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"these birches can be found in many places in Europe - the photos is from a short trip to Baden-Baden in 2007. the clouds in the background are the messengers of the storm Kyrill. here are some more moments of the trip: Baden-Baden. - “ast/ray” is a bilingual wordplay: “ast” means “twig” in German. and while “Baden-Baden” sounds like wordplay, too, it is the actual name of a rather well-know spa town that also dates back to Roman times. “Bad” is the German word for “bath”. Mirror effect turned out nice. I like"

"http://100parts.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/astray-baden-baden-day-31/"

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"Watch Survivor Redemption Island Season 22 Episode 11: A Mystery Package Online S22e11 Free Stream Megavideo Article by StreamThatSeries Horray!time for another dose of very exciting reality series with lots of twists.You must watch survivor redemption island season 22 episode 11 tonight with a title of “Mystery Package” coz surely this will stir things up on the merge tribe murlonio. But in case you will the episode on your television set at home , just follow through the link here to watch survivor redemption island season 22 episode 11 a mystery package online for free at anyhotstuff.com Here’s some sort or recaps and tidbits for last week’s episode: 5. Rice Capades – I don’t really know where to begin with talking about Phillip this week. I know that I certainly don’t want to use the c-word to describe Phillip’s behavior. However, through all of the histrionics in this episode, one thing is clear: You can no longer make the argument that Phillip is playing a game with any sort of strategy. Phillip told us last week that his intention was to get Boston Rob to want Phillip next to him at the end of the game. However, at this point Phillip is not showing any signs that winning this game is his objective at all. Phillip is certainly entitled to having an opinion and feeling the way he does but part of being a good Survivor player is occasionally hiding your feelings in the interests of winning the game. Phillip’s aggressive behavior has all but assured himself a zero percent chance at the million dollars. Even if Phillip makes it to the final three, he would need five votes to win the game. Considering that there will likely be five Zapatera tribe members on the jury, this incident is going to stick to Phillip like a certain color on rice. 4. The Great Divide – Besides for Phillip, I think the most unique thing about this season of Survivor is the lack of a merge. Oh, it technically happened, but this is the only season of Survivor I can remember where the merged tribe not only has a separate alliance but separate shelters and separate food rations too. Actually, this isn’t that uncommon, I know a lot of people in bad marriages who live the same way. The big question going forward will be how much will the Zapateras hold Boston Rob accountable for being shut out to this degree? Phillip has done a lot to take the heat off of Rob but don’t be surprised if at the end of the game, the Zapatera tribe continues to act as a group and completely vote together for whomever treated them best – which is why I maintain one of the three Ometepe women have a great shot to win this game. 3. Saving Sheppard – This season, I have spent much more time breaking down Boston Rob’s decisions in the game than any of the other players. In my opinion, Rob has far more control in this game than any other Survivor may have had at this point in history. Since Rob is controlling the vote, did Rob make the right move by keeping Phillip this week? On the one hand, he realizes that getting rid of Phillip would end a lot of the drama around camp and may even create some goodwill among the remaining Zapateras. Instead, Rob chose to keep Phillip around for another week and I agree with his decision. Phillip Sheppard is the best thing that happened to Boston Rob this season because Phillip’s distractions keep everybody from thinking about the game. When Phillip is going off about rice, feathers or kung fu, nobody is ever asking themselves about their position in the tribe or some big move they’re going to make – and that’s exactly how Boston Rob wants it to be. 2. Tribal Counseling – It was no surprise that the feud between Phillip and Steve spilled over in to this week’s tribal council. I thought that Jeff Probst showed why he is the best host on television by exploring both sides of the debate. What I still don’t understand is what happened to Phillip’s shirt? Has there ever been a Survivor contestant to attend tribal council topless before? Now with Julie gone the prospects seem pretty slim that Phillip will ever find his bathing suit. Phillip now can only hope to win a reward at some point to find the first clue to the hidden bathing suit. 1. Three’s Company – This week we had our first ever three-way duel on Redemption Island, which ended in Mike and Matt moving on and David getting eliminated. I think the top 2 people advancing at Redemption Island seems like it would help Matt in his quest to return to the game since it seems unlikely he would ever come in last (unless the duel involved having a strategy of some sort). Unfortunately, it looks like Redemption Island is starting to really take its toll on Matt. In Matt’s prayers he says that he doesn’t want to be on Survivor anymore but is simply carrying out God’s will. You would think that having an extra person on Redemption Island might help cheer Matt up a little bit, but apparently Mike Chisel isn’t that great of a roommate. What you waiting for, watch Survivor: Redemption Island season 22 Episode 11 a Mystery Package Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Year twenty-two Event 11: We all Can’t stand A lot of our Tribe is currently approaching globally regarding tv set landscape an important subject due to this usually are We all Dislike Much of our Tribe. So that it signifies usual account a single tribe has long been dislike other tribe the reason why? Inside the landscape with the Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Month or year twenty-two Show 11 On line aboard just what occur inside this landscape. He together with Kristina duel at Redemption Island. On the Ometepe campy, tribe unity commences to help you out unravel. Thus test in order to savor Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Length twenty-two Show 11 online. Survivor: Redemption Tropical area Period twenty-two Show 11:. Of which CBS Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle 22?11 show on tv alongside subject We all Can’t stand Many of our Tribe Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Season twenty-two Event 11: EVERY Puzzle Deal. This particular CBS Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle 22?11 show on tv combined with subject ANY Puzzle Package deal shown about Saturday, Annual percentage rates 29 2011 for 08: 00 EVENING HOURS. This can be a new conclusion regarding Survivor: Redemption Tropical isle Year or so twenty-two Event 11: VIRTUALLY ANY Puzzle Deal: About Redemption Tropical isle, He will be having a mechanical disappointment, one more castaway will be voted through your video game. Previous shows: Episode 10 “Rice Wars” Phillip and also Steve clash. Episode 9 “The Colleague System” Rob tries to be able to secure an Ometepe connections, but Grant may really do the one to jeopardize the item. Survivor is an American version of this Survivor reality television sport show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Journey Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. This series premiered on May perhaps 31, 2000 on CBS. It can be hosted by veteran television system personality, reporter and one-time performance show emcee Jeff Probst, who might be also an executive designer, and also executive that is caused by Mark Burnett and main creator Charlie Parsons. WATCH HERE : Watch Survivor: Redemption Island Season 22 Episode 11 The show maroons a small grouping strangers (as one or longer tribes) in a destitute locale, where they ought to provide food, water, open fire, and shelter for themselves, while competing in challenges to earn either a reward, or an immunity from expulsion from the game yearly of the successive votes for elimination. While a great deal rarer than elimination by vote, medical conditions, such as injury or infection, need eliminated several contestants. The last 2 or three survivors face a jury historically made from at least the final seven players voted shut off. That jury interrogates one last few, and then votes for those winner of the distinction of Sole Survivor in addition to a million dollar prize. The first U. S. season of Survivor followed identical general format as the particular Swedish series, but, subsequently, the show has introduced several twists over the core rules to keep the players on their toes and prevent players from influenced by strategies that succeeded with prior seasons. These alters have included tribal buttons, seasons starting with well over two tribes, the abil vity to exile a gamer from a tribe for a few days, and hidden immun ity idols that players are able to use to save themselves for tribal council. Season 22 It season’s cast features typically the return of Rob MICHAEL. and Russell. This is Russell’s third time for the show and Rob METERS. ‘s fourth. It is the very first time in the show’s hist ory that your cont estant has played several individual times. This per iod also feat ures two past NFL players (Grant and also Steve). CBS today annou nced 16 of 18 castaw ays who will compete against each additi onal on SURV IVOR: REDEMPTI ON TROPICAL ISLAND, when the Em my Award-win ning series returns as for the 22nd season, Wednesday, February. 16 (8: 00-9: 00 EVENING, ET/PT) on the CBS Video Network. Two of your 18 cas taways, to be reve aled later this 7-day period, are form er casta ways who will return to seek redemption. This edition of SURVI VOR will include a new twist when, for when, castaways who have been elimi nated th rough the ga me will have possibi lity to seek rede mption and re turn for the opport unity to win the mil lion mone tary prize. Each week at Tribal Coun cil beca use a cast away is vot ed from, they will be brou ght to an isola ted isl and gen erally known as “Rede mption Isla nd, ” where they ‘ll live alo ne in ex ile. To last on Redempt ion Isla nd, they must com pete in a duel about the next person elimin ated wit hin Tr ibal Cou ncil and pumped to the Island. The winner of each duel earns an appro priate to contin ue figh ting for ena ble you to retu rn to the game and the chance to compete for the subj ect of Sole Sur vivor; the part icular los er is sent hou se. The bat tle unfolds in Nica ragua where 18 casta ways will pos sibly be divi ded into two Trib es of nine: the Omet epe Tr ibe and then the Zapatera Tribe. The tr ibes are derived from indivi duals fro m all dif ferent bac kgrounds aid ed by the same ultimate goal: for being the Sole Survi vor. While 16 of yo ur cont estants are new to the competi tion, two are former castaways that will be gi ven an other opportu nity to com pete for the million dollar prize andf the other last shot at redem ption. About the Author Watch FULL EPISODE here for Free"

"http://100percentwinnersblog.com/watch-survivor-redemption-island-season-22-episode-11-a-mystery-package-online-s22e11-free-stream-megavideo/"

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"Pesky? this was a high school project for a president campaign in our government class, yes thats him, for a school project, you guys are crazy i know his dad from work. very cool and funny guy!!"

"http://101squadron.com/blog/2007/05/pesky-peculiarities-of-css.html/comment-page-1"

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"metalkingdom.net [ 80′s @ 8 Feature Video – Big City Nights [VIDEO] By Chris Chapman March 13, 2012 It's time to rock out to those talented Germans Rudolf and Klaus from the Scorpions! "Big City Nights" wasn't as big as "Rock You Like A Hurricane" or "Winds Of Change", but it still stands the test of time. Read More Category: 80's @ 8 Featured Video Tags: 80's, big city nights, love at first sting, Scorpions Send to a friend! Print this page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it! Reddit This!"

"http://1037theloon.com/tags/scorpions/"

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"Splice Review Black Ops Escalation Map Pack [VIDEO] Scream 4 Review-No Spoilers Best seem Thrashman’s Metal Pick Of The Week Nightmare On Elm Street [VIDEO] 2011 Dodge Charger Mr Skin’s Anatomy Awards "

"http://1063thebuzz.com/category/reviews/page/7/"

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"Billy Gibbons & Co., ‘Oh Well’ – Song Review Just days after the announcement of a new Fleetwood Mac tribute album, fans can hear the first offering. ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons fronts a group that slows down and swampifies the 1969 hit ‘Oh Well.’ No one will accuse Gibbons, Matt Sweeney and Blake Mills of being intimidated by the already bluesy rock song. Their version is an original, born from the mud of Mississippi Delta. This new power trio stretch a two or three minute cut (original version) to nearly five minutes of rootsy rambling with bare bones percussion and organ garnish. Gibbons is a burly behemoth on vocals, which don’t begin until almost 90 seconds into the song. ‘s ‘Oh Well’ was one from his Texas twosome’s catalog. Sweeney has another cut on ‘Just Tell Me That You Want Me,’ available Aug. 14. This song makes you want to hear it immediately. Listen to Billy Gibbons & Co., 'Oh Well' "

"http://1069therock.com/billy-gibbons-co-oh-well-song-review/"

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"‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ Review As far as sub-literate, incomprehensible pieces of garbage are concerned, ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D‘ is one of the year’s best. With an asinine plot, risible dialogue and atrocious acting, this sequel to a half-remembered video game adaptation still manages to provide a great number of base thrills with its nightmarish imagery. As such it is a quagmire of dread both within and without, disturbing to watch and to think about. This makes for a strange alchemy: in time you identify with the lead character (a young woman in peril) not because you are engaged with the film, but because enduring such an atrocity becomes its own act of survival. How ’bout that for a neat trick, eh? Which isn’t to say ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ isn’t gorgeous to look at. I have almost no recollection of the first film, other than a handful of striking images. That’s back again: the snow, walls of skin, faceless undead, buildings disintegrating into ash, contorted mannequins and an enormous bruiser with a metal pyramid over its head. Whether popping out of shadows for jump-scares or merely lined up in a tableaux, they are creepy and mysterious and get under your skin more so, frankly, than any other disturbing images in a mainstream horror film released this year. Even the “normal” scenes, the blue collar town and its mundane interiors, are saturated with bright, bold colors. There’s such a fine attention to the look (and sound, if your theater has nice speakers) it is shocking that the filmmakers would allow such truly wretched dialogue. It’s just a few scenes in, when Sean Bean is having some sort of flashback with the previous film’s Radha Mitchell, where the belly laughs come. The words trip from their mouths like when little kids pretend at acting in a classical play. But in time you’ll put together that our lead, young Adelaide Clemens (playing 17 but, no offense, she could pass for 32) [Ed. note: she's 22] must not ever, ever, ever go to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. This is made abundantly clear. Yet when strange creatures begin following her, such as twitching, skinned, faceless creatures and, worse, Martin Donovan in a ruffled raincoat, loose tie and dirty hat, it’s only a matter of time before she hits the road. Ostensibly she’s searching for her father (Bean) who is tied up in some ‘Flash Gordon’-ish chamber, but she’ll quickly discover that her visit will lead to an epic battle between good and evil, summoning a dormant spirit and…I dunno…there’s something to do with a giant coin that, when shoved into Malcolm McDowell’s chest does something to unleash….something. Even with Jon Snow from ‘Game of Thrones‘ hammering us with exposition in a really strange Canadian accent (though the film is set within a night’s drive of West Virginia,) I’m fairly certain that there is no one person out there that can explain the entirety of the baffling plot to ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.’ I’m sure the video game purists will delight in all the boxes that need to be ticked before elevating to the next level; the rest of us will just wonder where the hell they’re running now. The thing is that with better acting and a reevaluation of the script, you could almost take this movie seriously. Many of the scenes have a ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’ vibe, but whereas David Lynch will intentionally derail the narrative to evoke an uncomfortable response, ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ does it all au naturale. The overall disconnect (one minute an atmospheric ‘Carnival of Souls,’ the next minute unreleasable trash) is something that, I must confess, I enjoyed, but that is because I admire the occasional baffling moviegoing experience. Your mileage up this hill, as they say, may vary. ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ is now playing in theaters. Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com, Badass Digest and StarTrek.com."

"http://1075zoofm.com/silent-hill-revelation-3d-review/"

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"Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga + More Are Forbes’ Highest Paid Under 30 ? Swift nabbed the numero uno slot since she earned a whopping $57 mil between May of this and last year. She can be counted on to sell about four million copies of her albums, in an age when albums don’t sell four million copies. She makes a cool milli per show, and with a CoverGirl contract, she’s golden like her curls. Biebs, a Forbes cover boy, tallied $55 million receipts. He’s a venture capitalist in the digital realm. RiRi — a former CoverGirl herself — raked in $53 million. Album sales, tours and promo gigs, with the deep pocket likes Vita Coco and Nivea skincare, earned her this slot. Gaga fell from grace a bit. She plummeted to No. 4, after topping the list in 2011. She dropped from $90 million to $52 million. We know, $42 million seems like a big drop, but when the average Jane makes under $100,000, it’s hard to sympathize. The reason for the drop? Less touring in 2012, so expect an increase next year, since receipts from her Born This Way Ball, which is selling out, will count towards that list. Perry tallied $45 million from her music and touring. She won’t have to split it with ex-hubby Russell Brand, with whom she did not (!!!) have a pre-nup. That Russell is a stand up guy, and we’re not talking about his comedian gig. Top 10 Under 30: 1. Taylor Swift 2. Justin Bieber 3. Rihanna 4. Lady Gaga 5. Katy Perry 6. Adele 7. Kristen Stewart 8. Lil Wayne 9. Taylor Lautner 10. Robert Pattinson Next: See Justin Bieber's Celebrity Look-Alike Watch the B.o.B ‘Both of Us’ Video Feat. Taylor Swift"

"http://1079ishot.com/taylor-swift-justin-bieber-lady-gaga-forbes-highest-paid-under-30/"

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"All branches of the Imperial War Museum are commemorating the 70th anniversary of 1940 - the year which saw the introduction of rationing; Winston Churchill come to power; the evacuation of Dunkirk; the Battle of Britain; and the Blitz - with a range of special exhibitions, events and engaging online content. Whether you’d like to attend an air show at Imperial War Museum Duxford, want to review the new Explore History 1940 display at Imperial War Museum London, or are simply seeking background information on the momentous events of 1940, members of the press can find all relevant information on this page. Press releases For information on any of the 1940 anniversary events or exhibitions taking place at the Imperial War Museum, please refer to one of the press releases below: The Imperial War Museum Commemorates 1940, ‘Britain’s Finest Hour’ Imperial War Museum Duxford Commemorates the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Duxford in May: Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Saturday 15 May) and Spring Air Show (Sunday 16 May) A Snapshot of Life at Duxford: Duxford in the Battle of Britain Photography Exhibition Explore History at Imperial War Museum London, from 21 May 2010 1940s Activities at the Churchill War Rooms Images and Film A selection of high-resolution images, complete with captions and copyright information, is available to download from Pictures for Press. For broadcast-quality film, get in touch directly with one of the Museum’s press offices who can provide a selection of archive and contemporary content on DVD. Contacts If you can’t find what you’re looking for above, please contact one of the Museum’s press offices: Imperial War Museum London, Ellie Farrell: 020 7416 5497, [email protected] Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast, Nicola Osmond-Evans: 020 7416 5316, [email protected] Imperial War Museum Duxford, Esther Blaine: 01223 499 320, [email protected] Imperial War Museum North, Alex Knight: 0161 836 4040, [email protected]"

"http://1940.iwm.org.uk/?page_id=13"

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"Yep – It’s Another Do I Have To Dance All Night Post Sometime in the past 24 hours, the Heck Of A Guy-produced Do I Have To Dance All Night video1 passed 30,000 views (see above screenshot). (The Heck Of A Guy video of the 1980 version of Do I Have To Dance All Night has logged 9,663 views.) Cue the festivities: Woo Hoo After all, 30,000 views on YouTube, a site where videos displaying cats performing cuteness beneath misspelled captions ring up millions of views isn’t much to email home about. In fact, while an unbiased self-assessment may be intrinsically impossible, my best efforts in that spirit would hold that the personal significance of reaching this YouTube milestone breaks down to - Self-adulatory braggadocio – 20% - Rationalization for publishing yet another post about Do I Have To Dance All Night – 80% Indeed, spreading the awareness of Do I Have To Dance All Night, Leonard Cohen’s dandy, underappreciated song has become a moral imperative for this site. The title of the first Heck Of A Guy post featuring this song (on July 6th, 2006) is revelatory: Do I Have To Dance All Night – The Best Leonard Cohen Song You’ve (Probably) Never Heard, I could then legitimately report … even someone who was a Big Leonard Cohen Fan probably hadn’t heard Do I Have To Dance All Night,2AKA The Best Leonard Cohen Song You’ve (Probably) Never Heard, unless he or she were 1. A Big Leonard Cohen Fan who went to the right concerts in the late ’70s or 2. A Big Leonard Cohen Fan who bought his or her 45s in Central Europe or 3..2 Indeed, Do I Have To Dance All Night was and continues to be available only as a seven inch single that was originally recorded at a 1976 concert in Paris and pressed in Holland for sale in Central European countries.3 And, I have repeatedly pointed out that this is a great, altogether wonderful Leonard Cohen. Heck Of A Guy hosts items about the semi-funky 1976 version of the song with Laura Branigan and the 1980 more gypsy, less disco rendition, videos constructed for both of these versions (1976 Do I Have To Dance All Night Video and 1980 Do I Have To Dance All Night Video), a groom singing Do I Have To Dance All Night at his wedding reception, a Christmas download of a MP3 of the song, and 30+ more. So, 30,000 views of a song by a singer routinely said to have a cult following, a song that singer most recently performed over 30 years ago, a song that was only briefly released in 1976 as a 7 inch single in central Europe, a song that existed on the 2006 iteration of the internet in obscure bootlegs and as a single, hideously flawed MP3 in file-sharing systems … ain’t bad. The crusade continues. Leonard Cohen – Do I Have To Dance All Night (1976 version) - Do I Have To Dance All Night is also the 1st Heck Of A Guy video; there are currently more than 4o such videos dealing with Leonard Cohen. [↩] - According to the Wikipedia, “Cohen wanted to include “Misty Blue”/”Do I Have to Dance All Night” as a free bonus single with the [Recent Songs] LP, but Columbia, his record company, rejected the idea.” [↩] - Do I Have To Dance All Night is Side A on the single; Side B features “The Butcher,” which is available on the Songs From a Room album. [↩] I agree, it is an addictive song. Very sexy. I wonder if LC ever hums it to himself?"

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"Stay Curious Alpro We created the 'interactive' version (where YOU are the hero) of the TV spot Alpro has just launched in Europe. The result is this surprising video on Youtube, taking you through a city building up from nothing, chasing leaves symbol of curiosity in the Alpro 2012 campaign. The video has been completely done in 3D mixed with pieces of the TV SPOT and powered by Flash (yes!). So feed your curiosity, follow the leaves! "

"http://1md.be/works/alpro-soya-stay-curious"

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"I got off the plane, grabbed my bags, I saw she on the other side of the door waiting for me, my legs were shaking, my heart was beating fast, breathing breathlessly, I walked up to her, I dropped his bags and gave the best hug of my life for the most perfect girl I’ve ever seen. I felt floating in the clouds. Tomorrow I’ll be miles away but I’ll still be able to feel her in my arms. (via divine-infection)"

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"Call for Speakers! This is it! Finally we’re taking speaker proposals. If you think you should be on stage at WordCamp NYC, please copy and paste the following form into a comment and fill in each field. Feel free to suggest people as speakers that you’ve seen before or would like to see, and to reply to speaker proposals in the comments with feedback. We’re putting more emphasis on local speakers this year, so if you know some local WordPress rockstars in the NYC Metro area, send ‘em our way. Topics of interest: Using WordPress, developing for WordPress, themes, plugins, integration with other apps, cool WP case studies, BuddyPress, etc. Please post your proposal no later than Sunday, September 12. Hit the comments! Name: Proposed Topic: Description: What makes you the best person to talk about this: Public speaking experience: You live in: [enter city, state]"

"http://2010.nyc.wordcamp.org/2010/09/07/call-for-speakers/"

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"Wednesday, June 1, 2011 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST Chat Room + Call In YowRadio.com GUESTS: Richard St. Laurent and Producer Richard Shaw (pinlight.com) The Comet Elenin buzz on the Web today, all essentially boils down to one question. “Just what the heck are we looking at?” A good question as some believe [...] Entries from May 2011 Comet Elenin – The Woman and the Dragon May 29th, 2011 · Comments Off Apply here payday loans 100% secure Tags: 2012 Announcements · Brown Dwarfs · Earth Changes · Near Earth Objects · Planet X / Nibiru · Planet X Special Report · Pole Shift · Secular Prophecy Advanced Community Planning Series #4: Quick Setup 2012 Survival Domes – Michael Maxon and Linda Schiller-Hanna May 28th, 2011 · Comments Off Although most people in the mainstream are still reticent about making a serious commitment to surviving the difficult years ahead, the wealthy are not. This according to Daniel Dean CEO and chief engineer for Greenland Energy Dynamics, a highly successful alternative energy products company, based in Dallas, Texas. He’s seeing an explosive demand for subterranean [...] Tags: 2012 Announcements · 2012 Audio · Cut to the Chase Interviews · Podcasts"

"http://2012planetx.info/archives/date/2011/05"

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"The stock market is down Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.42%, the Nasdaq down 0.18% and the S&P 500 down 0.43%. Today’s winners include a pharmaceutical providing a positive update to one of its drug trials and a medical application manufacturer getting bought. Today’s only loser is a for-profit educator settling a case with Sallie Mae. Here are Monday’s market winners and loser. Biggest Winners Shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PPHM) are up 82.89% to $2.47 on trading volume of 29.0 million shares. The pharmaceutical company provided strong results of its review of a lung-cancer drug trial, as the company pointed out discrepancies were more limited than the company initially thought. The 52-week high is $5.50. Shares of Epocrates, Inc. (NASDAQ: EPOC) are up 21.58% to $11.70 on trading volume of 3.5 million shares. AthenaHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) will buy the firm for $11.75 per share, or about $292 million. The 52-week high is $11.97 Biggest Loser Shares of ITT Educational Services Inc. (NYSE: ESI) are down 15.76% to $16.25 on trading volume of 3.2 million shares. The for-profit educator will pay Sallie Mae $46 million to settle litigation involving student loans. Before Monday, the 52-week low was $16.37. Follow Samuel on Twitter: SWeigley Samuel Weigley"

"http://247wallst.com/2013/01/07/todays-market-winners-and-losers-92/"

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"Posts Tagged frequency »"

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"Autism Positivity Autism Positivity - Increasing Understanding - 88,815 hits - Recent Posts Archives text Meta The fabulous film Vectors of Autism will soon be available here! Tag Archives: advocacy Autism, Empathy, and The R Word I have to tell you that my son, H, loved watching a somewhat irritating internet show called ‘Fred’ – which I think is rather much of a sensation with the early teen or pre-adolescent set. Well – a while back … I am H…This is Autism Related Posts: • Nurturing Neurodiversity: I cannot stop the Sea • Adding the I to IEP: H is at the table _________________________________________________________ 30 Days of Autism is a project designed to promote social understanding and offer a glimpse into the perspectives of … Posted in acceptance, Autism, Autism Positivity, diversity, retro pop culture, self-advocacy, This is Autism Tagged acceptance, advocacy, Aspergers, Autism, self-advocacy, This is Autism 3 Comments MosaicYoda and Autistic Empowerment Autistic self-advocates have perspectives we need to understand Autistic self-advocates have perspectives we need to understand Sometimes the planets just seem to align… I won the cool program (Photo Mosaic) from Deanne Shoyer, who has a plethora of resources over … … "

"http://30daysofautism.wordpress.com/tag/advocacy/"

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"I’ve never seen Meatworks full before in the numerous times that I’ve passed by it. Was a bit skeptical about the food, but when I finally tried it out, I’m pleased to report that they do a pretty good steak! Service was also pretty decent, even though I’ve read several reviews that mention otherwise. The steak that I ordered was the Hanging Tender $26 and it lived up to its name. Every bite was really flavourful yet tender. The only thing I didn’t like was the herb butter which I chose. I think if given the choice again, I would go for the Cabernet Sauvignon Mushroom sauce. Come to think of it, it should have been common sense to order that sauce, but I was kind of hoping that the butter would be special too. But given that the steak is so heavy already, you don’t really want more fats via the butter. On the whole, still one of the best steaks I’ve had for this price range. The Partner had the Ribeye. He was looking for grassfed Ribeye, but the only grassfed option was for the Sirloin which he doesn’t like. still, it was a tasty Ribeye and I enjoyed stealing bits of it too. The steak fries were also very good, crispy just the way I like it. Definitely going to come back again to Meatworks. But a huge grouse is that they don’t serve alcohol! Something along the lines of them wanting to be Halal, so the waitress said. To intensify the pain, they haven’t actually removed the alcohol page from the menu!You have to go to the supermarket on the same floor to get the wine if you need some, and corkage is charged at $20 per bottle. Steak really tastes loads better when you have a glass of wine in hand. And for some reason, I really was hankering for a glass after all that energy spent on shopping earlier. We plodded through without the wine, but certainly for the next round, I will buy a bottle or sneak one in! MeatWorks ION Orchard 2 Orchard Turn #04-12 Singapore 238801 T +65 6634 0026 F +65 6634 8901 E [email protected]"

"http://365days2play.com/category/3-2-shopping-centres/orchard-ion-mall/"

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"Postcards from a Global Trekker: Cape Town, South Africa I had a belated birthday celebration this year, given that my 40th birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day, 2010. While my family did a wonderful job incorporating a mini-celebration for me amongst the usual Turkey Day festivities, I never really did acknowledge the day with very much fanfare. Then six months into my 40th year I found myself presented with the rare opportunity of mixing business with pleasure and a second chance at marking a milestone year with a monumental event. At the coaxing of a colleague and friend, I said yes to taking a trip to a place that (20 years in the making) has been on my dream list of places to see in the world. This October I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa for the 2011 World Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health and below are just a few snapshots of the wonderful experience I had both professionally and personally. Eleven days in total, half for the congress and half for exploring, the trip was both nothing and everything I could have imagined and more. The conference renewed in me my passion for medicine and reminded me of the importance and complications involved in addressing mental health issues on the larger world public health scale. And my time spent exploring the city of Cape Town and meeting its people was absolutely thrilling. Cape Town is blessed with the most stunning natural geologic beauty but its greatest treasures, in my humble opinion, are found amongst its people, especially its artists. I hope you enjoy below a small glimpse of my attempts at capturing the many beautiful experiences I was lucky enough have during my unforgettable adventure in South Africa. Reader Comments"

"http://3sistersvillage.com/blog/2011/11/9/postcards-from-a-global-trekker-cape-town-south-africa.html"

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"Rhonda D. McLaughlin vs Bank of America – Sandusky Woman Sues Bank of America Over “Robo-” Foreclosure Since we are on the subject of BOA today, here is another little gem… Sandusky woman sues bank over “robo-” foreclosure A Sandusky woman filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the foreclosure of her North Larchmont Drive home was spurred on by “robo-signing,” where bank employees signed affidavits without bothering to review documents. Rhonda D. McLaughlin filed her lawsuit against Bank of America, N.A., and Rhonda Weston, a vice president of Bank of America. Fannie Mae and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray also are named as defendants in the suit. Sandusky attorney Dan McGookey, a foreclosure specialist, is McLaughlin’s attorney. It may be the first lawsuit filed in the U.S. by a private citizen seeking to undo an already completed foreclosure on grounds that a robo-signer was used, McGookey said. McLaughlin lived at 1608 North Larchmont Drive in Sandusky when Bank of America foreclosed on the home in 2007. McLaughlin, still a Sandusky resident, lost the home when Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Roger Binette granted a motion for summary judgment in 2008. The summary judgment was based on an affidavit from Weston, who said McLaughlin was in default on her mortgage. Binette has been assigned McLaughlin’s new lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Weston was a “robo-signer” who didn’t actually review documents she referred to in her affidavit. The suit cites news stories that say robo-signers signed thousands of affidavits each month without reviewing the mortgage documents, while banks tried to rush through as many foreclosures as possible. The lawsuit refers to an Associated Press citing court depositions from a Florida attorney, who said employees at Bank of America and other banks commonly approved phony paperwork. “Until now, only a handful of depositions from robo-signers have come to light,” said the Oct. 12 news story. “But the sheer volume of the new depositions will make it more difficult for financial institutions to argue that robo-signing was an aberrant practice in a handful of rogue back offices.” McLaughlin’s lawsuit asks for Fannie Mae, now the owner of the North Larchmont Drive home, to give the home back to McLaughlin. It seeks $50,000 in damages and other costs and fees. You can check out the rest of the report here… And you can check out the complaint below… ~ 4closureFraud.org ~ Rhonda D. McLaughlin vs Bank of America I have an “Assignment” of the Security Deed only by MERS to BOA signed and dated May of 2008 and a letter from BOA in May of 2009 which states BOA was “seeking ownership but did not yet possess” an interest in the property and instructions to “get out of the house….” MERS recorded this “Assignment” of the Security Deed ONLY in Sept 2010 and BOA then performed a non judicial sale of the property in October 2010 based on MERS assignment—–not an assignment by the original lender American Home Mortgage. The President of BOA cannot produce the original note or an assignment of the note by the original lender and foreclosed and took possession of the property without EVER recording anything on the land records here Can you say: “Fraud?” The documents themselves do not “sync” and in GA MERS cannot be a trustee, mortgagee, or act independently of written instructions and said docs recorded….. I am pretty close to filing against BOA and MERS—-American Home Mortgage is defunct—so I don’t know who really owns my property, p note or security deed…. The courts have to rule on these things. Pissed Off European ‘Lynch Mob’ Is Coming After Bank Of America you just made me laugh… I have to read that WESTON could not have been a VP in 2007. I have a document that list ALL BAC “ROBO” SIGNORS on a interoffice memo ( or what looks to be ) whereby RHONDA WESTON WAS NOT certified VP by the CORPORATION until 8/7/2009. This document could be a get-out-of-jail free card for some people who falsified AFFIDAVITS! My comments are redacted, this case has that document for BofA ROBO’S. Observation…….how could WESTON have claimed VP before the designation was affirmed by corporate in 2008 over a year before? Why did attorney not provide a “CHAIN OF TITLE ” ? I think this one is in the Barn for Plaintiff! Good Luck! do you or anyone else have a copy of the paper that she was not certified as a vp. i would love a copy! thanks!! Good posts!!! This is Foreclosure Terrorism. It seems obvious that the judges are lining their pockets and looking the other way. How do you define treason? Well one way would be to say that anyone, any company, any court, any entity that willfully supports Fraud on a scale as massive as this which actually puts children in the streets is directly involved with these crimes against American Home Owners. I call that treason. Where is the FBI in all of this? They just now started making arrests in a handful of cases. But this has been going on for years. What happened to law in this country? It was bought and paid for by the Wall Street Banksters. Spineless politicians are also lining their pockets to look the other way. It is no coincidence that they can’t seem to find a law to stop any of this. It is not possible that they are that incompetent. There are obviously billions in bribes going to the useless bastards who get a nice house on the hill while putting children in the streets. Stop voting Republican or Democrat. They have demonstrated that they are equally involved. It’s time to clean house. We need Joe American in the White House. A child could run a better country and still have time to play in the sandbox after lunch. J Glenn Lowe – Die Banker Die – Agreed Glenn!! This is most certainly treason, and should come under the heading of “Crimes Against Humanity”. Neither republican nor democrat is innocent in this mess. This is very interesting. I’m guessing that she won’t be the last person to try this. And why shouldn’t she? If a bank did not have the proper paper work? If they forged documents? If these “Vice-Presidents” that are attesting to the authenticity of these documents are just poor, temp-employees that are signing because it’s either that or go broke and starve? If all of this “stuff” (that’s the polite word) the banks are using as proof, is all fales, then why should we or the banks just assume that they have the legal right to take anyone’s private property. I get so ANGRY! when I hear paid shills for the banks get on the radio or TV saying that we should just assume that the banks have a right even if they have been caught forging documents and lying to courts of law."

"http://4closurefraud.org/2010/10/25/sandusky-woman-sues-bank-of-america-over-robo-foreclosure/"

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">>IMAGE. The interaction designer plans for these moments. Part of their responsibility is to make all interactions positive, and includes aspects of the software, the copy-writing, the graphics, layout, flows, physical experiences. It’s a shame when one part of the experience is top notch and another is dreadful. Cohesion is important. User experience spans multiple practices. Let’s take an example from architecture. If an architect were hired by a deep-pocketed client to create a great user experience, they wouldn’t stop at the structure in which people live. They would pay attention to the surrounding greenery, the arc of the driveway, the views of the property at each angle…maybe even the way guests are greeted and the table is set. All of these touch-points are important parts of the larger system…the house is merely one piece of the puzzle. Web designers, traditionally secure in the role of page creators, now have a wider purview. The landscape on which people experience our design is wider than ever before. Thus, we must adapt our ways to include all aspects of experience."

"http://52weeksofux.com/post/322319598/what-makes-the-user-experience"

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"It just seemed so celebratory at first. After rain and a backlog of matches, the Sony Ericsson decided to pluck Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic from the main stage and instead put them on Court 2. Delighted fans cheered at their luck, convinced they were waiting for the conclusion of a doubles match involving Nuria Llagostera Vives. The players were jovial, too, laughing as they walked onto the tiny court; they almost looked like dolls too big for their playhouse. In the first set it seemed everyone was getting used to the surroundings, including the crowd. Clijsters fell hard early on and everyone screamed and then chuckled in embarrassment for the outburst. They gasped when Ivanovic hit a laser forehand and seemed concerned when Clijsters hit some of her signature splits. It was tennis’ version of keeping it real. The level was very high in the first set. Although not the most entertaining points, many rallies ended quickly with a winner and both women held serve throughout fairly easily. Clijsters knows how to win much better than Ivanovic these days and she closed out the set in a tiebreak. In the second with Ivanovic up 2-0, I thought about the difference between 3-0 and 2-1. Clijsters was broken in the first serving at 2-0 and it changed the set; Ivanovic held for 3-0 and pretty much rolled through the second. Funny thing about Clijsters: when she drops her level, she becomes an amateur. She lost her timing, seemed confused on the court, sprayed balls well out or mishit them so badly they landed at the service line on her side of the court. Ivanovic took the set 6-3. The third set was all about focus. Ivanovic had it; Clijsters didn’t. The result? A quick 5-1 lead for Ivanovic and 0-40 on Clijsters’ serve. Done, right? Wrong. Typically at this point you see kids with large balls making their way to the front of the court. It’s not really possible on Court 2 but we did get a rush of photographers who swooped in to catch match point. And the newest vulture out there, Cari Champion from Tennis Channel suddenly emerged, ready to do her on-court interview. But focus changed quickly. We’ve seen this before from both women and usually Kim wins them and Ana doesn’t. All I can say is: it went fast. Truthfully, although there was some nice play at times from both players, it wasn’t really a thrilling match until it became about nerves. Ivanovic couldn’t hit through five match points; Kim only needed one at 6-5 in the tiebreak to win it. Poor Ana. I thought parties were supposed to be fun?"

"http://72unforcederrorswp.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/clijsters-vs-ivanovic-want-to-know-what-happened/"

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"Get a trade-in offer for your vehicle. READY TO SCOOT!What's the dividing line between a scooter and a motorcycle? The all-new Honda Silver Wing erases all those old boundaries. You can tour on it. You can use it to run errands. It's as luxurious as a top-of-the-line limo and as athletic as you want it to be."

"http://7316.arrivesafeautos.com/web_display/view/9431868?ext=374"

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"9 tracks following a sort of hard-boiled noir feeling for me. Clearly, it illustrates that I enjoy brass sections. A sort of angst towards the end, maybe. This is music for a subdued, sophisticated night. Music from the Cowboy Bebop OST, Calexico, and Au Revoir Simone and others. Tag Cloud - soundtrack - ska - japanese - anime - indie - instrumental - ska punk - indie pop - alt-country - rock - composer - christian - blues - alternative - electronic - americana - synthpop - folk - jazz - punk - indie rock - christian ska - american - ska-punk - dream pop - hack sign - beautiful - punk rock - ambient - pop Thanks, I am glad you liked it! 2011-04-12 17:14:49 UTC"

"http://8tracks.com/lotninja/the-shadow-knows"

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"WARSAW (Reuters) - Hackers broke into the computer network of the Polish president's office and attempted to spread a computer virus in the form of an email attachment, the president's press office said on Thursday. Similar incidents have taken place at several other government offices this month, including the Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministries. The internal security agency ABW had placed strict limits on Internet access at Prime Minister Donald Tusk's office after the cyber attacks were first detected. The president's press office declined to discuss the details of the latest hacking incident, except to confirm it took place and an email with a "harmful contents" was being investigated. Niebezpiecznik, a website specializing in covering cyber security, aid it had been contacted by a hacker using the pseudonym Alladyn2 who claimed responsibility for the attacks on government networks. The person was quoted as saying they were only meant to test the government's ability to withstand them. The website included several screen shots of what it said were the contents of an email account of a high ranking official at the prime minister's office and a list of passwords used by its workers. The attacks follow similar incidents in the Czech Republic. (Reporting By Karolina Slowikowska and Dagmara Leszkowicz)"

"http://941theedge.com/news/articles/2013/mar/14/polish-presidents-computer-network-attacked-by-hackers/"

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"Professional/Career: Student Basic Interests: Earning Cash Prizes Relationship Status: In a Relationship Favorite Type of Music: The 80's, The 90's, Rock, Smooth Jazz Favorite Activities: Reading, TV watching, Spending time with family/kids, Computer activities, Going to movies, Fishing, Walking, Church/church activities, Listening to music, Socializing with friends/neighbors, Playing music, Hunting, Swimming, Camping, Playing cards, Hiking, Cooking, Animals/pets/dogs, Dancing, Sleeping"

"http://977music.com/users/cloudsword654/"

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"Faron Young to be Featured On Sunday’s Classic Country Spotlight Join us Sunday morning at 11 for the Country Classic Spotlight. In the spotlight this weekend: Faron Young, country singer and songwriter from the early 1950′s into the mid 1980′s. One of Faron’s biggest hits was “Hello Walls.” Written by Willie Nelson, it held the position of #1 for 9 weeks on the Country Charts 50 years ago in 1961. Hits like “You Ain’t lovin’ You Ain’t Living,” and “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young,” made him a honky tonk singer. Faron Young was one of country music’s most colorful stars. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in February 1932. He was discovered by Webb Pierce in 1951. He was known as “The Hillbilly Heartthrob” and was a staple at the Grand Ole Opry and various radio and television shows. During the 90′,s Young was stricken with emphysema. He became depressed by his poor health. He shot himself in December 1996 at age 64. Sunday October 9th we will remember Faron Young, his life and music on the Country Classic Show at 11 a.m. on the Country Classic Spotlight."

"http://98country.com/faron-young-to-be-featured-on-sundays-classic-country-spotlight/"

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"The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans has the honour to table its SECOND REPORT Your Committee, which was authorized by the Senate on Sunday, June 26, 2011 to examine and to report on issues relating to the federal government’s current and evolving policy framework for managing Canada’s fisheries and oceans, herewith tables its interim report entitled: Seeing the Light: Report on Staffed Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia. Respectfully submitted, FABIAN MANNING Chair of the Committee"

"http://[email protected]/Content/SEN/Committee/411/pofo/rep/rep02oct11-e.htm"

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"Housewares Wednesday: Cocoa-Latte Hot-Drink Maker Review & ContestFebruary 1, 2012 2 Comments ...Tags: Cocoa-Latte Hot-Drink Maker, Contests, ReviewsContests, Random Reviews, Uber Blogging"

"http://a-little-hope.com/blog/tag/contests/"

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"Glenn Beck is at it again with his strange Utopian dreams of "how America is supposed to be." Living in his own little fantasy world, he has let his naive fascination with Ayn Rand and his loose grasp on reality convince himself that he could start the country from scratch and make it work. Thus, we learned today of Glenn Beck's plan for Independence, America. Announced on his show and reported on by Mike Krumboltz of Yahoo News, "Beck-town USA" will be a self-sustaining community of real Americans, and I can only assume it will be located somewhere between Brigadoon and Shangri-La. This paradise will allow all the John Galts of America to escape the progressive hell they currently occupy, and it will also free them from the horrors of consumer culture. Apparently, Glenn Beck has some contempt for successful American corporations like The Gap and Ann Taylor, as he plans to ban them from his Eden, saying "if you want the Gap or Ann Taylor, go someplace else." Beck-ville is supposed to be self-sustaining - like the hippie communes of the 1960s - for it will also feature a ranch where people will "grow food" and "teach others" how to grow food. Hmmm. Sounds like Glenn Beck is going a little Mao Ze Dong on the country. Perhaps all Beck-ville-ites will smelt their own iron and sew their own cotton into their own clothes as well. These happy little "nationalists (?)" will be entertained, of course, by shows featuring Glenn Beck running the Beck media center. I'd imagine that HBO and ESPN and Hollywood films will be unavailable because they are all products of the commie elite in this country. Sounds like a great little paradise that Beck has plans for. Where it will be, I'm not sure. However, I'd bet the states of Mississippi or Alabama would love to be freed from the chains of all the federal aid they currently receive. Or perhaps Beck could just convince the state of Texas to secede with him. This isn't the first time that Glenn Beck has revealed a colossal misunderstanding of history and economics. Last time, he stole from Founding Father Thomas Paine and bastardized the classic tome Common Sense. Of course, I don't think Glenn Beck really has a plan for his utopia. However, he is all but too happy to sell a bunch of Republican conservatism to under-educated or ideologically naive people for a nice little profit. 1 comment: If you're interested in joining a real libertarian community with a proven track record, check out the Free State Project. freestateproject.org/fsn42"

"http://a-teachers-view.blogspot.com/2013/01/glenn-beck-plans-hippy-dippy-utopia.html"

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"Discover Your Blip. What do you want to watch? In the case of "Mr. Christie and his Wandering Aperture", Private Investigator B.J. Fletcher and her best friend George go undercover at Dominic Christie's photography studio. Once there, they set to work to uncover proof on Marilyn's cheating husband. Unfortunately for our intrepid investigator, things don't go quite according to plan. B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye is a wicked awesome web series centering on the investigatorial shenanigans of Private Investigator B.J. Fletcher and her best friend and assistant, Georgia Drew. In a rollercoaster ride of action, comedy and drama, the series follows our dynamic female duo as they take on everything from running surveillance, to going undercover, to foiling would-be saboteurs, all whilst grappling with their ever-evolving relationship. Will they? Won't they? The chemistry between the two characters is undeniable and presents an intriguing and complex relationship as it unfolds over the course of the series."

"http://a.blip.tv/bjfletcherprivateeye/b-j-fletcher-private-eye-episode-1-5-5993824"

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"Thanks to some christmas gift certificates, I bought Jakob Nielsen's book today, but I feel dirty for doing it. Nielsen's the kind of person you love to hate. I'll let you know how the book is when I finish reading it. Tonight, I'm heading over to The Jazz Bakery to see one of my favorites, Mose Allison."

"http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2000/02/thanks-to-some-christmas-gift.html"

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"lino cut plates Working on some new printing plates for clay impressions. There is a newish brad of lino available that is carving beautifully for this, along with my trusty handmade japanese tools this is a perfect combination. Katherine and I are very excited to see how our new range will be perceived. We are still in the initial stages at the moment but I can sense it will be great! lindenlia likes this ushumoradvice likes this today9201 likes this abbyseymour posted this"

"http://abbyseymour.tumblr.com/post/8946484328/lino-cut-plates"

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"Adalyn and mommy goofing around. She had so much fun making faces. After A went to bed, Cayden got some mommy snuggles. I love this baby boy. Last Monday night Adalyn was sitting on the counter making dinner with me as she does most nights. I took the skillet off of the flat top burner and turned my head for one second and she put her hand on the burner. It was horrible. I've never seen her in such pain. Her cry was horrible and I felt horrible. I called the Dr after hours and she didn't feel that we needed to go to the ER. We finally got A calmed down and she ate a little dinner. We had mini cupcakes in the house so we gave her one after dinner to help her feel better. I think it helped. What do you think? She decided eating her cupcake with no hands was better than eating it with one hand. (She did the same thing for her birthday cupcake.) Funny girl. She has big blisters the length of each finger still. Poor thing. She's so not a complainer tho. We went to the Dr the next day and she gave us a rx for burn cream and A lets us put it on her and has been good about keeping a sock over her hand to protect it. Sweet babies. I love these two and how much they love each other. On Sunday Adalyn went and found her sunglasses in the junk drawer and put them on her head to wear them around. I guess she's seen mommy do that. Jonathan and I couldn't believe how old she looked. Even her little pose in this picture... She's growing up! I always give Adalyn a "pony" on the top of her head. But I had never tried to give her a real pony tail with all of her hair. I put this in on Sunday and she loved it and showed me her pony and then would point to mine. This didn't help with how old she was looking that day!! We've had a bit of TV drama. VERY long story short, our old TV was an extremely good TV that we got an amazing deal on 3 years ago. For a few months it's been acting weird to the point that we have to unplug and replug it to get it to work. We had purchased the extended protection plan at Best Buy (usually a waste of money but we got our monies worth out of it!) and had it serviced 4 times without any good results so Best Buy put us in for a replacement. We took both kids to run into the store to pick out our new TV. It turned into multiple hours in the store. They delivered the TV the next weekend and from the moment it was on the wall we both absolutely hated it. I know it's petty because it was a 52 inch flat screen TV. We shouldn't complain about teeny tiny things like how crisp the picture, color and sound were, but we felt like we had given up our amazing old tv that we still loved for a piece of crap. We went back and did an exchange and waited till the next weekend for our new TV to be delivered yet again. We went back to our original brand (Samsung) and from the moment we plugged it in we loved it. We were back to the original quality of our old TV. (Guess that wasn't really a "long story short"...more like a "long story".) Adalyn was quite enthralled with the different TV's going on and off the wall and the Best Buy guys delivering the new TVs. She even tried to help her daddy hang the new TV so I had to get pictures. She was serious about it. My sweet smiley boy. He is an absolute joy. I love him so much! He has found his voice and his tongue. He's constantly talking and squawking and blowing raspberries now. I think he's trying to compete with his sister because he is LOUD! :) 6 comments: That pony tail is too cute and she does look grown up! I want our babies back! Hope A's hand heals soon! Yay for a new TV! Pictures are the best and that's really all that matters. I remember not having much time at all, but I do have a ton of pictures to look back on! :) I hope her burn is better.. that is so scary! K got burned on her bottom really, really bad when she was little all from going down a hot slide in her bathing suit. So just an FYI, always check slides in the summertime. I know after that everyone I know does, including K. Ack! I can't believe my baby girl is getting so old! The picture of her with her pony tail reminds me so much of Kennedy. Where did our baby girl go? Ok. I totally get the tv scenario.. my hubs feels the same way about picture quality, etc. So much so that it takes us months to decide on one! What is that double Sophie thing C is holding? Very interesting! He is flipping adorable and growing too fast. A is precious in her glasses and pony! Poor baby with that hand! Yay...I always love seeing your blog pop up on the reader! :) Thanks for the update. Glad all is going well. Poor A with her hand! I can't imagine the pain {both of you!} where in! :( I'm in lov with Adalyn's pony...precious! Her poor little hand - I imagine that was quite traumatic. Hope she is feeling much better! I love, love all the little faces - those will be so much fun to look at years from now. C is getting so big. I can't believe our babies are going to be 1/2 year old soon - how did that happen?"

"http://abbysugarandspice.blogspot.com/2013/01/playing-catch-up.html"

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"After the historic Navy SEAL raid that took out Osama bin Laden in early May, officials from the U.S. government shared an extraordinary amount of information about the top secret operation, including the revelation that the whole thing had actually been captured on video by cameras mounted on the SEALs' helmets. Several top U.S. officials said the video -- which reportedly contains the moment the al Qaeda leader was killed -- would not be made public, but a new report is calling into question whether the footage exists at all. The report, slated for publication this week by The New Yorker, says that no helmet-cams were involved in the operation. The New Yorker's report offers a detailed account of the raid, but admits that parts may be "imprecise" since it can only be recreated based on recollection. CBS News first reported the existence of the helmet-mounted cameras, and top U.S. officials confirmed to several news organizations, including ABC News, at the time that some of the SEALs had worn them. That information was based on initial reports received by officials in Washington, D.C. The New Yorker article does not cite any specific sources for its information on the helmet-cams, but bases other account details on U.S. officials involved in the operation. Spokesmen for the Department of Defense and U.S. Special Operations Command declined to comment for this report about the existence of the helmet-mounted cameras. "We have not released any information on that operation, nor will we," U.S. SOCOM public affairs officer Ken McGraw told ABC News. When a tense President Obama and national security team watched the operation unraveling from the White House's Situation Room -- a moment now immortalized in an iconic photograph -- it was reported they were not watching live feeds from any helmet-cams, but instead a feed from a drone buzzing thousands of feet above the SEALs' heads."

"http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-raid-navy-seal-helmet-cams/story?id=14205401"

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"'? Alexander's Siblings Emotional Plea to Arias Jury Lions, Tigers and Bears Living Together Pat Robertson: 'Males Have a Tendency to Wander' Aimee Copeland Gets Bionic Hands 60 Injured in Connecticut Train Collision Jesse Eisenberg Wants You To Know He's Smarter Than You Powerball Madness: More Than $600M Up for Grabs Police Look For New Clues After Doctor's Cyanide Death Pat Robertson: Divorce Wife With Alzheimer's Aimee Copeland's Comeback After Flesh-Eating Bacteria"

"http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/womens-year-makeup-documented-book-beauty-experiment-18179071"

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"'? Lions, Tigers and Bears Living Together Alexander's Siblings Emotional Plea to Arias Jury Aimee Copeland Gets Bionic Hands Pat Robertson: 'Males Have a Tendency to Wander' 60 Injured in Connecticut Train Collision Jesse Eisenberg Wants You To Know He's Smarter Than You Powerball Madness: More Than $600M Up for Grabs Police Look For New Clues After Doctor's Cyanide Death Aimee Copeland's Comeback After Flesh-Eating Bacteria Pat Robertson: Divorce Wife With Alzheimer's"

"http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/sally-field-journey-gidget-lincoln-18497175"

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"Did Boston Bomb Suspect Leave a Note? Instant Index: Soccer Star David Beckham Announces Retirement America Strong: Blind Pole Vaulter Soars Past The Odds Sole Survivors: Documentary Tracks Lone Survivors of Plane Crashes Invisible Phone Hackers Scamming Thousands on Long Distance Calls Obama Stands With Turkish Prime Minister on Syrian Violence President Obama Makes His Case Amid Minefield of Scandals Texas Twisters Devastate Towns, At Least Six Killed President Obama Announces IRS Chief's Resignation Obama Administration Releases Benghazi Emails Military Reacts to Sexual Assaults in Its Ranks Angelina Jolie Looks Ahead After Mastectomy Surgery"

"http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/war-afghanistan-worth-12354598"

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"Cal. FBI “We do consider him to be armed and dangerous because in a couple of roberries, he’s displayed a weapon an din other robberies, he’s simulated a weapon and made threatening statements to the teller,” said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth. “We want him off the streets sooner than later.” FBI investigators say that the thirtysomething this is the third time he has hit"

"http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/09/fbi-hunting-well-dressed-bandit/"

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"And I had Crazy Retired Man Auditing Classes ---- did I tell you the funny stories about him? remind me to tell you about his rant about aliens. No, I'm not kidding. But he was a sweetheart and as long as you could keep him on track he made a lot of good contributions to the class ---- well, he was taking a pottery class along with mine and he made me a mug! See? It is currently decorating my office, but I don't trust his glazing skills enough to actually use it. That's ok; it's pretty. And it makes me want to take cool pottery classes every time I look at it. This semester I have a different little sweetheart, who is out and proud and not only willing to step up and testify on that front but also bring up issues of race and social justice in the class, which is awesome. And he catches whatever little risque jokes or off-color puns I accidentally make but I don't feel like I'm about to get into trouble. A while back he asked me some questions after class --- those questions that don't really seem to have a point except for the subtext of "I like you!" --- And I have been there with that awkward I-don't-know-what-to-say-to-a-favorite-teacher-but-I-don't-want-the-class-to-be-over situation and totally love that. So the next day he dropped by my office hours with a big plastic shopping bag. "Dr. Cog, I just wanted to give this to you!" Awwwwww. So I opened it up, and found ... Hmm. On the one hand, I totally appreciate this. And I drank them, so it's not like I am worried he was poisoning me or anything. Every day I'd open one and go "sweet! I don't have to spend any money on my caffeine habit!" But I also, because I have to overthink everything, wonder if this is making some sort of comment on me, or on my caffeine habit or weight or something. But no! Stop this! Just drink your damn gifts and revel in the fact that you were offered them. If they start offering me whiskey to mix with it, that's when I know I have a problem. 4 comments: One former student gave me a big jug of homemade maple syrup. :) (Her family makes maple syrup, along with growing farm stuff.) WAY COOL! And soooo yummy! I'm still waiting for the Porsche and the diamonds. /nod This is all so so sweet. Well, except for the anaphylactic death part. Oh, just enjoy the goodies. My first - and certainly most memorable - was a bag of comfort food: mac & cheese, diet coke, cookies, candy bars - from a student in one of my very first classes. She brought it by when she found out I was prepping for my MA exams, along with best wishes from all the friends she'd met in that class. I've had the occasional student give me perfume or scented lotions, which have a less-dramatic version of the effect of coconut on you (headache, not anaphylactic shock), but nothing more interesting than that. I sort of like the idea that he actually observed your habits and came up with something that fit them (well, at least until he shows up on your doorstep at midnight one night, but that doesn't seem likely)."

"http://academiccog.blogspot.com/2012/03/looking-gift-horse-in-mouth.html"

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"Find answers to yourtechnical questions Ask questions to the HubSpot community Check out the upcoming training webinars and register to attend live. You'll get to ask questions and participate in the conversation. Lead nurturing is drip emailing that helps you automate the process of driving leads further along the buying cycle. Here are the top step-by-step tutorials that will show you how to set up Lead Nurturing Campaigns in HubSpot: These are the guides and worksheets created by HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Consultants, and sent to their customers to help them with their lead nurturing strategy. Now you have access to all of them in one place! 1. 6 Step Guide to Lead Nurturing 2. Lead Nurturing Workbook Now that you've learned the basics, it's time to learn how to use lead nurturing as part of your inbound marketing strategy. You can go in order and watch everything, or browse through and find the topics most interesting to you. Lead Nurturing 3 Webinars | Nov 2012 Learn the best practices of building a lead nurturing campaign, and how to plan get your leads all the way through your sales cycle. If you still need inspiration, here are some of the best examples of your fellow HubSpot customers running lead nurturing campaigns. ProofreadNOW Zinzinya Web Solutions Now you're ready to learn more advanced lead nurturing strategies. The next section includes the top articles for each strategy, so you don't need to spend your time digging around our site to find them! Choose a topic and get started. © 2013 HubSpot Learning Center"

"http://academy.hubspot.com/lead-nurturing/"

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"The End. It's time for Accompl.sh to move on to the great big server in the sky. As of March 4, 2013, Accompl.sh is officially closed. The decision wasn't easy - I spent many hours debating over whether it would be better to just let the site linger with no updates, but in the end I've decided that the best route forward is to shut it down. It would be unfair to promise a great experience to you and not actually provide one. I tried to keep the service running as smoothly as possible even in my absense, but without the proper attention and updates, it became clear that the community was suffering. I'm still exploring options for Accompl.sh's future - finding the right home for it, perhaps as an open-sourced project or maybe there's someone out there who wants to take it over and bring it to its full potential. Meanwhile, Accompl.sh will be taking a much-deserved nap. Your goals are yours. If you'd like a copy of your goals they will be available for 30 days. Please email [email protected] from the email associated with your account to request your list. After those 30 days, if Accompl.sh hasn't found a new home, all data will be deleted and irretrievable. There's more info on the blog. If you know of anyone interested in taking over the development of the site or have any other suggestions for its future, please get in touch. I hope you've enjoyed these last few years of Accompl.sh as much as I have! Just because the site is gone doesn't mean you can't continue to achieve your dreams! Until next time, Jenn"

"http://accompl.sh/login?done=%2FDinahsaur%2Fgoal%2F146276"

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"Making noise in the land of well produced internet shorts is the acclaimed comedy film series PERIODS., a collection of improv comedy bits primarily based on different eras in human history created and directed by Victor Quinaz. With a special (and hilarious) guest appearance by White Collar’s Willie Garson, their latest short, awesomely entitled FOPS, represents the best three and a half minutes this gang of hooligans has come up with yet – just in time for Bastille Day this weekend. Keep reading if you like delicious cakes … FOPS is obviously a sendup of COPS. Only this time the chase involves a couple of gungho peasants (Matt Hobby and Philip Quinaz) hunting down decadent cake and candy inhaling richies armed with nothing but some of that homemade piss and vinegar spray everybody was carrying around back in the days of the French Revolution. There’s even a snitching hillbilly fop (Brian Shoaf) who gladly gives up the head cake-eater (Garson) hiding out in the woodlands . WATCH FOPS below and take a gander at Garson’s scene-stealing turn as the strung out King getting caught with icing on his lip. The PERIODS. crew has been doing it and doing it well for a while now, starting with the almost instantly viral PILGRIMS. The series is co-created by Quinaz’s wife Anna Martemucci and usually stars his brother Philip Quinaz, both from whom a large portion of the hilarity originates. Featured in the The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Film Independent, and on Funny or Die, they have quickly become known for taking on serious subjects such as the rich and their problem with cake abuse, Ponce de Leon, pillaging and raping, religion and lesbians, and the classic film Deer Hunter (we feel that NAM is the golden sleeper egg of the entire series). Shot in the style of a reality show with a historical twist, this is done with the kind of deceptively intelligent, slow burning improvised humor that will still resonate a week later when you remember the image of Philip Quinaz stroking his own nipples in the midst of foliage. If you don’t believe us check out Adam’s (of Adam and Eve) apple ball-gag in RE: CREATION. (The wigs in that are amazing, by the way.) While you’re doing that see what his homey God has to say about … whatever. Always these shorts are released with some timely relevance. Like with FOPS and Bastille Day. While we’re pretty sure only the French care about this upcoming day (or even know what it is, really) we still have to give the PERIODS. crew props for their ingenious ploy for attention. Actor Zachary Quinto might have something to do with all the buzz as well. His name is attached to the series as occasional co-star and regular producer with his company Before The Door Pictures in association with Robinson Film, Inc., and Nomadic Films. There are big things on the horizons for these guys, including a feature film produced by Anonymous Content and Before The Door Pictures that is due out sometime this fall. Quinto will also be in attendance to introduce the PERIODS. short series with Quinaz and Martemucci at the Hollyshorts Film Festival on August 9th. In the meantime, ‘God’ commands you to go watch all the shorts and subscribe to the PERIODS. Films channel on Youtube for more tomfoolery involving fabulous wigs and costumes with just a skotch of controversy thrown in. All the jokes about a woman’s time of the month aside, we dig the pantaloons out of it. Period."

"http://acedmagazine.com/willie-garson-eats-cake-in-periods-films-latest-short-fops/"

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"Hmmm… It seems I should re-name heirloom·modern. Maybe, Heirloom Tomato Modern? Of the now five entries in this occasional editorial feature, three are for tomato soup. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps in the past tomato soups were more flexible, more interesting, more varied. Or, maybe I just really like tomato soup! heirloom·modern: Eldress Hall’s 1907 Shaker Tomato Bisque What was the occasion that called for yet another tomato soup? I had just pulled “the best thing ever to come out of my kitchen” from the oven, and while it was cooling I realised I needed a simple foil for this “best thing.” I didn’t feel like running to the market, my brain felt wibbly from hunger and exertion, I wanted something quick and easy. I poked my head in the fridge. Aha! A carton of Pomis! I poked my nose in The Best Of Shaker Cooking. Aha! A simple tomato bisque! (The Shakers are so reliable for simple, quick recipes). Et voila! Dinner was decided. There are three recipes for tomato soup in this amazing book, but this one from Frances Hall intrigued me with its inclusion of baking soda. Although she is not noted as being a member of the faithful at Hancock Village, this reference leads me to believe that Frances Hall was actually the last eldress of this beautiful village that is now a working museum (and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area, A. because it didn’t bore me as a 7th grader on a field trip and B. There’s an amazing restaurant there). And what of the baking soda? As near as I can figure it added a delicate lightness to this soup which would be very, very necessary if you followed the original recipe which calls for 1 quart of milk (most likely whole and with cream back then) and 1/2 cup of heavy cream! I did not follow those measurements and, after tasting the soup sans dairy and realising it tasted just like Campbell’s, embarked on some very necessary modernising. I cut down on the dairy, added some garlic and tossed in some slightly spicy, seductively smoky Spanish pimenton de la vera. The pepper added such a lovely, almost bacon-y flavor. Utterly delicious! And what is “the best thing ever to come out of my kitchen?” You’ll just have to stay tuned til tomorrow (or snoop around on my flickr page, should be pretty obvious from there). Head below the jump for my adaptation of Eldress Hall’s Tomato Bisque. heirloom·modern: Eldress Hall’s 1907 Shaker Tomato Bisque prep time: 5 minutes ~ cooking time: 20 minutes - 1 tsp Butter - 1 tsp Flour - 3 cups Tomato Puree - heaping 1/4 tsp Baking Soda (the recipe called for 1/3 tsp, but I don’t have one of those, so I just used a heaping 1/4 tsp) - 2 tsps Salt - 1 tsp Sugar - Lemon Juice - 2 cloves Garlic, minced - 1/2 tsp (or to taste) Pimenton de la Vera - 2 cups Milk Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. Add the flour and cook gently for 2 minutes or until the flour is cooked. Add the tomato puree. Stir to incorporate. Add the salt, sugar and baking soda. Stir to incorporate. Simmer 5 minutes. Taste. Adjust seasoning. Add a dash of lemon juice if the soup is too sweet. Add the minced garlic and Pimenton. Stir to incorporate. Allow the soup to cook another 10 minutes. In another small pan heat the milk. Do not allow it to boil. When the milk is just warm add it to the tomato mixture, stir to incorporate and serve immediately, piping hot, preferably with some freshly made buttered bread. And don’t forget to Shaker your plate! (Not that I have any fear you won’t!) I´m just about to make some tomato soup. Different version, but I´ll use your tip about the milk. Thanks. great recipe! I’ve been looking for a simple tomato soup that’s a bit interesting and this appears to be both those things. Many thanks! I love the way this soup looks–the beautiful red color has my mouth watering. I’ll bet this would be good made with goats’ milk! I’m guessing the baking soda is added to balance the pH and keep the milk from curdling. I have a yummy tomato soup recipe of my mom’s that includes it as well. Any chance I could see the original recipe as it was? Riatta — You can buy the book here for as little as $1 here, or you can check it out from your local library. I am not comfortable publishing other people’s copyrighted material on my site. Thanks Ann for the link. I’ve ordered the book. Can’t wait to see how you tweaked the recipe. I’m always a little afraid to eperiment. Oh good Riatta! I hope you love it. There’s so many great recipes in there."

"http://achickenineverygrannycart.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/shaker-tomato-bisque/"

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"- Translate "Who watches over you" from English to Portuguese created Jul 29 at 20:21 ForgingIron2232 « Previous SegmentBlue canary in the outlet by the lightsw...Next Segment » Blue canary in the outlet by the lightswitch Who watches over you Make a little birdhouse in your soul Supporting Segments 3 Translations created Jul 29 at 20:43 RKAT47291 Votes: -1 Quem Voce sigue! created Jul 29 at 20:43 QFred1141 Votes: 2 Que olha por ti created Aug 6 at 20:45 nfragnul261 Votes: 0 Quem protege você."

"http://ackuna.com/translate/5015d39959d343ed43000008/english/to-portuguese/who-watches-over-you"

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"Turning the Research Lens on Ourselves I’m working on a research project again this year exploring the scholarly habits of undergraduate students at my university. One of the methods we’re using to collect data is a mapping diary. We ask students to record all of their movements through the course of one typical school day–time, location and activity–and draw a map to accompany their time logs. Last year’s responses from students at my own campus were fascinating, and I’m looking forward to interviewing this semester’s students when they finish their logs. Many of last year’s participants told me that they really enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on what they do and where they go all day. Now that the semester is firmly underway and things are busy as usual, I wonder whether it might be a good idea to do some research on myself. I’ve often wanted to join the Library Day in the Life project in the past, but it always seems to be scheduled for days that I’m either out on vacation or before the semester has begun (that is, not really a typical day for me). Maybe it’s time for me to pick a day (or week, or month) to record my activities? It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there’s not enough time for everything I want to do. Of course that’s true on one level, because no one can do everything, but I also think that we may be less busy than we realize. A post on Prof Hacker over the summer popped into my mind when I was considering this, a review of a book called 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think (168 is the number of hours in a week). The review isn’t completely positive, but does highlight the use of time logging to inject a dose of reality into how we perceive that we spend our time. Judging from my interviews with students last year, this kind of reflection can help with both time management and task prioritization. Though it sounds like more work to add a time log to my to-do list here in the thick of the semester, I think it’s worth a try. And maybe the next time the Library Day in the Life date rolls around I’ll be ready to participate, too. Posted: October 10, 2010 by Maura Smale in Just Thinking. Tags: diary, reflection, research, time log, time management Pingback from Weekly Link Roundup « Posted: October 14, 2010 at 11:04 pm [...] Turning the Research Lens on Ourselves, from ACRLog. [...]"

"http://acrlog.org/2010/10/10/turning-the-research-lens-on-ourselves/"

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"AdaCamp DC, the second conference for women in open technology and culture, wrapped up on Wednesday. About 100 people attended, who lived in at least 10 countries, including Japan, India, Myanmar, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US. Ages ranged from 18 years old to over 50. Their open tech/culture fields included Python workshops, soft circuits, fan fiction, Linux, open geographical information, open data, open courseware, and Wikipedia and related projects. Attendees were volunteers, professionals, students, hobbyists, and academics, and came from the government, large corporations, non-profits, volunteer communities, small businesses, and educational institutions. We’re very pleased with the diversity of our attendees. We ran over 65 sessions over 2 days. Session topics included Hands on Hacking, Geek Moms, Women Editing Wikipedia, Burnout and Lifehacking, Fandom, Feminism & Social Change, Soft Circuits, Job Seeker/We’re Hiring!, and Feminist Hackathons, to name just a few. In total, over 40 of the sessions were documented on PiratePad. The Impostor Syndrome session was so popular that it ran in at least three separate sessions. One attendee said, .” One of the most popular sessions was the Python Beginners Workshop in which several attendees learned to program for the first time. “It is hard to do workshops at un-conferences, but you can’t put a price on getting someone in front of a terminal and writing a new line of code. It’s empowering to enable the success of another human being,” said Connie Berardi. Leslie Birch said, “I’m leaving with new tools like IRC, bug trackers and mentor lists. I have a new found desire to reach out to other women that identify as ‘geek’, ‘feminist’ or both.” One popular feature of AdaCamp was the “Wall of Compliments.” The idea is to combat Impostor’s Syndrome and increase everyone’s enjoyment of the conference by writing compliments on sticky notes and adding them to a wall. Other attendees “take a compliment” and either keep them or give them to other people to wear on their badges. Finally, AdaCamp DC got a lot of compliments on the conference food. Rebecca Garcia tweets, “#AdaCampDC You are spoiling us! First Ethiopian food now Lebanese food? :) Best conference food ever.” Sisi Wei writes, “Ethiopian food for lunch? #adacampdc and @adainitiative are putting other conferences’s cuisines to shame.” Remember, bad conference food is a choice, not a requirement! Thank you to everyone who helped make AdaCamp DC a success, starting with our conference organizers, Caroline Simard, Deb Nicholson, Kellie Brownell, NoÃrÃn Shirley, Sarah Stierch, Katie Bechtold, and Denise Paolucci. Thanks especially to Sarah Stierch for organizing the conference dinners, writing a dining guide for DC, helping arrange photography, and spreading the word about AdaCamp DC and the various travel scholarships available to AdaCamp DC attendees. Selena Deckelmann also helped arrange photography, organized the sessions, and gave the organizers general assistance. Gayle Karen Young graciously offered to facilitate our feedback sessions and offered various organizational resources. Katie Bechtold was our eyes and hands on the ground in Washington, DC. We thank all of our day-of volunteers who ran registration and helped with setup and cleanup. Finally, we thank everyone who attended."

"http://adainitiative.org/2012/07/adacamp-dc-preliminary-report/"

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"Index back to New Zealand, New Zealand ... 'Janeway to Auckland Control, roger. Landing approach at one-three-one-mark seven.' 'Roger, Janeway,' the bright New Zealand voice on the other end of the channel replied. 'Enjoy your stay.' She set about the business of guiding her slim shuttle past the island's rugged mountains without dignifying the Kiwi's sarcasm with a reply. " [More in New Zealand, pg. 17-29, 35, 61, 66, 228.] 'Don't tell me you've actually read Nietzsche and Derrida. Or Aquinas, for that matter.' 'You don't have to eat the entire turd to know that it's not a crab cake.' 'You are an arrogant impossible boy.' " 'The Superman shouldn't care what the ondergeskik thinks of him, you mean? 'I teach you the Superman.' ' He shook his head and fell silent for several moments. 'Maybe,' he said at last, 'in terms of education, physical training, wealth, eugenics, perhaps soon even genetics--maybe by some standards we Draka have become Nietzsche's superman. We certainly like to flatter ourselves into thinking we have.' He shook his head. 'But one would think that a superman shouldn't have to fear. And we do. We fear everybody else on the planet.' 'With good reason,' the Archon said. 'Everybody else on the planet fears us. Hates us, too...' " Admiral Hans Laban Verwoerd lay sprawled in the center of Cornet castle's ancient courtyard. A heavy boot ground itself into his spine, pinning him to the rough stone flagging. Banners, printed with motivational slogans, hung limp in the dawn air. Verwoerd turned his head, scraping his cheek against the rough flagstones. I want gremlins around me, the nearest one read, for I am courageous. " [This quote is from Nietzsche. There are many quotes from and references to Nietzsche throughout story. It is the main religion/philosophy referred to in the story. Not all refs. in DB.] ' 'What is the best remedy? Victory!' Or 'I want gremlins around me, for I am courageous'?' 'Yes. What ever does that one mean?' 'What do Nietzsche's syphilitic rambling ever mean? 'Courage creates gremlins for itself' is the rest of that particular quotation.' He washed out his brush and dabbed a new color. 'Just be glad I'm not hanging those banners all over town the way Security wants me to. They're supposed to remind my troops they're Draka supermen.' He made a face. 'Are they? They don't act like it.' " He daubed his brush in a mixture of colors. 'There was a time in my life when I thought of little else but Nietzsche. I was a young man at the time; I'd spent my life in British boarding schools, thought of myself as British, but I was still Draka. I guess I was trying to discover who I was.' Sally rolled her head around, stretching her neck muscles. She resumed her pose. 'He's almost your state religion, isn't he?' Verwoerd snorted. 'The Draka worship nothing but themselves. 'Serfs look up because they wish to be exalted; the superman looks down because he already is exalted.' when you're the oppermans, it's rather had to admit some entity might be superior to yourself. That's why the attempt to revive the Norse mythology, Naldorssen and all that, failed so miserably. Probably also why religion has always fascinated me so.' " Verwoerd smiled weakly. 'Since when did you start reading Nietzsche?' he asked. 'Since you started hanging it up in the courtyards.' " [Other refs. not in DB include pg. 208-209, 218-221.] ...Verwoerd's voice was barely audible. Courage did create its own gremlins: the courage to hope. "; Pg. 214: "'Pity's the greatest danger, Hans. That's what Neechee says, an' it's true. Dangerous for them. Dangerous for us.' " 'There's no way you can escape, Hans. The courtyard is swarming with commandos.' 'Nietzsche was right all along,' Verwoerd said as if he hadn't heard her. 'Right about so many things. 'Once I thought of little else but Nietzsche'--would that I had ever been able to stop! 'Those three days I stared into the abyss--'thou heaven above me, thou pure, thou luminous heaven! Thou abyss of light!--and it stared back at me.' ...' 'And what have I hated more than passing clouds, and whatever tainteth thee? And mine own hatred have I even hated, because it tainted thee!' ' " [More.] 'Then I visited that accursed city [Salt Lake City], saw that same Will channeled into their [Mormons] morality, their serf dreams. To 'never never never' fall under the yoke, to be gods looking down in pity on mere superman. To will the absurd fantasies of religion into reality--entire nations that don't have to conquer or murder or . . .' He composed himself. 'I knew then my people [Draka] were too evil to let them continue to exist. I dedicated my life to destroying the Domination.' " 'You admire Neitzsche?' 'He was crazy. Let's just say I have less contempt for him, and for Desade, then I have for most intellectuals.' " [See also pg. 239.] --Friedrich Nietzsche " Nietzsche, continued"

"http://adherents.com/lit/Na/Na_356.html"

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"SARANAC LAKE - Historic Saranac Lake has announced the opening of a new exhibit on Saranac Lake history in the John Black Room of the Saranac Laboratory. The exhibit officially opens on Wednesday with an evening gathering open to all current members of Historic Saranac Lake. Six large panels in the John Black Room outline the development of the village, from its early days as a small logging town to its growth as a destination for outdoor recreation and a center for scientific research and patient care. The final panel explores the village's effort to find new life after the decline of the tuberculosis industry. Interspersed among the exhibit panels are historic photos on loan from the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. A jitney from Trudeau Sanitarium is parked in front of Leonard’s Department Store on Main Street at Broadway.(Photograph 83.801, courtesy of the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library) "Hundreds of visitors come here each year eager to learn more about the community," Historic Saranac Lake Executive Director Amy Catania said in a press release. "This new exhibit will orient visitors to our fascinating history and help them understand who we are today. They are beautiful panels that really bring to life our local history." Historic Saranac Lake plans to supplement the new panels with more artifacts and interpretation. The organization is raising funds to allow for the installation of case lighting and an expansion of this first phase of the exhibit. Five of the panels feature large historic photographs courtesy of the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. The final panel features a present day photo provided by Saranac Lake photographer Mark Kurtz. The planning and design of the exhibit was supported by a Museumwise Get Set grant and by grants from the New York Council for the Humanities. The exhibit script was written by Field Horne in consultation with local history experts and Christopher Clarke. Kevan Moss Design led the planning effort and the design of the John Black Room panels. The fabrication of the exhibit panels was supported by a donation from a friend of Historic Saranac Lake, Henry Parnass. The main laboratory space also features new interpretation for the summer season. Designer Karen Davidson created an exhibit panel interpreting the architecture of the Trudeau Sanatorium and another panel showing the human lungs that once lined the basement shelves. Visitors can tour a new "cure room" displaying artifacts such as a cure chair, medicines and medical devices that were a part of the patient experience. Founded in 1980, Historic Saranac Lake is an architectural preservation organization that captures and presents local history from its center at the Saranac Laboratory Museum. The museum is open year-round, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and also on Saturdays through Oct. 6. Admission is $5, and members and children are free. For more information visit or call 518-891-4606. 54 Broadway , Saranac Lake, NY 12983 | 518-891-2600 © 2013. All rights reserved.| Terms of Service and Privacy Policy"

"http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/531727/Saranac-Lake-history-exhibit-to-be-unveiled.html?nav=5008"

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"details: revision: 1955:daddd4cef7ac author: Zachary West <zacw at adiumx.com> date: Thu Apr 23 12:56:39 2009 -0400 Sparkle is not that important. diffstat: ChangeLogs/Changes.txt | 2 +- 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-) diffs (19 lines): diff -r 0ed90a175f06 -r daddd4cef7ac ChangeLogs/Changes.txt --- a/ChangeLogs/Changes.txt Thu Apr 23 12:45:33 2009 -0400 +++ b/ChangeLogs/Changes.txt Thu Apr 23 12:56:39 2009 -0400 @@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ ----------------------- Version 1.4 (X/X/XXX) * Requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later -* Updated to Sparkle 1.5 * Added Twitter * Added IRC * Greatly improved group chats and group chat bookmarks @@ -142,6 +141,7 @@ * Fixed AppleScript erroring when creating a new status object. (#8863) * Greatly reduced memory usage when receiving lots of messages while Adium is not being interacted with * Idle contacts now resort immediately + * Updated to Sparkle 1.5 Version 1.3.3 (2/19/2009) * Major changes"

"http://adium.im/pipermail/commits_adium.im/2009-April/000004.html"

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"Davidson Realty Inc. has added new Realtor Lea Ann Wade to its team of real estate professionals. Originally from New Jersey, Wade moved her family, including three children, around the globe due to her Navy Officer husband’s 20-year career. Along the way, she’s held various positions, from volunteering to working on military contracts at DynCorp in Maryland to holding several corporate positions in the civilian sector. Now that her and her family have settled in St. Johns County, Wade looks forward to developing her new career in residential real estate. For more information about Davidson Realty, call 904-940-5000 or visit, Fan them on Facebook at, follow them on Twitter at or visit their videos on YouTube at."

"http://advantagebizmag.com/archives/13079"

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"Reserve Your Trip Welcome to our online reservation system. To submit a deposit for your tour, please ensure all fields in the below form and the subsequent Credit Card payment form are completed. Upon receiving your deposit we will send you a confirmation letter, current trip itinerary, visa information (if applicable), and a pre-departure booklet with clothing and useful items lists, suggested reading list, and general information needed to prepare for your trip. Your air tickets (if applicable), hotel list, and final trip details will be sent about 2 weeks prior to departure. If you have any questions or are having trouble with this form, please contact us by e-mail or phone and an agent will be happy to assist you. You can also download our PDF booking form that you can fax to us at +1 604-303-1076 Tour Information for Tour: HM7 "

"http://adventures-abroad.com/tour-book-now.php?tid=HM7"

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"Bailey Doesn't Bark Web Design: Lauren Hardage Web Development: Chris McFarlane Cart: Cartkeeper Blog: Wordpress Lauren designed this sparse site with tons of room for Re Jin's breathtaking photos. She even has videos of her products - talk about thorough! I wish I'd done it sooner! "It was an absolute pleasure working with Aeolidia. From design to programming, they nailed every single item on my 'must have' list - all within schedule. That's pretty impressive! Aeolidia's project management system was extraordinary. It was very easy to keep track of my tasks and deadlines. Detailed tutorials were provided and if I had any doubts, they were cleared quickly. Most importantly, I felt that the team was always 'there' for me. I am very happy to have worked with Aeolidia and wish I'd done it sooner! Thank you for making this an enjoyable experience. I love the new website!" Re Jin Lee "

"http://aeolidia.com/project.html?page=bailey"

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"Rookies… Coming to an NFL Franchise Near You. The NFL Draft is less than a week away and similarly the world’s finest delicacies, all of the prospects have been picked, prodded, interviewed, and overanalyzed as much as possible (yes, people talk to their food). But this draft presents can prove to be an opportunistic time for our Jaguars. Since the season ended we have heard all-knowing know-nothings say that the team will pick Justin Blackmon, Melvin Ingram, Quinton Coples or Michael Floyd. I however agree with those that feel the Jaguars will trade back and acquire more draft picks. As of right now the team does need to upgrade the defensive line and the wide receiver corps. Honestly, I have not been blown away by any particular wide receiver in this draft and think that equal value for that position (should the Jaguars choose to pull the trigger on a receiver) can be found later in the first round. That was my suggestion of Jacksonville thinking about Reuben Randle or Stephen Hill. So what would make me happy this draft? Us finding and coaxing this year’s version of the Atlanta Falcons to give up numerous picks for our seventh. It might not be as much as the Falcons relinquish last year to get Julio Jones, unless Tannehill is still available, but a nice version of a First Coast Stimulus Package would be quite nice. No, I’m not a politician by any stretch of the word. But, these are my thoughts. And whether we agree to disagree on the issue or are on the same page, it is certain that a few new rookies will be coming to an NFL franchise near you. Oh, and let’s try to allow the rookies to get their team gear and lockers before we rip to shreds this season. Much obliged readers, much obliged."

"http://aeryssports.com/roaring-black-n-teal/tag/sports/"

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"UNESCO AND ISRAEL WHEREAS, UNESCO adopted a resolution at its 18th General Conference in November 1974 excluding Israel from any regional grouping and from eligibility for appropriations, and, WHEREAS, the use of UNESCO by any country or block of countries to further their own political purposes is repugnant to the stated ideals of that organization, THEREFORE, the American Ethical Union strongly urges the Member States to reconsider the implications of their actions at said Conference, so that UNESCO's worthy program and philosophy can be reaffirmed and put back and thus strengthen UNESCO and the United Nations. Submitted and Approved by the AEU Public Affairs Committee Adopted by the AEU Assembly, Westbury, N. Y. - 1975 Source: AEU 67th Annual Assembly Memo [job10scan]"

"http://aeu.org/library/display_article.php?article_id=1841"

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"Cleanup Blog Don’t think about it, just do it That’s what my grandmother always says. Whenever I have a problem, a challenge or am faced with anything in life, my grandmother has the same advice every single time. “Don’t think about it,” she says, with the wave of a hand. “Just do it.” I know it sounds … like a sneaker ad… But it’s really good advice and it seems to crop up when I least expect it. But her voice crept into my head not long ago when management let the residents of my apartment complex know that they would be conducting their annual inspections recently. It’s funny how content one can be being incredibly messy – until one is going to have people in her dwelling space. My spare room was, at one time, used for guests. But over time, as my schedule got busier and guests became more sporadic it went from spare room to catchall. There are extra lamps, a television, my desk (which sadly does not get used enough), a guest bed, boxes (and boxes) of notebooks and … well you get the idea. Some people like to make an organized plan of cleaning. In some cases, that’s my plan of action. While I have a particular method to cleaning the kitchen, it’s a completely different story when it comes to the rest of the house. Don’t think about it, just do it… Even with a weekend chock full of things to do, physical fitness training, wrapping up work items that didn’t get done from the week, writing articles for other outlets that need to be finished by their deadline, I dropped everything suddenly and cleaned out that room. And it wasn’t just a surprise – it was a relief. Until the other day, I never opened the door to that room to hide the mess. Now, I don’t mind going in there. I might even clean my bedroom. I said ‘might.’ Cleaning for Travel I travel quite a bit for work. Not too much, but just enough that returning to my own apartment can sometimes be the sweetest feeling in the world. Or, depending on its cleanliness, make me yearn to be back on the road, in the comforts of a generic hotel room, orderly and sterile-ish. Last week I spent several days in Las Vegas for a convention at the Venetian. I left on a Sunday and spent the entire morning packing and picking up around my apartment. My place looked presentable…but for some reason that wasn’t good enough. I think deep down I knew I couldn’t spend a week in Vegas – of all places – and come home to an apartment that was unclean. I decided to finally get to all the hard-to-reach places and pain-in-the-neck tasks that are so often neglected. I broke out the Cooktop cleaner. Scrubbed the bathroom. Even cleaned out the refrigerator. It was possibly the most productive few hours I’ve ever spent during a weekend. So when I left the apartment and headed to the airport, I felt good. A little grossed out by the scrubbing and some things I found in my fridge, but overall pretty good. But the big payoff was yet to come… When I arrived home after several days in Sin City and a full day of traveling back from Pacific Time, I was so relieved to have an apartment worth coming home to. It was clean, it smelled halfway decent, and I was proud of the work I’d put in before my trip. It made it all worthwhile. Early Spring Cleaning Of the 115 Groundhog Days on record since it began in 1887, Punxsutawney Phil has only predicted an early spring 16 times. Fortunately, this year we’re lucky the groundhog did not see his shadow, so 2013 is off to a great start! Based on my calculations, what with the vernal equinox falling on March 20 and Phil’s gift of six weeks less of winter, that means Spring should be happening….now? This is actually fantastic news. Not only because flip flops are my favorite and I will wear them as soon as my toes can tolerate the weather, but because my apartment needs a spring clean like it’s nobody’s business. More often as of late, when I have people over, I feel like I’m showcasing the “fake apartment.” You know, the one that is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, but heaven forbid someone opens the wrong door and ski equipment tumbles out of it (but you don’t even ski). This needs to end! And I know exactly how to put a stop to it. One thing that I really need to procure is a dresser for my clothes. I don’t know how it happened, but my bedroom floor is now an extension of my closet. It’s relatively organized, but there are piles everywhere. I’ve been putting it off, but I know I need to buckle down, pick one that I like and get organized! Dusting is also a major issue. I’m allergic to dust, so you’d think I’d have this under control, but apparently I’m a glutton for punishment. It just isn’t something that crosses my mind, coupled with the fact that I have yet to find a duster/product that I like. But I know dusting really does make a huge difference in the appearance of all surfaces so this is definitely another thing I need to tackle. Lastly, the kitchen is always a big one. Getting grime out of those harder to reach corners and concentrating on spots that are often overlooked (I completely ignore that area underneath my dish drying rack) will definitely be a focus. I also need to actually clean the sink, not just the dirty plates in it, and give my stove a good scrub as well. There’s definitely a lot to be done, but it’s totally manageable! And thanks to this year’s early spring, I’m going to get a head start on turning my “fake apartment” into a clean one. Work it Out, Clean it Up If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t have a ton of spare time. Between work, family, social obligations, time just flies by and I hardly have a minute to myself. So what happens when your days seem to shorten and a few free minutes are tough to find? Things get prioritized, other thing get cut out entirely. Unfortunately for me, what ends up on the cutting room floor is usually the gym and cleaning my apartment. These routine-driven activities are just too easy to push to the side and marginalize when faced with deadlines, commitments, and other responsibilities. It’s a shame too – both activities leave you feeling refreshed and feeling better about yourself. These endeavors can put you in a better place than you were when you started, and that’s pretty hard to replace. So what I do is try to combine the two. I know that sounds silly but hear me out a second. When you carve out the time to clean your apt, throw some reps in there too! For example, for every dish you scrub and dry by hand, drop and do five pushups. Vacuum for 30-seconds then do 30-seconds of jumping jacks. How about throwing in a few lunges when taking the trash out? Will you look like a crazy person? Maybe, but that’s for your neighbors to decide. Point is, cleaning and exercise are two aspects of your life that shouldn’t be compromised. In this month when so many New Year’s Resolutions have died or on their last legs, recommit yourself to finding the time. Ok, so maybe reaching the highest shelf to dust isn’t part of a typical yoga vinyasa, but you can get creative. And don’t worry about the neighbors; they’ll go from asking “what is she doing?” to “how does she do it?” Downright Domestic Catch Affresh this weekend on the lifestyle list tv show, Downright Domestic! Show host, Rebecca Webster, provides ideas and information on how to improve your domestic life. The segment airs: Saturday, November 24th: CTV TWO Kitchener and London, 11:30am Sunday, November 25th, CTV TWO Toronto, 11am Don’t miss it! "

"http://affresh.ca/en/cleanup_blog"

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"This article, I hope, will be widely read by economists working on field experiments. And it comes with David Card’s name right on the title page; this is certainly not a name that one associates with structural modeling! Field experiments and randomized control trials are booming at the moment. Until the past decade, an average year saw a single field experiment published in any of the top five journals. Now, 8 to 10 a year are. The vast majority of these papers are atheoretical, though I have a small complaint about the definition of “theoretical” which I’ll leave for the final paragraph of this post. The same atheoretical nature is largely true of lab experiments; I generally am very receptive to field experiments and much less so to lab experiments, so I’ll leave out discussion of the lab for now. (That said, I’m curious for the lab types out there: are there any good examples of lab experiments which have overturned a key economic insight? By overturned, I mean the reversal was accepted as valid by many economists. I don’t mean “behavioral theory” like Kahneman-Tversky. I mean, an actual lab experiment in the style of the German School – we ought call it that at this point. It just seems to me like many of the “surprising” results just turn out not to be true once we move to economically relevant behavior in the market. The “gift reciprocity” paper by Fehr and coauthors is a great example, and Card, Dellavigna and Malmendier discuss it. In the lab, people “work” much harder when they get paid a surprisingly high wage. In field and natural experiments trying to replicate this, with Gneezy and List (2006) being the canonical example, there is no such economically relevant effect. I would love some counterexamples of this phenomenon, though: I’m trying my best to keep an open mind!) But back to field experiments. After noting the paucity of theory in most experimental papers, the authors give three examples of where theory could have played a role. In the gift reciprocity/wages literature mentioned above, there are many potential explanations for what is going on in the lab. Perhaps workers feel inequity aversion, and don’t want to “rip off” unprofitable employers. Perhaps they simple act under reciprocity – if you pay me a high wage, I’ll work hard even in a one-shot game. A properly designed field experiment can distinguish between the two. An even better example is charitable giving. List and Lucking-Reiley ran a famous 2002 field experiment where they examined whether giving to charity could be affected by, for example, claiming in the brochure that the goal of the fundraising drive was already almost reached. But can’t we learn much more about charity? Do people give because of warm glow? Or because of social pressure? Or some other reason? List, Dellavigna and Malmendier have a wonderful 2010 paper that writes down a basic structural model of gift-giving, and introduces just enough randomization into the experimental design to identify all of the parameters. They find that social pressure is important, and that door-to-door fundraising can actually lower total social welfare, even taking into account the gain from purchasing whatever public good charity is raising money for. And their results have a great link back to earlier theory and to future experiments along similar lines. Now that’s great work! The complaints against structural models always seemed hollow to me. As Card, Dellavigna and Malmendier note, when interpreting results, every paper, structural or not, is making implicit assumptions. Why not make them in a way that is both clear and is guided by the huge body of theoretical knowledge that social science has already developed? The authors note a turn away from structural models in experiments after the negative income tax papers of the 70s and 80s were thought to be failures in some sense due to the difficulty of interpreting their results. This argument was always a bit ridiculous: all social science results are hard to interpret, and there’s no way around this. Writing up research in a way that it seems more clearcut to a policy audience does not mean that the evidence actually is clearcut. I do have one quibble with this paper, though – and I think the authors will sympathize with this complaint given their case studies. The authors divide experimental papers into four groups: descriptive, single model, competing model and parameter estimation. Single model, to take one example, is defined as a paper that lays out a formal model and tests one or more implications thereof. Similar definitions are given for competing models and parameter estimations. Once we get over Friedman’s 1953 model of economic methodology, though, we’ve got to realize that “testing” models is far, far away from the only link between theory and data. Theory is useful to empirics because it can guide interesting and nonobvious questions to look for, because it can be used to justify nontestable econometric assumptions, because it allows for reasonable discussion of counterfactuals, because it allows empirical studies to be linked into a broader conception of knowledge, because it allows for results to be interpreted correctly, etc. I’d argue that checking whether papers “test” models is almost irrelevant for knowing whether empirical papers properly use theory. Let me give my favorite example, which I used in a presentation to empirical economists last year. Imagine you study government-mandated hospital report cards, and find that two years into the program, there is no evidence that hospitals or patients are changing behavior based on the ratings, but that 20% of patients were looking at the report cards at some point. An atheoretical paper might suggest that these report card programs are a waste of money. A theoretically-guided paper would note that game theorists have shown reputational equilibria often are discontinuous, and that perhaps if more patients were induced to look at the report cards (maybe by directly mailing them to each household once a year), hospitals would begin to react by giving better care. There is no testing of a theoretical model or anything similar, but there is certainly great use of theory! (Perhaps of interest: my two favorite job market papers of the last couple years, those of Ben Handel and Heidi Williams, both use theory in one of the ways above rather than in the direct “let’s use data to test a theoretical model” framework…) Similar comments apply to theorists’ use of empirical research, of course, but let’s save that for another day. (February 2011 working paper – forthcoming in the JEP) Hi, I’m a recent PhD graduate from a “behavioral economics” graduate program–just wanted to reply about your quip about lab experiments. First one funny story—Norbert Schwarz, a fairly famous social psychologist, was giving a talk at Harvard’s experimental/behavioral econ seminar about 2 years ago. He was presenting some findings on accessibility (e.g. that easy to pronounce stock market ticker names did better at IPO—how’s that for market relevance?) and received the standard econ question about incentives and whether that would change his observed lab experiment. Upon which he remarked, “have incentives ever really been shown to truly change a bias once it is demonstrated in the lab? can you take even one important bias and show that it goes away?” Apparently he’s not familiar with John List’s work I don’t believe anyone in the audience replied–Ed Glaeser didn’t come that day, else I’m sure he would have made a caustic retort. But to you I would direct a similar critique. There are numerous examples of biases that don’t change in the face of market incentives. Medical decision making is one place where it’s very difficult to square people’s choices with a rational model. I would check out some of Peter Ubel’s work in that vein. But to offer you a better example–how about this QJE paper of Ariely and Loewenstein on Coherent Arbitrariness. You have a lab study that essentially creates a market and shows that anchoring effects are not altered by market exchange. In general many of the canonical biases in Kahneman and Tversky don’t seem to change very much in the face of incentives–Holt and Laury’s paper on risk aversion comes to mind. So I think there are problems on both sides. (Not to mention the methodological issues with trusting studies in each camp–theres plenty of con in econometrics, and plenty of file drawer and other dirty secrets in social psych– the researcher degrees of freedom problem to me presents the most serious problem in trying to understand what papers have the most external validity) Coherent Arbitrariness: (though here’s one replication failure for more common market goods: I’ve run anchoring studies and found them to be pretty stable–friends as well) Risk Aversion: I’d be curious to know what you think… Oh yeah, one more obvious example comes to mind…all of Thaler’s stuff on default effects on retirement decisions. People have huge incentives to be rational there, but don’t seem to be… Thanks for the citations, Paul. I’ll definitely check them out. Concerning Thaler and retirement, though, I suppose I question the extent to which lab studies about anchoring “convinced” the profession rather than simple evidence of the choices people actually make with their retirement accounts. Two followups to that statement: first, I have nothing against “behavioral economics” per se – it’s clearly useful – but I’m less sold on the lab experimental method of behavioral social science. Second, you might wonder why I care about whether A or B is found convincing by the profession. I’ve written a few times here that I subscribe to a philosophy of science that puts a ton of weight on subjective judgment of quality of research by practitioners, so I actually think the question of credit is pretty important here. I’m with you that there certainly need be more conversations between different methodological schools, however. I’m sure Ed would have been caustic upon hearing Schwarz’ remark, and I recall a lecture here at NW by Ernst Fehr where that eminence grise was nearly driven out the room with pitchforks."

"http://afinetheorem.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/the-role-of-theory-in-field-experiments-d-card-s-dellavigna-u-malmendier-2011/"

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"IPv4 Allocation Policy 1) Abstract This document describes the guidelines for IPv4 address allocation and assignment in the AFRINIC service region (Africa and Part of the Indian Ocean) .They have been developed through an open, bottom up policy development process of AFRINIC's Policy Working Group. 2) Introduction AFRINIC (The African Network Information Center) is a non-for-profit independent organisation serving as one of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIR's). Its service region incorporates the African continent and part of the Indian Ocean (Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros). AFRINIC is responsible for the allocation of IP (Internet Protocol) address space, AS (Autonomous System) Numbers and management of reverse domain names within the region. 3) Scope This document describes policies for the responsible management of unique IPv4 address space in the AFRINIC region. The policies in this document apply to all IPv4 allocations and assignments within the AFRINIC service region and must be implemented by all AFRINIC's Local Internet Registries. This document does not describe policies related to IPv6, AS numbers, private addresses and in-addr.arpa domains. These policies can be found at It does not describe conditions of AFRINIC membership decribed at nor does it examine the policies of the other Regional Internet Registries. 4) IPv4 address space For the purpose of this document, IPv4 addresses are 32-bit binary numbers (used as identifiers in the IPv4 protocol) and are usually in three types: a. Public/global IP addresses that are assigned to be globally unique according to the goals described in section 6 of this document.. c. IP ranges reserved for experiments: These are described in RFC3330 (). Some ranges are also reserved for multicast. 5) Hierarchy of address space distribution IP addresses are distributed in an hierarchical structure in which IANA (The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) allocates address space to AFRINIC, to be redistributed throughout the African region. AFRINIC allocates address space to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) and also delegates to them the authority to make assignments and sub-allocations. LIRs sub-allocate and assign address space to their customers in accordance with the policies and procedures described in this document. 6) Definitions The following terms and their definitions are of particular importance to the understanding of the goals, environment, and policies described in this document. 6.1 Internet Registry (IR) An Internet Registry (IR) is an organization that is responsible for distributing IP address space to its customers and for registering those addresses. IRs are classified according to their primary function and territorial scope within the hierarchical structure. 6 four RIRs: APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC. AFRINIC is the fifth 6. 6.4 Allocation To "allocate" means to distribute address space to LIRs for the purpose of subsequent distribution. 6.5 Sub-Allocation To "sub-allocate" means to distribute address space (by LIRs) to ISPs for the purpose of subsequent distribution. 6. 6. 6. 7) Goals of the Internet Registry System 7.1 Goals It is AFRINIC's primary duty, as a custodian of a public resource, to ensure that for all Ipv4 allocations and assignments, the following goals are met: - Uniqueness - In order that each host on the public internet can be uniquely identified, each public unicast IPv4 address must be globally unique. - Registration - Every assignment and allocation of public Internet address space must be registered in the AFRINIC whois database. This is necessary to ensure uniqueness and to provide information for Internet trouble shooting at all levels. - Aggregation - Distributing Ipv4 addresses in a hierachical manner permits the aggregation of routing information. This helps to ensure proper operation of internet routing, and to limit the expansion of Internet routing tables (RFC2519). - Conservation - To maximize the lifetime of the public Internet address space resource, addresses must be distributed according to actual need and on the basis of immediate use. Therefore, stockpiling of address space and maintaining reservations must, in general, be avoided. 7. 7.3 Documentation. 7.4 Fairness All policies and practices relating to the use of public address space will apply fairly and equitably to all existing and potential members of AFRINIC regardless of their location, nationality, size,or any other factor. 8) Registration Requirements a) All communication with AFRINIC will be in English. b) All allocations and assignments will be registered in an AFRINIC database. Any unregistered assignemnts / allocations / sub-allocaion will be considered invalid. The registration data (name, IP block/range, contacts, status, etc..) must be correct at all times. This is necessary to support network operations. Allocation policies and guidelines 8.1 Introduction AFRINIC allocates ranges of IPv4 addresses to Local Internet Registries (LIRs). LIRs reassign or sub-allocate that space to their customers. An Allocation is a range of IPv4 addresses from which sub-allocations and assignments are made. All LIR's assigning address space allocated from AFRINIC are also advised to adopt a set of policies that are consistent with the policies described in this document.. (CIDR - "Classless Inter-Domain Routing", is exlained in RFC1517-1959,).. 8.2 First Allocation a) AFRINIC's minimum allocation is /22 or 1024 IPv4 addresses. b) The organisation must be an AFRINIC member in good standing, and c). 8.3. Slow start mechanism for first allocations AFRINIC shall apply a slow start mechanism to all new LIRs. With respect to allocations made by AFRINIC, the first allocation an LIR receives will be the size of the minimum practical allocation described in Section 8.2 (a) unless otherwise justified. The slow start policy is used by all RIR's to prevent allocations of large blocks of address space that may then remain substantially unassigned. AFRINIC implements the slow start mechanism in a consistent and fair manner for every LIR, and will apply the same principles and standards to every applicant for address space. 8.4 Additional Allocation. AFRINIC will always try to allocate contiguous address ranges, allowing the LIR to minimise the number of route announcements it makes. However, it will not always be possible to allocate a range contiguous with the LIR's previous allocation. 8.5 Sub-Allocations The minimum size of a sub-allocation is /24. It allows a reasonable number of small assignments to be made by a downstream ISP. An LIR may not sub-allocate IPv4 space above its suballocation). 9) Assignment policies and guidelines LIR's must request approval from AFRINIC approval for all sub-allocations above their Sub-Allocation Window (see section 10.0 for SAW policy). The following guidelines are intended to help LIRs and end-users in their search for equitable compromises: 9.1. Request forms are available at When making sub-allocation from their SAW, LIR's should also ensure that such information is given by the end-user. 9.2. 9.3 Utilisation Immediate utilisation of assignments should be at least 25% of the assigned space. After one year, unless special circumstances are defined, it should be at least 50%. 9.4. 9.5. 9.6. 10) Sub-Allocation Window (SAW) An sub-allocation window (SAW) refers to the maximum number of IPv4 addresses that the LIR may sub-allocate to the end-users without seeking approval from AFRINIC. The SAW size is expressed in CIDR notatation. AFRINIC will review sub-allocation made by the LIR's using their SAW in to ensure that policies are followed correctly. LIR's should also ensure that documentation for sub-allocation made using the SAW be similar to that requested for larger requests. Below are a few guidelines for the SAW: 10.1 All new LIRs have a SAW of zero. All sub-allocations will need prior approval by AFRINIC. 10.2 The LIR cannot make any sub-allocation to the end-user above their SAW in a 12 months period (1 year). At the end of a calendar year from the approval of an SAW, the SAW is refreshed for one more year. In case the LIR's SAW is exhausted for a particular end-user, approval must be sought from AFRINIC for any other sub-allocation to the same end-user. 10.3. 10.4. 12) Abbreviations - AFRIN Aggregateable - PI Provider Independent - RIR Regional Internet Registry 13) Useful links - RFC documents: - IANA web site:"

"http://afrinic.net/en/services/rs/membership-types/126-policy-ipv4-address-allocation-policies"

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"Scattered around writing blogs is the sage advice along the lines of “3 Ways of Writing a Killer First Line,” or “The Top 10 First Lines of a Novel” or “How to Hook Your Reader in the First Line.” I have a problem with this. I don’t read the first line of a new novel and stop, judging its worth and merit on a single sentence alone. I liken it to looking at a Van Gogh painting and focusing on a single brush stroke and missing the beauty and grandeur of the night sky. A great first line can hook you in. But it’s when you understand it within the context of the first paragraph, the first page, the first chapter through to the closing line of the novel that its true power and beauty is revealed. I read beyond the first line. I want to be caught up in the artistry of the writer, from the first line to the first paragraph to the first page to the first chapter to the closing line; to have the sentences form sedimentary layers over me as I delve into the artistry of the written word. Or like being covered in a large bucket of spaghetti, tangled in the complexity and power of words (you chose which simile works best for you). The first sentence encapsulates the power, breadth, beauty and depth of a novel. It retains its power because the remainder of the novel bears out the enormity and scope hinted at in the first line. But every sentence must work for the reader. Every sentence must be crafted as delicately and intricately as the first. Stand back and admire the beauty of the whole. Then step closer and examine the individual brush strokes to understand why it has captured your imagination. I used to write “clever” titles for blog posts and bizarre / “captivating” first paragraphs – I learned it really hindered technical writing LOL. I like opening gambits that make you want to sit in a corner and read the whole thing undisturbed. I notice however that some of the most innocuous opening sentences are the best. Cheap theatrics like ‘compelling’ first sentences have more to do with the way blog posts appear on a web page more than literature – and even less to do with the reality of the writing it often turns out. You know, it’s terrifying to comment on Adam’s posts because I become acutely aware my grammar and syntax may not pass scrutiny. It’s teh interwebz. No one cares about syntax or grammar, only trolling Blogging can have cheap theatricality, but I write from an essayist’s perspective (curse of being an English teacher) That was another excellent post today. Thanks so much for sharing. Keep up the fantastic job. Enjoy writing? Feel free to join our writing group – It’s worth getting into. They pay very well also. Join Today – Writers Wanted I don’t stop reading after the first sentence either, unless it’s a really bad first sentence. I like to try and write good first lines but you’re right, they’re not the be-all and end-all. I think a good first few paragraphs are a more solid foundation, but I can’t help thinking that a coherent style, a solid structure and an interesting plot are more important. That said, I often write my first line last, after I know what is to come, so the first few lines can act as a better statement of intent. There is a lot of buzz about first lines right now and it’s interesting to look at them on their own, but you’re absolutely right, they are only as good as the sentence that follows. When choosing a new book, I’ll give it at least one page, but if I’m not pulled in by something, no matter how good the blurb is, I won’t buy it."

"http://afullnessinbrevity.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/the-first-line-conundrum/"

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"Credit Team Forest. : - quarterly newsletter, The Forest Focus (PDF, 242k). This newsletter contains valuable information, newsworthy notes and educational items regarding the trends in the industry. If you're ready for a forward-thinking approach to the forest products industry, contact us or contact your local branch to talk to a Forest Products Credit Team loan officer in your area."

"http://agchoice.com/forest-products/team"

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"Under the leadership of UALR, the Little Rock School District, the City of Little Rock, Arkansas Children's Hospital, New Futures, and the Central Arkansas Library System will embark on a new joint project which targets the Central Little Rock Promise Neighborhood. Armed with $430,000 the group will begin planning a strategy to provide "cradle-to-college and career" services for families in this neighbhood. As City Director Ken Richardson noted at Tuesday's press conference, the services may already exsists, it is just often the service providers don't communicate with each other. All six partners are excited to move forward with the project and offer their area of expertise to the neighborhood. Dr. Joel Anderson, UALR Chancellor, noted this new start for the neighborhood, "A new season is beginning today." The Little Rock School District will work speficially with the schools that fall in the targeted Promise neighborhood, which include Franklin Elementary, Stephens Elementary, Bale Elementary, Forest Heights Middle, and Hall High. The emphasis will be to bring educational reform that results in a high quality education for these students from Pre-K to graduation. From this strong foundation these students will be able to attend college and embark on their dream profession. Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Associate Superintendent for Elementary Education, acknowledged the enormity of the project and the district's dedication to its success, "One block at a time....We will have a 'whatever it takes' attitude. The start-up grant will give UALR and its partners a year to prepare for the full-scale implementation of a program aimed at replicating the kind of private-public partnerships that made the Harlem Children’s Zone a model to provide children in the neighborhood “whatever it takes” to raise them up from babyhood to college.."

"http://[email protected]/news/post.cfm/lr-partners-awarded-promise-grant"

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"Spencer & Hat Sept 2, 2012 16:58:46 GMT -5 Quote Select PostDeselect PostLink to PostMemberGive GiftBack to Top Post by irishnurse68 on Sept 2, 2012 16:58:46 GMT -5 This set is so pretty! The spencer is a nice, thick wool, and very well made. It does have a hefty feel at the shoulders, but looks appropriate when on. The bonnet is gorgeous. The traveling outfit with this spencer and bonnet is amazing!A+"

"http://agplaythings.proboards.com/post/985059/Thread"

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"Development of education and research sectors according to international standards Computerization of library and archiving system Activate research work to produce nutritional products Create new programs according to market demands Dear Student Welcome to the faculty of Agriculture page, where you can find useful information about the faculty and its academic and administrative features. For any further inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact us. ...More Published on 13 May, 2013 Published on 27 Mar, 2013"

"http://agriculture.ju.edu.jo/Home.aspx"

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"Series: Riordan, Rick. Kane chronicles, Book 1 Audiobooks Adventure stories Downloadable audiobooks OverDrive OverDrive -- Kids' World collection Lists can be used to compile collections of items that you may be interested in checking out at a later date. You may also create public lists and share your favorites with other AHML customers."

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"Small things with Great features : Black Pepper 10 Small things with Great features : Black PepperPosted in by AICA Patrick We get our black pepper from the pepper vine that can grow at least thirty feet tall in the stifling climates of the tropical parts of the world. The pepper vines actually bear fruit—small white flowers that turn into berries called peppercorns. Manufacturers take the peppercorns and collect them as whole berries or as ground black pepper. Research studies have shown that black pepper actually has healthful properties such as: · It is its ability to enhance the function of the digestive tract that makes it a good reason to put it in the dishes you cook. · Diminish the amount of gas in the intestinal tract. This leads to less flatulence and bloating and is believed to be another benefit of increasing hydrochloric acid in the stomach. · Has a great amount of antioxidant properties. · Benefits against bacterial growth, particularly in the intestinal tract. The good news is that all you need to do is put a little bit in your food every day."

"http://aicaculinary.com/index.php?comp=com_blog_details&id=46"

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"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319673092013-02-25T17:50:04.874-05:00Aimless<a href=""><img alt="[Aimless Blog Front Page]" src=""></a> <br>The Adventures of an American Vagabond <br>(& stories from ridiculously long walks)Ryan M. Powell's Pizza BlogHey everyone, come check out <a href="">my new pizza blog</a> if you want to learn how to make the best pizza on the planet in your own kitchen. I share ALL my secrets on this blog (because I'm less of a dick than you probably think I am).;">Underside of a NY style pizza I made on<br />the grill. One of my favorite pics.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This <a href="">New York style</a> post is just for you, ER. (No it's not. It's for everyone who might be able to take something from it. You think you're special or something?) I've also written a post about how to make <a href="">Malnati's style deep dish</a> and a post about how to clone <a href="">Pizza Hut thin</a>..;">Looks like Malnati's to me, except my pan is half an inch too deep.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'd love it if y'all would <a href="">"like" the blog on Facebook</a> so I might be able to reach more people and rescue those who are stuck in a neverending cycle of looking in the wrong places for answers to their pizzamaking questions.<br /><br />This just occurred to me: I went to jail a year ago today <em>for walking</em>. Land of the Free, baby!<br /><br /.<br /><br /.<br /><br /.<br /><br /><a href=""></a><br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook. <br />-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell in Rhode IslandWhydibuy asked in a comment on the previous post how my court appearance went. Unfortunately I can't answer that because they did it without me; I was in a holding cell during my court appearance. I didn't even know it was happening until after it happened. From what I've heard, though, the prosecution extorted my folks for a couple hundred bucks.<br /><br />I.<br /><br />I'm in suburban Baltimore now. Probably gonna take a train to DC this afternoon to visit my good friend Jeff. It's cold and raining/snowing.<br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell I ended up in jail for 16 daysI know at least one person has been waiting patiently for this story, so here's why I was in jail:<br /><br />After.)<br /><br /.<br /><br /.<br /><br /. <br /><br />I could have been out of jail after only one day if those piece-of-shit motherfuckers hadn't gone way out of their way to fuck with both me and my mom, breaking countless laws in the process just because they enjoy making people hurt.<br /><br />By the time I received Mom's second letter, which informed me that I could post bail, I only had a couple days remaining until my court date. I decided to just wait it out.<br /><br />So much more to it than that. Wait till you find out what happened only three days before I was put in jail. I originally was not going to write about it, but things changed, and now I think it's a very relevant story.<br /><br />Oh yeah, and the walk is over. I have no need for any more of this kind of bullshit. (You now know about 10 percent of the story.)<br /><br />I've been hanging out in Manhattan the last five days. (You would have known that five days ago if you followed me on Twitter.)<br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<p>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a></p>Ryan M. Powell just spent the last 16 days in jail. I should have a lot to say about it pretty soon.<br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell #5<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656268502300517058" /></a></p><br />I made it into Rhode Island at 12:17 yesterday. This is the sign they gave me, instead of a "Welcome to Rhode Island" sign. If you wanna know more, follow @AimlessRyan on Twitter.Ryan M. Powell close-up<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655263058263992914" /></a></p><br />And here's a close-up of the sandwich someone left outside my tent about a week ago.Ryan M. Powell<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654481420978196498" /></a></p><br />This one's for you, ER. This is where I slept last night. I think it's at the first intersection south of NH on Rte 78 in MA (about 4 miles into MA). I know it's a shitty picture, but I've been getting up and moving really early lately. Not much I can do about that.Ryan M. Powell Cowboy<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654480494974572562" /></a></p><br />This staircase in Brattleboro, Vermont reminded me of the staircase from the party scene in Midnight Cowboy.Ryan M. Powell #4<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654479248864905922" /></a></p><br />This was yesterday at 6:00 or so. I did 20 miles yesterday. Don't ask me how I'm doing this because I don't know. Looks like the rain may have killed my pedometer this morning.Ryan M. Powell'<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653803416621940450" /></a></p><br />I made it to Vermont at about 3:40, I believe. That was a very quick 13 miles for my current condition, which is still pretty gimpy. Looks like I'll be in Assumchusetts sometime tomorrow. By the way, that was a very difficult sign to get in a picture with myself, particularly because of where the sun was.Ryan M. Powell earbuds blow<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653676008405911042" /></a></p><br />Apple earbuds are literally the most useless product I have ever used. They suck in every way they possibly could suck. I would be happier with my iPhone if it came with no earbuds instead of these stupid, worthless, irritating earbuds. Apple should be ashamed of themselves for even creating this garbage, which is beginning to make me hate my favorite music.<br /><br />I may have a lot more to say about this retarded-ass product, so come on back to this post every once in a while.Ryan M. Powell again<a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652678232343854434" /></a><br />This.<br /><br /.Ryan M. Powell flexor?I spent today sitting around at Burger King, Wendy's, and Dairy Queen, in an effort to give my hip a rest. I think this is the first time I've ever just sat around all day during a walk, excluding the rare occasions when I actually had somewhere to stay during last year's walk.<br /><br />Oh,. <br /><br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>--<br /><a href="">Aimless</a><br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell day<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649629864934424898" /></a></p><br />I only put the vest on the outside of the rain jacket when I know it's gonna be raining for a long time. After raining all night, this is gonna be going on for at least several more hours. Several miles south of Epsom, NH.Ryan M. Powell obstacles<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648622745369140322" /></a></p> <br /).Ryan M. Powell walk...<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648575294511651154" /></a></p> <br />This is one of the biggest milestones ever for me because a week ago I was 90% sure this walk wouldn't last any longer than ten miles. Anyone who has spent any time around me over the last 11 months is probably just as amazed as I am because I've barely been able to walk AT ALL since last September.Ryan M. Powell on asphaltI'm safe now. Man, that was fucking scary; the scariest position I've ever been stuck in. Every step presented about a hundred different ways for me to die. No one would have found me. I'll post some pictures later, when I get a chance to charge. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell what I mean<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648480211590836466" /></a></p>Ryan M. Powell I don't update within the next hour or two, it means I'm on Half Mile Road and I'm in desperate need of help. I'm fine right now, but I'm in a very dangerous place, where no one will find me if I get hurt and lose consciousness, which is very possible. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell kind of road<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648464740778144674" /></a></p> <br />This is the kind of road Google Maps is steering me down this morning. Six miles to New Hampshire.Ryan M. Powell road<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648124814098852210" /></a></p> <br />This is a very good walking road, despite the heavy traffic. Can you figure out why?Ryan M. Powell, Maine<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647873526198418994" /></a></p> <br />This is a few hundred feet from where I slept last night, near the train station.Ryan M. Powell outta Portland<p class="mobile-photo"><a href=""><img src="" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647032707731233698" /></a></p> <br />2.34 miles so far. Not much, but it's a start. Tells me I should be able to hit my goal of 10 miles today.Ryan M. Powell walk began at 7:50 this morning in Portland, Maine. Can I actually do it? I don't know, but I'm gonna try. Actually, I know I can do it; I just don't know if I can do it <I>right now</I> because I'm still so beat up from last year. Every step I take is dangerous because my nerves are messed up. There's a ton of muscle in my legs, but that doesn't mean much if your nerves are messed up. My first step is just to try to do at least ten miles today. I'll let you know how that works out. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell took a train from Boston to Maine tonight. That means the proposed 48-state walk has technically already begun. Officially, however, it begins with my first step tomorrow morning. My legs and hips have felt a little better the last few days, so I might actually be able to do this. <br /> <br /><a href="">Become a fan</a> of Aimless on Facebook.<P>-- <br /><a href="">Aimless</a> <br /><a href="">Aimless Video Evidence</a>Ryan M. Powell"

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"AISForAlias.com: The Leading AIS for Alias Site on the Net aisforalias.com has been connecting our visitors with providers of Adventure Travel, Africa Travel, Air Travel and many other related services for nearly 10 years. Join thousands of satisfied visitors who found Asia Travel, Business Travel, Caribbean Travel, Cruise Travel, and Discount Travel."

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"User:DarrenYBaldinci2 From Ajax Patterns (Difference between revisions) Current revision Yes, of system you can uncover superb data about all things neonatal nursing, but the physique of un [1] The Value Of Time Administration To You In Your Job [2] Occupation Success Entails Effective Time Administration [3] Time Management Could Make Or Break Your Profession"

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"The fashionable Tokyo thoroughfare of Omotesando invariably bustles with hordes of young people, but turn away from its rows of Zelkova trees and head down one of its back streets, and peace and quiet prevail. This is where it all started for hairdresser Hideaki Iijima, 61. He is the founder of Soho, the second-largest chain of hair salons in Brazil. Soho has 28 locations in Sao Paulo, and serves more than 700,000 customers annually. On Jan. 10, during a brief trip to Japan, Iijima visited hair salon 'imaii,' where he learned his trade. It was the first time he had returned there in more than a decade. Despite dredging through his memories, he had a hard time remembering exactly where the place was. Suddenly, he came to a standstill in front of a leaning power pole, rubbing his hands as he spoke. "This is it, right here. I was brought here several times a day to be scolded beside this power pole in front of the salon." Imaii, which has a floor space of only six tsubo (just under 20 square meters), is now located in a fashionable building that stands diagonally across from the power pole. Its proprietor, Hideo Imai, trained at the Vidal Sassoon salon in the United States in the 1970s, and is responsible for popularizing the innovative "Sassoon cut" in Japan. Before joining Imai's salon, Iijima had already worked at several other establishments and become a competent hair stylist, but was troubled by a lack of confidence in his skills. Then one day he saw a magazine article about Imai who had just returned to Japan, and wasted no time in asking him for a job. "Mr. Imai was strict, but I acquired the kind of skills and theory that I could be satisfied with, and I gained confidence in my abilities," Iijima says. Before he knew it, he had become a popular hair stylist. There was no end to customers requesting Iijima's services, and in one month alone he cut the hair of 760 clients. His days off were spent traveling the country to give seminars for hairdressers, and magazines and industry shows eagerly sought his expertise. Eventually, his monthly wages topped 1 million yen ($12,000). "He brought us more business not only with his hairdressing talent, but also his cheerful conversational skills," Imai recalls. However, after about five years, Iijima called time out on his career as a "charismatic hairdresser." He accepted an invitation from one of his former trainees who was managing a hair salon in Brazil, and emigrated there with his wife, 4-year-old son, and infant daughter. He was 28. "I had dreamed of moving overseas since I was little," he says. "If I had stayed where I was, I thought I'd most likely end up regretting it." * * * Adjusting to life in another country wasn't easy. He found himself at odds with his former trainee, and was fired after two years. The 10 million yen he had saved in Japan soon ran out. He borrowed three mirrors, and decided to test his mettle by working at a local salon. For him, it was like a battleground. The most senior hairdresser took the position closest to the salon's entrance, and newcomer Iijima was given the spot farthest back. Even if a customer came in without an appointment, they rarely made it into Iijima's chair. Names of non-existent clients were written in his column on the salon's appointment board, as well as other tricks intended to prevent him from gaining actual business. It was the underhanded work of his colleagues. "I live off my daily income. I wish I had the stability of a fixed salary, like office workers do," Iijima lamented to his neighbor, Kenichi Shiomi, who worked for the local subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo (currently Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ). Shiomi, now 64, remembers it so well because Iijima wasn't the type to feel sorry for himself. His oldest son, Dai, 37, agrees. "At the time, my father didn't understand much Portuguese," Dai says. "I think he couldn't communicate well with his customers, which must have really bothered him." One day, Iijima came up with a plan. The shampoo sink was at the rear of the salon, so every customer had to pass by him. He carved his name into an eraser and made a stamp, then used it to add his name to the salon's business cards that he handed out to customers. Each time he would make a pitch for himself in broken Portuguese, saying, "I'm Iijima from overseas." In order to make himself stand out while cutting a client's hair, he deliberately exaggerated his movements, clicking his fingers and flattering customers by saying things like "Fantastic!" to put them in a good mood. To make allies of the salon's assistants and coffee-making staff, he gave them money on the sly. This used up a third of his wages. * * * When Iijima began to consider striking out on his own, he remembered a certain prophecy: "Your life will change when you turn 32." It had been told to him by a client who read his fortune soon after he came to Brazil. Believing it, he opened a hair salon in an office district on his 32nd birthday, which attracted a clientele of businessmen. He opened at 9 a.m., and stayed open for as long as he had customers. Some days he even worked until 1 a.m. Within seven months, he had paid back the $90,000 he had borrowed from his friends and was eventually able to expand to a chain of shops. Two days before his 40th birthday, in September 1990, Iijima awoke to discover that he had lost his sight. He had no idea why, and even wondered if he was about to die. After much agonizing, he came to accept that his fate was still his own, even if his luck had abandoned him. When he made the decision to retire from hairdressing and just manage his Soho shops, he regained his sight, but only in his right eye. "Maybe it was because I'd taken a load off my mind," he says. Three years later, thieves broke into his home. A gun was pressed against his temple and his neck was slit with a knife. He barely escaped death by handing over his money and valuables. After this string of nightmarish incidents, Iijima came to regard his life beyond the age of 40 as a bonus. At the time, Brazil was wracked by inflation and the price of living escalated rapidly. The government froze savings accounts, which caused cash flow problems. While several of his rivals gradually went out of business, Iijima raised his prices almost every week and just managed to stay afloat. Training his 1,100 staff members also posed difficulties. "Many Brazilians don't think ahead, so it was difficult for them to understand what I meant when I talked about having dreams," he says. "It was a near-impossible task to improve their skills on an ongoing basis." But Iijima himself has an awkward side and maneged to turn his complex into a driving force. He is aware of how others feel when they fail to accomplish something. Gradually, people began to flock to him. "If you stay true to yourself and have a purpose, it gives you the courage to confront adversity," he says. "I'll keep doing things the Iijima way until I die." * * * Hideaki Iijima Born in 1950 in Saitama Prefecture. Graduated from Kodama High School in Saitama, and gained his hairdressing license in 1970. Worked for several salons in metropolitan Tokyo before joining Hideo Imai's studio in Harajuku. Received acclaim for his hair-cutting techniques, becoming a popular stylist. Described as one of the first "charismatic hairdressers." Emigrated to Sao Paulo in 1979. Opened salon Soho in Sao Paulo in 1982, and turned it into Brazil's second-largest hair salon chain. Memo Family: Iijima divorced six years ago, and is currently single. He lives with his eldest son, Dai, and his wife, to whom he handed over the management of his salon business five years ago. His eldest daughter, Ai, also lives in Sao Paulo. His two children were born when he was still living in Japan, but he had the intention of moving overseas one day, "so I gave them names that could be easily pronounced by non-Japanese." Motivation: Iijima's father ran a barbershop in Saitama that his eldest brother eventually took over, so he became a hairdresser to avoid becoming a commercial rival. He always used his favorite Japanese-made Tenyo scissors, which he sharpened himself. On weekdays from 4:30 a.m., for an hour and a half, Iijima helps clean a park near his home. He has never missed a day in the past 15 years. - « Prev - 1"

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"Another Movie Guy?: "Funny People," "Burma VJ," misc.Posted: July 31st, 2009 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off Welcome to”Another Movie Guy?”! This week I wondered whether I’d be able to find a connection between two new releases, Funny People and Burma VJ. One is a documentary about journalists who expose the truth about a military junta, whereas the other is a comedy about ill-behaved comedians. After Funny People, I left the theater in a beleaguered state, and it dawned on me that both movies are about forty minutes too long. Moreover, I wanted to like them more than I did. Unfortunately, the respective directors had too much faith in weak material. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to watch an open mic night. Several comedians performed, including one who embarrassingly bombed. At first the audience gave him the benefit of a doubt. Then he began a tedious bit about plastic surgery, and good will gave way to jeers and sarcastic laughter. The comedian’s only recourse was to discuss his insecurities and to insult the audience. Such a breakdown informed my thoughts on Funny People, Judd Apatow’s ambitious new comedy. It shrewdly examines a man who only knows how to be funny and mean, and what might happen if he’s forced to take stock of his life. The result is honest, yes, but not particularly rewarding. Short on laughs and long on running time, Apatow’s third directorial effort falters. Adam Sandler stars as George Simmons, a sellout comedic actor who gains massive wealth with high-concept Hollywood garbage (not unlike Sandler himself). Leaving his mansion for the doctor’s office, George gets bad news: he has a rare blood disease, and the experimental treatment he’s given only has an eight percent success rate. Without friends, Simmons wanders to a comedy club, a place where he can be honest and people might listen. There he meets Ira (Seth Rogen), a struggling comedian who is jealous of his successful roommates (Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman). Much to Ira’s surprise, he’s asked by George to write some jokes for an upcoming corporate event. Ira agrees, and quickly becomes George’s confidant/whipping boy. Abusing the younger comedian is not rewarding enough, so George turns to Laura (Leslie Mann), his One Who Got Away. She still has feelings for George, and the two even consider a future together. Too bad Laura’s Australian husband (Eric Bana) is in the way. Funny People is clearly more ambitious than Apatow’s prior movies, and here he overreaches. The problem is not with the actors. Rogen successfully plays a goofball who has trouble handling a serious situation. Sandler plays a character not unlike his roles from the mid-90s; like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, Simmons can be obnoxious and cruel, with little empathy for others. Unlike Sandler’s goofy characters, George’s bad behavior has real consequences, and he’s a believable jackass. Some moments, particularly as Ira and George get to know one another, Sandler notably juxtaposes humor and buried pain. Still, the problem is that Funny People lacks the warm emotional core found in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Apatow’s characters are realistic and their drama is authentic, yet that does not engender an overwrought climax. The sequence in question is a long weekend at Laura’s home. Even if it gives Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) a chance to really act, the climax becomes tedious. Character choices are unclear, and too often these scenes announce emotion instead of showing it. The vulgar best friends, usually an Apatow highlight, are unfunny because they’re too selfish in such a dramatic universe (this is especially true during Ira’s romantic subplot, which never gains speed). Oh, and there are numerous cameos, from celebrities and up-and-comers alike, and their clever one-liners cannot save the exacerbating final scenes. Perhaps Apatow loves his movie too much to pare it down. Like the characters of Funny People, comedians are great company when they’re on point. When they’re not funny, their company can be almost unbearable, especially with a two and a half hour running time. With Burma VJ, director Anders Østergaard tries to accomplish a noble thing with meager material. Late in the summer of 2007, Burma saw the beginnings of an uprising, one that eventually escalated to violence. After the 1988 riots left hundreds dead, the Burmese were too afraid to speak out. Everyone considers the monks a legitimate political force, so when they protest nearly 20 years later, ordinary citizens take to the streets. Østergaard documents the uprising with the help of undercover journalists (like the recent Tehran protests, borders were closed to foreign press). Using the pseudonym Joshua, a journalist serves as narrator, and is never shown on camera. He describes how he and his colleagues would risk their lives for newsworthy images. Secret police scatter throughout the city, and Joshua can never be sure when they will spot him. As the conflict escalates, Joshua flatly notes that more deaths are the only way to stir global conscience. The principle weakness with Burma VJ is the quality of the smuggled footage. Joshua and others had to contend with military police and omnipresent fear, and it follows they could not always get the best shot. I realize the journalists were brave and did the best they could, yet they give Østergaard little to work with, and so his documentary lacks emotional power. At the height of the protests, for example, a journalist snags a shot of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (recent Gandhi prize winner), who has been living under house arrest. It should be a climactic, stirring moment, one that inspires others to act. Joshua says the image is blurry and the woman is at a distance, yet is moved to tears. Audience members lack Joshua’s immediate investment in the struggle, and will not have a similar reaction. That is not to say, however, that all the footage is uninspiring. Journalists catch moments when ordinary Burmese proclaim their desire for martyrdom, and there is suspense as a journalist hides from gunfire. Some especially stirring shots capture the scope of the protests. Østergaard and Joshua have moving stuff, just not enough for a feature-length documentary. That’s it for this week’s “Another Movie Guy?”! Tune in next week when romantic comedy overload continues."

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"Like A Lion – Daniel Bashta (B) God Is Able – Hillsong (B) - The Same Love – Paul Baloche (B) Holy – Matt Redman (B) - Because Of Your Love – Phil Wickham (B) Click on the PDF icons to download the chords. Click the pdf icons above to download the song chords. A great Sunday at STORYCHURCH. We concluded our “Beyond Left & Right” series. If you missed any of these, the podcast is a great way to catch up. Being “Pastor Appreciation Month” we spent a little time at the end of the service to thank Jeremy and Kimi for everything they do. Click on song titles above for the chord charts. Listen to the sermon podcast here. What an awesome morning at STORYCHURCH today! I love this church! We continued our BEYOND LEFT AND RIGHT series and talked about “power over” vs “power under”. ”Power over” is when we try to use rules and regulations to enforce a particular culture or way of life. Continue Reading… One cliff stood to the north towards Michmash, the other to the south towards Geba. Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, ‘Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.’ – 1 Sam 14:5-6!"

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"Rapping sensation- P. Sanders blew the roof off and kept the Big Apple wide awake and full of energy when he performed at the Gramercy Theatre stage in NYC at the Pop Explosion concert on March 2, 2013. P. Sanders celebrated a very successful night that night with a rockin’ performance that had fans go wild; and even reached 100, 000 followers on Twitter! The hard-working rap-master P. Sanders has his very own EP, “Underrated” available on iTunes; and has a lot more thrilling, upcoming projects planned for his fans! Speaking of upcoming projects… I, Alexisjoyvipaccess caught up with P. Sanders since our last VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview over the summer in the Big Apple and I got the inside scoop on P. Sanders’s upcoming projects he’s working on, pre-show rituals, and more when I interviewed him backstage at the Pop Explosion NYC concert! In only a matter of a couple of months since our last interview, P. Sanders’s success has grown rapidly! Hear what the awesome and super talented P.Sanders had to say in our updated VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview below! Thanks for the excellent catch-up interview, P. Sanders! Catch P. Sanders and many more fantastic artists on the Pop Explosion Tour! Follow Pop Explosion Tour on Twitter: @PopExplosionTR to not miss out on when the Pop Explosion Tour comes to YOUR city! **Since the video may be a little difficult to hear, you can also read my VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview with the terrific P. Sanders below! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Can you tell us what are some pre-show rituals that you have? P. Sanders: I usually just put on my headphones and I walk around; and just blast my music and kinda zone out because it’s kind of like my world; so I gotta get into my world and my zone; and once I’m in my zone, then I own it! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Nice!! So can you tell us any upcoming projects you’re working on? P. Sanders: Yeah! I have a lot of big stuff coming, a tour is coming up- Pop Explosion Tour! But there’s a few other tours that I might be doing as well simultaneously; so it’s about to be really big, a lot of shows, a lot of places not even just in America but overseas as well, so can’t wait!! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Yay! We’re excited for that! So lastly, if you could bring out one message to your fans, what message would that be? P. Sanders: Never give up, ’cause honestly, your dreams may seem unreachable; but they are tangible things; so I would say, grab ‘em, own ‘em and live your life!! Alexisjoyvipaccess: Great! Thank you so much for catching up with me! P. Sanders: No problem! Alexisjoyvipaccess: And I look forward to seeing you perform tonight! Follow P. Sanders on Twitter: @TheRealPSanders/ “Like P. Sanders on Facebook: / Subscribe to P. Sanders on Youtube: / Check P. Sanders out on iTunes and buy his EP “Underrated”!<<"

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"And do you like the new header? Totally rocks! Created by the awesome Retro Zombie Jeremy - contact him if you'd like an interactive header as well. You the man, Jeremy! Mark Koopmans is hosting his annual Got Green? Blog O’ Hop on March 15. Scattergun Scribblings is hosting the Overcoming Adversity Blogfest February 4-5. Entries will be compiled into a book and the proceeds will go to funding college for his son, Andrew, who has cerebral palsy. SA Larson created this writer’s creed. See her site to sign up and get your badge. Hilde McQueen’s latest book is out, Where the Four Winds Collide. Congratulations, Hildie! “It's stupid to fall for your brother's ex. It's even worse to enlist another's help to win the ex over…” Find Becca Ann on Facebook Find her book on Goodreads and purchase the eBook or paperback at Amazon. And don’t forget to save the date for my next blogfest, March 18 – to be announced next month! Mel has worked so long and hard on this book, and it’s finally available! ML Chesley. website. You can also follow her blog or on Facebook. Purchase Adversarius Amazon or Smashwords. Congratulations, Mel!!! Movie Trivia Answers? This is Spinal Tap Hosted by the awesome LG Keltner, we are to post about our writing beginnings. Want to know how CassaStar began? There were many influences. I was always a Star Trek fan. Star Wars came along and redefined movies and space operas. I enjoyed the likes of Bradbury and Heinlein. And then, a single image for an upcoming TV series caught my attention: Frank Frazetta’s artwork for the series Battlestar Galactica. What ignited my imagination was the setting – a rocky planet and a downed ship. The characters, stranded and ready to defend themselves, also caught my attention. (And in the central character, you can probably see the beginnings of Byron.) I imagined two people, a pilot and a navigator, their fighter shot down on a rocky planet and forced to make a sacrifice. That scene, written when I was a teen, was the only part of the original story to survive. (And the scene changed some during the rewrite.) But that image ignited the story behind CassaStar, which eventually became my first published book. Now it’s an Amazon Best Seller and has spawned two sequels. A picture really is worth a thousand words! Excited about the new books and blogfests? Are you picking up Adversarius? Get any of the movie trivia right? And how did your writing begin? Don’t forget to visit M. Pax’s Spacedock 19! 149 comments: You had some great influences there. Thanks for participating in my blogfest! And your new header is awesome! I enjoyed learning about the motivation for CassaStar! Your new header looks great Alex! Jeremy did a terrific job. Congrats to the authors, and I'll have to check out some of these blogfests. Julie Wow, your new header caught my attention right away - it's awesome! Nice to find out where it all started. The new header is very eye catching - well done Jeremy! I missed the last Got Green? blog hop, so I'll be taking part this time. Should be a blast! Thanks for the shout out! Love the header! And yes, Frazetta is the man. Mmm... I started writing "poetry" (i.e. silly long rhymes) when I was seven or eight. First novel started when a character walked into my head while I was reading. I was thirteen. :-D It's amazing that one picture can inspire so much, and that in itself is inspiring. :) Cool new header! Lots of great blog fests and links today. Jeremy is so talented! I'll hit M. Pax soon. I'm not surprised to see Battlestar Galactica being a major influence for Casastar. :) Great to hear the beginnings of Cassastar! I think pictures can be really inspiring, too...I've frequently wished I could draw instead of write. :) I love the header! I can see how that picture would inspire you. Neat beginning! This is Spinal Tap is so awesome. Thanks for the heads up about the Overcoming Adversity blogfest. Star Trek was the thing that inspired me to create stories as well :) Love that echo of Battlestar G in your story - awesome! LG, thanks for hosting! Nick, you're welcome. Ciara, you can probably see that really easily! Hey there! I love your new header. When it's time for a new look I think I'll contact Jeremy too! I'll treat myself when I hit a certain number of page views! Your new header is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Really, really, really cool. It feels like a videogame in here now! Congratulations to Mel and all the authors with new books. And Alex, nice to hear about your inspiration. I love hearing how books began. Love the new header! And Frazetta has inspired a lot of folks, I think. You're in great company there. Love the awesome header! Beautiful work, Jeremy. Enjoyed your interview over at Spacedock 19 with Mary. Yes, please discuss cloning next. :) Congrats on the new releases, Hilde, Becca, and Mel. Frazetta is head and shoulders above everyone else when it comes to those sorts of paintings. Like the new look! I love that you've had the story all these years and finally acted on it to such success. Very inspiring for another late starter. Though only in my actual writing. My story premises are much more recent. I should've known A Fish Called Wanda. I love that movie! And I love Frank Frazetta. He's one of the few artists I used to try to emulate. I'm loving Frazetta's picture. It's mezmerizing. I think it's awesome, too, that you wrote a scene as a teen, with the picture as your inspiration for CS, Alex. Very cool. Thanks as always for all the tasty bites of info. I'll be checking out the blogfests. xoRobyn As always-- great information. The new header looks fantastic. I also liked Galactica. Never missed it. I think it was movies who inspired me to start writing too. Movies and way too much time alone. Jolie, he does a great job. Cathy, like a videogame - funny! Laura, cloning is on the list. Donna, it's never too late. Robyn, that scene was just so powerful. Great Battlestar Galactica picture! This series is one of my favourites. Interesting to know how Cassastar came about. Great post. Yvonne., I absolutely LOVE your new header. Wow. Cool. And the fact that that teaser picture for Battlestar Galactica was the impetus for CassaStar is fascinating. So amazing how inspiration strikes. And I am dying to read How I Fell for the Funny Fat Girl. So many books, so little time... Whoa! That header is totally awesome! Love to hear how CassaStar came into being. Oh, hey, did you know that Indie Life thing I did today was inspired by you? Not my thing in it, but the people that put that together were inspired by you. Love the new header, Alex! I'm heading over to Spacedock 19 now. :) Wow! lots of news! I enjoyed reading about the beginnings of your first book. Thanks for sharing. :) How cool that an image got you started! It's one of my favorites, too. Sadly, I missed the signup for this blogfest, but I have other surprises in store for today. :) Flashy new header! And interesting to find out your novels were inspired by that artwork. Definitely like the new banner for your blog and also some great info and links. Going to check them out! Now I REALLY want to read Adversarius. I shall have to keep my eyes out for this one. Thank you for sharing the story behind part of CassaStar, I love hearing back stories behind books! Zoltan, it was a favorite of mine. She'll, just one image started it all... Andrew, I did! David, sorry you missed it. Love the header! Inspiration is everywhere if we are just alert and open to it. That is a really cool image - I can see why it inspired your writing! Frank Frazetta is an amazing artist. I'm going to his Website now and spend some time just looking at his images. And good luck to all the writers and their new releases! 2013 is going to be a great year! Love the pic and the story behind CassaStar! Pictures are inspiring. I'm saving the date for your fest and Mark's. And my writing started with the story of a dancing hat . . .and then another about a pencil that escaped from school. (elementary school stories influenced by my love of tap dancing movies, and my strong dislike of school) Congrats to ML! Header is awesome :) And that picture is awesome; definitely inspirational... hehee, so punny. Congrats on all the books! A picture is worth a thousand words indeed. Will read your guest post and thanks for keeping us informed. I love the new header! Thanks for the news. I'm totally gonna check out Nick's blogfest, and I can't wait to read REASONS. Al, I do like your new header. Jeremy was done a very, very appropriate job. It evokes a very CassaNinja feel. I am curious about your blogfest, and Mary Pax, Nicki Elson and I will be announcing one for March 1 this Friday, too. As for the beginnings of CassaStar, I love that a picture was literally worth a thousand words. And I was also interested to know that the first scene was written in your adolescence! I like that detail very much, the idea of an entire world pulsing with promise since then. That BSG picture is fantastic. Love the new header. Signed up for Nick's blogfest. I can see Byron in that picture! I'm getting reallly frustrated. Choosing to read "CassaStar" to my kids was a wrong move. I read to them at bedtime, and at best get a chapter in before they zonk. Sometimes I sneak and read ahead...but don't tell them! As an old school BSG fan, I'm amazed that I've never seen that picture before....very cool! I always find it very interesting how just one spark can ignite something bigger. Better writing through chemistry :) Nice header, Jeremy! I'm keeping away from blogfests until April--at least that's my plan. My last couple of weeks with illness and holidays have already set me a year behind in blogging. Please don't come up with any blogfests I can't refuse! Lee Tossing It Out I do love your new header! It amazes me how much things happen every week. I feel so left behind. So awesome to hear the story behind that! I've always wondered. Can't wait for your blogfest announcement :) You new header rocks. Love the flash, Alex. Fits with your uniqueness! Great looking header. It's good to hear how it all began for you too. What a fun new header! Great new header! and thanks for all the updates. Best :) Lots of stuff going on. Always good to come over here to catch up, and find out yet another interesting fact. Although I'm an avid Bradbury reader (and a couple of Heinlein), and loved BG, I write totally different stuff. Thank goodness for authors like you who feed my addiction to that genre. Love the new header! Great job, Jeremy. That is cool that BSG inspired you, and that you wrote the first scene as a teen! Yes I like your new header! Jeremy is really good at creating headers that capture the tone of the blog. SO techi... so interesting, such fun! Both you and your header. The cool factor on that banner is very high! One of my buddies approach to painting mini's is inspired by Frazetta. Nice new banner! I love the golden-brown color scheme. I've been writing since I was 4 years old, literally as long as I could write. It's just what I've always done, no special inspiration to have started. I love the new header, Alex! I've been to Spacedock 19 - I'm on my way:) Cool new header and interesting how one picture can spark an entire series! Stephen, you could get lost at that site... Tyrean, a dancing hat! That is definitely original. Suze, excited to hear about your blogfest! Yes, there was a really crappy first draft of CassaStar written in my teen years, all stemming from that one scene. Mark, I think the black and white version was in the old TV Guide magazine. Lee, you might not be able to refuse mine... Clarissa, it amazes me as well. Joylene, thank you! ML, I'm trying. Carrie-Anne, that's a long time... Off to visit M-Pax! Liked to BG artwork :). Hadn't seen it before. Great seeing your inspiration for the start of the Cassa series. Cool backstory on your book, Alex! And congrats to all the writers in today's post - there's a lot of exciting news swirling about the blogosphere. Well, it was ST:TNG for me when I was in middle school, though I'd watched the original series and the original Battlestar Galactica in reruns with my dad. I also used to page through my dad's Frank Frazetta art book (though I think there was stuff in there young kids weren't supposed to see). Very cool that your scene survived all those years (and revisions), Alex. ML's cover looks awesome! It was fun and enlightening to talk to you Alex. Glad you visited the Spacedock. Your clones are welcome any time. Love the new header! And Congrats to ML! That picture is very inspiring. I loved BSG - the original and the remake. I thought something looked different over here ;) Thanks for the mention, too! You rock! And I think the only images that have inspired me are ones of hot guys without their shirts on. That counts, right? :) Congratulations! Your new header is an inspiring eye-catcher. A picture really is worth a thousand words! I work together with people from different countries and I can't count how often we use pictures. M Pepper, I bet there was a lot you shouldn't have seen! Oh well. Emily, the only one that did. Mary, thanks for having me. Becca, you are welcome! Thanks for the information; you are like the Blogger Times:D I got my Writer's Creed badge, and am off to visit the Beginnings Blogfest, M. Pax, and all the other goodies you have lined up for us. ooh! Fancy new header is fancy! Blinking lights and everything! Love the new header. I started writing back in the dark ages to amuse my friends. It was supposed to be a novel but everyone wanted to be a character, and everyone wanted their character to do this and that, so it ended up being a sprawling continuing story that was still going when my dad got transferred during my senior year (oh, the agony of it all) and we had to move. Yes, exquisite headboard, love the dynamic light shows. I love what Jeremy did for your blog header. Very cool--much like Jeremy himself. I like the sound of Adversarius and the hero's code of honor. I'll be checking that out for sure! Hope your week is going well, Alex! Blessings, my friend. The header is really neat! I loved the old Battlestar. And had such a crush on Richard Hatch. Alex, I did like how the header came out as I described it as... Space battle in the Matrix... thank you for letting me be creative. So many things going on today, I enjoyed the Battlestar... I as a kid had a cardboard Viper, that I sent in for from the back of cereal box... oh the memories. Great Day! Jeremy The new header is awesome! I'm already signed up for Nick's blogfest, but I'll have to pass on Mark's for a very good reason. I'll be here! :D Congratulations to Hildie, Becca Ann, and M.L.! I'm off to visit M. Pax now. :) So interesting hearing your inspiration! Finally some trivia I knew (well 2 questions anyway). Not a big sci/fi fan, but I loved Battlestar Galacticia (the original TV) I do like the new header! Thanks for all the news and notes. Appreciate you keeping us in the loop. I know I'd totally be out of that loop otherwise! :) I love the header! I see animated pirate ships in my future. :D Thanks for the shout out, Alex! And my writing started after I created Kayta for a D&D game. Geek to the core! XD My first writing experience was when I was 8, but my real writing experience was probably when I joined my current writing group 10 years ago. Everything I write comes out twisty and dark no matter how I try the opposite. Horror it is! LOL. Frank Frazetta’s artwork is amazing. I used to paw all over it when I was young. I get a lot of my writing inspiration from art as well. There is so much to do and see that I'm not sure what I'm doing next! Love the new header Alex. A million thanks for my book shout out. Have a beautiful day! Edi, hoping you'll enjoy those last thousand words. Sarah, I know - it rocks! LD, you should dig it up. Sia, he IS cool. Jeremy, that's funny. And the header rocks. Carrie, yes, you will be my guest that day! Mel, you're welcome. And you need to have him do that. Spruce up your header while keeping the ships and the feel. Lynda, I pawed over it as well, but I'm sure for a different reason. Hildie, you're welcome! Thanks for the secret origin of the Cassan universe! Dunno how you keep up Alex. Liked the sound of Adverstarius so bought it for my Kindle. Love your new header. Very flash. No good at movie trivia. Don't get to see too many movies. Interesting how Cassa Star began. Love that picture. I never missed an episode of the original Battlestar Galactica. I believe I have some of his artwork on collector's cards. Fascinating artwork that really drew my eye. I found them in a little shop in a tiny town near the coast of Oregon (while looking for X-Files cards, haha). I do love inspiration in all forms. Wonderful to hear where CassaStar came from. Shannon at The Warrior Muse Love the new header. Very cool. And I think it's amazing how your whole life was essentially changed by that picture. Think about it. The blog. All these people. How much would be the same if you'd never seen that and never decided to write Cassa Star? Maybe it all would've happened in some other way, but you never know. I think that's the best thing about life. How even the most innocuous-seeming things (like a picture) can impact you for years to come. :) Too much going on! AH! It's all good though. Nice getting a glimpse into 'the beginning'. Thanks for sharing. Heather Jo, I just do my best. Susan, I didn't either! Shannon, that is very cool! I have a game with his artwork on it. Tamara, none of it would've happened... Very cool beginning. A picture or a piece of music an inspire a whole series. I'm off to the Spacedock now! Alex, I think you are at the point now that you need this comment box at the top of the comment list instead of the bottom :) That is a very cool header and I like it a lot. I will throw some work Jeremy's way if I decide to go that route at some point. Hey I got three of the four movies I named, right!! Amazing. Lots going on this first week or so in 2013! Nothing like starting with a BANG!!!!!! I got one from the trivia! Yeah! Can't wait to stop by M.Pax's blog to check out the post. :) Cool banner! ~Stephanie Chuck, I'll see what I can do about the comment box, And I think one of Jeremy's headers would look awesome on your blog. Stephanie, glad you got one right. It was nice to read about your motivation for Cassa Star! I'll go check out your interview with Pax. Some really great blog hops coming up and I'm so stoked for Becca's book! :) I love your header!!! Jeremy rocks, flashes and glows ;D What the heck...a month? C'mon Captain...no fair-I need a hint! Off to check out MPax-I miss her~ I'm so behind, but playing catch up is fun! I love how fun and kind your blog is! Congrats to all! Mel you rock ;D Yeah, that image would catch my attention too. ......dhole Franzetta's Battlestar Galactica is epic. Great inspiration Alex. Love the new banner. I wondered if Retro Zombie was the creator. Hard to beat Frazetta, and yes, I can see Byron in that center figure. I love how the Cassa trilogy, and by extension this blog, came about because of that single image. It's a pretty awesome way to begin :) Jamie I'm not surprised that a powerful image you saw as kid helped to inspire your novel. The older I get, the more I'm amazed at how much the world we lived in when young still affect us. One of these days, I swear I'm gonna answer all your trivia questions. Hey, it's cool to know how you got started with CassaStar. I didn't realize you began writing it when you were a teen :) Oh I read and reviewed Adversarius! It's a great book. Congratulations to Mel Chesley :)) Great header! It was interesting reading about what inspired CassaStar. Dude. Your new banner looks awesome! Ella, thank you. And I will give you a hint - it involves a top ten list. DG, figured you would see Byron. Jamie, it is wild when you think about it. Helena, don't give up hope that you'll answer them. Rachel, I did! Many, many years ago... Michael, you're a speed reader. Man I love those moments where inspiration strikes is right on down! :) Nice story for the blogfest. I have yet to read any of your books but they are all high up on my TBR! and thousands of fans! awesome picture! art is so inspirational! fabulous new look! love it! cant wait to see what you do next! Great new banner! Loved Frazetta's artwork and all the newsy stuff! Love the new header, noticed it right away :). A new blogfest? Hmmm...I am most intrigued! Happy Wednesday! Jen Awesome banner!!! And so many blogfests to enter. Congratulations to all that have new books out. I love the story behind the inspiration for CassaStar. That image can really stir some creativity, and I'm glad it caught your eye. I have a funny story about my inspiration for Forged by Greed :-) I'm off to M Pax's blog to read the post. I love the new banner! It's spectacular! The new banner is AWESOME, Alex!!! Love it. =) Going to check out books. =) Your new header is great! So what should I do now, shut my blog down or change header? I totally identify with using artwork for inspiration! I'm working on a high fantasy project, and I've developed a habit of finding scifi and fantasy pictures on pinterest to help me envision locals and characters and even events for my story. :D Trisha, thank you!! Tara, I hope I have that many fans. Angela, you need to post that story. Jay, or contact Jeremy to do a new one! Liesel, smart idea. Oy! Totally forgot it was Wednesday yesterday. Better late than never. Good thing I dropped by. I'd miss all the news without your posts. So many blogfest! And so little time. I loved the BG from the late 70's early 80's. had big crushes in Apollo & Starbuck. Not surprised you'd find it inspiring. Funny where we find that nugget of inspiration. That's so cool to learn the inspiration behind Cassa Star! I remember when that picture came out! :) It's amazing what can come from a simple picture. I know I've had my fair share of image-based muses. Love the new header. Absolutely gorge!!! Alex, the new header is jazzy. I like it. It boggles my mind when I come here and see all these blog posts I want to visit and all these new books I want to read. I need more hours in my day. Yes, interesting CassaStar roots. I love the new header! Awesome lightning effects... very atmospheric! I enjoyed the Cassastar beginnings... It seems like the blogfests never end... there are so many new ones... Nancy, it was a cheesy show, but I dug it. DL, glad someone else remembered! Patricia, I am here to boggle... I love the new header!! Great job, Jeremy! Alex, lucky you, yes it's me, Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar! You are having another blogfest? We will check that out. We do so hope you join our "Groundblog Day" blogfest. That's "Groundblog", not "Groundhog". Clever, eh? You are having another blogfest? We will check that out. We do so hope you join our "Groundblog Day" blogfest. That's "Groundblog", not "Groundhog". Clever, eh? Went by Nick's blog. I'm in. Working on a story tonight. You've got a hear of gold, Alex. And thanks for the spam info. Followed all. So far, so good. :))) I'm a very visually-oriented gal, so I can see how this image would've jump started your creativity! It's truly amazing what can spark a story idea! As always I can count on you to keep me busy...LOL, Not that I need it, But nice to know what needs checing out :) Gary, I won't have to listen to I Got You Babe, will I? Gary, I won't have to listen to I Got You Babe, will I? Thanks, Kittie! And glad that nixed the spam. Gotta learn outlining...heading over there now. And it turns out that by sheer luck that I DID know the first trivia answer (it just popped into my brain) even though it's been YEARS since I slept through the movie... Tina @ Life is Good Thanks for providing these links and all this info. Lots to go through. I especially love the rebel writer's creed. YES, I love the header! It's perfect for this blog! I also loved Sheri's writer's creed. It's full of great reminders. Thanks for sharing all the great news. It's so exiting. That's a cool story of how you came up with your novel concept! GOT GREEN!!!!! You know, I'm the reigning champion for that blogfest, I've got to really step it up this year if I'm to win again... And LOVING the new look... I'm commenting just ahead of a new post. LOL I'm so far behind, I can't even see what's behind be me anymore. LOVE the new banner. Jeremy is major-league talented. Frank Frazetta is one of my all time favorite artists. His Wolfman is on my wall here at home. What wonderful news all around the blogosphere. I love hearing all this great news. I love Star Trek too and Star Wars! Though some of my guy friends make fun of me for it since they are "guy movies/shows" but I'm a geek. :) I'm excited for all of the new blogfests! That header is FANTASTIC!! I love it! Thanks for the links and news. I love the new header. Tina, good for you! Morgan, the pressure is on. Melissa, Jeremy did an awesome job. Krista, no, you are an uber-cool chick in my book! Hi Alex - so pleased you highlighted Nick's blogfest for his son - raising funds via an anthology - it will be great. I have to catch up - so much happening - how does anyone keep up .. Cheers and I love the header - talented bloggers around .. let alone writers! Have a great year - Hilary I was wondering where you got that great new header! It's awesome! Jai Aloha, I'm about as late as late can be, but wanted to say Cheers for the O'shout out and may your eyes not glaze over if I add to the "Wow, dude, cool new header" gang :)"

"http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2013/01/spacedock-19-ninja-news-adversarius.html"

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"My name’s Alex, and I’m getting started with Game Design; specifically, I’m carving a niche as a technical game designer. About Me I’m a geek of all trades, and a master of some. I obviously love playing video games, but I also enjoy traditional games, comics, anime, science, and anything in the sci-fi or fantasy genres. I’ve played my fair share of Magic. I’ve DMed a few campaigns of D&D. My Story I grew up playing Skate or Die on my brother’s Commodore 64 and Pitfall on his Atari. His hand-me-downs were an electronic legacy that got me thinking of games as early as four years old. The first time I even considered that I might be able to have a computer of my own, the first thought that entered my mind was that I would be able to make video games. My 10-year-old brain didn’t have the slightest clue what that would require, but the seed was planted. Later on in my early teens, I got into playing Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II on the MSN Gaming Zone. I quickly got wrapped up in the world of “cogs,” hacking game files to bend the game to your will. There was the additional challenge of keeping the hack from tripping a checksum error, so you could take your hacks into multiplayer games. In high school, I was a member of the school website team starting in my freshman year. That’s where my interest in web development grew. I pursued that interest in college, and enjoyed it for the most part. However, my passion for creation and game design wouldn’t go without a fight. I made great plans for using my programming skills with my friends help to make games. Those plans never came to fruition. A few years later, I decided I needed a game development booster shot. I went back to school for a dose of knowledge and networking, and now I’m ready to make waves in the industry."

"http://alexpizzini.com/blog/bio/"

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"OberonViking I agree completely with you here. I actually have the trouble of needing to retrain my players as they began by mistrusting me. Probably because they are students at the school I teach at, perhaps becausew they are only 13 and 14, maybe because they have come with a background in computer RPGs and mmorgs. – OberonViking 2012-07-06 10:10 UTC shortymonster sadly, because I play with a mixed group from various other gaming groups, this kind of untrustworthiness seems to have been firmly established long before I got there. using an NPC as the guy who wired them’s second in command who was supposed to be very helpful indeed, even going behind his boss’s back on occasion for reasons of his own that were all in the player’s interests, and they still thought he was lying or withholding information. – shortymonster 2012-07-06 10:18 UTC lior An interesting point. On the one hand, we are trying to make the game world dangerous and full of evil. But then we avoid almost all things which are truly evil. We slaughter lots of creatures without problem and are happy when countless villagers are massacred because that is the next adventure hook. But torture, abuse, despair, we do not want to have those in the game. Why should we? If its ugly in the real world, how could it be fun in play? There is something delusional about our hobby. – lior 2012-07-06 11:30 UTC -C It’s weird, I do this all the time and the players never really have a problem trusting anyone. I’ve never had a player do any of the things. Threaten to torture somebody? Never. Sometimes they’ll say “I don’t want to get screwed!” and I’ll say, “Well, you probably won’t” and that’s pretty much the end of it. – -C 2012-07-06 12:28 UTC @Lior: I think there is nothing delusional about it at all. It only seems delusional if you make broad simplifications. Let me dig a bit deeper: Or: Or: We might get into real world ethics, of course (the ends justifying the means, is there a just war, human(oid) rights, war conventions) – but I think the key is how people feel at the table even if they cannot express it clearly. There’s a line to be drawn everywhere with respect to “how much we can take”. Just as we do not experience risk in mathematical terms, we don’t experience cruelty and pain in statistically relevant terms. It matters whether we’re doing it, or it is being done to us, or we hear about other people doing it, the amount of graphic detail is important, our own sensibilities play an important role (people who enjoy watching Saw movies and I are not in the same boat). – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-06 12:31 UTC Alex takes a couple shortcuts to get to game content he enjoys and is interested in. That is not delusional. It’s a question of where you draw the line in descriptions and where you lift the veil about NPCs. “His eyes dart around nervously as he tells you this” or “you have the uncanny feeling he is not telling the truth” is not the same thing as everybody always being nice, even if they’re supposed to be the bad guys. Example: In Alex’ Wilderlands campaign there is a red dragon who got seven virgins every year; the reasons long forgotten by the humans. Yes, the dragon is going to sacrifice these innocent people in a ritual (and that is all I as a player needed to know) … but the ambiguity of real life starts beyond this; the dragon does this to seal a demon kings’ soul so he doesn’t resurrect himself in this part of the material plane. And the goal of that subset of the campaign, chosen by the players, was to ensure the dragon doesn’t need to do that anymore. So: – Harald 2012-07-06 12:42 UTC @-C: If your players never suggested torture, more power to them! What about the other issues, however: When your players release prisoners, the freed prisoners go and fetch friends to chase after the player characters? If so, do the player characters continue to release prisoners? When your non-player characters lie to your player characters, will the players still trust other non-player characters? Perhaps your player characters never trust any non-player characters? Or perhaps sifting through the statements the non-player characters make is part of the game? It also seems to be what you’re saying in On Ignorance of Skill Based Play: This would be similar to me openly admitting that the non-player character seems to be lying once they player ask me “is he lying?” or “I watch his face and try to figure out whether he’s lying.” In response, I’ll provide something pretty obvious like the examples Harald provided above: “His eyes dart around nervously as he tells you this” or “you have the uncanny feeling he is not telling the truth.” – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-06 12:45 UTC lior @Alex, @Harald: Let me rephrase. We want dragons sacrificing virgins, but we do not want to think about what that would mean and how and why that is horrible. We want a road flanked by dozens of crucified criminals. But we do not want to imagine what that really means. Crucifixion → bad, human sacrifice → bad. Those are trivial conclusions. We want them in the game, but we want them to stay trivial. Also, I did not say Alex is delusional, far be it from me. In fact I think Alex’ method is a mature way of not dealing with unfun issues. I am deliberately saying “There is something delusional about our hobby” because I think it applies to almost all of us, myself very much included. I suspect those players who are OK with torture are so because it does not touch them emotionally as easily. In other words, it stays trivial for longer. – lior 2012-07-06 13:30 UTC AlexSchroeder @Lior: I suspect that this is an aspect of all sane humans and is true for almost all endeavors: too much detail makes you crazy; too much terrible detail makes you crazy. It protects you from the tedium and horror of everything, of the entirety of our human existence. The repression of horrible details and (sometimes) their sublimation into action (or adventure in the case of role-playing games) seems to be one of the most basic mechanisms allowing us to function. But then again, I’m not a psychologist and have my reservations regarding Freud. – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-06 14:07 UTC Brendan Question: how are lying NPCs different from trapped dungeon rooms? Is it a question of context? If so, maybe NPCs encountered in a dungeon are unreliable, while those encountered in a town are trustworthy? That seems like it might be a reasonable assumption, much like how players usually don’t feel the need to probe the floor in a tavern with a 10 foot pole. – Brendan 2012-07-06 22:43 UTC AlexSchroeder @Brendan: I think looking at the difference between traps and lying non-player characters is a good way of considering the issue. Context is a good point. I’d say that a non-player character joining the party and moving from the tavern context to the dungeon context warrants a bit more thought: Is the non-player character now a liability or does he “stay trustworthy?” My players might be expecting the character to stay honest and I tend to agree. Another aspect I like is how traps or liars are discovered. Here’s how I think traps ought to be used: there must be ways of discovering traps that doesn’t involve rolling dice. I like to say: “If you need to roll dice, it’s already too late.” Thus, examining the floor might yield “a line across the floor” or “a dried puddle of blood” or something along these lines. I like -C’s traps on his Hack & Slash blog because he discusses this discoverability of traps. What about lying non-player characters? I feel that they need the same kind of discoverability. In the original example on G+ the Philip Watson had the evil cleric drink booze instead of joining combat in the first round and similar hints out there, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s good enough. – AlexSchroeder 2012-07-07 10:04 UTC"

"http://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2012-07-06_Training_Players"

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"- News - Sports - Arts & Culture - Opinion - Business - Advertising - Print Edition — 25 October 2012 Related Articles About Author (0) Readers Comments Poll - @ACPSk12 student leads charge for Alexandria's Relay for Life (about 1 day ago) - (about 1 day ago) (about 1 day Hobie and Monk: Coping with a 6-year-old food critic May 17, 2013 Wheels come off Market Square food cart program May 17,"

"http://alextimes.com/2012/10/editorial-alexandria-times-endorses-slate-of-city-council-candidates/allison-silberberg/?pagenum=2&sort=id&dir=DESC"

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"Bert Schramm 2823 Private Herbert Leslie SCHRAMM, a 22 year old Farmer from Whites River, South Australia. He enlisted on 17 February 1916; and at the conclusion of the war Returned to Australia, 10 July 1919. During part of the course of his military service with the AIF, Bert Schramm took many photographs of scenes he encountered during his service in Palestine and Syria. Bert was not a man of letters so these photographs gave a vivid description of his daily life. Bert made a promise to his sweetheart, Lucy Solley, that he would do so after he received camera from which these photographs were made. As a Brigade Scout since September 1918, he took a lead part in the September Offensive by the Allied forces in Palestine. Coupled with Bert's diary entries which are placed alongside those of the 9th Light Horse Regiment to which he belonged and to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade to which the 9th LHR was attached. On this basis we can follow Bert in the context of his formation and his photographs. The photographs are placed and titled in in the same order and manner as they appear in the album. Where possible, commentary and links are given to provide additional information. For a comprehensive listing of photographs in the album, see: Bert Schramm's Photo Album, Contents Should any further details be sought, see Australian Light Horse Studies Centre"

"http://alh-research.tripod.com/bert_schramms_photo_album/index.album/horse-lines?i=39"

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"Charming, sun-soaked and obsessed with death. Tokyo's all-girl power trio Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re is irony personified. It's a hard-rock band with punk sensibilities, danceable beats and a sharp-toothed metal roar. (How that roar comes from the vocal cords of three petite women is beyond me.) Singer Mari's warm delivery masks the often racier themes of tragedy and sex. To non-Japanese speakers oblivious to the meaning of the lyrics, some of the contrast is lost. But then there are the violent fits thrown by the feisty guitar and thumping drums, which help drive home the band's contradictory aesthetics. "And the speed of the cars is fast. Everything is fast!" The songs aren't always so heady or obscene. Sometimes they're just about food. In "Fish Cakes," each member plays a different ingredient in a hot pot, and in "No-Miso Shortcake" Mari invites us to eat her brain (all in Japanese, of course). Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re introduced itself to America in 2004, when it toured alongside several other Japanese acts. A year later, the band reached the ears of thousands of Yanks as the opening act for the Suicide Girls Live Burlesque Tour. In a collectively answered e-mail interview, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re's love for America is explicit. The fact that its current tour is the band's seventh in the States is also a testament to its adoration for the red, white and blue. "You can be unrestrictive about your feelings in the United States," the group says. "And the speed of the cars is fast. Everything is fast!" The band's travels have been mostly glee-filled, but on one occasion, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re found itself in a haunted hotel room. "We stayed at one place where a ghost seemed to be in the bathroom," the three band members say. "Everyone was afraid to go into the shower alone." Then there was the dive bar. "There was no door in the restroom stall." Just as Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re has come to lust for American life, so too have Americans come to adore the band. "The fans in the United States dance in a frenzy, even if they don't know us," Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re says. "In Japan the crowd is shy. Even if they love us, they won't dance alone." So who's coming out to Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re shows? It's a colorful, brainy bunch. "A young person and an elderly person can both love Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re," the band says. "A lot of clever persons are in the fan base, too. For instance, scientists and college professors." You don't need an advanced degree to see Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re in Albuquerque; you just have to be 21 or older. The band plays Burt's Tiki Lounge on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Static Static (L.A.) and Calico (here) are also on the bill. Entry is free as a bird."

"http://alibi.com/music/24445/Tsu-Shi-Ma-Mi-Re.html"

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"I have been lucky enough to stay in Spokane for several days and my friend Cat calls it my "Northwest Basecamp." Max and I really enjoyed the company of Cat and her friends. During my stay, I was able to participate in many activities including going to the lake, concerts at the gas station, walking in the park, going on a merry-go-round, a trip to Idaho, eating a shrimp boil, herding cows at a working ranch, and many more fun things that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to participate in if I didn't make the trip. As with all good bye's, this was a sad one but I know I will be back. Now it's time for Max and I to get on the road and head East. I will talk about our adventure in the next few days of blogs. Thank you for reading and for being a part of it with us! Also, a big thank you to the WSU design team and Danna Snow for allowing me to come in and photograph you! 1 comment: Friends,frolic,fun times...thanks for sharing.Life is speeding up it seems and this summer is no exception.Already the temp is cooling down by 30 degrees in some places.Looking forward to your fall series of pictures."

"http://alisontravelsblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/leaving-spokane.html"

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"No sugar beets today! Instead I go outside to take my kid to school this morning and this is what we find. Ironically we had to drive 300 miles the day before for a family issue so it was 'good luck' that it didnt happen then. So there is no happy challah bread, half eaten. No happy easy eggs with avocado. No happy easy eggs with avocado and red chile. Only my car, and a tree knocked over by the 'weather' - fortunately it was the driver door mirror that was damaged, well that and my now deep seated psychological problems stemming from trees, weather, cars, and strange neighbors 'washing' it. (I dont know this guy) I fell behind on comment response since we were 300 miles away (well we were really only 160 miles away it was 320 round trip, I like to exaggerate to make my anguish more anguishy) and I did not take my laptop. 34 comments: You are lucky that the damage was so minimal. And I love the kindness of fellow New Yorkers giving you a free car wash! What are the chances! Stace stace: incredibly lucky (I guess) and yeah pretty funny - I didnt tell him it was my car I just snapped a few pictures and let him do what he wanted to do... Good thing it wasn't major damage, just before Christmas!I guess you have other things to use time and money on! Do you keep your camera in your pocket? anette: I do, I take my camera everywhere I go! New Yorkers are an interesting group of people...good thing he was using a water hose! I was on jds223's page with the hose!Gee who woulda thought that it was a tree you had to watch out for in the wilds of NYC? hey, my car needs washing:) the eggs n chile n avacado look wonderful.. jds223: that IS a good thing! starrlife: yup, trees and mold and blinding fashion! snugs: bring it on over to my block, I am sure this guy will oblige...and those eggs and avocado and chile were damn good. Yep, lucky!!! I absolutely pissed myself laughing when I read that you dont know the guy with the hose!!! WHAT THE????????? Maybe hes blind and he used to water the tree so now hes watering your car>>>>>> ha ha ha ha Well that car got busted deep! Is nature taking it's revenge? Or is nature trying to get your attention? Sorry about your ride dude. At least is wasn't a '57 Impala with chrome hubcaps and a chainlink steering wheel. mandi: I wanted to give him a bucket of soap.... sofia: busted barely, actually, but nature is always the champion. Loose one sideview mirror and find another. francesco: how do you know I dont have a chrome chain link steering wheel? andres: if only life could be so simple... New Yorkers are NUTS!!! and I'm so glad that you weren't IN the car when this happened and it was only the mirror. I mean, who actually uses that particular mirror anyway, right? I wondered where you were....I hope everything is ok with your family. No drama, ya know? Drama sucks. xoxox no it was just sitting on the street like normal....and yeah we had drama... New Yorkers are NOT nuts - the rest of you goombas are nuts! Now you got firewood for those roof top bar-b-que's. Stuff like that drives me nuts! Just enough damage to inconvenience you during the holidays... micky-t- ok mister half full - thats a bright side except the wood is still green and it is a city tree -but I do like the positive twist. buff: EXACTLY! Eww, what DOES a city tree smell like when it burns. LOL Let it air dry on the roof for 3 months...it'll be good to go! Oh man--sorry about your car! Bad tree! Those eggs with chile and avocado look SLAMMING! Who cut up the tree? Was it this same stranger who is washing your car? I didn't think there were nice people like that anymore? Must be the holidays. One night in 1986, my husband and I parked our 1 year old Cadillacs side by side, mine backed in beside his, so he could get out his driver's door and open mine for me. There was a rainstorm that night; the next morning, the tree behind our cars had come down and crunched in the driver's sides of both cars. Homeowner's insurance paid for them, but it took a while. Relatively speaking, you were lucky. And you can send that neighbor to wash my cars in December, if you want! I have a chiminea ready for the wood...and I will make you one of my 'Happy' Egg Nog drinks and we will have a good laugh about what life throws at us! Glad you and your son are ok... Hope your weekend goes a little better! Glad the damage was only to the car. sheesh I hate it when that happens...man that bread looks good!!! You poor thing! You sounds like you're having a rough time! Why was that guy washing your car? Weird! My husband would have freaked. ouch! You're lucky the damage wasn't worse! Do we get an example of your deep seated psychological problems? An altar boy stories you can share? Okay, so you are the THIRD person I read that had damange done to their car, but at least you weren't driving it at the time like the other two were! And some random person was washing your car? Strange, but kinda nice too, huh? First off..the picture of your egg platter...priceless. You kill me with the colors. Secondly...I am totally loving that you took a picture of the guy washing your car without letting him know that you were the owner...awesome! OMG - I'm so happy the damage wasn't worse than what it was! Well, at least he wasn't peeing on your car. And who needs a driver's side mirror anyway! :-) "strange neighbors 'washing' it. (I dont know this guy)" you still crack me up. Happy Holidays."

"http://alittlebitofchristo.blogspot.com/2008/12/holy-moly.html?showComment=1229559300000"

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"PLEASE NOTE: You must subscribe to our weekly newsletter before claiming any of the following bonuses. Click here to subscribe (you can always unsubscribe later) If you are encountering any problems, or you don't understand how to claim your bonus please Contact Us $12 Free – No Deposit Required How to Claim your Bonus: 1. Save us to del.icio.us 2. Visit Da Vinci’s Gold Casino and download the casino Related Links : Gambling Sites Directory | Online Gambling | Online Casinos | Jazzsports Online Sportsbook & Casino | Loose Lines Online Sportsbook | Internet Casino | Online-Casino | Casino-Online | Lottery Help | Gamble Online | Free Slots at Free Casino Slot Game | Free Blackjack | Online poker | Buy Poker Chips | Best Casino Directory | Virtual Casino Directory | Online Poker Rooms | Online Gambling | Casino Card Games | Gambling Directory | Links Online Casino Bonuses | New Casinos | 100% Casino Bonuses | 200% Casino Bonuses | 300% Casino Bonuses | 400% Casino Bonuses | Exclusive Casino Bonuses © 2006 Online Casino Bonuses"

"http://all-casino-bonuses.com/contests.htm"

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"Carlton Books Ltd., Hard cover, ￡12.99, 384 pp. For your money, you received not only a book that looked good, but also one that actually told you something. When it comes to coffee table books, the two can never be taken for granted. Fourteen years on, the book is enjoying a renaissance. It was last updated in 2000 and has now been pored over again, the cobwebs blown away, and the facts and figures updated for a new era. But what you don’t get anymore are the pictures, which is a shame as this is a book crying out for illustration. Don’t get me wrong, Roger’s words are as clear and crisp as ever, drawing on his four decades of banging on brewery doors and seeking out beers of quality, but the book, in its new, compact, monochrome format, has a rather dry feel to it. The contents begin with the art and science of beer making, and the basics of brewing are explained extremely well, with more detail than is often found in catchall beer books. Then Roger describes his travels; zipping around the world, country-by-country, summing up the local beer scene, selecting the best exponents. Chapter Three takes us on a pub and bar tour of the world, with paragraphs on all of the best places to drink, before Chapter Four explores what it describes as “the culture of beer drinking”―anything from the origins of pub names to the latest licensing rules in the UK. Throughout, it’s clear that Roger knows his stuff; much of it gleaned firsthand through visits to the breweries and bars themselves. Producing a revised edition of a book this extensive and detailed is always going to be fraught with danger―danger that an odd fact may be overlooked, danger that new information is sidelined in favor of just updating the existing text. Being picky, I did find examples where the story is not quite up-to-date and also stumbled across some notable omissions. I also noted that the absence of web details makes the book seem somewhat dated. That all said, it’s a good, solid, informative work―nearly 400 packed pages of text from the world’s leading beer writer―that I will certainly consult on a regular basis. The lack of gloss and glamour in this new version can, of course, be a bonus. Think of the World Beer Guide as a solid primer―a fundamental, almost school textbook-like introduction to the world of beer, bars and brewing that cuts to the chase and leaves the frills for other titles. The added bonus, of course, is that you have a coffee table book, without the coffee table price."

"http://allaboutbeer.com/learn-beer/reviews/book-reviews/2010/05/world-beer-guide/"

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"Last we left the adventuring party, they were camping outside the Cave of Marsh. I anticipated dying to the wizards guarding the crown many times because of their paralytic touch and massive damage. Their attack on the mages can quickly take them out. I retrieved the crown and prepared for the battle coming next. Astos is the first real boss to face off with the party. Garland is too early to be much of a challenge, and the last two plot related fights (pirates and wizards) are more like mini-bosses. Astos has a spell, Rub, that has a good chance of instantly killing a party member. In fact, it's usually his first action followed by either Fire 2 or 3. Astos decided to focus his efforts on buffing himself instead, while Kili took MVP for the fight, basically killing him single-handedly (I'm not sure Tont's 2 HP of damage really pushed it over the edge). With the crown I was able to get the Crystal Eye, which the witch Matoya requests in exchange for some powerful herbs that revive the elf king who has a mystic key to unlock magic doors. Behind one of the doors are some explosives that a dwarf needs. This is the longest chain of fetch quests I've seen in the games for this blog. Beyond the TNT, I also uncover a lot of powerful equipment that I can't use. At least it gets me a lot of gold to help afford the costly spells. With the TNT, a dwarf blow up a land bridge that opens up the wider world . Now the main quest really begins and I can finally do something about these orbs. I've just reached the first town beyond, and the Earth Cave is awaiting my approach. Session Time: 1h30m (Total Time: 5h30m) Sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been really stressful and work is crazy. Still is, but I've spent too long away from this, so I'm trying to get back into it. Thank you all for stopping by again and checking it out. I'm definitely devoting more time to this project going forward. Welcome back! Life is always more important than video games, of course, but hopeful this is a de-stressor for you... It does help, but it also creates some stress at home when I play for long periods, so I'm trying to limit the longer sessions. Glad you're back! Sorry to hear about real-life stress, I hope things are better now! Not really, but I'm tired of waiting for them to get better. I've been following your blog for quite some time, but not commenting until now. Glad to see you're back! Have you considered trying one of the patches for Final Fantasy? I wound up having my Final Fantasy cartridge ROM reburned with a bugfix patch that really made the game a whole lot more fun to play. Vanilla NES Final Fantasy has a ton of bugs, notably that none of the "special" weapons that are supposed to deal extra damage to specific creatures (The Giant Sword for example) actually does any additional damage. There are spells that do the opposite of what is intended (I believe LOK actually reduces your To-Hit, rather than increasing) and a great deal of the elemental protection spells (AFIR, ALIT, etc) don't do anything at all. A little QA would have gone far. I was unaware of bugfix patches for my favorite FF game, though I knew about the bugs. I'll have to go search one out... I wish I remembered which patch I found, but it was compatible with the cartridge's ROM and the guy running nesreproductions.com burned it for me. Works great. I think I'd rather stick to unmodified versions, or at least officially released versions. The special weapons are really only a drawback for Gioz. I guess the light axe also is limited, but I don't remember many undead once it's found. The spell limitations and handicaps I can work around as well. I really don't like using buffs and debuffs much as I feel like they waste a turn in casting them, especially when the debuff just doesn't work. I actually bought the PS1 version recently. I could switch to that version... nah I'll just stick with the original for now. I've beaten it before. @archivis: Someone named AstralEsper made a great patch called Final Fantasy Restored. I highly recommend it. It fixes pretty much every bug; the only one still unfixed, I think, is the INT bug (i.e., higher INT is supposed to increase the power of Black Magic, but doesn't). I have noticed that Gioz's spells will sometimes out-power Kili's. Wow, I was reading that and I saw Garland and now I can't get that ancient webcomic, 8-bit theatre out of my head. I never heard of 8-bit Theater until now. Thanks for wasting the rest of my free time for today.... I'll have to check out 8-bit theater and lose some more free time then. Don't worry, it goes downhill pretty quickly, I just kept reading it out of habit. Lies, Canageek, LIES! All those consecutive hours I lost watching the Youtube episodes and then continuing in the comics are proof of its OBJECTIVELY perpetual funniness! .... Seriously, though, I am sad it won't continue forever especially with 5 more sprite-based Final Fantasy's to draw from.... IMAGINE! PS: Glad to see you back,Zenic. I kinda dropped off my usual blog-reading spots (bet I have a few hundred hours of CRPG Addict back-logged,too), so I am sorry this greeting is more than a bit late :) Thanks, and good to see you back as well. Wizardry's been teaching me the true meaning of an unfair game. I'm hoping I've seen the worst of it and can move on soon. Strangely, I'm enjoying it more than Phantasy Star II. That could have to do with grinding while also playing Star Saga Two. Good to see you posting - and to see your exploits are continuing. :) Glad to be back. I hope I can get through the 1990s of gaming by the end of the summer at least. We'll see how quickly I can start ramping up my play time. I quite enjoyed this section of the game. Because I used the peninsula of power on my playthrough I kind of breezed through it. Really enjoyed the battle with the elf guy. I think the peninsula of power is a less powerful in this games. I remember easily grinding there in Dawn of Souls (the game used MP instead spell points per level). I suppose it's good before getting the mystic key, although at level 11 I was getting hit for nearly half my HP. The ever present mummies at the north castle are a constant source of experience. The giants in the Earth Cave are seem to be a good deal as well, but take some time to kill. I remember the eye in the ice cave being another good source, but he's hard to get to and can easily kill your party without the right equipment. Beyond that, I can't think of any particularly easy places to grind for levels. I hope you'll write up your thoughts when we get to the final posting on this game. It'll be interesting to read up on the differences between the versions. I'm catching up on older articles, so I'm fine with you being less frequent :D Glad to have a new reader. I'm eager to move forward though, so I hope I can get back to my goal of at least once a week. I'm glad to see you back, and glad to see Kili kicking ass and taking numbers! Kili is definitely one of the most powerful characters with his nukes. I think the animation you recall for the blowing up of the canal is from one of the myriad of remakes. Glad to see you back blogging! I did play through the GBA Dawn of Souls version, so maybe I'm remembering that. I also remember tent/cabin/house animation, but I'm pretty sure that's Final Fantasy II (SNES). Yes, the GBA version, as well as the superior PS1 and other remaks have these animations for blowing up the canal, and at other set points, as well as tent/cabin/house animations."

"http://allconsolerpgs.blogspot.com/2013/02/game-12-final-fantasy-nes-from-cave-to.html"

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"http://allegrophotography.com/blog/2008/12/17/photography-the-plaza-wedding-david-tutera-great-performances/"

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"Mig I’m not a big fan of amusement park rides: the kiddie train or a quick spin on the carousel horse is about my speed. On the day our son had his first anaphylactic reaction, I walked away from the emergency room in a daze. It seemed we had been given complimentary lifetime passes on the [...] Comparing Gluten-Free Cereal & Oatme [...]"

"http://allergicliving.com/index.php/category/celiac-2/?page=1&paged=2"

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"Facebook Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will do the Nasdaq honors Friday morning, marking his company’s initial public offering by ringing the stock exchange’s bell, meaning that he will sign a screen and press a button from the social network’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., according to reports. The news was first tweeted by CNBC and later confirmed by TechCrunch. Nasdaq.com will broadcast the event in real time. Watching is sure to be a nationwide spectator sport for a certain slice of the population, as the media frenzy leading up to the May 18 IPO has been rather feverish. It appears to be full-steam ahead amid earlier rumors of a possible delay in the IPO, as Facebook documents filed today confirm that the social network will appear on the Nasdaq exchange with the symbol FB. And Bloomberg reported earlier today that shares will only be available until the close of business tomorrow. Facebook’s share price will be announced Thursday, the day before the hugely anticipated IPO. Amendments to earlier estimates now give Facebook a value of some $77 billion, and its price-per-share is slated to be in the range of $28 to $35. TechCrunch predicted that Zuckerberg will give a speech Friday morning, but for Facebook employees only. Readers: Are you counting the hours until the hype ends and the trading begins? Image courtesy of Shutterstock."

"http://allfacebook.com/zuckerberg-nasdaq-bell_b88822"

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"62 Reasons You Might Be All Groan UpPosted on December 27th, 2011 Are you a GROAN UP? Someone in that awkward limbo between growing and grown? If so, you’re not alone. I recently unwrapped the theory of Emerging Adulthood, which suggests that there is a new developmental stage between the transition from adolescence to adult called “emerging adulthood”. However, I’ve also been conducting my own less-than-academic research around emerging adulthood and my theory of being a GROAN UP. And after months of collecting answers from twentysomethings/thirtysomethings from around the World of Web-ernet (and sprinkling in my own), I present to you what it REALLY means to be ALL GROAN UP – someone in between growing and grown. 1. When you buy loads of cute accessories for your teenage sister, because obviously you are too GROAN up to wear them! - Kay 2. The thought of becoming an adult makes you toss up a few Fruity Pebbles. 3. You see nothing wrong with still eating Fruity Pebbles. 4. You take your nieces to see cartoon movies just so you don’t look like a weirdo watching a kids movie – Linzy 5. TGIF still means something more to you (aka you might own the entire DVD set of Boy Meets World). 6. You de-stress by coloring with crayola crayons. - Cara 7. At the first sight of snow you hope work is cancelled tomorrow. 8. You stop laughing at Friends and start thinking that Joey’s comments about sex are inappropriate. – Josh 9. You’ve had a new job (or no job) nearly every year for a decade. 10. You still eat mac n cheese for dinner (but now add peas) – Robin 11. When Father’s Day is for YOU 12. When you realize YOU have to DEAL with the car mechanics instead of your dad doing it for you! – Linzy 13. You can’t believe you’re married 14. You can’t believe you’re NOT married 15. You still don’t really know how taxes work but you pretend like you do. ~ Katie 16. You still get called “the girl” at work – A Girl Who Dreams 17. You ironed your dress shirts for the first month of your new job, and then decided a much easier strategy was just to stop believing that wrinkles exists. 18. You say things like, “That Fred Savage was dreamy” ~ Blunt Delivery 19. You bring empty Tupperware to work to take home leftover office food 20. When you make comments like “I was NEVER allowed to wear something like that when I was her age…I wore stretch pants and an over-sized t-shirt!” ~ Alyssa 21. When the last of the ketchup bottle makes a fart noise and you don’t laugh. ~ Julian 22. You realize on the morning of that Mother’s Day is not just for your mom, but also for your wife, who is now a mom. So you run out and buy a glass swan (I might be speaking from experience here) 23. You love listening to NPR now. I mean, it’s talk radio! ~ David 24. You still giggle when someone says balls (maybe just a groan up guy thing) 25. You go back to your home town and talk about all the “developments” that have happened since you’ve been gone ~ Lindsay 26. You thought Mary-Kate and Ashley were adorable. And now they kinda scare you. ~ Katie 27. When you never run out of underwear because you actually stay on top of laundry ~ Ashley 28. When you’re losing hair and gaining babies. 29. Every evening at 7:30pm you scurry to turn on Jeopardy ~ Rachael 30. You grieve all the day when you spill coffee on something that is “dry clean only.” 31. When your first reaction to finding out a friend is pregnant is “congratulations!!” instead of “holy &^%$, what happened!!” ~ Kate 32. You start taking over the counter pain relievers after a really active day of play/moving/living because you actually need them. ~ Lindsay 31. You feel like a kid most of the time, until you see a real kid and think, “good Lord, kids are really young these days.” ~ Mike 32. You chug two-day old coffee because you’re running late and you know if coffee doesn’t enter, you’re not leaving. (Note to Kid-Self for when time machines become available at Best Buy: Never fight the nap). 33. You realize that the cliques in high school are alive & well in the real world too … ~ Jocelyn 34. You need a vacation to recover from your vacation. 35. You have a 12 year old say to you, “My youth pastor was talking about Vanilla Ice and my friends and I thought he was talking about an ice cream flavor,” and you aren’t sure whether to laugh or cry because she was completely serious. ~ Lindsay 36. You get zits on your jawline and think, “Really? Still?” ~ Katie 37. You think girls today are a bit hoochy but then you see pictures of you with shirts that exposed your belly button ~ Katie 38. You know that Jerry Maguire was not Lizzy Mcguire’s dad. ~ Katie 39. You’ve made a prank call on a pay phone. ~ Katie 40. You’ve used a pay phone period. And you’ve said your name is, “Mom, come get me.” ~ Katie 41. You stop feeling entitled to winter breaks, spring breaks, and summers off. ~ Lindsay 42. The only reason you maintain your weight is so you never have to buy new dress pants 43. When the manager at Chipotle comes outside to the patio, tells the high school kids to stop throwing forks at cars and lighting things on fire, and then turns and apologizes to YOU. ~ Mike 44. You start saying, “this generation’s music really sucks” ~ Will 45. You think you’re not that old and then you realize that the kids who just graduated high school this year were born in 1993. ~ Lindsay 46. You still can’t believe your parents turned your old bedroom into an office. Did your time with them mean nothing? Shouldn’t your bedroom remain a permanent shrine? 47. When going to bed early on Sunday night to prepare for the week becomes a priority. ~ Ryan 48. You begin repeating phrases your parent’s always used to say, that you swore you never would. And then deny it. 49. You utilize your Flex Spending Account, because you know what that is now. ~ Kendra 50. When your wife complains that you drive like her grandfather just to get better gas mileage. ~ Brandon 51. When you complain in agony, “when I got my license, it only costs $20 to fill up my car!” ~ Stephanie 52. Having lower lumbar support has become a major concern. 53. “Do you have any kids” has somehow become a normal question people ask you. ~ Mike 54. You now understand what your parents meant when they said, ‘You’ll understand when you get older.’ 55. When you wrinkle your brow and make comments about “kids these days” ~ Kendra 56. You rake piles of leaves and are about to jump in, but stop because ‘what would the neighbors think’ 57. When you overhear 16 year olds talking about “that lady” and realize it’s you ~ Sarah 58. Your birthday slowly transitions from best day of the year to worst. 59. You really want to go sledding again. Until you actually go sledding again. Then you don’t ever want to go sledding again. 60. You still debate, “Who was hotter – Kelly Kapowski or Topanga Lawrence?” 61. When you would rather listen to the classical radio station because the alternative radio station “feels” to loud ~ My Brother Chad 62. You’ve caught yourself saying more than once, “I’m getting too old for this.“ What part of being Groan Up did we leave out? Let us know via comments below. Seriously sharing this with everyone I know. Serrrrriously. Thanks Megan! And thanks for encouraging me to put together this post. When you reference The Never Ending Story and your intern looks at you like your so out of touch………FALCOR!!!!!! Those silly kids and their lack of appreciation for cinematic masterpieces! Haha- these are hilarious! My favorite so far is “you’re losing hair and gaining babies” My own to add is when you find yourself starting a lot of your sentences with “Maybe I’m an old lady, but…” and you’re only 26. When you start to be annoyed at getting carded buying drinks. when you start to be annoyed because YOU’RE NOT getting carded buying drinks! When you FORCE your ID onto anybody selling you alcohol, before they’d even have a chance to ask for it for fear that they might not. Two drinks puts you out of commission for at least the first 5 hours of the next day. You understand more references made by your 50 year old co-worker than your 17 year old niece. You’ve considered buying a mini-van. Abby — Too funny! Well said. “You understand more references made by your 50 year old co-worker than your 17 year old niece.” My favorite for sure. When kids ask why you did something or why they can’t do it…and you tell them that it’s something grownups do. …..when having your commute home from work take less time than it usually does due to a lack of traffic congestion is the most exciting thing that happens to you some days. When you will drive out of your way to avoid having to spend the night at someone else’s house. Sleepovers are zero fun. When you go to a home decor store and don’t buy anything, strictly because you don’t want to dust it."

"http://allgroanup.com/adult/62-reasons-you-might-be-all-groan-up/"

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"My family really doesn’t take vacations to exotic or even genealogical places. We go where family is located – the places we called home at one time. However, along the way we have periodically stopped to see a historical site or be tourists for awhile. In the summer of 1994, I took a little over three weeks’ vacation back to my mom’s and a few days at my in-laws. Just me and four kids! On the way from Ohio back to Missouri, we stopped at Billie Creek Village located in Parke County, Indiana. If you enjoy stepping back into time and covered bridges, this is a wonderful place to see. Motoring on toward Missouri, we stopped in Hannibal (as we normally do to fill up with gas) and decided to see some Mark Twain historical sights. We toured the Haunted House on Hill Street Wax Museum, sort of. The Wax museum part of it was okay for four young children but as soon as we started into the Haunted area, with chains rattling and screams emanating from the dark, three of the four tore out of there. We walked down the street and took pictures of Samuel Clemens’ boyhood home and the Becky Thatcher House among others. Two years ago when we reached Hannibal, we stopped so the youngest daughter (not so young any more) could go through the Haunted House. During the Fourth of July Riverfest in Hannibal, the streets are packed with cars and the closest place to park would have been several blocks away. With a dog traveling with us, one person would have to stay behind with her. That’s when we stopped to turn around at a service station and noticed the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum. (Molly Brown was a Titanic survivor.) Daughter decided that was just as good as the Haunted House. The home, as expected wasn’t much, but I learned a lot more than I ever thought I could learn about this woman. We spent at least twenty minutes lingering over all the news clippings, studying the furnishings and listening to the guide explain how the small rooms were used by the family. On the way from Missouri to Ohio recently, we passed through Springfield, Illinois. I mentioned to my husband that “sometime we’ll have to stop to see Lincoln’s home”. Then I began wondering where he was actually buried. As a Lincoln history buff, I would surely have remembered! So as we returned from Ohio retracing our path back to Missouri, as we got closer to Springfield, I asked my husband if we could just see how far the house was off the highway. So we detoured into Springfield through the old part, following the signs until we got there. Once again, we had the dog with us so our daughter volunteered to stay with her while the rest of us went into the Visitor’s Center to get the information we needed about walking through the house. It’s a free tour, but not self-guided. The tour didn’t start for 30 minutes, and I didn’t feel we should take that long with the daughter waiting on us. The parking is $2 (basically on the honor system) which is a deal when you consider so many historical sights now charge for tours. So we inquired about the tomb. It wasn’t that far away – however, it was closed for three days while they did some cement work. We were allowed to walk to the house, walk around the house, and see two other houses (inside too) that had been restored to their original condition. It appears that the historical society is restoring several of the surrounding homes and buildings in that area. You can go to Lincoln Home and Lincoln’s Tomb for more information. The moral of the story is . . . if you even think you might get to stop at a historic sight or even a courthouse or cemetery on your genealogical quest – call, write or email to make sure it is open when you will be there, if there are any fees for parking or tours, hours of operation, what type of parking you can expect, and if there are any other festivals happening at the same time."

"http://allmybranches.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/before-you-go/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=b467bcc1c8"

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"Twitter +. Much easier to have a computer track this down for you — and then ask the computer to write up a story about it, too. That’s what Narrative Science, the start-up that specializes in robot-written stories, did earlier this week. The result isn’t elegant, but it gets the job done, in a brute force sort of way.. No Pulitzer for that one, but that’s not the point. This is a work in progress that’s meant to illustrate an interesting project Narrative Science is working on: The Chicago-based company got its start by creating stories out of “structured” data sets, like baseball box scores. Now it is looking at “unstructured” data — like the thousands of messages that Twitter puts out each second — as story fodder, too. Stories about things people say on Twitter aren’t super compelling (though if you check Techmeme, you’ll see that my fellow typers and I sure make a lot of them). But if Narrative Science gets good at this, it could end up somewhere interesting. “This is a really basic story, but it’s fully automated,” says CEO Stuart Frankel. “No human touched it at all. You can see where this thing is going.” Meanwhile, Frankel says, Narrative Science’s core business is taking off. The company, which raised $6 million last year, now has 30 clients, many of whom use the company to produce stories and reports they use internally. But you can see public examples of it via publishers like Forbes, which is using the service to crank out automated earnings previews. Again, those previews aren’t made up of sterling prose, but they are very serviceable. Which means Forbes can either save the money it would have spent paying someone to mash that stuff out — or it can free up a writer to do the interesting kind of stories that only humans can do. And now I’ll save myself a few minutes of work by citing myself from last year, where I tried to assure myself that Narrative Science wasn’t going to put me out of business: “The trick for content makers like myself is to find work that only content makers like myself can do — work where human qualities like experience, judgment and creativity get rewarded. And if we can’t do that, we ought to be doing something else, anyway.”"

"http://allthingsd.com/20120216/twitter-robots-instant-stories-no-humans-required/?mod=tweet"

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". Forum Usage rules and acceptable use of comments By submitting a comment to a forum on the All Wales Convention you agree to abide by the following rules. These rules are designed to ensure participants feel comfortable and equal in the online discussion and keen to take part, and that the discussion meets its objectives. - Be respectful of others. Debates may be lively but taking part should be a positive experience for all participants. Comments should be civil and tasteful, and must not be malicious or designed to offend. No reference should be made to the personality of other participants nor should attacks be made on an individual's character. - Stay on-topic. Your comment should be within scope of the topic under discussion. Please don't post messages that are unrelated to the forum discussion you are contributing to. - Don't incite hatred on the basis of race, religion, gender, nationality, sexuality or other personal characteristic. Don't swear, use hate-speech or make obscene or vulgar comments. - Don't break the law. This includes libel, condoning illegal activity and contempt of court (comments which might affect the outcome of an approaching court case). You should remember that you are legally responsible for what you write. By submitting a comment you undertake to indemnify. - Don't advertise. You can mention relevant products and services as long as they support your comment. No advertising or promotion is allowed except where it is for an event, publication or similar item that has direct relevance to the subject of discussion. Information about locating and sharing knowledge and expertise is welcomed, but within the specific discussion provided. All links submitted must be appropriate for a general audience, and must not link the site to material that is obscene, defamatory or inciting to hatred or violence. - Don't impersonate or falsely claim to represent a person or organisation. Please don't mislead other users by abusing our registration procedure. - discretion. - Comments that violate any of the above rules will not be published. If a participant seriously or repeatedly breaks the rules, their user account will be suspended and all their comments revoked. Moderation policy - All of the discussion forums on this site employ a pre-moderation strategy, which means that all posts are checked against the discussion rules and acceptable use of comments policy as outlined above, before they are published. - We do not censor participants' opinions. All comments will be published unless they are in breach of the above rules. - Topics are actively moderated by All Wales Convention officials and their representatives. - Moderators regularly visit the forum discussions and where appropriate submit posts to encourage discussion. They facilitate 5pm Monday to Friday. Comments will not be published outside of these hours. - Forums are readable at all times and you can submit a post."

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"Dried Sierra Nevada Pond Alpine Dispatch A resource for current photography, adventure trip reports, film, gear, book, pub, and restaurant recommendations Thursday, May 10, 2012 Tuesday, May 8, 2012 Skiing and Climbing Mt. Shasta Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Spring Skiing Squaw Valley Saturday, April 21, 2012 Lake Tahoe Paddle Boarding Thursday, April 19, 2012 Lake Tahoe Spring Backcountry Skiing Monday, March 19, 2012 Hiking Alpine Meadows Rewarding powder turns await those willing to hike along the ridges of Alpine Meadows. Tuesday, March 6, 2012 East Shore Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe's east shore offers some of the areas greatest scenery to be enjoyed from a boat or along the majestic rocky lake shore."

"http://alpinedispatch.blogspot.com/"

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"IN THE COMMENTS:1jpb said... Who cares about the iconic appeal?Don't get me started. My family's tragedy was the death of Pierce-Arrow! Losing Duesenberg and Packard (the early Packards, like mine) that was the loss of icons. Who cares about the iconic appeal?Don't get me started. My family's tragedy was the death of Pierce-Arrow! Losing Duesenberg and Packard (the early Packards, like mine) that was the loss of icons. 134 comments: December 6, 2008: A date which will live in infamy. They're not only going bankrupt, they're also going to go out and gather up every car they've ever made and destroy those too? Seems like they would save a lot of money for restructuring by going ahead and letting the Ford and Chevy pickups, the Jeeps and Suburbans and PT cruisers continue to drive around. Who cares about the iconic appeal? Loosing Duesenberg and Packard (the early Packards, like mine) that was the loss of icons. Beyond the, imho, silly iconic chit chat, there are legitimate financial and strategic problems with the decimation of domestic control and development of auto production. Imagine an America with no more Corvettes! No more Caddies, Trans Ams, Camaros or Mustangs. No Ford or Chevy pick up trucks; no Jeeps or Suburbans. Not one PT Cruiser. Is that supposed to be good or bad? I kid, I kid. Who could stand to go without seeing the beautiful PT Cruiser in action? Why does this blogger think that these cars would be gone? That's not what would happen if the companies were allowed to go bankrupt. These cars would still be made. Don't worry, our salvation is at hand. Obama will save us all with his plan for a new Civilian Conservation Corps and Work Projects Administration, and that will revive the economy so greatly that we will all be buying up American cars. Just imagine all the jobs he will create handing you unemployed people a shovel and telling you to go work a road gang, not to mention all the people working to change light bulbs! So what if the day laborers down at the 7-11 will get all these new jobs building roads and rebuilding school buildings? Your medical records will be on a computer! So that in itself is going to super-charge our economy! Yes, a new day is dawning! Who cares?! Honestly...the Mustang. Does anyone drive those? Anyone besides 16-year-olds in the South? And what's so damned special about the Jeep Cherokee? Chrysler has long since f-ed up the Jeep line. There's what? 15 models now. And they all look the same. Get over it. American cars are crap. And not only because they are ugly. But because the people who make them are ugly, too. All those damned union workers making god-knows-what for driving a couple screws are finally about to get what's coming to them. Let them compete in the marketplace. Let them justify $25 an hour plus healthcare plus pension in any other industry. General Motors is dead. Long live Toyota. Chrysler is dead. Long live Honda. Ford is dead. Long live Nissan. LOL "No Ford or Chevy pick up trucks; no Jeeps or Suburbans. Not one PT Cruiser. All gone..." Isn't that the "green" lefty's most orgasmic dream ever? I thought they hated all cars except for the Prius and those ugly little "Smart" cars? They should be happy about this! Better get in shape! That 40 mile bike commute is gonna be murder! I didn't click on the link because I'm afraid it might not be a joke. Better safe than sorry. "I didn't click on the link because I'm afraid it might not be a joke." Oh it's a joke alright. Not intentionally so, but a joke nonetheless. "What pathogens could possibly be responsible for KOS?" Whatever it is, it certainly isn't the contagious happiness from the other day. marks, the brands, the styles and what have you, are tangibles that will survive, thanks to intellectual property. Sure it may all belong to somebody else, but it will survive. Move along now. The typos are the clue that it's not a joke. Detroit faces many challenges. The biggest is: innovate or die. "Rice burning Nissons [sic]"? Sounds like someone's clinging to "antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment." "all looted by ultra-conservatives eager to punish generations of American workers for the sin of not voting for the GOP in acceptable numbers" I love the logical inversion demonstrated by the above. Yes, they are being "punished", how? By not getting the taxpayers to subsidize their excessive compensation packages. What is threatened is that they will have to depend on the health of corporations which their unions squeezed the lifeblood out of. Twin, There are a lot of odd things about your post, but I'll just address one of them for now: You wrote: "The simple fact is that cars can be made just as well in 3rd world countries that aren't bound by obscene 40 hour work weeks, consumer- and worker-safety laws, and retirement plans. The American worker is going to have to learn to compete with the cheap labor available in Mexico, Haiti, Bangladesh, and throughout the 3rd world." Third world countries like, what, Tennessee? We're getting a Volkswagen plant in my town next year and couldn't be more thrilled. And we've lost out on at least a half dozen others who went to neighboring states. The South is just full of non-union, good wages, good benefits "foreign" car manufacturers. These are the folks that Detroit can't compete with. In other words, imagine an America without a bunch of shitty, dangerous gas-guzzling cars and trucks, and without a huge bloated, whiny unionized blue-collar workforce. Yeah, what will we ever do. This is our chance to kill off one of the unions. Let's not pass it up, even if it causes further economic woes. We can ultimately lay the blame where it belongs: at the feet of the middle class. It's wake-up time for the overstuffed American comfort class. No more nanny state for the masses. The middle class has to snap out of it's hippy dippy delusions about "the American Dream," or face the consequences. The global economy simply cannot sustain middle class incomes for a large proportion of the population. The lasting sin of big government/New Deal liberalism was creating the unreasonable expectation that middle class can be sustained at post-New Deal levels. Thanks to the Democrat Party, hundreds of millions of middle class Americans now feel entitled to live in their own homes, have access to world-class health care, and even send their kids to college. That kind of fancy living has never been sustainable for "the masses," as we are learning now. Compare this to India, or China, where 80% of the population lives in poverty, forming a dynamic labor pool that propels their economies. The simple fact is that cars can be made just as well in 3rd world countries that aren't bound by high wages, 40 hour work weeks, heath care coverage, consumer- and worker-safety legislation, retirement plans, and other Democrat-largess. The American worker is going to have to learn, like it or not, to compete with cheap labor from, e.g., Mexico and Haiti. And the American middle class is going to have to shrink back down to sustainable levels. That was the whole point of NAFTA and GATT and the other free trade agreements, and we're finally seeing a long-needed reordering of global economic priorities as a result. Historically dynamic capitalist economies are able to sustain — a small class of wealthy (1% or so of the population). This is the productive engine that drives investment, innovation — a modest middle class, maybe 5%-10% of the population, to service corporations and the wealth. These are the professionals: doctors, lawyers, skilled tech jobs. The only viable role for the remaining 90%, give or take, is service as a flexible labor market. People have been doing fine under these conditions for centuries, but the American middle class is at a disadvantage, now, because they've come to expect (feel entitled to) a pampered yet unsustainable middle class existence. The transition to sustainability is going to be difficult for people who have come to expect middle class comfort. So: Let's reorder the economy on a sound basis and take this chance to finally kill off the UAW, and with it the old liberal notion of a broad middle class. This first step will lead to additional course corrections: Once the middle class shrinks down to sustainable levels, ignoring the internal contradictions of Social Security financing will become impossible. Within a few years, the entire system of federal entitlements will implode, liberating our economy once and for all from the restraints placed on it by 80 years of corrupt Dem leadership. Yup. The end of the line for the big three. Yet Kos misses the point. It won't be the end of the "American" auto industry. Just the end of three crappy, bloated companies that pay unionized workers too much money to make inferior vehicles that not enough consumers want to buy. Once the Big Three are bankrupt and gone, the marketplace will have a vacuum. There will be a "pro-American" market out there for American-designed, American-built, American-brand cars. Someone will fill the void with a new company. And they will have the opportunity to do so with the benefit of lessons learned from the missteps of Ford, Chrysler and GM. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is Change You Can Believe In. Taxpayer bailouts, on the other hand, hardly represent Change. To people who still think unions are a good idea: this is the pot of chickens coming home to roost. The Mustang is still a great car! The Big 3 is doomed. It is a rotting corpse. Let it die and replace it with foreign manufacturers on American soil. Even if the stupid union contracts (including the ones paying people not to work) are torn up, the ultra-generous pension and healthcare plans cannot be supported. There is no way UAW or Congress agrees to cut those. Therefore, thee is no way those get cut. Therefore, they remain a millstone around the Big 3's neck. The Big 3 is a rotting corpse, and Congress just wants to prop it up, maybe inject it with a little juice so it can shamble around aimlessly like some kind of zombie for a few years until it needs another hit of zombie juice (taxpayer dollars). We can only hope that this infection does not spread to other industries. That's the left-wing goal--to turn us into a socialist country by destroying our economy and folding the broken pieces into our federal government. That's why lefties always oppose sound economic policy and always support hoaxes like "Global Warming." They know that to achieve their goals, they must bring America to its knees. Of course, in any good zombie movie, you know the ending in advance: we're all f#cked. This is the same way. Think about what a great country this is where one can go from potential heiress to the Pierce-Arrow dynasty to starving art school student to tenured law professor at a top tier law school to world-renowned Blog Goddess zipping around in a precision European sports car jobby all in the course of one short lifetime! My country tis of thee! I think Congress should bring back the Studebaker, too, just for good measure. "potential heiress to the Pierce-Arrow dynasty" More like potential heiress to a mechanic shop. And Meade has the bio and motion picture rights? You lucky bastard! Pretend it's Cuba. They have kept American cars from the 1950's and earlier going for half a century. After you are done pretending, start dealing with the 21st century, where America is no longer ascendant in the auto industry. It's called Change. Isn't that what the Kos crowd has been waiting for "And Meade has the bio and motion picture rights? You lucky bastard!" You may say I'm a dreamer... a lucky bastard dreamer. I like to think of myself as an average ordinary blue collar premier myth maker babe magnet. So we've come to the point where someone who thinks a business should stand or fall on its own merits, rather than being nationalized in part or whole, is an "ultra-conservative". Not just conservative, an ultra conservative. I guess now if you believe in private property and free markets at all, that alone makes you somewhat suspect. I guess in the Obama Nation, the free market is just so yesterday. It's been at least 5 years since the last Trans Am was made. Not sure what the connection is between the GOP and the collapsing American auto industry. Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been dying of the same self-imposed illness for 20 years, through both Republican and Democratic administrations. Blaming their plight on anyone but themselves misses the real issue at hand. Forgive us for being skittish about dumping billions more in tax dollars to keep their lights on for another six months when these companies haven't even proven they can run themselves properly. That Pierce-Arrow background seems familiar. My grandfather was a Packard mechanic, who went on to work for himself. But, then the legacies diverge; I bought myself a Packard because I was inspired by pictures of my grandfather next to these big, beautiful cars from the past. My grandfather only had joyful memories of his Packard days--contagious memories for me. P.S. Thanks for losing the typo, I noticed it, but didn't feel like deleting and correcting the comment. I love the wishful thinking in "let the Big 3 die, we'll all Buy Toyota". First, why would Toyota build more plants in the USA if the big 3 are gone? They build them now because of the explicit and implicit threat of tariffs and quotas. A threat which will go away, when the big 3 go. Second, once gone the Auto industry will never come back. Goodbye, millions of jobs. Who's going to hire them? Are to they all to be government employees? Third, we are now running $500 billion dollar trade deficits with the rest of the world. What are we going to give the Japanese in return for all these shiny new Toyota's? US assets? More worthless dollars? The same people who engineered the subprime fiasco, engineered the $700 wall street bailout fiasco, are now saying we need the big 3 to die. Hmmmm..... The big three should leave the US, find low tax countries with workers who want to work, build cars to sell to the world, be successful. Where to begin with RC's know-nothing comment. Treatises could be written. They build them now because of the explicit and implicit threat of tariffs and quotas. No. They don't. Foreign manufacturers build plants here now because they are profitable. That's why businesses are in business. To make money. Note where the plants are built. Are they built in Michigan, where unions have a stranglehold on the economy? Or are they built in the South, where labor is far cheaper? we are now running $500 billion dollar trade deficits with the rest of the world Why is that, RC? Why has the United States run trade deficits for decades? Is it some conspiracy? No. It's because our currency is strong and our labor is expensive. If your goal is truly to get rid of the trade deficit, the thing to do is to lower labor costs substantially and decrease the cost of our money. I don't understand what the problem is with bankruptcy. These are failed businesses. They can't pay their bills. They need to completely change the way they do business. Bankruptcy allows that. Finally, I read something the other day that was intriguing. The bailout, rightly, has involved banks. If you want money, go to a bank. That's where all the money from the government has gone. Republicans did not destroy the American automobile industry, and the implication that they did is fatuous. It was destroyed by the UAW and management both assuming that they could be as inefficient as they wished as long as all American manufacturers were more or less equally burdened. It didn't work out. Life's a bitch. It only gets worse for America if we force our economy to drag along a zombie automobile industry. Both UAW and management made the bed. They should now be forced to lie in it. I agree RcOcean. It is time to look out for our nation's self-interests. Why doesn't Congress ever discuss the financial incentives the Japaneses auto companies get from their govt? Oh sure Congress delves into the national healthcare in Japan because Dems want that here too. But I an sure the Japanese govt gives plenty of other yen! Plus the Janps and Asians buy very few of our cars? Why is that? Let's have an economy that looks like Japan's. So free and growing so much. While we're at it, let's get a criminal justice system like Japan's, too. Rights, shmights. I feel compelled to reiterate something: we will never, ever, ever erase the American trade deficit or even begin to start competing with foreign manufacturers in any industry where wages are high. It's basically a mathematical impossibility. How can people not understand this? You can't expect to sell more of your stuff when it is far more expensive than other stuff that is the same. If you want high wages, you cannot also have a trade surplus. To believe otherwise makes you a moron. I must assume that all the military's trucks/ airplanes/ and other assembly line produced stuff will always be available as imports from the friends we have e all over the world. But what if they cause Co2 and have been banned by the UN in the future? Traditional -- Certainly, because no American entrepreneur would fill that niche. Never. If these three companies go bankrupt, another American vehicle will never be made. Bankruptcy is death, and birth is not allowed. "My grandfather only had joyful memories of his Packard days--contagious memories for me." If you mean to imply that my grandfather was bitter and groused about his misfortune, you are wrong. I never heard him speak about it at all. I have had to imagine the disappointments he had. He never talked about anything like that. Precisely how does our Congress think we could handle another WWII without an auto industry to make the trucks, the tanks and the parts for repair? How does our Congress plan to handle the 1 MILLION pensioners from GM who suddenly don't have a pension? That's one in 300 Americans. How does our Congress plan on handling Michigan loosing another 800,000 jobs like we lost in the past 8 years.. but this time all at once? What the hell are they thinking? They've given buttloads of cash without hesitation to the financial firms who have used it for bonuses and to buy other foreign companies but STILL AREN'T LENDING money to people to buy cars! Seven: Is Japan's standard of living significantly lower than ours? If not, how do they produce cars at a lower cost? After we factor in the elimination of the US disadvantage for pensions / benefits. Regarding future pension promises that are not funded, Congress is to blame. Congress has sat idly by for years while some big businesses and many many state and local govts devised overly generous pensions but did not fund them. That was also a violation of the law of mathematics Seven Machos mentioned. Why is it always assumed that the only alternatives are to bail out Detroit as is, or watch GM, Ford and Chrysler disappear without a trace? When United Airines went bankrupt did all its airplanes immediately vanish? These companies have contractual obligations with their labor force and dealer networks that are unsustainable. If they are to regain profitability, they need to renegotiate these deals under Chapter 11 protection. Let the bankruptcy laws work as they were intended - there is no pain-free way for the government to "save" Detroit. Seven, Ignoring the fact that a lot of folks won't buy a car from a company in bankruptcy, and ignoring the fact that bankruptcies drag on for a long time; are you suggesting that Chapter 11 (w/o the gov financing anyway) will not lead to Chapter 7 in our current situation? Then, add in the problem of selling cars while a long (likely Chapter 7) bankruptcy works through the courts. If you don't care about the loss of the domestic design and development control in autos, what do you think will replace this work and innovation? Are you a promoter of the race to the bottom philosophy? Austerity didn't work for Hoover, and it didn't work for FDR. And, we are blessed that the US is the biggest of the too-big-to-fail, hence the big money of the world is still forced to dump their cash into Treasuries. Treasuries provide a return, even if it's almost zero on the shorter stuff--that's still better than losing money. Treasuries are the way the world's big money gets stuffed under the proverbial mattress. Let's quasi-arbitrage this cheap money to find a floor so that things can get moving in the right direction. Hopefully, the Fed will work to lock in the maximum amount of cheap money for the longest terms possible. P.S. Maybe the foriegn companies were worried about quotas, like we had while Reagan was president, so they started assembling here. P.P.S. We're like a developing country to the foriegn companies who assemble cars in the States. The home countries keep a lot of the high powered technology, innovation, and development: we do the grunt work. They are getting better than us at the making advancements. That seems like it could be a long term problem. At least we're still blessed with a lot of domestic material resources, but we should probably look at our human capital relative to other developed countries. Maybe our material resources have made us overconfident; how much of our growth is the result of our commodity wealth versus our brilliance. Would Japan be so advanced if they had the crutch of a lot of domestic commodity resources? P.P.P.S Folks may want to read recent Sully posts (including dissents) about health care and pensions. No PT Cruiser or Jeep Cherokee? Where do I sign up? Seriously, those are two utter piles of shit. Until recently so was the Mustang; now it's just a half pile of shit. It may look nice, but the suspension is outdated crap. That aside, Ford isn't going under. They are actually getting their house in order. The only reason they showed up in DC is they heard free money was being handed out. Truth is, though Ford will never admit it, they will benefit if GM or Chrysler go under. Not only will it reduce the [over] supply of cars, it will give them incredible control at the bargaining table--in fact, they may just tell the Union to go to hell and hire scabs, which will be easy as pie. Chrysler is the worse of the three and should have already gone under. The only thing decent they make is the Viper (which loses money) and the Dodge Ram Pickup (especially with the Cumins diesel, which Ford would love to get their hands on since their diesel engine isn't very good.) Somewhat recently I worked on a project that forced me to learn about GMs part distribution system. It's dreadfully "designed" and horribly inefficient. (By contrast, Ford's part distribution system is a dream.) People won't buy a car from a company that is in bankruptcy? Really? Did they not fly American while it was in bankruptcy? That seems a hell of a lot more perilous. It's one thing to buy a car, quite another to put your life in the hands of a pilot. This argument is absurd and spurious. Next, please. And, really. Try harder. Japan produces lower-cost cars because it has lower costs. traditionalguy at 2:41, a lot of the military's vehicles come from AM General, which is not one of the Big 3, and not, to my knowledge anyway, involved in the bailout negotiations. They build the H2 Hummers for GM and would be hurt if they lost that marketing channel, but would they be hurt enough to have to shut down production of military vehicles? I don't know enough to say, but I doubt it. Bradleys are built by BAE Land and Armaments, an international company with its US HQ in Minneapolis. It's not WW II any more, when the auto companies turned the assembly lines over to military production. Airplanes, now, that might be another matter. Though the contract for tankers has not yet been given to Airbus; Boeing may yet prevail. The auto companies are not going bankrupt - Congress will not allow it, except under some kind of hybrid bailout/bankruptcy that preserves union jobs and wages. Isn't it strange the auto companies have been bargaining as if they're in a position of strength? It's because they're as strong politically as they are weak financially. The biggest benefit to bankruptcy from the auto companies' perspective is it allows them to renegotiate union contracts. There's no way the Democrats are going to cross the UAW like that, even if it means a permanent IV of taxpayer money into the sector. The only real question is whether the Democrats bring enough Republicans along to make it a "bi-partisan" bailout. My daughter tells me that the new ones are worthless and ugly. I don't think she'd drive a new Mustang if it arrived at Christmas with a big bow on the hood. She wants an 80-something Camaro. Weird kid. The Corvette is an amazing car; it's highest performance models are in many ways superior to cars manufactured by Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati and others. I look forward to the day when I can buy a new Corvette at a price that reflects a restructured GM's labor cost. That being said, I miss and still yearn for the Nash Metropolitan. Gone, but never forgotten. The new Republican Slogans for 2010: "$700 billion for Wall Street but not one Dime for Detroit" Or: "American Workers Drop Dead - you make too much." Should be a winner. Seven, That you are someone who would make a major durable good purchase of a car from a company that is broke, with an uncertain resolution (Chap 11 or 7, and gov $ or no gov $, and unknown macroeconomic expectations), says a lot about you. If there were more folks like you it wouldn't matter what kinds of uncompetitive cars were produced domestically, some sucker would buy them anyway. "all looted by ultra-conservatives eager to punish generations of American workers for the sin of not voting for the GOP in acceptable numbers" Actually the problem was that Democrats forced the US auto companies auto companies to build small cars that no one wanted to buy at a price that would allow the companies to make a profit. (Foreign companies could make those cars profitable for reasons that had a lot to do with more amenable labor unions.) But, all of the great cars will not disappear. In fact they will be on the roads for decades to come as people refuse to buy the cars Congress is going to design for Detroit to produce in return for subsidizing them. Synova, Does she need a theme song ? "American Workers Drop Dead - you make too much." Should be a winner. Of course it's not a *winner*. It's just true. And truth isn't very popular. It's much more popular to tell people that corporations are evil and have unlimited funds and there are no down-sides to making them pay you more. Granted, no one is saying that the auto-makers are victims. They dug their own hole. The question is, should taxpayers bail out an industry that has been bailed out before? The rant Ann quotes is pretty typical, it seems, of an argument that simply does not admit the existence of economic reality. No, it's just mean and vindictive motivations... the only reason that "conservatives" do anything. Hate. rcocean said... The new Republican Slogans for 2010: "$700 billion for Wall Street but not one Dime for Detroit" You seem to have forgotten that most Republicans did not vote for the Wall Street bailout. You also should note that most of the money donated from Wall Street went to Democrats. Also consider how many from the Clinton Administration were on Wall Street making millions per year. Think of Raines, Gorelick, and most of all Robert Rubin. How much of the $700 billion will go to George Soros, not a friend of Republicans? But, I think you have nailed another Democratic Party big lie. I am pro-bailout. Lending is the basis of our free economy. Without banking, everything else falls apart quickly. See, for example, the Great Depression, when for years Roosevelt and Hoover kept money tight, further constricting a constricted economy. I am convinced that people on the fringe left and fringe right simply do not understand economics. How else could you possibly believe that the way to save a struggling business is to keep it exactly in a position where it is losing money? If the unions and management wanted to solve their problems, they could do so, easily. They don't, though, so to hell with them. Bankruptcy law is there for a reason. Finally, what's so special about the auto companies? Nothing. Not one thing. What about General Growth. They own malls. Mall are vital for shopping. What about Fred's Bakery and Big Schlong's Porno Emporium? Why not those businesses? "What about Fred's Bakery and Big Schlong's Porno Emporium? Why not those businesses? " Donuts and porn - there will always be demand. Talk about too big to fail-- Fred's and Big Schlong's going out of business would truly be Black Swan events. I'm finally reading Amity Shlaes' book on the Great Depression, "The Forgotten Man." Two of her complaints with FDR and the New Dealers were their insistence on making business the scapegoat, and the effect of his "bold, persistent experimentation," both of which frightened investors into keeping their money on the sidelines due to the persistent uncertainty. Seems like the opposite is taking place now. We have people like this Kos diarist, a leftist, who gets teary-eyed thinking about GM, Ford and Chrysler and can't imagine life without them. It's Feel-o-nomics. I suppose Feel-o-nomics creates another kind of uncertainty. Companies could make the tough choices to survive in this economy. Or they could create a wave of sentimental nostalgia and hope they can use that to get a bailout. Which other businesses would the left give a sentimental bailout? Here are some "deserving" candidates: Apple Starbucks The Simpsons The New Yorker Patagonia The Boston Red Sox Burt's Bees CBS Wham-O (makers of Frisbee and the Hula Hoop) American Spirit Cigarettes Nike I have always thought that John Stodder was one of the most sensible and intelligent posters on the Althouse blog. But to suggest that the Boston Red Sox deserve a bailout can only mean one thing. You sir are a communist. Whole Foods Google Ben and Jerry's MSNBC Harper Collins The New York Times Can't let any of these irreplaceable companies fail. But to suggest that the Boston Red Sox deserve a bailout can only mean one thing. You sir are a communist. John Cusack and Ben Affleck love them and would be very upset if anything ever happened to them. I realize they're profitable now, but you can never be too sure. They deserve at least $2 billion. Chip Ahoy said... basic analysis is correct, save the motive was not to screw the middle class, but enrich the wealthy further. The mechanism was the informal Bretton Woods II, where American Elites agreed to let cheap Asian labor wipe out manufacturing and depress wages in services and thus give themselves 10 digit GNP Growth. In return they would expect to honor the dollar's dominance and give America's Elites, particularly in the financial and real estate sectors, a cut of the action on the recycled Dollar. It was a brainchild of ultraconservatives in the Reagan Administration. America would then be the "knowledge economy" where we would have all the IT workers and the experts the Asians needed to make their new ex-American industries prosper. And they thought we would dominate new technology, like cell phones, fiber optics, plasma screen TVs. And all the Asian dollars ploughed back in could go into Gov't, which would allow supply side conservatives to massively grow the Government under Reagan AND cut taxes. It worked, just like someone quitting his job to be a poker player and using his inheritance and home equity to get a big line of credit. Meaning - it worked for a while. The middle class was told, despite their huge unease about factory after factory closing, that "Exciting" new jobs were coming. The losses had little to do with the manufacturing or services jobs being union or not. The only criteria was if Japan, then later China, Pakistan, Indonesia, and India could do it cheaper than the American. The trade deficit exploded. More unease. The masses were told "real estate!" was the answer - nothing need be made in America anymore but houses and "the small niche military market that needs domestic product." Now the crap has hit the fan. I don't care if John Cusack, Joan Cusack or your ball sack loves them, there is one thing that is perfectly clear: BOSTON SUCKS!!!!!!!!! And that dweeb Ben Afleck dumped a hot chica with a sweet ass for a skinny buck tooth sckank so what the hell does he know about the price of beans. What is Burt's Bees? The 140000 UAW members don't make all that much more than the non-unionized workers at the foreign transplant factories. The bulk of the almost $30/hr difference is benefits, which I believe includes retiree benefits. If all the UAW members work a 2000 hour year, the aggregate extra cost to Detroit is around $8 billion per year. GM should have gone Ch11 a few quarters ago when they became technically insolvent but still had the cash reserves to get through it. Ford will probably be OK and its interesting that of the Detroit 3, they are the ones with a product guy in the lead, even though his signature product is the Boeing 777. Chrysler is private and not too big to fail. Their IP of any value - mostly Jeep - will be sold and soldier on. And the US will still not get a clue that we need to make things and incent and respect who can and do. Ben and Jerry's? Maybe not. This place in Seattle had it's Ben and Jerry's replaced with Red Mango. At least they still have two standalone Starbucks, plus one in the QFC, and another one in the Barnes and Noble--I did mention this is in Seattle. What is Burt's Bees? "Earth friendly Natural Personal Care for the Greater Good." "At Burt’s Bees, our goal is to help create a world where people have the information and tools they need to make the highest ethical choices and do the best for themselves, their families and the environment." Their signature product seems to be some kind of organic lip balm, but they also make shampoo, skin creme, cologne, etc. The lip balm works pretty good. Interesting that liberals comprise most of Red Sox Nation, since the dirty secret is the Sox were the last team to be integrated -- fully 12 years after Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers. Yet my Dodgers seem to have no cachet among the glitterati. Our most famous fan is Alyssa Milano. Boston teams have always been the most racist teams in every sport. It is just typical of the liberal hypocrisy that they pretend that it isn't so. This is of course not such a big issue anymore since black athletes won't play baseball anymore. Oh and Alyssa Milano sucks!!! But in a good way. A very very good way. If Cuba can have the same American cars forever, so should America. Quick, Congress, put yourself in charge and make this wish come true! I am feeling the fuzzy, cooling effects of Burt's Bees lip balm as we speak. It's a miracle product, really, particularly in a cold Chicago winter. U use it all the time. I have friends who are addicted to the stuff. I use it all the time. Typos can ruin a good joke. I always get more edumicated here. It pays to ask if you don't know something. I have a tube of Bert's Bees lip balm. The kids may steal my Chapstick but they never steal my Bert's Bees. My husband asked to use it once and was very sorry. I don't like it either. Bleh... smells like perfume. Chap Stick is a lot better than it used to be. Then there is good old Carmex. Just never put it through the washer and dryer. Trust me. Worse than crayons. Ford is anti-gay. I hope they go bankrupt. California, too, Downtown. And virtually every other state, and nation. The auto industry is 4% of US GDP. Over $500 billion a year. Sure you can let it go bust, but the cost will be a hell of a lot more than $35 billion. Yes, I hope California goes bankrupt too. I hope your whole fucking country goes bankrupt. I'm enjoying your Depression. Downtown -- What nation with stunning GDP growth do you call your own? I've said it before - but I really do think that the bankruptcy of the Big 3 would be a great capstone in George W. Bush's legacy. Please let it happen. The worse shape the economy is in on January 20th, the more breathing room Obama will get to enact his agenda. My country enjoyed double digit growth last year. I'll start calling myself an American again on January 20th. Sane people don't wish ill on their own country. If you actually do care about the US economy though, it is important not to let these companies go under. Nobody's buying cars because people are worried about the economy. They are worried about their jobs and their savings. So they make their existing cars go farther. That causes the economy to slow or shrink. But they can only make their cars go so far. Eventually they buy new ones and that helps the economy grow. Well if these companies aren't here, the US will never experience the rebound will. Japan and Korea will instead. That might be good for the world's economy, but I'm not sure its good for the US. Those jobs, 11% of the world's manufacturing industry, will be gone forever. I think they should do some sort of restructuring, maybe allowing one of them to go under and get absorbed by one of the remaining 2. Here is a tip for you if you lost your job and need to make some money. Bet big on Oklahoma in the BCS championship game vs. Florida. You can make some money too on Penn State in the Rose Bowl and I bet Texas Tech will win too though I am not sure who Texas Tech will be playing. AJ Lynch - It's not my country. I've already left. US voters have made it very clear that they don't want gay people living there. Hmm DTL I must have missed that ballot question....what did it ask something like "Are you in favor of gay people living in the USA?" Just what we need, to follow the economic prescriptions of a raving lunatic who believes that the world revolves him and his gayness. Yes Seven - Your economic policies, practiced by George W. Bush - have just done wonders for this economy. AJ Lynch - when you pass constitutional amendments that say "Gays are now second class citizens" that's exactly the message you are sending to gay people - that they are not welcome in your midst. Fine. I listened. Now I get to laugh at your Depression. I had a smile on my face when I read Friday's jobs report. Enjoy your "time abroad," Downtown. As someone who knows quite a bit about consular law, I can assure you that it's tremendously difficult to renounce American citizenship. So, when Obama becomes president, and everything automatically becomes rosy again, we'll welcome you "back" with open arms. "I'll start calling myself an American again on January 20th." That's nice. We, however, will continue to call you an insufferable, needy, sociopathic faggot. I'm not renouncing my citizenship. I still have to pay taxes, and even if I renounced my citizenship - I STILL have to pay taxes for 10 years. That's why I still vote. But I don't have to live there. And my earnings and income are now helping the economy of another country. "My country enjoyed double digit growth last year." What, in the sex tourism industry? They should offer you a medal for, uh, single-handedly causing that windfall. At least I have a job Palladian. And I'm not fat. And I have friends. "And my earnings and income are now helping the economy of another country." How many Thai boys can you buy on 45K a year? Palladian - Next to gaypatriot - the most self-loathing gay person in America. "At least I have a job Palladian. And I'm not fat. And I have friends." How much do you have to pay them? Is it by the hour? How racist can you be against Asians Palladian? We already know that you didn't vote for Obama, solely because he's black. Now we realize that you don't like Asians either. Shocker. I am betting that Downtown is hunkered down in his efficiency in Chelsea right now, masturbating with seething hatred. I feel sorry for gay people who are fat. Gay men care a lot about looks. If I was in Chelsea right now - I'd be out drinking with my friends. Now I'm heading off to the gym. Bye. Bye Seven. You might want to know that the mask you are showing in your profile is quite popular in gay S&M clubs. Good day. Yeah, I'm sure my mask is popular at gay S&M clubs. You'll see guys wearing it all over La Lucha in Mexico City, just for example. I thought you were leaving. What happened? You can't quit me, I guess. "Palladian - Next to gaypatriot - the most self-loathing gay person in America." Haha. I'm not self-loating. I loathe you. When did you finally come out of the closet? When you were 45? That's funny. See, I've been "out" since I was a teenager in conservative rural Pennsylvania, back when being "out" actually carried some risk. At the same time, you spent those years on your knees in restrooms and alleyways all the while pretending to be straight during the day because you were too much of a pussy to be honest with yourself and the world. And now that everyone responds to gayness with a shrug and a yawn, you're suddenly SUPERFAGGOT! Hurling SUPER POWERED insults with impunity and anonymity at those of us who dare "disagree" with you! Able to repulse and sicken people, straight and gay, with a single blog comment! You're pathetic, Mary. "We already know that you didn't vote for Obama, solely because he's black. Now we realize that you don't like Asians either." I know! I even wore my Klan hood and carried a burning cross to my polling station in a public school in south Brooklyn. And those fucking Asians! Man I hate them! I'm calling my Taiwanese and Japanese friends right now to tell them how much I don't like them! I don't care. Every American car I've bought, including the Saturn, has been a disappointment. The trucks were OK, but still not as good. The sad thing is my Toyota Corolla was made in Georgia. It's not American workers that are the problem. It's American car companies. If American workers are building Toyotas, they seem to do a better job. Jeeps have been built by: Bantam. Ford, GM, Willys, AMC, Chrysler, Mercedes (Daimler) and now a hedge fund. I expect that Jeep will end up somewhere, the more important issue for sports car and muscle car people is what will happen to the Connor Ave. Viper plant? I would also expect Corvette and Mustang to survive, with the high-end Corvettes as their American competition and Porsche as their primary European competition Viper does not have an easy road. Viper also doesn't seem a logical fit for any of the world's majors except for Toyota and their Toyota Racing Division, however Toyota has their own problems. I've been musing that maybe Viper could end up being owned by a group of (or individual) wealthy Viper Club members. Viper is no Pierce Arrow, but they are America's most outrageous modern cars. I wish I were in Chelsea right now. "I wish I were in Chelsea right now." London, New York or Clinton? Pretending she was my intern heh. So this gay guy walks into a bar full of nine-year-old boys in Thailand. Chelsea Clinton is there. Bartender says, "Hey pal,..." There's a punchline here. I'm just not able to think of it. Have to be something like "Hey Pal see anything you like?" then segue to the punchline where the gay guy sees Chelsea and says "what a coincidence Chelsea Clinton is here; it was women like her mother who turned me gay!". Chelsea stomps out of the bar, and he says, "There goes the neighborhood!" GM is becoming hysterical about bankruptcy. Yes, sales would decline, but Chapter 11 reorganization will give them flexibility they need to fix many of their problems. They know this and I could understand them being worried, but why do they keep acting like it's the end of the world? My theory; GM is not only in far worse condition than they are letting on to anyone outside a tight inner circle and has committed criminal fraud hiding that fact. Bankruptcy will expose all the dirty laundry and people will go to jail. My 88 Dodge Colt is suffering predictable breakdown. Piece of junk. Cars don't last 20 years anymore. Made by Mitsubishi, which I chose because of their aircraft experience. And try finding a Zero these days. AJ Lynch said: Plus the Janps and Asians buy very few of our cars? Why is that? Duh. The Japanese don't buy American cars because they drive on the left side of the road. During the post-war occupation and reconstruction it was decided by GHQ to retain Japan's left-driving to discourage the American Auto industry from flooding Japan with American cars. Ironic, eh? In the early postwar years, with passenger car production restricted by GHQ, motorcycles and three-wheelers played an enormous part in meeting the demand for motorized vehicles in Japan. In fact the Bank Of Japan didn't think an auto industry was necessary which gave rise to MITI and keiretsu. GHQ also decreed that Allied vehicles would be rebuilt and repaired by Japanese firms to bootstrap the industry, who carefully studied our work methods and repair techniques, adapting and refining them. Toyota developed JIT not from studying our auto industry but Piggly Wiggly, another irony. Every competitive advantage the Japanese learned; we taught them. You might want to Google W.F. Taylor, Frank Gilbreth, and especially W. Edwards Deming. Stupidly, we did not apply the knowledge to our own industry. The Big 3 crash & burn is way over due and as others have commented they did it to themselves. BTW-Denso Corp is GM's top supplier, don't fret, the Japanese will take a hit as well. American vehicles needed to have been built better. I think that is the core of the problem. In 1984 I bought a Chevy truck, no frills, three speed on the column, probably the last one made. No air conditioning. Within 2 years the paint started to fall off. I mean big pieces after a rain. I painted it last summer, and there was no paint on the cab and hood. Some paint left on the bottom parts. I've had to replace the generator, starter and brakes, which was no big deal, and did the work myself. It's been reliable for 148,000 miles. Except for the paint, which limited the resale value, almost immediately. Next up, I bought a 1998 Chev S-10, and had to replace the clutch after 80,000 miles, again, at 120,000 miles plus some transmission parts. Sometimes you could get it into 4 wheel drive, sometimes you couldn't get it out. Everything broke on the car, and by 1997, it was a piece of rust. Because I had a 55 mile drive to work, and was closing in on retirement, I spent $8500 on a GEO Metro. Made in Canada it has been a blessing, and is still going strong at 168,000 miles. I have to replace the exhaust system about every 4 years, but do the work myself, so it's relatively inexpensive. I remember when I got out of the Army in 1968, and my father bought a brand new Dodge truck. The worse piece of crap made. Needed a new engine after only 20,000 miles, and by 60,000 miles was a rusted piece of junk. That's why Detroit is having problems. Dang! Make that "I bought a 1989 Chev S-10" That's why Detroit is having problems. Quite a while back I heard Phil Condidt (of Boeing) tell a story about transmissions. Apparently the Ford Ranger and Mazda pickup used the same transmissions. Both companies had the exact same specs, but the Ford built transmissions had reliability problems. The engineers tore apart the two transmissions but their precise measuring tools couldn't detect any difference. After further study they found that the Japanese transmissions were more perfect than the measuring tools could distinguish. This extreme precession was necessary for that particular transmission design. P.S. He also said that China told Boeing they would not buy planes unless a lot of the construction took place in China. We would never want to put pressure on foriegn companies who want access to our markets, that's not free trade. 1jpb: Exactly. This Deming page will further illustrate the point. Ford did not seek Deming's advice until 1981, the Japanese had a thirty year head start at that point. Our auto industry is not competitive because we have not made it so, all of us are responsible, the customer who buys iconic marketing and accepts lesser quality as long as it is "cool". Management, shareholders, unions and politicans are mutually culpable. They began to see the auto industry as a means to produce wealth and votes; the Milo Minderbinder approach. When better quality, fuel efficient and/or hotter iconic alternatives were offered the public switched in staggering numbers. Still the Detroit dinosaur lumbered on, adding more overhead baggage and producing cars years behind the imports; unaware or incapable of accepting that the import asteroid was about to render them extinct. Detroit had a serious heads up in the 70's. Ford responded with the more fuel efficient Taurus-Sable cars of the mid and late 80's. GM and Chrysler plodded on through the morass of too many badges, low quality and Congress grandstanding with unrealistic federal regulation time frames; all larded with executive merit bonuses, dividends and labor benefit packages until they finally reached the edge of the insolvency tar pits. I have extended family members who will be negatively impacted if GM is forced into bankruptcy, but the cost per unit of management and labor must be reduced to make the industry competitive. They must then address the issue of quality control, CAFE goals and most importantly plant realignment and retooling, the mother of all of money-sucking tar pits on Detroit's horizon. Retooling alone will take 4-5 years. Our pockets are not that deep, soon the taxpayer, if not already, will be tapped out. Then what? Bankruptcy. Do it now, accept the short term pain, before it becomes a Sisyphean task. People won't buy a car from a company that is in bankruptcy? Really? Did they not fly American while it was in bankruptcy? That seems a hell of a lot more perilous. Not really. Once you've made your flight, you've received everything American owes you. If you buy a car from a company in bankruptcy, how can you guarantee a supply of spare parts and service? What about warranties? Ask Peugeot, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo owners what it was like when they abandoned the US market. To those saying US cars are crap, have you been to an auto show this year? The latest batch of new GM cars, like the Pontiac G8 and Cadillac CTS, are light years ahead of GM's past efforts. Interior quality and design is top notch, GM's powertrains are a good as ever (never slam GM's engineers), and ride & handling is as good as anything out there. I currently own a Lexus, but I'm seriously considering a CTS, it's that good. "Rice Burning"? Very intelligent journalism there. How ignorant! The American auto companies have had plenty of time to correct their ways, but instead thought it best to rest on their pathetic American laurels. "We're Americans. We practically invented the car so we don't need to be taking advice from any other country's business practices." Typical American mentality. And now look where its gotten you. It's an eat or be eaten world and the American automakers have just been served up with a side of steaming rice."

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"Diagram that! is the implicit challenge from Gertrude Stein – whose sentences are devilishly devoid of commas.." 74 comments: I can vividly remember diagramming sentences in 5th grade for Sr. Louise. Good stuff! Gertrude Stein, one of those incredibly great writers that nobody actually wants to read. Just remember: There is no there there. Now, you're ready to impress people at a party. She's the Frank Zappa of writing. Every musician, and rock fan feels compelled to proclaim that Zappa was a genius, but nobody actually wants to listen to his music. Proclaiming the greatness of Stein and Zappa proves you're an intellectual. The titles to his songs are, however, great. I suggest reading the titles and ignoring the songs. The fact that language is so incoherent the fact that people no longer diagram sentences is due to. Gertrude Stein gets her new iPhone. I diagrammed sentences in Catholic school and didn't do it again until a linguistics course in college. They were similar experiences. Very boring, but probably there to give humanities majors the same sense of consistent but trite accomplishment math majors get when they solve problems. Suck on a comma, Gertrude. ... -- And going through my university's English program, I never met a single professor who thought Stein was anything other than a stammering retard. She's venerated because she owned the saloon that all the great ex-pats hung out at in Paris. She's the kid everyone pretends to like because her parents are never home and has a fridge stocked with soda and a downstairs with a Super Nintendo AND Sega Genesis. For a couple years I was an English major -- until I married and started worrying about how I might put food on the table -- and I enjoyed diagramming sentences. It was relaxing work, a lot like working a sudoku puzzle; I didn't find it exciting. I feel sorry for anyone whose life is so dull that diagramming a sentence would qualify as exciting. Which reminds me of a story: When I was in high school I told my uncle I was going sky diving later that summer (subsequent events conspired to make the sky diving adventure impossible). My uncle asked why my friends and I were going sky diving. I told him it was for the excitement. My uncle, who had jumped out of perfectly good airplanes during the war, replied: "Excitement? When I jumped out of a plane, the guys shooting up at us provided the excitement. The jump itself was peaceful." Everything's relative. Try again -- Kids are not taught to diagram sentences anymore(adverb), even in the best of schools. That's why young people today can't write worth a damn. They don't know grammar, and they don't know how the parts of speech (What's that?) work together. It's a shame. Gertrude Stein stepped off the Oakland trolley And fell into a void; She shoulda stayed on the IRT And got off at toid and toidy toid. Interesting post. Earlier I was thinking about how sentence diagraming must be used in Siri to breakdown the different permutations of saying the same thing. New Testament Greek must have been fun written in all capitals with no punctuation and no spaces. I guess if you want to hear the message, then you will work at it.. oops--was = would She uses them instead of question marks, though, because she hates them even more! Being Gertrude Stein, she would prefer a question martha to a question mark anyway, wouldn't she? I'm sure there's a masculine angle that can be teased out of her hatred of commas. It probably has something to do with that little phallic sarif. Re; Zappa The titles to his songs are, however, great. I suggest reading the titles and ignoring the songs. Ditto. Zappa is to rock what the Church Of The SubGenius is to religion. Commas and question marks are tools, and should be used as needed. While I'm sure it's perfectly feasible to craft a cabinet without a table saw, for instance, not only will the work be more difficult but the end result not nearly as true. An unwillingness to use available tools speaks more to misplaced self-confidence than actual skill. Erik: enjoyed your comment and agree with most of it--having watched the dude on PBS that works with 19th century tools, I think there is a certain art in using hand tools.. I am guessing you are an outcome guy rather than a process guy :) You might enjoy this. A serif could always be misinterpreted as a hanging chad and then LOOK OUT! Am I the last lover of the semi-colon? It is a compromise mark. Half comma and half colon; Sort of transpunctuation. It's tedious putting a question mark where the words have already made it a question. I like a question mark where it transforms the words into a question. I like a working question mark, not a slacker, conventional question mark. what Trad guy said--the semi-colon may be the last bastion of those that learned three rules of punctuation. I expected diagraming wasn't being taught when we ended up with slogans like Think Different. Professor--as a matter of interest, am I to assume that your 1Ls are to take a course in legal writing? I think that is a good thing, but would love to hear your take on it. I suspect, Professor, that you are not a math major. I can assure you that learning to use the chain rule in calculus is equally exciting as the use of LaPlace transform in differential equations. Clearly different strokes--albeit with the same outcome. The older parsing mostly replaced by syntactical analysis. But interesting little-knwon factoid--Miss Stein and her beloved Alice were....nazi sympathizers! (ie Vichy), at least for some time. Althouse kind of gal. And Shouting OneNote pretending he knows something about music again. Predictable. she owned the saloon Don't you mean salon? or did she own a bar? Am I the last lover of the semi-colon? Nope. I use it, albeit sparingly, in fictional narrative. I don't think I've ever used it in dialog. Think about how a sentence with a semicolon would sound... Carol: the difference between a salon and a bar is probably a function of the clientele--as a matter of preference I prefer saloons over salons. the clientele is more straightforward. ScottM--I think in the case of a semi-colon it would be a visual thing--agree that using a semicolon on spoken language would not be particularly significant. Every once and a while when going back to edit, I'll see a couple of sentences that are too long and can be combined down into a single sentence with a semicolon. It's always like finding a little Easter egg. I consciously try not to overdue it, though. The Alt-tards on ..punctuation. Wow. Deep. Stick to the meth labs and yr favorite occultist books, dreck. ScottM: IIRC the semi-colon is used to tie together two independent clauses. And is also used to follow a conjunction (eg, however) when followed by another independent clause--and finally used when the author has put forward a string of statements wherein the last one separated by a semicolon from the preceding statements. Works in the written format; however, less so in the the oral form where it would be impossible to discern the difference. They use the semi-colon a lot in the NBA; it's called traveling. ricpic: thats a damn good visual--thanks Scott M. said "I consciously try not to overdue it, though." I think spoken language and written language are related. For instance,if I want to add punctuation to a spoken sentence, I might choose to do it this way. Is this what you mean? J, you seemed to have lost that old creepy spirit for a while. The insults, racial and anti-semitic slurs just don't have the same bite. I haven't been able to even excite your usually excitable wratth. Until now. I was worried about you. I thought that you might be slipping into the final stages of syphillis, but I see you are in remission. Live for today! La-la-la-la-la-la, Live for today! Aaaahhhh! Of all the things to hit us with on a Friday afternoon. How about some story problems, too? And what Allen said. Roger J. said.... And you were always asking for her help in understanding where your sentence structure went wrong. And hers went right. ah edutcher--you are on to my game--it was great when she leaned over me. gave new meaning to the term "direct object(s)" Touched a nerve. Back to yr evinrudes, yokels. Shouting Yokel---you're the diseased illiterate derelict here, trash .Not to say congenital liar. And I know perfectly well who youve been chatting with. Yr new queer LDS palsie's messages won't help out when your case goes to court. Comprendes, basura J: its comprende. Take the infinitive comprendar, to understand. drop the ar ending and replace it with e. that makes it imperative in the second person. this isnt hard Its the imperative form. does not require an s at the end Grow up asshole--you are a real piece of shit Concentrate on learning at least one language reasonably well--you havent demonstrated that capability well. basura is of course spanish for trash--but a more grammatically correct form would be (in formal spanish: tu eres basura. thats a complete sentence. better hurry with your trash talk J--got a 5:30 tee time and not much time to fuck with you. I wrote, in an earlier thread about disposing of a family portrait, that we enjoy having our little inheritances around us and that some day, someone would regret the painting was burned. My wife, whose grandmother skipped out on her marriage to hang with The Bloomsberries, has a photograph of her infant father being bounced on Stein's knee - the imagination can run free when viewing!! Grandmother was ruined by a fiduciary who pilfered, then margined her Trust, which calumny was revealed in the 1929 Crash. Which has nothing to do with scanning sentences (that I recall taught by Mrs. Kingdom in Grade 5) and everything to do with anonymous advantage-taking on a Forum. suffer tea-tards,eh fools gladly. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh Ahh J: and your incomprehensible entry responds to what exactly? What is it about the english language that escapes you? Quickly son--I got a tee time coming up--say something intelligible RogerJ said: "J: its comprende. Take the infinitive comprendar, to understand. drop the ar ending and replace it with e. that makes it imperative in the second person." I believe the verb is comprender, with an "er" in place of an "ar." Therefore, it is: Yo comprendo, Tu comprendes, El, ella, usted comprende. So J's usage was of the second person familiar. Drug test time, soon Atards Today I ran across and English workbook from 1956. I remember it well. I loved diagramming sentences. I love puzzles, diagramming a sentence is just like a puzzle; putting everything in its proper place. I follow family members, many nieces and nephews, their children and grand children on FB. I cringe a lot because most of them say Anyname and I as an object of the preposition. Am I an old fuddy duddy? It's all I can do to keep from correcting them. Roger J. said... ah edutcher--you are on to my game--it was great when she leaned over me. I'm sure she warmed your heart. Joe--you are absolutely correct--thanks for setting me straight--but isnt the issue the imperative form of comprender? edutcher: she warmed more than that :) Just as a matter of curiousity: has anyone here ever actually read a book by Gertrude Stein or known someone who has?.....I think Gertrude was being cool and ironic with that diagramming sentences obervation. In real life, she probably found working a strap on with Ernest infinitely more exciting than diagramming sentences. Although, to be fair, it was probably more fun than making out with Alice B. Toklas. I never diagrammed one. Further, just from that sample, I can tell Stein's not that good of a writer. (Would she have any fame at all today if not for her sexuality?) (Contra Thomas, I like Zappa and listen to his music voluntarily. The key is that nobody wants to listen to his experimental music. The pop-shaped stuff is fine.) Stein was an avante-garde type that influenced others, especially Hemingway. She wrote stuff, but its rightly been forgotten. Diagramming isn't done because it's not a good analysis. Open Quirk Greenbaum et all to a random example and try to explain it with diagramming. I highly recommend that 2000-page book. Take a summer to disabuse yourself of the idea that things are governed by rules that you know. Utterly at random: "It is with duration adjuncts that we have greatest freedom to use noun phrase, though for the most part they can be regarded as abbreviated prepositional phrases and can be made more explicit and rather more formal by the introducton of for: They stayed (for) a while. They lived (for) several years in Italy. With or without for, time units can be postposed by round (with years) or through, especially when the reference is habitual: The Stewarts now stay in Italy { the whole summer through, the whole winter long, the whole year round, all the year round. } Without a numeral or other quantifier, the for can often not be omitted: ?*He put up the night at a hotel. But: He stayed the night at a hotel. He put up that night at a hotel...." Their aim is to tease out the real rules. Diagramming doesn't help at all. Thousands of pages like that. Gertrude Stein's arrogance about punctuation would carry a bit more weight if she written better prose. Unfortunately it was her writing that was weighty (i.e. ponderous), and her objection to commas was mere bitchiness. Gertrude Stein + Essay = Leaden Drivel N.B. Here's another uncomfortable fact of life that makes feminists crazy: A man can gracefully age from a wit and raconteur into a curmudgeon. Women can't do this. They try to be witty and come off bitchy. Then as they age they morph from bitches into batshit crazy cat collectors. Women have never done wit; they don't get it, never have and probably never will. It's hormones or something. Even women who get paid to be witty crash and burn like the Hindenburg every time they attempt the bon mot. Think I'm off my chump, do you? Just listen to Janeane Garofalo for three minutes without chemical protection. Case closed. (BTW, I wonder how many cats Ms. Garofalo owns now.) I, too, diagrammed sentence after sentence in junior high. I didn't mind it, but I don't know that I got much out of it, either. It was ninth grade Latin that finally -- for some reason -- brought the parts of speech and how they cooperated, together. [Please note the important comma.] Please note the important comma. Come to think of it, I only wish I could have justified a semi-colon, if only to annoy Mme. Althouse. Alas, grammar wouldn't allow it. Homeschooling Mom here who made all her kids diagram as part of their grammar instruction. They're teens now, so it's been awhile, but interest was recently renewed when our son's best friend's Mom (who is a H.S. English teacher), as a fun exercise/challenge, diagrammed the first sentence of Dickens Pickwick Papers. She showed her work to me the next morning in church. Who else can she show it to? I still have it. If we didn't homeschool I'd want my kids to be in her class. Gotta love teachers who do for fun on the weekend what they do for pay during the week. Tools are handy. This doesn't mean each tool is useful in every situation. It also doesn't mean that because a tool isn't useful in every situation, it's not useful at all. Learn how to use tools and when to use them (or not), and you'll go far. I've always enjoyed diagramming sentences. I like puzzles and computer programing; diagramming sentences seems to be part of a similar process. J keeps saying it's drug test time, but he never tells us what his results were. Of course, it's easy to see why. J keeps saying it's drug test time Well, it if IS drug test time, I demand to be given some drugs to test. How can I test drugs if I don't have any?? The 1% have drugs....damnit...kick some down!!! "She's the Frank Zappa of writing. Every musician, and rock fan feels compelled to proclaim that Zappa was a genius, but nobody actually wants to listen to his music." I think Zappa sucks, outside a small body of his early work with the original Mothers of Invention. That said, Zappa's fans are legion and they are fanatical...and they do listen to his music. I always preferred Captain Beefheart. Gertrude Stein eats shoots and leaves. There's a link for "the implicit challenge" but it's broken."

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"I went a little overboard with the basil this year. I have three pots of regular sweet basil and my last trip to the farmer’s market sent me home with lemon basil, purple basil, and Thai basil. Cripes! But seriously, basil is the best. Every summer I make Giada’s Italian Lemonade a few times and last week I made it for the first time this summer with four different kinds of basil. Slap my ass and call me fancy! I also used some of the purple basil when I made Creamy Basil Chicken last night for din-din and look how pretty! Fresh herbs make everything prettier don’t they? Even though my plants were on the wee side, I used some delicious fresh basil when I made homemade pizza last week too. Yummy! So basically this post is just an ode to basil. I love it so. Even my hand soap and dish soap are the Mrs. Meyer’s Basil scent. Next basil endeavor will be lemon basil ice cream. Stay tuned! 7 thoughts on “Purple basil = new obsession, basil in general – the love continues” I must try the lemonade! Great post! I can’t wait for the ice cream! Couldn’t agree more!! Basil is wonderful. Now I need to try that lemonade! LOVE the ode to basil! thanks for sharing Now I’ll have to look for purple basil at the farmers market! Have you tried strawberry-basil ice cream?? I think it’s one of my favorite combo’s ever! I will let you have ALL of the basil…all of the colours, flavours and kinds…you can have it all. Basil is one of the ONLY foods that I absolutely despise and despite your photos looking enticing and scrumptious, they have been despoiled by that hideous green mass of aniseed. Oh, by the way…making it purple DIDN’T FOOL ME AT ALL!"

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"First I have my younger students trace a simple fish template, however my older students usually feel more confident so I have them hand draw out a fish shape. Then they draw an eye and lips if they would like to. Also, students are to draw a "fin" in the corner using any kind of line they would like...straight, curving, wiggly, etc. Then the fun part... adding patterns. Students draw patterns using markers and/or crayons to fill their entire fish. The next class we first finish our patterns and make sure we don't forget to color our fin in the corner too! Students then cut out the fish and the fin. I help the younger ones with this next step. Students cut a curving line into the fish body to create a "gill". We need it to curve away from the mouth. Then take the front half of the cut body and slide it over the back to overlap. This "pops" out the body. I will staple for the younger kids, however older ones can glue with a dot. Then the fin receives a dot of glue and is slid into this Popped gill to dry. Lastly students glue the fish onto a piece of 9 x 12" construction paper in whatever color they would like. We just put a dot of glue on the dorsal fin, mouth, and tail. No need for it anywhere else. They can use crayons and markers to create an environment around their fish. As you can see my students can come up with some really awesome patterns. These examples are created by 3rd grade students. I love this project. Simple 3-d and my students are always so proud of their works. Because of storage space, students nearly always take this project home on the second week after completion. This was a fun way to begin our break. This project took 2 forty minute classes to complete. Our materials were the following: 1. 9 x 12" white drawing paper 2. 9 x 12" color construction paper 3. Markers 4. Crayons 5. Scissors 6. Glue 7. Pencils and erasers 8. Templates (if you so choose to)"

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"*thanks for all the help yesterday, instagram buddies (past, not passed...haa haa!) This is my monthly intention for February. Now that the enchantment that comes with the first few weeks of a new year is fading, it has really started to sink in: I'm without him. After six years with Tomas, and a couple weeks since 'breaking up', I feel like we are broken up. That's actually the first time I've used that phrase. I haven't officially said we're broken up outloud. I guess I still haven't. Haa haa! (You see why I need this month for mourning?) I've never done this before, so excuse me if it's all coming out weird. I've crushed on guys, who didn't crush back, and sure, that hurt a bit. I've fallen for guys who sorta fell back, and when it didn't amount to a relationship, felt full-fledged heartbreak. I'm no stranger to heartbreak, but I've never been through this before. I've been with Tomas for six years, and he's been my constant. He's been my phone calls, my cuddle buddy, the one I share news with first, and...well...'the one' in general. He's been my one. ...and we didn't work out. Now what do I do? It's been hitting me really hard since my grandmother left. I'm just starting to wrap my head around it and I find myself going, "Am I single? I'm alone again, aren't I?" I am without an other. I miss him terribly. I love him very much, but it was me who ended it. ? ? ? Yeah. It was me who thought it wasn't fair to him for we to be 'us'. He's been wanting so much more from me for such a long time and I...can't. So, on top of feeling alone, I feel guilty, and it's placed me in a FUNK. I'm allowing myself to mourn this month. I'm going to grant myself the space, the time, and the silence to heal. I'm going through a break-up and it feels like a death, but I want to MAKE IT PAST THIS. Thanks for understanding. Happy love month! xOxO,"

"http://amandaroseblog.typepad.com/my_blog/2013/02/make-it-past-this.html"

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"When I was pregnant with Piper, it was my first pregnancy. Other than the typical first timer fears of “OMG, is this pregnancy going to stick? Is everything all right?” I was okay. I waited the weeks until our first appointment, a little panicky but overall okay. After all, I had no reason to be suspicious. I peed on various tests, watching that test line gradually darken, knowing hormones were kicking in, thankful for the nausea and the boobs that were so freaking sore I couldn’t go without a tight bra. The second time I got pregnant, I was still nervous. I was excited but okay. Then my temp started dropping and I got a little scared. I stopped temping to avoid the stress. My tests didn’t get darker- at all. I had no nausea, no sore boobs, nothing to tell me everything was okay. Still, I made that appointment, hopeful everything was going to be okay. Then I saw brown on the tissue. I called the doctor, fearful but knowing brown spotting = old blood, and we all know old blood isn’t the kind to be scared of. “Watch for bright red blood and cramping, back pain. Even then, a little spotting isn’t bad, it’s normal.” Luckily, the spotting had ceased. The next morning I had to drop Piper off at school, Paul had to leave early. I was getting her ready and went to the bathroom. There was red on the tissue, and my heart stopped. Still, I had to suck it up, I was in charge of Piper. As I continued the morning routine, I repeatedly went to the bathroom, red, red. I was starting to cramp. I was scared, so scared. Before we left for school, I sent Paul a text saying, “It’s red blood now. I think I’m losing the baby.” I put on Piper’s music in the car and let her sing along while I was deep in thought. How we didn’t somehow die on that trip I’ll never know, my mind was not there at all. I remember walking up to the door, saying hello to the teacher. The whole time thinking, “I’m probably miscarrying and there is nothing we can do about it.” I kissed Piper goodbye and headed to the office. The spotting turned to bleeding. I called our nurse crying. It was the beginning of the end. “Next time”, I thought, “next time- it there IS a next time- I will go in early for betas. I will stop temping, I will do whatever I can.” There was a next time. It was a very, very unexpected next time. Still, I did everything right. I kept temping a few days, until it all went haywire and I freaked out and threw it into Paul’s nightstand. I kept taking my vites, I kept testing and seeing the line get darker and darker. Everything was moving as it should. I called my doctor to get my betas done- at 15dpo it was 258. Then, at 17 dpo, it was 817 or something equally high. Things were really good. There was no instance of spotting, not one speck of red or pink. My boobs were hurting, but that was it. I was worried, but not overly, as I had the betas done, right? I was scheduled for an early ultrasound at what should have been 6ish weeks or so. We saw two gestational sacs, one with a yolk sac. It was measuring a few days small, which isn’t a big deal- I have a tilted uterus. I went back, and it had grown but not that much. And well… you know how it turned out. I’m going over all this because I am not sure what I have left to do. We did the “wait and see” approach, and it didn’t help. We did the cautionary way, and nothing helped. Everything was looking great this last time. We had no reason to be suspicious. Now, we have no safety nets. I have nothing to turn to in order to ease my fears. Betas have proven nothing is concrete, and early scans are just a window to a chain of events that will break your heart. Where do you turn when you have no more options left to keep you sane? I have two options for the next time- if there is a next time, and I’m not sure there will be-, I can just be an outright fucking mess from that first positive test until I get to 14 weeks (or the baby is born, depending on what we determine the issue was) , or I can just let go and do whatever I can personally (baby aspirin and whatever else is an option) to ensure I will feel no guilt should something happen again, but otherwise just have faith. Gotta be honest, neither one of those plans sound particularly awesome. I’m trying so hard to be optimistic, and happy that it appears I am ovulating today or ovulated yesterday (based on cervical mucous and opks and ovulation pain), which means the hcg is low enough to ovulate. I’m working really hard at being hopeful that the next pregnancy will be the success and thus, the last. But right now I am being inundated with pregnancy news. Left and right people are announcing pregnancies, and I am foolishly taking joy in being happy that I have an appointment on Tuesday for a scan to make sure my body expelled the last of the baby I lost. It all seems so unfair when I look at it that way. They get to be happy knowing they have no reason to be afraid. I envy them. I wish so badly that I could get that feeling back, that feeling of being scared for the future, but knowing deep down the odds are great that all will be well. At least, for me, the odds didn’t make one spit of difference. I was still the odd loss out. I know no matter what, I am going to be absolutely terrified. I don’t know if I will be able to experience a pregnancy without fear now. I’m terrified right now, and there is no reason- no pregnancy to worry about. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I’m trying so hard to not try to envision it as a total black hole of despair and fear. Very hard. February 4, 2013 at 4:26 pm Hugs."

"http://ambergontrail.com/2013/02/01/the-next-steps/"

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"Fr. Drew Christiansen, SJ, editor in chief of America, reports on his visit, along with a small group of Catholic press representatives, with President Obama this morning (Thurs., July 2) at the White House. (Fr. Christiansen is pictured in the photo at the far left of the table.) The quotes are taken from the official White House transcript. In a wide-ranging interview with Catholic editors and religion reporters in advance of his July 11 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, President Barack Obama expressed his admiration for Catholic social teaching and the quality of its social action. He voiced particular gratitude to the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Catholic parishes of southside Chicago where he first worked as a community organizer in the 1980s. “Cardinal Bernardin was strongly pro-life,” the president reported, “never shrank from speaking about that issue, but was very consistent in taling about a seamless garment and a range of issues that were part and parcel of what he considered will meet with Pope Benedict following a meeting of G-8 leaders in L’Aquila, Italy, whose agenda with the G-20 last April. The U.S. has committed $100 billion to the IMF to cushion the effects of the global economic recession on the world’s poor. The president also plans to double the U.S. contribution to world food security and direct U.S. development aid to poor countries to agricultural development for the sake of food self-sufficiency. He also intends to press other wealthy nations for matching contributions to international food security as well. On his own current religious practice, President Obama allowed that he and the First Lady have still to settle on membership in a local church. He acknowledged rumors that they were very comfortable with the small congregation at Camp David, the president’s weekend retreat in Catoctin, Md., but that they are still looking for a local congregation in Washington. He confessed that the controversies over the Reverend Jeremiah Wright during last fall’s election campaign had taught them both that as public figures they could be too easily associated with the views of a particular pastor or congregation. In addition, they have learned that the security arrangements associated with a president’s movement anywhere creates a heavy burden on any congregation they attend. They hope to settle on a congregation this fall. In the meantime, the president leans on a group of pastors and religious advisors who provided pastoral support during his campaign for the presidency, including some Catholics, and he begins his day with reflection on a devotional sent to him each morning on his Blackberry by Rev. Joshua DuBois, the director of the White House Office for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership. For more, see the July 20-27 print and online editions of America. Drew Christiansen, S.J."

"http://americamagazine.org/node/125476"

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"Practicing What We Teach Canon law allows the diocesan bishop to impose taxes, sometimes called diocesan assessments, quotas, mandatory targets or fees, on parishes. Although dioceses in the United States increasingly rely upon voluntary annual appeals, a survey in 2001 by the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings in Montana found that 73 of the 96 responding dioceses collected mandatory taxes from parishes to meet diocesan needs. Catholic social teaching provides some clear guidance about how these taxes should be collected. In Mater et Magistra (1961), Pope John XXIII wrote that in a system of taxation based on justice and equity it is fundamental that the burdens be proportioned to the capacity of the people contributing. In their 1986 pastoral letter on the U.S. economy, the American bishops explicity endorsed a progressive tax scheme based on assessment according to ability to pay as a prime necessity for basic justice. Given such clear guidance from Catholic social teaching and their own pastoral letter of 1986, the bishops might well be expected to employ progressive tax rates in their dioceses. But that is far from being the case. A survey of diocesan taxing practices conducted in 2003 at Notre Dame Law School shows that bishops who impose diocesan taxes in the United States use flat tax rates almost four times more frequently than progressive rates. Of the 73 dioceses that describe themselves as imposing diocesan taxes, six dioceses do not base their diocesan taxes on income at all. Only 14 diocesesor less than 20 percentreported using progressive tax rates. The remaining 53 diocesesan overwhelming majority of dioceses that report imposing a taxmention only flat rates in describing their diocesan taxes. Stated another way, those flat-rate dioceses outnumber the 14 dioceses using progressive rates for a diocesan tax by a ratio of almost four to one. By contrast, the federal income tax in the United States uses a progressive system, in which tax rates increase as income increases. For example, taxpayers might pay a 10 percent tax on the first $10,000 of income, 15 percent on the next $20,000 and 25 percent on all income in excess of $30,000. Under a flat tax, on the other hand, the same tax rate, say 20 percent, would apply to all taxable income. Thus, for example, a taxpayer who earned $10,000 would pay $2,000 in tax, while a taxpayer with $1,000,000 in income would owe $200,000 in tax. Although both tax collections and actual spending determine whether a tax system redistributes economic resources from the rich to the poor, progressive rates further such a redistribution. While urging the redistribution of economic wealth in the U.S., the bishops in 1986 called on the government to use three principles to evaluate the public tax system and its effect on the poor. First, the tax system should raise adequate revenues to pay for society’s needs, especially the obligation to meet the poor’s basic necessities. Second, the system should not require families below the official poverty line to pay income taxes. Third, the tax system should use a progressive structure so that those taxpayers who enjoy relatively greater financial resources pay taxes at a higher rate. The bishops explicitly commented that a progressive tax system would reduce the severe inequalities of income and wealth in the United States. In the same pastoral letter, the bishops stressed their belief and teaching that all the moral principles that govern the just operation of any economic endeavor apply to the church and its agencies and institutions and articulated the need for the church to model exemplary behavior. In view of this, the bishops would do well to follow their own counsel. Both collectively and individually, they should review their diocesan tax policies and practices to determine whether they flow from the ethical moral vision articulated in their pastoral letter. Using their teachings about national tax policy as a general guide, diocesan taxes under canon law should therefore: (1) raise adequate revenues to fund the diocese’s needs, including the obligations to assist the poor in the diocese, poorer parishes in the diocese, other dioceses, and the Apostolic See; (2) exempt poorer parishes from the tax (or at least subject them to lower tax rates than richer parishes); and (3) use progressive rates so that those parishes and other taxable entities enjoying relatively greater financial resources pay at a higher tax rate. Moreover, distributive justice challenges the bishops to adopt diocesan tax practices that in both fact and appearance seek to ensure that poorer parishes can adequately support priests and ministers, build and maintain churches and schools, and assist the poor and vulnerable in their communities. Flat tax rates offer simplicity, but they do not redistribute economic resources. Current diocesan programs to support parishes in need may redistribute parish resources as well as progressive tax rates would. Nonetheless, by either completely exempting poorer parishes from diocesan taxes or reducing the tax rates on such parishes and raising the tax rates on more affluent parishes, the bishops in the United States can rather easily adopt progressive rates with little, if any, loss in overall revenue to the diocese. The bishops should adopt progressive tax rates and otherwise change their policies and practices regarding diocesan taxes under canon law to follow more closely the commitment to distributive justice in Catholic social teaching. To facilitate this process, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops should consider undertaking a project that would draft one or more model progressive diocesan tax systems for diocesan bishops to bring back to their dioceses for consultation and possible implementation. As an added benefit, such reforms in diocesan tax policies would enable the bishops to speak more authentically on federal income tax issues, and especially to oppose the periodically recurring efforts to move to a flat federal income tax. The Christian emphasis on distributive justice goes back well beyond current church teaching. Jesus and his disciples practiced what Jesus preached. John’s Gospel reports that they kept a common purse out of which the group met their own needs and gave amounts to the poor (Jn 12:6, 13:29). In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke explains the practices used by the early Christians to support the church and the poor within the community (Acts 4:32-37). In the First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul describes how one body of believers might lend assistance to another group (1 Cor 16:1-4). In the Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul also urges the faithful to follow the example of the churches of Macedonia, which voluntarily gave according to their means, [and] beyond their means, spontaneously, and begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones (2 Cor 8:3-4). The payment of diocesan taxes allows a parish to help its diocese and the universal church to build the kingdom of God here on earth. In the closing sentence of their letter on the U.S. economy, the bishops wrote: Love implies concern for allespecially the poorand a continued search for those social and economic structures that permit everyone to share in a community that is part of a redeemed creation. Using progressive rates to impose diocesan taxes would better enable the U.S. bishops to practice what the Gospel, the universal church and they themselves teach."

"http://americamagazine.org/print/issue/479/article/practicing-what-we-teach"

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