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Bengaluru, March 23:
The Karnataka government on Monday ordered a CBI probe into the death of IAS officer D.K. Ravi here a week ago that triggered public outrage after police prime facie termed it a case of suicide.
"We are handing over the probe into Ravi's death to the CBI not because of the pressure from the opposition (parties) but keeping in view the feelings of his family," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told lawmakers in the legislative assembly here.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will take over Ravi's case from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which was entrusted to probe it, though preliminary investigation by a special police team found it to be a suicide.
Ravi, 36, was found dead on March 16 in his apartment in the city's upscale southeast suburb by his wife Kusuma and her father after he did not attend to her calls since noon.
The 2009 batch officer was additional commissioner in the commercial tax department in the city since December 2014 on transfer as deputy commissioner of Kolar district, about 100 km away, where he built a reputation of being an upright officer for reining in the sand and land mafias.
The decision to transfer the case to CBI came three days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi on March 20 advised Siddaramaiah to that effect, as the budget session of the legislature remained paralysed since March 17 in the face of vociferous demand for CBI probe by the opposition BJP and JD-S (Janata Dal-Secular) in both the houses.
A stay by the Karnataka High Court on Sunday evening against the release of the CID's interim report into Ravi's death to public prevented the chief minister from tabling it on the floor of the house. (IANS)


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Michael Radassao attended Boston University, majoring in Fine Arts. After a brief return to New York, Michael attended University of Miami in advertising and marketing. After graduating, he returned to New York and began his career working in advertising and sales but never felt passionate about his work. Soon after his return, someone important to Michael had a camera and introduced him to photography. And so began his love affair with photography. Photography was never his plan, but he has been drawn to the field over and over again. Photography is his calling.
"To me, how I look at what I do, what I create – I look at everything as one would a painting or any other work of art. My goal is to capture that essence, to successfully portray the greatness of what I am perceiving. Photography is a spiritual practice. It focuses and calms me – almost a form of meditation, of attaining higher consciousness. It's bigger than I am."
"When I take a photo, there is a quiet voice in my head, saying "yes" when I achieve that perfect balance. What I do isn't technical. It's a gut thing. Something driven by a passion for what I am doing. It drives my choices of subjects and pieces."
Michael's talent is born of necessity. It is a drive to capture the beauty and art of the life around him and he goes about it in an instinctive, passionate way that cannot be taught. And the results are unparalleled.
Food Photography, specifically
Michael believes that the subjects he photographs should not exist in a vacuum.
"I believe that every dish lives where it lives (in the restaurant that it is served). Much like food tastes different when you are in the country of its origin. I believe photos are the same. The photo takes on the ambiance of the place, thus breathing life into it. That is what I strive for with my photos."
For examples of his work and more information regarding Michael Radassao's services, visit the Services section or Contact him directly.

subset: commoncrawl


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A pervasive sense of fear is among us. It morphs into different shapes and forms. It disguises itself within all of us, and we sometimes go to war because of it. Because of the discomfort it places on us, with the insecurities that are driven by it, we indirectly and directly rub people's sore spots without awareness about how it makes them feel. We are blinded by its presence. It's hard not to react or be vengeful at times because of our lack of understanding. Even when we become conscious of this phenomenon, it tests us to see how much we understand ourselves. When we begin to understand the source, we begin to realize that the people affected by it are searching for their true identities. We accept the reactions from fear as a form of strength, a defense mechanism of some sort. It removes us from our center and our core, blocking every rational judgment we have. It produces doubt, anxiety, stress and insecurities.
The mother of all fears is the fear of not knowing. Knowledge is power, but the lack of knowledge provides a sense of weakness and vulnerability. So to make ourselves feel strong, we push our knowledge forward, sometimes projecting our insecurities and fear onto others. The fear of not knowing blinds us and our own knowledge becomes a force field, blocking any new information in.
This fear develops as one gets older. Sometimes returning to a place of youth can remind us of what fearlessness feels like. The main question is: at which point in our youth did fear start to seep in? I engaged this question through a focus on my artistry, since that has been the most central part of my life. It has helped me think about the concepts of fear and anxiety and it has raised questions on the possibilities of transporting oneself to a place of fearlessness, a place of no worries.
Music has always been a huge part of my life, and I've searched for every avenue possible to experience it. I grew up playing a number of instruments, and each one provided a different feeling, creating an experience so profound that nothing else mattered. This experience is a place that produces enormous positive feelings. I call this place the Vortex. The vortex is a place of solitude, a place of no worries, only life.
I was born in the Virgin Islands on the island of St. Croix. Growing up, I witnessed a lot of people leaving the island to the mainland, usually only returning to visit. It is always seen that opportunities in life are greater on the mainland. If someone were looking to better himself/herself on the island , he/she would still have to travel abroad for training in his/her desired field. Right out of high school I joined the Army band for four years and then transferred to the Marine Corps for another four years, during which time I rarely traveled back home to my island. Throughout my childhood and my years in the military, the vortex was always the place I wanted to be, but I realized that it was not always present while I was in the military. The journey out of the islands and into active duty gradually disconnected me from myself until recently. I don't regret any of this. I had to go through these experiences to understand the nature of what happens, and to gain wisdom.
I was introduced to a book called Black Skin, White Mask by Frantz Fanon in my 20th century post-colonial literature class. The book pulled me in, but yet pushed me away in the sense that everything Fanon spoke about hit extremely close to home. Fanon was a Martinique-born French-Algerian psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and writer whose work is influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory and Marxism.
"Fanon's approach in Black Skin, White Masks focuses on the problems of identity created for the colonial subject by colonial racism; and on the consequent need to escape from these neuroses, which colonialism had produced."[1]
My relatives on my father's side are from Guadeloupe and Dominica, so the French connection in the book inspired a resurgence of my childhood memories. The revelation of the psychological process that occurs when a native islander leaves to the mainland was something that I was unconscious of until this time. Technically, I was somewhat still unconscious of it until reading this book. It provided insights and validations to my experiences since I've become conscious of my disconnection to myself. My childhood was driven by ambition. It took me through a number of challenges to overcome doubt. I saw myself through my ambition and the main thing it did was gave me strength to believe. I've accomplished a lot, but in all that I've accomplished, I didn't realize I was losing an important part of myself in the process.
"The more the black Antillean assimilates the French language, the whiter he gets-i.e., the closer he comes to becoming a true human being. We are fully aware that this is one of man's attitudes faced with Being. A man who possesses a language possesses as an indirect consequence the world expressed and implied by this language." [2]
They are three main languages spoken in St. Croix: English, Spanish and French. Within these languages they are many dialects/slang that intertwine with each other. Coming to the mainland, I've noticed that if you don't speak English or don't speak it well, you are looked down upon as unintelligent. The image Fanon presents of the Antillean changing his persona when he leaves his island to the mainland is the same across the board for any island descendant. Once we arrive on the mainland, in the pursuit for evolution or the ideology of what society views as success, we indirectly change the way we speak to fit in a world that scrutinizes us because of our language. This allows insecurities to settle in and we push more to fix our language to the convention and forget our own culture's dialect. This was the first time reading a book that indirectly depicted the chronological experiences of my life. What I realized was that in the entire process when a native islander decides he or she wants to leave the island, it's only in the attempt to evolve. There is a cap on how much a person can evolve on the island and in order to better oneself, whether they're staying on the island or not, one would still would have to travel to the mainland. This is where the identity change initiates.
It is very complex, because this search for evolution is almost as if the pursuit blinds us from the identity shift. We strive for success, so desperately following an ideology that we lose sight of the values, morals and ethics that have been taught to us. Because of what is seen to be the language of choice that defines whether a person is intellectual or not, a person is often distanced from his or her own culture. The frightening part of it all is that we are usually not conscious of the distancing until it's too late or something snapps us back to reality. The difficult part is becoming conscious of the fact that we're usually unaware of the psychological process in this chase for a better life. The line between conscious and unconscious feels so thin that a person has to stay in constant reflection to keep his or her intentions in line with his or her identity. Our intentions are an important factor in reconnecting back to our identity. The intentions initiate a path, and sometimes that path is not inline with our identity. If our intentions are to have dialogue, share, welcome, love, and maintain balance, we are then in harmony with each other. If it is to prove a point to show how much knowledge we have, it is often driven by insecurities projected forward because we don't want to be seen as inferior. We try to discredit the other person in all attempts to be right, to be seen as superior. I found that maintaining a positive state of mind thru compassion helps eliminate these doubts and insecurities, which feed on our will power.
I am the CEO/Co-Director of Masacote Entertainment, a Salsa Music and Dance Entertainment company based in Boston, MA. In 2011, I became perturbed by the lack of connection artists have with themselves in our industry. Artists worry more about how quickly they can get to the top, how much money they're making and how famous they can become than staying connected to their artistic passion. The industry has shifted more to teaching moves and patterns as opposed to really focusing on artistry and what it means to be an artist. The energy has been cold for a while in certain places because of the lack of connection artists have with themselves. When I came to this realization, I began a journey to help make positive changes. I wanted to go back to the beginning to see how it was then and to figure out where it changed, which led me to Cuba.
From the moment I landed on the island of Cuba, I felt as if I was back home in St. Croix. I cleared customs, and as I walked out of the airport, the amount of people that were waiting outside for family members, friends and loved ones, took me back to a vivid memory of a time on my island when airport security was more relaxed than what it is today. People used to come out in the masses to see their loved ones off. Cuba took me through a lot of these journeys back in time. It allowed me to relive some of my fondest experiences and emotions as a child.
In Understanding Human Nature, Alfred Alder writes:
When we demonstrate cases… it is frequently convenient to show relationships between the childhood impressions and the actual complaint… This is best done by a graph… We will succeed in many cases in being able to plot this graph of life, the spiritual curve along which the entire movement of an individual has taken place. The equation of the curve is the behavior pattern, which this individual has followed since earliest childhood… Actually we see this behavior pattern, whose final configuration is subject to some changes, but whose essential content, whose energy and meaning remain unchanged from earliest childhood, as the determining factor, even though the relations to the adult environment… may tend to modify it in some instances.[3]
Nostalgia was my tour guide that accompanied the rock and roll era as the cars passed me by. The wealth of the island was so profound. It was one of the richest I've seen in my life. Love of culture, arts and humanity were ingrained like a ménage à trois. Music and Dance were the Yin and Yang embedded in the core. I was being tossed around like a rag doll by euphoria. She held on so ferociously, my cheeks were to my ears the entire time. She massaged my body, hands and feet everyday because of soreness from beating at cow skin and tremendous feet fluttering on concrete floor. It dawned on me…these feelings aren't new. These are feelings I knew very well as a child. I then asked myself, "Where have they been for so long?"
After returning from Cuba, I embarked on study abroad in Spain and began to study the culture of Flamenco. I realized then that there is a strong connection between the passion that the people in Spain and Cuba have with their artistry and how far back it is rooted in their culture. Being in Havana, Cuba for two weeks and Valencia, Spain for five months immediately after allowed me to really dig in to understand myself. I was being re-introduced to my soul. It was refreshing, but yet still nerve-wracking. This side of me was suppressed for so long. Because I was still searching for answers, I came across a lot of documentaries and different articles that started to answer some of the questions. One that opened the door to a river flow of answers was an anime video done by RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts) featuring Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. Sir Robinson gave a lecture in an anime format on "Changing education paradigms" that talked about "the arts being victim of standardized testing, an educational model that is based on the interest of industrialization and the image of it"[4]. One of his main points was that children in our modern time period are in the most intensely stimulated period in the history of the earth and that they are being penalized for not paying attention in a world that is full of technological devices.
"The psychoanalysts say that there is nothing more traumatizing for a young child than contact with the rational. I personally would say that for a man armed solely with reason, there is nothing more neurotic than contact with the irrational."[7]
This struck a nerve. I was happy and sad at the same time, happy that I grew up on an island full with nature, intuition and creativity. It was sad because I began to realize how many people are affected by this mindset and don't have a clue that it is going on.
Some artists have not had the opportunity to truly embrace what artistry has to offer because they are still connected to the program of the system and how it says we should exist in the world. Their understanding of artistry has become skewed.
Art is the end result of expression. An artist is a person who embodies everything that IS expression, and Artistry… Artistry is EVERYTHING. Artistry is emotions, experiences, interactions, frustration, passion and most of all, Life. Everything that life experiences provide for us is what fuels our artistry to create. The problem is that many artists don't understand themselves to really embody their art and are not spending enough time with their craft to be enlightened. Promoters are more interested in the business aspect of entertainment and rarely understand the full nature of artistry. DJ's are caught up on classics. Classics are good, but the time when DJ's were anxious to release the new song on the block is gone (but coming back).
This sets precedence with the dancers and it locks them in one particular style or genre. More dancers worry about what style they dance rather than the art of dance. Because of their lack of connection with themselves, their partners, the music, they worry more about how many moves they can get out on the dance floor, who's watching and complain about the bands playing a lengthy song. leading promoters to focus on hiring DJs. Meanwhile, DJs are often stuck in the past, playing classics, looking for the oldest, most unheard of track, and new music takes the back seat without being exposed to the industry. This becomes all what dancers know and would rather hear, only because it is in their faces. They rarely connect with the bands because they are so unaware of what is happening, so the promoters/organizers lack interest in hiring bands. It then leads back to the DJ's. It is like a track on loop. It goes full circle. Evolution is at a stand still with no forward momentum.
Because of this lack of connection, our first reaction is to critique music, dance, art. There is a place for critique, but it is not at the beginning. We are not allowing ourselves to truly experience the feelings that are being produced because of our knowledge of the subject. We scrutinize any new information, which give us a superior/inferior complex where we project these insecurities forward based on the past knowledge we have attained. The idea of superiority and inferiority is in the mind, and thus, we have the ability to control it. If we can let go of this superior/inferior complex, we'll be a step closer to a better world, but based on the structure we have in place, this becomes a challenge. We often see this complex as a way of life, but rarely do we actually live.
The view of mankind from the beginning has always been defined as a superior/inferior relationship. A man is always viewed as head of the household, but in modern day society that idea is always put to the test based on the roles a man and a woman play. This indirectly sets a superior/inferior complex that questions the nature of manhood. The thought of being inferior as a human puts an insecurity so deep in our state of being that it's usually the driving force in our decision-making. In the need to break free from this inferior complex, a man projects this insecurity forward by testing to see who is more masculine. This is the driving force and root of all wars and oppression of women.
The need for control to feel superior tends to give a man a sense of power, but the irony of the matter is that this trait shows the nakedness of a man's weakness. Throughout history it has been shown to be an extremely hard thing to break free from. The more this insecurity reveals itself; it is projected forward in the attempt to break free from it. This has led to a number of profound historical moments: Colonization, Imperialism, Slavery and a number of wars that followed. The superior/inferior complex comes into play with different countries as well. I feel that the entire world was built on the notion of sexuality, the need to appeal to the opposite sex. It is a really complex situation because a woman enters into the world with this inferior complex already in place. Some are okay with it and some aren't, but it's something that affects every women or everyone for that matter. A woman's attempt to break free might be identical to how a man tries to break free, but the extent on how far she'll go is different from a man.
In the end the question is what defines a man being a man and a woman being a woman?
"The neurotic structure of an individual is precisely the elaboration, the formation, and the birth of conflicting knots in the ego, stemming on the one hand from the environment and on the other from the entirely personal way this individual reacts to these influences."[6]
We need to set up an environment that promotes respect, mutuality, compassion, companionship, peace, love and life…the core values. These are the things that will allow us to tap deep into our creative mind. Too long the stronghold of the system has restricted us. Intuition is our best friend; we need to trust in it more and believe in it! We need to have a belief so strong that the toughest of kryptonite won't stand a chance. This all ties in with Faith, but with the immediate connection, people associate faith with religion; they forget that the most important part about faith is believing in oneself. When we lack faith, there would always be a side of us that will question ourselves, which goes back into doubts, insecurities, …Fear. We have a stronger chance of maintaining freedom by building a community with the attempt to eliminate fear and promote the core values.
Fanon's last words were:
"The density of History determines none of my acts. I am my own foundation. And it is by going beyond the historical and instrumental given that I initiate my cycle of freedom"[7]
He then went on to say:
"I, a man of color, want but one thing;
May man never be instrumentalized. May the subjugation of man by man—that is to say, of me by another—cease. May I be allowed to discover and desire man wherever he may be.
The black man is not. No more than the white man. Both have to move away from the inhuman voices of their respective ancestors so that a genuine communication can be born. Before embarking on a positive voice, freedom needs to make an effort at disalienation. At the start of his life, a man is always congested, drowned in contingency. The misfortune of man is that he was once a child.
It is through self-consciousness and renunciation through a permanent tension of his freedom, that man can create the ideal conditions of existence for a human world.
Superiority? Inferiority?
Why not simply try to touch the other, feel the other discover each other?
Was my freedom not given me to build the world of you, man?
At the end of this book we would like the reader to feel with us the open dimension of every consciousness.
My final prayer:
O my body, always make me a man who questions!"[8]
It is time to create. Time to share all of what I've been working on. Time to release my childhood energy. As a community and a society, let us all eliminate fear by applying compassion to every aspect of our lives. Let us all try to forget what we don't know. It's ok! Instead let us glorify the process of enlightenment. Live. Experience. Reflect. BE.
"I finally made up my mind to shout my blackness. Gradually, putting out pseudopodia in all directions, I secreted a race. And this race staggered under the weight of one basic element. Rhythm!"[9]
The primitive feature of rhythm is time. After my experiences in Spain, I journeyed into the art of meditation. My meditative practice has placed me at a point where I can literally feel the value of time as it pulsates through my body. It's like a pendulum. I am the body. Suspended by balance, alignment. The vibration that is triggered from pulse… our heartbeat, gives the acquired momentum for the body to sway to and fro by the action of gravity. Time is in everything. It is Life.
"It is defined as the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another."[10]
When I clap my hands, snap my fingers or strike a beat, this initiates time, the event. At the moment of impact it is present, as we move thru duration, it becomes past until another event occurs. When this new event occurs, we now have a full value of the duration. Once we repeat the duration by creating more events, we then have a glimpse of the future. Each event triggers vibration. This is how our body responds to sound accordingly and the continued vibration of events creates energy. When we subdivide time or cut the duration of the event in half, this energy is intensified. So, depending on how in tune we are with time, we can harness enormous amounts of energy in our body. Time is like a porthole that connects us to the true source of happiness and love. It goes across the board with everything that is creative… Music, Dance, Martial Arts, etc…
"The human energy field both permeates the entire body and radiates to the outside, inches to feet beyond the body's surface. This field has been validated in scientific laboratories as light emissions using photometers and color filters, as Dr. Valerie Hunt describes in her book Infinite Mind. During a research that harnessed the complex wave forms and resonance that connect us to our source, Dr. Valerie Hunt found that the human energy field vibrations were as much as 1000 times higher frequency than the electrical signals of nerve and muscle, with continuous, dynamic modulation, unlike the pulsating signals of the nervous system."[11]
I enhanced my perspective of time in order to have a profound perception of it and the place where you start to feel time is surreal. When it is completely aligned it takes over. Once in control, your thoughts are departed and you go into full expression mood, free expression. This is the vortex. Once in the vortex, there is nothing but positive feelings. It provides a state of euphoria that takes over everything. Fear triggers insecurities that trigger scattered impulses internally. These impulses are vibrations that are created by pulse, frequency, and time. The more we stay at this scattered impulse state; our body adjusts to that tempo. Through meditative practice, yoga, Tai chi or anything that keeps the mind calm, we're able to slow down our tempo in the search for inner peace. The more peaceful we become internally, our body re-adjusts to our natural state. As an analogy, I compare it to our body being at 120 beats per min in scattered impulses and 60-100 beats per min in our natural state. How you feel internally is what affects the external being.
Chapter 4 of the book "Essential Music Intelligence" is the best tool in reaching a state of internal peace. Witnessing. The witness stance is the most important stance in maintaining this state of mind. It puts you in complete observation mode. The feeling is like being in a movie where you're the main character, but not really taking part in it. You then start to realize different aspects about time, feeling as if you have more. It feels like everything is flying past you, but you are in slow motion observing. I realized that this witness stance was opened in my childhood. Walking home late nights in the dark pulled me into this state. I used to pay attention to the feeling, sound and vibration that were traveling up my body from observing the impact of my feet to the ground. It became rhythmic. My creative expression went into frenzy. I heard songs, tones and possibilities. It seemed infinite.
By recognizing this state of being, remembering what it felt like to be completely in the moment, I've healed my entire body with this practice. Witnessing keeps you from comparison and judgment. It puts you completely in the center, with a bird's eye view of your world. The more you witness it; it always comes back down to time and the possibilities of perception around it. Stay in the present and you'll witness everything you ever dreamed of. You start to recognize the biggest illusion of them all. The past and the future are concepts. They do not exist.
One, Joel Masacote
Learn Salsa Online with Joel Masacote or take classes in Cambridge, MA!
Work Cited
Appiah, Kwame Anthony "Black Skin, White Masks" Foreword / ix
Fanon, Frantz p.2
Adler, Alfred Understanding Human Nature, Greenberg, New York, 1927, p.80
Fanon, Frantz Black Skin, White Masks p.102
Hunt, Dr. Valerie V. "The lost chords found" Wellness Goods http://www.wellnessgoods.com/lostchordsfound.asp
Robinson, Sir Ken. "Changing Education Paradigms" Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
Fanon, Frantz Black Skin, White Masks p.3
Fanon, Frantz p.62
Fanon, Frantz p.205
Fanon, Frantz p.206
Essential Music Intelligence, by Louise Montello
[1] Appiah, Kwame Anthony "Black Skin, White Masks" Foreword / ix
[2] Fanon, Frantz p.2
[3] Adler, Alfred Understanding Human Nature, Greenberg, New York, 1927, p.80
[4] Robinson, Sir Ken. "Changing Education Paradigms" Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
[5] Fanon, Frantz Black Skin, White Masks p.3
[6] Fanon, Frantz p.62
[7] Fanon, Frantz p.205
[8] Fanon, Frantz p.206
[9] Fanon, Frantz Black Skin, White Masks p.102
[10] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/time?s=t
[11] Hunt, Dr. Valerie V. "The lost chords found" Wellness Goodshttp://www.wellnessgoods.com/lostchordsfound.asp


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In Waste Of Paint, our writer/artist team of Jamie Peck and Debbie Allen will review goings-on about town in words and images.
Maybe it was just the warm weather messing with my head, but everyone in New York seemed a little bit friskier this weekend. From the black-clad romantics swaying back and forth to Zambri to the feral nerds who worship Black Pus, bands and fans alike were in it to win it.
Friday we hit up Glasslands—which seems to be becoming the city's default stop for buzz bands who don't want to deal with Bowery Presents—for Zambri, a Brooklyn-dwelling sister-sister duo dealing in dark, moody synth-pop. Literally a bedroom project, Christi Jo and Jessica Zambri have been making music together since they shared a room as kids on Long Island, and it showed in the easy way they traded off instruments, sang, and moved with each other. (The band swells to a quartet when playing live.) Sparse drums and dramatic keys foregrounded Christi Jo and Jessica's strong, affecting voices, which at their best remind me of greats like Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux. As someone who will always remain Goth on the inside, I must say I strongly approve of the "neo-Goth" direction taken by acts like this one, Zola Jesus and Chelsea Wolfe.
Next, we went around the corner to Death By Audio for a bill of strange, intense acts headlined by Black Pus. The solo project of Brian Chippendale, who also drums in Lightning Bolt and Mindflayer, Black Pus continues the LB tradition of conjuring balls-out live energy by setting up in the middle of the floor. Clad in a creepy Leatherface mask (closer inspection revealed that it was printed with flowers), the virtuosic drummer filled every last nanosecond with aggressively baroque compositions while somehow also finding the breath to sing (if pedal-warped, otherworldly slicey-grinding sounds can be counted as singing). At one point, he blew the power out, but kept on drumming, and the dense circle of fans pressing in on him didn't miss a thrash. Crowd-wise, I found it noteworthy (and awesome) that more noise-loving ladies had fought their way up to the front than is generally seen at such performances. Elbows schmelbows.
Saturday we traveled to Mercury Lounge for an 11pm presentation of Coasting and Chain and the Gang. Coasting's prolific drummer Fiona Campbell (also of Vivian Girls) is now playing in Chain and the Gang as well, making for a convenient (if probably tiring for her) double booking. Consisting of Campbell (drums/vocals) and long-distance pal Madison Goner (guitar/vocals), Coasting makes stripped-down garage pop anchored by the same kind of bouncy beats Campbell plays in Vivian Girls. Their traded-off vocals and harmonies were pleasant enough, but I couldn't help wishing they're go a little crazier, both in terms of their stage presence and how much noise they made. I found myself slightly more drawn into their wistful songs than their upbeat ones, as they showed a lovely side to their voices and did not bump up against that problem as much.
A quick outfit change and Campbell was drumming for Chain and the Gang, the latest outlet for the hilarious anti-capitalist satire of notorious D.C. subversive Ian Svenonius. Like Svenonius's previous projects—Nation Of Ulysses, The Make-Up, Weird War—Chain and the Gang uses the idiom of rock and roll to mock corporate American values in a silly, absurdist, and hugely entertaining way. Buoyed by his bluesy band and the disgruntled presence of backup singer Katie Alice Greer (all teased black hair and angry red mouth), Svenonius would often go off on an extended riff about something before launching into the full-on song. As intro to the catchy "What Is A Dollar," for instance, he explained how U.S. currency is dirty and covered in cocaine before reminding us that it's superior to other currencies and has magical properties if you know how to "treat it right" (which involves burying and voodoo). Other topics covered included nuclear disaster, reparations, things you do when you've given up on caring, and "kinds of trash you just don't see anymore" (pipecleaners, floppy discs, porno mags…you get the idea). Throughout it all, Svenonius did his own spastic interpretation of James Brown and/or David Johansen, flinging his suit-covered limbs about and deep-throating the mic. "What is this?" asked a confused bro in the back. Where to start?


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By appointment:
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Office: 779-234-5114
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J. Michael Donahue, Reflexologist
Clients of Tranquility Massage and Bodywork are often health conscious and looking for alternative from the "take a pill/ have surgery" model of healthcare. My clients want to be well no matter what life hands them !
The level of commitment may vary, but clients of Tranquility Massage and Bodywork have one thing in common....you are looking to take control of your well being and realize that massage and bodywork are important components in functioning and living at the level you want to be at. It really is all about YOU!
Call or e-mail me to schedule your massage.


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Ways & Means Committee Agenda
Approve the following:
2. Administrative/Clerical Personnel Services:
Authorize amendment to the 2013 Standard Agreement between the City of Minneapolis and Jeane Thorne, Inc. to increase amount by $40,000, for a new not-to-exceed total of $90,000 running through December 31, 2014 to continue to provide as-needed administrative/clerical assistance for the City Attorney.
Authorize amendment to increase contract C-35456 with Black Constructors Inc., for close-out and final payment for restoration repairs of the 3rd Avenue parking ramp in the amount of $33,069.49 for a new total of $313,556.85.
18. Pothole Repair Funding Increase:
Approve resolution increasing the Transportation Maintenance & Repair Division's General Fund appropriation for fiscal year 2014 in the amount of $1,000,000 from the Contingency Fund for the purpose of providing additional resources to perform an accelerated level of pothole patching in 2014.
Presentation highlighting key aspects of the financial condition of the City as of December 31, 2013.
Last updated Apr 7, 2014


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JUDITH MILLER/VALERIE PLAME--I understand to some degree the hand-wringing from certain circles about the imprisonment of Judith Miller, and the potential cooling effect it may have on the willingness of reporters to publish information obtained from illegally leaked documents. Some people are saying that the era of journalists' privilege and whistleblowers like W. Mark Felt are over. I have heard many people--liberals--eviscerate Fitzgerald and the judge in the case for pursuing this option. All I can say is that those people don't seem--incomprehensible as it is to me--to understand one fundamental fact: Judith Miller is no Bob Woodward, and Karl Ro--I mean, whoever her source is--is no W. Mark Felt.
W. Mark Felt was a WHISTLEBLOWER. He leaked documents illegally, this is true--but the purpose of his leaks was to expose government corruption concerning Watergate. In this instance, the identity of W. Mark Felt may have been a fascinating mystery to historians, but it was not germane to the investigation of the crimes of Watergate.
Judith Miller and her source is a completely different story. In this case, the main crime being investigated doesn't go beyond the fact that the information was leaked. Judith Miller's source is not a whistleblower. Whoever it is, is a perpetrator who used the expectation that reporters will not reveal confidential sources as a shield for his (or her!) politically-motivated crime. If the source in question is the target of the investigation, and the reporter is the only link to a source who committed the crime that is the main subject of the investigation, with no other whistles having been blown, I completely fail to see how the reporter can expect to not to be held in contempt for failing to cooperate with an investigation into criminal activity. Judith Miller is a stooge for a political criminal--not a whistleblower.
I don't understand how people--liberals, especially--can fail to see the difference between these two.
By Dante Atkins. Angeleno surviving DC weather. Jack-of-all-trades politico. Recovering classical linguist. @DanteAtkins on Twitter. /hekebolos on facebook.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
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text: Einstein Said It Would Never Be Seen. It Just Was Astronomers observe gravitational microlensing between distant stars By Michael Harthorne, Newser Staff Posted Jun 8, 2017 7:04 PM CDT Updated Jun 9, 2017 12:30 AM CDT 59 comments Albert Einstein didn't think one of his theories would ever be directly observed. He was just proven wrong. (AP Photo/File) (Newser) – Astronomers just proved the great Albert Einstein wrong—by proving him right. Einstein's 1915 theory of relativity says gravity can distort light and alter its path. National Geographic reports Einstein posited that would create a phenomenon called gravitational microlensing between two stars appearing to pass in front of each other. The light from the star in the background would be bent by the gravity of the star in the foreground, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Of course, there is no hope of observing this phenomenon directly," Einstein wrote for Science in 1936. Guess again, Einstein. Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed that very phenomena, publishing their findings in Science on Wednesday. Astronomers had observed gravitational microlensing in the past using entire galaxies or the Sun, but never with individual distant stars, which are comparatively microscopic in size. The leader of the team that proved Einstein right/wrong says observing the phenomena with distant stars is like trying to see a firefly moving across a quarter from 1,500 miles away while a bright light bulb is glaring next to it. So, it's understandable Einstein was doubtful it would ever be seen. The observation allowed astronomers to measure the mass of a white dwarf star—about 68% that of the Sun—and confirm an 87-year-old theory about the stars, according to a press release. "Einstein would be proud," one astronomer says. (A 40-year-old signal from space has finally been explained.) My Take on This Story Report a story error Show results | 2% Hilarious 35% Intriguing 1% Depressing 59% Brilliant 1% Scary 2% Ridiculous


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Providing Excellent Insurance Solutions in Montrose, CO for over Sixty Years
At Schiller Insurance we deliver insurance and risk management solutions to individuals and businesses. Our founder, Bob Schiller, began insuring residents of and commercial enterprises in Montrose and other areas in Colorado in 1951. He founded his approach on principles of honesty, industriousness, and thoroughness. He looked out for the best interests of every client and made sure that he found each client the best possible deal while keeping the client secure. Bob's business flourished as a result and became Schiller Insurance.
We embody the spirit of our founder and exemplify his finest qualities. Our approach is the same as Bob's; we're honest, industrious, and thorough. We act in our clients' best interests and give clients the greatest protection for the most appropriate costs.
Our Services in Montrose
We offer a variety of personal and commercial insurance programs, which include home, auto, and life on the personal side and general business, farm, and real estate on the commercial side. Each program contains coverage options from different carriers. These carriers help ensure that our coverages are diverse and our coverage plans flexible. We take advantage of the diversity and flexibility of our plans to create the best solutions for our clients.
Our approach is to understand all of our clients' needs and to adhere to their budgets. Doing these things helps us create polices that are optimal and that represent the best value for clients. We consult one-on-one with clients and get to know their goals well. We educate clients as well, and this ensures that clients know what they're getting for their insurance investment and enables them to make the best possible decisions about their insurance in the future.
Our products and services are geared towards matching budgets and keeping individuals and businesses completely secure if something unexpected happens. These products and services are also meant to help reduce risks and overall costs over time.
There are a lot of factors that influence insurance, and some of these factors pertain to everyone who owns an insurance policy. Other factors pertain to only a few people. For this reason and others, it is important that each policy be tailored to the policyholder. We don't produce one-size-fits-all policies; we produce completely unique policies that reflect each policyholder's individual needs.
Client-Agent Relationships
We consult with clients and work with them to find the right solutions. We keep clients informed and enable them to make the best possible decisions about their insurance. This increases the value of clients' investments and helps clients stay financially secure.
We do more than insure, however; we help reduce exposures and support clients. We manage risk by helping clients employ best practices, which helps reduce exposures and decreases the likelihood that exposures translate into damages. We manage claims by advocating for clients and by helping clients achieve suitable resolutions, if and when claims are filed.
We're available when needed and are transparent with clients.
Our Solutions
We understand that not every client can have comprehensive insurance and eliminate all coverage gaps. However, we endeavor to help each client come as close as possible to having comprehensive insurance. To do this we find the right mix of coverage and cost and adapt coverage plans to clients' individual needs. This helps ensure that clients get the most for their insurance investments and stay as protected as possible.
We review polices annually and stay in touch regularly with clients. This way, clients know if they need to make changes to their coverage and can communicate with us easily.
To learn more, please contact us or give us a call. You can also request a quote to find out the details of our policies.
Schiller Insurance is proud to provide personal and commercial insurance solutions in Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, Ridgway, Hotchkiss, and Cedaredge, CO. We also serve other areas in the state and we serve Utah as well.


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At the British Real Ale Guide we believe in providing our visitors with an easy-to-use layout making it simple to find pubs and real ales in any area of the UK. While many other online pub guides clutter the page with useless information and adverts, our clean design provides clear, relevant information which makes it a doddle for your pub to be found by thousands of potential real ale connoisseurs.
Including your pub on the British Real Ale Guide website couldn't be easier.
Simply call us on 0151 934 6989, email us or complete the enquiry form on the contact page to get in touch. A member of our sales team will call you to discuss your requirements.
Aside from out excellent customer service, all our members receive the following beneifts:-


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Our most popular trips since we started rowing boats down rivers in 1978, full day float trips are the best way for anglers to fish many of Montana's big Western Rivers. In addition to a fantastic way to scout for fish and soak in the scenic beauty that Montana has to offer, full day float trips are a great way for novice anglers to learn casting, mending, reading water, and landing fish in moving water. Float trips give your guides the ability to cover larger stretches of water in case the fishing isn't productive in one area. Our full day float trips consist of roughly eight hours on the water, if you would like to stay out longer or be back sooner, that isn't a problem. Truly a great way to experience Montana, our full day trips are available on the finest and most productive rivers in the state.
Full Day Float Trip River Options
Full day float trips are available on the Upper & Lower Madison, Yellowstone, Gallatin, Boulder, Stillwater, Upper Missouri and Jefferson Rivers.
Float trips on the Big Hole, Bighorn and Missouri are available as well - see information on fees and rates below.
One or Two Anglers: $495
Three Anglers Possible if one is under 12: $645
Bighorn, Big Hole and Missouri River trips available for an additional $45 to cover travel costs.
Full Day Float Trips Include:
Transportation to and from Montana Troutfitters and your fishing destination, rentals, lunch and beverages, flies and terminal tackle, full day of guided services for one or two anglers.
Enter your number below to receive new, up-to-date river reports from Montana Troutfitters.


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Have you ever had a cavity? Do you think you might one day?
Before you say no, you should know that national health experts estimated that 92 percent of American adults will have at least one cavity in their lives.
That means if you made a list of 100 people who you know that only a handful of them will never have a cavity.
Maybe you will be part of that handful on someone else's list, which would be nice, More than likely, you will be part of the vast majority who will need tooth decay removed at some point or another.
If that time ever comes for you or someone in your family, you can always call Bayou Dental Group to help. Just remember, your solution will be simpler the sooner you make an appointment at our dentist office in Monroe, LA.
Dealing With Decay
The bacteria in your mouth is opportunistic. It multiplies every day, and it will take advantage of a situation to build plaque, the sticky film that forms on your teeth.
That film can serve as a kind of base of operations for the bacteria to start eating away at your tooth.
What you do about it, what should be done about it, will depend on how quickly you notice the cavity and how quickly you act to fix it.
Here are five ways you can deal with a cavity, starting with the simplest option.
◼ Prevent It
When Ben Franklin wrote that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, he hit the nail on the head.
The best way to deal with tooth decay is to prevent it from happening. The good news is you already know what to do. It's just a matter of doing it.
You need to brush your teeth (twice a day, two minutes each time). You need to floss your teeth (every day, once per day). You need to visit the dentist for professional cleanings (twice year, sometimes more if you have a chronic condition).
Being consistent about doing each of those things will greatly reduce the odds that you will develop a cavity.
◼ Fill It
OK, maybe you aren't as consistent about brushing and floss as you should be. Maybe you have been putting off your next dental cleaning because you think you can't make the time in your schedule right now.
Those are prime opportunities for bacteria to attack one or more of your teeth.
If you notice the cavity developing, hopefully, that will motivate you to call us and make an appointment as soon as you are able.
By removing the decay early, we can prevent any further damage. A tooth-colored filling can restore the shape, function, and appearance of your tooth in a single visit.
◼ Crown It
In this situation, you either let the cavity continue for too long or you did not notice the cavity until it was too late to fix it with a filling.
The next step is to fix your tooth with a dental crown. Our crowns are made for porcelain, and since we use CEREC crowns, we are able to make them for you while you wait. At some other dentist offices, you may have to wear a temporary crown for weeks before your permanent crown is ready.
At Bayou Dental Group, we can restore your tooth in a single trip to our office.
◼ Root It Out
If this happens, you really should have come to see us sooner.
Tooth decay can turn into something worse if it eats through your enamel and the dentin underneath. You don't want bacteria to reach the soft connective tissue at the center of your tooth. This tissue, called pulp, can become infected and inflamed.
This can cause pain since the pulp shares space with nerves as well as blood vessels.
More than likely you will begin to feel pain as a result of this infection. It may be a lingering pain. The pain may get worse when you bite or chew with your infected tooth or when you eat or drink something hot or cold.
A root canal treatment is the best way to remove the infection, and we often use a dental crown to seal the tooth as part of this procedure.
◼ Pull It
We sincerely hope that you will do something about your tooth decay long before this is necessary. The longer that bacteria is allowed to eat away at your tooth, the weaker your tooth will become.
In some cases, the tooth will be so weak that a root canal will not be enough to save the tooth. This is when it may be necessary to extract your tooth to remove the bacteria and reduce the risk that the decay will spread to other teeth.
Act NOW!
As soon as you notice a cavity, please call our dentist in Monroe, LA. The team at Bayou Dental Group would much rather help you with a filling today than a tooth extraction tomorrow.
You can call [phone] or fill out our online form to make an appointment.


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In this second recipe I will show you how to implement something that won't be commonly used but fun nonetheless. It will however teach you how to implement advanced visual effects using Android's animation engine and a very simple drawing trick. The picture below shows the effect: an animated spotlight slowly reveals an arbitrarily complex set of views (in this example, an image and two labels.) This effect can be used for splash screens (even though I dislike those on mobile) or highlight particular sections of your apps; for a tutorial for instance.
To follow along you can download the source code and a binary to run on your device. Note that I have only tested this demo on Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. You can replay the animation by changing the orientation of your device. You will be able to alternate between two different photos and see how the code adapts to both orientations.
If you cannot (or don't want to) run the demo application you can see what the effect looks like in motion in this video. I captured this video in the Android emulator and the frame rate of my capture program was capped at 30fps so it doesn't look as nice as it does on a device:
This effect is implemented in the same way as the previous recipe, by using a
BitmapShader The difference is that instead of using a vector shape (a rounded rectangle), I am using here a bitmap mask. Bitmaps are the only primitive with which you cannot use shaders unless the bitmap's configuration is
Bitmap.Config.ALPHA_8. An alpha bitmap contains only an alpha channel and can therefore be used as a shape or mask. The shader set on the paint is used to fill the inside of the mask.
The first step is to load your bitmap as an alpha mask. In our case, the source bitmap is a blurry black circle. Here is how it's done:
private static Bitmap convertToAlphaMask(Bitmap b) { Bitmap a = Bitmap.createBitmap(b.getWidth(), b.getHeight(), Bitmap.Config.ALPHA_8); Canvas c = new Canvas(a); c.drawBitmap(b, 0.0f, 0.0f, null); return a; } Bitmap mask; mask = convertToAlphaMask(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.spot_mask));
You can of course draw anything you want in the
ALPHA_8 bitmap. It does not have to be another bitmap, but it's usually unnecessary to go through this intermediate step with other shapes.
Once your mask is loaded you must prepare a paint with a shader. The code should look familiar if you've followed the previous recipe:
private static Shader createShader(Bitmap b) { return new BitmapShader(b, Shader.TileMode.CLAMP, Shader.TileMode.CLAMP); } Shader targetShader = createShader(mTargetBitmap); paint.setShader(targetShader);
And then all you need to do is draw the mask with the shader:
@Override protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) { super.onDraw(canvas); canvas.drawBitmap(mMask, 0.0f, 0.0f, mPaint); }
Note that alpha bitmaps only work with shaders when invoking the "simple" version of
drawBitmap(). The variants that take a
Matrixor a source and destination rectangle are not supported with hardware acceleration at the moment.
The code in the demo is more complicated since it knows how to handle a scale factor for the mask. If you don't need to change the size of the mask you can automatically get the spotlight effect by moving the mask on screen.
BitmapShaders have this special property that their origin is not tied to the shape you are drawing but to the canvas itself. Thus by moving a shape over the canvas you can reveal different parts of the bitmap.
I highly recommend you read the entire source code of the demo to see how I used
ObjectAnimator to animate the spotlight and how I used
ViewTreeObserver to wait until the activity is laid out to capture a bitmap of the views under the spotlight layer.
This effect can be implemented in a different way. The
SpotlightViewcould draw a black rectangle covering the whole screen and draw the bitmap mask using the
PorterDuff.Mode.CLEARblending mode. This would work only by drawing into an intermediate
ARGB_8888bitmap though and the overdraw cost would be much higher. The implementation above is slightly more complicated because we need to compute a local matrix for the shader but it's very efficient.
Very cool. I guess, with Jake Wharton's NineOldAndroids, this can work all the way down to 2.1 at least.
Heh, perhaps I'm getting old, but I remember when you did something similar way back in the day, with swing.
Ahh, after a bit of searching through the archives, I think its this: http://www.curious-creature.org/2005/02/17/search-with-style-in-swing/
Pity all the images are broken.
@zsolt not until Jake Wharton's ports the withLayer() stuff added in API 16
Levi, you can just call withLayer() only when API level is >= 16.
Is possible create this effect over surfaceview? I wanna do this when movie starts playing, I know I can use your solution, but I will need to extract first frame of movie into bitmap and set this frame to mTargetBitmap in SpotlightView, but is there any ViewShader API?
The example runs with NineOldAndroids in, at least, Android 2.3.6 (I haven't tested previous versions). Add nineoldandroids-2.4.0.jar to the project libs, and change one line of SpotlightActivitythis:
spotlight.animate().alpha(1.0f).withLayer().withEndAction(new Runnable() { ……
by this
this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() { …..
Change the imports to use the NineOldAndroids ones, and it works!
import static com.nineoldandroids.view.ViewPropertyAnimator.animate;
import com.nineoldandroids.animation.Animator;
import com.nineoldandroids.animation.Animator.AnimatorListener;
import com.nineoldandroids.animation.AnimatorSet;
import com.nineoldandroids.animation.ObjectAnimator;
Does the convertToAlphaMask method above, provide any benefits or differences from bitmap.extractAlpha()?
Thank you so much for this knowledge shared!!
Very nice effect, thank you for knowledge sharing. Looking forward to more shares :)


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Please, let me know via email when the new review on this product is available.
Ultimately, this is one of the least favorite toys I've tried, but you could do worse. Just take note of the underwhelming vibrations, noise level (it's not obscene) and absence of a constant vibration when making your decision. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it to friends but to each their own.
The Pleasure Kiss may look like the toothbrush of G-spot vibrators, but those textured nubs will have you singing! The variety of vibrations and perfect textured nubs and G-spot curve make this a great buy!
The Pleasure Kiss is an excellent option in terms of g-spot stimulation, as it works on covering gently all possible spots instead of using one single large bump or pinpoint pressure. Although the very tip of the toy can be worked in that way, you will want to use the nubs. The TPR toy has 8 vibration settings, but note that is does not have any constant vibe modes. Still, it's worth trying, and was the toy that first came to my mind when recently asked recommendations as g-spot vibes.
The Pleasure Kiss is a fun g-spot vibrator with 8 patterns of vibration and a memory chip so you can always find your favorite setting. The nubs on the head provide internal stimulation and the vibrations are decently strong and throbby. It isn't waterproof as it claims, though, and has no steady vibration setting.
The Pleasure Kiss is an entirely decent vibrator. If steady vibration is a must for you, I'd suggest you look elsewhere. But if you like patterns and you think you'd like that brush texture, go for it. The vibrations are relatively strong and the controls are very easy to use (if you don't have a deep g-spot. If you do, they might get all up in your girly parts).
Whether you can get off to a pulsing-only toy or not shouldn't be the only factor in your decision to purchase this toy. It does have many other uses that it absolutely does with flying colors. If you're looking for a toy with a steady vibration option though, please keep looking. However, if you're game to be creative and play around a bit alone or with your partner, this toy certainly comes in handy. The brush/nubs, the strength, and the variety of pulses are all huge pluses.


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Dora's Laundromat in Dover NJ is the premiere laundromat in Morris County NJ. The construction for Dora's Laundromat set it apart from your average laundromat in Morris County NJ. The state of the art Laundry Facility is located in the Heart of Dover NJ. We make the laundry experience and process easy! Drop off your laundry…Pick it up when it's ready! Everything is folded nice and neatly! Hire the professionals at Dora's Laundromat to take care of your laundry needs! Our New Location is a state of the art facility! Newly renovated and opened in 2016. We have designed and built the premiere laundromat in the Morris County NJ area! Open from 6am to last wash at 10pm. Free WIFI & Coffee for our customers. Free detergent on Wednesdays!
Dora's Laundromat is now offering Clothing Alterations services at our 26 East Blackwell St location. Need to alter your dress? Need alter your pants? Call today! 862-244-9744
Morris County Clothing Alteration
Work Clothes $1.19 A Pound ( Dirty Clothes / Construction & Commercial Work )
Normal Clothes 99 Cents A Pound
Dora's Laundromat offers an advance, state of the art laundromat in the heart of Dover New Jersey. Dora's Laundromat prides itself in establishing a brand new second location that give the Morris County NJ area residents a great place to drop off their laundry or self wash themselves. We offer free WIFI & Coffee to our customers! FREE DETERGENT ON WEDNESDAYS!!!
Dora's Laundromat offers additional services for our clients. We offer Western Union services & sale of lottery tickets at our Blackwell Street location. Sale of lottery tickets is also available at our original location.
60 lbs Machines $5.99 A Cycle
40 lbs Machines $4.99 A Cycle
20 lbs Machines $2.49 A Cycle
$1.00 30 Minutes Small Dryer
$1.50 for 12 Minutes Large Dryer
Morris County Clothing Alteration
Dora's Laundromat is a family owned business. Started by the Roman family who grew up and currently live in Dover NJ. Being local entrepreneurs and living in Dover NJ their entire lives, they had envisioned a state of the art laundry facility to serve the Dover NJ & Morris County NJ community. Dora's Laundromat was named after their mother "We named it Dora's because that is our mother's name and what better name then your mothers". The Roman family also own's the Latino American Supermarket that has been open since 1956. Located on 11 Essex St S, Dover, NJ 07801, right by the Dover Train Station. Dora's Laundromat was a vision put together and executed by local Dover entrepreneurs, not by a group of outside investors, we believe in providing quality services & experiences for all of our local customers. By having a state of the art laundromat facility that our customers would be proud to go do their laundry, right in the heart of Dover NJ. We believe we can help transform our neighborhood to a better place. Visit our 2 locations today!


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Category Archives: Uncompromisingly modern
Uncompromisingly modern now a cutting edge contemporary home.
All the external structures and cladding are now in place and the rendering has begun on the garage. The main house is having an insulated rendering system to the existing facade due to having a mixture of timber and masonry constructions on the wall. Because timber and masonry move differently you cannot render onto them both without an unsightly expansion gap, so the insulation creates a common background to remove the need for expansion gaps on the facade. The internals are also progressing with the addition of the plasterboards and metail stud framing as we start to put the internals back together again.
Page 1 of 212


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Silence Shusaku Endos novel Silence brings up the troubling headspring of gods silence in the midst of human loathsomeness and suffering. The referee is brought deeper into the mystery of idols silence as the narrative unfolds. Acts of human lousiness that cause anguish, suffering, and death seem to elicit only covered indifference. Yet in a climatic moment, it seems as if God does speak. Father Sebastian Rodrigues faces his greatest decision, hears the voice of Christ urging him to fundament down on the Fumie The Fumie was literally, pictures to step on. Pictures of Christian figures used during the capital of Japan consummation (1600-1868) to identify adherents of Christianity.
At the conclusion of the novel the lector is left hand with a disturbing question: Was Rodrigues deed of apostasy a cowardly rejection of the Christian faith, which he self-servingly justify as a noble and costly sacrifice for the stake of others? I intrust that Father Rodrigues act of apostasy builds a case for the scenery that his act was a genu...If you want to irritate a across-the-board essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com
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Imagine going to bed feeling completely fine one day, then waking up the next with a severe mental illness: suddenly, the world doesn't make sense to you, and you feel detached from reality.
You can't even leave your bedroom, because for no apparent reason, everything has become terrifying. Your body is overcome with involuntary movements and tics that you can't control. You can't eat, because you're afraid it's contaminated and will make you throw up. All the lights are too bright, the noises too loud, and every minor annoyance makes you burst into a rage—though you used to be the nicest, most composed person around.
You feel completely outside yourself, yet trapped within your own thoughts. You went to bed as yourself, and now you've woken up as a completely incapacitated and tormented creature that you no longer recognize.
If this sounds like a nightmare, it is… And also the reality for thousands of people living with PANS/PANDAS.
So What Is It?
You've probably never heard of PANS/PANDAS, because many people who have it will never get a proper diagnosis, let alone treatment. Unfortunately, as many as 1 in 200 people are affected. Left untreated, patients may tragically be relegated to psych wards, years of drugs that don't work, multiple misdiagnoses, and unimaginable suffering. But it doesn't have to be that way. With recognition and proper treatment, the condition is completely, or almost completely, curable.
PANDAS stands for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disoders Associated with Streptococcus. (Yes, it's a mouthful!) Basically, PANDAS is an autoimmune disease triggered by a Strep infection. The bacteria tricks the immune system into attacking the brain's dopamine receptors, especially in a part called the Basal Ganglia, instead of the Strep infection.
This autoimmune attack results in all kinds of horrible neurological and psychiatric symptoms, which look like a severe mental illness—but PANS/PANDAS is actually a physical, autoimmune disease.
PANS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) is a newer term used to describe the same autoimmune mechanism, but it can be triggered by environmental factors and other infections and viruses besides Strep. Bascially, PANDAS is considered a subset of PANS.
The main feature in both PANS/PANDAS is a sudden onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, anxiety, movement problems, and/or food restriction. Often, someone knows they have an infection before it begins, but sometimes, the infection goes undetected (like in my case). But either way, one day, the individual with PANDAS or PANS suddenly becomes a different person.
Usually, it starts between ages 5-13, but it can happen earlier or later, too. Some kids outgrow it, but for others, if it goes untreated, it's possible to still have the condition as an adult—as I do.
What Are the Symptoms?
In addition to OCD and/or a tic disorder, PANDAS/PANS symptoms include:
- Restrictive eating
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Concentration Problems/ADHD
- Sensory sensitivities
- Sleep difficulties (insomnia, hypersomnia, etc.)
- Choreiform Movements
- Emotional Lability
- Urinary problems including bedwetting and/or frequent urination
- Hallucinations
- Aggression and Irritability
- Deterioration in Handwriting
Not every patient has all of these symptoms, and there are other symptoms not listed here.
What's the Treatment?
Because PANS is often triggered by an infection, the first step is treating the infection with antibiotics. For some people, this is a cure, and no more treatment is necessary.
However, for others, the disease is more persistent, so it's treated with similar methods to other autoimmune diseases:
- High-dose steroids
- IVIG (Intervenous Immunoglobulin)
- Plasmapheresis
- Biologic drugs such as Rituxan or Cellcept
PANS is NOT a mental illness, but sometimes, people need to use therapy and/or psychotropic medications to help manage the symptoms while waiting for medical treatments to work. It's an autoimmune disease, so therapy cannot cure it alone.
What Happens to People with PANS/PANDAS?
Although patients with PANS/PANDAS usually have a good outcome after treatment, the main problem is getting the diagnosis in the first place. For me, it took eight years and fifteen doctors, and it was my parents who first hypothesized I had the disorder—not a doctor. Sadly, this is pretty typical, because PANDAS was only discovered in the 1990's and is wrongly considered a rare and controversial disorder by many uninformed doctors.
PANS is not rare—it's just rarely diagnosed.
If you suspect that you or someone you know might have PANDAS or PANS please consult a PANDAS expert. For more information about this disease, please check out the resources below:
Helpful Links
PANDAS Physicians Network – PANS Diagnostic Guidelines
PANDAS Network – What is PANS?
Moleculera Labs – PANS and PANDAS
Dr. Latimer: "PANDAS: One Size Does Not Fit All"
Find a PANDAS Doctor: USA PANDAS Physicians


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How can USA today be wrong? (ok, in full disclosure, this is my Branson home that I would desperately love to sell)
The article is in the Travel Section of USA Today (click on USA TODAY or the full article), and they're right. Branson is a G-Rated town where thousands are coming to find good clean fun.
The housing market is a tough place though, right? All over the country people are suffering from a dive in home prices. I just spent an evening with one of my friends down in Phoenix Arizona where it's been hit the hardest, and it's incomprehensible how many open homes there are down here.
I started asking around, "How can the housing market be so bad?" And I think the conclusion I've come to is there are a whole lot of people who were involved in the greatest crime of the century.
Banks pushed for loans to people who couldn't afford them.
Loan Officers were granted commission on the number of loans they approved.
People took loans they knew they would never pay back.
And some, even forged their own income statements so they could take out loans they wouldn't ever be able to afford. It's pretty awful all the way around.
For the last couple of years I've been lulled by the outcries of people who want to blame the government, but really, with a few checks and balances, this could have all been avoided.
If banks did their job by screening people, we wouldn't be in the worst economy since the great depression.
If Loan Officers weren't rewarded for fraudulent product, we wouldn't be feeling the pinch we feel now.
And reasonably thinking, if people would just stop trying to live in homes they can't afford anyway, we might have saved thousands of jobs.
I guess the article in USA Today hit me on several levels.
I DO have a home on the market in Branson, but deeper than even my desire to sell a house comes a realization the human spirit is filled with greed.
Greedy people skewed the economy. It wasn't the government. It wasn't solely the fault of the banks. When it gets right down to the matter, it was us. We are responsible for the Great Depression of the 21st century. Our self centered, greedy little eyes, had to live in homes we thought people would notice and think we were something we're not.
What a lesson for us all. But this lesson is going to go on for generations to come. Economists say our greed in the housing market may produce the first generation where kids are going to have it worse off than their parents. All because of our greed.
I know this doesn't help the sale of my home in Branson, but when it's all said and done, it's just a house. I'm way more concerned with the heart of man, rather than the sale of a house.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…" that's where I want to be.
May God bless you today!!


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Local organizations offer winter break activities for kids
COLUMBIA - Parents looking to get their kids outside the house during winter break can take advantage of local organizations aimed at keeping children active.
The Activity and Recreation Center (ARC) is offering a School's Out Holiday Camp for kindergarten through fifth grade students. The camp is $45 and is open December 22, 23, 29 and 30. Lunch is not provided to the children. Also, the pool is operating on extended hours and various classes are open.
One parent, Charissa Consiglio, said she will use the ARC as a way to keep her children occupied.
"We plan on coming back to the ARC to swim and to do their fitness classes," Consiglio said. "If the weather gets nicer, then we will probably go outside and run around. And maybe go to some of the parks here in town."
The ARC is open 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The Daniel Boone Regional Library will offer "Discovery Time" Monday, parents can bring their kids from infants up to 4 years old to enjoy quality reading time. "Discovery Time" is open from 9:30-11 a.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m.


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Winter Indoor Program at the Field
Indoor soccer during the winter is played at The Field in Lansing on synthetic bladed turf that is enclosed by netting from the floor to the ceiling. The program is open to all players under nineteen years old. The season is divided into two 10-week sessions that run from early-November through mid-January and late-January through mid-April. A team may participate in one or both sessions. Hour-long games (usually one per week) are played on weekends. A team usually consists of ten to twelve players. The cost for each session, which includes league and referee fees, is split among the players on a given team.
We generally consider winter indoor soccer a time for training, so indoor programs can be for training only, training and games, or training and tournaments. Participation in this program is done on a team-basis. If interested, please contact your fall or spring travel coach for more information.
Serious soccer enthusiasts also have the opportunity to try out and play for teams that participate in Premier leagues of central and western New York, such as those formed by TCUnited, One+ Soccer, WAZA FLO soccer club, and through the TC United + WAZA Academy program. These programs all play and train in Lansing and Ithaca, but do offer great opportunities for our players to play/train indoors at the Field during the winter months.
For more information on Winter Indoor Competitive Soccer Program at the Field regarding participation, and coach and manager responsibilities, click here.


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About Ultimotive
Established in 2004, Ultimotive is a world leading licensee operating on a global scale within the car care sector. We are experts in growing ambitious brands in the automotive industry.
Whilst successfully growing the business providing a quality service to wide demographic Andy was working towards securing his first global brand. In 2004 he signed Williams F1 as his first major client. This powerhouse of the racing world recognised the potential of Ultimotive and working closely together they launched a full range to distributors in 2005.
Ultimotive has grown exponentially year on year, now employing thirteen people."Since then not only have more major global brands been signed they have been retained, including Turtle Wax®, Moto GP™, Stayzon™ and this list is set to grow. Ultimotive has new offices based in Colchester incorporating a 10,000 sq ft warehouse, it has dedicated sales and logistics teams with offices in Australia and a growing presence in the Middle East.


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Pickle Poached Fish
We eat way too many pickles.. That leftover pickle juice is my new favorite thing. We put it in a pan and poached some dover sole in it. Oh my, add a little salt and pepper, and you get a flaky, delicious white fish.
Heat up the pickle juice in a pan until bubbling. Put the fish in it for 2-4 minutes until flaky. Finish with some salt and pepper.


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An anti-government protestor still in his school uniform runs down the street before launching a molotov cocktail at members of the Venezuelan army during the 5th straight day of clashes in Caracas. The effort to hold a referendum against President Chavez took an expected step backwards when an Electoral Council said there are currently not enough valid signatures to request the referendum.
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- David Rochkind
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- Protests / Venezuela


text: Accessible Room Sleeping up to 2 guests, this fully accessible room features a wheelchair accessible wet room, emergency cord and other facilities. Enjoy complimentary tea and coffee and free Wifi. Questions about this room? Get in touch with our friendly team. Room photos Features100 Mbps WifiBreakfast includedDeskEmergency CordFreeview TVSofa BedTea and Coffee FacilitiesTelephoneTowels ProvidedWheelchair accessible wet room


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A friend of mine who blogs (intermittently) at Laughter of Lowly Things offered a rebuttal to the grumpy book in my bedroom. An excerpt:
Dear Books Who Think Yourselves Ill-used Because People Write In Your Margins and Cover Pages,
Buck up. Think of all the graffiti that gets slapped on beautiful public buildings and natural wonders every day—now there's a real offense.
Think about it: what is the true test of a book's worth? Surely it is not clean, unmarked pages that make it sell for a little more on Amazon.com or Ebay. Isn't it rather that the book should have become woven into the soul of a living human being?
Read the rest here.


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We Are All Students of the Same Game
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We Are All Students of the Same Game
by Stephen Duneier
Students in my
Decision Analysis
class have to create one Decision Log per week. The assignment requires that they analyze an actual decision they have faced or are currently facing. The decisions they choose to analyze include whether they should break up with their girl/boyfriend, where they should go for spring break, what job to accept and how much to spend on their wedding. Initially, I provide very little guidance, so they do their best to produce an analysis that they believe will show me they are methodical and deliberate in their approach. Even when it is clear that they simply went for the path of least resistance, they will attempt to generate a narrative that explains their approach as rational and thoughtful.
Much to their chagrin, I actually provide very little guidance as it specifically relates to the assignment throughout the entire semester. At least that's what many of them believe. Truth is, the entire course, including reading material, case studies, and lectures is about the process of decision making. We cover statistical concepts such as probabilities and Bayes Theorem, mistakes some very smart people have made in applying these concepts, the components of a decision, and real-world examples for applying it all to actual business and policy decisions. Students are also exposed to esoteric terms used to describe proper process and systematic errors. I purposely provide little guidance for the decision logs so that I can ascertain whether or not they are making the connection between the material they are studying and the concurrent decisions they are facing.
Before going further, let me be clear. These students are some of the smartest, most driven individuals among their contemporaries around the world. They finished high school with highly competitive GPA's and standardized test scores, are graduating seniors or graduate engineering students at one of the finest engineering programs on earth (UCSB's College of Engineering has more nobel laureates on the faculty than any other). Despite these qualifications, it typically takes many weeks before they are able to make the direct connection between the material and their own actions. Regardless of how long it takes for it to click that these aren't merely theories we are covering and that this course isn't simply about memorizing a bunch of terms they'll never use again, the progression toward that realization follows a very consistent pattern.
Stage 1: Auto-pilot. In this phase, students follow the protocol that's served them well up until this moment. Very little thought is put in. Instead, they rely on their intuition to produce just another in a long line of documents meant to satisfy yet one more course requirement.
Stage 2: Cognitive Ease is maintained. Even though they are incorporating the proper terminology into the log, they aren't actually applying the ideas. In other words, they are attempting to satisfy what they believe I want to see by effectively delivering the same decision analysis, except this time they've swapped out layman's terminology in favor of the more technical terms. Effectively, nothing about their approach to decision making has changed, except for how they describe the process. It is a superficial adjustment; a waste of their time, and mine.
Stage 3: Stress. After a number of logs have been submitted, all of which have likely received grades below what they're used to, the stress sets in. They worry about the final course grade based on the current trajectory. Office hours become more crowded and pleas for extra credit opportunities flood in. My response is the same every time. Spend less time
about grades and more effort applying what you are learning to your own decisions. Invite cognitive strain. Dig deeper, ask tougher questions and replace leaps of faith with statistical analysis. This is the phase that can act like quicksand, even for many of the top students. They will dig in their heels, working harder to argue their case than applying the concepts. They will complain, beg me to just tell them what I want so they can deliver it, pass blame and claim too little time available before finally dropping their defenses. Hopefully, it happens before the semester comes to an end, and when it does…fireworks!
Stage 4: Cognitive Strain. This is the phase that keeps me coming back for more each semester. When students drop their defenses, when they stop fighting cognitive strain and instead invite it, well, that's when the magic happens. They begin seeing the whole world through new, high-powered lenses. Some have described it as similar to that moment in
The Matrix
when Neo (Keanu Reeves) takes the blue pill. Make no mistake, though. While the benefits are amazing, they require hard work to achieve, and that is perhaps one of the best lessons they will learn. Thankfully, most of them seem to know it. The evidence can be found in their course feedback…
"Taking this class has changed my life! I learned the importance of questioning everything. It helped me quit smoking, deal with rejection, among other serious negative outcomes and more than that, it allowed me to open my mind to possibilities. This is the most rewarding class I have taken, but demands you putting in work. Please utilize this with an open mind and do not be very sticky to what you believe in."
"If I could I would take this course every term. What you learn here is something to be used every day. It is difficult to master the subject, but you will feel the difference in your life if you make the effort."
"Incredibly challenging course, but I enjoyed every single class. Duneier really cares about bringing out the best in all of his students. Duneier is the GOAT."
"If taken advantage of and if you delve yourself into applying concepts of this class to real life, very valuable stuff! Thank you!"
"Loved the class, it was a pleasure to see a class with different priorities than just doing work and being tested. I learned a lot that I believe will have a measurable impact on my life."
"Best course ever! Very challenging and practical course. By far the most interesting class I've taken with a noticeable change in personal decision making."
"The most interesting / insightful course I have taken in college. Extremely practical and applicable to real world apps. Course is challenging and encourages students to think."
I share this with you, because the stages are very similar to what I've discovered in working with clients. We all want to avoid cognitive strain. Our brains are phenomenal at convincing us that we are invoking it even when the reality is, we are simply using more technical terms or codifying poor process so that it appears more systematic and rational. Thanks to technology, we can gather all kinds of data, run all kinds of analysis, but if we don't ask the right questions at the right moments, we risk turning sporadic mistakes into systematic flaws.
Over the past week, I was interviewed by a number of magazines about the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the world of finance. Here's the thing about the ease with which we can gather data and run massive analytical programs, not to mention the ability to effectively outsource optimization to machines that can think and process far faster than we could ever hope. Optimization requires that you properly define the outcome you desire, and that is what I've discovered is so often ignored by decision makers at the university and CIO level.
As an example, when my students submit a decision log about where they should go for spring break, they will typically present three potential destinations from which they must choose. Often, the choices are something along the lines of Acapulco, Las Vegas or New York City. Three terrific options for your typical spring breaker. The problem is, they don't have much in common. The fact that they are the options being considered tells me that very little work has been done as it relates to properly defining what it is they hope to achieve, what the important factors are and how they will choose from among them. In other words, what gives them pleasure? What are the key factors by which they will judge the trip a success or failure?
They will express frustration in quantifying the difference in utility gained by lying around a pool as scantily clad, beautiful people circulate around them and enjoying a beer at a trendy restaurant in SoHo. They have difficulty comparing a $5 margarita on the beach to a "free" cocktail served at the blackjack table. Instead, they choose to imagine a moment of peak pleasure in each location and compare the utility gained in each of those scenarios, as judged in the moment of contemplation. If they happen to be sitting in the hot sun, struggling with the humidity as they are weighing their options, it's likely a trip to humid Acapulco will be less desirable than a visit to bone dry Las Vegas, and so on.
You can see how quickly all these considerations become burdensome, and perhaps unnecessarily so. That's when we say things like, "we could think about this forever, but ultimately, we just need to make a decision. After all, all three are phenomenal options and I'm sure I'll enjoy any of them." That's when the brain's desire to maintain cognitive ease has officially won.
The same goes for investing. It seems like such a simple process. Find a machine that can generate the best returns and allocate to it. Oh, if only it were that simple. You see, the best a machine can do is improve the accuracy of our predictions, and it does so by gathering more information and considering more factors in its analysis. Given that most in this industry do little more than the bare bones minimum in this area, it's easy to see how depending on machines for this part of the job will yield great improvement. Still, producing more accurate odds of success is only a small piece of the decision making and investment process. An investor must define
and understand
their risk tolerance, for a machine doesn't guarantee results, it simply optimizes its predictions of the future based on how the investor defines their objectives. Therein lies the potential glitch. A machine is unemotional. It understands that it is playing the odds, that it will have bad runs and good ones. It is unemotional about those runs, but investors are not.
Just as students should take the time to understand what they enjoy, what their monetary constraints are (beyond simply, "how much is in my bank account today") and what aspects of each of their options can affect their ability to achieve the outcome they desire, so too should investors consider what it is they desire, before choosing between a systematic, long-short equity fund, a 30 year US treasury and an equity index ETF.
Yeah but….
On a related note, someone recently mentioned that one of the major stock market indices is on a multi-year run that has never occurred before. As a result, he was considering going short the index. This is a cognitive mistake that should be easily refuted with a simple statistical analysis. However, the argument rarely changes anyone's mind. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to make the case.
Since October 1959, the DAX index has had 671 rolling twelve month periods, of which 62% have been positive. The DAX index has been positive for the past 4 calendar years. Throughout its history, we've only seen the DAX up 5 years straight, 8% of the time. One might leap to the conclusion that based on historical results, there is a 92% chance that the DAX index will be negative this year. However, they'd be wrong.
You see, the hard part of a five year run has already occurred. The DAX has only had 4 straight up years 13% of the time. In this case though, the odds of the DAX being up 4 years straight is 100%. I can say that because it has actually happened. Now you might think that it makes the odds of it continuing to extend another year a long shot, but statistically speaking, that'd be incorrect. You see, historically speaking, the odds of the DAX index ending a twelve month period higher than it began is 62%. Even after four straight positive years. Truth be told, the consistency of the return profile is quite remarkable. See the table below for a comparison between the actual percentage of times the index has experienced different winning streaks versus what the expectations would be if every single year was a constant 62%.
What I'm saying is, based on historical data, the odds of the DAX index being up this year, given that it has been up the last four straight calendar years, remains 62%. That's what a machine would tell you. Question is, would you listen?
A Fair Question
A perfectly calibrated machine tosses a fair coin six times. Which of the following set of outcomes is most likely? Least likely?
About the Author
For nearly thirty years, Stephen Duneier has applied cognitive science to investment and business management. The result has been the turnaround of numerous institutional trading businesses, career best returns for experienced portfolio managers who have adopted his methods, the development of a $1.25 billion dollar hedge fund and 20.3% average annualized returns as a global macro portfolio manager.
Mr. Duneier teaches graduate courses on Decision Analysis and Behavioral Investing in the College of Engineering at the University of California. His book,
is due to be published in early 2017 (Wiley & Sons).
Through Bija Advisors'
, he helps the world's most successful and experienced investment managers improve performance by applying proven, proprietary decision-making methods to their own processes.
Stephen Duneier was formerly Global Head of Currency Option Trading at Bank of America, Managing Director in charge of Emerging Markets at AIG International and founding partner of award winning hedge funds, Grant Capital Partners and Bija Capital Management.
As a speaker, Stephen has delivered informative and inspirational talks to audiences around the world for more than 20 years on topics including global macro economic themes, how cognitive science can improve performance and the keys to living a more deliberate life. Each is delivered via highly entertaining stories that inevitably lead to further conversation, and ultimately, better results.
has been featured in international publications and on television programs around the world, is represented by the renowned gallery, Sullivan Goss and earned him more than 50,000 followers across social media. As Commissioner of the
League of Professional Educators
, Duneier is using cognitive science to alter the landscape of American K-12 education. He received his master's degree in finance and economics from New York University's Stern School of Business.
Bija Advisors LLC
In publishing research, Bija Advisors LLC is not soliciting any action based upon it. Bija Advisors LLC's publications contain material based upon publicly available information, obtained from sources that we consider reliable. However, Bija Advisors LLC does not represent that it is accurate and it should not be relied on as such. Opinions expressed are current opinions as of the date appearing on Bija Advisors LLC's publications only. All forecasts and statements about the future, even if presented as fact, should be treated as judgments, and neither Bija Advisors LLC nor its partners can be held responsible for any failure of those judgments to prove accurate. It should be assumed that, from time to time, Bija Advisors LLC and its partners will hold investments in securities and other positions, in equity, bond, currency and commodities markets, from which they will benefit if the forecasts and judgments about the future presented in this document do prove to be accurate. Bija Advisors LLC is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from the use of its product.
© 2014-17 Bija Advisors LLC
All rights reserved.
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