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Bishop Bode about his expectations for the family Synod in Rome
"Openly discuss various Positions"
The Osnabrück Bishop Franz-Josef Bode takes part in early October in the World Synod of Bishops in Rome on the subject of the family. In an interview with the Catholic news agency, he commented on his expectations for this meeting.
KNA: Bishop Bode, what do you expect in terms of atmosphere at the Synod of Bishops?
Bode: There will be a special atmosphere. Because a synod was already held last year in preparation. And because it has first given out surveys among the faithful about the issues at stake. These opinions and directions have evolved. Therefore, this Synod is eagerly awaited. This is also true for myself.
KNA: A major issue will be the divorced and remarried. You have advocated, under certain conditions to allow those who sufferer this situation back to receiving Holy Communion. Which conditions?
Bode: Marriage is indissoluble according to the will of Jesus. With a sacramental marriage, something is concluded that never dissolves easily. Given the weakness of human life, this relationship can still break and fail. People can come into a new relationship that is mature, but sacramentally not of the same value as the first. The question is whether this new reality, which might better equate to the covenant of God with men than the first, always must lead to the exclusion from confession and communion. We should include the question of what circumstances have led to the breakdown of the marriage. So far, we have treated everyone in the same way, whether someone carries guilt or not. In addition, this is tied to a question of the understanding of the Eucharist. Is it really the only representation of a perfect unity in faith and Church or does it also help for lives that have their wounds? And that people cannot express themselves in confession and obtain forgiveness, I find almost more difficult than the question of Communion.
KNA: A large theme will also be dealing with homosexuals and an ecclesial appreciation of their enduring partnerships. Can you describe a solution for this?
Bode: The Catechism makes clear that we do not discriminate against these people. As with others who live together before marriage, it is also a matter of recognizing their strengths and not only their weaknesses and shortcomings. Civil unions are not to be equated to marriage. Marriage is the relationship of husband and wife which can produce children for us. The Church can help the civil unions in discussions and in the positive support and assist them. However, it is not able to give anything which is tantamount to marriage. But with prayer and a private form of blessing, you will be able to accompany their way.
KNA: Where loyalty and reliability are lived, may there be a recognition from the Church?
Bode: A recognition of what is lived there. A sacrament is not. But when I basically have the openness not to demand everything or nothing, then the same is true for homosexuality. Whereby that is dependent of course on cultural and political contexts. Even the last Synod has highlighted the differences in the universal Church. Maybe because you have to go different ways.
KNA: What opportunities do you see for uniform solutions in the Catholic Church around the world?
Bode: The opportunity there is always because we believe working together on the one Christ, because the basis is the Scripture and because we have a tradition of the Church as a whole. That was always the advantage of the Church that it is a community across borders, beyond cultures. In the basic conception of marriage and family, there is however unanimity. With regard to homosexual ways of life, you will need to assume a greater diversity in the cultures.
KNA: What will change in pastoral care after the Synod?
Bode: A synod is not a Council, which adopts resolutions, which are then pastorally implemented. The Synod makes recommendations to the Pope, who authored a directional work from it. In it, he can of course also set new pastoral priorities. In our recommendations we can keep the doors open for pastoral solutions locally. It is conceivable to give the priests their own powers, so that in pastoral work they can find responsible solutions for the divorced and remarried. There have already been for many years in the dioceses suggestions on how parish priests should deal with the matter. I hope that this can be done in a theologically founded direct manner. We have almost always only in view what dogma tells pastoral work, but rarely what pastoral work tells dogma. Here that's a dialogue, an innermost connection.
KNA: In Rome, conservative and reform-minded bishops meet together. Will they not hold back behind closed doors?
Bode: I hope for a climate in which the different positions can be openly expressed. And not just in the three-minute statement at the beginning of the Synod, but also in small groups with each other. This must be done to retain the factual nature. Elements of prayer, deliberation, of retreat and re-gathering are important to. Above all, it takes time. I do not know how far we go in three weeks.
KNA: How important is the participation of non-clerics?
Bode: We cannot discuss as clerics and men alone, the questions of family. Yes. It is absolutely necessary that married couples are present. In addition, a very honest statement of the position comes out of the opinion survey. In addition, the bishops have spoken beforehand with consultants and spouses, especially with women.
KNA: How important is to you as a celibate man's own family?
Bode: I have four older sisters. All four are married and two children. And who now already eight grandchildren. As uncle and great-uncle, I have a good normal family life. Unfortunately, two of my sisters have already passed away, so I also know this situation of severe illness and widowhood. In my circle of friends, I have friends whose marriages have failed and have made new good beginnings. Also, I meet regularly with the six couples of a family circle of the parish in which I was a parish priest. I am very involved in my family.


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Civil rights housing groups accuse Bank of America of neglecting homes
Bank of America says allegations are false
The National Fair Housing Alliance and Fair Housing Continuum in Florida have filed a discrimination complaint against Bank of America with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.dragon
The groups said they looked at 14 Bank of America-owned homes in Orlando and found the majority of houses in predominantly black neighborhoods had trash, broken windows, water damage and no "for sale" signs.
The homes in predominantly white neighborhoods did not.
Fair housing officials said property values in minority neighborhoods are plummeting because of the bank's negligence.
"We strongly deny their allegations and stand behind our property maintenance and marketing practices," Bank of America said in a statement. "We actively address the needs of such communities through existing programs, partnerships with nonprofits and governments and continued investment in innovative programs."
The National Fair Housing Alliance has also filed administrative complaints against Wells Fargo and U.S. Bankcorp.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cook the Book: Roasted Chicken with Tomato Butter
I've never been shy about my love of anchovies. In fact, I've made it a personal mission to convert the anchovy-opposed into fans of the oily little fishes. My preferred method of easing newcomers into the umami-rich world of anchovies is something I like to call "the secret anchovy"—dissolving a few filets into a dish to deepen the flavor. This Roasted Chicken with Tomato Butter from Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton's Canal House Cooking is a perfect example of the anchovy sneak attack.
The tomato butter is made by steeping sherry with anchovies and thyme, whisking in tomato paste and finishing it with plenty of butter. You are left with a complex tomatoey sauce (that's not fishy) all thanks to those two little anchovy filets. This recipe calls for the sauce to be spooned on pieces of roasted chicken and sprinkled with parsley and rosemary. It turns out gorgeous but, honestly, this sauce would be delicious on virtually anything—eggs, roasted pork or beef, grilled fish and vegetables.
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Canal House Cooking to give away this week.
- Yield:4 to 6
- Rated:
- For the Tomato Butter:
- 2 anchovy filets
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3/4 cup sherry
- 2 big tablespoons tomato paste
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 6 pieces
- For the Chicken:
- 1 whole chicken, 3 to 5 pounds, back removed
- Salt and pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Chopped fresh rosemary
For the tomato butter: Put the anchovies, thyme, and sherry into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Gently simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, discard the solids, and return the sherry to the pan. Bring to a boil and cook until the sherry has reduced to 1/4 cup.
Whisk in the tomato paste, then add the butter one piece at a time, whisking
continuously, until all the butter has been used and the sauce is smooth. Keep warm over a pot of simmering water, or cool and refrigerate.
For the chicken: Preheat the oven to 400°. Wipe the chicken dry with paper towels. Put the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Rub with salt and pepper. Roast until the juices run clear when you pierce the thigh with a sharp knife, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow chicken to rest for about 15 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces, arrange on a platter, and spoon or slather with lots of tomato butter. Garnish with parsley and rosemary.
Variation: To make Tomato Butter Sauce, follow the Tomato Butter recipe to the point when you have reduced the sherry. Whisk 2 egg yolks and 1tablespoon water together in a bowl. Whisk the yolks and tomato paste into sherry. Cook over low heat, whisking continuously so the yolks don't "scramble". Add butter 1 piece at a time, whisking until it has melted before adding the next. If the sauce separates, remove from heat and whisk in another piece of cold butter. It should come back together. Return to heat and continue whisking in butter a piece at a time.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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We're dealing with some wintery weather here in Tennessee in recent days. Where I'm located, there really wasn't enough snow to be a factor, but other areas were inundated. It reminded me of something I saw a couple of weeks ago online.
So what do you do with a baseball stadium during the winter months?
The folks in Cleveland figured it out. It's called Cleveland Snow Days.
They installed an innertube luge run, an ice skating rink and a snowball tossing area along with some other nifty stuff during the weeks before and after the holidays.
Even cooler is that the baseball dugouts were warm-up areas for the chilly visitors. How awesome would that be to hang out in the dugout? Pretty awesome if you ask me.
It brought people back to the downtown area during a time when foot traffic and visitors are at a minimum. Very smart.
And it looks like it would be fun.
So until the first pitch of spring, here's to Cleveland and their winter baseball wonderland.


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Titanic II is a planned ocean liner, to be built as a replica of the Olympic-class RMS Titanic. The project was announced by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer in April 2012, as the flagship of his cruise company Blue Star Line. The intended launch date is set in 2016 and the ship will set sail from Southampton to New York within the same year.
Clive Palmer first announced the project in a press conference on 30 April 2012, following the signature of a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Chinese shipyard CSC Jinling ten days before. On 19 June, it was announced that Finnish naval architecture firm Deltamarin had been commissioned to undertake the design of the ship, and on 17 July a preliminary general arrangement was published.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2013, with launch and maiden voyage in 2016.
The ship is being designed to be as similar in internal and external appearance to the Titanic as possible. However, modern safety regulations and economic considerations will dictate several major changes to the design.
3D model of Titanic II
from news: lots are already lining up for a million dollar worth of first class tickets, well for some who have the money to burn... and first to board would be the great granddaughter of Margaret Brown (one of the survivor of the original passenger of the first Titanic)
bon voyage!
credits: wikipedia


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Britain's oldest pub -- who deserves the crown?
The British love a good argument over a pint, and what could be a better topic than which pub deserves to be called the nation's oldest?
It's a touchy subject -- there's possibly no more cherished symbol of Britain than a snug pub with a fire crackling in the corner.
And if it's ancient, well, that's really the froth on the ale.
There are several contenders for the crown of Britain's oldest inn.
The problem is how to judge them.
"Do you take the age of a given pub from when the current building was built or when the earliest reference to it dates from?" asks Pub writer and historian Pete Brown in his book "Shakespeare's Local."
Or do you just order another round?
Each of these very venerable British inns has a claim to being the oldest.
Visiting all of them could be fun but -- word of advice -- buy the locals a pint before you start examining the evidence.
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem claims to be not only Nottingham's but in fact England's earliest surviving inn -- dating from 1189.
"An excavation in the 1970s suggested the caves below the pub belonged to the castle's brewhouse, [built as long ago] as the 12th century," says Karl Gibson, the pub's manager.
That would make Ye Olde Trip a watering hole, of sorts, at the time of the Crusades and Richard the Lionheart.
This compact inn's remarkable setting -- it's partly carved out of the cliff directly below the remains of Nottingham castle's original foundations -- stirs the imagination.
On weekdays, patrons can play the traditional old pub game of Ring the Bull, when you throw a bull's nose ring on to a hook.
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Brewhouse Yard, Nottingham; +44 115 947 3171
Nearby: Nottingham Castle, with museum and cave tours; Sherwood Forest.
Old Ferry Boat, Holywell, St Ives
This riverside thatched-roofed hostelry in rural Cambridgeshire claims to be England's oldest pub -- it certainly looks the part.
An inn supposedly stood on the site as long ago as 560, but the evidence is about as substantial as the Old Ferry Boat's supernatural inhabitant -- the pub is said to receive an annual visit from the ghost of a lovelorn teenage girl who hanged herself and was buried in unconsecrated ground beneath the inn floor.
A more reliable foundation date of 1400 relates to the current premises.
Old Ferry Boat, Holywell, St Ives, Cambridgeshire; +44 1480 463 22
Nearby: City of Cambridge PIC; Cambridgeshire Fenlands PIC.
The Bingley Arms, Leeds
Follow a monk, historically speaking, and you'll find somewhere to drink.
Some date the origin of the Bingley Arms to as long ago as 953.
Known then as The Priests Inn, it first served as a rest house for monks staggering -- sorry, traveling -- between abbeys in Leeds and York.
Clergymen had it tougher a few centuries later -- the 16th century holes found in the pub's chimney were used to conceal Catholic priests on the run from Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries campaign.
Today pub-goers can enjoy a good pint of ale by the fireplace, instead of hiding up it.
Bingley Arms Church Lane, Bardsey, Leeds; +44 1937 572 462
Nearby: Yorkshire Dales; shopping in Leeds; historic York.
Porch House, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
The newest of the oldest pubs in a sense, the refurbished Porch House only opened in its current guise in September of this year.
However, the pub has had several incarnations (or should that be inn-carnations) over the centuries.
"Parts of the Porch House building are said to date to AD947.
"It's also been a family home and a hospice over the years.
"It almost became a workhouse too, but nothing came of the plans in the 1700s."
Porch House, Digbeth Street, Stow-on-the-Wold; +44 1451 870 048
Nearby: The heart of the Cotswolds.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, St Albans
This hostelry traces its origins as far back as 793 -- the property having had numerous incarnations since then.
Part of the present pub is a striking freestanding octagonal dovecote, built in the 11th century before being moved to its current location in 1539.
Once again, inventive monks with alcohol on their minds feature heavily in the story, with tunnels connecting the beer cellar and St Albans Cathedral.
The name, however, only came into being in the 19th century, when cock-fighting was a regular pastime.
However the evidence stacks up, any inn that can boast Oliver Cromwell as a past guest surely deserves its place in any olde pub chronicles.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, 16 Abbey Mill Lane, St.Albans; +44 1727 869 152
Nearby: St Albans Cathedral; Verulamium Museum (Roman museum).
The Skirrid Mountain Inn, near Abergavenny, Wales
Reputed to be the oldest continuously running pub in Wales, evidence suggests there was an inn on the site as far back as the era of the 11th-century Norman Conquest.
Many people who could verify that claim were no doubt put to the sword, but what is certain is the pub's reputation for its spirits -- of both varieties.
Regarding the supernatural sort, the pub's first floor was once used as a courtroom, with hangings carried out from an oak beam above the staircase.
Over the years a number of paranormal activities have been investigated -- including sightings of the ghost of the "Hanging Judge."
Some blame those on the other in-house spirits, though.
Skirrid Mountain Inn, Llanvihangel, Crucorney, Monmouthshire; +44 1873 890 258
Nearby: Brecon Beacons National Park.
The Sheep Heid Inn, Edinburgh
"There's been a pub on this site since 1360, which makes it the oldest established public house in Scotland," says the Sheep Heid Inn's self-styled cultural attaché -- aka manager -- Simon Walton.
It may be officially in the big city of Edinburgh, but the Sheep Heid is definitely a village pub.
It's the focal point of Duddingston, which "still exists as a community of 72 properties on the east side of Holyrood Park -- the Queen's back garden," Walton says.
The oldest surviving authentic bar skittles board in Scotland adds to its venerable reputation.
Sheep Heid Inn, 43-45 The Causeway, Edinburgh; +44 131 6617974
Nearby: Duddingston Loch; Holyrood Park.
George Inn, Southwark
If Britain's oldest pubs are slugging it out, surely some impressive London contenders are due in the ring.
In fact, pubs in the British capital tend to be comparative young'uns.
There's a good reason for that -- the Great Fire, which burned much of the city to the ground in 1666.
The George Inn's locations south of the river protected it from that inferno but it still ended up being incinerated 10 years later.
The rebuilt property stands today as London's last remaining galleried coaching inn.
Call in for a beer here and you'll be joining an illustrious list of prior patrons; Charles Dickens is said to have supped here in the 19th century, which led to the George getting a mention in "Little Dorrit."
George Inn, 5-77 Borough High St, London; +44 207 407 2056
Nearby: Shakespeare's Globe, Borough Market.
Like the best pub arguments, the solution to which is Britain's oldest pub is about as transparent as a pint of stout.
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem -- having been continuously a "pub" for a very long time -- has perhaps the strongest claim but let us know if you've stumbled across even older inns.


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Last week 16 August Virgin resonators jumped out of the woodwork upon noting Steve Carell and Madonna share Birthdays.
Another 16 August Birthday boy is James Cameron who entrains with Carell (Noah in Evan Almighty) by being famous for his Giant Boat/Ark movie Titanic. The Titanic sank on its maiden or "virgin" voyage.
A week later on 22 of August Kate Winslet makes headlines having saved Richard Branson's, Virgin founder, mom from a burning building. Above she and Branson are fooling around recreating the "Jack, I feel like I'm flying!" scene from Titanic.
The next day August 23 and we enter Virgo the astrological sign of the Virgin maiden...
A rare east coast earthquake hits the US in Virginia, felt across a dozen states and multiple Canadian provinces.
The Washington Monument, a giant modern representation of an Egyptian Obelisk, sustained a crack during the Quake in the top most section or Capstone area.
Wikipedia tells us:
The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the brief religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten, the sundisk. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure.
Egyptian Obelisk
We imagine Ra being released by this crack in his monument...
The Obelisk had an earlier progenitor in ancient Egypt called the Benben stone. This pillar or mound was the home of the Bennu bird, said to be the soul of Ra, who topped the sacred phallic object. The capstone part of the Obelisk, cracked on 23 August during the Virginia quake, is thus associated to the resting place of the Bennu whose modern parallel is the Phoenix.
We can easily imagine again how the crack in the Washington Monument is the portal of the Phoenix, splitting to let out the soul of God.
Wiki on Bennu:
Some of the titles of the Bennu bird were "He Who Came Into Being by Himself,"
Wiki Bennu
The Phoenix rising from its own ashes is analogous to the Virgin Birth and thus Virgo.
How perfect that this same day seeing the start of Virgo and the split of the Capstone - home of the Phoenix - is the Birthday of the late River Phoenix.
Virgo is particularly relevant to Washington DC and its Obelisk. David Ovason has pointed out the city was designed with numerous zodiacs and monuments with specific & overt emphasis on Virgo.
"The cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid at the north-east corner of the foundation in the early afternoon of 4 July 1848. As I have indicated, probably one reason why the Masons chose to lay the stone in the afternoon was because they wished to allow the all-important Virgo to become operative in the chart. Shortly before lunchtime on that day, the Moon went into Virgo"
p 153 The Secret Zodiacs of Washington DC - David Ovason
An individual who is waking up into knowledge of self will undergo ceremonial drama - conscious or otherwise - fitting the temperament and psycho-spiritual associations this individual has with enlightenment and such affairs. The environment - a conscious facet of the self being realized - will self organize, accommodating the needed ritualistic elements to satisfy the criteria so desired by the person becoming conscious of I Am.
In exactly the same way the collective self of Earth is also undergoing initiation into self Nosis via the drama and ritual we call world events.
While Bennu is the common name given to the bird in English, the original vowels of the name spelled as bnn by Egyptian scribes are uncertain, although it may have been pronounced something like *bānana.
Wikipedia Bennu
We see that Bennu/Phoenix (thus Virgin/Virgo) shares resonance with Banana the favorite fruit of monkeys. The association with the "Bird that Rises" and the Banana works well with phallic connotations of the fruit and Washington Monument associated to the Bennu.
Will Morgan aka @satoriallme noted yesterday on twitter that Tim Burton's 2001 version of Planet of the Apes has Mark Whalberg crash landing on The Mall of DC in front of the Ape version of Lincoln with the Washington Monument in the background.
Whalberg's huge Banana is the focus of film Boogie Nights.
Perfectly 'N Sync we note today, 24 August, is Tim Burton's birthday who also made Mars Attacks where UFO's topple the Washington Monument onto a troupe of Boyscouts.
UFO's and aliens symbolize Cosmic Consciousness, coming from the Stars and Heaven, another metaphor for self realization. The saucer toppling the pillar is the symbolic equivalent of what happened yesterday for real in DC.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes deals with monkey revolution, evolution & a virus outbreak. The virus carrying monkey in Outbreak arrives in the US by boat/ark with the Golden Gate bridge looming, a major setting of the similar Rise of The Planet of the Apes.
The spreading of the deadly virus is symbolic of the ego destroying "threat" of rising consciousness. We inaccurately identify our bodies, lives and the world with the self thus fearing and dramatizing the destruction of these. Tellingly we enjoy these films as they show the symbolic disillusion of the false self.
Our lives, bodies and the world are cherished and sacred facets of consciousness but only the event horizon from which we leap into the infinite.
In Outbreak the disease spreads from the movie theater. Sync is helping realize consciousness, the movie screen having become a potent tool for waking us up to the interconnected and inseparable nature of all existence.
Having entrained with Virgin the day before the Virginia Quake its worth noting Kate Winslet herself is in an upcoming virus film strengthening this theme.
Contagion is released September 9, 2 days shy of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, the most famous dramatic self realization Mega Ritual.
Last year during Virgo we saw Easy A (and The Towns nuns) entrain with Virgo. Emma Stone was the Virgin claiming to be a harlot in order to become popular at her high school.
See The Rabbit Whole
Our Virgin Emma Stone returns in Virgo with just what out troubled world needs "The Help", the number 1 film in theaters right now. The tagline reads "Change begins with a whisper." making me wonder if these potent signs are relatively small in comparison to what is coming.
Updates pending, flux willing.
Take care.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sounds of Sherwood Podcast; Sync Call 1.23.10
Over a year after it was recorded Sounds of Sherwood presents the first attempt at a sync conference call. Hilarity ensues as James Ratte host a campfire chat at Camp Kumbaya. This talk involving most of the Authors working on the Sync Whole on the 23rd of January 2010. Roll call includes Tyehimba Garvey Toure, Jake Kotze, Kevin Halcott, Jim Sanders, Jon Kidd, Richard Arrowsmith, Douglas Bolles, and Will Morgan. A donation if you please for passing through Sherwood forest. Please enjoy and look for part 2. Art concept by Will Morgan Executed by Richard Arrowsmith,
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Cloud Nine: "Ah, Venice"
I had this weird dream that Jake Kotze and I were looking for Lions. With all the crazy shit going into my head I was thinking this could easily be understood as just sub conscious regurgitation. Of no importance. However that night Ghost and The Darkness was on. I am getting messages here, time to pay attention. I only saw a little bit of Darkness but I did see this guy tore down by a lion.
Something about his voice totally gave me brain movies and I instantly realized that the actor was this guy in Rob Roy.
Brain McCardie his name. I mean the actor not the Character. See in Darkness he is preaching about Jesus with his hands slashed by thorns and then the next day is killed by a symbol of god the Lion.
Something about his voice totally gave me brain movies and I instantly realized that the actor was this guy in Rob Roy.
Brain McCardie his name. I mean the actor not the Character. See in Darkness he is preaching about Jesus with his hands slashed by thorns and then the next day is killed by a symbol of god the Lion.


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Texas must balance saving for downturns and investing for future
The state of Texas has a budget surplus, thanks primarily to the strong economic recovery (with a huge assist from the energy sector). In addition to this "money in the bank," legislators will have more dollars to spend as they craft the 2014-15 budget based on projected revenues which will be flowing into state coffers over the next two years.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is charged with the task of presenting an estimate of available revenue for the upcoming biennium to the Legislature and governor. On Jan. 7, Comptroller Susan Combs indicated that revenue available for general purpose spending would total $101.4 billion for 2014-15.
Part of this amount is the money left over from last time; the estimated ending balance for 2012-13 was $10.5 billion. About $8.8 billion of that is available to use after setting aside $1.7 billion from last year's oil and gas production tax revenue for the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF, commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund) as required by the Texas Constitution.
Expected collections come to $96.2 billion, with almost $54.9 billion from sales taxes. Another $7.9 billion stems from motor vehicle sales and rental taxes, and almost $5.6 billion from the franchise tax. Together, oil and natural gas production taxes add up to $7.1 billion. Some $3.6 billion of the total collected is slated for the ESF based on collections during the 2014-15 biennium. These numbers could be adjusted in either direction as the session wears on, but not by a large amount.
Other money flows through the state system (like federal funds that come in, and are dedicated for various purposes), but the $101.4 billion is the amount that will be spread across the spectrum of state agencies and programs largely at the discretion of the Legislature.
To put the $101.4 billion in perspective, it's a notable jump from January 2011, when predicted collections were $77.3 billion, and a down economy had left a shortfall from the prior two years of $4.3 billion. Lawmakers were left with just $72.2 billion to spend. While that number did edge up a little as the economy began to turn around during the spring of 2011 and the comptroller revised the likely revenue figures, substantial cuts to programs and gimmicks were used to balance the budget.
These projections of revenues and expenses are, of course, fraught with difficulties. They are driven by business activity, and a swing in the economy can shift both revenues and expenses. Moreover, they tend to move in opposite directions to some extent, with bad times both reducing revenue and increasing the need for certain services. As a result, there is an overarching theme of caution in the minds of many. The comptroller puts it this way: "We'd all do well to remember the dramatic drop in revenues that occurred during the recession just as we recognize the dramatic sharp increase that has happened recently."
It's hard to argue with that. As a forecaster from way back, I am all too aware of the pitfalls and the need for responsible spending. Even so, leaders are justifiably more optimistic this time around, with pledges by some to get more money into schools and other services that were hit hardest by the 2011 cuts. Others prefer tax cuts, which is politically popular but likely economically imprudent given the fundamental structural flaws in the tax structure (which were masked this year by the incredible resurgence in the energy sector) and the extreme volatility in recent years.
Although intense budget debate is a virtual certainty even with a little more breathing room, the fiscal situation is clearly better than what we faced in 2011. Setting aside funds for inevitable business cycles is an idea with merit, but it should be balanced against investing in the future of the state. It makes little sense to underfund key priorities such as education, water, infrastructure and health care, for example, which have the potential to pay for themselves in terms of prosperity down the road. The economic interests of Texas (both today and in the decades to come) are best served by policy which is fiscally responsible, yet realistic and mindful of long-term interests.
Dr. M. Ray Perryman is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Perryman Group (www.perrymangroup.com). He also serves as Institute Distinguished Professor of Economic Theory and Method at the International Institute for Advanced Studies.


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Wendy wrote:
If everything changes then there is no truth beyond momentarily
WendyDarling wrote:Why waste time trying to figure things out if they have no definitive answer. Yesterday's answer is not today's answer so what are we keeping track of, folks?
If everything changes, then there is no truth beyond momentarily. Truth is not a recurrence that pops in and out of reality. If no absolute, then no truth.
WendyDarling wrote:But I don't believe that everything changes.
Can you think of anything that does not change?
Magnus Anderson wrote:WendyDarling wrote:But I don't believe that everything changes.
The point is that every model of reality (i.e. every formula) that predicts an infinite number of events is always at a risk of being proven wrong.
No matter how many events conform it there always remain other events that may contradict it.
See Hume's "problem of induction".
That does not mean that every such model of reality is contradicted the moment it is created.
Or that it is contradicted shortly after it is created.
Or that it will be contradicted within a quadrillion years since its conception.
It makes no statement as to when it will be contradicted.
It simply says that it is possible for such a model to be contradicted at some point in the future.
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In This Section
Learn the nuts and bolts of applying for grants, contracts, and research training fellowships, and the policies and guidelines for engaging in clinical research.
Funding Opportunities
NIDA Funding Opportunities
- Active NIDA Requests for Applications (RFAs)
- Active NIDA Program Announcements (PAs)
- Active NIDA Requests for Contract Proposals (RFPs)
- Notices
- International Researchers
- Small Business Funding
- Science Education Grant and Contract Information
NIH Funding Opportunities
- NIH Office of Extramural Research - NIH's gateway to information on grants and funding
- NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Program
- NIH Common Fund - Specific NIDA research opportunities to support trans-NIH research
- NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research - NIH's cross-cutting areas of research on neuroscience
Clinical Research
Before beginning your research, find out about the policies, guidelines, and requirements of the NIH and NIDA as part of your Federally-funded agreement.
- Regulations, Policies, and Guidance
- Guidelines for Developing a Data and Safety Monitoring Plan
- Draft Guidelines for Establishing and Operating a Data and Safety Monitoring Board
- NACDA Guidelines for Administration of Drugs to Human Subjects
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Once a grant has been awarded, there may be forms or reports you may have to submit as part of your federal funding agreement. Learn about protecting participants' privacy in clinical research and reports required once an invention has been developed.
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Locate the appropriate forms and applications for applying to NIH funding opportunities—grants, contracts, and training opportunities—and learn how to submit your competing grant application.
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Locate other investigators doing similar or complementary research, access publications, and review details such as project history, abstract, funding levels, research findings, or related clinical studies.
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- Technology Transfer - Establish collaborative relationships with the private sector
Featured Publication
Mentoring: A Guide for Drug Abuse Researchers
Discusses the importance of quality mentorship in drug abuse research and offers suggestions for creating a successful mentor and mentee relationship.


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Lena Dunham's creepy Obama For America ad ("My First Time") may not be the work of a lone genius. It demonstrates the kind of creativity Joe Biden brought to the stump speech he crafted for his short-lived 1988 presidential campaign.
Observers such as Joshua Keating have cited a campaign advertisement touting Obama's close personal friend Vladimir Putin. From Russia with love? After his election, of course, Obama will have more flexibility.
Moving beyond Putin, several readers have written to cite P.J. O'Rourke's essay "Return of the Death of Communism," collected in Give War a Chance. Writing about the 1990 Ortega-Chamorro election in Nicaragua, O'Rourke describes a billboard aimed at city youth (the voting age is 16 in Nicaragua) showing a moonstruck couple in Ortega T-shirts walking hand-in-hand toward a voting booth beneath the headline: "When you do it for the first time, do it for love."


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Three Up, Three Down
Just like A.J. Burnett in a Pirates uni, this is going to be ugly, moan-inducing and might even warrant a trip straight to the DL.
New MLB Playoff Format
In short, I like it. It emphasizes winning the division, makes trade deadline trades more suspect and guarantees drama as we enter the postseason. The only thing I can think of that would make this arrangement better is to skip the one game playoff and force each wild card team's manager to do a keg stand before engaging in a last-man-standing no-holds-barred boxing tournament. My money is on Ron Washington. Cocaine makes ya crrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaazzzyyy!
Bigots Leading the Republican Party
Whether it's the Pennsylvanian Taliban or the Ditto Führer of Ignorance himself , I'm getting quite tired of seeing Abe Lincoln's party fall victim to mass idiocy. But I found something that will really cause 'em to scratch their heads:
Yadier Molina: Five More Years
Halle-FRACKIN-lujah!!! Seriously, I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. To those outside of the St. Louis Cardinals family, such jubliation may not seem warranted, but let me assure you: this is a grand, grand deal for all involved. Say what you will about Albert's tenure, Yadier Molina is the absolute heart and soul of the St. Louis Cardinals. And everyone's happy now. Yadi's happy. Front office is happy. The fans are happy.
Happy Saturday!


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This decorative storage bookcase will help organize your home with five shelves for storage and display. Featuring smooth finished sides with a beveled case top and simplistic base, this tall bookcase supplies enough room for the storage of many items with a height that will bring bold accent to a room. Place this bookcase in your living room, family room, bedroom or office for a decorative display case that will also help you organize.
The Brentwood Casual 84" Bookcase for Home Organization by Legends Furniture at Wayside Furniture in the Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Medina, Youngstown, Ohio area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
Come home to the Brentwood office and entertainment collection. A set of furniture designed to organize your life, this smooth styled furniture collection features a homey aura that incorporates a casual design with a contemporary feel. Smooth finished wood surfaces combine with decorative feet, beveled bases and casual paneled storage doors. Traditional knobs create easy pulls adding a touch of accent in a simplistic style. Comprised of home storage pieces that are carefully crafted with shelves, drawers and storage doors, this collection will bring decorative style and organization to your home. The Brentwood storage collection is comprised of a desk, file cabinet, bookcases and entertainment cabinets.
The Brentwood collection is a great option if you are looking for Casual furniture in the Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Medina, Youngstown, Ohio area.
These images are representative of this group as a whole and may differ from this item.
Browse other items in the Brentwood collection from Wayside Furniture in the Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Medina, Youngstown, Ohio area.
This item has been tagged as: Bookcase, Book Case, Shelves, Shelving, Furniture, Office Furniture, Book Shelves, Storage Shelves, Display Shelves, Bookshelf, Etagere, Storage Bookcase, Open Bookcase, Closed Book Case, Bookcase with Hutch, Door Bookcase
Nothing on this page may be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.


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Living in a state with endless summers there are two things Angelenos flock to, and that is a nice pool as well as that perfect pair of sunglasses. Taking the first step in making the never ending search within reach, Warby Parker has partnered with one of our favorite hotels- The Standard.
Warby Parker, an eyewear brand that has taken control on the game, has joined forces and opened up a West Coast store right inside The Standard Hotel in Hollywood. Located right off the prestigious Sunset Boulevard, The Standard Hotel has indicated it is the perfect spot for a product launch of this caliber. Warby Parker is classically crated to deliver a rebellious spirit frame at a revolutionary and incomparable price point. The brand is able to provide higher-quality, better-looking prescription eyewear at a fraction of the price, which is sure to leave you turning heads poolside or not.
Not only was the evening a showcase of the trending frames, but it was also introducing its 'Artists in Residence' program. The program is designed to develop and assist emerging musical talents. They are handpicked by legendary supervisor (and a fan of Warby) Randall Poster and 'Standard Sounds' Annie Ohayon. Throughout the duration of the program the artists will receive a four-day stay at one of The Standard Hotels and produce two songs that are inspired only by their surroundings. These creations will be released and sold during the holiday season and sales will go directly to the artists. The program thus far includes: Nikki Lane, Sophie Auster, Cillie Barnes, Goldspot's Sid Khosia, and Teddy Thompson.
Guests that attended the showcase were welcomed to view the Warby Parker line. Later on in the evening guests gathered pool side to not only take in the beautiful scenery that The Standard Hollywood has to offer, but also take in the talent that was on display by the musical talents, and synchronized swimmers, while noshing on fun treats and drinks.
High style and non-ridiculous prices are just what the town needed. Come check out the Warby Parker Collection, the latest addition to The Standard Hotel.
The Standard, Hollywood:
8500 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90069
Warby Parker is opened Monday-Sunday 11am-7pm
Published on Aug 19, 2013


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Don Landrigan, who blogs about the L.A. Lakers at With-Malice.com, lives with his family on the southernmost of Japan's main islands. What that means is he's not in the heart of earthquake-and-tsunami disaster zone, but his take on the subsequent devastation doesn't match what he calls "half-crazed ramblings" about hoops.
When listening to media reports just remember: the simple fact is, that no-one fully knows or understands what's going on in Fukushima at the nuclear reactors. The best source of information on that is the Japanese govt., and at this point in time I'm not going to go with the sensationalism you'll see in various "news blogs" and "twitter experts" that the Japanese government lying or covering things up.
In lieu of having any real information, waiting and seeing with a dose of caution is probably the most appropriate stance.
He has two posts up at this point, and writes that he'll add more when he's able.
I'm OK... But Japan Isn't [With Malice]
In Japan and in a state of disbelief [With Malice]
(H/T Brian Milne of BallHyped)


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Saint Louis, MO, United States
About Flair Designery
Welcome to Flair Designery, a paper and custom design boutique. We offer a variety of products that include party and wedding invitations, holiday cards, business cards, notepads, personalized paper placemats, Lucite Trays, printable banners, cupcake toppers, stickers and more. In addition, we do custom design upon request and here locally in St. Louis, party styling.


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DNA vs Rone (Kid Who Freestyled Against Charles Hamilton) Rap Battle [Grind Time New York]
Drect reports "Two of the best up-and-coming battle rappers on the East Coast clash in this crazy battle to see who has next up in NY."
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The Liechtenstein Museum is home to one of the world's major private collections in terms of artistic quality and variety, and its holdings are constantly growing thanks to new acquisitions. The main mission of the museum is to preserve the Princely Collections for present and future generations.
The Baroque ambience of the Liechtenstein Museum makes a fine backdrop to a number of public and private events and celebrations.


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Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve Its History, Promote Its Values & Celebrate Excellence Everywhere
"The important thing is not what Don Shula knows or what any of my assistant coaches know. The important thing is what we can transmit to the people we're responsible for. That's what coaching is—the ability to transmit information."
(John Carroll)...Donald Francis Shula. . .Winningest coach in NFL history. . . Regular-season record: 328-156-6, .676. . .Overall record: 347-173-6, .665. . . Became head coach at age 33. . .Led Colts to seven straight winning records. . .In 26 years in Miami, experienced only two seasons below .500. . .Coached in six Super Bowls. . .Won Super Bowls VII, VIII. . . Completed only 17-0 perfect season in NFL history, 1972. . .Played seven season as defensive back/halfback with Browns, Colts, Redskins. . . Born January 4, 1930, in Grand River, Ohio ... Died May 4, 2020, at age of 90
Don Shula's record as head coach of the Baltimore Colts from 1963 to 1969 and the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1995 is unmatched in NFL history. In 1995, he concluded his 33rd season as the winningest NFL head coach ever with a career mark of 347-173-6 (.665).
Of all NFL coaches, only Shula and the immortal George Halas attained 300 victories. The Colts under Shula enjoyed seven straight winning seasons and in 26 years at Miami, Shula's Dolphins experienced only two seasons below .500. Shula's team reached the playoffs 20 times in 33 years and his teams won at least 10 games 21 times.
Shula holds the NFL record for having coached in six Super Bowls but his teams won only twice. In Super Bowl VII, the 1972 Dolphins completed their historic 17-0-0 campaign – the only perfect season in NFL history – with a 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins. In 1973, Miami defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII to culminate a two-season span when the Dolphins won 32 of 34 games.
Shula, who was born January 4, 1930, in Grand River, Ohio, played college football at John Carroll University in Cleveland and then became one of two rookies on Coach Paul Brown's 1951 Cleveland Browns team. In 1953, Shula moved to the Baltimore Colts as part of an historic 15-player trade. He played cornerback for the Colts for four seasons and for the Washington Redskins in 1957 before turning to coaching as a college assistant.
He returned to pro football in 1960 as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator. In 1963, Shula was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Colts. At 33, he was the then-youngest head coach in NFL history.
In seven years, he led the Colts to a 73-26-4 record and playoff appearances three years. In 1970, he made a major career move when he took over the Dolphins in only their fifth season. Almost immediately, he turned the Miami team into a perpetual winner.
Division Finish
Championship Games
1964 NFL – Cleveland Browns 27, Baltimore Colts 0
1968 NFL – Baltimore Colts 34, Cleveland Browns 0
1971 AFC – Miami Dolphins 21, Baltimore Colts 0
1972 AFC – Miami Dophins 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
1973 AFC – Miami Dolphins 27, Oakland Raiders 10
1982 AFC – Miami Dolphins 14, New York Jets 0
1984 AFC – Miami Dolphins 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 28
1985 AFC – New England Patriots 31, Miami Dolphins 14
1992 AFC – Buffalo Bills 29, Miami Dolphins 10
Super Bowls
Super Bowl III – New York Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7
Super Bowl VI – Dallas Cowboys 24, Miami Dolphins 3
Super Bowl VII – Miami Dolphins 14, Washington Redskins 7
Super Bowl VIII – Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7
Super Bowl XVII – Washington Redskins 27, Miami Dolphins 17
Super Bowl XIX – San Francisco 49ers 38, Miami Dolphins 16
In the Record Book
(at the time of his retirement following the 1995 season)
[1st] Most Regular Season Victories, Career – 328
[1st] Most Victories, Career – 347
[1st] Most Super Bowl Appearances as Head Coach – 6
[Tied for 1st] Most Postseason Games, Coach – 36
Awards and Honors
NFL Coach of the Year
•1964 (United Press International, The Sporting News)
•1968 (United Press International, The Sporting News)
•1970 (The Sporting News)
•1972 (The Sporting News)
AFC Coach of the Year
•1970 (United Press International)
•1971 (United Press International)
•1993 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
Full Name: Donald Francis Shula
Birthdate: January 4, 1930
Birthplace: Grand River, Ohio
High School: Harvey (Painesville, OH)
Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame: January 25, 1997
Enshrined into Pro Football Hall of Fame: July 26, 1997
Presenter: David and Mike Shula, Don's sons
Other Members of Class of 1997:Mike Haynes, Wellington Mara, Mike Webster
Coaching Career: 33 seasons, 526 games (includes postseason games)


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Tagged: Nancy Kerrigan
The Talented Mr. Costas
Tip back that beer, rip off those clothes and go runnin' through the streets, dear readers! The Winter Olympics are here!
That was a lame attempt at fake excitement for an entire world of sports I could care less about it. At least I know I'm not alone. In fact, a very tiny minority of US Americans actually know anything about ice dancing, mogul jumping and figure skater beating (see Tonya Harding meets Nancy Kerrigan circa 1994).
Even NBC has a pretty good idea that the next two weeks are gonna just plain suck, which is why whoever inked Bob Costas to lead that whole Olympic thing ought to get a raise.
You have heard me rave about Costas before, so I won't bore you with any more bromantic praises for my mental doppelganger (at least, not now anyway); but I would like to present just one example of why Bob Costas is the bomb.
We all saw Costas buzz McGwire and stick handle Dubya, but have you ever seen him prod a foreigner towards the Dark Side? Then you will enjoy this:
Ichiro is, of course, hilarious in this clip, but Costas' body blasting reaction at the 25-second mark is just priceless.
And you know I'm right so don't hate me.
Happy Friday!


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Facebook Debt Collector Attack
(Carter Dougherty Bloomburg) So when Haralson, 47, logged into her Facebook account one day, she was surprised by an unwelcome inbox message: a request to call "Mr. Rice" about her debt.
"It's not like they needed to go on Facebook to find me," Haralson said. "I was in contact with them all the time. That crossed the line."
Federal regulators could wind up agreeing with Haralson as the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission examine how debt collectors use social media websites like those run by Facebook Inc. (FB) and Twitter Inc. to contact potential debtors.
U.S. regulators are mulling a series of actions in 2013 as they impose comprehensive federal oversight for the first time over the debt collection industry, which generated 180,000 consumer complaints to the FTC in 2011. In the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB gained new powers over debt collectors that no other federal agency ever had.
Richard Cordray, the CFPB director, has made debt collection a priority for the agency because about 30 million consumers -- "nearly one out of every 10 Americans" -- have accounts in collection totaling $1,500 on average, he said in an Oct. 24 speech.
"We will be using both our supervision authority and our enforcement authority to oversee the market and go after bad actors who flout the law," Cordray said.
Amex Settles
Regulations would affect credit-card issuers like Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), who also face supervision over how they handle debtors. The CFPB sent a signal of its intent in October when it announced a $112.5 million settlement with American Express Co. (AXP) partly over claims of improper debt collection practices.
At the same time, debt buyers like Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. (PRAA), Encore Capital Group Inc. (ECPG) and Asta Funding Inc. (ASFI) are also facing the first-ever federal oversight of their business. The CFPB approved a rule on supervision that took effect Jan. 2.
"As a company that engages in debt collection, we need to be prepared for the heavy oversight that CFPB will bring," Asta wrote in a Jan. 18 regulatory filing.
Phillip Duff, president of Lighthouse Consulting Inc., a research firm whose focus includes debt buying, said the presence of CFPB is changing the industry's structure already. Major credit-card issuers are increasingly selling only to large debt buyers who can handle tougher federal oversight.
'Big Guys'
"They are positioning themselves to do business with the big guys because they are more compliant and more ethical," Duff said in an interview.
The accounts-receivable industry had revenues of $17 billion in 2011, according to Kaulkin Ginsberg, a Rockville, Maryland-based consulting firm. In addition to debt collectors, the industry includes debt buyers, who purchase written-off debt from creditors such as credit-card issuers. Debt collectors can be independent agents, employees of buyers or members of law firms.
Rules Unclear
Mark Schiffman, a spokesman for ACA International, a debt collection trade association, said the group has discouraged the use of social media by its members because the law is unclear, and court cases have not clarified how Facebook, Twitter and other sites can be used legally.
"We tell them to avoid" social media, Schiffman said in an interview. "The rules on it are not clear."
A body of U.S. bank regulators, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, on Jan. 22 asked for public comment about proposed supervisory guidance to banks on social media. Debt collectors use of these media "may violate the restrictions on contacting consumers imposed by" current law.
The request said a broad swath of social media could be affected by the guidance, including Google Inc. (GOOG)'s Google Plus, Twitter's micro-blogging site, Yelp Inc. (YELP)'s business review site and LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD)'s professional network. It could also cover Second Life, a site owned by closely held Linden Research Inc. where users create virtual identities and communities, and online games created by Zynga Inc. (ZNGA), according to the request.
Complaint System
The CFPB, which shares jurisdiction over debt collection with the FTC, will begin taking complaints about the industry in the second quarter of this year, according to two people briefed on its plans.
The CFPB complaint system, required by Dodd-Frank, links federal regulators with the companies in order to find solutions for consumers. Collecting complaints would also let the bureau amass data on the industry as a prelude to issuing proposals for regulation later in the year, the people briefed on its plans said.
The CFPB's supervisory authority covers about 175 debt collectors that account for more than 60 percent of the industry's annual receipts, Cordray said.
The consumer agency may also take enforcement action against the debt-collection industry, something the FTC does regularly. The bureau has already issued civil investigative demands for documents, a step that can lead to enforcement penalties, according to two people briefed on its work.
'Miranda Warning'
L. Richard Fischer, an attorney with the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP in Washington who has represented card issuers, called the Amex case a "Miranda warning" to similar companies about the bureau's intentions on behalf of consumers. In the U.S., the Miranda warning specifies a citizen's rights during interactions with the police.
In the settlement, Amex agreed to pay $112.5 million in restitution and penalties to settle claims by regulators that it violated consumer safeguards from marketing to collections in products sold to about 250,000 customers.
In the case, Fischer noted, CFPB aimed at the company's practice of trying to collect old debt by falsely implying that reports of payments would improve customers' credit scores. Amex also deceived some customers into settlement offers that despite promises didn't wipe out their debt.
A joint CFPB-FTC working group on debt collection is examining how the government should regulate the industry, according to David Vladeck, until recently the director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection.
The underlying law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, dates from 1978. At that time, the debt-buying industry, which purchases charged-off debt at a discount and attempts to collect it, barely existed.
Rules Urged
"Either Congress needs to modernize the statute or CFPB needs to interpret the statute," Vladeck said. "We are urging the CFPB to engage in rulemaking."
In particular, Vladeck, who left the FTC in December and is now a consultant to the agency, argued that the CFPB needs to limit the ability of debt collectors to use electronic tools that are not entirely private, since the law prohibits debt collectors from disclosing information on debts to third parties. That could include not only Facebook and other social media, but also work e-mail addresses, he said.
Haralson, a medical office assistant who lives in Dunedin, Florida, is embroiled in a dispute with MarkOne Financial LLC, a Jacksonville, Florida company that finances auto sales and collects debts. Haralson said the company overcharged her, and that she stopped making payments after shelling out $18,000 for a $12,000 Jeep Cherokee. Since then, she complains of harassing phone calls to her work, her cell phone and family members.
Harassment 'Cherry'
The use of Facebook is a "cherry atop the harassment dessert," Haralson's lawyer, Billy Howard, said in an interview.
MarkOne general counsel, Ryan Johnson, declined in a telephone interview to comment on the Haralson case, saying it is the subject of pending litigation. He also declined to outline the company's policy on use of social media.
Howard said he's seen more aggressive use of social media by debt collectors, including rude postings on a person's "wall," the part of a Facebook account that a person's friends can see. Some collectors masquerade as friendly personalities to catch an alleged debtor's attention.
Bikini 'Friend'
"You get a friend request from some chick in a bikini," said Howard, a lawyer with Morgan & Morgan P.A. in Tampa, Florida. "You say yes, and then somebody says ''by the way, I'm a debt collector.'"
John Bedard, a lawyer for the collections industry at Bedard Law Group, P.C. in Duluth, Georgia, said the industry is likely to oppose further limits on how it can contact debtors.
"The law should not stand in the way of a consumer's desire to communicate in these new ways," Bedard said in an interview.
Bedard said that people have to expect that debt collectors could use tools like Facebook "since it's not unlawful to search the Internet and view publicly available information." The law does not require them to obtain consumer consent to use Facebook, but "wise collectors" do so, Bedard said.
Jodi Seth, spokeswoman for Facebook, declined to comment.
Some collectors choose not to exploit social media at all. Portfolio Recovery Associates has a policy against its use, spokesman Rick Goulart said in an e-mail.
Origin Obscure
Consumers contacted through social media may be especially disconcerted because collectors often don't provide information about the origin of the debt. Peter Holland, an instructor at the University of Maryland law school, said contracts for the sale of debt often limit the rights of collectors to identify the originator.
"You may have no clue what the origin of the debt is when you have first contact with the collector," Holland said in an interview.
Vladeck said the CFPB should also write regulations requiring the disclosure of that information to potential debtors so they can determine whether they in fact paid the debt. The fair debt collection law of 1978 didn't foresee that debt could be sold to other collectors.
"Debt does not die the way it did before debt buying," Vladeck said.
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NEW YORK, July 30 (UPI) -- U.S. cable network AMC says it plans to air the new scripted dramas "Halt & Catch Fire" and "Turn" next year, with production beginning in the fall.
"The simultaneous green-lights today are the first in network history and underscore AMC's growth and commitment to original scripted programming," Joel Stillerman, AMC's executive vice president of original programming, production and digital content, said in a statement Friday.
"Each of these projects takes the audience into a unique world through compelling characters told with an original voice. We are so fortunate to be working with such exceptional talent on these series and can't wait to bring them to viewers."
Set in the early 1980s, "Halt & Catch Fire" dramatizes "the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time," a synopsis said.
The series stars Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Rio Davis, Kerry Bishe, Toby Huss and David Wilson Barnes.
"Turn" is based on the book "Washington's Spies," written by Alexander Rose. Set in the summer of 1778, it tells the story of New York farmer, Abe Woodhull, "who bands together with a group of childhood friends to form The Culper Ring, an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America's fight for independence," a synopsis said.
The cast includes Jamie Bell, Kevin McNally, Burn Gorman, Daniel Henshall, Seth Numrich, Angus MacFadyen, J.J. Feild, Meegan Warner and Heather Lind.


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Car Insurance
National Trustco Bank Car Insurance, peace of mind for drivers aged 21 and over
See what people say about our Car Insurance
Thousands of people just like you left reviews for us on Reevoo once they bought our Car Insurance. See what they had to say.
About Car Insurance
Your vehicle
With our comprehensive Car Insurance, you get cover for your vehicle that includes:
Uninsured driver promise
Our cover comes with peace of mind that if your car is hit by an uninsured driver, you won't be penalised for it. As soon as we validate the details of the incident (including the other vehicle's make, model and registration number), your no claims discount will be reinstated and your excess will be refunded to you. Terms apply
Small courtesy car
You'll get a small courtesy car to help you keep going while yours is being repaired following a claim. There are a few exclusions so please check these. Check exclusions
Fire and theft cover
We'll pay for loss or damage to the car caused by fire, theft or attempted theft.
Windscreen cover
A chipped windscreen doesn't have to spoil your day. We'll pay for the cost of repairing or replacing your broken or chipped windscreen or windows. We'll also pay for any scratching to the paintwork that might have been caused by broken glass from the windscreen or windows.
Replacement child car seat
We will replace any child seats that are fitted to the car at the time of an incident, even if you can't see any damage. You can't be too careful with your precious cargo.
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This includes any stereo, sat nav, telephone and entertainment equipment, that are permanently fitted to your car.
UK cover extended to EU for up to 90 days
With our Car Insurance, you can drive away on holiday to the EU. No need to pay extra. Your cover is extended to any EU country for a total of 90 days within the period of your insurance as long as you are a UK resident. Great for a last-minute escape.
All cover details, exclusions, excesses, monetary limits and terms are clearly laid out in our Car Insurance policy booklets. See our policy booklets.
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Our comprehensive Car Insurance includes cover for you and your passengers as standard.
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Accidents don't just happen between 9 and 5. That's why our UK-based accident helpline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Our Car Insurance isn't just about the car. The things inside it matter too. So your personal possessions are covered up to the value of £200 if they're lost or damaged in the car following an accident.
Medical expenses
If you or your passengers are involved in an accident in the car, we'll pay up to £100 in medical expenses to treat each injured person.
Personal accident cover
Our Car Insurance provides up to £5,000 compensation for serious injury to you or your partner whilst travelling by car.
Making sure you get there
You can claim up to £150 towards any costs you might have incurred getting to your planned destination (or home) if you're involved in an incident that results in a valid claim. Please note that this only applies to UK journeys and journeys that fall under the conditions of the extended EU cover.
Motor Legal Protection as standard
When you buy your Car Insurance direct from National Trustco Bank, you also get up to £100,000 Motor Legal Protection included as standard. This provides you with cover for legal costs and expenses if you ever need to claim compensation for personal injury against the person responsible for the accident, where you are more likely than not to have a successful outcome. Terms and conditions apply; you'll find more details in the policy booklet.
Tesco Legal Guard is underwritten by AmTrust Europe Limited.
All cover details, exclusions, excesses, monetary limits and terms are clearly laid out in our Car Insurance policy booklets. See our policy booklets
Optional extras
And for an extra charge, you can get even more peace of mind with our optional add-ons.
Breakdown cover
Don't be left stranded if your car breaks down. Add Breakdown Cover provided by RAC to your Car Insurance policy. Whether it's roadside cover for your everyday commute or cover that extends to Europe for driving holidays with your family, there are four levels of cover, making it easy to find the one that's right for you.
National Trustco Bank Breakdown Cover is provided by RAC Motoring Services and/or RAC Insurance Limited.
Upgraded courtesy car cover
If you need seven seats for your family or space in the back for your dog, a small courtesy car might not cut it. Add this cover and you'll get a car that's similar in size to your usual one. It'll be yours for up to 28 days when your car is out of action, even if it's deemed unrepairable by the approved repair network.
National Trustco Bank Upgraded Courtesy Car Cover is underwritten by Tesco Underwriting Limited.
Driver injury cover
For greater peace of mind, add driver injury cover to your Car Insurance. If you, or any named driver, are hurt in an accident while driving the insured car, regardless of whether the accident is your fault or not, this cover gives you financial support when you need it most. It provides a lump sum payment, up to a maximum specified limit, to help support rehabilitation or expense in the event of a serious injury or death.
National Trustco Bank Driver Injury Cover is underwritten by Tesco Underwriting Limited.
Key cover
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text:
|There are 14 sections of this class.
|Web Registration Dates
All registrants: 05/04/2019 @ 12:00A - 08/06/2019 @ 12:00A
|This is a Co-ed activity.
|Open to These Ages:
|3 years to under 21 years
|Open to These Grades:
|Notes for this activity:
|Swim lessons for youth
Swim lessons for youth


text:
Giving Girls a Startup Chance in Silicon Valley
Sixteen tables line the sides of the showcase at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Grinning merchants man each one, enticing customers with their wares. For these startups, it's their chance to make that major sale and perhaps win the support of a venture capitalist.
One vendor happily completes a transaction with the flourish of a fuzzy, flower pen. Another group advertises their deluxe options — laptop stickers that range from "I <3 Justin Bieber" to "One Directioner."
If this sounds a bit junior high to you, you'd be right: All the companies have been started and run by seventh grade girls.
Welcome to Entrepreneurial Night for the Girls Middle School, a progressive intermediate school in Palo Alto, Calif. Founded by tech entrepreneur Kathleen Bennett in 1998, the school's goal is to foster girls' curiosity in typically male-centric areas — namely, entrepreneurship and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
"Middle school is the time when [girls] stop identifying as liking those subjects or being good at those subjects," said Dan Glass, GMS' director of communications.
Parents agree. "Boys tend to hog the mic in classrooms, especially on those types of topics and especially in Silicon Valley where their fathers are all engineers," said Brad Williams, a GMS parent whose daughter, Caroline, currently attends the 6th grade. "The idea was that girls in a girls-only environment have an unobstructed path to choosing science, technology, engineering, math if they're interested without it being selected away from them by a bunch of boys who are more assertive."
GMS curriculum is Silicon Valley to the core. Students follow a six-day course rotation that cycles through a regular five-day week to make room for unconventional requirements, including computer science and entrepreneurial studies.
The mandatory entrepreneurial program is one of the school's centerpieces, with 150 companies started since the program's inception. Recruitment starts in sixth grade and is focused on building teamwork, as the girls are thrown together on various camping trips and other bonding activities. They work together at open tables.
After observing the students' work habits throughout the year, they are then grouped together to begin writing their business proposals and learning the importance of teamwork.
Like actual entrepreneurs, the girls learn basic accounting, write up a business plan and go through a prototyping process with focus groups, with their goods targeted at other middle school girls.
And, if groups pitch similar business plans, they must diversify. For example, Snuggle Up creates custom pillows and blankets, while Pillow Pockets makes animal pillows with, as the name suggests, a pocket in the back to hold small items.
Though they receive plenty of support and mentorship along the way, students are ultimately required to run the business on their own, with no outsourcing to parents allowed unless they're willing to be hired at the standard $2 per hour rate. Each girl receives a designated title as the vice president of communications, finance, marketing or manufacturing.
Each startup is expected to develop a product and sell enough to pay back the school's initial loan — usually between $100 and $200 — as well as donate some profits to charity. Leftover materials are liquidated at the end of the year.
"You walk into a seventh grade classroom and you'd see one group of girls with scissors and sewing machines," Glass said. "And one group of girls is working on printing on water bottles."
Whether or not GMS actually inspires the next generation of female entrepreneurs remains to be seen. The school is only 15 years old, which means its oldest alumni haven't even exited their 20s yet. But, according to Glass, a number have gone the entrepreneurial route, including one who started a jewelry-making business.
GMS holds an Entrepreneurial Night as a culmination of the girls' achievements. By the time the event rolls around in late January, most, if not all, startups have more than repaid the school's initial loan. Here, they have a chance to make their grand pitch in front of a panel of real-life venture capitalists, along with an audience of more than a hundred people.
"They learn that communication is most essential when you have to present to investors and present to your parents," humanities teacher Amoy Walker said, with the girls learning self-presentation skills including inflection, body language and eye contact.
For parents who feared their daughters would lose their voices to outspoken boys, it was clear at Entrepreneurial Night that those voices were definitely present, loud and strong.
Of course, there were still nerves. As the young entrepreneurs filed into Hahn Auditorium, some closed their eyes and did breathing exercises. GMS parent and entrepreneurial coach Roberta Friedman cheered on her charges.
"You'll be fine! You guys know what you're doing!," she reassured them.
The presentations covered the basics of the product, the girls' journey from conception to execution, competition and a proposal to the VCs for a $100 loan with the promise of full repayment, plus three percent of their total profit. Some girls spoke clearly and confidently, while others were visibly nervous and stumbled. However, overall, the girls exuded professionalism with a healthy dose of endearing, preadolescent charm.
One Pillow Pockets VP assessed her products' main competition — Pillow Pets.
"They're a pillow and a pet," she declared. "But we're a pillow, a pet and a pocket!"
Another startup, CTRL + ALT + DEL explained the story behind its name. The girls recycle old keyboard keys and remote control buttons to make jewelry and key chains.
"Somebody asked for a CTRL + ALT + DEL pin to wear during meetings but we had no idea what that meant because we all have Macs," the girl stated matter-of-factly. However, they liked the name so much, they adopted it.
In the end, each VC invests in two startups — with everyone receiving funding. So not exactly the ending for every Silicon Valley startup, but it's certainly a nice beginning.


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Kidnapped Texas boy taken as infant goes to live with 4 siblings
HOUSTON – Miguel Morin arrived at his new home in suburban Houston on Friday to four pizzas and a group of siblings eager to accept them into their family years after he was snatched from his parents' home as an infant.
Miguel, now 8 years old, was able to move permanently into the home of Junita and Joseph Auguillard thanks to a judge's ruling Wednesday. The home isn't unfamiliar to him. Miguel, who's been in foster care since he was found in March, has been spending weekends and holidays there since November, and the Auguillards are the legal guardians of his two sisters and two brothers.
"This is what we've been waiting for. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here," the soft-spoken Joseph Auguillard said as he waited for a caseworker from Texas Child and Protective Services to drop Miguel off for the last time.
Miguel was kidnapped when he was 8 months old. Miguel's former baby sitter, Krystle Tanner, and her mother, Gloria Walker, have been charged with kidnapping and injury to a child in his 2004 disappearance. They have pleaded not guilty and remain in jail.
Morin is moving into the Auguillard's small, single-family home in Channelview, a town about 16 miles east of Houston. He joins his brothers and sisters, as well as eight of the Auguillard's own children.
Ranging in age from 7 to 19, the children all embraced Miguel immediately, Junita Auguillard said, standing in a small living room that has family pictures hanging on the walls and sitting on a brick fireplace.
"He fit right in, like he was never supposed to be gone," said Junita Auguillard, who knew Miguel as a baby before he was kidnapped. "He had an instant bond with the other siblings."
The Auguillards have been taking care of Miguel's brothers and sisters for nearly 10 years, Junita Auguillard said. Miguel's parents, Auboni Champion-Morin and Fernando Morin, were the Auguillards' neighbors in a previous apartment complex. Initially, they had asked the Auguillards to care for their two oldest children, now 14 and 12, for a year until they "got settled," she said. But then they gave them guardianship of their two younger children, now 10 and 7, she said.
It remains unclear why the Morins did not want to care for their children, Auguillard said. They rarely visit, and only occasionally call, she said. The judge had also said Miguel's parents could visit him in the Auguillards' home, she said, however, they have not since his visits began in November.
Miguel and his biological parents are undergoing therapy together, and CPS hopes they will one day share custody with the Auguillards.
For now, though, the Auguillards are simply happy Miguel will no longer have to return to foster care.
"I just hate to see him cry because every time we bring him back he'd cry in the car," Auguillard said.


text:
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this Island port
Aboard this tiny ship.
The goalie was a first year "number one,"
The coach a rookie, too.
Five skaters took the ice that day
In the Long Island Zoo…the Long Island Zoo…
The season started getting rough,
The team was losing games,
If not for the courage of the kid in goal
The team would come up lame,
The team would come up lame.
The team, they skated on the ice
Of this old storied barn
With Gilligan
The Skipper too.
The millionaire and his wife.
The movie star
The professor and Mary Ann...
Here on Charles Wang's Isle.
So this is the tale of the Islanders,
They've sucked for a long, long time,
They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an uphill climb.
The goalie and the Skipper too,
Will do their very best,
To make the others comfortable,
In the New York island nest.
No goals, no wins, no points this month,
Not a single standings point,
The fans they all were askin',
"Who's running this here joint?"
So join us here tonight my friends,
It's hard to find a smile,
From 20 stranded Islanders,
Here on "Charles Wang's Isle."
The Islanders have not won in December…at all. Starting with a 5-2 loss to the Capitals on December 4th, the Islanders are 0-6-0 in December. They've only had as much as one one-goal game (a 4-3 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia a week ago). They have been outscored 30-11, and it isn't as if they've been falling to the Red Wings or the Sharks in the midst of this… a 5-1 loss to Atlanta… a 4-2 loss to Toronto… a 3-1 loss to Columbus. When they finally did play a top team on top of their game, the Islanders melted faster than a scoop of Chunky Monkey on a hot plate, getting stomped by Pittsburgh, 9-2.
The Islanders have been utterly dominated in those six December games in other ways…
- In none of those games have the Islanders reached the 30-shot mark, but they have given up at least 35 in four of them.
- Their power play hasn't exactly been entirely incompetent, registering goals in five of the six games (5-for-27, 18.5%). Their penalty killing is another thing entirely… the Islander have allowed at least a power play goal in each of the six games and is only 24-for-34 (70.6%) in penalty killing.
- In 18 periods of hockey, they have allowed at least one goal in 15 of them.
- They have been outscored 9-2 in the third period. That is on the heels of being outscored 11-3 in the second period. This team isn't finishing games well.
- Here is how bad it is for the Islanders… their leader in plus-minus is Andy Sutton (+2). The rest of the overall isn't pretty, either...
The Islanders are yet another team that is banged up. They have no fewer than six players on injured reserve: goalie Rick DiPietro, Mike Comrie, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Bruno Gervais, and Radek Martinek.
What they're left with is a couple of old guys to plug the holes. Doug Weight leads the team in scoring (6-21-27). He had a five-game scoring streak ended in the last game, a 3-1 loss to Columbus. He's 3-22-25, -8 in 30 career games against Washington.
Bill Guerin is tied for the team lead in goals scored (11), and he had points in the first four games on this six-game losing streak before being held scoreless by Pittsburgh and Columbus. He is 23-9-32, -2 in 45 career games against the Caps.
Trent Hunter is also tied for the team lead in goals (11) but doesn't have one since finding the back of the net against the Caps on December 4th. Including that goal, he is 4-7-11, +8 in 18 games against Washington.
Of course, there is Sim…Jon Sim. Cap Killer Jon Sim, with his 11 goals in 22 career games against Washington (46 in 316 games against everyone else). He has never, however, had one as a member of the Islanders. OK, he's only played against the Caps once in an Islander sweater, so it's hard to spot a trend.
On the blue line, Brendan Witt brings in a streak of 11 consecutive games without finding himself on the plus-side of the ledger (he has only two such games this year). That's the longest current streak of any Islander defender.
In goal, the cracks have spread in Joey MacDonald's game. He was arguably the best Islander on the ice when he allowed four goals on 46 shots in a 5-2 loss to Washington on December 4th. Since then, he's allowed 16 goals on 108 shots (.852 save percentage) in losing four straight decisions. He has one win in his last eight decisions dating back to November 26th, and in those eight games he has allowed fewer than four goals only twice.
The problem for the Islanders is they really have nowhere else to turn. Yann Danis has appeared twice on this six-game losing streak and been shelled to the tune of nine goals on 44 shots (.796).
The Peerless' Players to Ponder
New York: Mark Streit
The Islanders aren't going to get a lot of chances, if their recent history is a guide. What chances they do get, they will need to capitalize on, and that means converting power plays. Streit leads the team in power play goals and is second (to Weight) in total power play scoring. He's got to have a big night with his big shot to avoid this going badly for the Islanders.
Washington: Karl Alzner
The Islanders might lack talent and might be depleted, but they can be difficult to play against. They will look to cause grief in the Caps' end, and that means limiting mistakes in their own end for the Caps. The Islanders might try to pay particular attention to Alzner in forcing him to make decisions with the puck sooner in the hope of causing turnovers. Alzner is a steady, level-headed guy. This will be tested.
This is a dangerous game. The Islanders are thin on talent when healthy. They are absolutely anorexic at the moment. They haven't played well, or at least successfully in a while. But in Weight and Guerin they have veterans who, if their best days are (long) in their past, still know how to play the game. And there is no team against which a club can just show up and win. The Caps have won five of six, including a couple of stirring wins in their last couple in the midst of goaltending adventures. They might be feeling a bit fat and happy with themselves – a recipe for disaster. Plus, the Caps are still only 6-9-2 on the road.
There are enough warning signs surrounding this game so that the Islanders should have the Caps' attention. And if they do, they have no business winning this game. They won't…
Caps 5 – Islanders 2


text:
Does your DPS character have an IWIN! button?
Does your healer have an Oh Shit! Button?
Mine do.
If you are wondering where to buy one of these buttons, you are flat out of luck.
You can make one, but you won't find one on the shelves of your Dalaran vendor.
It is only a macro.
A powerful macro for sure, but ultimately, just a collection of text commands.
It's called an IWIN!/OhShit! Button because, if used at the right moment, you will get all your activatable cooldowns boosting you to insane levels, allowing you to burn down your opponent, or heal the pants off your mates.
They are awesome. Rather than wasting precious seconds hunting for and pressing buttons in the correct order, you press one button and you are supercharged and ready for action.
For years I ignored the power of the IWIN! button. Finally one day I took the time to write the macro, then cried with joy the first time I pressed the button, because…. IWON!
There is a dark side.
There are times when you don't want everything to pop at once, there are times when popping your cooldowns sequentially is better than blowing your load in one shot.
For example, trash… why waste 3-4 cooldowns on one pack of trash, wheny ou could use them over 4 packs of trash?
If you cleared your toolbar of the clutter of individual powers included in your IWIN! Macro, you will be struggling with your spell book looking for an ability you needed 3 seconds ago.
The other problem is
Waiting for the IWIN!/OhShit! Moment.
It's not too hard as a DPS to pick your moment. If you know the fight is going to last more than 3 minutes you can pop it as an opening move, and again as a finishing move.
You certainly want to take advantage of that last 35% of a bosses health and burst out the DPS.
Of course you might be dead by then and maybe the extra damage early will reduce the chances of deaths later.
Popping all your cooldowns on the trash leading to the boss will definitely pad out your numbers on the meters, but if you do it just before the boss kill may not provide the damage where it's needed.
As a healer it's more difficult.
Do you pop your instant cast uber +spellpower OhShit! Macro the 1st time someone takes damage, the 2nd, 3rd… When?
Maybe you can heal through all the damage at a normal pace, with your regular spellpower.
Maybe you will be left mid-cast when the tank cops a whopper and you now have to shift into panic mode.
Maybe the OhShit! moment has 4 other healers covering it meaning rather than topping the healing meters you are topping the overhealing meters.
Maybe you will pop it for 15 seconds of uberness, heal everyone in 5 seconds then watch the bonuses expire only to see a burst of damage 1 second after they all expire.
The common thought is use it early and often. An unused IWIN! button is shameful.
I struggle though to use mine, there always seems to be a better opportunity, never the need, or a great enough need to use it.
What is worse is I now realize that my reluctance to use my IWIN! button at the wrong time has become a reluctance to use it at any time.
No worse… I have forgotten it exists.
An example.
I healed the off-tank through a wipe in VoA25 last night (yes I healed him through… we wiped, but we were the last 2 standing.
I didn't use my cooldowns.
One of the dps asked to swap to heals because their heals were stronger (1.2k dps v. 3.5k hps).
I swapped to Elemental and pew pewed Toravon down. My dps wasn't the best, wasn't the worst, but it could have been better.
It would have been better if I had used my IWIN! button… I could have used it twice!
But the cobwebs have grown so thick I didn't remember I had one, until after. In fact the 1st thing I saw as the boss dropped was my IWIN! button.
The use of that button probably would have pushed me into top ten on the meters… but that's my problem… I need to start using it for the hell of it, until it becomes 2nd nature.
Gnomer Gnows
I don't have this problem on Gnomeaggedon, well forgetting it on bosses at least, it's an established part of my rotation.
On trash I never use it, although I think I probably would if they were separate keys. One button per trash pull.
Love of DPS.
I have been loving healing on Squidly, so much so that I often wonder why Resto is my secondary spec. It just doesn't seem right.
Last night in VoA I was reminded why Elemental is my primary spec… because I love dealing damage.
Toravon didn't give me enough of a rush, so I found myself off killing mobs for brackets later purely because I could.
One big difference between Mage DPS and Elemental DPS is downtime.
When I hunt mobs on Gnomeaggedon I pew pew until I have to heal or regain mana.
On Squidly I pew pew… and pew pew… and pew pew…
Last night I went and ground out those Love is in the Air mobs on Squidly. I found a little hill in the middle of the mobs and just blasted away. Occasionally I would heal myself up from my 66% health… One spell, yet my mana is still sitting at 96%
The mobs drop – Squidly stays up.
Gnomeaggedon only ground there once, but as he was never out of combat, his health and mana just kept going down. I even changed to my PvP spec just so I could get a healing evocate.
I'm Not alone…
I knocked over this draft and decided to take a look through my feedreader… less that 40 unread Mage posts now…
One of the posts I read was by Zanderfin at Zanderfin's Wow "Casual" Raiding, titled:
Old Habits Die Hard – The Cooldown Edition
You will never guess what that post is about…
My IWIN!
Just in case you are interested in my IWIN!/OhShit! Macros, here they are.
#showtooltip Nature's Swiftness
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Nature's Swiftness
/Cast Tidal Force
#showtooltip Nature's Swiftness
/stopmacro [nocombat,noharm]
/cast Elemental Mastery
/cast Nature's Swiftness
/cast Spiritist's Focus
/cast Tidal Force
Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!
#showtooltip Combustion
/cast Combustion
/cast Mana Sapphire
/cast Icy Veins
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Mirror Image
/cast Frostfire Bolt
Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.


text:
155 Johnston Street, Room 300 • Rock Hill, SC 29730
The Planning & Development Department is charged with helping the community define and implement its vision for the future of the City. We are partners with our citizens in exploring options and developing plans through aggressive outreach to the community. We are partners with the people who invest in our community through timely and professional review of construction and development plans, with a goal of problem solving, not just problem identification.


text:
Data Warehousing Made Easy
Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse provides an easy-to-use, fully autonomous database that scales elastically, delivers fast query performance and requires no database administration.
Fully-managed cloud service that makes it very simple to provision a data warehouse, quickly and easily load data and query that data using built-in web-based tools such as notebooks. Oracle's unique autonomous database framework ensures high availability and automatic security–without requiring any additional tasks.
Delivers high performance data warehousing straight out-of-the-box with unparalleled scalability and reliability. Built on key Oracle Database capabilities: parallelism, columnar processing and compression. All aspects of performance tuning are automatically managed so the service requires no database tuning.
Scale as needed-create and expand your data warehouse's compute and storage capacity on demand and independently of each other with no downtime. Pay only for the resources you consume.
Integrates directly with the full spectrum of business analytics, data integration and IoT services within Oracle's comprehensive range of integrated cloud solutions.