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EU's Syria sanctions target Assad's wife
Updated at 12:49 p.m. ET
(AP) BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers imposed sanctions Friday on Asma Assad, the stylish, British-born wife of the Syrian president, banning her from traveling to European Union countries and freezing any assets she may have there.
The foreign ministers also imposed the same sanctions on President Bashar Assad's mother, sister and sister-in-law, and eight government ministers, in a continuing attempt to stop the bloody crackdown on opposition in the country.
In addition, the assets of two Syrian companies have been frozen, an EU official said. Bashar Assad himself has been the subject of EU sanctions since May.
Syria forces step up assaults, clashes rage
Video: Car bombs kill 2 in Aleppo, Syria
Video: Syria uprising - a year of revolution
Also Friday, the United Nations' top human rights body sharply condemned the crackdown and the U.N. announced that the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, would travel to Russia and China for more talks aimed at resolving the crisis peacefully.
The U.N. estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since an uprising began in Syria a year ago. Its children's agency UNICEF said Friday that toll includes at least 500 children killed in the violence, with hundreds more injured, placed in detention or abused while schools and health centers have shut down or become too dangerous for families to reach.
The EU has imposed 12 previous rounds of sanctions against the Syrian regime, yet the crackdown has only intensified. But French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he believed the regime was getting weaker.
"Their economic situation becomes ever more difficult. Syria has few reserves," Juppe told reporters. "We think its economic situation will become untenable.
Asma Assad, 36, was born in London, spent much of her life there, and has British citizenship. She has been seen as the softer face of the ruling family an attractive and refined woman dubbed "chic" by France's Elle magazine and "sexy" by The Sun, Britain's top-selling tabloid.
In thousands of personal e-mails apparently intercepted by the Syrian opposition and published in newspapers earlier this month, Mrs. Assad demonstrated a love of expensive furniture, fine jewelry and Christian Louboutin shoes. In one email she was reported to have ordered euro35,000 ($46,300) worth of furniture and candlesticks from a Paris boutique.
"We had a certain number of indications I am sure it has not escaped you how the wife of president Assad uses her money. It is perhaps this that pushed us to toughen the sanctions," Juppe said.
A month before the start of the Syrian regime's brutal repression, Vogue magazine praised her for her charity work, calling her "A Rose of the Desert."
Asma Assad, who is of Syrian heritage, moved to the country in 2000 to marry the president, who had previously been an ophthalmologist in Britain.
Britain's Home Office said Friday that a British citizen subject to a EU travel ban could not be refused entry into the country.
But British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that "given that we are imposing an asset freeze on all of these individuals and a travel ban on other members of the same family and the regime we are not expecting Mrs. Assad to try to travel to the United Kingdom at the moment."
Annan and two aides will go to Moscow and Beijing to press the case for his six-point plan, his spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, said. Western countries have pushed for U.N. Security Council action, but Russia and China have twice vetoed resolutions criticizing Assad's regime.
"Negotiations are at a very delicate stage. He's not going to mediate through the media," Fawzi said. "The crisis on the ground is severe. We have to make progress on the ground soon. Every minute counts."
Fawzi told reporters Friday that Annan's team is "currently studying the Syrian responses carefully and negotiations with Damascus continue."
On Wednesday, the U.N.'s Security Council issued a nonbinding statement calling for a cease-fire and endorsing Annan's plan, which includes continued talks and a daily two-hour halt in the fighting to provide aid.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, speaking in Brussels, where the EU foreign ministers are meeting, said Friday it was very important to increase pressure on the Syrian regime.
"Their behavior continues to be murdering and totally unacceptable in the eyes of the world," he said on his way into the meeting.
The resolution condemned "widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms perpetrated by the Syrian authorities" including summary executions, torture and sexual abuse of detainees and children, and other abuses.
It also condemned "the deliberate destruction of hospitals and clinics, the obstruction and denial of medical assistance to the injured and sick, and the raids and killing of wounded protesters in both public and private hospitals."
The vote also extended the mandate of a U.N. expert panel charged with reporting on alleged abuses in the country.
U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe called the Geneva-based council's action an important development.
"For the first time, the council has asked its team of investigators to provide continuous mapping of both human rights violations and casualties," she said. "The council has also asked the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure the safe and secure storage of all evidence of human rights violations gathered. ... This is the first time such a request has been included in a Human Rights Council resolution."
Syria's ambassador Fayssal al-Hamwi rejected Friday's vote as "biased."
"It does not reflect the reality on the ground, on the contrary," he told the meeting.
The council's decisions aren't legally binding, but they are seen as an important indicator of the international community's stance on human rights issues.


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Les Miserables' Eddie Redmayne Engaged to Girlfriend of Two Years
Jun 2, 2014 7:57 PM EDT
Eddie Redmayne is officially off the market. The actor is engaged to girlfriend Hannah Bagshawe, US Weekly reports. Redmayne, who starred opposite Amanda Seyfried and Hugh Jackman in the big screen adaptation of Les Miserables,pro… Read more

subset: commoncrawl


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Number: 111- 48
Date: August 2, 2010
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Approves
H.R. 5773, to designate the Operations Building as the
"Robert M. Ball Federal Building"
On July 29, 2010, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported favorably to the House, H.R. 5773, a bill that would designate a Federal building in Baltimore, MD, as the "Robert M. Ball Federal Building." The bill was introduced by Representative Elijah Cummings on July 19, 2010.A substitute amendment by Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton that would add language to make clear that the building being designated is commonly known as the Social Security Administration Operations Building was adopted by voice vote. The bill would be effective upon enactment.


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April 23, 2014
Traditional database architectures were the default option for many pre-Internet use cases and architectures, such as MySQL, remain common today. However, these traditional solutions have limits that quickly become apparent as companies (and data) grow. Modern companies have changing priorities: downtime (planned or unplanned) is never acceptable; customers require a fast and unified experience; and data of all types is growing at unimaginable rates. Solutions such as Riak are designed to handle these shifting priorities.
Top Reasons to Move to Riak
- Zero Downtime: Distributed NoSQL solutions like Riak are designed for always-on availability. This means data is always read/write accessible and the system never goes down. Downtime, planned or unplanned, can make or break a customer experience.
- Ease-of-Scale: Traffic can be unpredictable. Businesses need to scale up quickly to handle peak loads during holidays or major releases, but then need to scale back down to save money. Riak makes it easy to add and remove any number of nodes as needed and automatically redistributes data across the cluster. Scaling up or down never needs to be a burden again.
- Flexible Data Model: From user generated data to machine-to-machine (M2M) activity, unstructured data is now commonplace. Riak can store any type of data easily with its simple key/value architecture.
- Global Data Locality: Every company is a global company and needs to provide consistent, low-latency experiences to everyone, regardless of physical location. Riak's multi-datacenter replication makes it easy to set up datacenters wherever users are, for both geo-data locality and maintaining active backups.
Users That Switched to Riak
Many top companies have already moved from relational architectures to Riak. Here's a look at a few that have made the switch.
Bump (acquired by Google)
Bump, acquired by Google in 2013, allows users to share contact information and photos by bumping two phones together. Bump uses Riak to store almost all of its user data: contacts, communications sent and received, handset information, social network OAuth tokens, etc. Bump moved from MySQL to Riak due to its operational qualities: "No longer will we have to do any master/slave song and dance, nor will we fret about performance, capacity, or scalability; if we need more, we'll just add nodes to the cluster." Learn more about their move in their case study.
Alert Logic
Alert Logic helps companies defend against security threats and address compliance mandates, such as PCI and HIPAA. Alert Logic switched from MySQl to Riak to collect and process machine data and to perform real-time analytics, detect anomalies, ensure compliance, and proactively respond to threats. Alert Logic processes nearly 5TB/day in Riak and has achieved performance results of up to 35k operations/second. Learn more about how Alert Logic improved performance through Riak in our blog post.
The Weather Company
The Weather Company provides millions of people every day with the world's best weather forecasts, content and data, connecting with them through television, online, mobile and tablet screens. Riak is central to The Weather Company's weather data services platform that delivers real-time weather services to aerospace, insurance, energy, retail, media, government, and hospitality industries. Check out our blog to see why The Weather Company selected Riak over MySQL to support their massive big data needs.
Dell uses Riak as the core distributed database technology underlying its customer cloud management solutions. Riak is used to collect and manage data associated with customer application provisioning and scaling, application configuration management, usage governance, and cloud utilization monitoring. In 2012, Enstratius (acquired by Dell) switched to Riak from MySQL in order to provide cross-datacenter redundancy, high write availability, and fault tolerance. Check out the full Enstratius case study.
Data Modeling in Riak
Riak has a "schemaless" design. Objects are comprised of key/value pairs, which are stored in flat namespaces called buckets. Below is a chart with some simple approaches to building common application types with a key/value model.
|Application Type
|User/Session ID
|Session Data
|Campaign ID
|Ad Content
|Log File
|Date, Date/Time
|Sensor Updates
|User Data
|Login, eMail, UUID
|User Attributes
|Title, Integer
|Text, JSON/XML/HTML Document, Images, etc.
To learn more about the benefits of Riak over relational databases, check out the whitepaper, "From Relational to Riak." To get started with Riak, Contact Us or download it now.


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If you have clusters of small painless bumps on your skin you may be suffering from keratosis pilaris. This condition often occurs on the cheeks, buttocks, thighs, and on the back of the arms and is often mistaken for a rash, acne, or even goose bumps. Some people refer to this condition as "chicken skin". It is generally not irritating or itchy so that is often how it is distinguished from actually being a rash or eczema.
This is a harmless condition where the keratin, a protein found in the skin, clogs the hair follicles or pore. It often occurs in people who already have dermatitis or dry skin and is estimated to affect up to 40% of the population, often starting around adolescence. It does tend to run in families so if your parents have it – chances are you will be prone to it as well. Once you have keratosis pilaris you will require ongoing treatment to keep the condition away and stop it from spreading.
Often, gentle exfoliation or microdermabrasion is enough to get rid of these bumps – especially if you catch it early. Moisturizing any dry areas can help the condition not to spread to other parts of your body. Natural practitioners often recommend coconut oil as a moisturizer to help keratosis pilaris. For particularly stubborn cases – doctors can prescribe topical medications or laser treatments, but if you treat it early you should not need to go this route.
If you have dry skin, or have had keratosis pilaris in the past, lessen your chances of getting it by washing your skin daily with a mild cleanser, exfoliating often using a loofah or a product such as the ZENMED AHA/BHA Complex or the ZENMED Microdermabrasion Complex, and keep all dry areas well moisturized.


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Part of being a top state for business means having a strong economy, which is why each state's economy played a factor on our overall rankings.
Here's a closer look at the states with the best and worst economies, selected using basic economic indicators and by the number of major corporations located within the state. With that information, each state was given a score out of a possible 314 points, and ranked using those numbers. Click on to see which state economies made the bottom five and which made the top, along with last years rankings and their total points.
Published July 23, 2009
»America's Top States for Business
»Complete 2009 Rankings


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January 21, 2014
By -, -
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Floyd Battle of St. Thomas (Fla.) has been named the NAIA National Division II Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the national office announced Tuesday. Battle was selected based on his performances from Jan. 13-19 and was chosen out of a pool of conference and independent award winners.
Battle, a native of Maywood, Ill., led St. Thomas to a 2-0 week, including a 67-63 road win over No. 1 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) on Jan. 18. In the upset, Battle led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting—including a 4-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. Battle also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while adding three assists and three steals in 38 minutes of action. On Jan. 15, Battle also led all Bobcats with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and seven steals in the team's 97-89 win over Warner (Fla.). For the week, Battle shot 58 percent (18-31) from the field and 50 percent (7-14) from 3-point territory. He averaged 23.5 points, eight rebounds, 3.5 assists and five steals per game.
On the season, Battle leads St. Thomas in points per game (17.33) and 3-point field goals made (24). He also ranks second on the team in assists (38) and steals (32), despite having played in just 12 of the Bobcats' 17 games thus far.
For a complete list of the national statistical leaders, click here.
The next NAIA National Division II Men's Basketball Player of the Week will be announced on Jan. 28. For the complete Player of the Week calendar, click here.
Nominees: Kyle Lindbergh, Dordt (Iowa); Erik Hanson, Cal Maritime; Brequan Tucker, Jamestown (N.D.); Joe Mitchell, Friends (Kan.); Tylon Deal, St. Ambrose (Iowa); Wes Hudson, Cornerstone (Mich.); Daishon Robinson, Berea (Ky.); Tyler Burse, Tennessee Wesleyan; Given Kalipinde, Bellevue (Neb.); Greg Miller, Grace (Ind.); Sean Montgomery, Robert Morris (Ill.); Tyler Velasquez, Concordia (Ore.).
2013-14 Division II Men's Basketball Players of the Week
Week 1 (Jan. 7): Joe Mitchell, Friends (Kan.)
Week 2 (Jan. 14): Derek Semenas, Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)
Week 3 (Jan. 21): Floyd Battle, St. Thomas (Fla.)


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By Edward Pentin
Monday, 28 September 2009 06:09 PM
Current | Bio | Archive
The importance of the truth, and man's search for it, were arguably the most significant themes of Pope Benedict XVI's three-day visit to the Czech Republic that just ended.
The visit was aimed at bringing hope and encouragement to the Czech people who now form one of the most secularized countries in the world and are struggling to handle hard-won freedoms that came after the fall of Soviet communism in 1989.
The search for the truth, and defense of the truth, has been a long-held passion of Benedict XVI. He sees it as vital to knowing "the true good", and to building a just and truly free society. But he sees this now in jeopardy through today's radical secularism and moral relativism , similar to how truth was less subtly denied under atheist Marxist rule.
Like many modern societies, the Czech Republic has been "seduced by the modern mentality of hedonistic consumerism amid a dangerous crisis of human and religious values and a growing drift towards ethical and cultural relativism," the Pope noted.
But he reminded an audience of diplomats on Saturday that "true freedom presupposes the search for truth — for the true good." Liberty finds its fulfilment, he stressed, precisely in knowing and doing what is right and just. "Truth, in other words, is the guiding norm for freedom, and goodness is freedom's perfection," he said, and called on all political, religious and cultural leaders to awaken receptivity to truth and goodness. For Christians, "truth has a name: God. And goodness has a face: Jesus Christ," the Pope said. Furthermore, politicians should have nothing to fear from the truth, nor should truth be eclipsed by particular interests, no matter how important they may be, he said.
Illustrating the point earlier while on the papal place, he quoted Vaclav Havel, the former Czech leader, who said: "Dictatorships are based on lies and if the lie is overcome, if no one lies any more and if the truth comes to light, there will also be freedom."
"Far from threatening the tolerance of differences or cultural plurality, the pursuit of truth makes consensus possible, keeps public debate logical, honest and accountable, and ensures the unity which vague notions of integration simply cannot achieve," the Pope explained. "In the end, truth does conquer, not by force, but by persuasion, by the heroic witness of men and women of firm principle, by sincere dialogue which looks beyond self-interest to the demands of the common good . . .The thirst for truth, beauty and goodness, implanted in all men and women by the creator, is meant to draw people together in the quest for justice, freedom and peace."
Implicitly referring to the Czech Republic's communist past, he said that history has "amply shown that truth can be betrayed and manipulated in the service of false ideologies, oppression and injustice." He added: "In the end what is more inhuman, and destructive, than the cynicism which would deny the grandeur of our quest for truth, and the relativism that corrodes the very values which inspire the building of a united and fraternal world?"
Instead, the Pope argued, it is important to "re-appropriate a confidence in the nobility and breadth of the human spirit in its capacity to grasp the truth, and let that confidence guide us in the patient work of politics and diplomacy."
Frequently during his visit, the Pope returned to the importance of Europe not forgetting its Christian roots and heritage — part of his consistent concern that modern society be mindful of God's presence, and that reason be nourished by faith in order to uphold human dignity and avoid falling into evil policies and practices.
"An understanding of reason that is deaf to the divine, and which relegates religions into the realm of subcultures, is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures that our world so urgently needs," the Pope reminded an audience of academics. And he recalled that confidence in the human ability "to seek truth, to find truth and to live by the truth" led to the foundation of the great European universities.
A long-time university professor himself, the Pope also stressed that the Church should always be open to dialogue, even with agnostics. Both agnostics and Christians "need each other" he said on the papal plane to Prague. "The agnostic cannot be content not to know if God exists or not, but must seek and sense the great legacy of the faith," he said. "The Catholic cannot be content to have faith, but must seek out God further, and in dialogue with others re-learn God in a deeper way." To do so, he said, enables a "great intellectual, ethical, and human dialogue."
The Pope is not scheduled to make any more overseas visits this year, but he will be travelling to Malta, Portugal, and Britain in 2010. An official announcement on an historic state visit to Britain is expected toward the end of the year, Vatican sources tell Newsmax, but contrary to speculation he most probably won't be travelling to Northern Ireland on that visit. That is more likely to take place in 2012.
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UTB improvements
-need a display of the dispersion in 2D UTBs in the new unidirect visualization -need to extract the masses from the few lowest bands in the dispersion and find some critical minima in the dispersion. Then plot those minimum energies and masses as scatter plots on a diagram. Then a user can change the geometry or strain or gating and see how the minima or the masses vary as multiple simulations emerge.


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Need to get back into shape. Im in Panther Trace in Riverview, we have great, non-lighted courts here. I work from home so i can play during the day also. I am probably currently a 3.0 or so.
Views: 140
Replies to This Discussion
hey Jason-
I'm about in the same condition, though thanks to tennis not nearly as fat or out of shape as I was. I live in Safety Harbor, so maybe we could find someplace half way. Email me at kistulentz at gmail dot com and we can figure something out. I'm a university professor so my schedule is pretty flexible too.
Jason and Steve, I would like to play too. Out of shape and overweight? Talk to me. I am in Cross creek, Hillsborough. Lighted court and like Steve suggested we can find a place half way. Regards
Since we're all out of shape...it might be fun to all 3 hook up. 1 rests while the other 2 play type of thing. I'll have to check with the wife on plans, but im ready to play now.
Good Morning guys, I am in lithia FishHawk area now. I think is close to Rivierview and Bloomingdale. I have all this week off, so, please let me know if interested
© 2018 Created by Mark / The Mayor. Powered by


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Wow... that is just wrong. Sherman is the best corner I have seen in a long time and I love watching him make play after play just dominating receivers. I suppose people just voted for the personal favorites and not for obvious football game changing talent. They may have figured he was going to be suspended for the adderol thing anyway so why waste a vote. I still can't imagine who I would rather have on my team than Sherm.
Sherm if you ever read this, the Seattle fans don't need to see pro bowl results to know how well you are playing. We love ya Bro! (in a man crush kind of way of course). I think the networks will be buzzing with this huge snub of Sherman tonight (even Warren Sapp just said he thought Sherm was deserving).
and Congrats to the other Hawks who made it. Go Hawks!


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Tagged: Case Stengel
The Braves and the Metropolitans (4/24/10)
On Saturday morning, April 24, 2010, we found ourselves on the 7-train weaving our way through the roof tops of Queens, New York…
…we were on our way to Citi Field…
…and a game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets.
Our travels took longer than we expected, so we missed all of the Mets BP and arrived probably half way through the Braves BP. We headed down the 3B line toward the LF corner and grabbed a spot to watch the action.
In our third game at Citi Field, I finally remembered to take a photo of the home run apple while it was "up." This apple is much bigger than the old Shea Stadium apple and instead of being in a top hat it is just in a random raised opening in center field. Its not a bad home run apple, but I favor the old Shea apple, which seemed to have more of a *kitsch* factor.
During BP, we ran into MLBloggers Joe and Alex, whom we had spent time with last October during a rain-soaked game at Citi Field. Tim just loves hanging out with these guys. The day after this game, he couldn't stop telling his mom about his buddies (e.g., "Did you know Joe has two dogs?" "Alex shared his peanuts with me!"). Anyway, the four of us headed over to the Braves dugout toward the end of BP and one of the guys took this picture of us on the way through LF…
Here was our view from behind the 3B dugout:
Look how happy Tim was hanging out with the guys:
And we ran into Mr. Met before the game…
…we'd seen Mr. Met in the OF last season but never got Tim's picture with him. So it was cool to get another chance.
During BP, I noticed how the seats at the top of the LF upper deck appear to be tucked away under the out of town scoreboard…
…they reminded me of some seats we visited at Rogers Centre last season. I decided we'd have to check out those seats during the game.
Here's a shot of Tim and Alex in deep discussion about the intricacies of peanut cracking…
…see the little bit of dust on the corner of the dugout, those are Tim's peanut shells. He was trying to crack them on the cement because his fingers weren't strong enough to crack them on his own.
Shortly before the game, several Braves came out of the dugout to stretch, run and play catch behind third base. Here is hot shot rookie Jason Heyward…
…Alex came away with that baseball in Heyward's glove.
As the game started, we split away from Joe and Alex and headed toward the kids play area in center field. The Mets have batting cages and a whiffle ball field in CF, but not a playset like at many stadiums. Tim was excited to do some hitting. But on the way out to the whiffle ball field, he asked, "Why isn't Alex coming to watch me hit?" It was pretty funny. I think he remembered that last season, Alex did just that.
The first thing we noticed was that they moved the batting cages from behind the RF wall of the whiffle ball field to behind whiffle ball infield. Before hitting, Tim worked his way across the outfield shagging balls hit by other kids:
Then it was Tim's turn at bat. Here is a video…
Next, it was time to hit the soft toss batting cage…
…that bat is still way too heavy for Tim, but he had fun hitting in the cage nonetheless.
After some hitting, we found our way up to the last row of the upper deck in deep left center field…
…where we watched a couple innings from behind the scoreboard while we ate some chicken nachos…
…and Tim started collecting food on his t-shirt. A lot more would follow those stray cheese drips. By the end of the day it was an impressive "collection."
I was excited to see what this Jason Heyward guy was all about. I ended up photographing all of his at-bats at this game, all from different spots in the stadium. However, he hit the third pitch of this at-bat up the middle for a single…
….before I could clean the cheese from my fingers and get out my camera. So, one Jason Heyward at-bat and one hit. Not too shabby.
While Tim kept piling in the nachos (like his parents, he loves nachos!), I got this picture of David Wright…
…grounding out. And this picture of Larry "Chipper" Jones hitting a foul ball:
After the nachos, we were on the move. We circled the whole stadium looking for an ice cream helmet. We must have missed them because we couldn't find them for a long time.
I took this picture of the big open concourse area above the Jackie Robinson rotunda…
…I took this picture because that "Big Apple Brews" in the middle of the concourse wasn't there last season. Its a new addition this season, one of several at Citi Field.
We finally found ice cream in CF. It was packed and we didn't want to find a place in the sun, we went down under "Shea Bridge" and Tim at his ice cream behind the bullpens.
By the way, last season, the Shea Stadium Home Run apple was stationed right where this table now sits under Shea Bridge. You can *sorta* see the field from behind the bullpens. But there are a couple flat screen TVs on the wall right above the bullpens so we could watch the game while Tim ate his ice cream. We also watched the Braves relief pitchers do some stretching.
Right when we arrived behind the bullpens, Heyward came to the plate…
…so we ran up the stairs and snapped this picture from Shea Bridge of Heyward fouling a pitch straight back (its right on the catcher's right knee). He eventually struck out in this at-bat.
After ice cream, we explored a bit more. We found ourselves in the concourse behind 1B when Heyward came to the plate in the sixth inning. He eventually walked…
….by the way, according to baseball-reference.com, Jason Heyward is 6′ 5″ and Braves first base coach Glenn Hubbard is 5′ 9″.
After watching Heyward walk, we decided to check out another new feature at Citi FIeld, the Mets Hall of Fame in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.
Tim posed with the 1969 and 1986 World Series trophies…
….it was cool to see the 1986 trophy because it was the first World Series that I really followed as a kid. However, I was rooting for the Red Sox who had traded during the 1986 season for two Mariners, Dave Henderson and my at-the-time favorite player, Spike Owen.
Tim also stared down legendary Mets manager, Case Stengel…
…that's a great little statute.
Before heading back up to the field level, we snapped this picture of Tim…
…standing in Jackie Robinson's foot steps.
Finally, we went to the 3B side concourse where we watched the rest of the game from the SRO area behind the seats in (approximately) section 124:
The game was a pitchers dual. In the bottom of the sixth, the Braves were winning 1-0 until Jason Bay hit this RBI double off the wall in left center field…
…scoring Jose Reyes and tying up the game at 1-1.
In the seventh inning, Walla Walla Washington's own (and former Mariner) Eric O'Flaherty entered the game for the Braves….
….he only faced one batter and probably threw over to first as many times as he threw to the plate. Eventually, he retired his only batter of the day, Alex Cora.
In the eighth inning, with the Mets leading by a score of 3-1 (the ultimate final score), Jason Heyward almost grounded into a double play (see the ball bouncing in the dirt to the far left)…
…but he beat the throw to first.
In the 8th inning, neither Jose Reyes nor David Wright could add any insurance runs for the Mets:
We didn't manage to catch a ball during BP. So we were hoping we would get a chance for an umpire ball after the final out of the game. The home plate umpire was Bruce Dreckman.
The only problem is that the Mets ushers religiously check the tickets of all patrons entering the field level seats during the entire game. When it got to the top of the ninth inning (with the home team winning) and they were still checking tickets, I figured it just wasn't in the cards for this game, which was fine because we'd had a great day at the ballpark already.
But then something funny happened, with one out in the top of the ninth, Alex came walking up the stairs to the concourse. He was looking for us and he was armed with a field level ticket for a section right by the umpires tunnel. He flashed his ticket for the usher and we were all admitted to the seats with one out to go in the game. We met up with Joe just a short distance from the umpires tunnel. We had just enough time to say hi to Joe when Martin Prado (in for Chipper Jones who got hurt somehow during the game) grounded out to end the game.
Even before the ground ball reached Jose Reyes, we were standing next to the umpires tunnel. Tim called out to "Bruce!!!" as he exited the field. Dreckman reached out and set a nice rubbed up gamer into Tim's left "Go, Deigo, Go!" glove-clad hand (as shown above, Tim likes to wear these gloves at games because he thinks they are like batting gloves). However, with the thick and slick glove on his hand, his left hand wasn't big enough to palm the ball and he dropped it back into the tunnel. Luckily, another umpire (I think Paul Emmel) saw the whole thing unfold and he picked it up and handed it back to Tim.
Thanks, Mr. Dreckman and (probably) Mr. Emmel! And thanks, Alex, for the assist!
Tim was exited to collect his third umpire ball in as many games this season and he celebrated by balancing it on his head while sitting on the 3B dugout:
(Check out his serious face as he balances the ball on his head).
We hung out with Joe and Alex for a few more minutes behind the dugout before getting in line for Kids Run the Bases. Tim was excited to chat up his guys a little more.
While by the dugout, something funny happened. A teenage guy was behind the dugout with a baseball and he asked for an autograph from every Braves player and coach who walked into the dugout. He was getting no takers. So, eventually, he asked a Mets stadium attendant standing at the top step of the Braves dugout for her autograph. Finally, he had a taker. Then, he jokingly asked every police officer, security guard or random attendant to sign his ball. I didn't see him get any more takers. Eventually, he asked Joe to sign his ball. Then, he asked Tim. So, here you go, Tim's first ever autograph signed for a fan at an MLB game…
Joe helped him hold the ball steady and he wrote a shaky but legible "T-I-M" on the ball. Then for good measure (at the request of the ball's owner), he did a little scribble next to his "signture." Tim got a kick out of the experience.
And just like that it was time for Kids Run the Bases. The line was massively long and it took a long time to get back into the stadium. But as we entered though the bullpen area, we were afforded a special behind the scenes glimpse of the bullpen area:
To the left, that is the Moe's Club right behind the RF wall. There is a restaurant (at least it looked like one) behind this seating area. To the right, that is the little room where the relief pitchers sit in the Mets bullpen.
I got a couple pictures before (right) and after (left) Tim ran the bases…
…but I didn't get any running the bases pictures because I was too busy running the bases behind Tim filming this high speed video clip of Tim:
I also enjoy it when I am allowed to "chaperone" Tim around the bases — something I have now been allowed to do at Citi Field, Rogers Centre, Miller Park and Progressive Field.
After running the Citi Field bases, we headed out to the parking lot and Tim ran the Shea Stadium bases:
Although we attended a game in 2008 when Shea and Citi were right next to each other, I was still amazed at how close the Shea Stadium base placques were to Citi Field.
Finally, we got a picture with the Shea Stadium home run apple…
…and called it a day. We hopped the 7-train back to Manhattan, picked up some pepperoni pizza and garlic knots, and drove home. After leaving the house at 8:00 a.m. in the morning, we arrived home at about 9:00 p.m….thirteen hours well spent on another father-son baseball adventure.
2010 Fan Stats:
3 Games
6 Teams (Orioles and Blue Jays; Braves, Mets, Brewers and Nationals)
3 Ice Cream Helmets (Orioles, Mets, & Nationals)
11 Baseballs (3 Brewers, 3 Nationals, 2 Blue Jays, 3 Umpires)
3 Stadiums (Camden Yards, Nationals Park, Citi Field)
2 Player Photos (Jeff Suppan and Scott Olsen)
2 Autographs (Jeff Suppan and Scott Olsen)
2 Kids Run The Bases (Nationals Park, Citi Field)


text:
Saturday 25 July 2015
Little Shop of Horrors
Jul 25th 7:30pm
Coaster Theatre PlayhouseWebsite
Little Shop of Horrors – music by Alan Menken, lyrics & book by Howard Ashman
The meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he names "Audrey II" – after his coworker crush. This foul-mouthed carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the down and out Krelborn as long as he keeps feeding it, BLOOD. Over time, though, Seymour discovers Audrey II's out of this world origins and intent towards global domination!
Performance Schedule:
July: 11,15,17,23,25,29,31
August: 5,7,9,13,15,19,21,23,27,29
September: 2,4,6
All performances at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket Prices:
$18 or $23
Box office; 503-436-1242


text:
Concerns about slowing domestic growth should move the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to deliver an interest rate cut in time for Christmas.
The RBA board meets on Tuesday (December 4) for its last monthly rate decision until February next year, and an AAP survey of 15 economists shows that most expect a cut of 0.25 percentage points.
At its last board meeting on November 6, the RBA kept the cash rate unchanged at 3.25 per cent.
But data since, showing a slowdown in planned mining activity, plus continued weakness in the housing, manufacturing and retail sectors, are likely to push the central bank over the line, economists say.
The RBA cut the cash rate in May, June and October, but it appears the effect of this easing is only starting to be felt in the economy.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2018


text:
Coastal Bend College
Coastal Bend College is a comprehensive public community college serving the South Texas area. It is a student-centered institution committed to the highest integrity and to the development of an educational culture that supports creativity encourages professional development and promotes excellence in all areas.
School Information3800 Charco Rd
Beeville, Texas 78102
Calendar: Semester
Locale: Town: Remote
Open Admissions: Yes
Sector: Public, 2-year
Carnegie Basic: Associate's--Public Rural-serving Medium
Religious Affiliation: Not applicable
Accrediting Agency: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Common name(s): CBC
Locale: Town: Remote
Open Admissions: Yes
Sector: Public, 2-year
Carnegie Basic: Associate's--Public Rural-serving Medium
Religious Affiliation: Not applicable
Accrediting Agency: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Common name(s): CBC
Students & Faculty
Total Students
Male Students
Female Students
Total Intl Students
Intl Female Students
* All data is provided by the school or compiled from IPEDS as of May 2013
Total Tuition $10,706.00
Degrees & Programs
|Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping
|Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General
|Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician
|Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations, General
|Art History, Criticism and Conservation
|Art Teacher Education
|Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician
|Biology/Biological Sciences, General
|Business Administration and Management, General
|Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other
|Business/Office Automation/Technology/Data Entry
|Chemistry, General
|Child Care Provider/Assistant
|Child Development
|Commercial and Advertising Art
|Computer and Information Sciences, General
|Computer Programming/Programmer, General
|Computer Science
|Construction Engineering Technology/Technician
|Construction Trades, Other
|Cosmetology, Barber/Styling, and Nail Instructor
|Cosmetology/Cosmetologist, General
|Criminal Justice/Police Science
|Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
|Data Processing and Data Processing Technology/Technician
|Dental Hygiene/Hygienist
|Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General
|Early Childhood Education and Teaching
|Electrical and Power Transmission Installation/Installer, General
|Electrical/Electronics Equipment Installation and Repair, General
|Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic)
|Engineering, General
|English Language and Literature, General
|Fine/Studio Arts, General
|Forensic Science and Technology
|General Office Occupations and Clerical Services
|Geology/Earth Science, General
|Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician
|Health/Health Care Administration/Management
|Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/
|History, General
|Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management
|Housing and Human Environments, General
|Kindergarten/Preschool Education and Teaching
|Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, Other
|Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
|Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training
|Machine Tool Technology/Machinist
|Mathematics, General
|Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary
|Medical Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiation Therapist
|Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other
|Music Performance, General
|Music Teacher Education
|Nail Technician/Specialist and Manicurist
|Petroleum Technology/Technician
|Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
|Physical Sciences
|Political Science and Government, General
|Pre-Dentistry Studies
|Pre-Law Studies
|Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies
|Pre-Physical Therapy Studies
|Pre-Veterinary Studies
|Psychology, General
|Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiographer
|Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse
|Rhetoric and Composition
|Secondary Education and Teaching
|Social Work
|Speech Communication and Rhetoric
|Water Quality and Wastewater Treatment Management and Recycling Technology/Techn
|Welding Technology/Welder


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The quality and focus of these submissions vary considerably. With the exception of those submissions selected as winners or finalists, these documents are unedited and are reproduced in the condition in which they were submitted. They may nevertheless contain useful information or may report innovative projects.
Allapatah Produce Market Power Play (Resubmission) [Goldstein Award Finalist], Miami Police Department, 2002
ATM Robbery: Creating a Safer Environment, West Midlands Police (UK), 2004
Auto Theft Project, Washington State Patrol, 2002
B.A.N.D.: Burnley Against Night-time Disorder [Tilley Award Winner], Lancashire Constabulary, 2002
Be Safe Bolton Strategic Partnership, Greater Manchester Police (Manchester, UK), 2008
BIG Attack on Graffiti, Lincoln Business Improvement Group (Lincoln, UK), 2008
Burglary of Motor Vehicle (BMV) Detail, Arlington Police Department, 2009
COPS / Business Partnership Academy, Ontario Police Department, 1997
Eastern Midlothian Business Corridor Community Policing, Chesterfield County Police Department (VA, US), 2000
Electric Avenue [Goldstein Award Winner], Calgary Police Service, 1994
Glitter Track Project [Goldstein Award Finalist], San Diego Police Department, 1994
Harbor Plaza [Goldstein Award Winner], Santa Ana Police Department, 1993
Home Depot Project, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, 2003
Intersecting Solutions [Goldstein Award Finalist], Vancouver Police Department, 1999
Inverness Thumbprint Signature Scheme, Northern Constabulary (Inverness, Scotland, UK), 2002
Mario's Market Project, Delray Police Department, 1996
North Tryon Street Corridor Commercial Burglaries, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, 2000
Oakland Airport Motel Program [Goldstein Award Winner], Oakland Police Department, 2003
Operation Abingdon [Goldstein Award Finalist], Lancashire Constabulary, 2007
Operation Kensington [Goldstein Award Finalist], Hampshire Constabulary, 2007
Operation Safe Clubs: Enforcement and Situational Problem-Oriented Policing [Goldstein Award Finalist], Miami Police Department (FL, US), 2011
Operation Spotlight [Goldstein Award Finalist], Arlington Police Department, 2008
Operation TARGET, Lancashire Constabulary, 2005
Policing Boise's Downtown Entertainment District, Boise Police Department, 2008
Pikes Peak Retail Security Association, Colorado Springs Police Department, 2003
Police Actively Listening Project, Hampton Police Division (Hampton, VA, US), 1995
Preventing Theft from Auto [Goldstein Award Finalist], Edmonton Police Service, 1994
Problem Oriented Policing Working in Partnership to Create a Safer Holiday Environment [Tilley Award Finalist], Avon and Somerset Constabulary (Bristol, UK), 1999
Project Centurion [Goldstein Award Winner], Isle of Man Constabulary, 2005
Public Safety in Downtown Business District, Springfield Police Department (Springfield, OR, US), 1998
Reclaiming the 'Street of Shame': A Problem Oriented Solution to Vancouver's Entertainment District, Vancouver Police Department, 2009
Reducing Crime and Disorder in the City of Wells, Somerset, Avon and Somerset Constabulary (Bristol, UK), 2001
Reducing Crime and Disorder at Hotels and Motels in Chula Vista, California [Goldstein Award Winner], Chula Vista Police Department, 2009
Safe and Secure, Twenty Four Seven [Tilley Award Winner], Staffordshire Police Department (Staffordshire, UK), 2004
Safer Travel at Night Campaign [Goldstein Award Winner], Transport for London, 2006
Safer Swansea: Call Time on Violent Crime, South Wales Police (South Wales, UK), 2008
Safe Zone Initiative, Minneapolis Police Department, 2007
Stemmons Corridor Service Delivery Project, Dallas Police Department, 1999
The 501 Blues, La Fripe International Project, San Diego Police Department, 1996
The B&Q Initiative, Lancashire Constabulary, 2000
Theft Reduction Action Program, Mesa Police Department, 2000
Theft Reduction Auto Program (TRAP), Glendale Police Department (Glendale, AZ, US), 1997
The Barrow Temperance Project [Goldstein Award Winner], North Slope Borough Department of Public Safety (North Slope, AK, US), 1995
The Elite Arcade: Taming a Crime Generator [Goldstein Award Finalist], Delta Police Department (BC, CA), 1997
The Klondiker Hotel Project: Hotels, Crime, and Problem-Solving on the Beat [Goldstein Award Finalist], Edmonton Police Service, 1995
The Transient Enrichment Network (TEN-4) [Goldstein Award Finalist], Fontana Police Department, 1998
Top Ten Percent, Tucson Police Department, 2006
Transient Problems at Clairemont Square Mall, San Diego Police Department, 2001
TOPS: Tourist Oriented Policing, Jackson Police Department, 2007
Trolley Safe [Goldstein Award Finalist], Warwickshire Police (Warwickshire, UK), 2009
Uxbridge Business Against Crime, London Metropolitan Police Service, 2008
Varda Car, San Diego Police Department, 1995
You may order free bound copies in any of three ways:
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Six BHS musicians earn All-Northwest honors
Six Blackfoot High School (BHS) qualified for All-Northwest. This designation honors outstanding music students from Alaska, idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The 2013 NAtME All-Northwest takes place Feb. 14-17 in Portland, Ore.
The Blackfoot students who qualified are singers Ashley Anderson, Miranda Day, Lillie Wright and Evan Peterson. Participating with the band are Gabe Wistisen, French horn and Dylan Neff, bassoon.
Anderson and Day are sopranos and will sing in the Treble Choir. Wright is an alto; Peterson is a bass. They will perform in the Mixed Choir.
"This is my fourth year attending All-Northwest or All-State," said Anderson. "I love meeting new people and learning new music."
"I like the fact everyone is so focused," said Day. "Beautiful sounds come from such intensity."
"I tried out for All-Northwest because I really like to sing," said Peterson. "Everyone has a common goal—to sing well. When we accomplish that goal, it feels good.
"I want to do this the rest of my life," he said.
Lillie Wright was unavailable.
French horn player Wistisen likes the experience of playing with more elite bands.
"We accomplish more and meet more people," he said.
"Honor bands are a good experience," said bassoonist Neff. "It helps my playing a lot. Last year's All-state was an awesome experience."
All-State and All-Northwest are scheduled on alternate years.
BHS choir director Andrew Hames will accompany the Blackfoot students to the conference.
"Probably 5,000 students auditioned [for All-Northwest]; 150 were selected from Idaho," said Hames.
"They bring in top notch directors," he said. [Blackfoot students] will be with 300 other people [in various groups].
"In these focused ensembles, they will accomplish magic in three days," said Hames.
"I grew up in Alaska and qualified for All-Northwest," he said. "That year, Dr. [Scott] Anderson from ISU was the conductor.
"Because I met Dr. Anderson, I came to Pocatello to attend college," he said. "I met my wife and we moved to Blackfoot with our family.
"My All-Northwest experience was life-changing," said Hames.


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Since it is soon valentine, I did this emotional piano ballad. With its military drums, beautiful strings and of course the amazing piano, this valentine soundtrack can fit in any emotional love story.
Includes high quality MP3 & WAV files.
It would really mean alot if you could rate this track if you decided to buy it.
Thanks Joshua & Mat for putting this track in your collections <3


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What if you could improve the infrastructure on the electric grid to make it smarter? In 2008, Xcel Energy embarked on an ambitious pilot program designed to do just that in Boulder. Called SmartGridCity, the program was intended to add digital tracking capabilities to the existing electric grid, making it possible for the utility company to remotely monitor power usage across the grid, and for residents to monitor their energy use in real time.
Xcel estimated the grid would cost around $100 million. The company expected to pay about $15 million of that, hoping that interested companies would cover the rest.
Since Xcel considered SmartGridCity to be a pilot program for the entire state, not just Boulder, the utility's share of the costs was covered by a slight rate increase for all of Xcel's Colorado ratepayers.
But a few years into the project, Xcel's portion of the project grew from $15 million to $44.5 million. Xcel recently declared the project finished and is looking to recover its cost overruns. Xcel asked the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for permission to raise rates again to cover the rest of the utility's expenses. The PUC gave Xcel permission to recover all but $16.5 million, and noted that after Xcel addressed some PUC commissioners' concerns, Xcel would be allowed to recover the rest of the costs. Xcel says it has answered those questions and is awaiting a decision from the PUC, according to Xcel spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo.
But now that Boulder residents approved ballot measures to move the city towards exploring municipalizing the electric utility, the future of Xcel's Smart Grid infrastructure investments lays in limbo.
In the next few months, the city will examine all the components of Xcel's grid that would need to be condemned and acquired as part of the municipalization process, including the components of SmartGridCity.
One of the components the city will have to evaluate is the 200 miles of fiber-optic cable Xcel spent roughly $20 million installing. The cable was intended to help the SmartGridCity instruments send data back to Xcel. There is a chance, says Jonathan Koehn, the city's regional sustainability coordinator, that the city might not choose to condemn the fiber-optic cable, or that the city might condemn the fiber-optic cable but use it for something other than transmitting utility data.
"There are certainly other applications for a fiber backbone. Other communications, other options besides just transmitting utility data," Koehn says. "We want to explore not just is the technology available and useful for, like I said, transmitting customer data on energy use, but are there other applications that we would consider? In which case, we may consider acquiring those portions of the system."
As part of the SmartGridCity initiative, Xcel installed monitoring devices on 4,500 transformers and four substations that serve Boulder and installed 23,000 "smart meters" in Boulder, Aguayo says. The old meters recorded electricity use only once a month, providing Xcel with just 12 points of data per meter per year, but the meters Xcel installed as part of SmartGridCity take readings once every 15 minutes, which comes out to thousands of readings per meter per year. In addition to the $20 million the utility spent on fiber optics, Xcel also spent millions of dollars on data management and software that could interpret the raw data and turn it into a useful form, says Leslie Glustrom of Clean Energy Action, a nonprofit dedicated to clean-energy issues.
Glustrom criticizes the entire system, saying the meters Xcel installed on Boulder homes were out-of-date, and that the fiber-optic system was overkill and unnecessary. She says Xcel blundered when they chose the meters, made by Landis & Gyr, to install on Boulder homes.
"These meters were absolutely not the most current models," Glustrom says. "They couldn't be upgraded remotely. … So whenever Xcel wanted to upgrade them, they would have to send someone out."
Steve Pomerance, a former Boulder city council member, says the meters only allow Xcel to get specific energy readings throughout the day. They cannot actually alter energy use, Pomerance says.
"It was known at the time that these meters were obsolescent," Pomerance says. "These meters had no value in terms of actually managing energy. All they could do was time-of-day metering."
It wasn't just the meters that were out-of-date, Pomerance says, it was the whole system — the meters, the fiber-optic network installed to transfer metering data back to Xcel, and the software Xcel purchased to analyze said data and convert it into data digestible for consumers.
"The whole system is out of date. As far as I know, nobody is using this kind of system anymore," Pomerance says. "Dedicated fiber optics — nobody's doing it. Everybody is doing it over the Internet, wirelessly."
Indeed, Xcel is now running a small pilot program using different monitoring equipment (manufactured by EnergyHub) that doesn't connect to the fiber-optic network at all. Instead, all information exchanged between the meter and Xcel is transmitted through the home's wireless network. In an FAQ distributed to the participants in the pilot program, one of the questions asks if customers will be able to monitor and control the EnergyHub device from the Xcel Energy My Account portal, the online portal that allowed customers to access the data collected using the fiber-optic network. Xcel gives a terse answer: "No."
As Boulder moves forward and explores the municipalization process, the city will have to decide whether the SmartGridCity components are worth acquiring from Xcel. Koehn says that might not include the Smart Grid components, and the city might not agree with Xcel over how much the components are actually worth.
"That's one of the possibilities, that we could really parse out the components of the Smart Grid system that really have value to the consumer, versus those that have the biggest benefit to the utility," Koehn says.
"It's easy [for Xcel] to say that they have cost overruns of $44.5 million; that does not correlate to the value of the equipment," he says.
The city has yet to really dig deeply into the condemnation process — Boulder only recently retained lawyers to help with the process — and, pending further investigation, the city has assessed a value of zero to the Smart Grid.
"We are rolling up our shirt sleeves and valuing each aspect of what Xcel has in place right now. … We are in the process of starting to figure out the steps we will take to value all of their assets, including the existing components of the Smart Grid," says city spokeswoman Sarah Huntley.
Respond: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Suffolk University has given a high priority to creating a truly multicultural, multiracial, gender-balanced community receptive to cultural diversity. The future vitality of Suffolk and other urban universities depends on their ability to be responsive to and provide a welcoming climate for people of many cultures.
As part of Suffolk's efforts to reach this goal, the University strives to create and actively promote a welcoming and supportive environment in order to recruit, hire, retain and support a culturally diverse faculty and staff. University policies and procedures concerning faculty and employees' development are structured to encourage such diversity. Likewise, the University strives to actively recruit and retain a widely diverse student body. Faculty and employees are encouraged to actively promote such diversity and such welcoming environment for all. Efforts to achieve those goals will be favorably considered in evaluations.
The University is also committed to creating and maintaining educational curricula in each of its schools that incorporate the values of a multicultural and diverse community and that reflect the pluralism of the United States and the world society. This commitment is congruent with the University's stated mission to prepare and education men and women to be future leaders and citizens who can function effectively in an evolving, pluralistic and increasing diverse society
The University further seeks to ensure that student support services, academic support services and co-curricular programs at Suffolk University are sufficiently diverse to meet the needs of a multicultural student body. Alumni activities and community networks will also be utilized to promote the goals of diversity.


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Star power. A stellar shawl maps out the constellations.
Finished measurements:
46" / 117 cm diameter
Yarn: 3 skeins Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction (400 yd / 366 m per 4 oz / 113 g skein; 50% Merino, 50% Tencel) in Haida
Needles & Notions:
Size 4 US / 3.5 mm: • needles in preferred style for small circumference knitting in the round • circular needle 24" / 60 cm long • circular needle 40" / 100 cm long 0.75 mm crochet hook for beading, eight stitch markers, 370 size 6/0 silver-lined crystal seed beads
Gauge: 22 stitches and 28 rows = 4" / 10 cm in Stockinette stitch Getting exact gauge is not critical. It is more important to get the row gauge than the stitch gauge. To save time and to ensure accurate sizing, check gauge.
Construction Notes: This circular shawl is worked from the center out, with shaping in concentric rings. Beads are placed with a crochet hook as needed. The eyelet pattern is given in chart form only.
This is a pdf download, not a mailed pattern. An email with a link to download will be sent to the same email used for your paypal account. These links expire after 3 downloads or 100 hours (whichever comes first).
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The great thing about democracy is the ability to vote, but its always between two douchebags, so even that is flawed.
well two douchebags is better than one..or fifteen..i think its france that has a party for..everything.
when I grow up!
red3finition wrote:
FatedEmperor wrote:
Also, the US is too seperated with its 50 states things, each ones with different laws.
yea but by allowing the states to run themselves under the federal government allows flexibilty within the country. i dont mean to sound like im so pro american but i am a fan of federalism and i think its one of the reasons the US is a success. it allows to "cater to many different interests" as some of you have said.
oh yeah??? than explain the civil war and the states fighting each other =p
Watching Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.
the civil war was said to have been fought over slavery..true but not the only reason. it had to happen. the southern states, though given the power to run their respective states, did not like having the federal government above them. they were pro articles of confederation..which basically divided the states into individual...areas tied together by a loose connection, without the ability to raise an army and levy taxes. i think the civil war was necessary to hammer down the constitution and federalism. what can i say. sometimes, conflict just gets out of hand. at least it didnt turn into a government overthrow.
when I grow up!
^^Before the Civil War, the federal government did not have as much power as they did today. That's why the South thought they could actually break apart from the Union.
^^^"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. …God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure" wrote Thomas Jefferson after Shay's Rebellion (Massuchesetts farmer leads an uprising against unfair US taxes).
After that the US wrote its Constitution.
I'm not saying that I support violence or civil war, but sometimes a little conflict is needed before any resolution is made.
omg busy interning in NYC!
^hahaha. besides its not like the civil war was illegal. its in the constitution..if you arent satisfied with the government you have the right to try and overthrow, then establish a new one. its just that not everyone hated the union.
further increses the need of a brilliant document, such as the Constitution, to make democracy possible.
when I grow up!
cbisram wrote:
I have an inquiry as to whether Democracy (as is defined in North America) is the best political governanace system that humankind can offer the world. Can this form of Democracy be applied in the Middle East, China, or North Korea? What say you?
No this kind of Democracy cannot be applied to Middle East, China, or North Korea for various reasons. A few of the key issues making it impossible is the culture, religion, and the society's view on how they want to govern their own country.
red3finition wrote:
^hahaha. besides its not like the civil war was illegal. its in the constitution..if you arent satisfied with the government you have the right to try and overthrow, then establish a new one. its just that not everyone hated the union.
further increses the need of a brilliant document, such as the Constitution, to make democracy possible.
I dont think anywhere in the constitution allows you to overthrow it. Any acts to overthrow it is a crime.
Democracy is not a perfect system as with all other systems on the planet, that is because people are constantly changing and the times are changing with it. Therefore, the system itself has to change and will constantly do so. Perhaps some time in the far future there may not even be a system, and we will have all reverted back to reckless abandonment due to some unforeseen catastrophe.
The future holds many possibilities, and it is through evolution that this will happen.
Edward ScissorHands!!! ... ... ... ... you rang? џ(ºДºџ)


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Your inner Cookie Monster is calling. Satisfy that craving before it turns into an inner Underpants Leprechaun. Nom nom nom. Halloween looks to be a scary one for you. But before you go around crying, "Ooooh, I want my mummy! I want my mummy!" think about this: You want more lovin', right? Well, if you run around like a scaredy cat, you will, to quoth the raven, "Neverscore." A little word of advice; vampires are evil, hypnotic people who will emerge in the night and drain you. Sounds like someone you used to date. You need to be careful because you may have closed the metaphoric coffin lid on a relationship, only to find that this person will rise from the graveyard of your heart to worm their way back into your life. One word of advice from "Buffy The Vampire Slayer": A vampire can only come in if you invite them. Warning: You've locked the doors and bolted the gate, but what of the chimney?
Failure to act quickly will result in some mysterious pink slime escaping from your bathroom and wreaking havoc downtown. Again. A black cat will follow you around this month. There's nothing sinister behind this; you just smell of fish. Do not, under any circumstances, accept that dare to spend a night in the haunted house. You won't be killed by evil poltergeists, but you will fall down the stairs and break your legs. Also, the decor is from the 70s and will blow what's left of your mind. Tuesday will be a bad day for you. You're going to slip on a banana peel and end up in a coma for roughly a month. You'll wake up in a dimly lit hospital room, only to find that there is no one else around! You walk outside trying to figure stuff out when you realize that the whole town is overrun by zombies. Hope you're handy with a baseball bat or a shotgun! Maybe we can all meet up in an abandoned mall or something. Text me!
Saturn is out on vacation, so that means family troubles in your future. A parent might ask you to come home, on account of one of your siblings isn't feeling that well. They have a raspy voice, projectile vomit, their head can spin 360 degrees and they're all about the crab walk. Swine Flu? Probably. It's best that you be supportive in their time of need. And maybe call a doctor or a priest. Your crush, whom you didn't know even noticed you and you thought possibly resented you, is going to ask you to a dance! Given your hot tempered nature, you're likely to be angered quickly if your plans don't work out as well as you'd hoped. Try not to use your festering rage to murder a room full of people with your mind, as this is a common Aries trait. Just think of the poor cleaner who has to mop up the blood afterwards and wear a red dress so that the pig blood they're going to throw over you doesn't show.
Fearless Taurus, do you suddenly feel like you're being watched? Are you paranoid?! Not so fearless anymore, are you?! Trickster Mercury short-circuits your mental wiring Halloween weekend, and unlike the bullheaded Taurus we know and love, you're now shivering with fright at things going bump in the night. If you make it to Halloween night without going berserk, you still risk the horror of falling in love with some deranged monster or serial killer as your crazed Venus-square-Neptune fantasies generate a foolish desire for demons. You face your face your worst fear this weekend when friends don't "get" your over-the-top Halloween costume. Your best friend dared you to take a chance, but you took it too far and offended someone; or even worse, confused or bored them to death. Now you're lashing out for attention, which is more scary than one of those little ghost children in a B-rated horror flick. Come Halloween Night, your temper tantrums will begin to subside, but the situation is still grave as your bruised ego compels you to chase after any ol' monster who will pay you some attention. Trust. No. One.
Next week is a good time to do good deeds. Uranus will influence you to adopt a lonely gargoyle, but don't expect to housebreak it. Horror is in the eye of the beholder, whether that eye be bloodshot and yellow, peering at you from the shadows of the night, or whether the eye is a horrible dismembered giant radioactive eye. What is truly scary? A werewolf? A werewolf is not so much a horrible half-man half-beast as a chronic undershaver. A headless horseman is just the victim of a particularly bad hair day. In much the same way, you can find the brighter side of anything that comes your way, no matter how horrific or annoying. This is one of your better traits; since this month is going to be, shall we say, interesting for you... I will refrain for once from listing your worse ones. Warning: If, when you pull at the face of that monster, the mask doesn't come off, it's not your neighbour dressed up but an actual monster. Run.
A spooky stranger will attempt to scare you away from your favourite bar. Thwart that evildoer with an epic Scooby Doo-like reveal, and save the day. On Halloween night, it's better that you dress up in a costume and go to a bar rather than stay home. The neighbourhood children will avoid your residence anyway, as they are frightened of that terrifying monster that opened the door last year; in other words, you in the throes of PMS and a bad hangover. It's full moon soon, so you will be out every night in any case, howling at the moon and tearing up a victim or two. Here's some free advice; wear dark clothes, as blood is hell to wash out of pastels, and avoid silver. Halloween sweets do not count as calories, so feel free to buy a ton of them and eat them all. However, stealing sweets from trick or treating children will mean that the calories will double. Tip: Next time you see a horror movie, pay attention. When someone says a place is haunted, don't go in.
You will be plagued by recurring nightmares next week about clowns who drink herbal tea and read "Twilight" novels out loud. *shudders* Zombies are pretty well-known for trying to suck the brains out of people's heads, just like geography teachers and traffic wardens. You escape a horrific fate worse than death, if you can steer clear of boring people at parties. Try acting more like a Cancer, but less psychotic. Warning; do not sit next to that normal looking guy at lunch. He may look a better prospect than the werewolf, but the normal looking guy is in fact part of the Borg and will attempt to assimilate you. Your low IQ will cause the Borg to commit collective suicide, so it is better for all concerned that you do not become part of it. Tip: Wearing a mask with your Halloween costume is a good idea, despite the fact that your actual face is more scary.
Scary is relative, and we don't just mean your crazy relatives who threaten to come visit for six weeks, but rather the idea that whereas a movie with monsters made out of cardboard boxes and paper mache may have been the scariest thing you'd ever seen when you were eight, it now looks like crap. You must get over your initial fears of a new project or relationship; although it seems insurmountable now, if you stick with it, you will eventually be able to overcome it. Just don't celebrate by singing; you don't want to frighten people to death. This week you'll find that you attract more flies with honey than even dead zombie flesh, and being inherently nice to the opposite sex will make them flock to you like vultures to a skeleton. If you already have a man in your life, now is the time to guilt him into spoiling you rotten. Your practical streak and need to over-plan puts a crimp on Saturday's Halloween parties, and your behavior is so stodgy you even horrify yourself. Vow to change, and soon.
Fair Libra, you waste scary amounts of energy this weekend trying to take on more frightening fun than you can handle. Scale down your grand plans for Saturday night and prepare instead for the horror that awaits on Sunday when a trusted friend reveals your darkest secret to the world. Will you remain calm and balanced when this happens, or will you freak out and finally show your dark side this Halloween night?! Next week, the moons of Jupiter align in the seventh house as your constellation is eclipsed by the sun. Translated roughly, this means vampires. So stock up on garlic, lock yourself in the bathroom, and invest in some Anne Rice novels. They won't give you any good advice, but they will make your paranoia a bit more intellectually stimulating. Beware of things that go bump in the night, whether they be ghouls or stray mice. Sweet dreams, Libra.
The stars will align next week in your favor. You can finally look forward to some fun and folly before the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Maybe having toast for breakfast everyday is a bad idea. Mix it up from time to time to avoid the toaster rebelling. Apply this throughout your life or many bad things will happen to you. A witch has moved in down the street; it might be a good idea to take her a fruit basket so that she won't put any bad spells on you. Like those who reside in Midsomer, you are doomed to become either a murderer or be murdered; it might be an idea to grab a gun and take the initiative. Avoid clown dolls this Halloween and unplug the TV. You may wish to end up on TV, but not in TV, amirite? Besides, watching static late at night will do horrible things to your brain. Resist the temptation to go down to the cellar and check out the Indian burial ground; they don't want someone as stupid as you to disturb them.
People will keep insisting they see you in places you have not been, leading you to suspect you have a Doppelganger. Again. Did someone say "Halloween party?" The Moon's in your sign on Saturday night and you're costumed up and ready to go. Some might say you're too ready, in fact, as your zombie drinking buddies tempt you to over indulge and wake Sunday with a horrific hangover. Shake off the evils of embarrassment and get moving again, because you're in charge come fright night. Most others are out of whack today and need you to set the Trick-or-Treating pace. Bold action is expected of you. Whose house are you going to TP? I would not recommend TPing the house of a Cancer or Scorpio, as they will wreak a terrible revenge on you that would have Ted Bundy shaking in his boots and give you nightmares for many months to come. Warning: Those knocks you can hear at night are not the house settling.
Things will be relatively calm for you next week, except for that one small incident with the shape-shifting demons on Monday. No biggie. A few of your friends are going to invite you to go to a cabin in the woods with them. Forest bonding! One of your friends even gives you a present; not the crate of beer you were hoping from, but instead, a book bound in skin (uh… thanks guys?). Careful when you read from it tho, the trees might start getting all cranky and touchy feely. Remember to stay close to your buddies and don't forget to bring some marshmallows! It's probably best to remain in the cabin and not answer the door, especially to any weirdos wearing leather masks. When you go trick or treating, don't forget to wear your costume. Remember last year, when the neighbours called the police cuz they thought a serial killer had showed up at their door? Tip: If that nasty woman down the road won't give you any sweets, steal the milk off her doorstep.