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Dale P. Cruikshank is an astronomer and planetary scientist in the Astrophysics Branch at Ames Research Center. His research specialties are spectroscopy and radiometry of planets, asteroids, satellites, and other bodies in the solar system. In his most recent studies with the Cassini spacecraft, he and his colleagues found hydrocarbons on several of Saturn's satellites.
NASA Tech Briefs: Your research specialties are spectroscopy and radiometry of planets and small bodies in the solar system. I'm interested in your work with NASA ESA-Cassini mission. Can you tell our readers what that mission was and what it told you about Saturn's satellites?
Dr. Dale P. Cruikshank: The Cassini mission to the Saturn system has been a tremendously successful space mission conducted both jointly by NASA and ESA, and it's still in progress, and, in fact, it's expected to be in progress until the middle of 2017. The mission is a flagship-class mission in that it's a very large spacecraft with numerous instruments aboard. The ESA component was the Huygens probe, which roughly a year after we arrived at Saturn was released from the main spacecraft bus, and then made a parachute descent through the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon Titan and eventually landed on the surface. And, in fact, it conducted scientific measurements for two and a half hours after it landed, even though it wasn't technically designed to be a lander, per se. The remaining part of the mission, which essentially continues, includes an investigation of the planet Saturn itself, its atmosphere, the aurora that occur in the atmosphere, Saturn's magnetic field, and the trapped particles that are in it, as well as Saturn's rings, of course, and Saturn's satellites, too. Saturn has a very large number of satellites, something like 62, I think, of which the largest ones are close into the planet, and those are the ones that we've been studying with several of the instruments on board the spacecraft.
NTB: You found many kinds of ice on several small planetary bodies. Where have you found the ice, and what kinds of conclusions are you able to draw from these findings?
Dr. Cruikshank: Ices are kind of a natural thing to suspect might be present in the cold reaches of the planetary system, and what we have found over the years, both from telescopic observations made from the ground, and now more recently with spacecraft observations, is that there's a wide variety of ices, not just frozen water, but frozen carbon dioxide, which we find on Mars, in the polar caps, for example, dry ice. When we move farther out into the solar system, in addition to frozen water, we find frozen methane, natural gas, and other hydrocarbons, such as ethane and possibly still more that haven't been fully identified. If we go even farther out into the solar system, as far as out as Neptune and Pluto, at which the temperatures are something like 35 to 40 degrees absolute, we find frozen nitrogen. And, of course, nitrogen is the same thing that's in the Earth's atmosphere, but at those extremely low temperatures, nitrogen freezes into a nice shiny ice on the surface of these bodies.
So, a good bit of what I've been interested in over the years, is the exploration of the solar system in terms of its ices – and also minerals by the way – but in particular, the ices. Together, with a couple of colleagues in 1976, which seems like a long time ago, we discovered the methane ice on the surface of Pluto, and we also found, a few years later, methane ice on Triton, which is Neptune's largest moon, and since then, nitrogen and frozen methane have been found on a number of objects out beyond Neptune, in what's called the trans-Neptunian object region of the solar system.


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Speaking Truth: 1st Date Sex! (Letting Ladies Know Why Men Want Sex On The 1st Date)
"Kain Carter adds up everything it cost to take a girl out on a 1st date and let ladies know why we want sex on the 1st date" submitted by @CaLLMeBuTTa
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"Our mission is always to deliver the very best services and solutions to our clients and the achievements by Jeremy and Adam reinforce this." Richard James, Ignition's CTO
Halifax, Canada (PRWEB) November 30, 2012
Ignition Ltd., a leader in off-shore IT solutions, is delighted to announce its team managers have demonstrated service excellence through achieving key certifications. Jeremy Agnew, Service Manager, has been awarded the HDI Support Centre Manager certification while Adam Wambolt, Platform Manager, achieved the ITIL qualification.
Jeremy Agnew, Ignition's Service Manager, is responsible for managing the activities and deliverables of Ignition's Service Desk team. In this role, Jeremy is also responsible for providing technical assistance to his team, ensuring outstanding customer service.
The HDI Support Centre Manager (HDI-SCM) certification showcases Jeremy's commitment to service excellence. The training focusses on processes, procedures, and best practices for managing, and staffing a service centre. It also looks at identifying and measuring key performance indicators for service desks. In order to achieve this top certification, Jeremy has verified his expertise in support centre management best practices and confirms his ability to strategically align support centre operations with business needs.
Ignition's Platform Manager, Adam Wambolt, is responsible for managing the various service platforms for Ignition. Key parts of this role includes change control, capacity planning, inventory management, customer integration and license management.
By achieving the ITIL certification, Adam has clearly demonstrated skills in global best practice IT service management. ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world. Through this certification, Adam has proven his understanding of best practices for service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation and continual service improvement.
Richard James, Ignition's Group Chief Technology Officer, says "This is a great accomplishment for Jeremy, Adam and for Ignition. Organisations today rely upon outstanding IT service and support to enable them to achieve their company vision, business strategy and goals. They are therefore demanding IT professionals to have first-rate skills and breadth of knowledge. We pride ourselves on our customer service excellence. Our mission is always to deliver the very best services and solutions to our clients and the achievements by Jeremy and Adam reinforce this."
Ignition is one of the leading IT service providers offering managed services, cloud computing, business continuity and disaster recovery, data backup and storage, virtualisation and 24x7 service desk support.
For further information please contact
Stephanie MacDonald
Group Marketing Specialist
The Ignition Group of Technology Companies
Direct: 345-525-5771
Email: smacdonald(at)ignitionmsp(dot)com.
About Ignition
Ignition is an IT solutions organisation with clients in Europe, throughout the Caribbean, North America and Canada. Ignition has provided IT solutions to clients for over a decade. The Ignition Business Solutions practice includes Software Solutions based on Microsoft technologies (principally through the SharePoint platform), Practice Management solutions (based on the market-leading ViewPoint application), and Records Management services. Ignition is also one of the leading IT service providers offering managed services, cloud computing, business continuity and disaster recovery, data backup and storage, virtualisation and 24x7 service desk support. Ignition has offices located in Bermuda, Halifax and Cayman Islands with representative offices in Curacao, Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad. Visit http://www.ignitionmsp.com for more information.


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(Continued from Part 1) Today business is growing very rapidly at a time when the great recession has negatively impacted growth for a lot of companies in the industry.
Because of this success Campomaggi and Caterina Lucchi have been selected by a european union body as the Italian small business that thrived during hard . . . → Read More: A Conversation with Caterina Lucchi (Part 2)


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This executive education program, offered by Tuck Executive Education in partnership with the Center for Digital Strategies, will enhance your leadership, financial, and communication skills, so that you may engage more effectively with other business leaders throughout your enterprise. You will also refine your understanding of risk management and decision making and have the opportunity to share best practices with colleagues from other companies to gain insight into the real-world issues they are facing today.
Program Goals:
- Solidify financial understanding and analytical skills
- Enhance leadership skills and learn to lead through influence
- Sharpen business-communications approach skills
- Broaden understanding of risk management and decision making
- Share best practices and approaches to current security challenges
- Build a network of professional colleagues
- Develop strategic thinking and planning skills
Program Topics
These topics will be presented through a variety of methods, including case studies, lectures, interactive discussions, and individual and small-group exercises.
- Leadership, Power, and Influence: Examine how concepts of influence and power can define authority and control, and how effective leaders influence others and effect change.
- Financial Statements and Business Analysis: Understand corporate financial statements, their use, how they relate to metrics for evaluating business performance, and why they matter.
- Financial Cost-Benefit and Project Funding: Understand forecasting and financial decision making, especially as it relates to project funding and how CFOs view investment decisions.
- Risk, Investment, and Decision Making: Acquire deeper understanding of the psychology of risk, information security as risk management, decision-making biases, and risk analysis in uncertain conditions.
- Effective Communications Approaches: Refine your communications strategy by sharpening your objectives, analyzing your audience, and honing your message; enhance your understanding of the importance of corporate-reputation protection.
- Best Practices in Information Security: Exchange best practices and approaches to real-world security issues with a group of colleagues who share your concerns and challenges but bring different perspectives to the table. Learn an information security risk assessment methodology used in a Global 500 corporation today.
Who Should Attend
This program is designed for CISOs and their direct reports who seek to enhance their business and financial skills and deepen their understanding of risk analysis to complement their technical expertise. Participants will also learn how to dialogue more effectively with other business leaders in the corporation. Other senior information security managers who must interact with colleagues across the enterprise are welcome, depending on their level of responsibility and business engagement.
Program Faculty
Paul Argenti, Pino Audia, Hans Brechbühl, M. Eric Johnson, Stephen Powell, Anant K. Sundaram
Tuck Executive Education offers the best in management education, taught by world-class faculty renowned as leading business thinkers who tackle real-world business problems. They engage executives in an active and collaborative learning process that equips executives with skills to address the challenges their companies face.
Learn more about Tuck Executive Education as well as upcoming BESP offerings here >


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Environmental Science Program
Getting into the nature of things
Global climate change, natural resources management, ozone depletion, sustainable development, acid rain, air and water quality, and solid and hazardous waste management. These are but a few of the better-known issues encompassed by environmental science, an interdisciplinary field that addresses interactions between people and their natural environment.
The Environmental Science Program at DU is designed to provide students with the knowledge and technical skills to identify, analyze and resolve environmental issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Unlike programs offering degrees in environmental studies, DU's Environmental Science Program is grounded in the physical and natural sciences, providing students with a solid understanding of the physical properties governing the environment. Students learn not only about environmental issues, but how to use science to find solutions to environmental problems.


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Houston Nutt Resigns As Ole Miss Coach After 12 Straight SEC Losses
After a 2-7 start to the season (0-6 in the SEC), Mississippi head coach Houston Nutt announced Monday that he will be resigning at the end of the season. Ole Miss Athletic Director Pete Boone also announced that he would be stepping down next year, but did not give a specific date.
Nutt came to Ole Miss from Arkansas in 2008 and appeared to have things on the right track, going 18-8 in his first two seasons, the Rebels' best back-to-back years since the 1960s. But many of those victories came with the recruits of former coach Ed Orgeron. Since the start of the 2010 season, with more of Nutt's own players, the Rebels have gone just 6-15 and have lost 12 straight conference games.
Boone has served as Mississippi's athletic director since 2002, after a previous stint from 1995 to 1998, and has gone through three different football coaches (David Cutcliffe, Orgeron and Nutt) in that time.
Nutt is scheduled to make $2.7 million this year and has a $6 million buyout in his contract. He will coach the Rebels in their final three games against Louisiana Tech, LSU and Mississippi State.
Ole Miss officials said former Rebels quarterback Archie Manning and Mike Glenn, executive vice president at FedEx, would lead the search committee that will choose a new athletics director and football coach.


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Do you find it hard to read? Know someone who does? We have a very suitably qualified volunteer, Sarah, who will act as a Literacy Support Buddy to adults who experience difficulty with basic literacy, and the impact this may have on many areas of their lives from job seeking to feeling comfortable reading to their children or listening to their children read.
You can either drop-by and meet with Sarah or you can book an appointment. This is a FREE service that we are offering and we hope to be of benefit to you.


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The development of the human lung takes place in several stages. In a fetus, such as the one that served as the source for the MRC-5 cell line, the lung primordium is established after early embryogenesis. The epithelial sections of the organ are derivatives of the gut, whereas the tissues and blood vessels that surround these areas originate from the mesoderm. When the lung begins to appear like a gland subsequent to a series of dichotomous divisions, it is said to be in the pseudoglandular stage, a phase that is also characterized by the development of vascular connections and the area of tubules that mark the future region of gas-exchange activity. The next step in fetal lung development is the canalicular stage, in which potential airspaces expand, the cuboidal epithelium differentiates into different types of cells, and a thin latent air-blood barrier is formed. The final stage of lung development in the fetus is called the saccular stage. At this point, additional airways and saccules are formed. Near the end of the saccular stage, alveoli begin to develop through septation of the saccules.
The culture of human fetal lung fibroblast (MRC-5) cells presented in the digital image above was labeled with wheat germ agglutinin, a lectin that targets glycoproteins in the Golgi network, conjugated to Texas Red-X. In addition, the cells were labeled for the cytoskeletal F-actin network and DNA with Alexa Fluor 488 conjugated to phalloidin and DAPI, respectively. Images were recorded in grayscale with a QImaging Retiga Fast-EXi camera system coupled to an Olympus BX-51 microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks provided by Omega Optical. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles.
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Bloomsburg University's Performing Arts Facilities consist of Mitrani Hall, in Haas Center for the Arts, a 2000 seat proscenium stage with full fly loft and state-of-the-art lighting and sound abilities; and the K.S. Gross Auditorium in Carver Hall, a 150 year-old, 600 seat Victorian theater with a full component of stage lighting and sound capabilities.
Please use the buttons on the left to navigate the two major campus performance facilities, review their individual amenities, reserve time in either of these spaces for your performance and purchase tickets to any number of the season's events.
Thank you for visiting our site,
MFA, Director of Media and Performing Arts Facilities and Programming


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I am an avid Rolling Stones fan. Have all their albums, know most of their songs by heart and saw them numerous times in concert, including twice at Shea Stadium in 1989.
It was a tremendous show, with 50,000-plus fans singing "Ruby Tuesday,'' in unison, and I mean every word, not just the refrain.
I noticed they are trending Saturday on Yahoo.
Because they performed the other day in the Middle East – Abu Dhabi, to be exact in front of 30,000 fans. It was kind of surprising news considering the political climate of the area and the Stones' reputation.
One article said they were formed in 1962, which rang a significant bell because that was the year the New York Mets were born. That means the Stones and Mets are the same age.
The Mets won't be able to get Mick and Keith this summer at Citi Field, but that isn't to say they might not be able to snag a Rolling Stones tribute band.
It might bring about an afternoon of satisfaction.


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Nobel Prize-winner José Saramago must have been thinking of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis when he wrote this, his latest novel. In Kafka's tale Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find he has been transmogrified into an insect, something utterly other than what he once was. In The Double, Saramago's protagonist, a high school history teacher named Tertuliano Máximo Afonso, is shocked to discover one evening, while watching a video rental film, that a supporting actor is apparently identical to Tertuliano in every respect.
The resemblance between Tertuliano and the actor Antonio Claro goes beyond that of identical twins, and thus is every bit as terrifying as Samsa's sense of otherness, for it undermines whatever self-worth depended upon Tertuliano's assumption that he is an utterly unique human being.
Saramago sets his novel in a colorless, unnamed city of five million, which gives the reader a sense that the author wants to generalize broadly from Tertuliano's plight. Instead of conventional descriptions of locale or setting, Saramago offers minute philosophical descriptions of the transactions of everyday life and lengthy internal dialogues between Tertuliano and his own "Common Sense," personified as a character who comes and goes at decisive moments in the protagonist's life. Against the hectoring advice of Common Sense, Tertuliano pursues his double and engineers a face-to-face meeting that triggers volatile, unforeseen consequences.
Saramago has created a kind of Platonic dialogue in the form of a novel, which makes for a challenging but quite engaging reading experience. The novel's narrative voice is winsome in its omniscience, good-naturedly leading us to ponder Tertuliano's terrible dilemma from every side. How should one respond to the discovery that one is not unique? In Tertuliano's case, wounded pride and ensuing depression move him to actions whose dire consequences he completely fails to foresee.
Saramago's unnamed narrator speaks with the voluble intimacy one finds in Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. Fielding exults in arch philosophical digressions, turning the business of narrative into gamesmanship and high fun. In a similar mode, Saramago's narrator confesses at one point, "This rambling reflection on the origins and destinies of words has led us so far from our real subject that we have no option but to start again at the beginning." The narrator's foibles may strike some readers as endearing. They may frustrate others, who prefer narrative machinery to be kept invisible behind a plot that flows in a straightforward manner.
In the end, Tertuliano is sadly ill-prepared to deal with the terror of sameness, as opposed to the more familiar terror of alienation or estrangement. Saramago seems to suggest that the most dangerous peril we face in contemporary culture is not a sense of estrangement but a sense of deadening sameness. For this reason The Double would fit quite well on a bookshelf next to The Metamorphosis, because the works portray two ends of the spectrum of identity dilemmas.
The novel's translation from the Portugese by Margaret Jull Costa breezes right along. This is important because Saramago writes exceedingly long paragraphs, some running to as much as 15 pages in length.
Toward the novel's conclusion, the narrator reasons, "They say you can hate someone only if you hate yourself, but the worst of all hatreds must be the hatred that cannot bear another person to be the same, worse still if that sameness should become total." Saramago wants us to distinguish the salutary sameness of a shared identity, necessary for any sense of the common good, from the spiritually deadening conformity of contemporary culture. His fear seems to be that individuality is on the wane and that all of us are developing doubles.


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Flash flood warning for Hayden, Hahn's Peak until 9 p.m. Saturday
July 8, 2012
Steamboat Springs — The National Weather Service says slow-moving thunderstorms with the potential for heavy rain could result in flash floods in areas of Northwest Colorado early this evening.
A flash flood warning has been issued for Hayden and Craig until 9 p.m. tonight. The flood warning also is in effect for other areas of eastern Moffat County and northern Routt County, including Hahn's Peak.
The warning states: "Runoff from this excessive rainfall will cause flash flooding to occur. Some locations that will experience flooding include Craig and Hayden. The thunderstorms with heavy rain showers will expand toward northern Routt County, including Hahn's Peak.
"Mud and debris flows will be common within the warned area."
Areas near small creeks and streams are particularly vulnerable to flash flooding. In the event of heavy rain, people in low-lying areas should seek higher ground immediately.


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In a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, HTC stated that "Some of our products have passed the review and have been delivered to our telecoms operators' clients in the US". Referring to the import ban set in play by the ITC after an unsuccessful legal battle with Apple, the HTC One X and upcoming HTC EVO 4G LTE were barred from entering the country.
The statement made to the TWSE is certainly vague, and we not sure exactly how to interpret "some". I've shot off an email to HTC for clarification, and I imagine everyone else has as well, so we'll probably see a statement of some sort soon. In the meantime, some of you can rest easy knowing that some of your phones are on the way to the shelves.
Update: We got a weekend update directly from HTC, which reads thusly:
"Each imported HTC model must be reviewed by Customs and will be released once Customs officials have completed the inspection. Some models have gone through inspection and been released to our carrier customers. We don't have the status of each specific device model at this time, but we are working closely with Customs. We remain confident that this issue will be resolved soon."
Source: Taipei Times; via icebike


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Approximately 20 employees at Civilization V developer Firaxis have been let go, reports Kotaku, having confirmed this with Firaxis parent company 2K Games. "I can confirm that Firaxis has realigned its development resources in order to streamline its development process, reduce costs and maximize the overall performance the studio," 2K global PR director Markus Wilding told them. "This will result in the elimination of approximately 20 positions. These reductions will not impact Firaxis' ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its forthcoming Sid Meier's Civilization V and Sid Meier's Civilization Network for Facebook." They add an unconfirmed rumor to the mix, saying they've also heard that Jesse Smith was let go last month, calling him "a producer on both Civilization IV and a yet-to-be-named secret project." Thanks joao.
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Digital Resources: The Bracero History Archive
Sharon Leon
Between 1942 and 1964 millions of Mexicans came to the United States as guest workers, authorized by a set of bilateral agreements. Beginning in late 2005, a coalition of academic scholars and public historians from Brown University's Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, the Institute of Oral History at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History (NMAH), and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) at George Mason University came together to launch an effort to gather the stories of those workers. This unprecedented project resulted in the collection of oral histories, documents, and images over the course of five years. It involved not only scholars but also a host of local community groups that enabled the partners to surface previously hidden materials that were unlikely to make it into traditional archival collections. The collection and dissemination process was facilitated by the creation of the , an open-access website that allowed the project partners to simultaneously build the collections from widely dispersed locations as they worked to document the lives and experiences of those workers.
The Bracero History Archive serves as the primary repository for the stories, documents, and artifacts associated with the migrant laborers from Mexico who came to the United States under the auspices of the more than 4.6 million contracts issued during the years of the Mexican Farm Labor Program. As such, it is an important complement to the established scholarship on the program. At the same time, the site serves as a model of how to undertake and complete a distributed collecting project that builds upon important community relationships. This combination of scholarly value and methodological innovation was essential to ensuring the funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access that made the project possible. In recent years, the project has proven important for contemporary work on the Mexican Farm Labor Program, and it has contributed to enhancing our understanding of migration, citizenship, nationalism, agriculture, labor practices, race relations, gender, sexuality, the family, visual culture, and the Cold War era.
Neoliberalism and Free Trade in Latin America
Robert Jordan
First utilized in Latin America in response to the mid-20th-century decline of populist economic policymaking in the region, modern neoclassical theory, or neoliberalism, can be generally defined as a market-oriented form of economy policymaking that seeks to decentralize state authority and redefine state administrative responsibilities through deregulation, privatization, and the creation of common markets. Based on principles of classical 19th-century economic liberalism, the economic and political framework of neoliberalism advocates for a dramatically limited role for the state, which should only act to maintain the integrity of contract law and private property as a means of supporting the market. In the absence of state intervention, neoliberalism in Latin America alternatively emphasized the role of multilateral organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development in bringing financial stability and growth to the region through the manipulation of interest rates, the devaluation of exchange rates, and the establishment of free-market pricing of goods. Ultimately, the widespread implementation of neoliberal reforms through the 1980s and 1990s ushered in a new era of transnational economic policymaking that had long-term, mixed results for the environmental, political, and social landscape of Latin America.
Oil and Environment in Mexico
Myrna Santiago
Before there was Mexico, there was oil. Millennia of organic matter that collapsed and liquefied into fossil fuel rested deep underground and underwater along the half-moon territorial formation that 19th-century geographers named the Mexican Gulf. Hidden by the lush tropical rainforests, marshes, and mangroves that occupied the landscape from the Pánuco River on the border between modern day Tamaulipas and Veracruz and the Bay of Campeche on the South, the oil seeped to the surface in small ponds, sometimes blackening the waters of streams and lagoons from Tabasco to the Huasteca. The human communities who inhabited that part of the globe thousands of years later knew about and utilized nature's oozing sticky black tar.
The Olmec, who flourished in southern Veracruz from 1200 to 400
Water and Environmental Change in the US–Mexico Borderlands
Sterling Evans
Aridity, a significant characteristic of the U.S.–Mexico borderlands, has affected water use patterns for different groups of people in this region for thousands of years. From indigenous groups to European invaders and colonizers to 20th- and 21st-century farmers, ranchers, and policy-makers in Mexico and the United States, controlling the area's scarce water resources has been a vital concern for survival and economic success. Given that an international border divides the region, national-era relations between the United States and Mexico often have been marked by water issues and the development of water projects and policies. And on both sides of the border these projects and policies have caused environmental changes that merit attention. Much of that history revolves around agricultural development with the need to ensure steady sources of water for irrigation. But industry and urban areas have also been enormous consumers of scarce water resources in the region, issues that are discussed here.


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School of
Health Sciences
The School of Health Sciences offers a diverse range of courses designed to develop the knowledge and skills you need to excel in the field. We aim to develop talented and committed professionals to make a difference in the real world.
To ensure your learning is always at the cutting edge of practice all our courses are informed by the latest research and you'll have access to some of the best facilities in the country.
By working closely with public and private sector organisations our placement opportunities will help you:
- Develop your practical skills and confidence in a real world setting
- Make contacts in industry
- Maximise your employability prospects
Our Student Occupational Health Department provides an assessment of your health and fitness to practice prior to and during your chosen course. Student Occupational Health»
Students will have to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check if they engage in regulated activity on placement.
Undergraduate Courses
A comprehensive range of undergraduate courses that benefit from leading facilities, practical learning opportunities and frontline placements make the University of Salford an excellent choice for those looking to forge a career in health and social care.
Postgraduate Taught Courses
The School of Health Sciences is home to over 280 healthcare experts. Our postgraduate tuition is research led and offers a broad range of options for practitioners looking to develop specialist clinical and management skills.
Research excellence
Our Centre for Health Sciences Research underpins our teaching and learning, ensuring you reach your full potential and remain at the forefront of innovation.


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Pogue, a Dallas real estate broker -- recounting what led to his close friendship with the legendary preacher W.A. Criswell -- said he had stopped going to church but later became acquainted with "an old cattleman down in East Texas" who challenged him to start going to church again, to pray and to read the Bible.
"I started reading the Bible and came to church here in Dallas," Pogue said. "The church I was in was very liberal, but I had started reading the Bible, and I never missed a day. As I read that Bible, I wanted to be in a church where the pastor preached from the Bible, not on the social issues of the day, not why alcoholics are alcoholics, not how bad the government was.
"I wanted to learn what God said. I just wanted to be in a church where the preacher was preaching from the Bible because he could preach from any verse and it would help me," Pogue said.
One of Pogue's friends at the time, Jim Ray Smith, was a deacon at First Baptist Church in Dallas, where Criswell was pastor for a half-century. Whenever Smith came by his office, Pogue would ask about Bible passages he was finding difficult or hard to understand.
"I said, 'What does it mean in the Bible when it says this?' I had read it that morning, and Jim Ray would always say, 'Well, Dr. Criswell says it means this. Dr. Criswell says it means that.' It went on day after day.
"Finally, one day I said to Jim Ray, 'Who is Dr. Criswell?' I didn't know who he was. And he said, 'He's the pastor of the First Baptist Church, and you ought to come and hear him preach someday.'
"So one day I decided if I'm ever going to learn what God means in the Bible, I've got to get in a church where the preacher is preaching from the Word of God," Pogue said. "So one Sunday without telling anybody, I went to the First Baptist Church."
When Criswell got up to preach, he said, as Pogue recalled, "'Before I preach my sermon, I want to say something. I have been your pastor for 30 years' -- or 35 or whatever number of years it was -- 'and every sermon I've ever preached has been from the pages of this holy book.'
"Then he held up that Bible and he said, 'I promise you as long as I am your pastor, every sermon I will ever preach will be from the pages of this Holy Bible,'" Pogue said. "And when he said that, the Lord spoke in my heart that 'This is where I want you. I want you in this church under this pastor.'"
Criswell enlisted Pogue as a church member to help negotiate some real estate deals for the church as it grew, and the two developed a friendship. Criswell lived with Pogue most of the last four years of his life and died in Pogue's house.
"I happen to think that Dr. Criswell is the greatest preacher who ever lived," Pogue said. "From the time he was a little boy of 9 years of age until he died at 92 years of age, he had his eyes on Jesus, on the cross, and on lost souls. His last words, coming momentarily out of a coma were, 'Oh, are you here for the revival?' As sick as he was and as close to death as he was and as medicated as he was, he still had his eyes on Jesus, on the cross and on lost people. He went to be with Jesus two days later."
Because Pogue knows that millions of people are like he was, not knowing how to be saved, he established the W.A. Criswell Foundation and its W.A. Criswell Sermon Library, an online collection of more than 4,000 of Criswell's sermons in audio and video form. Also available are transcripts and handwritten notes corresponding to the sermons. The sermon library can be accessed, free of charge, at wacriswell.com. The foundation also is in the process of establishing W.A. Criswell chairs for expository preaching at four Southern Baptist seminaries.
Criswell, who lived from 1909 to 2002, was a former president of the SBC and patriarch of the Conservative Resurgence. He preached more than 5,000 sermons at First Baptist and founded Criswell College there. Criswell held a doctorate from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and published 54 books.
Erin Roach is assistant editor of Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).
Copyright (c) 2014 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net


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West Quadrant Planning Charrette Runs June 10-14
The West Quadrant Charrette is coming up soon — the second week of June. As the culminating event in the second phase of the West Quadrant Plan process, the charrette will develop design concepts and layers, test them against CC2035 Concept Plan goals and policies, and provide opportunities for stakeholder, staff and public input.
There are several times during the week for participation, and the general public is invited to attend two open houses. All events will take place at 1900 SW 4th Avenue, Room 7A (7th floor).
- Open House #1: Tuesday, June 11, 5 – 7 p.m., Informal review and Q&A
- Open House #2: Friday, June 14, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Formal presentation at 12 p.m.
To attend for a longer time and help develop ideas for the West End, Downtown and South Downtown areas, consider coming on Monday, June 10. There will be an opening presentation and three breakout sessions to choose from:
- Opening Presentation: 8:30 – 10:15 a.m., Review Goose Hollow, Pearl District, Old Town/Chinatown, South Waterfront concepts
- Breakout Session A: 10:15 am – 12:15 p.m., Concept development for Downtown, South Downtown and West End
- Breakout Session B: 1:15 – 2:45 p.m., Concept development for smaller areas within Downtown, South Downtown and West End
- Breakout Session C: 3 – 4:30 p.m., (Same as Session B)
Project staff will be working with other agencies, City bureaus and the West Quadrant Stakeholder Advisory Committee the rest of the week. The general public is also invited to attend Report Back and Q&A sessions at the end of the day on Wednesday, June 12 (4 – 5 p.m.) and Thursday, June 13 (4:45 – 5:15 p.m.). A week-long charrette schedule with all event details is also available for review.
But what the heck is a charrette?
A charrette is an intense period of design or planning activity. Often used to bring together multiple stakeholders during one timeframe, a successful charrette will generate many ideas and promote joint ownership of solutions.
Roughly at mid point in the process, the West Quadrant Plan team is holding the charrette to synthesize the research and ideas gathered so far with stakeholders and the public in order to move into the next phase of the planning process ― concept planning. The West Quadrant Plan will ultimately guide growth, development and investments in the western part of Portland's Central City.
For questions or comments regarding the West Quadrant Charrette or the planning process please contact Elisa Hamblin at (503) 823-9714 or via email at email@example.com.
Photos courtesy of Bruce Forester and Sally Painter.


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After winning the first two games of this series, coming away with a split is definitely disappointing. It's not as if the Mets had a realistic chance to catch the Braves for the wild-card, but after losing seven of their last 10 they are now 10.5 games behind Atlanta.
After another one-run loss this afternoon (that's 18 on the season), they are headed to Arizona and San Diego, where it won't be easy. The Mets are at their point of the season where the goals are fundamental, such as finishing above .500 and making value judgments on the future.
With the latter, I liked how Terry Collins handled Jonathan Niese this afternoon. Collins gave Niese 122 pitches worth of rope and stuck with him in the eighth when most managers would have been seduced by the pitch count and gone the conventional route.
Most managers would have yanked Niese after Cameron Maybin's leadoff single, and definitely after the stolen base. Then, after an intentional walk and double steal, Jerry Manuel might have been on his second reliever.
With runners on second and third, Collins gave Niese a strong vote of confidence and allowed him to pitch to Aaron Cunningham. Perhaps it was a vote of non-confidence in the bullpen, but this was important to Niese's development.
Cunningham grounded a ball to Ruben Tejada, who, instead of getting in front of the ball, tried to one-hand it. The ball went off the heel of his glove and Niese was on his way to becoming the hard-luck loser.
Even so, Niese got the ground ball he needed, indirectly rewarding Collins' confidence.
A couple of years ago teams called the Mets asking for Niese and they wisely eschewed. It was one of Omar Minaya's better decisions.
Niese still has a way to go, but this was definitely something to build on.


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p.esquire needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 60 designs submitted by 17 freelance designers.
2 The Nine's Productions
I'm an independent musician working on my material to be released under the "2 the Nine's" label I'm developing. I want to eventually incorporate Events Promotions as well as Booking and Managing other bands under this same production company.
- Record Label/Distribution
- Events Promotions Company
- Booking Agent
- Band Management
Young hip Indie kids and bands with a taste for cutting edge music and fashion. Underground NYC style fashion parties. A bit of a trashy chic flavor. The kind of scene you'd expect if you were going to see MGMT or Passion Pit before they blew up. That enviable group of kids constantly on the cusp of the next big thing.
Here is an album of inspirational imagery I collected...
Words that come to mind...
- Minimal
- Sexy
- Eye Catching
- Chic
- Rock n Roll
- Elusive
- Impact-full.
Interesting and eye catching takes on the name "2 the Nine's Productions"
This logo will be used for business cards, website, fliers, CD Jackets, etc... So the usual high quality formats will be required.
Please do not use any stock images or clip art in the logo
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Make more informed decisions on key business issues. The Conference Board is committed to providing information and services in the field of business management research.
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18 February, 2014 | (01 hr)
After a remarkably long period of economic growth and optimism, the country's economy and society seems once again to be suffering the dual disappointments of unfulfilled promises and missed opportunities. The progress that began with the economic reforms in the 1990s and significant investment in social cohesion, which lifted some 35 million Brazilians out of poverty in the 2000s, has stalled again. One reason is that the tailwinds from the commodity boom fueled by China's explosive growth and cheap capital, driven by quantitative easing in mature economies, are fading. But longer term, Brazil is facing critical strategic choices and trade-offs to be able to accelerate growth beyond 3 percent. It needs to navigate between limiting the growth of government spending and the need to step up investment in infrastructure and public services.
Aloisio Campelo
Aloisio Campelo Junior, Deputy Superintendent for Business Cycle, is the deputy head for Business Cycle Program of the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), and leads a team of 10+ economists on the tendency surveys of the Brazilian economy. He also provides technical assistance to the Eco...Full Bio
Roberto Castello Branco
Roberto Castello Branco is Advisor to the CEO of Vale in Rio de Janeiro, where he just retired from his position as Head of Investor Relations and Chief Economist, being responsible for the global relationship with capital market participants. He was a Central Bank director of Brazil, a Professor...Full Bio
Bart van Ark
Bart van Ark is Executive Vice President and Chief Economist of The Conference Board, a global research organization with its head office in New York City in the United States. He leads a global team of economists in New York, Brussels and Beijing, who produce a range of widely watched economic i...Full Bio


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County bank expands again: Scotts Valley up nextOctober 7, 2004
The following is an article from the Santa Cruz SentinelCounty bank expands again: Scotts Valley up next By GWEN MICKELSON Sentinel staff writer SCOTTS VALLEY — In what's been a flurry of bank activity in the past year, the county's only locally owned bank is opening its second of three planned offices, this one in Scotts Valley. Santa Cruz County Bank opened in February. The Scotts Valley branch, at 4604 Scotts Valley Drive, will open in mid-November, according to Chuck Maffia, who will head the office. In August, Santa Cruz County Bank announced plans to open a branch in Watsonville in February. "We can truly say we're throughout the county," Maffia said. The county has experienced high activity in the financial institution sector in the past year. It's all a part of a decade of unprecedented prosperity for banks, according to John Rossell, Santa Cruz County Bank president and chief executive officer. In August 2003, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union opened a new main branch in downtown Santa Cruz. In October, Monterey Bay Bank was acquired by UnionBanCal Corp., the parent company of Union Bank of California. In November, Bay Federal Credit Union, the county's largest locally owned credit union, was granted a charter expansion to provide retail banking services in Monterey and San Benito counties. In December, Bank of America opened a mortgage-lending office on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz. In July, Salinas-based Community Bank of Central California opened a Santa Cruz branch. Rossell chalks up the activity to changes brought on by recession. "In California, since the banking industry came out of the very difficult real estate-centered recession of the late '80s and early '90s, banks have reorganized and improved greatly their loan portfolios, and have enjoyed about a 10-year period of unprecedented prosperity," he said. "This is particularly true of banks in California, where there has been a tremendous appreciation in the value of real estate." He attributes the growth in deposits in the county to some reshuffling from larger banks to smaller banks, but also to population growth. Scotts Valley is home to several bank branches, including Bank of America, Coast Commercial Bank, Comerica Bank, Wells Fargo Bank and World Savings Bank. Rossell said the bank always planned to open a Scotts Valley branch, and when they found both the right person to head the branch as well as a favorable lease, the idea jelled. But he also said management thought the addition would be profitable for the bank. Maffia's experience includes 17 years as manager of the Scotts Valley branch of Bank of America. His career with Bank of America spanned more than 30 years, and he served for two years as a manager with First National Bank in Watsonville. His career, however, has not included opening an office, he said. "The challenge to build a bank in what I consider my hometown is a tremendous opportunity, and I'm energized and look forward to it," Maffia said. Rick Hofstetter, president and chief executive officer of Coast Commercial Bank, which has a Scotts Valley branch, said he was not surprised Santa Cruz County Bank was expanding into Scotts Valley. "It's not unexpected that they would try to expand in the county and elect to expand in the Scotts Valley area," he said. "It's a good market, and all the major institutions, including ourselves, are represented here." Santa Cruz County Bank has total assets of about $41 million after seven months of operations, according to Rossell. Deposits total $30 million. Rossell said the bank expects the Scotts Valley branch to experience a more moderate rate of growth than Santa Cruz or Watsonville because Scotts Valley is more consumer-oriented. The bank is accepting deposits for the Scotts Valley and Watsonville offices and is offering its customers courier service, online banking and other services prior to opening. The branch will open with four full-time employees and one part-timer. The branch will include parking, a walkup ATM and night depository. Contact Gwen Mickelson at email@example.com. Santa Cruz County Bank WHAT: Privately owned community bank based in Santa Cruz with a Scotts Valley branch opening in November and one in Watsonville in February. HEADQUARTERS: 325 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. BACKGROUND: Opened in February after public stock offering. EMPLOYEES: 18. LEADERSHIP: John Rossell, president and chief executive officer. DIRECTORS: Chairman George Gallucci, vice chairman William Hansen, Kenneth Chappell, Thomas Griffin, Tila Guerrero, David Heald, Steven John and John Rossell. INFORMATION: 457-5000; www.sccountybank.com. STOCK PRICE: Shares, trading on Over the Counter Bulletin Board as SCZC.OB, listed at $14.80. It last traded July 27. The 52-week range is $10-15. FINANCIALS: After seven months, deposits were about $30 million with assets of about $41 million.


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Microsoft throws off the shroud on its unified communication strategy.
At an event Monday in San Francisco, it plans to showcase a slew of planned products designed to more closely link virtually all workers' communications, from e-mail and instant messaging to videoconferencing and even traditional telephone calls.
The idea is that a worker could, for example, receive an e-mail and, instead of responding in print, easily set up a conference call with all the recipients. Those people might even see the e-mail header on their phones, much like you see caller ID today.
When strung together, the so-called Unified Communications products also are designed to help employees immediately get in contact, whether the person they want to reach is sitting at a computer, driving home or on a business trip.
Microsoft has been working on early iterations of such technology for the past several years, and some, such as Live Communications Server 2005, are already on the market. The new products and updates are due to be out by mid-2007.
Microsoft's new software relies on technologies such as broadband Internet access and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The Redmond company also is partnering with companies including cell phone maker Motorola Inc. to provide the hardware for the offerings.
Currently, many businesses rely on separate companies for things like traditional phone calls and voice mail, e-mail and instant messaging.
One challenge for Microsoft and other companies seeking to bundle such capabilities is that some of those services, such as instant messaging, are available for free.
But Zig Serafin, general manager for Unified Communications at Microsoft, said the software maker is hearing from more companies concerned about the security and reliability of free downloads.
Although he conceded that it could be several years before companies start using some of these advanced technologies, Microsoft's goal is to demonstrate that such technologies can evolve into one linked offering, rather than several separate ones.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — It takes more than nine games to build a hall of fame résumé, but San Jose State quarterback David Fales is off to a good start.
The first-year Spartan enters Saturday's game at New Mexico State (1-8, 0-4 Western Athletic Conference) within striking distance of two major single-season school passing records.
Fales, a junior, is 410 yards shy of Mike Perez's 1987 passing yards record and four touchdowns away from Steve Clarkson's 1981 passing touchdown mark. Both record holders are in SJSU's Sports Hall of Fame.
"It's exciting to be even mentioned with those guys. Those are guys I look up to," said Fales, a Palma High-Salinas product who transferred to SJSU from Monterey Peninsula College. "It's my name, but it's not me. I've got the best group of receivers and O-line."
With three regular season games and a potential bowl game left, Fales is on pace to break every significant SJSU single-season passing record. If the Spartans (7-2, 3-1) play 13 games, Fales projects to pass for 4,117 yards and 30 touchdowns.
His passer rating of 165.7 would break SJSU Hall of Famer Jeff Garcia's single-season record of 160.1 and his 72.7 completion percentage would shatter Adam Tafralis' record of 65.6. Fales is also in line to break season records for completions, pass attempts and total offense.
"It's been amazing what he's been able to do in the short amount of time that he's been here," said offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren. "Just to be able to make the decisions he's been making consistently I think has been the most impressive thing."
His leadership skills set him apart.
"All the kids respect him. He does well off the field, in the classroom, has no ego and is very personable," SJSU coach Mike MacIntyre said. "All those other intangibles have made him have the special year he's having so far. Because a lot of people can throw, a lot of people can move in the pocket, but having all those qualities is a tribute to his character."
His circuitous route to SJSU is well documented. He signed with Nevada out of high school and spent his redshirt year in Reno. It wasn't the right fit and he transferred to MPC. Two years of success landed him with the Spartans and he couldn't be happier with how it worked out.
"I don't really stop and think about it but when you do it's like, 'Wow. What was I thinking a year ago and where I'm at today, it's pretty amazing,' " Fales said. "I'm happy, but there's still a lot more to go."
If he stays healthy, Fales should eclipse all of the single-season marks this year and possibly make a run at some of the career marks next year. If all that happens, it's not a stretch to think he could go down as one of the best quarterbacks in SJSU history.
For now that may be premature, but Fales will likely enjoy the experience. He qualifies as one of the better personalities on the practice field.
"I try to be a little enthusiastic and exciting because you come out here and it can be boring doing the same things every day," Fales said. "You've got to mess around and have fun. We're a group of guys that gets along really well and we all have good relationships, so it's fun coming out here."
Follow Jimmy Durkin on Twitter at Twitter.com/Jimmy_Durkin.


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Westside Tavern is a social, urban-minded restaurant, featuring chef-driven California Tavern Cuisine alongside a complementary selection of fresh cocktails, California craft beers and a boutique wine list.
10850 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Sunday - Thursday
11am - 10pm
Friday - Saturday
11am - 11pm
Parking is available in the Westside Pavilion Parking Structure Parking is complementary for the first 3 hours, and with validation an additional 2 hours are added for $3 dollars.
General Manager: Kim Gile
Phone: (310) 470-1539
Email: email@example.com
"Post-Shopping Spree Cocktails, and Chicken Liver Mousse?"
- Beth Cone Kramer, Revere Magazine
"What am I? Chopped Liver?"
- Beth Cone Kramer, Revere Magazine
"Chef Ben Cohn keeps up with the seasons on his specials board".
- Leslie Balla, ZAGAT
Copyright © 2009


text: Breakfast will be served today from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Aberdeen Moose Family Center, 410 Ninth Ave. S.W. Menu choices include biscuits, gravy and eggs; pancakes, eggs and sausage; waffles, eggs and sausage, and French toast, eggs and sausage. Also included are coffee and juice. The cost is $4.50 for adults. You receive a 50-cent discount if you show your Moose Legion card. The cost is $2 for kids 6 to 12 and free for those younger than 6. From staff reports


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I am just beginning to catch up on haulage pics…bear with me, there are loads and loads of good reviews and things coming up!
I love gel and cream eyeshadows very much – so I picked up four of these KATE gel shadows. KATE is not the most glam of brands but the product quality, when its good, is amazing.
BR1, BR2, GY1 and GD1.
GD1 – Is a soft shimmer yellowy gold nice as a base.
GY1 – Is the one I loved the look of – a metallic grey – its very nice but a little on the sheer side, as a lot of these gel eyeshadows are.
BR1 – Is really super pretty. It's like the colour of a teddy bear, a slightly dirty one though.
BR2 – A richer chocolate brown. Beautiful again.
These eyeshadows dry quickly so you need to work fast before it sets. When it dries it doesn't budge unless you have watery eyes (then I can't say it stays put very well). There's a really nice iridescent shimmer to all of the colors. They aren't madly opaque though – you could add some powder on top for some depth but its perfect for the daytime.
You can buy them


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After declining to tender an offer to defensive tackle Nate Collins and allowing him to become a free agent, the Chicago Bears elected to keep him in the Windy City after all.
According to Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears re-signed Collins to a one-year contract on Thursday. Collins will make a league minimum $715,000 next season.
Collins was scheduled to be a restricted free agent before the Bears declined to tender him an offer. Collins appeared in nine games for the Bears last season and recorded 11 tackles and a pass defensed. With the release of defensive tackle Matt Toeaina, Collins gives the Bears some additional depth along their defensive line.


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Suspend all activity when the music starts. If you have your finger up your nose, leave it there. If a mosquito buzzes annoyingly around you, too bad. Try and bargain with it telepathically to leave you alone in exchange for the address of a carnatic concert in the same neighbourhood.
Don't clap. You'll get into trouble. Western classical musicians lose their mojo if there's applause between movements. Mimic a 1970s concrete water-maiden until the music stops. Look around for someone who seems knowledgeable. Rub your palms non-committally when this person applauds. If the artist acknowledges the applause, clap 3 times and smile wanly.
Athough unthinkable before, it is now considered polite and modern to whistle and hoot while applauding at a classical concert. However, be warned that it is not you that should be doing it. YOU - are supposed to continue resembling a frozen coelacanth. The polite whistles should emerge from experienced polite whistlers.
Do not say Sabhash, Aaaaan and Bhale in the middle of a complex aria. Do not waggle your head and say mchxl-mchxl when the soprano hits a high C.
Do not say silly things like "Actually all weshtran musics are in Shankarabharana raaga only." Multiple carnatic music buffs in the audience will jump up immediately and say "Yes yes". They will then proceed to bore everyone senseless with comparisons to Yedhukula Kambhoji and Kiravani and there will be no end to it.
If you're bored, do not make things worse by looking at the artist's music score to see how many pages they have left to play. Chances are that the artist will play till the last page, flip the music over and play it all over again from the top. These classical musicians I tell you.
Try not to focus on the conductor's bottom, though it is the most visible part of the concert. The music does not come from there, though the rhythm does.
Your babies are cute. Leave them AT HOME. Do not inflict a stuffy adult concert on them. They are not interested. The rest of the audience isn't interested in listening to them wail through one either.
If your cell phone rings in the middle of the concert, commit hara-kiri immediately. Yes I realize it takes two people to do it. Don't worry, I will help you.
You are not allowed to arrive or leave in the middle of a piece unless you're dying. Even if you are, you'll probably live through the piece anyway, thanks to the preservative effect of your state of suspended animation.
Do not request an old hindi number at a Bach concert. Well I suppose you could, actually. Go ahead, enjoy ma.
However, do not, at the end of the request, say, "Oh what is there, anybody can play piano ting ting ping ping." I realize Shammi Kapoor has convinced you that you can produce excellent western classical by kneading imaginary chappati dough over a Baby Grand. What you don't realize is that this technique will not work unless there is a heavily mascaraed weeping woman with a bun as big as her head, a disapproving father in a dressing gown AND a grand staircase for him to hobble down.
Linger around after the concert with a polite smile on your face. Chances are you'll be photographed and captioned: "All smiles - Syamanthakamani and Selvaganapathy" on page 3 the next day.
And finally, do remember to take the program list home. You can mug up the names of the pieces and rattle them off at the unsuspecting people you have incarcerated in your basement for this purpose.


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YOUR BUSINESS is very important to each of us at Simon Says Stamp! We value and appreciate all of our customers and want to offer you something special for this holiday season! It is because of YOU that 5 ladies have full time jobs and several others have part time work. Five of us are mothers with families. We appreciate a sale! THAT IS WHY WE WANT TO OFFER YOU SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR THE HOLIDAYS!! SHOP NOW and SAVE! Need supplies for your Christmas cards and projects? SHOP NOW and SAVE! Glue, cardstock, envelopes, stamps, ink, paints, glossy accents, all of Tim Holtz' products, glitter, cards, embellishments, punches, stickers, flowers, ornaments ?! We have ONE STOP SHOPPING at Simon Says Stamp!
Simon Says Stamp is celebrating Black Friday with our own TWIST! First off, you don't have to live in the United States! Our sale is for EVERYONE who uses our promotion code on his or her order! The sale is valid starting NOW until midnight next Friday (Black Friday)! This way, you can get your shopping done early and get your projects started or even, finished!
I have to tell you, this is our biggest ( and one of our ONLY Sales of the year ) Our promotion is typically ONLY on shipping and handling, and most would agree, at FREE SHIPPING For USA orders over $60 and International orders over $150, is a great promotion. The shipping promotion is STILL ACTIVE During our Black Friday Sale!
In order to qualify, we do ask that you play by a few rules. Remember, this is our biggest sales week of the year and we are working HARD ( and during the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the USA) to keep up with shipping. All orders are being filled on a first come, first served basis, so please SHOP EARLY if you can! Thursday is a Holiday here in the USA and our offices and warehouses will be closed, but you will still be able to shop! YAHOO! We strive to ship all orders within a 3 business day period after receiving payment. HOWEVER, during this busiest week of the year, we might fall a few days behind. Just remember, first come, first served. We are open 24 hours 7 days a week at www.SimonSaysStamp.com
This sale is only in our store www.SimonSaysStamp.com. It is not valid for any purchases you make on ebay. Our ebay outlet has several other special sales and auctions starting at just 99 cents during this time. Click on the logo to see those specials ;)
You must enter the promotion code bf15 when you check out at www.SimonSaysStamp.com. Please please remember to do this. If you do not enter the code, you will not receive your discount. Entering the code triggers your order to receive 15% off all of your items. Please do not ask us to do this for you AFTER you place your order. We cannot. We simply do not have the manpower to go through all orders and adjust the invoices, answer phone calls and emails and manually refund 15% back to customers. Unfortunately, our computer system does not allow us to enter the code for you after you complete your order. I am really sorry, we are a small company and in order to be able to offer this promotion, we simply ask you to play by the rules. In order to receive this promotion, please keep in mind you must enter the promotion code.
Enter promotion code bf15 when you check out. There is a space at the bottom (after you enter your contact information and mailing address) where you can enter a promotion code.
Coupon code is valid from NOW until midnight Black Friday, November 27.
Orders are processed in a first come, first served basis. It is our goal to ship within 3 business days, but please remember Thursday November 27 is Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA so our offices are closed Thursday.
Please understand that this is our busiest time of year and we are working hard and around the clock to help you and to process your orders. If there is a delay in emailing or calling you back, it is only because we are swamped, NOT because we don't care. WE CARE! WE CARE A LOT! Your business is very important to us! That is why we want to offer you something special for your holiday shopping!!
What are you waiting for?! Get shopping! Supplies are limited and orders are filled first come, first served!
Much luv,
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Think You're Covered? Think Again
Joanne Jordan's townhouse isn't much to look at. Her younger sister, Jessica Nally, laughs as she remembers the first time Jordan showed her the place. "I thought, Oh, my God," says Nally, 30. "It's dark-brown brick with drab-brown trim—there's absolutely nothing outstanding about it." But to Jordan, it was beautiful.
The three-story house in Manassas, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., is the place where the fiercely independent Jordan obtained her first mortgage. It's the place she spent her weekends, endlessly tinkering with the plumbing, painting the dingy walls or planting flowers. And after she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 27, it became a place of refuge, an escape from white-walled hospital wards.
What Jordan's home didn't offer was protection from her medical bills. Every day, she pried the notices out of her stuffed mailbox: a $3,145 co-payment for medications, $1,000 for each monthly dose of an experimental drug treatment and more than $13,500 for four months of chemotherapy at Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge, Virginia. Thinking too hard about where the money would come from while she was trying to heal would be overwhelming. So she steeled herself: This won't get between me and what I need. I am going to get treatment, if it means I have to pay for it every day for the rest of my life.
In May 2001, Jordan arrived home after a doctor's appointment, exhausted, to find a notice posted on her door by the county sheriff. Potomac Hospital's administrators had taken her to court and secured a lien on her house. If she failed to pay the $13,500, the notice threatened, Potomac could foreclose.
Jordan's haven was slipping away. Doctors were saying she needed a costly bone marrow transplant. At that moment, $13,000 seemed as out of reach as $1 million. She called her mother, in tears. "Mom, I think I'm going to lose my house."
Compared with other women facing illness, Jordan considered herself blessed. She had a supportive family and a job in real estate. And she had health insurance. But increasingly, even good coverage can't protect against rising medical costs. A single accident or diagnosis, and any woman—particularly a single one—can end up broke, even homeless. Last year, nearly 1 million Americans declared bankruptcy because of medical issues, says Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. That's nearly half of all bankruptcies in the country. And bankruptcy affects the American middle class more than any other group, Dr. Woolhandler says; 94 percent of filers are middle class, and 55 percent of them are women.
Patients are squeezed from every direction: Drug prices have gone up even as benefit plans have become skimpier, increasing patient co-pays and deductibles. But the biggest chunk of expenses is hospital costs, which have risen 10 percent per year since 1999, far outpacing inflation, says Glenn Melnick, Ph.D., professor of health economics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Melnick's research found that last year, hospitals charged, on average, 211 percent more for services than it cost to provide them. In extreme cases, the markup can be 1,000 percent. As patients struggle to pay debts, hospitals are going to extremes to collect them, levying heavy charges worthy of credit card companies and using collection practices more suited to repo men than to often nonprofit, religiously affiliated institutions. It's a story Jordan and her family lived for more than five years. As she fought two recurrences of cancer, Jordan's chemo, radiation, two bone marrow transplants and other treatments ran up bills well over $1 million from seven different hospitals.
Thousands of patients like Jordan have been sued and had liens put on their homes, according to the Service Employees International Union in Washington, D.C., which has investigated the issue in Connecticut, Illinois and California. Others have had wages garnished or bank accounts frozen. And hospitals in at least six states have responded to delinquent bills by having patients arrested and even thrown in jail, a practice rarely used by other creditors. The situation has gotten so bad that earlier this year, the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held hearings examining rising hospital costs and unsavory collection practices. Jordan's mother, Joanne Royaltey, 52, who works as a grant writer for Valley Health System in Winchester, Virginia, knows the issue isn't simple. "I realize hospitals need bills paid so that they can keep the doors open," she says. "But medical debt is not like credit card debt. Folks dealing with it are devastated by illness. They need help, not heartless collection agents. The hospitals may eventually get money from these people, but they destroy lives—which is in direct opposition to their mission to save lives."
Jordan was prone to infections from the time she was a small child. "She was always the kid with the swollen glands," Royaltey says. "We got used to it." When Jordan developed a sore throat in early 1997, she wrote it off as a winter virus. But spring came, and her throat still hurt; she gave in and went to an urgent-care center in Manassas. The diagnosis was almost immediate: classic Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes that commonly strikes adults in their 20s.
Jordan seemed to handle the discovery better than anyone. She called her mother, calmly broke the news and asked her to dinner. Together, over burgers and onion rings, they went through the lists Jordan had already made of doctors and treatment options. At the time, she was working as a nanny for a family with three children; the job had no benefits, so she had scrimped to purchase an individual insurance policy.
Jordan felt sure she would be covered. But the company refused to pay for her treatment. She had waited too long to see a doctor, the representative told her, and her lymphoma had been ruled a preexisting condition. Overnight, she was as good as uninsured. And because Virginia has no independent appeals process for patients whose coverage is denied because their illness is deemed preexisting, there was nothing to do but to continue treatment without it.
A surprising 75 percent of the people who declare bankruptcy due to medical debt had insurance at the start of their illness, according to Dr. Woolhandler's research. But in too many cases, coverage is denied or they become too sick to work and lose their employer-subsidized insurance. "Physical therapy and many other things patients need are not covered," Dr. Woolhandler says. "All of a sudden a family spirals down into bankruptcy. Almost any diagnosis can do it."
Perversely, hospitals end up charging patients who have lost their insurance several times more than they charge insured patients for the same procedures. That's because private insurers use their leverage to negotiate huge discounts. But uninsured patients have no such leverage: They typically pay full price. An HMOmight pay $10,000 for treatment of a heart attack, for example, while an uninsured woman with the same condition, treated in the same hospital, pays $30,000. Critics say that hospitals are balancing their books on the backs of their most vulnerable patients.
"There's something completely backward about the system," says Elisabeth Benjamin, director of the health-law unit of the Legal Aid Society of New York City. "It's like sending a guppy out to the sharks." She adds that some uninsured patients are eligible for charity care but aren't told about the programs—in a sense, they never should have been debtors in the first place. Last year, the society surveyed 22 hospitals in New York City and found that none of them had a process to let underinsured or uninsured patients apply for the hundreds of millions of dollars in state-government funds intended to help pay for hospital care for the needy, despite the fact that the hospitals are all receiving between $4 million and $60 million annually in charity care funds from the state.
But as Richard Wade, spokesman for the American Hospital Association (AHA)in Chicago, notes, fully one third of hospitals lost money last year, mostly due to the costs of treating uninsured patients, rising drug prices, increased hospital staffing costs and lower reimbursements from insurers. About 4,000 of the association's 5,000 member hospitals have in place or are developing a discounting plan for uninsured patients, Wade says, but the only long-term solution is to overhaul a system that leaves more than 45 million Americans uninsured and still others underinsured. "I haven't seen too many articles in the paper about insurance companies going belly-up lately," Wade adds. "Everyone is going to have to give up something if we are to radically change the system to be inclusive of everybody."
As her health deteriorated, Jordan told her mother that she'd always wanted to see the Rocky Mountains. But with treatment straining her finances, she couldn't pay for a trip. Royaltey and her partner, Edward Wilman, bought a rickety 1977 Winnebago with orange shag carpet and the original fixtures and headed west with Jordan on a monthlong road trip in July 1997. "We were like a traveling hospital ward," she says. "Every morning I woke up to watch Joanne injecting herself with various chemo treatments and blood boosters, all kinds of medications, pills, IVs. When we got to Denver, we pulled into a parking lot at a medical office, where she had arranged to get chemotherapy."
Within months of returning from the trip, Jordan got a new job, as an office manager for a corporate real estate firm. She had a salary of around $30,000 and a new insurance plan that would cover a portion of her treatments. Her doctors began preparation for a bone marrow transplant at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore. The procedure, in October 1999, seemed to go well. But even with insurance paying for the transplant, the mail kept coming—bills for co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services, including the unpaid $13,500 charge from Potomac Hospital that resulted in the lien on her home. Even before the lien, she had been forced to take out a second mortgage. "I know it weighed on her," Nally says. "How could it not? Even if insurance covers 80 percent, 20 percent of half a million dollars is still $100,000. The numbers just went up and up."
Much smaller debts than Jordan's have landed women in trouble with hospital debt collectors. Kara Atteberry, a 26-year-old single mother in Urbana, Illinois, was briefly jailed for nonpayment of $1,514 for treatment at two local nonprofit hospitals. She was eight months pregnant when a warrant was issued for her arrest. Atteberry, whose story was first reported in The Wall Street Journal, was released after making a $250 bail payment. She still owes one of the hospitals.
Extreme collection methods such as arrest warrants are rarely used by credit card companies and other consumer debt collectors, says Melissa Jacoby, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who specializes in the impact of medical debt on individuals. And yet medical bills seem to cry out for more humane treatment than other debts. "If a consumer doesn't like the terms a store offers for the purchase of a television, the consumer can walk away," Jacoby says. But when a mother rushes her child to the emergency room, or when a bill is for a lifesaving bone marrow transplant, that's not a realistic option. In trying circumstances, patients or family members may sign documents agreeing to terms they wouldn't accept from other creditors.
As a result, already ill people get sicker. In one study from Columbia University in New York City, nearly half of people involved in debt-collection lawsuits said their money troubles had affected their health, causing afflictions such as headaches, insomnia and stomach problems. And the more aggressive the debt collection, the worse the debtor's health. "It exacerbates the problem, because when a patient has had a bad experience with a hospital's billing department, she won't want to go back to the doctor in the future," Jacoby says.
In the spring of 2001, a checkup revealed that Jordan's lymphoma had returned. Her oncologist recommended another bone marrow transplant, this time across the country at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. But because her insurer covered only one transplant per patient, payment was denied.
That fall, Jordan learned the company had rejected her third and final appeal of its decision. This time, however, her employer backed her up. "One desperate e-mail from me to our NY office...and my transplant was approved, the insurance company's decision overridden, no questions asked," she later wrote in an e-mail to her staff. "During this time of budget cuts, it's nice to know that our company has not forgotten the really important things."
Jordan spent four and a half months in Seattle recovering from the procedure. She needed round-the-clock care, but the family couldn't afford a private caregiver. Insurance typically does not cover this expense, making it another huge financial burden. A dozen of Jordan's friends and family took turns, flying to Seattle a week at a time, some making the trip twice. Nally sat with her sister as she fought back extreme pain, a lung infection, an accidental morphine overdose and her own frustration at being sick.
In July, as Jordan was finally preparing to return home to Virginia, a group of loved ones gathered at her Manassas townhouse. "As Joanne got sicker, the upkeep had been zero," Nally says. "We didn't want her to come home to this dilapidated house." With limited funds, the family negotiated half-off discounts with local hardware stores for materials and set about hammering, scraping, painting and sanding. By the time the group was done, the house had new floors, new carpeting and new paint. Jordan needed her mother's help to walk through the door, but her eyes sparkled.
That memory is one of Nally's best from the last weeks of her sister's life. The second transplant had severely weakened her immune system. In October 2002, three months after returning home, Jordan died of sepsis, a powerful infection. She had just turned 32.
Jordan left detailed plans for her memorial service, from the guest list ("I guess all are invited, even the exes") to the music (James Taylor, Sarah McLachlan—"no chamber garbage") to what to do with her remains (donate them to oncology research). But there were no instructions for her estate; whether out of protectiveness or pride, she'd kept the full burden of her debts to herself.
"I was so overwhelmed with making funeral arrangements, I didn't have time to grieve," Royaltey says. "And then I realized the extent of the debts. I had talked to Joanne every day but never really understood what she was going through. I started sorting her mail, and every time I opened a bill, it was thousands of dollars. She could have worked 20 lifetimes and never paid it off. It made me sick to have to deal with it, and it made me even sicker to know she had been dealing with it alone."
Royaltey set about trying to negotiate payments with each doctor, hospital and pharmacy. And they became intent on saving Jordan's house. "It's just this little townhouse, but we had put so much blood, sweat, tears and love in there," Royaltey says. "I want it to be Joanne's legacy to her younger sister."
Almost a year after her daughter's death, Royaltey found herself explaining the situation to Potomac Hospital officials and collection agents again and again, each time finding a different voice on the end of the line, and each time reliving Jordan's death. Interest and fees had swollen the lien to $16,500.
Nally got a home-equity loan big enough to cover the lien and the second mortgage if necessary, but the family hoped the hospital would negotiate: If they could get the lien reduced, they could tap into the money to pay other impatient creditors. Desperate, Royaltey and Nally went so far as to call the bank issuing the home-equity loan and ask it to withhold the check meant for Potomac while they tried to work out a compromise.
The hospital attorney contacted the courts, mortgage company and bank, accusing Royaltey of being unfit to administer her daughter's estate. A few days before Christmas, Royaltey reached him on the phone.
"This is business. I'm going to hang up if you cry," he said, Royaltey reports.
"I don't want to do anything illegal or extreme. I'm asking Potomac Hospital to make a deal with us," she said.
"I am Potomac Hospital," he said. "And there is no deal."
"I will be repeating that attorney's words over and over," Royaltey says today, "until there is a better deal for other people in this situation."
(A spokeswoman for Potomac Hospital says its records show no one from the Jordan family contacted its financial offices until 2003. The representative says the hospital has a policy of trying to help someone in Royaltey's position, but by that time the account had already been handed over to legal counsel.)
Alarmed by cases like Jordan's, a few state legislators have moved to make sure that a better deal happens. In Connecticut, hospitals are now required to work with patients to set up a fair payment plan before resorting to lawsuits, liens or arrests. The highest interest rate allowed is 5 percent—half of what it was previously. In Illinois, one of the hospitals that had Kara Atteberry and other patients jailed has had its property tax exemption revoked, and a law under debate would restrict aggressive collection practices and ban discriminatory pricing that penalizes uninsured patients.
The AHA, while urging its members to adopt "fair and balanced billing and collection practices," has never chastised them for targeting patients' bank accounts and home. But some institutions have made changes on their own. At the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, every patient has access to a counselor who can help determine whether she is eligible for Medicaid or meets criteria for charity care. Billing representatives "keep detailed records, and everyone has the same information," Royaltey says. "You don't have to keep reliving the whole thing over and over until you feel you are going to collapse."
Last year, Royaltey received a grant of $35,000 to form a local branch of Faith in Action, a volunteer organization that provides free transportation to chemotherapy and dialysis patients. She's also planning to write a book to help guide patients and families through the maze of medical debt. Nally used her loan to pay the entire $16,500 lien on the townhouse and moved into it with her new husband in May 2003. Now, two years after Jordan's death, the family is struggling to pay off the last debts, including $19,000 still owed to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Royaltey worries collectors will eventually lose patience and come after the house yet again. "Cancer robbed my daughter's health and her life," she says. "Now the only thing I have left of her will be stolen, too."
Photo Credit: Michael Luppino


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Welcome to AGcapita
Agcapita is a farmland investment fund built around the core premise that the world is in a bull market in agriculture commodities driven by increasing demand and, accordingly, that investments with direct or indirect exposure to agricultural commodities in a politically stable environment such as Canada will provide above average returns. We match sound macro-economic thinking with sound operational strategies to generate long-term returns by finding asset classes with:
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Monday, December 17, 2012
Astros have talked about Bud Norris
Bud Norris isn't going to help the Astros win a championship. And while he might be a #2 starter for the Astros, he's probably a #3-4 on most contending teams. So why not send him to a team with a deep system - even if they're within the division - for young building blocks?
9 comments:
Why not you ask? Maybe because we have already traded away everyone making any kind of money. There is no longer any money being tied up that prevents the Astros from spending away in their drafts. We have to start winning some games at some point. The argument that a guy is expendable because he won't be with the team when they are in contention again is trite and no longer valid.
- December 17, 2012 at 1:07 PM
- Astros County said...
I agree with part of what you said. It's not all about money. Any potential trade of Norris would ideally cost the Astros more payroll, just in the future. Bud Norris is a decent pitcher. He's not a great pitcher. Sometimes he's not even that good. He has yet to put together a 2.0+ WAR season. If a team wants to buy high on him, I'd be okay with it.
And you can't bring the draft into a financial conversation anymore, because of the new bonus pool limits. You can't spend your way through the draft anymore.
- December 17, 2012 at 1:29 PM
I'd trade Bud if the payoff was equivalent to a potential budding star, but not for the reason mentioned here. I am so sick of the philosophy that the target date is in the future and wins don't matter until then. It's a bankrupt philosophy leading to 8K crowds and years of crap.
People can put up with crap when they think something is building, but no one, not players, fans, nor sponsors wants to be associated with an org that perpetually strips off its assets to pay off owners' debt.
It's like Astro fans are victims of a leverage buyout. Crane stripping away everything of value to payoff his debt.
- December 17, 2012 at 1:55 PM
- Astros County said...
That's valid. I can't come up with anything to refute that.
- December 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM
- Reuben said...
A team trading for Bud now would be buying low, not high. Hence I don't see why it makes sense for the Astros. If anything I'd like to see them try him at closer, maybe pump up his value that way. And hey, maybe grab some extra wins in 2013 while they're at it. I agree that aspect should not be ignored.
- December 17, 2012 at 2:08 PM
- Juvenile Court Clerk - Bryan Trostel said...
I don't know that using the word "perpetually" is responsible here. What we've seen is a two and a half year stretch, started when Drayton and Ed were still around, where the guys who weren't winning us games were sent somewhere else in exchange for guys that have a better chance of winning us games in a couple years. And anyone who doesn't see what's building in the upper minors now doesn't want to pay attention.
Sure, winning 70 games might matter to fans, but would you rather win 70 games a year for five years and still be dealing with a near barren farm system with no real future to get excited about, or win 60 games for three years, stockpile talent for many years to come, and start climbing back to where Houston baseball should be?
I don't remember where, but there was a well written article recently that showed that even if Luhnow had played the free agent market with a prescient perfection last off-season the Astros would still have likely finished last in the Central.
- December 17, 2012 at 3:51 PM
I was the anon who used the word "perpetually." Hopefully I am wrong, but sometimes things really are as they appear to be.
It is one thing when you trade established players (Berkman, Pence, Oswalt, Bourn) for potential impact players. That is clearly understandable. Classic rebuilding.
It is entirely something else when you trade established players (Wandy, Myers, Happ) for minor league depth, whatever that is and whatever that gets you. This is less understandable. I understand the argument that some of those guys might eventually help, but I just don't buy it. At best, you are trading present major league wins for equal future major league wins. At best, IMO. A more cynical view might perceive these trades as salary dumps.
Once you start trading non-established players in pre-arb years (Lopez and Norris) for other non-established players in pre-pre-arb years, you start looking like a simple cheapskate, who cares about stripping the company of assets, rather than someone who is financially stable and committed to real building.
In sum, we all have different opinions on when that threshold has been crossed, but to me, the teardown strategy has morphed from a teardown-to-rebuild strategy into a teardown-cause-we-are-broke strategy.
- December 17, 2012 at 5:17 PM
- Reuben said...
Anon, by your definition, the Melancon trade would've qualified as "teardown because we are broke". To me the Wilton trade was similar (although, I personally loved Wilton and am sad he is no longer an Astro)- trade a young Major League asset to get an even younger Major League asset with higher upside but some risk. It's hard for me to see them getting fair value for Norris right now (compared to his future potential, or his pre-2012 value), but if they get "blown away" with an offer, I can understand doing it, preferably for MLB-ready pieces ala Lowrie and White.
- December 17, 2012 at 6:33 PM
Why not? This team sucks and nobody watches now, the score of the game is always like 7-2 other team ahead, but astros. Its going to be 14-3 this year in the AL, on most nights. Im seeing a 50 Win season or worse, this team will stink so bad nobody going to want to watch. You cant put out a team of Majority of AA-AAA. Without any real ball players, where is the money going to go his pocket? Dont like what hes doing. Need to pick up some real ball players, last two years have been embarrsing. :(
- February 5, 2013 at 11:32 PM