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A Few Snowstorms Later
Wednesday December 11, 2013
December gets really busy huh? I haven't had a good chance to sit down and update until tonight. So basically there have been ice & snowstorms. I've also become a recluse since completing my Christmas shopping. I refuse to go to certain shopping center until after the New Year now!
Last Friday I saw Septime Webre's The Nutcracker at Warner Theater. I bought tickets for early December because I wanted it to sorta launch that Christmas Cheer feeling for the season. It was excellent. There's a colonial twist to the entire ballet and George Washington is The Nutcracker haha! I figured it would be the most DC THING I could ever see.
I also made these impromptu mini apple pies with leftovers. I felt bad throwing out an unused extra pie crust from Thanksgiving and had a single apple in the fruit bowl. I figured to hell with it and gave making mini pies a shot! They turned out GREAT! I am boasting because I suck at cooking. I can hardly follow recipes correctly so making something like this "on the fly" impresses me alright! :)
I ended up with enough dough and apple mix to make 4 of these things. There's no recipe or anything to share. I just threw in spices and butter pretty much. I think I'm definitely going to be doing this again. It's way easier than making a huge stupid pie.
Tags: food, outing
28 Responses to "A Few Snowstorms Later"
that apple pie looks so cute… and delicious! plus dying of jealousy because ok nutcracker + george washington sounds hilariously perfect and very very very dc~
That pie looks delish! Nice job Jenny! I can sort of relate because I too suck at cooking. So when I do make something that looks and tastes good, that's an accomplishment for me :D
Ahh jenny, your blog is always so calm and relaxing to read whenever I feel like I need a little break from reality or just simply some inspiration. You always blog about what you're doing "in the moment" that makes it so laid back and very "life style" kind of mood. The way how you take your photos, how you set them up on your blog is just so perfect and fitting. You inspire me so much and make me want to do the same of just snapping pics of "in the moment" rather than having them planned out. (at least it doesn't feel like you do in the photos you take)
mini pies look delicious!! what do you bake them in???
Ahahah, "huge stupid pie"! I think smaller things are more cute anyway.
It snowed here in OK as well! But probably not as much. I've been trying not to spend too much money on myself right now, but there are so many cute things!
I saw your pies on instagram…Did you just bake it according to the crust directions? It looks like something I may have to try in my ramekins sometime~
Oh the mini apple pie is adorable! I made these makeshift cookies with the leftover pie crust and cranberry sauce. Never let a pie crust go to waste, again! ;)
It looks so much more like CHRISTMAS where it snows *sighs*
I only remember this time is coming when I see the lights walking around my city. ^^
I guess I'd enjoy (at least once) to spend Christmas in a snowy place.
Lol That's an unexpected spin on the Nutcracker. How very DC. :D
Yum apple pie! Maybe that's what I'll eat with my vanilla ice cream that I need to finish…
I don't blame you, I have to go to the mall this week and I'm dreading it.
In my opinion it isn't Christmas if you don't hear "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". I think that's such an original spin to the Nutcracker, all I can picture is George Washington dancing ballet and it's cracking me up.
Aw I wish we had snow where I live, I have never seen snow in my whole life :(
Also, the mini pies you made look so cute! I suck at cooking and following recipes too, if I had made them I'd be so proud of myself! haha
I don't really eat pie, but those are so cute and adorable it kind of makes me want to eat one. I'm jealous of all of the snow and ice that you are getting. The temperature here is like 70-60 degrees :(
The pie looks so delicious! Wish I could be this lucky when it comes to cooking. I've trying lately and all I can do is chicken and I leave the house all foggy and smelling LOL I am currently in LA and sad because I won't be able to see some snow. :/ So I'm just looking at your pictures and enjoying it ;)
Aaah! You saw Washington Ballet's Nutcracker! You should also see the Kirov Academy of Ballet's Nutcracker (my school)
They only do the 2nd act and the first act is excerpts from various ballets! I will be performing in it as well! KAB is also in DC :D
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Vox Custom 25 guitar, here - by way of further illustration - is the Custom 24 model with a more Gibson-esque scale-length of 24" and other appointments such as separate bridge (not quite a Tune-o-matic) and tailpiece, coil tap switches, etc. Like the Custom 25, it is of through-neck design although in more subtle darker timbers.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Vox Custom 24
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subset: commoncrawl


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County's Illegal Alien Welfare Tab Exceeds $600 Mil
As it suffers through a ravaging financial crisis, the nation's most populous county spends well over half a billion dollars annually just to provide illegal immigrants with welfare food stamps.For two consecutive years Los Angeles County has doled out more than $550 million just to cover the welfare and food-stamp costs for illegal aliens, many of whom collect the U.S. taxpayer benefits on behalf of their anchor babies. In 2010 the tabexceeded $600 million compared to an already exorbitant $570 million in 2009.The enraging figures have been released by a veteran county lawmaker who points out that they don't even include the enormous cost of educating, medically treating or incarcerating illegal aliens in the sprawling county of about 10 million residents. That adds more than a billion dollars a year, according to county agency figures."When you add this to $550 million for public safety and nearly $500 million for healthcare, the total cost for illegal immigrants to County taxpayers exceeds $1.6 billion dollars a year – not including the hundreds of millions of dollars for education," said L.A. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich.Each month the county spends around $53 million to give illegal immigrants food stamps and other welfare benefits, according to the county's Department of Public Social Services. This amounts to a big chunk—about 22%—of all welfare issuances in the entire county. It also marks a substantial monthly increase (3 million) over the previous year.Nationwide, the increasing cost of supporting illegal immigrants has taken a huge toll though border states naturally have suffered the brunt of it. Americans annually spend about $113 billion to educate, incarcerate, medically treat and otherwise support illegal aliens around the country. The bulk of the cost—about $84.2 billion—is absorbed by state and local governments, according to figures released over the summer by a group that studies the impact of illegal immigration.Educating the children of illegal immigrants constitutes the single largest cost to American taxpayers, about $52 billion a year, according to a lengthy reportpublished by the group. Nearly all of the costs are absorbed by state and local governments as the feds fail miserably to seal the increasingly porous southern border.


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Aljosa Vrancic is a principal engineer at National Instruments. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Zagreb, and an M.S. degree and PhD in Physics from Louisiana State University. Jeff Meisel is the LabVIEW product manager at National Instruments and holds a B.S. in computer engineering from Kansas State University. Courtesy Intel Corp. All rights reserved.
Because tasks that require acceleration are so computationally intensive, your typical time high-performance computing (HPC) problem could not traditionally be solved with a normal desktop computer, let alone an embedded system. However, disruptive technologies such as multicore processors enable more and more HPC applications to now be solved with off-the-shelf hardware.
Where the concept of real-time HPC comes into the picture is with regard to number crunching in a deterministic, low-latency environment. Many HPC applications perform offline simulations thousands and thousands of times and then report the results. This is not a real-time operation because there is no timing constraint specifying how quickly the results must be returned. The results just need to be calculated as fast as possible.
Previously, these applications have been developed using a message passing protocol (such as MPI or MPICH) to divide tasks across the different nodes in the system. A typical distributed computer scenario looks like that in Figure 1, with one head node that acts as a master and distributes processing to the slave nodes in the system.
By default, it is not real-time friendly because of latencies associated with networking technologies (like Ethernet). In addition, the synchronization implied by the message passing protocol is not necessarily predictable with granular timing in the millisecond ranges. Note that such a configuration could potentially be made real-time by replacing the communication layer with a real-time hardware and software layer (such as reflective memory), and by adding manual synchronization to prioritize and ensure completion of tasks in a bounded timeframe. Generally speaking though, the standard HPC approach was not designed for real-time systems and presents serious challenges when real-time control is needed.
An Embedded, Real-Time HPC Approach with Multicore Processors
The approach outlined in this article is based on a real-time software stack, as described in Table 1, and off-the-shelf multicore processors.
Real-time applications have algorithms that need to be accelerated but often involve the control of real-world physical systems -- so the traditional HPC approach is not applicable. In a real-time scenario, the result of an operation must be returned in a predictable amount of time. The challenge is that until recently, it has been very hard to solve an HPC problem while at the same time closing a loop under 1 millisecond.
Furthermore, a more embedded approach may need to be implemented, where physical size and power constraints place limitations on the design of the system.
Now consider a multicore architecture, where today you can find up to 16 processing cores.
From a latency perspective, instead of communicating over Ethernet, with a multicore architecture that can be found in off-the-hardware there is inter-core communication that is determined by system bus speeds. So return-trip times are much more bounded. Consider a simplified diagram of a quad-core system in Figure 2.
In addition, multicore processors can utilize symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) operating systems -- a technology found in general-purpose operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS for years to automatically load-balance tasks across available CPU resources. Now real-time operating systems are offering SMP support. This means that a developer can specify timing and prioritize tasks that are applicable across many cores at one time, and the OS handles the thread interactions. This is a tremendous simplification compared with message-passing and manual synchronization, and it can all be done in real-time.
Real-Time HPC System Description
For the approaches outlined in this article, Figure 3 represents the general software and hardware approach that has been applied.
Note: The optimizations layer is included as part of the LabVIEW language; however, it deserves mentioning as a separate component.


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The resilient women of Syria
Aisha fled with her husband and their five children from the devastating conditions in Aleppo and took refuge at a shelter in Tartous governorate, Syria. At the beginning, Aisha and her family lived in a very small room that they barely fit in and their living conditions were devastating.
The Tartous region has been relatively peaceful during the war in Syria. However, while a significant portion of the governorate is not directly affected by major armed conflict, it has continued to register a huge inflow of families fleeing other parts of the country. Women and children, usually the first to flee from insecurities and deteriorating living conditions, account for the largest percentage.
- 119 people trained in plumbing, of which 39 were female
- 1,324 businesses, including farming inputs, restored in six governorates
- 14,186 jobs created
- 1,066,375 people benefited- 58,613 directly and 1,007,762 indirectly
The governorate received about 452,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and around 258,507 of them are in need of humanitarian assistance. Around 1,600 families reside in 21 collective shelters: 15 of them are located in Tartous city and 6 in the other districts. As a result of the sustained influx of new people, the governate's resources are completely overstretched and reaching a breaking point.
The increased number of IDPs in Tartous has weakened social services and limited the capacity of the local municipalities to conduct sanitation maintenance and repairs in shelters and host communities. As a result, water pipes break down, leading to large amounts of waste and the formation of water swamps in shelters, and increasing the spread of diseases, insects and rodents.
As part of its Early Recovery and Resilience Programme in Syria, UNDP supports an initiative to provide job opportunities in the field of plumbing to a number of IDPs and host community members in Tartous (and vocational traning in rural Damascus and Aleppo). Beneficiaries receive tool kits and on-the-job training on how to use these kits to repair damaged pipes or other plumbing fixtures. The project eventually provides trainees with jobs and income security.
This initiative is part of the "EU Support for Emergency Restoration and Stabilization of Livelihoods in Affected Syrian Communities" project, funded by the EU, which focuses in part on emergency employment, livelihood restorations, and support to women-headed households and persons with disabilities.
Aisha saw an opportunity to improve her family's life. "Necessity is the mother of invention," she said. "There is nothing wrong if a woman worked to help her husband. Together we can make a more productive outcome."
Aisha joined the plumbing project from its early beginning and using the drainage tool kit given to her, she started fixing water foists within the shelter and improving her income.
Her main concern was being able to provide the necessary needs for her children, along with educating them and buying their school necessities. "The most important thing for me is to be able to send my children to school. I'll use the money to buy their school uniforms," she said.
In Tartous, 40 people received on-the-job training and benefited from three month employment opportunities during the project period. 119 people were trained in rural Damascus and 46 in Aleppo. Aisha was one of the 39 females overall benefiting from the project.
Using the money she earned from working in this project, she and her husband were also able to build a second room, which significantly enhanced their living situation. "Syrian women are strong and they are capable of working in any field, there are no exclusive jobs for men," she said with a smile in her face.
Through the larger programme, the project supported the restoration of 1,324 businesses and farming inputs in six governorates in Syria. The revived businesses varied in nature and were prioritized by local communities based on demand, local knowledge and resources.


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Right on Your Money
So you want to live in Honolulu? Here are the dollars and cents to living the aloha dream.
Housing: Shoppers will find quaint Craftsman-style homes in old neighborhoods such as Manoa and Nuuanu, sprawling oceanfront mansions in Kahala, and new luxury condominiums in Waikiki, Kakaako, and Downtown. Fortunately for owners, many single-family properties include separate rental units that can provide income to offset mortgage costs.
Taxes: Hawaii's taxes inspired Forbes magazine to dub the Aloha State "the People's Republic of Hawaii." So don't move to Honolulu if you're looking for a tax haven. Property taxes are just $3.29 per $1,000 of assessed value, with homestead exemptions as high as $120,000 for people over 65. The result: A retiree with a home valued at the median $600,000 would pay about $1,580 annually. But income tax rates start at nearly 7 percent for people earning more than $28,000 and rise above 8 percent for incomes in the high five figures. A general excise tax tacks on as much as 4.5 percent to the cost of all business activities.
Employers: Like most big cities, Honolulu has plentiful jobs in the government, medical, and education sectors, as well as a robust base of professional and business services jobs. But one of the biggest employers is the leisure and hospitality sector. Among Honolulu's largest private employers are Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels, Hawaiian Electric Company Inc., and hospital operator Hawaii Pacific Health.
Incomes: According to the most recent data for the Honolulu metro area, which includes the whole island of Oahu, annual average personal per capita income was $39,653 in 2006, which was almost $3,000 higher than the national average. Recent cost-of-living estimates, provided by the Council for Community and Economic Research, rank Honolulu at 161.7, nearly 62 percent higher than the national average.


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The final word – Al Gore debates climate sceptic Monckton
by Shaun Chamberlin on November 25th, 2009
Dark Optimism is the not-for-profit public interest research, activism
and writing of Shaun Chamberlin, working with a wide network of friends and partners around the world.
We are unashamedly positive about what kind of a world humanity
could create, and unashamedly
realistic about how far we are
from creating it today.
- Adolf Hitler
"To be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing." - Raymond Williams
by Shaun Chamberlin on November 25th, 2009
Categories: Best posts, Climate Change, Cultural stories, Philosophy 1 Comment »


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TRIPOLI, Libya, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi put up enough resistance in Tripoli Monday to keep rebel forces from claiming outright victory in their civil war.
With the embattled 69-year-old dictator uncharacteristically silent, loyalist troops battled the rebel forces with truck-mounted machine guns, tanks and snipers, The New York Times reported.
Gadhafi's whereabouts were unknown to the rebels and the outside world.
"We do not know if he is inside or outside Libya," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, chairman of the rebels' National Transitional Council, said at a news conference in Benghazi. The area around Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli remained under loyalists' control, he said.
The Times said foreign journalists who made their way through some Tripoli neighborhoods Monday afternoon said it was too soon to say the rebels had wrested control of the city from the Gadhafi forces. One rebel fighter told al-Jazeera the insurgents held 80-85 percent of the city.
"A great majority of the capital of Tripoli is under freedom fighters' control," said Guma el Gamaty, the Britain-based coordinator for the Transitional National Council.
International recognition of the legitimacy of the rebels' authority to govern expanded with Egypt calling them "the new regime" and saying the council would take over the Libyan Embassy in Cairo and assume Libya's seat on the Arab League, the Times said.
Gadhafi's regime still controlled some facilities, including a hospital, military barracks and the Rixos hotel, where international journalists are staying, CNN reported.
The Libyan leader's forces near the hospital location were negotiating their surrender, Jumma Ibrahim, a rebel military spokesman, said.
Celebrations in Tripoli's Green Square, which rebels renamed Martyrs' Square, were diminished after they learned Gadhafi's forces were heading to the gathering place, CNN said.
Gunfire and explosions were heard coming from the direction of Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound Monday.
Much of the compound has been destroyed by NATO airstrikes, operating under a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to protect Libyan civilians. Since NATO began the operation in March more than 7,400 strike sorties in Libya have been conducted.
In Zawiyah, residents celebrated the news of the apparent imminent toppling of the Gadhafi regime by firing guns in the air, shooting fireworks and chanting, "Libya is free!"
In Benghazi, the de facto rebel headquarters, one resident called the gains as joyous as "New Year's Day."
Gamaty said opposition leaders believed Gadhafi was hiding in Tripoli or fled to southen Libya, Chad or Algeria.
"Those are the only two neighboring countries that have been showing support for him," Gamaty said.
Gamaty told CNN setting up the political framework for a new Libyan government could take 18-20 months.
Libyans seeking an end to Gadhafi's four-decade rule cheered Sunday on news that two of the ruler's sons, Saif and Saadi, were arrested. On Monday, Mohammed Gadhafi, a third son, was taken into custody.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, issued a warrant for Saif, alleging crimes against humanity. Arrest warrants also were issued for the elder Gadhafi and his intelligence chief, Abdullah al Sanussi.
CNN reported ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo indicated the court planned to begin negotiating for Saif Gadhafi's transfer to the Netherlands.
Mahmud Nacua, the Transitional National Council representative in London, said the council will move to Tripoli from Benghazi and establish a temporary government soon, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"There is a plan. ...There will be no [power] vacuum," Nacua said. "[The] NTC will move soon from Benghazi to Tripoli and they will appoint a new transitional government which will rule the country."
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who returned from a vacation early for a meeting of the National Security Council, said it was clear "that the end is near for Gadhafi," the BBC reported.
The Libyan leader had "committed appalling crimes against the people of Libya and he must go now to avoid any further suffering for his own people," Cameron said.
U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement Sunday Gadhafi and his inner circle had "to recognize that their rule has come to an end" and called on Gadhafi "to relinquish power once and for all."
He called on the council to pursue "a transition to democracy that is just and inclusive for all of the people of Libya."
"The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people," Obama said, vowing the United States would work closely with the council and "continue to insist that the basic rights of the Libyan people are respected."
Earlier, Gadhafi issued a series of defiant audio statements calling on people to "save Tripoli" from the rebel offensive. He said Libyans were becoming "slaves of the imperialists."
"We will fight to the last drop of blood," he said in one statement. "We will never give up."


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|Raise Dead
|Usable by
|Death knight
|Casting time
|2 min (GCD 1 sec)
|Level required
|Related buff
|TCG image
Do not be mistaken - I will gladly trade your life for a more obedient soldier.
- Randolphe Mortimer TCG
Raise Dead is a death knight ability learned at level 56 for those with the Unholy specialization. It allows the death knight to raise a Risen Ghoul to fight for a limited time. This creature can perform a number of attacks including fear, apply disease, stun, cause a target bleed, and pummel.
With Master of Ghouls (Unholy specialization), the ghoul becomes a permanent pet under the death knight's control.
Modified by
- Raise Dead and other similar abilities have been a staple of the Warcraft series, commonly used by practitioners of necromancy, including Necrolyte units in Warcraft, Death Knight units in Warcraft II, and Necromancer units in Warcraft III.
Patch changes
- Patch 6.0.2 (14-October-2014): Raise Dead is now only available to Unholy Death Knights.
- Patch 3.3.3 (2010-03-23): It is no longer possible when this ability is used in conjunction with temporary pets from quests for the ability to get permanently stuck on cooldown.
- Patch 3.3.0 (08-Dec-2009): It is no longer possible under some circumstances to use a Risen Ghoul to cause neutral guards to attack opposite faction players.
- Patch 3.2.0 (04-Aug-2009): This spell will no longer give two errors when the casting player lacks the reagent to cast it.
- Patch 3.1.0 (14-Apr-2009): Duration lowered to 60 sec. and cooldown lowered to 3 min. The cooldown on this ability now begins when the pet dies rather than when it is summoned. This pet now despawns instantly when it dies. In addition, this ability can no longer be used while riding any type of vehicle. The Risen Ghoul is also now properly immune to Charm, Fear, Sleep, and Horror.
- Patch 3.0.8 (2009-01-20): Raise Dead has now been split into two spells:
- Raise Dead now raises a ghoul or pet ghoul (if talented). Requires [Corpse Dust] if no humanoid corpse is nearby.
- Raise Ally now raises a fallen party member and has no reagent. Available at level 72.
External links
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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Asset Publisher
Weekly Seminar of Strongly Correlated Systems
Daubechies wavelets for electronic structure calculations
Speaker: Alireza Ghasemi (Department of Physics, University of Basel, Switzerland)
Time: Monday Mehr. 18 1390 at 13:30-14:30
Location: Physics Auditorium
Density functional theory is the most popular approach among ab initio methods. Even though it is well established in many-body quantum mechanics, it can be computationally very costly. As in every first principle calculations, the Kohn-Sham orbitals in density functional calculations are expanded in terms of basis functions which usually are plane waves or Gaussian-based functions. Daubechies wavelets are a powerful systematic basis set for electronic structure calculations because they are orthogonal and localized both in real and Fourier space. In this presentation, it is describe in detail how this basis set can be used to obtain a highly efficient and accurate method for density functional electronic structure calculations.


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Millions of Americans have worked hard for a lifetime, paid their mortgages, in some cases put their kids through college, donated to charity, and somehow tucked away enough money to take care of their retirement.
Inflation poses a threat to stocks and bonds, and paltry returns could be washed out altogether as baby boomers retire, according to Robert Arnott, Pimco fund manager and chairman of Research Affiliates, who has ways to hedge against such events. Laura Mandaro reports.
Yet because of demography, taxes and debt, their nest egg may not get the job done.
Demographics, the first bandit, is robbing investors of previously anticipated market returns.
The baby boom generation is heading into retirement with the momentum of a massive locomotive. Every day more than 10,000 Americans reach the age of 65. This will continue happening every day through 2030, forming a potent wave of retirees seeking retirement income.
While retirees sell stocks in favor of bonds in search of predictable income and greater security, a persistent headwind will hit the stock market. Many doomsday prognosticators believe this downward pressure will result in calamity, but it is more likely that the countervailing force of young, up-and-coming foreign investors will steady the ship. Still, the glory days of 10% annual portfolio returns year after year are likely behind us for the foreseeable future.
If demographic shifts are not intimidating enough, retirees face a second robber — higher taxes. The Bush era tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2012, and as a result many Americans will see a 3% to 5% increase in their nominal tax rate along with additional increases to fund Medicare and other special programs.
And just when many retirees are scooping up dividend-producing stocks, the dividend tax rate is set to go from its current, motivating 15% to a taxpayer's ordinary income tax bracket — for some as high as 39.6%.
Plus, there is the invisible tax of inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows annual inflation to be around 3%; critics claim it is underreported and is significantly higher when measured by the older, 1980 standard.
Finally, there is the U.S. debt. This bandit comes out of hiding via the Federal Reserve's artificially low interest rate program. In an effort to stimulate the economy back to health and slowly inflate out of our debt debacle, this low interest rate program has left today's retiree with his pockets empty and hands held high. While the traditional government bond portfolio coughs up a meager 2%, inflation and taxes steal back much more.
To confront the bandits and win, you need a new and more creative approach to income generation.
Simply piling into dividend stocks or running or entrusting all your retirement money to one insurance company via an annuity does not provide the diversification many smart investor requires. Shrewd income portfolios must be highly diversified across asset classes as well as within them.
Additionally, the portfolio must be low-cost and as transparent as possible. There is no reason to cough up a few percentage points in fees when a few percentage points may make the difference between success and failure. This portfolio also needs to be tax-efficient and have an inflation hedge.
For those MarketRider's investors willing to customize a higher octane income portfolio via the Let Me Build It functionality, here are a few strategies to consider:
1. Emerging market debt: Emerging nations pay 5% to 7% in bond yields, substantially higher than comparable Treasurys. When some hear emerging economies, they immediately think high risk. Emerging economies are ostensibly going to be the growth engine for the world's economy in the next 10- to 20 years. Additionally, they have far less debt relative to the size of their economies than do developed nations.
Fairly priced, transparent and diversified exchange-traded funds are easy to find. Check Powershares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (NAR:PCY) or iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond (NAR:EMB) . Last year, each of these low cost ETFs produced more than 6% in annualized yield, were highly diversified across dozens of emerging market economies, and had excellent volume.
2. High-yield corporate debt: After learning more about today's quality high-yield bond ETFs, you too may decide to add a little "junk" to your portfolio. SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (NAR:JNK) produced a 7.5% yield last year with massive diversification across a broad swath of industries. Surely, this is no Treasury bond vehicle, so buckle your seat belt and mix this with careful forethought. Adding a little JNK provides some seasoning to your income portfolio and is an additional defense against the bandits.
3. Large-cap dividend ETFs: Dividend stocks are the darlings of the day. With dividends returning more than Treasurys, and the underlying stock ownership providing an inflation hedge, many are getting on the bandwagon. Instead of taking on the unnecessary risk of buying a handful of dividend-producing stocks, some great ETFs help you get diversification and cost structure for a winning portfolio. Check out Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NAR:VIG) or iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NAR:DVY) , which each boast more than $10 billion in assets.
4. REITs: By blending SPDR Dow Jones REIT (NAR:RWR) with SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate ETF (NAR:RWX) , you can top U.S. government bond yields and achieve principal growth. Although you've moved outside the realm of traditional fixed-income investing, REITs provide another good source of diversity and yield.
5. MLPs: Master Limited Partnerships can be powerful portfolio tools. The top MLPs run the nation's oil and gas pipelines and, as limited partnerships, require the distribution of profits. Accordingly, MLP investors historically have received between 6% and 10% in pass-through income with some attractive tax advantages if you don't mind the hassle of having to process K1 tax forms at the end of each year.
Previously only for sophisticated investors, MLPs are now available to the masses through exchange-traded notes such as JP Morgan's Alerian MLP Index ETN (NAR:AMJ) . This portfolio combines a diversified blend of high-quality MLPs, but earnings are reported as ordinary income. So you don't deal with a K1, but you also miss the tax benefit.
The problem with AMJ is that you do not own the underlying partnership, but a note or loan to that partnership, so you also assume credit risk. Although clearly not for everyone, this ETN, with a tendency to move independent of market swings, may be worth closer consideration.


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Product Overview
Double K Industries™ is proud to introduce the new Challengair™ EXTREME™ Variable Speed Animal Dryer. The new EXTREME™ dryer has greater effectiveness, air volume, velocity, versatility and value with less noise than any product in its category. Featuring two, 124 CFM, twin turbine motor/fan assemblies mounted in elastomeric noise and vibration damping enclosures. The newly designed clamshell polyethylene housing allows easy access to motors and components for brush changes and service, and is also impact resistant, rustproof and dent-proof. The hose locks to the dryer with a convenient, unique half-twist motion eliminating the risk of pop-off. Unique discharge air filtration protects animals from carbon dust and other contaminants. No more black spots on animals! Hermetically isolated switches and electronics are protected from contaminants, while the dual air inlet filtration system protects the motors and other components. Multiple, twist-on nozzles including the "air sweep" nozzle removes water from animals with the greatest efficiency. Operates on 115v and includes 10 ft. crush proof hose. Sound level is approximately 85 db at 24 inches from the dryer at maximum speed setting.
Distinctions between the Airmax™ and the Extreme™ dryer models.
The motor/fan assemblies in the two products are different with the Extreme model having more powerful 5.7 inch diameter motor/fan assemblies and the Airmax having less powerful 5.1 inch diameter motor/fan assemblies. It must be understood here that power is defined in this circumstance as motor generated torque. So, while each motor/fan assembly produces approximately 123 CFM free air (on the bench with no resistive elements at sea level) the 5.7 inch unit (Extreme) does so at a much lower speed (22,500 rpm) as compared to the Airmax at approximately 32,000 rpm. The amount of air pressure or vacuum (measured in water lift) that each unit produces in a free air condition and with the resistive elements introduced (dryer housing, filters, hoses, novels etc.) are also roughly equivalent. The primary distinction is that the larger motor fan assemblies (in the Extreme) achieve these objectives without having to work so hard which causes the motor to last longer. The current density at the brush to commutator contact point is substantially higher with the Airmax unit which causes the brushes and commutator to wear more rapidly which requires more frequent brush changes and a parallel reduction in general motor life.
There is a modest increase in practical air volume (measured at the nozzle) for the Extreme over the Airmax and a slight increase in temperature for the Airmax over the Extreme. This causes the units to have roughly equivalent drying capability with the Extreme having a marginal advantage in penetrating dense undercoats and the Airmax having a slight advantage in colder more humid conditions.
Accordingly, the primary distinction between the two products is generally motor related life expectancy. The Extreme does come with a 10 foot hose as opposed to a 6 foot hose and an extra nozzle as well. The Extreme also outweighs the Airmax dryer by several pounds. </p


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Another Evening with Bernie
At work yesterday, my editor (also a photographer) decided it would be funny to take a shot of me sitting courtside next to a certain person. He e-mailed it to me, calling it a "souvenir" from the game he sent me to cover.
Although I look like the Angry Video Game Nerd in the photo, I'm happy he took it.
On Feb. 7 I had the honor of meeting Yankee legend Bernie Williams, covering his daughter Bea's basketball game. Bea's team made the playoffs and I was once again assigned to cover her team yesterday evening. Just being able to shake Bernie's hand and the fact that he signed an autograph for me was enough of a memory to last me the rest of my life.
But it got even better. More good times. More great memories.
I hit some traffic on the way to the game, but got to Byram Hills High School in Armonk, N.Y. and sat down literally right before the girls tipped off. Bea gained possession of the ball, drove to the hoop on a fast break, and banked in the first basket of the game.
Maybe a minute later, Bernie walked in, and I was the first person he noticed. He smiled at me, reached out to shake my hand, and said,
"Hey! How's it going? Good to see you again."
I shook his hand and answered, "Good! Nice to see you again, too."
Bernie took the seat right next to me. He leaned over to me and said, "This is going to be a tough game for them." I replied, "Yeah, the playoffs are always tough." He gave me nod and a look expressing agreement.
I mean, Bernie would know a lot about postseason play. In 12 out of his 16 seasons with the Yankees he was playing in October. He would know about playoff difficulty better than anyone.
Bea's team fell behind 12-7 late in the first quarter, and the coach called a full timeout. While the teams were in the huddle, Bernie leaned over to me again and kind of tapped me on the shoulder.
"So really, how've you been? Everything good?"
I tried to mask my amazement. As I described when I first met him, I felt just like Max Kellerman in "Rocky Balboa." I grew up watching him belt home runs at Yankee Stadium, and afford me and the rest of the Yankee fans wonderful memories. Now he's asking me how I'm doing?!
In the words of Kellerman I wanted to scream, "This is unbelievable! I'm a fan, I can't help it!"
But I couldn't express it. I had to show him I'm normal person, not just another Yankee fanatic.
Calm, cool, and collectively I answered, "Yep. Everything's good. I hit a little bit of traffic getting here, but walked in right before tipoff. Bea actually had the first basket of the game, right before you came in."
Bernie chuckled, and then gazed at his daughter. I could just tell by the look in his eyes how proud he was of her. It's funny, because I bet when she was younger, watching him patrol centerfield at Yankee Stadium, she had the same, spirited look.
As it happened, Bea's team rallied from behind to win, 48-46. They were trailing 34-27 after the third quarter and staged a come-from-behind victory, outscoring the other team 21-12 in the fourth. Bea led her team with 19 points, and bucketed three shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
Afterward I caught up with her and interviewed her about her outstanding performance. She was so happy that her team won – not only because she didn't want her team to be eliminated from playoff contention, but to keep her High School basketball career alive.
Bea is a senior, and it's never fun to be playing that last game.
I pretty much burst out laughing at what Bea's mom (and obviously Bernie's wife) said to me right before I conducted my postgame interview. She got behind her daughter and teased her with a big smile on her face, saying,
"It's all her mother! She gets everything from me!"
All three of us just started to laugh. I thought it was classic; such a "mom" thing to do and say.
After I was done interviewing Bea, I offered my praise and let her know Bernie looked incredibly honored watching her play.
"Congratulations on the win Bea," I remarked. "I was sitting next to your dad and he looked very proud."
She thanked me with an ear-to-ear smile.
I know I said it last time, but I have to say it again: I feel extremely lucky to be doing what I'm doing as far was my job is concerned. Not many die-hard Yankee fans can say they get to go to work and sit next to a Yankee legend – and then get to write about it.
This is just another memory I'll carry with me forever, and I'll never forget.
Later on, Mike D'Antoni's son (who I believe I mentioned before) played in the second game I covered. Obviously his father wasn't in attendance, as the Knicks and their new phenom Jeremy Lin dropped their game at Madison Square Garden to the New Orleans Hornets, losing 89-84, thus ending their seven-game "Linning" streak.
If you're wondering, D'Antoni's son's team also lost, 53-40, eliminating them from the High School postseason. Mike, Jr. is…well…a junior, however. He still has another year to win a basketball championship.
As for Bea's team, I hope they keep winning and go all the way to win the Gold Ball in the Section 1, Class A finals. For as nice as the Williams family has been to me the two times I covered her team, she deserves to win.


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Hi guys, I've been trying to get the boolean value in this program to change to true time and again, but I can't figure out what the problem is. I've tried everything I can, but I haven't found the problem yet. Here's what I've got so far:
import java.util.Scanner; public class Combo { private String s1; private String s2; private String s3; private boolean open; private String attemptedCombo; public Combo() { } public String setCombo() { Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.println ("Please enter the first digit of your combo:"); s1 = in.nextLine(); System.out.println ("Please enter the second digit of your combo:"); s2 = in.nextLine(); System.out.println ("Please enter the final digit of your combo:"); s3 = in.nextLine(); System.out.println("The combination is now " + s1 + s2 + s3 + "."); return "The combination is now " + s1 + s2 + s3 + "."; } public boolean openLocker(){ Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.println ("You encounter a locker!! Enter the combination to open it and presumably get some kind of reward!!:"); attemptedCombo = in.nextLine(); if (attemptedCombo.substring(attemptedCombo.length()).equals(s3) && attemptedCombo.substring(attemptedCombo.length()-1).equals(s2) && attemptedCombo.substring(attemptedCombo.length()-2).equals(s1)) { open = true; System.out.println("The locker is now open."); } else {open = false; System.out.println("The locker remains closed.");} return open; } }
I can't get the boolean "openLocker" to change to true.
Anyone see what I'm doing wrong?


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Momma's BDay
January 25, 2011
I took Lily and my parents to Chipotle for lunch to celebrate. Before heading home we stopped at the park so my little girl could run around for a bit.
Left: Before. Right: After.
Came home and she KNOCKED OUT. It was lovely.
A few hours later we had dinner and dessert at Marie Callender's. Apple pie a la mode for the win!
Now I'm going to end the night by watching White Collar. Matt Bomer, OMG, that man is too beautiful.
4 Comments leave one →


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The lines on her face indicate that Sister Miriam is well into her 80s. But she tells a visitor that she is 40.
It isn't a concession to vanity. In her mind Sister Miriam truly is 40. Minutes later, she is a young girl, walking through the fields with two of her siblings near the Irish village where she grew up. A torrential rain ensues and she prays to God to rescue them from the coming flood. He does.
Sister Miriam-not her real name-is beginning to suffer from a form of dementia. She lives in a community for the elderly on the East Coast, a facility much like many of the institutions she helped to lead in her younger years. One of those facilities was located in a Midwest city prone to flooding, perhaps explaining her current obsession with water.
Besides her memories, Sister Miriam lives in the present.
"I go through the building here three times a day," she tells her visitor. "I see if it's tidy, that everything is in order." She says she prays six times a day, "to help me to be a good person and to be very kind in every which way."
She is convinced that God is watching over this facility. Recently she encountered a depressed resident who was crying, saying that no one loved her. Sister Miriam took her hand and assured her that she was loved by an eternal God.
Sister Miriam may not, at times, make sense to some people. She may well be in her own world. Yet God is real to her, a presence who is loving yet demands a moral accounting-she often talks about God frowning upon violent behavior. Her religious imagination is as alive as ever.
That would not be surprising to Father John Malecki, a priest of the Diocese of Albany, New York and a psychologist who completed a doctoral dissertation on the spiritual lives of Alzheimer's patients.
Working as a chaplain at Teresian House, an Albany facility that cares for the elderly with dementia, he developed techniques to draw out the religious imagination of the patients. Most were judged to be in the middle stages of Alzheimer's. At first he found himself correcting the patients, bringing them back into present reality, an often-understandable reaction among those first encountering Alzheimer's patients. But as he continued his research, he found it better to just go along with them, to follow where their imaginations led.
He found that talking about patients' feelings in regular conversation was often impossible. So he used other means. He asked them to draw images. Some drew evergreens, which in Jungian psychological terms is sometimes seen as a symbol of life everlasting. He told them symbolic stories, including one about a man and his son who worked tirelessly to dig away a mountain that blocked their view of a beautiful valley.
What did the mountain represent? A patient responded quickly: "It's like our illness that keeps us from seeing the wonderful valley. But we hope and pray and persevere that we will see that valley."
He retold other patients the story of the Prodigal Son in the gospels. One nailed the symbolism. "God loves us with no strings attached," she said. Often, said Malecki, the response to religious stories was as on target as it would be from people without Alzheimer's.
Others saw their condition as an ongoing struggle with the Almighty. "Sometimes I fight with God and, at other times, I have the picture of embracing God in love," one patient told Malecki.
Even when dementia makes people unable to articulate and sense what is happening to them, Malecki notes that the religious imagination remains.
For Catholic patients the symbols of the Mass retained their power. He found, however, that taking the residents to a liturgy in a church or chapel disoriented them, moving them away from familiar surroundings. Yet when he celebrated Mass in their rooms, they recognized the familiar symbols of the chalice and the Eucharist.
Maggie Hume of Clifton Park, New York, says that Malecki's research helped her when she was taking care of her late mother who had Alzheimer's. She found herself more willing to listen to her mother's stories by "not looking at the person with a condition, [but by looking] at the person."
Carmelite Sister Peter Lillian of Germantown, New York, who ministers to people with Alzheimer's, has also found that Catholics with the disease often connect with symbols, such as the habit she wears as a member of her religious community. She finds that when she walks the halls patients will sometimes break out in a spontaneous recitation of the rosary, drawing upon some of their earliest religious imagery.
Holy Cross Family Ministries, based in North Easton, Massachusetts, has produced a guide to the rosary for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. The book notes that even when patients cry out in sometimes disturbing, inarticulate ways, their religious sense remains alive. "The disease does not kill the soul," says Malecki. "The spiritual life is growing." The protective and loving God that Sister Miriam prays to remains as alive as ever.


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Via Oh No's blog
Street Fighter II has been remastered into HD for a release on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. To commemorate the occasion, they put together the Street Fighter Underground Remix mixtape, with all the instrumentals sampled from the game (even the sound effects and the announcers!) East of LA has several more tracks from the soundtrack for download, including tracks by Hieroglyphics and Zion I. Quality shit.
But I'm mostly posting this because I had to share this incredible Redman/Oh No track. MJ's beat is bananas, and the way he is incorporated the sound effects is brilliant – the beat is a flip of the music from Guile's stage. Red kills it, naturally. You do know that Oh No is doing full albums with the Alchemist (a project called GANGRENE) and Prince Po? DAMN.
Download: Redman – Lay You Out (ft.Oh No, prod. Oh No)
Not the first time Oh No has done videogame beats either; peep these videogame sampling tracks, courtesy of HaterPlayer, who did a great overview of videogame sampling hip hop tracks.
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There are 6 commentsAdd yours
This is a dope track. Despite my deep-seeded hatred for all things Guile (seriously, why doesn't the CPU have to charge back for 5 seconds to do a Sonic Boom?), Oh No killed this beat.
dope track…wow
Glad you're feeling it.
Quan: I know, right? Confession time: I have never been able to do a Sonic Boom in any version of Street Fighter.
Redman - Lay You Out
[...] Spotted at:Metal Lungies [...]
BluntCruise » New Ish: Game, Jadakiss, Torae, Freeway, Redman
[...] Redman and Oh No – Lay You Out (Rapidshare) (This is from an upcoming mixtape for the new Street Fighter II HD game for Xbox live, it samples the game, more info) [...]
Busta Rhymes - The Game Room (ft. Lil Fame) (produced by DJ Scratch). | Metal Lungies
[...] Busta, the most erratic rapper of all time, but not DJ Scratch. The beat sounds more like something by Oh No. I wasn't sure about this song until I heard Fame drop this bracelet: Prominent, dominantBeen [...]


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This might be the cutest thing ever. Pink 's daughter made her a Grammy award out of tin foil after the songstress lost out at the 2019 Grammys on Sunday, February 10.
The three-time Grammy-winning "What About Us" songstress was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for Beautiful Trauma , but lost the award to Ariana Grande .
After the award was announced, Pink posted on her Instagram an image of her eldest daughter Willow, 7, holding up a DIY Grammy that read "Best Pop Vocal Album 2019 Grammy Awards Pink Beautiful Trauma."
"Thanks Kids:) my favorite kind of award," Pink captioned the adorable photo.
The singer shares Willow and son Jameson , 2, with husband Carey Hart .
Grande wasn't in attendance at the awards show after facing creative differences with the show's producer, but did share with fans the dress she would have worn.
"When [Zac Posen] makes u a custom gown it doesn't matter if you're singing or not .... thank u," she captioned a snap on Instagram, revealing her stunning custom-designed Cinderella-esque gown.
Click here for a complete list of winners from the 2019 Grammys.