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Research by MoveStreets, the property portal designed for the mobile generation, has revealed how much current homesellers are likely to have made when it comes to the price appreciation of their property across each region of the nation. MoveStreets looked at the average length of time a property is owned after purchase across each region of Britain. MoveStreets then looked at how much house prices have increased during this time period based on a homeowner selling up today, adjusting this increase for inflation to find the actual sum made. Homeowners in Wales typically own their property for the longest period of time at an average of 22.6 years. A homeowner to have purchased a home back in February 1999 would have done so for £48,455, £85,875 once adjusted for inflation. With the average house price across Wales now £196,216, that’s a 128% increase (£110,341), the largest property value percentage increase of all British regions. The average length of homeownership in the North West is 20 years and since 2001, the average house price has increased by 97% (£100,029), the second largest increase of all British regions, closely followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at 89%. The average length of homeownership in the West Midlands and the North East is slightly longer at 20.2 and 21.3 years respectively. However, house price growth hasn’t been quite as buoyant and after adjusting for inflation, MoveStreets research shows that the average property has increased by 79% in the West Midlands and 78% in the North East. In London, the average homeowner will own their home for 19.4 years and had they purchased back in April 2002, they would have seen an increase of 71% once adjusting for inflation. However, while the capital has only seen the sixth largest percentage increase of all British regions, it has enjoyed the largest monetary uplift with those looking to sell now some £211,000 better off compared to when they bought their home. Scotland is the only region to have seen negative movement when it comes to property price growth over the lifetime of the average homeowner. With an average length of homeownership at 14.5 years, it would have cost £129,092 to get on the ladder in March 2007. However, once adjusting for inflation, the research by MoveStreets shows this cost is actually £183,168 and with the current average property costing £180,334, Scottish homesellers will have seen a 2% drop in the value of their home. Adam Kamani, CEO and Co-Founder property portal of MoveStreets, commented: “With the festive period now behind us, many homeowners will be getting their house in order with the view to selling in 2022. Over the last year, we’ve seen some explosive rates of house price growth and so those now entering the market are likely to be doing so at a considerably higher sum than the price they originally purchased their home for. While there are always fears that we may see a repeat of previous house price drops, the cyclical nature of the property market means that there’s a good chance you’ll have seen an increase by the time you do come to sell. Just remember, a realistic valuation is key to a quick sale and so avoid any unrealistic expectations if you want to avoid an initial period of little to no interest before inevitably adjusting your asking price expectations further down the line.”

Mind & Happiness 38 This individual Consciousness – our feeling “I am a person, a separate Individual, a Mind or soul confined within the limits of a Body” – is merely an imagination, a false & distorted form of our pure Consciousness “I exist”, but it is nevertheless the root cause of all desire & all Suffering. Unless we give up this individual Consciousness, this false notion that we are separate from God, we can never be free of desire, nor of Suffering, which is the inevitable consequence of desire. True Self-Surrender is therefore nothing but giving up the false notion that we are separate from God. In order to give up this false notion, we must know who we really are. And in order to know who we really are, we must attend to the Consciousness that we feel to be “I”. Though the Consciousness that we now feel to be “I” is only a false Consciousness, a limited & distorted form of the real Consciousness that is God, by attending to it keenly we can know the real Consciousness that underlies it. That is, attending keenly to this false form of Consciousness is similar to looking closely at a Snake that we imagine we see lying on the ground in the dim light of dusk. When we look closely at the Snake, we discover that it is in fact nothing but a Rope. Similarly, if we keenly attend to the limited & distorted individual Consciousness that we now feel to be “I”, we will discover that it is in fact nothing but the Real & Unlimited Consciousness “I exist”, which is God. Just as the illusory appearance of the Snake dissolves & disappears as soon as we see the Rope, so the illusory feeling that we are a separate individual Consciousness confined within the limits of a Body will dissolve & disappear as soon as we experience the pure Non-Dual Consciousness, which is the Reality both of our Self & of God. We can thus achieve complete & perfect Self-Surrender only by knowing our self to be the Real Consciousness that is devoid of all duality & separateness. Without knowing our True Self, we cannot surrender our false self, & without surrendering our false self, we cannot know our True Self. Self-Surrender & Self-Knowledge are thus inseparable, like the 2 sides of one sheet of paper. In fact, the terms “Self-Surrender” & “Self-Knowledge” are just 2 ways of describing one & the same state – the pure Non-Dual State of Consciousness devoid of Individuality. The above themes & 2500 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com Different blogs (but with graphics) are available on: http://www.blogger.com as “Being-as-Consciousness, Non-Duality – new & final version” with link: “There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth.” – the “no creation” school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see: www.ajatavada.com/

These days, the use of corporate planes by business executives is cause for public scorn. "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y. The winds shifted last November when the CEOs of Detroit's Big Three automakers flew hat-in-hand to Washington to request government bailouts - arriving on fancy company jets. Many Americans saw a new symbol of greed and arrogance. "'This time CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their pay checks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over," President Barack Obama said on Feb. 24. Orders for new planes nosedived and aircraft manufacturers slashed jobs. Cessna cut 40 percent of its workforce - 7,400 jobs; Hawker Beechcraft cut 2,800 jobs, Gulfstream 1,200. Citigroup cancelled its new $50 million dollar jet. Others companies sold their fleets. But Wes Stowers is no fat cat. And his company plane, a King Air 350, is no ego trip. He also owns a private jet. "It's comfortable and functional. But not exactly luxurious," said Stowers, chairman of Stowers Machinery Corporation. Stowers' Knoxville, Tenn. Caterpillar dealership has been his family's business for almost 50 years. On his company plane, Stowers flies customers to caterpillar factories, in remote places commercial carriers don't fly. In fact only 500 American cities are served by the major airlines, whereas private planes can access 5,000 smaller airports across the country. So the mayors of 70 small and medium-sized cities have written to President Obama urging him to help change "toxic perceptions" about this "crucial lifeline to rural America." They urge the president to save the industry's 1.2 million jobs, and the $150 billion output per year. Fat cat CEOs are the stereotype, but 85 percent of people flying on private planes for business work for small or mid-sized companies. If having a private plane was just a fun perk, "We would get rid of it," Stowers said. But the ridicule goes on and this industry continues to have a bumpy forecast.

Women have been known to face oppression since time immemorial. The feminist groups came up in as early as the late 1960s to speak up against the oppression of women. These feminist groups took various forms of speaking up for these rights. Poetry was one of these ways. The power of the spoken and written word is known to possess infinite power. Slogans like “The Personal is Political” came up around this time too. This slogan has been under scrutiny for the longest time, with various scholars trying to delve both the plutonic and deeper meaning. Kelly observes that the phrase the personal is political was conceived as connecting the women’s experience of exploitation and oppression as political issues (p.122). This work seeks to look into the works of a poet and how they incorporated the phrase and its meaning into their works. The concept of the personal being the political in a woman’s life is one that never gets tired or obsolete. It is a concept that defies time and is always relevant regardless of time and space. It applies to every woman as women are still facing some of the issues that these feminists were protesting against back then. This concept means that most of the personal problems that women undergo are not in their making or fault but are brought about by systematic oppression (Winter, para.5). This means that women are not to blame for things they go through; also women should not feel guilty, contrary to what many of the women are brought up knowing. Many women in different cultures are put down and made to feel bad. All this is because they are women and that they exhibit female traits that are natural. Women are made to feel stupid, weak, emotionless, hysterical, mad and ashamed of their sexuality. For the longest time, the society has sought to bring women down and lock them in cocoons so that they suppress their real power and potential. In many cultures, even today, women are still not allowed to hold leadership positions since they are considered weak and emotional hence they are prone to poor judgment. The phrase “The personal is Political” establishes the notion that most problems that women are said to have are not their fault. This has only been forced upon the women. The phrase is still relevant in the world today as women are still not yet liberated totally. In fact, some are still bound by unreasonable cultures that demean their rights and dignity. Thesis Statement: The poet Janice Mirikitani was protesting against the issues Violence, anger and silence which women put up with, as she argues the phrase “The Personal is Political.” In her poem “Breaking Tradition”, Janice Mirikitani explores how every woman has a secret longing to break out of the inhibitions and restrictions that society locks them in and to break the shackles of silence, violence and anger that haunt them. This poem shows how each generation of women wants to break out of the cocoon they have grown up in, and which has also sucked their own mothers. Mirikitani brings out the issue of forced silence very strongly in this poem. Line seventeen says “I am like my mother she kept her room neat with silence” and goes on “defiance smothered, passion and loudness wrapped, steps confined…” Such phrases are used to bring out the reality that women were there to be seen and not heard. Their opinions and feelings did not matter in any setting or environment. Most Mirikitani’s poems cry out in protest against the internally or externally imposed silence on women (Lashgari p.292). Mirikitani says in her poem: “Guilt was passed in our bones.” This means that women are brainwashed to think that they cannot think on their own and challenge existing ideals in the society. Therefore, they are forced to silence by that inward guilt. Externally, the society seeks to suppress the potential of women by making them feel stupid for possessing ideas, which promptly ensures they remain silent. It is anger that pushes the persona in the poem to free her daughter. The persona understands the implications that the political aspect has had on her private life and how the two are interconnected. She wants to free her daughter form the same and ensure that she never has to face the same. She “wants to tell her daughter of the room and about herself”. Knowledge is power, and it is the only way women will be liberated. The society has managed to keep women in shackles by withholding the truth from the. The truth about what women is that, they are not weak, stupid, and useless. Also, they can contribute to the society just like their counterparts, the men. The poem uses imagery of an open window that provides possible escape from the cocoon. Mirikitani has had her own share of the political influencing her private life. The poet is embittered by her parent’s silence about what she went through while at a tender age. This is because of having survived violence and sexual molestation at a tender age (Ho & Antonio, p.376). That anger pushed her to fight for the liberation of women. Though she represents the persona in the poem, we cannot help but notice her desire to enlighten her own daughter. She looks determined to free her daughter from the prison of silence and oppression in which the society wants to imprison her. The last part of the poem portrays civilization and a breaking of traditional ways and culture. The daughter of the persona is engaging in activities that the society she comes from might not approve. She is dancing to modern music “Salsa, the Stones and Teena Marie”. Mirikitani says that her daughter is copying her. She is breaking tradition and thus she will become free. The mere act of her daughter mirrors her own desires and wishes, and in this, she finds hope. It is without question that women are not yet totally liberated, especially in some parts of the world, but we cannot ignore the fact that this liberation process has made quite some milestones. Women these days can be listened to in the society, some of the practices that undermined their dignity has been done away with globally. The most glaring impact is in the fact that women can now take up leadership positions in societies, organizations, local government and even nationally. The battle for the liberation of women is still ongoing, but there is hope that women will one day be totally liberated and that the political affecting the personal will be a thing of the past. Ho, Fred W, and Carolyn Antonio. Legacy to Liberation: Politics and Culture of Revolutionary Asian Pacific America. Brooklyn, NY: Big Red Media, 2000. Print. Kelly, Christine A. Tangled Up in Red, White, and Blue: New Social Movements in America. Lanham [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001. Print. Lashgari, Deirdre. Violence, Silence, and Anger: Women’s Writing as Transgression. Charlottesville [u.a.: Univ. Press of Virginia, 1995. Print. Winter. Feminism 101: The Personal is Political. 2001. Web. 28th March 2012. http://mindthegapuk.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/the-personal-is-political/

A scene from Alison Berg and Frank Keraudren's The Dog The son of Polish immigrants in Queens, NY, John Wojtowicz was a Vietnam vet who married after returning from war and had two children. From there, the story gets a bit more salacious. He later met Ernest Aron (later known as Elizabeth Debbie Eden) and had a wedding ceremony in 1971 in Greenwich Village. The non-legally sanctioned nuptials began a tumultuous relationship that became a media sensation courtesy of an outlandishly botched bank robbery that only gained more notoriety courtesy of Al Pacino and Sidney Lumet, who turned the incident into big screen success in 1975's Dog Day Afternoon. In August, 1972, Wojtowicz, along with two friends, attempted to hold up the the Chase Manhattan Bank on East Third Street and Avenue P in Gravesend, Brooklyn. Crowds and eventually television news crews headed to a standoff with police in front of the bank. Word spread about Wojtowicz's intension. He needed cash to pay for his lover's sex change operation. Wojtowicz had been a bank teller and used that background to help in planning the heist. But he also found inspiration from The Godfather, which he watched ahead of the robbery attempt. One of his accomplices ran away and another was killed by FBI agents in the final moments of the incident that included a minute by minute standoff in which his mother and lover showed up on the scene. Later sentenced to 20 years in prison, John “The Dog” Wojtowicz served six years. He made $7,500 selling the movie rights to the story plus 1% of the profits, which paid for Aron's sex change surgery. “I beat the fucking system!” Wojtowicz boasted. The Dog, which has its U.S. debut at the New York Film Festival on Tuesday, returns to the incident that started it all, and then goes beyond the '70s and discovers John Wojtowicz as the unapologetic, steadfastly honest, promiscuous, gay activist, self-centered, unfiltered, brother, son, father, ex-con who became a firestorm of controversy and, for some, an endearing anti-hero. The Dog looks at the fallout after Wojtowicz's robbery and discovers a man whose zest for life still bordered on the bizarre for the rest of his life—and he was quite fine with that… FilmLinc Daily spoke with The Dog filmmakers Alison Berg and Frank Keraudren at the recent Toronto International Film Festival about their decade-plus relationship, which began with a late-night phone call and a few gropes. FilmLinc Daily: How did you first come across John a.k.a. The Dog? Allison Berg: We were watching Dog Day Afternoon one day and we loved the film. For some reason we thought he was getting out of prison in a year. There was the curiosity and we thought there would be a real-life happening. But we were wrong. He got out in 1978. We Googled it—it didn't take long for us to figure out. But we read articles about his post-prison life and we thought that those sounded interesting. We then actually looked up his mother in the phone book. She's a very sweet lady and still lives in Queens. We called her up and said we were doing some research and wanted to speak to John and she said she'd pass on the message. And at about 2:00am that next morning we got a phone call. There was this really gruff voice and he said, “My mother said you sounded sexy, so I'm calling. Do you have the password?” And we didn't know what “the password” was. I think we were on the phone for a couple of hours, we kept passing the phone back and forth and trying to stay awake. Already he was a larger than life personality and we set up a meeting with him. This is around 2002. Francois Keraudren: The day we met him physically, I think, was the real starting point. The phone calls were intriguing and maybe a little creepy. The meeting at a diner in the West Village was surreal. This guy from the first minute had no boundaries or filters. He treated us like he'd known us for 20 years. He brought all kinds of photos and letters and we went to three different restaurants… AB: By the time we got to the [NYC's Chelsea neighborhood restaurant] The Half King, he was re-enacting things and the waitress kept looking over… A scene from Alison Berg and Frank Keraudren's The Dog FD: So at this point were you still in the intrigued stage or were you set for a feature length documentary? AB: That was the hope, but it was much more an idea to make a vérité film about him, but we didn't know about the treasure trove of material he had, as did other people. So I think we had a little bit of a different idea about the kind of film we were going to make… There were stories that he'd repeat to us, but then we started learning more. He started opening up more and we learned about his brother and that he had health issues. All of this started getting deeper and it took a turn from a superficial entertaining story to something much more about his whole life. FD: He certainly set the tone at the very beginning of the movie when he said, “I'm a pervert…” AB: He shook my hand when we met and then sucked my finger. And then he turned and groped him, so yeah… FK: The abrupt feeling in the beginning of the film was edited in a way that's choppy and loud. And that's kind of how it all felt when we met him. AB: Yeah, we were trying to do something that allowed the audience to feel the way we felt. You're sort of taken aback, but you're sort of laughing at the same time. You want to go on the ride. FD: You were both with him for quite an extended period of time, but were you nevertheless surprised by this crazily brash in your face behavior? FK: I think many people just wouldn't go there. I think many would just turn around and run. But with him, it was always the mixture of things. The same way his personality is layered, he draws you in and is engaging. At the same time, you also want to take two steps back. So it was a long, slow thing. I think if we had not been from New York, there would have been no way we would have made this film. We would have given up and gone home, but we couldn't get rid of him. FD: You were committed to the project and maybe even couldn't get rid of him. So I suppose the film took on a life of its own… AB: One film that came up for us was Crumb (1994). We had a certain idea, but we were exploring it. We didn't know he lived with his mother until we got there. We didn't know there was a strange dynamic going on in that house. FD: So there was one unexpected turn… AB: I think it was more that he'd reveal something, and then we'd be like, “OK, we didn't know this.” A lot of that also came with his brother. But then we also didn't know that his mother would be so much the soul of the film, in a sense. We immediately liked Terry, but we didn't know she'd be so open and such a great storyteller on camera. In person she was, but it turned out she was such a [compelling] figure in her own right. A scene from Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon starring Al Pacino FD: Yeah, and she obviously loves her son. I'd imagine she's disappointed in some respects, though. Did he ever give a sense he regretted that? He was very close with her… FK: I think that's one of the things. John was one of the most uncompromising persons I've ever met in my life. You can't even imagine it until you've experienced it. It could be something as simple as picking up a half pound of turkey at the deli and it would cause such a problem. It was funny, but then you realized it's how his entire life played out. He antagonized everyone. In the beginning we thought maybe we could meet some of his friends, but John is a complete loner and he didn't care. AB: Yeah, John was a complete loner. But he's actually religious. The only people in this world that he said he wouldn't hurt are the pope and his mother. He loved his mother, but I don't think he cared about what she thought of his life and his choices. FK: I'm not a doctor or psychologist, but it's quite obvious there's a degree of mental illness. But it's very borderline because he's quite aware of everything going on around him. That was never an excuse for anything he did, but he had his own beliefs and there was nothing that could change that. It's an interesting thing to watch. In real life that has dire consequences, but in the film it's exhilarating to watch. In a gangster movie, for instance, there's a thrill watching it, but almost nobody wants to do that in real life. So when you see a guy like John who has no boundaries and you can identify with that, it's like riding the mechanical bull. You don't want to go and do that, but it's intriguing. FD: Was he into the idea of having cameras follow him from the outset? AB: I think he never pursued it exactly. He was into getting attention on a day to day basis. He'd always have his newspaper clippings and walk around and show them to people. He loved the attention, but it's more like being able to get into a club in the '80s or have everyone listening to him while he's getting his haircut. He loved the idea of telling his story again, but I don't think he was as concerned about how he was perceived. FK: He didn't crave being the center of attention. He just sort of enjoyed it. Once we started asking him his story we couldn't shut him up… AB: We're not the first people to approach him, but to get him to go as far as he did took him more time. I don't think he craved more fame exactly, he just loved what he already had and using it to his advantage. FD: Of course the bank robbery is at the center of his story and it was interesting because that incident was one of the early manifestations of the 24 hour live news we are so used to today. When he held up that bank, the news went live to that scene playing out like a whacked-out Bonnie and Clyde thing, but in Brooklyn. And Clyde getting Bonnie money for a sex change operation… AB: A few years ago, we were thinking it was like OJ Simpson going down the freeway. I mean, it wasn't as live as that, but there were portable cameras capturing the whole thing live as it was going on. Police changed their crowd control because nobody knew what to do because nothing like this had happened. He was at the center and watching it all go down. FK: His whole trajectory has to do with the media. If it hadn't been on TV and if there hadn't been a film, he would have been forgotten many, many years ago. I don't know if that makes it important, but it was a blip on the radar. A scene from Alison Berg and Frank Keraudren's The Dog FD: It's funny how he said he'd go into the bank carrying a gun but inside a big Wrigley Spearmint Gum canister and he said could just tell people he's carrying around his pop art. It was funny because his whole persona is like a moment of pop art, completely claiming his 15 minutes of fame. FK: He lived in his own world. He lived in his own movie. I guess we all do in a sense, but in John's case he'd expand it to such a degree… I mean, when he talked he'd quote Gone With The Wind or other movies. He'd constantly attach himself to famous people in conversation. AB: Yeah, we'd call this the fucked up Forrest Gump. He'd mention something crazy, but then he'd pull out the pictures to prove it. FD: I would imagine the gay community has quite a mixed reaction to him. FK: It's easy to lose yourself in the story. What he did was based completely on flawed logic that's indefensible. I mean, I don't know anybody that would agree with the concept of taking people hostage for two days for any valid reason. It's extremism. To this day, I don't know how much of it was really planned. John would tell a story of heroism, but he's not a hero. He was a guy in his 20s that got caught up in this crazy situation based on his crazy beliefs. AB: And this is an individual story. He's not supposed to represent a group of people. For some people, the fact that he was so open about how he chose to live his life and the fact he was so romantic and wanted to be with the person he loved whether that was a man or a woman, you think back and say, “Wow, there are very few people in 1972 doing that, much less doing so on camera.” So whether you agree with his choices or not—and I think most people would disagree—many would still respect that he lived his life so openly… It might not necessarily be a “good for you” kind of film, but he's a fascinating character. FD: It will be very interesting to see how the homegrown audience takes to it… AB: Oh yes, New York Film Festival is going to be so interesting! He pissed a lot of people off in his life and it's not out of the question that some of them may be buying tickets. FK: He has that attitude that he can take to the [highest] degree and I think it's going to play better in New York than anywhere else. AB: Toronto and New York were what we were dreaming about…

Nanotech provides a solution to yet another vexing problem. From the link: Membranes made with carbon nanotubes could reduce the amount of energy needed to capture carbon-dioxide emissions from smokestacks, and therefore cut costs, according to a company that will receive $1 million from the new advanced-research projects agency for energy, Arpa-e, to develop the technology. The company, Hayward, CA-based Porifera, claims that its carbon-nanotube membranes could capture one billion to three billion tons of carbon dioxide a year and save $10 billion a year compared to existing CO2 capture technology. At this point, however, the work is at an early stage, says Olgica Bakajin, Porifera’s chief technology officer. She expects that it will be another year before the first prototype is ready.

ERIC Number: ED389501 Record Type: RIE Publication Date: 1995-Oct Reference Count: N/A A Comparison of Four Enrollment Groups of K-8 and K-12 Missouri Rural School Districts. Alspaugh, John W. This paper compares school district characteristics for rural Missouri K-8 and K-12 districts in four categories of enrollment size. A random sample of 56 K-8 and 56 K-12 districts yielded 4 equal categories of K-8 enrollment: 51-100, 101-150, 151-200, and more than 200 students. Data are presented in graphic form for assessed valuation per pupil; operating tax levy; expenditure per pupil; administrative cost per pupil; teacher salaries; student-teacher ratio; and achievement scores on the Missouri Mastery and Achievement Test (MMAT) for grades 3, 6, and 8. The assessed valuation per pupil--the basis for local taxation--was considerably lower than the state average in all rural districts studied. Expenditures and administrative cost per pupil were lower than the state average in all but the smallest K-12 districts. Teacher salaries were also considerably lower than average in all districts studied. Student-teacher ratio was higher than average in K-8 districts and lower than average in K-12 districts. Despite limited financial resources, all districts studied consistently achieved higher MMAT scores than state averages. The mean K-12 attendance rate was significantly higher than the K-8 rate, but both were higher than the state average. Two final graphs present data from 428 Missouri districts showing that the high school dropout rate was positively related to school size and negatively related to the high school grade span. (SV) Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers; Numerical/Quantitative Data Education Level: N/A Authoring Institution: N/A Note: Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Rural Education Association (Salt Lake City, UT, October 1995).

A remarkble shell gorget was discovered in situ during the University of Missouri rescue excavation at Fairfield Mound number 2. Image of the jaguar gorget scanned from the 2007 Missouri Archaeology Poster. The gorget was discovered with the engraved surface facing down. Drawing of the shell gorget scanned from the cover of The Missouri Archaeologist, Vol. 23 (1961). Colorized plan of mound number 2 at the Fairfield site. Adapted from Wood (1967: Figure 6). The engraved gorget was associated with a scattered bundle burial (number 2) almost in the center of the mound. Other associated artifacts include several small Scallorn arrowpoints, Rice Side-Notched points, a mammiform artifact, an antler cylinder, a cache of triangular knives, beaver teeth, conch shell beads and snail shell beads. Colorized profile of mound 2 at the Fairfield site. Adapted from Wood (1967: Figure 6). Map showing the relationship between the four mounds at the Fairfield site (Wood 1967: Figure 1). Plans for Mounds 1, 3, and 4 are presented at the end of this webpage. Photograph taken by Professor Wood of Fairfield Mound 2 before excavation, published by Chapman (1980: Figure 4-7). Arrowpoints including corner notched Scallorn points from Fairfield Mound 2 (Wood 1967: Figure 7). Rice Side-Notched projectile points from Fairfield Mound 2 (Wood 1967: Figure 8). Projectile points and drills from Fairfield Mound 2 (Wood 1967: Figure 9). Pottery and other artifacts from Fairfield Mound 2 (Wood 1967: Figure 10). Miscellaneous artifacts from Fairfield Mound 2 (Wood 1967: Figure 11). Large triangular knives associated with the jaguar gorget in Fairfield Mound 2 (Wood 1967: Figure 12). Drawing and scanned photograph of the mammiform artifact manufactured from gray calcareous quartzose siltstone; it was found a few inches away from the gorget. It is 34 mm high, and the oval top measures 45 by 38 mm. The depression extends 15 mm. This artifact is very similar to an artifact from the Trowbridge Site (14WY1), an archaeological site located near Kansas City, Kansas. Colorized plan of Fairfield Mound 1 (Wood 1967: Figure 2). Colorized plan of Fairfield Mound 3 (Wood 1967: Figure 14). Colorized plan of Fairfield Mound 4 (Wood 1967: Figure 19). The Jaguar Gorget by W. Raymond Wood [essay published in the 2007 Missouri Archaeology Month Poster]. The jaguar gorget was discovered in 1958 by archaeologist W. Raymond Wood and Rolland E. Pangborn during excavations in what would become the Harry S. Truman Reservoir. The gorget was found in mound 2, a rock-and-earth fill Late Woodland mound within the Fairfield Mound Group in Benton County of southwest Missouri. The gorget, which measures 98 - 104 mm in diameter, is made from a Gulf Coast shell and is engraved with a unique jaguar design. The realism of the engraved jaguar is distorted only by its elongated body and the three-pronged "speech symbol" that projects from its mouth. The art style on the gorget is reminiscent of other Middle Woodland motifs engraved on bone, though the art is distinctive enough that it serves as the type specimen for what archaeologists Philip Phillips and James A. Brown (1978) called "The Fairfield Style." Most archaeologists today consider this gorget to be a Middle Woodland artifact that was curated and interred later by Late Woodland peoples. Images of jaguars are important elements in Mesoamerican art. However, there is no stylistic parallel with anything known in Central America. The gorget represents either the independent use of a jaguar motif, or some form of iconographic diffusion from Central America. some would prefer the former interpretation, since the historic range of the jaguar was far to the west and south of southwest Missouri. The image now serves as the symbol of the Northern Jaguar Project in Tucson, Arizona, and continues to be used as a state icon by Missouri archaeologists. Webpage constructed by Michael Fuller, 1 December 2007 Revised 21 December 2007

He who sups with the devil must use a long spoon - and bring a good agent Should reputable scholars write 'authorised' company histories? Niall Ferguson can think of two good reasons for doing so ... and money is only one of them To many professional historians, the word "authorised" is synonymous with "censored", not to mention "whitewashed". When I agreed, nearly five years ago, to write a history of the Rothschild bank authorised by N. M. Rothschild & Sons, more than a few of my colleagues raised their eyebrows. I was soon on the receiving end of a selection of chilling horror stories, the common moral of which was that such commissions were Faustian pacts - with one's academic integrity rather than one's soul as the price. Yet there can be little doubt that more and more historians will be asked to write authorised or official histories in the future, and particularly company histories or business biographies. Whereas a decade or two ago, the majority of companies regarded their histories with indifference, embarrassment or paranoid secretiveness, today more and more are coming to appreciate that their past is an asset. The company histories that used to be produced were barely histories at all: more like leather-bound brochures, usually written by an insider in an anaemic style. I speak as a poor sufferer who, as a doctoral student, read scores of such books trying vainly to find out what Hamburg firms had done during the years of German hyperinflation. Nearly all of them had an exceedingly short chapter titled "Difficult years, 1914-45", containing a sentence along the following lines: "In 1923 the German currency collapsed.Only with difficulty could the directors steer the company through the stormy economic seas of the inflation era." Happily, a few trail-blazing firms realised the pointlessness of such books and commissioned serious scholars to write their histories. I think, for example, of F. C. Gerretson's four-volume History of Royal Dutch, published in the 1950s, or more recently the admirable history of Schroders written by Richard Roberts, which actually tried to understand the bank's business (as opposed to its partners' social lives). Here were serious books that enhanced not only their authors' reputations but also the reputations of the companies that commissioned them. So when Lord Weidenfeld phoned me up one dank day in Michaelmas term 1993 to ask if I would be interested in writing a history of Rothschilds, I did not rule the idea out. Compared with the other project I was then toying with, there were two attractions. One was (let's not be coy) a decent advance. The other was that the Rothschild archive had never before been made fully accessible for research; and I knew enough to be sure that it contained virgin source material of the very highest quality. But was there a catch? This is the question any historian should ask when faced with such a tempting offer; for, as others have found to their cost, there can be a big one. I know of at least two histories, commissioned by firms and written by serious scholars, that never saw the light of day because the management got cold feet when the manuscripts were delivered. Whether too academic or too near the bone, these manuscripts vanished into the firm archive (or worse, were then used as the basis for sanitised histories by other writers). Having been paid, the original authors found that they had no legal right to insist on publication. The other big catch is a more subtle censorship. Key files are not made available. Or, as the price of publication, the author is asked to omit certain embarrassing details. Even when such things do not happen, authorised historians are quite likely to be accused by suspicious reviewers of having submitted to such pressures. I can think of two eminent historians whose histories of major German companies were denounced for allegedly sanitising the firms' role in the Third Reich. In reality, it has been precisely the pressure to come clean about the past of German firms that has progressively raised the standard of German business history. Nevertheless, historians who venture into this territory need to be aware of the risks they run. The stakes, after all, are high when historical evidence can form the basis of multi-million pound lawsuits by victims of Nazi policy. Needless to say, this was not one of the risks I had to run, since the Rothschilds were themselves victims of the Nazis (two members of the family murdered, all the others living on the continent imprisoned or driven into exile, and assets worth millions stolen). Yet I had to be sure that I could write an uncensored history that would be published. How to achieve this? Tip number one is to put the negotiations in the hands of a professional. I was fortunate to find a first-class agent in Gill Coleridge, who handled what proved to be very protracted talks with both bank and publishers. In the contract she helped to draft, it was agreed that I would be entitled to quote freely from any material in the Rothschild Archive in London predating March 1915; and, of course, from any other archives and private collections of papers as far as their curators gave me permission to do so.It was also agreed that the bank would have the right to comment on the manuscript and that I would "make every effort to take account of and respect" those comments. The only part of the book whose form, content and scope the bank retained the right to approve was that part that could not be based on archival sources - the last chapter and the epilogue, dealing with the years 1916 to the present. Even for a book beginning in the 18th century, 1915 was a relatively early cut-off point; but it suited me. I was mainly interested in the period before the first world war when the Rothschilds had been the biggest bank in the world. This arrangement worked far better in practice than I could ever have hoped. Throughout, I was able to abide by the Rankean principle of trying to write history as far as possible "as it actually was". This, however, had more to do with the Rothschilds' fundamental commitment to historical accuracy than to anything written in the contract. And this brings me to the crux of the matter. When writing about the past of a still-existing entity, the historian is necessarily dependent on the present generation's readiness to know - and make public - the truth. I was fortunate in that all concerned were seriously interested in having an accurate account of their antecedents' lives. When individual family members read parts of the book their response was invariably to correct errors and to provide material I had missed. The moment I always dreaded - when someone would ask me to excise an uncomfortable truth - never came. I suspect there is no way of ensuring such sustained cooperation. But there may be ways of encouraging it. One tactic I adopted, for example, was to circulate draft chapters as I wrote them. This had the disadvantage that all the rough edges and errors that characterise first drafts were exposed, but the advantage was that those concerned became familiar with my approach and could see the project evolving gradually. Disappearing for four years and then delivering a huge manuscript would have been a mistake. Even with a good contract and goodwill, however, it was a risk, and I lay awake many a night imagining that it would all somehow go wrong. Still, the prize - access to the Rothschild archives - was worth the sleepless nights. It was hugely exciting, for example, to see the long-lost archive of the Vienna bank, confiscated by the Nazis in 1938, seized by the Red Army at the end of the war and buried for 45 years in the KGB "trophy" archive in Moscow. I shall never forget opening the silver box containing the private accounts of Prince Metternich, the Austrian statesman, or finding the original of the extraordinary letter he wrote to Salomon Rothschild in 1848 as he fled into exile. And the treasures held in the archive of the London house were even more dazzling. In particular, the so-called "private letters" between the partners in the bank, which cover the years from 1812 to 1898 and fill 135 boxes, must rank among the most important source materials for 19th-century European history. Extraordinarily well-informed about politics and finance, these letters are also wonderfully candid, especially those written by Mayer Amschel Rothschild's five sons in an almost unreadable Judendeutsch (German in Hebrew characters). Being an authorised author is certainly more difficult than joining the queues in the Public Record Office. But the benefits of access to previously unavailable sources are immense; and the costs of gaining that access need not be too high. Niall Ferguson's The World's Banker: The History of N. M. Rothschild & Sons is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, price Pounds 30.00.

May 30, 2014 Hi, I had a sexual encounter with a man a month ago and we engaged in oral sex and mutual masturbation. As we were masturbating he used his pre-cum as a lubricant and he rubbed it on the tip of my penis several times and performed oral sex a few times after wards. I am very concerned as I later noticed an area on inside of the opening of my penis that was red. There was no blood, but it was red in colour. I am not sure if it was a small cut or not, but it made me worry. To make matters worse he said he has not been tested over a year.I am worried that his pre-cum could have entered the potential small cut or could have entered into my urethra. I was doing researched and learned that HIV infected fluids do not survive easily out of the body? Is this true? I am at high risk in this situation? I am extremely worried. | Response from Ms. Southall Hi Oral sex carries the lowest risk of HIV transmission. Masturbating doesn't carry any risk. HIV transmission can only occur when there is a direct and prolonged exposure to body fluids, semen, vaginal fluid, blood or mother to child through breast feeding. This most commonly occurs through unprotected vaginal or anal sex and sharing of needles. Casual contact, sharing utensils, drinking after someone, etc are not way for HIV transmission to occur. If you go to this link HIV101 it will take you to our page that talks about the ways in which HIV is and is not transmitted. Yes it is true that HIV begins to die once it leaves the body and becomes unable to infect. There is a very low possibility of you receiving HIV through this type of experience. What I would recommend is that you get tested so that you know your status. Not just for HIV but all of the STI's. And of course encourage you that when you are with someone new or anonymous that you use protection. Not just to prevent HIV but all of the STI's. Be well and stay safe, Shannon Get Email Notifications When This Forum Updates or Subscribe With RSS - How Do I Know If I Am Hiv Positive? - What Helps Prevent Hiv From Turning Into Aids? - Have There Been Any Cases Of Transmission Of Hiv By Skin Contact - Hiv Through Nail Cut Fingering - What Pills Can You Take To Get Rid Of Bacterial Vaginosis Or A Yeast Infection? - What Does Gonorrhea Discharge Look Like? This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional. Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.

Literary London Special. How London has inspired writing and writers across the centuries. Recorded in A Room for London, the creative / living space in the shape of a boat on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank of the Thames, Open Book explores the impact the city has had on literature - from Chaucer and Dickens to Martin Amis and Peter Ackroyd; the themes it evokes and why it creates such a diverse backdrop to novels. Mariella Frostrup is joined by novelists who've all been charmed by London - Will Self, Amanda Craig, Dreda Say Mitchell and Ben Aaronovitch. Although I've got to say describing Will Self as being charmed by London is a bit disingenuous. It was a really interesting experience and I'm hoping that they edit out the weird incoherent warbling sounds I make on occasion.

Once upon a time, there was a Bishop in Ancient Myra who cared for the poor. He took them gifts and told them stories about the Savior. He lived a simple life and found joy in serving God and others. Over time, stories of his generosity spread and were distorted until the myth of 'Saint Nicholas' became the focus of Christmas, pushing Jesus right out of the celebration. This delightful Christmas read aloud will acquaint you with the origin of 'Santa Claus', a humble bishop who would be stunned by what Christmas has become and that his legend has overshadowed the birth of His beloved Savior. Note: The way this works is that you click add to cart, checkout, and pay. Then an email will be sent to you with a link for the download. Super easy!!!

Have you ever wondered how America’s growing prison population is counted? On PolicyMap, under Residential Homes and Buildings on the Real Estate Analysis tab, you can find data on the number of people housed in correctional facilities throughout the country. Released decennially as part of the Census’ Summary 1 files, the Bureau strives to count each person only once and in the correct place. The Census counts people according to the “usual residence rule,” which means that people are to be counted where they “live and sleep most of the time.” While determining usual residence is clear cut in most cases, with some special populations, such as military personnel, college students and incarcerated individuals, it is a more complex task and has been subject to some debate over the years. The map below shows the percent of the population living in correctional facilities for adults in 2010 by county. As you can see, in areas with a strong prison presence, the percentage of an area’s residence that is incarcerated can be quite high. The highlighted county is Crowley County, Colorado, over 30% of the population of is made up of incarcerated individuals and the neighboring county of Bent, CO. Some take issue with the Census’ current approach, arguing that it can lead to distortions in demographic data and “misleading conclusions about the size and growth of communities” (Prison Policy Initiative). Critics, such as the Prison Policy Initiative, also maintain that the Census’ policy leads to prison-based gerrymandering and an unequal distribution of voting power. While a movement exists to continue trying to get the Census to change its policies, some states, such as Maryland New York, have passed legislation to count incarcerated people at their home addresses for purposes of redistricting. For more on the potential impact of the Census’ policy on demographic data and research, see here.

Where do our weird quirks come from? Do you have unique, peculiar action or behavior that you do? Explain how, why, and where you do it. More importantly, where do they come from? Is it in our genes? Does it come from observing others, particularly our parents? Why do we do the things we do? If you can’t think of something you do, does someone else in your life have one? What’s the weirdest behavior you’ve ever seen anyone do?

Neck Rash Treatment As the name suggests, neck rash is associated with the neck. It usually appears as red, pink or irritated skin. It is mostly common in babies. It also causes change in color and texture of the skin, forming bumps and blisters. Neck rashes are very itchy in nature and are mainly due to heat which causes sweating. It generally occurs in summer. There are many treatment of neck rash which are available in the market by which you can reduce the pain and discomfort. Before looking at the treatment of neck rash, it is important to know its symptoms and causes. - Acne- It is a disorder of the skin resulting from the action of hormones on the sebaceous glands (skin oil glands). In acne, pimples appear mostly on the face and the neck. - Barber’s rash- It is an infection of the follicles of the facial hair. It is usually due to lack of hygiene during shaving i.e. using dirty razor, shaving brushes or even towels. - Eczema- It is a chronic skin condition which causes itchiness, inflammation, redness and swelling of the skin. It also includes many types of eczema like atropic eczema, allergic contact eczema, and seborrheic eczema. - Folliculitis- It is an inflammation of the hair follicles. It is caused due to an attack of bacteria that enter the follicles, causing a bacterial infection. Red, itchy and bumpy rashes appear on the skin. - Food allergies- It causes an over reaction of the immune system to a particular food substances. These are very common in individuals. It also causes swelling, itching and inflammation of the skin. - Impetigo- It is an infection of the skin caused by bacteria. It is contagious and can be spread through contact with a person or the use of infected clothing, towels or some personal items. It is generally caused by bacterium Group A streptocococcus. - Lupus- It is also a chronic disease, which spreads throughout the body including the skin, joints, muscles and other body parts. It is an autoimmune disease which damages and destroys the affected tissues or organs. - Measles- It is a viral disease that affects the respiratory track including the throat, lungs and bronchial tubes. It can also lead to serious problems, or might be life threatening. It can be prevented with the use of vaccination. - Psoriasis- It is a chronic disorder marked by raised area of the skin. It includes red or pink patches of skin which is covered with a whitish layer. Treatment of neck rash - Stop using soaps, lotion or other things that causes irritation and inflammation to the skin - Avoid direct rays from the sun, as it can form itchy bumps - Use olive oil to moisturize the skin - Maintain cleanliness by using an antibacterial cleanser, as it will remove the irritant that causes neck rash - Apply hydrocortisone cream to the affected area, as it helps to soothe the rashes and cure itchiness. - Use Aloe Vera gel over the rash, as it is a natural healing process which helps to soothe the irritated skin - Use ice packs, as it will cool the rash and provide great relief - Apply oatmeal paste by mixing oatmeal and water in equal quantity, and apply it for 20 minutes. It also provides great relief from inflammation of the skin - Drink lots of water because in case of dehydration, the neck rash may get worsen - Wash the affected area well and remove the dirt and moisture Despite of these remedies, if the neck rash persists then it is recommended to immediately visit a doctor. The doctor might change the medicine or increase the dose of the medicine depending upon the severity of the rash. Neck rash treatment should not be ignored, since the rash can lead to several other problems.

Since there is obviously a great deal of interest in it, a rational analysis of what sIFR means is in order. At WE04 earlier this month I was asked on-stage once and a few times privately what I thought of sIFR, or scalable Inman Flash Replacement, the new Flash replacement technique. While I don’t for a second pretend like I know everything about it, I believe I’m familiar enough with its usage issues to offer an opinion. And that’s what this is, an opinion — take it with a grain of salt. sIFR has evolved quite a bit in its year-long life cycle. Initially crossing my radar in October 2003, a lively argument between Mike Davidson (creator and maintainer of the code) and myself is still preserved at holovaty.com. Mike won, because he had obviously thought about it in great detail and had good answers for most questions. Since that time, he and some others (notably Shaun Inman, hence the ‘I’ part of sIFR) have taken it much further, and solved many of the problems with the original version. sIFR is easier to implement than any image replacement technique. Instead of manually generating each header through an image editor, you’re able to skip the editor completely. Elegantly, it will skim through an XHTML document and find the relevant bits, swap out the text and drop in the typographically rich replacement. And that is what makes it so exciting. It’s a useful piece of non-intrusive scripting that adds an extra dimension to a page. And the scripted effect is by no means required, it degrades gracefully. sIFR allows for dynamically-generated snippets of text which can use any font, not just VerdanaGeorgiaArial. And that’s a major benefit to those of us resigned to the same five fonts.The immediate reaction of purists and purist wannabes is, inevitably, ‘ew’. Invoking Flash is reason enough to cause the reaction, but using it for such trifling detail as a header? Who could be that insane? Well, Mike was, and others were, and now sIFR is a real technique to contend with. But on to the cons. First, as far as I’m aware, the accessibility of the technique is a question mark right now. I haven’t heard of any screenreader testing, and I’m unaware of anyone having done a more in-depth look into the implications on assistive technologies. ( Mike confirms that it has been tested, and appears to work just fine.) And there are a few usability niggles. You can’t select the text within a sIFR headline. Well, you can… but not in the same swaths as you’d select body text. You have to make a separate pass for each. This is an improvement over image replacement, though, since no text within an image is selectable. ( Mike and others note that the text does get selected, there’s just no visual feedback mechanism.) Text within sIFR also doesn’t scale. Well, it does… but only according to your font size when loading the page. Any subsequent instances of Ctrl + “+” are ignored, until you reload the page. This is also an improvement over image replacement, since no image-bound text has ever scaled. And I’m inclined to say it’s more a consistency problem than an accessibility problem anyway, since those who need the larger text size are more likely to be browsing with their font scaled appropriately to begin with. My personal peeve is speed. A page with more than one instance of sIFR has a much longer load time. Jeff Croft has pushed his adaptation of sIFR to the limit, and waiting for the headers to load so I can determine whether I’ll read the block of content below is a little irksome. Finally just a little thing, but an important one — a sIFR header is able to act as a hyperlink. When I hover over a normal link to decide whether I want to follow it or not, I very frequently check my browser’s status bar to see where it’s taking me, and whether the destination in question is worth viewing. sIFR doesn’t have any way of reporting back to the browser where that link is going, so I don’t get the preview, and links become a little more blind. One Solution, of Many At the same conference I referenced earlier, Doug Bowman mentioned in his presentation that advanced techniques come about because someone was trying to solve a problem. sIFR is just that: a solution. The problem is that there aren’t enough fonts in a web designer’s palette. We are technologically (and quite probably legally) bound to 5 or 10 fonts that we can be reasonably sure the end user has installed, and that’s all we’ve got to work with. Solutions have been proposed, and font embedding was even a part of the CSS2 standard (though it was ditched in CSS2.1 since no one uses it). But the problems are much broader, ranging from font licensing to delivery to rendering, so there’s no clear solution in sight. sIFR is one proposed solution by those in the trenches. It works, it’s here today, it works around licensing problems, and despite the other problems above, it’s usable. It’s not the perfect solution by any means, but until the standards bodies, font foundries, and browser manufacturers can all agree on one thing, it’s what we’ve got to work with for now. It may not be for you. Image replacement may not be for you either. I personally plan to continue using the latter, and may investigate sIFR at some point in the future, but I’m in no hurry to shake up my development practices at the moment. It’s one choice amongst many, but the important thing is having the choice. This article is meant to provoke discussion, it is not the final word. Feel free to fact-check me and report back in the comments. The information in this article is true to the best of my knowledge, but without having used it or tested it I can’t be considered a sIFR authority.

I recently revisited Ray Daniels’ classic work “Designing Great Beers“, a book written in 1996 and published by the Brewers Association. Though I originally read this book several years ago, I enjoyed it even more the second time. For those of you who don’t know this book, it is advertised as “The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles” and to a large degree lives up to that billing. Daniel’s book is engaging, packed with useful information and unlike many books has practical advice on how to design recipes for many of the most popular beer styles. Mr Daniels’ book is not for the rank beginner, but is targeted to the intermediate to advanced brewer interested in improving their recipe design. The book is divide into two major sections. The first includes a fairly lengthy introduction to beer design including chapters on major ingredient categories (malt, hops, water, yeast) and the role that each plays in the brewing process. These chapters are also accentuated with explanations on how to estimate key beer characteristics such as original gravity, color, bitterness and water profiles. He also reviews key brewing techniques like mashing and explains their impact on beer design. Each section is extremely detailed, well thought out and packed with information. For example the chapter on color explains not only how to estimate color by how various malts contribute to color during the brewing process. In some areas he dives quite deep into each subject, which is why I would not recommend this book for a beginning brewer. In part 2, Mr Daniels presents detailed chapters on 14 classic beer styles and how to design recipes for these styles. Though part one is good, the chapters in part 2 on beer styles were my favorites. For each style he describes the history of that style of beer, classic ingredients used and brewing techniques associated with the style. In a departure from most brewing books, he presents not a collection of recipes but rather detailed analysis of both commercial and top award winning home-brewed recipes. His analytic approach provides, for example, a profile of the main malt ingredients used for each style and the proportion of those ingredients used. For hops, he has analyzed the number of times each hop variety was used for each popular style giving you a solid guide to which hops are most appropriate for the style. Taken as a whole, his analysis provides a detailed guideline on how to design your target beer style that goes well beyond the typical BJCP style guide. For example, in the chapter on Porters his analysis shows that an average Brown Porter has 55% pale malt, 11% Crystal malt, 4% chocolate and 5% black malt. Roast, Wheat and Munich malts are also sometimes used. Goldings hops were the overwhelming favorite, with Challenger, Fuggles and Northdown also popular. Using the BJCP style guidelines along with Mr Daniels’ templates, it is not difficult at all to create outstanding recipes for any of the styles listed. Styles in part 2 include Barley Wine, German Barley Ales, Bitters, Pale Ales, Bock, California Common, Fruit Beer, Mild Ale, Brown Ale, Old Ale, Pilsner, Porter, Scotch Ales, Stout, Oktoberfest, Vienna and Wheat beer. It is not a stretch to call Ray Daniels’ “Designing Great Beers” book a true classic that belongs on the shelf of any intermediate to advanced brewer. I’ve found it not only an interesting book to read but also a great reference book that I frequently go to when starting a new recipe from scratch. I have to give this book four and a half stars (of five)! - Designing Great Beers – on Amazon.com You might also enjoy these articles: - The BeerSmith Home Brewing Guide - Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher – Book Review - Mastering Homebrew by Randy Mosher – A Book Review - Home Brewing with BeerSmith – My New Book - Beer Recipe Design Don't make another bad batch of beer! Give BeerSmith a try - you'll brew your best beer ever. Download a free 21 day trial of BeerSmith now

In doing so Mrs Laing pledged her commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who were murdered during the Holocaust while also paying tribute to the extraordinary Holocaust survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people. Tuesday, January 27 will mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the site of the largest mass murder in history. In the weeks leading up to and after Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events involve schools, faith groups and community organisations across the country remembering all the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. Mrs Laing said: “Holocaust Memorial Day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau - and is an important opportunity to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and make sure they are not forgotten. “I encourage all constituents to mark the day and to join members of my community in the fight against prejudice and intolerance.” Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock said: “We are proud that Mrs Laing is supporting Holocaust Memorial Day. “As we mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust and the liberation of the concentration camps in 2015, it is vitally important that we both continue to remember and learn from the appalling events of the Holocaust as well as ensuring that we continue to challenge anti-semitism and all forms of bigotry.”

This is a story about successful kids (especially boys), common sense, and research. Most of us spend hours each day sitting at work. Science says it’s killing us, and we have developed all kinds of fads to combat it–from standing desks to smartphone alerts to get us up and moving. Armed with that knowledge, however, what do we force our kids to do each day at school? Sit still, for six or eight hours. Yes indeed. Let us teach them to hate school. Let us teach them to hate learning. Though, if they are on the smartphone, they will sit. We should combat this. Give them a boot outside without the phone. Now researchers say that mistake leads us into a three-pronged, perfect storm of problems: 1. We overprotect kids, trying to keep them safe from all physical dangers–which ultimately increases their likelihood of real health issues. 2. We inhibit children’s academic growth (especially among boys), because the lack of physical activity makes it harder for them to concentrate. 3. When they fail to conform quietly to this low-energy paradigm, we over-diagnose or even punish kids for reacting the way they’re naturally built to react. This is all old stuff. We have been hearing about it for years. Yet, nothing ever seems to happen with respect to implementing this knowledge. Most boys are rambunctious. Often they seem like they’re in a constant state of motion: running, jumping, fighting, playing, getting hurt–maybe getting upset–and getting right back into the physical action. Except at school, where they’re required to sit still for long periods of time. (And when they fail to stay still, how are they punished? Often by being forced to skip recess–and thus they sit still longer.) It’s not just an American issue. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland recently tried to document whether boys actually achieve less in school when they’re restricted from running around and being physically active. They studied 153 kids, aged 6 to 8, and tracked how much physical activity and sedentary time they had during the day. Sure enough, according to a report by Belinda Luscombe in Time, the less “moderate to vigorous physical activity” the boys had each day, the harder it was for them to develop good reading skills: The more time kids … spent sitting and the less time they spent being physically active, the fewer gains they made in reading in the two following years. [It] also had a negative impact on their ability to do math. When I was a wee lad, I liked to do physical stuff, mainly outside. Not all of the time, but most of the time. It is what boys do, it is how they learn the basic ways of the world. When I came home from school, that is what I did. Not schoolwork. That is what all of the boys did. We did it during our three recesses during school hours. The people who set up the school system seemed to inherently know what boys needed. What were the girls doing during recess? Who knows? They were doing what girls do. Whatever it was, boys did not notice. The results didn’t apply to girls. I know that sounds sexist; the researchers offered a few possible explanations. Maybe there simply are physiological differences–or maybe the girls were just as eager to move around as the boys, but they were better able to set aside that disappointment and concentrate. And for that reason, other researchers say, girls are rewarded more than boys in the classroom. “Girl behavior is the gold standard in schools,” says psychologist Michael Thompson. “Boys are treated like defective girls.” I see. So it does not apply to girls. Very interesting. In my individual case, I was very good at “girl learning”. But I could see that lots of the boys were not. When it came to the end of high school, at the top was me and a bunch of girls. The boys just did not really mesh with school; it was so obvious. Well, things have gotten worse since my days. At least for the boys. Many factors have come together such that one might think that there is a conspiracy against boys. Let us consider, I. Less recess II. Less fun stuff to play on during recess III More stuff you can’t do during recess IV. Women principals everywhere V. More difficult material presented earlier VI. Lots of self-esteem, mostly for the girls VII. Lots of touchy-feely subjects VIII. The general feminization of society. One wonders why they even send boys to school anymore. The women teachers don’t really want to deal with them. They want to teach “girl style” to the girls. The boys will just grow up to be useless men, so why bother with them? Well, maybe not useless, hopefully they will at least work and pay taxes. One might think that it is a shit test applied to boys; the ones that can disregard it with aplomb through it will become worthy men for the women. Still, it is not a conspiracy. It is just a convergence of many trends; mostly related to letting women do what they want with the educational system. Pretty it is not. Furthermore, apparently it cares little about the future of boys. Exit question – should classrooms be segregated based on sex with boys having men teachers and girls having women teachers? Would doing so lead to the thirty-one different genders of classrooms?

"You canker blossom!" 3 Shakespearean Insults c.1400, from Latin benedictionem (nominative benedictio), noun of action from bene dicere "to speak well of, bless," from bene "well" (see bene-) + dicere "to speak" (see diction). The oldest sense in English is of grace before meat. The older French form, beneiçon passed into Middle English as benison.

Many individuals coming to us for assistance have no where else to turn for needed support for themselves and their children. Many face immediate and formidable barriers that require addressing before they are able to secure employment and find a path by which to most successfully address their life challenges. And many more while finding employment and other requisite support and assistance continue to be challenged in their efforts towards a life of economic independence and security. Issues such as affordable housing and child care, transportation, livable wages, and the challenge of continuing education and training while working and raising a family can all, at one time or another, become impediments to envisioning a brighter future and achieving a better quality of life. The mission of the Employment & Human Services Department is to partner with the community to deliver quality services to ensure access to resources that support, protect, and empower individuals and families. Based on this mission, our dedicated staff working in partnership with our committed community partners will continue to assist our customers as they strive to become self-sufficient. We hope that in reading through our website you have gained the information you are seeking as well as an understanding of the Workforce Bureau’s services, programs, and outcomes.

3. Najas gracillima (A. Braun ex Engelmann) Magnus, Beitr. Kenntn. Najas. 23. 1870. 纤细茨藻 xian xi ci zao Najas indica (Willdenow) Chamisso var. gracillima A. Braun ex Engelmann in A. Gray, Manual, ed. 5, 681. 1867; N. japonica Nakai. Stems 8-20 cm tall, 0.3-0.5 mm in diam. Leaves often in pseudowhorls of 5, ca. 2 cm × 0.3-0.5 mm; sheath 1-2 mm; auricles orbicular to slightly obcordate, short, minutely serrulate with 6 or 7 teeth, upper margin on each side minutely serrulate with 7-11 teeth. Plants monoecious; flowers 1-4 per axil, male flowers in upper axils and female ones throughout. Male flowers elliptic, 1-1.5 mm; spathe with a short neck, with brownish spine cells at apex; anther 1-thecous. Female flowers conspicuous, 2-3 mm; style 1-2 mm; stigmas 2-lobed. Fruit linear-ellipsoid, 2-3 × ca. 0.5 mm. Seeds narrowly ellipsoid, with more than 20 rows of pits; areoles oblong, longitudinally elongated. Fl. and fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 12, 24. Paddy fields, shallow water of ponds and channels; below 1800 m. Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan; North America]. Najas gracillima is most similar to N. minor, especially in vegetative condition. However, N. gracillima can be separated from N. minor by its fruit often straight and the areoles of its seeds longer than broad.

I wasn't sure on the exact definition of "Haole" other than it was used to refer to a white person. One of the Hawaiians referred to me as a Haole and then apologized for having used the term. That made me think the term may have some mild deprecative meaning to Hawaiians similar to a black person calling a white person "Honky". When I later looked it up on the computer, several definitions seemed pretty neutral while one definition used the term "pejorative" in describing its meaning. Personally, I'm very comfortable with being a Hawaiian Wannabe and don't mind being called a Haole. How pejorative the word is undoubtedly depends on the attitudes of those who use the word. The Hawaiians in the ukulele class have all been very gracious and welcoming to me. It's been such a fun time that I have wanted to share it with friends and relations. So far I have brought 4 different visitors to class, comprising Linda, grand daughters Luna and Madelynn, and a friend from church. This past week when I brought my grand daughter, Madelynn, she seemed to have been very inspired by the experience. As I drove her home she was trying to think of a way she could arrange transportation to attend the class on a regular basis. This past week we spent some time towards the end of the session practicing the music for several hula numbers the group would be doing soon at a luau for the Lake Stevens Senior Center. This included a men's hula dance. I was amazed as one particularly big Hawaiian guy was transformed into the epitome of grace when he started to dance the hula. I took advantage of some slow time at the bee booths this past week to practice my ukulele. At the "outside" booth, located in the Snohomish County Ag Area, we have a live beehive in a double screen tent( a screen tent within a screen tent), I tell fair visitors that the tent is to protect the bees from the fair visitors. They think I am joking, but I think they really do pose a greater hazard to the bees than the bees do to them. On a few days as things got slow, I sat inside the tent for an hour or so serenading the bee hive. I didn't get stung on either occasion so bees apparently don't seem to mind Hawaiian ukulele music. On the other hand, I also didn't notice any of the girls clapping and a few of them pooped on my ukulele. The main reason for sitting inside the tent with the bees is that it seems to attract the attention of the passers by and questions like, "Why aren't they stinging you?" It provides a good opportunity to explain to the public the usual peaceful nature of the bees in contrast to their more cranky cousins, like yellow jackets and bald face hornets. While working at the "Outside" booth one of our visitors had some interesting tattoos. While I'm generally not a big fan of body art, I found it difficult to disapprove of these particular tattoos. I didn't notice until later that one bee had a red bow on its head while the other didn't. Possibly they were intended to depict a girl bee and a boy bee. Yet the boy bee still had a stinger. Unlike the bees in the Bee Movie, male bees have no stingers. The only thing they can do when they are annoyed is to buzz angrily. |The Owner of the Beez Neez meets the owner of the bees knees|

Shark Week, the Discovery Channel fan favorite that highlights shark heavy programming, began on August 10th and is scheduled to run until the 16th. This year viewers will enjoy 13 shark specials that span mega sharks to hammerheads. For the duration of the week the special 'shark after dark' will run at night, which fans can tune into or follow via live updates on the channel's social media accounts. In light of the start of Shark Week, we figured it might be a good time to review some safe swimming practices, especially for ocean, or open water swimmers. Blood - If you are bleeding or become injured while you are in the water be sure to get to shore as quickly as you can. Aside from the fact that sharks and other predatory sea life have very sensitive noses, it is truly unsafe to swim if you are hurt. Buddy system – While a day surfing, boating or swimming alone may seem relaxing and meditative, it is important to have a buddy if you are going to be on the water. According to National Geographic, sharks usually attack individual swimmers and avoid groups. Having a partner on the water could just be the extra caution you need to avoid injury. Color - If you are going to be swimming in the open ocean or you are planning a day at the beach and you are unsure if there are sharks nearby, you may want to wear a subdued-colored bathing suit. According to National Geographic, "Do not wear high-contrast clothing (orange and yellow are said to be risky colors) or shiny jewelry (which may appear to be like fish scales). Sharks see contrast very well." No matter where or when you will be swimming, Swimmer's Choice has a suit that will work for you. If you are looking for a great suit in cooler tones like blues, greens and purples, try out Dolfin Uglies.

Lawmakers are divided over whether the short-term funding plan that awaits President Obama’s signature would require the U.S. Postal Service to continue Saturday mail delivery. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe announced in February that USPS would drop to five days of mail delivery while resuming delivery of parcels six days a week beginning in August. Since 1987, Congress has enacted legislation requiring six-day delivery by the Postal Service. The Government Accountability Office issued an opinion on Thursday saying that a provision in the stopgap budget funding the government through March 27 requires USPS to maintain six-day delivery. But Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who supports the Postal Service’s plan, has argued that the requirement applies to delivery in general, but not mail delivery in particular. Issa and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying, “The Postal Service is not eliminating a day of service, but is merely altering what products are delivered on what day.” The two Republicans have encouraged the Postal Service to move forward with its plan for ending Saturday mail delivery under that apparent loophole. Lawmakers opposed to delivery cutbacks said on Thursday that the GAO report proves the Postal Service must maintain the status quo. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a statement that Issa’s interpretation parses the existing law “in a fashion that frustrates both the nature and the purpose.” The GAO made clear that its opinion did not address what types of delivery would meet the six-day requirement. “We do not consider whether the planned service changes USPS has announced would comport with the provision,” the agency said in its report. E-mail [email protected] with news tips and other suggestions.

Foetal 2:1 atrioventricular block in a patient with Timothy syndrome (LQT8) (RCDD code: VI‐1B‐1.2) Long QT syndrome (LQTS) may be a cause of foetal bradyarrhythmia and an important cause of death in children with arrhythmia. We present the case of a patient of Kadazan Iban descent with LQTS. He was detected prenatally to have foetal 2:1 atrioventricular (AV) block and tetralogy of Fallot. His postnatal electrocardiogram revealed a functional 2:1 AV block with QTc interval of 690 ms. Dysmorphism and cutaneous syndactyly of both hands and feet pointed to a diagnosis of classical Timothy syndrome (TS) type 1. This diagnosis was confirmed molecularly with a heterozygous mutation c.1216G>A. p. (Gly406Arg) at exon 8A in the CACNA1C gene. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of TS in a Kadazan Iban child. JRCD 2019; 4 (2): 42-46. Crotti L, Celano G, Dagradi F,et al. Congenital long QT syndrome. Orphanet J Rare Dis 2008; 3: 18. Splawski I, Timothy KW, Sharpe L, et al. Ca (V)1.2 calcium channel dysfunction causes a multisystem disorder including arrhythmia and autism. Cell 2004; 119: 19–31. Splawski I, Timothy KW, Decher N, et al. Severe arrhythmia disorder caused by cardiac L‐type calcium channel mutations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005; 102: 8089 – 8096. Walsh MA, Turner C, Timothy KW, et al. A multicenter study of patients with Timothy syndrome. Europace 2018; 20: 377–385. An HS, Choi EY, Kwon BS, et al. Sudden cardiac arrest during anesthesia in a 30‐month‐old boy with syndactyly: a case of genetically proven Timothy syndrome. J Korean Med Sci 2013; 28: 788–791. Gillis J, Burashnikov E, Antzelevitch C, et al. Long QT, syndactyly, joint contractures, stroke, and novel CACNA1C mutation: expanding the spectrum of Timothy syndrome. Am J Med Genet A 2012; 158A: 182–187. Etheridge SP, Bowles NE, Arrington CB, et al. Somatic mosaicism contributes to phenotypic variation in Timothy syndrome. Am J Med Genet A 2011; 155A: 2578–2583. Krause U, Gravenhurst V, Kriebel T, et al. A rare association of long QT syndrome and syndactyly: Timothy Syndrome (LQTS 8). Clin Res Cardiol 2011; 100: 1123 – 1127. Schwartz PJ, Priori SG, Cerrone M, et al. Left cardiac sympathetic denervation in the management of high‐risk patients affected by the long‐QT syndrome. Circulation 2004; 109: 1826–1833. Horigome H, Nagashima M, Sumitomo N, et al. Clinical characteristics and genetic background of congenital long‐QT syndrome diagnosed in fetal, neonatal, and infantile life: a nationwide questionnaire survey in Japan. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol 2010; 3(1):10–17. - There are currently no refbacks.

The TH Interview: Dan Porras of Better Energy Systems/Solio Dan Porras is Vice President of Sustainability at Better Energy Systems, makers of the hugely popular Solio solar charger which we have reported on here, here and here. In this interview Dan discusses the core appeal of Solio, its role as a ‘trojan horse’ for renewable energy, and he gives his views on why Solio really is more than just a gimmick for ‘green consumerism’. He also reveals a little more about the next products that Better Energy Systems are working on, and he gives us his thoughts on what every TreeHugger can do to speed the transition to a society based on clean, green energy. TreeHugger: There is no doubt that Solio has been a hugely popular product - what do you think is its core appeal? Dan Porras: I think it’s empowering to hold a piece of clean technology in your hand. In a small but tangible way, Solio frees you from the grid, reduces your footprint, and says something optimistic about the future. Mostly, people like Solio because it’s practical. But I also like to think that people who buy the product are making a sort of declaration to do something positive. TH: The Better Energy Systems website describes Solio as a 'Trojan Horse' for renewable energy - can you explain a little bit more about what that means? DP: Putting PV cells in a portable charger with a cool design, and making it accessible to the average person, is actually a great way to inject awareness of renewable energy into the mainstream. Chris - the founder of Better Energy – saw a gap in the solar market big enough to drive a bus through back in 2002. Between tiny solar cells on calculators and enormous rooftop arrays, there were basically no practical consumer products that integrated solar. So, I guess penetrating an electricity grid-based economy with a sexy product that promotes energy independence is basically what the ‘Trojan Horse’ metaphor is about. TH: George Monbiot recently rounded on green consumerism , calling it a 'pox on the planet'. Is there a danger that devices like Solio will remain a statement, or even gimmick? How much net energy (and pollution) can one small device like this really save? DP: The energy saved by replacing all of your wall and car chargers with one Solio is more significant than just the amount of carbon offset by plugging Solio into the sun to charge your mobile devices. Over the next five years, we will import and use 2.5 billion chargers for handheld electronics in the U.S. alone. Over this time, these chargers will create a total of 9 billion kilograms of carbon in the form of embodied energy. This is equivalent to the pollution created by five year's-worth of driving by 1.8 million cars in the U.S. With Solio, whenever you get a new device, you just swap out a small tip rather than get new chargers. So, contrary to Monbiot’s observation that a gas-saving Prius gives owners ‘permission’ to drive (consume) more, owning a Solio gives consumers permission NOT to buy more chargers. It's a small step in the right direction. Now we just have to get more telecom companies to offer sustainable charging solutions and do away with wall chargers altogether. TH: Aside from its obvious attraction to travellers and outdoor enthusiasts, the Solio has caught the attention of aid and disaster relief agencies. Can you tell us more about your work to bring power where it is most needed? DP: Studies show that there are numerous benefits - what economists call 'positive externalities' - to providing cellular communications to off-grid villages in the developing world. With a cell phone, a farmer can find out the true price of corn, for example, to better negotiate with middlemen; a mother can call a hospital to make sure it's open before walking 10 hours to get there; a park ranger can call for back-up to confront poachers in a preserve. The problem is, there are plenty of cell phones and not a lot of reliable power, especially in places like East Africa. We supply Solios to many amazing non-profit groups and individuals that are engaged in Aid and development work. Also, we are working with experts in the field of LED lighting to bring solar-powered light to impoverished regions of the world. TH: What's next for Better Energy Systems? When will we be able to plug our laptops into the sun? DP: We have two new Solios coming out this fall that will give customers more of a choice. There's the super portable and simple Hybrid 1000 as the 'entry' model and the highly advanced Magnesium Edition for people with higher energy needs. We've also just announced a partnership with Working Assets Wireless who've created the world's first carbon-neutral wireless plan. Moving forward, I will be putting more focus on our projects in the developing world and really trying to leverage our products and customers to create sustainable change. As for laptops, let's just say that we're working on it. TH: Are we on the cusp of a tipping point regarding renewable energy, clean technology, and solar in particular? DP: The solar market is definitely moving in the right direction, but the limiting factor is polysilicon. Polysilicon is very expensive and there is not currently enough of it being processed to meet the demands of both the solar and semiconductor industries. Thin film solar, however, uses a fraction of the polysilicon as traditional PV and could be just what we need to make solar cost-competitive and boost it into the mainstream for good. In California, where the cost of electricity is high and we have decent incentives for solar, we are closer to seeing the day when solar will compete with fossil fuel-based electricity. TH: What can every Treehugger do to help speed this transition from fossil fuels along? DP: Write your congress people and demand that they eliminate subsidies for the oil, gas, and coal industries and channel funds into appropriate incentives for renewable energy. With the right amount of government intervention, Germany transformed itself into the world’s biggest solar market. We can do that here in the U.S, if we try. Also, change your wireless plan to Working Assets! [Disclaimer: Sami Grover, who conducted this interview, is Director of Sustainability at The Change. At the time of commissioning this interview, no business relationship existed between Better Energy Systems and The Change. However, since that time, The Change has been involved in some limited work with Better Energy Systems on projects largely unrelated to subjects covered in this interview. Sami was not directly involved in this work.]

This story originally appeared on NewRetirement. We all know that we need to save for retirement, but that is hard. However, it might be even harder to figure out how to invest for retirement. Investing requires some level of expertise and a way of thinking about money that is not innate for most people. Furthermore, the way you need to think about investing definitely changes as you age. Read more: moneytalksnews.com

The therapy provision at Baston House School is designed to support the students’ overall development by addressing their individual identified needs. We make effective use of the students’ Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) to design appropriate support and intervention programmes. There is a strong focus on enabling all students to develop socially appropriate communication skills, alongside their academic, social, emotional and physical development. There are many needs that students with an Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) have that can adversely affect their learning and ability to engage positively at school and at home. At Baston House School we endeavour to provide support at both the individual and environmental level to ensure that specialist tailored support is delivered to every student to better enable them achieve their full potential. We have a multidisciplinary team consisting of Clinical Psychology, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy. We work from a multi-disciplinary team approach. This means a combination of different skills and knowledge to provide a holistic understanding of the difficulties students may present. In this way we are able to design interventions to meet the unique needs of each student from a variety of perspectives. Therapy is delivered individually with students to address specific needs that are highlighted by teachers and parents and specified in their EHCPs. Group sessions are also delivered by the team as well as supporting teachers to use the strategies developed within their daily teaching.

The Road Safety Association have released their report into fatal collision statistics on Irish roads for 2017. Overall 2017 saw a 15% decrease in road deaths with 158 fatalities compared with 186 in 2016 while the same period saw fatalities of cyclists increase by 50% with 15 deaths up from 10 in 2016, a record for the decade. Of the cyclist fatalities: - all 15 fatalities involved motorists - 13 fatalities occurred during the hours of daylight - 2 occurred during darkness - the majority of fatalities occurred in zones of 80km/h and above County Kerry had 8 road fatalities, an slight increase from the 2016 figure (7) with 38% (3) of these deaths being cyclists in stark contract with the national average of approximately 10%. Of these 3 deaths one was a tourist, and one a sport/recreation cyclist cycling with a group.

We need your help! - Community spay and neuter programs - Trap/Neuter/Release (TNR) - Rescue efforts to recover stray animals - Coordination for recovery efforts during natural disasters - Fundraising Events - Adoption Events - Public Awareness Events - Fight for new laws and better legislation to decrease over-population and protect animal rights - Raise public awareness to current animal over-population problems within the Tri-County area - Distribute brochures for our classes and educational materials for our outreach program (including statistics of our current situation and our plans to help those problem areas) - Responsible Ownership Education - If necessary, picket those shelters and facilities that do not give animals the proper attention or provide medical care and clean, safe housing - Procure funds and sponsorships from local and corporate businesses Volunteers are the backbone of any non-profit organization. We are blessed to have a strong leadership of volunteers who want to bring their energy and ideas to help our efforts with planning Adoption, Fundraising, and Political Events. Organization is key in order to take on the events and projects that we are planning. If you want to and can help with whatever spare time you have (even an hour here and there), we need you to help with our efforts. We will be running adoption events, outreach recovery, and spay and neuter trips throughout the communities. We also need to raise public awareness by distributing brochures and picketing facilities that do not treat animals with compassion. Our fundraising events will utilize our group of corporate sponsors and vendors who will join forces and raise funds to help our efforts. Everything from sponsor donations and gifts for raffles will be needed. Volunteers will definitely make the difference in the success of these efforts!

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie In the city of Enugu, Nigeria, fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother, Jaja, lead a privileged life. When Kambili's loving and outspoken Aunty Ifeoma persuades her brother that the children should visit her in Nsukka, Kambili and Jaja take their first trip away from home. Once inside their Aunty Ifeoma's flat, they discover a whole new world. When a military coup threatens to destroy the country and Kambili and Jaja return home changed by their newfound freedom, tension within the family escalates. And Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together after her mother commits a desperate act. Maps For Lost Lovers In an unnamed town in England, Jugnu and Chanda have disappeared - and Chanda's brothers have been arrested for their murder. What follows is an unravelling of all that is sacred to the family, as the pious Kaukab tries desperately to square the traditional justice of her culture with the more personal consequences of their murder. Clear: A Transparent Novel [Not yet published] The Island Walkers "Across a bend of Ontario's Attawan River lies the Island, a small, working-class neighborhood of whitewashed houses and vine-freighted fences, black willows and decaying sheds. Here, for generations, the Walkers have lived among the other mill workers." The family's troubles begin in the summer of 1965, when a union organizer comes to town and Alf Walker is forced to choose between loyalty to his friends at the mill and advancement up the company ranks. Havoc, In Its Third Year From the bestselling, Whitbread-shortlisted author of The Catastrophist, a dark historical thriller akin to The Name of the Rose; murder, politics of religion and mob rule stalk England in this extraordinary new novel. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory. But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. Always the Sun What do you do when your son is bullied? How far will you go to protect him from those who seek to cause him harm? Jamie is thirteen years old, an only child. His mother has recently died. He and his father Sam have moved to Sam's home town. A fresh start. An aunt to lend support. A new job for Sam, a new school for Jamie. But one day Jamie comes home, bearing the scars of every parent's nightmare. Something must be done... So it begins. This novel provides insight into the intricacies of a changing South Africa at the end of the 1990s. Silas Ali, a former political activist, now a middle-aged civil servant working on the final Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, is shopping in the Killarney Mall in Johannesburg when he bumps into a ghost from his past-Lieutenant François du Boise, a retired security policeman. This chance encounter brings back a memory that Silas and his wife Lydia have been avoiding for 20 years. Jan has been dying for six years, bringing his unhappy marriage with Annemieke to an end in middle age. Their sons have given them one last gift, a holiday in the Caribbean. Dorothy and George have also been given a holiday, by their granddaughter - their first and probably last trip overseas. In the rain of Bexhill-on-Sea, two weeks at a beach resort seems irresistible. Alone together, in perfect surroundings, they are unable to escape their troubles, until a few chance events - a disappearance, an assault and a man called Bill Moloney - allow them to make something out of the ashes of their love. A Blade of Grass Set on the border between South Africa and an unnamed neighboring country in the 1970s, A Blade of Grass is a novel about a bitter struggle over a small farm and its dramatic consequences for two women, one white and one black. The Electric Michelangelo Beginning as a humble apprentice in Morecambe Bay, Cy flees to America, where he sets up his own tattoo business on the infamous Coney Island boardwalk. In this carnival environment of roller-coasters and freak shows, Cy becomes enamoured with Grace, a mysterious circus performer. Cooking With Fernet Branca Gerald Samper, an effete Englishman and ghostwriter for celebrities, lives on a hilltop in Tuscany. His idyll is shattered by the arrival of Marta, a vulgar woman from the Soviet Republic. The neighbours' lives disastrously intertwine as the English obsession with Tuscany is satirized. "The first time that Gordon meets Annie they make love in a park. Soon afterwards, on the forty-fourth anniversary of D-Day, they are married. Gordon, though American-born, has never had a home; instead, he led the life of barren privilege, travelling through the capitals of Europe with his mother." Over the course of a year in London, Gordon and Annie construct an idea of married life for themselves, until their long-delayed honeymoon finally takes them to Venice. But once there, the city's brilliance seems to distort rather than illuminate, and the story gathers an almost unbearable intensity before - in a single act of absurd but devastating violence - their bubble is pricked and the emptiness at the core of their gilded lives revealed. The Great Fire The year is 1947. The great fire of the Second World War has convulsed Europe and Asia. In its wake, Aldred Leith, an acclaimed hero of the conflict, has spent two years in China at work on an account of world-transforming change there. Son of a famed and sexually ruthless novelist, Leith begins to resist his own self-sufficiency, nurtured by war. Peter Exley, another veteran and an art historian by training, is prosecuting war crimes committed by the Japanese. Both men have narrowly escaped death in battle, and Leith saved Exley's life. The men have maintained long-distance friendship in a postwar loneliness that haunts them both, and which has swallowed Exley whole. Now in their thirties, with their youth behind them and their world in ruins, both must invent the future and retrieve a private humanity. The Line of Beauty In the summer of 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the Feddens: conservative Member of Parliament Gerald, his wealthy wife Rachel, and their two children, Toby-whom Nick had idolized at Oxford-and Catherine, highly critical of her family's assumptions and ambitions. As the boom years of the eighties unfold, Nick, an innocent in the world of politics and money, finds his life altered by the rising fortunes of this glamorous family. In 1860 Lucy Strange and her brother Thomas are orphaned, and so begins Lucy's adolescent journey of discovery. It will take her away from her childhood home in Australia to London and Bombay and, finally, to her death, at the age of 22. A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan's California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified "dinery server" on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation -- the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other's echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small. The setting is present day London; a familiar scene you may think, but the people who inhabit this London are not the office workers, the shoppers, who form the lifeblood of the city, but those who move around its edges, the dispossessed, who live quite a different existence, under the tunnels and the waste grounds that the rest of us hurry by. Some are refugees, some are escaping from the blanket of domesticity; some have fallen through violence. They all try to survive. A young Englishman visits Cold War Leipzig with a group of students and, during his brief excursion behind the Iron Curtain, falls for an East German girl who is only just beginning to wake up to the way her society is governed. Her situation touches him, but he is too frightened to help. He spends the next 19 years pretending to himself that he is not in love until one day, with Germany now united, he decides to go back and look for her. Who or what is Cherry? Steve Ellis doesn't know and he's beginning not to care. All he knows is that as soon as his perfect woman came into his life all the flatness and misery went away. But happiness comes with a price. When you meet a man in a bar and he arranges for you to fall in love there's bound to be some strings attached. Steve might be suspicious about playing along with the game, but he's convinced he can handle it, a belief that may well lead to his downfall ... Like Michael Cunningham in The Hours, Colm Tóibín captures the extraordinary mind and heart of a great writer. Brilliant and profoundly moving, The Master tells the story of Henry James, a man born into one of America's first intellectual families two decades before the Civil War. James left his country to live in Paris, Rome, Venice, and London among privileged artists and writers. I'll Go To Bed at Noon Britain's answer to The Corrections - Woodward's dysfunctional family lurches from tragedy to farce and back again in this stunning second novel from Whitbread short-listed novelist and award-winning poet Gerard Woodward.

There could be a different approach for Morgan County Re-3 School District students to start learning a foreign language at a young age. The school district is exploring the possibility of creating a dual-language immersion program, according to Superintendent Ron Echols. In such programs, students typically are educated in both English and a second language with a goal of becoming proficient in both languages. Some such programs include a mix of native English speaking students and those raised with the other language primarily spoken in the home. Echols raised this idea with the Re-3 Board of Education previously, gaining support from the board members for him to look into it and what it would take to create such a program in the Fort Morgan schools, likely with English and Spanish. "I've been to five different road shows now," he told the school board Jan. 9, including visiting already existing dual-language immersion programs at Front Range schools. Echols has been seeking to learn about the purpose of such programs and what they are trying to accomplish. And because parents often contact their students' teachers about things they have heard may be happening, the superintendent next plans to pass on what he has learned about dual-language immersion programs to "make sure staff is knowledgable" about this concept. Echols said he also planned to hold parents meetings "to get some fairly firm numbers on interest." "Overall, there's excitement," Echols told the board about what he's been hearing. "Interest is very strong, and it's growing every day." Board Treasurer David Keller asked whether it would be an optional program, and Echols confirmed that it would be something parents would opt their child into. "We're never going to force any kids into this program," the superintendent said. Over the next few weeks, Echols said he and district staff would put together a more formal proposal for creating such a dual-language immersion program. Then the superintendent likely will present about the potential costs and goals for the potential new program to the school board at the Feb. 6 regular meeting. Jenni Grubbs: [email protected] or Twitter @JenniGrubbs

Ice Dynamics® - a full-year training plan for off-ice conditioning Figure skating is a year-round sport with changing on-ice demands over the course of a year. Weeks or months at a time focus on choreography or accomplishing new jumps or lifts, other times of the year may concentrate on frequent program run-throughs in preparation for an upcoming competition. Each of these time frames represents different phases of the annual on-ice training plan to help skaters achieve the goal of performing at or close to their full potential at competitions. A benefit of this cyclic on-ice training plan, either intentionally or unintentionally, is that skaters who vary their training are less likely to burnout or become injured. Figure skaters do not have the advantage of a true off-season to recover, compared to other sports such as football, baseball and hockey. By cycling the intensity of the on-ice training throughout the year, skaters recover, recuperate, and prepare for the upcoming phases and while staying on the ice during the “off season” and can train to peak for competitions and tests during the “in season”. Figure skaters need more than just ice time to become competitive athletes. In addition to the requisite ice time to acquire and refine skating skills, it is accepted that figure skaters in all disciplines and levels need to participate in off-ice conditioning to stay ahead of the highly athletic demands of the sport. Strength, power, aerobic/anaerobic conditioning, balance, and flexibility are developed off-ice to match or exceed the on-ice needs. Ice time is then spent refining moves, rather than getting in shape. Injury rates are reduced when skaters develop strong muscles to protect joints, and when flexibility is developed throughout the body to safely attain the desired aesthetic line. For example, the flexibility for a Beillmann spin is steadily developed off-ice by consistently practicing a whole series of shoulder, spine, hip and thigh stretches with progressive intensity, not by solely attempting to do 25 Beillmann spins per day. The Ice Dynamics® program provides skaters with a full-year 6-phase training plan that effectively matches on-ice demands. Key competitions during the year for each skater dictate the exact timing of the off-ice training phases. Each phase in a multi-week cycle with a specific conditioning focus. Each phase serves as the foundation for the next phase, and in this way, the off-ice training program builds upon itself over the course of the year to progress skaters gradually and consistently. Each week within the phase has different daily workout plans; variation keeps the training interesting for the athletes.

Thich Nhat Hanh shows us the connection between personal inner peace and peace on earth. –His Holiness the Dalai Lama About Calligraphic Meditation: The Mindful Art of Thich Nhat Hanh Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is best known as a prolific author, poet, teacher, scholar, and peace activist. Yet he is also a master calligrapher, distilling ancient Buddhist teachings into simple phrases that resonate with our modern times, capturing and expressing his lifetime of meditative insight, peace, and compassion. Calligraphic Meditation: The Mindful Art of Thich Nhat Hanh is a collection of some of Thich Nhat Hanh’s most poignant and most recent calligraphies. On display in the United States for the first time, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of his art, which can be a meditative practice in itself. For Thich Nhat Hanh, creating calligraphy is more than creating art—it is also a meditative practice. He is fully present for every moment, from drinking his tea, to sitting down and taking a brush, and using the tea to make the ink. He has said that he cannot write poetry if he does not garden the lettuces; the same is true with his calligraphy. Each calligraphy is made of mindful sitting, breathing, walking, smiling – and love. In his own words: “In my calligraphy, there is ink, tea, breathing, mindfulness, and concentration. Writing calligraphy is a practice of meditation. I write the words or sentences that can remind people about the practice. For instance, breathe and enjoy the kingdom of God in the here and the now or breathe and enjoy this wonderful moment. I think the word ‘wonderful’ means full of wonders. If you are truly there in the moment, you can recognize so many wonders in that moment. The Kingdom of God, the Buddha land is there. So breathe in, bring your mind back to your body and you can touch many wonders in this moment.” About Thich Nhat Hanh Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, loved and revered around the world. He is the man Martin Luther King, Jr. called “an apostle of peace and non-violence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, and has been described by The New York Times as “second only to the Dalai Lama” among Buddhist leaders influential in the West. His powerful teachings and bestselling writings on the practice of mindfulness have reached an audience of millions. For more than fifty years, Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer of ‘Engaged’ and ‘Applied’ Buddhism, applying ancient Buddhist wisdom to a wide range of contemporary concerns, including ecology, politics, consumption, relationships, cultivating peace, community building, and global ethics. He is the spiritual head not only of his lineage within Vietnam, but also of an international Engaged Buddhist community of more than 700 monks and nuns, and tens of thousands of lay practitioners who apply his teachings on mindfulness, peace-making, community-building, and serving society in their daily lives. Thich Nhat Hanh and members of his community offer these teachings all over the world—on campuses, at community centers, at outdoor gatherings—and at his global practice centers. What is Mindfulness? Thich Nhat Hanh’s key teaching is that through the transformative practice of mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment instead of getting lost in the past or worrying about the future. Dwelling in the present moment, he teaches, is the only way to truly develop peace, both in oneself and in the world, and is a practice that provides us with the opportunity to transform our suffering. He teaches the practices of mindful walking, mindful eating, deep listening, and mindful speech, adapting the teachings of the Buddha to resonate with contemporary life. He encourages us to ‘wake up’ to the beauty of our planet and our interbeing nature, fostering respect for each other and the animals, plants, and minerals that share this planet with us. About Blue Cliff Monastery Blue Cliff Monastery is one of three mindfulness practice centers founded in the United States by Thich Nhat Hanh. Nestled on 70 peaceful acres of woodland in the southern Catskill region of New York State, it is home to a thriving community of Buddhist monks and nuns who share the art of mindful living with hundreds of visitors every year. Like Plum Village in France, Deer Park Monastery in California, and Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi, Blue Cliff’s doors are open throughout the year for people of all backgrounds, ages, faiths, and no-faith to practice mindfulness. Visitors follow the monastics’ daily schedule of walking, eating, sitting, and working mindfully. They learn to practice mindful speech and deep listening, and benefit from deep relaxation meditation. As they become familiar with the mindfulness tools offered by the community, adults and children alike learn that it is possible to transform their suffering and awaken to the joys of the present moment. Throughout the year, Blue Cliff and its sister monasteries offer special retreats as well as general stays and days of mindfulness (most Thursdays and Sundays) for those interested in learning how to stop, look deeply, and enjoy the wonders of life within us and around us. www.bluecliffmonastery.org About ABC Home An iconic NYC destination, ABC Carpet & Home offers choice at the cutting edge of art, sustainability, and design. Through the preservation of indigenous artisanship, working with global cooperatives, and a commitment to environmental consciousness, ABC aims to be a catalyst in creating home as an expression of vision and values. Our collaboration with Thich Nhat Hanh, which will bring the message of mindfulness into the heart of the city, expresses our core ethos of using beauty as a tool for positive change allowing the urban community to access this profound wisdom and tap into interconnectivity. read more… Amplifying mindful living with Thich Nhat Hanh’s calligraphies at ABC Home A Note by Paulette Cole, CEO, ABC Home Thich Nhat Hanh truly embodies mindfulness – to be in his presence is an invitation to be present. For me, his teachings demystify the path of enlightenment and awareness. To witness his wisdom is not to read a map telling one how to go, it is to be there – here and now – to exist in mindfulness. ABC is deeply honored to take part in this sacred and very special exhibit. For us, home is a mirror – a reflection of self. The mindful art of Thich Nhat Hanh brings that moment of self-awareness, that connection, into the home and into the everyday practice, whether as a reminder, a guide, a message, or a mirror. In my own home, I have welcomed the message Open mind, Open Heart, a daily reminder to shift my perspective and that to expand my mind is to expand my heart. At my altar, I have placed Breathe, for when I forget to and am holding on to chaos. I absorb the message in stillness – taking it in and letting it go. Truly resonating with ABC is No mud, No lotus – such a simple archetype, which can affect the collective spirit. Its message, for us, is an affirmation to continue peacefully on our path. It is a metaphor for our commitment to this vital work and in all that we do, wherein the heavy lifting manifests magic. It is the shadow that supports the light. Thich Nhat Hanh’s work is purity, clarity, and beauty in one form. It sparks an awakening. We feel at the core of our ethos aligned with these inspirational composures, where through beauty, participants are inspired to connect to mindfulness. It is a privilege to amplify the messages of this Zen Master and gifted teacher to create ripples of awareness, opening the doors for others to explore this practice. To sit with Thich Nhat Hanh, to engage with his work, is to breathe. It is experiential Buddhism, guiding us all to guide ourselves, together.

The Anhinga or snake bird The Anhinga has an incredibly slender, S-shaped, long neck, a body length of about 35 inches, an impressive wingspan of roughly 45 inches across, and weighs in at a light 46 to 47 ounces. It is also known by several other names such as American Darter, Water Turkey, Darter, or Snakebird. This is a swimming bird that appears like a snake preparing to strike when it is in the water. Only its long, dark-colored neck can be seen above the water as it swims. This is why it has also been dubbed the Snakebird. It is also called a Water Turkey because of its broad tail and similar swimming habits. This bird prefers warmer climates and can be found in both South America and North America. They chooses to live in swampy areas, freshwater ponds, shallow coastal bays, marshes, lakes, and mangrove swamps, with thick vegetation and tall trees. They use the vegetation and trees to escape predators. The Anhinga is a fish eater, so it makes sense that this bird would live near the water. This species has a pointed beak resembling an arrow, which comes in handy for spearing fish. The thrust with which they spears their prey is so powerful at times that he has to swim to the shore and use a rock to pry the fish from his beak before he can eat. One would assume that this bird species, being a swimming bird, would have feathers like a duck, containing oil to keep the feathers from getting wet and weighing down the bird. However, they are unique in that its feathers actually do get wet when they swim, sometimes causing it to become very heavy. Instead of being a hindrance, this is very helpful to this light bird as it is able to dive under the water more easily and can stay under for significant amounts of time, hunting prey. When it is necessary, they will perch, with wings outstretched, for as long as it takes for its wings and feathers to dry out. If 0ne of these birds are on the water's surface with waterlogged wings, it will "run" across the surface and flap its wings furiously until it is able to take flight. The male Anhinga is a blackish-green all over, with black plumage that features silver patches on the wings. The female is colored less dramatically, with a brown head, neck and chest, and a black stomach. Both sexes have long, fan-shaped tail feathers. Their appearance is altered a bit during the breeding season. They develop a blue ring around their eyes. An Anhinga's nest is built in a tree, created from sticks, and lined with leaves. The female lays anywhere from three to five eggs that are light blue or light green in color. Occasionally, the eggs will feature brown speckles. The chicks hatch within about one month and are in the nest for three weeks or so. An interesting fact about Anhinga chicks: if they are in the nest and threatened, they have the ability to drop into the water below, swim away and then later climb out of the water and back into their nest. Chicks will fledge around six weeks and continue staying on with their parents for several more weeks before going out on their own. is not considered a threatened species at this time and is protected in the United States under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. other water birds you can have pay-per-play on your site and get paid.

6 November 2008 The 1.5% interest rate cut came as a bit of a surprise to most people. However, we are in new territory and it is territory with which those economists who love their macroeconomic forecasting models will be uncomfortable. We have a constipated interbank market; bank lending and the monetary aggregates are probably falling rapidly (though the figures are very difficult to interpret); and the financial system is dreadfully short of capital. You cannot simply put an interest rate cut through an econometric model and see what the forecast is for the impact on inflation and growth (if you ever can do that). We are in the realm of intuition and judgement here. Should it have been 1.25% or 1.75%? Who knows? The important thing now is to monitor the effect. The proof of the pudding will be whether the rate cut keeps bank lending and the money supply at reasonable levels. If banks are still under so much pressure that lending keeps falling and if the consumer is under so much pressure that there is no appetite to borrow, then the time may come when the Bank of England will have to think of using other tools to manage monetary policy. Interest rates may not be enough. Having said that, we should leave it to the Bank of England to manage the situation – under no circumstances should the government pursue a policy of deliberately increasing government spending to stave off a recession. Indeed, I have been asked today whether the Bank of England has done enough to keep away recession and whether consumer confidence will recover. In fact, the Bank should not try to avert recession and it is probably not good if consumer confidence recovers too much either. As a result of the Bank’s past mistakes – and the mistakes of households too – a recession is inevitable. If we try to postpone a recession there will just be worse to come. Furthermore, households must rebuild their balance sheets and rein in spending after recent profligacies. The good news is that, if there is a permanent decline in consumer spending relative to incomes, there could be lower interest rates for a long time to come: this is tough if you are a saver though.

Position sometimes comes with power. Everyone craves powerful positions but only a few merit them. To know the true nature of a man, expose him to power and position, then you will see his true colour. It is fallacy to believe you are a leader because you occupy a position. If that’s what leadership is about, anybody can do it and anyone will excel at it. But it goes beyond that; people don’t follow leaders just because of their position or influence. Yes, influence makes people emulate you as a person. But do you know that people can emulate you and not follow you? Do you also know that people might work with you because of your position, yet not follow you? People only follow leaders, and this is why you should determine to be the kind of person that people will follow. Often, men begin to place an emphasis on their position when they’re unable to lead properly and as such do not command a following. If a person has to remind others that he is the leader then he is probably doing something wrong – and trying to make up for it (poorly) by conscripting others to follow him. Also, some managers impose a fine to punish people working with them just to get them to do a task. When that happens, they are also trying to conscript the people working with them to follow them. Followership cannot be enforced, it must be earned. No doubt, influence is important in leadership. But beyond that, there are attributes people look out for before they choose to follow anyone. People follow leaders who care, leaders whom they trust, respect and admire, leaders whom they can approach. How to Lead Beyond Your Position What do people want to see in you as a leader, before they follow you? 1. A leader who cares This is a very important attribute. This is because everyone somehow wants to get value for value. People do it both unconsciously and consciously. A caring leader creates an influence that is far reaching and long lasting in the mind of people. When the mind of a person is won by his leader in that manner, he becomes a faithful follower. That is why Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader, said “We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.” Human affection is shown when a leader shows keen concern over those around him. This is the reason the leader wins their loyalty and they choose to follow him. As a husband to your wife, pay keen interest and care for your wife’s emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual needs. When you do that, there will be no need to conscript her to follow you. She will naturally do so. 2. A leader they trust This is often a difficult one for people. Trust is earned and not just given. People develop trust for a leader based on his displayed character over time. When they are able to determine his character based on his reaction in certain situations and their experience with him over time, they associate it with his integrity. A wife has no reason not to be at rest over a faithful husband. The man might have been faithful to her for years. But a man that goes after any lady in sight will leave his wife restless. It works the same way with leadership. A leader that has been tested over time with no traces of character flaws wins people to follow him. 3. A leader they respect Respect is attached to competence. When a leader demonstrates competence in situations that others shy away from, he earns respect. A wife looks up to the husband for direction when faced with chaotic situations in the home. If the husband proffers a solution, he earns the respect of the wife. The wife begins to see him as a solution provider in chaotic situations. If he demonstrates such competence over and over again, the wife begins to follow his directions without being conscripted. Once you demonstrate competence at work, or anywhere you find yourself, be sure that people will tend to follow you. 4. A leader they can approach People relate with those they can approach. These sets of people don’t immediately condemn others when they present their issues before them. Instead, they empathise with them and look for possible ways to proffer solutions. They don’t put on a high look to scare people from them. They are open with a warm spirit, always ready to receive people. Such leaders are consistent in their relationships with others. 5. A leader they admire Before people can look at a person with admiration, there must be something he or she is doing right. One thing that makes people admire a leader is his commitment to his cause. A female eagle before committing to a male eagle will always test his commitment to providing. Once the male eagle displays this commitment, he wins his place of leadership over the female eagle. I conclude with the definition of influence, according to John Maxwell. In one of his books titled The 360 Degree Leader, he defined influence with an acrostic as follows: (I) Integrity – Builds relationship on trust. (N) Nurturing – Cares about people as individuals. (F) Faith – Believes in people. (L) Listening – Values what others have to say. (U) Understanding – Sees from their point of view. (E) Enlarging – Helps others to become bigger. (N) Navigating – Assists others through difficulties. (C) Connecting – Initiates positive relationships. (E) Empowering – Gives them the power to lead. This is what it means to lead beyond your position!

What you will find There: This Town of Brighton park occupies 52 acres in the area historically known as Corbett’s Glen. It includes land extending up to Penfield Road. This adjacent area is sometimes refered to as Corbett’s Glen North. The park’s two miles of trails allow quiet walks with a variety of scenery. From the parking at the top of Glen Road, your visit begins with a dramatic entrance through a stone tunnel. If you walk to the right you enter a loop trail that takes you along a cascading stretch of Allens Creek then around a successional meadow and cattail marsh. You are walking at the base of steep slopes forested with large oaks and other species. Before arriving back at the tunnel entrance you may turn right on a trail that climbs the forested slope and takes you beside a glacial esker, supporting some large oaks, then gently up on a winding trail through relatively young woodland to the Penfield Road entrance. Keep in mind when you visit that the park is designed for short visits of an hour or two and does not have restrooms. There are two private residences in the Park, visable one behind the other, as you enter from the tunnel. The one in front you will recognize from the history pages on this site as the house built by Patrick Corbett in 1896. The residents of these homes have been strong supporters of the Park since its creation. We invite you to browse the history pages here to enhance your next visit.

am a Holocaust survivor, born in Vilno (Vilna), Poland. In 1941, under the Nazi occupation, most Jews of Vilno were placed in the ghetto. About 50,000 Jews of the city were led to Ponar, a place in the forest outside Vilno, shot to death an thrown into pits. Most of my family are buried there. At the liquidation of the ghetto in 1943, I was shipped with my mother to concentration camps, Riga in Latvia, Stutthof and later Torun, Poland. There, I went through the tunnel of death, but survived by many miracles. My father never returned, my mother and brother survived. I am able to turn my experiences of horror and degradation into artworks. The last journey is from my memories of the Stutthof concentration camp. I saw these wagons with dead bodies taken tot he crematorium.

It is amazing how the data centre world has changed in the last few years. A Data Centre used to be a collection of network elements to interconnect static servers (and their associated storage), with traffic patterns that were highly predictable and mostly north-south. Cloud and virtualization have changed all of this: a data centre is now a collection of compute and storage resources which can be securely sliced up into virtual networks and placed anywhere according to real time needs, interconnected by a fabric. The virtualization of servers, network services such as firewalls and load balancers, and even network devices such as switches and routers, has created a very dynamic landscape in terms of how fast you could configure a virtual network, in a way where location shouldn’t really matter, and where compute and storage resources can be added on the fly, based on demand. Multi-tenant Data Centres, such as the one to deploy Virtual Private Clouds, need to support 10000’s of these virtual networks. And every one of these virtual networks needs a lot of different service instances to stitch together the virtual network across virtual servers, virtual switches, virtual firewalls, virtual load-balancers, and virtual routers. Traffic patterns have shifted to East-West, because of the new applications which spread processing across many hosts, and because of the ‘location freedom’ that virtualization allows. Network infrastructure needs to be cost-effective to handle all this traffic, while the increased lookup-table size caused by the any to any traffic patterns often led to increased cost. Traditionally Ethernet based forwarding has been deployed to cope with the mobility and agility aspects. Ethernet is great here because of its plug and play behaviour: no addresses have to be configured or provisioned to identify the servers, and the location of the servers is learned dynamically. The industry has been creating Next Generation Ethernet solutions to add more functionality in this realm such as Equal Cost Multi Path (ECMP) and SAN and LAN convergence while trying to retain the plug and play behaviour. However, these solutions didn’t take into account the above shift. Virtualization Vendors could no longer wait for the networking industry to support these needs, and therefore started creating overlays. An overlay is created when a virtual switch encapsulates Ethernet packets into some form of IP based encapsulation. The fabric only needs to be IP aware from that point on. Initially overlays like VxLAN and nvGRE were still using Ethernet flooding and learning to associate the location to the identity of end-stations. But there is a growing trend to add a control plane to map end-stations to locations, where the end-station identity can be an Ethernet address, as well as an IP address, effectively creating overlays which can use IP routing for IP traffic, and Ethernet forwarding for non-IP or non-routable traffic. Taking a step back, such overlays should : - Reduce Operational Complexity as the Underlying network is a fairly static IP based network, while the edge only needs to know the location of where some end-stations have moved. (Note: The underlay could leverage protocols that allow very easy ‘self-clustering’ of network nodes, and individual network nodes could then leverage network wide ‘intent’ to form the underlay). - Should support an orchestration driven approach of mapping end-station identifiers to locations. - Work with existing Ethernet L2 and L3 switches. - Support concurrent L2 adjacencies and L3 adjacencies between end stations, as the control plane to map locations to end-stations identifiers can leverage multiples address families in both the ‘identity’ name space as well as the ‘location’ namespace. Migration from IPv4 to IPv6 is eased by this. - Support network infrastructures with a large amount of access devices, each serving a lot of VMs. - Support the creation of a lot of Virtual Networks - support VM mobility and server clustering. - Support both Network based solutions well as hypervisor/virtual switch based solutions, in a unified manner. - Enable scalable table sizes and scalable controlplanes to create and maintain these forwarding tables, as well as potentially maintain the associate policies associated to certain destinations. The IP Underlay network will: - Allow the efficient use of the entire topology, in other words ECMP - Enable optimal forwarding for both unicast and multicast. One technology which can meet these needs is LISP, the Location-Identity Separation Protocol. LISP has been used already successfully to deploy overlays, mapping IP end-station identifiers to IP locations, enabling applications such as multi-homing, high-scale multi-tenancy and seamless mobility (including VM mobility). LISP uses a centralized mapping system to achieve this, where the edge devices are responsible to populate this mapping system, as soon as a new device is discovered, or a device is discovered to have moved. Edge devices can request the mapping system about the location of a certain end-device, and these entries are cached for further use, until they age out. Entries that point to ‘old’ locations are dynamically altered by an interaction between the mapping system and the edge device owning the ‘new’ location of this end-station. LISP can scale to an unlimited number of instances of global cross organizational reach. The mapping system is modular and can be changed without changing sites that run LISP. The existing mapping database transport system is designed with the same design principles as DNS has. That is, one can deploy private or public mapping databases, as well as allowing multiple instances of the mapping system or supporting multiple tenants with a private or public mapping system. LISP can be made to work very easily with the current proposed VxLAN proposed overlay dataplane, as the encapsulations are very similar. Other proposed dataplanes such as nvGRE can be made to work with a LISP control plane very effectively. This will allow for concurrent support of IP and mac-address end station identifiers across the IP Underlay, solving all the different use cases. Because of its pull-based , on-demand nature, the LISP control plane scales very well in environments where table space is limited, extending its use to both physical switches with limited table space and virtual switches. More-over the mapping system can hold more state than just the mapping between end station and location. It could also hold policy information for certain locations or groups of end station identifiers. It could also hold service path information, where the mapping system could recursively resolve through which services a certain flow needs to be pushed through to eventually reach its destination. And because the mapping system is an open system, north-bound interfaces can be created into it to write policies, mappings and service paths into it , or to read network state from it in a centralized, but network wide manner. LISP has been designed by the LISP IETF WG, with representation and collaboration not only from Cisco, but operators, researchers and other vendors. The experimental nature of the WG is very convenient in allowing the technology to mature quickly and flexibly as drafts can be adjusted rapidly as we learn from new developments. Don’t let the word ‘experimental’ misguide you as after six years of deployments and testing , LISP is indeed fit for production, regardless of the technicalities the IETF process may impose on the documents. As a matter of fact VxLAN is another experimental draft, and adoption hasn’t been hindered by that. And adding ‘warning messages’ in other drafts that refer to how ‘bad’ experimental RFCs are is unfortunately part of the politics amongst equipment vendors. A new working Group in IETF (Network Virtualization Overlay using L3 or NVO3) has been created to investigate whether new control planes have to be created to deal with the functions described above, or whether existing control planes can be used. LISP can be a very good candidate in being that control plane, effectively creating a Unified L2 and L3 IP based overlay solution that can work across both physical and virtual network equipment, as can be seen in this draft. LISP brings mobility, scale and segmentation to the global network, without resorting to elaborate BGP policies or ‘flat-earth’ network designs. The global network is inclusive of any private portion of the network (Campus, DC, WAN, Metro) and the public Internet. So although we have talked about the data center here, the benefits of LISP are easily realized across all places in the network seamlessly. Think Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in Enterprise networks, and the associated network and mobility challenges it can bring. Another use case for this unified solution based on LISP? Most definitely!

EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry |HC-144 Ocean Sentry| |Manufacturer||Airbus Military (prime contractor EADS North America)| |Status||In active service| |Primary user||United States Coast Guard| |Developed from||CASA/IPTN CN-235| The EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry is a medium-range, twin-engined aircraft used by the United States Coast Guard in the search-and-rescue and maritime patrol missions. Based on the Airbus Military CN-235 it was procured as a "Medium Range Surveillance Aircraft." The HC-144 is supplied by Airbus Group, Inc formerly EADS North America and is built in Spain by Airbus Military. Design and Development Intended to replace the Dassault HU-25 Guardian jet, the HC-144A Ocean Sentry is part of the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System Program of recapitalization and new-asset acquisition. Based on the CN-235-300 MP Persuader, the maritime patrol version of the CN-235 military transport, the HC-144 offers a longer endurance than the HU-25 it is replacing in U.S. Coast Guard service, as well as better performance in the low-level observation role. The HC-144A has an eight-hour endurance, which makes it suited for the command and control and search and rescue roles. Its rear ramp provides for transport of standard cargo pallets. It also features short takeoff and landing capability. The HC-144A uses electronic systems on the Mission System Pallet roll-on, roll-off electronics suite from Lockheed Martin, that connects to the aircraft's systems upon installation. The HC-144A's equipment is similar to the Coast Guard's HC-130 aircraft, which reduces maintenance and training costs. The first HC-144 was delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard in December 2006. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was achieved in April 2009; thirteen Ocean Sentry aircraft were operational with the Coast Guard in January 2011. A total of 36 aircraft were planned to be procured, with twelve Mission System Pallets being swapped between the operational aircraft. The HC-144A has been involved in several missions during its career, including involvement in the Marquis Cooper search-and-rescue mission, the response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, environmental missions monitoring the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, transporting endangered marine animals for rehabilitation, and being involved with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. In June 2014, the Coast Guard's fleet of 17 HC-144s reached 50,000 flight hours, five years after achieving IOC. The Ocean Sentry is flown more hours per airframe in a year than any other Coast Guard aircraft. The 15th HC-144 was delivered in June 2013. The Coast Guard was considering supplementing the HC-144 with former Air Force C-27J Spartan aircraft. Budget strains have caused the service to reconsider acquiring a 36-plane fleet. Cancelling the remaining 18 to be manufactured and replacing them with up to 14 decommissioned C-27Js would save between $500-$800 million. Converting the Spartans to search-and-rescue aircraft would be faster and cheaper than funding and delivery of the full order. EADS responded by stating that the HC-144 is half as expensive to maintain and operate compared to the C-27J in terms of direct maintenance and fuel costs, calling into question the idea as a cost-saving measure. With the signing of the U.S. Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2014 on 26 December 2013, the Coast Guard was given control of the 14 remaining C-27Js available. The 16th HC-144 was delivered on 22 January 2014, the 17th on 7 April 2014, and the 18th and final HC-144A was delivered on 7 October 2014. Data from - Crew: two - Length: 70 ft 3 in (21.41 m) - Wingspan: 84 ft 8 in (25.81 m) - Height: 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m) - Wing area: 636 sq ft (59.1 m2) - Empty weight: 21,605 lb (9,800 kg) - Max takeoff weight: 36,380 lb (16,502 kg) - Powerplant: 2 × General Electric CT7 turboprop, 1,870 shp (1,390 kW) each - Maximum speed: 272 mph; 437 km/h (236 kn) - Range: 1,801 mi; 2,898 km (1,565 nmi) - Endurance: 8.7 hours - Related development - US Coast Guard receives 18th HC-144A Ocean Sentry - Shepgardmedia.com, 8 October 2014 - "MRS: Project Description". USCG:HC-144A "Ocean Sentry" Maritime Patrol Aircraft. United States Coast Guard. May 5, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-07. - "Acquisition Update: HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft Project Achieves Initial Operational Capability". USCG:Acquisition Directorate Newsroom. April 22, 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-07. - "USCG:HC-144A "Ocean Sentry" Maritime Patrol Aircraft". United States Coast Guard. January 3, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-07. - Porter, Suzette (March 2, 2009). "Coast Guard confirms rescue of Nick Schuyler". Tampa Bay Newspapers. Retrieved 2011-01-07. - "EADS North America awarded U.S. Coast Guard contract for HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft". EADS North America. August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-07. - "Endangered sea turtles get a ride home from the Coast Guard". U.S. Coast Guard Visual Information Gallery. December 12, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-07. - Airbus HC-144A Ocean Sentry Aircraft Fleet Surpasses 50,000 Flight Hours With US Coast Guard - Marketwired.com, 26 June 2014 - EADS North America Delivers 15th HC-144A Ocean Sentry to U.S. Coast Guard - EADSNorthAmerica.com, 5 June 2013 - Surplus C-27J Spartans Could Mean Big Windfall for Coast Guard - Nationaldefensemagazine.org, August 2013 - US Coast Guard to acquire USAF's remaining C-27J Spartans - Flightglobal.com, 6 January 2014 - USCG receives 16th Ocean Sentry MPA - Shephardmedia.com, 22 January 2014 - Airbus Defense and Space Inc. Delivers 17th HC-144A Aircraft to US Coast Guard - Marketwired.com, 7 April 2014 - U.S. Coast Guard: HC-144A "Features". Accessed 2011-01-07. |Wikimedia Commons has media related to CASA HC-144 Ocean Sentry.|

Windows in fine art. Finding Inspiration in Every Turn Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881 -1973) This picture of him was taken by photographer Robert Doisneau: Picasso's hands are a testament to his creative skills pressed against the panes of glass they become emphasised through a window. There are many instances of windows being used in art, often seen is, a model poised next to A window. Light illuminating from one side, a fine tool for an artist to show their skills be it as a compositional tool or part of a narrative. Seen and unnoticed we look through the window. Rarely at it. Paintings and photographs are often described, "as a window into the life and times".....".its a window into the soul......" descriptions of work were, “woman in front of window by.......". Indeed, they have been used to create perspective even drama. Like a bellowing curtain in a Hitchcock movie.. Throughout all forms of art the Window has been a tool of storytelling and folklore. Clear windows in dreams signifies bright hopes and open possibilities. Consider the location of the window and where you are looking in or out, the weather outside the window, your emotions at the time, and finally the people and objects that you see through the window. All these connotations directly influence interpretation. The window has also been used as a model for communication theory. Based on disclosure, self-disclosure and feedback, the Johari Window can also be used to improve a group's relationship with other groups. Galye Gifford wrote in 2016 that....” The Johari Window is used to improve interpersonal communications and teamwork. It was developed by and named after psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955 (Joe + Harry =Johari). One idea behind the Johari Window is that we all have blind spots about ourselves that we want to diminish. Reducing these blind spots requires seeking out feedback from others. We also have information about ourselves that we hold back from others or that they are not aware of just by interacting with us. The Johari Window provides an opportunity for self-awareness and trust building by asking us to be more forthcoming and transparent as well as soliciting feedback through a process of self-discovery.” The grid or window is broken up as follows. Unknown Area: what is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others Hidden Area: what the person knows about him/herself that others do not know Blind Area: what is unknown by the person about him/herself, but which others know. This can normally include things like anxiety, fear, incompetence, unworthiness and so on, whereby it is difficult for people to face up to, but others can easily see them clearly in you. The Open area: what is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others. This normally includes your behaviour, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and ‘general knowledge’ history. (above.) Appledore church windows at sunrise. Silverleaf on Plywood board taken from a wardrobe dismantled.Dyed with Walnut ink and black acrylic. The window was offset at an angle to experiment with the shadow and appears to open from its mount. St. Ives. 2020 St. Ives. 2020 Created from that which you have looked at but never seen. (I'm not telling) KEEP IN. 2021 another window of two sides. Two masked figures stand in front of the viewer looking back. Created using copper and gold leaf on a enamel background and spray paint on mdf board. This window was inspired by reading about graffiti art and the work of King Rob and Banksy. "If climate change continues unchecked then wearing masks are the least of our worries.." A new narrative. The cement grout was an endeavour to remove however did help to identify the possible age. The corners of the window were rebuilt sympathetically. Stained glass window research The chevron represents the roof of a house, derived from the French word "chevron" meaning rafter. It signifies protection. The chevron was granted to those who had participated in some notable enterprise, had built churches or fortresses, or had accomplished some work requiring faithful service. The chevron is also said to represent the rises and falls that we encounter in life. How a chevron ring is worn can affect its meaning: a chevron pointing downward is associated with Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. When pointed upward, it is associated with Mars and all the gods of war. This window is approximately 100 years old, maybe an artist had looked through this old widow. Painted now with Black acrylic With real gold leaf one side and a alloy gold leave on the other. Only glass panes cracked but not broken are covered with gold. It is only in part a window now. It hangs in space, above a black painted box with an abundance of gold leaves. On top of a mat of money, two hundred pounds. Supplied with two optional installation instructions. not returned. A new narrative. what's the narrative ? That's for you to make your mind up, the curators did........ and I already know ! Would love your thoughts. Landscape of disbelief.unfinished. A consideration to what Duchamp may of made using the idea of a window today in the now. What he might have made today, looking at the hundred anniversary of his creation then. Could Fresh Widow be a consideration to the Spanish flu by Marcel Duchamp. he often joked about the title. The readymade element is the canvass……there is an opposition, a defying that the very thing Duchamp might appreciate, it is in landscape but not a landscape. Art does not need to be beautiful. Should I make it beautiful? Would it really matter? I want a positivity. Is it the cerebral state of mind that gives the idea of beauty? beauty is subjective just as art is, In the eye of the beholder and all that. The landscape of disbelief unfinished is partly ready made. Components of its existence are reclaimed and manipulated. The brush and paint can, the elements of bare wood demonstrate that it is Quite literally unfinished. elements that contradict its self. A comment made during its exhibition was, that it was a shame the internal beads were not painted”. I despair.... But to rebuff , better to be done than perfect. However, the unfinished is also part of the story. An element of the work itself. (a special Thanks to Sarah that, better done than perfect quote, I said I would appropriate that one. (unfortunately my children have also tried to pinch that one too.when it comes to a tidy room.) “The readymade” defied the notion that art must be beautiful. Duchamp claimed to have chosen everyday objects, yet the Fresh widow was a commissioned piece by duchamp himself, made by a carpenter and influenced by the artist using leather and left with instruction that it be polished every day. Hence considering its beauty. This I think has a direct relationship with how he was to demonstrate that cerebral. The idea of action was the cerebral. A duality if you will. Duchamp combines the black leather so one might argue that his work is a contradiction in regard to the influence and purpose. The visual indifference that is between the two sides of the piece. The brain changes its response between each visual. Duchamp said that ….“based on a reaction of visual indifference, with and at the same time it should have a total absence of good or bad taste….” The work was literally a contradiction of its own existence. I'll let the audience decide if this works on that level. Landscape of disbelief unfinished. 2021. On show at Kind Gallery and studio. Braunton, Devon. A landscape of disbelief (unfinished) is on both sides completely different in presentation. the importance of action and thought, An instruction that the polishing of the empty can that sits next to an inch brush left on the sill on one side, and that this must be carried out daily. A frame that is a window frame and an artistic frame. Each side has a conflicting and shared narrative. A consideration of Vermeer and interior and exterior. light and colour. The gold frame on one side the importance, finished in gold leaf the image created from lace with connotations to class and the elements of space the blue window frame, a link to the NHS staff clapped for from open widows. The delivery of paint through aerosol and a similar of the shared image in a historical context. The u.v lights. instead of shadow are; Reference to -how u.v lights were and are being used as treatment in the early stages of Covid lock down by eastern countries. As a delivery method to share between the two sides this was lost in the gallery, this was supposed to bleed around the edges of the window side and was washed out by a large spotlight. it will change between galleries. And viewed in the dark under U.V light it transforms to a flower impressionistic in nature yet dark in delivery. And of course, the handles, made from 4 pawns, a nod to Duchamp. spatial advantage. it’s a chess thing which makes it an art thing, You can google me. “Fresh widow” was made in the 1920s. The title amused him as he exclaimed, " it is what an English man might sound like if pronouncing French window with a cold". In conclusion one might say that the “Landscape of disbelief (unfinished)” is not firstly a conceptual piece of work as the “Fresh widow” was. It might be a social documentary on the cultural happening that has been 2020. It could be a link to the material process and association? I leave this for the viewer to decide. It was however the first in a series of windows that I have been working on during these strange times. Exploring past and present mixing the anthologies of artists that never met or are meeting for the first time in this way. “The work has been displayed. However not with the permission of the artist. Left with the instruction that it needed to be displayed no less than 70cm from the ground and if should this not be possible then it would be collected and submitted at a later date. The gallery went ahead and displayed it without this consideration and hung it anyway, and after the exhibition comments and in regards to its showing height it became something relevant to the wheelchair user, the eye line of the artist. That's not this piece of work. "It wasn't about that !" It was about the interior and exterior , the internal and external, juxtaposition and space it was a contemplation of then and now It wasn't a social out cry to spatial qualities and inequalities, not this one. Whilst angry and feeling disregarded I decided to let it stay in the exhibition. It may have brought a new element to the work it brought a new element to me! It led me to understand its ok and some don't get it. That's ok too! Not everything is about disability in my Art just because I use a wheelchair. "The elements of a window in space is a topic that gave the piece a hint of the surreal and because of the method of display in the gallery it seemed grounded and lost a considered quality but gained another......." To demonstrate the surreal . A photo. In the Gallery the piece would of given the impression of the window having legs, I think this image demonstrates the loss of a considered element. Accessibility Statement for www.crackedpainter.com This is an accessibility statement from cracked painter studio. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. www.crackedpainter.com is fully conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Fully conformant means that the content fully conforms to the accessibility standard without any exceptions. Additional accessibility considerations Every effort has been made to conform to accessibility requirements. Should there be anything that does not meet your requirements please feel free to contact me. via the comment section found on the about page and we will endeavour to make it right. We try to respond to feedback within 7 days.

by Emily Waldrep Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford wants to warn citizens of several phone and Internet scams circulating in the area recently. According to Weatherford almost all of the scams require people to send money outside of the country where law enforcement has little to no recourse to capture these types of criminals. Nigeria, one of the main countries from where these scams originate, is not interested in stopping these types of crimes, so it is up to citizens to remain aware and diligent to prevent falling victim to a scam. "One current scam is a Facebook lottery scam," Weatherford said. "People will hack into Facebook accounts and send them a message through Facebook that appears to come from a good friend and they say they want to let you know about a prize they won, and will say that they can win too. Then, the hacker will get you to send some amount of money to 'claim' your prize." Chief Deputy Phil Ryan says that if someone asks you to send money to receive a prize, it is probably a scam. "Scammers will also call the elderly pretending to be a bonds company saying a relative is locked up," Ryan said. "They usually will not be very forthcoming with information and will ask for an amount of money to get them out of jail." Weatherford and Ryan want citizens to know that if someone calls and wants money to get a relative out of jail, make sure to do your research before sending any amount of money because it is probably a scam. A third type of scam is something Ryan calls a 'Pay day Loan' scam. "Scammers will call and say that you have defaulted on a payday loan and will threaten felony charges if you do not pay it immediately," Ryan said. "That is a scam too." Ryan says if you have any questions about scams or if you think you may be being scammed, you should call the police. "Sadly, if you have fallen victim to a scam there is almost nothing we can do," Ryan said. Weatherford warns citizens that the elderly are often victim to these types of crimes, and if there is any question about whether something is a scam, call the police or the Sheriff's Department.

Coast Guard Icebreaker Requirements T-RCED-89-24: Published: Apr 12, 1989. Publicly Released: Apr 12, 1989. - Full Report: GAO discussed the Coast Guard's plans to purchase a new icebreaker, and identified alternatives to purchasing a new vessel. GAO found that the Coast Guard estimated that it would cost $330 million to acquire the icebreaker, and about $7 million in annual operating costs. GAO also found that, although it could not determine whether the Coast Guard actually needed the new icebreaker, it believed that the Coast Guard needed to resolve: (1) the impact of budget constraints on its and other agencies' ability to use the icebreaker to conduct planned research; (2) proposed cost-sharing arrangements with other agencies, which provided little or no incentives for agencies to identify those needs that could be funded; (3) disagreements with the National Science Foundation (NSF) regarding the need for a backup vessel for resupply activities; (4) the uncertainties regarding the number of days the icebreaker would be used, since other agencies planned to obtain their own vessels; (5) the availability of the icebreaker for wartime use; and (6) the adequacy of the new vessel's design to support the type of research and activities performed by current icebreakers. GAO identified alternatives for the Coast Guard to meet its icebreaker needs, including: (1) assigning a third crew to alternate between its existing vessels; (2) relocating its two icebreakers from their current home port to reduce transit time; and (3) obtaining icebreakers from other countries.

Library, University of Maine, Orono, ca. 1930 Contributed by Maine Historical Society Purchase a reproduction of this item on VintageMaineImages.com. Carnegie Hall library was built in 1903 at the University of Maine, Orono. Andrew Carnegie, who funded libraries across the country did not usually give to college libraries, but made a personal donation of $50,000 for this building. It was used as a library until 1947. - Title: Library, University of Maine, Orono, ca. 1930 - Creator: Machleith Photo System - Creation Date: circa 1930 - Subject Date: circa 1930 - Town: Orono - County: Penobscot - State: ME - Media: Postcard - Dimensions (cm): 9 x 14 - Local Code: Postcards 2005.134 - Object Type: Image For more information about this item, contact: Maine Historical Society 489 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 Cross Reference Searches LC Subject Headings If you'd like to privately share a comment with MMN staff, please use this form.

Statute of Limitations Explained By Sandy Attwood [July 19th, 2012] Guest post contributed by Sandy Attwood, for Attorneys.com. Sandy is a criminal defense attorney and in her spare time she enjoys writing about various other aspects of the law. The statute of limitations is a policy in the legal system that enforces a time limit on prosecuting someone for a crime. It applies to both criminal and civil cases. Whether minor or significant, cases must be reported within a preset period of time; however, the statute of limitations does not apply to a heinous crime like murder. The maximum time to file a case can vary widely depending on the location and the offense. After the time limit, an institution called prescription will prevent the case from being filed. By law, there is no loophole that can overturn this statute of limitations policy after the preset period of time has passed. However, the time will reset if the individual commits the same crime again. While on trial, the defendant must be prosecuted within the maximum time or the case will be dismissed. If, however, the defendant goes on the run during the trial, the statute of limitations will be suspended. The purpose of the statute of limitations is to ensure that justice is done, both for the defendant and the plaintiff. The persons involved are encouraged to go to trial as quickly as possible because when a case is prolonged, evidence can be corrupted or disappear and memories can fade, leading to inaccurate testimony. There are countless defendants who have been wrongfully convicted due to a prolonged case. Even those who have been suffering unknowingly long after an event took place will have to go by the statute of limitations. Cases such as medical malpractice, for example, still fall under this policy. If a person were to discover that their illness or injuries stemmed from negligence, they would have to file a suit within the time limit set by their state. The subject of repressed memories has been a controversial issue within the legal system recently. A victim of abuse is given a set number of years after their 18th birthday to report the crime, but a victim testifying from repressed memories may have problems going to trial on their testimony alone. A case can be successfully prosecuted only with sufficient evidence, but reliable evidence of the abuse may be impossible to produce initially. The statute of limitation is a code enforced throughout the world. However, the United States and most other nations do not apply the statute of limitations to heinous crimes, such as genocide and war crimes. Treaties have also inducted this code into international law. The need to go to trial for any type of case is a hardship. It is an experience that could bring about significant emotional trauma, especially if the incident was violent. However, in order to ensure justice for a person's wrongdoing, the victim must react promptly. The police and a lawyer should be contacted as soon as possible. The individuals involved should cooperate and all evidence must be present to avoid any problems or lapses of justice in the case. If you are the victim of some type of crime, make sure you consider how the statute of limitations will affect your case. In some situations, it can be easy to lose track of how much time has passed. Your attorney can advise you how best to handle your specific case.

MAYOR Bloomberg’s campaign volunteers are hit ting subway platforms to tell voters about his “plan to reform mass transit.” In unveiling the plan Monday, candidate Mike said of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority that it “has not done enough,” and pledged to use the mayoralty’s “bully pulpit” to spur change. But one key element is missing: the will to find the billions of dollars to pay for this investment in transit. That the mayor said anything is good. No elected official has wanted to be accountable for transit for decades — even though transit is second only to policing in shaping quality of life. Now, Bloomberg is asking voters to hold him responsible. The mayor has even told the press not to allow him to use one handy excuse: that he doesn’t control the MTA. Monday, he compared his new efforts to what he’s done with education, which he didn’t control either when he took office. The improvements that Bloomberg has proposed are mostly sound, including reinvesting in F-train express tracks (which have lain dormant for decades) to give hundreds of thousands of outer-Brooklyn commuters a faster, less crowded commute. He also called for faster bus service, to be achieved with police enforcement of bus lanes as well as better technology. “Smart cards,” which riders would wave or tap instead of swipe, would speed bus boarding, while GPS technology would allow the MTA to track buses, control traffic lights and provide waiting customers with a real-time schedule. (The mayor’s proposal for free crosstown buses is a good idea only as a stop-gap before technology allows customers to pay quickly.) Bloomberg further proposed that the MTA make use of similar technology on the subway so riders can learn when their train is coming. The MTA is already doing some of this stuff. But Bloomberg’s interest would add political urgency — particularly if he folds all of his ideas into an easy-to-understand vision. He could work toward a goal of “30 Minutes by 2030” — with the projects he outlined as the first steps in a 20-year plan to get commuters from well-populated outerborough neighborhoods to Midtown in half an hour. But it will all remain mere talk unless Bloomberg backs it up with cash. Mass-transit investment is expensive. The mayor’s desire to offer waiting customers count-down clocks is part of a multibillion-dollar project to upgrade subway communications from Depression-era technology. Sufficient money won’t come from the feds or state. Tackling bureaucracy is a fine idea — but not enough. To speed the projects he’s suggested and gain leverage over the MTA’s management, the mayor should dedicate $1.1 billion in city money each year — just 10 percent of what city taxpayers spend on education — to the MTA’s $5 billion annual capital budget. Bloomberg could help fund projects that he thinks are most important for New Yorkers. And he could keep a close eye on what the MTA does with the money, hopefully cutting cost and schedule overruns and contract mischief. Because the city is already so tax-saturated, finding that money requires cutting spending elsewhere — especially in the $13.6 billion that it will spend on pension and health-care benefits for public-sector workers this year. To get big benefits reforms, Bloomberg needs use his “bully pulpit” and more to push the state — and success here would set a good example for the MTA, which has similar problems. Indeed, the mayor could push the state to cut MTA spending on union labor, so that new money goes toward service improvements for average New Yorkers, rather than benefits of a few privileged union members. In his proposal, the mayor offered support for changing some union work rules to give the MTA more flexibility in scheduling workers. He should push state pols to address the contract’s too-young retirement age (55) and mostly taxpayer-paid health coverage, too. An open letter to the state officials drawing up the next Transport Workers Union contract could explain how important it is for transit customers and taxpayers to get more from the union, including work-rules freedom to cut labor costs without endangering safety. The mayor has given himself a tough task — but if he embraces it and succeeds, he’d leave New Yorkers with a valuable legacy. From city-journal.org. [email protected]

Text / Font Color: Box Shadow Color: box-shadow: 2px 2px 4px #004b00; Text Shadow Color: text-shadow: 2px 2px 2px #004b00; The #004b00 HTML color code is made up of 0 Red, 75 Green, and 0 Blue. This color's complement is #4b004b, which is the opposite on the color wheel. The hue is at 120 degrees, with a saturation value at 100 percent and a lightness value of 14.71 percent. Therefore, this color can be considered to be dark, and have cool color temperature. In the CMYK color model (used in the printing process), the composition is 100% Cyan, 0% Magenta, 100% Yellow, and 71% key (black). Colors that look similar, to the #004b00 color, may be found within the Green Color Codes Group.

Earlier today, President Obama delivered remarks at the Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit at Stanford University. During his speech, he also signed an executive order promoting information sharing on cyber security threats between the private sector and government agencies. “This is not a Democratic issue, or a Republican issue,” he said during his speech. “This is not a liberal or conservative issue. Everybody is online, and everybody is vulnerable.” [ image courtesy of Pete Souza, Official White House Photo ]

The question is as follows: A wholesaler buys items at £25 each. Then sells this items in batches of 8 to the retailer at price of £36 per item. On average there are 25 faulty items in a thousand items. Construct the probability distribution table for number of faulty items in a batch of 8 items. Any help will be highly appreciated. thanks alot in advance

But more interestingly, while as the latter piece states that in the decade before 2006 "the number of lone mothers had increased by 11% to 2.3 million", the proportion of families headed by a lone parent has barely changed over the past 10 years - increasing by less than 1%. Evidence that the tax and benefit system - or the "couple penalty" referred to in the first article - is driving people to live apart seems distinctly lacking. This would be obvious to the 20,000 lone parents who call our helpline each year. They know that children who grow up in lone-parent families face twice the risk of poverty as those who live with two parents together. Indeed, many of the poorer health outcomes reported for lone parents and their children - "more likely to develop long-term illnesses" - may well be explained by their poor financial situation, which was not researched. We know that poverty has a clear, independent effect on children's outcomes; we don't know the same for lone parenthood. But most lone parents have been married, and the proportion of births which are registered to only one parent is declining. The stereotypical teenage mother on benefits recedes further into the distance when you consider that only 2% of lone mothers are in fact teenagers - their average age is 36. And despite still facing a lack of affordable childcare, flexible hours and appropriate training, nearly 60% are now in paid work. So the idea that we are seeing a huge rise in family breakdown - or a "lone-parent nation" as your later report put it - all fuelled by the tax and benefit system, perhaps owes more to political expediency than to the facts. Next week sees the opening of an exhibition on lone parenthood at the Women's Library. As it shows, lone parenthood is not a recent phenomenon - in the 19th century lone parents headed around the same proportion of families as today. Viewed as unfortunates after both wars, the 1950s saw a move towards a view of unmarried mothers as damaged, and the 1980s a move towards talk of an "underclass". Misleading suggestions that lone parents are favoured by the tax and benefit system could lead to cuts in these benefits - despite all the evidence that tackling poverty in lone-parent families will be vital if the government is to meet its ambitious child-poverty target. And these distortions also matter because they help to create prejudice which affects people's everyday lives. As one lone parent told us in recent research: "You're either a benefits scrounger or you're a man-hating career woman who neglects her children. And actually most of us are just trying to do the best we can."

Only the meaning of the vectors denoted by , is different. At it can be seen from (50) and (51), Lorentz's definition of these vectors still allows, to separate the contributions of aether and matter to electromagnetic energy and electromagnetic momentum; however, formulas apply to these contributions, which do not allow a simple interpretation any more. § 11. Consideration of the temporal change of and . Up to now, we have considered the dielectric constant and the magnetic permeability as quantities, which have constant values for a given material point, or at least (see § 10) are varying in a specified way with velocity. The case, that these values depend on the state of deformation of the body, and thus on time, we haven't considered yet. Now, as to how are these considerations to be modified, when and are not equal to zero? A) Theories of H. Hertz and E. Cohn. If we employ formulas (23) of Hertz's theory, or formulas (26) of Cohn's theory, then we find in the case that and are depending on time, that instead of (18) the following relation takes place where it is set there it is assumed, that the earlier expressions (24) and (27) hold for the momentum density. B) Theories of H. Minkowski and H. A. Lorentz. The calculation becomes somewhat more complicated, when one employs the connecting equations (36) and (37) of Minkowski’s theory. The terms are not only to be inserted in the right-hand side of (38), but also – when the terms which contain and are calculated – the variability of and is to be considered in (38c). Also a relation in the form of (54) is given, when the value of is not changed; though the

A discovery at Rice University aims to make vehicles that run on compressed natural gas more practical. It might also prolong the shelf life of bottled beer and soda. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour has enhanced a polymer material to make it far more impermeable to pressurized gas and far lighter than the metal in tanks now used to contain the gas. The combination could be a boon for an auto industry under pressure to market consumer cars that use cheaper natural gas. It could also find a market in food and beverage packaging. Tour and his colleagues at Rice and in Hungary, Slovenia and India reported their results this week in the online edition of the American Chemistry Society journal ACS Nano. By adding modified, single-atom-thick graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) to thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), the Rice lab made it 1,000 times harder for gas molecules to escape, Tour said. That's due to the ribbons' even dispersion through the material. Because gas molecules cannot penetrate GNRs, they are faced with a "tortuous path" to freedom, he said. The researchers acknowledged that a solid, two-dimensional sheet of graphene might be the perfect barrier to gas, but the production of graphene in such bulk quantities is not yet practical, Tour said. But graphene nanoribbons are already there. Tour's breakthrough "unzipping" technique for turning multiwalled carbon nanotubes into GNRs, first revealed in Nature in 2009, has been licensed for industrial production. "These are being produced in bulk, which should also make containers cheaper," he said. The researchers led by Rice graduate student Changsheng Xiang produced thin films of the composite material by solution casting GNRs treated with hexadecane and TPU, a block copolymer of polyurethane that combines hard and soft materials. The tiny amount of treated GNRs accounted for no more than 0.5 percent of the composite's weight. But the overlapping 200- to 300-nanometer-wide ribbons dispersed so well that they were nearly as effective as large-sheet graphene in containing gas molecules. The GNRs' geometry makes them far better than graphene sheets for processing into composites, Tour said. They tested GNR/TPU films by putting pressurized nitrogen on one side and a vacuum on the other side. For films with no GNRs, the pressure dropped to zero in about 100 seconds as nitrogen escaped into the vacuum chamber. With GNRs at 0.5 percent, the pressure didn't budge over 1,000 seconds, and it dropped only slightly over more than 18 hours. Stress and strain tests also found that the 0.5 percent ratio was optimal for enhancing the polymer's strength. "The idea is to increase the toughness of the tank and make it impermeable to gas," Tour said. "This becomes increasingly important as automakers think about powering cars with natural gas. Metal tanks that can handle natural gas under pressure are often much heavier than the automakers would like." He said the material could help to solve long-standing problems in food packaging, too. "Remember when you were a kid, you'd get a balloon and it would be wilted the next day? That's because gas molecules go through rubber or plastic," Tour said. "It took years for scientists to figure out how to make a plastic bottle for soda. Once, you couldn't get a carbonated drink in anything but a glass bottle, until they figured out how to modify plastic to contain the carbon dioxide bubbles. And even now, bottled soda goes flat after a period of months. "Beer has a bigger problem and, in some ways, it's the reverse problem," he said. "Oxygen molecules get in through plastic and make the beer go bad." Bottles that are effectively impermeable could lead to brew that stays fresh on the shelf for far longer, Tour said. Co-authors of the paper are Rice graduate students Daniel Hashim, Zheng Yan, Zhiwei Peng, Chih-Chau Hwang, Gedeng Ruan and Errol Samuel; Rice alumnus Paris Cox; Bostjan Genorio, a former postdoctoral researcher at Rice and now an assistant professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Akos Kukovecz, an associate professor of chemistry, and Zóltan Kónya, a researcher, both at the University of Szeged, Hungary; Parambath Sudeep, a research scholar at Cochin University of Science and Technology, India; Rice senior faculty fellow Robert Vajtai; and Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and of chemistry at Rice. Tour is the T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of computer science at Rice. The Air Force Research Laboratory through the University Technology Corp., the Office of Naval Research MURI graphene program and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research MURI program supported the research. Read the abstract at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn404843n This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/2013/10/10/tanks-graphene-rice-advances-compressed-gas-storage/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews Tour Group: http://www.jmtour.com Rice researchers unzip the future: http://news.rice.edu/2009/04/15/rice-researchers-unzip-the-future/ Images for download: A composite material created at Rice University is nearly impervious to gas and may lead to efficient storage of compressed natural gas for vehicles. A 65-micrometer-wide polymer film, photographed edge-on with an electron microscope, contains a tiny amount of enhanced graphene nanoribbons that present gas molecules a "tortuous path" to escape. (Credit: Changsheng Xiang/Rice University) A close-up cross section of graphene nanoribbon-enhanced polymer shows the ribbons as white dots dispersed through the material, where they effectively block gas molecules from passing through. The material created at Rice University could be useful for storing compressed gas in a lighter, stronger vessel and for food packaging. (Credit: Changsheng Xiang/Rice University) An electron microscope image shows graphene nanoribbons embedded in a block copolymer. The composite material created at Rice University shows promise for containing compressed natural gas and for food packaging. (Credit: Tour Group/Rice University) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU. AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

All humans are 99.5% genetically similar to any other human yet there is tremendous variation among us. Why is there variation in skin color? Why do most of us suffer from altitude sickness but there are people in the Andes and the Himalayas who live at extreme elevations? How does malaria explain why, for over 30 years, all the finalists in the men’s Olympic 100-meters had a recent ancestry in Sub-Saharan West Africa? To understand variation we need to understand how evolution has shaped us and how the environment has influenced our evolution. We will use empirical approaches to understand patterns of variation in appearance, in physiology, and in (athletic) performance among individuals across the world. The questions that we will address are important, not only to understand diversity among individuals, but also because the foundational approaches that you will develop in this class will provide you with skills to understand how science is done. You will learn to think like a scientist and to interpret data. In the future when you read in the New York Times about the latest discoveries, you will be able put these discoveries into context and make your own evaluation about the validity of new findings

Subsidies certainly are a form of authorities economic support that helps businesses pay for a portion of their development costs. They will are often times offered in the form of taxes credits or perhaps reimbursements. These types of programs may be effective in encouraging specified businesses to purchase research and development. Additionally , they can help start-up businesses survive deficits and be large enough to be profitable. Financial assistance are also within encouraging the availability of a number of products. That they reduce the costs for producers, increasing the number of systems produced although keeping the value the same. However , they can likewise lead to excessive generation. Subsidies could also be used to reduce costs in other industrial sectors, such as food, healthcare, education, and water. Some forms of government financial and financial assistance are roundabout and provide value to both government as well as the recipient. For instance, cash subsidies from the authorities help to increase the expansion of industries like myrrdin-inc.com/2020/03/30/digital-technology-in-the-modern-world renewable energy and small businesses. A few of these subsidies can be interest-free financial loans and federal government loans with lower interest rates than individual lenders. In addition , government loans might have better terms and conditions, including deferred repayments and flexible payment plans. Financial aid are a common feature of economies around the globe, and they are specifically prevalent in China. The Chinese economy alone is the greatest consumer of food subsidies, with subsidies totaling $2. 3 trillion in 2015. The United States, Spain, and India are among the other major contributing factors of financial assistance.

The standard model of Mercator projection shows a cylinder wrapped around a spherical earth eg Wiki. Many sites describe the resulting square map like this: "...spherical Mercator maps use an extent of the world from -180 to 180 longitude, and from -85.0511 to 85.0511 latitude. ... a cutoff in the north-south direction is required, and this particular cutoff results in a perfect square of projected meters." This would result in a mapping from degrees latitude (Φ) to Y from the X axis of Y = R.tan(Φ), but this does not return 85.0511 as the angle for which the map is a square where Y= 2 Π R The standard mapping equation provided in the literature is Y = R ln (tan( Π/4 + Φ/2)). I am looking for a physical interpretation of this formula, as it is certainly not the classical one of a sphere inside a cylinder. Can anyone throw some light please?

We offer our clients gold standard anaesthesia with Propofol and gas anaesthesia, which is monitored by our nursing team. We also offer all our patients pre- anaesthetic blood test to screen for any underlying disease such as diabetes, liver problems or kidney problems. We would particularly advise this for older patients. The practice has two ultrasound machines. This is very useful for pregnancy scans as well as diagnosing womb, bladder and prostrate problems and imaging the liver bowel and heart. We have state of the art Digital X-Ray on site for rapid accurate diagnosis. It is very useful after road traffic accidents where we suspect fractured limbs as well as diagnosis of foreign body and other internal problems. We have our own in house blood machine where haematology and biochemistry can be done on site and results are provided within an hour. This can often mean the difference between life and death for very sick patients. We have a microscope where skin scrapes can be examined on site. We can also do full skin work ups for accurate diagnosis In the practice we have facilities for examining the eye in more detail. Glaucoma and anterior uveitis are common conditions in dogs and cats, which are painful but can also cause blindness. We have a special device called a tonapen to measure the intra-ocular pressure, which helps us to make an accurate diagnosis and treatment for these cases. Over three quarters of cats and dogs over three years of age suffer some degree of dental disease. Our nurses are trained to examine your dog or cat for dental problems. We have a dental machine on site to provide full dental care for your pet. We now offer keyhole surgery as an alternative to open surgery for certain procedures. Keyhole spaying was pioneered in Ireland in 2011, by our vet Eamon Walsh. Keyhole surgery is achieved through small incisions using a camera to view inside the abdomen, and specialised instruments to manipulate tissue. Keyhole spaying can be carried out on both cats and dogs. This minimally invasive method is virtually bloodless, less painful than open surgery and has a very fast recovery time for your pet. Find out more here Government legislation came into effect on April 1st 2016, making it compulsory for all dogs to be microchipped and registered with a Government approved database. Under the new legislation, dog owners must also obtain a Dog Microchipping Certificate from the database provider to prove that their dog is properly microchipped and registered. Dog owners must also keep their contact details up to date and register any change of contact details or change of ownership on the database. “Compulsory Microchipping and Certification will have huge animal welfare benefits, by ensuring a much loved lost dog is returned to it’s owner in a timely and efficient manner thus reducing the stress and trauma to owner and dog alike. The law will also ease the pressure in pounds throughout Ireland by reducing the number of stray dogs entering the pound system. Mandatory registration and certification will also help to promote responsible dog ownership. We are pleased to support this initiate by offering low cast microchipping at The All Care Veterinary Clinic .

Success Story: Fishkill Elementary Engaging Families at Fishkill Elementary Fishkill Elementary is a school of nearly 500 students in New York’s Hudson Valley, approximately 90 miles north of New York City. It serves a diverse community in which many of the parents commute to full-time jobs or take care of younger children at home, making involvement in the school difficult. To make volunteer opportunities more accessible and more appealing, and thus increasing parent involvement in the school, the Fishkill School Leadership Team decided to initiate PTA Three for Me. The principal introduced the program at Parents as Partners Night at the start of the school year. Teachers wore “Ask Me About Three for Me” badges, used in-class introductions to invite parents to complete Three for Me promise cards, and explained how parents could volunteer on committees, at events, in the classroom, or even from home. Throughout the year, the PTA newsletter featured volunteer opportunities, while the program’s coordinator regularly distributed program reminders, progress reports, and volunteer stories. Three for Me was a catalyst for parent involvement. Seventy percent of the school’s families now complete at least three hours of volunteer work during the year, with a significant number continuing to volunteer beyond their original commitment. The school has developed a more welcoming climate and a culture of volunteering, thanks to this growing network of parent volunteers. Parents who previously just crossed paths when picking up their children now have relationships with each other through their volunteering efforts, and everyone is invested in the common goal of supporting every child’s school success.

Moms Go Where Angels Fear to Tread: Adventures in Motherhood by Joan Wester Anderson New York: Guideposts, 2009 Joan Wester Anderson, New York Times best-selling author of "Where Angels Walk," has turned her attention to motherhood in "Moms Go Where Angels Fear to Tread: Adventures in Motherhood." Anderson is the mother of five grown children. As such, she has much wisdom and experience to impart to those of us still in the trenches. For example, "If you rely on God's help and second on your own good instincts, you'll be happier for it." Anderson regales her audience with humorous tales of her own experience of motherhood that will have fellow mothers nodding and laughing in agreement. Anderson tackles such topics as attempting to remodel a house, the stress that is the month of February (how can such a short month cause so much trouble?), sending children to school for the first time, taking children to the doctors only to have them be miraculously healed in the waiting room, and watching a child perform onstage for the first time. Anderson concludes each chapter with a wise quote regarding the topic at hand. One of my favorites was from Father Ron Rolheiser: "A mother rearing children . . . is forced, almost against her will, to constantly stretch her heart. For years, her time is never her own, her own needs have to be kept in second place and every time she turns around a hand is reaching out and demanding something. She hears the monastic bell many times during the day and she has to drop things in midsentence and respond, not because she wants to, but because it is time for that activity and time isn't her time, but God's." "Moms Go Where Angels Fear to Tread" is an enjoyable romp through the experience of motherhood. It will both make you laugh and tug at your heartstrings.