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The bulky, shawl collared cardigan I am knitting from hand-dyed and hand-spun yarn by Susan Nadelson of Classic Warmth (and my spinning instructor) is just about done...yeah!! All I have to do is sew in the sleeves and that will be started tomorrow when I meet with Susan for a spinning/knitting lesson. I have never really mastered the art of sewing in sleeves...the last time I tried, I left big knots under the arm...enough to stop circulation when the wearer (my DH) lowered his arms :-( So for this one I need help because I want this sweater to be as perfect as I can make it. The yarn is incredible...warm and soft and classic..and I plan to wear this sweater forever. Even though it is May, the mornings and evenings are still quite cool enough to want to wear this long anticipated sweater. And the next one made with a different Nadelson yarn is ready to go on the needles. This sweater knit up very quickly on the size 10.5 needles. I will add another picture with the completed sweater modeled!
I am moving along on the pair of socks for DH being knitted from the yarn he dyed at our workshop at The Spinnery in Frenchtown and the alpaca shawl is about one-third completed. I always have at least three or more projects going at once. It is windy, chilly and partly rainy today...a perfect time for some knitting and tea...I think I with have some of Harney's East Frisian blend...a robust and malty blend.


text: atwater Photo Blog: Google, Castle Air Force Base, Weeds And Air Force One By Ezra David Romero • Jul 18, 2014 Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio Central California isn't necessarily known for advancing the world of technology, but Ezra David Romero reports that some are trying to change that. Merced County, a region know for milk and almonds, is working to attract high tech companies to fill what was once Castle Air Force Base in Atwater. Four Reasons Why Google Loves The San Joaquin Valley By Joe Moore • Mar 6, 2014 Google.com / YouTube It's around 150 miles from Silicon Valley to Fresno, but over the last few years, Mountain View-based Google has quietly been increasing its presence in the San Joaquin Valley. In fact, the region that's known for its raisins and almonds is now home to some of Google's top research and development projects. On Valley Edition: Thanksgivukkah; Craft Distillers; Sec. John Laird; Bakersfield Art Show By Joe Moore, Ezra David Romero & Rebecca Plevin • Nov 26, 2013 Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio This week on Valley Edition we explore the once in a lifetime experience of "Thanksgivukkah" –Thanksgiving and Hanukkah overlap this year and won't happen for another 70,000 years – through the culinary creations from the only Jewish Chef in Fresno. FM89 Reporter Rebecca Plevin reports. San Joaquin Valley Craft Distillers Ride National Trend By Ezra David Romero • Nov 26, 2013 Ezra David Romero / Valley Public Radio The craft distilling industry, much like the craft brewing industry, is taking off across the nation. The trend is on par in the San Joaquin Valley as well, a region where experts say there are more unauthorized distillers than legal – a sign that the region may see a boom in legal distilleries just like it has with craft beer. And when Governor Brown signed AB 933 in September, craft distilleries in California came out ahead with the newly gained ability to offer tastings. --- Science Museum At Former Castle Air Base to Close By Joe Moore • Aug 23, 2012 A science and technology museum at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater is closing its doors due to financial woes. The Merced Sun-Star reports that the non-profit foundation which operates the museum is planning to file for bankruptcy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Capacity Development and Transition
UNDPs Commitment to Capacity Development and Transition Capacity Development Assessment Capacity Development Planning Capacity Development Results Transition Planning Capacity Development web-based Toolkit May 2012
UNDP-Global Fund Partnership - 3 dimensions
Implementation Support UNDP serves as interim Principal Recipient (PR) in countries facing exceptional circumstances. Capacity Development While serving as interim PR, developing the capacity of one or several national entities to take over the PR role when they are ready and as soon as circumstances permit. 3. Policy Engagement Integrate human rights, gender, sexual diversity in GF programmes as part of UNDP's substantive engagement and mandate as UNAIDS co-sponsor
3. Capacity development support to Gov'ts, national CSOs expanded + smooth transitions
Transitions as PR in 4 countries, in another 10 process started 12 countries have formally approved costed Capacity Development Plans under implementation – 4 to be finalized early 2012 Change in UNDP approach to grant negotiations: CD must be funded out of grant Support to COs on capacity development from BDP/HIV Global Fund Team, in close cooperation with CDG CD toolkit and web 'app' in the works for early 2012
What is Capacity Development?
UNDP defines capacity development as; the process through which individuals, organizations, and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time. Based on this definition, some fundamental concepts of capacity development are: Multi-level: individual, institutional, and societal levels. Results-based: measurable capacity development improvements Change focus: requires managed change Sustainable: strengthened capacities must sustainable & adaptable. Ownership: owned by the target organisation and its stakeholders.
Capacity Development for Impeccable Grant Management
Structures and Programs aligned to Policy and Strategy Strong Leadership (MoH, CCM, CSOs) Oversight and Accountability Mechanisms (CCM, Internal Audit, user groups etc.) Clear Mandates, Functions, Roles and Responsibilities Strengthening (Country )Systems Results Based Management (RBM) Simplified Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) Manuals + Standard Templates and Documents + Guidance Checks and balances (spot checks, site visits etc) Software solutions (information management, reporting, procurement tracking etc.) Increasing compliance levels (targets, recognition, name and shame, sanctions) Setting Standards / Awareness Raising of Requirements Human Resource Management (mapping + attracting and retaining + incentives) Technical Assistance and Skills Training Accreditation / Certification (Procurement CIPs - Financial Management) Knowledge Management; best practice / fit; Lessons Learned; Case Studies Coaching, Mentoring and on the Job Training
CD for Grant Management -Critical Success Factors
Ownership – Endogenous Process Common Vision and Leadership (GF, Counterparts & UNDP) Capacity Development Results (measurable indicators) Systems + Inflexible / Prescriptive (FM & PSM) Flexible - Country Context Resources Coordination / Integration / Partnership Managing Change
Capacity Development Process
ENGAGE Analyze Stakeholders Confirm Institutional Stakeholders Define Capacity Development Team and Roles Plan and Manage Communications ASSESS Plan Scope Review Evidence Conduct assessment Verify Draft report Review PLAN Organize Review documentation Outline objectives Define indicators Identify interventions Prioritize/ Schedule Budget Draft plan report Move to implementation IMPLEMENT Prepare Confirm resourcing Confirm oversight Implement interventions Monitor Adapt EVALUATE Capture lessons learned Establish feed-back mechanisms Integrate in planning cycle
Capacity for What? There are five functional capacity areas required for National Disease Management Programs including Global Fund Principal Recipient (PR) roles: Programme Management – successfully direct the operations of an organisation to meet its objectives. Sub-recipient Management (Contract Management) – ensure effective oversight, management, and control of Sub-recipient activities to deliver planned results. Financial Management & Systems – plan, direct, and control financial resources to enable and influence the effective and efficient delivery of organisational objectives. Pharmaceutical & Health Product Management (Procurement and Supply Chain Management) – ensure the continuous and reliable availability of sufficient quantities of quality-assured, effective products and services to end-users, procured at the lowest possible prices in accordance with national & international laws. Monitoring & Evaluation – collecting, storing, analysing and transforming data into strategic information to be used by management to make decisions.
Scope of Program Management Capacities
Legal status: legally registered organisation; authority to enter into a grant agreement; etc. Management and organisation: effective programme implementation; support and commitment within the organisation; clear organisational leadership, accountability, and responsibilities; etc. Infrastructure and information systems: functional information technology systems for communications; capacity and staff for programmatic reporting; etc. Technical expertise: sufficient staff with requisite HIV, TB, Malaria, and health system strengthening expertise to implement and monitor the programme.
Scope of Sub-recipient Capacities
Sub-recipient selection: adequate procedures and criteria in place for transparent selection of sub-recipients; Sub-recipient capacity assessment: adequate plans, resources, staffing, and operational procedures to conduct sub-recipient capacity assessments; Sub-recipient management and oversight: effective sub-recipient agreements; procedures for sub-recipient planning, managing, monitoring, and reviewing; etc.
Scope of Financial Management Capacities
Organization of the financial management function: clearly defined accounting and finance organisational structures; etc. Budget system: robust procedures to create, review, and update budgets; authorized policies for expenses tracking; etc. Accounting system: ability to absorb planned increase in transactions; Chart of Accounts with necessary levels of detail to monitor expenditures; integration of accounting and financial systems; etc Treasury system: ability to absorb planned increased payment activity; appropriate controls over management of cash; adequate cash forecasting; etc Purchasing system (for non-health products): adequate processes, procedures, and oversight for procuring non-health products; Assets management system: adequate safeguards to protect assets; current fixed asset and inventory register; periodic physical inventories; Audit arrangements: sufficient external audit arrangements; effective internal audit arrangements, structure, staffing, independence, reporting, and plans.
Scope of Procurement and Supply Chain Management Capacities (1)
Management and coordination: adequate organisational structure, staffing, and management for procurement functions; etc Procurement policies and systems: adequate procurement policies and procedures; competitive, efficient, and transparent procurement processes; etc Intellectual Property Rights: membership in the World Trade Organisation; patent laws covering pharmaceuticals; etc Quality assurance systems and capacity: established national drug regulatory authority function; effective quality control; etc Product selection: appropriate responsibilities and procedures for product selection; etc Management information systems: effective systems to track stock levels and consumption data; etc Forecasting: effective responsibilities, systems, and procedures for forecasting; etc
Scope of Procurement and Supply Chain Management Capacities (2)
Receipt and storage: effective responsibilities, systems, and procedures for receipt and storage of goods; etc. Distribution: documented product distribution schedule; sufficient staff, vehicles, and storage capacity for distribution; etc. Rational drug use: national treatment guidelines in place and available where needed; etc. Other health products (non-pharmaceutical): adequate quality assurance procedures for non-durable products; etc.
Scope of Monitoring and Evaluation Capacities (1)
Indicators: clear and measurable indicators with baselines, targets, measurement methods, etc. M&E budget: comprehensive, adequate, and feasible budget; resource sources and gaps; M&E work plan: effective M&E plan with clearly defined activities, timelines, financial resource estimates, etc. M&E coordination: M&E management arrangements; effective M&E stakeholder and technical working groups; etc. M&E human resources: adequate M&E human resource staffing and skill levels; adequate structures, etc. M&E tools and guidelines: M&E guidelines and standard operating procedures; etc.
Scope of Monitoring and Evaluation Capacities (2)
Routine data collection, analysis and reporting: effective data collection, analysis and reporting processes, including data repository, backup system, etc. Data quality assurance and M&E related supportive supervision: feasible and comprehensive data quality assurance strategy; etc. Evaluation, operational research, surveys, surveillance, special studies: schedules for program evaluations, etc. Evaluation: adequate systems for independent evaluations etc. Information products, dissemination and use: clear information products and dissemination methods? Alignment with and contribution to national M&E system: M&E plan linked to national strategy; etc.
Capacity Assessment Tools
There are some tools that provide a framework for rapidly diagnosing (assessing, reviewing, etc.) The tools provides a structure to capture current and targeted capacity levels for each component within these five functional capacity areas, as well as evidence, needs, and recommendations. The tool should be adapted for each context. The results of this rapid capacity diagnosis exercise will provide an outline of the priority capacity development needs that can inform grant applications and capacity development actions.
Scoring of current and target levels of capacity
The scoring of capacity levels follows the Global Fund assessment scale as follows: C2 – capacity gaps pose major risks C1 – capacity gaps pose risks which cannot be addressed in 3-6 months B2 – capacity gaps pose some minor risks that must be completed prior to implementation B1 – Capacity gaps pose minor risks and must be strengthened concurrently with implementation A2 – capacities and systems fully satisfy minimum requirements A1 – capacities and systems exceed the minimum requirements
Example of Rapid Assessment Tool - Programming
Programme Management Capacity: Effectively plan, manage, monitor, and forecast PMU operations with clear roles & responsibilities and transparent decision-making Planning Current Capacity Target Capacity Target Date Existing Evidence Capacity Needs Recommendations Points to Consider: Currency and use of strategic and annual plans Tracking of actuals against plan Use of historical data analysis and forecasting data in planning Coordination and integration of Global Fund programme planning with national strategic planning for the three diseases Example Indicator Sustainability Plans for sustainable financing from funds, donors, and national resources
Capacity Development: Examples of Objectives
The following are examples of capacity development objectives were identified to address cross-SR capacity development needs. SR-specific capacity development needs are addressed through these objectives, as well as others appropriate to each SR. Cross-organisational programme management coordination and collaboration – ensure that management across organisations, and within the units of MOH, are coordinated with integrated plans and schedules in addressing common issues, actively managing and overseeing the capacity development plan, and in aligning implementation activities Strengthened Provincial management, accountability, & oversight – strengthen Provincial risk and results-management competencies, levels of accountability, and active oversight Improved Provincial and District performance and staff satisfaction – Improve results-based performance at the Province and District levels, and increase staff job satisfaction through performance metrics, clear roles and responsibilities, non-financial incentives, and surveys Cross-organisational M&E coordination and collaboration – coordination and collaboration across SRs and other relevant partners with regard to active management and oversight of M&E initiatives Comprehensive, accurate, and timely data capture and reporting from District and Provincial levels – provide comprehensive, accurately, and timely M&E data capture and reporting, including performance metrics, improved analytics, integrated databases, and knowledge platforms
Capacity Development Plan
Defining appropriate indicators: are key to ensuring success in capacity development interventions. The number of indicators should be as few as possible, easily measurable, SMART, and should consider qualitative and quantitative, process and output/outcome indicators, as well as those related to performance and behavioural aspects. Identifying short-term objectives: to build confidence, experience, and demonstrate results and value, it is important to schedule and plan for short-term objectives in the capacity development plan Coordinating with existing strategies and plans: capacity development plans should not stand alone, but should be developed with knowledge of, and integrated with existing national strategies and plans. Transitioning towards implementation: a plan is only of use if it is implemented; and an important consideration of capacity development planning is to ensure on-going ownership and responsibility. Considering change proponents and resisters: there will be supporters and adversaries; the objective should be to engage both parties in a joint effort to plan and implement change. Consider transition: in the context of a Global Fund financed programme, while defining the plan, identify possible milestones for transition of the PR role from UNDP to the CCM-nominated national entity. Define realistic schedules and timelines: consideration should be given to the time required to review and approve the capacity development plan. In addition, the scheduling of funding for the plan may take time, and for Global Fund financing, will need to sync with the timing of grant funding.
Implementation Prepare for implementation: confirm implementation arrangements including plan and schedule, communications and knowledge sharing, results and indicators, management roles, and responsibilities. Ensure availability of resources: clarify financial and human resource levels and scheduling required for the plan. Confirm capacity development oversight: those responsible are identified and available to oversee the implementation, and monitor indicators and progress. From a Global Fund perspective this includes the CCM and stakeholder working groups. The LFA can support in monitoring financial and programmatic deliveries on behalf of the Global Fund Secretariat. Implement the capacity development plan: manage inputs and resources to execute programme interventions. Conduct regular monitoring: ensure regular monitoring of activities and reporting to management and oversight groups. Adapt the plan and alter course: adjust the programme of work as necessary during implementation to more effectively and efficiently achieve results. Evaluate transition indicators and opportunities: in the case of Global Fund programmes, during implementation monitoring and management reviews, measure transition indicators and consider appropriate transition milestones.
Potential Scope for Transition Process
Confirm the timing of transition planning: transition planning should be at the earliest opportunity and closely linked to capacity development planning Organize the transition planning process: confirm the approach for planning, including key responsibilities, scheduling etc. Managing transition: transition is owned both by the prospective PR(s), and by UNDP; each organization will need effective management arrangements to jointly control and coordinate transition activities. Identify milestone indicators, transition scheduling, and risks: based on documents and processes including the CD plan and scheduling of Global Fund grants, identify milestone indicators for transition, scheduling and risk management. Develop an estimated budget: detail budget requirements for transitioning functions. Draft the transition plan report: document elements of transition, management arrangements and responsibilities, and the budget. Conduct integrated reviews: review the transition plan and budgets with senior management, functional managers, and stakeholders to finalize, approve, and gain support. Move toward implementation: confirm approach, responsibilities, and funding required to initiate and implement the transition plan.
CD and Transition - Lessons Learnt
Capacity Development and Transition Plans must be integral part of the grant from the get-go – with adequate budget allocated MoH leadership and ownership, with support from strong CCM Multi-partner engagement, UNDP cannot do it alone Co-PR transition arrangement (UNDP and MoH) before full hand-over Strengthening systems, not just training, and broader focus than just capacity to implement GF grants Important focus on systems for financial management and risk mitigation Early 'selection' of national PR Transition is a longer term objective in some countries
Capacity Development Toolkit: To support national entities in implementation of national responses to HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria
Features of Capacity Development "Toolkit"
More systematic approach to CD and Transition Functional/Operational Capacities: Programme management; Sub-Recipient Management; Financial Management; Procurement & Supply Chain Management; M&E Targets Government entities and NGOs Based country experiences – especially Zambia, Zimbabwe & Haiti Strengthens systems and procedures – not just training Indicators to track progress and results Web-Based, makes it accessible & adaptable to country context
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[I can't believe I'm saying "Canon in the 'It is not easy to explain, she said'" Overwatch AU, but, well, this is the fourth story in this set, so, I guess it's an actual second AU now. AO3 link.]
[It is helpful to know that Widowmaker (in canon, and here) has a tattoo on her arm which incorporates the French word for "nightmare."]
It is not easy to imagine, thought the Widowmaker, propped up a little on pillows but between her two lovers, Lena, Tracer, sprawled along her right side, hands and arms jumbled about everywhere, like always, and Emily, Kestrel, on her left, arranged so neatly, even in sleep, even halfway through the night, even after turning over a few times, always tucked back in like the little hawk, her namesake in battle. Not even when it is real and in front of me.
She took one of her long, slow, deep breaths, and felt her heart beating, even more slowly than usual, so calm, so quiet, so at rest.
Were Gérard and Amélie like this? she wondered. It seemed impossible. Not just because that was only two, and this was three, and therefore obviously so much better, and not just because they were human, baseline human, with childhoods, and growing up, and stumbling about blindly until they figured how to make a life - though that last part, she finally understood, at least, a little - but because this, this perfection, it, too, seemed so impossible, so to conceive of it happening twice? Ludicrous. Foolish girl, she smiled to herself, it could not have been so... this.
It had taken some time to come up with a bed that the three of them could share. Widowmaker's low body temperature meant she needed similarly lower temperatures for real comfort, particularly in sleep, and both her lovers were so very warm. It'd been Angela's idea, a mattress made of medical thermal control columns, temperature regulated, sensing who lay where, and adjusting, automatically.
The doctor had got a paper out of it - modified to discuss burn victims and others with particularly sensitive skin - and had done fairly well from the patent rights. But Widowmaker didn't care about that. Widowmaker cared that she could sleep with her lovers whenever she wanted to, and whenever they wanted her to, and it would just work.
She breathed in the scent of her brown-haired love, the teleporter, nuzzling down a little into that silly, tossed hair. Unimaginably wonderful. She shifted just a little, carefully, and did the same of her red-haired love, the flying officer, and the scent was so very different and yet so much the same. So wonderful.
And softly, so softly, her breath caught, and water pooled in her eyes, and she sniffed, not wanting to, but she still did, and she tried to stop herself, to stop the tears, but that just made her laugh, just a little, and trying to stop that, too, made more of all it it happen.
Emily awoke, blinking, but lay still except to look up towards the sniffling. "Sweet? What... are you crying?"
"No," whispered Widowmaker. "Yes."
"Oh, love, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Go back to sleep." She laughed a little more, shaking again, and from Lena came a little "mmf?" and she blinked those big brown eyes that Widowmaker could see so clearly even in the low light.
"You too. Go back to sleep."
"Wuzzit?" said Lena, awake enough now to attempt words, but still, at least half asleep.
"But what's wrong?"
"Nothing," sniffed Widowmaker. "Nothing. Nothing." She leaned over and kissed the half-asleep Lena on top of her head. "Everything is wonderful," and then did the same for Emily.
"Why're you crying?" asked Lena.
"I am... so happy," said the blue assassin, half-sobbing, smiling, confused, but not caring. "I..."
She stopped, and her eyes opened wide.
"I found it," she whispered.
"What?" asked Emily, reaching up to run her fingers through Widowmaker's hair.
"Yeah, love - what?" asked Lena, reaching up to do the same from the other side. Her hand met Emily's, and she smiled, as their fingers intertwined.
"Perfection." She brought her two lovers tightly against her, laughing, crying, all at the same time, the emotions, they are too much she thought, gasping, but that is also perfect. "This perfection."
Lena blinked. "You mean... like before? At the beginning, when you were made? But... here, now? ... with us?"
Widowmaker nodded, not being able to put it into better words. "Everything is so beautiful."
"Oh my god."
Emily chuckled. "You're beautiful too, you know that, right?"
"Love, no, she means it. Losing this is why she left Talon."
"Yes," whispered the spider.
Oh. Emily hadn't been there when the assassin had told the story, but she remembered it, and how it affected Lena. "And now you've got it back?" she asked.
"Yes," nodded the Widowmaker. "It is... different. But better." She sniffled. "Everything is so beautiful."
"Is any part of this bad?" asked Emily, a little worried, a little unsure, a little amazed. The assassin's body always carried tension, tension she could feel in her muscles, feel almost in her skin. And she did not feel it. It was... gone.
"No," breathed the Widowmaker. "Oh no, oh, oh no. It is wonderful. I am so happy."
"You sure?" asked Lena.
"Completely sure?" asked Emily.
"Good," said Lena, as the three snuggled back in together, and the three of them slowly drifted back to sleep.
What would my makers think of me now? wondered the spider, as she slid back towards her dreams, laughing, to herself, just a little. And then when she did sleep, she slept smiling, finding her dreams new, and happy, and not unlike her life now, found, new, and happy.
She would need to change her tattoo. No more nightmares. None. At least, not, for now.
Also posted to ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん; comments at Dreamwidth. Please comment there.


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According to Variety, Robert De Niro will star in Rule Number Three for Fox 2000 with director Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire, The X-Files) also considering the project. The action yarn, scripted by Robert Kuhn, reportedly "mixes drama and comedy" and "concerns an arrogant firearms tycoon who attempts to bully a seemingly average guy; the latter turns out to be an accomplished assassin who decides to give the gun guy a serious lesson in humility." Rule Number Three is expected to go before cameras next year.
In related news, columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith report that De Niro will co-star opposite Tyrese (The Fast and The Furious 2) in a thriller called Extortion. Tyrese will also produce the Universal-based project, which is expected to shoot in 2003. Tyrese wouldn't divulge any plot details.
De Niro next appears onscreen in this weekend's Analyze That, and is expected to co-star in the highly anticipated sequel, Meet the Fockers. He will also star opposite and direct Leonardo DiCaprio in Universal's espionage drama, The Good Shepherd. He's also attached to star in the true crime tale Criminal Minded (p.k.a. Final Confession).


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Greeley math whiz cracks old equation
April 14, 2005
For more than a year, Karl Mahlburg chipped away at a math problem that couldn't be solved — until he solved it.
Mahlburg, a 1997 graduate of Greeley Central High School, gained national attention recently for completing what could be the final stage of one of the world's oldest, most difficult problems. He worked tirelessly at the University of Wisconsin-Madison scribbling pages of tedious calculations on the way to his discovery.
The basis of the problem is relatively simple. Legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan discovered a pattern in the way numbers can be separated into the sums of smaller numbers, called partitions. For example, the number four has five partitions: 1+1+1+1, 2+1+1, 3+1, 2+2 and 4. Ramanujan found every fifth whole number, starting with four, has a number of partitions divisible by five. This pattern is called a congruence. Ramanujan also found every seventh whole number, starting with 5, had a number of partitions divisible by 7, and every 11th whole number, starting with 6, had a number of partitions divisible by 11. But Ramanujan couldn't figure out how to extend the pattern to any numbers beyond 5, 7 and 11.
Born in India, Ramanujan died in 1920 at age 32. He left behind the early work of modern number theory, worn notebooks of handwritten calculations and the beginning of a problem that would stump some of the world's greatest mathematical minds.
In 1944, famous physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson came up with the theory of a crank, a tool that could explain Ramanujan's three congruences. Two more powerhouse mathematicians, George Andrews and Frank Garvan, proved the crank existed in the 1980s.
Mahlburg was still a toddler. His parents, William and Rebecca, moved their family to Greeley when Mahlburg was 5 years old. He attended Cameron Elementary School, then Mapelwood Middle School before enrolling at Central. His parents have since moved to St. Joseph, Mo.
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While at Maplewood, Mahlburg rode his bike to Central for math classes. He finished with Central's math classes by the time he was a sophomore and began taking more at the University of Northern Colorado. He was brilliant and determined to the point of being stubborn.
Central cross country coach Woody Wilson remembered when Mahlburg tried out for the team.
"As a sophomore he came out for me, and he was just horrible," Wilson said.
He ran all summer and made varsity as a junior. He ran more than 400 miles the next summer and was the team's best runner as a senior. Wilson tried to get him to ease up, but Mahlburg never rested.
"He only understood one thing, and that was go full blow," Wilson said.
Mahlburg seized hold of Dyson's theory, and he was back in his 400-mile mind set. His professor at UW-Madison, Ken Ono, discovered in 2000 there are congruences for all larger prime numbers, not just 5, 7 and 11. Mahlburg went to work trying to figure out if the crank applied to all congruences. He worked 8, 10 and sometimes 12 hours a day calculating massive sets of numbers. At age 25, still in graduate school, Mahlburg found the proof that had eluded the best in the field.
"It's fun a lot of the time. It's exciting, rewarding — just fun to think about," he said. "It can also be a compulsion, a need, a desire to finish."
He'll refine his work in the coming months, then enjoy the accomplishment. But he knows that won't last. Somewhere there is another impossible problem.


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Tribune Co. sale and bankruptcy chronology
Use the left and right arrow keys or previous and next buttons to navigate the timeline. Related Chicago Tribune articles, if available, can be accessed through the corresponding timeline entry. You can sort entries by checking and unchecking categories.Copyright © 2018, The Baltimore Sun


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On the brink of its transition into winter, New England is transformed by the phenomenon known as an Indian summer. For a brief time towards the end of October, temperatures climb to unseasonable highs. This balmy period entices visitors outdoors, as bursts of colour appear across New England's forests, mountains and parks. Here is a guide to the best routes to drive through and what to look out for along the way.
Beautiful Boston
The defining aspect of New England's Indian summer is the brightly hued foliage, covering the natural landscape in shades ranging from crimson to warm yellow. Boston is a popular place to begin a tour of this natural wonder, and visitors can start their journey from any one of our three Engel & Völkers shops in the city. From there drive north up the coast towards Maine, past picturesque seaside villages and fishing harbours.
Where wood meets water
Stop off in Kennebunkport, one of Maine's most charming coastal towns, to sample the state's world-famous lobster. Fine dining restaurants looking out onto the ocean serve fresh, locally caught seafood. The views are truly remarkable, with the rustic red leaves of the trees creating a sharp contrast with the deep blue of the Atlantic. You could also take the opportunity to enjoy a traditional horse-drawn carriage ride through the city, travelling past its historic mansions.
Heading inland will take you along Maine's Lakes Region, an ideal stopping point for viewing the Indian summer foliage as the woods meet the water. Then continue into New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest; standing at nearly 2000m high, Mount Washington has unforgettable panoramas over the region and forest, lit up by an array of coppers and yellows. Franconia Notch State Park lies at the centre of the forest, and is home to the waterfalls and rapids of Flume Gorge.
Woodstock, Baby!
As you wind south through the densely wooded landscape of Vermont, visit the Engels & Völkers shop in Woodstock, the archetypal New England town. You can taste two of the state's best-known exports at Sugarbush Farm, which produces 14 different varieties of cheeses and Pure Vermont Maple Syrup, sourced from its 7000 trees.
Nature in Conneticut
Continue your journey further down the region to Connecticut, characterised by delightful villages, fertile vineyards and apple orchards, as well as abundant crops of pumpkins at this time of year. Connecticut has several forests and parks, and taking a detour through them towards Massachusetts will give you the chance to take a final look at the vivid foliage. Our expert agents at Engel & Völkers West Hartford can help you explore the properties available in this desirable region.
A drive out onto Massachusetts' Cape Cod peninsula is the perfect ending to an Indian summer tour. The clement weather and quiet atmosphere makes it ideal for taking leisurely walks across deserted beaches. There are also several food festivals to indulge at, including the Wellfleet OysterFest and the Milestone Cranberry Festival.
If you are interested in purchasing a luxury property in New England, contact Engel & Völkers today. With a wide range of high-end homes available, located in some of the area's most exclusive neighbourhoods, our knowledgeable advisors are well placed to assist you in your search.


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BOYNE CITY -- Students in Boyne City's public schools discovered three new faces this year.
Boyne City schools hired three new teachers this year, one full-time and two part-time. Lara VanHorn is the new middle school art teacher, Alise Murphy is the new middle school Spanish teacher and Brandi Polzin will teach math at Boyne Valley Alternative High School.
VanHorn taught the last six years at Concord Academy of Petoskey, but wanted a part-time position this year following the birth of her new baby. She originally is from West Branch, but now lives in Boyne City. She graduated from Saginaw Valley State University and also earned a master's degree from Central Michigan University.
Art education for middle school students in a challenge she's eager for, VanHorn said.
"I would like to boost their self-confidence in art and teach them anyone can do art. You just have to find your medium," she said.
VanHorn also said she wants to use more technology-driven art forms in her classroom, such as filmmaking and digital photography.
Just down the hall is where Murphy now delves into her first part-time teaching job.
"My high school Spanish teacher inspired me and I fell in love with the language," Murphy said.
It also helps that Murphy's family history includes both Mexican and Spanish heritage, she said.
It's good for the younger students to develop foreign language skills because it can help them later in life, Murphy said.
"When you're younger you absorb a new language easier," she said. "Spanish is becoming our second language here in the United States and having the ability to communicate with other people is an advantage. It can open a lot of doors."
Murphy is from Harbor Springs and graduated from Grand Valley State University.
Finally, Polzin landed the full-time math job at Boyne Valley Alternative High School in Boyne Falls. This is her second teaching job after she graduated from Alma College.
Polzin said she formerly taught at a boarding school in Wisconsin.
"I've always worked with kids and I love working with kids. I love learning, so it's a perfect profession," she said.
Polzin is excited to provide more mathematics confidence among her students.
"These kids are very motivated to get high school done," she said.
Polzin originally is from Detroit, but now lives in Elk Rapids where she also coaches middle school volleyball.


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Every month I receive a 3-card Animal Medicine reading from my friend Laura at Wild Goose Guidance. Laura uses the metaphor of animal lore to bring attention the inherent wisdom of the soul, to "help with the stuck places" as she puts it. I maintain a healthy skepticism of the pseudo-scientific, but I am not one to turn up my nose at the use of mystical metaphor. For many years in my teens and young-adulthood, the Christian narrative of Jesus was a metaphor in which I sought refuge. It is only when one's belief in a particular narrative shifts from helpful-perspective to only-perspective that it becomes dangerous. Thus, the space where wonder meets critical thinking is where I attempt to reside.
When I open my heart to these animal medicine readings every month, I do so with the full understanding that I am using the lens of these metaphors as an aid to help me unearth and flesh-out (and then to bring my conscious attention to) that wisdom which already resides within me. I pay cash money for this each month, an act that feels nearly as sacred as the readings themselves. In doing so I am making a tangible statement of self-care: my inner landscape is worth tending to. I think nothing of paying a monthly fee for a reasonably priced gym membership. Is not the exercise of following my own wonder into the depths of my being and there discovering the universal wisdom of my soul worth at least as much?
This winter, I chose a reading called Heartwood. In response to the the reading I made an animal totem collage. The deeper meaning of the collage was unclear to me at first: something about integrating my ability to observe objectively (the world around me, the sensations of my body, the emotions that arise) with the actual felt-sense of these experiences. To watch while on the ground, feet aflame. To feel and see at once.
I have spent a great deal of time and attention developing these skills separately. I am *such* a good feeler, but I only feel behind closed doors, alone, in the safety of my own home. I'm such a good manager of All The Things, but when I step into that role, I leave my feelings at the door. Integrating these aspects of myself seemed too daunting a task to tackle head-on, so I tucked the collage behind my desk and got on with my life, trusting that the necessary emergence would take place naturally.
Meanwhile, I developed another image in my mind to which I affixed my inward journey. This image was blue. A blue room? Somewhere warm and breezy but also crowded and foreign. And because this somewhere felt so unknowable to me, "…as if the passage from one to another involved not a journey but a change in elements" (Italo Calvino, Invisible cities), I made a playlist to take me there.
When I imagine myself in this city of spaciousness (location being here a placeholder for an inner sensation I can only as of yet imagine) I feel connected to a deep love of adventure, a kind of freedom I sometimes felt during frenetic irresponsibility of my early twenties backpacking around eastern and western Europe. This season of my life was rich in adventure but also with upheaval, heartbreak, and violence – with the inability identify where I ended and others began; marked irreversibly by my continuous and severe inability to utter the word 'no' and thus create any boundaries around my self, my body, my space.
The adventure of my season in Wallowa County is one of stability and safety, both deeply unfamiliar experiences to me growing up and thus things I believed did not deserve, didn't know how to create, and was too frightened to reside in anyway. What freedom there is in these states! These four walls, these three meals, these precious routines have given me the space to settle into my own skin and befriend the darker passageways of my own mind.
Perhaps it is possible to live in a state of internal spaciousness and possibility, to honor that wildness and hunger for life, without losing connection to the adulting that supports it: the job, the groceries, the routine. As artist and author May Sarton writes in her diary:
"…however terrible the storms may be, if one's life is sufficiently stable and fruitful, one is helped to withstand their devastating aftereffects. For most people their job does this – provides a saving routine in time of stress. I have to create my own to survive. And now it is time to fetch the mail and get the car started. -Journal of Solitude"
The golden rule, in my view, is not a mandate but a statement of observation: you do, you will, you can only love your neighbor as much (or as little) as you love yourself. It is my belief that the action of love in this context is simply to befriend. To love yourself is to begin to recognize your own sensations as beloved messengers of information, there to tell you what you need, prefer, desire, dislike. Thus, my relationship to the narrative of Jesus eventually evolved into something I value far more than a savior or mentor or teacher. Jesus, to me, is simply a fellow explorer, someone who courageously plumbed the depths of the experience of being fully alive as a human on this earth.
I recently hung a photo above my bed, ripped in careless delight from the back of a waiting room magazine. It's the blue room in Portugal! It's the passageway into my own wonder. I love that it turned out to be a street and not a room, not a destination but a passage to more discovery.
Only after I hung it up did I notice the striking similarity to the blue belt in the original collage, which I felt at the time, to be representative of my body: a self-contained unit that encloses my true home, my felt-sense. Synchronicity is ever the answer to following the call of the heart. That which we dub 'spiritual' or magical, then, is simply that instinct we follow before there are words to explain. It's intuition. It's the blue road of your own wonder. It precedes science but does not ever preclude it.


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One does not simply wake up one morning and decide to walk up Mt. Kilimanjaro. Unless you're one of the Tanzanian porters who do it for a living, it takes a months of training beforehand and a tremendous amount of physical strength, inner strength and sheer willpower to summit the 19,341-foot peak in Tanzania — the highest peak in Africa.
And even if you've put in all the necessary work to get in climbing shape, there's no guarantee you'll be ready for what the mountain throws at you. Approximately 35,000 people attempt to summit Kilimanjaro every year, but only about half make it to the top.
There's altitude sickness to contend with along with ever-declining temperatures as you near the top, winds that seem to come out of nowhere and gnarly blisters, bruises and lost toenails. And don't forget the utter physical and mental exhaustion that comes from hiking 30 to 45 miles (depending on your route) straight up a mountain for six to 10 days.
We spoke with the women of #KiliClimb2016 to find out what it really takes to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro — both physically and mentally — and find out whether they would do it again.
The Birth of #KiliClimb2016
In September 2016, a group of 17 inspiring women (and their guide, Discovery Channel host Jeff Evan) dared to summit this mountain — the highest freestanding mountain in the world.
Their goal? To empower themselves — and women everywhere — to face challenges together and break down barriers. Their core philosophy was, "Together we are stronger than we could ever be apart, and we are stronger than whatever is in our way."
The group started with Evans, Heather Thomson (a name you may be familiar with if you're a "Real Housewives of New York" fan) and Remembrance "Memmy" Staber (a certified personal trainer and ambassador for the nonprofit organization No Barriers), who has been friends with Thomson since fifth grade.
"We put the idea of the climb out to the world through the internet and social platforms to announce we were doing it and to open applications to build our dynamic team," Thomson says. Some of their other friends joined in, while others were strangers "brought together through a call to adventure and an opportunity to instigate change, ideas and new paths individually and as a team."
The final group also included Yvonne Heib (a retired military veteran), Angie Shireman (a mastectomy and brain surgery survivor), Amilya Antonetti (entrepreneur and CEO), Edie Magnus (a journalist and professor at Mercy College) and 11 other women from a variety of backgrounds.
"During training I learned a lot about myself. I found that I could push my body and my mind far beyond any limits or beliefs I had once thought. Having several hours of solitude in the mountains not only prepared my body, but also brought me closer to my true purpose for this climb. I was climbing to LET GO and to begin again." — Angie Shireman, climber and owner of Good Vibe Tribe Jewelry
Prepping for the Climb of a Lifetime
Though the climb itself lasted seven days, most of the climbers started training four to five months ahead of time. And, as you might guess, training involved a lot of hiking.
"I started four months out, and I trained by hiking five days a week," says Staber. Her hikes ranged from short outings of three to five miles to longer ones of eight to 10 miles — all while wearing her 15-pound pack.
Many of the women also tackled some of Colorado's 14ers to prep for climbing at altitude. For those unfamiliar with mountaineering lingo, that's any mountain higher than 14,000 feet in elevation. And in the U.S., there's no place with more 14ers than Colorado.
"At least once a week, I climbed a 14er," says climber Ellie Weihenmayer of Golden, Colorado, who, in addition to the hikes, worked out two hours every day (sometimes at 6 a.m. or 10 p.m.).
"These climbs were the perfect replication of the days I'd find on Kilimanjaro where at the top I'd say, 'Ok. That climb was certainly tough enough.'" Weihenmayer had previously attempted to summit Kilimanjaro, but tapped out before reaching the top. So this time around she was even more determined.
But, just as with any physically demanding endeavor, it was vital that the climbers' training revolved around functional movements. "It was about training my entire body and then preparing it to be able to lift itself and push up on rocks," says Thomson.
So her trainer, Will Torres, had her focus on exercises like step-ups, box jumps and weighted walking lunges. The focus was on full-body strength training, with a special emphasis on core work, which meant doing exercises like Turkish get-ups, weighted butterfly sit-ups and lots of squats.
"We perfected full-body strength training and really owning the core," Thomson says. "I perfected the movements before I added weight, and then I added weight with perfect movements. That made all the difference."
"Kilimanjaro places an importance on your workouts like no other. The harder you work, the more fun you'll have on the mountain. But what I found after months of working out; the fun really starts when you simply say yes." —Ellie Weihenmayer, second-time Kilimanjaro climber
"Kilimanjaro is not to be taken lightly. You are miles and miles away, high up and away from civilization. And the people you choose to lead you to Africa's roof must know what they are doing." —Heather Thomson, climber and Real Housewife of New York
What Happened on the Mountain
With the exception of summit day, the women hiked about seven hours each day. "Pole, pole (pronounced pol-ay, pol-ay; it means 'slowly, slowly' in Swahili) was the pace," says Thomson. She noted that going too quickly increased your risk of some of the more severe side effects of altitude sickness and burning out early.
Every morning the team woke up early after not much sleep. "You leave your tent dressed with all your gear packed and your day pack prepped, water bladders filled, go get some morning grub and set out for the day's journey," Thomson recalls.
Each climber's day pack could weigh no more 25 pounds (not that you'd want to carry more than that anyway). They also each packed a second bag of up to 35 pounds that was carried by Tanzanian porters (it really does take a village to summit Kilimanjaro).
The porters broke down camp every morning (and passed the climbers en route) with the entire camp and the bags on their backs and on their heads, moving ahead to prepare for lunch break, and then on to rest camp that night, Thomson says.
Summit day, however, was completely different. "That was the hardest day of all because you're at your highest altitude," Thomson says. "It's freezing. The wind is whipping. You have no oxygen, and you don't sleep that night really at all…. There's a feeling like you're not yourself, you're not in touch with your own body."
The team set out at 1 a.m. in the pitch dark and freezing cold. And then they hiked, all too aware that they had a 17-hour day of hiking ahead of them. "You start up that mountain with headlights on the bands around your head," Thomson says.
"It's like you're watching a line of lights go up the hill. That's what you see. There's other expeditions ahead of you, and there's expeditions behind you. You've just got to keep moving. Someone said what it was: It was almost like you're walking toward hell."
At one point, acclaimed photographer Marion Kaufer passed out from exhaustion. "She was working so hard at climbing and lugging that big camera of hers, moving ahead and falling behind to get the shot, and in the thin air over 16,000 feet, she passed out," says Thomson. Fortunately, Evans came to her rescue and ensured that she made it off the mountain safely. "He saved her life."
Once the sun rose, the climbers got a bit of relief. However, most of them still wouldn't reach the summit for a few more hours. Between 9:30 and 11 a.m. on September 25, 16 of the 18 women (plus Evan and their videographer) completed their quest and reached the top of Kilimanjaro.
"It's really super powerful. You feel invincible," Thomson says of reaching the top. "You feel a sense of euphoria, like you can kind of do anything."
"But here's the kicker," she continues. "You summit. You make the top…. Now you've got to go back down. You have a solid eight-hour day still ahead of you."
That's right: What goes up must come down. And there's no moving sidewalk to make things easier. And definitely no Uber. Thomson recalls the moment when one of the climbers, Edie Magnus, announced to Evans, that she was done. Her knees couldn't take anymore, so she was going to walk to a nearby village and call a cab.
"Totally not in reality of what was happening until Jeff has the unbelievable skill set to knock her into reality," Thomson says. "He's says, 'There are three ways off Kili: You walk off, you can get carried off or you can call a chopper for a nice chunk of change….' And what does she do? She walked down the mountain!"
So what's next? The world is their oyster. "Now that we did it, I'm hungry for that high again, that adrenaline rush," says Thomson. "So now I have to figure out the next one."
To learn more about #kiliclimb2016 go to KiliClimb2016.com.


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Zaytoun - Review
Review by Rob Carnevale
ISRAELI filmmaker Eran Riklis has proved a past master at examining complicated political stories through a very human eye.
And just as he did with Lemon Tree, he re-considers the Israel-Palestine conflict in an intelligent, even thought-provoking fashion with Zaytoun.
On this occasion, events take place against the backdrop of war-ravaged Beirut in 1982 as a newly orphaned teenager, Fahed (Abdallah El Akal) comes to forge an unlikely friendship with a freshly captured Israeli pilot, Yoni (Stephen Dorff).
At first, they despise each other but as each sees the other's humanity their subsequent journey, in the form of a road movie that takes Fahed beyond the Israeli border in order to plant a tree in his father's memory, changes both of them.
Riklis has candidly stated that Zaytoun (the Israeli term for olive) is not a banner film for either side. Rather, it's a people story that's more about hope than anything else.
As such, there is an optimism to the story that makes it all the more likeable even if elements of Nader Rizq's script occasionally feel contrived to get this unlikely duo to their destination.
Riklis, for his part, succeeds in capturing the volatility and instability of life in Beirut, where bombs can shatter lives at any minute, while juxtaposing it with beautiful shots of the region's stunning landscapes. It's a pertinent reminder of war's toll on the environment.
The director also draws strong performances from his two leads. Dorff impresses, complete with a convincing accent, but El Akal is the big revelation, displaying a maturity beyond his years as a formerly rebellious teenager who is forced both to take a greater responsibility for his actions as well as re-evaluate his world view.
The film, for its part, doesn't shy away from the complexity of the emotions at play, or the politics either.
Zaytoun is therefore another quietly impressive film from an always interesting director.
Certificate: 15
Running time: 107mins
UK Release Date: December 26, 2012


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Grade 3 Art Lesson Plan for:
The Book That Zack Wrote
by Ethan Long
Lesson plan created by Veronica Giles, Art Teacher
Robeson Elementary Center, Birdsboro, PA
People Through Out Time all over the World People Create Art to Convey Stories
Strand 1 Through out time and all over the world people create stories that are illustrated.
National Core C.C.S.S.
Arts Standards RL-1,2,3,4,7, VA:Cr2.1.1a, VA:Cr1.2.1a, RI- 1,2,3,4,6,7, VA:Cr3.1.1a, VA:Pr5.1.1a, RF- 1a,3f, VA:Re7.1.1a, VA:Re7.2.1a, SL- 2,3,4,5, VA:Cn1.1.1a
Students will create their own cartoon character artwork in the style of The Book That Zack Wrote by Ethan Long. Students develop a character story in collaboration with our Librarian.
Activation: Students will see the images of books written and illustrated by Ethan Long on the Smart Board. The teacher will highlight The Book That Zack Wrote. The teacher will show the book and start to read the cover and inside cover pages then ask individual students to read the book aloud with ALL students reading the words that are onomatopoeias.
Lesson Objectives:
Art Focus:
• Students will see text in book format and relate text to illustrations
• Students will compare the illustrators' style from various books illustrated
• Students will create and develop their own character and write about their cartoon image
• Students will see how art can convey a personal message through cartoons
• Students will analyze how different lines are used in illustrations
CCSS Focus:
• Students will have fiction read to them in a read aloud format
• Students will relate to text
• Students will see how art and illustrated books are related
• Students will see a connection between Art and writing in the librar
Explore the Artist Images:
Studio Time
Class 1: Students are introduced to Ethan Long's books through his website on the Smart board. The teacher will point out The Book That Zack Wrote. The teacher will show the book and start to read the cover and inside cover pages then ask individual students to read the book aloud with ALL students reading the words that are onomatopoeias. (The Liberian will also show the book to students and discuss how the characters were developed. See Librarian's Lesson.) The Art teacher supplies the Librarian with the correct size paper for students to use on their good copy of their character development. Students see a demonstration of how to draw a cartoon. A discussion of how some features of the character are exaggerated to create the most successful cartoons. Also discussed are how each line of text helps describe a graphic cartoon composition on the each page of the book. The Librarian and Art teacher will discuss how the words and the images go together. Once the students draw their own character on their choice of colored paper they outline it with black Sharpie and start using color pencils to add flat color to their cartoons.
Class 2: Students will be reminded of Ethan Long's cartoons by seeing one of his videos. You could add a site or title of video. Students will complete their characters and cut them out. Students will create a black paper using the painting style of Jackson Pollack and splatter white paint on the black paper to simulate the cover of a composition note book. (hint… use a large box or create one by connecting a bunch of pizza boxes together and have students put their paper on the bottom of the box and splatter white paint on the paper. The box keeps things tidy and contains the paint.)
Class 3: Students will now have their dried black and white background, cut out character and have their character development written on lined paper. Students can get a label to cut out that says The Book That _____Wrote (see Activity page for 6 label per page). Double matting all the above before gluing all the element of the composition together makes for a stronger complete image. Students will double mat everything then glue it to the black and white paper to complete their character developed art.
Advanced students can write a longer story by adding more pages to their art. Students could also develop a picture story using a storyboard concept without writing.
Special needs students will be placed in an appropriate group with strong members. Shape tracers of geometric shapes for heads and facial features may be appropriate for some students. Templates could be created by the teacher in more organic shapes for students to trace and connect to create the shape for their cartoon. Students could trace with a black marker around the tracer, instead of drawing first with pencil and then tracing over pencil lines. Students could translate their story.
Writing Connection:
Journal writing, poems, story ideas, character development, Explaining the steps involved in creating the art.


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Network: a movie that in 1976 saw it all coming
February 25, 2010
This is a clip from one of the most impressive scenes in a truly visionary motion picture from 1976. This movie anticipated the advent of Foxnews in particular and infotainment in general. This movie understood the power and the danger of the television. If Carl Marx had written his works in the late twentieth century he would most certainly said that it is the boobtube that is the opiate of the masses. We should follow the advice of Howard Beale- shut it off, shut it off right now.


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Aristotle's Four Causes
To fully understand an object or an event, we need to be able to answer some basic questions concerning its nature. Aristotle argues we can only know a thing fully when all the causes of its existence are known. Furthermore, Aristotle believes each thing, whatever it may be, will have four causes, or types of explanatory factors by which that thing can be explained. The four types are material, formal, efficient, and final. Hence, if we are able to give these four causes of a things existence, we can claim to fully and completely understand the thing in question. However, some argue "chance" is a fifth cause or explanatory factor. In this essay I will argue that Aristotle is correct in his view that chance is not a fifth cause.
To begin, we must first determine what Aristotle means by each of the four causes. First, the material cause of something has to do with what a thing is made of. For example, oak is the material cause of the particular chair in front of me now. In other words, this chair is the chair it is in virtue of the fact that it is made of oak; if it were made of pine it would not be the chair it is. Second, the formal cause of a thing has to do with shape, arrangement, configuration, and so on. Therefore, this particular chair is the chair it is because of the shapes, curves, and dimensions that are unique to it. Third, the efficient cause of a thing is the source from which the thing becomes what it is. The efficient cause of this chair is the craftsman who has made it. Thus, the chair is the chair it is because of the particular craftsman who made it. Fourth, the final cause of a thing is its purpose, or end for which it exists. Thus, the final cause of this chair is to provide me with something to sit on because I had this particular chair made for me to sit on. There we have the four causes of things.
One might wonder whether there can be more than just four causes, or four ways in which a thing may be explained; for Aristotle, however, there are only four. Aristotle defends this position simply by saying that when we seek to understand a thing, we are really asking, "on account of what is this thing the thing it is?" to which there need only be four types of answers because these four answers fully and completely satisfy the question (198a15). In other words, why look for a fifth explanatory factor when there is nothing left to explain? Furthermore, it is worth noting, for Aristotle, every object or event will admit of all four explanatory factors (198a20-25).
Some have objected to the notion that there can only be four types of explanatory factors. Critics argue sometimes it seems things happen by chance, or on account of luck. For example, Tom and Robin are romantically interested in one another, but neither has dared to initiate anything beyond the friendship they have. Each separately plans a vacation to Cuba during the same week in August. They each arrive separately in Cuba at the same hotel on the same night. During their stay they fall in love. This situation appears to be an example of an event that occurred through luck or by chance: it is lucky because both had wanted the outcome, but neither was previously willing to initiate, however, due to the circumstances, a romantic relationship was made possible. The event occurred by chance, because both had gone to the same country, during the same week, and stayed at the same resort without prior knowledge of the others plans. It would seem this event could be explained only through luck or chance because there was no intention on the part of either agent to produce the outcome at that time. It was a meeting of chance.
Aristotle does accept that events occur out of luck (196a12). However, the fact that Tom met Robin in the same country, at the same resort, at the same time, etc, can be explained by efficient cause. The fact that Tom left for a vacation at the same time Robin left for a vacation, and they both intended to go to the same country, and they both intended to stay at the resort they stayed at for whatever reason, would have to, of necessity, cause this meeting. This sequence of events can be explained by reference to efficient causes: given the actions of the agents, event X had to occur. The final cause of this event is the love that developed between the two. By describing an event as occurring by luck or chance, we are not explaining what caused some event to occur, we are merely giving an assessment of the unlikelihood of such an outcome. In other words, the outcome was lucky, but the cause of the outcome itself was not luck. To say that a thing occurred by chance or luck goes no distance in identifying the cause of the thing. Chance and luck do not cause or produce events, they simply happen concurrently with the other four causes of the event. In other words, chance did not cause the meeting in Cuba, the meeting was coincidental, because two efficient causes (i.e., the actions of Tom and the actions of Robin) coincided with one another. Perhaps a different example will help explain what is meant here by the term concurrence.
Concurrence is the simultaneous occurrence of events or circumstances. So for example, when a man builds a house, he is the cause of the house. But, let us say the man is also a musician (Aristotle uses this example: 196b25). We can make no sense of the statement, "that which knows music was the cause of the house." It is more sensible to admit that which knows music is a concurrent cause of the house, because the man is a musician, and being a musician happens simultaneously with the building of the house. Chance is no more the cause of anything than knowing music is the cause of the existence of the house: both are concurrent causes. To say that which knows music was the cause of the house lacks explanatory power; that is, it does not help explain how the house came to be the house that it is by explaining it was built by that which knows music. Likewise, chance does not help explain how anything comes to be. Chance is not an explanatory factor.
Thus, for Aristotle, chance is a concurrent cause of things. From what has been stated above, an argument might be formulated as follows: 1) when an event happens out of chance, there is no intention on the part of the agent to achieve that outcome at that time; 2) events are caused only by intentional acts, anything else occurring at the time of the cause of the event is merely concurrent with the event, and not the cause of the event; 3) chance is sometimes concurrent with the four causes; therefore, 4) chance is a cause only by virtue of concurrence.
While Aristotle does not explicitly make this argument, he does arrive at the same conclusion (197a5). Furthermore, I believe he would agree with each of the premises. For instance, Aristotle gives an example where a man coincidentally meets someone who owes him money (196b33). The man did not go to that place at that time for that reason (i.e. to collect the money). Thus, the man did not go to that place with the intention of collecting money. It happened by chance that he was able to fulfill that end. Therefore, I believe Aristotle would agree that events occurring by chance are unintentional acts. Furthermore, I believe Aristotle would agree that objects and events are caused only by intentional acts, because each of the four causes identified by Aristotle are intentional. For example, when a sculptor creates a statue, she intends to use the material used; she intends for the statue to take the form it takes; she intends to be the creator, or source of the existence of the statue; and she intends the statue to be created for a specific purpose. Therefore, the four causes must be intentional causes, and if the four causes are the only causes, all causes are intentional. Thus, events are caused only by intentional acts.
In light of the arguments presented, I believe it is fair to say chance and luck do exist, however, they are not the cause of events or phenomena. It is difficult to see how chance could be a cause of anything. Rather, it seems more reasonable to admit chance occurs simultaneously with the true causes of objects and events. For this reason, I believe Aristotle is correct in claiming the causes to be four in number.
Aristotle, A New Aristotle Reader, ed. J.L. Ackrill (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987).
very very understandable......and very intresting
Chance is one thing, luck is another, so is fate and destiny. If you believe chance does not exist, then you believe in fate or destiny. In philosophy one should learn that you are never right until you have empirical proof that you are. As it is not possible to prove for or against chance, you cannot say that he is blind, or anyone who believes in chance.
Thank you,so much this is very very well written and easily understood. Thank you, very helpful.
There is nothing as chance to cause anything, lack of understing why events have occurred so is what you call chance, in other word chance is your blindness
Your post is very interesting. I have had trouble understanding metaphysics, and mostly the distinctions between being and essence, and nature.
As far chance is concerned, how does that explain how atoms come to form molecules? For example,how a hydrogen atom forms a molecule with a chlorine atom, packing in a crystal lattice.
These processes occur by chance or by the laws of nature?


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Nymbler is the smart baby name guide that responds to your personal taste.
Nymbler makes name connections with insights from baby-naming expert Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard.
QuentinInspire Nymbler with Quentin
A boy's name of English, French and Latin origin that has a timeless style. Quentin was most popular in 1998 and is currently ranked #379 among the U.S. boys' names. Meaning: Latin: fifth. English: queen's town.
U.S. popularity statistics:
|Peak year:
|Rank in 2008:
|3-year trend:


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Elevate your summer style and flaunt your individuality in a chic versatile design. These women's sandals are accented with fringe for an updated take on a classic summer style. Ideal with everything from sundresses to cut-off shorts, these wedge shoes in four colors are ready for your next summer adventure.
Copyright © 2018 NRS World


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Lake Brantley
Nickname: Patriots.
Record: 20-4-3.
Coach: Danny Kirby.
Players to watch: Graham Zusi (F, Jr.); Gordon Stasak (F, Sr.).
Top postseason finish: 1982 Class 4A state runner-up.
Cypress Bay
Nickname: Lightning.
Record: 21-3-3
Coach: Mauricio Lopez.
Players to watch: Luis Campo (M/F, Sr.); Felipe Castrillon (M/F, Sr.); Carlos Edde (GK, Sr.).
Top postseason finish: Never qualified for regionals.
Nickname: Bulls.
Record: 25-2-1.
Coach: Sam Isajar.
Players to watch: Thomas Davison (F, Sr.); Alex Muniz (M, Jr.).
Top postseason finish: State champions in 1993 (4A), 95 (6A) and 98 (6A).
Miami Sunset
Nickname: Knights.
Record: 28-1-0.


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I have a new Aquatica Housing for my Nikon D800, and I'm having a heck of a time removing the port covers (not due to any vacuum problem), and getting the extension ring off of the macro port. I spoke with Aquatica yesterday to see if there was any magic, and they suggested lubricating my O-rings. I'd already done this, of course, but the Aquatica supplied O-ring grease is of a different consistency than what I'm used to. It's kind of like a white paste. It's possible that the color is throwing me off, but it seems more tacky, and less slippery than the clear silicone grease I used to use with my Subal housing. Now I'm on a mission. I'm hoping to find an O-ring lubricant that can be used with both my Aquatica housing and my Inon strobes, that's slick and slippery. Has anyone compared the consistency of Dow Corning's Molykote 3451 to Tribolube 71? It sounds as though either of these can be safely used on any of my O-rings, but which ones would give me slicker, more slippery O-rings?
DiverDMember Since 05 Apr 2014
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text: To replace photomultiplier tubes used for low-light detection in confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, high-energy physics, DNA sequencing, and lidar and environmental monitoring, Zecotek Photonics Inc. has unveiled the MAPD 3 micropixel avalanche photodiodes (APDs). The solid-state photodetectors produce the high gain typical of photomultiplier tubes of ∼106 and operate on voltage of up to 100 V. Pulse rise time is ∼2 ns, dark noise is <1 MHz, and photon detection efficiency is 15% to 25%. Sensitive area measures 3 × 3 mm, and pixel density is >15,000 pixels per mm2. The company says that the devices produce low jitter and high linearity.


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Balloon Fun Kit
by Wild & Wolf
This Balloon Fun Kit by Wild & Wolf is perfect for parties! It's part of the Ridley's House of Novelties range of tradtional games & toys, all enclosed in retro 'shop worn' style packaging.
- the kit includes 2 x jumbo rockets, 1 x punch ball, 6 x rocket balloons, 30 x water balloons, a hand pump and easy to follow instructions
- not suitable for children under three years old
- more traditional vintage style games & toys available
- Caution: Choking hazard Not suitable for children under the age of 3 years
- Free Standard UK Delivery for orders over £55.
- UK Standard Delivery £2.45 - Usually takes 1-2 working days.
- UK next working day delivery £8.95 (order before 1pm excluding weekends)
- Europe from £9.95.
- Rest of the World from £14.95.
- We currently aim to dispatch all orders by the next working day.
- For more detailed information please refer to our Delivery & Returns page
For a full refund, unwanted items should be received by us within 14 working days of the original order.
If goods are damaged or unsatisfactory for any reason please email us at:-
UK customers, Please return via Royal Mail 2nd Class Post retaining proof of postage to:-
returns, cloth-ears, unit 181 john wilson business park, whitstable, kent ct5 4hj.
For more detailed information, please refer to our Delivery & Returns Page


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Fullsize Titflash Display
Jan's Age: 48 - 54 years
Submitted from: United States
Titflash Photo ID: 61014
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Medium tits Natural tits Tits from United States
i love this shot. so sexy in nature, thank you
March 22, 2011, 4:37 am
I could look at you all day.:
March 22, 2011, 4:01 am
Can I finish undressing you? I would just love to have sex with you outdoors!
March 22, 2011, 3:59 am
perfect:i guess about 36dd?
March 22, 2011, 3:55 am
Our titflash pages are under heavy reconstruction. Some pages still have the old layout and will appear under the new layout soon. Please apologize the dust.
Voyeurclouds and VCity are our main adult lifestyle platforms. Join the fun and see hundreds of instant adult lifestyle and voyeur postings at VCity now.
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text:
Lifelong Learning, Certification, and Nursing Practice: Their Interrelationship
A legislatively regulated and self-regulating profession, such as nursing, holds its members (registered nurses) accountable to the public it serves for the continuous development of the competencies they profess to hold. A requirement for competency is lifelong learning and can be evidenced through certification. In this paper, the interrelationship of lifelong learning, certification, and registered nursing practice is examined. Strategies used to support certification through a lifelong learning approach are described.
lifelong learning; certification; professional practice
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Copyright (c) 2017 Sandra Hirst, Carole Lynne LeNavenec, Rebecca Stares
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


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Australia's first LEGO® Certified Store will open at Dreamworld on Queensland's Gold Coast later this year, following a new partnership agreement signed this week between global brand, The LEGO Group and Dreamworld's parent company, Ardent Leisure.
Announcing the partnership today, Ardent Leisure CEO Deborah Thomas said the store would be the largest retail outlet at Dreamworld. Covering an area of 350 square metres, Dreamworld's flagship LEGO Certified Store will be part of a stand-alone precinct located at the front of the park with access from within and external to the park. Construction will begin in July with the new store due to open in November 2016.
More Information: http://jaysbrickblog.com/2016/04/27/australias-first-lego-certified-store-opens-gold-coast-november-2016/
Personally, I am keen to check this out next time we are on the Gold Coast, more so just to be able to say "I have done it". I don't see it changing what and how I undertake my LEGO Technic hobby but it is a good sign that LEGO is starting to take the Australian market seriously.
I am an AFOL (Adult Fan Of LEGO) from Launceston Tasmania. My hobby is LEGO Technic designing and building. I mostly design MOCs and MODs. In the past I was involved in Brixhibitions across the state. Paul's Technic Blog is not associated with The LEGO Group. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Posted by Paul at 07:06
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Emporia TALKcomfort
ProsNo pros
- Lacks a camera on the back
- Lacks Wi-Fi
- Thick body (0.61 inches)
- Does not support automatic screen brightness
The Emporia TALKcomfort is a simple candybar phone with big keys, easy to read display, flashlight and messaging.
- Dimensions:
- 4.49 x 2.17 x 0.61 inches (114 x 55 x 15.5 mm )
- Features:
- Numeric keypad, Soft keys
- Talk time:
the average is 21 h (1235 min) 4.00 hours
- 4.00 hours
- Stand-by time:
the average is 20 days (478 h) 16.7 days (400 hours)
- 16.7 days (400 hours)
- 900, 1800 MHz
specifications continue after the ad
Phone features
- Notifications:
- Service lights, Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Silent mode
- Speakers:
- Earpiece, Loudspeaker
To see the full specifications with in-depth details click here.
Despite our efforts to provide full and correct Emporia TALKcomfort specifications, there is always a possibility of making a mistake. If you see any wrong or incomplete data, please LET US KNOW.
If you are interested in using our specs commercially, check out our Phone specs database licensing page.


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* FREE SHIPPING ON US ORDERS ONLY. CANADA/INTERNATIONAL ORDERS WILL NOT BE GIVEN FREE SHIPPING FOR BULK ORDERS. CONTACT JOYCE AT email@example.com FOR INFORMATION ON INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING CHARGES.
Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time
by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker with Mike Yorkey
American men are in a tough position. They live in a culture awash with sensual images available twenty-four hours a day through a variety of media. It is virtually impossible to avoid such temptations…but, thankfully, not impossible to rise above them.
That process starts when men realize two things: First, they aren't alone. In fact, sixty-five percent of men at Promise Keepers indicated they have a problem with pornography. Second, there is help. Real, honest, life-changing help.
Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoker effectively shatter the perception that men are unable to control their roving eyes or put a brake on their thought lives. Every Man's Battle shares the stories of dozens who have escaped the trap of immorality, and offers a practical, detailed plan for any man who wants to re-align his eyes, mind, and heart with the God-given standard. It's mandatory reading for men who have fallen in the past, and who want to overcome temptation now and in the future.
Written in a brother-to-brother style, Every Man's Battle also includes sections for women, designed to help them understand, empathize, and support the men they love.
Bulk Ordering
Bulk Price (Qts 10 Or More): $9.30/each (Save 40% + FREE US SHIPPING)
Strategies for Victory in the Real World of Sexual Temptation
In this world you're surrounded by sexual images that open the door to temptation. They're everywhere–on TV, billboards, magazines, music, the internet–and so easy to access that it sometimes feels impossible to escape their clutches. Yet God expects his children to be sexually pure. So how can you survive the relentless battle against temptation? Here's powerful ammunition.
Steve Arterburn and Fred Stoeker, the authors of the hard-hitting best-seller Every Man's Battle, now focus on the temptations young single Christian men like you face every day–and they offer workable, biblical strategies for achieving sexual purity.
The authors examine the standard of Ephesians 5:3–"there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality"–in a positive and sensitive light. And they explain how an authentic, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to victory over temptation. Every Young Man's Battle will show you how to train your eyes and your mind, how to clean up your thought life, and how to develop a realistic battle plan for remaining pure in today's sexually soaked culture. As a result, you'll experience hope–real hope–for living a strong, pure life God's way.
Honest Conversations About Sexual Integrity
It's never been easy for a father or mother to talk to a son about sex. For Christian parents, it's always been a challenge to know exactly how to teach God's standards of purity and integrity.
But today, the stakes are higher than they've ever been. So it's vital that fathers and mothers prepare their sons to withstand the sexual onslaught of their culture through movies, television, music, and the internet.
But what should you say? And when and how should you say it?
Now there's help you can trust: Preparing Your Son for Every Man's Battle. The authors behind the best-selling "Every Man" series have put together all the resources and guidance you need to experience frank, thorough, and natural conversations with your son about sexual integrity. They offer an effective new communication process that ensures a deep, abiding relationship between you and your son as he moves into his teen years and beyond.
Equip your young man with the biblical information and spiritual insights he needs to stand strong, overcome temptation, and experience the blessings of godly obedience…for the rest of his life.
Bulk Ordering
Bulk Price (Qts 10 Or More): $9.30/each (Save 40% + FREE US SHIPPING)
Every Man's Guide to Winning the Heart of a Woman
by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker with Mike Yorkey
Authors Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker believe that every man can meet the desire of his wife. The problem is, most men aren't exactly sure what that desire is and how they can go about fulfilling it faithfully.
In Every Man's Marriage, readers can discover the common misconceptions about what it means to exercise biblical authority, and understand the role of submission in the marriage relationship. This groundbreaking book can help readers grasp and apply essential but often overlooked principles for marital leadership.
Through candid reflections on their own struggles to achieve biblical unity in their own marriages, along with many years of combined experience in marital counseling, Arterburn and Stoeker apply solid, time-tested biblical wisdom to the everyday potential distortions that can lead to strife in a marriage.
The perfect follow-up book for Every Man's Battle, Every Man's Marriage is a terrific resource for establishing mutual respect and sacrifice in marriage based on Christ's example of loving his bride, the church.
2002 Silver Medallion Book Award Winner!
How Far Are You Willing to Go for God?
by Fred Stoeker with Mike Yorkey & Forward by Chuck Norris
Are you ready to face life's tests?
God tests a man. Into the flow of everyday life He sends "pop quizzes"—those unexpected trials that show us what we're made of; that reveal the true quality of our faith and character; that show our willingness to obey Him.
Every Man's Challenge , part of the best-selling Every Man series, will prepare you to obey. It does take guts to stand firm in facing what life throws our way. We need courage to acknowledge our own weaknesses and to change. We need understanding in handling moral dilemmas and family crises. Thankfully, God has given us the strength we need. By His power we can "participate in the divine nature" and triumph over our sins and the temptations and corruption of the world.
The forty "exams" in this book, comprised of Scripture, stories, and reflective questions, will give you the necessary tools to draw closer to God and win life's battles. Used in your devotional times or for personal reflection or group study, you'll find strength to overcome sexual temptation, learn how to love your wife better, and gain increasing confidence to live as Christ did.
In the defining moments of your life, you can obey God and pass the tests that challenge every man.
A Wife's Guide to Healing in the Wake of a Husband's Sexual Sin
Wholeness and Healing for Women Caught in the Crossfire.
As the wife of a man who is addicted to lust, pornography, or masturbation, you are not alone. Millions of men can't get through the day or the week without clicking on to their favorite Internet porn sites, thumbing through adult magazines, or watching sensual videos—and millions of wives suffer as a result.
Over the past decade, nearly 400,000 men have found inspiration and hope in Every Man's Battle, the best-selling men's guide to victory over sexual sin. Now, here at last is the book for every woman who has become a casualty in the fight for sexual purity. Every Heart Restored offers godly guidance and wisdom for a woman facing such personal betrayal.
Bulk Ordering
Bulk Price (Qts 10 Or More): $9.30/each (Save 40% + FREE US SHIPPING)
The ultimate showdown calls for the ultimate team. Jesus and you.
Tactics picks up from where the best-selling Every Young Man's Battle left off. If you still have kinks and chinks in your armor after reading EYMB, this second book of Fred's trilogy should remove them. Tactics will expand your understanding about the spiritual front of this battle for purity, and will teach you how to complete your victory by gaining a tighter intimacy with your Father in Heaven, and with Jesus Christ.
Bulk Ordering
Bulk Price (Qts 10 Or More): $9.30/each (Save 40% + US FREE SHIPPING)
Becoming The Man She Desires
From best-selling author Fred Stoeker, along with his son Jasen, come the straightforward insights and real-life examples necessary to help you stay pure while dating. Dating brings its own unique pressures to a man's sexual purity, and Jasen shares the strategies he used to maintain his own sexual purity from junior high through high school and college, all the way to the wedding altar. As a bonus, his wife, Rose, shares how much it means to a woman to date a man who heroically defends her honor, so this book is for you women, too.
Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World
by Shannon Ethridge and Stephen Arterburn
Guys Aren't the Only Ones Fighting a Battle for Purity.
The world you live in promotes sex as the answer to just about everything. The pressure to go along with the crowd is greater than ever before, and it's easy to compromise in little ways that are a lot more harmful than they seem. You and your friends may become caught up in destructive relationships or sexual activities without even knowing how you got there. You just want to be normal–to fit in, to be liked, to look attractive to the opposite sex. But are you paying too high a price?
This counterpart to the award-winning Every Young Man's Battle can help you:
Whether you have so far protected yourself emotionally and sexually, feel that you've been robbed of your purity, or have given in to temptation in some way, this book can help you achieve or reclaim sexual integrity. It can also guide you through the temptations and pressures of young adulthood while demonstrating how you can live your life to the fullest–without regrets.
Includes a comprehensive workbook for individual or group study.
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Bulk Price (Qts 10 Or More): $9.90/each (Save 40% + US FREE SHIPPING)


text:
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Originally posted by wararts
AD5673 please read the link before posting,,by space i ment the space around earth.
[Edited on 21-5-2004 by wararts]
Originally posted by wararts
kogigaiden ,,,yes a successful orbital weapons network would make a country very unbeatable ,,,china and russia better be careful ,,usa will weaponize space.


text: Hi, I have the ClimaxDigital Igrabber - I am trying to transfer Hi8 tapes from a Sony camcorder to my Mac - the picture is great but the sound doesn't match the picture - when people talk the sound isn't in time with their lips. Can anyone PLEASE explain why this is or does anyone have any idea how to fix it PLEASE ??? Desperate Deb


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been swallowed up in the Victory of Life and Love; and the tomb is empty for all time. "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" The time has come for rejoicing and not for sorrowing; for the fulfillment of that peace which was promised. "Peace I leave with you." There need be no more sorrowing nor crying; for Reality is now known. Life is Triumphant and Love reigns Supreme.
The Vicarious Atonement is over, but the real At-one-ment has only begun. We are just beginning to realize what Love and Life mean. Every time we give of ourselves to others, helping them to overcome their troubles, we are performing an At-one-ment; we are proving the Unity of Good.
In our metaphysical abstractions we have come to the conclusion that God, or First Cause, must be Infinite; and it is difficult to perceive how a power which is Infinite can, at the same time, be personal. Yet the soul longs for a responsive universe; and the heart yearns for a God Who responds to the human desire.
To take from the individual his idea of God as a personally responsive Intelligence, and leave him only a cold, unresponsive Law, is to rob the individual of his greatest birthright and to throw him, naked and bare, into the midst of an Eternity which holds no attraction.
To think of the Universe in terms of Law only, is to make of God only an Infinite It, a cold an bitter Principle, lacking that warmth and color which the soul craves.
This difficulty is removed when we realize that the Law of Mind is like any other law; it is a natural force, and, like all law, should be thought of from this angle. But back of, and working in and through the Law, there is a responsive


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Princess devoted to the poor and acts of charity.
An early widow, there was a lot of subterfuge to stop her using her royal inheritance.
Her brother-in-law drove her and her three children out of the family castle. She lived in poverty and squalor apart from being able to turn loaves of bread into roses.
This must have impressed her brother-in-law as he repented and allowed her land to build a hospital.


text: Jesse Jackson Jr. Pleads Guilty Judge says he's not bound by sentencing guidelines By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff Posted Feb 20, 2013 11:39 AM CST 41 comments Comments Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Newser) – Jesse Jackson Jr. dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief today and looked to his father, and the rest of his family gathered in court. "Guilty, your honor," he said, making official his reported intention to plead guilty to having misused $750,000 in campaign funds. Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and false statements, CNN reports, a charge carrying a maximum five year sentence. Asked if he was aware he was giving up his right to a trial, he responded, "I have no interest in wasting the taxpayers' time or money." Prosecutors are asking for slightly less than five years, but the judge stressed that he was not bound by any sentencing guidelines. "The bottom line is, I don't [know] what sentence you're going to get, and you don't know what sentence you're going to get," the judge said, setting sentencing for June 28. Neither Jackson nor his wife, Sandra—whose own court appearance is coming up in a few hours—spoke with reporters as they arrived in court. My Take on This Story Report a story error Show results without voting | 44% Hilarious 9% Intriguing 25% Depressing 14% Brilliant 2% Scary 5% Ridiculous


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Centered Quotes (displaying: 1 - 10 of 713 quotes )
The person with a secular mentality feels himself to be the center of the universe. Yet he is likely to suffer from a sense of meaninglessness and insignificance because he knows h?s but one human among five billion others - all feeling themselves to be the center of things - scratching out an existence on the surface of a medium-sized planet circling a small star among countless stars in a galaxy lost among countless galaxies. The person with the sacred mentality, on the other hand, does not feel herself to be the center of the universe. She considers the Center to be elsewhere and other. Yet she is unlikely to feel lost or insignificant precisely because she draws her significance and meaning from her relationship, her connection, with that center, that Other.
So far as we know, the tiny fragments of the universe embodied in man are the only centers of thought and responsibility in the visible world. If that be so, the appearance of the human mind has been so far the ultimate stage in the awakening of the world; and all that has gone before, the striving of myriad centers that have taken the risks of living and believing, seem to have all been pursuing, along rival lines, the aim now achieved by us up to this point. They are all akin to us, for all these centers - those which led up to our own existence and the far more numerous others which produced different lines of which many are extinct - may be seen engaged in the same endeavor towards ultimate liberation. We may envisage then a cosmic field which called forth all these centers by offering them a short-lived, limited, hazardous opportunity for making some progress of their own towards an unthinkable consummation. And that is also, I believe, how a Christian is placed when worshiping God.
If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If yo?re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary ac?truth is always subversive.
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.


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Ammonite fossils
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Keywords: ammonite, ammonites, animal, animals, aquatic, cephalopod, charente-maritime, display, europe, european, extinct, fauna, fossil, fossilised, fossilized, fossils, france, french, geological, geology, index fossil, invertebrate, invertebrates, many, marine, mollusc, multiple, museum, nature, oceanic, palaeontological, palaeontology, palaeozoology, paleontological, paleontology, prehistoric, prehistory, preserved, shelf, shell, shelves, specimen, specimens, wildlife, zoological, zoology
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