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STERLING — While Friday was filled with fun and games, Saturday, firefighters and families attending the 2014 Colorado State Fire Fighters Association Convention, Fire College and Tournament, hosted by Merino Fire Department, paused to remember the fallen, as well as those still serving, during a special Memorial Service.
Originally scheduled to be held at Columbine Park, the weather forced the service to move indoors, to the American Legion.
The ceremony started with the posting of the colors by the color guard, a welcome by Merino Fire Chief Dan Wiebers and a prayer led by Jared Sonnenberg, chaplain for Sterling Fire Department.
Sonnenberg was the speaker for the event; he read a scripture from Isaiah 43: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you."
He spoke of how the fallen firefighters have moved into eternity, "to a place Jesus went to prepare just for them," known as Heaven.
"Even in saying goodbye to these brothers, there is encouraging news. In the 23rd Psalm, David tells us that we have one on whom we can lean, who walks with us in life and prepares a place for us beyond this life. This is particularly important because of your service," Sonnenberg said.
"Whenever you're called out danger and hurtles potentially wait at every turn," he went on to say. "This is a feeling that families never get used to. It's not easy watching your loved one's go out when the tones go off. The heart throbs just a little bit. It's difficult to watch those we care about head to uncertain futures. This is why it is right and just to remember those who serve, and right and just that we recognize those still serving."
He spoke of the struggles firefighters face — tiredness, sore muscles, long hours, hunger paints and thirst — and pointed out it's the challenging times that give you the most strength.
"It's always tough for firefighters," Sonnenberg said. "You guys don't just face long hours, but you face short budgets. We often face losing economic fights. I know that budgets within departments and budgets at home are tight. It's horrible and frustrating, it's even maddening and down right a sin. I believe that our departments have to fight and scrape for everything. But no matter how frustrating and difficult it may be, I want you to know this: Your service and your departments are appreciated more than you realize.
"Your communities need you and they appreciate in ways that they don't even know how to say. So on behalf of civilians everywhere, thank you, thank you, thank you."
He thanked the firefighters for "being willing to lay down your life for your friends and community."
Sonnenberg pointed out that firefighters face a shortened life span; they're at greater risk of cancer and other diseases because of their continued exposure to smoke and toxins, and their relationships also have higher rates of breaking up.
"So, I want to encourage you to continue to take care of yourselves. Always find time for self care, take care of your families, because your families need you and our country needs you," he told the firefighters.
He also encouraged them to stand a littler taller and make a good impression on the future generation of firefighters that were there.
"Stand tall tonight and know that you're making an impression that will last a lifetime for the next generation of firefighters."
He closed with some words from an unknown author, to remember the fallen, "step by step I learned that I didn't need to hold onto death, to remember life."
Sonnenberg then read the Firefighter's Prayer, before reading the names of the three Colorado firefighters who died over the last year: Paul Babkiewich, of the Golden Fire Department; Marvin Vanhorn, of the Yuma Fire Department; and John Aggson, of the Fort Morgan Fire Department.
After he read the names, Wiebers rang a bell. The bell is an important tradition for firefighters; in the past when a firefighter died in the line of duty, the toll of the bell would announce their passing.
Sonnenberg then gave a special blessing for firefighters who still serve and read a poem, "I know," before giving a closing prayer.
Contact Journal-Advocate staff writer Callie Jones at 970-526-9286 or email@example.com


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JOHANNESBURG--Lonmin PLC (LMI.LN) said Thursday that workers are returning to its Marikana mine following the end of a nearly six-week strike, but that production won't resume for a couple of days.
The company said so far 77% of miners are at the mine and that numbers should increase during the day. Miners won't go underground immediately while safety procedures are followed.
A spokeswoman for the company said it will be "a couple of days" before platinum output resumes.
Output has been stopped at the mine since 3,000 rock drill operators went on strike and the mine closed. Violence related to the strike left 45 dead.
Lonmin agreed to increase miner salaries between 11% and 22% from the start of October to bring an end to the strike.
Elsewhere, workers at Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS.JO) remain on strike and the company has issued a warning to workers to return in the coming days or be fired. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI.JO) is also trying to get 15,000 miners back to its KDC west mine, where production has stopped.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

subset: commoncrawl


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A physics-based platformer of sorts, Trine will allow players to switch between a Thief, Wizard, or Warrior character as they progress through fantasy-themed levels. It's a little bit Lost Vikings, and a little bit LittleBigPlanet. BOOM video 1755
Trine is looking at a July 3 release on PC, with a PlayStation 3 release coming shortly after--likely July 9, according to comments made by Frozenbyte. The PC version will be available for preorder on Steam in the coming days. An Xbox Live version is coming later on by way of Atlus.


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|MySQL Conference and Expo April 14-17, 2008, Santa Clara, CA
O'Reilly Book Excerpts: Spidering Hacks
More Spidering Hacksby Kevin Hemenway and Tara Calishain
Editor's note: In last week's sample hacks, excerpted from Spidering Hacks, we showed you two workarounds that will save you time and extra trips to your favorite web sites. This week we offer two more hacks on grabbing--or scraping--the information you need, whether it's the link count for a particular Yahoo! category, or the quick answer for the word that's just on the tip of your tongue. Enjoy.
Hack #49: Yahoo! Directory Mindshare in Google
How does link popularity compare in Yahoo!'s searchable subject index versus Google's full-text index? Find out by calculating mindshare!
Yahoo! and Google are two very different animals. Yahoo! indexes only a site's main URL, title, and description, while Google builds full-text indexes of entire sites. Surely there's some interesting cross-pollination when you combine results from the two.
This hack scrapes all the URLs in a specified subcategory of the Yahoo! directory. It then takes each URL and gets its link count from Google. Each link count provides a nice snapshot of how a particular Yahoo! category and its listed sites stack up on the popularity scale.
TIP: What's a link count? It's simply the total number of pages in Google's index that link to a specific URL.
There are a couple of ways you can use your knowledge of a subcategory's link count. If you find a subcategory whose URLs have only a few links each in Google, you may have found a subcategory that isn't getting a lot of attention from Yahoo!'s editors. Consider going elsewhere for your research. If you're a webmaster and you're considering paying to have Yahoo! add you to their directory, run this hack on the category in which you want to be listed. Are most of the links really popular? If they are, are you sure your site will stand out and get clicks? Maybe you should choose a different category.
We got this idea from a similar experiment Jon Udell (http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/) did in 2001. He used AltaVista instead of Google; see mindshare-script.txt. We appreciate the inspiration, Jon!
The Code
You will need a Google API account (http://api.google.com/), as well as the SOAP::Lite and HTML::LinkExtor Perl modules to run the following code:
Running The Hack
The hack has its only configuration — the Yahoo! directory you're interested in — passed as a single argument (in quotes) on the command line. If you don't pass one of your own, a default directory will be used instead.
Your results show the URLs in those directories, sorted by total Google links:
Hacking the Hack
Yahoo! isn't the only searchable subject index out there, of course; there's also the Open Directory Project (DMOZ, http://www.dmoz.org/), which is the product of thousands of volunteers busily cataloging and categorizing sites on the Web — the web community's Yahoo!, if you will. This hack works just as well on DMOZ as it does on Yahoo!; they're very similar in structure.
Replace the default Yahoo! directory with its DMOZ equivalent:
You'll also need to change the download instructions:
Next, replace the lines that check whether a URL should be measured for mindshare. When we were scraping Yahoo! in our original script, all directory entries were always prepended with http://srd.yahoo.com/ and then the URL itself. Thus, to ensure we received a proper URL, we skipped over the link unless it matched that criteria:
Since DMOZ is an entirely different site, our checks for validity have to change. DMOZ doesn't modify the outgoing URL, so our previous Yahoo! checks have no relevance here. Instead, we'll make sure it's a full-blooded location (i.e., it starts with http://) and it doesn't match any of DMOZ's internal page links. Likewise, we'll ignore searches on other engines:
Our last change is to modify the bit of code that gets the real URL from Yahoo!'s modified version. Instead of "finding the URL within the URL":
we simply assign the URL that HTML::LinkExtor has found:
Can you go even further with this? Sure! You might want to search a more specialized directory, such as the FishHoo! fishing search engine (http://www.fishhoo.com/).
You might want to return only the most linked-to URL from the directory, which is quite easy, by piping the results [Hack #28] to another common Unix utility:
Alternatively, you might want to go ahead and grab the top 10 Google matches for the URL that has the most mindshare. To do so, add the following code to the bottom of the script:
Then, run the script as usual (the output here uses the default hardcoded directory):


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A year after the biggest rate increase in its history, a new hike went into effect this month for riders of Metra's suburban rail service.
The 10-ride ticket, which previously was discounted, now costs the same as 10 individual, one-way tickets.
In McHenry County, the ticket price increased to $82.50 from $74.25 and to $92.50 from $83.25. The increase ranged from $2.75 to $9.25, depending on where in the county you board.
About 20 percent of Metra riders are 10-ride tickets buyers. More than half purchase discounted monthly passes. While the single-ride tickets and monthly passes did not increase this year, they did significantly last year.
We can understand why many Metra commuters are getting frustrated with the constant rate increases.
The state Legislature doubled the Regional Transportation Authority's sales tax in the collar counties in 2008 in part to help fund Metra. Ever since, however, Metra continues to bump its rates.
We understand that Metra needs to upgrade its infrastructure and technology, and that energy costs continue to rise.
We support the commuter rail service because it takes cars off our congested road system, is more convenient, and is better overall for the environment.
And we've traditionally favored user fee hikes over blanket tax increases, such as what the General Assembly did with sales taxes in 2008, because it means that those using the service pay.
But at what point do the continually rising costs deter commuters from using it?
Many Metra riders still remember the mismanagement and outright theft under former Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano, who killed himself on the day he was to be fired for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the agency.
Metra and its parent agency, the RTA, need to get their fiscal house in order, and work to contain these ever-increasing rate increases.


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Guyana stun Jamaica, into CT20 final
Gayle's history making century not enough
GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) – Gutsy Guyana withstood a devastating assault from superstar Chris Gayle to stun Jamaica and book a spot in Sunday's Caribbean Twenty20 final against defending champions Trinidad and Tobago.
Floored by Gayle's astonishing, unbeaten 122 off 61 balls which fired Jamaica to an imposing 183 for six off their 20 overs, Guyana found the character to lift themselves off the canvas and overhaul their target with eight balls to spare and complete the highest ever successful run chase in tournament history.
They were powered by Christopher Barnwell who struck a marvellous 88 off 49 balls, capitalising on a ragged Jamaica bowling and fielding effort at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
The right-handed Barnwell smashed seven fours and four sixes in an amazingly unflappable innings, anchoring two partnerships which lay at the heart of the run chase.
He put on 79 off 55 balls for the third wicket with opener Trevon Griffith whose 41 required 36 balls and included a four and two sixes.
When Griffith departed in the 14th over with victory still in the distance, Barnwell dominated a 61-run, fourth wicket stand off just 26 balls with Narsingh Deonarine (12 not out), to all but seal the result.
By the time he was run out in the 18th over scampering a quick single, the Guyanese camp and supporters were already chanting victory and Leon Johnson (12 not out) delivered in style, pulling the fourth ball of the 19th over from fast bowler Andre Russell through backward square for four, to set off wild celebrations.
A victory for Guyana in the playoff final seemed farfetched when Gayle set the venue alight with a breathtaking exhibition of power hitting.
The broad-shouldered left-hander emerged from a circumspect start to blast five fours and 12 astonishing sixes, deflating a Guyana attack that had stifled scoring early on as Jamaica laboured to 41 for three after ten overs.
Gayle's bombardment reduced the role of his partners to that of spectator, as only captain Tamar Lambert with 23 from 17 deliveries managed to make it past ten.
The pair plundered 96 off 45 balls in a fiery display as 142 runs flowed from the last ten overs of the innings, and Guyana could do little to stem the tide.
The century was Gayle's ninth in T20s but first in the region, and it marked only the second triple figure score in regional T20s following John Eugene's even hundred for St Maarten against St Vincent and the Grenadines, five years ago.
Amidst the carnage, 20-year-old fast bowler Ronsford Beaton proved outstanding, bowling with pace and variation to snare two for 25 from his four overs.
Sent in, Jamaica were under pressure from early as Guyana's opening bowlers proved accurate and denied Gayle many big scoring opportunities.
He did break free to clear long off with off-spinner Steven Jacobs in the third over but a few balls later, David Bernard Jr tried to replicate the effort and holed out in the deep at ten for one, Griffith taking an excellent catch, just inches inside the ropes.
Barnwell then sent back Nkrumah Bonner without scoring when he got one to jag back off the seam and hit the top of off-stump at 15 for two in the next over and when Danza Hyatt pulled leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo to Beaton at deep mid-wicket for seven, Jamaica were slumping at 33 for three in the ninth over.
With Jamaica quickly running out of time and balls, Gayle proceeded to unveil a spectacular show, the likes of which had hardly been seen before in regional cricket.
He opened up in the 12th over when out-of-form left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul entered the attack, blasting 28 from the Guyana skipper's over.
Scoreless off the first delivery, Gayle then smashed four consecutive sixes and then blasted a boundary off the final ball, to lift the tempo and send Permaul scurrying from the attack.
The over signalled the beginning of hostilities and the 14th over sent down by Bishoo went for 21 runs, as Gayle and Lambert tore into Guyana's bowling.
Gayle eventually reached his century in the penultimate over of the innings from Bishoo, clearing long off with the leg-spinner with another brutal strike. He followed up with two more sixes as the over leaked 19 runs.
Faced with the pressure of having to score at over nine an over to win, Guyana started bravely and never once backed down, despite losing Derwin Christian off the fourth ball of the innings with just four runs on the board.
Ramnaresh Sarwan struck three fours and a six in 19 off ten balls before missing a heave and having his stumps rattled at 34 for two in the fourth over.
Barnwell and Griffith then combined to play superbly to keep their side in the contest. However, Griffith pulled to Russell at deep mid-wicket off left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie to halt the momentum and Guyana were soon left needing 65 off 36 balls for victory, at 119 for three.
Barnwell took matters into his own hands, however, exploding with a series of massive strokes that saw 53 runs come from the next three overs. Bernard gave up 20 runs in the 15th over, the 16th from Cotterrell went for 15 runs and Santokie then bled 19 from the 17th.
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A nation's constitution is its most fundamental law, the one that takes precedence over all others. It should be written with the public in mind to reflect the desires and needs of the citizens of that country and to be appropriate to the times. However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the communists in China under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) — two political anomalies — view a constitution merely as a means to fool the people they rule over.
Both have constitutions with "Chinese characteristics," born of the barrel of a gun. Whosoever rules the land gets to write the constitution; whosoever wields the constitution gets to claim they are democratic, while actually implementing authoritarian rule.
The CCP inherited the framework of its constitution from the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution first implemented by late president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), then head of the KMT, in the parts of China under his control in 1947. As such, it makes more sense in the context of China's territory. Nevertheless, despite the grandiose nature of the text, it is little more than a museum piece over there: The public can read it, but have little hope of seeing it implemented.
China's constitution actually speaks of "Chinese characteristics." It is no wonder that the Guangdong publication Southern Weekly, in its New Year's Day editorial entitled "The China dream, the dream of constitutional government" — a reference to Xi's phrase the "China dream" — called for the constitution to be implemented. The sentiment ended up being less a dream and more a fleeting fantasy: The censors got their hands on the editorial before it was ever published, rewriting it as an adulatory piece praising Xi's "revival of the Chinese nation."
The title of the Chinese political magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu is a reference to Yandi (炎帝) and Huangdi (黃帝), legendary ancestors of the Chinese people, and as such is almost synonymous with Xi's "Chinese nation." That did not stop the magazine from enumerating the ways in which the constitution is not being implemented and pointing out that "there already exists a consensus on [the need for] political reform" — by which it means the implementation of the constitution. Neither did its stand on the implementation of the law protect the magazine from the ignominious fate of having its Web site closed down.
In a way, Ma is just as unreasonable: He insists on "implementing" an ROC Constitution that was not written by Taiwanese and which he selectively and loosely interprets. When Chiang was trying to implement the ROC Constitution in 1947, his party was still embroiled in a civil war against the communists, who were not bothered by Chiang's attempts to enforce "his" constitution, for they planned to defeat the nationalists and to discard the KMT and its constitution in one go.
While the young guns promulgated a new constitution, the old guns continued to plod along, saddling the citizenry with a landless, nationless constitution.
There are a considerable number of Taiwanese unwilling to accept an ROC Constitution that runs counter to the democratic process and which is manifestly unsuitable to Taiwan, and who reject the assertion that our Constitution covers the territory of China. Despite this, Ma seems particularly fond of the yanhuang flavor of the Constitution and regards it as a kind of Buddhist mantra.


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Yesterday I had the opportunity to be present when John A. Beasley received a headstone for his unmarked grave. Since 1912 he has rested at Eastside Cemetery in Hutchinson, KS. Regardless of Union or Confederate all deserve to be remembered. His distant cousin, James Converse, has shared photos and family information with me that I will use to write an article for our genealogical society quarterly. Rest in peace, John.
James M. Converse [L] - distant cousin of John A. Beasley
Heath Roland [R]


text: The below article assesses which positions we might focus on with our first round pick and names a few prospects to keep an eye on. Would you agree that we should spend a first round pick on a wideout or a defensive lineman? I've seen a few mock drafts with us drafting an offensive lineman, I don't see the point in that.


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UDASSS style switcher, element.disabled and IE 6
I'm experiencing a bizarre problem with the UDASSS style switcher. It typically works exactly as it's supposed to, but on certain PCs running IE6 it doesn't.
The idea behind it is that you click on a link to choose your stylesheet. It remotely calls a PHP script to set a cookie. It then cycles through the stylesheets in the page, setting `disabled` to true for each one, and then setting `disabled` to false if the stylesheet title matches what you chose.
The problem seems to be with setting `disabled` to true. I've added some alerts in to try and work out what's going on - I put one in before and after the `a.disabled = false;` and both run. The right elements are being cycled through: I've also been alerting the names. So I can only think that setting `disabled` to false isn't working.
This is only happening with Internet Explorer 6. It's happening on a number of PCs at my clients office - and just one here at my office. If I log on to the PC here in my office as a different user it doesn't happen - the style switcher works as expected. I've tried using 'Delete Files' and 'Delete Cookies', but it doesn't make any difference.
If anyone has experienced the same or similar problem I would be hugely grateful. If anyone has ANY suggestions I would be hugely grateful. This is driving me mad


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For Immediate Release: March 13, 2014
Metairie, La. – The New Orleans Saints football operations announced today that the team will split their 2014 Training Camp, presented by Verizon, between the team's practice facility in New Orleans and The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Times, locations and dates for the training camp practices will be released at a later date pending the finalization of the 2014 schedule.
As has been the case since 2009, the Saints will practice in New Orleans for a period of time with popular training camp fan engagement enhancements including free parking and seating, open practices at the Saints facility in Metairie, as well as evening practice(s) open to the public at venues located in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area, Saints themed activities for children, autograph opportunities, merchandise sales, concessions, and interactive sponsorship displays.
"It is important to recognize how much we, as an organization, value the continued support of our fans across the Gulf South and of course, in New Orleans. After careful analysis and numerous organizational discussions, we have made the decision to alter certain elements of our upcoming training camp practices by splitting the practice locations between our facility in Metairie and The Greenbrier," said Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis. "We feel like this decision will allow our team to best prepare for our 2014 season by practicing at our facility and also taking advantage of a more moderate climate and setting in West Virginia, similar to what we did in 2009 when we went to southern California for a week. I have always been a proponent of mixing up training camp every few years which I believe is a good strategy as we prepare for the season. With this plan, we get the best of both and that is important. We get quality practices in both locations and we get the benefits of having our fans support us during our time at home in Metairie and we get the opportunity for our team to unite at a location away from home."
Entering their ninth season under Head Coach Sean Payton, the Saints have held training camp at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS (2006-2008) and most recently (2009-2013) at the Saints' Training Facility, as well as having gone to Oxnard, CA in 2009 for a period of time. Under his guidance, the Saints have posted a 79-43 record, captured Super Bowl XLIV, clinched three NFC South Division titles and advanced to the postseason five times.
"No different than we do every year, we evaluate all areas of our operations and look for ways to improve," said Payton. "By splitting training camp between New Orleans and The Greenbrier, we will have a great opportunity to further enhance our training camp in 2014. We all understand the importance of training camp and ultimately, that's to get the team ready for the regular season. As far as the time we will spend at The Greenbrier, it offers a tremendous opportunity to our team in a more moderate summer climate."
The Greenbrier, located in White Sulphur Springs, WV, is a National Historic landmark that has hosted distinguished guests from around the world since 1778 including 26 U.S. presidents. Known as "America's Resort," The Greenbrier encompasses more than 10,000 acres of rolling landscape that includes: four golf courses; a championship indoor and outdoor tennis facility; a 40,000-square-foot spa rated by Conde Nast as one of the top 25 in the world; a breadth of sporting activities; shops; private homes at The Greenbrier Sporting Club; and, at its heart, a vast and imposing grand hotel purchased in 2009 by West Virginia entrepreneur Jim Justice II.
The Greenbrier has undergone a $250+ million restoration and is now home to The Greenbrier Classic, a PGA TOUR, FedEx Cup event.
Greg Bensel, New Orleans Saints, firstname.lastname@example.com
Doug Miller, New Orleans Saints, email@example.com
Kathleen DuBois, The Greenbrier, email@example.com


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Citing diminished party support and his wife's health, Pat Brady announced Tuesday that he was resigning immediately as the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.
Carol Smith Donovan, the vice chairman, will serve as interim chairman until the Illinois Republican State Central Committee selects a permanent replacement, according to a news release sent by the state Republican Party. Brady's term was to end in March.
Brady, who has held the seat for almost four years, said Tuesday that he has other professional and political goals he wishes to accomplish, such as supporting congressional candidates and doing some public affairs work. He said he also wants to focus on his wife's health, as she has been fighting cancer for the past two years.
Last month, the Illinois Republican State Central Committeemen had approved a succession strategy to replace Brady, who is from St. Charles. The effort to oust Brady was led, in part, by new state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove. A key issue was Brady's support of same-sex marriage, which Oberweis had said was contrary to the party line.
Brady acknowledged that his Republican support had diminished in recent months.
"I've lost some very vocal people, and it's better for me to step down," he said.
Brady had served as chairman since August 2009, succeeding Andy McKenna. Brady did not mention the recent controversy in his letter of resignation. He touted the Illinois Republicans' success in the 2010 election, including the election of U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk to President Barack Obama's former seat, as well as the election of GOP members to Congress and the Illinois House and Senate.
Brady said the Republican Party also won a lot of elections in 2010 in races throughout the state, and raised record amounts of money.
Oberweis said Tuesday that he thinks Brady's resignation is the right thing to do not only for Brady and his family but also for the Republican Party.
"I think it's good for the Republican Party," he said. "The Republican Party has been somewhat divided, and I think we need a leader who will bring us back together."
Oberweis estimated that it would take no more than two months to select a new party chairman. While he wouldn't name anyone in particular, he said the committeemen have several well-qualified candidates in mind. Oberweis said he would not seek the post.
Oberweis added that he believes Brady did a lot of good things for the party, but said he thinks Brady let his "personal feelings carry him away, pulling him in the opposite direction" of the party.
When asked if his resignation was a difficult decision, Brady said "absolutely not."
"I'm always looking forward," he said.


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Please note: You are viewing an archived Bucknell University news story. It is possible that information found on this page has become outdated or inaccurate, and links and images contained within are not guaranteed to function correctly.
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Building an inclusive community begins on the university campus, but providing students with hands-on opportunities to work with people from diverse backgrounds is just as important, says Rolando Arroyo-Sucre, chief officer for diversity and equity at Bucknell University.
The diversity office is doing just that through a series of programs that forge relationships between Bucknell students and high school students with an eye toward higher education.
In collaboration with faculty in Bucknell's comparative humanities program, Arroyo-Sucre's office has launched a partnership with the Fiver Children's Foundation in New York City, a community-based organization that teaches life skills to underrepresented high school students. The program, "Exploring the Realms of Knowledge," pairs Bucknell students and 9th-, 10th- and 11th-graders so the high school students may gain a better understanding of college academic and social expectations as well as critical thinking, problem solving and writing.
The Fiver program is among several programs organized by Bucknell's diversity office to make the central Pennsylvania campus more inclusive. The programs provide Bucknell students with real-life experiences mentoring prospective college students from diverse backgrounds, introducing the Bucknell students to varying life perspectives and urban issues while preparing the high school students to apply to colleges and universities.
"Programs like this are rich in learning opportunities and benefit all participants," Arroyo-Sucre said. "While the high school students develop college-level learning skills, the Bucknell students develop cultural competencies."
Making connections
Bucknell professors will offer Webinars and conduct live conferences in New York with about 30 high school students, and Bucknell students will act as virtual mentors for the Fiver students, coordinating on team projects and academic workshops centered on a theme: "Epics and Ethics: The Heroes' Quest," said Slava Yastremski, an associate professor of Russian and Comparative Humanities who with Professor of German and Humanities Katie Faull coordinated the academic portion of the program.
As a part of the program, the Fiver students will read from a book by Joseph Campbell that discusses how myths are used in culture and how the concept of heroes changes through the ages, from Homer to the King James Bible, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," and J.R.R. Tolkien, and watch and discuss films such as "The Clash of the Titans," "The Matrix" and "Superman."
Bucknell faculty will offer online workshops once each semester for the high school students, who will be expected to prepare with readings and small group discussions before the online workshops. During that time, they will have online mentoring sessions with Bucknell students. Two weeks after the workshops, they must complete individual or team assignments such as PowerPoint presentations or brief papers. A conference is planned for April 24 and 25 in New York. Some Fiver students also may visit the Bucknell campus as part of the program.
Striving for inclusiveness
About 40 professors and 250 Bucknell students are participating in several other diversity-building efforts including:
The Bucknell approach to inclusiveness is built on the idea that diversity-embracing cannot be mandated but must be learned and that initiatives should provide campus-wide "ownership" of inclusiveness and cultural awareness, Arroyo-Sucre said. The hope is that diversity will build organically -- beyond traditional recruitment and retention strategies -- and that students involved in the efforts will develop leadership skills.
"If we are serious about diversity, this is a great way to achieve it," Yastremski said. "The program offers great benefits to both sides. Many of the Fiver students will be part of the first generation in their families to go to college and will function on the same level as those who come from more privileged backgrounds. It also exposes Bucknell students to another point of view, not only of ethnic minorities or underprivileged classes, but it forces them to sit back and reflect on what diversity is and what it means."
Emily Warning, a sophomore philosophy major from West Chester, Pa., and a Fiver mentor, also participated in the Chicago "New Frontiers" program. She said she learned as much from the students she mentored as she offered to them.
"It was amazing to learn how little pieces of information can open up doors," Warning said.
Contact: Division of Communications
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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Democratic Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, Kasim Reed, who needs to check his facts:
"Both President Bush and President Obama have kept this country safe."
Did anyone feel safe on September 11, 2001? Me neither.
Let's ask the thousands who were killed that day if they felt safe. Oh that's right. We can't.
How about all those embassy attacks on Bush's watch?
Did the families and friends of our troops feel safe during the fraudulent war in Iraq that BushCo lied us into?
Did America feel safe opening their mail after the anthrax attacks?
How safe did we feel when Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, and the rest of their little gang used fear tactic after fear tactic to scare an entire country into submission? Shock Doctrine, anyone?
Did their use of torture (an illegal practice that doesn't work) soothe you to sleep at night?
Come to think of it, did any of us feel safe and secure when so many people lost their jobs after BushCo started a major recession?
Just asking.
Here is the entire segment:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


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I prefer treating my cannabinoid receptors with less toxic chemicals, in case I ever want to use my liver for anything.
Acetaminophen is basically completely safe when taken in a normal dosage (i.e. what it says on the label), except for people with certain genetic conditions that interfere with normal metabolism of the drug.
Acetaminophen kills because it's an ingredient in so many over-the-counter and prescription drugs with different names and labels, and many people don't realize they're taking acetaminophen at all, let alone an overdose of it.
I get queasy from Tylenol, maybe I don't have that immunity. All the rest of you, don't mix it with alcohol or take it for a hangover. The toxicity is cumulative. If your MD won't prescribe unadulterated opioids, get some oil of bergamot to take with it for the "grapefruit effect". It will metabolize two or three times as much therapeutic chemical and allow the proper relief without excessive toxicity.
I have migraines, and alternate between ergotamine tartrate and hydrocodone so that neither causes problems
. All the rest of you, don't mix it with alcohol or take it for a hangover. The toxicity is cumulative
From what I gather from the literature, you are right about the hangover, but wrong about the mixing with alcohol. The blood concentration of the toxic degradation product is lowered when paracetamol is taken with alcohol, probably due to the alcohol successfully competing with cytochrome P450 in the liver, in much the same way that alcohol can be used to treat methanol poisoning (though another enzyme is competed for here).
However, there seems to be no reason to not use inbuprofen or naproxen [sciencebasedmedicine.org]:
All NSAIDs are hazardous, but but some have higher toxicities than others. For occasional and long-term use, products like ibuprofen and naproxen are safer and as effective as other NSAIDs.
Except, of
From what I gather from the literature, you are right about the hangover, but wrong about the mixing with alcohol. The blood concentration of the toxic degradation product is lowered when paracetamol is taken with alcohol, probably due to the alcohol successfully competing with cytochrome P450 in the liver, in much the same way that alcohol can be used to treat methanol poisoning (though another enzyme is competed for here).
Stumbled upon a good review of the pharmacology of Acetaminophen-Alcohol interactions (from back in 2000). Apparently it's more complicated than I thought:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2014937/ [nih.gov]
The interactions between paracetamol and ethanol are complex and many questions remain to be answered. In animals, chronic administration of ethanol causes microsomal enzyme induction with increased toxic metabolic activation of paracetamol and enhanced hepatotoxicity. Conversely, the acute administration of ethanol inhibits the potentially toxic oxidative metabolism of paracetamol and protects against liver damage. This protective effect disappears when the ethanol is eliminated and the time interval between the intake of ethanol and paracetamol is critical.
Although the possibility that chronic alcoholics are at increased risk of paracetamol hepatotoxicity can by no means be excluded, the available evidence does not support claims for a major toxic interaction between ethanol and paracetamol in man.
In contrast to the findings in animals, chronic alcoholics do not produce abnormally increased amounts of the potentially toxic metabolite of paracetamol. There is only modest, short-lived induction of CYP2E1 in chronic alcoholics and it seems that other isoenzymes are primarily responsible for the metabolic activation of paracetamol in man. In keeping with the metabolic data, there is no convincing clinical evidence to support the claims that chronic alcoholics are at increased risk of liver damage either following overdosage of paracetamol or with its therapeutic use. Such evidence as exists is purely anecdotal and similar toxicity has been reported in both circumstances in patients who are not alcoholic.
I would caution though, that while normal humans have an enormous amount of extra functional reserve in their livers, this may not be true for chronic alcohol users. Even if the absolute pharmacological toxicity is identical (or even modestly lessened), the same overdose that a non-alcoholic recovers
Sorry, but the annual death toll from mixing opioids with APAP is far higher than 500. It's just not reported as such. The financial costs of medical care for opioid addicts is far higher than that of cancer patients, as they may seek treatment for their pain several times a day from many different sources.
[citation needed: own experience] I used to be a travelling salesman in the Western US with an opioid addict for my boss. In addition to our actual work we stopped at three clinics a day in seven states on a regular route. He had Blue Cross, and every clinic gave him a 90-day script for hydrocodone at least, sometimes Percocet or Oxycontin. God only knows what that bill was like. We did this for over a year, and hit the same clinics every 90 days. The work was lucrative of course, or it could not support this. He wasn't "taking" his medication, he was "eating" it.
It was a fun gig, and as you might imagine morality was a situational thing. Not personally profitable though. Definitely an adventure. Never cared for the opioids myself, but the liquor flowed and we hit all the gentleman's clubs with ready cash in hand.
I gave up when he needed to go into rehab and wanted me to do the work with a crackhead as my boss to fill in for him. Oxy freaks are one thing, but crackheads try to kill you, usually soon. His choice of the (we all knew it) crackhead to keep up the cashflow over me who didn't have these issues was the end. I got out.
On the way home I stopped and had a "relationship" with his wife. I'm not proud of that, but damn it was fun.
When I got home my own wife was knocked up with somebody else's kid. Karma.
He's dead now. Liver failure, not in any way associated with his 20 year opioid with APAP addiction so he doesn't count in that year's 500.
/AC for good and proper reasons. Hopefully the content will override the lack of provenance.
The liver toxicity of Acetaminophen is used to deter opioid addiction by mixing opioids with Acetaminophen. Opioids are powerfully addictive narcotics and this practice kills about 500 Americans [nih.gov] per year.
This isn't like spiking rubbing alcohol with methanol and other toxins. The opiods really do increase the pain relieving properties of the acetaminophen greatly. Unfortunately, the opiods are, as you say, addictive narcotics. But unlike how you interpret it, the practice actually increases narcotic addition rather than deterring it. Patients end up abusing the drugs that their own doctors gave them. Doctors don't really have that many better options for serious pain, and many don't really do a good job at p
The opiods really do increase the pain relieving properties of the acetaminophen greatly.
I think the point was that the opiods handle pain relief so effectively that the acetaminophen in the mix effectively does nothing except provide a health hazard.
Yes it's safe, but you have to understand, people generally tend to self-medicate rather than go to an actual Doctor. This leads to overdoses and over-the-top news stories. The Maximum safe daily dosage is 2000mg, but it's recommended that no more than 1500mg daily be consumed. Since this is meant for Pain relief, and the state of affairs in the United Stated is all out war on any Opium based Medication; people fall back to things such as Tylenol and tend to take more than they should.
There have been study
[...] in case I ever want to use my liver for anything.
Like alcohol?
Is there anybody In there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?
Sorry for the off-topic post, but as you don't make an email address public, I can't contact you any other way.
I'm currently writing a book (non-fiction) on the topic of self-discovery using psychedelics (specifically LSD) and would like to paraphrase your comment. I'd be happy to give attribution or not, as you'd prefer.
Specifically the context will be the discussion of negative experiences during a psychedelic trip and how it can be used as a learning experience for self-improvement; I'd like to paraphra
Some of the best self-discovery I've had was using
Come back after a severe anxiety attack and tell me why you didn't want to have that capped.
This. Anxiety and panic aren't always beneficial and they don't always end on their own.
Sometimes they run away with themselves in completely unproductive directions, and
will cause you to do some pretty crazy and potentially self-damaging things. Since your
brain has effectively been disabled, you can't just self-discipline your way out of them
They can get so bad that you have to go the ER and have them break the feedback loop
with a Lorazepam or whatnot.
Not to mention the actual physical toll that c
Can you stand up? I do believe it's working.
Why would we want to numb existential distress? This emotion is a social corrective mechanism that tells us when society is moving in the wrong direction. The reason it is becoming more of a problem in modern times is because our society is profoundly ill and we perceive that on some level. In the same way physical pain makes one pull one's hand out of the fire, existential stress makes one reevaluate one's life and look at ways it could be made more meaningful and more fulfilling. Why don't we just make a drug to cure ambition, sexual desire and distress of the conscience while while we are at it and wreck the human race for good?
I have existential high blood pressure. In effect, I exist, therefore I have high blood pressure. Which really means they haven't got a clue what's actually causing it. But it's just as dangerous as the other kind, so I have it treated.
Likewise, existential distress is not the the same thing as actual distress in response to actual situations. If you are always distressed for no concrete reason, not only are you continually miserable, you are also losing the baseline that tells you when things are objective
Why would we want to numb existential distress? This emotion is a social corrective mechanism that tells us when society is moving in the wrong direction. The reason it is becoming more of a problem in modern times is because our society is profoundly ill and we perceive that on some level. In the same way physical pain makes one pull one's hand out of the fire, existential stress makes one reevaluate one's life and look at ways it could be made more meaningful and more fulfilling. Why don't we just make a drug to cure ambition, sexual desire and distress of the conscience while while we are at it and wreck the human race for good?
I can pull my hand out of a fire. I can't fix society's problems with or without crippling anxiety and depression. For that matter, no one can fix the real biggie of "existential distress", the one that puts the "existential" in the existential distress, as in the end of one's existence -- we've all heard of it: Death. The basket cases and the numb all meet the same end.
Why would we want to numb existential distress?
Here's the skinny for those who think that anxiety and depression are just something that weak people complain about. These issues are a result of a physical condition. Think of it like have having diabetes, or having your legs blown off. People who succumb to extreme anxiety are some of the strongest willed people out there. They have to live with this condition day in and day out, and try to appear normal at the same time. The mechanism is easy to understand. When someone points a loaded gun at you, or in more primitive time, a tiger jumps out of the bush, your neurochemicals change. You freeze, time slows, you are ready to jump and run at a moment's notice, you are prepared to die. The same is true for harsh conditions, wartime, famine, etc. People who are naturally in a state of high stress have a better chance of survival. Life is pretty awful, but you can bear the next tragedy pretty well. Now imagine a society where we never have to deal with these things. Those that are predisposed to deal with the worst through genetics, upbringing, life events, etc., that is, who have a physically different neurochemicals, have no reason to be that way. There is no tiger, although it feels like there is. There is no war, although your brain is telling you that there is. You can't simply "suck it up" or "just get over it." It's the way that you are forced to think, and you spend your life fighting these feelings.
Most people don't have these feelings. Lucky them. The problem is that they can't conceive of what it's like when you are constantly on alert, because any lapse means that you will die. Now therapy does help to some extent. It helps you identify triggers, and to identify when your body is telling you something that's not true. But it's tiring, and painful to deal with. Having some kind of medication to help alleviate that, and get you back to a stable level of neurochemicals is a god send. The problem with meds is that every one has side effects, so it is imperative that you find a doctor to help you find the best dosage and mix with the least side effects. And do therapy at the same time to learn to see those effects on your moods and thinking.
So, yes, it is wonderful to have another option for anxiety when your brain is telling you to run and hide and there is nothing there. We're not talking about suppressing minor ennui or occasional blues. We're not saying to get rid of all emotions. But if taking a couple of over the counter pills with minor side effects can get a truly anxious person through a touch situation, then I'm all for that.
While carrots and APAP are both in common use by the populance, carrots do
not provide instant relief from sudden onset of pain. When you burn yourself
with hot grits, you can either stand there and think "you know, if I had eaten
carrots instead then maybe I'd be in a better mood about burning myself with
hot grits" Or you can take a pain reliever.
So we need pain relievers, not just carrots.
Carrots also do not do another thing: kill you if you eat too much, with "too
much" being something you could get down i
I remember a while back about some studies that shows anxiety can often be reduced with normal antacid. Because we get butterflies in our stomach when we get anxious, and that feeling increases our anxiety, so the antacid help break the cycle.
So it would make sense that a emotional distress causes a physical reaction that creates body pain, when then feedback on itself to create more emotional stress, and pain killers such as Tylenol may help ease those pains as well.
"Works best when washed down with a bottle of Vodka."
In my country, New Zealand, your mates would tell you to go take a big glass of "Harden the Fuck Up", followed by a dozen pints of beer.
"Existential Challenge" seems to amplified as a "First World Problem". If you are busy fending for your life you have two choices - get one with it (no matter how big a bitch Mother Nature is), or lay down an die. When our ancestors lamented existence it was because their lives were "nasty, brutal and short". Now, no matter how poor you are relative to your neighbour, we *all* live in luxury that far exceeds the great emperors of old. We all have far greater health care than even recent ancestors. We have great pain relief. We get bored with hundreds of channels of entertainment, income that is actually disposable on more than sustenance-level items, and the entire accumulated knowledge of all of humanity accessible through your laptop or your phone. We are granted nearly everything by our society and parents, but the one thing we have to obtain for ourselves is the correct mental attitude to appreciate it all (the accumulated achievements and struggles of our ancestors that bequeathed us such splendors of knowledge and possessions).
In some cases drugs will help chemical abnormalities that can cause depression. In a large number of cases you don't need drugs, you need a change of perspective (like the Buddhists teach themselves to do).
Fending for your life is an excellent cure for existential angst. Even pretending works. I get cranky and depressed in a couple of days if I don't get enough exercise. I realise that most of the people around me consider that state normal.
Serious question - Every now and then I get a headache, or muscle ache, or hurt myself in some way. Regardless of the source of the pain if I take paracetamol I get no noticeable pain relief, it feels exactly like taking a placebo. Yet people around me keep taking this stuff like it actually does something.
Does Paracetamol actually work for people here?
Can't speak for others, but no, for me, paracetamol doesn't do anything for pain, except sometimes causing a mild headache.
Yet doctors insist on telling me to take it, like if it hasn't ever worked for the last 45 years, it will now suddenly work.
If I want pain gone or even reduced, I need something that ends with -ine.
Codeine, Caffeine, Benzocaine, Buprenorphine, Moonshine, Flupirtine...
Serious question - Every now and then I get a headache, or muscle ache, or hurt myself in some way. Regardless of the source of the pain if I take paracetamol I get no noticeable pain relief, it feels exactly like taking a placebo.
Quite possibly -- there is always individual variation in response to substances; I would expect this to be doubly true for a pro-drug that requires further metabolism to activate. Unfortunately, I didn't find much in a quick search just now regarding variability in pain relief with acetaminophen, although there are plenty of studies examining variable responses regarding liver toxicty.
Every now and then I get a headache, or muscle ache, or hurt myself in some way. Regardless of the source of the pain if I take paracetamol I get no noticeable pain relief, it feels exactly like taking a placebo.
Personally, I find that ibuprofen is a more effective over-the-counter pain reliever. It can cause people stomach problems, but I haven't experienced that personally. I think you need to already have ulcers or really take a lot of the stuff for it to mess up your stomach.
"This is creepy as fuck."
Other comments:
"Something's wrong."
"you are a madman."
"Haunting in the most dream-like will always return to this."
"Wow, that horrific scream made me jump."
"It's like... they're having a normal conversation, just... not in the right order."
"Man, D.A.R.E. would be a lot more successful if they just pointed to shit like this."
All those people sound like they need Tylenol, or Excedrin, or something to make their head stop hurting. Since the placebo group did not have anything to make their head stop hurting, they decided to take it out on the people who rioted over a hockey game...
Completely expected that a pain reliever would work on mental pain. Aspirin probably works too.
Marriage is the sole cause of divorce.


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Lois Wilson Ricker Quigley, 77, of Gray Road, died Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, at her home.
Lois Wilson Ricker Quigley, 77, of Gray Road, died Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, at her home.
A graveside service will be at 3 p.m. Friday at Forest Hill Memorial Park by the Revs. Billy Pearson and Benn Fleming.
The family will receive friends from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Friday at Davidson Funeral Home and other times at the home on Gray Road.
Mrs. Quigley was born Nov. 20, 1935, in Davidson County to Aaron Wilson and Roberta Wood Wilson. She was a metal processor at Binnings Building Products until her retirement Feb. 12, 1998, and a member of Stoner's Grove Baptist Church. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Douglas Quigley; daughter Lisa Gail Ricker; and sister Loretta Wooten.
Surviving are son Randy Ricker of Lexington; daughters Margaret House and husband Buzzy, Berta Mae Spencer, Sherry Johnson and husband Johnny and Teresa Ann Ricker, all of Lexington; 11 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; brother Conrad Wilson and wife Shirley of Lexington; and sister Wilma Brittian of Hickory.
Memorials may be made to Stoner's Grove Baptist Church, Playground Fund, P.O. Box 183, Southmont, NC 27351.
The family expresses a special thank you to her granddaughter, Becky Ann Herring, 24, of the home for being such a wonderful caregiver to her grandmother.
Online condolences may be made at www.davidsonfuneralhome.net.


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Gallery: i-D Magazine Photo Spread Showcases The Many Moods Of Karl Lagerfeld's Cat
If it seems like the fashion blogosphere can't get enough of Karl Lagerfeld's ridiculously pampered cat Choupette, it's probably because she is a perfect storm of things the Internet likes: conspicuous consumption, crazy people (specifically: The Kaiser), and cute baby animals. The latest issue of i-D Magazine decided to feed the beast a little bit more with a nice, big feature on the tiny creature, who appears in all her various modes of being. The only way young Choupette could be any more stoked about this momentous career milestone would be if she knew what the fuck "a magazine" was.
Photos: i-D Magazine


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[A]n obscure state law ... makes it a crime for Wisconsin residents to enter into marriage in another state if the marriage would be prohibited here. The law imposes a penalty for those who enter into a marriage that's prohibited or declared void in Wisconsin of up to $10,000 and nine months in prison....Would anyone who supports the ban on gay marriage want this criminal statute enforced? Actually, yes:
[The gay rights advocacy group Fair Wisconsin] sent an e-mail to about 10,000 supporters to see if anyone was making plans to go to California to get married. It heard back from two, and followed up to warn them about the law, said Glenn Carlson, executive director of Fair Wisconsin.
"We're telling people, especially if you live outside of Dane County, to be careful," Carlson said. After receiving the warning, one person wrote back that "I'd rather be prosecuted than persecuted."
Julaine Appling, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Family Council, said the statutes are clear and the law should be enforced.Oh, for crying out loud. It's one thing to have the gay marriage ban in the state and, based on that, for Wisconsin not to recognize the California-married gay couple as in fact married when they return to the state. It's quite another to criminally prosecute them!
"If it were challenged and the courts decided to basically wink at it, and refused to enforce the law, we have a problem," she said, adding that the constitutional amendment clarified that no marriage other than between a man and woman is legal.
I don't think Wisconsin prosecutors would waste public money and expose the gay marriage ban to such bad publicity, but the mere threat of prosecution is oppressive.


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Zoo Memory Match - a Kids Matching Card Game
- Publisher: Tantrum Apps
- Genre: Kids
- Released: 18 Jul, 2010
- Size: 19.1 MB
- Price: $0.99
- App Store Info
DescriptionZoo Memory Match is the best in class of matching games, designed from the ground up to be fun and educational. Featuring high quality photos of animals with real life sounds, your child will love hearing the noises while trying to match their favorite Zoo friends.
My son's favorite two apps together at last! Memory and Zoo Sounds! His fav thing is to click the baby and hear it laugh. - Facebook
Zoo Memory Match features 2 modes of play with 3 difficulty levels to be enjoyed by kids of all ages.
Younger children can start with just 4 cards face up (2 pairs), finding each animal's match. This is a great way to start developing your child's cognitive skills at an early age. As your child gets older and more comfortable with the game, they can advance to 12 cards face up (6 pairs) or even 20 cards face up (10 pairs).
Older children can develop their memorization skills starting with 4 cards face down (2 pairs). Only two cards are shown at once, exercising memory retention. If you're really feeling gutsy, you can advance to 12 cards face down (6 pairs) or the extra difficult 20 cards down (10 pairs).
- 6 modes of play challenging kids of all ages
- Face up cards help younger kids learn matching
- Face down cards help older kids with memorization skills
- 12 animals are randomly displayed, so you never play the same game twice
- High resolution professional photos of actual animals
- Top quality recordings of each animal played when the cards are played
- Universal app. One download plays on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
- Optimized for iOS4 and the new iPhone 4 Retina Display!


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One of Melliesh's brand new items is this retractable Powder Brush! I love anything that I can take out and about with me.
The Melliesh brand comes in cute packaging:
This brush works for powder and blush and can you can get a different bristle depending on how far you retract the brush:
Obviously you can do this with any retractable face brush! But the flat shape makes it quite versatile for contouring and under the eyes – and at it's full bloom, it is quite a full, fluffy brush…
Whilst I love the pink case it's quite cheap and plastic-y.
You simply use the slider to push the brush up. It's a nice smooth mechanism, and it doesn't fall back down when you use the brush. I don't like how there is no lid for this brush – in my bag, the end of the brush is going to end up with loads of bits on it!
Here it is slightly retracted:
When the brush is full – I like how the hairs splay to make a fluffy brush:
I have carried this around with me – it's not a HUGE brush, but it does take up fair space in my make up bag. It's quite nice to use – the bristles are soft and don't feel synthetic – and I get a good result from it:
I guess I have so many brushes that I don't haul them much anymore unless I see something quite unusual! This was a nice purchase, it's better than the brushes you get with powder and blushers so I will be using it regularly.
What is your favourite portable brush?


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Fixed Indexed Annuities
These conservative investments have become a popular alternative to bonds.
Fixed indexed annuities can be very useful investments. As the name implies, FIAs are fixed annuities with a rate of return linked to the performance of a stock market index (often the S&P 500). Because of this stock market exposure, they can sometimes bring conservative investors very nice returns – often, considerably better returns than the ones provided by CDs, bonds, or money market accounts. They really aren't designed to outperform the stock markets; they are designed to outperform the fixed markets.1
Principal protection and a chance to benefit from market gains. During the accumulation phase of an FIA, you have the opportunity to benefit from stock market gains while your principal is protected against stock market losses. The annuity contract usually guarantees you a minimum rate of interest on your purchase payments while the annuity is growing; the insurance company involved will credit you with either the minimum return stated in the contract or a return based on the performance of the linked index.1 If you are skittish about the stock market, you can potentially realize the benefits of stock market participation through this comparatively low-risk investment. If the linked stock market index has a bad year, you don't incur a loss.1
Participation rates to note. Each FIA has a particular participation rate. The participation rate signifies the percentage of the invested assets within the annuity keyed to the linked index.
Let's say you have an FIA linked to the S&P 500 and the participation rate is 60%. That means 60% of your invested assets are exposed to the index. If the S&P 500 gains 10% across a year, this means your annuity gives you a 6% return for the year (before any fees and administrative charges). Compare that 6% potential return to so many CDs and money market accounts which often return substantially less.2
Some FIAs measure an index's gain on an annual basis, others over the entire term of the annuity. Sometimes there are "caps" on just how high a return you can realize. From time to time, participation rates may be reset by the insurance company. Occasionally, a margin or "spread" determines the index-linked interest rate instead of a participation rate (if your annuity gains 10% and the spread is 2.5%, your interest-linked credit is 7.5%.)2
Tax-deferred growth, an income stream & often a death benefit. Most FIAs give you all the features of a fixed annuity: your earnings are not taxed, and when the distribution phase of your annuity starts, you can receive periodic (usually monthly) income payments. (It is your withdrawals that are taxed.) There is often a guaranteed minimum death benefit payable to your beneficiary when you pass away.2
No annual contribution limit. If you need to put away more retirement savings NOW, the contribution limits on IRAs can be frustrating. Would you rather have a retirement account you can only put a certain amount into annually, or an account to which you can contribute as much as you want?
FIAs (and other annuities) have no IRS-imposed contribution ceiling, and no IRS-imposed income limits above which you cannot contribute. Consider them as nice complements or supplements to (not replacements for) IRAs and basic employer-sponsored retirement plans.3Make no mistake, these are long-term investments. Many of these annuity contracts are 6-7 years or longer. Fixed indexed annuities do require a long-term outlook and a long-term commitment. 3
Is a Fixed Indexed Annuity right for you? Watch the video below to find out more. If you are planning to maintain or improve your quality of life in retirement, maybe you would like to see how fixed indexed annuities can potentially help you. If that's the case, then ask a qualified insurance or financial advisor about them today.
This material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note - investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All indices are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment.
1 - marketwatch.com/story/fixed-index-annuities-as-bonds-alternative-2013-08-21 [8/21/13]
2 - insurance.illinois.gov/Life_Annuities/equityindex.asp [9/10/14]
3 - personal.vanguard.com/us/help/FAQAnnuitiesContent.jsp [9/10/14]


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Highway To Sell: AC/DC iTunes Snub Finally Over 247
Hugh Pickens "The LA Times reports that after years of stubbornly arguing that iTunes was, in the words of singer Brian Johnson, 'going to kill music if they're not careful,' AC/DC has reached a deal with Apple to sell its entire catalog — 16 studio albums, four live albums and three compilations — through the service. AC/DC was one of the last high-profile holdouts from the digital music marketplace, outlasting the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd, all of which jumped into the realm long after much of the population had accepted the downloading future. Angus Young, AC/DC's lead guitarist (known for wearing a schoolboy's uniform when performing), had long argued against hawking the band's music because he didn't like the idea of allowing for individual song downloads — submitting that the group's albums were designed to be listened to from beginning to end. 'It's like an artist who does a painting,' he said in 2008. 'If he thinks it's a great piece of work, he protects it. It's the same thing: This is our work.'"