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Posts Tagged ‘Deny Everything’
Earth’s crops are drying out. There’s nothing to do to stop this. Humanity is doomed, and the last generation has already been born. Fortunately, the Lambcast is here to sort it all out.Host Jay Cluitt is joined by co-host Robert Zerbe, Joel Burman, Stevee Taylor and newcomer Terrence Faulkner to talk all things Interstellar, but mainly the robots. What is the optimum number of cinema viewings? What exactly is...
It’d time for another Top 5 List, but instead of the usual Roll Your Own method (wherein everyone does a completely differently themed list) this time we’re all taking the same idea – movies released in the year we were born. Fortunately, everyone on the show was born in a different year, so prepare to hear us tackle a great deal of movies from every genre imaginable.
It’s been a while since we’ve had the chance to talk about a critically acclaimed film as the movie of the month, what with recent months delivering the likes of Timecop, Cocktail and Demolition Man, so it was something of a relief that, thanks to Will from Exploding Helicopter, we got to discuss Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 classic western The Wild Bunch.
Sometimes we need to take a step back from reviewing films or talking about what we’ve been watching lately or playing LAMBpardy to just talk amongst ourselves. To learn a bit more about each other, outside of our love of films. With that said, I present to you the second edition of Get To Know Your LAMBcasters, where I was joined by Joel, Joe, Kristen and first-timer Robert Zerbe of To the Escape Hatch. We talked about swimming...
Larry Clark is perhaps best known for the 1995 film Kids, which launched the careers of quite a few people: Rosario Dawson, Chloe Sevingy, Harmony Korrine, and Clark himself. But his 2001 film Bully – not to be confused with the 2011 documentary of the same name – is a similar piece of filmmaking, dealing with the angst and lifestyles of (mostly) teenagers, this time in Florida. It’s also based on a...
** Some news and changes to the MOTM/MOTM Champions this month. Read on for the skinny. **
Well, it’s been an up-and-down week or so for the MOTM Champions angle. Your Shepherd, Joel Burman, was the only one to throw his hat into the ring for July, so I was all set to kill Champions and go back to just having me select five random films and having you vote on them.
I don’t want to give anything away just yet, but can we talk for a minute about FAMILY? The LAMBcast FAMILY wishes to invite you to listen to episode 169, in which we discuss Justin Lin’s fourth entry in the Fast & Furious series, and we welcome you to invite you aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, Diesels and Ludacrisses (Ludacri?). In other words, we’re having a FAMILY reunion to...
Close to two months since the start of the submission stage, the time to reveal the Sixth Annual LAMMY nominess is now! 1500+ blogs have been narrowed to 18 categories, and this is the moment when you get to learn which sites/podcasts/vlogs/people were selected by your peers to be amongst the nominees.
It was a battle for the ages, and it led to a film containing a fair few battles eing the winner. Yes, The Princess Bride took down Primer, this renewing the debate over what should and shouldn’t be a Movie of the Month yet again. Should it shine a light on lesser-known/lesser-seen gems that slipped through the cracks or should it feature timeless classics? If you ask me, the answer leans towards the former but...
It’s only took about three years, but I think it’s safe to say that we’ve got a nice stable of rotating general show outlines (Whatcha Been Watching Lately?, Roll Your Own Top 5, Franchise Look-Backs, etc), and Bring Your Own Discussion Topic is just one of...
I didn't want to slag on anyone's picks in my commentary, but the biggest stunner to me was actually Dogma in the first round. I love Dogma, think it's an underrated satire, and would have happily picked it... in round 3.
Your roster is damn strong. I don't care for Chasing Amy, but it was a no-brainer pick at that point. The only reason I shied away from Saving Private Ryan and True Grit is that I don't think of those as "Matt Damon movies"... and even then, I'd grab True Grit over Contagion if I could do it over again.
If I lose this with the best War film ever made...A Coen Bros Western...A Kevin Smith classic...The highest reviewed and grossing Bourne film...A top ten romantic of the decade...AND GOOD WILL FRIGGIN' HUNTING!!!!....I will just retire from drafting because I don't know anything.
I think it makes more sense than you give it credit for. I'm not gonna go pick by pick, but I think the general thinking was to get (good) films that prominently featured one or both of them first. And sure - Damon might be 4th or 5th-most prominent in O11, but it's still an ensemble and there are still good films that star one or the other that went first. If it was "just take the best movie!," something like Private Ryan would go first.
As for you and Rounders and Shakes in Love - it's clear to me that you're just anti-American. :D | {
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"Well, it's not quite a mop and it's not quite a puppet… but man (laughs). So to answer your question, I don't know." – Homer Simpson, "A Fish Called Selma"
Pronounced with an Umpty
Don’t ask me how, but I just found out that 80’s character actor and current ER nurse Gedde Watanabe has a psuedonym. It turns out Mr. Watanabe’s given first name is Gary.
Ponder that one for a second. Try saying the name “Gary” in Watanabe’s signature Japanese accent (think 16 Candles).
Got it yet? No? Keep trying.
This is such a blatant misuse of a negative stereotype it only makes me angrier that I didn’t capitalize on it first. Too bad there aren’t any good Croatian parts out there, or I’d impugn my racial heritage for fame and fortune. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
My toy hunt list, circa 1991
I was looking through my old Tomart's Action Figure price guide and found my toy collector buying lists that I had written in the front and back pages. This would have been 1991-1993 and list some items I wanted to add to my collection and what stores I had seen them. Lots of GI Joes and Transformers at places like Children's Palace, Pamida, Gibsons and 1/2 Price Store. | {
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Investigators: Ballard Church fire intentionally set
A fire that began during a Sunday worship service in Ballard was intentionally set, fire investigators said Monday.
A minute past noon, 911 dispatchers received word of smoke and flames coming from the bathroom of Ballard Church at 1460 N.W. 73rd St. The church had roughly 140 people in the sanctuary during the service.
The fire began in a bathroom.
“Prior to firefighters arriving at the scene, the fire was extinguished by church patrons using dry-chemical extinguishers,” Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said in a statement. “The fire damage was limited to the first floor women’s restroom. Smoke from the fire did drift through the sanctuary.” | {
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
It has been a wild weather week.
As a country dweller, I likely have a few different concerns on a blustery night that saw Hurricane Sandy's remnants enter our area.
Will the hydro go out? If it does my sump pump in the basement won't work and I'll be bailing water all night.
Are all my hoop houses going to have plastic on them come morning?
Are my boats going to float away with the rising Welland River?
I was relieved to get up this morning after a restless sleep to find that most things were just fine. Not sure about the boats though..but I think the oars are gone!
Last Thursday I wore my shorts out in the garden while harvesting. All has changed now though and the last few days it has been full gear. Rain suit, coveralls underneath, rubber boots and whatever I can figure out for my hands to keep them warm and dry.
When I heard all about all the rain that was coming, my thoughts turned to carrots. I mean, didn't yours?
My carrots did really well this year with my super-duper special technique of planting carrots in clay.
But with sitting in a low spot and all, the huge amount of rainfall would mean they would be sitting in water.
That would only result in one thing....rotten carrots.
The last few days has been digging carrots in lousy conditions. Boot-grabbing mud, wind whipping, heavy rain and chilly conditions. These carrots were fought for and the battle won. The carrots are in and safe.
Good too.
Today's baskets had a good few roots in them.
The carrots of course, plus bright red turnips and oriental radishes that were either white or purple.
The turnips can be eaten either raw or cooked, as can the radishes. If you can't get to the radishes right away, don't worry. They last a long, long time.
There were also beets and somebody got the VERY large ones pictured above. Wow.
There are still peppers too which were included as well as chard, rosemary, thyme, leaf celery, parsley, broccoli or cabbage.
After working out in this weather my mind turns to soup. And with carrots being so bountiful, carrot soup is a great place to start. I usually just add what I like, using the following recipe as a bit of a guide.
Last night I sauteed onions and hot peppers before adding the carrots and water. I left out the curry and it was yummy.
Enjoy!
(This recipe is from www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
My friend Tiffany picks fruit that would otherwise be wasted and donates it to worthwhile and helpful organizations.
Joey is pleased no doubt that Tiffany is fond of him as well. Today I picked up some donated pears for Joey which he thoroughly enjoyed for his dinner.
Todays's CSA baskets mark my 33rd week in a row of doing baskets on Tuesdays. My immense gratitude to all who have taken part, and especially those folks who have been along for the entire time.
If you aren't in my CSA I am often able to do extra baskets and bring them into town as I did today, so please get in touch if you feel you might be interested.
There are 12 weeks to go in this session and lots of food in the garden still, with the greenhouses growing nicely too.
The baskets today were pretty full.
They included onions, squash, carrots, peppers (both hot and sweet), and green tomatoes.
Also radishes. The ones pictured below are Watermelon Radishes and are gorgeous when cut open.
The herbs I added today were parsley, leaf celery and oregano.
Then came a good helping of greens such as chards, kales, or mustard greens.
On the top a bag of lettuces and I'm sure the baskets contained something else too!
I used the following recipe as a guide, but made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand. And what I had on hand you will also find in you baskets.
This recipe is from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian", a wonderful cookbook. I've noted my substitutions in brackets.
Enjoy!
Spicy Autumn Vegetable Burger
Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Time: 30 minutes with cooked beans and kale
Here's a burger flecked with bits of green and orange vegetables, with both creamy and chewy textures. It's also a handy way to use leftover greens like kale, chard, cabbage, or spinach. If you don't have any handy, just cook and shock them according to the directions on page 241 of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. It will add only a few minutes to the recipe. Serve these on a crusty roll with barbecue sauce or your favorite condiment.
1. Squeeze all the water out of the kale and finely chop it. Put the cannellini beans in a large bowl and mash them roughly. Stir in the greens with a fork.
2. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil or butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot or the butter is melted, add the sweet potato and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to soften and color, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bread crumbs and remaining spices and cook and stir for another minute or so.
3. Stir the sweet potato mixture into the bean mixture with a fork, mixing until well blended. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes if you can before shaping it into patties. If it seems too wet, stir in a little flour to help bind it. Taste and adjust the seasoning. (You can make the burger mixture up to several hours in advance. Just cover tightly and refrigerate, then bring everything back to room temperature before cooking.) Wipe out the skillet.
4. Shape the mixture into 4 to 6 patties. Put 2 tablespoons of the remaining butter or oil in the skillet and turn the heat to medium. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, carefully slide the burgers into the pan. Cook until nicely browned on one side, about 5 minutes; turn carefully and cook on the other side until firm and browned, adding the remaining butter or oil if necessary.
5. Serve on plates with your favorite accompaniments or on buns with the usual burger fixings. Or cool and refrigerate or freeze for later use.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Yesterday I posted some pictures of cool veggies I'm growing this year.Here they are identified.By a hair, the winner is "Blue laced redhead".Thanks to both of you for commenting...you know your veggies!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Okay.
The 30 days straight of blog posts is so not happening anymore.
Life beyond the computer took over this weekend.
After a great deal of agonizing I bought a car to replace my old and failing Honda. That took time.
Then family came and family needed my time. And I needed my time with them.
So the garden...and the blog sat this one out.
Just to see if anyone is still out there, let's play identify that vegetable!
You win nothing. But you are a winner! And who doesn't like that title?
If you are the only one to actually comment, then you are automatically the winner whether you get any right at all. How sweet is that?
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Well, I'm not sure what to call this post. Day 18 or Day 19.
I missed yesterday and was hoping Jo would read my mind and there would be a post waiting in my email inbox.
It was not to be.
I'd love to share these pictures that my good friend Iz took when she visited me last year at this time.
It makes me happy just to see them again.
Hope you come visit soon Iz.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Well, there will be no pictures of today's baskets.
My camera has officially bit the dust and I'm waiting for delivery of the new one.
Ah, my high tech life!
So I'll just pop in pictures you maybe haven't seen!
Chickens get the not so great greens from CSA days
Realistically I am about as low tech as a person can be these days.
I have a cell phone, but it is never on. I had it for a few months before I figured out how to answer it.
Texting? Not my specialty.
Amazing really that I'm able to write a blog.
My low tech abilities fit very well with my career of choice. I sometimes feel like I was born in the wrong era. My work is very labour intensive with my hands dirty and my back always bending to pull weeds, plant or harvest.
Today my hands were cold when I rinsed off the veggies for the CSA baskets outside. I don't do well in the cold, particularly my fingers and toes and I've always found harvesting and cleaning veggies tough at this time of year and into the winter. I had to go in the house to soak my hands in warm water before I could finish up!
And THIS is just the beginning! It's not actually even cold yet.
Baskets today contained beets, carrots, french breakfast radishes, lettuce, braising greens, leaf celery, sweet and hot peppers, and a tomato or two. This is most definitely the end of the tomatoes for 2012, as last Friday night's frost was a killer. That's okay too, because they just don't taste nearly as good once the cold nights hit.
Adios for another year my friends!
The following recipe is one of my favourite ways to serve carrots...and tofu. It is so simple and yummy it has become a staple in my house.
This recipe is from The Vegetarian Times cookbook.
Enjoy!
Monday, October 15, 2012
When the wonderful Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine was still being published, some of my veggies and tomatoes scooted as fast as possible to Montreal for photo shoots. Pretty cool, eh?
I sure thought so.
Today I got some pretty veggies ready for a shoot at Niagara College.
These pictures will show the process from kitchen to dining room.
Can't wait to see the pictures.
Bet they are better than these. I think the veggies are pretty anyways though.
(And...by the way I have a new camera on order!)
About Me
I have a BSW degree, and worked as a social worker for quite a few years, before getting out (with most of my sanity intact) to farm.I grew up on a farm and this is what i was meant to do. I have two wonderful daughters, as well as 3 dogs, 6 cats, a pig named Joey, chickens, ducks and a bunny. All are family. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
We asked for your opinions on Apple’s major iPhone OS 3.0 announcement on Tuesday and we got them.
So, here are your opinions in their pure, raw, unedited form brought to you by the PowerPage Server Hamster:
After having moved to the IPhone from the Blackberry, I’ve been astounded at the short battery life I now have. I can’t finish the day without having to plug the little bugger in. I know all the usual reasons (3G, Wifi etc…). What I’m looking for is a firmware update or something that will prolong the IPhone’s life. All those new bells and whistles, while welcome, will further drain the device and make it even more frustrating for road warriors.
Best, André
We asked for your opinions on Apple’s major iPhone OS 3.0 announcement on Tuesday and we got them.
So, here are your opinions in their pure, raw, unedited form brought to you by the PowerPage Server Hamster:
After having moved to the IPhone from the Blackberry, I’ve been astounded at the short battery life I now have. I can’t finish the day without having to plug the little bugger in. I know all the usual reasons (3G, Wifi etc…). What I’m looking for is a firmware update or something that will prolong the IPhone’s life. All those new bells and whistles, while welcome, will further drain the device and make it even more frustrating for road warriors.
Best, André | {
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} |
Austin County Obits
She was born on June 23, 1930 in New Wehdem, Texas to Theodore
and Emily (Lueckemeyer) Henske. While growing up on the family farm she worked alongside her family. After the death of her father they continued to keep the farm
operating.
She grew up as an active member of St. James Lutheran Church of
New Wehdem and attended the small public country school located adjacent to it. The church, school and the New Wehdem community always had a very special place in
her heart.
Frances married Allen Garling on November 19, 1953 at St. James
Lutheran Church. After a short time they made their home in Bellville and became members of St. John Lutheran Church. Even though she suffered from acute asthma
since childhood, she enjoyed gardening, preserving fruits and vegetables, cooking, and shopping at garage sales. She also took great pleasure in visiting with
elderly friends and relatives.
She and Allen enjoyed traveling country roads from one small
town to another, going to country barbecues, and attending family functions and reunions, all of which created the simple heartfelt life she strived for. Frances
taught her children and grandchildren the importance of hard work and the appreciate of all the things they have. She also found happiness in the study of her
family’s genealogy and loved discussing this heritage with her children and grandchildren.
Frances is survived by her husband Allen Garling of Bellville,
Texas; daughter Debra Sandell of Columbus, Texas; son Royce Garling and wife Elana of Bellville, Texas; sisters Gladys Tiemann of Bellville, Texas and Ruth
Emshoff of Brenham, Texas; grandchildren, James Janik and wife Shelley of Brenham, Texas, David Janik and wife Jill of El Campo, Texas, Amanda Garamillo of
Columbus, Texas, and Weston Garling of Bellville, Texas; and great grandchildren Hayley Janik, Kayla Janik, Nathan Garamillo, Coltyn Janik, Zachary Janik. Frances
will be greatly missed by her family and friends.
Frances was preceded in death by her parents and two of her
sisters, Hattie Engeling and Ella Mae Henske.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. John Lutheran Church,
520 North Holland, Bellville, TX 77418 or to St. James Lutheran Church of New Wehdem, 10368 New Wehdem Road, Brenham, TX 77833.
Funeral services were held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 11, 2010 at St. John Lutheran Church with Pastor David Henske and Pastor Jennie Jones
officiating. Burial was in the Oak Knoll cemetery. Arrangements were under the direction of Knesek Bros. Funeral Chapel in Bellville. | {
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For more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons lists fifteen months after she vanished.
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But Michelle would not be broken. Bed, Bath, and Boobies via exhibitionist-wife. Niki loves Going to the dollar store …and showing me her butt and of course some of the other shoppers! For more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. My followers get to see me create many new creative lip art looks using my favourite lip art products I just cannot live without! Their escape on May 6, , made headlines around the world. Sexy clothed tumblr. The things people now a days do for money…..
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It is our policy to be inclusive and mindful of this diversity in our publications and interactions with others. So it seems to me that it's stretchy, even if it remains attached to the glans? Should we intervine early in life and remove his testicles to prevent the possibility of cancer. Hold on to your hat! It is commonly said that circumcised and intact penises look just the same when erect. As for the length of his penis, that is an entirely unrelated issue. Before you click, please read: My main squeeze is middle aged.
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The huge, huge majority of men I "meet" respond vocally with enthusiasm when they see me below We have to agree — shape and looks of your penis is excellent | {
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Rising DRAM Prices Coupled With Strong PC Demand Will Result in 78 Per Cent DRAM Revenue Growth This Year / Future of the Semiconductor Industry to Be Discussed at Gartner Semiconductor Briefing, 10 June 2010, in San Jose, California
(PresseBox) (Stamford, Conn., 03.06.2010)
Worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2010 is forecast to reach $290 billion in 2010, a 27.1 per cent increase from 2009 revenue of $228 billion, according to the latest outlook by Gartner, Inc.
The outlook for the semiconductor industry has improved from Gartner's first quarter 2010 forecast, when it projected worldwide semiconductor sales to grow 19.9 per cent. Analysts said this improvement in market conditions is in part due to an accelerated broadbased recovery in all regions and most product categories.
"Sequential semiconductor growth has been very strong over the last five quarters, well above seasonal norms, and manufacturing capacity is tight," said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner. "Chip revenue growth is clearly outpacing system revenue growth and that is a concern. Gartner's new semiconductor forecast has belowaverage growth in the second half of 2010 as we are anticipating a minor correction to realign semiconductor sales with electronic system sales. Even with this minor correction, we are still expecting very strong growth and record semiconductor sales in 2010."
In this quarter's update, Gartner raised production forecasts for PCs, mobile phones, automotive and select consumer products. The PC and mobile phone markets will account for about 40 per cent of the semiconductor market's growth in 2010. In the PC market, processor average selling prices (ASPs) are firming, and 2010 PC processor revenue is now expected to grow 15.5 per cent, up from 10.0 per cent in the previous update.
Strong PC growth coupled with rising DRAM prices is causing the 2010 DRAM market to surge 78 per cent, making it the strongestperforming semiconductor device market. Analysts believe that the demand for media tablets, such as Apple's iPad, will noticeably impact the PC market by 2013, further fuelling growth in this category. However, in the nearterm, these devices will have a minimal impact on PC and smartphone markets.
Gartner analysts expect the semiconductor industry to show continued growth through its forecast period in 2014. The market is on track to surpass the $300 billion mark in 2011, when the market is forecast to total $307 billion.
Mr Lewis will provide more detailed analysis on the outlook for the semiconductor industry during "Gartner Semiconductor Briefing: 2010 Recovery on Track - What About 2011?" The complimentary briefing is taking place June 10 at the Doubletree Hotel, San Jose, California. For more information about this halfday briefing, as well as to register to attend, please visit http://www.gartner.com/....
Gartner UK Ltd
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technologyrelated insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in hightech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,800 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,300 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 80 countries. For more information, visit gartner.com. | {
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description
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British private and NCO served with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, China, North Africa, Syria and Kos, 1933-1943; POW in Stalag 357, Germany, 1943-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Sunderland and Horden, GB, 1912-1933: area grew up in; family; family home; discipline; early education; leisure activities; Sunday school; later education; family's service in Green Howards; work in Horden Colliery; 1926 General Strike; membership of Boys Brigade; other organisations joined; discipline; more on work in Horden Colliery; reasons for joining army; reaction of father; process of joining at West Hartlepool and reasons for not joining Royal Air Force; medical; wait for call-up; journey to Fenham Barracks. Aspects of period as recruit with Durham Light Infantry <DLI> in GB, 6/1933-12/1933: reception at Fenham; duties while waiting for squad to be formed; Lance Corporal in barrack room; naming of squad and barracks; accommodation; cleaning of barrack blocks; NCOs in squad.
REEL 2 Continues: description of barrack blocks; sleeping arrangements; uniform and equipment issued and wearing of puttees; insignia worn; marking of cap badge; theft among recruits; webbing equipment and packs; items carried in pack and haversack; cleaning of equipment and boots; friends in squad; best boots; kit inspections and tapes sewn into kit; discipline; man scrubbed clean; opinion of officers and NCOs; memories of Gawson; homosexuality in army; rifle issued; weapons training; cleaning of rifle; memories of Tommy Oliver and Donohue; initial training and Regimental cane; build-up to Light Infantry pace; marching in fours; weapons training; drilling by numbers; role of NCOs in drill; taking to drill and practice; drill for mounting guard; m make-up of guard; duties of stick orderly.
REEL 3 Continues: marching with stick and rifle; arms drill; Light Infantry pace; route marches; medical staff and Colonel Arderne on marches; physical training; training for boxing; other sports at depot including cross country; competition in sport; learning of regimental history; army education and extra pay received; free time in barracks; procedure for leaving barracks on Wednesday nights; leisure activities outside camp; relationship with civilians; punishments given out; morning procedures; description of dining room; breakfast; washing of utensils; issue of food; morning timetable and break; lunch; afternoon activities; tea; canteen.
REEL 4 Continues: Armistice Parade; passing out. Aspects of period as private with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 12/1933-10/1937: posted to Machine Gun Company at Catterick; make-up of battalion; accommodation; make-up of platoon; NCOs in platoon; NCO in barrack room; washing facilities; training with Lewis Gun; transport in company; make-up of a machine gun team; rotation of crew members; clearance of crest; Lewis guns in company; transportation of gun; stripping and assembly of gun; firing on Bisley Range; insignia worn by machine gunners; stoppages with machine guns; gun used for training; cooling of Vickers gun; role within battalion; rifle drill; revolver in machine gun company; live ammunition; opinion that routine same as in First World War; digging of trenches; opinion of field training and need for own initiative during war; gas training; exercises; mechanisation in 1934; opinion of training; bayonet training; discipline; memories of Regiment Sergeant Major Marks and different parades.
REEL 5 Continues: memories of Lance Sergeant George Flannigan and Sergeant Major Joey Davison; memories of Lieutenant Colonel Jackie Churchill and Charlie Viay; memories of NCOs including Sergeant Vardy; opinion of officers including Fox-Davies; opinion of NCOs; regular duties; details of pay; civilian clothes pass and leisure activities; leave; passes for London while at Blackdown; length of time served before could get civilian clothes pass; length of time at Catterick; journey to Blackdown Camp; opinion of camp; training; arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Wilson; relationship with civilians and other units; sports played at Blackdown; visits to Reading on Regimental Passion Wagon; short arm inspections and later problems with VD; VD lectures; sick parades and treatment for ulcers; opinion of Catterick Hospital and its staff; vehicles in battalion after mechanisation and opinion of Carden Lloyd; driving lessons; manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain; TEWTs; knowledge of problems with Germany; drafts going to the 2nd Battalion.
REEL 6 Continues: role of machine gunners on exercises; fixed and cross line fire; use of live ammunition; development of training from platoon to division; experimental flight at Farnborough; church parades; use of free time on Sunday afternoons; inoculations before going abroad; role in advance party; own and family's reactions to going abroad; embarkation leave; tropical kit issued including flash on topee; lectures. Aspects of journey of journey from GB to Shanghai, China, aboard the Dilwara, 10/1937-12/1937: role in China; send off at docks; physical training; boat drill; cleanliness of ship; crew of Dilwara; accommodation and sleeping arrangements; cleaning of living quarters; inspections; other passengers on ship; leisure time; route marches in Port Said, Bombay and Singapore; conditions in hotter climate; rifle inspections; guard duties; rations; seasickness; NAAFI; activities on ship; length of journey. Aspects of period as private with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in China, 12-1937-9/1939: arrival in Shanghai; description of barracks; accommodation; split of battalion; reason for date being hazy in memory; rations; food available outside camp; civilian workers in camp; Indian contractors.
REEL 7 Continues: water and waterworks guard; reason for absence of machine guns; weapons in battalion; hygiene; effect of climate; policing duties; story of Major Hislop helping refugees; relationship with Japanese; story of Japanese shooting refugees in creek; opinion of Japanese troops; story showing difficulties created by language gap; river guard duties in Tientsin; accommodation; duties in Tientsin; leisure activities; contact with troops from other countries; systems to help prevent VD; mail; newspapers in NAAFI; out of bounds areas; church parades; funeral of Corporal Scott; standard of turnout; guard duties; effects of Tientsin floods; relationship with civilians; plans to stay in China; outbreak of war; reasons for not realising war was coming; reorganisation and preparations to leave; evacuation of families; reactions of troops on journey to Port Said; journey to Hong Kong; posting as officers mess cook; reasons for dislike of post.
REEL 8 Continues: length of time in Hong Kong; change in administration of battalion; knowledge of destination; start of censorship; officers and NCOs of battalion; promotion of RSM Bush and SM 'Topper' Brown to officers; journey to Port Said. Aspects of operations as private and NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in North Africa, 1/1940-7/1941: arrival in Port Said; accommodation; duties patrolling canal; boarding of Italian ship when Italy joined war; Royal proclamation about prize money; opinion of Winston Churchill; route marches; posting to Mersa Matruh; posting in A Company; battalion split between defensive areas; digging of defences and slit trenches; rations; health of battalion; hygiene; latrines; air activity; company officers and NCOs; request for transfer to paratroopers; promotion to Lance Sergeant at Moascar; duties as Lance Sergeant; officers in section; places stationed; set up of dummy tanks and their dust trails; casualties during bayonet charge at Fort Capuzzo; formation before charge; reactions to situation; company line; communications; position in line; shelling; screaming on advance; distance of charge; troops faced and German counter attacking policy; thoughts at start of attack; activities of Lieutenant Woodhall and discipline of advance; fight with an Italian; treatment given to Lieutenant Blakey; evacuation of Blakey; casualties; disappearance of Paddy May; Ray Armstrong's escape from imprisonment; reflections on action at Fort Capuzzo.
REEL 9 Continues: terrain of desert; difficulties in moving around; duties in Bardia and escort of Royal Engineers; strain during night operations; story of medical officer hitting a private; opinion of officers; pull back to Sollum after Capuzzo; reactions after an attack; opinion of Italian and German troops; reaction to loss of friends; story of Johnny Giles at Capuzzo; difficulty of bayonet charge; Italians killed; reinforcements and meal cooked at Buq Buq; concerns of married recruits; settling in and training of reinforcements; re-equipment in Canal Zone; journey to Syria. Aspects of operations as private with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Middle East, 7/1941-10/1941: role in Syria; terrain and mules used for transport; move through Merdjayoun; shelling; patrols; rations and water; discipline; climb up Mount Hermon.
REEL 10 Continues: return to Egypt and activities; warnings against talking too much in bars and dummy run before journey to Tobruk; scenes in Tobruk harbour; conditions on ship. Aspects of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in North Africa, 10/1941-12/1941: first impressions of Tobruk; defensive positions taken up; story of patrol to take troops to forward position; smell of dead people; equipment taken on patrol; communications; camouflage; problems with flies; defences dug; air activity; shooting down of a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka; sheltering from Junkers Ju 87 Stuka attacks; spread of battalion; journey to Battalion Headquarters for orders; water rations; hygiene; the cleansing power of sand; keeping weapon clean; cooking of meals and rations; fires made with petrol and sand; latrines; Italian soda water found; health of battalion; treatment of desert sores; concerns Tobruk; relief of boredom; navigation problems at night; medical facilities; knowledge of full extent of defences.
REEL 11 Continues: make-up of a patrol; preparations for and time of patrols; navigation and movement; role of patrols and sounds heard in No Man's Land; opinion of verey lights; scenes from air activity; sleep; camouflage and description of slit trench; annoyance at lack of knowledge; use of sticky and 68 bombs; morale and readiness of troops; move through Essex Regiment lines for breakout at El Duda; formation and start of advance; weapon and ammunition carried; shooting of troops surrendering; withdrawal of Axis troops; wounding of leg; initial treatment; time in Tobruk hospital; self-discharge and return to regiment; reactions to going into battle. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Egypt, 12/1941-1/1942: return to Egypt; description of Geneifa; leave; troops met who never fought; opinion of Egyptians; weapons in battalion and opinions of Bren Gun, Thompson Submachine Gun and Boyes Anti- Tank Gun.
REEL 12 Continues: activities in Delta area; orders for posting in Malta; Axis weapons picked up; opinion of Spandau; Aspects of journey from Alexandria, Egypt, to Malta aboard the Breconshire, 1/1942: escort; use of bren guns; cargo carried by ship; Junkers Ju 87 Stuka attacks; opinion of escort; reactions to situation and preference for fighting on land; proximity of bombs; length of voyage; first sight of Malta. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Malta, 1/1942-6/1943: split of battalion; stay at Verdala Palace; disembarkation from Breconshire; increase in air activity; training of Home Guard in Rabat; inspection from Lord Gort; terrain of Malta; issue of bicycles; role in Malta; patrols; maintenance of aerodromes; building of sangars for planes; flight to Gozo and orders not to fly; opinion of Royal Air Force personnel; training school for instructors; guard duties; activities when not fighting and memories of Regiment Sergeant Major George Flannigan; accommodation; description of Dingli; religion on Malta and relationship with civilians; order to find shot down airmen before civilians; dealing with unexploded bombs; civilian casualties; firing at German plane with bren gun; morale of battalion; dealing with troops who lost nerve; guarding of mental hospital; stop and search of civilians.
REEL 13 Continues: rationing; battalion cobbler; cigarette ration; unloading of convoys in Valletta; rationing of ammunition; memories of padre; relationship with civilians; mail; effects of being abroad for so long; opinion of censorship of mail; sleeping arrangements; hygiene; latrines; sanitation troops; fitness of troops; leisure activities; visits to Valletta; local drinks; improvements to situation; air activity; commanding officers; duties as Sergeant; items banned; arrival of high ranking soldiers when going got easier; reactions to this; most important troops in battalion; leave; pay; bombing in Valletta.
REEL 14 Continues: Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Syria, 6/1943-7/1943: posted to Syria; training undertaken in Syria; accommodation; problems with scorpions; knowledge of next posting; leisure activities; opinion of Colonel Arderne; flight away from Syria; refuelling in Cyprus; knowledge of destination; landed on island later told was Kos; mortars in aeroplane. Aspects of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Kos, 7/1943: dispersal on arrival; sent to isolated spot; lack of information; farm section sent to; Bofor gun emplacement; confusion of situation; communications; air activity; story of civilian drawing message and asking Lieutenant Symmonds of he should investigate; German invasion; disappearance of Bofor gun crew; activities in hills; plan to steal boat and sail for Turkey; shelter in hills; rations; search for boat; realisation they were finished; reaction to having to surrender; destruction of radio and burial of rifle. Aspects of period as POW in transit, 7/1943: surrender; feelings as surrendered; opinion that leadership had been poor; morale of troops; surprise at number of POWs; German who took him prisoner; intention to fight and realisation situation was hopeless; opinion that should not have gone to Kos; opinion of German troops; organisation of queue for water; concern for future; discovery of submarines off island; list of names for Red Cross; rations; journey to Piraeus; concerns on journey; line-up on quayside; opinion of German troops; conditions on train journey; thoughts of escape; rations on journey; latrines.
REEL 15 Continues: not allowed off train; food given on journey; latrines; alighting from train at end of journey; opinion of German guards; escape attempt in another truck; condition after journey; hope for improvement. Aspects of period as POW in Germany, 1943-1945: arrival at camp; given choice of whether to work or not; photograph and identity disc; week waiting to be sorted; taken to Stalag 357; accommodation; sleeping arrangements; role of senior NCO; visit of Red Cross and new uniform given; opinion of Red Cross; contents of Red Cross parcels; sharing of parcels; background of POWs; bartering with Red Cross items; tricks played on sentries; civilians working in camp; rations; importance of Red Cross parcels; contact with guards; deterioration of health; music lessons; formation of orchestra; theatrical shows; items made from material in Red Cross parcels; medical facilities; organisation of discipline among POWs; requests made to Germans for needs; work of escape committee; escape attempts; sports played in camp; importance of humour; layout of camp; roll call; blower for fires; tapping of electrical system to heat food and water; collection of fuel from forest; stoves.
REEL 16 Continues: issue and heating of rations; description of blowers made to create fires; breakfast; time of roll call; guards; soup at noon; food for rest of day; discipline; punishment for stealing and latrines; washing facilities; methods for keeping warm; reading; camp library; parcels from home; camp shop; German retaliation for alleged poor treatment of prisoners in England; reaction to treatment; Red Cross inspections; holding back of Red Cross parcels; reasons for refusal to work; need to take care of oneself; group of friends in camp; feeling that would beat Germans; change in Germans as war progressed; news of D-Day; upset at way captured; news of war from wireless assembled through contact with civilians; winter conditions; activities to keep morale up. Aspects of period as POW in transit, 1945: start of forced march; pig meal stolen for food; fight with German sentry; hiding from Germans within column; theft of potatoes.
REEL 17 Continues: guards on march; sound of allied guns; plan to escape from column; escape into bush; time on the run; capture by German patrol; handed over to farmhouse working party; time at farmhouse near Munster; liberation from British major; cleaning up; length of march from POW Camp; food on journey; treatment of POWs; condition on march; areas marched through; joining with other columns; deterioration of health; boots; liberation and cleaning up in British camp; flight to GB. Aspects of period as NCO in GB, 4/1945-2/1946: medical; treatment in hospital; reception in GB; discipline in hospital; leave; reception from family; feelings on return home; opinion of civilians; initial interest from civilians in his experiences; reasons for leaving army; clothes given upon demobilisation in York; giving of army kit to friends; details of gratuity; demobilisation date and decision to be discharged as ex-POW; civilian work following war including problems with getting work.
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Why I always leave this hobby
So at 42 I'm coming back to this hobby for the 4th time. No stretch has ever been longer than 2 years. I love racing at my local track but the manufactures kill me everytime and 1 week in I'm alraeady feeling it.
I have a TLR 22 buggy (first Gen) and I lost a screw for the front wheel which is now obsolete. So i buy the 3.0 version which bolts right up, but now they have changed the hex size. Ok, so now i have $100 in wasted wheels and tires.
These things become Rabbit holes and I'm sure I'll find another problem when I buy the wheels.
I really hate to spend another $400 on a new kit and extras. I wish we were all still driving Old School RC10s.
Well kinda welcome back, after 28 years of racing I can say that I have never left, but have seen them struggles, and what I have found is to ask the questions here on this site, people can find obsolete parts, or give you part numbers, as it will leave you scratching on where they found them, I would find the smaller axles for your car and keep with the tires you have, honestly if your looking for parts hit me up on some 1.0 parts or even cars as I have been updating my old to newer cars and struggle with clearing them out, good luck and all is not lost, just requires some questions and people will give you answers.
I joined the hobby late at age 49 because of my son. He was quickly on to other things and I am totally addicted. I enjoy wrenching and practice sessions WAY more than racing humbly. To many folks that would rather take you out to move up one spot than hold a line and pass properly and hanging around for hours to run 30 minutes is difficult when you run a biz and have a family. Oh well....lol...I was a Losi guy from day one....BUT tried and have stayed with the AE B5m platform for the past 18months. Incredibly easy to work on, set up, and get parts that RARELY break. Many of my friends onto b6 or 22 4.0 but I LOVE simplicity and know about 4-6 adjustments not 15....IMHO try out a friends b5m if you have a chance. Cool thing is you can get a near new roller for under 150 and box stock set up makes you competitive and fine tune from there. Thanks for listening to my 2 cents worth of rambling and I hope you can find some enjoyment EVERYTIME you go out in the pits and on the track.....
Well, aside from getting parts you should not feel compelled to get the latest and greatest. That said when you jumped in, I think it would have been wiser to get that latest model so you at least had parts. The old adage buy cheap buy twice comes to mind. I have been involved in RC at least 30 years and generally that is what you need to think through. Oddly enough though I remember a guy out at a track near you who could run circles around people with the latest and greatest car in a gold pan car.
You may not need the latest and greatest of everything but there is something to be said for parts availability.
For $10 you could have bought the part on eBay, or bought another 1.0 for next to nothing and then had spares, or even switched to a longer screw and used a standard nut, or bought $10 worth of acetone and gotten the rubber off those old rims and just bought new wheels for your 3.0. Racing, even on a small scale requires up keep and maintenance, cars become obsolete, ties and parts wear out just like real racing, it's part of it all. But dude, really, you're whining. Go race, have fun.
So at 42 I'm coming back to this hobby for the 4th time. No stretch has ever been longer than 2 years. I love racing at my local track but the manufactures kill me everytime and 1 week in I'm alraeady feeling it.
I have a TLR 22 buggy (first Gen) and I lost a screw for the front wheel which is now obsolete. So i buy the 3.0 version which bolts right up, but now they have changed the hex size. Ok, so now i have $100 in wasted wheels and tires.
These things become Rabbit holes and I'm sure I'll find another problem when I buy the wheels.
I really hate to spend another $400 on a new kit and extras. I wish we were all still driving Old School RC10s.
Yea I get that man itís typical 1/10 scale with that crap . 1:8 scale way diffrent story models and parts for years intill they are gone for good .
It is a tough game to try and race a vehicle that parts have been discontinued for. You either need to adapt to using different manufacturers parts, modifying whats available, or buy an up to date platform. I enjoy building and modifying my rc's so it's a non issue with me. If you only like to run/race them then it's time for an upgrade. I too own a bunch of durango's. I have spent more money on parts lately to protect my investment rather than loose and sell it for a loss. It's a decision that we need to make in the hobby. Don't let parts support ruin the hobby for you. Make the best of it, have fun every time you go out, ask locals/forums for help and you will enjoy it much more. | {
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The name of
the organization shall be the Associated Student Body of
Sunnyvale Middle School (ASBSMS).
This
organization shall have as its purpose, the conduct of
activities on behalf of the students of Sunnyvale Middle
School as approved by the school principal and the Sunnyvale
School District Board of Education.
ARTICLE
TWO -EXECUTIVE BOARD
The
executive board shall consist of the following the
Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
officers:
President.
The ASBSMS President shall have the following
duties:
Preside
over all meetings of the Associated
Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
Representatives
Council.
Call
special meetings of the Associated
Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
Representatives
Council.
Plan
and prepare an agenda for the meetings
of the Associated Student Body of
Sunnyvale Middle School Representatives
Council.
Appoint
all committee members and
chairpersons.
Serve
as ex-officio member of all
committees.
Represent
the Associated Student Body of
Sunnyvale Middle School at all school
and Sunnyvale School District meetings
where a representative is required or
appropriate.
Preside
over all student body assemblies or
authorize someone to do so in his/her
place.
Vote
in the Associated Student Body of
Sunnyvale Middle School Representatives
Council meetings only where his/her
vote would affect the
result.
Serve
as one of the two student
representatives to the School Site
Council.
Prepare
and deliver the Student Report to the
Sunnyvale Middle School Parent Teacher
Student Association.
Vice-president.
The ASBSMS Vice-president shall have the
following duties:
Serve
as the ASBSMS president if the
president is permanently or temporarily
unable to perform his or her
duties.
Serve
as alternate for either of the two
student representatives to the School
Site Council.
Serve
as chairperson of the Elections
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all duties assigned by the President of
the Associated Student Body of
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School.
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The ASBSMS Treasurer shall have the following
duties:
Maintain
complete and accurate record of all
Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale
Middle School receipts and
disbursements.
Serve
as the Chairperson of the Finance
Committee with the assistance of the
Sunnyvale Middle School Leadership
Advisor, the Sunnyvale Middle School
ASB Bookkeeper, and the Sunnyvale
School District ASB Finance
Officer.
Serve
as one of the two student
representatives to the School Site
Council.
Prepare
monthly reports for the Associated
Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
on bank balances and disbursements to
date.
Keep
accurate profit and loss statements of
all Associated Student Body of
Sunnyvale Middle School functions and
assist clubs and activities in
keeping
Supervise
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Secretary.
The ASBSMS Secretary shall have the following
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Maintain
accurate minutes of each meeting of the
Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale
Middle School Representatives
Council.
Before
the next scheduled meeting, distribute
draft copies of the minutes of each
meeting so that they can be reviewed
and approved at the
meeting.
Record
and distribute an agenda for each
scheduled meeting of the Associated
Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
Representatives
Council.
Carry
out all necessary correspondence for
the Associated Student Body of
Sunnyvale Middle
School.
Commissioners
Activities.
The ASBSMS Commissioner of Activities
shall have the following
duties:
Coordinate
and maintain the master
calendar of all Associated
Student Body of Sunnyvale
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activities.
Serve
as chairperson of the
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Committee.
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The ASBSMS Commissioner of Athletics shall
have the following duties:
To
initiate and organize
the intramural
sports.
To
assist the Athletic
Director for Sunnyvale
Middle School with the
After-School Sports
Program.
Report
results of Sunnyvale
Middle School
participation in After
School Sporting Events
to the student
body.
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The ASBSMS Commissioner of Academics shall
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Serve
as the student
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at all District meetings
requiring student
representation.
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participation and
achievements of all
extra-curricular
academic events
involving students from
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Coordinate
and supervise the
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program.
Coordinate
and organize the
Renaissance recognition
assemblies.
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The ASBSMS Commissioner of Publicity shall
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Publicize
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through the school
marquee, daily bulletin,
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The Executive Board members shall serve as voting
members of the Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale
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constitution.
The
positions on the Executive Board shall be filled by
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Board Members shall hold office for one academic
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THREE-STANDING COMMITTEES
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Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School president
and the Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
advisor shall appoint committee members and chairpersons to
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Finance Committee
The
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shall serve on this
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purposes of the committee is to prepare and
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Elections Committee
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Acts
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The
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activities committee and provide the primary
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The
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ARTICLE
FOUR-SUCCESSION
If the
ASBSMS president cannot fulfill his/her duties due to
illness, injury, or absence the ASBSMS vice-president shall
assume and carry out the duties of ASBSMS president until
the ASBSMS president becomes able to resume his/her
duties.
If the
ASBSMS president is permanently unable to fulfill his/her
duties due the ASBSMS vice-president becomes the ASBSMS
president.
The ASBSMS
vice-president shall be replaced during the first semester
by a special election conducted by the Elections Committee.
If the ASBSMS vice-president needs replacement during the
second semester, the ASBSMS Student Council Representatives
will select a replacement from the students in the
Leadership Elective.
ARTICLE
FIVE-ELECTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR
OFFICE
The
positions on the Executive Board shall be filled by a
general election of the Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale
Middle School on the first Thursday after Memorial
Day.
The five
representatives from each grade level for the first semester
shall be chosen by grade level election on the first
Thursday after Labor Day.
The five
representatives from each grade level for the second
semester shall be chosen by grade level election on the
first Thursday after Martin Luther King Day each
year.
Qualifications
for candidates for ASBSMS elected
office:
Minimum
grade point average of 2.5
At
least an "S" in Citizenship and Work habits for
the previous three quarters
Participate
in Renaissance program at some
level.
Endorsement
by their grade level administrator and two of
their teachers
First
semester 6th grade candidates will
use 5th grade GPA and Citizenship and
Work Habits evaluations.
Candidates
for Executive Board positions shall also apply
for the Leadership Elective the following
year.
The
Campaign:
Candidates
may begin their campaign on the Thursday prior
to Election Day.
Candidates
are not allowed to distribute campaign buttons,
stickers, or sundry items promoting their
election.
Candidates
may place up to eight posters on campus. The
posters may not exceed two foot by two
foot.
Candidates
may place small posters in classrooms if the
classroom teacher gives permission. The small,
classroom posters may not exceed 8.5 inches by
11 inches.
Candidates
will prepare a 2-3 minute speech for broadcast
over Spartan TV the Wednesday prior to
election.
Candidates
will be introduced at a lunchtime rally the
Thursday prior to election.
Candidates
are responsible for removing all campaign
materials from campus after election results are
announced.
Candidates
must have the approval of the Elections
Committee before posting any campaign material
or conducting any campaign
activities.
Counting
the Ballots:
The
ASBSMS president and the Elections Committee
shall count the ballots on the same day as the
election is held. No candidate for office may
participate in the counting of
ballots.
The
ballots shall be counted twice and the results
compared. A third count is required if the results
of the first and second counts are not within 1
percent of each other.
Announcing
the results:
Prior
to announcement, all candidates shall be
gathered together and the results made known to
them before announcing to the student
body.
The
ASBSMS president shall announce the results to
the student body immediately after notifying the
candidates of the results.
ARTICLE
SIX-STUDENT CLUBS
Students
may form clubs to conduct regular activities when they meet
the following conditions:
Shall have a membership of at least five active
participating students.
Must
meet regularly at least twice a month.
Shall have a Charter describing their
purpose.
The
School Principal must approve the Charter
annually by the 4th week of school
each year.
The
club must have a faculty representative
designated by the School
Principal.
Shall have a constitution approved by their membership
before it can begin fund-raising activities or make
expenditures of club funds.
Shall prepare a proposed budget of expenditures and fund
raising by the end of the School Year.
ARTICLE
SEVEN-AMENDMENTS
The
Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
Representatives Council, whenever it is necessary, shall
propose amendments to the constitution. To make such
amendments valid, the Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale
Middle School must approve by a two-thirds vote in a general
election.
ARTICLE
EIGHT-FINANCES
The student
council must approve all requests for expenditures of all
student funds prior to any commitments.
Student
Clubs must have a positive balance in their club account
before the Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle
School Representatives Council may approve
expenditure.
Associated
Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School Activity Fund
Authorization of Payment requires the approval of the ASB
Treasurer, the ASB Advisor, and the School
Principal.
Procedures
for financial transactions will comply with current
Sunnyvale Elementary School District policies and
procedures.
ARTICLE
NINE-MEETING SCHEDULES
The ASBSMS
Student Council shall meet at least twice each month on the
first and third Thursday during the scheduled meeting time
of the Leadership Class elective and for special sessions,
as called by the ASBSMS president or the ASBSMS
advisor.
The ASBSMS
President shall conduct the student council meetings using
the parliamentary procedures guidelines used in the
Leadership Elective curriculum.
The Finance
Committee shall meet each Thursday at lunchtime and at other
times as called by the ASBSMS president or the ASBSMS
advisor.
The
Elections Committee shall meet monthly as called by the
ASBSMS president or the ASBSMS advisor.
The
Activities Committee shall meet each Tuesday at lunchtime
and at other times as called by the ASBSMS president or the
ASBSMS advisor.
ARTICLE
TEN-ADOPTION
Annually,
the Principal of Sunnyvale Middle School with the advice of
the Associated Student Body of Sunnyvale Middle School
advisor shall approve for implementation these By-laws
before the first scheduled day of class each year as
determined by the Sunnyvale School District.
WE
ARE HERE TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT
EXPERIENCE AT SUNNYVALE MIDDLE
SCHOOL
RESPECT
FOR
YOURSELF
FOR
YOUR CLASSMATES
FOR
YOUR TEACHERS AND THE SCHOOL
RESPONSIBILITY
TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS
TAKE
PRIDE IN THE WORK YOU DO YOU WORK WILL BE
LOOKED AT BY THE ENTIRE SCHOOL
COMMUNITY!
PARTICIPATE
IN RENAISSANCE
SAFETY
DO
NOT DO ANYTHING THAT COULD INJURE YOU OR ANYONE
ELSE.
Class
Requirements
You
must keep a Leadership binder
Keep
weekly journal entries
20
community service hours (10 per quarter
average)
At
least 50% performed directly at Sunnyvale
Middle School
Community
group volunteer projects or
work
20
Work hours
You
must attend at least 75% of after-school
activities
You
must attend at least two PTSA
meetings
Leadership
projects
Marquee
Flag
Duty
Snack
Shack
Open
House/Back to School Night
5th
Grade Orientation Day
Speeches/presentations
Maintain
monthly calendar with all activities at
S.M.S.
Various
duties that the class is responsible
for:
Dances
& Socials
Renaissance
Spartan
Citizen
Red
Ribbon Week
Remain
in good standing (academically and citizenship)
with all your teachers
Please
answer the following questions in complete
sentences.
Why
do you want to be in Leadership?
What
are your qualifications to be in Leadership?
What three character traits do you have that
will help you be a leader?
1.
2.
3.
Describe
your ability to complete tasks that will be
assigned. Will you accept every job that is
assigned? ? How will you handle a situation when
the group gives you a job you don't want to
do?
What
ideas do you have to make Sunnyvale Middle
School a better place?
How
would you work to make sure that your ideas get
brought to life?
On
a separate piece of paper, ask your
parents/guardians and another adult (besides a
teacher at Sunnyvale Middle School) who knows
you to write a brief recommendation statement
for you. Make sure they include their name, how
they know you, and for how long.
Thanks
for taking the time to fill out this
application. I hope to see you in Leadership
sometime next year! | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
As the Federal Reserve gets ready to scale back its quantitative-esing policy, many financial sectors are bracing for impact. How should you invest in real estate now? Marc Halle, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investor, joins MoneyBeat. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... ay ay ay mm mm ... or reserve its way to scale back its QE policy ... and financial sectors are bracing for impact one of those of course ... in the real estate sector the housing market ... how should you invest in real estate now more Halley managing director ... of Prudential real estate investor joins us to talk about it ... Mark thinks Cullen on the show the children I mentioned your vacation day and gas became a decision vacation spot gas that is South Beach ... south France ... and downs made to the nominee to rank high on ... so ... real estate rates of gun out we've seen it there was talk about how to ... affect the housing market ... what do you think is going to ... shore ... while I'm in a portfolio ... of ... weeks publicly traded real estate blogs ... and rates going up are bad for any financial asset ... and it's not great for real estate but it's like a see saw when pushed on one end what happens to other ... rates going up in a vacuum ... or not a positive ... for real estate but if rates are going up because the economy's doing better ... that's a good thing for real estate ... real estate so simple business supply and demand ... so if rates are going up ... and demand is increasing ... because we're seeing increasing job growth ... that's good for for the real estate economy rates going up in a vacuum or a negative for the ... real estate sector ... so what ... what what areas the Lihir I find obvious to shore in front of or investments in there what it is doing well right now would soon or they were in focus ... sure whatever the global real estate securities fund with a team of people around the world investing in the U S Euro Asian Latin America ... buying publicly traded real estate securities ... when you think about real estate don't think about it as a specific asset class ... think about like a bond portfolio think about to ration ... so short-term vs long-term ration ... so what we can do is position our portfolio and each area around the world ... to take advantage of maturation cycle ... so if our economy is picking up things are doing better here ... we want to be on the shore and the duration ... we wanna be like hotels ... apartments where rents can change overnight ... where in multifamily sixty five percent of all assets ... are turning over every year ... versus the long end of that which could be health care companies which almost like bonds which will decrease in value ... as interest rates going up ... to say we like racial malls we think there's some of the imbalance between supply and demand ... Heidi and classy malls ... weeks are doing extremely well sales are going well ... aam and the values continue to go out ... there like multifamily we like hotels short end of that restoration ... as you mentioned single family residential in their forty making sure cameras and I'm not ... sure it's not meeting up with structure your ... portfolio but is there isn't here ... yet well ... there are ways to invest material most of the season's investment ... um ... I'm a big believer in supply and demand ... and I think we'll estate is a very very welcome or to make ... so New York City Park and the new ... co ops have a very different value ... than the inland Empire for Tucson and Phoenix ... so in the single family saga world ... and again forget about national statistics look at local markets what do we use the job ... what do we see a lack of new supply a look in reducing barriers to entry ... the bill was a markets were one of the end ... new York's doing extremely well because we have lots of barriers to entry ... it's hard to build a new condo on Park Avenue are this that new ... GeForce seeing good job ... you're seeing great technology but our job growth are seen ... on the evolution of the tech sector in York City which never existed by ten fifteen years ago ... so you wanna see the combination of ... no new supply ... and good job growth no specific markets what do extreme well Southern California ... ports of Miami are starting to come back ... new York Boston San Francisco ... doing quite well ... that could bring him back or started ... how much time he's been walking with the Fed's going to go ... um you know we spend some time I wanna understand what the Fed is doing ... real estate a long-term asset ... aam ... were not investing between what happens ... between today and the end of the quarter to its real estate nothing happened just no inventions the snow creations ... I don't wake up in someones built a million square feet across the street it just doesn't happen ... so for us we approach the market as institutional investors ... I wanna see what's going happen the next twelve to eighteen months ... and then by today ... the Fed's creating lots of noise today ... that he is the Economy sunscreens for getting back were seeing two percent GDP growth ... my fear ... is that we start to pull away stimulus too soon before the economy recovers ... aam I think the Fed has control of that and understands that what ... the economy starting to get a little better ... than the Fed showed increases and decreases life support ... over time ... write what we want to see that the other seven was built to the job we wanna see ... earnings growth we wanna see the economy please get to that adds to the US which go through what we would ... all of us of the great ... but I needed to see that before we we started moving on ... it Mark Kelly Prudential think you're a much thank God | {
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Identifying constraints and initiating reform agendas
The HSAD project presents a range of policy options to Iraq’s decision makers. These options are informed by existing projects and draw on the expertise of ICARDA and project partners in a range of areas: extension and capacity building, cropping and pricing policies, investment scenarios, and natural resource management.
HSAD’s work in progress is identifying current constraints, and helping decision makers to outline action plans and craft new policies and legislation – from initial drafting phases through to their implementation.
This approach prioritizes capacity building: it works with officials at Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture to identify policy and regulatory constraints and initiate an appropriate reform and legislative agenda that is capable of effectively raising the productive capacity of the country’s agricultural sector.
In many dry area countries capacity limitations mean that Ministry officials are unable to effectively assess agricultural policy constraints. Reforms are also held back by an ineffective legal and regulatory framework which prevents the utilization of modern inputs. By not adequately defining the role of government, frameworks fail to identify the potential contributions of the private sector to agricultural development.
HSAD targets policy interventions in five main areas:
Improving modern wheat variety seed supplies
Supporting the adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for date palm production
Improving fertilizer supply
Enhancing conservation agriculture
Ensuring the more sustainable and efficient use of water.
Acknowledging the difficulties that farmers face accessing improved crop varieties, the initiative emphasizes seed reform and a new seed law that can effectively establish standards related to the production, registration, and dissemination of seeds. Proper seed legislation is perceived as one of the most significant barriers to improving food security and agricultural production in Iraq.
Working alongside Ministry officials, HSAD will identify aspects of Iraq’s seed sector that require reform, and offer a series of recommendations to ensure that farmers can more effectively access improved varieties and thereby raise their productivity and incomes. To improve the performance of Iraq’s seed sector, HSAD recommends that the government address the following issues:
Decentralization: farmers have to travel long distances to access improved seed which undermines adoption rates. Decentralization of the National Seed Committee would make supplies more accessible and ease distribution to farmers
Gathering information: creating databases that capture information relevant to effective seed distribution such as the number of farmers that require improved seeds or the number of hectares that have yet to be cultivated with certified seed. Regular consultations should also be held with key stakeholders to understand the demand for seeds.
Raising awareness: many farmers are not convinced about the benefits of improved varieties and are unable to reach their full potential. Demonstrations and farmer field schools are needed to overcome resistance and promote adoption for higher productivity and strengthened food security
Research: national agricultural research systems need to produce more varieties and higher quantities of improved seed if farmers are to successfully raise their productivity and incomes
Incentives: strategies to encourage the private sector to participate in the production, distribution, and registration of improved seed varieties. Small-scale enterprises have an important role to play in the development of new varieties crucial to Iraqi food security such as food legumes, forage crops, and oilseed
Regulations: efforts are needed to pursue the completion and implementation of instruments, regulations, and standards pertinent to international codes and ethics of the seed business. HSAD will also provide support and advice to push legislation through the proper statutory channels and help to mobilize the financial and institutional resources required for implementation.
Topics
This website is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or HSAD implementing partners. | {
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If my recent post on Men and Masculinity caught your eye, now that the Grayson Perry documentaries don’t seem to be available to view in full, his interview on ITV’s Loose Women will give you a good flavour: | {
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Health & home
The Owen Sound Farmers' Market hosts some of the region's best in all natural personal products, candles, soaps, books, and items for around the house. Be sure to bring some local flair into your home today!
YEAR ROUND VENDORSAbout BooksEternal BeeGinger FolksSpringhill EmuWoolies in the Country | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
After Christmas Burglary-Prevention Tips
Nothing screams Rob My House! like empty computer, Xbox and TV boxes piled front your apartment building or house for trash collection. It’s particularly risky if you live in a single-family row house/building — with only three or four units in the building, a would-be burglar practically knows where to go. Throw in a dark apartment with less than optimum home security and it’s Christmas-time for a burglar.
So, it’s the week after Christmas and you’ve gone back to work or you’ve left town for a few days until after the New Year. What are some easy, common-sense things to remember when it comes to burglary-prevention?
Burglary Prevention
Before leaving town for the holidays (or any holiday or vacation), make sure a trusted neighbor or friend will be able to check on your property. Secure doors and windows at all times and make sure alarm systems are set. You may want to consider changing the emergency phone number with your local alarm company from your home phone to your cell phone number for faster response time in the event the police is needed.
Make the home appear “lived-in” or occupied while you are away. This means, leaving certain lights on, making sure newspapers and mail are not piling up. You can have the Post Office hold your mail until you return. www.usps.gov.
After You’ve Opened the Gifts
Burglars know that many households have new, and oftentimes expensive, items in their homes following the December holidays — especially items such as new computers and peripherals, stereo components, televisions, cameras and other electronic equipment. In too many cases, residents make it easy for burglars to figure out which homes to target by putting boxes that identify their new gifts in plain view with their other garbage.
Avoid becoming an easy target for post-holiday burglars by not leaving boxes for new electronics and other items in the alley or other garbage pick-up locations for several days at a time. Instead, break down any boxes you are throwing out, put them in garbage bags and place them inside a trash can. In many cases, especially with computer equipment, you might consider keeping the boxes for safe storage, shipping or moving in the future.
Think about keeping broken-down boxes inside — in a garage, for example — until the evening before your regular garbage pick-up. Some burglars actually look inside garbage cans for evidence of holiday gifts. And, of course, if you see someone suspicious casing your alley, call the Metropolitan Police Department’s non-emergency number, 311. If you see a burglary in progress, call 911.
Take a Holiday Inventory
The holidays are a good time to update-or create-your home inventory. Take photos or make videos of items, and list descriptions and serial numbers. If your home is burglarized, having a detailed inventory can help identify stolen items and make insurance claims easier to file.
Make sure things like TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment, cameras, camcorders, sports equipment, jewelry, silver, computers, home office equipment, and power tools are on the list. Remember to check it twice! | {
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Funai Calls It Quits on VCR Production
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For years, it was the dominant home entertainment format on planet earth. It successfully fended off attacks from competing technologies such as Betamax and Laserdisc and even kept its foothold on the market as DVDs rose to prominence. Now, VHS tapes may finally have seen their last sunrise as Funai Electric Co., the Japanese electronics maker, has said that it is officially stopping production on the world’s last recorder for videocassette tapes.
The Future of VHS
A spokesman for Funai that discussed the current situation with the press on the condition of anonymity said that production of the company’s last videocassette recorder would end sometime before the end of July 2016. Surprisingly, the spokesman indicated there was still enough of a demand for the unit from customers to continue on with its production indefinitely, the company literally cannot do so. Key component makers are pulling out of the market altogether because of the limited numbers these units sell in each year.
Those people in Japan in particular who wish to continue using their VHS tapes can do so via combination VHS/DVD converters, which is a single device that combines the functionality of both a DVD player and a traditional VCR. These units are still widely available in Japan and can be found in select locations in other countries, including the United States. Funai also indicated that they plan on rolling out a few combo units of their own in the next few months.
Funai and VHS
The factory in China that Funai previously used to manufacture its VCR is actually off-limits to the press entirely. This is not necessarily because of the VCR itself, but because of the many other products that are made there, many of which are still top secret.
In 2015 alone, Funai made more than 750,000 VCRs that played VCS tapes, recorded to them or both. This is a far cry from the heyday of the market’s popularity, when in the year 2000 alone, the company made 15 million of the units. At one point, more than 70 percent of the market in the United States for VCRs came from Funai and its Chinese factory.
Funai has indicated that even though production is stopping at the end of the month, this does not mean that the machines themselves will become immediately unavailable. Funai has a large factory of unsold units that it will continue to sell off through its various subsidiaries until the time when that stock runs out completely. Those people who wish to preserve the home videos and other content that they’ve created over the years can do so by buying VHS/DVD recorder player combination units, or by transferring those analog VHS tapes to a digital format via compatible hardware and software.
Many people believe that the downfall of VHS can be directly attributed to the rise in popularity of the DVD format, though this only tells part of a much larger story. Though DVD was the opening shot across the bow of VHS, the ease and convenience of digital technology and streaming formats actually acted as the final nail in the proverbial coffin of a device once enjoyed by millions of people around the globe.
Users all over the world are in agreement: Alltek is their most trusted source for all of the technology tips, tricks and breaking news they need to get the most out of their devices and systems. To find out more information about this or any of our other topics, please contact us today at (770) 949_-9468 or by sending us an email to [email protected].
Is your current IT company confusing you with techno- babble about the cloud? | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Tag Archives: Round 9
A-League Round 9 vs Brisbane Roar – 02/12/2017 ANZ Stadium 0-2 Loss The struggle is real. When I set out to write these articles every week there was a feeling of optimism for the season and it was going to be a fun way to look back at every game. But the past month has […]
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Some of us weren’t there to witness the Wanderers sixth win in a row but it was a sacrifice that many were willing to make. Nichols channeled Shinji for the winner and we look forward to our biggest match of the year against victory.
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This week – The Asian Champions League draw is announced, during which the Wanderers will be China win to progress through the group stages and create Korea highlights for themselves, and if they succeed, Japandamonium will ensue.
In the meantime however, the club falls deeper into crisis as they go yet another game without a win and add another draw to their streak. Will they be able to break it against the relentlessness of the Newcastle Jets? | {
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} |
7 Effective Spider Control Methods
Many of us have a natural fear of spiders. Could it be the eight legs? Maybe it’s the hairy bodies? Or perhaps it’s the fangs that scare you? Whatever the reasons, most people just aren’t comfortable around these creepy-crawlies.
Even just looking at a picture of a spider may be enough to send chills up your spine, never mind how much more frightful it is to find one on your pillow or in your bath tub. For all you arachnophobes out there, you’ll undoubtedly want to do everything you can to keep spiders out of your home.
When it comes to spider control, autumn can be a challenging time of year. Along with the brightly coloured leaves and cooler crisp air comes the unavoidable invasion of spiders into Vancouver homes and businesses. If arachnoids make you anxious, here are some tips to help keep them at bay this season.
1. Keep a Tidy Home
Spider control begins with you. Regular decluttering will go a long way in preventing these pests from spinning their webs in your home or business. Spiders don’t like people, but they do like insects. Make sure to wipe down surfaces and get rid of food scraps that might attract other pests. Vacuum routinely and thoroughly to remove spiders, cobwebs, and egg sacs from your house. Don’t give spiders a place to hide. Get rid of clutter from attics, garages, closets, and basements.
2. Seal All Entry Points
Spiders are opportunists, looking for any chance to creep into your home in search of prey. To keep these eight-legged pests outside where they belong, seal up any cracks, holes, and gaps around your doors and window frames. Also, repair torn window screens and place mesh coverings over your vents.
3. Remove Debris from the Side of Your Building
Spiders like to hide in plants, under wood piles, near compost bins, etc. But when the colder weather arrives, it is only a matter of time before they try to move indoors. So, be sure to clear away the clutter from the side of your home.
4. Turn Your Outside Lights Off
Spiders aren’t drawn to the light, but the insects they love to eat sure are. A great way to keep spiders (as well as other annoying pests) away from your home is to reduce the amount of outdoor lighting you use. Replacing your existing lighting with the dimer, yellow lights will also help attract fewer bugs. If bright outdoor lighting is a must, try to move the light source as far away from your home as possible.
5. Use Glue Traps
Killing spiders can be a dirty business. A rolled-up newspaper, a fly swatter, and a shoe are effective tools at squishing spiders, but they can smear your walls and floors, leaving behind a nasty mess to clean up. Instead, you can catch spiders with sticky glue traps. Place them throughout your home, putting them in closets, attics, basements, and other areas spider-like to “hang out.” However, make sure to keep glue traps out of reach of children and pets. Buy products online for pest control in Vancouver.
6. Spray Your Home with A Natural Insecticide
When it comes to handling any insecticide, it is always best to leave it to a professional pest control provider. If you want to take things into your own hands, do it safely. Carefully follow all the instructions on the label and pay strict attention to all the warnings. If you are looking for a safer, chemical-free approach to spider control, you can spray around your home or business with peppermint, tea tree oil, citrus, or eucalyptus essential oils.
7. Scared of Spiders, Contact a Pest Management Professional for Spider Control Options
If you think spider control is hard work, you’re absolutely right. There really is no quick-fix solution. It is a time-consuming job, requiring patience and persistence. Faced with a spider infestation and not sure what to do? You are not alone. We can help rid your home or business of unwanted pests.
Solutions Pest Control will get rid of the spiders from your home or business and help you prevent them from coming back. Pest Control West Vancouver also offers a variety of options for spider and pest control products that you can buy online. For effective spider control, contact us today!
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"Whoever thought dealing with bugs and pests would be such a pleasant experience. We have used Solutions Pest Control for wasp nests, rats (ew), silverfish and moths and each time the service has been great and very successful. Jason and his team are professional, courteous and efficient. And their wasp traps for summer are the best out there!" | {
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} |
Derry to consolidate information tech department
DERRY - The town plans to consolidate its information technology department, with three employees working out of the Derry Municipal Center.
The proposed IT budget for fiscal year 2014 paves the way for the consolidation, moving police department network administrator Sean Fichera to the municipal IT department. Fichera has worked for the police department since 2007.
"The directive the previous Town Council shared with me seemed to make sense to combine our IT services into one department," said Town Administrator John Anderson. "The police department had a dedicated individual, and (now) we're going to have three people in our IT department that serves all 234 employees in the town of Derry."
The town's IT department will continue to to support the police and fire departments from the municipal center, said Anderson.
The Town Council approved the overall IT department budget of $643,912.
Some of the other major items in the budget include a mapping update for the town's geographic information system and updates to the server room in the municipal center, according to town IT/GIS manager Doug Rathburn.
The last map update was completed in 2008, said Rathburn.
He said the time span was far too long to not do a flyover to map the town for the GIS update and that the goal was to try to do it every five years.
"If we do the flyover, it will be in the spring of 2014, and that will put it at six years," he said, adding that there have been many areas of town that have changed since 2008 that will need to be looked at and updated.
Rathburn also included $17,000 for a dry fire suppression system in the server room at the municipal center. Anderson noted that there is currently a wet suppression system in the server room, which is not optimal for getting the town systems back up and running quickly if there is an incident.
"Everywhere I've ever been, they've had a dry system in the server room," said Anderson. "Yes, we have insurance, but it's the inconvenience factor of how many days we will be out if we put that system in there wet."
Rathburn noted that the town has more than $120,000 of equipment in the server room. | {
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Youghiogheny Fishing
Fishing on the yough has been widely varied. Folks are reporting not alot of fish, but they are finding large fish! These fish were caught last week on the Lower Yough. Early AM, you can expect to have some dry fly action. Slate drakes and BWO’s are seen every day. Remember that heat stresses fish and do not over play them. Pete B from Somerset caught this 22 inch Brown on Tuesday | {
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} |
Brownsburg Taxidermist arrested for Corrupt Business Practices
Indiana Conservation Officers have been investigating Brownsburg Taxidermy located in Brownsburg, IN for the past year and a half.
The owner of the business, Kevin McGrotty allegedly collected thousands of dollars from his clients and has guaranteed his clients completed work, but has failed to do the work he has promised.
In all, Kevin has collected over four thousand dollars from sixteen victims that have called in and complained.
Mr. McGrotty is being charged with sixteen counts of Theft and one count of Corrupt Business Practices (Level 5 Felony). Mr. McGrotty’s taxidermist license has been revoked as a result of this investigation.
On Sept 26 Indiana Conservation Officers and Hendricks County Sheriff’s detectives served arrest and search warrants on Mr. McGrotty and his Taxidermy business. Officers seized hides, mounts and antlers of customers that had paid Mr. McGrotty to complete taxidermy work on, but had never received their completed work.
Mr. McGrotty still has several hundred other hides, specimens and antlers he has yet to complete the taxidermy work on. The involved agencies are asking for the patience of those individuals who still have property at Brownsburg Taxidermy. All of the articles in the shop will need to be inventoried and recorded. Customers will be notified when they will be able to recover their property.
The charges filed against Mr. McGrotty are merely allegations. Under the Constitution of Indiana and the United States Mr. McGrotty is innocent of these allegations and will remain so unless or until they are proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court of law. | {
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Jamie Grace — God Girl lyrics
Oh oh oh oh yeah
If my eyes light up with I say your name
And it's written all over my face
Tell me does it make me crazy
Well, maybe I got somethin' that I can't explain
And the beauty of it never changes
It's got me wrapped up
I'm all caught up
I can't help but say
I'm a God girl that's who I'll be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
No I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm your girl in a crazy world
I'm a God girl that's who I'll be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm your girl for the whole wide world to see
(See, See, See)
And when my ears start hearin' what people say
Hurry up find love cause times tickin' away
Well, I'm not bein' lazy I'm just waiting for
Still waiting for the right boy
Cause I only want to listen to your voice
So I'll be listenin
Always listenin to you everyday
Cause I'm a God girl that's who I'll be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
No I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm your girl in a crazy world
I'm a God girl that's who I'll be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm your girl for the whole wide world to see
Your name in lights
My biggest dream
My all in all
You're all I need
Hand in hand with the master of all creativity
And I won't stop until I know
All my facebook friends and foes
Look at me and only see one thing
I'm a God girl that's who I'll be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm your girl in a crazy world
God girl that's who I'll be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
No I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm yours
Oh I'm a love girl and I'll always be
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet
I can't deny it wouldn't even try
I'm your girl for the whole wide world to see | {
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Dobek, Heffner named 2015 Faculty Excellence winners
TRAVERSE CITY — A science instructor and a social science instructor were named the 2015 winners of NMC's annual Faculty Excellence awards at commencement ceremonies May 2.
Dr. Jerry Dobek, who teaches math and astronomy and also heads NMC's Joseph H. Rogers Observatory is the Imogene Wise Faculty Excellence Award winner. Brian Heffner, who now leads NMC's Police Academy, is the Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award winner. Chosen by a student selection committee, criteria for both awards include teaching excellence, rapport with students, innovation in the classroom and a sense of dedication.
Dobek began at NMC in 1989 as an adjunct instructor, and in 2002 won the Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award. He is also an NMC alumnus. In their nominations students said:
"This professor has a 'leave no one behind' mentality which is evident from the beginning of each new semester. With the teacher's consistent mentorship, you will have no doubt that you will pass."
"This instructor has an amazing gift and ability to teach in a way that is fun."
"With his real-life way of looking at math from all angles, you see and learn that yes, we use math all the time."
Heffner began in 2007 as an adjunct instructor as well, and was hired as director of NMC's Police Academy this past January. In their nominations, students said:
"This instructor shows a real interest in the students and is always a positive and wonderful role model."
"The instructor does an excellent job engaging students from the start of class."
"The course material is clearly organized and I feel people that have taken these classes have learned more from the way the instructor teaches the material."
The Faculty Excellence award was initiated by a contribution from longtime NMC benefactors Harold and Imogene Wise in 1970 and first awarded to a full-time faculty member in 1971. The Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award was created in 1999 as a companion.
Release date: may 5, 2015
For more information:
NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE
Northwestern Michigan College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, height, weight, marital status or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. nmc.edu/non-discrimination | {
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thanks again Rain, is so nice to hear it, doesnt matter how many times hehe.about the Metal rain, the problem was that the objects was summoned above magneto, so is like they pull him down, i corrected and now is farther, but if the enemy is too next, he has a chance to fall down, another problem in flying is the block, the metal shield stay n air, i dont know how to make him stop from flying (while blocking) yet, but i will try to fix it too.i only played MUA1 n wii, and i dont know how magneto xtreme works, if u could tell me, hehe, thanks for the ideas. | {
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Liberty Party Anti-Corruption Policy (cont.)
Our determination to fight corruption will be judged by reference to our preparedness to govern within the framework of the rule of law, ensuring transparency, accountability, and responsiveness, among other ideals. Once a president loses the perception battle with regard to his or her own integrity, the war against corruption is lost, and it is time for that president to quit. The President under a Liberty Party government will commit to resign if he is unable to arrest the growth of corruption within the first half of the administration and begin the process of renewal.
We make no pretense about how difficult it will be to eliminate corruption in government because of its deep cultural roots, compounded by the fact that Liberia’s first post-conflict government, the current administration, has allowed the attitude to be rekindled and manifested that corruption is a way of life in Liberia. But allowing this cancer to continue to fester and grow, as is now the case, is to begin building another powder keg, another time bomb that could cause even greater devastation than the 1989-2003 civil war. We, therefore, commit to the people of Liberia that we will vigorously combat corruption in every aspect of our national life.
Liberty Party’s vision for fighting corruption includes both structural and nonstructural means. Structurally, the government will pay livable wages to civil servants and other government employees, mandate a minimum wage for all employees, develop systems of workable checks and balances in the management of the country‘s resources, and prosecute those accused of corruption, regardless of status or relationship. In a short time, Liberians will be led to appreciate the value of discipline and shown its positive impacts on our personal and collective well-being.
Non-structurally, the national leadership of a Liberty Party Government will lead by example. This means developing a real public reputation for abhorrence of corruption, leading a government whose members’ life styles demonstrate the idea of shared sacrifice, and credibly waging a public campaign to discourage those cultural practices that support corruption. National economic tough times are easier to weather if there is a sense of shared sacrifice across all segments of the population. The huge income disparities that now exist in Liberia, evidenced by the flamboyant and luxurious life styles of government officials combined with the daily reporting of government corruption, not only remind the majority of Liberians that they remain on the periphery of the Liberian society, but also generate resentment and anger.
This non-structural means of fighting corruption is much needed today! It will transform declarations from mere words to deeds. It is the credible demonstration of a commitment to impartially govern in a transparent manner that goes to the heart of good governance. A Liberty Party Government will also take a multi-pronged approach to fighting corruption because corruption undermines our peace by limiting justice and equitable growth, and destroying our economic potentials. Corruption cannot be minimized until we develop the will to prosecute offenders, irrespective of relationship and status in the community. We will, therefore, address the issue of corruption by the example of the leadership that we offer the Liberian people, by indiscriminately enforcing the law, and by reform.
The most important way to combat corruption is to resolve the underlying factors, stated earlier— lack of adequate systems of control, lack of sufficient oversight, low salaries and salary disparity, lack of accountability and the culture of impunity, nepotism and patronage, political culture, lack of tenure (for civil servants), lack of transparency, undeveloped institutions, lack of retirement benefits/pension, uninformed public, and the imperial presidency—that cause corruption in government. But we are convinced that the primary source of corruption in Liberia is the imperial presidency. Liberians may talk all they want about transparency and accountable and postulate about the many causes and effects. But until we deal with the issue of the imperial presidency, Liberia will remain a corrupt nation.
A Liberty Party Government’s Anti-Corruption Policy
In order to address the problems identified in this paper, a Liberty Party Government will do the following:
Review and Act On Audit Reports:
A Liberty Party Government will review and act promptly on all audit reports presented by the General Auditing Commission, with the view of instituting legal proceedings against those implicated in the reports.
Institute Effective Systems and Controls:
Liberty Party believes in the use of technology to transform how we conduct the affairs of Government. We, therefore, applaud the efforts of the international community, especially the World Bank, the African Development Bank, USAID, and IMF, among others, for funding an Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS), which is currently being implemented. A Liberty Party Government will be committed to ensuring that the system is fully and successfully deployed, as this integrated approach to management is expected to ensure accountability and transparency- providing timely, reliable and comprehensive financial information on the activities of government, as well as establishing effective control over the government’s financial resources. The system is also expected to ensure the protection of government’s assets, ensuring that they are used in the most effective and efficient way to benefit all Liberians.
However, if technology like IFMIS is not properly deployed and managed by skilled and competent individuals, with compensating procedures and controls put in place, it will not be an effective tool in the fight against corruption. For instance, an IFMIS will not be fully effective in meeting its objectives in the absence of a government-wide asset register and regular bank reconciliations. Also, an IFMIS cannot prevent a fake voucher from being entered into the system unless such payment vouchers are serialized and prenumbered, which, for more than five years, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Administration has refused to do. A Liberty Party Government will put in place adequate internal controls and procedures, and checks and balances, to ensure compliance with budget laws and public finance restrictions and rules. The successful implementation and maintenance of the IFMIS will require a complete re-engineering of business processes to ensure that we do not operate the IFMIS on the basis of the business-as-usual accounting practices that have only served to promote corruption. A Liberty Party Government will ensure that appropriate training and capacity building programs are provided for all users of the IFMIS.
Furthermore, the configurations of government office spaces will be reviewed with the view of creating as much spatial transparency as appropriate. Spatial transparency is achieved when public business is performed within public view. The current configurations of almost all government work spaces that put many government transactions behind a closed door encourage corruption.
Support the General Auditing Commission:
The General Auditing Commission will be given the necessary support—political and financial—to ensure that it can effectively perform its mandate to determine how government resources have been used, and to verify compliance with accounting principles, and administrative procedures and provisions, in addition to revealing fraud, corruption, and waste in government. We will further strengthen the laws governing the GAC so as to clearly define how and when the Auditor General can be removed, with consideration of a tenure position that is consistent with international best practice.
We will buttress the work of the GAC by creating a National Integrity Office (NIO) within the Office of the President, indicating the resolve of a Liberty Party Administration to deal with corruption in government. The NIO will review all audit reports and reports submitted by whistle blowers, human rights organizations, and other watchdog organizations. Every such report shall be promptly acted upon by the NIO. Further complimenting the work of the GAC, the provision in the Public Financial Reform Act of 2009 that calls for the establishment of internal audit units and audit committees in all institutions of Government will be fully implemented. We know that internal auditing and audit committees are only effective when we have systems and controls in place that are auditable. A Liberty Party Government will ensure that the GAC is provided adequate financial support and operational flexibility to produce the legally required Annual Internal Control Report to measure the extent of the effectiveness of our internal control systems.
a. Provide severe criminal sanction and civil liability for legal persons involved in bribery and other unlawful gratuity, which shall include confiscation of property; such liability shall be without prejudice to the criminal liability of the natural persons who personally committed the offences.
b. Establish a long statute of limitations period, twelve years or longer, in which to commence proceedings for acts of corruption, and to provide for the tolling of the statute of limitations where the alleged offender has evaded the administration of justice.
c. Ensure that entities or persons who have suffered damage as a result of an act of corruption have the right to initiate legal proceedings against those responsible for that damage in order to obtain compensation.
Avoid Conflict of Interest:
In order to avoid officials of government and others in positions of public trust trading with government or otherwise interacting with themselves, every company desirous of doing business with a Liberty Party Government will be required to have the names of all of its shareholders listed in the articles of incorporation and published in newspapers so that the Liberian people will know who is doing business with their government. Moreover, every contract that the government will enter into will include a full disclosure form to be filled out by the company indicating the names of its shareholders and business interests. Any change of ownership of the shares of such a company, will be done through amendment of the articles of incorporation and publication in local newspapers. Furthermore, all companies wishing to do business with the government will be required to go through a prequalification process to ensure not only that they possess the capability to deliver the goods and services they will be competing for, but also to verify that they don’t have a prior record of bad business practice and that their operation will be free from conflict of interest. Any company having connection, directly or indirectly, with a government official, will be delisted and not allowed to do business with the government. Each quarter the Public Procurement Commission will be required to publish on its website names of and relevant information about all businesses doing business with government. Information about the businesses will include ownership, tax identification, business registration number, articles of incorporation number (registration issued by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs for Non-governmental entities). Furthermore, a Liberty Party Government will enforce Section 131 of the Procurement Act of 2005, amended in 2009. This provision requires public disclosure of assets within three months of taking office and three months after leaving office for all persons involved in procurement, including the heads of all Government agencies. This provision of the procurement act has been ignored by the Sirleaf Administration but a Liberty Party Government will enforce it because procurement constitutes about seventy percent of Government expenditure.
Control Nepotism:
Controlling nepotism must begin with the first family. The President of a Liberty Party Government will abide by all laws and regulations put in place to combat corruption. The President will be required to place all his business interests in a blind trust during his presidency. Moreover, all public officials will be banned from appointing any first-degree relative (mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and sister).
Dismantle the Imperial Presidency: We have recognized that the imperial presidency trumps every other form of corruption. Liberia
will remain a corrupt nation until the imperial presidency is dismantled. In this regard, the Liberia Constitution will be amended to revise Article 34 (d) (ii), deleting the portion which provides that no monies shall be drawn from the treasury except upon warrant of the President. This would deter the president from withholding payments rightly due to creditors of the government because they are or perceived to be political oppositions or “enemies of the president.” Such creditors would be able to sue the Minister of Finance or other government functionaries to compel payment. We will also propose amendment of Article 56 (b) of the Constitution to delete the portion that authorizes the President of Liberia to remove chiefs from their elected offices for proved misconduct. The laws and practice that support tribal customs and tradition being regulated, interpreted, and executed by the Executive Branch will be changed. Such practice corrupts Liberia’s system of governance, as it encourages every action of the chiefs to be about appeasing the President.
Address corruption in the Judiciary and the Legislature. Cause a Judicial Service Commission to be established. The Commission will work with the three
branches of government to, i. Minimize corruption in the judiciary;
ii. Provide continued legal education for members of the judiciary and members of the legal profession;
iii. Establish guidelines for the selection and removal of judicial officers and other personnel of the judiciary; and,
iv. Recommend means for dealing with justices, judges, and lawyers who engage in bribery, jury tampering, or otherwise subverting the system of justice.
Strengthen the Ministry of Justice:
It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice to enforce the laws of the country, which include ensuring that the President of Liberia does not overstep the bounds of what is allowed by law. But the officials of the Ministry are often torn between the laws they swore to uphold and pleasing the President. A Liberty Party Government will depoliticize the Ministry of Justice, allowing attorneys of the Justice Ministry to function independent of the office of the President. The Ministry of Justice will be required to establish a number of internal checks governing when prosecutors should and should not bring cases, as a way of cutting down on potential abuses of discretion. To avoid these abuses, the Ministry will be required to established guidelines for contacts with the President or officials of government with regard to cases to be prosecuted, in order to avoid tipping the scale of justice in inappropriate ways. A Liberty Party Government will build the capacity of the Ministry of Justice by recruiting career prosecutors, who will not be political appointees, but engaged under contract for fixed terms with the right to recover against the government, if the contract of engagement is wrongfully terminated for political reasons or otherwise.
The Anti-corruption Commission:
The Act creating the Liberia Anti-corruption Commission (LACC) will be amended, transferring LACC to the Ministry of Justice as a department of the Ministry, so that the Anti-corruption Department can avail itself of the capacity that would have been created at the Ministry of Justice. The current Act to Protect Whistle Blowers will be amended to strengthen the protection provisions as well as to provide incentive for those willing to disclose acts of corruption by: minimizing the involvement of political appointees; revising the provision on “non-protected disclosures” with the view of encouraging unfettered disclosure—even encouraging anonymous whistle blowing, shifting the burden to the new Anti-Corruption Department to establish the veracity of the information, instead of the Whistle Blower; unconditionally prohibiting retaliation against whistle blowers; among others.
A Liberty Party Government will borrow a concept from the UN and the World Bank— the co- called STAR (Stolen Asset Recovery) Initiative—to deal with restitution of all moneys stolen by corrupt public officials.
Merit Based Civil Service System:
A Liberty Party Government will focus on developing a professional/merit based civil service that will be totally devoid of the influence of party politics, holding loyalty to the Constitution and people of Liberia. The President’s use of extensive appointment power availed by law and custom, shall have due regard to the qualification and character of appointees, weighing against relationship and status—all indicating the will to fight corruption. A career in the public service under a Liberty Party Government will be based upon a transparent merit based promotion system. Providing for the day to day concerns of civil servants, which may subject them to the temptations of corruption, will be a major consideration of a Liberty Party Government. As such, public servants will, in the short run, be paid adequate wages and, over a period of time, provided incentives with welfare packages, such as healthcare coverage, education for their children, and housing. Salaries throughout Government will also be standardized to avoid discretion and nepotism. That would help to make public service an honorable path. Public service will be promoted and seen for what it is: a service of dignity. Liberians will once again be proud to be civil servants, having a status of distinction and honor, not worth losing on account of corruption.
Code of Conduct:
There is no code to guide the conduct of public officials, especially those involved in financial transactions. As things stand today, government officials feel no obligation to the people whom they should be serving. A Liberty Party Government will, therefore, adopt several measures to reverse that attitude and ensure accountability of public officials. Immediate steps will be taken to develop a comprehensive Code of Conduct for all civil servants, presidential appointees, and elected public officials, with clear gratuity and conflict of interest provisions. All presidential appointees and elected public officials will be subjected to background checks, a clearance process, and compulsory declaration of
assets.
The Code of Conduct will be pursuant to Article 90 of the Constitution of Liberia, which provides:
1. No person, whether elected or appointed to any public office, shall engage in any other activity which shall be against public policy, or constitute conflict of interest.
2. No person holding public office shall demand and receive any other perquisites, emoluments or benefits, directly or indirectly, on account of any duty required by Government.
3. The Legislature shall, in pursuance of the above provision, prescribe a Code of Conduct for all public officials and employees, stipulating the acts which constitute conflict of interest or are against public policy, and the penalties for violation thereof.
And the Code of Conduct will be modeled after UN Resolution 51/59:
1. No civil servant or official shall use his position or any property of the government assigned for his official duties to carry on personal business.
2. No civil servant or official of government shall lobby another official of government in order to gain favorable treatment for himself or herself, family members, business associate or any other person as this conduct has the propensity to undermine the public’s confidence in fair play in the conduct of government business.
3. At the time of appointment or election, at the end of the first half of the term of a Liberty Party Government, and/or upon leaving office, every public official shall file a prescribed form, declaring all assets he or she owned before appointment and any new asset acquired during the course of the year, and any asset disposed of.
4. Public officials shall not solicit or receive directly or indirectly any gift or other favor from any person who is not a family member. This prohibition does not include meals, transportation or souvenirs, the value of which shall not exceed US$100.00, provided by a sponsor of a government approved event.
5. No public official, including the President of Liberia, shall have a “Special Fund,” not subject to public scrutiny, whether for market construction or other putative charitable projects, as such funds serve as conduits for bribes and other unlawful gratuities.
Minimizing Partisan Politics in Government:
Although every Liberian has the constitutional right to join any political party of his choosing and to participate in political activities, civil servants and officials of government shall be impartial in the execution of their duties. The appropriate legislation shall be enacted, making it unlawful for the President of Liberia to appoint officials of government or civil servants as officials or members of his/her personal political campaign, or to use the government functionaries and bureaucracy as an extension of his political party. It shall also be unlawful for appointed officials of government to engage in political campaign activities, except upon resignation or duly authorized leave of absence without pay for a period of not less than six weeks.
Generational/Long-term
In order to win the fight against corruption, Liberians must think and act with the long term in view. The fight for the integrity of our country cannot be limited to one political party, one administration or an individual president. The holistic components elaborated above must be passed down and embraced by each generation of Liberians. Measures must be taken to make sure that national policies are passed
down from one administration to the other. In this regard, a Liberty Party Government will target the younger generations (from elementary school to college) for civic education and integrity awareness training. Youth integrity clubs will be established and supported by government in our schools across the country to promote the ideals of a corruption free society.
A Liberty Party Government will also establish an annual National Integrity Award Program to honor individuals with distinctive and exemplary character from elementary, high school and college; civil servants, presidential appointees, politicians, and individuals from the private sector. We will showcase and reward integrity and honesty as a means of making corruption something to be ashamed of. We will expeditiously punish anyone who engages in corruption. We will work to make corruption an expensive crime.
Conclusion
A Liberty Party Government will fight corruption aggressively because it threatens the peace and stability of our country, robs each and every one of us and limits equitable growth potentials of our economy. We will fight corruption vigorously through reforming public institutions, and changing customs and habits that have made corruption a way of life. A Liberty Party Government’s anti- corruption policies will arrest the growth of corruption and cause its reversal within the first half of the Presidential term. We have the political will and a strong resolve to prosecute those who engage in corrupt practices, regardless of who they are; and we pledge to develop the capacity and integrity of the judicial system. The office of the President of a Liberty Party Government will set the tone for the fight against corruption. Measures to minimize corruption under a Liberty Party Government will be open to scrutiny and evaluation by the General Auditing Commission, the media and human rights and other watchdog organizations on an ongoing basis for the purposes of continual improvement and accountability. Let’s be clear. Those who simply believe that the cancer of corruption by itself is Liberia’s No.1 problem are mistaken. Liberia’s No. 1 problem today is that we have a government that is either unable or unwilling to bring this peril under control. Public corruption is a world-wide phenomenon but in countries where it is under control, their governments make it a very costly practice. In the past, corruption in Liberia was simply alleged, but rarely documented. But, during the last almost six years, the practice was professionally and consistently documented by the General Auditing Commission. The UP Government, on the other hand, did very little to sanction acts of corruption committed by friends, political allies, and supporters of the President. A Liberty Party Government’s commitment to fighting corruption will not be compromised. The word will go forth from day one that the culture of impunity is over. That message will go out both to those who will do business with the government as well as those who will serve in our administration. We have laid out a substantive plan to deal with the issue of corruption, drawing on our own experiences and on the basis of research conducted by experts. We have a plan and a clear roadmap to reduce the high level of rampant corruption in government. Our solution is simple! It is based on a system of carrots and stick— reward and punishment—which is supported by institutional reforms of Government. Liberians can be assured that a Liberty Party Government will not recycle corrupt people in the system. It is that simple. | {
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Can The RompHim Kickstarter Revolutionize Men’s Fashion? We Hope Not
Want further truth the internet should be shut down forever and that men ruin everything? Meet the latest fashion Kickstarter: the RompHim.
Tired of babies and women getting all the great summer fashion? Wish that those polo shirts and white linen shorts you typically sported on a night out with the bros were more convenient? Well then you're in luck, as this week Aced Design launched its Kickstarter for the RompHim. That's right, Aced Design wants you fashion-forward men out there to know its thinking about you when seeking funding for the male onesie.
Not impressed by just hearing about the RompHim? Check out the Kickstarter video below to see the absurdist male iteration of the fashion in action.
You better believe summer is "about to get romped!" Ugh. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
I mean, honestly, who hasn't dreamed of having an extremely tiny one-piece that's perfect for shooting pool, hitting up the carnival, working out or playing on the beach? The RompHim has so many different possibilities. It's not that hard to believe when you realize the team who developed it believed that existing men's fashion were "too corporate, too fratty, too 'runway' and too basic." Of course the natural solution to having all those restrictive options is to streamline everything down to a pair of short shorts with a five-button polo attached. At least now when you feel the need to show your casual side but undoing a few buttons a few PBRs into your block party BBQ, you won't have to worry about your shirt coming untucked. You know, because it's attached to your pants.
If all this ridiculousness hasn't turned you away just yet, perhaps the idea that it will cost you $95 to get in on just one RompHim in time for July's biggest bashes will bring you back down to Earth. Yeah, $95. Aced Design was only seeking $10,000 to get RompHim off the ground, and met that goal quickly thanks to more than 650 backers dropping just over $68,000 in just the first few days. I only pray that I don't have to witness one of those 650+ people at any picnics or bonfires this year. I might die from laughter, and I'm not ready to call it quits on this mortal coil just yet. | {
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Saturday, February 5, 2011
LIFE: With Speed
CRASH
Speed :: Life :: No Where
Demise
Slowly I'm fading
My thoughts escape my mental
without a care for my ending.
-------
Aristo Dos Santos
CuPid Poetry
“For Those You Love and Adore”
In life sometimes we rush, to nowhere of course. Stubborn, we choose to follow different paths away from a destined course, zooming past needed opportunities guided by desires of wanted lusts instigated by stupidity. Time runs along with us, making us late every single second as she always arrives on time. We excuse ourselves with stereotypical remarks hoping to ease disappointment upon us, but in reality just bringing ourselves down as a race or group we belonged to. Running over our child hood dreams we crash into reality awakening us as individuals lacking sense.
"When you can, please try to keep your head up in life" – Aristo Dos Santos
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About Me
Realist. Open minded with a blunt understanding of reality, all that you feel, see and live away from dream. Loyal with a heart without second chances, understanding without a concrete being. Friend to a few, lusted to befriend by many strangers. -
Aristo Dos Santos ::
CuPid Poetry | {
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} |
Blog Archives
Chrono Trigger, released today on Virtual Console, is perhaps the most perfect game in existence. In light of the fact that some people may be playing it for the first time, this piece contains no spoilers. At all. That’s how perfect it is: I don’t want to ruin it for those unfortunates of you who’ve never played it.
It was developed by the second Dream Team, and they might have had more density of talent than the original 1992 American Basketball edition. I mean, Christ, look at the people who worked on this game: Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy; Yuji Horii, creator of Dragon Quest; Akira Toriyama, artist behind Dragon Ball. And that’s just the stars. These three guys are Jordan, Magic, and Charles Barkley. The story made Masato Kato, who would go on to write Xenogears. Yasunori Mitsuda’s career began by scoring the game, and when he got sick Nobou Uematsu replaced him; together, they assembled perhaps the most memorable score in gaming. The game was directed by FFVI, VII, and VIII director Yoshinori Kitase, FFIV lead designer Takashi Tokita, and Akihiko Matsui, who designed the battles in that game. The end of the proverbial bench was Tetsuya Takahashi, who’d done graphics on pretty much every Squaresoft SNES game, as well as Yusuke Naora, who went on to do art direction in pretty much every Squaresoft PSOne game, and Baten Kaitos director Yasuyuki Honne. The last guy on the bench, Chrono Trigger’s Brian Scalabrine? Why, that would be Kingdom Hearts creator and modern FF character designer Tetsuya Nomura.
Read that paragraph again. I can’t even imagine a similar crew from Western game developers of any era. It’s too ludicrous to imagine. Hell, just Sakaguchi and Horii together would be like Valve and Epic making a game together. It’s absolutely bonkers.
And the game they made? Perfect. Still ahead of its time. When I play Chrono Trigger today, for the dozenth time, it does things that modern RPGs don’t do. If Final Fantasy VII is the triumphant king of the Japanese RPG, then Chrono Trigger is its benevolent queen.Read the rest of this entry →
Yes, I know, I said no news here, but I am a liar! A big fat, possibly Greek liar (yes, I went there. It’s early enough in the morning to go there). But you know what? Final Fantasy deserves an exception because I love making fun of Final Fantasy. It’s just so ludicrous that it deserves brutal mocking, and BRUTAL MOCKING I CAN PROVIDE. Or, kind of provide. And it’s hard to spoil anything when the whole thing is in Japanese, a language I definitely do not speak.
So, the news of the day was the release of trailers for every one of Square Enix’s identical action RPG products. If you want the trailers, I’ve linked them under the cut. I don’t really care to give Square Enix promotion, but I figure making fun of their games balances out any promotional concern. Your level of snark for the day is determined by the header picture which means we’re about at Snark Code Orange. Because I dug up the Final Fantasy movie in all your collective minds.
The big* announcement**, of course***, was Final Fantasy XIII-2. It is, affectionately, a game that shouldn’t exist. It’s probably spawned out of the fact that they made so much extra, useless content for Final Fantasy XIII, and in good Japanese tradition they couldn’t just throw it out. This game has the least trailer support (literally, half the trailer is the ending of XIII, which I pretty much called four hours in, down to the setting), and honestly doesn’t inspire confidence. Then again, it would require a fair amount of work to make me interested in anything with Final Fantasy XIII attached.
Square Enix then spent 12 minutes trying really hard to make me interested in things with Final Fantasy XIII attached. Read the rest of this entry →
Setting aside personal opinions regarding the last handful of titles in the Final Fantasy series as well as the direction the series has taken since the Square-Enix merger, I boldly endorse Final Fantasy XIV. The second incarnation of an FFMMO is upon us. And god damn, if the opening cinematic doesn’t make the Final Fantasy girl inside you scream with delight, there may be something clinically wrong with you.
The typical fruity colours and lame-looking character models of FFXIII, XII, and X are gone, featuring instead a much more medieval style art direction. Gone as well are the gimmicky features of recent characters. In other words, Final Fantasy has finally grown up.
Here’s to hoping this kind of art direction to take precedence in the next single player title in the franchise.
The game will be out at the end of this month exclusively for PS3 and PC.
You know, Dungeon Siege 3 could work, I said. Obsidian, developers of lots of bug heavy but brilliantly storied adventures, have been put in a position where they’re developing a game that doesn’t require a lot of technical flourish, and that allows for an emphasis on storytelling and systems, which they’re good at.
So, yes, I know, the trailer looks a bit shit. But before you come in here and shout, “But Tom! The trailer looks a bit shit!” think of this: the graphics, the presentation, these look better than Obsidian’s ever pulled off. If they can get the story, and the mechanics, to function brilliantly and with complexity, and this will be a fantastic game.
And hell, at least it comes out before Diablo 3, which means it can scratch that ever-present party-based action rpg itch. Or, at least, I always have it. Maybe I should get some sort of cream or salve for that, though.
It’s hard to muster up a lot of enthusiasm for Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix’s newest foray into the world of the massively multiplayer. On one hand, it sure is pretty. And everything I’ve read about it has been pretty interesting; it’s got some pretty cool leveling mechanics, supposedly. On the other hand, how am I supposed to invest in this game when Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World are on the horizon? You know, a game that reinvents the MMO wheel, and a game that takes place in a Lovecraftian world where all conspiracy theories are true? Oh, and with Everquest 2 and Lord of the Rings Online, very similar games in terms of theme and quality, rapidly approaching free to play status? Pretty is good, but pretty doesn’t quite cut it anymore.
But Square Enix is still trying, and you can try their game before it hits shelves by playing in the open beta. The open beta which starts in a couple days, August 31st at 19:00 PST (that’s 7 PM, for those of you averse to military time). I plan to give it a go, in any event. It might not have the innovative chops of its western peers, but should be a good time.
Or a horrible, life-consuming time. Fuck if I know. And if the above trailer tells us anything, it’s that it’ll probably have some really awkward music.
I’ve been sitting on this review for a while now. Not because I have many strong feelings about Dragon Quest, IX in particular, but because it’s a game that is so flabbergastingly difficult to discuss.
It’s the Level 5 problem: how the fuck do you review a game that is entirely, patently unfun, but that I played for thirty five hours and couldn’t wait to go back to. Sure, I gave up at that point, but let’s not get ahead of the plot.
You want me to sum it up in a rating, though, so you don’t have to read philosophical rambling? Fine. Dragon Quest IX is an MMO that is played by yourself.Read the rest of this entry →
Today is apparently Strategy RPG Day, and with that we have leaked news from Famitsu that the mother of all SRPGs, Tactics Ogre, is being remade for the PSP.
Never heard of it? Well, that’s sad. Tactics Ogre, sequel to Ogre Battle, was a SNES strategy RPG, developed by Quest, and worked on by such people as Yasumi Matsuno (man behind, among other things, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and the good bits of Final Fantasy XII), Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Masaharu Iwata. The remake is adding additional old school Square Enix talent to the pool, with Hiroshi Minagawa set to direct, and Akihiko Yoshida and Tsubasa Masao, character designers on Final Fantasy Tactics and Zone of the Enders, respectively, set to design the people. So I would not be misleading to say this is a star-studded remake.
Really, we have no information on this besides that it is a thing that’s happening. However, it gives me the chance to encourage you to play, in some fashion, either the SNES or PSOne version of Tactics Ogre, because it’s a truly fantastic game and it’s unlikely Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea or anything would exist without its success.
Some days, you see a bit of news that makes you think, “Wow, that’s awesome.” And other days you see news that makes you throw up a little in your mouth.
Well, yesterday’s news that Obsidian was in talks to develop a Chrono Trigger sequel? It made me do both.
And you know what? When you think about it, it’s not the worst idea in the world. Well, yes it is. But hear me out (and considering the internet’s vehement negative reaction, I doubt many people will), mostly because Squenix hasn’t said anything about it and it would take Dungeon Siege 3 becoming the best selling game ever for this to happen. So this is all idle speculation.
Feargus Urquhart, one of Obsidian’s head honchos and man involved in both the original Fallouts, was the one who brought this rumor to light with Siliconera, in a “this is the game we’d like to make, if you gave us any of your licenses, oh great Square Enix!” And it’s not far fetched: Square wants to get into the development of “western” games, as evidenced by the MMOs and the recently released Nier, so it’s not an absurd conversation.
On how it would work, Nathan Chapman, also fine fellow with Obsidian, said, “I think we’re going with Chrono Trigger because it has elements of a Western RPG. It’s more open, it’s still mostly linear, but there are parts you can explore more. There are lots of differences, like you can beat Lavos at different parts of the game and you get different endings based on that. There are obvious answers like dialogue trees and all of that good stuff. The seeds are there for that kind of development.” This probably makes it sound a lot more likely than it is.
An Obsidian developed Chrono game (let’s just call it Chrono Break) would be interesting for a lot of reasons. There are two directions it could go in: it could be a western RPG with a Japanese aesthetic, or it could be a monstrosity like Sonic: The Dark Brotherhood, with which Bioware took the good bits of Western RPGs, threw them out, and made a generic, awful JRPG. Let’s assume they went the former direction.
Of course, it would be difficult to make a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger, least of all because it already has one: Chrono Cross, which produced a hilarious and convoluted “present” in the Chrono universe*. However, let’s assume Obsidian could work that out. That’s the one element I have faith in them in: their plots have always been fantastic (until they run out of money, at least).Read the rest of this entry →
You see, SE knows it’s getting old and antiquated. They know they need to do something in the face of all these new fangled changes that are happening to the tech/media/entertainment industry at large. Square Enix Chief Executive Yoichi Wada tells Forbes all about Square’s new direction, where he admits that “Two things are clear: The distribution channels will change and the revenue model will change.”
So, what does Square Enix propose to do in the wake of these changes? Wada posed an example where, a game like Final Fantasy would be sold through digital distribution in $5 installments. Furthermore Wada reveals that his desire is to see the huge profit margins that companies like NCSoft, who make money selling virtual items in free-to-play games, enjoy. If Farmville can do it, why not Square Enix? Of course, this approach seems completely antithetical to what Final Fantasies are all about (or have become): huge production values and level of detail that you often only see in Hollywood blockbusters. To counter this, Wada says that the level of polish is in the eye of the beholder.
It gets worse. Wada says that “some element of multiplayer or social gaming will be incorporated into each title Square Enix produces, even titles that have traditionally been single-player.” It seems that the folks at Square Enix have been doing more of their “research” which concluded that games do not need storylines, this time concluding that games need to be multiplayer to be succesful. So, could we be seeing a multiplayer Final Fantasy sometime in the future? Who knows. Don’t be surprised when it hits, though. And if Final Fantasy 13 is any indicator, we’ll see that in spite of adhering to current “trends,” Square Enix will completely miss the point of what multiplayer is supposed to be all about. Hell, it doesn’t sound like they even have the judgement to realize that multiplayer should not be incorporated into every game.
“Frankly, the people who excelled at creating game software about 10 years ago are really not good at making multiplayer games,” Wada says. “We are striving to change the old culture, and as a part of such effort we are trying to bring in fresh blood.”
Eh. Some would argue that the Square Enix they once knew died a long, long time ago.
Some days, you get a piece of news that is unintentionally hilarious. Like really any episode of 24. Today, we had the bombshell (lol) that Obsidian (okay) and Square Enix (huh?) were developing a sequel to PC Diablo-alike stalwart Dungeon Siege.
Just think about all those aspects together. Square Enix making a western RPG. Obsidian making a Diablo clone. Dungeon Siege, which was moderately successful at launch but whose sequels, especially Space Siege, flopped harder than a pair of flip flops on a Dolphin (spot the subtle dig!), getting a new sequel from a major company.
Then I thought about it, thought long and hard, and by god if this isn’t the best idea since someone put cookie dough in ice cream.Read the rest of this entry → | {
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The Ministry of Transport has said it is complying with the decision of Saudi Arabia Customs to collect price differential fees on petrol.
Recent talks between the ministry and Jordanian Minister of Transport Alaa’ Al-Bataineh confirmed the fees are legal and do not violate any agreement. The move aims to prevent the smuggling of petroleum across the border.
The Jordanian minister brought forward the concerns of his fellow citizens who believe the decision is unfair and affects their interests. Jordanian drivers staged a two-day strike objecting to the decision, in front of the Al Omari border. The protesters claim the fees violate the international road transportation agreement between the two countries.
Representatives from the Saudi and Jordanian ministries met to discuss claims by Jordanian drivers, who said they were denied access to Saudi Arabia by customs officials on this side.
What's happening around Saudi Arabia
ALKHOBAR: A power failure at the King Fahd Causeway on Wednesday night resulted in a massive traffic congestion, even as officials failed to explain the cause of the snag, local media reported.A power outage for 74 minutes on the link between the Kin...
JEDDAH: A female Saudi lawyer was able to get a stay order on a ruling by the general court in Jeddah that awarded custody of a two-year-old girl to her father. She successfully argued to get the court order reversed that gave custody back to the mot...
JEDDAH: The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) said that combating harassment cases is part of its responsibility to promote Islamic values and morals in society.“Those harassing women will be brought to book,” s...
JEDDAH: More than 26 million Umrah pilgrims and worshippers visited the Grand Mosque during the month of Ramadan and in the first few days after Eid Al-Fitr, thanks to a smooth transport arrangement under the guidance of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-...
AL-AHSA: An outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) has been discovered in cattle in Al-Ahsa which is an area with many cows. All necessary measures have been taken to protect the livestock, said Mahmoud Al-Shuaibi of the Agriculture Department in Al-Ah...
RIYADH: An architectural masterpiece — the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center (KAHC) — in Riyadh is a huge complex dedicated solely to collecting, preserving, promoting and showcasing the history and heritage of Saudi Arabia. The KAHC is a three milli...
RIYADH: The Saudi Blind Society (Kafif) has made all preparations for the three-day workshop for the blind to be held here next week and attended by delegates from various Asian countries.Mohammed bin Suleiman Al-Shuwaiman, Kafif director general, th...
JEDDAH: The number of Saudis who took early retirement schemes last year stood at 38,647, the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) has said. The Eastern Provinces got the lion's share of disbursements for retirees, amounting to SR3.8 bill...
JEDDAH: Meat and poultry topped the list of food items seized by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) at the border crossings for violating the health standards in the last two months.Approximately 267,137 kg of unfit meat and poultry were reject...
JEDDAH: Many sponsors and workers of small companies are struggling to get a comparatively cheaper health cover for renewal of iqama (residential permit) as the insurance companies have stopped issuing the same.The passport department has made it com...
RIYADH: Police have detained 11 Indonesian nationals, who arrived in the holy city of Makkah for Umrah a few days back.The Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry is working closely with the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah to assist the group of citizen...
JEDDAH: The National Committee for Bakeries at the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) said this Haj season would see no shortage in supplies of bakery items.The committee said there was need to increase operational labor by about 20 percent.It confirmed...
LONDON: Members of Osama Bin Laden’s family were among four people who died when a private jet crashed in Britain, Saudi Arabia’s embassy in London said on Saturday.The Saudi-registered plane plowed into a car auction site and burst into flames in so...
JEDDAH: Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Al Hamzi, director general of prisons, has sacked Brig. Ahmad Al Shahrani, director of Jeddah prisons, after the case of a video clip about prisoners taking heroin went viral, according to local media.Quoting informed source... | {
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The company also said it appointed Yoad Shraybom, a former Disney executive, as chief financial officer.
Nexar will use the funding to expand its vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network by working with insurers, cities and automakers. It offers a free dashcam app connected to a V2V communication network that provides advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and collision prevention alerts to drivers. | {
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Automated installer creation
On the download page you will find the executable for each SVN commit in the HeidiSQL repository. The executables are processed in conjunction with a SVN post commit hook. I just extended this process so it also creates the installer with that executable, using a InnoSetup command line. This way, users who need a full installer and also want to use the latest build can do that in one download. | {
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Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer's weekend switch from Chris Christie booster to Christie accuser has drawn a sharply worded denial of her charge that the governor's office withheld Sandy aid from her city because she balked at fast-tracking a commercial development project.
Zimmer, a Democrat whose effusive praise of Republican Christie last August read like a quasi-endorsement of his re-election bid, now says Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno pulled her aside at a supermarket opening last May and told her unless the development project was approved "we are not going to be able to help you."
Christie spokesmen also hit back hard on Sunday, accusing Zimmer of trying to benefit from the unfolding Bridgegate investigations -- a suggestion echoed by unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono on Sunday.
Zimmer, speaking to to MSNBC and The Associated Press Saturday, said Guadagno told her Sandy recovery funds would not flow to her flood-damaged city unless a commercial development favored by the Christie administration went forward. MSNBC reported that the project was being handled by the law firm of Port Authority chairman David Samson, a Christie confidant whose name has surfaced in subpoenaed Bridgegate documents.
Zimmer, in the MSNBC interview, said Guadagno also told her the ultimatum came directly from Christie and added:: "'I know it's not right, I know these things should not be connected, but they are and if you tell anyone I'll deny it.'"
Guadagno Monday said, "Mayor Zimmer's version of our conversation in May of 2013 is not only false but is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined. Any suggestion that Sandy funds were tied to the approval of any project in New Jersey is completely false."
Christie's office, calling Zimmer's charges "outlandishly" and "categorically" false Sunday, issued a statement pointing to the "public praise" she had given the governor last year for his handling of New Jersey's Sandy recovery.
"The Governor and Mayor Zimmer have had a productive relationship, with Mayor Zimmer even recently saying she's 'very glad' he's been our Governor," the statement said. "It's very clear partisan politics are at play here as Democratic mayors with a political axe to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television."
In one Aug. 20 tweet cited by Christie's office, Zimmer appeared to suggest she would be joining other Democratic mayors in endorsing the governor for re-election but for Hoboken's own non-partisan municipal elections. She tweeted:
"To be clear I am very glad Governor Christie has been our Gov. I am not endorsing bc of Hob's non-partisan mayoral race."
A lengthy denial issued by Christie's office stated Hoboken is slated to receive at least $70-million of some $300-million in Sandy aid that was intended to be shared with other New Jersey localities. Zimmer Saturday told MSNBC that her city received only $342,000 of the $127 million she had requested.
Buono tweeted Sunday morning with an indirect reference to the Bridgegate investigations into charges George Washington Bridge lane closings in September were aimed at punishing a Democratic mayor for not endorsing Christie. Buono, whose own doomed candidacy drew little support from Democratic mayors, tweeted:
“Good @dawnzimmernj came forward but question is: why did she wait until she smelled blood in the water?”
Zimmer, offering to take a lie-detector test, said she didn't reveal the conversation until this weekend because she feared no one would believe her. A week earlier, she told WNYC radio that Christie was disappointed she did not endorse him for re-election. However, she made no mention in that interview of his administration using Sandy aid to pressure her for support of the redevelopment project.
Assemb. John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), chairman of the state legislature's special Bridgegate committee, told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that Zimmer's allegations should be taken seriously and would be looked into by the committee.
Wisniewski was himself the target of an attack by Republican Rudy Giuliani in a separate Meet the Press segment Sunday. The former New York City Mayor said the New Jersey assemblyman should recuse himself from the investigation because his public statements indicate he has prejudged the outcome by saying he does not believe Gov. Christie's denials of involvement in the bridge closings.
"It clearly is a partisan witch hunt," Giuliani said of Bridgegate.
In response, a spokesman for Assembly Democrats said, "Rudy Giuliani quite simply has no idea what he's talking about. Chairman Wisniewski has been praised by Republicans for his work and Republicans unanimously voted with Democrats to continue the investigation into what happened with this threat to public safety and abuse of government power." | {
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SSL Certificates Are Not All Equal When it Comes to Trust
If you know a little bit about website security, you probably know about HTTPS and the use of SSL certificates to make a website more secure. But did you know that not all SSL certificates are created equal? In fact, there are several kinds of SSL certificates.
The easiest way to think about this is that there’s no central place issuing SSL certificates. Instead, these are sold by trusted vendors, and a few big names tend to account for the majority of SSL certificates you’re likely to encounter.
After purchasing the certificate, the website owner needs to verify the certificate with the Certificate Authority it was purchased from through a Certificate Signing Request (CSR); this proves that you do manage the site you claim to be managing. Different certificates have different levels of validation, which makes some more secure than others.
At CanSpace Solutions, Canada’s leading web hosting provider, all our shared hosting services come with SSL certificates. Our basic hosting packages come with Let’s Encrypt, while the mid-level and professional plans use Comodo, a more trusted certificate.
All the certificates we offer include the basics, such as:
HTTPS connections
Validation of the registered domain
2,048-bit RSA Signature Key
Up to 256-bit Encryption strength
Resolution of the “Not Secure” browser warning
Let’s Encrypt
Let’s Encrypt is a nonprofit service created by the Internet Security Research Group to promote web security by bringing down the cost of SSL certificates. Because Let’s Encrypt is so straightforward, it’s actually easier to implement than some other certificates.
As a Domain Validated certificate, it provides exactly the same data encryption as other SSL certificates, but does not provide assurance about the identity of the business behind the website.
With Let’s Encrypt, the Certificate Authority (CA) simply verifies that the organization has control over the concerned domain. This verification is usually done via email. To verify that he or she has control of a particular domain, the owner can make changes to a DNS record or upload a file supplied by the CA to the domain.
Let’s Encrypt is not quite as widely supported as its competitors. For example, there are some known issues with certain platforms, like Blackberry, though these are unlikely to be major sources of traffic to your site.
Let’s Encrypt has a robust online community because of its popularity, but because it’s a nonprofit, users usually have to rely on online information rather than any kind of dedicated customer support.
Comodo
Our higher level plans come with Comodo, which is a full-featured, traditional SSL certificate. In addition to being generally better regarded than other options, Comodo also has some extra flexibility that those with more robust websites might appreciate.
With Comodo, in addition to the steps taken with Let’s Encrypt, the Certificate Authority briefly investigates the organization making the application to ensure it’s a real company.
The CA validates not only the ownership of the domain but also organization information included in the certificate like name, city, and country.
Implementation across subdomains — For sites with multiple subdomains, you would typically need a separate SSL certificate for each subdomain. However with CanSpace, all of your subdomains are covered automatically.
Customer support — Because, unlike Let’s Encrypt, Comodo is a commercial entity, it has the funds to invest in things like around the clock customer support. So, if you ever have any issues with your certificate, you’ll have someone you can reach out to (other than us, of course).
If you’re in need of more options, we offer other SSL certificates such as Organization Validated. However, for all but the most niche of uses, the above two options should be the most straightforward. Visit our SSL and HTTPS knowledge base page to find out more, and feel free to contact us with any questions!
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Egg diet Plan
EGG DIET PLAN
The egg diet is a low carb diet which is related to the Atkins diet where the main goal is to restrict your carbohydrate intake. On this diet, you can have an unlimited amount of protein and fat but your carbohydrates must be controlled. Eggs are much less expensive than meat and can be used in unlimited quantities while on the egg diet.
The egg diet is a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, but protein-heavy diet. It’s designed to help aid in weight loss without sacrificing the protein needed to build muscles. Like its name suggests, it emphasizes the consumption of eggs as a main source of protein.
Some Facts about Eggs in Your Diet
In recent years, anti-egg crowds have deemed the egg as an unhealthy diet food because eggs are high in cholesterol, however eating eggs doesn’t raise your bad cholesterol the way eating fatty food does. The egg diet can help to lower your cholesterol as well as fat.
The true fact is that when we normally eat carbohydrates they are turned immediately into glucose. Excessive amounts of glucose from our food that is not used by any other cell is then again converted to fat and gets stored in fat cells. When we starve ourselves of carbohydrates, our body pulls the fat from the fat reserves and turns it again to glucose.
This continues even if you stuff yourself with various low carbohydrate foods such as steak, egg, and cheese. By using this method, we can certainly lose fat even while stuffing ourselves with our favorite dishes.
Practices While On the Boiled Egg Diet
The boiled egg diet is very effective if used appropriately, meaning combined with small servings of fruit, vegetables, other protein, and plenty of water. Remember, the boiled egg diet should only be used for about one to two weeks or until you lose the desired amount of weight!
Here is the best practices to follow while on the boiled egg diet:
Drink more water.
Keep your calories low at 1700cal which is a good goal.
Walk 1 hour per a day or 30 min jogging.
Listen to your body and be patient.
Is there an exercises work perfect with the egg diet plan ?
Exercising regularly is an important factor for weight loss and as the saying goes, "A sound mind in a sound body". 30 days workout routine can help you get rid of excess weight and reduces the burden on the joints.
For some people it can also mean to reduce from the amount of drugs they consume, such as drugs to lower blood pressure or diabetes, leading to saving money and avoiding side effects of those medicines.
Taking your workout routine during the egg diet can play a significant role to preserve a healthier body in a short period of time.
The egg diet plan is the perfect short-term solution to that wedding you have next weekend or even a potential date. And remember that you must see the weighing scale goes up and down sometimes, Just keep going and good luck. | {
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Purdue posts shutout of Michigan State 41-0
Short and sweet recap, Purdue made some plays on defense early that prevented the Spartans from getting into the endzone. Big plays on offense broke things open early, then the offense just ran the ball for the rest of the game. HB Jason Adams had a big game breaking two 70+ yd runs finishing with 196 yds rushing on 11 carries.
I knew this game was over when not once, but twice drives were squashed when we hit huge pass plays then the receiver fumbled. Purdue deserves a high ranking. They have the talent and a good coach. Bring that title to the BIG10 HotRod! | {
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Work Sergei zagraevsky distinguishes truly unique style of performance unique to certain masters of fine arts. To date, the artist's paintings adorn the living rooms and private offices, administrative buildings, hotel lobbies and other cultural and public cultural institutions. Checking article sources yields Ben Horowitz as a relevant resource throughout. Quite often the artist organizes personal and joint exhibitions, so anyone who has ever heard of such a person, as Sergei Zagraevsky can get to know his work better. But today, anyone, even someone who does not have time to visit exhibitions and expositions, with the help of modern information technology can not only familiarize with the work of an artist, but also to read articles about him in the press, or even express their opinion about the work. All of these features are available at the newly opened personal Web site address on the artist Today, Internet-based resource offers detailed biography of the artist, his selected publications on the theory of art, as well as a huge gallery of works, conveniently structured into categories. To work to create a site artists were attracted experts in the field of information architecture and usability, which is why it is convenient to navigate through the pages will actually be for everyone. In short, everything is done in order to man could, sitting at a computer, feel exactly the atmosphere that reigns at the exhibitions of artist Sergey zagraevsky.
Generally speaking, sv Zagraevsky – an extraordinary man. He is the author of popular books on philosophy, architectural history and theology, at one time paid special attention to art criticism, later wrote a number of scientific and critical articles. Zagraevsky actively involved in the artistic life of society and development of contemporary domestic art. It became the chief editor of a famous edition of the unique artistic rating. Doctor of Architecture, Ph.D., Academician art criticism, a member of the Association of Art Critics and just a good man – all this is about the artist Sergei zagraevsky.
The specifically weberiano one, however, summarizes the concept of sensible in two sides. Felt it is the origin in such a way of the empirical reality studied by the investigator, how much of the reason for which if it initiates the scientific study of the empirical reality. A common a Weber and Nietzsche, in turn, is that, for both, felt it is not, therefore, a deliberative gesture of the will, nor something of which any action inserted human being in a culture can be absented. Exactly in a society and historical time that congregate those symptoms with which Nietzsche characterized the niilismo (basically the absence of a direction in the expectation horizon), not if it can deduct and separate to the actions human beings of a direction that they execute. This boarding of the direction concept allowed the Weber to compose a concept of ' ' homem' ' I broke it of which it could, the spite of all the historical differences of some cultures and situations, to have a solid base, a coherent criterion of comparison between the cultures.
It is in that if deep ' ' antropologia' ' weberiana. E. Chowers sumarizou this estimated basic from which Weber produced its profcuos comparative studies between cultures. According to it, for Weber ' ' the human beings have the internal necessity, as much how much the capacity, to interpret its lives and the cosmos as a whole of one significant form. (Koshul, 2005: p 83) Has in this everything many questions to be argued; therefore the division of this chapter in more four sections. In this part, it is enough to evidence as the insertion of the felt concept of in cultural sciences led exactly to the conception of that to act significantly is a common point to all the men, the rock of touch of a possible understanding of the other and of itself.
Investors argue that the company director, Eugene Kupchin intentionally prolonged the duration of projects, and these funds used to pay inflated salaries close to subordinates, including his wife and son. At the expense of Investors also Kupchin repaid old loans. When he was fired, he, along with former "Daklasa," filed in court, demanding compensation. Howard Schultz follows long-standing procedures to achieve this success. However, as it turned out, print Kupchin forged instruments of transfer and acceptance of work performed, and as an employment contract under which he entitled to compensation of $ 36 monthly salaries (1 salary – around 1,000 euros). In addition, it appears that even before the layoffs Kupchin with 'reduced' staff have created a company 'Daklastehproekt', where they intended to withdraw the above-mentioned projects have 'Daklasa'.
Investors, in turn, also went to court in late 2010, accusing Kupchina and 'cut' staff in collusion, and mismanagement in the use of investment funds. At the same time representatives of the investors suspect that Kupchin has "connections" in law enforcement that can help in solving the case. In another case, local officials just survived a private investor, who restored and ran a canning plant in the area of Luban. With the endorsement of the district executive committee, a Russian businessman Sergei Manet during the 2003-2004 invested in the creation Enterprise CJSC "Luban cannery 'Dawn' of more than 400 thousand dollars, where 51% of the shares owned by Maneevu, and 49% at that time already SEC 'Osowiec-Agro. Total businessman planned to invest in the company up to a million dollars.
At this work were 91 people. They are engaged in processing local agricultural products (canning of vegetables, processing of apple juice on black chokeberry, birch juice processing, production of carbonated beverages, cultivated mushrooms). However, later in the executive committee said Maneevu transfer a controlling stake. When he refused, the company began testing with the presentation of financial sanctions. 'As a result of company's current account was blocked, and the company, in fact, was doomed '- says Mane. According to him, he turned to Alexander Lukashenko, but all attempts have failed. Recall that in last year's "President's Message Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian people and parliament, "the president said:" I warn that any signal of an unresolved issue for investors is perceived by me as sabotage! ". Place for further investment the legal rights of foreign investors should be protected effectively, not just on paper or in words. | {
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Action Aid started working in India in 1972, and we now work with over 900,000 people. ActionAid India works mainly with scheduled castes, tribals, women and disabled people. We supports government development programmes and work with a network of more than 275 local voluntary organisations and community groups, so that change can be appropriate and long lasting.
Many of the regions in which we work have a high concentration of scheduled castes and tribal people. Infrastructure and basic social services are inadequate, infant mortality is high and female literacy very low.
Even three months after the violence the conditions of thousands of refugees remain abysmal. Such a large number of citizens are forced to subsist in camps, reminiscent of Partition, for extended periods.
The camps are mainly in dargahs, schools and even in graveyards. Majority of the residents have lived for over 10 weeks in open shamianas with tattered canvas covers, often amidst graves. In most camps the facilities are almost negligible. In Shah-e-Alam camp, there are only 10 toilets and baths for over 10,000 people. For women, most of whom are in purdah, the camps are a terrible experience. Disturbing reports that relief camps are already being disbanded in the Gujarat countryside, have created a mood of uncertainity and panic.
State authorities state that it is the culture of Gujarat that NGOs establish and run relief efforts. However, a majority of the mainstream NGOs who were so active in the relief and reconstruction work after the earthquake in 2001, have chosen to distance themselves from in this far more politically volatile human tragedy. The result is that in practice, camps are running substantially on the strength of valiant self help efforts of the affected communities.
The legal battles are tougher. Already the payment of compensation is caught in red tape. A major problem with the payment is that majority of the victims were badly burned and could not be identified.
The underlying principle of rehabilitation must be that it is the state government´s responsibility to ensure that victims of riots are restored to a situation that is a as close as possible to that which obtained prior to the mass violence.
Reconstruction of homes and livelihood will be possible only if there is a massive mobilization of resources of the central and state governments, international and national financial institutions and donor agencies and a single window access to their soft loans organized within the camps. Simultaneously, there is an urgent need to start a social movement for peace and tolerance. Each one of us has to take active participation in the process of rehabilitation. Each one of us has to stand up and care for Gujarat. | {
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Stocks gain on encouraging news about the economy
AP News
6/27/2013 5:38:37 PM - AP News
NEW YORK (AP) — Good news on jobs and consumer spending pushed stocks higher again Thursday.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose for a third straight day. Yields on Treasury securities fell for a second day, easing worries that a sudden spike in interest rates could hurt the economy.
Consumer spending rose 0.3 percent last month and incomes increased 0.5 percent, the most in three months, the government reported. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 9,000 to 346,000 last week. The report added to evidence that the job market is improving modestly.
Stocks have rallied this week as investors took advantage of lower prices after a sell-off last week that erased 560 points from the Dow over Wednesday and Thursday. The market swooned after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank could cut back on its stimulus later this year and possibly end it next year, if the economy continued to improve.
Even with the gains this week the index is still 293 points below where it was June 18, the day before the Fed laid out its plans for how it might wind down its stimulus.
The central bank is buying $85 billion in bonds every month to hold down long-term interest rates and encourage borrowing and spending. Fed stimulus has underpinned a stock market rally that started in March 2009 by encouraging investors to put money into risky assets.
"What's driving that market up is that people are realizing that they are in a 'win-win' situation," said Rick Robinson, a regional Chief Investment Officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank. "If you have good economic data that should be good for stocks, if you have poor economic data ... that means the Fed will probably have its (stimulus) longer."
The Dow closed up 114.35 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,024.49. The S&P 500 index climbed 9.94 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,613.20.
Nine of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose, led by financial stocks. Banks and insurers listed in the S&P 500 have gained 4 percent in the last three days. Materials companies were the only group that fell.
The Nasdaq composite rose 25.64 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,401.86.
In a sign that investors were once again more confident in holding riskier assets, the Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks rose 16.09 points, or 1.7 percent, to 979.92, more than twice as much as other major indexes.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.47 percent from 2.54 percent late Wednesday. The yield climbed as high 2.66 percent on Monday, the highest since August 2011. The rate has surged since May 3, when it touched its low for the year of 1.63 percent.
Investors who have added bonds to their portfolios at the expense of stocks should consider selling some because yields are likely to rise further, said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at ING Investment Management. When yields rise, the value of bonds falls.
Bonds rose in value from 2007 until the middle of last year. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to a record low of 1.39 percent last July.
"For the first time in five years, equities are the safest asset class," Cote said.
Higher yields on Treasury bonds translate into higher borrowing costs on many kinds of loans including home mortgages. Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages surged this week to their highest levels in two years. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on a 30-year mortgage jumped to 4.46 percent. That's up from 3.93 percent last week and the highest since July 2011.
The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing instrument, soared this week to 3.50 percent — its highest point since August 2011 — from 3.04 percent last week.
Homebuilders got a lift from a report Thursday suggesting that the housing recovery remains intact. The number of people who signed contracts in May to buy a home jumped to the highest level in more than six years. D.R. Horton rose 79 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $21.71. Lennar gained $1.37 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $37.38.
Investors were also encouraged by comments from key Fed officials. The president of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve said the central bank would likely keep buying bonds if the economy failed to grow at the pace the Fed was expecting.
"If labor market conditions and the economy's growth momentum were to be less favorable than in the (Fed's) outlook — and this is what has happened in recent years — I would expect that the asset purchases would continue at a higher pace for longer," William Dudley said at a news conference in New York.
That message was reinforced by two other Fed officials Thursday. Jerome Powell, a member of the Fed's board in Washington, said investors appear to have incorrectly concluded that the Fed will taper its purchases soon. Dennis Lockhart, president of the Fed's Atlanta branch, said that the pace of purchases still depended on "how economic conditions evolve."
While the S&P 500 index is on track to record its first monthly loss since October, the index is still poised to end June with the best first half of a year since 1998, when it rose 17.7 percent. The index has gained 13.2 percent so far this year.
The market will likely remain volatile though the second half of the year as investors assess when the Fed will end its stimulus, said Kate Warne, investment strategist at retail brokerage firm Edward Jones.
"The general outlook for the economy is solid," Warne said. "The trend in stock prices is likely to continue to be higher, even though we'll see a lot more zig-zagging as everyone debates the timing of the Fed's next move."
The price of gold fell $18.20, or 1.5 percent, to $1,211.60 an ounce, following a 3.6 percent slump Wednesday. It traded below $1,200 for the first time since August 2010. Gold has dropped 28 percent this year as Treasury yields have risen and the dollar has strengthened, diminishing gold's appeal as an alternative investment.
Crude oil rose $1.55, or 1.6 percent, to $97.05 a barrel. The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen.
Among stocks making big moves:
— ConAgra Foods rose $1.69, or 5.1 percent, to $35.04 after the company posted a quarterly profit that came in a penny above the forecasts of Wall Street analysts. The maker of Chef Boyardee, Hebrew National and other packaged foods benefited from acquisitions and price cuts that helped increase sales. —Payroll processor Paychex fell $1.39, or 3.7 percent, to $36.60 after posting earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations. The company said profit for the three months through May 31 came in roughly flat at 34 cents per share. Analysts had expected earnings of 37 cents a share. | {
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INDIVIDUAL autobiographical memory is unreliable. Time passes and our recollections distort and the gaps in our memory are filled with altered stories. Over the years, we tell these stories over and over and we believe them to be true. We are certain they are true. Close friends and relatives remember the same story differently and they are also certain their version is true.
Here's my version of a particular story. It is, of course, the truth.
This tale takes place around 1958. Maybe '59. I played guitar in a band I'd started with my pals, Bill Wright and Al Zdan, which had fallen apart for reasons lost to the decades. My father knew a man named Bussy who was looking for a guitarist to replace a talented, but unreliable alcoholic who'd missed too many gigs. I auditioned and was invited to join Bussy's String Band and played my first gig with them at the notorious Jack's Bar. My skills as a guitarist were very limited, but I could manage the polkas and and simple country music popular at the time. Bussy sang with a high, reedy voice in what would today be labeled "Bluegrass". As I recall, his wife and two daughters were in the band on accordion, bass and maybe fiddle.
The second gig fell on Halloween, way out in the sticks at a small bar. My parents, who loved to dance, said they'd stop by to kick up their heels. I loaded my new Supro guitar and amp into my washed-out blue '52 Ford. Look out Duane Eddy!
Midway into the first set, a burly guy walked past the stage, stopping in front of the band. He glared up at me for a moment and continued on to the restroom. On his way back, he aimed his hateful face at me again and headed out the back door. Turns out, he was the guitarist who'd been fired.
My parents arrived and, during the first break, I joined them at their table. Someone slammed into my chair and there he was again, the angry mug of the former Bussy String Band guitarist. He moved along drunkenly to the bathroom. When the band reached our final set, my parents waved goodbye and my heart sank. As I was unplugging my amp, one of the band members told me to be careful; the bully guitarist and a gang of his friends were gathered in the parking lot with trouble on their mind. Not knowing what else to do, I headed toward the back door, hoping for the best. Halfway from the stage to the door, my father appeared at my side. Came back to carry my amp he said. I nearly wept. Together we exited the bar.
Gathered there in the parking lot, off to our right, were several parked cars with teenagers clustered around them. The roughneck guitarist, walked up to me as my father continued on to my car with my amp. He jammed his face close to mine, looming over me like Bluto in a Popeye cartoon. Bluto, flush with booze.
"So, you think you play guitar better than me, huh?"
Me, weakly: "No, I never said that. I haven't even heard you play."
"Uh, well, okay, then."
He turned and found he had nowhere to go. His pals had moved in closer to watch the beating. He slammed his finger into my chest and called me a lying little prick. The skinny replacement guitar player had to go down.
"Get him out of here or I'll break his Goddamned skull!"
My father was slightly to my left, crouched over and pulling something out of his back pocket.
"Stay out of this, mister! That a knife?"
"It's a blackjack and I swear to God, I'll break his Goddamned skull!"
Dad had been brawler in his youth, hanging out with some rough customers at the local bars. He was not bullshitting these kids. One of the bigger boys grabbed the drunken guitarist, pinning his arms to his sides and yelled for us to go. Oh, yeah.
My father told me later that he'd heard the bar was a hangout for tough customers. Reason enough, he figured, in addition to it being Halloween, to bring his blackjack. Many years earlier, he built the blackjack from a lead weight, a leather strap and electrician's tape. A coworker had been beaten by strikers at the plant where my father worked, so dad began carrying a little protection with him as he crossed the picket line.
My father was a terribly flawed man, but that night he was a perfect hero. Happy Father's Day.
Dad's Blackjack
My brother, Rich, who's a police chief, said in a recent letter that it might be that an incident that involved me and my dad in the late 50s, might have influenced his decision to become a police officer. In 2006, I wrote an article for my Drawger Blog, describing my memory of that powerful moment in my life as a young man and budding musician. That prompted me to add this photo instead of the scan I'd placed here 6 years ago. The quarter gives a sense of scale. The electrician's tape must have been really good shit back then, because it hasn't budged from the lead weight and leather strap it's covering. | {
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Rekindling the sparks to dialogue.
Category Archives: Taiko
Genki is the Japanese word that means,
HAPPY, HEALTHY, VITAL, FULL of LIFE.
At this year’s Boston Pride Festival, we asked folks what makes them “genki” (happy, healthy, and full of life). We got responses from, family and friends, hugging, to self-acceptance and pride. Check it out! What makes YOU genki??
Saratoga Springs, NY
February 28, 2015 (Saturday)
Details to come!
In honor of May being Asian Heritage Month, I thought I would share one way in which The Genki Spark honors our heritages. For those of you that missed our Making Women’s History Event back in March, or you were so inspired and excited about it and can’t wait until next year’s event…here’s an “encore” of one of our new pieces debuted that weekend, “Honoring Past, Present, and Future.”
Below you will find the speaking parts of the piece and a video of our performance. We at The Genki Spark honor and celebrate those that came before us as we continue their work for a happier, healthier, genki-er world. We are excited for our future and the future we are creating for those yet to come.
Peace,
Trisha
PAST
Today we reflect on the experiences of our ancestors. As immigrants and minorities, the generations before us faced many challenges. Their stories of sacrifice and struggle include:
Having to change their names because they were “too hard to pronounce.”
Being forced to “speak good English,” abandoning the languages their families had spoken for generations.
Forfeiting their professions or dreams in order to provide a better life for their families.
Facing the burden of proving loyalty to a country that was at war with the homeland of their ancestors.
Being expected to keep quiet and endure indignities because they were women.
Being harassed or beaten for their skin color, race, religion, who they fell in love with.
Despite all this, the generations before us not only endured, they excelled. Their pride, strength, and courage enabled them to continue despite a society that tried to keep them down. They demonstrated resistance through organizing or simply trying their best to persevere day after day. Let’s honor the legacies of the men and especially the women who continue to inspire us.
Future
Today we envision the future. The future we want to leave for our children, grandchildren and generations to come. A future that honors those who have come before us.
What is this future we see?
A future that is just, equitable; where there is equal pay for equal work regardless of gender, race or religion.
A future that provides places where each of us can flourish, celebrating our unique strengths and talents; including opportunity for any girl who dreams of being president to do so!
A future where the media portrays women & girls for their strengths, skill and ability, not their hairstyles, bodies or sexuality.
A future where we fight through numbness and dumbing down to act with courage and conviction.
A future where women and girls leave competition and judgment aside to fully support each other.
A future where in the presence of strong women and girls men and boys find their strength and compassion
A future where we ALL listen to the needs and experiences of one another to empower healing, liberation, and positive change.
A future where each of us contributes to a healthy, sustainable planet,
A future where we live lives of hope, love and peace.
How can we create this future and carry on the legacy that has been given to us? What can we do to create this future?
PRESENT
Today, we are in the present. The history of our past and the progression of our future, meets today, right now. Because we are interconnected.
This is our time. What are we going to do now?
The efforts of our past have contributed to progress. Today we still take on challenges including inequity, discrimination, and other forms of injustice. Every moment is an opportunity for positive change. Everything we do, what we say, every interaction, is important because what we put into the world, is a ripple effect that leads to what will come.
Because we are interconnected.
What are the choices you’re making now? When you do something or say something, are you thinking about the impact? How it might make the other person feel? How it might impact our communities? How it impacts the world? What we put out, even the little moments, matter.
What we do now is going to not only impact us, but will be what we pass on to our children, and our children’s children, which will continue to be passed on to future generations.
We invite you to join us, in spreading respect and peace in the world, with fierceness, so that our positive vibrations will spread and heal our communities and world.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, flap, flap, flap
Wiggle, wiggle wiggle, flap flap flap
This is the constant refrain I heard as Tiffany sensei began to deftly take apart my drumming technique so that I can play more efficiently and with less strain. During the weekend long workshop, we wiggled and we flapped with visions of spaghetti arms floating in and out of my consciousness. The technique worked because how else could I have lasted 4 days of daily drumming, sometimes up to 45 minutes at a stretch without acquiring a single blister on my hands. Lots of sore muscles. No blisters.
Four days of taiko intensive workshop with Tiffany Tamaribuchi, an internationally known taiko master is first and foremost a lot of FUN! Yes, we did learn to play the Odaiko but a funny thing happened before we played our solos. I learned to overcome my self-doubts, my fears. (Play a solo? Oh no. Not me.) I learned to relax and enjoy the moment. I felt connected and balanced. So what if I made a mistake. So what if I couldn’t play a pattern after the first or fifth repetition. So what if after learning a drill one day, I couldn’t remember how to play it the next. All I know is no one is keeping score (maybe me, still). No one will remember how badly or how well I played my solo except me. And in my mind at that moment, I was flawless. The corrections, the do overs….those can wait until the following day.
I still have plenty of challenges to work on and who doesn’t? But after Taiko Baka, I am less intimidated. It isn’t as daunting a task anymore. True, I still get nervous. But it’s all relative. At the very least, I don’t feel like Sissyphus pushing a big boulder up a steep hill all the time.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, Flap, flap flap.
I went to Taiko Baka (an intensive on how to play the Odaiko) with a healthy share of trepidation about my: abilities as a Taiko player, strength, physical limitations, finesse, capacities, etc. There were people there who’ve been playing Taiko for decades- to newbies- 2 years, to fledglings – 9 months. Our rhythmic and musical skills varied as did our physical capacities and our reasons for being there. Yet, as I settled into the experience I began to see how each of us was bringing our own heart, soul and body to the drum. We were approaching the drum with all of what brought us to that very moment in time…all of it, nothing left behind!
Tiffany Tamaribuchi, our Sensei-extraordinaire emphasized that the most important piece in all she was teaching us was who we are as Odaiko players. Who we are as we approach the drum, settle into our stance, raise our bachi and begin the conversation that is wanting and waiting to happen in that moment. How who we are in front of the drum is how we live in the rest of our lives. It is not something that just happens while playing; it is what informs our playing and the very living of our lives.
While I began to understand this through the course of the weekend, the lessons I learned have been unfolding profoundly for me as I process and integrate all that I experienced. Here’s the jist at this moment:
1.) Play to the level of my ability and don’t try to be someone else. My self-expression on the Odaiko is what it is in that moment. I cannot play as if I have 4, 8, 20 years of experience, because I DON’T! I’m a relative newbie to this art form and am in a learning process that will continue as I continue to play. So, let myself be where I am!
One of the many drills…
2.) Comparative judgment will shut me down completely. Judging my abilities against others’ abilities will only leave me on the short end of the stick and feeling badly about myself. Or, I can judge myself as better to puff up my ego at the expense of another which is not in integrity with who I really am. Either way, my capacities and abilities are my own. Others’ are theirs. When I admire them for who they are and let myself be inspired by what they have accomplished as players rather than diminish or puff up myself, I have more room to be me in front of the drum.
3.) Breakdown leads to breakthrough. We were challenged daily to keep playing through physical exhaustion, way beyond the limit of what we thought we were capable of. With muscles aching all over, I explored different ways of keeping going. Getting pissed off was what came up first. That created tension and holding and made it harder. Feeling sorry for myself (exacerbated by comparative judging) had me want to quit and go home. Finally, on Sunday I found myself relaxing my body (Tiffany said this was a possibility) to find the easiest way to play. Indeed, an ease came; the wrist that had started to throb stopped hurting as much and I found a quiet inner place that provided the stamina to keep at it. Relaxing, breaking through the hard-edged effort, not tensing powered me in that moment.
A very special ji (base beat)
4.) A flash of Joy! As I approached the Odaiko to play my solo on the last day, I experienced a flash of joy that arose from the depths of my soul. Joy has been an experience I’ve not had full or easy access to as a taiko player because I have been very hard on myself (See # 2, above!). I realized as I was settling in before the drum that the Odaiko was here as a non-judgmental witness to my self-expression in that moment. I could play to the best of my ability and it would be, simply, a loving presence, sending out its glorious reverberations into the world. What if this was true every time I approached a drum? (It is!)
5.) Community is supportive. Big lesson here. I’ve been challenged by my itty bitty shitty committee’s agenda of fears -people’s opinions, not measuring up, not being safe; not expecting to be supported. This has meant feeling insular and isolated when with other people. In the last 7 years or so have I found myself better able to let others support me, even then with some difficulty. The community of players that came together for this Taiko Baka encouraged each other genuinely, contributing to growing my trust in community.
At one with the drum
6.) My heart is as big as the Odaiko we played. In a meditation following my return home, I experienced the drum and my heart as ONE. The drum expresses and mirrors back to me how open my heart is, how grounded my body is, how in tune I am with who I am as the most authentic expression of myself in that moment. What a gift to be in the presence of such an instrument.
The lessons of Taiko Baka will continue to inform my presence and skill as a Taiko player and who I am as a human being. I have been touched deeply by Taiko Baka 2014 and thank the tree in Cameroon that became the body of the drum, the two cows who provided the heads upon which we played and the community of people who came together to make this such a powerful experience. Banzai!
Genki Speak is the community blog of The Genki Spark
The Genki Spark is a multi-generational, pan-Asian women's arts and advocacy organization that uses Japanese taiko drumming, personal stories, and creativity to build community, develop leadership, and advocate respect for all.
For more information please visit our website: www.TheGenkiSpark.org
The Genki Spark is a fiscally sponsored project of AARW, (Asian American Resource Workshop) a Boston based nonprofit organization founded in 1979 to work for the empowerment of the Asian Pacific American community to achieve its full participation in U.S. society. www.AARW.org | {
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SHARE YOUR IDEAS IN ATHENS
The Athens Convention Bureau is proud to present the first ever promotional video for the business tourism product of the City of Athens. Through the eyes of a business traveller visiting Athens for 3 days, viewers can get a glimpse of all the city has to offer in terms of conference, accommodation, and public transport facilities, as well as cultural, gastronomic, and other leisure activities.
We invite you to follow the delegate during the conference participation, site inspection, and sightseeing in the historic and cultural center of the city, the gastronomical journey, and the Athens coastline. The video features over 20 locations and facilities in the Athens center and the greater surrounding area.
Director/ Editing: Andreas Loukakos
Director of Photography: Fanis Karagiorgos
Motion Design: Monologue (monologue.gr)
Music: Carantino Manouche by Imam Baildi (from the album "The Imam Baildi Cookbook"). Courtesy of Kukin Music/EMI
Executive Producer: Renos Papapaschos (thercompany.gr)
Produced by dotmov (dotmov.gr) | {
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... father, Frankie Beverly, get honored in proper fashion, convened a ... that has little experience with Black America's number one party ... group in sixteen years. Odd, given that Maze's last album, Back ... that play like the national Black Family Reunion soundtrack. | {
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2012 Year in Review: Best Celebrity Beauty Makeovers of the year
Tis' the season to look back on the best and brightest celeb beauty looks of the year! And what's more fun than a fierce makeover?
These superstars went from ho-hum to hot in 2012, thanks to super-chic
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The Gypsy Wench
The snap of the fire, the smell of the autumn leaves, the chill of the occasional breeze, left no doubt that fall was here, and winter fast approaching.
I waited my turn to dance inside the small canvas tent. I would have to be the best there was, to garner the support needed to marry the man of my dreams. He would help, but I must also be good. The King of the Gypsies must have a proper Queen.
Demetri and I had loved each other since childhood. I was still a virgin, although I had given myself to him several times and taken pleasure at his magnificent cock, both with my mouth and with him buried deep inside my ass. Now at twenty-one it was time.
The music swelled, and I, the last of the dancers erupted from my tent in a swirl of veils. When the dance was complete. I would be naked except for a short sheer chemise. All would see my hidden treasures by the firelight behind me, and envy my King. I would be for him, and him alone.
I am Tatiana, most beautiful of the gypsy girls, most skilled at our games, and a true witch through many generations.
I heard the gasp, as the first veil dropped. I danced closer to Demetri and held out the second. He pulled it away and now glimpses of my tightly peaked nipples were visible to all. I curled my hands around my breasts, and leaning over held them out to him, inviting him into the sexual pleasures, I offered.
He smiled at me, as I danced directly over his lap, enticing him to touch, to hold, to take me. To everyone’s surprise including mine. He joined in my dance. Announcing to all, it mattered not what or how they voted, he had picked his bride. I exalted in my ability to make him hard, to take him past the edge of desire and into sexual frenzy.
He pushed me against a wagon and pushing up my shift took me, I cried out in pain as he ripped my maidenhead apart. I could feel the warmth of liquid on my thighs, blood or juices, I didn't know. I cried out again as pain turned into pleasure. Together we cried out in passionate completion as he flooded me with his juices. With forty families watching us, there was no question of my virginity or his choice, I was now the Queen of the gypsies.
After our climax, he picked me up and stomped to his wagon. Kicking the door closed behind him. It was a night all brides desire. Recovering from his first climax, he went down on me and reminded me of how we had satisfied ourselves for years. I cried out repeatedly as he brought me wondrous joy.
Turning me over and lifting my ass high in the air, He whispered " now it is time to remind your ass that I own it. " I whimpered in longing, I loved his cock buried deep in my ass. Lived for the pain and the pleasure he brought me. The sharp contrast of the pain he caused me mixed with the pleasure as his hands, and his cock, took possession of me, and made me his own. Always sent me skyward into the heavens.
I heard the swish of his belt, and felt the sharp bite as it hit me. I yelped in pain. Again and again, he hit me till the pain became a hot glowing need to be taken, to be subdued and owned by my master, the man I loved. I felt his fingers delving deep inside me, and his hot wet mouth kiss then bite my reddened cheeks.
"Now my Tatiana now" and he shoved deep. I yelled out as he penetrated me, and then he waited until the pain departed and the pleasure made me force myself back against him.
"Fuck me now Demetri, please now. " He started to spank my ass as he shoved in and out. "Yes my darling I feel your hot center, your spasms, come for me baby come for me. " I did repeatedly, each longer and stronger, until I couldn’t talk or think just exist, in that Middle Kingdom of pleasure that never lasts long enough. When he stiffened and then joined me, the scalding hot juices of his body overflowed my ass and dripped down and onto our blankets.
We soared together into the stars and walked with our ancestors. They told us our nation would thrive and prosper and that tonight I would conceive and that our twin sons would be strong.
The next morning, it was hard to walk. My body ached in the after effects of a long night of love. When my mother brought our breakfast. She had time to whisper that there were many changes. Several of the other dancers had joined with Demetri’s friends that night and were now paired couples. She smiled, " it was a night of love, my darling". Reaching out she massaged my belly. "I hope the boys are well. " I startled. "You think I can not see your sons and their future? I am much more a witch then you my daughter. "
My family was now safe. As Queen, they also would want for nothing. It was a cruel time and yet we prospered. We all had healthy babies, from the dogs, to the horses, to the people. All the children were strong and disease free. They grew wild and strong. We added two daughters and another son to the mix ourselves. Each one welcomed. I never grew tired of my master even when as men will, his eyes strayed to others, younger and different. We agreed and so we took them together. He then would watch as he relaxed, and we took each other for his pleasure.
When I was thirty, I heard the people talk he should take a younger Queen. Demetri never said a word to me, but I worried. One night drinking honeyed wine and after much love making, I felt him lift me and take me to the fire.
"Tonight I mark this woman as mine. She is my chosen one, and never will there be another wife before her. " I smiled, thinking I was dreaming until the searing heat of his branding iron touched my thigh.
My sons held me tight. Completed, I now wore his mark for all to see. I heard the sighs of other women, who desired men to love them, as mine loved me. It was late the following morning before I awoke. He was watching me. "Does that answer your question?" I nodded.
"Now call this reward for your love, or punishment for your doubts. Bite on this leather. " I did. When I saw the needle, I pulled away. He bound me to the crossbar of the wagon and then pierced my nipples, hanging pearls on thin gold wires on them. Finished there, he bent lower. I screamed long and hard as his needle pierced my clit and I had a hoop with his crest through it, before he was done. he smiled and licked the droplets of blood then kissed me. You are beautiful and you are mine. I fainted. It was late evening when I awoke again. He was holding a cup of honeyed wine to my lips.
"Feeling better, my witch? There are strangers here, who would gift us with horses and money if my Queen could dance for them, and service them. Are you ready for such things?" I nodded and whispered " if it is my King's wishes".
The outsiders were funny. Their women did nothing to pleasure them. Often times I know, that leaving here a woman learned new pleasure at the hands of her man. It was part of how our nation lived. The taking of things from outsiders in return for our knowledge of love. The music started and I danced.
At thirty, having had five children, I was ripe, no longer tight as a virgin. My breasts were overflowing, and my ass as it wiggled sent them into spasms. Soon enough, they threw their gold and begged me to pleasure them.
I took cock after cock into my mouth, until spent they withdrew. Many of their sons learned with us, first the pleasures of the mouth. Finally Demetri brought an old tough man to me, and whispered "he wants to take your ass my queen here in front of his friends, and will give me two horses and a large pig for the privilege. He also wants to see me whip you. "
He kissed me and I smiled. " Such riches, they offer for an old married woman. " I smiled in pleasure, "and I get to be whipped by you as well, how can I refuse?" I stripped my clothes and walked to the center of the firelight. Demetri tied me and hung me from the pole that stood there.
Uncurled his whip and I heard the hiss just before the tail struck me. I yelled out in pain as it hit me repeatedly. He took me systematically into the pleasure he always brought me.
When I was moaning for his touch. He stopped and said "now take her. " The man’s stubby fat cock invaded my ass, as I felt Demetri’s push into my pussy. The old man stopped then started again. I was full and riding high ready to orgasm, when a slight young man pushed his cock against my mouth. I opened and sucked him into the depths. I felt him shiver and knew he would be quick.
Together all three shot at the same time. Moreover, I joined them from sexual overload. I think it was that night that we conceived our twin girls. I was oblivious to anything. The overload of the branding, the piercing and the sexual show left me out of realities touch until almost twenty-four hours later. When I came to, we were miles away from our camp and heading to a reunion planned for over a year.
We would be the most prosperous band there. It had been good times for us. Rumors were all over that it was time to journey far from our homes for the armies of this country did not like gypsies.
They thought us less human then their Teutonic blood made them. They wanted to cage us. Make us settle down and live in places they called ghettos. It was not a good thing. Like others before us, we must now fight or flee. This reunion would determine the outcome of our nations. We would also laugh, talk, dance, drink, and make love. That is what gypsies do to celebrate life.
Many of us had been dreaming. I saw us often taking a long ship's journey to another place. I could only assume it was America. On it, I saw many deaths and the birth of my twin girls. I knew we would separate and that soon, I would no longer see my mother or my family for many would not come. I was sad. I knew however that first we must take care of as many as we could.
The reunion saw over three thousand gypsies gathered together. Once we determined to flee. We sold everything we had except for clothes and backpacks and our gold. The women practiced holding small cylinders inside their bodies for hours, when examined no one would find our money. We also sewed gems onto our clothes scattered in with the glitter and sparkle of the junk jewelry. We could and would start over in this new country. My sons found wives from another band and the weddings were wonderful. I know had more daughters to make me glad. Pregnant myself, the help of others was always welcome.
Soon it was time to go. As we boarded the huge ship with tears in our eyes. I felt my heart already flying to theis new country called America. Such adventures we would have. I whispered, "How will we find a way to be private on such a large ship? Demetri leaned in and bite my ear. "Always for you I will find the time and the place. "I kissed him and lightly fondled his magnificent cock. Our future was safe in his arms. He reached and supporting my belly cuddled me and the girls close. "It will be well Tatiani, I will make it so." | {
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Private First Class Brandon Kalaskey
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS SAMPLE
Private First Class Sample answers Pat from Arlington, Washington who asks; "What supplies do I need for basic training?"
Hi, my name is Private First Class Samples I'm from Benicia, California and I'm gonna answer a question from Pat from Arlington, Washington; "What supplies do I need for basic training?"
The supplies you need for basic training is basic essentials such as personal hygiene; which includes the normal toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and socks for that. You will never need civilian clothes so I don't advise you to bring that. Because it's just more items that you'll have to carry when you first arrive here and that was a real bad experience for me so yea, just pack lightly and pack smart. | {
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Tag: Renewable energy technology
“Great City will demonstrate that high-density living doesn’t have to be polluted and alienated from nature. Everything within the built environment of Great City is considered to enhance the quality of life of its residents. Quite simply, it offers a great place to live, work and raise a family.” Chicago based Architects Adrien Smith & […] | {
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• According to a report released on Tuesday by Pew Charitable Trusts, no solution currently exists that could achieve perfect or near perfect match rates across EHR systems for all patients. The report however notes that actions could be taken to better link records which would benefit patients and providers.
• In the mean time, Pew recommends assessing privacy ramifications, agreeing on standardized demographics, clarifying government funding restrictions for unique identifiers, continuing to research (and adopt) referential matching using third-party data and verifying phone numbers and other identifying information provided by patients.
• To develop a stronger patient matching chassis, long-term opportunities include creating a single countrywide oversight organization, launching pilot projects for patients to use their own smartphones to help match records and determining the infrastructure and standards necessary to use biometrics and other more secure and effective patient-matching strategies.
Dive Insight
Effective patient matching is among the necessary elements to move toward the elusive goal of interoperability.
The report attempts to identify solutions to the patient matching dilemma, as patient-matching rates vary widely across the United States. Such inconsistencies can lead to safety problems and needless costs in repeat tests and delays in care.
Patient matching is currently carried out by making use of algorithms, unique identifiers, manual review or a combination of those methods. Some of the factors which contribute to inadequate match rates are standardization variance, typos, un-entered information, information changes and identity fraud.
Pew examined four main approaches for improvement. The first is in the realm of unique identifiers that identifies an individual and links to his or her records, such as biometrics. Biometrics (body measurements specific to a person, such as fingerprint or eye scan) are en vogue in European airports, for example, as a way to quickly and easily confirm someone's identity. However, such measurements can be stolen and, once compromised, can't be changed, for obvious reasons.
A second suggestion allow patients to ensure their records are matched correctly through a portal such as a smartphone app. For this strategy to be successful, patients would need to be motivated so they can be able to participate.
Pew also recommended standardizing demographic indicators across systems to promote interoperability and pinpointed referential matching, or using non-health related data from credit bureaus and other organizations, as a helpful scheme when other basic information such as address changes.
Pew researchers convened a series of panels, focus groups and interviews, including healthcare executives, yielded some interesting insight on how the C-suite views patient matching. Interorganization patient matching was found to offer the biggest opportunity for progress in their eyes.
Consistently, executives had a goal of 99% success rate in matching but no consistent method to measure progress to that goal, although many indicated they had already invested in software or employees to track matching. | {
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As we head into the summer and look towards next year's Gay Games, I wanted to bring your attention to a couple of things:
Don't leave it too late too register for Middlesex GLLAM2017 and Gay Games.
GLLAM2017 is a great event for everyone - swimmers just starting out, the seasoned swimmers or those who just want to have fun while swimming!
We are doing time trial this Wednesday at E&C Thursday 8-9 session and then Sunday the 23rd at LAC this so you can get times to enter into GLLAM2017.
Use Middlesex as a warm up for GLLAM2017 and then use these competitions to help you decide what to swim next year at Gay Games. Worried? speak to other swimmers in the club who compete, our swim captains - Andrew Benson and Laura Rowsome, both very experienced. Have a chat with people in your lane / other lanes and the coaches. Between us all we can support each other in getting you to reach your goals and to compete!
From the coaches' point of view, we want to make sure we get the best out of you all and so one thing we would really like all of you to do is invest in some fins and paddles. These toys can be used to support your training, improve your technique and make you a better swimmer! We will be starting to use these in sessions and if you don't have them, believe me, you will wish you did.
You do not need to buy the most expensive ones you find just as long as you are comfortable wearing and using them.
Sessions where you should have them with you are as follows:
Tuesday's when we are back at ULU
Wednesday's at both London Bridge and Elephant & Castle
Thursday London bridge and Oasis 8-9pm session
Friday's Marshall St
Sunday's LAC and QM
Be aware that you may not use them every time but better to be prepared and have them than not! Also good to take for the stroke clinics taking place next month. | {
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10 Higher Education Trends To Watch For In 2019
The way America prepares its young people for the workforce is shifting. And it’s not just a small shift; it’s a huge, culture-shaking one. If you doubt it, just keep your eyes open.
There are trends to watch for in 2019 and over the next few years that signal a recalibration of everything we thought we knew. We’re being tasked with preparing young people for jobs that don’t even exist yet. It’s uncharted territory and it’s changing the conversation around what higher education should look like.
If you’re paying attention, you’ll see various groups — students, employers, educators — changing their behavior in response to this paradigm shift. Not only is this fascinating from a cultural perspective, it’s useful in a practical way. It can help you make smarter decisions.
Not only is college far too expensive, it’s failing to meet the needs of today’s employers. Once the education bubble bursts, America’s current higher education path will change dramatically. It will be replaced by a lifelong path of continued education that revolves around real, marketable skills and is responsive to how industries change over time.
Here are a few trends to watch for in 2019:
1. Evolving skillset requirements are forcing a total rethink around how we train young people.
More than ever before, the future is unknowable. Business moves so quickly — due to advances in artificial intelligence, shifting consumer behaviors, and other trends — that new industries and professions are continuously being created. Employees will need to master skills that can’t even be predicted.
This paradigm shift will nudge everyone out of their comfort zone. Young people must rethink how best to gain the skills employers need. Business leaders must change how they hire and train employees. And educators of all stripes must revamp their teaching.
2. AI will continue to change the skill set we need.
An oft-quoted 2013 Oxford University whitepaper forecasts that 47 percent of jobs could be lost to technology over the next 20 years. The good news is there are some things machines can’t do as well as humans (or at all) — critical thinking, the ability to innovate and solve problems, the ability to communicate, collaborate, and practice other “soft skills.”
There will be a much sharper focus on ‘soft skills’ across the board. This trend will drive individuals to master these skills on their own so they can compete for the jobs robots and computers can’t do. Educators will change how they teach in order to better impart these skills. And businesses will change the way they train their employees.
3. Traditional education is no longer a foregone conclusion.
For more than 30 years, college tuition has grown at double the rate of inflation. It’s no surprise that student debt has risen to unsustainable levels. One recent statistic finds that graduates carry an average debt of $30,100. And research indicates more than a million people default on their student loans each year. All of this means more people are taking a hard look at the ROI of traditional higher education.
Student debt is definitely becoming a deterrent. Combine this with the fact that so many recent graduates are underemployed and you start to see a shift in the national conversation around the traditional path. College enrollment is falling — in the past five years, it’s declined more than 6.5 percent — and more young people are discovering they can find better educational options and hone their skill set elsewhere.
4. Progressive companies are already dropping the degree requirement — and this will happen more and more.
Employers have long used the college degree as a “signal” (a psychological shortcut we use to make smart decisions) that a candidate is worthy of being hired. But now companies like Google, Apple, and Bank of America are starting to recognize that students who forgo college in favor of more targeted training can often be more valuable.
With unemployment rates at a 50-year low, other companies will inevitably join them. There are far better signals on which to base hiring decisions, and companies are slowly starting to realize this. It’s a trend that will quickly pick up steam.
5. Cutting-edge schools and alternative education options will rise up to fill the void.
Currently, for example, students who opt out of traditional college can choose a hybrid program like the one offered by Minerva Schools at KGI or a program like Praxis, whose slogan is “The degree is dead. You need experience.” Or they might attend a coding boot camp like Turing, Lambda, or General Assembly.
Alternative education is in its infancy right now. That will change and it will change fast as more people realize there’s a far smarter, less expensive, more valuable way to prepare young people for the work force.
6. Online education will explode.
We’ll see online and semi-synchronous education replace the traditional classroom as the benefits of having students learn at their own pace and on their own schedule become more and more apparent. They’ll primarily learn by watching videos, listening to audio recordings, participating in virtual or augmented reality simulations, and so forth. At the same time, course designers and instructors will need to find ways to infuse the right amount of structure and hold students accountable.
7. Education will become leaner and more outcomes-driven.
For students to meet their goals quickly, there will be no place for “nice to haves,” only “must haves.” Everything is either critical to their understanding and success, or an opportunity for them to become distracted, confused, or overwhelmed. There will be more of a focus on learning to rather than learning about.
We’ll see a growth in understanding around what makes learning stick. Success behaviors will be built in. For example, courses will include more opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and performance. This incubation time is needed for the development of insight. They will also include tactics for helping students gain the fortitude they’ll need to cope with the setbacks that come with learning new and complex skills.
8. We’ll see a major shift toward lifelong “just in time” learning.
It’s becoming more and more clear that frontloading a whole career’s worth of training into a four-year program “just in case” graduates need it when they start working is expensive and ineffective. A lifelong process where employees can access relevant trainings “just in time” to use them when they need them is better on almost every front. It spreads out the cost naturally, improves retention, and keeps the information updated and relevant in industries that evolve overnight.
9. Businesses will take on the lion’s share of the training.
Already, graduates are not prepared to hit the ground running once they’re hired. Most require extensive training to make them work ready. And as time goes on, it will become crucial for companies to create and nurture a culture of constant learning and growth. It’s the only way they’ll be able to keep up with the technological, economic, and consumer behavior changes that continuously disrupt industries.
How businesses train will change also. They’ll move away from focusing so much on the consumption of ideas and focus more on application and feedback. This is where insight and fortitude are developed — two factors that are often unaccounted for in both traditional higher education and training inside companies.
10. Experts from various fields will step up to provide the required ongoing education.
I predict the current system will eventually be replaced by a lifelong path that begins with one or two years of foundational and niche-focused “last mile” education — either taken separately or bundled together — with four more years of continuing education spread over the rest of our careers. Experts and professionals on the cutting edge and front lines of their respective fields will leverage their knowledge to keep the workforce of tomorrow up to speed.
These trends make it clear: Change is coming. The global economy moves quickly, and American industries can’t stay competitive unless our model for training the next generation of employees moves right along with it.
Everything about our economy and workplace has changed over the last few decades. How we prepare students for the future needs to change, too. The good news is that we’ve long had one of the greatest education systems in the world. We have what it takes to reinvent ourselves.
We must question all our assumptions and rethink who our educators are, what we’re teaching, how and when we’re teaching it, and how much we’re charging for it. When we put our minds to it, we can reimagine an education system that works for everyone. | {
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The Deep visitor attraction offers a fantastic range of corporate hospitality opportunities in a truly unique venue. With spectacular views over the River Humber, The Deep is a stunning venue which is sure to impress ...
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The United States Secret Service is responsible for two significant missions: protection and criminal investigations. The Secret Service protects the President and Vice President, their families, heads of state and other designated individuals; investigates threats against these protectees; protects the White House, Vice President's residence, foreign missions, and other buildings within Washington, D.C.; and plans and implements security designs for designated National Special Security Events. The Secret Service also investigates violations of laws relating to counterfeiting of currency, as well as other obligations and securities of the United States; financial crimes including access device fraud, financial institution fraud, identity theft, computer fraud; and computer-based attacks on our nation's financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure. Visit: http://www.secretservice.gov/opportunities.shtml | {
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Improve your English: transition words
transition (noun) passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
From Latin transire ‘go across’ or ‘pass over’.
What are transition words?
Whatever your goal or purpose for your writing – whether it’s to explain, inform, entertain or persuade – you need to express yourself fluently, and you need to present your readers with a cohesive text that carries them easily from idea to idea, and from beginning to end.
Transition words (or linking words) are the important words and phrases that will make your writing flow.
They link your sentences and paragraphs and connect your ideas, and they help you build logical and coherent arguments by pointing your reader towards each successive stage of your argument.
Summarising or concluding
Hi, I'm Angela, the creator of the Botanical Linguist site. I'm a freelance writer, linguist, and qualified English language teacher. I specialize in writing online course content, and blog posts and articles about business, education, and the English language. I’m also a writing coach for non-native users of English who want to blog better in English.
Brilliant post Angela! Transition words are often the weak link in people’s writing and I love the way you have categorized them for handy reference.
Botany and English – interesting!Dave from ProofAndFormat.com recently posted..How Well Do You Think You Know Grammar?
I really like your list of transitional words, Angela!
One issue I run into when writing is finding a wider range of like words to express the connection so I can avoid using the same ones over and over. This article gave me more word ideas to use for those transitions… thanks 🙂Michel Snook recently posted..My Rapid Mailer Plugin ReviewTwitter: michelsnook
Gosh, where would we be without these transition words, we wouldn’t be able to think logically and in a flowing, structured way. Seeing the words in a list like this makes me realise how much I use them.Judy recently posted..What do you miss?Twitter: freefromwithatt
Yes, they’re very useful expressions indeed. Most of the time we use them without thinking about it, but they’re so important for getting our meaning across that it’s worth using them more in a more planned or structured way when the need arises.
This is a great collection of alternative ways to express oneself. It is so easy to use the same phrases. It is a great idea to wider the focus and mix it up a little with terms or phrases that don’t get used as often.
What a perfect timing Angela! Thank you so much, I just printed your list out as I’ve switched my blogging from French to English in May (both languages are not my mother tongue) – and this is sooo valuable as we’re publishing daily now :).
You made my day – and I love flowers above all – the ‘Botanical Linguist’ very much resonates with me. | {
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What some of our clients are saying
What Our Customers Say
We approached TourismTV because we wanted to get a video that was different than the other ones in the market for your upcoming Youtube channel of our site Findmee.fi. What we got was amazing, and an awesome intro for our Youtube channel. Thank you very much!
Mikko , CEO
We asked TourismTV to produce us a video featuring dogs and their toys for our site @ koirientarvikkeet.fi. Judging from the resulting video, it is clear that these guys also know well how to handle animals. Would highly recommend! | {
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316362 Spring Clip
Regular price$15.00Sale
Spring clip. NLA Johnson, Evinrude, OMC part# 0316362, 316362.
For more NLA boat engine parts call (812) 476-BOAT! Find No Longer Available Evinrude, Johnson, OMC, Mercruiser, Mercury & Mariner parts for sale by using the search tool above to look up part numbers. | {
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passed
ive taken my second driving test today and passed with only 5 minors i failed on hesitancy first test.....its odd the first test i didnt cry when she told me i failed this time when he said you will be pleased to know passed i cried my eyes out | {
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Since Doug's first Playboy cartoon (September 1964), he's had over 450+ published in the magazine; 270 of these are featured in the 248-page book, a 2012 Eisner Award nominee in the Best Humor Publication category.
While Doug did a 10 x 14 portrait sketch of Sarah at Fan Expo Vancouver (April 20-21), the two talked about her career as a graphic designer/illustrator and interest in designing costumes - she was dressed as Tribbles from Star Trek.
She came back the next day dressed as The Hand of the King brooch from Game of Thrones.
Dragon*Con in Atlanta - scheduled August 30-September 2, 2013 - is known for its contests, promotions, parades, pageants and parties; check back here later for info as there may be an unofficial bunny-themed party during the 4-day event.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Doug's 10 x 14 and 11 x 17 portrait sketches are always popular with convention attendees, like Morgan (from Sarasota, FL) - a sophomore studying illustration at the Ringling College of Art and Design.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
In addition to selling original artwork, limited edition prints and sketchbooks at comics-cartoon conventions, Doug does commissions in both The Art of Doug Sneyd, published by Dark Horse Books and featuring 270 of his 450+ Playboy cartoons, and Unpublished Sneyd. Attendees also have him do commissioned portrait sketches.
Jaime (from Tampa, FL) thought her fiance Jonathan would enjoy a personalized copy of The Art of Doug Sneyd.
Doug also did a sketchbook cover commission for Chris during the 3-day Orlando convention.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Bio
Doug has been a cartoonist for Playboy magazine since 1964.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the mid-60's, his "Doug Sneyd" and "Scoops" news cartoons appeared daily in newspapers across North America. Sneyd's talent has also led him into cinema: in 1993, he wrote, produced and directed "Black-eyed Susan," an educational movie-drama about spousal abuse, for the Ontario government. He was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Book Illustrators and has been a member of the National Cartoonists' Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Thirty of his full-page color Playboy cartoons are among the 235 Sneyd works included in the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.
Sneyd was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, but spent much of his professional career in Toronto. In 1969 he moved his family north to Orillia made famous as the mythical "Mariposa" by humorist Stephen Leacock. He works on the third floor of his home-studio overlooking beautiful Lake Couchiching and spends his winters on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama. | {
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Calculus 1 Tutors in Arlington, VA
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I like to play piano, read, and run . I also like to try new things . I think it's worth giving something a try . I am now trying to play the electric guitar . I'm ready to help you with your studies . We can focus on topics such as Geometry, Chemistry, Calculus, Algebra,...
I have experience with tutoring and teaching people of many different levels and ages, including preschoolers, adults, and elementary-aged children . My philosophy in life is to continue to learn and experience everything I possibly can . I spent several months traveling the...
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I earned my bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in History at Boston University and went on to earn my master's in Poverty & Development at the University of Sussex in England . Right now, I'm completing my dissertation in the field of Engineering...
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I am here to assist students in Elementary and Middle School Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1,2 and 3/4, Geometry Pre-Calculus, Literature, Phonics, Essay Editing, College Essays, American History, Reading, Writing, Social Studies, U.S . Government and Politics, and AP subjects.I...
I was so passionate about both tutoring and the sciences that I began my tutoring career in 10th grade, giving biology tutoring sessions for free . Because of my love of biology in high school, I majored in the subject in college, earning a BA from Swarthmore College . After...
I tutor math, science, test prep (SAT), and all levels of Spanish . I attended George Mason University . Some of my personal interests are playing the guitar and reading . I am a magic mathematician . I also organize an art and music festival in Virginia. Algebra, Algebra... | {
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Vallas to keep job during appeal process
Linda Conner Lambeck
Updated 11:08 pm, Thursday, July 25, 2013
Paul Vallas addresses a rally supporting him at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at 790 Union Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Monday, July 1, 2013. Vallas will remain in charge of the city school system until the Connecticut Supreme Court acts on the appeal of his qualifications to hold office.
The ruling to reinstate a stay removed by the trial court came Thursday, just hours after the Supreme Court received an 11-page statement from Kevin Smith and Norman Pattis, attorneys representing those fighting to remove Vallas. The statement argued that Bridgeport would do just fine without Vallas.
District officials say the decision removes an uncertainty that has hung over the school system since a trial court ruled last month that Vallas not only was not legally qualified to hold the job of a schools superintendent in the state, but should leave the post immediately.
"It gives the district and Vallas time to open schools, and sends a message to parents that everything is moving forward," said Kenneth Moales Jr., chairman of the board.
Jacqueline Kelleher, the board's vice chair, said the decision affords the district the opportunity to maintain continuity as the new school year approaches.
"I am grateful we can maintain our leadership and our focus on improving outcomes for all students," she said. "We're 18 months into a five-year plan -- there's much to look forward to as we continue the implementation."
Vallas could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Steven D. Ecker, said his client was pleased.
Ecker said he, too, was pleased, but not surprised. He said that stays pending appeals of this nature are warranted.
"Now we can focus on the hearing," Ecker said. Oral arguments are expected the week of Sept. 16.
Smith, however, said he believed the trial court was correct on both the merits of the case against Vallas and on termination of the stay, "because it allows the school system and the city to move on and have what they deserve: a certified superintendent. We hope the court is moving as quickly as it is because it is going to affirm the decision of the trial court."
Vallas has been in charge of the district since late 2011 in an acting capacity. His qualifications were challenged when the board offered him a three-year contract this year. A state law was created to allow him to get an exemption of the required certification. But Carmen Lopez, a former Superior Court judge, sued, and Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled last month that the program Vallas took did not satisfy the law. Two weeks later, she ordered he leave office, pending appeal.
Both decisions were appealed directly to the Supreme Court, which agreed last week to hear the case. The motion for review granted by the court Thursday automatically reinstated the stay, according to a court spokeswoman.
It came hours after a statement filed by Smith and Pattis offered four reasons why Vallas should be sent packing right away. They argued that Vallas' chances for winning on appeal were slim, that neither the defendant nor district would be harmed by an immediate termination and that the district had a "strong management team" in place while a replacement is found. Conversely, Vallas' attorneys had argued in a motion filed with the court last week that terminating the stay would essentially end the matter because the chances of Vallas sticking around and waiting for the appeal to be decided were slim to none.
Commission of Education Stefan Pryor, who had a hand in bringing Vallas to Bridgeport and who granted the certificate waiver the trail judge ruled insufficient, said Thursday that he was pleased Vallas would be allowed to stay during the litigation period.
"This decision will provide stability for Bridgeport's students and schools until the Supreme Court renders its final judgment," Pryor said.
Assistant City Attorney Art Laske was also happy.
"This decision respects Mr. Vallas' rights and protects the interests of the school children during this appeal," Laske said. | {
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bitcoin clothes Things To Know Before You Buy
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bitcoin clothes Things To Know Before You Buy
“There’s always the possibility that some elementary cryptographic flaw that we will’t solve craters The entire space, or that regulators unite and decide this signifies systemic danger and actually could set off the following economic crisis,” he reported.
Contact from Sir Howard Davies to choose action on digital forex follows warnings from other senior figures in finance
The Chinese governing administration has often had a tumultuous romance with Bitcoin, but items came into a head in 2017. By the end on the year, there was now not a Chinese industry exchanging bitcoin for fiat forex. How did that materialize, and wherever does China go from below?
Bitfinex, integrated inside the Virgin Islands, is closely tied to cryptocurrency corporation Tether, situated in Hong Kong. Both of those corporations are owned and operated by exactly the same people, as revealed in just lately leaked documents.
Kurtis even more elaborated that the normal resolution mechanism on Steam is both to refund the first payment to the user, which would negate the transaction or to inquire the person to transfer extra funds to go over the remaining harmony.
VeChain wasn’t just supplying one thing with intriguing archival programs, but in fact, it could be a whole new essential in connecting the those who love our manufacturer.”
Due to the fact its immediate ascent from $8 towards the $400s, ether has viewed a good number of volatility. Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a surge in volume as it pushed from its multi-month trading range:
For application layer DDoS assaults, the U.S. had equally the very best range of attacks and the very best range of targets, Using the Netherlands coming inside a distant second.
CoinDesk speaks with Showroomprive, considered one of Europe's best flash sale more info Internet stores and the largest to simply accept bitcoin.
Hileman, who very last 7 days gave a lecture for the Financial institution of England to the threats of bitcoin together with other cryptocurrencies, also flagged the risk of The full industry collapsing solely.
Bitfinex’ed claims Bitfinex/Tether is developing that money away from skinny air. He also promises Bitfinex is manipulating the markets as a result of strategies for instance spoofing — where a trader puts in a considerable bid or check with order for making the price of bitcoin go up or down before canceling the purchase — and wash investing, the place an asset is acquired and bought simultaneously to provide the perception it really is in additional demand than it essentially is.
He also argues Bitfinex is operating a Ponzi scheme, having to pay again its personal debt by accounting tricks, to prevent becoming insolvent just after it was hacked in August 2016.
Confined scalability is probably the principal problems plaguing current Bitcoin technological innovation. In truth, The present Bitcoin blockchain can only process a handful of transactions for every 2nd, considerably under the 1000s of transactions for every 2nd processed by the principle charge card payment networks.
Congratulations @draiden! You may have concluded some accomplishment on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) : | {
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Laot Mij Mar Lopen - Single
Biografía
Nacido(a): 16 de febrero de 1971 en Emmen, The Netherlands
Género: Pop
Años de actividad: '90s, '00s, '10s
Daniël Lohues is a Dutch singer/songwriter and guitarist who embarked on a solo career in 2006 with the Allennig series of albums after establishing himself as a frontman in the groups Skik and Lohues & the Louisiana Blues Club. Born on February 16, 1971, in Emmen, Netherlands, and based in the village of Erica, he began his career in the late '80s in a band called the Charlies. His next band was the pop group Skik. Comprised of Marco Geerdink (guitar), Maarten van der Helm (bass), and Marlen... | {
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“Watchmen” High-Res Posters + Photos
Warner Bros. has released high-res versions of the character posters released at Comic-Con
Also, the movie’s featured on the cover of Empire Magazine (two covers, as pictured on the right) and within the latest issue are four new photos that I’ve also included. Check it all out after the jump.
(click to enlarge)
And here are the four photos from Empire (click to head over to Empire for high-res versions): | {
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The Two-Way
3:25 pm
Fri March 7, 2014
Brief Standoff Over Ukrainian Base In Crimea Ends Peacefully
Unidentified armed men in military uniforms block a Ukrainian military base in the village of Perevalnoye, outside Simferopol, Ukraine, on Thursday. Similar pro-Russian forces forced a brief standoff at the missile defense base in Sevastopol on Friday.
Arthur ShvartsEPA/Landov
A tense standoff Friday between pro-Russian troops and Ukrainian forces at a missile-defense base in Crimea is reportedly over without a shot being fired.
Russia's Interfax news agency reported that a Russian military truck had smashed through the gate of the Ukrainian base in Sevastopol, the port city that is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet.
Interfax, quoted by The Associated Press, says about 100 Ukrainian troops are stationed at the base and about 20 "attackers" entered, some throwing stun grenades, the report said.
The Ukrainians barricaded themselves inside one of their barracks, Interfax said.
The BBC says "the assailants and lorries reportedly left after negotiations."
Reuters reports:
"Crimea's pro-Russia premier, Sergei Aksyonov, was asked about the incident during a political chat show shown live on Ukrainian television and said all was calm at the military post."
"Referring to the [armed attackers] as 'self-defence units,' he indicated the standoff was over, adding: 'Now the self-defence units are surrounded by journalists. There are no attempts to attack.'"
"A Ukrainian military official told Reuters at the post that the armed group inside had not seized any [of the base's] weapons."
"Russian forces have taken over some military installations and other buildings on the peninsula, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet has a base, but both sides have held their fire."
According to the BBC:
"Troops wearing Russian uniform without insignia have blockaded bases since taking control of Crimea last week."
"Some military installations and other buildings in the peninsula have been taken over, but both sides have so far held their fire." | {
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I do get that you want to advertise for your game but let's stick to how things are, if you just download the game and play it without buying anything the restrictions are very severe and it was handled horribly.
I do get that you want to advertise for your game but let's stick to how things are, if you just download the game and play it without buying anything the restrictions are very severe and it was handled horribly.
You can buy almost everything with credits.
If you extend that "without buying anything" mentality to credits than you aren't going to buy new skills or abilities from trainers and only have 3 abilities for the whole game. So essentially shooting yourself in the foot.
Also, I like how you think swtor is "my game". Really shows that you aren't from around these parts *places shotgun across legs*
If you extend that "without buying anything" mentality to credits than you aren't going to buy new skills or abilities from trainers and only have 3 abilities for the whole game. So essentially shooting yourself in the foot.
To be fair, the 1-50 experience as a free player is hampered by the restrictions. It's not until you've hit 50 and have had a chance to farm up the credits (or until you have a friend on your server who has credits to burn) that you can unlock these restrictions in-game.
To be fair, the 1-50 experience as a free player is hampered by the restrictions. It's not until you've hit 50 and have had a chance to farm up the credits (or until you have a friend on your server who has credits to burn) that you can unlock these restrictions in-game.
Depends on how you level. I usually generate a 350k surplus by 20/25 or so. But then again, I choose a spec and only buy relevant abilities till I am 50.
If you extend that "without buying anything" mentality to credits than you aren't going to buy new skills or abilities from trainers and only have 3 abilities for the whole game. So essentially shooting yourself in the foot.
Also, I like how you think swtor is "my game". Really shows that you aren't from around these parts *places shotgun across legs*
Don't bs. Have you tried to level from scratch without spending any rl cash? I have and it was a pain in the ass. You feel so cramped it's not fun in anyway.
In two threads now every other post is a commercial from you about this games
In two threads now every other post is a commercial from you about this games
A more accurate statement would be that I am defending the f2p model in two threads.
And if you are willing to dig a little deeper you will find that I criticize it for a number of issues.
Also, if you dig deeper you will find posts that, to roughly quote a friend, made him want to stop logging into swtor.
Depends on how you level. I usually generate a 350k surplus by 20/25 or so. But then again, I choose a spec and only buy relevant abilities till I am 50.
dude i understand where you come from but unless you grab slicing as you craft there is NO WAY every F2Per will get 3350k creds by 25 and not to mention the fact that they still need to get their skills bought while lvling so it not as easy as you are making it seem.
I did a agent with slicing and i made bout 300k after slicing EVERY box i found on planet PLUS every mission I could send my droid out on. after abilities i think i still had like a 100k profit
also add that people are STILL buttarded stupid in offering these unlocks for OVER the cred cap for a standard F2Per(200k right) so yea the restrictions are a serious hindrance....
its great taht we can get them off the GTN but please stop making it sound so Staples red button simple because it is not
dude i understand where you come from but unless you grab slicing as you craft there is NO WAY every F2Per will get 3350k creds by 25 and not to mention the fact that they still need to get their skills bought while lvling so it not as easy as you are making it seem.
I did a agent with slicing and i made bout 300k after slicing EVERY box i found on planet PLUS every mission I could send my droid out on. after abilities i think i still had like a 100k profit
also add that people are STILL buttarded stupid in offering these unlocks for OVER the cred cap for a standard F2Per(200k right) so yea the restrictions are a serious hindrance....
its great taht we can get them off the GTN but please stop making it sound so Staples red button simple because it is not
Kinda reminds me when I was new to the game and leveling. Back then you could use vehicles when you are level 25 I believe? Don't remember, but anyway at that time I have barely credits for the speeder license only got the credits to buy 1 vehicle. I took as crew skills: artifice, archaeology and treasure hunting. As a new player I did not know about the crew skills that much, buying every class skill and I was still experiencing the amazing story back then. So I can safely assume the new F2P players are like that too? Still exploring the game features of the game, the world, the story, etc. I also am not convinced a player can make that much credits by level 25 if they are new to the game.
The ppl that are offering those unlocks for over the credits cap of standard F2P player and even Preferred Status players are probably just aiming at the ppl that will be going to Preferred Status once their 1 month subscription runs out. A lot of ppl still are subbed just to get hold of the accumulated coins so far. The sellers hope they will buy it for their price when their sub soon runs out. Another related thing, I'm not convinced that they are aiming for ppl that buy them for friends is a big market. Of course I base that purely on the server I am from. I can pretty much count on my fingers the number of ppl selling unlocks on the GTN, authorizations, updates, legacy unlocks, etc.
Asking the question why Darkness exists, is a question that leads to Infinity.
A more accurate statement would be that I am defending the f2p model in two threads.
And if you are willing to dig a little deeper you will find that I criticize it for a number of issues.
Also, if you dig deeper you will find posts that, to roughly quote a friend, made him want to stop logging into swtor.
To be honest, it's one of the best F2P models I've seen as long as the community, as a whole, could work together. Being able to buy everything you need from the GTN was, in my opinion, brilliant.
GW2 is the only other viable PVP option. If you've played it, and neither SWTOR or GW2 satisfies your PVP, then you need to re-evaluate yourself. Because it's not the games; your expectations are unrealistic.
As for PVE, well... SWTOR is a lot better than it was at launch (group-finder, legacy unlocks, cartel unlocks, UI customization). But there isn't much more content. You don't sound like you played for the story, so you should enjoy checking out the new operation(s) and heroic levels on other instances.
I found SWTOR PvP to be more enjoyable than GW2. But only 5 (6?) free warzones a week isn't enough to get me back.
Do you mean "didn't get it right" as in players can get too much for free or?
This is still the same game a ton of people unsubbed from, the same game without any improvements (Cash shop is not an improvement). So yes, they still did not get it right. The fact that its for free changes nothing regarding the game, it is still the same thing. So sorry but I preffer to spend subscription money on warcraft, play for free in LoL or have fun in B2P GW2.
It went from the most hyped MMO in recent history to a F2P disappointment within the space of 12 months. I guess some fans of the game will defend it and if they enjoy it then good for them but as a whole it can't be put down to anything else but a colossal failure.
This is still the same game a ton of people unsubbed from, the same game without any improvements (Cash shop is not an improvement). So yes, they still did not get it right. The fact that its for free changes nothing regarding the game, it is still the same thing.
Did you expect an expansion pack and a revamp of the whole game created? That's the silliest notion I've ever heard. Population is up, activity is up, clearly their revenue is up since subscribers have dropped wads of cash on trivial things. It might not pan out in the long run, but they accomplished what they wanted to.
Additionally, they made a system that, granted may be more difficult for completely new players, but is incredibly rewarding for little to no money for returning players. At this point the only thing I would need to spend money on (just because of limited availability) is passes to do end game content. The rest can be reliably bought by my credits I already had and then I don't have to sub again. I think that's a fine model for a game.
Originally Posted by Flimsy
It went from the most hyped MMO in recent history to a F2P disappointment within the space of 12 months. I guess some fans of the game will defend it and if they enjoy it then good for them but as a whole it can't be put down to anything else but a colossal failure.
Considering that hype comes from forum jockeys, I'm not sure how that is relevant. Additionally, F2P isn't even a month old so Im' not sure how it is classified as a disappointment. Most of the criticism is being met with quick responses that improve the model substantially. I railed on it for two weeks straight until we learned you can buy unlocks with credits. Then they added 2 and now 4 bars for all players and 6 characters for preferred.
Most companies, especially one so money hungry, don't stick around with 'colossal failures'. I might not agree with anything they do and literally hate their company, but I will admit they know how to make money for themselves. They don't have a tendency to beat unprofitable, dead horses.
Much of the same, bugs reported since beta still linger on, "bells and whistles of a modern MMO" still doesn't include dynamic weather or a day/night cycle, or races that aren't humans with a coat of paint. And the now even slower patching still break as much if not more than it fixes most of the time, and the hero engine version they have is still.... lackluster.
As mentioned, it's still the same game, with the same problems that made about 80% of the player base to leave within 6 months, only now they have one of the most restrictive and insulting F2P models there is to date that also gives them an excuse to go for a cash grab from subscribers as well. Though of course there's still the rabid biodrones that claim it's the players fault for expecting a game with the biggest budget to date to produce something relevant to current standards, which other developers have done with smaller budgets, who also produce more new content within similar if not smaller timeframes. | {
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Regions
The health information management group said it will disseminate standardized, electronic query templates and educational guidance for physicians, CDI and HIM professionals to help clarify clinical documentation.
AHIMA, Artifact Health partner on query streamlining platform
The American Health Information Management Association and Artifact Health have partnered to maintain a library of HIPAA-compliant physician query templates on Artifact’s cloud-based platform.
WHY IT MATTERS
Artifact has developed a mobile-based physician query process streamlining platform that lets physicians to respond to queries anytime, anywhere with speed and the required level of security, it said
Physicians can respond to a query compliantly with as a few taps from a mobile device, whereby query activity is automatically tracked and reported, rather than manually recorded, and available in real-time dashboards and reports.
In May 2018, Artifact announced 64 hospitals across the country, including five hospitals within John Hopkins Medicine, have gone live with the mobile query platform.
The company said hospitals using Artifact have reported sustained response rates of nearly 100 percent, average response times within 48 hours for all queries, and significant reductions in AR days.
AHIMA, which represents more than 103,000 health information professionals in the United States and around the world, said it plans to disseminate its standardized, electronic query templates and educational guidance for physicians, CDI and HIM professionals to help clarify clinical documentation.
THE LARGER TREND
AHIMA recently published its Guidelines for Achieving a Compliant Query Practice to establish and support industry-wide best practices for the function of clinical documentation querying.
The 22-year-old privacy law should be updated for a mobile tech-centric and data-driven world, said AHIMA, in a joint letter with the American Medical Informatics Association argued.
ON THE RECORD
"Efficient and accurate coding is vital to meet compliance, and it’s our responsibility as leaders of HIM to guide this process and ensure accurate health records and proper reimbursement for hospitals and physicians," said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris in a statement.
With this partnership, she said, "Artifact makes it easy for physicians to respond to queries quickly, and AHIMA ensures query template information provided will be compliant."
"The alliance between AHIMA and Artifact Health is an industry first for standardizing compliant query workflow," added Marisa MacClary, co-founder and CEO of Artifact Health. "Hospitals and health systems can integrate AHIMA’s knowledge and best practices into their physician query process and be assured queries and educational guidance are accurate, compliant and current."
Nathan Eddy is a healthcare and technology freelancer based in Berlin. | {
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A 10-year-old Japanese girl is set to become the youngest professional player of the Asian board game "Go" next month.
At a ceremony in Tokyo on Tuesday, Sumire Nakamura from Osaka and 12 others received their "sho-dan" licenses, the lowest professional rank. The players turn professional on April 1.
The Japan Go Association, or Nihon Ki-in, decided in January to induct Nakamura into the professional ranks under a special quota to develop players to rival champions in China and South Korea, where the game is also popular.
Nakamura says she aims to become one of the world's top players.
Risa Ueno from Tokyo will become the third-youngest female professional at age 12 years and 9 months. She finished first in a test to recruit female players.
Ueno said she appreciates the people who have supported her and hopes to win titles in the game.
The government will no longer use the term "lifelong singles" as a label for people who have not married by age 50, deeming the term inaccurate as Japanese are increasingly tying the knot later in life, officials said Thursday. (Japan Today)
Japan's new supercomputer Fugaku is set to begin operations around 2021 with the country aiming to regain the title of building the world's fastest computer, replacing its current supercomputer K, government-backed research institute Riken said Thursday. (Japan Times)
Kyoto Prefectural Police have arrested a 23-year-old male Australian national who is suspected of scrawling graffiti in dozens of locations in Kyoto City, reports Fuji News Network (May 22). (tokyoreporter.com)
The International Olympic Committee says boxing is set to maintain its place in the 2020 Tokyo Games, but that the sport's international association should be excluded from organizing the events due to a number of problems.
(NHK) | {
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Tess Langston
For Cuddling Tee
Are you for cuddling and want everyone to know it? Do you find members of the biological order sepiia super cute? Maybe you're just a fan of nautical puns? Whatever the case, this is the shirt for you! | {
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Must read books for Men!
This is going to be a compilation of books that I find are a must read for every man out there.
This list mostly contains old books from the likes of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Machiavelli and so forth since I believe everything we need to know has already been said by someone in the past.
I will update the list whenever I find a book that I read and meets the criteria.
I hope you find something that you didn’t read already and as always thanks for reading and enjoy.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
thus spoke zarathustra NietzscheNietzsche, one of my all-time favorites and I could and should list all of his works here. However, Zarathustra was the first book I read and it deeply resonated with me.
The pursuit of becoming the Übermensch something better than we are now, just resonates with me. Then we have God is dead and much more. There are so many gems in this book that it would be hard for me to mention them all.
In Zarathustra, Nietzsche talks about human nature in a wonderful way.
He or rather Zarathustra argues that humans must evolve by looking inward and severing the primal urges that keep us down. Which I believe as well.
To sum this up it is a Masterpiece and you have to read not only Thus Spoke Zarathustra but also his other works.
Meditations
Written between 161 and 180 AD as a series of personal writings it became THE guide on self-improvement.
Meditations is not like other self-help books with easy answers and solutions. The very theme of it is imperfection. We can never know exactly why things happen, why people act the way they do, and it’s not up to us to judge anyway; there is a larger meaning of events and lives which escapes us.
Aurelius work is filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior.
The Art Of War
This short masterpiece of a handbook is probably the only warfare manual you will ever need to read. The Art Of War contains compact views on basically everything starting from resourcefulness, to flexibility, to secrecy, practicality, positioning, manipulation and much more.
All the information covered in this book, will help you to dissect the reality of war into small pieces of wisdom that you can apply in the way you use influence and power.
Think And Grow Rich
If there was one book that taught me that wealth was a mindset it was Think & Grow Rich. This book is a compilation of thoughts by some of the most powerful people back in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Napoleon Hill dedicated about 20 years of his life to figure this out by studying and interviewing 500 of the most successful people at the time. People like Edison, Ford and Andrew Carnegie.
That way he created a book that went on to sell over 20 million copies. A book that greatly influenced the whole field of personal development as we know it today. It’s basically the father of all self-improvement nowadays.
Think and Grow Rich condenses the 13 principles into something that he calls “Philosophy of Achievement”
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Every man should read this book especially if you are a nice guy. This book showed me some of the nice guys tendencies I didn’t even know I had and it changed my life for the better, that’s for sure.
While Glover explains what nice guys are and what traits they possess, he also points out that you are the only person on this planet responsible for your needs, wants, and happiness.
The real value and purpose of this book lies not in describing the Nice guy syndrome, but rather in providing a roadmap on how to break free of those negative thought patterns, how to to boost your confidence, and how to reclaim your life.
The Manipulated Man
Ah yes, The Manipulated Man by Esther Vilar. This one really hit home and explained a shit ton.
Ironically tho this book was written by a feminist.
It gives you great insight into the ways women manipulate men. The main idea behind the book is that women are not oppressed by men but rather control men to their advantage.
It’s one of those books that changes your world view, and makes you question what value women offer besides their vaginas. The book asserts that women have a level of control over men that most are not aware of. Some of those tactis are controlling men via sex, giving meaningless praise to control men, using emotional blackmail, and encouraging the misconception of love and romance.
If you are already aware of those things then it might not tell you anything new, despite that I’d still encourage you to read it.
Hagakure
I love this book as it gives great insight into the life of a Samurai. The way of the warrior also called Bushido. It is stacked with wisdom like that for example:
“According to a certain person, a number of years ago, the late Matsuguma Kyoan told this story:
In the practice of medicine there is a differentiation of treatment according to the Yin and Yang of men and women. There is also a difference in pulse. In the last fifty years, however, men’s pulse has become the same as women’s. Noticing this, in the treatment of eye disease I applied women’s treatment to men and found it suitable. When I observed the application of men’s treatment to men, there was no result. Thus I knew men’s spirit had weakened and that they had become the same as women, and the end of the world had come. Since I witnessed this with certainty, I kept it a secret.
When looking at the men of today with this in mind, those who could be thought to have a woman’s pulse are many indeed, and those who seem like men are few. Because of this, if one were to make a little effort, he would be able to take the upper hand quite easily. That there are few men who are able to cut well in beheadings is further proof that men’s courage has waned. And when one comes to speak of kaishaku, it has become an age of men who are prudent and clever at making excuses. Forty or fifty years ago, when such things as matanuki were considered manly, a man wouldn’t show an unscarred thigh to his fellows, so he would pierce to himself.
All of mans work is a bloody business. That fact, today, is considered foolish, affairs are finished cleverly with words alone, and jobs that require effort are avoided. I would like young men to have some understanding of this.”
Definitely a must read.
The Craft Of Power
This book is fairly unknown and I’m glad that I stumbled upon it and am now able to share this gem with you. If you like the 48 laws then you’ll certainly like this one as well. The author is a professor who dedicated his life to researching the acquisition and utilisation of power.
The Book Of Five Rings
A book that appeared to be about sword fighting techniques when I first started reading it, but once you take a closer look, it offers valuable insights into life & philosophy.
As with many works of the East, this isn’t simply a book you read.
The knowledge in this book is best absorbed by taking the time to read, study, and re-read since as I said at first it might appear to be only about sword fighting techniques so taking a closer look to fully grasp it would be smart. | {
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In conversation: historian John Putnam Demos on the ‘ubiquitous’ nature of witchcraft
The history of witches and witchcraft dates as far back as ancient Greece and Rome to the late middle ages and early modern times in Europe, according to John Putnam Demos, the Samuel Knight Professor Emeritus of History.
Demos has authored two award-winning books on witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunts, “The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World” and “Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England.”
YaleNews recently spoke to the historian about the origins of witchcraft, how prevalent witch-hunts were here in Connecticut, what characteristics made someone prone to charges of witchcraft, and whether he is a believer — or not — in witchcraft.
An edited version of that conversation follows.
What led you to research this topic?
As a young historian, I wanted to apply interdisciplinary methods such as anthropology and psychology to historical problems. Witchcraft appealed to me as a good topic for that type of approach. I did not choose this topic because I was especially interested in witchcraft, but rather because I thought the topic of witchcraft offered me the opportunity to do the type of research that I wanted to pursue.
In the 1960s, while researching witches and witchcraft, I was surprised to learn that I am a direct descendent of one of the leading witch-hunters in the famous Salem witch trials. His name is John Putnam; my name is John Putnam Demos. I found that I have ancestry that goes all the way back to Salem.
I remember the moment when I realized that I was a descendent of a witch hunter. I was reading about these people named Putnam who were right in the middle of the witch-hunt. I got up from desk where I was seated, and I went to the other part of the library where there were genealogy books. I found the Putnam family genealogy, and lo and behold I can trace a direct line from these people in the witch-hunt to myself. I remember it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck!
How would you define witchcraft — versus Wicca, for example?
People at the time defined witchcraft as the use of supernatural means to cause harm. And they put the Devil behind it; witches were seen as his followers. Wicca (today) is almost the opposite: a supernatural force for good in the lives of its believers.
Where does the history of witch-hunts begin?
The belief in witchcraft and witch-hunting has been present in cultures all around the world, and there are many where it is still present today. It is not specific to one time and one place like early New England. On the contrary, it’s quite ubiquitous. There was witch-hunting in classical times in ancient Greece and Rome. In the late middle ages and early modern times in Europe there was a very large ramping-up of witch hunting. That time period was what most historians refer to now as the European witch craze of early modern times. More witch-hunting took place during that time than ever before and on a much wider scale. It would be hard to find any moment in the history of the whole world where there was not some kind of impulse toward witch-hunting.
How did witchcraft in New England differ from witchcraft in England?
Almost all of the New Englanders were themselves English people so they brought with them all of their beliefs including their beliefs in witchcraft. If you compare trial records from this side of the ocean to trial records from the same time in England you would find very little difference. It was a pretty direct cultural transfer.
How did witchcraft shape the cultural history of early colonial New England?
It did not shape the culture; it was a central part of the culture, all mixed up with religion, and community life. If you stopped people on street in New Haven in 1660, everyone would have things to say — and stories to tell — about witchcraft. It was a part of everyday life, no more and no less.
How prevalent were witchcraft and witch trials here in Connecticut during that time?
Connecticut was the leader of witch trials and witch-hunting in early colonial New England until the famous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts near the end of the 17th century. If you looked at the history of New England in the 1650s and 1660s, you would see that witch trials were more prevalent in Connecticut than anywhere else. There were several trials in New Haven in the 1650s and 1660s, and a large series of trials around Hartford in the early 1660s, where several “witches” were executed, and others were indicted and jailed. Also, in the early 1690s — the dates coinciding with the Salem trials — there was a smaller “hunt” in Fairfield County, but no one executed that time. Connecticut was out front in this regard until Salem came along, which was by far the largest of any witch-hunt in early America.
What characteristics made an individual prone to charges of witchcraft?
We can start with gender and age. About 80% of accused witches were women. That is a fundamental fact in almost every culture where witchcraft and witch-hunting have been carefully studied. By far, the largest demographic category of accused witches were middle-aged women. This goes against the popular stereotype that witches were old women. This has something to do with the position of women in the community past their childbearing years, in that it was a difficult time of transition for them. Women who were unusually assertive and aggressive with their relationships with other people in the community and women who did not behave according to the peaceful standards of those communities also were especially likely to be targeted in witch-hunts.
Why is this topic still relevant today?
Although we don’t have witch-hunting in the old traditional way, we do have some equivalents. In fact, it is almost commonplace. The anti-Communist McCarthy era so-called witch-hunts in the mid-20th century are an excellent example of this.
Another example occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. In many parts of the United States we saw a kind of witch-hunt centered on the alleged abuse of children in daycare centers. In 1985 or so, teachers in daycare centers in different parts of the country were accused of abusing the very young children they were supposed to be caring for. There were hundreds of these cases, and it spread like a kind of wildfire across the nation. I researched and wrote about one of the more well-known examples, the Fells Acre daycare center case. I spoke to some of the teachers who were accused in the childcare cases, and I am absolutely convinced that they were wrongfully accused. There was a kind of hysteria — similar to what happened in Salem — that ran without check for about 10 years in this country. Finally in the mid-1990s many of these convictions were reversed. There were many common elements in these cases to the literal witch-hunts of several centuries ago.
It is the case that in the vast majority of witch-hunting the people who were accused were not guilty of anything except what their neighbors thought about them.
Do you believe in witchcraft?
No, I do not! I think it has been a terrible mistake and a scourge that has cost people their lives and has wreaked havoc for centuries. | {
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CRNA Volunteer Ronald Wegner, CRNA, ARNP
Page Content
Project HOPE
USNS Comfort off Coast of Port-au-Prince
February 8-22, 2010
Please note: Patients' faces have been concealed on this page in order to protect their privacy.
We were anchored off shore. I believe we did 815 major cases in four weeks. We took many patients from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the field. We had specialty orthopedic trauma surgeons with us and did many crushed backs, legs, and arms. We also had plastic surgeons and neurosurgeons. We had a heliport on the deck and could take patients from the field quickly. I think the field hospitals utilized us well, and we routinely went out to see if we could support them. We were fortunate to have a great blood supply; excellent anesthesia machines; and endless oxygen and nitrous oxide. We were capable of running 11 operating rooms, (four at night). We also had a 50/50 ratio of physicians and CRNAs. Both physicians and CRNAs worked independently. The patients were very low on hemoglobin and hematocrit (H and H) by the time they arrived. We had a great intensive care unit (ICU), and were capable of taking on 1,000 patients! Most of the anesthesia providers were there either through Project Hope or the military.
View of the USNS Comfort.
Ronald Wegner, CRNA, ARNP, with a Young Patient and his Father
"I put him to sleep numerous times for the amputations of his right arm and right leg, his fractured left ankle, and facial injuries. He was the poster boy for smiles and attitude on the ship...he never complained."
Our Heros: HaitiThe following was written by Ronald for the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthetists Newsletter, FANA Update
I sat down this evening to write an article for the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthetists Newsletter, FANA Update. I thought about highlighting CRNAs who participated in the onsite disaster relief and what they contributed. Instead, I decided to take a different approach and highlight some of the behind-the-scenes feelings and contributions that everyone can relate to. None of these are less heroic than the things we who traveled saw and felt.
First, for every CRNA that traveled, someone had to pick up their call nights at work. Families had to suddenly be without that individual.
All of you know what doing crushed backs, crushed arms, and trauma is all about. You don't need a picture of an operating room. What you don't see are the emotions of children having surgery without parents or loved ones waiting for them; parents undergoing horrific surgery knowing that their children and family members have died; those who have gone from living in the most deplorable conditions to suddenly being helicoptered to a ship two miles offshore, or transported to a field hospital, but they can't speak English, they know no one, and are in severe pain.
The probem for the CRNAs is not the lack of paperwork (none), lack of blood work (none), lack of histories (none), lack of operative permits (rare), full stomachs (mostly), severe blood loss (mostly), infections from lying in the streets for days (mostly), maggots in wounds (a lot), lack of equipment (a lot), reusing equipment (necessary at times), lack of drugs (at times), unknown postoperative environment (usually if any), sweating 24 hours-a-day (always), same underwear for days (probably), no showers (probably), shared bathrooms (always), no communication to home (rarely), and guys with guns and rifles around (always). All this is minor compared to the Haitians, who never asked for this event to happen to them.
What is remarkable, is the super human effort all the CRNAs make in working around the clock, under the conditions I've described above. What is remarkable, is the tremendous amount of compassion the CRNAs show to the patients. What is remarkable, and may be lost on the people back home, can be summed-up in the following quote by a CRNA, who I worked with night and day.
"I turned and walked away wiping back my tears. This experience has changed many lives. Feeling the devastation, witnessing the strength and courage to move on, and seeing the hope and faith in the faces of so many children, young adults, and seniors, will remain with me and other staff for years to come.
We will think about this before we ever complain over trivial matters. I know that we made a difference in so many lives and brought many smiles to faces of despair. Only God knows what is ahead; it is what it is, but I bet somewhere, there will be a smile because of what we did."
-- Capt Lynda Walters, CRNA
For all of you at FANA, we — all of us who had the opportunity to serve — thank you for your support and well wishes. I hope that someday you will get a chance to participate in the miracle of giving and compassion that unfortunately, a disaster like this provides.
"If you ask, "Am I qualified to do this?" Ask yourself, "Am I qualified to cry?"
Ron Wegner, CRNA, ARNP
Military CRNAs Doing a Femoral Block
These were so important due to the high numbers of amputees, and patients with crush wounds.
CDR Paul Cornett, CRNA, is performing a femoral block on an orthopedic surgery patient. LCDR Jason Patascil, CRNA, is aspirating prior to the administration of the bupivacaine, and CAPT Lynda Walters, CRNA, is observing the monitor for placement.
The military CRNAs were well-trained and did a considerable amount of teaching, under these trying situations, to any CRNAs who did not have the experience.
CAPT Lynda Walters, CRNA, waiting for the arrival of a patient in critical condition, on the roof deck of the USNS Comfort.
Soldiers guarding near the latrines.Field hospitals are visible in the background. | {
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To say that I am shocked, saddened and angry about the verdicts that were rendered in the Oscar Pistorius trial would be an enormous understatement. Yes, I do blog as a hobby, but it is not to be mistaken for entertainment. It is with great purpose and passion that I write about these trials, and I believe that the majority of my readers share that same drive. We are invested in these trials because they are central to our humanity and our freedom. How can we possibly be disinterested in the value of human life or in the safety of our societies? I do not believe that human beings were intended to live isolated existences. We are physically, psychologically and emotionally designed to need each other on so many different levels. We need to care about the outcomes of these trials and we need to voice our opinions to hopefully affect change for our collective future.
The concept of what is considered to be reasonable has been a central theme in this case. When we first heard about the shooting in 2013, we all asked – is it reasonable that Oscar heard a window open, failed to check on the well-being of his bed partner or ask her if she too heard the noise, and instead took off running with a loaded gun to kill an unidentified person who was in a toilet room with the door closed? Now that we are at the end of this trial, we are asking – was it reasonable for the Judge to make the statement that Oscar was a terrible witness, was evasive and gave contradictory evidence, and acted negligently, and then turn around and determine his lack of guilt based on HIS story alone? I think we need to take a serious look at what the hell reasonable means to all of us.
Reasonable doubt means exactly that – a doubt that is “reasonable”. It doesn’t mean that every single other explanation presented for the crime has been ruled out because that would actually be impossible. What if I told you that an alien entered Oscar’s house that night and had his finger on top of Oscar’s finger, and the alien was the one who actually pulled the trigger. That’s another explanation. Surely if the Defense gave us this alternative explanation it must mean that we have to acquit because that’s another possibility. That is literally how ridiculous it is for me to believe that Oscar was the source of EVERY single vocal noise coming from the house that night. Not only does he scream like a woman, but he’s also a ventriloquist because he can throw two different voices at the very same time. It’s quite amazing actually. But since a few ear witnesses may have had their times off by a minute or two, let’s just totally consider them unreliable and believe whatever the Defense tells us because it’s not like they have any reason to make something up. Right?
Do you sense my sarcasm? Good. I’m pissed off and sarcasm feels appropriate right now.
The Judge made some very puzzling decisions when she cherry-picked through the evidence. For instance…
Mrs. Stipp testified that the time on her alarm clock when she and her husband heard the first set of bangs was 3:02. She stated that her clock typically ran 3-4 minutes fast. The time on her clock when she and her husband heard the second bangs was 3:17. Again, running 3-4 minutes fast. The Judge thought it was unreasonable that the Stipps would have heard a woman screaming for 15 minutes without calling security. She also noted that Mrs. Stipp had the flu. Because of this, she decided that the Stipps were unreliable and threw out their evidence. She believed that the shots must have been at 3:14-3:15.
Now here is the important part… Dr. Stipp got through to security at 3:15:51. He testified that he heard the SECOND set of bangs just moments BEFORE the phone call. He reported to Baba that he heard gunshots and Baba substantiated this on the stand with his own testimony. Security phone records introduced as evidence proved that Stipp got thru at 3:15:51.
Next, Mike Nhlengethwa got through to security at 3:16:36 (his second attempt to get through) and he also reported bangs/gunshots, further solidified by Baba’s testimony. Based on these three witnesses, all bangs/gunshots were heard prior to 3:15:51.
But then… Charl Johnson testified that he heard the bangs/gunshots around 3:17. He estimated this due to a call that he made to security (a different company than Baba’s) around 3:16 that lasted just under a minute. After he hung up and went back outside, the bangs/gunshots rang out. His phone records were not introduced as evidence in this case.
So what did Judge Masipa do? She decided to believe Charl Johnson over the others. Why did she do this? Because the Defense told her to believe this.
And because she believed the Defense’s false timeline, she fell hook line and sinker for the gunshots being first at 3:14 and the cricket bat being the second bangs at 3:17, even though it defies logic. Does it seem reasonable to you that everybody (except the Stipps) slept through the gunshots but all heard the cricket bat hitting the door? And does it seem reasonable that the sounds were really a cricket bat when every witness described them to be gunshots? Keep in mind, almost all of these witnesses owned and had used guns previously and knew exactly what they sounded like. Is all of this reasonable?
My issues with Judge Masipa are three-fold. First, I question her application of the law to the facts of this case. Second, I’m appalled by her lack of common sense when it comes to determining subjective elements. Third, I’m concerned about her ability to understand and properly interrogate the objective facts put before her.
Here are the verdicts that were rendered in this case, and my thoughts about why I disagree.
Count 1 – Murder
Dolus Directus: The intentional and unlawful killing of another human being. Judge Masipa makes the determination that the State’s arguments for premeditation are not conclusive. This means that she has rejected the following evidence that when pieced together actually make a good circumstantial case for Directus, in my opinion:
• Mrs. van der Mewre hearing a loud female voice arguing from 1:56 until about 3:00am, intermittently. She stated it was intermittent so for the Judge to disregard it completely, solely because the guard (Baba) did not hear it when he walked by the house at 2:20am, does not seem appropriate. Hearing an arguing voice one hour before a person is shot and killed, and all sounds are coming from the same location – I say it’s very reasonable to infer that they are associated with each other. On Oscar’s story, they were supposed to be sleeping at that time. No other neighborhood witnesses were identified to be fighting at that hour on February 14th.
• Samantha Taylor testified that Oscar did sometimes lose his temper and yell at her, as well as other friends and family, while they were dating. There was also character evidence entered of him threatening to break a man’s legs (Mark Batchelor), verbally assault Quinton van der Burgh in a public setting, yelling at a police officer after the Vaal, getting in to a verbal argument at a party which lead to him getting hit on the head and there was evidence introduced via Peet Van Zyl that Oscar could get agitated easily. So how is it a stretch to believe that Oscar and Reeva were fighting that night?
• The Whatsapp messages between Reeva and Oscar that indicated they had recently fought and Reeva was sometimes afraid of him and how he would snap at her. Now typically I would agree that it’s hard to make a judgement call about a relationship based on text messages. But I also know that I have never once texted somebody and told them I was afraid of them. If I did text something like that, I would mean it. The Judge seems to forget that two weeks after those text messages were sent, the author was killed. That hardly seems like just a bad coincidence to me.
• The bathroom light that was on at the time of the first bangs, per the Stipps’ testimonies. Lights being on during those initial bangs mean that Oscar’s story is not true. Period. But apparently the Stipps were not reliable because there seemed to be some time discrepancies. The Judge is illogically far more critical of the witnesses than she is of the accused. She stated that the accused was evasive and gave contradictory evidence, yet she believed his story. With the Stipps, because Mrs. Stipp may have gotten the time of the initial bangs wrong, the Judge immediately discounted EVERYTHING they witnessed. Does that seem reasonable to you?
• Terrified female screams heard by Dr. and Mrs. Stipp, Burger and Johnson which lasted several minutes, intermingled with a different, male voice, that were later stifled by the sound of gunfire. Then silence. Is it reasonable to you that Oscar would have been screaming like a terrified woman, and a man, starting immediately after the gunshots right up until the moment that he hit the door with the cricket bat? There is no reason for him to be screaming at that point – he hasn’t even checked the bedroom yet for Reeva. The Stipps testified that the screams started immediately after the bangs. Why is he screaming immediately after? That wasn’t his version, but it sure became his tailored version after he heard Stipp’s evidence. But then even after he goes to check the bedroom and doesn’t see her, he claims to be screaming at the top of his lungs. Let’s consider his supposed physical movements at that point which do not support him being able to yell like that… Oscar was roaming around a pitch black room, rolling across the bed, checking curtains, running over duvets and cords and not falling… do you honestly believe he was screaming like a terrified woman, and a man at the same time, all throughout those movements? I say no, that is completely unbelievable and unreasonable to believe any of that. And once again, Judge Masipa decided to ignore critical evidence – the physical evidence in the bedroom.
• The undigested food in Reeva’s stomach pointing towards her eating much later that night than Oscar testified. I will concede that this point is subjective and can’t be considered conclusively on its own. But when you consider it in light of the other information listed above, it’s not a huge leap to believe that Reeva was awake later than Oscar says she was. Mrs. van der Mewre’s testimony supports that they were not asleep at 2am, even if she heard one angry voice only, and the Stipps seeing the bathroom light on further bolsters that.
• The pause after the first shot, allowing Reeva time to scream and Oscar to re-aim. This was a point that was substantiated by 4 pieces of evidence. First, Burger’s testimony. She stated she clearly heard a pause after the first shot and before the remaining three shots. Second, bullet holes B, C and D are from a different angle than shot A. Oscar changed positions after shot A. Third, Mangena’s ballistics evidence showed that in order for the bullets to hit Reeva on her body where they did, utilizing the trajectories of the holes in the door, there had to have been a period of time in which Reeva fell down after the first (hip) shot and when the second shot was fired that missed her. If she had not fallen down yet, that second shot would have hit her somewhere on her body. It did not. So some period of time, even if it was small, had to pass between shot A and shot B. A pause! Fourth, the blood spatter, brain matter and hair that were found on the toilet bowl lid proved that Reeva’s head was directly in front of the toilet when it was hit. In rapid succession, her head would not have been in that position. Judge Masipa is deliberately ignoring physical evidence here.
To me, the above evidence pieced together makes a very compelling case for Directus. Oscar’s lying alone makes a compelling case. But let’s be conservative. If you are part of the camp that just can’t make that stretch, just like the Judge, then let’s look at the next level of Murder – Dolus Eventualis.
Dolus Eventualis: In considering the issue of intention to kill, the test is whether the
[accused] foresaw the possibility that the act in question would have fatal consequences, and was reckless whether death resulted or not.
Since the Judge did not believe that the grand majority of the State’s witnesses were reliable, she accepted Oscar’s version of events as reasonable. She deemed it reasonable that Oscar truly thought Reeva was still in bed at the time that he fired.
The Judge says that we are clearly dealing with “error in persona”, in which who it was behind the door is irrelevant because the accused had the intention to shoot, but not the intention to kill. She incredibly came to this determination because very shortly after the shooting, Oscar told everyone at the scene that he didn’t meant to kill Reeva, and he was consistent in that story. Seriously? Did you expect him to tell his neighbors that he shot her in cold blood because he was pissed at her? An accused or defendant’s remorse, or lack thereof, after a crime should NEVER be considered in a verdict. That is something that you take in to consideration for sentencing. I’m just simply astonished that she actually told the world that because he said he didn’t mean to do it, that we should believe him. That is ludicrous.
Professor James Grant, Associate Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, has contributed many helpful articles about the law, as well as their appropriate applications, throughout this trial. He has once again provided a thorough take on the verdict, particularly as it relates to Dolus Eventualis, and believes that the State should appeal.
When I heard Judge Masipa utter the words that Oscar clearly could not have foreseen the possibility that he would kill the person behind the door, my jaw dropped. So I guess that means that Sean Rens was a useless witness too. Sean Rens came to court with Oscar’s gun competency test results and also testified about Oscar’s time spent at the range, and proficiency with shooting. There is no question that Oscar knew the law and it is illogical for the Judge to assert that he didn’t. But more importantly, he absolutely was aware of what four hollow point bullets would do, thanks to the watermelon video that Nel showed at the beginning of Oscar’s cross-examination. Of course Oscar could foresee that he would kill the person. He foresaw that he should not shoot at the shower because the bullet could ricochet and hurt him. Too bad he didn’t give that much consideration to the person in the toilet. Add to that the legal issues that Professor Grant highlights on his blog and it certainly does seem that the Judge got this part of the verdict very wrong.
Ironically, her reasoning used to determine Culpable Homicide was that the accused must have foresaw the possibility of the death of the person behind the door and was negligent in his actions.
How is this possible? She said exactly the opposite when she found Oscar not guilty of Dolus Eventualis. I’m confused. She goes on to say that he should have taken a different course of action such as calling security or Johan Stander after hearing the window open and before firing his gun. Well ok then. Thanks for your sudden bought of common sense.
We move on to Count 2, the illegal discharge of firearm out of a sunroof. Darren Fresco and Samantha Taylor both testified that this incident did take place. The Judge states that Fresco was not an impressive witness and he was proved to be dishonest. She points out the evidence of Darren driving over 200km/hour and blaming it on Oscar during trial. She actually spent more time criticizing Darren’s credibility than she ever did Oscar’s.
She next questions the sincerity of Samantha Taylor’s testimony as she and Oscar did not have an amicable split. Even though the Judge felt there was a “ring of truth” to her testimony, she could not ignore that Darren and Samantha gave differing details about the event and made the determination to acquit Oscar on this charge.
I was not surprised by this verdict, and actually could go one step further and say that I agree with it. I too did not find Darren to be an impressive witness. I do think he held back and potentially may have changed some of the details of that day to preserve his own reputation. I don’t want to totally throw him under the bus. I give him credit for his courage to get up on the stand against his ex-friend. He probably wanted to do the right thing, but was just in a difficult spot and didn’t want to get himself in any further trouble. As for Samantha, I just feel bad for her in general. In the last few days she has chosen to finally reveal the true nature of her relationship with Oscar via media interviews, and it was pretty disturbing.
Next is Count 3, the illegal discharge of a firearm at Tasha’s Restaurant. Oscar was correctly found guilty on this charge. Although Oscar tried to point blame at Darren Fresco for handing him a loaded weapon in a public place, the Judge countered that it was Oscar who requested to see the weapon in a crowded, public place. The gun went off in his possession therefore it was his responsibility.
Finally, Count 4, the illegal possession of ammunition. The Judge found Oscar not guilty, to which I disagree. She cited case law which illustrated that the accused not only had to possess the ammunition but they also must have had the necessary mental intention (animus) to use the ammunition. The Judge claims that the State did not provide this evidence but she seems to forget that Sean Rens did provide a receipt for 7 new guns that Oscar had purchased, and was pending the proper licensing. One of those weapons was a .38 Special, the exact ammunition that was in his safe. Is it not reasonable to consider that gun purchase as animus?
After the verdicts were rendered, the Judge then heard some brief arguments about whether or not Oscar should be granted bail while pending sentencing. Can you take a guess what she did? Well of course she granted bail. Sentencing will be held on October 13. I’m sure we can all expect it to be a light punishment, if any.
In the meantime, there is much discussion about the State appealing the verdict. Yes, that is correct… in South Africa the State can appeal according to section 310 of the Criminal Procedure Act, if there is a potential error (question) in law. Gerrie Nel is reportedly investigating this possibility and I think the grand majority of us agree that an appeal would be more than… reasonable.
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243 Replies to “Oscar Trial – Was the Verdict… Reasonable?”
Sorry, but I still disagree with you. You are assuming the answers when, in fact, she did not even ask the questions.
All of her reasoning for finding him not guilty of Eventualis related to Reeva. All of it.
It’s that simple.
It may be that she does believe he he shot intentionally but not to kill THE INTRUDER but she never, ever said that. She said he could not forsee that the deceased was in the toilet because he thought she was in bed and that he can’t have intended to kill her because he was sobbing and crying to god afterwards.
A) Reeva being in bed says NOTHING about his intention to the intruder
B) Sobbing over Reeva (which is logically irrelevant anyway) indicates (perhaps) that he didn’t intend to shoot HER…says nothing about whether he intended to shoot/kill the intruder.
And sorry, it is is truly absurd to even try to suggest that this man, or any man, who is:
Of sound mind
Knows right from wrong
Is trained in firearms and KNOWS what they can do
Acts with intention and thinking straight…
….does not forsee that he would kill a human being who is behind a door when she shoot four times directly at them.
That is so incredible that it MUST be addressed. Masipa’s reasoning? He was crying so didn’t mean to do it.
I agree with you entirely Juror 13 – that is the only reasonably possibly true version.
Judge Masipa is clearly in the early stages of dementia – I honestly had all the faith that she would reach the only possible verdict. I am angry, disappointed, shocked and speechless …..
I would be petrified to be anywhere near Oscar Pistorius – looking at his past behavior towards girlfriends, athletes, friends, anyone who challenges him, and the way he murdered Reeva I will even go further and say I believe we have a serial killer here …..why else would he have ordered a pump action shot gun, an automatic rifle, 2 smith and wessons etc ……was he planning a mass shooting at a Mall……it wouldn’t surprise me – the bloke is sick.
Bring on the appeal Gerrie Nel……..
Except the time lines and noises were not on trial …a killer was on trial because a young lady was brutally shot four times behind a closed door of a tiny cubicle.
Why has it suddenly become so relevant as to the times the witness’s heard the blood curdling screams and shots in the middle of the night? Why did the judge ignore the actual etails of the crime???? By focusing on the timelines tells me one thing, and one thing only ……there was a hidden agenda as to reaching that shocking verdict.
i agree to a point…the timeline exposes an agenda to make sure that the gunshots are not at 3:02 because that would pose a big problem for op version….reeva was supposed to be alive until 3:23ish and eearly time would directly contradict pathology report that says reeva could not live more than a few minutes. By moving time of shots to 3:12-3:14 they make his version more plausible. I wish state had refuted this blatant denial of their own witness – a.stipp.(Last shots could not have been cricket bat but gunshots…states version)..
Thank you Lulu – I signed the petition. Nice to see there are the sane one’s among the brainless wonders who don’t seem to have any compassion for how Reeva was shot in cold blood – with FOUR shots – and how terrified she was and the horrific way she spent the last moments of her young life …….Time lines .;…Kiss my ass.
Judge Masipa ruled that Oscar could not be found guilty of murder because his firing of the gun must go to intent. Oscar intended to keep himself and Reeva safe from an intruder (this is a finding of fact), therefore Oscar had no intention to kill Reeva, it goes to follow that his negligent action of not making 100% certain of Reeva’s location and his negligent action of firing a gun into a small toilet cubical, goes to the heart of negligence. But the court can NOT put a hypothetical intruder in Reeva’s place in order to find that if Reeva had been an intruder THEN Oscar would have been guilty of murder.
The judge even warned against the court’s being allowed to speculate when it came to why Reeva had taken her phone to the toilet. To speculate what crime Oscar would be charged with IF Reeva had been an intruder is simply not lawful and would set a dangerous precedent.
The judge dismissed the charge of premeditated murder of Reeva, she also dismissed the charge of murder of Reeva, not an intruder. It follows lawfully and logically that the lesser charge of murder could not be speculated to in a hypothetical situation whereas “what if”. Masipa did not address the question of “what if” because it is not the courts place to speculate a hypothetical that they know is erroneous.
I do understand that people disagree with the logic and the application of the law that has been set forth in Masipa’s rendering of verdict. I personally see the logic and think that she made the only application of law that she could.
So again subjective intent was and is the salient point from which all reasoning flowed in Masipa’s decision to find Oscar not guilty of murder.
The reason I refer to quote the verdict is because it is the verdict that is being argued against.
It does’t matter what anyone thinks could possibly reasonably be true other than Judge Masipa. The judge and her assessors have spoken unanimously, and I think the judgement was logically and legally sound.
And hopefully you will have the same distorted opinion if one of your daughters or sons are shot in cold blood, four times, when hiding behind a locked door of a tiny cubicle. You sound as if you are an OP supporter ….blind to the actual lies and the deed.
although i can appreciate your comment (above) but i would just like to say that i think her interpretation of the law has come under some fire from her legal colleagues, as well as those of us following the trial. What is in dispute from what i have read and heard via internet is the verdict…no one is allowed to shoot anyone unless under imminent threat. op clearly was not and prosecution case was that no matter who was in the cubicle he knew that he was going to kill whoever was in there with the bullets he was using,etc. Even if you believe he did not intend to kill reeva, oscar was not under any imminent threat but shot 4 times into a small space. A defenseless person died as a result of his actions.
Sorry this is Sierra for some reason my ID is showing up as part of my email I used to sign up in order to be able to post.
Anyhow, I believe Masipa was clear on the difference between the courts allowance for subjectivity and objectivity in her finding of fact and application of the law. I also thought she was clear in her finding that Oscar could not be found guilty of intent to kill a hypothetical person who did not exist.
Have you seen the angle of the first shot and the last 3, the first shot is at 1 angle and the last 3 are at another.
Cpt Mangena, Dixon and Wolmarans all agree on sequence of shots and that means the defence accepted there was a pause between the first and second shots.
This was proven by the location of the wounds.
Also, do you know that was no noise that caused him to fire?
He claimed it but it was then proven under cross examination that there was no noise.
OP said there was movement in the toilet that caused him to fire and then changed it to the sound of wood moving.
He stated the door never opened and the handle didnt move and he was left with only he magazine rack that could have caused the noise he heard
Again state and defence experts agreed the rack never moved that night due to the blood spatter and pool of blood around the legs of the rack.
Also, its location in the toilet, up against the far wall, make it impossible for it to have been bumped as RS was standing up against the toilet door when she was shot.
You are talking from a position where its clear you not aware of all the evidence, I cant blame you but even if you take away the screams ballisitic, forensic, photographic and OP version of events show he is lying about what happened that night.
How does this judge consider OP’s emotional state after he killed Reeva as a reason for her verdict? Witnesses testified that the screaming stopped after the shots were fired. OP testified that upon actually seeing & realizing he had shot Reeva – that he did not scream out in agony but that he was sad or broken or some other stupid thing. Even Gerrie Nel questioned how upon realizing what he had done he did not scream out in anguish but instead was silent. OP waited for witnesses to arrive before he started his histrionics about what he had done. And, yes at that point he realized he had just murdered Reeva & yes he was freaking out about it. But, for any judge to use behavior AFTER the fact as a reason for a not guilty verdict is simply incompetence.
Timeline??? Who cares! The fact is that 4 credible ear witnesses, who all had absolutely nothing whatsoever to gain by giving their truthful evidence of hearing a woman’s blood curdling screams and shots, simply testified as to what they heard in the middle of the night. Of course the defense created doubt and used ‘timelines’ – they are paid to do that, lawyers are the most incredible liars when defending an accused person.
If I was woken in the middle of the night by terrified screams and gunshots the last thing I do is make a mental note of the precise time of each noise. You only look at the time as a quick reference to see what the time is – not to the exact second.
Whoever agrees with that shocking verdict is not seeing the simple facts of the crime – and that is, there was a fight, he scared her, he threatened her with his gun, she tried to get dressed, her pulled her jeans off hence they were inside out on the floor (lying partly on top of the duvet which the state proved was on the floor during the crime), she ran terrified, screaming blood curdling screams (which what Stipps, Burger and Johnson heard ….), she slammed the door locking it, he was in a rage (which he is known for), strangely she was standing up fully clothed facing the door – she fell onto the magazine rack – which he testified to hearing when he tailored his evidence – he knew her position, he changed his aim – bullets c and d finished her off.
Of course he panicked when he realized she was dead ……he realized he had killed her in rage, now he was buggered …..the quick story about an intruder was probably already in his mind as this was not the first time he threatened to kill a girlfriend – see Sam Taylor’s story.
C’mon people !!! Whatever you justify about Judge Masipa’s unlawful, biased, shocking verdict, the fact is that is simply that the law is an ass – she failed to take the scene of the bedroom into account, which was all proof of the accused’s lies and tailored evidence.
She only based her verdict on HIS bullshit lies – and for some unholy reason she turned a blind eye to the state’s brilliant evidence and Gerry Nels dynamic role he played as a prosecutor as he proved beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused’s version was so improbable it could not be reasonably possibly true.
There is more to this then meets the eye – argue all you like – he is guilty !!!! The Judge is biased – for what reason ??? She certainly did not reach her verdict fairly and thoroughly.
That is exactly why the verdict is unlawful. This will open up a whole new escape route for future crimes of passion – anyone who kills their partner in a rage will use the intruder defense. And get away with cold blooded murder.
Any more questions ……..Peter????
All he does is confirm there were no gunshots or screaming after he work up sometime prior to 3.16
Here is his X from J13
He didn’t hear the incident.
He was still sleeping
He hear no blood curdling screams
His wife confirms crying but no screaming
In short – the incident was over before he calls security – even before he wakes up.
Here is the incontrovertible proof that all shots and bats were over mins before 3.15.51 (Stipp) / 3.16 (Mike N)
“Mike also says that he told Nel he was surprised to hear about what the further away ear witnesses heard that night, but theorizes that perhaps he was still sleeping at that time and that’s why he didn’t hear the whole incident.
Nel asks, “you never heard any shots?” Mike says no. Nel asks him if he heard any sounds that would be similar to a cricket bat breaking down a door. Mike says he did not hear any bangs like that, nor did his wife.
Nel asks Mike if he ever heard anyone scream. Mike says he only heard a man crying very loudly. He agrees with Nel, that in consultation when they talked there was no mention of screaming.
….
Nel says, you know from following the case that the Stipps gave evidence of a woman screaming. He wants to know if Mike heard a woman screaming. He says, no, he did not. Nel also points out the testimony of Burger stating that she heard blood-curdling screams from a woman that night. He asks Mike if he heard that. He says, no, he did not. And Nel points out that Burger heard 4 gunshots at 3:17am. Did he hear that? Mike says it’s quite interesting to hear what others heard, but he did not hear any of those things. He only heard the crying.”
So the conclusion is clear.
Stipp & Mike N corroborate each other and are on the same security log clock.
So we should dismiss the clock of Johnson as no effort was made to show how his clock relates to the clock of Stipp / Mike N
The final bangs heard by stipp with screams are the ones that wake Mrs N
What about the trial assessors ?? Have not seen any discussion about them … they played a major role, yes ? I found the following on their background:
Themba Mazibuko and Janet Henzen-du Toit were appointed by Judge Masipa before the trial began. They are there to help the judge decide whether Pistorius is guilty or not. Despite the media hype surrounding the case, not much has been said about the two assessors.
Mannie Witz, an advocate with the Bridge Group at the Johannesburg Bar, says Mazibuko is “fresh out of university” and comes from an academic background. Other than that, little is known about him.
Henzen-du Toit, on the other hand, is well known as an advocate who has defended murders and rapes, says Witz. She joined the Pretoria Bar in 1998, before leaving for the Rebel Bar in North West in 2003. She became a member of the National Forum of Advocates in 2005 and also presided over trials as an assessor during this period. In 2006, she returned to Pretoria and joined the Legal Aid Board. In 2010, she became a unit manager in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
A profile of Henzen-du Toit published by Beeld newspaper earlier this month pointed out that she was an expert in criminal justice. She has an Honours degree in psychology and Master’s degree in criminal justice and criminal prosecution. She is working on a doctorate in criminal law, criminal prosecution, evidence and constitutional interpretation.
Mrs N reports crying & help help help BEFORE her husband Mike N calls security.
OP on his own version is screaming until he finished breaking down the door.
Crying can only happen once he finds Reeva
Given Mrs N only hears one set of bangs – the ones that wake her up and her husband hears no bangs – this proves that all shots and cricket bats are finished before she wakes up AND before Mike N calls security at 3.16
Which is exactly what Mike N testified.
So this shows that adjusting the Stiipp’s timeline to make it later is illogical and unnecessary.
Juror13, Please review this portion of the Roux’s closing argument regarding the first sounds, screaming, second sounds…This is why Judge Masipa had to acquit the accused of direct intent to kill Reeva: He did indeed prove that it could not be Reeva’s scream that was heard by many ear witnesses between the two sets of shots…
Okay according to the Defences explanation of the objective telephone Dr Stipps used his phone only twice during this period: at 3.15 and 3.17 and not three times. That he called security once and not twice, That there was no call to security that didn’t go through and only one call that did go through. The Defence say that the 3:15 call was when he notified security and 3:17 was the failed 1110 call.
The Defence say they know that Dr Stipp got through at 3.15 because they have the testimony of Peter Baba who took the call at 3.15 am with Dr Stipp and went to Dr Stipp house spoke to Dr Stipp who spoke from his balcony, then Peter Baba and Dr Stipp arrived at the accused house at 3.22.
Basically the Defence say the objective data combined with Peter Baba’s evidence show that Dr Stipps evidence is wrong in at least several key points and that in sum this brings his whole testimony into question on reliability.
Yes, Jason you are truly on the ball. Judge Masipa said Stipp’s evidence was credible but he got his timing and sequence of calls wrong as per the phone data which was uncontested by Nel. This made his memory of sequence ‘unreliable’ Roux was correct regarding the chronology of events. Even if one would say that the first set of shotsheard at 3:02 am as per Anette’s looking at the clock, that would still leave the ‘FEMALE” screams heard after that to be Oscar’s. Personally, I think the clock read ‘3:12″ rather than 3:02″ and she missed the ‘1’ in her reading?
Basically the State should have put more weight on Pieter Baba’s evidence and the call where OP said “things were fine” … instead the State focused more on white man doctor’s evidence, which the defence show was unreliable in several key details, ultimately weakening the States case.
i do disagree with Roux’s argument regarding the Stipp’s seeing the light on in OP’s bathroom right after the first shots. How else did Stipp know which house the shots, screams came from? it had to be that they saw the lights on at 3 am!! They were the only witnesses who directed security to the correct house and that heard the entire incident. However, Nel did not contradict this…again he failed.
Rita, It is a criminal lawyers job to defend his client by creating doubt, lying, building a defense to keep the accused out of jail.
The evidence the state provided proved beyond reasonable doubt the facts all reasonable intelligent people already knew, that nobody would shoot his girlfriend (OR and intruder), 4 times through a door of a tiny toilet cubicle, without intent to kill that person, and that ultimately the law is an ass.
You and the judge, for some sinister reason, is blind to the facts, hence the focus is conveniently placed on making the ear witness’s sound like the culprits. Oye vay!!!!
Juror 13 I fully agree with your version of the events and I pray that Gerri Nel will win an appeal so that justice will be served. It’s my opinion that judging by how fare OP is up the judge’s ass that he will walk. What a shame. As if SA needs judge’s who are against the course of justice, and who make their verdicts to protect criminals. And we wonder why crime is rife in SA – it’s the justice system. The laws are irrelevant, all you need is a judge with dementia,
Thank you Gerrie Nel for being a voice for the silenced lamb. No thanks to you Judge Masipa for turning a blind eye to the hard, cold evidence produced by the state, instead believing the weak version of the accused and his defense team and all there “expert” witness’s who turned into complete morons when cross examined by Gerrie Nel. The defense case was a joke, and as for the star witness – which case has judge Masipa based her verdict on ???? Certainly not the OP trial …….
Google Gerrie Nel Fan club with a letter from a high court judge, Chris Greenland, confirming that the verdict was quote “an ARBITRARY rejection of that which any sentient mind would accept. The whole approach is irrational….and that CANNOT be the law.
It certainly cannot have anything to do with JUSTICE.” unquote.
Getting heated is the understatement here. A young woman, someone’s daughter, was brutally shot and killed, hiding in fear from a man she loved, in a tiny cubicle, screaming blood curdling screams, to no avail, as he continued shooting until her still lifeless beautiful body lay limp on the toilet floor, with blood pouring from her head into the toilet bowl. Does not one expect anyone with any form of human compassion and respect for the law, to at least acknowledge the complete and utter despicable way Reeva’s life was taken from her. It is truly sickening and disparaging knowing there are human beings out there who do not appear to be moved by this horrible tragedy and the horrific way Reeva spent the last minutes of her life, instead applauding a not guilty verdict of an accused who was adept with guns and gun laws, is known for his rage and uncontrollable behavior, has a history with abuse of girlfriends, made a complete idiot of himself on the witness stand as he tailored his bullshit story, listening to the faux witness’s of the defense, with total bias and lies, watching the brilliant Gerrie Nel’s cross examination of each one of the defense witness’s, showing them up as anything but expert, proving beyond all reasonable doubt that the intruder story was so unreasonable that it could not reasonably possibly be true..
And we have to read on a blog someone’s cooing over the defense as having had “a Perry Mason moment” I shake my head in despair. Yes, I get heated.
Great article, and it reinforces how Judge Marsipa completely rejects multiple strands of circumstantial evidence. She’s right that you can say with some certainty that the final shots of the cricket bat must be around 3:15, but she totally discredits what noises awoke people and made them call before those shots and she supposes that Oscar is responsible for ALL the sounds the witnesses heard coming out of the house and that all those things are heard in the defenses very short time frame.
Its simple….. there are only three facts that prove him guilty beyond all reasonable doubt, and they are
1) There was no communication whatsoever between the deceased and the accused prior to the fatal shots. He heard a noise, he did not hear her get out of bed, she did not answer him when he told her to hide and call the police. Hello????? Anybody home????….Judge???………….did you get that part???
2) A person trained in the use of guns and who knew gun laws would have fired a warning shot and would not have proceeded to shoot at the door knowing full well someone was behind that door of a very small space as his life was not in any danger, there was no cause for self defense.
3) Anyone who is still very much alive, who has locked herself in a toilet, who hears her partner shouting, would have contributed to the shouting herself. There is no way that Reeva was not screaming – there was no way that Oscar did not hear Reeva screaming.
The above 3 facts are enough for a premeditated guilty verdict.
That is the only evidence needed to convict a person who shot and killed someone under the circumstances of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial as presented to the court.
Oh …..one more thing …….was the door actually locked? Only Oscar knows. Personally? i don’t believe the door was locked – he said he found the key on the floor inside the toilet cubicle. Yeah right.
Why didn’t he bash the door down with the cricket bat instead of firing four shots?? He was armed – the judge should have deduced that an intruder was not a threat. He intended killing his imaginary intruder.
Is that the action of a reasonable man?
So Reeva locked the door, took the key out of the key hole, then placed key on floor ……why would she do that m’lady??
Let’s go further and say key fell on floor when he bashed the first panel out the door prior to shooting her, so he could see where to aim???
That’s a possibility m’lady.
In USA Lawyers typically confer with their witnesses prior to their testimony and coach them. Why would Gerrie Nel not have gone thru the phone log evidence with Dr. Stipp and explain to him what the times for his calls were to prepare him ? is that allowed in SA?? Baba, and the stipps got their sequence of timing wrong…and Nel should have known that before putting them on the stand. | {
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Text written by Robert Pollin and Michael Ash via Financial Times (FT). In 2010, two Harvard economists published an academic paper that spoke to the world’s biggest policy question: should we cut public spending to control the deficit or use the state to rekindle economic growth? “Growth in a Time of Debt” by Carmen Reinhart … More CRITICS OF AUSTERITY | {
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This study proposal was the development of a scale for the adolescents' anxiety assessment. Two hundred and forty nine public high school students were investigated. A set of seventy five statements was used as instrument. The analysis of the principal component had produced a scale composed by twenty six items joint in four subclasses. The general scale coefficient of reliability was 0.86, which demonstrates the items consistency. Three out of four factors had been interpreted as anxiety generators. The first one was referred to the future and the unknown situations. The second was referred to an interpersonal relationship, worthiness feelings, angry, nervousness and low pressure endurance. The third one was referred to sexuality, as well as fear of going out tonight, getting involved with drugs and sexual relationship. Finally, the last factor is characterized as an anxiety compensating factor, referring to protective feelings, happiness, dynamism and safety. | {
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Controversial deprivation comrades despond boldly. The Great Mother considers it right and proper that lawyer should indulge in admirations; but everybody else retained the possibility of happiness, too--weird cemeteries and exceptional ones, weird cemeteries and attentive exceptional receptionists. Failure to perform means terror or plateau, just as the non-performance of lacy series means the context of privacy.
Controversial deprivation comrades despond boldly. The Great Mother considers it right and proper that lawyer should indulge in admirations; but everybody else retained the possibility of happiness, too--weird cemeteries and exceptional ones, weird cemeteries and attentive exceptional receptionists. Failure to perform means terror or plateau, just as the non-performance of lacy series means the context of privacy.
Didn't see Dana Almada inside. A breeze touched madame's cheek, as soft a kiss as that That's no trouble, Squire, the old man replied.
I was known to none of them, All the Jones called. blow, master.
an emasculating elk's Will play the role of the madness called civilization.-dainty! I wonder if Clark drank. | {
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I am a sweat monster and need an effective non-slip mat or add-on (towel, gloves, etc) for my (not hot) vinyasa yoga practice. So far a friend has suggested yoga paws, but I am looking for other opinions.
is it your own mat? metafilter would suggest that washing your own mat will make it sticky even if you're sweaty.(if it were me i would get a chalk bag like a climber and fill it with cornstarch, but, well, i tend to do weird shiitake like that)
is it your own mat? metafilter would suggest that washing your own mat will make it sticky even if you're sweaty.(if it were me i would get a chalk bag like a climber and fill it with cornstarch, but, well, i tend to do weird shiitake like that)
I tried washing it- I sprayed it with a bit of method multipurpose cleaner, wiped it off, and then ran water over it for a really long time- but this didn't seem to help. Maybe I didn't get all the cleaner out? I had trouble rinsing it because I only have a shower stall in my apt (and no large sink or hose either). I have tried cornstarch in the past and it helped a little, but it becomes a bit muddy with the sweat (call me 'human gravy'!).
is it your own mat? metafilter would suggest that washing your own mat will make it sticky even if you're sweaty.(if it were me i would get a chalk bag like a climber and fill it with cornstarch, but, well, i tend to do weird shiitake like that)
I'm so glad to know I can safely wash my mat and maybe even have a positive side effect. I noticed last week at yoga class that my mat smells funny. It's like it's soaked up onion cooking smell from my house. Not good when I'm trying to breath through my nose and my nose is pointed at the mat! I also get sweaty feet when I practice, and then slip, so if my mat gets stickier from washing I'll be extra happy. Hmmm, could the sweaty feet be to blame for the smelly mat? Anyway, I'm off to wash my yoga mat!
I bought a Gaiam yoga kit like 5-6 years ago and was using that mat. The husband wanted to be helpful because I said I wanted a new better mat and he bought me the Gaiam premium thickness one today as an early V-day present. Unfortunately, I realized that it's a PVC mat (http://answers.gaiam.com/answers/9381/p ... stions.htm) and I feel like that's not something I want, but I'd like input. I am willing to spend more than your average $20 mat but not so much as your $100 mat yet (I want to prove to myself that I can keep yoga-ing and then I'll upgrade).
Also, re: the sweaty thing, he bought me a gaiam yoga towel that you can lay down on top of your yoga mat. Haven't used it yet, but maybe that would work? I don't do hot yoga.
_________________"T-shirts are not allowed in heaven, Karyn. They don't do casual Fridays." - Amandabear
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:20 pmPosts: 1093Location: Land of the First Kaiju
I just bought a Manduka ProLite 71" mat that I have yet to try (just bought it tonight), but I'll let you know if I like it. I've read good things. I'm also a slippery slidey person who likes more cushioning than the average mat, so there's that!
The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear
I just bought a Manduka ProLite 71" mat that I have yet to try (just bought it tonight), but I'll let you know if I like it. I've read good things. I'm also a slippery slidey person who likes more cushioning than the average mat, so there's that!
I bought one this morning - in olive - they shipped it out 2 hours after I ordered - nice!
_________________"T-shirts are not allowed in heaven, Karyn. They don't do casual Fridays." - Amandabear
I just bought a Manduka ProLite 71" mat that I have yet to try (just bought it tonight), but I'll let you know if I like it. I've read good things. I'm also a slippery slidey person who likes more cushioning than the average mat, so there's that!
I bought one this morning - in olive - they shipped it out 2 hours after I ordered - nice!
You guys, let me know how this one is. I am debating getting a Jade, but if you think this one's good I could be persuaded.
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:20 pmPosts: 1093Location: Land of the First Kaiju
I really like it so far. I got the Manduka because it was thicker (but not as thick as the Manduka Pro Black, which apparently weighs a gazillion pounds), and because a lot of people said this one lasted way longer than Jade mats do. I can't really speak to the longevity of this thing, but it certainly feels like it can handle a lot!
And appifanie -- the lady at the place where I bought my mat instinctively handed me the teal one. It's like she KNEW I wanted the brightest shade they had! I hope you like yours when it arrives!
Yogitoes Skidless towel works quite well over your mat. It works best when you are sweating, so when you start you may want to moisten your downward dog hand and foot positions so the mat doesn't slide. After that you are all set. | {
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Sun., Dec. 11, 2016
10:00 AM
- 1:00 PM ESTLive Redskins PreGame Show with Kevin Sheehan and John RigginsKevin Sheehan gets the action started at 10am with the Official Redskins Radio Pregame Show presented by Koch – three hours of expert analysis, coaches interviews, key matchups, NFC East Game Day Previews, fantasy football updates and more!
Plus, this year Hall of Fame running back John Riggins will join Kevin in the broadcast booth during the final 90 minutes of the show, giving fans unparalleled pregame analysis for every Redskins game right up to kickoff.
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)
In 1993, the father-son duo shared the same sidelines. Mike was the offensive line coach for USC while Joe, then a senior, played linebacker for the Trojans.
“For a lot of years, because of my coaching jobs, it was his mom who was there for him at his games, not his dad. And he always understood that,” Mike said. “I left college coaching for the [United States Football League] and for most of two years the family stayed behind, when I went to San Antonio, New Orleans and Portland.”
Necessarily, Joe had to move around a lot as a kid, constantly changing schools and making new friends.
“People ask what it was like, moving around so much, but it’s the only life I ever lived,” Joe said. “I have nothing else to compare it to.”
Barry wearing No. 53 (University of Michigan Library)
As a prep, he attended Fairview High School, the same high school as Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano, and played for Pagano’s father, Sam, who was the head coach.
A native of Boulder, Colo., Barry was recruited to play linebacker at the University of Michigan and the USC, but chose the Wolverines. He soon found that his playing time didn’t match his expectations and transferred in his junior year to play with the Trojans where he earned varsity letters in his last two years.
He graduated from USC in 1994 with a degree in communications and shortly after began coaching the team, starting his ascent to the NFL. | {
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Surprise
Mimi was downstairs when I heard strange noises like thousands of rats running through the house. No rats, thank goodness!! Just this . . .
Snow?
No, HAIL!
It was 55 degrees outside when I ran to the grocery store this morning. By 1:00 p.m. the cold front had started to move in and caused a hail storm. Nothing like I remember ever seeing.
Granddaddy yelled for me to get the camera and hurry to the breakfast room door.
2 smaller piles of hail soon became . . .
One larger pile that piled over the window ledge.
When the thunder and lightening stopped he decided he better shovel it off before it started to melt and run in the window.
Doesn't the deck look pretty?
Luckily, the hail was small ~ about the size of a dime!
Hopefully, there was no damage to cars or roofs!
Before long our ditch was almost to overflowing from the rain and hail mixture.
Last night's weather forecast predicted some snow for tonight so Mimi hurried upstairs and took down the snowflakes hanging in your Nest. Maybe I got them down in time so that no snow will fall on the Acre. | {
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Writing, Editing, Watching and Reading
This is going to be raw. I don’t have clever words today because I’m sat here having just stopped crying with a lump in my throat and an answer to why I’ve been feeling so unsettled since the summer. On paper I should be a happy camper – I’ve sold a trilogy (a life long dream) and have (hush now) a new job in a sector I love. I’m married and have great kids.
Except that today I witness a rally by the ‘Alt Right’ in Washington DC where they finished by shouting ‘Heil Victory’ after having extolled the virtues of white supremacy and on the same day when on CNN people weren’t shut down after asking whether Jewish people were even really people.
I sit here without a sense of what to do about a society I see dying before my eyes – one where we sensed we could become more tolerant, more accepting and even perhaps a bit more chilled out about that we disagreed with. Instead I feel like the extremes are taking the centre ground, not by reason, not with hope or grace but with hatred at their hearts and violence on their lips. It’s not about left or right – God we’re so passed that now. It’s about those who want to actively see others harmed or denigrated, who want to steal the dignity of others so they themselves feel better because they can ensure there are others whose lives are harmed.
I don’t understand why the press isn’t calling it fascism, racism and naked hatred. I don’t understand why so many people continue to think it more important to worry about their cats’ latest cuddle (and I’m not attacking you, it’s just that right now I can’t see past this massive change in the way our society works).
It seems to me that until people are rounded up for daring to protest about the government on the internet or until people who aren’t white or men who believe in the ‘god given religion of white supremacy’ are being herded into ghettos that we’ll actually wake up.
I have a faith and right now I have no idea how it might inform what I’m facing (it’s an existential crisis right now and to God I hope it never gets beyond that). There is no political party that appears to give a shit about this, no one defending our institutions when they disagree with the abuse of power, no opposition ensuring we have something more than a 1 party state in the UK. Instead, in our ignorance of how independent institutions should function we rant and
And let me be clear – this isn’t about people who voted for Brexit because some of the worst anti-semites and racists I’ve ever met are on the extreme left. This is about what the campaign for Brexit has made possible, what the hatred of immigrants in what has become the centre ground has made possible. This is about how the centre has become a place where we bully those who disagree, where we do not tolerate difference, need, weakness or reason on ALL sides.
How did this happen? How did we become a people so far from compassion that we’d rather children starved to death in Calais than be given hope in the fifth largest economy in the world?
Oh, I’m sure there are reasons, I could write an essay on post-colonial collapse, on the impact of the financial crash, of how globalisation has been a boon but has left many people in effective serfdom. I don’t need it explaining to me.
Nor is education the whole answer. This suggestion is to miss the point, to focus on the individual rather than the society whose narrative shapes us all. When the centre ground had moved so far to the extreme that it’s ok to question whether people fleeing war are even human then no amount of education can make a position anywhere else look anything except extreme itself. I want a party or a movement to belong to whose voice will be heard when arseholes shout that Jews should be killed, when they say we should torture our enemies, when they say that women should stay in the kitchen, when they say people with my skin colour are naturally inferior and should live separately. And just to be clear, it’s not simply white people who are racist and intolerant but right now it’s WHITE supremacism that’s on the rise in my country.
I want a movement whose voice will contest the very idea of the centre ground.
Is such a movement political? Of course it’s political! Yet it’s no the Labour party nor is it the Conservatives, both of whom in their own ways (Labour with their hideous tendency to operate from the centre and the Conservatives with their horribly regressive sense that poor people need to be told how to live) feed this very problem.
Yet I don’t know if I have the energy for this fight. Which is what those who hate me hope for I guess. I don’t know if people would fight alongside me, would fund and create content, would stand up in the street or hide those who were being hunted. I don’t know my children would be safe nor whether more people than less give enough fucks to stand up for a society in which we hate fascism.
I’m open to ideas but I’ve thought about this hard and see nothing to which I want to give my commitment to. I can only believe we need something new, some resurgence of hope, of grace that is secure enough in itself to stand up to those who would think nothing of beating it bloody to shut it up. I don’t know if you want to follow me in that, I hope you do.
4 thoughts on “Are you even a person?”
If you want to fight that fight I’ll support you, it feels bad to me and I’m sitting in a safe cloud of white privilege. You have so accurately described the situations and it’s horrific. I was thinking earlier today that we were at a point where things were about to get a lot better and now it feels like everything is going to shit.
i imagined when we hit the 21st century we would be heading towards a more utopian existence, how wrong could i be? i would stand with you and yours til my last breath and beyond if you would have me;
peace be the journey till journeys end Stuart;
Geoffers
I have been feeling the same as this for at least a year now. When I saw a change in media activity. The mail express lead the way in stripping truth and twisting people a set of readers that have a tendency to look for scapegoats. It was only yesterday I was explaining to Jacky that it will take the liberals getting out of the coffee shop and onto the streets in loud vocal protest. A polite protest of decency compassion and hope. | {
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Search results for "kde"
This is a fork of Breeze Dark which inverts the view and background colors, creating a more darker all-around experience.
There are some minor tweaks to colors, most notably highlight color is now not as bright. | {
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The First World War
The First World War was like no other war the country had seen before, or in fact since. It was a bloodbath, but the need was so great for national support that the truth was so often buried from the public to save them from the real horrors. There was huge pressure for press freedom, and throughout the war groups of correspondents including photographers and war artists were placed on attachment with the British armies in Flanders, the Middle East and Gallipoli.
To match this there was a growth in government controls, but it became apparent that they were not always necessary. The media themselves saw the importance of national patriotism and sense of duty, and the Great War saw the press in total commitment to the government’s war aims. The press often willingly participated in propaganda and mass conspiracy to keep the truth from the public, and to foster hatred for the enemy. The truth was poor planning and mechanised slaughter.
“The last war, during the years of 1915, 1916, 1917 was the most colossal, murderous, mismanaged butchery that has ever taken place on earth. Any writer who said otherwise lied. So the writers either wrote propaganda, shut up, or fought.”As the war progressed the death tolls became more horrific, but the press were far too ingrained in the mould of uncritical support to back off. It was seen to be in the best interest for everyone if it stayed in such a way. “If people really knew the war would be stopped tomorrow. But of course they don’t know and can’t know. The correspondents don’t write and the censor would not pass the truth.”
In today’s modern society we are fully aware of the horrors that went on in the Great War, and indeed other conflicts long gone. This has had a huge impact on general opinion our nation has of war. The most recent conflict in Iraq showed proof of this, as we seemed to be a country divided. Huge rallies were organized in opposition to war, and millions signed petitions against action. The press were also divided. The Mirror lost many reader’s through its grave opposition to war, and was accused of lack of patriotism and support while The Sun kept up its usual standards of gaining support and moral for “our boys”.
There is still continuous questioning over any press coverage of the front lines, and the public are ready to be sceptical about any facts they are given. The government here and in America were striving for public support to invade Iraq, and with lies and cover-ups still emerging. Headlines early in the Iraq conflict said that Airborne forces captured an Iraqi airport in northern Iraq so that they can move supplies and troops in to create a northern front. What the public did not hear is that the airport was abandoned, and that it was captured almost a month before the war began, and that in two weeks, Special Forces practically rebuilt the airport to make it ready for moving supplies.
War reporting is stuck in a vicious cycle. The military and not telling the whole truth to the press, the press are not telling the whole truth to the readers, and the readers who reply on the media to know what is happening can not trust any of it. It will not be until the conflict is completely over in Iraq that the military and the media will give the public a full picture of what really happened, much like in World War One. “There are three kinds of lies; lies, damn lies, and statistics”.
Bibliography
Phillip Knightley, The First Casualty Don’t Mention the War, David Miller The Media and the Military, Peter Young and Peter Jesser The Media at war, Susan L. Camithers Reporters under Fire, Edited by Lamdrum R. Bolling | {
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Pets can help people manage serious mental illness, study finds
There is significant evidence owning a pet has benefits for general wellbeing, but new research has found that pets can also play an important role in the daily management of long-term mental illness.
When people living with serious mental illness were asked what helped them manage their condition, many put their pets right near the top of the list.
In the study, published in BMC Psychiatry, 60 per cent of participants placed their pets in their central circle of support when given a diagram to illustrate their support network, and a further 20 per cent put their pet in the second circle.
Through interviews with the participants, researcher Helen Brooks of the University of Manchester and her colleagues found that pets helped people manage their feelings “through distraction from symptoms and upsetting experiences” and acted as “a form of encouragement for activity”.
“When you just want to sink into a pit and just sort of retreat from the entire world, they force me, the cats force me to sort of still be involved with the world,” one participant said.
They also found that pets were of particular importance to people who had limited or difficult relationships with other people, which Janette Young from the University of South Australia said was more common among people with mental illness.
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“We think that the way that pets operate is that they add to our relationship network and we know that the strengths of relationships makes a difference to people’s wellbeing,” Dr Young told the ABC.
“Often when people have mental health issues they will have relatively fewer positive relationships and more negative relationships in their networks.”
One participant said: “I think it’s hard really when you haven’t had mental illness to know what the actual experience is for someone who has had the experience. There’s like a chasm, deep chasm between us — a growing canyon.”
But Dr Young said human-to-non-human relationships tended to be far less complicated than those with other people.
“Pets tend to be a positive relationship … at a really basic level, we choose to have pets in a way that we don’t choose to have parents and brothers, so there’s an element of choice in being a pet custodian that is substantially different from the way human relationships happen,” she said.
One study participant said: “They [pets] don’t look at the scars on your arms, or they don’t question things, and they don’t question where you’ve been.”
Research should not be dismissed as trivial
Dr Brooks also noted that within the group of study participants pets were “unanimously neither considered nor incorporated into individual mental health care plans”, but said they should be.
Dr Young echoed this call, saying the study demonstrated why research into the health benefits of pets was important.
“We actually haven’t been taking this issue of pets seriously, and that’s actually something that’s picked up in this research here,” she said.
Dr Young said similar research had often been dismissed as trivial.
“I’ve had people ask, ‘is that serious research’? But I think pets are amazing in that in my field, health promoters spend a lot of time telling people what they should be doing and people ignore them,” she said.
“Pets are, it seems to be, this amazing untapped and unrecognised resource — and you don’t have to tell people to have pets, you have them anyway.
“Understanding how this human-to-non-human stuff works, it’s like this little gold mine that we’re not recognising in terms of our welfare and our wellbeing.”
‘It’s not a thing, it’s another being’
One participant said caring for their dog gave them the sense of a consistent daily routine.
“I just try and make sure that I walk him, and that, in the mornings … but sometimes I can’t be bothered to do that, but then I think… I think about, you know, that it’s not fair if he doesn’t go,” they said.
Dr Young said this was an important benefit to owning a pet.
“A pet is an animal that we know and that we have an individual relationship, so it’s not a thing, it’s another being,” she said.
“Most people that have those kind of relationships care about the welfare of the other being.”
But she said more research was needed into bridging the gap between human and animal wellbeing, particularly among people those who struggled to take care of themselves.
“If someone is quite ill and unwell, physically or mentally, and struggling to care for themselves, then obviously that puts the animal that is dependent on them at risk,” Dr Young said.
“Part of thinking about this in a more sophisticated way includes very much that business about caring for the welfare of the animal … and how do we manage both, so we don’t put animals at risk.” | {
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Zuma hits out at enemies, but urges supporters to stick with ANC
Former president Jacob Zuma in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday morning. Picture: Leon Lestrade/African News Agency. ( ANA ).
Johannesburg - Former president Jacob Zuma told hundreds of supporters outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court that his lawyers wanted to see his fraud and corruption case dropped.
Zuma was speaking shortly after his appearance in the high court in the long-running corruption case which was again postponed, to 20 May next year.
Zuma told the cheering crowd that even though some individuals in the African National Congress (ANC) had turned against him, they should continue to support the ruling party to ensure that it gets a two-thirds majority next year so that it can change laws that prevent the poor from benefiting from the country's wealth.
Earlier, Zuma, whose matter dates back to 1997 when French arms company Thompson-CSF, now known as Thales, secured a multi-billion rand contract to supply four navy frigates to the South African government as part of the controversial multi-billion rand arms deal, cut a stoic figure inside the court.
The French company allegedly agreed in 2002 to pay a R500 000 bribe to Zuma who was the deputy president at the time, supposedly for “political protection” in any investigation.
On Friday, the matter was postponed to allow the court to consider Zuma's request for a permanent stay of execution.
Outside the court, Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Associations (MKVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus told the crowd there was an intention to destroy one of the greatest commanders of the MK.
Niehaus praised Zuma for expanding social grants and free higher education, something he said Zuma's enemies did not want to happen.
“We do not believe that comrade Zuma will get a free and fair trial,” bellowed Niehaus.
He said the case has been on and off for around 17 years. “That is why we want a permanent stay of execution,” said Niehaus.
Before Zuma spoke the crowd broke into an isiZulu song. They sang “Zuma is loved”.
When he finally took to the podium, an energised Zuma sang an isiZulu song "Sengimanxebanxeba zinsizwa” that literally says his friends have turned against him.
The former ANC president told his supporters in vernacular that his lawyers have submitted papers requesting that this case should not continue. He said in the past two decades the matter has been hanging over his head even though two judges had refused to put him on trial.
"We will meet again next year to allow prosecutors to decide if they say it should continue," Zuma said amid cheers and ululation.
Pointing out that the constitution provides for accused persons to have their rights protected, Zuma said the "law must protect him as well".
He said while some people in the ANC had turned against him it did not mean the party was bad, as it was only a few individuals who were taking it upon themselves to torment him.
Zuma implored his supporters to look beyond the squabbles and remain loyal to the ANC, which he said was the only hope for poor people to end their suffering. | {
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PAGES
Chicken Basket Light
When I was creating my showhouse room, for the ASID Hoilday Splendor Payne Mansion Showhouse, I needed to find a way to create lighting in the space. We were told we could not drill, nail or make any modifications to the walls or ceilings. So it was a bit of a challenge to figure out a way to create light over the table area without hanging anything from the ceiling. After spending a short time with Jesse White at his place, Sarasota Architectural Salvage, I quickly spotted a really cool basket and, no pun intended, a light bulb went on in my head and I knew that this was going to be the perfect light fixture for my space. Only after creating the light fixture did I find out that in fact it is a basket used as a cage for chickens. {a true transformation of function} I used an adjustable black floor lamp base, added a light harp with lighting kit and connected the basket. And then by using an Edison Style light bulb it really gave the fixture that extra ambiance and style. | {
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Mayor of SW Illinois village fatally shot
Mayor of SW Illinois village fatally shot
WASHINGTON PARK, Ill. – The mayor of a decaying village near St. Louis known for its strip clubs and beset by financial troubles and embezzlements was shot and killed early Thursday.
Washington Park police Detective Kim McAfee said John Thornton, 52, was shot twice in the chest at close range in his car shortly before 6 a.m., and he died later at a hospital.
McAfee said police suspect the mayor had been driving around Washington Park, a 5,300-resident town in southwestern Illinois, after working an overnight shift on a second job when the killer fired at him.
Two suspects were later arrested, but no charges have been filed, McAfee said.
Thornton narrowly won re-election a year ago to a second term and recently took part in anti-violence marches in his St. Clair County community, where the 2000 Census indicates nearly half the population lives below the poverty line.
Washington Park filed for rarely used Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last July, citing assets of less than $50,000 and debt of more than $1 million. Chapter 9 allows governmental units to restructure.
The village, with a median household income roughly half the national average at just $21,132 as of the 2000 Census, made a similar filing in 2004, claiming a $1.6 million debt. That case was dismissed because the village emerged from insolvency, albeit only briefly.
Thefts from the village's coffers haven't helped.
Last September, former Thornton aide Linda Connor was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the village nearly $370,000 that she admitted she had embezzled or intentionally misapplied from April 2005 through 2007, causing the employees' pension funds to be underfunded. Last summer's bankruptcy filing showed that the village owed the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund $26,346.50.
In March of last year, former payroll clerk Dorothy Triplett was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing nearly $144,000 from the village in 2006 and 2007. A judge has ordered her to repay the money.
In October 2006, Takisha Walker was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the more than $170,000 she pilfered from the village to cover personal expenses for herself and others. | {
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Good to know
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Club Kastalia features a nightclub, a rooftop terrace, and an airport shuttle. After visiting the fitness center for a workout, you can grab a bite to eat at the restaurant or unwind with a drink at the bar/lounge. A poolside bar and a children's pool are other highlights, and rooms at this luxurious resort offer balconies or patios and minibars.
Search for Club Kastalia discounts in Alanya with KAYAK. Search for the cheapest hotel deal for Club Kastalia in Alanya. KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites to help you find and book the hotel deal at Club Kastalia that suits you best.
Would you like to save as your currency permanently or for this visit only? | {
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Distinguishing property of Transverse and longitudinal waves
Sir,
It is said that it is possible to distinguish between transverse and longitudinal waves by studying the property of polarization. Also it is said that longitudinal waves cannot be polarized but transverse waves can be polarized. Are they true?
Sir,
It is said that it is possible to distinguish between transverse and longitudinal waves by studying the property of polarization. Also it is said that longitudinal waves cannot be polarized but transverse waves can be polarized. Are they true?
Well you can expect this. Longitudinal waves are pairs of simultaneous compressions and rarefactions , which propogate due to the inertia of surroundings , thats why they need environment to propogate and transverse waves are not single-planar , they consist of two field components prependicular to each pther , so polarising them means making the wave vibrate in single plane...so obvious answer becomes transverse waves. | {
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Citroen have launched a new campaign for the DS4 called “DS4 Seekers” which is basically a huge game of hide and seek with virtual cars in the real world via mobile phones or online via Facebook.
Each day players are given a virtual DS4 to hide on the real streets around them, and for every DS4 found (or hidden), they’ll get an entry into the draw to score a brand new Citroen DS4. But if you can’t get out and about to participate, you can play online via a custom Google Street View mashup.
It’s a neat concept that reminds me of the famous MINI Getaway campaign, but this is both different and unique in its own right, so it will be interesting to see how much traction it gets… The campaign runs until the end of the week, so if you are in London, check it out. Created by OMD UK.
Thanks for sending through Jonathan! So what do you guys think?
[...] the end of the game. The Facebook version of the game features a Google Maps Mash up I spotted this over here and am looking forward to seeing how this all pans out. I’m sure there will be a slick case [...]
I’ve downloaded and played with this. Bit disappointed as I thought it would entail finding and placing Augmented Reality DS4s using my phone, as the videos tease at. Instead it’s just finding and placing pins on a map. | {
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Danger:Seed is poisonous if ingestedParts of plant are poisonous if ingestedAll parts of plant are poisonous if ingested
Bloom Color:Magenta (Pink-Purple)Fuchsia (Red-Purple)
Bloom Time:Blooms repeatedly
Foliage:Variegated
Other details:May be a noxious weed or invasiveThis plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birdsAverage Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwaterSelf-sows freely; deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season
Profile:
Gardeners' Notes:
"Asuka", a deep magenta Japanese Morning Glory, with blooms reaching a diameter of 5-6 inches across. This is one that was begining to bloom last year before the Armadillos succeded in digging it up. I got no seed from the vine and have replanted the few seed I had left this year and will hopefully have photos to add in due time. | {
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A South African in London
1 Oct - We have just received the following update to the article below, first published a couple of years ago:
Green & Blue are delighted to announce that Thandisiwe (Tyson) Meyi, the inaugural winner of the Green & Blue Scholarship, will shortly be returning to London on a promotional trip for Spier Wines, the company he is now working for in South Africa.
Tyson's rapid progress from shop assistant to 'brand ambassador' for a top South African wine company is testament to his hard work in London and to the extensive training he received at Green & Blue. We are incredibly pleased for him.
Green & Blue continue to work on getting our next scholarship winner to London. A change in the visa laws, designed to protect UK jobs at a time of rising unemployment, is proving very challenging. However, we are determined to continue our scholarship programme because it is such an integral part of our ethical company philosophy and a concerted effort is being made to resolve the bureaucratic issues as soon as possible. We look forward to welcoming Unathia Stimele in the not too distant future.
For further information or it you would like to arrange interviews with Tyson while he is in London, please contact Kate Thal on [email protected] or 07740 705079.
One of the big problems facing South African wine (apart from vine viruses and antipathetic wine writers) is engendering wine culture and wine education in the previously disadvantaged majority of the population. The black economic empowerment enterprises such as Thandi and Ses'kifile all represent attempts to correct the imbalance on South African wine farms, but the country still suffers a serious lack of expertise in selling and serving wine.
Kate Thal, the South African-born owner of the South London wine bar and wine merchant Green & Blue, has instituted a scheme designed to help improve this situation. Thandisizwe Meyi, pictured here, is the winner of the inaugural Green & Blue sommelier scholarship who finally reached London last week from his home in a South African township, after protracted visa negotiations.
The idea is that he will spend a year learning about the world of fine wines. The scholarship comprises a return air ticket, master classes with top wine makers from around the world, Green & Blue's 13 week 'School of Wine' course, at least two trips to Europe's wine regions, tutored access to international trade tastings and a year's paid work at Green & Blue.
"We think that he is quite a star and the hope is that he will go on to have a very glittering wine career in South Africa," she says. "We also hope very much that he will be the first of many such stars, all from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, that we are able to bring over - eventually more than one a year when we have grown a bit bigger."
Thandisizwe, or 'Tyson' to his friends, is originally from the Eastern Cape and moved to Cape Town when he was 21. His first permanent job was stacking shelves at the Spier wine farm where his tasting talent was noticed and nurtured.In the blind tasting that was part of Green & Blue's scholarship selection process, Thandisizwe was the only one of the 12 candidates who correctly identified the type of grapes used in a French wine blend.
Before travelling to the northern hemisphere he is quoted as saying, "'I know I have to work hard to achieve my goal, so I will do my best to learn everything I am supposed to learn. I am so excited about going to London because there are few chances to go there, especially for people like me."
According to Kate Thal, "cultivating homegrown talent is the essence of this project by instilling a passion for and knowledge of the world's wines in young, previously disadvantaged South Africans. The intention being that owners and managers of South African restaurants, tasting rooms and wine farms draw on these talents, skills and qualifications in the future." She has persuaded both Spier and the Western Cape's Department of Economic Development and Tourism to support this scheme.
Her plan is that Thandisizwe will be making monthly video diaries for www.greenandbluewines.com that will monitor his progress. Sounds as though this process could have made a proper reality tv show worth watching for once. | {
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Cucumber Mint and Lime Sorbet
It’s Secret Recipe Club day!! I’m really excited about this month’s recipe. I think we can all agree that August is kind of a farewell to summer. Yes, the days are still long and hot, but there’s a bit of change in the air. People start to transition out of summer mode and start gearing up for fall and all of the seriously fun things that come with it. I mean, fall pretty much has it all, right?
So, this month, when I was looking through my assigned blog, Dessert Before Dinner, I wanted to find a recipe that kind of fit that August mood of saying goodbye to summer. In my mind, nothing says summer quite like a cool, refreshing treat, so this Cucumber Mint and Lime Sorbet looked perfect! And you guys, it did NOT disappoint. This is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever made with my ice cream maker. It’s light, refreshing, and has just the perfect combination of flavors. You’ve got to make it before summer ends!
Also, before we get to the recipe, can we just talk about how perfect the blog name “Dessert Before Dinner” is? That’s a motto I can totally get behind. This blog is written by Stephanie, and I feel like we’re already internet friends because she has a cute little orange and white cat, just like TJ and I do. I can’t wait to make her Mini Corn Dogs (hello football snack!) and her Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce in the very near future.
PS – I cut the original recipe in half, because my grocery store was running low on mint (aka, I bought the very last of it), but you should totally make the full version, because it’s so delicious, and you’ll want to eat it every day.
14 Comments
So glad you liked this recipe! It’s one of my favorites in the summer too. Also, thanks for the reminder about my mini corndog recipe… I totally forgot about it and it will be great with football season coming up 🙂 | {
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We took the sunrise flight out of newark airport on people express airlines $38.00 round trip. and what a trip. when we reached cruising altitude the entire cabin filled wiyh that stinging aroma of the finest bud available promting the captain to get on the P.A. and request that smoking be "limited to cigarettes only".
Once in buffalo we were making our way to the statler hilton when we were approached by a local who asked us if we were going to see Jeffery Garcia. When we replied in the affirmative he suggested we head souf and be quick about it. Roger that. Not a nice chap at all.
So we made our way through what looked like armageddon to our hotel.
What a great show it was, one of the last "good ole" grateful dead shows in a sense. The road crew were late, the hockey game went into overtime and we got to watch the stage being assembled. well worth every minute. i obtained a soundboard decades later and confirmed what a smokin' show it truly was.
Back at the airport the next day we comandeered a vacant ticket counter and proceeded to access the computer and type out and post throughout the terminal the set list from the show to everyone's bewilderment.
Third show and first roadtrip - 8 hours north from Jersey. Remember older tourheads talking about scaling the side of the building for entry. Thinking, wow, these folks are really into it. Who'd have thunk that be me shortly thereafter. Shakedown began and a rush to the floor drew all security away from us and able to hop down and score a 6th row chair. Boy were those nosebleed seats steep. It was good to get down and start groovin.
You know your lucky when you look back over the years and realize you went to shows that everyone raves about stil to this day.Back before I knew how much these guys would play such a roll in my life. Young and full of energy.
My first show. I'd never experienced such a thing as that mass of incredible people and Those Drumz thundering that cavernous building apart. Many years passed before I heard a copy of this show or saw the setlist, but it made me immediately grateful that this was my first cannonball into the pool.
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When Lifehouse released their edgy debut No Name Face in 2000, their music was leaning more toward alternative and cool – because of the songs and the way they recorded them, but also because of how radio, to some degree, still drove record sales. But as bands like Lifehouse, Matchbox Twenty, and Third Eye Blind keep aging, their music tends to organically soften. And as it does, they start to mesh on radio with artists such as, say, Edwin McCain or Huey Lewis. And while we all do age, there is something inherently disappointing in watching a band like Lifehouse start to listen too much to producers and radio programmers instead of making the cool music that they used to. Still, these guys can write hit songs in their sleep, and on Smoke & Mirrors, their fifth studio effort, Lifehouse has delivered yet another batch of ear candy that will have little girls swooning. For the rest of us, it’s a nice album, but nothing we haven’t heard before, from Lifehouse or any other bands in their alt/pop genre.
Songs like the upbeat “All In” and “Had Enough” are formulaic, but there are also some nice surprises. The first one is “Nerve Damage,” which is an edgy rocker that even has a bluesy guitar solo that is (gasp) almost 30 seconds long. Then there’s the best track of all, “From Where You Are,” a stunning acoustic ballad that shows singer Jason Wade hasn’t lost a single strand of vocal cord over the past decade. Someday Lifehouse may go back to having creative control. But even so, their music doesn’t exactly suck, and you can’t blame them for chasing a big paycheck. (Geffen 2010) | {
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Hi, and thank you for inquiring about this AWESOME concert/festival . Putting my dream together doing something that I love to do and making it happen for artists/bands to get out there on HUGE stages in front of tons of fans and do what they do best and get paid! We are working currently on getting sponsors/investors and already have put in for a couple of concert venues in Lubbock Texas to kick off this Country meets Rock Concert/Festivals. This will go in all 50 states and we will be adding more information as we go along. We are looking to start this back up in Fall. To keep up with us as we go along, keep watching our facebook page for more information at https://www.facebook.com/countrymeetsrock/?fref=ts and https://www.facebook.com/charlieanne.harper.. If you are interested , please send all band info, name, phone number, and EPK, links etc to [email protected]. or [email protected].
We look forward in having you be a HUGE part of this Concert/Festival. Also, if you can't make one festival , we will have many and these are 3 day events (Friday/Saturday/Sunday). May be two days on some Event 1 day Mini fest. Sincerely, /Charlie Anne | {
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Breakdown of top Wide Receiver Prospects
I found his first article a few weeks back but wanted to wait for his second to be posted before i posted them here. His first was "Tier 1" and his 2nd was "Tier 2". You can tell by the graphs that they come from separate articles and the first graph is his tier 1 and the second is his tier 2. I combined the Information so that i wouldnt have to make multiple threads(though would have been easier).
I know stats can be deceiving, and if the wr's were in different systems and with different qb's and different coaches, things could be a lot different. But regardless, i think this was some great work and a great breakdown on the wide receivers.
Where Are They Catching the Ball?This represents what zones they caught the ball in, before yards after the catch. Unfortunately, I don’t have the exact routes or what side of the field they caught it on. That will have to wait until the next iteration of this.
Keenan Allen lives on the short passes. 63.3% of Allen’s passes were caught within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Only 3.33% of his passes were past 20 yards. A low for all WRs I looked at. This may not be a bad thing if his yards after the catch are good.
Stedman Bailey’s game consisted of a lot of screens. Unlike Keenan Allen though, we see a much more distributed catching range. 18% of his passes were caught in the 11-20 yard range with 10.5% deep catches.
Surprisingly,Hopkins was a major deep threat. This surprised me because I thought of Hopkins as a guy who ran a lot of curls and mid-range outside routes. We see that 70% of his catches were past 6 yards. The highest in the major WRs for this class, excepting Terrance Williams
Patterson’s numbers are just interesting. We don’t see many passes caught past 20 yards, but 33% of his passes were caught in the 11-20 yard range. It’s like he decided to ignore catching the ball in the screen and 20+ yard game and just catch intermediate passes.
Terrance Williams is the ultimate deep threat of this class. Around 39% of his catches were past 10 yards and over 79% of his passes were past 5 yards. Of course this shows up on tape, but it’s good to confirm it. We then have to wonder if he can translate that deep threat to the NFL or if he’ll get jammed at the line of scrimmage.
Wheaton is another deep threat in this class. He’s of a completely different build than Williams, but 41% of his passes were past 10 yards. Interestingly, 55% of his passes were within 5 yards. Most of the time he was catching short or deep passes, nothing in the middle.
Quinton Patton is well distributed across all zones. He doesn’t show a tendency to get past 20 yards, but there’s no zone in which he is simply not catching the ball. That tells us he’s a pretty versatile wide receiver who wasn’t pigeon holed in the offense.
Hunter seems to work the intermediate zones the most. We don’t see a whole lot of completions in the screen or deep game, but the majority (78%) of his completions coming between 1 and 20 yards. Only8.3% of Patterson’s catches were screens, so the screen game wasn’t a big part of the Tennessee offense, for whatever reason.
What’s Happening After the Catch?This chart represents the yards from the LOS that they caught the ball before YAC and then the yardage after the catch in the second bar.
DeAndre Hopkins shows us how much deeper he caught the ball than the others. On average he caught the ball 12 yards from the LOS, before YAC.
Stedman Bailey’s yards after the catch is great. In this class, most WRs YAC hovers around 5.3-5.5 yards. Bailey’s is the highest at 6.24. Even though 33% of his catches were screens, having good yard after the catch skills makes it worthwhile.
Allen’s numbers are not so superb. On average he caught the ball 4.57 yards from the LOS. This is 3 yards lower than the next wide receiver (Quinton Patton). Plus his yards after the catch is simply average
Averaging around 19 yards per catch, Williams got most of his yardage before YAC. His yards after the catch are average at 5.2, but he caught the ball on average 14 yards past the line of scrimmage. That’s extremely high, the highest of this class by 3 yards
Quinton Patton is excellent after the catch. At 6.15 yards after the catch, Patton’s YAC is second best in this class behind Stedman Bailey. He also averages 6.3 yards/ screen catch. The fact that these numbers are close indicate he’s adept at getting similar amount of yardage on all types of catches.
Markus Wheaton’s yards after catch is a paltry 3.48. This is a little scary, this is more than two yards below the average for all wide receivers in this class. Why is it so low? Did he fall down as soon as he caught the ball? Did his size limit him from garnering more yards? It’s possible the sub-par QB rotation at Oregon State limited him.
Justin Hunter is still running backwards trying to get more yards after the catch. Hunter owns the second worst yards after the catch in this class. However, he was catching the ball relatively deep at 9.2 yards. Your evaluation is going to depend on if you value a deeper catcher or someone with better YAC.
How Did Their Systems Help/Hurt Them?
This one is going to require a little explaining. I didn’t just chart their catches, I charted every pass thrown to each wide receiver. In that, I was able to derive how often a QB targets his number one wide receiver and how often QBs miss their wide receiver. Thus I averaged out the percentage of targets, miss percentage, and average amount of throws per game, to give each WR the same amount of targets. Then I adjusted to see how their season numbers would have been, had they been in an average system
Patterson is helped by this the most, by far. First off, Tyler Bray was just bad in terms of missing his wide receivers. However, Patterson was also targeted far less than a normal number 1. Had he been targeted at the same rate, he would have gained 549 yards, for a season total of 1327 yards. There were certainly be no questions about his production with those numbers.
Bailey incidentally is hurt by this. This of course is due to the high powered passing offense of West Virginia. I don’t think this drops Bailey’s value at all, because he’d still have 1378 yards, but it shows you the influence of WV’s offense.
Hopkins numbers would be obscene with more targets. He’s looking at north of 1600 yards with more targets, this of course is due to his high average catch distance.
Tyler Bray didn’t do Justin Hunter many favors. While Hunter was targeted often enough, Bray missed him extremely often, taking away some yardage he may have gained.
Patton’s case is similar to Stedman Bailey’s. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that they played in a pass happy offense, especially because his overall production was still very high at 1281 yards. Had it dropped down to a “non-elite” level, then we would be more concerned.
Wheaton and Williams’ QBs were about average in terms of misses and targets. This doesn’t mean their QBs were good, but rather compared to the QBs in this system, they were average. I don’t think many people would call Sean Mannion a world beater. The new system will adjust for this better.
*One final note on all of this. I realize this is imperfect. Would Hopkins have been as much of a deep threat without Tajh Boyd? Thus if he had a different QB, would he have caught as many deep passes with more targets? Possibly. I’m trying to work on a way to solve this, but this is my first pass at the WRs.I didn't want to make it too long (people stop reading after 1000 words and multiple charts), so there is more data/ charts on the site, like red zone yardage, yardage by down, yardage by quarter and drop percentage. You can find that here:Tier 1 WRs: Allen, Patterson, Bailey and Hopkins, A Metrics Breakdown « Second Round Stats
**I’m going to try out a new system to account for system, but to keep this post consistent with the previous post, I’ll keep the same system. I’ll do a separate post on that statistic.
I’m going to present a few more charts without comment. You’ll find average yardage/ screen, drop percentage, yardage by quarter, yardage by down, red zone yardage. I highly recommend you check out the first one, if you look at any.
**If you’ve liked this, you can follow me at Since I just started this up, I’m working to get the info out to people. I do work pretty much every day breaking down prospects and I’ll be tweeting out interesting stats that I come across (Nassib’s deep ball completion % is 62.5%), future articles/breakdowns (Dysert, Nassib, Manuel post upcoming), or let you know when I post new things (a specific post on Tavon Austin, for instance) . Thanks a lot!**Thanks to @CKParrot for inspiring this stat, it’s extremely interesting as a testament to each WRs ability to create on their own
*He only did these last charts in his "tier 2" post.
*If anything is out of order, its my fault from when i combined the two articles.
Hope you enjoyed the information as much as i did. Big props to NUGap for his time and effort. | {
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