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Well, after a couple of weeks I've finally finished this short story. I decided to base this story on some Russian folklore due to my interest in Russia, so all those familiar with Russian history-or from Russia itself-should be familiar with this. Enjoy!
"What a day," I yawned, scratching my beard. The sun had barely begun to set but time seemed all the same to me recently.
Days upon endless days, and nights upon sleepless nights melded into one endless stream of time that showed no sign of ending any time soon.
None of that mattered, though. All that time spent in motion was time well spent, and not a single moment was wasted on stagnation or hesitation. Terrific as they were, adventures had a way of weighing a man down, and despite the theme of constant motion they followed, a well-earned rest was in order.
I wandered further and further away from the camp until I finally came upon a solitary tree on a nearby hill overlooking the field below and slumped down at its base. My eyes were too heavy to take in the view; my cap descending upon my crown as if it were a mountain.
I yawned again and placed the cap in my lap, its texture feeling unusually soft. None of that mattered, either-sleep had claimed me in a matter of moments.
It was the cold that woke me only moments later. I patted around for my coat but remembered that I had left it at camp. I placed my cap back on and walked back to my tent.
The setting sun crept seductively away beyond the graying horizon, as if it were calling me out for one more ride before it vanished.
And why not? I thought with a smile. The ride would help me sleep soundly. I gathered my coat and saddle, mounted the beast and rode towards the sun.
My casual ride suddenly turned into a race against the approaching clouds that moved to smother the sun; by the looks of things a storm was approaching. My horse, though merely an animal, somehow had more sense than I and kept trying to turn back to the camp, but I would have none of this and urged the creature on towards the field.
"Enough!" I hissed to the beast, but it continued to buck and bray, desperate to escape the field.
The wind was certainly no friend, as it tore the cap from my head and cast it away into the distance. I cursed and urged my horse forward to retrieve it, but still it continued to resist, causing my quiver and bow to fall from my shoulder.
"Enough, you damned creature!" I shouted, but it would have no more of my demands and sent me crashing to the ground.
I rose slowly, dazed by the shock and pain, only to find the horse charging away and my arrows scattered across the ground. Huffing, I collected as many as I could and stumbled my way back to camp, cursing bitterly along the way. I noticed some of the men there preparing for the evening watch and called to them for help. They both started towards me asking why I was away from camp, but exhaustion fell upon me with the weight of a mountain, and sent me headfirst into a black and bottomless ground.
My eyes shot open and darted from side to side as a voice somehow brought me back from the pit. They finally settled on a large, bearded figure standing before me with a look of worry upon its face.
"Why aren't you at camp, Stenka?" it asked, extending a hand to pull me to my feet.
"I thought I would enjoy the sunset, captain," I began. "It's been a rough couple of days and some beauty was needed." The captain huffed.
"What if some imperial spy or sympathizer had gotten to you, eh? Would you have snored them away?"
"If I had to, yes," I said laughing.
"Ah, yes. The mighty Stenka Razin strikes fear into the heart of his enemies even in his dreams!" He laughed heartily at his joke, but the mention of the dream made me pause. The captain turned back to me.
"Stenka?" he asked with a worried look upon his face. I hesitated.
"Stefan, what's the matter?" He demanded again. He never addressed by my real name unless it was serious.
"I will tell you when we return to camp," I replied, and with that we continued the hike back without speaking a word.
The captain nodded silently as I recalled the dream to him in his tent; his face grew grimmer with every word I spoke, and his breathing had seemed to have slowed with the progression of the story.
When I finished, he stared deep into one of the canvas walls for what seemed an eternity, frozen, as if a statue, by my words. With a deep breath he finally spoke,
"I'm afraid your dream bodes ill for us, Stefan Timofeyevich," his voice grave and heavy.
"What does it mean?" I cried. The captain held up a hand to quiet me.
"When you fell off of your horse," he began quietly, "and lost your bow and quiver, it was a sign of betrayal-those you thought once faithful to you and the cause, will shun you, and you will be left weak and vulnerable and for the taking."
"But what of the wind and my cap?" I asked.
"That, my boy-" he said slowly before pausing. "That wild head of yours? You're going to lose it." The air inside the tent grew thick with the fire's smoke and the heaviness of his words. We both stared silently into the fire between us for another apparent eternity, until I rose and turned to leave.
"I appreciate your assistance, captain. But I fail to see how, especially after our success at Astrakhan, we would be left vulnerable and open for the taking."
"Your dream did not foretell when, Stefan-only what would happen," The captain replied, still troubled by the exchange.
"Tell me, Esaul, if God were to warn us of defeat, would he not have the courtesy or generosity to tell us when?"
"He works in mysterious ways, we both know that. That the time was not revealed means that we must be on our guard."
"Then we'll be extra careful. Goodnight, captain,"
"Stenka," I quietly scoffed with a smile as I walked to my tent to retire.
What folly, I thought. We've tested and driven two empires mad with fear. What could possibly stop us now?


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Check out some blogger favourites below

subset: commoncrawl


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Work & Play. In your life, do they merge and blend? Or remain distinct? And do you like it that way? No matter where you land on that spectrum, there's ways both bold and subtle to make any job just a bit more delightful. Such as this frothy concoction of a desk. So absolutely fabulous, it would perk up the dreariest of tasks. Stay tuned all month for more ...
Tutu Desk by Black & Spiro via Absolutely Beautiful Things
Doreen Creede
"Use the good china for breakfast."


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by Leila Bandar
In 1917, almost 100 years ago, a breakthrough in sculpture occurred; The Russian Revolution gave rise to a group of open-minded, passionate, and socially-aware artists known as the "Russian Constructivists". Prior to 1917 Tsars in Russia (and political elite in other countries, too) commissioned sculptors to create pieces representing political ideals and wartime achievements. Sculpture was often limited to men on horseback, depictions of military stories, and war memorials – or -- depictions of mythology and portraits of the wealthy. After the Russian Revolution, Constructivists as they were defined by Pevsner and Gabo would have a large impact on what we view as sculpture today - not just in Russia.
Using everyday materials - like plywood, cardboard, and plastic - Constructivists' artwork often exhibits an elegant, orderly look. One of piece which comes to mind from 20th C. Art History is by Alexander Rodchenko oval hanging construction #12 located in the Museum of Modern Art. Although the plywood is flat, the creativity of the sculptor transforms it to a mobile that seems to reference something grand as the Universe. A building material is transformed to make something sublime – a profound statement. It is also a political statement for social change: non-precious materials can allow proletariat hands to access the beauty, joy, and lifein everyday things.
Calza's work is about materials. It is about finding a material, something lost-then-found, learning about the material, and combining the material with other elements to make the piece reflect a memory and produce a feeling. Her drawings give voice to awkward, vulnerable, and uncomfortable emotions. Rather than feed into sculptural stereotypes of the last 100 years, hers quietly rejects authority, power, and control. In this way, Much acquainted...missing is a non-authoritarian body of work. It is everything opposite of coercive control and authority. It is a show that gives power to the non-dominant in the most literal way: she uses her non-dominant hand for all of her drawings. To me, it could be called "Anarchist Art". Instead of speaking of things that are in control and have the ability to control others, Calza calls on wobbly authenticity. Her left hand is allowed to feel, touch, experience what the right hand is generally in charge of! Her non-dominant hand cannot hide behind confidence, knowing, and exactitude. Instead, it is allowed to reveal its own squirm – lack of strength becomes a strength through repetition.
When Calza gives voice to the "non-dominant" she gives voice to the parts of all of us which are humble enough to acknowledge powerlessness rather than assert control. Rather than authority she presents authenticity. Humility allows her to accept ALL of her emotions - from the golden-bird-truth-seeker to hungry-ghost-mouths. Her work is more in-line with Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Louise Nevelson and Kiki Smith - female heroines who share a sense for wholeness, softness, and bold risk-taking. In Calza's own words: "For my money…the real revolution in sculpture was Eva Hesse....". Other artists on Calza's short list of influences are Richard Tuttle and Ree Morton. Nothing in Much acquainted… missing points to the male peers of her generation who produced monumental steel pieces, such as the work of Mark di Suvero or Richard Serra.
"Anarchist Art" is a term I would like to see used when an artist is does not seek control or express authority. I would like to see it used when a person explores a personal truth with genuineness and audaciousness; when an artist seeks to directly communicate raw, gut feelings; rather than "edit-out". Calza seems to "edit-in" which means: owning-up.
Part of "owning up" is acknowledging Calza's one mis-truth. She claims this body of work is about travel, but what we find are hundreds of deeply personal versions of self-portraiture. What about travel? What we find is not ABOUT travel but HOW to travel. Ultimately, it shows that to travel-with-oneself unmasked yet unafraid is what it means to be a good companion! And to be a good companion to others, one must be a good companion to oneself.
The grouchy, quarrelsome, and fussy inner-voices telling us "the weather isn't great", or "breakfast wasn't tasty enough", or "the plane ride is too long and bumpy" - all get a chance to speak - and by acknowledging those voices (calling them out) they become tame. Much Aquainted...missing has much to offer. And the best lessons are how to fully accept oneself, not to control others, to face the squirms of weaker parts of ourselves, and the demons too – they are ALL along for the ride.
Susan Calza's Much Aquainted… missing at Johnson State College will be on exhibit through March 30, 2012.
Susan Calza's Much Aquainted… missing at Johnson State College will be on exhibit through March 30, 2012.


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(Tahlequah, Oklahoma) – A citywide initiative to get more kids involved in sports, especially golf, is taking place in Miami-Dade County thanks to Mayor Carlos Gimenez. The inaugural Mayor's SNAG Youth Golf Challenge kicked off yesterday at three city run parks with hundred of boys and girls taking part in regional SNAG golf tournaments. The winners will advance to the final championship at Tamiami Park on August 11.
"We salute Miami Mayor Gimenez for spearheading a Youth Sports Challenge and for including golf in the mix," said SNAG CEO, Terry Anton. "The Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department runs one of the largest junior golf programs in Florida and SNAG equipment and programming is at every event. The SNAG system contains age appropriate equipment and programming to effectively teach the game of golf to people of all ages and ability levels. The kids love it and so do their parents."
In Miami, kids under the age of 14 have completed the 6-hole regional SNAG competition at Gwen Cherry Park, Tamiami Park and Goulds Park. The winners in the 6-9 age group and 10-14 age group will now advance to the finals at Tamiami Park on August 11.
SNAG, a long-time supporter of the South Florida PGA Section, is hoping to continue to grow the game of golf in and around Miami-Dade and with the support of city officials and golf professionals who believe in getting kids started early at golf,
For more information about SNAG Golf, visit the website at www.snaggolf.com.


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Twenty one years on, and our fledgling democracy is still in the process of adapting to the real, modern world.
Quite often, legislation is enacted with the best of intentions, only to achieve the opposite of what it set out to do. Current labour legislation is widely blamed as one of the major reasons for the poor state of the economy.
Possibly the best (or worst) example is contained in a report in Legalbrief Today which comments on a Business Day article on government intervention in labour broking:
New research shows half of the workers employed through labour brokers lost their jobs, while a far smaller portion got permanent jobs in the 12 months following amendments to the Labour Relations Act that placed restrictions on the employment of temporary workers, says a Business Day report. While Cosatu campaigned for the amendment in an effort to protect workers and prevent employers from subverting labour law, statistics gathered from a labour broker industry association and analysed by UCT's Economics Professor Haroon Bhorat shows a classic trade-off occurred. The survey shows that while a small number of employees were taken on by the end client – 20% – and got permanent jobs, 50% had their employment terminated. The remainder were unaffected or given new contracts of some sort. 'Just over half of all temporary employment service employees had their employment relationship either terminated (45.4%) or underwent retrenchment (5.5%). 'Job destruction was the key response in the wake of the regulatory changes,' writes Bhorat.
The debacle concerning visa applications, and the resultant negative impact on tourism, is yet another example of how bungled legislation can achieve the opposite of what it intended to do. Or, as Christo Wiese put it: "The one industry where SA consistently outperformed the world since 1994 was tourism. Then we impose new visa regulations that no one can explain, and the effect is immediate. We shoot ourselves through both feet and then claim unintended consequences."
It appears that this term has become the new euphemism for "we failed to achieve what we set out to do."
The Draft market conduct framework, published on 12 December 2014, contains an appendix titled Conduct of business requirements issued in recent years. This list is by no means exhaustive, yet it provides a chilling picture of just how much has changed over the past eleven years. Not included in this document are proposed interventions such as the Financial Sector Regulation Bill which promises sweeping changes in the whole industry.
A recent article in BDLive on a report to Parliament on the proposed banning of commission payments, elicited a response from Jaco van Tonder, sales director at Investec Asset Management, who is quoted in the same paper as saying:
…the proposals could affect the availability of advice to middle-market customers. The main concern of life insurance retirement funds was that banning commissions would lead to customers finding it harder to obtain financial advice. Less advice would be available as a result. He pointed to experiences in the UK, the first country to enforce a formal ban on commissions through a distribution review. Surveys have found that British advisers are moving towards customers who earn between R1m and R2.1m as the ban on commission rendered clients who have low levels of investable wealth unprofitable for brokers.
Another study found the availability of advice declined after the distribution review kicked in during 2013, especially for customers with a maximum of R417,000 in assets.
Mr van Tonder said there was a risk that a reduction in advice could lead to a reduction in savings. "This is the main risk that both industry and the regulator would like to avoid."
One of the main concerns we have is the threat to the sustainability of independent financial advisers. It is encouraging to see that this forms part of the RDR proposals, but more needs to be done to ensure clients have access to objective financial advice.
An independent study to test the impact of past and future legislation on financial advisers may be the best way to ensure their survival. Before reducing adviser income through commission cuts, consideration should be given to additional costs occasioned by compliance to complex legislative requirements.
The financial impact of compliance on productivity needs serious consideration, especially on smaller players who simply do not have the infrastructure to produce business and comply with constantly changing regulatory requirements. This often leads to a head-in-the-sand approach and a fervent hope not to be caught out while trying to earn a living.
No objective thinker disputes the need for change in the financial services sector on a wider scale to protect the public. The Regulator needs to be commended for its efforts to engage with the industry to ensure it considers all views.
What we should all guard against is unintended consequences.


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Weblinks for transport issues
Ways in which transport emissions reduce local air quality
Look at recent weekly data on pollutants in your local area or see how air quality varies from place to place, and from day to day using The UK National Air Quality Information Archive [2] site.
The London air quality network site [3] provides data on the many monitoring sites in London and allows you to plot graphs of your choice using data which goes back to 1993.
Look at a report about degrees of uncertainty in measurements of air quality on the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory [4] web site.
For information on air pollution and maps showing pollutant levels in different parts of the country have a look at the information about some of the Regional Pollutants in the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory [5].
The UK National Air Quality Information Archive [2] also has information on trends. On its home page click on 'Emissions' to reach the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. Then go to reports to find data about a range of emissions from 1970 to 2001.
Impacts of poor air quality on health
POST note on air quality and health. A summary of the health issues and the role of government strategies to reduce problems for the UK parliament.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/postpn272.pdf [6]
A good explanation on how risks from air pollution are estimated from the US Environmental Protection Agency [7].
The World Health Organisation [8] (WHO) has produced guidelines on air pollution levels and information on the key pollutants, how they arise, and their short and long-term effects.
Informative site on a range of environmental issues from Belgium.
http://www.greenfacts.org/index.htm [9]
Trends in the use of fossil fuels for transport and their contributions to greenhouse gas concentrations
A wealth of statistics are contained on this site about how we travel in the UK, how safe it is, how much fuel we use and how polluting it is.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/ [10]
International statistics on trends in use of different fuels including information on the use of oil for transport.
http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2007/key_stats_2007.pdf [11]
Calculate the environmental costs of your holiday with lots of choices of different ways of travelling using this interactive site from the Open University.
http://www.open2.net/choices/index.html [12]
Everything you needed to know about transport in the UK and who uses it in a government report from the Department of Transport.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/trends/current/ [13]
Ways of reducing the impact of transport on air quality and climate change
Transport for London has been running a pilot study using buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/static/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/4164.html [14]
Biofuels is another option. The BBC has a summary of the issues.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6294133.stm [15]
Information on the different types of biofuel can be found on the French Petroleum Institute site.
http://www.ifp.com/axes-de-recherche/carburants-diversifies [16]
A life cycle evaluation of the sustainability of electric and hybrid cars.
http://www.sustainability-ed.org/ [17]
The Institute of Chemical Engineers has produced a paper on sustainability indicators. This is more detailed than we need but provides a useful list of the factors that might need to be considered in measuring environmental impact, not specifically about transport.
http://nbis.org/nbisresources/metrics/triple_bottom_line_indicators_process_industries.pdf [18]
Useful information on the different ways of reducing emissions from a car from What Green Car
http://www.whatgreencar.com/index.php [19]
Set of articles from Scidev.net on the use of biofuels from a global perspective
http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/ [20]
Costs to the UK of motoring versus cycling.
http://www.jake-v.co.uk/content/54.php [21]
Predictions of future demand
Department for Transport strategy papers on ideas for the future of transport in Britain.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/ [22]
An article on the BBC site about some futuristic ideas for transport.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4652534.stm [23]
This Scientist special report on energy, with lots of statistics and articles about different fuels, conventional and experimental.
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels [24]


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Posted by Ruby on 6/1/2012, 1:02 pm, in reply to "Cheryl"User logged in as post
Roseanne, glad you are going on vacation! I believe we all need that time away from everything...even cancer/chemo to just relax and not think about anything We are still trying to determine where we are going which will be this month or the first of next. I ordered my lymphedema bra(looks like a straight jacketand it will be here next week so that should help with things...I hope Hugs,Ruby
Re: Roseanne - Roseanne 6/1/2012, 11:00 pm
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Evil Twin Brewing's Molotov Lite
At 8%, you'd think this would drink a lot heavier, but it definitely lives up to the "lite" name. You can definitely get the floral hops and some of the fruitier flavors in this Imperial IPA. Pour into a glass and get the hints of a citrus presence... this beer is well balanced for spring/summer drinking. Cheers!


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Tag Archives: net neutrality
Too Much Politics
As Christmas quickly approaches, I find myself horrifically overwhelmed by politics. Part of me thinks that was intentional. Politicians think the average citizen will be distracted with holiday travel and celebration, so they think we won't be paying attention to … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Politics Tagged 45, aliens, anxiety, mueller, net neutrality Leave a comment
Today's Update
I would love to tell you about my life at the moment, but they just voted to repeal Net Neutrality so this is all that's available now.
Posted in Blog, Politics Tagged net neutrality Leave a comment


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The Great Lakes
Fifty Years Ago:
In 1969, Time magazine made the Cuyahoga River notorious nationwide with an article about a river that "oozes rather than flows," complete with photographs of the surface of the Cuyahoga in flames. The June 22, 1969 fire that finally brought national attention to the river was one of more than a dozen reported conflagrations on the Cuyahoga dating back a century and, thanks to the movement it spurred, was the last. The Cuyahoga did more than bring attention to itself, it highlighted the poor condition of Lake Erie, threats to the other Great Lakes and pollution in U.S. waterways in general. The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency the following year and the Clean Water Act led to massive improvements in water quality, especially as "point sources" of pollution, like the pipes discharging industrial wastes and municipal effluent into American waterways, began to be regulated.
While the pursuit of making America's lakes and rivers "swimmable, fishable and drinkable" led to remarkable improvements in water quality, some of those gains are being lost thanks to "non-point source" pollution, or pollutants carried from the land into the lakes during increasingly intense rain events. Agricultural fertilizer feeds toxic algal blooms that threaten drinking water intakes and lead to massive fish kills, while combined sewer overflows, a product of outdated municipal stormwater systems, contaminate beaches. We propose to conduct a week-long Institute traveling around Lake Erie as we explore the health of the Great Lakes and the communities along their shores 50 years after we got serious about cleaning them up. Potential topics include:
What the Clean Water Act fixed – and didn't fix.
Efforts to curb agricultural runoff and prevent toxic algal blooms like the one that shut down Toledo's drinking water supply in 2014.
How Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects have improved the Great Lakes and the precarious political future of its funding.
What climate models tell us – and don't tell us – about the future of the lakes.
Clean-up efforts on Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
The ecological and economic health of the Great Lakes' $7 billion sport fishery.
The Great Lakes Compact and its ability to keep water in the basin as other U.S. states grapple with dwindling water supplies.
The latest research on emerging water quality threats like invasive species and microplastics.
Environmental justice and underrepresented communities' access to the world's largest supply of fresh water.


text: KARACHI: Emirates has announced two additional flights a week to Northern Pakistan. From February 7th Emirates will serve its passengers in Lahore and Islamabad eight times a week. The airline will now be operating 47 flights into and out of Pakistan with an additional weekly flight operating to both Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore and Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad. Commenting on the occasion, Badr Abbas, Emirates' Vice President, Pakistan and Afghanistan, said: "The increased frequencies are testament to our long-term plan in Pakistan. In just a few months we have increased our flights from 39 flights a week to 47 flights a week.


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About Sam Schaffhauser
A native of Northeast Arkansas, Sam has been on horseback since he was a small child. He quickly decided to pursue a career training horses and was exposed to various disciplines throughout his early life under the guidance of his father, NRHA Professional Randy Schaffhauser. As a Youth and Non Pro exhibitor, Sam was a multiple NRHA Futurity and Derby finalist, multiple top-ten NRHA Year End award winner, IBHA World Champion, and placed in the top five at the AQHYA World Championship.
Joining the ranks of NRHA Professional Trainers after graduating from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor of Animal Science degree, Sam has been training horses for the public for nearly 15 years and riding and showing Reiners for over 25 years. During his early career training with his father, Sam placed in the top five of the NRHA Limited Open Futurity, the top ten of the NRHA Intermediate Open Futurity, and was a multiple NRHA top-five Year End award winner. Sam was also a successful coach, training multiple NRHA World Champions and Year End top fives, NRHA Non Pro Derby finalists, Congress Limited Non Pro Reserve Futurity Champion, and multiple IBHA World Champions.
Making the bold move to join the McQuay Stables team in early 2011 in pursuit of further learning and opportunities, Sam's career quickly took off. While studying under Tim and Colleen McQuay for five years, he earned multiple successes at every major event and now has lifetime earnings of roughly $445,000 as of April 2017. Sam's most recent major successes include a 2016 Novice Horse Open L1 Congress Championship and 2017 NRBC Open Classic L2 top 3 and L3 top 10 finishes. Sam strives to take each horse in his care to its highest level of ability, recognizing that every horse has a unique temperament, ability, and will. Day in and day out, he seeks to partner with each horse he rides to work toward a goal of becoming an NRHA Million Dollar Rider.
When outside of the show pen himself, Sam thoroughly enjoys coaching Non Pros. "It's so rewarding to help the Non Pros", he reports. "You get to watch both your training and your teaching be put into action at once. I love coaching Non Pros that are dedicated to the sport, regardless of their skill level."
Sam gives credit in his career to those who have shared their knowledge with him and invested in his success, including his father, Randy Schaffhauser, Tim and Colleen McQuay, and the many clients who have trusted him with their horses. "It's amazing what the right opportunities can do for a person. I am forever grateful to my parents, Tim and Colleen McQuay, and my clients for trusting and believing in me. Without these people, I would absolutely not have achieved the successes I have enjoyed," Sam reflected.
A great show year in 2017 brought many big wins and milestones for Sam and landed him as the 37th ranked NRHA professional for the year. Sam looks forward to another great show year with his horses and clients in 2018!
Recent Success
- 2017 NRHA Futurity L4 Semi-Finalist
- 2017 Smoky Mountain Reins Derby and Volunteer Breeders Classic Derby L4 Champion
- 2017 All American Quarter Horse Congress L2 Open Champion
- 2017 Buckeye Futurity L4 Open Co-Res Champ, L3 Open Co-Champ, L2 Open Champ
- 2017 NRHA L2 Open Derby Finalist
- 2017 NRBC L2 Open Classic top 3, L3 Open Classic top 10
- 2017 OKRHA Ride & Slide Derby L2 Open top 3
- 2016 All-American Quarter Horse Congress Champion Novice Horse Open L1
- 2016 Clayton Woosley Hall of Fame Reining L3 Open Derby Champion, Top 5 L4
- 2016 Smoky Mountain Reins Derby Open L4 and L3 Reserve Champion
- 2016 Volunteer Breeders Classic Open L4 and L3 Reserve Champion
- 2015 NRBC L4 Open top three
- 2015 Tulsa Reining Classic L4 Open Derby top five
- 2014 Heritage Futurity L3 Open Champion
- 2014 NRHA Derby L3 Open Reserve Champion
- 2014 NRBC L3 Open Reserve Champion and L4 top four
- 2014 Cactus Reining Classic L3 Open Champion
- 2013 High Roller Reining Classic L3 Open 4 Year-Old Stakes Reserve Champion
- 2013 Southwest Futurity Open L3 Finalist
- 2013 Tulsa Reining Classic L4 top five and L3 top five
- 2013 NRHA L3 Open Derby Finalist
- 2012 Scottsdale Classic L3 and L2 Open Futurity Champion and Reserve Champion
- 2011 NRHA Futurity L2 Open Reserve Champion, top Five L3
- 2011 Tulsa Reining Classic Developing Horse Futurity Open L2 Champion
- 2011 Tulsa Reining Classic Level 2 Open Derby Champion
- 2011 High Roller Reining Classic Level 2 Open Futurity Champion
Meet Our Family
Sam resides on the property with wife Jeanna and daughter Becca. While much of their time is spent on their horse business, they also make time for visiting with family and friends, hunting, and fishing.
Jeanna plays an active role in the management of Sam Schaffhauser Performance Horses, also providing marketing, social media, and management services for outside entities, showing Reiners in the Non Pro division when time allows.
Becca, age 9, loves to ride horses and ponies and began showing Reiners in 2014, landing in the top 5 Short Stirrup riders in NRHA in 2017. She also enjoys spending time at the farm, helping with chores, and participating in competitive dance.


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- Description
- Reviews
St Peter Port Stocking is a pattern included in our 2018 Red Scarf scholarship fundraiser! All proceeds from the sale of this pattern through December 31, 2018 will go directly to our scholarship in partnership with Foster Care to Success. You can learn more about Foster Care to Success here. Our Red Scarf scholarship patterns are knit in our Bare Naked Wools Festivus yarn in the colorway Cranberry Crush. A portion of yarn sales go directly to the scholarship.
This handsome stocking captures the magic of Christmas Past, illustrated by a mix of traditional seaman's Gansey textures. From the top of its cuff to the tip of its toe, it will delight the knitter with ever-changing knit/purl patterns and lush cable details. While the overall effect is deliciously complex, the stitchwork is quite simple in a straightforward sock construction with both written and charted instructions. This project will fill that need for a final, festive quick knit to sit back and enjoy while getting your holiday spirit on.
Samples were knit in Festivus 4.0 Worsted Cranberry Crush and Confection Worsted White Chocolate.
Substituting yarn and/or needles may result in an overall variation in size, density, or yardage requirement.
Finished Size: approximately 12 inches in circumference around top cuff and 12 inches from cuff to heel
Yarn requirements: 170 yards
Gauge: 20 sts and 30 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch (knit flat; unblocked)
Needles: size 5US (3.75 mm) 12- or 16-inch circular needle and DPNs (may also be worked on two circular needles if desired)


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The Biggest Must-Have For Your Biz
Remember the halcyon days of yore when you could slap an ad for your business in the local newspaper and call it a day? All you needed was a good photo, a decent paragraph or two of copy, and you were good to go. Customers would spot your ad and head into your store. If they liked you and your product, they'd pass the word onto their friends, and you'd grow your customer base through simple newspaper advertising and word of mouth.
Well, my friend, those simple days are gone. You can't just rely on a newspaper ad for your marketing anymore. You can't even rely on a Facebook ad. With the advent of the internet, you're able to reach more customers, but so are your competitors. It's not like the old days when customers would enter your store and you could provide superb customer service face-to-face. What sets you apart from competitors selling the same thing you do at a similar price? When potential customers are viewing your website thousands of miles away through a computer screen, how do you get them to like and trust you enough that they're willing to purchase from you over someone else?
When working in luxury sales, I learned a very valuable lesson. Sales and marketing success is extraordinarily simple. When customers like you and trust you, they'll buy from you, period. If you take the time to build a relationship with your target customer, they will purchase your products or services and pass the word to their friends. You're not just selling your product, you're selling your brand.
How Do You Sell Your Brand? Through Content Marketing.
What is content marketing? Providing valuable content (blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, social media posts, opt-in offers) that your customers WANT to read, watch, or listen to. Many consumers spend hours a day on their smartphones or laptops, consuming an endless stream of content on social media and blogs. They want content that interests them in some way – it's either helpful or interesting. If you provide valuable content that weaves in your product or service in an organic way, you'll be able to begin building a relationship with these customers.
I've written a guest post for my friend Jacquee Pope that explains WHY content marketing is the biggest must-have for your business, and HOW to do it the right way. Click below to keep reading this post!


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Can Google Rank Stolen Content Higher Than The Original?
One of the biggest concerns a small blog has is ranking their content in Google's search results. It's difficult enough to compete with all of the massive megasites dominating results, so the idea of content theft causing similar problems is devastating.
I'd like to reassure you that such things never happen, but the fact is, Google isn't perfect. Let's talk about the problem, how Google tries to prevent it, and what you can do if it happens anyway.
Stolen Content
For as many various small business blogs as there are, there are equally as many spammy or thin blogs. These blogs are made by the dozens in private networks to sell backlinks, or in tiered link building schemes to boost the money site of one black hat marketer. For the most part, these schemes are firmly against the Google policies, and when Google identifies sites as being part of spam networks, they will generally deindex the sites.
Since these sites tend to be short-lived, there's no sense in building them up with content the marketer pays for or writes themselves. Instead, they just plug in their search queries and find content published on the 10th page of Google or whatever, and just steal it. Sometimes, if the original owner is lucky, the black hat will spin the content so it's "unique", though that's not always a guarantee Google won't identify it as spun.
You can read about Google's policies on scraped content here. Specifically, Google talks about sites that:
- Copy and republish content from other sites without adding any original content or value.
- Copy content from other sites, modify it slightly, and republish it.
- Reproduce content feeds from other sites without providing some type of unique organization or benefit to the user.
- Embed content such as video, images, or other media from other sites without substantial added value.
This is all to specify what is and isn't content theft.
- If a site copies content or images from another site with or without attribution, as long as there is no significant added value, it's theft.
- If a site copies content from another site and spins it, it's still theft if it's identified.
- If a site copies content from another site, but adds proper canonicalization and attribution, it's not theft, it's syndication.
- If a site copies content from another site but adds additional value, it's more like a quote or an aggregator. For example, my previous set of bullet points are a word-for-word quote of part of that Google page; it's not theft, because I properly attributed it and have made clear that it's a quote.
So to be clear, if you publish a guest post on Yahoo and it's syndicated to another site, Google isn't going to penalize anyone for it, regardless of whether you published the content on your own site or not. If you publish a piece of content and then later find it on spamblog.wordpress.com, then Google is more likely to step in and deindex the spam blog.
Stolen content can hurt a site, but not frequently. Contrary to popular belief, duplicate content penalties for stolen content are virtually unheard of. The real threat comes from when stolen content ranks higher than the original copy.
When stolen content outranks the original, the majority of the traffic that content generates goes to the thief. The original loses out on traffic, potential conversions, reputation, name recognition, and all of the other benefits of running a blog and publishing that content. If this happens too frequently, it essentially destroys the value of the smaller blog. Obviously, this isn't good for anyone.
Google's Practices
Google does have some parts of their algorithm in place to help prevent this from happening.
The general thought is that Google goes by the publication date of the content. If you published a piece of content on January 1, and someone else copies that content on April 4, Google will give preference to the earlier copy.
This is sort of true, but it's not entirely true. Google doesn't trust your own publication date, for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's trivially easy to backdate a piece of content so that it appears to be published earlier than the original. If you just go by publication dates visibly posted, it's like blindly trusting some random guy on the street who tells you he's the president. Maybe he is, but all signs point to a lie.
There's also post-dating content. If I write a piece of content in 2015 and then update it in 2017, I might change the publication date to the 2017 date, to reflect the fact that I updated it. If someone stole the content in 2016, then the stolen version is "older" and would then appear as though it's the original. Of course, if I significantly change the content it no longer matters since it's not a direct copy, but it could still be an issue.
If Google can't trust publication date, what do they do? The secret is in indexation date. Google records the first time they find a piece of content online. If they then find that content published elsewhere, they'll still trust the one they found first.
It's not that simple, of course. Nothing with Google is ever that simple. There are other factors they add onto the list. Maybe Google indexed the more active spam blog first; what then? Well, maybe the original content was shared on social media before the spam blog was published. If an older link points to the content they found second, they might choose to update the date. Of course, the older links have to be reputable, not just something the spammer could have edited in their favor.
So in 99% of cases, content theft is properly handled by Google's algorithm. However, that's not 100%, and in fact John Mueller confirmed that there are "edge cases" where stolen content can outrank the original content. Sometimes it's for niche keywords no one uses, sometimes it's because of quoted snippets, and sometimes it's because of improper syndication. Combined with other edge cases where content was duplicated accidentally, and you end up with a tricky situation.
What to Do if it Happens to You
So what happens if it's your content that was stolen, that now outranks your own version? What can you do about it? I've provided some options and alternatives.
First up, you need to determine if there's any stolen content out there. If you've found your content scraped and republished on one site, do this step anyway; there could be more out there. I recommend making use of Copyscape. It, or any of the other major plagiarism checkers out there, will be able to scan and search for copies of your content. Simply plug in a snippet or a whole piece – or if you're paying for Copyscape, your whole site – and let it scan.
If you don't want to use a third party tool, you can run Google searches for snippets of your content. A lengthy quote of at least one full sentence that is both unlikely to be quoted and is unique enough to be unlikely to be created elsewhere is important. If you use too generic of a sentence, you'll find other people who simply wrote the same thing.
If you find domains that are copying your content, write them down and then analyze them.
Secondly, you need to make sure it's not actually your fault. This is where the analysis comes in. In some cases, you may have inadvertently copied the content. This used to happen a lot with product descriptions; stores would copy product descriptions from manufacturers, causing duplicate content.
It's also possible that you submitted a post to be published as a guest post and heard nothing back, so you published it on your own. The original site might have published it after all, perhaps later down the road, and it was simply a failure to communicate that led to the duplication. This one is at least reasonably easy to sort out.
In other cases, it could be a scraper or spammer, as mentioned above. It could also be improper syndication. If you publish content in a location that allows for syndication on other sites within a network, they have the legal right to republish that content. However, it's up to them to actually implement proper use of canonicalization. Ideal canonicalization will point to your content as the original. The "copy" might still out-rank yours, but at least your site gets credit for it.
The other possible causes is just simple theft. A freelance writer might submit an assignment that simply copies existing content. This still happens, despite how easy it is to double-check submitted content. This is why if you're ever accepting work from a writer you don't know or trust fully, you should run the content through something like Copyscape before you publish it. It's also possible that the writer simply published their work in more than one location, which is functionally the same thing.
At this point, you should start documenting what you can. Copy the links of your content and the stolen content, but also take screenshots in case you end up getting into a legal dispute and the spammer attempts to hide the evidence. Dig into WHOIS information and see what you can come up with. Some black hats are dumb enough to attach their real names to their illegitimate dealings, making it easy to pursue them. All of this can be used in your case against them with a web host, with Google, or with lawyers.
Third, you can reach out to the owner of the content and ask for proper redirection or canonicalization. High quality sites that may have inadvertently published stolen content are very likely to respond positively. Once you prove that you own and published the content first, they are likely to either provide attribution and canonicalization, or remove the content. In both cases, the person responsible for the theft will likely be fired. It might be worthwhile contacting other publications that the writer works for to investigate their work there, if you feel like destroying the "career" of a spammer and thief.
In a lot of cases, though, the owner of the content is the spammer, and they'll simply ignore you. After all, if you drop the matter, they don't have to do anything. Maybe by ignoring the problem, it will go away. For that matter, they don't care about the sites, since they generally have such a short shelf life that it's not worth worrying about.
If contacting the owner doesn't work, you can contact the host of the content directly. For example, if WordPress.com hosts the content, you can contact the WordPress admins through their report forms. WordPress and many other web hosts don't want to be labeled as havens for shady site owners or black hat content – it reflects negatively on them and hurts their business – so they'll take down the page or the site as a whole, after investigation.
If the web host ignores you or denies your request, you can report directly to Google. In fact, you should probably do this right away in conjunction with other options. Google allows you to report web spam through this form, and if you've somehow been hit with duplicate content penalties in your webmaster search console, you can file a reconsideration request with the evidence of stolen content.
If all of this has failed, you can consider taking official legal action. The reason I recommend against legal action right away is because a lot of companies will simply lawyer up rather than taking action right away. What was once a simple "oh sorry about that, we'll take it down" because a lengthy legal exchange. Still, if you need to file a copyright claim, you can do so with the aid of a copyright lawyer. That will solve your problem for sure.


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This Initial Consultation Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions of the initial consultation between T FRANK LAW, PLLC ("we" or "us") and the undersigned prospective client(s) ("you"):
1. Purpose. The purpose of the initial consultation is for us (a) to learn about you and your particular legal needs based on the information you provide; (b) to answer your questions to the best of our ability; (c) to identify your options and, to the extent possible, analyze the costs and benefits of those alternatives; (d) to help you determine your course of action, if any; (e) to discuss our fees and terms of representation if an attorney-client relationship is to be established after the meeting; and (f) to determine the next steps in the process, as appropriate.
2. Confidentiality. All information and documents that you provide to us at the initial consultation shall remain strictly confidential, whether or not you decide to retain us to provide legal services, except as authorized by you or otherwise provided under the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, the Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the rules of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
3. Reliance Limited. Because it may be impossible to fully assess a matter within the time frame allotted for the initial consultation or with the information or documents that you provide at the initial consultation, you should not rely upon any legal opinions provided by us during the initial consultation concerning any legal matter.
4. Limited Scope. No attorney-client relationship is intended to be established by the initial consultation. The initial consultation is a limited scope service provided by us to help you determine whether you may want to retain us to provide legal services. At the conclusion of the initial consultation, there is no obligation for you to retain us, nor do we have an obligation to provide services to you, unless mutually agreed.
5. Engagement Agreement Required. Following the initial consultation, if you agree to retain us, and if we agree to provide services to you, then we will prepare a separate, more detailed Engagement Agreement to be executed by both parties. The new Engagement Agreement will supersede this Initial Consultation Agreement and will set forth the terms and conditions of our representation of you, including our fees and the specific services to be performed by us.
6. Cost of Initial Consultation. T FRANK LAW, PLLC charges an initial consultation fee of $350, which is due prior to the initial consultation appointment and is non-refundable. However, if you retain us by signing a written Engagement Agreement, as referenced in Paragraph 5 above, within sixty (60) days of the initial consultation, such $350 consultation fee shall be applied to the first month's bill or flat fee payment (depending on the payment arrangement made).


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MTA Arts & Design
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
New York Transit Museum
Celebrating 25 Years of Poetry in Motion
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
In celebration of National Poetry Month, MTA Arts & Design has partnered with the Poetry Society of America and the New York Transit Museum to host an event celebrating the recent publication of "The Best of Poetry in Motion," an anniversary anthology of 100 poems.
The evening will include live music, poetry readings, and a conversation between poets Marilyn Nelson and Nathalie Handal Nelson, artists Philemona Williamson and Raul Colón, Alice Quinn, Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America, and Sandra Bloodworth, Director of MTA Arts & Design.
Ticket reservations and more information can be found on the Transit Museum website. Use promotional code "MTAARTS2" for 2-for-1 tickets.
- Google Translate


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Leave what to who?
I like to live my life by the saying "Leave it to Lily." A saying that encompasses my goofy personality with my hardworking nature. Leave it to me to weasel my way into any situation and let my name be known. By visiting my website you will get information regarding how to stay professional and determined while still having fun. Stay around for tips, tricks and personal stories of a millennial working her way into the professional world.


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Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC0SsqBXF-k for a great new mash-up of the Axwell & Ingrosso vs Salem version of "It's True", mixed with the backing track of the new Kylie Minogue song "Get Outta My Way".
The mix is by Ben Double M for www.belgabootlegs.be and I think the two songs work very well together - the result is a very nice, commercial dance track. Enjoy!
Monday, 27 September 2010
"It's True": new mash-up mix!
1 comment:
- Damian said...
This mashup is just amazing! I'm not huge of mash-ups as I find good ones quite rare but these two songs fit each other perfectly!
- Thursday, October 07, 2010 6:54:00 pm
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text: Well Last week the partner dead-lift was dominated by Joe and Aaron, or better know as "The Real White Meat", with 725 lbs. This week we are going to throw a little personal bubble issues into the mix and see how the two dudes manage it. This weeks feat of awesomeness is the notorious Kalison Unders. This is max effort unbroken. 26 is the new record.


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Posted 08 Oct 2015
Link to this post
I would like to export in a file the timers of a session.
When I select the timer ClientDoneResponse in the Fiddler interface, I can see the milliseconds. But in my script, when I retrieve this value with : oSessions[x].Timers.ClientDoneResponse, I can't see them (ie. screenshot).
Any ideas ?


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Holiday home, shower, toilet, 2 bed rooms
1-8 persons, 39 m², bunk bed, double sofa bed, French bed
Daily rate from EUR 115,00per unit (6 persons)More details
mountain hut, youth hostel
Brixen im Thale, Gseng 7
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Room prices
The room you have chosen is unfortunately unavailable on your chosen dates. You can however continue your inquiry as the landlord may have a suitable solution.
Holiday home, shower, toilet, 2 bed rooms
1-8 persons, 39 m², bunk bed, double sofa bed, French bed
Daily rate from EUR 115,00per unit (6 persons)More details
In addition to a large basement for skis etc., the half hut has two bedrooms, a bathroom with shower and a cosy living room with open fireplace and a kitchen.
Electricity via photovoltaics or gas for lighting. The cottage has running water.
Special facilitiesbunk bed, double sofa bed, French bed, separate bedroom/living room, balcony, garden, terrace, balcony (in some rooms), bed linen (non-allergenic), canopy bed, dishes available, garden furniture, oven, rustic furniture, shower, toilet
Is there an offer available?Check availability
Is there an offer available?Check availability
The Brixental valley in the Kitzbühel Alps hosts the largest and best known ski resorts in Austria. The ski area Kitzbühel / Kirchberg as well as the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental welcomes you to an adventure-packed ski holiday in Winter. On offer in Summer are numerous hiking areas in and around Brixen im Thale ranging from the Hohe Salve, the Brechhorn, the Gaisberg and further into the world famous town of Kitzbühel. Every season in the Kitzbühel Alps offers a wide variety of activities from skiing, cycling, hiking, swimming and lots more to make your holiday absolutely enjoyable and without doubt unforgettable.
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Experience the huge variety of opportunities on offer in the Kitzbühel Alps region including hiking, skiing and mountain biking. We look forward to your visit to "Tanzer-Hütte" and to spoiling you here in Brixen im Thale.
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mountain hut, youth hostel
from EUR 115,00
Plan your journey to Tanzer-Hütte


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Wednesday May 6, 2009
What is it?
The Decade of Health (DOH) is a ten-year strategic deployability and readiness marketing campaign supporting personal responsibility for health and wellness. Maintaining force strength and sustaining critical operations rely heavily on healthy, fit Soldiers. The chief surgeon, Army Reserve National Guard (ARNG) has launched an intense, focused media strategy targeted at Soldiers and their families that will promote readiness and enhance strength management. A Soldier deployment and readiness issue is targeted each year with an innovative, nontraditional communications plan to enhance health literacy and produce measurable results. The objectives are best reflected in the Decade of Health Campaign mantra, "Always Ready, Always There...Always Healthy."
What has the ARNG done?
The Decade of Health communications plan includes a multi-media, guerilla marketing approach that maximizes funding to support the deployability and readiness objectives of each annual campaign. Campaign topics for 2006 through 2009 include: dental readiness, blood pressure awareness with alliance support from the American Heart Association, healthy weight management and in 2009 the ARNG Ready and Resilient campaign was announced by LTG Clyde Vaughn. "The campaign will focus on maximizing the resilience of our ARNG Soldiers, units, and families by enhancing their abilities to adapt to and to recover from the many stresses of our challenging missions."
What continued efforts does the ARNG have planned for the future?
The chief surgeon, ARNG will assess and evaluate Soldier deployment and readiness issues and select the 2010 campaign in the summer of 2009. The campaign will leverage the momentum gained from the four previous Decade of Health campaigns and integrate the readiness and reintegration resources offered by DoD, the ARNG Soldier/Family Service Support Division, and other NGB partnerships.
Why is this important to the Army National Guard?
Optimal Soldier readiness and health maintenance are key factors in Force Health Protection. The DOH supports the health and wellness of Soldiers to support force strength and sustain mission operations that all rely heavily on healthy, fit Soldiers. ARNG families are critical to the success of health and wellness, reintegration and retention initiatives.
POC: LTC Jose Ortiz, Chief, Preventive Medicine, ARNG
Subscribe to STAND-TO! to learn about the U.S. Army initiatives.
2009: Year of the NCO
2009: Year of the Military Family
2009: 100th Anniversary of the Chaplain Assistant
May 2009:
- National Mental Health Month
- National Military Appreciation Month
- Asia Pacific American Heritage Month
May 6: 2009 Army Birthday Ball Registration is Open
May 8 : Military Spouse Day
May 8-10 : Best Ranger Competition
"They still want to contribute. They want to raise their kids in a nice place. They'd like an education. They want their kids to go to school, and they want to make a difference. In my view, we cannot do enough for them, and that's a check we ought to write right off the top of our budget to make sure they're taken care of for the rest of their lives."
- Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, speaking about the wounded warriors, their families and the families of the fallen
Chairman emphasizes importance of personnel in budget considerations
Year of the Noncommissioned Officer
"Considering we were hit twice and the damage to the vehicle, it could have been a mobility kill. We were still mission capable after all that. I kept checking the gauges and they were good. We had seven people in that vehicle and we're all here to talk about it, so I'd say [the MRAP] is worth every tax dollar!"
- Sgt. Michael Starkey, a personal security detail driver assigned to the 277th Engineer Company attached to the Headquarters Support Company, 46th Engineer Battalion, 225th Engineer Brigade
Soldiers gain confidence in protective gear after they walk away from attack
STAND-TO! is an information paper-based web platform that supports the U.S. Army's strategic communication objectives.
The information papers -- written, approved and submitted by the Army agencies -- provide a broad, objective view of the Army's current operations, doctrine and programs. The "Today's Focus" topics highlight Army Staff initiatives and support Army wide strategic-level issues.
All published editions are sent to subscribers via email and archived daily in the STAND-TO! Archives.
STAND-TO! falls under the management of the Online and Social Media Division (OSMD) in the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs (OCPA).
Subscribe to STAND-TO! to learn about the U.S. Army initiatives.


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My Netscape Network, an offering of Netscape Communications' Netcenter portal, creates a small box to which sites can push constantly updated content to a file that individual My Netscape users can add to their personalized start pages. Content may include news headlines or notification of sales for e-commerce sites, for example.
"This is a win-win for Web publishers and for Netcenter," said Eckart Walther, Netscape's group product manager for Netcenter personalization. "We get more traffic and so do they."
The new feature is an example of the "push" content model that by and large failed to live up to the hype it generated in the mid-1990s.
Companies already signed up for My Netscape Network channels include Garden.Com, JavaWorld, Lanier Travel Guides, Linux Today, MacCentral, and Salon Magazine.
My Netscape users can add the sites through links on the Web sites or through Netscape's Open Directory project. Open Directory, which debuted earlier this year, is Netcenter's directory listing project that relies on the contributions of volunteer editors across the Web rather than paid Netscape employees.
When users click on a link found in a channel, they do not completely leave their My Netscape page. Instead, the channel site's content comes up within a My Netscape frame that has links back to My Netcenter as well as links to the next and previous links on the channel.
Netscape built the My Netscape Network based on its RDF Site Summary format (RSS). Resource Description Framework is an XML-based standard for describing Web content other than HTML. RSS lets Web sites exchange content summaries and e-commerce data.


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The Hazzard Pay series follows the exploits of Eddie Hazzard, a down-on-his-luck, chain-smoking, hard-drinking private detective who finds himself caught up in one terrible situation after another. Through his wits and sheer dumb luck, he manages to solve cases way too big for him.
The Invisible Crown: Meet Eddie Hazzard: he's tenacious, a certain kind of clever, and usually drunk. When a beautiful woman comes into his office and asks him to find her husband, Eddie takes the case because the alternative is having his creditors show up at his door and do terrible things to his limbs. But the case takes a series of bizarre turns, getting Eddie caught up in a tangled web of reluctant cops, sketchy businessmen, and shadowy crime bosses. The deeper he gets, the worse things look. Will Eddie solve the case? Will he save the day? Most importantly, will he get paid?
The Hidden Throne: The city of Arcadia is under siege, and only Eddie Hazzard can save the day! At least, that's what everyone keeps telling him. He's not so sure himself. It doesn't help that there are bizarre chemical explosives, a gun that can punch a hole clean through anything, and Eddie's old mentor all mixed up in a gang war that might destroy the entire city. It's the Boss and the Organization versus a new player, a man who will go to any lengths to get what he wants. Eddie, as per usual, is caught right in the middle of the whole mess, and he's left with a question that might not have a right answer: is it better to stick to the devil you know, or take your chances with the unknown?
Death Comes Calling: Death stalks the streets of Arcadia, and no one is safe. Eddie Hazzard's mentor-turned-nemesis, John Bodewell, is out on parole and on his last legs. He's looking to make amends, but Eddie isn't having it. Then Bodewell turns up dead, and Eddie is left with a cryptic message from his old partner hinting that a secret of epic proportions is out there, just waiting to be discovered. Whether he likes it or not, Eddie has to solve the mystery Bodewell's death left behind. But Eddie's not the only one after Bodewell's treasure. If he's not careful, Eddie might end up just as dead as his old mentor.
Crooked Halos: In Arcadia, no one is innocent. This is true even for Dresden Crowder, Eddie Hazzard's old partner from his days on the Arcadia police force. While the city considers Crowder to be a hero who sacrificed his health and well-being for the sake of the city, Hazzard knows better: Crowder was a crooked cop who framed Eddie and got him kicked off the force. Now, Crowder is suddenly back in town with murder on his mind and a patsy to frame. Three guesses as to who the patsy will be. Hazzard has to save Crowder's would-be victim—who actually wants to be murdered—salvage his own tarnished reputation, and survive against a whole host of villains, all while trying to shut down organized crime once and for all in the city. Poor odds? Little chance of success? Yup, this is definitely a case for Eddie Hazzard.