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I needed a skinny book and Deepak Chopra's distillation of his tome on Creating Abundance was sitting there just waiting to be read. Success and abundance are desirable commodities in the post-apocalyptic urban dystopia we inhabit so I settled in for a quick perusal of ancient teachings. Not that quick, actually. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success is a pocket-size fusion of Eastern wisdom and Western affirmation. Chopra's laws have been around for a while but he does have a knack for explaining the esoteric in accessible language and this book has plenty of both. So I contemplated it rather than plowed through it and it took longer to read. Which was okay as it was as calming as a meditation on intention and manifestation — a written guided meditation.
Here are the laws:
1. Pure Potentiality – we are pure consciousness and when we recognize this we can tap into the universal energy field and create anything. But, to reach that state of awareness, we have to transcend the ego, leaving behind fear, the need for external approval and personal control, and our "social masks".
2. Giving – in order to receive, give what you want to get–affection, support, money–life is about a dynamic exchange, the free flow of energy.
3. Karma, or Cause and Effect – every action generates an energetic response. You create your reality and your past shapes your present, your present designs your future. Tricky. But an optimistic way to view this is to find the opportunity in each challenge and transform your old, crummy karma into choices for positive–and rewarding–activity going forward.
4. Least Effort – don't push the river. Put your intention out there and turn your attention to getting on with your life. The good stuff bubbles up in its own time. Type-A Westerners have a lot of trouble with this one.
5. Intention and Desire – the quantum energy field is influenced by intention and desire. Yours, actually. Lavish your intention on something and it becomes more important in your life. Neglect it and the thing withers. Intention is pure desire without attachment and you can activate it to manifest whatever you want by stating an intention clearly and then infusing it with the stillness and pure potential you experience in meditation. Guaranteed to remove struggle. Someone should bottle this.
6. Detachment – let go of your insecure, fear-based need to see the result you imagine. Note to control freaks: you will not be good at this. Attachment is scarcity-consciousness, implying no real belief in your own infinite self and your limitless potential to create. Detachment celebrates ambiguity and can tolerate insecurity. Detachment delivers, oh ye of little faith.
7. Dharma, or Purpose in Life – your talent is unique in all the world and no one but you can express it. Your purpose in life is not to run out of milk and socks; it is to soar. When you share what is yours to give, you are richly rewarded. The catch is, you don't do it for the rewards. You do it to do it. The material rewards are a bonus.
I like these ideas. I suck at many of them. Probably why I am putting in so many hours as a hack writer that I have to find skinny books to read. Chopra adds step-by-step applications to each of the seven laws and, at the risk of spoiling things, I'll share an observation. Meditation figures prominently in many of them. Clearing your cluttered mind on a daily basis makes space for what you imagine to live and breathe. However you define success, you may get within striking distance of it by following the formula of these seven timeless spiritual laws. So, off to the meditation cushion and the world of infinite possibility I have yet to conquer.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams Deepak Chopra | New World Library 1994


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On a cold wintry December day in 1888, Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law, Charlie Mason, cowboys from the Alamo ranch in Southwestern Colorado, spent most of their afternoon rounding up strays on the high mesas and steep canyons above their winter camp on the Mancos River. The going was tough and blowing snow made hard work of finding their cattle. As they rested their horses on the edge of a mesa, they saw at the far side of the canyon a complex of stone buildings built under a large outcropping of rock. Under this protective rock overhang was a village of houses, towers, and kivas, all strung together like a huge apartment complex. The cowboys named the location Cliff Palace. Years later, Charlie Mason described their discovery, "From the rim of the canon we had our first view of Cliff Palace…. To me this is the grandest view of all among the ancient ruins of the Southwest. We rode around the head of the canon and found a way down over the cliffs to the level of the building. We spent several hours going from room to room and picked up several articles of interest, among them a stone axe with the handle still on it."
Cliff Palace as seen by Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason in 1888.
Cliff Palace 2011
No one knows for sure who constructed, with such skill, a community of buildings high up on the side of a canyon wall; buildings that have survived the harsh elements of the mesa country for over a 1000 years. Anthropologists and historians refer to the people as hunters gathers, basket makers, cliff dwellers, Anasazi, (Navajo for "ancient ones) or more formally, or Ancestral Puebloan People. All that is known about them is found in the ruins of their cliff dwellings. (The Anasazi occupied a large area of mesa and canyon lands known today as the four corners, where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet.)
After the Cowboys discovered Cliff Palace, they used their winter camp in the Mancos Valley as a base from which to explore the canyon close to their initial discovery (later to be called Cliff Canyon).
Over the next two months, Wetherill, Mason and cowboys from the Alamo ranch dug through the ruins collecting artifacts, some of which they sold to a museum in Denver for $3000.00. (The artifacts helped launch the newly established Denver Historical Society museum) Other artifacts were kept in a barn on the Alamo ranch.
Below are some of the artifacts found by the cowboys from the Alamo Ranch.
Regardless of the monetary value of the artifacts in the ruins, the Wetherills, owners of the Alamo Ranch, understood the archaeological and historical value the ruins had to Colorado and to the nation. Richard Wetherill wrote to the directors of the Smithsonian and Harvard's Peabody Museum requesting that these institutions sponsor him and his brothers or at least send their own specialists to work with them to excavate the cliff dwellings. Neither museum offered financial assistance or a team of professionals to help in excavating the ruins. Without outside help, the ruins would continue their march into obscurity; the Wetherills could not take the time away from ranching to explore further the ruins of Cliff Canyon. Not until Gustaf Nordenskiold from Sweden, an adventurer of sorts, heard about the cliff dwellings in the American Southwest, did Cliff Canyon and the Anasazi people get attention from the scientific community. In 1891, Nordenskiold made the long journey to America, crossed the continent on the newly established Santa Fe line to Durango, and forty miles by buggy to the Alamo ranch to meet with the Wetherill family. The family introduced Nordenskiold to the Cliff Dwellings, all of which were which named by the Wetherill family. The most impressive of the dwelling complex being Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House, Square Tower House, Mug House and Sandal House. In all, the Wetherills counted 182 cliff dwellings. Today, the count is 600. After spending several years exploring the cliff dwellings and its artifacts, Nordenskiold wrote The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, where he detailed each dwelling and the artifacts found at the different locations.
Typically, in each of the complexes, small rooms were built around a kiva; some rooms had access to the kiva by tunnels. They also constructed a small opening adjunct to the kiva called a sipapu, which symbolized the entrance to the underworld or mother earth. In most kivas there are stone benches, and an area that appears to be a fire pit. There are different theories on the use of the kiva. The most popular thought is that the round recessed circular room was used for religious purposes, and most likely as a place for social gatherings. At Cliff House complex, there are 23 kivas.
Also found on the mesa above Cliff Canyon were the ruins of villages, perhaps occupied by the ancestors of those who built the cliff dwellings. Archaeologists believe that the first people to occupy Mesa Verde did so around 2000 years ago. Anthropologists call these early people the basket weavers. These people lived in caves, but eventually by 750 A.D. moved into pithouses, a below ground system of housing around a kiva. The mesa environment was ideal for farming and there was enough moisture at the higher elevation of 8000 ft. to sustain agriculture. The Basket weavers mastered farming to where they had an expanded food supply and an increase in population. The people also began making crude pottery and developed the technique of crafting bows and arrows. By 1000 A.D. the basket weavers moved out of the below ground pithouses to above ground constructions made of pole and adobe. In this era, anthropologists refer to the above ground builders as the Anasazi, who improved building techniques by taking advantage of the natural environment that had an abundance of sandstone rock, which was easily cut into stone to build houses. The Anasazi became skilled masons, crafting each stone to an equal size to construct walls of their structures. They experimented with natural resources to develop mortar made out of sand, small gravel and ash. (This strong mortar can be seen in the ruins of Mesa Verde today.)
The Kiva was important in the construction of the below ground pithouse. When they move to above ground living, the kiva became the only below ground element of their culture that transferred to Ancestral Puebloan culture.
Agriculture land was on the top of the mesas. Archeologists are still trying to determine the canal system that ran from the reservoir in the picture below to the farming fields.
The National Park Service designation this reservoir, along with four others in Mesa Verde as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The water management system developed by the Anasazi people is one of the oldest engineered public works in the United States.
The Anasazi people grew three staple crops--corn, beans and squash all in the same field. The tall corn became a pole or sorts for the beans and the shade from the tall corn stalks protected the squash. They over produced, storing grain for the years of drought when rain or snow was not plentiful enough to sustain a crop.
The golden age of the Anasazi was between 1100-1300 AD. During this period they constructed houses with larger rooms, more complex attached buildings that could accommodate 1000 people. Their villages were spread out over many miles stretching across the mesas. During this era, the Anasazi demonstrated improved craftsmanship in masonry, pottery, weaving and jewelry. The evidence seems to indicate that all was well with the people who thrived on the mesa tops, but then they abandoned their above ground life to return to the caves and started engineering buildings along the cliffs. They used the same techniques that they mastered on the mesa tops; stone masonry buildings that fit under the rock umbrella perturbing out from the canyon walls.
Archaeologists and historians do not know why the Anasazi people left their prosperous villages and sought shelter along the canyon walls. One plausible explanation is that the canyons offered a defensible and secure location. Climate may also have been a reason for the move. Winter could be harsh on the mesa tops; the cliff dwellings offered a warmer environment.
Note the black soot on the back wall of the canyon. They constructed most of the structures with at least 3 to 4 ft. clearance from the wall. Evidence shows that they built their fires behind these structures. With small openings at the back of their rooms, the heat from the fires would penetrate their living quarters giving them a warmer environment.
The cliff dwellers still farmed on the mesas above and near some of their dwelling under the rock outcropping. At Spruce House complex, there is also a spring at the bottom of the canyon, which offered a water supply.
The inhabitants of the cliff dwellings only stayed under the protective rock for a couple of generations. By 1300, they were gone from the mesa. It is not known where the people migrated to, but most recent scholarship indicates that they are the ancestors of the Pueblo people. The most logical reason for their migration south would be climate change. A drought settled over the mesa region from 1272 to 1299, a long time to go with out a reliable food source. Also, years of farming on the mesa would have depleted the soil of nutrients to successfully grow crops and deforesting the land would cause erosion; the people had to move on to new fresh land where there was ample moisture to sustain life and agriculture. It is most probable that the hunter gathers, the Basket weavers, the Cliff Dwellers and the Anasazi people are the ancestors of the Pueblo people, who today live in the American Southwest.

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Literature for 6th Grade: Summary of Works [Russian Edition]
This audiobook contains condensed versions of 25 literary works intended for the study of literature featuring lessons for sixth graders. Russian literature is represented with: Alexandr Kuprin's "Chudesny doktor"; Alexandr Pushkin's "Vystrel", "Dubrovsky", and "Metel"; Anton Chekhov's "Tolsty i Tonky" and "Khameleon"; Valentin Rasputin's "Uroki frantsuzskogo"; Viktor Astafiyev's "Kon s rozovoy grivoy"; Vladimir Korolenko's "Deti podzemelya"; Ivan Turgenev's "Bezhin lug"; Mikhail Zoschenko "Dva rasskaza"; Mikhail Prishvin's "Kladovaya solntsa"; Nikolay Gogol's "Mayskaya noch"; Nikolay Leskov's "Levsha"; Fazil Iskander's "Trinadtsaty podvig", "Mify Drevney Gretsii. Podvigi Gerakla"; and the Russian folk tales "Ilya-Muromets" and "Sadko-guselschik".
World literature is also represented with: Herbert Wells' "Chelovek-nevedimka", Jack London's "Bely klyk"; Mark Twain; "Priklyucheniya Hucklberry Finna"; Ray Bradbury's "Zelenoe utro" and "Kanikuly"; Edgar Allan Poe's "Zolotoy zhuk"; and Ernest Sethon-Thompson's "Snup".
Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.


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Tagged: Japan
Thank You Taiwan Fans!
The month of August is considered to be Ghost month in Taiwan. There are many rules to follow to ward off bad luck and evil spirits. You are not supposed to open umbrellas indoors, go into the ocean, leave your shoes outside, hang your laundry up to dry at night, and whistle at night. To keep these spirits away many locals will pray outside of their homes and businesses. They set up a table with certain food and other items and a large metal tin to burn "fake money". This is a part of the traditional and ritual of prayer. When our team does a wish luck ceremony at the field we have a very similar setup.
My luck with ghost month has not seemed to be on my side on and off the mound. Before my first start in August, my scooter engine blew up on me and I had to buy a completely new engine. Before my second start my scooter was towed from in front of my apartment. Then most of my starts in August always had one bad inning in them. And to top it off I was released by the team.
I was notified by my translator of my release around 1am via text mail. We knew someone was going to be the odd man out, because the team was activating Shane Youman. I came to the field the next day to sign all of my termination papers, get my things from my locker, and say my good byes. I had a great time playing for Lamigo. My teammates were an amazing group to play with. They loved the game and always were laughing and having a good time. I wish Lamigo the best going forward and making it to the playoffs. I will be following their progress online.
Questions from the comments
– I like to use a lot of rosin because it is so HOT and HUMID in Taiwan. My hands get to slippery and I need the rosin to dry up the sweat. The rosin they give us is not the same as in the US. So I have to use more of it.
– Once released from a team over here, you can not join another team in the league for 2 years. You can only join the team you played for prior to the 2 year ban.
– I think I am going to let the hair grow a little more.
– Some unforgettable things are the drumming and chants during the games. Night Markets in Taipei, smell of stinky tofu, fans and all of their signs.
My next step is to head home and give my body some rest. I'm going to talk with my agent about playing winterball in possibly Venezuela, Mexico, or the Dominican Republic. I will keep you all posted where I end up.
Finally, I want to tell all my friends, fans, and supporters from Taiwan thank you so much for all of your support and comments in my blog. During my time in Taiwan you have all being so kind and welcoming. You have made my experience here very enjoyable and I do hope to come back to play or visit your beautiful country. Your excitement and passion for the game of baseball can not be described with words. You all are so dedicated to your teams over here and I had a blast playing in front of crowds like that. I will miss Taiwan and hope to be back playing soon.
It keeps getting hotter!
The first half gets under way tonight in Chayi against the Elephants. When I joined the team in late May we were a couple games out of first place. Once June came around we had a lot of injuries and went on a bad losing streak. I believe we only won 4-5 games in June. I'm glad that the season is split into halves. It gives our guys hope and a fresh start to go forward trying to win a championship.
This past week I went back into Taipei, this time with my "physio" athlete trainer Patrick Hung. Patrick is one of two athletic trainers on the team who take care of the entire team. I told "patty-cake", as the foreigners call him, to show me parts of Taipei a normal tourist wouldn't think to go. We started on the red line of the MRT and headed to Guandu. There was a magnificent temple there where many locals come to pray. I wanted to take video to show the act of worship here, but I did not because I didn't want to be disrespectful to anyones privacy during worship. It was very interesting though. There are individual rooms and statues for different types of worship. People will burn incense and bow and pray to their respective statue for certain help. Fruits, food, and other perishable goods are brought to the temple to show thanks. They also burn faux money in a fireplace for prayer.
Our next stop was to a natural preserve which was a huge mangrove park. There were crabs everywhere. These crabs were special and had one large claw and one small one. We then headed to Danshui which was like a large daytime street market. The air was filled with fresh cooked food ranging from pork, chicken, and squid. Many kids roamed around the boardwalk and played carnival style games. Ice cream seemed to be the biggest seller there. Everyone had cones with multi-colored ice cream over a foot tall.
We then jumped onto a ferry and boated over to Bali. We rented bikes and rode about 10 miles to Shihsanhang. There was an amazing museum there which gave a rich history of the area and architecture. There was a lot of artifacts from the aborigines, which helped cultivate the area we were in.
This past week the Monkeys as a team visited a temple to take part in a ceremony to wish us luck going forward with the season. I'm hoping for less rain. We were rained out for four days straight last week trying to get our final make up game in.
This weekend we had a three game series with the Elephants. They finished the first half playing extremely well and are looking to make a push in the second half as are we. In our first game Ken Ray threw a complete game, but was the tough luck loser as the Elephants scored on a safety squeeze. He only gave up three hits in the game. We lost Friday 1-0.
Steve Hammond took to the mound on Saturday in Kaoushung and threw a gem. He went the distance and threw a nine inning shutout for us. We won 1-0.
On Sunday it was my turn to try to compete with our starters magnificent starts. I threw eight innings giving up two runs and we won 7-2. Our hitters gave me a lot of support with a handful of home-runs. Our defense was great behind me and my catcher called a great game. It was a huge team win especially to take two out of three games on the road. Thanks to all the fans for coming out to all the games. It really makes playing in front of them very exciting. They are cheering non-stop. I apologize for not being able to sign too many autographs after the game. Our team makes us get on the bus as soon as possible so that we can get on the road since we had a five hour drive back. We truly love all of your support, cheers, and signs.
Please share my blog with all your friends and fans. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments. I'm very excited for the second half and to help our team make it to the playoffs.
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Highlights from my last game Click HERE


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The AMSOIL Great American Tour, Part Four
Huge Numbers And Great Action Highlight This Leg
As we continued our AMSOIL Great American Circle Track Tour of the Southeast United States, we next visited a couple of very unique venues. Bowman Gray Stadium was a diamond among a pile of rocks, so to speak. It stood out that much. And Carolina Speedway was positioned just right very near a large metropolitan area. Both of these tracks had some surprises in store for us.
By this time in our Tour, we had seen about the same type of promotion, refined in some places and not so refined in others. There were some tracks that had potential to grow given the right plan, mostly because of the growth of the surroundings, and others that seemed doomed for the same reason. Much of the future of any racetrack depends largely on who runs it and how they do it.
To give a quick recap of where we had been up to this point, we first visited Lanier Speedway in Georgia northeast of Atlanta, then on up to camp at the Tom Johnson Camping Center in Marion, North Carolina, and over to Tri-County Speedway for the Friday night races. We then loaded everything up and hit the road to Lonesome Pine Raceway above Bristol, Virginia, for the Saturday night show. The next morning we traveled up I-81 to stay at a neat campground in Edinburg, Virginia, in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley.
From that base camp we visited Southside Speedway outside Richmond, Virginia, for a Friday night show and then we bussed on up to Old Dominion Speedway, one of my old stomping grounds. We missed Winchester Speedway due to a rain-out before once again packing up and moving south again to the Tom Johnson grounds. From there we visited Hickory Speedway for the USARacing show and then the next weekend on to a track that we were not in any way shape or form ready for.
Bowman Gray Stadium
From the very beginning upon driving up to and looking over this racetrack, we knew we were someplace special. This stadium turned into racetrack, sometimes, had even more in store for us. It's a football stadium, but has a long history of racing too, dating from 1949.
Big Bill France, along with Alvin Hawkins, opened this track way back then and the future stars of racing cut their teeth here on this exciting quarter-mile bullring. Iconic names such as Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Richard Childress, David Pearson, Glen Wood, and Richie Evans and families like the Allisons, Earnhardts, Myers, and more raced here.
To say this place drips with history would be an understatement. If we were to search for where our roots of short track racing grew from, Bowman Gray would be one of the starting points. But that and the fact that its premier class was the Northeast-style pavement pounding Modifieds was building up to be one great Saturday night of racing.
We met with Gray Garrison, the promoter for this track and a descendant of the original owners. He told of how after WWI and the Great Depression, the stadium was built by workers under the WPA (Work Projects Administration) program and is now a part of the Winston-Salem (NC) Sports and Entertainment Complex owned by the city.
The week before, on opening night, many fans had to be turned away because of lack of a place to put them. It was standing room only, even the aisles were full. The count was somewhere north of 18,000 people in the stands. The night we were there was very close to that number with the stands full and the 4-foot wall surrounding the upper portion being lined with spectators, the seating capacity of 17,000 was surely met.
I met a few old friends too and talked a bit with Brian King who used to run Late Models but switched to the Modifieds four years ago. He was as happy a racer as I've seen. He told me he had never considered racing at BG, but tried it once and is now a regular. The racing action is intense. One thing that has always been known within this region, if you can win at BG, you can win anywhere. It is tough. Junior Miller showed us just how tough it can be. I think he hit everything but the lotto that night.
In the crowd were groups of fans for many of the drivers and their cheers were just like those of football fans during a game, only there were more than two teams playing. I have never seen as electric a group of race fans in my life. Just like high school or college football fans, these people were not about to miss one "game" of the planned 19 race season, lucky for Mr. Garrison.
The race was also commercialized completely, and I don't mean that in a negative way. There was a nightly event sponsor and many sub-sponsors who ran radio style commercials during intermission periods. Every means of capitalizing on the success and large attendance was utilized. And I had a feeling that those supporters of this track got their money's worth many times over.
All in all, we came away with a whole new feeling about short track racing and what it could be under certain circumstances. Can we duplicate that success elsewhere? I don't know, but some of that formula could bring a measure of success to some tracks that need it. Overall, it involved making the fans aware of the drivers and causing them to choose a favorite. I did notice that the track had a big screen TV normally used at football stadiums, and Daytona. When a driver was introduced, his/her photo appeared on the screen, allowing the fans to identify with each person and the team. How much are those big screens anyhow?
Carolina Speedway
For our first dirt venue of the Tour, we visited Carolina Speedway, just 16 miles by crow flight from the center of Charlotte. On April 23, when the USCS Winged Outlaw Sprint Cars came to play, they filled the stands until the parking overflowed into the pasture across the street which happened to be the property of the previous track owner. At some point, the local law enforcement halted the influx and closed off all parking, turning patrons away.
The 4/10-mile track was built in 1962 and an early promoter partner was the legendary Humpy Wheeler. Clint Elkins, is the general manager for the track today along with Mark Gibbons and Larry Lee, a group who recently took over the track management and are committed to improving the experience for both racers and the fans.
We had seen a similar success at places like Eldora for special events, but for a local dirt track, it couldn't have been better. On this night, there was a very decent turnout and lots of entries. And this was one of the, if not the, cleanest short tracks we've been to. A lot of attention was paid to keeping the place tidy, landscaping, and ongoing cleanup during the event.
The track itself was high-banked and fast. It did dry out before the feature race which provided a lot of dust in the air and single-line racing. Clint told me that plans were in the works to reduce the banking to help create more side-by-side racing and slow the cars down. It seemed to me that there was just too much sand mixed in with the clay and once the track dried up, all there was left was sand which blew into the air creating a sandstorm.
A track with more clay content will turn black and maybe rubber up as the night goes on, but not completely dry out. Dirt racing is dirt racing, but when the fans have to shower the sand out of their hair and clothes after an event, it diminishes the enthusiasm. We need to look at all aspects of our facilities and try to make not only the racing better, but the fans more comfortable as well. If that part is ignored, the numbers will dwindle.
The makeup of the race teams here included some Cup team members and shop workers from the many nearby Sprint Cup team shops. It's only natural that the people who work in racing participate in racing. We see lots of those guys and gals on asphalt tracks around this area, but it was refreshing to see them racing on dirt.
I think when Cup drivers like Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader participate at the local level on the dirt, and both have raced here, it sends a message that connects big time racing with its roots and that always has a positive result. I see big things in store for this track and with the push toward improvement by the aforementioned trio, it can only get better.
On this leg of the Tour, we definitely saw larger numbers of fans and a good count of racers. We continue to see the lower classes growing in numbers with even the Legends cars running on the dirt. Tracks have multiple classes of four-cylinder cars including front- and rear-wheel-drive. We also see young drivers in top divisions as usual and big money teams showing up at smaller venues.
I think it helped Bowman Gray to run the big Modifieds as the premier class. They were definitely more exciting to watch than the asphalt Late Model cars we see at most short tracks. That is not an indictment on my part, but a call out to the track promoter to find ways to make the racing action better. Single-line racing and winners who are a half lap ahead at the end do little to generate a thrill for anyone.
Maybe we should invert the field more. We did see that being applied at some tracks and, believe me, it shakes up the racing and also the points chase. Of course, we might see a little sand-bagging in qualifying if that order were reversed, but if you reverse the last week's finishing order, you would see the fast cars at the rear.
For shorter races, the mid-pack and even some back of the pack cars could experience leading the race, at least for a while. There is a lot of incentive for this process and it is good for the racers and the fans. On our very first Tour visit to the F.A.S.T. series in Florida, fast qualifier Wayne Anderson was asked to start at the rear for an additional $500 if he won. He did and still won, but watching him come up through the pack made for a good show.
Whatever the new plan is for each track, we do know that they need to keep shaking things up and refining the plan. Short track racing needs to be so exciting that fans talk about it with their friends at work and around the neighborhood. That brings in new fans and even entices some of those to participate at some level. What are your thoughts?
What Next?
Coming up next month we visit with the folks at Cherokee Speedway, a dirt track that was reconfigured some time ago into a smaller and hopefully more competitive track. And then we take in the action at the resurrected Dillon Speedway for our last racetrack visit of the first half of the 2010 AMSOIL Great American Tour.


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Little Tokyo | KCET
As the heart of the Japanese American community in Southern California, Little Tokyo has undergone dramatic shifts in demographics and urban development. From its early days as the the city's crossroads of immigrant cultures, through the turbulent years of World War II, to its recent resurgence and future as a major transportation hub, the neighborhood has maintained -- though not without struggles -- its traditions and importance to the Japanese American community in Los Angeles.
What remains today in Little Tokyo is the spirit of a small town, with an impressive set of family owned businesses, much of which have been in L.A. since the neighborhood's halcyon days in the early 1900s, and a tight-knit group of tenacious community leaders that protect its legacy while securing its role for the future.
Departures: Little Tokyo explores the social and cultural history of this unique neighborhood. With help from community members, leaders, and organizations such as the Little Tokyo Service Center, Japanese American National Museum, and Rafu Shimpo, and through interviews, historical research, photographs and essays, we aim to create a narrative that weaves together the social fabric of the community, and reveal just what it is that makes this neighborhood an important part of the city's history.


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Are we ready for the serious side of Ken Jeong? Or even weirder: the warm, fuzzy side?
PopcorrnBiz's promised you more of our conversation with Jeong, the spazzy-but-sinister Mr. Chow in "The Hangover" films and aggro-sadsack Senor Chang on "Community," and now we've got the lowdown on two more summer movies where once again we expect him to walk off with every scene he can: the blockbuster-in-waiting "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and family-friendly "Zookeeper."
"In 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' I play a coworker of Shia LaBeouf," says Jeong, who networked his way into the role. "I was recommended to Michael Bay by ["Hangover" director] Todd Phillips and he helped me get the job. Michael Bay had a role with me in mind, and I met with him and we really got along. It was one of the greatest moments of my career, because I was a fly on the wall watching the big boys play: you're talking Shia, you're talking about Michael Bay, you're talking about Steven Spielberg producing it."
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Jeong's aware that the merits of the "Transformers" films are hotly debated, but says "I really admire Michael's ability of making something so big and huge so intimate. I think to make these Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons so intimate, to care about them, is no small feat, and he does it seamlessly. I think this movie is going to be the best of the franchise, I really do."
He doesn't play his role in the action film entirely straight, he confesses. "There's a bit of a funny edge, and a bit of an important edge to it. Shia would constantly tell me, 'You're really furthering the plot along in a very important way.' He was always reminding me of that, in a good way. I love working off of him because, number one, he's worked with Michael Bay twice on these 'Transformer' movies, so both of them know what they're talking about; and number two, how he reacts off of CGI – I was really copying Shia's lead."
"It's easy to react off of you and your energy, but it's so much harder to generate my own energy and then react off that," Jeong says of his green screen experience. "It's double the work. It's mentally exhausting. Shia has to do that all the time. It's so hard. Michael is a genius at finessing that reaction. It's the hardest form of acting that I've ever done, in so many ways. You really have to emote and that has nothing to do with comedy. It's another form of acting that I learned. It's almost like taking a master class with the best."
"I looked at 'Transformers' for me as an educational experience," he says, "like, 'Wow, this is how the big boys do it! Maybe I can do something like this again and continue to get better at it, much like I'm continuing to get better in comedy.' I really looked at it like being a fly on the wall. Even the interviews that I've done for 'Transformers' have all been in the mindset of, like, 'Oh, I'm stupid. I just want to hear everyone else talk. I know nothing. I'm just learning.'"
Just week after "Transformers" debuts, Jeong's next outing, "Zookeeper," bows, poised to be a major hit with film-going families and yet another challenge for the actor. "With the 'Zookeeper', I love the fact that I'm a part of 'The Hangover 2' and then in a sci-fi movie and then in a family movie. It's very, very enjoyable, mainly comedy. It's a sweet movie with Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Joe Rogan and Donnie Wahlberg. I just saw the second trailer yesterday and it looks really, really sweet and cute. My character is Venom – I have long hair with tattoos. I'm like a reptile expert at the zoo."
Jeong says that when it comes to roles that test his acting abilities, even outside his comedic comfort zone, he's ready to take on all comers with the ferocity of Mr. Chow popping out of trunk.
"With every opportunity that I get I really want to make the most of it," he explains. "I really just want to do the best that I can because I know I'll never get this chance ever to do it. People say, 'Oh, it'll always happen.' It'll NEVER happen! You have to take advantage of it right now. You have to, at the very least, do your best. Otherwise, five years from now I won't be working at all and I'll just be regretting all these opportunities that I had that I didn't make the most of. So I'm tired, but I'm a happy tired. My heart's not tired."


text:
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The sun is shining, and many of us are still wearing shorts and enjoying
summer's last rays, which means the holidays are still a long way off,
right? Not exactly. Even though thoughts of sugarplums, eggnog, and hot
cocoa may seem like they're months away, the time for planning your holiday
campaign is now. Fortunately, as you've told us on our Facebook
poll, many of you are now starting your holiday campaign planning.
Here are our top 10 tips for kicking your holiday campaign into high gear.
(If it helps, try tackling some of these while relaxing by the lake.)
Decide on your goals –
It may sound very basic, but thinking about what you want to achieve
with your holiday campaign is critical to creating the right strategy.
As you think about your business right now, what is most important? It
could be to increase your customer base, profit, or revenue. Keep in
mind that it's unlikely you will be able to do all of these things, so
pick one or two.
Develop your budget –
Your budget will help you decide what channels you can afford to use.
Email marketing and social media marketing are two channels that don't
cost much and usually have very high return on investment, so consider
making them a major part of your plan.
Look back at last year –
In looking at what you did (or did not do) last year, what worked and
what didn't? Think about how you can improve upon what you did last
year, and don't be afraid to recycle something that worked particularly
well. You can always spin your recycled offer as "back by popular
Get familiar with key dates –
You may have the big holidays covered, but there are many other key
dates to keep in mind. Are there any quirky holidays you can use to
stand out from the crowd? What are the can't-miss dates for your
Choose what you want to offer –
As a small business, it can be difficult to stand out from the big-box
retailers during this season, so make sure you include more than just a
discount on your product. Get creative with your offers, and wrap them
up in a personal way that only your small business can. If you're at a
loss for new ideas, don't be afraid to ask your customers. Pose a
question on Facebook or Twitter, such as, "What offer would you most
like to see from us this holiday season?" Give your customers a few
options to choose from (along with a write-in option), and be prepared
to use the best idea.
Use an integrated approach –
Think about how your channels work together and which channels reach
your target customer. If email marketing is your primary marketing
vehicle, think about how you can extend your message using social media
and vice versa.
Create a messaging schedule –
Now that you have come up with some ideas for offers and have circled
key dates on your calendar, you will want to come up with a schedule for
promoting those offers. How long do you want your offers to last? When
do you want to start promoting them? When will you use email, and when
will you use social media?
Grow your list – The
holiday season presents great opportunities for reaching new customers,
so use this time to grow your email list and social media following. If
you are a retailer, ask people to sign up for emails during checkout.
Online, make sure you have email sign-up forms on both your website and
social media pages. Consider offering an extra incentive for signing up
for your email list.
Keep the conversation going –
Use social media to keep your customers engaged with you throughout the
season. Start a conversation by asking questions related to your
business. Run a sweepstakes for following/liking you, or consider making
a donation to charity if you get a certain number of likes.
Don't forget events –
If you host holiday events, use email to invite your customers to
attend, and use social media to talk about the events both during and
after. Consider having an event to get people excited about your
business, such as an exclusive presale shopping hour for your email
subscribers. If your business is online only, create a coupon for a
first look at your sale selection before the general public gains
Follow these steps now, and you'll be able to welcome fall with peace of
mind, knowing you have a fantastic holiday campaign all planned out and
ready to shine.


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From time to time we receive requests for the original documentation supplied with their filter. This includes both existing and future customers who have purchased or want to purchase a used filter in the open market and request the aforementioned information to assist in their use or purchase of the used product. Many times customers who have purchased a used Sparkler Filter® require some of the original documentation for insurance purposes, other times legal purposes and other instances where the operational instructions are needed. With thousands of filters and hundreds of designs being produced over the last century, there are countless reasons many customers require the original documentation. Sparkler® also uses this as an opportunity to register the filter in your name, allowing us to offer better service and technical support to the owner. Re-certification is a one-time fee; contact Sparkler for details.
Re-certification Package includes...
1) Copy of the Original Order Write-Up
2) U1 Document
3) Dimensional Drawing
4) Parts List
5) Operating Manual
6) Technical Support
*All information will have the original customer information deleted.
**Depending on the age of the filter (some filters made before 1965) some documentation may be unavailable
***Based on origin, International Licensees of Sparkler Filters, some documentation may be unavailable
****In instances where original documentation is unavailable, drawings of the same or similar model number may be substituted
*****In all instances, as able, our intention is to support the re-certified owner with support to meet objectives
Note: Copies of ASME Calculations and Copies of Mill test are not included with Re-certification package. If you wish obtain these specific documents contact Sparkler directly.


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Table Top Pop Up Trade Show Display Rentals
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Framework for Lifestyle Medicine Collaborative Confirmed
The college has finalized arrangements to launch a graduate interprofessional education (IPE) program in lifestyle medicine, which will address cross-disciplinary management and prevention of chronic diseases. Type 2 diabetes will be the initial focus.
With the college taking the lead, the Interprofessional Graduate Education Program in Lifestyle Medicine is being developed collaboratively with the College of Nursing, the College of Podiatric Medicine and Northeast Ohio Medical University's College of Pharmacy.
Lifestyle medicine is an emerging specialty involving the use of interventions such as nutrition, exercise, stress management, smoking cessation and a variety of other non-drug modalities to treat, manage and prevent disease.
"During the past several months, representatives of the four academic units have conferred on the structure and content of the collaborative," says Willie H. Oglesby, Ph.D., assistant professor of Health Policy & Management, who is spearheading the program's development. "We learned what other leading institutions were doing, conferred with experts and created an IPE plan that reflects best practices and where Kent State can stand out," he explains.
"We will certainly stand out nationally with our approach that involves public health, podiatric medicine, nursing and pharmacy," agrees says Dean Sonia Alemagno, Ph.D. "This is truly innovative," she says.
To gain insights into leading IPE program development, Oglesby, Alemagno and Vincent J. Hetherington, DPM, attended the invitation-only Interprofessional Education Collaborative Institute May 20-22, where they were part of large-group learning sessions, received technical assistance from national and international IPE leaders and shared ideas and strategies with peers.
The program will be developed in two phases. In the first phase, two foundational courses in team-based prevention and care will be created, implemented and evaluated. The first course is classroom-based and the second is practice-based; both will focus on diabetes prevention and management. Completion is expected during the 2012-2013 academic year. "In the subsequent year, as our second phase, we will expand the foundational courses into a Graduate Certificate in Interprofessional Care and a suite of continuing education courses for working professionals," says Oglesby. Enrollment in the initial courses will be the summer and fall of 2014.
The college received $47,000 in seed funding from the Kent State Foundation to develop Interprofessional Graduate Education Program.


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Comments (3)
WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia fire officials say three people were seriously injured after a fire broke out at the State Department headquarters in Washington.
Fire and EMS spokesman Lon Walls said the fire broke out at around 11 a.m. Saturday in the ductwork on the 7th floor as crews were working on the building. Workers were able to put the fire out before firefighters arrived, but not before three people suffered burns.
Walls said one person suffered life threatening injuries and two others had serious but non-life threatening injuries. All three were taken to Washington Hospital Center.
There were few federal employees in the building because of the holiday weekend.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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[Mack 10]
Let me do some shit with my niggas from the CPT, ha ha
You ready Eiht?
[MC Eiht]
Yeah, c'mon
[Verse 1: Mack 10]
I was born to ride, bang and pack heat
Got turned out early by the scandalous freaks
Addicted to crime so I stay in the mix
With a love for hoochie chicks and pullin jewelry licks
Moms said, "Mack, baby watch for danger"
I said, "Momma don't you know I'm a real gangbanger?"
I can't switch over night and be good
And I'll be damned if a nigga turned his back on the hood
So I walked out the door, hopped in the Regal
Twistin triple gold with the all black Eagles
Got a deuce, fired at Scoop's, I need a gat
So I stopped and got the Tech from my G-homie Wreck (whatup)
He said, "Mack, don't slip dog, u gotta stay heated
And here's the extra clip in case you might need it"
Get the eighty eight skate, ang get your slide on
Throw the Hoo-Bang plaque in the back and your ride on
[Chorus: Mack 10]
Ride for me, I'mma ride for you
You Hoo-Bang, I Hoo-Bang, so we all a crew
Get yo ride on, get yo slide on, who the best
Nobody rides like these killas from the west
Ride for me, I'mma ride for you
You Hoo-Bang, I Hoo-Bang, so we all a crew
Get yo slide on, get yo ride on, who the best
Nobody rides like these killas from the west
[Verse 2: Eazy E]
1, 2, 3, and to the 4
Eazy muthafuckin E with the chrome to your dome
Cruisin in my 6-4 rag top
I got a lot of juice, a lot of fuckin block
Now when I hit that switch I'm bouncin
More Bounce to the Ounce and I'm clownin
Keep the gat in my lap cuz I'm fully strapped
For the car jackers, but no haps cuz I pack a
Tech 9, plus a A-K 47
Send a one way ticket to my hell or maybe heaven
Peep, nigga I don't sleep
Bury muthafuckas in the concrete
You try to creep kinda slow in a Astro
But I peep you niggas out in my left window
So I blast and I blast till I blast no more
Yo, they call a motherfucker John Doe
[Verse 3: MC Eiht]
Real thugs roll cuz the Westside's sick
Which enemy depicts to catch the 9 clip
Slick, but not like Rick, the gang story
G's kill and ain't shit funny like Joe Torre
Don't make me laugh cause I'm on the wrong path
Catch the blood bath, it's the aftermath
Slang strike to make money, now ain't that simple?
Y'all silly niggas wearin' vests but we aim for the temple (brrrrrrr)
Watch my nigga's back, who sacked the yayo
Keep the calico with extra ammo
So and so gets blasted, to the casket
Never seen these westside G's face, we masked it
Ya'll best be defeat and be discreet
Catch the hot heat from across the street
Take me in the dump schools that, wanna push me
Retaliation, straight better than hittin' pussy
Ugh, MC Eiht in the muthafuckin house
(yeah, Hoo-Bang one time)
Yeah, ha
(Hoo-Bang two times)
Rest in peace Eazy E
(the hiphop thugsta)
Fa sho
(Mack Dime)
Come on, ugh
(all day baby, all day baby)
WESTSIDERIDERS!! Ugh


text:
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text:
| 15.8°C Dublin
Cardiff fans have asked owner Vincent Tan to promise he will not consider changing the name of the club.
Tan has given a wide-ranging interview to the BBC in which he stands by the decision to switch the club's colours from blue to red, claims former manager Malky Mackay "got lucky" in winning promotion, criticised the British press for being "a little bit racist" in their portrayal of him and claimed that only a minority of supporters oppose his ownership of the club.
Having seen Tan dispense with one tradition, the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust now wants assurances from the Malaysian businessman that he will not seek to alter the club's name. Egyptian businessman Assem Allam, who owns Hull City, wants to rename his club Hull Tigers for commercial reasons.
"We would like a firm commitment from Mr Tan that a Hull City-style change of name will not be countenanced by him at any time in the future," Trust chairman Tim Hartley said in a statement.
"Once again, Mr Tan's interview illustrates how important it is to have strong supporter involvement in football clubs, as happens at Swansea City and many other clubs across Wales and England, and in Europe in countries like Germany."
Hartley criticised the timing of Tan's interview, with the club three points adrift of safety in the fight to stay in the Barclays Premier League, and has called on him to engage with fans' groups.
Hartley said: "We are disappointed Mr Tan has raised uncertainty about the future at a time when the team is fighting to retain Premier League status.
"Mr Tan talks about wanting to unite with fans. The first thing he could do to help towards achieving that would be to meet the Trust and Cardiff City Supporters' Club as was promised in December last year.
"Putting that meeting into the distant future is not acceptable and shows disrespect to supporters.
"While fans are grateful for the significant investment into Cardiff City, we don't believe fans need to apologise for campaigning for a return to our traditional blue colours.
"We are also concerned Mr Tan has yet to decide whether to convert the debt owed to him into equity, which is what fans were promised in no uncertain terms.
"This season should have been an exciting experience for fans after an absence of more than 50 years from the top flight, but it has been soured by continuing off-the-field distractions," added Hartley.
PA Media


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Monogram Woodgrain Coaster - Letter "S"
Regular price $ 12.00
$ 0.00
Set of six, hand sketched, woodgrain letter "S" coasters are individually letterpress printed on sturdy off-white, uncoated medium weight coaster stock.
- Size: 4" square with rounded corners
- Hand printed in the USA
- Packaged in a clear, cello bag
•Please note that with normal use, condensation rings will appear and dark liquids will stain due to the nature of the uncoated paper.
©Tilia Press 2012 (colors may vary by monitor)


text:
Loss Prevention > EAS-Magnetic Super Tag Remover
The EAS "Super" Magnetic Hard Tag Detacher removes the pin and backer from most magnetic security tags.
This detacher has been designed to work with most Checkpoint and other 8.2MHz hard tags. Some Sensormatic and Sensormatic compatible tags will work with this product also. This product will not remove Gator Tags.
Compatible With:
This detacher is not compatible with Sensormatic SuperTags, UltraGator tags, Sensormatic Fashion tags, Alpha Spiderwraps, other non-magnetic locking security tags.
Detachers will only be shipped to a verifiable retail business address only. WE WILL NOT SHIP THIS PRODUCT TO A RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS - NO EXCEPTIONS.
Bulk CCTV Store
41W195 Railroad Street, Unit A
Pingree Grove, IL 60140


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Did you know that salary.com says that stay at home mom's are worth on average $122,732??? I need to get paid! The Hubster would be thrilled!
Being a stay at home mom is the best job ever, even if we don't get that crazy paycheck.
However, there are some things I do miss and I am sure you moms can relate.
1. Pooping by myself. With the Door shut. Without Little Boy running in and grunting, thinking he's helping me. He's a doll, isn't he?
2. Taking long showers, alone. Without the worry of Little Boy tearing the house up. Or without him in the shower with me, poking my chest and staring at my stretch marks.
3. Happy Hours. This one is a big bummer. When you are a parent, I think you need happy hour more than anyone! Yet, once you become a parent, the happy hours are far and few between. Ahh, half off cocktails, I miss you.
4. Laundry once a week. Why is it, that when you add ONE MORE person to the equation, the laundry quadruples?? I know I am no math whiz, but that doesn't add up. And now, I am doing laundry 3-4 times a week.
5. Going out to eat. Now don't get me wrong, we still go out to eat sometimes. But when we do, it's like ok, how much time do we have before Little Boy melts down? I need two diaper bags when we go, one for the normal stuff and the other one just to pack stuff to keep him occupied while we eat.
I am sure I have left out a bunch, but those are my top 5.
Of course, I wouldn't trade Little Boy for any of those.
He's way funnier than the bartender at happy hour and he loves to help with the laundry.
He's a keeper.
He's a keeper.


text:
Investigators probe bus wreckage as victims' relatives grieve
Victor Cabrera Garcia had never seen snow, so his mother and grandparents decided that Sunday was as good a time as any to take the 13-year-old boy on a bus trip to the white-capped San Bernardino Mountains.
But after night fell Sunday, tragedy followed. On the way down the winding mountain road from Big Bear, the passenger bus picked up speed — and then more speed. "We just lost our brakes!" the bus driver reportedly yelled.
Gabriel Olivas, the boy's step-grandfather, grabbed his wife and gripped the seat in front of him. The bus flipped. Olivas blacked out and when he awoke, the road was strewn with twisted metal and bodies that had been thrown from the bus, according to an account Olivas gave to his brother-in-law Michael Guluster.
"That's when he started to look around and saw his wife. He recognized her clothes, but she didn't talk. She didn't move," Guluster said Tuesday.
Three generations of the Chula Vista family died.
The boy, his mother, Elvira Garcia Jimenez, 40, and grandmother, Guadalupe Olivas, 61, accounted for three of the seven passengers killed in the crash. The driver and all surviving passengers were injured.
"We're all emotionally destroyed," said Guluster's wife, Isabel. "We can't believe it. Why did all three have to die?"
On Tuesday, the San Bernardino County coroner's office released the name of the last remaining fatality to be identified: Liliana Camerina Sanchez Sauceda, 24, of Tijuana.
Friends and relatives of bus passengers who were victims of Sunday night's crash on California 38 questioned why a tour bus with a troubled repair history — 18 violations, including deficient brakes, since October 2011 — was allowed on the road.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and California Highway Patrol began combing the wreckage Tuesday. They will focus heavily on the brakes and mechanical equipment of a bus that has a history of safety violations. They cautioned, however, that the cause of the crash has not been determined.
The tour bus was under contract with InterBus Tours and Charters, based in Tijuana, and left the border town Sunday morning for a day trip to Big Bear. On the way down the mountain, a few miles from Yucaipa, the passenger bus clipped a Saturn sedan and rolled on to its side, then collided with an oncoming pickup. Bus passengers accounted for all seven deaths.
"There are a lot of components on the vehicle that will be examined. One of them will be the brakes. And it may be some time before we determine what effect that had on the accident," said Robert Accetta of the National Transportation Safety Board, who is leading the investigation.
The bus company, Scapadas Magicas of National City, has been hit with so many safety and maintenance citations it was placed on a federal watch list that flagged its buses for increased roadside inspections.
On Tuesday, NTSB investigators scoured the company's office near San Diego, interviewing the owner and a mechanic and taking custody of maintenance records. The bus, car and pickup involved in the crash were towed to an auto yard in Ontario, where state and federal investigators began the painstaking process of inspecting every nut and piece of twisted metal.
"Keep in mind, this is Day 2 of the investigation," Accetta said.
In the tight-knit, pine-covered community of Mountain Home Village, residents remained stricken over the news that their longtime neighbor, Fred Richardson, 72, was the driver of the Ford pickup nearly flattened by the bus. Richardson, who was driving home after wrapping up a landscaping job, remains in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center with head and chest injuries.
"He's a good guy, kind spirit — you know, if you need something you can always call Fred," said Brenda Knight, a Beaumont city councilwoman and Richardson's niece. "He's just so seriously, seriously hurt. It's so hard to see him in the ICU because of all the trauma to his head and chest. It's devastating. We try to get those images out of your mind, because that's what makes us break down."
Knight said she was at the hospital Monday and held her uncle's hand, but got no response. His wife, Anita, remains at his bedside, she said. Richardson spent his life in the tiny mountain community, a small collection of cabins and homes along California 38. The avid trout fisherman lives in the stone house build by his great-grandfather.
Knight said her mother and father heard a bus roar by Sunday night, its horn honking, and smelled burning brakes in its wake — never imagining that Richardson was in its path. There are so many horrific accidents on that stretch of highway that many who live in the mountain village "act like first responders," Knight said.
Terri Kasinga, a Caltrans representative, said that after a bus carrying teenagers and their chaperons home from a religious retreat crashed near Lake Arrowhead in February 2011, killing one and seriously injuring at least 10 others, the agency began discussing whether to restrict buses from that mountainous stretch.
But, Kasinga said, "it was decided against doing that because they needed to be able to get people up" to church camps and other tourist destinations. She was not aware of any discussions about restricting buses from California 38.
More than 20,000 people were injured and 250 killed in bus-related crashes in 2009, according to the NTSB.
Questions remain about the location of Scapadas Magicas, which maintains an office in National City but also parks buses in Tijuana, where Sunday's bus tour originated.
Sgt. Dave Dreher of the CHP's Border Division Commercial Enforcement Unit said that inspection standards are the same for "every single bus," no matter its origin.
"Every one of them are held to the same state and national standards. There is no difference on an inspection on a Mexican-licensed bus and one registered in L.A.," Dreher said.
There are two general types of inspections, Dreher said, annual and random. The annual inspections are done "when there is a bus terminal, regardless of where the company itself is located. If they have a terminal in California, all buses assigned to that terminal are subject to an annual inspection" by the CHP, he said.
"In my experience, when we run the unannounced inspection lanes in the San Ysidro area, for example … on a typical day, we may inspect 45 to 60 buses and I would not be surprised" if four, five or six of those were taken out of service for various violations.
But buses coming across the border are not treated the same as other commercial vehicles, Dreher said. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, every tractor-trailer coming into the United States from Mexico is required to be inspected. Buses are not, however, Dreher said.


text:
Howes, South Dakota
The Sioux Spiritual Center, nestled amid the gently rolling hills of western South Dakota, is the heart of the Diocese of Rapid City's efforts to develop native clergy and leadership on the reservations within the diocese.
The center, built by the diocese and staffed by Jesuits, offers a variety of spiritual and educational programs. In addition to regular retreats and spiritual programs for local Native people, two summer institutes are offered each year: one for mission personnel about to enter the field of Native Ministry or who have had a few years of initial experience and a second for Native American catechists currently serving their communities.
Other offerings at the center include guided prayer experiences; weekend parish retreats to provide a time for quiet reflection; recovery retreats to give hope to all those who are recovering from drug and/or alcohol addiction; and ministry retreats for those who choose to serve in formal ministries.
The Jesuits and the diocese strive to create a sacred environment at the Sioux Spiritual Center — a place between heaven and earth where God's spirit and the Lakota people become one.


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05 November 2010
World Gesneriad Research Conference a success
The World Gesneriad Research Conference 2010 (WGRC 2010) was an international meeting of the world's Gesneriacae researchers, students and lay enthusiasts who came together with the goal of understanding and promoting knowledge of the plant family Gesneriaceae (the African violet family and one of the core group of plants under study at Selby Gardens).
The conference venue (photo by Bruce K. Holst)
The conference was held October 13-15, 2010 at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL, USA. Over 70 people from around the world attended WGRC 2010, with registrants from North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Attendees were rewarded with 34 oral presentations by researchers and students, with topics covered including phylogeny and taxonomy, biogeography, floristics, development and reproduction, and education and conservation.
WGRC 2010 Presenters (Photo by Bruce K. Holst)
WGRC 2010 was principally organized by Dr. John R. Clark, Head of Molecular Programs at Selby Gardens and Jeanne Katzenstein, The Gesneriad Society, with a great deal of assistance from Bruce Holst and other Selby Gardens staff and volunteers. The conference has been deemed a complete success, with many attendees commenting on the scope and professionalism of the event.
Fred Barrie, The Field Museum/Missouri Botanical Garden, John R. Clark, Selby Gardens, and Warren L. Wagner, The Smithsonian Institution, enjoying beers at the conference mixer (photo by Bruce K. Holst)
"This is one of the best conferences of this scale that I have ever attended," Commented Dr. Warren L. Wagner, Head of Botany at the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Wagner listed the number and caliber of talks as well as the camaraderie between attendees as reasons for this comment. Dr. Peter Schalit, President of The Gesneriad Society stated, "this was by far the best gesneriad event I've ever experienced."
Paul Susi, Peter Shalit, and Bob Clark, Gesneriad Society Board Members (photo by Bruce K. Holst)
By planning and hosting international meetings, Selby Gardens continues its role as a leader in global botanical research and conservation. Dr. John R. Clark says, "hosting this very successful conference illustrates our ability to not only provide a service to our greater community but also our leadership in scientific research among the global botanical community."
Thomas Buchter, Selby President and CEO, and Nora Johnson, President, Selby Gardens Board of Trustees at the WGRC 2010 mixer (photo by Bruce K. Holst)
Thomas Buchter, President and CEO of Selby Gardens states, "we are committed to excellence in all that we do at the Gardens and the success of WGRC 2010 demonstrates this well. I hope our supporters and city are as proud of this accomplishment as we are; consider it a prelude of things to come for Selby Gardens and for Sarasota."
Chirita longgangensis (photo by Dr. Phil Nelson)
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Yes the Sheeple are to believe differently but that is why they get slaughtered. The largest mega banks are profiting off of the drug trade, or even the activity of terror groups? A little-known NBC report from 2012 actually confirms it.
In fact, one 2012 NBC report details how HSBC bank helped to finance everything from Mexican drug cartels to Syrian terror cells. Thanks to a United States Senate report, which centers around the role of Mexican drug cartel funds travelling through HSBC, NBC and a few other outlets actually covered the breaking news — albeit to a small degree.
And it's this report that reveals how the United States branch of HSBC directly aided backers of Al-Qaeda and Mexican drug cartels through both finances and overall banking services. From terror-linked groups out of Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, HSBC was tied up with numerous terror groups and financially empowering them for quite some time.
For around a decade or more, in fact.
Yet HSBC has managed to get away without much of a hitch. Even the 2012 Senate Report we're discussing was simply a 'probe' that documents the events themselves. Even the major United States bank regulatory group the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was deemed to have improperly looked into the situation — instead turning a blind eye to the entire operation. The investigative group at the Senate even reports on how the very culture of HSBC has been 'polluted' during the lengthy time period of terror and drug funding:
"The culture at HSBC was pervasively polluted for a long time," said Senator Carl Levin.
But HSBC isn't the only bank associated with the Mexican drug trade or the financial support of known terror groups. While HSBC was funding Iran and Mexican drug cartels according to the report, Wachovia was also getting in on the Mexican drug trade financial game. It was actually back in 2010 when Wachovia forfeited $160 million (chump change to them) in order to settle a Justice Department probe into their financial support of Mexican drug cartels. This was all broken down by the Guardian in an article entitled "How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs."
ING also decided to get in on the action, however, and ultimately settled a bit higher at $619 million after violating US sanctions against Iran and Cuba in shadowy financial trades.
So what is to be done to these banks at the end of the day? Are executives being jailed, companies being dissolved, and funds being withdrawn from Mexican drug cartels and terror groups? Well, no. Instead,taxpayers are helping to fund the megabanks with $83 billion per year – far more than any minor settlements paid out by the banks.


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Liberal Saudis consider women who participate in sports to be pioneers
The HRW report said the National Olympic committee had "indicated" it would not stop women athletes taking part in the Games if they were invited, and speculation has been rife that the government will send equestrian Dalma Malhas to compete in this years Olympics in London.
The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority told Reuters earlier this year there are plans to introduce after-hours physical education classes for both girls and boys.
The kingdom's official sporting body, the Saudi General Presidency of Youth Welfare, did not respond to Reuters questions on the issue.
Sports in the patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia has long been reserved as an activity for men. Even stadiums for watching sports prohibit females to be present.
Women are able to play in the privacy of their homes or in private schools but as soon as they step beyond that to play professionally or in organized teams in public competitions they are publicly slammed for going against their natural role.
Newspaper articles that refer to such women as "shameless" when they play sports are a cause of great embarrassment for the women and their families. Some have even received text messages advising them to stay at home and tend to their household duties as mothers and wives.
"If there is no support from the family we can not get into these types of activities ... some people are extremist or extra conservative," said Hadeer Sadagah, 17, who plays with Fitiany on their basketball team, Jeddah United.
Jeddah United was set up in 2003 to promote women's fitness; Malhas, who specializes in show jumping, trained privately and has competed in international tournaments since she was young.
A group of Saudi women is also planning a hiking expedition to Everest base camp this summer as part of a charity fundraising exercise to promote a healthy lifestyle for breast cancer patients.
Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of the king who is known to be a supporter of women's rights, has included women in his Kingdom Equestrian Team, part of his company Kingdom Holding, which has allowed Saudi women to compete in international competitions since 2007.
Liberal Saudis consider women who participate in sports to be pioneers and encourage the women to play regardless of the obstacles.
"We have a very famous Arabic saying that goes, 'a healthy brain needs a healthy body' so from that I believe that people who are against women's sports are actually against women," Jeddah resident Hashim Larry, 27, told Reuters.
"They come from the same group of 'don't allow women to work and drive'."
The pressure against women in sports is intense and comes from senior figures in a clerical establishment that is closely allied to the ruling al-Saud family.
In 2010 Sheikh Abdulkareem al-Khudair, who also sits on the Supreme Council for Religious Scholars, renewed a religious edict banning sports for women, which he said "will lead to following in the footsteps of the devil."
He said it is not permitted to request that the government introduce sports in schools for girls because such activity is forbidden in Islam. Such comments from a high ranking cleric have immense influence in the monarchy, which rules in alliance with the conservative clerics.
When Jeddah United returned from a tournament in which they played the Jordanian national team, in 2009, a local newspaper published their photograph under the headline: "Shameless girls."
The religious pressure is so great that even female gyms have to wear a non-sporting fig leaf, masquerading as "health centers" that are regulated not by a national sports body but by the Health Ministry.
Fees are so high, at a minimum of 1,000 riyals ($266) a month, that only the affluent can afford membership.
In 2009 a clampdown on unlicensed female gyms gave rise to a women's rights campaign in newspapers and blogs, with the sarcastic slogan "Let her get fat!"
"As a nation we need to focus on preventative measures that include healthy lifestyle, specifically nutrition and fitness and early detection (of women's illnesses)," said Princess Reema al-Saud, who is leading the climb to Everest base camp.
"The inspiration to climb Everest base camp came from the basic idea that a healthy lifestyle and healthy body can fight illness better," she added.
The lack of facilities for women is a significant barrier in a country where gender segregation is strictly enforced.
While girls' state schools are barred from teaching physical education and consequently have no sports facilities, some private schools and private universities are very well equipped.
Jeddah United practices in one of the few courts available for women, surrounded by 5-meter (16-foot) concrete walls, which it rents for 7,000 to 10,000 riyals a month. Members get training and the opportunity to play three times a week for a monthly fee of 600 riyals.
"We believe that (Jeddah United) is a pressure group to promote a healthy lifestyle on a local level and on an international level," said the team's founder, Lina al-Maeena.
"We play a role of sport diplomacy by building bridges and breaking stereotypes of Saudi women. I hope that we are paving the way."
Malhas, the equestrian who might yet be selected to represent the kingdom in London, trained in exclusively private facilities in Saudi Arabia.
She has already competed in international tournaments, which she travelled to by herself, financed not by the state but by her own family.
In the Singapore Youth Olympics in 2010 she stood on the podium to receive a bronze medal, although she was not officially delegated to represent the kingdom.
"I think women playing sports should ignore the criticisms they get from society," Fitiany said.
"That is a kind of struggle, standing strong and not caring what people say."
I did not know Islam banned women from playing sport. Perhaps its just male interpretation. Go girls
great achievements for girls in Saudi ....Go girls...Go Dalma
Yes we have to allow women in saudi arabia to practice fair treatment in the society. Allowing them to play sports will lead them to practice their right in the society and beside human are created equally.
One more trap by America in disguise of human rights watch. I hope Saudis will not succumb to it.
They will be very welcome at the Olympic village joining other young people of the world to share the Olympic experience.
It's not any trap Shabbir, but narrow mentality of people like you.!!!, Don't you want them to be healthy like men?


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Company feasts on a protein to defy the one-dollar blitz
PROFITING from the milk wars, A2 Corporation yesterday opened a high-tech $15 million processing plant near Camden, south-west of Sydney, to meet growing demand for its dairy products which, the company claims, can aid digestion.
The A2 brand refers to the A2 beta-casein protein found in the milk of dairy cows identified by genetic tests and milked separately.
A2 claims to be the fastest-growing dairy milk in Australia. Sales have risen 800 per cent since it started out in 2007 and there has been no discounting in response to the launch of $1 per litre milk prices by Coles in January last year.
At yesterday's opening of the 60 million litres per annum facility in Smeaton Grange, the chief executive, Geoffrey Babidge, said A2's growth was ''all about the protein in the milk''.
''Originally all cows used to produce milk with only the A2-type beta casein protein, whereas over many thousands of years there was a change in how dairy cows in Western herds produced milk,'' he said.
''So dairy herds now comprise cows that produce milk with only the A2 protein but also cows that only produce milk with other proteins in them - in particular the A1 protein.''
A2 says milk rich in the A2 beta-casein protein ''may assist with your digestive wellbeing''.
A Dairy Australia dietitian, Glenys Zucco, said A2 milk, like all other cows milk, contained 10 essential nutrients, ''but there's no convincing scientific evidence to suggest that A2 has any advantage over regular milk''.
''That said, there's certainly lots of consumer feedback that they enjoy the milk and we'd certainly encourage them to continue to have it if that's what they prefer,'' Ms Zucco said.
Michael Perich, who runs the dairy at one of A2's main suppliers, the Leppington Pastoral Company, said cows genetically produced either A1 or A2 protein.
Leppington, which milks 2000 cows on almost 5000 acres in Bringelly, owns about a quarter of A2 Corporation and for the past six years has deliberately bred cows with just A2 genetics, Mr Perich said.
When the herd was first tested six years ago, only a third were A2 cows, but that proportion is now 60 per cent and the latest calves are 75 per cent A2.
''We sign a contract that the cows that are tested as A2 can only be sold as A2 milk through A2 Corporation,'' he said.
''We can sell the milk to anyone we like, but we can't sell it as A2 milk. It might happen to be A2 but we can't brand it that way and we can't tell anyone that it doesn't contain A1 protein. It is A2 Corporation's IP [intellectual property] and it's quite a strong IP.''
Mr Perich said discounting wars in which milk was sold for $1 had had an unexpected effect.
''One-dollar milk is destroying the dairy industry in Australia,'' he said.
''But when you've got brands like A2 … that consumers support, and there's a difference, [the brands are] thriving … The price wars have actually helped that because consumers have seen the point of difference.''


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Eco-friendly, veggie-based products
Your mother may have told you not to play with your vegetables, but if she had known you could build an entire car out of them, perhaps she would have reconsidered her stance. Vegetable-based products are certainly not new; however, with green technology stepping up its game, these products are better and more decomposable than ever.
If you're looking to replace plastic and Styrofoam with a more environmentally conscious option, try corn. Well, not on the cob, of course, but PLA, or poly-lactic acid, a decomposable plastic made from corn. PLA is made by converting corn into starch and then converting that starch into sugar. Microorganisms are then used to turn the sugar into poly-lactic acid, at which point the PLA is mixed with different starches and formed into Styrofoam-like food containers, cups and even "plastic" bags. PLA is freezer safe, allergen free and, best of all, compostable in just 30 to 45 days. Mike Centers, Executive Director of Biocor, a post-consumer products company, states, "Greater sustainability in plastic packaging depends on decreasing the carbon footprint of the plastics used and on recapturing and reusing a greater percentage of post-consumer packaging. Plastics made from renewable plant sources such as PLA, which is 100 percent bio-based, offer a means to achieve these goals."
Similarly, potatoes can be synthesized into plastic-like materials as well. The process for creating Plant Starch Material (PSM), as it is known, starts much like making your favorite mashed potato recipe. Manufacturers start by washing, slicing and smashing the potatoes into a slurry of sorts. They then take that substance and separate it, dry it and cook the starch down, rendering it rigid and thus strong enough to create things like plates, forks, knives and spoons. PSM is better able to tolerate heat, but it does take longer than PLA, 90 to 120 days in a commercial composting facility, to break down. Interestingly, there is some waste produced when manufacturers are processing the potatoes. However, the pulpy side product is given to pig farmers to use as feed, thus rendering PSM an entirely green product.
Looking to green up your office? Start by using soy- or vegetable-based inks in your printer cartridges. These inks, while still not 100 percent biodegradable, are superior to those that are petroleum based. In a biodegradability study, researchers at the American Oil Chemists' Society found that soy ink degrades four times more completely than the ink in more traditional ink cartridges. Although these inks are not ideal for home printers (partly because they take longer to dry), larger scale commercial printers will actually find that soy ink delivers sharper images and more vibrant color.
And now for the p
ièce de résistance:
Dr. Kerry Kirwan, a researcher at Warwick Manufacturing Group, and Ben King, a student at Warwick University, combined forces to create the Eco One, a one-seat sports car made almost entirely of vegetable products. Ninety-five percent of the materials used to build Eco One are biodegradable or recyclable including potatoes, cashew shells, rape seed oil and hemp. Eco One even runs on wheat and sugar beets. The steering wheel, seat, electrics and chassis are made from conventional materials, accounting for the five percent non-recyclable elements. The $41,000 sports car can hit speeds of up to 150 mph.
Vegetable-based products are great renewable resources that can benefit the environment and your quality of life. By making the switch to one vegetable-based product a month – cleaning supplies, cosmetics, storage containers and even water bottles are all good places to start – we can significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption.
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PORT ST. LUCIE, FL -- Layoffs at St. Lucie Medical Center have forced the closure of the fitness center at the Port St. Lucie (FL) Community Center.
The gym, which is scheduled to close Dec. 4, has 430 registered members, according to media outlet TCPalm.com.
Of the nine people who were laid off at the hospital, three ran the fitness center. The hospital is expected to save about $500,000 from the layoffs, TCPalm.com reports.
St. Lucie Medical Center has rented the 2,000-square-foot space since the community center opened in 1998, reports TCPalm.com, which added that the contract that ends next January requires the hospital to pay more than $70,000 a year in rent.
A spokesperson told the Web site that St. Lucie Medical Center was losing thousands of dollars a month on the fitness center and could not continue to operate it. She added that the gym at one time had more than 500 members, but that number decreased to 376 prepaid memberships this year in part because of other fitness centers opening in the area. Prepaid members will receive a refund, she said.
Port St. Lucie officials say they are considering offering members temporary use of the city-run gym.


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So I started this post on Wednesday afternoon (before the Seahawk-Cowboy game on Thursday). I see that Bob McGinn beat me to it in this morning's JS Online — with actual reporting to accompany his statistical analysis.
Mike McCarthy said Derrick Frost will remain the Packers' punter. So some stats.
Frost is ranked 26th in the NFL in average net punts. (Ed: There are five worse?) His net is 36.4. His gross average is 42. Jon Ryan, who has punted nine times more than Frost, is ranked 18th in net, at 37.3. His gross (45.9) makes him the 9th ranked punter in that category, Frost is 27th.
It's hard to believe that there is not a better punter out there than Derrick Frost. But I think we can safely say at this point that this experiment has been an utter failure.
A few additional thoughts after reading the McGinn piece this morning. Mike Stock is an idiot and his thinking, as reflected in the comments he gave McGinn, reflect the kind of deep coaching insecurities that lead to failure. Stock was asked about Ryan's claim that the Packers discouraged Ryan from working with an outside punting specialist.
"I don't believe in those things, and I'll tell you why. One voice is the most important thing when you're coaching a team or a player. You can't have two different voices, especially long distance."
Let me make the obvious point. One voice is plainly not the most important thing when you're coaching a team or a player. The Detroit Lions got rid of Mike Martz in order to have their "one voice" be Rod Marinelli's. How's that working out? The most important thing, of course, is results. And Derrick Frost , even with the benefit of having only one voice, sucks.
McGinn asked whether the specific skills of punting make consulting an outsider appropriate. "No," said Stock.
"If you want to get into the discussion of, does this guy know more about punting than the other guy? Do you want to read my bio? I'm not promoting myself, but I know what I know and I know what I've done and I know the people I've worked with."
Wow. Where to begin? Do you want to read my bio? This is a response you'd expect to hear from a 4th grader at recess being taunted by a classmate than a professional coach being asked legitimate questions by a reporter. Beyond questions about maturity, what does this tell us about Stock's intellect? What does his bio have to do with the fact that the Packers' punter is ranked 26th in the league? Or that the Packers dumped a guy who is in the top 10 in the NFL in gross? We know what he's done and who he's worth with — at least as it matters to the Packers. It's not impressive.
There's more:
"It's a matter of, this is the guy who is coaching that position. And this is his philosophy and this is the team's philosophy, and that's the philosophy we'll follow."
More insecurity. Follow that logic to its natural conclusion and performance doesn't matter. Frost could be averaging 8 yards a punt and, according to Stock, "it's a matter of, this is the guy who is coaching that position." The concerns with Ryan, as I understand them, had much more to do with technique than philosophy, and an outside consultant would have focused on technique.
Bottom line: My belief is that Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Mike Stock cut Jon Ryan in favor of Derrick Frost for one reason: Devin Hester. It was a classic overreaction that has demonstrably hurt the team. And the concern now is that they are sticking with the decision — and defending the indefensible — out of a stubborn desire to be proven that it's not the mistake it appears to be.
There is one reasons to stick with Frost at this point, I suppose. He is the holder for Mason Crosby and introducing a new holder at this point in the season could prove disastrous. But if that's why they're keeping him, they ought to be touting Frost's holding skills in public or they'll leave Packer fans scratching their heads.


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That game did not end how I wanted it to end, but overall, I feel pretty warm and fuzzy about the whole thing. Cheering for Team USA was a joy, and at the center of that joy was our very own Ryan Miller. Hockey could not have put on a better show for the Olympics, and I'm proud to call myself a fan of this sport.
Now, it's time to come home, Crunchy! We'll be very gentle with you for the next few weeks. We promise not to bug you at Wegmans. We'll just quietly send you good vibes, and it will be straight from our very grateful hearts.