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Wet With Rain
Wet with Rain, my new blog has a post up outlining hat I plan to do with it. See you there.
So far, so good. Borderland has remained secure since I cleaned it up yesterday. And no more malware warnings from Google. Yay!
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Wet with Rain, my new blog has a post up outlining hat I plan to do with it. See you there.
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I've been delinquent, I know. No posts for a long time. Just busy being me…. and then yesterday I read a post from Steve, another Alaskan blogger, reporting on a message he received from one of his readers telling him about a warning message which said that whatdoino.steve.blogspot.com has content from borderland.northernattitude.org, a well-known malware distributor.
I was on my way out the door, and figured it was some kind of hoax. Yeah. On me.
Later on, curious, I looked at my blog and got blasted with the warning myself. I didn't know what was going on, since I haven't worked on the blog for such a long time. I clicked past the Warning – visiting this web site may harm your computer! message, and found the formatting on the control panel was totally gone. There was no way to make anything happen there. The blog's front page didn't look bad, though.
Eventually, I decided to log onto the web host's cpanel and check some of the WordPress files. Lots of strange code there which had a monster string of text following "eval base64_decode" in dozens of files mostly in my wp-content directory, and also in the config file. These are all files that are left as-is during software upgrades since they contain the themes and plugins that allow users to customize their blogs. A regular software update wouldn't touch them.
My first thought was, "Oh well, this might help with some of my writer's block angst. I could just trash the whole thing." But that was just my first thought. I looked at the WordPress support pages and located a My Site was Hacked advice page. All right. Some direction, at least.
For starters, I ran some Sophos Anti-Virus software I found on my computer to see if my own machine was OK. It located a couple of files squirreled away in the Firefox profile directory that should not have been there. I dumped them, and then took care of the infected files on the server. I deleted ALL of the WordPress files and rebuilt the whole site today with a new config file. I took some precautions against repeated attacks, but I have no idea if this fix will hold. I've lost the links page, and there are probably several posts without images, since I recklessly deleted everything wholesale. I got back the posts and the comments, which is all that really mattered to me.
Google is still listing this site as possibly infected.
I've requested a Malware Review, but I don't know how long it might take to clean this mess up. Anyone with a link in their blogroll here should probably delete it, since the google warning might mess with traffic to that site. Otherwise, know that I'm working on it, and to the best of my knowledge, it's been dealt with. I'm sorry for any trouble this might be causing anyone else. I'm really grateful to Steve for his post about this, and for the helpful email he sent me. According to my server log, most of the mischief was done just a couple of days ago.
Borderland is on ice for now. (Not that it's been very hot here lately.) I've backed everything up and locked things down, but I don't know if the hackers still have a way in. I can re-install everything in quick order now that I know what to do. But I'm not ready to write more here just yet.
I started a new blog at WordPress.com, where I won't have to think about server-level security issues. I plan to blog there until further notice. Just a "Hello World" post up there now. I'm going to take a little more eclectic approach to the subject matter there than I have with Borderland, and see how it goes. Might be fun.
Remember this?
Responding to a question from an audience member as to why Social Security should be included in deficit talks when it doesn"™t add to the deficit, Romney drifted into a defense of corporate rights.
"œCorporations are people, my friend," he said. "œOf course they are."
Fast forward to today:
Romney said in Iowa that Obama "œwants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It"™s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people."
The word "people" is problematic, apparently.
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It was what they were all about, Levon and the rest of The Band, in 1968, when the country was coming apart at the seams. Nothing was holding, least of all Mr. Yeats's center. There were tanks in Prague and there was blood on a balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. The traditional American values of home and family and neighborhood were being fashioned into cheap weapons to use against the people who saw the death and gore as the deepest kind of betrayal of the ideals that made those values worth a damn in the first place. The music was disparate and fragmented; the Beatles were producing masterpieces that they couldn't or wouldn't take on the road. Brian Wilson was long gone, spelunking through the canyons of what was left of his mind. Jim Morrison, that tinpot fraud, was mixing bullshit politics with kindergarten Freudian mumbo-jumbo and his band didn't even have a damn bass player. Elsewhere, there was torpid, silly psychedelia. The British were sort of holding it together, but, in America, even soul was coming apart. Nothing seemed rooted. Nothing abided. Nothing seemed to come from anything else. The whole country was bleeding from wounds nobody could find.
Pierce's magnificent tribute to what he calls the "true Voice of America" was inspired by an announcement on Levon Helm's website that he is in the final stages of his battle with cancer.
A little more from Charles Pierce:
It was a summoning of the idea of the American community, which has never been about conformity, either to fashion or to the politics of the moment. And, if you didn't get the point, there were some sly hints on the record that pointed you back towards what was important, that made you realize that there was an America worth the effort of finding, that there was a country to which it was worth coming home.
Thank you, Charles. And thank you, Levon Helm, for your music, your voice. You know it's never been easy. We'll do our best.
The plain fact is that the planet does not need more "successful" people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these needs have little to do with success as our culture has defined it.
- David W. Orr
The main work of the teacher, I believe, is to recognize those peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers, and to assist them in their efforts to attain their most noble ambitions. And this is not necessarily about career or college readiness, or data-driven lesson planning.
Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist, and Nazi concentration camp survivor, believed that an individual's primary motivational drive is the search for meaning.
The clip below is from a lecture Frankl gave in 1972. In it, he expresses what he claims is the "most apt maxim and motto for any psychotherapeutic activity."
"If we take man as he is, we make him worse. But if we take man as what he should be, we make him capable of becoming what he can be."
Common Core, Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind – all are standards-based afflictions that are dragging us into the pits.
It's been a while. Very briefly… we've got union contract problems this year – and I volunteered to be a building rep. After bargaining for more than a year, we've officially come to an impasse. Aggravating. And time-sucking. Additionally, I've got a classroom full of 12-year-old attitudes. At night, I flop on the couch and try to hold my eyes open wide enough to read.
An important part of my personal program is that I run or ski every day to keep sane and steady. The weather is getting warmer – up in the 40′s (F) and gloriously sunny the last two days. And there is still a hell of a lot of snow to watch melt. It's invigorating. My favorite time of year to be outside, sure, but I have been looking at creams to remove skin tags, frankly. Some of these things are looking pretty rough, so I found some things that would remove the tags while being pretty safe.
We had our spring break a couple of weeks ago, and my son and I went down to Girdwood with our snowboards. We stayed at the resort, and were lucky enough to be there for a big snowstorm. Two feet of powder fell overnight, the most I'd ever been in. The best thing, for me, was that the falling didn't hurt. Unfortunately, all I could do was fall. And getting back up in that much snow is murder when you end up with your butt lower than your snowboard-encumbered feet. Stuck. Which is why I quit the slopes early each day, and went running instead of snowboarding. I can stand only so much humiliation.
I ran on the Cat Trail and the Winner Creek Trail with my snowshoes a couple of days. But toward the end of the week I was up for something a little easier, so I ran down along the bike path to Crow Creek Road and turned up there, not sure what I'd find this time of year. At least it was a road! Turns out that it's not officially plowed past the first half mile, but someone has done a fabulous job of opening a single lane beyond the State Maintenance Ends sign.
It was kinda funny, I saw a Hazardous Road Conditions sign, but the snow blocked my view of the bottom of it, so I only read the Travel Strongly part. I thought, Cool! But a little strange. DOT does not usually encourage aggressive adventure travel. I forged on. After all, I was a runner! And this is Alaska. We travel strongly! It was a beautiful sunny day. The footing was smooth. It was quiet and peaceful. I ran up the road for about 15 minutes before I decided to turn around. Really, really, a nice break from the wacky powder frenzy up on the mountain. I ran back to the hotel and soaked in the hot tub. It was a good hour and a quarter run.
The next day I did the same thing. But I got a better look at that sign, and I realized that with the part I didn't see the day before, it actually said, Travel Strongly Discouraged. It was a WARNING, not a recommendation to proceed with fortitude. Ah! Figures. Still, I had another good run.
But I started thinking how odd it is that the state puts up these Pavement Ends signs, and No Maintenance Sept-May, and they warn people against going there. But with schools, the state flat-funds the education budget and expects us to Deal With It. We don't even get a sign. Instead, we just get tests, "tougher" standards, and a bunch of flack. I liked the idea of a sign that says Travel Strongly, even though it'd be better to not have to navigate the piles of obstacles that come with having too few resources and too many useless policy directives. Why do they pretend they can improve schools by allocating fewer resources, but with roads, they warn people off of them when they're unmaintained?
Other signs I'd like to see:
I may sometimes be absent. But I'm not gone.
I read Ruby Payne's A Framework for Understanding Poverty before our day-long professional development meeting, and like Anita Bohn, writing for Rethinking Schools, I didn't know whether to laugh at the stupidity or to rage at the offensive stereotyping of people in poverty. For example, a few of Payne's 18 "hidden rules" for surviving in poverty (p. 38):
Mostly, I was irritated that I would be required to spend a day listening to comic book scenarios, stereotyped bad guys, and make-believe solutions to real problems. In her Rethinking Schools piece, Anita Bohn remarked, "I am still hard pressed to understand why ideas like this have made Payne the hottest speaker/trainer on poverty on the public school circuit today."
I'd suggest, simply, that Payne's appeal for teachers and education reformers is the same as Batman's mythical superhero storybook appeal: A community faces extraordinary challenges which regular institutions fail to address, and a hero steps forward promising to restore order and harmony for the general good. It's very simple! Find a villain, characterize the threat by deploying stereotypes that ring true for a worried middle-class person's biases, and suggest a few self-evident solutions. BAM! BANG! A modern myth.
I voiced my frustrations with the book at our meeting before the presenter arrived when we were doing a brief book talk, jigsaw style. My group was chosen to summarize chapter one. All of the people in my particular group had read the book and found it offensive in various ways. We had a pretty animated discussion, and they asked me to be the spokesman. "I'm speaking for the (otherwise all women) group," I said, because I am a man, and we are better at public speaking than women. Men have more physical resources with our louder voices, and we have more emotional resources due to our assertiveness. We are also more accustomed to being in charge. We have a culture of leadership, you might say." I had everyone's attention, mostly smiling.
Payne builds a case for poverty being about more than just economic need, I said, because she wants teachers to take a measure of responsibility for remedying their condition. She presents us with several case studies of supposedly real people in order to exemplify the problems that poor people face, and along the way she tosses out numerous gross generalizations about what she calls a "culture of poverty" and the moral failures inherent in this entire class of people. As in, "The poor simply see jail as a part of life and not necessarily always bad" (p. 22). Or, "And one of the rules for generational poverty for women is this: you may need to use your body for survival" (p. 24).
It disturbed to me that this so-called training was required as part of our professional development. As far as the hidden rules go, I said, what we really need to think about is whether we want to try to fit kids into a sick society or whether we want to work to make the world a better place for them to live.
Ruby Payne on her website and in her workshop handout, describes the research base for her book:
A Framework for Understanding Poverty is a cognitive study that looks at the thinking or mindsets created by environments. It is a naturalistic inquiry based upon a convenience sample. The inquiry occurred from being involved for 32 years with a neighborhood in generational poverty. This neighborhood comprised 50""70 people (counts changed based upon situation, death, and mobility), mostly white. From that, an in"depth disciplinary analysis of the research was undertaken to explain the behaviors. It does not qualify as "œresearch" against university standards because it does not have a clean
Translation: Ruby Payne made all of this up. It isn't worth a damn thing, and nobody with any credibility pays any attention to it.
Even with the disclaimer, I cringed when the presenter, who enthusiastically called herself The Billy Graham of Ruby Payne quoted this mind-boggling little hypothetical chain of causality regarding language and cognition as if it was gospel, from Chapter 8, Instruction and Improving Achievement:
If an individual depends upon a random, episodic story structure for memory patterns, lives in an unpredictable environment, and has not developed the ability to plan, then …
If an individual cannot plan, he/she cannot predict:
If an individual cannot predict, he/she cannot identify cause and effect.
If an individual cannot identify cause and effect, he/she cannot identify consequence.
If an individual cannot identify consequence, he/she cannot control impulsivity.
If an individual cannot control impulsivity, he/she has an inclination toward criminal behavior (p.90).
Outrageous! With all of those italicized phrases, I should mention something about what is known as the deficit model. Payne explains (p. 169-176 ) why her approach does not employ a deficit model, even though she says, "When individuals in poverty encounter the middle-class world of work, school, and other institutions, they do not have all the assets necessary to survive in that environment because what is needed there are proactive, abstract, and verbal skills." She uses the glass half empty/half full metaphor, and calls her "framework for building resources" a way to fill up the glass (p. 173). Even though she calls her approach, The Additive Model, she nonetheless tries to create a rationale for becoming a glass-filler, to implement what Martin Haberman called the Pedagogy of Poverty, which merely preserves the status quo.
Ironic, isn't it, that "standards-based education reform" applies to curriculum and testing, but not to staff development? Ironic also that despite severely high military spending, free college education still hasn't come to pass. "Accountability" is for teachers, I suppose, and not for hired consultants.What we're seeing is a good example of regulatory capture, in which private interests have hamstrung public institutions with crippling rules, encouraging businesses to contaminate the environment with worthless and even harmful products. Ruby Payne's framework is a toxic waste.
Many thanks to Paul Gorski for his critical perspective on issues of poverty and social class in education.
Note: this post was slightly edited from an earlier version.
The role of poverty in what have come to be known as "school outcomes" (or more precisely, test scores) has been getting a fair bit of attention lately at Schools Matter, and elsewhere. Rightly so. At my own school we've even been given a reading assignment for our winter holiday, and have been invited to read Ruby Payne's "Framework for Understanding Poverty" (summary here). This is to prepare us for the indoctrination session to follow upon our return from our break. I'm going to read the book since I opened my mouth at a staff meeting and said that many people disagree with Ruby Payne, and "Would we have a chance to air dissenting points of view?" Take Paul Gorski's Savage Unrealities or Randy Bomer's Miseducating Teachers about the Poor, for example. These authors tell us that Payne claims, without any real evidence, that the poor are trapped in a "culture of poverty" and need to be explicitly taught the "hidden rules" of being middle class. I don't especially look forward to reading this, but I want to be prepared for the meeting, which is part of our school improvement plan after too many of our low-income students did not meet the standardized testing targets last spring.
Servicing the poor is actually a growth industry in our present economy, and it's been a magnet for school reformers like Ruby Payne and Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America. Kopp's organization was the subject of a critical piece by Andrew Hartman, who contextualizes the whole mess by pointing out:
The organs of middlebrow centrist opinion "Time Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, the New Republic""glorify TFA at every opportunity. The Washington Post heralds the nation"™s education reform movement as the "œTFA insurgency"""a perplexing linguistic choice given so-called "œinsurgency" methods have informed national education policies from Reagan to Obama. TFA is, at best, another chimerical attempt in a long history of chimerical attempts to sell educational reform as a solution to class inequality. At worst, it"™s a Trojan horse for all that is unseemly about the contemporary education reform movement.
It's exhausting, being on the lookout for all of the Trojan horses that are being wheeled into our schoolrooms these days, particularly as there is little when it comes to Integrity In Education. My response has been to try to maintain my focus on the kids, and try to ignore as much of the outside noise as I can. But occasionally, one does need to pay attention to it. I was grateful that Hartman closed his article with a reference to Paul Goodman's Compulsory Miseducation. Goodman prefaces this short collection of essays by telling us that in his criticisms he does not choose to be generous or fair, since modern life has delivered us into an unprecedented set of conditions which have caused much confusion and resulted in the rigid application of old methods which is "grossly wasteful of wealth and effort and does positive damage to the young." Hartman summarizes Goodman:
In Compulsory Mis-Education, Goodman extended this general critique of the "œorganized society" to a more specific attack on its socialization method: compulsory schooling. Schooling as socialization, which he described as "œ"˜vocational guidance"™ to fit people wherever they are needed in the productive system," troubled Goodman in means and ends. He both loathed the practice of adjusting children to society and despised the social regime in which children were being adjusted to"""œour highly organized system of machine production and its corresponding social relations." For Goodman, compulsory schooling thus prepared "œkids to take some part in a democratic society that does not need them."
Goodman published Compulsory Miseducation in 1964. His criticisms are still strikingly, and disturbingly, apt. I would like to close here with just this one, more general recommendation – one which echoes a model of educational change outlined today by P.L. Thomas, Social Context Reform: Where to Start. It should concern us all that we are still trying to articulate a framework for progressive education reform, and I offer Goodman's recommendation as a kind of mission statement for the era of the Occupy movement.
Fundamentally, there is no right education except growing up into a worthwhile world. Indeed, our excessive concern with problems of education at present simply means that the grown-ups do not have such a world. The poor youth of America will not become equal by rising through the middle class, going to middle-class schools. By plain social justice, the Negroes, and other societies have the right to, and must get, equal opportunity for schooling with the rest, but the exaggerated expectation from the schooling is a chimera — and, I fear, will be shockingly disappointing. But also the middle-class youth will not escape their increasing exploitation and anomie in such schools. A decent education aims at, prepares for, a more worthwhile future, with a different community spirit, different occupations, and more real utility than attaining status and salary.
We need to make this happen.
I enjoyed the brief period of daylight we had today out on the trails near my home, running. It was 10 below zero, and the trail was firm and fast. It felt great. After many years going through this solstice season in the subarctic, I've learned to get out of the house and make use of the daylight as often as possible. Today's excursion was a snowshoe run. I ski sometimes, too, but the snowshoes are simpler.
This is just the second season that I've done any snowshoe running. What got me started with winter trail running was Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run. It triggered a long chain of decisions which eventually lead to what might be called a "learning experience" this past September when I ran the Equinox Marathon.
The book tells a story about how McDougall learned about a tribe of Indians living in Mexico's Copper Canyon who were able to run great distances. Even senior members of the tribe had the ability to go on long runs of up to 50 and even 100 miles. He marveled at the grace with which they moved, and noted that they did not wear running shoes, but instead wore simple sandals. He was amazed that they could run such long distances without sustaining the high rate of injuries so common among runners who wear highly engineered, commercially manufactured running shoes. He hypothesized that perhaps the cushioned shoes encouraged people to run with poor form, and were actually contributing to runners' injuries. This eventually sparked a trend toward what is being called barefoot, or minimalist running in the running community.
McDougall's inquiry lead him to look at the history of running, and he learned that there is a body of research suggesting that humans are natural-born runners, evolutionarily speaking. Our ability to sweat allows us to run great distances at a moderate pace, whereas other animal species – many of which humans like to eat – need to stop and pant to cool down. This would have enabled humans to engage in what is called persistence hunting, and to kill prey animals at close range. All in all, it was an intriguing book, and it made me wonder if I could ever get into good enough shape to tackle some long runs.
My wife remarked that if I was interested, I had the time and enough of a training base to train for the marathon in the fall, and so I started seriously thinking about it. I worked out at the gym every day, and ran every weekend for the rest of the winter. I ran several days a week throughout the summer, putting in 40+ mile training weeks. I went out on several long runs in excess of two hours, and I ran competitively in a series of longish trail runs put on by the local running club. I didn't know if I was ready for the marathon, but I did know that the the only way to find out was to try it.
One of the unique features of the Equinox Marathon is that there is a 2000 foot climb up to the top of Ester Dome in the middle section of the race. It's kind of a gonzo marathon, not one that anyone who wanted a good time would do. I'm pretty good at running hills, so I wasn't concerned about the climb. That was probably a mistake. I went out a little too briskly, I think, given the amount of training I'd done. By the time I got to the top of the dome, at 12 miles, I was starting to feel some worrisome aches in my hips, and my legs weren't as snappy as they'd been. But hey, I'd made it to the top. The hard part was over, I thought. Hah! By the time I started heading back down, at 17 miles, the aches had gotten much worse, and I was walking the steeper sections. Going down an exceptionally steep place, known as The Chute, my knees wanted to buckle, and I began having a hard time even walking. And I still had 9 miles to go!
Getting to the finish line was agony. I limped and walked most of the last 9 miles. Other runners streamed by me. I remember being passed by a little 8 year-old kid at one point. I was utterly destroyed. My own mental state became a focus point for me, though. I suppose that was because my physical condition was so beyond repair. I began to watch my expectations gradually get scaled back. I'd gone from hoping to finish in 4 hours to hoping I could just make it to the next set of mailboxes or the next telephone pole. When I got near the finish line I met my daughter running the course in reverse looking for me, and she paced me in, urging me to keep running, which I did. But it wasn't without a fair bit of whining near the very end. The muscles in my hips, knees and calves were completely played out. All that was left was pain and determination.
I wasn't proud when I crossed the finish line. Just done. I was disappointed because I'd wanted my finish to be more graceful, more under control, instead of the desperate slog it turned into. But what it was, was all I had. It took me several weeks of hearing congratulations from various people to see it as the achievement that it actually was. I'd run a marathon at age 58. I'd finished in the middle of my age-group, and I'd begun planning for next time.
If somebody had offered me money (as in merit pay), or somehow tried to "motivate" me do this, I wouldn't have done it. Reaching beyond my capacity is something I would only do for personal reasons, beyond the realm of ordinary motivation, and tests like this have to be undertaken voluntarily. Tests, in and of themselves, don't call people to their best efforts. Real teaching has to begin with the intentions of the learner, not the teacher, and certainly not the administrator or the policy maker. The more I work in the shadow of the standards movement, the less I want to listen to anyone but the kids, themselves, for guidance about what they really need to learn. What good is an education if, in the bargain, we all lose sight of who and what we really are?
The barefoot running movement is a reaction to corporate involvement in running, which in reality is something that any healthy person can do without special equipment. Running shoes represent a form of standardized "curriculum" for our feet and a marketing opportunity for corporate interests. And now there's a question about whether they may actually be responsible for some of the many injuries that runners suffer each year. Corporate control of school reform, curriculum, and teacher education, coupled with mandatory high stakes testing will do the same to education as it has to running, and we'll inherit an overbuilt, inhumane institution that accomplishes nothing that it isn't already doing – except create more losers. Already, schools are becoming pressure cookers in which there are expectations that anyone who works hard can be a winner. Win what? Really, anyone? Ahh, well …..
The days will soon be getting longer. Nothing to do but take care of each other and watch the changes unfold.
Long nights and dark days in the far north this time of year open a window to some magnificent light shows. From Finland's travel and tourism site: "Aurora is a natural light display in the sky, particularly in the polar regions, caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field."
You might want to watch this one full screen.
(via Alaska Dispatch and Eye on the Arctic)
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Worms—they are creepy, and crawly, and may or may not be prone to playing pinochle on one's snout. Film has often used worms in its depiction of disease and decay. But there are a select group of special worms that aren't like the literal garden variety type. These worms all have personality and memorable moments on screen. But how do they all rank with each other in terms of size? Finally, one group decided to tackle the subject and present the worms properly, from smallest (and cutest) to largest (and most dangerous).
Atlas Obscura, purveyors of many a fine list and interactive map, has assembled a supercut of celebrated worms from such films as Labyrinth, King Kong, Beetlejuice, Tremors, Dune, and The Empire Strikes Back. From the cuddly to the carnivorous, this supercut ranges in genre as well as scalability of its wormy creatures.

subset: commoncrawl


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Child Sex Abuse Continues: Alabama Teacher Admits to 21 Incidents
Child Sex Abuse Continues: Alabama Teacher Admits to 21 Incidents
A sex scandal involving child abuse has rocked an Alabama community as sex abuse cases continue to arise from once trusted institutions.
In recent months, sex abuse has come to light in the case of young children at schools and sports teams. Places like this are where parents send their children to have positive experiences and grow socially and mentally.
However, with cases like Penn State, Syracuse and New Jersey- a school volunteer videotaped boys showering- America is seeing that children's safety and innocence are under attack at our institutions.
Victims of sex abuse are more likely to have been abused by someone known to them. Unfortunately, it's no surprise when a story about a popular school teacher that abused kids for over 20 years in an Alabama suburb surfaces.
According to The Baptist Press, Daniel Montague Acker, 49, was arrested in Alabaster, Ala., on Jan. 4 and charged with three counts of first-degree child sex abuse. A fourth charge involving another victim was added on Jan. 6.
The charges are related to a 2009 incident, where Ackers allegedly molested a student in a Thompson Intermediate School fourth grade classroom.
Police say he admitted to molesting over 20 female students over a 25-year period at three different public schools, including Thompson Elementary School and Creek View Elementary School. Much like the Jerry Sandusky case, Acker was suspected of sex abuse years ago and still allowed to be around children.
According to The Shelby County Reporter, Acker was accused of sexual abuse in 1992, when he was youth's pastor at Alabaster's Westwood Baptist Church. Rick Swing, executive pastor of the Westwood Baptist Church, said that steps have been taken since 1992 to ensure the safety of children.
Members of the Alabaster community reportedly supported Ackers in 1992, holding fundraisers in his name. They now apologize to his victims and their families and say they will pray for Acker.
Brian Erickson, pastor of Alabaster First United Methodist Church, said that members of his congregation supported Acker during the 1992 investigation.
"Tonight I have talked to several folks in our church family who are feeling betrayed, having stood up for someone who turned out not to be who they thought he was," Erisckson said, according to The Shelby County Reporter.
Erickson wrote a letter to his congregation saying that he grieves because someone in a position to nurture children used their authority to harm them.
"Predators leave a seemingly endless trail of mistrust and suspicion in their wake," Erickson said.


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Follow Bridge Foundation's board Louisiana on Pinterest.
In 2011, Bridge Foundation responded to Hurricane Isaac. The two 250 kilowatt (kw) generators were consigned to Governor Jindal's office and were used to operate wells that supply Slidell parish with drinking water. One generator powered the St. Joe's neighborhood, and the second supplied the Slidell VA Outpatient Clinic and the surrounding neighborhood with safe, potable water. The Slidell VA Clinic provides primary care services for veterans in the St. Tammany Parish and surrounding areas. Services include behavioral health, laboratory and pharmacy services.
In addition to these generators, Bridge Foundation also facilitated the delivery of bottled water to high priority neighborhoods of Slidell, St. John the Baptist Parish, La Place, Lafourche Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish, LA. In East Baton Rouge Parish, approximately 100,000 people were affected by flooding and power outages. St. John's and LaPlace had been severely affected by flooding which has rendered water treatment and drinking water facilities inoperable.
In 2008, Bridge Foundation donated and delivered two high-powered generators and truckloads of bottled water to Baton Rouge and Abbeville, Louisiana after the two cities were hit hard by Hurricane Gustav and declared top priority sites by Governor Jindal's office.
In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Bridge Foundation supplied project management services in support of a program sponsored by Diageo North America to provide housing, employment, and educational counseling to those displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The program offered these during a four month period from September 2005 through January 2006 in several locations including Mobile Alabama, New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Houston Texas.


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It's definitely summer time. No holiday yet, instead, the festival season started. I'm really honored to be hired for the 3 biggest major Hungarian festivals as chief FOH engineer, which unfortunately means that I have very little, if any spare time.
I won't make big promises, but will try to write at least one post a week. If I'll have my Pro Tools rig with me, than the post will be PT related, otherwise it'll be about live sound or pro-audio in general.
Been testing Pro Tools 11 for a while and I decided I really like it, so I'm going to upgrade my rig as soon as I'll have time for it. At least on a positive note, by the time I'll jump into it, probably most of my plugins will be PT11 ready (I hope).
Stay tuned, I'll do my best to write something interesting.


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Want Sewer Damage Cave Creek Repair Expertise?
Although floods are perhaps best known for generating extensive water damage to homes and businesses, they can similarly cause sewage from sanitary sewer lines to back up into places via drain pipes.
These types of backups not only cause damage which is hard and expensive to handle, but also create health dangers.
Most house owner and business insurance coverage policies do not take care of sewer backup except if particular sewer backup insurance protection is added to the insurance policy.
Sewer backup insurance coverage is easily available from the majority of insurance firms for a nominal cost, generally $50-$60 for a yearly insurance policy.
Many homeowners and business owners may not understand that they are responsible for the servicing and repair work of the house or sewer lateral the pipeline in between the city sanitary sewer main, customarily found underneath road, and the building.
The sewer lateral is possessed and looked after by the homeowner comprising of any region that could go on into the road or public right of way. A cracked or worn away lateral or one containing tree roots can make it possible for groundwater to weep into the structure, causing the possible sewer backup dilemmas.
Call Water Damage Pros - Cave Creek
(480) 428-3690
Water Damage Cave Creek Repair Pros On Duty.
Common Causes Of Sewer Back-up:
Stoppages Because Of Tree Roots: Hedges and trees pursuing moisture content can make their way in to sewer line splits inflicting in depth damages. They may well begin little, getting into a tiny gap through the piping; but as the tree or shrubbery continues to expand, so does it's root. Tree roots may invade the service pipeline at joints and bring about stoppages. They could also travel a long distance, and roots from various sorts of trees act differently.
Should you suppose that municipality trees accountable for sewer line damages, your plumbing technician can check with the municipality and samplings of the roots can be made use of to help identify the trees and who is chargeable for clean-up. On occasion a blockage is the result of a combo of municipality and personal trees. In this case costs are split between the metro and residential property owner.
Sanitary Main: A blockage can present itself in a metro hygienic main.
If the block is not discovered in time, discharge from the main can back up into residential properties and businesses thru floor drains. Usually that materializes bit by bit, permitting the owner time to talk to a trained plumber to assess the damages. In the case that water is infiltrating your cellar at a accelerated speed, phone the town public works building and state the predicament as soon as possible so that a municipality manager will check out.
Water in Cellar: Most bsmt water damage is not associateded with the hygienic sewer system. In many cases, loam settles beside the building and, if not remedied, leads to rain streaming in the direction of the property and down the outside of the foundation wall. That is in particular true in much older homes where fractures might have generated within the foundation or floor slab which enable water to get in the basement. The concrete floor and cellar walls of the structures might just have degraded to the degree that they are not waterproofed. So, water can get in a cellar which has never experienced a water difficulty. That many times comes to pass as soon as the ground is filled right after repeated or heavy rain storms. Water drainage may be greatly improved by seeing to it that that water drains away from the building. Property owners can also protect against flooding by water-sealing the cellar.
House owners and business insurance policies do not take care of flood damage: Only flood insurance protection are going to pay for your losses in the event of a flood. Federal flood insurance coverage are ordered straight from an insurance coverage agent or a business rep, and are available for purchase to cities that are a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program.
Around 100 insurance companies create and service NFIP protection plans. In order to locate an agent or company servicing your area, visit www.floodsmart.gov or call 888-379-9531. Your insurance coverage agent or broker can address the case for you.
Call Water Damage Pros - Cave Creek
(480) 428-3690
Water Damage Restoration Cave Creek
Ways to Prevent Backups in Your Lateral and in the City Main
Illegal Plumbing system Connections: Do not link up French drains, sump pumps and other flood control devices to your sanitary sewer. It is illegal, and debris and silt will most likely clog your line. Take advice from a plumbing contractor to set straight all not approved connections.
Switch out Your Pipes With Brand-New Plastic pipe: One particular way to keep tree roots from breaking in your line is to replace your line and tap with all new plastic piping. If you continue to have troubles with tree root systems developing in your lateral, you may have to have root systems cut regularly.
Use a Backwater Prevention Valve: A backwater device is a fixture built in to a sewer line, and on occasion into a drainpipe line, in the cellar of your house or business to avoid drainpipe backflows. A suitably installed and maintained backwater shutoff makes it possible for sewage to head out, but not to return back in. Property owners are liable for the setup and care of backwater valves. The price to set up one hinges on the sort of plumbing in your house or company and the challenge of installation. Check with an experienced plumber.
Take Care of Paper Goods Correctly: Paper towels, non reusable (and cloth) diapers, and feminine products can easily trigger numerous complications in the property owner's lateral and also in the municipality main for the reason that they do not degrade very quickly, as toilet tissue does.
Take care of Grease Correctly: Cooking oil must be put into a heat-resistant container and disposed of correctly, as soon as it cools off, never in the drain. Pouring grease down the drain with warm water can easily create substantial issues. Once the grease cools off, it will probably coagulate either in the sink, the owner's line, or in the main sewer causing the line to constrict and at some point stop up.
If You Experience A Sewer Backup, What To Do:
A sewer backup can induce illnesses, loss of your items, harm to your home or business, and may even produce electrical malfunctions. Fast cleansing of the damaged property has the ability to help minimize the aggravation and prevent mold and additional damage. In case of sewer line back up, instantly arrange for the cleanup of your property. This ought to include:
- Expeling out and sterilizing plumbing related fixtures.
- Sponging floors and wiping walls with cleansing soap and disinfectant.
- Heavy steam cleaning or removing wet carpets or drapes.
- Clean-up of ductwork.
- Removing or repairing harmed sheetrock or wall structure covering.
- Wet-vacuuming or disposing of spillage.
How You Can File A ClaimWhen it comes to insurance claim purposes, take before and after pictures of the affected areas and itemize any property damages. Store all invoices related to repairs, cleansing or loss and speak to your Independent Insurance Professional as early as feasible.
Below are additional zipcodes of areas in which our company gives free estimates in:
85018, 85119, 85255, 85021, 85050, 85121, 85226, 85303, 85033, 85377, 85083, 85301, 85257, 85284, 85046, 85031, 85382, 85061, 85216, 85042, 85085, 85215, 85079, 85282, 85281, 85045, 85039, 85381, 85269, 85076, 85040, 85023, 85147, 85098, 85385, 85002, 85011, 85392, 85202, 85073, 85017, 85267, 85044, 85203, 85263, 85268, 85236, 85005, 85306, 85016, 85297, 85043, 85120, 85032, 85022, 85051, 85029, 85065, 85001, 85070, 85250, 85262, 85283, 85118, 85053, 85020, 85071, 85138, 85013, 85280, 85252, 85060, 85027, 85127, 85287, 85246, 85072, 85048, 85302, 85028, 85296, 85075, 85007, 85178, 85069, 85010, 85004, 85213, 85062, 85308, 85372, 85234, 85209, 85214, 85212, 85376, 85078, 85015, 85038, 85311, 85305, 85025, 85299, 85003, 85006, 85249, 85233, 85117, 85339, 85380, 85277, 85068, 85310, 85204, 85041, 85253, 85271, 85036, 85225, 85259, 85266, 85258, 85066, 85082, 85307, 85063, 85329, 85211, 85035, 85285, 85208, 85327, 85318, 85014, 85008, 85353, 85024, 85142, 85275, 85019, 85264, 85261, 85210, 85080, 85034, 85064, 85331, 85286, 85274, 85244, 85067, 85351, 85254, 85201, 85312, 85026, 85206, 85140, 85251, 85009, 85030, 85205, 85304, 85323, 85256, 85143, 85345, 85054, 85097, 85298, 85037, 85260, 85074, 85295, , 85012, 85224, 85248, 85207
Our Services include: water damage elimination, water elimination, flood clean up, cellar flooding clean up, wet carpet, water damage contracting, water extraction team, sewage clean up, flooded cellar, flood damage, drying wet carpet, flood basement, basement drying, carpet flooding, water damage service, flooded carpet, flooded house, flooded home, water removal, water in basement. We will clear out fire damages & smoke & soot residue in your property
Call Water Damage Pros - Cave Creek
(480) 428-3690
Here are nearby areas in which Water Damage Cave Creek Pros gives free estimates in:
Laveen, Carefree, Gold Canyon, Queen Creek, Mesa, Sacaton, Chandler Heights, Fountain Hills, Fort Mcdowell, Gilbert, Phoenix, San Tan Valley, Peoria, Paradise Valley, Sun City West, Cave Creek, Apache Junction, Maricopa, Glendale, Avondale, Scottsdale, Sun City, Tempe, Chandler, Tolleson, Rio Verde, Bapchule, Higley, Cashion


text:
Enemy Info
|Stone Location
|Sulyya Springs - Ceiling of Sky
|Mark Location
|Sulyya Springs - Subterranean Lake
|Additional Foes
|Uridimmu x4
|Initial Reward
|Repeat Reward
|Bomb Shell x5
|Mission 18
Time is of the essence. He must not defeat me in this! I must be the one to slay the uridimmu at Sulyya Springs. We were always together—he, my princess and I—but it was he who won her love. Were he now to turn to crystal, I fear it would break her heart… and so it must be me! Then my princess can live out her days in happiness, as a princess rightly should.
According to the mission briefing we need to take out an Uridimmu at the Sulyya Springs. On the map that appears to be located in a detached area ahead, so we need to follow the path here in that direction and we get a brief CS in which we see Van talking to Snow. We get another flashback and as that ends and we return to the CS you should spot several Treasure Spheres nearby. After the CS ends head over to the nearest Treasure Sphere and grab the 13 Vials of Strange Fluid from within.
Now head to the next Sphere and snag its 10 Vials of Enigmatic Fluid, and then if you like take out the group of mobs nearby. Now look at the map - you can see that you need to use the jump point near the last Sphere to reach the detached area where our target is located. After you fight the two groups, grab the 6 Moistened Scales from the Treasure Sphere here, and then fight the Uridimmu here - that is our target group. Defeating them gets us another Mission Completed notice and some Cobaltite for our reward!


text:
Does going to a wine night classify me as as proper grown up? If so, guess I have grown up! The Scullery is tucked in the corner of the Finnieston area of Glasgow and is a lovely space for both drinks and eating. (It's a hop, skip and a jump away from the SSE, so perfect for any pre-gig meals). They held a wine night over the weekend, which was fab.
Starting, as all night's should with some bubbles.
Followed by some white wines. Everyone was quick to snap the perfect shot.
My favourite was a Vinho Verde wine from Portugal.
Dinner was endless supplies of cheese, parma ham, olives, chorizo and more cheese. The perfect way to enjoy an evening.
I don't have much to say about the reds, as I'm still a white wine kind of a gal. But, I did take a few sips which is more than normal! This sweet dessert wine however, was lovely, although very very sweet!
Finished with some custard tarts.
I'm going to try a few more wine nights, just to expand my knowledge beyond the cheapest bottle on the supermarket shelf and to try and enjoy some red!


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Click here to visit Lovehoney.com to see shipping options to your location and payment options in USD ($)
Nipplettes Vibrating Nipple Clamps
Average customer review 3.5 out of 5 stars76 reviews
Time to titillate with Nipplettes! Made of a smooth Rubber-Cote material these clamps stay where you want them to, vibrate at just the right speed and are adjustable for the perfect level of pinch. Great for anyone who's new to love button loving.
- Now
- $32.95
Or 4 payments of $8.24 with Learn more
Product Description
Time to titillate with Nipplettes! Made of a smooth Rubber-Cote material these clamps stay where you want them to, vibrate at just the right speed and are adjustable for the perfect level of pinch. Great for anyone who's new to love button loving.
The clips are spring loaded and will grip tightly with the pressure you want and can be altered to suit you by using the screw-pin adjuster.
The vibrations are powerful but not enough to shake them free from your chesticles (thank goodness) and thanks to the ergonomic design of these bullet nip vibes, they're ideal for caressing other sweet spots such as the clitoris, labia, frenulum and perineum.
Key Features:
- Adjustable vibrating nipple clamps for sensational teeter tweaking
- Oversized clothes-peg style design is easy to wear and remove (even in the dark)
- Screw pin adjusts tension for custom pleasure
- User-friendly single button interface operates vibrations
- 100% waterproof for fun wherever you desire
- Takes LR44 batteries (included)
More products from Cal Exotics
Power and speed
- Battery Info: 6 x LR44 batteries
- Power Type: Batteries (included)
How it measures up
- Length: 3 inches
How it feels
- Material: Hard Plastic
Essential info
- Allergens: Latex-Free
Product Videos
Nipplettes Vibrating Nipple Clamps
Treat your lover to some pleasure and pain in the bedroom with these vibrating nipple clamps. Made from smooth Rubber-Cote material, Nipplettes Vibrating Nipple Clamps deliver an erotic pinch, vibrate at just the right speed and can also be held open with the nifty screw adjuster.
Reviewed: 25 August 2019 by Playtime lover!, a Straight Married Female
I bought these for a little fun! But they are amazing!
The sensation from the clamp itself is really good. The sensation from the vibrating is even better! Feels really good. They don't stay on too long when the vibrating starts though, they tend to fall off probably because the vibration is so strong.
- Pros
- The feel off them is nice, the colour is perfect.
- Cons
- They fell off.
- Bottom line
- Nice for playtime.
- 1 person found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes
Vibrating clamps, wow - my partner loves them
Reviewed: 15 February 2019 by stevicous, a Straight Going Steady Male
We tried these out and since the first time I have noticed my partner keeps them by the side of the bed to be used that night.
They are not hard but light, fully adjustable and comfortable when in use.
The orgasms she achieves are like none before. They make her squirt, especially if her hands are tied to the bed.
Safe and easy to use with orgasmic results. Buy them and enjoy the sensation.
- Pros
- Ease of use and the end result, comfort in use.
- Cons
- Just the colour but that no big issue.
- Bottom line
- Orgasmic.
- Was this review helpful to you? Yes
Fun, fun, fun
Reviewed: 2 January 2019 by Secretly excited, a Straight Going Steady Male
I got these as a surprise for my girlfriend who had only tried the non-vibrating clamps once or twice before. They were delivered in the usual discreet packaging in a couple of days and were easily put together with the (supplied) batteries, although an extra twist of the top to tighten was needed to get them working. The box they come in is sturdy enough but looks a bit cheap so threw that away and hid them before she came over.
As I said she has very little experience of this so (only) slight persuasion was needed. They seem perfect for this level of experience as even with the regulator backed right off they were firm but not too painful. It took a few attempts to find the best way for them to stay on as they kept coming off at first, but once we did this they were no problem.
My girlfriend has sensitive nipples and really enjoyed having them clamped to her, but then the fun began. As I'd put them on I'd hidden the fact they were vibrating ones and as we were getting intimate and she was getting more and more turned on I turned them on. She acted like there'd been divine intervention; she said afterwards that the vibrations really get her horny and the surprise really got her going.
The next time I suggested we use one on her clit. This was new to her but she's definitely a convert. The vibrations get her right in the mood and the fact that I have both my hands and mouth free makes exploring her body an experience we both get off on. With a little more care penetration is possible without it falling off. Finding the right positions and angles is half the fun.
In short, these were excellent for us as beginners and even though we've used them quite often she still loves it when we play with them. The batteries last a decent amount of time although they are a little noisy. Maybe a pack of three to include one to use as a clit clamp?
- Pros
- Everything.
- Cons
- Maybe a little noisy.
- Bottom line
- Lived them, although they may not be painful enough for more hardcore users.
- Was this review helpful to you? Yes
Reviewed: 22 August 2018 by Rough up
These are great and probably very underestimated.... With a good imagination you can use them for a lot of things! We found they're best used as a clit clamp while your partner teases and plays with you in other ways.
The soft coating stops them awkwardly nipping at unwanted times unlike traditional clamps. Also they're very easily adjusted depending on weather you want pain, pleasure or both!
Strong vibration, batteries last a while last a while and come with spares.
- Pros
- Take it or leave it depending on mood!
- Cons
- Thought they weren't working - make sure you really trist the cap on.
- Bottom line
- Great to add a little extra into the bedroom.
- 1 person found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes
Order by:
Perfect addition
Reviewed: 1 August 2018 by CelticMagic, a Bisexual Single Female
This was the first time I had used any thing that gave nipple stimulation.
My partner isn't a boob guy, so I felt this was an area that was super neglected.
I was not disappointed! The situation was incredibly intense that alone was enough to tip me over the edge.
I highly recommend this product. You have lots of self-control and I like that part.
- Pros
- The clamps.
- Cons
- Nothing.
- Bottom line
- 10/10.
- 1 person found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes
- Newest
- Most helpful
- Rating


text:
1300 004 931
Our staff know their stuff & are helpful
Our staff know their stuff & are helpful
Product Code: TDC102425
Item: TOUGH DOG FRONT COILS DODGE RAM 1500
Item: TOUGH DOG FRONT COILS DODGE RAM 1500
Tough Dog Front Coil Springs Dodge Ram 1500 DS
Dodge Rams fitted with Tough Dog coils will enjoy the benefits of better clearance and still have good stability and control in on or off-road conditions.
Tough Dog coils when correctly applied last for years and years. Plus, their unique long-travel design means a better ride, and off-road wheel travel.
Tough Dog coils are not available for Commodores, Falcons or Pulsars. The Tough Dog team's expertise is in 4WD suspension applications. And that is why no other coil spring brand can match the 'intelligent design' of the huge range of coils.
Sold as a pair these coils will raise the front approximately 2"/50mm and suit all 2013 - 2020 Dodge Ram 1500 DS models.
Springs are available in comfort/medium or constant load to suit bar/winch.
Order now with FREE Australia-wide delivery.
Got a question?
Email email@example.com
Phone 1300 004 931
*picture for illustration
When you buy online at 4WD1.com - and your order totals $100 or more - we bear the cost of delivery, by Australia Post or our selected road freight, to any town in Australia.
So, no matter where you live in Australia; be it Bamaga, Exmouth, Strathgordon, Byron Bay, or anywhere in between, we can send your order safely and securely by Australia Post or a reputable road freight company. At no extra cost!
This offer excludes certain extra heavy or bulky items such as bull bars as indicated on our website.
Where the location cannot be reached by general freight carriers, delivery will be to the nearest depot.
Got a question?
Email firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone 1300 004 931


text:
It may be three months into the year, but the winter chill and drizzly mornings are clinging on and refusing to budge! Some late winter warmth is the perfect pick me up if you're craving some sun and relaxation. Trade damp and dull weather for dazzling skies over an inviting golden beach during your villa holiday. Year-round warmth is just a short flight away, with many sun-kissed destinations sitting at a delightful 22°C in the late winter. Take a look at our top villa holiday destinations for March.
Jet off to warmer climes and enjoy a memorable villa holiday on this radiant Canary island. You'll be truly spoilt for choice! Not only does Lanzarote show off some incredible coastline, it'll also dazzle you with its diverse landscapes. Bask in glorious temperatures of up to 22°C in March. Enjoy a range of tempting bars and restaurants at popular resorts or venture out to explore the island's striking natural beauty.
Playa Blanca, based in the south of the island, has made a name for itself as a relaxing and tranquil holiday destination. Soak in the sun during a walk along its fine marina, and admire the views of the impressive yachts floating on the ocean's calm surface. Take your pick from over 50 homely villas in the area! Known to be livelier than Playa Blanca, Puerto Del Carmen boasts 6km of beautiful beach and has become a bustling area for holidaymakers.
Alongside these buzzing resorts, natural Lanzarote is waiting to be discovered! Volcanic landscapes are aplenty, with 300 volcanos strewn across this intriguing land. You'll be mesmerised by the stunning sight of the red sand and lava formations at Timanfaya National Park. Discover the cave ways and magma settlements on a day tour, allowing you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere. The red sandy views promise to whisk your imagination away!
The Canarian gem of Haría sits in the north, and shines with a quirky personality. Picturesque views of little white houses dotted on the hillside are a real treat for the eyes. If you fancy a bit of water adventure, Famara beach is an idyllic spot for surfing and other watersports. The wind from the Atlantic creates the perfect conditions for you to relish a lively day at sea, with a backdrop of breathtaking cliffs. An island as unique as Lanzarote promises to leave you with lasting memories of your villa holiday.
Sitting in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus shines with a colourful diversity and culture. It basks in year-round sun and tempts holidaymakers with its range of beaches, natural landscapes, attractions and delicious cuisine. A villa holiday here promises to excite and rejuvenate those of any taste, as you escape the gloom of the late winter in favour of delightful balmy sun.
Coral Bay stands out as one of the most tempting retreats for your Cypriot adventure. This resort has everything to make a perfect villa holiday. Modern bars and local restaurants sit alongside stunning beaches and inviting ocean. If you love the idea of exploring the underwater world, head to Amphitheatre Diving Site located here. Or perhaps you're feeling like hopping in your hire car for a day trip? Opt to explore a little further afield with the capital of Paphos just a short drive away.
Alongside Cyprus' famed soft sandy beaches and tantalising coastline, the country boasts a rich history. You'll have the freedom to delve in and explore a range of archaeological spots which remain in impressive condition today. The Pafos Archaeological site, known widely as Nea Pafos (New Paphos), was founded in the late 4th century BC. During your visit here, admire the detail of colourful mosaics influenced by Greek mythology.
Cyprus is uniquely located at the crossing point of three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa. This influences its enviable climate, and also attracts birds from all over the world. Mountainous terrain towers above untouched woodland, providing the ultimate backdrop to your discoveries. If you're feeling adventurous, explore the cycling routes and walking trails which open up a world of possibilities. Cyprus truly has something for everyone, and promises to take your breath away from the moment you arrive on your March villa holiday.
Maybe March just isn't for you? Head off on a February villa holiday and start your getaway sooner, or maybe our April villa holiday destinations will be more tempting?
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Visiting us from Europe or afar? See our prices in Euros
¿Nos visita desde Europa o el extranjero? Consulte nuestros precios en Euros
Μας επισκέπτεστε από την Ευρώπη ή (από) το εξωτερικό; Δείτε τις τιμές μας σε ευρώ
Você nos visita da Europa ou do exterior? Veja nossos preços em Euros


text:
Undocumented Journey: An Educational Dream Realized for Illegal Immigrants
Undocumented Journey: An Educational Dream Realized for Illegal Immigrants
|By: Marsha Wong
|Link to YouTube Video:
It will guide you as you listen (or read) along.
Story Summary
In 1972, Marsha worked for the Peace Corp in Jamaica and became friendly with a neighbor named Yvonne. By casually mentioning the town she lived near Marsha set in motion a dream that Yvonne would sacrifice everything to fulfill.
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Yvonne latched on to the idea of the importance of education for her children?
- One of Yvonne's children went on to study medicine at Harvard. Do you think Yvonne and her husband felt their sacrifices were worth it? What did the U.S. gain by having Yvonne's children well educated?
- Does the outcome of this story influence your thinking about "illegal immigration"?
- One Hand Does Not Catch a Buffalo: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories by Aaron Barlow
- The Dead Yard: A Story of Modern Jamaica by Ian Thomson
- Crossing Cultures
- Education and Life Lessons
- Family and Childhood
- Immigration
- Living and Traveling Abroad
- Stereotypes and Discrimination
- Taking a Stand and Peacemaking
In 1972, I was in the Peace Corps, assigned to the island of Jamaica. I lived in a town discovered by Christopher Columbus and he named the town Discovery Bay. I lived on the top of a cliff, overlooking the Caribbean, in a tiny prefab, concrete house. Most of my neighbors were Jamaican families. The couple that lived right next door to me was named Seymour and Yvonne. Yvonne and I were both 23, but that's pretty much where the similarities ended. Yvonne had had a totally different life then I do. She had dropped out of high school when she was 15, when she gave birth to her first child. And now she had three children with a fourth one on its way. But nevertheless, we quickly became friends.
Yvonne and I would spend most of our time, not all of our time but most of our time, out in the yard by the concrete trough where we would wash our clothes. Now I wasn't quite used to washing my clothes in water that wasn't hot. So, Yvonne, kind of, schooled me in the proper method of washing clothes. And during that time, we would talk about our family and our lives. And Yvonne would tell me about how she regretted not going to high school and hopes and dreams that she had for her family. And she asked me, what was the best thing that she could do for her children? See, she believed that the United States was the answer to everything. The United States was far superior to living a life in a third world country. So, when she asked me what was the best thing she could do for her children, I told her. Since, especially, I was a teacher, the best thing that she could do for her children was to get them an education. And she thought about that as she was pounding her clothes into the concrete trough and trying to wash 'em.
And she said to me, "You know, I have always regretted my decision not to go back to school. But tell me, where is the best place I could get this education for my children?" Well, I had taught in East Orange, New Jersey, which is a town right next to Newark, New Jersey and very, very close to Montclair which was an affluent community. So, I told her being 23, that the best place in the entire United States to get an education was Montclair, New Jersey.
And she told me, "Me goin' to go there one day, you know. Me goin' to go there."
Well, eventually, I married a Jamaican and I moved to Kingston. And in time, we would go up to the north coast and we would visit Yvonne and her family because we had become friends. And during that time, we would reminisce and we would talk about… in fact, she even came to my wedding. But in time, my husband and I had decided to move up to New York, where he was going to do another degree at Columbia. So, over the course of several years, I hadn't seen Yvonne, but every time we had gone back to Jamaica to visit relatives, I would call her. In fact, there were times, not only would I call her, but we would drive up to the north coast to Discovery Bay. And I would go into the community and found out her family was still living there but that she and I, our paths never seemed to cross. So, it had been 14 years till I saw her again. And while I was up on the north coast, I called her, late one evening… really, late. And I said, "Yvonne is this you?"
And she said, "Oh, my gosh, Marsha, me can't believe it's you!" And we proceeded to talk about everything that had happened in the last 14 years.
And she said, "Me got a story to tell ya. Ya won't believe this story." And she proceeded to tell it to me. Apparently, she and Seymour had discussed, over the years, of how they can get their children this incredible opportunity to go to Montclair, New Jersey.
And Seymour and her, she said, "Seymour and me discussed, man. We over it and over it and we thought and we thought and we thought. Until one day, I said, 'Seymour, my children must have this opportunity, you know.' And he said to me, 'Yvonne, there is no way, no way we're going to do it.' But you know what? I come up with a plan and I said, 'Seymour I can go to the United States. Me can go and work as a domestic illegally, you know, but me can do it.'"
And so that was the plan. See, everybody that everyone knew when she got to the United States was illegal. The organization, believe it or not, was an organization that only hired illegal aliens, illegal immigrants. Her friends were all illegal. And she said to me, "You know, in time me get Seymour and him tell me all the time, 'Yvonne, me can't stand it you are away from me.'
And I said, "Seymour, you don't remember what Marsha Wong told us?"
And him said, "Marsha Wong! Mystic of Marsha Wong!" But in time Seymour brought all five of his children up one at a time. All five of them, you know."
"Well, I live in, out rent, a small, apartment; two rooms and a small, little, little kitchen. And in the kitchen, we have a hot plate and on the hot plate we cooked meals. Well, every morning me wake up, me get the children, we come on the bus, and we go to Montclair, New Jersey because all five of them are in this school in Montclair."
"Believe it or not, I had gotten my mommy and my daddy. They came up illegally, of course. Me got my brother and my sister and their families. I got all of them up in Montclair. Except for Seymour because he has to stay back and work in Jamaica. But while we're riding on a bus one time, the truant officers saw us. And the truant officer said, 'What are you doing man?'"
"And I said to him, 'Me taking my five children to school in Montclair.' "
"He said, 'You can't do that. You can't do that. If you want to go to school here, you must live here. You don't live here. So, if you do live here, you can go to school here.'
"Me have no choice. Me have no choice. Imma call Seymour. I say, 'Seymour, I must move into Montclair.' "
"And he said, "Please Yvonne, come home to me.' "
"And she said, 'You know, Seymour, I can't come home. I told you before, Marsha Wong told us the best place to go for an education is Montclair and that's what we have to do.' "
"So, I rent one room, really and truly, I rent one room. I have a big bed and I have all five children lay horizontally on the bed to go to sleep. Now, I don't sleep at night because I work at night. But all of five children, they wear ragged jeans to school. You know, it's expensive in Montclair. They wear the ragged jeans, they wear sneakers. I can't afford the brands that are in Montclair. I can't. But all five of my children, they know that the best thing that's going to happen them, is they're going to get an education in Montclair, New Jersey. Well, believe it or not. Seymour said, 'Please,' him call the time. 'Please, Yvonne, you must come home darling.'"
"And I say, 'Seymour, Me can't come. This is what we're getting. All the children are going to go to school. Me want you. I've been away from you all these years. My children don't have their daddy. Everybody is suffering. But we're going to have something in the end. It would be foolish if I didn't follow this through.'"
"Well in time, Marsha, you know what happened?"
I said, "What?"
She said, "In time, my oldest graduated from high school and then, Andrea, my second daughter my second daughter. She win a scholarship to Harvard University. Harvard man! You know, she can't accept this scholarship if she is illegal. And I'm thinking what am I going to do? I tell everybody that she win a scholarship. I mean what am I going to do?"
"Well, I tell you at that particular time, President Clinton had an amnesty program. And if you had paid all of your taxes, which I did, or you didn't do anything wrong, and you did everything on the list, man, everything, you could get a green card. So, I told my whole family. I told my family, I told my friends, and I told Seymore. 'I've got to go down to the immigration. Nima… Newark Immigration and Naturalization Service.'"
"And he said, 'Don't go, Yvonne. You can't go! You can't go! Him to deport you. You can't trust the government.' "
"And I said, 'I have no choice. I have no choice, man. What is my choice? My child worked so hard to get into Harvard. So hard.'"
"So I kiss mommy and daddy. I kiss my children. I kiss my brother and his family. I kiss my sister. I kiss all of my friends. And I say goodbye because I don't know if they're going to deport me. Is this a trick? I go down to the Newark Immigration and Naturalization Service. I'm right there and I'm so frightened. Imagine the trepidation I have, Marsha. With so much trepidation, I go in there and I take a deep breath. And you know what? I pass! I get to everything, right? Man, I got everything right. And I get a green card and Andrea can go to Harvard. And she did and all my family, all my family, man, gets a green card."
Well, just at that moment you could hear somebody coming in through the door and it must have been Seymour. And Seymour said it was really late at night. He said, "Who ya talkin' on the phone wit?"
"Me tell him, 'Guess, Seymour, guess who's on the phone?'"
He said, "Yvonne, I'm too tired to guess."
"Guess, man. Guess, who's on the phone.
"I don't know."
He said, "I don't know. Marsha Wong?"
"Yes, man. Marsha Wong."
Now regardless of what you think of whether Yvonne did the right thing by entering this country illegally and she did. I know that words are so powerful and it could set someone on a trajectory that can transform their lives. And given what is happening in our country at this particular time with illegal immigration, tell me what you think?


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Year in Review: Saddest Character Death of 2012Matt Richenthal at .
Before we pop the champagne in celebration of the new year, let's take a moment and pour one out for those we lost in 2012.
From plane crashes to lead pipe attacks, a number of beloved characters took their final breath over the past dozen months.
Which death hit you the hardest? Which left an ever-lasting impression? Which made you create a doll of the showrunner in question to burn in effigy as you cried yourself to sleep every night very sad?
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.


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bySamori Benjamin
On April 15th, 2014 67 years to the day that Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in Brooklyn, New York at Ebbets Field there were two New York City professional basketball teams playing each other in Brooklyn at the Barclay's Center. We spoke with Amare Stoudamire, Jason Collins, Marcus Teague, and C.C. Sabathia about the significance of the night and the decline of blacks in baseball. We also speak with Andrei Kirilenko about baseball in Russia. You can listen to it all right here.
©2007–2020 WBAISports.com


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Our website uses cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. The information about your use of our website with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information you've provided to them or they've collected from your use of their services.
There are 23 products.


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Getting Dizzy in Geosynchronous Orbit
by Caleb Bryce and Stephen Buchter
Some satellites "hover" over one place on the earth's surface – a geosynchronous orbit. This module introduces students to the physics behind geosynchronous orbits. Students work together to find the relationship between the radius and the velocity of an object in circular motion. They graph their data and calculate the gravitational force needed to keep a satellite in geosynchronous orbit.
Students learn: 1) How circular motion is critical for satellites to stay in orbit, 2) How velocity and mass of an object in circular motion are related, and 4) How to use a graphical hypothesis to make predictions, interpret data, and create an argument from evidence.
Docs: fulltext.docx lecture.pptx prequiz.pptx quiz.pptx quizkey.pptx vandrlect.pptx
Keywords: argument, cause, data, geosynchronous, investigations, math, models, patterns, HS-PS2.A, HS-PS2.B, radius, systems, velocity


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Mr. Burnside is a member of the Business Litigation Department. His clientele includes contractors, title insurance and escrow companies, motor vehicle dealers, farmers, and transportation companies.
Mr. Burnside has been in private practice since graduating from the University of Santa Clara School of Law in 1977. He began his law career in San Francisco before moving to Fresno in the late '70s. In 2005, he joined Dowling Aaron.
Mr. Burnside has substantial jury and bench trial experience in the areas of unfair competition law, construction cases, real estate contracts, partnership/shareholder disputes, consumer protection and products liability. He has been voted by his peers as one of Northern California's "Super Lawyers", representing the top 5 percent of practicing attorneys in the region from 2012 through the present.
Mr. Burnside is an avid golfer and longtime board member and legal counsel for Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno. He has two daughters and four grandchildren. One of his two daughters, Leigh, is also an attorney at Dowling Aaron.
Recent Notable Trials
Bennett v. Bennett (Sacramento) — Successful defense of disputed ranch valuations in business dissolution/partition actions that saved client $11 million.
DH Williams Construction v. Clovis Unified School District (Fresno) — Successful prosecution and appeal of mandamus action that overturned School District's refusal to award several – million dollar construction contract to plaintiff low bidder.
Jensen v. Deutsche Bank (Stockton) — Successful defense of the title insurance company's insured lender in a lien priority dispute involving competing deeds of trust on the same property.
Lopez v. Asbury Fresno Imports (Fresno) — Successful defense of claims for dealer fraud and violation of consumer laws in connection with a customer's purchase of a new motor vehicle, affirmed on appeal. [Lopez v. Asbury Fresno Imports, LLC, (2015), 234 Cal.App.4th 71; 183 Cal.Rptr.3d 696]
Pollard v. Fidelity Title Company (Stockton) — Settlement for a nominal sum after one day of trial of the plaintiffs' claim for $2 million damages alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the escrow holder in its handling of a refinance transaction.
Diaz v. Fresno Dodge (Fresno) — Successful appeal of a trial court judgment finding unfair competition and violation of consumer laws in the dealer's vehicle leasing program. Judgment for the class of consumers reversed and judgment entered for the dealer.
Professional Affiliations & Memberships
- State Bar of California, Litigation Section
- Fresno County Bar Association, Construction Law Section
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers
- Association of Defense Counsel
- Lemon Law Defense Counsel Alliance


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Video Interview with Photographer Mike Mitchell
By DONNA BALANCIA
Rare, never-before-seen photographs of The Beatles' first concerts in the United States were sold Saturday for $358,000 at a U.K. auction house.
Omega Auctions of Newton-Le-Willows announced the sale of the 413 copyrighted negatives at a Beatles auction. They were taken by photographer Mike Mitchell during The Beatles' performances at the Washington Coliseum Feb. 11, 1964, two days after the Ed Sullivan Show appearance, and at Baltimore Civic Center on Sept. 13, 1964.
Mike Mitchell Sells Through Beatles Auction in the UK
At the Baltimore show, the then-18-year-old Mitchell even stepped on stage to take photos. Mitchell said he was "very motivated to come up with stuff that was as unique as could possibly be."
Mitchell also got shots of The Beatles' arriving at Union Station in Washington, D.C., and also during a pre-concert press conferences.
In Other Beatles Auction News
In 2011, Mitchell sold off other photos from the same events to Christie's.
In other Beatles auction news: George Harrison's 1984 black Mercedes-Benz, was sold to the highest bidder at just over $61,000. A signed hotel register from a night at "The Bull" in Peterborough, which all four musicians signed along with manager Brian Epstein, sold for $14,000.
Mitchell Recalls The 1964 Beatles and Photography
Mitchell said he was driving in suburban Washington, D.C. with his mother when on the radio came music of The Beatles. He knew he had to go see the band. Miraculously he got a press credential.
Mitchell said that if it were not for modern technology of the last 10 years, the photos — and in particular the "iconic" Beatles photo — might never have been seen.
Mitchell he didn't have "flash gun," and had to shoot the concerts working on ambient lighting. It always remained his style, he said.
"People say to me 'I like the way you use light,'" Mitchell said. "And I have come to be able to say 'I like the way light uses me,' because I think that's what's going on."
Video courtesy of Omega Auctions UK


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Photo: Buff Strickland; Styling: Olga Naiman
Most clams at seafood markets are clean, but if you dig your own, soak for several hours in a bucket of salt water (about 1/4 cup salt per gallon) to help rid the shells of sand and dirt.
How to Make It
Preheat grill to medium-high heat (350° to 400°). Scrub clams, discarding any that are broken or remain open. Grill 5 minutes or until shells open wide. (Discard any clams that do not open.) Transfer to a serving platter, and serve with lemon wedges.


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Fiesta Moon: Moonstruck Series #2
Fiesta Moon: Moonstruck Series #2
After his third DUI, Mark Madison is overjoyed when his older, more responsible brother Blaine pulls some strings and offers him a Get-out-of-Jail-Free card by sending him to a minute Mexican village to oversee a building project for orphans. Mark, a 32-year-old single man who is permanently enjoying a life of fiesta, plans to make the most of this respite. But even the best-laid schemes can be and often are hijacked by circumstances, people, and most importantly, God. Even before arriving in Mexicalli, Mark has another car accident, and thus he enters this smallish town aback a truck of pigs smelling of swine and trying to shake off one that had become attached to his very person.
Corinne Diaz, a 27-year-old with a heart for people --- especially those without family, since she was once orphaned and then adopted --- looks upon the newcomer with the pig in both confusion and amusement. Then, as the swine runs wild, such commotion and near disaster ensues that Corinne is momentarily distracted as she races to the rescue of an elderly woman on a runaway burro-bound cart. Mark, seeing impending catastrophe, rushes forward and brings the cart to a halt. It is after this heroic act that Corinne gets her first up close and personal look at him --- and her response is one of contempt. "We danced at your brother's wedding...just before you became sick on my shoes." With a sigh, Mark asks himself if his day could get any worse.
Seemingly, Mark's reputation for living the high life cannot escape him. And yet, as the days pass --- those long, hot, never-getting-much-accomplished-South-of-the-border days --- Corinne and Mark find common ground in the oddities of the Mexican village. Their living conditions, the food, the help, even the social customs and the superstitions combine to make their conversations and humiliations more conducive to geniality and humor. While Mark attempts (often futilely) to get the orphanage into sound working order, Corinne's business savvy in working with the villagers helps the couple find further common ground --- but not without some injurious, cutting remarks, wounded emotions, and lots of inner reflecting. It seems that both are on a mission to erect a building and to tear down whatever ails the soul.
Author Linda Windsor offers a humorous yet lightly romantic tale that gratefully is profuse in its subtle comedic style. Windsor's characters are likable because they're so real, and as their foibles are so honestly portrayed, readers will smile when they commiserate with their frequently self-inflicted emotional pain. With easy conversation, the author provides not simply a story to amuse and entertain, but also slips in some biblical principles on offering forgiveness, not judgment; grace instead of condemnation. Above all, female fans will embrace Windsor's message not to become wallowed in yesterday's failures, whether they be poor choices, wrong attitudes, or faulty preconceptions. Today is a new day to embrace hope and life and start again.
Reviewed by Michele Howe on November 13, 2011


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- Load CSS
- Load CSS without blocking
- Load CSS in parallel
These 3 seem like unfair comparisons. A "JS Loader" loads JavaScript, that's it. The fact that some also do other things not related to loading JavaScript is not relevant.
Put another way, if you're going to list those 3, why not list these as well:
- Load Images
- Load HTML


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PTA Committees
Want to get involved, make a difference and have fun? Join one of our committees! Becoming involved in a committee is a great way to dig-in, bring what you uniquely have to offer to the table and get to know fellow members in the PS 133 community. Below is a current list of our committees. If you wish to get involved in any way – whether it be to chair, co-chair or be a member of a committee – the respective email for each committee is provided.
The role of this committee is to promote and expand PS 133's presence online and via traditional marketing tools, primarily by developing solid branding, maintaining and upgrading the school's website, and developing an effective social media strategy with the goal of keeping the school community, external stakeholders and potential contributors and donors abreast of the school's programs, activities and achievements. No technology skills required but knowledge and experience in marketing, communications and online outreach is useful.
Contact: email@example.com
Extended Day
Run by the PS133 PTA, playlab133 offers families high-quality, after-school enrichment programming in athletics, arts, academics, STEM and more, as well as extended-day care. The Extended Day Committee seeks to expand parent involvement and increase support of the playlab133 program. Attending monthly meetings, taking advantage of ad hoc projects and volunteer opportunities, or leading a subcommittee are some of the various ways you can get involved. Any interest in supporting the committee will be greatly appreciated, no matter your schedule!
Chair: Kim Gleason – firstname.lastname@example.com
Co-Chair: Could this be you? Email firstname.lastname@example.com
The Fundraising committee is the central hub of our fundraising efforts. The Fundraising committee brainstorms ideas, initiates and coordinates fundraising activities, such as the Annual Appeal, Annual Spring Auction, Readathon, book fairs, school supply kits, Mabel's Labels, Marathon and Election Day Bake Sales, Picture Day, Legacy Tile Wall and many more! This committee oversees current fundraising initiatives and launches new ones. The sky is the limit!
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
If you have a green thumb and wish to help green our school, The Garden of Wonder is your committee! Named by our students and created in 2012, the goal of this committee is not only to grow and maintain the garden but also to introduce students to the joy of gardening with hands-on classroom activities. Several times a year, students are able to sample the Garden of Wonder's harvest in the cafeteria.
Chair: Kaitlin Andrews firstname.lastname@example.com
Co-Chair: Could this be you? Email email@example.com
Language & Cultural Diversity
The Language and Cultural Diversity Committee supports ALL students at PS133 in second language acquisition and cultural understanding with the goal of fostering their academic and personal success. We collaborate with our community, school administration, staff, and our families providing a forum and organizing events and other engagements to share information and resources in order to foster a diverse international community.
Co-Chairs: Nancy Mercado, Dania Mejia, and Suaad Ali – email@example.com
Teacher Grants
Each year the Grant Committee coordinates grant applications and awards to PS133 teachers on a rolling basis. Joining this committee will give you an inside view on what teachers are doing to support their students, their own personal learning to bring into the classroom and on the grade-or school-wide resources they hope to provide for 133 learners.
Chair: Kara Zimmeman firstname.lastname@example.com
Performing Arts
We have a great auditorium and strive to put it to good use every year! Be a part of this committee to help support and publicize our theater arts residencies with Theater for A New Audience (TFANA) & Creative Stages; enable the visions of our amazing drama & music teachers; and continue to build dance programming at PS 133. We need volunteers to assist with running lights/sound, building sets & props and making costumes for the school musical and other original projects. For the past three years, The Performing Arts Committee has been instrumental in winning a grant and to pay a sizable chunk of costs for the TFANA's New Voices Project and World Theater Project at PS 133– 13-week residencies that culminate with performances by 133 students our auditorium. The Committee also successfully launched PS 133's very own talent showcase – PS 133′s GOT TALENT!
Co-chairs: Christina Prostano, Phyllis Recoura, Joanne Devaney – email@example.com
Volunteer Coordinator
This role helps PS133 and our dynamic PTA inform, cultivate and organize amazing volunteers for exciting and enriching initiatives. There are so many ways to get involved that this role is essential to make sure parents know about opportunities and keeps the process is well-managed. Our goals is to make it easy–and fun– to contribute your time and talent to help our community!
Co-Coordinator: Esra Dayani – email@example.com
Co-Coordinator: OPEN – could this be you? Email firstname.lastname@example.com
Co-Coordinator: OPEN – could this be you? Email firstname.lastname@example.com