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Let's Get Personal in France with Delphine from L'atelier de madame M....
The home of Delphine from L'atelier de madame M.
F:: French is...being part of the most grouchy nation ! I'm joking !French is... being part of a rich culture and history full of castles, kings, traditions and good gastronomy !
R:: room, my favorite room in our home is...the living room with the slate grey wall and the stove. I love it because it's a spacious and bright room where all the family can read, listen to music, surf Internet, etc.
E:: entrance, when entering my home you will notice …that we moved in just few months ago ! We still need to paint, buy furniture, install lights...
N:: new in my home is...the "docksta" table from Ikea (inspired by the Saarinen' "Tulip table"). But only few things are really new because we love second hand & "vintage" furniture and home stuff.
H:: home means to me...a nice and bright place to relax, be myself, spend time with my family and my friends.
H:: hobby, I always make time for...cooking, surfing Internet and reading magazines or detective stories.
O:: outfit, my favourite thing to wear is...even if it's not very original, a pair of Levi's jeans.
M:: magazines I love to read are..."Marie Claire maison" (my favourite ), "Living etc." and a lovely new french magazine "Toc toc toc".
E:: enjoy, I can't live without...my husband and my two daughters, friends and good tea !
I'm super happy to see a bit more of how Delphine lives in France. I have been really liking her beautiful ceramic peices for a very long time and her homes breathes exactly the atomsphere I was hoping for, warm, clean with fragile and characterful touches.
You can call her "Delphine M." or "Madame M." or find her at "la Rimule" . And you can click here to see some examples of her super cute 'petites pieces' or her 'bijoux'.
ps. dont't you just love the vintage-looking red tiles in the kitchen!!!
All images by Delphine from L'atelier de madame M.


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I was a guest on an estate planning radio show recently when a listener from Traverse City, Mich., phoned with an eye-opening question. "Do I have to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth to make it a 'stretch' IRA?" she asked.
The short answer is: Absolutely not. But what a wake-up call! It made me realize that, with all the talk this year about Roth conversions, plenty of well-informed people are understandably confused about this issue.
First, keep in mind that the term "stretch," does not denote a specific type of IRA, but rather a financial strategy to stretch out the life--and hence the tax advantages--of an IRA.
In Pictures: 13 Tips To Make An IRA Last Longer
Before Congress created Roth IRAs, the term "stretch IRA" was used to describe the strategy in which a spouse, child or grandchild inherits a traditional pretax IRA and then draws out distributions (and hence tax deferral) over his or own life expectancy. The longer the life expectancy, the smaller--as a percentage of the IRA balance--each payout must be.
With a traditional IRA the money is taxed as it is taken out of the IRA wrapper, whether by the account owner or beneficiaries. So stretching out the IRA gives the funds extra years--potentially decades--to compound tax-deferred--a wonderful investment opportunity.
With the emergence of the Roth (and beginning this year, the availability of Roth conversions to taxpayers at all income levels), there are now more ways for IRA owners to stretch out tax benefits for themselves and their heirs. There is also, no surprise, more confusion.
Here's what you and family members can do to maximize tax savings.
What IRA Owners Can Do
With a traditional IRA the owner must start taking withdrawals by April 1 of the year after turning 70 and a half. Calculating this required minimum distribution (RMD) is usually fairly straightforward. You take the account balance on Dec. 31 of the previous year and divide it by the number of years left in your life expectancy, as listed in the Internal Revenue Service's "Uniform Lifetime" table.
For example, if Sally, a widow, will be 75 in 2010 and the account balance at the end of last year was $100,000, the RMD for this year is $100,000 divided by her remaining life expectancy of 22.9 (from the IRS table), or $4,366.81. Each year she must take another withdrawal, computed the same way. (If Sally has remarried and her husband is more than 10 years younger and the sole beneficiary of her IRA, she can use the "Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy" table instead, and her RMD each year would be smaller.)
Here's where the Roth confusion comes in. In a Roth conversion you move money from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, paying ordinary income taxes (preferably with non-IRA funds) on whatever amount you shift. You don't have to take yearly minimum distributions from the Roth, and future growth in it is tax-free, as are future withdrawals. That means unless you need to withdraw the money to live on, there will be more left in the IRA for your heirs to stretch out.
So by converting to a Roth, you can leave a larger IRA to your heirs and it will be a tax-free, rather than a tax-deferred, IRA. That's why you've been hearing so much about Roth conversions and their advantages for those affluent enough to leave money to heirs. (Click here for "Ten Reasons To Convert To A Roth.")
The other thing that influences the value of a stretch-out for your family is your choice of beneficiary. You must indicate this on the beneficiary designation form you fill out when you open the account. (You can later amend this form. If you opened the account long ago, check the form you have on file to make sure it's what you intend.) Money in an IRA is distributed according to this form, not your will.
Non-spousal heirs, regardless of their age or the type of IRA, must take RMDs; a Roth conversion eliminates RMDs for you, but not for them (more lenient rules apply to spouses). These RMDs are based on the heir's life expectancy, so the younger the beneficiary, the less he or she must take out each year. Therefore, if maximizing the stretch-out is the main goal, the best person to designate as a beneficiary is someone young.
One thing you should never do is name your estate as the beneficiary--a mistake even smart, highly educated people have made. If you do, under the worst combination of circumstances, funds might have to be withdrawn within five years of your death. With a traditional IRA all the income tax would have to be paid as the money comes out of the IRA. This could also happen if you do not name a beneficiary at all, or if no one can find the beneficiary designation form when the time comes.
Make sure to also name contingent beneficiaries. If you don't and your named beneficiary dies before you, the money will revert to the estate.
What IRA Beneficiaries Can Do
For better or worse, IRA owners can't control whether inheritors take maximum advantage of the stretch-out. Any heir except a spouse must begin taking withdrawals starting on Dec. 31 of the year after he or she inherits the account. The required withdrawal is computed the same way as it is for owners, but using a different IRS table known as the "Single Life Expectancy" table.
Consider Harry, who leaves part of his IRA, worth $100,000, to his grandson, who is 21 when Harry dies at age 69. The grandson must begin taking RMDs the year following Harry's death but can stretch out withdrawals for the rest of his life. Based on an account balance of $100,000, the grandson's first required distribution at age 22 is $100,000 divided by his life expectancy of 61.1 years (from the IRS table), or $1,636.66.
If he continues to withdraw just the RMD each year, and the investments appreciate at a steady rate of 6%, this inheritance will be worth $342,854 by the time the grandson reaches age 65--and could provide a tidy nest egg for his own retirement, according to calculations by Brentmark Software.
But what if the self-indulgent grandson cashes the money out early to buy a BMW? Or what if he needs it to help finance the purchase of a house or a child's college education? In financial lingo this is called "blowing the stretch-out." And in real life it happens all the time. The grandson will owe ordinary income taxes, or if it's a Roth, no taxes. But there's no "early withdrawal" penalty as there might be if he were taking money from his own IRA before retirement.
What Spouses Can Do
Most married people name their spouse as beneficiary of an IRA, and the law gives a spousal inheritor special privileges. A spouse--let's assume it's the wife--can roll the assets into her own IRA. For a traditional IRA that means she can postpone RMDs until the year after she turns 70 and a half. Or after rolling over the IRA she can convert it to a Roth and eliminate the need to take withdrawals altogether. If she has inherited a Roth, she can achieve the same effect by simply rolling it into her own name.
Still, unless your spouse is much younger than you are, the potential stretch-out is shorter than if you named a child or grandchild as the designated beneficiary. Sometimes there's no alternative--for example, your spouse might need the money. If you cannot be sure ahead of time, keep your options open: Make your spouse the primary beneficiary and name a younger person as the contingent or alternate beneficiary. (Again, you must do this on the beneficiary designation form.) When you die, your spouse can decide whether to inherit the IRA directly and roll it over into his or her own IRA, or disclaim (turn down) the inheritance. In that case it would pass to the younger beneficiary you named, who can take a longer stretch-out.
Note that if you haven't named a contingent beneficiary, your spouse won't have this option. And in any event, he or she can't decide who gets the IRA in case of a disclaimer. It's something only you can map out in advance when you fill out the beneficiary designation form.
In Pictures: 13 Tips To Make An IRA Last Longer
Deborah L. Jacobs, a lawyer and journalist, is the author of Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly, Action-Oriented Guide (DJWorking Unlimited, 2009). To learn more, visit estateplanningsmarts.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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NEW YORK (AP) — Kellogg has a plan to get adults to eat more cereal: pile on the nutrients.
The Battle Creek, Mich.-based company says it's introducing Raisin Bran with omega-3 and a multigrain version of Special K later this month as it works to boost struggling cereal sales in North America.
Such offerings are intended to appeal specifically to higher-income people and baby boomers, CEO John Bryant said in a conference call with analysts.
Overall cereal sales have lagged in the U.S. for years as Americans increasingly reach for foods that are easier to eat on the go. But Bryant noted that the category is very fragmented and that particular groups are dragging down results.
For example, he said that kids and lower-income adults are still spooning up plenty of cereal. It's the higher-income adults who are cutting back.
"I don't think they're really that price sensitive. The real issue there is innovation," Bryant said, noting that products need to more nutrition-oriented.
Notably, Bryant said Special K has helped cereal sales among adults. The brand has been a strong performer with Kellogg rolling out a variety of product extensions including bars, shakes, crackers, chips and flatbread breakfast sandwiches.
Kellogg Co. is also trying redefine its cereal category. This year, the company is rolling out a "Breakfast To Go" dairy drink intended to be sold almost as a liquid cereal.
General Mills Inc., which also makes cereals including Cheerios and Lucky Charms, is introducing a similar product called "BFast" that promises the nutrition of a bowl of cereal and milk.
To diversify its stable of brands, Kellogg last year also bought Pringles chips, which gets two-thirds of its revenue from overseas. The deal was intended to give Kellogg a big presence in the salty snack food market and expand its international reach.
For the first quarter, Kellogg said strong sales growth for Pop-Tarts helped lift internal sales growth for the U.S. Morning Foods division, which includes cereal, by 1.6 percent.
Internal sales strip out the impact of acquisitions and exchange rates.
The U.S. Snacks division, which includes Keebler cookies and Cheez-It crackers, saw internal sales decline by 1.7 percent. Kellogg said it has new products planned for the latter part of the year.
Internationally, internal sales in Europe rose by 2.6 percent. Latin American sales rose 7.4 percent and sales in the Asia Pacific region edged up 0.3 percent.
For the quarter, Kellogg earned $311 million, or 85 cents per share. That's down from $351 million, or 98 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding the costs related to its acquisition of Pringles and the Venezuelan currency devaluation, earnings were $1.02 per share, in line Wall Street expectations.
The company noted that its results were hurt by higher costs for ingredients. Those higher costs for the year fell mostly in the first quarter, Kellogg said, and should ease in the second half of the year.
Total revenue for the period rose 12 percent to $3.86 billion, boosted by the Pringles acquisition. That was shy of the $3.94 billion that analysts predicted, according to FactSet.
Shares of Kellogg fell $1.19, or 1.8 percent, to close at $63.42 Thursday.
The company stood by its full-year earnings forecast of $3.82 to $3.91 per share, excluding Pringles acquisition-related costs. Revenue is still anticipated to climb about 7 percent, implying revenue of $15.2 billion.
Analysts expect earnings of $3.87 per share on revenue of $15.26 billion.
Kellogg also announced a $1 billion stock buyback program.
AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.


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To participate in the contest, students, researchers, NGOs and local communities have to submit a project proposal until 18 November 2021 in one of the two available streams: Research or Community. If they are interested in simultaneously competing at international level, they additionally have to choose one of six categories of the international contest. At national level, the two best projects will be awarded their prizes in the autumn of 2022. The winning team in the research and community stream will each be awarded with prize money with the purchasing power of € 5,000. At international level, the international jury will assess all competing projects from a broader perspective, with due consideration for transferability. The best projects in each of the six categories will be awarded with a prize of € 10,000 each. The best project overall will receive no less than € 30,000.
!NEW! in this edition: The international category "Nature Based Solutions", which has the goal of promoting co-benefits for the communities – economic, ecological and social – of sustainable practices that utilise the natural environment, thereby creating additional incentives to involve stakeholders who usually might not have biodiversity protection on their agenda.
Participating countries in this edition (the National Coordinators can be seen here):
- Australia
- Belgium & Netherlands
- Bulgaria (for the first time!)
- Czech Republic
- Egypt
- France
- Georgia (back after a break!)
- Germany
- Ghana
- Indonesia (back after a break!)
- Israel (for the first time!)
- Italy
- Morocco
- North America (Canada & US)
- Northern Europe (Norway & Sweden)
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
- Spain
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Turkey
Never has been a more exciting time to be at the forefront of nature conservation. With the super years 2020/2021 bringing various new goals, targets, initiatives, partnerships related to nature, and overarching the UN decade of ecosystem restoration and the post-2020 Global framework. It is clear that the private sector needs to play a key role in reversing biodiversity loss by understanding its impacts and dependencies, mainstreaming the topic throughout the business and working toward a net positive outcome for nature. Join us and register to submit your proposal!
More information: In this brochure or "How to participate".
Please also watch the video statement of our CEO Dr. Dominik von Achten on the HeidelbergCement website.


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Artist Don Dahlke considers travel his greatest influence. In his early years of painting, the American-born artist lived in Greece. He returned to the U.S. with a new understanding of light and shadow. Years later after his sojourn to the West Indies he added the vivid palette of tropical colors to his paintings. Don now resides in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and continues to energize his brilliant color schemes and architectural compositions.
Dahlke's paintings are created with an unmistakable signature style. The shadow of a palm tree cast upon a tropical cottage and its window shutters imbues each painting with a powerful light. By interpreting light and shadow with an exceptional sensitivity, Dahlke creates a pleasing mood. Saturated with luminous and vibrant color, his paintings convey optimism, each capturing a peace and serenity through the ocean views.
Shadows on the exterior of a colorful house, objects in the room leading to the window which is open to a sapphire sea, and the vibrant blue sky above add to the three-dimensional quality of a Dahlke painting. Where do these images come from? The retreats, the mysterious objects inside them, the inviting water and cobalt sky all come from the imagination and experiences of this modern master.


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Limbaugh Lies About Anti-Segregation Housing Policy Initiated By George Romney
Written by Meagan Hatcher-Mays
Rush Limbaugh charged that a new rule proposed by the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) aimed at promoting fair housing practices was "social engineering" and an attempt on the part of the federal government to "force" people to live in certain neighborhoods.
On the September 12 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh became the latest right-wing media figure to parrot a repeatedly debunked conservative argument about HUD and its programs:
In the 1970s, schools were ordered to bus children into neighborhoods far away in order to racial balance in the schools. ... [W]hen forced busing erupted, there was outrage all over the country, including liberal Boston. But the social architects of the left didn't listen, and they kept at it ... 'cause they were forcing people to do what people weren't doing of their own volition. People were choosing neighborhoods where they wanted to live, and leftists didn't like the choices they were making. So they basically used the power of the government to force them [to move].
Okay, let's fast forward to today. Social engineering is on the verge of being imposed on entire neighborhoods, adults and children alike. ... What this is, is central planners imposing their will on where you live, not just where your kids go to school--and it's all being done, of course, for our own good.
Limbaugh cites a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Rob Astorino, the Republican Westchester County executive, as proof that HUD "wants the power to dismantle local zoning" ordinances in order to impose diversity in local communities. Limbaugh goes on to claim that "[a]ll of this is Obama and the Democrats. They run these agencies. They look at zoning as disguised discrimination." Any effort to balance out segregated housing patterns, according to Limbaugh, is "part of [an] ongoing effort to achieve utopia" by "the elites."
What Limbaugh fails to note is that HUD's efforts to integrate racially homogenous neighborhoods is not new, nor was it invented by President Obama or anyone in his administration. It was actually Republican George Romney (father of Mitt), in his role as Richard Nixon's HUD Secretary, who began this effort with the "Open Communities" program in 1968. The program would have given federal grants only to those local governments that provided subsidized housing for poor minorities, in an effort to promote equal opportunities in housing and education.
The explicit goal of Romney's program, as he outlined in his book The Concerns of a Citizen, was to alleviate the "economic and social distance [that] is increased by racial distance." Far from being "social engineering" or a way to force interracial interaction, Romney's program was rooted in federal law. The Fair Housing Act actually requires HUD to "administer their programs and activities relating to housing and urban development ... in a manner affirmatively to further" fair housing. Romney believed the best way to do this was to require states and municipalities to address obstacles to fair housing on the local level.
But that hasn't stopped Limbaugh and other conservative commentators from baselessly accusing HUD of partisan overreaching.
Limbaugh's assertion that HUD plans to take control over local zoning boards in an attempt to "force" integration is demonstrably false. The new rule proposed by HUD asks only for program participants to evaluate whether local laws or policies "limit fair housing choice" and to "examine relevant factors, such as zoning and other land use practices that are likely contributors to fair housing concerns, and take appropriate actions in response."
The conservative mischaracterization of HUD policy is particularly damaging given that housing patterns remain highly segregated. The fact that public schools are more racially segregated now than they were 40 years ago--when states still had segregation laws on the books--is due in large part to the persistence of non-diverse neighborhoods. HUD's attempt to remedy such inequalities is not a means to "engineer" a social "utopia," as Limbaugh suggests, but rather to ensure equal opportunities for historically marginalized groups by encouraging quality housing and schools. Studies have shown that minority students in schools that have been desegregated have higher test scores and greater career successes later in life.
Apparently Limbaugh would rather neighborhoods and schools become even more racially isolated than they already are--an extreme position that not even Mitt Romney's dad agreed with.


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Gorillas is a resurrection of the classic QBasic game shipped with MS-DOS 5.
Gorillas are at large on the metropolis rooftops.
They're fighting for control over the city by bombarding each other with explosive bananas.
One touch on the screen determines the throw's aim and velocity and sends your projectile on its way
to take out your enemy or the buildings that stand in your way.
This release combines gorgeous iOS features with pure melancholic gameplay.


text:
Risk-Free Guarantee
With our Risk-Free Guarantee, you can try out different mask styles and return the ones you decide not to keep for free (within 30 days)
For support, feel free to call or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Adjustable Headgear
Has a plastic body with a silicone seal and is held in place with an adjustable, comfortable headgear.
Auto Fit
The supporting frame automatically adapts to any forehead. All cushions share the same frame. The mask is also available in an all-size kit.
Excellent sealing in any position.
Pad Free
Minimal contact with forehead for increased comfort.
Replacement Parts
- Vi3001 (S) Replacement Cushion
- Vi3002 (M) Replacement Cushion
- Vi3003 (L) Replacement Cushion
- Vi2001 Replacement Headgear


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At first glance, one might be surprised to see a film directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Robin Wright Penn, Catherine Keener, and John Turturro released not by a major studio but by the relatively small indie distributor Magnolia Pictures. A closer look quickly reveals why: What Just Happened is a scathing insider look at Hollywood, based on the memoir of producer Art Linson. Following in the footsteps of the many great Tinseltown tragicomedies, director Barry Levinson punctures the bubble reputations fostered by glossy E! culture.
De Niro gives one of his most winning performances of recent years as Ben, a put-upon producer trying to keep too many balls in the air. Linson's screenplay gives us a week in the life of his alter ego, a week tellingly overshadowed by the suicide of an agent ("He had ten percent of the brass ring, didn't he?", Ben muses). Linson has no need to exaggerate—the Hollywood anecdotes you'll find here are essentially true, including the story of how an overweight star's unwillingness to shave his beard almost destroys a major motion picture scheduled to roll at week's end (Bruce Willis plays "Bruce Willis" in this scenario, though in real life, Alec Baldwin was the bearded star). Turturro plays Willis' fearful agent Dick Bell, who suffers from funny-tragic stomach distress. "I'm not scared of him," Dick insists. "I'm scared of all of them."
Another of Ben's film's—a dark thriller starring Sean Penn and called "Fiercely"—receives a disasterous preview (asked his opinion, Bell demurs, "This could be the year for grief"). The ensuing discussion between the film's unjustifiably self-impressed director (Michael Wincott) and the studio chief (Catherine Keener) focuses not on the film being good or bad (though the latter seems likely, based on the evidence), but rather the film-ending assasination of a dog (a sin the preview audience humorously considers far more egregious than the slaying of Penn). Racing against a Cannes deadline, Ben goes to work convincing the distraught director to recut the ending, which represents a projected $10 million difference in the film's predestined losses. Though it seems unlikely, maybe pharmaceuticals will help.
Doing a job with no boundaries predictably plays havoc with Ben's personal life, telling scored to the soundtrack of his movie (including Ennio Morricone's existentially worrying cut "Man with a Harmonica"). His soon-to-be-ex-wife (Robin Wright Penn) has roped him into separation therapy in an attempt surgically to remove a man versed in the art of the deal. There's alimony paid to a first wife (Marin Hinkle), and child support to her daughter with Ben, a blossoming teen named Zoe (Kristen Stewart). Positioned as somewhat of a climax in the story is the agent's funeral, which has nothing to do with the dead man and everything to do with the egos of the power players on site (and a surprising revelation by Zoe). There, a screenwriter friend (Stanley Tucci) asks Ben point blank, "I'm not happy. Is this a feeling that you're unfamiliar with?"
Therefore, although What Just Happened is mostly a drily funny, industry-savvy movie for those fascinated by the movie business, it's also a melancholy comedy of post-middle-age and the increasingly elusive illusion of power. Will it play in Peoria? Who knows...this could be the year for comic grief.


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A case of Pulmonaria officinalis
First Visit (30 March 2010)
Peter was born in October 1998. His mother describes him as a boy with a wicked sense of humour. He is the family clown yet shrinks in school; his teacher reports that Peter is well-liked and quiet.
Presenting complaint: For about 4 years now he has coughed on and off and with varying intensity.
Family background: Both of the parents were born and raised in a religious community with very fundamental beliefs. The family lived in the community until about 10 years ago when they left and started a life on their own. It was a very difficult process for them; they had a lot of financial problems and were nearly starving.
Mother: I didn't like being pregnant, mostly I resented it; I felt trapped. I did not want the religious background (Old Apostolic Lutheran Church). Women are treated as breeding machines. There was always very harsh judgement: women can't have curly hair, no TV. I was still involved in the Church when I was pregnant. I know it wasn't great for my babies, but I do feel that my children are loved ones. The feelings would always change after birth, but I would still feel trapped. I felt overwhelmed when caring for a baby, no support, not even from my spouse. I was too tired to even know how cute my babies were. (The mother has responded well to Falco peregrinus.)
The father as described by the mother: He's mostly a happy person but he can also be a complete grump. He is silly, and rule oriented with the kids, yet does not follow through with the enforcement when he places a rule. Has flimsy boundaries, comes on strong and "Big Man" without warning and then a couple of days later forgets about it. He does not do well with moderation. He still attends the previous church on Sundays; he says he doesn't know what else to do on Sundays and he wants to do something spiritual. He wants the children to attend as well, which is not always what they would like to do.
Peter has 2 older siblings and 1 younger. He was not vaccinated because of the religion. He was breastfed and was growing very well; a chubby healthy baby.
Mother: Peter was a healthy toddler, good eater and everything – everything went fine. He was in a great mood for most of the time, and then his younger brother was born, when he was about four years old. Peter's spirit really went downhill when his younger brother was born; he started to get grumpy and cross, he didn't smile anymore. (She says that she thinks it was a mixture of not getting enough attention and some jealousy of not being the baby anymore.)
Mother: He started to develop asthma at night; he just used a nose spray that helped him breathe easier through the nose. He felt nervous about this appointment. His cough peaks during 'flu and cold season. When he catches a bug, it goes straight to his chest, and he instantly start coughing and will not go to sleep at night. He has a regular cough now; it doesn't really change or become stronger anymore, though it is more persistent. Sometimes at night he will wake himself up coughing, even when he is not sick. He is allergic to cats but likes them.
Peter, tell me about your breathing difficulties?
Peter: After I have been running for
quite a while, I have to get more air and it kind of hurts in my chest, sometimes
I have to slow down. When I am sitting I start coughing, occasionally I have
mucus, a little bit of yellow stuff comes up. Most of the time my breathing
rattles, but not much is coming up. It is annoying, restrictive; sometimes I
can't go outside especially when there is smoke outside (fires, wildfires).
(Peter is not very talkative and
mainly answers questions with yes or no, or by looking at his mother. He tells
me that he likes books - real stories, not so much fantasy. He can't remember
any of his dreams.)
Peter: The dark, I share a room with my brother. Big trucks when I am walking or biking.
Mother: After the move he had a bit of a hard time to meet new friends. He really misses his grandmother and her passing was quite hard on him. Rarely do we see him cry, though.
(Peter's colour choices: his favourite was white, next favourites black and C 8.)
I felt that this boy needed a plant
remedy. It seemed that there was a wound from the time his brother was born.
Looking at the different families led me to the Boraginaceae (Jan
Scholten, Seminar 2008).
Jan Scholten
describes this plant family as suited for people who feel they are not seen at
all. There
is the feeling that there is no space for them, they are just part of the group
and they have to adapt.
Not having their place, they
don't know where they are.
Coming from a big family
where the parents have little time for the individual child. (Compare the religious
The father is often domineering.
The whole plant family has an
affinity to asthma, wheezing, bronchitis.
Jan also mentioned that the
plant family has a lot of Silica aspects.
In Peter's case, his place in the family changed after his younger brother was born. He lost his place of being the youngest and the baby of the family and 'his spirit went downhill,' as the mother describes it. His mother said she was too tired to see how cute her babies were.
Looking at the bigger picture, there is the fact of having lived in a religious community where everybody was a part and had to participate, but didn't get individual attention. Although they had moved out of this community the overall sense of that lifestyle was still with them, as they didn't know any different way of life. Also, they really struggled financially and were nearly starving at the beginning of their "life outside the community".
There is not a lot of Materia Medica for Pulmonaria officinalis, commonly called Lungwort. Murphy lists the following symptoms: 'HOMEOPATHIC - Pul-o. is used in the treatment of bronchitis, coughs and diarrhea. Bronchial catarrhs, colds. In the past, lungwort was given for the coughing up of blood arising from tubercular infection.'
It is also used as a herbal remedy for similar lung conditions.
According to Scholten's method, stage 15 (tubercular) was strong in this case, as well as stage 14. Peter lost (stage 15) his formal place (stage 14) in the family when his younger brother entered the family. The theme is the same in the family: they left the "formal" rigid set-up and support of the religious community (stage 14), lost their social status (stage 15) and nearly starved on their own. Peter became more introverted (stage 14) when his lung problems started.
Jan placed the remedy possibly in stage 14/15.
Prescription: Pulmonaria officinalis 200 C
First Follow-up (18 May 2010) with mother, by email: "We have grown closer together throughout this process of healing. He has written well in his journal. Do I hear him coughing? No, no, his eyes are lit up more often and he is not behaving like a 'big grump'."
Second Follow-up (February 2011): Peter had no more problems with coughing or breathing; everything is back to normal and he is feeling very good. The remedy was only repeated once, 4 weeks after the first dose.
Third Follow-up (26 April 2012): Patient continues to do well; no more remedies were needed in the last 14 months, no problems with coughs!
Pulmonaria officinalis; Pat Deacon
Keywords: coughing, breathing problems, birth of a younger brother, fundamentalist community, Boraginaceae, loss, stages 14 and 15
Remedies: Pulmonaria officinalis


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The Lantern Festival ("Mid-autumn Festival") falls on the 8th Lunar Month, which runs from 30 Aug 2011 to 25 Sep 2011.
Here are the highlights for Singapore Lantern Festival 2011...
Lantern Festival Events in Chinatown> Chinatown Lantern Festival Street Light Up:
- Huge lanterns and fairy lights brightened up Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road and the street bazaars along the side streets.
- From Sat, 30 Aug 2011 to 25 Sep 2011.
- From 7pm till late nightly.
- Lantern Festival Opening Night.The festival will be launched on the evening (7pm-10pm) of Tuesday, 30 Aug 2011 near Chinatown MRT - with a flurry of energetic activities. Enjoy the lantern street parade, lion dance performance and fireworks.
>Street Bazaar
- Pagoda Street, Terrenganu Street, Sago Street and Chinatown Complex become pretty busy with vendors selling mooncakes, savouries, lanterns and other festive wares.
- From Mon, 29 Aug 2011 to Mon, 12 Sep 2011.
- From 11am till late daily.
> Stage Shows
- A good mix of traditional and comtemporary entertainmnet at Kreta Ayer Square (near Buddha Tooth Relic Temple).
- From Tue, 30 Aug 2011 to Mon, 12 Sep 2011.
- From 8-10pm nightly.
> Mass Lantern Procession
- From 7.30pm to 10pm on Sat, 10 Sep 2011.
- The procession starts at the open field near Outram MRT Station and loops around Eu Ton Sen Street back to the heart of Chinatown. Join in with your own lanterns!


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This article is more than 1 year old
'Downright unusual' attack, cop admits
Warning: No IT angle Swedish cops are on the look-out for a quintet of tattooed girls who dragged a 50-year-old man off his bicycle, pulled down his trousers and smalls and "sexually molested" the poor bloke.
The incident happened on 8 July in Örebro, central Sweden, the Aftonbladet newspaper reports. One of the gang - described as 5' 7" tall and with "tattoos on her forearms" - grabbed his bike's rack and brought the victim to the ground.
Having had their evil way, the five assailants made good their escape. The man was "not otherwise beaten or physically assaulted".
Police spokeswoman Annika Haaster rightly described the attack as "downright unusual". In the hope that members of the public might help identify the tattooed ambush vixens, she concluded: "Perhaps there are others who've had the same thing happen to them." ®


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- Having a great idea is only the start of having a winning product or brand. You need to test every element of the idea in order to ensure success.
- There is no equal for target consumer feedback on a product concept or idea, and the more information you can get on what they like and don't like, the better.
- Sometimes the feedback brands get from consumer testing requires tabling a favored idea or product or brand element, or playing up different features. To be successful, brands need to listen to their consumers and be willing to take a step back from their ideas for objective evaluation.
As an entrepreneur, I know the value of a good idea. Ideas are a critical starting point to getting any new business venture out of the dream world and into the real world. However, most entrepreneurs have an idea a minute—and, as we all know, not every idea is as good as is needed to be a success.
In order to be certain your idea has the necessary bandwidth and buy in from consumers, especially at the beginning of the branding process, it's important to transform your idea into a concept that is then tested with your target consumer. This process gives you the chance to do one of three things:
- Validate the idea,
- Strengthen the idea, or
- Walk away.
Considering the number of new beauty brands that fail each year, taking the time to not only create a rock-solid brand concept but also then test it is a small investment that can yield large rewards.
As an independent business owner, I have always spent a minimum of $50,000, and often significantly more, to make sure my idea has the legs it needs to succeed before I invest the "real" money every new brand or product requires. And that amount is a small stake; larger companies can spend into the millions before the idea is signaled to be a go.
Successful concepts pique the consumer's curiosity and create initial interest in your product while also distilling critical information to the brand manager and executive team about what is or isn't working with your big idea and why. By gathering this information up front, before any dedicated product development and branding strategy is finalized, you can save time, glean critical consumer insights and, ultimately, set your new brand up to make money and be successful.
The Concept
Would Cinderella's story have been as exciting if, rather than a glass slipper, she was wearing a pair of gardening clogs? Or perhaps tatty old beach flip flops? Or what about Harry Potter—would his epic win over Voldemort have been as exciting if his wand were a diamond-encrusted hula hoop? The elements that go into making a story a success are the very same elements needed to craft and tell your brand's story in a successful concept.
What is different, unique and pivotal about your brand? How does this set you apart from your competition? What creative, enticing element will consumers bond with—and remember—as a key element of your brand? With all of the options available in the beauty marketplace today, consumers are becoming more and more discerning in their choices, and are seeking out reasons to believe in your brand over the one right next to it on the shelf. Your brand concept is the blueprint for these reasons and your first stab at getting all the elements that matter right.
So what are these elements? Although each brand concept is unique, there are certain elements that translate across all categories, and which I have found help lead to success. Namely, a differentiated brand story, an actionable point-of-difference that consumers can embrace and react to, multiple name and tagline options to help flesh out your vision, a clear explanation of your technology or proprietary complex, and an overview of your intended launch portfolio.
Although not finalized, testing preliminary versions of each of these elements gives you the permission you need to hone and tighten each component into a truly winning overall brand identity. Here are a few key questions to ask your consumer to help determine if your product concept is a winner or dud.
- Would you invest in this idea?
- Why or why not?
- How much do you like the idea of this product?
- Would you buy this product?
One final thought on concepts—keep them clear, concise and interesting. Too long of a concept causes participants to lose interest; too bland of a concept leaves her feeling bored; and too preachy of a concept simply turns her off. Speak to her like you would like someone to speak to you.
The Test
Once your concept is written, the next step is to take all of this preliminary work and share it with your consumer for initial feedback and gut-check reactions. Does she love your never-seen-before ingredient complex, or does that element barely move the needle? What about all those brilliant names your creative team spent hours creating—yay or nay? When in the midst of all the creative work, it's easy to think all the elements you are creating for the brand concept are (of course!) going to be a hit with consumers, but until she's seen, read and reacted to it directly, the real truth is, we don't know what we don't know.
Today, getting this feedback is more important than ever. Many advanced options exist that allow for a very rich consumer interaction beyond the static, yes-or-no questions in a survey, and in particular, programs that allow consumers to interact directly with your idea, no filters, such as "text highlighting." A program that enables the computer mouse to be used like a highlighting pen, text highlighting presents participants with the concept and asks them to identify what they like or dislike via highlighting, yielding completely organic feedback that clearly illuminates what parts of the concept are successful—and what parts need more work. A similar program exists for use with photos, allowing consumers to rank the images, perhaps from mood boards or packaging renderings, for their appeal and allowing the images that are going to be most successful for your brand to float to the top.
By allowing consumers to identify which elements, both written and visual, they like and prefer organically—versus choosing which phrases you want to test and then asking consumers to rank them—an even more comprehensive understanding of your concept's strengths and weaknesses emerges, and consequently, so too does an even stronger brand or product.
The Follow-through
After investing your time, effort, energy and creativity into creating a concept, and then vetting it with consumers, you will be left with a plethora of information, some of it potentially conflicting with or even negating your original vision or idea.
So now what?
Now the real fun of creating your brand begins, but that doesn't mean it's always going to feel like fun. Be ready to potentially face some fundamental changes in your idea, and, in the words of Stephen King, "Kill your darlings." If the one aspect of your concept that you loved the most and were sure would be a runaway hit with consumers comes back with low appeal ratings or negative consumer feedback, you have to be ready to make the cut and let it go.
The same applies for ideas that she loves or raved over. Did your patented technology score off the charts and make all the participants excited? Great, take that idea and see how you can make it even better. Maybe that technology was never meant to be the lead point-of-difference, but if your consumer is that compelled by it, perhaps it should be.
Before concept testing, your idea was just that—an idea for a brand or product that may or may not resonate with real consumers. After concept testing, your idea has suddenly become a viable blueprint for your brand that has identified strengths and weaknesses from the one person whose opinion still matters most— your consumer.
Armed with these consumer insights, you can now take your original idea and transform it into the rock-solid, winning idea the consumer has just told you she wants based upon your vision. By asking her what she loves about your idea, as well as what she'd change, you are being given the opportunity to bypass some potential pitfalls you may not have seen coming that could exponentially impact how your brand comes to life further along in the launch process.
Alisa Marie Beyer is the founder and creative director of The Beauty Company (TBC), a global beauty consulting firm offering business, strategy, consumer intelligence and branding. Serving its clients at every stage of development (from start-ups to 13 of the top 15 global beauty companies), TBC intimately understands the industry, the consumer and the market, and becomes an integral part of each client or project team. [email protected]; thebeautycompany.co


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Resigning his post as Securities and Exchange Commission chairman on November 5 did nothing to keep Harvey Pitt from being the center of controversy. First, of course, he didn't leave. Then, two months later, the lame-duck chairman presided over what he described as "the busiest two weeks of rule-making in this agency's history." That was the last two weeks in January, during which the SEC wrapped up its six-month race to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by voting on a stack of new — and often controversial — rules (see "Marching Orders" at the end of this article).
Reviews, predictably, have been mixed. Lawmakers have hailed the rules as the capstone on the most groundbreaking corporate reform since the 1934 Securities Act, and praised the SEC staff for its marathon effort. Investor advocates, by contrast, panned the results, claiming that in almost every case, the SEC softened the rules under pressure from special interests — particularly the accounting and legal professions. Some even claim Pitt — who was still waiting to relinquish his chair to incoming commissioner William Donaldson as CFO went to press — held on to his abdicated chairmanship as long as he did to gut the rules in favor of his accounting-industry cronies.
"It's becoming more and more clear to investors that the Administration kept Pitt in place to get done what the special interests wanted, which was to minimize Sarbanes-Oxley as much as possible," says former SEC chief accountant Lynn Turner, now an accounting professor at Colorado State University.
In fact, the resulting rules are as mixed as the public reaction. Initially many of the proposals by the SEC staff went further — often much further — than what Congress called for, causing near panic among the accounting and legal professions in particular. Then, after receiving floods of comment letters, the SEC backed off or softened some of its most aggressive stances in the final rules, angering investor advocates.
In the end, it's safe to say that no one came away unscathed. For public companies, the new rules include a requirement to reveal off-balance-sheet arrangements, strictures on the use of pro forma numbers, trading restrictions during employee blackout periods, and a description of the financial expert, if any, on the audit committee. Mutual funds must now disclose how they vote their proxies. For the accounting industry, the rules contain a slew of auditor-independence and record-retention directives that reflect the disgrace still hanging over the profession in the wake of Enron. And, finally, the commissioners passed rules for attorneys — accompanied by stiff warnings about the moral of the accounting profession's sorry tale — requiring them to report wrongdoing up the corporate ladder.
To be sure, some rules passed unceremoniously. Those requiring disclosures of off-balance-sheet arrangements in management's discussion and analysis and a table listing contractual obligations (read: guarantees that could cause a sudden massive drop in liquidity) passed unanimously, in part because the Financial Accounting Standards Board had already addressed special-purpose entities and guarantees after Enron. Likewise, the rules requiring reconciliation of pro forma numbers with generally accepted accounting principles were simply a reprise of guidance that the SEC delivered shortly after Pitt took office. But the controversies surrounding the auditor-independence and attorney-conduct rules promise not to end as implementation begins.
Auditor Independence
The SEC proposed, for example, disclosure requirements for audit fees that were never mentioned in the legislation. A victory for corporate reformers? Hardly, says Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America, in Pueblo, Colorado, who claims the new definitions of audit and "audit-related" fees actually muddy the distinction that the SEC's existing rules drew between audit and nonaudit fees. "It was the SEC's own doing that it was criticized," says Turner. "The SEC totally ignored comment letters from investors and consumers who stated that this change was a rollback of preexisting rules."
Roper is even more upset, however, about the rule that allows a company's audit committee to preapprove, in its written policies, certain nonaudit services. "This is where the SEC did its most serious damage," she says, arguing that Congress adamantly resisted this preapproval authority when it wrote rules requiring audit committees to individually examine any nonaudit service before allowing the accounting firm to perform it. "The SEC simply undermined that without offering any justification," she says.
Despite such criticisms, the final rules also contain wins for folks like Roper. Auditors are now completely banned from providing financial-system implementation and internal audits, as well as seven other types of services. That's "one thing the SEC deserves credit for," she says, since it could have interpreted the legislation to codify its existing rules, which had a number of exceptions.
Moreover, the SEC added a "cooling-off" period to the auditor rotation requirements. This gave teeth to what Roper considered otherwise a "largely meaningless portion of the legislation" by adding that after the five-year limit on audit work for a particular company, there was a five-year period before auditors could return. However, the SEC's initial proposal would have applied that to the entire audit team. The final rule applies it only to the lead and concurring partners, with a seven-years-on, two-years-off requirement for lesser members of the audit team. Roper, of course, would have preferred to see mandatory rotation of audit firms–something the SEC did not suggest.
Attorney Conduct
One controversial rule the commission did suggest — the "noisy withdrawal" proposal, which would have required attorneys who are unable to stop an ongoing fraud to resign and inform the SEC — was tabled for further review.
In the commission's opinion, Sarbanes-Oxley's "reporting up" requirement (which, with some modifications, the SEC did pass) — obligating lawyers to report corporate misconduct "up the ladder" to the audit committee or the board if management wouldn't correct the problem — did not go far enough. But the overwhelming objection to the added "reporting out" proposal, noted in almost all of the 171 comment letters received by the SEC, was that it violated attorney-client confidentiality.
That concern was shared by CFOs. "It did seem to me to be troubling to erode attorney-client privilege," notes CFO Harlan Plumley of Burlington, Massachusetts-based Lightbridge Inc., who says the SEC's apparent retreat "struck me as a good thing." Adds CFO Stephen Giusto of Costa Mesa, California-based Resources Connection Inc., "I would say lawyers and investment bankers have traditionally gotten off a lot easier than the accountants have, and certainly they share in the blame for some of these screw-ups. But you are going down a very slippery slope if you start to chip away at the attorney-client privilege."
Not everyone felt that privilege should be so inviolate, however. "Is there any reason to treat lawyers differently from the auditors and accountants when fraud is involved?" asked commissioner Harvey Goldschmid during the SEC's open meeting on January 23. "To me, the absolute emphasis [of the legal profession] on confidentiality is incomprehensibly out of balance."
Perhaps in part to avoid such criticism, many lawyers had noted that the proposed rules would also conflict with or preempt state laws: 9 states and the District of Columbia prohibit attorneys from revealing confidential client information, even to prevent the client from committing fraud (37 other states allow such an action, and 4 require it). "The primary problem is the SEC is trying to propose a uniform federal rule on an area that is currently the purview of the states," says attorney Fred Baumann of Denver-based Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons LLP. "The issue here is whether Congress gave the SEC permission to do this."
However, the SEC staff and Pitt himself dismissed both the state preemption question and criticism of their go-slow approach during the open meeting. "There has been some suggestion that by not adopting what we put out, the commission is cutting back on protections for investors. I find these suggestions to be offensive and in any event completely wrong," said Pitt during the meeting. "I reject the suggestion of some that we didn't have authority to do everything we proposed, but more significantly, because the issue is one that is significant, it makes sense to have more time to consider it. That is not a withdrawal. That to me is the essence of responsible government."
The noisy withdrawal requirement is probably now a dead letter, although the SEC will likely revisit it late this month. In its place, however, is an alternative, apparently devised and favored by Pitt, that still requires attorneys to resign, but shifts the responsibility for informing the SEC to the company, which would have to report the resignation in an 8K report, much as it now must do when it changes auditors. That alternative seemed to have wide support, at least among the commissioners. "I frankly think this is one of those rare compromises that essentially solves all [the concerns] of the various interests," said commissioner Roel C. Campos.
Mutual Fund Disclosure
The broad wording of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act meant that section 302 — requiring CEO and CFO certification — as well as other sections covering disclosures regarding financial experts and codes of ethics, applied not only to public companies but also to managed investment companies, such as mutual funds. The SEC voted on rules that specifically applied these requirements to mutual funds. It also included a rule of its own, not mentioned in the act, requiring mutual funds and other managed investment companies to disclose how they vote their proxies. This was an issue that Pitt had championed from his first day on the job, and it won him rare praise from both his critics and corporate-governance hawks, for whom proxy-voting disclosure has long been a cause célèbre.
"In thinking about these recommendations," Pitt noted in his opening remarks at the January 23 meeting, "I start from the fundamental and unassailable proposition that mutual fund securities are held for the benefit of individuals who own mutual fund shares." Yet this was also the only vote that was not unanimous among the commissioners. Paul S. Atkins voted nay, dismissing 7,000 of the 8,000 comment letters received as form letters and noting that funds often have to "beg and plead" just to get fund-holders to return proxy statements. "We are subjecting funds to significant costs and additional burdens," he warned, "at a time when fund-holders are concerned with only one thing: returns."
Throughout the two weeks, the chairman's last stand was classic Pitt: the new rules had something in them to upset just about everyone. But while few would dispute Pitt's record of political clumsiness, the adversarial relationship that has developed between investors and corporate management runs deeper than the legacy of one SEC official. The question now is whether corporations, accountants, lawyers, and mutual funds will have time to digest these rules and regain investor trust through their actions, or whether these rules will be the source of more violations that undermine that trust.
Tim Reason a senior writer at CFO.
Marching Orders
How the SEC chose to implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Sources: CFO; Securities and Exchange Commission
Final rules | Notable Changes or Issues | |
Public Companies | MD&A must detail off-balance-sheet deals. | SEC revised its initial definition of "off-balance-sheet" to target unconsolidated off-balance-sheet entities. |
Pro forma numbers must be reconciled to GAAP. | To track compliance, earnings releases must be filed as 8K. | |
Directors and executives may not trade stock during pension-plan blackouts. | ||
Must disclose if audit committee has financial expert and if not, why not. | SEC expanded definition of "financial expert" to ensure non-CPAs can qualify. | |
Must disclose whether there is code of ethics for CEO, CFO, controller, and others. If so, code must be publicly available; if not, must explain why. | ||
Attorneys | Must report material violations "up the ladder." | "Noisy withdrawal" rule vote delayed 60 days. Proposed alternative: companies must report attorney resignation. |
Auditors | Work papers and other records, including differences of professional opinion, must be retained for seven years. | SEC chose longer of two retention periods mentioned in the act, but language about retention of all documents that "cast doubt" was removed from final rule. |
Nine services banned: bookkeeping, financial-system work, appraisals, actuarial work, internal audit, management or HR work, investment-adviser work, legal services, and other advocacy-related services. | SEC banned services outright, rather than codifying its own existing rules, which included exceptions. | |
Allowed nonaudit services must be approved by audit committee. | SEC rule allows audit committee to preapprove certain services in written policies. | |
Fees paid to auditors for services must be disclosed in annual report. | This rule devised by SEC, not Sarbanes-Oxley, but critics say new definitions of audit-related services weaken existing SEC auditor-independence rules. | |
Lead and concurring audit partners must rotate out after five years and remain out for five years. Others on team may have seven years on, two years off. | SEC's addition of a cooling-off period gives rotation more bite, although initial rule required entire team to rotate. Smaller firms (less than five clients and 10 partners) are exempt, but subject to PCAOB review every three years. | |
Audit-team members must take a year off before going to work for former clients. | Auditors lose independent status if this ban is violated. Critics say one year is too short to be effective. | |
Investment Management Firms (mutual funds) and advisers | Fund CEOs and CFOs must certify shareholder reports and disclose whether they have code of ethics and financial expert on audit committee. | The SEC concluded that periodic statements of mutual funds are subject to the same certification and disclosure rules as companies. |
Funds must file proxy-voting record with SEC and disclose proxy-voting policies and procedures. Both may be made available on the Web or on request. | Required by the SEC, not the act, but passed during the marathon rule-making session. To lessen compliance costs, the SEC did not require regular mailings. |


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In scrum (a project management methodology often used for software development), there are user stories (or items) which team members split into smaller tasks when they start working on them.
To describe that "splitting into tasks", in Finnish I'd simply say something like "Taskitetaan se." ("Let's split it into tasks." And yes, that's a horrible anglicism.)
What would be a shorter way to say that in English?
I'm tempted to just "verb" the noun, and use something like "Let's task it". How acceptable or understandable would you find that?


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Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 28, 2013
MT. PLEASANT — Carson's football team is getting pretty good at breaking hearts.
A week ago the Cougars rallied in the fourth quarter to surprise East Rowan in a pivotal SPC showdown. On Friday they did all of their scoring in the final 2:49 to stun non-conference foe Mount Pleasant.
"I'm glad heart disease isn't rampant on my side of the family," coach Joe Pinyan joked after Carson scored the game's only touchdown with 1:07 to play and earned a dramatic 10-3 victory. "It never changes with us. We don't do anything the easy way."
Carson (3-2) was pure Ike & Tina Turner — it didn't do anything nice and easy. The Cougars fell behind early when junior Austin Parker drilled a 44-yard field goal with 2:08 remaining in the first period.
"Then we couldn't get anything going," said winning quarteback Austin McNeil. "We needed to slow down and just play the game. Everyone was pressing and stressing. We got it right when we started doing what we should have been doing all along."
That took a while. Carson failed to record a first down and managed only 24 total yards in a punt-filled third quarter. In the fourth it finally logged on.
"Their defense was tough to begin with," said CHS left guard Cody Rodriguez. "But in the end they weren't hitting us as hard — probably because we came together and started getting our blocks right."
The final period opened when a Mount Pleasant punt settled on the Carson 18-yard line. McNeil took the wheel and steered the Cougars into MP territory, alternating handoffs to bone-cruncher Brandon Sloop and power-toss feeds to speedster Darren Isom. The 17-play drive stalled neary nine minutes later at the Mount 5-yard line, but Carson's reward was Logan Correll's game-tying 22-yard field goal.
" On that drive everybody was in sync," Pinyan said. "The guys up top were giving the information we needed and our kids stayed on their blocks and made all the right reads. Once we kicked the field goal I wasn't sure we were gonna get the ball back. I thought maybe we could play for overtime."
Instead the Tigers (2-3) took possession and drove to the Carson 30 as the clock ticked to a close. "That's what made this such a tough game to lose," said MP coach Michael Johns. "Our defense had played a fantastic game and the offense put us in position to win it with a late kick."
They can thank 6-foot-5 Alex Lyles for crashing the party. The Carson defensive tackle was part of horde of Cougars that sacked Parker — MP's quarterback — on first-and-10. Then the ball was dislodged and Lyles recovered on the 34-yard line with 1:19 remaining.
"The quarterback got scared," Lyles noted. "He bobbled it and tried to get away. Unfortunately, that didn't work out."
It set the stage for an edge-of-your-seat finish. On first down McNeil swung a left-side screen pass to Isom, who got a disruptive block from wideout Andrew Hower and turned the 5-yard sideliner into a 66-yard jailbreak run to the end zone. The clock showed 1:07 to go.
"That play's designed to be a home run play," McNeil said. "That time it was."
"It was a wheel play that didn't work earlier," Isom added after contributing 143 of Carson 246 total yards. "That time the OL got it right."
So did Carson's defense on MP's final drive. The hosts reached the CHS 22-yard line before a fourth-down pass was batted away by cornerback Tyrese Paul as the clock blared."Words can't describe this," McNeil said. "We never gave up."


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This question is something that's been bugging me for the past 3 months since I switched from being a freelancer to working at a Web Design firm.
Our sales people often ask us something similar to the following series of questions:
- How much does it cost to program a widget
- How many hours will it take to convert this website to this software.
(Without knowing what the website currently runs) - etc
- How can we give a quote without any information? (No, I can't ask for more info!)
I have another question if a project goes over budget it's bad. Recently, I missed an entire menu when calculating the cost of transferring a website over to a new platform so the project went over budget. My boss was not happy at all, and it's my opinion that some things like this can't be avoided.
2. What is the general practice for dealing with going over budget
and do projects like web development often go over budget?
If you work at a web development/design/similar company:
3. How does your billable hour system work?
For me, we have a time tracking application that we record how many hours we spend on which project and if they are billable or internal (AKA non-billable). If don't meet xx billable hours a week we can get in trouble/fired eventually. Work you do for the company or for clients that isn't billable isn't part of this system, and we often have to do internal work, so I'm wondering if any alternative systems exist.
EDIT: Ok I am a developer at this firm not a designer :)
Second, I am paid salary, but here is how management looks at it. You have 35 hours a week that you must work. You could be doing work that they bill to clients in that 35 hours and you should. If they figure out a project will take 50 hours and I take 55 hours, that 5 hours could have been spent on another project that wasn't over budget so we just "lost" money.
Another example is that if I only have 1 project, that is due in two weeks and I spend a day doing internal work, some how we lost money because I wasn't working. If I worked that day, I would finish a day early and still have no work. Either way, the work is contract so we will get paid the same amount regardless of which days I work!