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In landlord disputes, complainants get bounced around
Norwich - The Better Business Bureau closed Donna Butler's complaint against Zane Megos and referred her to the state attorney general's office or to state Consumer Protection.
The Norwich housing and building inspectors told Butler "our hands are tied," and referred her to city police and Small Claims Court.
"We just didn't know where else to go," Butler said.
An investigation by The Day has found that, since 2009, Megos has been accepting cash deposits and rent for apartments that were in condemned buildings or that he did not own and therefore were unavailable.
A number of those people with complaints about Megos' business dealings, however, have been frustrated in their attempts to get reimbursement of down payments. Municipal and state agencies have just referred them to other agencies.
Butler had taken money out of her 401k retirement fund and borrowed money from a friend in late December to help her daughter, Racheal Perry, put down the $1,785 needed to pay Megos to secure an apartment at 75 Fourth St. - in a building that had been condemned since September.
Many Norwich city departments are aware of Megos and have heard complaints about cash paid for apartments that are never provided. But those complaints often fall through the cracks of regulatory authority. Most of the tenants are never housed, so they do not qualify for either rental assistance or relocation funds Norwich Human Services, Director Beverly Goulet said.
Human Services and the city assessor's office have referred people to Small Claims Court and the police. Several would-be tenants told The Day they have filed police complaints, but the police would not say whether they are investigating.
Lisa Lassiter filed a complaint with the state attorney general's office Nov. 9, 2009, claiming she gave Megos a $1,400 deposit on a home purchase that never came to fruition.
"Unfortunately, this matter is a private legal dispute between you and Mr. Megos," then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal responded on Feb. 7, 2010. "However, given the amount in question, this matter would be appropriate for Small Claims Court in your area."
Lassiter had already filed a complaint in Small Claims Court in November 2009 for $1,400, but the case was dismissed in 2011 when she did not file an amended complaint and no parties showed up for a court hearing.
The Better Business Bureau merely offers to mediate disputes between willing parties. In Donna Butler's case, Megos did not respond to "multiple" attempts by the bureau to contact him, and the BBB "is obligated to close your complaint as a 'no response.'" Megos' Meyers & Bailey Investment Co., however, was given a D- rating on the BBB website as a result of the lack of a response.
Megos does not have a valid state real estate license, so he is prohibited from marketing apartments for rent or accepting rent money on buildings that he does not own, according to Claudette Carveth, spokeswoman for the state Department of Consumer Protection.
Megos voluntarily turned in his license on May 22, 2006, after the department received a complaint that he had forged the signature of a building owner in a sales contract.
"In order to act, we would need complaints from individuals that contend they rented an apartment from an unlicensed individual," Carveth said.
In an interview Tuesday at the New London office of his attorney, Harry Traystman, Megos said he does not need a real estate license "because I'm an investor."
Regular inspections
The Norwich Housing Management Team, which is headed by Human Services staff, has alerted city building inspectors when they hear about attempts to rent the condemned properties.
Assistant Building Official Greg Arpin said he had visited the five-family house at 75 Fourth St. about once every two weeks to make sure no one was living there. Frequently he found open doors, but no tenants.
On April 23, as he was reposting bright yellow condemnation signs, two people approached and told him they had paid a deposit to rent an apartment there seven months earlier and wondered if it was ready. Arpin said he referred them to Norwich police.
Norwich Code Enforcement Officer George Gardner has been keeping tabs on the three-family house at 25 Rogers Ave. since it was condemned in 2009.
A lengthy file in the building department includes a hand-written note stating Norwich social workers had learned that Megos had purchased the building and was attempting to rent it. Gardner scribbled on July 1, 2009, that he "left a message bldg has not been approved for re-occupancy." On March 21, 2011, Gardner sent a letter to DECO Drive LLC, the Megos company that owns the building.
"It has come to the attention of this department that an attempt to rent the lower level apartment has been made," Gardner wrote. He attached a copy of the condemnation order and wrote that inspections and approvals would be needed from both the building office and the city fire marshal.
Constitution State Mortgage, which filed for foreclosure on 25 Rogers Ave. in August 2010, claimed that Megos' company had failed to make any renovations or obtain property insurance. Megos in turn blamed the mortgage company for not releasing funds and is contesting the case, which is pending.
Day reporter recognized for investigation into Norwich landlord
Norwich police conducting investigation into Megos' apartment dealings
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Barbara Dobbs has been with Mary Kay in several positions since 1985. On Tuesday, Dobbs earned her 13th career pink Cadillac-- an iconic symbol of success within the Mary Kay company.
The new Cadillac comes in pearlized pink- a color unique to the Mary Kay Career Car Program.
Dobbs started as an independent beauty consultant and made her way through the ranks to her current position of independent sales director. As an independent sales director, Dobbs provides education, leadership and motivation to other Mary Kay consultants.
More than 7,300 Mary Kay sales members have qualifed career cars, with more than 1,400 of those being pink Cadillacs.
Dobbs chose the SRX.

subset: commoncrawl


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mlapato needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 94 designs submitted by 27 freelance designers.
New Colorado landscape company looking for logo to be designed. Would like to use imagery of a leaf gently floating towards the ground.
Second Nature Landscape
Leaf coming off the tree, gently floating towards the ground. Don't need to see the tree itself
Leaf floating towards ground
Classy, powerful design
Dont need to see the tree itself, just the leaf falling from it.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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During the 14th century the city of Antwerp commissioned the construction of a new cathedral. Due to a failing budget, the city ran out of money and construction was brought to a halt. While the structure did meet functionality, it unfortunately lost one of the towers planned in its original design. This absence has left an overhanging sense of incompleteness to the building, but a competition called "Designing the Absent" is challenging designers to generate a new idea to fill this void. One entry that caught our attention is this beautiful design by Tim Hobbelman and Chris Idema that forgoes overwhelming Ghery curves and Meier starkness for an organic and self-sufficient solar powered eco tower.
The duo's new tower framework follows the shape of the original tower. It has been designed with living wall panels able to maintain a consistent water supply for the vegetation adhering to the façade. Rainwater that falls upon the tower will be collected at the base of the vegetation panels, and the water is then redistributed through a sprinkler system that serves the entirety of the tower.
The energy needed to support the watering system will be provided via the use of "amorphous silicon" semi-transparent solar cells placed at each window of the structure. The foliage-focused tower also creates a natural environment that offers a habitat for birds and other wildlife that have been displaced by urban development. And who can deny that this bold green tower also provides a lively and bright contrast to the gray skies of Antwerp?


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It's time for millions of Americans to take a moment out of their lunch breaks and give thanks to their fellow taxpayers.
Burgers, tacos, pizzas, hot dogs, egg rolls, chicken nuggets, french fries and all the other greasy delights that our fast-food industry cooks up would not be as cheap as they are today without taxpayer subsidies.
There is no free lunch. There is not even, really, a Dollar Menu.
The fast-food industry costs U.S. taxpayers about $7 billion a year, according to a report released this week. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois said this subsidy comes about because 52% of fast-food workers are paid so poorly that they must rely on public assistance programs such as Medicaid and earned income tax credits.
The National Employment Law Project jointly issued another report showing that the largest fast-food companies, by employee count, could afford to pay their employees better.
Last year, of the 10 largest fast-food chains, the seven that are publicly traded earned a combined $7.44 billion in annual profits: McDonald's Corp. MCD, +0.20% , Yum Brands Inc. YUM, +0.54% (KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut), Burger King Worldwide Inc. US:BKW , Wendy's Co. WEN, -0.28% , Dunkin Brands Group Inc. DNKN, +0.96% , Sonic Corp. US:SONC and Dominos Pizza Inc. DPZ, +3.04%
They also put up $7.6 billion for dividends and stock buybacks, and they gave $52.7 million to their highest-paid executives, the NELP report said.
Both studies were sponsored by Fast Food Forward, a progressive group that wants these restaurants to pay their workers at least $15 an hour. They also demand benefits such as health care and paid sick days.
This is a gutsy demand in a nation where the president can't seem to get the federal minimum wage raised from $7.25 to $9 an hour.
It's even gutsier to bring it up during a week when some government workers aren't getting paid anything, and when a global economic collapse looms as just one bad decision away.
But these are desperate times. Fast-food workers aren't the teenagers of decades past. After five years of abysmal job growth following the 2008 financial crisis, these are increasingly the only jobs available for low-skilled workers. Most fast-food workers are now older than age 20, and 68% percent are the main wage earners in their families, according to one of the studies.
Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is currently 20% less than it was in 1967. Any employer who pays it is costing someone else money.
We have heard similar arguments applied to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT, +0.16% and other low-paying employers. When their employees need medical care they turn up in emergency rooms, indigent and uninsured. When they need to feed their families, they apply for food stamps. People who work shouldn't have to be this poor.
They could give every fast-food worker in this country a one-time $100,000 bonus and it wouldn't even add up to a rounding error in the hundreds of billions we gave the banks.
And it's difficult to find a more potent symbol of the gap between rich and poor than the Golden Arches. Last year, McDonald's gave its CEO Don Thompson a compensation package worth $13.7 million, or more than 558 times what McDonald's employees make after holding down two jobs.
Most Americans don't seem to care about this gap as long as they get their $1 McDouble cheeseburgers. Even people running around with corporate expense accounts are often reduced to eating Big Macs.
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McDonald's and Subway ranked among the top-five most expensed restaurants for people turning in corporate expense reports, according to a recently survey by Certify, an online travel and expense management solution provider.
If taxpayers are indeed subsidizing fast-food restaurants, they are also subsidizing the corporations who pay for their traveling employees to eat there.
Fast-food restaurants are imposing even more costs on society as likely culprits in America's obesity crisis. A study earlier by John Cawley and Chad Meyerhoefer said obesity adds $190 billion a year to annual medical costs.
People used to joke about the government paying people to dig a hole and then fill it. Now it apparently pays to fatten Americans, and then it pays for their health care.
But at least a taxpayer-subsidized cheeseburger tastes better than dirt.


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NEWPORT Gwent Dragons say young flanker Sam Lewis has apologised after last week committing to join the Rodney Parade region before then reversing that decision.
The Dragons announced the signing of Lewis from Welsh rivals the Ospreys but were forced into an embarrassing climbdown when the player changed his mind.
A Dragons statement released this afternoon reads: "Sam Lewis has personally apologised to Newport Gwent Dragons for the contractual confusion caused last week.
"Lewis gave his initial commitment to Gwent Dragons, but then signed a full contract with the Ospreys allowing him to remain at the region."
Director of rugby Lyn Jones said: "Sam is a young man who now realises the seriousness of any future actions.
"It's been an unusual episode and as a region we are now drawing a line under this event and moving forward."


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(1) When the work of the doctor and the surgeon in relation to the physical body is recognised as essential and good, when the analysis and conclusions of the psychologist supplement their work, and when the power of right thought comes likewise as an aid, then and only then, shall we enter upon a new era of well-being . . .
At present there is little coherent and integrated work done in unison by the four groups:
1. Physicians and surgeons - orthodox and academic.
2. Psychologists, neurologists and psychiatrists.
3. Mental healers and New Thought workers, plus Unity thinkers, and Christian Scientists.
4. Trained disciples and those who work with the souls of men.
When these four groups can be brought into close relation, and can work together for the release of humanity from disease, we shall then arrive at an understanding of the true wonder of the human being. We shall some day have hospitals in which the four phases of this one medical and remedial work will proceed side by side, and in the fullest co-operation. Neither group can do a complete task without the others; all are interdependent.
It is the inability of these groups to recognise the good in the other groups striving for the physical well-being of humanity, which makes it almost impossible for me to do more specific teaching, and more direct talking on these matters. Have you any idea of the wall of antagonistic thinking and speech against which a new or pioneering idea has to batter itself? Have you ever seriously considered the aggregated and crystallised thought-forms, with which all such new ideas (and shall I call them hierarchical proposals) have to contend? Do you appreciate the dead weight of preconceived and ancient determinations which have to be moved before the Hierarchy can cause a new and needed concept to penetrate into the consciousness of the average thinking (or again should I say, unthinking?) public? The field of medicine is a most difficult field in which to work, for the subject is so [Page 353] intimate, and fear enters so strongly into the reactions of those who must be reached. The gulf between the old and established, and the new and the spiritually demanded, needs much long and careful bridging. A great deal of the difficulty is, curiously enough, to be found fostered by the newer schools of thought. Orthodox medicine is slow, and rightly slow, in adopting new techniques and methods; it is at times too slow, but the case of the new mode of treatment or diagnosis must be rightly proven, and statistically proven, before it can be incorporated in the medical curriculum and method; the risks to the human subject are too great, and the good humanitarian physician will not make his patient the subject of experimentation. However, within the last few decades, medicine has advanced by leaps and bounds, the science of electricity and light therapy, and many other modern techniques and methods, have already been added to the various other sciences of which medicine avails itself. The demands of the intangible, and the treatment of the nebulous - if such peculiar terms are in order - are being recognised increasingly, and are known to play an orthodox and recognised part in the newer approaches to disease.
The approach of the mental schools and cults, as they erroneously call themselves, has not proceeded so helpfully. This is largely their fault. Schools of thought such as Mental Science, New Thought, Unity, Christian Science, Chiropractic enterprise, the efforts of Naturopaths, and many others, hurt their cause, owing to the large claims which they make, and to their unceasing attacks upon orthodox medicine, and other channels of proven helpfulness, and upon the knowledge (acquired over centuries of experimentation) of the academic schools of medicine and surgery. They forget that many of their claims to success (and they are often irrefutable) can be classed under the general heading of faith cures, and this can be done correctly or incorrectly. Such cures have been long recognised by the academic thinker, and known to be factual. These cults which are in fact the custodians of needed truths, need above everything else to change their approach, and to learn the spiritual nature of compromise in these days of evolutionary unfoldment. Their ideas cannot come into full and desired usefulness apart from the already God-given knowledge which medicine down the ages has accumulated; they need also to keep a record of their numerous failures, as well as the successes which they loudly proclaim. I would here point out that these successes are in no way so numerous as those of orthodox medicine, and of the beneficent work done by the clinics of our hospitals, which - in spite of failures, and often gross stupidity - greatly ameliorate the pains and ills of the masses of men. These cults omit to state, [Page 354] or even to recognise, that in cases of extreme illness or accident, the patient is physically unable to affirm or claim divine healing, and is dependent upon the work of some healer who works with no knowledge of the karma of the patient. Many of their so-called cures (and this is the case also with orthodox medicine) are cures because the hour of the end has not yet arrived for the patient, and he would have recovered in any case, though he often does so more rapidly, owing to the remedial measures of the trained physician.
In cases of serious accident, where the injured person will bleed, the cultist (no matter what his cult may be called) will perforce avail himself of the methods of the orthodox physician; he will apply a tourniquet, for instance, and take the measures which orthodox medicine enjoins, rather than stand by and see the injured person die because these methods are not used. When he is face to face with death, he will frequently turn to the tried and proved methods of help, and will usually call in a physician, rather than be charged with murder.
All the above is said in no spirit of disparagement, but in an effort to prove that the many schools of thought - orthodox, academic, ancient, material or spiritual, new, pioneering or mental - are interdependent; they need to be brought together into one great healing science. This will be a science which will heal the whole man, and bring into play all the resources - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual - of which humanity is capable. Orthodox medicine is more open to co-operation with the newer cults, than are the neophytes of the science of mental control of disease; they cannot, however, permit their patients to be turned into guinea pigs (is not that the term used in these cases, brother of mine?) for the satisfaction of the pioneering cultist, and the proving of his theories - no matter how correct when applied in conjunction with what has already been proved. The middle way of compromise and of mutual co-operation, is ever the wisest, and this is a lesson much needed today in every department of human thinking. (17 - 253/7)
(2) Each point made by me could form the basis of prolonged discussion, but (in this treatise) that is not possible, for I seek only to give indication of future possibilities. I seek also to foment distrust in the present approach of the metaphysical world to this subject of disease and its cure, and to undermine - if I may use so drastic an expression - the confidence of the public in so-called New Age modes of healing, in the methods of Christian Scientists, of Mental Science, and all those schools of thought which deal with healing from the angle of affirmation - affirmation of [Page 355] man's divinity and the claim that that inherent and innate divinity guarantees his healing. This claim is a glamour and a delusion, as I have oft sought to show. (17 - 558).
(3) Mental Science is right in its recognition that it is the emotions of men (as expressed in that feeble imitation of reality which they call thought) which are responsible for much disease. They are right in their effort to make the patient change his emotional attitudes, and to react to life and circumstances and people along a different line. But they are hopelessly wrong in believing that that is sufficient; in their ignoring of all scientific procedures connected with the etheric body, they have nothing which relates the emotional nature to the physical vehicle, and therefore there is a gap in their reasoning, and a consequent fault in their technique. This renders their activities futile, except from the character angle. When they do bring about a healing, it is because in any case the patient was predestined to recover, but they have served a useful purpose in correcting a character condition, in which he was in constant danger of disease. They have not wrought a cure, and in claiming it, both the healer and the patient are deceived. All deception is dangerous and hindering. (17 - 560/1).
(4) At present, in the modern world, there is no true system of spiritual healing taught to would-be healers. There is instead an effort to base the whole procedure, plus the techniques employed, on purely mental levels, on systems of affirmation, modes of prayer, stimulation of the patient's will-to-live, and occasionally the use of magnetic or hypnotic passes in relation to the etheric body; various forms of applied subjective thinking are taught, but no true formula for an intelligent and expected cure, only the vague faith of the healer and of the patient and a blind autosuggestion as to what the recognition and affirmation of divinity ought to produce (17 - 644).
(5) The agents of the second ray started their preparation around the year 1825, and moved outward in force soon after 1860. From that date on, great concepts and new ideas, and the modern ideologies and arguments for and against aspects of the truth, have characterised modern thought and produced the present mental chaos, and the many conflicting schools and ideologies, with their attendant movements and organisations; out of all these, order and truth and the new civilisation will emerge. (13 - 678/9).
(6) You do not need to identify yourself with any particular school. Each of them embodies the attempt of the human mind to understand, subjectively and objectively, the nature and purpose of man's evolution. All of them are partially right in their conclusions and largely wrong; all of them [Page 356] are only preparatory to the new and coming school of psychology which will be the distinguishing attitude of the New Age. (5 - 644/5). See also: (17 - 279/81).
(1) May I in all earnest offer to you the paradoxical injunction to work with utter earnestness, and yet at the same time to refuse to work with such earnestness, and not to take yourself so earnestly? Those who stand on the inner side, and study the work of the world aspirants today, see an almost pitiful distress of individual deficiency, a sustained and strenuous effort on their part to "make themselves what they ought to be", and yet at the same time a distressing lack of proportion, and no sense of humour whatsoever. I urge upon you to cultivate both these qualities. Do not take yourself so seriously, and you will find that you will release yourself for freer and more potent work. Take the Plan seriously and the call to serve, but waste not time in constant self-analysis. (4 - 635).
(2) There are two things that every disciple must some day learn, my brother. One is to cultivate the ability to "sit light in the saddle" (to use an old proverbial injunction) and the other is to develop a sense of humour, a real (not forced) capacity to laugh at oneself and with the world. This is one of the compensations which comes to those who can succeed in working in the light upon the mental plane. (5 - 414).
(1) I have pointed out to you that the basic qualities for which we look, are sensitivity, impersonality, psychic capacity and mental polarisation . . . What exactly is sensitivity? It does not mean primarily that you are a "sensitive soul" - the connotation of which usually means that you are thin-skinned, self-centred and always on the defensive! Rather do I refer to the capacity whereby you are enabled to expand your consciousness so that you become aware of ever-widening ranges of contact. I refer to the ability to be alive, alert, keen to recognise relationships, quick to react to need, mentally, emotionally and physically attentive to life, and rapidly developing the power to observe upon all three planes in the three worlds simultaneously . . . The sensitivity which I want to see developed is alertness [Page 357] to soul contact, impressionability to the "voice of the Teacher", an aliveness to the impact of new ideas, and to the delicacy of intuitional responsiveness. These are ever the hallmark of the true disciple. It is spiritual sensitivity which must be cultivated. (5 - 47).
(2) This growth in sensitivity is difficult to understand. The members of a Master's group and of His Ashram have to become increasingly sensitive - sensitive to the Master and to His pledged workers. You cannot be made sensitive or be rendered sensitive by some type of process or ordered training. Men and women are sensitive, only they do not know it, being so preoccupied with other matters, with form life and objective things. Let me put it this way: What you say to yourself and to others - through your spoken words or your life - is so noisy, that it is not easy to be what you are, and to be recognised as a spiritual being. The Master is guided by what He knows of you in your quiet moments of aspiration, by what you have demonstrated for years to be your fixed life tendency, and by the manner in which you react at moments of crisis or tension. The task of the Master is to stimulate the disciple to be at all times what He knows him to be at his highest times . . . Many have reached the point where they may become sensitive if the loud assertions of personality are dimmed, and the light of the soul is permitted to pour through. Then the Master can be known and contacted. When you can get away from yourselves and your personal reactions, your own interpretations, and your personal demands, you will discover for yourselves how and in what manner the Master is seeking to impress you and the group with which you may be affiliated. You will become sensitive to that impression. (5 - 710/1).
Serenity and peace are not identical. Peace must ever be temporary, and refers to the world of feeling, and to conditions susceptible of disturbance. It is essential to progress, and an inevitable happening that every step forward is marked by disturbances, by points of crisis and chaos, replaced later (when successfully handled) by periods of peace. But this peace is not serenity, and a chela is only permitted to dwell within the Master's aura when serenity has been substituted for peace. Serenity signifies that deep calm, devoid of emotional disturbance, which distinguishes the disciple who is focussed in a "mind held steady in the light". The surface of his life may be (from the worldly angle) in a state of violent flux. All that he [Page 358] cherishes and holds dear in the three worlds may be crashing around him. But in spite of all, he stands firm, poised in soul consciousness and the depths of his life remain undisturbed. This is not insensitivity or a forced auto-suggestion, neither is it a capacity to exteriorise the consciousness in such a manner that individual events and happenings are ignored. It is intensity of feeling transmuted into focussed understanding. When this has been attained, the chela has the right to live within the aura of the Master. There is nothing now in him which will require the Master to sidetrack His attention from vital efforts to the unimportant task of helping the disciple. (5 - 750).
(1) Out of duty, perfectly performed, will emerge those larger duties which we call world work; out of the carrying of family responsibilities will come that strengthening of our shoulders which will enable us to carry those of the larger group. (4 - 70).
(2) Thus humanity serves, and in the development of a conscious aptitude for service, in the growth of a conscious understanding of the individual part to be played in the working out of the Plan, and in the rendering of the personality subject to the soul, will come the steady progress of humanity towards its goal of world service. (4 - 101).
(3) The Master looks not at a worker's worldly force or status, not at the numbers of people who are gathered around his personality, but at the motives which prompt his activity and at the effect of his influence upon his fellowmen. True service is the spontaneous outflow of a loving heart and an intelligent mind; it is the result of being in the right place and staying there; it is produced by the inevitable inflow of spiritual force and not by strenuous physical plane activity; it is the effect of a man's being what he truly is, a divine Son of God, and not by the studied effect of his words or deeds. A true server gathers around him those whom it is his duty to serve and aid by the force of his life and his spiritualised personality, and not by his claims or loud speaking. In self-forgetfulness he serves; in self-abnegation he walks the earth, and he gives no thought to the magnitude or the reverse of his accomplishment, and has no pre-conceived ideas as to his own value or usefulness. He lives, serves, works and influences, asking nothing for the separated self. (4 - 188/9).
[Page 359]
(4) I urge upon each and all. . . the necessity for renewed effort to fit themselves for service by a conscious and deliberate effort to develop the intuition and to achieve illumination. Every human being who reaches the goal of light and wisdom, automatically has a field of influence which extends both up and down, and which reaches both inwards to the source of light, and outwards into the "fields of darkness". When he has thus attained, he will become a conscious centre of life giving force, and will be so without effort. He will stimulate, energise, and vivify to fresh efforts all lives that he contacts, be they his fellow aspirants, or an animal, or a flower. He will act as a transmitter of light in the darkness. He will dispel the glamour around him, and let in the radiance of reality.
When large numbers of sons of men can so act, then the human family will enter upon its destined work of planetary service. Its mission is to act as a bridge between the world of spirit and the world of material forms. All grades of matter meet in man, and all the states of consciousness are possible to him. Mankind can work in all directions, and lift the subhuman kingdoms into heaven, and bring heaven down to earth. (4 - 538).
(5) This call to service usually meets with a response, but that response is coloured by the personality of the aspirant, and tinctured with his pride, and his ambition. Need is truly realised. The desire to meet the need is genuine and sincere; the longing to serve and lift is real. Steps are taken which are intended by the aspirant to enable him to fit in with the plan. But the trouble with which we on the inner side have perforce to deal is, that though there is
no question as to willingness and desire to serve, the characters and temperaments are such that wellnigh insuperable difficulties are presented. Through these aspirants we have to work, and the material they present gives us much trouble frequently. (4 - 622).
(6) It is easy to be glamoured by the beauty of one's own ideals and vision, and by the supposed rectitude of one's own position, and yet all the time be influenced subjectively by love of personal power, individual ambition, jealousy of other workers, and the many traps which catch the feet of the unwary disciple.
But if true impersonality is cultivated, if the power to stand steady is developed, if every situation is handled in a spirit of love, and if there is a refusal to take hasty action and to permit separation to creep in, then there will be the growth of a group of true servers, and the gathering out of those who can materialise the plan, and bring to birth the new age and its attendant wonders. (4 - 625).
(7) In rendering service, three things are of moment: . . .
[Page 360]
1. The motives for service.
These motives are threefold in order of their importance:
a. A realisation of God's plan of evolution, a sensing of the world's dire need, an apprehension of the immediate point of world attainment, and a consequent throwing of the total of one's resources into the furtherance of that end.
b. A definite personal goal of achievement, some great ideal - such as holiness of character - that calls forth the soul's best endeavour; or a realisation of the reality of the Masters of the Wisdom, and a strong inner determination to love, serve, and reach Them at all costs. When you have this intellectual grip of God's plan, coupled with a strong desire to serve the Great Ones, in physical plane activities will come the working out.
c. A realisation next of one's innate or acquired capacities, and a fitting of these capacities to the need appreciated. Service is of many kinds, and he who wisely renders it, who seeks to find his particular sphere, and who, finding it, gives effort gladly for the benefit of the whole, is the man whose own development proceeds steadily. But nevertheless, the aim of personal progress remains secondary.
2. The methods of service.
These are many and varied. I can but indicate the ones of paramount importance.
First and foremost comes, as I have often inculcated, the faculty of discrimination. He who considers that he can attempt all things, who baulks not at aught that happens his way, who rushes wildly in where wiser ones refrain, who considers he has capacity for that which arises, who brings zeal but not brains to bear on this problem of service, but dissipates force; he renders oft destructive action, he wastes the time of wiser and greater ones in the correcting of his well meant mistakes, and he serves no end but his own desires. The reward of good intention may be his, but it is frequently offset by the results of foolish action. He serves with discrimination who realises wisely his own niche, great or small, in the general scheme; who calculates soberly his mental and intellectual capacity, his emotional calibre, and his physical assets, and then, with the sum of the whole, applies himself to fill the niche.
He serves with discrimination who judges with the aid of his Higher Self and the Master, what is the nature and the measure of the problem to be solved, and is not guided by the well meant, though often ill-judged suggestions, requests and demands of his fellow-servers.
[Page 361]
He serves with discrimination who brings a realisation of time into action, and comprehending that each day contains but twenty-four hours, and that his capacity contains but the expenditure of just so much force, and no more, wisely adjusts his capacity and the time available to each other.
Next follows a wise control of the physical vehicle. A good server causes the Master no anxiety from physical causes, and may be trusted so to guard and husband his physical strength, that he is always available for the carrying out of the Master's requests. He does not fail from physical disability. He sees that his lower vehicle gets sufficient rest, and adequate sleep. He rises early and retires at a seemly hour. He relaxes whenever possible; he eats wholesome and suitable food, and refrains from heavy eating. A little food, well chosen and well masticated, is far better than a heavy meal. The human race eats these days, as a rule, four times as much as is required. He ceases from work when . . . his body reacts against action, and cries out for attention. He then seeks rest, sleep, dietary precautions and necessary medical attention. He obeys all wise instruction, giving time for his recovery.
The next step is steady care and control of the emotional body. This is the most difficult of the vehicles to tend, as is well known. No excessive emotion is permitted, though strong currents of love for all that breathe, are allowed to sweep through. Love, being the law of the system, is constructive and stabilising, and carries all on in line with the law. No fear or worry or care shake the emotional body of the aspiring servant of all. He cultivates serenity, stability, and a sense of secure dependence on God's law. A joyous confidence characterises his habitual attitude. He harbours no jealousy, no cloudy grey depression, and no greed or self-pity, but - realising that all men are brothers, and that all that exists is for all - he proceeds calmly on his way.
Then ensues the development of his mental vehicle. In the control of the emotional body, the server takes the attitude of elimination. His aim is so to train the emotional body, that it becomes devoid of colour, has a still vibration, and is clear and white, limpid as a pool on a summer's day. In fitting the mental body for service, the worker strives at the opposite of elimination; he seeks to build in information, to supply knowledge and facts, to train it intellectually and scientifically, so that it may prove, as time goes no, a stable foundation for the divine wisdom. Wisdom supersedes knowledge, yet requires knowledge as a preliminary step. You must remember that the server passes through the Hall of Learning prior to entering the Hall of Wisdom. In training the mind body, he seeks therefore orderly acquisition of knowledge, a supply of that which may be lacking, a sequen- [Page 362] tial grasp of the innate mental faculty accumulated in previous lives, and lastly, a steadying of the lower mind, so that the higher may dominate, and the creative faculty of thought may be projected through the stillness. . . . The negative stillness of the emotional body, makes it receptive to impression from above. The positive stillness of the mental body, leads to the higher inspiration.
Having sought to control and wisely use his personality in its three departments, the lover of humanity seeks perfection in action. No magnificent dreams of martyrdom, and the glorious yet ephemeral chimeras of spectacular service engross his attention, but the instant application of all his powers to the next duty, is the line of his endeavour. He knows that perfection in the foreground of his life, and in the details of his environing work, will cause accuracy in the background too, and result in a whole picture of rare beauty. Life progresses by small steps, but each step, taken at the right time, and each moment wisely occupied, leads to long distance covered, and a life well spent. Those Who guide the human family, test out all applicants for service in the small detail of everyday life, and he who shews a record of faithful action in the apparently non-essential, will be moved into a sphere of greater moment. How, in an emergency or crisis, can They depend on someone who in everyday matters does slovenly and ill-judged work?
A further method of service shews itself in adaptability. This involves a readiness to retire when other or more important people are sent to fill the niche he may be occupying, or (inversely) an ability to step out of office into work of greater importance, when some less competent worker can do his work with equal facility and good judgment. It is the part of wisdom in all who serve, neither to rate themselves too highly, nor to underrate themselves. Bad work results when the non-efficient fill a post, but it is equally a loss of time and power when skilled workers hold positions where their skill has not full scope, and where less well equipped men and women would do as well. Be ready, therefore, all ye who serve, to stay a lifetime in office non-spectacular and seemingly unimportant, for such may be your destiny, and the place you best may serve; but be equally ready to step on to work of more apparent value when the Master's word goes forth, and when circumstances - and not the server's planning - indicate that the time is come. Ponder this last sentence.
3. The attitude following action.
What should this attitude be? Utter dispassion, utter self-forgetfulness, and utter occupation with the next step to be taken. The perfect server is he [Page 363] who does to the utmost of his ability what he believes to be the Master's will, and the work to be done by him in co-operation with God's plan. Then, having done his part, he passes on to a continuance of the work, and cares not for the result of his action. He knows that wiser eyes than his see the end from the beginning; that insight, deeper and more loving than his, is weighing up the fruit of service; and that judgment, more profound than his, is testing the force and extent of the vibration set up, and is adjusting that force according to the motive. He does not suffer from pride over what he has done, nor from undue depression over lack of accomplishment. At all times he does his very best, and wastes not time in backward contemplation, but steadily presses forward to the accomplishment of the next duty. Brooding over past deeds, and casting the mind back over old achievement, is in the nature of involution, and the servant seeks to work with the law of evolution. This is an important thing to note. The wise server, after action, pays no attention to what his fellow servants say, provided his superiors (either incarnating men or women, or the Great Ones Themselves) prove content and silent; he cares not if the result is not that which he anticipated, provided that he faithfully did the highest thing he knew; he cares not if reproach and reproof assail him, provided his inner self remains calm and non-accusing; he cares not if he loses friends, relatives, children, the popularity once enjoyed, and the approbation of his environing associates, provided his inner sense of contact with Those Who guide and lead, remains unbroken; he cares not if he seems to work in the dark, and is conscious of little result from his labours, provided the inner light increases, and his conscience has naught to say. (2 - 343/9).
(8) "Of what real use am I? How can I, in my small sphere, be of service to the world?" Let me reply to these questions by pointing out, that by thinking this book into the minds of the public, by expressing before your fellow men the teaching it imparts, and by a life lived in conformity with its teaching, your service is very real.
This will necessarily involve a pledging of the entire personality to the helping of humanity, and the promise to the Higher Self that endeavour will be made to lose sight of self in service - a service to be rendered in the place and under the circumstances which a man's destiny and duty have imposed upon him. (14 - xix).
(9) You must see to it that your attitude towards all teaching is that of willing service, with no thought of self. The growth in spiritual realisation, and the lifting of humanity, is that which is of moment, and not your own [Page 364] personal growth or development, nor your own satisfaction at receiving special and new information. You will grow, and your soul will take increasing hold upon its instrument, when your mind and effort are turned towards group service, and when your tongue is rendered harmless, through the inflow of Love. (14 - 111).
(10) This Law of Service was expressed for the first time fully by the Christ, two thousand years ago. . . . Today, we have a world which is steadily coming to the realisation that "no man liveth unto himself", and that only as the love, about which so much has been written and spoken, finds its outlet in service, can man begin to measure up to his innate capacity. . . .
Service is usually interpreted as exceedingly desirable, and it is seldom realised how very difficult service essentially is. It involves so much sacrifice of time and of interest, and of one's own ideas, it requires exceedingly hard work, because it necessitates deliberate effort, conscious wisdom, and the ability to work without attachment. These qualities are not easy of attainment by the average aspirant, and yet today the tendency to serve is an attitude which is true of a vast majority of the people of the world. Such has been the success of the evolutionary process. (15 - 119/20).
(11) (Service) is a soul instinct... It is the outstanding characteristic of the soul, just as desire is the outstanding characteristic of the lower nature. It is group desire, just as in the lower nature it is personality desire. It is the urge to group good. It cannot, therefore, be taught or imposed upon a person as a desirable evidence of aspiration, functioning from without, and based upon a theory of service. It is simply the first real effect, evidenced upon the physical plane, of the fact that the soul is beginning to express itself in outer manifestation. (15 - 125).
(12) Today we have much running after service, and much philanthropic effort. All of it is, however, deeply coloured by personality, and it often produces much harm, for people seek to impose their ideas of service and their personal techniques upon other aspirants. They may have become sensitive to impression, but they oft-times misinterpret the truth, and are biased by personality ends. They must learn to lay the emphasis upon soul contact, and upon an active familiarity with the egoic life, and not upon the form side of service. . . . If care over the essential of service - soul contact - is taken, then the service rendered will flow with spontaneity along the right lines, and bear much fruit. Of this, the selfless service and the deep flow of spiritual life, which have been demonstrated in the world work of late, is a hopeful indication. (15 - 126).
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(13) There are those who have so much theory about service and its expression, that they fail to serve, and also fail to comprehend with understanding the period of pain, which ever precedes enlarged service. Their theories block the way to true expression, and shut the door on real comprehension. The mind element is too active. (15 - 128).
What effect does service have upon the mind, the emotions, and the etheric body?
Service itself is definitely the result of a tremendous inner happening, and when that result is brought about, it will be found to have produced a number of creative secondary causes. These are, primarily, a change in the lower consciousness, a tendency to turn away from the things of the personal self, to the larger issues of the group, a re-orientation which is real and expressive, and a power to change conditions (through creative activity) which is the demonstration of something dynamically new.
The first effect of the inflowing force of the soul, which is the major factor leading to demonstrated service, is to integrate the personality, and to bring all the three lower aspects of the man into one serving whole. This is a difficult and elementary stage from the angle of the student in the Hall of Wisdom. The man becomes aware of his power and capacity, and, having pledged himself to service, he begins furiously to serve; he creates this, that, and the other channel for the expression of the force which is driving him; he tears down and destroys just as fast as he creates. He temporarily becomes a serious problem to the other servers with whom he may be associated, for he sees no vision but his own, and the aura of criticism which surrounds him, and the strenuous push of the assertive force within him, produces the stumbling of the "little ones", and there has to be constant repair work undertaken (on his behalf) by older, more experienced disciples. He becomes the victim, for the time, of his own aspiration to serve, and of the force which is flowing through him. This stage will in some cases fan into flame the latent seeds of ambition. This ambition is, in the last analysis, only the personality urge towards betterment, and in its right place and time is a divine asset, but it has to be rooted out when the personality becomes the instrument of the soul. In other cases, the server will come into a wider and more loving vision, and, taking his eyes off his own. accomplishment, will go to work in silent unison with the groups of all true servers. He will submerge his personality tendencies, his ideas and his ambitions, in the greater good of the whole, and self will be lost to sight. Perhaps no better suggestion can be made to the man or woman, [Page 366] who seeks to function as a true server, than to ask them to repeat daily, with their whole hearts and minds behind the words:
"I play my part with stern resolve; with earnest aspiration; I look above, I help below; I dream not, nor I rest; I toil; I serve; I reap; I pray; I am the Cross; I am the Way; I tread upon the work I do, I mount upon my slain self; I kill desire, and I strive, forgetting all reward. I forego peace; I forfeit rest, and, in the stress of pain, I lose myself and find Myself, and enter into peace. To all this I solemnly pledge myself, invoking my Higher Self." (From Archive XIII of the Masters' Records.)
As the work of learning to serve proceeds, and the inner contact becomes more sure, the next thing which will occur, will be a deepening of the life of meditation, and a more frequent illumining of the mind by the light of the soul. Thereby the Plan is revealed. (15 - 133/5).
(15) Let simplicity be your guide, and one-pointed love your major objective. Choose a field of service which has its definite limits (for all disciples are limited and cannot cover a planetary range in their thoughts), and work - mentally and physically - within those limits. The completion of some self-appointed task within the field of karmic limitation and of environment, where your destiny has cast you, is all that is required of you. What are you accomplishing really at this time? Let your service lie within the field of contact where you find yourself, and reach not out over the entire planet. Is there any greater or more important task than to fulfil your task, and carry it to completion in the place where you are, and with your chosen comrades? (17 - 372), (5 - 582).
(16) Let humanity constitute your field of service, and may it be said of you that you knew the spiritual facts, and were a dynamic part of these spiritual events; may it not be said of you that you knew these things and did nothing about them, and failed to exert yourself. Let not time slip by as you work. ( 18 - 760).
(17) Your task is to aid the work which the Hierarchy plans to do, to find the ways and means whereby that service can be wisely rendered, to discover the manner in which world need (not your group need) can be met, to finance that share in the work of the Brotherhood to which you have been assigned by your soul, and to do your part in developing those human attitudes which are needed if true peace is to be found in the world. (13 - 325).
(18) Work not under strain or with effort. Bring ease and effortless expression into your daily relations. . . . Conservation of energy and in- [Page 367] creased inner work will produce a greater magnetic realisation, but less physical plane activity. . . . Work more in the light, and see all people as in that light with you. All that any disciple or aspirant has to do in relation to his fellow men, is to stimulate the light that is in them, leaving them free to walk in their own light and way upon the Path. (5 - 417).
(19) Some people are so constituted that they become servers and centres of light publicly before their fellow men. Their influence and their power are great. Others work (with equal power) from a quiet centre of relative retirement, and they wield, if I may again repeat myself, an equal force. (5 - 434)
(20) You will ask what your service is to be. That, my brother, will grow out of your meditation. It is not for me to tell you what activity your personality must follow; it is your own soul which must do so. (5 - 574).
(21) Work is done by action and not by talking. (5 - 590).
(22) Be balanced, and remember that work for us embraces many things, e'en hours of relaxation, and it most certainly necessitates the use of discrimination in ascertaining the essentials, and separating them from the non-essentials. (5 - 609).
(23) You do not keep your line of service clear. You wander into too many other fields of service which are not yours, and where you are not wanted. (5 - 612).
(24) In our work there is no great or little task, only obedience to the next duty, whatever that may be. (5 - 613).
(25) You cannot possibly do everything that you see needs to be done; therefore, do that which will bring about the greatest amount of good to the greatest number of seeking souls. (6 - 448).
(26) The problem of all disciples today is to achieve successful activity in their chosen task of competent citizenship and life occupation and yet, at the same time, to add to that at any cost a practical life of service. (6 - 572).
See also: (6 - 59).


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Research and Publications
The Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies takes great pride in both the quality and quantity of our faculty publications. Faculty members, in addition to their commitment to training men and women as effective teachers and researchers in Jewish studies, are deeply involved in research and scholarship. Over the last two years alone, the Revel Faculty has edited more than 30 scholarly volumes. Read More.
Revel Professors engage in cutting-edge scholarship on subjects ranging from the Dead Sea Scrolls, to the original golden coloration of the menorah on the Arch of Titus, to the Tosafists of medieval Ashkenaz to the story of the Jews of New York City. Read More.
Student Journal
Guided by the school's faculty, Revel students engage in high-level research and learning. The Student Journal (PDF) is a recently established annual publication of selected research papers in Jewish studies by students at Revel. It offers a current view of the rigorous academic writing and scholarship that characterizes the school.


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Alabama's Native American history can be traced back more than 10,000 years, to the Paleoindian Period. Cultural and technological developments brought changes to the societies that inhabited what is now Alabama, as they transitioned from...
The European presence in what is now Alabama began in the early sixteenth century, when Spanish explorers reached the Gulf Coast. In 1540, Hernando de Soto and his men became the first Europeans to traverse Alabama's interior, bringing death...
Alabama has produced a number of distinguished physicians, nurses, and medical institutions. Three Alabama physicians have served as Surgeon General of the United States, and several Alabama natives have significantly influenced medical education...
Alabama's history, culture, geography, and natural environment are covered in a wide selection of books. Here are a few we think you will enjoy. Several of the authors listed have written entries for the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
EOA in the classroom! The Alabama Department of Archives & History has lessons plans using EOA content.
New to EOA? For an introduction to EOA's content, please read historian Wayne Flynt's essay on Alabama.
Visit the new homepage for Alabama's Bicentennial Celebration!


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Mark David Chapman just got the big red X from the parole board at Attica, meaning he'll have to serve at least two more years there for the 1980 killing of the Beatle before his next chance at freedom. Parole peeps noted that MDC has had a clean record since 1994 but that his release "would not be in the best interest of the community."
Yoko had lobbied yesterday against Chapman's release.


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The dreaded apartment hunt has reared its ugly head far too many times in my life. During college, we all basically played house swap, where transactions were based on who was graduating and vacating what room or apartment. When they'd move out, someone else would move in. College doesn't last forever though. We all have to adapt to the real-world way of finding accommodations, and I don't think I have to tell you how terrible it is to hunt for a place to live.
I, and many others, have suffered trying to use Craigslist's for home hunting. The search tool is antiquated, the images are poor or nonexistent, locations of listings are hardly dependable, and you can forget about an integrated way to save anything for later reference. There is a litany of shortcomings that come with the Craigslist apartment search; they are many and they are painful.
And that's where PadMapper comes in. If you've ever suffered the Craigslist apartment search, someone probably looked over your shoulder, called you an idiot, and directed you to PadMapper. The application mashes up Google Maps and Craigslist's (as well as other site's) apartment listings to give you a one-stop-home-shopping experience. In addition to better filters (like how old the listing is, what sites it's pulling in, and zip code) and the ability to immediately see where a certain home is, you can also take notes, save apartments to a favorites list, and immediately check out Street View and walk scores.
I'm late to the PadMapper party, I know — most of you have been reveling at its greatness for a while now. But just as I began using the application a few days ago, Craigslist went and knocked the wind out of me and the site by pulling its listings.
"It's with a heavy heart that I must announce that PadMapper is no longer including Craigslist rental listings – they're currently being wiped from the search index," creator Eric DeMenthon wrote this weekend. "I recently received a Cease and Desist letter from Craigslist, and wasn't able to get a meeting or convince Craigslist's lawyer that PadMapper was beneficial to Craigslist and apartment hunters in general."
Apparently Craigslist allows mobile apps that pay the licensing fee to use and display their listings, but websites are a no go. The same thing happened to apartment referral site Oodle. "[Craigslist] is a cancer. I worked for Oodle a few years ago," reads a recent Reddit post in response to PadMapper's dilemma. "Our site was thriving and sending a bunch of traffic back to CL. We were basically a really nice search layer on top of them." Oodle got the same Cease and Desist letter and was forced to pull the Craigslist content — the two sites have had an interesting (read: contentious) relationship since.
So is Craigslist just a bully, or is there a legitimate reason it keeps cutting off Web integration? To Craigslist's credit, it very clearly states that other sites cannot use its content in this way.
"Any access to or use of craigslist to design, develop, test, update, operate, modify, maintain, support, market, advertise, distribute or otherwise make available any program, application or service (including, without limitation, any device, technology, product, computer program, mobile device application, website, or mechanical or personal service) that enables or provides access to, use of, operation of or interoperation with craigslist (including, without limitation, to access content, post content, cross-post content, re-post content, respond or reply to content, verify content, transmit content, create accounts, verify accounts, use accounts, circumvent and/or automate technological security measures or restrictions, or flag content) is prohibited. This prohibition specifically applies but is not limited to software, programs, applications and services for use or operation on or by any computer and/or any electronic, wireless and/or mobile device, technology or product that exists now or in the future."
The site does not have an open API; it's almost infamously kept to itself and hardly even updated its UI since launch. It's not as if Craigslist is entirely useless either — the site's simplicity is refreshing, in a sense, and it's what led to creator Craig Newmark founding CraigConnects, a site to promote and connect socially responsible non-profits and ideas. And honestly, it might eventually hurt Craigslist if it didn't shut down the doors of competing sites that scrape its data for their own gain.
All that said, putting sites like PadMapper out to pasture is incredibly, incredibly anti-consumer. And it means that Craiglist has two choices: Either allow the likes of PadMapper to exist, or massively update your platform. I'm in favor of the former — slap a licensing fee on interested parties for all I care, and those that are truly getting traffic thanks to the database that Craigslist has created will pony up the cash. Sure, you're feeding your competition in that scenario, but unless you're willing to redesign your site for a pleasant and successful user experience then you may as well demote yourself from consumer-facing application to platform.
As something of a short term (but maybe long term) solution, PadMapper is promoting its own service, PadLister, where you can list a home for free on the site. The entire debacle is getting so much hype that PadLister's name is rising. Considering the angry mob ready to charge with virtual pitchforks, this could easily have a negative effect on Craigslist.
It sounds childish to say this, but you're being plain mean to users, Craigslist. Your site is chock-full of data I need, but your interface is an exercise in torture. Either give me the tools to effectively use your site or allow someone else to do it.
The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not reflect the beliefs of Digital Trends.


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Brazil's latest wind energy auction, held last December, produced some of the lowest prices for wind power generation outside of China: The A-5 auction awarded 10 wind projects with a capacity of 282 MW for a price of R$87.94/MWh (U.S.$43.30/MWh).
'Both prices and demand were down significantly from the same auction held in December 2011 and for similar auctions in 2009,' explains Jonathan Lane, head of consulting for power and utilities at research and consulting firm GlobalData. 'Developers that are awarded power purchase agreements (PPAs) in the A-5 auctions need to begin generation within five years, and A-3 winners within three years.
'To put this price into context, the average 2012 wholesale electricity price in the USA's Northeast Power Pool was $42.20/MWh, pricing Brazilian wind generation on a par with shale-gas-fired U.S. generation," he adds.
However, the question arises: Can Brazil maintain its low wind energy prices and allow the country's wind energy developers to profit from their projects, when its national financial policies favor local turbine manufacturing over cheaper Chinese imports?
According to Lane, the answer is likely no – unless developers manage to drive down prices significantly compared to international norms.
Most international wind energy developers would require an internal rate of return (IRR) of 10% to 11% in order to develop a project. The key factors in achieving this return are the wind yield of the site – which will determine the plant's load factor, its generation and revenues – and the capital costs associated with the projects, including the turbine, tower, civil works, planning and consenting, grid connection and other costs.
"Vestas reported an average price of 1 million euros ($1.34 million) per megawatt in Q3 2012, which would produce a typical IRR in Brazil of 0% at a 30% load factor," Lane explains. "To achieve a 10% IRR, the turbine and tower would have to be nearly free to charge.
"For an exceptional project with a load factor of 40%, turbine prices – including tower and warranty – would have to reach $800,000/MW, assuming the balance-of-plant costs remain fixed and grid connection is free, to achieve an IRR of 6%," he continues. "This implies a 40% fall on Q3 2012 Vestas prices, where turbine prices were already severely affected by subsidy cuts and overcapacity in the wind turbine industry."
However, if developers could source turbines from Chinese manufacturers, they would be excluded from the financing available from the Brazilian Development Bank, which requires 40% local manufacturing. Therefore, Brazil lacks the ability to simultaneously boost its wind energy generation and encourage local manufacturing.
Although there are examples of wind projects in Brazil using imported equipment from China and Chinese financing, it cannot be expected that this will become the norm, according to GlobalData.
Although the firm's analysis excludes revenue that would be made available by the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism, certified emission reductions prices have fallen below one euro per metric ton of greenhouse-gas emissions offset and are unlikely to provide significant financial support in the short to medium term.
"Compare this to the situation in another emerging wind market – Turkey – and one can see how the economics in Brazil do not quite add up," Lane says. "Turkey has a feed-in tariff of $79/MWh available for projects that have 40% local manufacturing, which will deliver an IRR of 11% [at] current turbine prices."
Another useful comparison is South Africa's Department of Energy, which has run two auctions for wind energy since 2011 and has plans for a third.
"In Window 1 of the renewable IPP program, PPAs were announced for 634 MW of onshore generation at a price of R1,143/MWh ($127.1/MWh) in December 2011," Lane adds. "Window 2's preferred bidders were selected in May 2012, where 563 MW were approved at an average price of R897/MWh ($99.7/MWh). Local content was also an important part of the [request for proposal] requirements, with Window 2's projects delivering 36.7% local content."


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Really Reasonable Ribbon announced the new (May - October 2012) Design Team! Read all about it on the RRR Blog!
Full-time RRR DT members:
NEW: Cherry Nelson
NEW: Patti Hamil
NEW: Linda Abadie
RRR Special Events DT members:
NEW: Debbie Seyer
Gloria Stengel - ME!
Here are my current projects made for RRR:


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Fabolous - It's My Time / Throw it In The Bag [Mini Short Film Teasers]
Fabolous is back! His upcoming album Losso's Way looks like its gonna be a banger. 2 mini films teasers to 2 tracks off his album. Shout out to Swivel
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There, I said it. Actually, it was pointed out to me by SeanMike on Twitter that I have been saying this since 2010 at the first Portland Cocktail week. Before I said it, Rick Dobbs prophesied it back in 2008. Let's say the writing was on the wall and today the coroner is just about to sign the death certificate. Does this mean cocktail blogs are finished? No, but the golden days are gone. "What happened?" you may ask. Let me explain and it is more complex than simple apathy.
I've been sitting on this post for over a year. Standing on a soapbox, proclaiming the end of something, isn't my style, at least not sober. However, there has been some discussion on Twitter and other mediums, like personal conversations (imagine that) which have convinced me that a post-mortem needs to be completed.
Blogging isn't really dead, certain categories do very well like technology sites, however, the cocktail blog is dead or not near as influential as they once were. There are a number of valid reasons for this, but first some inspiration for this post.
In the past few years, the term "blogger" has gone from descriptive to derogatory. If you've watched the movie Contagion (2011), the villain isn't the virus, it's a blogger. At one point in the movie, a character defines a blog as "graffiti with punctuation". Matthew Rowley (Whiskey Forge) described being introduced as a blogger at an event, only to receive looks of pity. Ouch. Whenever you want to throw a writer under the bus, say this: "You are just a blogger."
Angus Winchester, in a Twitter discussion about a certain spirit, stated to someone "I am not surprised you are a fan as they gave it to you free. And you are a blogger." The implications of such a statement are that bloggers are in a subservient relationship with spirit companies and merely post glowing reviews for free samples.
Twitter is not the proper medium for intelligent debate and Angus is a decent guy so I'll cut him some slack. Angus did offer a sort of Romney-esque mea culpa with this Twitter broadcast: "To Bloggers everywhere. I don't think you all suck by any means but there are far more bad ones than good. More so than traditional media." I wonder if this post puts me in the sucks column? Maybe I was already there, who knows. The point is when people make blanket statements like "you are just a blogger" it casts doubt on the credibility of all bloggers.
Do most cocktail blogs suck? I don't think so. Personally, I feel that all of the "low hanging fruit" has been plucked and discussed ad nauseam. How many times can we talk about the Manhattan cocktail or other mainstream cocktails that contains three ingredients and keep it interesting? The reality is we can't, so bloggers always need to find new and interesting things to talk about. New bloggers make the mistake of thinking they are joining an ongoing conversation, adding their opinion, but those discussions have long ago reached a conclusion.
As topics get more in-depth, we hit a threshold where people can't justify the amount of time required to research and write a post. It also means that if you truly love this topic, you might as well ditch the blog and write professionally (i.e. get a pay cheque). That's what Paul Clarke did.
If there was a way to monetize cocktail blogs they might be more successful, however, due to the nature of the topic (alcohol) there are advertising barriers (DISCUS) that other topics don't have to deal with. From experience, I can say it is extremely difficult to get decent advertising income from a cocktail blog. Aside from advertising laws, most spirit companies can't be bothered to put money into blogs because they want big numbers (millions of visitors) and hardcore analytics. This cocktail community isn't nearly that big and delving into analytical visitor data for a couple thousand visitors a day, or less isn't worth the ad revenue. To generate those big numbers requires a site that is basically a giant drinks database and there are plenty of those already.
It should be noted that most of the big brands are well aware of the power of a well-written blog and will often ply bloggers with free booze to unzip the posting zipper in an effort to get publicity. Then there's the endless stream of press releases, the vast majority irrelevant to our community. And really, this high-end cocktail community is very small compared to other online communities.
Then bloggers have to deal with pandas, Google Panda that is.
Google Panda was a major update to the Google search algorithm designed to enhance search results by placing quality content higher in the rankings. Sounds nice, but Google's digital idea of quality lacks refinement when it comes to drinks. When Panda rolled out, Art of Drink got slaughtered. Where the site previously ranked in the top 10 for many cocktail search terms, like the Margarita, it now sits somewhere in the basement, never to be seen by impatient searchers again.
At Art of Drink's peak, it was getting about 5000 visitors per day or about 250,000 pageviews per month. Today it gets about a quarter of that. If you search for "Margarita Cocktail" the first page of results in Google shows About.com cocktails 4 times (your search may vary depending on your Google data centre). That's right, About.com gets 4 out of 10 of the top results. Sounds odd, but it is not. Google reconfigured their search results for profit, and About.com uses a lot of Google ads. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, most bartenders will happily give their best customers better service because those are the people who pay the bills, ditto for Google. For bloggers, who are almost always independent to start, we rank very low no matter the quality of our content just because we lack size.
It should also be noted that one of Google's quality indicators is back-links. If I write an article and you put a link to that article on your website that is a back-link. At one time they were abundant, but as the cocktail community shrank, so did the back-links. Links have also become a type of Internet currency and nobody likes to give away something for free when they can barter for a reciprocal link. Anyone who has a blog has probably been solicited for back-links. Me, I just spread the love freely. Have a link Rocky, Dr. Bamboo and Rated R Cocktails.
Obviously, linking could also be a quality issue (i.e. the posts on Art of Drink, or any blog for that matter, don't warrant a back-link because they are low quality). Without back-links it is almost impossible to rank highly in Google which means few people actually read those articles. For new bloggers, this is a huge challenge as the cocktail community isn't really involved with blogs anymore.
Another Google quality indicator would be social media. A post that gets many comments, retweets or Facebook Likes might rank higher in the search results. Again, retweets are hard to come-by unless explicitly requested. There are bartending personalities that do generate a social media response, like Jeffrey Morgenthaler but overall it is hit and miss.
Having a weak online cocktail community impedes the growth of our industry (i.e. quality drinks) creating a type of hipster bubble. The reason is that people searching online for a drink recipe will more than likely find the ones we've been trying to kick to the curb and replace with better quality ones.
Back in 2008, I could publish a post and within 12 hours have over 800 people view the article. Now I'm lucky if 250 people read the article in 72 hours. This may actually be a sign of success. Instead of people reading about these once-mythical cocktail creations, they may very well be enjoying them at a nearby bar. If that is the case, and there is evidence to support this conclusion, then I'd be very happy as vicarious existence can never beat the real experience.
I'll continue to write on Art of Drink, as I'm the proverbial bagholder when it comes to trends. I'm the guy who is infinitely optimistic in the face of overwhelming odds. First, there was that Corel stock thing, then the whole Movable Type blog platform, and then there is my fondness for Blackberry devices and I love Olympus cameras. I'm like the grim reaper of technology.
I can understand why so many bloggers have retired. Much of the low hanging fruit has been plucked off the blogging tree and to retain a readership one must constantly raise the bar. After the easy posts, it gradually gets harder to put together an interesting article and there are only so many times you can write a spirit review that states "hints of oak and vanilla" before you become sick of yourself. Then there is the fact that you offer your writing for free but still have to deal with those annoying Internet trolls.
For those that don't have aspirations to become a writer, they can now socialize in a bar with talented bartenders instead of staring at a computer screen visualizing great cocktails. It's a lot more fun to drink one.
I have received advice from the alumni of the cocktail community throughout my blogging tenure which keeps me motivated to write, albeit at a diminished level. To paraphrase, they've told me to "do what I do and ignore everything else". Good advice. I have two young kids who take up a lot of my time, so writing has become much harder for me, but I'll continue to write because I enjoy it.
I can say this, the cocktail topic is one where bloggers, book authors (Beachbum Berry, David Wondrich, Ted Haigh, Wayne Curtis, gaz regan, Dale Degroff, Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller and many others), bar owners / bartenders (Audrey Saunders, Sasha Petraske, Tony Conigliaro, Jamie Boudreau, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, etc.) as well as spirit producers / distillers / ambassadors (e.g. Eric Seed, G'Vine Gin, Simon Ford, Philip Duff etc.), magazines like Imbibe and Mixology and events like Tales of the Cocktail, actually changed the world of drinks. Before these people, the cocktail world was pretty bleak. There is still a lot of work to do, but this group of people has worked side-by-side to make drinks more enjoyable. Sure, it's not world peace, but they have produced millions of smiles and an equal amount of laughs, which is a step in the right direction.
Cocktail blogging may be dead, but it did effect change which can be seen in bars all over the world. Long live the cocktail blog!


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Justin Bieber accused of attempted robbery at L.A. batting cage
Pop star makes girl cry, tries to take her phone after she took pictures of him at California batting cage, reports say
LOS ANGELES — Justin Bieber is reportedly being investigated in connection with an alleged attempted robbery in the Los Angeles area.
Police told KTLA Television that the pop star was not arrested, but was accused of attempted robbery after an incident late Monday in the San Fernando Valley.
Sgt. Paul McLaughlin said police were initially called because Bieber had allegedly tried to take a girl's phone.
No other information about the incident was released by police.
However, the TMZ website is reporting that an incident occurred at a batting cage where Bieber and some friends were hitting balls.
The alleged victim told TMZ Bieber and his friends got into a scuffle with other people at the park.
When Bieber saw her reach for a phone to take pictures, the girl told TMZ that the pop star allegedly tried to grab it out of her hand.
This latest brush with the law comes just days after it was decided that Bieber's assault case in Toronto would be on hold until May 26.
Police allege the Stratford, Ont., native hit a limousine driver in the back of the head after he and five others were picked up by a limo on Dec. 30.
Bieber turned himself in to Toronto police in January to face the charge.
In late April, a South Florida judge delayed Bieber's trial on charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license until July.
Bieber's lawyer requested the delay, saying more time was needed to examine evidence and make decisions about how to proceed.
The 20-year-old singer was arrested Jan. 23 in Miami Beach after what police described as an illegal street drag race. He wasn't charged with drag racing.


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|International Space Station Imagery
high res (0.8 M) low res (104 K)
|JSC2003-E-31996 (10 April 2003) --- Cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko (left), Expedition Seven mission commander, dons his Russian Sokol suit for a leak check, Soyuz inspection and seat liner check in the Soyuz Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Astronaut Edward T. Lu, NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer, is seated in the foreground. Malenchenko represents Rosaviakosmos. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Curator: JSC PAO Web Team | Responsible NASA Official: Amiko Kauderer | Updated: 10/30/2012


text: Two groups will be meeting this fall - Mondays at 7:15 PM with the Rev. Prof. Kevin Flynn and Wednesdays at 12:15 PM with Sue Rayner. Newcomers are most welcome and no experience is required. We will be listening to a series of talks by John Main from his books Word Made Flesh and Moment of Christ.


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - Shizo. This must be your long-lost brother. Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Random Musings View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "Shizo. This must be your long-lost brother." LunatiquememberMember #Joined: 27 Jan 2001Posts: 3303Location: Lincoln, California Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:02 pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZM0EGBdHOw&feature=related Check out those facial expressions. Back to top [Shizo]memberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 3938 Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:07 pm No, that guy is a dumbass. Back to top balisticmemberMember #Joined: 01 Jun 2000Posts: 2599Location: Reno, NV, USA Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:15 am hahaha_________________brian.prince|light.comp.paint Back to top SynnicalmemberMember #Joined: 28 May 2005Posts: 177Location: Toronto, Canada Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:31 am hilarious! especially at close to the 2 min mark...and why does he have a poster in the background that's upside-down.. Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Random Musings All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


text:
Blog of Dr. Miland Brown that features different aspects of world history. Not everything can be covered but sites dealing with any historical issue or topic are possible future posts. Also includes sites which discuss teaching history. Dr. Brown is an academic in North America.
Monday, November 07, 2005
The Amarna Site
The historical focus on this Pharaoh is very much a product of Western bias. I remember studying this ruler in elementary school and the teacher making a big deal about how enlightened Akhenaten was because he advocated the worship of only one god. The view was that the change from polytheism to monotheism was a big enlightened move. The Egyptians did not think so though. As soon as the Pharaoh died, his religious revolution was undone.
And it makes one wonder, if the change from multiple gods to one god was progress, then isn't the move from one god to none even better? I would argue that it is not. However, this example shows how ancient history is often viewed through a western religious lense. Ankanaten would be a minor Pharaoh today with few studying him without this bias.
From the site:
Virtually no phase in the history of our planet's civilisations has so many unanswered questions, and attracts so many theories, as the Egyptian 'Amarna Period' when the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten turned away from the traditional gods and embraced his one god, the Aten sun disk.
Why did he turn his back on the existing Gods and close their temples, what was the relationship between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, and what was the real reason for the apparent massive anti-Atenist backlash that followed his death?
4 comments:
I would argue that religious dogma today sugessts a re return to belife in multiple dieties.
Take for instance these three dominant "allegendly monotheistic" religions today: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. While all three claim to worship only one God, each of them claims the God it worships is bigger, badder and better than either-or God of the other two.
To me, that defeats the purpose of monotheism!
Any academic discussion of mono vs poly theisms ought-to consider the premises of the following book I strongly suggest you read: The Origins of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes.
If memory serves me correctly:
Jaynes was a Psychologist teaching at Princeton in 1976 when he published this book.
Jaynes uses The Illiad to demonstrate what he calls a turning-point in human brain evolution 3,000 years ago in terms of what we think of as consciousness today---
a single dominant voice vs voices we hear in the brain as the result of a merger of right and left hemispheres functioning in unison through the corpus collustrum.
Now that I've pulled the book from the shelf and re-read the blurb, according to Jaynes' hypotheses:
Conciousness as we know it today-is not the result of "animal evolution" but rather a learned behavior as a result of 'human history and cultural experience.'
Because our ancestors were unable to think introspectively as we do today, they were "not conscious" and, as such: "they experienced auditory hallucinations, voices of the gods actually heard as in the Old Testament or the Illiad---which, coming from the brain's right hemisphere told a person what to do in times of novelty or stress."
That is how Jaynes defines the machinations of the 'bicameral mind.'
Before I conclude my Blog this morning:
Given that consciousness is a learned behavior as a result of external events, something I recently heard in a lecture on TV about the Myan civilization might seem to fly in the face of Jaynes' hypotheses.
For instance, whereas one segment of the Mayan civilization evidently managed to develop an intricate calendar, another segment relatively close-by was only able to develop it's calendar to a much lesser-advanced degree.
Hence, consciousness as a learned behavior may develop to varying degress and times in among populations world-widea.
Finally, Jaynes' premeses suggest so-called "contemporary forms of throwbacks to bicamerality" include: "hypnotism, schitzophrenia, poetic and religious frenzy."
In fact, one might speculate that if so, bicameral throwbacks may also be the cause of sociopathic behaviors of people who don't seem to have any conscious at all.
In other words, if bicameral throwbacks also include sociopathic behaviors, they might explain the behaviors of certain people who are able to do whatever they want, whenever they please with blatent disregard for any consequences as a result of their actions.


text:
Dan T needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 53 designs submitted by 15 freelance designers.
I have a logo for a small business that needs a little updating and clean-up. I designed the logo myself and it needs a professional touch.
It was originally designed for the web and is in png format. I would like for it to be saved as a vector so it can be used for print and web applications.
I need two versions, one for presentation on a dark background and one on a white background.
I am open to some design advice, but I like the general look, feel and colors of the current logo.
Samples of the logos are attached. My website is tervosystems.com where you can see how it appears on the web.
Deliverables must include editable source files (ai or eps).
The target audience for our services are small business owners outside of a metropolitan area. I'm not looking for a very modern or flashy style.
I want to convey:
- professionalism
- security
- trust
- competency
I need a more polished look similar to the one in the attached logo and that will fit in with the look and feel of the website at http://www.tervosystems.com
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
ABC Helps Fox Promote Wind Power Hypochondria
Blog ››› ››› SHAUNA THEEL
Fox Nation is claiming that "Wind Turbines [are] Making Cape Codders Sick" based on an ABCNews.com article. But the story of a resident in that article illustrates that there is no demonstrated impact of wind turbines on health, while substantial evidence suggests that reported health effects are psychological rather than physical in origin.
ABC News' article began with the story of a resident of Falmouth, Massachusetts, who lived near a wind turbine: "Sue Hobart, a bridal florist from Massachusetts, couldn't understand why she suddenly developed headaches, ringing in her ears, insomnia and dizziness to the point of falling 'flat on my face' in the driveway." However, in an online interview with an anti-wind activist, Hobart admitted that she had suffered from ringing in her ears for "quite a while," but claimed it had gotten worse "since the turbines." Hobart, who has compared living near a wind turbine to being in the "line of fire" in a "war zone," attributed various other symptoms to "wind turbine syndrome" in that interview, saying she had "no appetite" in her home and was experiencing "just unrest -- just not being able to settle down -- not really feeling relaxed."
ABC News claimed that based on these self-reported symptoms, "a doctor at Harvard Medical School diagnosed Hobart with wind turbine syndrome, which is not recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." However, in an email to Media Matters, the doctor in question, Dr. Steven Rauch, clarified that there is "no way I can make a definite diagnosis of WTS [Wind Turbine Syndrome]":
Her symptoms were consistent with a diagnosis of WTS but there are no standard diagnostic criteria nor objective tests to confirm the diagnosis. There is no way I can make a definite diagnosis of WTS nor is there any way I can definitely exclude the diagnosis.
A 2011 literature review published in the peer-reviewed Environmental Health Journal stated that "[g]iven that annoyance appears to be more strongly related to visual cues and attitude than to noise itself, self reported health effects of people living near wind turbines are more likely attributed to physical manifestation from an annoyed state than from infrasound." That review also noted that infrasound is "ubiquitous" in the world, emitted from, among other things, air-conditioning units, cars, and even ocean waves.
A New York Magazine report explained there is significant evidence that "wind turbine syndrome" may be psychological in origin, even if, as with a placebo effect, residents experience real physical impacts:
Large-scale population surveys conducted by scientists in Sweden and the Netherlands have found that stress and sleep disturbances were more likely if the turbines were visible and less likely if the individuals benefitted economically from them. Other studies found that having a bad attitude about the turbines and subjective sensitivity to noise were more likely to lead to annoyance and negative health effects than actual exposure to audible sound or infrasound. (Back in 2007, three years before the Falmouth turbines were even built, a handful of residents expressed concern about the potential for illness after reading about symptoms online, and those health effects were even written up in the local newspaper.) And in recent lab tests, subjects who were told to expect side effects from infrasound ahead of time felt some of those symptoms even when they were exposed to sham infrasound.
Hobart is not alone in reporting health effects from the wind turbines. Other Falmouth residents have testified that "wind turbine syndrome" may be behind a wide variety of symptoms, including "eye discharge," "high blood pressure," "drinking," and "anger." But these residents are a minority. New York Magazine reported that "[o]f the nearly 200 or so households located within a half-mile of a turbine in Falmouth, only about 24 complain of symptoms."
Why would some residents complain of symptoms while many others do not if the origin is physical rather than related to a predisposition against the turbines? And why would those that have installed wind turbines on their property have lower rates of "wind turbine syndrome" than those farther away if it is not related to the revenue they're receiving?
In an online post Hobart said, "I am OVER with the peer review double-blind scientific bullshitometer they all hide behind." However, without double-blind studies, biases such as these can be introduced to studies on "wind turbine syndrome," severely undermining their findings.
For instance, it may be more than a coincidence that the pediatrician who coined the term "wind turbine syndrome" and promoted the stories of people such as Hobart, Dr. Nina Pierpont, is married to an anti-wind activist who compared the fight against the "wind bastards" to the Civil Rights movement:
As Rosa Parks did, when she sparked the Civil Rights movement: you need to refuse to give up your seat to the wind bastard on the bus.
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- Environment & Science, Energy
- Network/Outlet
- ABCNews.com, Fox Nation
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