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Creative Vegan Chickpea Recipes That Aren't Hummus – Chickpeas are inexpensive, nutritious, delicious, and super versatile. And they're not just for hummus!
You guys loved the 18 Sweet Chickpea Recipes that I brought you a few weeks ago. Understandably, dessert recipes always get a great reaction. Especially ones made with highly nutritious ingredients, yet still taste indulgent. And as much as I love creating sweet treats with this versatile legume, I use them most often in savory dishes. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks – it's easy to increase the heartiness and protein of a recipe by adding a cup or two of garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas).
Once again, I asked some of my favorite blogging buddies to give me their best savory vegan chickpea recipes and I think you're going to love them!
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Breakfast
Loaded Avocado Toast – Creamy, crispy, bitter, sweet, salty and tart, this creative twist on avocado toast by Vegetarian Gastronomy has it all.
Swiss Chard Chickpea Breakfast Scramble – Delicious and hearty, this Swiss Chard Chickpea Scramble by My Darling Vegan can be made in just 20 minutes.
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Salads
Black Bean Taco Salad – Using crispy roasted chickpeas instead of the traditional fried tortilla strips usually found on taco salads, this delicious salad by Veggie Inspired (me!) makes the perfect summer weeknight meal.
Middle Eastern Bean Salad – This flavorful salad, also know as Balela, by Veggies Save The Day, is a recreation of a Trader Joe's favorite.
Oil-free Pesto Tomato Chickpea Salad – Vegan Yak Attack makes the most of fresh summer produce in this light, yet filling, salad.
Deconstructed Falafel Salad – All the flavors of falafel with the ease of a simple salad by Fried Dandelions.
Warm Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea Salad – You know I'm a sucker for all things cauliflower, so this gorgeous salad by From A Chef's Kitchen is definitely on my must-make list!
Avocado Chickpea Salad – Just a handful of ingredients, one of which is uber flavorful Basil Arugula Pesto, is needed for this mouthwatering salad by Avocado Pesto.
BBQ Chickpea Salad – Anything smothered in BBQ is a good idea and this salad by It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken is no exception! This is an "Eat your veggies and lick your fingers kind of salad."
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Sandwiches
Tahini Chickpea Salad Sandwich – Perfect for lunch, a light dinner, or even a picnic on the go, this quick and easy sandwich by Dianne's Vegan Kitchen uses tahini instead of mayo. Genius!
Chickpea & Vegetable Picnic Hand Pies – An entire meal in the palm of your hand by Tinned Tomatoes. Just look at that golden puff pastry!
Vegan Tuna Salad – 100% plant based tuna salad by VegAnnie. Oil free, low fat and gluten free!
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Soups/Stews/Chilis
Slow Cooker Red Lentil Chickpea Stew – Throw it all in the slow cooker and enjoy this easy, hearty, high protein, smoky stew by Veggie Inspired.
Chickpea Noodle Soup w/ Parsley & Lemon – This soup by Occasionaly Eggs is a beautiful plant based version of the comforting immune boosting soup of your childhood.
Chickpea White Chili – This quick and easy white bean chili by Veggie Inspired has all the spice and depth of regular chili, but no tomatoes in sight!
Broccoli Soup w/ Garlic Chickpea Croutons – Crunchy chickpeas are the perfect stand in for croutons in this creamy nutritious soup from Euphoric Vegan.
Chickpea Soup w/ Rosemary Oil – Chickpeas are the base of this soup and the garnish. With lots of garlic and fresh rosemary, I can almost taste it already. Fun fact – the Circus Gardener grows his own chickpeas!
Spiced Chickpea Stew – chunky, saucy, flavorful, and full of healthy plant based protein, this stew from Veggie Inspired couldn't be easier to make and it's so darn yummy! Naturally vegan and gluten free. Serve it with a side of rice for a complete meal. The perfect warming weeknight dish.
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Burgers/Patties
Mozzarella Stuffed Chick-quin Burgers – These crispy burgers by Spabettie are stuffed with melty vegan mozzarella and topped with marinara and fresh basil.
Smoky Barbecue Sweet Potato Chickpea Burgers – Chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and lots of barbecue sauce will have you drooling with these easy burgers from The Vegan 8.
Crispy Chickpea Cutlets w/ Lemon Caper Sauce – Similar to falafel, but in cutlet shape with a super crispy crust. Pair these cutlets from Living Vegan with a baked potato and fresh steamed veggies for a "meat and potatoes" type plate.
Crispy Baked Falafel w/ Hazelnuts & Lemon Mint Sauce – These crispy falafel from Happy Kitchen. Rocks are baked, not fried, making them low-fat and so delicious!
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Pasta
Artichoke Pesto Pasta – This yummy pasta dish from Cadry's Kitchen looks fancy, but it can be made in just 20 minutes! She also give options for the chickpeas – either in the oven or in the air fryer.
Lemon One Pot Pasta – One pot. 15 minutes. Pasta. What more could you ask for? Thanks to V.Nutrition for this quick, easy, and delicious dish!
Chickpeas in Spicy Smoky Tomato Sauce w/ Penne – Veggies Don't Bite had me at Spicy and Smoky! This is a comforting pasta dish easy enough for a weeknight meal.
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: Snacks
Smoky Roasted Chickpeas – smoky, salty, and oil-free, these Roasted Chickpeas by Veggie Inspired are as addictive as potato chips, but much healthier!
No Bake Stuffed Mini Peppers – Mild sweet peppers filled with flavorful chunky chickpea stuffing by Vegan in the Freezer. The perfect party appetizer or summer snack.
Ranch Seasoned Air Fryer Chickpeas – If you have an air fryer, these roasted chickpeas with ranch seasonings from Glue and Glitter are for you! Becky uses aquafaba kind of like an egg wash to make them super crispy!
Loaded Taco Fries – This dish by A Virtual Vegan is basically a taco salad with fries instead of lettuce and who wouldn't want to get on board with that?! And it's oil-free so you can stuff your face guilt free!
Spicy Roasted Chickpea Lettuce Wraps – A delicious appetizer, light lunch, or healthy snack, these Lettuce Wraps from Veganosity are crispy, crunchy, fresh, and spicy!
Crispy Chimichurri Roasted Chickpeas – Because you can never have too many crispy snack ideas, I'm giving you one more for roasted chickpeas. I am loving the chimichurri spice mix on these from Made By Luci and I think you will too!
Vegan Chickpea Recipes: All the Rest
Bell Pepper & Chickpea Tacos – The quickest tacos you'll ever make. Veggie Inspired pairs these light, yet hearty, tacos with a creamy Avocado Green Chile Sauce.
One Pot Garlic Butter Chickpeas – Creamy, buttery, and full of garlic, this amazing dish by Contentedness Cooking is calling my name!
Chickpea Nuggets – Store bought vegan chicken nuggets are loaded with questionable ingredients, not to mention, they're expensive. These little bites by My Plant Based Family need just 5 ingredients! Set out some dipping sauces and call the kids to dinner!
15 Minute Chickpea Curry – Curry in a hurry? Yup! This recipe by Trinity's Kitchen brings all the flavor without the fuss.
Baked Buffalo Vegan Taquitos – Combining the now famous Butternut Mac sauce with chickpeas and buffalo sauce makes these taquitos by Veggie Inspired a reader favorite!
Vegan Chickpea Curry w/ Potatoes – Potatoes and rice – you can't go wrong with double the carbs in this dish from Vegan Heaven.
Quinoa Bowl w/ Chili Spiced Chickpeas – With wilted kale, pear, and garlic chipotle mayo, this fancy meal by The Viet Vegan sounds like something you'd get in a restaurant, but it can be made in under an hour.
Spicy Peanut Chickpea Bowls – You'll get all the flavors of your favorite Thai take-out in these bowls by The Grateful Grazer.
Peanut-Ginger Curry Chickpeas w/ Rice – Creamy, spicy and sweet, Healthy Happy Life combines chickpeas, onions, and cashews, with peanut butter, dates and ginger for a truly flavorful dish.
Ethiopian Berebere Chickpea Pizza – A flatbread type pizza, with a gluten free option, topped with Tahini Garlic Dressing by Vegan Richa.
Moroccan Spiced Vegan Stuffed Squash – The Stingy Vegan stuffs roasted squash with couscous, chickpeas, and warming spices, and tops it off with a delicious tahini-date sauce.
I hope I've inspired you to pick up a can of chickpeas and get in the kitchen! What are you most excited to try?

subset: commoncrawl


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Modaline - CAS # 2856-74-8
Information provided on Modaline (2856-74-8) is for reference only and is subject to change. There is no warranty of accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein.
ALS Environmental does not sell chemicals, but offers analytical lab testing to determine the presence of various elements and chemical compounds. ALS Environmental may or may not offer testing for the specific analyte listed on this page. Please contact us for the latest tests available.
Chemical Name: Modaline
Chemical Formula: C10H15N3
CAS Number: 2856-74-8
Synonyms: 2-Methyl-3-piperidinopyrazine;2-Methyl-3-(1-piperidinyl)pyrazine
Molecular Weight: 177.2463
<-- Search more chemicals
Suggestions? If you have ideas for improvement, we would enjoy hearing from you. Please contact the webmaster here.
*CAS Registry Number is a Registered Trademark of the American Chemical Society.


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Backstripping made easy
Requires macOS 10.12
Backstripping is a method for calculating the accommodation needed to produce a stratigraphic section, whether through subsidence or eustatic change. It works by removing rock from the top of the column, decompacting all the rocks underneath, and measuring the isostatic response of removing that load from the lithosphere. By progressively removing the uppermost layers of rock until the bottom of the column is reached, it is possible to calculate changes in accommodation over time. Sound hard? Solving these equations yourself can be, but Backstrip makes it easy.
To get started, enter your data in the table starting with the uppermost unit and working your way down the stratigraphic column. Enter the name of each unit, its thickness and lithology, and estimates of the water depth it was deposited in. Enter unconformities as you go, too, giving them a thickness and water depth of zero. Press the Backstrip button and you're done.
Backstrip makes a publication-ready plot showing your accommodation history through time, along with an uncertainty envelope. You can save this plot as a pdf, which can be edited in Adobe Illustrator and other graphics programs. You can also save a table of your data for easy import into other programs like R, spreadsheets, and word processors.


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Solar energy is hardly a new concept but, along with wind, waste-to-energy plants and other sources of renewable power, it is now at the forefront of efforts to address climate change.
However, the pace of development has meant large-scale solar projects have taken a while to get off the ground. Now, though, solar generation is finally coming into its own.
It is the fastest growing electricity source worldwide, doubling its output every two years. The technology is proven and already operating in a number of big schemes across Europe, mainly in Spain and Italy.
Bank of Scotland Corporate's energy and environmental finance team has supported five solar photovoltaic energy projects this year alone, the latest being a £63m deal with another financial institution and BP Solar for the construction and operation of an 8MW solar farm in Toledo, Spain.
The solar photovoltaic project, in one of the highest areas of solar irradiation in Spain, is being built under an agreement with the two banks and BP solar, which has already seen the construction of 11 solar projects.
BP Solar is in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant as well as its operation and maintenance, guaranteeing a minimum energy production. Construction started in mid-February and completed in August.
Bank of Scotland acted as the sole mandated lead arranger on the transaction. Ed Wilson, Bank of Scotland Corporate's head of energy and environmental finance, said: "Having completed five photovoltaic deals over the past six months, BoS is now well placed to take advantage of the increasing number of renewable financing opportunities within the European solar market.
"Our experience in renewable financing, aligned to our partner approach to such financing, will hopefully enable us to further consolidate our leading position as financier of choice within this market."


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By now, Readers Mine, you know the drill: today is all about books. What I've been reading, what I'm reading now, and what I'll read next.
Genre-ally Speaking: I finally finished The Television Genre Book, edited by Glen Creeber. I have to admit this was not the most gripping read, but it was an excellent introduction to the use of genre theory in the critical analysis of television. As I read, however, I became more and more convinced that genre theory today has limited applications. Modern television often thoroughly mixes genres (generic hybridization in academese) to the point where attempting to analyze a show on the basis of genre is fruitless. For example, was The X-Files horror, science fiction, fantasy, soap opera, cop show, or character drama? Well, yes. Containing elements of all of these genres and more, The X-Files defies generic analysis and classification. This is not to say that genre theory is irrelevant. As Stacey Abbott points out in Angel, television shows can often push the generic envelope, particularly when it comes to network censorship by a kind of Trojan horse technique, as when the results of physical violence are graphically depicted in the police procedural CSI, or body penetration horror in the loosely noir-detective framework of Angel. Still I doubt I'd be able to philosophize along these lines without having read Creeber's book, so it's worth a look.
Historical Horrors: Currently, I'm not quite half-way through Masters of Death by Richard Rhodes. Masters of Death details the history of the Nazi SS-Einsatzgruppen, or "special task groups," on the Eastern/Russian Front during World War II, and the emergence of the Holocaust. The Einsatzgruppen followed the German Army east after the invasions of Poland and the USSR. At first used to "decapitate" the political leadership of conquered territories as well as elements that might serve as rallying points for resistance to the Nazis, the groups quickly became the vehicles for the execution of the Jews by mass shootings. These are the creators of the hundreds of mass graves and burial pits throughout Eastern Europe, for atrocities such as Babi Yar, and for the development of the truly industrial means of mass murder eventually used at places like Auschwitz.
This is an excellent history, but a hard one. Rhodes details the psychology and methodology of both the highest and the lowest, from Hitler and Himmler to the rank and file. It is brutal stuff, men women and children shot to death by the tens of thousands day after day. Entire villages wiped out in a morning, and children tossed into the air before being shot lest the bullets, passing completely through their little bodies should cause dangerous ricochets. The book overwhelms the reader, and I think I'm going to start something very light and fun to read before bed, relegating Rhodes excellent work to hours long before sleep. As difficult as such histories are to read, though, they are of vital importance. We cannot turn away from the darker places in our past, lest we create a sanitized version of history that allows or even encourages us to forget the people who didn't have to worry about reading the history because they died trying to live through it.
Next Up: Lord God, something light! Some more Jack Williamson, maybe, or H. Rider Haggard, even Lermontov, but definitely fiction, and hopefully with a nice, happy ending.


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As something new, the e-conomic introduced a 'Grant Access Token' system. Through this token is given access to accounts API, where in the past would have handed Agreement No, User ID and Password.
IEX supports the new token system, and to get started with IEX integration you need to provide access via e-conomic.
Give IEX access to your e-conomic agreement
You will see this page:
You must copy this token that looks like this string: c3FN7OUHXJXIJKLx0bomudB0e7SbgkGPk4YxUT + Uzt0 =
Send token to [email protected] with an indication of the customer you are.


text:
Age: 22
Measure: 32B-24-34
Height: 5'3
Our aim at Affair Calgary escorts is to provide you with a truly unique service that will add pleasure to your leisure hours. The Calgary escort agency is here to make it easy for you to find genuine, desirable, attractive and truly lovely escorts in Calgary.
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Welcome to Elite Calgary Escorts.
Age: 22
Measure: 32B-24-34
Height: 5'3


text:
Hi All,
Good day.
I would like to seek your help regarding our error when publishing our dashboard in the tableau server.
The dashboard was created using tableau desktop 10.0 while our tableau server's version is 10.2.
This batch job is running but it started getting error just a few days ago.
The package workbook is around 400Mb and got some sensitive data so I can't upload here. Hope you understand.
Thanks in advance,
Sorry. I accidentally click the assumed answer...
Become a Viz Whiz on the Forums!
Support the Community and master Tableau.
Retrieving data ...


text:
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Marriage is Growing Together
One of the arguments that I have heard from many different gender variant individuals about why they should not tell their spouses is because they don't know what to tell them what they are, like TG or a CD or where they will be in ten years. If this sounds similar in nature to another post I recently put up, it is because it is. In that post spoke at length about not knowing where I will be in ten years in regards to my transition.
That is not what this post is about. This post is really about the idea of marriage. When committing yourself to a marriage, are you doing so to the person that is in front of you right then? With the expectation that they will always remain that person? Like if that person enjoys vanilla ice cream when you marry them, does that mean they will have to enjoy vanilla ice cream forever? And that if they suddenly switch to enjoying chocolate ice cream that your world will begin to fall apart?
Well no, probably not. I mean does anyone really have all that much invested into the flavor of ice cream that their spouse chooses to eat? I think not! Well maybe, but I hope not. Ice cream is not serious. But there are a million little issues that could be more serious within a marriage that could change over a lifetime. What about a job? Or where one wants to live? Or how about having children? Or the number of children? What about one's health?
That last one is a doozy. We humans tend to have a nasty chance of having bad shit happen to our health. What about if one day your spouse is fine, and the next you have to feed them because of a massive stroke? Yeah, shit sure does happen. The point really is, things happen over a lifetime. Nobody and nothing stays the same for long. So what is it when we marry someone? It can't be this expectation that when one marries they are marrying that person and that person will always remain that exact same person. Okay, possibly some do have that expectation, but it is simply naive to believe that.
People change all of the time, some of the things are small and some are big. Admittedly I'm discussing this because I am transgender and people often ask my wife how she is with everything that I am doing. Being transgender is a pretty big thing. It can be a very life changing thing. It is not as simple as what flavor of ice cream one likes.
But then again, if I didn't know that my wife's favorite ice cream had changed from chocolate to vanilla, I'd be quite annoyed. I wouldn't be annoyed because she changed her likes and dislikes, what would bug me is that she didn't share it with me. I would want to know what her favorite ice cream is, because I like knowing about her. I like knowing her likes and dislikes and thinking that I know what those things are.
Which brings me back to my original thoughts, about some gender variant people not speaking with the ones they love about it. Relationships, marriage especially, grow through communication. If there is no talking, there is no relationship, at least in my mind. Yes telling your spouse that you are transgender is a pretty big deal and honestly I have no idea what that would feel like. Yes my spouse obviously knows that I am transgender, but it is not like I never said anything and then boom, came out to her one day, and now everything is perfect between us as we ride off on our white horse in our wedding dresses into the sunset! Ha!
My marriage to my wife has so far survived all of my attempts at understanding my gender variance because every single step of the way I have spoken to her about every last little tiny thing. Trust me, I have spoken to her so much that she has often asked me to stop. Not that she doesn't like me, but that at times I can be more than a bit obsessive about communicating. It is that very communication though that has saved our marriage. We have grown together throughout this all.
When I have made an appointment seeking hormone therapy and she is not just supportive of that, she is wanting the time to go faster until I can actually get them, that is some serious growth! Maybe you don't know, but at one time she was very clear, if I ever start hormones, she is out. Yup, she said that. Now what's up? She wants me to take them. Again, not just supportive, but wanting it to happen. Why the change? Well there is a story behind that as well, but I am going to leave that for another day.
Today, this post, is really yet another plea for spouses to be open and honest with each other. For people in relationships to understand that in order to survive the test of time, being as my spouse and I have been together since 15 and we are now 45, you must work to grow together.
Grow with someone. It makes the garden so much prettier.
Love you!
Love yourself!!
Love growing together!
Photo Credits:
11 comments:
Lives change and people evolve and, we must adapt to changes and twists and turns that life throws our way. On the gender issue for many of us it takes years, if not decades, for us to come to some sort of an understanding of ourselves and what percolates from the inside to the outside. Having someone love us and stick with us through all that life brings is a true blessing.ReplyDelete
It really is Pat. The love I feel inside of me for my wife for sticking by me is tremendous! Thanks!Delete
Great post, hon. I know communication has always been the weak point in my marriage, and something we're struggling with right now. I need to take a page from your book and find ways the pull the thoughts out of my subconscious and have more of those conversations.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Sally. I know it can be hard, but I really believe it is for the best. It takes courage, but it can be done. Good luck!Delete
- AnonymousAugust 2, 2017 at 4:58 PM
I do so agree Pat and Nadine. If a spouse develops a chronic illness, that is no reason for a marriage breakdown so why should dysphoria be different even if it had to be thought of as an illness - thank goodness it isn't. For sure it can take many of us years to accept it for ourselves but we are still the same person our wives married. Keep talking, jaw jaw works. Love LindaReplyDeleteReplies
I agree Linda, thanks!Delete
- AnonymousAugust 2, 2017 at 5:45 PM
My wife and my therapist also coached open communication. Unfortunately this is something my wife (soon to be ex) could not handle. I told her about some of my gender inclinations before we married, over 20 years ago; she rejected it out of hand and I, assuming that this time I could really purge it all once and for all, tried to do just that. And we all know how well that worked.ReplyDelete
The really crappy thing is how much we still care for each other. But she said I've been deceitful and I'm torn. On the one hand she's right. But until more recently, after I really studied and investigated myself, did I understand that I am transgender.
I fully agree that we cannot predict how we as marriage partners will evolve. I assumed that, although troubling, that she would learn to accept and appreciate that I'm finally coming to terms with the shame and depression I've suffered for my whole life. But that wasn't to be. She's miserable and scared now, living alone, and while we talk once or twice a week on the phone, I'm off and living my life, and seriously contemplating transitioning. It all sucks for both of us and it's neithers fault.Replies
Thanks for sharing your story. I am SO sorry that things have not worked out well for you and your previous wife. It is so sad to hear when things do not go well.Delete
The tricky part of growing together through communication is that all people in the relationship need to buy into it and participate. With my wife and I, I am such a stubborn human that my persistence is relentless. It is only though this dogged determination that my wife and I have survived.
I a happy for you, that you appear to be moving in a positive direction! It is hard, but worth it!
Take care Emma!
I truly feel for you Emma. That is rough. In my case, early on I came to the conclusion that I couldn't not tell the person interested in me about my "issues" because I truly did not want to hurt them later on nor could I tell them the truth due to my fear that it would get around to others to eventually harm me. A Catch-22 if ever there was one. My solution for most of my life has been to remain alone. It's hard sometimes but at least I hurt no one else and that is what matters to me.ReplyDelete
I feel bad for you. You are such a kind caring human, but you are so afraid of risk. Within risk there is a chance of things going poorly, but there is also the chance of things going well. If one is not willing to risk lose, then one will never realize gains.
Best of luck to you!
Nadine, I haven't always worried about everything. ;-) It's only really been on the final stretch to retirement that I realized that I couldn't put my future well-being at risk for fear of losing my job because in the end, I knew that there would only be me to support myself and grow old with. I just can't cause another person anguish over me ever again...ReplyDelete
Life has been grinding on me a bit lately and I'm thinking that I would like to see that person that you mentioned to me a while back. I'm waiting for my new vehicle to arrive (yay!) so we'll see after then. Take care.


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OpenStack is a collection of open source software for building public and private Clouds. It can be used either by providers who want to deliver infrastructure as a service to customers or enterprises that want a private Cloud for on-demand, self-service provisioning of compute services for departments.
The roots of the project, which launched mid-2010, lie in collaboration between NASA and Rackspace. According to Mark Collier, Rackspace vice-president of business and corporate development and one of the founders of the OpenStack project, NASA had been working to leverage the Eucalyptus Cloud platform to build a compute Cloud, but in the end chose to create its own software — Nova — which is now incorporated into OpenStack
At the same time, Rackspace had been assessing its position in the market. "We were the second largest Cloud and we had a lot of momentum, but also knew that Amazon was really doing an amazing job on the technology front in terms of advancing their platform very quickly," says Collier. "We were looking at our options for ways to accelerate our roadmap ways to get develop technology."
Open Source Spotlight - Yabi: Bringing drag-and-drop to supercomputers
Open Source Spotlight - iSpy Connect
Open source case study: SugarCRM at Footprints Recruiting
"We started to really seriously consider an open source development model for how we develop software, so we could build an army of developers, engineers throughout the industry, not just people we could hire at Rackspace, to try to compete against some of these big giants like an Amazon or a Google."
NASA comes on board
A month before Rackspace was ready to launch the project, it got word that software engineers at NASA were building software for powering a compute Cloud and were considering open sourcing it. Rackspace had a mature object storage system that was on its second generation and was prepared to release the code, but a project to design a complementary compute system (based on existing Rackspace technology) was just kicking off.
"It was really just this fortuitous meeting [with NASA] where we sat down with them and it turned out that not only did they have something that they had already prototyped, that was working on the compute side, and we had this storage system… they actually had pursued a design architecturally that was very similar to what we kind of had in our heads," Collier says.
The result was OpenStack.
From NASA's point of view, the approach made sense as a way of sourcing development resources from an open source community, says James Williams, CIO at NASA's Ames Research Center. Williams played a key role in getting NASA backing for OpenStack.
"If we were to have invested in all the things that were required to really make our Cloud computing platform work, we would never have been able to afford it," Williams says.
For NASA, the benefits of OpenStack were twofold: "One is that we now have the ability leverage the OpenStack development community to continue our own capability, but at the same time we did our responsibility as a federal entity by creating opportunity."
"One of the ideas that we originally came up with is that, well, we have to be involved in an open source development community, so that there was a development community that evolved to support and sustain it," Williams says. In addition, he saw the role the project could play in stimulating commercial activity. "We've been really happy to see some of the commercial [OpenStack] companies popping up, knowing that NASA had a direct impact on creating economic growth."
Williams admits that going down the open source route was a "hard sell" to management. "The hard sell wasn't so much about the merits of the technology — when we were able to explain what the capability was and where it was able to take us they understood that — but because we're a federal entity there are a lot of laws that govern [how] the federal government can participate in the commercial space.
"So NASA had to work [out the] legalities in order to move into open source development. The resistance wasn't about the capability or the technology value; the resistance was really about can we do this in a way that the federal government is doing it legally and that NASA doesn't get in trouble for doing it. And I have to say that NASA's legal team really knew what it was doing to help us get there"
In Australia, a fledging OpenStack community has been clustering under the umbrella of the Australian OpenStack Users Group, which has brought together industry players, researchers and students.
"Back in September/October [2011] we started working on OpenStack in house and realised there were not many people doing it in Australia at all," says Tristan Goode, CEO at hosting company Aptira and the founder of the Australian OpenStack Users Group. "The only people we found doing it in a big way was the University of Melbourne with the NeCTAR project."
The $47 million NeCTAR project will offer researchers access to scalable compute power and research applications and is financed through the Education Investment Fund, established by the federal Nation-building Funds Act 2008.
OpenStack down under
"When they reach full capacity soon with 26,000 cores, it will be the biggest OpenStack deployment outside the USA," Goode says. "When we saw there wasn't really an OpenStack community here, we got in contact with the guys in the States, we created a MeetUp group we then also went out to a few of our contacts people in the industry; we went to AusNog, LinkedIn Cloud groups."
So far, interest seems to have come from some of the smaller players in the hosting space — Goode says Aptira itself is a boutique hosting company — but he says the community is beginning to mature and grow.
From Goode's point of view, OpenStack is appealing because it offers a more flexible alternative to Amazon with far more potential. "I like the philosophy of the guys driving it at the OpenStack Foundation," he adds. Currently Aptira relies heavily on proprietary virtualisation software, which is an increasingly expensive proposition for the company. "The fact that we can do a lot of what we [currently] do with proprietary virtualisation software with open source is great. We're very much hardware agnostic and [OpenStack] fits much more with our philosophy."


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Images from an accessories brochure, published in the late 90s.
All of the accessories shown in this brochure are discontinued,
but show up quite often on eBay.
Seeing this brochure reminds me of the excitement of being a new collector way back when!ReplyDelete
It seems like forever since these all came out. :-)ReplyDelete
WOW! I didn't realize there was this much stuff issued.ReplyDelete
There was a BOATLOAD of stuff back then, some of it nice and some NOT so nice. :-)ReplyDelete


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You can read this as a true story, a lesson for you, or perhaps, both.
The Christ sent his disciple to New York. He taught her to heal and do miracles, then told her to go.
She thought it was so she could be an actress and model. Her mother promised to help pay for her rent and lessons. Her modeling friends said wow could we come too? One of them even decided they would go to the Ford Agency together (she knew someone there). She told her daughter she was going to follow her dreams and her daughter understood and said it's ok mummy, daddy and I will be fine.
When the time came Jennifer (as I will call her) found out that her mother had changed her mind and was no longer going to help. Her sister accused her of abandoning her child. The other model decided she wasn't ready to go to New York after all. Every one else cheered from the sidelines envious, resentful, and afraid. Don't go to New York; go to Los Angeles where you can stay with your aunt!
She was afraid, and asked for help. The Christ said, you're meant to be in New York, and always remember, you're going as a healer. The modeling and acting is just the way you're going to meet people.
There was no money for the plane ticket; it showed up at the last moment. Her husband, worried about how he might manage, had a fight with her the day before she left. She hadn't eaten in days, She felt sick, nervous and unsure of herself.
The INS took one look and detained her. Nervous, she said she was a model. They were convinced she was going to look for work, but somehow let her go. She'd have missed her plane, but it was delayed.
Jennifer wanted to throw up throughout the flight. As soon as she arrived at her hostel she burst into tears and called The Christ, saying she wanted to come home. He said it was up to her; still, when he left home at the age of 11, he had cried too, but was fine the next day. Did she want to give up and live the rest of her life regretting her choice? Wait a day; she would be fine.
The next day, (September 7) she was fine. She only had enough money for a week, but believed it would be all right. A job, any job, would be fine.
Her friend the model called her, saying they should get together and meet some of her friends who would help her get a job. Jennifer refused. She was going to make it by herself. Everywhere she went, looking for a job, they asked for her papers. But she kept her hopes up.
She was at a club, dancing. A man came over and asked her for a date.
A huge storm hit Manhattan the next day, Sept.10. Sitting at her window, looking at the pouring rain, she wasn't sure she wanted to go out that evening. A streaking bolt of lightning hit her building, right beside her, the flash and thunder as one. This was a sign, of the kind she knew to trust. And as Jennifer left the building, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
That night, dancing with her date, another man came over to talk to her. She decided to leave with him, and went across the river to his home in New Jersey. It was 4 a.m., September 11. She had planned to be out early the next day for a job near the World Trade Center, but was tired and decided to sleep in. As she fell asleep, she heard Aruna, the Christ's daughter, talking to her, telling her not to be afraid; she would be all right. Aruna was autistic, but here she sounded just like a normal child.
Aruna's spirit had come to Jennifer because of her love for her.
Jennifer woke up on September 11, to a world that had changed completely.
She couldn't make it back to her hostel; it didn't matter, she was welcome to stay in the apartment as long as she liked. She tried to call her family but couldn't get through. She connected with the Christ, though, and he promised to tell her family that she was all right. He reminded her how he had been in Los Angeles in 1993-1994 to help heal the city during the Malibu fires and Los Angeles earthquake. Now it was her turn. Jennifer realized that she had been protected all along.
Her husband, realizing she was staying with a man, was angry and jealous. Her daughter called her, crying and confused, asking her to come home. Jennifer explained why she had to stay, and helped her understand. She told her husband that she had made a choice, and it was up to him to accept it or not. Her father started to lecture her over the phone. She told him it was her life, and he backed down. She gave herself a date: by September 17, she would have a job. She started work on September 16.
Jennifer now had two lovers. Coincidentally, they were both Arabs. She told them that she liked them both, but wasn't interested in relationships or putting up with jealousy, otherwise she would move out. They had to accept it, though the first man still wants her to marry him and move to Morocco. The second one simply accepts her, because he no longer has nightmares.
She started to heal, and the healing energy spread from her hands and her body throughout the city. A man saw her as an angel, and cried. The mayor made a statesman like speech (The first in his life) A sidewalk artist wrote, "An eye for an eye leaves every one blind". And people mourned, and some talked of understanding, and forgiving, and moving on, and smelled flowers in the air around her.
And Jennifer, for the first time in her life, was no longer afraid.
©- Naseer Ahmad-2001


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Challenge Accepted is a web-based app that turns your to-do list into a quest log, and turns you into a bold adventurer. Earn experience points for your real-life adventures by treating them like quests in your favorite role-playing games. Are you ready to join the battle?
These things don't display for magical beans on older browsers or Internet Explorer. We recommend Google Chrome, a fully updated Firefox or even Safari for the full experience.
Has Challenge Accepted helped you to slay the fire-breathing dragon that is your to-do list? Has earning EXP for your IRL tasks helped motivate you to be more productive? Has thinking of yourself as a brave adventurer helped to make tackling your dirty laundry any easier?
Why not donate some of your hard-earned gold to buy the developers a cup of coffee? (AKA, to help the developers pay for web-hosting costs?)
Bonus: eventually, we plan to implement paid account options (or, as we're calling them, "guild memberships"), so people who want to support the site will get some extra features and fun bonuses. Anybody who donates $10 or greater via PayPal before that system is implemented will automatically receive a year of guild membership once that starts being a thing. Donate $50 or greater and receive a lifetime guild membership!
Seriously, though: we put huge amounts of our time, energy, and EXP into this project, because we wanted to build the RPG-inspired productivity tool that we dreamed of, and we figured that maybe there were other people out there who would be as into the idea as we were. We're pretty happy to be right, and we're excited to continue developing Challenge Accepted and making it even more epic.
But we also need to, you know—eat. And pay our hosting costs. So if you love Challenge Accepted like we do, please consider making a small donation through our PayPal account. You'll get a +10 to your Excellence score!*
Yours truly,
The Dev Team
(*Disclaimer: "Excellence Score" is not a real thing. But the warm fuzzy feeling you'll get is almost as good!)


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Become a Better Writer: Explain More
The essence of technical writing is explaining. Whether you're writing an introductory tutorial or a massive reference manual, your goal is always to explain something to the reader. It follows that to be a better writer, you should be a better explainer. And as with any skill, you get better with practice.
Take opportunities to explain things to people. Remember that guy at the gas station asking for directions? Take a few minutes out of your day to help him. Think about his frame of reference. Will he be able to recognize local landmarks? Does he know which way North is? Think about the different ways he could accomplish his task. The route you would take isn't necessarily the best route to send him on.
Explaining things to people will help you understand how others might think. You get used to the things you know, and it's sometimes hard to articulate everything to somebody else. You might leave out steps that seem obvious to you. The more you explain things, the better you will become at anticipating gaps in your explanations.
If a colleague asks you to explain your work or your decisions, do it. Don't treat it like a challenge or a distraction. Explaining will help you better understand the subject: the best way to learn is to teach. And it will help you create things that make sense to other people.
Try taking things a step further and writing instructions for things in life. Sure, it could be about complicated technology, like programming your VCR. But you can write instructions for low-tech things too. If you like to cook, write instructions for one of your favorite meals. Then ask somebody else to cook from your instructions. Remember that terms that are familiar to you might be lost on your reader. Does your reader know the difference between simmer and sauté?
By explaining things through instructions, you practice explaining without immediate feedback. Face-to-face instruction is wonderful, but it's not a luxury you have when writing documentation. You have to take your skills in explaining things and put them to use in an environment where you can't see confused facial expressions or answer questions.
Make a habit of explaining better in everyday life, and you will find you're more able to create things that other people actually understand.
Embedded Help
Silke and I have an old Archos DVR. I've never been extremely happy with this device, but it gets the job done. Last night I recorded the Lost season premiere. Instead of scheduling a recording, like I usually do, I just started a recording immediately, expecting it to keep recording until I hit Stop. Instead, it stopped on its own after an hour and fifteen minutes.
Wanting to know why, I checked the built-in manual. The Archos manual is a 79-page PDF file that you view on-screen. You can view about half a page at once, and the scrolling is slow. It doesn't automatically advance to the next page when you scroll past the bottom; it takes three button presses to do that. And it takes it about three seconds to render a page.
No matter how good the content is (and, to their credit, I did find the answer), this is a complete failure of a delivery mechanism. This got me thinking in general about best practices for help embedded in set-top boxes, appliances, mobile devices, and other systems with limited interaction or screen space.
I'm sure it's no surprise that I think the best thing in this case would be topic-oriented help. A device like this almost certainly needs a printed setup manual, but beyond that, people are mostly going to look for specific answers. And they'll lose any printed material you give them, so the best place to put the help is on the device.
Devices like this present some unique challenges. Things we take for granted in the desktop world aren't necessarily so elsewhere. Any UX people with experience in mobile or embedded devices could probably talk my ear off about this. (Please do, by the way.) So what kinds of problems are there?
- Disk space is often limited. My Archos has a hefty 80GB hard drive. That's huge by embedded standards, but tiny by desktop standards. Help files take up space, especially once you start adding figures and screenshots.
- Screen space is limited. Applications usually run fullscreen, and that would include your help viewer. The fact that you can't view the help and the helped application side by side can really affect the way you write.
- Another effect of limited screen space is that there often isn't enough space to put lots of context-sensitive help buttons in the UI.
- Interaction is cumbersome. Mobile devices almost always use a touch interface these days, and for a lot of things that's very powerful. But set-top devices that use your TV usually just use a rocker on a remote. That's a terrible substitute for a mouse. And text entry without a keyboard is never fun.
I don't buy into the notion that desktop systems as we know them today will die any time soon. But it's clear we're going to see more and more of these sorts of devices in our daily lives. So I'm very interested in how we can provide better user assistance in this area.
It looks like there are a couple of related talks at the upcoming WritersUA Conference. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend one of them because I'll be presenting Mallard in the peer showcase.


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Amani will be going to 4th grade come September. I am very proud of her accomplishment because 3rd grade was her first year having to take the state exams for reading and math. I knew she had some areas she struggled in and I just prayed everything would work out. And it did. Not only will she be going to 4th grade,she got this as a memento of the third grade:
Not to mention the two medals she won on Field Day. How could I not be proud?
When I was in 4th grade, I had a strict teacher,Mrs.Rios. I remember she wore this monochromatic pink lipstick that would slide into the corners of her mouth. She had a thick Spanish accent and even thicker black hair. She always had this uninterested scowl on her face but she knew everything that went on in class 401. I was a good student but my Math suffered and it made me hate Math. I would always let my mind wander during our multiplication drills and I paid for it by having to write the table 1-12 twenty five times each.
I also kept a juny desk in fourth grade. Every week, Mrs.Rios made me clean out all the junk in front of the entire class. It embarrassed me the first couple of times,which was probably the intent, but then it just became routine. She eventually gave up and let me clean out my desk in my normal spot. She wasn't my favorite teacher because she tried to break my hard headed nature. Even now, I still resent her. Here's to Amani having a better experience!


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Tonight's Riverdale was dark, bloody, and, honestly, pretty terrifying. Two more people were shot. Betty blackmailed Cheryl. This wholesome town is falling apart. I won't waste your time with more build-up, so let's just get to the good stuff. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
Some miserable troll has vandalized Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. The owner, Pop, is devastated by this, and I seriously can't handle this normally-jolly man looking so sad.
Remember, Archie's now on a mission to protect his father, Fred, from the shooter who's still at large. His method for doing this last week was sitting in the hallway wielding a bat; this week, it's guzzling soda and bringing Fred toast in bed. Archie seriously needs to simmer down; he keeps calling Sheriff Keller to learn more about the shooter, but Keller (smartly) isn't returning his calls. Archie's an unstable child, people. He should just drop this case and go back to being shirtless and singing or whatever he did last season.
Veronica's very hot (but probably still evil) father, Hiram, pesters her about having dinner with him and her mother. Privy to her father's criminal ways, she says "never." Again, smart move. He's sketch.
The Core Four is very sad that Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe is in shambles, so Betty and Veronica start planning an event to save it. Meanwhile, Jughead meets his father's (F.P.) lawyer at the sheriff's station. I literally forgot F.P. was in jail because I care so little about the Jones family. F.P.'s facing 20 years in jail, so Jughead's naturally shook about that. He starts crying. Even his beanie quivers. Archie's too distracted with Fred's shooter to be a good friend about this.
Jughead asks a South Side Serpent to help him bust F.P. out of jail; the Serpent laughs at this, calls Jughead a child (he is), and says a "Snake Charmer"—whatever that is—is who Jughead needs to contact. The "Snake Charmer" is, apparently, a Serpent lawyer named Penny Peabody. She tells Jughead having the Blossom family forgive F.P. in front of a judge would help his case. But taking advice from Penny was a mistake: F.P. frantically calls Jughead and tells him not to talk to her anymore and that he doesn't want to "be in bed" with a "Snake Charmer."
Archie confronts Sherriff Keller about why the police is sleeping on Fred's shooter. He volunteers to go patrolling with the police to find the perp, which sounds like something a 9-year-old boy would say. Archie's essentially a toddler who wants to play Cops and Robbers, and Sherrif Keller's like, "Yo, just chill and drink your Capri Sun."
Lurking Betty notices Archie hasn't been sleeping in his room, so she asks Veronica to confront him about it. He tells Veronica's he's been staying up all night downstairs with a baseball bat to stop Fred's shooter if/when he shows up. Veronica's response to this is pretty much, "I'm rich and gorgeous and don't know how to handle this; go see the school counselor." Honestly, that's how I'd react too.
Jughead and Betty go to Mayor McCoy and ask her to turn Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe into a town landmark; she refuses, and then Jughead asks her if she's cool sending F.P. to jail for a murder he didn't commit. She's pretty whatever about it, which means she's my new favorite character. Jughead threatens Mayor McCoy and tells her to remember this as the day she turned her back on Pop and F.P. This is supposed to be dramatic, but I think Jughead is ridiculous, so I'm unfazed.
A new character, Midge Klump, asks Reggie Mantle about something called "Jingle Jangle." Spoiler: It's a drug, because Reggie says he can "score some" for Midge and her boyfriend, Moose. Archie also asks Reggie for "Jingle Jangle" to help him stay awake and keep guard of his house. Reggie agrees, and also adds that "Jingle Jangle" will give Archie a lengthy erection, which, gross.
Betty goes on some rant to Veronica and Kevin about how Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe is sentimental to her, which is why she wants to save it. Blah blah blah. Their powwow is interrupted by Veronica's dad, who shows up with flowers to talk to her. Veronica says she can't go back to the way things with were with him because she now knows what a crook he is. I mean, true, but he's also a damn snack.
Cheryl. Is. Here. The first thing she does is call Veronica and Betty "Humpty" and "Dumpty." Thank God. Josie is the Riverdale Vixens' newest recruit, but she has one request: to be in front. Betty asks Cheryl if the Vixens would perform at their "Save Pop's" event, to which she replies, "I did not emerge from the frozen depths of Sweetwater River nor the flames of Thornhill to allow my Vixens to sling milkshakes at some death-cursed diner." She's a national treasure.
Archie finds out about Ms. Grundy getting murdered, and he flips. He obviously thinks this hit and his father's shooting are connected, and he asks Alice Cooper to investigate. Because Grundy was strangled with a cello bow and Fred was shot, Alice says the likelihood of the crimes being committed by the same person is slim. Obviously, Archie doesn't believe this. He thinks Grundy's unstable ex committed both crimes, but Sheriff Keller shuts down his hysterics. Again, just drink your juice, Archie.
In a heated confrontation at the Lodge house, Hiram claims he isn't responsible for Fred's shooting. Veronica then asks Hiram about the letter she received that said Hermione would get hurt if she didn't testify on his behalf. As it turns out, Hermione herself wrote that letter to coerce Veronica into testifying. This family is shady, shady, shady (but also sexy, so it's fine).
Jughead and Betty go to Cheryl's new house to beg Cheryl and her creepy mom to accept F.P.'s in-court apology. Cheryl calls Betty and Jughead "Hobo" and "Bride of Hobo" and refuses their request.
But wait! Dark Betty makes a brief, psycho appearance to blackmail Cheryl into testifying on F.P.'s behalf; she says she'll wide-release the video of Clifford Blossom shooting Jason if Cheryl doesn't. Cheryl complies—and even tells the court Clifford threatened F.P. to force him into covering up Jason's murder. Damn. After Cheryl does this, Betty honors her word and gives Jason's death tape back.
A chat with Jughead suddenly gives Veronica a change of heart about her hot-but-evil parents: She wants to start over with them, but this is a bad idea. Hiram and Hermione told Veronica they made a "charitable donation" to save Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe; however, they actually bought it from under Pop's nose.
Wait! Hermione lied! Hiram really did write that letter threatening Hermione's life if Veronica didn't testify for him. And they definitely have a suspicious agenda for buying the Chock'lit Shoppe! These two are slimy snakes, and Veronica has no idea! S.O.S!
At the "Save Pop's" event, Archie can't stop staring at this dude in the parking lot wearing glasses. His name is Dilton Doiley, and Archie apparently asked him to get him a gun. They meet on a deserted bridge to complete the transaction. Archie's officially off the rails.
But not as off the rails as this masked shooter. At the end of the episode, he shoots two more people: Midge and Moose, who were high off the "Jingle Jangle" Reggie gave them. More carnage! Why is this friggin' show so violent now?!? I need an adult.
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The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture is a complete online record of all the surviving Romanesque sculpture in the British Isles and the Irish Republic. Available free to all, it acts as both a record of a precious heritage and as an exciting new tool for researchers. Through its interactive capabilities, we are able to resolve old problems and ask new questions. CRSBI is a registered charity (No.1168535).
The work of recording and photography is done by a team of volunteers, all experienced students or scholars of Romanesque sculpture. Each piece is photographed, briefly described or defined, measured where applicable and uploaded to the website, with a brief introduction to the building. All site reports are then checked by an expert editor before publication on this website. Arranged county by county, each site entry follows a fixed structure that helps you to navigate through the sculptured features of the building, starting with such larger elements as doors and arches and going on to fonts and smaller pieces.
Like CRSBI on Facebook for updates on our events and more.
Follow CRSBI on Twitter for Romanesque-related news, and the newest sites that have been added to our database.
The CRSBI image server uses the Kakadu JPEG2000 library under license.


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Premium 3 Bedroom Suite for 6, Orlando
This luxurious rental is just a 20-minute drive from the famed Universal Studios!
- Master bedroom with a luxurious king bed and a private bath
- Queen bed in the second bedroom
- 2 cozy single beds in the third bedroom
- In-suite laundry facilities
- Gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances
- Your own private balcony
- Over 2300 sq ft. of space!
- Oversized "vanishing edge" pool and hot tub overlooking Lake Cay
- State-of-the-art fitness centre on-site!
- 8-minute drive from Seaworld Orlando
- Disney World is just a 12-minute drive away!
- 15-minute drive to wildlife shows and entertainment at Gatorland
If you want a vacation filled with both luxury and fun, this rental is for you. Our resort features a gorgeous outdoor pool, a hot tub, a state-of-the-art fitness centre and more all while being right in the middle of tons of attractions like Disney World, Seaworld, Discovery Cove, and a number of water parks. Design your vacation how YOU want when you stay at our ideally located resort!
This elegant suite with 3 BEDROOMS sleeps up to 6 people and features a king-sized bed, a queen bed, and 2 single beds.
Prepare for your day in the 2 UPSCALE BATHROOMS that include basic toiletries and towels.
Relax in the LIVING AREA after a day at Disney World, equipped with a TV and a DVD player. Get an outfit ready for a night out using the iron/ironing board or in-suite laundry facilities.
Make a quick meal in your FULLY-EQUIPPED GOURMET KITCHEN that includes stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, a full fridge, a microwave, and a dishwasher for easy cleanup. Enjoy your meal in the separate dining area.
Drink your morning coffee on your own PRIVATE BALCONY.
When you're not sipping drinks at our pool-side bar, we recommend hitting up Bahama Breeze Bar and Grill, just an 8-minute drive away from your rental for dinner. We suggest grabbing something tasty in the mornings at First Watch breakfast restaurant for a cozy atmosphere and the best coffee in Orlando.
Please note, a nightly resort fee of $11.99/night per suite will be collected upon arrival. To keep the unit in tip-top shape for you, there's a mandatory $105 cleaning fee taken at the time of check-in
Business Centre
Cable/Satellite TV
DVD player
Fitness Centre
Free local calls
Games room/area
In-suite washer/dryer
Ironing board/Iron
Movie theatre
Towels provided
TV in every bedroom
TV in common area
WiFi (free)
All suites are non-smoking
Elevator access
Pet Friendly
Hot tub (outdoor shared)
Outdoor pool (year round)
Shared BBQ area
Full size fridge/freezer
Home Truths
Enjoy all the privacy of a self-serve rental with the luxury of resort amenities including:
- Outdoor vanishing edge pool with Lake Cay views
- Outdoor hot tub overlooking Lake Cay
- Elegantly decorated Clubhouse surrounded by lush landscaping
- State-of-the-art Fitness Center
- Business Center with Computers, High-Speed Internet Connections, & Printing
- Game Room, including pool tables
- Full liquor pool bar and snacks
- Kids Splash Pool
- Gift shop
- ATM Machine
- Parking included
- Please let us know if you plan on bringing your furry best friend along with you on vacation as we'd be happy to accommodate your dog (or 2) for $25/pet/night
- To keep the unit in tip-top shape for you, there's a mandatory $105 cleaning fee taken at the time of check-in
- Guests must be a minimum age of 21 years in order to make a reservation, and must occupy the unit for the duration of the stay
Please note that a resort fee of $11.99 per night will be collected upon check-in. Although each unit meets the same high standard, the decor may vary from the photos.


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This picture is created by Envisioning, which is an independent technology research foundation based in Brazil. To see bigger, please click on picture. To learn more about research and education initiatives, click envisioning.io/education/
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"Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day."—Zen Proverb
October 2017
Hi, I am Serpil Tuti Sari. I live in Providence, Rhode Island. This is my personal web site, and also my blog about implementation of educational technology. I want to share my educational technology teaching experience both university and school setting, and business experience on Instructional Technology ,
e- learning, and 1-to-1 tablet using in education with you.
for more about me...


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Many Christians tend to wear a cloak of superiority in the world, comfortable in the belief that all others are inferior to them. Yet research indicates that religious beliefs removes people from justice and fairness. Christianity teaches that God's world is just: sin is punished, and appropriate beliefs are rewarded. That's why athletes will thank God for winning a game. This philosophy makes religious people believe that poor people, victims of crimes, and "losers" deserve what happens to them. In the biblical story, Job follows the belief that "God will not cast away an innocent man, neither will he uphold evildoers" (Job 8:20) and gets all his wealth and status returned to him. His dead children are replaced with seven new ones. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he says that "those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake" will get everything in the end. The pain of persecution will result in rewards.
A jury sentence in Florida shows how callous people can be when they exonerated a 22-year-old woman's rapist. The foreman said, "We all feel she asked for it [by] the way she was dressed." She wore a white lace miniskirt and green tank top. The Just World Hypothesis is the tendency to believe that victims of misfortune deserve what happens to them because everyone lives in an orderly. predictable, and just place.
On the Fox network, former prosecutor Kimberly Guilfoyle explained how Michael Brown could have stayed alive in Ferguson (MO) instead of being shot in the street because he wasn't on the sidewalk: "Don't go out and commit crimes." Her advice reflects a 1966 study when psychologist Max Lerner watched students inflicting painful electric shocks on classmates. When the student "jury" thought they could do nothing to stop the suffering, it just decided that the victim deserved the punishment.
Nine years later two researchers took this study's findings to examine the nature of the "jurors." Followers of the Just World Hypothesis tend to be religious, authoritarian, conservative, and negative toward underprivileged people. While admiring social institutions and authority figures, they "feel less of a need to engage in activities to change society or to alleviate plight of social victims."
Society's privileged classes follow the same mindset. They literally think differently from the less wealthy, and society reinforces the beliefs, equating success with virtue. This is equivalent with people believing that CEOs making 700 times more than the employees just "work harder" and thus deserve the money.
People with more modest incomes are more generous, charitable, and helpful as they give a larger percentage of their disposable income to charitable causes than the wealthy. Drivers of luxury cars are more likely to cut off other vehicles in traffic than drivers of less expensive models. The wealthy are more likely to endorse lying and cheating because of a sense of entitlement from their self-perception of superior intellect or work-ethic.
Beauty also demonstrates a "reward," as physically-attractive people are viewed as more sensitive, kind, and better-natured. (Thanks to Mark Esposito for these ideas about religious and justice.)
One can ask if the following religious figures found their "justice" through their religion:
The U.S. Supreme Court has approved last year's ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court upholding Mount Vernon school officials in firing a middle-school teacher who would not remove religious materials from his classroom. Maybe John Freshwater, the teacher, went over the edge when he marked a cross on a student's arm with a hand-held Tesla coil.
God TV, one of the biggest Christian television networks in the world, has serious problems after founder Rory Alec left his wife, Wendy, to move with his girlfriend from Israel to South Africa. The wife says that Satan was the cause. All may not be lost. The Christian network Daystar survived two scandals in two years between founders Marcus and Joni Lamb and their employees.
National Geographic plans to film Killing Jesus, one of Bill O'Reilly's killing series that includes Kennedy, Lincoln, and Patton. In an act of realism, the Middle Eastern man in the four-part series will be played by a Middle Eastern man. Lebanon-born actor Haaz Sleiman is also a Muslim. Fox, however, is convinced that Jesus is white—at last until O'Reilly's book becomes a movie. Then Breitbart.com may be incensed, but Fox may stay quiet. Note: Sleiman has also played a gay Muslim and a terrorist. Back to far-right fundamentalist Christian wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The U.S. can get rid of Fox host Mike Huckabee if the GOP refuses to fight the recent court rulings supporting marriage equality. On the American Family Association's "Today's Issues" program, he declaimed, "I am utterly exasperated with Republicans and the so-called leadership of the Republicans who have abdicated on this issue. I'm gone. I'll become an independent. I'll start finding people that have guts to stand. I'm tired of this."
That old leaky separation of church and state doesn't hold water in Indiana. Ellen Bogan escaped with a warning after State Trooper Brian Hamilton pulled her over for an alleged traffic violation, but she didn't escape his sermon. Did she have a home church? Did she accept Jesus Christ as her savior? Then Hamilton left her a pamphlet from the First Baptist Church in Cambridge City that asks to "acknowledge that (she is) a sinner." His lights flashed the entire time that he was talking religion, and Bogan didn't feel safe in leaving. He also violated the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution by keeping her longer than necessary to give her a warning ticket. Bogan is suing.
After years of bigotry toward LGBT people, Fox network, thanks to host Chris Wallace and guest Ted Olson, is trying a different tack. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins attempted to spew his usual hatred on Fox News Sunday, but Wallace asked him how his happy marriage would be changed with a same-sex couple living next door. No matter how much Perkins tried to avoid the question, Wallace returned to it. Olson also pointed out studies showing that children do as well or better in two-parent same-sex households as in heterosexual ones.
Students in three schools of the Rowan-Salisbury School District (North Carolina) are taught that the earth was literally made in seven days. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has sent a letter to the school district explaining that they are violating the Constitution of the United States.
The far-right seems obsessed with sex, and Phil Robertson, star of the reality TV show Duck Dynasty, is no exception. In a sermon last month, he declared, "Biblically correct sex is safe. It's safe. You're not going to get chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, AIDS — if you, if a man marries a woman, and neither of you have it, and you keep your sex between the two of you, you're not going to ever get sexually transmitted diseases." Earlier this year, researcher Elizabeth Boskey discovered that it's possible to be "infected asymptomatically" and not test for an std for a long time.
It may not be safe to have religious parents. Pamela J. Christensen, 47, told the police that she tried to kill her three daughters because she wanted them to "meet Jesus Christ." Her estranged pastor husband had sent her messages telling her the world was coming to an end. The Montgomery (IL) woman's daughters are ages 12, 16, and 19. The girls refused to drink poison so Christensen stabbed them. Christensen had served her husband, Vaughn, because he had become increasingly violent toward her and the children.
As Valerie Tarico wrote, white U.S. evangelical Christians believe they suffer more discrimination than minorities, atheists, Muslims, or Jews. Christianity is the majority religion in the country and controls all the legislatures and courts, both state and federal. Yet, as Alan Nobel, a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, wrote about the "evangelical persecution complex" because victimization has become part of Christian identity and culture. Persecution, according to religion, makes believers more righteous—more like Jesus.
People who are convinced they are wronged cannot see the wrongs that they themselves commit. It also keeps people from making things better and makes them helpless. As Tarico wrote:
"[The theology of persecution] has also blinded generations of believers to the possibility that sometimes the hardships they face are due not to their faith or outsiders hating Jesus, but to the fact that they hit first. And sometimes the bewildering hostility they perceive may simply be something the theology of persecution has set them up to expect, whether it is there or not."
It's time for those who feel persecuted to start figuring out how to help others instead of dragging them down.


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Archive for February 18th, 2015
Public Responds to LePage FY 2016-17 Biennial Budget (Day 1)Back in January, Maine Governor Paul LePage and members of his administration presented the FY 2016-2017 biennial budget proposal to the state. Since then, various members of the administration have met with the 127th Legislature's Appropriations and Financial Affairs standing committee (with other committees, as applicable) on multiple occasions, met with the public, and held numerous press conferences to sway not just members of the public but also their own party to support the proposals.
Now, it is the public's turn to speak up. Maine House Democrats shared the following summarized testimony presented to the committee on Tuesday.
- Adam Lee, Lee Auto Malls: "The idea of lowering the tax rate for the wealthiest members of society is misguided…When my taxes are lowered it leaves less to be distributed to the municipalities. I get a tax cut and everyone else in town gets to chip in to pay for it through higher property taxes. Doesn't sound fair? It isn't…. My business depends on a strong middle class. I sell good old fashioned Dodges, GMC trucks, Nissans, and used cars, as well as other brands. A strong middle class is not helped by tax breaks for the rich. Competitive rates, and tax breaks for the middle class is much more useful. A skilled workforce is the one of the single largest factors determining where a business locates. Invest in education, training, our University and community College System."
Veteran and Nurse Richard Bissell of Bangor: "I'm here to oppose these drastic cuts proposed by the Governor for wealthy Mainers and corporations, especially when those cuts come at the expense of the middle class and poor Mainers…Property taxes are an impossible cost for many Mainers, from young couples and families that are in their first home up to seniors try to age in their homes."
Small Business Owner Carson Lynch of Gorham Grind: "This plan would cut taxes for the very wealthy while effectively raising taxes on the lower and middle income Mainers. Not only is this morally wrong, it will hurt Maine small businesses and ship money out of state….My small business runs on very small margins. I'm not a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. A change to Maine's tax code could make or break my business."
Clam Digger Skip Worcester of Hermon: "I'm here today because I am deeply concerned with the Governor's proposed cuts to income and corporate taxes in Maine…Corporations are making record profits in Maine but they are not paying their fair share in taxes – their taxes have been less and less and their profits have been higher and higher, it's the reverse for us middle and lower classes. Our wages have stayed practically the same while the cost of living, heating and eating have gone up."
Among others who spoke to the committee was Davida Ammerman of Madison, whose testimony is below.
- Representative Rotundo, Senator Hamper, Representative Goode, and Senator McCormick, thank you for having me here today to speak with you.
I am here today to ask you to oppose the cuts to corporate and income tax in the Governor's proposed budget. With this proposal, we will see the divisions increase between rural areas that are not so affluent and able to carry the cost, am\nd more affluent ones that will. In a town like Madison where I live, the option to tax non-profits is not a viable source of revenue, forcing the town to increase property taxes to continue being viable.
Without a fair and balanced budget we will be forcing older people to lose their homes, and rural town are going to have a hard time keeping up with basic services like roads, law enforcement, and schools. Being on fixed income, it is hard to be able to conceive of paying more in sales and property taxes, and for the increase in services that I will need as I age. The Governor's proposal puts revenue at recession era levels, and it doesn't add up so that means we are going to see more cuts at the state level in future years. This creates a huge amount of uncertainty for us aging Mainers- we don't know what we can count on. I don't know that I will be able to keep my house, or if I will be able to pass it on to my children as planned.
On the other end this is going to be very hard and discouraging for young people in Maine as well. Our daughter, a single mom just barely making ends meet, would have to sell her house that she has worked so hard to get if her property taxes go, if the Homestead Exemption is cut for Mainers under 65, and she loses the chance to deduct her mortgage payment. Young kids that are already fighting student loans and low wages will lose their chance to get ahead. So many kids are just getting by already- this is making the American Dream even more unattainable.
If we are going to start taxing non-profits and cutting so many programs in the state budget, how is that going to affect funding homeless shelters and other organizations providing services for people who are just barely getting by and depending on these services for life support?
I hate to see the American Dream being put out of reach for so many of the population.
Thank You.
Quinn Gormley of Portland was kind enough to share her prepared testimony as well:
- My name is Quinn Gormley. I'm currently an undergraduate student at the University of Southern Maine in Portland, but I grew up in Damariscotta, where my father, a bus driver, and my mother, the director of our local library, still live and work today.
For most of my life, my family has proudly belonged to the working class in this state. Growing up, my parents taught me the value of a hard day's work, as my mother pulled sixty or more hour weeks, often with little to no pay, to keep the doors of the library open, and as my dad, who for my entire life has had to balance three different jobs just to help us make ends meet, waking up at 5 in the morning to drive a school bus, and often working late into the evening to get everything done.
During the recession we were lucky. A school always needs bus drivers, and the library is valued by our community, so my parents managed to keep their jobs. Many in our town were not so lucky. And I so, as I read the details of this new budget, I am concerned. I am concerned that this budget is shifting the burden onto Middle Class families and families like my own are not going to be able to afford it.
As a student who is used to examining things critically, when I look at this budget, I see the governor's tax cuts as forced false choices that prioritize income and estate tax cuts for Maine's wealthiest individuals and large corporations at the expense of property tax relief for families like my own.
Every dollar in tax cuts is a dollar that will have to be made up for with spending cuts. It just doesn't make sense to prioritize tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and large corporations and leave the school bus drivers and librarians to fend for their own.
As I navigate college with the hope to stay in Maine once I graduate, this budget does not seem to pave the way for a state with increased job growth, in contrast, states that have pursued this path in recent years have actually seen worse, not better, economic performance than neighboring states. They've had to cut state investments in education, and workforce training. I want to stay, work, and live in Maine but when my state pushes policies that hurt education, job training, and the middle class, I doubt that I can.
This budget is the wrong path for Maine. It benefits a small percentage of Mainer's, and the costs will be passed onto those hard working Mainers who are just trying to make it work. And so, I urge you; please oppose the cuts to corporate and income tax in this proposed budget. Thank you for your attention and all you do.
Democrats on the AFA committee later released their own statements:
- Rep. Peggy Rotundo, the House Chair of the Appropriations Committee: "We haven't been getting the the full story about Governor LePage's budget. I'm deeply concerned that the ratcheting down of state revenues in the out years will mean fewer dollars in the future for workforce development, education, and many of the very things businesses and workers say we need to succeed. We want a tax reform plan that is paid for now and in the future so we don't jeopardize our support for Maine families, our schools, or workforce, or for our local firefighters and police."
Senator Linda Valentino (Saco): "I support tax reform but this budget sidelines Maine families at the expense of the wealthy and big corporations. We heard a lot of concerns from people today about the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction, the Homestead exemption, and the property tax deduction. If these deductions are eliminated, it will jeopardize Maine's economic recovery."
Maine Center for Economic Policy released the following reactions to the budget proposal and information. MECEP economist Joel Johnson's full testimony can be found here. But these portions jump out:
- The combined fiscal impact of these tax cuts in FY 2019 is about $677 million per year, according to Maine Revenue Services. That's a tax cut equal to 19% of General Fund revenue forecast for that year. The sales tax increases in the Governor's budget don't cover the cost of that tax cut, and as a result, the state must cut spending by $266 million in FY 2019. That spending cut will grow into subsequent fiscal years as the corporate income tax cut fully phases in.
Approximately $167 million of the governor's proposed spending cuts will come in the form of the elimination of revenue sharing to towns and cities. Faced with a loss of revenue sharing and struggling to meet obligations to fund K-12 education, state and local governments will have to raise taxes and/or cut spending. That means higher taxes and/or fewer services like snowplowing, public safety, road maintenance, libraries, and parks. The governor's proposal saves an additional $12 million by eliminating the homestead exemption for most Mainers.
The governor's proposal fails to specify the remaining $90 million in state spending cuts it encompasses. In fact, the Governor's budget only specifies a two-year spending plan while proposing tax cuts that span multiple budget periods. The income and estate tax cuts proposed in the Governor's budget, combined with revamped arbitrary limits on state appropriation growth, will prevent the state from reaching the statutorily-mandated goal of funding 55% of the cost of K-12 education in the state any time in the near future. Yet the Governor's budget proposal includes a target of 55% for Fiscal Year 2017 and beyond. That is not a credible, achievable objective given the income and estate tax cuts included in a different section of the same budget proposal.
Other points raised by MECEP for consideration:
- 1. The governor's tax cuts aren't paid for and are fiscally irresponsible. They set Maine up for future fiscal crises, which will lead to deep cuts to education, health care, job training, and other foundational components of a strong, sustainable economy.
- By fiscal year 2019, the governor's plan cuts income, estate, and corporate taxes by $690 million and raises sales and use taxes by $424 million. That leaves a shortfall of $266 million. The governor proposes to make up this shortfall, in part, by eliminating $167 million in state aid to towns for local public services. Legislators will have to make up the remaining balance by additional spending cuts beyond those that have been enacted over recent years.
- The governor's plan locks in recession-era levels of revenue putting state spending as a share of the economy at historic lows. That means state funding for education, health care, and other services will continue to fall behind even as the economy recovers. It also means that Maine will have virtually no capacity to absorb unanticipated future expenses or to maintain critical public investments when the next economic downturn occurs.
- Every dollar in tax cuts is a dollar that legislators will have to make up by either raising other taxes or with cuts in spending for education and other services. At a time when the state is already failing to fulfill its commitments to Maine's students and communities it doesn't make sense to place a higher priority on tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and large corporations. For example, eliminating the estate tax will cost over $37 million by fiscal year 2019 and benefit approximately 150 of the wealthiest estates. This potentially comes at the expense of making progress in funding K-12 education, supporting prescription drug assistance to low-income seniors, maintaining cost-effective health care prevention programs, or providing college scholarships to Maine's future workers.
- Part of the governor's plan includes eliminating the Homestead Exemption for Maine residents under age 65 which is equivalent to raising property taxes between $120 and $160 for hundreds of thousands of Maine families. Additional property tax increases are likely for middle-class Mainers as communities are forced to pick up more of the costs of K-12 education, public safety, and road maintenance as called for in the governor's budget.
- While we don't oppose cutting taxes, we believe it can be done in a way that doesn't force false choices and that distributes the benefits more evenly across all income groups. Because this plan doesn't maximize opportunities to export taxes to out-of-state visitors and part-year residents and places higher priority on tax cuts that deliver the greatest benefits to wealthy individuals and large corporations, it falls short in terms of securing adequate revenue and in improving the overall fairness of Maine's tax system.
- The governor already secured significant income tax cuts in 2011 that are costing the state approximately $170 million a year in lost revenue. Since these cuts took effect, Maine has yet to see any significant improvements in our economy. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, private sector jobs in Maine since the 2011 tax cuts took effect grew by just 3% compared to 7% private sector job growth nationally.
- Evidence shows that Maine shouldn't expect any dramatic improvement in its economy if the governor's tax plan passes. States that have pursued this path in recent years have actually seen worse, not better, economic performance than neighboring states. They've had to cut state investments in education, workforce training, roads and bridges, and other pillars of a strong economy.One state, Kansas, has experienced a downgrade in its credit rating. Both recent experience and significant, credible academic research demonstrate that dramatic income tax cuts are not the path to prosperity.
- Sifting Through The LePage FY 2016/2017 Proposed Budget: DAFS Commissioner Rosen Meets With AFA
- Sifting Through The LePage FY 2016/2017 Proposed Budget: LePage, MDOT Roll Out Over $430 Million In Projects
- Sifting Through the LePage FY 2016/2017 Proposed Budget: DACF Meets With AFA, AG Committees
- Sifting Through The LePage FY 2016/2017 Proposed Budget: DHHS Meets With AFA, HHS.
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2. The governor's tax cuts force false choices and prioritize income and estate tax cuts for Maine's wealthiest individuals and large corporations at the expense of property tax relief for middle-class Mainers.
3. The governor's tax plan is a failed prescription for growing Maine's economy.
Note: As there will be weeks of hearings and work on the budget proposal, this will be part of a series of posts. This week's testimonies will be broken up into daily installments of the highlights.


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Last week I got a yummy treat in the mail to try out. Equal Exchange candy bars! I got three different full size bars to try our and a box of minis to pass out for Halloween. The flavors were Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter, Milk Chocolate Crisp and Dark Chocolate Fruit and Nut. I have to admit that my first bite of the Crisp bar and I wasn't impressed. I then went on to the Peanut Butter bar and WOW! I really liked it! I went back to the crisp bar and liked it as well. I'm not sure if it was just because I was starting to get sick, had a different taste in my mouth when I tried it, or what. I still have yet to try the Dark Chocolate bar. 1) I'm not a dark chocolate fan at all and 2) I ended up with the stomach flu this week which has put a damper on everything. I did sneak one of the minis as I took pictures yesterday. I think it has now become my new favorite milk chocolate bar. It was Dove, but not anymore!
Equal Exchange, the nation's leading Fair Trade brand, is proud to launch a new line of organic, fairly traded bars that is sure to please both parents and kids. The three new bars include a Dark Chocolate Fruit and Nut bar, a Milk Chocolate Crisp bar with puffed rice and quinoa, and a Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter bar. For people who are tired of waxy, tasteless mainstream chocolates, and who care about both quality and small-scale cocoa farmers, these bars are a welcome offering.
The organically-grown cacao in the chocolate bars is sourced from three Fair Trade co-ops in Peru: CACVRA, Oro Verde, and ACOPAGRO. The organic sugar is fairly traded and sourced from the small-farmer co-operative Manduvira in Paraguay. The Milk Chocolate Crisp bar weighs in at 1.34 ounces (38 g) while the Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter bar and Dark Chocolate Fruit and Nut bar each weigh 1.58 ounces (45 g). The suggested retail price of all three is $1.59.
The bars are available in natural food stores, independent grocery stores, food co-ops, and on the Equal Exchange website for both retail and wholesale customers. For more crowd-pleasing treats, including dark and new milk chocolate minis, perfect for Halloween, check the Equal Exchange online chocolate store.
I love that these candies are organic and fair traded. They are made by small farmers, yet they are not over priced! $1.59 for an organic candy bar seems fair to me. I'm tired of putting a lot of junk in our bodies. I'll never go 100% organic, but if I have a choice, I'm leaning towards buying organic lately. I just want to do the best I can for my family. At least I know if I'm giving the kids a treat, it's not fake ingredients going into them. Plus, I really do like these candy bars!
Equal Exchange has a fun game on Facebook right now where you can win free candy bars or coupon codes for discounts on buying them. It's a cute game and it helps you learn more about how the bars are made. You can learn more about Equal Exchange on their website, Facebook, and Twitter. How would you like to try these out for yourself? I'm giving one lucky reader of a 24 pack of Equal Exchange candy bars. They will be the full size bars and there are 8 of each flavor in the box. (Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter, Milk Chocolate Crisp and Dark Chocolate Fruit and Nut)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Note: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for Equal Exchange and received the candy bars to facilitate my post.
Giveaway is open to the continental USA and ends on October 26, 2012 at 12:01 am EST. Winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries and will be contacted by email. Winner will have 24 hrs to respond. Winner may only win one prize pack, if you win on another site, a new winner will be drawn. Please add email@example.com to your trusted email filter. If original winner does not claim their prize within 24 hrs, it is forfeit and a new winner will be selected promptly.
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Disclosure: We may earn a commission if you click a link and purchase something.
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text: DigitalStones Reviewer Connects 'Start Me Up' to StartupsBy Richard Horgan|June 5, 2014 ShareBy Richard Horgan|June 5, 2014 ShareAmerican-Israeli serial entrepreneur Bob Rosenschein knows his way around an elevator pitch. The MIT grad has been involved with a number of such rides, from Answers.com to content curation App Curiyo.Via Twitter, he recently shared a great piece by his friend Alan Weinkrantz, a PR advisor to startups. After attending the Rolling Stones show in Tel Aviv, Weinkrantz cranked out a unique review of the group's restarted "14 On Fire" tour. We're big fans of non-traditional critiques of films and live performance; on the Stones trail this year, this take is going to be hard to beat.Weinkrantz's blog post for the The Times of Israel is titled "10 Lessons Startups Can Learn From The Rolling Stones." One of our favorites is Lesson #6:Collaborate with co-founders, even when they leave or go other ways.It was nice to see Mick Taylor join the band tonight for a bit. You may part ways with early founders. Don't forget your roots and your family.We have a feeling that after all these years, Mick, Keith and the boys are equally inured to a traditional concert review. FishbowlNY hopes someone makes sure they see this one.Editor's Note: A previous version of this post incorrectly attributed authorship of the the cited article to Rosenschein, rather than Weinkrantz. FishbowlNY apologizes for the mix-up.[Photo of Keith Richards performing at Madison Square Garden April 14, 2013: JStone/Shutterstock.com] Sharehttp://adweek.it/2kLVcjP copy Adweek Adweek


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NEW YORK » After a long hot run, real estate investment trusts have cooled off in the last few weeks.
Which raises the question: Should investors cash out and take their winnings? Or should they stay in the game?
Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, trade like stocks, but act like real estate moguls, buying up properties. Sometimes a REIT focuses on a region, such as the Northeast, sometimes on an asset class, such as apartments, hotels or office buildings and sometimes they do a combination.
In the last three years, prices for U.S. REITs have appreciated nearly 55 percent, or 15.7 percent a year, according to Prudential Financial. Average annual dividends paid by the REITs were about 7 percent.
So far this year, their performance is less astounding, but still better than the rest of the stock market. Standard & Poor's REIT Composite Index is up 6 percent for the year to date. That compares with a 1.4 percent rise in the S&P 500 and a 2 percent decline in the Dow Jones industrial average over the same time.
As is often the case with any investment, especially one that's performed spectacularly, the professionals disagree about what's next for REITs.
The case against REITs is simple: The prices are too darn high.
"It's time to take profits," said David Darst, chief investment strategist of Morgan Stanley's Individual Investor Group.
The case for REITs is more nuanced.
"They're not as cheap as they were years ago -- that's an understatement," said Don Cassidy, senior research analyst at Lipper Inc. But, he said, "they still have a place for investors."
The REIT run up, of course, coincided with a booming real estate market that has resulted in national watercooler chatter about whether real estate is a bubble.
"People say, 'Real estate. Bubble. REITS bad,'" said Cassidy. REITs, however "don't buy single-family homes of the rich and famous. They buy real stuff that generates income. They don't buy it if it doesn't make sense. If the price gets too high, they sell it and take a profit."
The answer might lie in the fact that real property throughout the years has grown in value -- recovering even when other investments have soured for good -- and tend to rebound after losses. Compare that with companies, even whole sectors, that are capable of sending billions of dollars in investor money into the void. And while a corporation can disappear, land doesn't.
"Real estate is different than dot-coms," said Greg Sukenik, equity research analyst for REITs at Zacks Investment Research Inc.
Still, Sukenik said, "I certainly don't see the run up continuing," although he doesn't think a real estate crash is coming. Instead, he says a less dramatic correction is more likely.


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Wednesday, 25 Mar 2015 8:00 PM
Come and hang out with your fellow PHP developers! We are gathering at Bar Des Amis (for real this time) for a drink and to talk about the future and purpose of this meetup group. If you want to help out with our upcoming meetups, give a talk or have any suggestions, be sure to let us know.
See you there!


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I feel like I'm not doing anything well
"I feel like I'm not doing anything well."
I was sitting in my advisor's office at the University of Colorado. It was late April, I was supposed to be close to finishing an annotated bibliography for my thesis. My son was struggling in school with hyperactivity, which involved lots of communication with school. On top of that, he was bringing home lots of homework, which we spent hours completing every night. My daughter was struggling, too. Every once in a while, her teacher would call me and tell me she was behind on a bunch of assignments. Sure, they were noted in the school system, but I was so focused on my son that I forgot to check. Then, I would split my evening between the two, trying to catch up. I felt like we were barely scraping by. I am a bit of an overachiever, so this bothered me.
When I got to my advisor's office, I was SO behind. I was teaching, too, and I spent all of the time that I did have working on my class. We also own a family business that pay my bills, so when there was an emergency, I had to carve time out for that, too.
I have too many irons in the fire. How in the world am I supposed to focus on losing weight, too? You know what's ironic in this whole situation? My thesis is on fat blogging. I am researching how weight loss bloggers use their blogs to support their goals. I have been reading about other people losing weight, yet I am drowning so much that I cannot even make a goal for myself.
I recently picked up the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown. His book makes the case that if we are busy doing too many things, we can't put our best effort into anything. I feel this on a daily basis. This drawing from the book, which I borrowed from glennstovall.com really stuck out to me:
Before I read Essentialism, I knew that I need to get rid of some of the ways I was spending my energy. I actually quit my job not long after that meeting. I felt like my children were getting the short end of the stick. Sure, I was spending lots of time with them in the evenings, but it wasn't the best time I could spend with them. I still haven't figured out to make my own weight loss a priority. I saw a TED talk that got me thinking about how I want to change things, but I will save that for another blog.
I am slowly changing things. I am tired of not doing anything well. I am ready to focus my energy in a way that will produce results.