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- Slide 4
- Slide 6
- Slide 7
Easy Woodturning
Easy Wood Tools offers a series of replaceable carbide cutter woodturning tools that address fatigue, safety and efficiency like no other tools. They are designed to effortlessly remove massive amounts of material on any woodturning project without the need for sharpening. The tools are designed with support directly beneath the cutting edge transferring the cutting pressure downward allowing the lathe to take the pressure that normally would go to your hands and body when roughing.
Our goal here at EWT is to step back and take a fresh look at the methods we use in woodturning. We have made every effort to eliminate the parts of woodturning that decrease our enjoyment:
- No Sharpening! - No need to spend time sharpening with replaceable carbide cutters. Just rotate cutter when one side gets dull and when you've used all the sides, just replace with a new cutter.
- Reduced kick-back and catches - Due to the neutral cutting angles, the tool is easy to use.
- Reduce Fatigue - Pressure goes into the tool rest so your body doesn't get tired as quickly which equals more turning time.
- No bevels to learn - Our tools are held flat on the rest and parallel to the floor. Cut left, right or straight in within minutes of picking up the tool.
The Easy Rougher tool is the easiest, most efficient roughing tool you will ever use. We guarantee that 100%.
The Woodturning System Video
Kurt Hertzog loves the new Easy Chuck
The most recent addition to the woodturning chuck market comes from the Easy Wood Tools Company. Most widely known for their families of carbide cutter woodturning tools, they also produce faceplates and smocks for the woodturning community. The Easy Chuck is the first product from Easy Wood Tools in the woodturning chuck arena. From first appearances, the Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck body looks very similar to the mid sized body chucks available from many other manufacturers located throughout the world. The EWT chuck is packaged nicely in a sturdy high gloss black box adorned with the EWT logos and colors. It looks a bit different as soon as you remove the chuck from the box. The chuck has a different colored ring that runs around the back. In addition to the chuck, the box contains the instruction manual, T-handle chuck wrench, a handled ball end key wrench, and a bag with a spindle washer, replacement springs and grub screws.
For more on this review, click here
Links to Programs sponsored
by Easy Wood Tools


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UChicago Medicine offers primary and specialty care at over 40 locations throughout Illinois and Indiana.
Communicate with your doctor, view test results, request appointments and more.
UChicago Medicine offers a broad range of challenging clinical and non-clinical career opportunities doing work that really matters.
Learn more about clinical trials and find a trial that might be right for you.
A head injury is any kind of damage to the scalp, skull, brain, or other tissue and blood vessels in the head. A head injury is also often called a brain injury or traumatic brain injury (TBI), depending on the extent of the injury.
A head injury can be as mild as a bump, bruise (contusion), or cut on the head. Or it can be a concussion, a deep cut or open wound, broken skull bones, internal bleeding, or damage to the brain. Head injuries are one of the most common causes of disability and death in children.
Types of head injuries include:
This is an injury to the head
that may cause the brain to not work normally for a short time. Sometimes, this can
result in a loss of awareness or alertness for a few minutes up to a few hours. Some
concussions are mild and brief, and you may not know right away that a concussion has
This is a bruise on the brain. A
contusion causes bleeding and swelling inside of the brain around the area where the
head was struck. In some cases, a contusion may occur on the opposite side of the
head because of the brain hitting the skull. This injury can happen from a direct
blow to the head, violent shaking of a child, or a whiplash-type injury from a motor
vehicle accident. The jarring of the brain against the sides of the skull can cause
tearing of the internal lining, tissues, and blood vessels.
A skull fracture is a break in the skull bone. There are 4 major types of skull fractures:
There are many causes of head injury in children. Common causes are:
The risk of head injury is high in teens. Head injuries happen twice as often in boys than in girls. Head injuries are more common in the spring and summer months, when children are very active in outdoor activities such as riding bikes, roller skating, or skateboarding. Children who play sports such as football, soccer, hockey, and basketball are also at higher risk of concussion.
Symptoms can occur a bit differently in each child, and vary depending on how severe the injury is.
Symptoms of mild head injury may include:
Symptoms of moderate to severe head injury may include any of the above plus:
The symptoms of head injury can be like other health conditions. Make sure your child sees his or her healthcare provider for a diagnosis.
The healthcare provider will ask about your child's symptoms, health history, and recent injuries. He or she will give your child a physical exam. Your child may also have tests, such as:
Head injury can cause neurological problems and may need further medical follow up.
Treatment will depend on your child's symptoms, age, and general health. It will also depend on how severe the condition is.
Treatment may include:
In some cases, a child may need to stay in the hospital. He or she may be watched more closely for problems. A child may also need:
A child may also need monitoring for increased pressure inside the skull. This is called intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. A head injury may cause the brain to swell. There is only a small amount of room for the brain to swell inside the skull. This causes pressure inside the skull to increase and can lead to brain damage.
ICP can be measured in 2 ways:
In both cases, the ICP device is
inserted by the healthcare provider either in the intensive care unit (ICU) or in the
operating room. The ICP device is then attached to a monitor that gives a constant
reading of the pressure inside the skull. If the pressure goes up, it can be treated
right away. While the ICP device is in place, your child will be given medicine to stay
comfortable. When the swelling has gone down and there is little chance of more
swelling, the ICP device will be removed.
Talk with your child's healthcare providers about the risks, benefits, and possible side effects of all treatments.
Children who suffer a severe brain injury may lose some function in muscle, speech, vision, hearing, or taste. This depends on the area of where the brain is damaged. Long- or short-term changes in personality or behavior may also occur. These children need lifelong medical and rehabilitative treatment. This may include physical, occupational, or speech therapy.
How well a child recovers from a head injury depends on the type of injury and other health problems that may be present. It is important to focus on maximizing your child's abilities at home and in the community. You can encourage your child to strengthen his or her self-esteem and have independence.
Head injury can be prevented in ways such as:
Tips to help you get the most from a visit to your child's healthcare provider:
Call the healthcare provider if your child has:
Online Medical Reviewer: Joseph Campellone MD
Online Medical Reviewer: Anne Fetterman RN BSN
Online Medical Reviewer: Raymond Kent Turley BSN MSN RN
Date Last Reviewed:
© 2000-2019 StayWell, 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional's instructions.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I'll admit, I'm addicted to Zombie games. They're not all of the same calibre, however.
As you can see, I do actually have a few zombie games. One of the more traditional arcade style games is Zombieville USA 2. With an analog control pad area for navigation, and three equipped weapons, this game is a fast shooter, where the objective is to survive to the helicopter evacuation zone, by fighting your way through a horde of the walking dead. Action is fast paced, and the graphics are cartoonish and fun. With all the upgrades, the shotgun transforms your character into a zombie slaying machine. It has a lot of replay value.
Z-Day Survival is a choose your own adventure style post apocalyptic survival simulator. While its entertaining, there is a limited decision tree, which greatly limits replay value.
Zombie Highway is a rather mindless test of endurance. How far can you drive your car down the highway without being overturned? It integrates with Game Center, so you can see the distance your friends have made it.
Zombie Farm is what I assume FarmVille must be like, but with zombies. You harvest zombies, potentially mutating them with plants, and then send an undead army against a series of computer opponents. I honestly don't know why I haven't removed this from my device.
Zombie Lane, however, is far more entertaining. This game was originally a FaceBook game, and was also available in Google+. It has been ported from Flash to run on iOS. I believe it's also available for Android as well. It's a well balanced game, action points recover reasonably fast. There are always a stream of tasks and quests to accomplish. The multiplayer connection can integrate with Facebook, but doesn't really show you who has the game. It also uses friend codes. My Friend code is: 172650524. I would caution anyone planning on playing this on an original iPad that the game appears to hit the system memory limits frequently, causing it to crash. It runs fine on my iPhone 4S.
Zombie Gunship claims to be about zombies. You're high up in a helicopter gunship looking through a heads up display at tiny targets on the ground. The task is to take out the zeds, which are dark, while allowing the white "civilians" to escape to safety. While I believe that the developers were intending the colors to represent heat signatures, it leads to a racial aspect in the game that makes me uncomfortable.
Infected is a zombie tower defense game. Your mission is to protect some civilians by buying and placing different types of units nearby, hopefully to take out the waves of incoming zombies. Different zombies have different weaknesses, and it's a job of min maxing in order to survive. It tends to get a little tedious after awhile.
The final two games are both running games, which interact with your GPS location. Zombies, Run! was a successful kickstarter campaign, and is a well executed app. While running, it adds prerecorded mission commentary in spaces in your running soundtrack. As you run, you pick up items with which you can provision and upgrade your base. The visual interface is decent, but when you are using it, your focus is on running, not the app. This game makes running fun, and is probably the most relevant training for the zombie apocalypse. It builds a compelling narrative, and the voice acting is fairly decent.
The last game, Zombie Run, is clearly an attempt at beating Zombies, Run! to market. The concept is crudely executed, overlaying a few sprites over google map imagery. This really feels like it was slapped together on order to get the product out the door. Aside from the idea that zombies provide motivation for running, Zombie Run provides very little of note. I'm not going to provide a screenshot. Just avoid this one folks.
Of the games reviewed here, three get a wholehearted recommendation. Zombieville USA 2, Zombie Lane, and Zombies, Run!


text:
Day 1
Ted Lilly hasn't signed a contract with the Cubs. Despite that fact — not to mention the other notable tidbit being that his agent, Larry O'Brien, hadn't arrived in Orlando yet — rumors swirled around the lobby inside Disney's Swan Resort here this afternoon that Lilly had indeed signed up to pitch for Chicago. OK, maybe "swirled" is a bit much. The rumor lasted a solid 15-20 minutes and was quickly rubbed out after a few phone calls.
Reports indicated later, though, that O'Brien did meet with the Jays once he arrived at the hotel late Monday night and the Jays may have made an offer. One thing that's known is that Lilly's agent plans on meeting with the Cubs, Giants and Yankees, along with Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi on Tuesday. O'Brien has said that the Cubs have offered a four-year deal to Lilly and the pitcher is seeking something near $37 million. Now that Vicente Padilla has agreed to a three-year deal worth $33 million, Lilly could command upwards of $40 million easily.
Toronto also reportedly met with the reps for free-agent starter Gil Meche on Monday. Ricciardi and some other front office sources denied that they met with the pitcher, but such a meeting doesn't seem too farfetched. If the Jays seriously want to sign both Lilly and Meche, they might need to get one contract done before these Meetings are done on Thursday. Ricciardi has acknowledged that Jeff Suppan and Mark Redman could be backup plans.
Ricciardi was invisible for much of the day, opting to stay in his suite rather than test his luck in the lobby, where the media horde was waiting and watching for any of their sources to show up. It'll be more of the same on Day 2, but perhaps a little more clarity will be shed on the Lilly and Meche situations. With both agents now in Orlando, there's bound to be discussions taking place.
What will be interesting is to see how high Toronto's payroll is actually going to go. It's been speculated that the payroll would be between $90-95 million, but if Ricciardi is intent on signing two starters — one of whom could require an annual salary of around $10-11 million — that figure might actually be more around $100 million. We just have to keep waiting. Toronto won't make the payroll public until the Rogers Communications board of directors approves it. But Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey did say this:
"I do believe that J.P. should be able to do the things that he wants to do with the number that's being suggested."
So stay tuned…
7 Comments
I think JP is aware of what he has and knows that (fianancially) he'll be able to sign both of the starters he's looking for. I don't blame him for not commenting about anything else. It's good to see that he believes he can sign both, which makes me beleive that the payroll is higher than anticipated. I'd love to see both Lilly and Meche on the roster, especially since Lilly put up some career numbers last season, I can only see him doing better with the team JP has put together so far.
If the Jays are really in the hunt for Lilly and Meche, and as a consequence, willing to spend an estimated $18 to $19 mm on the pair over 3 to 4 years, why not go after Zito? Chacin has the talent to be a #4 starter on most teams and we have the arms in our system to fill the #5 spot (Towers, Marcum, Janssen, Tallet, McGowan…). We might even be able to save a few million annually on a Zito contract given that he is looking for around $100 mm over 6 to 7 years. Thoughts?
I really don't think we will sign both Lilly and Meche, or any two pitchers for that matter. If we get one, then we will leave a roster spot open for one of our young arms. Alot of wich have some MLB experience as a starter. Whoever shows up to camp and impresses will probably win the job, hopefully at least one of them wants it. To me Lilly is expendable, is he really worth $10M? He is a .500 pitcher at best, and can be very streaky. I'd rather have Chacin in our 3rd spot, for some reason he seems to win alot more games. I think if this Jays team had the money to go after Zito or Schmidt we would be. Who knows what the number will be they are obviously keeping it hid for a reason. Like Zaun said these guys play hardball, and probalby don't want to give any advantage to their competition. If a team knows they only have 5 million to spend, who's stopping the other guy from offereing 5.5 million?
InsideTheDome.com is reporting the Jays matched the Cubs offer for Lilly, made the highest offer for Meche, and are currently the favorites to land both players? Are you hearing similar rumblings?
There are reports that JP has talked to Ken Williams regarding Wells. I think that if there is a perfect team for the Wells situation, it would be the White Sox. They have the pitching we need and they could also throw in a prospect or two. I think Burhle or Garcia can be had for Wells, plus one of their outfield prospects. It seems to be a perfect fit. Have you heard anything on this situation??
Perfect situation would be with the Marlins. Dontrelle plus ROY Ramirez for Wells and something.
Gives Jays **** and speed and a starter but then Marlins wouldn't have ****. It would be a good deal though.
Come on,let's get serious here, Lilly and Meche for 17-20 million per?Give me a break. I know, how about Jason Schmidt and pay him less than 15 million per and make due with Markum. Now we would have a real good if not great pitching staff, all competing with each other as well, not to mension a great hitting lineup and a better than average defence. Does that not sound like a contender?


text: I am a "newbee" to building your own fly rod. I am a disabled Vet and I am in the "Healing Water" program at the VA hospital in Murfreesboro Tennessee, which teaches us basics on how to tie fly's, how to cast a rod and they takes us on local fishing trips a few times a year. This Is my second year with them, I started February of last year. This year they are tell us old students, some one who has been In the program one year or more, that they will be building their own fly rod. We can only tell them the wt of the rod we would like to build. They will be getting all the parts we will need to make a fly rod and I have chosen to build a 3wt rod. For someone who has just learned which end of a fly rod you hold to fish with, THANK YOU WARREN, I am very nerves about the whole process. I have read a lot of info here at FAOL about building a rod, but a lot of the terms that are used when your describing your build have me lost, but I am learning. They, Healing Waters, will have us work on the rod twice a month for two hours per meeting day until we are finished. We are to start on the first meeting in March, but the finishing date I am not sure when that will be. How long does it take to build a fly rod? I would like to use this thread for people like me, to ask questions as I am building my rod, to help me along. I know that someone at the Healing Waters class will be helping us but I also know that all my questions may not get answered. So I am asking for help, if you will allow it, when I begin the class next month and have questions, if I can ask them on this thread?


text:
Package: natpmpc (20150609-7) [debports]
Links for natpmpc
Debian Resources:
Download Source Package :Not found
External Resources:
- Homepage [miniupnp.free.fr]
Similar packages:
portable and fully compliant implementation of NAT-PMP (client)
NAT-PMP is the direct concurrent to the UPnP IGD specification. It is providing a way to do NAT traversal. It is part of the Bonjour protocol specifications. At the moment it is mainly supported by Apple software and hardware. For a way to add NAT-PMP capabilities to your *BSD, Linux or (Open)Solaris Router, you should have a look at MiniUPnPd which is supporting NAT-PMP in addition to UPnP since December 2007 !
libnatpmp is an attempt to make a portable and fully compliant implementation of the protocol NAT-PMP for the client side. It is based on non blocking sockets and all calls of the API are asynchronous. It is therefore very easy to integrate the NAT-PMP code to any event driven code.
This package contains the natpmpc test client.
Other Packages Related to natpmpc
- dep: libc6 (>= 2.15)
- GNU C Library: Shared libraries
also a virtual package provided by libc6-udeb
- dep: libnatpmp1 (>= 20150609)
- portable and fully compliant implementation of NAT-PMP
Download natpmpc
|Package Size
|Installed Size
|ppc64 (unofficial port)
|10.0 kB
|83.0 kB
|[list of files]


text:
The cuisine of Aragon
Aragonese fried platter
- 自治区: Aragón
Aragon, a developing cuisine
The Autonomous Region of Aragon has inherited its rich gastronomy from the different cultures which have passed through the region over the centuries. It knows how to exploit its local products and today its cuisine is described as classical. The great geographical diversity of this region has given rise to top quality products which are as varied as the land's orography. Aragonese cuisine is based on popular stews which vary in accordance with the area where they are prepared. Traditional recipes are currently being modernised but will always maintain their characteristic simplicity and honesty. The Aragonese market garden offers a great variety of fruit, vegetables and pulses, including the thistle and borage which, due to their increasing popularity, are often seen on the menus of top restaurants, haricot beans, onions from Fuentes, asparagus from the banks of the River Ebro and the oils from Lower Aragon, whose excellent quality is due to the olive used in their preparation. The fruit grown in Aragon is admired throughout the rest of mainland Spain: pears, apples, cherries, plums, peaches with D.O. from Calanda and recently cultivated strawberries, which are as good as the best wild specimens.
Modernised cooking The Autonomous Region of Aragon is a land of hearty dishes bursting with aroma and taste and which frequently contain meat, especially lamb. Ternasco with D.O. is very appreciated (the Spanish word "ternasco" comes from the word "tierno" - tender - and refers to the suckling lamb) and has been exported to other autonomous regions in Spain. Chicken is also very popular and years ago used to be eaten at festivals, giving rise to a very admired Aragonese dish: "pollo al chilindrón", a chicken stew (lamb can also be used) which is prepared with onions, tomatoes and red peppers. Also worth special mention are the wonderful sausages and salted meats, such as cured ham from Teruel, "arbiello" and "longaniza" sausages from Aragon. There is one product which can only be found in this region: "fardeles" from Calatayud and Daroca, which are made with pork liver and spices. Rabbit and hare stewed in their own blood ("civet"), partridge, deer, roe deer and wild boar are excellent examples of its game cooking.
Diversity of offer But not all Aragonese cooking is based on meat. This region also prepares dishes using river ingredients. Trout, eel…even the frog can be used to make natural well-seasoned dishes. Bread is another basic component of this cuisine which adopts many forms and names depending on the region.. Fruit is often eaten at the end of a good meal, but there are also excellent and traditional local desserts. The chestnut is used in the preparation of many sweets. The almond is used to make "guirlache", made from toasted almond and lots of caramelised sugar. Fairy cakes are found throughout the region and often fruit is used to prepare a typical dessert, such as "frutas de Aragón" (sugar-candied fruits covered in chocolate). "Almojábanas" (cheese flavoured rolls), "tortas de alma" made with pumpkin, honey and sugar, "trenza de Almudévar" with nuts and raisins soaked in liqueur, and many other dishes make this region a paradise for the sweet-toothed traveller.
Wines and restaurants The following Denominations of Origin exist in this region: Cariñena, Campo de Borja, Calatayud and Somontano. They also have a D.O. of cava which it shares with other Autonomous Regions. Aragon also prepares its own drinks, reminiscent of the home-made liqueurs of long ago. One of these drinks is the Colungo liqueur from Huesca. This full-bodied liqueur is made from morello cherries and cinnamon. Fruit liqueurs (wild berries, cherries) or nut ratafias are excellent digestives after a meal. The restaurant called La Ontina in Zaragoza, which has been awarded with one sun by the CAMPSA Guide, has an excellent choice of seasonal dishes and good wine menu featuring local wines. Ontina, Carambola and Aragonia in Zaragoza together with Las Torres, Lillas Pastia, Venta del Sotón in Huesca, all awarded one sun by the CAMPSA Guide, and La Menta in Teruel, are musts for the traveller passing through Aragon.
Taste the best wine in Hotel Sitjar
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Sallent de Gállego


text:
Welcome back to my bi-weekly interview series. This week, I'm excited to share with you the creative, thoughtful, and accomplished writer Mark Reynolds. Please check-out his fantastic blog here: Coloring Outside the Lines.
1. Mark, Please Tell Us About Yourself?
Hello, I'm Mark Reynolds, a.k.a Coloring Outside the Lines. I live outside of Cleveland, Ohio on almost four acres of land with trees and gardens; the edge of a rural area. My Mom and Dad were from small farming towns in Western Ohio.
I'm a professional street-walker. Calling myself a Mailman sounds too boring. I'm also a traveler. I have the vacation time to find cheap flights to any place I want to go, South or West. I also play in the dirt or garden. I like to grow food and have flowers and plants everywhere. Having many gardening areas cuts down on running the lawn mower on grass. I'm a person who enjoys nature. We live with several critters such as birds, deer, turkeys, raccoons, foxes, and snakes. I play photographer once in awhile and I have plenty of photos of many creatures and all kinds of landscape.
2. When Did You Start Writing and Blogging?
Complicated question. I began writing as a freshman in College. I wrote short stories for awhile. I could do dream sequences well, but writing the dialogue and including substance in my short stories was difficult for me.
Then a couple decades or so later, I blew out my knee and was trapped on a couch for a month with a leg brace; that was about a year and half ago. During this time, I started my blog cleverly with a web address of Any1mark66. My blog changed after taking a WordPress Blogger University Course.
"I like to grow food and have flowers and plants everywhere. Having many gardening areas cuts down on running the lawn mower on grass. I'm a person who enjoys nature." – Mark Reynolds
3. What Does Writing and Poetry Mean To You? Why Do You Write?
Writing is all about expression. Poetry for me is spontaneous writing. A stray thought or string of words can be woven into an image. There's a challenge to producing a particular feeling you can convey to others. The meaning of fiction for me….that's personal!
Every fictional story should display a character gloriously flawed and have the ability to connect to the reader with something familiar, they can find in themselves or others. Real life connections are unique to each of us but if I can get a reader to buy in to the theme of my writing, than the reader can embrace my characters. Additionally, I write because it's fun, and you can't kill people in real life, but you can in a fictional story.
4. Where Do You Find Your Inspiration and Motivation to Write?
I participate in several writing challenges. I especially like to mix music with fantastic writing using the lyrics in songs. Nature is also always available for inspirational ideas. And those characters you can kill in writing are fascinating.There's a quality to them and they inspire me to use different methods to explain why the die and how. Also, I have stray or random thoughts which keep giving me writing ideas. I use my spontaneous writing when I write serial stories which can be built into bigger works of writing.
"Every fictional story should display a character gloriously flawed and have the ability to connect to the reader with something familiar, they can find in themselves or others. Real life connections are unique to each of us but if I can get a reader to buy in to the theme of my writing, than the reader can embrace my characters." – Mark Reynolds
5. Do You Find There Is a Time Of Day You Most Like to Write? What Are Your Most Current Writing Projects?
I write at several different times in a day. Poetry is usually, a morning exercise. Flash fiction and stories are easier to write in the afternoon or evening.
I'm finishing up some of my fictional serial stories. I am doing a rewrite of the fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood which I call: Beware of The Red Cape. In my version, Red is not the small innocent girl you read about in most fairy tales.
My other serial writing project is about a stalker. The stalking begins at a soccer practice and we'll just say, hasn't ended yet. Or, maybe it has? I'm not sure yet. I'm still working the serial story out.
I also have a serial story about a Granny whose ghost has become rather strange, a bit crazy. My Granny character has changed slightly as the serial has developed. My characters like to tell me how they wish to be viewed.
6. Have You Attempted To Publish Any of Your Writing? Or Are You Planning to Publish Writing In the Future? Can You Briefly Describe Your Current Publishing Process?
I have been waiting to hear from a group doing a collection of stories from writers with Amazon self-publishing. I have submitted several pieces to this group.I have heard back twice and generally been told, 'We are not looking for this now but we may contact you in the future.' So, still waiting unfortunately.
If I understand the process of self-publishing right, I may have professional editing done and have Amazon recommend cover art for my book. It will be in the form of an E-book. I'm not buying a bunch of hard copy books upfront; Amazon does offer demand printing if I wish to go that route in the future.
"And those characters you can kill in writing are fascinating.There's a quality to them and they inspire me to use different methods to explain why the die and how. Also, I have stray or random thoughts which keep giving me writing ideas. I use my spontaneous writing when I write serial stories which can be built into bigger works of writing." – Mark Reynolds
7. What Is Your Writing Process Like? Do You Prefer Certain Genres for Reading and Writing?
I suddenly, have an idea; I lose said idea. Then, my idea returns similar, but changed and slightly twisted. Next, I peck out my ideas on my phone or IPad. I prefer to write my entire story all at once. If I come back to the story, my thoughts may change. I want a certain feeling when I write and that's hard to recapture at a later time if I leave it. I will, however, go back to my writing and play with some new ideas later. But these ideas often become new stories on their own.
My preferred areas of reading include science-fiction books, suspense books, horror books, historical reads, science books, and books on nature. Although I write poetry, I have never read much of it.
8. Do You Have Any Helpful Advice for Other Writers?
Forget what you think you know about writing and write outside the boundaries of your daily life. If you have to research a bit about a subject or place and learn its history, it builds a greater depth of feeling in your writing. Researching and visiting places to come up with new ideas, or more in-depth ideas, will give you a stronger voice in your writing.
Oh yeah, fail at what you want (to write or do in life) once in awhile. Failure teaches a person things; no one ever learnt much from doing something right all the time.
"If I come back to the story, my thoughts may change. I want a certain feeling when I write and that's hard to recapture at a later time if I leave it. I will, however, go back to my writing and play with some new ideas later. But these ideas often become new stories on their own." – Mark Reynolds
9. Is There Anything Else You'd Like to Share With Us About Yourself Or Your Writing?
I have a passion for spreading information on things such as the food we eat. We have terrible options for fresh food and for finding out what is actually in the food we eat from the supermarket.
Food labeling isn't often correct and there should be laws to make the labels on the food a person buys truthful and clear. GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) are terrible for a person to ingest. You may disagree with me, but try dumping weed killer on your garden plants and eating them, its about the same. But of course it's safe. Ask the people who made the weedkiller.
"A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques (i.e., a genetically engineered organism). GMOs are used to produce many medications and genetically modified foods and are widely used in scientific research and the production of other goods. . .
The Organic Consumers Association, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Greenpeace stated that risks have not been adequately identified and managed, and they have questioned the objectivity of regulatory authorities. Some health groups say there are unanswered questions regarding the potential long-term impact on human health from food derived from GMOs, and propose mandatory labeling or a moratorium on such products.
Concerns include contamination of the non-genetically modified food supply,effects of GMOs on the environment and nature,the rigor of the regulatory process,and consolidation of control of the food supply in companies that make and sell GMOs,or concerns over the use of herbicides with glyphosate." – Wikipedia: Genetically Modified Organisms
10. Can You Please Share Some of Your Favorite Pieces of Writing With Us.
By Mark Reynolds
"Jezzibelle! Jezzibelle! Where are you?" Mama calls out.
She washes her hands with lye soap as she looks out the open window. Mama is nervous about sending the girl off alone. She is of age now, but so easily swayed from her chores. Mama knows the family trait to do the easy gains runs deep in her. But Mama's love can cure all ills. Her Mama told her the way to be. It's that figure Jezzibelle is developing she is more concerned with.
Her own Mama has not responded to the traditional cures. Leaches have proved ineffective to her maladies. Herbal wraps have made her skin glow in the palest of white, lacking the rudiness of life. Charcoal chunks have pasted through her without taking the problem with them.
Mama shuffles through bottles of homemade wine. Dandelion wine, it's pale yellow color and gentle flavor would be prefect for a picnic. Today it's a message to get well. A smoked chunk of beef rests inside a burlap sack. Two half pieces of bread complete the basket. A single sage smudge stick wrapped inside kept out and bugs.
"Where is that girl? I shouldn't trust her. My Mama isn't getting better since Jezzibelle has taken over the role of care taker. I hope Jezzibelle isn't a burden to her. Mama loves her so. The red cape of velvet came from her grandmother. It gave her a certain glow of vibrant womanhood at the young age. And I remember being that age….The day Derrick came to the farm…I could careless he was so much older. There are men waiting to get a hold of her. Her uncles tell me how much she would fetch us. Maybe the men know best. It's a lot of money. She will need someone to keep her well." Mama reflects on the regrets of life and what future her daughter will be strattled with.
"Mama, what is it. I was playing with Mindy's dog. He's so cute. I wish we could have that dog. He keeps the ghastly beasts from the forest at bay. Please, could we get one! I really think it would be best. They haven't lost a single chicken in months. And I would…" Jezzibelle tries to plead her case.
"Enough child! You know what I need from you. Take that basket to grandmother! She hasn't been by. She still bed ridden. You must take care of her for me. I packed it well. It's early. The field and woods will be cool. Make haste child. If it gets too warm the animals will smell the food. They will stalk you, and steal the food. Those ugly old wolves might hunt you too. Take your cape! Grandmother will only recognize you in it. Her vision was really poor last week." Mama is nervous and shaking. "Don't you snoop around her corners! She will hear you! She doesn't like snoops. You may get her home one day."
"Mama, I love grandmother. Will she be ok? I fear she'll die. I'll never have her long enough. I want her to know my babies. I don't want to live there without her." Jezzibelle kicks at her feet and tries to avoid her mother's gaze.
"Stay on the path! Don't stop to talk to anyone! There are strangers who might want this food or try to take you away. A pretty girl like you needs to be careful around strangers." Mama warns her.
"You worry too much, Mama. I'll be fine. I have seen a few people in my trips. They know me now. They will help me." Jezzibelle puts her hand on Mama's arm.
Mama looks at her with a mix of unsure feelings and hope. Her heart lends itself to worrying about one thing at a time.
©MarkReynolds (2016).
Here Are Some More Links to Mark's Writing On His Blog:
- Train of Pain by Mark Reynolds
- My Heart by Mark Reynolds
- Your Ghost by Mark Reynolds
Thank You so much Mark for the interview. It was great to read about your writing process, your inspirations, and your thoughts on writing and other topics. Here is one more link to Mark's Blog: Coloring Outside The Lines
If you would like to be interviewed on my blog and share with other writers and bloggers about your writing and the process involved with how you write and how you publish your work, you can reach-out to me on my Contact Page.
©Mandibelle16. (2016) All Rights Reserved.


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My posts have become somewhat of photo-marathons lately. The last couple, the chocolate ones, was mostly comprised of old, old, photos - you all know how they tend to bulk up, and there's not a much better feeling than when they actually get put to good use. But this post? These photos are pretty much all of them fresh of the press - I promise! Not much in the way of recipes, though - hey, you can't have everything at once!:)
You see, I've started a small balcony garden. Uhuh. Me. And lemme tell you: I am the kind of person that can kill cactus and succulents. Yes, that is the kind of plants you give to students so that they can have some greenery around they don't have to give much thought. I am not widely known for my green thumb, let that be said.
See that? That's chicken salad. Made with mayo, creme fraiche, chicken (obviously!) and tarragon - the one from the photo above.
So why on earth I thought it a great idea to start planting and growing herbs! flowers! even tomatoes and peas! on our balcony is beyond me. Considering my aforementioned talents. The fact that all that "thrives in direct sunlight" etc. is just wasted on me - if it's pretty and I want it on my table and that's in full sunlight? You can guess how that story ends.
What might have spurred it though, was the fact that, without me doing nothing at all, the chives that I planted last year - one of those little pots from the supermarket - showed up AGAIN this spring. One day when I looked out there, fine little grass-like straws where sprouting up. So I ventured forth, happily entertaining the idea of the great big bunches of basil and thyme and majoram and mint and (fill in the blanks with any and all herbs you've ever heard of) I'd be able to pick from my little patches of dirt. Oh yes, and Tea hasn't made it sound any less intriguing to be self-sufficient, even if only with herbs, in my case.
Whitefish with spring cabbage, peas and dillI ordered little seedlings from a place called Urtegartneriet that sell organic, some of them even biodynamic, herbs and flowers. I dragged Martin from one plant nursery to the next to get the exact amount pots and seeds I needed and thought looked interesting. We dragged big bags of soil all the way up the stairs to our 4th. floor apartment (actually all the way to the fifth floor, seeing that's where the balcony is) Oh yes, and all that made for a great distraction in between preparing for that exam, which, btw. I managed to pass - WO-HOOO!!:) The green gods must have had a serious chat with the exam gods somewhere...
And so, I planted, I grew, I hardened, I planted out, I watered. I talked, I nursed, I checked, I looked, I moved around. I tried to pay attention to all the "likes water/doesn't like water" "needs shade" and, of course, somehow completely forgot to check how tall borage flowers and sunflowers grow, happily planting them in my little plastic boxes. They can go up to three feet/1 meter, in case you didn't know either.
But in between, the thumbs got greener and greener. If I may say so myself.
BasilWhat am I growing? I think I kinda went in any and all directions and got a little bit of this and a little bit of that - which, I've learned now, is a bit silly, because it's really hard getting enough leaves for a portion of pesto with just eight little sprigs of basil.
but before we went on vacation, I did make up a great big batch of pesto - one hand-made, the other one pestle-and-mortar'ed - fun experiment, and yes, Heidi's right!
But I didn't title this post 10 thumbs for nothing - because while some of my plants are thriving, there are also the less, ahem, unfortunate ones...
The mint that I bought two different kinds of, thinking 'I need succes-stories here in my first attempt at gardening, so mint must be good'. I always heard that mint grows like a weed - it's impossible to kill! (Nevermind we don't eat it very often, but who says no to a mojito?)
Well. The mint DIED. Both of them - or wait, one of them is still there, but not in too great a shape. The first one, regular green mint, got attacked by rust, a fungus of some sort. It even evaded my attempt to rescue it (replanting and cutting it back), getting itself thrown of the roof-top while I was away on vacation. Maybe it just was suicicdal from the point go? (Sorta like Rags?)
The second one - well, suffice it to say that I think it may be attacked by rust, too. Or aphids. It somehow doesn't look all happy, yet keeps growing and growing. So I'm leaving it for now.
And then there's the oregano, that went from this:
to this:
...in a matter of two weeks. The rain pouring down like crazy for the last couple weeks may have something to do with that last picture (root-rot?) but ARGH!
The ones that do like me, and are growing, apart from what's already pictured here, is: pineapple sage, thai basil, majoram, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm (now THAT thing is growing like crazy!!) borage, baby salad leaves, dill, lemon verbena, tomatoes, peas... and um, I'm sure I forgot something. We're not the only ones enjoying the harvest - the Piggie loves his daily dose of l'herbe mixte. Oh yes, and the bumblebees are pretty enamoured with everything, too.
I guess it is natural, that the next step from wanting to make all your own food is wishing to grow your own food.
I've especially liked growing stuff from seed - the thrill of there not being anything, and then all of a sudden, two little leaves peek up, then it grows, and grows, and grows, and all of a sudden, there are flowers, and a real, actual vegetable after that. I like getting to know each herb, how they grow, what they like and what kind of treatment they respond well to. Believe me, I'm learning, and I'm loving it!
We may not be able to make a pea purée for two, or even a tomato salad - but that's not the point. The point is watching it happen. It's about the great feeling of snipping of a couple sprigs of dill for the fish tonight, or thyme for a baking sheet full of tomatoes, destined for a couple hours in the oven. It's the scent of your hands, after you've run them across the majoram or you've groomed the tomatoes. Growing it myself is probably the only way I could ever get close to stuff like pea shots, or lemon verbena. And I feel smugly proud that I'm growing stuff that I can't just go down the street and buy. Heh.
And I'm so not giving up on that mint. Just you wait until next year...


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Along with SpaceClaim being acquired by ANSYS earlier this year, the CAD consolidation train moves to its next stop with Stratasys announcing that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held GrabCAD in an all-cash transaction.
Stratasys Ltd, of course, is one of the leading global providers of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but is rumored to be in the $100 million range. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September (that's today!), subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, GrabCAD will operate as a unit within the Stratasys Global Products and Technology Group. Hardi Meybaum, co-founder and CEO of GrabCAD, will continue to lead GrabCAD within the group.
The company's flagship product, GrabCAD Workbench is its cloud-based PDM for sharing and managing CAD files. The video provides a quick overview of GrabCAD Workbench.
What IS GrabCAD Workbench?
For those new to GrabCAD, it's unique in that it's more of a 3D CAD collaboration platform than it is a traditional CAD product. Launched earlier this, GrabCAD Workbench is a unique cloud-based collaboration hub designed to manage and share product development CAD files and other design data. In other words, a PDM system.
Founded in 2010 and led by Mr. Meybaum, a visionary entrepreneur and pioneer in 3D CAD cloud collaboration tools, GrabCAD is helping engineers get products to market faster by connecting people, content and technology. GrabCAD offers GrabCAD Workbench, a cloud-based collaboration tool that enables engineers and designers to share, view and manage CAD files and other design data. GrabCAD is also home to a community of more than 1.5 million global members who can access a large public CAD file library, as well as connect with other designers and engineers.
The acquisition should enable Stratasys to provide its customers with enhanced collaboration tools and improved accessibility relating to 3D CAD content. The addition of GrabCAD Workbench provides Stratasys with an opportunity to drive communication and collaboration throughout the 3D printing process and grow its technology solutions and user communities.
"The addition of GrabCAD provides Stratasys with a leading cloud-based collaboration platform for engineering teams to manage, share and view CAD files," said David Reis, Stratasys Chief Executive Officer. "By increasing the collaboration and accessibility of 3D CAD files, we believe we can further accelerate the adoption of 3D printing solutions and Stratasys' product offerings. Together with GrabCAD, we believe that we will accelerate innovation and provide increased value to a growing universe of customers seeking to utilize 3D printing solutions. We also welcome GrabCAD's active and important community to the Stratasys family. The potential within our 3D ecosystem is very exciting."
"GrabCAD was founded to bring the world's engineers together and help them collaborate to bring better products to market faster," said Hardi Meybaum, Chief Executive Officer of GrabCAD. "By joining forces with Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, we believe we can extend the reach of one of the most exciting and innovative design collaboration technologies available. With its broad and growing customer base and worldwide presence, Stratasys can provide more customers around the world with exciting new solutions to meet their design needs."
Prior to the acquisition, GrabCAD had a number of relationships with CAD vendors for making it easier for users of products, such as Autodesk Fusion and Siemens Solid Edge to use the cloud-based service. It seems that the cloud-based nature of GrabCAD is what especially interested/enticed Stratasys for the acquisition.
The potential benefits are many, and through its acquisition of GrabCAD, Stratasys expects to gain:
- Knowledge: With the addition of GrabCAD, Stratasys gains a team of software professionals with a deep understanding of the needs of designers and engineers.
- Products: GrabCAD's cloud-based collaboration platform, Workbench, will enable Stratasys to offer customers a solution to drive communication and ease of use throughout the design and 3D printing process. GrabCAD also provides Stratasys with the opportunity to further partner with CAD vendors and other ecosystem partners while offering innovative collaboration tools related to 3D CAD.
- Community: GrabCAD has built a global, leading and fast growing community of mechanical engineers and designers, with 1.5 million users who are passionate about design. This includes a large online community of M-CAD users and a significant public online repository of free CAD files, with more than 500,000 CAD designs available for download and nearly 50,000 file downloads per day.
Our View


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Woody Johnson has watched the New York Jets dissolve into a bickering mass of in-fighting this week, and he isn't thrilled with the carnival over which he presides.
"I didn't sign up for a 3-6 season," the Jets owner said Thursday, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. "We haven't (had) one of these in a while. I'm not happy about it. Yet, I am optimistic."
Johnson sat by this week as a wave of scathing, anonymous locker-room comments aimed at backup quarterback Tim Tebow washed over the Jets, but he dismissed the insults as "just something out of thin air. So things are said perhaps that they don't mean."
The 65-year-old owner has been a staunch supporter of coach Rex Ryan, who took over the Jets in 2009 and twice brought New York to the cusp of the Super Bowl. Last year's 8-8 campaign ended on a sour note that has given way to this season of struggle. Johnson is bothered by the decline and bristled at the notion he's more interested in publicity and profit than turning the Jets into a winner.
"You guys have been accusing me of this phony story of me being more concerned with PSLs or cash or something else," Johnson said. "My job -- one, two and three -- is to win games. That's why I got into football to begin with ... It's not to sell PSLs or to sell hot dogs."
Those words leave Johnson at an interesting crossroads. The Jets are trending downward, with suspect talent on both sides of the ball. Ryan inherited a more playoff-ready team than he's coaching today, an indictment of general manager Mike Tannenbaum, if not also the coach.
Ryan was everything Johnson wanted early on: a winner who pulled the Jets out of the shadows and announced to the world that Gang Green's long-running second-fiddle act in New York finally was over.
Three-plus years in, the Jets are a curious circus and the Giants are reigning Super Bowl champions -- again.
Probably another reality Johnson didn't sign up for.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.


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How to buy and care for your poinsettia
Getting your plant home safe and sound is the first big issue.
Don't buy a poinsettia and leave it in your car while you go and do more shopping. The poinsettia is a cold-sensitive tropical plant.
It will be irreparably damaged by exposure to cool temperatures. Take it from the store into your warm car and straight into your home.
Watering is the next big issue. Don't overwater. This kills more poinsettias than cold damage. Wait until the leaves of the plant droop a little before watering.
Stand the plant in a sink of shallow water, which allows the roots to take up what water it needs, and give it a cup of water under the leaf canopy. Use lukewarm water, not cold water, to avoid shocking the plant. They use lukewarm water in the greenhouses when they water. You should do the same.
Don't leave the plastic cover on Air circulation is important. Plants that look twiggy and have a lot of leaves falling off have probably been exposed to cold or left in their plastic sleeve too long.
Sniff the plant before buying. If the roots are rotting from over-watering or poor air circulation, there will be a sweet, musty smell. This is a sign that the plant is already on the decline.
Don't hang on to your poinsettia. Let it go when the festive season is over. No one wants to see a poinsettia in February. That's the time for primulas and crocus and narcissus. Treat your poinsettia as you do your petunias.
Enjoy them for the season, then ditch them and move on. It takes extraordinary effort to get a poinsettia through the year and to colour up again. It's not worth your time and effort.


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'How often can you hack a govt without going to jail?'
Plus: Did someone announce a new fondleslab?
Quotw This was the week in which an event of Earth-shattering proportions took place - rocking the world of technology, spilling lattes everywhere and bringing anyone with even a faint interest in geek gear to their knees.
That's right: alleged hackers in website-raiding outfit LulzSec were cuffed by the feds.
Suspected members of the second most famous hacktivist group in the world after Anonymous, of which it is a splinter group, were collared after agents turned one of the group's own.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, accused of being the organisation's kingpin Sabu, was arrested in June and has apparently been informing on LulzSec members ever since. Monsegur and four British and Irish men were charged with hacking; another man was charged with unlawful interception of a wire communication.
The alleged head honcho fell into the FBI's sights when he logged into an IRC chat server without using the Tor anonymisation service, thereby revealing his IP address to investigators.
Meanwhile some white-hat hacking by a team at the University of Michigan resulted in Futurama's foul-mouthed robot Bender being elected head of Washington DC's school board, and proved that e-voting systems just aren't ready yet.
The board announced they had set up the system and planned to use it in an election, so they invited anyone who fancied a go the opportunity to break in during the three weeks before the election.
Professor Alex Halderman said:
It was too good an opportunity to pass up. How often do you get the chance to hack a government network without the possibility of going to jail?
Halderman and two graduate students spotted a vulnerability within a few hours, broke in, made themselves home and stopped rival hackers from getting in.
This was also the week in which another big event took place in the tech world: the unveiling of the new iPad. (Not iPad 3 or iPad HD - "the new iPad", that's how you've got to say it if you want fit in with the fanbois.)
leaks rumours about everything that the new fondleslab had to offer, and some things that it didn't, the iDevice was finally revealed on Wednesday.
It will definitely show you a lovely flower in hi-res, but the much-vaunted 4G capability will only work in the US and the prices are typically high, although that does drop the tag on the iPad 2.
Apple wasn't given even a moment to bask in the joy of its new offering unmolested; its adversaries in the world of patent lawsuits were determined to take the spring out of its step with threatened and delivered legal action.
On the day of the-new-iPad launch, before Apple even had a chance to show off its slab, Samsung launched another patent lawsuit against the firm in South Korea.
The electronics giant said:
Samsung has today (March 6) filed a lawsuit against Apple in the Seoul Central District Court over its continued infringement of three utility patents in its iPhone 4S and iPad 2.
And right after the announcement of the-new-iPad, Chinese firm Proview, which claims ownership of the IPAD trademark, said resellers and suppliers in the country should stop selling the iPad and the iPad 2 and not stock the new iPad.
In a strongly worded letter, Proview said:
Anybody who continues to do so will be seen as intentionally infringing rights and the company will adopt the most severe measures by taking legal action.
Over in mobile world, Google announced plans to rebrand its Android Market as Google Play, presumably in an attempt to point out to its users that it sells music, movies and books as well as apps.
The Chocolate Factory's official blog said:
Today we're eliminating all [the hassle of moving files] with Google Play, a digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet.
Google Play is entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again.
Privacy issues rumbled on this week as the New York Times showed that Android phones could slurp photos just as well as Apple Jesus mobes, prompting a US Senator to pressure the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation.
Senator Charles Schumer said:
These uses go well beyond what a reasonable user understands himself to be consenting to when he allows an app to access data on the phone for purposes of the app's functionality.
And over in the world of boffins, the elusive God particle once more batted its eyelids at physicists without following through. The final analysis from the now defunct Tevatron collider in the US gave another suggestion that the Higgs boson might exist, similar to the tease scientists at CERN saw last December, but it's still not enough to claim discovery.
Fermilab physicist Rob Roser said:
Unfortunately, this hint is not significant enough to conclude that the Higgs boson exists.
Sponsored: Beyond the Data Frontier


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Back to All Events
Earlier Event: December 2Mass with St. Paul & Church decorating
Later Event: December 13Parish council - ZOOM
St Paul UCC site @ 1250 Leonard Point Rd, Oshkosh, WI
Please feel free to contact us with questions, comments or prayer requests.
Phone Rev. Mike Bober:
(920) 410-5877
Emmaus Ecumenical Catholic Community of Oshkosh
Mailing Address
PO Box 422
Oshkosh, WI 54903-0422
Physical Address
Worship site: St. Paul UCC
1250 Leonard Point Rd,
Oshkosh, WI 54904


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What to Do When Your Identity Is Stolen
If you become an identity theft victim, you have lots of work ahead. These tips for dealing with identity theft can help you reclaim your good name:
File a police report. Not all states have passed legislation to mandate that local law enforcement agencies take reports of identity theft, but most law enforcement agencies will. To report identity theft in most jurisdictions, call the local law enforcement agency's non-violent non-emergency phone line. (Do not call 911.)
Complete a fraud affidavit. The fraud affidavit can be found on the Federal Trade Commission Web site as the theft affidavit. Keep copies of each affidavit you send out in your journal, along with the certified return receipt.
Completing the fraud affidavit isn't difficult, but it can be time consuming. You need to complete one for each creditor, but you can streamline the process by completing the Victim Information section and then making copies to use for all the rest of the creditors and banks to whom you're sending the form. Be sure to sign each one before you send it.
Place a fraud alert or credit freeze on your credit report. The fraud alert requests creditors to contact you before opening any new accounts or making any changes to your existing accounts. As soon as the credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus are notified automatically to place fraud alerts. You have to request that the reports be sent to you.
A credit freeze is a good tool to help you reclaim your identity because it prevents the identity thief from using your credit to open accounts in your name. If you've been a victim, the freezes are free; otherwise, you have to pay to implement the freeze.
Continue to check your credit report regularly. When it comes to identity theft, there's no substitute for diligently reviewing your credit report. If you ever see something suspicious, act on it immediately.
Dispute all charges you didn't make. Don't be pressured into paying charges you didn't make or authorize. Even if the amount is small, don't pay. The creditors will try and recoup some of their losses from you by telling you that if you pay this small amount, you'll be helping yourself because the charge won't go to collections. Making a payment, in some cases, is considered accepting responsibility for the debt.
Report your stolen checks. You do this through a check verification company, such as SCAN or Certegy.
Close compromised accounts. If you think an account is being used by someone else, close it immediately.
Document conversations. Write down the name of anyone you talk to, what he or she told you, and the date the conversation occurred.
Organize your paperwork. There will be lots to keep track of in the paper trail:
Keep the originals of supporting documentation, such as police reports and letters to and from creditors; send copies only.
Set up a filing system for easy access to your paperwork.
Keep copies of all correspondence or forms you send, with creditors and anyone else.
Keep old files even if you believe your case is closed. One of the most difficult and annoying aspects of identity theft is that errors can reappear on your credit reports or your information can be re-circulated. Should this happen, you'll be glad you kept your files.
Follow up. Follow up in writing with all contacts you've made on the phone or in person. Use certified mail, return receipt requested.
Follow a checklist. Use this list as a checklist to help you ensure you have completed all tasks and followed up as necessary.


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Graphical Models: Representations for Learning, Reasoning and Data Mining, 2nd Edition
Graphical Models: Representations for Learning, Reasoning and Data Mining, 2nd Edition
ISBN: 978-0-470-72210-7 September 2009 404 Pages
Download Product Flyer
Table of contents
1 Introduction.
1.1 Data and Knowledge.
1.2 Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining.
1.3 Graphical Models.
1.4 Outline of this Book.
2 Imprecision and Uncertainty.
2.1 Modeling Inferences.
2.2 Imprecision and Relational Algebra.
2.3 Uncertainty and Probability Theory.
2.4 Possibility Theory and the Context Model.
3 Decomposition.
3.1 Decomposition and Reasoning.
3.2 Relational Decomposition.
3.3 Probabilistic Decomposition.
3.4 Possibilistic Decomposition.
3.5 Possibility versus Probability.
4 Graphical Representation.
4.1 Conditional Independence Graphs.
4.2 Evidence Propagation in Graphs.
5 Computing Projections.
5.1 Databases of Sample Cases.
5.2 Relational and Sum Projections.
5.3 Expectation Maximization.
5.4 Maximum Projections.
6 Naive Classifiers.
6.1 Naive Bayes Classifiers.
6.2 A Naive Possibilistic Classifier.
6.3 Classifier Simplification.
6.4 Experimental Evaluation.
7 Learning Global Structure.
7.1 Principles of Learning Global Structure.
7.2 Evaluation Measures.
7.3 Search Methods.
7.4 Experimental Evaluation.
8 Learning Local Structure.
8.1 Local Network Structure.
8.2 Learning Local Structure.
8.3 Experimental Evaluation.
9 Inductive Causation.
9.1 Correlation and Causation.
9.2 Causal and Probabilistic Structure.
9.3 Faithfulness and Latent Variables.
9.4 The Inductive Causation Algorithm.
9.5 Critique of the Underlying Assumptions.
9.6 Evaluation.
10 Visualization.
10.1 Potentials.
10.2 Association Rules.
11 Applications.
11.1 Diagnosis of Electrical Circuits.
11.2 Application in Telecommunications.
11.3 Application at Volkswagen.
11.4 Application at DaimlerChrysler.
A Proofs of Theorems.
A.1 Proof of Theorem 4.1.2.
A.2 Proof of Theorem 4.1.18.
A.3 Proof of Theorem 4.1.20.
A.4 Proof of Theorem 4.1.26.
A.5 Proof of Theorem 4.1.28.
A.6 Proof of Theorem 4.1.30.
A.7 Proof of Theorem 4.1.31.
A.8 Proof of Theorem 5.4.8.
A.9 Proof of Lemma .2.2.
A.10 Proof of Lemma .2.4.
A.11 Proof of Lemma .2.6.
A.12 Proof of Theorem 7.3.1.
A.13 Proof of Theorem 7.3.2.
A.14 Proof of Theorem 7.3.3.
A.15 Proof of Theorem 7.3.5.
A.16 Proof of Theorem 7.3.7.
B Software Tools.
"The text provides graduate students, and researchers with all the necessary background material, including modelling under uncertainty, decomposition of distributions, graphical representation of distributions, and applications relating to graphical models and problems for further research." (Zentralblatt Math, 1 August 2013)"All of the necessary background is provided, with material on modeling under uncertainty and imprecision modeling, decomposition of distributions, graphical representation of distributions, applications relating to graphical models, and problems for further research." (Book News, December 2009)
|Graphical Models: Representations for Learning, Reasoning and Data Mining Visit the companion website to access the software examples discussed in the book.


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5 Tips for Caring for Your Diabetes Supplies
Be kind to your glucose meter. Since your meter plays a vital role in your diabetes management, be sure to take good care of it. That means you should never expose it to extreme temperatures, whether that may be freezing cold, or intense heat. If you keep a glucose meter in your car, make sure you remove it if very hot or cold weatehr is forecasted.
Keep test strips safe. As anyone with diabetes will tell you, test strips are a very costly but very helpful tool for managing diabetes. You should protect your investment accordingly—never leave your strips exposed to extreme temperatures, and always close the cap on a canister of test strips. Keeping the lid closed at all times will protect the integrity of the strips, and also keep out moisture and debris.
Keep your insulin cool—but not frozen. Exposing your insulin to extreme heat will most certainly ruin it, so be sure to keep insulin pens and vials refrigerated. It is perfectly fine to carry these supplies with you during the day unrefrigerated, just as long as you're careful to keep them out of direct sunlight, and in a cool environment. On the other hand, never store insulin next to a frozen ice pack—freezing insulin will also destroy its efficacy.
Protect your pump. Your pump provides some insulation of your insulin from the heat . If you are concerned about heat, you can use a protective pouch with a small, cold (but not freezing) gel pack placed inside the pouch as a way to protect your insulin from the effects of heat, advises Catherine Carver, M.S., A.N.P., C.D.E, and Vice President, Planning & Product Development at Joslin Diabetes Center. If you'll be spending a long time out in the sun, cover the pump with a towel to protect it from prolonged direct sunlight, and limit the exposure to direct light. Disconnecting your pump for up to an hour is another option, but if it is disconnected for a longer time, you will need to adjust your insulin infusion rate accordingly to allow for the missed doses.
Get organized. Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, storing your medication neatly will not only help you find your supplies easier, but they'll also make your diabetes management a bit more predictable. If you can, designate a drawer in your kitchen (or another safe spot in your home) for neatly storing syringes or pen needles, test strips, alcohol wipes, lancets, and other supplies. Drawer organizers sold at office or craft supply stores can be used to conveniently separate these items, and make them easily accessible.
Page last updated: November 07, 2019


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Integrate Inspiration® Into Your Curriculum
Inspiration® applies visual learning methodologies that engage students' learning in language arts, science and social studies and support planning and thinking. Use these examples and resources to help you start using Inspiration with confidence and creativity.
Download a free 30-day trial of Inspiration today!
Language Arts
Social Studies
Thinking and Planning
Multimedia/Web Site


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FDA Approved Drugs
Search by brand name for drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for sale in the United States.
Each listing contains a brief description of the indication for use. Click on the drug name for a complete product
profile, including general information, clinical trial results, side effects and manufacture information.
Abilify (aripiprazole)
Oral drug for the treatment of schizophrenia
Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension)
For the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer
Abreva (docosanol)
For the treatment of herpes simplex
Abstral (fentanyl sublingual tablets)
For the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain in opioid-tolerant patients
Abthrax (raxibacumab)
For the treatment and prevention of anthrax
Treatment for asthma
zafirlukast, 10 mg and 20 mg tablets.
Accretropin (somatropin rDNA Original)
For the treatment of growth failure in pediatrics
Aciphex (rabeprazole sodium)
For the treatment of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease
Actemra (ocilizumab)
For the treatment of Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Actemra (tocilizumab)
For the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
For the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Actemra (tocilizumab) injection
For the treatment of CAR T cell-induced severe or life-threatening cytokine release syndrome
Treatment for Cancer Pain
Activella (Estradiol/Norethindrone Acetate) Tablets
Combination hormone replacement therapy for the prevention of osteoporosis and other symptoms associated w/postmenopause
Treatment for Paget's Disease
ACTOplus met (pioglitazone hydrochloride and metformin hydrochloride)
For the treatment of type 2 diabetes
Treatment for type II diabetes
Acular (ketorolac tromethamine ophthalmic solution) 0.5%
Treatment for postoperative inflammation in patients who have undergone cataract extraction
Treatment for post-surgical inflammation following cataract extraction
Acuvail (ketorolac tromethamine)
For the treatment of pain and inflammation following cataract surgery.
Acyclovir Capsules
Generic equivalent of Zovirax
Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin)
For the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma
Adcirca (tadalafil)
For the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension
Adderall (mixed salts of a single-entity amphetamine)
Treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Adderall XR
Once-daily medication for the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Addyi (flibanserin)
For the treatment of premenopausal women with generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder
Adempas (riociguat)
For the treatment of Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Adlyxin (lixisenatide)
For the treatment of type II diabetes
Advair (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol)
For the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Advicor (extended-release niacin/lovastatin)
For the treatment of cholesterol disorders
Aemcolo (rifamycin)
For the treatment of traveler's diarrhea
Afinitor (everolimus)
For the treatment of advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
For the treatment of hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer
For the treatment of renal angiomyolipoma associated with tuberous sclerosis complex
For the treatment of renal cell carcinoma
Afrezza (insulin human) Inhalation Powder
For the treatment of diabetes mellitus
Afstyla (Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Single Chain)
For the treatment of hemophillia A
Agenerase (amprenavir)
For the treatment of HIV-1 infection.
Aggrenox (aspirin/extended-release dipyridamole) 25mg/200mg capules for the prevention of recurrence of stroke
Agrylin (anagrelide HCL)
Treatment for Thrombocythemia
Treatment for thrombocythemia
Aimovig (erenumab-aooe)
For the preventive treatment of migraine in adults
Ajovy (fremanezumab-vfrm)
For the treatment of migraine
AK-Con-A (naphazoline ophthalmic)
Over-the-counter combination vasoconstrictor/antihistamine product for opthalmic use
Aklief (trifarotene)
For the treatment of acne vulgaris
Akten (lidocaine hydrochloride)
For anesthesia during ophthalmologic procedures
Akynzeo (netupitant and palonosetron)
For the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting
pemirolast potassium ophthalmic solution
Albenza (albendazole)
Treatment for parasitic infections caused by worms
Aldara (imiquimod)
Treatment for external genital and perianal warts
Aldurazyme (laronidase)
For the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I) in subjects aged 5 to 65
Alecensa (alectinib)
For the treatment of ALK-positive, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer
Alesse (100 mcg levonorgestrel/20 mcg ethinyl estradiol tablets)
Treatment for the prevention of pregnancy
Alimta (pemetrexed for injection)
Alimta (pemetrexed for injection)
For the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma
Alinia (nitazoxanide)
For the treatment Diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium and Giardia in children.
Aliqopa (copanlisib)
For the treatment of follicular lymphoma
Allegra (fexofenadine hydrochloride)
Treatment for seasonal allergy symptoms
Treatment for nasal congestion due to seasonal allergy
Transdermal patch for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and treatment of vasomotor menopausal symptoms
Aloxi (palonosetron)
For the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with emetogenic cancer chemotherapy
Alphagan (brimonidine)
Treatment for open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension
AlphaNine SD Coagulation Factor IX (Human)
Treatment for the prevention and control of bleeding in subjects with hemophilia
Alprolix [Coagulation Factor IX (Recombinant), Fc Fusion Protein]
For the treatment of hemophilia B
Treatment for seasonal allergic conjunctivitis
Altabax (retapamulin)
For the treatment of impetigo due to Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes
Altocor (lovastatin) Extended-Release Tablets
Oral tablets for the adjuctive treatment of hypercholesterolemia
Alunbrig (brigatinib)
For the treatment of advanced ALK-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer
Alvesco (ciclesonide)
For the maintenance treatment of asthma as prophylactic therapy in adults and adolescents
Amaryl (Glimepiride)
Ameluz (aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride)
For the treatment of actinic keratoses
Treatment for acute migraine
Amevive (alefacept)
For moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
Amitiza (lubiprostone)
For the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation
Amoxil (amoxicillin)
Treatment (antibiotic) for common bacteria
Ampyra (dalfampridine)
For the improvement of walking in patients with multiple sclerosis
Amrix (cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride extended release)
For the treatment of muscle spasm associated with acute, painful musculoskeletal conditions
Amturnide (aliskiren + amlodipine + hydrochlorothiazide)
For the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension
Amzeeq (minocycline)
For the treatment of acne
Andexxa (coagulation factor Xa (recombinant), inactivated-zhzo)
for the reversal of factor Xa inhibitors
Androderm (Testosterone Transdermal System)
Treatment for primary and secondary hypogonadism
AndroGel testosterone gel
For testosterone replacement therapy in males with testosterone deficiency
AneuVysion Assay
Genetic test for birth defects
Treatment for chronic pain
Angiomax (bivalirudin)
For patients with unstable angina undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)
Annovera (segesterone acetate andethinylestradiolvaginal system)
For the prevention of pregnancy
Anoro Ellipta (umeclidinium and vilanterol inhalation powder)
For the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Anthim (obiltoxaximab)
For the treatment of inhalational anthrax
Antizol Injection
Treatment for ethylene glycol poisoning
Anturol (oxybutynin) Gel
For the treatment of overactive bladder
Treatment for emesis
Treatment for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and surgery
Treatment for canker sores
Aplenzin (bupropion hydrobromide)
For the treatment of major depressive disorder
Apokyn (apomorphine hydrochloride)
For the treatment of acute, intermittent hypomobility episodes associated with advanced Parkinson's disease
Apthasol (Amlexanox)
Aptiom (eslicarbazepine acetate)
For the adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures
Aptivus (tipranavir)
For the adjunctive treatment of HIV-1 infections
For the treatment of HIV
Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Arcapta (indacaterol maleate inhalation powder)
For the treatment of airflow obstruction resulting from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Aredia (pamidronate disodium for injection)
Treatment for osteolytic bone metastases of breast cancer
Arestin (minocycline hydrochloride)
For treatment of adult periodontitis
Argatroban Injection
Anticoagulant for prophylaxis or treatment of thrombosis in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.
ARICEPT (donepezil hydrochloride)
Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease
Arimidex (anastrozole)
Treatment for advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women
Aristada (aripiprazole lauroxil) extended-release injectable
For the treatment of schizophrenia
Injectable solution for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis
Arnuity Ellipta (fluticasone furoate inhalation powder)
For the treatment of asthma
Aromasin Tablets
Exemestane Tablets, 25 mg
Arranon (nelarabine)
For the treatment of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma
Treatment for arthritis
Arzerra (ofatumumab)
For the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Asacol (mesalamine)
Treatment of ulcerative colitis
Asceniv (Immune Globulin Intravenous, Human – slra 10% Liquid)
For the treatment of Primary Humoral Immunodeficiency Disease
Asparlas (calaspargase pegol-mknl )
For the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in pediatrics and young adults
Astelin nasal spray
Treatment for seasonal allergic rhinitis
Astepro (azelastine hydrochloride nasal spray)
For the treatment of seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis
Atacand (candesartan cilexetil)
For the treatment of hypertension
Atracurium Besylate Injection
Generic equivalent of Tracrium
Treatment for periodontal disease
Treatment of chronic adult periodontitis
Atrovent (ipratropium bromide)
Treatment for runny nose due to allergies and the common cold
Atryn (antithrombin recombinant lyophilized powder for reconstitution)
For the prevention of peri-operative and peri-partum thromboembolic events
Aubagio (teriflunomide)
For the treatment of multiple sclerosis
Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate)
Treatment for infections involving drug-resistant bacteria
Auryxia (Ferric citrate)
For the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease
Austedo (deutetrabenazine)
For the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington's disease and tardive dyskinesia
Avandamet (rosiglitazone maleate and metformin HCl)
For improvement of glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients
Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate)
Treatment for type II diabetes mellitus
Avastin (bevacizumab)
For the treatment of metastatic carcinoma of the colon or rectum
For the treatment of non–squamous non–small cell lung cancer
For the treatment of persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer
For the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma in adults
For the treatment of stage III or IV epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer
Aveed (testosterone undecanoate) injection
For the treatment of hypogonadism
Avelox I.V. (moxifloxacin hydrochloride)
For adults with susceptible strains of bacterial infections
Avinza (morphine sulfate)
Extended release capsule for the relief of pain requiring continuous, around-the-clock therapy
Avita Gel
Treatment for acne
Avonex (Interferon Beta 1-A)
Treatment for multiple sclerosis
Avycaz (ceftazidime-avibactam)
For the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal and urinary tract infections
Axert (almotriptan malate) tablets
For the treatment of migraine attacks
Axid AR (nizatidine
Over-the-counter anti-ulcer treatment
AzaSite (azithromycin)
For the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis
Azmacort (triamcinolone acetonide) Inhalation Aerosol
Azor (amlodipine besylate; olmesartan medoxomil)
Azulfidine EN-tabs Tablets (sulfasalazine delayed release tablets, USP)
Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis
Copyright © 1995-2015 CenterWatch.


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Cardon Children's Medical Center
Welcome to Banner Children's at Cardon Children's Medical Center.
From the moment you enter our facility, you will notice that we are a little different. Our front entrance is marked by a soothing water wall, lifelike trees, park benches and street lamps. Everything we do here is to welcome your family and make you feel comfortable.
1400 S Dobson Rd
Mesa, AZ 85202


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Green Office Indigogo Campaign
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You can help more people discover intentional communities by signing up as a monthly donor. For every new monthly donor (even as little as $5 per month), we will receive an additional $100 thanks to the Fund for Democratic Communities!
Your donation gives belonging and hope for the future.


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The Beverly Hills Fire Department Administration Division provides professional management and administrative support to all sections of the Department to ensure that superior services are delivered to the Beverly Hills community. Fire Administration is responsible for the overall planning, control, leadership, and management of all Fire Department activities and staff support for all programs; this includes strategic planning, departmental communications, data and records management systems, departmental safety committee, disaster services planning, budget preparation and administration, training, media relations, special projects, and general administration.
The Fire Administration Division is located at Headquarters/Station #1 and consists of the Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief, Training Officer, Management Analyst, Executive Officer, Executive Assistant, Secretaries, and Fire Cadets. Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:30am - 5:30pm, and Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm, excluding holidays.
Telephone: (310) 281-2700
Fax: (310) 278-2449
Tell us about your experience with Fire Administration by taking a moment to complete our customer satisfaction survey.
Fire Department Management Audit
On January 12, 2010, Citygate Associates was hired to conduct a comprehensive organizational and management audit of the Fire Department.
CityGate presented their findings at the City Council Study Session on November 4, 2010. You may view the presentation as well as its accompanying documents below.
According to the findings, the Beverly Hills Fire Department is "at all levels very cooperative, professional and technically competent." The audit also found that "given the struggle to keep up while coping with an ever-tightening economy, there is pride and ongoing effort to deliver the best customer service with the currently available resources. Fires are being attended to and medical calls are being answered with excellent patient care."
This audit is part of the City's continuing effort to evaluate all of its departments' services and service delivery in terms of customer service, best practices, efficiency and fiscal responsibility. The report from Citygate provides recommendations for implementation to improve core services, increase safety for the public and fire department personnel, and increase efficiency.


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Today, we'll be learning "how to draw Marcus Fenix from Gears of War", step by step. This tutorial comes with easy to draw guides and tips to draw the perfect Marcus for your ever so empty piece of paper. I hope you'll enjoy, and don't forget to tell me how you did.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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More Supreme Court Review on the Road
In case any of you are regretting not having been able to attend any of my September-October speaking events, here's my public schedule for November-December (not counting a spirited Obamacare debate against Columbia's Gillian Metzger last night at the University of Maryland Law School in Baltimore) (events sponsored by the Federalist Society asterisked):
- Nov. 8 at noon -- "Oh, That Rent-Seeking Mickey Mouse: Intellectual Property and Public Choice Theory" -- Texas-Wesleyan (Fort Worth) Law School*
- Nov. 9 at noon -- Debate, "The Arizona Immigration Law: Constitutional? Good Policy?" -- St. Mary's University (San Antonio) Law School*
- Nov. 10 at noon -- Debate on the Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Intepretation -- Florida International University (Miami) Law School*
- Nov.11 at noon -- "How I Got My Green Card or Why the Immigration System Is the Worst Part of the U.S. Government (and How to Reform It)" -- St. Thomas University (Miami) Law School*
- Nov.12 at 9:45am -- Panel as part of all-day law review symposium, "Cure, Botch or Opiate? Law, Politics, & the Constitutionality of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" -- Florida International University Law School
- Nov. 15 at noon -- Constitutionality of Obamacare -- University of Alabama Law School*
- Nov. 16 at 11:30am -- Panel, "Obamacare: Is it Constitutional?" Cumberland University (Birmingham) Law School*
- Nov. 17 at noon - Debate on the Arizona Scholarship Tax Credit Case -- Catholic University (Washington, DC) Law School
- Nov. 22 at noon -- Debate, "The Health Care Reform Act: What It Means for the Market, the Constitution, and You," University of Michigan Law School*
- Nov. 22 at 4pm -- "The Sweet Mystery of Anthony Kennedy," Detroit-Mercy Law School*
- Nov. 23 at noon -- "The Chrysler Bailout: Subverting the Constitution, Bankruptcy Law, and Good Sense," Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Auburn Hills, MI)*
- Dec. 1 at 10am -- Panel, "Everything You Wanted to Know About Health Reform, But Were Afraid to Ask," American Legislative Exchange Council's 2010 States and Nation Policy Summit (Washington, DC).
- Dec. 4 at 8:30am -- Debate, "Point\Counterpoint: Diagnosing the Constitutionality of Federal Health Care Reforms," Council of State Governments National Conference, Providence.
As always, if you attend any of these events, please do come up and introduce yourself.


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You are here
SBA Names Minnesota Small Business Person of the Year
Saint Cloud – Jim Kruse, Founder and Melissa Kelley, President of J.F. Kruse Jewelers based in Saint Cloud, have been named the Minnesota Small Business Persons of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The Small Business Person of the year is selected annually based on growth in sales or unit volume, increase in the number of employees, financial strength, innovativeness of product or service and evidence of contributions to community-oriented projects. Gail Ivers, Vice President of the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce and Barry Kirkhoff, Executive Director of the Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center (CMSBDC) at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN nominated Kruse and Kelley for this award.
As a teenager, Jim Kruse discovered a talent for sales while potting plants at a greenhouse in St. Paul. In 1979, he was hired at D.J. Bitzan Jewelers in St. Cloud, as a bench jeweler and trained as a diamond setter. However he soon found himself in sales there as well. Jim made the decision to change careers due to unforeseen family struggles and turned to construction. But a workplace injury resulted in cracked ribs and the need to find another way to make a living for his family.
Jim returned to jewelry as a diamond setter but began making his own creations and selling them on the side. In 2000 he opened J. F. Kruse Jewelers at the urging of friends and customers. The store started with two full-time (Jim and his sister) and two part-time employees and did $200,000 in sales in its first quarter.
J. F. Kruse Jewelers made use of the SBA 7(a) program in the early years. From 2000 to 2003 they received three different loans to help with the start-up of their business. All of them have been paid off. They received assistance in 2011 and 2012 from the CMSBDC in St. Cloud with their expansion.
Customer service and the dedication to custom jewelry are two things that stand out about J. F. Kruse Jewelers. They are the only custom jewelry store in Central Minnesota that can create a piece in-house from start to finish and sell it retail. Customers can walk into the store, talk to the staff about what they like, and the staff of artists can create the design, create a wax carving of it, make the piece and adjust it until the customer loves it.
In 2013, J. F. Kruse doubled its size with a new store on Waite Avenue in St. Cloud. Jim was joined in the business by his daughter, Melissa Kelley, 29, who started cleaning the toilets at the store while she was still in junior high school. Today she has a degree in business, is a graduate gemologist, and has taken over ownership of the business, while Jim retired in January of this year.
J.F. Kruse Jewelers takes advantage of their focus on custom jewelry for special types of fundraising. One third of the profits from a special line of jewelry, known as the "Becoming" series, are donated to a revolving list of charities that help deal with crisis pregnancies. Currently they are working with the St. Cloud Children's Home to develop a similar philanthropic plan. The store often donates jewelry and gift certificates to raffles with a particular focus at raising money for sick individuals and families hit by disaster. In general, they make in-kind donations to local families and community organizations every week.
J.F. Kruse Jewelers started with nothing to supporting 17 employees and continues to increase their customer base every month. Sales have increased by 7% each year since opening the door. Today J.F. Kruse Jewelers has developed a unique niche in custom jewelry designed and manufactured on-site.
J.F. Kruse Jewelers will be honored at the Minnesota Small Business Week Awards program on May 7, 2015, at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest.
For more information:
Jim Kruse
J.F. Kruse Jewelers
110 Waite Ave S
St. Cloud, MN 56301
Melissa Kelley
President and Owner
J.F. Kruse Jewelers
110 Waite Ave S
St. Cloud, MN 56301


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An increasing number of corporations have announced that they will no longer advertise on the show of the undisputed king of political radio talk, Rush Limbaugh, in the wake of caustic and sexually charged comments he made about a Georgetown Law student.
An apology over the weekend failed to quell the controversy, as both corporations and conservative commentators denounced Limbaugh's latest provocative remarks. It is far from his first such episode. Part of Limbaugh's appeal involves getting listeners to tune in to hear just what shibboleth-bursting thing he'll say next.
"I always say my real purpose is to attract the largest audience I can, and hold it for as long as I can, so I can charge confiscatory advertising rates," Limbaugh told NPR in 2007. "Getting along is not the objective."
But two things make this episode stand out: the nature of the target and the timing of his comments.
The law student, Sandra Fluke, had appeared before a panel of Democratic lawmakers to call for federal health care coverage to include the cost of contraception.
Last Wednesday, Limbaugh labeled her a "slut," adding that Fluke's call for such coverage "makes her a prostitute." A day later, again on his nationally syndicated talk show, Limbaugh said that since the taxpayers would be subsidizing her contraceptives, Fluke should tape her sexual activity and post it online for public consumption.
An outcry ensued. Limbaugh is renowned, of course, for controversial remarks. Watching U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi surrounded by grandchildren as she became the first female House speaker led him to speculate about whether she would breastfeed kids on the floor of the House. He claimed the actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, exaggerated its effects for political advantage as some Senate candidates clashed over stem cell research policy. Those comments, among others, drew criticism.
In this case, however, Fluke is not otherwise a known public figure, though she appeared in a public setting. And some conservatives joined many liberals in denouncing Limbaugh. Among them were the commentators George Will, Jeff Jacoby and David Frum.
On Saturday, as several advertisers peeled away, Limbaugh apologized for "the insulting word choices" – and reiterated his apology on Monday, saying he did not believe Fluke to be either of the things he had called her. But that apology did not extend to the content of his remarks – which indicated that she must be promiscuous if she could not afford contraception without the federal health care subsidy.
Limbaugh rarely backtracks and almost never apologizes; this particular episode flared as Republican candidates are vying to become the party's presidential nominee. Limbaugh has been deeply skeptical of frontrunner Mitt Romney, saying he is insufficiently conservative.
But Limbaugh became the distraction.
Because of his influential role among the party's conservative base, the Republican candidates sought to distance themselves from Limbaugh's words without denouncing him altogether.
President Obama, seeing advantage, personally called Fluke to extend his support and told her that her parents should be proud. For her part, Fluke told ABC News that Limbaugh's remarks were "outside the bounds of human discourse."
Insensitive comments from other radio and cable talk show hosts – Ed Schultz, David Shuster and Don Imus – led to punishments from their employers, from suspensions to firings. On Monday, AOL added itself to the roster of advertisers canceling commercials on Limbaugh's show. But he remains the most popular draw on talk radio.
Rush Limbaugh rarely says he's sorry, and by the time the conservative talk show host did apologize for recent sexually offensive comments that caused much outrage, he'd already lost some of his big-name advertisers.
And he's continued losing them. The object of Limbaugh's derision was a Georgetown University law student. She testified before Congress in favor of insurance coverage for contraception. Limbaugh's apology came in an online statement and did not stop the controversy.
MONTAGNE: As of this morning, nine advertisers, including Allstate and AOL, have pulled their spots from his show. NPR's David Folkenflik joined us to discuss the fallout. Good morning.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Hey, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Why, after all these years of very provocative statements, why are advertisers reacting so strongly to this?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, these statements were pretty raw, and I think it's probably worth hearing what he had to say about this woman. And I'd like to warn listeners a little bit to brace themselves. This is pretty noxious stuff.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke that goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right?
FOLKENFLIK: Her name, of course, actually is Sandra Fluke, but nonetheless he calls her a prostitute and then he goes on the next day to say, you know, if we, the federal taxpayers, will be subsidizing her sexual activity, she should post videotapes of this on the Web. And I think there's two reasons really why there was some genuine outrage as well as some opportunistic ideological criticism of Mr. Limbaugh.
I think first is that she's what we in the press kind of call a civilian. She's not a politician. She's not a public figure. She happens to be testifying before members of Congress, but she really is somebody who's just a citizen, and he went after her in the most personal possible way.
MONTAGNE: And what else, though? Again, this has blown up in a way that very few things have done for Rush Limbaugh.
FOLKENFLIK: Well, it's also happening in the context of a presidential primary. You know, Limbaugh likes to see himself as an influencer, even a king-maker among conservatives. There's been a lot of question about whether the clear frontrunner, Mr. Mitt Romney, is sufficiently conservative, and it means that you have all these candidates being asked to comment on this episode. And the candidates are kind of squirming to distance themselves from his remarks and at the same time not be too condemnatory because so many of the potential voters are fans.
MONTAGNE: And then there was the apology. What exactly did Rush Limbaugh say?
FOLKENFLIK: Limbaugh didn't distance himself from the sentiment. What he did instead was say that, you know, it was a poor choice of words. It was perhaps too severe. But he really didn't back off from the idea that somehow someone who thought that it was appropriate for a healthcare policy to cover contraception was somehow promiscuous and therefore open to criticism for it.
And also it opened him up to criticism from a number of conservative voices, including people like George Will and Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe. So the apology itself doesn't seem to have contained the storm that raged around his comments.
MONTAGNE: You know, David, though, other talk show hosts on both sides of the ideological divide have said things that are incendiary and insulting. What is different about Rush Limbaugh?
FOLKENFLIK: What makes Limbaugh different, of course, is the role that he plays as an influencer in conservative circles, is essentially unmatched by anybody on the left. And for that reason, I don't think you're going to see Limbaugh go anywhere. But this is a moment where he's been forced to step back and acknowledge that perhaps he went too far over the line.
MONTAGNE: David, thanks very much.
FOLKENFLIK: You bet.
MONTAGNE: NPR's media correspondent, David Folkenflik. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.