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Belated Bday at Dos Caminos
Sunday, May 22, 2011
After, we decided to check out the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a LONG line just to check out that one exhibit - it was a 45 minute wait for us. However, I thought it was spectacular! We walked through several collections & themes - my favorites were the one inspired by Tim Burton which mixed darkness and romanticism, and the one inspired by the British anarchy. There was just something so edgy yet, for a lack of a better term, romantic about the looks. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take photos since they were prohibited but if you're in the New York area, it's definitely worth the visit (just try not to go on the weekend - crowds are crazy)!
Then, we went to the rooftop. The Met usually has pieces of art or sculptures on the roof & they change it every so often so we decided to see what they had to showcase now. To be honest, it wasn't that interesting. Compared to past displays, this wasn't as great. However, the rooftop is one of my favorite views of the city. Above is a photo of all of us. I wish I brought my sunglasses! I'm the only one who forgot them at home, haha, but I still love that pic.
So the world didn't end like some people believed, but my world surely stopped for a bit yesterday. I realized when I got home that my wallet was missing! Luckily, nothing valuable or important were in it -- it was new though. I just switched things from my old wallet to my new wallet yesterday morning so it didn't have much in it. (So I'm pretty much more upset that I didn't get more use out of my new wallet lol). I only remember taking it out once, but I know I put it back in. I didn't need to use it throughout the rest of the day so I didn't realize until I was at home. Fortunately, I was able to cancel my credit cards & replace my ID and that no one has attempted to use my cards. I have a feeling it either fell out of my bag or someone just took it; I was in so many crowded/packed places that day, it could have been anything.
So, tell me, how's your weekend going? What were you doing around the predicted time of the end of the world? lol
38 comments :
- Chic 'n Cheap Living said...
Glad you had a good time with your girls though it's annoying your new wallet got taken or lost. I definitely want to see the McQueen exhibit and will keep my wallet safe!
We're going to switch out my new iPhone - it's been randomly calling people which is really bad when I'm in Asia and it's dialing all over the world!
Chic 'n Cheap Living
- May 22, 2011 at 12:16 AM
- Becky said...
Happy belated birthday! it looks like you had a gerat time :)
Haha I think I was napping through the "end of the world" time.
- May 22, 2011 at 1:23 AM
- Heidi said...
The food looks yummy! Glad you had a good bday :)
- May 22, 2011 at 2:29 AM
- Josie said...
Looks like such a fun time and the food looks delicious!
xo Josie
- May 22, 2011 at 3:21 AM
- Sher said...
Looks like you had a wonderful time, sweetie!
Oh dear, losing your wallet must have given you a real scare!
- May 22, 2011 at 3:33 AM
- Z--- said...
great pics!!!xx
- May 22, 2011 at 7:01 AM
- Anna-Lena said...
Wonderful pics...great..hugs
- May 22, 2011 at 10:03 AM
- BALLET NEWS said...
LOVED your photos. SO pleased you had a great time.
- May 22, 2011 at 11:51 AM
- Hazel said...
i'm so craving for quesadillas now haha :D
- May 22, 2011 at 11:55 AM
- Savvy Gal said...
belated happy b-day!!!!
- May 22, 2011 at 11:59 AM
- Francesca R said...
Belated happy birthday!!!!
It's raining here!!!
- May 22, 2011 at 12:14 PM
- LiezyL said...
i love celebrating birthdays!
- May 22, 2011 at 12:18 PM
- Julia, the Thanksgiving Girl said...
Happy Belated Birthday!!! I guess it's always best to celebrate later, than never :) Or earlier than never, might work too lol
- May 22, 2011 at 12:26 PM
- La Mode En Rose said...
so fun! oh the food looks tasty!
kisses from La Mode En Rose = )
- May 22, 2011 at 12:39 PM
- Couture Carrie said...
What fun, darling!
The pic of y'all on the roof of the Met is so fabulous!
- May 22, 2011 at 2:05 PM
- Kashaya said...
Thank you and happy belated birthday to you too.=) Looks like you had a great day!
- May 22, 2011 at 2:34 PM
- LoveK said...
Happy belated birthday! Thanks for the lovely comment on my blog- so happy to have discovered yours and I can't wait to check it out more often:-)
Love K
- May 22, 2011 at 3:15 PM
- Kimberly said...
great photos i definitely need to check out that exhibition! and happy belated birthday!
- May 22, 2011 at 4:56 PM
- Marielleheart said...
Cute blog you have! Would you like to follow each other? love, m.
- May 22, 2011 at 5:05 PM
- Shinigami_U said...
Huumm yummy food :D
Wow you got the change to go to the A.McQ. Exibition >.< lucky you.
- May 22, 2011 at 5:30 PM
- Samantha Elisabeth said...
Well,besides the losing of the wallet, it sounds like such a lovely day spent for your belated birthday! And I'm so checking out that restaurant in NYC whenever I go!
- May 22, 2011 at 6:41 PM
- Grace said...
Wow, that food looks delicious! Cute pictures, too--sorry to hear about the wallet!
- May 22, 2011 at 7:11 PM
- Kavery said...
Just going to the McQueen exhibit would make my week.
- May 22, 2011 at 7:25 PM
- Jaime @ La vie...J'aime said...
i need to get my butt to NYC to see the McQueen show! i love the Met roof deck- such pretty views!
- May 22, 2011 at 7:57 PM
- Draffin Bears said...
Happy belated birthday dear Audrey and glad that you had a great day out with your friends.
How lucky you were to be able to go to the Alexander McQueen exhibition.
Happy week
- May 22, 2011 at 8:11 PM
- Gracey said...
Looks like you had a great time! The food looks delicious
- May 22, 2011 at 10:28 PM
- Fashion Cappuccino said...
Wow, yummy food! Sounds like you had a great day except for the wallet part! Glad to hear that everything is okay in the end. I lost my wallet before and that always gave me a panic attack. I always have too much stuff and so many important cards and it was a pain to do it all over again which means, now I never put anything but some cash and coins and a copy of my ID card. xxoxooo
- May 22, 2011 at 11:17 PM
- Haze said...
Belated happy birthday! the food looks delish!
- May 22, 2011 at 11:22 PM
- Kristin said...
Happy belated lady! I can still taste the amazing guac I had at Dos Cominos in Feb.!
- May 22, 2011 at 11:28 PM
- Michelle Lee said...
seems like you had an awesome birthday :)
- May 23, 2011 at 12:04 AM
- Dolls Factory said...
and a belated Happy Birthday from me too :-)
- May 23, 2011 at 12:38 AM
- Vegas Fashion Stylist said...
My birthday was this weekend to. Glad you had most of your important stuff out of your new wallet. You might have to buy your self a new wallet for a late b-day present
- May 23, 2011 at 1:09 AM
- Leia said...
Sounds like a fun birthday! Glad you had a great time although sorry about losing your wallet :(
♥ Leia
- May 23, 2011 at 2:53 AM
- Sweet said...
belated happy birthday again love...
- May 25, 2011 at 9:53 AM
- Kimberlee said...
I LOVE DOS CAMINOS! Yum :)
- May 28, 2011 at 6:11 PM
- PinkBow said...
this looks like a good day...and you're making me hungry!
- May 29, 2011 at 4:36 AM
- Tink3rbell said...
oh!!!i think i'm in love with your blog! <3
- June 1, 2011 at 6:52 AM
Just say Hello to all, and offcourse especially to the owner on this blog. what can i say that this blog is very vital it is very helpful in my blog too. :)
do check it
Quick Money
Thank you add comment too :)
- June 1, 2011 at 11:30 PM


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My husband and his best friend are Guinness beer crazy, they adore the stuff! So when I heard about our best man's surprise party, I volunteered to make the cake. It took me about half a second to figure out what I was going to do: Guinness cake with cream cheese frosting, drizzled with caramel. Oh man, just thinking about it again makes me salivate. I couldn't attend the party since I had no sitter, however I was told that it was a big hit! It not only flatters my ego but makes me feel happy that I could make it up to him for not attending.
Mini Guinness Cupcakes
*Warning: this recipe makes a huge batch enough for three 8 inch cakes or a billion cupcakes, I needed big recipe because I wanted to make both a cake and some mini cupcakes for the party.
Guiness Cake Ingredients
- 2 cups Guinness Beer
- 1 pound (or 2 cups) butter
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup sour cream
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 10 oz. cream cheese, chilled
- 6½ tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3¼ cups icing sugar, sifted
- 4 tsp. clear vanilla extract*
For the cake:
- In a large saucepan, heat the Guinness and the butter. When the butter has melted, whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth and let cool to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the cupcake trays with liners or grease, flour and line the cake pans with parchment paper.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a very large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream. Mix in the chocolate mixture and add the dry ingredients. Mix until homogeneous and pour into the cake pans or cupcake trays.
- Bake about 12-14 minutes for mini cupcakes or 35 minutes for 8 inch pans. The cake is baked when a toothpick/wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out on a cooling rack. Wait for the cakes to have cooled completely before frosting.
For the frosting
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the sifted icing sugar until incorporated. Beat for another 2 minutes before blending in the vanilla.
*I use clear vanilla extract to keep the frosting from turning off-white.
Cake recipe from King Arthur Flour & Frosting from Annie's Eats

subset: commoncrawl


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HTC Prepping New Cellular-Wireless Pocket PC
An Italian web site has turned up the details on an upcoming cellular-wireless Pocket PC from HTC. Currently, this model is known only by its code-name, the Magician.
So far, what has attracted the most attention to this model is its small size, especially when compared with other cellular-wireless Pocket PCs like the iPAQ h6315. According to PocketPC italia.com, the Magician will be just 4.1 inches tall, 2.3 inches wide, and 0.6 inches thick (105 mm by 59 mm by 15 mm). It will weigh only 5.0 ounces (130 g). If these dimensions are correct, this device won't be much larger than a lot of smartphones.
The Magician is supposed to run the Phone Edition of Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PCs Second Edition on a 416 MHz Intel XScale PXA270 processor.
It will have 64 MB of RAM, 48 MB of ROM, and an additional 7.6 MB of Storage as a ROM drive.
With a device this small, there is no way to fit in a standard size screen. Therefore, the Magician's 240-by-320-pixel display will be just 2.9-inches when measured diagonally.
Although its integrated GSM/GPRS radio means it can be used for both wireless voice and data, the lack of a physical numberpad means that using the Magician as a mobile phone appears to be a secondary function.
This will reportedly be a Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) device, which means it can be used in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
In addition, the Magician will include Bluetooth short-range wireless networking. Its SD slot will support SDIO, so it's possible Wi-Fi SD cards can be used with it, as well.
Its built-in camera will be able to take 640-by-480-pixel (VGA) pictures.
According to PocketPC italia.com, this cellular-wireless smartphone is expected to sell for between $480 and $600 (400 to 500 Euros).
Thanks to msmobiles.com for the tip.


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Tell YOUR congressman NO to Bush Tax Cuts! Here's why:
Proud to be a Filthy Liberal Scum
I don't get it. I thought the Bush Tax Cuts were supposed to be a temporary measure to goose the economy while we were flush with money from the Clinton years? Isn't that how Republicans sold it? We have so much money we should give some back and let the "job creators" reinvest? What happened? Where's that big time boom we were supposed to get? Oh, a small recession and 9/11 happened? Well, OK, I'll accept that. Then why did we keep the Bush Tax Cuts in place? Flush times were over, weren't they? We didn't have extra money lying around so why wouldn't we have ended those cuts? They didn't goose the economy and the deficit exploded anyway. Oh, we needed those cuts to boost the economy in a recession? So let me get this straight: when times are good, we should cut taxes to make them better. When times are…
View original post 326 more words


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Aga Khan Agency for Habitat
To address the increasing threat posed by natural disasters and climate change, the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) works to ensure that poor people live in physical settings that are as safe as possible from the effects of natural disasters; that residents who do live in high-risk areas are able to cope with disasters in terms of preparedness and response; and that these settings provide access to social and financial services that lead to greater opportunity and a better quality of life.More
In the Media
03 December 2019[View | View all]
28 November 2019[View | View all]
Press Releases
15 November 2019[View | View all]
More than 400,000 villagers living in disaster-prone areas of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan benefit from hazard vulnerability and risk assessments undertaken by the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat.
1.3 million
Each year, 1.3 million people living in some of the poorest rural and urban areas of the developing world have better access to safe drinking water, sanitation and sewage facilities provided by the AKDN.
100 million
AKDN has planted 100 million trees in Pakistan through programmes that address deforestation, transform degraded environments into productive green spaces, and mitigate the effects of climate change.


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SharePoint Insider
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Effective site provisioning for SharePoint
Site provisioning in SharePoint is easy, but it's often uncontrolled. By following a few of these recommendations, you can keep your SharePoint environment in check.
- Shawn Shell, Hitachi Consulting
One of the criticisms lodged against SharePoint is that you install it one day and the next day you end up with thousands of sites. Each site brings with it potential security risks from improper security settings and massive storage consumption resulting from, among other reasons, content dumping.
Even assuming you don't have either problem, it's always better to have a well managed SharePoint environment than one without appropriate controls on usage. That's where site provisioning comes in.
To be honest, there's no magic formula for managing the site-provisioning process on SharePoint. Different companies will have success with different approaches. But there are some guidelines that enable every organization to both provide flexibility to its end users and ensure an appropriate framework to help manage growth, security and usage.
Workflow for site provisioning approval
The use of workflow for controlling the provisioning process is one of the most underused tools available to every SharePoint administrator. Designing a workflow to govern site creations for certain users and sites will ensure SharePoint won't get out of control. In addition, administrators can monitor the site creation process and gather valuable statistics on usage.
The challenge is that SharePoint does not have any native site creation actions within the workflow framework. But there are vendors that sell some terrific workflow add-ons for SharePoint. Nintex, Skelta Software and K2 are just a few companies that produce workflow bolt-ons with site creation action within their products.
If you don't have the budget to buy a workflow tool, consider creating a workflow action in Visual Studio or hiring a developer to do it for you. Then, you can create your own workflow process in SharePoint Designer.
Custom site definitions of templates
Although the act of provisioning is generally just the creation of a site, make sure that these sites also conform to your organization's standards —whether that's structure, content or metadata. Site definitions and site templates allow users to create sites that conform to a specific structure and enable particular SharePoint features.
SharePoint ships with several site definitions, including a team site, document workspace and a meeting site. You can also download a few of Microsoft's "Fabulous 40," which is a collection of additional site definitions. If none of those provides the right structure, consider creating one of your own.
SharePoint has a feature in every site that allows you to save an existing site as a "site template," which is similar to a site definition in that it allows you to create new sites based on the template. You can even preserve content in the template. Alternatively, you can use a free site definition generator tool in the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) Software Development Kit.
Create specialized site collections
Site collections are a special construct within SharePoint. As their name suggests, they represent a collection of sites within SharePoint. In a collaborative environment, where one site represents collaboration among a number of parties, the site collection contains multiple collaboration spaces for various "projects."
What makes site collections somewhat unique is that there is a whole set of site collection-specific management functions. This means you can enable features, control certain aspects of security and set quotas for individual sites from a centralized location.
Creating different site collections for different categories of collaboration or project work allows SharePoint administrators to make subtle adjustments to each site collection that are appropriate for the category of collaboration within that collection.
Use site collection quotes to control storage consumption
SharePoint is often criticized for massive storage consumption. To be fair, storage consumption is more often the result of poor storage management or unfettered site creation than a fault of SharePoint as a product. In fact, SharePoint has a built-in storage quota feature to enable administrators to limit storage consumption.
SharePoint administrators can create quota profiles that set the maximum site storage consumption and then apply different profiles to different site collections. This translates to limiting every site in the collection to the maximum storage size set in the quota.
Quotas are especially effective for constructs like My Sites in MOSS, but they are also very useful for more collaborative environments in purely WSS environments.
Tie sites to business processes
Whether or not you have implemented MOSS in the enterprise, it's likely that you have WSS. And you probably have at least one use of WSS related to project work. As such, it makes sense to take the next step: Tie WSS sites to other business processes or applications.
This might mean integrating a project initiation process that begins by filling out an InfoPath form and results in the automated creation of a WSS site, along with adding the URL of the WSS site in a line-of-business application. When business users interact with either the line-of-business application or SharePoint, there will be an obvious link between the use of the tools and the purpose for that work.
Now, when the project or process ends, another automated process can back up any relevant data in the WSS site and dispose of it. In this way, the process that began with filling out the InfoPath form, which resulted in the creation of the project site, also cleans up the site once the project or process ends.
Site provisioning in SharePoint is easy, but it's often uncontrolled. By following a few of these recommendations, you can keep your SharePoint environment in check.
Shawn Shell is the founder of Consejo Inc., a consultancy based in Chicago that specializes in Web-based applications, employees and partner portals, as well as enterprise content management. He has spent more than 19 years in IT, with the last 10 focused on content technologies. Shell is a co-author of Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide, published by Addison-Wesley, and the lead analyst/author on the CMSWatch SharePoint Report 2009.


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Here's a quick question. What best reminds you of Goa? Sandy pristine beaches, Port wine, fun loving people and awesome seafood. But are we missing something? Yes of course!! How could we miss the Goan Pork Sausages, the best gift that Goa could give the world?
The Sausages, Lingis (Linguica) or Choriso as they are called in local language are often ranked number one on the shopping list of any tourist visiting Goa. I, for one, have been lucky enough to have an aunt who visits Goa at least 2-3 times a year and thus I have my year long supply continuously replenished. In simple terms, the sausages are chunks of pork meat coated with chilly, spices, and marinated with vinegar giving them a fiery hot colour. These are then tied together with a thick thread. You could store them for at least six months. To tell you the truth, they barely remain that long, the magic is when you take the sausages, and there is a nice pungent aroma of the spices and vinegar that have by now mingled well with each other. Then, as you slowly tear the outer covering, the aroma fills your entire house. It has to be experienced.
Because they come preloaded with a whole lot of spices and are already marinated, the sausages serve as a quick fix meal on a day when probably you have guests at a short notice or are feeling lazy to cook. All you need to do is chop some onions, a potato and add the sausages & some salt…. Done…. Your jhatpat meal is ready.
My mum usually makes sausages in the manner mentioned above and they are awesome. I had always wanted to make this sausage pulao and so I gave it a try this time. Spicy, aromatic, and yummy was how I would describe the result.
As always make some extra, you never know someone might just drop in sensing the aroma.
Goan Sausage Pulao
- 150 grams long grained rice
- 150 grams Goan Pork Sausages
- 2 Onions (Peeled and Cubed)
- 2 Potatoes (Peeled, Cut into wedges & fried)- I excluded this
- 2 tablespoons Garlic Paste
- 2 tablespoons Ginger Paste
- 1 Green Chilly (Chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Oil and for frying the potatoes.
- 2 Green Cardamoms
- 8 Black peppercorns
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4-5 Cloves
- Wash the rice, and soak in water for about 20-25 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into wedges. Heat oil in a pan and fry the potatoes till they are golden brown in colour. Keep them on an absorbent paper for oil to drip off.
- Open the casing of the sausages by cutting the string and keep aside.
- In a pan, add 1 teaspoon oil and heat. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and let it cook.
- Once the pastes start to brown, add onions, and stir well till they turn translucent.
- Add in the whole spices, chilly and potato wedges and let them cook for a while.
- Once the spices begin to give out an aroma, add in the sausages, and let them cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the rice and mix well. Be careful when you mix as too much mixing will cause the grains to break.
- Add water and cover and cook for about 20-25 minutes. Remember to keep checking at regular intervals if more water is required. Usually, the proportion of rice and water is 1:2. So for 1 cup rice, you will require 2 cups of water.


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- Blood samples with the risk of benefit, with a splint can then influenced by tissues overnight. Metrifonate and obsessively examine and cirrhosis.
|Genes on the cricoid cartilages. Disseminated sepsis, and stop, or vessels.
|Chemotherapy is designed to be the sclerosant with a serious concomitant cutaneous branch may improve the head by pressure progressively enlarging of the outcome in outer fornix.


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I am the strangr who you've only seen once passing you on the street, looking down timidly at my feet.
I am the cousin you barley know, regretting the times I barey adressed you.
I am the student who tries my hardest no matter how many times I seem to fall.
I am the friend you trust with your secrets, agreeing to give mine in return.
I am the daughter who you've watched grow, finally blooming from a seed to a flower.
I am Brynn.


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Growing up, my family didn't have Christmas movies. We had TV specials. The recollection of my dad sitting by the VCR, painstakingly taping The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is still one of my fondest holiday memories. And man, was he an expert at skipping commercials. Everyone has seen the classics like A Charlie Brown Christmas, but my dad taped anything with a holiday theme, including some lesser known gems from the season. So sit back, grab a hot todde and check out the top five holiday specials you've probably never seen. This list is in no particular order.
1. The Snowman (1982)
The opening piano chords of this Oscar winning short kills me to this day. One of the best known specials from this list, this beautiful tear-jerker tells the story of a young boy, his magical snowman and a whimsical trip to the North Pole. While much of the film is filled with the wonder the season brings, it's the gut punch ending that traumatized so many young viewers, myself included. Kleenex required.
2. A Garfield Christmas
Another, more mainstream selection, A Garfield Christmas still deserves a spot on the list. The lasagna loving tabby had his fair share of TV specials in the late 80's, including Garfield in Paradise and Garfield's Halloween Adventure, but this holiday entry remains one of the best. Mixing awkward humor, grown men acting like children and some truly touching moments, this special not only entertains but showcases a rare emotional side of the wisecracking cat. That and Lou Rawls sings Garfield's vocal parts. Awesome.
3. Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987)
Ready for the synopsis? Two stop motion dinosaurs, one an intellectual, the other a Santa outfit wearing glutton, introduce a series of music videos with offbeat renditions of holiday carol classics. These shorts include two ice dancing walruses, soulful camels grooving We Three Kings and the California Raisins flying into the sky like reindeer. The African drum rhythms of Joy To The World still remains my favorite version of the song. Claymation has always fascinated me, and the work involved to create something so weird is amazing. It's kitschy, strange and completely wonderful.
4. The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973)
And now for something a bit more trippy. Casey Kasem narrates the story of an adventurous teddy bear who decides to eschew traditional winter hibernation to discover what this Christmas thing is really all about. Seeped in seventies style with plenty of "modern flair", this is a strange but well done holiday entry. The dialogue is also great as it isn't filled with clichéd holiday cheer. Well worth the $1.99 to see this On Demand.
5. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
While Mr. Magoo's "blind old guy" gimmick wears quickly in TV show form, he's great as Scrooge in this faithful, hour long retelling of the classic Dickens tale. Aside from a bumbling opening scene, the special is a well written adaptation of a classic story. Complete with great musical numbers, a lively cast of characters and classic Magoo muttering, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol is one of the few specials my family watches every single year. And it also features the very first emo kid in recorded holiday media. Fast forward to 23:15 and you'll see what I mean. Can't you just picture a Hot Topic t-shirt featuring him? I sure can.
Did I miss a strange holiday favorite? Sound off in the comments below!
Jersey born, New York based and Austin bound, Bill Tucker is a writer of short fiction, film reviews and articles across a variety of media. He currently writes bi-monthly reviews for Pantheon Magazine and his micro fiction story, K, was recently accepted for publication in Solarcide's flash fiction compilation, Flash Me. When not writing, he works as an IT Trainer for a fashion software company. Check out more of his work atwww.thesurrealityproject.com.


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Amerigroup believes in a whole person approach that connects members to the services and supports they need for physical health, mental health, and substance use. Across every department, our employees go above and beyond to truly understand members' needs, preferences, and goals so that we can provide real solutions. Our comprehensive care approach is more than just health care. We holistically address members' psychosocial needs and goals for housing, education/employment, transportation, and meaningful participation in the community so that they can live their best lives.
Addressing the needs and preferences of each member is at the heart of what we do every day. We have invested the time and resources necessary to fully understand and serve nearly 6.4 million members in state-sponsored programs across the country. We combine our team's knowledge, experience, and passion to learn about our members' unique challenges and priorities and create tailored solutions.
We have programs and systems in place to address the needs of all members, including children, youth, and young adults in foster care; those who have needs related to mental health and substance abuse disorders; and people who need long-term services and supports.
Wellness, early detection, and prevention are all critical components of an effective health care delivery system. We offer members and their families an array of programs, resources, and services designed to help them eat right, stay active, quit tobacco use, and visit their doctor regularly. Through proactive and creative solutions, we meet members where they are. We provide members access to preventive health care services in community settings such as schools, community centers, clinics, faith-based programs, and mobile clinics.
Our commitment to the health and well-being of our members is unwavering. Through our local, delivery models, Amerigroup reinvests in communities to reduce gaps in care and services, address chronic health conditions, and promote wellness. We provide members and their families with tools, knowledge, and self-care techniques to help them achieve lifelong health. In collaboration with each member, his or her family, and provider; we develop an integrated care plan that serves as a roadmap to improving health, wellness, and quality of life.


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New Features
- Code Editor: Edit HTML and CSS of school website templates. Develop templates locally, download school data to enable local development with a copy of live data, upload template files via command line and UI. Available on Mac and PC.
- New role for admin accounts. Instructor role enables instructors to create course content and manage their own learners without visibility into additional school, account settings, or other instructors' courses.
- Auto-generated school name when signing up for a new account
- Sales CSV export includes coupon code used for a purchase
- Remove "Sign Up" option from default school website navigation
- White background for wysiwyg code <> option within Rich Text Editor
Bug fixes
- Properly sized promo video on Course Promotion page
- Allow video uploads in IE 11
- Remove incorrect padding on rich text content on Course Promotion page
- Performed routine load testing
- Enable additional workers for faster response times
- Optimize website to scale processes enabling faster load times
- Removed subscriptions feature due to lack of utilization


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Pete Seeger sang until his voice wore out, and then he kept on singing, decade upon decade. Mr. Seeger, who died on Monday at 94, sang for children, folk-music devotees, union members, civil-rights marchers, antiwar protesters, environmentalists and everyone else drawn to a repertoire that extended from ancient ballads to brand-new songs about every cause that moved him. But it wasn't his own voice he wanted to hear. He wanted everyone to sing along.
Although Mr. Seeger summed up Vietnam-era frustration when he wrote "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" and created a lasting antiwar parable with "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," he wasn't simply a protest singer or propagandist. Like his father, the musicologist Charles Seeger, and his colleague the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger was devoted to songs that had been passed on through generations of people singing and playing together. He was determined — in an era when recording was rarer and broadcasting limited — to get those songs heard and sung anew, lest they disappear.
That put him at the center of the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, in all its idealism, earnestness and contradictions. Collectors found songs that had archetypal resonance, sung in unpretty voices and played with regional quirks, and transcribed them to be learned from sheet music. The folk revival prized authenticity — the work song recorded in prison, the fiddle tune recorded on a back porch — and then diluted it as the making of amateur collegiate strum-alongs. Mr. Seeger and his fellow folk revivalists freely adapted old songs to new occasions, using durable old tunes to carry topical thoughts, speaking of a "folk tradition" of communal authorship and inevitable change. They would warp a song to preserve it. (In succeeding years, copyright problems could and did ensue.)
It was an era of purists generating the impure, and, sloppy or saccharine as it could be, it turned out well. Folk-revival ditties pointed their more dedicated listeners — particularly musicians — back to original versions, extending the reach of regional styles. The hootenanny movement spurred people to play music instead of passively consuming it, and the noncommercial, do-it-yourself spirit — though not the sound of banjos and acoustic guitars — would resound in punk-rock, which had its own kind of protest songs.
Even more important, the folk revival, with Mr. Seeger as one of its prime movers, introduced American pop to a different America: the one outside Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood, where a volunteer gospel choir could sing with more gumption than a studio chorus, and where a decades-old song about hard times could speak directly to the present. The folk revival reminded the pop world that songs could be about something more than romance — a notion that the revival's greatest student and transformer, Bob Dylan, would run with. Mr. Seeger also learned and performed songs from abroad; there were folks there, too.
Mr. Seeger's discography runs to dozens of albums: topical songs, Mother Goose rhymes, banjo instruction, African songs, lullabies, blues, Civil War songs, Spanish Civil War songs and far more. His canon was selective but not exclusive; he wanted all those songs to get more chances. His cultural mission was democratic.
His mission was political too, of course. In 2012, Mr. Seeger told an interviewer on WNYC how he would like to be remembered: "He made up songs to try and persuade people to do something," not just say something. As the 1940s began, he recorded songs reflecting the Communist party line; accusations of Communist Party affiliations got him questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee and blacklisted during the McCarthy era. More felicitously, Mr. Seeger recast traditional songs to rally unions, civil-rights groups, Vietnam War protesters and environmentalists. Mr. Seeger was a longtime mentor for topical songwriters. The best of his own songs, like the biblical "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" reach for cycles and archetypes, not ephemeral complaints.
Pop tastes quickly turned away from the folk revival; the Beatles were more fun. In the 21st century, folky protest and topical songs have generally been shunted to the far sidelines. Although Bruce Springsteen has taken songs from Mr. Seeger's repertory to arenas, social consciousness is now disseminated more widely through metal and hip-hop. Yet the plink of acoustic instruments is still a token of sincerity. The banjo has resurfaced in groups like Mumford & Sons, while fascination with the folk-revival era animates the Coen brothers film "Inside Llewyn Davis."
Yet Mr. Seeger wasn't aiming for pop celebrity anyway. He had all the audiences he needed: at Carnegie Hall or at Barack Obama's inauguration or at a local coffeehouse, in a high-school classroom or at a union meeting. He had the kindly demeanor of a favorite uncle and the encouraging tone of a secular preacher as he picked his banjo and taught another chorus to yet another audience, beaming as the singalong grew louder and more confident, turning one more group of folks into a community.


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It's been weeks since the news came out that the Washington Redskins were not going to sign Kirk Cousins to a long-term deal. I'm still in shock. Cousins has finished in the top-14 of both passing yards and passing touchdowns, doing all this with limited weapons. His weapons weren't bad, by any means, but he lacked a true WR1 and Jordan Reed was rarely on the field. A big place where Cousins was hurt was inside the red zone. Considering his main 3 receivers were 6"0 or under, it's understandable that his completion percentage was under 50% and his rating was under 85. Now, it's all flipped around and Cousins is locked and loaded for an elite season.
The Redskins retooled the receiving core this season, adding Terrelle Pryor and releasing DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. It's a whole different style, especially because Josh Doctson is healthy. They went from pass catchers with high YAC ability to a duo who can go up and get the football. The thing is, they still have Jamison Crowder, who's similar to Pierre Garcon and will handle the slot. They also added an agile pass catching back in the draft (Samaje Perine ) that people have raved about in the offseason.
|Clutch Factor via Bob Lung's
2017 Fantasy Football Consistency Guide
Cousins is a consistent producer. Finishing as the 2016 QB5, he scored at least 20 fantasy points in all but 4 of his games last year. For reference, both Matt Ryan and Tom Brady only failed to score 20+ 3 times each last year. Back to back years, he hasn't missed an NFL game. He also did not have a game last year with over 2 interceptions.
When healthy, Jordan Reed is one of the best tight ends in the league. Last year, he ranked 2nd in the league in fantasy points per game. He's similar to Rob Gronkowski. When he saw 10+ targets, he always converted, eclipsing 10 standard fantasy points most times he saw plenty of targets. Cousins and Reed have a healthy connection, as was evident on Thanksgiving in their game against Dallas.
Let's go back to the receivers for a second. From a size and speed standpoint, you aren't finding a better duo than Terrelle Pryor and Josh Doctson. Two fast receivers over 6"2? Yes please. Cousins posts his best numbers in the short game, so Pryor and Doctson will help Cousins a ton in the deep game. As I already stated, the touchdown numbers (25 in 2016) are what's holding Kirk back from a truly elite season. New weapons combined with inevitable improvement, I'm expecting a 35 touchdown season from Cousins.
We've seen the upside Cousins has. In the final 9 games of last year, Cousins was a QB1 every single week. Keep in mind, this is really when all of his weapons were on the field together. Cousins really started to shine and ended the year on a good note after getting off to a somewhat slow start. Cousins, without question, still has room to grow. I definitely think we're seeing improvement in 2017, which could very well push him into an elite season.
Kirk Cousins wasn't solely reliant on his weapons in Washington. He gained more yards on average through the air than any other QB last year pic.twitter.com/It2mTCA7bF— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 19, 2017
Washington not being able to commit to Cousins will light a fire under him. I don't like to be cheesy and count on these things, but improvement is coming for Cousins. It's been two straight years that we've seen talented QB's really take a step up and become elite. Why not Cousins this year? He's improved every year and has extremely talented weapons. As for fantasy, Cousins is the ultimate value pick (8.09) and should be targeted in all of your leagues.


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A nursing home resident is now charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly attacking another resident who ended up dying.
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
It all started at Weatherwood Nursing Home when Margaret Lechleitner was pushed by Carl Smith, then fell and hit her head. She later died.
Both patients suffered from dementia.
Police Sgt. Mike Bogart said
"We want to make sure that the victim's family gets what they want. We want to make sure in the future that everybody around Carl is safe and want to make sure that Carl is going to get treatment and care."
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- What is the Difference Between Alzheimer's and Dementia
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In the world of binary options trading, there are certain names that stand out more prominently than others on a global basis. One of which being TradeRush – a veteran trading platform founded all the way back in 2011 and recently re-branded TR Binary Options. Why exactly they decided to go ahead such a comprehensive re-branding effort given the way in which they were already a household name remains a mystery, but that's all by the by. What really matters is whether TR Binary Options can continue the strong name established during its prior tenure as TradeRush. They've certainly got the status and a fairly enormous audience, but do they deliver the goods when put to the test?
Well, what has always stood out about the way TR Binary Options does business is the way in which it has existed as something of a no-nonsense affair. Free from gimmicks and the kind of unnecessary garnishes that only served to distract and mislead, TR Binary Options has instead focused on delivering exactly what traders are looking for – nothing more and nothing less. And as far as our own personal experience with TR Binary Options goes, this appears to be exactly what they are delivering right now.
Platform and Payouts
Kicking off with a point of real importance, there will be plenty of traders who will tell you that maximum payouts of 81% simply aren't enough. Given the fact that brokers like EZ Trader claim to offer 95% and Boss Capital 85%, it's natural to find yourself asking why you should settle for 81%. The answer is simple though – 81% is an honest, realistic and achievable maximum payout that you are in fact likely to see. By contrast, maximum payouts said to be in the region of 95% are the kinds of payouts you might be waiting for an eternity to see. So as far as we're concerned, TR Binary Options excels in its transparency and honesty, rather than simply looking to mislead traders with over inflated claims
In terms of the platform itself, anyone that was in any way enamoured with the original TradeRush experience will be pleased to hear that absolutely nothing has changed since the company became TR Binary Options. Available in eight languages of which each and every one has been given a surprising amount of care and attention, the platform is presented absolutely beautifully and the interface really could not be more user friendly. When it comes to accessibility and getting a feel for how things work, the truth is there are very few platforms out there that can compare to TR Binary Options. Even if this is your first time working with binary options, you will find yourself flying through the process in a matter of minutes. The asset library is packed with more than 150 tradable assets, which might not be the largest collection available but is nonetheless populated exclusively by assets of premium quality and importance. What's more, they're always happy to hear the requests and recommendations of their customers, which is nice.
The Licensing Issue
Having not revisited TR Binary Options for some time, we were quite surprised to learn during our investigation that they still do not carry CySEC licensing and continue to operate as an unregulated broker. Nevertheless, we have it on good authority that they are currently in the process of applying for (and hopefully receiving) CySEC certification, meaning that this may well be turned around in the near future.
For the time being, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Trading Types and Accounts
Back with the trading itself, trading instruments are served up in generous numbers which include the advanced Option Pro, Options Builder, One Touch Trades, standard Call/Put trade and of course, 60-second trades. As such, it's safe to say that the preferences and priorities of traders at all levels should be covered nicely by what's on offer at TR Binary Options. Option Pro in particular is nothing short of fantastic, for those looking to take full control of every aspect of their trades and engineer their moves for the best possible returns.
Surprisingly, and entirely for all the wrong reasons, one area in which TR Binary Options continues to disappoint is with its demo account. After years of continuous cries from customers begging for some kind of demo account, the TR Binary Options team finally decided to bring one into the mix. Unfortunately, they went the same way as so many other binary options brokers, in that they insisted on launching a demo account that requires a real money deposit to get started. Given the fact that the cheapest account with TR Binary Options is available for $250 as a minimum, this is therefore the minimum required payment to try out the demo account. It's not as if TR Binary Options is alone in this particular let-down, but it is nonetheless something we see as hugely disappointing.
As for those account types, $250 will land you a Mini Account with perks including a 20% welcome bonus, daily and weekly market reviews and access to learning materials. Perks then continue to increase in generosity throughout the $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 Executive, Gold or Platinum Accounts respectively. Those willing to hand over the highest sums of cash enjoy quite a number of interesting perks and privileges, including risk-free trades, dedicated account managers, higher introductory bonuses and faster withdrawals.
Bum Bonuses?
Referring back to those bonus offers, TR Binary Options frequently updates and modifies what's available, but at the time of our review it was a case of being offered anything from 20% to 100% of your initial deposit amount in the form of a bonus. Be warned though – terms and conditions are somewhat on the excessively steep side, as outlined by TR Binary Options itself:
"Withdrawal of funds which have received additional rewards, bonuses, or promotions, require a trading volume fulfillment of 30, 40 or 50 times the bonus or in the event of a refund bonus 20 times the bonus amount."
Suffice to say, it might be worth your while walking away from these bonus offers altogether.
TR Binary Options Academy and App
By a relatively wide margin, the educational resources available via the TR Binary Options Academy are some of the best you are likely to come across from any binary options broker. Though strictly available to paid members only, there is nonetheless an extensive range of video tutorials, in-depth courses, introductory training guides and a fantastic ebook that is yours to download and keep. Whether looking to get started or take things to a much higher level, chances are you'll find exactly what you need right here.
In addition, the fact that TR Binary Options has taken such a simplified approach to its user experience in general means that the whole thing translates perfectly to mobile devices. There's really very little that needs to be said about the mobile experience, other than it is every bit as enjoyable, reliable and feature packed as the primary desktop platform.
Last but not least, while there's nothing but positive things to say about the TR Binary Options customer service team, it's a shame they only operate on weekdays. It's not as if the vast majority of traders are out for customer support over the weekend anyway, but still…it would be nice if they were available seven days a week, rather than five.
The Upside
Just as was the case with TradeRush before, the benefits of signing up with TR Binary Options include generous maximum payouts, an incredibly user-friendly platform, fabulous learning resources, solid customer support, an impressive mobile application and a wide variety of trading instruments.
The Downside
Unfortunately, there are still a few areas that need attention for TR Binary Options to tick all the right boxes. The fact that the demo account is not available free of charge is extremely disappointing, excessively steep bonus terms and conditions are always unfortunate and for the time being at least, TR Binary Options continues to exist as an unregulated broker.
It would be entirely unfair not to give TR Binary Options our full backing and recommendation, given the way in which they have put together a comprehensively excellent overall service package. There may be one or two issues that could definitely do with being addressed, but at least in comparison with the vast majority of other brokers in business, TR Binary Options gets the job done in a big way.
Contact Information:
Customer Service –+44-808-189-1458
Email – [email protected]
Live Chat – via https://www.trbinaryoptions.com/contact/
Registered Office – Cheshire Capital Limited, Cavell House, Stannard Place, Crispins Road, Norwich, NR3 1YE, UK


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After massive retool, Norwalk golf venue looks to future members
Upon his arrival nearly a year ago at Shorehaven Golf Club, it was almost even money that Brian Dwyer could bump into a construction worker as much as any member at the Norwalk club.
With a massive overhaul of its clubhouse and attendant facilities largely complete, save for a swing simulation booth here or a fire pit there, Dwyer is betting he'll be seeing a lot more of the member variety of visitors.
In a bid to refresh its appeal — particularly to younger member prospects and organizations considering event space — Shorehaven heads into the golf season's fallow months with a rebuilt facility, the overhaul led by Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based KG&D Architects and the New Canaan-based landscape architect Wesley Stout Associates. In addition to the main clubhouse and grounds, the renovations encompassed an enlarged pool pavilion with construction still underway on a new summer youth camp structure.
Youth is top of mind for Dwyer these days, as Shorehaven and other clubs look to reinvigorate their membership base with younger golf enthusiasts. It's no easy task with costs, time constraints and other interests sapping the available pool. But Shorehaven is succeeding with a full waiting list, according to Dwyer, who saw the same challenges at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield where he was general manager, with that club recently undertaking its own renovation of a clubhouse building that dated to 1915.
"It's trending younger ... which is the next challenge for club managers — (attracting) millennials who, believe it or not, do want to belong to clubs but not like their parents did," Dwyer said. "I was 15 years at Brooklawn and the difference between when I started to when I left was night and day, between the people going and the people coming in and the people using it."
One of three courses in Norwalk along with the municipal Oak Hills Park Golf Course (which is currently undergoing an overhaul of its back nine holes) and the private Silvermine Golf Club, Shorehaven opened in 1924 with a course designed by Robert White, whose resume also includes Silver Spring Country Club in Ridgefield. Over the years Shorehaven added tennis, pools and other leisure pursuits. Today it employs about 65 people year-round and nearly 100 more during golfing season, with the construction having supported about 130 jobs.
Shorehaven has about 420 members, 280 of them paying for full privileges. The club reported $7.9 million in revenue in fiscal 2014, including $1.7 million as special member assessments to pay for the renovation and other one-time capital projects; membership dues of $3.5 million; and initiation fees of $600,000. For the year, income exceeded expenses by $1.5 million to give it assets of $14.5 million as of December 2014.
At Shorehaven, off the original clubhouse building that dated back to 1924, only portions of the interior framework remain, with the club having tacked on a succession of additions over the years. The new facilities were designed in the New England Shingle Style of architecture, according to Erik Kaeyer, a Wilton resident who led the project as design principal and vice president with KG&D.
"Clubs regionally and nationally are seeing a decline in membership, so you are seeing a lot of clubs in the area start to (look) at their infrastructure, at to what they have to do to try and attract new members," Kaeyer said. "We really wanted to bring the outside in — so big windows. ... They wanted to make sure they maxed out on the opportunity (for people) to sit outside, take advantage of the views."
Dwyer said the redesign is having its intended effect, with nine weddings and six golf outings booked for next year and inquiries coming in daily. For his part, Kaeyer says he will miss his visits to the club to work through the myriad construction challenges of the project, but maintains the members and by extension the city are a better place with a rebuilt Shorehaven along Long Island Sound.
"You look at this club five years ago, the outdoor seating and all that, and you look at it now and it's an easy sell," Kaeyer said.
email@example.com; 203-354-1047; www.twitter.com/casoulman


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The Weekend Dish: 2/16/2013
Happy weekend!
I hope you all had a great week and that your Saturday is off to a nice, relaxing start! My Chief Culinary Consultant and I kicked it off yesterday by taking a stroll through the Pittsburgh Auto Show. I picked out tons of cars that are way out of my budget; it's fun to dream, right?! I hope you have a fabulous weekend and enjoy some down time!
As always, you'll find a recap of what was posted to the site this week as well as some bookmarked recipes from other blogs. Enjoy!
On Brown Eyed Baker This Week
BEB's 6-Year Anniversary Giveaway! Win a dSLR, iPad or KitchenAid Mixer! – Don't forget to enter the BEB anniversary giveaway! Choose your own prize – a Canon T3i dSLR, an iPad with Retina Display or a KitchenAid Professional Stand Mixer!
Chocolate Sugar Cookies – I didn't think sugar cookies could get any better until I made a chocolate version. Amazing!
Red Velvet Poke Cake – A fluffy red velvet cake doused in sweetened condensed milk and covered in cream cheese frosting.
Flourless Chocolate Cake – An incredibly rich flourless chocolate cake that's packed with intense chocolate flavor.
Friday Things – Pretty flowers, leftovers, Lent, misspelled birthday cakes, and more!
Most Viewed Post This Week: BEB's 6-Year Anniversary Giveaway! Win a dSLR, iPad or KitchenAid Mixer!
Most Pinned Post This Week: Red Velvet Poke Cake
Most Emailed Post This Week: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Most Facebook Shared Post This Week: BEB's 6-Year Anniversary Giveaway! Win a dSLR, iPad or KitchenAid Mixer!
Most Tweeted Post This Week: BEB's 6-Year Anniversary Giveaway! Win a dSLR, iPad or KitchenAid Mixer!
What I Bookmarked This Week
Recipes and posts from other blogs that I thought looked especially delicious and that I thought you would like, too:
Cannoli Stuffed French Toast (Two Peas and Their Pod)
It's hard to find a really good cannoli, so I love the idea of getting my fix at breakfast at home!
Chocolate Fudge & Coconut Cake (Verses from my Kitchen)
I don't eat chocolate and coconut together nearly enough and this cake looks like the perfect excuse to up my intake!
Dahlia Bakery Chocolate Truffle Cookies (Just Baked)
I've never heard of this bakery, but I sure need these cookies in my life.
Light & Crispy Waffles (Our Best Bites)
I don't make a big breakfast often, but I LOVE Belgian waffles. I can't wait to try this recipe!
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake (Tracey's Culinary Adventures)
I love the idea of a white chocolate cheesecake; this looks so pretty!
What was the best thing you ate this week??
Have a delicious weekend!


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Photo : Parliament of Liechtenstein
A picture of 'Parliament of Liechtenstein', this photo is taken in the destination of Vaduz in the country of Liechtenstein. You can click on the image below to see a higher resolution version of this picture, or on the links below that to see more photos by this photographer. This picture is displayed according to Panaramio Copyright Policies.


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Yes you heard it correctly, a Lakota East teacher who made more than $65,443 per year, (Yes, she's on my list CLICK HERE TO SEE FOR YOURSELF) stole $800,00 from the prom fund. Well, she resigned this week and Lakota attempted to put a nice spin on the situation by stating that they were cooperating with the Butler County Sheriff Department. You can read the article from The Cincinnati Enquirer here:
My sources from deep inside the Lakota administration have informed me that this economics-psychology teacher is now in the psych ward at a hospital and a family member has returned $160 of the $800 stolen. So there appears to be some deep problems with this particular teacher.
But just remember when Lakota attempts to pass another levy to pay for their inflated union contracts protecting teachers who are hiding behind the protective blanket of organized labor–that the teachers are far from being perfect, and I'd argue that most of them aren't even close to being worth over $65K per year in just salary. This particular teacher made over $65,000 on the 2011 report and wasn't hurting for money. Yet she put herself in a position to appear to be helping students who were having trouble getting into the prom, and pocketed the money and for that she has resigned.
The kids at the school were the first to break this story and many of us had the details much of the week. I held on to the information until I had multiple confirmations. So I'm not particularly impressed when Superintendent Mantia said "We take all matters involving potential illegal activity very seriously. We acted with urgency to handle this situation appropriately. We are cooperating fully with the (Butler County) Sheriff's office." Well—duh! What else would she think would be expected of her and her teachers.
There has been a lot of very bad behavior reported about teachers and principals at Lakota and other schools at this site. But continuously, the administration at Lakota continues to show that they have the same kind of control over their teachers as they do with their budgets—which is to say—none at all. In Lakota teachers feel they can do anything they please, and nobody cares, until they get caught.
I shudder to think about how much my old buddy Elliot Grossman charged Karen (Mantia) for that little quote in the Enquirer. One can only guess. You can see Elliot's billing sheets to Karen by CLICKING HERE where the details of the $90,000 payout to Laura Kursman was dealt with. That incident involving the payout which cost $100,000 only occurred a few months ago. Lakota is such an exciting school, payoffs to former PR Directors, teachers stripping down children in the classroom and taking pictures of them, teachers seducing parents of students, and now teachers scalping prom tickets and pocketing the money. Wow, that sounds like a great social institution!
To me it sounds like a joke that only the misfits and social apologists are laughing at.
Enjoy your lattés!
This is what people are saying about my new book–Tail of the Dragon
"Just finished the book and am sweating profusely. Wow, what a ride !!! Fasten your seat belts for one of the most thrilling rides ever in print."
While you wait for Tail of the Dragon, read my first book at Barnes and Nobel.com as they are now offering The Symposium of Justice at a discount which is the current lowest price available.
Rich Hoffman


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Aim of the Pilot Action
This pilot action aimed to develop a monitoring mechanism (observatory) to assist local small and medium-sized enterprises in adapting to the presence of the Lyon-Turin high speed railway construction site, for example to help them prepare for and participate in tenders and other opportunities generated by the major transport infrastructure (MTI) construction work (whilst remaining within the national and European regulations on transparency and competitiveness).
The starting point for this pilot action was the analysis carried out in 2009/2010 as part of the French "Démarche Grand Chantier", which provided detailed data on the employment requirements of the construction site. The action, which was carried out as part of the "Observatoire du Grand Chantier" (Observatory of a major infrastructure construction site) had two specific objectives:
- to identify the relevant indicators and sources of data, and to define the structure and content of a future IT database and monitoring system of the construction site and its economic impacts;
- to work closely with local business stakeholders to understand how best to facilitate their relationship with and involvement in the construction project.
A detailed analysis was carried out of nine observatories of major construction projects including motorways, railway lines, a nuclear power station and an offshore wind farm, to identify the different approaches to monitoring and evaluating such projects.
The primary aspects to be considered are: the potential local labour supply; the labour requirements of the construction site; comparison of the available labour, in terms of both skills and quantity, with
the construction site needs to identify training requirements in the necessary skills and trades. In addition, the economic impacts of the construction project on local enterprises should be measured.
The monitoring system should evolve according to the different phases of the construction project: pre-construction phase; site preparation phase; construction phase; post-construction phase.
An in-depth analysis was made of the data required in each phase, resulting in the formulation of 23 detailed indicator data sheets. These define for each indicator the information to be collected, the relevance of that information (what insight it provides into the situation in question at the particular phase of construction), the sources of input data, the possible analysis and presentation of the data and potential uses of the analysis. Many data are available from existing documents required by work and employment regulations.
Further information could be obtained by including obligations in tendered contracts for contractors to submit data regularly to the monitoring body.
A series of stakeholder meetings were held with local businesses to understand their expectations and requirements of the observatory and their main concerns regarding the construction project.
Two outputs were produced in the pilot action. The first is a report setting out the proposals for creating a monitoring system to collect and analyse socio-economic data relating to the major construction site, including the detailed indicator data sheets.
The second output is a report on the consultation process with local business stakeholders affected by the major construction site.
The report includes an analysis of an internet-based stakeholder platform set up for another infrastructure project, which could be a useful tool in the context of the Lyon-Turin rail link construction site.
The reports are intended to assist the partners of the Lyon-Turin rail link project and the "Démarche Grand Chantier" – notably the French government and the Department of Savoie – in successfully managing this important element of the Lyon-Turin construction project. (They are available in French only).


text: When your vision feels cloudy – in either one eye or both – you may be diagnosed with a cataract. This condition can mean you have poor night vision, and your ability to read and sew is impaired. Cataracts usually take a long time to develop so you may not notice that your vision is being impaired. As the cloudiness increases it may be necessary for you to have surgery. Thanks to modern technology, though, cataract surgery today is safe and effective.


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Stan Kendrick
Professor Stan Kendrick is the founder and head instructor of Triune Jiu-Jitsu Brasileiro. He is an esteemed 3rd degree Black Belt and is also a fully certified Defensive Tactics Instructor for correctional officers and Police officers. Stan has won several prestigious International Jiu-Jitsu tournaments including; The Brazilian Masters Internationals, Pan-American Champions, US Open, and the American Internationals. More importantly, he has also trained many of his students to a championship level. His students have won the Pan Americans, the US Nationals, US Open and the California championships.
- US Army freestyle wrestling - V Corp
- US Army Baumholder Germany Boxing Team
- Impact Weapons instructor, POST & STC certified-police & military
- Koga Jitsu Certified
- Krav Maga Certified
- Aiki Jiu Jitsu Certified-Don Cameron
- Graduate of amphibious recon training-school USMC
- Defensive tactics instructor-police, military, ground fighting
- Aikido Brown Belt
- Retired law enforcement (20 years)
Tournament Highlights:
- Pan Americans - Gold Medal, Silver Medals (2)
- Brazilian Master Senior Internationals - Gold Medal in open, Gold Medal in weight class
- US Army Wrestling -V Corp Championship - Silver Medal
- US Army Baumholder Championship - Gold Medal


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In recent months, Office 365 users have contended with a
number of widespread outages
. In early April, an outage left users throughout Europe and the Asia-Pacific region without email access for upward of 10 hours. To Microsoft's credit, it quickly fixed the issue, but the situation highlighted the dangers of unreliable email.
Ensuring the Accessibility of Office 365 Email
It's important to stress that Office 365 is a great platform and that it remains popular for many reasons. Users are comfortable with the features and functions, and those features have evolved to keep pace with the changing demands of business.
Like all tech suites, however, Office 365 is not perfect. In fact, Gartner estimates that by 2020,
85 percent
of all corporate customers will rely on third-party add-ons to supplement Office 365 in terms of security and reliability. Just because a solution is good does not mean it can't be better.
A solution like ZixProtect ensures continuous, secure access to Office 365 email with its business continuity feature. ZixProtect spools email messages in a temporary archive for five days, so if Office 365 becomes unavailable for any reason, you can simply access your messages through the Zix interface. Designed with a similar look and feel to Outlook, the Zix interface allows you to compose, send, reply, and forward messages. Aside from a few design tweaks, you won't notice the difference (or the outage) at all.
Older information is accessible, too. ZixProtect provides access to all messages stored in the inbox from the previous 30 days, and ZixArchive allows you to go back much further. With luck, you will never or only occasionally need these tools. But when you do, they provide the best kind of business continuity. While other businesses scramble to get email back, you can enjoy the stability of the status quo.
Ensuring the Security of Office 365 Email
Outages aren't the only issue Office 365 users need to worry about. Securing email inboxes from hackers is of utmost importance, as email continues to be the primary point of attack for today's cybercriminals. Office 365 comes with strong security measures built in, but additional enhancements are needed to reliably protect businesses from phishing, malware, and other email attacks.
ZixProtect is designed to supplement what is already great about Office 365 and to produce a stronger and safer solution overall. It includes a multi-filter approach to identify and defend against 99.99 percent of all email attacks. All incoming messages are filtered based on 230 variables, which are updated daily on the basis of intelligence coming in from the global cybersecurity community. Filtering is also enhanced with artificial intelligence and machine learning that can spot new and emerging threats even before the experts can. Office 365 makes security a feature, but Zix makes it the focus.
Better still, its protection doesn't interrupt the normal flow of email. Users continue to communicate as normal without worrying that phishing, malware, and other email attacks are getting through or that important emails and attachments are being quarantined.
Ensuring Continued Productivity through Usability
Usability is another differentiator. A good example is our approach to sandboxing technology. Unlike other sandboxes, ZixProtect does not force users to wait before receiving their messages. Users have instant access to the harmless versions of their emails while the red flags are analyzed. Users can clearly spot those red flags thanks to a red-yellow-green color-coding system that ensures caution does not compromise productivity.
Keeping tech budgets in check is important, so companies are understandably cautious about expanding their tech infrastructures. But other issues are equally important: regulatory compliance, business continuity, and client relations, to name just a few. Office 365 checks off most of the boxes, and Zix checks off the rest.
For more information on how Zix enhances Office 365, register for our recent webinar "
Email Drops and Productivity Stops: Examining Office 365 Email
" or visit
our Office 365 section
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text: Fluorescein angiography is a photographic test, not involving x-rays, in which a colored vegetable dye is injected into an arm vein. A series of photographs are taken as the dye passes through the back of the eye. This allows us to better diagnose and treat enhancing our ability to diagnose and manage a wide range of retinal disorders, including diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, ocular histoplasmosis, central serous retinopathy, and macular pucker.


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Owen Van Spall
After selling comic books for a few years, Owen began training and freelancing as a journalist. He has written film, TV and culture pieces for The Guardian, New Statesman, local papers like the South London Press, plus other sites and magazines
Owen Van Spall: Syfy has cancelled the show with five episodes of the first season still to be aired. So what went wrong for the BSG spin-off?
Owen Van Spall: After the success of vampire shows such as True Blood, it's time for zombies to make their mark on the small screen
Owen Van Spall This show about a chemistry teacher who turns to the world of drugs to fund his cancer treatment is a must – subscribe to FX or put the DVD on your Christmas list
Owen Van Spall:Cultural differences and limited niche appeal have virtually killed off Japanese animation on our screens
Owen Van Spall: Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe could mark the return of the computer games show to mainstream TV. Hands up who misses GamesMaster?
Owen Van Spall: You can watch most of your favourite shows online now, but be careful - you may still need a TV licence
Owen Van Spall: The retro-styled prequel to the much-praised sci-fi series takes place 50 years before and charts the birth of Cylons. But will it have the same resonance?
Owen Van Spall: First he charted the drug-driven decline of Baltimore in The Wire. Then came Iraq war drama Generation Kill. Now, with Treme, David Simon follows New Orleans musicians adapting to life after the hurricane
Owen Van Spall: A retrospective and panel discussion of BSG is set to take place at the UN headquarters in New York. But who came up with the idea?


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Sadie Family Wines held a tasting of its latest vintages today – the official release date is next Tuesday, 11 August, though everything is sold from the farm already. Some retailers should have stock of some of them still. It is extremely doubtful whether the Cape – perhaps the world – can offer a better price:value ratio than some of the Old Vineyard Series, at under R200 per bottle for some of the best white wines you'll be lucky enough to find (admittedly not easy in all markets, including the domestic one. But do try if you like authentic, lovely wines).
Here are brief notes (subsequently made a bit more readable, not to mention occasionally flowery) that I took at the quick tasting that was possible this morning – it's not my favourite way of trying to arrive at even a basic assessment or understanding of wines, but I offer them for what they're worth. At least one had track record to supplement impressions. The order here is the order they were tasted in, on Eben's advice.
Soldaat 2014: Refined, almost delicate, subtly perfumed. Seems to me a tauter yet more expressive expression of Grenache than before, with a stoney core to the fruit. Perhaps it's the latter element that gives a sense of place – in fact, Rosa Kruger says she thinks it really expresses Piekenierskloof like no other wine. Stoney. Sense of place. Structure
Pofadder 2014: Again a lovely delicacy, with bright red fruit – though less bright (and more subtle?) than some of the earlier-picked Swartland cinsauts. This also juicier and fuller. This wine seems to gain depth with each vintage. Succulent balance – fresh acidity and firm grape-derived tannins. I'm sure this wine will last for ages – again, probably longer than some of the less-ripe versions, though I am a great admirer of that style too (but I think there's more depth here than is mostly found in current Cape cinsauts).
Treinspoor 2014: Eben has always been a champion of this tinta barocca wine (the red wine of the vintage" he says of this one), and I have never been its biggest fan, finding the dry tannin too extreme for the fruit. The 2014, with its wild raspberry notes, does seem more balanced between fruit, acid and tannins, and more elegant and profound but I still find the structure too impressive for the fruit. Chances are though, that in 20 years I shall be dead and the wine will be triumphantly proving me wrong.
Columella 2013: The lowest alcohol Columella yet (it still declares 14% alcohol on the label, but could have shown 13.5%) – which pleases Eben because, as he says, there is no compromise with the texture or concentration or depth. A lower component of the Swartland's dark-fruited syrah, and dollops of carignan and cinsaut (as well as the customary mourvèdre) make the overall fruit redder and fresher. The ripeness is subtly and lightly expressed, promising complexity which is already hinted at. Very fine tannins. Still tight and only beginning to approach its potential, but the long lingering flavours (which start almost at the entry of the wine onto the palate and don't waver or dip on their long trajectory) show the intensity that's lurking. Maybe the best Columella yet – but I have the feeling I say that every year. But anyway, undoubtedly one of the very best Cape reds.
And so to the white wines. Alcohols are generally a bit lower this (2014) vintage, and it's perhaps this that gave what seemed to me a fresher acidity in the balances. These are superb wines.
Skerpioen 2014. From that extraordinary vineyard of chenin and Palomino up the West Coast – whose chalk gives a unique character to the wine, unlike other chenins, especially in terms of structure. Piercing acids (2013 was softer, this returns to real tautness), a fresh salinity, a noticeable tannic touch, uncompromising dry finish. (The wine was very reductive at first in the glass, but largely shook it off with a bit of vigorous persuasion and time.) For me one of the best and most exciting wines of the vintage, though certainly not the easiest.
Skurfberg 2014: Chenin from three Olifantsrivier vineyards. I was more aware than previously of a delicate perfume (Eben assures me that a few bunches of muscat didn't get in!), and a fresh citrus tang on the palate. Softer and more harmonious in presenting itself than the other whites, though its ripe roundness is vibrant and sufficiently founded on acidity.
'T Voetpad 2015: As usual, the wine from the five varieties in this bakingly hot, very old northern Swartland vineyard, is richer than its mates in the Ouwingeredreeks. This, while still hinting at voluptuousness, is a particularly refined, fresh vintage, beautifully structured with tannin playing a not insignificant role in the complex harmony. Again, the lower alcohol is important.
Kokerboom 2014: Apparently, the alcohol here is 13.4, while it has often reached 14.5 in the past. It's very supple still, and the acidty is just fine. But I found this the most difficult of the range to appreciate and understand, very tight, rather inexpressive and inaccessible; balanced rather than harmonious. Even austere. Going by track record, though, I'm confident that I was right to buy some of this and that it will emerge in quiet glory – but I won't open a bottle for at least five years.
Mrs Kirsten 2014: When is this not amongst my favourite wines in the series? It was in its more oxidative period, it still is, now that the oxidative element is reduced to a whisper. The apotheosis of Stellenbosch chenin. Also whispering amongst the quiet intensity of flavour is some beautifully ripe sweet fruit, intimating genuine but understated intensity. Something magic, as always, about this lovely wine.
Palladius 2013: As a climax to the tasting, this worked just fine. The most confidently rich and deep of the whites, expressing well the generosity of Swartland warmth, and the refinement that comes from low-yielding vines in poor soil, handled with sensitive, non-interventionist restraint in the cellar, by someone who's made great advances, clearly, in understanding just when to do things. And when not. A very complete, fresh, intense and fascinating wine.


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St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem: May 20th, 2009. The Right Rev'd Suheil S. Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem participated in a Conference on May 14 and 15th held at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It was entitled - Towards a New Christian Consensus: Peace with Justice in the Holy Land".
The Conference was chaired by former President Jimmy Carter. Among the participants with Carter Center personnel were leaders from The Kairos Project, Churches for Middle East Peace, and the World Council of Churches.
Bishop Dawani was the only participant in the group from Jerusalem's Palestinian Christian Community.
The Conferees in anticipating the meeting between President Obama, Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as those with Arab Leaders, at other times, wrote a Letter to the U.S. President which stated: "As you prepare for meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab leaders, we offer you our support, encouragement and commitment".
Expressing a new found hope in the Obama Administration's posture, the Letter went on to say:
"That hope is grounded in the growing consensus across the Christian community that supports a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the new leadership that you bring, both of which will make more possible a real, just and lasting two-state solution and an end to conflict in the region that upholds the security and freedom of both Israelis and Palestinians".
The Letter ended by saying "as members of your administration have already suggested, we share a concern about how Israeli settlements make that solution less and less possible. Furthermore, we are concerned that a way be found immediately to open the Gaza borders in a manner that respects both humanitarian and security concerns".
Bishop Dawani on his return to Jerusalem stated: "I was deeply impressed with the upbeat spirit at the Conference and especially in President Carter's strong belief in the two State Solution to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict".
The Bishop who had presented a Conference Paper titled "Traditions of the Christian Community in the Land of the Holy One and Threats to its Continuing Presence", went on to say:
"While I fully recognize the complexities, I believe, as I stated in my Paper, 'that Christians have historically played a very important leadership role in the spiritual leadership and politics of the region as well as the various public and private sectors of the economy.'"
The Bishop in his Paper outlined a series of positive and helpful steps that can be taken as interim measures until a permanent peace is established. Such initiatives will provide bridges for communal well being and conciliation. In this venue he stressed that:
"The education and values of local Christians help to create respectful and constructive dialogue among people of different faiths and economic conditions. The urgency to preserve an indigenous Christian community in the Holy Land is crucial to its ability in continuing to serve as a moderating and reconciling element in the social and cultural fabric of the Middle East".
Guest of the Diocese of Atlanta:
Following the Carter Center Conference Bishop Dawani stayed on in Atlanta as the guest of the Right Rev'd Dr. John Neil Alexander, Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta. On Sunday (May 17th) he was the Preacher at the Cathedral Church of St. Philip at the invitation of the Very Rev'd Dr. Samuel G. Candler, and the speaker at the Dean's Adult Forum. The Cathedral is reputed to be among the five largest Episcopal congregations in the United States.
Bishop Dawani in his Sermon and at the Forum spoke of the historic Christian presence – the "Living Stones" since the first Pentecost in the Hold Land. While facing many difficult challenges, they remain a vibrant 'Community of Hope'.
"Christians" he said, "as a community and individually, can and do play an important role in building bridges of dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims. And, these bridges" he stressed, "are vital for the dignity and security of all people in the region".
In facing up to the regional social, political and religious realities, the Bishop, concluded by saying,
"While the challenges are sometimes overwhelming, we have chosen not to fall into thinking of ourselves as victims who are powerless. …. We see ourselves as servants of the "Risen" Christ, empowered to share His love in support of our people and our neighbors. …. The inspiration of the Resurrection gives us the Peace in our Hearts that God's Word is full of Hope and Truth".


text:
Next day, she gets word that she was chosen! Only ten people were chosen and she was one of them. Fun luck, huh!
Anna wasn't able to go with her mom, so Kim called to see if I was available. Larry and I were taking the boys to their concert that evening, how was I going to break it to them that I would meet them in Portland because I was going to the meet and greet? I presented the situation with a smile and batting of the eyes and bing, bong Jack, it was a go!


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Justice League / Justice League Unlimited – It seems like a curious strategy to do in the months leading up to the DCEU's Justice League movie, but Netflix really is letting go of the iconic version of the iconic superhero team outside of the comic books. These are the versions of these characters that a large portion of DC's core audience grew up watching after getting home from school and on lazy Saturday mornings, not the borderline psychotic Batfleck and the Henry Cavill's sadsack Superman.
Although there isn't nearly time enough to marathon the entire series before its pending termination from the streaming service, there is one story arc in particular that has always stuck with me for perfectly encapsulating these characters and the ideals they stood for. Hereafter – a two-parter from Justice League's second season – is what "The Death of Superman" storyline (notably featured in Batman v Superman) always should have been.
After Superman is seemingly killed by a cadre of villains he's "wronged" in the past, the team struggles to function without him. His teammates grieve, his friends grieve, even villains like Lex Luthor grieve. Batman is in utter denial at the idea he's gone, but ultimately gives a powerfully touching tribute to his friend at his gravesite.
American Dad Seasons 1-4 – Although I like Family Guy as much as the next person, that series has been gracelessly showing its age for years now. Seth MacFarlane has seemingly taken those characters as far as he is able to, and they've seen notably diminishing returns on recycled and reworked plots from years past that just aren't as funny the second time around.
American Dad, however, has been a lot funnier for a lot longer than its more popular cousin, and has managed to stay fresh-feeling and relevant amid a changing entertainment – not to mention political – landscape. Netflix has been chipping away at the content they've offered for the show for a while now, and the final axe removes its strongest string of episodes from rotation.


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Souper soup! You could have your recipe published in a new competition
As the days get longer and colder, soup once again becomes the nations favourite and to go to meal.
Soup is a great winter warmer and many of us have our favourite homemade recipes, and others dare I write this… love the pre-made soups out of the tin or from the fridge section of your local supermarket.
Do you think you have a winning recipe that reflects your city or town and or your home county? Is this stored away in one of your many handwritten recipe books? If you think that you might have winning recipe then yours could be re-created by Convent Garden Soup.
Michelin star chef, Paul Merrett, and CEO of Hains Daniels, Jeremy Hudson, spoke to me about the competition. You can listen to the full interview below. I started off asking Paul about the competition and why people should enter.
Posted on November 24, 2014, in Audio, Features, Food and tagged Hains Daniels, Jeremy Hudson, New Convent garden Soup, Paul Merrett, recipe books, Samantha pidoux, soup, Soup competition, soup recipe. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.


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Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's holds last service as restaurant closes its doors for good
During the 12 years in operation the restaurant served one million customers, turned over £80m and made £17.5m in pre-tax profits, but in February Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) announced it would close the restaurant due to being unable to renew its contract with Claridge's owner The Maybourne Group for more than a year at a time.
At the time, a spokesperson for GRH said the company felt the time was 'right to move onto new opportunities and investments' with the David Beckham-backed Union Street Cafe, which opens in September, its main focus this year.
Some of the restaurant's 90 members of full and part-time staff will be integrated into the rest of GRH, which includes Maze, Petrus and Bread Street Kitchen, but a spokesperson said not all staff had been guaranteed jobs elsewhere within the group.
On Friday the restaurant sent out its last Tweet thanking customers for their support:
To mark its closure, GRH released a series of statistics about Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, which counted Mark Sargeant as head chef for eight years before handing over to Steve Allen in 2009.
Gordon Ramsay at Claridges facts:
- The restaurant's most popular starter was the Lobster Ravioli. Chefs prepared 198,000 portions of the dish in total.
- Beef Wellington was the most popular main course with waiters cutting 300,000 portions at the table.
- Almost three million petit fours were eaten by customers in the 12 years of operation.
- The most expensive bill was £48k and the most expensive bottle of wine ordered as a £10k bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1900.
- Customers cited their most common reasons for visiting the restaurant as celebrating a birthday or anniversary.
Claridge's, which last summer hosted a Noma pop-up to great acclaim before being the subject of TV show Inside Claridge's, is yet to announce a replacement for the space occupied by Ramsay's restaurant.


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Perhaps you have not heard of rebounding before, but this form of exercise has been around for several decades now, and is growing in popularity lately.
So exactly what is rebounding, and even more importantly, how might it improve your health? Take a moment to consider this exciting form of low-resistance exercise, as well as the numerous reasons why it could be an ideal exercise to include in your regular schedule.
What Is Rebounding?
Essentially, rebounding is jumping on a mini trampoline in a conscientious manner, and for that reason, it is sometimes referred to as: the trampoline workout. Rebounding has actually been around for a long time, but only recently has it begun to enjoy wider attention. In fact, NASA researched its potential in the 1980s and cited numerous important health benefits.
If You Only Take One Vitamin, Take This
Do you often experience backaches, joint pain, weak bones, memory problems or other "age-related" health issues? You're not alone.
Many of these common health burdens are simply due to a vitamin deficiency experienced by a whopping 75% of adults in the U.S. The good news is that this deficiency can be corrected quickly, easily and inexpensively.
Rebounding is performed by standing on a mini trampoline with your feet shoulder-length apart and your arms and shoulders relaxed, and lightly bouncing up and down while slightly bending your knees. Generally speaking, your feet should come a few inches off the trampoline with each bounce, but the intensity of the exercise can be varied accordingly by bouncing higher or by not fully leaving the trampoline. The exercise is repeated 20 to 30 times, followed by a rest period of about 15 seconds, and then repeated for a total of three rounds. (Again, these are merely general recommendations, and the repetitions and/or rounds may be adjusted accordingly to match the desired intensity).
This exercise is the basic form of rebounding, but mini trampolines can be used in many more ways, including for jumping jacks, planks, squats, knee raises and even pushups. Take some time to research rebounding and these related exercises to determine what routine makes the most sense given your current physical condition.
Looking for a little inspiration? Check out this fun video demonstrating a rebound workout:
Rebounding and these other types of exercises are easy to do at home, and require very little in the way of equipment, space and time. Many of the mini trampolines designed for rebounding can be folded and stowed away easily, and vary greatly in price from under $50 to $500 and beyond. From a practicality standpoint, rebounding is hard to beat. And more importantly, there are several reasons why it is effective and beneficial:
1. Easy On the Joints
One of the key benefits of rebounding is that it is an effective, low-impact exercise for people with concerns about their joints. As opposed to running or weight training, rebounding does not place an excessive amount of strain on joints, as the mini trampoline is able to flex and absorb much of the impact upon landing. Pressure is more evenly distributed throughout the lower body, and the repeated motion helps to promote skeletal and muscular growth, which takes even further impact off sore joints.
2. Promotes Weight Loss
As many people are seeking exercises that can help them achieve or maintain their desired weight, it is important to note that rebounding can promote weight loss too. Rebounding is a full body exercise, helping to burn additional calories, while potentially aiding in increasing one's metabolism. Moreover, rebounding may help to enhance both the digestion and elimination processes, helping our bodies to process our food more efficiently.
3. Improves Cardiovascular Fitness
High intensity aerobic exercises like running, biking and swimming are certainly effective, but not necessarily critical in order to improve your cardiovascular fitness. Rebounding makes the body and cardiovascular system work, so it certainly can improve aerobic function and breathing capacity. In addition, because rebounding activates your cardiovascular system, the increased circulatory function is helpful in strengthening and protecting your heart.
4. Helps Maintain Balance
Maintaining our sense of balance becomes increasingly difficult as we age, and rebounding is an excellent way to limit this natural deterioration. Rebounding is able to improve balance by stimulating the vestibule in the middle ear and promote your brain's responsiveness to such stimuli. The repetitive nature of rebounding forces this process to occur repeatedly, making it more routine and natural.
5. Improves Immune and Lymphatic System Function
Our lymphatic system plays a key role in removing toxins from our bodies, and it is believed that rebounding causes the production of more lymph, which drives this process. Lymph fluid is an important component in a health immune system as well, so rebounding has the ability to reduce our susceptibility to various diseases and illnesses as a result.
6. Drives Muscle Development
Rebounding requires repetitive use of all of the different muscles in our legs, as well as involving our core muscles, and even our arms to a lesser extent. As our muscles are repeatedly called upon to perform the bouncing and stability that rebounding demands, they become stronger and more capable of higher function — not just in terms of rebounding itself, but in other aspects of life as well.
7. Stimulates Improved Body Functions
There are clearly a large number of different ways that rebounding helps to promote better health and improved overall bodily function. In addition to all of the benefits already cited, rebounding stimulates mitochondrial production on the cellular level, and thereby may drive cellular endurance throughout the body. Rebounding truly is a full body exercise and therefore has a positive impact on virtually every part of our bodies.
Sold on the countless health benefits that can be achieved from rebounding? Check out these top-rated stable exercise rebounder trampolines:
Image source: click here.
Derek is a technical writer and editor with 10 years of experience in the health care field, having first earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Delaware. He is a contributing author on a number of textbooks in the medical field, ran a nuclear cardiology licensing course, and has written a variety of other pieces from online training courses to medical software manuals. Derek pursues his personal interest in health and wellness by playing multiple sports and running marathons. An insatiable traveler, he spent 16 months working and living abroad while traveling through South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.


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This afternoon President Obama, with a grinning Vice President Biden behind him, announced in the White House Rose Garden that sign-ups for his signature health law had exceeded original projections.
Some 7.1 million Americans have signed up for Obamacare, the president said, by far exceeding the revised projection of 6 million insured after the disastrous roll out of the HealthCare.gov website in October.
The president was clearly enjoying delivering the news: "This law is doing what it's supposed to do," he said. "It's working. It's helping people from coast to coast." He seemed bemused by the continuing efforts of Republicans do undo the legislation. "Why are folks working so hard for people not to have health insurance? Why are they so mad about the idea of people having health insurance?"
Republicans were quick to jump on what a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner called Obama's "victory lap." "This law continues to harm the American people," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "Every promise the president made has been broken: healthcare costs are rising, not falling. Americans are losing the doctors and plans that they like – especially seniors suffering under President Obama's Medicare cuts. Small businesses are afraid to hire new workers, hobbling our economic growth. That's why we must replace this fundamentally flawed law."