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Chronic under-funding of school libraries has led to the tragic spectacle of empty shelves, leaving children with nothing to read; but a new initiative called Fill The Shelves hopes to change all that.
This story starts in a Pennsylvania K-8 school called Pittsburgh Manchester, where the librarian – Sheila May-Stein – decided to do something about the empty shelves in her own school (pictured left – that was the entire Fiction section of Manchester's school library).
Last month, Sheila posted that photo to the Facebook wall of University of Pittsburgh professor Jessie Ramey, who then wrote about the problem on her education blog Yinzercation, along with ways that people could help – including ordering books from an Amazon Wish List.
Then things went a little viral. That Facebook photo spread like wildfire. They got coverage from their local newspaper. CBS Pittsburgh came out and did a story. Neil Gaiman, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Newsroom's Alison Pill got involved, tweeting and blogging about Manchester's empty shelves, leading to thousands of hits.
And books started turning up on Sheila's doorstep – from all over the world.
In a matter of days, over 800 books had been donated to Manchester's kids (that's Sheila, pictured right).
The internet is a wonderful thing and can make a real difference to people's lives – especially when it helps to drive good causes like this one.
However, Manchester is only one school and the issue of underfunded school libraries is widespread. The success of Sheila's campaign got a group of authors thinking: what if we set up a website that could help lots more schools?
Fill The Shelves is a simple, but brilliant, idea. The website lists a number of schools that are in the same situation that Manchester faced – years of under-funding, empty shelves and no books for kids to read.
You can read all about the schools that need your help, see pictures of those bare shelves, and, most importantly, help to fill them.
Each school librarian has provided an Amazon Wish List detailing the particular books that their kids need, and readers can choose which books they would like to purchase on behalf of the school. Amazon handle the transactions, and the books get delivered straight to the school librarian.
In just two weeks, Fill The Shelves has restocked the libraries of three under-funded schools: Southside Elementary School in Jonesboro, Louisiana; Jorge Mas Canosa School in Miami-Dade County, Florida; and Downsville Charter School in Downsville, Louisiana.
Here's what Southside Elementary School had to say:
Southside Elementary School was bombarded with boxes and boxes of fabulous books today. The poor UPS guy didn't know what to think as he hauled them in on the dolly.
Our students were very excited and could not contain themselves as I opened boxes and showed them each book. The 'oohs and aahs' were heard all around as excitement filled the air. One student wanted to know if it was my birthday. LOL!
I then explained how wonderful people across the nation had so much faith in them they wanted to make sure they had plenty of great books to read! I read the notes that came from the gifters and with eyes wide, the students would repeat the state the sender was from in awe.
They couldn't believe this many people cared enough to bless them with so many books and they can't wait until the books are logged, labeled and ready to read! Thank you to everyone who has made this happen for my students and our school.
That's over $5,000 of books sent via Amazon Wish Lists in a matter of days. But so many more schools need our help. Right now, there are three more schools on Fill The Shelves that desperately need books for their kids.
How can you help?
1. Buy books. On the Fill The Shelves website, there are three schools with empty shelves that need filling. You can read all about the respective schools here, and choose the books you would like to purchase from their Amazon Wish Lists. The books you purchase will be automatically delivered straight to the respective school librarians.
2. Share this blog post. Just as important as buying books is spreading the word. We need to get this message out to as many people as possible. Share this post on Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of your social networks (there are buttons on the bottom to make this easy for you). Please also share news of this initiative with any school librarians you know that might be in need of help. While Fill The Shelves have several schools in the pipeline, there are plenty more out there that need assistance. Contact details are on the website, or you can email contactfilltheshelves [AT] gmail.com
3. Use the affiliate code for Fill The Shelves. All book links on the Fill The Shelves website have an Amazon affiliate code attached. 100% of this money is plowed back into buying books for schools from their Wish Lists. If you are buying anything on Amazon, clicking through on this link first will attach the affiliate code – meaning roughly 5% of the cost of anything you purchase will go towards buying books for kids.
If you are an author, you can also add the affiliate code to your own book links. I'm taking part in a group promotion this weekend, and we will be adding the Fill The Shelves affiliate code to our links. If you want to do the same, simply add this to the end of your link:
I'll be back on Saturday with a new look at KDP Select and why I've changed my mind (and am enrolling some titles), but, until then, I would greatly appreciate it if you used the share buttons below to spread this post as widely as possible.
Note: Fill The Shelves UK will be launching soon. I'll post details when ready.


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| 13.5°C Belfast
Regular eye tests could in future be used to diagnose early-stage Alzheimer's, new research suggests.
Early trials of two different techniques show that a key Alzheimer's biomarker can be identified in the retina and lens of the eye.
Both methods were able to distinguish between probable Alzheimer's patients and healthy volunteers with a high level of accuracy.
Although the research is still at an early stage, further work could see such tests used as a first step in identifying individuals with Alzheimer's.
After an initial eye test, more expensive and costly procedures such as PET (positron emission tomography) scans or spinal fluid analysis would then be used to confirm the disease.
Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's is essential to developing effective treatments that do more than alleviate the condition's symptoms.
Virtually every trial of a drug designed to halt or reverse Alzheimer's progression has ended in failure because the patients taking part have already suffered too much damage to their brains, scientists believe.
Shaun Frost, from the Australian science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, who led one of the studies, said: "We envision this technology potentially as an initial screen that could complement what is currently used: brain PET imaging, MRI imaging, and clinical tests.
"If further research shows that our initial findings are correct, it could potentially be delivered as part of an individual's regular eye check-up.
"The high resolution level of our images could also allow accurate monitoring of individual retinal plaques as a possible method to follow progression and response to therapy."
The eye tests exploit the fact that the eye is, in effect, an extension of the brain.
In both studies, scientists looked for signs of beta-amyloid protein, which forms clumps in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and is a key hallmark of the disease.
The Australian team used the turmeric spice ingredient curcumin as a fluorescent tag that allowed beta-amyloid to show up in the retina.
A total of 200 volunteers were first asked to take a supplement of curcumin, which binds strongly to beta-amyloid. The protein was then detected in the eye using a novel imaging system.
Levels of beta-amyloid in the retina mirrored those shown in the brain by PET imaging.
Preliminary results on 40 participants showed that the test picked up every participant with Alzheimer's and correctly identified more than 80% of those who did not.
In the other study, researchers from the US company Cognoptix Inc used an ointment to apply a fluorescent label to beta-amyloid in the lens of the eye.
Laser scanning was then able to detect the protein. In tests of 40 volunteers with and without Alzheimer's, it identified those having the disease with 85% accuracy.
Paul Hartung, president and chief executive of Cognoptix Inc, said: "This system shows promise as a technique for early detection and monitoring of the disease."
Both tests showed that levels of beta-amyloid in the eye mirrored those seen in the brain by PET imaging.
The results were presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Copenhagen.
Dr Simon Ridley, head of science at the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It is difficult to diagnose Alzheimer's disease accurately and, in many cases, by the time the symptoms have developed, damage has already been going on in the brain for a number of years.
"The development of a quick, cheap, non-invasive test to detect Alzheimer's would be an important step in helping people to receive an early diagnosis, and helping to improve clinical trials so that potential new treatments have the best chance of success.
"This research is promising but is in the very early stages and involves very small sample sizes.
"It is too soon to determine whether these types of tests will be useful for diagnosis of dementia and we would need to see the results of larger trials before drawing any firmer conclusions."
Dr Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: " Finding new and better ways to detect the early stages of Alzheimer's disease could be a game changer for both future research and for people who will develop the condition.
"These studies provide proof of principle that scanning the eye for amyloid could give us insight about what is going on in the brain.
"However as they are only preliminary studies, the eye scans will need further validation before they could be used on people with dementia."
Other research presented at the meeting suggested that a reduced sense of smell could be an early indicator of dementia.
Scientists from Columbia University in New York found that poorer performance in smell tests was significantly associated with increased incidence of the condition.
For each point lower scored on the test the risk of developing dementia went up by 10%.
In a separate study US researchers at Harvard Medical School showed that people with a poorer sense of smell had smaller brain volumes in two key regions linked to memory.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This is the second in our series of blogs on the Eurozone crisis. Thanks to Troy Warwick for the analyst coverage.
While current financial crises seem to be worsening in Europe, Spain and Greece in particular, it is interesting to note that the economic issues the eurozone is facing bear striking resemblance to a much older European tradition. It may be a cliché, but it really does seem like history is repeating itself, as the German economy is adopting a similar strategy to a post-feudal, mercantilist Europe.
Mercantilism is the opposite of a laissez-faire financial system. The tenets of mercantilism state that a harmonic and mutually beneficial financial system is unnatural and therefore must be managed by political force. Its hallmarks focus on the accumulation of trade surplus, full employment with low wages, and maximized production with minimized consumption. Power is considered relative, as a gain to another country is automatically considered a loss to the other per a zero-sum game. These policies helped shape the European powers such as Spain, Portugal, Britain and France through the accumulation of bullion. Using imperial colonies as methods of garnering raw material, and then selling processed goods back to said colonies, allowed each of these counties to gather massive amounts of wealth and power in the past.
Since its unification, Germany has always seemed to have a slightly mercantilist policy. After the Second World War, German authorities saw the only way to increase the national economy was to focus on state-building and industrialization. This also brought along the advent of Germany's export-based economy. When the oil crises of the 1970s struck, Germany became even more mercantilist. The results of the oil-shock found Germany implementing policies such as wage moderation and fiscal restraint, in turn creating a low inflation rate. This was used to the Germans' advantage during the creation of the EMS and later the EMU. In fact, this favorable inflation rate differential was one of the leading causes in the decision to use the Deutschmark as the currency of the EMS.
Much like how Spain and Portugal used their Latin American colonies to gain large amounts of bullion, so has Germany used the peripheral eurozone counties to build its own wealth. These results are hardly surprising—mercantilism has always historically led to a strong imperial nation (Germany, in this case) and many smaller, weaker colonies (i.e., Southern European countries). Indeed, Germany's mercantilism has been seen as a co-contributor and even a trigger for the current crisis in Europe.
Does Germany have more to lose than any other E.U. member nation if the euro is dissolved? Yes—simply because it has more of everything. I expect Merkel to do whatever is necessary to keep the E.U. intact, even though her current stance appears against eurobonds seems rigid.
Next up: What will eurobonds mean for Europe?
See all the blogs in our multipart series on the Eurozone crisis.


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George P. Johnson Wins Cisco Innovation Award
07 Nov, 2012, 08:12 GMT
BANGALORE, November 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
GPJ Awarded Cisco's Prestigious 2012 Supplier Days Innovation Recognition
Cisco Systems awarded George P. Johnson (GPJ), the number one ranked event and experience agency, its prestigious Innovation Award for design and activation of the brand's experiential activities worldwide. GPJ representatives were on hand at Cisco's Annual Supplier Days to accept the award held at the technology leaders' headquarters in San Jose, CA.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121107/573357)
Every year Cisco's marketing and procurement leaders evaluate agency partners based on performance and contribution to the brand's business priorities. The awards go to a select few strategic partners in one of four categories: Innovation, Partnership, Quality and Overall.
A number of Cisco-GPJ collaborations contributed to the recognition, most recently the Cisco House experience at the London 2012 Olympic Games. An interactive, media-driven installation that played host to thousands of Cisco customers, partners and other VIPs, Cisco House was later named the best B2B sponsor activation of the Games by industry trade magazine Event Marketer.
The Innovation award also recognizes GPJ's contribution to Cisco's business success through the management of diverse corporate and consumer experiences such as the annual Cisco Live! conference, the groundbreaking virtual-hybrid Global Sales Experience for 20,000 global employees and a one-of-a-kind B2C immersive experience, the Cisco Pavilion, created for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
In recognizing GPJ with the Innovation Award, Nancy Neipp, Cisco's Senior Director, Global Events said, "Every year we push our partners to bring new ideas to the table, challenging us to make our marketing as impressive and disruptive as the technology we offer. This award acknowledges the kind of big thinking and execution we expect from a truly unique client-agency relationship, one that time and again translates unique brand experiences into business results."
GPJ has partnered with Cisco worldwide for more than 16 years, helping one of the world's great experiential brands continually invent new ways to communicate with, educate and inspire audiences worldwide. The collaboration has produced numerous industry awards over the years, honoring concept and design as well as measured performance.
"This recognition means a great deal to the teams across the world at GPJ as well as those at our sister agencies G7, Spinifex and JUXT Interactive within the Project: WorldWide network, all of whom regularly contribute their talents," said Tara Higgins, SVP and General Manager of GPJ's San Carlos, CA office. "It reinforces for us the fact that great clients need and expect game changing ideas from their agencies, as well as the ability to make those ideas a reality."
"To me this Innovation Award from Cisco speaks volumes about how we are living in a digital era where all brand experiences are global, and that the conversations we start through events nearly always take on a life of their own online regardless of time, place and culture," said Rasheed Sait, VP and Managing Director of GPJ India. "Our client Cisco understands this at a DNA level, and it's been a pleasure working with them to furnish ideas and activations that position them as the undisputed leader in their space through a unique communications approach."
About George P. Johnson (www.gpj.com)
GPJ is the #1 ranked experience marketing agency enabling leading brand marketers to create great ideas and bring them to life through integrated experiential programs that leverage online, mobile and physical brand interactions. Clients in technology, healthcare, consumer goods, finance and other fields rely on GPJ to help them compete more effectively on a global basis by creating and accelerating relationships with customers, employees, partners, media and other influencers. GPJ is part of Project: WorldWide, the leading independent engagement marketing solutions network (www.project.com). Follow GPJ at www.twitter.com/georgepjohnson.
About Cisco
Cisco, (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.
Primary Media Contact: Rasheed Sait, VP, Managing Director, firstname.lastname@example.com, 91-9886038898
SOURCE George P Johnson


text:
This is very Prolog-y. In Prolog, there are no functions, per se: the procedure's parameters (both input and output, if the procedure has any) are explicit in the declaration.1 It's this total control of the procedure's environment that makes writing, e.g., aspects for Prolog a trivial exercise.
With Arrows, Haskell, which has always been friendly to function composition, receives another way of controlling data flow and composing functions. This topic is broad, diverse and general, and I am just starting down the path of exploring the Arrow class, so this entry will concentrate on only one aspect of the Arrow class, that is data flow through a composed arrow.
The problem comes up often enough: one wishes to dispatch some input through different functions and then marry the results for disposition by another function (if this sounds like neural nets or circuits, that's because those systems do just that). The usual way of going about this work is for the programmer to shepherd the data as it flows from function to function. However, the Arrow protocol provides tools to automate this shepherding. To provide a specific example of the above described problem, we will use problem 54 from Project Euler to illustrate: which hand of poker wins (with the problem statement listing the rules of what makes a hand of poker and the ranking of hands)?
To see which hand wins, first the hands must be classified to their type: high card, pair, two pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush and royal flush. We will concentrate on hands that are straights, flushes, straight flushes and royal flushes.2
Given a hand is a list of cards of the following type ...
data Face = Jack | Queen | King | Ace deriving (Eq, Ord, Enum)
data N = Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight
| Nine | Ten deriving (Eq, Ord, Enum)
data Rank = N N | Face Face deriving (Eq, Ord)
data Suit = Diamonds | Clubs | Spades | Hearts deriving Eq
data Card = Card Rank Suit deriving Eq3
... and cards are typed as follows ...
data HighCard = High Rank deriving (Eq, Ord)
data Type = [...]
| Straight HighCard
| Flush HighCard Rank Rank Rank Rank
| StraightFlush HighCard
| RoyalFlush deriving (Eq, Ord)
... and the cards are ranked in descending order, seeing if a hand is a straight is simply a check to see if all cards are a run:
run :: MonadPlus m ⇒ [Card] → m HighCard
run (Card rank _:cards)
= High rank |- descending (value rank)
(map value cards)
where descending _ [] = True
descending x (card:t) = x - 1 ≡ card
∧ descending card t
... where the
value returns the value (of the rank) of the card (Two ≡ 2, Three ≡ 3, ..., King ≡ 12, Ace ≡ 13), and the
|- function [pron: "implied by"] converts a value to its MonadPlus equivalent based on the result of a predicate:
(|-) :: MonadPlus m ⇒ a → Bool → m a
x |- p | p = return x
| otherwise = mzero
A flush is a hand that has all cards of the same suit ...
sameSuit :: MonadPlus m ⇒ [Card] → m Suit
sameSuit (Card _ suit:cards) = suit |- all inSuit cards
where inSuit (Card _ s) = s ≡ suit
... or in the mode of
sameSuit a flush is a hand where every other card has the same suit as the first card.
So now we have functions that determine if a hand is a flush or if its a straight. Now, during the discussion, you may have been wondering at the return type of these functions. Why not simply return a truth value, as these are predicates on straights and flushes? If these functions simply tested only for straights and flushes (mutually-) exclusively, the return type of Bool is most appropriate, but we intent to use these tests for more than just that: we will be using these simple functions to build our tests for straight flushes and royal flushes, and their return types help in that eventuality.
The strength of the Arrow class comes into its own in the following development, as well.
First off, what are straight flushes and royal flushes, conceptually? A straight flush is a straight in the same suit with a discriminating high card (for, after all, 109876 beats 76543). A royal flush is a straight flush with an ace as the high card. Now it is clear that the return type of the test functions above need more information than what Bool conveys.
So, we need to process the hand through both
run and
sameSuit, obtaining positive results from both functions, and we need to retrieve the result from
run either to ensure the hand is a royal flush (because the high card must be an ace) or to fix the value of the straight flush. The Arrow protocol has function,
&&& [pron. "fan-out"] that splits an input and sends it off to two Arrow types for separate processing, so to determine a straight flush we start the test with ...
run &&& straight
... which gives the following results (with the Maybe type selected to represent the particular MonadPlus):
(Just (Face Ace), Just (Suit Spades))
(Just (Face Ace), Nothing)
(Nothing, Just (Suit Spades))
(Nothing, Nothing)
Now that we have those results (in the form of a tuple pair), we need simply to perform a logical-and over the different values to obtain a conjoined truth result and to retrieve the high card's value to determine the "blue-blooded"ness of the straight flush.
That solution gives us two problems to deal with:
- I'm not aware of a logical-and operation for the MonadPlus types; but that doesn't matter because:
- We're working with two different types of MonadPlus type values anyway.
So, I rolled my own conjunctive function, favoring the result of the run, given both tests resolve positively:
mand :: Monad m ⇒ m a → m b → m a
x `mand` y = y >> x >>= return
Given the above definition of
mand and introducing the composition function of the Arrow protocol,
>>>, we can now write the computation that determines a straight flush and returns its high card:
run &&& sameSuit >>> uncurry mand
In fact, this pattern:
f &&& g >>> uncurry mand4 neatly captures the logic programming paradigm of goal-seeking via conjunction, so it deserves it's own apt abstraction:
conjoin :: Monad m ⇒ (a → m b) → (a → m c) → a → m b
conjoin f g = f &&& g >>> uncurry mand
So, now we have the tools available to discriminate a hand's type along the straight or royal flush -- the straight flush simply returns the type with the high card value ...
straightFlush :: [Card] → Maybe Type
straightFlush hand = (run `conjoin` sameSuit) hand >>=
return . StraightFlush
... and a royal flush is a straight flush with a guaranteed high ace:
royalFlush :: [Card] → Maybe Type
royalFlush hand = straightFlush hand >>= highAce
where highAce kind
= RoyalFlush |- kind ≡ StraightFlush (High (Face Ace))
Note the complementary rôles of
conjoin and
>>= [pron. bind]:
conjoin marries two truth values (emphasizing the first), and
>>= forwards a truth value for disposition. Due to the monadic nature of these functions, a false result (or failure) at any point in the computation aborts it, so these nondeterministic functions are very well-behaved: what is returned is either Just a straight flush or a royal flush if and only if every test is true along the way, or Nothing if even a single test fails.
In summary, this particular aspect of the Arrow protocol that captures the totality of functions and simplifies the control of data flow gives a particularly powerful and flexible set of tools to the user, combining this flexibility with (Arrow) composition and the existing Monad and MonadPlus facilities allows a programming style as simple, declarative and powerful as the logic-programming paradigm.
|Further distancing Prolog procedures from Haskell functions, the outcome of a procedure is not an "output" but its validity, or truth value -- how very un-Haskell-y!
|But seriously! A royal flush? How many of you have every drawn that hand? There should be some special rule for drawing a royal flush, like: you get a life-time supply of marzipan loaded into the trunk of your brand new Bentley parked at your vacation home in St. Croix.
|Note that in poker there is no precedence of suits (unlike in other card games, like Contract Bridge), so Suit is not an Ord type. This means, that since the Card type contains a Suit value, it, too, is not ordered ... if it were, then the situation would arise where a high card hand of 109... would lose to a high card hand of 106... which is patently not within the rules of poker.
|In fact, the pattern
foo &&& bar >>> uncurry quux deserves and has its own article which very prettily describes and illustrates graphically what this pattern does.


text:
New liver transplant can save 2 lives from 1 donor organ
Brylynn Koppa, 2, benefits from new procedure
Doctors have performed a first-in-Kansas-City operation that they hope will lead to more help for area children with liver problems.
The procedure used a single organ donor to save two patients in need of new livers.
Brylynn Koppa's parents said the 2-year-old never slows down, much like most toddlers. That surprises people once they get a good look at her.
"We would actually see people in public and they would see her catheter or something hanging out of her shirt and they'd say, 'What's wrong?' Nobody even knew anything was wrong with her," said Brylynn's mother, Randi Shaw.
"It wasn't easy, by no means," said Brylynn's father, Derek Koppa.
Brylynn was born with failing kidneys. She's faced more needles and medicine in her first two years and four months than most people ever need, including daily dialysis.
Her parents said they've gotten used to a routine of hooking her up to a machine, checking her weight and taking her blood pressure every day.
Brylynn's liver also failed, leading to a procedure where surgeons used the liver from one donor to save an adult and a child.
"It does add a huge component of complexity," said Dr. Richard Hendrickson. "And it basically starts with the family that had the tragedy that allows them the generosity to give this gift of life."
Her parents said the surgery means the end of Brylynn having bags attached to her hip. They said they're actually looking forward to potty training her next.
"I'm so excited for it, to potty train," said Shaw. "It sounds funny, but yep."
The surgery was part of a new partnership between Children's Mercy and the University of Kansas hospitals. They said they hope it leads to helping more children. Both the doctors and Brylynn's family said they wanted the public to know that none of this would have happened without the generosity of organ donors and their families.
The other half of the split liver went to Cheryl Henkle, of Gardner, Kan. She had been waiting nearly two months at the University of Kansas Hospital for the transplant. She said she can't wait to care for her grandsons again.


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Soros to Germany: Be part of the solution, or leaveSeptember 10, 2012: 10:56 AM ET
Billionaire financier and political activist George Soros said Germany should lead the European Union in a different direction, or be persuaded to leave the euro currency so other nations can move forward.
"In my judgment the best course of action is to persuade Germany to choose between becoming a more benevolent hegemon or leaving the euro," Soros wrote in an essay published in the New York Review of Books Monday. "In other words, Germany must lead or leave."
Soros said the EU is at risk of becoming permanently divided between debtor and creditor nations, a split that he says will ultimately lead to economic depression and social unrest.
To prevent this, Soros argues that Germany should "level the playing field" for debtor nations by allowing them to refinance public debt at affordable rates. He also said that Germany should be willing to tolerate inflation rates above 2%, in order for the eurozone economy to grow again.
Throughout the crisis, Germany has done the "minimum necessary" to prevent a break up of the euro currency union, but Soros says Germany needs to stop insisting that governments repay their debts at any cost.
If Germany refuses to change course, Soros says the next best option is for other EU nations to convince Germany to leave the euro currency union, a move he says would be disruptive but will also set the stage for the remaining eurozone nations to recover.
"It is Germany's fear of becoming the deep pocket for Europe that stands in the way," he stated. "Given the magnitude of Europe's problems this is understandable; but it does not justify a permanent division of the euro area into debtors and creditors."
Related: Euro rescue fund faces key test in German court
Soros argues that an exit by Germany would cause the euro to depreciate, which would lessen the debt burden and increase competitiveness for the remaining nations that use the single currency. In addition, Soros said the threat of default "would evaporate" with the European Central Bank under debtor nations' control.
"Without Germany, the euro area would have no difficulty in carrying out the U-turn for which it would otherwise need Chancellor Merkel's consent," wrote Soros.
By contrast, Soros said an exit by one or more debtor countries could cause the euro to collapse and send shock-waves throughout the global economy.
"The common market and the European Union may be able to cope with the default of a small country such as Greece, especially when it is so widely anticipated, but it could not survive the departure of a larger country like Spain or Italy," he said. "Even a Greek default may prove fatal."
However, Germany is unlikely to exit the currency union voluntarily.
Other EU nations must push Germany to either change its policies or leave, according to Soros. He argued that France, the second-largest eurozone economy after Germany, should join forces with Spain and Italy to put pressure on Germany. Yet he acknowledged that France has limited room for maneuver given its own debt problems.
"So France's real choice is, on the one hand, between breaking with Germany to save Europe and restore growth or, on the other, pretending to be in the hard currency boat for a limited time, only to be thrown overboard later," writes Soros.
Soros said the new bond-buying program announced last week by the European Central Bank could reinforce the divide between creditor and debtor nations. The ECB said it is willing to make unlimited purchases of sovereign debt in the bond market for governments that agree to strict conditions.
But the ECB's intervention will not eliminate risk premiums in the bond market, and the conditions will make it harder for governments to revive economic growth, according to Soros.


text:
Rep. Schiff: Democrats Should Shun House Probe of Benghazi
California Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he doesn't think his party should participate in the latest House probe of the now-infamous 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya.
"It's a colossal waste of time," he said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday. "I don't think it makes sense really for Democrats to participate."


text:
Where in the world are the industry's new financial advisors coming from?
From the pharmaceutical industry, from the shipping industry, from the garment industry — and lots more.
Career-changers with proven track records are financial services firms' most sought-after FA candidates.
And they are sorely needed. The hunt for new advisors is imperative, as more and more older, veteran FAs retire from the business. On top of that, the number of existing advisors has shrunk as a result of the financial crisis, which forced thousands of new FAs and others with weak franchises to exit the business. What's more, for a time after the crisis, wirehouses curtailed training programs.
And to be sure, the down market and Wall Street scandals caused the profession of financial advisor to lose some of its luster.
According to a study by researchers Cerulli Associates, in Boston, the number of FAs industry-wide dropped from 334,919 in 2004 to 320,378 in 2010. At wirehouses, the total fell from 60,960 to 50,742. Exacerbating the problem of short supply, the average FA's age last year was 49.6; at wirehouses, 50.6, Cerulli says.
"The problem is that there's a stagnant, aging pool of financial advisors," says Mark Elzweig, whose executive recruitment firm, Mark Elzweig Company, is in New York City.
And the problem isn't going away any time soon.
"The need for new advisors is critical. It's about to get massively critical because more and more advisors are retiring," says Bob Patrick, director of education and development at Raymond James, based in St. Petersburg, Fla. "We're losing more advisors than we're gaining and who are sticking after five or six years. If we don't do something about this soon, we'll extinguish ourselves."
Thus, firms have gone full throttle in trying to replenish. They have devised new and creative ways to find potential candidates and are offering attractive incentives to secure the ideal recruits.
Not only is work experience a top priority, firms are zeroing in on career-changers —versus young college grads — because they are likely to have overcome a few of life's hard knocks. Facing adversity, they believe, toughens them enough to deal with the challenges and frustrations of building a practice.
That, they reason, will likely reduce the ever-high rookie drop-out rate. The number of new advisors remaining with firms after three years is, at most, 15 percent, Elzweig says.
But finding the right candidates isn't a snap. In addition to experience, trainees must be disciplined self-starters with an entrepreneurial spirit who are good at building relationships and a client base. Certainly not least: they need to have demonstrated sales success and possess a network of affluent contacts upon whom they can draw to prospect — right away.
"It's a rare confluence of abilities," Elzweig remarks. "But unless they have the raw sales skills, stamina and are driven to work very long hours, they will not be successful."
That's why firms are betting on career-changers who have already made their mark in other fields.
"Our commitment is to grow the number of advisors in the industry, not just 'trade advisors' with other firms,' says Tom Fickinger, head of advisor growth and development at Merrill Lynch, in New York City. "The majority of [trainees] we've been hiring are new to the industry. Last year we hired the largest amount of trainees into our program ever. The biggest challenge is finding the appropriate people — the ones who have the highest probability of being successful."
Merrill is in its second year of targeting career-changers to train for its U.S. Wealth Management arm. And it has headed straight to the Internet to find them, mounting display advertising and nabbing significant presence on LinkedIn, CareerBuilder and Monster job-finder sites. Moreover, it uses advanced targeting techniques to reach folks with experience in industries they know transition well to a career in financial advisory; for example, pharmaceutical sales.
Plus, to attract new people, last year Merrill ran more than 100 "career seminars" in its 120 complexes. It has also hired recruiters for each of its markets to help identify and source potential advisors.
Unlike the old days, there is less emphasis by firms today on taking their recruiting message to masses of college undergrads, unless they employ pinpoint marketing strategies.
As Patrick notes: "We're mostly looking for career-changers who have had at least five to seven years' work experience after college, have had to fight through some adversity and who have a network they can turn back to immediately" to prospect.
Raymond James, however, is seeking professionals in post-graduate programs who may be dissatisfied with their current jobs. Such students often have a local network ripe for prospecting.
And colleges offering accreditation toward wealth management is a prime source for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
"We spend a lot of time on those campuses," says Barry Krouk, managing director and head of talent management. "We're going where somebody has already declared their interest in certification in wealth management, or secondarily, wealth planning."
MSSB also is big on employing social media to find new FAs. It networks through LinkedIn and other sites and has a robust online ad campaign, Krouk says. "We use social media both proactively — sourcing profiles — and reactively, where we join a chat or blog and participate, then look for referrals."
Explains Krouk: "We're looking for someone who has demonstrated success in a previous career and who understands the entrepreneurial spirit of what the FA role is. This is less about age and more about track record. It's not hard-core sales we're looking for but a person who's been out prospecting and knows how to develop a client base."
Interest Revives
While it's still notably challenging for firms to find Mr. or Ms. Right Candidate, interest in becoming a financial advisor has been picking up.
"We're in the mid-to-high 30s [percent] graduating from our training program," Merrill's Fickinger says. "We're very proud of that. The numbers are slowly creeping up from the hires of 2008."
At Edward Jones, in St. Louis, John Rahal, the firm's partner responsible for financial advisor talent acquisition, notes: "As we get further from the cataclysmic events of 2008, professionals are more willing to hear about the opportunities in the financial services industry. As with the ebb and flow of the market, so goes the ebb and flow of the attractiveness of our industry."
Indeed, Krouk stresses that MSSB has "a broad enough applicant flow to find what [it's] looking for. There is huge interest in this position. A general posting on a career site brings in a tremendous amount of applicants."
Generally, the most desirable FA candidate is in the 30s -to-40s age range.
At Edward Jones, the median age of new recruits is 38. In January, the firm took a new tack in approaching professionals from other industries by deploying recruiting teams in selected markets nationwide. Partnering with existing FAs, they are inserting themselves into the community and even joining service organizations, such as the Kiwanis Club or chambers of commerce. Further, EJ is placing particular emphasis on locating people in transition, like those in the military.
It is also forming alliances with universities that have strong programs in entrepreneurship. And it has a team dedicated to finding women and culturally diverse candidates via military and university channels.
"Competition from other firms and other industries for the right women is very [heavy]," Rahal says. Yet, last year 24 percent of the firm's approximately 2,500 FA hires were female.
Many perceive women to have a natural knack for bonding and developing relationships.
Merrill, too, is making a push to hire more female trainees. In 2011 it was lead sponsor for three conferences held by iRelaunch, an organization for women seeking to reenter the workforce. This year it plans to expand that partnership.
The right female candidates are prized at Raymond James, where according to Patrick women are thought to be "flat-out better relationship-builders" than men. The B/D has set up its own network for women advisors. Recently, it began running regional meetings where existing RJ female FAs bring their women friends and colleagues interested in becoming advisors. Sometimes these are clients.
Firms' more aggressive recruiting campaigns include improved screening processes designed to better determine who has what it takes to stick with the FA program. When rookies wash out early — complaining of hard work and long ramp-up time to build a practice — it is often because firms have failed to accurately gauge their tenaciousness.
"Last year we put in place a process that does a better job of vetting the person to identify the top candidates likely to succeed," notes Merrill's Fickinger.
Across the board, interviewers are asking applicants questions meant to reveal more about themselves and are trying to ensure that would-be FAs fully understand the dedication the job requires.
"The more realistic our managers are with candidates in the interview process," Krouck says, "and do a reality check before we offer them a job," the better.
Still, Patrick points out: "Even though we try to overemphasize the challenges of the business, trainees underestimate how much work it takes and that you have to fight through hearing 'no' a lot more than 'yes' particularly early in your career. I wish I had a dollar for every time a trainee [in a prior program with those mostly in their mid-20s] said, 'Boy, this is really hard work!' I'd say, 'We told you that. If it were easy, they'd be paying us all $10 an hour.'"
Creating Incentives
To attract more professionals and help them over the long road to building a fee-based business, firms have extended the length of training programs, all of them salary-guaranteed. For example, Raymond James went from just four weeks' to two years' training and now offers a base salary for five years.
Some paychecks can be substantial. "I've heard of [trainees] getting $100,000 or more, depending on the career they're coming from," Elzweig says. "The firms are making significant investments."
Further, Merrill and MSSB are assigning a mentor or coach to each newbie to give them a boost. And last year Merrill put in place local practice-management and market-development people to help implement training.
Most importantly, wirehouses are encouraging rookies to team with senior advisors — even from Day One. At Merrill, 20 percent of new FA hires join teams right away.
Notes MSSB's Krouk: "Success rates are exponentially greater when you're working with someone at a local level."
Meantime, B/Ds continue to search for candidates with that uncommon combination of qualities and experience.
One new advisor, Robin Bailey, who joined Edward Jones just short of two years ago, fit the firm's target profile to a "t": He was a career-changer, with a strong sales background, who had a long successful run in the printing industry. As a bonus, he'd been investing his own money for more than two decades.
The jovial Bailey, 53, who set up shop in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, is unfazed by all the hard work. But "you do have to make yourself available," he says. "You've got to get up every morning and go get it — because nobody is going to bring it to you."
And go-getters are just what broker-dealers are nowadays in their quest for new FAs.
"If we can bring in 100 quality people a year and have a 50 percent success rate, I'd be thrilled," Patrick says. "We're creating the next generation of advisors who can take a book over from a retiring advisor and continue things on."


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Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert stay strong amid rumors of infidelity, while Malcolm Jamal Warner and Regina King go their separate ways: See Us Weekly's top stories from Thursday, March 21, in the roundup!
1. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert Hit the Red Carpet Amid Cheating Rumors
Miranda Lambert is standing by her man — literally. Despite a slew of recent tabloid articles claiming that Blake Shelton had cheated on her with aspiring musician Cady Groves, the tough-as-nails "Gunpowder & Lead" singer joined her husband at The Voice's season 4 premiere party in Hollywood.
2. Exclusive: Malcolm Jamal Warner Splits With Regina King: "She's Brokenhearted," Says Pal
Theo Huxtable is once again a single man. After over two years of dating, Malcolm-Jamal Warner has split with girlfriend Regina King, a source confirms to Us Weekly — and it wasn't the most amicable of partings.
3. Christina Aguilera Debuts Major Weight Loss, Fresh-Faced Makeover at Voice Event
Christina Aguilera made a jaw-dropping comeback at an event for NBC's The Voice on Wednesday, March 20. Making a surprise appearance on the red carpet for the season-four premiere screening, the singer turned heads in a little black-and-white dress that showed off a noticeably slimmer figure.
4. Fergie Dresses Baby Bump in Tight Green Shirt, Tells Good Morning America "I Have No Idea What I'm Doing"
First-time mom-to-be Fergie stepped out in NYC on Thursday, March 21, for an appearance on Good Morning America, where she confessed that she's not exactly prepared to welcome her first child. "I have no idea what I'm doing!" she said. "I'm just going to play it by ear and see how things go…"
5. Seraphina Affleck Debuts Adorable Short Bob Haircut
Karlie Kloss, Nicole Richie, Naomi Watts — all of Hollywood's cool kids have been chopping their hair into chic new bobs and lobs. And now a real cool kid, Seraphina Affleck, is rocking the trend, too!
For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!


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hi my name is Pattyand its been awhile since I've posted here.A lot is going on in my life.I am schizophrenic,and have borderline personality disorder. I have also bee seeing a rheumatologist since 2008, and have lupus.I am taking prednisone right now for abad flare up, and it is affecting my psychiatric symptoms.I am extremelyanxious, am crying at the dropof a hat and flying into rages.I also am in recovery and have 18 months sober;thank God for the rooms ,I think I would have lost my mind by now if not for the support of my peers.
To complicate matters, my son has sensory processing disorder and is on a feeding tube. my husband left two years ago when gabe was first diagnosed and moved in with my best friend, had a babyboy with her, she is now expecting a second child with him.Im over it.My dad had congestive heart failure in july and has liver cancer,he is also an active alcoholic and ispresently drinking himself to death. Because of the fact that i live in his home with my children, it has fallentome to take careof him without support of my brother ( who is in recovery) and my sister( who is a lawyer).I have been taking care of my dying father, my special needs son, my daughter,all the while trying to remainsane and sober.It is very difficult and i dont understand why my family isnt there for me. they do however come every sunday expecting a meal and wine to go with it.Thats the extent of their involvement.If I yet harbor any resentment, it would be with mybrother and sister. I have forgiven myhusband and his girlfriend.I sometimes ask God why do things have to be so hard?I am catholic, and find great comfort in my faith and in my Church.
My dad is pretty abusive toward my son. he doesnt understand Gabe's issues and sensitivity.My STBX is not onboard withGabes nutritioon and feeding, does not cone to doctors appts with him and does not talk to the social workeron gabes case or either of the two feeding therapists.I feel like i am carrying the world onmy shoulders, that all of these responsibilities i bear alone, i cannot understand the lack of help, interest orsupport.Ihave been inpatient on a psych unittwicethis year, i was in the medical ward for the lupus in august and again in the ER in NH when we took a vacation and incrediblysickand weak with infections and pain.I think what I am doing here is venting, I was not sure where to post since there are so many things involved. thankyou for the forumand i hope for feedback.


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Current record: 16-18, 3rd place in NL Central, 4 games back
Up Next: Miami Marlins, 18-16, 4th place in NL East, 7.5 games back
The Pirates head down to Miami for a quick two game set against the newly orange-clad Marlins. The Fish have an 85 OPS+ and 117 ERA+ which means that the pitchers have been doing more than the bats to help the team win. For comparison, the Pirates are at 72 and 117. Marlins Stadium has been a hitters park thus far in its short history. Miami is scoring 4.5 runs and allowing 4.64 at home, vs 3.25 and 3.15 on the road. The Marlins spent a ton of money to bring in free agents Jose Reyes (started slow, heating up), Mark Buehrle (as good as expected), and Heath Bell (already removed from the closer role). Giancarlo Stanton (133 OPS+) and Omar Infante (153 OPS+) are leading the Marlins' offense most nights.
Probable Pitchers
Monday: RH Brad Lincoln (2-0, 14.1 IP, 16 K, 0.63 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)
vs. RH Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 40.1 IP, 46 K, 2.01 ERA, 1.04 WHIP)
Lincoln fills in tonight for what would have been Erik Bedard's turn. Bedard will go on Wednesday. Sanchez is pitching like an ace this year and strikes out a ton of batters. The pitching will have to keep things close (again) for the Pirates to have a shot tonight.
Tuesday: RH Kevin Correia (1-3, 36.1 IP, 13 K, 3.47 ERA, 1.13 WHIP)
vs. RH Josh Johnson (0-3, 38.1 IP, 32 K, 5.87 ERA, 1.70 WHIP)
Correia hopes to continue getting good results from his smoke-and-mirrors show. Johnson has yet to regain his Cy Young candidate form after injuring his shoulder last year but he still strikes out a lot of hitters.
Jose Tabata RF
Neil Walker 2B
Andrew McCutchen CF
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Casey McGehee 1B
Alex Presley LF
Rod Barajas C
Clint Barmes SS
Brad Lincoln P
Jose Reyes SS
Omar Infante 2B
Hanley Ramirez 3B
Logan Morrison LF
Giancarlo Stanton RF
Gaby Sanchez 1B
Emilio Bonifacio CF
John Buck C
Anibal Sanchez P
Filed under: baseball, Pirates | Tagged: Alex Presley, Andrew McCutchen, Anibal Sanchez, baseball, Brad Lincoln, Casey McGehee, Clint Barmes, Emilio Bonifacio, Gaby Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Hanley Ramirez, Heath Bell, John Buck, Jose Reyes, Jose Tabata, Josh Johnson, Kevin Correia, Logan Morrison, Mark Buehrle, Marlins, Neil Walker, Omar Infante, Pedro Alvarez, Pirates, Rod Barajas | Leave a comment »


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Boston's Most Wanted
100% Synch Optional Objectives
- Do not raise your notoriety to Level 3
When the mission starts, Connor is tasked with removing TWO Wanted posters from their posts while under full Level 3 notoriety. Fortunately, Connor does NOT need to be undetected to the enemy to rip them down. If the Redcoats start a fight, either fight them off or run away (though fighting them off would be the better choice).
DO NOT RAISE YOUR NOTORIETY TO LEVEL 3: The objective is simple just as long as Connor doesn't cause trouble. After ripping down two of the Wanted posters that are highlighted, approach to Sam at the marketplace to trigger a cutscene.
After the cutscene, Sam will mark an area to the Boston Underground on the map. Unfortunately, the area to the entrance is blocked by Redcoats, so approach the building and climb to the rooftops and then jump down. Approach the underground entrance doorway to complete the mission
But wait, there's more!
extra samuel adams missions: lying low/stop the presses
Right after the end of the "Boston's Most Wanted" mission, Connor has to escort Sam through the Boston Underground tunnels and then bribe the town printer. Follow the path of the scurrying rats to find the correct way. Once at the intersection, take the path towards NORTH PORT.
Once you reach the exit doorway, pick the lock to complete the first Sam mission. From there, meet with Sam at the printer's office and then follow Sam to the harbor to complete the second Sam mission. Take note that you CANNOT do these two missions on a Replay!
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Grandson considers moving 'Frozen Dead Guy' from Colorado to Michigan
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- The frozen corpse of the man who inspired Colorado's Frozen Dead Guy Days festival could be moving to Michigan.
Bredo Morstoel was cryogenically frozen after he died in 1989 in hopes he could one day be revived. His body is being stored in a Tuff Shed in Nederland, Colo., with regular deliveries of dry ice helping to keep the body frozen.
But Morstoel's grandson Trygve (TRIG'-vuh) Bauge (BOH'-guh) of Norway says the man delivering the dry ice has threatened to quit.
Bauge told the Daily Camera newspaper Tuesday that he has asked the Cryonics Institute in Michigan if they'll store the body when he can afford it. He estimates that might be in 2015.
The institute says it evaluates whether to accept bodies based on various criteria.


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FFF - Best Wishes21 12 2012
1.) What would you like to say before the year ends? A BIG GIGANT THANK YOU to all my lovely readers and visitors here at lebenslustiger for stopping by, commenting, e-mailing and for just being so wonderful nice, friendly and supportive.
2.) How are you these days? Happily looking forward to the holiday break... 3.) A gift to myself? Flowers! often!
4.) What will you eat the next days? We will go to the mountains in Austria - so - lot's of really yummy food will be on my plate...
5.) And now? Wishing you HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a wonderful next year - LOVE TO ALL!!!
More FFF here


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Often these days I hear the phrase, "no one owns the truth" as a response to Bible interpretation. What is your opinion?
When I was growing up some 75 years ago I never heard a slogan such as the one you mention. In those days everybody that I encountered seemed to agree that there were fixed standards of right and wrong, truth and untruth. It is not that way today. And, as you suggest, it is now quite common to hear people say things like this, "no one owns the truth."
As your question implies, it is not easy to dismiss this slogan out of hand. Why? For two reasons. (1) First, because our knowledge is limited. Neither you nor I know everything, so the question that can't be evaded is this: how can we know anything for sure? (2) And, second, because this slogan is a rather accurate description of where many people are today. These words remind me of a descriptive phrase used by wise Solomon to describe the situation for many people living in his day. He said, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" (Eccl. 1:2). To say the same thing in our modern tongue it would be "emptiness of emptiness, all is emptiness!" And that pretty well describes the condition of many people today who are without God and without hope in the world!
But we know that these slogans (however true they may be as descriptions of the spiritual state of those who are lost) are not true for Christians. They are not true because the true God has communicated his truth to us in Jesus Christ and the Bible. The apostle John, who spent considerable time in close contact with Jesus, said, "we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). John also says, "that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full" (1 John 1:3-4).
When we come to see, from God's inspired Word, who Jesus is and what God has done in sending him to save us, there is a true sense in which we know all things! Of Christian believers John says, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things" (2:20). This does not mean that we suddenly know everything exhaustively (like someone who might memorize the entire content of Encyclopedia Britainnica). But it does mean God has given us, in Christ, a true grasp of his awesome plan for the world, and our place in it. We see the whole picture, in other words, because Jesus is the light of the world, and those who know him do not walk in darkness.
To his disciples Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He also said, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). So believers do possess the truth (or perhaps it would be better to say the truth possesses them).
"Questions and Answers" is a weekly feature of the OPC website. The answers come from individual ministers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church expressing their own convictions and do not necessarily represent an "official" position of the Church, especially in areas where the Standards of the Church (the Scriptures and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) are silent.
The questions come from individuals like yourself. If you have questions about biblical and theological matters, you are invited to send them by e-mail by using the "Pose a Question" link on the OPC home page or by clicking here.
At least one new question is posted each week, so there should always be something new here for you to read. (For those people who would like to look at previous questions and answers, they will continue to be available as well.)
The purpose of the OPC website's "Questions and Answers" is to respond to biblical and theological questions. Matters of church discipline, disputes, or debates go beyond the scope of our work. We recommend that you present your concerns in these areas to the appropriate judicatory. In most cases this will be to a local pastor, elder, or session. We do not want the website to replace personal involvement in, or commitment to, the local, visible church.
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Chaplains and Military Personnel


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Folks, I apologize. I started off this morning feeling bad, but thought I simply had allergies — itchy itchy eyes, cold symptoms. Drove to New Orleans, and by the time I got here, I could barely see, my eyes were so goopy gross. Doc in the box trip to discover that I have come down with some sort of cold that decided my throat and ears weren't quite enough territory to destroy… oh, nooooo, it wanted the eyes, too. So I'm hopped up on antibiotics, squinting at the monitor because the light is killing me, and my planned blog for the day is not going to happen. I will tell you now, though, tune in next time to find out about the secret doors and rooms we discovered in this New Orleans apartment that we're using for an office while we're here on a job. The amount of crime that went on in this place is staggering. (I have photos.) 🙂
Meanwhile, I think you'll like this one, if you don't happen to read Murderati, where I posted it Sunday. I took the images below here in New Orleans and… well… it'll speak for itself. I hope you enjoy.
It's misleading, really, when we see a final product, especially a book or a film that works because we think, "Of course–that's the way it had to be."
Ribbon Car (final image)
But truly, it didn't. There were a million ways for the idea to go wrong, or to get mixed up with another idea (or a dozen other ideas) and become a delinquent, flaw-riddled ne'er do well of a thought, ruining all the hopes and plans of its parent. This happens more frequently than we writers like to admit; we want to keep the magic in front of the reader, not the seams and the dirty sleight-of-hand that cracks the illusion.
Ideas, you see, really aren't that big of a deal. They're constantly piled in heaps around us. Everyone comes across story ideas all day long, every single day. That woman who once walked by with a leaf on her nose? There's a character. Who does that? Why? What other wonky things would she do? (I saw that woman fifteen-ish years ago, and still have not forgotten her. One day, she's going to walk into a story and belong there, and then I'll know why she kept perching on the idea pile.) Ideas clutter our brains like so much junk, jangling around, getting bumped and smothered with other ideas, then jostled again and again until two things become neighbors and we start seeing them differently.
I'd been staring out a window at a flag whipping in the wind for several days, when I had the opportunity to go onto the scrap yard where we're doing some concrete work. This particular scrap yard goes on for acres and acres, with all sorts of industrial items that have been scrapped and are awaiting the shear or to be loaded into a barge, bound for some foundry somewhere. This particular pile is where the crushed cars are stacked, and when I looked through the lens, I only had the sense that there was a possibility of beauty amongst items that are past their prime, dying or decaying. It's an odd thought, but I took a few wide-angle shots, just to sort of "see" the items, to start filtering out the surroundings and try to focus.
That's when I noticed the red in the image, and I walked around the pile until I saw the red car. Ribbon Car (original image)I loved the way the metal seemed to bend and flow, like a ribbon (flag) in the wind, and I zeroed in on it and grabbed a shot. I was losing the light and we had to go, so it's a crappy shot with bad exposure, but I knew I could edit it.
And see, that's really the trick when it comes to art of any kind. It's not just the idea–it's the vision. What makes a piece unique and memorable is the artist's specific vision: what they want to communicate, what story they want to tell. That story doesn't generally happen in the first draft or without some sort of editing. That editing might occur internally–especially after the artist has some years of experience and knows what they want to look for, how they want to capture it. With practice, they may be able to execute that vision on the first try. Most creations, though, take editing–layers of thoughts, sifting–yes to this, no to that–tweaking here, highlighting there, focusing the emphasis where the artist wants your eye.
Most people will never see the thousand decisions that go into a story, if it works well. It'll flow, make sense, be captivating, surprising-and-yet-somehow-fated. As artists, we need to also remember that it's not terribly likely that we're going to turn out something that is perfect on the first try. It may take layers and layers of editing before we get the story or the image into the shape we want, to tell the story that we want.
I'm in that place now with the new book. The first draft was done about a month or so ago, and I love three-fourths of it. I do not love one aspect of the ending (and I knew this all along), but I hadn't quite seen through the debris of ideas to find the single way it had to be told. It took time away from it and then stepping around the pile, zooming in and seeing a specific section of the bigger image before I suddenly knew what I had captured, and therefore, what to enhance. Sure, I wish I had been able to turn out a pristine perfect draft out-the-gate and never have to edit, but that's not the way I process ideas, so it's never going to happen that way. I've made my peace with it, mostly because I love the editing process. (I love painting and photography for the same reason.)
Ironically, what started off as a quickie photo shoot turned into something startling to me, which then informed some of the writing I'm working on in a way I had not ever anticipated, so that was a bonus. Plus, now I am (on the side, as a hobby) working on a series of "ribbon" images like the red car above. I think it'll help me see with a fresh perspective.
So what are your hobbies? What do you like to do just for the joy of doing it–because you love the process, not because you're necessarily any good at it. What is it that you love about it? And if you don't have a hobby, but have been thinking about one, which one, and why?


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Discover for free which first names would suit you or your baby !
Meaning of name Iracema
Etymology :
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Origin : Spanish
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Meaning of those numbers?
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Who is she?
Introverted, discreet and reserved, Iracema tends to protect herself from a world that worries her a little. She is shy and very selective in her personal relationships and Iracema would much prefer to be single than in a bad relationship. A cerebral lady, she is inclined to speculation and is easily anxious and worried, with quite a pessimistic outlook on this world that she finds so troubling. She is pragmatic, rational and instinctively wary and often needs to reassure herself. On the other hand, she is reliable and is definitely somebody who can be counted on. She is attentive to others and is of sound moral character. If she lives her active number at the level of the 2, she will be sensitive, impressionable and seek security above all. Affectionate, tender and receptive to others, self-protection comes naturally to her in the light of the many problems and difficulties that she imagines are possible. She is therefore likely to lead quite a monotonous life which is nonetheless stable and well-organized. If she can live this same active number in harmony with the vibrations of the master number 11, she will experience transformation and develop incredible inner strength as well as an ascendency over others. With the help of her intuition, her understanding of human psychology combined with her inspiration will enable her to accomplish her social and humanitarian goals. She will reap the fruits of her efforts as long as she remains tenacious and perseverant. A high level of nervous tension is a side effect of the vibrations of this master number, so she must learn to channel her energy. As a child, she requires plenty of love and affection, in spite of the fact that she is bashful and doesn´t know how to respond to blatant displays of affection. But the more love, encouragement and stimulation that she receives, the healthier her development will be. Likewise, she will do much better at school if her teacher shows an active interest in her education. She is well-behaved and responsible, even a little too much sometimes; and she isn´t afraid of solitude which is a sanctuary to her. She prefers doing things by herself to group games and activities.
What does she like?
She enjoys peace and quiet, simplicity and all that is natural. She loathes pretentiousness, small talk and gossip; and seeks security and stability more than anything else. With her practical and rational mind she is often interested in the latest technology and enjoys planning and organizing - probably because she worries about being unprepared for unexpected. The master number 22 enables her to achieve great feats in her lifetime, and her large capacity for work will serve her well. In matter of the heart, she is loyal and affectionate, although she isn´t particularly demonstrative because she can have difficulty expressing her emotions. On the other hand, you should know that if she´s in love with you, it´s for life!
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What does she do?
Iracema could find her niche in one of the scientific or technical professions, in liaison with modernism and avant-garde technology as well as occupations concerned with the land, nature, science and animals or the social sciences (psychology or parapsychology), she could equally excel in a career requiring precision and thoroughness, such as dressmaking.
Discover others girls first names : Iracema Irati Ireland
*To note: :
It sometimes happens that two different first names have the same meaning. This has nothing surprising: both first names have the same figures of numerology. It is as in astrology: two persons belonging to the same sign present the same characteristic...
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Your Name Horoscope !
Thanks to the numerology, we propose you daily a horoscope personalized for your first name. Love, money , Shape: discover what waits for you for today. In Bonus every day find your daily lucky figure .. Horoscope of the first names
Love :Couples: The complicity between the two of you will be reinforced. Singles: An admirer will make themselves known.
Money :You are trying to decide whether or not to make a property investment. Take your time.
Health:You won't see any results without some effort Iracema.
Your Lucky number : 80


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Achieving the 30% Goal: Energy and Cost Savings Analysis of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010
This report documents the progress indicator (PI) process and analysis that Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed to evaluate the potential energy savings from the application of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 to building design and construction compared to the application of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The report describes PNNL's EnergyPlus simulation framework, and the building prototype simulation models. The combined upgrades from ASHRAE Standard 90.1 -2004 to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 are described, and consist of a total of 153 approved addenda (44 addenda to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 and 109 addenda to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010). PNNL reviewed and considered all 153 addenda for quantitative analysis in the PI process. Fifty-three of those addenda are included in the quantitative analysis. This report provides information on the categorization of all of the addenda, a summary of the content, and a more in-depth explanation of the impact and modeling of the 53 identified addenda and their quantitative savings.


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Huh, did they make a record label or what's the deal with that Hubnester Records? Thought they still had a contract with Spinefarm for one or two more albums.Neat song, too.
Omg, sooooo good X)Love the atmospheric synth. Just curious, does anyone have the lyrics for the singles that have come out?
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In a hastily arranged conference call on Thursday, CEO Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase was forced to apologize to analysts for $2 billion in surprise losses incurred by the bank's chief investment office in London. Dimon said that the office suffered an "egregious" failure and that losses from volatile synthetic credit securities could mount by another $1 billion in this quarter or the third.
Bloomberg reported Friday that Dimon, who had lobbied at the head of a group of Wall Street CEOs on May 2 in a closed-door session with the Federal Reserve to limit U.S. financial reforms, said, "There were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment." He also said of the losses, "These were grievous mistakes, they were self-inflicted."
The chief investment office in London, which according to an April report by Bloomberg was "transformed" into one that took higher risks, is run by Ina Drew from New York, but the switchover from risk protection into risk—and profit—pursuit was led by Achilles Machris and supervised by Dimon himself. The report mentioned that only a week earlier, Bruno Michel Iksil, a London-based trader in Macris' group, came to public attention after moving markets with his massive trades.
Iksil has variously become known as "The London Whale" and "Voldemort," after the powerful villain in the Harry Potter series, because his credit derivative positions have become so huge. That policy, while earlier defended by Dimon, who dismissed media criticism of it as "a complete tempest in a teapot," backfired and will cost the bank—and perhaps additional banks—dearly.
The BBC reported that Dimon acknowledged the trades were "riskier, more volatile and less effective" than previously thought. He added, "These were egregious mistakes. They were self-inflicted and this is not how we want to run a business. It could get worse. This could go on for a little bit."
Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell 7% in after-hours trading, and dragged not only Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America along with them but also European banks: Barclays fell 2.85%, Deutsche Bank was down 2%, and BNP Paribas dropped 2.6%.
Robert Peston, business editor at the BBC, pointed out in an opinion piece that, even though the loss was not large enough to consume all of the bank's profits for 2012, the fact that Dimon was surprised by the losses—and their magnitude—could result in a powerful argument for tightened regulation of banks. Peston said, "It is the surprise factor—the shock evinced by Mr. Dimon—that will reignite the debate about whether regulators need to take more decisive action to curb the complexity of investment banks, to better prevent this kind of accident." He pointed out that just a few weeks ago the bank had "rejected the suggestion that there were serious dangers here"—thus giving the loss even more impact.
Saying that the loss would boost the case in the U.S. for those arguing against a weakening of the Volcker rule, he added, "In the U.K., it may mean revisiting whether the proposed ring fence between retail banking and investment banking is protection enough for essential banking services."
Peston also pointed to the ongoing review by Moody's of global banks, which are trying to convince the ratings agency that they do not deserve downgrades, perhaps of multiple notches, that would make it more expensive for them to borrow and also cut their profits. "JPMorgan's accident won't strengthen their case that they are less risky institutions than Moody's fears," he concluded.
While originally the chief investment office was supposed to protect against risk, providing hedges that would insulate against such things as interest rate movement and currency fluctuations, Iksil's trades under Machris were something else altogether—aimed at bringing in higher profits for the bank. Machris spearheaded the move into corporate and mortgage-debt investments, and Dimon had defended the move in April, saying, "Every bank has a major portfolio and in those portfolios you make investments that you think are wise."
Filings revealed that the value of securities held by the chief investment office and treasury—the two are not broken out separately—since 2007 had more than quadrupled, going from $76.5 billion to more than $350 billion. The largest increase came in 2009, when filings showed the CIO to have made "significant purchases" of government-backed mortgage securities, asset-backed securities and corporate securities, as well as U.S. Treasury and government-agency securities.
In its 10-K report for 2009, filed in February 2010, the bank said, "These investments were generally associated with the chief investment office's management of interest-rate risk and investment of cash resulting from the excess funding the firm continued to experience during 2009."
In its April report, Bloomberg cited three former JPMorgan employees as saying that profit rather than risk management drove the purchases, and one, a former senior executive at the bank, also said that Dimon himself ordered some of the trades.
On Thursday Dimon continued to defend the unit's new focus, saying, "I wouldn't call it 'more aggressive,' I would call it 'better.' We added different types of people, talented people and stuff like that." He added that until recently those people were both successful and careful.
Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who now teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in the report, "It's classic Wall Street hubris, which we've seen so many times before. What's particularly ironic here is that Jamie presents himself, and is believed by others to be, the king of risk management."
Dimon conceded Thursday that the losses and their timing play "right into the hands of a bunch of pundits out there" who are defending the Volcker Rule.
"These losses underline the need for a strong Volcker Rule to prevent risky proprietary trading," Americans for Financial Reform said in a statement. "Regulators need to get the rule done, and they need to get it right. The trades that led to these losses were described as 'hedges' designed simply for risk reduction and not proprietary risk-taking."
Craig Pirrong, a finance professor at the University of Houston, said in the report that "he's [Dimon] got a lot of egg on his face right now. Any chance they had of getting a relative loosening of Volcker rule, anything of that nature, that's out the window."
An unidentified executive at the bank said that Dimon was not told of a shift in strategy at the chief investment office, nor did he know how massive the losses were until after the company's earnings report on April 13. No one has yet been fired, although Dimon has said to analysts that he will take "corrective actions."
Frank Partnoy, a former derivatives trader who is now a law and finance professor at the University of San Diego, said in the report, "It's a major event that confirms a lot of investors' worst fears about bank risk."
He added that a major cause for concern is "that at a large, supposedly sophisticated institution, even something called a 'hedge' can contain all kinds of hidden risks that the senior people don't understand."


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Hazelwood Elementary PTSA Pancake Breakfast / Feb. 11, 2012
February 29, 2012
By Christina Lords
Other Stories of Interest: Hazelwood Elementary PTSA, Hazelwood Elementary School
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How can you effectively stand up for your values when pressured by your boss, colleagues, customers, or shareholders to do the opposite?
Educator Mary Gentile empowers business leaders with the skills to voice and act on their values, and align their professional path with their principles. Her book, Giving Voice to Values, is inspired by a curriculum Gentile launched at the Aspen Institute with Yale School of Management, with interim support from Babson College and now based at University of Virginia Darden School of Business and which has been piloted in over 1,020 schools and organizations on all seven continents.
Challenging the assumptions about business ethics at companies and business schools, she argues that often the issue isn't distinguishing what is right or wrong, but knowing how to act on your values despite opposing pressure. Drawing on actual business experiences as well as social science research, Gentile offers advice, practical exercises, and scripts for handling a wide range of ethical dilemmas. Published by Yale University Press, Giving Voice to Values is an engaging, innovative, and useful guide that is essential reading for anyone in business.
New Online 4-Week Course on 'Ethical Leadership Through GIVING VOICE TO VALUES," launched in Fall 2017, offered by UVA Darden School of Business in partnership with Coursera.
There is also a new series of 6 INTERACTIVE, ONLINE, SOCIAL COHORT-BASED MODULES that introduce the core GVV concepts and methodologies and provide opportunities to practice with these approaches as foundation for subsequent in-person exchanges. Please do take a look at http://nomadic.fm/ProgDetailGivingVoiceToValues.html l These modules are short, customizable and creatively designed to incorporate: brief cases; clear and compelling presentation of core concepts; engaging animations and powerful video segments; opportunities to practice application of the GVV methodologies; and opportunities to engage in peer exchanges. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com for a Demo.
There is a GVV Book series at Routledge/Greenleaf Publishing and another from Business Expert Press.
"Mary Gentile's Giving Voice to Values is a clarion call to the new generation of leaders to put their values in practice in the workplace. Its timely and thoughtful message is precisely what the corporate world needs now."
—Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School and former CEO, Medtronic
"Giving Voice to Values heralds a revolution in ethics education. Gentile isn"t interested in abstract (and often fruitless) debates about ethical principles — rather, she wants to help you practice what to do when you know something is unethical. It's like a self-defense class for your soul."
—Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Switch and Made to Stick
"In business and in life, we often know what is the right thing to do, but we have trouble implementing it. This book shows how we can all make the right things happen. It is a wonderful guide to help us enter an era of responsibility and of leadership based on values."
—Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute
"Corporate tragedies are usually the result of dozens of people who sit silently on the sidelines afraid or uncertain of what to do about a transgression. Giving Voice to Values aims to raise corporate behavior to a dramatically higher standard by ensuring that everyone not only can tell right from wrong, but knows what to do in the face of corporate misconduct"
—Jeffrey Hollender, author of The Responsibility Revolution and Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Seventh Generation, author of the leading blog on corporate responsibility
"Giving Voice to Values moves us past the debate about whether we can define a common set of values, to focus instead on a shared conversation about just how to enact the values that we already know, in our deepest selves, are absolutely essential. The book is both an inspiration and a blueprint."
—Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI); former Co-Chairman and CEO and Co-Founder, Infosys; author of Imagining India


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Hello Dynamics
I have a flash menu setup that loads the xml file in a header with joomla.
-In internet Explorer, if I visit the site from the intro, my flash menu is working
working means : I can click the links in the menu, and pages load accordingly.
-I close IE, and visit the site directly, without passing through the intro, the flash menu buttons seem to be blocked..when I can click the buttons, nothing loads...it looks like buttons are disabled.
-The intro is in an independant folder on the server.
I have tried several workarounds, I really don't understand
can somebody please shed some light on this ?
Any suggestions ?
site : http://www.mscalixte.qc.ca
bypassing the intro: http://www.mscalixte.qc.ca/site
thanks a million


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I suppose it makes more financial sense for the third-party accessories ecosystem to churn out Apple cases and ignore the rest, but it's good to see Griffin recognize another tablet: the Samsung Galaxy Tab. It was beginning to feel left-out!
Griffin's no-frills Elan Passport case costs $30, and has inner pockets for credit cards and papers. It kind of reminds me of the Amazon Kindle case, and that's no bad comparison to make—especially not when Samsung's own accessories for the Galaxy Tab aren't the most attractive koalas in the tree. [Griffin]


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was born in 1971 in Kiel and since January 1st 2013 has been Publishing Manager at Schott Music. Prior to that, she spent from 2007 to 2012 in Berlin, founding and building up the netzwerk junge ohren e.V. After studying School Music and German at the Hamburg University for Music and Theatre and Hamburg University, she did her doctorate in Music Phenomenology at the University of Witten/Herdecke.
Perception, reflection and communication with regard to musical practice: for Dr. Allwardt, bringing together theory and practice is a major part of her work. As managing director of the netzwerk junge ohren, she developed structures, fora for communication, productions and festivals for the field of cultural learning/education and in different collaborations. With various partners, she set up competitions like the junge ohren preis and the Young EARopean Award. In her new post as Manager for Digital Media at Schott Music, Dr. Allwardt holds a position that combines both tradition and innovation.


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censorship, official prohibition or restriction of any type of expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order. It may be imposed by governmental authority, local or national, by a religious body, or occasionally by a powerful private group. It may be applied to the mails, speech, the press, the theater, dance, art, literature, photography, the cinema, radio, television, or computer networks. Censorship may be either preventive or punitive, according to whether it is exercised before or after the expression has been made public. In use since antiquity, the practice has been particularly thoroughgoing under autocratic and heavily centralized governments, from the Roman Empire to the totalitarian states of the 20th cent.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- In the United States
- In Other Countries
- Bibliography
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Legal Terms and Concepts


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Nancy B. Harris to Joseph F. Harris, 10.63 acres on State Route 53, $140,000.
Olivia D. Sargeant to Bernard E. and Tomoko S. Marshall, 1640 Redwing Lane, Hollymead, $145,300.
John A. Dezio, Special Commissioner, to Robert Lee Green Jr., 21.66 acres on State Route 729, 2486 Milton Road, $173,600.
Glenmore Associates Ltd. Partnership to David S. Campbell Construction Company, lot in Glenmore, $200,000.
Terry J. and Kristin S. Holzman to Sandra M. and Robert W. Yundt Jr., 3362 Cotswold Lane, Glenmore, $615,000.
James B. Spence III, Trustee, to John D. and Isabelle Reeves, .28 acres at 5318 Little Fox Lane, Cory Farm, $297,595.
Weather Hill Homes Ltd. to Robert Hauser Homes Inc., lot in Parkside Village, $51,500.
Wendy H. Russo, Trustee, to Beth H. Strunk, 10.54 acres at 1275 Durrett Ridge Road, Earlysville, gift.
Thomas R. and Laura T. Pietro to Christopher P. and Susanne Tyrrell, 346 Bennington Road, Bennington Woods, $189,900.
James F. and Jo Ann Farrell to Jo L. Williams, 8.0 acres at 2845 Brown's Gap Turnpike, Crozet, $439,000.
William J. and Rebecca G. Viglione to Robert G. and Heather C. Kelly, 860 Charter Oaks Drive, Charter Oaks, Dunlora, $439,000.
Margaret P. Cording to Henry C. Childs, 2075 North Pantops Drive, Ashcroft, $331,000.
William E. Durrette Jr. to George T. Durrette Sr., 1274 Chatham Ridge, $72,650.
Southern Property LLC to Norman M. Jenkins Jr. and Michael P. Clarke, 1274 Chatham Ridge Road, Chatham Wood Townhouses, $240,500.
Catherine C. Johnson, Trustee of the Alexander B. Clarke estate, to Pamela J. and Leon C. Hufnagel Jr., 305 and 355 Spring Lane, Spring Hill, $1,115,000.
Burton Family Land Trust to Kostich Construction, lot in Deerwood subdivision, $50,400
Roger N. and Rosemary McNamara to Patricia L. and Antonio E. Cuadros Jr., 1715 Goldentree Place, Hollymead, $209,500.
Glenmore Associates Ltd. to Robert Hauser Homes Inc., lot in Glenmore, $155,000.
Preston O. Stallings to James F. and Joann Farrell, 3150 Darby Road, Glenmore, $775,000.
John H. Robinson and Karen M. Tafoya-Robinson to Joseph E. B. Lumbard and Alexis E. York, 23.0 acres in Scottsville district, $69,000.
Julie M. Bonistalli to Joseph W. Bonistalli II, 445 Oak Circle, Farmington, gift.
Robert E. and Ivy F. Weitzner to Jay W. and Rebecca L. Klingel, 116 Mountain View Drive, Sherwood Farms, $455,000.
Lela B. and Richard M. Marshall IV to Pauletta Jean Brown, 840 Harris Road, Willoughby, $226,500.
Lee A. and Gloria C. Jackson to Thomas W. and Shelly D. Lim, 905 Charter Oaks Drive, Charter Oaks, Dunlora, $407,500.
Gerard Brikkenaar VanDijk to Greg S. and Elizabeth S. Allen, 1515 London Road, Inglecress, $1,315,000.
Gail N. Smith to Richard Lee and Martha M. Hildebrand, 107 Quince Lane, Willoughby, $122, 500.
Jacob Curtis and Mary Catherine Shively to David R. and Irene S. Jefferson, 1404 Glenside Green, RiverRun, $177,000.
Robert Hauser Homes Inc. to Mark D. Golub, Trustee, 2495 Wiltshire Close, Glenmore, $643,000.
Ronald L. Martin, Trustee, to Michael B. and Janice G. Cullinan, 132 Tintern Court, Birnam Wood, $135,000.
Mark J. Baginski to Sheets Group LLC, parcel on South Side of State Route 759, $164,000.
Sarah T. Corley to Timothy M. and Kyra B. Higgins, 350 Mallard Lake Subdivision, $170,000.
Robert Hauser Homes Inc. to John P. and Kristi F. Williamson, 2398 Pendower Lane, Glenmore, $670,000.
Charles A. Summers and Catherine P. Malone to Jonathan W. Cannon, 688 Locksley Terrace, Sherwood Manor, $130,300.
Christopher K. and Karen P. Rucker to Matt and Angela Jones, 5007 Lake Tree Lane, Western Ridge, Crozet, $315,000.
Ralph M. Dowell Jr. to Edward M. and Diane L. Berlin, 5387 Murray's Lane, $35,000.
Swift Run Inc. to Darrell W. Bickers, 1150 Pen Park Lane, Rio Heights, $116,000.
Fern S. Ellinger to Elwood and Evelyn B. Shifflett, 301 Minor Ridge Court, Wynridge, $155,000.
John and Regina McGovern to Kevin and Michaela Levin, 1745 Hearthglow Lane, Fieldbrook, $244,900.
Paul Finn and Susan S. Reppert to Douglas L. and Margaret F. Adamson, 525 Rookwood Place, Ednam Forest, $775,000.
Michael J. and Suzanne S. Johnson to Jane E. Cooney and Scott A. Stults, 2625 Kimbrough Circle, Meriwether Hills, $295,000.
Roger L. and Loretta F. Henderson to Gregory P. and Victoria Lannon, 1742 Hearthglow Court, Fieldbrook, $270,000.
Sandal Inc. to Daniel A. and Kelly O. Landes, 3148 Sandown Park Road, Glenmore, $568,500.
James B. Spence III, Trustee, to Mary Lynn Sheram and Timothy R. Kinsey Jr., 924 Summit View Lane, Cory Farm, $299,000.
Earl H. Burton Trustee to James B. Spence III, Trustee, lot in Deerwood, $55,000.
Northpoint LLC to Robert M. and Ann Savino, 2349 Ferndown Lane, Glenmore, $599,950.
Jack R. Hutchinson and Linda H. Michael to Alex A. Stultz and Tobey Ann Dorschel, 4.174 acres at 2282 Garth Road, $540,000.
Sheldon and Audrey B. Dobkin to Tracy M. Plunkett, 320 Starcrest Road, Mill Creek, $245,000.
Robert C. and Elena R. Harris to Stacy E. Perry, 3363 Worth Crossing, $158,000.
Amy M. Stephenson to James J. and Katherine A. Hartwell, 151 Scarborough Place, Sherwood Manor, $127,500.
Dean Shannon Branch to Sherri L. Smith, 2347 Whitney Court, Briarwood, $125,500.
Tracy M. Plunkett to John W. and Barbara B. Wiggins, 26.05 acres at 7089 Jefferson Mill Road, State Route 618, Scottsville, $445,000.
John Alden Purinton Jr. to Barbara C. Aulebach, 28 Ednam Village, $498,000.
Michael J. and Maureen R. Napolitano to Quansheng Du and Jiangyan Tan, 3232 Timberwood Parkway, Forest Lakes, $224,000.
R.D. Wade Builder Inc. to James R. and Susan M. Hudson, 2104 Brownstone Lane, Still Meadow, $377,427.
Robert Hauser Homes Inc. to Martin P. Keutel, 2008 Shepherds Ridge Road, Dunlora, $349,950.
Edward M. and Amy B. Blumenthal to Robert F. Cummings, 4710 Bluejay Way, Briarwood, $168,750.
Jeffrey L. and Kim A. Sandridge to Ravi K. and Johnny A. Respeto, 1441 Birchwood Drive, Laurel Hills, $198,000.
Thomas F. and Doris E. Beddow to Robert Toplin and Karin L. Bendel, 1379 Wimbledon Way, LeParc, RiverRun, $225,000.
Robert Tyburski to George E. and Linda R. Davies, 13.580 acres in White Hall district, $325,000.
James J. and Janice A. Gallogly to Henry and Elizabeth Hyatt, 456.129 acres at 8728 Whistlefield Farm, $3,450,000.
John C. and Ann F. Stearns to Gerard Brikkenaar VanDijk, 8.488 acres at 1714 Brown's Gap Turnpike, $415,000.
James M. Marshall to William B. Walton III and Douglas G. Brooks, two lots on Lewis Mountain Road, $220,000.
Thomas M. and Cora D. Bouch to Bruce J. Edmonds, 402 Riverside Avenue, $129,950.
John T. and Louella L. Delehanty to Albert C. Fall III, 409 North First Street, $312,500.
Michael D. Cvet and Jody L. Knowles to Michael D. Cvet, 723 Montrose Avenue, no price given.
Page Street LLC to Tyra N. Stinnie, 1115 Page Street, $125,000
Gerard Brikkenaar VanDijk to Greg S. and Elizabeth S. Allen, 1515 London Road, Inglecress, $1,315,000.