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*Winning entries will be verified. This giveaway is in no way affiliated, administered or endorsed by Facebook or Pinterest. No information will be disclosed to Facebook or Pinterest by entering this giveaway. No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning are based on number of entrants. Winner for each prize package will be chosen randomly through Rafflecopter. Prize packages will be awarded to two different people. Winner will be announced within 72 hours of giveaway closure on this blog post and winner will need to respond within 48 hours of announcement / email to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen. Winner must be 18 years of age or older and a US citizen with a US mailing address in order to win. Winner is responsible for paying any necessary taxes on winnings. All prizes will be mailed / emailed / fulfilled by the sponsor and the blog owners involved are not held responsible if the prize is not fulfilled. A list of winners may be requested after the giveaway has ended. Please email me with any questions or to obtain additional information at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
New Year, New Home: $3000+ Room Makeover Giveaway
*Winning entries will be verified. This giveaway is in no way affiliated, administered or endorsed by Facebook or Pinterest. No information will be disclosed to Facebook or Pinterest by entering this giveaway. No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning are based on number of entrants. Winner for each prize package will be chosen randomly through Rafflecopter. Prize packages will be awarded to two different people. Winner will be announced within 72 hours of giveaway closure on this blog post and winner will need to respond within 48 hours of announcement / email to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen. Winner must be 18 years of age or older and a US citizen with a US mailing address in order to win. Winner is responsible for paying any necessary taxes on winnings. All prizes will be mailed / emailed / fulfilled by the sponsor and the blog owners involved are not held responsible if the prize is not fulfilled. A list of winners may be requested after the giveaway has ended. Please email me with any questions or to obtain additional information at: firstname.lastname@example.com
87 comments:
Great giveaway. I'm in!ReplyDelete
Wow! I think this is the most amazing giveaway in blogland.ReplyDelete
I've never seen such a huge giveaway! THANK YOU for sponsoring it! I think I'd work on my living room. We've lived here for 5 years and the same, light-colored, stained to high heaven carpeting is still on the floor and I've never gotten the walls painted because I was waiting on the floor and my couches are blue! BLUE!ReplyDelete
Thanks so much for offering this amazing giveaway! :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Wow...great Giveaway! I would love to redo our keeping room!Delete
I'd love to make over my bedroom. :)ReplyDelete
Wow...great Giveaway! I would love to redo our keeping room!
We just bought a new house and have so many projects. I'd love to use it to build a screened in porch and really make some progress on the guest room!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 6:18 AM
awesome! we would looooveee to finish the epic makeover on our movie room! :)ReplyDelete
Thanks for offering this amazingReplyDelete
giveaway. I want to redo our home
I think it would have to be my kitchen that got the make-over, it's looking a bit tired and dated!ReplyDelete
I would love to makeover our master bedroom area, a place that really needs to be done. Thanks for the giveaway.ReplyDelete
I would makeover my master bathroom!ReplyDelete
Our front room/office!ReplyDelete
While I was working a 12 hour shift on Saturday (RN), my son accidentally pulled the iron off the ironing board. Yeah, it was on. Yeah, it melted the carpet. So, for that and a million other reasons, I'd redo my downstairs living room. If there was anything left over, I'd tackle the horribly ugly wallpaper and carpet in my upstairs living room.ReplyDelete
Kitchen, definitely!ReplyDelete
Oh yay!! I would have to say our living room. Not much character in there.ReplyDelete
Prize package 2 looks like it would be perfect for me. My fiance and I just bought a house and all of our extra money is going towards our wedding and hopefully a honeymoon. I have student loan debt to pay off and so our house is still a mish mosh of mostly my straight-out-of-college cheap furniture. I'd love to make our Living room and dining room/kitchen (all open to each other) a place that when you come home at the end of a long day you just have to smile and relax. I can't wait until this summer when we can have cook outs and birthday celebrations and wedding party parties.ReplyDelete
My bedroom needs a makeover. Debra firstname.lastname@example.com
My master bathroom is down to 2x4's and the concrete floor is half gone. It is costing more than I budgeted, so I would love to win some gift cards!ReplyDelete
I would start with my master bath...then the kids' playroom.ReplyDelete
Our kitchen really, really needs a remodel! This would be sooooo exciting to win!ReplyDelete
Front room and/or kitchen (they kind of connect)ReplyDelete
I'd makeover our master bedroom or add a nursery!ReplyDelete
I would make over my family room.. and bring up to date!! :)ReplyDelete
I would love to make over my masterbedroom/bathroom!!ReplyDelete
Amazing giveaway!ReplyDelete
Either my new sewing room or the girls' new playroom!!! This would be HEAVENLY to win!!!ReplyDelete
Half of our basement is unfinished and I would use the prize to turn it into a laundry/craft room for me and my 3-year-old son!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 12:53 PM
so many rooms I am waiting to do, if I am pressed to pick one, it would be the kitchen...ReplyDelete
I would absolutely makeover my living room. It's our main entertaining space and it has absolutely no direction. I need to pick a theme and stick to it. So many ideas and so little time!ReplyDelete
I would make over my spare bedroom/office because it's the one room that's gotten nearly NO love since we moved in!ReplyDelete
I would make over my kitchen. Thanks!ReplyDelete
I would love to make over my bedroom or the living room!ReplyDelete
I'd do my kitchen. For sure!ReplyDelete
We would love to make over our master bedroomReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 3:11 PM
I would make over my master bedroom into a relaxing, wonderful retreat, somewhere to relax and feel warmth and comfort at the end of the day. Ahhhhhhhh.......ReplyDelete
cyndy dimpls
Would love to make over the kitchen or the master bedroom. Can't decide. Thanks for the chance to win.ReplyDelete
I'd love to make over my master bedroom!!ReplyDelete
I am working on my kitchen right now!ReplyDelete
I am working on my kitchen right now!ReplyDelete
I would choose my office/craft room or living room. toss up.ReplyDelete
I would make over my kitchen!! It's stuck in the 70s!!!ReplyDelete
I'd love to makeover my living room!!ReplyDelete
I just made the decision to become a stay-at-home mom with my six week old in the midst of our 1930s home remodel project. The two rooms needing CPR are the kitchen & the single bath I share with 3 boys!ReplyDelete
I'm entering for my Sister-in-law. They just bought a short sale and are in need of HUGE help in their new house. The have 2 girsl (ages 2 & 4) and she is 9 months pregnant with girl #3. This would be perfect for them.ReplyDelete
They would probably pick a different room, but I think the blue bathroom needs redone. Everything {including the toilet} is blue!! Great giveaway!
I would makeover my office/guest/play room and turn it into just a welcoming guest bedroom.ReplyDelete
Kitchen, living room or bedroom! I need updates!!ReplyDelete
I need a master bedroom makeover.. STAT!ReplyDelete
Definitely our master bath! It's a large space but everything is builder grade and there are a couple issues the previous owner didn't disclose (bad owners!). Oh, the plans I have for that room! haha Thanks for the chance!ReplyDelete
Definately my kitchen. It needs a major makeover.ReplyDelete
I would have to choose to redo my kitchen, the 80's blue floral tile and laminate butcher block counters MUST go! Thank you!!!ReplyDelete
Ohhhh....My dungeon of a kitchen for sure!!ReplyDelete
I would work on my kitchen most definitely!ReplyDelete
I would work on my guest room. My mom is having to spend more time in that room as she ages and I want to make it special for her.ReplyDelete
I would make over my bathroom. One and a half bathrooms for six people is tight. I would increase my space!!ReplyDelete
The mini apartment on the side of the house needs a facelift so it can be let out to earn some much needed money. THanks for the giveaway.ReplyDelete
I would love to win! I would make over my basement. Something I've wanted to do for the longest time.ReplyDelete
Thanks for a great give away.
i would make over the living room. it is just tan.ReplyDelete
- Erica HornerJanuary 23, 2013 at 7:41 AM
Yeah! I am so excited about this giveaway. We bought a 1920's farmhouse and gutted the entire first and second floor. We spend all the money we had on the remodel so that we had nothing left to decorate with. No curtains, rugs, accessories, pillows. It's just a big empty canvas. Plus, with three boys and a little girl on the way, life is going to get colorful and I would like my home to match. This would be such a blessing if we were to win this. I think we would start with the family room, since it is the place we spend most of our time as a family.ReplyDelete
My Family Room is in desperate need of an overhaul. I'm deeply wishing here.ReplyDelete
I would love to redo my sunroom. Someday I would like to extend my kitchen into the sunroom but that is a LONG way away! The savings for it always get used for something else. So redoing that room may make me decide a sunroom is great thing to have!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 23, 2013 at 10:09 AM
We need to redo our kitchen/dining/living area. Would love to get rid of one extra bedroom and have a great room so whenever we have family/friends over we can visit together better.ReplyDelete
I'd probably red o our bedroom first!ReplyDelete
AMAZING , this would be so wonderful to win , we just bought a New house .. so which room would I pick ...umm all of them ! hahah.. I think I would have to go with my living room ...ReplyDelete
We are in the process of finishing our basement and making a study into a baby's room - so I think we'd put the winnings towards those projects.ReplyDelete
I would probably redo my kitchen/living rooms. Or do a little bit to every room!! :)ReplyDelete
Our master bedroom needs a makeover...new light fixture, new bedding, new paint, etc. But we will spread the updates to all rooms in our house.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 23, 2013 at 1:56 PM
the kitchen! It's the only thing I can't get around to fixing up in our house since we use it all the time.... which is a perfect reason to update it! Nothing has been changed ((except the stove we just bought)) since the house was built in 1993. it needs new everything.ReplyDelete
I would love to makeover my craft room into a baby room!! This would help so much and make it so fun!ReplyDelete
I would use it for my master bedroom!ReplyDelete
I'd love to makeover my main bathroom.ReplyDelete
I would redo my front room.ReplyDelete
I would makeover my kitchenReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 23, 2013 at 6:21 PM
My front room definitely needs some attention.ReplyDelete
My bedroom. Brittany F.ReplyDelete
Where to start? New house and so many ideas...probably my front room that sits empty!ReplyDelete
I love this!!! I would definitely make my bedroom a romantic makeoverReplyDelete
I'm excited! My husband and I mutually decided to split and I got the house - he got the contents. I want to paint ALL the rooms in gorgeous colors and CHICKIFY ever aspect of my home. I hope I hope I hope I win! Themed guest rooms, Quilty things in my living room...oh the possibilities are endless!ReplyDelete
Definitely my master bedroom! It's definitely needed! It would be wonderful to win!!ReplyDelete
The room I would do is called my Cottage. Right now its mostly a made over shed but I would love to make it into a true useable space for my crafts!ReplyDelete
My living room would be first on the list and I would love to give my bedroom a little update! What a great give away!ReplyDelete
My whole place needs help!ReplyDelete
I would start in the living room and kitchen, although, like the last commenter, my entire house really needs help.ReplyDelete
Wow, only 1 room?!? My whole house needs help, lol, but I would love to makeover my master bedroom.ReplyDelete
I'm dying to redo our master bedroom. The walls are 'sell my house' vanilla and the window treatments are leftovers from the old house. It needs a major rehaul!ReplyDelete


text:
25 Years of Adobe
25 Years of Adobe
John Warnock and Charles Geschke leave Xerox Parc Labs in 1982 to work on what would become PostScript.
25 Years of Adobe - The First Product
Apples Steve Jobs works with Adobe to create the first PostScript-based printer, the Apple LaserWriter, in 1985.
25 Years of Adobe - Prelude to a Program
That same year, Aldus creates the first desktop publishing program, PageMaker. It first runs on Macs and depends on PostScript.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe's Own
Adobe moves into making its own end-user programs with the release of Adobe Illustrator in 1987.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop, perhaps the most successful application of all time, was released in early 1990. Other photo programs come and go, but photographers, designers and publishers—then and now—rely on Photoshop.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe PDF
In 1993, Adobe introduces its popular device- and resolution-independent document exchange format, PDF. By 1995, Netscape had integrated PDF via a plug-in, and PDF was on its way to becoming an important Web format.
25 Years of Adobe - Aldus and Adobe Merge
Adobe and Aldus merged in 1994, giving Adobe its first desktop publishing program.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe Tries Web-publishing
Until 1996, Adobe developed primarily for the desktop screen and the printed page. With PageMill 1.0, it took its first steps into Web publishing. While it was an attractive, light-weight Web-authoring tool, PageMill didn't make a big splash.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe Goes After the Desktop
By the late '90s, it had become clear that Quark, not Adobe, was the desktop publishing program vendor of choice. Adobe responded by taking the best of PageMaker and FrameMaker, which Adobe acquired in 1995, along with its own ideas, to create In
25 Years of Adobe - Photoshop for You and Me
Adobe released its first easy-to-use digital photo program, Photoshop Elements 1.0, in 2001.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe Acquires Macromedia
In 2005, Adobe acquired its greatest rival, Macromedia, for $3.4 billion. With the deal, Adobe acquired the industry-standard Web site design program, Dreamweaver, and the very popular multimedia Flash family.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe Ventures into Linux and Open Source
By 2007, Adobe had released Acrobat and Flash Player for Linux. In 2007, Adobe announced that it would be open-sourcing Flex, its Web development framework, in answer to Microsofts Silverlight.
25 Years of Adobe - Adobe Goes High Def
In late 2007, Adobe released Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3, one of the first multimedia programs capable of showing streaming HD content over the Web.
25 Years of Adobe - See More Slideshows Like This One
Channel Products of the Year Two Windows

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Yesterday, Steve suggested that congressional Republicans should prepare detailed budget cuts of their own, department-by-department, providing exact line items of what programs can be cut or delayed under a sequester. If House Republicans can get their act together to that extent, I second the motion.
Meanwhile, here's another possible approach that isn't inconsistent with Steve's. When the public begins to feel the bite of the sequester, House Republicans should haul the relevant cabinet members and agency heads before the applicable Committee. Because the money available to the department or agency in question even after the sequester will exceed that available to them not long ago, the official in question should explain why services provided not long ago cannot be provided now.
The agency head presumably will say that the cuts are too indiscriminate. The question should then be whether the agency could provide better service if it had discretion to administer the cuts as it sees fit.
If the House has passed legislation granting that discretion, the agency head will be in a box. To agree that the added discretion would help is to admit that the Senate Democrats and President Obama should have supported the Republican legislation. To deny that the added discretion would help is to (1) admit to a low level of administrative skill and (2) contradict the earlier admission that the agency isn't running properly because, at least in part, the cuts are too indiscriminate.
If an agency head insists that there is no way to maintain decent levels of service even with more flexibility, the question will remain how they managed to do so with a larger budget just a few years ago. In addition, if Republican members do their homework, they can ask about specific, sensible-souding alternatives for cost savings (per Steve's point).
Assuming effective examination by House Republicans, it's difficult to see the heads of agenices that are providing poor service coming out of these hearings looking good. And by extension, it's difficult to see President Obama avoiding the impression (1) that he has placed incompetents in charge of key agencies and (2) that he isn't doing all he could to avoid the adverse consequences of the sequester.


text:
Spy Kids 4 star Mason Cook has been cast as Eddie Munster in the NBC Munsters reboot, Mockingbird Lane, Deadline reports.
Cook's Eddie Munster will be Lily and Herman Munster's only child — a budding werewolf and Boy Scout. As previously reported, Eddie Izzard will star in the pilot as Grandpa the Vampire, and Charity Wakefield will portray the role of Marilyn, the "normal" Munster cousin.
Pilot Season: Munsters reboot casts its Marilyn! Is she "normal" enough?Written by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies), the pilot will reinterpret the popular 1960s sitcom depicting the home life of a family of vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein. The project will be directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns).Aside from his role in Spy Kids, Cook was a recurring character on ABC's The Middle. He is set to star in the upcoming films The Incredible Burt Wonder and The Lone Ranger.


text:
By Ollie Irish
Some of the most clickworthy footie links I saw on this snowy London Wednesday…
Inevitable Cristiano Ronaldo news: C-Ron does a Beckham, models in his pants for cash – homoerotic rating off the charts [Kickette]
Emmanuel Adebayor spotted wearing Arsenal shirt? [The Spoiler]
11 players to watch at the African Cup of Nations [The Offside]
Liverpool sniffing around talented young French winger, like an old arthritic labrador that really should be put down [Caught Offside]
Chester City, not in the best of shape [twohundredpercent]
So when was the last time you went to a real football match, in the flesh? Own up… [EPL Talk]
A simple plug for twofootedtackle's latest podcast. Essential listening, as always (except when I'm on there, mugging like the halfwit that I am) [twofootedtackle]
USA World Cup bid committee reveals 18 cities shortlisted for 2018/22 bids [WVHooligan]
Juventus gaffer Ciro Ferrara is a bit like Rocky Balboa. In as much as both are rubbish football managers? [Reuters]
Birmingham rejected by Ryan Babel, now want Roman Pavlyuchenko on loan [Mirror]


text:
Scribonius wrote:Silverdream wrote:Neither of you are going to kill Brag. That's my job.
Long as he winds up dead, I don't care WHO kills him! We have to hunt down all the Brag-clones and destroy them all!
Um... well if you want to, go ahead. I won't stop you. But we'll let those go for future battles.
Anyways, I'm just waiting on BrickSyd and The Shadowscythe and I can do the next turn.


text:
Dakota Talks About Kristen:
DF: One of my best friends is an actor, but a lot of them I met in high school. They are amazing, and I have stuck with them.
Glamour: You said you have one famous-y friend. Kristen Stewart, I'm guessing?
DF: Yeah. Yeah.
Glamour: Is that friendship different than your others because you've been through so many similar things?
DF: When we're together, we're not talking about movie stuff. She's just my really good friend, you know? We go out. We stay in a lot too. I'm a homebody!
Scans thanks to @epnebelle
Via at-dakota / robstendreams


text:
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
You Cannot Lose What You Never Had
If you feel badly for me, please don't. It's okay. I don't remember a time when the relationship I had with him wasn't complex and difficult.
It could not have been easy for my father to raise a gay son throughout the 1960s and most of the '70s. On a personal level, I'm sure he found homosexuality repugnant. He was a tough guy, a man's man, a bully.
I can't imagine I was anything but an embarrassment to him. How could he not have wanted a normal boy, just like all the other normal boys the neighbors were raising around us–one who didn't attract attention to himself for the wrong reasons.
Long after all the other boys my age had had the training wheels removed from their bikes, I still had mine on, no doubt causing my father to shake his head in shame, as I rode around the local streets and back alleys in full view of everyone. I recall my childhood was all about trying to protect myself from being physically hurt. How could I have known the emotional hurt from all those years would be so much worse?
My maternal grandmother bought me a Ken doll, Barbie's handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed boyfriend, after I literally made a scene in Kresge's. I was proud of Ken–so proud I took him for walks so the other neighborhood children would see him. Believe me, no other little boy paraded his dolls outside. To this day, I can't believe my father didn't grab that doll and beat me with it. It probably took everything he had to stop himself.
When the other fathers and sons played baseball in the summer, at the local diamonds, or hockey in the winter, on manmade, outdoor ice rinks, I didn't. I didn't know the first thing about the games, nor did I care to know (remember, there was the very real possibility I'd get hurt by an errant ball or puck). Instead, during the summer, I played safely in our backyard sandbox, often with the local girls, who I related to much more than the boys, and, in the winter, I stayed indoors, playing with my Legos, Mechanos, and Hot Wheels.
I was the little boy who spent hours in the kitchen with my mother, watching her cook, connecting with her, while my father sat in the living room by himself, watching the news, reading the newspaper, and smoking a pipe.
I was the little boy who couldn't wait for the arrival of the seasonal Eaton's and Sears catalogues, so I could seek out pictures of the handsome men in them. I especially liked the summer catalogues, when the men wore swimsuits and showed off their toned bodies and hairy chests.
I was the little boy who spent hours pouring over my mother's monthly "Cosmopolitan" magazine, then under the editorship of the late Helen Gurley Brown, usually filled with pictures of near-naked men, in sexy, alluring poses. I was drawn to them, in part, because I hoped to grow up and look like them someday, and in part, because they excited me in ways I didn't yet understand.
I was the little boy who joined Cubs or Scouts–I don't remember which–in the process probably giving my father the first hope he had that his son was actually normal (as I think about it, I'm sure I was talked into joining). Only to face the overflow of teasing and taunting from the boys I went to school with. A few short weeks later, when it became apparent I fit in there no more than at Canalta Elementary, I never went back.
I was the little boy who played hopscotch, jumped rope, and Chinese skipped with the girls at school during recess. And I took the grief for it, too.
I was the little boy who hid in the house and read, when I imagine my father would have preferred I be outside, trying to play with the other boys, doing what other boys did for a change.
No, I can't imagine it was easy having me for a son. It's clear now that, as far as my father was concerned, I was a complete failure. And he let me know it.
At first, I saw my father's anger and hostility. When he wasn't spending long hours at the Legion, avoiding coming home and no doubt drinking away frustrations and disappointments with his family in general, and his effeminate son in particular, he was at home, either keeping his distance from me or, worse, finding some reason to take out how he felt on me.
Years later, when I'd become too old to hit, my father was indifferent toward me. The two of us crossed paths in the house or the yard from time to time, and we spoke to each other, but we were utter strangers. I did my thing, and he did his. The less I saw him, the better. Then he wouldn't have something to pick on me for.
I couldn't wait to get out of his house. My sister, who was younger than me, left before I did. It wasn't long before she announced she was leaving Canada to work in Saudi Arabia for two years. None of us understood why she was doing something so drastic. I thought she'd lost her mind. But I get it now. She may have been the only sane one amongst us.
In January 2010, I wrote my father a letter, after having no contact with him for over fourteen years. I was hopeful that maybe he'd softened over time. He was in his mid-seventies, he had no relationship with his only two biological children, and I thought he must have regrets about what had happened in the past. I was hopeful he was ready to get real with me.
More than anything, I needed him to answer why. Why had he treated me the way he did all those years? Why had he denied me his love? Why had he robbed me of the only father/son relationship I would ever know?
Between then and his death on January 4th, I got almost nothing out of him. I tried, but it didn't happen.
Over three years, I wrote a number of emails, reaching out to him, encouraging him to open up, as if saying, "This is your chance. This is our chance. Please take it. I want to know more about you. I want to know more about you as a human being and as a father. I want to understand what happened between us, why we're at this place today, what we can do to close the gap between us." No surprise, there were always long waits for his responses. And when they came, they added to my frustration rather than resolved issues.
He admitted he was harder on me than he needed to be, I'll give him that. But he never explained why. And he never apologized.
He wrote that he'd always loved me, but I told him the words rang hollow. I couldn't process them, accept them. I doubt I'll ever be able to accept them. For me, love doesn't look like what he did to me, how he treated me when I was growing up. When all I wanted was to be held in his arms and feel like I mattered to him.
Yesterday, I came home to a message on the phone from my aunt, my mother's sister. Obviously, my mother had told her that my father had died. My aunt said she was concerned about me, and, if I needed to talk to, she was available.
I appreciated her offer, but, as I told her when I called back and left a voicemail, I'm fine. Life goes on.
I was a little shaken when my father's second wife emailed me last Friday to say he was gone, but his passing wasn't unexpected. He had been hospitalized nearly a year earlier and diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and congestive heart failure. Twice he'd been resuscitated when his heart had stopped, and he was eventually able to go home.
But all of us knew his condition wouldn't improve. In fact, it would get progressively worse. The question was, what would his quality of life look like for the short time he had left. And I couldn't help but wonder, would this be what he needed to be more open with me than he ever had been before? (It wasn't.)
My aunt's call came from a place of concern for the loss of my father. I understand that. But I can't look at it that way. In every respect that mattered to me, I never had a father. As insensitive as it sounds, the only thing I lost in his passing were the answers to the questions I've had all these years.
You cannot lose what you never had.
2 comments:
- elevencatsJanuary 14, 2013 at 1:57 PM
I'm not going to say what you didn't want. But I'll say, I was that boy you described. I'll say, I was that man... I am that man. And I'm going to say that you're not alone.ReplyDelete
Elevencats, what a treat to hear from you after all this time.ReplyDelete
You are so sweet to compare you and me in this way (and us, dare I say, with many other gay men, who've had a similar experience). And I'm reassured by your comment, knowing we have this in common.
The important thing to remember, at whatever point we're at in our lives, is we can overcome it. No matter how one or the other of our parents may have treated us, because of our sexual orientation, we don't need to define ourselves by it.
Sooner or later, we become our own men, and that gives us all the freedom we need to live our lives the way we were meant to.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in what I have to say. I hope to hear from you again very soon.


text:
Seasonal storms have exposed once more some perennial political divisions over California water.
Citing the latest rainfall, seven of the state's lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to free up more irrigation deliveries for San Joaquin Valley farms. The muscular Capitol Hill lineup is noticeable both for who's on it and who's not.
In a telling alliance, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein joined with House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and four other House Republicans, as well as one House Democrat, in calling for increased deliveries.
"Based on historical weather patterns, these storms could be our last chance this year to receive, capture, and move a sizable amount of water to those farms and communities that desperately need it for public health and safety and for their livelihoods that are under severe threat," the lawmakers wrote Thursday.
Pointedly, they cited "a significant imbalance of regulatory burdens" in declaring that "there is clearly no imminent threat" to federally protected fish species.
Those not signing the letter to the Interior and Commerce departments were equally telling.
Neither Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer nor any of the House Democrats whose congressional districts include the vulnerable Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta joined the letter. The only Democrat who did, Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno, was one of the few Democrats to vote for a far-reaching California water bill approved by the Republican-controlled House several weeks ago.
Some environmental advocates cast the latest division in stark terms.
"Sen. Feinstein along with her Republican colleagues have decided to further mug our native species and water quality to serve up more subsidies and water to the mega farms on the West Side," said Patricia Schifferle, owner of the firm Pacific Advocates.
Feinstein has occasionally angered environmentalists, as well some Northern California Democrats, with some of her previous water proposals on behalf of San Joaquin Valley farms. At the same time, she has also positioned herself as a potential deal-maker.
On Friday, Boxer sent her own letter to the administration, urging officials to "take all prudent and responsible measures within current regulation and law."
"We cannot miss opportunities to provide some immediate relief during these rain events, but we must also ensure that we meet health and human safety requirements in our state," Boxer wrote.
On March 12, Feinstein privately met in her Senate office with McCarthy, Costa and three other GOP lawmakers to hash out legislative ideas that might be represent a compromise between the House-passed bill and a competing Senate bill co-authored by her and Boxer.
The behind-the-scenes session lasted over an hour, letting the members, some of whom have had past conflicts, both spell out priorities and develop a working relationship. Feinstein had previously met one-on-one with freshman Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., the chief author of the House's California water bill.
So far, the meeting participants are trying to keep a low profile as they pursue a potential deal.
In a more public arena, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Feinstein next Wednesday will be able to press the California water questions on the heads of the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.


text:
Hena - A Petfinder Happy Tail
Hena - posted 01/24/2014
From Carmen of Syracuse, NY
I was looking for a puppy to adopt for a while, I have a 13 and nine-year-old, and not having any more kids. But I wanted to complete my family. We found Hena here on Petfinder, watched the litter for a while, until we were sure it was the right time. When we went in, I immediately knew I loved her and I wanted her to be my fur baby. Hena is very happy and we actually made a lot of progress in less than 24 hours. She is very smart and loving. She learned that she has to go outside for potty, and she learned really FAST that she needs to sit down to get petted by strangers and to wait for her food. She got her first bath and loved it. She made herself right at home. She cuddles next to me on the couch and is learning to go down the stairs. We Love Hena. Thank You, Adopt-a-Puppy.
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text:
BRISTOL — When faced with two votes for expanded municipal facilities on Town Meeting Day, Bristol voters said "no" to one and "yes" to the other.
The first, for an expansion to the fire department's North Street facility, was soundly rejected by a 587-293 tally. The second, for a police district budget that would fund renovations and a 10-year lease for a new police station at BristolWorks, passed by a narrow margin.


text:
Esteem is a clean multipurpose responsive WordPress theme designed to fit business, portfolio, blogging or any type of site. The theme supports custom header, custom background, custom widgets, page templates and has built in options panel to configure primary color, site logo, slider, sidebar layout and 3 blog layout. It's also fully compatible with popular plugins like contact Form 7, WP PageNavi and Breadcrumb Navxt and is translation ready. Get free support at https://themegrill.com/support-forum/ and check the demo at https://demo.themegrill.com/esteem/.
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In Age of Empires II: HD Edition, fans of the original game and new players alike will fall in love with the classic Age of Empires II experience. Explore all the original single player campaigns from both Age of Kings and The Conquerors expansion, choose from 18 civilizations spanning over a thousand years of history, and head online to challenge other Steam players in your quest for world domination throughout the ages. Originally developed by Ensemble Studios and re imagined in high definition by Hidden Path Entertainment, Microsoft Studios is proud to bring Age of Empires II: HD Edition to Steam.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


text:
Time flies like an arrow, Groucho Marx said, and fruit flies like a banana.
But seriously, folks: Where does the time go?
We often find ourselves asking that question, and no more frequently than this time of year — as the busy holiday season approaches and our New Year's resolutions to have more free time fade like frost on a warming November morn.
Fifty years ago, when the futurists of the mid-20th century looked ahead to this age, they foresaw an America of people with delicious amounts of time on their hands.


text:
Play Now
Mobile Club News delivery ,
Online Lotto and Prize Draw
game play services
This is the service we have been waiting for. It is a real game changer in the way we can fundraise and communicate with our members. Members both far and near can be closely involved in the fundraising
efforts of our club. A fantastic service.


text: Carol Moseley Braun is currently the owner of Ambassador Organics, a coffee and tea company, and Moseley Braun LLC law firm. Previous positions include: candidate for U.S. president (withdrew in 2004); United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa (1999-2001); U.S. Senator (1993-1999); Cook County Recorder of Deeds (1988-1992); Illinois state representative (1979-1988). Moseley Braun received her bachelor's degree in political science from University of Illinois-Chicago (1969) and law degree from University of Chicago Law School (1972). She is divorced with one child.


text:
World Record Skier, Who Cheated Death Numerous Times, Dies
Jamie Pierre once set the world record by jumping off of a 255 foot cliff at the Grand Traghee Resort in Wyoming. He was also dug out of a 12 foot bomb hole he created after another death-defying landing. He emerged with merely a cut lip, from being poked by one of the shovels that rescued him. Pierre has cheated death on numerous occasions.
But death, just like the ski lift, is eventually going to catch and scoop you up.
On Sunday, Pierre was snowboarding with a friend at the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in the Wasatch mountains of Utah. More than a foot of the white stuff had fallen in the mountains leaving a blanket of snow almost waist-deep and creating dangerous avalanche conditions. Snowbird hadn't cleared the mountain for skiing and the resort wasn't scheduled to open for a few days. There were even signs posted warning people of the dangerous conditions. Pierre ignored the signs, went skiing anyway, and actually triggering the slide that sent him tumbling over a cliff.
Technically Pierre was trespassing but this is Jamie Pierre! He once jumped 255 feet off a cliff! He was buried in 12 feet of snow! His lips were impervious to shovels! What's the worst that could happen to the man that cheated death so many times?
Oh right–he could die.
[Via Daily Mail]


text:
Bonhams is the world's leading auctioneer for British ceramics. Specialised sales of the best English and Welsh pottery and porcelain are held at New Bond Street and ceramics sales are also held in Oxford and Chester. In Edinburgh Scottish pottery is also featured. Bonhams expertise in British ceramics is unrivalled. Our high quality catalogues attract buyers and sellers throughout the world and record prices are achieved. Single-owner sales of important collections have included porcelain from the Watney and Geoffrey Godden Collections.
Our British sales regularly feature delftware, creamware, pearlware and Staffordshire, 18th century English porcelain including Limehouse, Chelsea, Bow, Worcester, Longton Hall, Derby and Lowestoft, English enamels, Regency porcelain, Swansea and Nantgarw, Majolica, Pâte-sur-Pâte and Royal Worcester.


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OTTAWA — Graduate students at Carleton University voted in favour last week of ending investments in companies with connections to Israel in what may be the first time such a divestment motion has been passed in a student-wide election at a Canadian university.
According to unofficial results, which need to be ratified by the Graduate Students' Association (GSA) council next month, 72 per cent of students voted in favour of a non-binding plebiscite question that asked if they believe Carleton should adopt a socially responsible investment policy, which would require the university to stop investing in companies "complicit in illegal military occupations and other violations of international law, including but not limited to: BAE Systems, Motorola, Northrop-Grumman, and Tesco Supermarkets."
The motion – put forward by graduate students who support the Carleton chapter of the group Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) – didn't mention Israel by name, but the first three firms have contracts with Israel's military, while Tesco, a British grocery chain, stocks products made in West Bank communities.
Carleton invests in the companies as part of its pension fund.
The March 21-22 election had an eight per cent voter turnout, which led some to question the plebiscite results.
There were 204 votes in favour of the motion and 77 opposed. According to its website, the GSA represents some 3,000 full- and part-time graduate students.
Yaelle Gang, media and communications executive at Carleton's chapter of the Israel Awareness Committee (IAC), said she doesn't believe the vote represents the views of all graduate students.
"It was a certain group of people who turned out to vote, and they had their certain agenda and it passed," she said. "It's obviously problematic, but the university has been very clear they don't have the intention of divesting from those companies."
But Kelly Black, graduate student representative-elect and current vice-president of operations for the GSA, said all students were made aware of the questions being asked, and they all had the opportunity to vote.
Additionally, he said, the vote was a plebiscite, not a referendum, meaning it aimed to gauge student opinion and was not a vote on a binding action.
Zane Colt, undergraduate student representative-elect to Carleton's board of governors, said he opposed the wording of the question.
"It only promotes hate and really tries to gang up and demonize Israel, which the board of governors won't tolerate, because they recognize it won't promote dialogue," he said.
But Black said the question did create the opportunity for dialogue. As per election policy, students could register official "yes" and "no" committees on the plebiscite question, but in this case, Black said only the yes side registered.
Gang said most of the IAC's members are undergraduate students, and there wasn't a voice on the GSA council advocating for the pro-Israel side.
In contrast, when SAIA tried to get the same question on the ballot for this year's undergraduate students' association election, the undergraduate council voted in favour of amending the question to make it broader, removing the part that mentioned the four companies that deal with Israel, Colt said.
SAIA then withdrew the motion, saying the amended wording changed its spirit.
Colt, who is also a former communications chair of the IAC, said he believes the GSA election results mean very little.
In order for the university to divest, the students would have to bring the issue to Carleton's board of governors, which in the past has rejected such motions.
Last year, hundreds of anti-Israel students protested at a board meeting, which led to a controversial cancellation of the meeting and a closed-door discussion that concluded with the decision the university would not divest from companies that do business in Israel.
At the time, Duncan Watt, Carleton's vice-president of finance and administration, said the university already considers environmental, social, and governance factors in its investment decisions.
Black said despite the board of governors' past actions in refusing to consider divestment, he will take on the role of advocating for it.
"I think this is clearly a thing at least graduate students have been asking for, for quite some time," he said, adding that the GSA has passed motions showing its support for divestment in the past.
"Hopefully I can raise the issue and bring the plebiscite as an example of what the students are asking for."
In response to last week's GSA vote, the administration said in a statement that Carleton's "board adopted a responsible investing policy last year. This policy is based on the United Nations principles of responsible investing and is considered to be best practice. This policy has been incorporated into the statement of investment policies and procedures for the pension plan. No changes to the policy are contemplated at this time."


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An Encounter with the Guys From 'Jersey Shore'
Photos by G.
I don't watch TV so I've heard a lot of things about "Jersey Shore," but I have to admit, I've never seen the show. One thing I hear the most, in fact, is that I've been called a "Gay version of The Situation." I have no idea what that means, so when the opportunity to meet the guys of "Jersey Shore" came around, I decided to go for it. I guess we do our hair similarly? Either that or people seriously need glasses…
As you will see below, I think I look nothing like The Situation. You can draw your own conclusions.
Well thanks guys for all being cool and if I ever get cable, I will check out the show. 🙂


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Show catalogue record
Bryan's Fireman's Helmet
Have you ever thought about
the shape of a fireman's helmet?
The comb on the top of Bryan's helmet
was to protect his head
from falling building material.
Between the wars
stronger, lighter cork helmets
replaced the old brass style,
but the comb shape stayed
because it still worked.
Bryan Cooke
0 mins 0 secs
Bryan Cooke
Bryan joined Croydon Fire Brigade
in 1961:
"I can remember the first day
because I was so excited about it
and not a lot happened;
a false alarm,
someone stuck in a lift.
The bread and butter stuff,
the one room fire,
the pan of fat,
the oil heater,
they were quite regular then,
and loads of chimney fires.
It was quite a busy period.
There was a lot of derelict buildings
in Croydon,
they were like tinderboxes,
and sometimes
there'd be tramps asleep in them.
The worst part of the job
is when you've got people
that have died in a fire
and other people have come out
and they're still looking for them.
But we used to get all sorts.
You might get a prank
where someone's getting married,
and someone'll call you
and you get there
and he's handcuffed naked
to a parking meter.
And this bloke's all embarrassed
and you say,
'Sorry mate, we can't help you',
and you make as though
you're going to go off.
We have a few laughs."
Fighting London's fires
When Bryan became a fire fighter
in 1961,
Croydon had its own Brigade.
His first experiences were local.
The Greater London Council (GLC)
was created in 1965.
It took control
of fire fighting in London.
The London Fire Brigade expanded
to fit the borders of the GLC.
Bryan could now be called out
to big fires
as far away as north London.
His helmet was painted yellow
so that his uniform would match!
0 mins 0 secs
I Am Here
This sound clip was created during the
I Am Here project. The group of 14-24
year olds selected objects close to their
heart that also said something about identity.
I Am Here is part of Stories of the World,
one of the major projects at the heart of the
London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
"My name's Dammir, I'm 16 I live in Croydon
and I am doing a project called I Am Here.
Oh, I picked the helmet because I like to be
safe and it reminded me of being safe and the
fact that a helmet could represent quite a lot
of things. For instance the shape is a cone
shape, so, like, there are many animals or
bugs that have a cone shape as a house and
it just mainly just different little elements
that add to it, that's the reason why I chose it.
The helmet was a fire helmet, I had the name,
I think his name was Sam. It is tattered, but,
it saved his life on numerous of times. Another
reason why I chose it because man made
things that could hurt and then made things
that could save, it just contradicted itself
basically. And I like that concept.
Would I become a fire fighter? YES! NO!
Don't know! No I wouldn't. Most likely because
it's too demanding really, like, I am kind of a
laid back person and I feel that it probably take
too much out of me, I don't know, that sounds
kind of selfish, but I wouldn't really become a fire
fighter. There are good things about being a
fire fighter because, like, you get self
achievements. You feel happy inside after what
you've done, you save lives at the end of the day.
You save lives, you save communities, you help
people, you help cats from trees. It just a
demanding job really and its 24 hours and
you have to be on call every single day.
Because you never know what going to happen,
you never know.
Like, I would like to have a job its just
set times you know not random what so
ever, I can't have that, its too much. Like,
maybe when I am older I might become a
fire fighter, reasons being like you know,
what else have you got to do, might as well
become a fire fighter or truck driver, but I
prefer a fire fighter also I get to wear the
helmet (chuckles) the helmet that I like. Yeah,
but right now I won't become a fire fighter
because I rather do engineering or media,
like, its pretty good stuff you know, engineering,
media and then later on maybe it I lose
those like that motivation, the drive me on,
I would become a fire fighter in Croydon,
probably see me driving around in a fire truck,
wearing my helmet, you know, I might even
save you one day! This podcast will help you,
you know, to remember my name. Yeah, so
that's the reason why I might or might not
become a fire fighter, you know, you just
never know, the world's too small!"


text:
Rapper Kanye West has been making it known recently that there's a glaring leadership gap in American culture, and he intends to fill it. In one interview, West said he considers himself a successor to Steve Jobs. "I understand culture. I am the nucleus," he said. Also: "I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things."
Even people put off by West's grandiosity recognized the hat he was trying on. In a country where college freshmen fantasize about running the world before they even pick a major, a certain image of leadership—visionary, charismatic, transformational—has become nearly synonymous with ambition. Parents teach "leadership skills" to their kids, while CEOs and gurus write best-selling books with titles like "Strengths Based Leadership." Our president first won national attention by projecting leadership through his captivating speeches. When Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook wrote a book, "Lean In," intended to transform professional life for American women, she subtitled it "Women, Work, and the Will to Lead."
We know what leadership is supposed to look and sound like—we imagine Henry V or Coach Taylor from "Friday Night Lights"—and by this standard it's easy to be dismayed by our current political scene. Congress, more than ever, seems like an unruly barnyard, while President Obama is sounding more like an exhausted law professor than the stirring campaign star of 2008. And Boston's mayor's race? No disrespect to Marty Walsh or John Connolly, but no matter who wins on Nov. 5, we know Boston won't be getting a mayor who can move crowds through the sheer force of personality.
We deserve better, you might be thinking. But researchers who study leadership—and there are many—are beginning to offer up a surprising truth: The kind of leaders we idolize may be the last people we really want in charge. The character traits that tend to convince us someone deserves power, these thinkers say, have remarkably little to do with how effective that person will be at actually running a city, or a company, or a nation.
"There is a notion that there are transformational leaders who can create opportunities for change because of the quality of their leadership, essentially by getting out in front of the crowd and crying, 'follow me,'" said George C. Edwards III, a political scientist at Texas A&M University and the author of a recent book about leadership and the presidency. "In reality that rarely happens."
In place of stereotypical "leadership qualities," these scholars suggest, we should be looking to a host of other traits, like the ability to detect opportunity and swiftly act on it. But such qualities can take time to reveal themselves. Leaders with vision and charisma, on the other hand, are immediately appealing—in part, one expert says, because they make us forget our problems are actually difficult to solve. The craving for big, bold leadership, in this light, ends up clouding people's judgment. And looking closely at that craving might be the first step toward freeing ourselves of its pull.
The pages of history teem with charismatic leaders who achieved great things: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony. These individuals loom large in the popular imagination for a reason. As Abraham Zaleznik of Harvard Business School wrote in his influential 1977 paper "Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?" leaders in the classically heroic mold typically possess imagination and a tendency toward risk-taking—and as such, they can do things others can't. Zaleznik had a simple hypothesis for why such leaders are so attractive, speculating that it was "a holdover from our childhood—from a sense of dependency and a longing for good and heroic parents."
Some scholars believe these kinds of inspirational leaders, who can shape how people think and how they see themselves, are particularly well suited to times of upheaval. In a country fighting for independence, you want a Gandhi; in a Great Depression, you want a Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Many of our most celebrated leaders are celebrated precisely because they prevailed over historic crises—apartheid, world war, Jim Crow.
But as troubled as the waters may seem out there right now, 21st-century Americans generally don't need our leaders to be Nelson Mandela or Joan of Arc. We need them to be able to make decisions, work with others, and wield power in an intelligent, productive way. When we pick a leader, we're usually choosing someone to take over a large institution that functions more or less the way it's supposed to—a city government, a Fortune 500 company—and then work to keep people happy, navigate change, and lay the groundwork for its future health.
Prospective leaders, however, aren't typically given a chance to demonstrate their skills at such seemingly mundane work. Deborah Rhode, a professor at Stanford Law School and the author of a new book, "Lawyers as Leaders," thinks of this as the "paradox of power": In the heat of a campaign or a series of job interviews, candidates are rewarded for character traits that have nothing to do with managing a group or solving problems.
Take John F. Kennedy, who emerged as immensely charismatic in his campaign and is remembered as an exemplar of transformational leadership. In his book, "The Strategic President: Persuasion and Opportunity in Presidential Leadership," Edwards points out that JFK's personal magnetism was not particularly useful when it came to passing legislation. While trying to get Medicare passed, he delivered a televised address to a massive crowd of cheering supporters at New York's Madison Square Garden. But public opinion didn't seem to shift, and the bill proceeded to die in Congress. Later, as Richard Reeves describes in his book on the Kennedy administration, the president was forced to confront the limits of his rhetorical gifts when, in the aftermath of his 1963 speech in support of civil rights, he saw that racial tension around the country had only escalated.
When looking back at past leaders, we tend to mistakenly conclude that their soaring rhetoric and big personalities were responsible for all their successes—an "attribution error," said Edwards. FDR, for instance, managed to get the New Deal passed during his first term because he took advantage of a honeymoon period with Congress. During his second term, Edwards points out, he only got one piece of New Deal legislation through Congress.
It's easy to see how voters get taken in by charismatic politicians; after all, voting is a popularity contest. In the world of business, where corporate directors have a sworn fiduciary responsibility to think rationally about bottom lines, you might expect to see the types of leaders best able to build the company's value.
It turns out, however, that even shareholder pressure can't outmatch the appeal of the visionary. Rakesh Khurana, a professor of leadership development at Harvard Business School, looked at 850 of the country's biggest companies over a 30-year period, and conducted interviews with the people involved in choosing their leaders. What he found astonished him. "When I would ask why they chose one person over the other, they'd often use all sorts of weird words, like 'chemistry,' or 'a real go-go attitude,'" said Khurana. Sometimes he heard about candidates who were "persuasive" or "charming"; on one occasion he was told someone had "tremendous genetics."
Khurana's conclusion, which he described in his book "Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs," was that the supposedly rational CEO selection process was anything but—and that potential hires were often evaluated in terms of character traits that were not only vague and subjective, but also completely unrelated to the challenges facing the firm or industry. Getting leadership wrong in this way has consequences. According to one recent study, high-performing companies in Europe were less likely to have charismatic CEOs than poorly performing ones. The reason for this, according to the authors of the study, is that leaders who have "exceptional powers of persuasion" are ultimately harmful because it's too easy for them to overcome dissent and opposition to their ideas.
If they are no more successful than their workaday peers, why do we still pull the lever for heroic leaders? Some of the reasons are obvious: We are charmed, attracted, impressed. But Khurana has a more specific observation as well: In his research, he observed board members at struggling companies embracing charismatic but underqualified CEO candidates out of a desire to believe that the complex issues facing their firm or industry could be resolved by putting the right person in charge. "For those companies that were facing challenging times, it was much easier to select someone who promised to be a savior, and not deeply engage with the challenges and problems of fixing the organization," he said. Inspiring leaders can make followers feel absolved of the responsibility to do anything hard.
Leaders like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi were in part successful because they didn't rely on that crutch, freely admitting that the things they were asking of their followers were difficult, and would necessarily involve suffering. But most of what leaders must accomplish day to day is much less likely to inspire sacrifice in others. Instead, the work at hand tends to be methodical, complicated, and sometimes humbling.
What kind of leader do we need for that kind of job? In a new book, "Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era," Harvard professor Joseph Nye argues that some "transactional" presidents, like George H. W. Bush, have been more effective than "transformational" ones, like Ronald Reagan, in part because they proved more capable of responding nimbly to changing circumstances. Nye's reading of history suggests that adaptability is more decisive than "the vision thing," as the first President Bush famously called it in an interview.
Kennedy was known for his vision, but what got Medicare passed in the end wasn't his leadership. It was his successor, Lyndon Johnson, a man once ridiculed for being awkward and uncomfortable, but who ended up overseeing one of the most productive stretches of lawmaking in American history. It may be Kennedy's speeches we're watching on YouTube, but to a large extent we're living in LBJ's America.
According to Joseph Badaracco, a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of the book "Leading Quietly," leaders who aren't interested in being seen as beacons or superstars actually have an advantage when it comes to running things—think of outgoing Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who compares himself to a mechanic. They tend to have more flexibility when making decisions because they leave themselves wiggle room for compromise. "If you're out of the limelight, I think you have a reduced risk of having to make strong commitments or promises," he said, which makes you more free to adjust course as situations unfold.
Figuring out who's going to be inclined toward that kind of leadership is not straightforward. "I'm not sure there's any quick way to do it," said Badaracco. "What you really need to do is look at a person's track record. Quiet leadership is about how someone works—and I think it's very hard to tell how people go about getting things done."
But just knowing that great leadership is not always going to look great, or even make us feel inspired, could help gird us against the power of big personality and encourage us to make more sober choices. On his latest album, Kanye West samples a choral group singing the words, "He'll give us what we need/ It may not be what we want." They were singing about Jesus, of course—by all accounts a charismatic figure. But as we look out at Washington, as well as the race for Boston City Hall, it's worth remembering that line. Bold, charismatic leaders may be what we want, but people capable of running the government are what we actually need.Leon Neyfakh is the staff writer for Ideas.
E-mail email@example.com.


text:
Custom Products
Express yourself! You can personalise custom Clothing to create a super unique look.
Make Spreadshirt your home for personalised T-shirts and other custom products
Spreadshirt uses your email address to send you product offers, discount campaigns and sweepstakes. You can always cancel your newsletter subscription. You'll find more information in our Privacy Policy.


text:
The 11th Annual Bay Area UFO Expo in Santa Clara is expected to become a record breaking event! Our eleven year anniversary event will be drawing more attendees this year that any other previous year!
If you are interested in UFO's, ET's, Reptoids, Earth Changes, Crash Retrievals, Chem-Trails and Conspiracies, the 11th Annual Bay Area UFO Expo will guarantee an entertaining and mind expanding experience!
11th Annual Bay Area UFO Expo, 12-13 Sept
Started by carlotta , Sep 03 2009 03:03 AM
No replies to this topic
Posted 03 September 2009 - 03:03 AM
Who owns the land? Only the land knows. We mortals are passersby, and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it, but the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone. But the Earth endures, the Earth is eternal" - Earl Hamner
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text: Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 Description: Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.7 (squeeze) ISPConfig 126.96.36.199 Server is running nginx. I'm interested how to do this: http://www.howtoforge.com/protect-phpmyadmin-on-an-ispconfig-3-server-debian on a nginx. I've tried everything in my knowledge, but so far no success. Then I went to my other servers running apache and I've setuped this in less then a minute and new alias worked just fine. However on nginx server, I'm not able to get any result. Any suggestion is welcomed. Thank you.


text:
Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE) Wave 6, 2006-2007 [Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas] (ICPSR 29654)
Version Date: Feb 23, 2012 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Kyriakos S. Markides, University of Texas-Medical Branch; Laura A. Ray, University of Texas-Medical Branch; Ronald Angel, University of Texas-Austin; David V. Espino, University of Texas-San Antonio. Health Science Center
- Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (Hispanic EPESE) Series
Version V1
Alternate Title View help for Alternate Title
Summary View help for Summary
This dataset comprises the fifth follow-up of the baseline Hispanic EPESE (HISPANIC ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES OF THE ELDERLY, 1993-1994: [ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS] [ICPSR 2851]). The baseline Hispanic EPESE collected data on a representative sample of community-dwelling Mexican Americans, aged 65 years and older, residing in the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. The primary purpose of the series was to provide estimates of the prevalence of key physical health conditions, mental health conditions, and functional impairments in older Mexican Americans and to compare these estimates with those for other populations. The Hispanic EPESE provides data on risk factors for mortality and morbidity in Mexican Americans in order to contrast how these factors operate differently in non-Hispanic White Americans, African Americans, and other major ethnic groups. The public-use data cover demographic characteristics (age, sex, type of Hispanic race, income, education, marital status, number of children, employment, and religion), height, weight, social and physical functioning, chronic conditions, related health problems, health habits, self-reported use of dental, hospital, and nursing home services, and depression. Subsequent follow-ups provide a cross-sectional examination of the predictors of mortality, changes in health outcomes, and institutionalization, and other changes in living arrangements, as well as changes in life situations and quality of life issues. During this 6th Wave, 2006-2007, reinterviews were conducted either in person or by proxy, with 921 of the original respondents. This fifth follow-up includes an additional sample of 621 Mexican Americans aged 75 years and over with higher average-levels of education than those of the surviving cohort, increasing the total number of respondents to 1,542. By diversifying the cohort of those aged 75 and older, a better understanding can be gained of the influence of socioeconomic and cultural variations on the lives and health of older Mexican Americans.
Citation View help for Citation
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
census tract
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
The Resource Book of the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly may be obtained from earlier Hispanic EPESE collections (i.e., ICPSR 4314, 4102, 3385, 2851).
Users of these data should note when doing analyses -- the scales for the following items should be reversed: X6CESD4, X6CESD8, X6CESD12, AND X6CESD16.
Hispanic EPESE, 1993-1994 (ICPSR 2851), was modeled after the design of -- ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS FOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES OF THE ELDERLY, 1981-1993: [EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, IOWA AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES, IOWA, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, AND NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA] (ICPSR 9915) and ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS FOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES OF THE ELDERLY, 1996-1997: PIEDMONT HEALTH SURVEY OF THE ELDERLY, FOURTH IN-PERSON SURVEY [DURHAM, WARREN, VANCE, GRANVILLE, AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES, NORTH CAROLINA] (ICPSR 2744).
The first follow-up of the baseline data (Hispanic EPESE Wave II, 1995-1996 [ICPSR 3385]) followed 2,438 of the original 3,050 respondents, and the second follow-up (Hispanic EPESE Wave III, 1998-1999 [ICPSR 4102]) followed 1,980 of these respondents. The third follow-up, Hispanic EPESE Wave IV [ICPSR 4314] followed 1,682 of the original respondents. The fourth follow-up, Hispanic EPESE Wave V [ICPSR 25041] followed 1,167 of the original respondents.
For the variable SHEAR65, the value labels correspond to the questionnaire provided. The variables NOGG7SYS6, AAMED62A, AAMED63, and BB1E6 are found in the codebook but not in the dataset. For the variable WCORR612, all values are set to system missing. A discrepency between the codebook and dataset exists for the following variables: SBP_AVG6, DBP_AVG6, U63M, BB2A6, and HH7C6. Total n for the variable SBP_AVG6 in the codebook is listed as 1272 but should be 1271. Total n for the variable DBP_AVG6 in the codebook is listed as 127 but should be 1270. Variable U53M in the codebook should be listed as U63M. Label(2)Don't Need Help for variable BB2A6 is listed as 1071 but should be 1016. Total n for the variable HH7C6 in the codebook is listed as 1322 but should be 1323.
A consistent decimal precision of two places was used in this dataset to maintain consistency between previous waves of the HEPESE data collection [ICPSR 2851, 3385, 4102, 4314, 25041].
Sample View help for Sample
This study utilizes a complex, multistage sample design. Please consult the user guide associated with previous waves of this study for further information regarding the sampling methodology.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Adult Mexican Americans aged 75 years and older living in the 5 southwestern United States of Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.
Data Source View help for Data Source
personal interviews with subject or proxy
physical assessments
Method of Data Collection View help for Method of Data Collection
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Wave 1 -- Baseline: 83.0 percent, Wave 2 -- 1st Follow-up: 86.8 percent, Wave 3 -- 2nd Follow-up: 83.3 percent, Wave 4 -- 3rd Follow-up: 80.6 percent, Wave 5 -- 4th Follow-up: 73.8 percent, and Wave 6 -- 5th Follow-up: 79.29 percent.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
MMSE, CES-D, IADL, ADL, CLOX, CAGE, Neighborhood items from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study (Sastry 2006), from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (Sampson et al. 1997), and from The Social Cohesion and Trust scale (Sampson 1997).
Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date
Version History View help for Version History
- Markides, Kyriakos S., Laura A. Ray, Ronald Angel, and David V. Espino. Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE) Wave 6, 2006-2007 [Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas]. ICPSR29654-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2012-02-23. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR29654.v1
2012-02-23 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created variable labels and/or value labels.
- Created online analysis version with question text.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
This study is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA), the aging program within ICPSR. NACDA is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Heath (NIH).


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Select a design, then select the device that you would like to style.
In Stock - Worldwide Shipping
iPad Air Clip Case design of Moisture, Dew, Water, Green, Grass, Plant, Drop, Grass family, Macro photography, Close-up with blue, black, green, gray colors.
iPad Air Clip Cases are slim, durable, impact resistant polycarbonate shells that were infused with stunning full color edge-to-edge graphics.
Make your Apple iPad Air 1 uniquely yours.
The Matte finish is a non-glossy, satin-type finish that give Skins an arty look and feel (art pieces, professional photos, canvases are usually matte). It is fingerprint and smudge resistant, and looks gorgeous with most designs.
The Gloss finish is a shiny finish that gives Skins an expensive, classy and sophisticated look (like a really shiny car). Designs look more vibrant with a gloss finish.
View your Shopping Cart or Style Another Device with "Dew"
Just wanted to take the time to say thanks for the great service: You have a truly huge choice of skins, a great website making them easy to browse and search, reliable service and great value, even with shipping to the UK. Third time here and will be back again for sure. Keep up the good work.Chris Senior, United Kingdom


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Diversity makes life more fun,
says UPD Officer Sue Stewart
By Audrey Webb
Texas State University takes diversity very seriously, ensuring all students their education and campus involvement will not be impeded by their race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, veterans' status or sexual orientation. This commitment is ingrained in the Texas State culture — from such programs as the Allies of Texas State to courses that lead to a minor in diversity studies. In fact, in order to register a student organization, the group's founders must sign a statement agreeing that "the university has a special responsibility to seek cultural diversity, to instill a global perspective in its students and to nurture sensitivity, tolerance and mutual respect."
The commitment to making Texas State a place where diversity is embraced extends far beyond written words on a page. Sue Stewart, recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Diversity staff award and a 10-year veteran of the Texas State University Police Department, embodies diversity not only as part of her job, but also as part of her life philosophy.
"Diversity is just fun. It just is," says Stewart. "I have found that as a police officer, if you can connect with people then you can talk about things more easily. For me, it's important to understand why people do the things they do, mainly because it's interesting."
Continue reading


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Today, we are announcing we just made these huge amount of data available in our Panoramio mapping interface to ease the geotagging process of photos for our community. When your photo is mapped close to a place where Street View data is available, you will see in the mapping interface a button called "Precise mapping with Street View". Click the button to enter Street View mode, or drag and drop Pegman to the place you took the image.
In Street View mode you will see a pin that indicates the photographer position. Drag the pin and drop it to where you stand in the moment you took the photo.
If you start playing with Street View, when you are in Street View mode, you may lose the photographer's position pin. Do not worry about that, we have added a button that will bring the pin back.
The Panoramio Uploader has been one of our biggest priorities this year:
- We have redesigned the photo uploader and the mapping interface from scratch to provide an easy and fast interface to upload and map both your Panoramio and your Google+ imported photos.
- We later added the possibility to annotate the subject of the photo and the option to differentiate between indoor and outdoor imagery
Precise mapping with Street View brings us one step forward in our quest to build the perfect photo geotagging interface.
We hope you all enjoy it!
Posted by +Gerard Sanz, Panoramio Community Manager


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Wednesday, June 15, 2011
CycleOps GPS Joule and the future of head units
The Joule's focus was on functionality. Power users like to analyze their data, CycleOps reasoned, so we're going to give the user as many options as we can fit to crunch power numbers and even do history analysis. This sounded good, but the head unit is the wrong tool for this job. Riders would upload their data at the end of the ride anyway, for example with Golden Cheetah or WKO, then may be from there to a web site like Training Peaks. So the result was a heavy, bulky, and expensive head unit which sold like coldcakes.
And despite all the cost and complexity the unit lacked GPS. Why burden a head unit designed for a power meter with GPS? The Wattage List old-guarde eschewed GPS, and many still do. When I'm riding, all I care about are the hard numbers: speed, power, and altitude for context. I know where I rode, and frankly it doesn't matter much, they argued.
Garmin on the other hand scored huge with the 500. It focused on recording, not on display. And like all Garmin units it had GPS, of course. Sure, it told you what your present numbers were, but any sort of historical analysis was minimal and difficult to access. Even, for example, checking the power from previous intervals during an interval session required way more button clicks than anyone should attempt on-the-bike.
But in the San Francisco Bay area, the things have sold insanely well. I'll do group rides where 80% of the people have Garmin GPS units, most of them Edge 500. So why -- why do people need a GPS unit which barely even tells you where you are? Certainly my Edge has never helped me avoid getting lost or helped me find my way back from being lost. Although it does have limited navigational "follow a route" functionality, most users don't know how to use that. I've never seen noticed doing so. Frankly, most riders know where they're going; they don't need a GPS for that.
So if they don't need a GPS to tell them where they're going, why use a GPS? Around here, it seems to me the #1 reason is one that didn't exist at the time the Joule or Edge 500 were released: Strava. Strava is the paradigm shift in what Bike Snob calls "Cat 6 racing": competing with friends outside the domain of sanctioned events. It's also been called "asynchronous racing". Sure, this has always existed. People would obsess over their Old La Honda times, the records up that hill passed on in a complex oral tradition. But with Strava you finally have hard data accessible by all. And not just for Old La Honda, but for virtually every bump in the road. If you're not the Old La Honda KOM or QOM, there's surely some undiscovered hill somewhere where you can be KOM or QOM.
Power is hard to understand. Maximal power curves, smoothing functions, fourth-power norms, training stress scores... but speed is speed and everyone understands that point A to point B in the minimal time is what it's about.
Strava has been called the "social network for cyclists". It's been the killer app which has made a GPS unit essentially mandatory for the "competitive club riders" here, and it's catching on elsewhere as well.
So CycleOps responded with a the new Joule. Sleeker and lighter than the first Joule, this one has a GPS option. So clearly it's being recognized position determination on a bike is more than a passing fad. DC RainMaker has an initial review. So what's next?
I think the next thing is connectivity. Strava seems to be leading the way here with their phone apps: first for the iPhone, and upcoming for the Android. Since the phones are connected, data upload can be virtually real-time. The Android app promises to do one better: to provide near instant feedback on performance on segments, allowing a rider to know how they ranked on a just-completed climb even before they have time to catch their breath. There's obviously all sorts of possibilities once a computer is connected. For example, you can imagine being able to track other riders in your group.
But before getting carried away, I wish to return to the emphasis on relative simplicity in head units. Record + transmit. If I want to analyze data and run fancy apps, at least for now, leave that to the phones and other heavier, more power hungry, more general purpose devices which can be brought along if one wishes. Keep the cycling specific hardware light, robust, and simple. The key is to not keep the data sitting idle, and to not require users to perform cumbersome up-loads at the end of the ride. That should happen automatically, wherever you are, as long as you're within access to a wireless data network.
It'll be interesting to see more details on the Joule, but I'm even more interested in what Strava does wth its Android app.
3 comments:
- Paul said...
At Interbike I asked CycleOps if they were going to do a GPS. They flat out told me they were going to leave that to the other guys and had no plans.
A few month later a Trek/Livestrong rider (sponsored by CycleOps) told me about the new CycleOps GPS coming out.
The market wants what the market wants.
Also, have you see my website, raceshape.com I'd be interested in your feedback.
- June 15, 2011 at 10:47 PM
- djconnel said...
Wow -- your website is very cool! I've done plots like that before (for example: http://djconnel.blogspot.com/2010/06/dauphine-libere-2010-stage-4-time-gap.html ) and they provide a lot of insight.
I swung completely around on my view of GPS. I previously thought it was silly, navigation only. But really it goes much further. Similar with power: I'd at one time thought it was good only for pacing until I read Coggan and Allen.
- June 16, 2011 at 5:50 AM
- NadiaMac said...
"there's surely some undiscovered hill somewhere where you can be KOM or QOM" :) :) :)
- June 16, 2011 at 7:25 AM


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Bread-making can be a little difficult to fit into your average day. While putting the ingredients together and the kneading are easy enough, the rising and the waiting can throw even your best dinner plans off-track if you weren't paying very close attention.
When I do get a chance, though, usually on weekends, I can't wait to get some warm, homemade bread going. This past weekend, I decided to try out a recipe I saw a while ago on one of my favorite blogs, One Hot Stove, and which I had been pining to make ever since: Laadi Pav.
Growing up in Bombay, I have great memories of buying fresh laadi pav from the bakery. In Goa, where my Dad now lives, the pav-wallah still comes around every morning tooting his bicycle horn, a large basket of fresh, warm pav balanced on the back. There's nothing more delightful than tearing into a piece of this amazing bread and dipping it into a warm, spicy curry.
Nupur's Laadi Pav tasted great, had a beautiful, flaky texture, and what's more, it called for just two rather than the three rises that many breads need, so even though I started only in the afternoon, it was ready well in time for dinner.
I followed Nupur's directions to the letter, except that I used transfat-free shortening in place of the tiny amount of butter that the recipe called for.
I thought this simple recipe would be a great one to send to the MBP Less is More event being hosted this month by, well, Nupur!
Thanks very much, Nupur, for an amazing treat.


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For a holiday packed full of family fun, you've found the ultimate destination. Ideally situated on the water's edge of the famed Pumicestone Passage, choose accommodation from luxury cabins to the fun of camping outdoors.
Come and enjoy Caloundra Big4 as it is conveniently close to Caloundra's amenities including beaches, parks and shops. It's everything you need for a refreshing family break.
Call to book on 1800 550 138
Facilities & Activities
Whether you feel like swimming, shopping, or just relaxing in the Sunny Coast sunshine, there's something for every family member to enjoy at this Big4 Holiday Park.
- 24 Luxury Cabins
- 60 Caravan and Camping Sites
- Resort swimming pool with waterslide and kids activities
- BBQs and camp kitchens
- Bouncing pillow and kids activities
Read our blog Sunny Coast Five of ideas on things to-do.
Luxury Cabins
Feel right at home in our fresh, modern cabins that bring a little luxury to your family break. Close enough to neighbours to make new friends, but far enough away to enjoy time out, our luxury cabins include:
- Waterfront & Poolside Views
- Airconditioning
- TV & DVD player
- Self contained kitchen
- Private bathroom
Caravans and Camping
Enjoy the beauty of Caloundra's great outdoors with creek views from your comfortable caravan or camping site. With new and modern facilities, caravanning and camping has never been so easy.
- Large flat grassed sites for easy parking
- Camp Kitchen, BBQ & seating areas
- Modern clean amenities & laundry
- Park & everything is in walking distance
With its golden beaches and picturesque hinterland, Caloundra offers visitors the very best of both worlds. Caloundra Waterfront Holilday Park is an hour fifteen from Brisbane and 25 minutes from Maroochydore Airport.
In addition to our stunning local beaches you will find other popular family activities including Australia Zoo and Mooloolaba's UnderWater World, both guaranteed to keep the little (and big) ones entertained.
Caloundra Waterfront Holiday Park is close to:
- Fantastic beaches
- Wonderful Parks and picnic areas
- The beautiful Plumicestone Passage
- Local tourist attractions & activities
Caloundra Waterfront Holiday Park is an independent member of BIG4 Holiday Parks of Australia, owners of the BIG4 trademark
To find out how we can help make your next family holiday memorable, simply complete this form or call us on 1800 550 138.
Contact & Location
44 Maloja Ave
Caloundra Qld 4551
Toll free: 1800 550 138
Phone: (07) 5491 1564
Fax: (07) 5492 6938


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STS-102, Mission
Control Center
After a surprising turnaround in the Florida weather, Discovery's astronauts -- and the first International Space Station residents -- returned home to Kennedy Space Center at 1:31 a.m. CST Wednesday.
STS-102 Commander Jim Wetherbee fired Space Shuttle Discovery's engines at 12:26 a.m. CST to begin the shuttle's descent. With assistance from Pilot Jim Kelly, he made a smooth landing on Runway 15, the 17th night landing in the shuttle program and the 12th night landing at Kennedy. The shuttle had traveled a total of 5,357,762 statute miles.
Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, riding home in reclining seats to lessen the stress, felt the tug of gravity for the first time in 141 days following their Oct. 31, 2000, launch to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. The Expedition One crew will be reunited with their families in Florida this morning, and then begin a medical and rehabilitation period of about 45 days.
Wetherbee, Kelly and Mission Specialists Paul Richards and Andy Thomas had spent a total of 12 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes on orbit. They had conducted a successful rendezvous and docking with the space station complex, supported two space walks to facilitate the first use of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and installed a station robot arm anchor point. They also witnessed the first station crew changeout, unloaded 5 tons of equipment and experiments, and packed up a ton of unneeded station equipment and trash for return to Earth on Discovery.
All seven spacefarers are expected to return home to Houston on Thursday afternoon.
Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale made the a decision to land in Florida just before midnight after cloudy skies and gusty winds had cleared due to a low-pressure system that raced through the Shuttle Landing Facility area faster than expected Tuesday night.
On board the International Space Station, Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss were expected to hear word of their compatriots' landing later this morning. The trio spent a relatively quiet day in space getting acclimated to their news surroundings and preparing themselves for what will soon be a busy schedule of activiities continuing the outfitting of the space station and beginning scientific research in its Destiny laboratory.
NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to firstname.lastname@example.com. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail.


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Liberty News
Quiz Bowl post wins against Virginia Tech, University of Virginia
| Liberty Quiz Bowl Team A (from left) Jon Bateman, Doug Stephens, Abbie Brubaker, and Greta Hanks.
Liberty University's six-time Big South Conference champion Quiz Bowl team is off to a strong start this season, after posting victories over two Atlantic Coast Conference schools — Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia — in its first tournament of the season Saturday, Sept. 29, at Virginia Tech.
Liberty had two teams compete in several rounds of the tournament, winning four games in all, including two over Virginia Tech and their first-ever win over UVA. Liberty's A-team finished in sixth position with a record of 4-5, while Liberty B finished at No. 8 with no wins and seven losses.
Two Liberty players, Doug Stephens and Jon Bateman, finished in the top 10 for individual scoring.
Quiz Bowl has been called "the varsity sport of the mind." Players answer a variety of questions on literature, history, geography, government, the sciences, math, art, popular culture, and sports. Games consist of two 10-minute halves.
Dr. Jim Nutter, Liberty's coach, said Quiz Bowl is similar to "Jeopardy," "but with much harder questions, where we compete in teams of four against other colleges."
Last year Liberty won its sixth Big South Conference championship in seven years and finished 9-2 in the sectional tournament.
The Quiz Bowl team is part of Liberty's rigorous Honors Program. This year the team has several returning members along with seven National Merit Finalists on full academic scholarship added to their two novice teams with players from a variety of majors.
The team is scheduled to compete at the University of Maryland on Oct. 14 and at the University of Virginia on Nov. 3.
Liberty's wins
Liberty 365, UVA 205
Liberty 320, Virginia Tech 145
Liberty 285, Virginia Tech 270


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Does anyone think that familiar storyline was not deliberate? In the first five minutes of the film, didn't we hear Maala reiterate EVERYTHING that's been said (and more) about the plot being conventional? It's a film reflecting on itself within itself, and I am surprised at the number of people using this against the film, many (especially bloggers in India, geez, there's some hatred for Aamir and Imran out there) suggesting that it intended to fool the audience but failed. They're missing the point! But that's okay. It can be a rather comfortable state to be in, as I learned after gladly missing the point of No Smoking (2007).
And Naseeruddin Shah's gig in Jaane Tu seems to remind most of Harry Potter. It was borrowed, yes. But...
...Potter released in 1997. Before that, in 1995, a deceased woman talking to her spouse from a portrait had won India over in a TV show titled Hum Paanch. This show was also where most of us first saw Vidya Balan! From this link:
Hum Paanch was the story of a father, Anand Mathur, who always found himself in trouble because of his five daughters...Anand's first wife, who was dead, used to speak to him through her photo in the living room while his second wife, Bina, generally supported her daughters' ideas.
Anyone else remember Hum Paanch? I miss Sweety :'(
Have a great start to the weekend!


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TALLAHASSEE, FL -- When the Florida Legislature is in session, a whole industry can be turned upside down in less than 30 days. On April 10, Gov. Rick Scott signed a law aimed at closing storefront online gambling operations known as Internet or sweepstakes cafés across Florida. That law, HB 155, was fast-tracked through the Legislature following the March 13 bust of Allied Veterans of the World, a Jacksonville-based gambling racket involved in electronic sweepstakes.
The measure is a reaction to the federal and state investigation into Allied Veterans that has led to 57 arrests for illegal gambling, money laundering and racketeering. Police allege that that the pseudo veterans group made $300 million in profits by operating illegal machines, but donated only 2% of its proceeds to charity. The investigation brought about the resignation of Lieutenant Gov. Jennifer Carroll, whose public relations firm worked for Allied Veterans.
Florida's House on March 22 approved HB 155, which passed the Senate on April 4. The bill alters the language used to describe slot machines and other gaming devices that players can use to win money. By changing the definition of a slot, lawmakers sought to close a loophole that has allowed Internet cafés operate and prosper in Florida. However, the measure also -- unintentionally and significantly -- impacts the legitimate amusement sector.
The bill states that prize-awarding machines cannot accept bills or smart cards, nor can they award gift cards or prizes deemed greater than 75¢ in value. In addition to legitimate amusements, these new rules affect "adult arcade" businesses, popular with retirees in many towns. (There are only about 220 adult arcades, sources tell VT, which have been legal in Florida since 1984 and peaked at about 350. But there are an estimated 1,000+ storefront Internet café gaming centers in the state.)
Of particular concern are multifunction cashless card systems used by Dave & Buster's and independent family entertainment centers in Florida. According to the letter of the law, redemption equipment would no longer be allowed to use card readers.
The bill could also affect amusement-only games like video and pinball by limiting the amount of free credits allowed. As soon as the governor's signature went on the bill, Incredible Technologies disabled certain features on its networked videogames, including Hole-In-Win on Golden Tee and Prize Play on Silver Strike. The videogame company, which has been offering skill-based contests on its ITNet system in Florida since 1996 without any legal or technical issues, is seeking clarification on the new law.
According to unconfirmed but reliable reports, the massive media coverage of the new law in various Florida communities has prompted some anxious location owners to ask their vendors to remove their equipment.
"It passed, it has been signed and it's now the law," said Phil Juckem of All Brands Vending Co. Inc., a music and games vending operation based in Tampa. "I'm comfortable with the legislative intent to eliminate sweepstakes cafés, but we'll have to wait and see how it might impact legitimate amusements." He observed that he'll need to determine how the new law will affect his products, and remains confident that it can be amended over the next year. "For starters, I no longer will be putting $15 movie passes in my Stackers."
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Diamondbacks game against Rangers postponed
Arlington, TX – Wednesday's contest between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers has been postponed due to unplayable field conditions.
No makeup date has been announced.
After playing a doubleheader Monday in Arizona, the teams were slated to play a brief two-game stint in Texas, but rain in the area forced a lengthy delay before the field conditions were deemed unplayable.
The Rangers and Diamondbacks will play one game Thursday afternoon.