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Search News
IDB Group and Civil Society discuss sustainable development challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - 19:00
More than 500 civil society representatives from 26 nations and international experts share knowledge on innovation from the perspective of future jobs, intelligent cities, the digital economy and social innovation SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – More than 500 representatives from Latin American and Caribbean Civil Societies organizations met in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with senior Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) officials to discuss ways to put innovation at the service of sustainable development.
Lowering fiscal and external vulnerability the key to promoting growth in Central America and the Dominican Republic
Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 03:00
Regional IDB Governors meet in Washington to analyze economic prospects for 2017 The modest recovery in the United States and continuing favorable financial conditions in 2017 will also represent sources of economic stimulus throughout the year for the countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic, which will translate into growth of around 3.9 percent in 2017. Internal financial and monetary reforms should ensure price stability and the health of the banking system.
Better governance and greater integration to determine fate of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2030
Thursday, December 1, 2016 - 03:00
New Atlantic Council report commissioned by IDB offers contrasting scenarios for crime, democracy, trade and economic growth The Atlantic Council today released "Latin America and the Caribbean 2030: Future Scenarios," a report commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that looks at how the region's countries could evolve over the next 14 years, underscoring how more integration and better governance hold the key to greater prosperity.
Habitat III: Multilateral Development Banks from around the world collaborate to support 'New Urban Agenda'
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 03:00
QUITO, Ecuador – In support of the 'New Urban Agenda' adopted this week during the UN-sponsored global Habitat III conference, eight Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) are putting the Agenda's words into action by issuing a "Joint Statement" expressing their commitment to promote equitable, sustainable, and productive urbanization and urban communities.
IDB President, experts to talk to members of media accredited to the Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador
Saturday, October 15, 2016 - 03:00
Habitat, the main global conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, is being held for the first time in Latin America The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will have a strong presence in the Habitat III Conference to be held in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 17-20, 2016.
Capturing land value, key to Latin American cities development
Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - 03:00
IDB study offers ways to finance sustainable urban growth Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean are growing at breakneck speed. The million-dollar question is– how should they manage and finance their sustainable development so they can continue to expand and at the same time optimize the use of space and be a comfortable place to live in?
IDB supports access to home improvement financing for low-income families in El Salvador
Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - 03:00
$5 million loan from Opportunities for the Majority to Habitat for Humanity El Salvador to benefit nearly 8,000 families at the Base of the Pyramid The Opportunities for the Majority (OMJ) sector at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $5 million loan to Habitat for Humanity El Salvador (HPHES) to support increased access to home improvement financing for the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in El Salvador.
IDB supports program to improve productivity of thousands of young people in El Salvador
Friday, October 19, 2012 - 03:00
Loan for $20 million will support training, employment, and improved opportunities for economic growth The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $20 million loan to El Salvador to fund a training project that will improve the labor force productivity, particularly for young people between 16 and 29 years and workers in micro- and small-scale enterprises.
El Salvador to reduce vulnerability of slums to natural disasters with help from the IDB
Monday, November 21, 2011 - 03:00
$50 million loan will also finance expanded basic services and social programs in San Salvador neighborhoods The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a loan for $50 million to El Salvador for a project to reduce the vulnerability of residents in slums in the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (AMSS, for its initials in Spanish) to floods and landslides, and improve their living conditions.
IDB closes $19 million syndicated loan with impact investors to revamp municipal markets in El Salvador
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 03:00
Oikocredit, VDK Spaarbank and BANK IM BISTUM ESSEN eG to finance innovative program for centers of small-scale businesses by Fedecrédito The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has closed a $19 million syndicated loan with three impact investors to support a new credit facility that will finance the revamping of municipal marketplaces in El Salvador.


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Microsoft: Google Misled U.S. Government About Security Cert
The fight between Google and Microsoft concerning a government contract took a new turn on Monday, with Microsoft claiming that Google's Google Apps for Government are not FISMA compliant, as Google previously claimed.
Google, by contrast, claims that its Google Apps do indeed meet the standards required by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), a set of security specifications that are designed to cover IT solutions for the federal government.
Both sides may be right.
In a blog post Monday, David Howard, Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, revealed his surprise when he learned that Google's Google Apps for Government did not include the certification.
The new information was revealed in a footnote to a tit-for-tat filing between the United States and Google, which had protested and then sued the U.S. government over what Google had claimed was an unfair requisitions process that unfairly favored Microsoft over other competitors. Microsoft, naturally, has taken the side of the U.S. government, and has fought Google's efforts to re-open the bid process.
On Monday, Howard accused Google of misleading the government. "Open competition should involve accurate competition," Howard wrote. "It's time for Google to stop telling governments something that is not true."
Google has protested the bid process in an attempt to convince the Department of the Interior to consider its own cloud-based Google Apps services. In December, the U.S. General Services Administration decided to move its 17,000 employees onto Google's hosted Web apps.
In July 2010, Google announced Google Apps for Government, a subset of its Google Apps cloud-based services. Google won a FISMA "Moderate"-level security clearance, which allows Google to secure sensitive but not classified information.
For governments, Google has taken two additional steps from a security standpoint: the company has located the servers serving its government customers solely within the United States, and the Google Apps for Government servers are also physically segregated from the severs provided for business customers.
However, the FISMA certification apparently does not extend to Google Apps for Government, at least not yet.
"On December 16, 2010, counsel for the Government learned that, notwithstanding Google's representations to the public at large, its counsel, the GAO, and this Court, it appears that Googles Google Apps for Government does not have FISMA certification," the court filing notes. "We immediately contacted counsel for Google, shared this information and advised counsel that we would bring this to the Court's attention. According to the GSA, Google's Google Apps Premier received FISMA certification on July 21, 2010. However, Google intends to offer Google Apps for Government as a more restrictive version of its product and, Google is currently in the process of finishing its application for FISMA certification for its Google Apps for Government.
"To be clear, in the view of GSA, the agency that certified Google"s Google Apps Premier, Google does not have FISMA certification for Google Apps for Government," the footnote concluded.
A Google spokesman said in an email that Google Apps for Government is merely an upgraded version of the Google Apps services.
"This case is about the Department of Interior limiting its proposal to one product that isn't even FISMA certified, so this question is unrelated to our request that DOI allow for a true competition when selecting its technology providers," the Google spokesman said.
"Even so, we did not mislead the court or our customers. Google Apps received a FISMA security authorization from the General Services Administration in July 2010. Google Apps for Government is the same system with enhanced security controls that go beyond FISMA requirements. As planned we're working with GSA to continuously update our documentation with these and other additional enhancements."
Howard called for Google to alter its Web site for Google Apps for Government, which currently reads: "Google Apps for Government, now with FISMA certification." And he noted that Google has filed for a second certification, for Google Apps for Government, in addition to its Google Apps filing.
"As I read all this on Friday, my first reaction was that perhaps something positive could come out of Google's lawsuit," Howard wrote. "For months a number of people have been asking for details about Google's FISMA certification. To put it charitably, because of Google's unwillingness to provide answers, the facts have remained opaque. As a result of the lawsuit, it looks like we finally are beginning to get some answers."

subset: commoncrawl


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Explorer Top, Sheer Lemon
Explorer Top, Sheer Lemon
Washed and dyed cotton in brilliant sheer lemon. This top features center bust dart, back french seam, and contrast trim at neck and sleeves. Makes a beautiful layering piece with cami or lace bra underneath. Its cropped shape goes well with high waist trousers and skirts.
- Cropped and A line shape, short sleeves
- 100% washed cotton
- Small measures 37" bust circumference, 21" full length.
- Hand wash, cold water, hang dry, press with hot iron
- Made in Los Angeles
- Free shipping and returns on all orders within the US
- See our return/ exchange policy


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On 'Chocolate and Vodka' there is an excellent open letter to the author's MP, a shame it is required and the letters beforehand didn't have noticeable effect. To me, it's a no-brainer that giving the power to detain without due process is a dangerous step to take. What's frustrating is when I walk past news-stands and see papers like 'The Express' have headlines like 'Victory for Terrorists' when the resulting legislation isn't quite as draconian as they might have hoped. Blair and co will only be locking people up without due process for a year (he has promised to review the legislation in 12 months - I wonder if this is a promise which will be kept?)
Now, I fully appreciate that there may be people out there who are 'not nice' and need their activities to be curtailed, but a way should be found to do this such that centuries of checks and balances are not discarded. After all, surely there must be some reasonable evidence if such a decision is to be made? There is also an argument that if evidence is weak enough that only a vague suspicion is possible, then discrete surveillance is preferable to announcing 'Ah-ha! There you are!' This could yield firmer evidence as well as giving further leads into colleagues.
I find myself stunned that I now live in a country where someone can be detained (sorry, 'controlled') indefinitely without recourse to a reasonable defence, for how can one defend oneself if the charges and evidence are unknown? I find it even more amazing that joe public seems to be quite unconcerned about this step.
"He who sacrifices freedom for security is neither free nor secure." -- Benjamin Franklin
On a more trivial matter, browsing around Chocolate and Vodka, this site seems rather like this one. A mix of subjects from the trivial to the serious. I'll watch the RSS feed with interest, and look forward to the bilingualism articles.


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Under Montana law, after considering the financial resources of both parties, the district court may order one party to pay the other party's reasonable attorney fees for maintaining and defending dissolution, custody, and child support proceedings.
The Supreme Court of Montana has set forth three factors to consider in awarding attorney fees: necessity, they must be reasonable, and they must be based on competent evidence.
Attorney's fees in divorce cases are often costly and an award of attorney's fees in your case may lessen the total amount of attorney's fees you must personally pay. For more information, contact a Matrium Law Group attorney at (406) 552-7814 or at www.matriumlaw.com.
Matrium Law Group is a family law and estate planning law firm. We are committed to providing excellent, practical, and affordable legal counsel to our clients. We are located in Missoula, Montana and we help individuals, families, and businesses throughout Montana. For more information about Matrium Law Group, visit our website at www.matriumlaw.com.


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How to Make Your School's Magazine Relevant and Read with a Survey : George School/
Chosen because George School knows that learning who your magazine's readership is, how and why they consume it, and what content is relevant and interesting is critical to the magazine's success and the goals you establish for it. Here's how they did that and what they learned.
Your school's magazine is the probably one of the most expensive and time-consuming responsibilities of the MarCom office. Yet as more and more content moves online, many schools question the benefits of producing one, particularly a print version. Who reads the print version? Is it worth the high costs of design, printing, and mailing, both in terms of dollars and of time? What's the return on investment for the school?
First, Set Goals
Before any school can answer those questions, you need to back up a bit and ask yourselves, "What's the goal of producing our school magazine?" Choose from among the following.
- to keep alumni/ae connected with the school
- to keep alumni/ae connected to one another
- to build loyalty to the school
- to increase donors to the annual fund and campaign
- to facilitate enrollment
- to celebrate student and alumni/ae successes
- to provide proof points for outcomes
- to keep current and past parents informed
- to reinforce retention
- to spread positive word-of-mouth
- to promote and attract volunteers
- to promote and attract faculty and administration
- to promote and attract leadership and board members
- to create brand-awareness
- to report on and explore world events or topics related to the school
(Please add your own goals in the comments below.)
With goals established, now you can determine how effective the school magazine is in achieving those goals by how your constituents use the magazine and what actions they take as a result. Who's reading it? In what form? What content is read most? Least? What's missing? What does your audience want more of? Less? How would they rate the quality of the writing, photography, design? Do they donate or volunteer as a result of getting the magazine? If you're not sure (data-driven sure) of the answers to questions like these, it's time for a survey.
Second, Survey Your Readership
George School, a coed, 9-12, Quaker boarding and day school in Newtown, PA recently asked themselves these questions and more by participating the CASE's Member Magazine Readership Survey. While you can tell by the title, this survey is only open to CASE members and costs $500, but many of the questions are available for viewing online and you could create your own survey using Survey Monkey or another app to poll your constituents. What you don't get in so doing is a comparison to peer institutions which CASE provides to participants. The year George School implemented the survey, only three other independent schools participated and the rest were higher ed, so there may not be enough value there to make it worth it. Additionally, the results of the survey are only available for one year, making year-to-year comparisons difficult.
CASE describes its survey questions:
The survey asks 22 questions on a variety of topics: how your constituents gather information about your institution (print, on-line, etc.); how they read/use your flagship print publication (usually a magazine); and how interested they are in a range of subjects (what they read, what they don't). It also asks your readers to rate your magazine's quality, to consider whether they think it's a credible source of information about your institution, and explores what actions they may have taken as a result of reading your magazine. Other questions include: How much time do they spend with it? How long do they keep it? Have they sent an article to a friend? Have they attended an event or made a donation as a result of reading it?
Third, Share the Results and Next Steps
In the Spring 2017 issue, George School told the Georgian readers about the survey, shared the results and informed them of the school's next steps. The article appears below, courtesy of Georgian Editor Susan Quinn.
Fourth, Make Changes Based on Results and Don't Leave Out Your Brand
When making changes to your magazine after your survey, be sure to "base it on brand." In other words, for every decision you make; every feature, department, or image you create; every article's tone and voice; everything should be based on your brand. A reader who picks up your magazine should immediately know that this represents your school and not any other independent school. The Georgian has always been a shining example of this. It's not splashy, use of color is minimal if at all, design is simple, and its printed on uncoated stock. It's very "George School," as alumns like to say. Make your publication ooze your school's brand and powerfully, creatively, professionally do everything to boost it.
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Debb's Christian Share Page
Free Online Book-
A while later, I went to bed, early again one night, to spend some time with God. This is a routine I have formed, but this night I spent most of the night crying. One of the things God said, was that he was going to show me what a real family is like. He told me, that I was now in his family and he would show me what that means. He showed me and made me realize what I was like.
I grew up in a family that was so messed up and it was just, everyone for themselves. God showed me how I still operate that way now, with my own children and me. He said "Debbie I'm going to be your father and teach you what you missed out on. I'm going to show you how my family operates". I was crying. All I could think was, "I can't believe you Lord. You are God. Why would you do this for me. You are God. You don't have to do this. I don't deserve it." I couldn't believe that God wanted to be my real father. Then he said "Debbie, this is how a family operates. You are in my family. I love you and in my family we care and share". He said, "Debbie, I am willing to guide you along the paths that are right for you. I'm going to teach you and help you, the way you should have been taught." (There was no condemnation for any member of my family or me in any of this) there was just love, beautiful love.
He told me more but unfortunately, I did not write this until the following morning and I had forgotten the rest by then. I hardly slept that night. I finally fell asleep at 4am. I spent the night talking to God, praying and read some Psalms in the Bible. I was so close to God it was beautiful.
Before I continue on with what God showed me next I want to explain to you a little about my childhood.
As far back as I can remember, I did not like my father. In-fact, I wanted nothing to do with him. I knew he did not like me either, he was never nice to me. When I was 12 years old, my parents owned a milk bar and I was working in it one Saturday afternoon. There were no customers, so I went to go out to the back room, I was about to go in when I realized, they were all talking about me and so I listened at the door. My father was crying and he said that he hated me and he had never loved me. He could not love me and that he did not know how. I was so hurt by this; I went back to the shop. I knew my father didn't like me, but to hear him say that he hated me was something else. The fact that I didn't like him either, just didn't seem to matter any more. All that mattered was that fathers were not supposed to hate their children. Before this, I thought he didn't like me, and I didn't care, but hearing my father say this, all of a sudden something inside me wanted him to love me. Hearing this changed the course of my life.
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|Chapter 1- Take The Me out of the I.
|Chapter 2- With Eyes that See.
|Chapter 3- The Forgery Exposed. The Truth Revealed
|Chapter 4- My Return From Exile
|Chapter 5- Jesus Calls Me To Follow Him
|Chapter 6- Why God Created Me-All is Revealed
|Chapter 7- Jesus Lover of my Soul-Heals My Childhood Wounds
|Chapter 8- Jesus Breaks the Chains of Bondage-One Link at a Time
|Chapter 9- Foundations Broken to be Built Anew
|Chapter 10- In Pastures Green


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Classmate Cards for Depression/
Objective: To help kids realize they are not alone when feeling depressed.
Materials: index card, crayons, colored pencils, and markers; any decorative materials
The project is a follow-up to a unit on depression or when a child has a suicide attempt.
Each child in the class gets an index card that they decorate with positive words and symbols. Once the card is completed the child can hold onto it for future reflection when they are feeling sad or the card can be given to a classmate who is feeling sad.
After the cards are completed, the kids talk among themselves about the cards and their feelings. Usually the kids are broken into small groups of 3 or 4.


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It seems counter-intuitive to need your favorite local shops (that you could easily go to) available through online channels, too. Isn't that what weekends are for? Live-action shopping?! When it's not the weekend, though, and you begin to miss your favorites, it's nice to have them no further away than your laptop. Chalk Boutique in Evanston has recently launched an online shop on Taigan, and to celebrate they're throwing in some added incentive: Shop between now and September 19 and get free two-day shipping! It's basically the convenience online shopping, the fun of in-person shopping, and the joy of a freebie, all in one. But hurry—this news is sure to spread from Northwestern's campus down to Soldier Field in no time. Your luxe fashion go-to just went viral.
Image via Taigan.


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Celebrate A 'Feliz Pascua' Happy Easter with San Churro + Win a Hamper
Whether you're renowned for your sweet tooth or prefer a more occasional relationship with chocolate indulgence, San Churro, Australia's leading chocolate café, has created a range of delicious chocolate treats to help you celebrate this Easter.
This Easter we are having a different kind of bunny visit our house. A luxurious bunny who delivers high quality and melt in your mouth chocolate delights to make any mouth water for more!
San Churro's Easter Bunny stopped by our house to deliver a special package for our family and possibly your family!! (Continue reading to find out how you could possibly win a hamper just like ours!)
Niah is a little too young to understand an Easter Hunt at the moment but she sure does know smells and looks of what is good enough to go in her mouth and in this case San Churro's laughing Chocolate Bunny didn't even come out of the packaging yet before Niah was trying to sink her teeth into him and mind you this was at 8am in the morning! I think we have a little sweet tooth in the household! (As pictured above)
EASTER TRUFFLE & PRALINE GIFT BOX - RRP 4pk $8.95 OR 9pk $18.95
San Churro's collection of 19 truffles and pralines are made from the finest of Spanish couverture chocololate. Available in illustrated Easter gift boxes of 4 and 9 truffles, these are the perfect gift for epicures and chocolate connoisseurs.
These darling little cherished box of gorgeously spiced chocolate to mix things up remind me of christmas pudding - gosh I love food when it comes to special occasions, the stuff they come out with is amazing but I hate waiting so long for it to be released again which is what I think is going to happen to me with these Easter Truffle & Pralines!
They're the perfect little snack bite size treatie for more so the adults rather then the kids.
This sweet little trio of chocolate truffle eggs make for an adorable and delicious gift that will excite and delight this Easter.
These look too good to eat, they look like they need to be framed and displayed on a wall.. maybe in one of those break incase of an emergency frames - don't know how long they would last in my house though! The twist of different coloured and patterned designs on top are what really make these eggs pop!
The perfect Easter egg present for any one of all ages will be delighted to receive this prezzie!
Nothing says "Happy Easter" like a San Churro laughing chocolate bunny! Made with San Churro's Spanish milk couverture chocolate this jolly bunny is a delicious treat that's large enough to share... but we'd understand if you don't want to.
This is another one that can be for all ages but the younger ones will always enjoy a bunny figure chocolate more then us adults. I love the little bow on these bunnies - cute colouring and better then a carved in one.
Don't forget to check out my other giveaways happening:
Multiple Mother's Day Packs Giveaway
Sing-A-Long Sound Of Music Double Passes Giveaway


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The Good Time Travelers
A high voice, smoky and soulful; a low voice, rich with bravado. Pete Kartsounes and Michael Kirkpatrick come together as The Good Time Travelers. United by a passion for performing, this songwriting and pickin' duo presents original songs about 'the journey.' It's a simple endeavor: a guitar, a mandolin and two microphones-traveling light, this band fills up your heart, but barely fills a Subaru. Both gentlemen have been leading bands around the west for some time and found each other at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. At their first campground session, it became clear to all who witnessed the magic of these two troubadours that this was more than just another Town Park jam. In fact, Michael won the prestigious Telluride Troubadour Competition in 2014 and Pete had taken an honorable first runner up in 2011 and 2013. Pete and Michael began co-writing in the summer of 2014, focusing on the alchemy of their unique voices and instrumental styles.
Official Website Facebook Youtube


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What It Takes...
I wanted to share with you something different, so I've decided to tell the story of how my next book, Ahab's Daughter: The Werewhale Saga, came to be. The road to publication can be a long and twisted one with many struggles along the way.
Let me take you back to the summer of 2015. My son, daughter and I were in a swimming pool at a campground having a good time splashing around. We were using my mother-in-law's trailer for a few days at the campground and had gone for a swim. My wife had to work, and with the kids fresh out of school for the summer, I took a few days off from my full-time job and we went down to the campground near the New Jersey shore. Late in the day on one afternoon we were swimming in the pool and started goofing around. My son was swimming around us, while I pulled my daughter away from him so that he couldn't "catch" her and we started joking and making odd noises—-as though a creature were attacking us. As we laughed, I said, "Yeah, it's like a werewhale were chasing after us." I made this whale-song moan and then splashed in the water. My kids loved it and we all got a good kick out of the game.
But, as what often happens to me, a creative spark popped in my head and I remember telling my kids: "Hey, that's a cool idea. I should write that down." My son was 11 at the time and my daughter 7. We all laughed about it and pretended that the "werewhale" was out to get us in the pool. I took the werewolf idea and spliced it with a whale, and presto, there you go.
When we came home from our mini vacation, I did write the idea down and came up with some ideas:
- Have a werewhale chase after a bunch of teenagers in a campground and it's a horror story.
- The werewhale is like a Sharknado type of story and it attacks a small city.
But these ideas, although interesting, didn't really resonant with me. Something else was bubbling underneath the surface, but I couldn't quite put all the pieces together yet. To help you understand how I use the creative side of my brain, let me share with you a bit about me. You see, I love books and I love reading. I went to college many moons ago as an English/French major and have my Masters in English Literature, so I often think back on the great classics and that's how I connected the werewhale idea with Moby Dick. I took a class on Melville's famous novel back in graduate school and remember what a difficult read it was. The cetology chapters (that contained all the details about whales) were a slog to get through. But still, the obsession of hunting after something—no matter what—stayed with me.
And that's how I took a goofy moment in a pool with my kids and transformed it to an idea for a book. But here's where things get more complicated. I have wanted to partner with my wife on writing a book for more than two decades. In the more than 22 years that we've known each other, we've only written one short story together and I don't believe I have that saved anywhere (if I recall correctly it was a retelling of a part of the Arthurian legend).
Fast forward twenty years and I asked Karen if she'd like to write a book with me.
I shared with her the idea and she agreed. You may not remember, but back in 2016 she wrote a guest blog post on my site entitled 3 Reasons Why Co-writing with My Husband Is Scary and 3 Ways I'm Conquering My Fears. It's a great article!
As to how my brain works, I had a whole plan. We would write the book together, document it via blog posts to share how the process was going (all the good and the bad) and then launch the book to the world. In my head, it was a win-win-win: We'd get to work together, she'd be able to knock out her first book, and we'd be able to share with you the process. I thought it would be fun and a great project to work on.
I love my wife. She has known me for two plus decades and realizes that when I say that I'm going to do something, well, it's going to happen (as long as I am physically/mentally capable). So when I asked her if she wanted to write a book and she said yes, then I took that as a promise. To uphold my part of our bargain, I would do the necessary work. We had planning meetings, but the truth is that my wife wasn't into the project as much as me.
We talked through deadlines, and to make life easier for her, I wrote the first draft and gave it to her. The plan was then for her to take the draft, rip it apart, and give me a second draft. That did not happen. Last summer we were driving up to Connecticut and had a big argument about the book. I've shared that story with you. My wife told me that she didn't want to write the book and that was that. She was hurt, I was hurt and my dream of working together with her just didn't come to be. I'm not writing this to rehash all that. I learned a lot during that time and how it's important for me to just accept that sometimes people are on different paths and timelines. C'est la vie. And that's that.
Since I had written the first draft, I didn't want to jump right into the second draft, so I decided to put the book on ice for a bit. I had wanted to release it last fall, but instead I put out Faith: The Jovian Gate Chronicles. Then I had a decision to make: Would I jump back into writing the werewhale book or move on to something else?
I felt like I still needed a break from the werewhale story, so I wrote the first draft to Redemption: Cinderella's Secret Witch Diaries (book 4) and finished that this past April. My hope is to release that book late this year or early next.
But when I finished the first draft to Redemption, I realized that I now had enough time and could get back to the werewhale idea. It is my continued hope that one day I will write a novel with my wife. Writing with Karen didn't go the way I had hoped, but to be objective for a moment: We have different goals. I want to write books—lots of them. Writing a book isn't a driving force in Karen's life right now.
I came to terms with our differences and moved on. I had a solid first draft of a book and now I needed to shape it into a solid story. Much had changed in my life and in the world since I had last written the first draft, and when I opened up the werewhale story, I fell in love with the idea all over again. What I realized in reading through the opening is that I really wanted to strengthen the main character in the book. I'm proud to say that Ahab's Daughter: The Werewhale Saga has a strong-willed woman protagonist. Morgan doesn't take crap from anyone and I had a lot of fun developing her and making her come to life. It might seem weird to some, but I most naturally like to have my main characters be women in my books. There are many reasons for that:
- My mom and grandmother are the two most influential role models in having raised me.
- I admire J.K. Rowling writing Harry Potter. I figured if she can write Harry so well, why couldn't I try my hand at writing women?
- All my novels have strong women leads: Sophia (Cinderella), Phoebe, Dorothea, Sabrina, and now Morgan.
- I'm a big follower of Jungian psychology and believe that my subconscious consists of an ego, persona, self and my anima (feminine side). When I write, I get in touch with that part of me.
A lot of changes went into my rewriting the book and I can't wait for you to see it. Along the way, my daughter knew I was writing werewhale and she wanted to share with me some artwork to help inspire me.
Her artwork is amazing! I hung up her picture on my whiteboard and made a decision to get back and finish the book. I used to think that I only had one book in me, but so far I've created the following worlds:
- Cinderella's Secret Witch Diaries
- The Witch's Coven Series
- The Jovian Gate Chronicles
- The Werewhale Saga
- The Realms Series
When I've let myself be creative, the ideas flow. I wanted to share with you the journey of what it takes to write a book because it's not easy. Creating a book takes a lot of work. I do research, reading, I write, edit, re-write and then need to work with a cover designer, a proofreader, and then I do my own conversions to make the book into .epub and .mobi formats for ebooks. Finally, I then make the print version on Createspace. Once all of that work is done, I then need to market and sell the book.
I think about that for a moment and it makes me smile. I was playing around in a pool with my kids and an idea came to me. I took that idea from two years ago, went on a journey with it and now I'm getting close to sharing the book with the world. That's pretty cool!
My plan is to share with you the cover later this summer (I start that work with a cover designer next month). After I get all the book together and publish it, I'll go back and will need to rewrite Redemption. Is this a lot of work? Yes, it is. Keep in mind that I'm working a full-time day job and my writing time takes place before work and in the morning on the weekends. When I was growing up and wanted to be a writer, I didn't understand what that would really mean. I thought I'd write a book, submit it to a New York publishing house and then I'd simply rake in millions of dollars. Well, that's so far from the truth that I have to laugh at my younger self. The publishing industry has changed as has how readers read. Everything is all so different, but some things also stay the same.
I wanted to take you on a little journey of how I wrote Ahab's Daughter: The Werewhale Saga to share with you how complex of a journey it was. The important thing is that I didn't give up. I stayed the course, took a break when I hit a bump in the road, and then got back to work. And now, here's a short description of the book to give you a better sense on what it's about. Again, it's scheduled to be published late this summer. I'll share the exact date once I know more and have the book back fromproofreader.
Ahab's Daughter: The Werewhale Saga:
Not wanting to be left home after her twin brother heads off to sea, Morgan, daughter to the infamous Captain Ahab, tracks down Ishmael and convinces him to take her on a quest to find and bring back her brother Nathan.
When Morgan and Ishmael are captured by mercenaries far out to sea, they convince their captors to head to the fabled Island of Nightmares where there is rumored to be riches beyond imagination. But Morgan knows that it's also where she will most likely find her brother and can then escape and bring him home.
Like all well-made plans, Morgan's hopes are dashed when she arrives on the island. As members of the crew disappear one by one, the true secret behind the island's raw natural power is revealed. Can Morgan and the others escape the island or is there some darker power trapping them there for its own fearsome purpose? Time will tell, but who will be left alive to tell the story...
Thank you and I'm looking forward to sharing more with you about my book.
Live well and I hope you're enjoying your summer!


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He says:
"The Lord has redeemed us all with the blood of Christ, all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone," he said. Some may ask, "'Father, even the atheists?' Them, too. Everyone."
Well, who'd have thought?!
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them." -John 3:36It seems the Pope gets to ignore the gospel of John when he quotes the gospel Mark (on which he bases his homily)! He's the POPE for Christ's sake!
It would also be pertinent to note that the Catholic Church has been teaching for centuries that only catholics can go to heaven. In Unam Sanctam, the Papal Bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII in 1302 says,
"Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff."This stance was seen as too outdated and the second Vatican council did a near about face. As the "Assessment of this Council", written to spell out the council's conclusions in terms that the lay public could understand says,
"The non-Christian may not be blamed for his ignorance of Christ and his Church; salvation is open to him also, if he seeks God sincerely and if he follows the commands of his conscience, for through this means the Holy Ghost acts upon all men; this divine action is not confined within the limited boundaries of the visible Church."If you can attribute an atheist's non-belief to ignorance and if the said atheist is somehow said to be seeking God, then yes, salvation is possible. If you are willing to go through mental gymnastics, then yes indeed, anything is possible!
Make no mistake, the Pope's message of tolerance is to be welcomed, of course. The idea of inclusiveness is also quite welcome too! The world could certainly do with more tolerance and less bigotry!
What is funny however is the Christian insistence on cherry picking and looking at verses atomically. One understands why, of course. Take the Bible as a whole and you get a messy goo of inconsistencies and God begins to look like he has multiple personality disorder.
Update:Not so fast atheists, says the Vatican.
The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, said that people who aware of the Catholic church "cannot be saved" if they "refuse to enter her or remain in her.Perhaps, the Pope was referring to atheists who enter and remain in the Church! Ha!
At the same time, Rosica writes, "every man or woman, whatever their situation, can be saved. Even non-Christians can respond to this saving action of the Spirit. No person is excluded from salvation simply because of so-called original sin."
So, here is the new Rock-Paper-Scissors game in town: Pope-Jesus-Vatican!
The Pope overrides the Bible's message (John 3:36)
The Bible guides the Vatican
The Vatican "clarifies" the Pope's statement
Update 2:While the pope seems to have said that atheists have been redeemed by Christ's blood, he need not have meant that atheists who do good will go to heaven.
Here is how it could possibly be interpreted: Christ redeemed us all (from the original sin or all sins). That does not necessarily imply that we, atheists get to go to heaven! Well, no one says theology is easy!
Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly claimed that John 3:36 were the words of Jesus. It is has been updated to correctly note that those are the words of John the baptist.


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A few weeks back, the ladies behind Project Girl Crush came over to my place, took some photos and asked me a few questions. HERE is the interview that recently went up on their site.
I am touched and flattered to be included in a project that takes such an intimate and sincere look at creative women. Here's hoping they inspire more of us to look at one another from positive and supportive perspectives.


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All of these awards programs have several things in common:
- They promote best practice in heritage conservation
- They recognise and acknowledge the work involved in achieving good heritage conservation outcomes
- They publicise the efforts of owners of heritage items or places, and of the participants in the heritage conservation process
The catalyst for my reflection on the value of heritage awards was the recognition given to several projects that International Conservation Services has contributed to over the past couple of years at the 2010 Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Awards presented at the Westin Hotel in Sydney on 12 April 2010.
Christ Church, Bong Bong
Award, Conservation of Built Heritage
Dunbar Anchor
Award, Maritime Heritage
Royal Botanic Gardens Heritage Statuary Conservation
Commendation, Conservation of Built Heritage
Sydney Harbour YHA, The Rocks
Commendation, Development
But the real purpose of this blog post was to reflect on how we can all do better at sharing the knowledge, the skills, the experience, and the conservation outcomes, that derive from these award-winning projects.
First and foremost, we need to promote the awards. We need to tell stories about the awards, and about the award-winning projects. We need the winners of the awards to post the information on their websites, send newsletters and emails about the awards, and not be shy about promoting the news that they received an award. Why? Because publicity about the awards builds interest and builds recognition that the award winning projects represent a benchmark, a level of practice that is desirable and that is achievable.
Secondly, we need to share stories about the work that was done on the projects that were awarded. We need to publish the reports (online preferably); create photo galleries (online again); give presentations and tours; tell stories about the challenges, the successes, and the failures (yes, the failures) that occurred in the course of completing these award-winning projects. Sharing these experiences will help us all develop our skills, and disseminate the knowledge that will help more of us do better work more of the time.
Finally, we need to encourage our peers, our partners, our clients, our consultants and our contractors to nominate their projects for awards. At International Conservation Services, we have been nominating projects for the National Trust Heritage Awards for more than a decade. Along the way, we've had a number of projects which were recognised with commendation, and this year, 2010, two of our projects received awards. We're proud of all of these projects. Just as we're proud of all our other projects that were nominated and not recognised, or the vast array of projects that we didn't nominate for a wide variety of reasons. Our challenge to ourselves is to share more information about our projects with our community. Which in a way brings me full circle to the reason why we write this blog!
David West
International Conservation Services


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Get the new year started with the award-winning Mercy College Faith and Healing Series! Join us as we welcome a member of the Sisters of Mercy to speak on campus!
Sister Patricia Talone, RSM, PHD, was most recently the Vice President of Mission Services for the Catholic Health Association of the United States. She retired from that position in 2016, and is now setting about using her vast knowledge and extensive experience as a consultant, lecturer and writer on ethics, mission and formation.
As a Sister of Mercy for nearly 60 years, Sr. Talone embodies a lifetime of working in the Spirit of the Sisters of Mercy, specifically in the field of healthcare and ethics. Sr. Talone will be joining us February 9th to give the lecture A Vision For Healthcare Reform, meditating on the foundation of Healthcare in the Catholic tradition as lived through the Charism of the Sisters of Mercy.


text: We know that black and leather are an integral part of any good wardrobe…so, what happens during the sweaty summer months? One must find ways to incorporate the holy grail without melting into the cement. When I came across these boots while wandering aimlessly on Tumblr, I knew I would be googling til' I found them online. It's me here, so I eventually did. They are literally the perfect summer boot. The cutouts keep you ventilated all while looking super badass. Win-win.


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SONY OPEN 2014 So Far… Here are a few of the stars I caught this year! Im very busy but wanted to keep my fans
informed with a few of my favorite(and quickly accessible images). I am always quite busy uploading images to the UK, Spain and my home stock agency Photosport in LA.


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20% Of Something Is Causing 80% Of Your Problems- A Joey Slaughter Blog/
Contributing author Joey Slaughter is the owner of Blue Ridge Transport, LLC. A Ringgold, VA based carrier. Joey started his company in 2010 after serving time as an unhappy employee with a local trucking company. The time spent there was not fun but, in hindsight, was a turning point that propelled Joey into the wonderful world of being an entrepreneur. Please visit JoeySlaughter.net for more insightful blogging.
20% of people use 80% of medical resources. 20% of computer bugs cause 80% of viruses. 20% of workplace hazards cause 80% of injuries. 20% of people commit 80% of the crimes. These aren't exact, but I think you would agree there is a principle here. The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle, states that approximately 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Business-management consultant Joseph Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. This uneven but predictable distribution of wealth in society also applied outside of economics as stated above. In fact, it's found almost everywhere. Pareto observed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas.
It is a common rule in business that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. In his book "The 4 Hour Workweek" Tim Ferriss uses this principle to concentrate on the important and discard what's not. He examines his business through the lense of these two questions:
- Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
- Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
After a detailed analysis, Tim discovered that out of 120 wholesale customers, only 5 were bringing in 95% of the revenue. He was spending 98% of his time chasing down the other 5% of revenue! He decided to ditch the 115 customers and examine the 5 big customers and note what is similar. He then went out and tried to duplicate them by finding other potential customers that shared the similarities.
In conclusion, think about this principle in regards to your business or even personal life. Analyze what 20% of sources (good or bad) that you need to either improve or eliminate in order to get the desired results. This type of management multiplies our effort by minimizing wasteful time.


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Southwest Oklahoma Ghost Chasers
Staci's Thoughts
What a GREAT book.This is a MUST read for anyone interested in the paranormal.
John Zaffis is a world-renowned psychic researcher who has actually witnessed and assisted on many exocisims and conducted
numerous investigations of alleged hauntings. This book contains actual events from his case files of these investigations.
I personally could not put this book down. I find it very intriguing and captivating. Mr. Zaffis is a very
knowledgable man in paranormal investigation arena. I feel he is a leader and a pioneer in this area.
You can find Mr.Zaffis' website here: http://johnzaffis.com and more on his book here: http://www.shadowsofthedark.com
Click here to e-mail us


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Wheel of fortune - skype conference
Czech and Romanian students were on the air for the first time in a new school year. Expectation, fear and lack of self-confidence were broken after 10 minutes of talking. It is true that we had to face some organization problems at the beginning such as exchanging the skype names, setting the headphones and mic. etc. but at the end almost everybody was talking and the biggest reward was to hear '´Hey teacher, it was cool!´ or ´I liked it very much!´ and ´I said something and I also understood him!´.
Almost everybody is determined to contact new friends from their homes. So...we can only wish them to.....KEEP UP THIS ENTHUSIASM!!!


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Doctor Who boss Steven Moffatt blasts "vandal" who leaked new plots
Doctor Who boss blasts "vandal" who leaked plot to new episodes
1:24 PM on 11th May 2011
Heartbreaking: Steven Moffat said he hated fans who revealed Doctor Who plots online
Doctor Who series boss Steven Moffatt has blasted fans who leak details of plots, accusing them of "vandalism".
He spoke out after the entire plot of a two-episode opener to the latest run of the BBC1 show was posted online prior to broadcast.
Moffatt, the creative force behind the show and its executive producer, said the shows depended on shocks for their success.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "You can imagine how much I hate them. I wish they could go and be fans of something else."
It is thought those who gave away the plot had been invited to a preview screening but had been specifically asked not to blow the plotline. However they were posted online shortly afterwards.
"It"s heartbreaking in a way because you"re trying to tell stories, and stories depend on surprise, Moffat said.
So to have some twit who came to a press launch, write up a story in theworst, most ham-fisted English you can imagine, and put it on the internet…I just hope that guy never watched my show again, because that"s a horrific thing to do."
Most fans of the Time Lord went out of their way to avoid having the plot ruined in advance, he said.
"They want to preserve the surprise," he said. "The tragedy is you have to work hard at that now."
Moffattcontinued: "Stories depend on shocking people. Stories are the moments that you didn"t see coming, that are what live in you and burn in you forever.
"If you are denied those, it"s vandalism."
Surprise: Moffat said that Doctor Who – which recently returned to screens – depended on shocks for its success
The latest series of the show has reportedly had disappointing viewing figures, with fans questioning whether the plotlines are too scary for its large family audience.
Concerns were raised following the opening episode of the series, particularly the scene in which an alien called Silent killed a member of White House staff.
Moffat recently admitted the first episode of the new series was 'darker' than any previous series opener. However, he added: 'Children absolutely rank Doctor Who stories in order of frightening-ness – that'swhat it's about. I've got two kids of my own and I'd never do anything Ididn't think was acceptable for them.'
Scary: Fans questioned whether the episode featuring a Silent alien was suitable for family viewing
Some fans also say the plots have become too complicated and involved, but others say it is important for the show to experiment.
A BBC spokesman said: 'Doctor Who is a show for all the family. It's well known for getting viewers hiding behind their sofas and children expect episodes to provide scares and thrills.
'Doctor Who is never gruesome, cold-blooded or gratuitously violent. All content is carefully considered for a pre-watershed audience.'


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A book honoring those from Taylor County who served during the Vietnam War is being written by mass communication students at Campbellsville University, and help is needed if the book is to become a reality.
Those who are a veteran of the Vietnam War or know someone who is are asked to contact Stan McKinney, associate professor of journalism at the university, at email@example.com or (270) 789-5035. Please include the name of the veteran and contact information.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Central Kentucky News-Journal, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College students learn about employability skills.
For the second year running, Year 11 students from The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College have the opportunity to develop the skills that will make them more employable. Throughout the students' final year the school will be working, in collaboration with coaching organisation Kokoro, on the 'Employable Me' programme thanks to a grant from Warwickshire County Council.
In the summer term it was announced that Avon Valley was one of six local schools to receive a share of £112,000 which has been given to schools and colleges across the county as part of Warwickshire County Council's skills for employment programme.
Since September Avon Valley's Year 11 students have taken part in two half-day sessions, off the school site, with Kokoro, the most recent being held at Benn Hall. During the sessions the students have worked with Kokoro mentors to develop skills which will help them progress with their applications to Further Education providers, and prepare them for post-16 study.
In addition to the sessions with Kokoro the school has used its grant money to run a number of events including a careers afternoon during which the students met local employers and colleges. Recently, every student has been interviewed by a representative from a local business as part of the school's mock interview process. Furthermore, the school's Year 11 students have heard from the local sixth forms and colleges during special assemblies.
Assistant Headteacher, Elaine Stock, said:
"The students have already had two wonderful sessions with Kokoro during which they have examined what makes them employable. Theses events have included sessions on interview techniques, body language and team building. These are skills which will be very important as our students who are currently applying for sixth form, college and apprenticeship places."
Alison Davies, Headteacher commented:
"Again this year we are very grateful to Warwickshire County Council for providing the grant that has allowed our young people to work with Kokoro. Choosing what to do once they leave school is a big decision and our students are benefitting from the guidance given by Kokoro."
Karen Powell, one of Kokoro's founders, said:
"The students have been fantastic and we've really enjoyed working with them. They are fortunate that they attend a school which invests in, and provides, so much advice and careers guidance."
You can find out more about Avon Valley School on their Website: http://www.avonvalleyschool.org/
More information about education in Warwickshire is available on the Warwickshire Website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/education


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The following is one in a series of blogs leading up to our Youth Forum for People and Wildlife in Johannesburg in September. Delegate Stefan Knights, a lawyer and postgraduate student, is promoting access to information, public participation in decision-making processes and access to justice on matters relating to the environment with the Caribbean Youth Environment Network. –IS
While conservation organizations tend to grab headlines on the illegal trade of charismatic species such as elephants, rhinos and big cats, wildlife from around the world is victimized by poachers and traffickers.
In the small Caribbean islands in which I work, there are major issues relating to the poaching and illegal trade of species of iguanas, sea turtles and parrots.
Each year, endangered iguanas are smuggled off the islands for commercial purposes. For example, 12 critically endangered iguanas from the Bahamas were recently seized from Romanian nationals at London's Heathrow Airport. One of the iguanas died in transit, but the UK government returned the remaining iguanas to the Bahamas. The smugglers were sentenced to one year in prison.
This is one of the few instances where smugglers were caught and the animals were liberated. Unquestionably, there are many more undetected cases that are decimating the iguana population and compromising the welfare of individual iguanas.
READ: Youth Forum for People and Wildlife announces 34 global delegates
To fight this trade, we need to understand why iguanas are smuggled; the challenges in preventing the illegal trade; and what can be done by different sectors of society to curb the illegal trade.
This is what we do know: Endangered iguanas are found in many islands such as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Galápagos Islands and Jamaica. Iguanas are smuggled into the USA, Europe and Japan to be exotic pets or they are killed in order to supply luxury leather that is made into purses, boots and belts.
Moreover, the survival of island iguanas (terrestrial and marine) is threatened by climate change and economic activities that result in their habitat loss.
Iguanas are very important to the socio-economic development of the islands on which they live. They play an important role as seed dispersers for many endemic plants and the juvenile iguanas can be insectivorous. Since iguanas can be good indicators of environmental change, their loss can result in serious consequences for the ecosystem.
Moreover, they are also seen as a tourist attraction in resort areas.
There are many challenges to curbing illegal trade of wildlife in small developing island states, including the lack of training and expertise of customs officers to recognise the illegal wildlife products that pass through ports. In many small islands there are few domestic laws that give legal effect to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and as such, domestic trade of wildlife within the island is often not illegal. Further, the advancement of the internet makes the trading of wildlife easier, and it also poses significant new legal questions.
To prevent the extinction of iguanas, there are many measures that can be adopted by governments, private sectors and civil society.
For instance, governments can impose seasonal bans on hunting iguanas as seen in Trinidad and Tobago.
Civil society can lead iguana rehabilitation projects and advocate for improved conservation strategies. The Jamaican Environmental Trust, for instance, has being advocating for better conservation efforts of iguanas and the Trust has even taken the government to court over related matters.
Similarly, businesses such as JetBlue Airlines and Royal Caribbean Cruises have committed to identifying and eliminating all sales of products illegally made from wildlife.
There is a lot to be done. Hopefully, through the knowledge, expertise and networking I gain at the Youth Forum in September, I can continue to advocate for these forgotten victims of wildlife crime.
Register and visit our Youth Forum site
Article source: IFAW


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How To Deal With That Stash Of Halloween Candy/
So Halloween has come and gone. If you're like most people you might have grabbed a treat here and there in between handing out candy to the witches, super heroes and Harry Potters that came to the door. One night, perhaps a little too much sugar, no harm done, right?
Well, if you're like most people, you very well may have a stash of Halloween candy left over just sitting there in the pantry. Did you buy your favorite just in case there might be leftovers? Or did you buy your least favorite, knowing you might be too tempted otherwise? Or maybe your kids have a nice hefty stash to the point that they wouldn't notice a piece missing here and there (and there, and there...).
This might seem innocent enough. Isn't the candy just part of the fun? So, if you're like many people, this innocent seeming fun can go on and on quite indefinitely, eating a piece here and there -- rolling right into Thanksgiving, whose treats can easily roll right into Christmas, Channukah, New Years...you get the picture. It's that time of year when healthy eating takes a backseat, diets become fuzzy, and living in the moment goes along with "Oh, I'll start my diet after this bag of candy is gone," or "...after Thanksgiving," or "...after Christmas."
An interesting (but not so happy) fact is that the weight gain that many people experience over time occurs gradually, without them even noticing at first. And that much of this weight gain occurs during the holiday season. Add up enough holiday seasons and you can see where this is going. You may not think of Halloween as part of the official "holiday season" but if you've got a stash of candy sitting in your house that you're picking away at, your weight gain season has officially started.
You may be thinking, yeah, but I'm just eating one tiny, little piece a day. How much harm is there in that? Maybe from a calorie perspective not much. But here's something to consider:
There's so much more to consider than just how many calories you're putting in your mouth.
The brain is the center of hunger, satiety and eating behavior. When you eat something like a piece of candy, what you're doing is giving your brain an experience of extremely condensed sweetness. It's at an intensity not found in nature, so it gives your brain a "hit" not unlike what heroin addicts experience. The reward center of the brain is activated in a major way. Translation: you go, "Yes! That was awesome! Of course, I'd love some more!"
But you've already promised yourself you would only eat one. So you muster up your willpower and just -- say -- no. You tell yourself you can have another later or tomorrow. But what does your brain do with this? It knows that stash is still sitting there--and that another piece is coming at some point. But rather than forgetting all about it until the next time, it is primed and ready, high with expectation for when that next time will be. It starts its countdown, waiting and anticipating, until the next time is now.
And before you know it your brain is a prisoner of your Halloween stash.
You may think you are above all this. You may say, I'm good with eating just one piece a day. And maybe you are -- in your conscious brain. But the majority of our eating decisions go on beneath the level of consciousness -- in our subconscious mind where the logic of "reasonable" eating takes a backseat to emotion, impulses, and expectation. So even though your conscious brain is disciplined and successfully resisting the urge, your subconscious is doing the count down.
So what does all this mean for you and your stash of candy? Don't let me tell you what to do. Keep it if you want. But at your own risk. My suggestion would be to quickly, without thinking about it, grab it, take it to your nearest donation center or if that seems too cumbersome, your nearest trash can.
But what about my kids' candy?! That will still be around. And they won't take too kindly to it being gone when they get home. True, but let's face it, the candy isn't any better for them than it is for you. Depending on your children's ages you may not want to secretly remove most of it (although that actually worked for us for a number of years--when they're young enough, they may not notice).
Ideas for getting rid of excess Halloween candy...
There are lots of cool things parents can do to prevent sugar overdosing after Halloween. There's donating candy to the troops with Halloween Candy Give-Back (https://opgrat.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/halloween-candy-for-the-troops/). You can also visit http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/to search for a participating dentist near you who will accept candy in exchange for toothbrushes, coupons, and sometimes cash. Or if all else fails, you can offer to have your kids exchange their excess candy with you for some agreed upon thing. In the unfortunate event that any candy does wind up remaining in the house, the best thing is to put in a highly inconvenient, or better yet, secret location with a tally of how much is there, to create some sort of accountability for those intending to stay away.
So there you have it. Sorry to be the bearer of not so fun news. But trust me, when you get through the season without having eaten more of the sweet stuff than you really intended, you will feel great! Successful! Even triumphant! And your body (and your brain) will thank you.


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You know that long hiatus we just took? It gave Jake and me some much-needed time to do a little soul searching. I reconnected with my inner child, Jake reconnected with his inner hippie, and we both reconnected with our punk-rock roots. Okay, Jake reconnected with his punk-rock roots; I broke out my old Pink Floyd records. But somehow, both of those things led us back to another classic weird band we've neglected for far too long: the Butthole Surfers.
From about 1985 to 1989, the Butthole Surfers had one of the craziest live shows of any band on the planet. Their lead singer, the eternally manic Gibby Haynes, wore dresses and played squealing saxophone riffs and shouted lyrics into a megaphone. Next to him stood an upside-down cymbal filled with lighter fluid; he would set it—and often, his hand—on fire. Guitarist Paul Leary writhed around the stage like a man possessed. Two identical-looking drummers played standing up, sometimes in perfect unison and sometimes it utter cacophony. Kathleen Lynch, the band's infamous "naked dancer," struck spastic poses in time to a strobe light, covered in lurid body paint. Behind the band, overlapping 16-millmeter films layered disturbing and incongruous images atop one another, like a graphic penis reconstruction medical video and, according to one account, "people with Down's syndrome dancing in top hats and tails." The whole thing was designed to freak the shit out of the audience, and it usually worked. Here, for example, is drummer Teresa Taylor, aka Teresa Nervosa, describing the Surfers' shows circa 1985 (from this excellent oral history of the band):
Gibby in those days would take condoms filled with colored dye and put those in his pants so that at some point they would burst and it would look very bloody. He would change clothes onstage during the set a lot. Then he went and bought the first vocal effect and that was a big deal. We had strobe lights, $10 strobe lights, and then we bought a 16-millimeter projector, because we started to make more money. Everything was invested back into the band, so we could have a better show, better sound. Later we got another projector and showed two 16-millimeter films overlapping. The full-on shows would make people puke and scream and run out, that kind of thing. It was what we'd always wanted.
Happily, a ton of video from this era exists on YouTube—much of it lifted from Blind Eye Sees All, a concert film the band shot in Detroit in 1985, but plenty of clips from later years, as well (which is a good thing, because Lynch didn't add her naked dancing to the band's spectacle until 1986). Less happily, the quality of most of these videos is shitty, and even under the best of circumstances, an '80s B-hole Surfers show was almost impossible to film. This is one of the better clips we could find and you still really can't see anything until 40 second into it:
I've somehow neglected to mention the music up to this point, which is stupid because the music was generally every bit as crazy as the stage show. Early on, the Surfers were part of the punk scene, and their live performances definitely owed a debt to the Sex Pistols and the Dead Kennedys. But in the studio, they were on their own trip from day one. Here, for example, is a track off their first full-length album, 1984's Psychic… Powerless… Another Man's Sac, which owes as much to The Residents or Captain Beefheart as it does to hardcore punk:
Back in '84, Gibby Haynes achieved his distorted, menacing vocals mostly just by singing by through a megaphone or a toilet paper roll, but over the years he added various electronic effects, until he finally had an entire rack of processors that came be known as "Gibbytronix." You can't actually see Gibby in this 1991 video, but you can hear Gibbytronix in full effect:
Over the course of the '90s, the Surfers devolved into a tamer, "alternative rock" incarnation of their former selves. Kurt Cobain name-checked them as an influence (he and Courtney Love met at a Butthole Surfers show), which helped the band land a major-label deal at Capitol Records in 1992. They even got John Paul fucking Jones (yes, the Led Zeppelin guy) to produce their first record for Capitol, the intriguingly titled but disappointingly polished Independent Worm Saloon. By the time they scored their biggest hit, 1996's "Pepper," they were starting to sound kinda like Weezer. But hey, if aging psychedelic noise punks can't cash out in America, what hope is there for the rest of us? And to their credit, they still play the old weird shit to this day, albeit as a stripped-down four piece with fewer visual effects and naked dancers.
I've really only scratched the surface of all that was weird about the Butthole Surfers; if I wanted to, I could go on all night. In their early days, they changed the band name for every show: Ashtray Babyheads, the Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, the Dick Gas Five. Their classic 1988 album Hairway to Steven was released with cartoons for each song in place of titles. Fans later deciphered the song titles based on live set lists; the song represented by a rabbit dancing on top of a dead fish turned out to be called "Julio Iglesias."
But instead of cataloging their every bit of chicanery, I'll just leave you with a short 1988 film called Bar-B-Que Movie, which starred all six then-members of the band (Gibby, Leary, bassist Jeff Pinkus, drummers King Coffey and Teresa Nervosa, and dancer Kathleen Lynch) and was directed by, of all people, Alex Winter, the actor best known as the not-Keanu guy from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. It's a spoof of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and…well, just fucking watch it, OK? You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll never look at your cast-iron frying pan the same way again. There's a full-on recreation of the Surfers' stage show about seven minutes in. Enjoy.
- Butthole Surfers official site
- Butthole Surfers catalog on Amazon.com
- The Anal Obsession (fan catalog of every Butthole Surfers show ever, or damn close to it, with set lists)
- Feeding the Fish: An Oral History of the Butthole Surfers (based on Spin magazine interviews circa 1996)
- Butthole Surfers: The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave (a remembrance of '80s Surfers gigs by Richard Metzger of Dangerous Minds)
- Butthole Surfers on MySpace (because why the hell not?)


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Start a Bonner Program
If your campus is interested in engaging in intensive and meaningful service with your student and community, we encourage you to consider developing a Bonner Program on your campus.
Since the Bonner Foundation's original partnership with six start-up schools in 1998, the Bonner Foundation has partnered with 41 additional schools in the implementation of Bonner Leaders Programs. Together, these schools have taught us that "replication is not duplication." Though we have identified a core model for Bonner Leader schools, each school we partner with brings new ideas and adaptations to the program, which we then share with other schools.
Schools interested in the Bonner Leaders Program often ask us what they should do first when considering the creation of a service-based scholarship program on their campuses. In response, we have developed a start-up guide for prospective Bonner Leader Programs that schools can think about as they begin this process. We also host an orientation for new and prospective Bonner Program staff in Princeton each summer.
We recommend that campus representatives interested in the Bonner Program discuss the program with other members of the campus community. Specifically, we have found that presidential support is a very important element when creating a successful campus-based program.
Read these two anniversary celebration annual reports from the College of Charleston and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which tell the story of their Bonner Program start-up years.
The Bonner Foundation is committed to expanding our replication initiative through the creation of service-based scholarship programs across the country. We are eager to engage in conversations with institutions that are dedicated to offering this type of opportunity to their students. If you're campus is interested, please complete the Request for Follow Up below. If you have any direct question, please reach out to Robert Hackett at 609-924-6663 or email@example.com at the Bonner Foundation.


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Happy holidays and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today's special guest is Caanan Grall, creator of the webcomic Max Overacts and the Zuda strip Celadore.
To see what Caanan and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below ...
Tim O'Shea
In Thunderbolts #151, writer Jeff Parker accomplishes two things I did not think were possible:
1) Gives Ghost a backstory that makes me interested in the character2) Rattles the unflappable Moonstone
Parker is one of the top three writers at Marvel presently working.
I've not read any of David Liss' past prose or comics work, so I had no idea what to expect in the first installment of Black Panther: The Man Without Fear (aka Daredevil #513). I am unwilling to commit to the series with this first installment, though I'm unabashedly intrigued by the core premise (Black Panther sans his wealth/advanced technology) becomes Hell's Kitchen main protection. Liss does a solid job of laying down a foundation of a premise, but artist Francesco Francavilla does not provide the spark to make the art engage me.
After interviewing Avengers Academy scribe Christos Gage last week, I was struck by the number of readers (in our comments section) who mentioned it was their favorite series of the Avengers franchise. After some consideration, I have to agree with them. The redemption (or whatever one considers it is) of Hank Pym is examined front and center in issue #7.
Chris Mautner
Things I've read:
Nipper 1963-1964 by Doug Wright. Utterly charming, inspired cartooning, done with a sharp eye for detail and drawn enough from real life to make it seem utterly familiar without ever being bland or too cute for words. Guaranteed to knock the socks off ya.
Eden by Pablo Holmberg. Holmberg has a nice, simple, thin-lined style, but this collection of four-panel strips is just too terribly twee for me to appreciate. It's like John Porcellino or James Kochalka's work, but without any of the bite or self-deprecation that makes the more precious moments worthwhile. File under "trying too hard."
Fuc* **u *ss **le by Johnny Ryan. The fourth and final collection of Blecky Yuckarella strips. As with Ryan's more recent work (including the just released New Character Parade) the jokes become have become more outrageous, absurd, disturbing and just plain odd. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends upon your appreciation for Prison Pit, not to mention your appreciation for Johnny Ryan's comics in general. Me, I thought it was swell.
Odd Is On Our Side by Fred Van Lente, Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan. Even the addition of a smart writer like Van Lente can't make me appreciate this contrived, tiresome series about a boy who solves murders with the help of dead people. Everything about it just rings false with me, from the set-up to the dialogue to Chan's stiff art (though, to be charitable, she's improved considerably since the last Odd book). For Dean Koontz fans only I suppose, wherever they may happen to be.
Sean T. Collins
With LOVE AND ROCKTOBER in my rear-view mirror at long last, I'm catching up on some of the more prominent releases from the last quarter of 2010. Click the links for full reviews!
If 'n Oof by Brian Chippendale (PictureBox): Chippendale's latest is a breeze to read -- every page is a splash page! -- which suits its rollicking action-movie buddy-comedy sci-fi tone...at least until that haunting ending kicks in.
X'd Out by Charles Burns (Pantheon): Burns refines his already emotionally rich and unnerving approach to surrealism to a now-laserlike focus in this story of a young punk artist haunted by dreams and memories he can't control, throwing in stunning color work to boot.
Ex Machina Vol. 10: Term Limits by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris (DC/Wildstorm): I always preferred this to BKV's other long-running high-concept science-fiction series Y: The Last Man, but this final volume threw me, with strange art hiccups from the normally consistent Harris and an ending that depended on our attachment to Mitchell Hundred, a character who ideologically and emotionally has always been something of a cipher.
And oh yeah, one last LOVE AND ROCKTOBER review--
Love and Rockets: New Stories #1-3 and "Dreamstar" by Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics/Dark Horse): Beto's ingeniously intertwined contributions to the latest incarnation of Love and Rockets (and to MySpace Dark Horse Presents) comprise a complex, unforgettable career peak for an artist whose career is festooned with them.
JK Parkin
As I mentioned earlier this week, I thought Vertigo and the creators of Fables #100 really blew the roof off for their big anniversary issue. I thought the duel was well handled, the main story sent off in a completely different direction than I expected and all the extras, from board games to short stories, really made the 100 plus pages something special.
With the end of the year approaching and Kiel contacting us about CBR's annual best-of-the-year list, I've been catching up with and re-reading a bunch of comics from this year. This week I've hit American Vampire, Morning Glories, Scarlet, the Sixth Gun, Fantastic Four and Acme Novelty Library, with Wally Gropius and a re-reading of Duncan the Wonder Dog on deck, and hopefully time for Orc Stain and Joe the Barbarian again before I make my final list.
Caanan Grall
First, I want to say to the Robot 6 guys, thanks for having me! Second, I only get to a comic shop once every few months when I can make it to Halifax, so I'm not exactly up to date on the periodical comic world.
Living in the middle of nowhere, I have finally taken to the web for some of my comic fix, and boy, why did I wait so long? I've been going through Mal & Chad from the beginning and while I'm not very far along, so far it's a real charmer, with Mal being a very earnest young genius in hiding, pretending he's normal to stay near his lady love, Megan, and Chad being his actual talking dog (as in, not imaginary, Mal made him able to talk) and together they get into mischief and ponder the world. There is a collection coming later next year which I will be all over.
Also, on the web, I read That Monkey Tune, which I first learned of at NYCC this year. It's an old school type comic strip - about monkeys! - with retro stylings, and blends a nice mix of character comedy, with irony-laden cynicism about modern society and pop-culture trends (without being too specific, which I like.)
Cleopatra in Space by MIke Maihack is also a fantastic webcomic I keep up with. It's a fun, energetic ride, and the addition of colour really makes it pop.
In the print world, by far the best thing I've read recently is Smile by Raina Telgemeier. It's a coming of age type story centered around Raina losing her two front teeth in an accident, but it's the way it's told that is truly remarkable. Each page is essentially a one page gag. They all string together to tell a complete story of course, but you could take each page on its own too, and get a complete vignette. It's over 200 pages so that's a LOT of vignettes! An absolute achievement in storytelling.
Being a massive Roger Langridge fan, and enjoying Chris Samnee's art on The Mighty, I also recently picked up the first five issues of Thor: The Mighty Avenger. I have never read Thor before, I don't care for Thor. Never have. Having read these comics though, now I do. Which just goes to show what the right creative talent can do with any characters given to them. Great fun.


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liz lamoreux
my family . february 28, 2011
i went to the coast and forgot to tell you.
i went to the coast and was encircled by truth and love and hope and friendship and the real.ness that comes when you open your heart to all that awaits.
and suddenly i am home again.
this morning, my head still on the pillow, it felt like i was sitting on the first step of the mountain littered with items labeled "to do" and "please respond" and "would you, could you" and "so much goodness" and "would it be possible to" and "all that must be done" and "deadlines" and "orders" and "i can't wait to get started on" and "there is so much i want to tell you" and how the list goes on.
and then a giggle from another room and the mountain shifts to a home and a little girl and day that awaits and whispers of "i sleep in my crib now" and "look at how i hold my bottle" and "are you really here?" and "i roll over and love it" and "i might crawl if i don't walk first" and "sitting at the table is the best" and "will you sing that one again?" and then another smile so wide and my heart tries to capture it...my open oh my goodness can it really be this open heart tries to tuck all of this inside the pocket labeled "be right here" and i nod knowing the mountain can wait until tomorrow.


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Hi! We are the Le's.
A dynamic duo (who happen to be husband and wife), that specialize in print, online design and content creation. There's a lot that we do and love the challenge of it all. Some of our clients have been giants in their industry, but we wear a badge of honor with names big and small. We enjoy working with you closely and making sure that you are taken care of as part of the Le Design family.
Our Services
Web design, brand identity, email design + marketing, video production, social media design, apparel graphics, packaging & more.
Have a question about our services? Contact us and we will chat!


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Genevieve Nnaji
Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji shares a new photo where she looks as beautiful as ever. Genevieve took a selfie lying on the bed with her eyes on the camera.
Genevieve Nnaji, 38 is also a singer who received backlash when she dropped some songs many years back.
She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actress to win the award.


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The Outback
How did you prepare for the Outback?
Camille: Sunscreen. Lots and lots of sunscreen. I also dressed in all denim, which is normally called a Canadian tuxedo, but I think we can make an exception and call it an Outback Tux.
Tamar Stevens: I brought rope.
C: I also researched the journey, reading Zagat and Yelp, talking to the natives. I was prepared to go on a "Walkabout: of flavor."
T: I just made sure to start throwing "mate" on the end of things so I'd fit in.
C: Tamar really did fit in there. I felt like I had to catch up, and I really wanted to be accepted because I had legitimately heard good things. People I socialize with secretly frequent Outback.
T: My friend Jesse said he once found a screw in his food and never went back. So that's where my head was at.
C: Someone had a screw loose…
How was the decor experience?
C: It was wonderful–not overdone. I would say it's tasteful unless you're an aborigine.
T: The bathroom was really a missed opportunity. AGAIN.
C: But it made us think about politics, which is a first for a chain restaurant bathroom.
T: Yeah, I was like, I wonder if the decor is an actual representation of aborigine art or if Outback is ripping them off. I do my best thinking on the john.
C: You know what would have pushed them over the edge for me?
T: If the toilet water spun the opposite way, like it does down under?
What did you order?
C & T: The Bloomin' Onion! DOI!
C: It was so so so good. As you can see, I ate half of it. I was expecting just an onion ring, but the layers of spicy flavor. Beyond.
T: I was most excited about it going in, but while Camille loved it, I wasn't so taken. I had to mix my own sauce, and it was hard to keep the fried pieces on the onion.
C: You know things are going south when Tamar starts creating her own sauce. She schools them right there at the table. She sets up a master chef demonstration with ketchup and mayo.
T: You know it, bra! For lunch we split a steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. Everything was massaged in butter.
C: We compromised on how well done the steak was, and I don't recommend that. Sharing is caring but not when it comes to steak.
T: But in sharing's defense, they over cooked the steak, so it wasn't really the compromised-upon-steak at all.
C: All I'm saying is if we'd ordered medium rare, like I wanted, probs wouldn't have turned out that way…
T: I concede.
The waiter?
C: Tamar and I wondered why neither of us were making eye contact with him, and it was because–
T: He was cute…is what Camille says. I'm not sure I ever really got a good look at him.
C: Because you sensed he was cute and therefore couldn't ever look at him. Cute makes us both uncomfortable. He seemed to know what he was doing too.
T: "I'll be taking care of you today."
C: "Any more strawberrry lemonade?"
T: He laughed at our jokes too. Anyone who knows me knows that is my number one turn on.
C: We should have asked to sit in another section.
T: But didn't he have those lobe things? What are they called?
C: Plugs.
T: Yeah I'm not into that.
C: Pretty sure they're native to the Outback. Maybe they're from New Zealand?
Would you go back?
C: I would wholeheartedly go back for that Bloomin' Onion!!
T: Probably not.
C: This is the first time we've disagreed. I'm saddened.
Where are you off to next?
C: One word. Flair.


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Get A Better Mortgage
'A Better Mortgage Ltd' is one of Wellington's leading mortgage brokering firms. We specialise in helping first home buyers right through to experienced property investors to get a better deal on their mortgage. Our goal is to provide you with free, ongoing financial advice to help you achieve your goals.
5 reasons to use 'A Better Mortgage':
- We will get you a better deal and a lower interest rate.
- We fill in all the forms.
- We do the running round and negotiating for you.
- 100% free service.
- We can come to you at a time and place that's convenient.
We don't work for the banks, so we make them compete against one another for your business.
We deal with the main banks and also non-bank lenders such as insurance companies to give a wide range of lending options.
Wondering how to buy with less than 20% deposit?
It's our job to think outside the square. We still have lenders that will lend to 95% of the value of a property. Or we can work in with your friends and family to put together a scenario to help you into a home.
To get a mortgage pre-approval contact us today. We're free and can come to you
at a time and place that suits (Monday to Sunday including evenings/ nights).
What's different about us?
We don't have hundreds of thousands of clients like the banks. A lot of our business is repeat business and referrals from existing clients. We look to work in with you over the life of your loan to make sure that you get the best possible deal on an on- going basis. We structure your loan in a way to help you make as much progress and save as much interest as possible. We then assist you in getting rental property for retirement.
We look at the whole financial model to arrange the mortgage and insurance needs that suit your current stage in life. A good idea when looking to buy a house is to do a budget. We go the extra mile and can sit down with you to do a cash flow forecast so that you are fully aware of your day to day and month by month expenditure. It also helps us to tailor a loan structure to give you as much flexibility and control as possible.


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$53M Apple iPhone Warranty Settlement Centers On Those Pesky Water Damage Strips
Anyone who's ever had to pay for a replacement cell phone, smart or otherwise, has tried the "But I swear, I didn't get it wet!" argument when that little strip is pink, instead of white. But a new settlement has Apple paying out $53 million to customers who claimed the company didn't honor warranties on iPhones and iPod Touches, all becuse of those pesky damage indicators.
It all goes back to the little white-to-pink strips, notes Wired.com. Customers claimed Apple wouldn't fix or replace their misbehaving devices under the company's one-year standard, or two-year extended warranty.
See, Apple would refuse to deliver on warranties if the white strip near the headphone or charging part had changed its hue to pink or red. But then the tape's maker, 3M, chimed in and said simple humidity could cause the color to change. It wouldn't have had to be dumped in a glass of water/beer/toilet water.
Customers included in the lawsuit could get around $200 in payouts for their iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the first-, second and third-generation iPod Touch.
Apple hasn't admitted wrongdoing in the settlement, which still needs to be approved by a judge.
Apple Agrees to Pay $53M to Settle iPhone Warranty Lawsuit [Wired.com]
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.


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June 23, 2014
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Under Armour's "I Will" campaign is underway, and for the brand's latest preseason football ad, they've enlisted two-time Super Bowl champ Ray Lewis as the Executive Producer. The "Ready for August" clip highlights the grueling grind of the off-season, from training to fighting for a spot on the team. Highlighting the journey of young athletes, this clip includes in-your-face action that embodies the building intensity as football season approaches.
Lewis, who helped to script, film, and edit the commercial, had this to say about the latest "I Will" spot:
"Under Armour was a part of my career on the field, and even though my playing days are over, having the opportunity to reach young athletes with empowering and positive messages is something I look forward to in the next chapter in my life. You show the pure football scenes, the look on their faces, and that will connect immediately with anyone who has ever played the game." We couldn't agree more. If this clip doesn't get you excited to take the field yourself, it'll definitely get you pumped to watch some pigskin this fall.
This inspirational clip features a number of UA football innovations, such as Gameday Armour, the Highlight MC Football Cleat, Highlight Football Gloves, and the Alter Ego Baselayer. Get in on the action with UA's "I Will" campaign today by visiting their Facebook or on twitter @UnderArmour with the tag #IWILL.
RELATED: Under Armour x Julio Jones Present "How it Ends"
RELATED: KNOW YOUR TECH: Under Armour CompFit


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High School Sports
Athletes of the Week for April 3, 2008
The Mid-Columbia Athletes of the Week for April 3, 2008.
Justin Bos, Sr., Sunnyside
He shot a 1-under 35 on the front side at Black Rock Creek en route to winning the Grandview Invitational with a 2-over 74 total.
Talissa Huntsman, Sr., Richland
She went 5-for-5 with three home runs and nine RBIs and threw a five-inning no-hitter vs. Davis, striking out 15. Was 9-for-9 for the day.
Track & Field
La'Quilla Upton, Soph., Southridge
She was the Southridge Relays' Outstanding Female Athlete, winning the 100 and 200 meters and running on the winning 4x100.
Corey Brundridge, Jr., Kiona-Benton
He struck out 12 and tossed a seven-inning no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Lind-Ritzville, then one-hit Zillah, striking out another 12.
Dino Ramic, Sr., Hanford
He scored two game-winners -- the only goal in a 1-0 CBL 3A victory over West Valley and the decider in a 2-1 league win over Kennewick.
Troy Zuroske, Soph., Richland
He dropped only five games in a pair of wins over CBL 4A rivals at No. 1 singles, beating Wa-Hi's Greg Basel and Moses Lake's Ben Nye.
* Athletes of the Week are selected by the Herald sports staff and run Thursdays. Coaches with an athlete to nominate should e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com by noon Mondays.


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The Webster's Dictionary 'Pictorial Artist and Writer's Notebook' edition allows users to explore their inner literary artistic genius. The pages of the book are semi-blank, showcasing iconic Webster illustrations of animals, events and words that are meant to be mimicked by users by way of interpretive drawings.
The notebook is a collaboration between the publication and artist John M. Carrera. The book's do-it-yourself, draw-on feature is revolutionary for children, providing them with a creative outlet for linguistic expression. This focus is critical for visual learners, especially given formal education's tendency to focus on traditional models of instruction. Adults may also enjoy the concept as it merges creativity with intelligible pursuits.
Webster's Dictionary 'Pictorial Artist and Writer's Notebo
Jordy E — April 29, 2012 — Art & Design
References: merriam-webster & nylonmag


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China's Futuristic 'Straddling Bus' That Can Glide Over Traffic : The 21st century is a technology prone century. Every day a new development has been made and scientist and experts are engaged in finding the methods and rules to redevelop an existing gadget.
And recent development of a bus in a China proves this myth. Well, it is not hidden that China has been the country which is known for been marching the flag in the field of technology.
China has invented a 2m-high Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) , that enables the cars to get pass below it. I know guys, its is unbelievable but China has done it and made us all surprise.
According to reports, this bus is able to carry up to 300 passengers in its 72ft (21m) long and 25ft wide body and it is powered by the electricity. Meanwhile, the video of this bus went viral in May and the people all over the globe get amazed after seeing this bus.
This vehicle was trailed and ran its inaugural test in Hebei province this week. The trial was run by conducted on a 300m-long controlled track in the north-eastern city of Qinhuangdao.
According to the reports, this standing bus can reach up to the speed limit of 60km per hour and used to run on rails laid along ordinary roads.
Song Youzhou told the media wing that the biggest benefit of this bus is that it saves a lot of road space and one stranding bus will replace the 40 normal busses.
These buses have the same functions as the subway and its cost is marginally less than a subway. This busses are sure to look out for in the near future and will definitely help the humankind to reach the another level.w