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Episode 59 — Are You at the End of Your Series?
|Podcast Series
|Chatting About Books: Recommendations for Young Readers
See all episodes in this series
iTunes Subscription
|Original Air Date
|Published September 09, 2013
Music in this podcast is provided by Freeplay Music.
Book Chat
If you like the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne or the Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka, you might like the Dragon Slayers Academy series by Kate McMullan.
The New Kid at School (Dragon Slayers Academy #1) by Kate McMullan (Grossett & Dunlap, 1997-2012)
It all started when a traveling minstrel read Wiglafs fortune. His fortune said that he would be a great hero. Hard to believe for the son who is known as the runt of the family, but with plenty of gumption and determination, Wiglaf heads off to Dragon Slayers Academy (DSA). However, what he finds at DSA is not quite what he expected: Eel for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, students who havent really slayed dragons (does stepping on a dragon egg count?), and teachers who are more concerned with making a buck than making a hero. But when Wiglaf gets picked to slay Gorzil, he must put everything he has learned so far (which isnt much) to the test. If only he knew Gorzils weakness. Kids will enjoy this series set in medieval times with the unexpected hero Wiglaf leading the troops and a school of kids who always manage to best the adults and the dragons in their lives!
Visit Kate Mcmullans website to learn more about Wiglaf and see the titles of all 20 books in the series: http://www.katemcmullan.com/dsa01.htm
If you like the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant, you might like the Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa series by Erica Silverman.
Any cowgirls or cowboys in your house? Then saddle up and try out this series. Spunky cowgirl Kate and her talking (and sometimes stubborn) horse, Cocoa, have plenty of adventures to keep kids reading. No matter the situation, whether its convincing Cocoa that calves arent half bad or calming Cocoa down after a ghost scare, these two remain true partners. Kids will like that Cocoa speaks his own mind and that Kate is resourceful and capable. She definitely knows her way around a ranch. This series would work well for beginning readers in first and second grade.
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt, 2006)
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Partners by Erica Silverman; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt, 2007)
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: School Days by Erica Silverman; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt, 2008)
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Rain or Shine by Erica Silverman; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt, 2008)
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Horse in the House by Erica Silverman; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt, 2010)
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Spring Babies by Erica Silverman; illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Harcourt, 2011)
If you like Ricky Ricottas Mighty Robot series by Dav Pilkey or the Lunch Lady series Jarrett Krosoczka, you might like the Squish series by Jennifer and Matt Holm.
Squish is an amoeba. You might not think that amoebas are all that interesting, but if you dare to magnify their lives and look closely you will see that amoebas arent all that different from you and me. Jennifer and Matt Holm, the authors of the graphic novel series Babymouse, team up once again to bring kids Squish, a comic-book-loving amoeba that has to weather lifes ups and downs, along with his two best amoeba friends, Peggy and Pod. Squish battles bullies, peer pressure, swim lessons, parents, and video game obsession with the inspiration of his favorite comic-book hero: Super Amoeba!
Squish #1: Super Amoeba by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2011)
Squish #2: Brave New Pond by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2011)
Squish #3: The Power of the Parasite by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012)
Squish #4: Captain Disaster by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012)
Squish #5: Game On! by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2013)
If you like Junie B. Jones (series by Barbara Park) and Clementine (series by Sara Pennypacker), you might like Stella Batts (series by Courtney Sheinmel).
Featured Authors Website: http://courtneysheinmel.com/index.html
Stella Batts Needs a New Name by Courtney Sheinmel (Sleeping Bear Press, 2012)
Third grader Stella Batts is writing her autobiography, but first she needs to change her name (mostly so that Joshua will stop calling her Stella-Smella). So Stella convinces her friends that they should all change their names, and they do. The problem is that its hard to remember who is who, and pretty soon Stella begins to miss her own name. Stellas debut novel will have readers wishing they could be friends with the girl whose family owns the local candy store.
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow by Courtney Sheinmel (Sleeping Bear Press, 2012)
Stella is back, and she has plenty to write about. The new magical, glow-in-the-dark gum that her father brings for her and her sister Penny to try out accidentally gets stuck in her hair (okay, maybe she shouldnt have been chewing that piece of gumand, okay, maybe she forgot to spit it out before she fell asleep). When she wakes up, she panics and decides the only thing to do is to cut it out big mistake! Now, not only does she have super-short hair, but she also finds out her best friend is moving away. This magical gum is not working out at all like she had hoped.
Pardon Me by Courtney Sheinmel (Sleeping Bear Press, 2012)
Stella continues to work on her autobiography in the third book in the series. Her best friend Willa has moved away, and Stella needs a new friend. Evie, the new girl, seems like the perfect fit, but just as in books 1 and 2, Stellas perfect plans go a little awry!
A Case of the Meanies by Courtney Sheinmel (Sleeping Bear Press, 2012)
Life would be great for Stella Batts if it werent for .life! As readers learn through Stellas autobiographical writing, being a third grader isnt always easy. In the fourth book in this series, Stella must deal with a mean classmate: Joshua. Remember hes the one who gave her the nickname Stella-Smella? Its his birthday, and he wants to have his party at the candy store owned by Stellas parents. The problem? He invited everyone except Stella.
Whos in Charge? by Courtney Sheinmel (Sleeping Bear Press, 2013)
Stellas back! In her fifth book, and as usual for Stella, the best laid plans often go kersplat at least for a little while! Stella decides that she needs to take on some responsibilities, so she agrees to pet sit for her friend Evie without asking her mom first. Kids, this is never a good idea! And Stella soon finds that out.
Expert Chat
Listen in as Emily chats with Courtney Sheinmel, the author of the Stella Batts series. Courtney chats about her inspiration for her series and shares the details of her very own hair disaster as a 7-year-old.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub Jr. is calling on the chairman of House Oversight Committee to become more engaged in overseeing ethics questions in the Trump administration.
In an interview with NPR on Monday, Shaub said public inquiries and complaints involving Trump administration conflicts of interest and ethics have been inundating his tiny agency, which has only advisory power.
"We've even had a couple days where the volume was so huge it filled up the voicemail box, and we couldn't clear the calls as fast as they were coming in," Shaub said. His office is scrambling to keep pace with the workload.
But while citizens, journalists and Democratic lawmakers are pushing for investigations, Shaub suggested a similar level of energy is not coming from the House Oversight Committee, which has the power to investigate ethics questions, particularly those being raised now about reported secret ethics waivers for former lobbyists serving in the Trump administration.
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, has "authority to investigate these things and compel responses, so hopefully we'll see some action from him," Shaub said.
"OGE, however, has no investigative authority, so we're limited as to what we can do if these waivers are not being released publicly," he said.
Chaffetz' office said he had no comment.
The New York Times, in collaboration with ProPublica, published a story on Saturday saying Trump has been filling the White House and federal agencies with former lobbyists, lawyers and consultants, and has been generously waiving ethics requirements without even posting the waiver information on the Government Ethics website.
But while Chaffetz has generally been quiet on Trump-related ethics issues, the public has been hammering OGE with questions and complaints.
How big is the jump in public contacts, such as calls, letters and emails? During the six months between October 2008 and March 2009, as the Obama presidency was taking shape, the OGE got 733 contacts.
During the October 2016 to March 2017 period, it got 39,105 contacts from citizens — an increase of 5,235 percent.
Comparing those same two time periods, the number of Freedom of Information Act requests — typically from journalists and public-interest groups — shot up to 280 from 39. That's an increase of 618 percent.
Shaub said that, for example, when a top Trump adviser recommended certain fashion lines on Fox & Friends, the public outcry and media interest rocketed up.
"When Kellyanne Conway had endorsed Ivanka Trump's product line, our phones rang off the hook, and they practically melted the system," he said. "This is a level of attention that we haven't seen before in terms of public interest."
Shaub said Trump is correct when he says, as he did back in January, that presidents technically are not covered by law from having conflicts of interest. "I have a no-conflict situation because I'm president," Trump said at the press conference. He added, "I didn't know about that until about three months ago, but it's a nice thing to have."
There are ethics rules that do apply to members of his administration, though. Those are the ones keeping Shaub's small staff busy, according to the director.
"When you get 39,000 calls coming into a 71-person agency, the best they can do is log the calls," he said.
The statistical analysis, comparing the Obama and Trump eras, have not previously been released. Shaub says his office is "understaffed right now," compared with the massively increased workload involving FOIA requests and the congressional requests, coming mostly from Democrats. "I've never seen anything like this," he said.
Still, the office is keeping up with the advisory work — trying to guide Trump appointees on ethics laws and suggesting solutions to conflicts of interest they may face. Other routine business, such as doing staff training or writing new guidelines, has been put on hold as the staff focuses on moving along Trump staffers, he said.
The chief of the Office of Government Ethics says his small staff has been inundated with questions and complaints about the Trump administration, but there's only so much his office can do. It coaches officials on how to obey ethics laws, but it can't launch investigations or penalize rule breakers. So director Walter Shaub, Jr., is calling on Congress to be more vigilant. NPR's Peter Overby reports.
PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: Walter Shaub says unprecedented numbers of Americans are turning to the Office of Government Ethics with questions about the Trump administration, but ethics oversight is up to Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah.
WALTER SHAUB JR.: Chairman Chaffetz runs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He's got authority to investigate these things and compel responses, so hopefully we'll see some action from him.
OVERBY: Shaub said Chaffetz could investigate the White House use of secret waivers - that is, undisclosed decisions to exempt new appointees from the Trump administration's ethics pledge. The waivers were first reported Saturday in The New York Times. OGE lacks the investigative power to get the waivers from the White House.
So far, House Oversight has shown little interest in questioning the administration's ethics policies. Here's another example. Back in February, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway urged the public to buy merchandise marketed by Trump's daughter Ivanka. It seemed to violate the rule against using your position in government to endorse a product.
SHAUB JR.: When Kellyanne Conway had endorsed Ivanka Trump's product line, our phones rang off the hook, and they practically melted the system.
OVERBY: It wasn't the first time that Trump ethics questions overwhelmed the little agency's phone system. In the six months from last October to this March, OGE data show more than 39,000 public contacts with the agency - phone calls, emails and letters.
SHAUB JR.: That 39,000 number only counts the number of calls and emails that got through, but we've had a number of times where it just jammed the system, and a lot of calls weren't getting through.
OVERBY: Again, Walter Shaub...
SHAUB JR.: This is a level of attention that we haven't seen before in terms of public interest.
OVERBY: For perspective, OGE has stats on when the Obama administration came to D.C. in 2009. The number of public contacts then - about 700. And again, the number now - more than 39,000, all aimed at an agency with 71 employees and 11 percent of its jobs unfilled for lack of funds. Of course, the trigger for all this public attention is President Trump's approach to ethics. Here he is at a press conference a few days before he took office. He pointed out the conflict of interest law doesn't apply to presidents.
DONALD TRUMP: I have a no-conflict situation because I'm president, which is - I didn't know about that until about three months ago, but it's a nice thing to have.
OVERBY: Still, Shaub tried to coax Trump into selling off his assets, divesting them. He even used a Twitter campaign which may account, at least in part, for another eye-popping data point. OGE has more than 42,000 followers on Twitter. It has other followers, too, on Capitol Hill. A year ago, between October 2015 and March 2016, OGE received just 20 requests from lawmakers. This year, it's gotten more than five times as many. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:
Diamyd Medical AB has entered into an agreement for the sale of the U.S. subsidiary, Diamyd, Inc., involved in drug development primarily relating to the NTDDS platform with applications in pain and neuropathy among others. The buyer, Periphagen Holdings, Inc., is owned by members of the management of Diamyd, Inc. The agreement is subject to approval of an Extraordinary General Meeting of Diamyd Medical. By reason of the divestment, Diamyd Medical will postpone its Year End Report to October 31, 2012.
Under the agreement, in addition to the shares in Diamyd, Inc., Periphagen Holdings, Inc. assumes the intellectual property rights to the patented Nerve Targeting Drug Delivery System (NTDDS) technology, and all costs and revenues related to the business from September 1, 2012. The divestment will improve Diamyd Medical's operating profit/loss by approximately SEK 18 million during fiscal year 2012/13 compared to if the Company would have continued financing the development of the NTDDS platform.
During the fiscal year 2011/12, due to the transaction, impairment of intangible assets related to the NTDDS platform will have an adverse effect of SEK 17 million on operating profit/loss. The cash flow is not affected. Other immediate accounting effects and transaction costs attributable to the divestment are estimated to have an adverse effect on profit/loss during 2012/13 by approximately SEK 3 million. The impact on cash flow is minor.
The purchase price amounts to one dollar and shares in the acquiring company, providing Diamyd Medical a holding of 10 percent in Periphagen Holdings, Inc. In addition, Diamyd Medical may receive up to USD 10 million, primarily in milestone payments, as well as 10 percent of upfront payments and other payments Periphagen Holdings, Inc. may receive from future partners, and royalties on future sales of NTDDS based drugs.
"The divestment immediately and significantly reduces Diamyd Medical's costs, whilst we retain the right to share in future successes of the NTDDS platform. The development projects will receive full focus from their dedicated new owners, which makes it a great solution for both parties as well as for the NTDDS platform," says Peter Zerhouni, President and CEO of Diamyd Medical.
"We remain passionate about the NTDDS technology and have been involved since the research on nerve targeted gene delivery was initiated at the University of Pittsburgh in the 90's. It is a dream come true to increase our focus and run the business as our own," says Darren Wolfe, President of Diamyd, Inc. and Periphagen Holdings, Inc.
The transaction is a management buyout, where the purchasing corporation is owned by members of the management of Diamyd, Inc. The audit and consultancy firm Grant Thornton has prepared a fairness opinion regarding the transaction, and judge that, from a financial perspective, the terms are fair to the shareholders of Diamyd Medical. The agreement is subject to approval from Diamyd Medical's shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on October 30, 2012.
The board of directors has decided to postpone Diamyd Medical's Year End Report for the 2011/12 fiscal year, until the Extraordinary General Meeting has considered the transaction, as the meeting's decision will have an impact on the information in the Year End Report. The original date for the report was October 16, 2012. The new date for the Year End Report is October 31, 2012.
About Diamyd Medical
Diamyd Medical was founded in 1996 and is active in the field of pharmaceutical development. Diamyd Medical is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The Company's development project within the area of diabetes consists of the protein GAD65 for the treatment and prevention of autoimmune diabetes. A Swedish researcher-initiated Phase II study is ongoing to evaluate whether GAD65 can prevent type 1 diabetes in children who are at high risk of developing the disease. The Company's development projects for the treatment of chronic pain and neuropathy uses the patented NTDDS (Nerve Targeting Drug Delivery System) platform to administer therapeutic agents directly to the nervous system. The NTDDS platform is being divested.
Diamyd Medical also has holdings in the companies Protein Sciences Corporation (USA) and Mercodia AB (Sweden).
Diamyd shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX (segment Small Cap) in Stockholm (ticker: DIAM B) and on OTCQX in the US (ticker: DMYDY) administered by the Pink OTC Markets and the Bank of New York Mellon (PAL). Further information is available on the Company's website: www.diamyd.com.
This information is disclosed in accordance with the Swedish Securities Markets Act, the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act, or the requirements stated in the listing agreements.
Diamyd Medical AB (publ) Karlavägen 108, SE-115 26 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone: +46 8 661 00 26, Fax: +46 8 661 63 68 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. Reg. no: 556530-1420
This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
Peter Zerhouni, President and CEO
Diamyd Medical AB
Phone: +46 8 661 00 26.
E-mail: email@example.com
Source: Diamyd Medical


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Tagged News for Rimini
Amey takes Duathlon World Champs
28/09/08 - Paul Amey won his third ITU Duathlon World Championship on a day marred by controversy in Rimini, Italy today. Belgian Rob Woestenborghs was first across the line but after his own teammate lodged a... |Full Story
Fernandes defends Duathlon title
27/09/08 - Olympic silver medallist Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal successfully defended her ITU Duathlon World Championship today in Italy. It was a commanding victory for Fernandes who finished ahead of 2-time... |Full Story
Duathlon World Champs Preview
23/09/08 - Olympic silver medallist Vanessa Fernandes headlines the elite competition at this Saturday's ITU Duathlon World Championships in Rimini, Italy. One of the most accomplished athletes in ITU history and... |Full Story
Duathlon Champs includes AWAD
27/08/08 - This year's ITU Duathlon World Championships will be held in Rimini, Italy on September 27-28 and will feature races for Athletes with a Disability (AWAD). They will compete on the age-group course... |Full Story
Rimini welcomes the Duathletes!
06/10/06 - 6 October, 2006 Welcome to sunny Rimini, where the best European duathletes and many triathlon specialists gathered for the weekend. Rimini already hosted the World Duathlon Championships in 2001, but... |Full Story
Registrations are open!
17/08/06 - Our staff has been working for several months: T.D. Rimini is organizing a spectacular European Classic Duathlon Championship, that will take place in Rimini, the world famous capital of the Adriatic... |Full Story


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Funny Birthday Quotes T shirt for men born in October.
A funny birthday quotes t shirt for men who feel good about themselves!!
This is a premium quality T-shirt ethically made from 100% soft cotton and it is designed and printed by Da Londra in London. The T-shirt comes folded with a tissue insert and is presented in a clear Da Londra bag ready to be given as a gift.
You can machine wash this T-shirt at 40c.
Also see our other Da Londra designs for T shirts with Funny Quotes.


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Caesar's Chariot
Andrea Andreani, Italian, 1540/46 - 1623. After Andrea Mantegna, Italian (active Padua, Mantua, and Verona), 1431 - 1506.
Made in Mantua, Italy, Europe
Woodcut (chiaroscuro), printed in gray, black, and brown ink from four blocksDimensions:
Image: 14 5/8 x 14 13/16 inches (37.2 x 37.6 cm) Sheet: 15 1/4 x 15 inches (38.7 x 38.1 cm)Curatorial Department:
Prints, Drawings, and PhotographsObject Location:
Currently not on viewAccession Number:
1985-52-548Credit Line:
The Muriel and Philip Berman Gift, acquired from the John S. Phillips bequest of 1876 to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with funds contributed by Muriel and Philip Berman, gifts (by exchange) of Lisa Norris Elkins, Bryant W. Langston, Samuel S. White 3rd and Vera White, with additional funds contributed by John Howard McFadden, Jr., Thomas Skelton Harrison, and the Philip H. and A.S.W. Rosenbach Foundation, 1985
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In the late fifteenth century, Andrea Mantegna painted a monumental frieze (nine canvases, each measuring nine by nine feet) for the noble Gonzaga family of Mantua, Italy. Mantegna's work represented one of the most ambitious attempts ever to reconstruct the appearance of the ancient Roman processions, known as triumphs, that celebrated the victory of a general. To recreate the pomp and splendor of a triumph-with its musicians, standard-bearers, animals, prisoners of war, and trophies (precious booty and captured arms)-Mantegna drew on both ancient literary descriptions and ancient visual sources, such as coins, medals, and the relief sculpture on Roman triumphal arches.
Not everyone could travel to Mantua to see Mantegna's vast frieze, but the fame of the work was spread through the engravings produced by artists in Mantegna's circle. This splendid woodcut, which were created much later, reflects a revival of interest in the work a century after it was painted.


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(Written for Spinning.com)
There is indeed a magic formula when it comes to losing weight and getting fitter. In semi-mathematical terms, the magic formula consists of this: C+P+P=S (success).
What does this mean? Consistency + Persistence + Passion = Success.
With those three words you can change yourself, your life, your health and even the world around you.
If you don't believe me, look at those in your life who are successful at what they do. If they ran a marathon or rode a Century ride, for example, they were consistent in their training. They persisted, even when the odds were against them (rain, snow, heat, illness, life challenges). And they have passion for what they do.
tep outside the fitness world for a moment and take a peek at, let's say, Steve Jobs. The founder of Apple Computers was consistent (he kept standards and expectations high, while pushing the envelope with technology); he persisted (failure after failure, even when going up, at the time, against computer giant IBM); and he had passion (Jobs wanted to show the world what he felt was a better way to compute and communicate).
Consistency. Persistence. Passion.
If you say the name "Pink," only one person comes to mind: Alecia Moore, aka Pink. Pink's ability to instantly sell out huge arenas comes from the same success formula: Consistency (every day she consistently works at her music, her physical training, and all the details that go into a show). She is persistent (despite her detractors, she kept forging forward, marching to her own drum, following her dream). And she has passion…by the boatload.
What could YOU do with the magic formula?
If you exercised just 15 minutes a day (coupled with some longer sessions per week of—let's say, hmmm—Spinning classes), how much could you benefit your fitness, your weight and your health? Just that little bit of exercise, done consistently over time, would reap huge results.
If you were persistent, making sure that you found time in your schedule (for exercise, a college class or a new skill), eliminating other distractions, not listening to naysayers ("you'll never be able to…") what could you accomplish with your life?
If you had a passion for something—exercise, writing, playing guitar, dancing, cooking—what could possibly stand in your way?
Find what's important to you and apply the "secret formula of three" to it. Consistency. Persistence. Passion.
Do it every day. Don't give up. And feel the love. You. Can. Do. It.


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Edward Blake Mendez posted the following comment to my September 24 blog The Curious Case of the CFP Board and a Double-Dipping CFP:
What advice would you provide for someone who desires earning his CFP but does not want to associate with unethical behavior? How would you compromise the lofty CFP goals with the unvarnished reality?
These are questions that I suspect are on the minds of many CFPs—and prospective CFPs—these days, and have been for some time. I remember a conversation I had with a past FPA chairman nearly 10 years ago, in which he told me he was thinking of dropping his CFP credentials as the CFP Board was "becoming irrelevant to the advisory profession conversation." [The CFP Board itself responded to the 'Double-Dipping CFP' case in my same blog, btw.}
As for Mr. Mendez's question, it's one I wrestle with myself. Generally, I tend to be a "change from the inside rather than outside the tent" kind of guy. It's usually more effective to push for change from inside an organization rather than as an outside force. That's especially true if a substantial number of other insiders are pushing along with you. For instance, after years of pushing, some of the more client-oriented CFPs were able to convince the Board to add "fiduciary language" into its code of ethics, even if it's not as robust a fiduciary standard as some would like.
With that said, the bigger question seems to be what the CFP Board really wants to be when it grows up: an organization for professional financial advisors or a certifying body for securities salespeople? To confuse the issue even more, it's not even clear (to me, anyway) whether the Board even can be a professional organization, given the challenges it faces with the current ranks of CFPs. At the top of that list is a conflict that the Board has neatly sidestepped since its creation in 1985: How can registered representatives (who are legally required to represent the best interests of their broker-dealers) also be required to put their clients' interest first (let alone have a fiduciary duty) as CFPs? (A friend of mine who is a securities attorney recently told me that it can't be done.) Of course, the Board, in its zeal to attract more CFPs to "regulate," has turned a blind eye to this serious conflict of interest, thereby placing at least one of its feet deeply into the sales camp.
To my mind, the Board's schizophrenia (and therefore that of all CFPs), stems from its historical focus on a process rather than a profession. As long as the Board sees its "mission" to promote the six-step process of financial planning, it will be inclined to welcome a wide range of financial folks including insurance agents, stockbrokers, tax preparers, and bank employees, all of whom have conflicts that are antithetical to an advisory profession. As its history has shown time and again, the Board's "big tent" marketing approach has made writing—and enforcing—true professional standards virtually impossible.
While it's still too early to call, the Dodd-Frank debate over broker/advisor regulation may have started the ball rolling for a true advisory profession made up of Registered Investment Advisors, with an unambiguous fiduciary standard and requirements to avoid or mitigate conflicts with their clients' interests. If that happens, then the Board could go back to credentialing anyone who can fog a mirror, and truly professional advisors with, or without, a CFP would have a place to hang their hats.
But until that becomes a reality, client-centered advisors such as Mr. Mendez will have to content themselves with getting a CFP designation and pushing the Board from the inside, and possibly helping to create a more professional umbrella under which to practice comprehensive financial planning.


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And stay tuned for my thoughts on that iPhono 2! Super exciting product!!!
Had the original iPhono and thought it was fantastic! I'm sure the iPhono 2 is a step up!
big time! Getting a lot of requests for this one. Perhaps a tour is warranted... hmmm.
Just found your circle, neat. I've had the micro iDSD since it first came out. Doesn't always play well with the iUSB Power but other than that a nice little DAC. I use it in my desktop system (its a stay at home DAC).Now, about this Black version .... Mike
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Christopher Baker, Murmur Study, Installation View, Audi Open Space Pavilion, Frankfurt, 2011
photo: KMS Team
In Hello World! or: How I learned to stop listening and love the noise, you compiled 5,000 online diaries and showed them on one enormous wall. Along with their accompanying audio, they all play at once; you can occasionally hear one voice above the others as the sound rises and falls. How many of the individual clips did you watch? How were they selected? Are you familiar with the people in any way (via previous knowledge, web stalking, etc.)? Do any of them know that they're in this artwork?
My original motivation was to create an experience that addressed the contrast between our greatest hopes for new communication technologies and what they actually deliver. After spending time with an earlier iteration (which was essentially 5000 randomly selected videos), I decided that I really wanted to capture the optimism and excitement of new users as they spoke directly with their audience. To that end, I generated a set of search keywords that included phrases like "my first video blog" or "my first vlog" (among others), then downloaded about 30,000 of the resulting videos. In the end I decided to choose videos that had little to no post-production (i.e. graphics, titles, edits, etc), featured a typical webcam head and shoulders shot, and were recorded in a personal or private space, like a bedroom, home, car or bathroom. Since I downloaded about 1500 hours of video, I wasn't able to watch each video from start to finish. I scanned each video and evaluated them for their visual quality and background scene as much as their spoken content. Since the videos were found via a public search, I had no connection with any of the people in the videos. In many cases I was the second or third person to view the video based on the view counts I saw. I do not know if any of them know they are appear in the piece — I often wonder if they would appreciate that fact or be disturbed. They did, after all, broadcast themselves on a wildly popular public video sharing site.
Some of the running themes in your work touch on a difference in the way individuals present themselves, both as a change from the past, and as a shift between private and public. Your interest in networked lifestyles is very clear with Hello World!, My Map, and other pieces. Can you expand on the way you consider networks? What do these networks and their interconnectivities, as you put it, mean to you?
While it's clear that social networks aren't new, the ease with which we can now present our accumulated (or curated) social networks to the world as a part of our public identity is new. And it doesn't just shape our external identity. I believe when we look at our social networks we see ourselves in new ways. When you look at your social network, I believe you can learn a lot about yourself, your values, how your relationships change over time etc. Being able to concretely see that in a list form (no matter how factual it actually is) rather than constructing it from an imperfect memory affects one's self-image. Likewise, seeing the disparities between the 'self' you project online and the 'self' that you see in the mirror every morning affects one's identity.
Individual and cultural responses to managing a great deal of information seem central to your work. Do you think there's an ideal way to respond to the accretion of data? Does its speed and existence affect everyone?
Honestly, I don't think there is an ideal way to deal with the accumulation of personal data. Until recently the human tendency to forget the details of history (both societal and personal) and fill in the gaps with all manner of myth has gotten us pretty far. But the power promised by a technologically perfected memory is so enticing. Judging by all of the news stories I've read about people's online pasts coming back to haunt them, it's clear that we haven't yet learned how to craft constructive myths from our seemingly objective, concrete digital histories. Perhaps we'll have to invent myth generation algorithms both individually and corporately. The provocative Web 2.0 Suicide Machine project understands the problem, but its algorithmic solution requires extreme digital violence. Perhaps it is ultimately just a matter of careful deletion, but clearly there is a rich territory to be explored there.
Your work is often site-specific, and you've mentioned that architecture and place are important considerations for your pieces. Would you speak about how the physical environment pairs with your more sociological and technological (and less readily material) concerns?
Art that engages the digital world usually tends toward disembodied experiences for the viewer. I believe that finding the intersections between architecture, space, place and digital data result in richer, more sensual experiences. I think we tend to underutilize our non-visual senses so placing people in situations where all of their senses are active can free people to have new experiences. Twitter reports that there are, on average, 200 million tweets per day. YouTube reports that 60 hours of video is uploaded every minute which means that 86,400 hours of new video show up on YouTube each day. That's almost 10 years of video uploaded every day. It is easy to gloss over such incomprehensible numbers, but for me at least, experiencing even a fraction of those numbers on a physical level (be it a pile of printed Tweets or a giant wall of videos), helps me process our digital reality more thoughtfully. Ultimately, all digital data has a physical grounding. Digital data does actually require energy, space and resources. While we might like to believe that our "sufficiently advanced technologies" are akin to magic, it's important to avoid becoming completely spellbound. I think contextualizing digital data in architectural settings helps us do that.
Chicago, IL, USA
How long have you been working creatively with technology? How did you start?
I started working with technology in a creative way around 2004 or 2005. I was studying engineering at the time and took an introductory computer music course. At some point in the course I was introduced to Max/MSP/Jitter and my use of code for creative ends (rather than for purely computer-scientific and data-processing ends) took off. I began working with dancers using video and rudimentary computer vision. Shortly thereafter, I began working with other artists — primarily as a technical consultant — on more physical pieces involving sensors, actuators and interactive video.
Describe your experience with the tools you use. How did you start using them?
My experience with creative coding tools has continued to evolve ever since my first experiences with Max/MSP/Jitter. My engineering background equipped me with the skills to write my own code in lower level languages (like c/c++, java) and as my projects have become more sophisticated, I've moved in that direction: first, spending quite a few years producing work with Processing and more recently, producing new works with openFrameworks. My work has also increasingly incorporated hardware components, largely backed by Arduinos and embedded linux systems of various flavors. One point to note: as I have made the transition from engineering to art, I have often struggled with striking the balance between the idea of the "best-practices" idea in science and engineering and the much more free-form "just make it work" idea that one often has to take on when the artistic concept and intuitive expressiveness is more important than reproducibility and standardization. For me, this is where I (along with thousands of other artists) really benefit from the FLOSS (free/libre and open source software) community. Projects like Processing, Arduino, and openFrameworks really strike an incredible balance between the ability for artists to remain agile and expressive with their ideas, while the core underlying toolkits are subjected to the best-practices-style scrutiny of computer science. For me, being involved in the FLOSS creative coding community as both a creative coder and a developer satisfies both my desire for artistic expression and my desire to help produce elegant peer-reviewed creative coding tools that everyone can utilize. Finally, my choice of creative tools is often determined by the communities that develop around the tools. They are a great source of inspiration and friendship and represent a highly compelling brand of humanism that energizes my practice.
Where did you go to school? What did you study?
I studied Biomedical Engineering at Saint Louis University and focused on digital signal processing, particularly image and video processing. I then went to the University of Minnesota (UMN) to study Biomedical Engineering. My Masters Thesis work focussed on the real-time control, processing and feedback systems needed for brain-computer interfaces. I then joined the Art Department at the UMN and completed my MFA. Hello World! was my thesis piece.
What traditional media do you use, if any? Do you think your work with traditional media relates to your work with technology?
While most of my work has code at its core, some of my recent works taken a more physical form (in contrast to a lot of my earlier projected and screen-based work). While it is a stretch to to call thermal paper or cell phones a traditional medium, their physicality is really their greatest strength. Despite a growing familiarity with all things digital, physical objects still resonate with a viewer's body in a sensual way that projected light and virtual experiences usually doesn't. For me, the physical (which I consider somewhat traditional) creates an important bridge between my ideas and the viewer. It takes a lot more work to get the same result with purely digital or virtual bridges.
Are you involved in other creative or social activities (i.e. music, writing, activism, community organizing)?
Besides teaching, I spend a lot of time keeping up with the state of creative coding tools and when possible contribute code and ideas to efforts like openFrameworks. I believe that the open source and DIY communities, by their nature, represent both a significant social provocation and important philosophical position. The inherently social aspect of the open source community is its power and brings me great satisfaction.
What do you do for a living or what occupations have you held previously? Do you think this work relates to your art practice in a significant way?
I recently joined the Art and Technology Studies faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Previously, I was a visiting artist at Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a resident artist at the Kitchen Budapest. In a previous life, I was a researcher in the Brain Modelling Lab at the University of Minnesota and worked at several Biomedical startups.
As an instructor, I am inspired daily by my students. Their work often helps me hone my own creative ideas and gives me a lot of opportunities to refine my ability to approach ideas and projects critically. While my past life as a Biomedical Engineer definitely yielded a body of technical knowledge and intuition that I draw from daily, I haven't made any works that directly incorporate the concepts or data I engaged with as an engineer. Without question, my work is a response to the larger relationship between society and its technologies. I believe that my time working in the field of Biomedical Engineering ultimately led me to both appreciate and become deeply skeptical of the technological optimism and determinism which is in many ways a pillar of contemporary scientific practice.
Who are your key artistic influences?
While my art historical influences are growing as I have more exposure to the field, I'd say that my key influences came as I was contemplating a possible transition from engineering into art back in 2004. Zach Lieberman and Golan Levin are important, particularly because seeing their work on Messa di Voce with Jaap Blonk and Joan La Barbara for the first time resulted in an epiphanic moment that helped me understand how I too might be able to work at the intersection of art and technology. Other contemporary artists such as Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin have remained influential as I have searched for ways to find poetry in data.
It may not be directly visible in my work, but I take a lot of inspiration from turn-of-the-century artists and poets like Guillaume Apollinaire and Kurt Schwitters who started systematically hacking language — one of our oldest technologies. Apollinaire's Calligrams added dimension to his printed poetry and Schwitters' Ursonate mutated the phonemic DNA of language itself.
Have you collaborated with anyone in the art community on a project? With whom, and on what?
I have done quite a few collaborations with others to develop the tools and technologies to enable their projects and vice versa. I have worked with Minneapolis Art on Wheels for several years contributing to and producing many of the tools they use for their public projections and performances. I worked extensively with researchers and other artists at the Kitchen Budapest to produce the technology behind several pieces such as Murmur Study and Human Phantom Vibration Syndrome. Increasingly, I both benefit from and contribute to the creative tools used by the larger creative hardware and software communities.
Do you actively study art history?
I received a good foundation in graduate school, so much of my historical research and reading really happens in more specialized fields, rather than from the canon of art history. For instance, lately I have been doing a lot of reading on the history of language with an eye toward the ways that the languages were encoded in written forms and how those written forms were personalized, hacked and modified to suit evolving cultural needs. In cases like these, there are certainly overlaps with the history of art, but it isn't directly addressing what I would consider to be art history.
Do you read art criticism, philosophy, or critical theory? If so, which authors inspire you?
Like my study of art history, my reading in these areas of research tend to be subject and project-based. I've taken a lot of recent inspiration from Sherry Turkle for her thoughtful research-driven approach to how relationships are affected digital technologies. I've also really enjoyed the work of Paul Dourish and Malcolm McCullough, particularly their focus on the importance of embodiment in interaction design.
Are there any issues around the production of, or the display/exhibition of new media art that you are concerned about?
Curators and arts advocates like Steve Dietz have been saying it for years, but I too hope for a time when "new media art" will be both appreciated and critiqued based on its conceptual merits and the ways that it speaks to the human condition, rather than its cost or technological wow-factor. It is difficult though, because I would argue that most new media artists find themselves in the very awkward position of being simultaneously wowed by new technology and dedicated to critiquing our cultural obsession with the same. Would it be beneficial or even possible to achieve a more critical distance, while still keeping up with all of the changes? I'm still working on my answer to that.


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Friendship Is...
Are you tired of all those mushy "friendship" poems that always sound good but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a "friendship" poem that really speaks to true friendship.
When you are sad ... I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry SOB who made you sad.
When you are blue ... I'll try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
When you are scared ... I will rag you about it every chance I get.
When you are worried ... I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be and to quit whining.
When you are sick ... stay away from me until you're well again. I don't want what you have.
When you fall ... I will point and laugh at your clumsy butt.
This is my oath ... I pledge to you 'till the end.
Why you may ask? Because you're my friend.
P.S. A friend will help you move.
A really good friend will help you move a body.
-- Dave Atell


text:
WABASH IS NOT ONLY HOME TO 900 YOUNG MEN AND THEIR TEACHERS, the College is also home to internationally known centers of distinction.
The Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies (MXIBS) provides cultural, educational, and social programs designed to help its members develop leadership skills. It also educates the entire Wabash and Crawfordsville communities about the African-American experience. The Institute maintains an African-American studies library and contains classroom, study, and recreational areas.
Founded in 2000 by a $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts collaborates with colleges and universities from all over the country to gather and use evidence to strengthen liberal arts education. The Center of Inquiry also developed and implemented the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts.
The Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) is an organization of 125 private colleges and universities that supports institutional research, decision-support, assessment, and the advancement of liberal learning. HEDS fulfills its mission by assembling, analyzing, and sharing data of all kinds.
The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion supports teachers of religion and theology in higher education through meetings and workshops, grants, consultants, a journal and other resources to make accessible the scholarship of teaching and learning. All Wabash Center programs are funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., which since the founding of the Wabash Center in 1996 has supported its work with eight grants totaling over $40 million.
The Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program selects 18 Indiana pastors who in their first five to ten years have demonstrated high potential for significant leadership. They participate in a series of meetings, conversations with outstanding leaders, and two study tours over a two-year period. The program is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.


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Will There Be a 'Holidate 2' on Netflix?
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine' On Netflix, A Viral Comedy Star Puts On A Variety Special
'Borat 2' Enjoys Very Nice Opening Weekend
Sacha Baron Cohen Hits Back at Trump: "I'm a Professional Phony Like Him"
Stream It Or Skip It: 'John Bronco' on Hulu, A Rollicking Trifle That Blends Nostalgia and Laughs With a Whiff Of Sponcon
Streamin' King: 'The Shawshank Redemption,' The Most Beloved Of All Stephen King Movies
Bong Joon-ho's 'Memories of Murder' Is Finally Back on VOD
'The Midnight Sky' Trailer: George Clooney Goes Full 'Revenant' in Netflix Drama
Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Soul of America' On HBO, A Documentary That Examines America's Dark Present Through The Lens Of The Past
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score' on Netflix, a Documentary About a Tennis Star Who Was Screwed Over by the Man
'Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb' on Netflix Delivers Real-Life Mummies for Halloween
LeBron James To Co-Produce 'Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street' Doc About The Tulsa Massacre
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight' on Netflix, a Polish Blood-and-Guts Throwbacky Slasher Flick
'Lights Out' Tests One of Horror's Golden Rules
'The Craft: Legacy' Ending Explained: Wait, Was That [SPOILER]?
Where To Stream the Original 'The Craft' Movie
David Byrne's 'American Utopia' Offers Optimistic Protest While Mixing New Music And Talking Heads Classics
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You' on Apple TV+, a Documentary Capturing the Boss in a Contemplative Mood
Disney+ Puts Modern Twist on Cinderella With Upcoming 'Sneakerella' Musical
Shawn Mendes Shares His Life on Tour With Emotional 'In Wonder' Trailer
How To Watch 'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' Online in 2020
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Over the Moon' on Netflix, an Animated Extravaganza That Aims for the Stars
Stream It or Skip It: 'The Witches' on HBO Max, a Roald Dahl Remake That's Too Close to the Original
'The Witches' Remake Embraces the Dark Ending Roald Dahl Wanted
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Equal' On HBO Max, A Docuseries On The Early Pioneers Of The LGBTQIA+ Rights Movement
Who Are 'The Boys In The Band'? A Cast Guide To Netflix's Film Version of the Tony Award-Winning Play
Meet the Gay Pioneers Who Made 'The Boys in the Band' Happen
Real-Life Couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee Cast in Lifetime's First LGBTQ Movie
Will There Be a 'Queen's Gambit' Season 2 on Netflix? What We Know So Far
Yes, Dudley Dursley Is in 'The Queen's Gambit'
'The Queen's Gambit' Cast Guide: Who's Who in Netflix's Chess Drama
What Are the Pills in 'The Queen's Gambit'? About the Fictional Drug
It's Time for a 'Great British Baking Show' All-Stars Season
'The Great British Baking Show': Linda Had to Go, But it Still Sucks
In Defense of 'The Great British Baking Show' in 2020
'The Great British Baking Show' Finally Gave Noel Fielding His Favorite Dessert: Gypsy Tart
'Fargo' Season 4 Episode 6 Recap: Life During Wartime
'Fargo' May Have Just Confirmed That Mike Milligan Fan Theory
'Fargo' Season 4 Has Finally Found Its Central Story
'Fargo' Season 4 Episode 5 Recap: The Doctor Is Out
Keith Raniere, NXIVM Leader and 'The Vow' Subject, Gets 120 Years in Prison
'Seduced' Episode 2: 11 More Revelations About NXIVM You Didn't Know
'The Vow' & 'Seduced' Subject Keith Raniere Speaks Out In Rare First Interview Since Arrest
'Seduced' Will Make You Pissed Off At How 'The Vow' Underplayed Keith Raniere's Menace
Leva Bonaparte Is Here To Save This Season of 'Southern Charm'
Where is 'Southern Charm's Thomas Ravenel Now?
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Where is 'Southern Charm's Ashley Jacobs Now?
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Gold - Visualized in Bullion Bars There's surprisingly little Gold in the world & this infographic shows all the Gold ever mined.
In this Gold infographic everything is calculated with Gold price at $2000/oz.
When Gold reaches $3110/oz, 1 oz of Gold & a $100 bill will have equal value in weight,
and it won't matter if you have 1oz of $100 bills or 1oz of Gold.
Gold is usually measured in Troy Ounces. A Troy Ounce is about 1.09 regular Ounces.
Gold - Size Chart This is a chart of standard Gold bullion size comparison.
The cubes are measured by volume & Gold weight of 19.30 g/cm−3.
The plates are typical Gold bar dimensions of same Gold weight.
50 Grams of Gold
250 Grams of Gold
100 Grams of Gold
500 Grams of Gold
1KG of Gold
400 Troy Oz of Gold
999.9 Fine Bullion Bar
The Gold bar to the right is worth the $800,000 displayed on the left at $2000/oz.
The Gold bar weights 12.44 kg, 27.42lbs or more than
3x 1-gallon milk jugs - quite heavy.
As an investment, Gold has out performed Dow Jones for last 8 years straight.
1 Ton of Gold The 1 ton of Gold is worth $64.3 Million dollars at $2000/oz.
Gold has gone from $18.92 in 1911 to over $1,700 in 2012, the price of Gold has inflated more than 9,000%
In recent times, Tungsten (heavy 'cheap' metal) filled fake Gold bars, which look like the ones above, have been found in Manhattan.
Such tungsten fake bars can be even be ordered from tungsten-alloy.com & chinatungsten.com.
The Bank of England's Gold Reserves can be seen in this video.
A Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Truck full of Gold This is how much Gold the average man could haul in his truck without braking the suspension.
Max carrying weight of the truck is 3670 lbs = 1664.68kg, which is the weight of the Gold you see in the truck bed - 133x 400oz bullion bars of Gold.
The value of the 1.66 tonnes of Gold at $2000/oz is displayed to the left at $106.4 Million dollars.
Value of Gold on Truck
$106.4 Million
1.66 Tonnes of Gold
10 Tonnes of Gold vs 100 Tonnes The Central Banks of western countries usually handle their nations' large Gold Reserves. Couple generations ago the US dollar was backed by Gold, so the Fed had to hold Gold. Today, the dollar is backed by the confidence in United States' repayment of its debt (bonds). The US Central Bank's- The Federal Reserve's Chairman Ben Bernanke, says that Gold is only held as a tradition and that Gold is not money.
10 Tonnes of Gold
100 Tonnes of Gold
Semi Truck 'full' of Gold - 24.88 Tonnes The legal carry weight of a semi-truck is between 22-25 tonnes.
The truck is carrying 24.88 tonnes of Gold worth $1.6 Billion dollars @ $2000/oz (on the 2nd truck).
$1.6 Billion
24.88 Tonnes of Gold
Same value as $1.6 Billion @ $2000/oz.
$2,130,952,380 = B2 Bomber = 33.14 Tonnes of Gold @ $2000 / oz Couple years back when Gold was less valuable, a B2 Bomber was literally worth more than its weight in pure Gold. With the price of Gold going up,
finally Gold is more valuable in weight than a B2 Bomber.
The Northrop Grumman B2 Spirit Bomber program cost $44.75 Billion for a total of 21 units built, that averages to $2,130,952,380 per unit and the same value in Gold @ $2000/oz can be seen on the semi-trucks on the right. To the left you see a Semi truck with $2.13 Billion dollars.
Doesn't matter how you choose economically between the semi truck of cash, the Gold trucks or the B2 Bomber, they're all worth the same.
US Gold Reserves - 8,133.5 Tonnes The 8,133.5 Tonnes of Gold Reserves have an official book value worth $11,041,059,958
($11 Billion) as of 1/11/2013 and are shown below.
Year 1933, in the Pillar of Human Civilization & Capitalism-- The United States of America,
Gold possession was criminalized. Shortly after confiscating the Gold, the US devalued
Gold from $20.67/oz to $35/oz, by so devaluing the US dollar by 70% overnight. The US Dollar 'Federal Reserve Note' still said "Redeemable in Gold", while doing so got you arrested.
USA was on the Gold Standard until 1971. Gold possession remained illegal until 1975.
The arguably real intention of criminalizing Gold was because the Federal Reserve printed too many dollars, backed by a limited amount of Gold. People knew Gold was worth more than the $20.67/oz that US Government was 'redeeming' (selling) Gold at.
World Government
Gold Reserves
This Gold values shown are official numbers from Wikipedia.
There is a strong chance the numbers are inaccurate since western world's Central Banks have purportedly leased out the Gold reserves while using accounting tricks to hide the facts, in order to push the Gold price down. Gold price is an indirect indicator of economic stability, the lower the price, the more stable the global economy appears.
Developing countries have been buying significant amounts of Gold in recent years, with India being #1 and China #2.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds 540,000 Gold bars. Germany stores 45% of their Gold with Federal Reserve, while according to official memo from Bank of England to Federal Reserve it is acknowledged that Gold delivered back to Germany has been 'bad delivery' bars, instead of 'good delivery'. Germany & Switzerland are concerned and are interested in getting the Gold they store w/ the Fed, back home
A German court has recently demanded audit of Germany's Gold holdings, while the Central Bank of Germany has
begun shipping 50 tonnes of Gold / year back home.
Many other governments are engaging in Gold
hoarding, including China, who imported
more Gold in 2012 than
all of ECB's holdings.
All the Gold in the World
Mined in History - 166,500 Tonnes
All the Gold in the world, displayed in 400oz bullion bars.
Data Source
Level 4:
Other Use
22,300 Tonnes (13.4%)
Level 3:
World Governments
29,000 Tonnes (17.4%)
Level 2:
Private Investment
31,000 Tonnes (18.7%)
Level 1:
84,200 Tonnes (50.5%)
More Infographics
Gold - Visualized in Bullion Bars
Comparison of Gold ranging from 1 gram to World Government Gold Reserves, to 170,000 tonnes
- All the Gold in the world.


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Archdiocese of Zimbabwe and Angola
The Holy Archdiocese of Zimbabwe and Angola is an archdiocese under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. The territory included in its jurisdiction are the countries of Zimbabwe and Angola.
The Diocese of Zimbabwe was established in 1968 with Kyrillos (Cyril) Papadopoulos as the ruling hierarch. On November 1, 2006, Mozambique, that had been part of the Archdiocese of Zimbabwe, was established as a separate diocese
A missionary center, dedicated to St. Nektarois, is located in the Zimbabwe capital city of Harare. Another mission center, dedicated to St. Augustine, is under development in the city of Bulawayo. Two new churches are under construction dedicated to St. George and to Christ the Savior.
Ruling Bishops
- Kyrillos (Papadopoulos) (1968-1986)
- Crysostomos (Papadopoulos) (1990-1997)
- Ioannis (Zachariou) (1997-1998)
- Makarios (Tillyrides) (1998-2001)
- Kyrillos (Econompoulos) (2001-2002)
- Theodoros (Choreftakis) (2002-2004)
- George (Vladimirou) (2004-2010)
- Seraphim (Kykkotis) (2010-Present)
Categories > Church History
Categories > Church History > Canon Law > Ecclesiology > Jurisdictions > Dioceses
Categories > Church History > Canon Law > Ecclesiology > Jurisdictions > Dioceses > Alexandria Patriarchate Dioceses
Categories > Places > Orthodoxy by country > Orthodoxy in Africa


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Cuba says it will turn over to US Florida parents accused of kidnapping kids
Cuba says it will turn over to the United States a Florida couple who allegedly kidnapped their own children from the mother's parents and fled by boat to Havana.
Foreign Ministry official Johana Tablada told The Associated Press in a written statement that Cuba had informed U.S. authorities of the country's decision to turn over Joshua Michael Hakken, his wife Sharyn and their two young boys. She did not say when the handover would occur.
The case with ties to southeast Louisiana became an international matter on Monday, when officials learned that non-custodial parents kidnapped their sons, 4-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase, from his mother-in-law's house and took the children and his wife to Cuba.
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The Hakkens were spotted alongside their boat, Salty, docked at Havana's Hemingway Marina. Joshua Hakken told reporters to stay away but the family appeared to be interacting normally with each other.
The boys' maternal grandparents had been granted permanent custody.
There is no extradition agreement between the United States and Cuba, nor is Cuba a signatory of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement had issued an Amber Alert for the Hakken children after they were taken by force from a grandparent acting as guardian.
Police said Joshua Hakken, 35, and Sharyn Hakken, 34, took their sons from a home in Tampa around 6:30 last Monday morning.
Because the abductors have ties to the northshore, Louisiana State Police issued a Level II endangered/missing advisory.
Officers were called last year to a Slidell hotel in reference to a disturbance involving the Hakkens. When police arrived, the Hakkens were acting in a "bizarre manner that alarmed officers," police said.
The Hakkens mentioned, "completing their ultimate journey" and said they were traveling across the country to "take a journey to the Armageddon."
Police said both of their children were present in the hotel room at the time.
Narcotics and weapons were found inside the hotel room, police said. Based on that behavior, police contacted the Office of Child Services, determining that the children were in danger.
Joshua Hakken was arrested on drug charges and investigators confiscated his weapons.
Two weeks later, police said, Slidell officials were notified that Joshua Hakken had shown up at the foster family home in Hammond, La., with a firearm demanding the return of his children.
Custody was eventually granted to a grandmother in Florida.
Authorities had been searching by air and sea for a boat Hakken recently bought. The truck the family had been traveling in was found late Thursday, abandoned in a parking garage in Madeira Beach.
Previous stories:
Missing children, parents turn up in Cuba
Abducted children could be transported to or through Louisiana, police say


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A survey finds the basics of file protection are often ignored
The government spends $7.9 billion annually on sophisticated cybersecurity measures, but agencies too often ignore the basics of protecting files, according to a new survey on federal encryption and other security measures.
In April, MeriTalk, a government information technology provider, teamed with Axway, a business interaction networks company in Phoenix, to survey 200 federal IT and information security professionals on file transfer practices and potential security improvements.
The survey found that employees at agencies whose managers understand the effects of cyber threats are more than twice as likely (53 percent vs. 12 percent) to follow correct policies. However, only 58 percent of those surveyed are aware of agency file transfer policies.
The survey report, "Why Encrypt? Federal File Transfer Report," found that data security vulnerabilities at federal agencies are mainly due to employees' use of unsecure methods to exchange information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
The unsecure methods exist despite the Secure Federal File Sharing Act, which the House passed March 24 to prevent government employees from using peer-to-peer file-sharing software, including FTP, the report states.
Specifically, the report shows that federal employees use unsafe methods to transfer files in the following ways:
The report calls for agencies to gain the support of top managers and educate employees about the need to secure federal data.
About the Author
David Hubler is the former print managing editor for GCN and senior editor for Washington Technology. He is freelance writer living in Annandale, Va.
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While 4(3)(B)(i) would seem to exempt FTP and HTTP only using the Internet Domain Names; but would they exempt INTRANETS, or using just IP addresses across the Internet? This is an example of how technology issues don't get translated into law very effectively--see FISMA for the best example.
So ftp is now a peer-to-peer application? The Secure Federal File Sharing Act talks specifically of open-network peer-to-peer file sharing software (see summary here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4098&tab=summary)
So ftp is now a peer-to-peer application?
Way back when, the Federal Government disapproved of Pretty Good Privacy. It was free and unbreakable. Free versus $7.9 billion, yearly. Do the cost savings!!!
While there is no specific mention of File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a reading of the language reveals such appliations would not be affected should this bill become public law. There is an exclusion in Section 4(3)(B)(i), which states "to operate as a server that is accessible over the Internet using the Internet Domain Name system." This clearly exempts FTP, as well as HTTP which would otherwise be included had this exemption not be incorporated.
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Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers talks with Hitachi Vantara CTO Gary HIx discusses how many of the changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic might become permanent fixtures in the market.
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In this episode of the Project 38 podcast, Editor Nick Wakeman hosts a roundtable with several reporters to explore some of the most pressing issues in the market.
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text: memphis freak when im done u'll need a dentist creep but fuck dentistry just leave it how its meant to be this members weak for the queer shit that u said to me go to bed u leech. sniff n ounce n bounce u dress for old men as an office secretary n truss cuz im glad u only wear that blouse in the house. gay ass secondary account with a friggin big mouth im wu corp legendary wow n u probably a tertiary account wid mad dick in your mouth. n if u chat that shit about tea n crumpets you're getting a jumping lyrically I run tings with the heat i dun bring i go on n on in a battle even after one month in truss thats really something ur dam right im retarded check da papers on my mental health i use stealth n storm your dorm with chloroform from the shelf. nine inch blade to ur crooked fade n tooth got rage in booths yo so i aim at u i'll maim u yute now go apply ice to both sides of ur jaw tears pour Bobby. your cries of "christ" and "sorry" cant be heard from the lobby. i fancy a bit of memphis in n a spliff. not really harsh to the lungs n plus it likes to be bun. one thing i could never out run is the gums of my biological son called Mem Fish


text:
Richmond Councilman Jim Rogers had it exactly right when he said neither money nor bullies should dictate how the council fills its unfortunate vacancy.
As folks will recall, Councilman-elect Gary Bell was sadly unable to take office Jan. 8. He remains in a medically induced coma.
After November's election battle between warring factions, Richmond voters are understandably concerned about who will step into the seat.
The outcome could produce a third vote for Richmond Progressive Alliance allies Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles.
Or this individual could side with the unapologetically pro-Chevron councilmen Corky Booze and Nate Bates. Bell was widely viewed as a vote for the latter, given Chevron's financial support of his candidacy.
The progressives say it is only fair to appoint their man Eduardo Martinez, who finished fourth just behind Bell.
They call a special election a waste of money that will further polarize the voters and hand Chevron another opportunity to spread lies.
Even Councilman Tom Butt — who has successfully planted a foot in each political camp — supports Martinez.
With all due respect to Butt, these arguments leak like a Delta levee.
In city after city, year after year, when a vacancy pops up outside the election cycle, the guy or gal who finishes just out of the money cries, "The voters already chose me!"
If the council believes the fairest path to an appointment is to select the latest candidate who lost by the least number of votes, then it must apply that philosophy without regard for the individual's politics or it becomes an expedient and self-serving argument.
Second, why are regular election expenses appropriate and special elections a fiscal travesty?
The council didn't choose to have a vacancy. It's unclear when or if Bell will recover sufficiently to do the job. It needs seven members to avert tie votes and conduct business.
The $100,000 or $200,000 it would cost voters in a city of Richmond's size, complexity and intense political passions to unequivocally elect a council member is a bargain.
As for the idea that a special election is uniquely divisive and will lead to even greater campaign horrors, do the people who make these points advocate putting a stop to elections altogether in Richmond? Where have they been for the last 50 years?
Yes, elections in Richmond and everywhere are brutal.
It's unfortunate, but arguing that voters require protection from their own election system is absurd.
Money is an undeniable force but it offers no guarantees. Just ask Meg Whitman. And if negative campaigning offends voters, then voters should stop electing people who do it.
So, let the would-be council members come forward Feb. 4 and make their best pitches.
Maybe someone will dazzle the council and win four votes. If not, voters will step up and do the job.
And if either camp makes a bad call, that's the beauty of elections: Voters always have another chance to get it right.
stampede: Eighteen people filed applications as of Friday's 5 p.m. deadline to fill the seat Steve Weir, the retiring Contra Costa clerk-recorder and registrar of voters.
As expected, the list includes Joe Canciamilla, of Pittsburg, former county supervisor and assemblyman.
Martinez Mayor Rob Schroder has bowed out, though. The mayor says he will stick to his family insurance business and city gig.
But there was a surprise: Pleasant Hill Councilman Jack Weir. And, yes, he's Steve Weir's brother.
The board of supervisors is scheduled to appoint a clerk-recorder in February. The winner must then stand for election in 2014 for the $150,000-a-year post.
AND FINALLY: How many 21-year-olds receive a personal commencement address from a former congresswoman, high-ranking State Department diplomat, cancer survivor and a woman who helped crack the Wall Street glass ceiling?
That would be Katherine Tauscher, former East Bay Rep. Ellen Tauscher's daughter and an almost-graduate of Bucknell University.
Tauscher shared her maternal wisdom during a speech at Thursday's annual Contra Costa Council conference. (Watch Tauscher's full address at www.politicswithlisav.blogspot.com.)
First, Tauscher gave her collegiate athlete (volleyball) daughter permission to relax.
"I told her, 'Blow it out!' Short of going to jail, of course,'" Tauscher joked.
Secondly, she said she advised her daughter and the rest of us, "Go big and take risks."
Short of going to jail, of course.
Contact Lisa Vorderbrueggen at 925-945-4773, email@example.com, www.politicswithlisav.blogspot.com or Twitter.com/lvorderbrueggen.


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Rebecca Romijn and two little beauties!
Posted by Alisa on Saturday, October 22, 2011 / Comments: (0)
Gwen Stefani's day in the park!
The No Doubt singer was spotted today (October 22nd) with her two beautiful sons Kingston, and Zuma.
Marcia Cross has some mother daughter time!
The desperate housewives star was spotted in West Hollywood today (October 22nd). The mom was spotted with one of her twin daughters,4, having a fun time doing fall activities.
Hilary Duff treats herself
The pregnant Hilary Duff was spotted yesterday, (October 21st) arriving at Nine Zero One Salon in Hollywood, California.
Rebecca Gayheart a California Mama!
A heavily pregnant Rebecca Gayheart was seen running some errands around Beverly Hills yesterday, October 21st. Her adorable daughter Billie Beatrice wasn't along for the errands or hubby Eric Dane.
Mom to be Jennifer Garner
The glowing mom to be Jennifer Garner, taking a walk in LA on Friday, October 21st.
Orlando Bloom's barefooted beauty
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr / Comments: (0)
Pirates of the Caribbean hunk Orlando Bloom spotted with his gorgeous son Flynn 9 months, in New York City Thursday (October 20). Orlando's wife and Flynn's mom Supermodel Miranda Kerr were not spotted with the sweet pair.
Mariah Carey and husband Nick Cannon shared these beautiful pictures of their 6 month old babies Moroccan and Monroe.
The singer created a website called Dembabies.com to give fans a glimpse into the never-before-seen family album of her adorable children.


text:
James DeanJames Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in ''East of Eden'' (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in ''Giant'' (1956).
After his death in a car crash, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list. Provided by Wikipedia
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Penn State Tops 2012 World Dairy Expo Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest
Posted: October 3, 2012
Dairy judging team members, from left: Dustin Gates, Rebecca Shaw, Ariel Taxdal, Isaac Haagen and coach Dale Olver. Photo courtesy of Agri-Graphics.
Penn State's Dairy Judging team took top honors at the Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held as part of the 2012 World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. The team was top overall and finished first in team reasons.
Led by Isaac Haagen, Howard, PA, who was overall high individual and second high in reasons, the team consisted of Arial Taxdal, Bel Air, MD, third overall and sixth in reasons; Rebecca Shaw, Williamsburg, PA, ninth overall; and Dustin Gates, Warriors Mark, nineteenth overall. The team was coached by Dale Olver, instructor in dairy and animal science.
The Penn State team was high team for Ayrshires, Guernseys, Holsteins, and Red and Whites, and earned second in Brown Swiss, fourth in Jerseys, and fifth in Milking Shorthorns. All four team members earned All-American honors in the contest by placing in the top 25 overall high individuals.
Haagen earned first place in Brown Swiss and placed second in Holsteins, third in Ayrshires, and fourth in Guernseys and Milking Shorthorns. Taxdal placed second in Red and Whites, fifth in Jerseys, sixth in oral reasons, seventh in Ayrshires, eighth in Guernseys, and ninth in Holsteins. Shaw earned fifth for Holsteins and for Red and Whites. Gates was fourth in Ayrshires and sixth in Holsteins.
Dr. Terry Etherton, Head of the Department of Animal Science, said, "This is a remarkable accomplishment by our dairy judging team, and I congratulate them for their hard work and dedication. In the Department, we deeply value judging team experiences for our students because they develop their decision-making skills while learning effective communications in defending their placings. We are extremely proud of the students' achievements."
At Eastern States Exposition in September, the team was second high team overall and placed first for oral reasons. Rebecca Shaw was high individual, placing first for Ayrshires, Brown Swiss and Jerseys. The team was high team for Ayrshires and Jerseys.
At the All-American Dairy Show's judging competition in Harrisburg in September, the team placed fifth overall and third for oral reasons.
Other top five teams overall at the national contest at World Dairy Expo were: University of Wisconsin, Madison, second; Iowa State University, third; University of Minnesota, fourth; and UW-River Falls, fifth. Nineteen teams competed in this year's contest.


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Are You Swayed By Fancy Liquor Bottles?
We've been trying more than a little tequila this week as we tried to find the best examples of both blanco tequila, and aged sipping tequilas. One surprise benefit: these bottles have definitely classed up the look of our liquor shelf. They're pretty beautiful: the chiseled edge of Herradura with its logo embossed in a horseshoe pattern, the Art Deco style of Gran Centenario, the jewel-like orb of Partida...they're bottles that make us want to start a collection.
But the cream of the crop is Patron's top-shelf Gran Patron Platinum. The crystal 375 mL bottle weights about 3 pounds, and it's a stunner, almost more like jewelry than a container for liquid. If you're a sucker for beveled edges and a thick base on fine drinkware, you may find it hard to resist the investment.
Is it just a pretty bottle, though? Is Gran Patron Platinum that much better than the original?
In a blind taste test at SEHQ, one taster noted that the regular Patron Silver started smooth, "but then there's a punch of alcohol that's a bit harsh. This could use a lime," he said.
How'd the fancy stuff do, when you weren't aware of what you were drinking? During the blind trial, one taster noted the remarkably smooth texture and finish of the Gran Patron Platinum. "This stuff is definitely sippable—pretty delicious and very well balanced." The platinum does have a noticeably more complex flavor when compared with regular Patron, full of sweet fruity pineapple and thyme flavors. "It's already a cocktail, like a pineapple margarita," noted another taster. Most of us went back for another sip or three. Another noted that the texture was voluptuous.
But is it worth the price? Gran Patron Platinum clocks in at over 200 bucks for a full 750 mL bottle—that's about $7.90 per ounce, compared to $1.82 per ounce for Don Julio Silver (which we love.) Most of us just can't justify the expense, even if you're left with a beautiful bottle to display on your bar or mantle when those pricey sips are gone.
Confession time: pricey or not, have you ever chosen a bottle of liquor because of its gorgeous bottle? Do you save old bottles because they look good?
Disclosure: all tequilas were provided as samples for review consideration.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text: Nicholas Milette is an Edmonton born artist. Upon completion the Fine Art program at Grant MacEwan he transferred to the University of Alberta where he studied art history and drawing as well as the traditional and developing techniques of printmaking. He has since completed his Master of Architecture degree at the University of British Columbia and continues to create art in his new home of Montreal, Quebec.


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The Inside Line: It's good to be with 'The King'
(SportsNetwork.com) - Aric Almirola was only 112 days old when Richard Petty drove the No. 43 car to his historic 200th and final NASCAR win in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984.
Petty, nicknamed "The King" for winning seven championships and scoring his record number of victories in NASCAR's premier series, did not go to Daytona's victory lane right away after he took the checkered flag. He first went to the press box to meet up with President Ronald Reagan. As the first U.S. President to attend a NASCAR race, Reagan gave the starting command for that event while flying to Daytona Beach, Florida, on board Air Force One.
Earning just over $43,000 for his 1984 Firecracker 400 win, Petty arrived to victory lane when the skies had opened up over the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
It would be 30 years and two days later before that legendary car number returned to victory lane at Daytona. Almirola, who is in his third year driving the No. 43 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, became a first-time race winner in the Sprint Cup Series.
In a bit of irony, Almirola was awarded the victory in Sunday's Coke Zero 400 when NASCAR officials called the race after 112 of the scheduled 160 laps were completed due to rain. Almirola's payday amounted to $371,476. The event was scheduled for Saturday night but postponed until the following day because of inclement weather.
"It's really cool to know all that history and to realize that the 43 car is without a doubt the most famous car in our sport's history, and to have the opportunity to drive that race car has been really special from the day that I stepped foot in it," Almirola said. "All I wanted to do from the very first time I drove it was get it to victory lane. It took two-and-a-half years, I guess, but I finally did it."
Almirola is of Cuban descent and hails from Tampa. The 30-year-old driver has now won a race in each one of NASCAR's three national series. His first Nationwide Series victory came in 2007 at Milwaukee, where he started on the pole and then handed the car over to regular Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin to finish. Almirola was a member of JGR's development program at the time. He has two wins in the Camping World Truck Series.
Almirola became the sixth active driver to claim his maiden Cup Series victory at Daytona, joining Derrike Cope (February 1990), Michael Waltrip (February 2001), Greg Biffle (July 2003), Trevor Bayne (February 2011) and David Ragan (July 2011).
"I couldn't have dreamed of a better place to get my first win," Almirola said. "I went to Tampa (last week) to do a lot of pre-event media for Daytona, and I said, 'Man, of all the places I could pick to win, I would pick Daytona because I grew up two hours away.' I've sat in these grandstands and watched the Daytona 500 and watched the Firecracker 400s (now called Coke Zero 400)."
Petty, the co-owner of Almirola's team, missed out on victory lane celebrations at Daytona, as he returned to his home in North Carolina on Sunday morning. The NASCAR Hall of Famer turned 77 this past Wednesday.
Until Almirola's win, the 43 car had not been to victory lane since April 18, 1999 when John Andretti won at Martinsville. That was 543 races ago, but Petty had always been optimistic he would see that famed car number return to victory lane.
"If you look back at the history of Petty Enterprises (now Richard Petty Motorsports), all the turmoil we've been through in the last seven, eight years and all that stuff, I never give up on the thing," Petty said during a conference call after Almirola's win. "So it was one of those deals that I said, "OK, if I keep working at it long enough, we're going to be able to overcome all this.'
"Just winning one race doesn't overcome it. Don't get me wrong. But it puts you in a higher speed track, and you know you can do it. It proves that we can do it, the drivers know we can do it, and I think it's just going to make it that much easier to go from here. Everybody has got to have a start, and I think this will get us started pretty good."
Since joining RPM prior to the start of the 2012 Sprint Cup season, Almirola has recorded one win, four top-five finishes and 14 top-10s as well as one pole, which came in May 2012 at Charlotte. He finished 20th in points two years ago and 18th this past season.
"When I came here in 2012, Richard Petty Motorsports was on the rebound and had been through some turmoil," he said. "I was so grateful that they thought I could be the guy who could contribute to that and could help get the 43 car back to where it needed to be and to get the 43 car back to victory lane more importantly."
Almirola's victory at Daytona has all but assured his and the No. 43 team's first appearance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Almirola, currently 21st in points, became the 11th different winner in the series this season.
With NASCAR's new Chase format, the field of drivers has expanded to 16. Almirola is currently positioned 10th on the Chase grid. Eight races remain before the regular season concludes and the field is set for the playoffs.
"To be in the Chase and to be able to go race for a championship, it's really special, and our race team deserves that," Almirola noted.


text:
I always love the inspiration to be had around other quilters, not to mention the fun time visiting with great people and stuffing my face with awesome pot-luck food. It felt particularly nice to go yesterday. I think I was in need of a therapeutic escape.
There have been some summers in the past where I have tried to do or expect too much and put myself on the verge of a nervous breakdown. This summer I made a vow to try to just roll with life. Not let the house get to me, try not to nag the kids too much, not try to "get stuff done", and just live in the moment. So far, I think I'm doing fairly well most of the time. We still have our 'moments', but I don't want to be guilty of wishing the summer away. I have to constantly remind myself there will be time for routines and schedules and "getting stuff done" later in the fall. What are your favorite summer
coping mechanisms enjoyment strategies?
Thanks so much for the Purple-y quilt love! Another casualty of summer is my computer time, so my personal responses are suffering. I'm so grateful for all of your comments and sorry not to respond more individually. Thanks for your understanding. You're all the best.


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The day kicked off with bright sunshine and light offshore winds, and that's how it was almost all day. The forecasts called for turning winds till the late afternoon which made it impossible for the race committee to set a course, and also taking into consideration not to send the fleet out in fluky, shifty offshore conditions.
Around noon the wind started turning but also to completely die down, and it took another couple of hours until it came back up. Around 5 pm there were first signs of wind on the horizon, and suddenly at 5:30pm the wind switched on, turned to west and had 17-20 knots in strength.
The race committee set a windward leeward course with the start line close to the beach and headed out for a 18:30 start, and the fleet went off in water conditions that became more nasty from minute to minute. Breaking waves all over the course made it a mission to sail the course properly.
Johnny Heineken (USA, Mikes Lab, Ozone) proved to be the best one again, but this time the margin was way smaller to beat Julien Kerneur (FRA, RRD, Takoon) in second and Adam Koch (USA, Mikes Lab, Ozone) in third.
In the womens fleet it was Steph Bridge (GBR, North) winning this round ahead of Katja Roose (NED, Airush) and Nayara Licariao (BRA, Xtreme, North). The girls are getting tighter in points now and the upcoming days will show who will be the champ in the end.
Racing had to be postponed after this fifth race of the competition due to a technical problem of the committee boat but will commence tomorrow afternoon. First up in the morning will be the freestylers then for the single elimination of the Kite Tour Europe Sylt stop.
1. John Heineken (USA) 2.8 points
2. Adam Koch (USA) 7.7 points
3. Syk Solbach (USA) 12.0 points
4. Julien Kerneur (FRA) 15 points
5. Bryan Lake (USA) 16 points
1. Katja Roose (NED) 5.4 points
2. Steph Bridge (GBR) 6.1 points
3. Nayara Licariao (BRA) 10 points
4. Caroline Adrien (FRA) 13 points
5. Melissa Gil (USA) 19 points
Full results can be found at https://results.extremience.com/sylt2011course.htm


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WASHINGTON DC - In a sprawling investigation spanning nearly two years, Special Counsel Robert Mueller examined two burning questions: Did President Donald Trump or any of his associates conspire with Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and did Trump commit obstruction of justice during the investigation?
A four-page summary of Mueller's highly anticipated report, sent in a letter by Attorney General William Barr (pictured) to congressional leaders and the media, provides at least some of the answers.
The summary said the Mueller investigation did not find that Trump or any American associated with his campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election, which would be a federal crime.
The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities, Barr quoted Mueller as writing in his report.
The summary said one of the two main ways Russia tried to influence the election was through the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a St. Petersburg-based 'troll factory' allegedly controlled by Kremlin-connected businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Barr said the IRA attempted to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election.
But Mueller did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated with the IRA in its efforts, according to Barr's summary.
The summary said the other chief way the Russian government tried to influence the election was by hacking material from Democratic organizations that WikiLeaks released at critical junctures in the weeks before the election. They included thousands of stolen e-mails from the private account of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Although Mueller brought criminal charges against Russian military officers, the special counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign, Barr said in the summary.
Barr said that Mueller 'thoroughly' investigated the question of whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia's election interference, issuing more than 2,800 subpoenas, obtaining nearly 500 search warrants, and interviewing 500 witnesses.
On the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice, the outcome of Muelle'rs investigation was less clear-cut.
According to Barr's summary, Mueller's report states that while it 'does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.'
Barr said that Mueller, for reasons the attorney general did not explain in detail, decided not to not to 'draw a conclusion' as to whether Trump, in his view, committed the crime of obstruction of justice.
Instead, Barr said, Mueller's report examines Trump's actions and 'sets out evidence on both sides of the question.'
Mueller's report leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as difficult issues of law and fact concerning whether the President's actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction, Barr added.
But Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence was 'not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense,' the summary said.
Barr, nominated to his job by Trump last year, said their decision was based on the evidence uncovered by Mueller and was made 'without regard to' the constitutional question of whether a sitting president can be indicted.
In a possible nod to Trump's public attacks on investigators and witnesses, Barr said Mueller had catalogued the president's actions, most of which have been the subject of public report.
Zeke Miller, a White House reporter for the AP, said in a tweet that the wording of the letter suggested that was at least one action of the president that was investigated as potential obstruction of justice that has yet to be revealed in public reporting.
Many of Trump's opponents accused him of obstructing the Russia probe when he fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. Mueller was subsequently appointed to conduct the investigation into Russia's role in the campaign.
Trump's shifting explanations for why he fired Comey had fueled suspicions that it was aimed at halting the FBI investigation, which began in July 2016. Some legal experts have said that in itself may have constituted a federal crime, obstruction of justice, an allegation that figured prominently in the impeachment-related proceedings of presidents Richard Nixon in 1974 and Bill Clinton in 1988.
Frud Bezhan is a correspondent for RFE/RL who covers Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.
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