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Let's face it: Family schedules just aren't what they used to be. Kids trickle in each evening from sports practice, scouts or music lessons. Parents work long hours. Family members eat at different times. Computers, texting and television keep us isolated, even in the hours that we're together. Sound familiar? Well, fret not. We've come up with 10 great ideas to get the family off the couch and spending time with each other.
Movie Marathon Night
Set this up once and you've got a whole slew of family movie nights ready to roll. Here's how:
- Create a theme. Is it Western flicks, spy movies, Alfred Hitchcock thrillers, classic musicals or family favorites? Create your tickets -- and a ticket booth -- to fit your theme.
- Build a concession stand. A few pieces of cardboard, a handful of Monopoly money and you're ready to start the night right. "Sell" -- with the game dollars -- popcorn, boxed candy and sodas to your family members (many party supply stores now offer movie theater-style popcorn bags for just a few cents each).
- Add some competition to the mix. Have a quick trivia game or history lesson about some aspects of the movie you'll be seeing. Superhero knowledge, facts about special effects, sketches of your favorite characters, these can all make for a fun intro to the flick that include a bit of education, too.
- Play along. Have everyone chose a character and dress like he or she does in the film.
Board Games and Cards
Board and card games are the original interactive entertainment, but instead of playing with a computer, your kids will be engaging with you. The classics are always good choices, but there are new games and updated versions of old ones that give great entertainment value while giving kids' eyes a break from video screens. And there are bonuses: These games mix in some free lessons with the fun. Board games help kids develop strategy (Battleship and Checkers), spelling and vocabulary (Scrabble, Boggle and Bethump'd with Words) and money skills (Monopoly or Payday). Card games such as Cribbage teach math skills, while Euchre, Rook and Spades teach how to work with a partner. And unlike a computer, board and card games are great for camping and when the power goes out.
Campfire Cookout
Let everyone show off their scouting skills with a campfire cookout. The first step, of course, is making a crackling campfire. Will you use a teepee or stack configuration? If you've got a Cub Scout or Brownie in your family, have the kid (with adult supervision) build the fire to test his or her skills. While the fire burns down for cooking, everyone can whittle their own stick to make kabobs. Wrap some ears of corn in heavy foil to cook over the coals, and then thread chunks of meat, sweet peppers, onions and pineapple on the sticks to roast.
For dessert, scoop the middle out of bananas and fill the canals with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, shredded coconut or other morsels to make banana boats -- or stick with the traditional yet always-delicious s'mores.
Wrap up the evening with your favorite campfire songs and ghost stories told by firelight.
Arts and Crafts
Take a break from television for some creative family crafting. Spread newspaper or cardboard over the kitchen table and, voilà, you've got a craft room! Pick a project and assemble a kit for everyone. Ideas include:
- Creating birdhouses from recycled material
- Making holiday ornaments
- Decorating aprons, T-shirts or other apparel
- Designing wearable art
Or let each person bring his or her own hobby to the table. You can admire each others' talents and progress, or teach and learn new skills. Just think how much confidence your child will gain from teaching Mom and Dad or his or her siblings how to do something!
Formal Night
Nice restaurants are expensive, but you can still enjoy a special night "out" by recreating a restaurant environment at home. Here's how:
- Prepare (or buy) a special meal.
- Set the table with a cloth, nice dishes, candles and a centerpiece.
- Have everyone dress up.
- Play some celebratory music.
Formal nights are fun and exciting. Plus, they're a painless way to teach and practice good social manners and etiquette. Be sure to keep the rest of the schedule clear on formal night; this isn't just a meal. Take the time to linger over the food and the atmosphere and enjoy conversations that engage the whole family. Before the evening ends, give each person a chance to share an accomplishment or goal, and raise a toast to everyone's health and good fortune.
Reading Night
Reading aloud isn't just for little kids. Older kids enjoy this time together, too. Cuddle up on the sofa and read a great story aloud. Let your inner actor out, using different voices and pacing to build tension. The idea is for parents to read to their kids, but if your children have a dramatic streak, offer up the honors to them for a section or two. Some recommendations include:
- The "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The "Alex Rider" series by Anthony Horowitz
- "Quest for a Maid" by Frances Mary Hendry (great for practicing your Scottish accent)
- "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
- "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
- "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
These selections will appeal to both boys and girls and will keep kids of all ages -- and parents -- engaged.
Trivia Night
If you pool the collective knowledge of your family members, you'll find a wide variety of subject matter experts. Why not put this collection of smarts to work for fun and prizes? Many restaurants and coffee shops in towns of all sizes host team trivia nights on a weekly basis. For a moderate food or drink purchase, you can pit your family's minds against other teams. So come up with a catchy name for your group and head out to a local trivia challenge to match wits with other collectors of facts. You'll have a ton of fun working together as a team, and you might even win a prize.
Experience the Night
The night isn't a quiet place. Bring some lawn chairs out in the yard and gather your family as the sun goes down. Listen to the different animals -- birds, bugs, bats and amphibians -- that liven up the dark. Using a nature guide for your area, see how many different critters you can identify by sight or sound. When it gets totally dark, turn on a porch light and stand back as moths flock to it. Use a digital camera to capture images of the different types of flying bugs that show up. Then use The University of Georgia's Discover Life tool to identify your moths. The mapping feature will let you see where else around the world they live.
If your family gets really engrossed in night life, consider pitching a tent for a backyard campout.
Make a Home Movie
Whether your entertainment tastes trend toward drama or comedy, you're likely to get both in the making of a home movie. Give your kids some options: They can act out skits, show off skills, do a comedy routine, sing dance or showcase other talents. Let them make costumes and props for their appearances. Give everyone a chance to have a turn or two in front of and behind the camera as actor, videographer and director.
When the film is a wrap, roll out a red carpet for the stars to walk on as they parade into the premier viewing of their blockbuster movie. Don't forget to have some "bubbly" (sparkling cider) and hors d'oeuvres to snack on between laughs.
Cooking Competition
This fun family activity has some practical aspects: It gets dinner on the table and builds cooking skills for the whole family. To get started, assign or have everyone choose a meal element (salad, main dish, bread, sides, or appetizers). The person in charge of the dish has complete control over preparing (parents can still supervise young kids) and serving it. Have the family judge the appearance and taste of each food. At the end of the meal, award prizes for best presentation, best effort, most creative, most likely to be requested again or other fun categories. Then you can move to the main event: the bake-off!
For this part of the evening, prepare a box cake mix and divide the batter between family members. Everyone adds their own secret ingredients to their portion. Bake the enhanced cakes in mini cake pans or a muffin pan. After the cakes cool, hold a decorating party. Offer up frosting, tubes of icing, fruit, nuts and candy toppings. If you're using white frosting, put out some food coloring, too. Vote on which cake looks best and which tastes best.
Family fun nights help bond the family together and build happy memories that last. Give these 10 a try, and in the process, create a few of your own variations for having fun with the Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother.
How to Play Jenga Like You've Never Played It Before
HowStuffWorks guarantees you'll never look at Jenga the same after you see it played these five ways.
Related Articles
- Boyse, Kyla, RN. "Reading, Literacy and Your Child." YourChild Development & Behavior Resources. University of Michigan Health System. October 2010. (Dec. 29, 2011) http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/reading.htm
- Shedd, Meagan K. and Nell K. Duke. "The Power of Planning: Developing Effective Read-Alouds." Beyond the Journal. National Association for the Education of Young Children. November 2008. (Dec. 29, 2011) http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200811/BTJReadingAloud.pdf
- Symonds, William C. "Hasbro Has Kids Hopping." Bloomberg Businessweek. Aug. 15, 2005. (Dec. 27, 2011) http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_33/b3947119.htm


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Building Contractor Glan Conwy
Why choose Fox-Byrne to be your Building Contractor?
When it comes to construction, having the right building contractor working for you is critical. Your building contractor will wear many hats other than a hard one! He will be the person to approach for anything construction related, he will be the person who deals with suppliers, subcontractors and visits from building regulatory departments.
A flexible and adaptable approach to the project with good communications skills and patients are just some of the personality traits required on top of a host of professional skills.
Now, that of course, is why you need Fox-Byrne as your building contractor Glan Conwy.
Example contracts
It's always difficult to explain to clients about the full range of construction work that Fox-Bryne undertakes. Of course they say a pictures paints a thousand words so we are going to add a few with a small amount of explanation to each.
To make things simpler for website visitors we will split the work into smaller jobs that are typical for the home owner and larger jobs that typically come from larger commercial contracts.
We are equally as happy doing either sort of work and as you will see, we are specialists when it comes to working with natural materials like stone.
Ask Fox-Byrne Building Contractor to quote you – no job too big or small.
Commercial Building Contracts
The range of commercial Building Contracts we've completed is quite diverse but we have decided to display some pictures that hopefully show that diversity.
Working on commercial Building Contractor projects around Glan Conwy has its own set of challenges, the multi-trade environment, subcontractors who priorities may differ from the projects and of course the time constraints of the people holding the purse strings. It's something we really great at and as professional Building Contractors we take it all in our stride.
Around your home in Glan Conwy
Having work done to your home or garden can be stressful, we always try to minimise that stress by keeping the work area tidy and by making sure you have clear access when we are not around. Of course, that's not all we do, we also deliver on our promise to you that our work will be to your standard and expectations. Having a professional Building Contractor running the work makes all the difference.
Having a fish pond in the garden is something that many people can relate to, but having one at a height that works for you is something many people will not have considered.
This project was a delight to work on, notice the stonework and shape, nothing was straight forward but the finished item is delightful.
One of the most important things with this project was that the working height should be correct and that the finish was as organic as possible (apart from the gnome who should have gnome better).

subset: commoncrawl


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Warriors get Jordan Crawford, MarShon Brooks in 3-team deal
After weeks of scouring the trade market for bench help, the Warriors on Wednesday acquired offensive-minded guards Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks from Boston in a three-team deal that sent Toney Douglas to Miami.
The Warriors were difficult trade partners, because they didn't want to lose future assets (draft picks or young players), but they desperately wanted to improve their struggling reserve unit.
General manager Bob Myers said Boston initiated the trade idea a week or two ago, and Celtics GM Danny Ainge found Miami as a third party to complete the transaction.
The Warriors' bench went into Wednesday night's game ranked last among the NBA's 30 teams in points (22.8), field-goal percentage (38.7) and assists (3.9). It was 29th in minutes (14.1) and 26th in steals (2.2).
The franchise is hoping that Crawford, 25, and Brooks, 24, can help bump up those numbers when they join the team Friday in Oklahoma City.
A capable and confident scorer, Crawford has become more of a playmaker in Boston this season, averaging 13.7 points and career bests of 5.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds. The Warriors think Crawford's ball-handling and ability to create his shot will give them a chance to rest starter Stephen Curry.
"We want him to have something in the tank," head coach Mark Jackson said of Curry, who leads NBA point guards in minutes played. "He's always going to say he's fine, and he's playing great, but I think it's important to give him some well-deserved rest. ... We'd like to rest Steph a little more, without the fear of blowing ballgames."
Brooks has played limited minutes in 10 games for the Celtics this season, but he has scored at every level he has played - including the recent NBA Development League showcase, in which he averaged 27.4 points per game. The Warriors like his scoring ability and have a track record for giving players opportunities.
Douglas had an opportunity to be Curry's primary backup, but has had an up-and-down season. Douglas missed a month while recovering from a stress reaction in his leg and had his playing time and play fluctuate as he averaged 3.7 points and 0.8 assists.
Douglas is from the Miami area and could play a role that includes defensive pressure and corner three-point shooting, which better fits his game for the Heat. Miami also sent Joel Anthony and two draft picks to Boston in the deal.
The Warriors will have 14 games of evaluation time with their new roster before the league's Feb. 20 trade deadline.
"After this deal, it doesn't change our mentality," Myers said. "Nobody is sitting back and saying, 'Well, we're done now. We did our jobs. Let's see what happens.' If something came up tonight that was good, we'd do it. That's how you have to be, because it's a competitive league and everyone is trying to get better."
Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron


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All Tti News
IELTS Special Offer
Book before the end of 2015 and receive General English prices on our IELTS exam preparation courses!
New English + Football Course!
We are pleased to be offering English + Football! If you are a football fan or player and want to improve both your skills in English and on the pitch, this could be the course for you!
Here are our Tti Prices for 2016
Our new Price List for 2016 has arrived! We're excited to announce that our new price list is ready. Check out all the courses and accommodation options on offer for 2016!
New blog post by Sara Z!
Our intern Sara has written a fantastic blog post all about what's been going on this week at Tti. Raul, one of our former long-term students came to visit. IELTS student, Lucas (a.k.a the genius) talks about his course, and Sara divulges some of her favourite places to hang out in London.
Meet Viv Canal - Our New Principal
Viv Canal has worked in the EFL sector for 17 years and will be taking on the Principal 's role at Tti. We are so excited to have him on board!
News in detail
IELTS Special Offer
Special offer for Tti's IELTS courses!
Book before the end of 2015 and receive General English prices on our IELTS exam preparation courses!


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Stefanos wrote:The DW3 XL Lu Bu's theme isnt... on the music page...
Lu Bu The Mighty wrote:I noticed when reading the Ma Su that the athor put Ma Liang died at the age of thirty-six, and Ma Su died at the age of thirty-nine, when he first wrote Ma Liang's younger brother Ma Su. Did Ma Liang die a couple of years before, or this a mistake?
Dragon_Girl wrote:Isn't it supposed to be Yue Ying instead of Yeu Ying?
Alpha_Beta wrote:the link on this page http://www.kongming.net/novel/bios/type.php#co to Sun Jians comprehensive officer biography links to Sun Quans instead.
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Say, you ever get tired of watching Japanese cars duke it out over and over and over again on Best Motoring? What's that? No? Well, me either. But this battle is extra spicy because it's a truly international one.
We have a Ford Mustang GT Performance Package (looks like a 2010 to me,) a 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500E done up by Infini Tuning, a Chverolet Camaro SS RS, a Hyundai Genesis Coupe, and a Lexus IS F.
Interesting lineup, no? The results are too. Enjoy.


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photo 1 of 209
Patrick Cote
TRAINING: Two to three training sessions a day - boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, BJJ, conditioning or swimming.
When and why did you start training for fighting? I began to fight in 2000 in an amateur organization. I turned pro in 2002 and became a full-time fighter in 2004. I saw it on TV and I wanted to try it; now I'm in the best organization in the world
What ranks and titles have you held? Team Canada coach on TUF Nations, TKO light heavyweight champion, KOTC Canadian light heavyweight champion, world middleweight MFC champion, black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and black belt in Muay Thai. The Ultimate Fighter season four finalist
Do you have any heroes? Muhammad Ali, Randy Couture
What is your favorite technique? One punch knockout, Kimura, rear naked choke
What was your job before you started fighting? I was in the Canadian army for five years.
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1975 Chevy Silverado C30 Truck - The General
Black, Tan & Movin' On
We might be full of it, but it seems like in the 21st century there's a lot more fullsize pickups on the road used mainly for pleasure than there ever was in the in the mid 20th century. A theorist might contend the trend started to build momentum not long after the end of WWII because nearly a decade of development was lost to the war years. In the aftermath, the pressure was on for Detroit to catch up and deliver some new and exciting trucks, and it came through with flying colors. Once people got a taste of V-8 power and creature comforts that rivaled fully equipped cars, the luxury pickup race was on.
For Jim Adams III of Pleasanton, California, a man who made his living around the big-rigs he and his lovely wife, Marlys, were in the market for a heavy-duty pickup to bear a cabover camper and tow their motorboat with ease. In 1975 when Jim ordered his Chevrolet 1-ton dually the manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) for a bare-bones C30 Fleetside pickup was $4,163.04. The base model C30 did include a V-8 engine, but that was about it. Since Jim and Marlys wanted to enjoy traveling a plain Jane truck was just simply out of the question. With that in mind Jim walked into Dailey Chevrolet of San Leandro, California, and ordered the truck of his dreams. For power he spent $382.00 and got an option code LF8 454-inch big-block with a Quadrajet carburetor. The M20 compound four-speed transmission didn't cost a penny extra, but $48.00 was spent for a GT5 rear axle with 4.10:1 gears. To help handle engine heat a KC4 engine cooler cost $74.00, and to chill the cab's interior an outlay of $458.00 bought C60 All Weather Air-Conditioning. The R05 Dually option cost an additional $395.00 and the NL2 auxiliary fuel tank drained $93.00. Kicking out the jambs and springing for the YE9 Silverado equipment package sucked up $424.00. Chevrolet must have decided $61.00 was a good price to charge for the TP2 auxiliary 61-amp battery because the numbers matched. The Z81 Camper Special equipment came to $135.00. A V22 chrome grille was only $22.00, and the BX6 cab back panel appliqu molding was even less at $20.00, such a deal. By the time all of the options Jim ordered were tallied up the total came to $2,986.69 which brought the window sticker up to $7,579.
Around the time Jim's heavily optioned C30 hit 136,000 miles he decided he'd like to freshen the old workhorse up. Being one of those picky guys that like to take care of their stuff, the Chevy wasn't in all that bad of shape, but as a sidebar it's interesting to note most of the 1-ton GMC and Chevrolet trucks from that era lead hard lives and usually died at an early age. Couple this with the fact very few were fully optioned to include the Custom Camper and Silverado package Jim's C30 is a rare bird to say the least.
First on Jim's list was to handle the C30's upholstery. Historically speaking this is where things get interesting. Jim took his '75 C30 to Armand's Auto Upholstery in Walnut Creek, California, which has been in business since 1897 when great-grandpa Armand first opened the doors in Sacramento. In 1916 the shop was moved to Oakland, and then made the final move to Walnut Creek in 1971. Armand III re-covered the original A52 front bench seat in a beige vinyl with a special accent color specified by Jim's wife Marlys. Next, Jim went after the paint and bodywork and got in touch with David Rodriguez at D-Rod's Street Rods in San Jose, California. Jim stuck with the original Midnight Black color scheme he'd ordered new, but the $116.00 YG1 body side upper and lower moldings were shaved. With the moldings shaved D-Rod's stripped the body to bare metal, laid a skim-coat on the entire truck, and then got busy block-sanding. Once the '75 rolled out of D-rod's booth in a straighter-than-new shade of Midnight Black, David and his crew reinstalled the $56.00 V43 painted rear bumper that was beautifully chromed by Superior Plating of San Jose along with the original front bumper Superior rechromed. With the '75 now sporting a show-quality finish, pinstriper "Real" Ralph Newman of Boulder Creek, California, added a few tasty accents and the exterior touches were done.
To handle matters under the hood Jim looked to Groth Brothers Chevrolet in Livermore, California, to install a Goodwrench 454, but insisted the engine color remained Chevrolet Orange instead of the standard black. By the time Louis Aguirre had finished applying eight coats of Chevrolet Orange engine enamel the other mechanics were calling him Picasso. Nothing had to be done to the M20 option code four-speed transmission except fill it with fresh gear oil, and stuff a new clutch in between it and the Goodwrench 454. These days the General bides its time resting in its own barn Jim and Marlys added to the side of their property, and only has to fire up when it's time to move on with the marker lights lit.


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Discussant's Response to "Interim Report on the Development of An Expert System for the Auditor's Loan Loss Evaluation" William F. Messier, Jr. University of Florida It is a pleasure for me to comment on the paper by Kelly, Ribar and Willingham. As someone who has spent a major part of the last five years in expert systems research, it is good to see this technology begin to impact audit practice. I will make one caveat before I proceed. There are times in my discussion where I raise questions about or criticize this work. In those instances, please recognize that I am fully cognizant of the difficulties of doing this type of research and, more importantly, sympathetic with those difficulties. Before discussing the specifics of the paper, I would like to make a few overall comments on this work. The research by Kelly, et al. is noteworthy for three reasons. First, it demonstrates the application of expert systems technology to an important audit problem, the assessment of loan loss reserves. Application of this technology to auditing is important because public accounting firms are facing a more competitive environment that will require audits to be conducted with the same level of effectiveness but with increased efficiency. Relatedly, the types of decisions auditors face today are more complex (e.g., EDP auditing) and require more expertise. Expert systems are intended to assist with such complex decisions. Second, since this is a proprietary system, it is especially noteworthy that Peat Marwick is willing to share the details of the system with academics and practitioners. Until recently, many public accounting firms were unwilling to share these types of developments with the public. I make a point of this because I believe that it is important to our profession to disseminate research and that it should be a two-way street. Finally, this paper shows that public accounting firms are willing and able to build expert systems. This realization was also brought home to me at the recent expert systems conference at the University of Southern California where Coopers & Lybrand demonstrated an expert system for deferred taxes [Shpilberg and Graham, 1986]. For that project, Coopers & Lybrand hired a full-time computer scientist to assist in developing their system. By bringing their enormous resources to bear on the problem, they were able to construct the system in approximately a year. Peat Marwick has been able to do a similar sort of thing with CFILE. In spite of the generous support from Peat Marwick's Research Opportunities in Auditing grants, most academics who are developing expert systems have faced much longer development times. This raises a question about whether academics any longer have a competitive 182
Object Description
Discussant's response to "Interim report on the development of an expert system for the auditor's loan loss evaluation"
Messier, William F.
Srivastava, Rajendra P., ed.
Ford, N. Allen, ed.
Loan loss reserves -- United States -- Accounting
Auditing -- Data processing
Expert systems (Computer science)
Auditing Symposium VIII: Proceedings of the 1986 Touche Ross/University of Kansas Symposium on Auditing Problems, pp. 182-188
|Published by: University of Kansas, School of Business
|Contents have not been copyrighted
|PDF page image with corrected OCR scanned at 400 dpi
|Deloitte Digital Collection
|Digital Publisher
|University of Mississippi Library. Accounting Collection
|Date-Digitally Created
|symposium 8-p182-188


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Pictured: Sophomore Caroline Vloka (center) won the national
title in the sabre.
Photo courtesy: Harvard Athletic Communications
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophomore Caroline Vloka of the Harvard women's fencing team captured the national title in the sabre, becoming the Crimson's second female national champion in program history. Sophomore Noam Mills placed second in the epee, helping Harvard sit in fifth place after two days of competition with 75 victories.
Vloka earned her second straight All-America first-team honors,
as she earned 19 wins en route to her first-place finish.
Vloka, who entered Friday in fifth, boasted a +42 indicator rating,
collecting 102 touches in the preliminary rounds to receive the
third seed in the semifinal round.
In the semifinals, she faced Margarita Tschomakova of Ohio State and earned a 15-10 win to advance to the national final for the second consecutive year. Vloka fenced Duke's Rebecca Ward in the championship bout, a rematch of last year's final. Vloka got the better of her opponent this time around, as she scored a 15-13 victory, earning the national crown. Vloka became Harvard's first female national champion since Emily Cross '08-09 captured the foil title in 2005.
Mills clinched All-America first-team honors for the second year in a row after claiming first place in the preliminaries in the epee. The sophomore posted 21 victories in the preliminaries, while scoring an indicator rating of +54. Mills, the No. 1 seed in the semifinals, fenced Penn State's Anastasia Ferdmann, the fourth seed. Mills earned a sudden victory against Ferdmann, winning 8-7, allowing her to grab a spot in the championship. In the finals, Mills dropped her match to Penn State's Margherita Guzzi Vincenti by a score of 15-10.
Sophomore Shelby MacLeod claimed a 11th place finish in the foil while senior Artemisha Goldfeder placed 12th. Both fencers earned All-America Honorable Mention status. For Goldfeder, this marks the second time in her career that she received All-America honorable mention, after placing 10th in the foil competition in her freshman campaign. MacLeod garners All-America honorable mention status for the first time in her career.
Also competing for the Crimson, freshman Elena Helgiu finished 21st in the sabre, as she won six bouts at the event. Freshman Felicia Sun placed 21st in the epee, picking up five victories.
Action resumes Saturday morning at 10 a.m., as the men's
competition will begin. St. John's stands in first place with 92
points, while Notre Dame (91) and Penn State (90) are second and
third, respectively.
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This forum is reserved for off-topic chat - if it has to do with marbles, please let's keep it out of here, huh?
A few of my perennials....
What are some of the other passions and lifestyles represented by my fellow forum members? We all obviously have marbles in common, but I'm sure I'm not the only one with other hobbies or passions.
I have been skateboarding for about thirteen years now. Its my passion in life and I want to make...
Hey folks - I'm all 'giddy' because I harvested my first Meyer lemon from my tree today! (Won't take me long to harvest the rest since there are only two more ROFL ). Pretty potent little sucker; and, it sure did cleanse my palette if not wiped it off the face of the earth!!
Dawg's stomach grumbling. So held off on food. Checked her bed. Ick collection of stuff. Left one good bone. And refixed the bed. Like Do I really know how to make a dog bed? Guess if I rub her enough she won't know which end is up....prob is I won't either.:102:
Not sure of the maker. Just love them. The are extremely fragile though, almost like egg shell material. Not sure how they survived this long.
Doe and two fawns, though I never was able to get a decent picture of the second one. Kept to the bushes.
...at my front door (and, yes, the door needs a good cleaning)!
Raspberries from the garden; peach tree loaded with peaches; indoors' lemon tree sprouting about 3 good sized lemons - well, golf ball size - (have no idea if they will ripen, or if I've been wrong all these years and it is actually a lime tree!). Unfortunately all the plums fell off the plum tree...
Hello guys.
My name is Barry and I'm from the UK. I didn't find a introductory section. That is why I post here. I hope this is alright.
I just came across this forum while I was looking for a present for my nephew. He likes to play with marbles. So I'm looking forward for some inspiration. I...
Test of image upload
The Calypso Orchid is a native to the Pacific Northwest and is pretty uncommon. I've got a pretty good crop of them up in the woods, but this little guy was right next to the gate and much easier to get to on my gimpy leg.
In my more gardening days, I...
in Vermont.
Laptop kicked the bucket. Got a replacement - but didn't notice the lack of a memory card slot. (?) Dug out old card reader and struggled for days trying to get puter to locate the drive to upload pics. Problem solved, but it was a very short-lived success. Reader and card were for my old camera...
I've mentioned before that I used to collect toy cannons. Mostly Big Bang Carbide Cannons, but also black powder and firecracker. One of the cannons I purchased was a bronze reproduction of a very early firecracker cannon called the Home Guard Safety Cannon. Today I discovered that only 50 numbered...
Three freaking years and nuthin. Then out pops this. Happy Plum day!!
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[Intro: Crooked I & Joell Ortiz]
S-sutt S-sutt
Hip-Hop Weekly: Reloaded
I'm kinda fucked up, on these Four Lokos in this bitch
[Verse 1: Crooked I]
Yo, they try to keep me out the ranks of the greatest rhymers
But I've been underground longer than Chilean miners
Fisticuff music, give the game a shiner
COB's my true religion, minus gay designers
(S-sutt S-sutt!)
(Wait a minute, my nigga Jay Cee in this motherfucker. Dida, hold on)
[Verse 2: Joell Ortiz]
(Slaughterhouse nigga!!)
No way I could sit around watch my homie getting down
This 2 quarters, one eighth of the sickest pound
Pound for pound, we'll pound you out. Girls say, "Yo they fly"
Can't take dick, but yo they try, hit 'em with a pound, ok bye
Gotta keep it moving like dope on the block
I post like Karl Malone in the spot
Quiet with the jazz, I already spazzed
And I just gave Four Loko a shot
Might wanna chill like wine in a restaurant
What the "F" you want?
Ain't nothing over here but some gaspin' for air and a nice little stretcher to stretch you on
Trying to be so so cool and I go fool with the Pro Tools, I'm a student of the old school
But pass the torch or I'll have to force you to play a little game of sudoku
Put your days in numbers
Coming up I was poverty stricken with pain and hunger, that shit weak so
Yeah, I'm trying to eat like the motherfucking day that they gave Columbus
Nothing but flames amongst us
When I say us, I'm talking about the slaughter
I'm talking about the new world order
I rap that, make ball sacks a nice little snack for your daughter
So Hip Hoppers we fittin' to hop you on your good foot
It's a problem when that Yaowa hook up with Sutt Sutt!
[Verse 3: Crooked I]
Yo (Heyyy!!!)
Hit a nigga like pow, click click pow
Bitch get down, spit 6 rounds
This kid's down
Living in a whole another district with a thick bitch and a thick bitch get dicked down
My dick she put lipstick 'round
Take a twitpic, lemme slow this shit down
I'm reloaded, 52 weeks this that marathon spit
I wipe the earth's face with you, Farrakhan shit
One day, I'ma buy you niggas on that Viacom tip
Then take your bitch cause mami fly as a cybertron ship
Riding around with your vibrant thing
Look at the dog that Crooked I became
German shepard, put sperm in your heifer
Right by that hydrant man
BET, top ten list, I ain't mad cause I'mma be there later
Tip my hat to shit like that, well-deserved I won't be their hater
If anything I'mma be the creator who made a way for you to speak to your people
Once a week with that music leak
Now look how loud my future speak
Innovative, niggas hate it, I don't care I rest in peace 'em
Eat some beats like a decent feast
It's yo' instrumental, I just lease them
I monster mash and beast them
Just what it sound like
When anarchy, chaos, and pandemonium have a threesome
C.O.B. is getting money, what you boys think
Beamer, Benz or Bentley, I call my garage Lloyd Banks
I'm feeling like I'm Baby watching the New Orleans Saints
My Creole bitch, she got on panties, huh, no she ain't
Last of a dying breed I indeed iron squeeze
Fire weed, silverback gorilla if you buying trees
Diamond rings, finer things, chain hotter than 99 degrees
Dine with Gs, wine and cheese, liar please, you minor league
The feds made me sell my Ferrari Spider
Eastsider, sorry momma, I'm a rider
Flyer than riding in coach, Marty Schottenheimer
I will trade hard dick for some hot vagina
No country unless your name is Crooked I
Read my shirt, what it say? #OKBYE
You know I go hard in the paint
Hard in the paint I'ma go get it all
You don't like that I'ma go get it all
Suck my dick through that hole in the wall
I ain't slowing down for no nigga, naw
Stay out my way homie, don't get involved
Cause yo' fittin' to fall
You don't know that my flow get in all
I'm doper than ya'll (5x)
[Crooked I and (Joell Ortiz) talking ]
Whatch' ya'll gonna do?
Whatch' ya'll gonna do, huh?
Y-You're not going to record with me?(Joell Ortiz)
Ya'll recording me already *laughs*
(Crooked, whatch' you gon' do?)
Oh, (COB to Yaowa, Hip Hop Weekly)
He ain't do no videos with Crook
You already don't do no videos with Crook BITCH!!
"That nigga can't be on my soundtrack"
You already said that, FAGGOT!*Laughs*
This is Hip Hop Weekly Reloaded, mayne. Nahmean?
This is no country
Shouts out to the other next diss, J Michelle
It's no country, why should I care
When them niggas try to, body bag me, on YouTube
Which one of you west coast niggas reached out to me and said, "Yo, Crook, you alright?"
None of you niggas, so guess what? Ssutt Ssutt!
I ain't fuckin' with you niggas, BITCH!
Ok, bye (x3)
Hey ???
*Shutting down effect* Ok, Bye


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CARTA: Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind:Tetsuro Matsuzawa: "Mind Reading" in Chimpanzees
Date: 12/20/2013; 20 minutes
For many years, Tetsuro Matsuzawa (Kyoto Univ) has studied chimpanzees both in the laboratory and in the wild. In this talk he presents several examples of "mind reading" in chimpanzees based on his research in the lab and observations in the field. Recorded on 10/18/2013. (#26076)
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38 HASKINS & SELLS May Mr. Padon, of Shanghai, Is Interviewed— (An Interview by LUCY MAY MARQUIS, in the Tulsa Tribune of March 28, 1923) WIVES! If your husband is offered a job in China—don't discourage him. Let him accept it, and you won't have to work any more. B. A. Padon, assistant manager of the Shanghai office of Haskins & Sells, certified public accountants, who is here for a short visit with relatives, didn't give that advice in those words, but any woman would draw that conclusion from what he did say. "The average household has at least three servants," he said. " A cook, a boy and a coolie. The boy might be considered a butler, and the coolie a janitor. The cost for the three of them is about $16 gold a month. The Chinese make wonderful servants." Then he talked about food. He has become "Orientized" to the extent that he certainly has queer tastes. He likes sharks' fins, and lions' hearts, and 1,000-year-old eggs! At least, he said he did, and it is not to be supposed that he imposed upon an interviewer's credulity. "Of course, I wouldn't like them all the time," he explained, "but you can't get them all the time. That sort of food is served only at very formal Chinese dinners, and cannot be ordered promiscuously at any restaurant. "They make preparations for these dinners as far as a month ahead, and spare no time or effort to prepare these delicacies. Sharks' fins look like very fine macaroni. And the eggs are probably really not 1,000 years old, but they're supposed to be. They bury them for years, and then when they're served they are either black or blue and look like marbles. "Preparation of powdered eggs and dried eggs is one of their big industries. Every home in China has a few hens," and he smiled as he added, "both literally and figuratively." The Chinese are very fine cooks, and can invent dishes out of almost anything, according to Padon, who said he had tasted ten different soups made out of things that would never occur to an American cook as material for soups. "Chop Suey is purely an American dish with a Chinese name," he said. "They don't have anything like it over there." Then he talked about women, by suggestion. "The Chinese (and Japanese) show the women their place," he said. "They keep 'em at home to do household duties while the men go out and enjoy themselves." But his eyes were twinkling when he made that rather revolutionary statement for a modern American man, so he must not have meant it seriously. "The women wear trousers, but it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't infer that they boss the household. They wear short coats, but the men wear very long ones, and feel that they are not properly robed in a short coat. "You ought to have 'rickshaws over here," he said. "I miss them. They're very convenient. You can pick them up on every corner, and go any place you wish for a sum that would be about fifteen cents gold an hour in this country. There are about 20,000 in Shanghai." And he explained why the Chinese have quit wearing their queues. "They cut
Object Description
Mr. Padon, of Shanghai, is interviewed
Marquis, Lucy May
China -- Social life and customs -- 1912-1949
|Personal Name
Padon, Byrne Aloysius
Haskins & Sells. Shanghai Office
|Geographic Location
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 06, no. 05 (1923 May), p. 38-39
|Originally published by: Haskins & Sells
|Deloitte Digital Collection
|Digital Publisher
|University of Mississippi Libraries. Accounting Collection
|Date-Digitally Created
|HS Bulletin 6-p38


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A report released by the Mexico State Justice Ministry on the 922 killings of women that took place between January 2005 and August 2010 essentially blamed the victims. The report attributed the killings to: "Risks that some women place themselves in: consuming drugs, alcohol, or inhalants; working in bars where they mix with clients; going out alone at late hours; … becoming romantically involved with partners whom they don't know well; being involved with multiple partners at the same time; belonging to youth gangs; belonging to criminal gangs or having relationships with gang members."
The state PRI blocked calls for an investigation into the killings, which was condemned by both federal Secretary of Government Fernando Blake and the PRD. PRD Senator Claudia Corichi said, "Would undertaking investigations to unmask the assassins be such a dent in the armor of [Governor] Peña Nieto? What a shame that [the PRI] hides behind the argument that this is a politicized issue." (Reforma 1/13)


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President Barack Obama hit the links on his Martha's Vineyard vacation with comedian Larry David.
The president played five hours of golf Saturday in an unlikely foursome that included the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star, former U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk and businessman Glenn Hutchins, a part owner of the Boston Celtics.
Obama spent a couple hours Saturday morning with his wife and daughters on a private beach on the island's south shore. The first family went out for dinner Saturday night at The Boathouse Restaurant, which overlooks the harbor in historic Edgartown.
The president has kept a low profile during his stay and spent most days golfing. He spoke out publicly only once, to condemn escalating violence in Egypt. He flies back to Washington on Sunday night.


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BERLIN – The Ocean City Beach Patrol will hit the sand this weekend for the start of another exciting summer season.
Captain Butch Arbin reports that the Beach Patrol has been successfully recruiting and training in the off-season.
The Beach Patrol will be fully staffed and ready to go this weekend, according to Arbin.
In the past, the patrol has started the season with 60 stands beginning full operation for the start of the summer. This year Arbin estimates a total of 65 stands will be up and running for this Memorial Day weekend. Arbin indicated that the department typically hires 180-200 surf rescue technicians (SRTs) or lifeguards each summer and has about 90 veteran guards coming back this year from last summer.
The patrol consists of over 200 men and women dedicated to ocean rescue and maintaining a safe and orderly environment along the 10 1/2 miles of Ocean City's beaches.
Arbin said many people visit the Ocean City beaches and may never notice the SRTs on patrol in the area; however, when a missing child, rip current or beach safety issue strikes, the lifeguards are there to help.
When vacationers hit the beach for the day in the sun they come to a friendly, enjoyable and safe beach. These are all testaments to the Beach Patrol, Arbin said.
Arbin said it may appear to be a "just add water" Beach Patrol. However, on May 26 when thousands of beach goers come to Ocean City to enjoy the beginning of another summer season, and the white stands are manned by the best lifeguards in the nation, you should know that it is not really "a just add water" beach patrol, according to Arbin.
Many months of off-season work have gone into delivering one of the most professional and best beach patrols in the world. The people and visitors to Ocean City deserve nothing less. Consequently, the beach patrol is always looking for additional members of its team.
Testing for the OCBP is offered in Ocean City and at numerous off site locations. The next test will be held Saturday, June 2. Registration begins at 11 a.m. on Dorchester Street. Look for the Lifeguard stand.
Once a candidate passes the physical skills test, he or she is appointed to a Surf Rescue Academy where training in all aspects of surf rescue and first responder skills takes place.
Anyone interested in becoming a lifeguard is encouraged to call Arbin at beach patrol headquarters at 410-289-7556. For specifics on requirements, test locations, dates and times. refer to http://www.ococean.com.ocbp and click on the jobs button or email email@example.com.


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In this series, I am going to lay out the seven strategies I believe are both necessary and sufficient for success in this industry. There is a "best way" to deploy these strategies. Many of these best ways (Good ways?) are written up in my Research articles and white papers. I have reviewed many and posted them, free as always, here: www.billgood.com/bestpractices. As the series of articles progresses, the best practices library will grow.
I did a survey once to see if I could identify "the only secret to spectacular success."
What was the "secret"? I got 1,200 replies to my survey and spent many hours tweaking my survey-crunching software. My primary methodology was to compare survey responses of the top 20% and bottom 20%. I excluded anyone not in the business at least three years.
No matter how I twisted and turned my tabulation parameters, no "one thing" jumped out of the mass of accumulated data and announced: "I'm it!"
But nagging voices kept whispering, "Keep looking. It's there."
And it was. When it eased out of its hiding place, it was apparent that the people who made it to the end of the rainbow had done more of the "right things." In some cases, they were also spectacularly better at one thing.
That survey led me to a strategy that I believe is a path, if not the path, to the success you seek: Implement more best practices.
There you have it. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Good luck.
OK, OK, let's take a closer look.
In my experience, you have to be good to great in seven areas. Let's call these areas "success strategies."
Each strategy area has its own best practices. Fail in one of these strategies and success is mediocre at best. Fail at two or more and, well, I don't see how you can stay in business.
Before digging into these success strategies, let me point to some very important, if not vital, factors not covered. The reason I'm not covering these is that you either have these or you don't. I'm not convinced these can be taught. Let's call these personality factors.
Among these are: engaging personality, burning ambition, smarts, integrity and ability to sell. If you have this ability to sell, you can improve your persuasive skills. But there is an X-factor, an ability to persuade someone to do what they might not have otherwise done. Missing that, all the sales courses in the world do not seem to help.
With these personality factors set aside, here are the success strategies.
Invest Wisely.
Prospect Constantly.
Manage Sales Pipeline.
Control Time Allocation.
Present Ideas Persuasively.
Become or Remain Sole Provider for All Clients Who Follow Advice.
Delegate All or Most Non-Sales/Non-Advice Functions.
Investment Strategy
Obviously, you need an investment strategy. Google the phrase "types of investment strategy" and you will get 202 million hits in 0.24 seconds. This vast number of alternatives does not mean none are right. One is right—for you. But you have to find it.
Probably 50% of your career success will depend on being able to invest wisely. Most likely, your early strategy must involve use of third party managers. By learning to hire experts, you can then sell their expertise. Assuming you hire the right experts, you buy yourself time to master the craft yourself.
One FA I know honed his skill by interviewing hundreds of money managers. He just called them, talked his way through the screener and convinced these managers to explain their methods. He then cherry-picked tools and ideas and added those to his own kit. Today, he's a very good money manager himself, personally managing a portfolio of over $1 billion.
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that success in any field requires an enormous amount of time. He called it the 10,000-hour rule. Spend 20 hours a week at a task for 10 years. Success is yours. Yes, you do have 20 hours a week for the next 10 years to do this. But you can also starve to death by only focusing on investment strategy.
Success requires the other success strategies.
Prospecting and Time
Unless you are going to be an analyst, you need clients. In my experience, a key best practices approach is: (1) Always be prospecting. (2) Have at least one channel, other than referrals, to develop new business—the prospecting equivalent of "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
If you would "always be prospecting," you must also get control of time management. Early on, you allocate time every week to new business development. By spending time every week prospecting, you will either develop a hunter frame of mind, or your business will plateau or fail.
At some point, the hunter mentality is part of who you are. You don't have to think about allocating time to prospecting any more than you have to think about allocating time to brushing your teeth in the morning.
But until that mentality has taken root, you do need to allocate the time.
The people who make it to the end of the rainbow are always hunting. I was with a client at a meeting in Dallas. He manages about $2 billion. The meeting room next to us was a group of MDs of some kind. I saw him down the hall with a faint smile. He held up a booklet. When he approached, I asked "What's that?"
"It's their attendee list," he said. "I'm always hunting."
Multiple Channels
I know a few advisors—not many—whose business is growing rapidly from client referrals. But for most FAs, "referrals only" is the marketing equivalent of a catfish lying in a warm stream waiting for a food particle to drift by. It's just not enough.
So too for most FAs. You need at least one other channel to bring in new business.
There are at least 11 channels to develop new business. There could be a few more, of limited significance. You need at least two of them. And if you cannot achieve your new-client/new-asset goals with two, you need three—or four.
I divide these channels very broadly into three categories: relationship marketing, mass marketing and exceptional marketing.
Exceptional strategies rarely work, but when they do work, results are exceptional. I'm not going to spend any time on them except to note them.
Obviously, first try to develop your new business from existing relationships, but if you don't have enough relationships, or they are not the ones you want, then you have to become proficient at one or more mass marketing channels or exceptional channels.
Relationship marketing channels are: Client referrals. Strategic partner introductions. Client introductions. Networking.
Your mass marketing choices are: Seminars. Cold calling. Cold walking. Direct mail.
Exceptional strategies are: Radio. Trade shows. Newspaper advertising.
Each of these 11 channels has its own best practices. For instance, there is a best way to cold call. That "Good Way" includes: Best way to write a script; best way to select a list; best way to sound; best way to evaluate a campaign; best way to make a second call.
If your cold call campaign is failing, you have implemented worst practices, or you are just not doing anything. It's that simple. You need to take a hard look at what you are doing and make fundamental changes.
In subsequent articles in this series, I will delve into more success strategies. And no, I have nothing to add on investment best practices. Not my area of expertise. Yours.


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Just got home from nearly 24 hours out on the pavement. The company was wonderful all night and the line got mega-long come daybreak.
Despite my pout above, I am honored to claim Third One @ One First behind Rob and Larken. They flew out from Malibu, CA, to see McDonald and hit the concrete at 5:30am yesterday. Champions, both of them!
A few notes:
- Look for Adam Liptak of the NYT to scoop my vox populi column tonight or tomorrow. He came out last night and this morning to cover F1@1F and the line experience more generally.
- There were far fewer gun rights supporters in line than I expected. I deeply enjoyed getting to know those who were there, however.
- Huge thanks to ABA Journal for buying the line pizza last night!
- Thanks to Josh Blackman for teaming up with me to deliver some fun overnight coverage. Check out joshblackman.com for some more video and commentary.
- Dick Heller came out to entertain the linegoers last night and this morning. He was especially a hit among the fifteen high schoolers from Cupertino, CA, that braved the cold overnight wait.
- Predictions for McDonald are all over the place, from 5-4 to 9-0. The only thing everyone agrees upon is that the Second Amendment will be incorporated against the states.
- Finally, I think I got the makings of the first Supreme Court Side Walk episode. I hope to have it up here in some fashion by the week's end.
Time to dethaw, get clean, suit up, and head back out.
3 Responses
congrats on the exposure!
[…] journalists and spectators, some of whom camped out in front of the Supreme Court over 26 hours, packed the courtroom as the Justices heard the second Second Amendment case in two years […]


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North Carolina's air quality director was scheduled to appear before a legislative panel this morning to defend an anti-pollution program that legislators tried to gut last summer.
The Republican-led General Assembly was in an anti-regulatory mood this year. Late in the session, a House committee approved a broadly-worded amendment that environmental advocates said would effectively kill what is known as the Air Toxics Program.
The 21-year-old program limits emissions of 97 toxic pollutants that can cause cancer, birth defects and respiratory ailments by making new or expanding industries prove their emissions won't harm people outside the plant's boundaries.
Duke Energy and other industries say the program duplicates federal standards that also set emission limits for major industries. The state program adds little or no additional protection, they say, while costing industries time and money.
The House committee amendment, which has not been enacted by the full legislature, exempted industries that fall under federal standards or use "unadulterated fossil fuels," such as the coal that Duke burns.
"Politicians who reduce or repeal limits on toxic air pollution knowingly increase the risk for all North Carolina residents of cancer and other serious, even deadly, health problems," said Derb Carter of the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Sheila Holman, director of the N.C. Division of Air Quality, was to report to the legislature's Environmental Review Commission in Raleigh this morning.
North Carolina industries released more than 34 million pounds of toxic substances, and nearly 1.5 million pounds of carcinogens, into the air last year, federal reports show.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Toxic pollution program before legislative panel
North Carolina's air quality director was scheduled to appear before a legislative panel this morning to defend an anti-pollution program that legislators tried to gut last summer.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Duke's Rogers on clean energy
Duke Energy is greener than critics give it credit for, CEO Jim Rogers insists after this week's merger hearings before the N.C. Utilities Commission.
The three-day hearing began with a line of speakers blasting Duke, in seeking a merger with Progress Energy, for growing too big and powerful at the expense of its customers. Many implored the company to move away from new nuclear plants and toward sun and wind power.
Duke's already there with wind, Rogers says. The company's unregulated side has built 10 wind farms from Kansas to Pennsylvania since 2007, announcing its fifth in Texas alone this week. The deals are in other states where winds are more reliable and renewable-energy mandates are stiffer, although Duke this week called for bids for North Carolina wind power.
"We're not doing it here, but we're doing it, that's the important thing," Rogers says. "If you put it in the context of not just the state but the nation, we're overachieving."
Not so in North Carolina. Duke's latest planning forecast predicts that renewable energy will shave only 2 percent off summer peak demand by 2030.
Duke ranked 10th-largest among U.S. utilities last year for the amount of solar power it has installed in the Carolinas. It has already satisfied the solar requirements of North Carolina's green-energy law -- 0.2 percent of its total power generation -- through 2017.
But Rogers, at this week's hearing, wouldn't commit to going beyond that tiny mandate. He says Duke is caught between calls for clean energy, which is more expensive to produce, and demands to control costs.
"I was actually signaling that I'm prepared to do more," he says, "but I'm still aware that the Public Staff (the commission arm that represents customers) wants me to control costs for customers."
Rogers said he thinks solar power holds more promise, globally, than wind. Solar installation costs have dropped by about half since 2007, and Rogers expects costs will fall further. We'll learn over the next few years whether Duke finds bargains that are impossible to resist.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Duke seeks N.C. wind energy
Duke Energy today issued its first request for proposals to buy wind energy, including electricity produced in North Carolina, for its Carolinas system. The wind power would help Duke satisfy North Carolina's clean-energy standard.
Duke announced the RFP on the same day clean-energy advocates testified before the N.C. Utilities Commission on its merger with Progress Energy, although Duke says the timing is coincidental. Advocates have urged the commission to steer the new Duke away from nuclear and fossil-fueled power and toward renewables and energy efficiency.
Duke company had signaled a shift toward wind energy earlier this month, in a 20-year planning forecast for the Carolinas. Part of the reason was uncertainty over federal regulation of biomass, the organic fuel that's expected to provide much of the state's renewable energy.
But the increased emphasis on wind was also driven by plans for the state's first wind farms. Iberdrola Renewables plans to build a 300-megawatt wind project in the state's northeastern corner. A second company is working on an 80-megawatt wind farm in coastal Beaufort County.
Duke spokesman Jason Walls said the company has talked with Iberdrola and others, but he wouldn't speculate whether a deal is likely.
Paul Quinlan, managing director of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, called the timing of Duke's announcement unfortunate. Duke plans to sign contracts in the first quarter of 2012. But Iberdrola has to start construction, presumably only after reaching agreements to sell its power, by the end of this year to qualify for federal payments in lieu of tax credits.
Today's announcement solicits proposals only through Oct. 14 and is open to facilities of 50 to 300 megawatts. Apart from wind generation itself, Duke says it will consider bids for renewable energy certificates, the tradeable commodities that represent units of clean energy, from N.C. wind farms.
Friday, September 16, 2011
With weekend cold snap, a fall leaf preview
As if cued by today's cold snap, the U.S. Forest Service has unveiled an online leaf-viewing page with tips on where to see the best color in the national forests of western North Carolina.
Don't get excited yet, warns service botanist Gary Kauffman. It's still early in leaf season. Kauffman, who works in Asheville, said mountain sourwoods and dogwoods, with their bronze leaves, are beginning to turn. Goldenrod patches and asters splash the hills with yellow and purple.
"If it stays sunny during the day, and gets cold at night and stays cold, (color) is going to come on faster," Kauffman says.
A dry spring and summer, which parts of the mountains have experienced, intensifies sugars in leaves, he says. That make fall colors glow once chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, breaks down. Fall weather that's neither too dry nor wet and windy shows the best leaf color.
The Forest Service site details scenic roads at low, medium and high elevations in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, which cover about 1 million acres of the N.C. mountains. Use it as a companion to Observer travel editor John Bordsen's own leaf-viewing picks, and savor the season.
Friday, September 9, 2011
More wind power in Duke's future
Wind energy makes a surprise appearance in Duke Energy's 20-year planning forecast for the Carolinas, which was updated this month.
Last year's Integrated Resource Plan showed a mere one-half megawatt of wind power helping meet Duke's summer peak demand, beginning in 2013. This year it shows 15 megawatts, starting now. By 2030, the new IRP has wind producing 62 megawatts, compared to 22 megawatts in the previous plan.
The change has less to do with an explosion of wind power -- there still aren't any commercial farms operating in North Carolina -- than with uncertainties about biomass, says Duke spokesman Jason Walls. The organic fuel is expected to supply the bulk of the clean energy mandated by a 2007 state law.
Scientists debate the climate impacts of burning wood, farm wastes and other forms of biomass. The Environmental Protection Agency in January put off for three years any greenhouse-gas permits for biomass. Duke cites "continuing federal regulatory uncertainty" in reducing the amount of power it expects to get from biomass over the next few years.
But, the plan adds: "The projected increase in wind resources is driven by the company's observations that land-based wind developers are presently pursuing projects of significant size in North Carolina. The company believes it is reasonable to expect that land-based wind will be developed in both North and South Carolina (by 2030) to a degree that exceeds what was expected a year ago."
Iberdrola Renewables filed an application in January for a 300-megawatt wind project in the state's northeastern corner that would be the state's first commercial-scale wind farm. A second company, Invenergy, plans to build an 80-megawatt wind farm in coastal Beaufort County.
Duke is also allowed to buy proxies, called renewable energy certificates, for wind energy produced in other states.


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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stanford University's latest five-year fundraising drive netted $6.2 billion, the largest amount ever raised in a higher education campaign, school officials said Wednesday.
Money from the Stanford Challenge is being used to fund an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research on areas such as education, environment, human health and international affairs, officials said.
"We've undertaken a new model in higher education, with experts from different fields joining together," school president John Hennessy said in a statement. "This kind of collaboration has enabled Stanford to assume a larger role in addressing global problems."
The money is providing funding for more than 160 endowed faculty positions, 360 graduate student fellowships, the construction or renovation of 38 campus buildings, $27 million in seed grants for innovative research and more than $250 million for need-based undergraduate scholarships.
The $6.2 billion raised by the Stanford Challenge is the most collected by a university in a single fundraising campaign, said spokeswoman Lisa Lapin, citing the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. That total surpasses the $4.3 billion goal set when the campaign was launched in October 2006.
During the campaign that ended Dec. 31, the university received donations from more than 166,000 alumni, parents and community members.
The university received contributions of more than $50 million from Stanford alumni such as Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang, Nike Inc. co-founder Phil Knight and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Robert King.
Stanford is the latest university to announce a successful multibillion fundraising campaign. Last year, Yale University said it had raised $3.9 billion, and the University of Pennsylvania said it collected $3.5 billion.
"It's an impressive drive for funds that most public universities can only dream to eventually match," said John Aubrey Douglass, a researcher at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. "Donors are attracted to the big-name universities, but I worry some that the rich keep getting richer."


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C21bl needed a new print or packaging design and created a contest on 99designs.
2 winners were selected from 38 designs submitted by 10 freelance designers.
http://www.BrooklynProperty.com | Home Inspections | Apartment Rentals | Rubbish Removal
We are a Real Estate Office - In addition to Real Estate sales - we assist our clients in the following services... Apartment Rentals, Home Inspections, Rubbish Removal. I will include some images that will explain a lot of what we do and what we want
Our Audience are buyers and seller of properties located in Brooklyn, New York - These buyers and sellers may need the following services:
Home Inspector
Apartment Rentals
Rubbish Removal
1)The print ad is color 7.25 " inches wide x 9" inches high - Please refer to images I have included for a better idea of what we require
2) I am very open to your ideas and designs. We really hope to work with someone creative. I hope to choose up to 3 designs - and I hope very much that someone can think of something spectacular. Nothing too childish please.
3) Important note for Zacks Rubbish:
old email: firstname.lastname@example.com
new email is: email@example.com
4) If you are putting up pictures of properties, please use properties located in brooklyn - preferable nice brick or brownstone homes ... here are a few examples:
Good luck to all!
P.S PLease Email me if you require any additional info - I will respond promptly


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How exciting! Our wonderfully stylish Sawako Furuno Helmet has just been featured on my favourite Sunday morning show, BBC2's Something for the weekend.
Sawako Furuno's Ribbon Helmet £68 was included in Tim and the gangs gadget round up. Along with the Knog Love and Hate gloves (on sale at the mo with a whopping 40% off) and our very loud and shiny Ding Dong bell!


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Jake Freeman scored the game-winner for the Crimson against Michigan State (Gil Talbot).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men's soccer team picked up its first win of the season, taking down Michigan State, 1-0, Friday afternoon at Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium. The win is Harvard's first over a Big Ten opponent, as the team moves to an even 1-1-1 on the year.
The Crimson was aggressive from the get go, racking up four fouls through the first 15 minutes, but keeping the MSU chances to a minimum. Harvard's 4-3-3 formation started to produce offensive pressure, even though the first push resulted in an offside call. Harvard finally broke through in the 17th minute, beginning the push from its own goal box. Matt Sheeleigh collected a ball along the right sideline and lifted a lead pass to Jake Freeman, who was running stride for stride with a Spartan defender. The ball ricocheted off the Michigan State player and Freeman took and touch a bounced a shot past the MSU keeper for the first goal of his collegiate career.
The teams stayed tight through the end of the half and Harvard was able to hold its 1-0 lead going into the break. The teams finished the first stanza tied, 2-2, in shots on goal.
The Spartans had their best chance at the equalizer early in the second half off a broken play by the Crimson defense. Goalie Evan Mendez came out of his box to play the ball with his feet, but a heavy touch was picked off by a Michigan State forward. Mendez fell back and handled the ball well outside the goal box, preventing the Michigan State player from scoring, but picking up a red card as a result. The Harvard defense held true on the ensuing free kick to eliminate the Spartans' pressure.
Playing down a man, Harvard shifted its formation into a more defensive shape and staved off Michigan State pushes throughout the end of the game. Replacement goalie Joe Festa looked poised in goal and the Crimson defense held true down the stretch to seal the 1-0 final.
Harvard is back in action Sunday as it welcomes SMU to Cambridge for a 1 p.m. contest.


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60-day Satisfaction guarantee with Money Back. If you're not satisfied with your products we will do our best to appease you or issue a full refund.
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I was not sure if the cats would like this carrier, but they do. It took a bit of training, not they just snuggle up in it because it is laying on the floor.
My cats really love this water bowl.
Put it on stainless steel refrigerator and smile every time I look at it. Love it.
Cute. Especially if you have dogs. Someone usually compliments on it
My youngest cat loves this, he won't let anyone else near it, but we have to shut it up in a cupboard when he cannot be supervised as he grabs it and takes it away to chew on the wire holding the butterfly and it wouldn't last long with his gnashers.
My 3 boyos love this bowl. Milo, my bengal, likes to drink from the faucet, this has alleviated his demands to turn on the faucet!
Cats love it !
the dog loved the pink flip flop toy!
The chicken leg sound squeaker dog toy was loved by the toy!
All three of my cats love drinking from this. Thank you for making them.
I had to purchase a second one as both my cats and dog love it!
Very cute, my wife loves them.
Muito funcional e bonito. Os meus gatos adoraram.
I ordered harnesses for my cats and was very pleased with the prompt shipping and the quality of the harnesses. I will order from them again. Great company!
It's perfect for a long drive in the car!
It's ok but I haven't worn it yet.
Thanks for your very quick supply. The product looks good but I have not yet used it as I am about to go on hpliday and my cat will be in a pet resort. As soon as I return I will install the seat and hope for a short training period as my cat is pretty smart. Wish me luck
The cat tent arrived quickly. It met our needs perfectly! Our cat can go camping with us, be outdoors, but not escape into the forest. She can lay in the sunshine, relax in the fresh air and walk around while enclosed safely while we are active performing campsite duties. After we take her walking on the leash, she is happy to go back into the tent for naps.
My cat quickly adjusted to wearing this. Now we can go outside safely.
It's the perfect size for my 15 year old teacup Chihuahua who has knee and stability problems. It's easy for her to climb and the steps are easy for her to maneuver.
I was happy with my product
The delivery was very quick and the package was sufficient. My only problem was is that I figured it would fit my cat and it was a little tight. I guess I didn't see a measurement.
Everything was great though, I would reccomend your product(s) to others. Thank you
Our cat took to the harness and leash quickly.
Well made product.
I am very pleased with the cat harness I ordered. Well made and customer service was prompt, courteous and understanding to correct a mistake I initially made ordering. A pleasure to do business with.
My cat, Gilbert loves his harness and gets excited when I get it out. He is a slim cat and this is the first harness that fits him comfortably.
Although my cat's don't like the tent, it's still structurally sound and what it was said to be.. hoping that next summer at least 1 of my cat's will like it and sit in the sun!
I ordered this litter box for my cat , as his present box was much too large for the space . It arrived very quickly, but on opening it, found it to be too small for my large boy..if he got his front paws in, he could not get the hind ones in too...so...off it went to our local Kitty shelter (the 2nd time I've donated a litter box to the Comfy Cat Shelter) but...for a smaller cat, it would have been perfect, so I am giving it a 5 star rating
Lovely t shirt,in fact one of my favourites! Excellent customer service received when my order went missing. Thankyou so much.
I like it and so does my cat..as she lives to play in the water, it is just a little difficult to clean. The LED light stopped working soon after I started using it.
Nice action out in a big area like my carport where the cats can run from it.
The house bed is just wonderful and my cat just loves it. She is in it all the time. I am so glad that I got it for her.
Off and on my puss loves the unit. I would like her to use it more often and I reckon she will eventually. She is not wrapped in new things but took to this one fairly rapidly I am pleased to say.
My cat is obsessed with the Meow! Box! It helps her stay active every month and she plays with all the toys for hours and never gets bored. I definitely recommend to anyone with a cat!
Very happy with the cat harness. Strong and well made.
Really great product! Bought the first one for a Big pug puppy who was very hyper! That handle on top saved me on more than one occasion! Ended up buying another one for our other pug. They do require a little work to get them adjusted just right, but they are hard for dogs to wiggle out of. (A problem with many harnesses) No playing hide-n-seek trying to find the harness they've managed to wiggle out of!
Cool cats don't look at explosions.
Bought it for a friend's birthday, and she looooves it! Fits as advertised!


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During my usual weekly rummage through the delights of the Internet I came across this absolutely wonderful post by Frank Strong, the director of Public Relations at Vocus & PRWeb, a client of TopRank Online Marketing and featured on Top Rank Blog.com. It was called "7 Social Media Lessons from Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid".
A well crafted, currently relevant (vis a vis Karate Kid 2010) and a fondly nostalgic blog post, it really summed up the best way to approach social media and the ways I myself try to approach it. However, out of all the words of Miyagi wisdom "using head for something other than target" hit home the most for me as I see this applying to all forms of marketing and promotion, not just social media.


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Check out this video and see liquid oxygen. The team at the University of Nottingham performs several demonstrations with oxygen. Did you know oxygen was magnetic? Check it out (06:17).


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How to Use
Historical Context
The Floyd Bennett Field Historic District, located in southeastern Brooklyn, New York, within the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, has remained virtually unchanged in appearance since it was constructed between 1928 and 1931. The historic district includes the Administration Building with its distinctive control tower (now the Ryan Visitor Center), eight original hangers, the central runway system, and several dependent buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Planners and the workers of the New York City Department of Docks made great efforts to insure that the airfield was constructed in conformity to the 1928 Department of Commerce guidelines. Among the airport construction guidelines was the recommendation for buildings to be arranged in a row along one side of the runway.
Questions for Map 1
1. Using the compass located in the lower right hand corner of Map 1 answer the following questions:
2. Using the scale in the bottom right hand corner of the map, answer the following questions:
3. How was the construction of Floyd Bennett Field conforming with the 1928 Department of Commerce regulations on building layout?
4. How might the runways and unobstructed approach over water make Floyd Bennett Field the ideal airport for pilots wishing to establish speed records?
* The map on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Map 1, but be aware that the file may take as much as 60 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.