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Lib Dem candidate admits to unnatural vice
She once supported Labour
The political blogosphere is getting itself all lathered up about the orientation of adult film producer and Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful, Anna Arrowsmith, aka Anna Span.
No, not that sort of orientation. Unfortunately for Anna, an old and now defunct page on an old and defunct website has her down as supporting the Labour Party. It says: "Anna is liberal and open-minded but politically she supports The Labour Party, for all its sins. Anna lives in Soho, London."
This is just a tad embarrassing for someone now aspiring to be elected to parliament as a member of a rival party.
The explanation is, of course, fairly straightforward and a salutary reminder to anyone who employs a web designer to update their website and doesn't insist that old pages come down entirely – as opposed to just removing the links to the old version and leaving the page orphaned, but still up on the site.
The clue - to those interested in reporting Anna's current political stance - lies in the opening paragraph on the embarrassing page, which starts "Anna Span (32)..."
Whilst we acknowledge the distinct lack of chivalry involved in revealing this, Anna is now 38. Speaking to El Reg this evening, she agreed that she had once been a member of the Labour Party – a fact that she has never hidden from anyone. However, she objected strenuously to the UK government's decision to invade Iraq, marched with the opposition to that war, and left the party at about the same time.
The most recent version of the webpage on the site in question has Anna down as 37 (just a year out of date) and a member of the Liberal Democrat Party.
Still, the small matter of contemporary accuracy is of little import when it comes to politics, and the political bloggers have spent today circling, in the hope of landing a fatal blow. Arch-Tory blogger Iain Dale is cock-a-hoop about this supposedly embarrassing discovery – as well as pouring gentle scorn on the very idea that someone who has worked in the adult film industry can have anything to offer the electorate.
Strangely, Dale appears to require a great deal more convincing when faced with a rather more embarrassing revelation that the wife of Tory Leader, David Cameron may once have voted Labour. ®


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31 Mar 2012 09:34:46 AM
[Video] Gilbert Yvel Renders Alexander Unconscious, Maurice Smith Head Kicks Father Time at RFA 2
Yvel vs Alexander (spoiler: no flying triangles)
We may be in the midst of a Zuffa drought, but that doesn't mean we must thirst for knockouts. Last night Resurrection Fighting Alliance hooked up with Sherdog to bring you a live stream of their second card, which featured a pair of heavy hitters and a pioneer of the sport. Jens Pulver also returned to action for the promotion, though thankfully it was in the announcer's booth this time.
The evening's main event promised brain damage, and it lived up to our expectations. Houston Alexander displayed the one-strike power that launched his UFC-career, stammering Gilbert Yvel with an overhand right before knocking him down with a leg kick all in the opening thirty seconds of the bout. Yvel looked reserved in his second bout as a light-heavyweight, though against a brawler like Alexander pretty much everyone looks passive. "The Hurricane" started to open up in the latter half of the first round, and with just over a minute remaining on the clock he connected with a left hook that rocked Alexander followed by a big right hand that dropped him face first to the canvas–time to update our planking homage. That's two straight wins for the recently re-invented 205′er and the second consecutive knockout loss for "The Assassin".
Join us after the jump for videos and recaps of the Maurice Smith-Jorge Cordoba and Tara LaRosa-Kelly Warren bouts.Read More DIGG THIS

subset: commoncrawl


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The federal government is seeking help from the public for ideas to boost cybersecurity measures for the nation's critical infrastructure.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a request for information for what it calls the first step in the process to develop a Cybersecurity Framework.
The Cybersecurity Framework will be a set of voluntary standards and best practices to guide industry in reducing cyber risks to the networks and computers that support critical infrastructure vital to the nation's economy, security and daily life, according to the NIST announcement published in the Federal Register .
The RFI comes amid reports of widespread hacking attacks by China on U.S. and foreign institutions, as revealed by security firm Mandiant.
NIST is calling for ideas, recommendations and other input from critical infrastructure owners and operators, federal agencies, state and local governments, standards-setting organizations and other interested parties. It's looking for information about current risk management practices; use of frameworks, standards, guidelines and best practices; specific industry practices; and more.
In announcing the initiative prior to releasing the RFI, NIST said it will use the input gathered to identify existing consensus standards, practices and procedures that have been effective and that can be adopted by industry to protect its digital information and infrastructure from the full range of cybersecurity threats.
The framework will not dictate "one-size-fits-all" solutions, but will instead enable innovation by providing guidance that is technology-neutral and recognizes the different needs and challenges within and among critical infrastructure sectors, NIST said.
President Barack Obama called for the framework to reduce cyber risks in a Feb. 12 Executive Order on "Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity" for essential institutions such as power plants and financial, transportation and communications systems.
Stakeholder meetings are also a part of the framework process. The first meeting will be held April 3 at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md. Registration information is available here.
Comments are due by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on April 8, and should be e-mailed to email@example.com with the subject line: "Developing a Framework to Improve Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity."
Posted by David Hubler on Feb 28, 2013 at 9:39 AM
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Nice blog and thanks for sharing. In additions before buying Cyber Insurance be clear what the coverage objectives are and buy the product you need.
What? They already forgot we have the Google search engine?... This whole thing sounds phishy to me.
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text: Deborah Gillis, Chief Operating Officer, facilitates a conversation on the topic of diversity strategies and challenges and Catalyst's Corporate Board Services at a Member Roundtable hosted by Cisco. This discussion is aimed at senior diversity officers and managing directors of our Dutch members. For more details or to RSVP, contact [email protected].


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TV Show: Heaven's Order
Revised romanization: Cheonmyung
Hangul: 천명
Director: Lee Jin-Seo
Network: KBS2
Release Date: April, 2013 --
Runtime: Wed. & Thu. 21:55
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea
Oriental doctor Choi Won (Lee Dong-Wook), who works for the royal family, becomes involved with the plot to poision King Injong and is now a fugitive. He tries to save his daughter who has an incurable disease. Choi Won has raised his daughter alone since his wife passed away.[/red
Filming begins March, 2013.
Takes over the KBS2 Wed. & Thu. 21:55 time slot previously occupied by "IRIS 2".
Lee Dong-Wook - Choi Won
Song Ji-Hyo - Hong Da-In
Yoon Jin-Yi - So-Baek
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
Lee Dong-wook up for fugitive-thriller sageuk drama
We've had vague, noncommittal rumblings of these casting possibilities, but now the production of sageuk drama Mandate of Heaven is swinging into action with a bevy of official press releases. None of these castings is finalized, but we do have confirmation that Lee Dong-wook (Scent of a Woman), Song Ji-hyo (Crime Squad), and Yoon Jin-yi (A Gentleman's Dignity) are strong contenders for the roles. (KBS is currently awaiting their replies.)
It's a historical series infused with a thriller vibe; the show's being dubbed a "Joseon-era Taken" and "Joseon Ajusshi." Set during the reign of King Injong, who only ruled for a short period due to illness, our hero (Lee Dong-wook's potential character) is a royal physician desperate to cure his ailing daughter. He becomes a fugitive when he gets entangled in an assassination plot to poison the king, and fights to save both his daughter's life and his own.
Song Ji-hyo's character is the royal nurse who falls in love with our hero. I really wish they'd give more info on her since she's an actress capable of being dynamic and interesting; let's hope she gets some meaty character details to work with. Yoon Jin-yi, a fresh face who earned some name recognition playing Meahri in A Gentleman's Dignity, will play the daughter of a bandit who ends up on the run with the hero. This oughtta be a nice change of pace for her, taking her from Meahri's privileged whiny princess to simple-minded village tomboy. Thank goodness.
pray4Gaza, pray4MH17, pray4MH370
I have seen some pictures of the filming of this, and it sounds interesting. Will probably watch this when it comes out.
Living in Korea now, woohoo!
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Tuxedo Mask!!!


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February 01. 2013 12:07PM
Nashua forecaster predicts groundhog will not see shadow
By KIMBERLY HOUGHTON
Union Leader Correspondent
NASHUA -- If forecaster Rob Carolan is correct with his prediction, when Punxsutawney Phil is pulled out of hibernation on Saturday, an early spring could be just around the corner.
The infamous groundhog will be put to the test at 7:30 a.m., and with a cloudy and cold forecast on tap for Saturday, Carolan is taking bets that the cute little woodchuck will not see his shadow.
"This year it is looking like his shadow will hide," Carolan told a crowd attending the 13th Annual Granite State Groundhog Gathering Breakfast hosted by The Salvation Army.
Continuing with his predictions, Carolan also anticipates that the Red Sox will win at least 80 games this year, he told the cheering fans in attendance Friday at the Crowne Plaza.
Dressed in a fancy top hat and overcoat -- traditional attire for the fanfare that will take place Saturday in Punxsutawney, Penn. -- Jamie Trowbridge of Yankee Magazine shared his experience with trying to trap a groundhog lingering in his vegetable garden last year.
"I learned that melon is crack for groundhogs," joked Trowbridge, saying once he learned the fruit trick, the large rodent was fairly easy to capture and relocate to the top of Temple Mountain.
Amid the silly weather predictions and groundhog jokes, there was a sincere reason for Friday's event where several dedicated individuals were honored for their service to The Salvation Army.
Linda Leedberg received the organization's Angel Award, recognizing her for countless hours of volunteerism.
"We depend very heavily on volunteers," explained Major Norma Moore, adding Leedberg gives of her time all year long to help with various Salvation Army programs, especially during the holiday season.
Brian Rhodes, deputy fire chief in Nashua, was honored as Advisory Board Member of the Year, while New Balance in Merrimack and St. Christopher School in Nashua both received Community Sponsor Awards for making significant contributions to the Salvation Army last December.
Former Gov. John Lynch was named Citizen of the Year by the organization, which thanked him for his continuous support.
"He knows the importance of what we do," Major David Moore said of Lynch.
Last year, The Salvation Army served nearly 2,500 individuals, provided 780 meals and offered nearly 6,000 snacks during various building fires, hazardous material incidents and disaster drills, according to Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, adding representatives from the organization trained more than 800 hours with Nashua Fire Rescue.
While most people think of the kettle ringers during Christmas time, Lozeau said there is much more to The Salvation Army that deserves to be recognized.
Jennifer Buskey of Nashua agreed, saying her family has been blessed by the generous donations The Salvation Army has offered her children, including clothing and toys during the holidays, and providing her daughter with a safe afterschool program and an engaging summer day camp.
Nearly 800 families and more than 1,800 children were provided services from The Salvation Army during the holiday season last year, which also helped to send 52 children to summer day camp in Nashua.
"This room is full of people who have needed help from time to time," said Gov. Maggie Hassan, encouraging individuals to pitch in and assist others, which she said will enable New Hampshire to continue being a place where opportunities are available for everyone.


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Oct 18, 2001
Oct. 17, 2001
Santa Barbara, Calif. -
For the second time this season, Senior Josh Horton was named the Big West Conference's Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week. The Vienna, Virginia native ran a 24:34 8k at the Pre-Nationals Meet that included the top programs in the nation. His 8th place overall finish in the black race helped the Gauchos to a 4th place team finish ahead of multiple nationally ranked teams. Fellow Gaucho Katie Appenrodt was also awarded Athlete of the Week honors for Women's Cross Country following her Pre-Nationals performance.


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Ligre wrote:If Haunt had, say, a 3 or 4 round CD, there'd be a lot less complaints about it. It CAN miss, be dodged or blocked...but the Valks already have a spammable in Slot 1. IMO, Haunt does not need to be spammable.
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Since 1945, Broward County Veterans Services has been dedicated to helping local veterans, along with their families and dependents, receive the services, benefits and quality of life they deserve. This assistance is provided to veterans and their dependents at no cost. Services include:
Types of claims filed include:
For inquiries and assistance, contact Customer Relations at 954-357-6622.


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Sir Alex confirmed that he will stand down from his Old Trafford post after 26 success-laden years at the end of the current season, and just over two weeks after winning a 13th and final Premier League title as United boss.
The 71-year-old, whose haul of 38 trophies makes him the most decorated manager in the history of English football, and Taylor has praised his peerless dedication to the development of young players, as well as laying down the gauntlet to his successor.
"The game of football will be a lot poorer place without him," Taylor told Press Association Sport. "He has been quite simply the best. He followed in Sir Matt Busby's footsteps and even surpassed him. He will be also be the toughest act to follow.
"I will miss him - he has been a very good friend of the PFA throughout his career. Of course at times it has not always been smooth and we have had a difference of opinion but we always respected each other and we have had a lot more agreements than disagreements. He is a great football man, he has turned out team after team and in terms of youth development he has been one of the finest exponents of that. He has had a faith and a belief in his youngsters that is rare in today's football."
Sir Alex will bid farewell to the United support after the final home match against Swansea on May 12, before settling into his new role upstairs as a club ambassador.


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Monday, August 18, 2014
Fame at last!
I was reading the book "Haskell Data Analysis Cookbook" when suddenly, my name pops up! Funny to see a link to a 7 year old blog entry, who knew I would go down in history for a few line of codes for a perceptron? It's deep in Chapter 7, for those interested. Maybe this is a sign that I should abandon everything else and spend my time on AI, since it's obviously where fame and riches abound! Right...
Posted by JP Moresmau at 5:10 PM
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Closures set for Memorial Bridge this week
October 27. 2013 11:19PM
PORTSMOUTH — The Memorial Bridge will be closed to all traffic from midnight to 5 a.m. through Thursday this week.
Traffic will be restricted to one alternating lane in each direction from 7 p.m. to midnight.
The closures are needed to remount the refurbished Eagle and memorial plaque on the Portsmouth side of the original memorial bridge, honored as the statewide memorial for veterans of World War I.
According to information provided by Archer Western Contractors, the unassembled plaque and eagle is around two dozen separate pieces and weighs about 7,500 pounds.
The contractor said it may need to close the bridge the following week for the same duration of time depending on weather conditions and how well the 90-year-old adornment goes back together.
— Gretyl Macalaster, Union Leader Correspondent
General News Veterans War Tourism Travel and commuting Traffic


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|January 10, 2013, 09:47 AM
Join Date: October 2, 2012
Posts: 58
first time reloader needing advice
So i have just ordered a lee turret kit, powder, brass and dies. I am looking to reload 10mm pistol and 5.7x28 my first question for target practice what is the best and most cost effective bullet for each of those calibers? my second question is what type of primers do those calibers take? Small or large? lastley again for only target practice what is the best bullet weight for each of those?
Thanks in advance for any help
|January 10, 2013, 10:15 AM
Join Date: October 20, 2012
Posts: 93
Look in your reloading book for primer size. The 10mm I believe is a large pistol off the top of my head (but double check). The 5.7 is probably a small bit again double check.
Cheapest bullets will be cast lead. Can be found for around 60-70 per 1k. But lead can be Smokey and you might not be allowed to shoot it indoors (depends on range). Next cheapest is plated which is around (80-120) per 1k depending on brand and weight. Is cleaner than lead but you can't push it to extreme or the plating could be damaged causing bad accuracy. Of course next is fmj and you'd have to look prices up. Obviously fmj is the best bit generally most expensive.
As for bullet weights....that's up to you really. For 10mm I use either 180gr or 220gr plated bullets and havemt had an issue yet. But they do make different weights for different applications. I generally stick to the weight the gun was originally and is most commonly found in. Ie 115gr for 9mm, 230gr for 45acp ect. I do use other weights such as 147gr for subsonic 9mm for my suppressor. See bullet weight is hard to say which is best. Just go with what the gun was designed around or you have been shooting.
As for 5.7 reloading....I have no clue on it and haven't looked really. Last time I did I don't think anyone was really reloading for it.
|January 10, 2013, 10:21 AM
Junior member
Join Date: January 24, 2010
Location: South West Riverside County California
Posts: 2,763
It appears you do not have a manual or may not be using it. Get Modern Reloading if you do not have a manual, especially because you are using Lee Precision equipment. As for bullets go to a few bullet manufacturer sites or sellers like Mid-South and price them out. I use cast bullets which would be the least expensive, but probably not the best choice for you. Berry's plated bullets are a good deal. You got a good press to start out with.
|January 10, 2013, 11:46 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: November 6, 2001
Posts: 1,062
I'd check out this forum for loading 5.7x28 but this caliber is one that isn't best for reloading at all. Many issues with the laquer coated thin cases. Not for the inexperienced.
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Did "Twilight" and its mopey tween vampires not quite get your blood pumping? Need some more cred when it comes to your fangs and creatures of the night? Then take a look at the new trailer for "Suck", a vampire spoof.
David Lynch and Moby are good friends. They share an interest in transcendental meditation, weird sounds, and isolated factories. So, when Moby needed a music video he asked Lynch, who took a literal approach to the single "Shot in the Back of the Head" from Moby's new album "Wait for Me."


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Immigration's odd couple
A few days after Republicans took an electoral beating from Hispanic voters, Sen. Lindsey Graham made a phone call to Sen. Chuck Schumer.
The South Carolina Republican wanted to restart the stalled talks with Schumer on immigration from a couple years back. But this time, he noted, his closest Senate friend was ready to reengage in the emotionally charged issue: John McCain.
Story Continued Below
"My heart skipped a beat," Schumer told Graham, according to a person familiar with the call.
( PHOTOS: At a glance: The Senate immigration deal)
McCain and Schumer are two Senate heavyweights who had never developed much of a relationship. The Arizona Republican previously would criticize the shrewd New Yorker's motives and the Democrat attacked McCain during the 2008 presidential elections.
But over the course of five meetings in their respective offices culminating in a deal-making session last Wednesday, the two men quickly developed a close relationship now at the center of the high-stakes immigration debate. McCain grew tight with Schumer after the two men helped defuse a partisan war over the filibuster, which served as a basis of trust for the immigration talks.
How McCain and Schumer came together is a sign of the shifting politics in the immigration debate — particularly in the Republican Party. McCain, an architect of the failed 2007 deal with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), spent the following two election cycles distancing himself from that proposal as he courted Republican primary voters who considered the 2007 plan "amnesty" for lawbreakers.
( Also on POLITICO: Immigration a tough sell in GOP House)
But McCain said Monday that the electoral politics of the issue had changed and that his party needs to adapt on immigration if it wants to lure Latino voters.
Schumer told POLITICO that the turning point in the talks came "when there was a realization that a path to citizenship was a necessity."
The odd couple managed to lure to the immigration table a powerful roster of senators from both parties, including rising GOP star Marco Rubio — who has made revamping immigration law one of his primary political causes in a possible 2016 presidential bid .
( Also on POLITICO: Obama, McCain, Rubio begin immigration dance)
A key turning point for the group came when Florida Sen. Rubio got heavily involved in the effort. For months, the Cuban-American — who will be pivotal in selling any deal to conservatives inside and outside the Beltway — had been positioning himself as ready to assume a leadership role on the contentious issue. But he had never introduced legislation on the matter.
Other participants included one of the Senate's leading liberals, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and another veteran of the 2007 effort, Robert Menendez of New Jersey. The bipartisan group met with powerful constituencies on the left and right — such as the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce — and both labor and business leaders appear closer to cutting a deal as a result.
This past weekend, the bipartisan group ironed out the remaining details of a new proposal, including a pathway to citizenship for the nation's roughly 11 million illegal immigrants. And on Monday, the Senate's new Gang of Eight promised to drive the immigration debate in a way that Washington hasn't witnessed since 2007.


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Michael Fassbender's Oscar nonchalance
I'm not as hype on Michael Fassbender as the rest of you are. Which is why, to me, the best part of his GQ interview is that James McAvoy is in it. McAvoy is there because Fassbender is late and the two of them are supposed to, along with the journalist, speed around a track in a fast car for kicks. This gives Fassbender the opportunity to show the writer what a badass he is – by ignoring the instructor's orders to not pass and eventually spinning out, narrowly avoiding a high speed collision.
He's so man because he's attracted to danger and isn't afraid. I'd call that reckless and unnecessary but what do I know? I'm an old dried up c-nt who clearly hasn't been well lubed in too many years. That's the only explanation for not feeling Michael Fassbender, right?
The part in the GQ article getting everyone's attention is Fassbender's response to being asked about his Oscar chances for 12 Years A Slave, opening in limited release this weekend. The last time Fassbender campaigned for Oscar was for Shame and he didn't end up receiving a nomination. So, this time, even though everyone's talking about him as a lock for Best Supporting Actor, he's opting out of the process:
"That's just not going to happen, because I'll be in New Zealand. I'll be on the other side of the world. You know, I get it. Everybody's got to do their job. So you try and help and facilitate as best you can. But I won't put myself through that kind of situation again. It's just a grind. And I'm not a politician. I'm an actor."
And, now, predictably, everyone's talking about it, and some even think his chances just got better because he's above the desperation and actors love to pretend-recognise someone for not being a famewhore. Michael Fassbender, Michael Fassbender, Michael Fassbender…
So here we have 12 Years A Slave, a movie about slavery, perhaps, as The New Yorker's David Denby wrote, the "greatest feature film ever made about American slavery", and all we can preoccupy ourselves with is whether or not Michael Fassbender, the white dude in a supporting role, will win an Oscar?
Michael Fassbender, I promise you, will get his. He will keep getting his. Chiwetel Ejiofor, on the other hand, won't have the same variety of options after this run. So if Michael Fassbender doesn't want to campaign for himself, why not campaign for Ejiofor? And, oh yeah, the film too. 12 Years A Slave is considered, almost unanimously, the best film of the year, the frontrunner for Best Picture.
But…apparently the Academy doesn't seem so enthusiastic so far. Sasha Stone notes that it wasn't even close to a full house the other day when the film was screened for Academy members who might be too "afraid" of it. Afraid of feeling uncomfortable. Afraid of being challenged. Afraid of not being happy about life when they leave the theatre?
So 12 Years A Slave might actually need the buzz of the people, people like us, to get the Academy off their old asses to see it, and then support it. "Oh dear, maybe we should go see that slave movie because everyone keeps talking about it at the golf club." That's the sh-t we're dealing with here.
Sometimes a film is bigger than its actors, you know? If ever there was a film that would make you feel less dirty about holding babies and shaking hands, it would be this one. But that's ok. Let's just keep applauding Fassbender for maintaining his alleged integrity and staying off the press circuit in favour of a muscle car on a race track.
Click here to read the testosterone-y article and the video is below.


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Unusual split memoir of the intertwined lives of a reformed drug dealer and a misfit turned Africa diplomat.
In alternating chapters, Prendergast (co-author: The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes, 2010) and Mattocks describe the bond that began many years ago, when Prendergast started an informal "Big Brother" relationship with Mattocks when he was seven years old and homeless. Prendergast depicts his own adolescence as deeply unhappy. Scarred by acne and familial estrangement, he retreated into athletics and fantasies of becoming a "do-gooder." He'd already discovered a preoccupation with Africa, specifically the suffering which the West ignored, that would eventually lead to his life's work, but also impulsively befriended Michael and his younger brother, James, while visiting a Washington D.C., shelter in 1983: "These boys had nothing and yet radiated with life and sunshine." Over time, Prendergast provided a vital emotional lifeline to the Mattocks boys while trying to assuage his interest in Africa, moving from internship to lobbying on behalf of a small philanthropy, Bread for the World, and visiting the continent's trouble spots. Eventually, the author'ss dedication to this lonely cause led him to the Clinton White House, where he was Director for African Affairs at the NSC, and to involvement with celebrities like Don Cheadle and Angelina Jolie. The chapters that capture Mattocks' perspective are written in an unadorned, colloquial style that is nonetheless effective in capturing the forgotten realities of black urban America during the '80s, when gun violence and crack hellishly transformed daily life in places like D.C. Mattocks' depiction of his and James' gradual immersion in the drug trade is chilling, and he considers himself fortunate to have escaped, but also acknowledges that Prendergast's mentoring made a crucial difference: "Even though my dad left, we had J.P…. he cared about us in a way even my mom and my aunts didn't know how to."
A feel-good narrative that underscores the brutal effects of poverty at home and injustice abroad.


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In her career as a nurse, Traci Bovee of Morenci has followed many children's battles with disease through the Caring Bridge website.
Caring Bridge allows the parents of an ill child to post updates for friends and family members to read—and even for strangers to follow. At the same time, it gives parents a means of emotional support through writings on the guest book page.
Traci is no stranger to one of the newer Caring Bridge subjects. She suggested that Susan Pierce start a page for her daughter, Abby, who was recently diagnosed with precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
After the first week, Abby's page had more than 400 visitors.
"It's really great support for Susan," Traci said.
Susan explains on the website that five-year-old Abby was taken to Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor and the next morning she underwent surgery to place a port for medications. Chemotherapy began the next day.
"I had not even wrapped my brain around the fact that she had cancer, and all of these things were happening," Susan wrote. "Everything happened so fast!"
Abby was in the hospital for six days and had trouble being away from her twin sister, Chelsea. Since then she's made some return visits to Mott due to complications.
Abby's cancer is the most common type to affect children. When detected and treated, ALL generally leads to a positive prognosis and cure if the patient is able to remain on the treatment regimen. Without complications, treatment usually spans two years.
Two years of treatments can be financially devastating to a family. Traci has read story after story about the challenges families face. That's what made her think about Susan and Bill Pierce. They'll face a lot of trips to Mott and to the emergency room over the next few months. There will be gas, food and lodging costs.
She decided to organize a fund-raiser for the family and the event is set at the Morenci American Legion Home on May 26. A hog roast is planned, along with a 50/50 drawing and live and silent auctions. Auction donations can be made by calling Traci at 517/306-7028.
She's also planning a "Cookies for Abby" fund raiser. This would be used to buy items to help keep Abby occupied while she's in the hospital. Pie will be sold by the slice and a variety of activities for kids is planned.
Raffle tickets are available for free lodging at the Wyndham Towers in Myrtle Beach. A friend of Abby's grandmother, Marsha Pierce, offered five days of her timeshare for the drawing winner.
T-shirts are available now for $10 to show support for Abby.
Gas cards and cards for restaurant meals are also being collected.
"The response is really great. Everybody has been wonderful about donating," Traci said. "So many people want to help."


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Disasters strike every area of the country, and they do not spare libraries. Usually there is little or no warning, and the best defense is a plan for effective response.
Developed by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association, this site is a selective resource for libraries of all sizes and types. It contains resources, links to the disaster preparedness sites of agencies whose primary role is emergency response or conservation, and information on available training. Please send comments or suggestions for other resources to include to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Disaster Preparedness Sites
The Artifact Research Center
The ARC is a laboratory facility specializing in the analysis, interpretation, and preservation of archaeological and archived materials. Offers freeze-drying services to a variety of private, museum, government, conservation, and cultural resource management clients. http://artifactresearch.home.att.net/
Baltimore Academic Library Consortium (BALC)
Includes information on disaster recovery of library materials and a list of supplies, experts, and services to assist during a disaster. The website provides a searchable database of these resources and a page to add a resource. While the majority of the resources are from the Washington/Baltimore area, contributions from any area are welcome. http://matrix.msu.edu/~disaster/balcplan.php
Colorado Preservation Alliance
The Colorado Preservation Alliance, which is composed of librarians, records managers, archivists, and genealogists, has developed this site to give people rapid advice on various disasters. Besides the state-wide action plan, there are full-text publications on various preservation techniques and resource lists. http://www.srmarchivists.org/preservation/
Cultural Preservation & Restoration, Inc. (CPR)
Offers a wide range of conservation and museum services. Best known for specializing in archaeological conservation, they also specialize in the conservation of objects, sculptures, painting, ethnographic materials, textiles, metals, stone, glass, and wood. http://www.cprconservation.com/
CoOL - Conservation OnLine: Resources for Conservation Professionals
Probably the resource for conservation and preservation information. Links to many other agencies, as well as a directory for locating people involved with conservation or allied professions. http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/
Extension Disaster Education Network
A collaborative multi-state effort by Extension Services across the country. A site designed to provide access to resources on disaster preparedness, recovery, and mitigation. http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/~eden/
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Preparedness, Training & Exercises
Detailed information on proper response to natural and technological disasters, including tips for individuals and families. http://www.fema.gov/government/training/index.shtm
Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium Flood Recovery Booklet
A compilation of resources useful for individual or institution. http://web.grinnell.edu/individuals/stuhrr/icpc/
National Task Force on Emergency Response
The National Task Force on Emergency Response is a partnership of 29 federal agencies, national service organizations (including the American Library Association), and private institutions. It has two major goals: 1) safeguarding America's cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies and 2) using its expertise to help the general public recover from disasters. http://www.heritagepreservation.org/programs/taskfer.htm
Northeast Document Conservation Center. Disaster Assistance
Description of NEDCC's emergency assistance program for institutions and individuals with damaged paper-based collections. http://www.nedcc.org/disaster/disaster.php
SOLINET Preservation Field Service Program Disaster Services
A description of the emergency disaster assistance to individuals and institutions. http://www.solinet.net/Preservation/Disaster%20Resources/Disaster%20Assistance.aspx SOLINET's Disaster Wiki
University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, Disaster Resources Preparedness & Recovery
Provides specific information on preparation before a disaster, response to a disaster, and information on providing assistance to disaster victims. http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/disaster/
Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC)
The Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC) is a non-profit regional center for the preservation and conservation of art and artifacts providing treatment, education, and trainings for museums, historical societies, libraries, other cultural institutions and the public. Established in 1977, MACC provides highest quality conservation treatments in Paintings, Objects, Paper and Textiles to over 170 non-profit member organizations and private collectors nationwide. MACC also provides disaster response services, workshops, and trainings on a variety of collections care topics for museum staff and arts professionals.
Our Preservation Services department offers member organizations assistance with environmental assessments, collections surveys, storage analysis, training workshops and mentoring, technical resources and information, loans of environmental monitoring equipment, emergency response planning, 24-hour access to disaster recovery information, as well as grant writing assistance for conservation and preservation projects.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Preparedness. http://training.fema.gov
SOLINET Preservation Workshops
Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel
Developed by the National Task Force on Emergency Response, this is a tool every library should have handy. Order information is at https://www.heritagepreservation.org/catalog/Wheel1.htm (along with an interactive web version).
Bibliography of Standards and Selected References Related to Preservation in Libraries
Compiled by Suzanne Dodson and Johanna Wellheiser (February 1996, revised April 1996), section 9, Emergency Planning and Response. This listing ( http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/nlc-bnc/bibliography_standards_apr96-ef/eintro.htm) includes both standards and references to reports of disaster response and handbooks.
Reading List for Preservation Management
Course presented by Sheila S. Intner at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College.
Brooks, Constance. Disaster Preparedness. Washington, DC: ARL, 1993.
Drewes, Jeanne M. & Julie A. Page. Promoting Preservation Awareness in Libraries: A Sourcebook. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1997.
Fortson, Judith. Disaster Planning & Recovery. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1992.
Kahn, Miriam. Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries. Chicago: ALA, 1998.
Kahn, Miriam. "Mastering Disaster: Emergency Planning for Libraries." Library Journal 118 (Dec. 1993), p. 73-75.
Murray, Toby. Bibliography on Disasters, Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Recovery. Tulsa, OK: University of Tulsa, 1987.
Rhodes, Barbara J. Hell & Highwater: A Disaster Information Sourcebook. New York: METRO, 1989.
Trinkley, Michael. Hurricane! Surviving the Big One: A Primer for Libraries, Museums and Archives. Atlanta, GA: SOLINET, 1993.
Water, Peter. Procedures for the Salvage of Water-Damaged Materials. 2nd ed. Washington: USGPO, 1988.


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Culture of corruption pervades NSW Inc
2 August 2013
In 1985, the then Sun-Herald journalist David Hickie published The Prince and the Premier, which revealed how a notable gambling identity, Perce Galea, and a long-term Liberal Premier, Bob Askin, ''gave organised crime its start in Australia''. This ushered in a period of NSW political history when a district court judge and a chief magistrate were brought down through their links with corruption.
The recent ICAC corruption findings against a minister and prominent businessmen is business as usual for NSW Inc. We don't need to go back to the Rum Corps to find the roots of political corruption in NSW.
Indeed, the establishment of ICAC was one of the reasons the Nick Greiner government swept to power, ending decades of Labor control of state politics and an era, which Greiner classified as ''characterised by corruption and cronyism''. As evidence of its independence, the first ICAC inquiry involved senior Country National Party figures and their land dealings in the north of NSW.
To show corruption isn't the province of any particular politics in NSW, then premier Greiner was found guilty of corrupt conduct by ICAC. Despite his vigorous defence his political career never recovered.
State and local government tendering and the corruption endemic in those commercial relationships, was a justification for the ICAC's existence. Its inquiries into these areas have been among the most successful incursions against corrupt public trust violations. Now it would be fair to say the stain of land development bribery as a feature of local council practice in this state has largely been erased. But as the ICAC findings against the Obeids and Ian Macdonald show, the price of political influence in NSW when it comes to corrupt transactions is still lucrative.
So what if we want to see a cleaner and more transparent politics in NSW? That won't happen as a result of corrupt conduct findings alone.
The Department of Public Prosecutions has now ruled that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute former minister Tony Kelly despite the ICAC finding of corrupt conduct against him late in 2011.
There are bets out now on whether Obeid and Macdonald will escape prosecution in similar fashion. So there is no misunderstanding on this, the DPP in deciding not to prosecute is not another player in a corrupt web of cover-up. An ICAC corrupt conduct determination does not require the same evidentiary burden which would satisfy a criminal charge. In determining whether or not to go to trial, it has to take the matters the ICAC investigated, and in certain circumstances seek additional facts to go forward.
On top of that, the DPP needs to determine that the prosecution is in the public interest.
At a time of political foment in this country that is not a simple issue.
The tragedy in all of this is how deeply the culture of corruption pervades NSW Inc. Justice James Wood, in his now forgotten royal commission into the corruption of the NSW police, revealed stories of malpractice and deviance, which would be enough in other circumstances to close down any other organisation forever. An examination of NSW policing today worryingly indicates many of Wood's recommendations to protect against corruption have simply fallen away.
As for corrupt politics, the temptations remain; the predators circle and the people of suspect morals line up to make a fast buck at the public's expense. Maybe Gough Whitlam was right when he suggested dumping state politics and governing Australia through a stronger and more accountable system of local and federal political frames.
On a measure of historical corruption alone, NSW gives good measure for any such political revolution. And it is no different across any state border.
Mark Findlay is a professor of criminal justice in Sydney Law School.
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Media enquiries: Katie Szittner, 02 9351 2261, 0478 316 809, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Cody Ruiz struggles to feel sympathy for the man he found lying at the bottom of a cliff. The man, who said he lost his footing and fell down White Mountain, was disturbingly pristine.
His reported pathway down the slope seemed unscathed, as well; dirt and vegetation from top to bottom remained intact.
And despite his claim of tumbling "head over heels," down the embankment, the man's baseball cap managed to stay in place.
"At first, he was saying he couldn't move his body, couldn't move his legs," Ruiz, the first responder as a sheriff's deputy, recalled of the September 2010 incident. "Then he started tapping his toe, like there was a song in his head. It just didn't seem like he was in that much pain."
Ruiz said the man specifically asked for a shot of morphine upon being lifted and advised rescuers that he was allergic to nonopiate medications.
When he said his pain failed to subside with four milligrams, he was given six more. Fifteen minutes later, he was administered four milligrams of Zofran, then two 50-milligram doses of Fentanyl.
Reports soon came in of a similar rescue mission that was performed a year earlier with a victim that turned out to be the same man, bolstering the officer's concerns. Now a member of the Division of Criminal Investigations, Ruiz read other agents' reviews and the situation came full circle.
The man, or at least his name, was already notorious around the medical community, particularly to those manning the state's prescription drug monitoring program. In one year, the "frequent flier," as reports labeled him, had managed to obtain 2,913 opiate pain medications through prescriptions — an average of nearly 250 per month.
The story is one extreme example of an increasing trend of prescription drug fraud in Wyoming, say officials at DCI. Deputy Director Kebin Haller said an increasing number of the department's arrests and investigations are related to opiate painkillers, in particular.
On par with national statistics, a sharp, steady increase in deaths related to prescription drug overdoses were reported in Wyoming in recent years.
Between 2004 and 2005, five people in Wyoming died because of an accidental overdose of prescription medications, according to the state's vital statistics. That number jumped to 28 between 2006 and 2007; 45 between 2008 and 2009; and 69 between 2010 and 2011.
Meanwhile, after a slight increase in the past seven years, 2010 to 2011 held the smallest number of deaths related to overdoses of illicit drugs since 2004 to 2005, dropping from eight to three.
In the past year, physicians at Wyoming Medical Center treated 112 cases of poisoning related to opiate medications, up from 95 the previous year and 82 the year before that.
Second to meth?
A few years ago, methamphetamine prices began to sharply increase in Wyoming, said Haller. The inflation was due in part to heightened controls on pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the drug. Mexico, a former production hotbed, placed restrictions on imports of the cold medicine in 2005 to curb cartel activity, then in 2009 cut off imports altogether.
U.S. state controls coincided with Mexico's sudden deficiency. A 2005 Wyoming statute restricted the sales and distribution of the medicine, effectively severing the resources needed for meth labs.
"All these different events are going on, and the availability [of meth] in the states is down," said Haller. Rather than paying a premium or going without a fix, Haller said users would instead turn to their — or someone else's — medicine cabinet.
"[Opiates] can be a substitute for many of the illegal drugs," he said. Although the painkillers are often easier to find, at up to $2 per milligram, they don't particularly run cheap. This can propel users further down the drug spectrum.
"One of the direct results of prescription abuse and addiction is that heroin usually follows," he said.
A sampling of DCI investigations reveals inconsistent tactics and an array of demographics related to prescription drug fraud.
In several of the prescription drug fraud investigations provided by DCI, low- to mid-level drug dealers simply added opiates to their portfolio of narcotics. Many prescription drug busts were tacked onto investigations involving meth or marijuana.
In one case, a small-time dealer was reported to law enforcement after sending a misguided text message to an attorney in Evanston, asking if she wanted any more "tabs." In another, a college woman was reported by a worried friend, who discovered the woman was about to exchange sex with a Sheridan firefighter for pills.
As for the White Mountain "faller," upon questioning, he told authorities that he had become addicted to painkillers after he had back surgery in the 1990s. When the prescribed dosages failed to alleviate his pain, he said he resorted to less scrupulous ways to obtain the pills.
He admitted to doctor shopping, purchasing medications from others, faking injuries and self-harm. He told officers that he had previously shot himself with a nail gun on several occasions and at one point put his fingers in front of the blade of a skill saw.
Haller cited additional cases where he's heard of friends running over each other in cars or smashing one another's hands with hammers.
"This shows us how strong the addiction is, and what people will do to obtain these medicines," Haller said.
Anyone's addiction
Dr. Berton Toews runs Casper's Wyoming Recovery center, a treatment facility that deals specifically with addiction. He agrees that there is a correlation between meth's scarcity and prescription drug addictions, but he also is quick to point out that several of even his most severe patients had no prior history of illicit drugs or criminal behavior.
Painkiller addictions transcend age, race, gender and education, he said.
According to Wyoming's vital statistics, the average age of those who died from a prescription overdose was 43, half were male, and about 44 percent had more than a GED or high school education.
Deaths were less evenly distributed among counties, however. Over the past seven years, six deaths were reported in Big Horn County for every 10,000 residents, four for every 10,000 in Unita and Weston counties. Teton County had the lowest rate at one overdose-related death for every 10,000 residents.
"The most common scenario I see is the person who gets put on a pain med for a bona fide event," Toews said. "But because of personal history or genetics, they become technically addicted."
Kristi, one of Wyoming Recovery's counselors who requested her last name not be used to protect her family, knows the downfall on a personal level, as well. A former registered nurse with a collection of degrees, Kristi became addicted to opiate painkillers such as Vicodin after shattering her tailbone.
Kristi soon found her medical background aggravated the addiction. She was a natural at gaming the system.
"I had knowledge of how to be really smart around a pharmacist and how to be really savvy with doctors," she said.
After three opportunities to get and stay clean, Kristi ended up in prison for 12 months, leaving behind her now ex-husband and three children.
Unable to practice nursing, Kristi went back to school to become a therapist after she was released. Now clean for 12 years, she meets with recovering addicts and uses her experiences to empathize with what they're going through. Although she said she never tells them about her history up front, she is often asked about her "story," and said she never lies.
"I do this job every day so I don't ever forget," she said.
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Toews said about one-fourth of his patients' addictions were abetted by "Dr. Feelgoods," who didn't take the time to discuss a patient's ailments or educate themselves on an addict's tactics or the disease of addiction. Many doctors are well-meaning, he says, but can be duped by a cunning patient.
"It takes 20 seconds to say yes and 20 minutes to say no," he said.
A small percentage, officials say, suffer from addiction themselves. In 2009, a woman contacted the Rock Springs Police Department to report a physician who approached her at a car wash to request a favor.
According to the arresting affidavit, he wrote her a prescription for 50 Percocet pills and asked her to fill it and bring the medication back to him. When police approached him shortly after the drop off, the doctor admitted he had already consumed five.
Officials say the state's prescription drug monitoring program has enabled them to recognize the signs of some of these physicians.
Wyoming Online Prescription Database Coordinator David Wills said he recently spotted a super-prescriber in the state.
"When we did further checking, it was outrageous," he said.
In two years, Wills said, this physician treated 800 patients and prescribed each an average of 1,877 pills.
"I did report it to law enforcement, and it turned out 90 percent of all the [local] drug busts lead back to this one doctor," he said. Wills said he was unable to reveal the doctor's identity.
However, there are certain difficulties in catching others, experts say. "Most people aren't going to turn in their drug dealers," said Kristi.
Evolving methods
Since 2004, Wyoming has participated in a prescription drug monitoring program, designed to flag those who exhibit behavior related to abuse or diversion.
Wills said he is notified after "doctor shoppers" visit a threshold number of physicians and pharmacists within a month. He then contacts the providers, pharmacists and, in severe cases, local law enforcement and warns them of potential fraud. Practitioners can also submit a request for a profile on a particular patient.
Doctor shopping behavior has plunged by 72 percent in recent years, he said, from 152 shoppers in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 42 in the first quarter of 2012.
Wills said he's particularly pleased by doctors' and pharmacists' participation in the program. The number of requested patient profiles went from 1,500 a quarter at the beginning of the program to nearly 5,000 a quarter.
"That's why doctor shopping is falling," he said. "The credit has to go to the practitioners and pharmacists." Wills said the program will soon be online, making profiles available for viewing at any hour of the day.
Sgt. Deahn Amend of the Casper Police Department said officers also work closely with pharmacists and doctors in their investigations, which has helped curb doctor shopping behavior.
More recently, she said, police have been receiving reports of prescription robbery. Cars have been broken into, and those holding open houses have fallen victim to addicts or dealers surfing medicine cabinets.
Haller said that, like any drug addict, those desperate for painkillers will evolve their methods of obtaining a substance when others become unavailable.
He said there are probably several answers as to why prescription drug deaths continue to increase, despite the successes of monitoring programs.
In February 2012, the White Mountain faller pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. He received a six-month sentence, all suspended except time served, according to DCI records. He was ordered to serve four consecutive six-month supervised probationary periods, which are set to end early 2014.
"Now it's up to us as consumers to protect ourselves against a prescription controlled substance," Haller said.
"They are like a loaded gun. If they get into the wrong hands, they are going to cause damage to people."


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The latest restructuring at Tendril Networks Inc. resulted in the layoffs of 59 employees at the Boulder-based home energy management firm, according to state records.
The job cuts took place Monday, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act noticed filed by Tendril with the Colorado labor department.
Last month, Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck said the company was restructuring to achieve profitability.
Months earlier in 2012, Tendril -- which, at one point, saw its workforce grow to about 200 people -- laid off an undisclosed number of employees.
Tendril's workforce is now under 100 employees, said Ginger Juhl, a company spokeswoman.
Tendril found success by securing significant deals with Duke Energy and Origin, but company officials miscalculated how the energy management market would develop, he wrote.
"But as we enter 2013, we have learned a lesson," he wrote. "Many utilities don't have the economic path to justify the investment in consumer energy engagement in the short term."
Moving forward, he wrote, Tendril's focus will be on landing "the most innovative and progressive utilities who are ready to go to scale."
"A more laser-focused Tendril will be profitable," Tuck wrote in a Dec. 7 post on the company's blog. "Tendril has made the important step to wean ourselves off venture capital. Our great syndicate of deep-pocket investors has just given us growth capital go give the management team options for growth, but 2013 will be our first profitable year -- utterly liberating in these lean venture capital times."
Tuck was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at 303-473-1332 or email@example.com.


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Reviewed By Tina F (VIRGINIA BEACH, VA) Reviewed for a 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis —8/11/2016 7:00 AM
I know these are custom and have to be made as requested, but there may a few frustrations. With a little wiggle, tug and outright pull these will fitake perfectly! Another snap strap would be great in one area. They look nice and feel good without the smell and stick of real leather!


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Write a News Story
Meet a Pioneer Pilot
Amelia Earhart Home
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Amelia Earhart
By: M H.
New Jersey, Age 9
On July, 3 1937 Amelia Earhart wanted to fly around the world. She crossed the Atlantic and while crossing the Pacific her plane disappeared. No one knows what happened. Accident or and Island?
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Village of Mount Prospect, ILHome Menu
Firefighters' Pension Fund Board**
- Date: 10/24/2017 8:30 AM
- Location: Fire Department Conference Room 2nd Floor
112 E. Northwest Hwy.
Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056
Return to full list >>
Purpose: To manage, invest and control the Firefighters' Pension Fund and all monies pertaining thereto in the manner provided by statute (40 ILCS 5/4-122).
Meets the fourth Tuesday of January, April, July, and October at the Police and Fire Administrative Building, 112 E. Northwest Highway, Fire Department Conference Room.


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Naomi Watts left terrified filming The Impossible
- Bang Showbiz
- 31 December 2012
Naomi Watts says shooting true-story disaster drama 'The Impossible' brought back vivid memories of almost drowning as a teenager
Naomi Watts relived her near-death experience while filming 'The Impossible.'
The 44-year-old actress stars in the true-story disaster drama about a family's struggle to survive the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, and revealed the disturbing scene where the wave hits brought back memories of almost drowning when she was 14.
She recalled: "We were emigrating to Australia, and we stopped off in Bali. I wasn't a very good swimmer at that point. I'd been living in England and not spending much time at the beach!
"We [Naomi and her mother] got caught in a rip, and I just got very, very tired. Now I know how to deal with a rip - you don't try to swim to shore, you just let yourself go with the tide. But my instincts were telling me otherwise. I remember getting scared by it and my mum was very scared."
Naomi's fears came rushing back during production when the actress had to submerge herself in a tank of water being used to recreate the Tsunami, and she admitted she genuinely feared for her life on set.
She told The New Review magazine: "A lot of it wasn't acting, because you're literally being sucked under, and I was genuinely gasping for air. I couldn't get out, and I thought, 'Oh God, they can't stop it!'
"I remember being quite upset because I thought, 'Maybe they were trying to a trick to make me look more scared. You cannot complain because think about what these people went through."


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Tips and Traditions for Baby's First Christmas
Baby's first Christmas is filled with special milestones. Try our tips to make the first holiday season special with festive decor, Christmas eve traditions and ways to capture the cute moments.
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The most wonderful time of year is even more wonderful now that you're a parent. Revel in this once-in-a-lifetime moment with our tips and tricks for creating traditions, taking photos, keeping travel stress-free and more.
- tinyprints.com
Go All Out on the Holiday Card
If there's one thing new parents love, it's whipping out baby photos every chance they get. Holiday cards are the perfect excuse to foist your baby's adorableness on pretty much everyone in your address book, so take advantage with a primo photo card. We love the modern designs from Tiny Prints and Minted.
Wallpapered Delight Christmas Card, $89.50 for 50 cards, available at tinyprints.com.
- hatleystore.com
Splurge on Christmas PJs
Nothing amps up the Christmas morning cute factor like a pair of cuddly holiday footie pajamas. Sure, your baby can only wear them for a month, but if you get something unisex, you can hand them down to the next kid.
Ornament Pajamas, $30, available at hatleystore.com.
- etsy.com
Choose a Gorgeous Stocking
This is the stocking you'll pull out year after year, so get something you really love. If your stockings hold their fair share of the gift booty, look for something roomy. If you only use stockings for little trinkets, go with something smaller.
- Veer
Pick and Choose Traditions
Do you love how your family always throws a kitschy Christmas sweater party, or how your husband's spends Christmas Eve playing board games? Now you have your own little family, and you can hand-pick the traditions that you like best to form your own set.
- Veer
Start a New Family Tradition
As much as you'll be influenced by how you grew up, it's also fun to come up with something that's all your own. Make it a ritual to read the same special holiday book each year, watch retro holiday specials like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or be inspired by our favorite traditions from readers.
- iStockphoto
Visit Santa
Sure, your baby has no idea who the portly guy in red is. But you do, and so do your parents, who will get a big thrill out of seeing your babe (even if he's screaming) sitting on Santa's lap in photos. Also, enjoy the total lack of interest in getting on Santa's gift list—it won't last!
- etsy.com
Buy a Keepsake Ornament
Ornaments are all about the memories associated with them, and this first Christmas is a biggie. So commemorate it with a sweet ornament you'll love pulling out year after year. Create a photo ornament with your fave snapshot of the year, or personalize one with baby's name.
- iStockphoto
Create a Photo Op
You may not realize it, but your babe's at an ideal age to get some great snaps. She can't run out of the frame, and although it might be hard to get her into it, she can't pull off that sweet holiday outfit you bought for her. Shoot when you get as much natural light as possible, and use your tree or stocking-filled mantel as a background. Be sure to take a lot of photos to get just the right shot. Read our tips for taking a great kid photo.
- iStockphoto
Give an Heirloom Gift
Along with the requisite brightly-colored baby toys, this is the year to give a gift that your baby will have forever and can pass down to her own kids some day. Need ideas? A locket, pretty snow globe or keepsake box are all classic choices. Get more ideas for heirloom jewelry gifts.
- Andrew McCaul
Make Travel Painless
If your family's far away, the holidays might include baby's first plane ride. Don't weigh yourself down by overpacking; packs of diapers and formula can be bought at your destination, and you'll most likely be able to do laundry wherever you are staying. However, do pack about one diaper for every hour of travel (you do not want to run out at 30,000 feet) and include plenty of wipes. Check out more tips for stress-free travel with baby.


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Spring 2015 Course Syllabi
Below you will find syllabi that have been submitted to the Registration Office for Spring 2015. Syllabi are posted as professors submit them to the Registration Office. To acquire a syllabus that is not listed here you must contact the professor directly.
Some syllabi may change after being submitted to the Registration Office. For any changes that may have occurred you must contact your professor directly.
The following syllabi are in PDF format and require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.


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Those rising costs are an important reason why the number of uninsured people keeps going up. Businesses find it harder and harder to pay for employee health benefits, and only 61 percent of employers even provide them (from a high of close to 70 percent a decade ago). The employers who do provide benefits are cutting them and forcing employees to pay more in the form of co-payments and deductibles. The 15 percent of Americans who are uninsured are surely faced with both health and financial threats. The cost problem, however, now threatens everyone else as well, including those assisted by Medicare and Medicaid.
Yet even if most people are aware of the dangers of cost escalationand many know it from personal experienceit has not gripped the public imagination, the presidential candidates or the media with the force of the problem of the uninsured (even though recent public opinion polls indicate it is catching up). Candidates and others have proposed a number of detailed plans for universal care, but nothing comparable for cost control. There is a reason for that.
The problem of the uninsured is the popular problem and the problem of cost control the unpopular one. The former is popular because it is easy to empathize with millions of people who cannot get decent care. Cost control, by contrast, is unpopular, or, perhaps more precisely put, it is dodged and evaded as if it were a nasty political virus to be avoided. Consider what serious cost control will require: moving from a 7 percent annual cost growth down to 3 percenta rate of inflation for health care costs that is no greater than the annual rise from general inflation. This amounts to a cost reduction of $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, settling in at $2.5 trillion in a decade. That would represent an enormous and unprecedented drop in annual costs for a health care system that has never, since World War II, seen anything more than a short and temporary decline from time to time. But this will mean that just about everyone will be forced to give up something, obliged to accept a different, more austere kind of health care.
There are at bottom only three ways to deal with the high cost of health care. One of them is to increase revenues for the system. With government programs such as Medicare, this means raising taxes sharply; with private insurance it means raising premiums. Another approach is to cut benefits drastically, giving people less care. Still another way is to force individuals to pay more out of pocket for their care. Not one of these strategies, if openly embraced, could possibly become popular. They would just be different ways of inflicting pain.
Controlling Medical Technology
The feature of cost escalation that ought to catch our eye most is the role of medical technology. Health care economists estimate that 40 percent to 50 percent of annual cost increases can be traced to new technologies or the intensified use of old ones. That means that control of technology is the most important factor in bringing costs down. Technology also happens to be the most beloved feature of American medicine. Patients expect it; doctors are given extensive training to use it; the medical industries make billions of dollars selling it; and the media love to write about it. The economic and social incentives to develop and make it widely available are powerful, and the disincentives so far are weak and almost useless.
Even among economists and others who concede that technology plays a central role in the cost problem, there is considerable ambivalence about how to deal with it. Technological innovation is as fundamental a feature of American medicine as it is of our industrial sector. After all, innovation has given us vaccines, antibiotics, advanced heart disease care, splendid surgical advances and increasingly effective cancer treatments. And many diseases and crippling medical conditions call for still more innovation. No wonder a distinguished economist from the Brookings Institution, Henry Aaron, who has prominently called attention to all the problems of technology, has written nonetheless that any effort to curb the introduction of new technologies beyond what is required for safety and efficacy would be sheer madness.
If there is ambivalence in many quarters about managing technology costs, there is outright resistance to such attempts among many American physicians and medical industry associations. Those groups were heavily responsible in the 1980s and 1990s for killing two federal agencies designed to assess medical technology from a scientific and economic perspective. Medical groups opposed them on the grounds that studies of that kind could interfere with the doctor-patient relationship (only they can decide about treatment evidence), and that since life is priceless, any economic assessment would be immoral. Congress, which has never shown much enthusiasm for the control of technology costs, did the actual killing. Ever since the advent of Medicare in 1965, Congress has not allowed it to take costs into account in determining which technologies and treatments it will cover. The medical device industry has been blamed for that resistance. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry has blocked price controls on drugs for many decades.
While it will be hard enough to get universal health care in this country, it will be even harder to control costs. The opposition to such control is politically more intransigent; and in the case of technology, the opposition is deeply rooted in American culture, whose obsession with health is not matched in any other society. Comparative public opinion surveys in Europe and the United States indicate a much greater belief in technology in this country. An astonishing 40 percent of Americans believe that medical technology can always save their lives; not nearly as many Europeans share that fantasy. The old line that Americans believe death is just one more disease to be cured is no longer a joke.
Cost-Cutting Ideas
Can anything be done about costs? A number of ideas have been floated about how to meet the challenge, most of them not rooted in any experience or evidence. The longtime favorite has been to eliminate waste and inefficiency, which is like trying to keep dust out of a house located on the edge of a desert. Medical information technology is a more recent candidate, along with increased efforts to advance disease prevention efforts, consumer-directed health care and disease management programs.
Those are all attractive ideas, but they share a common and crippling handicap. In our messy and fragmented mixture of public and private health care, there is no effective leverage, government or otherwise, to put in place good but often painful ideas. Government might manage to act on some of them, but only after a long and difficult fight. The private sector has never shown much capacity to do so; and given its market philosophy, it would surely resist government efforts to impose cost control mechanisms upon it.
Universal care is the only tried and effective way to control costs. The European health care systems do so effectively by means of a strong government hand. They use, among other things, price controls, negotiated physician fees, hospital budgets with limits on expenditures and stringent policies on the adoption and diffusion of new technologies. The net result is that they keep annual cost increases within the range of 3 percent to 4 percent, have better health outcomes than we do and achieve both at significantly less cost. With the exception of the United Kingdom and Italydespite what many American conservatives saythere is little rationing and there are no waiting lists for care.
But that is Europe, and this is America. The methods we are inclined to use here to control costs are generally mild and do not promise anything near the reduction in costs needed. The methods the Europeans use, dependent upon government, work well but are culturally and politically unacceptable here. That is the fundamental dilemma in trying to think through the problem.
Consequences of Cost Control
We need a change in culture, not just in the management of health care. Since many of the effective means of controlling costs will be painful for us because of our fascination with technology, the resistance to change will be formidable. Effective control will force patients to give up treatments they may need, doctors to sacrifice to a considerable extent their ancient tradition of treating patients the way they see fit and industry to reduce its drive for profit. Hardly anyone will want to do such things. Liberals will hate it, because though they favor universal health care, they are also children of the Enlightenment, champions of endless scientific progress and technological innovation. Economic conservatives will despise it as government interference with market freedom and consumer choice. Social conservatives will see the necessary rationing as a form of social euthanasia, killing off the burdensome in the name of cold-hearted economics.
Many commentators argue that if health care is not reformed, our system will collapse. I doubt that will happen. Instead, there is likely to be gradual deterioration, tolerable enough for the affluent but bringing to everyone else a gradual loss of quality, with more people uninsured, more expensive insurance, more bankruptcies and economic pain from medical debts and more economic anxiety about getting sick.
The frustrating part of all this is that in principle, cost control is a problem that can be solved. There is indeed waste and inefficiency, enormous and absurd variation in costs of care from one geographical region to the next, a great deal of useless or only marginally useful treatment, great possibilities in disease prevention programs, far too few primary care physicians and geriatricians and far too many specialists. The fact that the European countries can control costs and limit technologies without harming health is a patent rebuke to our way of doing things.
Looking for Solutions
Can we get there from here? To do so, both a huge economic gap and an equally huge cultural gap must be closed. We have become accustomed to living (and dying) with an expensive and disorganized system that serves many ends other than health. It is a system designed for reckless affluence. It builds upon a model of health and medical progress that is open-ended and infinite in its aspirations. Suffering, aging and death are enemies to be conquered, at whatever the cost to other social needs.
With the help of intensive marketing by industry and daily media hype, we have become fearful hypochondriacs, sensitive to every ache and pain and always anxious about that undiagnosed cancer or heart disease just waiting to get us. Our standard for good health constantly rises. Whatever the state of our health, it is never good enough. However high our life expectancy, we remain forever hopeful for medical miracles and endlessly dissatisfied with our health.
The nation needs a good dialogue on health care reform, but one that moves beyond organizational and management schemes. They are important but no more so than some deeper matters. Should death be seen as the greatest evil, which medicine should seek to combat, or would a good quality of life within a finite life span be a better goal?
Do the elderly need better access to intensive care units and more high-tech medicine to extend their lives, or better long-term and home care and improved economic and social support? Does it make any sense that the healthier we get in this country the more we spend on health care, not less? Should we be spending three times more of our gross domestic product on health care than on education (when 40 years ago it was about the same)?
Those are rhetorical questions. But they are the place to begin any serious discussion about the control of costs and technology. That discussion merits at least as much attention as does the plight of the uninsured; it will be harder to maintain and focus, but it is even more necessary.
Read Daniel Callahans article from 2006 on "Caring for the Elderly."
Has anybody out there ever heard of an HMO (health maintaince organization). I realize that there were a number of problems with some of the start ups back in the 80's. But as a retired biomedical research scientist who currently receives his health care from an HMO, I can tell you that they function quite adequately.
Yes, considerable attention has been paid to research on Comparative Outcomes. The classic is the Dartmouth Study which compared costs and outcomes in numerous regions of the US. The two prototypical areas were a large HMO in Minnesota and typical "Fee for Service" operations in Texas. After controlling for critical variables (socioeconomic status, ethnicity, family life) McAllen TX spent twice as much as Rochester MN and had significantly inferior outcomes. Most of the above commentaries (except for Barb's) impress me as eminating from sociology and polysci depts. Data always carries the day and it generally comes from depts of Preventative Medicine. Come on, hasn't anybody read a good paper lately, the literature is chocked full of papers that indicate that Preventative Medicine and HMO hold the only promise for cost containment. If you don't believe me start calculating the costs for jump grafts in 20 years when the current generation of obese 30 year old hypertensives with Type II Diabetes reaches their 50's.
An emeritus adjunct professor of Immunology and Microbiology at a SE Michigan Medical School.


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SOURCE: Instagram
Looking at the hot offspring of celebrities is like watching the commercials during the SuperBowl, it tends to be FAR more entertaining than the actual show. Paulina Gretzky is a perfect example: Her dad is a hockey great but is a slap shot really better than a girl dressing like a slutty policeman? Check out these photos from Instagram highlighting her treats and dont forget to share your favorite sexy Halloween pics on Facebook.


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Fathom and Mercury Radio Arts present Glenn Beck's "Beck '08" political comedy show broadcast live from the Majestic Theatre in Dallas into select movie theatres nationwide for One Night Only--Thursday, July 17 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT / Tape Delayed at 8 p.m. PT. Every year Glenn Beck performs a mini live tour throughout the United States covering various topics. This summer's "Beck '08 - LIVE" event is all comedy about politics. While the election often ends up being a big joke, Glenn's show is different--it's funny on purpose! In the tradition of George Carlin and Bill Cosby, Glenn's performance is equal parts storytelling and stand-up--a 120-minute show with Glenn's unique point of view. The first half of the show will take aim at an election season unlike no other--it's non-partisan and no-holds-barred. The second half is Glenn's "pull no punches" stump speech. If you've ever wondered what a politician might sound like if they told the truth and reflected the real values of real Americans, this is it! Hold on for a live experience that shows Glenn Beck to be more than just a "thinker," but a truly funny entertainer who says exactly what's on his mind. Limited seats available--don't miss your opportunity to see Glenn Beck--host of the fastest growing cable news show in America--in an exclusive, one night comedy event on the big screen! This program is not rated, but it should be treated as PG-13.
Sorry there are no upcoming showtimes for Beck '08 - LIVE


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BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) - A Shreveport woman is accused of battery after police say she hit a co-worker with a bottle of steak sauce.
Bossier City police say 30year-old Lashonda Turner and 23-year-old Heather Mattingly were working at steak house Sunday when they got into an argument and Turner allegedly grabbed a bottle of A-1 steak sauce and hit Mattingly in the head.
Mattingy then allegedly punched Turner in the face.
The Times reports (http://bit.ly/YGhcdJ ) that Turner was booked with aggravated battery.
Police say Mattingly was issued a citation for simple battery due to her need for medical attention for a cut she received from the fight.
It was unclear whether the women have attorneys.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Can't Buy Me Love
Election Day 2009 provided a fix for political junkies still in withdrawal from the electoral highs of 2008. Among the most intriguing story lines of the day was the loss, and near loss, of two wealthy businessmen turned public servants. Michael R. Bloomberg spent more of his own money on his campaign for mayor of New York than any other municipal candidate in history, yet won by only five percentage points. (Late polls had projected him ahead by 18 points.) Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey outspent his Republican opponent by nearly two to one and still lost. The state's economic malaise played a key role in Mr. Corzine's loss, just as Mr. Bloomberg's controversial decision to override the city's term limits law angered many voters. Yet in both cases the candidates' personal wealth also seemed to work against them. In New York in particular, residents seemed exasperated with a mayor who left no check unsigned in his bid for a third term.
Both Mr. Corzine and Mr. Bloomberg left lucrative jobs in the private sector to enter public service. In many ways their intentions were noble, but their decision to bypass existing financing laws was a serious blow to the campaign regulatory movement. Their bulging war chests intimidated would-be opponents, and their excessive spending too often led to negative campaign advertising. This month's election returns were a heartening reminder that a formidable bank account goes only so far. Money can help put a candidate on a ballot and get face-time on television, but in the end it takes more than money to win the hearts of voters.
The Highest Cost
If the infant mortality rate is an indication of a nation's health, recent statistics should prompt a closer look at whether sufficient protection is given to some of the youngest and most vulnerable people in the United States.
A new study by government researchers ranked the U.S. infant mortality rate (6.9 percent) 30th among those countries studied. Singapore, which ranked first, had the lowest rate, 2.1 percent. Premature births are the greatest contributing factor to the U.S. ranking, the study said. In 2005, the most recent year for which data are available, 12.4 percent of births in the United States were premature.
In every country, premature infants are less likely to survive than full-term infants. More than 540,000 children are born prematurely in the U.S. each year. Therefore, the number of premature births in the United States alone means U.S. statistics are more likely to compare poorly with other nations. While many factors, such as an increase in the number of Caesarean sections and an increase in multiple births due to in vitro fertilization, contribute to the large number of premature births, far too many occur because mothers lack basic needs.
In the United States many premature infants are born to mothers who have not had access to affordable health care throughout their pregnancy. The number could be cut significantly by ensuring affordable prenatal care and treating illnesses of expectant mothers, particularly non-Hispanic black, American Indian, Alaskan Native and Puerto Rican women, among whom infant mortality rates are highest. Educational programs that teach women about the dangers of drinking alcohol, smoking and using drugs while pregnant also have been shown to decrease these practices and also help prevent premature births. As the fight for the protection of the unborn continues, protecting the well-being of children born too soon, and into poverty and hardship, must also be a goal.
Term Limits in Nicaragua
After overturning term limits, Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega is now able to run for a third term in 2011. In mid-October Nicaragua's supreme court (six of whose justices are supporters of the president's Sandinista party) lifted a constitutional barrier that would have prevented such a step. The move resulted from a petition that Mr. Ortega and a group of over 100 mayors brought to the court. First elected president in 1984, he held office until his party lost in 1990, after which the opposition banned re-election through a clause in the 1995 constitution. Under this provision presidents are disqualified from running consecutively or serving more than two terms. The supreme court ruling permitting Mr. Ortega, who was elected anew in 2006, to run again is expected to stand.
Other controversial term-limit issues in Latin America concern presidents like Venezuela's populist Hugo Chávez, who seek to remain in power as long as they can win elections. Similarly, Bolivia's president and Chávez-ally, Evo Morales, won a referendum in January 2009 allowing him to run for another five-year term. And Ecuador's President Rafael Correa brought about constitutional changes that permit him to hold office for two more four-year terms, until 2017. In Colombia, álvaro Uribe may seek a third term after having gained a second.
In democratic societies, term limits serve a purpose. They diminish the potential for demagoguery and limit the opportunity to extend time in power for the ruler's sake rather than for the good of the people.


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I'm going to be on Larry Kudlow's syndicated radio show tomorrow morning at around 11:05 central time. (That leaves me just enough time to get home after teaching Sunday School, the Book of Ruth–amazingly enough to those who knew me when). The topic under discussion will be the election in Iraq. I can't improve on Larry's own piece on Real Clear Politics:
Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi both know that free-election democracy is the death knell of terrorism. They also know that the potential impact of free Iraqi elections on the rest of the region — including Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia — is incalculable. The Iraqi elections will reverberate throughout the entire Muslim world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and the whole South Asian tsunami zone.
Sophisticated policy observers know full well that rather than plotting a worldwide military invasion, Bush is constructing a statement of principles; that he is setting new standards and diplomatic benchmarks that will govern our foreign policy for decades to come.
Polling and reports on the ground in Iraq indicate there will be a blowout turnout for Sunday


text: "Modern Man" tells the story of one man's search for meaning. The man lives alone on a large estate. He cleans the pool, sweeps the tennis court, repairs lighting fixtures, and changes the trash. He gathers a collection of small rocks. He places them on a slate fragment and positions them around a lamppost. He knocks a greenhouse thermometer off its hook. He plays with a stray tennis ball. He stomps on a tangled garden hose. Next, the man ascends a large tree and stands on one of its perches. He raises his arms to the sky. He wraps a globe with duct tape. He caresses an orchid. He spends the night staring into glowing lampposts. He waters the garden. After that, the man puts both hands on a shovel and digs. He unearths a fragment of petrified wood. He studies the dirt-covered artifact. Finally, the man goes into his house. He mounts stairs and finds a wall of photographs. The man sees a picture of himself as a child. He removes it from the wall, wraps it in cloth, and buries it in a trunk. Subsequently, the man resumes work and play.


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Early Return
Edward finally caves in and decides to come back to Bella early, will he be excepted back with open arms? *This is my first story so I hope you enjoy it
CHAPTER 8:Forever is up!
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of the lovely and talented Stephenie Meyer.
1. Decision
Rating 4.5/5 Word Count 1343 Review this Chapter
"Damn it," I mumbled to myself. What was I doing?
I was in an old barn somewhere in Chile. It was abandoned so nobody would find me. It had been exactly six months since I left Forks and the love of my life. Why was I being so stupid?
It was another one of those times when I couldn't be around my family, I was useless. Whenever I was hunting the vile creature that was Victoria, I was useless. This was the stupidest thing I had ever done. Why did I leave?
To make her safe. I had to keep telling myself that, or I would give into the temptation. The temptation to go back to Forks, and her. Sometimes I didn't think her name. It made the pain so much worse. Sometimes it crept into my head and the thoughts were crippling. The memory of her scent, the color of her cheeks when she got embarrassed, and the warmth of her touch. It hurt so much to think about it.
So why was I putting myself in so much pain. Why didn't I just say 'The hell with it' and go back and beg for her forgiveness? But every time I thought about this, another thought occurred to me. What if she didn't want me anymore? What if she had moved on?
I pressed my fingers to my temples and tried to push that thought out of my head. That thought occurred often and was the one that kept me from her.
I had been back and forth between two decisions; stay away from her or give up and go back to her. This decision was the hardest decision of my life. On the one hand, I wanted her to be safe, but on the other I could not be apart from her. I craved her company.
She was my first and only love—the word girlfriend was not adequate enough to describe what she meant to me—and she felt the same about me. She made my life brilliant. Whenever I was with her, I felt whole, like I had found my missing half. Whenever I was away, even for a short amount of time, I was anxious and sometimes in physical pain. I was in pain right now, but that could be fixed so easily. And it would be fixed. I was not going to sit here and wallow anymore. I was going back.
At that exact second, my phone rang. I knew who it would be, and when I looked at Caller ID, my suspicions were confirmed.
"Hi, Alice," I said, knowing what this was about.
"You're going back!" she said. Not a question, a statement. She was jubilant. She always knew that I wasn't strong enough to stay away from Bella.
"Damn it, Alice, I just made up my mind and you already know! No one can keep anything from you," I growled.
"I could say the same thing about you. I'm just so excited! I have been waiting forever to be able to see Bella again. I always knew you would go back, even without a vision," she explained.
"Alice, how can you be so sure that she even wants me anymore?" I said, a little frustrated, "Never mind, don't answer that."
"Why are we still talking? You have to get back before she decides to do something really stupid! You know what a trouble magnet she is," Alice said, still ecstatic.
"Just promise me one thing, don't tell anyone that I am going back to Forks. I want to do it myself."
"Oh, Edward! You take all my fun away. How do you expect me to keep this bottled up?" she complained.
"Please Alice, let me tell them. It is my decision after all. If I don't call by tomorrow night, then you can tell them," I said.
"Okay, I guess. Just hurry up and get to Forks, I can't bear to see you unhappy anymore," she pleaded.
"Fine, I'll talk to you later."
"'Bye Edward, and good luck!"
"'Bye Alice," I said, and then I snapped my phone shut.
I called the airline and got a flight for 8:00 p.m.5:00 p.m., only three more hours until I was on the plane and on my way to see Bella again. that night. It was
Since I was going back, I could think her name, and it made me happy instead of putting me in pain.
For three hours I tried to think of how I was going to explain my behavior to Bella. There was no way to explain how foolish I was to leave her. There was no apology great enough to make up for what I had done. I knew that I had put her in an immense amount of pain. No amount of 'I'm sorry' would make up for what I had done. I tried not to think about this now. I had a whole plane ride to think over what to say, and how to get her trust back.
I glanced at my watch. 7:00 p.m. I decided to head to the airport. As I ran through the woods, it brought back a sense of déja vu. I remembered to first time that I had run with Bella. That first time that I had been able to be absolutely open to her. That day, was also the day I first kissed her. How I longed to be able to kiss her warm lips again. And soon, I would—I refused to think maybe because it just brought the pain that I struggled so hard to keep away. — I was only focusing on the positive right now.
I got to the airport ten minutes later, went through security, and got on the plane. Next to me, a girl of probably fifteen or sixteen was thinking about me.
He is really hot. Maybe I should ask him his name. Her thoughts were the usual.
Most people were too shy to talk to me, but she got up a little courage.
"Hi, I'm Lisa. What's your name?" she asked.
"My name's Edward," I responded without looking at her. I wasn't in the mood for conversation.
I love that name! she thought. "So where are you going?" she continued.
"I'm going to Washington to see my girlfriend," I said, hoping that would deter her from talking to me. I had a lot to think about.
"Oh," she said disappointed. Of course he has a girlfriend. Look at him, he's gorgeous! I'm so stupid.
After that, she stopped talking to me, and I shut my eyes to think. I thought about what I would say to Bella. I thought about what my family would say.
They would be happy for me, with one exception. Rosalie was impossible. She never believed that I really loved Bella as much as I said. She never thought that anyone's relationship could be like hers and Emmett's. No matter how many times I tried to tell her that I loved Bella, she never believed me. When I left Forks, it made her even more confident that she was right. I was about to prove her wrong.
Finally, the plane landed, and I had to run to get my connection. I was getting anxious. I was only five hours away from seeing Bella's beautiful face, hearing her voice, feeling the warmth of her touch.
I felt the corners of my mouth turn up into a smile. I hadn't smiled since the day of Bella's birthday.
When I thought of that day, my smile turned into a grimace. I tried not to think of that night. That night, my worst fears were realized, that I would be the one to hurt Bella. That was my springboard. When that happened, I did what I never thought I would be strong enough to do, I left.
Now I was going back, and I would do whatever it took to get Bella back. For the rest of the flight, I closed my eyes and pictured Bella's beautiful face.
- Author
- TwilightFanatic
- Rating
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- 13 Aug 07
- Updated
- 04 Jan 08
- Status
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How do we shepherd the flock in the search for economically healthy and socially just urban communities? What is the role of the local church in sustainable human development? Where do we find guidance for those facing unemployment and neighborhood displacement? Join us to explore how moral and economic clarity give direction in our mission to be true disciples, fostering effective charity, empowering our congregations and creating a context for urban flourishing.
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