text:
Unless you've been a cave in Afghanistan for the past few, you've heard about Senator Larry "Wide Stance" Craig (R) and his bathroom courtship rituals.
Is it just me, or does it seem like a Republican Senator can't solicit homosexual sex in a public place anymore without getting plastered all over the news? And don't we have any runaway brides to report on?
I'm cutting to the chase on this one. People who think that Larry was just possibly misunderstood (and there are those people) are full of baloney. The police have now released the tape that they made when questioning GOP Senator Craig and you can hear the frustration in the police officer's voice when Craig refuses to be honest in his description of the lengths he went to to make it clear to the undercover officer that he was soliciting sex.
Craig touched his foot to the officer's foot in the next stall. He reached under the stall with his opposite hand (the officer saw his wedding ring) and rubbed his hand along the underside of a stall.
In all my years of public restroom behavior, I've never had someone touch their foot to mine or stick their hand under the stall (or peer at me for minutes through the crack, as Craig says he did). These are highly irregular activities for a guy in a public restroom. Most male bathroom behavior is antisocial, so this stuff stands out. Craig was soliciting sex, he was not misunderstood, and he is lying to the police officer on the tape.
Is soliciting sex in a restroom a crime? I'll let more legal-minded folks debate that one, but probably not. To quote Dale Carpenter on the Volokh Conspiracy blog:
What really seems to have happened is that the airport police had received complaints about sexual activity and were acting over-zealously to deter it, regardless of the niceties of state criminal law.
A court will decide. Do I fault the police for trying to keep sexual encounters out of the public bathroom? These are the bathrooms we send our children into. And, frankly, I already don't like public restrooms -- I don't want the added fun of walking into a sexual buffet. I don't mind the police discouraging this behavior any more than I would mind the police discouraging some guy in the ladies room touching his foot to my wife's, peering at her through the space in the door and propositioning her under the wall between stalls. Do you think people feel safe alone in a bathroom when this kind of behavior goes unchecked?
As Tucker Carlson showed us this week, you're a lot safer being picked up by the police than if people take the matter into their own hands. Tucker "I'm Not Gay, Just a Gay-Basher" Carlson admitted to having been solicited in a bathroom, and then returning with his friends to bust some heads. (Literally, busting his head against the stall wall) Oh, and apparently this is what passes for humor on MSNBC.
I do have some sympathy for Craig, for the conservative hole he's dug himself into, even though he dug it for himself. Only the looniest can stick by this guy. Cheating on your wife with random strangers in airport bathrooms makes Bill Clinton's activities look like high school antics. My sympathy is more like pity.
The ironic, hypocritical sin is that Craig's public activities have been efforts to reinforce the elements of society that have pushed some homosexual activity underground where it remains secret but becomes dangerous (especially if you run into Tucker Carlson). And the people who he stood with are running away from him as fast as they can. Why? Because the Republicans rely on wedge issues like gay rights to pry their constituents away from Democrats who are more consistent in their beliefs and actions. Political gay bashing is a gamble that's becoming dangerous as people see the hypocrisy behind the Republican straighter-than-thou agenda and as they re-examine their assumptions. (See Iowa's recent ruling allowing gay marriages Yes - Iowa)
Craig is definitely getting some cosmic karma applied directly to his hypocrisy. Sometimes, gambling on hatred wins you an election. Sometimes it turns what could have been a quiet incident into a national issue.
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Ok - these tribbles are not In The Enterprise
Uploaded by drmomentum at 2007-08-30
Another phrase that is bugging me.
Ryan sent me this "ars technica" article, which pertains to our work. It's about how new standards in wireless routers are getting good enough that wired networks at companies may soon be a thing of the past.
My problem with it is that instead of "at companies" they pepper their prose with the phrase "in the enterprise." For example:
The other major factor in adopting 802.11n is the increased prevalence of laptops in the enterprise.
It's in the title, too: "Report: 802.11n good enough to chase Ethernet from the enterprise" There are four usages like this, totaled, in the short article. Clearly, this is commonplace IT-speak. But here is what I think of when I hear about "the Enterprise":
I know the IT world doesn't care, but, heck, why not just wear Spock ears to work, too? It's the logical thing to do. Or maybe even say something like "in enterprise" rather than "in the enterprise."
Rant off.
It's WTF Wednesday, so here's your WTF. I'm in a WTF mood, appropriately enough.
If you don't want to need a gun permit, shoot someone with an antique gun. That's the lesson in this tragic and sad story about a shooting in Norton. Robert McDermott allegedly shoots and kills his girlfriend, and puts two of her daughters to the hospital in critical condition. A bit of a WTF there; when a gun is old it is still capable of killing.
But the thing that really got me was the bit at the end.
Relatives of Wayne Cann [father of the girls] say he was concerned his three daughters were being mistreated by McDermott. They say he dropped the case because he was convinced he couldn't win.
BTW - in case you missed this story, for every 10 people in this country, there are 9 guns.
From the "Ignorance Is Bliss" file comes this story.
The DEA complains of a lack of medical marijuana research, yet the DEA is blocking research from taking place.
Neat little scam.
Most unobservant police force of 1999 award goes to the Zagreb police.
A Croatian man lay dead for eight years in his flat in downtown Zagreb before a neighbour discovered the body, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.
In 1999, police had searched his flat at the suggestion of his nephew, but failed to find the body. To be fair, the flat was so full of garbage that he was only found this year after an hour's worth of digging. Ew. By this time, he was just a skeleton.
Remember when the media tried to scare you into believing that you were giving your daughters breast cancer every time you fed them french fries, and the damage was irreversible?
Surprise! "At levels in the diet, it doesn't seem to cause breast cancer."
But I do appreciate feeling like a bad parent for 4 years.
N.H. Sub Shops Battle Over Steak Bomb
In this week's food WTF, a New Hampshire sub shop wants to trademark the name of a type of sub that's used all over New England.
"Karl Kuceris, owner of USA Subs, said he's trying to protect his business."
How does making people think you're a jerk protect your business? Even D'Angelo's has had a steak bomb on the menu.
So, there's this conversation you can find cut and pasted all over the internet. It's a discussion between an asshat philosophy professor who can't argue for shit raking one of his hapless theist students over the coals for no apparent reason.
Someone saw fit to paste this near-worthless piece of writing in a comment to my blog. It amused me a little bit because it's so sad. But I had to figure that some angry theist must have gotten a kick out of writing it. I thought I'd try my hand at that!
Now, to be absolutely accurate to the style of writing, I'd have to make the theist in the story a surly and belligerent moron, like the philosophy professor in the story who picks a fight with a student but can't even argue about heat and cold. It doesn't seem quite fair, but hey, that's the template I'm working with. So, here goes!
Professor of Religion speaks to his class on how stupid atheists are.
He ask one of his atheist students to stand and….
Prof.: So you believe in the almighty God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof.: Why not?
Student: Based on the evidence.
Prof.: Can you prove God doesn't exist?
Student: Of course not but…
Prof.: (Interrupting with a huge grin) Aha, so you admit that your claim that God doesn't exist is the height of arrogance!
Student: I didn't make that claim. You asked me what I believed. I am technically an agnostic because I refuse to say God is absolutely impossible, but I am a de facto atheist because the evidence leads me to believe that the possibility of God's existence is intolerably small. So I live my life as an atheist. You also asked what I can prove. It's impossible to prove…
Prof.: (Smugly, drooling slightly) Impossible because Gods existence is impossible to deny!
Student: (Calmly) Well, no. It's because God is defined in such a way that you can wiggle out of every argument, but in general it's not possible to prove the nonexistence of something. Nor is it appropriate; the burden of proof is on you.
Prof.: The proof of God's existence is all around us. You and I couldn't possibly exist if God hadn't created us.
Student: Well, that's what you believe, but you were attacking me on my reasoning and clearly I can't take "creation" as evidence that God exists when there are quite plausible scientific explanations for the complexity of the universe. If this were an age of superstition, I might have to throw up my hands and concede the argument to you. But let me ask you a question, do you believe in a teapot, floating in space between the Earth and Mars?
Prof.: (Haughty) That's ridiculous, of course I don't. How would it get there?
Student: Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Wow - ridiculous, eh? That's a bit arrogant, wouldn't you say?
Prof.: (Suddenly looking confused) What? Well, why should I believe in such a teapot? Astronomers…
Student: (Interrupting) Oh, I meant to mention that the teapot is too small for any of our telescopes to detect.
Prof.: (Smug again) Of course I don't believe in a floating, microscopic teapot.
Student: Fair enough. I haven't given you any evidence. You should, at this point, be a teapot agnostic. But you went even further, calling my teapot belief ridiculous. I find that interesting. Why not go ahead and prove to me the teapot doesn't exist.
Complete silence in the classroom as everyone realizes something EXTREMELY IMPORTANT is happening in this REALLY DRAMATIC MOMENT of this INCREDIBLE SOCRATIC DIALOGUE.
Prof.: (Humble and devoid of sarcasm) Holy crap, you're right, I can't prove it.
Student: And you shouldn't have to. The burden should be on me, if I claim the teapot exists. You might not be able to prove that this teapot doesn't exist, but you certainly shouldn't believe it does. The possibility is intolerably small.
Prof.: (Suddenly coming to a realization about his theism) Class is canceled and all the atheists in class have an A. I'm going to see if there's an opening on the visual arts staff because clearly I can't teach this class anymore. Thank you, nameless student.
The professor walks out, but not before shaking the student's hand, which turns into an emotional hug.
It's not hard to write one of these silly dialogues. Feel free to write your own. Post it in the comments or, if you post it to your blog, post a link to it in my comments.
No time this week to really collect a lot of nifty links, so you only get two. Feel free to submit more in the comments, but there may be a delay in them showing up because my spam filter has become over-zealous. It even blocks my links when I post to the comments, requiring me to go back and approve my own posts.
Enjoy these two exciting links.
So, apparently Ben Stein is a Creationist.
And he's making a movie, the gist of which appears to be that freedom of inquiry in science is being suppressed because… well, this is where it gets fuzzy. He claims:
Under a new anti-religious dogmatism, scientists and educators are not allowed to even think thoughts that involve an intelligent creator.
Has anyone personally told you what you are allowed to think? This is the most ridiculous claim I've read all week. I'd love to see him support this argument. His justification appears to be that he's heard some people say that they wouldn't hire people who believe in intelligent design.
If going that far out on a limb wasn't bad enough, he digs himself into a deep hole with this selectively-ignorant name-dropping:
They cannot even mention the possibility that–as Newton or Galileo believed–these laws were created by God or a higher being.
He's quite right that scientists of the past professed a belief in a higher being. Let's ignore religious funding sources for a moment. Thing is, it wasn't until relatively recently that we had any plausible explanation for the complexity in the world we see around us. Humans crave answers, and where no scientific answers are handy, superstition fills the gap. It is completely understandable that history is brimming with theists, for this reason alone.
His name-dropping is meant to imply that great intellects like theirs would be stifled today, but you have to assume that they would be Creationists if they were alive today for this to make any sense.
Let's say you were going to hire a scientist and after a brief discussion you realized that he:
Today, you'd never hire this person. There is a difference between freedom of thought and willful ignorance.
Well, actually, maybe there isn't. You should be allowed to be ignorant in a free society. However, why anyone should have the obligation to hire you is beyond me.
The point is, way back in Galileo's day, you wouldn't expect even the best scientists to accept a lot of what we know today. Because science is a process and you can't just jump ahead to the answer. I imagine these great scientists would understand the science if they were allowed to study it, but they can't be used to bolster arguments about Creationism because the world has changed too much since they lived.
I thought Ben Stein was a conservative. It sounds really odd for a conservative to be arguing that some organization should be forced to hire someone who is not up to their standards. But of course, this issue involves the conservative boogeyman "universities" and the hero of our conservative story "Judeo-Christianity." Suddenly, the idea of a merit basis goes out the window when they want to peddle their beliefs as science.
I may actually see this film when it comes out on DVD. But I expect it will be a bunch of badgering of scientists. Already, according to comments on Stein's blog, comments have been deleted and a blog entry itself has been deleted. They claim they didn't have to use any trickery to get their footage of scientists for the film, but it turns out that they duped scientist-blogger P.Z. Meyers into being in the film. This does not bode well for the intellectual honesty of the film.
But who actually needs intellectual honesty when you've got a supreme being and the Truth on your side? Many religious people feel they do. They're just not Creationists.
Sign seen in front of a hair cuttery establishment in Swansea
And the WTF story of the day:
Gas plunges to 29 cents a gallon at Ind. station
A gas station attendant incorrectly set the price at about a tenth of the intended price… 29 cents instead of $2.79.
People poured into the station, thinking some sort of a promotion was going on.
On CNN Headline News this morning they covered the story and a woman on the scene (who did not get the discount) was quoted as saying:
"Oh, I could have filled this up for $20 instead of $80."
I'm not the best at quick arithmetic (ask anyone; I hate doing arithmetic in my head) but I know that approximately a tenth of $80 is not $20.
For those wondering, she would have paid about $8.32.
I just canceled "Auto Bill Pay" with my wireless provider. To acknowledge the event, they sent a message to my phone which told me that Auto Pay was canceled and that I should "remember to pay my bill manually moving forward."
They mean that I will have to pay my bill manually, and therefore will have to remember to do so in the future.
I think "moving forward" is very odd wording, and this isn't the first time I've seen it. I guess it's like saying "from this moment on." But why not say "in the future?"
Certainly "moving forward" isn't as clear as "in the future." Who is moving? What is moving? Forward? Forward is a direction, not a time.
I'm scratching my head wondering what was objectionable about explicitly mentioning the future, and why we needed the phrase "moving forward."
It sounds managerial to me, like something someone picked up from a seminar or from too much time trying to talk to underlings in a condescending way. It's sort of like a "as we move past this current unpleasantness, you're going to have to take on the heavy responsibility of remembering to pay your bill on time. Don't disappoint us by proving you're not up to the task."
Well, moving forward I guess I should just get over it.
She came home with 9 matched pairs of socks and 6 different lone socks. What are the odds* that a kid will lose 8 socks—and only one pair in that whole bunch?
Even though she was asking rhetorically, I was curious. My number sense (which is stronger than my knowledge of the actual computations of probability) told me that it was not unlikely that you would only be missing one pair if you lost 8 out of the 32 socks.
So I wrote a simulator to test the situation1.
The simulator can run single trials. When I ran single trials I found that most of the time I was losing one pair. In other words, if you lost 8 socks out of your 16 pairs, it appeared most likely that you'd be left with only 9 pairs of socks and 6 singletons, just as Karen's daughter had.
To further test this, I modified the simulator to run many trials. What I found was that nearly half the time, a person would lose only one complete pair. Just under a third of the time a person would lose absolutely no pairs, only singletons. You'd lose 2 pair around 18% of the time, and you'd hardly ever lose 4 pairs. Of course, you couldn't lose 5 or more pairs.
You can try my simulator out for yourself, here on this webpage if your computer has Java. You can modify the pairs, lost socks and number of trials to get your own results.
Karen, I know you said you didn't want to know what the odds were, but for some reason, these sorts of questions are diverting to me. And this was an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the Knuth card-shuffling algorithm, plus learn that Java has some built in array sorting routines I wasn't aware of.
Maggie has a post on her blog about her attempts to do the math.
1 I'm a programmer, not a mathematician. So programming solutions come easier to me. If you have the mathematical solution, I welcome an explanation. I wouldn't mind learning it. It seems to me similar to calculating the probability that people in a room share birthdays with one another.
It's the verge of the weekend. What, you can't wait ONE DAY to slack off, you're surfing the web???
Well, as long as you are, may as well check out these links:
What's a Bliznite? This video will explain how to answer that question.
If you're still bored, tell everybody about it on Twitter. Here's my Twitter profile.
According to this story, one of Massachusetts' exports to Maine is reckless campers who fire water balloons at high velocity into other people's camps and injure those people
In summary, at least twice MA residents have been arrested (in the same vicinity, that of the Saco River) for injuring people by launching water balloons at them at high velocity. In the most recent incident, the victim had to be taken to the hospital because of an eye injury serious enough that the man will probably not see again with that eye. I have a few comments on the story.
Jonathan D. Buell, 26, of 108A Myrtle St. in Boston was initially charged with elevated aggravated assault for the incident.
"Reckless stupidity" must not be on the books. However, this definition of "elevated aggravated assault" seems to fit: "Engages in conduct that manifests a depraved indifference to the value of human life and that in fact causes serious bodily injury to another person with the use of a dangerous weapon"
On Monday, Nelson's mother told Murray that Nelson had suffered a broken ocular bone and lacerations to his nose and eyelid.
Hit hard enough to break bone. . True — the ocular bone is thin, but still.
Chief Wayne Brooking of the Fryeburg Police Department said Nelson was 67 feet from where the balloon was fired.
It stands to reason that if you're getting a balloon to travel 67 feet, it's got to be going fast, so it has to have a lot of force.
The officers confiscated two water balloon slingshots, a homemade 200 pounds per square inch water balloon cannon, a portable air compressor, and three water balloon remnants that matched remnants found at the site of Nelson's injuries.
Well, there you go. They were shot from a compressed air cannon. "Effing brilliant."
Buell stated that he had been firing balloons over the Saco River at other campsites. According to Reininger's report, Buell was unaware that he had injured anyone and said that "there was no way that any of his water balloons could have caused injuries."
Let me rephrase that. Buell admitted that he had been aiming his water balloons at people (see, the campsites… in the woods… that's where the people are). According to Reininger's report, Buell didn't much care whether he might injure anyone and made the startlingly dumb comment that "there's no way that any of my [long range] water balloons could have caused injuried [when I aimed them at people and then launched them with a freaking cannon]."
My new rule is this: If you're not willing to stand, say, 15 feet away and have someone aim your new toy at your unprotected face then you shouldn't be shooting it at other people. If you do anyway, you're a pansy.
I like the idea of water balloon cannons and super slingshots. But, the thing is, people who show this sort of disregard for others with their fun toys give everybody interested in fun toys a bad name. Additionally, it annoys me when these people give Massachusetts a bad name in neighboring states. Please be sure to officially change your residence to another state before engaging in asshattery.
In an ideal world, people with the ingenuity to put together a device that can launch water balloons at high velocity would have the brains to not aim them at people. But the news brings evidence daily that this is not an ideal world.
Maybe this doesn't mean anything to anybody else, but I didn't realize that "Hunt the Wumpus" was originally written at UMass Dartmouth.
Hunt the Wumpus Wikipedia entry.
"Hunt the Wumpus" was a very simple "adventure" type game (think a REALLY super-primitive Moria) where you wandered from room to room trying to kill the Wumpus by deducing its location before it ate you. It ran on the IBM mainframe whatever-it-was that Somerset High School had in 1982. By that time it was almost 10 years old.
Again, this probably means little to anyone else, but "Wumpus" was one of the first pieces of software I became familiar with and it inspired me to write some simple similar BASIC games for my home computer in the early 80's.
It originated at UMass Dartmouth while Gregory Yob was attending school here. Aren't you fascinated?
Bush and the Art of Breaking People (Scott Horton - Harpers)
Can torture and isolation be used to break people? Yes. Does that lead to reliable information for government investigators? No. Then why does the Bush administration have such a fondness for this fantasy of destroying people? And why have we allowed them to adopt techniques that recall Orwell and authoritarian dictators?
Apparently, Rove wasn't really all that influential in the White House. He did start "Ice Cream Fridays," so that's something.
No tests have yet come up positive for triple E or West Nile Virus in Rhode Island this year. However, one skeeter pond was positive for EEE in nearby Seekonk.
Meanwhile, California is learning that your neighborhood's neglected pools can be a serious health hazard as the disease has long since completed its westward march.
Police have determined that he wasn't just trying to get a better seat at mass, he was actually angry with God.
Note that atheists are almost never angry with God. When an atheist gets angry with God, he drives his car into the parking lot of a psychologist's office.
The US DOT has given a few hundred million dollars to New York so that Mayor Bloomberg can continue to plan to charge a toll to everyone who enters and exits the city on
weekends weekdays.
Coming to a city near you? Word is that Fall River, MA will not charge a toll for entry, but will make you remove at least one rat as you exit the city.
Ten Projects on Karl Rove's "Retirement" To-Do List
It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq.
Not all that much is needed as a comment here. Basically, Cheney was against the invasion of Iraq way back when in 1994. To read his comments he sounds like an Iraq war protestor in today's context. The word "quagmire" is especially nostalgic, reminding one of just a couple of years ago when you were practically a traitor for saying the Iraq war was a quagmire. That's what Republicans call "the good old days."
Of course, things were different by the time Cheney had changed his mind. There were WMDs in Iraq by the time he was Veep… or maybe not.
I wonder if the Guinness Book of Records has an entry for the biggest pair of flip flops.
Noted this story on the Volokh Conspiracy:
A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.
AP Story here. — Volokh blog post Here
I basically agree with what Volokh participant blogger, Dale Carpenter says when he comments:
I doubt the church refuses to bury people it also thinks have sinned, like liars, blasphemers, and adulterers.
Does this High Point Church scour the lives of the folks they bury and refuse if they find people to be sinners? The pathetic excuse they use in this case is that a homosexual is living a lifestyle that is unrepentant. However, I don't see how they can know what untold sins their parishioners and the other people they've buried have perpetrated through their lives. So, to me, this excuse simply comes off as PR cover, when it really is a discriminatory act. It's a legal one, but it's still hateful.
That's what grabbed my interest in this story. But what further interested me was this at the end of Carpenter's post:
I was raised in a Christian home and nothing the church did here resembles the values of respect for human dignity, and for the life of every single person, that I was taught. The most loving, understanding, and tolerant people I have known have been Christians. And they have been loving, understanding, and tolerant not despite their faith, but because of it.
Carpenter was taught respect for human dignity, and it does come through in his opinions and his post. And he says that some Christians have risen to the top of the heap as far as tolerant people he has known. Then he says that their faith has made them so.
I wonder on what he bases this conclusion. What this says is that he knows people who he thinks would not be as tolerant if they were not full of Christian faith. I can't argue with him; I do not know the people he's talking about. But I've never seen evidence that faith makes you tolerant, or a better person.
I've known good people of faith and good people who lacked faith. So, faith is not, in my experience, a factor in common. However, one thing those people did share was a respect for human dignity, and a respect for life. These are specifically humanist principles. Christians may share them, but if you affirm a respect for human dignity and you believe that is a large part of the definition of a good person, then it's not clear to me why faith is necessary.
Perhaps Carpenter feels he needs to give this paragraph in support of faith because it's clear, just looking at the news, that there are many acts that do not reflect a respect for human dignity, yet they are justified by faith. It would seem that faith is many times at odds with humanist principles.
On the argument that faith makes people more respectful of human dignity, I don't find Carpenter convincing. I feel this paragraph is more effective as an attempt to mollify Christian readers who do not want to be tarred along with this megachurch. People acting on their humanist principles is a good thing. It seems to me that people betray those principles when they refuse to bury a man ostensibly because a great disapproving being in the sky is frowning at them.
Remember, the zombie threat is 4Real.
It's not difficult to get fooled. And if you think it's difficult for you to be fooled, you have a big blind spot which you wear in plain view for people who want to fool you.
That may seem strange. After all, if you are wary of getting fooled, aren't you on your guard? That's certainly true. But if someone is really trying to fool you, and they know this about you, they are trying to fool you in ways you won't expect. Many "heist" and "con" type films are about this phenomenon. Some object is behind incredible security measures, but the intrepid main characters find some chink in the armor and sneak in. They are aided by the overconfidence of the guards.
Back in real life, you can see this phenomenon in action when prestidigitators make attempts to fool physicists. According to some psychic debunkers, physicists and other physical scientists make some of the worst skeptics because of their predictable expectations about how the world works. One noted example was Uri Geller (13 minute video by James Randi) who was able to convince some physicists because they just couldn't imagine they were witnessing trickery.
In any case, I mention that general principle because there are ways to protect yourself. And the general approach to protect yourself involves two things.
The first is to inform yourself, because information is power. Much trickery and manipulation happens in unbalanced information situations. Anyone trying to fool you will do so by trying to take advantage of what they know and you don't. They will also take advantage of any sort of reluctance on your part to admit you don't know, which would be a step toward getting help from someone who does know. For example, a physicist might be too proud to perceive that a magician might help him devise a test to uncover someone who claims paranormal powers.
The second part of the approach is to exercise some control over the situation, based on what you do know. For instance, you might know that you are susceptible to phone solicitations. So you decide that you will not conduct any business over the phone when the call is not initiated by you. If someone wants your business and they are legit, force them to send you any deals in writing where you can employ the help of others before deciding on anything.
An example of this approach at work is in the video linked above. Johnny Carson knew quite a bit about magic, but he asked James Randi for help to prepare for when Uri Geller came on the show. Armed with a newfound balance of information, he then exerted some (seemingly arbitrary) control over Uri's visit. The result was that Uri was completely flummoxed in his performance.
So, it turns out it's better to know something about your blind spot to help yourself sidestep it. This is one reason I've always enjoyed learning about con artists and frauds. People are creative and over the years they've found many different kinds of blind spots. Many types of manipulation are very subtle. But if they work at all, they confer an advantage on someone who is trying to sway your opinion, especially if you are in a vulnerable "unbalanced information" situation.
If you're like me, it's just fun to know how your (and other people's) brains work.
In the domestic world, organization is a much vaunted virtue. But if man wishes to survive he should not believe everything he hears!
Batteries are a prime example. The modern household often includes a place to store batteries neatly, and for easy access. While this sounds like a great idea, here is where the man is separated from the boy, and the boy is caught unawares at a critical moment and is injured in a way that is horribly disfiguring.
If you place your batteries in this seductive location, you can be assured of one thing and one thing only. They will be found by battery scavengers in the house while man is not watching. The batteries will be spirited away and skillfully hidden in hundreds of toys where they will be used briefly and slowly drained of their electricity. If you look at the battery tray you will always find it empty.
The solution is to randomly leave batteries all around the house. The more obscure place, the better. Then, when you need batteries, just start looking in random locations until you find the batteries you need.
If you feel this is an inefficient means of battery retrieval, the "organization" alternative is failure; failure means you lose. And, yes, it is a very efficient way to fail.
When you lift your car's floor mat and discover a pack of 9 volt batteries, even if your search took an hour, you are successful. Man wins again!
I've been taking days off from work here and there this summer. It hasn't been the organized summer of activities as in years past, but on Monday I was able to have some opportunistic fun, after checking my morning email.
A new geocache had been approved, just over three miles away to the east! New geocaches means the possibility of a "FTF" - "First To Find." An extra layer of excitement over the normal activity of geocaching is the race to be first.
On a Monday morning, many geocachers at work, so we had an advantage. We rushed out of the house covered in bug spray, bound for the somewhat creepy state forest. Our familiarity with the area from previous expeditions was also a plus.
Bell Rock Road is another one of those roads (like Copicut in the video linked above) that disappears into the forest. Luckily, it doesn't become as impassible as Copicut, so it was a quick ride out to the trail.
It's weird you can be in Fall River one minute and then out in the middle of absolutely nowhere the next.
On the hike in to the cache, we were motoring along trying to rush, since the sky told us that we'd have to be quick to avoid the rain. We noisily crested a hill and immediately froze as we saw a doe entering the woods below. I snapped a picture, but not before a third of the animal was already obscured. To our luck, a fawn then emerged from the opposite side of the road. It lingered for a moment, regarding us, and then hurried after its mother. Already the trip was a success.
The area is full of wildlife and also stories of strange goings-on, and the paranormal. And geocaches.
We found this geocache in an old pet cemetery along a trail offshoot. It's fascinating where geocaching takes you, and what you get to see because of it.
When we were looking for the cache, I swore I could hear loud, deep panting behind me a number of times. This spooked the girls. I was worried more about wild dogs than ghost dogs, but nothing ever "materialized." Creepy locations really get the best of your imagination, but it's advisable not to get carried away.
We made it back to the car just as a downpour hit. The timing was very lucky, since we weren't really dressed for rain. A quick phone call and we met Maggie for lunch at Newport Creamery. Oreo Awful-Awfuls to celebrate our FTF.
M and I went off to snag a cache near the restaurant in Seekonk, at Burr's Pond. Along the way we spotted a tree that was positively covered with lovelorn messages. From what I could gather, a boy had lost his girl and was returning to this spot frequently to record his lamentations as he pined away. He imagined that she would someday see the tree and realize how much he loved and missed her. Unfortunately, even permanent marker doesn't last too long on bark -- the messages over a month old were extremely faint.
An odd, but interesting day.
Out of (to my perception) nowhere, there are a bunch of stories cropping up about the possibility that male leggings could be the next big thing in clothing.
To my dismay, they're not just saying this might happen in California, they're saying it could hit New England, and this story in the Northeastern News discusses the possibility:
"I believe when you appeal to a man on the level of comfort you're always going to find takers," he said. "Since workout wear has become a part of our fashion vocabulary, it's easy to imagine men enjoying the ease of wearing a new streamlined version of the sweatpant to express their own personal style."
Screeech! Hang on a second there — sweatpants? Is this fellow saying sweatpants are an acceptable part of your out-and-about wardrobe? For men? Good lord, I think he is!
Nobody would consider me an expert on fashion, but I know what's hideous. Nothing says "I couldn't find any clean pants and didn't know what to do about that" than a man walking around in sweatpants. There's a reason it's called exercise gear or workout wear. And by "work" they don't mean office. And if you're sweating while you're walking around the mall, that doesn't count, either (it's just gross.)
Stepping back from the cliffs of madness, and back to the issue of male tights (a contradiction, right there) the article discusses that many sensible New England residents are skeptical that this will catch on…
However, some women were more divided on the trend. "I like it. I think that's hot," said Kristy Alano, a middler accounting major.
I don't think they should ask women what looks good on men. They obviously have ulterior motives. Plus, since women look better in tights, and can get away with them in public on occasion, they may have a skewed view of how acceptable tights are. Thirdly, about 2/3 of the time I hear women's opinions on men's fashion, I have to wonder if they just want to make men look silly so they can secretly laugh at us when they visit the lavatory in droves.
Kristy, be careful what you wish for. You may be all hot to see 400 lb. guys in tights standing in line at Old Country Buffet, but that's an image I'd rather not have to burn out of my optic nerve with a soldering iron. I understand you want to look at men in tights, but that's what health club memberships and ballet performances are for. There are appropriate venues, and some of them actually select for fitter body types. Not that I'm slamming anyone's body type, but "it looks stupid" is only one of the reasons you won't see my "glutes in tights" at the office. The other has something to do with how much I like Ring Dings. Tight fitting exercise gear is made that way for a reason: comfort when you're exercising. In the case of biking tights, it's so nothing gets caught in the machinery.
Unless you can convince me that you're lying awake at night worrying that your khakis are going to get caught in the office shredder, please keep the tights confined to your at-home (or at-gym) activities of pilates, yoga, spinning, and that impersonation you do that knocks 'em dead whenever the guys come over for poker.
Chuck was kind enough to let me use one of his photos, and so I have created my first LOLCAT.
Found this LOLCat. I wish I could have a big poster of this for my office:
Thursday nights this summer have been movie night at Cousin Bob's house, but also drink experiment night. Not that we've gotten too terribly experimental, it's more like we've been choosing a different mixed drink every week.
A few weeks ago, for example, we determined that Scorpion Bowl is an excellent drink to mix in a pitcher. However, it's probably not the best drink to serve full strength for a party. (It's got a high alcohol stealth factor)
This week's been really hot and I was craving something much lighter on the alcohol but higher on the refreshment scale. The answer: Lemonade Shandy.
Wikipedia defines Shandy as a drink created when you mix beer with some sort of soft drink. As a big fan of citrus, my choice of mixer is lemonade.
Here's my recipe:
Lemonade Shandy
- Bass or any other pale ale you like.
- Good, fresh lemonade (Newman's Own, for example. Not 2-liter bottle lemonade, please)
The mixture is roughly judged. Carefully pour beer into a beer glass to more than halfway and less than 2/3.Drink.
Fill the rest of the glass with lemonade.
Like the Scorpion Bowl, this is a very refreshing and easy-to-drink concoction. Unlike Scorpion Bowl, this drink is quite low on alcohol. So, it has a high refreshment to alcohol ratio.
As for flavor, the sweetness and tartness of the lemonade definitely complements and balances the bitterness of the beer. If you've ever enjoyed a slice of citrus in your beer, you probably would like this.
It would also be fair to say that this is a relative of the Pimm's No. 1 Cup. (See this post from last summer).
Have I mentioned I'm on Twitter?
Apologies to Schoolhouse Rock's excellent "Unpack Your Adjectives."
Warning (Obviously) Language
Read the newspaper today.
My spouse could sense my dismay.
I slammed the pages down
I faced her with a frown
My deep frustration I wished to convey.
So I unpacked my expletives.
"President Dumbass" came first.
Then "fucking absolute worst."
Then I picked "what the fuck?"
Next I picked "lousy schmuck"
Then I was ready to have a good rant,
'Cause I'd unpacked my expletives.
Expletives are words for your political discourse
To honestly react to the news.
When they're quoting Bush or Cheney
And your forehead gets all veiny
Expletives can help you to vent.
You can even make expletives out of the other parts of speech like
verbs, nouns and adjectives. All you have to do is tack on a profanity like "damn"
or "fucking" or "ass." For example: This dummy can grow up to be
a president, but still be an ignorant ass. "Dumb" is
an adjective, but the ending "-ass" makes it an expletive,
"Dumbass," that describes the President's approach to life. Get it?
Next time you take in the news,
Don't drown your sorrows in booze:
Reach deep inside your lungs,
And loosen up your tongue.
And raise your voice to announce how you feel.
Simply unpack your expletives.
You'll feel better with expletives.
Tell 'em you're fed up with expletives.
Don't let the feds hear your expletives.
If anyone is looking for a model of today's Republican party, look no further than Senator Ted Stevens.
He's the longest serving Republican in chamber history at an impressive 7 terms, so he's well loved by his Republican constituents. He's on the Senate Appropriations Committee, so he is an absolute expert at funnelling money. He funnels tons of it to Alaska, which is #1 per capita in snagging juicy federal bucks.
Alaska gets $1.80 back from the federal government for every $1 in tax money collected from Alaskans. In comparison, Massachusetts is getting a measly 83 cents back on every tax dollar1. Where is those extra $0.17 going? Alaska. And maybe straight to Ted Stevens' house. Or rather, under his house.
You see, his house was just raided in a federal investigation after contractors pled guilty ot a bribery scheme and Stevens' name came up as one of the beneficiaries:
Contractors have told a federal grand jury that in 2000, Veco executives oversaw a lavish remodeling of Stevens's house in Girdwood, an exclusive ski resort area 40 miles from Anchorage, according to statements by the contractors.
The work done was to, get this, lift his existing house up on stilts and build in a new first floor, making the house two stories. That's right.
Stevens is no stranger to construction, having convinced the federal government to fund the construction of the famous "Bridge to Nowhere2." In fact, you may remember that he threw a hissy fit in 2005 when it was suggested that, instead of building a bridge to an island inhabited by 50 people who were already served by a brief ferry ride, the money ought to be used to build infrastructure in recently devastated New Orleans. (I don't want to ruin the ending for you, but instead of defunding the bridge, they took explicit mention of funding the bridge out of the bill and just gave the same amount of money to Alaska… less embarrassing that way.)
You're innocent until proven guilty, Senator Stevens… as far as the law is concerned. You're a model Republican. A trusting soul who believes that oil executives shouldn't have to swear in when speaking before Congress. After all — why would they lie?
The new fiscal conservative Republican: tighten your belt, Alaska needs bridges and Ted Stevens needs yet another floor built under his house.
1 Per Capita Tax Burden and Return on Federal Tax Dollar Table, and Alaska, Virginia rank tops in grabbing federal dollars
2 Americans For Prosperity Foundation posted this YouTube video explaining the craziness of wasteful bridge.


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Pushing the Envelope
We'll never grow if we don't get out of our comfort zones.
By Tom Moates in America's Horse | June 4, 2012
"In our comfort, there's no room for growth," Harry Whitney says in reference to working with horses.
Harry's horsemanship clinics have no more than six riders and typically run a week. The result is that these intimate groups have ample opportunity to probe deeply into their horsemanship abilities and inabilities. The above comment came during a roundtable discussion at one of theses clinics. The group rehashed the previous day's events, which turned to one fellow's somewhat timid feelings about firming up his communication skills with his horse.
"In our comfort, there's no room for growth," I replayed in my head. My focus slipped to several personal flashbacks: Stepping into a round pen for the first time, the first time I got a horse to canter, getting into the saddle the first time.
Each of these moments signified a huge leap from the safety of a sedentary existence in my routine life. While there was nothing to ensure I wouldn't be injured or killed, I needed to push out of the stagnating areas of my life and into a realm of new possibilities. Otherwise, I'd begin to suffer consequences from the lack of action, like never getting to the point of riding a horse in the first place.
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I won't lie and say there weren't wrecks, because there were some real doozies. But, in retrospect, these deviations from the comfortable – with all their worry, angst and bruises – instigated positive changes not only in my horsemanship, but also in my development as a person.
I wondered if this would be the case for my fellow student. New confidence only comes from diving over the line out of the comfort zone and into some other place where new knowledge awaits us. Once on the other side, however, we see it's not really an abyss. That new experience and knowledge then becomes part of our working repertoire. Nowhere is this more true than with horses. If we want to see a change in them, we must change something in our approach. That's the tough part.
The great thing about a trustworthy teacher is that he can guide us and help us prepare for what comes next. Still, it is we who must enter the round pen and face the fire-breathing dragon (or very sweet mare, as the case may be). Finding faith within ourselves to step in new directions, especially when it is quite challenging, ultimately helps us build confidence.
Horses are a confidence barometer. In general, they relax when a strong, sure being is present. Uncertainty in a human working with a horse breeds dubious results at best.
My thoughts drifted back to the discussion around the table, which soon wrapped up. Before long, we headed outside to the round pen, and this kindhearted soul longed to nurture a bond with the horse by approaching her nice and easy. Great care was taken to do nothing spooky or harsh. The mare searched for what was being asked of her, clearly willing to do something, but simply not finding it in his requests. She didn't feel confident about what she was supposed to do, so she half-heartedly did a little bit of whatever she could think of.
He grappled with the situation. I sat there wincing beneath the brim of my straw hat – partly from being in-the-know about his wimpy body position and don't-rock-the-boat gentleness, and partly because I had been through the very same thing some years earlier.
This time in the round pen, however, he understood the problems he faced with the horse. That morning's feedback from his classmates and Harry provided new insights for him. The battle was within himself. He sought to find assertiveness, even though he was quite worried that firming up with a horse was a recipe for driving her away, rather than getting her close and willing with him.
At this point, the mare was constantly leaving the scene mentally and floundering about unguided. Clearly not what a rider wants with a mount. The situation required that he firm up with her so she would react in a more trusting way to his requests. Part of this simply has to do with clarity. Wishy-washy, pretty-please requests often appear very convoluted to the horse – and to human onlookers as well.
To firm up, we often are faced with a more precise need to know exactly what we are asking the horse to do. If we ask the horse to back, but have not a clue ourselves how many steps or where we would like the horse to end up, how is the horse ever going to know for sure what we want? The horse can't possibly know that if we don't know it ourselves.
The other part has to do with the horse's belief that we are serious. If the horse doesn't find us dependable, trustworthy, assertive or consistent, then the confidence he needs to follow and trust is not going to be there.
I could sense this inner turmoil boiling inside my classmate. It was a personal threshold for this young man. Getting bigger with that horse ran counter to his very pacifistic demeanor.
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But then he did it.
It may not have looked big to a spectator. It really was just a larger body posture and some assertive energy on the lead rope. But for that guy, it was a huge step. And, for that horse, it was huge. She was a bit shocked at first, but quickly fell into the moves he was clearly asking for.
It really isn't important to explain exactly what he was asking for at that moment, because this isn't about trying to create some series of steps for everyone to follow. This is about one problem many of us have, and how I saw someone find the courage to get better with a horse with the help of a skilled teacher. This is about finding that courage and pushing the envelope of our comfort zone so we can grow.
"He lacked confidence because he lacked faith in the outcome," Harry said. "Then, when he had faith that the outcome would be better, his confidence grew. He just had to go through that uncomfortable phase."
Visit www.tommoates.com to see Tom's books about Harry's teachings.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jaundice is a condition where you observe yellowish discolouration of your skin, mucous membrane, and sclera of your eyes. It can occur at any age including newborns.
Hepatitis is an inflammatory condition of your liver caused due to Viruses A, B, C, D and E. Nearly 119,000 cases of viral hepatitis was reported in India in 2012. About 290,000 cases were reported in the year 2013 (Source: ncdc.gov.in).
Causes of Jaundice
- Increased bilirubin in your body due to hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease, gallstones.
- Certain diseases like Pancreatitis, Cancer of pancreas or gall bladder, Malaria, Thalassemia, Sickle cell anaemia, Gilbert's syndrome, etc.
Signs and Symptoms of Jaundice
- Loss of appetite.
- Yellowish discolouration of the skin, mucous membrane, the sclera of your eyes and urine.
- Change in colour of your stool.
- Fever.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Pain abdomen.
- Itchy skin.
Ayurvedic Management of Jaundice
The treatment varies and depends on the cause of jaundice. In general, the following are beneficial.
- Ayurvedic herbs like Katuki, Vasa, Neem, Avipattikar churna, Arogyavardhini vati, Amalaki churna, Trivrt churna, Triphala churna, Punarnavadi mandura and Guduchi are effective.
- Kashayam like Patolakaturohinyadi kashayam, Vasaguluchyadi Kashayam and patolamooladi kashayam are useful.
- You can take Bhumyamalaki churna or fresh bhumyamalaki juice 1 tsp with honey twice a day.
- You can extract the fresh juice of amla or aloe vera. You can take 2 tsp of this juice with ¼ tsp of honey, thrice a day.
Diet plays an important role in jaundice. You need to strictly follow these dietary tips:
- Eat more bitter vegetables like snake gourd, ridge gourd, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, Ash gourd, etc.
- Avoid spicy, deep fried fatty foods.
- Avoid curds and drink well churned freshly prepared butter milk.
- Include pomegranate, raisins, sugar cane juice and barley water in your diet.
- Consume only homemade food and avoid street foods.
- Drink boiled and cooled water.
- Avoid non-vegetarian foods, pickles, coffee/tea, milk products, smoking, alcohol and tobacco consumption.
- Use minimum oil in cooking.
- Take complete rest and avoid stressful activities.
- Wash your hands well before eating your food.
According to Ayurveda, jaundice is caused due to vitiation of pitta dosha. Hence, avoid all pitta aggravating factors.
If you are suffering from hepatitis, you may spread to others. Be vigilant to listen and follow the instructions told by your physician.


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It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
What a gorgeous, though cold, day it was yesterday. It was a great day to drive through the neighborhood to see what's happening. Atlanta is big but we definitely have a feeling of connection. As a realtor and a resident I enjoy the small-town feel in the middle of our big city. Two of the neighborhoods closest to my heart are Reynoldstown and Grant Park.
There's an old, stone church building that's over a hundred years old on the corner of Wylie and Selman in Reynoldstown that was sold recently. I noticed a construction permit on the door and workers present, so of course I had to find out what was happening. It's being transformed into an office building. The light coming in those windows is so beautiful; it's going to be a fabulous place to work!
I continued my trek past the Elan 144 site. They are making progress even though no actual building has begun.
Going from Reynoldstown toward Grant Park, I stopped at the Habitat Restore, located on the corner of Memorial and Chester. If you've never been there, it's a "must see". The Habitat Restore has donated furniture, building materials, appliances, etc., etc. I walk through about once a week since the inventory changes almost daily. This week I found a one-year-old, stainless steel, double oven for a friend for only $650! New, they're at least $1800. What a deal! And the people who work there are so helpful!
My last stop of the day before getting back to work was the Glenwood Place site. They are still demolishing the existing building. I talked with the site manager and got some more specifics on the plans for the site. He said they expect the retail portion of the development to be finished in about a year (Summer 2016 according to Curbed Atlanta). Plans include Kroger and Chik Fila, as well as several other restaurants and retail shops. Coming later on the site will be multi-family and senior residences.


text:
Event / V&A Friday Late
A series of events, 29 July
The Engineering Club is participating in the Friday Late activities at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of their Engineering Season. Our activities will include a 3D printing installation looking at the circular economy, and tours of the museum seen from the perspective of an engineer in the company of Tim MacFarlane of GLaSS and Tim Lucas of Price and Myers, amongst others, who will each be doing 2 guided tours of the building and collections. Tim MacFarlane will concentrate on various glass structures they have worked on – roofs, stairs, cabinets and even an Onyx screen. Tim Lucas will be looking at some of the fabrication techniques involved in sculpture, comparing some of his own work with the historical examples in the collection.
Lottie McCarthy and Richard Boyd of Arup have assembled an exhibition and activities around the theme of "Engineering the Circular Economy". This includes recycling plastic drink cups into 3D printed objects on the night. Ciaran Malik of EngineersHRW will challenge the building skills of visitors to see how grand a structure can be made from pieces of A4 paper. Webb Yates Engineers will be doing an installation of their post tensioned stone arch and a related talk during the evening.
Those who come along can also visit the exhibition Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design - there is an entrance charge for this - and Mind Over Matter: Contemporary British Engineering which features projects involving Engineering Club members Jane Wernick Associates, AtelierTen, AKTII and Expedition. Engineer in Residence Julian Melchiorri will also be in residence that day so you can drop in to see some of his ground-breaking bio-engineering research. All this, and the Elytra Pavilion too: the robot should be doing its robot thing. Further details here: hope to see you there!
The Elytra Filament Pavilion by the University of Stuttgart at the V&A
Glass Sculptures by Shirazeh Houshiary


text:
ICA Kiev is blessed by the leadership team God has provided. Here is a little bit about them.
The pierquet's - Paul, christine, evan & emma
Paul, Christine, Evan and Emma have been pastoring at ICA since 2006. They love connecting with people and sharing the love of Jesus with them. They are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
tanya sukhareva
Tanya has been working as Administrator of ICA Kyiv since 2014. She has a heart for people and a passion to see Jesus known throughout the world. She is from Kyiv, Ukraine.
the Salomons - Ryan & Ashley, Levi, Kaden & Raena
Ryan & Ashley are from Edmonton, Canada. They have a heart to connect students with the love of God. They have been involved in Youth Ministry for a while now and have 3 kids (Levi, Kaden & Raena). They oversee The City-Kyiv, the ministry to 13-19 year olds at ICA Kyiv.
Markus & Helen Wolf
Markus and Helen have been pastoring the children of ICA since 2008. They love kids and have a desire to see children of all ages discover a relationship with Jesus. They also have a passion for reaching out to orphans and working with evangelistic outreaches. Markus is from Bridgman, Michigan and Helen is from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Rafi & tanya issa
Rafi & Tanya have been leading our Arabic congregation since 2012. Rafi is originally from Syria and Tanya is from Ukraine.


text:
Paul: Here we go sports fans, back for another year of running diary madness as I'm joined here at Clovis West for the final TRAC boys game of the year as the Cougars of Clovis High visit Clovis West, a rivalry game with the two oldest and most storied high schools in Clovis Unified.
I'm joined here by Dr. Jay W. Pope, my partner in crime and fellow basketball junkie. Think of us as the male version of Thelma and Louise, except for, you know, the crazy crime spree and driving a convertible off of the Grand Canyon.
Jay: So great to do this with you again, Paul! I almost arrived too late tonight. It's been a crazy day: My doctor told me that cortison wasn't good for my knee. Then, he gave me a cortisone shot in my knee. Later, I discovered halfway through my day that there was a huge hole in the 'central area' of my pants. I untucked my shirt and moved on with my day like a trooper.
Paul: I can't quite top that Jay, but I did stop and eat three tacos from a taco truck on the way here, that has to count for something right?
Jay: Tacos are the exception to the 'if it arrives by trailer, beware' rule. Senior Night for Clovis West. I love senior nights, even if they do feel a bit weird on a Tuesday. There's Vance Walberg with a look of beaming pride on his face, applauding his seniors at center court. The bonds created through sports are irreplaceable.
The Clovis Cougars are a lot better than their 14-12 (2-7) record. They have an upbeat new coach in Cory Fischer and they look a lot more engaged than their recent squads. He has the rare knack of being supremely confident but not obnoxious, and the players feed off that. It looks like he's having fun.
Paul: Clovis West comes in at 25-3 with a league title already wrapped up at 8-1 and a virtual lock (as opposed to a literal lock) to be the No. 1 seed in the D-I playoffs. They are, of course, led by head coach Vance Walberg in his second year of his second stint at the helm. During his 13 year tenure at Clovis West from 1989-2002, they went 343-68 with nine league titles, 10 CIF Central Section Championships appearances, including six titles. Pretty, pretty good methinks.
Clovis is led by guard Anthony Martinez who can light it up. The stocky senior needs 44 points to tie the school's career scoring record. Can he get it tonight in hostile territory?
And Clovis West is led by senior Brandon Recek, a 6-foot-5 shooter who can finish at the rim and freshman guard Cole Anderson, who already has three Division I college offers.
Buckle up, both teams like to push the tempo.
The tip is off … Walberg is starting five seniors tonight who normally don't start – love that he honors seniors who work hard throughout the year.
Fernando Guardado with a straight away 3 on the team's first possession, 3-0. The goggled kid can shoot, no doubts there. And there's a 78 percent chance you said 'Googled' in your head but alas, it's goggled, as in the signature goggles he wears.
Jay: I love Guardado's game. He rarely makes mistakes and is a fine all-around player. Clovis looks uncomfortable early. They are confident in their shooting, but they are forcing the issue down dead-end streets. Four turnovers in first 2:30. CW not looking much more comfy, however.
Paul: Fernando G with a strip steal on Martinez, perfect anticipation.
Jay: Triple for Martinez, 6-3, CW. His form is stellar.
Paul: Yep, he can shoot – nice rotation on the ball, shoulders square.
Jay: Scary moment for Martinez as he hits the deck on a layup at around the 4-minute mark in the 1Q. The sound of his head loudly hitting the floor was audible to everyone in the gym. I mean, REALLY loud. He can't take the free throws. Josiah Leonard misses both of them. Tough break. Hard to make free throws that weren't meant for you.
Paul: Oh man, that looks bad, it happened six feet away from us.
Now, at the 4:47 mark, the regular starters are in for CW: Anderson, junior Dante Chachere and seniors Recek, Nick Coleman and Eseosa Ogbeide.
It's getting fun for the high-flying Golden Eagles – an alley oop from Recek to Chachere for a strong layup – 10-3 CW with 3:52 left. Chachere is usually on the passing end – he's the QB on the football team.
Jay: Wahlberg's 2-3 zone is really throttling the Cougars, especially with their length. Eagles pressing two players on the PG as well. Good to see Martinez back in the game after a short break. Malalis finally breaks the press and makes a fine driving layup, but the bigger story is that this press is bothering the Cougars a lot more than they want it to.
Paul: Another alley-oop to Chachere from 6-foot-7 senior Josiah de la Cerda. Fun fact: Chachere's brother, Andre, was a standout San Jose State defensive back and is attending the NFL combine starting on Feb. 27. Their father played arena football and mother played college softball. Now, that's some serious genes right there.
14-7, 1:55 left in first, I thought there'd be a ton of points scored in this game, let's see if the pace picks up, CW beat them 80-70 at Clovis on Jan. 26.
Jay: Martinez airballs a 24-foot 3-pointer. Looks to the bench for some reassurance, but there's nothing there. What a gorgeous spin move, however, on the next possession. Really composed. 14-9 CW end of first. He looks to be the one player on the floor who has free reins to shoot.
Paul: Hope Martinez is not feeling the effects of that fall, Cougars won't be the same without him tonight.
Well, there's my answer, a dipsy-doo layup for him, he's back.
Jay: Good defense by Cooper Huyck this quarter. A couple of blocks and several adjusted shots. This game should be worse than 16-9, CW.
Paul: Huyck is long and tall and looks like he just walked off the stage of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,' but that guy can sure block a shot.
I would say a solid crowd tonight, not loud or boisterous, unless you call the music in between this quarter loud and boisterous – and I do. Yes, it seem I'm slowly becoming a 'get off my lawn' kind of guy.
The Big 2 for CW, Recek and Anderson, held scoreless in first quarter. Tough to get a groove going when you don't start, perhaps.
18-11, 6:43 left in second. More subs for CW – they come in droves – a Walberg staple.
Jay: How good is Martinez? They just threw an alley-oop to him in the post. He's 5-foot-8. But wow, the Cougars must have 15 turnovers already. Their own man-to-man defense hasn't been awful, but the length and pressing defense of CW is REALLY bothering them.
Paul: Walberg and staff going with the all black get-up and white eagle logo on team polo. Something I've noticed about Walberg every home game is about a half hour before game time, he retreats to his office/cave connected to the gym then comes out looking quite dapper. A "presto-change-o" moment for the Wizard of West.
Meanwhile, Clovis cuts lead to 24-18 but Coleman responds with a 3 in the corner, 27-18, 3:21 left in half.
Jay: Martinez just banked in a 3 to make it 27-21, CW. He looks bewildered, but he'll take it. Good shooters have a tendency to have conversations with themselves if their shot is off by even an inch.
Paul: Just like a bloop hit in baseball, a banked 3-pointer counts in the box score.
Jay: It's a line drive as far as the grandkids are concerned.
Paul: Silly turnover by CW, Walberg not happy, but Anderson gets a running 8-foot one-hander to go for an old school 'and-1,' 30-23, 2:20 left.
I think by the time Anderson's career is done at CW, he'll hold a lot of school records – he's that talented.
Jay: Lovepreet Sran is a poised interior player – good ball-handling, fakes, footwork. Keeps Cougars within 5, 32-27 with 50 seconds left in the half. Perfect kind of pivot/swing player against a zone.
Paul: Sran is one of those guys in a pick-up game where you say to yourself: 'This guy can't score on me' then proceeds to score in a row. Not that that's ever happened to me or anything.
HALFTIME: 33-29 Clovis West. Gotta hand it to Clovis, hanging around only down four at half to a 25-3 team is impressive.
Jay: Cory Fischer almost sprinting off the floor at halftime, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. They cannot play much worse and they are only down 4 at the break. Tons of TOs from their guards (I mean, probably close to 15), but they are getting it done with rebounding and a stellar man-to-man defense that is switching everything on the perimeter. They've had to work much harder for their baskets but CW has not been much better in their half-court offense.
Paul: Of note, CW leading scorer Brandon Recek was held scoreless, averages about 20 a game, but certainly can get hot at any moment.
Jay: Great seeing former Bulldog basketballer Noel Felix on the Clovis bench. Fischer and the players love him and he appears to be a stellar bench coach.
Paul: Not only that Jay, but he looks like he can still throw it down.
Jay: Second half underway and Martinez makes a running jumper. He wanted the foul, but didn't get it. Martinez is clearly the guy his teammates look for.
Paul: Looky here, Clovis only down 35-33 – two-point game guys, 6:13.
Jay: Did I mention that I just love Fernando Guardado's game? Never seems to make a mistake. Another player who looks like he won't hurt you but he's an assassin.
Paul: CW not showing much of their patented press, falling back into a straight man-to-man, I've seen that more recently in games from Walberg.
Jay: Sran with a lovely left-handed layup in traffic and after a turnover, Malalis hits a 25-foot three and the Cougars are ahead 38-37 with 4:30 left in 3Q.
Paul: Can Clovis pull off the upset of the year? These guys aren't playing intimidated that's for sure.
CW is really off on its 3-point shooting, I can think of only two makes and maybe 11 misses. If my Common Core math skills are up-to-date, that's 2-13. I would draw a picture but alas, my fingers are glued to the keyboard.
Jay: 28-foot three pointer by Martinez (no exaggeration at all) and it's 41-37 Cougs.
Paul: An apprehensive hush here at CW at the Cougs take the lead but Recek with his first bucket on a driving layup and a foul, 41-40 Clovis as they are pumped!
Jay: Intensity has really stepped up in last minute. And-1 for Huyck who has three blocks. Missed FT, 43-40 Cougs.
Paul: Recek with a driving layup – 43-42 Clovis at 54 seconds, now entering fourth quarter.
Jay: Clovis West had a very well organized set on the last possession of the 3Q, but Clovis sniffed it out very well. By my count, four blocks for Huyck, none bigger than the one he just got to preserve a 43-42 lead. Clovis is currently in control.
35-foot three by Martinez (no exaggeration) answers a Cole Anderson three. They're guarding each other now, but CW has been using a bunch of players on him all night, so that will probably change again. This is fun.
Paul: A Coleman three point play and a Recek drive and CW back on top, 50-46, 6:08 left. And now a Coleman 3, 53-46. Will they pull away?
Jay: Quick shots and misses by Clovis are giving Eagles confidence. Cougars need to go back to a more patient style and work the shot clock.
What a terrific no-look pass by Martinez to Malalis for an and-1 layup that barely creeps in. Stops the bleeding, 53-49. Martinez follows it up with a pull up baseline 3. 56-52 Cougars. CW heating up, but Cougs hanging.
Paul: Jay, we picked a good game to come to didn't we? Throw out the 8-1 and 2-7 records – this is a rivalry game!
Bruno Mars music blaring, I love me some Bruno, just keeping it real but I really think '24K Magic' wasn't deserving of a Grammy, but that's a discussion for a different time.
Jay: And I love that you love him, Paul. This is a terrific game. Martinez makes a nice left-handed layup but shortly thereafter commits his third foul.
Paul: Martinez doesn't want to back down from freshman Anderson, two straight fouls committed by Martinez but Anderson with two strong, driving layups for a 60-55 lead, 2:16 left. Anderson's got some moxy that's for darn sure.
Jay: First timeout called tonight, Paul. Cheerleaders have been probably rehearsing something all week and they had to wait until 2:12 in the game to try it out.
Paul: 62-55 CW, it'll be tough for Clovis to come back but … here's that dude Martinez with another long three to cut it to four. He wants that scoring record but he's burning for that win just as much.
Jay: You can tell a coach is good by what happens coming out of a timeout. Does Fischer elect to press here or does he trust his defense to get two stops? Well, foul by Huyck after a failed press sends Recek to the line. Not sure I agree with that, but I'm not a coach. 66-58 Eagles. Recek has been clutch down the stretch, poised and confident, in contrast to his out-of-rhythm first half.
Paul: Well, this one is all but over, but a valiant effort from Clovis, not only that but they played really hard.
Jay: It also looked as though they were endeavoring to win – and yearning.
Martinez just added yet another 3 from about 30 feet and finishes with 31 points. Too little too late, however, and the Eagles prevail, 69-63. Stinks to have a team play so hard and fall. Fischer wanted this win, but he'll take comfort in knowing that for over half this game, his team was dictating the action against a 26-3 squad on their home court with no gimmicks, smoke, or mirrors. I like his demeanor a lot; when he hugs players from both teams after the game you can tell he means it.
Paul: The game seemed to go by very quickly, clocked at 1 hour 16 minutes, not a lot of timeouts taken or free throws.
Jay: Right, but the end, the part when the buzzer actually sounded. That was extremely sudden.
Paul: Clovis West just cemented a No. 1 seed for the playoffs which start Feb. 20 and end at Selland Arena on March 3. And I tell you what, I don't think anyone will want to play Clovis, those guys are primed to deliver an upset.
And thank you all for reading our little ditty about a basketball game between Clovis West and Clovis, tons of fun.
Jay: Can't tell you how impressed I was with the atmosphere tonight. Great to see so many families and children enjoying themselves and to see such great sportsmanship from every person associated with both programs. I was very impressed. Let's do this again soon.


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Building Information Modelling (BIM) at Dura Composites
The construction industry is making huge strides to make it easier to for all those involved in the supply chain to be able to view a building and its constituent parts on a computer. Dura Composites welcomes this step change in technology and is committed to providing architects, engineers and contractors with the information that they need to use Dura products.
With the Government's announcement that all Public Sector projects need to be implemented using the BIM approach, we've been busy preparing BIM ready open source files for the products you source from us, so you can be confident that both you and your end client are making the right choice for your project.
Available free from the National Building Specification (NBS) National BIM Library, the new data-rich Dura Composites BIM Objects allow specifiers to see up-to-date, accurate data about Dura Composites products and to easily incorporate them into their overall design. Authored to the trusted NBS standard, each BIM Object details the various surface finishes, profiles, sizes and colour options for each product, and provides specifiers and end clients with detailed information on how the products will perform during their expected lifecycle. To access the Dura Composites BIM objects click here.
If you require any additional information or support, please contact us at email@example.com to discuss how our CAD team can work with your sales contact to provide composite solutions that help you achieve a construction project that is delivered on time, within budget and that's designed for the future.
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We are up and running for 2015. Shakespeare on the Concho returns this year with a production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Performance dates will be June 12-14, 19-21 and 26-27 on the grounds of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.
Much Ado is probably one of Shakespeare's most popular and most produced comedies. So make your plans now. Auditions will be held the week of April 27. We will again be partnering with the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and the museum will be hosting our opening night gala on the roof of the museum.
Stay tuned for more information, production notes, videos and other fun things about this show and this summer's production


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Eric Clapton Makes Musical Donation
Can Eric Clapton get any more awesome? In addition to doing his laundry at a public laundromat, Eric just sold more than 70 of his guitars, amps and other memorabilia to raise $2.15 million for the Crossroads Center. It's a rehab facility in Antigua that he co-founded in 1998.
According to RollingStone.com:
Eric Clapton has sold more than 70 of his instruments and amplifiers, along with other ephemera such as the Gianni Versace suit that he wore at a 1990 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, at a charity auction in New York. Overall, Clapton raised more than $2.15 million for the Crossroads Center, a drug and alcohol rehab facility in Antigua that he co-founded in 1998.
The top-selling item at the auction was a 1948 Gibson hollow body guitar that went for $83,000, far above its estimated value of $30,000. A replica of "Blackie," the guitarist's famous Fender Statocaster, was sold for just over $30,000.
Let's relive the day he was interrupted while he was doing his laundry, shall we?


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Welcome to our new website! If this is the first time you are logging in on the new site, you will need to reset your password. Please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you need assistance.
The site navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Left and right arrows move
across top level links and expand / close menus in sub levels. Up and Down arrows will open main level
menus and toggle through sub tier links. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Tab
will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items.
The regulatory function is vital in making safe and effective healthcare products available worldwide. Individuals who ensure regulatory compliance and prepare submissions, as well as those whose main job function is clinical affairs or quality assurance are all considered regulatory professionals.
One of our most valuable contributions to the profession is the Regulatory Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics provides regulatory professionals with core values that hold them to the highest standards of professional conduct.
Your membership opens the door to free learning resources on demand. Check out the Member Knowledge Center for free webcasts, publications and online courses.
Like all professions, regulatory is based on a shared set of competencies. The Regulatory Competency Framework describes the essential elements of what is required of regulatory professionals at four major career and professional levels.
Join the brightest minds in regulatory at the annual Regulatory Convergence. See the global regulatory community in action. Intensive workshops. Topical sessions. Meet ups with regulators. This is where it all comes together.
With so many global regulation changes, staying informed is a challenge. Join other regulatory professionals as you navigate the gray together.
For 20 years, our flagship publication, Fundamentals of US Regulatory Affairs, has been giving regulatory professionals the insights and answers they need, right at their fingertips.
There are hundreds of RAC testing centers available worldwide. Any of the four RAC exams (US, EU, CAN or Global) may be taken at any location. Find an upcoming exam at a location near you.
Posted 30 April 2013 | By Alexander Gaffney, RAC,
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Kcentra (prothrombin complex concentrate), a new biological treatment indicated for the urgent reversal of vitamin K antagonist (VKA), a class of anticoagulants that can lead to major bleeding events and death.
Prior to Kcentra's 29 April 2013 approval by FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), the only FDA-approved method to reverse VKA was through an infusion of blood plasma, regulators said.
The therapy could have the most potential for patients now taking blood thinners like warfarin, FDA explained. "Patients receiving chronic anticoagulation therapy with warfarin and other VKA anticoagulants to prevent blood clotting in conditions such as atrial fibrillation or the presence of an artificial heart valve sometimes develop acute bleeding. Like plasma, Kcentra is used in conjunction with the administration of vitamin K to reverse the anticoagulation effect and stop the bleeding."
The drug also has an advantage relative to plasma in that it does not require a patient's blood type to be known prior to administration, and does not need to be kept in a frozen state, eliminating the need for thawing. In addition, "Kcentra is administered in a significantly lower volume than plasma at recommended doses, providing an alternative for those patients who may not tolerate the volume of plasma required to reverse VKA anticoagulation," Karen Midthun, director of CBER, said in a statement.
The drug is not without its risks. FDA said Kcentra will come with a boxed warning regarding the risk of blood clots and advising patients to be monitored for symptoms of thromboembolic events.
The drug's manufacturer, CSL Behring, mirrored FDA's assessment, adding that the principal benefit will be for patients taking warfarin who experience acute major bleeding.
"FDA approval of Kcentra is an important advancement in warfarin reversal, as it provides medical professionals with a new tool that can efficiently stop major bleeding in patients for whom plasma may not be optimal," said Lynne Powell, senior vice president of commercial operations at CSL Behring.
The company cited figures saying that of the three to four million patients on warfarin, an estimated 29,000 experience warfarin-associated bleeding each year.
FDA Approval Notice for Kcentra
CSL Behring Statement on Kcentra
Tags: approval
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Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion Game
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ANNAPOLIS - Western Maryland's state lawmakers unanimously elected a new chairman on Thursday to replace Robert A. McKee, who has resigned from the legislature.
Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washington/Allegany, was named chairman and Del. Susan W. Krebs, R-Carroll, was chosen as vice chairwoman.
Myers had been the delegation's vice chairman while McKee was chairman.
The Western Maryland delegation includes state representatives from Washington, Frederick, Carroll, Allegany and Garrett counties.
The delegation sometimes works as a group on issues of importance to some or all of those counties.
Myers said the delegation has a few pending issues this session, including biodiesel fuel and monitoring Allegheny Power's plan to credit customers for fluorescent light bulbs the utility mailed to them.
As delegation chairman, McKee had sent Allegheny Power a letter objecting to the bulb-distribution program.
Last week, the delegation sent a letter to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources expressing "adamant opposition" to the possibility of placing wind turbines on state property.


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Q&A with Royce Monteverdi of Robotic Parking Systems & David Laurello of Stratus Technologies
"A Robotic Parking Systems garage is a ballet of automation and IT orchestration."
VSM: Can you explain how your robotic parking system works?
RM: The Robotic Parking Systems patented technology enables parking from hundreds up to several thousand cars in half the space of a conventional ramp-style garage. This creates more floor area for design, development and community enhancements. Architects and developers can use less space for parking and incorporate more green space, retail space, residential or office space or combinations of these. Robotic Parking Systems also retrieves
cars for drivers, through a secure kiosk, which delivers the car to its driver at the exit terminal in three minutes or less, facing forward so that it is safe and easy to exit the garage.
VSM: What parking problems and issues does an automated parking system solve?
RM: Robotic Parking Systems provides many different benefits. They include:


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FTV Girls Sierra is doing what few girls have done on FTV, having sex with a guy. She's waking up to him naked then giving him a blow job before fucking his brains out. This slender blonde is super hot and loves to masturbate too. What a sexual dynamo!


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|Sebastian Michaelis
Sebastian Michaelis
Unknown, Immortal
First Appearance
Kuroshitsuji I: Episode 1
Sebastian Michaelis (セバスチャン ミカエリス Sebasuchan Mikaerisu) is the butler of the Phantomhive household. He is also part of the Noah's Ark Circus, where he goes by the stage name Black (ブラック Burakku). Sebastian often describes himself through the phrase "I am simply one hell of a butler" (私はあくまで執事ですから watashi wa aku made shitsuji desukara). The phrase plays on the word "demon" (あくま akuma) and the phrase "to the end" (あくまで aku made) which can also mean "I am a demon and a butler." In the Animax dub, he says, "I am a devilishly talented butler."
Little has been revealed about Sebastian's history, except that he first came to Ciel after Ciel was about to be sacrificed in a purist ritual. Ciel ordered him to slay his abductors. This marked the beginning of their contract. It is understood that this incident occurred two to three years before the events in the main storyline (first season.) When Sebastian was summoned in the manga, he appeared in his true demon form, while in the anime, he appeared as a crow accompanied by a rain of feathers. In the manga, it seems that Sebastian was summoned accidentally, but in the anime it is made apparent that Ciel knew about the existance of demons and how to summon them all too well. Also of note, he appears in front of Ciel's attackers in the manga, while in the anime, he appears in a limbo world. In both the anime and the manga, it is implied that Sebastian will take the role of Ciel's butler until Ciel has completed his personal mission of revenge -- that is the substance of their contract. Sebastian's job is to serve Ciel, doing everything from the mundane task of serving tea, to protecting Ciel from certain death, until Ciel's mission in life is complete. In return, Sebastian will receive Ciel's soul when said mission is completed. The demon was given the name "Sebastian" by Ciel for the duration of his duties as the Phantomhive butler. This name used to belong to a dog in the Phantomhive household. He was named after the dog because Ciel was angry that Sebastian looked vaugely like Ciel's father.
Sebastian stated that, in the past, he engaged in "messily sampling every dish available," and has since resorted to only consuming "high-quality" souls. As a result, he is, apparently, starving, but states that the dinner will be that much better the hungrier he is.
Additionally, it is known that Sebastian's real home is in an alternate world, but it is quite different from the human world. In particular, he has mentioned that the creatures kept as pets there are in no way comparable to cats (the example shown resembles the Alien creature designed by H.R. Giger.) It is also said that Sebastian has been alive for at least 100 years, possibly much longer; in episode 4 of Kuroshitsuji II, Sebastian briefly mentions that he met an ancient Egyptian mummy when it was alive - the Pharaoh/mummy, identified by Sebastian as Smenkhkare, reigned about 3000 years ago, towards the end of the 18th Dynasty (1336-1334BCE), hence this hints that Sebastian would have to be at least 3000 years old to have met the man. In the anime, he also claims to be responsible for the spread of the Black Death, which occurred about 500 years before the main storyline.


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Takaful Emarat supports on-going growth with professional development program
Takaful Emarat ("the Company"), the DFM-listed, Shariah-compliant Life and Health Takaful Provider, continues to support its growth momentum with the introduction of a comprehensive program of professional development for its employees.
Since the launch of this initiative at the beginning of 2015, 41 of Takaful Emarat's employees have been identified to attend over 26 different professional courses from world-leading training institutes including The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), The Associate Life Management Institute (ALMI), The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) and Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBF).
The Company's on-going investment in its human capital is in support of its accelerating commercial growth supported by its rapidly developing product distribution partnerships. This includes the recently announced agreement with Wahat Al Zaweya Company for Investment and Real Estate Development and wider agreements with major financial institutions such as RAK Bank and Emirates Islamic Bank.
In addition to this enhanced distribution capability, as one of only two Shariah-compliant health and life Takaful provider approved by the Department of Health Authority, the Company is uniquely well-positioned to capitalize on the roll out of mandatory health insurance in Dubai, and the increased uptake of Takaful insurance in the region, which is forecast to grow as insurance penetration deepens. By 2017, the global gross Takaful market is expected to reach US$20 billion, up from current estimates of US$14 billion, according to EY.
As confirmed by Taha Actuaries & Consultants in their recent industry report issued in August 2015 on UAE National Insurance & Takaful Companies, Takaful Emarat delivered the highest increase percentage in Net Earned Contributions of 271% for the half year ended June 2015 to reach its Net Earned Contributions to AED 141 million up from AED 38 million for the half year ended June 2014".
The training program also complements and supports Takaful Emarat's experienced management team, which includes the appointment of 12 experienced executives over the last 24 months from globally respected insurance businesses.
Takaful Emarat's Chief Executive Officer Wael Al-Sharif said:- "Following our recent restructuring and a return to profitability, we are investing in our team to ensure we have the best skill sets available which strengthens our customer-centric focus. Our comprehensive employee training initiative, one of the most thorough in our industry, recognizes and rewards talent within our business as well as attracts potential new hires who want to work for a dynamic and growing business which is uniquely well placed to capitalize on the opportunities that exist within the UAE's insurance market."
Mohammad Alhawari, Executive Board Member & Managing Director of Takaful Emarat, commented:- "As a forward-looking business, this investment in our people underlines Takaful Emarat's commitment to providing its customers with best-in-class product knowledge and customer service. We will continue to invest in our team, as we continue our growth momentum and benefit from the forecasted strong growth of the regional Takaful industry".
- Stephen Brennan
by DarkMatter
- Ambareen Musa
by Souqalmal.com
- Paul Rogers
by Bain & Company


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'You must first have your knowledge of your power, Second, the courage to dare and third, the faith to do.' -Master Keys, Part 12
Haanel goes on to say that knowledge does not apply itself, I must first make the application then 'fertilize' the thought with a living purpose. My ideal must be sharp, clear cut and definite.
This couldn't be more accurate for me at this very moment! I have been in the market to purchase a new car, and after only a few days of looking online I came across a handful that fit my standards. We set out on a weekend excursion of 'car shopping' and fun in Nashville, TN. The very first car we went to check out was Perfect. Absolutely Perfect. It was exactly what I was looking for… color, size, make, 'bells & whistles' (or lack there of), it was the most perfectly beautiful basic car I could have ever asked for. The price was unbelievable, it was only 2 years old, and it only had 44,000 miles on it! I could not Believe it! I literally thought to myself: 'Well, does the Universe really just give me what I want 'Just Like That'? Really? It couldn't be. What's the catch?!? And just like that… my brain took over and tried figuring it out. And just like that, the news was given to us as the guy handed me the key… 'You know how to drive stick, right?'.
Instantly I froze and shriveled up a bit. Bummer. 'No, No I don't know how to drive stick.'.
And just like that, we were out of that dealership without skipping a beat. We had a marvelous lunch on Broadway at Rippy's Bar & Grill, walked the strip a bit then headed back (the hour drive) home to visit a few more car dealerships.
Every car after that first one just wasn't right. None of them were right. Something was off about all of them. I kept going back into my head thinking 'Man, that first car was perfect, except it's stick'. I must have thought that about a million times before 11pm that night.
Then, when we got home, it occurred to me : What the H#LL! I can LEARN Stick! And just like that my mind was made up. Done Deal. That car was Mine. Now… just to make sure the cash was available…
A few people questioned my decision, but for 'some reason' I had the Courage & dared to 'DO'. Paragraph four in Haanel's Master Key's lesson 12 states: 'You must first have your knowledge of your power, Second, the courage to dare and third, the faith to do.'
We drove back to Nashville bright and early the very next morning, with pure confidence that All would work out perfectly, and of course the money was available in my bank account.
Never before had anyone in that dealership witnessed a new car buyer purchase a car without knowing how to drive it. Never.
It took me one week to master the driving techniques, and within three weeks I was on a five hour weekend road trip to Georgia with my dog. 🙂 (oh, I'd like to add that in the back of my head I was a little nervous about learning how to drive in snow… and I wasn't looking forward to going back 'home' (Wisconsin) to learn. Well, The Universe decided to give me a fast lesson by dumping a record amount of snow on the exact area I was visiting for the weekend! That area Rarely gets snow…)
Gotta love that sense of humor! And I love knowing that all of the laws of the universe are always working in perfect & harmonious balance with each other.


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I meet up with Selene and Jorge at the Juice Factory for conversation and lunch. Jeremiah joins us.
I get a chance to connect briefly with Leslie.
I buy a piece of woven fabric from the Peruvian ladies. It is similar to one of the pieces I bought from them the last time they were here. Very colourful.
I see Jerri and get introduced to the new puppy she's adopted.
I nap for half an hour before going back into the village for Felix's birthday party at the Vilcamamas restaurant. It's a dessert only potluck. Lots of yummy treats. Wendy has made a super birthday cake.


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National Holidays
Good Friday (29 April): The celebration date changes every year. The day commemorating Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
Holy Saturday (30 April): The celebration date changes every year. The last day of Holy Week and of Lent. At midnight the Resurrection of Christ is celebrated.
Easter Sunday (1 May): The celebration date changes every year. The most important Christian celebration, celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.
International Workers day (1 May): Dedicated to the Chicago workers riot in May 1886 demanding an 8-hour work day and better working conditions.
Easter Monday (2 May): The celebration date changes every year. The second day of Easter.
Dormition of Virgin Mary (15 August): One of the most important orthodox celebrations, celebrating the passing and burial of Virgin Mary, with glorious ceremonies in many parts of Greece.
"No" Day (28 October): On this day the Greeks celebrate dictator Ioannis Metaxas's refusal, on 28th October 1940, regarding Italian claims, leading to Greece taking part in WWII.
St. Spyridon (Dec. 12): Saint Spyridon is the patron saint of Corfu and the day of celebration, all the back streets in the Old Town smell of delicious donuts with honey and cinnamon made by worshipers, according to custom.
Christmas (25 December): One of the most glorious celebration of Christianity, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.