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Mike Adams
Natural News
Feb 5, 2013
Earlier this evening on CNN, Piers Morgan was broadcasting live from Tactical Firearms in Katy, TX. There, he interviewed gun range founder Jeremy Alcede, Texas AG Greg Abbott, a Texas state Senator and a Texas radio host, among others. During one interview, he asked the question, "Do you know why there are no shootings on airplanes? Because they are the perfect example of Gun-Free Zones."
Ummm… hey Piers, thousands of U.S. airline pilots are ARMED while flying their planes. Right now, there are well over 10,000 armed pilots flying commercial airlines on a routine basis.
In fact, not only are pilots armed and licensed to carry concealed guns on the flight deck, commercial airplanes also have armed air marshals who also carry loaded guns on flights.
There are men with guns on thousands of commercial flights every week
Far from being "gun-free zones," commercial airplanes in the USA are actually "gun-defended zones," and that's precisely the reason why terrorists are reluctant to stage violent hijacking on commercial airliners in the USA.
The only way to make commercial airplanes even safer would be to have MORE armed pilots and co-pilots on the flight deck. Armed pilots are a strong deterrent against would-be hijackers and terrorists.
Shhhhh. Don't tell Piers Morgan he's been flying in airplanes piloted by men with guns. He might freak out and try to leap out mid-flight. As is the case with most guns, you don't readily see them because they are carried concealed. Many people who are protected by concealed guns don't realize it because they don't see them. Out of sight, out of mind, apparently.
By the way, armed pilots carry frangible ammo that can take out bad guys without harming the plane itself. Frangible ammo bursts into powder upon impact with a hard surface such as an airplane fuselage body.
The most dangerous place to be while traveling, by the way, is standing in line at a TSA security checkpoint where nobody has a gun to fight back against an attacker. Watch for precisely such an attack to take place in the near future, followed by the government exploiting the attack to justify "arming the TSA."
The next evolution of activated nascent iodine, Survival Shield X-3, is back in stock at 50% off with double Patriot Points and free shipping!


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Childhood's Gate Children's Garden opens July 7 at Arboretum
Childhood's Gate Children's Garden opens July 7 at Arboretum
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The latest addition to The Arboretum at Penn State opened to the public on Monday, July 7 -- the Childhood's Gate Children's Garden.
A garden for children and anyone who is young at heart, Childhood's Gate is a unique space for exploring nature, fostering wonder and celebrating the plants, animals and geography of central Pennsylvania.
Designed especially for visitors between the ages of 3 and 12, the garden will be a place for families from the State College community and surrounding region, Penn State alumni and other University Park visitors to learn about and enjoy the natural world. Every feature and structure is designed to facilitate learning and exploration.
"The children's garden really is a community resource," said Shari Edelson, director of horticulture and curator at the Arboretum. "The children of today are the decision makers of tomorrow in respect to environmental stewardship. A garden like this one can teach them to welcome nature into their own back yards and instill an awareness and a pride of place, a love for the region that we live in -- the history, the flora, the geography -- everything that makes Central Pennsylvania what it is."
Linda Duerr, coordinator of children's educational programs at the Arboretum, who has an early childhood education background of over 30 years, is looking forward to helping children discover the garden as an outdoor classroom.
"A lot of learning takes place indoors, through technology, and we often neglect the outdoors as a learning opportunity," she said. "We should take advantage of it as often as we can. The children's garden offers that opportunity to children -- it offers freedom to explore naturally, a place to wander and wonder."
A team that included Penn State childhood development experts, design firm EDAW/AECOM, and the Arboretum leadership and staff, developed the garden as a microcosm of the state's regional landscape, featuring native Pennsylvania plant species and artifacts related to the state's geologic history.
The name "Childhood's Gate" was inspired by a line in Penn State's Alma Mater, which was written by Professor of American Education Fred Lewis Pattee in 1901:
When we stood at childhood's gate,
Shapeless in the hands of fate,
Thou didst mold us, dear old State,
Dear old State, dear old State.
The children's garden is located within the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens at the corner of Park Avenue and Bigler Road on the University Park campus. The gardens are open daily from dawn until dusk and there is no charge for admission or parking.
Visitors are cautioned that workers may be making finishing touches during the first few days of operation. Several garden features will be added in the weeks to come.

subset: commoncrawl


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The stars at the Golden Globes may have to hold their noses as they walk down the red carpetSunday night. A pipe burst at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Sunday afternoon and flooded the crimson walkway with black sewage, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Golden Globes: Who will take home the night's big awards?
"A pipe has appeared to totally bust and there is water gushing, literally everywhere," E! correspondent Catt Sadler said on the air, THR reports.
The Beverly Hills Fire Department attended to the spill at about 12:30 p.m. PT, using air blowers and vacuums to clean up the mess, according to THR. But some wet spots lingered leading up to the first arrivals.
Ryan Seacrest shared photos of the damaged carpet on Twitter, posting "Could be bad for long gowns."


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Scott Silver has not received any gifts yet
Hi Scott, if you really want to be sure that Vallie will see that message leave it right on her page:
Hello Scott,
Just got back in town, if your still looking to hit let me know, Im pretty open right now but best times are weekdays from 10 to 4 and weekends depends what my wife and i got going...have a good one
If you're interested in hitting this Saturday or Sunday, let me know. I've been about a 4.0-4.5 player but I'm fairly rusty!
Alex Raut
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Ziff Davis quits, EGM closed, 1UP sold
It emerged last night that industry veteran Ziff Davis Media and Publishing has quit the business altogether, whilst magazine EGM has closed, and website 1UP sold has been to UGO."The transaction allows us to pay down debt and shift our full focus to our core PCMag Digital Network business," Ziff Davis CEO Jason Young said. […]
Davis headlines
Burnout Paradise Davis delayed a month, looks incredible
Burnout Paradise's Jeremy Chubb's posted on the US PlayStation Blog to say the game's Davis update has been pushed back into September.It was supposed to be coming out this month, but c'est la vie.On a brighter note, Davis is the bike patch, and promises to be fucking amazing, so a slip of a few weeks […]
Criterion shows bikes in Burnout Paradise
Criterion's shown the first footage of Burnout Paradise motorbikes in its Crash TV podcast and, fair play, it looks awesome. Here's an iTunes link.There's a heap of information there on Cagney, the first major update for the game, due to release on July 10. Bikes will be included in Davis, the August update, as will […]
First Burnout Paradise Davis island screens
On Criterion's site. Looks sunny. The Davis update releases for Burnout Paradise in August, and it looks as though the developer isn't messing about when it said it was going to do DLC properly. Take a look. There's a movie after the break as well.


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Using OpenMP - The Book and Examples
Use this forum to discuss the book: Using OpenMP- Portable Shared Memory Parallel Programming
by Barbara Chapman, Gabriele Jost and Ruud van der Pas
Examples: http://openmp.org/examples/Using-OpenMP-Examples-Distr.zip
The sources are available as a free download under the BSD license. Each source comes with a copy of the license. Please do not remove this.
You are encouraged to try out these examples and perhaps use them as a starting point to better understand and perhaps further explore OpenMP.
Each source file constitutes a full working program. Other than a compiler and run time environment to support OpenMP, nothing else is needed.
With the exception of one example, there are no source code comments. Not only are these examples very straightforward, they are also discussed in the above mentioned book.
As a courtesy, each source directory has a make file called "Makefile". This file can be used to build and run the examples in the specific directory.
Before you do so, you need to activate the appropriate include line in file Makefile. There are include files for several compilers and Unix based Operating Systems (Linux, Solaris and Mac OS to precise). These files have been put together on a best effort basis.
The User's Guide that is bundled with the examples explains this in more detail.
Please post your feedback about the book and/or these examples to this forum.


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We Try Panera's New Signature Hot Chocolate With Chocolate Chip Marshmallows
Panera's newest offering is a Signature Hot Chocolate ($2.99), made with bittersweet chocolate-flavored syrup mixed with frothy steamed milk, topped with whipped cream, salted caramel syrup, and three chocolate chip marshmallows. Oh yeah, you read that right. The promo shot got me so psyched for this new beverage that I beelined it over to the nearest location immediately.
Unfortunately, the real-life drink wasn't nearly as meticulously crafted as the publicity shot. The whipped cream didn't reach the edges of the mug and was sinking into the hot chocolate below, the caramel was concentrated in one area, and the marshmallows were more "chocolate" than "chocolate chip". Unlike the beauty shot, which shows three milk chocolate-toned mallows studded with chocolate chips, the ones in my cup looked more like Turbinado sugar cubes. To be fair, when I plucked one out of the mug and bit down on it, I felt the telltale crunch of chocolate chips embedded inside, but because they didn't have any noticeable chocolate flavor, they were really no more exciting than a standard marshmallow.
The drink had a rich and frothy texture, but it didn't exactly scream "hot chocolate". The most striking element of the beverage was actually the caramel. It was buttery and sweet, without any of the promised saltiness, so instead of providing relief from the sugary elements, it dominated the mug, overshadowing the supposedly bittersweet chocolate and crushing any chance the marshmallows had to stand out.
The end result is a quadruple sweet drink that's fine if you're prepared to take the hit in terms of calories (500) and sugar (69 grams, more than twice the amount of a Snickers bar), but if your motivation is to find something new, exotic, and chocolatey, I'd skip it.
I didn't even bother with the third marshmallow.


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Hello Monday and new week!
We spent the weekend catching up on housework, exercising and enjoying a couple of days off. It was nice to recharge and spend time doing things we enjoy the most. The new week is bringing challenges to cooking (not least because of the rising temperatures here in Sydney), but I don't like to bargain when it comes to eating well.
This prawn and wattleseed fettuccine is a perfect weekday-gourmet dish to brighten up Monday. I picked up the wattleseed fettuccine at the local markets some time ago and been eager to try it out. It's an interesting ingredient to use and looks lovely with tiny dark spots of wattleseed. The taste is not too strong and suits well for this dish. The juicy prawns and the sweet cherry tomatoes are a must, it's like summer on a plate!
Prawn and Wattleseed Fettuccine
(Serves 2)
250g wattleseed fettuccine
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes
4 cup-mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
15 extra large King prawns, cleaned
1 tbsp lemon olive oil
1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper
small bunch flat-leaf parsley
In a large saucepan, bring water to boil. Add a pinch of salt and the fettuccine and cook for about 8 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, and add the cherry tomatoes and the mushrooms. Sauté for a couple of minutes, then add the sherry vinegar and the prawns. Cook for a further couple of minutes and add lemon olive oil, chives, salt and pepper. Sauté until the prawns are just cooked through, then take off the heat. Place the fettuccine on a large platter and top with the prawns. Sprinkle with parsley.


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The first day of school is always stressful for me. I believe this is true for most teachers. During the school year, we try to adapt to our students' needs and expectations and to fine-tune our teaching to help each individual student make progress. We find out about their hobbies and interests and try to provide materials that will keep them motivated. We lack all this vital information about them on the first day. We don't even know their names. In return, they know nothing about us.
So, we use icebreakers. Icebreakers serve multiple purposes - they can help you learn their names or assess their English in an informal way. They also relax the students and create that group spirit which is so important.
It is that time of the year again and warm-up activites are very important during these first few weeks of school, which is why I was really happy when Walton Burnes asked me to review his new book, 50 Activities for the First Day of School.
The book is divided into three sections: Getting to Know Them, Assessing and Evaluating and Setting the Tone. The first section is devoted to activities aimed at helping the teacher learn more about the students and helping the students learn more about each other and the teacher. The first few activities help with learning the names, such as Name Chain and Memory Chain for example. I like Going on a Picnic, which combines name learning with a nice vocabulary revision. Like most other activities in the book, this one can be modified to suit your current teaching needs and I believe it can be used later on in the course too, with the accent on vocabulary recycling, rather than on learning the names. There are activites which help the learners find out more about their teacher, such as Ask the Teacher or the more unusual Tell Me about Me. There are some activities which promise to be madly fun, such as Snowball Fight or Snowball Texting, those that focus on their hobbies and areas of interest, such as Expert Game, old classics like Desert Island Choices and Simon Says. I love Walton's version of Time Capsule, which focuses a lot on the language.
Assessing and Evaluating, as its name says, is there to help you assess their English in an informal way. Label the Classroom is a simple activity that is great for learning or recycling vocabulary. Classroom Scavenger Hunt requires a little more preparation on the side of the teacher, but is very much worth it. You will again meet some old friends here, such as Sentence Auction Assessment, or Needs Association Survey, but they will always come with a new idea for using them. There are a lot of suggestions for how these activities can be modified to suit each teacher's individual situation. Complete the Sentence and Goal Setting are also very useful and adaptable.
The final section is Setting the Tone. It is there to set and negotiate classroom rules, give advice on how to learn and introduce them to the book and the syllabus. My favourite is the Rule-Breaking Role Play, which will definitely generate a lot of laughter in the classroom. Two other activities I recomment are Study Habit Myths and Syllabus Scavenger Hunt, which are both interactive and fun, while at the same time they introduce the students to the course and teach them how to study.
I give this book five stars. I feel privileged for the opportunity to review it on my blog. The book is inexpensive and affordable. You can buy it in paperback or as an ebook. Go to this page if you would like to buy it or just take a closer look at it. On the book page you will also find some sample activities, advice for the first day of school, as well as a collection of resources and a great Pinterest board to follow.
And if you try some of the activities from the book, please feel free to write about how it went in the Comments area.


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Attorney General Lockyer Announces Enforcement Action Against State's Second Largest Nursing Home Chain
Pleasant Care to Pay $1 Million in Fines and Immediately Improve Resident Care
(SACRAMENTO) – Attorney General Bill Lockyer today announced that he has secured the settlement of a civil lawsuit he filed against Pleasant Care Corporation, the second largest provider of nursing home care in California, that will result in court-enforceable improvements in the quality of care for elderly Californians at 30 facilities statewide.
"All Californians are entitled to know that they are not putting personal life or health at risk when they or an elderly loved one is placed in the care of a nursing facility," Lockyer said. "Despite dozens of warnings and fines, Pleasant Care was simply unable to provide an appropriate level of care for its residents. This injunction will make sure that Pleasant Care complies with existing law and also provides the best level of care possible."
The settlement will result in a permanent injunction that resolves a civil lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Lockyer's lawsuit stems from numerous allegations of elder abuse and criminally negligent care, including more than 160 citations that the California Department of Health Services (DHS) has issued against Pleasant Care facilities across the state over the last five years for regulatory violations. The injunction was formally approved this morning by Superior Court Judge Laura Matz.
Under the terms of the injunction, all 30 of Pleasant Care's skilled nursing facilities in California must comply with numerous conditions that will immediately and dramatically improve the quality of care provided to residents occupying the company's more than 4,300 skilled nursing facility beds, including:
• Mandatory Staff Training - staff must undergo training on proper patient care in such areas as wound treatment, accurate record keeping, and the prevention of malnutrition and dehydration;
• Abuse and Neglect Investigations - each facility is required to implement policies to ensure prompt reporting and investigation of any alleged act of abuse or neglect towards a resident, and staff persons reasonably suspected of committing abuse must be placed on administrative leave during the course of the investigation;
• Compliance Officer - Pleasant Care must hire a Compliance Officer who will be responsible for ensuring that each facility complies with the law, properly responds to state and federal investigations, and delivers proper levels of care to residents;
• Independent Monitor - Pleasant Care will pay for an Independent Monitor, selected in consultation with the Attorney General, who has broad authority to order statewide quality of care improvements, and will annually report its findings to the AG over the next five years;
• Nurse to Patient Ratio - Pleasant Care must maintain nurse staffing ratio of 3.2 hours per patient, per day, subjected to outside audits to ensure compliance, and ordered to pay stipulated fines for any failure to maintain the required nurse-to-patient ratio; and,
• Whistleblower Protections - Pleasant Care must establish and maintain a whistleblower program that allows employees, residents and other individuals to anonymously report suspected violations and mistreatment of residents. A log detailing all complaints made and investigation outcomes also must be maintained and made available to the Independent Monitor and the AG.
In addition, Pleasant Care is required to pay $1 million in civil penalties and $350,000 to reimburse the state for investigative costs. Failure to fully comply with any provision of the injunction also could result in civil penalties of up to $6,000 per violation, other sanctions deemed appropriate by the court, and exclusion from receiving funding from both the Medi-Cal and Medicare healthcare programs.
Pleasant Care currently operates 30 skilled nursing facilities in 14 different California counties, including: Alameda, Butte, Kern, Los Angeles, Marin, Mendocino, Riverside, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Sutter. Over the last five years, DHS has issued more than 160 citations and fines against numerous Pleasant Care facilities for violations of patient care regulations, with several citations involving violations which presented an imminent danger that death or serious harm would result.
In 2004 alone, for example, eight different Pleasant Care nursing homes in California were found to have delivered "substandard" care to residents in annual surveys conducted by DHS. Other specific instances of deficient service and care also formed the basis for the AG's lawsuit. In 2003, a resident at the company's Ukiah facility suffered a seizure and a blocked airway, but the nurse was unable to effectively aid the resident due to the fact that the facilities suction machines had not been kept in working order. The resident died from acute cardiopulmonary arrest stemming from his inability to breath. In 2004, a resident at Pleasant Care's Novato facility suffered from a pressure sore that was allowed to worsen so severely that the resident ultimately died. The coroner who examined the female resident later told DHS that his examination showed that she had been subjected to "abominable wound care management."
According to data maintained by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Developement, Pleasant Care has also consistently failed to staff its chain of nursing homes at the rate of 3.2 nursing hours per patient, per day as required by California law. The failure to adequately staff its facilities with qualified nurses resulted in increased profits for the corporation at the expense of its residents' health and safety.
In a related case, tomorrow, March 9, 2006, Pleasant Care of Northern California (PCNC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pleasant Care Corporation, is scheduled to appear in Napa County Superior Court for the purpose of entering pleas in a criminal case filed by the Attorney General. The case alleges that PCNC delivered criminally negligent care to patients at its now closed Napa facility, and charges the facility with five misdemeanor counts of elder abuse and one count of willfully violating California's nursing home patient care regulations.


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Do you love bacon? Trick question: Everyone loves bacon.
Oscar Mayer, the company famous for cold cuts, hot dogs and traveling wienermobile, on Thursday debuted a dating app for Bacon Lovers who can meet a partner that shares their preference for fried pork belly.
It's called 'Sizzl.' And it's totally real, the company says.
U.S. & World
"In love, as it is in bacon, it's important to be discerning when selecting your perfect match and to never settle for less than the best," Eric Dahmer, marketing director at Oscar Mayer, said in a statement. "We passionately cure our bacon for 12 hours, and lovingly smoke-house it for another 12, making it the true bacon for bacon lovers. With the launch of Sizzl, we're thrilled to give our true bacon lovers the chance to find each other and potentially meet their soulmates, in life and in bacon."
The Sizzl app allows users to upload a photo and set their personal bacon preference (do you like it crispy?). It's free to download for iOS devices and offers some features, including, profiles of fellow bacon lovers that users can swipe through, as well as the ability to message and meet up with other Sizzl users based on a mutual-matching system.


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There was bound to be a fuss about whatever outfit the new TV Wonder Woman was sporting, but who'd've guessed our friends at NBC would've missed the mark so badly that they'd have to reboot it--both literally and figuratively?
When the first photo of Adrianne Palicki rocking the old new togs was unveiled last week, there were complaints from every corner of cyberspace: The pants were too shiny, she looked like a hooker... that kind of thing.
It was really a no-win situation for the network (we swear we're not taking the company line here). If they had just rolled out a replica of the suit Linda Carter wore in the '70s series, people would've freaked out--How's she gonna fight crime in a bathing suit and heels???
U.S. & World
"The original Wonder Woman costume — and, more specifically, Lynda Carter wearing the original costume — is incredibly iconic from a style perspective, so it's a pretty bold choice to try to update it, said Thread editor Laurel Pinson. "I appreciate that they've swapped the hot pants for star-speckled leggings — it seems a more action-friendly outfit, overall — but lowering the bustline on top and using fabric with a lot more shine seems to make this Wonder Woman feel more naked, not less."
Wonder Woman is a product of a different time, when men didn't think twice about objectifying women, and few women dared to speak out against it. Now, in a more enlightened era, NBC at least tried to put her in clothes. But when DC Comics tried to update her look last June, Nikki Finke of Deadline declared that they'd "ruined" the Amazonian. So what're you gonna do? It's not as though male superheroes are running around in dignified outfits.
NBC is to be commended for at least listening to fans' complaints about the suit, taking the plasticky sheen off her pants and changing her boots from blue to red. But as long as she's running around in a push-up bustier, there will be people unhappy with her look. And when her decolletage finally gets turned down from 11 to 6, the rest of the world will be sad.


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Even though bookshelves currently feature the sequel to James Sallis' novel Drive, on which Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 cult film was based, the director has no plans to adapt it. We previously brought you the author's thoughts on an adaptation of Driven; that film may still go ahead, just not with Refn and star Ryan Gosling attached. However, Refn commented on the fact that even though a Drive sequel is out of the question, the character of The Driver may yet appear again on screen. Hit the jump to get this sorted out.
Via The Playlist, Refn recently spoke to The Evening Standard about the progress on the Driven adaptation, in blunt fashion:
"That is never going to happen. But the character of The Driver might return in another film. We're playing with that idea. We'll see what happens."
So unless Sallis has given his blessing or Refn has purchased the rights to the character, it looks like we could see The Driver in a Drive spin-off of sorts. This is just speculation, but perhaps Refn didn't want to get slapped with a "franchise director" tag or maybe Sallis' follow-up simply didn't work for him. We'll keep an eye out for more on the Drive sequel/spin-off.
In related news, Refn is preparing to release his next film, Only God Forgives, which stars Gosling as a man living in exile in Bangkok after killing a cop. He manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation and finds his peaceful coexistence upended after his brother is killed for murdering a prostitute. The boys' mother arrives in Bangkok to collect her son's body and instructs Gosling to take revenge and "raise hell."
Gosling, meanwhile, will be making his directorial debut in How to Catch a Monster, with Drive co-star, Christina Hendricks. When asked if he'd offered any words of advice to Gosling on sitting in the director's chair, Refn responded:
"We have spoken about it, and of course I will give him advice if he wants me to. I told him if he wakes up in sweats at 5am on the morning of shooting to call me."


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Christ Is Risen!
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SbDnI think my post was more in the nature of poking fun at the previous post that seemed to claim exclusive rights to the appelation "Roman"CR
There seems to a cache to the name "Rome", considering that I have read that there are some who would claim Moscow as "The Third Rome".
I'm still trying to get over the fact that Ebor hasn't finished Gibbon! Carpo-Rusyn
I don't know about cache but Rome does stand for much more than a city in Italy.The British people were proud to consider themselves Roman, not because many of them expected to visit Rome or the East, though some did, but because to be Roman meant to be civilised.I agree that it is error to consider only the Eastern Empire Roman.
I disagree with Keble to the extent that he is only talking about those parts of Britain which came under Anglo-Saxon domination. St Columbanus, that most Latin of Irish, was writing and chastising Popes while the pagan Anglo-Saxons feasted in the East of Britain.
But I mostly agree with you. There were different ways to be Roman.
Well, I'm going to resurrect this old topic.We've recently discussed "Western Orthodoxy" and I wanted to discuss a few things.Harold Godwinson is listed as a martyr by the Russian Orthodox Church with October 14th being his feast day. I'm not going to discuss that decision, but it was made.ÂÂ
As most know, his illegitimate daughter, Gytha of Wessex, was married to Vladimir Manomakh. I was reading a book of medieval Russian literature and their was a brief discussion about many of Harold's family fleeing to Kyiv. It was also mentioned that certain of their children married into various Latin families. There isn't any discussion of religious conflict, requirements of conversion, etc. It is also mentioned the Gytha may have gone along on the First Crusade. I'm not sure if that's even possible, but that's what was said.
Kiev/Kyiv was an extremely important city at the time and there were many marriages between "Western" Christians and Eastern ones without any apparent hoopla. One kid marries some Frenchy and another a Greek.ÂÂ
In my mind this brings about a few questions. When did the schism actually affect people's daily worship? Should this affect the way we look at the Western Rites?
Just a btw, but I went to a Chanticleer concert Friday evening in Berkeley which was called Hildegard: a Measure of joy.  It was a fictional canonization of Hildegard von Bingen with some of her music as well as others.  It was awesome!  I also picked up a Hildegard Anonymous 4 album and another Anonymous 4 album that featured love songs from the 13th Century Codex before the concert at a record store down the street.  Simply beautiful.  The West really had some great treasures - still for a few hundred years post schism.  It's a shame how much they digressed.Another aside - I think there was a rood screen in the Episcopal church where the concert was held.
I'm also wondering, and I'm sure someone here has to have something on it, what discussions the East had concerning the liturgies in the West, excluding issues surrounding the filioque.
There are some wonderful things in the Western Church aren't there? Re the Rood Screen- What church was the concert held in? Maybe they have a web site with pictures. Just remember that Rood Screens are the same as Iconostases per developement or function. Ebor
Harold Godwinson is listed as a martyr by the Russian Orthodox Church with October 14th being his feast day. I'm not going to discuss that decision, but it was made.
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Water availability for the year throughout Morgan County irrigation districts was the topic addressed by Riverside Irrigation Superintendent Don Chapman at the Brush Area Chamber of Commerce's April 10 luncheon on April 10.
"It's a very deep subject," began Chapman, who ignited the discussion with puns and chuckles. However, throughout the course of discussing everything from river flows and water usage administration to river development, local ditch systems, irrigation and even an outlook on water supply and demand through the year.
When the first settlers came to the Morgan County area, the South Platte River would dry up in the summer months completely. Because of human design and innovations in agriculture and technology, this pattern no longer exists.
When showing a cross section of the South Platte alluvian aquifer in Brush, Chapman noted that the city has more water capacity than many other areas along the river, making Brush a prime locale for implementing high-capacity irrigation systems.
It was in the 1880s when the oldest and most senior ditch system in the county was built, the Weldon Valley ditch, which now irrigates up to 10,000 acres.
In Brush, it is the Upper Platte and Beaver ditches, which divert water from the South Platte near Rainbow Bridge in Fort Morgan, and annually helps irrigate acres of farmland (nearly 10,000 acres for the Upper portion) and the Lower Platte and Beaver ditches which irrigate nearly 15,000 acres.
In his projections for water supply in 2013, Chapman noted, "This year we are still filling reservoirs, even into April, when usually they are filled by March."
Although senior direct flow irrigation rights owners have put off their own demands as winter storms continue to hit the area, keeping reservoirs in a filling status, the projection that all reservoirs in the area will be filled in 2013 has a very slim chance.
For Chapman, the upcoming year was compared to prior years in water and according to his report card, if a drought-busting storm fails to hit the Morgan County area by late June, the outlook is bleak.
"Although when you look at the base supply of water in 2013 compared to 2012 we see that this drought we are currently in the second year of is certainly weakening the base river flows, but return flows are supporting that."
"Even in this, the second year of drought conditions," continued Chapman, "we see Morgan County doing well, but another year of drought could prove damaging. It needs to end," he finished, "or we could see conditions not seen since the 1950s."
Factors that Chapman considered for his water forecast included reservoir storage, which he reiterates may see many reservoirs failing to fill this year. Last year, in this category, he gave the county an A and this year he projects a grade of C.
Although recent storms have helped local soil moisture content in the area, much more is needed to avert another drought and although 2012 earned a grade of B, this year he projects a grade of C.
In base river flows, last year Morgan County received a grade of B and this year it is down to a C.
The snow pack is currently 71 percent of normal on the South Platte as far as drainage is concerned and according to Chapman, unless that number is above 80 percent, not much snow pack makes it to the main streams in the area. That grade has gone from a C to D.
Precipitation was also factored in and last year's grade of F accounted for a lack of winter and spring conditions felt in 2012.
Water availability is topic at Brush Chamber luncheon
Water availability for the year throughout Morgan County irrigation districts was the topic addressed by Riverside Irrigation Superintendent Don Chapman at the Brush Area Chamber of Commerce's April 10 luncheon on April 10.


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There's a metric ass-ton of sketch comedy happening this weekend (that's the industry term). Philly SketchFest is closing with two shows each night both tonight and Saturday @ The Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street). 8PM Friday — Angel Yau, Chico, Marina & Nicco; 10pm — Frange & Stern, Don't We Boys. 8pm Saturday — National Scandal, ManiPedi, Brick Penguin. 10pm — Transplants, Desperate Times, Megabuds.
Tonight at 8:30, Philly Improv Theater features The Flat Earth with their all new hour of material @ The Shubin Theater (407 Bainbridge Street). At 10:00, it's "The Theme Show", hosted by ManiPedi. Since they are working their tired, hilarious tuchuses off this weekend, let's take a look at a video by ManiPedi's own Aubrie Williams!


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By Jody Kessler
LaSalle's trip to Hershey was not sweet Saturday. In the Division AAAA state championship game they lost 21-0 to North Allegheny. The Explorers turned the ball over five times, after not turning the ball over the three previous games. North Allegheny held star running back Jamal Abdur-Rahman in check, and was explosive on the ground themselves, gaining 220 yards. Matt Steinbeck was the player of the game, rushing for 120 yard on 20 carries and also intercepting a pass on defense.Quarterback Michael Buchert was also very good for the Tigers, rushing for 51 yards and controlling the game. ΩLaSalle was beat at the line of scrimmage. They could also never get the ball in the hands of their playmakers to get big plays. They just never got it going in their title defense. Still the seniors can be proud of what they accomplished, winning it all last year and getting back to the title game this year. They finished the year 13-2.
LaSalle received the ball to start the game. After converting one first down they did what would be a preview of the whole day. On a swing pass play Tim Wade fumbled the ball and Kevin Cope recovered for the Tigers. The Tigers then did nothing tricky, running the ball nine straight times. It was Steinbeck straight ahead for the first eight of those, chewing up yards. Then on a first and goal Buchert kept it, scooting around to the left and scoring the game's first touchdown. A bad snap on the next drive for LaSalle pinned them back and they would be forced to punt, not getting anything going offensively. They stopped Allegheny on three plays but the Tigers pulled one of many tricks out on the day. They faked like they were going for it on fourth down but instead Buchert pooched a punt. With no one down field to catch it the ball landed on the Explorer 7 yard line. This would be the beginning of what was a winning field position game for the Tigers. LaSalle did then have their best drive of the day, nearly going the distance, but a penalty backed them out of field goal range and they had to go for it on fourth down. Quarterback Matt Magarity threw the first of his three interceptions, to Seth Marx. After the teams traded three and outs Allegheny got another score before halftime. With less than three minutes on the clock they went to Buchert, who raced up field on two successive big runs. Steinbeck did the rest, on a 28 yard touchdown run. They had a 14-0 halftime lead.
The Explorers have been a second half team this year, so a comeback was a possibility. However they did not start off on the right foot. They did stop the Tigers on D, but then Magarity threw another interception. It was Steinbeck, and he returned it all the way to the 20 yard line.After a penalty backed the Tigers up they pulled another trick play. On a reverse play they executed a flee flicker, and wide receiver Brendan Coniker threw to a wide open Dan Slivka to the one yard line.Buchert punched it in from there and it was 21-0. LaSalle never threatened again and Alleghen y had its first state championship since 1990.
Coach Art Walker, who also won it all with Central Catholic in 2004, talked about the keys to the game. "We talked about field position. No big plays, make them earn it. Not let 22 (Abdur-Rahman) or 9 (Kevin Forster) return the football, it was huge for us today." About slowing Abdur-Rahman down, the likely player of the year in the state Walker said, "Get him off the ball and make him change direction before he got past the first wave, (take him) out of his comfort zone. I think we were faster than they thought. Teams underestimated our speed. Establish the run, play field position, don't turn the ball over, no big plays for them. These kids are unbelievable. They're focused, mature, goal-oriented and committed. It feels great. I want to play next week."
Steinbeck said, "It's unbelievable, we wanted it forever. All of us deserve it, we worked so hard for it. It's amazing. Plan was to get them to turn it over. That's what happened, we executed well. I dreamed this ever since freshmen year. So happy it's this year."
Abdur-Rahman said, "Definitely a successful career for my team. I'm not too happy with the outcome I don't know when I'll accept but it has been a successful three years. I would have rather won this." When asked what the seniors legacy will be the Villanova bound senior said, " I think we represented them well. They play great. We definitely put it all out on this field, it was a hard effort by everybody, it was a shame we had to lose. I commend them, they played hard all year, gave great effort all year, we put in a lot of hours on this team, you can't ask for more than that. It just wasn't meant for us this year.
Coach Drew Gordon said, "We didn't have our best game. They played very well and they deserved to win. Turnovers, getting plays blown up at the line of scrimmage. There wasn't anything that they didn't take advantage of. They caused a lot of our problems. Can't have guys six yards in your backfield. Five turnovers." About his team and the seniors legacy he said, "They didn't quit and that's what I asked for. You walk off with your head high, we tried our best, it just didn't work out. Three Catholic League championships and a state championship, they should be proud. Look back on the record. They should be really proud of themselves, they accomplished a lot. Work hard, committed kids. They did everything in the off-season, weights. Couple kids rehabbed from serious injuries, Jamal, Connor (Daly)."
Daly was a captain along with Ryan Geiger and Joe Naji. Forster, a standout graduates as well, as does Wade and 17 others. Magarity will be back to lead the Explorers next year.


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Hi everyone,
I'm doing my first triathlon in June 2013 in Windsor. I was entered as a birthday present would you believe? I am opting for the Sprint instead of the more daunting Olympic triathlon.
Right now I'm bricking it. I'm a terrible swimmer and the thought of swimming 750m in the Thames terrifies me. If I tried to do this event now, it would be my last Triathlon because I would undoubtedly drown after about 50m.
Can anyone please offer advice and answer a few questions regarding the swim?
1. Is the swim upstream or downstream, or a combo of both?
2. How are the currents normally (last year aside when it was cancelled)?
3. How far should I comfortably be able to swim in a pool before attempting the 750m in the river?
Thanks in advance
it's up and downstream - you go up against the current to a turn buoy and then back with the current. in normal years the current is fine and the usual process is to hug the bank as much as possible on the upstream leg as the current is less close to the bank; on the downstream head to the center of the river where the cuurent is stronger so you go faster.
one word of warning - on the way back you need to make a sharp 90 degree right turn into a side arm of the river to the exit point. there's a marker buoy and boat to tell you where but many people miss it if they stay in the fast current too long and then have to fight their way back to it.
and imho - if you can do a 1km pool swim, you can do this - just make sure you get some OW swim practice and are happy in a wetsuit (compulsory for Windsor)
You guys are so blase about the swimming thing - I have nothing but admiration for what you all do - the idea of getting in the Thames or any open water and swimming in it - you make it sound so easy - Was up in York over the summer and saw a bloke pushed into the Ouse by one of his mates - he just swam nonchantly back and scrambled out - I start to cramp up in the swimmming pool on one of my 4 or 5 lengths.
Paul - I'd spend the winter in the pool getting fit. And then you need to get the open water practice as FB says. Where are you based ? There are a lot of lakes that cater for open water swimming now. Practice and a well fitting wetsuit will be a massive help.
Grendel - are you swimming too fast maybe ?
Paul as above also if you need to think about kit take a look through this.
Paul, you CAN do it. Like already said,work on pool swimming over winter then do some OW practice in spring. I used to be really scared of OW when I first started but once I got out there and practiced a bit I found I prefer it to pool based swimming.
Once you get used to it, it's quite liberating, especially on a warm summers eve, knowing there is a cheeseburger at the end...
My nickname is "SLAB" Swims Like a Brick. But with a coached session once a week and some practice between times they have taken me from drowned rat to a kilometer in 2 months. Another 2 months and it was 2km. My style is still quite crap, and I'm still the slowest in the coached set but it is progress.
If I can do it, you can do it. We're blase about it because we have realised that once you have got over the fear of failure it all gets to be less traumatic.
Come on over to the "Crap Swimmers R Us" thread, where like minded souls drip together in a corner.
swimming open water is one of the best things you can do.....seeing the surface of the water.with the light bouncing off it.or the raindrops bouncing off it.each time it feels different and exciting.....
to me its a bit like running outside comnpared to running on the treadmill.............why on earth would anyone chose to run on the treadmill unless ice outside or lack of time.........feels the same to me with swimming
no response from the OP - maybe we have scared him off??
Cougie - no not to fast just can't relax in the water I think so am swimming tense.
That's simply practice needed. G3. Personally, I never settle till about 500-750M. Try going with a couple of mates and making it a social event to take the sting out of it. Alternatively, I would guess most on here happy to go round with you as a bit of support early on. Obviosuly dependent upon where you are.
Few of us frequent Thorpe, Shepperton, Datchet, Heron Lake, Mytchett quays round south west London parts. Quite a few sea goers around as well
Sorry folks, I've just come online. Thanks for all the great advice about
1.) the course (fat buddha)
2.) the equipment (cake)
3.) the crap swimmers thread (blisters). I'm working my way through the 11,000 posts.
4.) the general encouragement (everyone else)
I have joined a tri coaching session in my local pool. My swimming technique and conditioning is improving. I'm fit but this is a whole new set of muscles that I've obviously neglected all my life.
I will stick to the pool over the winter and try some OW in the Spring. Cheers for all the replies.
Paul, myself and at least two others i know will be at Windsor again next year (all doing the Olympic distance), so if you need to know anything else, or have any worries, drop us a line
Most importants things are to enjoy it and make sure the person that bought the birthday presents pays
I think one important thing has not been asked, who ever was nice enough to buy you such a gift will likly have a birthday between now and your event. If not there is X-Mas, so why not get your self some company, they may be even more greatful if you were to gift them the olympic distance version.
NIce thinking training hill, but alas Windsor is sold out. Challenge Henley Half, on the other hand...........
Bit tight they most be a lovely person to buy the present. Arn't entries still open for the full IM at Henley?
I didn't do any OW swimming practice before my first OW tri and apart from completely failing to swim in a straight line for more than about 20m at a time, I got on okay. The cold freaked me out a bit, as did being kicked in the head at the mad thrashing start, as did the murky green water and lack of lane markers on the bottom. But I didn't even come close to drowning. It's not as awful as it's made out to be, really...
Buying said person an entry was the second thing that crossed my mind, after "oh shit, a fcuking triathlon". I don't think it will be happening though, they would just refuse and laugh at my futile attempt at revenge. I'm on my own I think for this one.
If anyone is in the north west, southport direction though and fancies a training partner, I'm your man.
Thanks again for the advice, if I have any more questions I'll let you know. Actually, here's a few:
How much would you spend on a wetsuit? I have a couple of scuba diving ones but they won't cut it I reckon. Need flexibility in the arms/shoulders.
Again, same question for a bike. A second hand one is fine - I only have a mountain bike, albeit a decent one.
Has anyone tried those zone3 buoyancy shorts? My arse and legs sink like an anchor.
If you're not sure about whether this will be your only triathlon or the start of a long career, you could hire a wetsuit for the season. You usually get the option to buy it anyway. No need to worry about that just yet though, leave that until the spring because you won't need it until then.
For the bike you have a few options. You could probably find a decent one second hand fairly cheaply at this time of year, but you need to make sure it's the right size for you. A new one might be UKP500 upwards, but you can pick the size (or get the bike shop staff to pick it for you, which is usually safer). You can hire them for the season the same as wetsuits, and the last option is to go for a complete triathlon package which various companies offer, with bike, wetsuit, running shoes and a few other bits & pieces you'll need (number belt, tri suit, that sort of thing) which are usually pretty good value. Again, ads for those don't usually appear until the spring.
Paul- this year there were OW swimming sessions at Salford Quays if that's not too far for you (easy on the seaside train if you can tolerate it). I'm not a tri person, but I'd looked into doing the Great North Swim in Windermere and was going to train there. They also do wetsuit hire so you'd be able to try things out.
I don't know any tri people in the Southport area (I grew up there), but I think there are a few who do Preston parkrun on a Saturday morning so might be worth popping over one week or posting on their facebook. Also might be worth asking around the Southport running clubs (the only one I really know of is Southport & Waterloo)
Paul there are quite a few tri types near you mate and a few of them talk tri stuff or generally clown around on the threads if you look through the tri section. If you look on the fatman to ironman thread ans training for a shorter tri thread there are a few on there. salford is a very good shout and even I pop over the pennies from yorkshire sometimes for a nice swim.
I think I'll aim to spend under 200 for a secnd hand bike. I got offered a Giant Defy roadbike for £260 but not sure about it. Is that a reasonable offer?
Knowing me, this triathlon won't be my last. I'll probably buy a wetsuit eventually. I'd be interested in finding a local place where I can hire one though, to try it for the season. I'd prefer local because I would need to try it for fit. When I say local, anywhere in the north west or yorkshire would be viable for a trip.
I am lucky to have a big enclosed marine lake in Southport right on my doorstep. If I can persuade myself I will probably train in there in the spring. Hopefully my tri swimming coach will venture away from the pool when things warm up too.
I'll check out that Preston site PG and the Fatman to Ironman one too Cake.
Cheers everyone.
I hadn't even thought about Marine Lake- surely in a lot of places it's not deep enough to swim?
I think it's about 6 feet at least all over, not the cleanest environment but then I don't expect much from the Thames. They have a lot of boat traffic at one end but the north end is quiet aside from the wildlife.


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Executives Using Corporate Email for Personal Online Accounts
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In his latest research project, Cesar Cerrudo, CTO of IOActive Labs, scanned 30 Websites and found 840 unique email addresses belonging to c-level corporate executives that were linked to 930 accounts. Email addresses belonging to CEOs from some of the largest companies appeared to be using their work addresses to sign up for Facebook, watch TV shows on Hulu, and buy tickets on United.com, Cerrudo found, according an IT World report. For example, the CEO of Disney Robert Iger used his corporate email on Netflix. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and Apple's Tim Cook have both used their corporate addresses to sign up for Dropbox's cloud-based file sharing service.
While using work addresses is not recommended for security reasons, Cerrudo's resarch highlighted that there were plenty of accounts being used that way. And just because some executives were using their addresses this way didn't mean executives were more or likely to do so. There seems to be no reason to think the accounts were fake, although none of the executives responded to queries confirming their accounts, according to IT World.
What Accounts Are They UsingThe breakdown of the services being used was interesting. There were 241 online accounts that linked corporate email addresses with news sites, such as the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, and the New York Times, 250 accounts with social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In fact, Cerrudo found 42 Facebook accounts that were linked to corporate email.
There were only 11 Skype accounts linked to corporate addresses, but 95 on airlines/travel/hotel sites, 38 for sports gear sites, and 43 on entertainment sites. Email addresses appeared on 176 Google accounts and 76 Dropbox accounts, Cerrudo found.
Own the CEOWe've been talking a lot about picking strong passwords recently. But with week recovery questions, attackers have no need to spend the time brute-forcing passwords.
Security Watch reported on a different Cerrudo research earlier this week. In that project, Cerrudo had examined how attackers could use social networks and search engines to find the correct answers to weak password recovery questions that would gain them gain control over victim accounts. Cerrudo illustrated some of the techniques attackers would use to gather information necessary to answer the questions.
Using Fortune 500 executives' corporate email addresses as the starting point, Cerrudo was able to map many of the e-commerce, productivity, entertainment, and social networking services these top executives were using online. Using a corporate address identifies the owner of the account pretty prominently, which can make it a more tempting target for social engineering and cyber-attacks.
This seems like yet another reason for users to be careful about the security of their password recovery questions.


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A9 TV; October 16th, 2011
A family with moral perfection is blessed. The phrase, "Every family is blessed" is not true. There are those imposters, those who try to push their daughters into illegitimate acts, those who try to reap benefits from them. There are those parents who are the members of the terror organization (PKK), those who push their daughters into immoral acts, into drugs. We can not call these parents to be "blessed". They are simply immoral. Not every mother or father is blessed. We call only those parents of sound mind who are pious, respectful to ideas and faiths as blessed parents Insha'Allah.
There is no severity in Islam. A Muslim forgives but a father rapes his daughter and there are thousands, tens of thousands of cases. An uncle or a brother attempts to rape. One finds a reason to stab his wife or to throw nitric acid to her face. They say, "That family is blessed; do not say anything." So what is blessed about it? A blessed family pays meticulous attention to his religion, faith, morality; they are full of love and they are democratic and loveable. They do not intervene in people's opinions; they have respect and love for people. He loves a human being only because he is a human being; for Allah's good pleasure. These are the people who we call a blessed mother or a blessed father.
A9 TV; October 14th, 2011
As long as parents do not intervene in one's faith and the way he lives by his religion, it would be haram (unlawful) to be at odds with one's family. But if they bother you, and do not want you to live by Allah's religion, a child does not say, "Yes, I am at your service; come and beat me." That would be unbecoming. They say, "Would any parent dare that?" So why are penitentiaries full of prisoners? There are parents who murder their kids. There are parents who cut their kids into pieces, rape their children. Incest is tremendously widespread. The ratio of reported cases of incest is twenty percent. How about the ones that are not reported? Incest is unimaginably widespread. A father rapes his daughter, a brother rapes his little sister. Immorality, infamy is widespread. These are surely not reported to the related authorities. How can a young girl come up and say that such an incident had happened? How can she speak out? She cannot. There are such fathers who cut their daughters into pieces; there is no end. They take the kid to an desolate place and cut her throat. He cuts her body into two pieces. Then they say, "It is not becoming to say a word against a father." He simply cuts the kid; how can you not say a word? For instance, the kid goes to the police station and says that her father will kill her. The police officers say, "How can it be possible? It is your father, go to your home with heart's-ease." Then her father takes the girl and cuts her like a sheep. Then it appears in the headlines. Prisons are full of killers who are parents. There are thousands of them. One respects those parents who have respect for Allah, the Book and the blessed values. How would one feel respect to those parents who assault your faith? That mother or father is not blessed; they are blessed only when they abide by Allah and His religion. If they tempt you against Allah's religion, Islam and the Qur'an, if they attack you because you make Muslims your friends, they are no longer blessed. How can they be blessed? There are those who force their children into immorality, into prostitution. How can a child express it? This is a secret tragedy. A secret predicament. It is a very great disaster. It has no limits; incest is unbelievably widespread; it exists in Turkey, in Germany, in France . The number of those who prompt their children into immorality is incredibly widespread. They ask their daughters to go and find a rich husband for themselves. The guy is a bad lot, but it makes no difference for the father. Another man is reliable, he is a Muslim but he does not want him because he is poor. But if a man has money but is mean, then the father finds him proper for his daughter. There are those imposters, members of the PKK terror organization, those raping their daughters, attempting to sell their daughters. Prisons are full of people committing such reprehensible crimes. There are various kinds of men.
A9 TV; November 17th, 2011
(Regarding the criticism made, "You talk to women wearing revealing clothes"
I simply don't understand; they say, "You have ladies with low-necked clothes sitting across you." I see women wearing such attire, even wearing bikinis, thongs appearing on all the other channels. Why do they find it bizarre that we have ladies in our studio? I can't understand it. Allah knows the truth, but it must be jealousy. The main reason must be jealousy, because there are many women with low-necked dresses on streets. For instance, they go to beaches in the summertime. They all wear bikinis. 90 percent of those who criticize me wear swimwear. Swimwear with two parts. This is the most advanced form of décolleté. They spend all summer, two months, three months in this swimwear. They wear it in the midst of everyone, right? I am really in difficulty to grasp this. So Allah knows the truth; it is jealousy, nothing else because, to tell you the truth, the one thing people feel most jealous about – and the one thing they can not express- is sexuality. It is what they feel most jealous about. That is why people commit murders. It is the major reason for the homicide of women. It stems from men's feelings of deficiency. It hurts their pride; they go and shoot the women. They become concerned when the woman likes someone else. He feels doubt; that is why they commit homicide. If they feel secure about themselves, nothing of that sort happens. That is why they also say, "You are hypersexual", "Sex flows from your eyes", "Sex flows from your speech." Let's not talk then; not go out. What kind of talk is this? What kind of a mindset? "Hypersexual"; it is a rationale that you develop within the framework of your thought. All right; even if it is hypothetically true, all thanks to Allah. Is it a crime to be potent? This is not something unusual. It is a portent of health, of beauty and goodness. It is very aberrant to bring these issues to the agenda as if it were a crime. What matters is to pay meticulous attention to what is lawful and unlawful. Once it happens with your lawful spouse, it is a blessing and beauty for a Muslim to be potent. All the prophets were potent. So were the Companions. Thanks be to Allah. It was not a matter to accuse them. Then, hypocrites were very jealous of our Prophet's (saas) power. They envied him. Many of the verses in the Qur'an relate this issue. This was the sole issue for hypocrites; the potency of our Prophet (saas) and the love he felt for hypocrites. This was what they felt jealous of. Our Prophet (saas) was handsome. They were also jealous of it but when we look at the Qur'an, we see that they did not dwell on that. The sexuality of Prophet Joseph (as) had also been a main problem. That is to say, they laid stress on it. The sexual impact he had on women; they made it a problem. We see this clearly when we look at the verse, Insha'Allah. Consequently this is a style stemming from the jealousy of impotent people, weak people. This is the issue, and nothing else. A style that they use under the influence of frustration, pain and torment of knowing that they are themselves weak. When I look at Facebook and similar sites, I see that this is the main issue. Very odd, because there are ladies with revealing clothes everywhere. This does not seem logical to me. They all go to beaches, wear thongs and bikinis. They run, etc. They find all that normal and reasonable, but when these ladies sit across me, it disturbs them, they find it awkward. I can not understand this. Also it is available on all channels.
A9 TV; October 25th, 2011
(Upon the question that says "I have been quarreling with my mother. I want neither of us to get offended. What do you think I should be doing?")
What should you be doing? Go and kiss your mother. Go and hug her. Squeeze her cheeks. You will say, "I am at your service." That is it. Would a mother's heart ever be broken? But if she is attacking your religion, your faith and the things that you hold sacred then that is not acceptable. In the verse Allah says that there is no permission for that. That is not acceptable. Then that means the time for separation has come. That would not be acceptable. But one's father might be drinking and might say, "I have got drunk, come get me from the bar." You are charged with going and getting him from there. He is not interfering with your religion that is okay then. He might be cursing and you would just say; "My dear father, for the good pleasure of Allah, do not do such things." Nothing would come out of that. But if he says; "You are not going to read the Qur'an," "You are not going to perform your prayers", "You are not going to see Muslims", "You are not going to work with Muslims to spread religion," then you will just ask for permission and leave. Just like the Companions of the Cave, just like the Companions in the time of the Messenger of Allah (saas). Just like the young Companions who were eleven and twelve years old, who were fifteen years old. Just like the young people who followed the Prophet Moses (pbuh) you are charged with acting in the same manner, insha'Allah.
A9 TV; October 27th 2011
(Regarding a hadith which states that in the End Times there would be some parents who would prevent their children from learning about religion.)
The Messenger of Allah (saas) commanded one day; "Shame on those fathers of the End Times!" Upon this the Companions asked; "Would they be idolaters then?" Our Prophet (saas) commanded as follows; "No, they will remain Muslims; but they will not teach religion to their children and they would even prevent them from learning about religion when they want to learn about it, and they will motivate them to attain the possessions of this world. And I am far apart from such a father; and they are far apart from me" (Mustadrak al- Wasail, v.2, p.625)
Masha'Allah; here it is; that is a direct address to some phoney, incestuous, knavish, drug addict, perverted fathers and mothers; to some abject, heartless parents who encourage their children toward the PKK terror. How nicely did our Prophet (saas) explain. He had seen the End Times as clear as day, and explained it as clear as day, masha'Allah, Alhamdulillah.
A9 TV, 4 August 2011
They have made propaganda for a very long time. They say, whatever the parents do, nothing should be said, on the basis the family is sacred. People engage in incest or fathers rape their daughters. A son rapes his mother. Disgraceful and scandalous behavior like that is everywhere. For parents to be sacred they should be behaving according to the Qur'an. They should be innocent and pure and modest. People who encourage their children to steal, who force them to commit incest, who oppress them, who attack their wives with knives or try to kill their children are psychopaths. There is no such thing as unconditional respect for parents. Someone encourages her son to join the PKK terror organization. And he listens because a mother's words are sacred. She has gone astray and encourages her child to be godless and faithless. One cannot place any credence in such a mother. A parent who encourages their daughter to have illicit relations. There can be no respecting parents like that. Or they encourage their daughter to have illicit relations. One cannot respect them. One must trust and respect honest parents, good people. They must be shown respect. One cannot obey someone who encourages his child to be godless, or who tells his child not to talk to Muslims. In the Qur'an Allah says, "..but if they endeavour to make you associate with Me something about which you have no knowledge, do not obey them.." But otherwise, love and respect are obligatory.
A9 TV, 3 August 2011
There are the types who kill their wives. Something happens and they shoot their wives in the middle of the road. I have said that women suffering violence "should be given police protection." The government has taken a decision. They have provided police protection. That is very good. But that is not the end of it. That will come through fear and love of Allah. That is the corruption, the strife inflicted by Darwinism on the nation. That is also what underlies the rabidity of the PKK terror organization. The solution lies in telling people of the signs leading to faith, the intellectual annihilation of Darwinism and materialism.
The lovely people of Anatolia are an example to the world. My nation embodies brotherhood, friendship, loyalty, altruism, the finest love and hospitality. They will teach the world love, insha'Allah. But there is no racial superiority.
If one is happy, sickness has no impact. Sickness then turns into delight. The individual sees the wisdom there, and his love of Allah increases.2012-10-31 12:18:08


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Leed's USB and Multi-Function Pens
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We may be living in a technology-driven world but writing utensils like Leed's multi-function & USB pens still remain a prominent and necessary tool with which one can combine the classic with the technological. These items function as laser pointers, USB flash drives, and more, perfect for almost any demographic. Most importantly, however, these products have the additional feature of being able to advertise your brand when you customize them with your company name and logo. Leed's multi function and USB pens are especially preferred as corporate gifts because of their advertising potential combined with their high utility value. Despite this high perceived value, there are actually many different models and styles available and in a range of price points in our collection to fit any company's marketing budget.


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Cartoon Network's 'Adventure Time' Holiday Card and Magnets Make Our Season Bright
A positively algebraic holiday card from Cartoon Network arrived at ComicsAlliance HQ yesterday featuring the cast of Adventure Time wishing us good cheer. CN also shot along some fun magnets bearing inspirational phrases to carry our soaring spirits into 2012 (Lumpy Space Princess's catch phrase is especially contagious in these parts). Check out the Adventure Time holiday card and magnets after the jump.
Front of card
Back of card


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Posted 7 years ago
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I hesitate to put my modest little heart on CW - but here it is. I have seen some amazing pieces on CW - Agram.m for one has many fine examples. I nevertheless really like the little heart. No bits missing. Says Italy on the back etched in the brass. Pin clasp secure and tight. Lovely combination of colours.


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What is your turn around time? It depends on how many quilts in queue I have at the time of drop off, but usually not more than a few weeks.
How much backing fabric do I need? I need the back to be at least 4-6 inches larger than your top. Example: Your top is 40 x 40, so your back would be at least 44 x 44. Same with the batting, if you are providing your own.
Can I sew my top and back together and bind it prior to quilting? You can, but it won't turn out as nicely as it would if you wait until after it's quilted.
I want to use minkee on the back of my quilt. Will that work? Yes! Minkee is fabulous as a quilt back. Just make sure that the minkee is larger than the quilt top. NOTE: Due to the stretch of the fabric, I pin the cut edges of the minkee fabric, NOT the selvedge edges. Please ensure that your quilt top is not wider than your piece of minkee. Also, please do not remove the selvedge edges from the minkee.
I'm using minkee on the back of my quilt, but it isn't big enough. Can I piece it? Yes! I've found that it is easier to quilt over pieced minkee when the seam allowance is larger, though, so don't worry about sticking to a 1/4 inch seam allowance. When I piece my minkee, I sometimes even go up to 1 inch, depending on the quilting pattern!
Have a question that is not answered here? Contact me and I will do my best to answer it for you! :-)
What is your turn around time? It depends on how many quilts in queue I have at the time of drop off, but usually not more than a few weeks.


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Insane Liberal From VA Loses It! (Tearing Down Their Signs & Screaming) "You Racist Pig. Thats Why You Muthaphuckas Mad Because A Black Man Is Running Sh*t. F*ck You"
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Here is my first trip report which is also a gear report of my hammock, tarp, top quilt and under quilt (see diy section). Here is a scorecard for the gear:
hammock and bishops bag = pass
tarp and snake skins = pass
tarp setting up skills = fail
top quilt = pass
under quilt = fail
fuel stove = pass
cosy packs for cook kit = pass
beer can cup = pass
pillow = pass
non diy:
Falkniven F1 = pass
Wetterlings axe = pass
Rio Grande backpack = borderline fail
packitgourmet.com Texas State Fair Chili = pass!
imusa 12cm pot = pass
thermarest seat pad = pass
Princeton Tec EOSR Headlamp with Cree XML led mod = pass
Minus33 Merino Wool base layer (midweight) = pass
Canon S100 = fail!
So Saturday morning my fiancee and I headed to the reserve where she was supposed to drop me off at the entrance and leave me pretty much for the next 24hrs there. However, since the weather was so nice, she decided to join me for an hour of my hike and we started together. Since this was a new place for both of us, I was carrying 25lbs on my back and I was about to have a questionable night, I decided to basically follow trails for the entire hike and not be a hero walking through the bush.
The park was beautiful. Fall colors had started and there were plenty of fallen leaves on the ground. It was also sunny and cool.
I've never been a mushroom person, but If someone can tell me what this is, I'll try to remember it for next time:
As you will see later on the google earth screenshot, the beginning of the hike was fairly flat. Later I realized it was also a popular part of the park, because the trails were so wide, two cars can probably pass there. They were also really well maintained.
Fortunately for me there were so many trails in the area that it was easy to come up with fancy routes. Of course I still needed a map.
I saw plenty of weird growing things, but here is one that I noticed from really far away. This white mushroom was so 'off-place' on the tree that from far away it looked like someone went there and just put a big piece of styrofoam. ID?
My first nice view was about 35mins into the hike. It was the Cross River Reservoir, and it looked great with all the fall colors.
Of course it was a great spot to get some sunlight 🙂
Next I was headed to check out a cave. I figured I must be close when I started seing huge boulders like this:
Sure enough, it wasn't too far. Nothing really special. Just a nice 20 or so feet deep shelter
I continued going south, finding even more unknown to me mushrooms like this one:
About an hour and a half later, I made it to another nice vista place, and this is where the first gear FAIL happened. I managed to take this horrible photo with my canon S100 when it decided to give me a Lens Error message (apparently Canon owned up and is replacing these for free because they had a bad batch).
Unfortunately the rest of the hike was without photos until I made it to the camp ground. However, here is a good place to share what the trek looked like and the highlighted area on it, which was about 30 minutes after my camera died. Take a look at the elevation. This section caught me by surprise. I had been walking for 3 hours with the huge pack on my back going up and down the hill, and I needed a rest, but I figured I'd get to the camp site because I had some friends waiting for me (to put the ribs on the fire, but that's another report 😀 ).
At one point, in that last section of the climb, it was literally a 4 limb climb. I guess the note 'Highes point in the park' on the map should have triggered some thought process in my head…
Anyway, I made it to camp pretty tired and hungry. I didn't stop for lunch anywhere and, of course, I forgot my salami and cheese bag in the fridge in the morning. So when I arrived at the camp, I setup my diy soda can stove with some HEET fuel and boiled myself some water. This is where I should give big thanks to the guys at http://www.packitgourmet.com/ for sending me my dehydrated food asap so that I had it on Friday. I put a pack of their texas state fair chili in the Imusa cup and put it all inside my DIY reflectix cosy (pretty straight forward stuff, plenty of guides on youtube on that). 5 mins later I had a really tasty, late lunch.
Next, I setup camp. I borrowed a camera to take a few quick photos of my setup, but didn't take as many as I wanted (damn canon!). Here is what the final setup looked like. I only used the side pullout at my head end so it looks a little goofy from this angle:
One side of the tarp was left open during the day:
For hammock suspension I use whoopie slings with tree straps, using a marlin spike hitch
For the tarp suspension, I used a continuous ridge line on which there were two short pieces of rope on Prusik knots which then hooked to the d-rings on the ends. This allowed me to move the tarp easily on the ridge line.
So we had some fun (and brats and ribs). Everyone was waiting for my axe to show up to start chopping dead wood :). When we ran out of firewood we headed to bed.
Initially I jumped inside my top quilt in just a top polyester shirt and socks (no long underwear). Since my underquilt is 3/4 lenght, I used a piece of reflectix under my heels, as well as a half-inflated thermarest sitting pad for insulation. It was all fine, until the wind kicked in. That's when all kinds of things started to go wrong. My tarp wasn't tied as taut as I thought so one side of it (the one I had left open during the day) basically became like a flapping wing. The bottom tie outs were no longer holding that side in place, because the entire tarp had shifted from the strong wind and was basically touching the ground where the stakes were. I didn't really care much for it because the wind was coming from the other direction so I didn't get out of my worm top quilt to adjust it.
The slightly noisy tarp didn't bother me as much, but my underquilt started to give in at some point and I started having cold spots on my but and back. This is where I put my minus33 wool baselayer pants and decided to give that a go. It almost worked, but for some reason my back kept getting colder and colder. I put the thermarest seat pad under my but and put on another layer on top of my polyester shirt. That helped a bit, but then it started raining, and I woke up again a little chilled. At that point I just grabbed my extra pants, hoodie and hat and put them all on. I tried for a bit to remove the pad under me and see of the underquilt would be enough, but it wasn't. I spent a few moments tried to adjust it, thinking there is some wind entering under my hammock but above the quilt, but that still didn't work, so in the end I just took out my second thermarest seating pad ( I was kind of expecting something like this might happen so I made sure I had a backup insulation under me) and put it under my back. At that point I slept like a baby.
One thing that kept me from having a really good sleep, though, was the constant breeze on my face. I'm definitely not used to that, because my tent is pretty good and keeping the wind out.
This was the view from my hammock when I woke up and remembered that I have a camera on my phone!:
And this is the view of someone who just spent his first night on a hammock with bad under insulation and 11-12 m/s gusty wind and rain:
At least in the morning I realized that my tarp had kept me, my backpack and my axe dry. My top quilt worked like a charm too, though at some point I tried sleeping on my side like a baby, and I realized I didn't have enough width to tuck myself on both sides to try and make up for the cold insultex underquilt. 🙂
As I was taking down my stuff, I noticed that the waist strap on my rio backpack had broken somehow. It was still holding, but the buckle had snapped and it was ready to give up. The back also lacks pockets, which I usually use a lot to organize my stuff a little better. I might consider investing in a better pack, or maybe modding this one by adding some more side pockets and maybe a mesh pocket on the back.
All in all, It was a nice trip. Today, the morning was a bit gloomy and windy, but by 11 the sun came out so we did another mile and a half hike before we left the park and made our way home.
So there you have it. That's my first hammock night. I guess, as with everything it takes a few tries to get used to a new 'bed', so that's probably what needs to happen with my hammock as well.
I think I might spend some more $ for another pillow from ebay and make myself a real underquilt with down, or get a nice Exped/Thermarest insulated pad for under me and call it done.


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I got a Christmas card today. That's so nice, right? We all love getting cards. Well, this one was a bit different... First, I must explain the card, then I will include what was written in it below. I do not know the person who sent this card, but I know who encouraged the sending. My grandmother... She doesn't know that I'm an atheist, but she knows that I am not "one with the Lord." She is an insane fundie; I am used to her Jesus ramblings and what not. But, this card is stepping over the line... Remember, I do not know the person who sent this (although the paranoid side of me thinks the handwriting looks suspiciously like my grandmothers...). This is what it says...
"Hi! I am Dorothy from Northeast Baptist Church and I have been praying for you for a year now. Hope you could tell someone was praying for you. Hope you have a Merry Christmas. It's all about Jesus! Love and prayers, Dorothy"
That looks all sweet and innocent, right? But, add in the fact that I know my grandmother is involved and the fact that she is always pushing religion on me, and this card is nowhere near innocent. I want to send a letter back to her (Dorothy). I know that it wouldn't be the nicest card, and I would tell her that even though she was praying for me for a year, that life still had it's 50/50 rate of good and bad, but I'd thank her for her kindness anyway (and wish her happy holidays)... My problem is that I know my judgment is screwed up by my annoyance and anger, and I would like your opinions on what you think I should do. Plus, it always feels nice to rant and complain about things like this. :p
Any thoughts on what I should do, or if I'm right in being annoyed, would be appreciated!
Views: 470
Just throw it away, really. Being petty may feel good in the short run, but isn't going to help long-term. As for your grandmother, just let her know that she may mean well, but all she's going to do in pushing her religion on you is end up alienating you.
Toss it in the trash and forget about the card. Eventually, you will have the chance at a real dialog. Any reply now is just a waste of your time.
I get so frustrated having this stuff thrown in my face constantly. I know I can be irrational when it comes to responses.
The card is in the trash! Thank you, Jennifer and Michael, for your replies. :)
I find it interesting that your parents' old church still send you birthday cards. That's nice of them. :)
Thank you, it's nice to know other people understand my frustrations. Makes me feel like I'm not all that crazy!
Hi Sara,
If it is your grandmother that is behind the sending of the christmas card she does not really seem to be open to discussion. Therefor I would concur with Jennifer and Michael, just ignore it and throw it in the trash. There might be a time for discussion and sharing of ideas, but looking at the actions of your grandmother this is not it.
Oh honey, I came here to post about almost the exact same thing happening to me, but with my crazy Aunt. Crazy as in she has sent people from the most violently cult-like church in town over to my family's house (she lives almost 3,000 miles away and yet contacted this church and gave them our home address specifically so that they would start harassing us), and I have no doubt that she would pay to have me drugged, kidnapped, sent to a "camp", and "rehabilitated" if she found out I'm not straight. If she found out I'm an atheist, she'd probably do worse. Usually she just sends religious cards and writes something odd in them, but this year she did bizarre underlining instead. I don't understand why she didn't just address it "Dear Heathen", it would've been more honest and less annoying. Attached are some pictures with the names removed... Oh, crazy Aunt. You can do all the passive-aggressive underlining you want, it's not going to make me any more interested in praising Jeebus.
Ah! But anyway! There are two possible courses of action here: either do nothing, or say something. I'm not a fan of passivity, so personally I think you should send "Dorothy" a card right back. However, I don't know how the rest of your relationship is with your grandmother.
The best question to ask here is: do you like your grandmother? If you think that she had anything to do with sending the note, responding to it in any way that isn't "PRAISE THE LORD I'M SAVED" will probably just make her upset. If you like or love your grandmother and want to maintain your relationship with her, it may be best to just let it drop. It might still be good to keep track of the address this card came from if you still have the envelope, and if you get any further cards, simply cross out any barcodes on them, write "return to sender" or "refused" on the envelope, and put it back in your mailbox and it will be sent back to the person who sent it. That way whoever it is will be wasting whatever money they spent on postage and you won't allow them the opportunity to harass you further, which is all good.
However, there is nothing wrong with *not* liking someone you are related to. In fact, that's often a highly appropriate response... If you don't like your grandmother or are ambivalent toward keeping in contact with her, write Dorothy a short note or card right back. Tell her you don't know who she is or how she got your address, but that you do not appreciate the contact and that it is not to be repeated. You can even tell her that you find her card creepy, nosy, and invasive. That's what I'd do. However, I'm not you. Even if I may be in a similar situation I cannot possibly know all of what you're going through, and thus cannot tell you what the appropriate action is here. But, YES, you are perfectly right in being annoyed! Accidental blood relation does not give someone the right to harass, demean, or insult you in any way, and that includes discounting your feelings and opinions and trying to convert you.
Wow, your aunt and my grandmother could be the best of friends. I get cards exactly like that, passive-aggressive underlining and all, for most big occasions. I also worry that if she found out about my atheism that I would wake up one morning drowsy from drugs in some church camp. She literally freaked out when she found out that I *gasp* read Harry Potter and have a tattoo, would hate to see her reaction to atheism... I'd be much happier hearing their real thoughts, too. "Dear Heathen, You're going to hell." I'd at least get a laugh out of that. I'm sorry that you have to deal with that type of annoyance as well; it is not fun.
To answer your question; no, I do not like my grandmother. I talk to her twice a year, at the most. I'm glad you agree that family doesn't mean "automatic relationship." Most people don't seem to understand that, and get very confused when I say anything bad about family.
I did toss the card, but my paranoid/vindictive side kept the envelope. I am, like you, not so good with being passive and letting things continue in a fashion that I am not comfortable with. I'm a grudge holder. :p I think I will write a letter to Dorothy, then mention to my grandmother that I do not appreciate her giving my address to people that I do not know.
Thank you very much for sharing your story and for replying to this. I hope things get better with your aunt. If not, I hope you can find a way to make it less stressful.
I got a birthday card from my Catholic aunt one year. On the front was a picture of a anguished Jeebus, blue eyes looking at the sky (it could only have been sappier if it was rendered on black velvet) The caption was, "Praying for You". On the inside of the card, in my aunt's atrocious hand writing, was the sentiment, "I know this card will chap your ass – happy birthday". She was a funny old gal.
I think I would respond to the card with some thinly veiled snarkiness.
Dear Dorothy,
I'm so grateful that you have spent your valuable time praying on my behalf. However, in this season of Christian celebration it would gratify me even more should you use that time to engage in the Christian spirit of giving to the poor and disadvantaged – an act sure to find favor in the eyes of Jesus.
May the spirit of Christmas be with you.
I usually don't hold grudges unless whatever is happening gets to be too much. There is usually a breaking point where I give up trying to be the nice person that everyone expects me to be. Giving my address to a stranger was my breaking point. However, I do agree that sending a vindictive response may spur her on.
It does feel great to let grudges go (not counting this particular one!). "Be the bigger man/woman" and all that. For me, it can be difficult to "let things go". So, when I am able to push my -not so good- emotions aside, it is a wonderful feeling.
Thank you for replying, and I did think about it. :)
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The Art Place Wynwood, presents Visual Dialogue, a showcase of 12 artists during ART BASEL WEEK 2012. Exhibitions runs from December 1 – 17th, 2012. The gallery is hosting an Opening Reception on Wednesday, December 5th, 6-9 PM.
Director, Danilo Gonzalez, has this to say about "Visual Dialogue".
"When I arrived in the Wynwood Art District four years ago the future of Wynwood was far from certain. Today, we see that the Art District is at a crucial point in its development process. My position as both an artist and a gallery director has provided me an unique perspective on these changes. I have witnessed the area transform itself into the interesting and stylish community that it is today. This has given me the opportunity to work with international artists such as Sara Roitman, the impressive photographer from Ecuador; Ada Balcacer, Eliu Almonte and Grimaldy Polanco from the Dominican Republic; extraordinary German expressionist Horst Kohem; and established artist, Delia Solari from Argentina. Wynwood has attracted Florida talents too, including sculptor, Deborah Gregg, environmentally conscious painter, Molly Bo, painter and spacial designer Debra Yates, abstract painter, Lauren Fogg and prominent artist, Carol Fryd. It is obvious that the Wynwood Art District has become a meeting point in the global art community for artists and art appreciators alike. I am proud to present "Visual Dialogues," an exhibition whose objective is to expose the interconnection between different generations and the perspective of each artist that are connected yet different.
Together we are carving a space in the art world for the future of Wynwood."
Learn More about the artists by viewing our Visual Dialogue Catalog


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Anybody else think that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito throws harder than Casey Fossum. Alito put on a Rays uniform and threw out the first pitch before the Rays-Phils games yesterday. [Insert cheesy "right"-handed joke here]
- The Rays suffered two more ugly losses during split-squad action, falling to the Twins and the Phillies (Damn we hate losing to Philadelphia in anything). The most promising news was that Brian Stokes, Jason Hammel and Edwin Jackson all looked solid in their quest for the fifth spot in the rotation. They combined to throw seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits and one walk. Actually, the pitching has been solid overall, ranking fourth in most major pitching categories in AL.
- Akinori Iwamura picked up his first hit and RBI on an excuse-me single. Just remember, it only takes one of those a week to make the difference between hitting .250 and .300 over the course of a season.
- Can it be a coincidence that the Nationals are considered the worst team in baseball that could lose 110 games AND they have Chuck LaMar on the payroll? We think not. The Curse of LaMar-Naimoli lives! Chris Needham thinks this is a good thing for the Nationals. huh? Chris, my pal. RUN! Run fast. LaMar is an evil, evil man. If you think things are bad now, you have no idea. Get out while you're still young. You'll thank us. [p.s. The Nationals already have three players on the DL that will miss the beginning of the regular season. Let's hope the Curse has been transferred and not just a reincarnation]
- Whoever wrote THIS sub-headline must have Gotten A Delmon.