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Template:Pinewood Derby See also
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
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- Pinewood Derby - Pinewood Derby Official Rules - Pinewood Derby Tips
- Pinewood Derby Licenses 8 perpage - Award one to every Cub. Just write in the names on race day. Matches the certificate.
- Pinewood Derby Certificate - Just write in the names and awards on race day!
- Interactive Pinewood Derby Certificate lets you fill in your Pack # and date then just click the drop-down to choose the awards to print:
Best Design Best In Show Cubmaster's Pick Judge's Favorite Best Detail Best Paint Job Most Colorful Most Original Most Realistic Most Aerodynamic Most Innovative Best Theme Most Artistic Best Workmanship Most Decals Best Dragster Best Classic Design Most Futuristic Best Scout Theme Best Truck Design Best Wedge Shape Most Creative Most Unique Most Patriotic
- Other certificates: Pinewoodpro.com - Clipart & Certificate - More - More - many more
- Supplies: Pinewood Derby® Car Kit - Speed Secrets - Scale - Axle Lube - Practice Track - Adjustment Tool - Polishing Kit - More - BSA Pinewood Derby Licenses - Official Ribbons - Generic Derby License
- Related resources: Pack Meeting Webelos Craftsman Activity Badge Cub Scout Art Belt Loop and Pin
- Other sites: USScouts.org - Maximum Velocity - ABC Pinewood - Pinewood Extreme - Pinecar - Pinewood Pro - Tips - Derby Talk
- Maximum Velocity's Free Pinewood Derby Times Newsletter - Tip of the Week
- Maximum Velocity's Pinewood Derby Times - 100's of articles, tips, photos, etc.
- Scoutorama.com Pinewood Derby Tips - many great ideas!
- GrandPrix Race Central: Car Construction - Electronics - Miscellaneous - Race Documents and Graphics
- Pinewood Derby Official BSA Online Game - Paint your car and then race it online!


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CRESTVIEW � "Dancing with the Stars'" Tony Dovolani will headline a gala night of ballroom dance spectacle when Fred Astaire Dance Studio presents its annual showcase with proceeds benefiting Covenant Hospice.
CRESTVIEW � "Dancing with the Stars'" Tony Dovolani will headline a gala night of ballroom dance spectacle when Fred Astaire Dance Studio presents its annual showcase with proceeds benefiting Covenant Hospice.
Crestview High School's Pearl Tyner Auditorium on Feb. 16 will transform into a dance palace of sound, light and swirling bodies, featuring the season 15 champion of ABC's �Dancing with the Stars: All Stars.�
Joining Dovolani and his partner, Chelsie Hightower, will be amateur and professional dancers from the local Fred Astaire studio and studios across the Emerald Coast, including Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and Tallahassee.
"It's a big production," Crestview studio co-owner Erika Moreno said. "It's the big show for the Crestview studio. Each studio hosts its own big show and this is ours."
The Crestview Fred Astaire studio has a history of supporting Covenant's local programs, which include bereavement services, children�s support programs, chaplain services and indigent patient care, Covenant Development Manager Jenni Perkins said.
"I think David (Col�n, co-owner) and Erika are extremely community-minded," she said. "They really look for opportunities to get involved with a good cause while showcasing their passion for dance and their skill. They have supported Dance for Life for the past three years and every year it just gets bigger and better and raises more money for us."
In addition to Dovolani, the evening will feature "a small 'battle of the dancing stars,'" including studio professional Aaron Stowell dancing with local attorney Muncelle Mitchell, Moreno said. They will face off on the dance floor with Fred Astaire dancer Hannah Kania, whose partner will come from the ranks of community, business or civic leadership.
"Every year the show gets better, so every year we can increase the amount we can give Covenant Hospice," Moreno said. "And this year we have Tony!"
"Tony is such a hoot!" Perkins said. "He's always joking around and doing unexpected stunts during the show. He's a blast to be around."
"He's the biggest name we've ever had come to Crestview," Stowell said. "For anybody who's ever seen the show ("Dancing with the Stars"), he's a household name."
"But it's not just about having Tony perform," Perkins said. "David and Erika's students, the local performers, are just phenomenal. Having taken dance lessons at Fred Astaire, I know the amount of work and sweat that goes into it.
"I always leave Dance for Life so pumped. I find myself wiggling and hopping around in my seat during the show. The dancing and music (are) so infectious. There's lots of good fun and energy going on."
A limited number of V.I.P. tickets are available for the evening and include reserved front-row seats and participation in an after-show party with the stars, complete with refreshments, an open bar and photo opportunities.
Tickets are available at the Fred Astaire studio.
Want to go?
"Dance for Life," a ballroom dance spectacle benefiting Covenant Hospice� featuring Tony Dovolani and Chelsie Hightower from "Dancing with the Stars" � is at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Crestview High School's Pearl Tyner Auditorium.
Tickets are $30 for general admission or $60 for V.I.P. reserved seats and an after-show party with the stars.
Tickets are available at Fred Astaire Dance Studio, 301 N. Main St., or online at www.FredAstaireCrestview.com.
Contact News Bulletin Arts & Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

subset: commoncrawl


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ronca needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 141 designs submitted by 41 freelance designers.
I am starting a new business dealing with cell phone text messages for business.
I chose the company name because vend is "anyone who sells good" and text is text messages.
restuarants, doctor office, and any retail stores
a nice company logo that deal with cell phone text message for business. Need a black background and white background version because i haven't designed the website yet so i don't change the color scheme.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Hello everyone. I'm an atheist interested in counter-apologetics. Are there any Jews or Christians (or ex-Jews or ex-Christians) visiting here who have come across any Biblical contradictions or inconsistencies for which you have not found a satisfying answer to? If so, could you please post them here for discussion?
Views: 1681
One that theologians and Bible experts have had considerable trouble with over the years are the two different genealogies of Jesus, given in Matthew and Luke. They conflict with each other and with the portions that refer to genealogies in First Chronicles. You will find a thorough discussion here:
It has a nice chart that shows all the discrepancies:
And how do those genealogies even matter, if Joseph wasn't Jesus's "real" father?
The genealogies are supposed to establish that Jesus is descended from Adam through the line of King David, but of course they cannot do that if the theology is correct and that itself is another contradiction.
One explanation offered for the discrepancies (and in support of the theology) is that one genealogy is that of Mary, even though it does not explicitly say so. There is a problem with this explanation also: genealogies did not show descent through the female line because there was no understanding of the female contribution to the biology. The understanding of the biology at the time was flawed: it was thought that male planted his seed in the female, who served only as the soil in which it grew.
However there is no way to reconcile these lineages with the one from the Old Testament.
Dr. Clark has it exactly right here, and to this day the christians will tell you that one of these genealogies is that of Mary. How can they do their apologetics and research and even keep a straight face while saying this?
Maybe it is all like the Assumption of Mary. At the end of Mary's life it became a popular belief that she was drawn bodily into heaven while still alive. This belief was pretty solid by 600 AD. In modern times one of the Popes declared that it was true. God had revealed it to him.
Most of the christian world is made up of fables like this, but the Assumption would explain away siteings of Mary through the centuries. I'm still wondering how they knew what she looked like?
I really enjoy the look on my ex pastors face when confronted with this, " So, your saying God told Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son. And then God said "PSYCH! I was just kidding! here's a goat".
Re: Abraham, I'm tempted to ask my brother-in-law, in front of his son, "If YOU heard a voice telling you to kill your son, would you do it?"
If he says of course, if it's what God wants, I would say, "You wouldn't first go to a doctor and get checked for schizophrenia??" Then I'd remind them about the woman who killed her four kids by drowining them in the tub, b/c she was instructed by God to do so. I'm sure that's just one of many examples.
Abraham's story is also a great example of how the bible is hardly a family-friendly book.
I also bring up the story of Noah when Christians say God is infallible ( I think that is how it is spelled). I say God makes mistakes, look at the Noah story. Ooops, I goofed up, better start all over and wipe the slate clean. Is that not what that is, a mistake on His part? Also the Bible says that we need God, He does not need us. If that is true (if it is not true then why is it in the Bible? right?) then I always approach this with an example. When man needs something he makes it. Need shelter? make a house. Need transportation? we make cars trains and airplanes. We make things we need. If God does not need us then why bother making us? Psychotic? Crazy? Idiotic? I find the things He says and does in the old testament detestable and cruel and downright evil. I would not be so against Christians if they were nice and considerate to those around them. I would not dislike them so much if they would just try to understand people rather than judge and hate.
ALL biblical contradictions are answerable. I've posted again about "rapture and the second coming" but no one cared enough to contribute. It's like giving a party and no one comes. Bluh!
Christians all know that Jesus died on Good Friday and rose on Sunday, but in Matthew He says that He will be in the grave for three days and three nights. So let's see . . . Friday night, that's one. Saturday night, that's two. And Sunday night . . . never mind. So was Jesus God? Was He wrong? Was he lying?
Of course the Bible can be read in a variety of ways, but the literalists are dangerous. They will probably never change their minds, but the next contradiction might be the one that does it. I usually turn to the really weird stuff, like the trial by ordeal imposed on the wives of jealous husbands in Numbers 5. It's a hoot.
He was not in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights! There is no way around this one, but you can never convince a christian of this.
Christians claim that Jesus was God, and that he was meek and lowly. The New Testament says that He is the same today, yesterday and forever. So there is no way to reconcile Him with the Old Testament God who was a God of jealousy and wrath.
Zapping that olive tree doesn't sound meek to me.
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Just busy. Moving, remodeling, and recovering from a car accident, oh my. And painting, even though it's not my usual style, it's still paint on canvas :)
And gardening. Last year, I had a 4x4 foot garden; this year, two 4x20s and a 4x10. Yes, it has been mentioned that I am crazy, why do you ask? Sadly, I had to rip out and destroy the vast majority of my tomato plants, which were over five feet tall and gearing up to an epic harvest. Damned tomato blight!So, in the absence of deep and meaningful content, I found this meme here by googling "book meme" (yes, I am terribly original.)
1. What author do you own the most books by? Stephen King, followed by Terry Pratchett
2. What book do you own the most copies of? I have two copies of several books, like Lani Diane Rich's A Little Ray of Sunshine; Crusie / Rich & Stuart's The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes; Sarah Shankman's Digging Up Mama, and Stephen King's The Green Mile.
3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? Nope.
4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? So many! Will from The Fortune Quilt. Brandywine from The Fortune Quilt. Cal from Bet Me. Burr from gods in Alabama. Gideon Westbrook, Viscount St. Justin from Ravished. ST Maitland from The Prince of Midnight. Jake Templeton from Manhunting. Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files. And so on...
5. What book have you read the most times in your life? I'm a chronic rereader, but maybe the Oz books by L Frank Baum? I think I've been rereading those for the longest.
6. Favorite book as a ten year old? Any Trixie Belden book.
7. What is the worst book you've read in the past year? Twilight. I did actually finish reading it, but was disappointed to find the heroine spineless and the hero stalker-y.
8. What is the best book you've read in the past year? Nation by Terry Pratchett
9. If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be? I'm not much for forcing people to do things. I make a lot of recommendations.
10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? Any of Lani's books. or Jenny Crusie's.
11. What is the most difficult book you've ever read? The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. Very disturbing.
12. What is your favorite book? Too many to list, really. Kinsale, Rich, Crusie, Alesia Holliday, Chris Moore, Gaiman, Sarah Shankman, Barb/Caridad Ferrar, Lisa Gardner, Jim Butcher... so many authors writing books I just love.
13. What is your favorite play? Into the Woods.
14. Poem? Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.
15. Essay? Jenny's essays are great. There are others I like, but those are the first to come to mind.
16. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? I don't know.
17. What is your desert island book? The source book from Angel Season Five Episode Seven - where you say what book you want it to be, and the words appear inside. Hey, if I'm gonna dream, I'm gonna dream big.
18. And . . . what are you reading right now? Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World - edited by Kathleen Raglan.
Normally, I would hyperlink to all the books and authors, but it is 4:46 am and I am too tired.


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Five Element Aromatherapy
Posted on September 13, 2011 0
Five Element Aromatherapy
By Shanti Dechen, CCAP, LMT
The human relationship to the cycles of the day, seasons and moon were of vital interest to traditional Chinese healers and, through this, the "five element theory" became a fundamental part of traditional healing and a way of life. These five elements were associated with the equinoxes and solstices to help farmers plan ahead and organize their agricultural cycles. The calendar was arranged by naming the elements: wood for the spring equinox, fire for the summer solstice, metal for the autumn equinox and water for the winter solstice. The fifth element, earth, was at the centre of the calendar to signify Indian Summer and the transition time between all the seasons.
Humans embody all of the elements, like a year has all seasons. Along with the yin/yang theory, the five element theory was the most important concept in early Chinese medicine.
We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.
William Hazlitt "On Taste" (1859)
The principles and theory of the five elements have became widespread, and are now fundamental practices in acupuncture, feng shui, shiatsu, chi gong, astrology, healing with herbs, aromatherapy and nutrition.
The five element theory also explains why substances of the natural world are harmonious with the human body. We utilize trees (wood), herbs (earth), minerals (metal), fire and water because these substances are the same in composition and character to our own underlying make-up. It is when the energy of an element is imbalanced that we then observe symptoms or disease related to that element.
Each element is associated with a pair of internal organs and expresses different characteristics relating to its nature that become evident as balanced or imbalanced states. A disruption of our five element energies can increase disturbances; these eventually create a disturbed pattern of flow or chi in our life energy that can lead to a predisposition to certain mental/emotional or physical ailments.
Let us focus on the earth element as a clinical example. As our landscape starts to change from the long hot days of summer to the golden hue of Indian Summer, the Earth element emerges; the plants go to seed, the tree leaves start to dry and yellow, the days become shorter and the air cools.
Earth symbolizes balance. Earth represents mid-life, mature adulthood. It is center of the mandala or medicine wheel, the point where we stand looking out at the four cardinal directions. Earth phase corresponds to the point of balance between Yang and Yin, to late summertime or Fall Equinox, and late afternoon, the time of ripening of fruit and golden grain. Days and nights are nearly equal in length. The climate is perfect - neither too hot nor too cold, neither too wet nor too dry. Earth energy is stable, giving us a firm center and grounding. Like ripe grain before the harvest, its color is yellow or golden like amber.
If Earth element is weakened from a poor diet and over-worry, you will see that more nourishment is requested from the Fire element to nourish Earth. Additionally, if Earth is weakened, the Metal element may also be affected, as the Earth will be too depleted to provide nourishment to Metal, its child.
From a clinical perspective you may see development of digestive issues from irregular eating, excessive worry and overwork those will lead to a proliferation of dampness (excessive Earth element), which then affects the Metal element. Within this case, you may see a combination of bloating, gas, and fatigue, poor appetite along with the development of Metal (Lung) symptoms, such as nasal congestion or excess mucus in the lungs.
Foods that can enhance the earth element:
The sweet taste tonifies, balances, and moderates. It is used to tonify deficiency. Warming foods are suggested that are easy to digest.
- Grains: Millet
- Vegetables: Sweet corn, all squash: (acorn, butternut, Hokkaido, Hubbard, spaghetti, pumpkin) shiitake mushrooms, beets, onions, parsnips, rutabaga, collards, chard, artichoke, sweet peas, and string beans
- Fruits: sweet apples, figs, cantaloupe, sweet orange, honeydew, tangelo, raisins, sweet grapes, papaya, dates, tangerine
- Fish: salmon, tuna, swordfish, sturgeon
- Nuts: Almonds, pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
- Sweeteners: agave, maple syrup, rice syrup, barley malt, molasses
There are also specific clinical physical and emotional characteristicsof each of the five elements that can be easily observed. One of the first clues a practitioner can start with is from a hand shake of your client. Does the skin on the hand feel dry (metal element), damp (earth element), hot (fire element), or cold (water element)? Other easy accessible clues for each element can include; body structure, face (shape, color and lines), and tongue.
Other earth element characteristics include:
- Color: Yellow
- Direction: Center
- Season: Late Summer/ Indian Summer
- Related organs: Spleen/Pancreas (yin)/Stomach (yang)
- Body tissue: Muscles
- Taste: Sweet
- Body odor: Fragrant
- Sense organ: Mouth
- Sound: Singing
- Climatic Qi: Damp
- Emotions: Worry, sympathy and self doubt
- Virtues: Balance, centeredness and equanimity medicine.
Essential Oil Example:
- Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) - Joyful stability (warm and dry, strengthens digestive system and spleen and stomach chi)
- Benzoin (Styrax benzoin) - Nurtured change(warming, increases immunity, spleen and stomach chi, clears phlegm, and calms nerves and mind)
- Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) - Peaceful abiding (warming, increases immunity and spleen and stomach chi, and uplifts mind)
- Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) - Embracing transformation (calms mind, increases immunity, and fortifies spleen and stomach)
"The first method of healing is to cure the spirit;
the second is to give knowledge of how to restore the body." Nei Ching
Shanti Dechen, director and owner of Aroma Apothecary Healing Arts Academy has been teaching the five element theory since 1984 and has found it invaluable in daily and clinical life. Along with its clinical aromatherapy program, Aroma Apothecary also offers a Five Element Healing Series that includes: Five Element Essential, Five Element Aromatherapy, Five Element Reflexes and Five Element Acupressure. Shanti blissfully resides in pristine Crestone, Colorado, where nature is more abundant than humans.
Copyright © Shanti Dechen 2011
To learn more about Shanti please visit her website: www.learnaroma.com
To purchase a copy of NAHA Tele-Conference with Shanti Dechen: Five Element Aromatherapy please click here.
Would you like to contribute an article for a future NAHA E-Newsletter? Click here to download the Writers Guidelines.
Please Log In to post comments


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Monday, September 14, 2009
The HoseMaster Sells Panties, Half Off!
What if everything were sold the way fine wines are sold? I was thinking about this recently, struck by the absurdity with which fine wines are marketed. So I started imagining a world where panties were sold like fine wine is sold. OK, yeah, I'm still the HoseMaster after all. What would panty salespeople say to get panty buyers to buy their wares. Their underwares. Stuff like this...
"I love the nose on these panties, you can really smell the terroir."
"Parker gave this pair a 94 and said he couldn't wait to try them again in eight years."
"We entered these panties in a blind panty trial and they beat out all of the best European panties--and all of the judges were French! I just wonder if European in your panties."
"This gorgeous pair of silk panties got 3 Puffs from Connoisseurs' Guide to Panties. And it got a good score too."
"The original pair of these panties came over to California smuggled in a bra from a very famous Italian design house. They're 'Thongs From the Mammaries'."
"We brought in Rudy Giuliani to consult on these panties, and David Abreu did all of the irrigation work."
"You know, I could sell you a couple of pairs of the frilly black panties, but I'd really need you to buy a bunch of the Ellen DeGeneres castoffs."
"The guy down the street bought three pairs of these panties right before lunch."
"No, really, these panties are fine, they've just been open all day."
"These panties are from right next door to Helen Turley's panties...you can literally see her panties from there."
"When Clinton was President, these panties were always served at the White House. And I don't have to tell you how often they were used for Bush..."
8 comments:
- Samantha Dugan said...
I was wondering where my favorite pair of blue panties went....I don't even remember that guy!
- September 14, 2009 at 10:12 AM
- Ron Washam, HMW said...
My Gorgeous Samantha,
You wouldn't remember that guy. I sold them to him. Paid by the hectare.
Those aren't your panties. Unless that guy's a Keebler elf.
I adore you.
- September 14, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Well, you got it wrong. The correct title is CONNOISSEURS' GUIDE TO PARTIES, although I will admit that the lengthy finish of the party in question was balanced movement of the panties in question.
- September 14, 2009 at 11:17 AM
- Arthur "Kanye" Przebinda said...
Taylor Swift got nice panties, but Beyonce deserved the Best Female Panties Award!
- September 14, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Would Beaulieu Vineyards have to change its name to "BVD"?
We'll be hearing about cross-merchandising (and probably cross-dressing, as well): "Here's a nice pair of shorts and you get a (bottle of) Cockburn, too."
Would snippets of tasting notes, then, be called "briefs"?
Is the leading American panties critic named "Melvin," by any chance? The top Aussie critic is named Reginald, as in Reg Grundys.
Some vintners are making un-wooded Chardonnays. In panty-speak, these would be described as "crotchless."
Rumor has it that Marvin Shankster is buying his local NBA team...the New York Knickers-bockers.
Is Spandex, then, the panties equivalent of Mega-Purple?
The world of panties has "bloomers," while the wine world has bloomin' idiots.
(Glad I'm) ANONYMOUS I
- September 15, 2009 at 8:32 AM
- el jefe said...
I only wear old-thread panties....
- September 15, 2009 at 12:13 PM
- Ron Washam, HMW said...
Party Daddy,
Yours is a different publication. Connoisseurs Guide to Panties is edited by Jerry Mathers.
Anon 1,
Yeah, I'd stay anonymous too.
El Jefe,
Don't get your panties all in a Twisted Oak.
Certainly the stupidest premise in HoseMaster history. And I'm damned proud if it. You don't get this kind of stuff on Heimoff.
- September 15, 2009 at 6:46 PM
- Samantha Dugan said...
- September 15, 2009 at 9:20 PM


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Fed Uneasy About Fueling Credit Bubble
WSJ's Global Economics Editor David Wessel and Chief Economics Correspondent Jon Hilsenrath discuss the Federal Reserve's newest concern: The danger that its easy money policies may fuel another financial crisis.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... David Wessel ... Wall Street Journal with me here is John Hills unwrapped ... the minister in the paper that talks about the things that that is warning about ... other than the classics rate when inflation ... notes is that the Fed has been ... criticized for ... risking a big jump in inflation we haven't seen it ... they're starting to turn their attention to something else which everyone is to focus on which is the risk believe or not ... of another financial bubble ... no we're seeing some markets start to take off ... junk bonds and body in the junk bond market displaces Beazer was before the last financial crisis ... some ... odd looking loans in the corporate loan market there is no risk of lightning K Tata loans ... these are signs that were starting to see ... you real ... potential for off going after these markets and that is starting to ask ... is this a sign that doubt we could have some new financial bubble building up in it so ... what we do about it ... so ... it's the problem of repeating the date of the past decade ... well ... I mean ... that's one of the worries it's hard to believe that they would be thinking about this at this point that that should put a lot of new ... surveillance mechanisms in place that that the institutions change alot ... BCA get there and they've got a hand on the things that got a handle on financial bubbles ... but here we could be put to test me you tell me the institution ... that has changed ... so much from ... where was it and twenty years in on the way they thought oh well it actually turns thing about that the other day remember going to the Fed's Jackson Hole conference is where ... economist after Qantas would get up and lecture the Fed officials that ... you can't possibly know when there's a bubble so they don't know the end of the reason that Islam was Ben Rene and sell the ... capabilities of the kindest ... thing Greenspan strategy was caricature as ... mopping up but the bubble burst and then you can clean it up now ... there were people who would talk once in awhile about asset prices maybe we should worry about it yet but ... this is night and day and that's what I get some good footage claims this interesting so ... they say they learned their lesson that they can just allowed these things to develop and not do anything about it and wait until after the first that work for the tech bubble it didn't work for the housing bubble ... so they have a lot of people looking out for stuff but it's kind of like one of the analogies I use my stories the captain of the ship ... looking out on a cold sea for price Aaronson China distinguish them ... from up or just dig from big chunks of ice ... so they have surveillance going on but the big question I think that that is the right so what we do when we think we see in a story what can you actually see and what other choices I mean I suppose that could raise interest rates so low that seems low dangerous when the economy so weak that they they talked alot about these things called macro Prudential tool to allow them to ... avoid a crisis that they have in most of this or that this is this part of the debate that's going to take shape and I should say this is going to be taking gone would hurt the very early stages of this and that are not seeing a bubble that were at the very early stages ... but part of the debate is ... to use your regulatory tools already use interest rates ... so we know they can do things and I think that's probably the inclination of most people there ... to try their ... pullback on specific parts of the markets we might see the same problems I mean they they have some believer that as well so this on the call margin requirements if they think that people are borrowing too much against certain asset light mortgage back securities ... they can raise in markets like the repo market margin requirement for Bahrain and that ... so they have a lot of leaders that that's one thing that's changed is that over the last ten years is ... that so many leveraged right now that they think they could pull ... but a really big question is this frock that we see continues to develop and has a very busy at one of the question is do they keep pushing the monetary gas ... to the floor ... and in so here's a question and once you let me hear you put your odds on it ... did that does that then reach its goals of getting unemployment down to six and a half percent forecast the ... back ... I mean that's the question what I'd I think it's a huge dilemma I mean it was always the radical before but now we're facing that point the people that have long worried about ... unemployment is high ... inflation is low ... if they're beginning to talk about a bubble with people like you that their deftly worried about it either it's not there yet now at some point ... six nine twelve months from now did they say ... we have to put the brakes on the economy before back to full employment to avoid risking another calamity like poses the problem is they don't wanna put the brakes on the economy read the problem for the marinade missionaries and to put the brakes on the financial market before they want to put the brakes and economy cuz ... they clearly want to keep ... reading the economy is unemployment is so hot right so ... ten years ago if you are talking about these questions in the one who was the brain that the Fed was thinking about them ... Ben Rene Kyi with an idealist Alan Greenspan was the chairman of Bedford it was a governor ... so for the people we are listening to carefully now that it's so quite clearly burn Anqi is still a brand that has a sister I were to my mind that's true that's a good point there a lot of interesting characters there one person we talk to them restored to its ... Jeremy Stein he's a new governor he was a finance professor before he got caught that day ... and he's been talking about the stock is bringing some interesting ways of thinking that a one-year MIT must be ... a part of the MIT market ... there's another guy in Boston Eric Rosengren ... he's an interesting character he's he's a former supervisor ... very interested and financial stability its has been paying a lot of attention vulnerabilities and my markets ... he's also would up he wants the Fed to be pushing the gas to get the economy going ... but he's looking out for these things is really important in what he says ... and Bill Dudley another job another guy who wants to push ... the gas and the economy ... but has said before that there might be cases where the Fed has to use monetary policy ... to pull back the rains finally Esther George ... she's on top ... she doesn't believe in using low interest rates ... and she's out in the Midwest look into farmland prices going through the roof raising and when a ... lot of different voices has always been on the challenge for burn Anqi is balancing all these voices ... in China come up with the right answer to account for you is telling us the recent listen to ... it ... you can read more about John


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Anonymous Acts Out Over ACTA
Feb 18, 2012 4:00 AM PT
The hacker group Anonymous has struck again -- this time taking down the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection business center website as well as one touting National Consumer Protection Week.
In their place was a German language video mocking ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
The FTC promptly removed the video, which has been described as violent and bloody: A man in a ski mask guns down people for downloading copyrighted music. In a profanity-ridden statement, Anonymous threatened to "rain torrential hellfire down on all enemies of free speech, privacy and internet freedom" if ACTA is approved.
Hating on ACTA
ACTA, a global agreement targeted at curbing online piracy, has plenty of opponents who believe it will restrict freedom to download movies and music from the Internet and possibly lead to surveillance. That some government officials have signed the agreement in secret -- or attempted to -- is not sitting well with the public. As protests over the trade agreement grow, a number of countries in Europe are refusing to sign or ratify it.
Such rejection is nothing, though, compared to the language that Anonymous reportedly used in its statement accompanying the video:
"Even more bothersome than your complete lack of competence in maintaining your own f--- websites and serving the citizens you are supposed to be protecting, is the US federal government's support of ACTA. You really want to empower copyright holders to demand that users who violate IP rights (with no legal process) have their Internet connections terminated? You really want to allow a country with an oppressive Internet censorship regime to demand under the treaty that an ISP in another country remove site content?"
A Step Beyond
Anonymous managed to crash other government websites -- most notably that of the CIA and the Justice Department. However, the group did not replace content on those sites as it did on the FTC's.
What is puzzling is that the FTC is not involved with ACTA at all. Trade agreements are handled by other agencies, including the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Much about Anonymous, however, is puzzling, said Maurice Ross, a partner with Barton.
"It is hard to characterize them from an ideological standpoint," he told TechNewsWorld. "It seems to me that they view themselves as global crusaders for First Amendment-type issues. The problem is, even for people who share those values, the tactics that Anonymous uses are very troubling."
Its goals seem to be focused on equality, Robert Siciliano, online security evangelist, told TechNewsWorld.
"Anonymous is a movement upset with the 1 percent and what it perceives are the 1 percent's underlying motivations," he said.
Still, for a loosely organized group with airy-fairy goals, Anonymous has caused some significant financial damage, Siciliano said. "There are dollars associated with each breach that has surely exceeded millions in losses. Also, individuals whose data was exposed have suffered losses of reputation in numerous ways based on the information exposed."
Anonymous refers to the latter as "the truth," Siciliano added.
Taking Down the Internet
The group is also threatening to bring down the Internet -- a claim that Siciliano finds laughable despite Anonymous' technical feats to date.
"The fact Anonymous was kind enough to give notice means they have no intention or may lack the ability to do so. There's too much redundancy in the system," he said.
Making the threat, though, "is a great PR move," Siciliano added.
"The Internet is nearly impossible to black out completely," Tim Keanini, CTO for nCircle, told TechNewsWorld.
More to the point, why would the hackers want to bring down the Internet in the first place?
"The Internet is Anonymous' primary means of communication and their targets depend on a working Internet," Keanini pointed out. "If, hypothetically, Anonymous was able to create an Internet blackout for any substantial period of time, it would effectively put them out of business."
Website Operating Costs on the Rise
Anonymous can't bring down the Internet, Ross acknowledged, but it surely can bring down sites that it targets -- especially poorly secured sites run by smaller companies or nonprofits.
"Most companies have not invested in the security that is required to combat this type of assault," he said. "And for those that have, it is driving up companies' costs of operating their websites."


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Monitor correspondent Jane Arraf sat down with Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi to discuss his efforts to build a broad political coalition for upcoming national elections, Iraq's security and economic issues, and relations with its neighbors. What follows is a transcript of their interview. (Related story: Iraq's vice president says Iraq should call on US for security help.)
Regarding the coalition you've formed, I understand there are discussions going on to widen it. Can you tell us about that?
There are still discussions with [Ayad] Allawi, with [Nouri] al-Maliki, with other smaller groups. And the fact that such discussions are taking place, especially the formation of a front later on after the coalition - the next step will be to negotiate, to create a ....united national front that will discuss the platform of the coming government, [the composition of] the government itself and try to be well prepared this time. If those people win, then everything will be ready, rather than discussing things later on, which you know last time caused Iraq four months of delaying, forming the government and agreeing on the platform and the program of the government.
It looks as if Prime Minister Maliki is not going to join your coalition, is he?
No, we don't know yet. Some people confirmed that he will, others say that he wouldn't.
If his demand is 51 percent of the representation, is that something you would consider?
No. This is not acceptable. It would be like joining his coalition and asking 51 percent of his coalition - no one would accept to follow others, but on the other hand all of the coalition should be open with no vetoes. As we say in the national coalition that there will be no refusal, no forced agreements - Maliki will have his chance, others will have his chances [to lead the coalition], so joining the coalition with the balanced rates will be the acceptable equation - otherwise what is the need of having a coalition?
Is your coalition wide enough, broad enough to include people like Ayad Allawi?
Yes of course. There are negotiations with Ayad Allawi and practically there are no obstacles. We have some technical obstacles. On the orientation, on the real lines and the wide policies, we [are all in agreement], but there are some technical organizational complications.
If those could be solved that would be good. If not, we'll meet at the front.
How will this election be different from the last election, and how will it be different for the parties in your coalition?
It's different from many points of view. First we witnessed some splits [along political lines].... This took place in Kurdistan - this took place in the south, in the western parts, in the north.... It's a positive split, especially when it is related to negotiating with other parties from other communities, which we did not see in the last elections. In the last elections, each of us was concentrating on his own power and his own constituency, rather than going to other constituencies to gain power from them. So we are approaching a more national policy rather than a self-aspiration policy ... because [that would mean] the Kurds would be framed by their geography, the Shiites would be within their community, and the Sunnis would be only in their community. It is a step forward. It is not a final one, but it shows that things are going forward and people are understanding the lessons, and acting accordingly.
Is one of those lessons what was widely perceived to be voters rejecting religious-based parties in the provincial elections?
I don't think they rejected it. They rejected all of us - secular, religious. The rate of participation was low and if religious parties lost some votes, other parties also lost votes, and maybe more than the religious parties. Allawi, for example, had [in the] last elections 900,000; [this time] he [received] only 250,000. [Sunni leader Saleh al-] Mutlaq lost two-thirds of his forces. Tuwafaq [the main Sunni alliance] went from 1 million-and-a-half to 400,000, so there was no real progress on the numbers - neither the secular nor the religious parties. Take the Communist party, for example. They lost more votes, so there was a very important message coming from the people of a high rate of abstaining - which shows that people are not satisfied with our policies, neither the local policies nor the federal policies nor the central policies.
Was it the policies themselves or more basic things, such as lack of services?
They are the same thing....
How will you change that then? How can you promise to improve that?
I think most of our energy was given to security issues - maybe to political issues. The [composition] of the cabinet was full of contradictions, which blocked real action. We need this time a government - a government united in its views. You can't have a very centralized view within a cabinet with a very de-centralized view. You can't have socialist ideas on how to see the economy, and a market economy. This time we have to be united on a real program that can take the country forward, especially in services and economic issues. I think in the coming four years, two major issues should emerge...security and economic issues. We still have other problems - disputed areas, constitution, reconciliation, but this should be built on achievement of security and economics. Without achieving real progress on security and economics, we will always have problems.... That's why we have to concentrate on good governance in economy, in [fighting] corruption in such issues that people can see the difference between the new Iraq and the old Iraq.
How popular do you think Prime Minister Maliki is these days?
Well, it is not for me to answer this question - it's for the polls.
But that must be part of the political calculation in inviting him into your coalition?
Well if I say he's popular, I'll make publicity for him. If I say he doesn't have popularity, I would be unjust.
Do you think he was hurt politically by the bombings in Baghdad?
Yes, I think so, but he is still a very good candidate and he still has popularity.
How much of a setback were the suicide truck bombings of Aug. 19?
For those of us on the outside, it seemed to indicate there are serious problems with security and serious problems with ministries fighting.
We were always arguing that we still have a security problem, while others were saying that we were finished with that. We thought, we have to see the security issue as attack and counterattack - they [insurgents] had the initiative, they had the control the first three or four years the government took the control, and the initiative starting from the end of 2007, but we should not minimize their action or their power. We should still see that they will find our weaknesses here and there, and that they will hit once again, more attacks. So minimizing their importance was a big mistake, and advocating that everything is now well, that was a false message given to the people. We should have kept institutions on alert, in the security ministries especially, and within the people.
So there were differences on how to deal with the security issue and I think Wednesday [Aug 19] was a setback, as we said, was a blow to the concept, the vision of how some people were seeing security in this country. And...there was a campaign to lift the barricades and the cement blocks, etc., [and] ease the police, the checkpoints - a lot of checkpoints. I can't see why we have checkpoints every 2 kilometers. If the first one is not adequate, there is no point of a second one. Either we have a good checkpoint or it cannot be replaced by many checkpoints. This will be a very weak security policy.
Do you think security has suffered at all from the Americans withdrawing their combat troops from the cities?
This should be reassessed once again, whether it was too early, whether it was adequate. This should be assessed and asking three hours after the bombing for Americans to come to the scene is something that should be studied. Why [did we] ask them to go out and then ask them to return back?
By 'reassess,' is it possible a reassessment would find you would want more troops in the cities again?
No this is not the point, but [rather] how to use the troops already there. [Not] to neglect them, to make them functional, the way they should assist Iraq, help Iraq. There was a policy to put them completely aside. Whether that was mature or premature one should reassess and study, and I think if it is reassessed we will find many weak points there.
And what would be the solution, the remedy for that, if you find those weak points?
Well, let's first reassess the whole situation there so we can find solutions.
Are you envisioning then, if it were reassessed, it could potentially involve bringing more troops in?
No, I think [the issue is] how to use better those troops who are still there.
(Are you referring to a reassessment) within the existing framework of the security agreement and working within that framework?
Yes, first it should be reassessed and then the experts shall put the remedy and the solution for that.
It seems to have been very much a political decision to say, 'June 30 there are no American troops. We're not going to ask for help' – is that what it was based on? That reluctance to ask for help?
Well in Iraq, everything is political.
What's your view on what's happening with Syria? How serious is that?
We have a problem with the Syrians. It is not a recent problem – it is a problem since 2003. There [is] opposition in Syria, and they are using the Syrian territory to send those opposition, to send people [attacking] Iraq. We were negotiating with the Syrians all these years on how to control these opposition groups, especially Baathists, and there had been some progress. We signed a strategic agreement with Syria Tuesday, so we have to separate how to deal with the presence of the opposition, especially those who use the Syrian territory to [attack] Iraq – any other opposition should be accepted, any peaceful opposition, we should expect that.
No country should live without an opposition – opposition is very normal. But what is not normal is the armed opposition and the opposition cooperating with terrorists. There was cooperation [between Iraq] with the neighboring countries, with Syria itself, and the rate of infiltration decreased according to all reports, so we think this should continue. Now, dealing with Syria on another basis and a more aggressive basis, in our view, is not useful. Cooperation, negotiation is the way to deal with those people trying to use the Syrian territories, and we should get the cooperation of the Syrian government. This is very important. Now cutting off or rupturing our relationship with Syria would be harmful. There is no end to that…. We can't see [how to achieve] a mechanism of controlling those people without having real negotiations and contacts. Now, after the bombings – going directly to put it on Syria or those living in Syria was a [hasty] movement that should have been studied much more carefully with the presidency, with the parliament, before taking strategic decisions such as going to the international court as in any of the other decisions that we have, and the presidency issued a statement on that.
Do you believe the people they caught, one of whom confessed on television, were actually the people behind the bombing?
This I will leave to the security authorities.
And Iran? Is Iranian interference in Iraq a problem?
Well, Iran, other neighboring countries … all came from a certain history of wars, interferences and ways of dealing with a weak Iraq. All this should be stopped. Of course. Iranians are interested in the situation in Iraq as much as Americans and neighboring countries, and Iraq is a victim of regional and international disputes that use Iraq for agendas and all interferences coming from Iran, from Saudi Arabia, from any other neighboring country, from Syria should be stopped by dialogue and diplomatic channels.
Are weapons and fighters coming from Iran a significant problem?
Now it's less than before. Now we can see less action coming from Iran than before. Now we have a problem from Al Qaeda in Iraq, from former Baathists much more than JAM (Jaish al-Mahdi) or any other group that was working before.
Regarding the Baathists … there's a sense on the part of Shiite leaders that there is a persistent, ever-present threat by Baathists to return things the way they were and that seems to alienate not just Baathists or former Baathists but the entire Sunni population. Is that a worry to you that the population itself on the political level isn't reconciled?
Well, the majority of Baathists are Shiite. It is true, maybe not the leadership, but the Baathists themselves. Because Iraq has a majority of Shiites … accordingly any national party working in Iraq should have a majority of Shiites. That was the case of the Communist party, that was the case even up to 1963, even in the leadership of the Baath party, they were mostly Shiites, and Saddam Hussein in his interview with the FBI published by the Middle East Arab newspapers said that, and we know that from studies.
But those presumably are not the Baathists you're worried about now?
Of course we worry about Shiite Baathists and Sunni Baathists and Kurdish Baathists. There were thousands of Kurdish Baathists. Of course, that was a party that dominated Iraq, all its parts, all its institutions - it had Kurds, Shiite, Sunnis, so it's not against Sunnis. It will be a big mistake if we have policies against Sunnis. More than that we will commit a big mistake if we consider any Baathists an enemy. That's why in the constitution we specify 'Saddam loyalists' and in the constitution there is an article that having been a Baathist is not a crime. … So maybe people can go to extremes but as leadership we should continue the good line, the correct line and not to go and fight any Baathist or Sunni or Shiite or Kurds. We should fight criminals where they are Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Islamists, secularists, Baathists, whatever they are.
Do you think talks between Iran and the United States will change anything in Iraq?
Yes, of course, you know very well we were working on that. That is why I said in my former answer we have to deal correctly with our neighbors – the threats, the worst policies should finish. Iraq is now a democratic country internally and when you have a democratic country internally you should look for friendly relationships externally – if you have a despotic regime internally you go to aggression externally – this is the equation I think. That's why I think having good relations or better relations – a dialogue between the United States and Iran will be very useful to Iraq – otherwise we will see interferences from all sides.
Could it lessen military interference such as the smuggling of weapons and fighters if there were better relations with the US?
Of course. Of course, I think the whole environment will be better. The same attitude with Syria with other countries. The environment will be better. No one wants to go to war if he has the channels to achieve his ambitions otherwise.
Do you think there's a prospect of real progress in these (US-Iranian) talks?
Of course I am sure of that. At the end they will come to negotiate with each other and they will dialogue. I think they are already sending better messages than last year.
It's a tricky time with the US withdrawal and the focus on Afghanistan. What do you think should be the proper relationship between Iraq and the United States?
We have a strategic agreement – this is a good base to work things together politically, economically, even assistance on the security issue. Once we finish with the….presence of the multinational forces…what will be left will be the strategic agreement, which is a good framework for both sides.
How much does the US need to or should they get involved in issues such as Kirkuk or the disputed territories?
We always need (friendly advice) in such issues from the United States from the United Nations and others….
What do you expect from Vice President Biden's upcoming visit? What do you hope will be achieved?
Well to continue our discussion that we started years ago – when he was senator he used to come to Iraq much more than others – maybe he visited Iraq five or six times. He already Iraq two times [in the new administration] so he knows very well the situation in Iraq, all the complications, etc., so we will concentrate on the big issues all the ones I said in your former question how to continue, how to work together, how to have more and more better relations.
How much of a tension is tension between the Kurdish regional government and the central government and particularly the personality conflict between Barzani and Malaki?
You think there's a personality conflict? … We have problems there. We have real problems. No one can deny it. It comes from history, things that developed, accumulated during history, and we need patience and we need wisdom and good intentions and knowing the just and the unjust. The Kurds have some just issues – this should not be a cover to act unjustly in other issues. And the federal government, the central government has obligations, according to the constitution to solve certainly the just issues. And the two governments, the local governments and the federal governments, should have only one channel to work that and that's the political channel. That's why I said in your first question asking about the coalition that we have to concentrate on economics and security. If we continue working on the disputed areas, on Kirkuk, without improving the whole situation, we will only create more problems and more missed confidence and bad intentions, etc., but if we can see Iraq developing in health, education and standard of living, its agriculture, industry, less unemployed people, then those issues will be much easier to solve because the people will see and the governments would see their interests [being addressed] while when you have electricity problems, water problems, the unemployed, etc., then such historical issues will be aggravated much more than we have today.
In terms of the coming elections do you believe [religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-] Sistani will back your coalition the way he did in the previous election?
Sistani is a strategic person, he is not a tactical one. He will act as he did always.
In 2005 he threw his support behind the coalition. Will he do that again?
Well I don't know if in 2005 he threw his support behind the coalition. He helped to form the coalition, that's true, but he helped other people from all sides to organize themselves and all people – Sunnis, Christians, Kurds go and ask advice from Ayatollah Sistani. Ayatollah Sistani, although he is a Shiite cleric, gives national guidance, giving help to all parties – no one who asked for help from him did not get it.
There was a very wide perception, though, in asking voters in 2005 who they voted for and why, a lot of them would say, 'Well I voted because the Ayatollah Sistani is behind this party.' So even if he precisely didn't come out and back it, the perception was there.
I can't put assumptions like that. I would be unjust to him and the truth. That is not his way of conducting things. He never said 'vote for the alliance,' etc.. You have no fatwa on that, his office never issued instructions. People would read whether he is sympathetic to a certain situation, whether he is negative with other situations, not only with elections [but] with all issues, and I think he does it in a delicate way – no one can say, 'Sistani asked me to vote for this person and that party' - he can only presume things. I think he will continue taking a certain distance but encouraging to vote for the best, for the non-corrupt, he will put some principles maybe and ask people and people will try to see who are not corrupted or people who really have the qualifications to get elected.
And it will be an open list this time?
I think they have to solve it in the parliament. It is still closed according to the old law. But before the Eid [the Moslem feast at the end of Ramadan], maybe directly after the Eid, the parliament has to vote on that.
The cabinet has recommended that it be an open list. Does that mean it will have a good chance in parliament?
We are in favor of the open list, although closed lists are more beneficial to the big parties, but we are in very much in favor of the open list because it opens more chances [so that] individuals and electors can choose better the people they know….
Among the distractions has been the robbery with your guards. To many people, that was shocking. I'm sure it was shocking to you as well. How should we view that?
The robbery is a robbery – it is a crime committed – we lost eight police in that - the money is returned but you can't return back the lives of those people, so it is a huge crime. We were the ones who discovered everything. We never received information from any other institution in the country. We were the ones who discovered the criminal in our brigade – this captain, which led to de-masking the whole gang of the robbery. We detained some of them, the ministry of interior detained others, and some others fled and we are after them. It was politicized – it should have been treated as a crime and our role should have been appreciated but some people wanted to use this for political reasons – so we did the job. There are always infiltrations in any institution in the world – even much higher than a captain…we did our job correctly and we have been appraised by the judicial system, by the ministry of interior, ministry of defense all the officials there were appraising our role but some people used this for political reasons.
The Americans see these elections as perhaps the test of whether Iraq holds together or falls apart. Is it that?
Well I think Iraq holds together. Iraq holds together and there is a huge big momentum in Iraq – without which those obstacles, especially in the security issue, political issue, economic issue, wouldn't go forward. So we have to see the real momentum in Iraq, which is really tremendous. It's like a genie imprisoned in his small bottle – Iraq is really like a volcano of momentum here, and more and more people are joining the political process with all the difficulties that we have, and this is amazing. Look at all the offers of the oil enterprises in the first round, in the first bidding round – what they offered is [to produce] eight million barrels a day within six years. This is tremendous. This will bring Iraq close to Saudi Arabia.
Except at a price that Iraq wouldn't accept?
Even with price of the enterprises I am taking this as an example of the potential of the situation. … The capacity of producing eight million barrels a day from six fields only without considering the other fields will be eight million barrels - not according to Iraqi estimations but to enterprises who know exactly what they are doing and they are being cautious about that so by that Iraq would be near Saudi Arabia. Of course the price could be negotiated, etc., but I am taking this as an example of the potential of Iraq, and if this is true on the oil sector, it is true also in other sectors.
We see even in Gulf states they do not have the resources of Iraq. Now we are importing [bottled] water from Saudi Arabia, which doesn't have any rivers. So Iraq has a lot of potential. Everyone understands that, and politically Iraq is very energetic. People are coming out from decades of dictatorship, and although we have now somehow the liberties that we have, we don't always use it correctly. But it's freedom, it's liberty, and … it's much better than despotism, than any kind of oppression.


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The envy of the automotive business, BMW offers one of the most comprehensive aftersales accessory range of any OE manufacturer. While many might have wheels or floor mats, the M Performance Parts catalog includes everything from body kits to wheels, suspension, brakes, interior pieces to exhaust, with software tuning on the way.
We don't need to tell you good news about this: not only do you get to hold onto your oh-so-important factory warranty while bringing your plain-Jane F30 closer to OEM-plus show-car status, but the quality of the parts is better than almost anything else on the market.
In the past, we've fitted M Performance Parts to a BMW 135i and E90 M3. Each time we were wowed by the perfect fit and can confirm everything is put together with the utmost care. Perhaps the only downside is the price, but you don't need us to remind you that you get what you pay for…
Following the introduction of the latest F30 3 Series sedan, BMW North America announced the release of all-new M Performance Parts for this car. Select items fit both 328i and 335i, and we had exclusive access to the first outfitted F30 to capture these photos.
It's worth noting that several of the exterior pieces are intended for cars fitted with the optional M Sport body panels, so these won't fit any of the early 3 Series in the US. As a result, some parts aren't available here yet, but expect them later this year. However, that still leaves a large number of tasty parts for your car.
Previously known simply as BMW Performance Parts, the new M Performance title indicates everything was developed in conjunction with BMW M GmbH. And you can see the difference – the body styling is more aggressive, it sees the introduction of matte carbon pieces and several new finishes among the other highlights.
All parts are available from your local BMW dealer or can be ordered online using the "Accessories" dropdown menu at bmwusa.com or by directly accessing bmwMperformance.com
Talking Head
We had a chance to sit down with Eric Riehle, Product Manager - Performance and Motorsports Parts at BMWNA, to get an idea of BMWs approach to individualization, and where it's going.
EC: How successful have BMW M Performance Parts been?
ER: We're very pleased with the success thus far. When we started in 2008, hardly anybody knew we even offered factory-backed performance mods. It took a few years to establish ourselves, but the popularity of the product line has grown tremendously. Our catalog of performance parts increases every year and we offer products for many new BMWs, including M models.
What feedback have you received from consumers and enthusiasts?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We're known for offering innovative, premium products and there's an appreciation that customers have for performance parts developed and tested by the same BMW engineers who designed their vehicle. Customers also like that they receive added residual value on their lease if they have certain Performance Parts installed. This is a huge benefit considering some parts can decrease the value of the vehicle.
Do you anticipate popularity for the F30 parts?
I think this will be the most popular line yet. The new 3 Series is a great looking car that performs really well, but adding M Performance Parts transforms the vehicle. These parts are particularly aggressive in design and considerably enhance the driving experience.
What were BMW's goals in creating these factory-approved mods?
Our goal was to fill the void between original factory equipment and aftermarket performance parts. Customers had asked for performance parts that were covered under warranty and meet the same quality standards, and BMW M Performance Parts are the direct result of this.
Do you ever see ECU software and power-adders being made available in the us?
Absolutely. We'll offer a Power Kit (ECU recalibration) for 335i models in early 2013. I don't have all the details about other components it will contain as yet, but you can expect the increase to be similar to what we currently provide for the 135i and (E9X) 335i models (20hp/32 lb-ft). We'll also offer an M Performance suspension kit for the 335i, which I'm really excited about because the chassis engineers have spent countless hours developing it on German racetracks. This new kit will significantly enhance the handling while maintaining a balance between street and track compatibility.
With the front spoilers, side skirts and rear diffuser unavailable at present, F30 owners can customize their cars with gloss carbon-fiber mirror caps as well as gloss black kidney grilles. There's also a carbon trunk spoiler arriving later in the year. Although minimal, you'd be surprised at what a difference these parts could make to your car. The mirrors and grilles are a straightforward DIY fitting.
If you're feeling really bold, the broad M Performance stripes are available in either white or black to make your car stand out.
Measuring 20x8" on the front and 20x8.5" rear, the ten-spoke M Performance wheels certainly fill the arches, having ET36 and 47 offset respectively. The lightweight forged wheels carry the M logo and have grey spokes with machined faces. The wheels are then clearcoated for durability and won't rub when used with stock suspension.
The wheels were designed for 225/35 front and 255/30 Pirelli run-flat tires. You're able to buy them as a complete set with mounted tires, or as individual wheels.
There's also an M Performance Big Brake kit for 18" wheels or larger. It uses a four-piston Brembo front caliper and two-piston rear, available either in red, yellow or orange with the M Logo included. The rotors are both drilled and grooved, mounted to a riveted aluminium hat and measure 3670mm front, 345mm rear. Those rear discs must be ordered separately for some reason, but it still adds up to a competitive price for a full BBK, especially with factory warranty on these high-performance parts.
A future addition will be an M Performance suspension kit. This wasn't fitted to the car in our photos, which is why it appears to teeter. We used a similar BMW Performance suspension kit on our 135i and it offered a slightly lowered ride height with firmer settings but a good ride.
Our favourite additions to previous project cars have been the M Performance interior pieces. In the past, these were all carbon fiber, but the new F30 kit includes some alcantara pieces for greater luxury. It replaces all four door handles with silk matte-lacquered carbon fiber, which also appears on the dash trim to replace the Sport strip, while alcantara is used on the main dash trim piece.
Cars with manual transmissions can be equipped with a matte carbon shifter and alcantara boot, while automatic versions get a carbon gear selctor.
Finally, there's the M Performance steering wheel, covered in alcantara, with a red centering stripe and flat-bottom. The wheel in our photos displays data such as fuel efficiency, water and oil temp, stopwatch, lap and sector times as well as g-force in a LCD display, while the LED lights suggest shift points and rev limits. This wheel should also be available at a later date.
With the promise of an ECU software upgrade to come, 335i owners can currently enjoy a BMW-approved sports exhaust system.
Manufactured from stainless steel with chrome tailpipes, BMW doesn't claim any power increase but you'll certainly like the sound of this addition in our experience.
|Product Description
|black kidney grille - left
|black kidney grille - right
|carbon fiber mirror cap - left
|carbon fiber mirror cap - right
|sport stripes - black
|sport stripes - white
|20" 405M wheels with tires - complete set
|20" 405M wheels one wheel, front axle
|20" 405M wheels one wheel, rear axle
|brake system
|rear brake discs
|335i exhaust
|steering wheel
|carbon fiber and alcantara interior trim kit
|carbon fiber gear shift knob with alcantara boot


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NWSB Writer Rick Stella talks about his five boldest and fearless predictions for the Oregon State Beavers in this upcoming college football season. The Beavers will not only achieve some of the modest goals they've set for themselves, but shock the country as well. OSU Will Beat U of O in the Annual Civil War Game, and Rick says the Beavers will be bowl eligible in 2012. Sean Mannion will be special too.
Beaver Nation fearless predictions: Oregon State Beavers 2012 season
July 10, 2012 By


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Talk about red-hot.
Michael Weatherly was in Westchester this past week filming the CBS-TV show "Bull" earlier this week and stopped by the Hastings FortyFour engine company.
Weatherly stars as Dr. Jason Bull in a drama inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, the founder of one of the most prolific trial consulting firms of all time.
The show airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. It has not been announced when the episodes featuring Hastings FortyFour will air.
"Be sure to watch and see if our engine makes a guest appearance in one of the episodes this season," writes the firehouse on its Facebook page .
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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by Carole Verona
Dr. Russel E. Kaufman and his wife Jane share the value of commitment and community service that brought this Chestnut Hill couple together and has continued to guide them throughout their careers. Russ, 67, is president and chief executive officer of the Wistar Institute, a world-class biomedical research facility in West Philadelphia that focuses on cancer research and vaccine development.
Jane, 64, is on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, part-time, where she is a freshman year seminar leader and course director, and clinical instructor for adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner students.
The Kaufmans grew up in the same small town of Kenton, Ohio. Russ' father was a blue-collar worker who, for a while, built school buses. "He was a problem solver," Russ said. "He was always tinkering with things, trying to make them work better. At home he would go out to the shop, take a piece of metal and bend it, shaping it into something more useful. I watched how he would do things."
Jane's father was a farmer who raised beef, cattle, pigs and chickens on a 90-acre spread. "In rural Ohio at that time, your options were somewhat limited," she said. Her sense of accomplishment came from involvement in 4-H clubs, cooking, sewing church, and taking piano lessons. She also studied hard and became head of her high school's student council.
Jane knew at an early age that she wanted to be a nurse. She attended Ohio State University, where she received a BS degree in nursing in 1970 and a master's degree in nursing education in 1971.
Russ was studying at Ohio State at the same time, where he earned a BS degree in zoology and biochemistry in 1968. He went on to receive an MD from the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1973.
While they were Ohio State undergrads, Jane and Russ accompanied each other to the library almost every night. "I remember telling him that he could explain things really well," Jane said. After about 3 1/2 years of dating, they were married in 1971.
Russ completed his medical residency at Duke University Medical Center; he went to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for post-doctoral training and then returned to Duke to focus on research.
As chief medical resident, he quickly got a reputation for recommending and implementing meaningful change. "I was constantly called upon to run things and fix problems," he said. His positions at Duke included division chief of medical oncology, vice-chair of the department of medicine and vice-dean for education and academic affairs.
Jane began teaching at Ohio State after earning her master's degree. When the couple moved to North Carolina in 1973, she also worked at Duke. Their son, Jonathan, was born in 1977 and daughter Emily in 1979. "Russ would watch the children while I worked the evening shift two nights a week," Jane said. In 1984, she joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and in 2011 began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
In 2000, Jane completed a post-master's certificate program at Duke to become a primary care adult nurse practitioner. She explained that nurse practitioners have advanced clinical training and are licensed to diagnose and manage acute episodic and chronic illness with a focus on health promotion and disease prevention.
"Studies have shown that the outcomes with patients treated by nurse practitioners are as good, if not better, than the outcomes of those treated by physicians in similar populations," she said, admitting that sometimes there's pushback from physician groups.
"Some physicians may be concerned that nurse practitioners will overstep their bounds or that patients will get inferior care. That's just not so. You know your scope of practice and consult with other colleagues, including physicians, if you have concerns about a patient. No one wants to risk patient care or your license."
In 2002, Russ joined Wistar Institute. He maintains an active research program at the Institute, investigating the genetics of blood diseases and cancer. During his Wistar tenure, Dr. Kaufman has significantly raised the international profile of the Institute.
Most recently he guided Wistar toward its first major building project in 35 years, which will ensure its future at the forefront of cancer research and vaccine development. In 2012 Wistar broke ground on a $100 million, seven-story research tower to help Wistar expand its research operations, recruit new scientific faculty and pursue collaborative biomedical research in emerging scientific areas.
The research area in the new tower can best be described as a hub, a big open lab where four to five scientific groups investigating common problems can work together in one space. "You will be able to walk out of your office and talk to a scientist right there," explained Dr. Kaufman, "an expert who can bring another perspective to what you're working on. There's a spirit of exploration and curiosity at Wistar. That's what I like about this place. It fits nicely into the way I think about the world."
Dr. Kaufman was recently named Life Sciences CEO of the Year by the Philadelphia Business Journal for his stewardship of Wistar and his impact on the life sciences. He is also chair of the Greater Philadelphia Life Sciences Congress, which works on bringing conventions to the city.
The Kaufmans moved to Philadelphia in 2000, first living in center city, then settling in Chestnut Hill in 2010. During most of this time, Jane continued working in North Carolina, so the Kaufmans commuted back and forth until she relocated to Chestnut Hill in 2011.
The Kaufmans said they love the Chestnut Hill community, its culture and people. Russ enjoys playing golf at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, and they have become members of the Chestnut Hill Historical Society. They regularly attend the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.
For more information about Wistar Institute, visit www.wistar.org.


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MARTINEZ — Opening statements Monday will kick off a rare dual jury trial for two men charged in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl on the Richmond High School campus after a 2009 homecoming dance.
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga summoned about 900 potential jurors over four months before seating two panels to deliberate at the first trial in the notorious case that prompted a failed change-of-venue motion because of the high level of community outrage and national publicity.
On trial are 22-year-old Richmond resident Jose Montano and 20-year-old Pinole resident Marcelles Peter, who each assert innocence in connection with the Oct. 24, 2009, attack that went on for hours in a dark campus courtyard before a woman in the neighborhood caught word of what was happening and called 911.
The victim was beaten, robbed and repeatedly raped and otherwise sexually abused as she slipped in and out of consciousness from drinking a near-fatal amount of brandy with a group of males after leaving the school dance, according to testimony at a 2010 preliminary hearing for seven men and teen boys originally charged.
All charges were dismissed against the youngest defendant at that hearing, a boy who was a 15-year-old classmate of the victim. Another two defendants took plea deals to avoid trial.
Ari Morales, 19, of San Pablo, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in February after pleading guilty to rape by a foreign object in concert, and no contest to rape in concert and forcible oral copulation in concert. Manuel Ortega, 22, of Richmond, considered a ring leader in the crime, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for rape in concert, rape by a foreign object in concert, forced oral copulation in concert resulting in great bodily injury, and robbery.
Two lesser-charged men, whose rape-in-concert charges were dismissed either at preliminary hearing or afterward, are pending trials to be scheduled in August.
Law enforcement has the DNA profiles of several other males who participated in the attack but to this day have not been identified. Even more watched the event but did nothing to help the girl.
The victim will take the witness stand for the first time at the current trial, which is expected to go through mid-July. The West Contra Costa Unified School District paid her $4 million in 2011 to settle a civil claim filed because the gang rape occurred on campus, despite the security present for the dance.
Dual juries are rarely paneled in California but are considered necessary when there are inadmissible statements as to one defendant but not the other. Each jury will hear opening statements and closing arguments separately, will deliberate separately, but will hear the bulk of the witness testimony together. The juries are not allowed to mingle inside or out of the courtroom, and will be identified by different color-coded badges.
The last dual jury trial case in Contra Costa County was in 2010 for the leader and two street soldiers in a violent West County street gang convicted in connection with a 2007 and 2008 killing spree in San Pablo.
In the current trial, Peter's jury will hear opening statements Monday afternoon, and Montano's jury will hear its openings on Tuesday morning, according to court staff. The first witness is expected to take the stand Tuesday afternoon.
Contact Malaika Fraley at 925-234-1684. Follow her at Twitter.com/malaikafraley.


text:
- Append two lists.
- Does a list contain a given term?
- Pick a list member by index.
- Gather elements from a list by indices.
- Determine the intersection of two lists.
- Reverse a list.
- Checking if a list is a subset of another list.
- Delete all occurences of a term from a list, giving a new list.
- Partition a list where list values <= Value.
- Quicksort.
AI::Prolog::Cookbook - Recipes for common Prolog problems
$Id: Cookbook.pod,v 1.1 2005/08/06 23:28:40 ovid Exp $
Logic programming can take some time to get used to. This document is intended to provide solutions to common problems encountered in logic programming. Many of the predicates listed here will depend on other predicates defined here. If in doubt, see AI::Prolog::Builtins for which predicates AI::Prolog supports directly.
Like most predicates in Prolog, the following predicates can be reused in ways to generate answers that a human could logically infer from the data presented. However, many times those "answers" can result in infinite loops. For example, in the
gather/3 predicate listed below, we can gather the items from a list which match the supplied list of indices.
gather([1,3], [a,b,c,d], Result). % Result is [a,c]
Or we can figure out which indices in a list match the resulting values:
gather(Indices, [a,b,c,d], [a,d]). % Indices is [1,4]
However, if we wish to understand which lists will have the given lists for the given indices, we have an infinite result set. AI::Prolog and (other Prolog implementations) will return one result and then enter an infinite loop if you request the goal be resatisfied (i.e., if you ask for another result). If you see behavior such as this in your programs, you can issue the
trace. command to see how Prolog is internally attempting to satisfy your goal.
notrace. will turn off tracing.
Append two lists.
append(List1, List2, Result).
append([], X, X). % appending an empty list to X yields X
append([W|X], Y, [W|Z]) :-
append(X, Y, Z).
Does a list contain a given term?
member(Item, List).
member(X, [X|_]).
member(X, [_|Tail]) :-
member(X, Tail).
Pick a list member by index.
member(Index, Item, List).
member(1, SearchFor, [SearchFor|_]).
member(Index, SearchFor, [_|Tail]) :-
member(Previous, SearchFor, Tail),
Index is Previous + 1.
Please note that assignment in Prolog is via the
is/2 infix operator. The above code will fail if you use
=/2. This is a common source of bugs for programmers new to Prolog. The
=/2 predicate will unify the right hand side with the left hand side. It will not evaluate the left hand side. Thus:
% X is now plus(3,Y) (the internal form of the +/2 infix operator.)
If you prefer your list indices start with zero, alter the first clause as follows:
member(0, SearchFor, [SearchFor|_]).
Gather elements from a list by indices.
gather(Indices, FromList, Result).
This definition depends on the
member/3 predicate defined in this document.
gather([], _, []).
gather([First|Remaining], FromList, [ResultHead|ResultTail]) :-
member(First, ResultHead, FromList),
gather(Remaining, FromList, ResultTail).
Example queries:
gather([2,4], [a,b,c,d,e], Result). % Result = [b,d]
gather(FromIndices, [a,b,c,d,e], [b,d]). % FromIndices = [2,4]
This example is tricky when one realizes that one can reuse predicates. In this case, it might be tempting to see which lists from which one can gather certain values from certain indices. The first time you try it, you may get results as follows:
gather([2,4], WhichList, [x,y]).
This query, when executed in the
aiprolog shell will output a response similar to this:
gather([2,4], [A,x,B,y|C], [b,d]).
When examining this, we see that the first, third, and fifth elements (and beyond) of the list are variables. Unfortunately, as an infinite number of lists will satisfy this goal, attempting to fetch the a second result from the same query will result in an infinite loop.
Determine the intersection of two lists.
intersection(List1, List2, Intersection).
This definition depends on the
member/2 predicate defined in this document.
intersection([H|T], L, [H|U]) :-
intersection([_|T], L, U) :-
intersection/3 predicate will compute the intersection of two lists. You probably only want the first result from this predicate. See
trace/0 to understand why it returns more than one intersection.
Reverse a list.
reverse(List, ReversedList).
reverse(List, Reverse) :-
reverse_accumulate(List, [], Reverse).
reverse_accumulate([], List, List).
reverse_accumulate([Head|Tail], Accumulate, Reverse) :-
reverse_accumulate(Tail, [Head|Accumulate], Reverse).
Reversing a list is tricky. If this predicate were written in an imperative manner, it might look something like this:
sub reverse {
my @list = @_;
my @reverse;
while (my $element = shift @list) {
unshift @reverse, $element;
return @reverse;
This method of reversing a list runs in
O(n) time. However, new Prolog programmers often write what is known as the "naive reverse" which uses the
append/3 predicate to reverse a list:
reverse([Head|Tail], Reverse) :-
reverse(Tail, ReverseTail),
append(ReverseTail, [Head], Reverse).
For this, you take the tail of the list, reverse it and append the head of the list to it. However, this runs in
O(N^2). This runs so slowly that reversing a 30 element list takes 496 logical inferences. As a result, the naive reverse is frequently used as a benchmarking tool for logic programs.
If reversing a 30 element list via the naive reverse takes .1 seconds, we can say that the Prolog implementation is running at about 5000 logical inferences per second. This is known by the unfortunate acronym of LIPS, the standard measure of the speed of logic programs. Modern Prolog implementations frequently measure their performance in MLIPS, or MegaLIPS. By contrast, the human mind is frequently estimated to run between 1 to 4 LIPS. This demonstrates that there's much more to cognition than logic.
Checking if a list is a subset of another list.
subset(Subset, List).
This definition depends on the
member/2 predicate defined in this document.
subset([Head|Tail], List) :-
member(Head, List),
subset(Tail, List).
subset([], _). % The empty list is a subset of all lists
Delete all occurences of a term from a list, giving a new list.
delete(Term, List, Result).
delete(_,[],[]). % deleting anything from an empty list yields an empty list
delete(Term, [Term|Tail], Result) :-
delete(Term, Tail, Result).
delete(Term, [Head|Tail], [Head|TailResult]) :-
delete(Term, Tail, TailResult).
Partition a list where list values <= Value.
partition(Value, List, LHS, RHS).
Note that the term at Value will be included in the LHS.
partition(Value, [Head|Tail], [Head|LHS], RHS) :-
Head <= Value,
partition(Value, Tail, LHS, RHS).
partition(Value, [Head|Tail], LHS, [Head|RHS]) :-
partition(Value, Tail, LHS, RHS).
sort(List, Sorted).
This definition depends on the
partition/4 and
append/3 predicates defined in this document.
sort([], []).
sort([Head|Tail], Sorted) :-
partition(Head, Tail, LHS, RHS),
sort(LHS, Temp1),
sort(RHS, Temp2),
append(Temp1, [Head|Temp2], Sorted).
Note that (currently), this will only sort numeric values.
W-Prolog: http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~winikoff/wp/
X-Prolog: http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~vaucher/XProlog/
Roman Barták's online guide to programming Prolog: http://kti.ms.mff.cuni.cz/~bartak/prolog/index.html
Curtis "Ovid" Poe, <moc tod oohay ta eop_divo_sitruc>
Reverse the name to email me.
Copyright 2005 by Curtis "Ovid" Poe
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.


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Kimberly Cummings receives C-USA Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship
Congratulations to Kimberly "Kimmy" Cummings for receiving the C-USA Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Award announced on June 13, 2012. Kimmy graduated summa cum laude in May with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Management, Marketing, and Management Information Systems. She earned honors on the Dean's List, the C-USA All-Academic women's soccer team, Capital One/Co-SIDA Academic All-District Team and NSCAA Academic All-America Team.
Congratulations Kimmy and GO LADY PIRATES!!!


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AfriGeneas Genealogy and History Forum Archive
Re: Death Certificate Question
In Response To: Re: Death Certificate Question ()
Thanks for responding.
The 54 year old Willie Witherspoon you found is my great Uncle. Will Witherspoon, whom I am searching for, is Willie's father. I have been on that site, however, it is so slow and taking me forever to get to the Witherspoons. I was trying to find out who Will Witherspoon parents were. The lady that assist me in Vital Records, told me that she search for two days looking for Will Witherspoon death certificate and could not find it. She found his wife's death certificate, but could not find Will. She tried all spellings to locate him and said that the undertaker at that time did not submit the death certificate. I have no idea who the undertaker was, and no family knows either. The older ones that would have known are deceased.
Thanks again for responding.
Messages In This Thread


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Billionaire investor George Soros joined Northern Trust Corp. and BlackRock Inc. in cutting holdings of exchange-traded products backed by gold before a bear market in prices last month, while John Paulson maintained a stake that lost about $165 million in the first quarter.
Soros Fund Management LLC lowered its investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest such fund, by 12% to 530,900 shares as of March 31, compared with three months earlier, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed yesterday. Funds run by Northern Trust and BlackRock showed reductions of more than half, according to earlier filings. Paulson & Co., the largest investor in SPDR, held 21.8 million shares, while Schroder Investment Management Group bought 2.1 million.
Gold prices that reached a record in 2011 tumbled into a bear market last month, erasing $42 billion from the value of ETP assets this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value, favoring riskier assets, as equities soared to all-time highs and unprecedented stimulus measures by the world's central banks failed to spur inflation. After the longest rally in nine decades, gold is headed for its first annual decline since 2000.
'Nasty Time'
"It's a very nasty time for gold investors as prices are dropping while stocks keep raging ahead," Michael Gayed, the co-portfolio manager of ATAC Inflation Rotation Fund at New York-based Pension Partners LLC, which advises on about $270 million in assets, said in a telephone interview. "The emotional double whammy has accentuated the selling."
Gold futures tumbled 18% to $1,372.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York this year as the Standard & Poor's GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials dropped 3.5% and the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities gained 11%. A Bank of America Corp. index shows Treasuries dropped 0.3%.
Soros Fund Management's first-quarter reduction in SPDR holdings followed a 55% cut in the final three months of last year, an earlier filing showed. Gold has ceased to be a haven after the metal fell when the euro was close to collapse last year, Soros said in an interview with the South China Morning Post posted on the newspaper's website on April 8.
Global ETP holdings have tumbled 16% in 2013 after rising every year since the first product was listed in 2003, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Assets in SPDR have plunged 22%, and they will probably drop by an additional 2 million to 4 million ounces after slumping 9.7 million ounces since mid-December, Deutsche Bank AG said in a report on May 14.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Our Fitness Blog
Weight I Lost 1/4 of my Kid
Well it's time to talk about WEIGHT. It can't be ignored. We need to knock this issue out. Yes it is a sensitive issue for teens. I can assure you great things happen when weight loss is achieved. Keep in mind it is the road to the goal that really counts.
The "Stairs To Repair" we will call it. Start with setting a realistic and aggressive goal. Think of it like building a staircase of small goals to reach the "Aggressive Goal".
Make a chart, have a reward system or just good old fashion talk about it everyday. Whatever works for you and your teen to achieve the goal to lose weight use it. Putting value on these goals is so very important, if you don't create value then you will be wasting everyone's time.
It will take a solid month and the magic will start. Not everyone knows this but all of our 9Round trainers are certified magicians. Abracadabra your teen is smiling, sleeping great, losing weight and asking you to buy some fruit instead of Twinkies.
Confidence is everything. a teen that feels good and looks fit will be confident. a confident teen will be able to communicate better, think clearly and be a positive part of your household. Just think you now have someone to chop and stack the wood for your wood stove.
The wood stove is northern humor but it gets my point across. Next thing you know your teen will be slim and trim and you have have sneakishly taught them a life lesson, that is a formula they can use for just about anything.
So yes you lost 1/4 of your kid's fat content, but you have gained so much more. Make it happen let us help you at 9Round. Also for the record SNEAKISHLY is a word that I invented. Thanks for Reading. Have a GR8 Day. -Justin


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His Holiness Sakya Trinzin
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His Holiness Sakya Trinzin
Last edited by sherab zangpo on Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
sherab zangpo
- Number of posts : 578
Registration date : 2008-12-28
Re: His Holiness Sakya Trinzin
Heart Sutra By Sakya Trinzin. _/\_
Prajna-paramita Sutra
The Heart of Wisdom
This is what I once heard at the time the Blessed One was seated on Vulture's Peak in Rajagriha with a huge congregation of the exalted community of Bhikshus and Bodhisattvas. At that time the Blessed One was dwelling in the meditation called "Profound Vision."
At that time, also, the great Bodhisattva, the heroic being, Arya Avalokiteshvara, while reviewing the profound characteristics of the Prajña-paramita reviewed also the natural voidness of the five aggregates.
Then the elder Shariputra, moved by the power of the Buddha, addressed Arya Avalokiteshvara with these words: "How should a son or a daughter of a good family who wishes to perform the profound practice of the Prajña-paramita train themselves?" The Great Being, the Bodhisattva Arya Avalokiteshvara replied this to Sharadvatiputra, "Shariputra! That son or daughter of a good family who wishes to perform the profound practice of the Prajña-paramita should first rightly see that all the aggregates, by their very nature, are void.
Form is void. Voidness is form. Voidness is not other than form nor is form other than voidness.
So, too, all feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness are void.
Shariputra! In the same way all dharmas are empty, devoid of characteristics, unborn, unstopped, unsullied, unpurified, undecreased, and unfilled.
Therefore, Shariputra, in voidness there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no impulses, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas. There is no element of eye, and so on through the element of mind and the element of mental consciousness. There is no ignorance, no elimination of ignorance; no death and decay and no elimination of death and decay.
There is no pain, no origin, no cessation, no path; no wisdom, no attainment, no non-attainment.
Shariputra, because nothing is really obtained, all Bodhisattvas who have no fear rely on and dwell in Prajña-paramita, for they have no mental obscurations. They are perfectly liberated and have gone completely beyond deception. Relying on Prajña-paramita, all the Buddhas of the three times are completely enlightened to that unsurpassable, pure, and perfect enlightenment.
Therefore the mantra of Prajña-paramita, the mantra of great awareness, the unsurpassable mantra, the mantra that equalizes all unequal things, and the mantra that fully allays all pains, should because it is not false, be known as truth. The mantra of Prajña-paramita is spoken thus:
Shariputra! In this way great Bodhisattvas, heroic beings should train in the profound Prajña-paramita."
Then the Blessed One arose from that meditation called "Profound Vision" and spoke to the great Bodhisattva, the heroic being Arya Avalokiteshvara: "Well said, Noble Son, well said! It is just so. One should practice Prajña-paramita as you have taught and all the Tathagatas will rejoice."
When the Blessed One had spoken thus, the elder Sharadvatiputra and the Bodhisattva, the great being, Arya Avalokiteshvara, together with all that assembly of gods, as well as humans, demi-gods and gandharvas joyfully praised the words of the Blessed One.
- Number of posts : 450
Registration date : 2009-01-27
Re: His Holiness Sakya Trinzin
Muni, thank you!
- Number of posts : 791
Registration date : 2008-12-24
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WILLIAMSBURG, April 5, 1777.
During my absence from this state, I have appointed Daniel Fisher, esq; of Brunswick county, to receive all monies due to me by specialties, and to pay to my creditors such sums as he may be able to collect. Those who are indebted to me by open account are desired to settle and pay them to either of my sons Thomas or Nathaniel, or to give bonds for what they owe. DAVID MASON.
Virginia Gazette (Purdie) April 11, 1777
About this entry:
"This morning part of the 15th regiment, commanded by Col. David Mason, marched from this city [Williamsburg] to join his Excellency General Washington." Mason served in the Continental Army, November 12, 1776-July 31, 1778.
Sources: VA Gaz, Dixon and Hunter, April 4, 1777, p.2