expected to remain in GOP hands, all but ensuring that Sasse will become the state's junior senator.
In Washington, Senate Republican campaign Chairman Jerry Moran welcomed Sasse's win, emphasizing his record as "problem solver," rather than as a hard-right conservative.
Shane Osborn, a former Navy pilot who became Nebraska's state treasurer, had been a conservative favorite. But he was sidelined as tea party groups coalesced around Sasse. Also losing was Sid Dinsdale, a third-generation banker endorsed by the Omaha World Herald as the candidate most Nebraskans would be "comfortable with."
Outside groups poured $3 million into the Nebraska race, most of it to prop up Sasse and oppose the other two main candidates as Republicans battled Republicans, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The GOP has a good chance of winning the six seats needed to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats this November, but first they must pick their candidates amid the continued party divide.
A primary was also held Tuesday in West Virginia, where Shelley Moore Capito, a seven-term Republican congresswoman, easily won the GOP Senate nomination. She is favored in November against Democrat Natalie Tennant, the secretary of state.
The West Virginia seat came open with the retirement of longtime Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat. But the Mountain State has drifted away from Democrats since Rockefeller's election 30 years ago; it is expected to tilt to the GOP in November.
Screenshot: YouTube


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With more than 44 percent of people 75 and older now having received at least one vaccine dose, Maricopa County is excited to expand vaccine eligibility to adults 65 and older in all vaccine locations starting Monday, February 15. This decision is in alignment with the federal pharmacy vaccine program scheduled to begin later this week, which will bring vaccine to 182 pharmacies in Maricopa County.
"The data shows that our decision to provide older adults a little extra time to access vaccine has proven successful and the timing is now right to invite our residents 65 and older to step up and get vaccinated," said Marcy Flanagan, director of Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
MCDPH estimates there are nearly 400,000 adults ages 65-74 eligible for the vaccine in Maricopa County.
In addition, community members will now have the opportunity to review Maricopa County vaccination data on their own on a newly launched dashboard available at Maricopa.gov/COVID19vaccinedata. This dashboard shows:
Public Health is focused on ensuring equitable access to the vaccine across racial and socioeconomic levels. Working with partners, MCDPH is making vaccine appointments when and where they are convenient for people. Efforts include:
The data dashboard shows these efforts are helping to make vaccine available to those who might not otherwise be able to get it. For example, in Maricopa County, American Indians and Alaskan Natives have been vaccinated at almost twice the rate of Whites.
As supply allows, MCDPH will continue to make vaccine available through more and varied sites to address the different needs of people across our community.


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"For her contributions to arms control and international security, through experiments to demonstrate verifiability of arms control treaties and through her leadership of two international institutes, VERTIC and UNIDIR."
Background:Patricia Lewis is the Deputy Director and Scientist-in-Residence of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prior to this appointment, she was the Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). From 1989 to 1997, she was the Director of the Verification Technology and Information Centre (VERTIC) in London. She holds her BSc(Hons) in physics from the University of Manchester (1978) and her PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Birmingham (1981). Before her work at UNIDIR in Geneva, she has worked in India, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. She is a dual national of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Dr. Lewis was a Commissioner on the 2004-2006 Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, chaired by Dr. Hans Blix. In 199899, she served as a Member of the Tokyo Forum for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Disarmament, having previously served as an external reviewer for the Canberra Commission. Currently Dr Lewis is an Advisor to the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND). She was appointed UK Governmental Expert to the 1990 UN Study on the Role of the UN in Verification and appointed consultant on conventional forces verification to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1989-90. She was the Elizabeth Poppleton Fellow at the Australian National University in 1992 and a visiting lecturer at Imperial College London 1991-92. She is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Women in International Security and is a fellow of the British-American Project. Dr. Lewis sits on the Advisory Boards of the Bonn International Conversion Center (BICC) and PIR (Center for Policy Studies), Moscow.
V. Thomas, A. Diyakov, P. Goldschmidt, P. Podvig, C. Herzenberg


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Weeks before the Oscars, Sony Pictures, the studio behind "Zero Dark Thirty," put out this statement: "We are outraged that any responsible member of the Academy would use their voting status in (the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) as a platform to advance their own political agenda. The film should be judged free of partisanship. To punish an artist's right of expression is abhorrent. This community, more than any other, should know how reprehensible that is."
To what was Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal referring?
"Zero Dark Thirty," directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, was the target of a vicious, unfair campaign against the film led by members of the supposedly open-minded, tolerant Hollywood left.
The story of the search for Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks, is an obvious subject for a major motion picture. To that end, the Obama administration gave Bigelow and Boal what some called "unprecedented" access to the State Department to help make the film as realistic as possible.
One big problem. The film destroyed its chance of winning the Oscar for best picture with one of its first scenes. A captive was waterboarded. Contrary to the assertions of "anti-torture" critics like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others, the film implies that waterboarding actually "worked" — meaning its use extracted actionable intelligence.
In a rare statement about a movie, the CIA issued a press release. The film, wrote acting CIA Director Mike Morell, "takes significant artistic license, while portraying itself as being historically accurate … . 'Zero Dark Thirty' is a dramatization, not a realistic portrayal of the facts. … Whether enhanced interrogation techniques were the only timely and effective way to obtain information from those detainees, as the film suggests, is a matter of debate that cannot and never will be definitively resolved." Sens. McCain, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., sent a letter to the studio demanding clarification.
So let the Borking begin.
In condemning "Zero Dark Thirty's" "easy tolerance of torture," actor David Clennon said: "I'm a member of Hollywood's Motion Picture Academy. At the risk of being expelled for disclosing my intentions, I will not be voting for 'Zero Dark Thirty' — in: any: Academy Awards category."
Actor Ed Asner also publicly encouraged fellow members of the voting Academy to vote against the film. "'I would like to condemn the movie," Asner told The New York Times, because the film made it seem that "torture" might have been useful in hunting down Osama bin Laden.
The Times wrote: "Mr. Asner said he and fellow actor Martin Sheen planned to join in a letter, drafted by yet another actor, David Clennon, asking fellow members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to factor in matters of conscience when casting awards votes. 'We hope that 'Zero' will not be honored by Academy (or Guild) members,' said a draft of the letter."
Never mind admissions by members of the Obama administration, including former CIA Director Leon Panetta, that waterboarding "worked." Panetta told NBC's Brian Williams: "Some of the detainees clearly were, you know — they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against some of these detainees. But I'm also saying that, you know, the debate about whether — whether we would have gotten the same information through other approaches I think is always gonna be an open question."
In their defense, director Bigelow and screenwriter Boal say that the film accurately depicts the role that waterboarding played, along with other sources and means, in leading to the killing of bin Laden. The film takes no moral position on the question of waterboarding. To the left, that's not good enough.
It's hard to overstate how offensive the "waterboarding equals torture" crowd finds the assertion that it can ever be of value or that it can ever be justified. "Waterboarding is torture," said President Barack Obama. "It's contrary to America's traditions. It's contrary to our ideals. That's not who we are. That's not how we operate. We don't need it in order to prosecute the war on terrorism."
Sen. McCain, subjected to torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, not only calls waterboarding a "mock execution," but insists it "often produces bad intelligence." "You give me a waterboard, Dick Cheney and one hour," said former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, "and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders."
Again, "Zero Dark Thirty" does not "endorse" waterboarding. Even if it did, whatever happened to artistic license? Remember the tense final scene in "Argo" when Iranian airport security questions the Americans posing as Canadian filmmakers? Never happened. Completely bogus. The Americans actually went through without incident, never having to convince anyone that they were members of a Canadian film crew.
Sens. McCain, Feinstein and Levin sent no letter to the studio demanding clarification. No one from the CIA put out a statement, "'Argo' takes significant artistic license, while portraying itself as being historically accurate."
One more thing. If anyone in the acting community called this attack on the film's artistic integrity a form of "McCarthyism," he or she received little publicity.
Larry Elder is a best-selling author and radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an "Elderado," visit: www.LarryElder.com.


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According to AppRiver's new report, "State of Security 2008, and the Threat and Spamscape Forecast for 2009," spammers are increasingly exploiting current events -- such as the recent U.S. presidential election and volatility in the oil market -- or cooking up malware attacks purporting to originate from known (and ostensibly legitimate) organizations such as McDonald's or MSNBC.com.
Phishing attacks are on the rise, according to AppRiver, which says that attackers made phishing "one of the most frequently used attack methods" last year. Other attack types include phony subpoenas from governmental bodies -- especially the U.S. Tax Court or the IRS -- that are tied to keylogging schemes.
Spammers are also targeting the Web 2.0 world, in some cases posing as Google "AdWord" accounts to illegally obtain sensitive information.
This doesn't mean that classic attacks have fallen by the wayside, however. Spammers are still exploiting classic schemes (e.g., illegitimate e-mails purporting to originate from well-known entities such as banks) to harvest information. According to AppRiver senior security analyst Fred Touchette, the prevalence of Web-based malware will surge in 2009, with a rise in malware targeting virtualization solutions -- such as the Windows Virtual PC and VMware -- in a variety of different guises.
AppRiver and Touchette also anticipate a spike in mobile malware, thanks largely to the established popularity of the iPhone and the rising popularity of Google's new Android's open source mobile platform.
Finally, no spam and malware landscape survey would be complete without also taking into account an uptick in attacks linked to economic unrest. AppRiver anticipates that attacks on job search and social networking sites -- e.g., LinkedIn and Monster.com -- will increase significantly in 2009.
About the Author
Stephen Swoyer is a Nashville, TN-based freelance journalist who writes about technology.
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I have a system where manager can toggle between viewing their direct reports and all the employees who ultimately report to them. High level HR users have a third option of being able to view everyone regardless of reporting lines.
I want the labels on these options to be both succinct but also readily understood, and so far have options like:
- "Everyone", "My Team" and "My Hierarchy"
- "All", "All Reports" and "Direct Reports"
- "Subordinates", "Immediate Subordinates" and "Everyone"
All of these terms seem a little confusing to me. "Reports" seems likely to be confused with our reporting functionality. "Subordinates" seems clearer, but also vaguely pejorative these days. The first option is my favourite, but while words like "hierarchy" seem obvious to me I think they may be too obscure for most.
Is there a nice commonly understood word or term that I could use here? I'm not looking for a single word that's synonymous with team or hierarchy, I'm looking for the words or phrase that most clearly makes the distinction between the immediate team and the hierarchy.
For instance, I want a director to be able to tell at a glance whether they're looking at their middle managers or their entire division. I want those middle managers to see whether they're looking at their line managers or their department, and so on.


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Over recent years video and digital animation have become another design tool for landscape architects and education and professional institutions.
For landscape architects digital animation and 3D rendering has become cheaper and cheaper to produce with tools such as Sketchup, 3Dmax, rhino, and maya allowing design firms to give clients another perspective and sense of place. Some of the amazing videos that are now produced are using a mixture of pure animation, still renders and imagery are stunning to watch. With the recent advances with VRL and 3D its a matter of time that the only limit will be the imagination of designers.
Recently education and professional institutions have started promoting their events and courses with the advent of cheap digital video cameras and the ability to publish cheaply with sites such as Youtube, Vimeo, Viddler, Metacafe, Youku. Recently professional institutions such as ASLA, AILA, Landscape Institute have used Youtube and self published video to increase the profile of landscape architects.
Below are some examples of how video is being used in landscape architecture. I would love to hear and see how you and your organisation are using video in landscape architecture. Drop me an email at [email protected].
[SOURCE: Vimeo – TAICHUNG GATEWAY PROJECT by Stan Allen Architect from darina zlateva + takuma ono]
[SOURCE: Youtube – Australian Institute of Landscape Architects]
[SOURCE: Youtube – Landscape Institute]
[SOURCE: Youtube – American Society of Landscape Architects]


text: You can type in a search term in the box below to search contents on the 12Step.org website. A Google popup window will show you the results of this search for the 12Step.org website content. Clicking on the 12Step.org logo in the upper left corner of the search window will bring you back to the 12Step.org website.


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Ben Esra telefonda seni boşaltmamı ister misin?
Telefon Numaram: 00237 8000 92 32
I had been watching her for weeks. I knew her daily routine to the minute. I also knew she was single. I also knew today was the day that she went out with her friends and always dressed up. I waited for her to leave and used a key to get into the house. I knew he had at least 2 hours before she came home. I looked around the house and went into her bedroom. I looked through her drawers and looked at all her lingerie. I found only thongs in her underwear drawer and only garter belts and stockings in a different one. This surprised me. I expected her to be a pantyhose girl only. I checked my bag of supplies and then went back to the kitchen and got myself something to drink that sat down to wait for her.
Jaime is 48 years old with light brown hair and blue eye. She stood about 5 feet 6 inches tall. Today, Jaime had decided to wear her red leather skirt and a white top. Under this, she wore a white bra matching off white garter belt and thong, tan stockings and tan sandals with straps that tied around the ankles. Jaime and her friends were going to nice restaurant for lunch. She had no idea her day was going to end the way it was going too.
Jaime stopped at the store on her way home to pick up a few things. She drove her car into the garage of her home and got out. She picked up her purse and bag of groceries, closed the car door and pushed the button to close the garage door. She put her key into the door of the house, turned and walked in.
When I heard the garage door opening, I got my supplies ready. I watched as she walked into the kitchen and put the bag and her purse down on the table. Just as she was about to turn around, I grabbed her. My hand clamped over her mouth and I placed a knife against her throat. "Don't say a word and do what I tell you to sweetheart and I won't have to cut you. Understand?" I said to her.
Janice nodded her head and I slowly took my hand away from her mouth. "Now lay face down on the floor and put your hands behind your back" Janice did what she was told. I started to tie her hands tightly together. "Please," she begged. "Don't hurt me. I have money. You can take it and I won't say a word to anyone about this." I am not interested in your money. I picked her up from the floor and pulled her towards her bedroom. "Let's go." I said.
We entered the bedroom and I pushed her down on the bed. I looked down at her. When I had thrown her down çapa escort on the bed, her skirt had ridden up and exposed the tops of her stockings. Jaime saw where I was looking and tried to pull her skirt down.
"Well sweetheart. I guess now, I'll take what I really came here for." Jaime started to beg for me not to do it as she watched me take off my clothes. I made her sit up on the bed and stood in front of her. She could see my huge 10 inch hard cock in front of her. "Now start sucking it and you better not use any teeth. If you do, you'll be sorry." "No! Please! Don't make me do this. I'm a single woman. I have never done anything like that." In way of an answer, I grabbed the back of her head and started to press the bulbous head of my cock against her lips. She tried to turn her head, but I held it still. I forced my cock deep into her mouth till it hit the back of her throat. She gagged for a minute. She knew she had no choice now but to do what this I wanted.
She started to suck me and slid my cock in and out of her mouth. As she did this, she let her tongue slide along the bottom of the shaft. She hoped that if she gave me a good blowjob I would leave her alone then. I started to moan and she could feel me tense up. She hoped that when I came, she could hold it in her mouth till I left then spit it out. That thought was ended when I said to her, "I'm going to cum. You better swallow every drop." My cum shot out in a huge load that quickly started to fill her mouth. She swallowed as quickly as she could so she wouldn't choke on it. She kept swallowing till every last drop was milked from me.
"Now please just leave and I won't say a word to any one about this." Jaime begged. "Leave? The fun is just starting." I answered. Jaime was about to scream when I took out a scarf and stuffed it into her mouth then used another to hold it in place. I pushed her back down onto the bed and rolled her over. "I'm going to untie your hands. Don't try anything funny or I'll have to hurt you." I untied her hands and rolled her over. She tried to sit up but I pushed her back down. I again grabbed her wrists and tied them together. I got onto the bed and dragged her back till I could tie her hands to the headboard. Then I tied her ankles spread apart to the footboard.
Jaime knew what was coming next and again began to cry and beg me through her gag not to do this. escort şişli I pulled her skirt up around her waist and used my knife to cut open her top. Then I slipped the knife under her bra and between her breasts and cut it apart. Her panties went the same way. I stood there looking down at her gorgeous body that was all mine for the taking. I could feel mycock getting hard again. I striped my cloths off and laid down beside her. I placed my hand on the side of Jaime's face and turned it gently towards him. Leaning to her, I began softly kissing her lips. Jaime was looking at me, with fear in her eyes as I continued kissing and touching her with a gentleness she had never experienced before.
" It's alright." I whispered in her ear. " It's alright. No ones going to hurt you." I slowly shifted my body on top of Jaime, kissing her gently as I did so. The gentleness registered with Jaime. She wasn't being hurt. She reacted as much to the absence of pain as she did to the gentleness. I slowly shifted my body on top of Jaime, kissing her gently as I did so.
Slowly, I changed position. Kneeling between her legs, I slowly rubbed both hands up and down Jaime's long slender legs, enjoying the feel of the nylons she wore. I had always been a leg man, and Jaime had long beautiful legs. I rubbed my hands up and down over her thighs then I started rubbing up and down her inner thighs. Then up to her stomach and over the satin of her garter belt, up to her breasts. Gently, softly I fondled her breasts, looking into her eyes as I did so. A whimper escaped, then a small moan escaped Jaime's throat.
Leaning over, I began kissing Jaime's thighs. Gently using my tongue, I licked and kissed her all over her thighs, working slowly up towards her stomach again. Continuing the gentle licking, kissing and nibbling, I laid between Jaime's legs, my chest resting lightly on her pelvic area while I licked, kissed and nibbled Jaime's stomach. My hands gently kneaded her breasts as I continued flicking kisses softly over her stomach.
I moved father up, gently kissing and nibbling Jaime's breasts as my hands softly rubbed her sides and face.Jaime closed her eyes and sighed. Jaime was relaxing and embracing this gentleness."Uuuoooohhhhhh." Jaime moaned as I gently pushed my bulbous cock head into her wet pussy. Jaime looked into my eyes as I began pushing my hard 14 nişantaşı escort inch cock all the way in to her. Jaime relaxed more realizing that I was trying to avoid causing her any pain. Jaime closed her eyes and returned my kiss.
I had my left arm under Jaime's shoulders, holding her close as my right hand softly stroked her hair. My lips touched hers in a long, soft kiss. Slowly, Jaime's arms moved up and around my back, pulling me closer as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around my hips. I continued kissing Jaime and softly massaging her body with my free hand. Jaime returned my kisses as she rubbed the back of my neck. Her hips began moving in time with my hard deep thrusts inside of her. "Ooooohhhh." Jaime moaned as she nuzzled into my shoulder. "Oooohhhh." These were not the moans of fear or of pain. They were moans of one body responding to another. Moans of acceptance.
" Ohhh. Ohhh. Uuhhh. Uuhhh. Uuhhh. Ohhh." Jaime continued responding to my gentleness. " Ohhh. Ohhh. Uuhhh. Uuhhh. Uuhhh. Ooohhhhhhh." Jaime was moving in time with me, her pace increasing as I did, her pelvic area grinding against me. Jaime felt the stirrings deep inside her. Slowly, she was becoming aroused. I was kissing and fondling Jaime, moving in cadence with her as I felt my own excitement grow. I drove into her with a quickening pace and she responded, moving with me, driving her hips forward to meet my thrusts.
" Ohhh. Ohhh. Uuhhh. Uuhhh. Ohhh! OHHH! UUHHH! UUHHH! MMMMMMM!" Jaime clamped her mouth onto mine, darting her tongue in and out of my mouth as I did the same. Their tongues intertwined as the pace of their thrusting increased. " OHHH! OHHH! UUHHH! UUHHH!" Jaime moaned as she pulled me tighter against her. She felt the feeling of arousal growing inside her, felt her body responding more and more to my attentions.
" OHHH! OHHH!! UUHHH! OHHH! UH-UH-UH-UUUHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Jaime groaned as her body was wracked by a tremendous orgasm. Her entire body trembled, pushing me over the edge as well.
" Oh God!!" I moaned as I began shooting my load into Jaime. Jaime was still in the throes of her own orgasm as she felt the heat of my sperm filling her insides. The throbbing of my cock inside her caused her to groan as her orgasm began abating. " Mmmmmm." Jaime sighed, holding me close, her legs still wrapped around my hips, as the trembling of her body slowly ceased. I collapsed on her with a sigh of contentment.
Finally I pulled my softening cock out of her. She could feel my cum trickling out of her. I got up untying Jaime, putting my clothes on, I said to her, "It's been fun honey, will return soon."
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Founded: August 2009. Closed: April 2012.
Tag and filter your peeps to organize them; add notes and full contact details; export custom lists to Twitter and vCard; receive a weekly report of your Twitter activity...everything you need to stay organized!
PeepNote was the vision of Brian Burridge, who assembled a team of top professionals in their fields to complete the project for the 2009 Rails Rumble, but with the intention that PeepNote would continue on past the competition. PeepNote continued for almost three years before the decision was made to close it down in April, 2012 to focus on other endeavors.
In 2010, we gave one lucky winner an Easter basket packed full 'o goodies worth over $129! Congratulations, Lee Sullivan!! We hope you enjoyed your basket as much as we enjoyed having you as a valued user!
"I both like the feel and the concept. Very user friendly and very modern feel. Great work! I hope this can be a featured site on cnet or Leo Laporte. Being organized is a good thing, so why not organized in the social world too." ~ @mikebrisk
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Brian is the founder and lead developer for his company Agile Nomads, specializing in Ruby on Rails development and Heroku hosting. See his work and get in touch at the website.


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Trump Light Disinfectant
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Sean was the New York Post Page Six cartoonist for almost 23 years and an award-winning painter and illustrator whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, television and Broadway. He is a graduate of the New York Academy of Figurative Art. He co-wrote and illustrated SCUTTLE'S BIG WISH with his son, Ryan. He currently works freelance and his cartoons can be seen in Newsmax as well syndication through Daryl Cagle's Cartoons.
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Dispatchers Honored for Role in Newtown Response
Michael Melia
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — From the first call from inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, the severity of the attack was immediately clear to dispatcher Robert Nute.
The person on the other end of the line was a woman Nute has known for 30 years, but it hardly sounded like her.
"There was no question in my mind," Nute said. "The woman I was speaking with, I could tell the difference in her voice."
As shots rang out from the gunman's semi-automatic rifle, the dispatchers sent police racing to the school and worked to keep panicked callers on the line. Within a few minutes, the rampage was over, with 20 children and six women killed before the gunman committed suicide as police arrived at the schoolhouse.
The staff at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center has won praise from officials and colleagues around the country for their work that day. Six months after the Dec. 14 massacre, the center director said the staff has been lifted by the outpouring of support as the dispatchers recover emotionally, along with the community that still peppers them with calls over anything out of the ordinary.
After losing contact with the woman who first called, Nute feared she had been killed, but he learned she survived.
"It was six minutes, maybe eight, and that part of it was over," he said. "My partner and I did exactly what we were supposed to do under those circumstances. Only then do you allow that personal impact to take over."
Nute, who attended Sandy Hook Elementary as child and is a volunteer Sandy Hook firefighter, said the hardest work that morning began in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, as parents sought information and groups called offering assistance and donations. The center director, Maureen Will, said it received as many as 300 calls an hour and the phones were broken within three days from the constant jamming of the buttons.
The center has staff of 10 people, including Will, who said they had received active-shooter training only the month before the tragedy and put it to work by keeping their composure during the ordeal. It has been recognized with honors including the Outstanding 911 Call Center Award, presented in March in Washington. And communications offices across the country shipped flowers and cards to the center.
"It was the worst day of our lives, but professionally, it was the best day because we did what had to be done," she said.
The 911 recordings from Newtown have not been released to the public. The prosecutor leading the investigation into the massacre, Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III, has argued that releasing the calls could jeopardize the ongoing probe. The Associated Press is asking the state Freedom of Information commission for the recordings to be released.
With personal connections to both police and victims, dispatchers in small communities like Newtown are vulnerable to the same kind of emotional trauma experienced by those on the scene of a tragedy, said Fran Roberts, a clinical psychologist in Marlton, N.J. who offers stress management services to first responders.
"One of the things that makes trauma worse is the sense of helplessness," she said. "Because of the nature of the dispatching job, they are being held back except for passing information along."
Will said there have been some emotional struggles, and anybody who needed time off has been given time off.
While the calls have slowed since the tragedy, Will said people do not hesitate to alert police to strange sights or sounds. She said dispatchers, like many others in Newtown, dealt with feelings of deja vu last month when the school system was locked down because of a threatening phone call to another elementary school. The FBI is investigating the call.
In a town where he more typically deals with calls regarding falls at nursing homes, Nute said his biggest takeaway from the tragedy is the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.
"Don't ever say it can't happen," he said. "We all get complacent and comfortable in our lives. The minute you let your guard down and say it can't happen, it could very well happen."


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Diophantine equation
Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Diophantine equation, equation involving only sums, products, and powers in which all the constants are integers and the only solutions of interest are integers. For example, 3x + 7y = 1 or x2 − y2 = z3, where x, y, and z are integers. Named in honour of the 3rd-century Greek mathematician Diophantus of Alexandria, these equations were first systematically solved by Hindu mathematicians beginning with Aryabhata (c. 476–550).
Diophantine equations fall into three classes: those with no solutions, those with only finitely many solutions, and those with infinitely many solutions. For example, the equation 6x − 9y = 29 has no solutions, but the equation 6x − 9y = 30, which upon division by 3 reduces to 2x − 3y = 10, has infinitely many. For example, x = 20, y = 10 is a solution, and so is x = 20 + 3t, y = 10 + 2t for every integer t, positive, negative, or zero. This is called a one-parameter family of solutions, with t being the arbitrary parameter.
Congruence methods provide a useful tool in determining the number of solutions to a Diophantine equation. Applied to the simplest Diophantine equation, ax + by = c, where a, b, and c are nonzero integers, these methods show that the equation has either no solutions or infinitely many, according to whether the greatest common divisor (GCD) of a and b divides c: if not, there are no solutions; if it does, there are infinitely many solutions, and they form a one-parameter family of solutions.


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Breaking trail
I think I found it.
Snowshoeing. Now stay with me here. You take a layer of bottomless fluff and spread it over a slope that varies from 30 to 60 degrees. Then you try to climb it, for two and a half hours. The result has all of the upper-body thrusting of swimming, the lactic-acid-generating leg work of speed-interval cycling, and the raw power of running. My heart still hurts.
I tried for the top of Mount Jumbo today, stupidly thinking that if I gave myself an extra hour than what it usually takes me during the summer months, maybe I'd make it to the top. I didn't even come close. Trekking poles may have helped, but not much. I worked close to my maximum capacity for much of those two and a half hours, weaving up the steep slopes and swimming straight up hill when the trees closed in, stopping frequently to catch breaths, then hitting the max again. I made it about two-thirds of the way up to mountain, to about 2,500 feet, before I absolutely had to turn around to make my work meeting. It ended up taking me about 55 minutes to descend what had taken me two and a half hours to climb (and would have been less had it not been for the icy exposed roots below 800 feet.) My summer split between climbing and descending this mountain is almost exactly 50-50, and the hike rarely takes me more than three hours total.
Weather permitting, I am strongly considering going back to this same mountain tomorrow to take advantage of that nice trail I broke, and aim for the top.
13 comments:
Looks like you are having a great time in the hills. I just read the book "Snowstruck" by Jill Fredston and found it to be very interesting and insightful, I highly recommend it if you have not already read it. Sounds like there are some big slide paths that threaten parts of town. The book made me think of your solo travels and what you do to negate this danger as the snowpack continues to increase. Not judging, just curious.
ReplyDelete- AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 2:22 PM
Looks like plenty of snow over on Mc Donough Peak - its a fun ridge hike over there in the summer if you can avoid all the landmines left by all the deer(?) on the way over.
I know you like your Jumbo trail, but there is another way up Jumbo in the winter - follow the trail from Gastineau meadows and you should see skin tracks continuing to head up once you cross the ditch trail. It's got some unique views along the way. The trail connects a few meadows down low, then climbs several knolls until you reach the jumbo shoulder.
Not talking down on snowshoes, but skins with skis or a splitboard can open up a lot of possibilities - they are quicker on the way up and quicker on the way down so you can actually get to work on time.
K Jeff ... I have read that book. I've been reading up on avalanche signs. Mostly I stay away altogether when avalanche danger is high, such as after that big rain/windstorm. I also avoid big slide paths. Of course snow can go out any time, anywhere. I think of it as similar to riding a bicycle on a road. You can do everything in your power to avoid getting hit by a truck, but it can still happen.
K ... Thanks for the tips. I followed the only tracks I could see, which didn't quite follow the summer trail but close. They stopped just as the snow was getting deep and I kept going a little ways beyond. Is that winter trail close to the snowmobile route? The one that goes up to the bowl below Jumbo? Just curious. I'm having a hard time picturing it. Lots of exploration possibilities for sure. I like to stick to familiar stuff when I am alone.
I love the idea of skis and skins, but I have to learn to ski first. One step at a time. Snowshoes are great for beginners like myself. I do plan to start dragging the snowboard up to the Douglas Ski Bowl soon enough.- AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Eggcellent pics love'm!!!
We use to snow shoe in the winter and dig out the trail system...
Gotta have the correct weather though to ride.
So so sweet it is when the correct weather kicks in - rain in winter and the followed by freeze.
Go out the night before and shovel out 15km worth of trail or so...
Wait until it freezes up ...
then ride!
Fast fast riding... like a luge!!!
Love it!
jac. - AnonymousNovember 19, 2009 at 5:43 AM
Been thinking of your post since yesterday, a flatlander at work has to have something to think about. So 2500 vertical feet is 250 stories in knee to hip deep snow must have pushed your heart rate into the 100% zone. ever use a heart monitor? VO2 max has to be up there. Cool pics as always, stay safe.


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Almost two years ago, a tiny immigrant pest arrived in Georgia, and there's nothing the state's immigration office can do to make it leave. The bean plataspid, or kudzu bug, munches on kudzu and soybeans and has now set up residence in four Southern states.
Homeowners consider the bug a nuisance. Soybean producers shudder at the damage it causes. And many are hoping it will prove to be a kudzu killer.
Spreading problem
The kudzu bug was first spotted in Georgia in the fall of 2009 when insect samples were sent to the University of Georgia Homeowner Insect and Weed Diagnostic Laboratory in Griffin, Ga. The first samples came from UGA Cooperative Extension agents in Barrow, Gwinnett and Jackson counties.
"The bug can now be found in 143 Georgia counties, all South Carolina counties, 42 North Carolina counties and 5 Alabama counties," said Wayne Gardner, an entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Last fall, Gardner had to search repeatedly to find the pest in kudzu patches in north Georgia. "Those areas are loaded with bugs this year," he said.
By studying the pest for the past year, Gardner has determined wisteria, green beans and other legumes are the bug's true hosts in the landscapes and home gardens. A plant becomes a true host of the insect when different life stages of the insect are found on the plant, he said.
Multiplying pest
Like Asian lady beetles, kudzu bugs seek shelter indoors. They are attracted to light colors, especially white cars and light colored house siding.
Removing kudzu is one way to help control the pest around homes, but that's not an easy task, especially if the kudzu is growing on your neighbor's land.
"The bugs re-invade so quickly from nearby kudzu that a pest control operator may have to treat every other day, losing money in the process. A single call that they were paid for might turn into a half-dozen visits, five of which they'd not be paid for," said CAES entomologist Dan Suiter. "I suspect that the pest control industry will be steering somewhat clear of kudzu bug control unless some smart pest control operator begins to market kudzu removal as part of his business."
Having a few hundred uninvited houseguests is bothersome, but the bugs are not harmful, and they don't feed on indoor plants.
Munching on kudzu
No one seems to mind if the bugs take out a 1,000 or so acres of kudzu. But are they?
"We found the bug caused a 32 percent reduction in kudzu growth last year in the plots we monitored," said Jim Hanula, an entomologist with the USDA Forest Service. He monitored the bug on kudzu plots in Athens, Ga., for the past year.
This may sound like reason to celebrate, but kudzu roots can grow as deep as 12 feet and weigh up to 300 pounds, Hanula said.
"We're hopeful that feeding by the bug year after year will deplete those roots and weaken the plants," he said. If the bug's effect is cumulative, kudzu plants will likely weaken, and patches won't be as thick.
"Hopefully, the bug will reduce kudzu's ability to climb, which would be good for forestry," he said.
Harming soybeans
The bean plataspid also feeds on soybeans, a crop grown in Georgia for the oilseed and animal feed markets.
UGA entomologist Phillip Roberts classifies the kudzu bug as an economic pest of soybeans. When left untreated in soybean fields, the bugs reduced the crop yield by 19 percent in 2010.
"We had a range of yield loss from 11 to 23 percent," he said. "This means if a farmer grew 40 bushels of soybeans and lost 20 percent, that's 8 bushels. With a value of $12 a bushel, that's a $96 loss, so it makes sense to apply a treatment to control the pest."
The bugs don't eat soybeans. Instead, "they have a sucking mouthpart, and they use it to feed on the main stem," Roberts said. "This adds additional stress to the plants."
CAES entomologist David Buntin has found that plants the bugs were eating had fewer pods and fewer seeds in the pods.
"If they fed on the pod, the bean itself, I don't know that we could grow soybeans in Georgia," Roberts said. "The main point is it's a yield-limiting pest, and it's just incredible how it has moved so quickly across the Southeast."


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Statement: Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
The National Portrait Gallery exhibition, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture," has generated its share of controversy. Some have called for the removal of the entire exhibition because they object to its content, while others have objected to the decision to remove a video from the exhibition by the artist David Wojnarowicz. Throughout it all, the exhibition has continued to serve its purpose. Large audiences have attended and learned about the contributions of gay and lesbian artists to American portraiture and many more will continue to do so.
I enthusiastically supported the Portrait Gallery's plans to host the first major museum exhibition that focused on sexual difference in the making of modern portraiture in America because the exhibition opened a window on the art of the period and illuminated the history of our changing societal norms. The exhibition helps all of us understand American portraiture through the eyes of those artists who were forced to speak to us through code and symbol and who paid a price for doing so. Included are portraits by artists John Singer Sargent, Grant Wood, Andy Warhol, Thomas Eakins and Annie Leibovitz, as well as two other works by Wojnarowicz.
We believed from the beginning, and continue to believe, that our role was to use the power of the Smithsonian's national visibility to reach the largest possible audience. However, the often sharp discourse of the past month illustrates how the Smithsonian's mission, if thoughtfully executed, can also place it at the intersection of national debates about cultural transitions. This is not a complaint but an acknowledgment that our role as a publicly supported institution is complex.
More than 15 years ago, a document entitled: E Pluribus Unum: This Divine Paradox, Report of the Commission on the Future of the Smithsonian, summarized these challenges in the following terms:
"Museums in general, and the Smithsonian in particular, are increasingly flash points in the debates that characterize our nation's transition from a society that depends for coherence on a single accepted set of values and practices to one that derives its strength and unity from a deep tolerance of diversity. This happens because museums … must prepare exhibitions that record and illuminate this transition. This sometimes results in acrimonious and contentious debate… [The Smithsonian's] position is especially challenging because it is a national institution with large and complex collections and missions."
These words still hold true. For 164 years, the Smithsonian has provided visitors from across the nation and around the world with an opportunity to learn about the American experience. We sit on the National Mall, the nation's front porch, and we benefit from the support of its 300 million citizens. Together they represent all facets of the American story, each part of which deserves to be told in a way that exposes people to our history, as well as presents new ways of looking at the world.
In early December, after consultation with the Portrait Gallery director and curator and the Under Secretary of History, Art, and Culture, I made the decision to take a video work out of "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." I did this because it is my responsibility as Secretary to take actions that are needed to sustain the long-term strength of an institution I care deeply about and to allow it to continue to serve its important educational mission. I also still believe this decision was the best option for ensuring the exhibition remained open through the completion of its scheduled run.
During the past few weeks, I have heard from and reached out to many thoughtful people regarding this decision. I respect and appreciate the opinions and advice they have shared with me, particularly with respect to how the Smithsonian communicates and consults on important issues. I am committed to improving these processes so that this Institution can meet the challenges of its public mission, including our role in educating about complex topics that involve social transitions or incorporate, in art or objects, cultural or religious symbols.
These are not subjects of easy consensus, but if anything is to be learned from the events of the past month, we must continue to encourage discussion. In the near future, we will hold a forum with key constituencies and the public to continue the dialogue these topics deserve. Our focus continues to be deepening knowledge of art, science, history and culture, and sustaining public trust in the Smithsonian as a place to learn and be inspired.
Linda St. Thomas


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In 1993, government researchers concluded that a group of 12 states in the midsection of the country have enough wind energy resources to generate nearly four times the amount of electricity consumed nationwide in 1990. Subsequent technology improvements over the past decade opened more than 1 million square kilometers or 14 percent of the land area in the contiguous United States for potential wind generation. To provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity, only about 0.6 percent of the land in the lower 48 states would have to be developed with wind turbines. Furthermore, the researchers estimated less than 5 percent of this mostly rural land would be occupied by wind turbines, electrical equipment and access roads, leaving most of the land available for agriculture.
The current costs of generating electricity with wind power are competitive with the costs of electricity derived from fossil fuels, and risk is mitigated because buyers can lock in prices for 10 to 25 years. New design developments funded by the National Wind Technology Center in Boulder, Colo., promises to lower costs further by up to one-third. Because of its competitiveness, and the increasing costs and air pollution from fossil fuels, it now is essential to include wind power in the nation's energy mix. So, why isn't the landscape brimming with wind generators? To research this topic, I downloaded more than 60 news items over several months. Here is the scoop.
Power in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed. Therefore, locations with higher average wind speeds have much higher energy resources and lower overall cost. For example, North Dakota alone has enough energy from good wind areas to supply 36 percent of the 1990 electricity consumption in the lower 48 states, according to the Department of Energy. Some states are more pro-wind than others, and cost-effective access to transmission lines also affects development costs. Minnesota added the most new wind power (226 megawatts) of any state in 2003, moving into third place in total capacity behind California and Texas. Three states exceeded 200 MW of new installations in 2003: California, with 212 MW; New Mexico, with 205 MW; and Texas, with 204 MW. Leading states in cumulative capacity at year's end were California (2,043 MW), Texas (1,293 MW), Minnesota (563 MW), Iowa (472 MW), and Wyoming (285 MW). A total of 29 states enjoy some level of incumbent wind generation, which is most often developed by unregulated merchant generators for sale to utility companies.
FPL Energy LLC, a unit of Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group Inc., has invested more than $2.7 billion over the last three years to buy and develop wind-energy projects, making it the country's biggest wind generator. With 42 wind farms across the nation and about 6,500 turbines, FPL Energy has 2,719 megawatts of wind capacity or 25 percent of its overall generating capacity. It controls 43 percent of the country's total 6,300 MW capacity. FPL Energy has wind farms in 15 states, including California, Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota.
Cielo Wind Power currently is the largest wind developer in the Southwest, with developments equaling more than 600 MW of wind generated (www.cielowind.com). Minnesota's Mortenson Construction (www.mortenson.com) was the design/build contractor for more than 625 megawatts of the total added in the United States in 2003. As the use of wind generation expands, these companies may provide growth in profitable projects for electrical contractors.
Public Policy Issues
The wind industry needs to maintain an annual growth rate of about 18 percent to achieve a realistic goal of providing 6 percent of the nation's electricity by the year 2020, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The past year has shown that rate to be achievable, but it requires more consistent policy support from federal and state governments and increased public education. Here is what you need to know to help make it happen.
Critics oppose wind generation for its effects on fowl mortality (three birds per turbine annually), sound pollution, site infrastructure and appearance, but communities where wind farms are welcome enjoy the additional income and jobs. Increased county revenues can go to schools, hospitals and other services. Farmers and ranchers can continue to work the land up to the base of the turbines while earning $2,000 to $4,000 per year per turbine installed on their property. Many wind farms contain more than 50 turbines. Large-scale development of wind power in the United States would stimulate prosperity among many impoverished rural communities in the heartland.
Although wind turbine electricity cannot be "dispatched" on demand because output varies with wind speed, modern wind turbines are very reliable. Wind farms are likely to generate power more than 98 percent of the time. Seasonal and daily wind patterns at site locations can be forecasted accurately, making it possible for system operators to factor in wind generation with the overall base load mix. In California, for example, wind-farm operators participate in a program that provides wind power forecasts to the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO), the organization that manages power flows on the state's grid. It then schedules the power from wind farms into the grid about an hour before dispatch.
Unfortunately, AWEA is forecasting little to no growth in installed wind-generating capacity in 2004, compared with a near-record 1,687 megawatts-enough to serve nearly 500,000 homes-of new capacity installed in 2003. The reason for the drastic slow-down? The federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) authorized in 1992 expired Dec. 31, 2003, and Congress has not passed an extension. On May 11, 2004, the Senate passed legislation containing a three-year extension of the credit. However, that legislation must still be approved by the House of Representatives and a Senate-House conference committee before it becomes law. That delay, and other issues, prompted AWEA to publish the following calls to action.
AWEA Calls to Action
Here are several government initiatives and policies needed now to stimulate further growth of wind power.
National renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS)-
The RPS, which requires that a minimum 20 percent of electricity be generated from renewable sources, is a market-friendly tool that has successfully stimulated least-cost renewable energy development in Texas, California, New York and several other states. A national standard adopted by the states would provide a much-needed long-term market signal and stimulate large-scale deployment of renewable wind energy at competitive costs over time.
Nondiscriminatory interconnection and transmission policies-
Federal nondiscriminatory policies are needed to remove costly transmission barriers to wind-power development. Currently, more than 200 different "tariffs" throughout the country govern the costs and conditions for access to and use of the common electricity grid. Many transmission line owners charge heavy discriminatory penalties against new technologies like wind. For example, on the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) system, an area encompassing some of the United States' windiest lands but also an area that operates under outdated rules, the cost of bringing wind power to market is a prohibitive $20 per megawatt-hour (MWh), 10 times more than in California where rules are more fair.
A large-scale "wind pipeline" to bring wind power to market-
AWEA proposes a three-phase plan to maximize wind power transmission in the windy, lightly populated heartland and deliver it to urban centers:
o Transmission control reforms to use existing power line capacity more efficiently
o Upgrades and additions to some local transmission lines to remove regional bottlenecks
o Construction of two major high-voltage lines from the Great Plains to growing demand centers in the East (toward Chicago) and West.
Clean Air credits for wind power and other renewable energy sources-
The Clean Air Act sets caps on emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, but wind and other renewable energy sources are not compensated for not contributing to emissions of these pollutants. Moreover, the Clean Air Act does not currently set any cap on emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas. Nor does it charge coal-generated power producers for the add-on costs deriving from medical compensation to victims of occupational diseases. These costs amount to billions of unrecoverable tax dollars. The Clean Air Act should be expanded to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and should allow renewables to participate in credit-trading schemes by setting aside specific allowances for these technologies or assigning allowances to all generators, including wind, on an output basis.
Technical Updates
Wind turbines typically begin generating power at wind speeds of nine mph and output increases up to 28 mph. Utility-scale wind farms need average wind speeds of at least 14 mph to economically convert wind into electricity. Tower-mounted horizontal-axis configurations have replaced the earlier vertical models, with generators mounted at the top rather than the base. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity. In dangerously high winds above 65 mph, turbines shut off automatically. For details of operation, visit www.nrel.gov/wind/animation.html.
GE Energy is one of the world's leading wind-turbine suppliers. With more than 6,600 worldwide wind turbine installations developing more than 4,800 MW of capacity, its production history spans more than two decades. It produces wind turbines ranging from 1.5 to 3.6 megawatts (www.gepower.com).
Since the 1980s, Mitsubishi has pioneered the development of high-efficiency wind turbines that make environmentally benign wind generation more productive and profitable. More than 1,380 Mitsubishi wind turbines are in operation worldwide. Mitsubishi wind turbines are sold in America in an impressive range of available ratings-200 kW, 300 kW, 500 kW, 600 kW and 1000 kW-with 2000 kW designs currently in development (http://www.mpshq.com).
For more wind details, visit the American Wind Energy Association site at www.awea.org. For government research in wind energy technology, visit www.nrel.gov/wind. EC
TAGLIAFERRE is proprietor of C-E-C Group. He may be reached at 703.321.9268 or [email protected].


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Machine Gun Preacher Not a Misfire
- Christian Hamaker Contributing Film and Culture Writer
- Updated Apr 30, 2013
DVD Release Date: June 5, 2012
Theatrical Release Date: September 30, 2011 (wide)
Rating: R (for violent content including disturbing images, language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 127 min.
Director: Marc Forster
Actors: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon, Kathy Baker, Souleymane Sy Savane
Tired of Christian films that make faith out to be something sweet and respectable? Then try Machine Gun Preacher, the story of a man who gets saved from a life of depravity and who then tries to save others from the ravages of ethnic bloodshed in Africa. It's a film about Christians that doesn't shy away from spiritual darkness before life in Christ, nor from the temptations that follow salvation. But it also sends mixed signals about what viewers are supposed to find admirable in its title character.
Sam Childers (Gerard Butler, How to Train Your Dragon) is just out of jail, eager to return to his life of drug abuse with his friend (Donnie). His wife, Lynn (Michelle Monaghan, Source Code), greets him outside of prison, but has a surprise for him once they return home: She's changed, and she won't be returning to the strip club where she once worked. "God found me. He helped me change," she tells Sam, who wants nothing to do with her newfound faith.
Instead, Sam hangs around with his druggie friend Donnie (Michael Shannon, Jonah Hex). One night, they pick up a hitchhiker who puts a knife to Donnie's neck. Sam retaliates and nearly kills the drifter, then later attends Lynn's church and responds to an altar call ("God was looking out for both of us," he says later of the still-alive hitchhiker).
The film's unblinking depiction of Sam's depravity—he swears like a sailor and relishes his rough lifestyle—makes his salvation memorable, but the film's message becomes murkier thereafter. Although ambiguity can be a strength (think of Robert Duvall's towering performance as a self-justifying preacher in The Apostle), director Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, The Kite Runner) and writer Jason Keller portray Sam with clear admiration that they want audiences to share, at least during the early scenes of Sam's born-again life. When Sam tells Lynn that God spoke to him directly about building a church in the U.S., and an orphanage and school in Africa, no one questions him. When the home church's speaker fails to show for its first service, Sam delivers the sermon and is soon preaching regularly. We're not told much, if anything, about the church's structure—it remains unclear to whom Sam answers, if anyone.
The film bypasses such matters to focus on Sam's work in Africa, where he sets out to rescue orphans and other victims of the Sudanese civil war. Sam's awakening to the plight of the orphans and of those forced to fight at a young age is the movie's strong suit—a consciousness-raiser for Americans and others who might not know of the atrocities associated with the Lord's Resistance Army, or the work of John Garang to bring peace to the region.
As he becomes more committed to the mission in Africa, Sam's relationships to those back home begin to unravel. He demands the full and complete commitment of his family and congregation to his humanitarian efforts. Here the filmmakers clearly want to depict Sam as out-of-control and reckless, but the question remains as to whether this is a break from his earlier life in Christ, or an extension of tendencies that were there from the moment of Sam's conversion. The film leans toward taking Sam's early Christian zeal as unassailable when a more nuanced treatment of Sam's post-conversion actions might have made for a more complex character.
Butler's limitations as an actor can't be discounted when assessing the film's drawbacks, although he's better in this film than he has been in most of his other performances. Shannon turns in another fine performance as Donnie—good enough that viewers might wish he were in the film more than he is. Meanwhile, Monaghan's religious influence on Sam could have stood a more in-depth treatment than a few blunt lines of dialogue and church-service scenes.
The story's conclusion only underlines the film's mixed message, providing a send-off designed to demonstrate defiant determination in the face of spiritual and political enemies, but clouded by Sam's continuing reliance on violence as a means to the end he seeks in Africa.
In its exposure of the problems of Sudanese Christians for a broad audience, Machine Gun Preacher hits its target, but as a model of bold faith, it raises more questions than it answers. Those with the stomach and soul to digest the "R"-rated content might find some rewards here, but a good theological grounding is the most important ingredient for understanding the pluses and minuses of Machine Gun Preacher.
- Language/Profanity: Lord's name taken in vain; multiple uses of the "f"-word; several other uses of foul language; crude sexual reference; racial epithets.
- Alcohol/Smoking/Drugs: All three depicted; scenes in a bar; characters are shown taking and injecting drugs intravenously; a man overdoses.
- Sex/Nudity:Sam and Lynn have sex in a car after Sam is released from prison, but remain clothed; later, Lynn rubs against Sam's groin area; kissing; a reference to Lynn's past as a stripper, and encouragement by Sam for her take it up again; Lynn shown in her panties and a night shirt.
- Violence/Crime:Village raids in Africa; children and adults gunned down; a boy is forced to kill his mother; burned corpses; a land mine explodes, followed by an image of the child killed by it; vomiting; a hitchhiker attacks Sam and Donnie, but is seriously hurt by Sam; Sam wields a gun when breaking into a drug den to rescue Donnie; Sam and his team shoot and are shot at in Africa; a woman shown with her lips cut off; a bar fight.
- Marriage:Sam's sense of what God is telling him to do strains his marriage to Lynn.
Religion:"God helped me change," Lynn tells Sam after he insists she return to stripping; Sam tells Donnie that Lynn "found Jesus," and Donnie replies, "better him than the milkman"; church services include hymn-singing, an altar call and a baptism; Sam says an African political leader "calls himself a Christian, but I say he's Satan"; Sam tells Lynn God spoke to him, and he has to build a church; when Sam's orphanage in Africa is burned down, Lynn tells him, "God gave you a purpose. Build it again"; Sam tells others that if he has to cut back his work in Africa, "the devil has won"; Sam is asked, "Do you really think God's going to forgive us for everything we've done?"; a woman tells Sam that Africans say he has special powers and can't be killed by bullets; Sam says, "I'm done with the Lord. He turned his back on me"; Sam is shown reading a Bible and preaching.
Questions? Comments? Contact the writer at email@example.com.


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Jerry Falwell
Date Of Birth:
11 August 1933
Date Of Death:
15 May 2007
Place Of Birth:
Lynchburg, Virginia
Best Known As:
Founder of the Moral Majority
Jerry Falwell was an evangelical Christian minister who founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia (1956) and gained national prominence through television and radio on the Old Time Gospel Hour. In the late 1970s he became active in politics, founding and leading the Moral Majority, a lobbying group made up of conservative Christians. Falwell also founded Liberty University (originally called Lynchburg Baptist College) and headed a variety of educational organizations, including a theological seminary and a correspondence school. Outspoken and charismatic, Falwell's sometimes controversial opinions often made national headlines. In 2001 he was vilified in the press for blaming terrorist attacks in the United States on pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the American Civil Liberties Union and People For The American Way, saying "I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" He later amended his statements, saying that secularization had "created an environment which possibly has caused God to lift the veil of protection which has allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812." Falwell died in 2007 after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University.
Extra Credit
Falwell famously sued Hustler publisher Larry Flynt over a 1983 cartoon. The incident was depicted in the 1996 feature film The People v. Larry Flynt.
Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
See also:


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Credits: Amazon
Award-winning physician and New York Times bestselling author Sharon Moalem, MD, PhD, reveals how genetic breakthroughs are completely transforming our understanding of both the world and our lives.
Conventional wisdom dictates that our genetic destiny is fixed at conception, but Dr. Moalem's groundbreaking book shows us that the human genome is far more fluid and fascinating than your ninth grade biology teacher ever imagined. By bringing us to the bedside of his unique and complex patients, he masterfully demonstrates what rare genetic conditions can teach us all about our own health and well-being.
In the brave new world we're rapidly rocketing into, genetic knowledge has become absolutely crucial. Inheritance provides an indispensable roadmap for this journey by teaching you:
-Why you may have recovered from the psychological trauma caused by childhood bullying, but your genes may remain scarred for life.
-How fructose is the sugar that makes fruits sweet, but if you have certain genes, consuming it can buy you a one-way trip to the coroner's office.
-Why ingesting common painkillers is like dosing yourself repeatedly with morphine, if you have a certain set of genes.
-How insurance companies legally use your genetic data to predict the risk of disability for you and your children, and how that impacts the coverage decisions they make for your family.
-How to have the single most important conversation with your doctor, one that can save your life.
-Why people with rare genetic conditions hold the keys to medical problems affecting millions.
In this trailblazing book, Dr. Moalem employs his wide-ranging and entertaining interdisciplinary approach to science and medicine, explaining how art, history, superheroes, sex workers, and sports stars all help us understand the impact of our lives on our genes, and our genes on our lives. Inheritance will profoundly alter how you view your genes, your health, and your life.


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Home | Reviews | Extras | Forums |
GenocyberSynopsisTwo girls, one psychic, one bestial, are linked together to form the beast, Genocyber, who goes berserk avenging the death and suffering of children. However, in its path of destruction, one has to wonder - is the cure worse than the illness itself? ReviewThis has to be one of the most sickeningly violent things I have ever seen. Seeing children literally shot apart at the beginning of episode 2 is probably one of the things that turned me completely off to this series ... which is so laden with violence that any message that it's trying to tell is drowned out beneath the blood. Some things were just never meant for people to call "entertainment", and just like Faces of Death, this OAV series is one of them. For starters, you don't give a damn for anyone in this series. Either they die (even more gruesomely than in MD Geist, no less), or they go insane, like Genocyber herself, or the U.S. Navy nurse in episode three. The plot is ... well ... not laid out logically at all, with events seeming to spontaneously happen, and lots of mumbo-jumbo about Vajra and Dharma (and Greg, too!). (Sorry, couldn't resist.) It's not particularly well-done at all, and not even the animation seems to be too good. It's just a lot of blood and guts and barbecue sauce, with a dash of explosions and bystander deaths...if the very cause Genocyber stands for is to avenge pain and suffering, then why kill so many innocents doing it? You feel absolutely no sympathy for the child that is Genocyber/Diana, because she really is nothing but a beast with primal emotions. (Not a great thing to say us as a race, isn't it? Actually, to characterize us as all being violent and nothing but cannon fodder is pretty darn insulting.) Really, about the only thing even remotely decent about this flick is the techno soundtrack. You just know upon watching something like Genocyber that there has to be a reason for it. If there is a message here, it could be that revenge is a terrible way to live your life. I guess that's what the creator's trying to say. But need they have gone THIS far? What's truly irritating is that there really is the potential within this series (at least at the beginning) for something good. Unfortunately, the creator of this show, Koichi Ohata (MD Geist, Cybernetics Guardian) throws away all semblance of plot and characterization after the first episode, in favor of increasing the magnitude of grossness, rather like watching a contest to see who can projectile-vomit the farthest. It's impressive in the least complimentary way I can imagine. Genocyber is a turkey not even worth renting. In fact, it is one of the few anime that actually made me physically sick. Showing graphic onscreen violence toward children is just far too much for me to handle, not just as a fan of Japanese animation, but as a human being. I've seen ecchi flicks more socially conscious than this. And the fact that Genocyber doesn't even attempt to redeem itself for it is a travesty. An innocence-stripping, awful, scarring, and disgusting piece of 'art' that debases Japanese animation as a medium. — Carlos/Giancarla Ross Recommended Audience: ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR CHILDREN. Brutal and gory, this relentlessly violent series is potentially more offensive than a good portion of hentai titles out there, as the gore factor overshadows any plot that is being offered throughout the first half of the series. There is also a fair bit of foul language, and a scene of two of brief nudity, though nothing explicit or sexual in nature. Version(s) Viewed: VHS, Japanese with English subtitles Review Status: Partial (3/5) Genocyber © 1993 Artmic / Plex |
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved. |


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JERUSALEM – Shirtless Israeli men, colorfully dressed drag queens and others partied Friday through central Tel Aviv as tens of thousands of people took part in the city's annual gay pride parade, the largest event of its kind in the Middle East.
Tel Aviv is one of the few places in the Middle East where gays feel free to walk hand-in-hand and kiss in public. The city has emerged as one of the world's most gay-friendly travel destinations in recent years, in sharp contrast to the rest of the region.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said more than 80,000 people took part. Loud music blasted along the parade's route, thick with people dancing to the beats and waving rainbow flags. Drag queens wearing heavy makeup, dresses with sequins and high heels bounced along to the music alongside scantily clad men and women.
Tel Aviv's openness to gays stands in contrast to conservative Jerusalem, just a short drive away, home to some of the holiest sites to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Still, Jerusalem has a small gay scene and an annual pride parade, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Gays serve openly in Israel's military and parliament and many popular artists and entertainers are gay. However, leaders of the gay community say Israel still has far to go in promoting equality.
Officially, there is no gay marriage in Israel, primarily because there is no civil marriage of any kind. All weddings must be conducted through the Jewish rabbinate, which considers homosexuality a sin and a violation of Jewish law. But the state recognizes same-sex couples who marry abroad.
Across the rest of the Middle East, gay and lesbian relationships are mostly taboo. The pervasiveness of religion in everyday life, along with strict cultural norms, plays a major factor in that. Same-sex relations are punishable by death in Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.
Among most Palestinians, gays tend to be secretive about their social lives. In the West Bank, a 1951 Jordanian law banning homosexual acts remains in effect, as does a ban in Gaza passed by British authorities in 1936.


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"Discover the stunning architecture and unique cultural heritage of Russia's most interesting cities on a Volga River cruise". That's what they claim, and to a large extent it's justified. The development of numerous man-made canals now makes it possible to travel from Red Square (or close to it) in Moscow to the historic waterfront of St Petersburg by combining routes along the Volga River such as the Moscow Canal, the Svir and Neva Rivers.
The Volga River, at 2,293 miles, is the longest river in Europe. Exploring the natural highways of Russia with a cruise down the imperial rivers and lakes is one of the best, and certainly the easiest, ways to get a real feeling for the country outside of the main centres.
Not that you'll miss out on the better-known attractions on these river cruises: there's a determined emphasis on the opulence and history of Russia, its imperial cities, spectacular art and architecture, e.g. "see opulent palaces of Russian czars, visit ancient monasteries, and tour magnificent cathedrals…", "see the grand monuments and opulent palaces of the Czars…"
Moscow and St Petersburg tourist sights covered
Most Volga River cruises sail from Moscow to St Petersburg , or vice-versa. Cruises include about four nights in Moscow, "city of golden onion domes and Gothic skyscrapers" and a similar period in St Petersburg, "conceived by Peter the Great to evolve Russia from the 'Dark Ages' into the 'Enlightened Age'."
It's true that Moscow has a lot of gold-domed monasteries, but there's also Red Square with its Karl Marx Monument, GUM department store and Lenin's Tomb (see it before they bury him), the Kremlin, the Armoury and St. Basil's Cathedral (the scaffolding and green net has now gone). On the river, the gigantic (300ft tall) new monument to Peter the Great is truly awesome kitsch, while the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, a sprawling Russian Orthodox church on the northwest bank of the Moscow River is an exact reproduction of the original 19th-century cathedral, which was dynamited by Stalin in the 1930s to make way for the biggest skyscraper in the world at the time, but the "Palace of the Soviets" was never built.
In St. Petersburg, centuries-old historic sites such as the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Hermitage Museum with its extraordinary collection of art are a given, while the famous navy ship "Aurora" that signaled the attack on the Winter Palace in 1917, the culmination of the October Revolution, is worth visiting.
"The Golden Ring" is the key to the itinerary
'The Golden Ring' is one of the oldest Russian trade routes. It goes to the north-east of Moscow and forms a circle, with many interesting ancient Russian cities and towns along the way, full of history and unique Russian architecture of the XII-XVII centuries. Most Volga cruises visit the Golden Ring cities of Yaroslavl and Uglich, one of the oldest towns in Russia, and and sail through the largest lakes in Europe – Onega and Ladoga.
Kostroma is another Golden Ring city, where the streets fan out from a central square in a classical 18th and 19th-century layout and you can see medieval peasant homes and the golden dome of the Ipatievsky Monastery and museum.
If this sounds all a little academic, that may be because there tends to be a greater emphasis on providing educational opportunities on these cruises, with river boats often boasting onboard experts and lectures on Russian history, culture and economy.
OUR ADVICE: Many of the major English-language river cruise operators such as Uniworld, Viking, Gate 1, AmaWaterway and Scenic have competing cruises on the Volga River. Concentrate on the ship and route you want to travel, and the reputation of the cruise operator (of course, there's also price!). Be sure to check out our "Things to watch for" page too!


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The Rowden Surname website
This site is dedicated to linking Rowden families and finding more about the origins of the surname. As I have discovered, there are many people all around the world with the surname and occasionally I have the very great pleasure in meeting them for the first time.
It is not known how long people have been using the surname Rowden - or its variant spellings. Some records going back to the 13th century indicate that the name was given to those who lived in an area described by the use of two old English words, ruh and dun.
Whether you are familiar with the spelling Rowden or Rowdon there is, I believe, little significance. Often different records relating to one individual will show both spellings. The individual may have been illiterate and not sure of how it ought to be spelt, although in many families one version was clearly used most. There are other close variations such as Rowdan, Rowdene, Rowdin, Rowding, Rouden; however they are not common. Although there are certainly more Rowdens now than Rowdons, I am of the belief that the name started out as Rowdon. To look more at the statistics select 'What's in a Name' from the top of the menu on the right.
Rowdens mainly lived in one of the four English counties shown here on the map. There were a few others dotted around in other counties but with the subsequent increase in movement of people away from their home areas the picture became less focused.
My family roots are in central Devon, England. At the centre of the county, in the civil parish of Sampford Courtenay, to the south of the Crediton to Okehampton road and just to west of the river Taw, is a small hamlet named Rowden. Here, there are a handful of houses with one formerly known as Rowden Manor. To the East of the small village is an area called Rowden Moor and a mile or two beyond that, the village of Bow. If any village in recent times, and here I mean the last few hundred years, had the most Rowdens in it, it must be Bow - alias, Nymet Tracey. Bow and its environs certainly outstripped any other place for the highest density of Rowdens living in one place in the mid-19th century. (For more on this see the census pages)
Although there was a strong Rowden presence in Devon in the 18th and 19th centuries, the map shows the other counties where Rowdens feature prominently. Wiltshire seems to hold second place with some minor spilling into neighbouring counties Hampshire and Dorset. The seaside village of Seasalter and its neighbour Whitstable feature a strong Rowden presence in the mid to late 19th century. However recent evidence seems to indicate that the paternal grandfather of these Rowdens came from Wiltshire. However, the very earliest Rowdons that I have discovered came from just outside of Bromyard in Herefordshire.
Whether you are a Rowden or Rowdon or maybe neither, I trust you enjoy browsing these pages.
Gavin Rowden