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There will be no rocking chair for Robert Guerra, who has come out of retirement to become president and chief strategy officer of Unissant, a small business IT contractor.
Guerra is best known for the consulting and board work he has done in recent years helping many companies manage their growth and success in the federal market.
In fact, his work with Unissant started off as a consulting job. Guerra also had retired after one of the companies he worked with as board member, Agilex, was sold.
"My biggest failure is retirement," he joked in an email.
Guerra said he was partially retired when he began consulting with Unissant and its chairman and CEO Manish Malhotra.
He helped develop a plan for the company to exit the small business arena by tripling in size over the next three to five years. "Small businesses that do not properly prepare for that transition (from small to full-and-open competition) often fail in the long run," he said.
As they developed their strategy, Malhortra and Guerra decided that he needed to take on a more structured and defined role. So, Guerra has gone from semi-retired to fully employed.
"I will take on all operational responsibilities for the company's growth, process discipline and leadership," he said.
"We're thrilled to have Rob Guerra join Unissant in this critical leadership role as we embrace the next phase of our evolution," Malhotra said in a press release.
The strategy Malhotra and Guerra have developed starts with an emphasis on opportunity identification, and qualification of opportunities fitting the company's main competencies such as data analytics, agile engineering and management consulting.
To drive growth, they are bringing on senior business development and capture leaders, Guerra said.
Next up is to address the company's overall organization and operations infrastructure, he said.
Guerra said he has been involved in several startups and one company turnaround during his career. Unissant is neither.
"Unissant is a solid company," Guerra said. "Manish is a very bright, imaginative leader and we really seem to have found common ground in complimenting one another's skills."
Before Unissant, Guerra was most recently a founding board member of Agilex, which was sold to Accenture last year. He also has been executive vice president of Sysorex Information systems, a vice president at Falcon Micro Systems and was president of Everex Federal Systems.
In addition to his work at individual companies, Guerra is probably as well known for his work in the government IT community, including founding the Industry Advisory Council and the Bethesda, Md./NIH chapter of AFCEA, where he current serves on the board.
He also has chaired the NIH Children's Inn Gala, which has raised $2.8 million to support families and children who stay at the inn while undergoing treatment at NIH. Other community work includes serving on the board of the Loudoun Abused Women's Shelter.
Guerra has won six Federal 100 awards given by our sister publication FCW. He holds the record for most wins by a private sector executive.
Posted by Nick Wakeman on May 09, 2016 at 10:20 AM
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Jim Ridgell founded the Industry Advisory Council in 1989.
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power store 3 responsive
I have Power Store 3. I have a new customer who wants a mobile responsive cart. What is the fastest way for me to make Power Store 3 mobile responsive?
I have Power Store 3. I have a new customer who wants a mobile responsive cart. What is the fastest way for me to make Power Store 3 mobile responsive?
Which powerstore design are you planning on using? I can probably give you a responsive update for it.
I am flexible as we will be making additional css customizations to the pages. Currently you can see what we have at www.1to1ecart.com. Are there any updates for the CMS also?
Can I get FTP access in the private area? I'll upload a responsive update for you.
I've updated your site to be responsive and mobile friendly.
Thank you Ray, the cart looks much better! I did notice there are two slashes at the top of the pages. I was able to easily fix that as they were just in front of the meta "//<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">". Was your intention to comment that line out, or should I just delete them? I deleted them for now,
Just delete them, that must have been a typo I made and they can just be removed.
Ray, can you check the menu on the index page only please? When the menu is expanded the menu selections are not displayed, just a white area. The other pages mapped to the main.dwt.php template seem to be working fine.
The responsive.css file was above the menu.css file, which meant it wasn't overwriting the menu styles properly. I moved it lower on the page and it is working properly now.
Your friends over here at WebAssist! These Dreamweaver extensions will assist you in building unlimited, custom websites.
These out-of-the-box solutions provide you proven, tested applications that can be up and running now. Build a store, a gallery, or a web-based email solution.

subset: commoncrawl


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About twenty-five years ago, I tried to buy a used Honda Civic.
The only loans available to me had astronomical interest rates, so I was stuck without a reliable car and had to buy something with cash.
Then, when I tried to buy my first home, I had a hard time getting a mortgage with a reasonable interest rate.
Because I was oblivious to the fact that I had bad credit.
Later, I checked my credit report and found an unpaid medical bill that I didn't even know about. That alone tanked my score by 200 points.
In my 20s, I was cavalier about paying back my student loans. That is, I avoided the bills. Another knock on my score.
Since then, I've gotten wise to the system. I was eventually able to get the money to start this website.
Had I understood how credit scores work in the first place, it would have made life a lot easier—and less expensive.
Here's the rundown on how to fix your credit score
Your credit score is the number that helps lenders decide whether to give you a loan and the interest rate you will be charged on it.
Scores range from about 300 to 850. Over 750 is considered excellent. Below 600 is considered poor.
The higher your number, the lower your interest rate. With a poor credit score, you are likely to be denied a loan or charged exorbitant rates.
Wallowing at the lower end, I wasn't alone. According to credit rating agency FICO, 20% of Americans have credit scores below 600.
Credit scores affect everything from car insurance to rental leases to job applications.
Yet many people don't learn about this until they need to get a mortgage or a business loan.
By then, they may be in their 30s or 40s and burdened with a poor score.
Americans are shockingly uninformed about personal finance and credit — most receive no formal financial education, which negatively affects their credit score.
Only 17 states require high school students to take a course on personal finance. Just 20 mandate basic economics.
The National Endowment for Financial Education has found that students from states that teach personal finance are less likely to max out credit cards or make late payments. They also have better credit scores.
This lack of education in school hurts consumers when they reach adulthood.
A 2016 survey by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found that only 37% of Americans are financially literate, based on responses to five basic questions.
Many people don't know the terms of their mortgage or the interest rates on their loans.
Bad credit will hit your wallet in a number of areas of your life:
- You pay more every time you need a loan or take out auto or life insurance.
- You pay higher interest rates on credit cards.
- Utility companies and landlords check credit history too and might deny or raise the cost of their service.
- Some companies check credit ratings when making hiring decisions.
- In the case of an emergency, a poor credit rating might impede your ability to get necessary funds.
According to a 2015 report by Pew Charitable Trusts, 60% of American households experienced a financial shock in the past 12 months.
If you need to access to quick funds—at reasonable interest rates—you want to have a good credit score.
A good credit score puts money in your pocket; the variation in interest rates can make a big difference as to how much cash goes out each month.
Scenario: Say you have a $200,000, 30-year mortgage.
If you have a high credit rating, from 760 to 850, you'll pay around 3.725% interest, or $923 per month.
On the low end, 620 to 639, interest is around 5.33%, or $1,114 per month. (Rates based on FICO loan calculator.)
The difference?
$191 a month and $2,292 per year.
Think about what you could do with that extra two grand a year, like buy a computer or fly to Europe!
Over 30 years, that's $68,760 — enough to help a kid through college.
If it were invested in the stock market, the money could more than double:
A $191 monthly investment could become $182,298 after 30 years, assuming a 6% return.
You can check your own potential return on the Security and Exchange Commission's compound interest calculator.
Although overall scores have improved since the 2008 recession, 20% of Americans still have scores below 600, according to FICO.
You control your credit score
Your credit score is within your control. So the sooner you start paying attention to it, the easier life will be.
Trust me, you don't want to be where I was 20 years ago, stuck in Florida without a car.
When I learned these 10 things, I was able to improve my credit score surprisingly quickly.
Even if you're overwhelmed by debt or have had credit requests denied, if you follow these tips, you can take charge of your credit score—and your financial life.
Still not convinced? What if I told you a high credit score could even improve your love life?
A 2015 study from the Federal Reserve Board found that couples with high credit scores were more likely to stay together than those with lower scores. There's even a dating website that matches users based on their credit rating.
1. You can check your credit report for free
Your credit score boils down the information on your credit report — if you care about having a good score, that's where you start.
A credit report is your personal financial report card.
Based on your social security number, date of birth, and address, it rounds up your payment history, which informs your score.
Check your credit report for free once a year on Annualcreditreport.com — and be wary of other sites — this is the ONLY official site for free credit reports.
You're allowed to see a report from the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.
Each report will be slightly different. You can check all three at once or stagger them.
Keeping tabs on your report is common sense, writes Tushar Mathur, blogger at Everything Finance. It will help you plan for the future and get yourself on track for future loan approvals.
"Your finances are your responsibility, and just as you get oil changes regularly to preserve your engine, you should be checking your credit rating to ensure that when you need it, it will be there for you," Mathur writes.
"Even if you have a great credit score and seem to be managing your finances well, you never know when a wrench could find its way into the works. So play it safe and request a free credit report annually. You'll probably find that it's well worth the effort."
After you get your report, Annual Credit Report will direct you to Credit Karma, where you can see your credit score for free.
2. Your credit report might have mistakes—and you can fix them
There's a good chance your credit report has mistakes that hurt your score.
A 2012 study by the Federal Trade Commission found that a quarter of American consumers identified an error in their report.
One in five consumers disputed an error in their report and had it corrected. 20% of people who did so saw their credit score improve.
When finance blogger Scott Alan Turner first checked his credit report, it showed him living at an address connected to a credit card account opened under the name Scott Alan Turner Jr.—all of which were unfamiliar to him:
"Interesting, because there is no Scott Alan Turner Sr,… As you go through your credit report, you might find errors in your personal information, incorrect accounts, or account details."
Errors will almost certainly appear if your identity has been stolen since thieves could open up fraudulent accounts in your name.
The 2017 Identity Fraud Study found that a record 15.4 million Americans had their identity stolen last year.
In 2017:
It's scary to think that your credit score could be dinged for something you didn't even do. The good news is that you can fix it.
If you identify an error, the first step is to alert the credit reporting company in writing. The FTC has a sample dispute letter on its website.
Under federal law, credit reporting agencies must investigate the items you flag, usually within 30 days.
The next step is to alert the information provider, like the bank that provided the erroneous detail to the credit reporting company. You'll have to send another dispute letter, by mail, with copies of documents that support your claim.
If the credit reporting company makes a correction, you can ask them to send a notice of the change to anyone who's requested your credit report in the last six months.
They can also send a corrected report to those who have checked it for employment purposes in the last two years.
3. Legitimate credit repair services can help improve your credit score
You don't have to fix your credit report on your own. If it feels overwhelming, consider turning to the pros.
Credit repair services can help you identify and correct mistakes, or negotiate with lenders on your behalf.
Before you sign up a service to help improve your credit score, make sure it's legitimate. Ignore ads that promise to "Legally Erase Your Credit History!"—they're likely signs of a scam.
Writing on Planting Money Seeds, Miranda Marquit lists some red flags that indicate a shady credit repair company:
- Charging a fee in advance. This is a big no, no. By law, a company is not supposed to collect their fee until they have provided the services promised.
- Withholding your rights. Credit repair companies are required to disclose your rights to you and let you know the ways in which you can fix your credit on your own for free. Any company that does not do this is breaking the law.
- Recommended by the FTC. Beware any company that claims they are endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); this is a straight up lie as this organization does not endorse any business.
- Make a new identity. Under any circumstances, do not work with companies that suggest you try and create a 'new' identity.
Marquit says it's a good bet to go with a law firm, like Lexington Law, that specializes in credit repair. You can also search for reputable services through the Better Business Bureau.
4. You should pay off your credit card debt as soon as possible
According to FICO, paying off your credit card debt is one of the most effective ways to improve your credit score. The amount you owe affects 30% of a FICO Score's calculation.
It's challenging and requires discipline, but the sooner you pay down debt, the less you will owe in the long run.
After years of only paying the minimum monthly amount due, Grayson Bell of Debt Roundup wracked up $50,000 in credit card debt.
He and his wife spent four austere years paying it off.
Bell had to think about which credit card debt to tackle first. The two options typically recommended are to:
- Pay off the card with the lowest balance (fastest gratification).
- Pay off the card with the highest interest rate (biggest return).
Bell chose the latter, nicknamed the avalanche method. He listed his debts by interest rate and tackled the one at the top first.
"In my case, my higher interest rate debts were also some of my higher balances. This caused me to work harder and longer to pay them off, but it also saved me the most money via interest payments," Bell writes.
"When you take out the highest interest rate first, you are saving the difference in percentage rate from one debt to the next…This method makes the most sense financially and mathematically, but it will not work if you don't have the will power to continue the debt reduction plan."
When I was building my credit back up post graduation, a little technique that helped me stay persistent was setting milestones.
In a little journal, I kept a timeline of my credit score as it rose, with a future score that if, or rather when I hit, "unlocked" a personal reward—highlight reels of the Florida Gators on YouTube, or tickets to the next Tampa Bay Buccaneers home game.
5. It's really important to pay your bills on time, or at least within 30 days
Your payment history contributes to 35% of your credit score. FICO says that even sending in a check a few days late can hurt you.
Paying bills on time—for utilities, doctors, or credit cards—is vital. With so many to remember, it's wise to come up with a system to be sure you're covered.
The easiest method is to set up automatic payments on recurring bills so you never miss a payment. Or if you're more of an analog person, write due dates on your calendar.
But there may be a little wiggle room with credit cards, says Sam Dogen, aka the Financial Samurai. So don't panic if you're a few days late.
Rushed to pack for a trip, Dogen once forgot to schedule his normal credit card payment and missed the due date.
"The first thing to realize is it's not the end of the world if you accidentally miss a credit card payment. Things like this happen all the time, and the hammer does not fall on your credit score so quickly.
"The second thing is there's a grace period to how late you can be before getting hurt. Being three days late is much different from being 30 days late. But being 90+ days late is a disaster!"
Dogen has missed due dates four times. On each occasion, he called the card company within a week to explain himself and ask if they'd waive the missed payment fee.
"Each time they said yes, partly because I have demonstrated years of regular payments, and partly because I always called shortly after realizing I was late. As a result, my credit score was not hurt, and if it was hurt, it still stayed above 780, so who cares. Just make sure to ask whether they've reported you to the credit bureaus."
6. Never take out sketchy cash advances like payday loans
You've probably seen the upbeat ads: "Bad Credit? No Problem!"
People with low credit scores sometimes turn to payday loans to get a quick influx of cash. Like most bad credit loans, however, interest rates are staggeringly high.
Though payday loans are generally not reported to the major credit bureaus, they can lock you into a cycle of debt.
As you pay exorbitant interest rates on your payday loans, you may struggle to cover other expenses, further damaging your credit score.
Payday loans are made in anticipation of future paychecks, insurance awards, pensions, or tax refunds.
They are typically due in two weeks, but 80% of borrowers don't pay them back within that time, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The typical cost is $10-30 per $100. An average $15 interest fee amounts to 400% interest over the year. (For credit cards, it's 12 to 30%.)
So for example, if you borrow $200 in January, you would owe $1,000 in December.
According to the Department of Financial Services in New York State, one of many states to outlaw the practice, "Payday loans are designed to trap borrowers in debt. Due to the short term, most borrowers cannot afford to both repay the loan and pay their other important expenses."
If you need a cash advance to cover expenses, don't take out a quick personal loan for bad credit.
New York State recommends working with a Community Development Credit Union, a non-profit organization that provides fairly priced loans to people with an imperfect credit history.
7. Think twice before closing old credit card accounts or opening new ones
If you're fed up with having so many credit cards and bills to pay each month, it's tempting to cancel some. Don't be rash.
Remember that credit agencies consider the length of your credit history when determining your score. You want your credit report to show that you've been paying credit card bills for years.
Philip Taylor, a CPA who blogs at PT Money, writes that when he was trying to bring down his debt, he foolishly closed his oldest credit card. He didn't know that this would hurt his ability to improve his credit score.
When you close a card, you lose its available credit.
"To the credit agencies, you appear to have less available credit at your disposal. They translate this into: not as many people are lending to this person, so they must be a higher risk."
Closing an account will also "make you look younger in terms of credit history," he says. "One of the keys to a good credit score is a long track record of responsible borrowing. So it's important to leave those old accounts intact, even if you're not using it."
That same principle applies to new accounts. If you are a new credit user, FICO advises not to open several accounts quickly. New accounts lower your average account age and make you look risky.
8. Keep balances low on credit cards, even if you pay bills on time
To calculate your credit score, credit bureaus factor in your credit utilization ratio. This is the amount of your available credit that you use each month.
The less available credit you use, the better your score.
You can lower your score if your spending approaches your credit limit, even if you pay it off at the end of the month.
Say you have $4,000 in available credit. If you spend $2,000 a month, you're using 50%.
Credit bureau Experian says to keep that ratio below 30%. Any higher and it indicates that you struggle to manage your finances.
Ryan Greeley of Better Credit Blog explains that your credit score takes into account two aspects of utilization:
Overall utilization. This is calculated by adding together the balances of all of your revolving accounts and then adding together all of the credit limits. After that, divide the balance by the limit.
Individual credit account utilization. This basically means that if you have ANY individual account where the balance is over 25% of the credit limit, it is likely hurting your credit.
"Therefore, even if your overall credit utilization is under 25%, if any one of those accounts have [sic] a balance over 25%, your credit score is affected."
Greeley points out that since the calculation is based on a ratio, not the dollar amount, you should consider asking for a credit line increase.
FICO says that if you've had a credit card for six months, and paid bills on time, you might be eligible for a credit limit increase. You can request this online or over the phone.
A high credit limit and responsible spending will give you a low credit ratio and help your score.
9. Becoming an authorized user can boost your credit score
One way to increase your credit rating is to become an authorized user on someone else's account, like a parent or spouse.
Only ask someone who has good credit and always pays their bills on time.
You can benefit from their smart financial habits even if you never use the card yourself.
Some savvy parents actually add children to their cards to help them build credit from a young age.
Ask your family member to add you as an authorized user on a credit card that has been open for at least a few years and is in good standing.
However, because the primary cardholder will be held liable for your spending, you need to establish rules about how you will use the card.
You might agree to only use the card for emergencies, for example.
If they worry you will hurt their credit history, they don't even need to send you the credit card.
Your credit score will get a boost because of their good behavior.
Writing in Forbes, Rob Berger tells how he added his college-age children to his credit card.
After six months, he was surprised when his kids started getting offers for cards that require good credit:
"Our children now sport a FICO score of about 735. Becoming an authorized user to build or improve your credit score works."
10. Smart financial habits start with a budget
You get into debt because you spend more money than you earn. You rely on credit rather than cash to pay basic expenses.
To avoid getting into debt, you need to track and control your spending by creating a budget.
Tracie Fobes, who blogs under the name Penny Pinchin Mom, says that when she and her husband first examined their expenses, it brought her to tears initially, but ultimately helped her recon with her financial reality.
For those who don't even know where to start, Fobes created a beginners' guide to budgeting:
Compile financial receipts and documents. Keep a dedicated folder or box for pay stubs, bank statements, loan information, and credit card and utility bills.
Determine your income. If you have multiple revenue sources, figure out your monthly income after tax average.
Calculate your fixed expenses. These include car insurance, a mortgage, rent, etc. Add them up and put aside the required amount at the start of each month.
Calculate discretionary expenses. These include food, gas, utilities, clothing, etc. These are a bit more difficult to calculate and might take a few months to determine your average.
Determine your budget. Subtract your expenses from your income. The amount should be zero. If the number is negative, you're spending too much. If it's positive, you could be saving or paying off more debt.
Money management software like YNAB and Mint can also help.
Although it's hard to devise and stick to a budget, doing so puts you in control of your finances. By reducing spending and paying bills each month, you're on the way to a great credit score.
A great credit score is within your control
You might be feeling overwhelmed right now. I know I was when my wife and I sat down and assessed our credit.
It was simple: we needed to get our credit back under control.
She was working on a law degree and could not work. That, coupled with a lower credit score, kept us from getting our new dream car.
I was so set on launching my own business that I didn't want to admit something like credit could stop me. Thankfully, Sarah was so supportive and we sat down and worked out a budget plan together.
Our credit scores rose, our bills started to disappear, and we eventually got that dream car. But not without some serious dedication and work.
Ready to start increasing your score too?
Start by checking your free credit report and seeing where you stand.
Have you struggled with a bad credit score?
What was the one thing that helped you fix it?
Let us know in the comments below.


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Added finishing effects and tweaked minor details.
Based on this picture:
This week, we are able to choose our choice of an Illustrator/Vector Artist to write about, and I came to the startling realization that I did not follow many artists who worked mainly in vectors (sadly, the few that I did, they're style had long since lost my interest). So the hunt began! However, It only took me a few moments to discover an artist who truly "WOW'd" me.
Meet Yana Moskaluk,
A digital artist from Russia whose astounding gift for wielding Adobe Illustrator like Photoshop, along with her tastes for the dark whimsy left me agape.
Yana's work varies from personal takes on Russian fairy tales (seen above) to commercial pieces for magazines and the like (right and left).
Her use of fluid use line, heavy pattern and limited (yet pungent) color palette I think is what draws me in the most.
Definitely looking forward to seeing more of her work, and learning from her unique style.
You can view Yana Moskaluk's gallery here: http://ya-na.deviantart.com/
Gerard Huerta's portfolio (http://www.gerardhuerta.com/) is filled with his fantastic designs from iconic logos
popular magazine covers, and other entertainment graphics. His logos (like above) are sleek and minimalistic, as well as detailed and nostalgic.
His graphic design work is very intricate, with the striking type (font and placement), strong colors, and use of patterns and borders. I really love his magazine covers and posters because of this.
Huerta's work is very inspiring!
In agreement with my Professor, the previous versions felt too Disney. So I went for more of a Tolkien theme. Swords are fun to build.
Our current creative project using Adobe Illustrator. (This is stage 1 -it will be our project over the next few weeks)
Added a face, some shading and more to the background, using shapes and pencil tools.
Established in 1993
little pictures I like to draw
Give me the pieces to your puzzle and I will complete the picture for you.
A great WordPress.com site
Give me the pieces to your puzzle and I will complete the picture
A college assignment!
Just another WordPress.com site
You have entered the realm of a digital-arts college student....did you bring coffee?


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Fun Facts About Paraguay
Just like other countries, there are many fun facts about Paraguay that involve its history, people and land. If you have taken a Spanish class, you may have learned a little about Paraguay, but how many fun facts do you know? Some of the facts below may not be in American history books or non-Latin American history books; having a little knowledge about Paraguay makes knowing about Latin American interesting.
Fun Facts About Paraguay's History
Paraguay has been involved in a couple of wars and has been economically underdeveloped the majority of the time since its independence.
- Paraguay's independence occurred in May of 1811 from Spanish rule and occupation.
- The term Guarani holds three important aspects in Paraguay. First, Guarani is the name of the tribe that lived in the region before the Europeans came to the land. Second, Guarani is the name of Paraguay's currency. Third, Guarani is one of the two official languages spoken in Paraguay: Spanish is the other.
- The War of the Triple Alliance took place from 1865 to 1870. One of the most fun facts about Paraguay that you may read is that the country lost 66% of the adult males and a lot of the territory.
- The Chaco War was Paraguay's most successful war because it won highly lucrative areas from Bolivia making recovery and rebuilding easier after the war.
- Paraguay's first railroad was created and built in three years starting in 1858 by British engineers.
- The capital of Paraguay is Asuncion and was built and founded in 1537.
- Paraguay's official name is Republic of Paraguay or Republica del Paraguay.
The People
Paraguay has about six million people with an average age of 20 years-old for males and 21 years-old for females. Women will have an average of four children.
- Most of the population, around 95%, is a mix of Spanish and Amerindian, which is commonly called Mestizo.
- Much of the population lives east of the large Paraguay river that separates Paraguay into two sections. Two to three percent of the citizens live in western part of Paraguay while the rest live in the eastern section.
- Paraguay's people are mainly involved in agriculture and cattle ranching. A small percentage of the population mine iron ore, manganese and limestone.
Government and Other Facts
The government climate has changed a few times since Paraguay's independence. Their laws and processes may be different from your own, but Paraguay has a deep understanding of struggles.
- The President and Vice President are freely elected for five year terms.
- Paraguay owns the Itaipu Dam with Brazil. This dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world and even though it is co-owned, Paraguay remains the largest maker and exporter of hydroelectric power.
- Paraguay was a dictatorship from 1955 to 1989 and was ruled by Alfredo Stroessner. A constitution wasn't instituted until June of 1992.
- Paraguay is a landlocked country (one of two in South America; the other is Bolivia) that is bordered by Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia.
- Some of Paraguay's economy is based on exporting goods to neighboring countries that are previously imported.
Did You Know?
The legal system in the country is a combination of Argentine and French codes as well as Roman law.
Did you learn some fun facts about Paraguay? Would you like to know more? Check out some additional information at the following websites.
- Learn Spanish Help This is also a Spanish learning website with lots of advice on how to learn the Spanish language.
- World Facts Provides basic facts about the economy, population and geography about Paraguay.
- World Info Zone about Paraguay Besides basic information, you can delve into the arts sports and news of the country. This site is easy to navigate and is updated weekly.


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o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say
How did Mountain Dew lose its way?
I liked it well enough in the days when if was the official state drink of "Hee Haw," and facilitated the bad teeth that the brand represented. Plus, its taste was pretty much okey-dokey.
Diet Mountain Dew wasn't bad either, but it was the first chink in the armor. If you're a branding agent, meshing diet with Appalachia had to be one of the hardest jobs in marketing.
Kids began to pick up on the drink when they learned Mountain Dew had more caffeine than any other fluid out there, including Chris Matthews' bloodstream.


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Blog Archives
Race Report: ICE Breaker Triathlon
April 6, 2013
Folsom Lake
Granite Beach, CA
Reversing Aging Through Racing
If I raced to almost the exact same time I did three years ago, that means I am not slowing with age. If we are supposed to lose function and fitness as we age, and I haven't, does that mean I have reversed aging? I say yes. That's my story and I am sticking to it. It also explains why folks in the older age groups look so great. They've reversed aging too. So as long as you don't overdo it and get injured or overtrained, then you too can reverse aging.
The Race
I wasn't super motivated to race two weekends in a row. What would that show me? Usually these races have a couple of weeks in between, although I haven't raced the ICE Breaker recently. There is little else on my calendar for April since I gave up on the Sea Otter Classic due to logistical issues, so I jumped in at the last minute. This race is very similar to last week's XTERRA, except this race has the bike leg on closed roads instead of trails. As a result it is quite a bit shorter, taking me about one hour less that the off-road version. That should make for faster recovery, right?
Swim: 1/2 mile
Bike: 13 miles road bike
Run: 4 miles trail run
Started great. The breathing tactic paid off again as I have yet to train my swim. As we got further out in the lake the cloudy, breezy weather showed up as some chop that began to push me around. Unfortunately, I kept my head down and followed some feet. They were the wrong feet to follow. I kept swimming wide, wasn't sighting often enough and I felt my swim collapse. As bad I thought it was going to be, I actually went a few seconds faster than the previous week! Never give up. Note to self: sight the buoys for yourself, don't trust others.
Two laps on closed park roads. Like the mountain bike leg, these roads constantly have you thinking. Shifting, climbing, descending, cornering, there is never a dull moment. I thought I was going fast, but unlike the swim, this was deceptive. I went slower than the last time on this course. Reflects the need to do much more bike training. Running does not seem to translate into bike fitness the way the reverse does.
Killed it. Felt great, and felt even better as the run went on. I kept lifting my pace gradually and I didn't blow up. I actually went several minutes faster than the previous week on a course that was a half a mile longer! I attribute this to riding a bike leg that was an hour shorter and on roads. Mountain biking really beats up your legs before a run.
Two small Japanese sweet potatoes and plenty of time for digestion. Felt hungry at the start, but so what? Took in one bottle of HEED on the bike, nothing on the run. Two servings of Recovery Accelerator immediately after while walking and cooling down. Ate several onigiri rice balls for lunch while driving home. Fillings were pickled ginger, miso, umeboshi paste. A little short on protein for recovery, so I need to create another filling with beans or tofu to use for recovery meals.
I just got my Hammer order for this season, so I brought back the supplements that I think give an ergogenic boost. Controversial and not truly necessary, I still like experimenting with them. I used their Daily Essentials along with some Endurance Amino before and after. Again I used the curcumin and proteolytic enzymes to help with inflammation and muscle recovery. I felt my recovery went well, but the race was an hour shorter.
All in all, a great race. Many thanks to TBF Racing for producing such great events!
Race Day Meals
Race day nutrition is very tricky and requires a lot of experimentation. Everyone is unique and some real trial and error is needed to find the ideal pre-race dinner the night before. Breakfast is even harder to figure out, since it might not be needed or even desirable. I failed miserably last summer at Northstar by not eating and drinking in small, frequent amounts. Instead I got behind, tried to catch up which forced my gut to rebel and shut down.
But my recent two races went off very well from pre-race dinner to post-race lunch. I am very excited about what I discovered.
I used to love a big bowl of whole wheat pasta with a thick, chunky sauce jammed with vegetables for dinner the night before. For breakfast, I loved my usual oatmeal, or a lentil spread on toast. I don't these things anymore. Can you figure out why?
For any other meal, fiber rich foods are the goal. It slows down digestion and keeps your blood sugar and energy on an even keel. But that's not what you want before or during a race. That pasta dish? Had me seeking bathrooms as desperately as the Oakland Raiders for a head coach. Lentils for breakfast? Awesome on a regular day, but not so nice when charging hard on the race course, trying to get fuel out of the gut and into the muscles and the brain.
My pre-race dinner is now white rice with a few veggies for color and texture. Or potatoes, baked, steamed or mashed with a little seasoning or sauce. I eat dinner early because I want all of that food out of my system before the gun goes off.
Steve Born of Hammer nutrition recommends no breakfast. He would rather sleep. His reasoning is that food consumed too close to the race will slow down in digestion and interfere with fat burning. Muscle glycogen is already full if you train and eat properly, so that breakfast won't really help. Instead he suggests at most taking a gel right before the start, get into your pace, and just start fueling the way you usually do. This sounds weird, but it works. If the race is under two hours you probably don't need anything. Longer events will need fueling, but that can be handled during the race itself.
I like breakfast. So I like to eat a little before races. I only do this if I can have three hours before the start to make sure that food is metabolized. Since my muscles are already stocked with glycogen, all the breakfast needs to do is top off the stored glycogen in the liver that was burned overnight. This amounts to only a couple hundred calories. Both of my recent races required a couple hours of driving, so I ate two smallish baked potatoes or sweet potatoes. They took the edge off my hunger, but did not bog me down.
I stuck with what I've used in the past, but I surprised myself by needing less. For a 2 1/2 hour XTERRA, I drank one bottle of Perpetuem, about 250 calories on the bike, which lasted about 90 minutes. I sipped on HEED during the transitions, and I had plenty of energy. In the past I was sucking down gels as well, but I did not feel I needed that much energy. Also important was not overdoing the calories thinking that I needed them and forcing my gut to fight back. Been there before, lesson learned!
Immediately after finishing, I kept moving, walking to my transition bag, getting my bottle and refilling it with water. I mixed two servings of Brendan Brazier's Vega Recovery Accelerator which gave me about 160 calories, 35 g carbohydrate and 8 g protein. I kept sipping and walking until I felt my heart rate come down.
The XTERRA race was a bit longer and ended close to lunchtime, but I didn't feel very hungry until after the awards. I had packed a nice soba noodle salad which made an awesome lunch. After the sprint tri, I was even less hungry, since the race was an hour shorter. Knowing that I wanted to get on the road right away, I packed onigiri rice balls for lunch since I could easily eat them while driving. Very tasty, but I may have been lacking a little in protein.
Training on Bread and Water
Doping cyclists refer to racing when they arenot under the influence of any performance enhancing drugs as racing "on bread and water." In order to better see how my aerobic engine grows I'm experimenting with my own version of "bread and water" avoiding commercial sports nutrition and supplements. For me it will mean white rice and green tea. Real food.
Base training means building the aerobic engine. This means going slow and resisting all urges to go fast. It takes time to build those capillaries. It takes time for the heart to get stronger. It takes time for the mitochondria to do, well, whatever it is that mitochondria do. But the relaxed pace of training below MAF can be very pleasant. It gives one time to think. It is also a good time to to try new things since there is no pressure.
So Saturday was the first bike ride in way too long, and boy, did it feel awkward! The position on my road bike felt weird, I wobbled a bit going down the street, and today the only soreness is my neck and shoulders. They weren't used to holding up my fat head for a couple of hours. The good news is that I pedaled well for two hours, but running exclusively is not the same as cycling, so much work needs to be done before racing triathlons again.
The Experiment:
I want to try real food for training rather than processed sports "nutrition." It seems to me that during low heart rate cycling, it should be easy to eat real food. So I tried making some onigiri to stuff into my pockets. Ordinarily, I don't need food at all for aerobic workouts under two hours, but I wanted to experiment, and my ride was pushing into lunchtime.
A qualified success. They tasted great, and chewing on real food was a nice contrast to sucking down gels or liquid fuels. I found that using a little extra water when wrapping them made them hold together better. They held together beautifully in my jersey pockets. Nutritionally, at about 100 calories per half cup of rice, I could figure out how many calories I was getting, which is one of the conveniences of packaged foods. I used the traditional umeboshi paste and higher grade rice which tasted great. I loved the tangy, salty, sour taste, and I think that in the summer heat it would be quite refreshing.
One real, and one potential.
They were a bit of a challenge to eat while riding. They took longer than I thought, so maybe I should make them smaller. Also, the nori wrapper was a bit tough to bite through and chew at times. I anticipated this, but it was a bit tricky. Will it get better with more practice? I don't know.
The weather was cool and breezy, and I hardly broke a sweat. I don't know how they would fare in a jersey pocket on a hot summer day. They might need another wrapper of plastic, foil, or wax paper, which would make eating them even more of a challenge for a klutz like me.
But in sum, they taste good, settle well in my stomach, and at a few cents for a serving of rice and a nori wrapper compared to $1.40 for a Hammer gel, I will practice my technique.
Relax! The Holidays are Here!
The holidays are here, and with it comes all kinds of anxiety about all kinds of things. But one of the big ones for many people is holiday weight gain and loss of fitness. Athletes are often terrified about losing their hard won fitness as the season winds down, and the days get shorter, close and wetter. Everyone worries about the dreaded weight gain, whether casual exerciser or top age grouper. There are roughly six weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year's, which seems like a long time with which to do all kinds of damage. Fittingly, it seems every fitness or health oriented magazine or website has all kinds of complicated advice about how to avoid the pitfalls. I have got a simpler plan, don't worry about it.
Research shows that the average holiday weight gain for adults is one pound.
That's it. One pound.
The problem is that most people never lose that pound, so after ten years, you have ten extra pounds. Also, the more overweight you are, the more you tend to gain.
But, if you are reasonably active and motivated, you can deal with that pound. You can prevent it with a few counter measures strategically applied. Even if you gain some, you can implement some austerity and lose it after New Year's. It really is not as bad as you think. All through human history there were periods of feasting, and gaining a few pounds was not a bad thing. Things have changed a bit now, so we must exercise more caution, but there is no reason to get paranoid. You can enjoy the holidays, indulge some, and still get right back on track for the coming season.
So, do not fret. It is not the end of the world, only the end of the year. Just flex that muscle between your ears a bit and you will be fine.
To Supplement or Not?
Do you take dietary supplements?
Apparently most of us do, just over half of Americans take some kind of supplement, usually a multivitamin. Yet we are exhorted regularly to get our nutrients from foods, espucially from vegetables, since multivitamin use is not without risks. What to do? To supplement or not to supplement? That is the question, whether 'tis nobler for the body to go beyond the minimum, or to eat lots of vegetables and ignore them?
I have a love/hate relationship with supplements.
I love the idea that the ease of swallowing a pill could solve a problem. I love the idea that the right combination of supplements could make me stronger, faster, or better in some way. So I have in the past made myself into a laboratory experiment turning myself into a case study of one. Some have seemed to work, but it was subjective perception possibly clouded by the placebo effect. Most were a waste of money.
We should not have to resort to supplements to get what we need. That really is the role of diet.
If we are deficient, we should tweak our diet, not pop a pill. Loking for better performance from chemistry might have unwanted consequences further down the road. Isolating certain nutrients from the their natural context may create imbalances that negate any other positive outcome in the end. Trying for a pharmacological effect from isolated nutrients really isn't that far from relying on pharmaceutical drugs for health or even illegal doping. Indeed, some research suggests that even seemingly innocuous supplements like multivitamins may actually have long term negative effects.
Supplements can help if there is a true deficiency, but above and beyond that, it's unclear whether there is a benefit. As for a performance boost, it's mostly hype, but some supplements have that potential. It becomes a question of risk versus reward. And price. They can get expensive.
What do I do?
I supplement with vitamin D in the winter due to lack of sunshine. I have recently begun to supplement with vitamin B12 year round since I have not eaten meat in years. But as much as I want to believe that there are no performance benefits from supplements, I have often felt a positive difference when taking them. Can the placebo effect work if you don't want to believe? I want to believe that my leafy greens are all that matters, but I have my doubts. This past week I restarted taking a simple multivitamin and separately added added chromium with my meals, and I feel a positive difference. The chromium especially did what was advertised in stabilizing my energy between meals. This is not the best experimental design, because I also tweaked my diet toward higher nutrient density by eating my five bunches of greens. So as I gear up for race season, I will continue to supplement. Then we'll see.
Heart Attack Grill Serves a Real Heart Attack: Ironic?
The sign on the door clearly states that the food is unhealthy. With names of burgers based on real cardiac procedures, no one pretends that The Heart Attack Grill is safe. But that doesn't stop the customers, not in the former Arizona location or the current Las Vegas location.
Is it ironic when a customer experiences a heart attack in the restaurant of the same name?
It is,
when one customer says what most people are thinking, that you don't think it would really happen. It's just a joke right? All fun and games until someone loses an eye. Or a coronary artery.
It is,
when the owner and perpetrator of this says that anyone "with an ounce of compassion" would feel for the victim. Apparently we need more than an ounce not to serve up this dangerous food, take the money to the bank, and fall back on customer responsibility as an excuse. Maybe a metric ton of compassion is needed.
It is,
when other customers, after the show has ended, go back to destroying their own cardiovascular systems without a bat of the proverbial eyelash. Out of sight, out of mind.
It is ,
when the owner criticizes other patrons for taking pictures "like it was a stunt" and that even "their morbid sense of humor" would never go so far. His marketing plan appears to rely on quite a bit of spectacle.
It is ironic because the many customers of this or similar restaurants don't expect such a tragic event to actually happen right there. But studies of "holiday heart" show that it should actually be more common after such large fatty meals.
Like The Smiths once sang, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore."
The Myth of Moderation
The Myth of Moderation
In the third part of my Paula Deen series, I take issue with her repeated comment to eat "in moderation." I hate that word, moderation. Why? Because it means absolutely nothing. It could mean something, but almost never does because one has to know the extremes before moderation is clear. Moderation is simply an intermediate point between two opposite poles. Move or change the poles and the point of moderation changes too. Moving targets are difficult to hit. And if the opposing poles are not defined, then moderation cannot exist.
In more everyday terms, one person's moderation is another person's extreme. Who is right? They both are. And neither is. As long as you don't explain the rules, you can always be the winner. When someone says they only eat sugar, or junk food in moderation, what does that mean? Whatever they want it to mean. So when Paula Deen says that her recipes are meant only to be eaten "in moderation" but doesn't explain what that means, what do we do? Apparently, we do whatever we want to. In Paula Deen's case she is cutting back on sweet tea. How much did she drink before? How much does she drink now? Is that moderation? We don't know. But more important is the overall diet than any one specific food. What impact does her sweet tea consumption or lack of make on her diet? Considering the sugar laden recipes she showcased, it is hard to think that decreasing sweet tea is any big change.
But of course it is not just Paula Deen, many of us believe fervently in this myth of moderation. We believe that any decrease in a bad habit, no matter how small, counts as moderation. And then we're surprised when we don't see any results. I like the analogy of a car crashing into a wall. If an experiment showed x number of fatalities at 60 mph, but no measurable difference at 50 mph, one could conclude that slowing down was useless. But what if we slowed down to 30 mph? 15 mph? I would hazard to guess that everyone thinks that their version of moderation is enough. But nearly everyone develops some combination of cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, or diabetes. So however most people are defining moderation, it's not working. It's time to wake up, moderation is killing us.
I like clear definitions of moderation. For instance, based on current data, "moderate" alcohol consumption has been defined as one drink a day for women and two drinks for men. It goes even further to define what that means in terms of beer, wine, distilled spirits, and even grams of alcohol. Whether or not you personally agree with that definition is made possible because the limits are clear. But what about meat? Cheese? Sugar? Fat? Cholesterol? Refined and processed foods? Most health authorities that encourage moderation are conspicuously silent. I would say as close to zero as humanly possible, even though I fall short. But most people probably define it as whatever they actually do, or maybe a little less, if they're being modest. Do we have anything objective to use to set those extremes to know whether our moderation counts?
Yes. When it comes to trans-fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, the acceptable maximum amount is zero. Anything above that increases disease risk in a measurable way. Anything above that would be excessive. How about sugar? Salt? Processed and refined food? I think we can look to nature for guidance here, since historically these foods have been rare or nonexistent. Those populations who even today have little contact with these foods have little or none of the chronic diseases we suffer from. So zero looks like a good place to start.
Or maybe end up. Maybe that's a little too ambitious. For myself, I'll set that as the goal. But I won't let my current or past transgressions count as moderation and then transform that through personal alchemy into "good enough". We can see through research what it takes to reverse heart disease and diabetes and prevent cancer, so that is what I will define as "moderate." After all, I don't think there is such a thing as a "moderate" heart attack.
Paula Deen, Diabetes, Drugs, and Groupthink
I don't want to be that football player who, long after the hard work of tackling the ball carrier has been done by his teammates, comes flying into the frame to land on top of the dog pile after the whistle.
But that is what I am going to do.
So Paula Deen announced that she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes three years ago but has waited until now to make it public. In the interim, her popular TV show has featured the same high fat, high sugar, decidedly unhealthy fare as always. What's different? Now she has a financial deal to represent an expensive, dangerous drug.
People are in an uproar over her unhealthy cooking while diabetic. They say she should have set a better example. They're still upset that she doesn't acknowledge the primary role lifestyle plays in the disease. They are also upset that the one dietary change she has mentioned has been cutting back on sweet tea.
I agree with the criticism, but I don't want to bash on Deen individually. I am disturbed by the pharmaceutical connection, but it could have been anyone. What bothers me is the way the way that all of us, not just Paula Deen keep looking to the drug companies to save us when we should be looking to lifestyle changes for chronic disease. A little research will uncover some doctors who have amazing results reversing diabetes using diet. But unfortunately this information is not widely known. It's not really Paula Deen's fault that she doesn't know this, since it appears radical and almost quackery. But we owe it to ourselves to check into all the possibilities before settling on powerful and dangerous drugs. Doctors need to acknowledge the power of lifestyle and counsel their patients on its use. It's up to the individual what they choose to do. But we all deserve to know our options.
Here is one of those little discussed, yet powerful options, a vegan diet. It's a long video, but check out Dr. Barnard's success using a low-fat vegan diet against the standard recommendations of the American Diabetes Association.
How powerful would it be if Paula Deen could follow this plan, and change her show into a show that taught people how to make delicious dishes that could reverse disease? She wants hope to be her legacy, if she taught healthy cooking, it certainly would be.
Diet, Not Genetics Controls Heart Disease
Happy Healthy Long Life: The Big 9p21 Cardiovascular Gene Turn-Off! Vegetables & Fruits – Q & A with Dr. Sonia Anand, the McMaster University Researcher Who Helped Discover the Interaction Between Heart Disease, Genes and Diet.
This new study and great commentary fits in well with the medical myths article I posted earlier this week. Genetics are not your destiny. Instead, they are fluid and changing and react very strongly to what your lifestyle throws at it. I've long believed that we ALL have heart disease and cancer in our genes. It doesn't just run in only some families. The gene that has the strngest link to heart disease has been extensively studied. And guess what? According to this study those genes are in 75% of us! But the really good news is that with just a few servings of fruits and veggies, those nasty genes can be turned off. We are not helpless victims to our genes, but active creators of our own health. Go cook up some kale. Do it now.
Long Run Recovery
Another two hour run today in preparation for a marathon. The whole run, except for a mad dash across six lanes of waiting traffic to make a light, done at a brutally slow MAF pace. The good news: I went further and faster than the last attempt two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I missed last week due to being out of town for an all day weekend workshop. I think this led to the bad news: a sore and very grumpy left knee about 90 min. into the run. It was just the muscles that control the knee and power my stride. They will get stronger and if Maffetone is correct, keeping the aerobic metabolism exclusively engaged, the correct muscles for endurance are getting stronger. So here are my secrets for recovery since tomorrow I have a two hour ride planned.
Post Workout Nutrition
NUtrition timing is over rated. The research seems to show that it doesn't really matter whether it's solid or liquid, consumed within 30 min. or 60 min. What matters is that you eat sooner rather than later. I used to be serious about drinking a commercially prepared "recovery" drink with the trendy ratio of highly processed carbs to high refined protein immediately after a long workout. I still do that after really long races, like an XTERRA, because I can't stomach solid food for a while. But I am trying as much as possible to get away from the processed calories and instead eat whole food sources. So I time my long workouts to end within an hour of a real meal, either lunch or dinner. Today I finished my long run with a bottle of sports drink because I needed fluids and some calories. But after I cleaned up I ate my lunch, an enormous bowl of soba noodles with stir fried veggies and tofu.
Post Workout Rest
Rubbed magnesium oil into legs for relaxation.
Take a nap. Nothing helps recovery like sleep. Ad who doesn't like a nap after lunch?
Post Workout Chillin' Like a Villain
Compression socks
Feet up
Reading an old Travis McGee novel
For extended recovery, I've got basic black beans in the slow cooker. They'll go with quinoa, homemade fresh salsa and avocado. Does it get any better? I'll save you time spent on research, it does not.
What works for you? Any special rituals put mind, body and soul back together after a long effort?


text:
A blonde, a red head and a brunette were competing in the English
Channel Breast Stroke Competition.
The redhead won and the brunette came in second. However, there
was no sign of the final contestant. Hours and hours went by
causing grave concern and worry. Just as everyone was losing
hope, the blonde finally arrived.
The crowd was extremely happy and relieved to see her. They
embraced the young girl as she came ashore. After all of the
excitement died down, she leaned over to the judge and whispered,
"I hate to be a bad loser, but I think those other girls used
their arms."
Monday, December 10, 2007
Breast Stroke Competition-JOKES
A blonde, a red head and a brunette were competing in the English
Posted by BOOM SAKA at Monday, December 10, 2007
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text:
Our last post talked about the necessity of slowing things down, because your life is in the details. If you just blur past them, you blur past your life. At the end, I promised you a few of my favorite ways to slow down my life so that I could engage the moment. Here's a few:
- Go for a Run– seems a little counter-productive doesn't it? But here's the thing, running helps you burn all that pent up electrical energy that's just sizzling in your body. It also helps you to develop better focus and self-control. In doing so, you won't be distracted as easily when you're working on something or spending time with people. I could go on and on about why we all need a workout regimen, but I'll leave it at this last reason: a good hard run releases endorphins. Endorphins are your very own "happy pill", the chemical that blocks pain and produces a feeling of general euphoria. If that's not enough to sell you on it, I don't know what is.
- Stop and Smell the Flowers– literally. One of the best things I can do to "engage the moment" when I'm on my way somewhere is to stop moving, bend down, touch the leaves and the petals and put my nose right up to them, then just breathe. Yeah, it looks a little weird, but you know what, everyone else is going to miss out on that beautiful moment but you. Life is meant to be embraced with all your senses. Trust me, almost nothing will make you feel more alive than doing this. Just focus on the flower and let everything else fade out.
- Go to a Playground– So as to not creep out parents, this one's better done with your girlfriend, fiance, or with a picnic planned with a few friends. Watching children play helps to bring everything into perspective. It's a good way to reevaluate your priorities and ask yourself if you are truly happy where you are in your life as well. As adults, we lose our sense of wonder and play. Seeing that innate curiosity and the wonder of little things; the way that kids completely lose themselves in their play, will help you foster those priceless qualities in yourself.


text:
Is it possible that a nuclear weapon was unleashed by Horus on his enemies? Find out in this scene from "The Alien Wars."
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Ancient Aliens
Season 10
Episode 9
The Alien Wars
"Ancient Aliens" explores the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years.
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text:
Prophylactic antibiotics led to a 7.5 times increased risk of a resistant infection in recurrent UTIs, Patrick H. Conway, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues reported in the July 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Estimates of the cumulative incidence of infections in children younger than six (3% to 7% in girls; 1% to 2% in boys) suggest that 70,000 to 180,000 of the babies born in the U.S. each year will have had a UTI by age six.
After the first of these infections, Dr. Conway said, American Academy of Pediatrics practice guidelines recommend an imaging study to evaluate vesicoureteral reflux. If the child has this condition, daily antibiotic treatment is recommended in an attempt to prevent recurrent infections.
However, he added, evidence is limited regarding risk factors for recurrent infection and the risks and benefits of antibiotic treatment.
So, in the first large-scale study of its kind, the researchers studied 74,974 children from a network of 27 general pediatric practices in urban, suburban, and semi-rural areas in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
The cohort included children six or younger who were diagnosed with a first UTI from July 1, 2001 through May 31, 2006.
Time-to-event analysis was used to determine the risk factors for recurrent infections and the association between antimicrobial prophylaxis and recurrent infection.
In addition, a nested case-control study of children with a recurrent UTI was used to identify the risk of resistant infections.
Among children in the network, 611 (0.007 per person-year) had a first UTI and 83 (0.12 per person-year after first UTI) had a recurrent infection. In multivariable Cox time-to-event models, factors associated with an increased risk of recurrent infection included:
- White race, nearly twice the risk (0.17 per person-year; hazard ratio [HR], 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22-3.16),
- Age 3 to 4 (0.22 per person-year; HR, 2.75; CI, 1.37-5.51),
- Age 4 to 5 (0.19 per person-year; HR, 2.47; CI, 1.19-5.12),
- Grade 4 to 5 vesicoureteral reflux (0.60 per person-year; HR, 4.38; CI, 1.26-15.29),
- Sex and grade 1 to 3 vesicoureteral reflux were not linked to risk of recurrence.
Antimicrobial prophylaxis was not associated with a decreased risk of a recurrent UTI (HR, 1.01; CI, 0.50-2.02), the researchers found, even after adjusting for propensity to receive prophylaxis.
In addition, exposure to prophylactic antibiotics significantly increased the risk of antimicrobial resistance among 83 children (13.6%) with a recurrent UTI (HR, 7.50; CI, 1.60-35.17), the researchers said.
Resistance was defined as a pathogen resistant to any antimicrobial. Pathogens included Escheria coli (78%), other gram-negative rods (16%), Enterococcus (4%), and other organisms (2%).
Prophylactic antimicrobials included cotrimoxazole (61%), amoxicillin (Augmentin) (29%), nitrofurantoin (7%), and other antimicrobials including first- through third-generation cephalosporins (3%).
Study limitations included its observational design and the fact that 65% of the children did not have a voiding cystourethrogram, thereby preventing a full study of the effect of vesicoureteral reflux on recurrent infections and the effectiveness of prophylactic treatment by reflux grade.
Also, the researchers said, the lack of circumcision data in 47% of male children limited the ability to assess risk on the basis of this important factor.
Further investigation in a randomized trial is needed to better understand of the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotic therapy, especially in subgroups including nonwhites and older children.
Considering the unfavorable risk/benefit ratio in this study, the researchers concluded, "we think it is prudent for clinicians to discuss the risks and unclear benefits of prophylaxis with families" before starting antimicrobials after a first UTI."
|No financial disclosures were reported. Dr. Conway was supported by a training grant through the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Training Program. This project was supported through a pilot grant from a University of Pennsylvania Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTS) grant. Other investigators reported support from a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award and a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
- Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
- Download a complimentary source PDF.
Secondary Source
Journal of the American Medical AssociationSource Reference: Conway PH, et al "Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Children: Risk Factors and Association With Prophylactic Antimicrobials" JAMA 2007; 298:179-186.


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This topic is on my mind because of reading a random anthropology based book on early human history in Africa last night. The author points out a paradox in a young community between specializing in a certain survival strategy (hunting, agriculture, raising animals, etc.) and diversification into many. The underlying goal of a community is, of course, population growth. and long term (multi-generation) survival.
The specialized community if successful will become very good at whatever survival strategy they have selected. They become very good farmers or very good hunters etc. The diversified community will not gain the same high level of skill in any one area, but are much more likely to be able to survive a disaster that makes one style of gaining food temporarily unavailable. A specialized agricultural society will be able to grow faster than a diverse society as long as harvests are good, when a drought comes the diverse society will be more likely to survive until the rain comes than a specialized society.
These ideas are also common in the realms of economics and finance. Classical economics is filled with ideas of the (forced) division of labor, that is, specialization being what makes capitalism so much more productive than all systems that have come before it. Finance literature is filled with claims that diversification will mediate risk and make a successful investor.
What is more important to me today is how this paradox also enters into the realms of personal choice. I have lived my life along the safe route of diversification chosen by communities that survive but do not grow. If kicked out of academia (possibly because of mediocre blog posts such as this one), I have many skills to fall back on. I can bartend (still do), I could get a job in the construction trades (through a little creative padding of my resume), I can manage workers fairly successfully. The flip side of my attempt at becoming a modern renaissance man is that I have not spent as much time specializing as many of my colleagues.
I am doomed to watch people younger than myself finish their dissertations before I do. Also doomed (possibly) to not achieve as much success in my chosen profession as quickly as I could have if I had spent more of my time specialized on economics, and less time partaking in a diverse set of activities.
Have I made a good choice? I guess we will see if the drought comes ever comes.
Finally, I have used the word paradox without fully explaining it. The paradox only truly arises when a community's goals are both fast growth and survival during disaster (evolutionary biology tells us that it almost always is.)


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Vice Music
Live from the BBC Vinyl 10" (Record Store Day)
↳ incredible live performance from the hardcore punk band on BBC
Earn up to 169 Reward Points with this purchase! more info
Record Store Day Exclusive. The quintessential live performance from OFF! on limited edition 10" vinyl for RSD. "During their last sold out tour of the UK, OFF! (vocalist Keith Morris, guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Steven McDonald, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba) were asked to play a live session for the prestigious BBC Radio One Rock Show. A few songs quickly stretched into ten and has become the band's best live recording yet." Edition of 5000.
- Record Store Day Exclusive
- 10" vinyl pressing
- live session for the prestigious BBC Radio One Rock Show
- limited to 5000 copies
- music label: Vice Music 2015
reviewed by pizza-on-a-bagel 05/2016
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Merrell Series 2017
Go all out on the trail in any conditions with this fast-paced, waterproof breathable hiker. The GORE-TEX®, upper keeps your feet dry and aggressive lugs grip the ground wet or dry. The stabilizing UniFly™ midsole maximizes efficiency over varied terrain.
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We aim to dispatch all orders within 48 hours during weekdays.
You may choose to return any items purchased online to the address below or return in person to the actual shop. Don't forget to send or bring your invoices along.
Millars Shoe Store CUSTOMER SERVICE & RETURNS
8-10 High Street
Co Armagh
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Bt66 8AW
You can return any item for an exchange or refund within 14 days of purchase if you are not completely satisfied with it.
To read full returns procdeure : Returns


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Deeply Personal Reflection On Recent Years As I Turn 46/
I turned 46 this week, an age I never really expected to reach.Read More
I turned 46 this week, an age I never really expected to reach.Read More
Why? What? How?
"Why?" is the first question you should answer before signing up for an event. I wrote about the importance of answering that question in a previous post. The next question to answer is "What?". What do you feel about the experience?
Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and transport yourself to some time after a successful event. All the training, planning, and thinking about it are over. What do you feel about it…not, what do you hope to feel about it…what do you feel about it now that it's over and in the past?
If your answer is tied to the excitement and fulfillment of crossing the finish line, checking a box next to your adventure 'to do' list, then you may find yourself unsatisfied in the long term. The euphoria of the finish, and even the associated sense of accomplishment, can fade quickly.
The answer to 'What?" is the persistent psychological and emotional reward of the complete experience. What you feel about your accomplishment in the weeks, months, and years after the event is the true outcome; it shouldn't be tied to a singular feature of the event such as finishing. Otherwise the planning, training, and the event itself will have been in pursuit of a single moment.
What you hope to gain from the event is something intrinsic to the journey itself rather than its culmination. It may be the joy of planning the adventure, the camaraderie and feeling of community as you share the experience with others, the confidence gained from persisting, the pride of setting an example for your children, etc. With the answer made clear, you can view the event as the last step in a journey, which puts all the preparation and execution within a psychological framework to help you to a successful completion that has long term meaning.
The answers to 'why are you doing this?' and 'what do you expect to feel about it later?' may be closely related or surprisingly different. The important thing is that you've done the work to know and understand those answers. And, be open to the possibility that you can't find an answer to what that will give you longterm fulfillment. In that case, you might consider not signing up for the event.
Once you can articulate what you expect to feel and gain from the accomplishment, identify the components of training, planning, and racing that contribute most to feeding those feelings and manifesting those gains. Recognize and celebrate those components as you train, plan, and race. When you cross the finish line, or even if you don't, you'll have a deeply meaningful and lasting experience to recall with happiness.
The next installment in this three part series will explore the 'how?' of a successful journey.
Some thoughts on choosing a coach for your training.Read More
Training on low carbohydrate has become popular. Know the difference between the two most common approaches.Read More
Achieving a goal can be wonderful and rewarding. But, it only lasts a moment. Know your 'why' for greater rewards.Read More
Sleep is the most important part of training.Read More
Keep it simple.Your best results will come from ditching the gadgets and getting to know yourself.Read More
Aerobic threshold, anaerobic threshold, lactate threshold… The running community is mired in threshold-thinking. This mode of thinking is flawed, misleading, and distracting. Ultimately, it holds back many runners and keeps them from training well.Read More
I ran in the Zion 100k trail ultra marathon last weekend. I chose to stop and not finish. Not only am I okay with that decision, I consider this to be one of my most successful results. And here's why.Read More
The rationale and science behind my approach to hydration and nutrition for my first ultra of 2016.Read More


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Abbey College
Telephone: 01487 812352
Abbey College, Abbey Road, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, PE26 1DG
About the School and its location
Ramsey is a small market town situated almost half way between Huntingdon and Peterborough and within easy reach of Cambridge and London. Abbey College is set within its own historic, extensive and beautiful grounds close to the Parish Church of St Thomas à Becket.
The College was formed in 2006, a result of the amalgamation of Ramsey Abbey School a former 14 – 19 school, with Ailwyn School, a former 11 – 14 lower tier school. The catchment extends over a wide rural area, and there are currently over 1650 students on roll, including a Sixth Form of nearly 300.
For more information online follow link to Abbey College Website
To print the details of the central panel click
then print normally and use browser return button to return to this web page.
To go to the
Warboys Village Directory
home page
Directory A
(Directory A has flyout menus which will work with most modern computers, notebooks and tablets)


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NEW YORK — Bond prices finished little changed to slightly lower Monday in the quietest trading in a month as worries about the dollar were offset by another drop in stock prices.
The Treasury's bellwether 30-year bond fell 2/32 point, or about 60 cents for every $1,000 in face value. Its yield rose to 8.85% from 8.84% late Friday.
Meanwhile, interest rates on short-term Treasury securities were mixed in Monday's auction as three-month bill rates fell to their lowest level in two weeks while six-month rates were unchanged from a week earlier.
In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate home mortgages, rose to 6.87% last week, up from 6.73% the previous week.


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Fitness Centre
About me:
Looking for the place where people of all ages can enjoy their swimming under a particular program? AquaPulse is the right option for you.
AquaPulse is the place where anyone can learn swimming in a well-organized manner. Here, we provide swimming lessons, swimfit squad, school programs and many more. We will help you in becoming a perfect swimmer. To know more, visit our website.


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Leighton Meester: Gossip Girl Ending is 'Bittersweet'
Leighton Meester is bright and cheery while walking with Ed Westwick on the set of Gossip Girl in Manhattan, New York City on Friday afternoon (August 10).
The two stars were spotted walking around the neighborhood, and switching up their wardrobes, with Blake Lively and Kelly Rutherford.
"It's bittersweet," Leighton recently told EOnline about the ending of the hit CW show.
She added, "But at the same time, it's great to move on and do something different. Playing the same character for six years is great, but it's exciting to do other things and also just sleeping and spending time with my family."
15+ pics inside…
Posted to: Blake Lively, Ed Westwick, Leighton Meester


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MINNEAPOLIS -- This is a Super Bowl matchup that seems turned upside down.
The Buffalo Bills represent a blue-collar town and yet they've got the two glamour players in the game -- quarterback Jim Kelly and running back Thurman Thomas, who get to showcase their skills in a wide-open, no-huddle offense.
The Washington Redskins represent the nation's capital and yet they're the blue-collar team in this game. They operate from the one-back offense that puts a premium on old-fashioned blocking and tackling.


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Currently got a WIP city map which I want to turn into an infantry only grinder, as such i would like to make all aircraft, superweapons ,vehicles except the harvestor and base defences unbuildable. Is this acheivable via scripts and if so how?
Ps will the ai cope?
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Removing units via scripts
Posted 18 January 2009 - 09:44 AM
Posted 18 January 2009 - 11:24 AM
You can indeed do this with scripts. Simply go to "Edit>Scripts>New Script", and click on the "Actions if True" tab. From there, cick "Edit" to change the default "Null Operation" to something else. Specifically, change it to "Allow or disallow one building of a specific type" under the "Player>Build" menu. Now, simply set the "Player ???" field to "All Players" and change the "Allowed to build" field to whatever you don't want the players able to build. You'll need to copy and paste the action several times (do this in the "Actions if True" tab), once for each unit or structure you want removed from play.
Posted 18 January 2009 - 12:09 PM
cheers, now to finish of the map.
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text: VME Forever Abaco Systems, Abaco Systems - Leave a Comment Loading... Download White Paper (PDF) VME has been at the heart of rugged embedded computing for over 30 years. Alternative architectures have come along – but VME is still thriving. And: there are good reasons why VME will continue to thrive – as this white paper explains. Topics covered in this article rugged VME Advertisement


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XMM-Newton observations of the young open cluster Blanco 1 *,**
I. X-ray spectroscopy and photometry
Dip. di Astronomia, Università di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy
2 INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com
3 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, UK e-mail: email@example.com
Corresponding author: I. Pillitteri, firstname.lastname@example.com
Accepted: 10 March 2004
We present an X-ray study of the high metallicity young open cluster Blanco 1 based on XMM-Newton data. X-ray spectroscopy of cluster members is presented for the first time as well as new X-ray distribution functions of late-type stars. We detected all known dF and dG stars in the EPIC field and 80% and 90% of dK and dM stars, respectively. The X-ray spectral analysis of the X-ray brightest cluster stars and X-ray color analysis of a larger sample show that a model with two temperatures (at about 0.3 and 1 keV) explains the quiescent activity phase spectra. We discuss also the nature of unidentified X-ray sources in the observed region and their X-ray spectral properties.
Key words: X-ray: stars / stars: activity / Galaxy: open clusters and associations: individual: Blanco 1


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'The man in jail is always for freedom.'
'Except if you'll excuse me J.J. I'm not in jail.'
'You're in jail Sidney. You're a prisoner of your fears, your own greed and ambitions. You're in jail.'
While the key features of noir as genre, aesthetic and attitude have been exhaustively defined (anyone unfamiliar with Paul Schrader's 'Notes on Film Noir' is hereby encouraged to break off and attend to it immediately), the pervasiveness of the noir mode is surely due to its very elasticity, its evasion of any absolute rules one cares to throw down. Those looking for an example of noir's 'I know it when I see it' breadth of definition need look no further than Sweet Smell of Success. The film is full of elements likely to exclude it from being the noir classic it undoubtedly is: it was made at the very edge of the supposed golden era of noir, largely unconcerned with criminality and stars a major heartthrob star rather than the weather-beaten character actors so commonly in the noir limelight (apparently, location shooting in New York was frequently stalled by the hordes of teenage Tony Curtis fans). Yet, every frame and line of dialogue drips with noir, chiefly its attitude of cursed, enclosing fatalism.
Fate's victim is Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), a press agent. 'All publicity men are liars…' opines one of his increasingly disgruntled clients, 'but you are a personal liar.' For Falco, cynicism is vocational and avocation, and he reckons himself a master of the 'glib and oily art, to speak and purpose not'. Yet our time with him ominously begins as his clients start to get wise to his machinations and double-dealing, doors closing on his face and chances dwindling to none. Desperately needing to regain favour in the court of brutal gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), Falco agrees to destroy the partnership between Hunsecker's sister Susan (Susan Harrison) and Steve Dallas (Martin Milner), a promising jazz guitarist. How Falco is to destroy the young man, and exactly why Hunsecker wants to have him destroyed, proves to be a hauntingly dark tale that starts jet black and fades only darker.
MacKendrick was one of the Ealing family of directors, a creator of cheery fare with a sting in the tail like Whiskey Galore! and The Ladykillers. With the financial dissolution of the studio, he sought work in Hollywood. After his first project with the highly successful Hecht-Hill-Lancaster productions fell through, he subbed to direct the bleak drama written by former Hollywood Reporter writer Ernest Lehman. Mackendrick steeped himself in the New York skyline, placing silhouettes of the Broadway cityscape around his room in preparation. The use of location exteriors is highly effective: the skyscrapers loom over the scurrying acts of men, making the city seem more like a prison colony than the place where the streets are paved with gold.
Although Sweet Smell of Success was the production company's first flop, the years have only made the story of bitter backstabbing and trampling ambition all the more worthwhile. The film's origins are however marked by a specific historical context. The columnist Walter Winchell, upon whom J.J. Hunsecker was based, was a huge cultural figure and draws in all the power and paranoia of the 1950s in America. For decades, he had been the most influential gossip columnist, to the extent he could be said to have created the form. Syndicated to 2,000 papers nationwide and read daily by 50 million people, by the late 1950s his crown was falling, nibbled by younger columnists. 'Nothing recedes like success', as one of his own most famous bon mots put it, but before Winchell retired from journalism he was the scourge of many leftists, and rumoured leftists.
The film is not written from a naive perspective in this regard. Clifford Odets, the film's co-writer, was one of many called to question by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and backsliding, double-dealing and paranoia of the period runs through the film like a dagger through a heart, as you'll see in this scene.
Sweetening the pill with democracy and peace whilst encouraging a near-fascistic denoucement of subversive elements, J.J. prepares for his TV show, practicing his rhetoric by stop watch. It's a chilling scene, the first time we have a hint of the dark desires driving J.J. Tellingly, the scene goes down behind the curtains, playing closely to the film's leitmotif of clean façades and the dirty dealing behind them. Lancaster's slightly wooden, overlarge quality is put to good use in the film: he is only ever paying lip service to his true desires and Lancaster's actorly style succeeds.
While Odets' portrait of Hunsecker is deeply rooted to the time, the dialogue has a Shakespearean allusiveness that transcends any particular moment. Despite being a gutter tale of a 'dirty town', there is a cracked poetics in almost every line: 'The greedy murmur of little men', the 'theology of making a fast buck', 'a cookie full of arsenic'. Two men bound by mutual hate and disgusted with the parasitic reliance of the other, Falco and Hunsecker are electric duellers of dialogue. The charismatic combination begins to unsettle the film at times, as the structuring relationship between Steve and Susan seems thin and sketched in comparison. The two seem insipid and unaware rather than untainted and evincing 'integrity, acute, like indigestion.' Yet it's not enough to dim the film's appeal: scabrous as the day it was struck, there's nothing sweet about it, but the smell is still gloriously rank.
This is the seventh of my notes about my now finished series of films at The Woodmill Studios in Bermondsey. To see the entire line up and get all the details go here.


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These are tough times, especially for many local businesses. It's not surprising that entrepreneurs are looking at ways to bring in customers and expand their clientele base. For many, an eye-catching sign does the trick.
Often when a sign goes up, however, they will hear about it from the city's code enforcement crew. Not surprisingly, some Hesperia business owners are angry that the city is continuing to crack down on sign compliance issues.
As in most cases, there are two sides to this issue. Without any regulations, the city's signage could go haywire and the business districts could become a hodgepodge of scribbled poster board. While such signage anarchy might feel liberating to many business owners, the long-term affect could be disastrous. Hesperia's image continues to improve, and we need to continue the momentum.
It's likely, judging from the comments of longtime city Principal Planner Dave Reno, that the city is open to ideas and suggestions. After all, it's in the city's best interest to encourage a vibrant local business community. "Cha-ching" doesn't only sound good to our many hard-working business owners, but an influx of commerce also helps fuel city services.
On Tuesday, July 21 business owners and residents will get a chance to air their concerns at a public hearing at City Hall.
Victorville is following its red light traffic camera program with the installation of Safe City video cameras to deter and catch criminals.
Ironically Victorville's announcement to install the cameras comes just after Hesperia's top cop Capt. Lance Clark announced that the Star of the West has seen a decline in major crimes.
With Victorville dealing with a myriad of difficulties perhaps the balance of power is shifting in the Victor Valley. The future of Hesperia is looking pretty good nowadays.
Chris Lindsay, a financial advisor with EdwardJones in Hesperia, reminds investors to follow "the rules of the road."
His keys to investment success:
1. Develop a strategy
2. Stick with quality
3. Diversify
4. Invest for the long term
5. Address mistakes quickly
6. Understand risk and take steps to help reduce it
7. It's not just what you make, it's what you keep
8. Quality stocks have historically outperformed quality bonds
9. Focus on what you can control
10. Review your strategy annually


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BY MELISSA RUGGIERI/AJC Music Scene
A few hours before he'll rise above the stage on a platform, a quick spurt of pyro flanking him and confetti blanketing the Tabernacle crowd, Lecrae is relaxed.
There's a lot of family and numerous friends hanging around backstage at the Atlanta venue, but Lecrae seamlessly moves from one assignment to another, always polite and thoughtful.
His eighth studio album, "All Things Work Together," dropped in late September – his first collaboration with major label Columbia Records - and he's about to perform the second date on a companion tour that will keep him on the road through much of 2017.
Some artists dread the road, but Lecrae admits he appreciates the routine that comes with tour bus life. He also manages to fold his muscular 6-foot-4 frame into those tiny bunks. "Fetal position," he says with a smile.
This tour showcases Lecrae's biggest production, an important escalation because, "I never want to go backward," he said. "'Anomaly' was my last album-tour (in 2014-15) and production-wise, we did a great job. I wanted to make sure people felt that the experience is comparable to that."
With a trio of musicians (drums, keyboards and a DJ), backup dancers and backup singers; a stage-wide video screen shining images such as neon pink X's and O's (during the relative slow jam "Lucked Up") and footage of the American flag and military veterans ("Welcome to America"); and the aforementioned confetti and pyro (on the opening salvo, "Watchu Mean"), Lecrae has assembled an alluring visual complement to his visceral music.
He feels this new album deeply, and there is a lot of emotion to wade through.
There are also a lot of guests on the release, ranging from Tori Kelly to Ty Dolla Sign to New Orleans-turned-Atlanta transplant rapper Aha Gazelle (who opened the show).
In concert, Lecrae spotlights a dozen of the 14 songs on "All Things Work Together," a name tied to Romans 8:28 (he also performs the song, "8:28," about halfway through the set, the nearly sold-out crowd bobbing to its insistent bounce).
But aside from its biblical attachment, the title also has personal meaning to Lecrae, who has talked openly about his tough year – the death of a close friend (DJ Official), his own struggles with depression among them.
"It's a simple title but so true to where I'm at in life. You feel like you're drowning, but all of a sudden you get pulled out of the water and you're better for that experience because you can swim now – all things work together. You don't realize the strength and endurance being developed in you," he said.
When Lecrae informs the Tabernacle crowd that the previous night's audience in Memphis "was crazy…so you've got some competition!," they dutifully cheer louder and sing along with the "Anomaly" favorite, "All I Need is You," its liquid groove gently pushing the chorus.
Lecrae is such a magnetic stage presence that he can flip from pacing and gesticulating wildly, sweat flying as he nimbly unspools a lyric, or bring the audience under his command, as he did during "Can't Stop Me Now (Destination)," the single released nearly a year ago that chronicles despair turning into hope.
He's still navigating the gray area between being pegged as a Christian rapper and as an artist whose faith guides him, but doesn't necessarily take the spotlight in every song, and it's a balancing act that has had its stumbles.
But now, Lecrae lets out a sigh, smiles and says, "I found my tribe. People understand who I am a lot better. To have a faith-based audience and acquire some mainstream audience, there's going to be some conflicts. But that purge comes before the surge comes, so now it's a unique audience that resonates with me - and I want to inspire them and encourage them."


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Little mentioned over the last decade, since the beginnings of the financial crisis in 2007, has been the plight of savers.
Interest rates have been slashed to derisory levels in savings accounts.
This was done to save western economies from collapse. Out of solidarity for this plight, great forbearance has been shown by thrifty, often elderly people who have spent a lifetime working, saving and fending for themselves, rather than relying on state handouts.
But the seemingly never ending period of almost useless interest returns is now a scandal. For several years it was just about possible to finds banks that paid 3% interest. In recent years savers are doing well to get a 1% return.
And they are subject to all sorts of trickery. Only the most diligent people check their savings regularly to ensure that an interest rate has not been slashed to 0.3% or so. We were told the authorities would make this more difficult, but even if they have done it is an ongoing problem.
Savers accepted low rates for the good of society. But their cash held in banks has for many years been failing to keep pace even with the rise in the cost of living. Note that the slashing of interest rates has bailed out irresponsible businesses and individuals who borrowed too much. It has also sent asset prices soaring, that makes it harder for people who are cautious about debt to buy a house. This week's rate rise might have marked a slow turning of the tide, but our hardworking savers are still suffering.


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College Calendar
Blackboard Training – Part 2
Sat, Dec 9, 2017 @ 12:15 pm - 3:15 pm
Blackboard Training Part 2 tackles adding, organizing, and managing content within your Blackboard courses – with a particular emphasis on Assignments, SafeAssign, and Inline Grading – as well as using collaborative tools like the discussion forum.
RSVP to the Teaching & Learning Center, Room 240A, [email protected] or 694-8908.
For a full overview of all upcoming Blackboard Training sessions, see the December 2017 Blackboard Training flyer.
- This event has passed.


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Hello Penguin,
Yes the time has come for another Reviewed by you *Drum roll*Here is this weeks question
What Would Your Ultimate Field-Ops Mission Be?
Lots and lots and lots of penguins tried to get there commented posted, but here is what that lucky penguin said. Take it away Chilli 2!
It's a situation where Klutzy figured out a way to change all the blue signs with white arrows throughout the paths of Club Penguin. The arrows would be pointing to different directions, and many penguins would be lost in the wilderness. It would be an EPF Agent's job to rescue the penguins, fix all the signs back to normal, and importantly save Rookie, who gets lost in a place full of marshmallows!
As you know, on Thursday there is a new Clothing Catalog. It's theme is music and there are some new instruments coming out. So, this week's question is:
What Is Your Favourite Musical Instrument And Why?
Remember to comment at the Community Blog your answer, and if you get picked you get 10,000 coins added to your account. Remember to give your name so they know who to add it to.