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OLM Favorites: Seer Blest
Sir Frank Kermode once compared novels to angels. At first glance, this seems like an unfortunately saccharine proposition, inconsistent with the dignity and seriousness of a British knight, King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at Cambridge, and one of the most distinguished men of letters of the 20th century. But like all of Kermode's ideas, it is based on a set of extraordinarily complex connections and is central to his lifelong investigation into some of the irreducible questions of literature: What is the purpose of fiction? Why do we read it?
These questions nip at the heels of all of Kermode's books, but the comparison between angels and literature is made specifically in his evergreen study The Sense of an Ending, drawn from a series of lectures he gave at Bryn Mawr College in 1965. The year is important because the threat of nuclear annihilation lent intense clarity to Kermode's main point: Humans, personally and collectively, are preoccupied with trying to understand their deaths. For life to have meaning, to amount to more than just a sequence of events, that meaning must be projected backwards from an ending that provides the key to interpreting everything that preceded it.
Fiction mirrors this process. A common complaint of a failed novel is that it just portrays one damn thing after another. But a great work of literature endows its actions with a higher order of consequence that transcends mere chronology and, as Kermode puts it, charges the story with meaning. Endings are not terminations but completions.
Now think again about angels. In medieval cosmology, Kermode explains, angels occupied a kind of middle zone between Earth and the heavens. Humans lived inside time; God was eternal.
The angels required their own order of time because they were not pure being, yet were (on most interpretations) immaterial, acting in time yet not of it, any more than they participated in God's eternity. Immutable, not subject to time, they were nevertheless capable of acts of will and intellect, by which change is produced in time.
Kermode points out that St. Thomas Aquinas designated the medium the angels inhabited the "aevum." But the label is unimportant; what's significant is that angels were the intermediary—humankind's broker—to divine truth.
And so it is, Kermode writes, with fictions. We know that stories are invented, their connections manufactured and their meanings contrived, yet we read them with "conditional assent." They provide the glancing instants when sluggishly corporeal humans commune with something outside of time—what St. Augustine called the periods of the soul's attentiveness. They show us eternity, but only for a moment.
St. Thomas and St. Augustine make frequent appearances in Kermode's criticism, and he read them and bantered with them the way that most people do the sports page. He was himself a nonbeliever, but because he could give conditional assent to concepts like omniscience and immortality he could fluently translate these thinkers into the secular era and therefore mingle their ideas with those of contemporary theorists, even those as radical (at the time) as Jacques Lacan and Roland Barthes. Kermode practiced criticism during a phase of intense rupture in the academic world, when most literary scholars had divided into reactionary camps, contentiously alienated from each other, from the precepts of the past, and most of all from the reading public. Kermode's genius was in traveling freely among these schools of thought, and even among the styles of writing, employing their competing theories but not being defined by them—and also subtly demonstrating their commonalities. He was the age's great critical syncretist.
Syncretists are necessarily outsiders and Kermode lived, he writes in his charming (if selectively revealing) memoir Not Entitled, as "a sort of one-man diaspora." He grew up on the Isle of Man—an island off of an island. Throughout his life, by his reckoning, he was subject to a misfit restlessness that was hard to discern from his fastidious manner but would suddenly show itself in precipitous decisions to change teaching jobs or move around the country. He writes that he had little competence with things of the world, and was never comfortable as a husband, father, or even as an editor (he was rather cluelessly in the middle of the debacle at the literary journal Encounter when Conor Cruise O'Brien sued it for libel and exposed its connection with the CIA). Even his books, for all their wisdom and probity, seem born of a fundamental instability, as they are mostly either redactions of lectures or collections of occasional pieces. He has no out-and-out magnum opus.
Nor, consequently, is he tied to one particular argument. "It is not expected of critics as it is of poets that they should help us make sense of our lives," he writes at the start of The Sense of an Ending, perhaps the closest thing he has to a defining text. "They are bound only to attempt the lesser feat of making sense of the ways we try to make sense of our lives."
A fascinating contrast with this seemingly modest definition of the critic's vocation can be found in the writing and thought of Kermode's near-contemporary Harold Bloom. Writing in his 2011 "critical self-portrait" The Anatomy of Influence, Bloom attempted not only to distill the main argument that will stand as his legacy but to depict the nature of his entire relationship with literature. He stakes his name on the so-called anxiety of influence, the belief that "the inescapable condition of sublime and high art is agon"—that is, that the inspiration for all great artists comes from their struggle against the work of their forerunners.
Bloom came to this theory, and to a love of literature, by what he describes in explicitly evangelical terms as a born-again experience. The overwhelming effects of reading Hart Crane at age 10, Macbeth at 13, and Northrop Frye at 17 are presented as related road-to-Damascus conversions. "Literature for me is not merely the best art of life," he writes. "It is itself the form of life, which has no other form."
Thus the coals of poetry touched Bloom's lips and he was fated both to subsume himself to the creeds behind his criticism and to wage everlasting battle against his wrong-thinking adversaries. He has consistently denounced his opponent theorists, especially the New Critics and the deconstructionists, with the passion of St. Augustine attacking the heresies of the Pelagians.
Set Bloom's revelations alongside this formative moment from Not Entitled, which comes after a young Kermode has unsuccessfully dabbled in theology. It amounts to a sort of anti-epiphany:
Now, as the smoke dropped onto Mr. Shave's church on that evening of newspapers, buckets, and damaged fruit, the street-long cable-slot still gleaming in the shoplights, I ended my career as best philosopher, seer blest, eye among the blind, and so forth. The next step was, as might be foretold, to enter the prison house of my own incommunicable intuitions, and soon to be committed to the long labor of learning how to know something a little better than I did and to know how to say it with apparent clarity to others…. It is an acceptable condition, in which we are able to believe that we communicate, that we may be distincts yet not divided.
Naturally, Bloom considered Kermode an enemy. "He's not terribly fond of me," he said of Kermode in an interview, "and I cannot say that I'm enormously fond of him." But you will find no trace of antagonism in Kermode's numerous reviews of Bloom's books, only interest, frequent amusement, punctuations of annoyance, and the slightly awed, slightly incredulous respect that scrupulous agnostics feel for true believers. For Bloom was someone Kermode had no trouble recognizing from his studies—an heir to apocalypse critics, who invested the full meaning of literature into a single belief for which he spent his life proselytizing.
The irony is that it should be the Jew from the South Bronx who followed the footsteps of the Christian apostles while the "solid low Anglican" Manxman modeled his style off, of all things, rabbinical midrash. Allusions to midrashic commentary—the Jewish tradition of reinterpreting the fixed words of God in order to sift their many meanings and discover their applications to changing times—appear constantly in Kermode's books. It was his lodestone, the great sanction and example for the potentially blasphemous exercise of looking at canonical texts in new and varied ways.
Strict midrashic scholars argue, of course, that there is no parallel to their practice in the secular forum of literary studies. But look at the bounty of sources Kermode introduces, in a review of a work of biblical history, to illuminate how one interpretation of the Adam and Eve story came to dominate all others:
One sees at once that that the biblical tradition rests far more on this augmented version [scripture plus commentary] than on the plain version [scripture alone], and that sixteen hundred or so years later the learned Milton developed it in what might be called, though probably not by the Jerusalem experts, a poem that can be thought of as an enormous midrash…. [Commentators] argued over the concept of what would later be called Original Sin and invented the idea that the transgression in the garden amounted to the Fall of Man. That Satan "took the serpent as a garment" and that through his envy "death entered the world" was now established, though the plain text does not say so. The fault of Eve ("From a woman was sin's beginning, and because of her we all die") may have been simply that she was a woman, as Philo supposed; without the stress of desire Adam would have given no offense (a persistent idea, echoed later by Saint Ambrose, and later still by Andrew Marvell, writing about "that happy Garden-state/While man there walked without a Mate").
Elsewhere he could apply the same variegated, argus-eyed scrutiny to a writer like Don DeLillo, who is about as far from Milton and Marvell as it is possible to be:
Underworld belongs to a category of the Great American Novel, to which all the really big writers aspire. Structurally it has some resemblance to Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, and that thought prompts the reflection that Pynchon also wrote an exceptionally fine novella, The Crying of Lot 49. If there are two traditions of great American writing it is proper to show up in both of them. One of them may be said to originate with Hawthorne, the other with Melville, one lean and self-absorbed, the other heavy, expansive, determined to contain a world. On the whole the heavyweights have prevailed in recent years; one no longer hears much talk of, say, Glenway Westcott, a lean writer of whom Gertrude Stein remarked that "he has a certain syrup but it does not pour."
Kermode's justifications for his borrowing from Judaism's ancient critical method appears in the lectures compiled for his 1975 book The Classic. Here he asks how, in the secular era, we are supposed to decide which books to regard as classics.
The question is knotty, Kermode writes, because traditionally such literature was known by its revealed grace. Virgil was a classic because, in one of his eclogues, he foreshadowed the birth of Christ. But Virgil also wrote the founding epic of the divinely appointed Roman Empire—and he was preceded by Homer and followed by numerous other poets, from Dante to Milton, whose greatness rested on their prophetic vision of "certain, unchanging truths."
T.S. Eliot, in a similar set of lectures twenty years earlier, had done his best to uphold this standard for classics, but Kermode recognized that it had lost currency in modern times, in which engraved verities have faded and "truth in art … will have the hesitancy, the instability, of the attitude struck by the New World, provincial and unstable itself, towards the corrupt maturity of the metropolis." By compelling the classic to adapt with the shifting times, Kermode was inverting its very function. In the past, it was a repository for ultimate answers; now it is determined based on its ability to field the most questions, to enrich the most diverse forms of inquiry.
In essence (though Kermode was suspicious of essences), this is an argument for plurality, for an idea of a classic that does not require any special dispensation in order to understand it. Kermode passionately advocated for the deathless relevance of traditional masterpieces while opposing the tyranny of elect knowledge. It was this combination of conservatism and progressiveness that made him such a unique defender of structuralism, poststructuralism, and the other New Wave schools of literary theory that were cropping up more and more as his career continued.
Kermode's interest in these theories was real and, as he explains in Not Entitled, he resigned from his prestigious seat at Cambridge after being attacked for speaking out for a poststructuralist professor who had been denied tenure. But he never came close to committing himself to them (indeed, he considered Roland Barthes, who announced the death of the author, to be yet another iteration in the lineage of apocalypse writers). "The new literary theory," he writes, "was another country in which I went to live without feeling truly at home."
He puts those ideas to fascinating use in 1985's Forms of Attention. In the book's second chapter he analyzes Hamlet through the lens of semiotics, a field that investigates texts purely on the basis of their lexical patterns. Kermode observes that Shakespeare's key rhetorical device in the play is doubling, meaning he creates dramatic dissonance by joining two not quite compatible words or phrases around the conjunction "and" (you may be sure that Kermode knows and endlessly applies the appropriate technical term, hendiadys). The chapter is a tour de force of postmodernist gibberish, but it is bottomlessly intelligent and draws from Kermode's virtually eidetic knowledge of Shakespeare's plays.
Once again Kermode is relying on conditional assent. When he undertakes to study Shakespeare's rhetorical strategies, he does so in full earnestness. Once the study is complete he steps back and frames the field of semiotics within a larger historical perspective. His point is twofold. He wants to demonstrate that Hamlet's greatness is such that it is inexhaustible: you can always find new things to say about it through new approaches. As for the worth of the interpretative theory, that can be judged by its fruits: any study is good if it helps to preserve the valued object; it is bad if it leads to its destruction.
"The history of interpretation, the skills by which we keep alive in our minds the light and dark of past literature and past humanity," he once wrote for the only sermon he ever delivered, "is to an incalculable extent a history of error." It seems odd to cherish a thinker who constantly distanced himself from his own ideas, who regularly pointed up their insufficiency; it seems that there must be something meek about him. But Kermode's humility was his strength, and it was born from his private, intensely devotional love of literature. Before writers like St. Augustine, Shakespeare, E.M. Forster, and Wallace Stevens it would be ridiculous to be anything other than humble.
Kermode's willingness to be proved wrong in any opinion is also the reason that, as many people have commented, his book reviews always seemed so serenely incontrovertible. Because he had no ideological agenda, there was no soft underbelly of irrational belief to attack. You had simply to face him on the merits of the arguments on the page. To do that, you had to know as much about literature as he did, which disqualified effectively everyone.
Yet no one understood better than Kermode that there is a difference between an argument being incontrovertible and it being true. Along with the provisionality of his approach—his ability to draw from the well of his passion for books without toppling into it—came the awareness that criticism is, at heart, a performance. Kermode's writing is always challenging, but it is leavened by a spirit of shared entertainment, a tacit acknowledgment that interpretation is a kind of game—something, he notes, that the rabbis recognized "without for a moment supposing that what they were doing wasn't serious; the most serious thing in the world, in fact."
Kermode wrote criticism for no higher purpose than to perpetuate the lives of great works of art, for, as he wrote, "the medium by which all texts survive is commentary." To that end he joined a nearly unrivalled knowledge of the Western canon with a playful lightness of thought. He could travel across colleges as well as across millennia, trying out ideas and then setting them within their historical contexts. He possessed a mind that could change in time, and that made his criticism as timeless as any we can hope to have.
Sam Sacks writes the Fiction Chronicle for The Wall Street Journal and is an editor of Open Letters Monthly.


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Doctors across the country are seeing more children with bone and joint problems. Dr. Paul Esposito is the Clinical Service Chief of Orthopedics at Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha and says coincides with a startling increase in the frequency of severe vitamin D deficiency in children worldwide. Reports show this deficiency can have a devastating impact on a child's bone strength.
Dr. Esposito says the body needs vitamin D to help the body absorb calcium from our diet. The body gets vitamin D from sunlight and Dr. Esposito says children are not spending sufficient time outdoors and when they are sunscreen is used.
Reports show the bone fracture rate in children increased over the past 20 years. Children without adequate vitamin D can have weak bones, stunted growth or arms and legs that may not grow straight.
Dr. Esposito says the body can make sufficient vitamin D with just a few minutes of sun exposure a day. He says another option is a supplement but recommends talking to a doctor first.
Friday, October 19th is World PB&J Day – World Pediatric Bone and Joint Day.

subset: commoncrawl


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Lots of web logs out there "document the creative process." That is fantastic. I follow those kinds of web logs and I attempt to maintain that kind of web logging here. But what I have come to discover is that I need also to accept the kind of learning curve that I've got to deal with in terms of my creative avocations. So I've got to document not just my creative process but also my slide down the various learning curves that I've got to manage.
Last January, inspired by another web-logger's (Stretta's) year-end-review, I published my own "production principles." With as much as I have to learn, they seem a bit comical to me now. So this post is kind of a response to my own previous post. I need not only principles guiding my creative process, but some way to make sense of managing my steep learning curve and keeping a balance between actually producing something and all the study time I need in my project studio (for musical and sonic pursuits) and with the artists who guide my study of iconography and sacred architecture. They say that half the journey is getting there. I am the type that wants to be there already. So I quickly and easily get impatient with myself or discouraged by the sheer amount of in-depth and arcane knowledge possible for (and sometimes demanded by) the creative avocations I have come to pursue.
I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the shear volume of area that my interests cover. In terms of my sonic and musical pursuits:
- programming, which includes
- synthesis,
- use of the multitude of applications for the monome device
- sequencing in general and
- drum-patterning in particular
- musical composition (be that ambient or "pop")
- sound capture and
- use of my digital audio workstation ("DAW," e.g., Logic)
- possibly needing to learn another DAW (i.e., Live when it comes out combined with MAX/msp)
- possibly learning to program monome applications (with the bundled MAX)
- guitar (again)?
In terms of sacred images and architecture:
- their history
- their theology
- their multiple styles
- drawing technique
- painting technique
The above bullet points cover vast tracts of learning territory. Then there is learning how to share the products of one's creativity after one has finally learned enough actually to produce something worth sharing!
- web publishing through one's web log
- "sharing" through (sane use of) forums
- "sharing" files through social networks (Vimeo, Soundcloud)
Some of these have a steeper learning curve than others. Some I recall well from my high school garage-band days. Some, like the iconography and architecture, are really quite new to me. Some I feel comfortable with at this point (e.g., managing my web log), others I feel intimidated by (e.g., the vulnerability I feel when sharing my amateur tracks on Soundcloud).
So, for perspective's sake, I'll do a little review. I recently looked back over receipts with regard to purchases for my project studio. It has helped me form a timeline of acquisition directly proportional to a timeline of my learning curve.
I hadn't broken out my synthesizers and fired them up for, say, about four years until last January of 2008. I was playing them through a crappy four-channel radio shack mixer into an old borrowed guitar amp.
Last March (2008), two months after I finally turned my synthesizers back on, I bought a real mixer, monitors, my Korg Kaoss Pad, and all the stuff to connect the power, the audio and the MIDI to one another and into my computer. I still didn't have a DAW other than the free Garageband that came with my apple and the "Live Lite" that came as trial software with my M-Audio Audiophile.
Finally, in May (2008) I bought Logic Express. The last time I tried to mix my computer with my synthesizers was back in 1993 when I bought Opcode's Vision. I tried to run it on my little Mac Classic II and it just crashed every time. It was about that time that I started dedicating all my energy to my vocation and left music to just the listening category. So, as of this post, I've only been learning DAW technology for about 10 months. In my old garage band I certainly sequenced using my awesome MMT8, but I didn't also have to serve as my own producer, engineer, mixer, master-er, and "publisher." When I write these things down, they give me perspective. I guess I feel like I've been learning pretty well so far!
I finally picked up a decent quality home studio microphone in October (2008). So that launched me into the need to learn something about audible sound capture (as opposed to simple "line-in" from my synthesizers). It was also about that time that the glorious email from monome.org came letting me know that my "device" was "ready" for order. And that is when things avocational really started to change for me.
I received my monome 64 in November (2008). So I have only been working on learning how to integrate its nearly mind-boggling capabilities into my (still only hypothetical) "work flow" for about five months. Wow. That is good for me to read. I guess as of right now I've decided that I am right on track with my learning curve!
My monome device and the amazing monome community was what initially inspired me to go crazy and start up this web log. I am glad that I did. It has been fun and I have enjoyed the interactions, inspirations and communications that it has allowed me to be a part of. It is far more fun pursuing an avocation with others who share a common interest and are supportive.
I am so thankful and joyful to be back in the world of creativity, especially that of sound and music. More plotting of my learning curve to come. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the encouragement I have received along the way. So here is to more learning - and the gift of more, inspired creativity I have come to know that I can expect. Peace


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When Lulu the goldendoodle has her vest on, she knows her job — to comfort mourners in her family's funeral home. She even "prays" when directed, kneeling and bowing her head between her front paws.
Matthew Fiorillo offers Lulu's services, free of charge, to every mourner who walks into his White Plains, New York funeral home. The trained therapy dog is part of a growing trend among funeral homes.
Stray Dogs Instinctively Attend Funeral Of Woman Who Fed Them
No one keeps numbers on exactly how many such dogs are working in funeral homes, but the National Funeral Directors Association say they hear more and more from their members about using animals to comfort mourners.
The trend is a fairly recent one, but therapy dogs for mourners were rare in 2001 when Mark Krause's Portuguese water dog, Oliver, went to work in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin funeral home.
The funeral director remembers a seven year old boy who had lost his three-year-old sister. The boy had withdrawn and stopped talking, until Oliver came in — and the boy began reminiscing with the dog about his sister.
Jon Stewart Buys a Farm to Help Animal Victims of Cruelty
"I don't suppose Oliver understood, but he looked at the boy as if he did," Krause told the Associated Press.
The dog passed away in 2011, and its funeral was attended by 150 people — many brought their pets.
– Photo: WCBS video, which has since been disabled for embed.
Share some comforting news…


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With these Rocking Whiskey Glasses, even drunk captain Haddock won't have any more reason to curse and moan. These glasses rock along with the ship, making sure that not a drop of whiskey is spilled on the seven seas. This practical on-board gadget basically sells itself.
But even landlubbers will love the gadget's unique design. It's perfect for slowly warming whiskey, cognac or other spirits in your hand. The glasses come in a set of six, because the best drinking requires company. And they have a contagious effect: they more you pour down, the greater the changes you'll start rocking yourself!
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- Set of 6 whiskey glasses
- The curved bottom keeps the contents level when the glass moves
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- Material: hand blown glass
- Weight per glass: 215 grams
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Dimensions: 6.5cm(L) × 6.5cm(W) × 8cm(H)
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A very funny solution to the "ship-problem", but when a little ship really starts listing seriously, the glass will , eventually, slide with foreseeable consequences :)


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It sounds like boredom got the better of them. In time, they gradually drifted back to their usual work, fishing. Even that wasn't so profitable. Not a fish in sight, until the voice of a stranger on the shoreline in the murky dark light of the morning called to try the other side. To their amazement, they caught a net full of fish. A hasty return to shore to greet the stranger they now knew was Jesus followed, with greetings and breakfast.
Up to this point all resurrection appearances had been unique and in the context of unexpected encounters - Mary's personal encounter with Jesus, an example. The two followers returning to Emmaus, initially sense Jesus while recalling the story of scripture then, recognizing him in the breaking of bread at the meal table, then there was the appearance in the upper room.
Today's appearance has a touch of difference. This is Jesus appearing in the context of one's daily life and work. Resurrection awareness can impact all realms of our life. Most significantly that area that we spend most of our time engaged within, our work.
As the disciples discovered, the vision of Christ does impact the way we engage with work, even fishing. Resurrection challenges us to think that there are always possibilities that we haven't considered. Sometimes, as simple as throwing the net out on the other side of the boat.
Setting goals is a natural part of our life. Education, career, family, money etc…They shape the roadway our life takes. But what is the quality of that road? The second half of the gospel story today, introduces a new and vital dimension to resurrection life. It is a different type of goal. It is the resurrection call to love.
This message centres upon Peters failure on Good Friday with Jesus recalling Peter's three denials of Jesus. Jesus displays an unexpected expression of love aimed at the point of Peter's most debilitating pain. We imagine that once the group have completed breakfast, Jesus beckons Peter to wonder off down the beach with him for a personal talk. Jesus knows the story of the three denials. He perceives the pain Peter now carries, a pain Jesus determines to heal.
His healing comes in the form of a new purpose of life. It is the call to live in love.
On three occasions he gives him a chance to reaffirm his love of Jesus. With each one it carries the potential to distinguish the pain of his denial. With each one there is a specific mission of love. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.
To be human is to find a path way in life. A volunteer, a home maker, a work career. We are all different, yet all important for making a contribution on that pathway of our choice. But to be a disciple is to take us on a step beyond this natural path. It is to hear this call to love that Peter heard directly from Jesus.Whatever involvement we have in life is an opportunity to discover the divine love that Jesus displayed.
Life involves encounters with others. Resurrection attitude awakens our vision to see the opportunity of love in each of these encounters. This is the mission Peter was called to. It is the model for all disciples. It is Resurrection living.


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Michael G. Menkowitz, William H. Stassen, Raymond M. Patella and L. John Bird were featured in the Law360 article "Downey Financial Trumps FDIC in $374M Tax Refund Tussle." While the full text can be found in the October 9, 2013, issue of Law360, a synopsis is noted below.
Downey Financial Corp.'s Chapter 7 trustee notched a victory over the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Tuesday as a Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled a nearly $374 million tax refund belongs to the failed home lender's estate.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi determined that under the tax sharing agreement between Downey Financial and subsidiary Downey Savings and Loan Association FA, the refund is an asset of the parent's bankruptcy estate.
With the decision, the $374 million refund becomes an asset that can be divvied up on a pro rata basis among various creditors of Downey.
In November 2008, the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision ordered Downey Savings' operations seized, appointing the FDIC as receiver.
Downey Financial's Chapter 7 trustee launched an adversary proceeding in October 2010, staking claim to the tax refund as an estate asset.
The FDIC "did not meet its burden in showing that a resulting trust was intended by the parties, nor that the parties' course of performance indicates a trust or agency relationship," Judge Sontchi said.
"We think it's a very well-reasoned opinion," said William Stassen, a member of the team representing the Chapter 7 trustee. "Judge Sontchi did one of the most thorough jobs of analyzing the issue."
According to Stassen, the U.S. Department of Justice still needs to sign off on the settlement.
The Chapter 7 trustee is represented by Michael G. Menkowitz, William H. Stassen, Raymond M. Patella and L. John Bird of fox Rothschild.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.


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Transform your financial habits to prepare for the future
Your 50s are a good time to take stock of the asset allocation of your portfolio and evaluate your position relative to your retirement plans. For an accurate estimate, consider at what age you would like to retire and the lifestyle you plan to have will you travel, have a vacation home, take up an expensive hobby? Project a budget, keeping in mind that some costs, such as health insurance, may increase and others, like your mortgage payment, may disappear. Once you have estimated your living expenses, then estimate how much your assets will be worth at retirement, and how long they are likely to last. You can do this with First National Bank at Pariss retirement calculator. Also estimate your Social Security income. With all this information at hand, you may want to increase your retirement contributions.
As you enter your 60s, fine-tune your projections and your asset allocations. If you retire before age 65, be sure you have medical insurance to cover you until you are eligible for Medicare. First National Bank at Paris can help you in your pre-retirement lifestage to re-allocate your assets, increase IRA contributions or set up an annuity. Please contact our financial advisors for more information.
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Trials and Tribulations
Spilling Mistakes
One of my grandmothers told me a long while ago, usually things that annoy you, annoy you because you are the biggest offender. You know the saying, "takes one to know one." And so here I'll stand aside my peers. Yep, I've committed this infraction, and by everything that is perpendicular and punctilious I will toil never to do it again… not given the way I feel about these two aimless expressions in book blurbs… trials and tribulations.
Those two words or any words stroking near it, should never be used in blurbs. Every book ever written contains trials and tribulations, also expressed as conflict. Now how about this? 'My book is about (a lot of) conflict.' Sound convincing? Anyone convinced?
Everybody's Nobodies
Everybody's Nobodies
Have you ever heard of these people? If you haven't, then let me tell you who they are.
These are people who you'll never see, or even know, because for all anyone knows they are nobodies who everyone knows everyone thinks nobody will understand the context of this text.
Most times we breeze by them so perfunctorily we hardly recognize everybody and nobody, who out of all oddities, supports the entire text alone. Of course, removing everybody or nobody from the text, and maybe replacing it with YOU or I, then… ugh… well, just let me put it this way. If you can't meet them and never see them, you can't believe them 'cause I or YOU alone won't cut it.
Spilling Mistakes
And yes, that's spilled not quite right, which on this one I often have to sit back and laugh. No, I don't tout to be peeved by blunders. I'm only peeved by blunders, peeved about blunders. ← Wink. Wink. A lil philosophy 20r2.


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SEATTLE — Montana officials Monday ended the first general wolf hunt in the southern part of the state just a day after it started, when the number of animals killed exceeded the season quota for the region.
The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks earlier had suspended a backcountry hunt in a remote area north of Yellowstone National Park after nine gray wolves were shot.
That hunt raised controversy because four of the wolves belonged to Yellowstone's much-studied Cottonwood pack -- including the alpha male and female. The predators were killed after they ventured outside the park.
An additional four wolves were shot in southern Montana after the general hunt started Sunday. The quota for that part of the state was 12 wolves.


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Remember "Protect and Survive", the ridiculous government information pack that told us how we might survive a nuclear attack by doing stuff like painting our windows white? I wonder if it's going to be reissued. It's not time to start diving under tables yet but one of the legacies of the Bush and Blair era seems to be a return to the Cold War. That's quite an achievement after a well over a decade of thawing relationships with Russia. This comes, of course, with the news that President Putin of Russia has threatened to target European cities with nuclear weapons if America goes ahead with its missile defence shield which would include installations of radar and missile batteries in the Czech Republic and Poland. The relationship between the USA and Russia has been deteriorating for a while now, largely because of America's insistence on continuing with this lunatic program, which Russia obviously sees as a threat, but also for other reasons. Indeed, things have got so bad that Condoleezza Rice, a supposed expert on the Cold War, had to deny last month that a new Cold War was taking place and then two weeks later accuse Russia of having a Cold War mentality. This was before Putin's recent announcement, if Russian missiles are going to be aimed at us it will be hard to dismiss the idea that we are returning to the bad old days before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bush's continued insistence that the proposed missile shield is not against Russia and is merely a defence against North Korean or Iranian attacks is not believed in Russia as neither country has the capacity to successfully target the USA. Russia's argument against this seems quite reasonable. After all, how would the USA react if missiles were placed in a neighbouring country with a string of assurances that it was defence against some other state? Using Bush's logic, all Castro and Khrushchev would have needed to do in 1962 is insist that the missiles in Cuba were a precaution against a possible attack from Canada. Tony Blair was always enthusiastic about the missile shield and lobbied for parts of to be installed in Britain making the country a potential target.
At the heart of all this is the neocon credo of "Full Spectrum Dominance", an unrealistic plan for America to have total control of land, sea, air and space. This is what Tony Blair approvingly refers to as a "unipolar world". To most other people it's simply an empire and is already pretty much scuppered as a plan. America can only get away with this kind of dominance if compliant states let it and Russia has now drawn a line in the sand. Obviously this will cause the Bush administration to go into one of its periodic episodes of chest-thumping histrionics but in reality there is little it can do other than either back down or resign itself to this new reality.
If this is a new Cold War, there are some differences from the last one. The Soviet Union was bankrupted by the arms race which America started. The new Russia, on the other hand, has some of the world's largest reserves of natural gas, a commodity desperately needed in Europe and we have already seen how Russia can use this resource as a weapon. This will make it somewhat harder for European countries to fall into line with every insane command from the White House. The stark reality is Europe needs to maintain good relations with Russia or face a severe energy crisis.
That's not to say that there aren't legitimate disputes with Russia that need resolving. Among these is the fate of Kosovo which might be solvable, and the trail of contamination left across London from the polonium 210 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko which probably won't be solved. For its part, Russia has genuine security concerns. Not only is it angry over the so-called defence shield, it is also angry about the broken promises concerning NATO expansion into eastern Europe.
What we seem to be presented with is two choices, neither of which are particularly appealing. The first is the unipolar world Blair is so enthusiastic about where America is the only power on the planet and we all ally ourselves to America's benevolent protection and defer any disputes over to its jurisdiction secure in the knowledge that it will always act fairly and impartially as we have seen so often. The other option is the Bipolar world where another power (Russia in this case) acts as a counter-balance to American hegemony resulting in America's allies having nuclear weapons pointed at them as we experienced in the last Cold War. There is a third option, and I'm not sure if this is any more appealing than the other two. That is a multi-polar word where there are several superpowers that can keep each other in check. Obviously this still means that someone or other will still be pointing missiles at us but it might allow us a bit more independence from the de facto occupation of so much of the world (particularly Europe) by American forces. This would mean that Europe would have to stand up on its own two feet and refuse to be a pawn in a game between America and Russia. I think this is eventually what we may end up with as China also flexes its muscles. The downside is that this all sounds very 1984 with three large blocks permanently at war with just the alliances changing from time to time. There don't seem to be many other alternatives at present. Nuclear weapons are not going to be un invented, some states will always be more powerful than others and alliances will always be formed and broken. Also, the prospect of further conflicts is very real the more scarce the World's resources get.
How ironic that the destruction of Iraq over fictitious WMD and the sabre rattling with Iran over potential WMD has led to a serious threat of real WMD raining down on Europe's cities as the world's last superpower insists on pointing its WMD at Russia. And what a coincidence that this current crisis flared up shortly after Britain decided to renew its Trident WMD program. No doubt we will now be told that with Russian missiles aimed at London, renewing Trident was the correct decision and the original cause for this new arms race (America's provocation of Russia) will be glossed over.
Tags: New Cold War, Russia, Missile Shield, US Politics


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After a terrible night sleeping I got at the crack of dawn and decided to post this card...and for good reason. I know around Christmas time there are a lot of people out there who dislike celebrating the festive season because they are alone for whatever reason, and I am sure there are a lot of crafters out there who feel the same way. But I just wanted to let them know that they are not alone and as a crafter we are always here...because everyone needs a friend at Christmas :)
and I would like this card to the following challenges to share card and sentiments:)
A SPOONFULL OF SUGAR - christmas card
COPIC CREATIONS - light source (from the top)
CRAFT OUR PASSIONS - anything goes
CRAZY CHALLENGE - all I want for christmas
FLUTTERBY CHALLENGE - open challenge things with wings
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - red and green must not be seen


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Belmont Historic Locations
The following historic locations are located in Belmont, New York. Please select a historic place in Belmont to view detailed information including address information, historical signifiance, and much more.
New York Historic Places
|Belmont Grange #1243
32 Willets Ave.
Belmont, NY
Single Dwelling, Meeting Hall
|Belmont Hotel
40-48 Schuyler St.
Belmont, NY
Hotel, Specialty Store
|Belmont Literary and Historical Society Free Library
2 Willets Ave.
Belmont, NY
3 mi. N of Belmont on SR 408
Belmont, NY
Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
New York Historic Places


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We just finished walking and buying at the National Stationery Show 2016. This show is by far my most favorite show of the year and it helps to set the tone for the buying for the rest of the year. I've exhibited and bought at this show for 21 years and it always brings a Read More
Archive for the 'Good Times' Category
Hacked By Shade
Hacked By Shade Hacked By Shade GreetZ : Prosox & Sxtz Hacked By Shade <3
Get out!
How amazing is that little portable BBQ, it's just screaming for an outing to the park. I highly recommend that we all spend as much time outside as we possibly can… it's good for the soul! Lesson: Spring is to be enjoyed~
Being driven to drink
When I was a kid and my sister and I would be getting a little crazy my Mom would say " you kids are going to drive me to drink"!! I always thought it was so funny when she said that because she didn't drink. But I know understand the feeling…. after a long days Read More
Fresh as a Daisy or Daffodil
We are happily experiencing real Spring here in NYC and I couldn't be happier. Even though our late winters are busy at the shops I tend to feel my enthusiasm wain in the gloomy months, especially March. But now that the sun is shinning and we start to add in all of the new merchandise into the mix Read More
Words to live by
I am sure all of you know someone who would appreciate receiving this card. I need about a dozen! Lesson: Dance like nobody can see you~
Why so blue?
It's freezing here in NYC and I need something to make me dream of warmer days ahead. This collection of hand-blown glass by Joe Cariati is the perfect pick-me-up! Just look at that dreamy blue and those purple flowers… spring has sprung in my mind! Lesson: Dreaming is never a bad thing~
The old fashioned way
It may be old fashioned but to receive a note in the mail is one of life's great joys! Lesson: Make someone's day and send a note~
Have cards, will deliver
I am so tempted to have Douglas hit the street in SoHo and sell Holiday cards out of the trunk of the car,like old school NYC street dealers. I think it would be a hoot!!! Lesson: Old school is cool~
A cut above
Run, don't walk to see the Matisse exhibit at MOMA! What an amazing collection they have amassed to showcase his amazing Cut- Out technique. This show is bound to have a profound influence on paper design for the coming collections… any paper lover will be dazzled by the graphic impact a simple abstract form can make. Read More


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TCF offers many different kinds of support for bereaved families. Whatever the cause of your loss, wherever you are in the UK, and whatever your circumstances – we are here to help.
Online support | Telephone helpline | In your area
Your loss | Resources | Supportive events
For us to continue to support bereaved families we need your help.
Register your details and we will add you to our email mailing list, keeping you up to date with TCF news and events.
In this area of our site, bereaved parents describe how The Compassionate Friends has helped them.


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How Hillary's Health Problems Could Keep Obama in the White House: Scary!
The presidential election could be delayed or canceled if a candidate like Hillary Clinton dies or drops out before Nov. 8th and Obama could just stay! WHAT??
With Hillary's continuing health problems looking more serious every day. what would happen if she got to a point where she could not continue?
The situation could actually eliminate the election!
US News and World Report:
"It's up to each state legislature to decide how they want to choose the state's electors," Nagle says. "It may be a situation in which the fact that we have an Electoral College, rather than direct voting for presidential candidates, may prove to be helpful."
Both major parties do have rules for presidential ticket replacements, however, and Congress has the power to change the election date under Article II of the Constitution, which allows federal lawmakers to set dates for the selection of presidential electors and when those electors will vote.
But Congress would be up against a de facto December deadline, as the Constitution's 20th Amendment requires that congressional terms expire Jan. 3 and presidential terms on Jan. 20. Though it's conceivable to split legislative and presidential elections, they generally happen at the same time. And if the entire general election were to be moved after Jan. 3, Congress effectively would have voted themselves out of office."
With as crazy as this election season has been, both primary and general, it is not unconscionable that it could get nuttier! Absolutely none of the predictions have come true! Surely predicting we will have an outcome November 8th could be at risk as well.
Obama recently said that he was not quitting, that he was being forced out! I am sure he would like nothing more than to stay a bit longer and continue some of that delusional change he believes in.
But really now…What difference does it make?


text: John Rutter writes great pieces for choirs. He doesn't make them easy but they certainly are a joy to sing. Even though I really love his Gaelic Blessing, the choir will finish off practice and then want to sing For the Beauty and dismiss my pleas for the Gaelic Blessing. Ah well. You'll know I've been successful when one of Norm's videos features the Gaelic Blessing. Until then, I love what the choir does with this Rutter piece. We hope you will too.


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Any national swine identification (ID) system must build on the pork industry-state-federal effort that has been in effect since 1988, according to the president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).
The pork industry supports its current, effective swine ID system, modeled after the one used in the successful pseudorabies eradication program, Nebraska pork producer Joy Philippi testified at a hearing of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture. The species-specific approach is in line with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) recent animal ID announcement.
"Pork producers are comfortable with the current level of recording and reporting, and we already have accepted the costs of this system," she explained. "We are working with the USDA to continue enhancing our current swine identification system within the standards put forth by the USDA for its National Animal Identification System (NAIS), but we don't want additional costs or reporting put on pork producers."
The hearing was called to review a plan for privatization of NAIS, favored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Philippi said the NPPC could not back privatization plans. "Requiring the pork industry to participate in a new, private, multi-species database would be redundant and costly," she observed.
The pork industry has formed a swine ID implementation task force comprised of industry stakeholders and government officials to begin planning needed enhancements to the existing swine ID system.
Among the enhancements the pork industry supports:
- Mandatory premises registration, to include owner and location data, by 2007;
- Mandatory animal IDs for groups/lots by 2008; and
- Mandatory individual animal IDs for market breeding swine and show pigs by 2008.
The current swine ID program requires ID for swine moved in interstate and international commerce, and the information recorded in federal and state databases.
"The existing system has proved it can meet the goal of 48-hour traceback. With modifications, it will be even more effective and efficient," Philippi said.


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Wednesday, September 11, 2013
2 comments:
HOLA, COMO STAS? TUS TRABAJOS SON HERMOSO, TE FELICITO, QUE DIOS BENDIGA TU CREATIVIDAD.. AHORA TE SIGO, VISITAME TAMBIÉN, SIEMPRE SERAS BIENVENIDA.. ANÍMATE.. BESOS, ABRAZOS Y BENDICIONES.ReplyDelete
Hi MargarethaReplyDelete
Just got back from Cyprus and catching up, your blankets look lovely and th one with the elephant is wonderful, how did you get the elephant head on like that, I expect your made it and then send it on?
Hope you are keeping well
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Something I only mentioned on Facebook last week… I kept it off twitter because I did not want NYCC to turn into 4 constant days of "I'm so sorry, Katie" (I was trying to work to keep my mind off things, it helped to stay busy and focused on other things).
Last Tuesday, October 9th, my twin sister… Kari Cook, passed away.
Kari and I have not always had the best relationship… but I had always hoped that, in time, things would get better between us. I don't have that chance any more. For that, I will always regret the years that we didn't get along.
For those that knew Kari, I wanted to share the details of where you could come to pay your respects.
The services will take place at Crane Funeral Home in Romulus, MI. (36885 Goddard Rd.)
There is a viewing Tuesday October 23rd from 3-8pm.
There is a service and memorial on Wednesday October 24th at 11am. This is going to be followed by a luncheon at the VFW hall.
The funeral home has a small site with the details here: http://cranefuneralhome.net/book-of-memories/1375349/Cook-Kari/index.php
For anyone that would like to make a donation in her memory, our family is asking that you give a donation to the Elk County Animal Shelter of Atlanta, Michigan in her name.


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Look! Robot Cooking Okonomiyaki
Check this out! At a recent International Next-Generation Robot Fair in Osaka, Japan, Yaskawa Electric demonstrated a robot called the Motoman SDA10 that can cook okonomiyaki, among other things. You remember okonomiyaki – that savory Japanese pizza-pancake that we wrote about a few months ago.
The Motoman uses speech recognition technology to take verbal orders. Using standard kitchen utensils, the robot mixed the okonomiyaki batter, poured it on the grill, flips it, transfers it to a plate, and pours condiments on it before serving. Ingenious!
In the future, do you want robots in your kitchen? What do you hope the future of technology brings to your kitchen?
(Images: Pink Tentacle)
Published: Dec 9, 2008


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March 1, 2004
Be careful, and dont take mutual fund reform to an irrational extreme.
....Apostrophes and other punctuation removed for some silly reason from text by web-page processor....
1 Mutual fund fees
Disclosure of fees is fine. Im certainly not against making the investment process more transparent. However, dont forget that without those fees, funds themselves wouldnt exist. Im concerned that Wall Streets latest witch hunt will lead investors to believe that they should choose funds on the basis of their expense ratios. While some fees may be excessive, recall that most fund investors arent shopping for gross returns - they are buying net returns. This is the penalty investors are bearing for a decade of reading Money Magazine, etc., and purchasing funds based on performance. I never concern myself with a funds fees. I dont buy fees. I buy net returns, lower volatility, relative performance, family fund choice, and perhaps reporting/service. If youre really trying to protect the public, then why dont you also mandate disclosure of alpha, beta, standard deviation, and bull/bear market performance? Arent these the qualitative measures that, when combined with net returns, are far more valuable when choosing a mutual fund? I dont expect such dramatic changes to occur, but I ask that you not attempt to commoditize an industry by making fees a primary factor in investors eyes. By the way, I do a fee-based business, and have no conflict of interest when purchasing funds for clients.
2 Late trading - This is obviously a loop-hole to close. No one should be able to trade after hours, unless everyone can.
3 Redemption fees to discourage market timing -- Morningstar did a study that showed that many of the funds that were embracing timers actually had net performance slightly better than the funds who didnt. In aggregate, it would appear that timing is not a problem. However, Im aware of the individual cases where timing clearly caused performance hits. Thus, I can understand the SECs desire for reform. My suggestion is to let funds decide their fate. Some funds obviously can manage their cash flows adequately. Others, must decide if redemption fees are their solution. Why? Morningstar recently reported in a study of the families that allowed timing, performance was not impaired generally, and in fact, was superior to many other funds. While Im sure there were cases where timing had a material impact on returns, can the SEC prove that timing even usually impairs returns? How is it that some funds returns were better than non-timed funds? I wont speculate, but I would ask that the SEC take the approach of forcing funds to clarify their positions on market time - so that buyers can decide if they want to buy the fund - and then the SEC can simply enforce whether funds have followed through on their investor promises. This approach has the benefit of letting the public decide the punishment a fund gets. Re-stated, if funds really are long-term impaired by timing, wont the negative effects appear in their net returns, and wont rational investors migrate to better performing funds? Alternately or in tandem, funds could simply put a limit on how much trading an investor could do. This could be stipulated as a round-trip maximum or a dollar-limit.
4 Recognize that driving timers out of mutual funds will cause a net outflow of assets from the fund industry. This will result in the increase of exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds, two competing industries that dont complain about timers. My personal timing systems trade roughly every year. Occaisionally however, they are wrong, and trades must be reversed. Still, these short duration trades are part of my average holding period. As you can tell, I am not an in-and-out trader with a one to two day holding period. I reject the idea that I could be penalized 2 percent of my assets every year or two. It seems that both the investing public and I would benefit from a more rational approach of assessing a penalty if it happens too frequently. Does a fund really deserve 2 percent of my assets due to an annual trading-system mistake?


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As for our front walk … there is TONS of sand and gravel that I was using to fill in the potholes and sinking areas of our front walkway so my client's feet and shoes wouldn't get tooo soked.
The Sturgeon Creek is quite high now .. it overflowed onto Ness Avenue and they have closed Ness Avenue from School Road on. I should go for a walk and take pictures this weekend … I'm too busy now and have too many appointments – and it will be dark by the time I have time to check it out again. I was out earlier, but forgot my camera.


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My Grandma's Wish
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My Grandma's Wish game information:
Alisons grandma enjoys sitting on the porch, drinking her tea and gazing at the sky. But the porch is very old; it is as same as it was when the house was built. Her granny wants to renovate the porch, but she is too old to do that by herself. She will be staying for a couple of days at her cousins. She wants to surprise her, so she is going to renovate the porch while she is gone.
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Utah Moving Companies Quotes
You'll Love Utah
Utah is a great place to visit and an even better place to live. It captivates visitors and residents alike with its natural beauty, diverse culture and year-round recreational activities. If you catch the right time of year, you can actually ski, snowmobile, golf and water-ski on the very same day. Talk about fun!
Aside from the breathtaking scenery, recreation and history, Utah is also very safe, clean and affordable. It's truly one of the best residential places in terms of quality of life.
Let's not forget the economic side. Utah is also bustling with lively business. Some of its accolades include "Best Managed State in the Nation" (Pew Center), "Best State for Business" (Forbes Magazine), and "#1 Most Competitive State for Business" (Beacon Hill Institute).
So what are you waiting for? It's time to plan your move to Utah!
Getting started on your relocation
We know you're excited about Utah but before you go any further, ask yourself if you've already chosen a moving company. A good company will definitely spell all the difference between a stressful experience and a hassle-free relocation.
Basic research will give you hundreds of options out there. Worst case scenario: if you don't know where to look, you can also end up with zilch. When looking for movers, it's best if you know what you're specifically looking for. What services do you need? How much are you willing to spend? These questions will help you to specify what type of company you need to find.
Once you've sorted everything out, it's time to speed up your search.
Find the best movers online
By using the internet you can find the best companies even if you're on a tight schedule.
In order to get started, you have to find movers as fast and efficiently as possible. To do this you can use online quote providers that will offer you with great options. Just provide the details and in minutes, you'll receive estimates as well as contact information from the best companies around.
When using online quote providers, make sure that they're capable and with years of tried and tested service. Websites like TopMoverQuotes offer a vast directory of best-in-class professionals that offer great price packages.
Don't hesitate. Find a company today so you can get started on your life's next chapter in Utah.


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Continuing this week of inspiration boards is a black & white one: classic meets feminine with a little down home charm. You can never go wrong with classic.
Top Row: Bella Grace Studio, Ceci NY, Jose Villa, Eye Spy Photography
Middle Row: Hammerpress, Marlin Munoz
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Technical & Legal Services Director
Spanish, English, Portuguese and French
She has over 14 years of experience advising on all aspects of intellectual property law, with a particular focus on trade marks. She uses her broad professional experience in counseling clients in the selection, clearance, adoption and use of trademarks, domestic and international trademark prosecution, trademark portfolio management, and the development of comprehensive branding strategies. Her practice includes preparation and prosecution of trademark applications; handling of trademark renewals, assignments, changes of name and address, advising on trademark reclassifications and licensing of distinctive signs.
- Graduate program in IP leading to a Specialist degree at the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela.


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Summary of the
Dwyer's Pub Scotch Club
January 26th, 2014 Meeting
Meeting # 49- In Attendance/preferred whisky:
Geoff Boulden(m): Spice Tree; Kim Boulden(m): Spice Tree; Rik Crosby(m): Laphroaig; Cooter Davis(m): observer; Carol Farrar(m): Spice Tree; Bruce Galley(m): Spice Tree; Mike Gancasz(m): Laphroaig; Mike Kirkey: Spice Tree; Brian Mangus(m): Laphroaig; Tom McQueen(m): Spice Tree; Michael Morse(m): Spice Tree; J.D. Pailes(m): Spice Tree; Mike Peters(m): Spice Tree; Tony Peters(m): Laphroaig; Bonnie Pierce(m): observer; Stephanie Pierce(m): Spice Tree; Eric Samulski(m): Spice Tree; Keith Sexton(m): Laphroaig; Becky Smith-Davis(m): Spice Tree; Daryl St. Onge(m): Spice Tree; Rich Utcig(m): 46.
Topic/Theme: Why is there a bourbon here, and what does it have to do with these scotches?
Whiskies tasted: Laphroaig 10yr, Maker's Mark 46, and Compass Box Spice Tree.
Famous Scotsman: King James I, presented by Keith S.
Covered in the news: Expansion at Clynelish, Glen Ord, and Teaninich. Court stops Indian companies from passing off alcohol as "scotch whisky".
Back to Basics- N/A
50/50 winner: Mike Kirkey $45
Old Business: n/a.
New Business:
See ya in February,
Keith S.


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February wasn't a bad month when it came to writing. I managed to write every single day but for 3 days, considering I was away with the kids for almost a week (which is typically not conducive of writing). I didn't focus on any single project and felt a bit scatterbrained: a few words on a story here, a few diary entries there, one or two unfinished blog posts. I finished quite a few books that I'd read for the last 2 months, so my drawer is full of book blog drafts (that you will get to read soon enough!).
On the fiction side, I have received a rejection for my novella. I had sent it to a small French press specialized in novellas back in December. The market for short stories in France is quite limited (there are no literary journals publishing fiction), but there is a market for short novels. This small press was looking for novellas exactly the size of mine, so I had to try!
At the same time, browsing through their back list gave me an inkling that their published novellas were probably too high-brow / experimental / literary compared to my noir-ish / realist story. Which was confirmed to me last weekend.
The rejection e-mail was detailed enough to let me know that the person has read my story (in full or not, I can't tell). It still stings, because it criticizes the lack of formal creativity and such. It's a bit hard to hear said so bluntly, especially as genre fiction is not meant to be formally creative (I don't mean to say that genre fiction is badly written, but genre fiction means that there are some conventions, by definition). I appreciated that the person took the time to tell me exactly why though.
If it's not a good fit, at least it has encouraged me to look elsewhere and find another small press that would be interested in genre fiction and short novels. I have found a few names where I could send my manuscript in March.


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Published: May 1, 1991
The priorities expressed in California's fiscal and social policies are skewed. By cutting funds for Health, Education and Welfare to warehouse non-violent lesser offenders in overcrowded prisons, we are effectively committing ourselves to higher crime in the future.
The "war on crime" will be better fought if translated into a "war on ignorance" and a "war on poverty." It's time to stop talking tough, and to start getting smart on crime.
Concrete And Crowds: 100,000 Prisoners of the State
adult corrections, media, overcrowding, prisons, research brief, state policy
Posted in Publications, Correctional Institutions, Drug Policy
Make a difference to youth and adults trying to get their lives back on track.
Explore how California's 58 counties send their residents to correctional institutions with interactive maps, charts, and downloadable data.
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We obtained a $90,000 settlement for a client who fell at Rockefeller Center.
The client slipped on steps at the skating rink. She sustained a fractured ankle.
It had just rained, and the granite steps were unduly slippery due to the combination of rain and the treads' wear over the years. Our expert opined that this combination made the steps unreasonably slippery as evidenced by his slip resistance meter.
We were able to settle the case despite the fact that the client did not hold onto an available handrail. Also, she was wearing flip-flops. Furthermore, Rockefeller Center's expert opined that the steps were safe. The stairs met the building code when built in the 1930's, and that the steps were not unduly slippery based on his own slip resistance readings.
We have had a number of cases at Rockefeller Center including falls in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (behind the statue in the skating rink), a restaurant in the basement, and service driveways.
If you have been injured in an accident at Rockefeller Center, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation at 800-581-1434 or write to email@example.com.


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- Professionally Trained Team
- High-end Work
- Affordable Prices
- Best Deals On The Market
We work tirelessly to help save you money
Being economical is a vital aspect of any undertaking, and Tree Care is the same. Tree Care Crew understands how to save you money on time and supplies without sacrificing the quality of the process. Our mission is always to deliver the most effective Tree Care solutions without breaking the bank.
We are going to do our best to save you time with your venture
Tree Care Crew is never vague with regards to when we are going to arrive or when the work should be concluded. We are going to quote the stretch of time and price, and help you stay informed anytime developments happen. We know that completing any project quickly will save you cash, so our objective will be to save you time and money everywhere it is possible to. Since our company is highly specialized and excel at our trade, we also steer clear of the typical errors that other companies make, which in turn helps you to save more hours through never requiring additional time to fix the mistakes we don't create. This will save costs on supplies, since we know exactly what we're doing, and don't ever waste materials on errors.
We do our best to work with your needs! Give us a call at 888-201-5579 now to get started on planning your Tree Care project.


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"Lawyersaurus Rex"
Cover by Caleb Wallace
The table of contents is detailed in the Article list below.
Summer Cons - Make me Feel Fine...
Listed in the table of contents as page 8.
April 27-29 2012 in Rosemont IL
KODT comic
Listed in the contents as \"With Little Help from My Friends\"
KODT comic
We corner Ernie Gygax for some tales from his famous father\'s table.
Listed in the table of contents as page
Excerpts of some of the cool new features available in the soon-to-be-available Hackmaster Player\'s Handbook -
Giant, Fire
Not listed in the Table of Contents


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Last Fall, Keurig announced that it was getting into the soda-making machine business – but that product was short-lived after criticisms that it was too expensive, forcing the company to cancel the whole line this month.
And now, SodaStream, the company Keurig had attempted to compete with, wants to sweep up the remaining customers.
In a press release, the company says it will replace a Keurig Kold for a SodaStream for affected customers with just a selfie of them and the obsolete machine. Once the team gets the photo, customers will receive a coupon code to redeem a SodaStream Fountain Jet machine (fine line: customers still have to pay shipping and handling.)
A SodaStream carbonator costs $35 ($15 per replacement if you return the canister) and makes up to 60 one-liter bottles. The Keurig Kold didn't require a carbonator, but each drink pod ranged between $0.99 to $1.29.
The good thing about this giveaway is you don't actually have to post your selfie on the internet looking thirstier than ever – SodaStream only wants the photo with your shipping address and the Kold's serial number sent to a dedicated email for redemption. And you better hurry: only 2,000 machines will be given out.
Bless you, SodaStream. How else will the middle class consume their recommended daily intake of H2O?
Published June 11, 2016 — 15:03 UTC


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Planning the economy versus not planning the economy is not the real essence of laissez-faire, at least not in a modern sense.
The issue is corruption. Can the necessarily finite comprehension of an infinitely complex and intricate system of cooperation lead to anything other than a distorted and erroneous view of what is real and will it lead to anything other than a distortion of the operation of the market process? Who could possibly claim the ability to comprehend the incomprehensible other than someone who is ego-driven?
In a modern sense the choice is either laissez-faire (synonyms: free market, unhampered free market, divine economy) or a corrupted economy.
Follow me on Twitter @DivineEconomy
If you know of anyone interested in ethics and
or liberty and justice, please send them this


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Lucart will install 6 BoosTEKTM from Kadant Lamort to boost performance at his Recycling fiber plant (Company news)
The BoosTEKTM Performance Pack has been successfully employed in the Laval Sur Vologne Mill, and as a results of that LUCART has decided to apply this new and disruptive technology and awarded KADANT LAMORT with 5 new additional units to Boost the performance of his Screening systems installed in all the other mills of the group.
BoosTEKTM utilizes inherent system pressure to amplify the breakdown of the stock mats that form on, and ultimately block, the screen cylinder. This proprietary technology dramatically improves the performance of the screen - increasing capacity, contaminant collection, and the yield of clean pulp fibre.
Alain Lascar, director of technology and marketing at Kadant Lamort, noted: "Significant savings make this a cost-effective upgrade with a compelling return on investment. We have achieved up to a 40% reduction in energy consumption or up to a 65% gain in fiber yield depending on the operational focus."
"We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Kadant. The technological developments and ideas which we have created together are in line with Lucart's philosophy, in particular regarding energy saving and the reduction of industrial waste collection, whilst respecting the highest quality standards which is the ultimate aim of Lucart's recycled products." said Franco Pasquini, Engineering Director, Lucart.
Installed on either the accept or the reject line of your screen, the gains can be both qualitative and quantitative. BoosTEK's adaptive intelligent technology reacts to the needs of the upstream screen, optimizing the running conditions of the stock flow to maximize performance and output.
(Lucart Group)


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Månadsarkiv: januari 2012
Brooks Brothers V-neck
Ralph lauren shirt (not in pic.)
Ralph Lauren cords
Brooks Brothers Belt
The best accessory i my opinion is the belt. Why? Well, thats because you can choose a bit more crazy motif or what the hell… Go nuts if you want to!
The belt is a accessory that most men misses out on. They choose a black belt to a pair of brown loafers or vice versa. The belt is like everything else a very important accessory, it doesnt matter that no one sees it, the importance is the "feeling".
For classic, preppy belts, visit Leathermans belts . They have all the motifs you want, like this one:
Your own Wall Street belt…
The preppies
Under Uncategorized
-10C outside
Ralph Lauren shirt
Lined LL Bean chinos


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The 032c Summer 2014 issue starring blonde scarlet Lara Stone captures the elegance of vintage couture in the setting of an intimate boudoir.
The dapper culture magazine 032c is so luxurious, it is only published twice a year. For the Summer 2014 issue, the magazine dressed Stone up in glamorous silk dresses, embroidered coats and skinny pants inside an elegant boudoir located in an old-fashioned manor. Stone showed off a fair amount of her porcelain skin in many of the images, giving an intimate vibe to the luxurious editorial. The setting patterned rugs, hanging chandeliers and antique Chinese vases cleverly added that extra level of opulence to the shoot. While Stone is the only model featured in the shoot, the viewer gets the sense that she is undressing for a specific someone's eyes.
Lethargic Boudoir Editorials
More Stats +/-
Lavish Tropical Fashion
Modernized Businesswoman Editorials
Understated Femininity Editorials
Vividly Eccentric Editorials
Summer Sweater Editorials
Free 2019 Report & eBook
Get the top 100 trends happening right NOW -- plus a FREE copy of our award-winning book.
Our Research Methodology
This article is one of 350,000 experiments. We use crowd filtering, big data and AI to identify insights.
The 032c Summer 2014 Issue Features Model Lara Stone
- By: Misel SabanJun 3, 2014
References: 032c & visualoptimism.blogspot
References: 032c & visualoptimism.blogspot


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Two grandmothers to cycle 6000 miles for cancer charity
- List.co.uk
- 20 March 2008
Two Scottish grandmothers are preparing to cycle 6000 miles across Canada to raise cash for a cancer charity.
Penny Weir, who turned 70 in February, and 69-year-old Mavis Paterson are going on the trip of a lifetime to celebrate Paterson's 70th birthday, and raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The super-fit duo will cycle through snow, wind and rain during the four-month coast-to-coast cycle, sleeping in tents they'll carry on their bikes.
Ayrshire-born Paterson said: 'A lot of people tell us that we're crazy and maybe we are - but I think everyone needs a goal and this is ours. I'll still be doing trips like this in 20 -years if I have my health. I don't really think we're doing anything special. Anyone could do it – it's just down to sheer willpower, stubbornness and discipline – and a desire to raise money for a great cause.'
Weir, from Aviemore, added: 'I've been telling everyone I know that I'm off to have a gap year! I know most people have them at 17 and not 70, but I think we'll have a great time. It's a very long way to go, and we'll be facing wind, snow and rain, but it will be worth it.'
The women met 16-years ago after Weir heard Paterson on the radio talking about a 8000 mile cycle she had completed across America, Australia, Hawaii and Fuji.
Weir, who runs a pottery in Rothiemurchus, had been thinking about going on a similar trip and she asked the radio station to pass on her details to Paterson. The women have since completed countless rides together. But none have been as daunting as their cycle across Canada.
The grandmothers will set off from Vancouver, in the east of Canada, on 18 May and hope to finish in New Foundland in the west of Canada, in September.
All of the money Penny and Mavis raise from their trip will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, which provides emotional, financial and practical support to people affected by cancer.
Director of Macmillan Cancer Support, Elspeth Atkinson, said: 'I am incredibly impressed by Penny and Mavis. Most people half their ages would struggle to complete such a mammoth bike ride. They are very determined women, who are willing to go to extreme lengths to raise money for Macmillan. We really appreciate their efforts and I'm sure they will serve as an inspiration to others.'
To donate to Mavis Paterson visit http www.justgiving.com/mavispaterson and to donate to Penny Weir visit www.justgiving.com/pedallingpen. Alternatively you can sponsor Paterson by calling Macmillan' south of Scotland fundraising 0ffice on 01899 229059, or sponsor Weir by calling the north of Scotland office on 01224 701505.


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NCsoft and ArenaNet officially announce Guild Wars 2 and the Guild Wars: Eye of the North expansion, following the PC Gamer Magazine confirmation (story) of a rumor about both projects (story). Here's word on Eye of the North, expected in the third quarter of this year, and Guild Wars 2, which is expected to reach beta testing by the second half of next year:
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The news story "Mentors count personal costs" ( THES , October 17) thankfully, but unknowingly, pre-empted Frank Furedi's provocative twaddle.
Student mentors, who do not have their own mentors, suffer emotional strain and distress. No mature adult, let alone an undergraduate, could, without proper support, survive unscathed after being treated as a "verbal punchbag" by school students.
Richard Hull
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne


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Flowers Bentleigh - A Basket of Flowers
Welcome to Flowers Bentleigh - A Basket of Flowers
Flowers Bentleigh - A Basket of Flowers has been providing high quality floral arrangements for over 15 years. We buy the best quality flowers from our suppliers, and our arrangements are always fresh and full.Our customers often say they will only buy from our shop.
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How about weekly flowers for reception areas, etc?We have several companies that we provide weekly flowers for. The arrangements are very reasonably priced - very nice arrangements in a vase and up to 60 cm high, costing from $35 per week delivered free to local areas.
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text: After her first daughter was born, jewelry designer and creative Suzanne Kalan launched her first eponymous line: a collection of remodelled classic styles that had been given her own, contemporary twists and inflections. Drawing inspiration and influence from everything around her, the pieces are testament to her personal aesthetic of understated luxury. Explore the full range of rings, necklaces and earrings set in delicately-worked precious metal and studded with semi-precious stones.


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The Financial Times has a good article on US-China trade relations (find it through Google News if you are not a subscriber). The thrust is this: things are messy. The miniscule movement of the yuan since it was unpegged from the dollar two week ago suggests that the Chinese government took action more to mitigate concerns before the G20 summit than out of a genuine desire to strengthen the currency. At the same time, foreign businesses in China are becoming increasingly disgruntled with heavy-handed Chinese industrial policy. Wages are rising in the Chinese labour market, and with profit margins consequently diminishing for corporations, there is less tolerance for widespread government belligerence and exploitation from Chinese business partners.
The Chinese government also faces internal conflicts. Influential exporters wish to keep the yuan artificially low, and have been supported by the Commerce Ministry in efforts to limit the scope of appreciation. The State Council, however, approved the revaluation perhaps because it is looking past the short term interests of the exporters and towards a necessary restructuring of the Chinese economy. The export industry, though now recovered, was damaged during the recession by a drop in overseas demand. This revealed China's exposure to what it fears most: dependency on others.
With the Chinese middle class growing and the importance of skilled labour increasing, it only makes sense for China's economy to transition from being export-based to focusing more on domestic consumption. Were the yuan to float freely, this process would happen naturally as wages would rise and the domestic market would become more lucrative. Beijing is instead trying to keep everyone happy but allowing the yuan to merely inch upward. Hence, the yuan, still undervalued, continues to draw the ire of foreign governments and their beholden interests.
Paul Krugman thinks the US should threaten sanctions, which as I've said before is the last thing that will change Beijing's mind. Even now the government is insisting to domestic audiences that foreign pressure had nothing to do with revaluation. A genuinely market-based yuan would defend Beijing from this criticism by taking the political element entirely out of the equation at the same time that it makes China economically self-dependant. But export interests still have the ear (and indeed the funding) of the government, which paradoxically leaves it more vulnerable to crises in China's biggest export market, Europe. Continued micromanagement of the vast and increasingly complex Chinese economy will lead to mistakes which will threaten the social stability that Hu Jintao and company hold so dear.
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What is the PGA Golf Management
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The Carolinas PGA Section is proud to have five universities throughout North and South Carolina that offer PGA Golf Management Programs that are managed by some of the most renowned PGA Professionals in our Section. You can learn more about each of these programs by clicking any of the graphics below.


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Regular readers of my blog might get a strange sense of deja vu if you happened to cast your eyes over my Irish Times column on Friday June 29th entitled "Facts still sacred despite Ireland's spectrum of conflicting views an abortion". The reason for this nagging sense of familiarity is because it is essentially a more formal version of a blog post I did on abortion last year. So why tackle it again ? Perhaps because these charming posters have started to pop up all over Ireland for Youth Defence's latest super expensive exercise in manipulation and guilt tactics...
|Oh boy... here we go. Again. Thank you so much, youth defence
So yet again, an Irish solution to an Irish problem.
Not only are the ads incredibly misleading, they are also emotionally manipulative and factually inaccurate. And that is exactly the idea behind them; shame and scare. Now, I am prochoice but I respect the right of anyone to be against abortion on ethical or personal groups. But I reserve huge levels of fiery, dripping, biologically hazardous contempt for anyone who tries to justify their ideological position with bald faced lies and tries to bend science to fit their agenda, rather than the other way around, something I've tackled before. In my Irish Times article, I make the following points and back them up with plenty of research.
- Abortion does NOT cause lasting psychological trauma. Provided the woman was psychologically sound before the termination, It does NOT lead to depression, suicide or any other malady of that nature.
- Post abortion syndrome (PAS) does not exist; the scientific consensus is that abortion does not do psychological damage.
- Unsurprisingly research indicates that women who come from background where abortion is condemned are more likely to suffer short term negative effects like guilt. This is as a result of the stigma, not the act itself
- Abortion does NOT reduce fertility or cause problems with future conception
- Abortion does NOT lead to breast cancer, or any other cancer for that matter.
- Claims by Youth defence and others of their ilk to be concerned about women are at best misguided, and at worst absolutely positively cynical, hollow and untrue. The dark irony is that they increase the suffering of the very women they claim to care about. The even darker side is that Youth defence are almost certainly aware of this.
Of course, abortion is still hugely taboo in Ireland despite the fact that the majority of people support relaxing abortion laws. So naturally, it got some religious fire and brimstone whackjobs which you'll see on the thread. What is unsurprising is anti-choicers tried vigorously to argue that there was no scientific consensus by citing debunked or non-applicable studies, in between howling with rage and comparing 'pro-aborts' to Hitler. What really heartened me, however, was how quickly these shallow attempts at creating a distraction were hulk-smashed by other Irish posters; just have a look -
|Only a matter of Time before someone tried the mispresenting Gissler attack - expertly countered by Nick Beard here
|Rex O'Dea nicely summing up the discredited Coleman study
|Someone needs to give Nick Beard a highfive for that....
|Again, Rex O'Dea debunks yet another attempt to muddy waters
|To quote Inigo Montoya; "I do not think that word means what you think it means!"
|This cracked me up. Thanks, blacked out person. I AIM to please! *Gets coat*
|Vive la Liberal agenda ! Same guy went on to prove Godwin's law about 3 posts later..
|One of the better photoshop protests!


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Straight from Bryan Singer, the rumors that have been floating around the internet for the past month. "Those ideas are in play," he says. "That would be a natural match-up because they're both ensemble films and there is a natural mechanism by which to do it." (via) So that's your potentially awesome news of the day!
For those who aren't as familiar with the superhero franchises, I outline the details in this card. Basically, even though Marvel created both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios no longer owns the film rights to the characters. Which means that you won't be seeing Wolverine in a Captain America movie any time soon. But because both teams are owned by the same company, there can be an X-Men/Fantastic Four crossover.
Because why not, right?
So okay. Aside from the teaser, Singer gave us basically nothing.
"It will have to do with time." Come ON bro!
Which means it's time to speculate wildly. The two teams have had crossovers in the past, and honestly if the universes in which they exist are connected, it only makes sense. If the world is in danger, the X-Men aren't going to sit it out while the Fantastic Four deal with it. Usually. So... do we think they're going to reference a story from the comics? Or try something new?


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Constructing an efficient Internet site Irvingdale
Is your small business web site successfully drawing in site visitors, maintaining them around and also transforming them to consumers? If your internet site is a little more than an on-line placeholder, it's time to begin placing it to function so you can grow your company as well as benefit from the huge possible consumer base for the on the internet market.
Today's customers are accessing your internet site from their desktop computers and also laptop computers, and from their smart devices and tablet computers. This list will certainly assist you see to it that your website is doing exactly what it needs to for your local business– raising your revenues.
Your Website Ought to …
Expert looking Website
Careless, plain or homemade-looking web sites are a visitor exit ramp.
Have a Personal Domain Name
Even if you're making use of a WordPress.com, investing minority dollars a month in a web host and also domain tells site visitors you're severe regarding your firm– as well as makes you extra credible.
Be Secure
If you approve on-line bank card payments for services or products, your site must follow the needs of the Payment Card Sector Safety and security Specifications Council (PCI DSS).
Have a Remarkable Domain Name
Make your exclusive domain name something very easy to bear in mind. Ideally the name of your organisation.
Have Your Company Name in Text
Internet search engine can't index words from your logo design picture. See to it your firm is findable.
Have Your Service Address in Text
Once more– no text, no search indexing. Regional search results page are more vital compared to ever before, so your address ought to be prominent.
Have Your Firm Telephone number in Click-to-Call Style
With a lot of people seeking out services on mobile phones, providing a one-touch method to contact you will bring you extra customers.
Make Contact Details Easy to Find
Search engines aren't the just one that require very easy accessibility to your contact information. Make certain site visitors could contact you promptly and conveniently.
Inform Visitors What You Do at a Glimpse
Through pictures, succinct descriptions or both, site visitors to your site must have the ability to find out right away exactly what your firm does.
Highlight Your USP
Your special selling point (USP) lets site visitors recognize why they ought to linger and also do business with you, instead of click back to the search engine result. Just what makes you stand out from the competition?
Display Customer Testimonials
The very best means to tell individuals just how terrific your company is is via another person's words.
Invite Visitor Responses
You could learn more about what's working and just what isn't really on your internet site– as well as obtain more reviews– by having a comments form for site visitors.
Speak to Your Online Site visitors– Not Your Vanity
Your website content should focus on how you could benefit your consumers, instead of how incredible you are.
Offer Fresh Material
Maintaining your site updated makes both visitors as well as internet search engine satisfied. An incorporated small business blog site is a fantastic way to do this.
Have Keywords
All-natural Search Engine Optimization (seo) techniques are vital in obtaining brand-new visitors to your internet site. See to it you comprehend Google's Panda as well as Penguin updates for the very best efficiency.
Make it Individual
You don't have to share your favored colors or foods, yet including the names as well as bios of company owner as well as staff on your web site provides things a personal touch.
Connect to Various other Websites
Outbound links could assist enhance search engine outcomes as well as make you appear like an important source.
Have Other Websites Connect to Yours
Incoming web links lug a lot more internet search engine juice.
Make Check out Easy
The more actions consumers have to go with to get something from your internet site, the regularly they'll abandon their carts. Don't make them jump through hoops for an online purchase.
Get in touch with Social media site
Place social sharing switches plainly on your site for boosted reach.
Your Internet site Needs to Not …
Have a Great deal of Bells and Whistles
Like every widget and develop you can find stuffed onto your web page. Clean as well as to the factor functions far better.
Use Flash Computer animation, Relocating Text, Fancy Cursors or Songs
These things are unneeded, frustrating to most visitors and decrease your loading time.
Post Images Without ALT Labels or Text Subtitles
Since online search engine can not check out pictures and detailed message helps to boost your rankings.
Have Dead Links
Ones that lead no place or to a mistake page. Check your web links frequently to earn certain they still work.
List All Your Services and products
Don't do this in one long, continuous scroll. Damage things up normally and also use smart navigating in order to help site visitors find just what they require.


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Members Present
Kevin Chandler, Tom Edwards, Jerry Hollingsworth, Guy Kampstra, Rob Scott, Dan Smith, Shaun Smith, Dustin VanElverdinghe
Members Absent
Jennifer Kendall, Lucky Rogers, Mel Clark, Boone Marker
Staff Present
Billy Powers, Heather Bechtel
Call to Order
Jennifer Kendall, Lucky Rogers, Mel Clark and Boone Marker were marked as absent.
Approval of Minutes
Posting minutes to the website and social media were discussed. Billy is working with the Desktop Publisher to get them posted appropriately. Also spoke about the new way people have to opt into the email system. The minutes from November 10, 2015 SPC meeting and League Wrap-Up were approved.
Review Council Applications
Zach Spiegel was approved to join the SPC.
Vote on Committee Positions
This will be postponed to the next meeting, December 16, 2105, as there were not enough members to make a quorum.
Agenda for Future Meetings
December 16, 2015: Voting on Council Members, Pitching Screens, Re-Classifications
January 6, 2015: Thursday Men's League
January 20, 2015: Women's League
February 3,2015: Monday Coed League
Talk about Senior's beginning of February
Kickball League TBA – adding an extra Wednesday night
Went over some league surveys on big screen. Asked council to go over the rest of them on their own and bring up any later that they may have concerns about. Discussed requiring people to put contact information on their survey submission so we are able to follow up on their concerns.