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Middleton tax rate up 21% over last yearBy JOHN QUINN
Union Leader Correspondent
December 06. 2012 10:59PM
MIDDLETON - With another tough budget season ahead, residents are facing an increase in their tax rate of 21 percent.
On Nov. 29, the N.H. Department of Revenue Administration set the overall tax rate at $24.60 per $1,000 of local valuation. It is $5.14 - or 21 percent - greater than last year's rate of $19.46.
The tax rate is broken down as follows: $7.18 for town, $12.78 for local school, $2.19 for state schools, $2.45 for county. Last year, tax rates were broken down as follows: $5.02 for the town, $9.74 for local schools, $2.30 for state schools and $2.40 for the county.
The school portion rose by 31 percent - or $3.04 per $1,000 - due to a decrease in state revenue coupled with $450,000 for tuition, $69,000 in debt payment and $15,000 to offset special education costs, according to Jeanette Lemay, business administrator for School Administrative Unit 61 which oversees Farmington and Middleton students.
As Middleton pays tuition to send its children to Farmington schools, Lemay said part of the increase in taxes stemmed from a rise in the student population, which fluctuates from year to year.
Town officials could not be reached to explain why the town's portion rose by 43 percent - or $2.16 per $1,000 - or what the overall rise will mean to the ongoing budget season, which culminates at Town Meeting in March.
Residents of the Sunrise Lake Village District pay an additional 84 cents, which is 3 cents - or 3.6 percent - less than last year's district rate of 87 cents.
Overall, district residents pay $25.44 per $1,000. As there was very little development in town, the overall valuation of the town increased by $1,199,193 - or 0.65 percent - from $182,845,247 to $184,044,440.
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John Quinn may be reached at email@example.com.


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Because of an inherited / hereditary dental condition, DD has had crowns put on her back teeth and a spacer on the top. There are times when her speech isn't always understood and we've had to ask her to repeat herself. So right now we're in the process of having her assessed by the school to see if she qualifies for help with speech therapy. They classify this help under special education. Although she above her K level in a couple of subjects and know all of the school work, it's still called special education. I'm okay with her taking the speech therapy if it will help her speak more clearly but DH is totally against it. He doesn't like the idea of her being in special ed. I says it will be a stigma that follows her throughout her school years. So he hopes she fails the assessment test and feels that I should also hope she doesn't do well on the test. What am I missing? If the sessions will help her speech why not let her?
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MSPB on Tuesday heard oral arguments in the cases of Rhonda Conyers and Devon Northover, Defense employees who were suspended and demoted from their jobs when they no longer met the eligibility requirements for security clearances. Conyers, a GS-5 accounting technician, and Northover, a GS-7 commissary management specialist, needed access to classified information and thus, clearances, to fulfill their job responsibilities, Defense officials argued at the time.
The parties have since agreed Conyers and Northover in fact could have performed their work without access to classified information or clearances. But MSPB still is trying to resolve the question of whether it can get involved in cases where the adverse personnel action is related to issues with security clearances.
Defense has argued the board lacks jurisdiction based on a 1988 Supreme Court ruling. In Department of the Navy v. Egan, the high court determined MSPB could not review appeals challenging the denial, revocation or suspension of a security clearance.
But lawyers for Conyers and Northover said the 1988 precedent does not apply because the employees were in noncritical sensitive positions, which do not necessarily require clearances.
In an advisory opinion MSPB requested, the Office of Personnel Management wrote current regulations are unclear on whether the 1988 decision applies to the Conyers and Northover appeals. But others have cautioned against applying the legal precedent to workers in noncritical sensitive positions.
"[The Office of Federal Operations] urges the MSPB not to make this far-reaching extension of the holding in Egan as it will deny basic procedural rights to an additional broad class of federal employees and effectively foreclose them from asserting their rights under this nation's anti-discrimination laws," Carlton Hadden, director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Office of Federal Operations, wrote in an amicus brief filed with the board.
Union officials on Tuesday argued the application of the 1988 ruling would limit federal workers' access to full, unbiased review of adverse agency personnel actions.
Andres Grajales, assistant general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, said there aren't any regulations preventing MSPB from hearing these appeals. Expanding the Egan exception to cover the large number of employees who occupy noncritical sensitive positions would severely affect those workers' statutory appeal rights, he added.
"Such a limitation would create a serious and completely unnecessary risk for federal employees," National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley said.
Tuesday's proceedings marked the first oral arguments to come before the MSPB in 27 years. Board members said the proceedings were important because of the "broad potential impact on the federal civil service and merit systems."


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SAP legal u-turn delivers new HP boss for Monday start
Oracle calls for delay in trade secret hearing
It looks like Leo Apotheker will be able to get through his first day as HP boss without getting hauled into court to testify in former employer SAP's trade secrets theft case with Oracle.
Apotheker is expected to get his feet under the table at HP on Monday. However, the same day was scheduled to be the opener in Oracle's court case over alleged hijacking of trade secrets by a former SAP subsidiary, TomorrowNow.
SAP had admitted that TomorrowNow did the dirty, and had offered to pay damages, but had denied that management, including Apotheker, had known anything about the scandal.
But Oracle boss Larry Ellison was determined to drag Apotheker into court in a hearing into "contributory copyright infringement", potentially putting a big spoiler on Apotheker's new week.
Then last night SAP dropped its resistance to the contributory claim, sparing Apotheker the ordeal of facing Ellison in court. The move prompted Oracle to ask for a delay in the trial till next Thursday to revise its own strategy.
Oracle crowed, in a statement: "Today, SAP has finally confessed it knew about the theft all along. The evidence at trial will show that the SAP Board of Directors valued Oracle's copyrighted software so highly, they were willing to steal it rather than compete fairly."
This should leave the hearing concentrating on what level of damages SAP should cough up. Depending who you speak to, that should range from a few tens of millions (SAP) to billions (Oracle).
And even if SAP were to drop a couple of billion, that's unlikely to soothe Oracle. Apotheker is taking over from Ellison pal Mark Hurd, who left HP under a cloud, only to wash up at Oracle.
Still, as long as Larry remains mad at SAP/HP, he won't be turning his full anger on Google. For now. ®
Sponsored: Minds Mastering Machines - Call for papers now open


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There's plenty to be scared of on Halloween, but rain shouldn't be on that list for trick or treaters Thursday.
The National Weather Service says there is a chance of rainfall early in the day in Coos, Douglas and northern Klamath counties, but the rain should miss the Rogue Valley and leave the area dry for costumed candy seekers.
The weekend looks wetter, though.
Weather officials are calling for a weekend of rain showers and snow in the the Siskiyous. For now, the activity is expected to start Saturday morning and continue into Sunday. Meteorologists expect anywhere from one-tenth to two-tenths of an inch of rain for the Rogue Valley with the potential for a little bit more in Ashland.
"It's going to be a big drop during the day," said meteorologist Mike Petrucelli. "It's certain we're going to get hit with some rain."
The front bringing the cold wet weather will travel eastbound from the Pacific and over the coastal range to Jackson County. Snow levels in the Siskiyous will start at about 7,000 feet and above early Saturday, but will drop to as low as 4,000 feet by the early evening hours, weather officials said.
"So they'll come down fairly quick," Petrucelli said. "The question'll be how hard the precipitation is."
No lightning is expected and most of the showers will be contained to the mountains.
"We'll definitely get some rain here, too," Petrucelli said.
— Ryan Pfeil
Wet weekend ahead, but storms won't dampen Halloween
There's plenty to be scared of on Halloween, but rain shouldn't be on that list for trick or treaters Thursday.


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I have a feeling that if we could get out there and explore we'd find at least 'primitive' life is near ubiquitous. The precursors are all around, and given the vastness of the Universe there has got to be plenty of life out there. It is unfortunate that we might never leave our Solar System with meaningful exploratory tools, but I'm still hopeful. We probably won't know in our lifetime though.
Why would we never leave our solar system? We're already knocking on Mars' door...
There's a misrepresentation in your post. It is true that Voyager 1 is 17 light hours away and it has taken 35 years, yes, but that's not the point of Voyager 1. The mission of Voyager 1 wasn't to see how far it could get in 35 years. If we needed to get a craft 17 light hours from Earth in the fastest time possible it certainly wouldn't take 35 years, even with 1960s technology.
Realistically we (humans, not just robotic probes) are not going to be going to other star systems until we invent/discover: Warp Drive/Hyperdrive/hyperspace/jumpgates/stargates/Alderson points/Warp points or [Insert your favorite FTL technology here]
> Nope, it's far more simple than that, thanks to Einstein's discoveries. All we need is a ship that can produce a 1g thrust over a long time
Sure. I've done the math. Theoretically, you'd reach the speed of light in about a year's time. But it won't happen and in fact, Einstein's "discoveries" were among the first to explain WHY it can't happen.
1. As you accelerate toward the speed of light (so-called "relativistic" speed), your mass approaches infinity. You reach a point where you can't generate
1. As you accelerate toward the speed of light (so-called "relativistic" speed), your mass approaches infinity. You reach a point where you can't generate enough reaction to "push" the ship any faster.
Incorrect. You can always push the ship faster because the relativistic mass never reaches infinity, it just asymptotically approaches is. Yes, it gets harder to accelerate the ship, but at no point does it become theoretically impossible.
Time passes more slowly for *you* on that ship, but that's not much
There's a misrepresentation in your post. It is true that Voyager 1 is 17 light hours away and it has taken 35 years, yes, but that's not the point of Voyager 1. The mission of Voyager 1 wasn't to see how far it could get in 35 years. If we needed to get a craft 17 light hours from Earth in the fastest time possible it certainly wouldn't take 35 years, even with 1960s technology.
The Helios probes did set the record at 157,000 mph which is much faster than Voyager's 38,000 mph. However, Helios did not sustain that speed, while Voyager has. But even if a probe of sufficient size to do the job could sustain that speed, in 35 years, it would still be less than 3 light days away.
The nearest star system is Alpha Centauri. The nearest star is Proxima Centauri.
We probably won't know in this lifetime, but anything is possible.
Very cool, man, very cool.
It's not just finding amino acids. Yes, as yous say amino acids are have been detected before. the problem is that there are a lot of different amino acids, and only some of them are essential to the fundamental building blocks of life. What this research is showing is that they have detected some of the essential amino acids, rather than the general variety known about before. It's somewhat like the difference between knowing that there is carbon in interstellar space, and finding diamonds, graphine or bucky-tubes. Knowing that there is carbon there does not imply that you will find one of the specific forms, but if you find one of those forms, you can deduce that it is much easier to start from there as a building block for other things (presuming you know things that use them as building blocks.)
Likewise just because the building blocks of life are in interstellar space doesn't mean that life is everywhere, just that when conditions are favorable, it's reasonable to presume that the amino acids necessary can show up.
Likewise just because the building blocks of life are in interstellar space doesn't mean that life is everywhere, just that when conditions are favorable, it's reasonable to presume that the amino acids necessary can show up.
We hear this a lot about having the building blocks of life and amino acids and such (I'm not a scientist), so if it is known all the blocks that make life and theorized it's possible, how come we are not running experiments constantly pulsing electricity through millions of different combinations of these building blocks to see if we can jumpstart life ourselves in the lab (or are we)? Or has it happened and just not made the 'joe public' newscast? Stories such as this come across as taking for granted
There is a lot of data available on that. I remember reading about at least 100 different experiments from Nat Geo and biology textbooks. It's out there and I'm tempted to say "google" but wikipedia is maybe a more direct alternative, start digging through sources. We've even created self replicating molecules at this point I think in a lab somewhere but don't cite me on that.
> the missing ingredient is time
Yep. But given that the age of the universe is about 14 billion years, and that it spent the first 8-9 billion years of that creating all of those chemicals (primarily via stellar nucleosynthesis -- i.e, supernovae), there's not a whole lot of time available, on a cosmic scale. Whatever finally ends up being proposed for abiogenesis will have to be a VERY efficient process.
Finding the pre-biotic chemicals in stellar clouds is an important first step. This is amazing stuff.
We've found amino acids in a comet yet but thats only 1 instance in our local area (glycine in a comet) where we already know life exists. The question now is understanding how these molecules got there, can the others be produced, and how abundant can we expect them to be.
The chances of detecting the full amino acid by IR or radio astronomy is very slim unless they were very very high in abundance(due to their "large" size and large number of species in the sample) thus in order to understand if they are
The radio telescopes that are used technically do record a full "column" of signal in the path between here and the molecular cloud. They key is we assume the atmosphere is relatively uniform across the time of the measurement so the telescope actually moves and points away from the source to collect a "background". This allows us to remove any signal coming from the atmosphere.
Additionally we can see the temperature these molecules are at. For this example the molecule is only sitting at a few K which is far too cold to be in the earths atmosphere (even the upper atmosphere).
How does this speak to the statistical probability of amino acids forming protein chains? What would the density of them be and in comparison to an earthly origin would there be greater or lesser odds?
> It doesn't really resolve any of these issues.
I'm reminded of a comment made to me once by one of your fellow chemists. This guy was sharp, had even published a few papers in the literature.
I'm going from memory, but it went something like this: "you know," he said, "over in the Chemistry department, we're spending zillions of dollars, in state of the art laboratories, with tons of carefully-calibrated equipment, just to figure out how to synthesize a chemical from a sample obtained from nature.
"And ye
You're on one of the students? Is he/she hot?
Kidding aside, very cool. Nice work.
I'm on one of the graduate students on this project!
I trust it's consensual?
>>I'm on one of the graduate students on this project!
>I trust it's consensual?
Do you think ibmleninpro would be able to post on
Very interesting. My specialty is mathematics and I am somewhat of a science critic, so I shouldn't have an opinion but that has never stopped me before.
What OTHER complex chemicals are found in the dust clouds in the universe?
While there is naturally an interest in detecting our own Earth-based type of life, I feel we can get distracted by DNA-centric prejudice and may be missing out on the chemical precursors of other types of life that may even predominate in the universe.
As a meta-scientist I looked for
Not to argue with Adams, but it's more like the minute molecule of "peanut stuff" that causes some allergic kid to die when he inhaled it than a whole peanut, much less peanuts, plural.
I have heard some serious claims that life is pretty ubiquitous in space dust but its not commonly accepted or known about. See conspiracy. There's now been several meteors that have made noise in the scientific community which are still hotly debated by people that care to. There has also been interesting spectroscopy from mars. The scientific data from viking is still interpretable as proof for life rather then dis-proof. Its just not enough data to say "Yes life for sure". Tons of blogs and articles roam
You seem to be claiming that there is ample evidence of extraterrestrial life, but it's covered up. If I misinterpreted your post, my apologies. If I did not, it's futile to respond, but consider this:
There are tens of thousands of people working on various projects, in various capacities, that would have access to this evidence. *All of them* (and their wives) would have to keep their mouths shut in order for your conspiracy to work. I cannot even imagine which sets of different motivations must be necessa
Wait, are you thinking what I am thinking? Are they just teenagers with raging hormones who see images of "origin of life" in eve
To any of you who think this is cool science and want to make sure more of it gets done: The GBT is under very severe threat of shutting down. In the recent NSF Portfolio Review, it was recommended that given the "current" funding situation (this was last year), the NSF divest itself of certain observatories including Green Bank. That means the telescope will shut down, unless a private consortium (i.e. of universities) can scrape together enough money to take it over.
Note also that the "current" funding situation referred to was even before the sequester, so the chances of getting the NSF to change their minds have dropped significantly - there is just not enough money in the budget. But please lobby your congressional representatives to restore funding for basic research if you think this is important!
Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence of performance. -- James Bryant Conant


text: i dont consider this website decent from a professional developers stand point. i consider this website decent from my own abilities stand point i guess you could say. i have created a few different websites in the past and this one is probably the best i have come up with. its still in the works but for the most part it is finished. i finished the website, minus the forum, just to realize that i should have been creating it using a responsive design. even though the majority of sites out there these days dont use responsive designs, just something i read on an article covering the subject, i still wanted to be part of that small % that did write a website with mobile devices and different browser widths in mind. its essentially a survivalist website with a zombie apocalypse theme. the only page that does not have a responsive design is the 'survival test' page. constructive critism on code and layout very welcome. thanks in advance!


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There were a number of great choices for WNST's fifth annual "Local Sportsperson of the Year" in 2012.
Let me remind you that there are only a few qualifications for the honor.
First, the person must be local. They must be an athlete, coach or front office member for a pro, college or high school team in the state of Maryland. Individual sport athletes who represent the state of Maryland also qualify.
Second, the person must stand out from other people over the course of the 12 calendar months. The accomplishments of that individual must be comparable to if not greater than the accomplishments of others in the area.
And finally, that person's year must stand out from other years during their tenure/career in the area.
If you've forgotten, 2012 is the fifth year we've given the honor, with our past winners being Michael Phelps (2008), Todd Bozeman (2009), Greivis Vasquez (2010) and Rob Ambrose (2011).
There were a handful of candidates whose 2012 accomplishments would make them easy winners almost any year.
-Loyola basketball coach Jimmy Patsos lead the school back to the NCAA Tournament after inheriting a program that could only be described as "in the doldrums." The sweat equity Patsos put into building a MAAC Championship program is perhaps unmatched, as the coach spent almost as much time shaking hands and kissing babies as he did running drills until finally reaching the ultimate goal for a low-to-mid major program.
-Even with the success Patsos had, perhaps he wouldn't even be deemed the most qualified candidate as his own school. Charley Toomey lead the Greyhounds to one of the most improbable National Championship runs in recent lacrosse history. The Hounds came into the season unranked, but ran off 12 straight wins to open the season and finished the campaign with only one loss-a one goal defeat and the hands of Johns Hopkins. The Hounds posted a dominant national title victory over Maryland to deliver the first national championship in school history (any sport) at the D1 level.
-Adam Jones wasn't just the Baltimore Orioles' MVP, an All-Star and a Gold Glove Award winner in 2012. He was the anchor of a team that finally snapped a decade-and-a-half long playoff drought and perhaps most importantly endeared himself to Baltimore baseball fans forever by inking a six year contract extension to ensure fans he wouldn't be breaking their hearts by donning pinstripes in the next few years.
-Ray Rice is likely headed to another Baltimore Ravens Team MVP honor and also warmed the hearts of purple & black fans by signing a five year contract extension of his own. Rice picked up his third Pro Bowl nod while being the rock for an offense poised to break the franchise record for most points scored in a season and helping to claim a second consecutive AFC North title for the first time in team history.
Like I said, there were plenty of great candidates.
But when it came to picking a winner, Baltimore fans were right. It actually was quite easy.
Buck Showalter actually came just ONE POINT shy of winning this honor before. The 34-23 finish he guided the Orioles to in 2010 nearly nabbed him the award, and the contentiousness of the fighting between contributors here at WNST actually lead to a change in how we selected our recipient.
In a way, Showalter has essentially owned this town ever since his first game as skipper in orange and black. Fans swooned when he famously proclaimed "I know the save rule and, quite frankly, it doesn't carry much weight with me. I like the win rule a little bit better" following his late inning handling of Mike Gonzalez and Alfredo Simon in a win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Perhaps even more admirably, Showalter showed immense class each and every time he was asked about the seeming reluctance for Orioles fans to return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in droves after the misery that had experienced in rooting for an organization that seemed disinterested in returning a quality product to Baltimore. Even as the Orioles were in the mix for the AL East crown in late August in front of small crowds during a series against the Chicago White Sox, Showalter continued to say things like "it would be pretty presumptuous on anybody's part to think that they're going to trust us that quickly". He didn't just save baseball in this town, he remained as classy as possible in the process.
(Continued on Page 2…)


text:
Topic: ToolsPrograms or libraries used to write or debug programs, and articles on the mechanics of a particular language. With operating systems, can include useful utilities, command lines, etc.
O'Reilly Network articles about this topic:
Why I Stopped Coding and Why I'd Start Again
(Python DevCenter)
What happens when programming stops being fun? What do you do when juggling dependencies and worrying about installation issues takes all of the joy out of writing code for other people? You can stop coding... or you can try to address the underlying problems. Brian McConnell postulates an enhancement of the Python language to make programming as fun as it was in the BASIC-in-ROM minicomputer days.
Testing Web Apps Effectively with twill
(Python DevCenter)
There's a real drive toward testing these days. If you develop any sort of application seriously, you've likely heard recommendations to write comprehensive automated tests. Is that really useful? Michele Simionato explores the arguments for and against automated testing, and shows how to automate web app testing using Python and the twill utility.
Interactive Debugging in Python
(Python DevCenter)
Debugging with print statements is alive and well. It's not the only way to do it, though. Python has a powerful interactive debugger that can let you get to the heart of your problem faster and more easily--if you know how to use it. Jeremy Jones shows off the features you absolutely must know.
Python on Your (S60) Phone
(Python DevCenter)
Nokia recently released a Python distribution that runs on Series 60 phones. Sure it's cool, but is it useful? John Littler walks through the available packages and the installation process, as well as some example Python code.
More Test-Driven Development in Python
(Python DevCenter)
The goal of test-driven development is not to produce tests; they're merely a helpful by-product. The real goal is to produce elegant, working code. Jason Diamond demonstrates how test-driven development can improve the design of code.
Enhanced Interactive Python with IPython
(Python DevCenter)
An interactive programming environment can be a powerful tool to assist in writing programs. Python has one as part of its standard distribution. Yet IPython, "an enhanced Interactive Python shell," is a far superior replacement. Jeremy Jones demonstrates.
Python-Powered Templates with Cheetah
(Python DevCenter)
It's true; XSLT isn't the be-all, end-all of templating and transformation systems. If you use Python, consider instead Cheetah, a template engine based on Python. Andrew Glover demonstrates its simplicity and power for producing text in all kinds of formats.
Test-Driven Development in Python
(Python DevCenter)
The goal of test-driven development is not to produce tests; they're merely a helpful by-product. The real goal is to produce elegant, working code. Jason Diamond demonstrates how test-driven development works using Python and PyUnit to create a sample event-tracking utility.
Inside Mitch Kapor's World
(Python DevCenter)
Mitch Kapor has had a huge influence on the software world, being the founder of Lotus and a driving force behind 1-2-3. Now his Open Software Applications Foundation is working on Chandler, an open source PIM written in Python. Steve Holden interviewed Mitch after the recent PyCon about his life and career, the OSAF, Chandler, open source, and Python.
Python Options
(Python DevCenter)
Greg Ward reinvents a command line option handler, the �ber-getopt.
PyKDE2: KDE Bindings for Python
(Python DevCenter)
Jim Bublitz has updated PyKDE for use on KDE 2.x and KDE 3.0Beta, giving Python programmers access to some top notch high level widgets.
Py Games
(Python DevCenter)
Break down the barriers to game development, leveraging the power of Python and Pygame.
Noisy Python
(Python DevCenter)
Whether your interest is in music, or just some radical sound effects for your latest game, there are Python programs and modules to satisfy your auditory needs.
Interactive Python
(Python DevCenter)
GUIs are swell, but sometimes you want power at the keyboard. Soup up Python's interactive prompt with these enhancements.
Developing Games with Python
(Python DevCenter)
The game industry is hanging strong, while other tech ventures fold. PyGame could be your ticket to a gaming career.
Software Carpentry Spin Offs
(Python DevCenter)
Last year's contest to develop a new generation of easy-to-use software engineering tools bears unexpected fruit this year.
SkunkWeb Application Server
(Python DevCenter)
The templating simplicity of PHP combined with the power of Python packs a wallop in SkunkWeb, an application server for Python developers.
Simple Python
(Python DevCenter)
Simple tools can be fun and educational as well as useful. Small programs written in the language you love can be a joy.
Hypercard and Python
(Python DevCenter)
Hypercard was once a killer Macintosh application, a hypertext GUI design toolkit. Will a similar development tool work for Python?
Python in the Sourceforge Trove
(Python DevCenter)
There are now over 1000 Python projects in the Sourceforge Software Map. Stephen Figgins looks at a couple surprises among the top 20 most active projects.
New Versions of Zope and Python
(Python DevCenter)
Zope 2.4 updates Zope for Python 2.1, just as the first Alpha version of Python 2.2 is released.
Combining Python and C++
(Python DevCenter)
There is no standard tool for extending Python with C++, but a variety of tools makes the job easier.
Piddle Graphics Online
(Python DevCenter)
Michal Wallace uses the source to put piddle graphics online. Combine piddle with the shelve and cgi modules to create an interactive gantt chart.
Using PySOAP
(Python DevCenter)
SOAP may be a big topic, but you don't need to be an XML expert to use it. With PySOAP, distributed applications and web services are a snap.
XML-RPC Agents with pyagent
(Python DevCenter)
Downright software releases pyagent, a framework for creating intelligent agents that use XML-RPC.
Generating Graphics With Piddle
(Python DevCenter)
Create simple graphics on the fly with piddle, a high level interface to more complex drawing tools.
Structured grep and Python
(Python DevCenter)
PySgrep combines sgrep, a tool for searching and indexing structured text, with the power of Python.
Python Documentation Tips and Tricks
(Python DevCenter)
Leverage the power in the Python way of documentation. Cameron Laird provides tips for getting the most from docstrings.
Using pydoc
(Python DevCenter)
The pydoc module puts module documentation at your fingertips. Cameron Laird tells you how to exploit the power of pydoc.
Komodo and Pygame Go 1.0
(Python DevCenter)
Komodo, an integrated debugging environment for Perl and Python, and Pygame, a cross-platform game development tool, are now ready for mass consumption.
Extreme Python
(Python DevCenter)
The second beta of Python 2.1 adds PyUnit, an Extreme Programming tool for testing code, to the standard library.
Alternative Python Distributions
(Python DevCenter)
These alternative distributions offer versions of Python tailored to more specific needs.
ActivePython 2.0 Now Available
(Python DevCenter)
How do you distribute your Python programs? ActiveState wants to make it easier for businesses to install and maintain Python so they can run your programs.
Python Roadmap
(Python DevCenter)
The stackless patch works great, but how about getting it into Python's core development? Cameron explains how he thinks Stackless will eventually be integrated.
A Stackless PEP
(Python DevCenter)
The developers of an arcane Python tool want it to be a part of Python core. The core python developers have spoken: "write a PEP and we'll see."
Python Programming on Win32 using WxPython
(Python DevCenter)
Another GUI toolkit available for Python is called
wxPython. The current incarnation is fairly new to the Python scene and is rapidly gaining popularity amongst Python developers. Excerpted from Chapter 20 of O'Reilly's book Python Programming on Win32.
Python Programming on Win32 using Tkinter
(Python DevCenter)
Excerpt from Chapter 20 of O'Reilly's book Python Programming on Win32.
Other documents about this topic:
Below are other references available on the web for this topic. Since other sites may change their links, please if you find any that may need to be updated.
mx-Series of Python Extension Packages
Extension code for Python including string manipulators, date functions and code to help you get at your databases using Open DataBase Connectivity, a standard database access method developed by Microsoft Corporation. [Source: eGenix.com Software]
Hector: Distributed Objects in Python
A description of Hector, a distributed object system written primarily in Python. [Source: University of Queensland]
The Python Tk-OpenGL Module
A python interface to the OpenGL 3D graphics library.
Python Imaging Library (PIL) Handbook
PIL adds image processing capabilities to your Python interpreter. [Source: PythonWare]
Continuations and Stackless Python
Christian Tismer's presentation to the 8th International Python Conference, on rewriting Python so it does not keep its state on the C Stack.
Writing Python Extensions in C++
C++ and Python work great together. They work together even easier with these extensions. Paul Dubois tells you how.
PyFort Reference Manual
Connect Fortran routines to Python. Fortran, long a favorite of scientists and physicists, makes a nice companion to Python for scientific computing. This excellent documentation by Paul DuBois is only available in PDF.
The Python Interface to Vim
Vim is a vi like editor that runs on multiple platforms. This is the documentation for the Python interface, which allows you to write your vi macros in Python. [Source: Vim]
Python Squeezes the Web
A Linux Planet article on using Python for web development. Including using Python with VIM (a common Unix text editor), to create macros that make writing HTML easier. [Source: Linux Planet]
Python/C API Reference Manual
Official reference on how to use the C programmer's interface to Python to write an extension in C or to embed Python in a C program. [Source: Python.org]
Macintosh Library Modules
Official documentation of the Macintosh modules for Python. [Source: Python.org]
Documenting Python
Documentation of LaTEX macros written specifically for documenting Python, and some information on how to use them. Part of the official documentation for Python. [Source: Python.org]
Extending and Embedding the Python Interpreter
Official documentation on how to mix Python and C or C++. See also the C/API documentation. [Source: Python.org]
The whole Python FAQ
The official FAQ. Searchable using the FAQ wizard. [Source: Python.org]
Python for Lisp Programmers
Artificial Intelligence programmer, Peter Norvig compares the features of Lisp and Python, and comments on Python's suitability for AI programming.
Python Reference Manual
The official reference for the Python language. [Source: Python.org]
Python Library Reference
Official reference for Python's data types built-in modules, services and core modules. [Source: Python.org]
Global Module Index
A quick index to documentation of all the core modules.


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*This is a last-chance item and is available until 31 May or while supplies last.
Buy these three coordinating products and save 10%.Birthday Delivery Photopolymer Stamp SetThe nostalgic works of art you create with this intricate, colourful imagery will delight any audience and leave everyone wishing they had another birthday coming this week!* Quantity: 23 photopolymer stamps* Suggested clear blocks (sold separately): a, b, c, d, gBirthday Memories Designer Series Paper* Each sheet is double-sided for double the creative options.* 12 sheets: 2 each of 6 double-sided designs.* 12" x 12" (30.5 x 30.5 cm)* Acid-free* Lignin freeBirthday Friends Framelits Dies* 10 dies* Largest image: 3 x 2-3/8"" (7.6 x 6 cm)


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Apparently some Gun Bloggers out there feel as Liberals do. They want want to pick and choose which Rights they like and attack those they don't. The 1st Amendment guarantees my Right to Freedom of Religion!! And yes the Right to Free Speech…But when you attack my Right to Freedom of Religion and then turn around and attack Liberals for attacking the 2nd Amendment…How the hell are you different?
Forfeit Your Guns Bill Introduced In House of Representatives
I don't think so!!!
Saw this today and every time I am at a gun shop lately!!
Thousands Flocking to Gun Stores and Gun Shows in Fear of Obama
By Chris Future on Jan 17, 2013 02:53 pm
I knew that I should have bought those gun stocks when I had the chance. Obama has definitely done great things for the gun industry. He's probably single handedly woken up all of those out there who have realized that this administration has no qualms playing the God King and reducing the land of the free …read more
How Obama's gun 'order' will backfire
There was only one problem.
Their findings, summarized starkly by co-author Wright, were that "Gun control laws do not reduce crime."
Der Fuhrer's Machine
Tax-exempt goose-stepping fixers. You would think the media fufilled this role. But clearly Obama has other plans for the disarmed:
Politico: President Barack Obama's remaining campaign apparatus will relaunch Sunday as a tax-exempt group to support his second term agenda, a senior Democrat familiar with the plans confirms to POLITICO. The new organization will be separate from the Democratic National Committee. Obama's 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina will be the national chair of the group.


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Rashard Mendenhall will be a free agent Tuesday, but the Cardinals will not be re-signing him. The veteran running back, in fact, won't be signing with anyone.
Instead, Mendenhall – who doesn't even turn 27 until June – announced his retirement from the NFL Sunday, a couple of weeks after hinting at as much on his blog on the Huffington Post. He played just six seasons. Mendenhall confirmed he was leaving the game on the same blog.
"I actually didn't really plan on saying anything about my retirement at all," Mendenhall wrote in his latest piece. "I just kind of wanted to disappear."
Mendenhall, who signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals this time last year, battled through knee and toe problems all
Mendenhall has always been a thoughtful sort, talking a lot about his poetry and his love of reading and books. Yet he wrote it was his old-school philosophy toward football that ultimately helped him decide he didn't want to play anymore.
He wrote of all the times he had been called a racist slur as a public figure playing football, but "what was more difficult for me to grasp was the way that the business of entertainment had really shifted the game and the sport of football in the NFL. The culture of football now is very different from the one I grew up with."
Mendenhall didn't come into the league until the Steelers drafted him in 2008, but he laments the changes in the game like players dancing after touchdowns and how fantasy football has impacted how players are seen.
"This is a very different model of football than the one I grew up with," Mendenhall wrote.
"So when they ask me why I want to leave the NFL at the age of 26, I tell them that I've greatly enjoyed my time, but I no longer wish to put my body at risk for the sake of entertainment," Mendenhall wrote. "I think about the rest of my life and I want to live it with much quality. And physically, I am grateful that I can walk away feeling as good as I did when I stepped into it."
For the Cardinals, Mendenhall's retirement is not a shock. Ellington and


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Thank you for validating my need to eat a midday meal. I do wonder if this is a power thing on the owners' part - "I can go eight hours without eating, so those who can't are not as awesome as I."
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The owners of Club 152 in the Beale Street entertainment district are due in Shelby County General Sessions Environmental Court Monday, May 20, for the first hearing on the injunction that closed the popular nightspot Thursday afternoon as a public nuisance.
The district had a good-sized spillover crowd from the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest when more than a dozen unmarked cars from the West Tennessee Drug Task Force turned onto Beale and an alley in back of Club 152 and served the papers.
The injunction alleges drug sales and violence at a club with a younger audience than other nearby clubs and businesses.
The law enforcement officers quickly emptied the club of employees and workers who joined a growing crowd of onlookers in the block of the district that has been the most successful part of the district during one of the busiest months of the year on Beale Street.
"If you paid for it, you get to drink it," a Memphis police officer with Tim Helldorfer, director of the task force and chief investigator of the Shelby County District Attorney General's office, told two men sitting street side. They quickly finished their drinks and left.
If past practice in such nuisance actions is any precedent, Club 152 probably will be open again soon albeit with new ground rules.
"It depends. Those conversations will begin with our office … with their lawyers," said District Attorney General Amy Weirich. "It's not our intent to shut businesses down – put them out of business. But if you conduct your business in such a way that creates criminal activity … we can't tolerate it."
During past nuisance injunction hearings, prosecutors usually set conditions for a business to reopen including signage and pledges to more strictly enforce laws.
That was the case in 2007 when another Beale Street bar, the Tap Room, was closed under an injunction citing drug sales in the club by employees and others during a six- month undercover investigation by the same multi-agency task force.
The closing of Club 152 comes five months after Club Crave at 380 Beale, just outside the formal boundaries of the entertainment district, was closed as a public nuisance for a second time. Weirich is seeking the permanent closure of the building as a nightclub and the city of Memphis is seeking the demolition of the building on the northeast corner of Beale and Fourth Street.
The court injunction served Thursday at Club 152 cites the owners of the club, Club 152 Operating Co. LLC, for allowing the sale of drugs to an undercover police officer numerous times since November 2012.
The West Tennessee Drug Task Force used an undercover officer from the Bartlett Police Department to make the drug buys.
"I'm not going to get into investigative techniques," Weirich said when asked why a Bartlett police officer was used.
Weirich said her office is also pursuing felony criminal charges against those who allegedly sold the drugs – marijuana, cocaine, Percocet and Xanax – to the undercover officer.
"The drug activities at Club 152 occurred in front of management and in some instances by employees at the club," said Helldorfer. "This is unacceptable."
He cited numerous complaints about problems at the nightspot for prompting the undercover work.
The nuisance action also cites 130 police calls to the club from January 2012 to April 2013 for a variety of offenses including more than 20 fights inside the club and 37 arrests for offenses including firearms charges, assault and disorderly conduct.


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The Three Main Laws: Love, Wisdom, And Truth
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Solve et Coagula
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The Three Main Laws: Love, Wisdom, And Truth
Nineteenth Lecture delivered by Master Beinsa Douno to the General Esoteric Class on July 7, 1922, Friday, 8:15 - 9 p.m., Sofia
Silent Prayer
We just heard the disciples essays on the topic of the wheat grain.
The second time I will appoint an essay topic only to some of you. You will need to write clearly; there is no need to write too much, but to write clearly on the topic of Why God Created Man. If I were to give you another topic, for example: What is the Distinctive Characteristic of the Disciple, what would you answer? My answer would be: the desire to learn.
Now, the Esoteric School is not a place for playing or for musings; rather, it is a place for learning. You have come to the Esoteric School with certain preconceptions - you think that you know things. Outside of the Esoteric School you know a lot, but inside the Esoteric School you know nothing. I want to state the following now: you may have graduated from University, you may know a lot on the subject of philosophy but if you go to a technician in some workshop, you will find yourself in trouble; he will make you feel like a child, so you will have to pay attention. If you go to a laboratory, you will find out that you know nothing about chemistry. You may be a philosopher, thinking that you know a lot about chemistry, but no, you should admit to yourselves the fact that you dont know much about that. When you enter the workshop, too, you should admit that you know nothing. You need to do the same when you are in the Esoteric School.
Now you enter the Esoteric School thinking that God will enlighten you and will teach you everything. God does not teach those who do not want to learn. When you are here, in the Esoteric School, you need to pull yourself together and work, do you understand? Some of you have entered the Esoteric School with the intention to acquire everything with only little work; I will clean out the Esoteric School of disciples who do not learn. I do not need those who do not learn. There is a lot to do outside of the Esoteric School, but if you are here, in the School, do not waste your time, for its a shame; you will fall into the temptation of imagining that you are learning and what will come next is hypocrisy, because you will be fooling yourselves. Please, be fair to yourselves and correct yourselves. Then only ten people may be left but they will learn; if they stay but have not corrected themselves, then I do not want them either. Those who think that they know everything may leave; I do not need them. Those who only know how to criticize may also leave, please; it is pointless for me to deal with them. Only those shall remain in the Esoteric School for whom it is said in the Scriptures: If you dont become as the little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is a science, a great science. The Church may be willing to tolerate anything, but the Kingdom of God will not tolerate ignorance, crime, gossip, or evil. The Kingdom of God tolerates only eternal harmony - this is the Kingdom of God on Earth, on the real Earth. Im speaking to you openly here, and you need to know that. Many of you are on the wrong path and if you keep following it the sole of your foot will become deformed. There are some who enter the path of Wisdom and then do not follow its laws - I do not mean to be rude to those, but, rather, to be honest with them.
There are three Laws. The first Law is: The Truth in the Kingdom of God tolerates absolutely no deception in any form or shape, not a shred of deception, absolutely none, do you understand this? You might say, It is in our nature. No, there is no nature in this; lying is not in ones nature; lying is something that was subsequently grafted into man. And if a philosopher or a theosophist or a teacher tries to convince you that it is in human nature to sin, then that teacher himself knows nothing, for it is not in human nature to sin. When I use the word man, I refer to that living Divine soul that originated from God; it is not in its nature to sin. If it does sin, then there are other reasons for that; you should be aware of this. And if one of you sins, he should not blame his nature for it; no, he should look for the reason outside of his nature. If I trip somewhere and fall onto my face, I wont say, It is in my nature to fall; what I will do instead is look for the reason for my fall outside of myself, not in me.
The second Law is: God wants from all of us to learn and learn constantly, at that. As long as we learn, we can live - Life is in the sublime Divine consciousness and nothing else; Life is in the process of Knowledge, because the Divine Wisdom gives Knowledge; Truth gives Freedom; Love gives Life; Life gives Joy; Knowledge gives Power and Freedom gives expanse - this is how these things work. Then you have Truth and Freedom; you have vast expanse, the expanse of the whole Universe. If you have Wisdom, you have Knowledge; if you have Knowledge, you will have Power; Power stems from Knowledge, but Knowledge does not stem from Power. If you have Love, you have Life; if you have Life, then you also have Joy. Now, I have said many times that we need to learn to bear the sorrows in Life. But one of Lifes characteristics is Joy - he who lives, should rejoice and only he who learns can rejoice. And only he who is free can learn; he who is not free cannot learn. I tell you all of this because there are old preconceptions, morals of the past. There are spirits from the Astral world who have entered some of you and are whispering in your ear, You dont need knowledge. No, we do not want to have anything to do with these beings from the Astral level, with these ignorant spirits; we know more than they do, we dont need their advice; they may keep what they know to themselves. They say, We dont need knowledge. Well then, what do we need? To eat, to drink, to get dressed, to fight, to get married, to leave each other, to butcher animals, to write articles for the papers, to criticize each other, to create religions - is this what we need? We need neither their rules, nor their advice, for all these influences are coming from the Astral level; they are not manifestations of the Divine Wisdom. The Divine Wisdom reveals that one true path where people can live mindfully and grow up to be something other than foot-tall pygmies: to be like a God in their mind and grandeur. And then there will be one Sun, not a small one that cannot sprout a single grain of wheat, but a Sun that is big enough to improve the wheat in the whole world.
Therefore, all of you are required to be servants of the Absolute Truth; there must not be even a trace of a lie in you, do you understand! Im saying that what you should do is not preach Truth outside but when you face your consciousness, God, your soul, you should realize the fact that there must be absolutely no change, absolutely no lie in your soul. My souls sky should be clear, with no clouds in it. Now Im referring not to the outside world, but to the inner one; Im talking about reaching a certain state of mind and only at this state can we think right.
The second thing is that all of you should maintain a thirst for learning. What I see now is that some of you sit there and say, Im 45 years old. Forty-five years is nothing; why do you think you are old? Do you know what the age limit is that defines one as old? One turns 60 years and says, Im an old man. What codex states that at this age one can claim, Im old. You say, Im old. - The criterion that defines one as old, is wrong. God is referred to as the Ancient One, no one knows His years, but when we turn 60 we assume a label that says that we are old, now this is a shame. There is no standard for old people it is a shame to think that there is. What you should say instead is, I have been around for 60 years, but Im not old at all, nor have I become wiser at all - the Earth rotated 60 times, but I was sleeping the whole time. Now you say, Im old. Very well, if you say that you are old, tell me what you know then? Because the meaning of old in Sanskrit is one who has Knowledge. If you are that old, tell me what the Earth was like when God created it? Tell me about when God created the Earth. You might say, Well, I dont know about this. Well then, you are not one of the old ones, why do you claim so? Now, heres someone with his hair and beard all white, but so what if your beard is white, does that make you old; where did that assumption come from? When trees are all covered with snow in winter, does that make them old? Those with white heads say, My hair is white, Im old. No, dont link these things to your age. The first thing you need to do is tell yourselves that you are disciples; if you are 60 it means that it is your perfect time to be a disciple, to learn. Why? I will tell you why: the young woman walking outside will not tempt you, no woman will give you any trouble, and no children will make a ruckus. Exactly because your mind is where it should be and your heart and willpower are where they should be - thats the perfect time when you can learn, i.e. you will be a disciple who is able to understand every single subject. And now you sit here and I often hear both the young and the old of you say, Weve grown old. I would like to know how many of you are old so that I can ask them about how God created the world: that is how I will test you to see if you are old or not.
First, as soon as you enter the Esoteric School, you will put one main thought in your mind - you need to forget about the world. What I see happening now is that you enter and say, Lets see what the Master will tell us tonight. Here is what Im telling you tonight: you must throw your old idea out the window, because it is worth nothing. All of you are young; even if you are 60 years of age, you are still young. The fact that the Earth has turned 60 times has nothing to do with you; when it turns, it does not affect your growth at all. Lets say someone puts you into a magnetic dream at the time when you are born and while you are in that state the Earth turns 60 times; when you wake up, you will not be old. What ages on Earth, is not the years, the turning of the Earth is something accidental. We say, At 12 oclock there was a murder, that murder is an accidental measure. These are all accidental measures in the world, because the Absolute measure is the expansion of the soul, not the turning of the Earth: that is something impermanent.
I want you all to have the desire to learn, do you understand; I want you to learn, not only to feel. You want to be in pleasant spirits, right? However, there are better things than spirits and those better things are brought about by what one can create through the Law of Wisdom. Without the Law of Wisdom, you cannot serve God. You cannot make use of Love, either. You need to know that true Love in the world can be manifested only when the great Law of Wisdom is at work, only when Knowledge comes.
In order for you to love someone, you need to know his distinctive characteristic. You say, This person has dark eyes. All right, I see this differently and Ill make the following analogy to explain how I see it: when the farmer says dark soil, he implies something else; what he means to say is that this dark soil is rich and provides more of the elements that are favourable for the growth of the wheat grain. That is why he says, This dark soil is excellent; it produces excellent wheat! And when we see someone with dark eyes, why do we like that person; why do we like people with dark eyes? Because such people are more consistent in their feelings - if a person like that falls in love with you, he is ready to give everything for you, you can rely on him. A person with dark eyes will not deceive you - he is true to his character no matter if he loves you or if he hates you. That is why we say that dark eyes have energy. A person with dark eyes may hate or may be rude, but such a person has one characteristic feature - he is always honest; he will tell you directly if he hates you or if he loves you, he plays no games. Such people are not agitated, but are true to their character.
Therefore, only Wisdom will show us the qualities that are inside us, the properties and qualities that are hidden in our consciousness. This is the goal of the Esoteric School. If, in the Esoteric School, we do not learn what causes all the misfortunes in our lives, and if, in the Esoteric School, we cannot improve our future life, then why do we even need this School? I can talk to you about Heaven, about how the Angels and the saints live there, about their houses and so on. I can describe to you many things and you will say, This is very interesting! It is very interesting, indeed, but it is not the smart thing to do. Why is it not smart? Imagine that you are ill in bed, you are feeling sick and I come to visit you and start describing to you my travels in America; I start telling you how the Americans live, but your stomach hurts. You will not get better by my stories about America! In that case you will tell me, Before you tell me the first thing about America, tell me about a cure for my stick stomach! Similarly, is it not smarter for me to describe to you the ways in which you can improve your life first and then tell you about the Superior Life?
Here is the first thing about the Esoteric School: its goal is to help you get rid of all your flaws that have remained in you from all kinds of cultures from times immemorial and you still carry them in you. Some of you say, I dont need to know much, I can get by even with little knowledge. No, you need a lot of Knowledge in order to save yourselves. You need Knowledge to understand Love, to understand Wisdom, to understand Truth. You need to apply things in the present real Life. Do not think that you understand Love. If you really understood Love, you would have been immortal; if you really understood the Divine Wisdom, you would have had eternal harmony, i.e. you would have had Knowledge, you would have been strong, you would have been able to understand Truth in its entirety, and you would have had eternal Freedom - the great expanse of Life. You would not have been in the dark then, we would not have been limited in this room talking about these things; instead, we would have been travelling incredibly fast. Do you know how fast we would have been travelling - at least fifty thousand kilometres per second. What would we have done then? We would have gone up to Vitosha, blow once and be past the Moon in a second and be on the Sun in five minutes. We would stop at the first station where they would greet us; we would visit for three-four days and, because they are polite, they would show us around; we would see their schools, their meetings, we would take notes and afterwards we would head for the next station, Alfa Centauri*. Now you say, What a wonderful voyage! It is wonderful, of course but it also contains some ideas. The advanced students of the Esoteric School go on voyages like this. You may not be able to make such a voyage in your present condition, but you need to get ready for it in some future existence. You should think on Earth, you should descend to the physical level and make voyages like this from that level. Once you are on the Astral level, you will make other voyages there; when you enter the Mental level you will find that it is organized differently, because the structures in these worlds are based on different foundations.
So here is the first thing: a true thirst for Knowledge should be born in you; I want from all of you to think. I am happy with your thought but it should be an original thought, it should be such that when it enters your mind, it will beget humility. You all have met young women like that one who behaves like an aristocrat before she gets married; she does not like placing her hands just anywhere, but has a specific way of holding her hands, because she doesnt know where to put them. However, once she gets married and has her first child, she can find where to put her hands - she lifts their child, then puts it down or holds it. The first idea that comes to ones mind is the greatest; then ones hand, the willpower, has something to do. Someone says, What should we do? Give birth to a great Divine idea in yourself and then your hands and everything will find what to do - this is why we have the Esoteric School.
Now when you come here you say, Arent we going to learn some prayer? Do you know what is the true prayer, how you should pray - Lord, enlighten our mind, give us Light because the ignorance is so great that we do not understand You at all and we have sunk in sins up to our ears. We pray to you, give us Knowledge and Wisdom to do your Will. Here is a prayer: Give us Knowledge! Give us Knowledge so that we can serve You with all our heart and be happy and so that You can be filled with Joy that we are learning. What you say now, instead, is, Lord, forgive our trespasses. Well, your trespasses and your sins are a result of your ignorance, of your lack of Wisdom. Therefore, the disciples and all of us should pray in the Esoteric School; we need Wisdom and Knowledge.
Some of you who are more advanced and well-read know that there are books about these levels. I dont have the time now to talk about the levels. Make sure you look into these things; those of you who know more on the subject, should tell you in a private conversation. We have no time to go over things that are written in books; our time is valuable; you can read it and mull over it and I will talk about things that you cannot find in books. Now if someone tries to say something, you interrupt, Wait, lets ask the Master, he will tell us. It is written in the book and you dont need to ask if it is right; just read it, and if you like it, then accept it; if you do not like it, use your head to make up your mind. And when it comes to me to talk about these things, I will touch on them briefly and will talk about them only inasmuch as they are connected to our subject. Because my goal is to make you learn how to think by showing you how I think and then we will be able to study things. But until you learn how to think, I will use this hoe, I will dig and you will dig; I will dig and you will dig and so on until we learn how to think. And what will happen then? We will play and sing and when the wheat is ripe, we will put it in the barn and will have brotherly discussions about the eternal Laws and the future Fraternity.
We have decided that we will not allow for anyone to lie to us anymore. Woe to those disciples who enter the Esoteric School intending to mock Gods Name! They will see what a Divine School means. The one who enters the Divine School needs to know that the great Divine Righteousness is behind this School. This is a Divine School - you are absolutely free but you are absolutely responsible for your deeds, as well. I need to show you and I will repeat again: the only unforgivable crime in the Esoteric School is lying! You should know this - lying is unpardonable. Do not think that you have common morals, pretend morals, such understanding In the future we will have such high morals! I am not talking about how I treat you on the outside; I am not talking about those morals but about the inner morals in every given moment. If all I think about is how to use you, this is not morals. My relation to God - this is morals. There must not exist, even a shadow in my mind, soul, heart, or will of the thought of using you in any way. Absolute purity, absolute selflessness! Do you know what selflessness is? This is what is understood, these are the morals of the Esoteric School. And if all of you enter the Esoteric School, you need to have these morals in your soul so when you face yourselves in a given moment, you will know that you are pure. You can trespass thousands of times on the outside, but what is important is the motive, the inner motivation that causes you to do something. You may say, But this is a school! Yes, but this is one of the best rules. When you apply this rule as disciples, your things will improve in every aspect: mentally, spiritually and materially. Your things will improve in every aspect with no exception; if not now, in the future; if not for you, for your children. This is so and so does Jesus say, There is no one who has left mother and father who shall not receive many times more in the present time and in the age to come eternal life. Therefore, you should have no fear.
Then there is this irritability in you that I will start testing. Someone says, Im in a bad mood. We know the reason and the source of all bad moods. If you fall asleep at night and a vampire puts his mouth on you and sucks your blood, what do you think you will feel when you wake up in the morning? You will feel a great weakness. Why? - Because this vampire has sucked out your blood. You have good intentions but some vampire comes along and sucks out your blood. Therefore, when you go to bed, you should close your door so the vampire does not come, do you understand? Someone may say, It was my Karma that he should suck out my blood. This is no philosophy; if you hadnt opened the windows, it would not have been your Karma. If someone trips, they say, It is Karma; but if you hadnt fallen, would it have been Karma? Someone is nervous, restless and says, My father and mother were of a nervous disposition, and I have inherited it from them. But if there were no father and mother what would you have said? We explain Karma a little bit differently. Do not blame your mistakes and foolishness on Karma. No, what you should say is, I wasnt careful in my step and I fell. Thats all.
Then there is another thing: in our Esoteric School we need to create a favourable atmosphere for learning. The first thing is to create this pure, holy, pious atmosphere so that you feel an impulse for knowledge as soon as you enter the building where these subjects are taught; this is necessary for all of you. You will create this atmosphere yourself. I have nothing against you, you are all good and I do not question your goodness. Now when I talk, you may say, Master probably can see something bad in us. No, I look at the matter objectively: if you are a musician and play badly, I will say, There is no harmony. Im saying that not to judge your moral character but to say that the performance is not good and you dont understand music; this has nothing to do with your moral character. You may say, I have not developed this centre in me, but I will develop it in a day or a couple of days, or a month, a year, or longer. When you say this, the sense for music in you will become activated. When I say that these senses are not developed in you, I mean that the Divine Curiosity is not awake in many of you.
Now, I want to appoint a task to the three most capable disciples of you who know a lot on different subjects; I want one of them to write a summary on the Physical world, another one to write a summary on the Astral world and define it, and the third one to write on the subject of the Mental world. And I want this description to be ready in three weeks starting from today. Are there three volunteers here? They will write an essay and then read aloud what they wrote in front of all other disciples so that first, we can obtain a clear idea about the physical world; then a clear idea about the Astral world and then a clear idea about the world of Wisdom, the Mental level. (Now, you choose these three people.) This is how it is, then: Ruschev will write about the physical world, Ilia Stojchev will write about the Astral world and Veliko Grablashev will write about the Mental world. We will keep the rest of the capable disciples for more difficult subjects; if they are sorry that they havent been chosen this time, we will choose them next time. When does the third week from now fall? - On July 27th. Those of our friends who are writing this time, should write the main things. You may use books on the subject and take notes.
So, I want all disciples to be always young, never old. When you enter the Esoteric School, we make no difference between how and when you have entered; here you are disciples and nothing else. In the Esoteric School you are all only disciples; outside of the School there are many professions, but when you enter the School you will be only disciples. When you are outside the Esoteric School, then you can have various professions. You need to observe one main rule: when you enter here, you will discard any other profession. If you are a professor, you will say, Im a student now, a disciple. Here is how you should discipline your will and your mind: if, for one hour, you can release a burden, or forget about a difficulty and think about yourself as a disciple, now, thats willpower. When you leave after that and go outside, you will feel refreshed and rejuvenated.
Someone may ask: How can I train my willpower? You should spend one hour during the week thinking about yourself as a disciple: this is another experiment for you to see how well you are able to focus your mind. You might think that you cannot do that - all is allowed. We will follow the same rule as in a battlefield: those who are fighting do not stop; they keep going even when people are falling down around them; there is a medical unit which will come afterwards to take care of the wounded. Now, if one of the disciples falls down, the rest need to keep going and let the medical unit take care of the one who fell. You are not to stop and inquire, What happened to him? No, onward you go, there are no sick people here. We will not stop for the sick ones; everyone must be healthy. We welcome the healthy ones and we offer our cooperation to the sick ones.
Therefore, we will not discuss sick people in the Esoteric School. Ones flaws and inabilities are but sicknesses of the Astral world. When someone does not learn, it is a sickness; if someone else gets offended easily, it is also a sickness; there is an astral medicine that studies the symptoms of the sickness. The disciples in an Esoteric School first need to study Love and the subject of Life - how it originated and what its purpose is for the earth forces and the way they connect to produce these elements. The first thing that a disciple should study when he enters the Esoteric School is Lifes joys and bounties. After that he will go on to study Wisdom, then he will continue with Truth and in this way he will finally get prepared for his higher purpose in the world.
Silent Prayer
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April 13-14 @ Pine Ridge Golf Club, Coram, NY
Dowling College, 647
Farmingdale State, 682
Nassau CC, 685
Adelphi University, 702
St. Joseph's College, 709
Suffolk CC, 722
Tom Koprowski (Hauppauge, NY/St. Thomas Moore) shot a team-low 76 on day two of the Long Island Intercollegiate Golf Championship leading Farmingdale State to a second place finish. The Rams were only defeated by Division II Dowling College and defeated Adelphi University (Division II), Skyline opponent St. Joseph's and junior colleges Nassau CC and Suffolk CC. Koprowski finished in fourth place individually with a two-day total of 160 for Farmingdale. St. Joseph's Kevin Jackson captured the individual title with rounds of 77 and 76 (153).
Farmingdale now hosts the second annual Farmingdale State Invitational this Thursday and Friday, April 20-21 @ Bethpage Red. Participating teams are Dowling, St. Joe's, Centenary, Nassau and Suffolk. The first tee times are Noon on Thursday and 10am on Friday.


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Pets, Pets, Pets
'Tis the season to be jolly. Cats finally have a reason to kick up their heels. (Do cats have heels?) Sparked by a $1 million donation from Hill's Pet Nutrition, Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) has launched the Happy Healthy Cat Campaign to help eliminate suffering and premature death in cats.
Despite the fact that cats are the most popular American pet with more than 82 million cats (as opposed to 72 million dogs) in US households, cats receive less veterinary care and research funds than dogs, and fewer scientists are exploring feline health issues. Thanks to the MAF campaign, our feline friends will get their fair share of medical attention.
The MAF Happy Healthy Cat Campaign is multipronged approach to improving the quality of life for cats. First there is a dedicated website, www. research4cats.org, which includes info on feline diseases and symptoms, previous MAF research success stories (like a promising new vaccine that seems to control fertility in ferals) and resources for cat owners. There's also a fun, interactive quiz, plus blog entries from prominent cat writers.
Established 60 years ago the Morris Animal Foundation, headquartered in Denver, is now the world's largest non-profit dedicated to funding health research that treats, protects, and cures companion animals and wildlife. MAF is always on the forefront of cutting edge discoveries. The foundation serves as "research glue" uniting many of the most prestigious veterinary schools, scientists and donors. With this new Campaign the spotlight is on cats. MAF wants to provide veterinarians with better tools to help cats.
Diseases are more successfully treated if caught early but, sadly for a variety of reasons including Whiskers' reluctance to enter the dreaded carrier; cats visit clinics less often than dogs. According to the American Veterinary Association, the average cat-owning family sees the vet 1.7 times a year compared to 2.6 times for the dog-owning family. Owners tend to spend more time with dogs and view them more often as family members. Alas, cats and their air of independence can be partly to blame. Cats are also masters at hiding illness so they are less apt to visit the doctor for exams. Therefore, the MAF online initative clues owners into warning signs of illness.
MAF will also focus on improving feline diagnostics and treatments. Part of the Hill's donation will be used to establish an international coalition for feline genome research which will advise MAF on the potential use of genetic tools to determine causes and cures for common cat health maladies like cancer, diabetes, and kidney/bladder disease. Certain genetic mutations have been linked to feline diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in Persians.
Since each year millions of cats are surrendered to shelters because of preventable behavior problems, MAF set up the R.K. Anderson Animal Behavior Research Endowment which in part will support studies that help unravel the mysteries of feline behavior and strengthen the human-cat bond. On an individual level, the Cat Campaign directs frustrated owners to links for guidance from animal behaviorists and feline experts.
The following is a sampling of some MAF-funded cat success stories: * Development of the first feline leukemia vaccine. * As mentioned above, Dr. Julie Levy at the University of Florida tested a contraceptive vaccine that targets a hormone so a cat doesn't produce estrogen or testosterone. Over the 2 year study, a single vaccine prevented pregnancy in 73% of the female cats, offering a promising nonsurgical solution to curbing the staggering US feral population, estimated at 70 million cats.
* Pain management in pets is now a priority. Vets realize that cats react to medications differently. A recent study evaluated the effects of morphine on cats when given as an epidural. Results will help convalescing cats experience less discomfort.
* Shelter medicine is a new exciting veterinary field. Fighting infectious diseases with an ever changing shelter population is a huge challenge, and upper respiratory infections (URIs) can run rampant in crowded cat rooms. Treatment takes time and money, both precious commodities at shelters. Some cats succumb because they are sick; others are put down so they do not spread URIs to others. Dr. Aki Tanaka at the University of California-Davis is studying environmental and group risk factors that make shelter cats vulnerable to URIs to help devise disease prevention and treatment strategies that may someday benefit all shelter cats.
*Chronic renal disease is a leading cause of death in senior cats, but signs are so subtle that the condition is often discovered too late. Currently a simple urine test that measures a compound called felinine is being evaluated as a new diagnostic tool that may detect the problem earlier so cats can live longer, fuller lives.
I am a huge fan of MAF which will be funding 200 studies in 2009. The Happy Healthy Cat Campaign is just one of the foundations unprecedented global efforts to improve animal well-being. Read "Pets" archives 3/9/06 for an MAF overview or 6/14/07 to learn about the ongoing Canine Cancer Campaign. This holiday season, rather than buying something frivolous, consider honoring a beloved pet or animal loving friend by donating to MAF. Your gift contributes to a legacy of love for all creatures. For more information, call 800-243-2345 or visit MorrisAnimalFoundation.org.
Poster Pets for Adoption: I'd like to stray from Oyster Bay Shelter this week to feature 2 special pets needing homes. "Rolo", a Min Pin about 8 years old, originally at Hempstead Shelter, has been in a Last Hope foster home since July. He had successful surgery for bladder stones and is on meds for a chronic thyroid condition. Despite his medical woes, now under control, "Rolo" is a happy fellow who likes other dogs, but not cats. Call 631-957-0023.
"Ms. Mitts" this precious polydactyl calico kitten is technically my niece. On Halloween a family member found a litter of 5 babies that had been born in her work place parking lot. "Ms. Mitts" is the purrfect kitten and will be spayed as soon as she tips the scales at 2 pounds. Call 516-799-1735.


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To the editor:
When Red Cross Month began on March 1, a few weeks ago, we couldn't have predicted what would happen.
The very next day, deadly tornadoes ripped through communities in the Midwest and South, leaving thousands of families reeling as they struggled to clean up the wreckage of their homes and rebuild their lives.
Almost immediately, Red Cross relief was mobilized to the scene. Donations flooded in from all over the country, as our responders, volunteers, and supporters pitched in time and donated blood. It added up to an incredible outpouring of support that truly embodies the collective spirit of Red Cross Month.
Our work together this month continues to prove what we've always known: for the Red Cross community, everyone in need is a neighbor, whether they're down the street, across the country or around the world.
Whether you've recently donated, given blood, taken a class or received help after a disaster, we thank you, and we would love to hear from you share your Red Cross story today.
Thank you so much for all you do.
Gail McGovern
President and CEO
American Red Cross


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Indians roll on senior night
VENICE — Not much went right for Charlotte High School, and Venice could do no wrong during a 58-17 victory on Thursday night.
The Tarpons (6-19) struggled against Venice's in-your-face defense, which for the Indians created enough fast-break baskets in the first quarter to take a 26-1 lead. Senior Maggie Flynn was a pain early and often where the Tarpons were concerned, collecting four first-quarter steals and nine on the night.


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3rd annual TriAncilla
DONALDSON — Ancilla College has announced plans to host its third annual Tri Ancilla sprint triathlon on Saturday, May 21.
Located on the grounds of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ Ministry Center, the Tri Ancilla sprint triathlon will consist of a 500 yard swim, an 11 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run.
"Ancilla College is thrilled to once again be able to invite triathlon enthusiasts from both in and outside Indiana to come and experience the beauty of our campus grounds," said Todd Zeltwanger, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement at Ancilla College. "We look forward to a great turnout of participants and spectators again this year. In our first year, we had 75 participants, mainly from Indiana and Michigan. Last year, we increased to 110 participants from six different states. In 2011, we are hoping for 200 participants, which is our maximum."
Prizes will be offered to the first, second and third place winners in each age group, in addition to prizes for the overall men's and women's winners. Proceeds from the event will benefit student scholarship and tuition assistance programs at Ancilla College.
Those interested in registering for the event are encouraged to visit www.ancilla.edu and click on the Tri Ancilla link. Fees are currently $50 per person. Those who register after April 1 will be charged $55.00 and those registering after May 1 will be charged $60.00.
Relay teams may also participate in the event.
For those who are not currently members of USA Triathlon (USAT), a $10.00 fee will also be charged for the required one day USAT membership.
In addition to individual registrations, corporate sponsorship opportunities for the event are also available.
The Tri Ancilla sprint triathlon is part of the Michiana 3x3 Triathlon Series, joining the Eagle Lake and Niles triathlon events. The Eagle Lake triathlon is scheduled for August 6 and the Niles triathlon is scheduled for September 3. Tri-athletes can register for all three events and receive a $5 discount off of each race.
Pete Colan, the owner of Granger-based company Spin Zone Cycling, expressed his pleasure with Spin Zone acting as a primary sponsor of the Tri Ancilla sprint triathlon.
"Spin Zone is very proud to be part of the Tri Ancilla sprint triathlon as a sponsor and competitor," said Colan. "Personally, Ancilla is the event I will always participate in because the Ancilla College campus is an ideal venue for a sprint triathlon. The campus is beautiful, quiet and secluded and the race course is challenging, fun, and well supported.
"We are also very excited that the Ancilla triathlon kicks off the Michiana 3X3 series, which gives our local athletes a chance to face-off throughout the year in Michiana and compete for a series award. There may be a chill in the air now, but by May it will warm up to be a great month for the first triathlon of the year."
Colan advised participants to come equipped with a wetsuit for the event and have their bikes checked ahead of time for any potential issues.
For more information on the event or corporate sponsorship opportunities, please contact Zeltwanger at 574-936-8898 Ext. 345.


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With the weather beginning to cool down, the season of the sniffles is about to begin.
With the weather beginning to cool down, the season of the sniffles is about to begin.
Doctors are urging Louisiana residents to get the flu shot to protect themselves, coworkers, friends and family from the disease.
The virus changes itself genetically every single year, and doctors have to regularly alter vaccines to keep up with the flu, said Frank Welch, state immunization director.
"It's a very smart bug," Welch said. "That's why it's important every single year to get a flu shot."
The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone over the age of 6 months should get a flu shot. Vaccines are available at many doctors' offices, pharmacies, hospitals and health clinics.
Welch said getting your annual vaccine is important because the flu is one of the most common illnesses people get. But the seriousness of the disease can vary, sometimes putting you in bed for a few days with a fever and sniffles or sometimes causing complications that can put you in the hospital or even kill you.
Studies have found that people who get flu shots are present for five more school or work days than people who don't, Welch added.
Flu season in the U.S. typically begins in October but doesn't peak in Louisiana until January, Welch said. But the disease is often unpredictable and can strike at any time.
The flu can be more serious than many people realize, Welch said. Every year, more than 250,000 Americans are hospitalized with the flu and 36,000 people die from the virus.
Vaccination is especially important for those who are at a higher risk of developing flu-related complications, including:
n Children younger than age 5
n Adults 65 and older
n Pregnant women
n People who have a weakened immune system or chronic medical conditions such as obesity, asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease.
But it's also important for the people who interact with those vulnerable populations to get vaccinated too, such as caregivers of the elderly, ill or children too young for the shot.
Mimia Brown, 33, a Thibodaux resident, said she and her children have asthma. The family makes it a point to get flu shots every year.
"My children and I have never had the flu and don't intend on getting it," Brown said. "We also get the pneumonia vaccine every five years. Before receiving the pneumonia vaccine my youngest and I were hospitalized due to the illness. If I can prevent my children from being hospitalized with a vaccine, we will always be the first in line."
Many readers said they do not get the flu shot because they worry about the chemicals in the shot or developing complications from it. Many worried that you could get the flu from the shot.
"I was sick for a few days after having my first flu shot," said Daisy Thompson, 28, a resident of Sunset. "We actually do not get the shot anymore because we are not in a high-risk category, nor are we in the position to expose someone who is high risk."
She said if she was at higher risk of developing complications from the flu she might change her mind, but for now she avoids all unnecessary vaccines.
Welch said one of the questions he's most frequently asked is whether you can get the flu from the flu shot.
"Mostly, the answer is no," he said.
You need the whole virus to get the flu, and the shot only contains specific pieces of the flu virus' genetic material, Welch said. The nasal spray vaccine does contain the virus, but in a severely weakened form, he said. Some people get an extremely mild form of the flu from the spray.
But usually people who think they got sick from the flu virus probably caught an illness unrelated to the vaccine before they got the shot, Welch said.
Suzanne Hubbell, 34, a resident of Prarieville, said she nearly died from acute respiratory distress syndrome, a condition that prevents oxygen from getting into the lungs and the blood. She got it from a hospital-acquired infection, but she said many people develop it as a complication from the flu.
She now supports flu shots.
"Educate and inform yourselves about the shot before jumping to any conclusions," Hubbell said. "The flu shot could absolutely save your life or the life of any immune-compromised person you are around daily. Ignorance about this issue isn't bliss. It could be deadly."
With the holiday season approaching, lots of illnesses will be passed around, Welch said.
To keep yourself healthy this flu season, wash your hands often with soap and water, and avoid touching your nose and mouth, which can spread germs. Disinfect surfaces such as door knobs, faucets, phones and keyboards. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and avoid contact with sick people.
If you do get sick, stay home until you're fever free without medication for at least 24 hours.
Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or email@example.com.


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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police in Philadelphia say a teenager was fatally wounded by gunfire when a man fleeing two gunmen apparently tried to get into the house where she was baby-sitting.
Investigators say the 19-year-old woman was pronounced dead just after 9 p.m. in the city's Wynnefield Heights neighborhood.
Lt. John Walker tells the Philadelphia Daily News two armed men were shooting at a man who ran onto the porch of the home and tried to get inside. The woman was shot in the head when she opened the door.
Walker says the man who was running from the shooters is in custody. Police are still searching for the shooters.


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Remember last month when I did a post on the IRS buying Remington 870 short barreled shotguns?
Go to Dave Workman's Examiner column here, entitled, "Why does Department of Education need 12-gauge shotguns?"
Go to the link above and read the whole thing, but here's one snippet:
Federal and state law across the American landscape (and certainly here in Washington State) almost uniformly declares schools to be "gun-free zones," yet the U.S. Department of Education is in the process of purchasing more than two-dozen short-barreled police-style shotguns which are supposed to be delivered by March 22 to an address in Chicago, IL.
A source in New York stumbled over the solicitation notice, which carries the number: EDOOIG-10-000004.
The purchase is for 27 Remington Model 870 pump-action shotguns with 14-inch modified choke barrels (the legal minimum length for private citizens is 18 inches without a special license). These shotguns are to be fitted with Wilson Combat ghost ring rear sights, Knoxx adjustable stocks and Speedfeed fore-ends.
Here's another:
While this revelation may raise a few eyebrows, here's something else to think about: Last August, Winchester Ammunition announced that it had been awarded a contract by the Department of Homeland Security to supply the division of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) with a maximum of 200 million rounds of .40 S&W-caliber ammunition over the next five years. That's just over 3.3 million rounds a month for a 60-month period.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Winchester Ammunition was recently awarded a contract by the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security to supply a maximum of 200 million, 40 cal. rounds over the next five years.
Winchester produces superb ammunition and this is certainly an economic shot in the arm for a company that has served American shooters and hunters faithfully for generations. But what is ICE doing with 3.3 million rounds of ammunition a month? That seems to be a great deal of shooting, whether it is on the practice range or in the field.
It's just your tax dollars at work.
And ICE is just one department. I guess they know something we don't know.
But still, it ain't gonna be NEARLY enough.


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<snip>People who want this level of detail are probably in regular contact with you anyway.
I like them. I get them from friends I want to keep in touch with, but we don't live in the same state and that is the one time of year we devote to "catching up" with each other. Of course now facebook kind of takes care of that.
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Hideo Kojima himself reveals all about the GDC announcement, Joakim Mogren and even information on how Ground Zeroes relates to Metal Gear Solid V in this interview!
He pretty much confirms that Ground Zeroes and MGSV:TPP will be released separately. They are both open world, but Phantom Pain is much bigger.
Mark my words, Ground Zero will be released later this year on PS3/360
then we will have MGS5 Phantom Pain for next gen consoles
Kojima is a genius, I blindly trust him. Metal Gear Solid games never fail to amaze me, not because of graphics or gameplay, because of deep massages that was conveyed throughout the series, massages about war and peace, the danger of nuclear powers...etc along with the mature and excellent dialogues. no other game series has ever been able to pull off such feat.
I always wondered of people who hated the CODEC calls, or the game cutscenes, every single word has a meaning, every single word in those calls or cutscenes was foretelling something in the future or in the past....few people can understand this level of greatness.
Thank you Kojima for creating this Masterpiece


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Published: 2012/11/28
Futurebirds to Appear on New Camper Van Beethoven Album
Next year, Camper Van Beethoven will celebrate both the 30th anniversary of their 1983 first concert and the release of their tenth album La Costa Perdida. But instead of simply revisiting their past, the members of Camper Van Beethoven are looking forward and have recruited Athens, GA group—and recent Bonnaroo stars—Futurebirds to add harmony vocals on the first single "Northern California Girls."
CVB's David Lowery says, "I love Futurebirds. They are from Athens, where we were mixing the record. Some of them were in studio next door working on an album."
Thomas Johnson of Futurebirds adds, "We were honored to have a part on an album by a band as historic and influential as Camper. We'll never forget it. David is one of those special musicians who is just as good at engineering and producing as he is at songwriting, and it was really cool to get to conspire with someone that talented and accomplished."
Camper Van Beethoven will kick off their New Year's run with intertwined band Cracker at Solana Beach CA's Belly Up Tavern on December 27. Futurebirds will host their End of the World Party at Atlanta, GA's Terminal West on December 21 and 22.


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Participants were college students whose politics ranged from "very liberal" to "very conservative." They were instructed to tap a keyboard when an M appeared on a computer monitor and to refrain from tapping when they saw a W.Do you find yourself blocking the distracting information that is this study? You may be a conservative.
M appeared four times more frequently than W, conditioning participants to press a key in knee-jerk fashion whenever they saw a letter.
Each participant was wired to an electroencephalograph that recorded activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that detects conflicts between a habitual tendency (pressing a key) and a more appropriate response (not pressing the key). Liberals had more brain activity and made fewer mistakes than conservatives when they saw a W, researchers said. Liberals and conservatives were equally accurate in recognizing M....
Lead author David Amodio, an assistant professor of psychology at New York University, cautioned that the study looked at a narrow range of human behavior and that it would be a mistake to conclude that one political orientation was better. The tendency of conservatives to block distracting information could be a good thing depending on the situation, he said.
IN THE COMMENTS: I love this response from Pogo:
"conservatives tend to be more structured and persistent in their judgments whereas liberals are more open to new experiences. "Another issue I see now is: Which students volunteer to do psychological tests? It may be that liberal students want to help further science and conservative students are showing up for the cash. The conservative finds the most efficient way to get what he wants, which is the cash. Why bother getting the answers right? Also, there is the matter of which students self-identify as "conservative" -- especially among the students who chose to attend New York University and UCLA, where the study was done. These may be very usual people. Meanwhile, most students call themselves "liberal" at these places -- I assume. You may not be comparing the brains of conservatives and liberals, but of oddball outsiders and average kids.
Read: Liberals are good people. Conservatives are stupid, unable to tell one letter from another.
Or: Liberals have no standards, and can be made to believe anything at all, no matter how ridiciulous.
... Conservatives quickly discover how to avoid time-wasting. Recognizing the preponderance of Ms over Ws, vote M. Spending valuable thought on being precise aboout M vs W is a waste of your time. The more crucuial question is: when the incentive to be right is correct, who is more accurate? For example, why spend effort on trivial matter whose consequences of being wrong are zero?
I read the study. In contrast to their interpretation, it tells me that liberals easily do what they're told. Conservatives resist.
ADDED: A neuroscientist trashes the study:
... 91% of the variance in accuracy was attributable to factors other than political orientation. Moreover, they do not present a figure of this data as they did for their other results. When a correlation is this small (.30), it can be heavily influenced by the performance of a very small number of subjects who may be outliers.
A related point on the possibility of a small number of subjects influencing the data. They don't report the numbers of subjects who were liberal versus conservatives but perusal of one of their figures indicates that they had a grand total of 7 subjects who were on the conservative side of '0'. This is totally inadequate for any behavioral study. They also don't report the gender breakdown of the subjects by political orientation. There is strong bias to females in the study (63%) but, as you know, there is a very strong likelihood that the males were over-represented among the conservative participants (this is not reported). This may sound like a trivial factor but it is not. I can tell you from my own experiences in testing university students in dozens of studies on cognitive abilities that the typical university male could not give a crap about how they perform in psychology lab experiments. This is a critical factor if there is a tendency for the conservatives in their study to also be males.