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Progress through Partnership: Reflections on ARC's 40th Anniversary
by Fred D. Baldwin
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was created in 1965 in response to a report by the President's Appalachian Regional Commission (PARC) documenting the effects of poverty and isolation on the Appalachian Region. "Graphs and tables," the PARC authors wrote, "can hardly relate the acutely personal story of a child in a remote valley, his horizon of opportunity limited to the enclosing hills . . ." No one would describe Appalachia that way today. The Region has made tremendous strides in educational opportunities, infrastructure improvements, health care, job training, and job creation. Most socioeconomic gaps between the Region and the rest of the nation have narrowed dramatically, and in some parts of the Region they have vanished altogether. Graphs and tables can hardly capture the stories of today's Appalachian children, whose horizons are not only national but global; or their parents' grounds for confidence that better educational opportunities and locally created jobs will empower those children to cherish their heritage as they shape their own histories.
Appalachia's prospects are far brighter now than in 1965, but challenges remain. Some are much the same as those facing the rest of the nation--global competition, socioeconomic gaps between rural and metropolitan communities. Others, like over-reliance on extractive industries and manufacturing, continue to have special relevance for Appalachia. In ARC's 40th anniversary year, Federal Co-Chair Anne B. Pope and 2005 States' Co-Chair Bob Taft, governor of Ohio, reflected on how the Region has changed during the past four decades and on prospects and strategies for further change.
ARC Federal Co-Chair Anne B. Pope
Q: The Appalachian Region has made real progress during the 40 years since the Appalachian Regional Commission was created. What is left to do?
Appalachia has made great progress. The poverty rate has been cut in half. The number of distressed counties has dropped from 223 in 1960 to 77 in 2006. Infant mortality has been cut by two-thirds. Our high school graduation rate is now over 75 percent, close to the national average. I'm proud of ARC's part in this.
But the world has not stood still. In the 1960s and 1970s the Region's businesses had to compete in a national economy. Today the Region has to compete in a global economy. Forty years ago a high school education was generally enough to get someone ready to find and keep a good job. Now people need at least some post-secondary education or continuing skills training.
While significant gains have been made, there are still areas where we need to improve if the Appalachian Region is going to reach socioeconomic parity with the nation. The Appalachian Region still has fewer of the best and more of the worst when it comes to the economic health of the nation's counties. There are critical unmet basic infrastructure needs--some areas still don't have adequate water or sewer services. We need to complete the Appalachian Development Highway System to connect the Region to the nation's transportation grid. And parts of the Region do not yet enjoy the same access to health care, education, and job opportunities. And we will continue working to make sure every part of Appalachia has, and knows how to benefit from, high-speed Internet access.
Q: The presidential commission that created ARC emphasized the Region's geographical isolation. Is that still an issue?
Less so than it used to be. The lynchpin of the ARC program has always been the Appalachian Development Highway System, which is now 85 percent complete or under construction. Many more of our communities are connected to the rest of the nation and to each other. But we still have a long way to go. One of our strategic plan goals is to open another 250 miles of that highway system within ten years. We're also promoting strategic investments in telecommunications infrastructure, which is necessary to connect us to the world.
Q: How has the nature of the ARC mission evolved with respect to job creation?
Back in the early days of ARC, the focus was on bringing jobs into the Region. We were, and still are, heavily dependent on manufacturing. So while traditional economic development will continue, the focus now is on creating jobs from within. That means more emphasis on job retention and entrepreneurship.
Q: What do we know about the payoffs from ARC's past efforts?
I've mentioned some of them. We've also helped over 820,000 Appalachian households enjoy clean water and sewer facilities. That and helping support or build 400 rural health-care facilities has contributed to the two-thirds drop in infant mortality rates. The 700 vocational education centers we've supported have helped many thousands of our residents complete GED programs and develop job skills. And there's the Appalachian Higher Education Network. It was based on a program in Ohio, and it's spread to eight other states. A study showed double-digit gains in college-going rates for high schools with network centers--often around 25-30 percentage points in the program's first years.
Q: As it seeks to become both nationally and globally competitive, does Appalachia enjoy any special advantages?
Great question! There's the Region's natural resources. Appalachia produces as least 35 percent of the nation's coal, and it has other energy-related resources like natural gas, and ways to develop alternative energy. We're known nationally and internationally for our timber resources, not to mention the natural beauty of the Region. ARC's Asset-Based Development Initiative helps people build on their specific local advantages, and it helps them find innovative ways to turn what seem like liabilities into assets--for example, turning a brownfield or an area scarred by mining into an industrial park.
Our culture is also an asset--things like our rich musical heritage. Appalachia is a great place to live. It's a great place to raise a family. Our people have a sense of place and a strong connection to the land. So when we're competing for talent, our quality of life is a huge asset.
Q: When you travel within the Region, what do you advise state and local leaders as they plan for the future?
When I travel across Appalachia, I'll see what look like almost identical communities--same general size, same natural resources, and so on. But some are moving forward and some aren't. The ones moving forward have three things in common. First, they have a vision and a plan. Second, their plans are regional, not for just one community or one county. Third, everything in those plans is locally driven--the goals and the strategy for meeting those goals. We often say around here, "If the problem is in the community, then the solution is in the community." They already know that they need infrastructure investments, including in telecommunications. They know that workforce development is extremely important. What I tell them is that real change can't come from outside. They have to find ways to make it happen from within. Not long ago, in one of our poorest counties in Appalachia, a local official was telling me about his community's plan to use their very limited dollars to--in his words--"wire up" the town. When I asked him why that was so important, he answered, "It will give us a chance." "A chance for what?" I asked. "Why," he said, "a chance to compete, of course. How could anyone ask for more than that?"
Q: What part of ARC's mandate do you consider to be central to the agency's future role?
The main reason that ARC has been so valuable is that it's always been a partnership. We help people become competitive by helping them leverage other investments, public and private.
For example, Microsoft has committed $2 million in software grants to help our rural communities get broadband telecommunications. And the ARC-National Geographic Geotourism MapGuide to Appalachia is a wonderful way to bring attention to Appalachia's natural beauty and the high quality of our creative class.
One of our many public partners is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have a joint initiative with it to reduce the impact of diabetes, which is one of the Region's major health problems. We're also working with the CDC in some rural areas to get better screening for cervical cancer.
A major deficit in the Region has been in private investments. ARC has put $37 million into revolving loan funds, and that money has leveraged about $950 million in other resources, helping to create tens of thousands of jobs. Our biggest returns on investment have come, and always will come, from helping Appalachian communities bring other partners to the table.
Ohio Governor Bob Taft, 2005 ARC States' Co-Chair
Q:Back in 1965, when ARC was created, the notion of a "states' co-chair" was an unusual structural innovation for a federal program. How has that model stood the test of time?
This unique partnership model has stood the test of time because it emphasizes the importance of partnerships between all levels of government, and I believe it is one of the reasons ARC has been so effective. An approach such as this allows for flexibility and creativity and avoids the "one size fits all" brand that so many government programs have.
The Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education, for example, unites 10 Ohio public colleges and universities with K-12 schools and the private sector to increase the region's college-going rate, which is only half the national average. This concept started in Ohio in 1993, and in 1998 ARC used it as a model for the Appalachian Higher Education Network in other states.
Q: In some states in the Appalachian Region, the number of Appalachian counties is fairly small. How does that affect the involvement of those governors in the program?
Each state has participated actively regardless of the size of the geographic area that comprises the state's Appalachian region. ARC is very effective at using regional models without state boundaries. This allows all communities to benefit from a variety of initiatives.
Q: Despite a lot of progress over 40 years, the Region's distressed counties continue to be concentrated in its central core. What are the prospects for changing that?
As governor of a state that contains a part of that central core, I am optimistic that the prospects for change are good, in part because of ARC investments in education, health care, and economic development. As a result, the number of distressed counties continues to shrink. ARC is committed to ensuring that this trend continues.
Q: Except for West Virginia, all states in the Region contain a mix of Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties. Do ARC-supported projects have an impact in other parts of these states?
There are regional organizations in each state that cross jurisdictional and geographic lines so that benefits certainly go beyond the Appalachian Region. What is good for Appalachia is good for all of Ohio.
Q: ARC often funds smaller projects than most federal agencies do. Why is that?
This gets to the heart of this partnership between the states and Commission. The flexibility allows these federal dollars to have a bigger impact, sometimes, on much smaller projects than most other federal agencies would consider for funding. I find this to be one of ARC's biggest strengths. It allows us to prioritize projects that we know will have a high potential return on investment but may not otherwise be suitable for other, national, standardized programs.
For example, ARC has assisted with small-scale equipment purchases for community computer centers giving youths and adults a central Internet access location in areas where technology access is not available or is too costly for residents. It has also provided startup costs to establish the Web site www.appalachianohio.com, which promotes tourism and economic development in the region and attracts more than 750,000 hits a month.
Q: If we were having this conversation ten years from now, what would you expect to have changed?
It would be my hope that most, if not all, of the counties ARC now classifies as "transitional" will have achieved parity with the rest of the country. My other expectation would be that the Appalachian core--where most of the distressed counties are located--will have recaptured their young talent because these areas will be recognized as desirable places to live, work, and raise a family. What is encouraging is that the most recent census figures already back this up. In Ohio, Appalachia saw a population increase of 6 percent in the decade after 1990, an acceleration greater than in any of the decades since the middle of the past century. We need to nurture this trend to help it continue.Interviews conducted by Fred D. Baldwin, a freelance writer based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
March 2006


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"It's a way to be bad while being good."
Sacha Scoblic, 38, author of "Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety," summarizes the double-edged allure of drinking. It's a legal mode of escapism, and the camaraderie over talking about drinking is as intoxicating as the buzz itself — especially among mothers.
"I need a drink!" is shorthand for "I've worked hard, and I've earned it." And what mom wouldn't cop to being busy?
The whine-wine culture is celebrated in books like "Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay" and websites like Moms Who Need Wine, a Boston-based group with more than a half-million members ("If you're not sure you could survive motherhood without a stockpile of your favorite Red, then you've come to the right place!") There's a wine label called MommyJuice ("Because you deserve it"), not to be confused with Mommy's Time Out ("Need a break? Take a Mommy's Time Out!")
There are not websites for Moms Who Need Heroin. Booze is legal, available, celebrated — and, for some, deeply damaging. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention reports that 2.7 million American women abuse alcohol. According to the forthcoming book, "Her Best-Kept Secret: Why Women Drink — And How They Can Retain Control," by Gabrielle Glaser, the number of middle-age women who entered alcohol treatment programs nearly tripled between 1992 and 2007, giving new meaning to a "time out" for mommy.
Meanwhile, the USDA defines moderate drinking among women as up to one drink per day — hardly enough to fill a sippy cup. Why the disconnect?
"There are no absolutes in drinking, unlike in some other areas of medicine," says Dr. Kevin Hill, an addiction psychiatrist at McLean Hospital. "You're either pregnant or you're not. But there are different degrees of drinking."
At its most basic, the definition of addiction is simple: "Repeated use despite harm." But harm is a relative term that exists along a spectrum.
On May 22, the American Psychiatric Association will release its newest diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, and will acknowledge this ambiguity. It will collapse the diagnostic distinction between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence into one term, "alcohol use disorder," a scaled definition that encompasses a spectrum of severity.
Symptoms can range from failure to fulfill personal obligations to physical dependence that causes shaking and nausea. While critics fret that the broader distinction will stigmatize milder drinkers, the modification can be seen as reflective of our confusing times: Not everyone who grapples with alcohol use is a stereotypical in-the-gutter alcoholic. Many are outwardly functional and successful. Many are women.
"We're in a period where drinking is considered glamorous," says Danielle Barry, an Arlington-based clinical psychologist with a background in addiction research and treatment. "It's a connoisseur activity: good food, good alcohol. But this social acceptability can create more danger. These days, a martini in a bar can be the equivalent of four standard drinks. People don't realize that."
(A "standard drink" is 12 ounces of beer with 5 percent alcohol, 5 ounces of wine with 12 percent alcohol, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.)
Alcohol's prevalence also functions as justification: It's about kinship, not abuse.
"Nowadays we have people over at the end of the week, the kids have pizza, and parents have wine," says Jen, a Metrowest mother who's currently dealing with a friend's alcoholism concerns. Nobody's looking to see if someone has one too many glasses. Nobody's doing body shots off their granite countertops. But the domestic setting can create its own problems.
'We're in a period where drinking is considered glam-orous. . . . But this social acceptability can create more danger. '
"When you're at home, it's easier to lose track of how much you're drinking," says Barry. There are also fewer warning signs or consequences, like a DUI.
Which is why it's easy for high-functioning drinkers to cling to outward appearances to deny deeper issues. Lee, a 30-something mother who quit drinking a few years ago, got into an Ivy League graduate school while regularly getting blackout drunk. Scoblic was an editor at a respected magazine when she decided to stop drinking. Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, who wrote "Sippy Cups," outed herself as an alcoholic in 2009 — after drinking made her famous.
Even alcohol self-tests provide more reassurance than alarm. Online evaluations tend to underscore catastrophes: firings, divorce, arrests that can follow drinking. That's the conundrum: As bartenders sling birdbath-size martinis and mom sites promote alcohol as a treat, alcohol abuse is perceived as a rock-bottom implosion — not the quiet recklessness more common among middle-class women.
"A lot of my friends are trying to juggle everything — work and kids," says Jen. "Or you're a stay-at-home-mom and you don't have enough outlets. You're feeling overwhelmed and stressed, and this is how you take your deep breath. It's socially acceptable, inexpensive, and it takes the edge off without making you incapable of functioning."
"Unfortunately, the majority of people who have issues don't get the treatment they need," says Hill. "Alcohol dependence is a chronic medical illness just like blood pressure or diabetes. You wouldn't think twice to treat these," says Hill. Barry calls alcohol abuse a "source of shame."
That's alcohol's ultimate paradox: Use is glorified; abuse is stigmatized. Among women especially, uncorking a bottle is a symbol of triumph — the reward after a busy day. But a key tenet of Alcoholics Anonymous, the major support for problem drinkers, is admitting powerlessness over alcohol. And while medical illnesses have support groups and walk-a-thons, AA relies upon namelessness in the purest sense.
Scoblic points out that actual faces of addiction are relegated to TV shows like Intervention and TMZ. "The problem with these shows is they find the most hardcore toothless acne-ridden crack head. That's real — but it's not most people. At any AA meeting, you can see a room of yuppies," she says.
Hill treats diverse patients, most often not the stereotypical desperate alcoholic who can't hold a job. "We see people who you would not 'expect' to have problems, who are very high-functioning," he says.
Clinicians are optimistic that the new DSM will broaden awareness about dangerous alcohol use and capture people on the fringes of addiction. So are recovering alcoholics, who are relieved to get sober during a time of heightened interest in and openness about addiction. "There is more awareness around substance abuse today," says Lee. "There's rehab. We're more aware and in tune with alcoholism and willing to discuss it."Kara Baskin can be reached at email@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Ilhan Omar and her Israel tweets, as seen by a Jewish constituent February 15 by Max Sparber
- Charges: Richie Vessel killed saintly Minneapolis apartment neighbor, daughter over 'loud music' February 15 by Mike Mullen
- Wife of top Trump official claims measles 'keep you healthy,' 'fight cancer' February 15 by Hannah Jones
- The weekend's best concerts: Feb. 15-17 February 15 by CP Staff
- From Surly Field to the Armory, there were too many big concerts announced this week February 14 by Keith Harris
- A two-day Walker festival celebrates composer-bandleader Henry Threadgill February 14 by Dylan Hicks
Food & Drink
- White Castle gets romantic on Valentine's Day: Here's what it's like to dine solo February 15 by Sarah Brumble
- Indulge your vices at 510 Groveland: 5 things to know about P.S. Steak February 14 by Sarah Chandler
- After fire in Northeast, Bark and the Bite will bring BBQ to St. Paul February 13 by Emily Cassel
Arts & Leisure
- Who Is She brings Twin Cities weirdos together for an oddly satisfying variety show February 15 by Patrick Strait
- Beer parties, Hotpants at VFW, drag story time: 47 free things to do this weekend February 15 by Jessica Armbruster
- Girl Friday presents Wilder's 'The Skin of Our Teeth' just in time for armageddon February 14 by Jay Gabler
- Calendar
- Review: Sprawling cyborg epic 'Alita: Battle Angel' can't soar to full potential February 13 by Tony Libera
- Review: 'Lego Movie 2' clicks, but can't top fantastic original February 6 by Tony Libera
- Review: McConaughey and Hathaway's 'Serenity' has a batshit twist January 30 by Tony Libera
- Best Of
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With Carlos Lumbi.
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This Electrolux Laptop Kitchen is by far one of the craziest inventions I've seen in a long time. It fuzes your boring old laptop and your kitchen stove into a device that will allow you to edit your Excel spreadsheets while you knock up a quick omelette.
The device was dreamt up by Dragan Trenchevski and was chosen as one of the finalists in Electrolux's 2011 Design Lab competition. It looks just like a laptop computer and even boasts a touchscreen display, however, instead of a keyboard it features a removable chopping board and a built-in four-tiered induction plate that will heat a pan up to 10 inches in diameter.
Pocket-lint explains why this crazy idea might actually be functional for chefs on-the-go:
The idea is that the display is touchscreen and, with mobile (3G) and Wi-Fi connectivity on board, the laptop can access a vast database of recipes and cooking tips so that you can see instructions as you go. A webcam is also housed at the top of the screen so that you can video-call a friend while cooking, either for advice, or a cook-off.
While it may be completely bonkers, part of me wants my own Electrolux Laptop Kitchen. The "large battery to power your cooking when needed" means you can put together a tasty meal wherever you may be, though I'm not sure your colleagues would appreciate you frying chips in your office cubicle.
Trenchevski even goes as far as suggesting alternative color themes, and an add-on to the built-in chopping board that makes grating cheese at your desk a breeze. It's unclear whether you can actually hook up a wireless keyboard and mouse to enable you to use the device as a traditional laptop while cooking, but I'd hope that's the case.
Let's just pretend Electrolux could eliminate all the pitfalls of a Laptop Kitchen… would you buy one?
[via Pocket-lint]
This post originally appeared at TechnoBuffalo.


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Live Music
Chronic Jester @ Jackacudas
Bummer dude!
This event has already happened. To be sure you don't miss anymore events in South Walton, visit the SoWal Events Calendar.
Chronic Jester, based in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, is a high energy power trio whose strength lies in its own infectious brand of Reggae, Rock, Funk and Blues. Chronic Jester stands apart from other bands by being a song driven package that eschews self-indulgent noodling in favor of catchy tunes and vibrant melodies tied together with its own stylistic ribbon. Hypnotic reggae, booty shakin' funk, and scorching blues are topped off by spectacular instrumental interplay and deep in-the-pocket grooves. Live shows are further highlighted through use of the "Toy Box" (a collection of tambourines, cow bells, egg shakers, wood blocks, hats and hula-hoops) that lets fans contribute to the show.
At a Glance
More live music?


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A Christian apologetics ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible through archaeological and biblical research.
The Lord Jesus Christ made it very clear that the Old Testament spoke of Him, stating: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me" (Jn 5:39). My recently published book, "400+ Prophecies, Appearances, or Foreshadowings of Christ in the Tanakh (Old Testament)," is a conscientious effort to take Jesus at His Word and to discover Him in pages of the Old Testament.
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While usage of cloud applications among small-to-medium (SMB) organizations may not be as deep as current hype suggests, a new survey of 3,000 companies with between two to 250 employees conducted by Microsoft shows that a shift to cloud applications is well under way.
What's not clear is how deep that shift will be, with most organizations preferring to rely on a handful of utility applications, such as email in the cloud.
That may change, however, as SMB organizations gain not only more confidence in the cloud, but also finally put to rest their security concerns.
Getting Consensus on Business Requirements: Tips and Traps The toughest job in the requirements definition stage is to get stakeholder agreement as a systematic, expected deliverable in the project cycle.
Six Reasons Windows 8 Could Be a Threat to the iPad Reasons why Windows 8 is fierce competition.
Top 10 Highest Paying Cities for Technology Jobs Big cities reign supreme for high paying technical positions.
Related Topics : NetSuite, Fujitsu, Data Migration, Document Management, Manufacturing Process Management
Enterprise performance management platforms can help save money and improve the chances for a successful M&A integration. ... More >>
Cloud-based ERP software offers powerful and flexible financial applications that are transforming the way companies increase efficiency, drive growth, and plan for the future. ... More >>
Creating self-service ITaaS portals -- with a menu of selectable, automated IT services -- sounds straightforward but often ends up falling flat. ... More >>


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Twitter: Dissolving Critical Thinking?
Moving From Sight-Byte to Sight-Byte: Are We Losing The Ability to Critically Think?
All the rage last week about Twitter and the "contest" for 1 million followers got me thinking (critically) about micro-blogging and "sight-bytes". 140 characters. Like a 20-30 second sound byte, but read instead of heard. Is that really enough space to peel back meaning from, is it enough space to connect dots over a broader spectrum?
I'm a search marketer. I'm an SEO. I use Twitter and a variety of other micro-blogging sites as a necessity of the trade. However, my roots lie in literature, actual books, where deconstruction and critical thinking is at the forefront of the art. Where words combine together to make sentences. And those sentences meld together to form paragraphs. Then thoughts. And, eventually, arguments of logic or whole stories? Right. Those.
The Search Marketing Value: Yeah, I Get It
As a search marketer, I see the value, and inherent genius, in micro-blogging. Sharp brevity is the key to any great marketing campaign. Why say something in 30 words when you can melt it down to 140 characters and still make it timely, relevant, and enticing? More importantly, the medium allows for instant communication with thousands and tens of thousands, with an added bonus of reaching new audiences virally. As a marketing tool, if used originally and uniquely, it can be tremendously powerful. But as Michael Gray points out, there are a lot of Web 2.0 Weenies out there. (Maybe I'm even one of them? But at some level EVERYONE is.)
Twitter and other micro-blogging sites out there (Plurk and Facebook to name a couple) allow you to spread your ideas quick and wide without much effort. You're in the mix before you know you're in the mix. And for SEO/SEM it's a great way to propel traffic, new visitors, and get links to the site; in fact, it's a key strategy to any solid SEM campaign. Hell, with the right people at the helm, it can be fantastic brand recognition and management tool to create revenue streams that might not have materialized otherwise.
Corporations and entrepreneurs alike should be using them to promote and pull in business. For one, it adds to accountability and responsibility for actions in the marketplace, just look up AmazonFail. And then tell me that social media doesn't have a place. Good God, they are still being roasted over the coals for their massive faux pa. Second, you've got your fingers on the pulse of consumers; you're going know real quick whether folks think your business is total cluster-fuck or walking the line.
Either way, you know about it and can a) promote that goodwill around or b) get your shit together and fly right. That's the tip of the iceberg, SMM/SMO is just in it's infancy, the next year or two we'll see some major things happen that will all make this a requirement for every business. It won't be a "luxury" tactic, or "risky" tactic for much longer. And yet, with all the great things social media brings to the table, there is an inevitable downside.
The Micro-Blogging Backlash: Where's My Mind?
It's no big secret that people are getting dumber. Sure, everything is faster. More information is received and processed in a overwhelming variety of ways; we're all multi-tasking our asses off, but we're dumber. We've got the attention span of a ferret on a triple espresso working on its fourth Red Bull of the day.
We need our instant-gratification of information now. We've become a nation, possibly even a world, of headlines, sound-bytes, and sight-bytes. No one reads for meaning anymore: we want the gist cause' we're all way too busy to be bothered with details.
My theory is this: the more prevalent micro-blogging and social networking become, the more we just want information "fed" to us. The more malleable we become, the more we accept things as "truth" without so much as a considering pause, the more we lose our ability to critically think. It's dissolving our critical thinking skills.
Just as the 30 second sound byte trumped the notion of "out-of-context" and becomes binding Gospel, so too will the "sight-byte". It's how we make or break presidential candidates, it's how laws are passed and accepted by a general populous, and, sadly, it's what passes for knowledge. What a person can sum up in 140 characters is, these days, a testament to what you know and can pass on (i.e. the retweet (RT)).
I'm guilty too. There is no "throwing stones at glass houses" here. I find myself wanting to fit more in the day with less time. And, rather than indulging in a few selected topics, deriving meaning and making larger connections, I read headlines and absorb sight-bytes. I like "mental candy" on occasion because, in all seriousness, it's impossible to critically evaluate everything at all times. Micro-blogging sites take advantage of this human weakness and exploit it.
Are the majority of micro-bloggers looking for 140 characters of news updates, knowledge, and information? Absolutely.
The Knife Edge: Working The Balance
The problem and paradox is that more and more information (not just marketing information, but life-affecting news) comes in these short bursts. It's rather Orwellian when you consider it. You'll get all you need to know in crisp, 140 character shots. No one has to explain. No one has to deliver details or justification. Think 1984 on a global scale: a singular voice and message flashed across to millions.
Even if business does go into full-on micro-blogging, there will have to be a balance struck. Lest we all consign ourselves to Twitter automatons. And, maybe that's the plan, after all. If you don't need to consider information and derive meaning, then (and this is a pretty big leap) all things become automatic and consumerism keeps chugging along at it's current unsustainable level. Find the balance.
John WitmerApr 23 2009
A well reasoned article. (Is that 140 characters?)
May 7 2009
Your a pathetic little dick and your blog sucks. Amateur hour with your friends posting comments. Get a life and mind your own business you little shit.
You'll cower at this post and delete it because you're a spineless worm.
Mind your own fucking business, bitch.
May 7 2009
Ahhh. Another satisfied reader. Thanks for the compliment; it's not every day that I can brighten someone's day in such an amazing way. Come back and read anytime you like.
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LotR: Arwen's Evenstar Pendant
"A white gem like a star..."
- Sterling-silver version of Arwen's Evenstar Pendant from the movie
- Set with 7 cubic zirconias for sparkle
- Officially-licensed Lord of the Rings merchandise
"But wear this now in memory of Elfstone and Evenstar with whom your life has been woven!"
And she took a white gem like a star that lay upon her breast hanging upon a silver chain...
- Arwen from Return of the King
(We had to cut the quote there. Tolkien readers know Arwen and Aragorn are actually giving the pendant to Frodo, which is not as romantic as Peter Jackson made it in the movie.)
Focus on the movie here with us. In the movie, Arwen gives this to Aragorn as a symbol of her devotion. And, speaking of Peter Jackson, this pendant is made by Weta, who worked on the movies.
This is a really high-quality piece. The seven cubic zirconias are prong-set (as opposed to being glued in place like a lot of costume jewelry), so they're much less likely to come loose when you clean it, which you will need to do because it's sterling silver if you want it to sparkle like the evenstar.
Product Specifications
- Arwen's Evenstar Pendant (just the pendant, no chain)
- Comes in a velvet-lined walnut box
- A lovely gift for your significant other
- Officially-licensed Lord of the Rings merchandise
- Materials: Sterling silver and cubic zirconia
- Dimensions: 2.4" tall x .9" wide x .3" deep
- Weight: 6 oz.
For our customers with nickel allergies: the pendant and bail are made of nickel-free sterling silver.


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Our sister publication, Maryland Family magazine, recently ran a four-week Kids' Cooking Club in which local chefs shared some of their favorite recipes that they love making — and eating — with their own kids.
Participating chefs were Gia Daniella of Cafe Gia in Little Italy, Riccardo Bosio of Sotto Sopra in Mount Vernon, Matt Kane of B&O; American Brasserie in downtown Baltimore and Nikki McGowan of CKCS Foods Studio.
Some of our favorites are shared here and you can find more at marylandfamilymagazine.com.
Nikki McGowan, the founder of CKCS Foods Studio, a company that teaches cooking classes at schools and organizations throughout Baltimore, kicked off the cooking club with a recipe for guacamole that's straightforward and simple.
"When you give kids forks to mash the avocado, it's like Play-Doh," she said. "When I'm making this with classes, I relate it to baby poop. The kids love it."
McGowan lets her students sniff and taste ingredients throughout the process. "I tell them the cumin smells like a campfire and let them taste cayenne pepper with their fingers," she said. "We always have a cup of water nearby. They love the drama of having their mouths on fire."
Nikki's guacamole
4 ripe avocados
1/4 of a red onion
1 lime cut in wedges
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Small bunch of cilantro
Hot sauce to taste (a couple of shakes)
Salt to taste
Parents: Cut the avocados in half, and use a knife to whack the seed so it sticks on the knife and can be easily removed. Use a knife to slice the halves of the avocado while it's still in the shell. Then let the kids slice the rest of the avocado halves with plastic knives.
Have the kids scoop out the avocados into a bowl. Using the back of a metal fork, mash the avocado until it looks like baby poop. (Yes, the kids will understand and enjoy the reference.)
Parents: Cut the red onion into slices. Then let the kids use plastic knives to cut the onion into a smaller dice. (Remind them that even plastic knives can cut fingers.)
Add onion to avocado, and stir to mix. Give lime wedges to the kids to squeeze into the avocado mixture. Add the cumin and cayenne.
Have the kids tear the leaves of the cilantro off the stems then cut up the leaves with the plastic knives. Add cilantro to avocado mixture.
Bring out hot sauces and have the kids choose which one or ones they want to add to the mixture. Make sure they don't add too much — you can't reverse "too spicy." Add a sprinkle of salt to taste. Mix well.
Enjoy with some chips!
Gia Daniella learned to cook from her mother, Giovanna Blattermann, a first-generation American who moved from Sicily to Baltimore's Little Italy as a girl. Today, Gia passes along that knowledge to her children, Luca and Giada, in the kitchen of Cafe Gia, the Little Italy restaurant she owns with her mother.
For busy parents, Gia recommends serving this sauce and meatballs over store-bought pasta — she prefers the Barilla brand (and Luca prefers the cheese tortellini). "There's so much variety in pasta shapes and meat choices these days," she said. "To mix it up, I cook farfalle, fusilli or any other fun shape. The kids just love it!"
Luca's favorite meatballs
Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer
For the meatballs:
1/4 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork
1/4 pound ground veal
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
Dash of salt and pepper
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3/4 cup Parmigiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs, chopped (oregano, thyme, sage, basil, rosemary and marjoram)
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
Butter spray
1 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix all of the meat. Add garlic, salt and pepper, bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of cheese (the remainder will be used on the finished product). Knead with both hands until all ingredients are blended together. Add the herbs and egg and knead. Add the milk and knead until smooth. (Gia's son Luca loves getting his hands into the meat. She makes sure they're clean first.)
After the ingredients are blended together, start making the meatballs; they should weigh about 1 1/2 to 2 ounces each.
Spray a cookie sheet with deep sides with butter spray. Place meatballs about an inch apart on cookie sheet. After the sheet is full, add one cup of tap water.
Bake meatballs in oven for 7 to 8 minutes, until medium well. Then move onto the next stage with the marinara sauce.
For the marinara sauce:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium white onions, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 16-ounce can plum tomatoes
4 basil leaves, gently torn apart
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until caramelized, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and lightly saute until fragrant, about one minute (do not burn the garlic). Add the tomatoes, turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Using a hand blender, puree the sauce until smooth.
Gently drop meatballs into the sauce, one by one, so they do not splatter. Cook for another 30 minutes.
Just prior to removing from stove, add basil pieces.
Riccardo Bosio knows that great food — and great eating habits — start with fresh, whole ingredients. Bosio, the owner of the Italian restaurant Sotto Sopra in Mount Vernon, can often be found in his home kitchen with his wife, Monika, and their daughters Amelia, 3, and Victoria, 2 months.
"We cook at home and at the restaurant," says Bosio. "Amelia is always with us cooking. We try to teach her how things are made by hand."
One of the Bosios' favorite recipes to make at home is this simple, light-as-a-feather gnocchi made with fresh spinach and a large helping of salty Parmesan.
Spinach ricotta gnocchi
Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer
8 ounces ricotta cheese, drained
Kosher salt
2 cups spinach, washed
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 large egg, beaten
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided (1/4 cup in dough, 3/4 cup for rolling out)
Put ricotta cheese in a fine sieve over a bowl in the refrigerator and let it drain.
Fill a medium pot with water. Bring it to a boil. Add a tablespoon of kosher salt. Add the washed spinach and once it has wilted, approximately a minute or two, remove and drain the spinach. Lay the spinach out on a sheet pan and let it cool.
Fill a large, wide-brimmed pot with salted water and bring to a boil while you prepare the gnocchi for cooking.
Once the spinach has cooled, drain its excess moisture. A good method is putting it in a hand towel or cheesecloth and twisting the towel at the top to apply pressure - excess liquid will drain out of the bottom of the towel/cheesecloth. Or if you have a potato ricer, you can use that.
Add the spinach and garlic clove to a blender or food processor and process until the spinach is finely chopped.
In a large bowl, add the drained and processed spinach/garlic mixture, 1 beaten egg, drained ricotta, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Mix well. Fold 1/4 cup of flour into the mixture and mix well.
Dust a clean surface with some of the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Take a small amount of the dough and turn out the mixture onto the surface. Roll the dough, adding flour to the surface and dough as necessary, until it holds a 3/4-inch wide ropelike shape (be careful not to overwork the dough). Cut the dough into one-inch pieces.
At this point, you should cook the gnocchi immediately so the glutens don't stiffen. If you can't cook them immediately, freeze them. Start the freezing process by laying them out on a lightly floured sheet pan to allow the glutens to stiffen. Once firm, transfer to a container that is well-sealed and air-tight and place in the freezer.
By now, the water in the large pot should be boiling. Reduce to a gentle rolling boil. Place one gnocchi in the pot to test — it should rise to the top. Once at the top, let it cook for about one minute. Taste and adjust timing; you may also need to add more flour to your main mixture. (If using frozen gnocchi, use the same instructions — test one and adjust timing. Frozen gnocchi will likely take a little longer to cook.)
Dress with a simple marinara or brown butter and sage sauce.
B&O; American Brasserie sous-chef Matt Kane spends his days off getting down and dirty in his kitchen with his 4-year-old daughter Addison. Together, they cook hearty breakfasts, like this simple but delicious vegetable-heavy Denver omelet casserole.
"This is a great recipe to do with kids," Kane said, "because it allows them to get a little messy, have fun and eat well without realizing it."
Kane family Denver omelet casserole
Serves 6 to 8 (or 4 really hungry) people)
About 3 tablespoons cooking oil, such as vegetable or canola
1 pound bulk (uncased) turkey sausage
1 Vidalia onion, diced small
1/2 cup button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 beefsteak tomatoes, diced
2 cups raw spinach, chiffonaded
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups 2 percent milk
1 dozen whole eggs, whites and yolks separated (you will use all egg whites and two egg yolks; reserve the extra egg yolks for another use)
1 can buttermilk biscuits
1 8-ounce container cottage cheese
6 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Coat a medium to large saute plan with 2 tablespoons oil over a medium flame. Once hot, add turkey sausage. Cook until the sausage is cooked evenly and has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Drain the sausage and, using a small amount of oil, sweat onion until translucent. Add mushrooms, tomato and spinach and cook until your desired doneness.
Return sausage to the pan with the vegetables and add flour. Be sure to keep the pan moving so the flour doesn't stick. Add milk and allow the mixture to slowly come up to a simmer, stirring regularly, until thickened.
In a separate nonstick pan, scramble the egg whites with two egg yolks.
Now for the fun kid assembly. Have your child open the biscuit can — that is always a hilarious experience. Carefully split the biscuits, placing the bottoms only in a greased casserole dish. Place the biscuits in the oven and cook for about six minutes.
Remove from the oven and using a spoon, have your child spread the scrambled eggs evenly across the biscuits. Spread the cottage cheese evenly across the eggs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon or ladle your vegetable sausage gravy over the cottage cheese. Spread as evenly as possible. If it's not perfect, that's OK: It will start to move as it cooks.
Sprinkle cheddar cheese over sausage, reserving a small amount. Finally, top with the biscuit tops and sprinkle the rest of the cheddar on the raw biscuit tops.
Bake in the oven until the biscuits are golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes.


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City of Lincoln
Mayor's Office
2006 Media Releases
Mayor Coleen J. Seng today presented the Mayor's Award of Excellence for 2005 to Lincoln Police Officer Jason Brownell. The award recognizes City employees who consistently provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to the City. It was presented at the beginning of today's City Council meeting.
All monthly award winners are eligible to receive the annual award. Brownell was the monthly award winner in June 2005. He was nominated by Police Sergeant Ann Heermann in the categories of safety and productivity.
Brownell, who has worked for the City since 2000, was chosen for this award for his work as a Lincoln High School Resource Officer or SRO. When the school's SRO was injured, Brownell volunteered to fill the position from October 2004 until February of 2005. During that time, Brownell responded to 150 calls for service, made six classroom presentations, wrote 250 traffic citations, made 85 misdemeanor and four felony arrests and served five warrants. His work with juveniles added another 23 misdemeanor arrests, and one felony arrest. Heermann said Brownell issued 84 percent more traffic citations, made 80 percent more misdemeanor arrests, and responded to 41 percent more calls for service than other high school SROs.
Heermann said Brownell focused on several long-term problems in the Lincoln High area, including students trespassing at nearby apartment complexes, resulting in property damage, fights and drug activity. Brownell wrote 11 juvenile referrals and 10 citations in this situation. In another area, he made 17 arrests and wrote two juvenile referrals for narcotics-related violations.
In response to rumors of an upcoming fight, Brownell contacted a suspect and arrested the student who had a gun in his pocket. Heerman said Brownell's actions helped to avoid a disaster and ensured the safety of everyone at the high school. Lincoln High administrators praised Brownell for his listening skills, trustworthiness, long hours, professionalism and proactive approach.
For the past year, Brownell has worked on the LPD motorcycle corps. He and another officer are currently on a special assignment related to narcotics activity and related crimes. In just two weeks, the officers have made one felony, 20 narcotic, 10 warrant, two prostitution and 51 misdemeanor arrests along with issuing numerous traffic citations.
As a monthly winner, Brownell received a $100 U.S. savings bond, a day off with pay and a plaque. The annual award comes with a $500 U.S. savings bond, two days off with pay and a plaque.
All City employees are eligible for the Mayor's Award of Excellence except for elected officials and some managers. The other categories in which employees can be nominated are customer relations, loss prevention and valor. Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates and the general public. Nomination forms are available from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Personnel Department, which oversees the awards program. All nominations are reviewed by the Mayor's Award of Excellence Committee, which includes a representative with each union and a non-union representative appointed by the Mayor.


text:
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text:
Caroline Kennedy has publicly denied to CNN the persistent — though oft-rebutted — rumor that she had been tapped as U.S. ambassador the Vatican and that the Holy See had rejected her for being pro-choice.
For good measure, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has told USA Today (scroll down to "in other comments") that he never put Kennedy's name forward for the post, a popular variation of the blogosphere's bad reporting on the topic.
Catholic News Service (here and here), The Associated Press and other mainstream news organizations weeks ago shot down the Kennedy rumor, as well as the equally ubiquitous fable that the Vatican had rejected three Obama nominees.
To date, Obama has only announced nominees for ambassadors to Iraq, Afghanistan and Ireland. It would be logical that nominations for slots such as Paris, the Court of St. James in London and Moscow will be higher priorities than an ambassador to Vatican City.


text:
Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art
Temporarily Out of Stock Online
It is the color of the Virgin Mary's cloak, a dazzling pigment desired by artists, an exquisite hue infused with danger, adventure, and perhaps even the supernatural. It is . . .
SacrÉ Bleu
In July 1890, Vincent van Gogh went into a cornfield and shot himself. Or did he? Why would an artist at the height of his creative powers attempt to take his own life . . . and then walk a mile to a doctor's house for help? Who was the crooked little "color man" Vincent had claimed was stalking him across France? And why had the painter recently become deathly afraid of a certain shade of blue?
These are just a few of the questions confronting Vincent's friendsbaker-turned-painter Lucien Lessard and bon vivant Henri Toulouse-Lautrecwho vow to discover the truth about van Gogh's untimely death. Their quest will lead them on a surreal odyssey and brothel-crawl deep into the art world of late nineteenth-century Paris.
Oh lÀ lÀ, quelle surprise, and zut alors! A delectable confection of intrigue, passion, and art historywith cancan girls, baguettes, and fine French cognac thrown in for good measureSacrÉ Bleu is another masterpiece of wit and wonder from the one, the only, Christopher Moore.
Product Details
|HarperCollins Publishers
|Publication date:
|Product dimensions:
|6.10(w) x 9.08(h) x 1.42(d)
About the Author
Christopher Moore is the author of twelve previous novels: Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue, Bloodsucking Fiends, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, A Dirty Job, You Suck, Fool, and Bite Me. He lives in San Francisco, California.
Hometown:Hawaii and San Francisco, California
Date of Birth:August 5, 1958
Place of Birth:Toledo, Ohio
What People are Saying About This
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text:
Dwelling on…..
well Dwell Studio of course!
I've recently had dwell on the brain 24/7! Why you may ask?
Well, I'm going for a chinoiserie type look for my dining room, because I think it would be a perfect mix of modern and traditional styles in my room.
My dining room furniture is
old vintage so there is my traditional, but I wanted something a bit more modern for the rest of the look in the room.
Of course I found the perfect pattern with a touch of chinoiserie , the perfect color palette, and Jon okayed it!
Only problem is that the lovely people at Dwell Studio only make their pearl chinoiserie pattern for duvet sets!
I've emailed them begging to find out when they are going to start selling their patterns by the yard and was told it's in the works, but they have no time frame for it.
Ah! Now I could just buy the the largest duvet and try and use that, but with the way the birds are laid out it wouldn't work on covering the seats, but would maybe work for window treatments.
So I'm sending out an SOS for all my dear readers. Has anyone found something similar that will give me this same look in the same color palette?
The closest I have found is this:
Another option I thought of was to get someone to help me make my own design using Spoon Flower.
Only problems here are that:
A. Have no idea who this person is and how I can find them. Perhaps a graphic designer?
B. I pretty much want the pattern to look exactly like the Dwell print and it would then be a knock-off, which is making me sad and I'm sure is a no-no.
C. Even though problem B. makes me feel bad I still secretly want to go that route so I can get exactly what I want.
D. I guess it's not a secret anymore since I just blogged out it here. :)
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I feel like I've search high and low to find the perfect replacement, but I'm hoping I missed something and that you all can help me out.
Labels: design sos


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The BIG unknown (by us, of course) is can Obama save his pal and largest funder of abortions in the world - WARREN BUFFETT - financing the killing through his tax-exempt 'charities'.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013 10:05
Written by Dave Bohon
A week after Planned Parenthood agreed to a $4.3-million payout in a whistleblower Medicaid fraud lawsuit against one of its Texas affiliates, the non-partisan U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has agreed to launch an investigation of the abortion giant over how it spends the hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding it receives each year.
The GAO agreed to the investigation after over 50 U.S. lawmakers demanded an accounting from Planned Parenthood into the specifics of the disbursement of the funding, which worked out to more than a half billion dollars in federal tax money last year. While by law no federal monies may be used for abortion procedures, which makes up a large share of Planned Parenthood's revenue, many pro-life leaders say that there is no way to ensure that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers are not disregarding that prohibition.
"Planned Parenthood performed a record 333,964 abortions last year — almost one million in the past three years," said U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.), one of the lawmakers who requested the investigation. "At the same time, they also received more federal taxpayer dollars than ever before — a record $542 million, an 11 percent increase over the past two years."
Vitter added that "Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions clearly benefit from Uncle Sam, but there's no accounting to prove how they actually use that money. This GAO report would shine a light on how our tax dollars are being spent."
Another of the lawmakers, U.S. Representative Diane Black (R-Tenn.), called the federal government's funding of abortion providers "a serious problem in our nation. I am pleased with the decision from the GAO to investigate the use of taxpayer money designated to any abortion provider, particularly Planned Parenthood." She said that the non-partisan study of "how much and for what purpose these dollars are allocated to all abortion providers is necessary for Congress to ensure accountability and oversight."
The Daily Caller noted that the latest request from the lawmakers is for an update on a study the GAO did in 2009 on federal funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. The legislators want data on all of Planned Parenthood's U.S. affiliates, as well as for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Population Council, the Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
"They specifically expressed interest in the amount of federal funding the organizations received, the allocating programs, the manner the funds were disbursed, the services they provided and the number of people served in each of those service categories," reported the Daily Caller.
Another of the 50 legislators, Representative Chris Smith (R-N.J.), said that the ultimate goal behind the study is to defund the abortion business. "It's time for Americans and especially Congress to take a second look and defund Planned Parenthood," he said. "I'm pleased that the GAO will be investigating how much taxpayer money the abortion industry is receiving."
Attorney Michael Norton of the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which assisted in the most recent whistleblower lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, told the Christian Post that it has released reports to Congress offering strong evidence of the misuse of funds by Planned Parenthood and other "family planning" organizations.
"We have been focusing on Planned Parenthood's waste, abuse, and potential fraud, and to identify Planned Parenthood as significantly taking advantage of well-funded, poorly addressed family planning programs in particular," Norton said.
Norton said that audits and reviews of the financial data from Planned Parenthood affiliates, along with over 40 audits of state family planning programs and at least one audit of a state family planning organization, uncovered nearly $110 million in waste, abuse, and potential fraud. "Taxpayer money is only supposed to be used responsibly and for the common good," he said, adding that Planned Parenthood "uses taxpayer dollars to pad its bottom line with little regard for the health of women."
Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission pointed out that "for years, the abortion-rights movement has told us they are about 'choice' and getting the government out of their lives. And yet, taxpayers have no choice in their hard-earned dollars subsidizing industries many of us consider to be horrific violators of human rights. A thorough investigation would be a good first step to examining our national conscience about what we're paying for, and why. The abortion industry is big business of the most sordid sort. They certainly don't need a taxpayer bailout."
Source: TNA


text:
She's so perfect, I want to bend her over and slam my four inches into her.
Full Scene Downloads
Hitomi Goes Country
When Hitomi was in Miami, she saw and got scared by alligators, panthers and other Everglades locals. This time superstar Hitomi goes country and spends the day at a stable in the California country. You can take the model out of the studio but you can't take the model out of the model so she'd rather walk around the place and get her big tits out than be a stable hand. We wouldn't have it any other way. Her hands are too delicate to pitch hay.
Hitomi explained how modeling changed her feelings about herself.
"I had an inferiority complex because of my big breasts. After I became a model, I lost those feelings about my body. I discovered that few girls have large breasts like me. I am proud of all of my modeling work and myself and I am always busy. I have self-confidence now about my body."
Hitomi's favorite kind of breast play:
"My secret pleasure is my nipple. I like them to be touched every day. I like a man to touch my breasts hard and rub them, squeeze them." Read More »
Hitomi explained how modeling changed her feelings about herself.
"I had an inferiority complex because of my big breasts. After I became a model, I lost those feelings about my body. I discovered that few girls have large breasts like me. I am proud of all of my modeling work and myself and I am always busy. I have self-confidence now about my body."
Hitomi's favorite kind of breast play:
"My secret pleasure is my nipple. I like them to be touched every day. I like a man to touch my breasts hard and rub them, squeeze them." Read More »
Featuring: Hitomi
Date: June 24th, 2017
Duration: 08:36
Member Comments
1 year ago
1 year ago
Hitomi is so beautiful in makeup! I just want to spray my hot cum all over her face!
1 year ago
The most beautiful woman i have ever seen.
1 year ago
bell�sima....the best!
More Big Tit Videos
Sep 3
19:43 Mins.
Hitomi's Guide To Bras
Hitomi brought a suitcase that was filled with bras and lingerie. Models don't travel light, especially when they're shooting. The number of guys who would happily lug this gorgeous babe's suitcases would take a super-computer to calculate. Hitomi trying on a few of her big bras is only one of the things she does in this scene. Does Hitomi sleep with a bra or without? "I sleep without a bra." How often does Hitomi spank it? "Sometimes I don't masturbate for a whole week. But sometimes I do it three times a day, four times a week. I use a vibrator but not a hard one." What's the wildest thing Hitomi has ever done sexually in her personal life? "In my personal life...I had sex with my boyfriend in front of my friend on the same bed."
Jun 30
24:54 Mins.
East Meets West Part 2
Black-booted Lily Madison is a sweet and demanding dominatrix. Hitomi is the submissive, obedient to Lily's will for mutual pleasure. In Lily's hand is a version of a cat o' nine tails. She has Hitomi on a leash like a dog. Lily runs the multi-tails of her whip over Hitomi's big breasts and relishes the power she has over the girl from Japan that every man wants in his bed. Lily places her foot on the bed and makes Hitomi lick her boot. Hitomi runs her long pink tongue over the length of the shiny PVC boot. She looks up for approval and Lily taunts her exotic slave. "Does it taste good?" Lily asks? "Yeah," Hitomi replies, licking the boot from top to bottom and back. Lily orders Hitomi on all fours and whips her tiny ass. The pleasure of having her way with Hitomi's beautiful body satisfies Lily's fantasy. Demanding that Hitomi kneel on the bed, Lily whips Hitomi's boobs and makes her lick her nipples. Lily wants Hitomi to make her cum and sticks a vibrator in Hitomi's mouth to make it wet. Lily lays back and tells Hitomi to fuck her pussy with the toy. Their fun and games are far from over.
Jul 18
Amy Anderssen
32:02 Mins.
SCORE's Bikini Girls
Tiny tops straining under tits that have been known to bust the strings that try to hold them. Extreme swimsuits under extreme stress. Who can stretch out the tops of bikinis, swimsuits and monokinis like these stacked sirens? SCORE and Voluptuous have enjoyed their share of bikini-clad sun-bunnies. Being located in Florida is a great opportunity for beach and pool photo sessions. The Boob Cruises and Caribbean islands have been a great source for swimsuit action. And we'll happily give the British and European girls their time in the sun too...we'll go to them or fly them to some tropical paradise. SCORE Bikini Girls is a bodacious blend of big-boobed bikini busting babes, an all-star team of titillating, topheavy teasers. Here at SCORE, the girls do swimsuits right. This video is stuffed to the max with super-chested dolls.
Aug 28
19:23 Mins.
A Sharp Girl With Soft Curves
Hitomi picked out this little number because she knows what guys of all nationalities want to see. The three-time SCORE Model of the Year winner is a sharp girl with soft curves. Wrote L.D., "Hitomi is beautiful and has a banging body, but when you get right down to it, it's those big, fat, floppy hangers that seal the deal. The best ever." R.N. wanted to comment about the two scenes in which Lily Madison got it on with Hitomi. "How delightful it is to see Lily Madison and Hitomi together. I am usually critical about girl on girl layouts because many of them look artificial and insincere. But Lily and Hitomi seem to really be enjoying each other and that adds to my pleasure. Lily and Hitomi obviously feel comfortable!"
Jul 30
16:15 Mins.
Lipstick Nipples
Hitomi sucks and kisses her nipples until they are covered in red lipstick and they stay that way for the duration of her cum show as she rubs one out on top of a bar. Hitomi was in Prague for the first time to get it on with Lily Madison and tongue Lily's taco in two sexy girl-girls, one of them a kinky fetish party. Hitomi keeps busy back home in Japan and does a lot of meet and greets at conventions and adult shops. She's been to the States twice for the yearly Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. Sheridan Love, a regular at conventions, got to meet Hitomi, who was either dressed in a Japanese kimono or a skimpy silver bikini. Hitomi also met Maserati and Bridgette B. Big boob girls are magnetically attracted to each other. After reading comments on the Blog and in SCORELAND, Hitomi super-fan Bighorse once wrote about Hitomi modeling with SCORE, knowing the situation with Japanese girls about their pussies having to be obscured. (No problem with the butthole; it's a vagina thing.) "I trust you guys at SCORE with Hitomi. When I first heard she was working with a foreign adult company, I thought this could be bad but she knew what she was doing. Now I'm extremely pleased you guys are understanding with how Hitomi works and have taken good care of her."
Mar 18
13:28 Mins.
Bikini Body
"People always think Asian girls have small breasts," Hitomi said. "But when they see me, they know that it is not true." Hitomi is, without a doubt, one of the greatest girls with the greatest bikini body. This suit is collapsing under her insanely hot figure. The top is not big enough so Hitomi's got some serious under-cleavage going. The hills of California behind her are insignificant compared to the girl from Tokyo. And now her friend Kaho Shibuya is a SCORE Girl. SCORE and Voluptuous Girls have a powerful effect on guys. Anyone who's ever met one in person will know what that effect is. The closest expression might be "boob-drunk." SCORE editors are not immune. Dave once wrote, "I was nervous about being with Hitomi, even in the presence of others. I don't know why. I just was. I've interviewed and spoken to hundreds of SCORE and Voluptuous girls, maybe thousands, and I've never been nervous. Okay, maybe I was nervous the first time, 12 years ago in Key Largo, Florida when my first assignment was to interview Kerry Marie and Lorna Morgan. But since then? Never. But for Hitomi, I was nervous."
Dec 16
09:56 Mins.
Schoolgirl Hitomi Takes A Study Break For Boobs
Hitomi is walking home from class and stops at a secluded, wooded area where she can study outdoors. There are no big, bad wolves around to lick their chops at the sight of her. She drops her book bag and starts to read but she's not in the mood and she's soon bored. Getting out of the uniform that hides her huge tits and ridiculously hot body, Hitomi shows again why she's the #1 big-boob star and the #1 AV and gravure idol of Japan. We're told that the name Hitomi means "doubly beautiful," "benevolent" "pupil of the eye" and "wise." This Hitomi definitely fits all of those meanings. Hitomi said she can be very shy. Once she gets to know someone, she warms up. When she was younger, she would wear skimpy clothing that drew attention to her boobs but now she dresses more conservatively when she goes out unless she's attending a video show such as the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.
Jul 12
10:11 Mins.
Bare In The Country
On a nice, sunny day, Hitomi visits a quiet place in the country. After a look around, she undresses. Hitomi may be a world-famous model now but she still has a shy side. SCORELAND: Hitomi, you are so comfortable naked. Do you go to nude beaches? Hitomi: No, I have never gone. Sometimes I wish I could. I don't go to the beach and pools because people stare. I did like to wear swimsuits on shoots in Mexico and the Dominican Republic but it was private with other models. SCORELAND: How do you care for your breasts? Any special exercises? Hitomi: Everybody asks me this kind of question. But I really don't do anything special like exercises. I just do one thing. I massage and put cream on the lymph glands of my breasts after bathing.


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Ufactor necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 63 diseños de 19 diseñadores freelance.
Transonic Acoustics
At Transonic Acoustics, we specialize in creating engaging multimedia demonstrations which help our clients sell their sound blocking products and technologies. Our niche is to combine engineering, acoustics, and multimedia technologies to produce one-of-a-kind interactive product demos. We want to get the point across that we're both creative and scientific.
Our target audience is businesses who sell doors, windows, and home theater products which block noises and unwanted sounds and who could use a boost in creative marketing to get their product's abstract capabilities across.
We wouldn't want to include one of these products specifically in our logo as to limit our appeal to the other markets, but a wave is universal.
We like the idea of abstract waves, possibly mixed with elements of "the matrix" type digital 0101 to portray our engineering and creative expertise. No busy layers or complex background though, as we need it to be clear and transparent, but these elements can be combined into the same graphic. Perhaps the idea of sound passing through a wall/object that decreases in amplitude after it passes through would work, or maybe just one primary flowing wave. Then again, maybe you have an idea that would work even better.
Use your imagination, as far as color, we prefer hues of blue. No orange or green.
Other Requirements:
We'd like a transparent background so as to integrate in letterheads etc.
No audio waveforms from audio editing program- too cliche
no speakers, subwoofers, electronics, headphones, equalizers, or shrubberies.
See the attached file for examples of what we like, dislike, and currently use...
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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(01437) 890999
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Conservatories Maesteg
Tru-Plas have been installing conservatories in Maesteg and the surrounding areas since 1991. We install over 39 conservatories a year on average in Pembrokeshire and throughout South Wales. Our team are highly experienced with each individual project being tailored to you the customer. Dealing with a family run business whom take pride in their work and more so in dealing with customers needs to ensure satisfaction. Just imagine a place where you can retreat to and really relax in. A conservatory that adds light and air into your home. A place just for you – tailored to your needs and individual style. A Conservatory adds more than just extra space. Conservatories give more than added property value. They bring light and energy into your life and transform the place you call home.
Please see a few examples of our conservatories we have completed in Pembrokeshire and South Wales below or visit our portfolio section for a full range
Design your dream space From the elaborate to the contemporary, Tru-Plas conservatories in Pembrokeshire and South Wales deliver highest quality engineering and exceptional value for money. An extensive range of styles enables the right character of conservatory to be chosen to suit your home and your pocket. Plus, our coveted reputation for quality and reliability gives you confidence that you are making the right choice.
What better way to enjoy a long summers day and cosy winter evenings than from the relaxing retreat of your stylish conservatory?
Our conservatory specialist will meet with you at your property and design your conservatory in front of you, offering 3D rotational views and even show you your finished conservatory on your property prior to beginning building works. This method separates us from our competitors and allows you to see the finished result prior to purchasing the product. We have hundreds of conservatories available for you to see from existing customers if you wish to gain a feel of our completed work. No job is too complex to tackle for our experienced team and our customer testimonials promote this factor.
Select Your Conservatory Style
Conservatory Installers Maesteg
As well as extra room, a conservatory also brings light and energy into your home, revitalising your living space. The beauty of a UPVC conservatory is that you can purpose-design the space to suit your property and the needs of your family. If you need any advice, our accredited installers are available to chat through your options with you and find a design that ticks all your boxes. With our unrivalled conservatory choice from a home expanding UPVC conservatory, to a tiled conservatory roof conversion that is less expensive than you might think, there are so many reasons to talk to Tru-Plas about your UPVC home improvements. For more information on Conservatories in Maesteg
and the surrounding areas, contact one of our team today, we're always happy to help and advise!
Get your Free No-Obligation Quote Today!
We pride ourselves on providing the very best customer service & non - pressured advice.
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Useful Links
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5 days a week ( Contactable 7 days ) at;
Vine Road. Johnston. Haverfordwest. Pembrokeshire SA62 3NZ
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With popular fantasy miniatures range Kings of War, the science fiction sports board game DreadBall and the mass battle wargame Warpath, our games are simple and innovative, making them easy to learn, fast to play and above all else, fun. Check out our great range of wargames figures and tabletop miniatures in the Shop or learn more about fantasy and sci-fi races such as Elves, Dwarfs, Undead, Goblins, Ogres, Abyssal Dwarfs, Twilight Kin and Orcs in the Games Section.
Our miniatures are fully compatible with all major gaming systems including Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000, Privateers Press' Warmachine and Hordes as well as Infinity and Mercs.
This web site is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. 40k, Adeptus Astartes, Battlefleet Gothic, Black Flame, Black Library, the Black Library logo, BL Publishing, Blood Angels, Bloodquest, Blood Bowl, the Blood Bowl logo, The Blood Bowl Spike Device, Cadian, Catachan, Chaos, the Chaos device, the Chaos logo, Citadel, Citadel Device, Cityfight, City of the Damned, Codex, Daemonhunters, Dark Angels, Darkblade, Dark Eldar, Dark Future, Dawn of War, the Double-Headed/Imperial Eagle device, 'Eavy Metal, Eldar, Eldar symbol devices, Epic, Eye of Terror, Fanatic, the Fanatic logo, the Fanatic II logo, Fire Warrior, the Fire Warrior logo, Forge World, Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Genestealer, Golden Demon, Gorkamorka, Great Unclean One, GW, GWI, The GWI logo, the Hammer of Sigmar logo, Horned Rat logo, Inferno, Inquisitor, the Inquisitor logo, the Inquisitor device, Inquisitor:Conspiracies, Keeper of Secrets, Khemri, Khorne, the Khorne device, Kroot, Lord of Change, Marauder, Mordheim, the Mordheim logo, Necromunda, Necromunda stencil logo, Necromunda Plate logo, Necron, Nurgle, the Nurgle device, Ork, Ork skull devices, Sisters of Battle, Skaven, the Skaven symbol devices, Slaanesh, the Slaanesh device, Space Hulk, Space Marine, Space Marine chapters, Space Marine chapter logos, Talisman, Tau, the Tau caste designations, Tomb Kings, Trio of Warriors, Twin Tailed Comet Logo, Tyranid, Tyrannid, Tzeentch, the Tzeentch device, Ultramarines, Warhammer, Warhammer Historical, Warhammer Online, Warhammer 40k Device, Warhammer World logo, Warmaster, White Dwarf, the White Dwarf logo, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations illustrations and images from the Blood Bowl game, the Warhammer world, the Talisaman world, and the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2011, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. All Rights Reserved.
The gothic manor crate!
Can you survive the outbreak?
A peaceful stroll through Bellevue Square.
© Mantic Entertainment Ltd. 2013 All rights reserved


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Alright darlings, excuse my delay, I only managed to get the photos today from the Festival I went, I didn't took my camera with me but in my opinion the photos turned out great, at least the ones from the concert. It was brilliant, Within Temptation is one of my favorite bands, Sharon sang beautifully, and it was the typical insanity of any concert if you are familiar with them. So, I had a great time and I am looking nostalgic at these photos right now..
This is what I wore, self made dress and lots and lots if rings!
Amazing, wouldn't you say?
And a post-concert photo. It got really cold there, brr.
Hope you enjoyed the photos! See you soon with more delicious goodies.
Wearing: self made dress, Converse sneakers, random brands rings and bracelets.


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Corsa Performance Combats Drone With RSC Technology
If you've ever ridden in a car with a performance exhaust system, it's likely you've heard "the drone" - that incredibly annoying, tough-to-stomach sound that happens with certain mufflers at particular RPM levels. It can be so off-putting that it makes driving or riding in the car an exercise in endurance, and can even spoil the characteristics of the car so much that you don't want to be in it.
Thankfully, CORSA Performance is on the hunt to eliminate the drone with their patented Reflective Sound Cancellation technology, engineered into each and every one of their muffler designs, and we are going to explain how it works.
The CORSA brand has been in existence for over 25 years, with a start in the marine category building exhaust systems for high-performance boats. They entered the automotive aftermarket in 1998, but the RSC technology had been in development for quite some time leading up to that entry. In fact, the 1998 Indianapolis 500 Corvette Pace Car showcased the technology before the company officially entered the marketplace.
The Invention Process
Aftermarket exhaust systems have always been known for providing an aggressive tone under maximum power, but some don't offer a nice experience during the street-driving portion of a car's life. That same ability to provide the aggressive tone when the pedal was to the wood came at the expense of cruising volume, as the designs around at that time used a variety of different technologies to round out the exhaust note, but proved ineffective for dampening sound properly at normal speeds.
Working in conjunction with a NASA scientist, the CORSA team worked to build what they consider a better mousetrap by creating an exhaust system that did three things well – maximize performance, eliminate the frequencies that create the dreaded "drone" that occurs under cruising conditions, and provide a quality driving experience for the car's owner.
The end result of this research became CORSA's Reflective Sound Cancellation (RSC) technology, which they say did exactly that – mute the bad sounds while retaining the good ones and setting the stage for a consumer to have the best of both worlds because, after all, what good is a performance exhaust system if it doesn't speak to you when you hammer the throttle?
How Does It Work?
Performance mufflers typically take certain avenues to dampen sound – reflection, absorption, or some combination of the two. The sound that travels from the exhaust is a pressure wave that's formed from pulses of alternating high and low pressure, which make their way through the air at the speed of sound – no surprise there, right? Engines create those pulses when the exhaust valves open at different times, and the high-pressure gases escape from the cylinder and enter the exhaust system. The gases stack up with the lower-pressure molecules in the pipe, which leaves an area of lower pressure behind it in the pipe. Now multiply that by four, or six, or eight cylinders, and you have an exhaust tone as the pressure pulses reach your eardrum.
Testing CORSA Exhaust Systems
Once the system particulars are nailed down, each one is tested to ensure that it flows better than a stock exhaust system and gives the expected result. On some vehicles, the CORSA team explores the application further with dyno testing to gain insight into new technologies and system designs.
Their focus on constant product improvement has enabled them to produce unique exhaust components that allow for performance gains while maintaining the enjoyable characteristics of driving the vehicle in question.
"RSC provides the unique benefit of providing a straight through design, with no restrictions to airflow to maximize performance, but at the same time enables us to create a tunable muffler to target and eliminate specific frequencies that cause drone under a variety of driving conditions. The end result is a free-flowing system, with a Jekyll and Hyde mentality of having a nice aggressive sound at idle and under acceleration yet quiet at cruise with absolutely no drone," says CORSA's Brent Noward.
Flip the Script
By diverting the unwanted low-frequency sound waves that cause the drone through slots in the muffler, reversing them 180 degrees, and ultimately sending them into the muffler's packing, the RSC technology targets and eliminates the frequencies that cause the interior resonance and drone. An added benefit to the technology occurs as CORSA is able to acoustically tune the muffler design to create an aggressive sound under acceleration to match the personality of each individual application.
"Over the years CORSA has continued to develop RSC technology, and we've refined the design to allow for further tunability. A variety of sound levels are possible, showcasing our three different muffler designs. The Touring systems offer slightly louder than stock sound with no drone. Sport gives a high performance sound, distinct rumble at idle, and no drone during cruise. Lastly, there's our Xtreme muffler, which offers the most aggressive sound level, a deep growl at idle, bold sound during acceleration, screams at high RPM and still permits no drone during cruise," Noward explains.
Today the company has three different acoustical solution patents pertaining to exhaust systems and muffler design, has multiple acoustical engineers on their staff, and uses their own proprietary software to develop new systems for many different applications.
Application-Specific Fitments
Each system, including the muffler itself, is designed for a particular vehicle-specific application, as no two vehicle models are the same in terms of exhaust note and performance.
"A CORSA system takes into account a wide variety of variables to create the exacting requirements of each system. Every CORSA system has to deliver on its No Drone promise without exception, but before a system can be created a long list of attributes must be measured and calculated. We measure everything from the vehicle's stock acoustical characteristics of sound to vehicle performance and record those measurements under a wide range of driving conditions," says Noward.
We measure everything from the vehicle's stock acoustical characteristics of sound to vehicle performance and record those measurements under a wide range of driving conditions. - Brent Noward
Once the company establishes a baseline for a particular application, they repeat the process under the same conditions with a straight pipe to monitor and record the raw sound of the engine. After each variable is recorded, the development process begins.
CAD software is employed at the hands of the acoustical engineers to model a prototype. The research and development department fabricates the prototype and installs it onto the vehicle, where the same set of attributes as were measured previously is measured again, both under static and dynamic driving conditions. This allows them to compare the systems back-to-back for real-world results and ensure the prototype system meets all expectations for both sound and performance.
They use Spectrum Analysis equipment to measure sound output, and those results are pinpointed through the proprietary software the company employs to remove the drone, while leaving the roar intact.
Building exhaust systems that need to fit the first time, every time, is an undertaking on a massive scale. Each tube needs to be bent properly, each weld needs to be perfect, and each hanger needs to be in the correct place, with clamps that seal properly and last for the life of the vehicle – and it needs to be a repeatable process.
"Once the system is designed and testing has been completed, the systems are then sent through a pilot production run. During this phase of the development process we ensure large scale manufacturing of the exhaust system is able to be produced efficiently and consistently. As the product continues to get honed into its final production form we are making finite adjustments all throughout the process that allow CORSA to deliver the best possible product to the market with consistency and durability," says Noward.
Every one of Corsa's systems is produced in their ISO 9001:2008 compliant manufacturing facility in Berea, Ohio. The ISO spec requires that the company adhere to specific and rigorous manufacturing, development, and business operation standards.
Their manufacturing techniques include robotic welding, laser cutting, mandrel bending, and the use of both TIG and MIG welding operations to ensure that the systems meet not only the manufacturing standard but also their own internal standards for fitment and performance. Each CORSA exhaust component is built from heavy-gauge premium 304 stainless steel and is backed by their limited lifetime warranty.
Sounds Good to Us
Nobody wants to drop a few weeks worth of fun money on an exhaust system that in turn makes them resent turning the key to go for a cruise, and through the use of their exclusive RSC technology, CORSA Performance is out to make sure that the reality is exactly the opposite.
We've discussed each of the three styles of muffler that the company makes, and if you're interested in hearing them for yourself, they have a complete gallery of sound clips on their website that you can check out. Chances are your vehicle is there, so head on over and give it a listen. Each system's sound is presented during a variety of conditions, giving you a true sense of exactly what you'll get once you open the box.


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Up to [cvs.NetBSD.org] / src / sys / fs / cd9660
Request diff between arbitrary revisions
Default branch: MAIN
Current tag: yamt-pdpolicy-base3
Revision 1.8 / (download) - annotate - [select for diffs], Thu Feb 16 20:17:19 2006 UTC (13 years ago) by perry
Branch: MAIN
CVS Tags: yamt-uio_vmspace-base5, yamt-splraiseipl-base5, yamt-splraiseipl-base4, yamt-splraiseipl-base3, yamt-splraiseipl-base2, yamt-splraiseipl-base, yamt-splraiseipl, yamt-pdpolicy-base9, yamt-pdpolicy-base8, yamt-pdpolicy-base7, yamt-pdpolicy-base6, yamt-pdpolicy-base5, yamt-pdpolicy-base4, yamt-pdpolicy-base3, yamt-pdpolicy-base2, yamt-pdpolicy-base, yamt-pdpolicy, wrstuden-fixsa-newbase, wrstuden-fixsa-base-1, wrstuden-fixsa-base, wrstuden-fixsa, simonb-timecounters-base, rpaulo-netinet-merge-pcb-base, peter-altq-base, peter-altq, netbsd-4-base, netbsd-4-0-RELEASE, netbsd-4-0-RC5, netbsd-4-0-RC4, netbsd-4-0-RC3, netbsd-4-0-RC2, netbsd-4-0-RC1, netbsd-4-0-1-RELEASE, netbsd-4-0, netbsd-4, matt-nb4-arm-base, matt-nb4-arm, gdamore-uart-base, gdamore-uart, elad-kernelauth-base, elad-kernelauth, chap-midi-nbase, chap-midi-base, chap-midi, abandoned-netbsd-4-base, abandoned-netbsd-4
Branch point for: newlock2
Changes since 1.7: +17 -17 lines
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Change "inline" back to "__inline" in .h files -- C99 is still too new, and some apps compile things in C89 mode. C89 keywords stay. As per core@.
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RoseCase ProTec
Product Description
Technologically perfect plastic case - exclusive design and product protection!
Product Features
- top quality, technically designed product - torsion stiffened case shells resist "twisting"
- strong, 180 degree wide opening closures
- extremely adaptable to specific market or product requirements through miscellaneous colour combinations and various options of interior design – including profiled "egg-box" or plain foam and die-cut foam inserts
- case shells can be custom-printed or embossed with brand name/logo (as required)
- optional transparent lid provides perfect product visibility
- with polished and textured surface label area
- concealed hinges, sturdy integrated feet
- numerous secondary uses
- excellent for stacking and storage
- sturdy and re-usable
Standard Material
- Polypropylene (PP)
Stock items
- standard colours: black and transparent
- cover, base and closures in standard colours can be combined ex stock
- available from stock with polished surface label area
- available from stock, min. 1 box quantitiy
- closures in black and red available from stock
- RC-PT 105: Lid with integrated closures - closure colour identical to lid colour
- available from stock with polished surface label area
- cover, base and closures in various colours or in transparent possible - please enquire
- please enquire for individual or customized colors
- Packaging for Cutting Tools
- Packaging for the DIY Market
- Packaging for Technical Applications
- Packaging for Promotional and Consumer Items


text:
Hard-core gaming, apps and HD video have never had it this good with the game-changing AMD Radeon™ HD 7800 series desktop graphics cards.
Download at
* See www.amd.com/neversettleforeveroffer for specific terms and conditions.
Additional hardware (e.g. Blu-ray drive, HD or 10-bit, USB 3.0, monitor, TV tuner) and/or software (e.g. multimedia applications) are required for the full enablement of some features. Not all features may be supported on all components or systems - check with your component or system manufacturer for specific model capabilities and supported technologies.
OpenCL and the OpenCL logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. used by permission by Khronos.


text:
Connection Finder
15,974,143 people are connected within 100 degrees of each other on our global family tree.
Enter two WikiTree IDs to find their closest connection. This includes connections through marriage. To see if Hannover-14 and Falkner-23 share a direct ancestor check the Relationship Finder. more information
Profile of the Week: President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) from the US Presidents Project. Check Hannover-14's connection. Check Falkner-23's connection. Check your connection.
Member of the Week: Jelena Eckstädt is a member of the German Roots, Slavic Roots, and Canada projects, and often creates a profile for the Notables Project when a celebrity passes away. "I really like the collaboration aspect of WikiTree, the collective knowledge that pours out in G2G. ... When I see that someone needs something in German, I always try to help." Check Hannover-14's connection. Check Falkner-23's connection. Check your connection.
Connection Anchor: Queen Victoria, monarch of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901. Check Falkner-23's connection. Check your connection.


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OT: Are Divisions necessary?
With this weekend of epic college football excitement (sarcasm?) and championship week, it got me thinking about the eroding of tradition and quality matchups in college football. I will be the first to admit that I do not read the playoff scenarios top to bottom and multiply out who plays who each year in a 10 vs. 12 vs. 14 team conference, but I thought I would pose a question that I had not seen in my novice MGoBlog reading.
Currently the B1G sits as a 12 team conference but will soon be a 14 team conference. After watching a 6-6 Georgia Tech team play in their conference championship against FSU, a 7-5 Wisconsin team that backed their way in because of sanctions dimantle an ok Nebraska team, a decent Stanford team play a decent game against a decent UCLA team when we all know that Oregon was the best team, and finally an SEC championship game that was a great matchup, it made me wonder about the purpose of divisions. It makes sense in full leagues where there are 30 teams or so and in college football, conferences make up the "divisions" for college football. This move to super conferences, increases the need to break them up into divisions again which basically moves us back to our original conferences (20 team conferences breaks up into 2 ten team divisions or whatever).
Taking the existing system we have this year, if the conference championship games consisted of the two best teams from each conference facing off against eachother, I think the last games of the regular season would be much more meaningful and better matchups. The SEC got it right this year but they are a loaded football conference top to bottom. But we were forced to suffer through a Wisconsin Nebraska championship game where we are left feeling like Wisconsin is kind of the champion but not really. Why not take the best two teams and play a game?
This past weekend's lineup would have been FSU vs. Clemson, Nebraska vs. Michigan, Stanford vs. Oregon, Alabama vs. Georgia, and maybe we could see Kansas St. vs. Oklahoma. This lineup is not perfect but seems to be a bit more intriguing and would yield a more better games and more convincing league champions. With a 4 team playoff following this like we will have in a few years, it is like an 8 team playoff when you consider championship games.
No system is perfect and conference realighnment will detrmine how the future will look, but why do we have these divisions that are divided up based on location, quality of teams, and/or basically arbitrarily.


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There are.... Blanche or Freezer mugWhite Beers... sometimes alleged aureate beer. Lambic beer... a non-malted aureate beer that is by itself brewed by aerial yeast. (This is fabricated accurately in the Brussels area.)
Gueuze, Faro and Kreik beers are Lambic beers. They accept a accent beverage that makes them candied or fruity. Kriek is a auspicious cherry-flavored beer. Our Belgian accompany told us we had to try the blooming beer while we were in Brussels.
Other adapted types include... Brown Beers... added like what you would accede an ale. Red Beers that are produced from red barley and age-old in oak. Golden beers or albino beers that are like Pilsner lagers. There are Trappist beers which accomplish acclaimed aphotic ales and abundant albino beers. Abbey Beers which are agnate but are not fabricated in monasteries.
Six of Belgium's Beer mug Trappist monasteries accomplish beer. There are some twenty adapted beers brewed by those six monasteries. These breweries are not accessible to the accessible except on casual "open aperture days" and again alone with reservations, but you can sample them in bounded cafes and some abbey shops.


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Katherine Wares
Class of 2014
Katherine is a senior from Frederick, Maryland. She is an Environmental Studies major, treasurer of Psychology club, on the club field hockey team, and a member of the Student Environmental Alliance. This is her third year working for the GIS lab. She has worked on Historic Visualization, Pluckemin Artillery Cantonment, Chester River switchgrass mapping, and Queen Anne's development mapping.