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Listings in Flower Farmers near Watsonville, Lafayette and Live Oak
Menagerie Farm & Flower
in Flower Farmers, Weddings & Events, National/Overnight Delivery, Wholesalers of American-grown Flowers
We are growers & purveyors of cut flowers and speciality fruits. A family run farm nestled at the based of the Sutter Buttes mountain range in California, our specialty is field grown garden roses produced for fine floral studios across the country.
Live Oak, California
United States
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Kitayama Brothers Flower Farm
in Flower Farmers, National/Overnight Delivery, Wholesalers of American-grown Flowers, Floral Greens, Regional Wholesale Hub
We have been growing and sourcing premium American Grown flowers in Watsonville CA, since 1948. We specialize in Gerbera Daisies, Asiatic, Oriental, and Mini Calla Lilies, Snapdragons, Lisianthus and Ranunculus. We source many more varieties locally.
481 San Andreas Road
Watsonville, California 95076
United States
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Fax: 831-722-4185
CamFlor Inc.
in Flower Farmers, Wholesalers of American-grown Flowers, Floral Greens
CamFlor, Inc. has been growing quality cut flowers for the past 30+ years. We have become one of the largest specialty cut flower grower and wholesale distributors in the United States.
2364 Riverside Rd
Watsonville, California 95020
United States
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Homestead Design Collective
in Flower Farmers, Studio Florists, Floral Workshops & Classes, Floral Greens
Lafayette, CA and the surrounding Bay Area
Lafayette, California 94549
United States


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In Humility Our Savior
In humility, our Savior,
Grant thy Spirit here, we pray;
As we bless the bread and water
In thy name, this holy day.
Let me not forget, O Savior,
Thou didst bleed and die for me
When thy heart was stilled and broken
On the cross at Calvary.
Text: Mabel Gabbott
Music: Rowland Prichard
Artist: Prichard (simplified)
Album: Music Published in the Church Magazines: Friend
Composition Date: 1974-04-01
More Info: Friend

subset: commoncrawl


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Our Mission
We are the working men and women of the Pioneer Valley. We stand together with anyone committed to our mission to achieve social justice and improve the quality of life for everyone living here.
We accomplish our mission by organizing ourselves and with others to gain a stronger, more powerful voice on the job and in the community. By uniting to offset the clout of the well-connected, by fighting together to secure livelihoods that provide us with dignity and respect, and by pooling our resources to further our collective action, we can reach our common goal of building the Pioneer Valley into a community that allows each of us to reach our full potential.


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and it comes with a mirror and brush! I would prefer to use my angled blush brush or my ELF blush brush to contour and highlight. This brush would be useful if you'd like to mix the colors and apply it as a bronzer.
I love the texture of this. And it's pretty pigmented. I'm impressed. And WHOOPS! I accidentally labeled this picture "maybelline" but its L'Oreal. I'll fix it tomorrow..
Here is a picture of MAC Shape & Sculpt in the shade "Lightsweep" courtesy of user "thejuicy" on MUA.
Here's a swatch off of Temptalia.
I think they look EXACTLY the same. Except that MAC's highlight has the tiniest bit of shimmer.
If this has been something you've always wanted to try, definately check out this dupe! 🙂
ULTA has buy 1, get 1 for 50% off on several brands. And if you've got a $3.50 off coupon from the flier, thats a pretty sweet deal.
I got a couple NYX things. This ended up being like $8?
NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Smokey Look
NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Perfect
NYX Lip Liner Pencil in Natural
NYX Eye Brow Pencil in Dark Brown
So far, I really like everything. I never tried their Mega glosses before, and I had no idea they have the scent of cherry cough syrup.. yuck. But it's not a big deal. I wore Smokey look today and it really brightened my face and gave me some color. It's like a pretty nude pink coral. Natural really reminds me of one of my MAC lip pencils.. I can't put my foot on it.. maybe Hover or Subculture?
I also received all of my swap items I've been waiting on. I'll have pictures to come!


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Is there something to dissolve Kidney Stones or Gallstones? Dissolve Kidney Stones or Gallstones and detox the body naturally with Stone Breaker Tea
Stonebreaker Tea
Code: SB
Price: $10.00
Quantity in Basket:
Shortly after I opened my store this tea was brought for me to find by a customer who swore by it. He told me someone brought it back from Brazil and gave it to him. He gets kidney stones and he said he drinks it as soon as they start and the tea from the herb enables him to pass them within two to three days. He had run out and could not find it. I was impressed when I read about the herb and have brought it into my store and since have had satisfied customers with the results of this tea. Chanca Piedra has been the subject of much research to discover the active constitutes and their pharmacological activities beginning in the mid 1960's. A 1999 clinical study validated the effect Chanca Piedra has on calcium oxalate crystal formation (the building blocks for kidney stones). The herb is known to break up the stones and enable them to pass. The antihepatotoxic (liver protecting) activity of Chanca Piedra was attributed to two compounds in the plant called Phyllanthus and hypophyllanthin in a 1985 study by Indian researchers. In the 1980's it gained worldwide attention due to the plants antiviral activity against hepatitis B. there have been many studies all over the world as we are still learning all the benefits of this herb. Still known mostly for treating kidney and gallstones the herb shows promise with also treating a long list of other aliments. In Japan they are testing it with aids patients. For centuries, it has been used to aid in treating hepatitis B. One of the other ailments this herb is known to aid is bronchitis, which I can attest to. I myself had gotten sick with bronchitis and drank the tea for two days and it did help me to feel better.


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Patriarch ALEXY II of Moscow + Memory Eternal
From the web site of the Moscow Patriarchate:
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, 79, died on 5 December 2008.
Session of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church will take place on December 6 to elect Patriarchal Locum Tenens who will chair the Memorial Commission.
The Holy Synod will announce the time of the funeral of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy.
Click here to view video coverage of the Patriarch's funeral from Russia Today.
Metropolitan PHILIP writes to the U.S. Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the U.S.:
Beloved Brother in Christ:
I greet you in the name of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life of all who repose in him.
It is with great sadness that I awoke this morning to the shocking news of the passing into eternal life of His Holiness ALEXY II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The loss of this great man is not only a loss for the Church of Russia, but for the entire Orthodox world. I recall with great fondness the two occasions I had to be in his presence, once on his visit to the United States in the early 1990s when we hosted him at our Archdiocese Chancery and the second when I accepted his kind invitation to visit Russia in 1997. It was during this trip in 1997 that I came to realize the greatness of his leadership and vision for the Church of Russia and the Orthodox world at large. Having met with him at the Danielov Monastery and having served with him in the historic Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin and again at the dedication of the awe-inspiring Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow (that he was instrumental in rebuilding as a symbol of the resurrection of the Russian Orthodox Church after more than 70 years of oppression), I felt assured that the Church would continue to thrive under his leadership.
Patriarch ALEXY lived in two worlds, one under the Soviet oppression of the Church and the other whereby he led the Church from glory to glory after the fall of Soviet rule. I have no doubt that this will be his legacy. The courage he showed by leading the nation through a difficult time that could have led to civil war when he addressed the country in the midst of the night, in the midst of darkness at 1:42 a.m. on August 21st, 1991 will stand out as one of the greatest addresses of the 20th Century. Out of this darkness, his address to the nation became a new light of hope for a new nation.
Like the captain of a great ship, he guided the Russian Orthodox Church through troubled waters, rejecting those who would take the Church backwards to pre-revolutionary monarchist times, and at the same time rejecting those who would liberalize the Church and make it something other than it had always been. At the same time, he capably oversaw the rebuilding and restoration of thousands of churches and monasteries, the reeducation of the faithful and the clergy and the reestablishment of the Church as a great force in the Russian Federation. His untiring work which led to the reunification of ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church is yet another example of his bold leadership.
Personally, I had the greatest respect for him on the level of international Orthodox relations. He adhered to and respected the canonical norms for territorial boundaries of sister churches and dealt pastorally with the uncanonical situation that we have here in North America and other places. While he often faced resistance, he led with integrity and love. As the leader of more than 100 million Orthodox believers, in my eyes, he was the true leader of the Orthodox world.
On behalf of our Local Synod and all the clergy and faithful of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, please accept our sincere condolences. We ask that you extend our prayers and sympathies to His Eminence Metropolitan KIRILL and the Department of External Church Relations and the entire Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, praying that in the midst of this sad time, another great leader will arise from the depths of your sorrow and lead this great and venerable church to new heights.
Your brother in Christ,
Read more about the life of Patriarch ALEXY II.
For information on memorial services and further news, please consult the OCA web site.


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Rustic bread
Sparkle this New Year's Eve with our extravagant five course menu including a classic Bellini at Browns Milton Keynes.
With choices including pan-seared scallops with smoked pancetta, 28 day aged sirloin steak, fillet of sea bass and vegan portobello mushroom & chestnut wellington, you'll see out the year in fine form and great company.
Alongside our unrivalled range of Champagne and bubbles, we'll have gorgeous sparkling cocktails and an atmosphere that fizzles.
So put on your finest and join us on one of our favourite nights of the year.
For group bookings and events, please fill in the form on our private dining and events page and someone will be in touch within 24 hours.
Please note, there is a required deposit of £10 per person to secure all New Year's bookings. Once you have booked a festive meal with us, you can either pay for this in the booking widget or a member of our team will be in contact to arrange payment.


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Acronis True Image 2015 for PC Current
Award-winning personal PC backup and disk imaging software!
Full System Disk Imaging! Corrupt files, irrecoverable data, lost files, boot failures, theft, infections and hard-drive crashes- unfortunately, they happen and they always seem to happen when you least expect it or when you're short on time to deal with the consequences. Solution: Acronis True Image 2015 for PC is an award-winning computer backup and disk-imaging software that proves its worth time and again by protecting your photos, contacts, calendars and the like. Think of it as an inexpensive insurance policy for your virtual stuff. Never leave the safety of your important files to chance!
The old adage used to be, "save, and save often." Now days, it's "backup, and backup often!" With Acronis True Image, you can choose to backup your entire system, or single files and folders any time! And store them any place - be it on your computer, smartphone, external hard drive, or even online using True Image's free 5 GB of cloud storage! If anything should ever happen to your files, you can quickly locate and restore them from backup. If your system crashes, trust Acronis True Image to restore everything, exactly the way it was, from your software settings and documents to your email, desktop and music collection!
It's rare to find a backup solution that's packed so full of features and still so easy to use. True Image 2014 does much more than backup and restore; it also provides a way to test new software, visit potentially dangerous websites or open a questionable email without the security risk. One of the most notable features is the ability to sync files to any or all of your devices, be it your home computer, work machine, smartphone or tablet - and did I mention the five gigs of online storage? What's more, the software can be customized to perform backups automatically according to your personal needs, so there's no need to worry. If disaster strikes, you're covered. Need the most updated version of that document you worked on all month and accidentally deleted? No problem, it's synced and waiting for you on the cloud, and True Image can even restore previous versions of the file just as it existed at a particular date and time. You get to decide which backup images to keep, and the software deletes the others; consolidating in this way saves a lot of storage space.
Rounding out this popular software package, Acronis includes DriveCleanser, a tool that permanently destroys files and removes all traces of user activity. Going above and beyond the essentials, Acronis gives you an unlimited number of online backups, helpful wizards, and rescue media because they take your privacy and security very seriously. Disasters are bound to happen, but you can be prepared and it's never been easier! Try Acronis True Image 2014, free for 30 days to fully understand the term "peace of mind" when it comes to your important data.


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Transforming the learning experience of students and providing an outlet for the University of Houston (UH) to support the community, UH's "Learning Through Discovery Initiative" engaged several students this semester in practical experience beyond the classroom, while benefiting a pair of social service agencies.
The Lighthouse of Houston and Legacy Community Health Services reaped significant benefits from UH using its research and resources to support their respective efforts and improve their services. College of Technology students worked on a Lighthouse certification project, while Jack J. Valenti School of Communication students assisted with some of Legacy's issues.
With its mission to empower clients who traditionally face problems with accessing quality health care, Legacy presented students from two of communication professor Jennifer Vardeman-Winter's classes with challenges related to how they communicate with their clients. Going above and beyond what the assignments called for, students from Vardeman-Winter's rhetoric and issues management classes went out into the community to interact with Legacy's clientele, rather than just reviewing the transcripts of client feedback that were provided to them for the projects.
"We were very impressed by the students for their creativity and useful feedback. They really took things a step further, and we'll definitely be taking some of their recommendations," said Amy Leonard, director of health promotions at Legacy. "It was a 'win-win' situation, with us being able to provide them with real-life experiences to work for an actual organization and for us to benefit from another pair of eyes with a fresh perspective."
One student who is especially thankful for the experience is graduating senior Amanda Jolivet, who says her projects already opened doors for her with job interviews. Taking two classes from Vardeman-Winter this semester, she is pleased with the practical experience she gained in public research and for being given the chance to practice implementing theories and applying concepts from her classes to impact society through an actual client.
"Amanda is a hard-working, focused student who is ready to take on the world," said Alison Leland-McKinney, a lecturer in the UH Honors College who is on the taskforce working to bring research opportunities such as this into the community. "One of our goals is to have students use their skills in non-traditional ways and encourage them to think creatively in this market. In watching them present their final projects, we could see they really took these assignments to heart, investing themselves and offering tangible guidance to the client."
As for the Lighthouse of Houston, a nonprofit education and service center dedicated to assisting blind and visually impaired people to lead independent lives, it needed some help from the College of Technology. The Lighthouse has an industrial division that produces disinfectants, detergents, glass cleaners and floor care products for state and federal contracts, and it was looking to expand its business base. First, it needed to develop a quality management system that then would be certified by an outside auditor.
Jami Kovach, an assistant professor who has been teaching quality management at UH since 2006, was happy to help the Lighthouse, and she also thought it would make a good undergraduate project. She enlisted Gina Whitley, a UH student since fall 2010 who had some real-life experience working on a similar type of certification for a former employer.
"She brought a lot to this project. It was a really good fit," Kovach said. "The Lighthouse will achieve their certification, which gives the blind and visually impaired employees at the agency more opportunities to work."
Whitley worked 19 hours a week at the Lighthouse during the spring semester, and she and Lighthouse officials also met periodically with Kovach and Jerry Pyka, the college's assistant dean for outreach, to discuss the project's progress. Kovach and Pyka provided input and their expertise as the project moved forward and also conducted a crucial "mock audit" of the agency.
"This provided the proof, the evidence of their quality management system," Whitley said. "This certifies them to a higher standard. They already had high quality in their operations. This just proves it - and that counts with customers and potential customers."
Gibson DuTerroil, Lighthouse's president, praised the faculty advisers and the student's participation in the project.
"Without all of UH's support and guidance, we wouldn't have achieved this," he said. "The school can be so proud of the kind of students and faculty who are there."
UH's "Learning Through Discovery Initiative" is a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) designed to enrich the education of students and prepare them to compete in today's globalized marketplace, providing research-related skills training and undergraduate research opportunities on and off campus. The QEP was developed in accordance with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reaffirmation of UH's accreditation, a process that that occurs every 10 years.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 38,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.
For more information about UH, visit the university's Newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
For additional news alerts about UH, follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UHNewsEvents and Twitter at http://twitter.com/UH_News.


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The project brings together economists and political scientists to investigate the use of field experiments in the study of governance, and their l...
Governance & Fragility
Governance & Fragility
Governance has become a major concern for both donors and aid recipient countries since the late 1980s. Very poor quality governance is also one of the defining characteristics of state fragility, and social unrest and violence may both exacerbate and be caused by weak institutions. Our work draws on some 80 studies prepared by UNU-WIDER's global network.
UNU-WIDER / Jan 2013
An integral part of development is the expansion of capability of the state to carry out its responsibilities and effectively both impose obligatio...
UNU-WIDER / Jan 2013
What are the barriers to effectiveness of civil service in developing countries? How can effective civil service reform policies be designed?
UNU-WIDER / Jan 2013
With Africa's increasing urbanization, governments and local authorities - supported by donors - are under pressure to provide better urban service...
CARL-GUSTAV LINDÉN / Dec 2012
Foreign aid can exhibit multiple impacts on a developing country's political economy.
UNU-WIDER / Dec 2012
UNU-WIDER Fellow and ReCom programme Governance and Fragility theme leader Danielle Resnick explains the logic and findings of the research project...
Danielle Resnick, Research Fellow, UNU-W


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Quarry Hill Farm is just minutes from Elk Mountain Ski Resort and buried deep in the heart of relax, recreate, and enjoy. In addition to our group-friendly rentals, Quarry Hill Farm's 160 acre property includes ponds for fishing, swimming or paddling and trails for hiking, mountain biking or cross country skiing. QHF is a true year-round, group destination. All the amenities of Northeast PA, surrounding this breathtaking property, combined with the conveniences of home, make Quarry Hill Farm an extraordinary venue for bringing family and friends together.
|Scranton, PA
|25 miles
|Binghamton, NY
|40 miles
|Allentown, PA
|99 miles
|New York, NY
|142 miles
|Philadelphia, PA
|149 miles


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Lawsuits claim Metro-North warned that crossing unsafe
Fatal crash in Redding: Lawsuits claim Metro-North warned that crossing unsafe
Attorneys representing victims and survivors of a fatal Dec. 30 car-train crash at an unprotected crossing in Redding have sued Metro-North Railroad, claiming it had known for years the crossing was dangerous and should have installed protective gates to prevent accidents.
"This was a preventable accident," said attorney Harold Rosnick of Bridgeport, who represents the parents of Wayne Balacky, a 21-year-old Danbury man who was killed when a southbound work train hit the car he was riding in at the Long Ridge Road crossing, just a few hundred yards from the West Redding station.
"Obviously, our claim is the railroad should have done something before it happened," Rosnick said.
Balacky was pronounced dead at Danbury Hospital shortly after the crash. Jausheema Perkins, 19, who was behind the wheel of the Subaru station wagon, died a few days later. Two other passengers, Fakeem Morning, 19 and James Redmond, 21, were seriously injured. Like Balacky, the others were Danbury residents.
Earlier this year, Metro-North installed gates at the grade-level crossing, which had been protected for years only by flashing lights and bells warning drivers that a train was approaching.
In January, The News-Times reported that the project, which had been on the drawing board since 2009, was delayed because of problems coordinating the work with the state Department of Transportation. The DOT plans to move the crossing as part of the realignment of the awkward, three-way intersection of Long Ride and Side Cut roads and the Simpaug Turnpike. The three roads come together just a few yards east of the tracks.
That work is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2014.
But because of the accident, and under pressure from area lawmakers, Metro-North officials agreed to expedite the installation. The protective gates are operational, Metro-North spokeswoman Margie Anders said.
The plaintiffs claim that the railroad was aware of the hazards and should have acted more quickly to correct them.
"They had multiple complaints in the past about problems with visibility and sight lines at the crossing," said attorney Joel Faxon, of the Stratton Faxon law firm in New Haven, which represents the two surviving passengers. "Ultimately, they (Metro-North officials) are the ones who have the obligation to make the crossing safe."
The lawsuits were filed several months ago in state Superior Court in New Haven, where Metro-North has offices. But at the request of the railroad, the case was transferred to federal court because the corporation is based in New York state.
Last month, the four cases were consolidated into a single lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.
If and when the case goes to trial, Metro-North attorneys are asking Judge Warren W. Eginton to allow the jury to find Perkins at least partly to blame for the crash because of her own carelessness and negligence.
They claim Perkins failed to heed a variety of signals warning that a train was approaching, including flashing lights, bells and the locomotive's whistle. Perkins was traveling "at an unreasonable speed" and failed to stop before crossing the tracks directly into the locomotive's path, they said.
Lawsuits filed against Perkins' insurance company by Balacky's parents and the other passengers have been settled out of court, according to court papers.
The case isn't expected to come to trial for several years, the plaintiffs' lawyers said.
email@example.com; 203-731-3342


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Summary Report for:
19-1031.01 - Soil and Water Conservationists
Plan or develop coordinated practices for soil erosion control, soil or water conservation, or sound land use.
Sample of reported job titles: Conservationist, Environmental Analyst, Erosion Control Specialist, Land Manager, Land Reclamation Specialist, Land Resource Specialist, Resource Conservation Specialist, Resource Conservationist, Soil Conservationist, Watershed Program Manager
Tasks | Technology Skills | Tools Used | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Detailed Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Credentials | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Job Openings | Additional Information
- Implement soil or water management techniques, such as nutrient management, erosion control, buffers, or filter strips, in accordance with conservation plans.
- Monitor projects during or after construction to ensure projects conform to design specifications.
- Visit areas affected by erosion problems to identify causes or determine solutions.
- Advise land users, such as farmers or ranchers, on plans, problems, or alternative conservation solutions.
- Develop or maintain working relationships with local government staff or board members.
- Apply principles of specialized fields of science, such as agronomy, soil science, forestry, or agriculture, to achieve conservation objectives.
- Gather information from geographic information systems (GIS) databases or applications to formulate land use recommendations.
- Compute design specifications for implementation of conservation practices, using survey or field information, technical guides or engineering manuals.
- Participate on work teams to plan, develop, or implement programs or policies for improving environmental habitats, wetlands, or groundwater or soil resources.
- Conduct fact-finding or mediation sessions among government units, landowners, or other agencies to resolve disputes.
- Revisit land users to view implemented land use practices or plans.
- Respond to complaints or questions on wetland jurisdiction, providing information or clarification.
- Compute cost estimates of different conservation practices, based on needs of land users, maintenance requirements, or life expectancy of practices.
- Provide information, knowledge, expertise, or training to government agencies at all levels to solve water or soil management problems or to assure coordination of resource protection activities.
- Analyze results of investigations to determine measures needed to maintain or restore proper soil management.
- Coordinate or implement technical, financial, or administrative assistance programs for local government units to ensure efficient program implementation or timely responses to requests for assistance.
- Review proposed wetland restoration easements or provide technical recommendations.
- Identify or recommend integrated weed and pest management (IPM) strategies, such as resistant plants, cultural or behavioral controls, soil amendments, insects, natural enemies, barriers, or pesticides.
- Develop, conduct, or participate in surveys, studies, or investigations of various land uses to inform corrective action plans.
- Manage field offices or involve staff in cooperative ventures.
- Plan soil management or conservation practices, such as crop rotation, reforestation, permanent vegetation, contour plowing, or terracing, to maintain soil or conserve water.
- Initiate, schedule, or conduct annual audits or compliance checks of program implementation by local government.
- Develop water conservation or harvest plans, using weather information systems, irrigation information management systems, or other sources of daily evapotranspiration (ET) data.
- Survey property to mark locations or measurements, using surveying instruments.
- Review or approve amendments to comprehensive local water plans or conservation district plans.
- Enter local soil, water, or other environmental data into adaptive or Web-based decision tools to identify appropriate analyses or techniques.
- Develop or conduct environmental studies, such as plant material field trials or wildlife habitat impact studies.
- Provide access to programs or training to assist in completion of government groundwater protection plans.
Technology Skills
- Analytical or scientific software — Clover Technology GALENA; CropSyst Suite; Water Soil and Hydro-Environmental Decision Support System WATERSHEDSS; WinEPIC (see all 16 examples)
- Computer aided design CAD software — Autodesk AutoCAD
- Data base user interface and query software — CroPMan; Microsoft Access ; State Soil Geographic STATSGO Database; Water resources databases
- Document management software — Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat
- Electronic mail software — Email software; Microsoft Outlook
- Graphics or photo imaging software — Autodesk Maya
- Internet browser software — Web browser software
- Map creation software — ESRI ArcGIS software ; ESRI ArcInfo; ESRI ArcView; Geographic information system GIS software
- Office suite software — Microsoft Office
- Operating system software — Microsoft Windows
- Presentation software — Microsoft PowerPoint
- Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel
- Web platform development software — Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
- Word processing software — Microsoft Word
Hot Technology — a technology requirement frequently included in employer job postings.
Tools Used
- Desktop computers
- Digital cameras
- Global positioning system GPS receiver — Global positioning system GPS receivers
- Laser measuring systems — Laser distance measurement systems
- Levels — Dumpy levels
- Notebook computers — Laptop computers
- Personal computers
- Soil core sampling apparatus — Dutch augers
- Theodolites — Total stations
- Water samplers
- Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Biology — Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Engineering and Technology — Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Geography — Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Design — Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Science — Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Mathematics — Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Systems Evaluation — Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
- Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operations Analysis — Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Mathematical Reasoning — The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Far Vision — The ability to see details at a distance.
- Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Number Facility — The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Time Sharing — The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Work Activities
- Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
- Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
- Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
- Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
- Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
- Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
- Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
- Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
- Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
- Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
- Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
- Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
- Provide Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
- Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
- Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
- Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
- Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
- Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
- Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
- Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
- Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
- Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
- Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
- Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment — Providing documentation, detailed instructions, drawings, or specifications to tell others about how devices, parts, equipment, or structures are to be fabricated, constructed, assembled, modified, maintained, or used.
Detailed Work Activities
- Develop plans to manage natural or renewable resources.
- Advise others about land management or conservation.
- Inspect condition of natural environments.
- Monitor operational procedures in technical environments to ensure conformance to standards.
- Direct natural resources management or conservation programs.
- Develop collaborative relationships between departments or with external organizations.
- Plan natural resources conservation or restoration programs.
- Apply knowledge or research findings to address environmental problems.
- Collect geographical or geological field data.
- Mediate disputes.
- Communicate with the public on environmental issues.
- Advise others about environmental management or conservation.
- Train personnel in technical or scientific procedures.
- Research sustainable agricultural processes or practices.
- Assess compliance with environmental laws.
- Survey land or properties.
- Review plans or proposals for environmental conservation.
- Plan environmental research.
- Record research or operational data.
- Analyze environmental data.
- Compile environmental or climatological data.
- Advise others on the development or use of new technologies.
- Evaluate new technologies or methods.
- Research impacts of environmental conservation initiatives.
- Review environmental permits, plans, or reports.
Find occupations related to multiple detailed work activities
Work Context
- Electronic Mail — 80% responded "Every day."
- Face-to-Face Discussions — 81% responded "Every day."
- Telephone — 81% responded "Every day."
- Contact With Others — 52% responded "Constant contact with others."
- Deal With External Customers — 48% responded "Extremely important."
- Freedom to Make Decisions — 48% responded "Some freedom."
- Letters and Memos — 62% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- Outdoors, Exposed to Weather — 67% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- In an Enclosed Vehicle or Equipment — 62% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- Work With Work Group or Team — 38% responded "Extremely important."
- Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 52% responded "Important results."
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 38% responded "Every day."
- Structured versus Unstructured Work — 38% responded "Some freedom."
- Frequency of Decision Making — 33% responded "Every day."
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 65% responded "Very important."
- Duration of Typical Work Week — 81% responded "40 hours."
- Coordinate or Lead Others — 38% responded "Important."
- Frequency of Conflict Situations — 38% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- Physical Proximity — 52% responded "Slightly close (e.g., shared office)."
- Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 33% responded "High responsibility."
- Time Pressure — 43% responded "Once a month or more but not every week."
- Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 33% responded "High responsibility."
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets — 33% responded "Once a year or more but not every month."
- Spend Time Standing — 50% responded "About half the time."
- Very Hot or Cold Temperatures — 30% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
Job Zone
|Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
|Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
|Related Experience
|A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
|Job Training
|Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
|Job Zone Examples
|Many of these occupations involve coordinating, supervising, managing, or training others. Examples include real estate brokers, sales managers, database administrators, graphic designers, chemists, art directors, and cost estimators.
|SVP Range
|(7.0 to < 8.0)
Percentage of Respondents
|Education Level Required
|Bachelor's degree
|Associate's degree
|Master's degree
Interest code: IRE Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
- Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
- Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
- Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Work Styles
- Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
- Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
- Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
- Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
- Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
- Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
- Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
- Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
- Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
- Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
- Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
- Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
- Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
- Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
- Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
- Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Work Values
- Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
- Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
- Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Related Occupations
Wages & Employment Trends
Median wage data for Conservation Scientists.
Employment data for Conservation Scientists.
Industry data for Conservation Scientists.
|Median wages (2019)
|$30.12 hourly, $62,660 annual
|State wages
|Local wages
|Employment (2018)
|23,800 employees
|Projected growth (2018-2028)
|Average (4% to 6%)
|Projected job openings (2018-2028)
|State trends
|Top industries (2018)
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019 wage data and 2018-2028 employment projections . "Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2018-2028). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
Job Openings on the Web
Sources of Additional Information
Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.
- American Society of Agronomy
- American Society of Mining and Reclamation
- EnviroCert International
- Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission
- International Erosion Control Association
- National Association of Conservation Districts
- National Association of State Conservation Agencies
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Conservation scientists and foresters
- Society of Soil Scientists of Northern New England
- Society of Wetland Scientists
- Soil and Water Conservation Society
- Soil Science Society of America


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2010 is the year when Google made the most significant changes to the Google search interface. After many years of improving the underlying search technology without too many obvious changes, Google felt that it has to morph Google search into a modern web application.
Today, Google's search engine has a lot of features that clutter the interface and advanced search features that can't be disabled. The focus has shifted from simplicity to interactivity. Google tries to anticipate your query after typing a few characters, you can filter the results by clicking on an option from the sidebar and you can even preview the results using annotated screenshots.
Until a few years ago, Google tried to find the best search results for your query. Now it helps you find the best query for your search. Google shows search suggestions, automatically corrects typos, ignores words from your query and fetches the list of search results as you type a query. Google search is now a web app that empowers users to adjust the results and to make decisions. It's not a decision search engine, it's just a search engine that lets you decide what are the best results.
Google's results are already personalized using signals like location or search history, but that's no longer enough to sift through billions of search results. The search box can't always capture user intent, so Google had to find ways to extend the search box to the entire search results page.
"As people get more sophisticated at search they are coming to us to solve more complex problems. To stay on top of this, we have spent a lot of time looking at how we can better understand the wide range of information that's on the web and quickly connect people to just the nuggets they need at that moment," explained a Google blog post from 2009 that announced the search options sidebar.
Google is all about reducing the friction of entering a query. You no longer have to "feel lucky" when you type something in the search box because the results are displayed instantly and you can quickly adjust them. Google's results don't have to be perfect because you can customize them until they're perfect for you.
There's one Google doodle that captures the essence of Google's transformation from a simple search engine to an interactive web app. It was used to promote Google Instant, but it's probably the best summary of this post:


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A small Mississippi solar panel factory that, until this week, had been working in semi-secrecy, claims that its unique manufacturing process allows photovoltaic panels to be produced at almost half the cost of conventional methods. The key, according to Twin Creeks Technologies, is in the thinness of its monocrystalline wafers, dramatically reducing the material required.
Where conventional solar wafers can be sliced down to about 180 micrometers in thickness, Twin Creeks is able to produce laminas only 20 micrometers wide using what it calls its "Hyperion" manufacturing system.
This system employs a technique Twin Creeks calls Proton Induced Exfoliation. During this process, hydrogen ions are embedded into layers within standard silicon monocrystalline wafers without altering the wafer's inherent characteristics. The ions are embedded using a high-voltage, high-current ion accelerator which Twin Creeks CEO Siva Sivaram told Technology Review is "10 times more powerful" than any accelerator commercially available. The embedded depth is precisely controlled via the voltage of the accelerator beam.
When the ion layer is heated inside a furnace, a thin lamina of the host wafter is separated from the rest. The process can be repeated with the same wafer to extract up to 10 usable layers. A metal-coating is applied to each layer to add strength.
Twin Creeks claims that only 10 percent of a standard wafer performs useful work. Though the company has not announced specific performance figures for panels created with its technology, it says that solar cells, LEDs and other devices made with its skinny laminae have "similar or better levels of performance" than those made using conventional wafers.
Though conventional solar wafer thickness has come down over the years, the 20-micrometer wafer available now is a disruptive breakthough. But rather than position itself as usurper, Twin Creeks seems to be pitching its manufacturing technology to established solar panel manufacturers rather than selling solar cells itself. The company claims that a factory equipped with its technology can manufacture solar cells for 40 cents per Watt. By comparison First Solar, which positions itself as the "premier provider of comprehensive PV solar systems", announced only last month that it had cut costs to 73 cents per Watt.
Research technologies (thin-wafers included) that threaten to multiply the efficiency of photovoltaic panels emerge with clockwork regularity, but generally such developments are far from proven at the commercial level. By contrast, Twin Creeks claims its Hyperion 3 systems are available for shipment immediately, and can individually produce 1.5 million skinny wafers—sufficient for over 6MW of solar cells—per year.
The exfoliation method is also applicable to germanium, silicon carbide, gallium nitride and other III-V compounds. Though Twin Creeks' initial focus is on solar cells, it claims its process is suitable in the manufacture of LEDs, power electronics equipment, image sensors and 3D packaging.


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One of the benefits of shopping online is the ability to get help from other customers when you're making purchasing decisions. Amazon.com illustrates this well with their product reviews and product recommendations based on the purchasing habits of other Amazon.com shoppers.
For a while we've given you some purchasing guidance with our Top 10 Lists and Product Guides. We're excited to add another source of information that will help you decide what to buy next.
Now at the bottom of every product page, you'll find a list of products that other customers who bought the item you're looking at also bought. We show you the top three, but you can see the top 10 by simply clicking more ».
In case you forget (or don't want) to scroll to the bottom of the page, we've added a link at the top of each page that says, "Browse similar products." Clicking it will jump you right to the bottom where you can explore and find all sorts of additional titles to add to your library.
For now we've put this new functionality in place only for currently shipping products, but you may eventually see it on Pre-Pub product pages as well.
Well, go give it a try, and let us know what you think. As always, we love to hear your feedback.


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9700 Richmond Avenue, Suite 320, Houston, TX 77042
Mortgages and Mortgage Brokers
Network Funding. It's an interesting name for a mortgage company, but it's one that communicates both our vision and our story. In 1998, two longtime colleagues, Buzz Baker and Rex Chamberlain, set out to be different from the competition by creating a network of mortgage professionals driven by values, not just profit. They took this idea and turned it into a reality by creating Network Funding. From the beginning of Network Funding, we set ourselves apart from other financial institutions in both design and essence. We began providing branches with loan product availabilities of a mortgage broker coupled with the administrative strength of a large financial institution. Consequently, our branches were free to focus on what mattered most, our clients. Quickly becoming a major player nationally, we grew to more than 150 branches across the country and over $2 billion in funding annually. In the years that followed, we worked hard to become known by our integrity. Recognizing the ethical dilemma and the imminent future danger involved with sub-prime loans, alternative credit programs and other exotic mortgage options, we continued striving to do the right things in lieu of higher profits. We saw that many of those programs would put families at risk by placing them in loans they shouldn't have been in and most wouldn't understand. Inevitably the housing crisis of 2008 arrived, crushing the financial institutions that preferred quick profits over higher principles and leaving the dreams of so many in shambles. As banks and lenders across the nation failed, we grew. While many felt the American Dream was dying and the entire mortgage industry was on the brink of collapse, we began to thrive more than we ever anticipated, showing there was still hope in an industry marred by unethical practices. Being one of the few mortgage companies to grow through the crisis, our reputation now precedes us. So as we look to tomorrow, we know the principles on which we were established will be the foundation upon which we continue to grow. Integrity, reliability and simplicity are our standards; funding your home in the American Dream is our goal.


text: kernatch Share Posted January 31, 2008 Alright, I don't agree with what they did in Mythbusters!. When they pull that curtain with the truck the other way, the plane is still going and moving, it's gaining forwardness, it has to pick up! but when the belt is going the same speed with the plane, it wont allow it to move so no air on the wings, this isn't possible, mythbusters did this wrong, what do you guys think. The plane can move forward regardless of the ground below. See my post above. Link to post Share on other sites


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Once upon a time, I talked about how Trivandrum Central would be upgraded to a world-class rail terminus, Lalu Prasad's new mantra for the upgradation of important stations (18 in all, if I recall correctly) including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Trivandrum. That was four years ago, and since then we have heard nothing else but for a few vague mentions in successive Rail Budgets. One would have been forgiven for thinking that the grandiose idea was mere lip-service, and now it is official. The Railways have given up on the prototypical "World-class" station, New Delhi, and decided to proceed with a much humbler, in-house upgrade. The fact that there is no confidence that the rail hub in India's Capital and largest city can be re-developed, bodes ill for the historic station in Kerala's Capital and largest city. Combined with the near-zero progress in the development of the much-touted Kochuveli Satellite Rail Terminal and the proposed railway station and yard at Nemom, not to mention the still-invisible MEMU (commuter trains on the mainline) and a long list of announced-but-still-on-paper trains, the scorecard of the Railways is looking very dismal for our city.
- Shift as many parked rakes as possible on to the unused lines at the Kochuveli goods yard and even to Kazhakkoottam and Nemom (this will necessitate additional shunting but that should be manageable on a temporary basis)
- Construct at least two additional platforms at Trivandrum Central immediately (freeing up 4 stabling/sick lines should provide enough space for this); these could be used both for the MEMU service and for long-distance trains
- Construct Multi-Level Car Parks (MLCPs) on the land available near the Thampanoor flyover and on Powerhouse road. These can be done on a PPP basis so that there is no capital burden for the Railways.
- Extend the South pedestrian overbridge to cover all platforms; evaluate extending the North overbridge to the bus terminal
- Open the North entrance (well constructed but closed ever since its inauguration a few years ago!) opposite the bus terminal, with proper access control and potentially with additional ticketing counters
- Upgrade all platforms to the standards of Platform One with improved floors, digital signage and other amenities
- Provide additional high-mast lighting on both sides of the Station and add more lights to the platforms
- Provide fee Wi-fi on all platforms; this could be easily arranged through a sponsorship
- Complete the island platform and at least five pit/stabling lines in the coming year; this would allow for some pit lines to be freed up at Trivandrum Central
- Complete the foot overbridge linking both sides of the terminal; there are frequent bus services along the Veli road on the other side
- Ensure stops for as many long distance trains as possible at Kochuveli to ensure round the clock activity which would allow for amenities such as taxis, buses and food outlets to be operated viably; this would also reduce passenger congestion at Central
- Erect high-mast lights for the terminal premises and street lighting for the approach road which needs to be widened to 3 lanes
- Establish a MLCP on a PPP basis
- Complete an additional 2 platforms and a total of 10-12 pit/stabling lines by 2013
Nemon Terminal
Even a year after the completion of base facilities in Kollam, the long-awaited Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) service shows little sign of commencing operations between Neyyatinkara and Kollam, connecting Trivandrum with its southern and northern satellites, including Attingal and Varkala en route. The MEMU is basically a commuter train, such as those that form the backbone of the transport system in Mumbai, but which is capable of running on the main line instead of just on segregated commuter rail lines. The MEMU is designed to move high-volumes of commuters over relatively short distances (an hour's travel or so). It is imperative that at least 3 MEMU rakes be immediately made available so that services on the Kollam - Neyyatinkara stretch can be run every 30 minutes during peak hours (7 AM to 8.30 AM and 5 PM to 6.30 PM) and every 45 minutes to an hour off peak. The introduction of the MEMU service will allow the shuttle trains to be taken out of service and their coaches redeployed to long distance trains. The services along the Kollam-Varkala-Attingal-Trivandrum-Balaramapuram-Neyyatinkara would help in the integration of the Trivandrum metropolitan region and the merger of Kollam into it as a satellite city.
This is a nearly zero cost initiative since the MEMU infrastructure is already in place and the induction of the MEMU rakes would be in effect offset by the freeing up of the existing shuttle rakes which can be redeployed to other services.
On a longer term, the proposed Chenganoor-Adoor-Trivandrum line and/or the proposed Erumeli-Punalur-Trivandrum line can be routed to proceed via Venjaramoodu and Nedumangad to meet the mainline at Nemom. This would provide a commuter ring line to the east of the CBD where MEMUs can be operated to draw in commuters from catchments along the the M.C.Road such as Kottarakara Anchal and Adoor.
The commissioning of the Vizhinjam deep water port will definitely bring additional traffic on to the rail network around Trivandrum even if the primary purpose of the port is transshipment. There will be some hinterland cargo for direct delivery/pickup from Southern Kerala and Southern Tamilnadu, as well as from key industrial clusters like Coimbatore and Bangalore, drawn by the direct access to the biggest mainline ships that will call at Vizhinjam, instead of getting cargo transshipped via, say, Colombo. If a coal terminal is set up at Vizhinjam, and the coal is shipped out by train instead of by a conveyor belt or barges/coastal coal carrying ships, this could mean 30,000 tons or ten rakes will need to be moved daily (for a annual throughput of 10 Million tons of coal). With the rail network running well above 100% capacity at present, this would necessitate the construction of a third or fourth line. The bare minimum requirement would be the immediate doubling of the Trivandrum - Kanyakumari line, on to which the Vizhinjam port would be connected at Balaramapuram. Unfortunately, the Railways seem to be feigning ignorance of this tiny little development, even while they cleared the construction of the rail spur to the port last year. Consequently the Trivandrum Division needs to prepare a master plan for the entire network, not just for Balaramapuram station, to handle the cargo traffic due to the port that is all set to be commissioned in 2014-15, and also ask Concor to immediately conduct studies to link Vizhinjam with the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in key locations such as Bangalore, Coimbatore and Ernakulam as well as to set up an ICD in proximity to the port.
Finally, there is one relatively inexpensive but impactful change which the Railways need to make at the earliest. In fact, it would probably cost no more than a few dabs of paint and changes to websites. The change in question is to modify the name of Kochuveli station to Trivandrum Kochuveli (TVK?), Nemom to Trivandrum Nemom (TVN?) and Kazhakkoottam to Trivandrum Technopark (TKP?). When I last enquired about this with the Railways, they mentioned that it could be done with a simple request from the State Government. Painless changes, but ones which would spare thousands of people the trouble of figuring out the fact that a station with the code "KCVL" is actually located in Trivandrum!
Dr Shashi Tharoor has encapsulated many of the points, mentioned above, in a letter that he had sent to the Railway Minister, but these initiatives now need to be pursued with renewed vigour well in advance of the Rail Budget due in February 2012. The State Government too needs to move on from symbolic gestures like hosting the Railway Minister at Trivandrum and create a time-bound game-plan to take a priortized list of projects to pursue with the Railways using its new clout at the Center (being of the same flavor as the Central Govt.) as well as getting all 20 MPs from Kerala on board. Simply put, the initiatives listed above will not cost the Railways more than about Rs 100 Crores over the next 3 years, and this must be put in perspective with the Rs 900 Crores that the Trivandrum Division earned in 2010-11, Rs 600 Crores of which was from passenger traffic alone. By developing additional passenger and cargo capacity, the Railways stand to double or triple this figure and hence, what is proposed is a big win-win.
It's all very good to have ambitious visions for the development of the rail infrastructure in and around Trivandrum, but in today's resource constrained context for the Railways, and given the urgent need for many of these projects, it is most pragmatic to go in for the easy-wins first and to proceed on a track which minimizes immediate expenses and which tries to find revenues to feed costs along the way. Fingers crossed on many of these proposals making coming to fruition, in which case the Railways stand to keep playing an important role in and benefiting from the development of Trivandrum.


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The red and yellow is back, brother.
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has returned to WWE and will host WrestleMania 30 on Sunday, April 6, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Hogan will make his long-awaited return to WWE on Monday's Raw. He will also appear on WWE Raw Backstage Pass, airing live on WWE Network immediately following Raw.
"We are thrilled that Hulk Hogan has returned home to WWE," WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon said. "It's fitting to have him help us celebrate 30 years of WrestleMania and usher in a new era with the launch of WWE Network."
A larger-than-life icon, Hogan was regarded as the "Face of WWE" when Randy Orton was still in snakeskin diapers. The Hulkster's rise to sports-entertainment immortality began on Jan. 23, 1984, when he defeated The Iron Sheik in Madison Square Garden to become WWE Champion. That victory started a pop culture phenomenon known as "Hulkamania" with Hogan bringing WWE to international prominence with appearances on MTV, his own animated series and a definitive WrestleMania III main event against Andre the Giant in front of a record 93, 173 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome.The Hulkster went on to become a six-time WWE Champion, and a WrestleMania icon, battling everyone from The Rock to 2014 WWE Hall of Fame inductee The Ultimate Warrior on The Grandest Stage of Them All. In 2005, Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his "Rocky III" co-star Sylvester Stallone. His red and yellow boots have not touched a WWE mat since December 2007, but that will change this Monday night.
"Words cannot express how excited I am to be back in the WWE family," Hogan said. "I only have one question for the WWE Universe: Whatcha you gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild as the host of WrestleMania 30?"
CREDIT / SOURCE - WWE.com


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Broad coalition of Wisconsin unions files federal lawsuit to block anti-worker bill
WASHINGTON - June 15, 2011 -
A broad coalition of Wisconsin unions, including the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's Budget Repair Bill. The bill would gut collective bargaining rights for all but a select group of public workers who belong to unions that supported Gov. Scott Walker in the last election. WEAC is an affiliate of the National Education Association. NEA worked to develop the lawsuit and will assist with its litigation. The lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
"NEA stands in solidarity with WEAC in working to right the wrongs of Gov. Walker and his deep-pocketed allies," said Dennis Van Roekel, president of NEA. "Under the guise of fixing the budget, the governor and his supporters railroaded opponents of their anti-worker agenda. This bill is an effort to silence the voices of working Wisconsinites, and it's unconscionable."
The lawsuit charges that the Budget Repair Bill violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by stripping away basic rights to bargain, organize and associate to engage in union and political activity from most Wisconsin public sector employees. These rights have been in place for the last half century. Only employees working in job classifications, represented by the handful of unions that supported Gov. Walker in the last election, were spared from these punitive cutbacks.
"A stable middle class is essential to rebuilding our economy," said Van Roekel. Union jobs were key in developing a vibrant middle class and now labor unions must work together to defeat the likes of Gov. Walker and the Koch brothers who appear to be set on a course to dismantle the middle class, one union worker at a time."
The suit contends that it is a violation of the U.S. Constitution for a legislature to discriminate among classes of public employees, particularly when doing so does not advance legitimate policy objectives and instead simply rewards political allies and punishes political opponents.
The lawsuit seeks to block some, but not all, of the provisions of the Budget Repair Bill that enact this discriminatory treatment into law. The unions are not asking the court to block the new pension and health insurance contribution requirements imposed by the bill. The unions have long been on record that they accept these substantial economic cuts and seek only to preserve their basic rights to bargain and freely associate.
"We should not push the Constitution aside to achieve a partisan political agenda," added Van Roekel. "I hope the court moves quickly to put the brakes on these bad choices. We may not always agree, but the democratic process is enhanced by the ability to share, not stifle ideas and opinions."
Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/NEAMedia
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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing
3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
CONTACT: Ramona Parks-Kirby (202) 822-7823, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Welcome to Rockhampton, where bovines reign supreme in the beef capital of Australia. Soak up historic Queensland architecture, grand sandstone pubs and memories of the gold rush era.
Taste the region's beef, crocodile and mud crab at a local pub and follow it up with an indoor rodeo. Feel the dust and drama at the annual cattle sales, visit a crocodile farm or back a winning race horse. Walk, cycle or fish for barramundi in the Fitzroy River, visit the art gallery or stroll the 144-year-old Heritage-listed botanical gardens.
Commando crawl through caves and limestone shafts formed by a prehistoric coral reef 400 million years ago. Join a guided ranger tour into Mt Etna Caves National Park at dusk, from December to February, to witness thousands of bent wing bats at feeding time. See 150-million-year-old dinosaur footprints in Mount Morgan.


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Silhouette Cameo 3 Craft Bundle $189.99 (Retail $279.99)
Today ONLY (4/7) you can snag this Silhouette Cameo 3 Craft Bundle $189.99 (Retail $279.99).
The Silhouette CAMEO 3 is the ultimate DIY machine. It uses a small blade to cut over 100 materials, including paper, cardstock, vinyl, and fabric up to 12 in. wide. The CAMEO has the ability to register and cut printed materials and is PixScan compatible. The Silhouette CAMEO 3 machine has a large cutting space and is most versatile in the materials it can cut.
The Silhouette CAMEO 3 is your standard in electronic Cutting. Like a home printer, it connects to your pc, mac, iPad, iphone or Android device wirelessly or connect using the included USB cable. Instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric, and other material up to 12 inches wide and 10 feet long. The machine also has the ability to register and cut printed materials and is PixScan compatible.
The Silhouette CAMEO 3 has all of the same capabilities as the previous versions along with a few added features. It features a dual-carriage so you can use two tools at once and it features Bluetooth technology. To top it all off, the CAMEO 3 is the only machine compatible with Silhouette's new AutoBlade.
-Cuts a variety of material including vinyl, paper, cardstock, fabric, and other materials up to 12 inches wide and 10 feet long with 2mm clearance
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-Blade and other storage compartments keep all the extra blades and tools in one easy to access storage compartment.
-Bundle includes: CAMEO 3 cutting machine, Silhouette Studio software, power cable and USB cable, two 12-inch cutting mats, autoblade cutting blade, sketch pen starter pack (24 pens total), and vinyl starter pack.
If you love the site, PLEASE help us grow and keep going - share with a friend or two. With the changes on FB make sure to like, share or leave a comment.


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This multi-frequency all-sky image of the microwave sky has been composed using data from Planck covering the electromagnetic spectrum from 30 GHz to 857 GHz.
The mottled structure of the CMBR, with its tiny temperature fluctuations reflecting the primordial density variations from which today's cosmic structure originated, is clearly visible in the high-latitude regions of the map.
The central band is the plane of our Galaxy. A large portion of the image is dominated by the diffuse emission from its gas and dust. The image was derived from data collected by Planck during its first all-sky survey, and comes from about 12 months of observations.
To the right of the main image, below the plane of the Galaxy, is a large cloud of gas in our Galaxy. The obvious arc of light surrounding it is Barnard's Loop – the expanding bubble of an exploded star. Planck has seen whole other galaxies. The great spiral galaxy in Andromeda, 2.2 million light-years from Earth, appears as a sliver of microwave light, released by the coldest dust in its giant body. Other, more distant, galaxies with supermassive black holes appear as single points of microwaves dotting the image.
Derived from observations taken between August 2009 and June 2010, this image is a low-resolution version of the full data.


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The UFC's "Primetime" series was back Friday, featuring the upcoming welterweight title unification bout between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit.
The second episode of "UFC 154 Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Condit" now is available to view online following its premiere on FX.
UFC 154 takes place Nov. 17 and features 170-pound champion St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) vs. interim champ Condit (28-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the main event to unify their titles.
"UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit" takes place at Bell Centre in Montreal, St-Pierre's home city. St-Pierre, who is recovering from knee surgery, fights for the first time since an April 2011 win over Jake Shields and will have endured almost 19 months on the shelf when he enters the cage. Meanwhile, Condit competes for the first time since earning the UFC's interim title with a February decision win over Nick Diaz.
Check out the full Part II episode of "UFC Primetime" above. In addition, you can check out Part I of the series at MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)
For more on UFC 154, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Carlos Condit)


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Your challenges are many: globalization, consolidation, changing global standards, stricter government regulations, and consumer demand for greater performance at a lower price.
You must reap the most productivity from every stage of your manufacturing process. At the same time, you must ensure the tires you produce meet your customers' specifications and overall quality standards.
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Our tire manufacturing automation and control systems support you in every step of the process: from raw materials process and mixing, to component preparation, to tire building and curing, through to final finish and inspection. We also support safety, material handling, and energy management throughout the plant.
Our full-spectrum approach provides easier integration and standardization across plants and throughout the tire-production life cycle. Our solutions help you meet safety and regulatory requirements, while integrating efficiencies to improve productivity and quality.
We deliver industrial automation and control through our control systems, motor control, and smart devices portfolios
As the world leader in automation and safety services and technologies, we will help you develop safer, more productive solutions
Our services help you avoid downtime, ease staffing burdens, and get back online quickly with minimal impact on production
From custom turnkey solutions to simply providing you with the tools to do it yourself, we will help you get the highest possible return on your automation investment
We offer industrial security and solutions to help securely connect your automation products across your plant and throughout your enterprise
Tire building machines (TBM) are widely used to build green tires. For tire manufacturers, these machines need to be productive, safe, flexible, and easy to use. For machine builders this means providing machines that are modular, standard, and cost-effective.
Use our high-performance Integrated Architecture? system with integrated safety on your tire building machines to:
Learn More About Our Integrated Architecture System
Tire curing is a critical process and represents a significant capital investment. No matter what the scale of your operation, you depend on your curing presses for fast, reliable, and repeatable performance.
Using our Integrated Architecture system, you can enhance equipment utilization and productivity for your tire curing processes.
Smart manufacturing is the gateway to digital transformation. Connected smart devices open new windows of visibility into processes. Data and analytics enable better and faster decision-making. Seamless connectivity spurs new collaboration.
The Connected Enterprise makes all this possible. It converges plant-level and enterprise networks and securely connects people, processes, and technologies


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Malibu & Great Works have come up with a way for you to hear what your favorite cocktail sounds like. They grabbed a team of DJ's and mixed up over 600 beats for 81 drink recipes. So you can either find the best tune and start drinking the corresponding drink or get your favourite drink and enjoy it with the perfect beat.
If you like it, you can download an MP3, ringtone or post it into facebook. Check out the site here.


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A smart, fashionably furnished yet traditional hotel in the centre of town with first-class service, The Bloomsbury Hotel is great value for money among the capital's 4-star establishments. Close to the British Museum, it's just far enough away from the traffic and crowds of Oxford Street for a peaceful stay but Tottenham Court Road Tube keeps you well connected and in the heart of the action.
Rating: 88% of LondonTown customers would recommend to a friend - 2265 recent customers surveyed out of 5 based on
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|Amazing experience. All staff where very tentative, we will be booking again in the near future,
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To book the The Bloomsbury Hotel London by phone, call the telephone booking department on 011 44 20 7420 4969. The hotel reservations call centre is open seven days a week from 8am until 11pm (UK time) seven days a week. From USA call 011 44 20 7420 4969
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Are you booking for a group of people? If you are making a booking for a group of people and require over 10 rooms, you may prefer to speak to the Group Booking Department for The Bloomsbury Hotel London bookings. Special deals can be arranged for groups, including discounts and arrangements for adjacent and inter connecting rooms if required. Call the Groups Reservations Department on 0207 292 2307. The best way to book a group deal is to complete the online form for group reservations at The Bloomsbury Hotel London .
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The Ichiro Comedy Hour
After getting handcuffed by Hideki Matsuis second inning sac fly here at Yankee Stadium for an error that ultimately did no damage to the Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki got a mock roar of anticipation and excitement from the crowd as he lined up to catch Francisco Cervellis fly just two batters later.
Ichiro – of the underpublicized sense of humor and the giddy giggle whenever Ken Griffey tickles him, promptly pulled a Justin Upton. As he squeezed Cervellis fly to end the inning, he fake-tossed it towards the stands, giving the fans something to really roar about.
Leading off the top of the third, the one-named wonder was called out on by umpire Jerry Meals on a check swing – held his bat level in that limbo pose for a second, begging for the ball call. When it didnt come, he unfroze the pose and finished the swing.
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Boy, Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees. There is no doubt that the premier teams of the 1990's were the NYY & Atlanta Braves. But the Seattle Mariners of the 1990's – unbelievable team. Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey, Alex R., w/Lou Pinella as their manager. As great as the rivalry is between the Red Sox/NYY, which attracts a great deal of attention in October, who could EVER forget the playoff series in 1995 between the NYY & Seattle? One for the ages. Spectacular. Seattle was a great team back then. Best Trade – Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe from Seattle to the Red Sox for Slocumb. Speaking of rivalries, I think the NYY/Mets rivalry is hilarious.
"I went through baseball as "a player to be named later."
– Joe Garagiola –
You think Yankees vs. Seattle is good you should go to a Boston game at Safeco. I am positive Boston fans outnumber Seattle fans at those games. The fans are well coordinated as well, left field is a sea of red and right field is a sea of blue. I think these games are only games you will go to where the visiting team fans' cheers are louder than the home team fans' cheers. Since you have such an "electric" crowd you are guaranteed a good game. One of my fondest memories at Safeco was a Boston game July 23, 2006 (again Boston outnumbering Seattle in the stands). The game had gone forth with who was leading until the bottom of the 9th when it was tied 8-8. Sexson walked up (first man to bat in the 9th) and hit a lead off home run. You could hear the Seattle fans after that one 😉
justanothercoed: I got quite a kick out of your post. I had no idea there were so many Sox fans up there. I've been telling your story to family & friends and they think it's hilarious. So thank you. I wish MLB would consider doing day-night doubleheaders on the 4th of July, especially in Boston & NY & Phila. Baseball & the 4th just seem to go together on this holiday more than others (with the exception of Patriots' Day up here). Again, thanks for your post. I really enjoyed it. btw, I used to live in Washington. It was beautiful there.
"Candlestick was built on the water. It should have been built under it."
– Roger Maris –
1st post edit: "back and forth" not "forth"
Roger Maris: Glad you enjoyed the post. Also, there truly is no place more beautiful than Seattle on a summers day. If you, your family, or your friends are looking for a fun vacation I recommend Seattle when Boston is in town, it truly is a unique baseball experience^_^
I really like Ichiro, very funny moments there


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There's a certain irony that only days after several Baltimore County beaches had to be closed as unsafe, some Baltimore County businesses and politicians were complaining about a tax on stormwater runoff. After all, it wasn't the presence of a great white shark that closed the county beaches but rain that swept bacteria and other pollution into the water.
Nobody likes to pay more in taxes, and it isn't too surprising that the "rain tax" complaints were revived last week when people opened up property tax bills that include the new tax. But it is a little disappointing that those so quick to criticize the tax fail to recognize its necessity — unless, of course, they have another way to pay for $25 million in remediation projects each year.
But we will give critics some credit. No doubt there are business owners who are getting overcharged because the county's method for judging how much they should pay — scrutinizing aerial photographs to measure impervious surfaces — is imprecise. From the air, porous blacktop probably looks a lot like the kind that doesn't allow water to filter through, and rain gardens look like, well, gardens.
That's why the county gives property owners the right to appeal the tax — first to the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability and then, if necessary, to an administrative hearing officer. If the county has overstated the amount of impervious surface on a property, whether it's a building or a private road, that should be corrected.
The truth is the way Baltimore County has approached the problem of stormwater pollution — and the state requirement to create a fee to cover its cost — has been pretty sensible. Homeowners face a flat fee of $21 (for a town house) to $39 (for a single family dwelling), and considering that property tax assessments have been stagnant (with some actually in decline in recent years), it's probably not even noticeable.
Businesses pay more, but they are also likely to have parking lots or other drainage issues that account for more of the problem. For them, the charge is $69 per 2,000 square feet of impervious surface or $20 per 2,000 square feet if they are a non-profit. A typical downtown Towson business might face a bill of $400-to-$500 per year.
Some people may ask, what if the county had thumbed its nose at the law like officials in Carroll County did and approved no tax? Well, the county then would have no way to meet federal water quality standards. Eventually, a court would be forced to intervene, and who knows what remediation might be required. The next fee might be a great deal higher — or perhaps the county would have to shortchange schools or public safety, slap a moratorium on further development or take other actions far worse than a fee.
Most important, the longer Baltimore County allows pollution into its rivers, streams, lakes and other waterways, the more damage that results. Water pollution comes from a variety of sources, but stormwater runoff is one of the most concerning because the problem is getting progressively worse, not better. Surely, people living in a county with 232 miles of shoreline can appreciate the need to better protect the Chesapeake Bay.
The big mistake was allowing development of all forms — from roads to schools to shopping centers and apartment buildings — without requiring better management of runoff so that it would slowly filter into the ground rather than swiftly pour into drainage ditches and creeks. We are paying for the cost of decades of poor stewardship.
Make no mistake, this problem is not unique to Maryland. Other communities are adopting similar taxes. Business should be happy that — just as the flush tax has been dedicated to improving sewage treatment — the "rain tax" can only be spent on stormwater improvements. County officials expect to break ground on the first of these projects by early next year.
Those who sneer at this remedy need to be asked: What would you do about the problem? Mocking the tax doesn't clean up a polluted creek, river or beach.


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By Alan Duffy
Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal – Premier League – 9th February 2013
Arsenal had to endure an injury to Jack Wilshere and a red card from Carl Jenkinson but the Gunners still managed to secure a hard-fought three points at the Stadium of Light.
The Gunners were superb in the first-half and should have gone in at half-time with more than just the one goal lead (scored by Santi Cazorla).
However, early on in the second-half, injury forced man of the moment Jack Wilshere out of the action while on the hour mark, Jenkinson was rightly sent off for a second bookable offence.
The north Londoners had seen Laurent Koscielny limp out of the pre-match warm-up, with Bacary Sagna standing in the centre of defence (Thomas Vermaelen was out injured). With Jenkinson off, Aaron Ramsey took over at right-back and Arsene Wenger's patched-up bakline was put under immense pressure by the Black Cats. Steven Fletcher, Stephane Sessegnon and Adam Johnson all came close with Wojciech Szczesny superb in the Arsenal goal.
Theo Walcott hit the post late on but the visitors, under the cosh for most of the second period, fought tooth and nail to secure the vital win, which sees them move up to fifth, four points behind Spurs.
Martin O'Neill's Black Cats are now in 13th position in the table.
Photos: PA