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Museums, Theatres, & Arts
The Bay Area boasts a rich collection of galleries and museums for all tastes, including our own Hearst Art Gallery.
Fine art lovers, comic book fans, history buffs and future teachers will all find something to engage their senses and intellects.
- Asian Art Museum of San Francisco - San Francisco
- Bedford Gallery - Walnut Creek
- Catherine Clark Gallery - San Francisco
- Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco - San Francisco
- M. H. de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park
- California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park
- Judah L. Magnes Memorial Museum - Berkeley
- Hearst Art Gallery at Saint Mary's College - Moraga
- The Mexican Museum - San Francisco
- The Oakland Museum of California - Oakland
- Richmond Art Center - Richmond
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - San Francisco
- University of California, Berkeley Art Museum - Berkeley
- San Francisco Exploratorium - San Francisco
- Tech Museum of Innovation - San Jose
- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts - San Francisco
- Cartoon Art Museum - San Francisco


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Travel Agents Old School?
It seems you cannot stare in the TV for an hour without visiting a notice with William Shatner discussing Travelocity or that senseless dwarf discussing Orbitz. These travel sites happen to be very good at encouraging voyagers to reserve their very own particular carrier and lodging reservations on the internet. So with this particular colossal push on the internet to visualize control of the travel business, one should ask, "Are travel specialists old-fashioned?"
When you've looked for a few of these travel internet sites, you've viewed that they're stunning within the assorted characteristics of travel choices they make accessible. Like a business traveler, be that as it might, your needs are fairly unique with regards to the ordinary aircraft traveler.
There are several certain administrations and genuine help that the living and breathing tour operator can provide that essentially can not be duplicated with a computerized site like Travelocity or Orbitz. A number of individuals administrations that the prepared business traveler could be not able to reside without getting…
A Tour Operator provides you with…
- Focus. You like a business traveler aren't orchestrating this trip for excitement. You've particular business goals like a primary priority. The like the off chance that you ought to remove time from planning your company assignment to worry over travel agendas, lodging and rental auto reservations and so on, that's time that you're not being advantageous for the business.
When you are getting the possibility that you could call an experienced tour operator you never know your travel profile well and delegate individuals considerations to that particular agent, they execute their occupation to find just the right facilities for only you are absolve to do that which you stand out at, spotlight in your business and also the rising business travel.
- Economy. It's difficult to find that harmony between locating the housing that suit the requesting timetable of the businessman on an outing and it is mindful of the organizations travel budget too.
Around the off chance that you simply use a computerized online travel administration, you may want to relinquish accommodation, timetable or position for economy.
A good tour operator will endeavor to help you get the best schedule whilst getting as near the organization travel cost confinements as could be prudent. In addition, they'll get it done if you don't take up a substantial measure of your energy.
- Support. You need not make use of help in case your trip goes totally as arranged. Be that as it might, when you have issues on an outing, you are able to end up in need or rescheduling flights and finding new lodging to operate around scratched off flights, climate issues or any other surprising intrusions for your plans.
These travel debacles do not know your tight payment dates to satisfy your company objectives. In almost any situation, you've got a tour operator who's dedicated to providing you with administration, they might locate individuals option courses and assets to complete anything they can to help you get for your destination so that you can direct your company promptly.
- That each touch. You might have travel inclinations you need to accomplish with each and every outing you are taking. A tour operator has your profile as well as your travel history to allow them to do the things they can to fit your inclinations.
Yet, additionally, if you have particular unique needs, for instance, a diet regimen constraint or perhaps a requirement of convenience due to an lack of ability, it will likely be a tour operator that sees into it that the needs are covered and you're well worked with on an outing.
- No Complications. When your travel agenda includes making associations with various business accomplices who're going from various workplaces, complex travel calendars and schedule challenges that simply can not be portrayed towards the nonexclusive screens of the online travel administration, you are able to disclose these inconveniences for your tour operator plus they could work along with other travel specialists trying to arrange the meeting and ensure that the agenda meets your prerequisites.
As the online travel administrations do provide a lucrative and moderate other choice to the overall voyaging open, it's not hard to see their confinements around the off chance that you're trying to book a trek that's dubious or when you've particular needs the screens don't suspect.
That's the reason using a human tour operator helps to ensure that this travel proficient person will devote themselves towards the assignment of making certain your trip tries to the information you have and you reach your destination ready to lead running a business and become fruitful inside your accomplishing your objectives.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Struggle to rescue the missing in Afghanistan landslide
An Afghan official says rescuers and hundreds of residents from nearby areas are trying to help people in a small village in northeastern Afghanistan hit by a massive landslide.
Abdullah Homayun Dehqan the director of Badakshan province's National Disaster Department says hundreds of local people have gathered near where the landslide hit Friday, armed with shovels.
But he said there are fears that another landslide might strike.
He said he did not have an exact figure on how many people were killed. The United Nations on Friday said at least 350 people were killed while the provincial governor said as many as 2,000 people were feared missing.
Rescuers have struggled to reach the remote area in northeastern Afghanistan. Heavy rains earlier this week contributed to the landslide.
Ari Gaitanis, from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, says the U.N. is working with authorities on the ground to rescue people still trapped.
Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan, said, "On behalf of the UN humanitarian agencies, I wish to extend our condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones as a result of these landslides. There have now been more Afghans killed through natural disasters in the past seven days than all of 2013."
"The foremost priority at the moment is saving as many lives as possible of those still beneath the rubble," Bowden said. "The UN system is fully engaged in the ongoing effort and is mobilizing more capacity and resources to bolster the response."
Provincial police chief, Fazluddin Ayar confirmed Friday that over 250 people were trapped following a landslide in Aab Khoshk village, the Khaama Press (KP) Afghan News Agency reports.
The landslide occurred about 12:30 p.m. Friday when a hill collapsed, said Provincial police chief, Fazluddin Ayar .
He said authorities evacuated a nearby village over concerns about further landslides.
More than 300 homes -- about a third of all the dwellings there -- have been buried, he said, the Associated Press reports.
The governor said rescue crews were working but didn't have enough equipment, particularly shovels.
"It's physically impossible right now," he said. "We don't have enough shovels; we need more machinery."
President Obama remarked on the tragedy during an appearance in Washington at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"I want to say on behalf of the American people our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan who have experienced an awful tragedy," Obama said.
"Just as the United States has stood by the people of Afghanistan through a difficult decade, we stand ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster," he added. "For even as our war there comes to an end this year, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people will endure."
Badakshan province, nestled in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges and bordering China, is one of the most remote in the country. The area has seen few attacks from insurgents following the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Globally, landslides cause billions of dollars in damages and thousands of deaths and injuries each year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The U.S.G.S. reports that some of the deadliest landslides in world history have occurred in Asia, including the estimated 100,000 people that died in a 1920 slide in China and a 1949 event that killed from 12,000 to 20,000 in what is now Tajikistan.
Contributing: Aamer Madhani, in Washington; Doyle Rice, in McLean, Va.; Associated Press


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It's been going on for a month now. It started on my left arm, just above my wrist as a series of tiny reddish, raised dots. It's very itchy. Within about a week, it spread all over my arms. By about 2 weeks it has spread to my legs and some parts of my body (neck, back, under my breast, on my tummy). The worst parts are still on my arms. In the 3rd week, it got to my face a bit.
I've seen 2 doctors and 1 dermatologist. I've been given antihistamine and some steroid ointment. None of this gave me relief. The initial rash seems to fade away into very tiny raised dots (see pictures) and the new itch now appear like this. All over my arms except my actual wrist and hands now have this 'orange-peel' texture - or like a mini basketball surface. It's like having a permanent goose-bumps even on the part of the skin without hair. The dots in some areas are less dense. Compared the affected area with the wrist area that's not affected:
Now, one of the doctors and the dermatologist prescribed Semprex capsules (one after another) so I have been having this medication for almost 2 weeks now. I'm still itching. And the itch on my face got even worse... Although... it looks different from the rest. On my face it is reddish raised area (see pictures) and the skin there feels tender. Plus, my eyelids got swollen too... the left one is worse, it covers half of my left eye.
So I googled Semprex and found out that this allergy medicine itself could cause allergic reaction as well! One of the side effects is swollen eyelids...
I stopped taking Semprex but kept taking the evening medication (Hydroxyzine). The following morning the swelling was easing off and my overall condition improved. I felt better than I have been since I got this ithcy problem. So I thought I have found out that I'm allergic to Semprex. I simply stop taking it all together.
But lo and behold! This morning I woke up with huge swelling on both eyelids and a bit on my face too! Plus, I was itching like crazy during the night I had problem sleeping. The itch is mostly on my limbs. So I wonder, am I allergic to Hydroxyzine as well? Could it be that all the Semprex I've been taking for almost 2 weeks have wreck havoc to my body and now it became sensitive/allergic to antihistamine?
Now my skin has become very sensitive too. It's a real challenge to find clothing that won't irritate my skin. Any slightest rough material or seams would make my condition worse.
I found cool weather and open space to be of help a bit which is fortunate because now the weather is cool.
Nevertheless, I still have no clue on what has caused the itch on my arms, legs, body that has turned most of my skin into 'orange peel'. As far as I know, I didn't eat nor get in touch with anything new/unusual in the period before the itch started.
My living space is bright with plenty of sunshine and good ventilation. We have big windows that we open every day. We clean our place regularly too.
I have also checked my bed for bedbugs but I didn't see anything, i.e. blood stains or anything at all. I have also washed all the beddings with hot water. Still doesn't help me a bit. BTW, my husband doesn't get any of the itch I got, so whatever it is, it is not contagious.
Oh and I am female, 38 y.o. in good health aside from this condition. I'm not on any medication prior to this, and my weight is normal (slim).
My doc thought it could be something internal so I had some blood tests done several days ago, but the result won't be ready until next Thursday.
I wonder if any body here has similar experience with me, especially the 'orange peel' skin condition.
Thanks a lot for any info you might share here.
Recognize the risks associated with Crohn's disease.
Did you know that one in six US adults has high cholesterol?


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Philip Roth
Philip Roth, 1933–, American author, b. Newark, N.J., grad. Univ. of Chicago (M.A., 1955). His writings, noted for their irony and themes of identity, rebellion, and sexuality, deal largely with middle-class Jewish-American life. Roth gained his initial literary reputation with the short-story collection Good-bye Columbus (1959). Portnoy's Complaint (1969), a psychiatrist-couch monologue by a young, insecure, and hilariously articulate Jewish man who describes his life, notably his possessive mother, his erotic fascination with blonde Gentile girls, and his masturbatory exploits, was Roth's break-out, best-selling novel and is still probably his most famous book. It has been widely acclaimed a comic masterpiece. His many other works include the novels The Breast (1972), The Great American Novel (1973), My Life as a Man (1974), The Ghost Writer (1979) Zuckerman Unbound (1981), Zuckerman Bound (1985), The Counterlife (1987), The Facts (1988), Operation Shylock (1993), the trilogy American Pastoral (1997; Pulitzer Prize), I Married a Communist (1998), and The Human Stain (2000), The Plot against America (2004), Indignation (2008), The Humbling (2009), and Nemesis (2010).
His flood of late novels, which frequently portray American life in the last decades of the 20th cent. with a mixture of comedy and savagery, have often been imaginative amalgams of autobiography and fiction, sometimes with doppelgänger Nathan Zuckerman standing in for the author or with "Philip Roth" appearing as a character or as the narrator. Roth also has written a nonfiction account of his father's death, Patrimony: A True Story (1991). Several of his most recent fictional works, notably The Human Stain,The Dying Animal (2001), Everyman (2006), Exit Ghost (2007), in which the central character is an elderly, mentally and sexually diminished Nathan Zuckerman, and The Humbling (2009), treat a variety of end-of-life themes—remembrance and regret, the last sparks of sexual desire, the ills and sorrows of the failing body and mind, and mortality itself. In 2011 Roth was awarded the Man Booker International Prize.
See his The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography (1988, repr. 1997) and his essays, Reading Myself and Others (1985); G. J. Searles, ed., Conversations with Philip Roth (1992); studies by S. Pinsker (1975), A. Z. Milbauer and D. G. Watson, ed. (1988), J. L. Halio (1992), A. Cooper (1996), S. Milowitz (2000), M. Shechner (2003), D. Shostak (2004), G. Welsch (2005), J. L. Halio and B. Siegel, ed. (2005), D. P. Royal, ed. (2005), and C. R. Pierpont (2013).


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Monday, April 11, 2011
How to Attend the Perfect Conference
At the New England Regional Genealogical Conference which I just attended, I met a woman named Maria at a banquet luncheon. Maria had a Portuguese background and was a little disappointed that there weren't any offerings for her particular ancestry. I told her not to worry because we had one of the best New England genealogical experts on the Portuguese right there at the conference - Ruy Cardoso, CG. Even though Portuguese research wasn't on the menu at this conference Maria was still able to talk to a Portuguese expert.
The Secret Revealed
Attendees at conferences include not only hobbyist genealogists but also many professional genealogists.
If you find that the talks in the conference brochure don't meet your needs try these techniques to make the conference perfect anyway.
Ancestors Roadshow
At the New England Regional Genealogical Conference we have what they call an Ancestors Roadshow. I suspect that they have this at other conferences across the country. At a roadshow, conference attendees can have a private one-on-one consultation with a professional genealogist. This can give you new insight and direction for your genealogical challenges. To get the most out of a roadshow appointment come prepared. Have a specific question in mind to present to the professional. Also, be sure to provide them with a one-page summary of what you know and a list everything have already checked, including searches that turned up empty.
At many conference you will find booths in the exhibit hall for the Association of Professional Genealogists and for the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Both of these organizations are a good place to find genealogical experts. Stop by their booths and tell them what you are looking for. They will be able to let you know if someone who specializes in the area of your research need is attending the conference. They may be able to help you connect with that person.
Conference Organizers
Lastly, the staff of the conference itself are a great resource. They are often familiar with all the speakers as well as professionals who are attending that are not speaking. Stop by the registration booth or the hospitality table and see if they can connect with someone with the right expertise or at least someone who will be able to tell you who you need to talk to.
Get Creative
Making a conference a success is much more than just accepting the program that is printed in the conference brochure. By reaching out and talking to many new people at the conference you will have a much more fulfilling experience. And you will be enriched by connecting with folks with similar interests.
So the next time you go to a conference don't leave your success up to the conference organizers. Take matters into your own hands and create your own success. You will never be disappointed!
Posted by Marian at 8:50 AM
Labels: Conferences
1 comment:
Excellent tips! At lunch on Friday, I luckily sat with several French Canadian women, who conduct research in that locality. They had attended a session in the morning that I had not attended, but were discussing rare health conditions. One condition sounded like something affecting a good friend. The women were so helpful and shared what they had learned and one went as far as going home, scanning and sending me the information for my friend. All at lunch! :) Not in a class.ReplyDelete
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It was the second time this season they had beaten Campbell in three straight sets and the eighth time this season they have won a match by a 3-0 score.
Bouncing back from a 3-2 loss at Belmont Tuesday night the Lady Bisons won set one 25-11, set two 25-15 and set three 28-26.
"We didn't play well against Belmont," said Lady Bisons coach Brandon Rosenthal. "We wanted to come out and show something quickly.
"I thought we did a great job in sets one and two. I thought we did a good job in set three. With the score the way it was the good plays were marred by the plays where we didn't execute. The only thing I would change in set three is our execution on defense. We played too far back and that hurt us."
Middle blocker Alex Kelly made a match-high 16 kills. Outside hitter Katie Rose added 11.
"On the whole both Alex and Amy Trykowski did a fantastic job at the net and in blocking balls.
"We had been working with Katie Rose on taking what the block gives her. She did a good job of hitting around blocks. If they blocked her angle she took the line. If they blocked her line she took the angle. That was good to see."
Libero Jessica Turner led with a team-high 13 digs, extending her double figures digs streak to 19 games.
Setter Jake Pease and opposite Erin Pierce each added 10 digs. Pease also had 37 assists.
"Jake set a great match," said Rosenthal. "She did a good job of directing the ball and understanding who were the hotter players and getting them involved."
No Campbell player finished in double figures in kills. Sarah Hill made a match-high 17 digs.
"Our service was effective," said Rosenthal. "We took them out of their normal offense.
"A conference win is a conference win. It was nice to finish it in three sets and do it in the fashion we are capable of."
The Lady Bisons are 16-10, 13-3 in the A-Sun. Campbell is 6-19, 4-12 in the conference.


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Drop-In Workshop: Long Form
Who is it for? Our Sunday drop-in is for intermediate to experienced improvisers looking to work on their long form skills.
What is it? Led by Bad Dog faculty members (and Repertory Players), the Long Form Drop-In class will focus on group work, theme, world-building, and narrative.
COST: $12 to reserve a spot, or $10 in person - which also gets you a ticket the 8pm show!


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Mayor's Office
Mayor Chris Beutler announced today that Lincoln Fire and Rescue (LFR) has paid off an interfund loan from the City's General Fund. The loan was used to begin ambulance service in 2001 and to address reimbursement issues and reached a peak of more than $2 million in December 2007. The loan was repaid after the City's Emergency Medical Service (EMS) fund finished in the black for the third and probably fourth straight year.
"Not only is LFR meeting its bottom line, they have paid back every dime of the money borrowed with interest to help the service through hard times," the Mayor said. "Our firefighter paramedics can proudly state they are members of not only an outstanding life-saving organization, but a successful business organization as well."
Beutler said public and private ambulance services across the nation have struggled with low federal Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements and fewer insured patients. He commended Fire Chief Niles Ford, LFR staff and paramedics for making the changes necessary to create a sustainable organization. "They demonstrated that quality does not have to come at the expense of profitability," he said. "They have shown that Lincoln can afford to employ highly trained professionals and still meet the bottom line."
The City finished the 2006-2007 fiscal year with an $84,863 EMS balance, the 2007-2008 fiscal year with a $328,260 balance, and the 2008-2009 fiscal year with a $629,995 balance. The current fiscal year ends August 31.
In addition to controlling costs and improving bill collection, LFR has implemented several changes recommend by a 2006 ad hoc committee, including a 2007 rate increase, contracting with the County for EMS service outside the City limits, and contracting with private ambulance companies to provide stand-by services at events.


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We would love to have you join us! If you are not currently a member of this small group, but would like to attend this event or future small group events, please notify our small groups coordinator by clicking the button below and filling out the contact information. We will be happy to contact you with the location and add you to our small groups invites list.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: October 18Dearborn Small Group
Later Event: October 25Doug Lisle, PhD at PBNSG


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Wealth Planning
A comprehensive and well considered wealth plan is the key to taking care of your wealth for the long-term and for current and future generations. Our wealth planning team can help you whether you need a thorough review of your finances, or need specific advice on a particular aspect of your wealth planning needs.
At the beginning of our relationship with you, we want to make sure that we fully understand your circumstances, priorities and both your short and long-term goals. We will continue to discuss your needs as you reach key moments in your life from marriage to education planning to inheritance and succession planning. Whatever your situation, we are committed to offering you fair and objective advice.
Societe Generale Private Banking has established a Centre of Expertise for Wealth Planning and Fiduciary (Trust) Services – Global Wealth Planning Solutions. A single resource centre with a truly international reach, it delivers exceptional levels of in-house expertise in both international and domestic wealth planning. Our wealth planning teams conduct more than 1,000 wealth studies each year, aidingclients to find the most appropriate solution.
Planning is crucial
Your Wealth Planner is a specialist adviser who will analyse your personal and professional assets, and suggest a flexible wealth strategy according to your current and future needs.
Your wealth plan can be adapted to take account of any changes in the fiscal or legal environment , as well as changes in your own circumstances or those of your family. As changes occur your private banker and wealth planner will always be available to discuss your options with you.
A fiduciary service you can trust
Implementing your wealth strategy will invariably require a wide-ranging and comprehensive wealth planning service. Working with your advisers we will assist in the design and implementation of your plan utilising a range of services from trust and fiduciary to life assurance and financial planning.
From the administration of a simple family trust or foundation to family office work for private clients, private equity and mutual fund administration, we offer comprehensive private client services together with corporate trust services from a number of locations.


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Forum: Teachers LabOwner: Administrator
Contact: Yolanda Odunsi([email protected])
Description: Surveying and journal keeping are just two strategies for eliciting student ideas. The forums also create a space for you to speak more broadly about other ways to elicit student ideas, about other topics that lend themselves well to uncovering student ideas, and about other strategies for correcting student misconceptions. When you participate in the forums, remember to describe the subject of your message accurately so that others can still follow conversations on different topics.
Discussion Topics: (click on the topic to view messages)
- v.2.0.3
Mon Nov 18 20:15:30 2019


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Every now and then while looking through endless web pages I get seriously sidetracked, sometimes because I have followed a thread which wasn't part of my original research and sometimes it was induced for other reasons. On this occasion I was seduced into a purchase by wickedly low prices and good service. My plan was to seek out some Fly drivers and some drive shaft springs for a couple of up and coming projects. After a couple of false starts I decided to return to the tried and tested 'Cincyslots' It is very rare for them to let me down.
So with a third of the world for the parcel to cover, I was feeling financially flush in the Paypal department and thought I might as well maximise the freight charges and maybe pick a model if I can find one I was either looking for or liked the look of! And that my friends, is basically what happened!! Several days later there was a large parcel on the doorstep and a nice glass of shiraz waiting to be poured for the opening ceremony.
The local Brisbane group have raced raid models on one of the more trickier tracks and to date I have raced a scratchbuilt Colin McRae Nissan pickup truck which was a converted Revell 'Easykit' with some success (see scratchbuild forum). But there is nothing like the real thing. I toyed with picking up a discounted Ninco Bowler and some time ago I sold a BMW X5 which would have fitted the slot! So, even though it may never race in anger, I decided on a model which was impressive in name and stature. And that's what I got. So my Fly drivers were accompanied by a Powerslot Hummer on their journey across the Pacific.
The Hummer is here now and what have I got for my money? Well, 182 grams of slotcar for a start! Powerslot have built this like a brick outhouse and it will take some pretty rough treatment to do it harm. Having said that, it has some characteristics which could well see it self destruct. But more of that later. First things first and lets check how well its made.
The paintwork and tampo don't have a trick missing and from what I can tell, Powerslot have researched this model and faithfully reproduced all the sponsors endorsements on the vehicle. Toyo tyres and Jim Beam seen strange bedfellows but if nothing else they make up the majority of the decals. The rest are names known and unknown, including a Bass fishing pro shop? Not quite sure where that fits into the Dakar?
This model is quite striking from a distance but up closer there are distinct overtones of slap-dashery. The colours are crisp but the tampo is fuzzy and in places blurred, very reminiscent of Teamslot models. Sharp line degenerate into messy overspray wherever there is a contour change. Colour is missing from door gaps and in other places the colour has run along the gaps! One big plus is the model has a lot of retro fitted parts like the driving lamps, roof rack, spare wheels, mirrors etc and these are fine as far as tampo is concerned, obviously being painted before fitting.
The driving lights on the roof look great and I can't help thinking that this model should have had a complete compliment of working lights, if only to blaze down the track on a Red Team race night. No doubt someone, somewhere has taken the initiative and converted them already! The bull bar on the front looks and feels sturdy and once again it would be nice to think this will handle most knocks. Door mirrors are rubber with a stick on silvered piece and should outlive most other external parts. The roof rack looks strong too and it has its compliment of necessary off road accoutrements, shovel, jerrycans, sand tracks and the obligatory spare wheel, and there is another on the back door too!
Looking closer, the wheels and tyres are something else. The wheels aren't that well painted and are very plain but the tyres are some of the best slotcar knobblies I've seen so far! And apart from the six on the model…..there are another two taped under the display case base!! The tyres are very soft and there looks to be an air gap between the tyre carcass and the wheel rim, giving the tyre a softer more pliant feel. Powerslot have gone for the SCX effect with their driver and navigator. Both are very basic, reminiscent of Scalextric drivers from the seventies.
Next up is the underneath. A very busy underneath too. The motor is angled down probably to generate a bit more clearance under the centre of the model, indicating to me that this has been designed for some serious 'off slot-road' action, more like the SCX models and unlike the Ninco raid models.
There is a very effective spring loaded drop down guide arm with a spring loaded guide fitted to it. The guide didn't seem to be as deep as I would have expected but there is a round neodymium magnet mounted in the guide arm directly behind the guide. This is all there is to keep it in the slot as there are no other traction magnets fitted anywhere on this model!
The front and rear axles have suspension but I wonder if it is that effective? Even though it has some fine spring assisted dampers the axle travel at the back is minimal at best and at the front one side seems to be jammed up?? This will need further attention but I can't see the suspension being any more than a token gesture. This model is also four wheel drive, but……. the front wheels are driven by two drive bands running in axle pulleys, similar to Ninco, which once again are a poor excuse for 4WD. The bands rub hard against the chassis along both the top and the bottom and when you turn the rear wheels the fronts barely move, demonstrating the amount of torque that can be delivered to the front axle!! Not a lot!
Once the top is off things look very basic. Inside the body there is heaps of space and not a lot to occupy it. The chassis is very sturdy and the motor looks hard to access so I suppose it's there for the duration. The guide arm is sturdy and well mounted allaying fears of costly or unrepairable breakages and the shock absorbers and their mount also look tough, even though they won't be doing much. So that is very much it. I haven't even gone to the length of measuring up the specs as it all seems a bit academic for this type of model. Suffice it to say that for this model, the Powerslot PS 1 motor has more than enough grunt. Enough in fact to enable it, with the help of the sprung guide, to do a wheel stand the length of the Red Teams' main straight. Very impressive but watch out for the underpass!!
So what have we ended up with? Quite a likeable and impressive slot model which will introduce a light hearted intermission to a night's slotracing at worst, and a defiant, 'get out of my way' type slotcar for more serious off road / raid racing! There is plenty of grip in the tyres and there is a good turn of speed in the motor and I can just see it running the coarse of an SCX off road set, complete with humps and bumps, watersplashes and bridges. But what I am most looking forward to is seeing it muscle its way through the Ninco and SCX competition in a Slotcar Legends race day, especially at Jordan's!!! (fades out with a sinister Vincent Price type laugh)………………..


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In Late-Night Metered-Market Household Averages for Saturday
* "Saturday Night Live," with host Anne Hathaway and musical guest
Rihanna, averaged a 5.0/12 in metered-market households, matching the show's second-highest overnights so far this season. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.6 rating,
12 share in adults 18-49.
* In both metered-market households and the Local People Meters,
"SNL" was the #1 show of the night on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, topping all primetime programs on those networks.
* Versus the same night last year, "SNL" was up 11 percent in
metered-market households (5.0 vs. 4.5).
Saturday Primetime Results:
* At 8 p.m. ET, an encore telecast of "Revolution" averaged a
0.4/1 in 18-49 and 1.9 million viewers overall. At 9 p.m. ET, a rebroadcast of "Chicago Fire" delivered a 0.5/2 in 18-49 and 2.4 million viewers overall. From its first half-hour to its second, "Chicago Fire"
grew by a tenth of a rating point in 18-49 (to a 0.6 from a 0.5) and 9 percent in total viewers (2.5 million vs. 2.3 million).
* At 10 p.m. ET, a rebroadcast of "Law & Order: Special Victims
Unit" (0.8/2 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall) grew from its first half-hour to its second in every key ratings category, including gains of 29 percent in adults 18-49 (to a 0.9 rating from a 0.7), 22 percent in adults 25-54 (1.1 vs. 0.9) and 17 percent in total viewers (3.5 million vs. 3.0 million).
NOTE: All ratings are "live plus same day" from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise indicated.


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Tom Wohlwender '13 ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Williams College hung on for a 34-26 NESCAC win against Hamilton College at Hamilton's Steuben Field on Oct. 27.
Williams (3-3 overall and NESCAC) extended its win streak against the Continentals to 16 games and leads the all-time series, 40-7. Hamilton's record dipped to 1-5 overall and in the conference.
Darren Hartwell '13 returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and finished with 297 all-purpose yards for the Ephs. Hartwell also caught six passes for 86 yards with a touchdown. Tom Murphy '15 was 12 of 23 for 174 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Antonio Blanco '15 led all players with 13 tackles and returned an interception 8 yards for Williams, which scored 14 points off turnovers. Chris Kim '14 chipped in nine tackles and another interception. James Howe '16 was credited with 1 1/2 sacks and Mike Flynn '15 added another. Joe Mallock '14 pinned four punts inside the 20 and recorded two touchbacks, but was wide right on a pair of 37-yard field goals.
James Stanell '14 ran for 109 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries for the Continentals. Joe Jensen '15 caught six passes for a career-high 109 yards and Stanell added another 39 yards on three receptions. Jordan Eck '13 was 19 of 39 for a season-high 271 yards passing. Eck threw for a touchdown and ran for another, but was picked off twice. Hamilton owned a 414-304 advantage in total offense, and racked up 24 first downs.
Mike MacDonald '13 led the Hamilton defense with 11 tackles and Daniel Finger '16 broke up three passes. Michael De Percin '15 posted one sack and Austin Durham '15 and Darren Fuller '14 shared another.
Hartwell's 90-yard return on the opening kickoff and Mallock's extra point gave the Ephs an early 7-0 lead. After a 35-yard return by Stanell to the Williams 40-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, the Continentals marched 60 yards on six running plays to tie the score. Stanell broke off a 33-yard run to get Hamilton down to the Ephs' 23, and Eck scrambled 9 yards into the end zone on third-and-six. Garrett Hoy's '13 PAT tied the score at 7-7 with 11:22 left in the first quarter. Williams finished the first quarter with no first downs.
The score remained tied until midway through the second quarter. After Hartwell returned a punt 12 yards to his own 44, Williams went 56 yards in six plays to take the lead for good. Wohlwender carried the ball four times for 46 yards on the drive, including a 12-yard run around left end and into the end zone. Mallock's extra point made the score 14-7 with 6:32 remaining.
On the second play of the Continentals' next drive, Kim intercepted Eck at the Hamilton 49. Murphy was 3-for-3 for 59 yards on the Ephs' scoring drive, which culminated in a 38-yard touchdown completion to Hartwell with 3:32 left. Mallock made it 21-7 with the PAT.
The Continentals got three points back before the end of the first half. Eck completed a pass to Stanell for 18 yards to the Hamilton 45 on third-and-17, and found Jensen for 39 yards to the Williams 16 on the next play. Four plays later, Hoy booted a 31-yard field goal with 32 seconds remaining.
The Ephs had a chance to extend their lead before the half ended. Jean Luc Etienne '15 returned a squib kick 25 yards to the Continentals' 48-yard line, and after a pair of 14-yard gains, Mallock lined up for a 37-yard field goal attempt. The kick had plenty of distance, but sailed wide right as the the horn went off to end the second quarter.
Hamilton opened the second half with a 13-play, 75-yard march that chewed up more than 6 minutes. The Continentals had second-and-10 from the Williams 22 when they were hit with back-to-back false start and personal foul penalties. Facing second-and-30 from the 42, Eck completed a 15-yard pass to Pat Donadio '15, and then another 15-yard pass to Hoy on fourth-and-15. Finally, on third-and-10 from the Ephs' 12-yard line, Eck ran 11 yards and went out-of-bounds at the 1.
Stanell punched it into the end zone from the 1 to pull Hamilton within 21-16. After a timeout, the Continentals decided to go for two points. Eck completed a pass to Donadio in the end zone and it was 21-18 with 8:55 left.
Williams' next drive came up empty, but Blanco picked off Eck at the Hamilton 38 and returned it 8 yards to the 30. The Ephs took advantage of the short field and needed just five plays to go back up by double digits. On second-and-20 after an offensive holding call, Murphy found Ryan Prokesch '14 for 25 yards and a nice diving catch in the back of the end zone. Mallock made it 28-18 with 1:53 remaining in the third.
Williams added some insurance late in the fourth quarter after Hartwell gave the Ephs nice field position again after a punt. Williams started its drive at the Continentals' 34-yard line after a 17-yard return by Hartwell. Wohlwender ran the ball six times for 22 yards and Murphy completed a 12-yard pass to Richie Beaton '14 to account for the entire drive that took seven plays and more than four minutes. Wohlwender ran it in from the 2 on third down with 1:39 left for a 34-18 cushion. Mallock's PAT was blocked.
Hamilton completed the scoring on a 22-yard pass from Eck to Jensen in the left corner of the end zone with 10.8 seconds remaining. Jensen leads the Continentals with four touchdowns. Eck ran for the two-point conversion to make it 34-26. Hamilton's onside kick was recovered by Beaton, who clinched the win for Williams.
The Continentals host Middlebury College for the Old Rocking Chair Classic on Saturday, Nov. 3. The Ephs return home to take on Wesleyan University on Saturday.
Hamilton comes up short against Williams
|Williams (3-3)
|Hamilton (1-5)
Tom Wohlwender '13 ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Williams College hung on for a 34-26 NESCAC win against Hamilton College at Hamilton's Steuben Field on Oct. 27.


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Los Angeles must speak out against all forms of racism and racial violence, no matter if it comes from a billionaire or gang members, Mayor Eric Garcetti told members of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP this week.
Garcetti was honored as a Person of the Year by the L.A. chapter at the dinner in which it was also to present a lifetime achievement award to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
Sterling's selection was withdrawn after recordings of his racist remarks were made public and the NBA took action to ban him for life.
"The cause … is never defined by one leader, by a single chapter, by even a single organization," Garcetti said at the dinner marking the NAACP's 100th anniversary. "It is defined by all of us. It is not a single leader any more than a city is represented by the hateful words of one businessman."
Garcetti talked of the realities beyond Sterling's remarks that need addressing: the number of black men in prison and the recent fire bombings in the Ramona Gardens Housing Project of homes occupied by African-American families.
Sterling had given $45,000 to the NAACP over the years, and he was to be recognized for those contributions. However, once the audio was released, there was dramatic fallout, with chapter President Leon Jenkins stepping down, vowing that any money Sterling had donated would be returned.
Minnie Hadley-Hempstead, the new interim chapter president, believes local officials should not be judged by one decision. "One incident in 100 years doesn't change anything," she said. "We're going to get up, band together and do what we need to do now."
Sterling was honored by the local NAACP chapter in 2009 as well, though that, too, was rescinded. The national NAACP said it wants to develop guidelines for how awards are given.
At the dinner, held at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel, the Rev. Al Sharpton, also recognized as a Person of the Year, said the NAACP was united. "Sterling might be rich, but he's not as rich as the history of this organization," he said.
For City Council President Herb Wesson, the strength of the organization is in its members. "The NAACP has been around for 100 years," Wesson said. "It will survive this and continue to be a source of strength."
Wesson spoke with the group and said they should not have returned Sterling's money. "This is money that could be put to good use," he said. "I told them to keep it."


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2013 NAIA Women?s Cross Country Runner of the Week - No. 7
By: Sam Knehans, Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hannah Helker of Oklahoma Baptist has been named the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Runner of the Week, the national office announced Wednesday. Helker was chosen for her performance during the week of Oct. 21 – 27 and was selected out of a pool of conference and independent award winners.
Helker, a native of Edmond, Okla., bested the 252-runner field at NAIA Mid-States Classic, hosted by Southwestern (Kan.) on Oct. 26 in Winfield, Kan. The junior won the race by covering the 5-kilometer course in 16:18—over a minute faster than her nearest competitor. Led by Helker, the Bison, who had five runners place among the top 20 individuals, brought home the team title, outpacing the 29-team field with a combined 5-kilometer time of 1:29:55.
This is the third 2013 Runner of the Week nod for Helker, who was also honored with the award twice in 2012.
For the complete player of the week calendar, click here.
Nominees: Kristen Garwood, Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.); Elizabeth Grubbs, Park (Mo.); Sami Berry , William Woods (Mo.); Hannah Schroeder, Bryan (Tenn.); Lauren Grindstaff, Milligan (Tenn.); Robbiccaa Williams, Tennessee Wesleyan; Hannah Barnes, Truett-McConnell (Ga.); Emily McLean, Northwest Christian (Ore.); Summer Cano, Southern Oregon; Sarah Ray, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.); Hilary Halford, St. Francis (Ill.); Hannah Schroder, Taylor (Ind.); Kayla Ewert, Indiana Wesleyan; Rebekah Mullins, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio); Leah Esposito, Carroll (Mont.); Jenyffer Ortega, Great Falls (Mont.); Karis Frankian, The Master's (Calif.); Katie Smelker, Mount Marty (S.D.); Catherine Fakler, Xavier (La.); Lauren Jaqua, Baker (Kan.); Amanda Buhr, Missouri Valley; Rachel Renken, Friends (Kan.); Amber Burgess, Sterling (Kan.); Chelsea Fullerton, Ottawa (Kan.); Sarah Poll an, St. Louis Pharmacy (Mo.); Embra Hawkins, Brescia (Ky.); Meliah Carrel, Midway (Ky.); Mercy Kershner, Berea (Ky.); Marissa Buchheit, Point Park (Pa.); Sarah Biehl, Shawnee State (Ohio); Madison Peace, Cumberlands (Ky.); Tayler Godar, Georgetown (Ky.); Sarah Johnson, Campbellsville (Ky.); Emily Weber, College of Saint Mary (Neb.) (Neb.); Talisa Budder, Haskell (Kan.); Meredith Jones, Viterbo (Wis.); Becca Wilder, St. Ambrose (Iowa); Kelsey Carbajo, Grand View (Iowa); Liz Mosbach, Mount Mercy (Iowa); Aleona Reyes, Jamestown (N.D.); Ceara O'Donnell, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas); Brenda Felipe, Texas Wesleyan; Sarah Jerotich, Wayland Baptist (Texas); Deborah Park, Science & Arts (Okla.); Kristina Nolan, Oklahoma City; Annie Hills, Loyola (La.); Andrea Langley, Emmanuel (Ga.); Jessy Scarpone, SCAD Savannah (Ga.); Ellie Staker, Embry-Riddle (Fla.); No Nominee, Northwood (Fla.); Joyce Miller, USC Beaufort (S.C.); Lauren Dunleavy, Ave Maria (Fla.); Anna Ahrens, Southeastern (Fla.); No Nominee, Warner (Fla.); Becca Lamb, Indiana Tech; Julie Oosterhouse, Cornerstone (Mich.); Kelsee VanderBaan, Davenport (Mich.); Ashley Yeager, Lourdes (Ohio).
2013 Women's Cross Country Composite Award Winners
Week 1 (September 18): Ayded Reyes, Cal State San Marcos
Week 2 (September 25): Lindsey Martin, Columbia (Mo.)
Week 3 (October 2): Hannah Helker, Oklahoma Baptist
Week 4 (October 9): Maria Bernard, British Columbia
Week 5 (October 16): Hannah Helker, Oklahoma Baptist
Week 6 (October 23): Hillary Holt, College of Idaho
Week 7 (October 30): Hannah Helker, Oklahoma Baptist


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Musée du Louvre Free iPhone App Tours "The Louvre"
If you're interested in art or French history and architecture (including all the gilded gaudiness of royal excess in the 18th and 19th centuries), the Musée de Louvre mobile app is a great way to see some of what's in this world-famous museum.
The Musée du Louvre iPhone app, which was published by the museum itself, offers a brief, but detailed, tour of the museum most of us call "The Louvre." The tour includes images, video, information about the palace (it was built in the 12th Century as a fortress, and eventually housed French royalty, including some of the Napolean family), and handy visitor information about the museum.
The artwork section is presented in an iPhone Cover Flow format. Starting with the Mona Lisa front and center, you can flip through a score or so of the major artworks on display at the museum. Tap an individual painting, sculpture, or other piece of art, and a larger image of the work opens. Tap the larger image, and you get a new pane with buttons for About the Work, See More Detail, Technical Information, and Location.
You can use the buttons to get a history of the work, including who created it, what it is about, and what kinds of material were used to create it. The See More Detail button offers close-up images of the art, which you can zoom in on by using the iPhone's pinch gestures. The Location button reveals a map that shows where the artwork is displayed in the museum.
But wait, there's more! Musée du Louvre includes several high-definition videos of different pieces of art and parts of the museum. In a great use of Apple technology, each video is narrated in French, English, German, and Japanese. Note that the default language is French, but you can change it by tapping the information icon on the playback controls — this feature isn't readily apparent, so many people think the videos are offered only in French.
The Palace section of the app offers a detailed look at the major sections of the building that houses the museum. Tap a selection in Cover Flow mode, and you get a picture with options for a short history, detailed pictures you can flip through, a video (if one is available — you're linked to the same videos mentioned earlier), and a map of the section in the museum.
If you find something you particularly like or want to come back to, you can bookmark entries by tapping the star on the entry's main page. You can access bookmarks from the main window of the app.
If you're lucky enough to be going to Le Louvre in person, the app offers directions, hours of operation, admission fees, information about the different services and amenities offered, as well as contact information. Being able to access this information makes this app invaluable to anyone who's going to see the real deal.
The text in the app is searchable, which makes it easy to find what you're looking for.


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Battle Competition
Within the Global Link, there is the special Battle Competition option. From time to time, various special competitions will run which have you use your Pokémon in battle against others. This runs akin to the Random Matchup mode and has you gain points based upon your defeat of other trainers, or lose points if you are defeated. They tend to last four days and are selectable in the Battle Competition part of the main menu, using Pokémon you need to register in your Battle Box.
A new feature added to this, is the inclusion of penalties for disconnecting. If you disconnect now from battle, you will have a loss recorded.
Below is a list of all the Battle Competitions for Pokémon X & Y
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300-year-old stolen headstone returned to Boston's Old North Church
Copp's Hill Cemetery headstone stolen by sailor in 1950
A 300-year-old headstone that had been stolen from Boston's historic Old North Church was returned to the church last week in a UPS delivery.
The headstone was accompanied by a picture of a young sailor from the 1950s, holding the tombstone aboard a Navy ship, the Rev. Stephen T. Ayres wrote on the church's Facebook page.
An unsigned note accompanied the headstone with an explanation from the sailor that he had stolen it from the church's tool shed when he was stationed at the Charlestown Navy Yard in the 1950s.
View a slideshow of the graves of Mass. patriots
He had taken the headstone with him on his Navy travels to the Artic and the tropics and it "was turned into a small coffee table upon his retirement to California," Ayres said.
The headstone marked the burial of 15-month old Mary Paine, who died in Boston on Dec. 31, 1713.
Records from the time confirm that Paine had been buried in Boston's historic Copp's Hill Cemetery. Why the headstone had been taken from the cemetery to the Old North Church is not revealed in the records.
The retired sailor, whose identity remains a mystery, wrote that he decided to return the headstone after 50 years to its rightful owner.
The city plans to place the headstone at its original location in the cemetery.


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The Rev. John F. Guidera, a Jesuit missionary who lived in India for six decades while retaining close ties with his Maryland benefactors, died of septicemia May 16 in Jamshedpur. He was 86.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Govans, he was a 1943 Loyola High School graduate. He then entered the Jesuit seminary in Wernersville, Pa., and attended Weston College in Weston, Mass.
"It was on a November evening in 1950 that the SS Chusan took him to Bombay harbor ... a young Jesuit far from his home in Baltimore, dispatched as a missionary to work for the rest of his life in the land of the poor, the leprotic, the dying and the hungry," a 1986 Evening Sun column said.
In one of Father Guidera's many letters distributed to his friends and donors, he wrote in 1975, "It turned out that once the unknown became known, the stranger became a friend and the country became my home. I have found much happiness and peace."
He studied at DeNobili College in Pune, India, from 1953 to 1957. He was ordained a priest in India in 1956.
He served at Jamshedpur, a city about 200 miles west of Calcutta. Colleagues said that Maryland Jesuits were initially asked to come to the city to run a school for boys whose families were associated with Kaiser engineering consultants establishing an auto plant in the years after India gained its independence from England.
He and other Jesuits soon expanded the scope of their work as they saw a need for more schools for the poor, dispensaries for the sick and other ministries. They worked closely with the local clergy.
"He was a great parish priest who especially dedicated his life to leading and serving the young people of the parish," said a friend, Vivian D'Almeida, who lives in Australia. "His greatest gift was that he made young people feel valued and important. Despite his busy life as parish priest and missionary, he always had time to talk to you."
Friends recalled him as a tireless fundraiser and builder. They said he saw many of his goals achieved.
"At his death, there were 34,913 students in Jesuit schools" in Jamshedpur, said the Rev. Joseph Lacey, a friend and fellow Jesuit who is pastor of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Church in Woodstock and served with him in India. "One of his favorite sayings that he'd use in time of decision making was 'Think of others.'"
Father Guidera's sister, Rita Zungailia of Baltimore, said that on his first trip back in Baltimore in 1963, he told friends of India's poverty and of his vision for expanding education, particular for young girls.
Working with Frank A. Gunther, later chairman of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and a brother-in-law, Frank Mace, he devised a dollar-a-month club.
They sought pledges from friends throughout Baltimore. Once a month, Father Guidera wrote a letter, which was reproduced and distributed locally.
"He described his daily life in India," said Mr. Gunther, who lives in Ocean City. "He made it very personal."
Family members — he had 60 nieces and nephews — and friends from Govans supported his works. His list grew to 1,400 names.
"It was like a cottage industry. We got an old addressing machine and got the letters out," his sister said.
His work was often cited at Baltimore fundraisers called Jesuit Jamborees and at luncheons at the Notre Dame University of Maryland. Frances Wilke Haussner, the owner of the well-known restaurant, was a donor to charity auctions associated with his causes.
"He was a personal letter writer and he liked thanking people. Some didn't give much. Some gave plenty," said Ms. Zungailia. "On the times when he was home, he would go along the East Coast and show up, completely unannounced, to thank his benefactors. He liked surprising people."
In May 1965, he wrote from Ranchi: "The people here are very poor and need the children at home to help with farming. But the solution to their poverty will only come when the children are educated and able to get good jobs outside." In another letter, he said, "It seems that the poorer a person is, the more attached he is to his children. As one man told me, 'They are the only thing I can call my own.'"
Over the years, he served at posts in Chaibasa, Jamshedpur and Chakradharpur. In 1972, he was named provincial of the Jesuit's Jamshedpur Province. He returned to Baltimore for a year in 1978 but then returned to India.
He and fellow Jesuits also answered a request from the Indian government to establish a business school, offering a master's degree in administration, to aid in the country's economic growth. Father Guidera was an administrator of the school.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Church, 10800 Old Court Road, Woodstock.
In addition to his sister, survivors include a brother, James Guidera of Lutherville; five other sisters, Mary Cummons, Pat Maas, Elizabeth Bollinger and Joan DeSantis, all of Baltimore, and Ann Mace of Glen Mills, Pa.; and nieces and nephews.
The Rev. John F. Guidera, a Jesuit missionary who lived in India for six decades while retaining close ties with his Maryland benefactors, died of septicemia May 16 in Jamshedpur. He was 86.


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Excellent news. Mexico has lifted its regulations that prevented gay and bisexual men from donating blood, reports Andrés Duque at Blabbeando.
Mexico has beat the United States and Canada in removing the antiquated ban ... and apparently has become the first country in the Americas to do so.
A little noticed Mexican health norm first approved in August and then published in the country's regulatory Official Federation Diary on October 26th has gone into effect today essentially doing away with a two-decade ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.
The old norm (NOM 003-SSA2) explicitly banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood based on their "practices" and their "increased probability of acquiring HIV or hepatitis infection". The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in "risky sexual practices" regardless of their sexual identity.
This becomes the latest progressive news on LGBT issues from Mexico. Earlier this month you will recall the Supreme Court of Mexico issued a landmark decision that struck down the same-sex marriage ban in the southern state of Oaxaca. Marriage equality has been the law in Mexico City since December 2009. Those same sex marriages are recognized in all of Mexico's 31 states. Same sex marries are also allowed in Quintana Roo.
In July 2010, the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability voted 9-6 against lifting the Food and Drug Administration ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. The current policy bans any man who has had sex with a man since 1977 from donating blood. Technological advances have rendered that ban scientifically unwarranted. The HHS panel said that "more research is needed."
You May Have Missed ...
MEX House Votes for Same-Sex Couple Benefits
Mexico City Mayor Sues Bishop for Defamation
MEX Catholic: Gay Marriage Worse Than Drug Violence
MEX SupCt: All States Must Recognize Gay Marriages
MEX SupCt: Mex City Gay Marriage Law Constitutional
Mexico Supreme Court Strikes Down Marriage Ban
HHS Committee Votes to Retain Blood Ban


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Commit the people, then troops
Unfortunately, too many Americans seem to be ignoring the fact that one of the greatest causes for the amount of debt our nation now is burden by is our two undeclared wars.
Rachel Maddow, a MSNBC personality, has recently written a book titled, "Drift." The theme of the book is that America has begun to drift into a war-like country, too ready to engage in international intervention and adventurism.
One of the problems with our nation is that we have created an all-volunteer army. Previous to this, in time of crisis, the Selective Service System was activated and would call up able-bodied men to serve as members of our armed forces. While the American population has responded in a spectacular way in times of crisis, it is clear the principle of civilian control of our armed forces has always been foremost in most of our citizens' minds. Although many draftees served with great valor and bravery, most of them disliked every minute they spent in the armed services. Such an experience is a great safeguard against the military ever, as a unit, taking over and replacing our Democratic form of government.
Another great problem with an all volunteer Army is that Americans have become so complacent that we apparently engage in warfare too readily because there is no personal sacrifice required of those of us not serving in the armed forces. Such a mindset can be dangerous to our Republic.Part of what caused the collapse of the Roman Empire was that the Empire engaged too long in constant warfare beyond its borders. It decimated the treasury of Rome and ultimately was one of the great factors in the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
Our constitution addressed the issue of when America should go to war; in short, it should be when Congress declares war, ostensibly against another nation. Congress sat on its hands as President George W. Bush sold the concept of war on a situation, not on a country. No war was actually declared, and the war was conducted off the books.
Bush sold the concept of the war on terror. Just how silly that concept is can be seen if one thinks about what would have happened if Lyndon Johnson mobilized the armed forces to feed the poor or build housing for the unfortunate having declared his war on poverty.
We should demand of Congress the concept put forth by Ross Perot. His idea concerning the commitment of troops was that we should first commit the people and then the troops. We should demand of our leadership that no Americans should be placed in harm's way, nor should American taxpayers be burdened with a senseless war unless the Congress of the United States is willing to declare war on someone. Of course there should be authority for the president, our commander-in-chief, to respond to sudden attacks or national emergencies, but it should be clear that is the case and not just the desire of key people in the government to have us engage in wartime activities and call it something else.
Carl Parker has practiced law in Port Arthur since 1958. He is a 1958 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. Elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and the Senate in 1976, Parker continued to practice law while writing and sponsoring hundreds of bills that became laws relating to every aspect of life in Texas.


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The brand Alice and Olivia launched back in 2002 having as its mastermind Stacey Bendet, offered style-conscious ladies the chance to perk up their clothing style and embrace more colors and prints as the best means both to banish the monotony of neutrals as well as explore the endless facets of the world of fashion designing. Stacey Bendet is one of the promising designers who managed to turn this brand into a real keyword when it comes of modern and unique outfit ideas and style pieces. The fusion between the cutting edge and cosmo chic d... Read More


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Prepregnancy Body Mass Index (Bmi) and Suggested Weight Gain
less than 19.8 (low) gain 9-22 lbs.
19.8-26 (normal) gain 5-22 lbs.
26.1-29.9 (overweight) gain under 20 lbs.
30-35 (obese) gain under 13 lbs.
35.1-39.9 (class II obesity) gain 0-9 lbs.
40+ (class III obesity) lose 0-9 lbs.
I have to admit that these numbers make sense to me. But I also recommend that pregnant women who read this blog listen to their own bodies and discuss weight gain concerns with their doctor or midwife.
Here is the link to the article with the new suggested guidelines:
It will be interesting to see what the IOM's final recs are in June of 2009.
I found the website through a great blog about exercise, pregnancy, etc, http://xapis.wordpress.com/ I have a link on the right hand column under Running In Pregnancy Links (It's called This Dreamcrossed Twilight).
In other news, our life has become pretty happy here in Næstved. It's not easy to leave the entire life we knew (plus two wondeful kids) for another country. It's been especially hard for SR.
But we know step daughter is coming and we feel great about that. I think she'll just love it here.
We have our favorite running spots and SR is runnning really fast these days. We're looking forward to a half marathon coming up in a few weeks.
We have found good jobs and I just applied for money to start a PhD project.
And then there's The Lorax. Here he is with grandma in one of the rare moments when he doesn't have banana in his hair.
He actually started drawing a bit yesterday. He saw me writing on some paper and then took the pen from me and started doodling. He ended up with a pretty good drawing:
Then he said "Ach!" and made some greenies in his diapers.
Okay, so maybe his drawing was slightly different.
Running Song of The Day: Hvorfor er lykken så lunefuld? by Lars HUG


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Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Google+ Hangouts are Fun!
One thing I have been curious about is the Google+ Hangout. If you've used Skype before then you may have experienced something similar with their video conference feature. Google+ Hangout lets you have a video conference/chat with up to 9 other people for a total of 10 in the Hangout.
Today I've had the opportunity to have three Hangouts so I really got a chance to see how it works. This morning fellow blogger and colleague, Russ Worthington, invited me to a hangout. We were checking out whether it is possible to do a private hangout. And, yes, it does seem possible. You just need to specify the name of the person(s) that you want to invite to the hangout. Then only that person(s) will see the invitation. A hangout announcement/invitation gets posted to your wall but only the invitee can see it.
Later in the day I initiated my first ever hangout. All the others I had joined. This one I opened to anyone in my Google+ circles and waited to see who would randomly pop in. A number of genealogy friends from Facebook joined - Heather in NH, Patti in MO, Pat in DE and Kirsty in Scotland.
That hangout was interesting because some people had video and voice, one had voice only and one had no video and no voice and had to communicate through the chat feature.
It was fun to meetup face to face from so many different parts of the world and get to at least hear each others voices.
Lastly, I had a final, quick hangout with my cousin, Rusty. It was his first time doing a hangout.
What strikes me is how easy it is to do these hangouts. While we were just testing them and not really doing more than gabbing, I can see how hangouts can be a great way to connect with family or collaborate with colleagues. Being able to bridge distance so easily is exciting.
I admit that I don't love seeing myself on video but I've gotten over that. I feel like I've entered the realm of Star Trek and soon this form of communication will be natural. I'm looking forward to using it much more in the future.
If you want to try a hangout with me sometime leave a comment or drop me a line. See you on the web!
3 comments:
It was fun "hanging out" with you, both ways (with and without webcam). Thanks for mentioning that I was on the www.womenofgplus.com I just checked it out and saw my profile. I'll have to find out if Dear Myrtle archived her webinars for you.ReplyDelete
Sorry to have missed your hangout, Marian. I hope we connect some time in the future.ReplyDelete
I am sorry that I didn't get to your later hangouts, but I was trying to get prepared to meet with the head of our local Family History Interest Group on a project I have been working on.
One of the HangOuts I was on, with Heather, we talked about things to consider when doing a "controlled" hangout with a client. The background was the topic. Heather has a nice background, but the next morning, I was on a hand out with Libbi Crowe and the same topic came up. She blogged about that.
I just bring this up as WE learn this new tech toy.
I haven't seen DearMYRTLE's posting of her Webinars, but I also know that she has been "on the road" this week. She may have posted them on Lulu. It was fun watching and participating in those Webinars.


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Prayer and Meditation Group
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
Additional Dates:
- Tuesday Nov 26, 2019
- Tuesday Dec 3, 2019
- Tuesday Dec 10, 2019
- Tuesday Dec 17, 2019
- Tuesday Dec 24, 2019
Lotus Tree Ayurveda
7015 Fourth Street
Ste B
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Ste B
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Contact:Swami Ji
Website: Click to Visit
More events at Lotus Tree Ayurveda
Learn stilling the mind, concentration and meditation practices. No previous experience needed.
60 Minute Guided Prayer & Meditation Circle with Swami Ji
Learn stilling the mind, concentration & meditation practices.
No previous experience needed.
Swami Ji is an authorized teacher of spiritual meditation practices since 1994.
"Imagine that even the slightest change in the Solar System can change the life-cycle for everyone on this planet. All worries and thoughts will vanish as soon as you start meditation and connect yourself to the Divine Source."
"Our prayers are so strong that we can also change the course of the future just by asking for peace for all…"


text:
Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan's Forum
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Methica wrote:Listening to a song, and really liking the song, but not knowing the title, nor the artists...
Grania wrote:Some people really are a few pennies short aren't they? Ah well
Grania wrote: One thing irritating me right now? This essay that I just CAN'T get up to a decent word count! Ideally I need another 99 words or a bit more - how frustrating is that??????? I managed to find another 200 from somewhere already this morning, but I don't think I can any more Ah well, it's just going to have to be a short essay I think.
Some people really are a few pennies short aren't they? Ah well
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With this book you'll receive solid NFPA 25 answers and examples in the 2011 Water-Based Fire Protection Systems Handbook, plus a full-color insert for troubleshooting support.
When it comes to sprinkler system upkeep, any errors or oversights could result in fire tragedies and fire loss. Apply NFPA 25 correctly and ensure sprinkler performance with the comprehensive Third Edition Water-Based Fire Protection Systems Handbook.
Only NFPA's vital illustrated resource has:
- Complete 2011 NFPA 25 text supplemented by expert commentary clarifying rules and their intent
- Added case studies drawn from real-world sprinkler experience in commercial and industrial environments
- 100+ visuals -- including a new special insert with photos in full color, to help you identify the telltale signs of pipe corrosion and decay
- Sample inspection, testing, and maintenance forms for help in implementing your own procedures
- Updated FAQs drawn from real-world questions
- New vertical rules in the outer margins identify changes in the Standard
- Five in-depth supplements cover topics such as substantive technical changes from the 2008 to the 2011 Edition of NFPA 25, detection and mitigation of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) in water-based systems, and foam environmental issues (based on NFPA 11)
There's more online! The NFPA 25 Handbook includes a Web address for downloadable forms. A special URL provides online access to customizable forms for inspecting, testing, and maintaining multiple water systems.
Don't work without the most complete sprinkler maintenance reference ever developed by the NFPA 25 source!


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Software art presses the notion that all the materials of today's society, for example word processors and email clients, are open to critique and analysis and are subject to experimentation. Besides addressing utilitarian tools, software artists also develop astonishing formalist projects using code. If you want to get involved with this important cultural field, consider attending Read_Me 2004 -- a 'Software Art and Cultures Conference' which will be held in late August, 2004 in Aarhus, Denmark. The festival will host seminars and panels so that those researching and practicing in the fields of programming, design and art can share findings. Software enthusiasts and users are also welcome, and all participants are likely to enjoy the city-wide Dorkbot camp that will follow the formal conference. Until March 1, 2004, organizers are accepting abstracts so if you want to present at Read_me, it's time to start working on your script. -- Rachel Greene
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by Elvia Wilk on Oct 30th, 2015
by Michael Connor on Oct 22nd, 2015
by Celine Katzman on Oct 20th, 2015
by Michael Connor on Oct 19th, 2015


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Adventure at it's best.
No expensive lift ticket, no pricey equipment, no parking lots.
Just the sled and snow.
The Ultimate Sled
Far more controllable and maneuverable than your garden-variety toy store sled. You kneel on the sled and steer by leaning, using your hands for stabilization. The design of the sled's hull makes it easy to execute sharp turns, which is essential for dodging trees on forested hillsides in Vermont and everywhere else. The plush kneepads soften landings, and the knee strap ensures that you and your sled come back to earth together. Light-weight and easy to carry while you hike or snowshoe up the mountain. Also doubles as a pulk to haul gear. Some well-practiced Mad River Rocket riders have even developed quite a repertoire of aerial tricks on the sleds; it's very impressive, but just like with skiing, try some small jumps first before you aim for the skies.


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- 1 (2 1/2-ounce) plain bagel, split
- 1/4 slices turkey pepperoni
- 2 tablespoons pizza sauce
- 3/4 cup finely shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 4 black olive slices
- 2 small button mushrooms
- 2 slivers red bell pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, toast bagel halves lightly in a toaster then lay on a baking sheet, cut side up. Top each bagel half with 7 slices turkey pepperoni, covering the hole in each bagel. Gently spread the pizza sauce over the pepperoni with the back of a spoon and press cheese on evenly. Make eyes on each bagel with 2 olive slices. Make a nose on each bagel with a mushroom. Make a mouth on each bagel with a red bell pepper sliver. Bake for 8–10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the pizza is heated through.
Yield: 2 pizzas.
Serving size: 1 pizza.
Nutrition Facts Per Serving:
Calories: 189 calories, Carbohydrates: 24 g, Protein: 12 g, Fat: 5 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Sodium: 609 mg, Fiber: 1 g
Exchanges per serving: 1 1/2 starch, 1 medium-fat meat. Carbohydrate choices: 1 1/2.
Tami Ross is a Diabetes Nutrition Specialist and Certified Diabetes Educator in Lexington, Kentucky.


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Nordo's spin on the Spaghetti Western returns with Ray Tagavilla channeling Clint Eastwood as an enigmatic stranger who comes to the town of Sauget. One farmer has had enough of the powerful forces dictating who owns the land and the crops in this small town, and Sauget is preparing for his hanging. Smoked unfurls with the slow burn of a Leone film coupled with a score so good it inspired Nordo's spinoff band, Two Horses Too Many.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: June 10Café Nordo Presents: Smoked!
Later Event: June 14Café Nordo Presents: Smoked!


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We Can't Quote The AP... But Can Embed Its Videos?
from the left-hand,-meet-the-right-hand deptThe Associated Press is still insisting that bloggers shouldn't be excerpting its articles online without a license -- but apparently no one told the folks pushing AP videos. Jon Ashley wonders about this difference, noting that the AP has its own YouTube Channel, where it appears that the videos all have embedding enabled. This, of course, takes us right back to the question we asked last week concerning whether or not embedding videos can be seen as infringement. In the meantime, since the AP insists it really wants to be a part of the "conversation," can it explain why embedding videos is great, while quoting is not?
Filed Under: copyright, embedding, fair use, legal issues
Companies: associated press


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The path to permanent retirement
The path to permanent retirement
George is a 68-year-old partner and shareholder at a law firm, where he has spent 15 years as the lead litigator for insurance defense. Lately he's had a hard time remembering hearings and court dates. Kate, his secretary of eight years, has noticed errors in his billable hours, but she protects her boss and corrects his errors, thinking it's just stress-related. She has to repeat herself over and over to George, who seems very confused. George would like to retire, but he can't afford to, because his wife, who has lung cancer, recently retired.
George appeared before a judge, who noticed that he was not attuned to the best interests of his client and recited facts that were not of the case before them. The judge was concerned, and called The Florida Bar.
Using this hypothetical example, Linda Calvert Hanson, director of The Florida Bar's Center for Professionalism, explained how the grievance system works when it comes to complaints about cognitively impaired lawyers.
When a complaint is received by the Bar's Attorney Consumer Assistance Program, the standard is as follows:
"The impairment does not lessen the attorney's obligation under Rule 4-1.1 to provide competent representation to a client. Further, The Florida Bar is obligated to protect the interest of that client. Additionally, under Rule 4-1.16, a lawyer must decline or terminate representation if the lawyer's physical and mental condition materially impairs the lawyer's ability to represent the client.
"If it appears that George will cause harm to his clients by continuing to practice, the goal for The Florida Bar would be to work with George to structure a diversion to help him gracefully exit the practice of law. There are two primary ways that we're doing this at this time:
"The first option is to use the voluntary or involuntary inactive status under Rule 3-7.13, Incapacity Not Related to Misconduct. When an attorney is incapable of practicing law because of a physical or mental illness, incapacity, or other infirmity, the attorney may be classified as an inactive member and shall refrain from practice even though there is no misconduct.
"Then if the situation changed, they could get reinstated, but they would have to follow the same reinstatement rules would one who has been suspended for misconduct.
"The involuntary procedure for inactive status is used when circumstances are such that someone has actually been adjudicated as incapacitated or has been hospitalized under the Florida Mental Health Act. That is a petition that is filed with the Florida Supreme Court, and the reinstatement upon a court restoration of their capacity. . . goes through that same process as one suspended for an act of misconduct.
"It's also noteworthy to understand that, under Rule 3-7.13, Incapacity Not Related to Misconduct, once somebody is put on that inactive list for incapacity, that is public information, once that petition is filed with the Supreme Court. So if you were to look under "Find an Attorney" on The Florida Bar website, you would see a pink N, which means they are not eligible to practice law.
"And when you drill down and look at the individual's profile, it's going to show across the top 'incapacitated.' There's been some discussion that that seems fairly judgmental, harsh. That's the way it would be characterized under 'incapacity, not misconduct.'
"In a continuing effort to permit lawyers to retire with dignity, another option that is available to The Florida Bar and that attorney is permanent retirement. Under Rule 1-3.5, it states: 'Any member of The Florida Bar may retire from the Bar upon petition and approval of the executive director.'
"And further, this was just amended last month [August] to say that 'a member who seeks and is approved to permanently retire shall not be eligible for reinstatement or readmission.'
"And the reason for this is there were circumstances where someone said, 'Well, I'm going retire,' thinking they were going to get out from behind a disciplinary action. And then after some time passed, they said, 'Well, I think I want to get back into the practice.'
"So this change that just became effective in August now makes the permanent retirement: You're done. Which also means you can't collect revenue if you have any outstanding cases.
"We do have some recent cases in which this permanent retirement has been a great option. There was a grievance filed, and according to the report of the referee, the case was resolved by the parties; stipulations were filed; and there was a petition for a permanent retirement filed as well. The referee noted that this solo practitioner, who had been in practice for 40 years, had been a mediator for 17 years, and he'd served in the armed forces, and respondent's medical health has caused it to be more difficult for the respondent to physically keep up with the demands of a law practice, and respondent acknowledged that it's in the public's best interest, as well as his own, that he no longer continues to maintain a practice.
"Based upon those facts, the recommendation was approved for the voluntary dismissal of the underlying grievance action, and the permanent retirement was granted.
"This resolution offered a way to protect the public, while allowing this 40-year practicing attorney to retire with dignity. When you open up The Florida Bar website, yes it does show the pink N, 'ineligible to practice law,' but when you open up his full page, it shows 'retired.' There is no indication of any disciplinary action.
"In George's situation, once the disciplinary case is filed, he is obligated to notify his firm in writing within 15 days, under Rule 3-7.1, Notice to the Law Firm, under the confidentiality provision."
( Editor's Note: Linda Calvert Hanson's remarks were part of a panel discussion, titled "Professionalism Issues for Senior Lawyers," at the 38th Annual Public Employment Labor Relations Forum held at the Bar's Midyear Meeting in September.)


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Mayor's Office
A partnership between the City of Lincoln and Black Hills Energy, provider of natural gas service in the City of Lincoln, has resulted in the creation of a position in the City's Development Services Center (DSC) to promote the use of green building practices in development projects. The position is funded through the City's Cleaner Greener Lincoln initiative, which received $2.4 million in federal energy stimulus funds to improve energy efficiency and boost the use of renewable and clean energy technologies across the community.
Greg Shinaut began working as the Green Building Practices Consultant in the DSC this summer. As a "loaned executive" for one year, he will split his time between the new position and his long time job as customer relations representative with Black Hills in which he promotes use of natural gas with builders and developers. Shinaut was a local home builder for more than 20 years and is the former president of the Home Builders Association of Lincoln and the Nebraska State Home Builders Association. As a Certified Green Professional, he has won numerous honors for building cost-effective, energy efficient homes that also feature green building components.
"This is a great opportunity for me to help the City, whose residents also are Black Hills Energy customers, take the lead in helping developers and builders better understand the strong market demand and cost-effective reasons to build green," Shinaut said.
"With the generous support of Black Hills Energy and Greg's proven leadership in the construction and natural gas industries, Lincoln is on its way toward becoming a leader in cost-effective green building standards," said Mayor Beutler. "This unique partnership provides the DSC with the additional expertise we need to better advise developers on energy efficiency. This is exactly the kind of innovative project we envisioned when we created the Cleaner Greener Lincoln initiative – private industry and the City working together for a sustainable future. Building green is both good for the environment and puts money right back in the pockets of utility ratepayers."
Dan Mechtenberg, Black Hills Energy vice president of gas operations for Nebraska, said, "Using energy wisely always makes sense. Conservation and energy efficiency are important to Black Hills Energy and our customers. We welcome opportunities to partner with the cities that we serve and in this case, are glad to be able to partner with the City of Lincoln by providing natural gas energy expertise and support for the Cleaner Greener Lincoln initiative. We extend our thanks to Mayor Beutler for his leadership on this initiative that will benefit the citizens of Lincoln who are also our customers."
At the DSC, Shinaut is involved in outreach with home builders, developers and Realtors as well as the banking, and neighborhood advocacy communities. He also is working with City's numerous building and safety task forces to look at incorporating green building requirements, practices and incentives into the codes. Shinaut said the goal of the partnership is to develop a comprehensive set of local building requirements that lowers barriers to the use of sustainable design and green building, and encourages developers and builders to utilize green building practices in their day-to-day operations and plans.
The City's Cleaner Greener Lincoln initiative was launched in partnership with the Nebraska Attorney General's office, which provided $50,000 from a lawsuit settlement. The stimulus funds to support the effort are available through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. More information is available at green.lincoln.ne.gov.
Black Hills Energy serves 196,000 natural gas customers in 106 eastern Nebraska communities. Black Hills Energy is a subsidiary of Black Hills Corp. - a diversified energy company with a tradition of exemplary service and a vision to be the energy partner of choice - based in Rapid City, S.D., with corporate offices in Denver and Omaha, Neb. Black Hills Corp. serves 763,300 natural gas and electric utility customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, and its non-regulated businesses generate wholesale electricity, produce natural gas, oil and coal, and market energy. Black Hills' 2,200 employees partner to produce results that improve life with energy. More information is available at blackhillscorp.com.


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The Google Book Search Data API allows client applications to view and update Book Search content in the form of Google Data API feeds.
Your client application can use the Book Search Data API to issue full-text searches for books and to retrieve standard book information, ratings, and reviews. You can also access individual users' library collections and public reviews. Finally, your application can submit authenticated requests to enable users to create and modify library collections, ratings, labels, reviews, and other account-specific entities.
For more information on the Book Search Data API, please refer to the official PHP Developer's Guide on code.google.com.
You can access both public and private feeds using the Book Search Data API. Public feeds don't require any authentication, but they are read-only. If you want to modify user libraries, submit reviews or ratings, or add labels, then your client needs to authenticate before requesting private feeds. It can authenticate using either of two approaches: AuthSub proxy authentication or ClientLogin username/password authentication. Please refer to the Authentication section in the PHP Developer's Guide for more detail.
The Book Search Data API provides a number of feeds that list collections of books.
The most common action is to retrieve a list of books that match a
search query. To do so you create a
VolumeQuery object
and pass it to the
Books::getVolumeFeed method.
For example, to perform a keyword query, with a filter on
viewability to restrict the results to partial or full view books, use
setMinViewability and
setQuery methods
of the
VolumeQuery object. The following code snippet prints
the title and viewability of all volumes whose metadata or text matches
the query term "domino":
$books = new Zend_Gdata_Books(); $query = $books->newVolumeQuery(); $query->setQuery('domino'); $query->setMinViewability('partial_view'); $feed = $books->getVolumeFeed($query); foreach ($feed as $entry) { echo $entry->getVolumeId(); echo $entry->getTitle(); echo $entry->getViewability(); }
Query class, and subclasses like
VolumeQuery, are responsible for constructing feed
URLs. The VolumeQuery shown above constructs a URL equivalent to the
Note: Since Book Search results are public, you can issue a Book Search query without authentication.
Here are some of the most common
methods for setting search parameters:
setQuery: Specifies a search
query term. Book Search searches all book metadata and full text for
books matching the term. Book metadata includes titles, keywords,
descriptions, author names, and subjects.
Note that any spaces, quotes or other punctuation in the parameter
value must be URL-escaped. (Use a plus (
+) for a space.)
To search for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in quotation marks.
For example, to search for books matching the phrase "spy plane", set
q parameter to
You can also use any of the
advanced search operators
supported by Book Search. For example,
jane+austen+-inauthor:austen returns matches that mention
(but are not authored by) Jane Austen.
setStartIndex: Specifies
the index of the first matching result that should be included in the
result set. This parameter uses a one-based index, meaning the first
result is 1, the second result is 2 and so forth. This parameter works
in conjunction with the max-results
parameter to determine which results to return. For example, to
request the third set of 10 results—results 21-30—set
start-index parameter to
21 and the
max-results parameter to
Note: This isn't a general cursoring
mechanism. If you first send a query with
?start-index=1&max-results=10 and then send another
query with
?start-index=11&max-results=10, the
service cannot guarantee that the results are equivalent to
?start-index=1&max-results=20, because insertions and
deletions could have taken place in between the two queries.
Specifies the maximum number of results that should be included
in the result set. This parameter works in conjunction with the
start-index parameter to determine which
results to return. The default value of this parameter is
10 and the maximum value is
Allows you to filter the results according to the books'
viewability status.
This parameter accepts one of three values:
(the default, returning all matching books regardless of
'partial_view' (returning only books
that the user can preview or view in their entirety), or
'full_view' (returning only books that the user can
view in their entirety).
Google Book Search provides Co-Branded Search, which lets content partners provide full-text search of their books from their own websites.
If you are a partner who wants to do Co-Branded Search using the Book Search Data API, you may do so by modifying the feed URL above to point to your Co-Branded Search implementation. If, for example, a Co-Branded Search is available at the following URL:
then you can obtain the same results using the Book Search Data API at the following URL:
To specify an alternate URL when querying a volume feed, you can
provide an extra parameter to
$query = $books->newVolumeQuery('http://www.google.com/books/p/PARTNER_COBRAND_ID');
For additional information or support, visit our Partner help center.
A user can add a rating to a book. Book Search uses a 1-5 rating system in which 1 is the lowest rating. Users cannot update or delete ratings.
To add a rating, add a
Rating object to a
VolumeEntry and post it to the annotation feed.
In the example below, we start from an empty
VolumeEntry object.
$entry = new Zend_Gdata_Books_VolumeEntry(); $entry->setId(new Zend_Gdata_App_Extension_Id(VOLUME_ID)); $entry->setRating(new Zend_Gdata_Extension_Rating(3, 1, 5, 1)); $books->insertVolume($entry, Zend_Gdata_Books::MY_ANNOTATION_FEED_URI);
In addition to ratings, authenticated users can submit reviews or edit their reviews. For information on how to request previously submitted reviews, see Retrieving annotations.
To add a review, add a
Review object to a
VolumeEntry and post it to the annotation
feed. In the example below, we start from an existing
VolumeEntry object.
$annotationUrl = $entry->getAnnotationLink()->href; $review = new Zend_Gdata_Books_Extension_Review(); $review->setText("This book is amazing!"); $entry->setReview($review); $books->insertVolume($entry, $annotationUrl);
To update an existing review, first you retrieve the review you want to update, then you modify it, and then you submit it to the annotation feed.
$entryUrl = $entry->getId()->getText(); $review = new Zend_Gdata_Books_Extension_Review(); $review->setText("This book is actually not that good!"); $entry->setReview($review); $books->updateVolume($entry, $entryUrl);
You can use the Book Search Data API to label volumes with keywords. A user can submit, retrieve and modify labels. See Retrieving annotations for how to read previously submitted labels.
To submit labels, add a
Category object
with the scheme
LABELS_SCHEME to a
VolumeEntry and post it to the annotation feed.
$annotationUrl = $entry->getAnnotationLink()->href; $category = new Zend_Gdata_App_Extension_Category( 'rated', 'http://schemas.google.com/books/2008/labels'); $entry->setCategory(array($category)); $books->insertVolume($entry, Zend_Gdata_Books::MY_ANNOTATION_FEED_URI);
You can use the Book Search Data API to retrieve annotations
submitted by a given user. Annotations include reviews, ratings, and
labels. To retrieve any user's annotations, you can send an
unauthenticated request that includes the user's user ID. To retrieve
the authenticated user's annotations, use the value
me as the user ID.
$feed = $books->getVolumeFeed( 'http://www.google.com/books/feeds/users/USER_ID/volumes'); <i>(or)</i> $feed = $books->getUserAnnotationFeed(); // print title(s) and rating value foreach ($feed as $entry) { foreach ($feed->getTitles() as $title) { echo $title; } if ($entry->getRating()) { echo 'Rating: ' . $entry->getRating()->getAverage(); } }
For a list of the supported query parameters, see the query parameters section.
Google Book Search provides a number of user-specific book collections, each of which has its own feed.
The most important collection is the user's My Library, which represents the books the user would like to remember, organize, and share with others. This is the collection the user sees when accessing his or her My Library page.
The following sections describe how to retrieve a list of books from a user's library, with or without query parameters.
You can query a Book Search public feed without authentication.
To retrieve the user's books, send a query to the
My Library feed. To get the library of the authenticated
user, use
me in place of
$feed = $books->getUserLibraryFeed();
Note: The feed may not contain all of the user's books, because
there's a default limit on the number of results returned. For
more information, see the
max-results query parameter in
Searching for books.
Just as you can
search across all books,
you can do a full-text search over just the books in a
user's library. To do this, just set the appropriate
paramters on the
VolumeQuery object.
For example, the following query returns all the books in your library that contain the word "bear":
$query = $books->newVolumeQuery( 'http://www.google.com/books/feeds/users/USER_ID/collections/library/volumes'); $query->setQuery('bear'); $feed = $books->getVolumeFeed($query);
For a list of the supported query parameters, see the query parameters section. In addition, you can search for books that have been labeled by the user:
$query = $books->newVolumeQuery( 'http://www.google.com/books/feeds/users/USER_ID/collections/library/volumes'); $query->setCategory( $query->setCategory('favorites'); $feed = $books->getVolumeFeed($query);
You can use the Book Search Data API to add a book to, or remove a book from, a user's library. Ratings, reviews, and labels are valid across all the collections of a user, and are thus edited using the annotation feed (see Using community features).
After authenticating, you can add books to the current user's library.
You can either create an entry from scratch if you know the volume ID, or insert an entry read from any feed.
The following example creates a new entry and adds it to the library:
$entry = new Zend_Gdata_Books_VolumeEntry(); $entry->setId(new Zend_Gdata_App_Extension_Id(VOLUME_ID)); $books->insertVolume( $entry, Zend_Gdata_Books::MY_LIBRARY_FEED_URI );
The following example adds an existing
VolumeEntry object to the library:
$books->insertVolume( $entry, Zend_Gdata_Books::MY_LIBRARY_FEED_URI );