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October 9, 2012
The regular monthly meeting of the Nassau County Board of Health will be held on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at the offices of the
Nassau County Department of Health, 106 Charles Lindbergh Blvd, Uniondale, New York, 11553. Please use the South entrance to the building. The meeting will be held in the conference room.
The Board will convene at 1:00 p.m. and adjourn immediately for an Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. The Public Session will begin at approximately 2:00 p.m.
Public comment is welcome after the regular session.


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2012 October National Chess Day: From Orlando to Des Moines
National Chess Day: From Orlando to Des Moines |
October 16, 2012 | |
Organizers from Des Moines to Palm Beach hosted tournaments or festivals to celebrate National Chess Day, which also coincided with a big Grand Prix tournament, the Midwest Class. Take a look at our first round of dispatches and look for a second installment later this week. National Chess Day goes back to 1976 and Gerald R. Ford's proclamation. Wheeling, IL (Chicago Area) GMs Yury Shulman and Nikola Mitkov each won $1,248 when they tied for first with 4 points in the 20th Annual Midwest Class Championships October 12-14th, but Shulman edged out Mitkov on tiebreaks for the title of 2012 Midwest Class Champion, along with the additional $83 First Place Bonus Prize. 6507 GMs Dmitry Gurevich and Mesgen Amanov were held to a 3-way split of the 3rd and 4th place prizes, along with FM Carl Boor. They each won $222. The fourth player to tally 3½ points, NM Alexander Velikanov, brought home the $666 Under 2300 prize instead. Five GMs in the 25-player Master Section spotlighted the field of 228 entries, including 3 re-entries. But the highlight of the weekend once again belongs to Erik Karklins, who is looking forwarding to celebrating his 98th birthday this coming March. Erik turned a lot of heads by winning the Expert Class of the 2008 Midwest Class Championship at the tender age of 93. Four years later he outdoes himself again with his third-place finish in the same section, becoming one of the oldest players to win a prize in a Continental Chess tournament. Most of the seasoned veterans of the Expert Section are already wary of playing someone half their age. But now they also have to worry about losing to someone twice their age as well! Find full USCF rated crosstables here. Des Moines by Hank Anzis West Des Moines, Iowa celebrated National Chess day with free morning and afternoon family chess tournaments that attracted 51 players (many who played chess all day!). St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School donated the playing site and Central Iowa Chess Inc. donated the commemorative National Chess Day medals, trophies, and rating expenses. The rated youth tournaments were won by Augustus Glazier in the morning and Jasper Shogren-Knaak in the afternoon with perfect scores. The unrated youth tournaments were slugfests that left no player undefeated. Drake Starr, Steffen Osborn, Will Ryan, and Jay Chevuru won the morning session while Danny Oberender and brothers Adam and Andrew Ehler claimed the afternoon championships. Christine Denison and Mark Brown swept the morning and afternoon Parents and Friends section, respectively. Renaissance Knights in Chicago By Jorge Barrera In celebration of National Chess Day, over 200 students from 68 Chicago area schools participating in a very special chess tournament sponsored by Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, Rickover Naval Academy (Chicago, IL), and Alderman Harry Osterman of Chicago's 48th ward. Many of these students had never taken part in a USCF Rated chess competition, so they were given a one day USCF membership in order to be able to participate and become rated players. Before being able to play, however, each student had to contribute to the entry fee which, in this case, was quite special. Instead of money, each player had to bring in a non perishable food item. The food was collected from all the players and later it was donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository in order to help those in need. In this way, the students and the community alike were able to benefit from the event. In the end though, some tough chess games were fought with students clearly battling on the board. The tournament was divided into five sections (K-2, K-4, K-6, K-8 and high school), and after five rounds of chess, the winners were decided. With a perfect score in the top section, Giorgi VanDerway took the highest honor. In the lower sections, the winners Akash Mattu, Jeremy Margonlin, and James Zhang, had perfect scores, while Alex Yasumoto with 4.5/5 was the winner on tie-breaks for his section. The students came representing 68 schools, and it was Argo High School that brought home the largest trophy when they edged out Walter Payton High School with just half a point more. Congratulations to all and see you next year. Find crosstables here. (pdf) Orlando By Harvey Lerman The 1st annual Orlando Autumn Open and National Day Scholastic was held at the International Palms Resort on International Drive, in the heart of Orlando's tourist area. 107 players entered for a part of the $7,000 prize fund and for two special awards: two SeaWorld tickets ($180 value) to the top player, and a $50 gift certificate for all-you-can-eat lobster at Boston Lobster Feast for the player winning the largest upset. This Grand Prix event was played over the National Chess Day weekend, October 12th to 14th and was organized by Harvey Lerman of the Central Florida Chess Club (CFCC). Steven Vigil, in training to take over after Lerman decides to retire, was the Chief TD. Top winner of the tournament was Yilmer Guzman, who admits to spending more time the past 18 months studying chess. And he has made steady progress, winning Class A in the 2011 Space Coast Open to regain his Expert rating; winning the Under 2100 section of the 2012 Southern Open; raising his rating to over 2100 in the Florida State Championship last month; and now winning the Orlando Autumn Open's Premier prize as his rating approaches 2200. He called the following win over John Ludwig his best: 6508 CFCC tries to have a scholastic section in their major events that is run under the same time controls as the other sections and with money prizes beside a few trophies, as a transition for them to the "Adult" sections. This event was no exception and Christian Harris won this section giving him $188 and a trophy. Palm Beach by John Dockery The Weiss School celebrated by hosting its Fifth Annual Rated Scholastic Chess Tournament on Saturday, October 6, 2012. The Tournament was organized and directed by John Dockery, President and Tournament Director of Palm Beach Gardens Chess Club. There were a total of 73 children participating in the tournament as well as several schools competing for Team Trophies. In honor of NATIONAL CHESS DAY, Mr. Dockery had 100 trophies available to the winners (top ten individual trophies and top ten team trophies in 5 Divisions). All Other Participants Received A Commemorative Medal. Several schools participated and top honors went to Elbridge Gale Elementary, Equestrian Trails Elementary , Palm Beach Public School, Ransom Everglades School, Suncoast High School, The Weiss School and Boca Raton High School. Everyone had a great time including the parents. Thanks to the Head of School Dr. Denise Spirou and special thanks to Mrs. Ellyn Zarek and Bradley Zarek for all their help. Everything was very well organized and the children and the parents enjoyed the event. Our next Scholastic Tournament will be held at The Weiss School on Saturday, October 12, 2013 located at 4176 Burns Road, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410. For more information please call the President and Tournament Director John Dockery at (561) 762-3377 or visit our website at palmbeachchessclub.info Look for more dispatches on National Chess Day later this week and share your own experiences with CLO editor at [email protected] or connect via twitter & facebook. |

subset: commoncrawl


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"But you see, the one thing I really didn't factor into this equation is my PS Vita. For a console that is supposed to have no games, I find myself incapable of putting it down. But worse, is that now I find myself going to sleep later and later everyday because of this sexy little beast of a system. I bring it to my room and put on the headphones and I'll be on Black Ops Declassified until 2 or 3 am. I mean, it's not fair to both me or my backlog on my PS3. I can't even stop playing my PS Vita long enough to even write a review or two, for pete's sake." - Gamer-rider.com
I do the same thing. I recently started playing my PS3 again though; Playstation All-Stars brought me back to my PS3 and the WiiU for a day (Scribblenauts Unlimited).
The funny thing is I have never liked playing COD online and I find myself doing it on my Vita. For a system that doesn't have any games, I already have a backlog of games and that was prior to the IGC from PS+.
I hear you, I play my Vita way more than my PS3. Heck, I find myself playing mediocre games on the Vita (like Lego LOTR) more than awesome games that I own for the PS3. It's kind of weird, but it is just so convenient and pleasant to sit on the couch playing the Vita while my wife sits next to me on her laptop while we watch Netflix on the PS3. Something about not dominating the entire living room to play a game is rather nice.
Also, I have a ridiculous backlog of Vita games now as well. I know COD and AC Lib weren't the system sellers people were hoping for, but I kind of wonder if we're past the point of System Selling Games. I'm not willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a single game, but if a system has a whole library of great games, the system becomes much more appealing. And imho, the Vita has a pretty rockin' library so far...
Great article. I also took the plunge with the Vita from day one and I have zero regret. Currently I have a back log of games on the Vita as well, especially since P4G touched down last week.
Anyone hating on the Vita or stating that it has a lack of games, either does not have one or can't afford one and the many quality games it has. The biggest gripe that I have is how these other mobile systems (iPad in particular) get such great reviews with games that don't compare to what is available on the Vita in quality, depth, game-play or controls. A great example is NFS Most Wanted on the Vita, no other true racing mobile game can compare, yet there are other mobile racers that received better ratings /shrug.
I have been saying this for months now, and with P4: The Golden and other great PSVITA games on the horizon, It will continue so.


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By Michael West
IT WAS Intel founder Gordon E. Moore who observed in 1965 that there was a doubling in the power of computer chips every two years.
Moore predicted this trend would persist for another 10 years and his prognostications have proven eerily correct.
Even extrapolating Moore's Law, as it became known, beyond the realms of semiconductors into digital technology and elsewhere, technology tends to double in power every couple of years.
And as the performance increases, the price drops in sync.
It is to this phenomenon that electricity consumers can pin their hopes in coming years as they grapple with rising power bills. The technology to deliver cheaper energy is here.
The question is: can industry and government deliver?
Already, solar power has hit a ''tipping point',' where it is economic without government subsidies.
This was one of the findings of a recent draft report by engineer Robert Rollinson on the electricity industry on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
The Melbourne Energy Institute's Professor Mike Sandiford says solar PV (photovoltaic) is close to ''grid parity''. ''PV [pricing] has been trending down with a 20-25 per cent cost reduction for every doubling of capacity globally.''
This, however, is no guarantee of relief from surging prices.
The electricity industry needs to get a return on its massive spending over recent years - spending which has been the impetus behind nosebleed power bills.
Thanks to the high fixed costs of the network, even if consumers were to flee the grid in droves for wind and solar power, many would still use it for a portion of their power needs.
Less savvy consumers - read the most needy - will still be stuck on the grid.
For industry, the unpleasant consequence of falling demand and the incursion of solar power is the prospect of large write-downs at a time when the Queensland and NSW governments are keen to privatise their transmission and distribution assets.
There is a little ray of sunshine, though.
Electric cars may take up surplus capacity on the grid in the off-peak hours. You charge them at night.
Like TV sets, digital cameras and DVD players, electric cars have rapidly improved in performance and dropped in price.
A paper from the Australian Energy Markets Commission estimates that electric cars will make up 20 per cent of all new vehicle sales in Australia by the end of this decade and 45 per cent by 2030.
If consumers charge their cars overnight the AEMC says that electricity demand will rise only 4 per cent by 2030.
The cost of charging an electric car during the night is about 1¢ per kilometre versus 10¢ a kilometre to fuel a petrol car.
Ergo, lower costs for consumers and higher demand for the networks at times of when they have most un-utilised capacity and therefore no need to make capital expenditures (or operating expenditures, for that matter).
A win-win.
The incremental off-peak revenue flows to industry (the five-year regulatory periods allow for significant capture; then it's, fingers-crossed that the regulators don't roll the same opportunities for ''gold-plating'', or unnecessary expenditure, into the next period). Off-peak prices are lower, but this is incremental revenue nonetheless, and revenue gained without offsetting capital or operating costs.
Are electric cars at a tipping point, too?
Over the New Year, Nissan unveiled the pricing for its entry level LEAF electric vehicle at $US28,800 ($A27,900) - that's 18 per cent cheaper than the most basic 2012 model and presents a robust challenge to GM's dominant offering, the Volt.
Applying the US federal incentive, the price of the new LEAF is an aggressive $US21,300, or as low as $US18,800 in California once the state rebate has been discounted.
The tumbling Japanese yen will make imported electric cars far cheaper in Australia, too, or at least for as long as the $A remains high.
In Australia though, if high power prices persist, particularly in off-peak, they may act as an impediment to take-up of electric cars.
As an interesting aside, one corollary of the carbon tax is that it will also act as an impediment to take-up as it is a very large share of off-peak costs but not so much for on-peak - and the tax is not levied on its competitor: petrol.
While electric cars may prove a happy if unintended consequence of technology for the electricity networks, industry remains in denial when it comes to solar PV.
Research by Mike Sandiford last year estimated that, thanks to the spectacular take-up of solar panels, there would be in excess of 2 gigawatts of solar PV capacity installed by now, enough to produce about 8 per cent of the average daytime electricity demand.
Rather than being hard to measure, Sandiford says the solar PV signature is ''blindingly obvious'', putting big dents in electricity consumption figures in the places where PV penetration is highest.
''In South Australia, midday to early afternoon demand was down over the financial year 2011-12 by about 8 per cent on the average for the period spanning mid- 2007 through mid-2009. That contrasted with a negligible change in demand outside daylight hours,'' said Sandiford.
If his estimates are even roughly correct, the electricity industry is in for a shock.
Revenues were down 35 per cent, or $3.3 billion, across the National Electricity Market in 2011-12, compared with the $9.6 billion in turnover for the two years prior to mid-2009.
If solar PV deployment proceeds at its present pace, it will take only 18 months to reduce midday demand to current midnight levels.


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An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together …
The "Apollo" of Gaza on a Smurf blanket [via, also]
- "Denmark starts meaty argument over animal slaughter" — Leo Benedictus, The Guardian UK's Shortcuts Blog; from the we'll-meet-the-meat dept.
"In most European countries, including the UK, the slaughter of an animal is considered humane only if it is stunned before having its throat cut. Muslim and Jewish rules, however, require an animal to be fully alive, healthy, and intact before being killed, and this is often interpreted to mean it must be conscious. Many Muslims and Jews insist the swift technique of ritual slaughter prevents the animal from suffering. But animal welfare activists and their supporters beg to differ. … This is far from the first flare-up over ritual slaughter."
- Hermetic Library fellow Sam Webster quoted by The Wild Hunt, via tweet [also]; from the party-foul dept.
"A libation without a prayer is just a spilled drink."
- Crystal Blanton quoted by The Wild Hunt, via tweet; from the inconvenient-truth dept.
"We sacrifice humans every day."
- "Will Arizona Go the Anti-Gay Way of Uganda?" — Jay Michaelson, The Jewish Daily Forward; from the freedom-fries dept.
"'Religious Freedom' used to be a shield, not a sword."
- "The 'Religious Liberty' Campaign May Be Backfiring For Conservatives" — Ed Kilgore, Talking Points Memo's Cafe; from the spare-tire-and-a-muffin-top-to-go dept.
"On many fronts in the culture wars, the momentum has usually been possessed by those who can best identify themselves with the ambivalent attitudes of a mushy middle 'swing vote'"
- "Lawsuit: Calif. Christian missions tortured mentally disabled with Bible 'punishments'" — David Edwards, Raw Story; from the agape-has-left-the-building dept.
"Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has filed a lawsuit against two unlicensed Christian mission homes for effectively torturing mentally disabled people if they refused to attend religious services, and forcing them to live in filthy conditions."
- "Zambia: Why Homosexuality Should Not Be Legalised in Zambia (part 4)" [no link because it's heinous] — Charles Kachikoti, Times of Zambia via allAfrica.com; from the what-is-this-i-don't-even dept.
"[Reason #]17. Law and Order
The mentality of homosexuals is anti-family and anti-marriage, which mindset is opposed to law and order.
Aleister Crowley (October 12, 1875 — December 1, 1947), the father of modern day Satanism, who massively promoted Satan-worship internationally, and notably so among world music stars, spoke against family and promoted homosexuality.
The mentality of his followers is therefore anti-family and anti-marriage." - "Witch hunting | Victims of superstition" — Ashwaq Masoodi, Livemint.com; from the she's-got-huge-tracts-of-land dept.
"These are women who are unsupported, either because they are single or widows. It is primarily connected to land. It happens with women who are economically well-off or self-sustaining."
- "The Last of Us" — Frank Swain, Futures Exchange; so-logically-if-she-weighs-the-same-as-a-duck-she's-made-of-wood dept.
"They kept the [last Great Auk] tied up for three days until an ominous storm arose. Believing the bird was a witch responsible for their predicament, the men clubbed it to death."
- How Belief In Hell Directly Benefits The Elite — Matt Staggs, Disinformation; from the but-thinking-makes-it-so dept.
"Just thinking about Hell makes people ill and out of sorts, and they don't even have to think that it's real. It's worse for the true believers: Individual belief in what the researchers referred to as 'supernatural malevolence' (Coming soon to pay-per-view!) was associated with bad coping skills, low self-esteem and poor health resiliency."
"Hell isn't just a religious idea, it's a meme; an especially toxic one that we might be primed to believe in from birth — especially if you believe those studies that suggest we're hardwired to believe in god. Hell is such a virulent, deadly little mind-virus that even secular minds have trouble fighting it off. And it seems that there's a vested interest in keeping it strong."
- The Race to Save Mali's Priceless Artifacts — Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine; from the operation-serapeion dept.
"When jihadists overran Timbuktu last year, residents mounted a secret operation to evacuate the town's irreplaceable medieval manuscripts."
- "The Helgo Treasure: A Viking Age Buddha" — IrishArchaeology.ie; from the a-buddhist-a-copt-and-a-catholic-walk-into-a-viking-bar dept.
"Undoubtedly the most extraordinary find discovered during the excavations at Helgo was a small, bronze Buddha. This devotional figure dates from circa the 6th century AD … probably arrived in Helgo via Swedish merchants whose eastern trade routes were concentrated along Russian rivers such as the Volga."
"The Helgo crozier is probably of Irish origin and would have formed part of a bishop's staff. Dating from circa the 8th century AD, it was most likely stolen during a Viking raid on Ireland and brought back to Helgo as booty."
"… a bronze ladle whose origins lie in North Africa, probably in the vicinity of modern-day Egypt. Decorated in small punch-marks, which define a Tree-of-Life symbol, the ladle was most likely used in ceremonies associated with the early Coptic church."
- "When the Old Gods Died: A Note on Ragnarok and Evaporating Histories" — Jeremy D Johnson, Reality Sandwich; from the a-new-heaven-and-a-new-earth dept.
"Yes, let's build that Earth. Cast out the old gods and apocalyptic imaginaries as we work to build a new Earth, so desperately and agonizingly waiting, not for the passive, but for those ready to be born."
- "New documents prove U.S. Army actively targeted leftist protesters, group says" — Scott Kaufman, Raw Story; from the every-breath-you-take dept.
"New records obtained by the Defending Dissent Foundation prove that the United States Army used a multi-agency spy network to gather intelligence on nonviolent, antiwar protesters and to disseminate their findings to both the FBI and local police departments."
- "How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations" — Glenn Greewald, The Intercept; from the secret-agent-johannes-dee-007 dept.
"Using online techniques to make something happen in the real or cyber world"
- "Mapping Twitter Topic Networks: From Polarized Crowds to Community Clusters" — Marc A Smith et al., Pew Research Internet Project; from the a-place-for-everything-everything-in-its-place dept.
"Conversations on Twitter create networks with identifiable contours as people reply to and mention one another in their tweets. These conversational structures differ, depending on the subject and the people driving the conversation. Six structures are regularly observed: divided, unified, fragmented, clustered, and inward and outward hub and spoke structures. These are created as individuals choose whom to reply to or mention in their Twitter messages and the structures tell a story about the nature of the conversation."
- "Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories" — David Comberg; from the e-stands-for-electricity dept;
- "The Shapes of Stories, a Kurt Vonnegut Infographic" — Maya Eilam; in-hoc-figura-vinces dept.
- Atlas of Management Thinking by Edward de Bono, described on the Edward de Bono website; in the can-you-draw-me-a-picture dept.
"Verbal descriptions of complex management situations are necessarily lodged in the left side of the brain. In order for us to be able to use the right side of the brain we need a repertoire of non-verbal images. That is precisely what this book sets out to provide. The images provided by drawings in this book enrich the perceptual map of the executive. The images allow him to add some right-brain thinking to his usual left-brain thinking. This makes it easier for the executive to recognise situations in a flash instead of having to build them up piecemeal."
- "The Higgs Boson re-explained" — Jorge Cham, PHD Comics; from the hello-i-mass-be-going dept.
"Without the Higgs Field, there would be no mass terms in the equations … and everything you know would disappear in a split second."
- "Is the Universe a Simulation?" — Edward Frenkel, The New York Times' Gray Matter; from the faith-trust-and-pixie-dust dept.
"What kinds of things are mathematical entities and theorems, that they are knowable in this way? Do they exist somewhere, a set of immaterial objects in the enchanted gardens of the Platonic world, waiting to be discovered? Or are they mere creations of the human mind?
This question has divided thinkers for centuries. It seems spooky to suggest that mathematical entities actually exist in and of themselves. But if math is only a product of the human imagination, how do we all end up agreeing on exactly the same math? Some might argue that mathematical entities are like chess pieces, elaborate fictions in a game invented by humans. But unlike chess, mathematics is indispensable to scientific theories describing our universe. And yet there are many mathematical concepts — from esoteric numerical systems to infinite-dimensional spaces — that we don't currently find in the world around us. In what sense do they exist?"
- "An Introduction to Landscape Theology" — David Titterington, Reality Sandwich; from the my-hair-the-trees-of-eternity dept.
"What is objective and universal may be called transpersonal, or 'archetypal,' in the Jungian sense; it is that more-than-human place we share with others, that 'earthly ground of rock and soil that we share with the other animals and the plants' (Abram 1996: 281). Merleau-Ponty: 'My body is made of the same flesh as the world.' Therefore, if we wish to look for the 'real archetypes,' we may want to pay attention to landscapes and their elements."
- Sleep's Hidden Histories — Benjamin Reiss. Los Angeles Review of Books [HT Arts & Letters Daily]; from between-a-sleep-and-a-sleep the dept.
"Things that we do or experience in private, things we might expect to read about in novels or talk about in therapy, have now generated a hidden-histories boomlet. The best of these works not only make the familiar strange, but they make us think differently about history and its intimate relation to our own lives."
"Sleep, on the other hand, assassinates the person who might think about it. It's not just that it's a stretch to imagine how our sleep connects us to other times and places; it's that we're not even there when it happens. Dreaming is a possible exception, since it's sometimes recoverable by our waking selves — which is part of why dreaming has a much longer historiography than the other 85 percent of the sleep cycle. But the other aspects of the sleeping self — characterized by non-productivity, maddening lumpishness, and obliviousness — are about as unavailable to us as is being born or dying."
- "The Church of the Paranormal" — Shannon Fischer, Pacific Standard [HT William Thirteen]; from the i-want-to-believe dept.
"Don't be shy. Depending on your poll of choice, anywhere from a third to nearly half of you either believe in ghosts or are pretty sure you do. And if not ghosts, then aliens, mediums, or astrology, for which belief has either held steady or risen over the last couple of decades. More than two-thirds of Americans hold at least one paranormal—unsanctioned by religion—belief, according to the Baylor Religion Survey. That's more than voted in the 2012 presidential election."
- Arnold Toynbee quoted at "Roadmap to an unstoppable strategy" — Stephanie Van Hook; from the i-love-it-when-a-plan-comes-together dept.
"Apathy can only be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an idea that takes the imagination by storm; and second, a concrete, intelligible plan for putting that idea into action."
- "The War on Reason" — Paul Bloom, The Atlantic [HT Arts & Letters Daily]; from the let-me-hear-your-body-talk dept.
"In a contemporary, and often unacknowledged, rebooting of Freud, many psychologists have concluded from such findings that unconscious associations and attitudes hold powerful sway over our lives—and that conscious choice is largely superfluous. 'It is not clear,' the Baylor College neuroscientist David Eagleman writes, 'how much the conscious you—as opposed to the genetic and neural you—gets to do any deciding at all.'"
- "Does Reading Actually Change The Brain?" — Carol Clark of Emory University, Futurity [HT Disinformation]; from the i-can-go-twice-as-high dept.
"'The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist,' Berns says. 'We already knew that good stories can put you in someone else's shoes in a figurative sense. Now we're seeing that something may also be happening biologically.'
The neural changes were not just immediate reactions, Berns says, since they persisted the morning after the readings, and for the five days after the participants completed the novel."
- "The new theory that could explain crime and violence in America" — Scott C Johnson; from the taking-over-the-family-business dept.
"When the analysis was complete, Meaney saw an intriguing pattern. For the most part, the brains of suicide victims had similar receptor levels to those of people who had died in accidents. But in the samples from victims of childhood abuse, receptor levels were lower — just as with the rats. When he homed in on the cause of the difference, things got even more interesting. Meaney discovered that the gene for the receptor was covered by a chemical blanket that effectively silenced it — exactly the same silencing mechanism as seen in the rats that suffered poor maternal care.
The implication was significant: an abusive childhood might turn the volume down on this vital stress-response gene, leaving the abused vulnerable to stress, and perhaps suicidal impulses, later in life."
- "Your Ancestors, Your Fate" — Gregory Clark, The New York Times' Opinion Pages; from the upstairs-downstairs dept.
"The notion of genetic transmission of 'social competence' … may unsettle us. But studies … support this view."
- "Jim Jarmusch: how the film world's maverick stayed true to his roots" — Jonathan Romney, The Observer; from the if-you-look-like-you-could-be-then-you-are dept.
"The word 'hipster' invariably crops up in discussions about American film-maker Jim Jarmusch, not least because he looks the part. He is tall, lean, often wears shades and has a famous shock of hair that started turning silvery grey in his teens; his basso drawl completes the uncanny resemblance to a certain Hollywood great, which inspired Jarmusch to found a jokey secret society, The Sons of Lee Marvin."
- "The Song of the Land: Bioregional Animism" — Sarah Anne Lawless; from the lay-of-the-land dept.
"It is hard to care deeply about something without any personal knowledge of it. Walking this road can start as simply as purchasing a regional field guide and going for a lot of walks with it, photographing and recording what you find. It can be as fun as taking an identification and foraging course with knowledgeable locals who will teach you ethics and proper stewardship as well to make sure you don't damage or destroy the natural resources you're learning to identify and use. Go camping, go travelling, go exploring, go on adventures in your bioregion. Walk the trails, canoe the lakes, explore the beach, climb the trees…
When you're surrounded by nature, sit still, watch and listen."
- Teju Cole, via tweet; from the thank-you-no-thank-you dept.
"You don't decide to be a prophet. It happens to you, ruining your life, comforting distant people you've never met who may never thank you."
- Jenna Lilla, via tweet; from the i-roam-around-around-around dept.
"The heroes are usually wanderers … a symbol of longing, of the restless urge which never finds its object of nostalgia for the lost mother."
- "Magic and Your Lizard Brain: The Mind Tricks Behind Conjuring Ghosts" — Elizabeth Harper, Atlas Obscura; from the i-make-the-blue-cars-go-away dept.
"Your lizard brain is so reliably persistent that knowing how the trick is done doesn't stop the effect from working."
- "Why Is Academic Writing So Academic?" — Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker [HT Arts & Letters Daily]; from the sesquipedalian-tergiversation dept.
"Academic prose is, ideally, impersonal, written by one disinterested mind for other equally disinterested minds. But, because it's intended for a very small audience of hyper-knowledgable, mutually acquainted specialists, it's actually among the most personal writing there is. If journalists sound friendly, that's because they're writing for strangers. With academics, it's the reverse."
- "PantheaCon and the Growing Significance of Conventions as Spiritual Pilgrimage" — Crystal Blanton, The Wild Hunt; from the i-want-to-go-to-there dept;
"Nikki Jardin states 'A spiritual pilgrimage is a physical journey toward a place of sacred or religious significance.' This definition fits with how many Pagans, Wiccans, and Polytheists have come to revere Pagan conventions and festivals: As yearly spiritual pilgrimages for transcendent and communal enlightenment."
- "Sheep reproduction is beautiful." — Sunshine and Bunnies!


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These vendors have made it clear they are sheisters out to rob, steal and cheat rather than supply good parts and good customer service. AVOID THEM!!
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OCEAN CITY – Members of the Ocean City Tourism Commission agreed last week that fishing has remained an untapped resource in Ocean City. In an effort to expand on fishing advertising, the commission is considering a proposal that would require $25,000 in exchange for national advertising.
At a Tourism Commission meeting last week, producers of the local fishing show Hooked on OC, which went national last year, presented the commission with a proposal, one that they claim will be beneficial for all parties involved. Producer Dave Messick and host Scott Lennox presented the commission with the proposal, which will involve national advertising for the town through their show.
Hooked on OC, a local fishing show dedicated to the regional fishing community, went national last year when it began airing on the Sportsman Network. Before going national, Messick and Lennox approached the commission in hopes that the town would come on board as the title sponsor for the show. The cost for title sponsorship was pitched for $100,000.
Although the town declined to partner with the show last year, it's reconsidering the offer after a presentation from Lennox and Messick this week and a more favorable price tag of $25,000.
Since airing nationally last year, Hooked on OC has met success, gaining several sponsors, including Sunset Marina, Marlin Moon Grille, Miller Lite and more. The increase in advertisers allowed Messick and Lennox to drop the price tag for the town's sponsorship. Hooked on OC was also nominated for four awards on the Sportsman Channel, including Best New Series.
In exchange for $25,000, the town will be gaining a year's worth of advertising. The deal includes one 30-second commercial for the town during each episode, which airs four times a week. Lennox explained that the Friday night episode, which airs at 10 p.m., has proven to be a popular time slot. Extra commercials would also be included for special events in Ocean City. The opening and closing of each episode would expand to include coverage of different events and areas around Ocean City. A link to the town of Ocean City website would also be added to the Hooked on OC website as part of the deal.
Regardless of the town's final decision on the proposal, the show will be maintaining its name, Lennox reported. Although several advertisers have made offers to change the name, Lennox and Messick have no intentions of making the change.
Lennox explained that their main reason for the proposal is to bring Ocean City fishing to the forefront of the industry and make Ocean City a top destination for fishing.
"There is no better place in the U.S. to fish in July, August and September than here," said Marlin Club President Bill Regan, who joined Lennox and Messick for their presentation. "I don't think people really understand, this is the best place to go fishing in those months, that's why the White Marlin Open is here."
Regan explained that, short of the White Marlin Open, the town does little to no advertising for the wide variety of fishing tournaments and fishing opportunities in Ocean City.
"The town hasn't spent a lot of money supporting fishing," he said.
Dr. Leonard Berger, chair of the Governor's Economic Development Committee, said the fishing industry should be better promoted.
"We really have been missing the boat…it really is a very, very important activity in Ocean City," said Berger. "When you look at the money spent on golf, we actually should be putting money into fishing."
Although no decision was made on the advertising proposal, the tourism commission agreed to review the concept. It was also agreed that more advertising should be directed toward the fishing industry. Whether it will be through Hooked on OC remains to be determined.


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text:
Stephanopoulos defends his questions to Obama
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Amid a storm of criticism that Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate focused too heavily on "gotcha" questions and not enough on substance, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos defended his decision to ask Illinois Sen. Barack Obama about his relationship with former political radical William Ayers. Stephanopoulos denied he'd been spoon-fed the question by Fox News host Sean Hannity.
"We have been researching this for a while," Stephanopoulos said in a phone interview from New York. ABC News political correspondent Jake Tapper, he said, had blogged about the issue April 10, after it was first reported by Politico, the political news website. "Part of what we discovered is that Sen. Obama had never been asked directly about it, even though it's being written about and talked about and Republicans are signaling that this is gonna be an issue in the general election."
(A spokesman for Obama did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.)
On Tuesday, as a guest on Hannity's radio program, Stephanopoulos said, "Well, I'm taking notes now, Sean" when Hannity suggested he raise the topic of Ayers with Obama.
In Wednesday's prime-time debate, co-moderated with Charles Gibson, Stephanopoulos asked Obama: "…On this issue, general theme of patriotism, in your relationships. A gentleman named William Ayers. He was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He's never apologized for that…. An early organizing meeting for your state Senate campaign was held at his house, and your campaign has said you are 'friendly.' Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?"
Obama replied, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense, George."
Progressives pounced. "The real story of this debate," said MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, may be "where one of the moderators found his questions."
Stephanopoulos dismissed the idea that he was doing Hannity's bidding.
"The questions we asked were tough and fair and appropriate and relevant and what you would expect to be asked in a presidential debate at this point," he said. "The questions we asked…are being debated around the political world every day."
By this morning, more than 14,000 viewer comments had been posted on the ABC News website, the overwhelming majority critical of the debate moderators, who spent most of the first hour on what Stephanopoulous called "electability questions."
"The way we thought about it was, it made sense to hit the electability questions first, then move on," he said. "I can see where reasonable people would differ with that."
The debate, broadcast in prime time, was the 21st and probably final matchup between the two Democratic contenders, Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. It was, according to ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider, the most watched debate of this campaign cycle, with 10.7 million viewers. The previous record, also held by ABC News, was 9.3 million viewers of the Jan. 5 debate between Democrats in New Hampshire.
As the critical Pennsylvania primary looms on Tuesday, both candidates have been dogged by controversies unrelated to the issues that voters say are topmost on their minds.
Clinton apologized for making up a story that she was under sniper fire on a tarmac while visiting Bosnia in 1996. Obama said he had "mangled up" what he meant to say after implying to supporters at a San Francisco fundraiser that some blue-collar voters are "bitter" and as a result "cling" to religion and guns.
Updated with more after the jump...
Stephanopoulos asked Obama about his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose impassioned denunciations of the American government were widely disseminated on the Web last month.
"But do you believe he's as patriotic as you are?" Stephanopoulos asked.
Obama replied, "This is somebody who's a former Marine. So, I believe that he loves this country. But I also believe that he's somebody who, because of the experiences he's had over the course of a lifetime, is also angry about the injustices he's had."
Stephanopoulos, who was a senior advisor to Bill Clinton in his first term, also pressed Clinton about her character, telling her that an ABC News poll found that "six in 10 voters that we talk to say they don't believe you're honest and trustworthy."
Washington Post television critic Tom Shales accused Stephanopoulos and Gibson of turning in "shoddy, despicable performances." They dwelled, he added, "entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that has already been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news."
However, New York Times political columnist David Brooks blogged his approval. "I understand the complaints," he wrote, "but I thought the questions were excellent. The journalist's job is to make politicians uncomfortable, to explore evasions, contradictions and vulnerabilities. Almost every question tonight did that."
An outtake from the end of the debate, which appeared instantly on the Huffington Post, showed Gibson being heckled by audience members as he introduced a final commercial break. "The crowd is turning on me," he said with a thin smile.
Some who watched thought the anger stemmed from the caliber of the debate. But Schneider, the ABC News spokesman, was in the hall and said he believed some in the audience were angry that they had to sit through yet more commercials before being allowed to leave the venue.
"I have no doubt other people may wish to spin that," he said.
-- Robin Abcarian


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Native New Yorker Adam Leon is a filmmaker very much in touch with his roots. He first drew attention with 2009 short Killer (co-directed with the wonderfully named Jack Pettibone Riccobono), a hectic re-imagining of an urban childhood game in which he and other kids would form teams and hunt each other through the city non-stop for two weeks straight.
Similarly, Leon's feature debut, Gimme the Loot, isn't much interested in hanging around. Crafted in the vibrant image of its director's home city, it's a brisk, brash and colourful miniature epic about the optimistic quest of Malcolm (Ty Hickson) and Sofia (Tashiana Washington) – two talented teenaged graffiti artists from The Bronx – to take daring artistic revenge on the neighbouring Queens taggers who defaced their latest masterpiece.
The pair's mission sees them pinball restlessly across the city's boroughs in search of the required $500, from bodega to basketball court, from spartan Bronx bungalow to swish Manhattan high-rise apartment. Benefitting from the generous assistance offered to filmmakers by The Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, Gimme the Loot features a bounty of locations shot with fizzing roughness by cinematographer John Miller, who captures the city's thrumming energy, not to mention its deliriously contradictory topographies.
Sweet but unsentimental (our heroes swear like stevedores and don't think twice about a spot of light theft), Gimme the Loot is ultimately a satisfying fusion of two classic film staples: the New York movie, and the youth culture movie. Down the years, when the confusion and impetuosity of pre-adult life has collided with the energy and diversity of one of the world's great cinematic cities, the results have often been sublime.
In celebration of Gimme the Loot, here are 10 great New York youth films in chronological order, featuring sex, drugs, schemers, dreamers, subcultures, and everything in-between.
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Directors: Michael Curtiz
Manhattan's once-roughneck district Hell's Kitchen is the fitting scenario for Michael Curtiz's classic gangster flick-cum-social melodrama. Though headlined by the yin and yang pairing of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien as ne'er-do-well childhood friends who've taken very different paths in adulthood (gangster and priest, respectively), the film is all but stolen by the performances of the Dead End Kids – a collection of young thesps from New York who first appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway hit Dead End in 1935.
The most enduring in Warner Bros's series of socially conscious films starring the Kids, Angels with Dirty Faces was memorably parodied in 1990's Home Alone in the form of Angels with Filthy Souls (sample dialogue: "Keep the change, ya filthy animal!").
Little Fugitive (1953)
Directors: Ray Ashley, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin
Hailed as a major influence on Gimme the Loot by Adam Leon in interviews, Little Fugitive (in some cases subtitled The Coney Island Kid) is a sprightly drama full of compassion and on-the-fly location shooting. Cruelly tricked into thinking he's killed his older brother, the panicked, titular seven-year-old lad goes on the run, spending two fraught days tramping the beaches and boardwalks of Brooklyn resort Coney Island as his increasingly concerned brother (responsible for the prank in the first place) tries to locate him in time for the return of their mother.
Oscar-nominated for best writing in a motion picture story in 1954, this vivid evocation of youth has suffered from a lack of availability in ensuing years. However, it has always enjoyed a healthy critical standing; Francois Truffaut cited it as a key inspiration for his Nouvelle Vague classic Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959), telling an interviewer: "Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn't been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production with [this] fine movie." A recent Blu-ray release promises to see its stock rise even further.
Shadows (1959)
Director: John Cassavetes
Featuring all of the hallmarks which would go on to define John Cassavetes as a filmmaker in years to come (urgency, improvisation, infinite compassion), his debut Shadows – a freewheeling account of three African-American siblings, two of whom are in their tumultuous early 20s – remains a bracingly fresh testament to youth and the unforgiving glare of the city.
Funded by family, friends and donations, and filmed in a host of locations including Cassavetes' apartment, Central Park, Times Square and, in one memorable scene, the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art, this earthy film is marvellously evocative of Beat Generation-era NYC. You can almost smell the smoke and taste the alcohol that permeates nearly every scene. Shadows is also notable for bravely tackling the subject of interracial romance, then still a taboo in Eisenhower-era America.
The Warriors (1979)
Director: Walter Hill
"These are the armies of the night. They are 100,000 strong. They outnumber the cops five to one. They could run New York City", ran the alarmist tagline to Walter Hill's gaudy urban odyssey, provoking waves of complaint from a concerned public. However, if those worried folk had deigned to take a closer look, they'd have discovered not a gritty frontline dispatch, but rather a theatrical, preposterously costumed and expertly choreographed romp that tips into overtly camp territory on more than one occasion.
To this day, The Warriors is marred by its retrograde sexual politics (a holdover from Sol Yurick's 1965 source novel), but cult status is assured thanks to action maestro Hill's expertly tight direction, stunning location work, and the simplicity of a mythic plot charting one young gang's perilous mission to get from a disastrous summit in The Bronx back to their base in Brooklyn's rundown Coney Island. Gorgeous to look at, only photographer Bruce Davidson has captured the bruised anti-beauty of the NYC subway system of the 1970s as perfectly as Hill's film.
Fame (1980)
Director: Alan Parker
In a radical thematic and locational departure from his previous film – harrowing Turkish prison drama Midnight Express (1978) – British director Alan Parker turned his attentions to a group of earnest young hopefuls striving through various, episodically-structured stages of experience at the prestigious, Manhattan-based New York High School of Performing Arts (later the Fiorello LaGuardia High School) in 1980's Fame.
Featuring an Academy Award-winning score, and hugely influential in its honest treatment of issues including race, class and sexuality (its track-marks are all over runaway TV success Glee, for example), Fame went on to spawn its own very popular television series, a Los Angeles-based spin-off, a long-running stage musical, a reality TV show, and a predictably unsatisfying film remake in 2009. It has dated, but remains one of the most absorbing portrayals of ambitious youth in an urban environment.
Permanent Vacation (1980)
Director: Jim Jarmusch
The antithesis of Fame's bombastic ambition, Jim Jarmusch's debut heralded the dawn of a new auteur with his very own deadpan, dead-cool agenda. The fruits of a final year project at New York University, this 16mm treat starred Chris Parker as Allie, a curious hipster-type wandering around the dingy, rubbish-strewn New York of the era meeting various oddballs. A glacial portrait of psychological and spatial dislocation (the haunting final image is a long take of Manhattan Island seen from a departing ferry), it's not always an easy watch, but undoubtedly the distinct work of a filmmaker with a unique vision.
Permanent Vacation makes a great double bill with Edo Bertoglio's Downtown '81, a scratchy urban portrait featuring an endearingly somnambulant turn from artist and Jarmusch contemporary Jean-Michel Basquiat as a perambulatory dreamer bumping into various No Wave bands and Lower East Side artistic luminaries.
Style Wars (1983)
Director: Tony Silver
Tempting as it is to cite Charlie Ahearn's celebrated, if narratively wobbly, Wild Style (1983) as the urtext for hip hop films, it is lesser-known documentary Style Wars which reveals more about the subculture's socio-political roots and complexities, and focuses on its triple pillars of graffiti, music, and breakdancing in greater detail. The filmmakers are commendably committed to giving the young black and Hispanic kids who dominated the scene a voice for their ambitions and frustrations, and highlighting the antipathy with which the culture was greeted by authorities.
Successive New York mayors throughout the 1970s and 80s fought graffiti tooth and nail; one extraordinary scene reveals how Fame stars Irene Cara and Gene Anthony Ray were co-opted by then-mayor Ed Koch to star in an unctuous anti-graffiti commercial. The film also shows that parents weren't exactly on-board with hip-hop culture either; a particularly touching and amusing thread focuses on the fraught relationship between a formidable, totally uncomprehending mother and her defiant graffiti artist son.
Blessed with a superb soundtrack and edited with great rhythm by Sam Pollard (who would later collaborate with Spike Lee on another NYC classic, Do the Right Thing, 1989), Style Wars is an essential urban portrait: head over heels in love with its city, rich in anecdote and detail.
Kids (1995)
Director: Larry Clark
Difficult to recommend purely in terms of enjoyment, but impossible to ignore for its cultural impact, Larry Clark's controversial film of then-19-year-old 'wunderkind' Harmony Korine's script – reportedly written in a 24-hour period shortly after the pair met in Manhattan's Washington Square – posited New York City as a washed-out cesspool of youthful nihilism, disaffection and (frequently sexual) violence. The purposefully ironic blankness of the title gave little clue as to the depravity within, and though visually an influence on Gimme the Loot, it couldn't be more different tonally.
Raising Victor Vargas (2002)
Director: Peter Sollett
Based upon his own short film Five Feet High and Rising (the title an affectionate nod to NYC hip hop group De La Soul), Peter Sollett's winningly low-key debut crafted an engaging urban tale around the eponymous Victor (Victor Rasuk), a charismatic, lady-killing teenager living in Manhattan's Dominican-dominated Lower East Side.
Blessed with some genuinely evocative location shooting (the warm, gritty graininess comes from the super 16mm stock), a keen observance of the mores and quirks of its community, and a palpable sense of compassion for its characters, Raising Victor Vargas is both an underrated gem and a clear influence on Gimme the Loot.
Tiny Furniture (2010)
Director: Lena Dunham
Like Jarmusch's Permanent Vacation, though much warmer and funnier, Lena Dunham's painfully honest debut (at the age of 24) offers the invigorating experience of witnessing a bold new talent appearing almost fully-formed. An episodic comedy with notes of Woody Allen and Whit Stillman, Tiny Furniture tells the story of Aura (Dunham), a recent graduate returning from her Midwest liberal arts college to her artist family's TriBeCa loft with very little to show for it. She soon takes a menial job as a hostess at a restaurant and falls into relationships with two hilariously self-absorbed men while struggling to define herself. It's a funny and keenly observed study of the pitfalls of privilege, featuring an enviable host of swanky Lower Manhattan locations.
Since Tiny Furniture, Dunham has gone on to achieve superstardom with HBO series Girls, though not without controversy: a running pop-cultural debate has focused on whether or not the show is racist, with critics pointing to its lack of diversity. Yet it's Dunham's honesty and obvious talent which shines through regardless.
Gimme the Loot screened in the Love section of the 56th BFI London Film Festival.


text: Measuring the accelerated expansion of the Universe with the goal of better understanding its underlying physics is one of the leading programs in cosmology today. The baryon acoustic oscillation technique is one of the foremost tools in our toolbox today. This talk will explain the underlying physics of this method and the reasons it is extremely robust to observational and theoretical systematic errors. I will then present the latest results from the SDSS and BOSS surveys, currently the most precise distance constraints from this method. These will include a new analysis technique to undo the effects of the nonlinear evolution of the density field and partially "reconstruct" the initial density field.


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Three years later, he founded his own brand, with pieces marrying elegance and sports vibes, adored by the New York jet set. The creative director of the House of Céline from 1997 to 2003, he also designed styles which were very well-received by French women. But it is above all with the presentation of his first range of Michael Kors leather goods, and especially his handbags, that he established his reputation in 2011. The American label's tote bags have been spotted adorning the arms of Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba, Blake Lively and Miranda Kerr, to name just a few. With shiny hardware, practical compartments and available in an array of hues, these spacious totes are guaranteed to confirm once and for all your obsession with Michael Kors. Make a statement with the classic and stylish Michael Kors Jet Set large East West crossbody in black.
The spacious interior and durable construction make it perfect for everyday use, while the versatile shape and color make it a must-have… Michael Kors is a world-renowned label of luxury accessories and ready-to-wear. Established in New York in 1981, Michael Kors is celebrated for its jet-set glamour and sophisticated style. From iconic MK-patterned bags to the perfect pairs, casual closets and signature watches, discover the label. Get ready to make a statement with the classic and understated Michael Kors Jet Set East West large crossbody in luggage .
Michael KorsLogo Lettering Large Tote Bag – Orange
Michael Kors also uses multiple materials and textures, with bags in python, exotic leather, crocodile and water snake skin. Finally, there are handbag designs in textile, like the cross-body bags in quilted tweed and Michael Kors tote bags in cotton. The Michael Kors Gilly Large Jet Set Travel Drawstring Tote is a spacious bag made of MK signature brown fabric. The American Michael Kors gained fame in 1978, when he launched a collection of clothes for the prestigious boutique Lothar's.
The Michael Kors Flight Bag Jet Set Chain North South Crossbody is a stylish and practical choice for everyday use, and the iconic… Today, the designer counts famous personalities like Jessica Alba, Gisele Bündchen and Kim Kardashian as fans of his collections of leather goods. Michael Kors tote handbags , the smallest in the range, has been adopted by the Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio, who has even made the bag her favourite carry. Finally, Michael Kors perfumes, launched in the very early 2000s, have also contributed to the success of the House. The Michael Kors Jet Set East West Large Crossbody is a stylish and practical bag made of durable vanilla MK fabric. The bag has a sleek and chic appearance, and is versatile enough to be dressed up or down to…
Michael KorsAngelina Monogram Printed Tote Bag – Brown
The iconic shape is versatile and perfect for everyday use, while the signature color adds warmth and sophistication… Initially known for designing clothes, the designer is today more famous the world over for his accessories and especially for his handbags bearing the name of Michael Kors. Carry all your daily essentials in style with the Michael Kors Jet Set Travel Medium Carryall Tote. This chic and practical tote features a sleek design, brown graphic MK logo, and durable saffiano leather exterior. The silver chain on a black bag can add a bit of edginess to the overall look.
In the eyes of Michael Kors, the perfect fashion object must add style but also be functional. It is with that in view that the American designer comes up with practical, versatile and luxury handbags. Their lines, which are quite classic, inspired by great leather goods makers like Chanel and Vuitton, ensure a certain timelessness to these accessories. The now extensive collection of handbags by Michael Kors comes in different versions, shoulder bags, cross-body or with handles, and different capacities. Tote bags, saddle bags and cross-body bags for day-to-day feature alongside baguette bags, which are more suitable for nocturnal outings.


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I always tend to die before being too much encumbered or filling my BoH enough, but I wonder: what is the ultimate stash configuration?
I heard about boulder forts, but also blue jelly fort. I understand how to build a boulder fort (scroll of earth are good for that), but blue jelly fort... Do I need to reverse genocide them? Are the advantages of such a fort worth the spending of a scroll of genocide?


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Parshat Chayei Sara
Sarah, Mother of the Jewish People, passes on at age 127. After mourning and eulogizing her, Avraham seeks to bury her in the Cave of Machpela. As this is the burial place of Adam and Chava, Avraham pays its owner, Ephron the Hittite, an exorbitant sum. Avraham sends his faithful servant Eliezer to find a suitable wife for his son Yitzchak, making him swear to choose a wife only from among Avrahams family. Eliezer travels to Aram Naharaim and prays for a sign. Providentially, Rivka appears. Eliezer asks for water. Not only does she give him water, but she draws water for all 10 of his thirsty camels. (Some 140 gallons!) This extreme kindness marks her as the right wife for Yitzchak and a suitable Mother of the Jewish People. Negotiations with Rivka's father and her brother Lavan result in her leaving with Eliezer. Yitzchak brings Rivka into his mother Sarahs tent, marries her and loves her. He is then consoled for the loss of his mother. Avraham remarries Hagar who is renamed Ketura to indicate her improved ways. Six children are born to them. After giving them gifts, Avraham sends them to the East. Avraham passes away at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah in the Cave of Machpela.
Wasted On The Young
"…the years of the life of Sarah." (23:1)
Those of us who are old enough to have trouble recalling large areas of their youth will at least have no trouble remembering some standout moments of total irresponsibility. Like hitching a ride with a lunatic German motorcyclist careening his BMW 900 down the autobahn at 100 miles-an-hour through torrential rain in the dead of night. Or going for a walk by yourself in New York City and suddenly realizing that you're in the middle of Harlem.
"Youth is wasted on the young" runs the old adage. As our hair thins and our waistlines thicken, we try and shed the immaturity of youth and improve our characters, and our actions.
It comes out, then, that what we really can call our 'life' — our arriving at some kind of perfection in this world — happens pretty close to our departure from this world. Viewed in this way, our 'lives' are even shorter than we thought, and even without the help of lunatic escapades and motorcycle madness.
All the above is true of the average person. However, there are those special people whose entire lives are focused and directed to their ultimate goal. Such were "the years of the life of Sarah." As Rashi says "all of them were equal in their goodness." None of them were wasted or misspent. And even though, of course, Sarah's stature grew in old age, this was the dividend of a holy life spend in doing mitzvot and good deeds, rather than the necessity to forsake the foolishness of youth — for "all of them were equal in their goodness."
- Source: Based on the Sfat Emet