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maladroit wrote:The table of dates on the ticket site says STEP closes on July 31st, but the blurb about STEP further down says it closes on August 7th.
Don't you love having thousands of proofreaders?
Sometimes stuff gets missed, it is getting corrected as soon as they are notified... I do not see a problem!!


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American Forces Press Service
Jan. 5, 2010 - International Security Assistance Force servicemembers supported an award ceremony here Dec. 29 for about 500 school children from Afghanistan's Ghowr province. The head of the provincial education department, local authorities and the chief of staff of the Lithuanian-led provincial reconstruction team attended the event.
"The local government put a lot of effort into facilitating education for the people of Ghowr," said Lt. Col. Arturas Jasinskas of the Lithuanian army, the provincial reconstruction team's chief of staff. "This contributes to the building of a better future for the people of Afghanistan."
The Lithuanian-led team provided the prizes for the students, as well as learning equipment and tools for the school.
Cooperation with provincial education has been a priority for ISAF servicemembers here since the provincial reconstruction team was formed in 2005. The team provides seminars for teachers, books, school furniture, computers and learning equipment. It also is involved in school construction and reconstruction projects.
"I'm sure schoolchildren here today will be coming back to the province in five or 10 years after graduating from universities in Kabul or Herat," Jasinskas said. "They will work for the future of Ghowr and Afghanistan."
Japanese members of the provincial reconstruction team are providing some of the most significant development effort. In September, for example, they offered literacy courses for local residents. The courses are an element of the five-part Program for the Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan coordinated by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and funded by the Japanese government.
Five centers for literacy will be established under the program in Ghowr's Chaghcharan, Dowlat Yar, Lal Sarjangal, Saghar and Tulak districts for around 30,000 children and adults.
The provincial reconstruction team is composed of soldiers and civilians from Lithuania, Denmark, Japan, Croatia, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine and the United States.
(From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command news release.)
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
International Forces Support Afghan Education
Posted by Raymond Foster at 12:06 PM
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Become Food Armor™ Certified
In the Food Armor™ program, farms may be certified when they can demonstrate full implementation and maintenance of a six-step HACCP plan for proper drug use. A farm seeking Food Armor™ certification must work with a Food Armor™ Accredited Veterinarian. Contact Dr. Katie Mrdutt, Food Armor™ Outreach Specialist at (608) 257-3665 or email@example.com to find a Food Armor™ Accredited Veterinarian near you.
Learn more about the WVMA's Food Armor™ HACCP for Proper Drug Use PRogram here.


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The Osprey Women's Verve 7 Pack is a hydration-specific backpack that keeps you hydrated and carries your essentials. The main feature is the 2 liter reservoir, but that does not outshine the helmet clip or sunglasses pocket, or even the harness pocket for snacks or an MP3 player. Bungee lacing on the front panel secures gear and a blinker light for night biking trips ensures safety comes first. A top zippered slash pocket keeps all of your essentials within easy reach. The BioStretch harness with a built-in magnet for bite valve attachment is convenient and comfortable, kind of like a Snuggie. If I could wear a Snuggie everywhere, I would. The grocery store? Yes. The movie theater? Sign me up. A spacer mesh backpanel keeps you cool and your back ventilated.
So sorry, but only 4 items are allowed for comparison, so we're comparing the first 4. I blame the gnomes and so should you.
Would you like to compare the products you have selected now?


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Barack Obama is closing his first Mideast trip as president with a visit to Petra, Jordan's fabled ancient city.
An unexpected sandstorm that forced Obama to change some travel plans on Friday had led him to cautiously state that the tour of Petra would happen "weather permitting."
The weather cooperated on Saturday, allowing Marine One to touch down near Petra after an hour-long flight from Amman, Jordan's capital. Overcast skies in Amman threatened to upend Obama's travel plans but the weather improved during the flight across Jordan's rugged countryside.
Petra was carved into the rose-red stone by the Nabataeans more than 2,000 years ago. The ancient Arabs turned the city into a critical junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.
Petra is Jordan's most popular tourist attraction, drawing more than a half million visitors each year since 2007. Petra may be familiar to many people who saw the 1989 movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Some scenes were filmed in the ancient city.
Obama's 24-hour visit to Jordan - he arrived in the country on Friday - is his final stop on a four-day trip to the Middle East, the first foreign excursion of his second term. It also was his first visit as president to Israel and Jordan.
Obama spent the bulk of his time in Israel, where held several meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought through a speech and other public remarks to reassure an anxious public that he is committed to the country's security.
He also made a brief stop in the West Bank city of Ramallah for meetings with Palestinian leaders.
In Amman, Obama met with King Abdullah II.


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It's been six years, but Bruton's boys basketball team finally booked a return trip to the state tournament.
The Panthers locked up the elusive berth Thursday night at home with a thrilling 66-59 win over No. 7 seed Lafayette in the Region I Division 3 semifinals.
Lonnie Swinton scored 19 points and Kapri Doucet added 18 more to lead Bruton. The Panthers will play at two-time defending state champion Brunswick in Friday's Region I final. The Bulldogs defeated Park View of South Hill 60-55 Thursday in Lawrenceville, overcoming a late five-point deficit.
The winner of the final will be in Region I at a "super-site" for a Group AA state quarterfinal against the runner-up from Region II. The Region I runner-up will travel north to face the Region II champion.
Lafayette set the tone in the first half, matching the energy of a spirited Bruton squad. Mark Rivera had four points, and Aaron Ashlock converted a steal into a dunk with 10 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the game at 11.
Lafayette's John Fitchett opened the second with five straight points and Garry Banks hit a jump hook in the lane to give Lafayette an 18-16 lead with 6:15 left in the half.
That's when Bruton amped up the defensive pressure, converting steals into easy baskets. Lonnie Swinton led the charge with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Bilal Wallace had seven points as the Panthers led 34-25 at halftime.
Bruton was hot early in the fourth, as Doucet tallied four points during an 8-2 spurt to take a 57-41 lead with 4:08 left.
The Panthers sank 4 of 6 free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
LAFAYETTE (7-16): Ashlock 15, Hayes 10, Fitchett 21, Banks 5, Rivera 4, Paige 4.
BRUTON (18-4): Swinton 19, Simmons 5, Hert 1, Carter 11, Wallace 11, Doucet 18, White 1.
Lafayette 11, 14, 14, 20 — 59
Bruton 11, 23, 15, 17 — 66
3-point goals: Bruton 5 (Swinton 3, Simmons, Carter) Lafayette 5 (Ashlock 2, Fitchett 3).
-- By the Virginia Gazette's John Harvey
Poquoson girls 49, Lafayette 47
With a Region I Division 3 state playoff berth on the line, Lafayette, fresh off a 40-35 upset of Park View, hoped to continue its Cinderella run.
The Rams' best effort just fell short as Poquoson, behind clutch free throws from Brittany Frazier and Sydney Turner, held on at home.
Poquoson (18-7) clinched its first state playoff berth in 20 years. The Islanders will travel to Brunswick on Friday for the Division 3 final in Lawrenceville.
Lafayette, which came back from a 14-point deficit, finished the season at 11-13.
The Islanders gained control early. A 3-pointer from Sarah Davis gave Poquoson (18-7) a 10-3 lead at the 4:41 mark of the first quarter, prompting Lafayette coach P.J. Piggott to call one of four timeouts used in the half, leaving his team with one for the second half.
While Lafayette had success moving the ball around the perimeter, it found it difficult to work the ball inside and failed to follow up on shots.
A trey from Turner opened up a 23-11 margin midway through the second quarter, and the Islanders led 25-13 at the half.
The Rams found life in the third quarter, thanks to Libbey Bland. Scoreless in the first half, Bland caught fire and had nine points in the third, capping an 18-3 run at the end of the quarter, highlighted by an Alicia Lee 10-footer from the right side that gave Lafayette its first lead of the game, 37-36, to end the quarter.
The teams exchanged the lead early in the final period. But Lafayette's fortunes took a tumble when Indyah Brown (14 points) and Desiree Jones fouled out 10 seconds apart midway through the quarter.
A Bland steal and lay-in knotted the score at 45 with 1:05 to go. On the ensuing possession, Frazier was fouled and nailed both of her free throws. After a Ram miss, Turner followed her to the line with 17 seconds remaining and the Islanders clinging to a 47-45 lead.
Turner didn't have to dig too deeply for inspiration.
"My sister (Page) played (for Poquoson) before and in the region semifinals against Courtland, she had to make two free throws at the end of the game. She made them."
With a smile on her face, Turner finished the thought. "So did I."
LAFAYETTE (11-13): Bland 15, Macomber 2, Brown 14, Holiday 6, Jones 1, Lee 9. Totals 19 8-9 47.
POQUOSON (18-7): L. Doggett 6, Frazier 11, Davis 8, Turner 18, Kincaid 6. Totals 17 12-15 49.
Lafayette 7, 6, 24, 10 -- 47
Poquoson 17, 8, 11, 13 -- 49
3-point goals: Lafayette 1 (Lee). Poquoson 3 (Turner 2, Davis).
-- By Jim McGrath


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Hello and welcome back!
I want to begin this week noting a distressing development, which seems to be just the latest in a series of attacks on religious freedom in our country.
This week it was announced that the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement would not be renewing a grant to U.S. Catholic bishops' Migration and Refugee Services to help human trafficking victims obtain food, clothing and access to medical care. That work has now come to halt.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressed this issue in a post yesterday to the USCCB Media Blog. I want to share that post with you here:
There seems to be a new unwritten reg at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It's the ABC Rule, Anybody But Catholics.
It showed up in a letter from HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to advise the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Office of Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) that it would not receive a grant to continue its services for victims of human trafficking.
The USCCB program excelled because of its anytime-anywhere approach. It had extraordinary reach, something valued by people who work to free men, women and children from slavery. Because of USCCB's organizational capacity, MRS could respond immediately. Should an Immigration Enforcement official find a vulnerable child, for example, a call to the MRS program got safe housing immediately. There was not the delay of weeks that one associates with programs that lack such a network.
The program worked well on the ground. but not so well for distant administrators promoting the abortion and contraceptive agenda, who bristle at the fact that in accord with church teaching, USCCB won't facilitate taking innocent life, sterilization and artificial contraception. MRS anti-trafficking programs ran successfully for six years in harmony with these moral convictions until the American Civil Liberties Union brought suit against the government for not forcing the USCCB program to provide these services as a part of the program. The suit's outcome is pending, but ORR apparently has made its own decision apart from any judgment of the court. So much for the Administration's guarantee of conscience protection.
That's the climate which allowed ORR to dismiss the USCCB proposal and instead award grant money to the United States Committee on Refugees and Immigrants, (USCRI), Heartland and Tapestri. ORR even awarded more money than it said it would in the original proposal.
ORR earmarked most of the money for USCRI. Eskinder Negash, current director of the ORR, had been vice-president and chief operating officer at USCRI before joining ORR in 2009.
The ORR's request for proposals had stated that agencies receiving the money were to be fully operational ten days after being awarded the grant. That would have been October 10. One wonders how that could have happened since USCRI and Heartland reportedly were posting ads seeking to hire staff just a few days before that date. None of the three organizations has much depth of experience in monitoring and providing services. USCCB staff were given a number to call for a smooth transition for the people served by the anti-trafficking program. Those who called it found no one could answer their questions.
Trafficking of human beings is one of the great modern-day scandals, but at least until now, the U.S. government sought to sincerely address the issue. It asked USCCB for help when regional programs weren't reaching victims outside the usual hotspots for trafficking. USCCB created an extraordinary program in conjunction with several partners, Christian and secular, including Lutheran Family Services, Jewish Family Services, Salvation Army, YMCA affiliates, domestic violence shelters, World Relief and others. Only one-third of its subcontractors were Catholic-affiliated, but with the USCCB infrastructure they reached virtually everywhere in the USA.
Now ORR seems to have yielded to abortion politics. It has undercut a worthy program, limiting the numbers served, while increasing the time and money it will take to serve them.
Apparently HHS rules about the benefits of experience and cost effectiveness can be waived. So can rules about being fully operational by a certain date. What can't be waived is the new, albeit unwritten rule of HHS, the ABC rule – Anybody But Catholics.
– – –
Last Wednesday I attended the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council.
Among the topics we discussed was the Pastoral letter on Evangelization, and Janet Benestad was there to lead that discussion. It was a very valuable conversation.
We also spoke about the new pastoral letter that's coming out on the Sunday Eucharist.
There are a number of members of the APC who completed their terms with that meeting. I want to acknowledge them here and thank them for their service:
Kathleen Allen, Armand DiLando, Michael Gilroy, Andrew Griswold, Deacon Philip LaFond, Peggy Mann, John Moran, Thomas Nuttall, Maureen O'Brien, Thong Phamduy, Suzanne Robotham, Deacon Louis Sheedy, John Sullivan, Patricia Tobin, Libby Yon, and Lynn A. Zofchak.
– – –
Among the new forms of consecrated life that have been restored in the Church after the Second Vatican Council, we have that of the hermits. These are men and women who make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and follow a rule of life that commits them to a very intense life of prayer and service, particularly works of mercy.
On Friday, I was pleased to preside at the profession of our latest hermit, Mary Therese Inoue.
Mary Therese has been prepared for a long time by Sister Marian Batho and by her work with the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. Many of the Oblates were there and concelebrated the Mass. Some members of her family were with us, as well.
– – –
Also on that day, I celebrated the funeral Mass of Msgr. Stanislaus Sypek, who was the pastor of St. Adalbert Parish in Hyde Park.
Msgr. Sypek was among the last group of priests ordained during Cardinal O'Connell's era. He was 96 years old and was still an active pastor of St. Adalbert's, which is a Polish national parish. He had been a personal friend of Blessed Pope John Paul II and a great leader in the community and was among the last pastors appointed by Cardinal Cushing in 1969.
He was a very accomplished man; he had two doctorates. He was originally from New Bedford, but his family moved to South Boston. He was well known for all of the aid that he acquired and transmitted to the Church in Poland, as well as supporting orphans in the Holy Land.
The preacher at the Funeral Mass was Father Phil Hamel from New Bedford, who was a dear friend of Msgr. Sypek's. Many members of Monsignor's family joined us for the Mass.
He served as a pastor at St. Adalbert's for over 40 years. Having been pastor for so long at St. Adalbert's, certainly there are many people for whom he is was only pastor they had ever known. We know he will be sorely missed.
– – –
On Saturday, I met with Father James Socias of the Midwest Theological Forum of the Prelature of Opus Dei, which produces a number of Catholic catechetical and liturgical publications.
During our visit, he presented me with a copy of the new Roman Missal they produce.
They also publish the Didache Catechisms, which are a series of high school texts and lesson plans explaining the Catholic faith.
They are beautifully done with numerous pictures and illustrations, designed to be very engaging for young people. They also include questions and answers and stories, but also lots of theological content, of course.
I asked him to send me some copies for review, so we can explore ways of using them in more of our schools and programs.
– – –
That evening we had dinner with Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, a Dominican friar.
He is the Secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education and was in Boston to celebrate the diaconate ordinations for the Jesuits at St. Ignatius Parish.
Archbishop Brugues was the provincial of the Dominican friars in Toulouse and was also bishop of Angers, France when Pope Benedict named him the secretary — which is the second highest position in the congregation of Catholic education — in 2007. The pope bestowed upon him the personal title of archbishop.
This was his first visit to Boston, so we were very happy to welcome him.
– – –
On Sunday, I went to St. Leonard of Port Maurice Parish in the North End for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the modern Italian state. St. Leonard's is one of our Italian parishes and the church was very well attended and they had a beautiful choir.
Rosario Scabin, of the Post Gazette took photos at the event and sent them to me.
The Italian Consul-General, Giuseppe Pastorelli, was there with his wife and his young son. There were also a number of young Italian student-immigrants, as well as many of our people from the local Italian community of Boston.
I pointed out that Massachusetts has the 6th largest Italian-American population in the United States and they are a very important part of our local church.
We're very pleased to be able to congratulate them and celebrate this birthday celebration of the Italian state.
– – –
On Wednesday, I met with the bishops of the Boston Province. This time we had two new bishops with us.
Bishop Peter Libasci of Manchester, N.H., who will be installed on Dec. 8, came to join us for the meeting. It was a wonderful opportunity for him to meet all of the bishops of the province.
Bishop Libasci visited me recently at the Cathedral rectory
We had the new Eparch of the Melkite Diocese in Newton, Bishop Nicholas Samra, with us as well. He replaced Archbishop Cyrille Bustros, who is now the new Archbishop of Beirut, Lebanon.
For this meeting, we also invited the major superiors of mens' religious communities from the region. Periodically, we, as the group of bishops, meet with the major superiors of the region and this was one such occasion. I was pleased that even the abbot of St. Joseph Abbey in Spencer was able to be with us.
We're very grateful for the presence of so many different religious communities of men who, by their charism and spirituality, enrich our Church. They are so generous in helping out in the parishes, retreats and many other ministries of the archdiocese and the other dioceses of the region.
– – –
We are very pleased that this week the Campaign for Catholic Schools was able to announce a $1 million grant from the State Street Foundation, the grant making arm of State Street Corporation.
Jay Hooly, State Street's chairman with some JPII Academy students
The grant will benefit the middle school programs and professional development at the Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester and Mattapan, which has a very culturally and racially diverse enrollment of 1,300 students. In fact, it is the largest elementary school in Boston.
We are very grateful to the Campaign for Catholic Schools, State Street and all of those who are helping us to raise money for our Catholic schools.
Catholic schools are one of the most important ministries of the archdiocese and we are committed to do everything possible to promote their Catholic identity and their academic excellence, so that present generations and future generations of Catholics will have the opportunity for a sound Catholic education.
– – –
And next week we look forward to the first commemoration of the feast day of Blessed John Paul II on Oct. 22.
We are marking it in Boston by a special Mass organized by the Serra Club with the help of our vocations office. The Mass will be at the Cathedral at 10am, followed by some light refreshments and then a talk by George Weigel, who was a personal friend and the designated biographer of Blessed Pope John Paul II.
Until next week,
Cardinal Seán


text:
AndyDufresne wrote:
---The Final Forge period has concluded for the Rail Europe Map. All objections have had their time. The Foundry and I hereby brand this map with the Foundry Brand. Let it be known that this map is now ready for live play (barring any Lack vetoes).
Conquer Club, enjoy!
Yehhhah!!! Thanks Andy.
DiM wrote:woohoo i'm first to congratulate cairns on this one.
Cheers Dim.
Night Strike wrote:YEY!!! I get to use this in an upcoming tournament. Congrats.
Very good Night Strike,...glad to hear you can use it in a tournie.
edbeard wrote:grtz another rail map. another to the great cairnswk family.
Thanks edbeard...not skyting...this is number....gees i've lost count. So much still to do.


text: Sundance proudly features some of the most acclaimed brands in footwear. From Frye come exceptional leather boots, shoes, and handbags. Old Gringo boots instantly elevate a look, with their unrivaled character and painstaking attention to detail. Discover Sorel's smart winter boot styles, CYDWOQ's elegant lines, the indulgent comfort of Kork-Ease, and other iconic brands. However you define your unique style, find it among these respected makers of footwear and handbags.


text:
(CNN) -- The promise of saying vows in an intimate setting and under springtime foliage can be a dreamy inspiration for brides-to-be, but for homeowners hosting a wedding in their back yard it can turn into a nightmare.
Setting up a large tent in your backyard for a wedding can be a lavish affair for guests, but spell disaster for the grass.
"The logistics of it can certainly be challenging," said Sophia Lin, the wedding sales manager for A Legendary Event, an event, design and catering company in Atlanta, Georgia.
"I would definitely say there are some hidden surprises," she said, "sometimes [clients] don't realize how involved it can be."
Whereas rented spaces often have tables, chairs and bar services included in the cost to rent, at-home weddings need to budget for those kinds of amenities separately, Lin said.
And then there are the bathrooms.
Jiwon McCartney, the managing director of Allure Event & Meeting Productions, a boutique event and meeting planning company said, "Everybody thinks, 'well, we have plenty of bathrooms.'"
But McCartney pointed out that even larger homes could have big problems when there are 50 people needing to use the bathroom at once.
"They don't realize how much toilet paper goes down," she said.
Residential areas are equipped with a certain amount of sewage or septic capacity, she said, and if a homeowner's land is unincorporated, they might have less capacity than they think.
There have even been times that McCartney has added a bathroom for a home wedding.
"You can't have a Port-O-Potty," she said, "you have to have an executive bathroom, and that's a whole other ball of wax."
Extra toilets bump up the cost of an at home wedding even further, she said, with water, sewage and power costs.
An intimate wedding at home is not always the most affordable option. Lin said that sometimes clients choose to host the wedding elsewhere when all the numbers are added up. But if the home setting is important enough to move ahead, then Lin said clients will most likely need the ultimate plan B: a tent.
Aside from the licensing fees and permit paperwork involved in erecting a structure big enough to contain 150 to 200 guests -- what Lin calls the average amount of guests at a wedding these days -- there's the problem of making a back yard flat enough for a large tent.
"The types of tents we put up always have floors," Lin said, "so definitely we let our clients know that there may be some grass that gets a little bit yellow or a little bit brown in those areas."
If the cost of tenting, outdoor bathrooms and county permits isn't enough to send a wedding budget spiraling out of proportion, Walter Reeves says to factor in the cost of renting an aerator or even investing in new sod.
"Compaction is the biggest enemy of lawn grass," said Reeves, a retired horticultural agent of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, who now hosts radio and television shows about lawn and garden interests.
"All those feet stomping on the ground make it hard. That keeps roots from the grass being able to penetrate, and if the roots can't penetrate the top of the grass plant can't grow easily," he said, adding that a wedding party can significantly compact the dirt in a yard, especially if it rains.
The answer is to poke holes in the ground with an aerator after the wedding ends, which relieves the compacting.
For all the effort many homeowners put into their turf, dead grass may be the last straw. To minimize the damage to that precious green stuff, Reeves suggests a few tricks to put into play before the wedding starts.
"If you think that it's going to rain the day before, you need to high-tail yourself down to Home Depot and get a bunch of plastic, and do just like they do at the ball parks," said Reeves.
"When they think it's going to rain they pull the tarps up over the whole field. And with a little judicious planning ahead of time to raise the plastic in the middle of the yard so the water runs out to the sides into the shrubbery and gutters and things like that, you can conceivably keep the ground dry."
Reeves cautions not to use clear plastic tarps, which can actually cook the grass on a lawn if left out for a day or two.
To help avoid compaction around tree and shrubbery, Reeves recommends mulching. For trees especially, he said to mulch the ground surrounding the trunk as far out as the end of the tree's branches.
There is one last precaution that wedding planners suggest: taking care of the bugs. Nothing makes an evening outside more miserable than being eaten alive by mosquitoes, or having to constantly swat away flies.
" We get a service to get out there and pretty much bomb the area," said McCartney.
"It's a gaseous production that happens, it kind of smokes everything out. And it still doesn't kill the mosquitoes, because if you have any kind of moisture, mosquitoes are just out," she said.
In order to accommodate guests, McCartney also places Citronella candles around the space, and keeps calamine lotion on hand.
Although Reeves is not in favor of using yard-wide insecticides because they kill beneficial insects as well as the mosquitoes, for special events he relents.
With reluctance, Reeves recommends, "a yard-wide spray with one of the leaf-toxic insecticides that include pyrethrin -- it's considered organic and doesn't smell," he said.
"It will knock down mosquitoes, midges, flies, things like that. It will kill your honey bees and butterflies too," said Reeves
Reeves also suggests placing fans around the outdoor areas of the wedding.
"A current of moving air moves a weak little old mosquito far and wide," he said.


text:
CRYSTAL LAKE – Lutheran Social Services of Illinois will have a groundbreaking at 2 p.m. on Oct. 11 for Gable Point Senior Housing, 401 Commonwealth Drive, Crystal Lake.
Located on three acres, Gable Point Senior Housing will offer 59 one-bedroom apartments for low-income seniors aged 62 years and older. The building will feature Victorian-style architecture, with turrets and gables. Many resident apartments will have unique features, such as rounded living rooms with many windows or special nook areas.
The apartments feature a full kitchen and an open layout, as well as amenities, including a community room for social programs and recreation, 24-hour on-call maintenance and a social service coordinator.
Residents must meet income limits along with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules and regulations. Rent is 30 percent of the resident's adjusted annual income.
For more information, call Michelle Hudson at 847-390-1485.
Founded in October 1867, LSSI is a statewide, not-for-profit social service agency of the three Illinois synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LSSI serves people through an array of services at approximately 85 sites across Illinois. LSSI owns and manages 21 affordable housing sites for seniors throughout Illinois. For more information on LSSI, visit www.LSSI.org or LSSI's Facebook page.


text:
Bellichick was caught cheating and hasn't won a super bowl since.
How many AFCCG's did Bellichick appear in during his time with Cleveland?
Was he a moron then?
We can find flaws with every coach.
And its not like Rex inherited a great team, the Jets were 9-7 the year before and Rex inherited a rookie QB that everyone now thinks is the worst QB ever.
With that said, he Rex has flaws, some big, some small.


text:
Last edited by lvleph; 03-20-2007 at 06:11.
Jeff, is there a discussion of the double hammock? The male dino is actually considering hanging and my leg has improved enough that I'm fairly sure I will be able to reliably get in and out soon.
The ever-protective male dino wants his unable-to-run female dino close enough for him to protect in the event of a problem.
How sweet...
I don't have any pics up yet but I'll try to get some soon. Baseball season and work getting in the way...
Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them. ~Judge Joseph Story
- My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
- Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB
60" is just not wide enough IMO. It was difficult to get into and it was just not as comfortable as it should have been. I will continue to think about how to do this properly.
I think I discovered a reason why the doubles hammock was not comfortable. Although I now don't have one to test on. I think it was because I didn't have the proper sag. The hammock was too tight which made us lay almost on top of each other. I may attempt again later, but it will probably be some time.
So, why would two people want to sleep in one hammock? Why not just use two hammocks? It sounds crowded, clammy, and gross.
At any rate, the 1.5 inch stuff Ed sell will hold. As I remember, he suggests 1.5 inch webbing for up to about 350 lbs in his book.
Last edited by funbun; 04-04-2007 at 21:31.
- Male dino likes having female dino close enough to protect in the event of wild critters - humanoid or other. Female dino cannot run or make quick evasive maneuvers due to injury.
- Female dino likes to have male dino close because male dino has apnea and female dino nudges him to make him breathe sometimes.
- Both dinos get muscle cramps during the night and the other dino rubs the cramp out. His are in the damaged hand / arm from last year's table saw accident and hers are in the right leg / foot.
- Both dinos like each others company and just sleep better when they can touch, smell, hear each other.
I forget to breath a lot. I almost passed out once.


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Norman Feaster, attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, will be at the Lincoln County Courthouse on Monday, Sept. 9, from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. to meet with victims of domestic violence and other low-income individuals who need free advice about civil legal problems or other matters.
Gail Corder, Circuit Court Clerk or anyone in her office, can be contacted for directions to Mr. Feaster's location in the courthouse.
The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands is a non-profit law firm that provides free legal help for people who have nowhere else to turn.
The Tullahoma office of the Legal Aid Society serves clients in the Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Lincoln, Moore and Warren counties. The office is located at 123 NW Atlantic Street, Tullahoma, and may be contacted by telephone at 931-455-7000 and at 866-898-0171 (toll free).
Office hours are Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Community education materials about a variety of legal matters (in English and Spanish) are available in the lobby of the Tullahoma office, most of the county courthouses in the seven counties above, the local Department of Human Service offices and on the firm's website www.las.org.


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Management Team Wins With Idea for Mobile App That Does it All
May 17, 2012
Management graduate students won a marketing research contest with their idea for PhodioJam, a product that would let users work with photos, video and audio all in the same mobile app.
Kids could play rock star, creating voice effects and perfecting their pitch. Moms could show off their babies' first steps and words, laying voice and music over video and photos. This could all be done on smart devices and shared with the world via Facebook and Twitter.
The idea came from a team of six UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management students who placed first in a contest that asked them to research the mobile application marketplace and design an award-winning product. Their idea, which they named PhodioJam, ties social media networking with audio recording, video and photos.
"With PhodioJam, kids will be able to actually record their own audio track and manipulate the audio and video files that are at play, and they'll be really easy to share with their friends with just a click of a button," graduate marketing student Amanda Trapp said during her team's presentation. "We believe that PhodioJam will combine the audio, video and photo manipulation tools that users desire for their smart devices in one convenient package and at no cost to users."
Trapp's team, along with three other teams made up of five to six graduate marketing students, recently pitched their ideas to a panel of marketing industry judges at the Jindal School Marketing program's NetBase Social Media Competition. The objective of the contest was to use the Netbase consumer and social media research software to analyze the mobile app market to uncover an opportunity and develop "the next killer mobile app."
The NetBase program helped the team discover what ideas were trending among users in the marketplace.
Winning team members – Trapp, Danae Bennett, Hsin-Yun Chen, Isabelle Shi, Min Shin and Xin Wang – received $2,000 for their idea for an application that would allow users to easily view, edit, organize and share digital photos – and add music, voice and video – all within the social networking environment. The application would be free to users and compatible with all iOS devices.
Before developing their ideas, each team used NetBase to pinpoint which top five devices consumers use for mobile apps as well as the top five app categories. By looking at positive and negative "buzz," the team learned that iPhone and iPad are the most loved devices and "photo and video" and "social networking" are the most popular and talked about categories, Bennett said.
PhodioJam is intended to fill a markektplace niche for reasonably priced mobile applications with broad capabilities.
"Coming up with an app was a little overwhelming because there are a million applications out there, so we were trying to come up with something that's new. We looked at competitors to see what people were complaining about, and we wanted to take what everyone already loves and combine them into one to come up with PhodioJam," Bennett said
Trapp told the audience of judges, students and faculty members that applications that PhodioJam would compete against are either too expensive or have limited capabilities.
After the student presentations, Jindal School Dean and Caruth Chair of Management Hasan Pirkul thanked the judges, congratulated the students who participated in the contest and announced the winning teams.
"This is one of the highlights of the week for me because to me this is much more than what we do in the classroom," said Pirkul. "This is precisely the type of activity that I always encourage my colleagues to undertake that we can provide to you as a value-add for your education, and it's great that you are taking advantage of it."
The other winning team in the competition developed Crosspath, a geocaching game application that allows players to set up their own team activities. The team included management grad students Cassie Clayton, Michael Fox, Saumya Gopi, Dana Magnuson, Ashleigh Pembroke and Craig Shacklett.
Media Contact: Jill McDermott, UT Dallas, (972) 883-4951, [email protected]tdallas.edu
or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [email protected]


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With the growth of the BEAA over the few years, the BEAA Board of Directors now seeks to increase our engineering alumni volunteer base to support the activities of the BEAA in the areas of:
If you would like to know more about the BEAA and the volunteer opportunities before completing the volunteer response form, please don't hesitate to contact Lois Engle, BEAA Volunteer Manager, at 570.577.3162 or at email@example.com.
The following links are virtual breadcrumbs marking the 27 most recent pages you have visited in Bucknell.edu. If you want to remember a specific page forever click the pin in the top right corner and we will be sure not to replace it. Close this message.


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Diesel owners donate Carson Holiday lights
December 7, 2010
Carson Street is sporting a new look this holiday season, 30 new LED lights.
The colorful new holiday lights are a departure from the white snowflake lights the South Side Chamber of Commerce (SSCC) has put up for more than a decade in the business district and are the result of South Side businessman Adam DeSimone's giving spirit this holiday season.
Mr. DeSimone, along with his family and businesses, including Diesel, Local Bar + Kitchen and AMPD Group, purchased the lights and worked with the South Side Chamber of Commerce to arrange hanging the lights on Carson Street at a discounted rate. They were able to save more than half of the cost of putting up the lights over previous years.
"I hope South Side enjoys them," Mr. DeSimone, a SSCC board member, said. "Every block they pop, I'm very happy."
"The South Side Chamber of Commerce is extremely grateful for the generous donation of new holiday lights by Adam DeSimone on behalf of Diesel and Local Bar + Kitchen," said Gavin Robb, president of the SSCC. "We are very excited about the effect of the new lights on the Carson Street corridor.
"They add a nice touch to our business district for the holiday season and we hope they will continue to do so for many years to come. We appreciate Adam's ongoing support of the chamber and the neighborhood in general."
The new LED lights have the potential to last years with little maintenance, according to Mr. DeSimone who explained the lights could operate every day for six or seven years before needing replaced.
This is not the first time the DeSimone family and Diesel have helped to light up Carson Street during the holiday season. Several years ago when donations to the SSCC were falling short of the target amount needed, the DeSimones stepped up with a $5,000 donation.
Although declining to reveal the cost of the lights this year, Mr. DeSimone said the amount was "substantial."
He said it was a "good feeling" to help this year and next year he hopes to spearhead the effort to get the lights up earlier. "Maybe we can get them up by Thanksgiving."


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I am having a Multimap which contains key as sitename and Values is another hashmap.
I am getting these values from Database.
LinkedHashMap> thisHash = new <LinkedHashMap(); thisHash.put(fiscal_date,avg_RT); siteMap.put(site_name,thisHash);
The sample value in my hashmap is
Key: New York, Value: {06/13/2012=1.3}. Value: {06/14/2012=1.48}.
Key: Bangalore, Value: {06/13/2012=2.53}. Value: {06/14/2012=3.08}.
Key: San Jose, Value: {06/13/2012=1.25}. Value: {06/14/2012=1.28}.
Key: Amsterdam, Value: {06/13/2012=1.71}. Value: {06/14/2012=2.27}.
Now I need to access the LinkedHashMap which is inside this multimap and get the key and value seperately. Please help me to do the same.


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Story highlights
- A month after arriving, Edward Snowden remains in Russia's Sheremetyevo airport
- He might be killing time at the airport's stellar TGI Friday's
- Or shopping for Matryoshka dolls
- He sure isn't hanging out with journalists
Fugitive Edward Snowden remains in the transit lounge of Russia's Sheremetyevo International Airport as he attempts to negotiate his way to asylum -- one month after arriving from Hong Kong.
The former NSA contractor, who leaked details about a U.S. surveillance program, is requesting Russia take him in while he awaits safe passage to Latin America.
While devoid of fresh air, Snowden's temporary home does have an extensive selection of cafes, shopping outlets, business lounges and smoking rooms within its 400,000-square-meter expanse of brightly lit space.
For a small pack of international journalists who have been relentlessly following the Snowden saga, including me for a short time, the airport has been home (of a sort) for the past few weeks.
For those who may be passing through -- to find Snowden or for even less thrilling reasons -- here are five ways to kill time in Sheremetyevo, based on one reporter's excruciating 24 hours in the lounge.
TGI Friday's
The ubiquitous all-American joint occupies prime real estate in Sheremetyevo airport: an outlet right near the gates used for flights to Cuba, where journalists initially suspected Snowden might make his sprint for freedom.
The walls are adorned with Americana and a sprinkling of Brit culture; Farrah Fawcett and the Beatles share corner space while a small but authoritative statue of astronaut Neil Armstrong oversees the party.
Bon Jovi and Nirvana rock the house while travelers bound for Prague, Seoul, St. Petersburg and other sunnier places trundle past.
While on Snowden stakeout, I enjoyed fluffy American pancakes -- best 195 rubles you'll ever spend for nap food.
They were small and only gently warm, but, with a dose of mango jam, perfectly sweet. Ideal with a strict black coffee.
Back at TGI Friday's for lunch (not much else to do), I selected the "Perfect Ten" smoothie, a refreshing mix of orange juice, pineapple, honey, nuts and peaches with cream and sorbet.
I'd have been happy to score one for Snowden if he'd only have showed himself.
Shopping for Matryoshka dolls, vodka, crystals
For those who have everything -- come to Sheremetyevo for the one thing you don't.
Browsing the long corridors between terminals E, D and F reveals a Swarovski crystal shop that sells a four-inch-high Hello Kitty doll, complete with pink bow and hearts.
The crystal-encrusted kitty is a snip at €500 euros (duty free treasures can be bought in both euros and Russian rubles).
Or there's always a crystal clutch bag for a slightly more palatable €430.
If you get sick of waiting for the next cherished Snowden appearance, there's an "igniting liquid" (according to the label) barrel of vodka for €65 to keep you entertained.
No explanation is offered for why this booze is more flammable than any other in Russia.
Maybe it has something to do with your breath after loitering for a day in an airport.
You might invest in another very Russian delight: Matryoshka dolls.
Row upon row are laid out in the glass cabinets of the more traditional shops. Their pretty colors, gold scarves and luxurious lashes glow under bright lights, making them almost irresistible for the bored shopper.
Capsule snoozing
The Capsule Hotel is a sparse and efficient place to put one's head for a few hours.
The outlet where I bedded down for some non-Snowden shuteye, near Terminal E, offers 46 rooms of utilitarian convenience in duck shades of blue and green.
I checked into the only type of room left; one without windows.
The sound of vacuum cleaners reverberated through the walls.
The shower sprayed water all over the floor when I turned it on.
For a passenger looking for simplicity at a transient time, however, the Capsule Hotel does what it's supposed to do.
Small white hand and body towels, snuggled on top of each pillow, completes the operation's simple competence.
But I didn't want to sleep long -- there might have been action on the Snowden story.
Space-age lounging
My airline loyalty program entitled me to three hours in the appropriately named orange-on-orange-on-silver Galaktika lounge, next to Terminal E.
The lounge's sparse selection of inhabitants included a small dog which, as I invaded its personal space, erupted in high-pitched barks and attempted to bite my ankles.
At this point I was sleep deprived, and it was a terrifying moment.
The buffet offered little to ease my frazzled vegetarian nerves.
There was a spread of pastry-heavy pies on offer in cabbage, meat, spinach, cheese, cottage cheese, mushroom, cherry and apple.
All looked remarkably similar.
I partook, instead, in the marzipan squares out of the fridge.
They were slightly sloppier than expected and very sweet. I didn't go back for seconds.
I tried my luck in the Classic Lounge, which looked rather more luxurious, but was turned away.
It was empty, but I didn't have the right kind of ticket.
At least they let me take a picture, which you can see above.
Snowden stakeout
Being on the Snowden airport trail can be a frustrating experience.
Every man with three moles scattered up the left side of his face could be him; but such men are rare.
I returned to London without having spotted him.
Snowden did emerge on July 13, the first time he'd been seen publicly since leaving Hong Kong on June 23.
He met with human rights activists and told them he was requesting temporary asylum from Russia.
A flurry of media activity met that appearance, but the steady troop of journalists through Sheremetyevo has since slowed.
Finding journalists skulking around the airport is now almost as tricky as finding Snowden himself.
Snowden will apparently be exiting the airport within days -- but in this global game of diplomatic cat and mouse, nothing can be assumed.
At least Snowden's got the airport's top attractions to keep him entertained.


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As Norm Clark noted in his column of August 2nd, 2012 in the Las Vegas Review Journal:
Steve Rossi is back on the job as director and co-producer of Rich Little's show after having a pacemaker installed. Rossi, best known for teaming up with Marty Allen as the Allen & Rossi comedy duo, turned 80 in May. Little's "Jimmy Stewart & Friends" is nearing its 18th week at The LVH.
Steve thanks his family, friends, and many well wishers during this time of recovery. He looks forward to working for many more years and has resumed his usual schedule including 5 nights a week at the LVH for the Jimmy Stewart & Friends show. Steve is both director and c0-writer of the production.
This stage production is certainly a pleasure to behold with great ticket specials including some very special offers for guests with local Nevada ID.
If you are visiting Las Vegas the LVH is offering some great room rates for ticket holders.
Special room rates from $49 and late check-out is available for show ticket holders! Call (800) 732-7117 for reservations and ask for "LVPROMO RATES". Show tickets must be presented upon hotel check-in.
Book today! Please call the LVH – Las Vegas Hotel & Casino Box Office (24 hours a day) at (800) 222-5361 for tickets


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Is anyone familiar with EDI and AS2? I'm working on a custom-written ecommerce web site. The entire site has been developed from scratch using the Zend Framework and the next task is to have orders transmitted to vendors using EDI (specifically ANSI X12 v4010). I am very new to EDI and AS2 and am having problems finding helpful information through Google. Doing searches for terms relating to EDI and AS2 only yield results relating to companies for hire to handle your EDI solutions.
Right now I'm working on generating the EDI documents. I've got the web site generating the appropriate EDI formatted documents. What I'm confused with is getting the EDI documents over to the AS2 engine. How do I get the EDI documents into the AS2 engine? We're currently using a free AS2 engine by /n software - http://www.freeas2.com/ - and there really is no help information provided with the product. Can anyone help explain how this works, or point me in the direction of some useful information?
AS2 EDI is a facet of EDI communication methods, our AS2 EDI software supports all EDI communication. If you need more information about AS2, please click the link for review: http://diconnect.portal.dicentral.com/Pages/Product/AS2-EDI.aspx


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villagers it is the custom for women not to tell their names to strangers. On this cold November night she is busily preparing food for the six mujahidin, Afghan freedom fighters, who have escorted me across the Pakistani border to Afghanistan's embattled Paktia Province and into this small village in the Jaji region.
But in the darkness and snows of December, sometime around the fifth anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, she will give birth to her tenth child. If the child comes in the safety of the night, it will be born here, in this earthen house warmed by an iron stove. If her baby comes in the day, she is likely to be in the damp bomb shelter hewn into the ground under the fields outside the village, her birth pangs accompanied, perhaps, by the roar of jets and bombs.
She pauses to pour me a glass of steaming black tea. "When the planes come, I can't run very fast to the bomb shelter any more," she says. "I am too big and heavy. What can I do?" She speaks in a lilting accent, the rhythms of her native Pashtu carrying over into the Dari, or Afghan Persian, that she learned in Kabul before the war.
Few families remain in this region, where frequent bombings have destroyed both villages and crops as the Russians attempt to close this important route to the interior. Most of those who remain share food and shelter with the mujahidin ("holy warriors") who pass through, many from across the frontier in Pakistan.
When an April 1978 coup brought a Marxist regime to power in Kabul, armed resistance began within months. The conflict was both nationalistic and religious, but devout Muslims regarded it as a jihad, or holy war. By December 1979 the central government was in danger of collapse, and in a three-day operation beginning on Christmas Eve, thousands of Soviet troops invaded the country, claiming to have been invited under the terms of a 1978 friendship treaty. While the invasion was still in press, President Hafizullah Amin was executed and replaced by Babrak Karmal, a political rival Moscow summoned back from Czechoslovakia, where he had been sent as Afghan ambassador.
Soviet troops, estimated at about 80,000 in 1980, now number more than 100,000. They have mounted frequent offensives to stamp out resistance, at great cost in lives to Afghan civilians. The economy has also been damaged. The 1984 harvest in eastern Afghanistan was less than half that of 1978, and prices of many staple foods have tripled.
BUT THE MOST VISIBLE effect of the war has been the flight of the Afghan people, a multilingual population of mixed tribes and ethnic groups, from their homeland. One-quarter of Afghanistan's prewar population of about 15 million has been forced into exile in neighboring Pakistan and Iran. At least another million are "internal refugees," driven from their homes by bombing and other military action. An unknown number have been killed or wounded.
After more than five years the war remains in a violent stalemate. The mujahidin claim to control as much as 80 percent of the countryside, while Soviet troops and an army of Afghan conscripts defend parts of major cities, a few main roads, and fortified posts in some rural areas.
Abdul Wahed (not his real name), husband of the pregnant woman in this Jaji village, comes in out of the cold and darkness, letting in a gust of icy wind. The light of his lantern reveals the graceful geometric designs his children have daubed on the walls with the red earth of the mountains.
"This house we have built new in the past two years, after our other house was bombed," Abdul Wahed explains. "This area is free as far as the Communist post at Ali Khel, but the planes come and bomb the villages nearly every day. They are trying to drive us all to Pakistan, so no one is left to feed the mujahidin." Rolling up the sleeve of his long shirt, he shows me a deep puckered scar on his upper arm: "I was wounded two years ago and was three months in a hospital in Pakistan. By the grace of God I recovered, and now my brother and I take turns going out to fight."
After dinner Abdul Wahed's wife sits down next to me, adjusts her veil over her shiny dark braids, and pours me another glass of tea. She is happy to talk to me, as it has been a long time since the family has had a female guest. Around me the children prepare for the night. A fluffy gray kitten slumbers under the stove, and for a moment I forget that we are in a land at war.
JUST AFTER DAWN the rumble of distant artillery fire shatters the frosted crystal morning. To my surprise, no one reacts. They have grown used to the sounds of war. But Abdul Wahed's eldest son, a handsome quick-minded boy of about 12, begins drawing on the side of the black metal stove with apiece of chalk: a jet, looking rather like a paper plane, and short dashes representing the bombs it drops.
My escorts take a chance, and we cross the open valley by day. Walking through the wide, flat valley is like walking in a bad dream of a deserted land. At this time of year the land is all gray and brown, except where odd patches of snow lie, and the trees are bare but for a few limp yellow leaves. Large bomb craters pock fields that this year bore no harvest. In deserted villages a few houses stand among heaps of rubble.
I walk with the two men who have been specially detailed to accompany me by Syed Ishaq Gailani, a mujahidin commander who has for several years been a close friend of my family. One of the fighters, Bahram Jan, is perhaps 40, a big man with a commanding voice who used to buy cars in Kabul and sell them in Jaji. He is a font of war stories: These ruins were an Afghan government post till the mujahidin took it last year. Over there, in the field, are three tanks the mujahidin destroyed. And don't step back for that photograph, the area is mined!
His friend Mustafa's manner is quieter, though at 29 he has been a fighter for six years. He is a Tajik from Jalalabad, a city on the road from Kabul to Pakistan. Until he joined the mujahidin, he was a clerk in a government ministry in Kabul. (Mike Edwards described life in present-day Kabul in the April 1985 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.)
On this dusty dirt road, one of the main supply routes of the mujahidin, we pass several parties of men coming from distant fronts. They exchange greetings with my companions and stop for a few moments to tell news of Kabul, or Kunduz in the north. Near the battlefields the mujahidin seem relaxed, unconcerned with the rivalries and disunity that plague Afghan parties in exile in Pakistan. Later Bahram Jan will tell me the story of Commander Mohammed Naim, from the nearby village of Ali Khel, who one week before had been severely wounded while leading an attack that had resulted in the capture of 50 Afghan government soldiers. Naim belongs to a different party, but, says Bahram Jan, everyone loves the legendary young hero who began fighting when he did not yet have a beard.
Outside a village, near a bomb crater, we talk to a group of battle—weary men from Kabul. The bombing is on the other side of Ali Khel today, one says stoically, but just two days ago this area was heavily bombed. Round a bend in the middle of the road are the fly-encrusted remains of a camel. "See, they are killing even the animals," says Mustafa angrily, "everything that they see, everything that can feed the mujahidin or carry supplies for us."
In the refugee camps of Pakistan I had heard reports of destruction of food supplies, and of fears of a famine in the spring. Refugees from the Panjsher Valley, a center of resistance, told me how their walnut and mulberry trees were systematically cut down by the enemy during Soviet offensives. Here in the unplanted fields of Jaji I see the confirmation of these stories.
Farther on, in another village, a gray and-white cat prowls delicately along the top of a ruined wall. In a roofless room a carved wooden chest lies askew on a tilted floor. Under our feet are bedposts, scattered grain, and a single shoe, very small.
The mujahidin climb up a rickety ladder to the upper floor of the ruined mosque. Though the back wall gapes and half the floor is missing, the mosque is still sacred, and someone has strewn fresh straw on the floor. In the shadow of carved wooden columns, the men turn away from the destruction behind them, face the niche that marks the direction of Mecca, and pray.
Later, in a field of grass stubble under an opalescent autumn sky, we find shattered pieces of dull green plastic, one with a detonator still attached. These are the remains of small mines shaped like butterflies, which can take off the hand or foot of an unwary person or injure livestock. Designed to maim, they are scattered from helicopters on inhabited areas and important routes. Many Afghans have learned to explode the mines, usually by throwing stones from a safe distance. But two weeks later, in a Pakistani border town, I will watch a doctor bandage the mangled hand of a scarlet-veiled woman from Jaji who had been unwary enough to pick up the strange green plastic object.
THE SUN is nearly on the edge of the sharp, snow-covered peaks and ridges that mark the far limits of the valley when Mustafa stops and points to a cluster of nondescript mud buildings on a hilltop about a kilometer away. The fort at Ali Khel appears deserted, but inside are Afghan government soldiers and some Soviet officers. Mustafa tells me to stay behind the wall, out of direct line of sight and fire. "Every night the mujahidin attack the post," he says. "We will be in a rain of bullets. Do you want to go with us?"
After dark we make our way to the house of a man loyal to my friends' party. Mustafa is relieved that the man's family has not yet left for exile in Pakistan. At night, he says only half-jokingly, mujahidin factions are less trustful of one another.
A couple of hours later the attack on the government post begins, and Bahram Jan leads me up the stairs to the square tower with a picture-window view of fiery parabolas of tracer bullets arcing from the mountainsides toward the mud fort. The fighting goes on for hours in the frosty night, the mujahidin firing Kalashnikov automatic rifles and a heavy machine gun or two at the solid walls of the fort, the enemy post answering with machine guns, mortar fire, and occasional flares. The 120 rounds issued to each of my escorts will not last the night, and some must be conserved for the journey back to Pakistan. They cannot aim for victory, only for harassment.
Over the past five years 325 million dollars in covert U.S. aid has reportedly been channeled to the mujahidin, mostly in the form of smuggled Soviet-made small arms, along with a few antitank missiles and SAM-7 antiaircraft missiles. But there are questions as to how much of this aid has actually arrived inside Afghanistan. Commander Abdullah of Helmand Province said with more passion than realism: "We fight tanks with Kalashnikovs. Nowhere else in the world do they do this. Send us antiaircraft guns, and the mujahidin, with the help of God, would get the Russians out within one year." Certainly there are few effective antiaircraft weapons. The surface-to-air missiles are notoriously unreliable. When asked about the SAM-7, Ishaq Gailani grimaced. He and other mujahidin representatives would prefer portable, lightweight British or Swedish missiles.
At 3 a.m. we leave the battle behind and by the light of a crescent moon file silently up a riverbed that cleaves the rugged mountains. At dawn the Muslim call to prayer sounds from the village, now well behind us. The gunfire, which had continued unabated, stops. The mujahidin, and perhaps the government soldiers inside the walls of the fort, are now at prayer.
In this narrow, uncultivated valley some of Afghanistan's internal refugees have built crude houses of earth, wood, and stone. They live on what they have salvaged from their fields or imported from nearby Pakistan. It is still early when the roar of the first jet fills the sky. Though it is high overhead, we scatter, hiding under scrawny pine trees, covering our heads and bodies with pattu, camel-colored blankets that blend with the earth tones of the land. The noise of bombing echoes through the brown and snow-whitened hills. Beside me, Mustafa's face is grim and set.
IN THE LATE AFTERNOON we reach a house high in the mountains. I am invited to sit with the men, and I join them in the nightly ritual of listening to the BBC World Service for news of the outside world and news of their own war. Entering the separate women's world when it is time to sleep, I read, in Persian, a poem called "Autumn of Blood," by Afghanistan's Ustad Khalilullah Khalili:
Each red leaf in the meadow
Reminds me of those killed for
the homeland....
When I return to Pakistan, I learn that the United Nations General Assembly has passed yet another resolution calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. The Soviet Union has ignored five previous resolutions, claiming that they constitute interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs.
In a refugee camp at Sateen, not far from the Afghan border, I find some of the last people to flee from Ali Sangi, the village where the gray-and-white cat walked along the ruined wall. Against the counterpoint of a nearby wedding, where women chant and bang hand drums, the survivors recount their stories.
Hazrat Bibi is probably in her 40s, but her face is thin and worn with grief and the trauma of her journey with six children into exile. She breaks into tears at the memory of her husband, killed only a month before.
As the men gather, she turns away toward the wall, hiding her face from them but always watching me. Akbar Khan, a middle-aged man who used to be a farmer and a driver in Kabul, speaks for himself and his village. "We came here about a month ago. Now there is not a single family living in Ali Sangi. Everything was destroyed, everything inside the houses, our clothes and possessions buried under the earth, our children buried under the earth."
PESHAWAR, capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, homeland of the Pashtun, or Pathan, tribes that inhabit the border areas of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, has two faces. The old face is that of an exotic crossroads, a wild frontier town near the foot of the Khyber Pass. The modern face is that of a noisy, congested, polluted city that is estimated to have doubled in size in five years since the Soviet invasion.
Some say that Peshawar is now the largest Afghan city outside Kabul. Most of Pakistan's refugee population of about three million is concentrated in this province, though refugees are settled in a long crescent from Chitral in the rugged Hindu Kush range of northern Pakistan to the deserts of Baluchistan Province.
In August 1984 all mujahidin party offices were ordered out of Peshawar because of an escalating climate of violence, including bombings of the offices and attempted assassinations of prominent Afghans. Mujahidin and Pakistani intelligence sources blame much of the violence on the Afghan government intelligence service, but it is also true that there are ongoing feuds between mujahidin factions, some of which occasionally spill over onto the battlefield. Now based just outside the city limits are a number of political parties regarded by Western observers as moderate. Its leaders, though seeking an Islamic government for Afghanistan, have closer ties to the West than the opposing group of fundamentalist parties.
Many disillusioned mujahidin say that the parties fail either to supply arms or to achieve political unity. "I will join whatever party gives me arms," said one fighter in Baluchistan. "I am here in this refugee camp only because no party will give me arms." Some mujahidin look hopefully toward leadership evolving inside Afghanistan, such as the loose "internal alliance" of young regional commanders who communicate and coordinate by courier.
Beyond the refugee camps that fringe Peshawar is the Khyber Pass, the historic passage between the uplands of Central Asia and the plains of the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. Today the Khyber, except for a strip 50 feet (15 meters) wide on either side of the road administered by the Pakistani government, remains under the control of local Pashtun tribes. Tribal areas are generally off-limits to foreigners, but photographer Steve McCurry and I get special permission from the governor. We are accompanied by two local officials and an escort of 15 khassadars, members of a tribal militia. The officials grow increasingly nervous as the afternoon wanes. They inform us that if we do not reach the settled districts by dusk, the government cannot answer for our safety.
On the way through the pass, on a winding dirt road beyond the limits of government control, a pickup truck bounces along in a cloud of dust, while a train of camels lopes on unconcerned. They may be smuggling cloth, untaxed cigarettes, whiskey, or raw opium to be processed into heroin. Pakistan, despite government efforts to reduce poppy growing, is among the world's major exporters of heroin. (See "The Poppy," by Peter T. White, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, February 1985.) Much of the opium, 400 metric tons in 1983, comes from beyond the border in Afghanistan, where it is the most profitable remaining cash crop. Before the Islamic revolution in Iran, most opium was exported to Iran. With that market restricted, growers have set up labs in Pakistan, and more recently inside Afghanistan, to make more profitable heroin for export to the West. According to the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration, most of it passes by the town of Landi Kotal, near the head of the Khyber Pass.
Poppy cultivation is a tradition in certain families, and a source of income tribesmen are reluctant to give up. In previous years, both in Afghanistan and in Pakistani tribal areas, I saw fields of poppies, which many here referred to jokingly as "tulips."
THERE IS A CHANGE in the air in Peshawar this year, and I sense a turning point. Pakistan is saturated with refugees, and compassion is drying up. Pakistanis, who opened their country in the name of Muslim hospitality and the Pashtun tradition of panah, or asylum, are now faced with the largest refugee population in the world.
Despite the number of refugees and their length of stay, there has been little tension between refugees and locals. These refugees are the freest in the world. They are allowed to come and go, even to work and trade, as long as they own no immovable property. Nonetheless, there are anxieties about the long-term effect of so many refugees on the culture, economy, and security of Pakistan. The administration of 2.4 million registered refugees, at a cost of a million dollars a day, is an enormous undertaking. The Pakistani government says it pays nearly half the cost of refugee assistance, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other countries and international agencies absorbing the rest. The United States is the largest contributor to the UNHCR program in Pakistan (some 20 million dollars in 1984).
Each refugee is supposed to receive a daily ration of 500 grams of wheat, 30 grams of edible oil, 30 grams of dried skim milk, 20 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of tea. Each family is allotted 20 liters of kerosene monthly. In theory, a cash allowance of 50 rupees (about four U.S. dollars) per person per month is also provided, though in fact it is rarely received.
Most who arrived before 1984 have been officially registered and receive close to their allotted rations. Older camps have become sprawling villages as refugees have built houses out of earth, as in their native villages. Though idleness still plagues the camps, where there are many farmers without land, shepherds without flocks, and shopkeepers without shops, some men have found work on the roads, in refugee-camp bazaars, or driving three-wheeled taxis leased from Pakistanis or buses and trucks brought from Afghanistan.
At the time of my visit, in late 1984, new arrivals typically faced delays of as long as four months in registration and issue of rations. The reason for the delay, according to Pakistani refugee officials, was the process of recounting previously registered refugees. For example, on the theory that children are too guileless to exaggerate the number of family members, teams of checkers questioned children from each family. They uncovered cases of double registration and instances in which more family members were claimed than actually exist.
New arrivals, hungry and dazed from their long and dangerous journey across the border, often could not comprehend the reason for the delay. A group of 150 families from Baghlan, in Afghanistan's north, had walked for more than a month. Now they camped by the huge Kachaghari refugee camp outside Peshawar under makeshift tents made of blankets. For another month they waited until the provincial Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees sent them to a camp for newcomers. In Munda camp, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Peshawar, 380 families from Baghlan and Kunduz shared 180 tents. At Khapianga, on a desert hillside in Kurram Agency, 700 families from Jaji camped in borrowed tents or bought ragged ones, their only water source a tiny spring that was in danger of drying up.
Poverty does not diminish Afghan hospitality. In Munda, refugees offered to kill and roast a sheep for us; in Khapianga, I ate flat wheat bread and tasteless spinach with an impoverished woman, who then offered to cook me an egg; outside Peshawar, I drank weak, sugarless black tea with a group of women who had arrived from Kabul the night before and were camped on the bare ground among the mattresses, blankets, and pots that were their only remaining possessions.
THE GREAT MAJORITY of Afghan refugees in the North-West Frontier Province are Pashtuns, a robust, handsome people. In the camps of the north, near Chitral, are light-skinned Tajiks from Panjsher Valley, Badakhshis from the high Hindu Kush, and rugged, sharp-faced Nuristanis. In Baluchistan are more Pashtuns, the Baluch, and the Mongol-featured Hazara. In many camps one encounters Turkic-speaking Uzbeks and Turkomans from the north. One of the best places to see the variety of Afghans is Peshawar's famous Qissa Khawani Bazaar, the "storytellers bazaar." Here the tales were once of caravans and trade, of wandering saints, poets, and holy men, but now all the stories, among Afghans at least, are of war and survival.
Near Qissa Khawani, down the narrow lane of the gold bazaar and across from the delicate mosque of Mahabat Khan, is an even narrower lane that leads to Murad Market, the heart of the refugee bazaar. Perhaps half the shops here are rented by Afghans, mostly carpet sellers, silversmiths, and dealers in antique goods. Here young Syed Sher Agha sells antique silver jewelry from his tiny shop. On the wall is a small, framed, formal black-and-white portrait of a young man in a turban—Sher's eldest brother, a mujahidin commander killed in battle near Jalalabad in 1982, at the age of 20.
One day I accompany Sher and his younger brother to their camp, where I am welcomed by their mother and two young aunts. They have lived here for three years but have been unable to build a mud house because the camp lies on sand. Unable to satisfy the Afghan urge to build, they have satisfied the twin urge to beautify by planting gardens; tall reeds create an illusion of privacy, and marigolds and sweet basil color and scent the refugees' small plot.
While his young wife cooks outside the tent, pulling her yellow-embroidered black veil over her face modestly, Sher tells me of his wedding, only three months ago, to this girl who lived in the tent next door. "There was no music," says Sher, "because we are still in mourning for my brother." Sher's mother brings out a tattered copy of a mujahidin magazine and shows me a picture of her fallen son. I remember Sher's words: "There is not one family that has not eaten the bitterness of this war."
Abdul Ali, 12 went out to play one morning, stepped on a mine, and lost both his legs at the thigh. He sits in his wheelchair at the orthopedic center of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Peshawar, laughing and badgering me for a picture. Later I hear that he has learned to walk on the two small artificial limbs the center made for him and has returned to Afghanistan.
Simeen Musharaf, widowed mother of four children, is a teacher at a girls school in Nasir Bagh camp. When she was fleeing Afghanistan, she stepped on a mine and lost one leg. She was refused admission to Afghan hospitals on grounds that her husband, then in prison and later executed, was a "terrorist."
Five teachers teach 350 girls, crowded under a large tent. The mud roof of the school building has fallen in because of heavy rain one night several months before. The colorful maps of Afghanistan and the world, which someone has carefully painted on the walls, are sadly mud-streaked.
AT THE NEARBY widows camp I visit with Noor Jehan, whom I had met the year before. On the orders of the provincial refugee commission, several men are busy building a high mud wall around the camp to screen the widows from the eyes of men. I ask the officials why these workmen are not rebuilding the roof of the girls school instead of a purdah wall, but my question is left unanswered.
Noor Jehan, a sprightly widow with bright eyes, expressive face, and hennaed gray hair, runs to embrace me. "Life is much more difficult this year," she tells me. "Now my daughter is also a widow, and all her children are here. We are 16 people living on seven people's rations." She leads me to her tent and introduces me to Noor Taj, her eldest daughter. Eagerly the women make sweet milk tea for me and insist that I drink several cups. I know this is a sacrifice, using up their precious rations of dried skim milk and sugar, but in courtesy I may not refuse.
Noor Taj has her mother's strong face and forthright manner: "What could we bring, coming on foot? Nothing but a few things we could carry on our heads. We were forced to come, because the unbelievers come into our houses to take away the boys, and open our cupboards, and take away little girls by the hair. How could we live like that?"
IN A HOSPITAL BED in Lahore, far, from the Afghan border, lies Commander Mohammed Naim, age 22. It is not hot on this late November day, but Naim is sweating with the effort of his body to fight off the effects of its injuries, and his voice is weak and halting. One side of his face is wounded by the artillery shell that took away his left leg and broke his right leg and left arm during an attack on the fort at Ali Khel. He was carried on horseback to Pakistan. "By the grace of God, I had no pain at all during the journey," he tells me. "Everything I have done, I have done for our faith."
A few days later I deliver a letter to Naim's father, Khan Mohammed, who lives in a camp in Kohat District. We listen to a cassette of my interview with Naim, while men and children gather in the small oblong guesthouse. Someone brings in a pot of green tea and a bowl of walnuts. When it is time to go, Khan Mohammed insists I take a sackful of walnuts. "These are from our own trees, in the homeland." Not long before Naim was wounded, he explains, his two mujahidin sons had gone to their home village and picked as many walnuts as they could, practically under the eyes of the Soviet and Afghan soldiers in the fort at Ali Khel. "When we taste these," Khan Mohammed says, "we remember our home."
In a mujahidin training camp near the border I meet two Soviet defectors. Like most of their mujahidin counterparts, Garik Moradovich Dzhamalbekov and Nikolai Vasilovich Balabanov are young, in their early- to mid-20s.
In a mujahidin training camp near the border I meet two Soviet defectors. Like most of their mujahidin counterparts, Garik Moradovich Dzhamalbekov and Nikolai Vasilovich Balabanov are young, in their early- to mid-20s.
I do not at first recognize them as Russians, as they wear Afghan dress. A mujahidin commander orders them to come closer. I look into their wary faces and sense that they do not want this interview; they have seen too many journalists. They speak Persian but tell me they prefer to speak Russian through a mujahidin interpreter.
Both men were born in Soviet Central Asia. Garik, a light-complexioned, bearded man, is a Tajik from Dushanbe, the capital of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic; broad-featured Nikolai, half Kazakh and half Russian, is from Alma Ata, capital of the Kazakh S.S.R. Eyes downcast, they chain-smoke as they narrate their story. "They said we would fight Americans, Chinese, and Pakistanis," says Nikolai.
After some months they began supplying weapons to the mujahidin, because it was "a bad war, a dirty war," according to Garik. They were caught and jailed, but escaped and deserted to the mujahidin.
Under some willow trees by a stream, former enemies sit side by side with me, sharing an incongruous picnic lunch of unleavened bread and a tomato omelet. The two defectors, who speak to me in Persian when we are left alone, have heard that several Soviet soldiers have gone to England and the United States, and they are hoping Canada or the United States will accept them. They have made a cruel and difficult choice, from which there is no turning back. "We were happy as children," Garik says, "but then we grew up."
MOST OF THE TRAINEES in this camp are little more than boys. Enthusiastically they run through the dusty obstacle course, climb swinging ladders, rappel down cliffs, scale sheer walls, and run through fire, their plastic shoes falling off as they leap. They are laughing, enjoying this game, but in a moment of quiet they gather round to talk and become serious, speaking of families left behind in Afghanistan and of their commitment to the jihad.
On another occasion, I visit this rugged spot with Ishaq Gailani. At 32, this charismatic young leader is revered by his followers as much for his reputation for honesty and bravery in battle as for his membership in a family of hereditary religious leaders.
Ishaq Gailani has spent much time at many fronts and tells me he hopes to go back again soon. As we watch the men receiving instruction on captured Soviet weapons, I ask him the meaning of the black flag that flies over the camp.
"When the Prophet and his companions used to go to jihad, they carried black flags, because war is not a good thing," he explains. "When we go to jihad today, it's not because we want to fight, but because we are compelled to fight for the sake of Islam, and for the freedom of Afghanistan."
As a heavy dusk deepens over the craggy hills, a muezzin's voice calls the men to prayer, and once again the mujahidin put aside their study of war. The holy warriors, Ishaq among them, spread their pattu on the ground, their weapons before them, and stand and bow and stand again. In the silence I feel their strong and quiet faith, and wish only for a swift and happy end to the struggle forced upon them.


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More Than Half of the US Plays Videogames 85
The newest NPD numbers pass on a heartening statistic about the adoption of games: more than half of the US population plays videogames via some method. "Most people said that per week, they're either playing just as many or less hours than they did last year. Thirty percent said that they play more than a year ago, while another 30 percent said they play less and 40 percent say that they play the same amount of hours. Males aged 18-34 continue to be the heaviest gamers and are more attracted to hardcore games as opposed to casual games."


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England were forced to train indoors on Monday after torrential storms swept through Miami.
The England squad encountered hot and sweaty conditions when they landed in Florida on Sunday night.
And on Monday storms hit the area, forcing Roy Hodgson to move his first session indoors at their Barry University training base.
Similarly stormy conditions are forecast for the rest of the week.
England's first training camp in Portugal two weeks ago was also hit by high winds and heavy rain.
The Three Lions will play Ecuador in the Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday before taking on Honduras in the same arena three days later.
The 23-man squad will then fly to Brazil, where they will kick-off their World Cup campaign in the humid Amazonian city of Manaus.
Source: PA