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ACDSee full review
Few digital photographers need convincing that organising their snaps is a good idea. But ACD Systems, maker of ACDSee 8.0, needs to do more than that: it must persuade them that this commercial offering is better than free alternatives such as Google's Picasa 2.0.
ACDSee targets itself at a more demanding audience. It doesn't neatly organise your photo collection for you – the appearance of its main file browser, which is more cluttered than a teenager's bedroom, similarly lacks concessions to anyone needing handholding. Up to 12 panes can be crammed into the browser, the most important of which, the central File List pane, shows thumbnails of images selected in the Folder pane, or the results of a filtered search.
For experienced users, organisation is more important than presentation, and ACDSee makes cataloguing your images about as easy as it can be. You drag image thumbnails to the Organize pane to group them into categories or apply ratings to them. Once tagged, you can filter the File List display according to those categories.
Picasa can do this too, but ACDSee makes it easy to filter by more than one category, such as all five-star-rated files tagged with a 'people' keyword. Usefully, you can also categorise with full IPTC metadata (see Organising IPTC, below) although ACDSee's interpretation of this is clunky.
Location, location, location
Locating images is a cinch. Version 8.0 adds a Quick Search field to the Browser toolbar to isolate images by keyword, filename, category or enclosing folder. The good news is that Quick Search lives up to its name, even with large databases.
But ACDSee is more than a basic image-management program. For a start, it can turn its hand to picture editing. Double-clicking a thumbnail in the browser opens a clunky editor – this is no Photoshop Elements – that can correct exposure and red-eye, among other things. The outstanding feature of an otherwise unremarkable tool is the way you can compare changes by tabbing between views of an image's saved version and current iteration, plus a preview of the applied effect. It's extremely intuitive.
ACDSee's Slide Show feature is excellent, too. You can create standalone or flash-based presentations from selected images, and you can now build a video file or CD containing images, slideshows and up to two audio tracks through an easy-to-use wizard.
Image archiving is similarly well thought out. Although ACDSee 7.0 already provided a backup tool, version 8.0 adds a Sync option that mirrors images between selected folders at set intervals. You can also drag photos and folders from the File List to a new Burn Basket at the bottom of the browser to archive images to CD or DVD simply by clicking the Burn button. Remaining disk space is calculated as you add files – a neat touch.
Organising IPTC
Previous versions of ACDSee used a proprietary keyword system that couldn't be understood by other software, but ACDSee 8.0 supports full IPTC metadata, an international standard for embedding information into photos such as captions, keywords, categories and copyright details.
The advantage of IPTC compatibility is that information is written directly into a photo and can be read by any other applications that support IPTC. The drawbacks? In ACDSee 8.0, there's no way to transfer keywords created by the old system to the new format; nor could we find a way to easily add IPTC keywords in batches. Both are important oversights.
ACDSee: Specs
- Pentium II/500
- Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/ XP
- 100MB hard disk space


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Important Tip: Do not cancel or decline COBRA coverage until your new health insurance application is approved, you receive a copy of your new policy, and you are comfortable with the terms of your policy.
*Sample insurance premium is based on coverage for a single, healthy, 30-year old male residing in Atlanta quoted on 07/25/08 and is for illustration purposes only. Click on the "Learn More" link for more information regarding premium estimates.
Explore Your COBRA alternatives - Get Quotes Now
Suze Orman says:
"Those who have been laid off or are worried about losing their job and health insurance coverage should shop around. Ehealthinsurance.com offers the largest individual . . . health plan selection across more states than any other online or offline source. While many employers must extend health insurance coverage to all laid-off employees for 18 months - thanks to a federal law known as COBRA - you must pay 100 percent of the policy premium. Chances are good you can get a less expensive policy by doing your own shopping."
*Suze Orman, "O" Magazine, August 2003
COBRA is not a health insurance plan. It's a law, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. It protects you and your family if you lose your employer-sponsored health benefits.
If you qualify for COBRA coverage, then you have the option of continuing your employer-sponsored health plan for a limited period of time. COBRA requires that three requirements be met before you can qualify for COBRA coverage: (i) that your employer is obligated to provide COBRA coverage; (ii) that you are a Qualified Beneficiary; and (iii) that a Qualifying Event has occurred.
Under COBRA, you may be responsible for paying up to 102% of the health insurance premium on your own.
Federal employees do not qualify for COBRA. They are protected under a different law. If you are an employee of the Federal Government, you should contact your personnel office to learn more about continuing coverage of your health insurance benefits.
You are eligible for COBRA coverage only if you were participating in your employer-sponsored health plan before the Qualifying Event occurred.
COBRA coverage may be offered to employees, an employee's spouse, or an employee's dependents. In certain cases, this includes a retired employee, and the retired employee's spouse and dependents. If you are expecting a child or adopt a child during the period in which you are receiving coverage through COBRA, then that child will also qualify as a beneficiary.
You can choose to accept coverage under COBRA just for yourself or for your family. You can also choose to forego COBRA for yourself and just cover your spouse or dependent children.
The chart below outlines the circumstances under which you or a covered dependent may opt to continue your health insurance coverage through COBRA:
|Qualifying Events for COBRA
|Employee's Spouse
|Dependant Children
Notice that the Qualifying Events for COBRA are events that affect your employment status. Events that affect only the type of health insurance plan your employer offers are not Qualifying Events. Thus, if you remain fully employed and your employer reduces, changes or abandons its sponsored health insurance plan, you will not qualify for COBRA.
Your health insurance coverage under COBRA must be identical to the coverage your employer offers its current employees. Generally, this means that you should get the same coverage after the Qualifying Event as you did before.
If your employer reduces coverage to its current employees or cancels its employer sponsored health insurance benefits altogether, then your coverage will be affected. You will be entitled only to the same benefits as current employees have. This means that if your employer cancels its sponsored plan, then you will no longer be entitled to COBRA.
When you become a participant in your employer's sponsored health insurance plan, the plan administrator must provide you with an "Initial Notice" that outlines your rights under COBRA.
When a Qualifying Event occurs, your employer must provide you with "Specific Notice" that you are qualified to elect continuing coverage under COBRA.
You are responsible for notifying your plan administrator after certain Qualifying Events occur. These Qualifying Events are: divorce, legal separation or loss of "Dependent Child" status. The length of time you have to report these Qualifying Events depends on your plan's rules. Many plans require notice to be made within 60 days of the Qualifying Event.
By law, when a Qualifying Event occurs, your employer must provide you with notice that COBRA is available. You may be informed in person, or you may receive this notice in the mail. Once you receive notice, you have 60 days to choose COBRA continuation coverage. If you select COBRA, then your coverage will be retroactive to the day you lost your health insurance benefits due to the Qualifying Event.
If you initially reject COBRA continuation coverage, you still have a chance to change your mind. As long as you are within the 60 day window, you can inform your employer that you do want COBRA continuation coverage. Your coverage will begin from the day you inform your employer.
COBRA coverage continues for 18 months. If you initially elect COBRA, then your coverage will begin on the first day that you would have lost your health insurance benefits due to the Qualifying Event. If you initially rejected COBRA, but changed your mind within the 60-day window, then your coverage will begin on the day you notified your employer.
The COBRA term can be extended if you become disabled within the first 60 days of COBRA continuation coverage. To qualify for this extension, you must submit a ruling from the Social Security Administration that says you have become disabled. If you qualify, then you and your family may extend your COBRA coverage for an additional 11 months, but you may be required to pay up to 150% of the premium cost for those additional 11 months.
A spouse or dependant may extend the COBRA continuation period to a maximum of 18 months under certain circumstances. These circumstances include divorce or separation from the covered employee, death of the employee, a child's loss of dependant status or if the employee becomes eligible for Medicare within the continuation period.
Health insurance plans are required to explain how to obtain benefits and must include written procedures for processing claims. Claims procedures must be described in the Summary Plan Description.You should submit a claim for benefits in accordance with your plan's rules for filing claims. If the claim is denied, you must be given notice of the denial in writing generally within 90 days after the claim is filed. The notice should state the reasons for the denial, any additional information needed to support the claim, and procedures for appealing the denial.
You will have at least 60 days to appeal a denial and you must receive a decision on the appeal generally within 60 days after that.
Contact the plan administrator for more information on filing a claim for benefits. Complete plan rules are available from your employer or your health insurance company. There can be charges up to 25 cents a page for copies of plan rules.
|Initial Notice of COBRA Rights
|14 Days from Enrollment in Employer Sponsored Health Insurance Plan
Qualifying Event Notice:
1. In the Event of Termination or Reduction of Hours:
2. In the event of divorce or loss of dependent child status or if employee becomes eligible for Medicare
30 Days
14 Days
60 Days from Qualifying Event
|Select COBRA
|60 Days from Date of Notice of Eligibility of Coverage due to Qualifying Event
|First Premium Payment Due
|45 days from COBRA selection
|Extension for Disability
|Disability must occur within 60 days of COBRA coverage
|COBRA Ends
18 months
29 months
36 months
COBRA laws are administered by several agencies. The Departments of Labor and Treasury have jurisdiction over private-sector health group health plans. The Department of Health and Human Services administers the continuation coverage law as it affects public-sector health plans.
The Labor Department's interpretive and regulatory responsibility is limited to the disclosure and notification requirements of COBRA. If you need further information on your disclosure or notification rights under a private-sector plan, or about COBRA generally, telephone the Employee Benefits Security Administration at:
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Suite N-5619
Washington, DC 20210
The Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, has issued regulations on COBRA provisions relating to eligibility, coverage and premiums in 26 CFR Part 54, Continuation Coverage Requirements Applicable to Group Health Plans. Both the Departments of Labor and Treasury share jurisdiction for enforcement of these provisions.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services offers information about COBRA provisions for public-sector employees. You can contact them at this address and telephone number:
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
7500 Security Boulevard
Mail Stop C1-22-06
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850
Tel 1.877.267.2323 x61565
Explore Your COBRA alternatives - Get Quotes Now
Terry Savage says:
"What few people know is that for healthy individuals and families, there very well might be less-expensive alternatives to COBRA policies... That's why it's so very important to understand how COBRA coverage works - and your alternatives. The best place to start is www.CobraLearning.com - a Web site developed by eHealthInsurance.com that offers information and quotes on individual health policies, no matter where you live."
Chicago Sun-Times, September 2008. Distributed by Creators Syndicate. Copyright Terry Savage Productions Ltd.
COBRA can provide important protection for people who have pre-existing medical conditions that may prevent them from getting approved for a new health insurance plan on their own. You should carefully consider COBRA coverage if you or a member of your family are currently pregnant, have a pre-existing health condition, are taking prescription medications, or have been declined for private health insurance.
However, if you and your family are relatively healthy, you may be able to purchase a comparable individual and family health insurance plan for a lot less money than COBRA will cost. You can research the individual and family plans offered in your area through eHealthInsurance.
This chart can help you determine whether you are eligible for COBRA and if so, for how long.
|Qualified Employee
|Qualifying Event
Dependent Child
|18 months
|Up to 102% of the health insurance premium
Dependent Child
|29 months
|Up to 102% for the first 18 months; up to 150% of the health insurance premium for the next 11 months
Dependent Child
|36 months
|Up to 102% of the health insurance premium
Explore Your COBRA alternatives - Get Quotes Now
An eHealthInsurance member says:
"When I was laid off, I accepted COBRA coverage at $620 a month because I didn't know that I could find an individual plan with comparable benefits at a far lower rate," said 30-year-old eHealthInsurance member Jason Bobo from Dallas, Texas. "We found a plan for my family online for only $288 a month. With four small children under the age of seven and managing through a tough economy, it was important to have both the right benefits, such as well baby care, and the cost savings of more than $300 a month on premiums."
eHealthInsurance commissioned a nationwide survey that suggests that many consumers aren't aware of COBRA and health insurance alternatives to COBRA. The survey found that:
When you're enrolled in a group health insurance plan, your employer usually pays some or all of the premium. However, when you go on COBRA, you are usually required to pay the entire premium on your own, plus a 2% administration fee. If you extend the term of your COBRA coverage because of disability, you may be required to pay up to 150% of the premium. That is why COBRA can be very expensive.
To maintain COBRA coverage, you must pay your premiums in a timely manner. Your first premium is due 45 days after you chose COBRA. After that, you are allowed to pay on a monthly basis, though some plans permit other payment terms.
You can expect your first premium to be higher than subsequent premiums. This is because there will likely be a lapse of a month or more between the date on which you first became eligible for COBRA and the time you made your COBRA election decision. For example, if you leave your employer on January 1, and elect COBRA coverage on February 1, you will be charged retroactively for January as well as February.
You may not receive a monthly statement for your COBRA coverage. You are still responsible, however, for making timely payments.
It is important to know that you may have other health insurance options available in case COBRA doesn't fit into your budget. At eHealthInsurance, we know that COBRA coverage is not always the best option for everyone. You may be able to purchase an individual or family health insurance plan on your own that is better suited to your needs and budget.
In many cases, with a little research, you can find a more affordable individual and family plan that provides you with the health insurance you need at a price you can afford.
Here are some sample monthly rates for individual health insurance plans that are offered through eHealthInsurance.*
|San Francisco, CA
|Chicago, IL
|Atlanta, GA
*Sample insurance premiums are based on coverage for single, healthy males residing in the specified cities quoted on 07/25/08. These sample quotes are for illustration purposes only; the plans represented by these sample quotes may materially differ from the coverage provided by your current plan.
Please note that while you may be able to find health plans on eHealthInsurance that are less expensive than your COBRA coverage, in most states it is possible to be denied coverage if you have certain pre-existing conditions. Though COBRA may be expensive, you cannot be denied for coverage based on your medical history.
However, if you are relatively healthy and not currently pregnant, you owe it to yourself and your family to take a look at the other health insurance options available to you. You could save hundreds of dollars per month on health insurance.
At eHealthInsurance, we specialize in matching individuals and families with the quality, affordable coverage they need. If you'd like to consider alternatives to COBRA coverage, we can help by providing you with:
Explore Your COBRA alternatives - Get Quotes Now
Is my employer obligated to continue my benefits under COBRA?
Who is responsible for notifying me about COBRA?
What if my employer ignores its COBRA obligations?
What are not Qualifying Events?
My employer has changed the health insurance plan it sponsors. Can I qualify for COBRA?
My employer has filed for bankruptcy. Can I qualify for COBRA?
Who is eligible for COBRA continuation of benefits?
Are newborns and adopted children eligible for COBRA continuation of benefits?
Can I choose one option for myself and a different one for my eligible dependents?
How long do I have to decide whether I want to continue any or all of my benefits available under the COBRA continuation of benefits?
I told my former employer that I did not want COBRA, but I've changed my mind. Can I still obtain COBRA?
What plans are covered under COBRA continuation of benefits?
What plans are not covered under COBRA continuation of benefits?
Must I enroll in all of the medical, dental and vision plans under which I was covered as an active employee?
What happens to my Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and/or Dependent Care FSA?
When does the COBRA continuation of benefits begin?
How long do COBRA benefits last?
Can I extend my COBRA coverage?
What would cause my COBRA coverage to terminate early?
How do I file a claim under COBRA?
May I get insurance coverage outside of the COBRA continuation benefits plan?
My COBRA term is ready to expire, what should I do?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
That night I returned with Winnie to No.
8115 in Orlando West. It was only then
that I knew in my heart I had left prison.
For me No. 8115 was the centre point of
my world, the place marked with an X in
my mental geography.
Nelson Mandela,
The Long Walk to Freedom, on his
return to 8115 Orlando West after his
release from prison in 1990.
The Mandela House at 8115 Orlando
West, on the corner of Vilakazi and
Ngakane Streets, Soweto, was built in
1945, part of a Johannesburg City tender
for new houses in Orlando. Nelson
Mandela moved here in 1946 with his first
wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase, They divorced in
1957, and from 1958 he was joined in the
house by his second wife, Nomzamo
Winifred Madikizela (Winnie).
He was to
spend little time here in the ensuing years,
as his role in struggle activities became
all-consuming and he was forced
underground (1961), living a life on the run
until his arrest and imprisonment in 1962.
Nelson Mandela returned here for a brief 11 days
after his release from Robben Island in
1990, before finally moving to his present
house in Houghton. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela,
herself imprisoned several times, lived in
the house with her daughters while
Nelson Mandela was in jail, until her own exile to
Brandfort in 1977, where she remained
under house arrest until 1986. The family
continued to occupy the house until 1996,
when the Mandelas divorced. The house was subsequently turned into a
public heritage site, with Nelson Mandela as the Founder Trustee.
The house itself was identical
to hundreds of others built on
postage-stamp-size plots on
dirt roads. It had the same
standard tin roof, the same
cement floor, a narrow kitchen,
and a bucket toilet at the back.
Although there were street
lamps outside we used paraffin
lamps as the homes were not
yet electrified. The bedroom
was so small that a double bed
took up almost the entire floor
It was the opposite of grand,
but it was my first true home of
my own and I was mightily
proud. A man is not a man
until he has a house of his
Nelson Mandela, The Long Walk
to Freedom
© Copyright Mandela House. All Rights Reserved. Click here to download terms and conditions.Website designed and hosted by LIT Creations.
You are Visitor Number:


text:
Started this discussion. Last reply by Becki Winlo Dec 5, 2009. 29 Replies 0 Likes
A lot of us at Think Atheist were raised into a religion, or have at least had personal contact with religion through family and friends.I remember my first communion and confirmation to be horrible…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Dave G Nov 10, 2009. 9 Replies 0 Likes
I don't know how to go about explaining who I am in some short blurb, but I can cover basics. I'm a graphic design student (who has changed her major a couple times and whose graduation is long…Continue
225 members77 Comments 24 Likes
161 members17 Comments 7 Likes
Posted on December 14, 2009 at 9:00pm 5 Comments 1 Like
I kind of want to frame it.
Posted on November 21, 2009 at 8:30am 3 Comments 0 Likes
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Tag Archives: incentive stock option
Incentive Stock Options vs. Nonqualified Stock Options
Companies and service providers to companies frequently confront this question. Which is better: an Incentive Stock Option (aka a statutory stock option) (an "ISO") or a Nonqualified Stock Option (aka a Nonstatutory Stock Option) (an "NQO")? What are the differences … Continue reading
Stock Option Exercise Checklist
Congratulations, you've gotten your company off the ground. You've incorporated, issued founder shares and filed 83(b) elections, adopted a stock option plan, granted stock options, and been working on your business for a while. Now an employee who has been … Continue reading


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(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) is ramping up its incentives to encourage advisers to convince their clients to take advantage of more of the bank's offerings. The firm is also sweetening incentives for advisers to keep the client money they manage at the firm once they retire.
In its 2013 compensation plan, announced to advisers Monday afternoon, the company outlined plans to remove the cap on awards offered to advisers for bringing in more fee-based assets, as well as other banking, lending and annuitized products.
Merrill also increased the expected payout for advisers who keep their client accounts at the firm after they retire. Often, brokers will become independent advisers or sell their books of business to an independent advisory firm, pulling hundreds of millions of dollars in assets away from the brokerage firm. Veteran advisers generally manage a bigger pool of assets at a company and keeping them provides a needed source of revenue.
The changes come as wealth management businesses are increasingly seen as a key revenue driver for many major Wall Street companies.
"What they're doing is trying to get advisers to diversify their client assets beyond the traditional Merrill Lynch product offering," said Mark Albers, a former Merrill complex manager who now runs his own firm, Albers & Associates Consulting. "It's obviously their attempt to ... leverage the rest of the bank."
Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch in early 2009 in the midst of the financial crisis. Since then, though, advisers have sometimes bristled at feeling pressured to pitch bank products and answer to clients about their concerns over their parent company.
The Strategic Growth Award, now uncapped, will shift the focus for earning the bonus more towards growth in areas such as fee-based assets and lending, rather than simply increasing net new money, previously a pillar of the award.
"It forces them to put (the assets) to work in order to be compensated," Albers said. "The firm makes money by having assets that are invested in fee products."
So, for example, if an adviser were to bring in a $10 million account all invested in Treasury bills, which are not fee-based assets, those new dollars will no longer count towards the award.
In an effort to keep client assets at the firm, Merrill also increased its cash payout for advisers who leave their client accounts with the firm once they retire.
Advisers can now expect an average cash payout over four years of between 100 percent to 160 percent of their annual production, up from an average of 70 percent to 80 percent.
The payout is offered as a part of a Merrill program geared towards advisers 55 and older once they leave the business. That incentive could help Merrill hold onto valuable client assets of veteran advisers - those who have been with the firm for a couple of decades - who often decide to go independent before retiring in order to "monetize" their books of business and sell it for a higher payout than traditional brokerages might offer.
"Recruiters use that as a recruiting tool," said former Merrill branch manager Brad Stratton.
Merrill did not make changes to its payout grid, which refers to the chart used by brokerage firms to determine the main way advisers' get paid. Morgan Stanley and UBS also did not make changes to their grid.
Merrill also maintained its controversial $250,000 minimum client account size - the minimum value of a client account in order for an adviser to be paid commissions or fees on the account. It was introduced last year in a move to motivate advisers to focus on higher-net-worth clients. The bar was increased from $100,000, which is still the minimum account size that advisers at Morgan Stanley are paid on. UBS kept its minimum account size at $75,000.
Reporting By Ashley Lau in New York; Editing by Jennifer Merritt, Bernard Orr


text:
I'd heard about our "pond beaver" for a year. My lovely bride (of 33 years) Diane has seen it. The neighbors have seen it. I'd never seen it, until this past Friday.
Since I'd never seen it, I didn't quite believe we had a pond beaver. Our mountain community is remote but we live on a school bus route. Our road has regular traffic. The pond is 40′ from the road. I couldn't imagine a beaver taking up residence in our little pond in an inhabited neighborhood.
I thought, "My wife and our neighbors have been seeing things."
On Friday, I had a number of client calls. My cordless phone and headset allows me to be on calls and walk, stretch, and talk. I was upstairs on our deck. The phone was muted because of breezy conditions. And – there he was. Our pond beaver was real.
He (or she – we're not certain at this point) is huge. His body is easily 3′ in length and his flat tail adds another 12″. He's healthy – I believe he weighs 40 pounds.
He was waddling across the meadow, stocking up on fresh branches for his winter meals. He'd chew down a small, narrow tree then drag it into the pond and disappear into the lodge he'd built over the past year. A few minutes later he'd pop to the water's surface again, swim around a bit to check out his surroundings, and head across the meadow for more provisions.
I grabbed my DSLR and took these pictures to document his activities.
Take Off Your Blinders
It is a thrill to see wildlife thriving in our mountain neighborhood. We see deer, foxes, ducks, and elk regularly, and bears periodically. And, this was a treat. It is my own fault for not noticing our new neighbor before now. I didn't pay attention to the reality in front of me.
Leaders experience this all too often and may not be aware of it. Organizations and teams are constantly in flux. New processes, new services, new opportunities, etc. are exciting and threatening at the same time!
Leaders fall into routines that serve the daily activities and habits that "work" for them. They trust and act on what information is "in front of them." However, we all have made lousy decisions when we are disconnected from the reality that others (employees and customers, for example) experience.
We need to "shake up" our routine, change our perspective, and learn as much as we can about what others are experiencing. Leaders must push themselves away from their desks, their keyboards, even their smartphones, and connect face-to-face with employees. Those connections shed light on refinements that can boost employee morale, WOW customers, and generate better profits for your business.
How can you change your perspective and connect more deeply with your people? Consider:
- Take 30 minutes a day to "wander around" strategically. Connect with staff one on one. Ask, "How's it going?" and "How can we make your job easier?" (Then make changes, where possible, that address employee issues.)
- Do weekly breakfast or lunch with a random selection of 5-6 employees. Have no agenda other than to ask the two questions above.
Join in the conversation about this post/podcast in the comments section below. What are ways that you "shake up your routine" and learn other's perceptions?
FREE SURVEY: What is it like to work in your company culture? Contribute your experiences in my FREE Performance-Values Assessment. Results and analysis will be shared in an upcoming post and podcast.
Photos © S. Chris Edmonds.
Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes!
The music heard on these podcasts is from one of Chris' songs, "Heartfelt," copyright © Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). Chris plays all instruments on these recordings.


text:
We Chat with Chef Carmen Quagliata of Union Square Cafe
"There's the grandma in me. I think I must have been one in a past life. I'll go run off and "make something." I have that vision of myself of just bringing people food."
Chef Carmen Quagliata is practically the quintessential Italian grandma. I experienced this first-hand when I showed up for a small private dinner and he'd made me an alternate menu sensitive to my allergies, one that was course-for-course on par with the other guests' dishes. It wasn't expected and hardly requested; he responded to my effusive thanks with a humble, "I just didn't want you to feel left out."
The whole ambiance at Union Square Café resonates with that warmth, from the pleasant and attentive staff to the new 14-seat chef's table where Quagliata serves whole fish and porchetta. He's helmed the restaurant for eight of its 27 years, and you might expect the menu to fade with the passing of time. But the cafe remains a destination for well-executed, completely relevant food.
It's the blending of old New York and new New York that Quagliata (and the tight front of house staff) gets right. And evidently it takes a lot of team effort.
Where do you see your menu in the landscape of New York? I'm Italian, and that heritage keeps me rooted. I was raised with those flavors, and that's what makes me feel good, so it almost inspires me to be creative in that way. I cook like an Italian, but what I cook isn't always Italian. And that's what I feel about my menu here—Union Square Café was always described as "farm to table American with a Tuscan soul."
You have the Union Square Market 50 yards away. Does putting the ingredient first come with its own challenges? Oh, yeah. You can't turn your back on "this is how we cook" when it's so close. If produce-based cooking is what drives you, you have to be really good at time management. In peak season something's changing out there every week, so you have to manage your time and stick with the spontaneity.
And I assume you have a shorter amount of time to build a dish—you can't stew on it. You have to act quickly, right. And that's one of the great things about Union Square Café, everything in that original description means there's a lot of room for playing with ingredients and techniques.
Does it make it easier that way, not being boxed in? Yes. It's fun, too. And it's fun for the guests.
But does it create a problem when a guest has something they enjoy and can't get it a week later? Absolutely, you're describing the whole challenge. The whole "going out to eat and coming home at the same time" is a tough balancing act. There was a certain time, maybe after two or three years, that I felt like I had to start taking some sharp turns from where we were...
How so? Just in saying, "I'm ready to move away from that dish." These were dishes that had been on the menu for a long time; regulars loved them. It took some time to build the trust of the regulars and then, I'll tell you, they were stomping their feet when I did a few things.
"Italian soul" can still encompass a lot of things; how do you translate to the guests what your Italian food tastes like? You hear a term a lot called "big flavor," and for me it's all about flavor. There's conflict and contrast going on the plate; sharp edges of acidity or spice going against fat. It's conflict that, when you're eating, becomes harmonious.
Is this type of cooking something that came to you viscerally growing up in an Italian family or a process you discovered in your studies? I think it more came from growing up learning about food and loving to eat, through the journey of cooking.
What about your upbringing resonates most strongly with you? I'm a gardener, and not a great one. But a lot of love goes into my gardens. And my grandmother brought over some beans from Italy with her. Everyone who's ever left from where we were from in Binghamton took some and started to grow them on their own. I started one in California and now I plant those same beans in New Jersey. It's always kind of been a symbol of my grandmother and grandfather that we can always relate to—they had a great garden.
What about your Sunday sauce? Sunday Sauce at Union Square Café brings me back to the storm in October. It was a really hard week. I was like everyone else—shocked at what was going on. And then we had to come in to throw away all the food. At first the sous chefs and I were excited to see each other all safe, and then we strapped flashlights to our heads and started clearing out the walk-in fridge. After about half an hour it got so depressing to throw things away. Italian food is partially about preservation—things we do in the kitchen that make their way into the food long after the season is over—that gives us our personality, that gives that dish the "mole on its face." It was hard to throw away food because you're throwing away part of the soul of your menu.
Anyway, the final day I was like, "the power has to come back on today." The city needed to get back on its feet. And I saw on Twitter that there was power returning in Chelsea, so I came down here and sat in the dark here until eight o'clock. And boom, the power came on. I was so excited. Then we went through that day and I said, "You know, what our guests need tomorrow? A bowl of pasta with Sunday sauce." I'd never made it here. Never. So the next day we made a Sunday sauce, and it just warmed my heart to make it.
I don't often hear "warmed my heart" from the heads of restaurants. There's two sides to me as a chef; the person that loves the rush and the crisis management, who teaches and trains and works in a professional kitchen. And then there's the grandma in me. I think I must have been one in a past life. I'll go run off and "make something." I have that vision of myself of just bringing people food. And that's what hit me that Saturday night. It was a long week and it had been a long day. Since then we've had it on the menu on Sundays for lunch. So Sunday sauce means a lot to me.
So we really should be thanking your family for this restaurant now. I cook because my grandparents had a restaurant, in the 30s or 40s, a place called Cozy Corner. It was a heavily populated Irish neighborhood and they did this little Italian place. And they did well because of it. But when they moved a couple of blocks over they opened a little market, and my grandmother started making sausage and had a butcher counter that an Italian would do. And I remember there was always something about getting to the point where you could help make the sausage. My grandmother's sausage was the best.
Her work ethic was amazing, and so was my mother's. My mother raised four kids pretty much by herself. On Sunday, the store would be open and the bell would ring, so while we were eating she'd go to the market to take care of the customer. Look at the trust she had in the people in her neighborhood. The store was was empty, and if you knew that she was eating dinner with her family every Sunday, it'd be so easy to steal from the store. But no one ever did.
Do you feel a sense of community here? It starts at the subway for me, on those mornings that I come in early and Sycamore Farms happens to have the first bag of corn of the season and I get to take it back here. A lot of chefs are going to get that corn and do great things with it, but I just feel special that I get to do that. I love Union Square—it's great. As far as the restaurant in particular, there's something loveable about this restaurant that kind of hugs you right away. And it's the kitchen, being in there with the cooks. I always get pulled back to that.
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Gelliswick is one of those many places around the Pembrokeshire coast which got its name from the marauding Vikings.
Vik, as also in the names Goodwick and Musselwick, means harbour in the Norse language, but who or what Gelli or Gelly was the historians seems wary about speculating.
Once known as a boating and bathing area a mile down the Haven, its sand only shows itself when the tide is out, and it is no longer popular for bathing. However, it has been for many years the Headquarters of the Pembrokeshire Yacht Club and its launching facilities and quick access to the Milford Haven waterway make it an excellent place for sailing. Races are regularly held in the bay and in the Haven, and some national events have been held there for the smaller sailing craft.
On the cliff to the east is the imposing pile of Fort Hubberston (another Viking name) one of the chain of Victorian defensive forts built around Milford Haven when Napoleon 111 was perceived as a threat. Built in 1863 it has casemates for 11 guns, plus eight in an open battery and nine in a battery to the eastward. Like many of the other forts dotted around the harbour it was updated in 1900 with a cartridge magazine below the casemates, a powder magazine cut into the rock behind and a two-storey bomb-proof barracks.
Since it was decommissioned after World War 11 there have been several abortive plans to develop it as offices or a hotel. A local preservation society was formed a few years ago to ensure it is not lost for ever.
Just inland of Gelliswick is an interesting ruin which was an early Technical College and Observatory for the training of mariners in the arts of navigation. An innovative facility when it was built as part of the visionary plan proposed in an act of Parliament passed in 1790 "to build a proprietary town …. with quays, docks, piers and other erections,' it never really took off. The plan was that of Charles Francis Greville, nephew of Sir William Hamilton of Nelson and Emma fame, who owned the land, and much of the development, which included the new docks, the grid-iron patterned new town and St Katharine's Church, was carried out. But only the Observatory was completed on the college site, the developers unable to raise the funds for the ancilliary buildings for the rest of the proposed Technical College that never was.
The Amoco Oil company built a 3,000-foot long jetty on the western shore to link their refinery near Tiers Cross with the deepwater channel, and the local authority developed a recreation area between the beach and the Milford Haven Golf Club to serve the large council housing estate at Hakin. On the shore below the fort is the jetty of Milford Haven Port Authority with the Harbour Master's HQ, the Port Pilots' base and the Signals and shipping control station on the clifftop.


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Asus' elfin Eee PC is coming to Japan and it's going to get 16GB of solid-state storage, it has been claimed. Meanwhile, in the UK availability has reached Wii-like limits, according to insiders.
A report by Akihabara News today claimed Asus' Japanese operation said that the Linux-based sub-laptop will be released over there soon.
Interestingly, while Asus has talked before about offering a version of the Eee PC with Windows XP pre-loaded, the site claims it's finally going to happen with the Japanese launch.
Asus Eee PC and friend: turning Japanese
With some pruning, Windows XP works rather well on the Eee PC, but our Asus moles say Microsoft really wants to see Windows Vista running on the little laptop. While that's tricky given the machine's 600MHz processor - it's underclocked from 900MHz - integrated graphics and limited storage capacity, perhaps that boosted 16GB SSD is a sign of a more powerful Eee PC to come.
Maybe, but right now British buyers would just like to see the 4GB model become rather easier to get hold of. Many suppliers are listing both the white and black versions of the machine, but few have stock.
An Asus spokesman told Register Hardware that new machines are arriving in the UK on a weekly basis, but a source familiar with the situation compared Eee PC availability with that of the Nintendo Wii - a console notoriously hard to buy here at any given time.
Related Reviews
• Asus Eee PC


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WYSIWYG Web Builder 12.2 is a major update. This version fixes known problems, adds new features and other improvements.
What's new in 12.2?
- Fixed: Photo Gallery image preview issue in properties.
- Fixed: Table cells do not support text-align: justify
- Fixed: Duplicated font-weight in styles using Google fonts.
- Fixed: Article does not save background image.
- Fixed: Heading does not save border.
- Fixed: Incorrect margin in responsive bullets.
- Fixed: File Upload width issue in breakpoints.
- Improved: Layers with video background can now also have a different background in breakpoints.
- Improved: 'Snap to objects' behavior with nested layers.
- Improved: Rollover layer now also works in a master frame.
- Improved: Fixed background images are now also rendered fixed in the workspace.
- Improved: 'Import Page from another project' attempts to preserve internal links when multiple pages are imported.
- Improved: og:url (Open Graph Meta Tags) can now include the page name in the URL.
- New feature: Added new responsive functions to extension API: LoadBreakpointData, GetBreakPointCSS. This will be used for future versions of (official) extensions.
- New feature: Added new option to Breadcrumb 'Synchronize with Site manager' -> 'First level (no folders)'. When this option is selected, then folders will not be included in the navigation.
- New feature: Added 'Icon Font Library' option to Breadcrumb, Panel Menu and Responsive Menu. This specifies whether to use FontAwesome Icons or Material Icons.
- New feature: Added experimental SVG render support.
- New feature: Added 'equal to (choice)' and 'not equal to (choice)' options to Combobox conditions. This creates unique conditions for the specifies values.
- New feature: Added 'Install Extension' option in the context menu of the Toolbox.
- New feature: Added support for separate title and alt text in the Photo Gallery and Photo Collage. Example: Use 'title^alt' in the title field. The second item (after ^) will be used as the alt text.
- New feature: Added 'goto' support to the SlideShow which can be used in events (just like the Carousel). Example: $('#SlideShow1').slideshow('goto,2');
- New feature: Added "Copy/Paste' buttons in navigation objects. This makes it possible to copy the links from one navigation object to another.
- New feature: Added global lightbox support. This adds the ability to have images on different parts of the page to trigger the same lightbox gallery (see tutorial).
- New feature: Added 'Enable form' to the Carousel. This makes it possible to use the Carousel as a multi page form (see tutorial).
- New tutorial: http://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/global_lightbox.html
- New tutorial: http://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/carouselwizard.html
How to update from previous 12.x versions?
1. Download the latest version here:
2. If you already have version 12.x you can install it in the same location as the previous version.
Advanced users can also download the updated files only here (no installer):
http://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com/wb12update.zip (build date: September 21, 2017)
WYSIWYG Web Builder 12.2 update!
All the latest news about WYSIWYG Web Builder can be read in this section
*** Current version: WYSIWYG Web Builder 15.4.3 ***
*** Current version: WYSIWYG Web Builder 15.4.3 ***
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1 post • Page 1 of 1


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(Phoenix, Ariz. – February 23, 2005) Attorney General Terry Goddard today thanked members of the State Senate Education Committee for passing the School Receivership Bill (SB1476).
"This bill is necessary to ensure that our children receive the education they need and deserve," Goddard said. "I want to make sure children do not suffer for the financial mismanagement of a school district. We have seen cases where a district has failed to pay its bills, even failed to pay its teachers. This bill provides a mechanism to make sure children will continue to receive an education while a financially troubled district is straightened out."
Goddard added that Committee approval is the first step in the legislative process. Heis committed to work with members of the Arizona Legislature, Superintendent Horne, parents, administrators and teachers to ensure the Bill's passage this session. Goddard vowed to work with opponents of the legislation, including Horne, whose office testified against the bill.
If adopted, this legislation would allow a receiver to be appointed if the State Board of Education and a Superior Court judge find a school district financially mismanaged. Goddard brought together a wide range of education experts to work on the bill.


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I will be presenting a session on Variable Data Design at Adobe MAX this year. While I've presented at MAX previously, recently it's been all DPS or AEM-related discussions. This talk digs deep to my roots in Data Driven Marketing and Variable Data Publishing. From the abstract:
Learn how to take personalized communications beyond email. Before email, there was data merge, which enables you to create personalized print materials using the design tools you already know and love. Whether for mailing campaigns, photo books, directories, business cards, or even t-shirts, you can use data merge to personalize your projects.
In this session, you'll discover how to:
- Unlock the potential of personalization in InDesign
- Use Illustrator and Photoshop to generate personalized assets to use with InDesign
- Manage personalization on a large scale with popular third-party variable data printing (VDP) solutions


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Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve Its History, Promote Its Values & Celebrate Excellence Everywhere
"Glory? No, there's not much glory in it. But there is self-satisfaction and we have to do with that. When the newspapers say somebody ran 50 yards to a touchdown and they don't tell who made the blocks, it hurts a little."
(Morgan State)...6'3'', 255...Roosevelt Brown, Jr ... Black All-American at Morgan State, 1951-1952 ... Giants' 27th pick in 1953 draft ... Joined Giants as green 20-year old ... Quickly won starting role, held it for 13 seasons ... Excellent downfield blocker, classic pass protector, fast, mobile ... All-NFL eight straight years, 1956-1963 ... Played in nine Pro Bowl games ... Named NFL's Lineman of Year, 1956 ... Born October 20, 1932, in Charlottesville, Virginia ... Died June 9, 2004, at age of 71.
In the 1953 National Football League Draft, the New York Giants selected a 1952 Black All-America tackle from little-known Morgan State College in the 27th round. His name was Roosevelt Brown and his youth and relative inexperience were obvious when he joined the Giants for his first summer training camp.
But even in the very early stages, Giants coach Steve Owen liked what he saw in Brown – his 6-3, 255-pound size, his powerful arms, his trim 29-inch waistline, his willingness to work hard and his ability to learn. So Rosey Brown, a true "sleeper pick" got his chance to make the Giants squad and he made it big. Soon he was the starting left offensive tackle and it was a job he held for 13 years until he retired following the 1965 season.
Rosey was a classic pass blocker and, on running plays, he could make the blocks that opened gaping holes in the enemy ranks. And he could do something few tackles are called upon to do – pull and lead on wide ground plays such as a pitchout to the halfback.
During the height of Rosey's career, the Giants were enjoying an unusual string of successes with six divisional crowns and one NFL title in an eight-year stretch. While no one player can be credited with the Giants' great victory ride, Rosey deserves as much credit as anyone. For eight straight years, he was a virtually unanimous All-NFL choice and was named to nine Pro Bowls. In the 1956 NFL Championship Game, Rosey handled the vaunted Chicago Bears' defenses so well that he awarded Lineman of the Game honors. In 1975, Rosey Brown became only the second player to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the merits of his offensive line play alone.
Full Name: Roosevelt Brown, Jr.
Birthdate: October 20, 1932
Birthplace: Charlottesville, Virginia
Died: June 9, 2004
High School: Jefferson (Charlottesville, VA)
Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame: January 11, 1975
Enshrined into Pro Football Hall of Fame: August 2, 1975
Presenter: Talmadge L. Hill, Brown's Coach at Morgan St.
Other Members of Class of 1975: George Connor, Dante Lavelli, Lenny Moore
Pro Career: 13 seasons, 162 games
Drafted: 27th round (321st overall) by New York Giants
Uniform Number: 79


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Additional Project Information
Here you will find detailed information about the different areas in which you can get involved on this Conservation & Environment project in Peru. These are projects that operate continually throughout the year, but there are many other smaller projects that often run on a one off basis or seasonally.
Biodiversity Studies
Projects Abroad was officially awarded a 476 hectare reserve at the end of 2004 (Reserva Ecologicà Taricaya) and now we have to produce a technical report every year to justify our work in the area. The data from these studies is necessary for these reports to demonstrate that the area is recovering from previous disturbances and that our work is having a positive impact on the ecosystem in the reserve. The information is collected in fixed point observations such as a 42m canopy platform, data walks, mist netting and pitfall traps to name but a few. The reserve is well on its way to representing the rainforest as it must have been before human invasion and the data has enabled us to publish many papers.
Our team of staff at Taricaya includes specialists in many fields. Therefore, it is no surprise that to date we have registered 50 species of amphibian, 63 species of reptile, 115 species of mammals (including 53 species of bat), over 300 species of butterflies, 286 species of plant and 445 species of bird. These figures are remarkable for an area of 476 hectares and the biodiversity of the reserve has already marked Taricaya as a hotspot for wildlife. Our findings will undoubtedly figure in future field guides to the flora and fauna of Peru. During your stay with us you will participate in many of these studies and learn from experts in the field.
Animal Rescue Centre
The concept of releasing captive animals into a safe environment is a popular concept for conservationists worldwide. Taricaya was the first official centre of its kind in Peru. Laws did not exist for such centres in Peru and we pioneered the concept amidst an ongoing battle for rights to sanction the release of confiscated animals. Now we host many enclosures that allow animals to recover their health before releasing them back into their natural habitat. Thus far we have released 24 species of mammal, 13 species of bird and 4 species of reptile back into the wild.
With qualified staff and associated vets constantly monitoring the progress of our residents the future looks very bright for all our animals and those yet to come into our care. With 39 animals in the centre currently we continue to pioneer work in this field. We have plans for captive breeding programs and the reintroduction of groups of certain species that have been hunted to extinction locally.
The animal rescue centre occupies a lot of our time and you will come into contact with some truly amazing animals. You will help feed them, care for them and get involved with the maintenance that such a huge project entails.
Pilot Farm
At Taricaya we are sympathetic to the daily problems that local farmers face. Puerto Maldonado was a boom town as little as twenty years ago but the people that flocked to the Madre de Dios river are not farmers by tradition. They are primarily gold miners, rubber barons and Brazil nut collectors. As a result they suffer trying to make the meagre plots of land awarded to them by the government rentable. The riches of the area soon dried up leaving the fortune-seekers high and dry without local knowledge and sufficient means to make them capable farmers.
The concept of the pilot farm is to help the locals manage their land efficiently and hence reduce their impact on the surrounding forest. Hunting, fishing, timber extraction, charcoal burning and palm leaf collection are time-consuming and labour intensive activities which they would gladly rescind given the opportunity. We, at Taricaya, are fortunate enough to be able to perform various experiments with crops and productivity that local farmers do not have the luxury of testing. We are now in a position at Taricaya where we have created a self-sufficient module for local families.
However, there is a problem. Various international charities have tried to work in the area before with concepts designed to revolutionise the lifestyles of the local communities. Having brought the locals around to their way of thinking the money has always dried up and the participants have been left high and dry. This has resulted, and justifiably so, in general mistrust of people trying to help. We are now in a position to help the locals without the need for an initial financial investment by the communities concerned. When people come to us for aid we know that they are receptive to our ideas and the passive approach we have adopted over recent years is finally proving productive. Our combination of livestock management, tropical flower cultivation for sale and crop cycling is finally reaching the surrounding communities. Many communities benefit from an improved standard of living whilst having less and less of an impact on the forest around them.
As the pilot farm passes into its second phase we can perform more direct investigation into plantation management and recuperation of abandoned grasslands.
Turtle Repopulation Project
The side-necked turtle (Podocnemsis unifilis) has suffered for decades due to the commercial value of its eggs. Locals can raise large amounts of money, relatively speaking, from the sale of their eggs in the markets of Peru. In Puerto Maldonado the problem is particularly severe and the local communities have relied on this income for several generations.
At Taricaya we have liaised with the government authorities concerned and have permits for the annual monitoring of a huge island in the middle of the Madre de Dios River. We collect the eggs during the laying season (July-August) and transfer them to artificial beaches at Taricaya. Here we await the occlusion of the eggs in November/December. Then we engrave the young turtles with a code on their shells. This means that future recapture will associate the individual turtles with our project at Taricaya. To date we have released over 6,000 baby turtles back into the river system and in 2010 we photographed a young adult with a mark on its shell from our 2005 releases.
Trail Maintenance
Due to the hard work of over 1300 volunteers that have visited us since 2001 we have a trail network of over 50 kilometres which has been GPS mapped. Our research has benefitted greatly from this extensive series of trails with exact points of reference. The patrolling of our reserve is crucial also to the resident fauna. Given that poachers have been known to enter illegally to hunt, a constant monitoring of the area has become a necessary chore.
Tropical storms are violent by nature and tree-falls are common. This means constant monitoring of our trails becomes an unavoidable task to allow access to all corners of the protected area. We are happy to report that incidents of illegal entry have greatly reduced over the last few years but we cannot rest on our laurels and trail maintenance is an essential part of our work in the reserve.
Butterfly House
This new initiative at Taricaya is in its infancy but the long term goal of the project is to research the reproduction of several different species of butterfly. We will also investigate their potential commercialisation as a viable source of income for local rainforest inhabitants. This would reduce their impact on the forest and improve their standard of living at the same time. This idea of scientific research coupled with financial gains for local communities makes this project very exciting.


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The prophet Elijah's return: what the Elijah anointing represents to families and the political world in these last days
Prophet Elijah was a man of God deeply involved in political activities. He was not a politician, but he admonished and rebuked politicians.
Elijah began his ministry with no fear to deliver a hard message to King Ahab (a political creature like president Lula in Brazil and like former president Clinton in the US):
"You're the troublemaker… You and your family have disobeyed the LORD's commands by worshiping Baal". (1Kings 18:18)
Elijah kept confronting King Ahab subsequently through many other prophetic messages. (To see how God used Elijah in the political realm of Israel, read the chapters 17, 18, 19 and 21 of the book of 1 Kings and the chapter 1 of the book of 2 Kings, in the Old Testament.)
After fulfilling incredible prophetic missions in the politics of Israel, Elijah was taken by God (see the chapter 2 of the book of 2 Kings). Yet, he did not experience death. According to the book of the Prophet Malachi, Elijah will return. God says: "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse". (Malachi 4:5-6 NIV)
However, even before Elijah's return, a partial, unexpected fulfillment has already happened (just as other partial, unexpected fulfillments are possible to happen):
Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:11-13 NKJV, the italics is mine.)
When Jesus said that Elijah will restore all things, he also meant that Elijah will put everything in order — especially in the political sphere. The Philips New Testament says that Elijah will "begin the world's reformation". The political world, in all its corruption, hypocrisy and wickedness, needs order, and God will send Elijah for this purpose.
John the Baptist: the first man to have Elijah's anointing?
In the life of John the Baptist, Jesus himself recognized and explained that there was a partial fulfillment for that prophecy, that is, in addition to Elijah's return, John the Baptist was also an Elijah of God to the world. Probably, the ministry of John the Baptist also shows that God can raise men in the Elijah anointing. Receiving the Elijah anointing, John the Baptist did what Elijah did. What did Elijah do? He rebuked rulers according to the powerful Word of God.
Just as Elijah, John the Baptist led his life in a prophetic seclusion "in the wilderness", as a best way to seek God, as a best way to for him to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and be a powerful tool of God in the society.
Having the Elijah anointing, John the Baptist confronted Herod (other political creature like President Lula of Brazil and former President Clinton) because of a sexual sin in his life:
For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife". (Mark 6:18 NIV)
Other Bible translations reveal that John made that rebuke frequently to Herod. Not only once, or twice, but whenever he saw Herod, John opened his mouth. He did not lose any opportunity to say that the king had broken God's legal limits.
Strangely, what John was doing was the partial fulfillment of God's promise in Malachi. Yet, no one could imagine that included in that promise was also the return of the Elijah anointing. John the Baptist may have been the first servant of the Lord to enjoy that anointing.
The prophetic mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the heart of God's people for the greatest visitation of the Lord in the human history. Of course, spiritually, the Lord will keep visiting his people, to make great works, and servants of the Lord will help prepare the heart of God's people for the visitations of the Holy Spirit in these last days. If the Lord keep pouring out the Elijah anointing, we will see men bold in the Holy Spirit, ready, according God's Word, to rebuke rulers in sin and corruption.
What John the Baptist did frequently before Herod is a startling contrast with the reality of our days, where ordinary men and women who profess to be from God support politicians and rulers having a moral and sexual behavior worst than the behavior of Herod. Yet, the political involvement of John went as far as where those men and women do not dare to go. His political involvement did not flatter the powerful, but did reflect faithfully God's perspective to deal with specific and serious moral problems.
Where the Elijah anointing goes in, goes in too the prophetic ministry before political authorities, so that their politics get aligned with God's politics and so that politicians get morally aligned with God's will and laws.
While Elijah in the Old Testament used to exhort the Jew rulers to lead a righteous lifestyle to please God, in the New Testament John exhorted Herod (who was not a Jew) to correct his sexual behavior. Herod had many serious problems (including dishonesty, corruption and violence) that deserved sharp rebuke. John could have confronted all of theses sins, for he had knowledge, through his parents who were from priestly families, of the important role of the Old Testament prophets in the denunciation against the corruption and oppression against the poor by government offficiais.
However, he acted according to the righteous priority God had put in his heart, perhaps because it did not much sense to press a politician to try to "fix" the things in the society when his life needed a moral "repair". He did not waste his energy attacking all the sins of a politician. He began attacking head-on the sin his spiritual vision saw as the most critical in that point. His absolute priority was to deal directly with the moral issue, even though he did also condemn other sins in King Herod. For his attitude of rebuking the sexual sin of a man in the government, John eventually suffered prison and death.
Jesus endorsed the prophetic behavior of John. While John was in the prison because of the "crime" of condemning the sexual sin of Herod, Jesus had only kindly comments about him. "I can guarantee this truth: Of all the people ever born, no one is greater than John the Baptizer… If you are willing to accept their message, John is the Elijah who was to come." (Matthew 11:14 GWV, emphasis is mine.)
If he lived in our days, there is no doubt that John would open his mouth before politicians like President Lula in Brazil, who actively promotes abortion and homosexuality in the society. Yet, who could say that the Elijah anointing cannot be given to men of God in Brazil? While the pouring out of this anointing is not seen, nothing keeps God's people from crying out ceaselessly: "Lord, Brazil has in its government Herods and Ahabs, but where are your Elijah for Brazil?"
Restoring and reforming the political world
At the same time he declared John symbolized Elijah, Jesus made also clear that Elijah will really come to restore everything and begin the world's reformation. There are many crooked, perverted and wicked things in the political leaders and in the politics and laws themselves made by them, and Elijah will come with the powerful Word of the Lord to rebuke the political world, to manifest to the haughty world rulers that God demands governments and nations to behave according to the righteousness of God's Word.
Perhaps, as the example of John the Baptist, God will be able to raise also in these last days men to represent Elijah. After all, there are many Ahabs and Herods in the modern governments and they also need to be rebuked according the Word of the Lord. They need to know and recognize that God does not move only within the Christian churches, but also among the haughty world rulers. They need to feel, through the prophetic Elijah anointing in the servants chosen by God, that their politics and behavior are an abomination in the God's eyes.
The Ahabs who promote the state idolatry, witchcraft, prostitution and homosexuality need to know God's power through his prophets. The Herods who live wicked sexual behaviors need to be rebuked by the prophets having the Elijah anointing.
The world rulers have no right to do as they see fit, for God gave them the specific responsibility to serve God chastising the wicked and praising those who do good. God's Word makes clear that governors "are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good." (1 Peter 2:14 NKJV)
All human government was called to be God's servant in this fundamental obligation:
"For [the State] is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." (Romans 13:4 NKJV)
However, the modern State intrudes even God's realm promising to grant everything (health care, education, etc.) to the population and meet all of their needs, as if it were God himself! Gerald Ford, US president in the 70s, said a great truth about government:
"If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have".
When a government fails to be a minister of God in the mission God gave it to punish the wicked and praise those who do good and intrudes areas that God did not allow it (the control over children and education), then the State becomes a Monster.
The Brazilian government has been steadily failing in its responsibility to make Brazilian people safe from criminals, which is its obligation and also the duty God imposed on it. It has also been steadily failing in education and health care, which God did not entitle it. Result: the government takes away almost everything from its citizens, but it gives them almost nothing in return, and the little quantity the people receive is precarious and poor.
When the State wants to do everything, eventually it does almost no thing, except overburdening the population by a great number of high and unjust taxes. So much money for security, health care and education taxes and, at the end, citizens end up with no money and no one of the many state "promises" they were forced to pay at so high prices.
No government has God's call to get involved in the control of families, children and promotion of politics of abortion, homosexuality and other perversions. The basic responsibility God gave the government is "to execute wrath on him who practices evil". Everything that is beyond this obligation is state intrusion and may seriously be considered as illegality in the God's eyes. The Elijahs of God will confront presidents, governors, mayors and other elected officials for the negligence of their obligation and will rebuke them for intruding spheres that are not proper for them.
Yet, where are the Elijahs of God to warn presidents and other governors that their government and their politics are unlawful in the God's eyes? Where are the Elijahs of God to tell the government that its responsibility is just public security? Where are the men of God to imitate John the Baptist and say to the modern-day Herods: "What you are doing is against God's Law"? It is very easy to come near a president or another corrupt and immoral public official and limit oneself to praise and flatter. Multitudes of religious leaders meeting high authorities do exactly so. They do not seek God's face and when they are face to face with a governor, they have just praises, and often the governor rightly deserves rebuke and warning. There are abundant flatterers. But where are the Elijah? Where are the men with the anointed courage to tell to the presidents that their government broke the limits God gave?
The key to cultivate the Elijah anointing: the direct involvement of parents in the upbringing and education of their children
Where are the Elijah of God? They are, or they may be, in the spiritual environment proper for their development. God says:
"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse". (Malachi 4:5-6 NIV, emphasis is mine.)
In our time, the State has been getting children to distance themselves from their parents, for parents are not properly committing themselves in the lives of their children. With such state-induced separation, it has been very easy for parents to turn from children and children from parents.
The State, that Elijah and John the Baptist so much rebuked, has today as one of its supreme goals to control children — through schools. The state control over children and education is a recent novelty in the human history. Of course, the State alleges to defend "the right to education" of the children. Yet, even though parents have post-graduate college education, the Brazilian State, for example, does not give to those parents the right to homeschool their children, under the pretext that it wants "the best interests of the children" — which are, in fact, just a disguise to protect its best interests.
A child learning at home may receive a good education, if her parents have the means to sacrifice themselves in that education, and the State will have a hard time to sow its new and strange values in her while her parents are near. At school, even when children do not receive a proper education — and studies show that the Brazilian education is not well —, the important thing, for the State, is that faraway from their parents at least it is easier to put children in touch with different values from the values from their parents, values approved by the state criterions. The state god demands the sacrifice of children in the altar of the government indoctrination.
What is in stake is the life direction and values of the children. The State knows very well that the control over education and children is fundamental. So the government does not give up its own law that requires children to attend institutional school. The aim per se is not education. It is to distance a child from her home and keep her in the institutional environment — faraway from her family and their values — the most time possible. The result? After some years exposed to the state indoctrination, many teenagers from Christian families begin to fall away. When they finish a college, the majority get detached from God and his values or from family and their values. They end up "educated" and immoral, "educated" and rebel, "educated" and faraway from God, "educated" and faraway from the family values.
"Educated" is an expression virtually empty of its real meaning, for most schoolchildren who finish school today are functionally illiterate, writing and reading poorly, but very "educated" in completely unnecessary issues, as dating with birth control, abortion and free sex and pornographic sex education with a right to homosexual immorality.
The fact is that children are turning away from parents and their values, for their parents delivered them to the harmful influence of the state indoctrination of the institutional schools.
What is the advantage in a great "education" when the cost is the life and spiritual values of our children? Probably, the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ would quickly sacrifice such academic opportunities, instead of sacrificing their children for the sake of this kind of education. They would never see education as more important than the life and spiritual values of their children.
If the apostles had just those two options, of course they would choose to protect their children. Yet, there are not only those two options. Where education is concerned, the institutional school is not the only choice! When the heart of the parents turns to their children, taking on the direct supervision of their education and upbringing and refusing to turn them over to the state Monster, the heart of the children turns — not to drugs, rebellion and wicked behaviors. Their heart turns to their parents. It is no coincidence that in the homeschooling movement most children admire and respect their parents, a behavior increasingly difficult when their children have already been attending an institutional school for some years. Education is the key. The State knows it. God's Word teaches it. It is up for parents now to discover that important truth.
He who has control over the education of a child will have decisive influence over her values. That is why the State demands that control, even when parents have a great education. The State needs to control the education, so that it may have total freedom to preach and teach its "democratical" values — that are not anything more than its "gospel" of humanism, socialism, feminism, homosexualism and liberalism. The State needs to control the children, so that it may have total freedom to turn them into disciples of that "gospel".
The state Monster uses the educational system to create small and big monsters according to its own image and likeness, so that they may learn from the state masters that what is an abomination in God's eyes is normal for the state Monster, and that what is just and right in God's eyes is abomination for the state Monster. There are abundant examples of that reality. The state Monster in Brazil sees as abomination the instruction of Proverbs giving parents the right and full freedom to discipline, through a rod of correction, the wicked behavior of their children. But it sees as normal and just to deliver, in adoption, children to gay couples.
The Brazil Without Homophobia campaign of the Lula government wants all Brazilians to respect sodomy. Parents not respecting sodomy run the risk of losing the custody over their children — which may be granted to a homosexual "couple". Only a Monster could behave this way. And such Monster is real: it is the State.
The state Monster sees as normal to deliver unborn babies to the extermination of the legal abortion. For it, it is normal to teach schoolchildren that homosexuality and sex without marriage are life options and deserve respect.
The state Monster requires, in the religious classes in the public schools, Jesus Christ to be put in the same level of the gods of Candomble and other pagan and Afro-Brazilian religions.
The state Monster requires the exclusion of God and his values from schools and the social realm, under the pretext that the State is secular. The exclusion is willful, so that the place of God may be occupied by the state Monster. So, the modern State is like the old kingdoms, where paganism usurped the place that belonges to God. Today the usurper is humanism, statism, secularism, socialism and other similar ideologies.
Even with so a strong control and with draconian policies and laws governing education, the Lula government, after several years investing in the "improvement" of education, recognizes that its "objective failed" and that in the Brazilian education the "picture is negative". In fact, it also recognizes that, even though institutional education is compulsory and homeschooling is banned, illiteracy is relatively high and that children finish fundamental education virtually unable to read and understand what they read. In other words, the government itself is saying that its education is a disaster!
In spite of that much-recognized failure, the Lula government was able to lower the compulsory school age, changing the law so that parents may be forced now to send their children to the state indoctrination of the institutional school no more at the 7-year age, but at 6. Yet, the state goal is much more ambitious:
"Information by the National Campaign for the Right to Education reveal preoccupying figures… More than 50% of the children between 0 and 6 years are not at school…"[1]
That information indicates a scary reality: in spite of the state failure in its education for children above 6 years who are forced by law to attend an institutional school, now the State worries that, below 6 years, only 50% children attend schools. The solution? Make school attendance below 6 years old compulsory too! The State is considering legal and political measures to extend its control over those little children.
The government is not happy with its performance in the illiteracy of the Brazilian children, but it is satisfied that its own laws keep children more under its own control and supervision than under the control and supervision of parents. What can then the government do when children are faraway from the direct supervision of their parents?
The Lula government has confessed its failure to educate schoolchildren in a minimally satisfactory way, but it wants to guarantee that they may have access to condoms and pornographic books at schools. The Brazilian State wants to make up for its educational failure through condoms and pornography. So schoolchildren will not worry about their low grades, for they will be intoxicated by free sex and a self-esteem induced by psychological techniques of brainwashing. They will become happy morons.
Parents who desire to invest themselves in their children for the sake of Jesus, upbringing children having their heart turned to their parents, will need the Elijah anointing, so that they may challenge the immoral state impositions requiring control over children in the education. In fact, the Superior Tribunal of Justice, perceiving the "threat" of homeschooling to the state ambitions, affirmed that "children do not belong to their parents", in a judicial decision against a homeschool family in Brazil. The modern State, as the old pagan kingdoms, demands child sacrifices in its altars, and all effort by the Christian parents to rescue their children from that secularist and pagan sacrifice requires the Elijah anointing, requires the parental sacrifice in the lives of their children, taking on their education and the supervision and formation of their values.
The Elijah anointing is for these last days. It is for parents — to enable them to face the state absolutism. It is for parents — to enable them to dedicate themselves to the total education of their children. It is for parents — to give them courage not to deliver their children in the educational altar of the state Monster. It is for parents — to enable them to raise up prophetic children, in the anointing of Elijah and John the Baptist.
Elijah (and his last-days prophetic anointing) will convince parents to take on completely the upbringing and education of their children and the children to respect and admire their parents. That purpose has already been fulfilling itself in a startling way in the homeschooling movement, where parents turn to their children and children turn to their parents.
The homeschooling movement offers excellent opportunities to raise men and women in the anointing of Elijah and John the Baptist
Elijah (and his last-days prophetic anointing) will convince parents to reject the unfair state impositions in the sphere of upbringing and education of children. This anointing will challenge governments and politicians. It will be anointing to shake what needs for so a long time to be shaken. Before the determined state opposition to homeschooling, it is impossible for parents to get involved in that prophetic movement without challenging the corrupt, pagan and immoral State.
Yet, the cost is worthwhile. There is no greater blessing, for a family, than to have their children at the Lord Jesus' feet, not under the paws of the state Monster and its immoral values. In order that such blessing may be a reality, God's people, as Elijah did, will have to confront governments and authorities.
The fundamental characteristic of the prophetic lifestyle of Elijah, which will be active in the last days, is the prophetic isolation. Elijah lived completely isolated from the social sins. Surely, if there were public (state) schools in Israel in his time and if he had a family, he would not send his children to school. He would take on their education, in the Lord. That necessary isolation is part of homeschooling, where Christian children receive a good education, without the state indoctrination and without the pressures and influence of classmates who have morally problematic behaviors.
In his isolation, Elijah always sought God and got prepared to attend whenever God called him to go to society and confront its political leaders and wicked values. In homeschooling, committed parents have the opportunity to invest deeply in the spiritual, moral e educational formation of their children, preparing them to attend to God's call in the social sphere, combating harmful values. Like Elijah, the homeschooling movement offers excellent opportunities for the parents to raise and educate children who will challenge the modern secularist, pagan, abortist, homosexualist and immoral political system.
While the aim of the Lord in the education is for parents to form their children in the Elijah anointing in these last days, the aim of the state Monster is to form the new generation in the ethical, sexual and spiritual anormality of Ahab and Herod.
Brazil and the world need Elijah's return and many other men like him and John the Baptist.
We do not know how or when Elijah will come, but Elijah or the men having the Elijah anointing who will come will do a prophetic work of restoration in the governments, shaking the structures of sin and arrogance. Those men will have a life preparation as the life preparation Elijah and John the Baptist had.
It is much a possibility that God may have chosen the homeschooling movement to give parents the opportunity to raise children in the Elijah anointing. Those children, raised and educated isolatedly from the state indoctrination, will be strengthened in Bible values which will enable them to be God's instruments to rebuke futurely political leaders, their immoral behaviors and their unfair policies.
Homeschooling, where parents turn to their children and children turn to their parents, is the proper soil for the "cultivation" of new Elijahs. Only this way it will be possible to escape from the curse that will occur as punishment to our nation because of the separation between parents and their children and children and their parents and because of the perverted policies of the state Monster that provoke and facilitate that separation. (See Malachi 4:6)
The opportunities of blessings are many in the homeschooling movement, but the parents who want the Elijah anointing for their children will need to pay a high cost because of the violent threats of Ahabs, Herods, Lulas and other menials of the state Monster. They demand complete control over the education of our children, a control God did not give them authority or permission to require.
In the past, the state Monster used to demand child sacrifices. That requirement has not changed. The state Monster is still thirsty for children.
Whom then we will deliver our children to? Which altar will we offer them in?
Whether by homeschooling or other Holy Spirit movements, the God who acted through Elijah is going to show to the world that he has not stopped his activities in the political world. He is going to show that he has not stopped confronting politicians in their immorality and injustice.
The best from God is still about to come.
Elijah shall come.
Portuguese version of this article: A volta do profeta Elias: o que a unção de Elias representa para as famílias e para o mundo político nestes últimos dias
Other important article by Julio Severo on prophetic homeschooling in these last days: The Mark of the Beast: The Tomorrow's Education.Source: Last Days Watchman


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UnNews:'Make Me Gay' app debate heats up
This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-microsecond misinformation.
27 December 2012
SAN FRANCISCO -- The maker of a new novelty app thinks it is fun to make yourself look ethnically gay by changing your race and your face, including the shape of your eyes, your mouth, your teeth, your nose, or adding a mustache or Village People hat. And the app works even if you are a transvestite in war paint wearing a pink-feathered neckband. "This app enables you to indulge yourself," says the description of the "Make Me Gay" app currently available on Fondle Play. "You can in a few seconds make (yourself) a gay Brit, or a gay Yank, or a gay Chink, or any other race and nationality of homosexual," the description claims.
Amusing and cute, says Perverse Apps, another outfit who launched a campaign to get Fondle to carry the gay app. A spokesperson issued a statement saying, "These portrayals of gays only serve to perpetuate playful sexual and racial stereotypes, so the app should continue to be distributed on the Fondle store."
Also in opposition to Fondle's bias, gay poster-boy Peter Chin decided to mount a one-man protest in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Chin said he understood Fondle's motto is "Don't be biased – hate everyone!" - which makes it hard to fathom why the company would object to the app. "Fondle normally allows everything from Fondle Gay Bar (map application) and Gay Mail," he said. "If you want to search for gay sex on the Internet, you even tell the device to 'Fondle it.'"
Chin feared Fondle's censorship would make people think the app is unacceptable. "I want to make sure this app is not shit-canned," he said. Chin said he wants Fondle users to know that the gay and racist stereotypes in the app have been harmlessly used to categorize, identify and exploit gay people for millennia.
But a Fondle spokesperson told the media that the gay app, "uses out-dated and offensive stereotypes of queers," - such as those seen on the web campaign, 18 Million Rising, named after the number of mixed racial gays in the United States alone. "Besides, we don't comment on individual apps," Fondle said in a statement. "We're way too awesome for that. We simply remove apps from Fondle Play that violate our sensibilities."
- Sarah Edwards "Uproar over Google's new racial app" CNN, December 27, 2012


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(Photo courtesy of McCool Photography)
(Photo courtesy of Jennifer Liefeld)
Originally featured in June 2011
Name: Do It Exact ("Zack")
Age: 23
Breed: Thoroughbred
Gender: Gelding
Discipline: Eventing
Owner: Cindi Moravec
From our June 2011 Edition:
As a 22-year-old, Zack was competing in Training Level events. Cindi wanted to make sure he had enough support to keep feeling good and enjoying his job. She chose SmartFlex Senior Herb-Free Pellets for its comprehensive ingredients, including targeted support for senior horses' joints, immune systems and digestive health. She immediately noticed an improvement, noting that Zack "felt like he got his bounce back."
Read Cindi and Zack's original Success Story here
2012 Update:
"Last year, Zack and I finished up our eventing season with the Galway Training 3-Day, which had been a longtime goal for me. Letting Zack rip on steeplechase was a thrill, and jumping around a 'new to us' cross country course proved to me that Zack is completely genuine. We finished stadium double clear and ended up in the ribbons. But our proudest moment came when Zack was awarded 'Best Conditioned Horse' out of a field of 50 much younger entries!"


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