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For some east Arkansas growers, a switch from cotton to soybeans has had serious consequences. The culprit is black root rot, a disease that has caused serious yield losses in some Midsouth fields.
"There are several things to talk about with regard to black root rot," says Scott Monfort, Arkansas Extension plant pathologist, who first discovered black root rot in soybeans in 2008. "First, it's driven by weather and environmental conditions."
Prior to its discovery in Arkansas by Monfort and colleagues, black root rot – caused by the Thielaviopsis basicola fungus attacking plant roots – had only been confirmed on soybeans in regions north of the Midsouth.
"That's because of the weather. Environmental conditions here at planting, typically, are a lot warmer at planting and black root rot doesn't tend to cause problems."
However, as Midsouth farmers well know, the last couple of planting seasons were extremely cool and wet.
"Those conditions have been common up through May," says Monfort. "That's one of the reasons this disease has begun to show up on soybeans."
Does that mean we'll see black root rot only once in a while, when weather conditions are right? "That could be the case. But where it has shown up, it's proven to do quite a bit of damage."
Black root rot is a common pathogen on cotton in Arkansas. It typically hits the fields planted first, in April. In Arkansas, "we don't plant too many beans in April. That's why once cool, wet weather stretched into May, this disease was able to cause problems."
In the Midsouth, the disease has yet to be found outside east Arkansas. In 2008, Monfort found it in only one field in one county. Since then, black root rot has been found it in multiple soybean fields in over 10 counties.
In seedlings, black root rot shows up within the first month of growing. One of the problems is symptoms of the fungal disease often mimic those of other maladies. Monfort says those can include: soil compaction, nutrient deficiencies and plant stress issues (like drought).
"Three typical, above-ground symptoms often observed with black root rot are severe stunting, stacking of the nodes and chlorotic spots that form along the veins of the leaves."
To best distinguish the disease, examine the root system of the plant. "The primary diagnostic characteristic of black root rot is blackened, deformed roots. The blackened roots are the result of fungus infection and colonization of cortical tissue, which eventually leads to root necrosis.
"Confirmation of the fungus can be achieved from plating out infected roots on specialized media specific to Thielaviopsis basicola. A positive result will show growth of the fungus out of the infected root tissue as dark-colored round colonies on the media."
What about managing the disease? There are some seed treatments that can help with this disease in cotton, says Monfort. "Most of the time, we have such a treatment in packages for control of seedling diseases. But even there, while it does well, it doesn't control the disease 100%. This disease is pretty resilient and can cause a lot of damage.
"In cotton, we don't usually see a severe problem with black root rot unless rootknot nematode is in the mix. Rootknot nematode kind of enhances the problem more than when the pathogen is alone. The nematode allows it an extra avenue to enter the roots."
However, in soybeans, black root rot has been rather devastating even in the absence of nematodes. "We're trying to do research work on that. We want to know how bad this disease can be by itself and also in the presence of a nematode," Monfort says.
Research trials in 2009 (which are continuing in 2010) were held in both field and greenhouse settings "to understand the potential of this disease on soybeans and to generate possible control recommendations. The research trials evaluated varieties for potential resistance as well as seed treatments for potential control. So far, greenhouse trials have shown black root rot to have a significant impact on soybean seedling survival – 38% of plants survived in infested soil compared to 71% of plants in non-infested soil. All surviving plants grown in infested soil were found positive with black root rot."
Growers who suspect they might have a problem with black root rot in early planted soybeans should contact their local Extension agent.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, the Catholic priest from Gaithersburg, MD who denied a lesbian Communion at her mother's funeral and later walked out during her eulogy — because that's just how the Catholic Church rolls sometimes, common civility be damned — has been placed on administrative leave from ministry by the Washington archdiocese.
A letter from top archdiocese administrator Bishop Barry Knestout explained that the Guarnizo's punishment was for "engaging in intimidating behavior toward parish staff and others that is incompatible with proper priestly ministry." Knestou's letter was read during all masses at St. John Neumann this weekend. The pastor there, Thomas LaHood, prefaced the letter with some thoughts of his own about the real reason behind Guarnizo's forced leave, which, he asserted and repeated, had nothing to do with the Communion showdown:
As we know there's been disagreement within the parish over how and to whom Communion is distributed. From my perspective this disagreement and related emotions flow from love. Love for Christ, really and truly present in the Eucharist. However, how we live out this love is important. The Scriptures tell us that we are known above all by how we love.
Love doesn't motivate people to publicly condemn and embarrass others at their most vulnerable moments, but it's (slightly) encouraging to know that at least Garunizo's dickery hasn't gone unnoticed or unpunished by the Catholic Church.
Gaithersburg Catholic priest placed on leave for 'intimidating behavior' [Washington Post]


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What caused generators to fail at NYC hospitals?
NEW YORK There are few places in the U.S. where hospitals have put as much thought and money into disaster planning as New York. And yet two of the city's busiest medical centers failed a fundamental test of readiness during superstorm Sandy this week: They lost power.
Their backup generators failed, or proved inadequate, and nearly 1,000 patients had to be evacuated.
The closures led to dramatic scenes of doctors carrying patients down dark stairwells, nurses operating respirators by hand, and a bucket brigade of National Guard troops hauling fuel to rooftop generators in a vain attempt to keep the electricity on.
Both hospitals, NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital Center, were still trying to figure out exactly what led to the power failures Thursday, but the culprit appeared to be the most common type of flood damage there is: water in the basement.
While both hospitals put their generators on high floors where they could be protected in a flood, other critical components of the backup power system, such as fuel pumps and tanks, remained in basements just a block from the East River.
Both hospitals had fortified that equipment against floods within the past few years, but the water - which rushed with tremendous force - found a way in.
- NYC hospital successfully evacuates 300 patients after superstorm Sandy
- Generators pose carbon monoxide risk post-Sandy
- Complete coverage of superstorm Sandy
"This reveals to me that we have to be much more imaginative and detail-oriented in our planning to make sure hospitals are as resilient as they need to be," said Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
The problem of unreliable backup electricity at hospitals is nothing new.
Over the first six months of the year, 23 percent of the hospitals inspected by the Joint Commission, a health care facility accreditation group, were found to be out of compliance with standards for backup power and lighting, according to a spokesman.
Power failures crippled New Orleans hospitals after Hurricane Katrina. The backup generator failed at a hospital in Stafford Springs, Conn., after the remnants of Hurricane Irene blew through the state in 2011. Hospitals in Houston were crippled when Tropical Storm Allison flooded their basements and knocked out electrical equipment in 2001.
When the Northeast was hit with a crippling blackout in 2003, the backup power at several of New York City's hospitals failed or performed poorly with generators malfunctioning or overheating. Fuel also ran out too quickly. Even where the backup systems worked, they provided electricity to only some parts of the hospital and left others in the dark.
Afterward, a mayoral task force recommended upgrading testing standards for generators and requiring backup plans for blood banks and health care facilities that provide dialysis treatment.
Alan Aviles, president of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp. (HHC), which operates Bellevue, said that after a scare last summer when Hurricane Irene threatened to cause flooding, Bellevue put its basement-level fuel pumps in flood-resistant chambers.
It still isn't clear whether water breached those defenses, but when an estimated 17 million gallons of water rushed through loading docks and into the hospital's 1-million-square-foot basement, the fuel feed to the generators stopped working. The floodwaters also knocked out the hospital's elevators.
For two days, National Guardsmen carried fuel to the generators, but conditions inside the hospital for patients and staff deteriorated anyway. The generators were designed to supply only 30 percent of the usual electrical load at the hospital, leaving a lot of equipment and labs hobbled. The hospital also lost all water pressure on Tuesday.
By Wednesday morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office learned that Bellevue needed to evacuate. Hospital officials initially thought the facility could survive on generator power with the National Guard's help. However, once they entered a flooded basement -- containing 17 million gallons of water -- officials realized that there was more damage, the mayor said.
In total, more than 700 patients were evacuated from Bellevue by Thursday afternoon, the HHC said in an emailed statement.
"The precautions we had taken to date had served us well," Aviles said. "But Mother Nature can always up the stakes."
NYU Langone Medical Center had also tried to armor itself against floods.
All seven of the generators providing backup power to the parts of the hospital involved in patient care are only a few years old and are on higher floors. The fuel tank is in a watertight vault. New fuel pumps were installed just this year in a pump house upgraded to withstand a high flood, said the hospital's vice president of facilities operation, Richard Cohen.
"The medical center invested quite a bit of money to upgrade the facility," he said.
The pump house remained "bone dry," Cohen said. But water shoved aside plastic and plywood defenses and infiltrated the fuel vault, where sensors detected the potentially damaging liquid and shut the generators down. "The force of the surge that came in was unbelievable. It dislodged our additional protection and caused a breach of the vault as well," Cohen said.
A member of the NYU response team had initially told CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook on Oct 29 that water flooding over the FDR Drive had taken out not only the backup generator but the backup to the backup generator. When LaPook arrived on the scene Monday night, there was still some power left in the generator and some lights still worked.
Three hundred patients had to be evacuated in a flash.
Dr. Robert Berg, an obstetrician, said that when he lost power in his apartment, he went to the hospital to charge his cellphone and was stunned to find it in chaos.
"It didn't really occur to me that the hospital was going to be in trouble," he said. Even after finding the lobby dark, "I thought, 'We'll have power upstairs. We're an operating room.'"
He wound up carrying two patients down flights of stairs on a "med sled."
"There was a Category 1 outside and a Category 4 inside," he said. "I can't say that they were very well prepared for it."
That has left only one hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center, functioning in the southern third of Manhattan. It is also on backup power, but brought in two huge new generators Thursday, just in case.
Aviles said Bellevue might be out of commission for at least two more weeks. NYU Langone's generators are operating again, but the hospital is waiting for Consolidated Edison to restore its power before it starts taking patients again, which could happen in a matter of days.
Flooding may pose less of a danger to the hospital's power supply in the future. Construction is under way on a new power plant, at a cost of more than $200 million, that will run on natural gas and supply all the hospital's power needs.
"It's a tremendous facility, with a lot of hardening built into it," Cohen said.
Other hospitals that lost power during the storm include New York Downtown Hospital, Manhattan VA Medical Center, and Coney Island Hospital.


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Folded and Fabulous
Viewer Comments
I hope I'm speaking for others as well, but . . . I want more mixems. Woow hoow! Love These!!
I can't wait to get mine! This is definitely on my wish list! Along with a couple of other must have's! Where is my income tax refund when you want it!
I loved this webisode. I can't wait to get Teresa's new DVD.
WOW! awesome video demo and teresa's ideas. i will have to put this order on my list. thank you for sharing.
I love, love, love Paper Wishes...and particularly the Webisodes. Each time I watch one, I become so inspired that I just have to order the SuperSaver immediately. My husband is already crying over this one! Poor man. At least I don't drink, gamble, or buy fancy clothes! Right?
Reply from Paper Wishes Customer Service:
Right! And you make wonderful things!!
Very nice, Me encanto, I lover
I loved all the great ideas I can't wait to try them out with my after school youth program
Love the WOWs. You really inspire me.
these are so great, is it possible to buy just the cd thank you and GOD BLESS YOU
Reply from Paper Wishes Customer Service:
Yes! Each is available by itself. To find the prices you can type the product name into the product search engine (upper right area just be sure it is searching the products and not the webisodes) and the site will take you to the product. Or you can click on the item as it is listed in the gallery where the instructions are located.
Can't wait to see the rest of the week. Absolutely love all you do!!!
I think before I order more supplies I'm going to wait till the end of the week everything is so beautiful. Thanks again for such a wonderful webisode. You are always an inspiration and all you staff.
The DVD is Fabulous!! So many ideas I can't decide which one to do first!
Totally great!! Want to order, but want to see the other webisodes, first. Afraid order will be bigger!
Love this show. Can't wait to get started on the treat box card. I'm with Ann love the glitter.
OMG, I think these are great. Seems like the directions are simple and easy to follow, plus all the templates..OUCH says the credit card.
WOW!! What a great way to start the week! I love everything, such fun new products. Thank you Teresa for sharing your creative talent, and thank you Paulette & Ann for showing us how they are made.
the cards are the greatest just love all the webisodes
Love the Webisodes, especially the WOWs. I enjoy watching all the projects while having my morning coffee break. I just wish I could get it all!
Love webisodes.Look forward to watching them whenever they are available.
Also thankyou for the wonderful birthday wish and extra surprise in the mail in the new year.Look forward to new ideas and products for 2012.
WOW!!! I love all the new ideas. I need to find a job so I can buy it all.
Paper Wishes Weekly Webisodes feature free scrapbooking video classes and card making video classes! Every week Paulette and LeNae bring you new online scrapbooking or card making classes demonstrating the very latest paper craft and scrapbooking techniques. Each of our free card making and scrapbooking classes also gives you unique project ideas and tips from Paper Wishes' Design Team. Come back often so you don't miss any of the fun in our card making and scrapbooking classes! You are sure to be inspired! Also watch for our "Week of Webisodes" events where we feature new scrapbooking video classes daily!


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Recipe from Donna Thomas of Indiana
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup (per 4 servings)
Shake-n-Bake for chicken
1/2 pound shaved baked ham
1/4 pound chunk of mozzarella cheese
4 cups of various shredded cheeses (whichever you like)
To form thick pieces of chicken breast, slice open each breast to form a larger flat piece. Put chicken into a Shake-n-Bake bag and shake it until the chicken is covered. Place a slice of ham and 1 to 2 slices of mozzarella on one side of each breast. Fold over the other side of the breast and place it in a baking dish. Repeat for remaining chicken breasts. Now sprinkle 2 cups of shredded cheese over the chicken. Spoon the soup over chicken then cover with foil and bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove the foil and sprinkle 1 cup of cheese over the entire dish. Bake for 5 more minutes. Now spoon more sauce over chicken and sprinkle more cheese over it then serve and enjoy!
*note to make more servings just add 1 more chicken breast per person.
*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. Use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an "as is" basis without any representations or warranties.


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Bone Lightweight scallop Elastic 12mm
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Please note: These prodcts come from the supplier with joins throughout the rolls. On occasion, we are unable to avoid these joins when sending orders.
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Hardware reports
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:14 pm
In the first of a series of hardware reports, i'm going to be adding short impressions and discoveries related to the success, failure, and performance with various bits of hardware used with linux. I hope to add to this (with authors permission) other information that may help enhance the user experience with Linuxsampler, and linux in a wider hardware related context. Please feel free to add your own experiences, but i ask that you stay objective in your appraisal, and not simply post 'It's crap.' That doesn't offer much to work with. As we all pretty well know, computers can be fickle beasts, and one user's experience is not always shared by another, even with the same equipment.


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As you may know, CM7 has this nice feature where you can hold down the Back button to kill a misbehaving app (Settings > Applications > Development > Stop app via long-press).
Unfortunately this feature kills apps too quickly for my taste; I find myself killing apps that I didn't intend to kill at least a couple of times a day. Mostly this is a mere inconvenience, but I fear that at some point I'll corrupt some file by accidentally quitting an app that's writing to it.
Is it possible, perhaps through some hidden settings file, to adjust how long the long-press for this button must be? I'd like to at least double it.


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ACCRA, Ghana, July 2 (UPI) -- Officials from the World Health Organization, as well as health ministers from 11 African nations, convened Wednesday in the Ghanaian capital of Accra as part of an emergency meeting to discuss how to prevent the continent's frightening Ebola outbreak from spreading further.
So far, the virus has infected more than 750 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone; as of last count, 467 had died from the viral infection.
"This makes the ongoing Ebola outbreak the largest in terms of the number of cases and deaths as well as geographical spread," WHO said in a statement announcing the two-day meeting.
Although the meetings are an attempt to field new ideas and solve problems with response efforts, it was also an attempt by WHO officials to instill confidence in local authorities.
"There are so many diseases that we have to deal with for which we don't have optimal tools," said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security at the WHO. "Nonetheless we have really learnt that these kinds of outbreaks, these diseases can be stopped."
"This is not a unique situation, we have faced it many times," Fukuda added. "And so I am quite confident that we can handle this."
Meanwhile, international aid organization Red Cross claimed it had been forced to momentarily suspend its emergency response operations in Guinea after health workers there were threatened by a group of men armed with knives. It's one in a string of violent incidents against aid providers.
Tensions between remote, insular communities and international health workers are one of several hurdles preventing a more fluid and effective response to the epidemic.
Distrustful of foreign doctors and aid workers, faith healers and traditional doctors in some communities have been observed removing Ebola patients from hospitals for prayer sessions and traditional medicine.
In a recent op-ed for National Geographic, Dick Thompson, a former communications official at WHO, writes that superstition and distrust have allowed the disease to spread.
"Community life is disrupted when health workers suddenly appear, dressed in what appear to be space suits," Thompson argues. "And these communities often already have a deep-seated suspicion of outsiders."


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Cleveland Kidnapper, Ariel Castro, Has Died
Ohio corrections officials said Ariel Castro, who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade, was found hanging in his cell at a state prison facility. Photo: Reuters
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... a real pastor of the Ohio man who held me ... captive in his home for nearly a decade has died ... a spokeswoman for Mr Castro was found hanging in a seller of around nine twenty pm on Tuesday prison medical staff tried to resuscitate Mr Castro before he was transported to a hospital where he was announced that ... it be when they disappeared separately between two thousand to a two thousand for ... a steep dummy seeks the sheer when one of the women broke part of a toward Yeltsin neighbors for help ... on August first Mr Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus one thousand years after pleading guilty to nine hundred and thirty seven counts ... including aggravated murder


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Official speeches and statements - November 9, 2016
1. United States of America - American election - Statement by M. François Hollande, President of the Republic (Paris - November 9, 2016)
The American people have just spoken. They've elected Donald Trump President of the United States. I congratulate him, as it is natural for one democratic head of state to do to another.
My thoughts go to Hillary Clinton, with whom I worked during the Obama presidency.
This American election begins a period of uncertainty. I must face up to it with clear-sightedness and clarity.
The United States is a top-level partner for France. At stake are peace, the fight against terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, economic relations and the protection of the planet.
On all these issues, I'll be embarking without delay on talks with the new American administration. It will take office on January 20. But I'll do so with vigilance and frankness, because certain positions taken by Donald Trump during the American campaign must be measured against the values and interests we share with the United States. The friendship between our two peoples, and our shared history, will help us do this.
France will also continue transatlantic cooperation without concessions and fully independently.
This new situation triggered by the American election demands, more than ever, that France be strong and shoulder its responsibilities throughout the world, as I've been doing since 2012.
This situation also calls for a united Europe capable of expressing itself and conducting policy wherever its interests and values are at stake. I'm thinking of freedom, dignity, social cohesion, the fight against poverty and so on.
Finally, lessons must necessarily be learnt from any ballot. The American election goes well beyond the United States alone, and this election comes in the wake of other ballots.
We must face this situation head-on and also realize the concerns raised among all peoples—including the people of America, the world's leading power—by the disorder in the world.
We must find answers. They're inside us, and they must be capable of transcending fear but also respecting the principles which are our foundation: democracy and the social model.
More than ever, this election leads us to shoulder the responsibilities we must bear: those of France, with Europe being the instrument, the very framework of what we have to do; a fully independent France, and Europe with it.
Thank you.


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It's a blazing night in August. You grab a PowerAde and sneak in a serene midnight repose on the porch swing. The faintest tinge of a breeze wafts at your sweltering brow. It is a few minutes before midnight.
Suddenly, a bluster of blinding light douses the darkened sky. The breeze is abruptly transformed into a ferocious gust that lifts you inches off your seat. Fear abounds, but strangely, it is accompanied by a remarkable tranquility that confuses and calms you at the same time.
In a flash you find yourself in a scene from a sci-fi movie as a spacecraft, the size of two football fields, lands before you. A short ladder descends and a creature of sorts makes his way out of the vessel and walks towards you. You are too dazed to move.
"I am Kriz from the planet Magxac," he says. "I come in peace, just to explore your land. Can you show me around?"
He invites you into his Trans-orbitor and instructs you to push a button and choose any location on Earth in any time period.
"It is a combination of your GPS/Time machine/Super-sonic jet. It can take you anywhere in just seconds. Try it," he cajoles.
After taking a few minutes to allow the shock to wear off, you decide to show off some of Earth's wonders. You set the dial for 1476 BCE and you are whisked off to the shores of the Red Sea. Three million Jews are waiting in angst as Egyptian chariots rumble in the distance.
"Watch this," you whisper to the alien.
The mighty waters part and the dry path is quickly filled by ecstatic Jews.
Kriz is not impressed.
"Big deal," he says. "Happens every day on Magxac."
Undaunted, you set the dial ahead a few months and together witness manna descending from the heavens in the desert. Same ho-hum reaction.
Frustrated and disappointed, you head back to the present and emerge from the craft with your newfound friend. It is 7 A.M.
"Whoa! What is that?!?!" cries Kriz, pointing to the sky.
"What is what?" you reply innocently.
"THAT! That giant orange orb that is blinding me!"
"You mean the sun? Haven't you ever seen the sun?"
"On Magxac, it is always dark. This sun of yours looks awfully close. How far away is it?"
"Actually, it is 93 million miles away."
"Incredible! I can't even look at it!"
Do we ever stop to realize that the existence of the sun or its perfect placement is truly miraculous? Had the sun been 92 million miles away we would probably burn to death; 94 million miles away and we would freeze.
Frequency is blinding. We don't appreciate things as miraculous because we are inured by the limitations of our vision.
The only reason we don't immediately think of the sun as a miracle is because it is always there – rising and setting and shining exactly the way we expect it to. But frequency is blinding. The sun, like so many things in life, is genuinely miraculous. We don't appreciate things as miraculous because we are inured by the forces of habit and the limitations of our vision.
In Ethics of Our Fathers, our Sages teach that ten miracles occurred in the Temple. No sacrificial meat ever became putrid, no fly was ever seen (for hundreds of years) in the butchering stations, the rains never extinguished the pyre on the Altar plus seven others. The laws of Nature were transcended in the Temple.
But there is something strange about this list of ten. Each miracle mentioned relates something that did NOT happen. Our customary dictionary definition of what is a miracle is quite different:
- An amazing or wonderful occurrence
- A marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of God
But what about things that don't happen? Can they also be considered miraculous?
Example: Of all the hundreds, if not thousands, of blessings that Jews recite, there is only one that mentions "God's Heavenly Throne." That, believe it or not, is the blessing that we say several times a day after exiting from the bathroom:
Blessed are You, HaShem, Our God, King of the universe, Who created the human with wisdom and created within him many openings and many cavities, exposed and known before Your Throne of Glory, that if one of them were to be ruptured or one of them were to be blocked it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You for even one hour. Blessed are You, HaShem, The physician of all flesh who acts wondrously.
Essentially we are marveling at the wonder of how the many openings and cavities in our bodies are NOT blocked or ruptured – allowing us to function and exist. What does NOT happen is miraculous, and we must see it as such.
Similarly, when we sit in a doctor's waiting room and fill out forms describing our medical history, we should count every 'check' in the 'no' box as a miracle of something that did not happen – and there are hundreds of them.
Americans are loathe to speak about it (bad karma?), but who would have predicted in 2001, after 9/11, that no major terror attack would take place on US soil in seven years? Is that not miraculous?
And what about our precious little children? Any mother will tell you that it is inexplicable that toddlers don't choke on things every single day – marbles, popcorn, pennies, watch batteries – while crawling around the house. Stairwells are too often left unblocked, yet these tiny treasures seem to live with a special protection from Above.
Safe sky travel is considered a given. While we all deplore the ever-growing incidence of departure and arrival delays, we forget how astounding the safety statistics are. Get this. The total number of flights scheduled to operate worldwide this month is 2.55 million. 307,000,000 seats will be offered to travelers around the globe! Only a tiny percentage of those passengers will experience a mishap of any kind. Incredible.
No one doubts that the establishment of the State of Israel, after Hitler's decimation of European Jewry, was an open miracle. Scattered around the world, hated everywhere they lived, persecuted in the north and the south, the east and the west, Jews survived and even thrived. But sometimes we forget that every day that Israel doesn't implode – surrounded by its sworn enemies, many times its' size – is a miracle we should never take for granted.
And most astonishingly is the following framework for something we have all become intuitively aware.
Do we realize the magnitude of the miracle we recently experienced in Gaza?
The world is now far too well acquainted with the fright and terror experienced by the Jews who live within striking distance of our enemies in Gaza. The panic and hysteria that occurs when a siren goes off and a missile is imminent has been depicted in a frightening film on this website and has been viewed over a million times.
As painful as each and every casualty is, thank God, the losses have been comparatively minimal. But do we realize the magnitude of the miracle before our eyes?
Harold Gans is a mathematical consultant and international lecturer throughout North America, Israel, Australia and South Africa. He was a Senior Cryptologic Mathematician with the National Security Agency, United States Department of Defense until his retirement after 28 years of service. He recently reported the following:
On Jan. 5, 2009, Ehud Barak, Defense Minister of Israel, announced that 125 Grad-Katyusha missiles had fallen on populated areas of Beersheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. This is 40% of the missiles fired; the remaining 60% fell in open areas. Of the 40% that hit populated areas of these cities, 2% hit buildings. I obtained satellite photos of Beersheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. My analysis indicated that the average percentage of the ground covered by buildings in these three cities is 39.7%. This takes into account the different sizes of these cities.
Now, the expected rate of rockets hitting buildings should be the same as the percentage of the ground covered by buildings: 39.7%. Yet it is only 2%. The odds of this happening by chance are 100,000,000,000,000,000: 1.
Note that this has nothing to do with the bad aim of these missiles; we are only counting the 40% that actually did fall in populated areas of these cities.
God has given us a universe that is saturated with wonder and amazement. When we tune in to the marvels that surround us we can feel His presence and experience unparalleled joy. But there's a whole class of miracles that is easy to miss – the "non-events" of life. In some ways, they can be even more providential than the obvious ones.
Just ask Kriz.


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Amazon S3 is part of Amazon's Web Service offering and the name is an abbreviation for Simple Storage Service:
"Amazon S3 provides a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. It gives any developer access to the same highly scalable, reliable, secure, fast, inexpensive infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to developers."A few months ago, Jason Straub published an Oracle whitepaper on how to integrate Oracle Application Express (Apex) with Amazon S3.
As Jason points out, Amazon has a Free Usage Tier which allows you to get started using Amazon S3 for free. If you have ever bought a book from Amazon, they already have your credit card on file, so signing up for Amazon Web Services is quick and easy (and they won't start charging your credit card until the free trial period is over).
Introducing the S3 API for PL/SQL
Inspired by Jason's whitepaper, I decided to write a stand-alone PL/SQL API for Amazon S3. This API can be used in any PL/SQL solution, with or without Apex.
The API supports all common S3 operations, including
- Authentication
- Creating new buckets
- Listing existing buckets
- Listing existing objects (with or without filtering)
- Creating (uploading) new objects (and setting an Access Control List - ACL)
- Generating download links (with or without expiry dates)
- Downloading objects
- Deleting objects
See the examples below for more details.
Use Cases
So what can you do with Amazon's S3 service in combination with a PL/SQL API?
I can think of several interesting use cases, some of which I might explore further in future posts:
- Backing up your database (use DBMS_DATAPUMP to dump a file to disk, then compress it using ZIP_UTIL_PKG, then encrypt it using CRYPTO_UTIL_PKG, and upload it to S3)
- Backing up your PL/SQL source code (use data dictionary views or DBMS_METADATA to extract the source code, optionally zip and/or encrypt it, and upload to S3)
- Backing up your Apex applications (use WWV_FLOW_UTILITIES.EXPORT_APPLICATION_TO_CLOB to generate export file, optionally zip and/or encrypt it, and upload to S3)
- Cloud storage for file uploads (instead of storing [large] files inside your database, store them in the cloud and download them on demand -- especially relevant for Oracle XE which has a file size limit)
- Serve static content (generate static [text, CSV, HTML, PDF] files from the database and upload to S3)
- Replication or shared storage (upload from one machine/database, download to another)
- Data loading or message processing (set up to poll for new incoming files - uploaded by other S3 clients - and process them)
Remember that all these things can be scheduled to run in the database using DBMS_JOB or DBMS_SCHEDULER.
Where to get the Amazon S3 API for PL/SQL
You can download the API as part of the Alexandria Utility Library for PL/SQL.
Getting started
Download and compile the relevant PL/SQL API packages. Then register with Amazon for an S3 account and get your AWS keys (key and secret key), and login to the AWS Management Console to get familiar with the basic operations.
If you are unfamiliar with Amazon S3, I recommend that you read this short getting started guide that describes the common operations.
In the following examples we shall see how you can do the same operations using PL/SQL.
From your Amazon account control panel, you'll get the key strings you need to use the Amazon web services.
Before you call any of the following API methods, you must initialize the authentication package. You only have to do this once per database session (but remember, on the web, every page view is a separate database session, so in Apex you'll need to run this code for every page, typically as a Before Header page process).
Creating new buckets
Buckets are what you use to organize your objects (files) in Amazon S3. Think of them as top-level folders, but note that you cannot create more than 100 buckets in a single account, and the bucket name must be unique across all user accounts on Amazon S3. So creating buckets is not really something you'd do very often, and usually it will be done manually (to resolve any name conflicts with existing buckets).
A bucket is associated with a specific region where your objects will be stored. For reasons of latency/speed and possibly legal issues, it makes sense to select a region that's close to you and your users (although you may actually want to locate it far away if the purpose is backup for a major disaster in your own area).
Here's how to create a new bucket via PL/SQL code:
Checking the AWS management console to verify that the bucket has indeed been created (in the specified region):
Listing existing buckets
With one or more buckets created in your account, you can list the bucket names.
There are two way to do this, either by retrieving an index-by PL/SQL table using the GET_BUCKET_LIST function:
or, alternatively, via SQL using a pipelined function named GET_BUCKET_TAB:
Creating (uploading) new objects
An "object" is a file, and this is really what the S3 service is all about, storing files. So let's upload a file or two to our new bucket!
The API lets you upload any BLOB data to S3 using the NEW_OBJECT procedure.
When you upload a file to S3, the default Access Control List (ACL) makes sure that only the owner of the file (you!) can access (download) it.
Others get an "Access Denied" message (but see the "Generating download links" section for how to generate special time-limited download links):
There are a number of predefined ACLs that you can specify if, for example, you want to make the file publicly available.
Which can then be freely downloaded by anyone (the use of HTTPS is optional).
A note about "folders": S3 has no concept of "folders", but you can simulate folders by using a forward slash in your file names (as seen in the previous example). Some S3 clients, such as the AWS management console, will present such files in a folder structure. As far as the PL/SQL API is concerned, the slash is simply part of the file name and has no special meaning.
Listing existing objects
Now that we have uploaded a couple of files, we can list the contents of the bucket via the GET_OBJECT_LIST function:
You can also get a list in SQL via a pipelined function named GET_OBJECT_TAB:
In both cases, you can optionally specify a prefix that acts as a search filter for the file names you want to return, and/or the maximum number of items you want to return.
Generating download links
You can access a file that has been protected by an ACL by including a special checksum parameter in the URL.
The GET_DOWNLOAD_URL function lets you generate the URL needed to access the file. You can specify when the link should expire, so this means you can share a download link that will stop working after a specified amount of time, which can obviously be useful in a number of scenarios.
Pasting the generated URL into the browser allows us to access the file:
Downloading objects
Downloading a file from S3 using PL/SQL is straightforward with a call to the GET_OBJECT function which returns a BLOB:
Deleting objects
Removing a file is likewise very simple, just call the DELETE_OBJECT procedure:
The ability to upload and download any file from the Oracle database to "the cloud" (and vice versa) via PL/SQL is extremely useful for a number of purposes.
Let me know if you find this API useful!


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Tell us whether you use coupons and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!
Today we found some awesome articles on slashing your grocery bill without clipping coupons, things you can cut from your budget now, and saving strategies that work.
From getting coupons to making your voice heard, a physical letter can do much more than an email. Discover 22 reasons why you should love the letter.
This is a lovely guide to getting the most out of your consumer purchases on the Internet.
Shopping for goods isn't Dungeons & Dragons, but it's still an adventure. Like D&D dice, modifiers affect the end result of what happens to you — specifically, how much you spend.
A few months ago I shared a coupon code for Restaurant.com that allowed 80% off on their already discounted gift certificates, and that post was quite popular. Today I found that
For awhile I have been pondering whether Amazon's Kindle reading device can really pay for itself. But something happened today that got me off the fence: Oprah shared a coupon cod
Kmart is offering a free bag of Halloween candy from now until Wednesday, October 31st. All you
A quick 'deal of the day' for you, and it's a great one. When my wife and I were expecting out first child we read "What To Expect When You're Expecting" from cover to cover. When
This is no joke. This is not a scam, I've checked it out. Right now Overstock.com is giving away 18" pearl necklaces. Why I have no idea. Clearly it was the accountant's day off. A
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Four young suspects arrested over the Fourth of July weekend are believed to be linked to a string of crimes, including a murder and multiple robberies at gunpoint, in the East Atlanta neighborhood.
Two stolen cars, guns, checkbooks and electronics were recovered from one of the suspects homes by police. All four males – three under the age of 18 and one who was 18 years old – were charged with burglary and theft by receiving.
"Evidence connecting them to additional crimes was obtained" said William Wallace, a spokesman for the DeKalb Police Department. "At this stage in the investigation we are unable to advise if these suspects are connected to or solely responsible for [some of the crimes in East Atlanta]."
The suspects responsible for the crimes in East Atlanta were described as males in their teens.
A meeting was scheduled by area residents to discuss the ongoing crime with residents of East Atlanta, Grant Park, Peoplestown, Kirkwood, Chosewood Park and other local communities on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing crime wave. Decatur's police chief also planned a meeting with the community members.
"It's frustrating," said Kate Krumm, sister of Patrick Cotrona, a man who was fatally shot over Memorial Day weekend. "The crime keeps happening. If it didn't take the murder of an innocent person to make things change, what's it going to take?"


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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome — to middle age.
The landmark film "Cabaret" — starring Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Michael York — has turned 41, but that's not going to stop a party: All three actors will be attending an anniversary celebration screening planned Thursday at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where the movie premiered in 1972.
"I can't wait to see them all again," says Minnelli, 66, who won an Academy Award playing Sally Bowles, the fishnet-and-bowler hat wearing chanteuse. "Everybody who worked on it was just wonderful."
The Bob Fosse-directed film, adapted and reworked from the Broadway musical, has also been painstakingly remastered — a facelift of sorts — by Warner Home Video and will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 5.
"Cabaret," which won eight Academy Awards — in a year that also featured competition from a little film called "The Godfather" — hasn't seemed to gather mould over time, remaining a crucial cultural touchstone.
Grey, who won an Oscar as the menacing, white-faced master of ceremony, recalls attending a screening of the new blockbuster "Les Miserables" and immediately being asked questions.
"Some of the people involved in the production were very, very anxious to get my response because of 'Cabaret,'" said Grey, 80. "It turned out to be the thing that you compare everything after that."
The film opened Feb. 13, 1972, to strong reviews, with Roger Ebert calling it an "unforgettable cry of despair" and Variety saying it was "literate, bawdy, sophisticated, sensual, cynical, heart-warming, and disturbingly thought-provoking."
The American Film Institute placed it fifth on its list of greatest movie musicals, and "Cabaret" was deemed significant enough to be earmarked for preservation by the Library of Congress.
"Cabaret," both the Broadway show and film, are based on the 1951 Broadway play "I Am a Camera," which, in turn, was based on Christopher Isherwood's book "Goodbye to Berlin."
Set in 1931 Berlin, "Cabaret" centres on the world of the indulgent Kit Kat Klub as it becomes intertwined with the world outside, which gets more precarious on the brink of World War II.
John Kander and Fred Ebb, who wrote the songs for the Broadway show, removed some for the film and added others, including "Mein Herr," ''Maybe This Time" and "Money, Money." The soundtrack retains the classic "Willkommen" and "Tomorrow Belongs to Me."
"Cabaret" hasn't been shown in a decade because one of the film reels had a vertical scratch. Restorers recently went frame by frame through the entire film — all 1.4 million of them.
The work was so time-consuming that the 40th anniversary last year was missed. But fans will now get a high-def print six times as clear and sharp as the previous DVD release, as well as plenty of goodies, including new photos and a new documentary, "Cabaret: The Musical That Changed Musicals."
Fosse got the job directing the film because Hal Prince, the stage director, was too busy. Fosse, raised in the theatre, was a risk since his only other film, "Sweet Charity," had bombed.
"He still managed to be phenomenal and make a groundbreaking, historic movie musical by rethinking it and changing musical movies forever," said Grey, who reprised the role he played onstage. "It was oddly much darker on-screen than it was onstage."
Dark is an understatement. Musical movies on the whole were saccharine in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and Fosse's film was a stab of something more realistic — all but one song was sung in the confines of the cabaret itself — and also more frightening.
The film dealt with Nazism, anti-Semitism and homosexuality. In one song, a German folk dance is juxtaposed with another scene of someone being beaten by Nazis. The movie also reinserted the often-omitted final line in "If You Could See Her," a love song between the MC and a woman in a gorilla suit: "If you could see her through my eyes/She wouldn't look Jewish at all!"
Filming took place in Munich in the spring with Minnelli as Sally, a role she had lost out on for Broadway because the part had been written originally for an Englishwoman. Minnelli created the look — bowl-cut hair and huge eyelashes that would become iconic.
York, Minnelli and Grey recall a tough working environment. The perfectionist Fosse, who died in 1987, made the actors do take after take after take. They recall enormous amounts of smoke and harsh lighting — but also the lifelong bonds that were created.
"It looks great and it was worth it," said York, 70. "For me, it was one of the most enjoyable film shoots I ever experienced. I'm not just saying that because it's the appropriate thing to say. But it really was."
The three will be reunited at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where they sat 41 years ago and were stunned to hear people applauding after every song.
"I can only hope that happens again," said Grey.
Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits


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CEMOS for tractors.
CEMOS teaches itself and trains the user.
To make sure the job gets done quickly and efficiently, CEMOS gets to know the driver, and helps with the task of setting up the tractor and the implement. This includes tips on engine speed droop, ground drive, ballasting and tyre pressure, a setting assist for the plough and optimisation dialogues for cultivation tools. So you have optimum traction and soil protection at all times.
Phase 1.
Preparation in the farmyard.
According to the selected implement and the type of task, CEMOS recommends the required ballasting and optimum tyre pressure before the driver has left the farmyard. The dynamic learning system gathers more measurements while work is under way, and its recommendations will be adjusted accordingly next time around.
Phase 2.
Basic setting in the field.
The integrated CEMOS knowledge database provides step-by-step instructions on basic settings for implements, with illustrations. Assist systems are now available for all ploughs. Further implements will follow in the near future. These provide valuable assistance for drivers working with new or unfamiliar implements.
Phase 3.
Optimisation while work is under way.
The driver starts the optimisation dialogue in the field. CEMOS checks all the basic settings, and offers suggestions for the parameters of "power" and "efficiency", which the driver can accept or reject. After each change of setting, a measurement run is completed, and CEMOS shows whether the work rate and diesel consumption have improved, and by how much.
Man versus machine. CEMOS for tractors - the real test.


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If you would like more information about the American Botanical Council and the services we provide, please use the contact information below.
Hours of OperationMonday through Friday9 AM to 6 PM Central Time
Mailing AddressPO Box 144345Austin, TX 78714-4345
Phone & FaxPhone: 512-926-4900Toll free: 800-373-7105Fax: 512-926-2345
Physical Address6200 Manor RoadAustin, TX 78723Directions
Membership & DevelopmentMembership questionsSponsor Membership informationUnderwriting
EducationOnsite toursApply for an InternshipInternship QuestionsContinuing EducationResearch RequestsReprint Requests
ProgramsContent LicensingMedia Education ProgramOnsite toursInternshipsContinuing EducationEthnobotany toursContent DevelopmentPublishing ServicesSpeakers Bureau
Customer ServiceCustomer ServiceOrder questionsReturns
VolunteerBecome a VolunteerVolunteer questions
PublicationsLetters to the Editor of HerbalGramSubmit an article for HerbalGramSubmit a book for review in HerbalGramSubmit HerbalGram Access itemLetters to the Editor of HerbClipLetters to the Editor of HerbalEGramSubmit an event to Herbal News & EventsContent DevelopmentPublishing ServicesReprint Requests
WebsiteSubmit an event to the online calendarSubmit an item to Outside ABCSubmit a link for ABC's websiteContent LicensingQuestions about the websiteReport a website problem
Public RelationsSpeakers BureauPress ReleasesMedia InquiriesMedia Education ProgramGraphic arts requests
AdvertiseAdvertise in HerbalGramAdvertise in HerbClipAdvertise through Email
From North via I-35Exit 51st Street. Turn left (East) and proceed to Manor Road. Turn left and go approximately 1 mile to Walnut Hills drive. Look for our sign on the left as you get to the corner. Turn left and take an immediate right into the driveway.
From South via I-35Exit Manor Road. Turn right and go approximately 4 miles to Walnut Hills drive. Look for our sign on the left as you get to the corner. Turn left and take an immediate right into the driveway.
From East via 290 or 183If you are on 290, take it to 183 (Ed Bluestein Blvd.) and turn south. Take the Manor Road exit and turn right if you are coming from the north or left if you are coming from the south. Follow Manor Road for approximately 1 mile. After Manor Road and Springdale Road diverge, Walnut Hills will be the third road on the right. Turn right and take an immediate right into our driveway.
American Botanical Council, 6200 Manor Rd, Austin, TX 78723 Phone: 512-926-4900 | Fax: 512-926-2345 | Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
The information on this site is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional. The American Botanical Council does not endorse or test products, nor does it verify the content or claims made, either implicit or explicit. ABC does not accept responsibility for the consequences of the use of this information or its most up-to-date accuracy. ABC is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt research and education organization under IRS section 501(c)(3). All text, images and content Copyright © 2020 American Botanical Council, unless otherwise noted.


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A sophisticated sculpt of the Sentinel of the Spaceways
For a great selection of superhero action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, Urban-Collector.com, DollsAmerica.com, ClarkToys.com, ToyWiz.com, BriansToys.com, VNCToys.com, PastGenerationToys.com, MonkeyDepot.com, RPMDiecast.com, HobbyLinkJapan.com, YesAnimation.com, and SuperheroToys.com.
For a great selection of film, TV and pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.
The "Sentinel of the Spaceways" and Herald of the Mighty Galactus comes to you with the Kotobukiya Marvel Studios Silver Surfer Fine Art Bust. The Silver Surfer first appeared in 1966 in Fantastic Four #48. A creation of Jack Kirby, the Silver Surfer was actually Norrin Radd, an astronomer from Zenn-La who bargained with the mighty Galacatus. In order to save his homeworld, Radd was imbued with a portion of the Power Cosmic and became the herald for Galactus, the Eater of Worlds. Silver Surfer made his theatrical debut in 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. He was portrayed by Doug Jones, and sculptor Seijiro Manabe has captured this incarnation of the character for Kotobukiya.
Standing 9 inches tall, this cold cast porcelain bust features the Surfer grabbing the front of his board while his back hand reaches out behind him for balance. The figure is perched atop a lighted movie marquee styled base with the logo for the film on the front and a spot on the back for the collector's plate.
Kotobukiya does not intend for their busts to be displayed in the packaging, so the box containing the piece is rather bland. The large black cube features some writing on the front in both English and Japanese, and one photo of the bust on the back. The back also features a few other busts available from the company, but the package is primarily to protect the statue and not to entice impulse buyers. There are reliefs of the Fantastic Four logo on the top and sides that are almost invisible to the eye and only can be appreciated by touch.
The front opens by pulling on a cardboard flap held in place by a hidden magnetic clasp. This reveals a small set of windows that allow you to see the head of the stature inside the packing and the small collector's plate which lists the number of the statue in the production line. (This review piece is 831 of 1500.) The back side of the flap contains a short biography of the character and comments from the sculptor.
Removing the box shows us that the statue has been tightly packed within a Styrofoam cube and the collector's plate is taped to the front so that it could be seen through the window. The collector's plate is intended to be placed on the base of the statue by the owner once the package has been opened. Removing the bust from the Styrofoam shows that a clear plastic film has been used to protect the bust even further from the elements. The plastic covers both the bust and the base and is removed without much effort.
The sculpting of the figure is superb. Taking cues from some of the classic masters of sculpting, Seijiro Manabe has created a figure that is sleek and lean and invokes a sense of grace and majesty. With his left hand firmly gripping the front of the board, the Surfer appears strong and resolute. There is no doubt that he is a powerful and dominating force and his grip symbolizes his ability to command a situation. The grip also causes his hand to take a fist like appearance from the front view, making it known to all who view him that if you see him coming directly at you, he is ready and willing to fight you if he needs to.
His right arm is extended behind him in a surfing stance used to maintain balance when sliding on the waves of the ocean. Symbolically, this shows the side of the Surfer that is calm and intelligent. It portrays him as someone who knows how to use his board and sure enough of himself that it need not be clenched into a defensive position while his other arm is used for offense. These symbolic meanings for the hands and arms, outside of the surfing references, are found throughout history in many classic works of art and their use here only adds to the overall sense of quality in the piece and satisfaction brought to the viewer.
Because this is based off of the appearance of the character in the film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the base is designed to invoke the movie theater marquee. The logo for the film rests on the white sign and a small switch on the bottom of the base lights the sign and completes the movie theater marquee experience.
The illuminated portion rests atop 5 pillars, 4 at the corners to suggest stability, balancing the figure above. The 5th column is in the center and resembles a movie theater ticket window, with the Marvel Logo in place of the ticket counter.
The Silver Surfer has remained a fan favorite character since his inception and his appearance in the second Fantastic Four film brought him to a new generation of movie goers. Kotobukiya entrusted the design and sculpt to one of their best, and the result is outstanding. On both a physical and symbolical level, Seijiro Manabe has captured the look and characterization of the Silver Surfer like few before him. Fans of the comic books and the movies will want to add this piece to their collections.
For more images of the Silver Surfer Fine Art Bust, CLICK HERE!
Review and Photos by Doug "DiRT" Turner
Review Sample Courtesy of Kotobukiya


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Search Constraints
You searched for: Place Massachusetts Remove constraint Place: Massachusetts Place United States Remove constraint Place: United States Place Alabama Remove constraint Place: Alabama Place Florida Remove constraint Place: Florida Data type Polygon Remove constraint Data type: Polygon Format Shapefile Remove constraint Format: Shapefile Year 2012 Remove constraint Year: 2012
Search Results
1. 1:1,000,000-Scale State Boundaries of the United States, 2012
2012. National Atlas of the United States. This polygon shapefile portrays the state boundaries of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The map layer was created by e... National Atlas of the United States.
2. Seismic Hazard Map for the United States
2012. Rukstales, Kenneth S. (compiler). This polygon shapefile represents seismic hazards in the United States. The data represent a model showing the probability that ground motion will ... National Atlas of the United States.


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I am attempting to input 4-band CIR imagery into ENVI's Vegetation Index Calculator and keep running into the same error: "Wavelengths must be defined to calculate vegetation indices".
I have attempted the following troubleshooting based on this thread with no success:
File > Edit ENVI Header > Edit Attributes > Wavelengths... > Wavelength/FWHM Units: Wavenumber
Unfortunately ENVI's help section does not provide good support for this problem. Any advice on how to correctly input these images would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: An example of the 2010 NAIP 1M NC/CIR DOQQ input imagery can be found here. Please note that I converted the base DOQQs from .jp2 to 8 bit unsigned geoTIFFs.


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An Act relative to implementing a blue alert system in the Commonwealth
By Ms. Chandler, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1114) of Harriette L. Chandler, Gale D. Candaras, Sal N. DiDomenico and Bruce E. Tarr for legislation to implement a blue alert system in the Commonwealth. Public Safety and Homeland Security.
Bill Information
Bill Information
- Presenter:
- Harriette L. Chandler
- Status:
- Referred to Senate Committee on Ways and Means
|Harriette L. Chandler
|First Worcester
|Gale D. Candaras
|First Hampden and Hampshire
|Sal N. DiDomenico
|Middlesex and Suffolk
|Bruce E. Tarr
|First Essex and Middlesex
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The General Court provides this information as a public service and while we endeavor to keep the data accurate and current to the best of our ability, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.


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Straight Arrow wrote:Tarfman, your AAR is excellent, most enjoyable.
Good clear writing, great graphics, and a superb running commentary. It's wonderful to be able to see through your eyes and not be just a fly on the wall.
Victory to the SPQR!
Random wrote:The First Punic War is a marathon, not a sprint so long stretches of not too much happening are expected. Thanks for the updates.
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Cookie Monster: 5 Great Cookies For Making Ice Cream Sandwiches
Weekly recipes to serve with a glass of milk.
Having recently tried quite a few store-bought ice cream sandwiches, I've been thinking about what defines a really great ice cream sandwich cookie. The texture is key: the ideal cookies are chewy and bendy, though slightly crisp is better than crumbly or cakey. Chocolate chips won't ruin the experience, but generally I find that cookies with a single, strong, uniform flavor are best because you won't get too many competing flavors (especially if you're using ice cream with add-ins).
Here then are my top 5 ice cream sandwich cookies. I've given you ideas for pairings based on creations I've made myself, but I'll admit I prefer more straightforward flavor combinations (read: vanilla). Definitely experiment—these cookies are on this list because they fit the criteria for good cookie bookends, and I bet there are great flavor combinations I haven't even imagined. (Tell me about them in the comments below!)
Go Straight to the Recipes
Maple Cookies (with Pumpkin Ice Cream)
Coffee Thins (with Coffee Ice Cream)
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Vanilla Ice Cream)
Brown Sugar Cookies (with Butter Pecan Ice Cream)
Spiced Biscoff Sandwich Cookies (with Salted Caramel Ice Cream)
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Blue and Gray Trail
Civil War Encyclopedia
Civil War in Georgia
On the Blue and Gray Trail
Civil War by state
Today in the Civil War
This year in the Civil War
Feature Stories
Civil War Firsts
Civil War Firsts
Most Civil War "firsts" list contain debatable facts. For example, one commonly-cited "first" is the repeating rifle. Technically, the repeating rifle had been around for years, although the design left a lot to be desired. Even the first lever-action repeating rifle, the breach-loading Spencer, was introduced in 1860. What can be said is the Civil War saw the first breach-loading, lever action repeating rifle used on a field of battle. Another is the use of "ironclads." Sorry, but the French were using ironclad vessels five years before the start of the American Civil War, however, the Civil War did feature the first battle of ironclad vessels, between the U. S. S. Monitor and the C. S. S. Virginia (The Merrimack) in March, 1862.
Photographs are also commonly cited as a "Civil War first." Don't believe it. Roger Fenton's photographic exploration of the Crimean War pre-dated any Civil War photographs and the subjects were essentially the same. Even the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov) agrees. The largest collector of Civil War photographs states on its web site: "Because wet-plate collodion negatives required from 5 to 20 seconds exposure, there are no action photographs of the war." The site later makes the correct "first" statement, saying, "The War Between the States was the first large and prolonged conflict recorded by photography..."
Sometimes the "first" is correct, at least partially. Take the United States Medal of Honor. During the Civil War both the Army and Navy instituted a Medal of Honor, but the Navy's was first by 6 months, so the actual "first" was the Navy Medal of Honor. Now this may seem picky, but it is important to our Navy and Marines, at least.
Medicine made dramatic advances during The Civil War. Ever hear that our Civil War saw the first use of morphine as a pain-killer? Not quite. Morphine had been around since 1803 and doctors were using it as a pain-killer in the War of 1812, but it was taken orally. It wasn't until the invention of the hypodermic needle in 1853 that morphine could be injected and became the addictive medicine it is today.
One enduring argument is which is the first land battle of the Civil War, Philippi or Little and Big Bethel? The question is raised because Philippi's Colonel George Porterfield may have been part of the Virginia Militia rather than the Confederate Army. Porterfield had received instructions from the Confederate government, but the state of Virginia did not officially turn over control of its troops until after the battle.
One first rarely discussed is in the area of weather forecasting. While the science of accurately predicting weather arose before Benjamin Franklin (he thought he discovered it, then found out ship captains had been doing it for years), it evolved in the 1830's and 1840's to become more accurate (although a far cry from what we have today). Before the Civil War Army stations and the Corps of Engineers had been gathering weather data, as well as notable institutions such as the Smithsonian Institute. After the start of the Civil War commanders wanted weather forecasts and the Army responded by gathering data via telegraph and attempting to make regular short-range forecasts. They weren't very good at it, but this group would become the National Weather Bureau (later the National Weather Service).
Links appearing on this page:
Little and Big Bethel
Civil War Firsts was last changed on - April 15, 2008
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Bow No She Didn't
Heather shares her feelings on Sarah and her name-changing party.
I am happy to say I am soaking in the sun in beautiful Cabo San Lucas with my family! I'm so glad that school is over and we are enjoying this amazing kick off to the summer! We are swimming, playing charades, running on the beach, drinking virgin piña coladas (kids), fabulous champs (me!), savoring the third Hunger Games book (obsessed), and well, yes, Tweeting. I have to admit, I'm not that technologically adept. I went from the rotary dial to the iPhone. For some reason though, I love Twitter. It's like mass texting. So fun and immediate. Thank you for all of the amazing feedback! I love all of your comments -- keep them coming!
Well, this episode required a little "digestion". . .I'm now ready to discuss.
I was so excited to finally see Tamra and give her a proper congratulations on her engagement! Tammy Sue is getting married! I couldn't be more thrilled. The pictures of Bora Bora were spectacular! I would love to go there someday! (Hint, hint Terry!!!) I know that Gretchen was really excited for Tamra, too. We were all sad that Vicki was not there to join the celebration. Tamra and Vicki have been friends for so long, Tamra's relationship with Gretchen shouldn't preclude them from continuing their friendship.
Dinner with Alexis and Sarah: For the record, no one is mistaking kindness for being phony. That's ridiculous. Contrary to Sarah's opinion (for whatever that is worth) I'm not jealous of Alexis.
Although I do get Botox, my face is not frozen. I happen to like my children to know when I am angry.
Is it not comical that Sarah is saying this while sitting across from her girlfriend who has had more procedures at age 35 than anyone I know? I have never discussed Alexis' appearance or procedures. Its her body and her business.
Interesting that Alexis sits there at dinner, so righteously indignant about her treatment in Costa Rica, but she is perfectly comfortable having a Heather bashing session. Apparently, behind the back is acceptable. BTW, Alexis I've always admitted to having Botox and fillers. There is nothing about me that is "top secret." So, you are slamming me behind my back AGAIN. Also, we worked things out in Costa Rica and agreed to make a fresh start, however Alexis is perpetuating it by riling up Sarah. Alexis could have told her that I went to her room the next day to check on her and make sure she was OK. I didn't see anyone else in the group doing that. There was A LOT more to the dinner discussion than just being phony.
Notice it was Alexis that invited Sarah to my party. Drunk, rude, uninvited, fraudulent, itching for attention, Sarah.
Finally, Alexis, lambasted me for changing my name at this late juncture. I was a working actress when Terry and I married. I had a company, and my name was part of my brand. We both understood the significance of this. This year was the right time to do it legally (for many reasons). If it doesn't fit into the correct set of rules and regulations you live by -- too bad. Then don't come to my party to celebrate.
PARTY! The flowers were amazing. I LOVE The Square Root! Thanks David -- brilliant as always! My wonderful caterer Brian Dobbin designed the whole look of the furniture outside. It was so sexy and cool.
As Brian can attest there was LOTS of food and it was served from the first moment. I also encouraged people to stop by the kitchen for a heartier plate of food if they wanted more than just heavy appetizers. The diamonds in the champagne were fun! You will have to wait until next week to see who gets the diamond! Sadly, the lipsologist I hired wasn't shown (Editor's note: watch the clip below).
I flew in this incredible gal named Jilly who reads lipstick prints! She was amazing!
The CAKE. . .Well, usually they do such amazing cakes. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. I expected the cake to be bigger. The monogram was a little Sweet Sixteen for my taste. We all know I am little particular. However, it's still a lovely cake and it's what the cake represents that is important to me. (BTW, it was delicious!)
Alexis and Sarah in the car: Sarah is clearly already itching for a fight. She wants to get involved (read: attention). She is starting trouble already. Also, no one is hating. I'm so sick of people who think they are perfect, and can't admit their own faults and issues. If they are called out on anything it's all wrapped up in "people are jealous." Yes, that's it. Everyone is jealous.
Back to the party. . .
Tamra and Eddie arrived first! So glad! They were ready to party! Tamra, Gretchen, and Vicki all brought the loveliest hostess gifts. Not necessary, but truly appreciated!
I was excited to have so many of my close friends that night! Lisa, Donya, Jaye, Sarah C., Dina, Ann, and so many more! This was a special night for Terry and myself.
Listen, you may think it's silly that I am celebrating this event. For me, I am aware that life is short, it's important to appreciate and enjoy every little moment. Terry and I are blessed with an amazing, healthy, fantastic family, and a beautiful life. My kids make fun of me because I cry at every event. So, to me, this a moment I wanted to experience.
Anyway. . .
Alexis walks in with Sarah who already looks impaired. Sarah is EATING the whole time, and she is drinking. Hypoglycemia?!? Oh please. She should do a little more research before diagnosing herself at a doctor's house on national television.To Alexis' credit she is trying to watch Sarah's alcohol intake during the party and encouraging her to drink water. Good luck with that.
Side note: Sarah walked past the ropes in my house, which I find unspeakably rude. I roped the house off so people would stay out of our bedrooms and the kids playroom. This was for the protection of my children. However, no matter what my reasons are, it's my home. You are a guest (albeit uninvited) I would think you would try and be respectful. . .but. . .
So, here we go. . .
Sarah ate the bow off the cake?!? Is she insane? A four year old wouldn't do that! It's tantamount to being at a wedding and defiling the cake before the bride and groom cut the cake!
To add insult to injury, she was completely unapologetic. (A forced apology from Alexis doesn't count.)
There was LOTS of food. Sarah was SHOWN eating. This whole thing is nonsense. I don't believe I am overreacting. Drunk, sloppy, crazy, uninvited Sarah was arguing over something she did on purpose in a cry for attention. When I realized how far gone she was -- I tried to give her an out. I encouraged her to take a break and come back. A time out. I have four children. I know how to handle irrational behavior. That's why it seemed appropriate to offer her an Oreo. It was even a Double Stuff. Should have handled the issue.
Funny how Alexis wants me to let the whole thing go after 90 seconds, but we need to talk about cost rica for the next 5 years.
You would think it would end there and Sarah would slink into the corner, embarrassed over the incident. Well, not exactly. . .
To be continued. . .
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Don't forget my amazing husband


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Ever needed to quickly switch between user-agent strings on the fly? Developing a site that needs to work on both mobile browsers and desktop browsers? Sick of some archaic site blocking you because you're not using Netscape 4?
The User-Agent Switcher for Chrome is the answer. With this extension, you can quickly and easily switch between user-agent strings. Also, you can set up specific URLs that you want to spoof every time.
Please note that this does not provide improved privacy while browsing the Internet and that some sites might have other means to figure out that the browser is not what it pretends to be. Running this extension can have performance impact on your browsing experience due to its need to intercept and modify the data communicated to the server.
This version is new and improved, and not only modifies the user-agent sent with the HTTP requests, but also the javascript objects in the page.
NOTE: if some sites have problems after using a mobile user-agent, and won't switch back no matter what you spoof, you will need to switch the user-agent back to Chrome *and* clear your cookies for the sites to treat the browser normally again.
By installing this item, you agree to the Google Terms of Service and Privacy Policy at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/.


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Naya Rivera has something new to sing about. The Glee star is engaged to rapper Big Sean, a rep for Rivera confirmed to TVGuide.com
The couple met after following each other on Twitter. They began to direct-message and decided to meet in person. The relationship flourished and the couple went public in April.
Rebel Wilson and TV's worst American accents
Rivera and Big Sean have since collaborated on her debut single "Sorry."
Just Jared was first to report the engagement.


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Sarah from Cinesnark and I were sent this video today on Twitter by @daibyday -- thanks!
It's Tilda Swinton from a few days ago and she showed up at EbertFest 2013 and called on the audience to participate in a dance along. I saved it for the end of day article (although I may come back later to post shots of Gwyneth at the Iron Man 3 premiere in Hollywood tonight, haven't decided yet) because it's a feel-good.
Tilda doesn't look or dress like Gwyneth Paltrow or Reese Witherspoon, so the term "alien" is used often to describe her. Even when it's applied with affection though, the "alien" attribute doesn't seem all that accurate, especially when what's being presented is less "alien" than "individual". She is INDIVIDUAL. Which shouldn't be inhuman, should it?
And besides, what could be MORE human than celebrating -- with Barry White and a few tricky moves -- the life of a man who did what he did with such joy and integrity? I cried when they turn up the music and she starts jumping. It's such a beautiful way to honour someone. In this moment, if this is extraterrestrial, well, we should all be extraterrestrial.
Ebertfest 2013 Dance Along from Ebertfest on Vimeo.


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The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors announced Monday that NAPFA CEO and Executive Director Ellen Turf will leave the fee-only planning organization on Aug. 31, 2013.
Turf, 60, told NAPFA leaders about her plans to leave in a letter written in early October, which gives the organization nearly a year of lead time to find her replacement. She explained that her decision to leave is part of a life plan that she and her husband established with the help of their financial planner.
The announcement comes on the heels of a shakeup on NAPFA's board in August, when Ron Rhoades voluntarily resigned from his chairman-elect position due to a compliance violation at his firm, ScholarFi, based in Alfred, N.Y. Lauren Locker, founder of Locker Financial Services in Little Falls, N.J., was elected in September to replace Rhoades as NAPFA chairman.
"Ellen has been the bedrock of the NAPFA organization for many years now," Locker said in a statement on Monday. "Her ability to weigh and balance the needs of the various constituents of our organization has allowed us to grow and thrive during her tenure. She has been a leading advocate for the fiduciary standard throughout the industry and has been tireless in promoting NAPFA's brand."
A search committee that the NAPFA board formed after receiving Turf's letter will conduct a national search for the next CEO/executive director.
"NAPFA turns 30 in 2013 and it's hard to believe I've been a part of it for more than two-thirds of that time," Turf said in a statement. "I have great pride in the accomplishments of the organization under my tenure. To be a part of so many meaningful moments at the organization, and watch the growth of a profession I love, will have no equal in my career."
Turf was named to NAPFA's top position in January 1999 after beginning her career with the organization in 1992 when she joined NAPFA staff as a part-timer. Part time grew to full time within months, and Turf has held virtually every position with the organization. She now plans to spend time with her husband, travel and enjoy being a grandmother.
"Our members will sorely miss her enthusiasm, graciousness and benevolence. We applaud Ellen's foresight in proactively planning her life's next chapter and we wish her the very best as she explores new options," Locker said.
Read NAPFA Elects Lauren Locker to Replace Ron Rhoades as Chair at AdvisorOne.com.


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Kotaku: Or, as they're now called, the K9 unit. Regardless of what you call them, dogs are no laughing matter in Call of Duty. As a scorestreak, they'll mess your shit up. But! There is a way to survive them. It involves an assault shield though, which not everyone carries around—here is a demonstration by YouTube user defendthehouse.
Ok, that sh*t was funny! Dumbest dogs I had ever seen! But just out of curiosity (I had not played the game), can't you just shoot the dogs? Looks like a lot of work to avoid 'em.
I don't understand how grown men can still pay money for this crap when it's just an ugly, mind-numbing, brainless, $60 map pack. Morons.
I bet the person who called the dogs camped for the score streak..
I played my brothers copy today. Ranked 20 frustrating times (I've been less frustrated learning C++ for college shit recently). I think I can safely say, this game blows.


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Frugal Friday~
As promised, this week's Frugal Round-up will be double-sized to make up for the fact that I was too busy having fun at Haven to work on my round-up for last week.
But first, the Fan Favorite for last week was this DIY PB-Inspired Door Mat shared by Inspiration for Moms! Love me a monogram!!
Now it's your turn!
You know "da rules"...
1. Please link directly to your post and not just to your blog.
2. Please link back the Shabby Nest (you can use the pretty new button on my side bar to make it easy.) I only feature projects in my Frugal Round-up that link back to The Shabby Nest. I have passed up some great features because they didn't link back..so please use common courtesy and return the link! MWAH!!
3. Please visit other participants and leave them comments! Help them feel "the love!" And don't forget to "like" your favorite posts so they can become the "FAN FAVORITE!"


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City takes ownership, renovates golf course
West Omaha residents complain of unkempt course
The city of Omaha is taking over ownership of a west Omaha golf course and the residents who live along the fairways couldn't be happier.
The city took back management responsibilities for the Knoll Golf Course near 120th Street and West Maple Road after dissolving the private management company that ran the course for years.
"It just wasn't up to the expectation level we were hoping for," said Brook Bench, director of Parks and Recreation. "Compared to our other 18-hole courses, we felt that under our management, we could do it better."
David Sell, who lives near the course, echoed a common complaint among neighbors.
"I always had to go through my gate and weed-whack along the fence line because they never did it," Sell said.
The city received complaints about the torn-up grass, deteriorating bridges and a clubhouse in need of repair.
"It was beginning to look pretty run down," Sell said.
Bench and the City Golf Director Bob Baber said the Knolls is getting renovated inside and out.
"We're cleaning up the fence line, fixing some drainage problems we have had on the course. We're deepening one of the lagoons," Bench said.
The clubhouse is also getting new equipment and carpet along with fixing the greens.
"What we're trying to do is raise the bar. The neighbors bought their houses to live on a golf course. They want a nice, clean look to the course," Baber said.
The city said it needs help organizing the Knolls. Golfers who play in a league at the Knolls are encouraged to call the City Golf Office to help update their records.


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After Just Two Years, Nearly Half of Verizon's Data Traffic Is on LTE
That's a jaw-dropping metric — particularly since it was just three months ago that Verizon revealed that 35 percent of its data traffic traveled over LTE. Nearly half of all data routed over LTE in only two years — 15 percent of it added since October.
The trend couldn't be more clear. LTE and the data speeds it offers are fast evolving from option to necessity. They're being woven into the fabric of consumer expectations.
And if you don't quite buy that argument, consider this: About 23 percent of Verizon subscribers had LTE handsets at the end of the fourth quarter. That's up from 16 percent in the third. And 85 percent of the company's postpaid net adds for Q4 purchased LTE devices.
So, not only is Verizon converting more longtime subscribers to LTE, most of its new subscribers are starting out on LTE. That's good news for Verizon, which is simultaneously reducing strain on its 3G network as it moves more subscribers over to LTE, which should drive higher data revenue.
Verizon's stated goal is to sunset its 2G and 3G networks by 2021. Given the growth in LTE subscribers the company is seeing, there's no reason to think it won't make it.


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AT&T has announced that starting Friday, it will offer $100 off any cellular-enabled iPad or Android tablet purchase in exchange for committing to a 2-year data plan contract. You can still pay full price and stick with standard month-to-month data plans, but if you know you'll use cellular data regularly, you can save almost the full price of the extra LTE and GPS hardware in the iPad "Wi-Fi + Cellular" models.
This appears to be the first time that a carrier has offered what amounts to a device subsidy for a tablet, though the practice has been commonplace for cellphones for years. But the subsidy is still less than what's typically applied smartphones, which tend to be in the range of $200-400.
AT&T Chief Marketing Officer David Christopher noted that AT&T has one of the largest variety of tablets available on its network. "We're giving our customers even more reason to stock up on the hottest device of the season, and just in time for the holidays," he said in a statement.
Customers can still add their tablet to an existing "Mobile Share" data plan for $10 per month, and use the same bucket of gigabytes of data as a smartphone, laptop, or other combination of devices. Or they can use one of the existing month-to-month "Data Connect" plans specific to their iPad or other tablet.
A $100 savings is nothing to sneeze at, but is it worth committing to AT&T for two full years?


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Fighting Nature Deficit Disorder
Fighting Nature Deficit Disorder
With options for indoor recreation multiplying and becoming ever more sophisticated, parents are all too aware of how much time their kids spend parked on the couch watching TV or glued to a computer/cell phone/gaming system.
Mix these digital delights with parental fear of "stranger danger" (which often is unrealistic), and you get kids spending less and less time enjoying the great outdoors, a trend author Richard Louv dubbed "nature deficit disorder" in his influential book "Last Child in the Woods."
Louv says that in the last 30 years kids have become more plugged-in at the expense of connecting with the natural world. He argues that this could have consequences not only for physical fitness, but also for long-term mental and spiritual well-being, citing "increased feelings of stress, trouble paying attention, [and] feelings of not being rooted in the world."
While that may be difficult to prove, many parents still would like to see their kids get outside more. But how? Urban families might have limited natural places to explore; suburban families might have to drive to area parks; and almost every family is pressed for free time.
What This Means to You
Besides spending more and more hours on media diversions (often, up to 7 hours a day), kids are also multitasking — leaving the TV on while surfing online and fielding text messages from friends. It's up to parents to get them unplugged and outside.
Unless kids are naturally outdoorsy, convincing them to go out for some fresh air can be a struggle. So be creative. No park in your area? Even a small suburban backyard can be explored (what's under those rocks?), made more nature-friendly with some bird feeders and a birdbath, or be the setting for a family camping night.
Have to drive to get to anything green? Give geocaching a try. This modern treasure hunt phenomenon uses GPS coordinates to direct seekers to spots urban, suburban, and rural for small stashes of fun stuff placed by other geocachers. Engage computer-loving kids by asking them to visit one of the many online geocaching resources to choose which treasures the family should search for.
Still getting resistance? The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) suggests baby steps — work toward a daily "green hour" of unstructured play and interaction with nature by starting with a 15-minute excursion into the backyard to, for instance, identify the birds you see there.
The NWF and many other organizations offer loads of ideas for outdoor play and exploration on their websites. Make it the mission of your computer-savvy kids to go online and find some activities they'd like to try.


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Sayings from Stressed Females
Words of Wisdom from Mom
Dear Tom and Ray,
I got this message from my mother. Don't know why she thought of me.
1. You--off my planet.
2. Not the brightest crayon in the box now, are we?
3. Well, this day was a total waste of makeup.
4. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
5. And your crybaby whiny opinion would be...?
6. I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for 30 years.
7. Allow me to introduce myselves.
8. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
9. Whatever kind of look you were looking for, you missed.
10. I'm just working here till a good fast-food job opens up.
11. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.
12. Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize youweren't asleep.
13. I can't remember if I'm the good twin or the evil one.
14. I just want revenge. Is that so wrong?
15. You say I'm a witch like it's a bad thing.
16. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #2?
17. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
18. Chaos, panic, and disorder! My work here is done.
19. Earth is full. Go home.
20. Is it time for your medication or mine?
21. How do I set a laser printer to "stun"?
22. I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.


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Actress Melina Kanakardes took her beautiful daughters Zoe, 11, and Karina, 8, shopping at the Grove in Los Angeles, Calif. on Friday (December 14). Melina's husband and her daughter's father Peter Constantinides did not attend the outing.
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