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It's tough being a teen. Are you in or are you out? Are you hanging with the right crowd? Are you dressing and talking and acting the right way? For adolescents who are ethnic minorities, on top of this quest to "fit in" is the added layer - and the burden - of dealing with discrimination, say UCLA researchers.
In a new study, the researchers found that adolescents from Latin American and Asian backgrounds experienced more discrimination than their peers from European backgrounds and that the discrimination came not only from other adolescents but from adults as well. The level of discrimination also impacted these teens' grade-point averages and their health and was associated with depression, distress and lower levels of self-esteem.
The findings appear in the current online edition of the Journal of Research on Adolescence.
For the study, lead author Virginia W. Huynh, a graduate student in the laboratory of Andrew J. Fuligni, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, recruited 601 high school seniors, equally divided between males and females, and asked them to maintain a daily diary for two weeks to record any discriminatory events or comments they experienced. They were also asked to separately record on a four-point scale any physical symptoms, such as headaches, stomachaches or general pain.
Among the teens in the study, nearly 60 percent reported experiencing discrimination from other teens, and 63 percent reported discrimination from adults; 12 percent reported experiencing discrimination on a daily basis. Adolescents from Latin American backgrounds reported more adult discrimination than Asian Americans, who, in turn, reported more adult discrimination than teens from European backgrounds. Latin American and Asian American teens also reported higher levels of discrimination by their peers.
The researchers found that teens who reported higher levels of peer or adult discrimination also reported more aches, pains and other symptoms, as well as a lower overall grade-point average. Thus, discrimination may not only tax adolescents' physical and psychological resources but may also affect their ability to achieve in school, the researchers said.
Although seniors in high school are close to adults in terms of their cognitive capacities and their ability to recognize discrimination when they see or experience it, they are also distinct from adults, said Fuligni, the study's senior author.
"These are the years when social identity is arguably more salient among teenagers who are struggling with defining who they are," he said. "Adding on a 'layer' of discrimination is not an easy thing for them to deal with."
By comparing the amount of discrimination the students experienced with their ratings of their physical well-being and their grades at the conclusion of the semester, the researchers were able to examine the relationship between discrimination and health among the adolescents.
The study furthers the understanding of the normal development of ethnic minority and immigrant adolescents, the researchers say, because it shows that adult and peer discrimination may have implications for adolescents' physical health.
"Discrimination significantly predicted lower GPAs, higher levels of depression, higher levels of distress, lower self-esteem and more physical complaints," Fuligni said. "So the bottom line? Discrimination is harmful."
Funding for the study was provided by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation. The authors report no conflict of interest.
Mark Wheeler
University of California - Los Angeles
The Damaging Effects Of Discrimination
It's tough being a teen. Are you in or are you out? Are you hanging with the right crowd? Are you dressing and talking and acting the right way? For adolescents who are ethnic minorities, on top of this quest to "fit in" is the added layer - and the burden - of dealing with discrimination, say UCLA researchers.


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Welcome to my blog!!!! Here is where I'll post updates to my site, arlenesbags.com, my etsy shop and to post comments on my experiences, both hits & misses, with sewing patterns I have used. Finally, here in my little corner of the net, I have a place to shamelessly blather on & on about sewing .
Sunday, March 25, 2018
New Sweater Jacket
I recently finished making View A of McCall's pattern 7199. I was somewhat intimidated by inserting the zipper, but, happily, I found it really easy to do.
Overall, the jacket goes together very easily.
I especially like the asymmetrical zipper & the back that is somewhat longer than the front.
The style of the jacket is totally new to me but I must say I do like it a lot!
Posted by Arlene's Bags at 3:59 PM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: asymmetrical zipper, McCall's 7199, sweater jacket
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subset: commoncrawl


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LONDON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- British celebrity Heather Mills was restrained while attempting to attack a Paralympics official in Austria, the Express newspaper in London reported.
Mills, 45, is the ex-wife of rock 'n' roll icon Paul McCartney.
The former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant, who lost her left leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993, had hoped to secure a place on Great Britain's ski team at the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in March. However, her altercation with International Paralympic Committee executive Sylvana Mestre has all but assured she won't be included on the team roster.
"You bitch, you bitch. Don't you know who I am? I will make your life a misery," the Express quoted Mills as saying to Mestre as she lunged at her.
"Heather tried to grab me. I was in a state of shock. I was completely taken aback. I don't want to discuss it further. I want to put it behind me," Mestre told the newspaper, adding she does not intend to report the incident to police, but will instead let the competition's governing body decide whether Mills should be sanctioned.
Mills reportedly was upset because Mestre told her the boot she wore on her stump for the tryout did not meet regulations.


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CASA is not a crisis service and does not provide an emergency crisis service. For an emergency, please phone 111. To talk to a trained counsellor please call the National Telehealth Service on 1737 or text 1737 for support. This service is free and available, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
CASA is a nationwide service – contact us via phone or email to discuss how we can best meet your needs


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whanki museum
seoul, republic of korea
The 16,000 sf museum is dedicated to the memory and spirit of the contemporary Korean painter, Kim Whanki. The program for painting and temporary exhibition galleries, café, library, and multi-purpose hall, is distributed among four volumes that merge with the topography to create a unique landscape of terraces and buildings. To house the extensive program and maintain a balance between open space, building, and the surrounding neighborhood, many spaces are located underground. The center of the museum is a courtyard partially submerged in the earth. Light from a central skylight fills the volumes below, while perimeter stairs connect adjacent gallery spaces and exterior terraces.
"The formal and geometric echoes and counterpoints are precise—vault and mountain, glass and stone, circle and square, ground and sky. They lend an almost metaphysical quality to this empty, ordered space, contrasting powerfully with the landscape and the lyrical play of light, form and art that distinguishes the museum interiors." —Museum Architecture


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Somatic 60 Triple Stack Vessel 0.5-1-1.5
The Triple Stack Dosing Vessels fit perfectly with the Somatic 60 Filtration System and let you store liquid dosing additives. The stacking design saves a bunch of space while having an ingenious method of extracting the additives from their respective vessels. Each container will index with the fill hole of the previous vessel keeping them from twisting and secure. The top reservoir has an acrylic cap to keep dust and foreign material from entering.
Footprint - 6" x 4"
Stacked height - 22"
Bottom Vessel
- Volume - 1500 mL
- Height - 10.25"
Middle Vessel
- Volume - 1000 mL
- Height - 7.0"
Top Vessel
- Volume - 500 mL
- Height - 4"
What's Included?
1x 500 mL Vessel
1x 1000 mL Vessel
1x 1500 mL Vessel
3x Straws
3x Straw Couplers
1x Funnel
1x Vessel Cap


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Table of Contents
Version Support
Sample Execution
Export profile
View ghetto profile
Import profile
As the name suggests, this script allows a user to capture and store some basic configurations from an ESXi host and provides a way to import and apply these configurations to a newly fresh built ESXi host. This script is not meant to be a replacement for VMware's Host Profile, but it provides a simple and free scripted solution for managing stand alone hosts. This is great for a development environment where you may have several configurations and you're rebuilding hosts and don't want to create separate scripts for each. I've personally used this to help rebuild my vESXi (virtual ESXi) hosts for testing different API or script functionalities and with limited resources, I need to consistently rebuild.
The script assumes that your target ESXi host has a bare minimal of networking configured which contains hostname, IP address, gateway, DNS and root password configured. From this, you'll take a profile which has been captured and apply to the target ESXi host and there will be a few areas that will require user input such as configuring a new VMkernel address or removing default portgroups/etc.
Currently this script captures the following basic areas:
Datastore and Storage configurations (includes iSCSI + multipathing)
Network vSwitch + Portgroup configurations
License configurations
NTP configurations
VMkernel/Management configurations
Service configurations
SNMP configurations
Advanced host setting configurations
There are few limitations such as capturing full iSCSI configurations specifically around CHAP authentication (uni/bi-directional) and I can see why this was a challenge for VMware to included in their current Host Profile offering.
Initial Server Set Up
ESXi 4.0
Version Support
Supports ESXi (licensed version only)
[vi-admin@scofield profile]$ ./ghettoHostProfile.pl Required command option 'operation' not specified. Required command option 'profile_name' not specified. Synopsis: ./ghettoHostProfile.pl OPTIONS Command-specific options: --operation (required) Operation to perform on host [export|import|dump] --profile_description Description of profile --profile_name (required) Name of the profile Common VI options: --config (variable VI_CONFIG) Location of the VI Perl configuration file --credstore (variable VI_CREDSTORE) Name of the credential store file defaults to <HOME>/.vmware/credstore/vicredentials.xml on Linux and <APPDATA>/VMware/credstore/vicredentials.xml on Windows --encoding (variable VI_ENCODING, default 'utf8') Encoding: utf8, cp936 (Simplified Chinese), iso-8859-1 (German), shiftjis (Japanese) --help Display usage information for the script --passthroughauth (variable VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTH) Attempt to use pass-through authentication --passthroughauthpackage (variable VI_PASSTHROUGHAUTHPACKAGE, default 'Negotiate') Pass-through authentication negotiation package --password (variable VI_PASSWORD) Password --portnumber (variable VI_PORTNUMBER) Port used to connect to server --protocol (variable VI_PROTOCOL, default 'https') Protocol used to connect to server --savesessionfile (variable VI_SAVESESSIONFILE) File to save session ID/cookie to utilize --server (variable VI_SERVER, default 'localhost') VI server to connect to. Required if url is not present --servicepath (variable VI_SERVICEPATH, default '/sdk/webService') Service path used to connect to server --sessionfile (variable VI_SESSIONFILE) File containing session ID/cookie to utilize --url (variable VI_URL) VI SDK URL to connect to. Required if server is not present --username (variable VI_USERNAME) Username --verbose (variable VI_VERBOSE) Display additional debugging information --version Display version information for the script
1. Download the latest Perl Data-Serializer module
2. Upload the tarball to your vMA host
[vi-admin@scofield ~]$ ls Data-Serializer-0.49.tar.gz
3. Extract the tarball contents:
[vi-admin@scofield ~]$ tar -zxvf Data-Serializer-0.49.tar.gz Data-Serializer-0.49/ Data-Serializer-0.49/t/ Data-Serializer-0.49/Changes Data-Serializer-0.49/lib/ Data-Serializer-0.49/MANIFEST Data-Serializer-0.49/META.yml Data-Serializer-0.49/examples/ Data-Serializer-0.49/MANIFEST.SKIP Data-Serializer-0.49/INSTALL Data-Serializer-0.49/README Data-Serializer-0.49/Build.PL .....
4. cd into Data-Serializer folder and create Perl makefile for build process:
[vi-admin@scofield Data-Serializer-0.49]$ perl Makefile.PL # running Build.PL /usr/bin/perl Build.PL Checking whether your kit is complete... Looks good Checking prerequisites... - ERROR: Digest::SHA is not installed * Optional prerequisite YAML is not installed * Optional prerequisite Crypt::Blowfish is not installed * Optional prerequisite Data::Taxi is not installed * Optional prerequisite XML::Dumper is not installed * Optional prerequisite Compress::PPMd is not installed * Optional prerequisite FreezeThaw is not installed * Optional prerequisite XML::Simple is not installed * Optional prerequisite YAML::Syck is not installed * Optional prerequisite JSON::XS is not installed * Optional prerequisite JSON::Syck is not installed * Optional prerequisite Crypt::CBC is not installed * Optional prerequisite Data::Denter is not installed * Optional prerequisite Config::General is not installed * Optional prerequisite JSON is not installed * Optional prerequisite PHP::Serialization is not installed ERRORS/WARNINGS FOUND IN PREREQUISITES. You may wish to install the versions of the modules indicated above before proceeding with this installation Creating new 'Build' script for 'Data-Serializer' version '0.49'
5. Run make test to verify sanity tests succeed before installing:
[vi-admin@scofield Data-Serializer-0.49]$ make test
6. Install the Perl module:
[vi-admin@scofield Data-Serializer-0.49]$ sudo make install
7. Download and upload ghettoHostProfile.pl to your vMA 4.0 host
8. Set the script have execution permission:
[vi-admin@scofield skunkworks]$ chmod +x ghettoHostProfile.pl
Sample Execution
Export ghetto profile
You'll want to configured a base ESXi host with all the host related configurations prior to exporting a profile. No changes will be applied when exporting a profile, so you can still have VMs running without anything affecting the host. User's have the option of giving the profile a description by specifying --profile_description, ensure that you wrap the text in quotes if you're going to be using spaces.
Here is the command I'll be using:
[vi-admin@scofield profile]$ ./ghettoHostProfile.pl --server esxi4-1.primp-industries.com --username root --operation export --profile_name esxi4-1_profile --profile_description "development image"
Here is a screenshot of export operation:
Here is a listing of the current directory after the export:
[vi-admin@scofield profile]$ ls -lha total 80K drwxr-xr-x 2 vi-admin root 4.0K Feb 15 19:11 . drwxr-xr-x 8 vi-admin root 4.0K Feb 15 19:11 .. -rw------- 1 vi-admin root 28K Feb 15 19:09 esxi4-1_profile -rw-r--r-- 1 vi-admin root 50 Feb 15 19:09 esxi4-1_profile.md5sum -rwxr-xr-x 1 vi-admin root 38K Feb 15 19:05 ghettoHostProfile.pl
Part of the post-export is to generate an MD5 checksum file against the exported profile to ensure file integrity when importing the profile onto a host. At the end, you'll be left with the profile of the name you specified and a corresponding md5 checksum text file, ensure these are always together when working with this script.
View ghetto profile
If you would like to view the contents of a ghetto profile, you can run the dump operation which creates a a new file named <profilename>.dump
Here is the command I'll be using:
./ghettoHostProfile.pl --server esxi4-2.primp-industries.com --username root --operation dump --profile_name esxi4-1_profile
Here is a screenshot of the dump operation
You can now view the contents of esxi4-1_profile.dump which will show you what was captured from your source ESXi host
Import ghetto profile
The target ESXi host in which the profile will be applied to must be in maintenance mode before any operations are made to ensure you don't have any running VMs/etc. If the host is not in maintenance mode, the user will be prompted and a selection can be made. The script will also prompt the user if he/she would like to take a backup of the existing configuration of the ESXi host, in case there may be some unexpected outcome and you would like to restore the configuration using esxcfg-cfgbackup.
Prior to applying the configurations, the script will verify the md5 checksum file generated earlier in the import and also confirm with the user if he/she would like to proceed.
Here is the command I'll be using:
[vi-admin@scofield profile]$ ./ghettoHostProfile.pl --server esxi4-2.primp-industries.com --username root --operation import --profile_name esxi4-1_profile
Here is a screenshot of the vSphere Client of source ESXi host (esxi4-1.primp-industries.com)
Here is a screenshot of the vSphere Client of target ESXi host (esxi4-2.primp-industries.com) before the profile import:
Here is a screenshot of import operation (highlighted in purple is where user interaction may be required):
If everything goes well, all configuration changes should have been applied and you'll be prompted to issue a reboot to the ESXi host for all changes to take effect.
Here is a screenshot of vSphere Client of target ESXi host (esxi4-2.primp-industries.com) after the profile import:


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Written by Caroline Denton
Photographed by Sarah Grace Kivett
Some call him Meekah Peck. Others refer to him as the pirate hipster of the graphic design crew, though he won't acknowledge it. But there is one label that cannot be disputed: gifted. With a graphic design concentration at the forefront of his studies, Micah has several interests in terms of art, like music and writing, but drawing has always been his particular interest.
He says, "I love fine arts for their aesthetic, emotional, spiritual qualities, but the utilitarianism of graphic design is also appealing to me. My favorite is when those two get to come together." In his flesh and bone series, he explores a balance between the technical and conceptual in an anatomical suite. Using models taken from romantic figural paintings by artists such as Gustave Corbet and William Blake, he did studies of the human head, torso, arms, legs, etc. by drawing their bones and musculature. "I wanted there to be a sense of shock because it's not often that we get to see our bodies under flesh. It's fascinating once you get over what's going on."
Micah aims to create work that "stirs the boring waters." He forgoes the trendy in favor of the harder topics, the things that make people uncomfortable. He wants to cause bizarre emotions and wonder in order to make people think deeply. And he adds, "I also love sarcasm, so anytime I get to interject that is great."
Micah's curiosity sparked his fascination with art. He says, "When I see something I like, I want to do it. I grew up watching cartoons, and that made me want to make my own. It was the same thing with music. Everything I've done is a response to what I'm studying or looking at."
Someday you might find Micah running his own publication design studio or creating cartoons while jamming to all the songs with a cup of coffee in hand. "I just want to be able to do all the things," he tells me, and as I look over the list of what he has done—photography, painting, videography, sculpture, drawing, graphic design—I think he's on track to doing just that.


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In Britain, the name of LG Alexander was not widely known, but abroad he was a celebrity: delegations met him at airports, television cameras appeared and lecture halls would be crammed with people gathered to hear him speak. None of this affected his unassuming modesty or diminished the warmth and generosity of his heart.
Born in the United Kingdom, Alexander spent the war years with his mother in her native Australia. After returning to this country, he was educated at Godalming school, Surrey, and Queen Mary College, London, with one term at Cambridge University.
While doing national service in Germany, he taught A-level English with the higher education corps. From there, he moved to the prestigious Moraitis school in Athens (his father was Greek), where he was head of English language for nine years - an experience that convinced him that the teaching of English as a foreign language had become stagnant, and was in need of change.
His first major book, New Concept English (1967), was a breath of fresh air. Alexander had an instinctive feel for putting together a syllabus as a foundation for effective learning, and showed a genius for organising the language in ways which students - and their teachers - found immensely stimulating.
With his publisher, Longman, he then embarked on a string of groundbreaking works. Look Listen And Learn (1968-71), Target (1972-74) and Mainline (1973-81) all enjoyed phenomenal worldwide success, and brought their author rewards and reputation that might have persuaded a lesser man to ease up. Not so Alexander, with his boundless intellectual curiosity and urge to create.
He sat on the Council of Europe's committee on modern language teaching (1973-78), and collaborated on two of their teachers' guides, The Threshold Level (1975) and Waystage (1977), which were invaluable to subsequent course writers. He invested enormous research and analysis in the creation of the widely used Longman English Grammar (1988) and Longman Advanced Grammar (1993). He worked with Unesco on Junior English For China (1988) - in China, his is one of the most widely known western names - and in Egypt, his work has been extensively used in secondary schools for a quarter of a century.
Throughout his life, Alexander welcomed new ideas, and would embrace any aspect of new technology that offered accessible benefits to the student. In pre-video days, he collaborated with Halas and Bachelor to produce cartoons on loop film for language learning, and, in 1979-80, he provided the blueprint, and wrote the classroom materials, for Follow Me (BBC and Longman), one of the first major courses to contain a significant video element.
In the early 1980s, he produced one of the first computer-based language learning courses, in French and Spanish, for Atari; and for Direct English (1994), he created a body of fresh and innovative learning materials, including interactive CD-Rom and video, with internet components.
Despite this workload, with Alexander there was always a simmering sense of fun. One of his many outlets was mountaineering, and he and his second wife, Julia, spent many of their happiest times exploring and camping in the Peloponnese, armed with a rare set of local military maps. Music, poetry, literature, painting, photography and the performing arts all absorbed his interest. His 70th birthday party in January was large, noisy and memorable.
Alexander's first wife, Athina, died in 1979. He is survived by Julia, his daughter Marianna and his son George.
· Louis George Alexander, author and teacher, born January 15 1932; died June 17 2002


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The Classic Brandy Camera Strap
The Classic Brandy Camera Strap
The rustic leather Classic Brandy camera strap is timeless. It is one of our most in-demand products because of its simplicity, as well as its clearly evident quality. Male and female photographers of all ages and all photographic orientations enjoy it due to its classic details and rich texture.
Most cameras are compatible with our leather camera straps, as they are adjustable and can be used as a neck-strap or shoulder sling. Our straps naturally fit camera with rectangular lug mounts that are 1cm wide and 2mm thick, which includes all Canon and Nikon DLSRs.
Color: Brandy Brown
Material: Vegetable Tanned Leather + Kilim Textiles + Brass Accents
Adjustable Leather Strap
Full Length: 43 Inches (110cm)
Neck Length and Width: 19.5 x 1.3 Inches (50cm x 3.5cm)
Lower Length Laid Flat: 15x.39 Inches (40cm x 1cm)
Handmade in Leon, Mexico
Care Instructions: Gently clean leather with mink oil and cotton cloth
All Prices in USD


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Why No Amount of Litigation Can Upend Exxon
Activist Kenny Bruno thinks he has a plan to destroy Exxon.
In a January 2016 meeting attended by fellow activists and heavyweight trial lawyers like Matt Pawa, who last year extracted a $236 million verdict from the oil giant, the veteran environmental crusader laid out his precisely-crafted mission to starve the $365 billion company of resources, influence, and ultimately, any meaningful hope for profits.
Millions of investors are understandably shaken and left wondering if they should bail under the circumstances. Many already have, judging from the fact that Exxon stock is down 15% from its June 2014 peak of $103.83.
I can't think of a bigger mistake.
The last time we saw this script it led to returns of at least 273% for savvy investors who followed along.
The opportunity could be even bigger this time around.
Exxon's Litigation Wars Remind Me of Big Tobacco's Legal Woes
If climate crusaders have their way, Exxon will be put on trial for, quite literally, letting the world burn.
A coalition of 17 (and counting) State Attorneys General is taking their vendetta back to the 1970s, challenging Exxon's knowledge of climate science and the impacts of burning fossil fuels. At stake is whether the company a) actually knows what it is talking about and b) is culpable.
The same thing happened to big tobacco.
In 1998, anti-smoking activists were convinced that the death knell for the industry had been sounded by the $206 billion that Phillip Morris, J.R. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard would be forced to cough up under a settlement spearheaded by a group of trial lawyers and Attorneys General in 46 states. Forced to curtail and substantially change their advertising, the giant tobacco companies bled billions for more than 25 years and continue to do so today.
For years I've been hard pressed to think of a more demonized industry. Until Bruno came along, big energy was just a recreational target for fringe activists with a proverbial axe to grind.
But, now the social meme has turned from merely one of casual dislike to pure hatred.
Clearly the stakes are getting higher.
As usual, though, there's a silver lining in all this and it's one that not one in a million investors understands – but should.
The data show very clearly that it pays to ally yourselves with companies under siege, not run from them for reasons I'll explain in a minute.
Let's return to Altria for a minute.
When I recommended the company to Money Map Report members in February 2010, Altria's operating companies included:
Philip Morris USA, the largest tobacco company in the U.S., controlling half of the country's cigarette market share.
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, which manufactures and markets smokeless tobacco products.
John Middleton, a leading manufacturer of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco.
It was the poster child for public hatred and media vitriol. The headlines were absolutely terrible.
"Anti-Smoking Campaign Announced for Los Angeles County" – Santa Monica Mirror
"Teenage Smoking Rates Spur Calls to Renew Anti-Tobacco Campaigns" – The New York Times
"U.S. Predicts Smoking Bans in Every State by 2020" – Associated Press
You couldn't turn around without seeing something against smoking. Yet Altria didn't just survive bad publicity and multiple lawsuits-it thrived – and savvy shareholders who bought in as I suggested made bank.
They still are.
Activists, you see, rarely understand the concept of resiliency. What I mean by that is that they become so singularly focused on their agenda that they perpetually misjudge a company's will to survive.
Sure, they get their show trials and, as part of that, big payments and reparations if they're lucky. But, ultimately, public shaming never works on anything other than a short-term basis.
Demand simply shifts, the activists achieve a moment of glory, the lawyers make a ton of money and profits continue to roll in.
Big Tobacco, for example, ran head on into no-smoking zones and intense public scrutiny in the developed world where activists controlled the media and anti-smoking sentiment took off. For a while, executives acquiesced and played the unfortunate ones, much to public delight.
Then, they did a quick pivot and headed straight to the Third World.
Profits soared.
Source: TheSustainableInvestor.net
I recommended Altria because I knew my history – social shaming ultimately fails, blame shifts to consumers, and demand continues unabated – and I believed that Altria's management knew how to court the investors who would make that possible.
Good old-fashioned cash.
Altria has increased dividends every year since 1970 with only two exceptions in 2007 and 2008 respectively. That makes it a "must-have" for millions of income-starved investors at a time when they desperately want yield no matter how it's generated.
The company has paid more than $1 billion in dividends in Q1/2016 alone, and plans to reward shareholders with a payout ratio target of 80% of adjusted diluted EPS. Factoring in double-digit earnings growth year over year, this works out to a dividend boost this year of around 8% at a time when the Fed is squabbling about 0.25%-0.5% and the ten year treasury yield representing the so-called "risk free rate" is stuck at 1.71%.
No doubt you see the logic.
My point is that activists can demonize a sector all they want but as long as the public has to have what they make or the income it produces, the profits will continue.
Applying the same logic, Exxon is a logical buy.
The company has a powerful investment base, is a Dividend Aristocrat – meaning it's been increasing dividends consecutively for more than 25 years – and makes a product the world has to have.
That gives it a powerful investor base. In fact, XOM shareholders received yet another dividend hike at the end of April, up nearly 3% from the previous payout. At this rate, Exxon investors can expect annual payouts of $4 per share within the next five years, according to Dividend.com.
That translates into an effective yield of 4.4% for investors who take a far-sighted view on Exxon and make their move today while also representing a yield that's more than double that of the average S&P 500 company.
Source: Dividend.com
Like Altria, Exxon is set up for growth.
Exxon rolled out six acquisition and development projects in 2015 along that together would bring in an extra 300,000 barrels of production per day – hardly the behavior of a company that's truly spooked by activists or even low oil prices.
The way I see it, Bruno and his allies are going to create another version of Big Tobacco – not kill it.
Consumption will triple in the undeveloped world even as ours drops. Social shaming will shift to social blaming even as the profits mount.
Which is why I'm counting on chaos in the energy sector.
Until next time,


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As part of our continuous mission to provide the best service and customer experience possible, I'm thrilled to announce a recent re-investment in the way customers engage with Meridian online, via our totally redesigned Customer Internet Access portal.
This overhaul impacts only the design, mobile interface, and look and feel of Meridian's Customer Internet Access portal — and no system features or processes have changed. However, we believe it was a much needed improvement to help further enhance our service, and we hope that you, our valued customers, agree.
Read on for:
- What's changed and why
- Benefits of the changes and mobile enhancements
- User guides to help you navigate the new site
- Before and after shots
- How you can take advantage of this tool


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We don't want Beach Break to be a dark house in the community but to use/share it with others and bring employment and income to the area as best we can. We pay community charge to support local services, engage with and support local community initiatives like the village church, Friends of Bude Seapool, the RNLI Lifeguards and have helped local schools.
We therefore use the house as much as we can but sometimes simply can't afford to and have to rent it out. Because it costs us a lot to keep, maintain and clean the house we have to charge what we can and our rates vary from between £650 off peak to £2,450 a week in the peak summer and school holiday periods.
While a lot of money, it's nothing compared to the cost of leaving the country, parking/renting cars and renting villas of this standard abroad.
And on a good (or bad) day, Cornwall beats anywhere hands down.
Also, remember it sleeps 8/9 so can be split between two families.
We've never been very organised and have never planned our own holidays more than a few weeks in advance so having to think when we'll be using the house a year in advance is a killer for us. We try to get our availability up around the end of the year.
We use the house ourselves around key school holidays, but have to rent it too, usually for most/all of the summer holiday, Christmas or New Year.
We usually try to split half terms by renting it Fri to Weds or Weds to Fri for 80% of weekly rent so we get some use and some income.
We're also particularly keen to let it for weekends and at short notice. Why not have your (grand)parents down for the weekend and let them stay on, with their own friends? While you're renting it, it's your beach house to share!
Join our mailing list for updates and keep an eye on our Twitter/Facebook pages. We do an email update every 6 months or so.


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Grilled Pineapple Salsa
We've been on a fish taco kick lately, trying various combinations of fish, salsa, toppings, and preparation methods. Yesterday we cooked up a grilled pineapple salsa that was really tasty, and was great on the fish tacos, recipe as follows:
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 fresh garlic clove
1 fresh jalepeno
2 cans pineapple rings in juice
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup chopped purple onion
2 limes
2 tbsp sesame oil
Combine the four dry ingredients (sugar, chili powder, salt, garlic powder) in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Drain and spread the pineapple rings out on plates or a cookie sheet and sprinkle one side with the powder mixture, flip the rings and sprinkle the other side.
Heat a skillet on medium-high until hot, then add the sesame oil. Swirl the oil around to coat the inside of the skillet and pour off the excess oil. Add the pineapple rings in batches making sure that each ring sits flat on the skillet, and brown the pineapple on both sides – about 2 minutes per side. Set the rings aside to cool.
Slice open the jalepeno and remove/discard the seeds, then chop finely. Chop the cilantro and onions, and mince/mash the garlic clove. Slice the pineapple rings into small wedges about ¼ to ½ inch across. Combine the pineapple, cilantro, onions, jalepeno, and garlic, and squeeze the juice of two limes and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for an hour (or more) to allow the flavors to combine.
Options and alternatives: As with all sweet/spicy dishes, feel free to dial the flavors up and down to taste. Also, if you feel industrious, fresh pineapple would be great, as would cooking the pineapple on the grill (like with a flat basket and/or in large strips).
The salsa went great with our fish tacos (complemented with tasty Texas Twisters Creamy Cilantro Cotija sauce from H.E.B for you Texans), but should also be good with pork or chicken, or just with chips. Yum!


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Here's a little story I wrote about a couple characters from By Heart.
Jason has been around for a couple of books, but Kyle is someone introduced in By Heart. Kyle has a fairly similar story to Dustin's, with parents who don't really accept him for being gay. Those of you who have already read By Heart know what happens to him, so I won't spoil that for anyone who hasn't read it yet.
That being said, this story does contain some spoilers for By Heart. So, I hereby issue a


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Surviving SXSW, Social Media Style
South by Southwest, or SXSW as most know it, is the largest film, interactive, and music conference-meets-festival in the world.
One can easily be overwhelmed with choices - which panel? what party? what do I wear? All valid questions, but for the most part, if you're attending SXSW on behalf of a business or brand, you probably have some goals other than "Drink as much free booze as possible."
• SXSW is broken into 3 official events, each with a significant amount of overlap into the other. There's the Interactive portion (SXSWi), Film, and Music. Although most people attend only one or two of the events, some attend all three, which I highly recommend everyone do at least once in their lives.
• You'll hear about "unofficial" events & parties. "Unofficial" means that a paid SXSW badge is not required and that the event is not officially hosted by, or affiliated with SXSW. Oftentimes an RSVP or special wristband is required for these types of events. Try to research and RSVP for as much as possible ahead of time so you'll have the proper credentials.
• Print out details for each and every event you'd like to attend. Include date & time of event, as well as address & a brief description. I recommend having a separate schedule printed for each day of the festival you are attending. Yes, it's very old school, but you'll thank me when your electronics die or a group of strangers is impressed with your preparedness. Heck, make a few copies and make some friends.
• When to get in line?
• Panels: 20mins-1hr before. Use this time to post on social, charge your devices, & get to know others.
• Keynote: 2-4 hours beforehand. Yes, really. President Barack Obama and the First Lady, Michelle Obama, are two of the Keynote speakers this year. Take care to ensure nothing on your person would disallow your presence in the ballroom. For these two keynotes, security will be strict and waits will likely be significantly longer than normal.
• Unofficial parties & events: 30-60 mins beforehand for the smaller ones. Larger ones, expect to wait a minimum of an hour, depending on popularity.
• Music events. 1-4 hours in advance. The 'lower' your badge and the more popular the show, the longer your wait.
Going Social at SXSW:
• Networking is not a necessity. *Gasp* There, I said it. I don't care how many wonderful people you meet. You'll meet dozens upon dozens of really awesome, interesting, intelligent people… all probably doing things you wish you were doing. You'll listen intently. You'll take notes. You'll trade contact information. And you know what? None of it matters because by the time you get home you'll be overwhelmed with what I like to call "pieces of people" in the form of fliers, business cards, and brochures. I urge you, dear reader, instead of networking, find your tribe. Or go and make one. How do you do this? One very simple step:
Seek out like-minded people. It doesn't matter if they're in the same industry, have the same goals as you, or are even anywhere close in age. Find people you enjoy spending time with. Go to panels together. Take turns picking parties and events. Get up to no good together. Have FUN. These people will be the framework for your success in getting to know others. Everyone else will remember your group. When they dig through their bag of goodies and copious amounts of business cards, they're remember "Oh, that girl from Thin Pig Media and her group of friends was really fun and interesting!" Additionally, you'll have friends for life, and hopefully they'll return to SXSW year after year as you expand your tribe, becoming influencers of the festival.
Posting Content During SXSW:
What you post is far more important than how often you post.
• Twitter: Unless you're live-tweeting a panel, most of your followers don't care to read what you're up to. They want content that matters to them. If they're taking time to read your tweets during the festival, they're probably not at SXSW. Think of what you're learning and share it.
• Instagram: Post clear photos of something unique. A seated panel or crowd looking at a band is not unique. Be sure to use any event-specific hashtags, and tag the geo-location of your photo. The venue "Stubbs BBQ" is a better location tag than "Austin, TX" or "SXSW".
• Facebook: Longer posts work great here. You want easily digestible shareable content with 2-4 photos, with 3-5 paragraphs, similar to the format of a short news article.
• Snapchat: Share your snap story on a day-by-day basis at SXSW. People will love it!
• Periscope, Facebook, or Google - go live! Viewers who can't make the festival or perhaps had too much tacos & tequila will enjoy seeing what's happening live.
How Often Should You Post?:
Post as much as you like! I mentioned above content is more important than frequency, but there are a few things to note:
• Twitter: The average 'lifetime' of a Tweet is 18 minutes.
• Instagram: Post 2-4 times per day, depending on your audience & brand.
• Facebook: Content is surfaced by "popularity," so focus on posting things people will want to share!
• Snapchat stories, Periscope, Facebook Live & Google Hangouts are time-sensitive and make the most sense when access is limited. Did you get into the Barack Obama keynote? Go live! Keep in mind this form of communication is really fun, but also tends to target a younger demographic. Know your audience before focusing your time here.
Use Tools To Schedule Your Content:
One way to save yourself time & continue interest on your social feeds is to use a tool such as Sprout Social to help schedule posts ahead of time. Let social work for you - even when you're sleeping…who are we kidding, no one actually sleeps during SXSW!
While Attending the Event:
• Be memorable!
• Wear a unique hat or style of clothing. Don't be afraid to be silly or stand out.
• When exchanging contact information, don't hesitate to include all of your social media handles & website or blog links.
• Take a 'selfie' with the person. This will help them remember you!
• Reciprocate. If they add you on social media, add them back.
• After the festival, follow up with a note and some details about where you met. "It was so nice to meet you at the Thin Pig SXSW Party, I really enjoyed discussing content marketing with you. Look me up if you're ever in Seattle, and you can also add me on Instagram & Twitter @thinpigmedia."
Keep Those Electronics Charged:
The convention center is ground zero for sad, powerless electronics. You'll see dozens of people huddled around outlets, impatiently waiting for their devices to return to life. Don't be like them. If the walk to your hotel room is too much to bear, you do have a few options.
• If you've got VIP lounge access, make a beeline there. Refreshments, seating, & outlets galore.
• There are charging stations within the trade show and convention center.
• Some panels at the convention center have seating that is close to a wall outlet. Get there early and grab one of these spots. They're rare, but sometimes you'll get lucky.
• Almost all downtown hotel lobby restrooms have outlets. Sure, you're hanging out in a restroom, but when people see what you're doing, don't be surprised if others join in. Make the best of it.
• During the daytime, find bars that do not have special events going on. Sit at the bar, grab a beverage, tip your bartender, and ask if they'd be so kind as to plug in your device behind the well. It's Austin, so it helps here to be self-depreciating and admit you're one of those annoying tourists and apologize. Endear them further by quickly ordering a Lone Star, soda, or something super simple. Now is NOT the time to ask questions about the local drinks.
Stay In The Loop:
Here are my top 3 recommended resources to stay in the know:
The bottom line at SXSW is to be sure to make meaningful connections with other attendees, and utilize the time you're waiting in line to post content on social that will engage, excite, & educate your readership, going live only when it makes sense.


text: We're playing our last show of the year (or possibly ever. Thanks a lot, Mayans. Jerks) on December 18th at Boardners in Hollywood!! This is going to be a really fun show and it's a drive to support Toys for Tots so bring an unwrapped toy for free admission and support a great cause. This is a 21+ show. We apologize to our younger fans, but we'll get back to an all ages venue soon!! Everyone else better come out and hang before the Mayans rise from the dead and eat us, the asteroid hits, the aliens invade, the earth turns inside out, Obama reveals himself to be the Cthulu, we all die of butt cancer, or whatever else the crazies think is going to happen. Let's go out with a blaze of glory!! And shots. Lots of shots.


text: The Essential phone finds itself in a unique situation durability wise. The phone is covered in Gorilla Glass 5 on the front, the frame is made of titanium, and the back is covered with ceramic. With both glass and ceramic it would seem that the phone wouldn't be very durable at all except for the fact the frame is built with titanium which would seem to add some impact resistance. Zack from JerryRigEverything decided to drop test this phone. He dropped the Essential phone from his lap for the first test. The Glass cracked on the first drop. The glass and display continued to break in each subsequent drop while the ceramic back surprisingly lasted through all drops. Check out the video above.


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The city of Mountain View, California police department uses Pinterest to post photos of recovered items. Here's their gallery of found bicycles.
View the entire gallery at the Mountain View PD Pinterest.
Thank you for posting this! We hope some of the owners of these bikes are found =)
This is certainly an innovative idea! Hope it works out!


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Regular readers of GetReligion will know that we don't spend much time blogging about religious media, unless it is a site offering very solid information that is of interest to mainstream Godbeat reporters. The work of Ted Olsen and the CT blog crew leaps to mind. There are valuable sites on all sides of the Anglican Wars, too. And so forth and so on. But every now and then you can catch a passing reference to an uncovered news item in niche media targeting various religious camps -- especially when you are dealing with, let's say, the Alpha Celebrities who head powerful parachurch groups. It also pays to read between the lines of the denominational press organizations on both sides of the Culture Wars, such as -- sort of -- Baptist Press and Associated Baptist Press.
The politico turned activist/apologist Chuck Colson is just such a person -- an evangelical Alpha Male of the highest order. The radio commentaries written by Colson and his team of researchers often deal with political events, which is not surprising. But the current commentary with the title "The Long Run: News Cycles and Nominees" includes a very interesting glimpse into a scene that is predictable, yet interesting nevertheless.
The short script is about the guessing games leading up to the nomination of John G. Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court. People on both sides of the church aisle were tense. On the right, people were nervous about Judge Edith Clement being another Justice David Souter. Enough said. Then we find this passing reference:
This concern, while understandable, made three unsupported assumptions: first, that Clement really was a Souter-in-waiting; second, that she was actually the nominee; and third, if activists made enough noise, they could pressure the president.
When speculation shifted to another candidate, many activists breathed a sigh of relief, but during the hours Clement spent as the front-runner, saw more than one meeting regarding a possible third political party -- and panicky phone calls to the White House, and alarmist traffic on the Internet, as if we could control events.
Colson goes on to offer some patient words, urging other evangelicals to be patient. I expect he wrote this script himself.
So -- WHOA -- what was that about multiple meetings to discuss a Third Party? Does anyone have a list of the folks in those meetings? Talk about burying the lead. What was discussed? Who represented the White House, urging calm? Dr. James Dobson makes this threat every few years. So who else was inside the closed doors?
A quick Google of "Third Party" and "Christians" yields no news. Anyone out there seen anything? I am still in dial-up land and I cannot do my usual blitz work.
What's shaking?


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Printed From:
A Treatise on Ergoth
D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules
by Gerrin
Treatise on the Ergothian Empire
"While the rest of the world killed each other, Ergothians prospered." Scholar Shancy Tremond
"Raising our spears high we never thought that it would be our blood spilling out," Andruth Hellmann, Legionnaire, 1st Expeditionary Force.
Ergoth is a nation that was born out of the ashes of the Cataclysm and strengthened by the wars of mainland Ansalon. Many have associated Ergoth with an empire that was forgotten in the years after the earth shattering event. Its citizens and government did not monitor affairs of the world during this time, as like most of the world they struggled just to survive.
It wouldn't be until the years following the Chaos War that the nation would begin to take strides in securing itself as a modern nation. With the Dark Knight occupation of Solamnia many of the knights brought their households to Ergoth in hopes in establishing a temporary refuge from dangers on all sides. Ergoth was a nation that was left alone by outside forces, the Dragon Overlords did not claim it as their own, and the Dark Knights lacked a navy that could successfully invade the country.
During this time period Ergoth began to develop a large industrial base and expand their shipyards. With their lucrative ship building trade, few nations in Ansalon could hope to compete with them. Ergothian merchants struck to the seas hauling goods from all over the continent and during a period that most of Ansalon considers bleak, Ergoth was just beginning a golden age. With the conclusion of the War of Souls, Ergoth again stood on the brink of greatness. During the war no attempt was made to invade Ergoth and once again the nation profited from the widespread chaos the event caused. Following the war the Ergoth emperor Markas Erasmus saw that his nation was in need of expanding their military.
Prior to the War of Souls the Ergoth military consisted of 3 legions in which were commanded directly by the emperor. These legions were lightly armored and were considered fast moving attack troops. The War of Souls provided much insight in how modern tactics would easily defeat a nation using doctrine that dated back to the Cataclysm. Ergoth was able to broker a deal with the Knights of Solamnia. In exchange of ships and sailors the Knights would train the Ergothian military.
In 431 AC Ergoth officially allied with Sancrist (Knights of Solamnia). The two nations began to work together to strengthen the Ergothian Legions. Adopting a more centralized military structure Ergoth began to think of expansion. The need of expansion had grown dramatically in years since the Chaos War as Ergoth had been a refuge destination. In modern terms, Ergoth once again is a destination for many refuges in the light of the Invasion of Ankhar and the creation of the Solamnic Empire.
This need for expansion led Ergoth to attack in earnest the desert frontier in the southern part of the island. The legions have pushed many of the goblin tribes in the desert northwest and into parts of Hylo. This has led to some uneasy moments with the kender who share the island, but a large chunk of the desert has been reclaimed by the forces of Ergoth.
Fan Ratings
This item has been published here with permission from the author(s) and may not be reproduced without permission. This is a fan submission and its contents are completely unofficial. Some characters, places, likenesses and other names may be copyright Wizards of the Coast.


text: We bought a house! It's kind of in the country (or country-ish, as we've been saying). So now we have a city and a country house. Not on purpose though. We actually need to sell the city house. Anyone looking for a big house in the capital city of Virginia? It's got refinished hardwood floors… HGTV moment when we discovered we had hardwood under the vinyl in our foyer. #InstantCharacter So in addition to the downsizing and the painting I… Read more »


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You're viewing an archived version of this project. Please visit the new Big Give site to find current fundraising campaigns.
Project information
My Community- My Greenspace
This project will give local communities and groups in Oxfordshire a voice to influence how a broad range of green spaces, such as nature reserves, gardens, parks, commons and allotments, are provided, created, enhanced and maintained. SEE VIDEO SUMMARY.
January 2016 - December 2018
Charity information: Wild Oxfordshire
The environment is under threat from many directions. Small, local volunteer groups do their best to care for over 100 hectares of greenspaces with few resources. Local greenspaces are often significant for their biodiversity and as a community resource. Too few communities have little awareness or understanding of their local greenspace and its potential, or the resources of knowledge and equipment to realise this potential.
We will build the knowledge, skills and volunteer base of the groups. A conservation officer will work with groups: Mapping and assess the sites, giving management advice and developing the skills of volunteers through training, sharing of information and developing best practise case studies.
We will increase wider community engagement by giving groups the resources, skills and tools to engage with their local communities, schools to promote their work and the local greenspace.
Aim 1
To improve the biodiversity and resilience of community greenspaces
Activities» Mapping and surveying 60 sites
» Giving ecological management advice
» Running training courses
What success will look like
Worked with all the volunteer groups and mapped at least 60 wildlife spaces in Oxfordshire
Trained at least 60 individuals and run 6 courses
Aim 2
To improve the resilience and strength of volunteer groups
Activities» Providing learning and networking opportunities
» Providing information and advice
» Promoting their work through local media
What success will look like
Run 3 annual conferences
Given advice to at least 20 groups
Produced a fortnightly Environmental E-newsletter
Aim 3
To increase local communities awareness of and engagement with their local greenspaces
Activities» Promoting information on local green spaces
» Providing talks to parish councils and local community groups and organisations
What success will look like
Developed an online map
Talked to at least 20 groups or parish councils
Sent quarterly press releases to local media
Aim 4
To increase engagement with local schools
Activities» Providing networking opportunities between volunteer groups and local teachers
» Compiling and promoting environmental education resources for schools
What success will look like
Developed environmental education resources for environmental educators
10% of groups will have linked up with their local school
The project will result in better managed green spaces for wildlife and an increased use of the sites by the local community. We will demonstrate success by the number of volunteer groups that we continue to engage with. Success will be measured when the spaces are mapped and the quality of the habitat recorded. Future success will be measured by wildlife monitoring surveys, feedback from groups, numbers attending conferences and accessing website information.
There is a risk that that some groups may not wish to engage in the process or see that they might benefit from help and support. We have good relations, reputation and contacts with many groups, we can work with these first to demonstrate the value and support we can offer. The Project Officer will have the necessary skills to work sensitively with different groups of volunteers.
Donors will receive a quarterly email report on the project covering current and forthcoming activities. More detailed annual reports and an end of project report will also be written and the learning shared.
Budget - Project Cost: £150,000Loading graph....
Amount Heading Description £90,000 Project Officer Giving advice,mapping, collating information. Running training and conferences. £13,000 Office costs Office overheads over 3 years £22,000 Events Specialist trainers, speakers and hire of facilities £7,500 Travel Officer's travel to visit all groups £10,000 Publication and website Production of materials and interactive map for ease of use. Plus plublicity costs. £7,500 Contingency 5% allowance
Current Funding / Pledges
Source Amount Patsy Wood Charitable Trust £75,000 Conditional
Oxfordshire is a largely rural county, boasting a great variety of greenspaces. It is facing immense pressures from development for business, housing and the associated infrastructure. It is important that existing green spaces are conserved and that new developments increase and improve them. Greenspaces are vital for wildlife as wells as the health and well-being of the local community
Local volunteer groups are currently mostly left to their own devices with limited support. They and the wildlife they care for will be the main beneficiaries. In the long run the health and wellbeing of the whole community will benefit. The communities and schools where they are located will have the opportunity to engage with the local volunteers and enjoy and learn about their local greenspace
Why Us?
Why Us?
Wild Oxfordshire is an environmental partnership organisation, our ethos is 'People and nature, making connections'. Since 1991 we have been working, with the support of over 50 partners, as an environmental networking and co-ordinating body for Oxfordshire. With a part-time Community Officer we have established a good reputation for supporting conservation volunteer groups. We would like to build on our learning to offer more and better support through a full time Officer.
Read more about the Charity running this project.
We Want To Recruit A Full Time Project Officer For 3 Years
We want to recruit a Project Officer with the skills and enthusiasm to support volunteer groups and their greenspaces across Oxfordshire


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There are hundreds of great gallery wall DIYs out there, including this one from the magical Emily Henderson and this from the gorgeous Homey Oh My. So I am not going to repeat all their words of wisdom! But, since moving into our new pad, I have been hankering to start getting things up on the wall. Going from bare white walls to fun filled colourful walls makes a MASSIVE difference. I've worked out THE most cost effective, fun way to get stuff on the walls. This is find the frames FIRST and then fill them SECOND. May sound the wrong way round to most people, but this way I don't have to pay through the nose to get custom frames for my photos, instead I just print out my photos to fit the frames I've picked up. Let me tell you more...
I've spend months hoarding up photo frames from car boot sales, charity shops, sales...in fact ANYWHERE I could find them at reasonable prices. This is part of my hoard:
I don't think I've spend more than £8 on a single frame, and that particular one was HUUUUGE and already had a great useable mount inside, so it was basically a two-in-one. Bonza! Most of the frames I've picked up have been in the range of £3-5 each. I'm looking for style, size, character, sturdiness and anything with an acceptable mount included is a great bonus. Anything in oak or a lovely wooden finish is also high up my list, but I'm also open to pale or dark frames that just need a little lift to get them looking pristine again.
First up we took all our frames apart, decided on which needed a facelift and set to it with some high-gloss spray paint. We started with a satin finish, but unless they are going straight from floor to wall (and I mean STRAIGHT, with no loitering on the floor or kitchen table as you pick out photos etc!) then it's a high risk strategy. Our satin finishes didn't make the original cut and had to be re-sprayed with gloss.
Some went white.
Some went black.
And the rest stayed wood, gold, distressed etc.
To fill these we had been collecting photos, greetings cards, post cards, posters, prints...aka anything we actually like LOOKING at. Once they're up on your wall we'll be doing a lot of that! :) the Pinterest worthy gallery walls are mostly highbrow art and prints, but I love a mix of family photos and fun graphics. It keeps it interesting and meaningful to us and our visitors. I love to have pictures of friends and family up on the wall, they are the people you've made all your memories with and it's a lovely gesture to be able to show them how important they are to you.
Here we started playing withe layout on the floor of the livingroom to pull together a suitable arrangement. It took a few goes until we were entirely happy with it. I scoured the house for a few extras to break it up a bit - the mirror and ampersand I found worked a treat! :)
We kept the boldest colours and biggest frames central (i.e. the blue mount and the black frame). We mirrored the gold frames and yellow prints evenly around the gallery. The non-frames we kept to the periphery to soften the edges. Did I just make that sounds like there was some method in the madness?! ;)
First one up, the 'anchor' at the bottom centre of the whole gallery. Then we simply worked outwards from there adding in all directions. We didn't measure, use templates or a spirit level, we just went for it. Crazy maybe, but we got it UP. BIG WIN!
So there we have it, Granted it's not perfect, to make it more dynamic I'd like to add a few larger frames into the mix and a few more prints/graphics. But it is a great start and our first gallery wall, so I for one am celebrating! :) You can also see it in real life action here.
What's going up on your walls next?
What's going up on your walls next?


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December 12, 2014—Operation Fuel released a report this week documenting the home energy affordability gap in Connecticut. It found that more than 305,000 low-income households can't afford their energy bills, and that there is a lack of resources to address the situation. The affordability gap for these households, which have incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, is over $780 million.
For the report, an energy bill is considered unaffordable if it exceeds six percent of a household's income, and the affordability gap in Connecticut continues to widen. The number of low-income households whose bills outstrip their ability to pay has increased more than 30 percent since 2011, while the $780 million figure is three time as high as it was in 2006. The report states these low-income households have annual energy bills that outstrip their ability to pay by $2,650 per household.
According to the report, LIHEAP is the primary source of energy assistance in the state. However, while the affordability gap has grown to over $780 million, Connecticut will receive about $5.5 million less in LIHEAP this year.
"LIHEAP covers only a fraction of the Home Energy Affordability Gap for a fraction of income-eligible households," said Roger Colton, an economist and author of the report.
Operation Fuel is Connecticut's only statewide nonprofit energy assistance program. The fuel fund serves households that are in financial crisis, but not eligible for energy assistance from government-funded programs like LIHEAP. Last year, it gave out a little more than $3 million to nearly 7,000 households. The organization's maximum energy grant is $500 per household over a 12-month period.
As mentioned earlier, Roger Colton (a principal with Fisher, Sheehan and Colter Public Finance and General Economics) authored the report for Operation Fuel. Since 2003, he has compiled an annual Home Energy Affordability Gap report for the entire country. His most recent national report, based on 2013 data, found a national affordability gap of almost $39.1 billion. That is an increase of about 214 percent from the initial report in 2003.
Sources: Operation Fuel, media reports, Roger Colton


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Posted on June 19, 2014
by Jenny
Here is the recording of the June Webinar. Learn all about two of Jenny\'s project – Cool Machine Disguise and Double The Luv
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It's crazy exciting to announce our first promotion for Fat and Appy: Modern Art Canvases: A Free Autographed Copy of Love Is in the Air by Jonathan Fenske with purchase. No coupon code needed: We'll throw an autographed softcover copy of Love Is in the Air* into each order through April 24, 2013. Shop on, art lover! If you have been following our blog, you know we have been moving toward focusing Fat and Appy on art, rather than apps. We still love apps (hello, Apple!) but our first love has always been art. So, Fat and Appy is officially relaunching as Fat and Appy Modern Art Canvases for Children.
There are several reasons for our new direction. A lot of parents want to have affordable art for their children's rooms and play spaces. Too often, they are stuck with tacky prints at big-box stores. Simple, short-run prints have a place, too, and you can find them on Etsy, for instance, but then you have to frame them and we've found not everyone wants to do that.
Need tips for finding affordable art? Check out our post, "Art on a Budget: 6 Ways to Find Art That's Affordable"
Another reason is that we discovered an amazing partner to create our canvases. They are handmade in North America, guaranteed not to fade or crack for 99 years and we offer a 30-Day Happiness Guarantee. The quality is so good, I practically swooned when I saw the first sample.
We've added 18 designs to the store, starting with the artwork from Healthy Creatures (that's our app for iPad!) plus some fun Popsicle illustrations. Jonathan is hard at work on more illustrations, so if you have some ideas, leave a comment below.
More details, if you are in to that type of thing:
-High-quality canvas stretched over 1.5" wooden frame
-Printed with gallery-quality Giclee method
-Available in four sizes
-Designed by Jonathan Fenske
-Canvas wraps around sides providing a white finished decorative edge
-Durable piano wire mounted on back for easy hanging
Thanks for reading, and for supporting us!
--Jen and Jonathan
Who are Jennifer and Jonathan? Read about us, here.
* While supplies last. Softcover copy of Love Is in the Air by Jonathan Fenske has a retail value of $3.99. Sorry, we cannot personalize the autograph. No cash value. Offer ends April 24, 2013.


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On the Guadalupe River, Gruene
Apple Bed and Breakfast is close to San Antonio, New Braunfels,
Austin and the Hill Country.
Gourmet breakfasts, high-speed internet access and elegant
decor in historic Gruene, Texas.
Shady Lady Bedroom
If Mae West were to stay at our inn,
she would surely have chosen the "Shady Lady" as
her retreat. We guarantee days and evening of sparkling glamour
in this room filled with silk, velvet, and brocade - all illuminated
by a 24 karat gold and crystal chandelier.
The bathroom features a lipstick red
enamel claw foot bathtub and a shower with a three-quarters
view, not to mention 24 karat fixtures.
Oil paintings of shady ladies adorn
the champagne colored walls, adding the sensuous but elegant
Every luxury imaginable is included
in this room, including a fireplace, private balcony, and
a towering ceiling with a hand painted oval medallion.
For your honeymoon, anniversary, or just a romantic weekend,
choose the Shady Lady.
See larger view of Shady Lady Bedroom
AAA Rating Since 2010
Bedrooms ~ Breakfast/Recipes
~ Amenities & Guest
About the Gruene Apple B&B ~ A
Day in Gruene, TX ~ Directions
~ Links
Gruene Apple Bed and Breakfast
1235 Gruene Road
New Braunfels, Texas 78130
(830) 643-1234
Web design by Truly
Online reservation software by Reservation Nexus


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The 2017 Kick-off is the 7th Annual statewide gathering of Start-up Founders, Innovators, Investors, Mentors and the Organizations and Community Members who are committed to strengthening our MN Entrepreneur Ecosystem!
Experience the unparalleled Start-up Support Resource Bazaar featuring the MN Entrepreneur Network Co-Hosts, and Minnesota's MNvest Portals and White Label providers, learn about Hackathons, get Cap Table Do's & Don'ts Advice from Investors, meet Award Winning Start-ups, get a glimps into Tech's Crystal Ball, cheer for the Start-up Showcase, benefit from premier Entrepreneur Ecosystem Networking and join in the Pi Day Celebrations!!!
See the MN Entrepreneur Kick-off website - www.mnentrepreneurs.org - for Program and Presenter details!


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Adelosina mediterranensis (Le Calvez & Le Calvez , 1958)Class: Miliolata Subclass: Miliolana Order: Miliolida Family: Cribrolinoididae
Taxon Profile
found at Porcupine Station AA Inner Seas west off Scotland UK from 82-110m depth
Geological Time: Quaternary Holocene recent
The scan of this drawing from Bradys HMS Challenger Report is made by Dr. David Bossard and used by his permission.
© Dr. David C. Bossard, 19thcenturyscience.org.
HMS Challenger Collection
View of a specimen of Adelosina mediterranensis (Le Calvez & Le Calvez , 1958)
Unvalid Synonym: Quinqueloculina intricata WoRMS
The identification is based upon:
Sgarella F., and Moncharmon Zei, M., 1993: Benthic foraminifera in the Gulf of Naples (Italy): systematic and autoecology. Boll. Soc. Paleont. Ital., 32. Plate 7, Fig. 9-11
dataset number: FEU-1002444


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Radiohead, Fake Plastic Trees
"A green plastic watering can, for a fake chinese rubber plant in the fake plastic earth, that she bought from a rubber man in a town full of rubber plans, to get rid of itself"
"The world is my idea: this is a truth which holds good for everything that lives and knows, though man alone can bring it into reflective and abstract consciousness. If he really does this, he has attained to philosophical wisdom. It then becomes clear and certain to him what he knows is not a sun and an earth, but only an eye that sees a sun, a hand that feels an earth. . ."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung
(citado por J.L. Borges en A New Refutation of Time)


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Coverup: Asos (also love this) | Bikini: Triangl | Beach Bag: Asos (love this one) | Sunglasses: Ray Ban
Michelle Paige
Beautiful dress! Love the pom pom detail! x
Have a nice week,
This cover-up is so fun; I love the multi-colored poms!
Le Stylo Rouge
Love it ! I can almost taste the salt in the air! We are heading to puerto Rico on sunday and i cannot wait to hit the beachReplyDelete
What fun! Have a wonderful time!Delete
This makes me want to head straight to the beach! I love this cover up!! You look great!
-Amy J.
Bowlines and Lace
I love it too! The poms make it so fun!Delete
what a fun summer poncho! you look darling!
I love how much you love the beach. Cutest cover up!
Amy Ann
Straight A Style
It is my favorite place to spend my weekends :)Delete
Soooooo cute! That bag with the coverup? ah so cute
Emma | With A City Dream
Both are from Asos!Delete
Glad you got to show off this fun cover up, Michelle! Love your beach bag, too!
Luci's Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
Lovely look and stunning photographs dear, thanks for sharing!
Faye .x
This little cover up is so cute and super fun, the pom-poms are adorable!
What a cute coverup! I love the pom-poms. And that neon bathing suit looks pretty cute too.ReplyDelete
I love Triangl swim. Their suits don't dig into your skin at all!Delete
I love the pom-poms *.* Gorgeous beach look !
Anela from Fashion Roulette
Miss the beach and wearing summer clothes lol, I still go to the beach when my boyfriend surfs but its super cold haha. You look amazing hun, those pompoms are gorge :)
My BF surfs too! It's lots of fun to watch him!Delete
Look at that foamy ocean in front of you girl - amazing. I love that fun coverup so much and the neon bikini suit and pom pom tote look so cute too. I always love a white gauzy coverup over a bright or neon swimsuit. It was such a pleasure being your co-host for swimsuits this week. You even encouraged me to do a second swimsuit post even (today's).ReplyDelete
SO glad you enjoyed this week's theme. It's a risky one, but a timely & fun one! Can't wait to check out your latest post.Delete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
love that fun coverup so much and the neon bikini suit.
Thank you


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Holy mother of god. Has it seriously been nearly a month since I posted? Insane. It seems like I go in spurts — a couple posts in a week or so then BAM! I go all M.I.A.
What you didn't know is that I'm actually a Secret Agent. Kind of like 007. When I'm not here I'm off on some special assignment.
Or not.
So remember that time the restaurant that screwed me over decided to ask how it compared to the nail salon I'm at now? Well for those of you who might have wondered (since I haven't really talked much about it): it's a million times better. Better than the service industry. Better than Corporate America. It's pretty much awesome.
Sure, I'm working 6-7 days a week – a few of those days from open to close – but when the people you work with are awesome, you get to hang out and bullshit with the regulars, manage the company's (and your own) social media accounts, and make sure daily operations run smoothly – and get paid for it? And free spa services?
Umm, awesome much? I think yes. Continue reading


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Co-chaired Clean Sweep for 2 years
Co-Chaired the Annual Charity Golf Tournament for 5 years
ODSC Treasurer 2010-2011
ODSC President 2012
Bob helped with the constructions on many parades and has carried the banner in a parade.
Volunteered at Jr. SOS Brunches
Helped fry turkeys for past Thanksgiving parties
Helped set up, cook and clean up for many Oyster Roasts
Cooked Hamburgers and Hot Dogs for the beach parties.
Helped sell golf cart tickets
He is always there if the Shag Club needs anything.
I want to take this opportunity to thank each of the Board Members for awarding me the 2014 Al Cain Award. I am honored and very happy to receive this most prestigious OD Shag Club recognition.
When you presented it to me at the Thanksgiving Party, I was so surprised and completely at a loss for words! I enjoy every minute of my membership in the OD Shag Club. I'M grateful for the opportunities I've had to contribute to our Club. The OD Shag Club is very important to me and I am extremely appreciative of receiving this award.
Bob Sanders
Wendy Schultz
(843) 424-2486
Lou Garrenton
(843) 272-1817
Dolly McDermott email@example.com 301-466-9632
Linda Campbell firstname.lastname@example.com 803-528-0774
Liaison: Lou Garrenton
Clean Sweep
Steve & Nancy Queen firstname.lastname@example.com 704-609-3492
Judy Nutt 843-450-3020
Liaison: Bill Bacon
Entertainment / Deco
Kathy McCoy email@example.com 803-572-1310
Deborah Scardaccione firstname.lastname@example.com 843-421-2364
Liaison: Paulette Broadway
Donnie Schultz email@example.com 843-424-2644
Faye Chowning email@example.com 366-972-3551
Liaison: Bill Bacon
Cindy Day firstname.lastname@example.com 843-734-0231
Judie Shepard email@example.com 843-280-6183
Liaison: Cassy Shumway
Linda Morrison email@example.com 804-564-8223
Liaison: Wendy Schultz
Newsletter / Bulletin
Sandy Cummings email@example.com
Liaison: Monica Powell
Billy Powell firstname.lastname@example.com 704-231-9818
Liaison: Wendy Schultz
Fritz Eckhart firstname.lastname@example.com 843-399-1009
Paul Harrison firstname.lastname@example.com
Liaison: Cassy Shumway
Remembrance / Comm
Heidi Cross firstname.lastname@example.com 843-399-1771
Liaison: Wendy Schultz
Ways and Means
Beth Cornwell firstname.lastname@example.com 704-236-5439
Liaison: Tina Tomberlin
Lou Martino email@example.com 843-497-8532
Liaison: Monica Powell
Dance Team
Lou Martino firstname.lastname@example.com 843-497-8532
Linda Campbell firstname.lastname@example.com 803-528-0774
Special Committees
Cruise to Nowhere
Helen Eckhart email@example.com 843-399-1009
Liaison: Lou Garrenton
Golf Tournament
Geoff Girling email@example.com 843-870-1857
Sonny Tomberlin email@example.com 704-604-2302
Rich & Karen Young email@example.com 843-399-4861
Liaison: Brian Schmitt
Fund Raiser
Terry McCoy firstname.lastname@example.com 803-572-1314
Fun Monday
Liaison: Wendy Schultz
Oyster Roast
Donnie Schultz email@example.com 843-424-2644
Liaison: Brian Schmitt
MB Manor
Joe Ferlauto firstname.lastname@example.com
Liaison: Tina Tomberlin
Poker Run
Jim Queen firstname.lastname@example.com
Liaison: Lou Garrenton
Rich Young, 843-399-4861, email@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Lou Garrenton
Clean Sweep
Bruce Fitzsimmons, Co-Chair, 843-602-8183,firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Cathy Fitzsimmons, Co-Chair, 843-602-8184,email@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Bill Bacon
Entertainment and Decorating
Linda Campbell, Co-Chair, 803-528-0774, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Nancy Sook, Co-Chair, 843-497-4094,firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Lou Martino
Heidi Cross, Co-Chair, 843-399-1771, email@example.com e-mail
Jeanine Todd, Co-Chair, 910-264-4959, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Donnie Schultz, 843-424-2486, email@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Howard Stallings
Golf Tournament
Geoff Girling, Co-Chair, 843-870-1857, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Jon Holtzclaw, Co-Chair, 843-267-2213, email@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Karen Young
Cindy Day, Co-Chair, 843-734-0231, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Judie Shepard, Co-Chair, 843-280-6183, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Paulette Broadway
Linda Morrison, Chair, 804-564-8223 firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Monica Powell
Sandy Cummings, Chair, email@example.com e-mail
Liaison, Monica Powell
Wendy Schultz, Chair, 843-424-2486, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Karen Young
Pat Harris, Chair, 910-575-0627, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Paulette Broadway
Remembrance and Communications
Etta Allen, Chair, 843-249-5476, email@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Wendy Schultz
Ways and Means
Tina Tomberlin, Chair, 704-604-2302, email@example.com e-mail
Board Liaison, Peggy Christie
Web Site
Board Liaisons, Karen Young and Lou Martino
Special Events
Fund Raising – Linda Campbell, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Oyster Roast – Donnie Schultz, 843-424-2486, email@example.com e-mail
SOS Fun Monday tickets – Karen Young, 843-399-4861, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
Poker Run – Jim Queen, email@example.com e-mail
Myrtle Beach Manor Christmas – Joe Ferlauto, firstname.lastname@example.com e-mail
OD Shag Club Dance Team – Lou Martino, email@example.com e-mail
Welcome to 2015!!!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's with family and friends. It's hard to believe a new year has begun and what a year it will be. We are planning to have a wonderful 2015 with fun parties, good friends, lots of laughs and may we all dance!!!
Thanks so much to Karen Young, the 2014 Officers, Board Members, Committee Chairs and all the Worker Bees, for a terrific year. I would also like to thank Karen for working so hard to help me prepare to be your President this year.
Our first Party will be our Brunch during the Mid-Winter / Winter Workshop on Sunday January 18th, 10am at the OD Arcade and Lounge. Chris and his crew will be hard at work to assure a good time is had by all. Please remember to thank them when you get a chance.
"The World Famous Oyster Roast" on February 21st at 6pm and will also be at the OD Arcade and Lounge. We will have chicken bog for those of you that do not eat oysters. This is a huge process and to make it look easy, Donnie Schultz will need many worker bees for a variety of duties. Please contact him if you are able to volunteer your time.
The Luck of the Irish Party will be on March 21st, 6pm at Fat Harold's Beach Club. Bring your best side dish or dessert (doesn't have to be Irish) for members to enjoy and the Club will be providing the Beef!! When bringing food, we ask that you please arrive early (by 5:30) to allow time to arrange table setting.
Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend the Board Meetings on the first Tuesday of every month. I look forward to hearing ideas and appreciate any and all participation from our ODSC Members. I'm excited to serve as your President as well as working with the Board to give you a great year!!
Wendy Schultz
ODSC President
Very Cool – The South Strand Cardiopulmonary Rehab staff (Patty Mielke, Diane Tindall, and Gail Dowling) host a holiday party for their patients each year. They plan the event for months, coordinate on their own time, decorate and provide entertainment for the patients…again, on their own time and with their own resources, and do so with absolute joy. The patients and staff brought pot-luck and enjoyed fellowship with each other as they gathered at the MB Base Recreation Center. One lady in attendance is actively awaiting a lung transplant. Last night, 90 (patients/family) joined the South Strand Rehab staff and the OD Shag Club to celebrate life! One of the South Strand patients is also in the Shag Club…he is 92 years young! One of the patients' husband was Santa Claus as "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa" was read. Here's some pictures from the event:
Dance Team,
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for coming to make the night enjoyable for our patients. They will be talking about "The Dancers" for months. What a great thing to bring some fun and excitement into their lives. Thanks again.
Wendy Schultz firstname.lastname@example.com 843-424-2486
Vice President
Monica Powell firstname.lastname@example.com 843-361-3218
Lou Garrenton firstname.lastname@example.com 843-272-1817
Tina Tomberlin email@example.com 704-221-2902
Board of Directors
Bill Bacon firstname.lastname@example.com 910-214-6460
Brian Schmitt email@example.com 843-399-4546
Cassy Shumway email@example.com 843-399-7393
Paulette Broadway firstname.lastname@example.com 843-249-3565
Peggy Christie firstname.lastname@example.com 919-218-8480
The gifts and food for the needy families were sorted and loaded on the trailer by the following volunteers: Wendy Schultz, Monica and Billy Powell, Tina Tomberlin, Rich and Karen Young, Peggy Christie, Bill Bacon and Susan and Kevin Harrell on Sunday morning. Monday morning Wendy Schultz, Tina Tomberlin, Peggy Christie, Bill Bacon and Rich and Karen Young delivered the items to Riverside Elementary and Ocean Drive Elementary. Thanks to all those that helped sort and deliver and to all the members who brought food to the party. Your generosity will make Christmas a lot brighter for these 4 families.
John McKinley
Cecil and Susan Martin
Mark Bender
Carl and Bonnie Fuller
Kathie Jordan
Susie Kempf
Rich White
William Joerger
Logan White
Martha White
Dennis Lopez
Carolyn Lopez
Robb Streeter
Trish Streeter
Sue Reese
Dominic Montini
Jimmy Fergus
Judy Browning Riggs
Ronald Riggs
Christine Gwynn
David Hoard
It was a beautiful day for a Parade, well that is until we got on Main St. The rain did hold out long enough for everyone to decorate, take pictures and share lots of love and laughs with friends prior to the parade starting. The golf carts where decorated with lights, garland and ornaments, everyone was dressed in all their Christmas attire. That Whoville group was a hoot and very entertaining with The Grinch and his dog Max!! The kids went wild!! A big thanks goes to Paul Harrison (ODSC Past President 2005) for helping me carry the Banner and get all the windshield flyers on the carts. Donnie and his worker bees did another great job making sure all the candy was given out.
We had 16 golf carts and 8 walkers, with a total of 66 people. Thanks to all that participated.
Thank you OD Shag Club, not bad for a rainy night!!
Lastly, I have enjoyed being Parade Chair since 2009 and we made some wonderful memories. Your new Parade Chair for 2015 will be Billy Powell. He and his wife, Monica (Vice President 2015) were involved with the Monroe Shag Club as Parade Chair for years and will do a fantastic job.
Thanks for a great ride!!
Wendy Schultz
ODSC Parade Chair
Well, December has arrived and it heralds my last letter as OD Shag Club President for 2014. It has been both a challenging and a rewarding year. I want to thank all my board members and committee chairpersons for their support the past year.
Our first event this month is our visit to Myrtle Beach Manor to entertain the residents on Monday, December 8th from 6-8 PM. Members are welcome to join us and help us put smiles on the faces of the residents. This is an annual event and members who have participated have found it very rewarding.
Our OD Shag Club Christmas Party is Saturday, December 13th at 6 PM at Fat Harold's Beach Club. The meal is being catered by T-Bonz. The Club is sponsoring 4 families with a total of 13 children this year for Christmas. We will be collecting non-perishable food items for these families at the party. Please make sure these items do not have expired dates. Let's make sure they have a wonderful Christmas this year.
We will also be putting up for silent auction a framed limited edition print by Vic Gillespie. It is number 58 of 500. Minimum bid is $75 and bids will be in $5 increments. This would make a wonderful Christmas present for someone. Bring cash or your checkbook so you can bid on it.
Please give your 2015 President, Wendy Schultz, and her board your support next year. A club is only as good as the members who put forth an effort to make it so. Get involved and make new friends. You will not regret it!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring you only joy!
Karen Young
ODSC President 2014


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What is citizen science?
Scientists alone cannot collect enough data, they need your help. Citizen Science is people like you that have an interest in science, the natural world, and contributing to real world projects. They learn protocols, collect date and make observations to contribute to scientific study. Projects can be simple locally based, all the way up to global in scale. It is a way to extend scientific knowledge and discovery on a scale greater than ever thought possible.
What is phenology?
Nature's Notebook defines phenology as referring to key seasonal changes in plants and animals from year to year—such as flowering, emergence of insects and migration of birds—especially their timing and relationship with weather and climate.
Why is collecting precipitation and phenology data important?
Oregon Season Tracker data is a public asset. Researchers, resource managers, educators and others use your data for scientific discovery and decision-making. Phenology and weather data helps predict drought, flooding, wildfires, and pest infestations. It can influence when to plant, irrigate, and harvest. It is used by Oregon researchers at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and PRISM, and is used nationally by the National Weather Service, hydrologists, emergency managers, USDA, ranchers, farmers, forest managers, and policy & decision makers.
What are the benefits of OST to me?
Have fun outdoors, meet new people, learn about your microclimate, and hone your observation skills. As an observer you will notice more about your surroundings, and your connections with the place you live. Your data, as well as all the data housed at Nature's Notebook and CoCoRaHS is accessible for your for your own studies


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Patton students will be voting for their favorite Monarch nominated Illinois' K-3 Readers' Choice Award book next week. We have been reading the books all year but spent this week reviewing and rating them. Our Kindergarten students took this responsibility very seriously as they enjoyed the wonderful books:
Olympic Fun Comparing Countries
During the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, the classes at Patton participated in their own contest! Each adopted a country that was competing in the Olympics and answered a different question about that country each day. We displayed the facts (continent, capital, highest peak, important holiday, national food, language etc.) outside the LMC for students to view and expand their ideas and information about many countries.
A Special Night at Patton
Our Library Media, Art, Physical Education and Music programs were on display for parents during the evening on Thursday February 20. Parent's were able to experience these special areas like the students do and learned a little about what is taught, shared and learned by their students in these programs and how important they are to the full development of their learner. Here's a quick look:
This cold winter, first grade students have been learning about penguins in class and in the LMC. We first studied a map to discover the many places in the Southern Hemisphere that penguins live in addition to Antarctica! We practiced taking notes after listening to a PebbleGo chapter on the King penguin, focusing on where the penguin lives, what it eats and one special fact. Each student then chose another penguin to learn about independently using the website PebbleGo or Facts4Me. Next each student used the iPad app Explain Everything, or ChatterPix to create a short movie, telling what they know about their penguin. All the classes work can be seen on the first grade student projects page, and here is Mrs. Litberg's class:
Fourth grade students are studying Explorers of the New World, learning about their motivations for exploring, what they discovered and what impact they made, positive and negative, on their world and on the future. Students used books and online sites to take notes on an individual explorer, using the Independent Investigation Method (IIM). The next step in the process is to categorize and sort the notes so that they are organized and ready for writing. To do so students cut each note fact separately and sorted them into categories and then put them into a good order for their paper. Here is a look at the organizing phase of the process:
Illinois Representative David Harris spoke to two 3rd grade classes on Wednesday morning about the Bill he is introducing in the Illinois House of Representatives which will make the penalty harsher for people who operate puppy mills. The bill is in response to a letter from three 3rd grade students, Madeline, Clare and Brooke who began a campaign to research, educate about and ban puppy mills. In the LMC, we helped the students find and write to their local and national representatives about the current laws. Rep. Harris wrote back and decided to try to give the Illinois law "more teeth" by introducing House Bill 4410. He met the girls at Patton and then explained to all the students the process of how a bill becomes a Law. We will all be following the progress of House Bill 4410.
The 2014 Randolph Caldecott Medal for "most distinguished picture book for children" was awarded last week to author and illustrator, Brian Floca, for Locomotive the story of the first cross country passenger train trip from Omaha, Nebraska to Oakland, California as told by a family in the 1800s. The honor award was given to author and illustrator Aaron Becker for Journey, a unique and beautiful fantastical journey in the mind of one young girl with a red crayon and a boy with a purple crayon. In honor of this special award, in second grade we devoted the last two weeks to all the wonderful Caldecott picture books. Students learned the qualifications for the award, how to find the year the book won, the types of books and illustrations that have won and what unique twists many have. Then each student was given a "judge's badge" and piles of Caldecott winning books to read and rate. Here is a look at their hard work:
August 2019
My Reading List!
I am the Library Media Center director at Patton School in Arlington Heights where I help students from kindergarten through 5th grade find terrific independent reading for enjoyment and information, and teach students the skills to use information and technology safely and productively and to connect, communicate and share with others. I have four grown children, a large black dog, (flat coat retriever) and a small striped cat. I am an obessive Chicago Cubs fan and I love to run.
Patton LMC Summer Reading Blog


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Recorded talks and meditations for your journeys.
Mushim's interview for the Transforming Loneliness interview series.
Mushim joins a webcast on Mindful Resistance.
Mushim gives a meditation for working with Post-Charlottesville Stress.
Mushim gives a brief talk on "Teachings for Uncertain Times" for Black History Month Feb 2017.
Click here to view the talk
Download the transcript in PDF form here.
Buddhist eacher Mushim Patricia Ikeda's talk references the presidential election and the "sharp increase in already existing fears" among African Americans, undocumented immigrants, Muslims, and people of color communities. "The question is: what is going to change and how will it change?" says Ikeda-Nash, a meditation teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California. "Dharma practitioners have always formed communities and deep spiritual friendships that have helped us to weather the winters of hard times and to bask together in the warmth of good times . . . Now is the time to ask ourselves, 'what have we been practicing for?'" In honor of Black History Month, Tricycle is presenting a special video series, "Teachings for Uncertain Times," featuring 13 teachers of color, here on our blog, Trike Daily, throughout Februar 201. The videos are free to watch.
You can also download a transcript in PDF form here.
Mushim gives a Dharma Talk at SFZC
Click here to watch the video on "Awakening, Engaging, and Embodying Social Justice."
"Before we consider whether we can embody Dharma—and in my case being at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland where our mission is diversity and social justice based, whether we can embody social justice (that which is just; that which is fair; that which is equitable, good and compassionate for the many)—we can just ask ourselves, I think, whether we can embody our own body."
—Mushim Ikeda, Dharma talk, "Awakening, Engaging, and Embodying Social Justice," March 12, 2016
This is a video of Mushim Patricia Ikeda delivering her keynote address to the 2015 Starr King Symposium: Remembering Our Wholeness. The honored guest teacher discusses the ways in which her tradition of Mahayana Buddhism helps her connect to her wholeness and how we can connect with and live in our wholeness.
Creating Inclusive and Welcoming Buddhist Sanghas in the U.S.," talk by Mushim Patricia Ikeda at the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Pacific Seminar for the 21st Century in Berkeley, California on July 4, 2015. Best practices and learnings from our work at East Bay Meditation Center in downtown Oakland. Working toward spiritual communities that invite everyone to come through our doors without having to leave parts of how people self-identify and their varied experiences outside in order to "fit in" to the community. Cultivating warm curiosity and the willingness to be comfortable with discomfort are keys to discovering just how richly diverse, innovative, energetic and loving our communities can become through practicing cultural humility and inclusivity. Imagine! Act with bold compassion! Create!
I was invited to be part of a group of Catholic and Buddhist leaders to engage in a interreligious dialogue about social change.
What does the future of socially engaged Buddhism look like?
Video of the dharma talk from the People of Color Mindfulness Retreat. Recorded at the Sweetwater Zen Center in San Diego, CA.
Video of the guided meditation from the People of Color Mindfulness Retreat. Recorded at the Sweetwater Zen Center in San Diego, CA.
Video from the public talk of Mindfulness, Self-Care + Social Change. Recorded at the Malcolm X Library in San Diego, CA.