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Suppose for a moment that you wake up and the slate is clean. If you are married, you are now single. If you have children, you are now childless. Everything is different, and you are unaware of the life you lived before.
Like most people, you have a drive to be employed, to find love, to start a family, to raise children, but you are starting anew.
I mentioned above that everything is different. Including your sexuality. Remember the first time you felt attracted to a member of the opposite sex -- that first crush? Imagine that attraction to the opposite sex is completely foreign to you. You do not feel any attraction to the opposite sex, just as you felt no attraction to the same sex when you began to develop crushes on the opposite sex in your school days.
Now, before we move forward, it's important to dismiss the obvious objection to such a thought experiment: our sexuality is defined by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences. (When did you make the decision to be straight?)
So, here you are: a clean slate, a desire to move forward in your new life, find love, and start a family. However, despite your completely natural (and almost always unchangeable) attraction to the same sex, you realize that you will never be able to marry, form a family, and enjoy all the benefits afforded to married couples and families.
You see that your legislators are hoping to pass legislation that specifically discriminates against you. Organizations are raising millions of dollars to ensure that you, a taxpaying citizen, do not have the same rights as other taxpaying citizens whose sexual orientations, while different from yours, are determined by the same genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences.
Imagine that you are religious, and you attend church on Sundays. Imagine that your pastor and your congregation do not accept you because of who you are. They denounce you as a sinner, a sexual deviant, and an abomination to God.
Imagine that millions of people honestly believe that your pursuit of the same thing that they have (a spouse and a family) is going to destroy a social institution. They claim that you are harming children (many even claim you are likely to be a pedophile) and that you are a threat to society.
Imagine that you are hospitalized, and the most important person in your life is not able to visit you. Imagine that the person who knows you the best, your soul mate, is not legally allowed to make important medical or financial decisions for you if you are incapacitated.
How does this life feel to you? How is your outlook on life? How do you plan to navigate the rest of your life in a place that will not accept you, a place where you are a 2nd-class citizen, a place where any sort of family you attempt to build will not accepted, a place which has made it clear that you are not welcome?
If you don't feel the least bit of sadness, frustration, or injustice at this point, you're either not being honest with yourself, or you're incapable of empathy.


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A thrilling, high-concept fantasy for fans of Garth Nix and Nancy Farmer.
Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.
And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.
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Ohio administrative codes
Ohio administrative codes
The Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) provides safety rules and safety instruction for a variety of tasks and situations
The OAC and the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) are the legally authoritative rules that Ohio employers must follow.
- Chapter 4123:1-1 Elevators
- Chapter 4123:1-3 Construction
- Chapter 4123:1-5 Workshops and Factories
- Chapter 4123:1-7 Metal Casting
- Chapter 4123:1-9 Steel Making, Manufacturing, and Fabricating
- Chapter 4123:1-11 Laundering and Dry cleaning
- Chapter 4123:1-13 Rubber and Plastic Industries
- Chapter 4123:1-17 Window Cleaning
- Chapter 4123:1-21 Fire Fighting
- Chapter 4167 Public Employment Risk Reduction Program
If you need help locating an Administrative Code, or need an older version of an Administrative Code, please contact the Ohio BWC Library at 614-466-7388, or email firstname.lastname@example.com.
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On the same day as the Inaugural in Washington, The Gambia was in the midst of a major constitutional crisis. Gambia is a slither of a country in west Africa. Until the weekend, it was ruled by the same dictator for over twenty years.
A recent election gave victory to Mr. Adama Barrow, but President Yahya Jammeh refused to step down.
Neighboring countries in the region invaded to remove the former president and replace him with the new one. Mr. Jammeh has now gone.
It's different in America. No coups or counter-coups were needed to remove President Obama. Canadian and Mexican troops were not needed, either.
America has had smooth transfers of government for a very long time. That is to America's credit.
But some commentators, including some religious ones, are doing a disservice to the United States when they describe America as "unique" in this regard. They also overlook an area of grave concern, deeply rooted in American history.
America's peaceful changes of government are not unique. England has had peaceful transfers of power since 1689, to name just one country. Ed Morrow, CBS's American wartime correspondent during World War II, marveled that, when faced with foreign invasion and possible extinction, the United Kingdom maintained a democratic system of government and people were free to criticize Winston Churchill. He did not think America would fare so well when faced with similar threats.
It can truthfully be said that America is unique in one respect – it is the only presidential system in the world that always has peaceful transfers of power. Others, like Gambia, have a bad history in this regard. It has taken over 50 years of independence for The Gambia to get a new elected Head of State – and the change was not peaceful. Zimbabwe has had the same president for 38 years following its independence – there is no sign of change in the country, though people talk increasingly of "nature taking its course" – the president is well over 90 years of age.
So, credit to America.
But not so fast.
In 1860, the election was peaceful, but a few weeks later, fourteen southern states seceded from the Union. Four years of civil war followed. 2% of the people were killed.
Go back even further, to 1775, and we see another civil war that claimed 6% of the people's lives. (The population was less then so the total number was less, but the impact was, arguably, greater.) This war is known as the Revolutionary War or the American War of Independence. It lasted seven years.
Both wars saw incredible divisions in America. Both saw "brother against brother." Both were truly civil wars of the worst kind. Is another civil war possible? It is not out of the question.
Again, we are seeing great division in American society. Roughly half the voters supported Donald Trump, while the other half supported Hillary Clinton. The latter seem no more inclined to accept the result than voters in 1860. That is not to say there will be another civil war, but there could be a great deal of civil unrest; and, eventually, another civil conflict, this time between conservatives and liberals, with race as a contributory factor.
Hundreds of thousands, some would say millions, of angry women were out on the streets of a number of cities, demonstrating over threats to women's rights; an issue that did not even exist in 1860. The term "women's rights" is a euphemism for abortion, the murder of babies. There was no support for abortion in 1860 – that's a new phenomenon that is directly due to the nation's gradual rejection of Christianity. Over 60 million abortions have been performed since legalization in 1973 – those children, who would now be adults, have been replaced by over 60 million immigrants, some from countries that are hostile to the United States. It really doesn't make any sense.
Many of those immigrants are now with the demonstrators against the new Administration. This adds an ethnic dimension that did not exist in the two previous civil wars. Some of the most outspoken critics of the new administration in Washington are Muslims. Liberals come quickly to their defense. I even heard one prominent liberal on CNN yesterday extolling the virtue of an Islamic female leader who "is pro-gray, pro-LGBT." Do they really believe that? The gay lifestyle is totally at variance with Islam. Gays have no civil rights in any Muslim country.
These divisions in America, primarily over abortion (sorry, women's rights) and race, will continue to worsen during the Trump presidency. They have already resulted in some violence. In time, they could explode into greater conflict.
Americans can pride themselves on being part of a presidential republic that has seen many peaceful changes of government, but America is not unique where peaceful change is concerned. The challenge now is to make sure peaceful transfers of power continue. This is not likely to happen in a period of increasing diversity. Tribalism was a big factor in Gambia's electoral disaster – tribalism is now a growing threat in America.
Diversity is just another word for "tribalism."
We should not become complacent. Jesus Christ warned that: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (Matthew 12:25).


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For 27 years, KZFR has been an asset to our community. Offering unique music, public affairs and news shows you won't hear on commercial radio. With your support we hope to be around for another 23 years! You can show your support by donating money, attending an event, or even becoming an Underwriter....
Or you can donate a junk car!
Your generous gift of an unwanted vehicle, helps sustain the quality programming we provide on KZFR! And, your donation is tax deductible too! It's an easy way to get rid of that vehicle or boat, get a tax deduction and support KZFR, too! Only 3 Steps...
- Step #1: Call 888.593.7288
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The car does not need to be running but it does need to have an engine, wheels and a valid pink slip. You will receive a Donation Certificate at the time of pick up and receive a receipt letter for your taxes once the car is sold usually within a month. Thank you!


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Becoming an Independent Consultant is an easy way to start your own business, join a community of inspiring people and share products that can change lives.
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We believe in giving back. The Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation was founded to help young people in our global community. Our mission is to DO GOOD in this world.
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This is the Songzhuang Artists' Residence designed by DnA in Beijing, China. Located right next to east sixth ring road of Beijing city, Songzhuang Artist Village is undergoing a dramatic expansion of artist population and increasing demand of artist's working and living space, a 20-units artist residence facing a fishpond at a former outdoor storage lot is one of the local developments targeting such demand.
The programmatic requirement of working and living defines the height and geometry of both volumes: 6m height for working and 3m for living; a simple rectangular box for studio and a complex geometry for living indicating bedroom, kitchen and toilet. Living volume is plugged into working volume either on the same level or led by stair to upper level. Corrugated metal as exterior cladding and red brick for horizontal surfaces are used to reflect both industrial and village character.
These 20 units are regarded as containers stacking up on this former industrial outdoor storage lot, creating an expressive configuration and spatial quality. The interplay of volume and void, light and shadow allows artists and visitors to constantly explore and experiment the outdoor community space, which could be the extension of art production and presentation as well as linking these 20 units as 20 individual showrooms on open studio days.
In other words, this complex becomes an alternative museum for living art creation and exhibitions.


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What's Cookin' at Callie's Cabin: The sweet recipe for no-snow days
Thirteen years ago, I moved to the South Shore because I love the mountains and I wanted to transition from magazine health journalist to cookbook author. I did that. But every winter I wonder, "What am I doing here?" because the thing is, I'm not a snow bunny. I do not like walking like a penguin on black ice, shoveling snow, breaking nails on firewood and paying high utility bills. So, I get hit with cabin fever and fantasize about moving to Hawaii or back to San Francisco, spots known for sweet chocolate in all forms. But the power of chocolate (it boosts feel-good endorphins like exercise) came to the rescue here at Tahoe, too. I'm talking dark and milk chocolate, nuts and marshmallows. It was this yummy treat that got me through the ups and downs of waiting for our next snowfall. On my one to 10 disaster scale, the drama was about a four. But still, it wasn't fun for this city girl.A few days ago, as the temperature got warmer the ice on the rooftop melted down on the deck. Drip, drip, drip onto the wood outside of this Old Tahoe cabin. I'm talking mega meltdown with ice dam effects. After a few phone calls, I got it. I was on my own. One snow removal guy via phone quipped, "If you don't like snow, why did you move here?" I bit into a fresh piece of chocolate bark and thought, "I dig the trees." Another older snow man was sweet to me. He said, "Dear, boil some water." Then, his easy instructions followed. He promised the hot liquid would melt the pile of towels and cat litter that stuck to the wood (I used these late at night to create traction) as well as the huge ice mound sitting on the deck outside the doorway. He forgot one thing. His perfect recipe took an hour. But it worked. And I celebrated with another chunk of chocolate I made for days like this.Rocky Road Bark 7 premium baking chips, 60 percent cacao bittersweet chocolate 7 ounces premium baking chips, milk chocolate 1 cup miniature marshmallows1/2 cup pecans, chopped (place in plastic bag and use a hammer to crush into bite-size bits)Melt dark chocolate chips in a microwave for about two or three minutes, stir occasionally until melted. Stir the dark chocolate and spread it onto a nonstick flat cookie sheet (or line with parchment paper). Spread and shape into a rectangle. Chill in freezer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, nuke milk chocolate chips. Once the chocolate is melted, stir in marshmallows and nuts. (Save half of the nuts for the top.) Take out dark chocolate from freezer and frost with rocky road mixture. Sprinkle nuts on top. Put back into freezer for 10 minutes. Take out and pick up the entire chocolate candy slab, place on a plate. If you use parchment paper, take off. Break into peanut brittle-like square pieces.Despite the fact that Rocky Road Bark got me through this Tahoe winter glitch, I still don't like the icy days waiting for fresh snow. However, munching on the homemade treat somehow made me forget the grueling adventure. But there's more. After making a fire to keep things toasty, the weathered fireplace iron screen handle broke. Thank goodness I made plenty of Rocky Road Bark. Note to self: Make another batch to get me through winter's challenges until springtime. Motto: New and sterile homes lack character. To deal with older dwellings, it's a must to have plenty of chocolate on hand.— Cal Orey, M.A., is an author and journalist. Her books include "The Healing Powers" series (Vinegar, Olive Oil, Chocolate, Honey, and Coffee) published by Kensington. (The Healing Powers of Honey and Coffee are offered by the Good Cook Book Club.) "Animal Attraction: A Collection of Tales & Tails" will be released in 2013. Her website is http://www.calorey.com.
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FACT: Israeli military reaction has been one of incomparable restraint. After the brutal lynching of two Israelis in Ramallah, Israel limited its response to bombing one floor of the headquarters of the negligent Ramallah police, the radio station that had been broadcasting incitement to violence, and two targets in Gaza. Israelis gave a 3-hour warning, to allow Palestinians to evacuate; indeed, no one was killed. Similarly, following the recent torching of an ancient synagogue in Jericho, Israel's only response was to bomb a military training school.
On the front lines of this "intifada," Israeli soldiers have orders not to shoot unless they are in direct danger. Israeli soldiers are told never shoot at an ambulance or at women. Unless the Palestinians begin shooting first with live bullets, Israeli soldiers are instructed never to shoot to kill, and then, to aim only at the source of the shooting, never randomly. No other army has such restrained orders.
As the world decries the 100 Palestinian deaths, no one stops to ask how many would be dead if Israeli forces were actually doing what they are accused of -- shooting indiscriminately into crowds with automatic weapons. If that were the case, many thousands of Palestinians would be dead.
But what about Palestinians youth who have been tragically killed in the fighting?
What kind of parent encourages children to go to the front lines to throw stones and firebombs at armed troops?! Palestinians know that Israelis are reluctant to shoot at children; and if a child does wind up getting killed, it makes for excellent anti-Israel propaganda.
Children are taught in school the heroics of dying as a martyr for the Palestinian cause. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian Authority is encouraging children to participate in clashes by offering their families $300 per injury and $2,000 for anyone killed. How tragic that Palestinians send their children at risk of death and then cynically use this against Israel in the court of world opinion.
But perhaps Israel should not be using force at all to stop the violence?
The BBC recently asked a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council if Arafat truly had the power to stop the mob violence. He replied that it probably could not be done without exerting fatal force on the rioters. Given that reality, how can the world possibly expect Israel to stop the violence without such force?
It is the duty of any government to protect its citizens from violence. Imagine what the response would be if this violence was occurring to any other country. When the British tried to control the last Palestinian intifada, the Arab revolt of 1936-1939, entire villages were burned and more than 3,000 Palestinians were killed.
During "Black September" when Palestinians rioted in Jordan in the 1970s, King Hussein massacred 2,500 Palestinians in 10 days. Likewise, Syrian President Assad slaughtered 20,000 of his own people during civil unrest in Hama, then paved over the dead -- a toll that the Israel intifada would need 100 years to match.


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5 questions about the Justin Bieber case
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 1/24/2014, 5:28 p.m.
By Todd Leopold
(CNN) -- Pop star Justin Bieber was arrested Thursday and was charged with drunken driving, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license after police spotted him street racing early Thursday morning.
Here's what we know about elements of the case:
- Bieber "made some statements that he had consumed some alcohol, and that he had been smoking marijuana and consumed some prescription medication," said Miami Beach Police Chief Raymond Martinez. How did Bieber, who's just 19, get the alcohol, marijuana and pills?
An excellent question, and one that has no certain answer. Bieber may be 19 but he had "an entourage of about 15 people," says CNN's John Couwels. In Miami Beach that included Bieber's father, Jeremy Bieber, 38. Given money, fame and willing pals, Bieber conceivably had access to whatever he desired.
2. Bieber was driving a yellow Lamborghini. Again, given his age, how did he rent it?
Lou La Vie, the exotic-auto rental establishment from which Bieber rented the Lambo, posted a blog entry and a series of pictures about the return of the vehicle and another on Thursday. "For everyone that was concerned with the news, the cars are back safe and sound! Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear," the firm wrote.
According to Lou La Vie's rental policy, "LLV requires driver to be 25 years of age and older to rent a vehicle. In certain cases, we may be able to rent to drivers between the ages of 21-25." The Lamborghinis rent for between $600 and $1,800 a day, and require a deposit of between $5,000 and $12,000. The person who made the rental for Bieber hasn't been revealed.
Rob Ferretti, the COO of Gotham Dream Cars, which has a Miami location, says his company requires both a valid driver's license and valid insurance and will not rent to people under 21. Gotham also runs a license check to make sure there aren't any surprises in the driver's background, Ferretti says. However, he observed, those policies aren't uniform in the rental-car world.
The Smoking Tire's Matt Farah told Jalopnik.com that the onus is on the rental company, not the renter. "The law varies by state but technically anyone under 21 shouldn't be driving even if someone of age signs for the car," he said. "It would be the burden of the rental company to prosecute that, though; as long as the car isn't stolen the cops wouldn't care."
3. Bieber is a Canadian citizen. Could this arrest lead to his deportation?
It's too early to say. First of all, Bieber has not been convicted of a crime. Second, the charges thus far are misdemeanors. The state attorney's office told CNN that it could take several weeks to determine what type of charges may be added -- if there are charges added at all.
U.S. immigration law says people can be deported if they're convicted of what's called an "aggravated felony" or a "crime of moral turpitude." HLN's Vinnie Politan, a former prosecutor, points out, "DUI is not an aggravated felony. However, 'aggravated DUI' can be considered a crime of moral turpitude. An aggravated DUI in Florida is generally charged for repeat offenders or in cases where an accident has occurred resulting in serious injury or death."
However, Politan says he believes Bieber would not likely face deportation as a result of these charges.
4. Could the police file more charges in the Bieber case?
Maybe. The state attorney's office told CNN it is looking at a variety of sources, including social media accounts, and will decide if other charges are warranted, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor or street racing. Bieber and his cohort, R&B singer Khalil, were doing up to 60 mph in a 30 mph zone, according to the police report.
5. Was Bieber given preferential treatment?
There aren't any reports of the Miami Beach Police treating Bieber any differently than other people they've arrested. However, three officers in nearby Opa-Locka have been suspended in connection with allegations that they escorted Bieber's caravan in the Miami area without authorization this week.
CNN's John Couwels and Tory Dunnan contributed to this report.


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Dahlsjo Surname Ancestry Results
Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'dahlsjo'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 1 record (displaying 1 to 1):
Try these...
dahell dahen dahi dahill dahille dahis dahker dahl dahlberg dahle dahlem dahlenburg dahler dahlgreen dahlgren dahlgrn dahlin dahlke dahll dahlquist dahlston dahlstrom dahlstrome dahm dahmen dahmer dahms dahncke dahne dahomey dahos dahouch dahse dahulle dahwood dahy dahympil dai daibell daice
These sample scans are from the original record. You will get scans of the full pages or articles where the surname you searched for has been found.
Your web browser may prevent the sample windows from opening; in this case please change your browser settings to allow pop-up windows from this site.
Research your ancestry, family history, genealogy and one-name study by direct access to original records and archives indexed by surname.


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On the first edition of "The Colbert Report," nearly 5 1/2 years ago, Steven Colbert set the tone for his Fox News takeoff by introducing his concept of "truthiness" – basically twisting facts to make a point.
The comedian, who has effectively used the idea to get laughs by calling B.S. on unscrupulous politicians and other powerful prevaricators, raised his game to a new level this week with his Twitter barrage against Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl. And thanks to the Internet, it's a meme game we can all play.
A quick recap: During last week's government shutdown chicken match, the GOP lawmaker declared abortion is "well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does." Others quickly pointed out that abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood, which became an unlikely focus of the federal budget debate, account for just three percent of the organization's patient care.
Instead of issuing an apology or a reasonable explanation for the verbal blunder, Kyl's office merely noted that his pronouncement on the floor of the U.S. Senate was "not intended to be a factual statement."
On Monday's show, Colbert took a major swing at this softball lobbed by the minority whip. "That's a liberating defense," he noted – and went on to unleash a hilarious wave of tweets, all with the hashtag/all-purpose disclaimer: #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement.
A mere sampling from Colbert's Twitter account, which has more than 2 million followers:
•"Jon Kyl assassinated Archduke Ferdinand."
•"For the past ten years, Jon Kyl has been two children in a very convincing Jon Kyl suit."
•"Jon Kyl thinks no one can see him when he puts a paper bag on his head."
The public quickly joined in, firing off at one point, as Colbert noted, 46.2 tweets a minute using the hashtag – with some barbs aimed at Kyl, others targeting different perceived liars and too many unfit to repeat here. "Chuck Norris movies are loosely based on Jon Kyl's memoirs" and "Jon Kyl cries while reading Twilight" are two milder examples.
Colbert elevated what would have been just another a one-night bit by taking the joke to Twitter, inviting audience participation. But give Kyl much of the credit: his bungled spin job, whirling with silliness and arrogance, struck a nerve with those sick of the exaggeration and outright lying that permeates much of public life, poisoning discourse on cable news and in Washington, where partisan bickering nearly crippled our government.
In a 2006 interview with "60 Minutes," Colbert broke from his faux conservative character to offer this definition of his neologism: "Truthiness is what you want the facts to be as opposed to what the facts are. What feels like the right answer as opposed to what reality will support."
Kyl's pithier definition of truthiness – "not intended to be a factual statement" – may have improved on Colbert's version. The lawmaker, in essence, declared facts don't matter – not even on the floor of the U.S. Senate, not even during a crisis.
Only there's nothing very funny about that.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NY City News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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Is Santa Coming Early for Gold & Gold Mining Stocks?
If you own physical gold, gold mining stocks or plan on buying anything related to precious metals before year end, you are likely going to get excited because of what my analysis and outlook shows. Since gold topped abruptly a year ago (Sept 2011) with a massive wave of selling which sent the price of gold from $1920 down to $1535, technical analysts knew that type of damage which had be done to the chart pattern could take a year or more to stabilize before gold would be able to continue higher.
Fast forwarding twelve months to today (Oct 2012). You can see that gold looks to have stabilized and is building a basing pattern (launch pad) for another major rally. The charts illustrated below show my big picture analysis, thoughts and investment idea.
Weekly Spot Gold Chart:
The weekly chart can be a very powerful tool for understanding the overall trend. This chart clearly shows the last major correction and basing pattern in gold back in 2008 – 2009. Right now gold looks to be forming a very similar pattern.
Keep in mind this is a weekly chart and if you compare the 2009 basing pattern to where we are today I still feel it could take 3 – 6 months before gold truly breaks out to the upside and kicks into high gear. The point of this chart is to provide a rough guide for what to expect in the coming weeks and months.
Weekly Chart of Junior Gold Miner Stocks:
If you follow gold closely then you likely already know junior gold mining stocks can lead the price of gold up to two weeks. Meaning gold mining stocks which you can track by looking at GDX and GDXJ exchange traded funds will form strong bullish chart patterns and generally start moving up in price before physical gold.
The chart below shows the junior gold miner ETF with a VERY BULLISH chart and volume pattern. Remember that gold stocks are a leveraged play on gold in most cases. For example, if gold moves up 1% we typically see GDX and GDXJ move 2-4%. Because they act as a leveraged play on physical gold smart money and big institutions start accumulating these investments in anticipation of gold rising.
GDXJ has formed a tight bull flag and the volume levels confirm there is big money moving into these investments. The first price target on GDXJ using technical analysis for a measured move points to the $32 area. Looking forward twelve months with gold trading above $2000 we could see this fund more than double in value.
Bonus: while most traders focus on GDX gold miner fund, I prefer the GDXJ fund because its almost identical in price performance BUT it pays you a 5% dividend…
Gold's Seasonality:
It's that time of year again where gold tends to move higher. Below you can see where we are and what the price of gold typically does in November.
Gold Investing & Trading Conclusion:
Looking forward one month (November) and factoring in the recent pullback in gold to known support levels along with strong buying of junior gold mining stocks, I feel gold will take another run at the $1800 level and for GDXJ to test its previous higher of $25.50 at minimum. If both those levels get taken out then a massive bull market for precious metals could be triggered. Only time will tell…
Get my Daily Trading Analysis & Trade Setups at: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com


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Over the Counter Intelligence
Tim Shorrock, a veteran investigative journalist and a longtime subscriber to the Dirt Diggers Digest, has just come out with a book called Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing.
Shorrock describes how an activity that used to be handled by spooks on
the federal payroll has been steadily transformed into a $50 billion
Intelligence-Industrial Complex.
Thanks to the contracting scandals surrounding Halliburton and its
former subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, the public learned of the
extent to which the Pentagon has turned over routine functions to
private military companies. The outrageous behavior of Blackwater has
highlighted the use of mercenaries to protect U.S. diplomats and other
VIPs in Iraq.
Shorrock shines a light on another group of corporations that are
carrying out a more sensitive function that most people have no idea is
being handed over to the private sector. Careful readers of the
revelations concerning abuses at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq
would have learned that interrogators alleged to have abused detainees
included civilians employed by a company called CACI. But that is only
the tip of a lucrative iceberg, Shorrock shows.
For example, he writes, more than half the people working at the
super-secret National Counterterrorism Center in Virginia are employees
of companies such as Science Applications International Corporation
(SAIC), BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin. The Center's terrorist
database is maintained by The Analysis Corporation, which subcontracted collection activities to CACI.
Since 9/11, Shorrock says, the Central Intelligence Agency has been
spending 50-60 percent of its budget (or about $2.5 billion a year) on
contractors-both individuals and companies. At the CIA and its sister
spook agencies: "Tasks that are now outsourced include running spy
networks out of embassies, intelligence analysis, signals intelligence
(SIGINT) collection, covert operations, and the interrogation of enemy
Shorrock devotes an entire chapter to Booz Allen Hamilton, known to
most people as a management consultant for large corporations but which
pioneered the intelligence outsourcing industry (though it recently
agreed to sell its federal business to the Carlyle Group). When Mike
McConnell, a former Booz Allen executive, was named by President Bush
as Director of National Intelligence, it was the first time, Shorrock
notes, that a contractor was put in charge of the country's entire spy
Spies for Hire has much more to offer that cannot be
adequately summarized here. I recommend that you read it in full. But
let me let also note that profiles of some of the intelligence
contractors discussed by Shorrock-such as CACI and ManTech International-can be found on the Crocodyl wiki to which I contribute. Also note that the updated edition of Jeremy Scahill's valuable book Blackwater,
recently issued in paperback, has a discussion (p.453 forward) on the
mercenary company's move into another form of privatized intelligence-a
product called Total Intelligence Solutions that is designed to bring
"CIA-style" services to Fortune 500 companies.
Dirt Diggers Digest is written by Philip Mattera, director of the Corporate Research Project, an affiliate of Good Jobs First.
See also feature articles by Tim Shorrock on CorpWatch.org:
QinetiQ Goes Kinetic: Top Rumsfeld Aide Wins Contracts From Spy Office He Set Up
Carlyle Group May Buy CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton
- 9 Lockheed Martin
- 15 Halliburton
- 17 Science Applications International Corporation
- 23 Private Security
- 24 Intelligence
- 176 War Profiteers Site
- 187 Privatization
- 210 Blackwater USA


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The Best of 2012: Books
Top reads include Texas themes.
Random House recently announced that every employee, from janitor to editor, received a year-end bonus of $5,000, thanks to the multimillion-dollar sales of just two books: "Fifty Shades of Grey," the erotic publishing phenomenon by British author E. L. James, and "Gone Girl," Gillian Flynn's twisted romance. That's a good thing.
Critically speaking, one or two books stood out this year — Louise Erdrich deservedly won the National Book Award for fiction for "The Round House," while journalist Katherine Boo took home the honor in nonfiction for "Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity."
The New York Times Notable Books of 2012 featured great reads like Hilary Mantel's "Bring Up the Bodies," Alice Munro's story collection "Dear Life," Dave Eggers' "A Hologram For The King," "NW" By Zadie Smith, David Maraniss' "Barack Obama: The Story," David Byrne's "How Music Works" and R.J. Smith's "The One: The Life and Music of James Brown." But John Irving's "In One Person"? Pass.
There were other highly anticipated books that never cleared the ozone: J.K. Rowling's initial stab at adult fiction "The Casual Vacancy," Tom Wolfe's "Back to Blood," Bob Woodward's "Price of Politics," Salman Rushdie's "Joseph Anton" and Robert Caro's "The Passage Of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson," which did make many best-of lists, but had some uncharacteristically sloppy errors discovered by Express-News critic and resident Caro expert David Hendricks, who emailed them to his hero. (Dave also took another hero, Larry McMurtry, to task for his "Custer" book.)
With an eye on Texas-related books but not necessarily limited to them, here's a look at what caught the Express-News' literary fancy in 2012.
In Between Days
By Andrew Porter
Knopf, $24.95
More Information
The Best of 2012: Arts & Entertainment
See the San Antonio Express-News critics' picks for the year's best in movies, TV, stage, books, music, art and dance.
San Antonio writer Andrew Porter's debut novel chronicles the fragmentation and (partial) reformation of a Houston family whose college-age daughter is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, gets suspended from college, and goes missing. Porter, a professor in the English department at Trinity University, writes with intuitiveness about the complexities of family life, creates indelible characters and develops a sense of unease as thick as Houston smog. It's our fictional work of the year.
This Is How You Lose Her
By Junot Díaz
Riverhead Books, $26.95
"Vulnerability," says Junot Díaz, "is the first step to love." Readers of the Dominican-American novelist might think it difficult to accuse him of being vulnerable, but he shows a tender side in "This Is How You Lose Her," a collection of related stories featuring Yunior, the multifaceted character the MIT professor drew so vividly in his 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." But don't worry; Díaz does sensitivity and boorishness with equal aplomb.
Have You Seen Marie?
By Sandra Cisneros
Knopf, $21
Set in San Antonio's historic King William district, "Marie" has been described as "a picture book for adults." Based on a true story, it's about a neighborhood search for a lost cat that leads to deeper feelings about gone loved ones. Chicana artist Ester Hernandez contributes wonderful color illustrations of real King William people and places. The book is a small gem at 101 pages. And if you ever get the chance to hear the author perform this sweet story live, don't pass it up.
Contrary People
By Carolyn Osborn
Wings Press, $16.95
Austin writer Carolyn Osborn tackles the knotty quandary of re-embracing life as the end days loom in her wise, eloquent new novel "Contrary People." With apologies to Dylan Thomas, the title itself suggests not going gently into that good night, but rather than raging, raging, Osborn's mature main characters face their fate with Old World grace and good manners — and not a little bit of guilt — as both deal with "the selfishness of grief."
Flight Behavior
By Barbara Kingsolver
Harper, $28.99
"Flight Behavior" deals with climate change in a clever, original way. As a young farm wife escapes for a tryst with her younger lover, she comes across what at first resembles a lake of fire. It turns out to be a gathering of millions of Monarch butterflies, and leads veteran novelist Barbara Kingsolver, who was a scientist before she turned to writing novels, to address many complex issues we face today. As entertaining as it is thought-provoking.
The Bird Saviors
By William Cobb
Unbridled Books, $25.95
Birds in many cultures, including Mexican and American Indian, are considered a link between heaven and earth. In Texas writer William J. Cobb's fierce novel "The Bird Saviors," our winged companions are harbingers of environmental disaster in a near future of economic turmoil, fundamentalist sects, weather change, severe drought, work shortages, immigration crisis and systemic corruption. For all its gritty reflection of America's underbelly, its zealots and victims and losers, the novel is ultimately hopeful, a poignant reminder of literature's power to reflect our disappointments, expectations and dreams.
The Rook
By Daniel O'Malley
Little, Brown, $25.99
When a book is billed "On Her Majesty's Supernatural Secret Service," it's difficult to resist. "The Rook," the debut novel by a young Australian writer named Daniel O'Malley, lives up to its metaphysical endorsement, although it's more "Men in Black" than Bond.
Waiting for Sunrise
By William Boyd
Harper, $25.99
Lysander Rief, a young British actor with an Old Scottish name, arrives in Vienna in 1913, to try and work out the kinks of a pesky sexual problem with a disciple of Sigmund Freud. So begins William Boyd's engrossing novel "Waiting for Sunrise," which does the neat trick of evolving from a historical romance into a seat-of-the-pants World War I spy thriller.
The Quality of Mercy
By Barry Unsworth
Nan A. Talese, $26.95
Veteran novelist Barry Unsworth is on terra firma in "The Quality of Mercy," partly set in an English mining village circa 1767. A sequel to "Sacred Hunger," Unsworth imagines the events that follow the ill-fated voyage of an English merchant's slave ship as the characters make their lives on land. The book is full of gorgeous prose, wonderful dialogue in regional dialect, deeply etched characters, and historical settings both rural and urban we can smell and taste. It is the interesting period touches that really bring "Mercy" to life, from fashions and manners to foods.
American Dervish
By Ayad Akhtar
Little, Brown, $24.99
Ayad Akhtar, a promising young playwright publishing his debut novel, embraces the contradictions — spiritual, sexual, cultural — of growing up Muslim in the U. S. of A. in "American Dervish." A story of family betrayal comprises the meat of the novel, which will leave a hole in the heart of the biggest sinner. Whether you are Muslim, Jewish or Christian, this coming-of-age tale hits home.
Gone Girl
By Gillian Flynn
Crown, $25
The creep-out book of the summer, "Gone Girl" was a runaway best-seller about a supposedly sweet young wife who is apparently abducted — with all evidence pointing to her husband. But there's way more to it than that. Nick and Amy Dunne's marriage is a careening carnival ride through a dark tunnel of psychological nuclear-family warfare. Granted, the ending left a lot to be desired, but Flynn has created one of the slipperiest, most severely sociopathic characters this side of Hannibal Lecter. You'll have to read "Gone Girl" to find out which one.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel
By Ben Fountain
Ecco, $25.99
A bracing, fearless and uproarious satire of how contemporary war is waged and sold to the American public, Dallas writer Ben Fountain's National Book Award finalist gives us one day in the life of Billy Lynn, a 19-year-old soldier who's on a "Victory Tour" of America during the time of the Iraq war. "Catch-22" and Tim O'Brien's books "The Things They Carried" and "Going After Cacciato" are among this novel's more obvious antecedents, but Fountain's gleeful counterculture irreverence also recalls the best 1970s films of Robert Altman — "M*A*S*H" and "Nashville."
Watergate: A Novel
By Thomas Mallon
Pantheon, $26.95
Thomas Mallon reimagines the Watergate scandal inside out, from the June 1972 discovery of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex to President Nixon's resignation two years later. "Watergate" is an internecine, often claustrophobic recent-history novel that reads somewhat like Sen. Sam Ervin's endless committee hearings — at times thrilling, at others tedious. Overall, it's must-read for political junkies, who might even find themselves empathizing with (gasp) Tricky Dick.
By Toni Morrison
Knopf, $22.50
Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison begins "Home" with a question: How does a man rebuild himself while the world chips away at his soul? That is the problem posed to Frank Money, a Korean War veteran returned to the United States after witnessing the horrors of combat. Now a shell of a man, Frank finds himself on a journey to rescue his medically abused younger sister and return to his home in small-town Georgia. Haunting.
The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir
By Domingo Martinez
Lyons Press, $16.95
In his powerful memoir "The Boy Kings of Texas," Domingo Martinez doesn't shy away from the violence and fear he encountered growing up in Brownsville, yet he also finds much to love and defend about his childhood home. The strength of the book, a National Book Award finalist, lies in the clear-eyed explorations of a family struggling with poverty, dangerous notions of machismo, and the difficulty of holding onto culture in an atmosphere that encouraged — even demanded — assimilation. It's the E-N's non-fiction book of the year.
The Dallas Cowboys: The Outrageous History of the Biggest, Loudest, Most Hated, Best Loved Football Team in America
By Joe Nick Patoski
Little, Brown, $29.99
Wimberley-based writer Joe Nick Patoski, whose last book was a biography of Willie Nelson, tackles America's team — warts and all — in his latest, taking us inside the Cowboys' locker room, boardroom and backrooms for a unique look at an iconic American sports franchise.
The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace
By H.W. Brands
Doubleday, $35
Author of more than 25 history books and biographies of historical figures ranging from Benjamin Franklin to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, UT history professor H.W. Brands turns his eye to a Civil War hero in "The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace." It's a rich portrait of a true leader that history has given a bum rap.
In the Country of Empty Crosses: The Story of a Hispano Protestant Family in Catholic Mexico
By Arturo Madrid
Photographs by Miguel Gandert
Trinity University Press, $24.95
Trinity professor Arturo Madrid digs the story of his Mexican Protestant family in Catholic country out of the thin, rocky soil of his high-country native New Mexico. After converting in the late 19th century, the family immediately became strangers (among their fellow Hispanos) in addition to being foreigners (to whites) in their own homeland. Truly "a labor of amor."
American Triumvirate: Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, and the Modern Age of Golf
By James Dodson
Knopf, $28.95
Veteran Golf magazine staffer James Dodson argues effectively that Snead, Nelson and Hogan, all born 100 years ago in 1912, effectively stood on the shoulders of the first generation of American golf giants — Hagen, Sarazen and Jones — and dragged the game of golf, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the modern era during a heyday that lasted from the late '30s into the '50s. If this book isn't a hole in one, it's at least an eagle.
The Power of Trees
By Gretchen Daily
Photographs by Charles J. Katz Jr.
Trinity University Press, $12.95
You'll never take the noble tree for granted again after poring over this slim book written by renowned Stanford biologist Gretchen Daily and illustrated with elegant black-and-white, Ansel Adams-ish photographs by San Antonio native Chuck Katz. It's like taking a walk in the woods with a scientist and a fresh pair of eyes. Something to learn with every step.


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Following Up on the New York Times Story About the Daily Planet
The Nov. 28 New York Times article about the efforts of a few pro-Israel activists to shut down the Daily Planet for its publication of reader contributions critical of that nation's policies provided a fair introduction to the story but failed to fully elucidate the nature of the campaign.
Though the first stirrings of this censorship campaign began several years ago, it did not begin in earnest until this year, when PR professional Jim Sinkinson began a more organized and deliberate campaign to intimidate advertisers. The Planet first alerted its readership to Sinkinson's efforts in a March 19 editorial.
The paper followed up with a June 4 story by Richard Brenneman that looked at the three principal players and documented the intimidation felt by advertisers—most of them local business owners, many with little or no knowledge of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The story was accompanied by multiple sidebars, looking at the amount of commentary on the subject (just 5 percent of the paper's opinion submissions over a two-year period focused on Israel-Palestine, roughly two thirds of which could be considered critical of Israel, and most submissions on both sides were written by Jews); Sinkinson's ties to FLAME (Facts and Logic About the Middle East), an organization run by Daniel Pipes and Gerardo Joffe, with a long history of intimidation and smear tactics in the defense of right-wing Israeli policies; John Gertz's red-baiting of Planet columnist Conn Hallinan; Dan Spitzer's elusiveness; the involvement of Sanne DeWitt and her Israel Action Committee of the East Bay; Gertz and Spitzer's effort to libel opinion-page contributor Joseph Anderson by falsely attributing anti-Semitic hate speech to him with fabricated quotes published online; and the fact that Sinkinson's company hosts an annual conference that coaches PR people on how to influence the media, and that this year's high-profile participants included Dan Rather and three New York Times staffers—health reporter Tara Parker Pope, Assistant Business Finance Editor Andrew Ross Sorkin and Blog and Technology Editor Saul Hansell—as well as editors from many other media outlets, including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press.
Blogger Hamilton Nolan commented on the irony of a media relations guru's opposition to free speech in a recent post on Gawker.
Former Daily Planet reporter Richard Brenneman also penned a response to the Times story.
Sinkinson's campaign persisted after the June 4 Planet story. One of his missives to advertisers selectively quoted from a letter to the Planet from the East Bay Council of Rabbis. Sinkinson excised a few lines from the letter where the council made plain their opposition to his campaign, leaving advertisers to believe that the East Bay's greater Jewish community supported his efforts. The council of rabbis, which includes Sinkinson's own rabbi, responded with indignation, characterizing Sinkinson's misuse of the letter as "deeply disturbing."
The New York Times article failed to mention this or the fact that Sinkinson is a director of FLAME, as documented in our June 4 story. Thus the statement in the Times story that the organized Jewish community is not involved in his campaign is only partially correct, as the organized right-wing Zionist Jewish community clearly is.
It also failed to mention that many Jews have condemned the actions of these men, and that more than 100 local Jews signed their names to an advertisement in support of the paper and in opposition to any effort to censor its opinion pages.
Nor did the story mention that Gertz himself was a frequent contributor to the Planet's opinion pages for years. The paper gave much space to his views, including his criticisms of those—Jews and gentiles alike—who would criticize Israel, and only banned him from its pages once he began to threaten lawsuits and vowed to shut down the paper.
The bottom line, stated nowhere in the Times article, is that this is a political dispute, not a moral one. Gertz, Sinkinson and Spitzer and other like-minded Israel supporters may couch their arguments in terms of Judaism, claiming that Israel's critics are anti-Semitic, but what they are really defending is a political ideology, and the efforts of these three men to shut down or "reform" the paper are, purely and simply, a form of McCarthyism—an attempt to stifle the flow of information and opinion which does not line up with their own political beliefs. Substitute the name of any other nation for Israel and the nature of this censorship campaign—a small band of ideologues attempting to shut down open discussion of a foreign power's policies—is made frightfully clear.
And as for morality, hiding behind notions of Jewish identity and the long, tragic history of anti-Semitism to further a political agenda is the height of cynicism.


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MCom Sem 3 Winter 2016 Result Download Gondwana University
MCom Sem 3 Winter 2016 Result Download Gondwana University
Gondwana University Published Winter Results of MCom 3rd Sem Examination 2016. MCom 3rd Semester Winter 2016 Results for Third Semester Published by Gondwana University. Master of Commerce Semester 3 Winter 2016 Results Published on official website – http://gondwanaexams.org/. MCom Examination 1st Semester to 6th Semester Winter Examination 2016 Results now published on 7th January 2017. You can check the Master of Commerce Winter 2016 Examination Results from following link.
About Gondwana University – MCom Sem 3 Oct Exam Results
The Gondwana University has been conceived and formed with a foresighted view to cater the aspirations of the economically so also socio- culturally backward districts of Gadchiroli and Chandrapur. Though the network of Governmental agencies have been constantly trying to execute the state welfare policies of an all inclusive development, the resultant progress has been sluggish compared to other areas of the state. This lag has created a host of socio-political tensions and problems as is seen in the rise of Naxalites violence. Though a speedy all inclusive growth is a right answer to all this it cannot be achieved without apt vision and well-tailored methodology. The formation of a new university is therefore a right step in the direction.
The compiled data on overall life of the domain of the university indicates that it has area specific problems like age old poverty, prejudices followed from static mind-sets, directionlessness emerging from traditional ignorance etc., The cumulative effect of all this is a deep chasm between the local populace and the rest of the mainstream society. In brief turning problems in to opportunities forms the real syllabi of the new university.
MCom Sem 3 Winter 2016 Results – gondwanaexams.org
The results of MCom Examine of Third SEM are given below. Candidate now able to check their results form following results section area.


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While the Texas Senate was sweating over the issue of abortion regulations that Gov. Rick Perry added to the special-session agenda last week, Perry was talking to the AP after a Park Avenue meeting and sharing a new ad with Politico.
Politico makes note of Perry's potential 2016 presidential aspirations and says the first 30 seconds of the commercial "plays out like an attack ad." The ad was shared first with Politico, which it mentions high up.
In his interview with the AP, Perry said of his effort to lure businesses from New York:
"It's no different than, I would think, if the Knicks were in the finals playing the San Antonio Spurs, they'd be willing to win all the games… The same's true with business, the same's true with jobs."


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It's finally looking like springlike weather will arrive, which means the resumption of Connecticut Rider Education Program courses across the state.
Basic Rider Course classes offered at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury begin on Friday, but are already filled through mid-May. BRC classes at the UConn campus in Torrington don't start until the weekend of April 25.
"With three or four days of sunny and mid-50s (weather) over the weekend, it will be very busy next week," predicted John Purdy Jr., who runs the classes at NVCC. "They've been coming in this week. A lot of people wanted the first class and they didn't realize we started taking registrations right after Christmas."
Between the campuses, riders can take the BRC, Intermediate Rider Course, Advanced Rider Course and Experienced Rider Course, which means there's a class for every rider no matter their skill level or the type of motorcycle they prefer.
"It's looking good. I have 11 BRCs scheduled in April and all of them are full," said Purdy. BRC classes hold a maximum of 12 students. Information on all CONREP classes available through N.V.C.C. may be found online at www.nv.edu/motorcycle.
There are no riders more loyal to their brand of choice than BMW owners – unless you count Harley-Davidson owners, of course. When asked by Consumer Reports magazine whether they'd buy another Harley, 75 percent said yes, while 74 percent of BMW owners said yes as well.
This isn't surprising because both brands represent a lifestyle choice and project an image. What does seem incongruous is these same respondents reported the most problems with their bikes. A total of 30 percent of Beemer owners and 24 percent of Harley owners had problems, including "trouble with accessories, such as lights, instruments, switches, and radios (21 percent); brakes (20 percent); the electrical system (16 percent); and the fuel system (15 percent)."
Consumer Reports surveyed 4,680 subscribers for its first motorcycle reliability survey, the results of which were released this week. Experiencing the fewest repairs were Yamaha (11 percent), Kawasaki (13 percent) and Honda (14 percent) owners.
Space is now half-filled for RIDE-CT's first charity ride to the Mustang Seats' factory, which benefits the Little Guild of St. Francis animal rescue shelter in West Cornwall. The May 4 event will offer riders a tour of the Mustang plant in Three Rivers, Mass., to observe the entire seat-making process.
While the factory doesn't operate on Saturday, Mustang will have tour guides and demonstrations and will also provide lunch and door prizes for RIDE-CT readers. The cost is $25 per rider and $20 per passenger, and every cent will go to Little Guild. Because the tour itself will be indoors, there won't be a rain date_ The ride will be unescorted, although anyone wishing to join me for the ride to the factory that morning will certainly be welcome to do so.
For more details and to register, email me at firstname.lastname@example.com.
In dealer news, Willow's Motorsports in Cheshire has dropped the Victory line. Willow's continues with Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha. The closest Victory dealers now are Libby's Motoworld in New Haven and New England Cycle Center in Hartford. Picking up Kawasaki, official as of Thursday, was MotoFIT in Danbury, which already had Aprilia, Ducati and KTM. It will be a few weeks before Kawasaki models arrive on the showroom floor.
Western Connecticut has been without a Kawasaki dealer since New Milford Cycles went out of business a year ago. Meanwhile, the state's Suzuki dealers survived a purge of dealerships by the manufacturer. Suzuki trimmed its dealer roster this month by 98 dealers to a total of 832 nationwide. Six dealers in New England were reportedly culled, but all in Connecticut survived the cut.
Finally, they're calling it "Norton Abbey," the name a riff on the hit PBS television series "Downton Abbey." British-made Norton Motorcycles, which has its U.S. base here in Connecticut (with a mailing address in Beacon Falls), is moving down the road from its current home inside the famed Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit in the Midlands of England into nearby Donington Hall. It's a castle that looks like Highclere Castle, which is where "Downton Abbey" is shot.
Bud Wilkinson may be reached by email at firstname.lastname@example.com. He also writes about motorcycles daily at ride-ct.com as well as on Facebook at facebook.com/ridect and on Twitter at @ridect.


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Chris Brown Releases Track Called "Famous Girl" Puttin His & Rihanna's Business Out! (Claims Drake Was Rihanna's Best She Ever Had, Cheated & Wrong For Writing "Disturbia" For Her) [Audio]
This is off Chris Brown's new album
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


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At the top of today's IT agenda are digitalization, operational efficiency and the need to reduce complexity. Organizations are modernizing and transforming existing IT to meet growth goals in competitive markets. This presents challenges around digitalization, operational efficiency and delivering a hybrid IT world of cloud alongside on-premises IT.
Consolidating workloads on the most cost-efficient platforms increases operational efficiency. And that is what's behind our next generation cloud service.
IT decision-makers have genuine concerns around issues such as security, data governance, reliability, performance, loss of control, cultural resistance, migration and integration — not to mention the difficulty of selecting trusted cloud partners with the necessary capabilities, experience and market stability to support their specific ambitions.
They often struggle to navigate through the disparate options, for example, when and where to use public, private or hybrid cloud solutions. Many need to assess what steps they have to take to enable the progressive switch to cloud, and the modernization of their IT environment legacy as part of that journey.
Cloud also requires IT and business to work together even more closely to ensure cloud adoption is not counter-productive — enabling business units to self-provision cloud service, while IT divisions take care of related risks factors, integration issues and service-level considerations. As cloud adoption surges understanding and addressing the emerging challenges of effectively managing a hybrid IT landscape of cloud alongside non-cloud systems becomes even more critical.
For more about how to tackle the issues of integration, managing risk, unifying management and controlling costs please read our latest research in the "White Book of Managing Hybrid IT" (2.09 MB ) and see the "Managing Hybrid IT infographic" (259 KB).
While some cloud providers seek to play down such concerns, Fujitsu appreciates that the only path to cloud success is to address the challenges head-on. By bringing our technical and business expertise to ensure the least risk for our customer on their cloud journey. We recognize everyone journey is unique — the pace and precise direction of each journey will vary from sector to sector, from organization to organization, and depend on individual business circumstances, competitive pressures and strategic priorities.
Jaga seda lehte


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- 1 large onion, peeled, quartered through root end
- 2 2 1/2-inch-long pieces peeled fresh ginger
- 4 large lemongrass stalks*
- 1 4-pound chicken, quartered
- 3 quarts water
- 12 green onions, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon (or more) coarse kosher salt
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Matzo Balls
Recipe Preparation
Cook onion and ginger in medium skillet over high heat until charred, turning occasionally with tongs, about 10 minutes. Transfer to work surface. Cut ginger into thin rounds. Cut 2 inches from bottom of each lemongrass stalk and quarter lengthwise (discard remainder of stalks).
Place chicken in large pot. Add 3 quarts water; bring to boil. Skim foam from surface. Add green onions, peppercorns, and 1 teaspoon salt to pot. Add charred onion, ginger, and lemongrass. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover pot; simmer 1 hour. Cool uncovered broth slightly. Strain and return to same pot (reserve chicken for another use). Spoon fat from surface of broth and reserve for matzo balls, if desired. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Chill soup and reserved fat until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
Rewarm broth. Add cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Place 2 warm matzo balls in each of 8 bowls. Ladle broth over.


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Date: Monday, December 02, 2019
Time: 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Location: 357 Russell Hall
Cost: Free
Categories: Capstone Center for Student Success
Drop in with your Chemistry 100, 101, 102, 117, 118 questions ready between 5pm to 7pm on Monday–Thursday for free tutoring. Our tutors can't help with graded assignments, but their help will improve your understanding of Chemistry. No appointment needed.
Contact Info: Anthony Winston, email@example.com, 205-348-7302, Website
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A person is what he or she thinks about all day long. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You want to become aware of your thoughts, you want to choose your thoughts carefully and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life. – Joe Vitale
Nurture great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thoughts. – Benjamin Disraeli
What you attract into your life is in harmony with your dominant thoughts. – Brian Tracy


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Winters are mild, with daytime highs usually reaching the 60s F/15-18 C and often into the 70s F/21-26 C, though occasional cold snaps are possible. Lows near the freezing point aren't uncommon, but the warmth usually returns quickly. No matter when you visit, be sure to use sunscreen. Be aware that hurricane season is June-November.
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Chametz-Free NYC, Day 2: Can I Eat any Asian Food?
Editor's note: For eight days I'll be keeping a diary on eating well in New York while staying kosher for Passover. The goal: never feel hungry or desperate enough to touch matzo unless I want to. For the rules I'll be keeping, see here. All remarks and recommendations are personal and not intended as religious/cultural commentary.
Okay, bread-free for a week. No sandwiches, bagels, pizza, burgers, pasta...alright, maybe some it's time for some Asian food instead.
Except for everything served over rice. Or any noodle dish. No dumplings? Damn it!
Oh, yeah, and no soy sauce either. Sorry, Chinatown.
As it turns out, Asian food during Passover is harder than it sounds. When you're down rice, noodles, and soy sauce, you have to start getting creative. I've tried asking a waiter at a Chinese restaurant whether any of the dishes I'm ordering have soy sauce. I've had to explain what the problem is. It's...not fun. People with gluten allergies, you have my sympathies.
What's New On Serious Eats
So what do you eat when Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Malaysian cuisines are full of pitfalls? As it turns out, Thai food's pretty safe.
Thai cooking does use soy sauce sometimes, but it uses chametz-free fish sauce much more.* And it's easy to skip noodles and rice while still still eating well. You could say the same about Vietnamese cooking, but when it comes to eating out in New York, our Vietnamese offerings pale in comparison.
* Good fish sauce should only have water, fish, salt, and possibly sugar in the ingredient list. Most popular brands conform to that rule, though Three Crabs brand does include hydrolized wheat protein. If you want to be sure, ask your restaurant what brand they use.
Some favorites of mine: in Manhattan, Zabb Elee, particularly their papaya salad, larb (which occupies a whole section of the menu), and crisp cubes of fried pork. (Hey, I'm keeping kosher for Passover, not regular kosher.) In Queens, Chao Thai and Ayada do great renditions of fried catfish salad, chunks of catfish cooked until they're crouton-crisp, then topped with shredded green mango, herbs, and chilies. And of course there's Pok Pok, where large swaths of the menu as Passover-friendly.
What you'll have to watch out for: Ask what a fried dish is made with; battered and fried salads likely aren't kosher for Passover. Be sure to say skip the peanuts. And should you order that larb, you'll need to ask the kitchen to hold the toasted rice flour topping.
I've found most good Thai restaurant waitstaff to be especially friendly and accommodating—for example, bring a vegetarian to Zabb or Chao Thai and your server will be very upfront about what dishes contain meat. Just be honest, explain your situation, and you'll do just fine.
Asian food craving: solved.
More Chametz-Free New York
Day 1: Eating Well in New York During Passover »
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Where Can You Go For A New Volkswagen Sedan or SUV near Philadelphia PA & Deptford Township NJ?
When you're looking for your next family vehicle or daily driver, it's not a small decision, and it's probably not something you're taking lightly. When you're going to be investing both time and money into something, you're going to want a vehicle that is reliable, enjoyable to drive, attractive, and full of features that make life a little better. How do we know all that? Because you're looking at our new Volkswagen models, of course!
When you shop with us at Prestige Volkswagen, you'll quickly find that our philosophy toward car buying is customer-focused, and we take great pride in serving Turnersville and our neighbors in Sicklerville, Deptford Township, and Philadelphia PA. We want to make sure that you leave our showroom with a smile on your face and your hands around the wheel of the Volkswagen model you've been eyeing. Our staff is committed to a professional and courteous shopping experience, so regardless of whether you're looking for a sedan, wagon, or an SUV, you can count on us and our robust offering of new models from the Volkswagen lineup. If you're looking to get the best deal out there, check out our new Volkswagen deals and incentives first!
The Volkswagen Lineup is Surely Good Looking, But the Best View? Still from the Driver's Seat
For any Philadelphia area drivers who are looking to take their daily driving experience to the next level, you can find a spirited daily driver in the Volkswagen Jetta or Volkswagen Passat, and there's always the fan-favorite Volkswagen Golf; if you want something with quite a few more cubic-feet of cargo room, then the Volkswagen SUVs Volkswagen Tiguan and Atlas definitely deserve a little attention.
Our sales philosophy doesn't just end when you find the right VW model, it extends all the way through to the financing process. Our team of experts in the finance department make it their mission to help Philly drivers find the affordable loans or Volkswagen leases that will see you behind the wheel.
If you've been doing your research and narrowing down your list of models and features that you're interested in, it might be time to come on into our showroom, conveniently located on 4271 Black Horse Pike, Turnersville, NJ, and just a quick drive for folks from Sewell, Deptford Township, and Philadelphia PA.
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If they gave medals for tax deductions, W. Mitt Romney would get the gold. He managed to pay a tax rate in the low teens – at least for the one year of returns he partially released – while dodging additional taxes with strategies that include keeping offshore bank accounts.
Romney's response: "my view is I've paid all the taxes required by law."
What he does not say – ever – is it the view of the Internal Revenue Service he has always paid the taxes required by law.
Those are two very different statements.
Adding to the mystery of his taxes, Romney revealed a little more information this weekend: the IRS has audited him "from time to time".
Perhaps Romney will share those audit reports.
Were any audits related to his Swiss Bank account? Was Romney ever handed a large multi-million dollar penalty for failure to pay taxes? Did the IRS share Romney's view that he pays "all the taxes required by law"?
The answers would be in those documents.
Former Auto Czar Steve Rattner, who did not support the Obama campaign's initial focus on Romney and his record at Bain Capital, told CNN that in surveying others who work in the private equity sector, he did not know anyone who went so far to avoid releasing tax documents as Romney.
"[Romney] has pushed the envelope all the way to the edge, to his benefit, and I think that Americans would find that pretty distasteful. I think it's going to make Americans recoil, and that's why I think he's not releasing those returns," said Rattner.
Included in this pushing of the envelope is a $77,000 tax deduction for the care and feeding of a horse.
Well, not just any horse. A ballet horse. Dressage is the French name of the sport that is often referred to as horse ballet, an elite equestrian sport.
It is also an Olympic sport and Rafalca, the Romneys' dancing horse, is competing.
Regardless of whether the horse earns an Olympic medal, it has certainly helped Romney earn the Gold Medal in Tax Deductions.
Most American families do not make the $77,000 in a year, let alone have $77,000 to take care of a horse.
To see how Romney arrived at the large deduction, let's look at how Rafalca's needs stack up against those of the average American family:
Sheltering the average family for a year: $16,352; sheltering Rafalca: $28,800.
Clothing the average family: $1,142; clothing Rafalca: $10,000.
Annual health care costs for the average American family: $1,557; health care costs for Rafalca: $2,000.
Transporting the average American family: $7,164; transporting Rafalca: $15,420.
The comparison is striking. Families cannot receive tax deductions for their basic necessities, yet Mr. Romney claims massive deductions for the care and feeding of a horse.
It is fine to own and care for a horse. It is another to use it as a tax dodge.
Even more so, it is distasteful to aspire to public service while living such a double standard. Perhaps Romney should adopt a new campaign slogan: My Horse is Worth More Than Your Kid!
He might find the honest airing of his beliefs refreshing.
About Bill Buck
Bill Buck is a Democratic strategist, President of the Buck Communications Group, a media relations and new media strategies consulting business based in Washington, DC, and Managing Director of the online ad firm Influence DSP. He has over twenty years of international and national communications experience. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.


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Stafford, Jean
Stafford, Jean, 1915–79, American writer, b. Covina, Calif., grad. Univ. of Colorado, 1936. Her literary reputation rests primarily on her exquisitely wrought short stories. Both these and her novels focus on lonely, isolated characters, usually adolescents, whom she depicts with gentle irony. Her works include the novels Boston Adventure (1944), The Mountain Lion (1948), and The Catherine Wheel (1952) and her Collected Stories (1969; Pulitzer Prize). She was married to Robert Lowell .
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: American Literature: Biographies


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The product is high quality and looks just like the pictures in the posting. Shipment took around 2 weeks, but that is to be expected since it was shipped internationally. There were a few small pieces missing from the order, but after contacting the seller, she shipped them immediately and they arrived quickly. I would recommend this seller and product. Looks great in our nursery!
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Hi, this is my take for the Chat with Katie! I saw this photo of my mom and me when I was a baby and I love my moms beautiful smile and her red suit!
I so much enjoyed the chats and all the freebies. They are wonderful, as are all those lovely people at Designer Digitals. It was awesome to "meet" them at the chats.
Lots of freebies from the chat sessions and these goodies:
Katie Pertiet:
A little moment Little Moment Layered Template The title
Painted Accents No. 02
Yarn Swirls: Love
Audubon Notebook Paper Pack No. 01
Charmed No. 01
Vintage Snips No. 01
Carded Stacked Frames No. 02
Anna Aspnes:
LoopDaLoop Melange ArtStrokes No. 01
Ali Edwards:
Remember Sentiment Stacks
Thanks for looking!


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Sounds like the name of a band. If anyone uses it I think I should get royalties.
I mostly listen to the local NPR station ( staffed primarily by volunteer programmers). There are several different types of programs, some music, and a few talk. Not too much national stuff — the budget is very small. It seems like once a week or so I hear "we have a report of a lost lab – answers to the name of Trudy". And if you listen long enough, you hear that Trudy made it home. It's nice. There is the Ship Report on weekday mornings, which gives a breakdown of the comings and goings of all the big boats that make their stops along the Columbia River. It is a remarkably busy shipping channel.
We have weather here. Real weather. Seven feet of rain, on average. Often I look out and the sea is a a mess. During the storms, the swells grow to 20 feet, easy. Though the past few weeks has been unusually calm, dry, and cool. The air is incredibly clear. I see a million stars at night, and occasionally even a satellite while I lie in bed in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. And then there is the big river. The bridge over to Astoria is four miles across, and I never tire of the view when crossing. Last week it was so calm, it was masquerading as Lake Powell, smooth as glass, which is a rare sight this time of year. Water skiing, anyone? Yeah, I've never seen it around here. That water is cold. And the sunsets here are stunning. I took this shot looking out toward the ocean near the mouth of the river.
This time of year is special. On Monday morning I looked out to see the telltale twinkle of lights on the water, signaling the onset of Dungeness crab season. "I'm dreaming of a crabby Christmas…" . I got up and counted an even twenty boats making their way north along the peninsula, setting their pots for a couple days of soaking. It was clear, cold and the sea was calm; no doubt there were a lot of happy fishermen.
The locals here relish the winter (but truth be told, the talk turns to warmer climes in a wishful sort of way). Few tourists, no lines at the grocery stores, and no one on the beach to speak of. Excepting the clam digging weekends, when it gets busy for a couple of days. And winter here brings the annual crab pot christmas tree to the port of Ilwaco. A night shot would be better, but my camera has it's limitations.
And with it nearly Christmas, I have soooo much sewing to do. The past few weeks have disappeared too quickly, and once again I feel like I lost a week or four. There were a couple of trunk shows at the coffee shop, and lots of work leading up to them. I hope to get one day to cram a ton of baking in before we leave on Friday. And just maybe a 'regular' sort of post here. Some good news, sewing project / progress, or the like.
And with that, I head for the studio.


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O'Reilly: Three cheers for Postmaster Donahoe
I have a general rule when it comes to mail. If it's from UPS or FedEx, it's good news. If it's from the U.S. Postal Service, it's either bad news or a waste of time. I don't even want to look at it.
So planned elimination of Saturday mail delivery doesn't bother me one bit. As far as I'm concerned, it solves one-sixth of my mail problem. But that's just me.
Most Americans like getting mail, but they also agree that eliminating Saturday delivery is a good idea. Seventy percent said they favor ending weekend delivery to save the foundering USPS from bankruptcy in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll.
But even so, it took Patrick R. Donahoe, the blunt-talking Postmaster General, to find a loophole in the law large enough to act unilaterally on Saturday delivery. Donahoe has been asking -- begging -- Congress for years to give him the authority to halt service that day. And with good reason. The USPS is losing money hand-over-fist. Last year alone it lost $15.6 billion, and its deficits will exceed $20 billion per year beginning in 2016, according to current estimates. Cutting Saturday mail delivery is expected to save $2 billion per year. It won't save the Post Office, but it's a start.
Congress now has to decide whether it will challenge Donahoe's end-around play. The House and Senate don't like their powers circumvented, but more than that, their members relish opportunities to grandstand before voters. This is an opportunity to do just that to the 30 percent who still want six-day mail, and the audience who will be listening most keenly -- senior citizens who most favor continued Saturday mail -- also happen to be the most reliable voters.
Keep an eye out for the grandstanders. They'll be the ones proposing schemes to save Saturday mail, like allowing the USPS to stop putting money aside for employee pension costs, thus making matters worse in the long-term. They'll be the first members of Congress who need to be shown the door in 2014.
Conservative columnist George Will wrote a brilliant piece this week on U.S. debt and deficits, citing the work of recently deceased Nobel Laureate James Buchanan. Buchanan argued in his "public choice" theory of government that elected leaders are subject to the very same forces of self interest that private sector leaders are. That is, politicians may talk an altruistic game, but at the end of the day, they tend to look out for themselves, just as we all do. Forty years after Buchanan developed his groundbreaking school of thought, the notion is practically axiomatic. We all look at our members of Congress a little cockeyed. The average voter approval rating of Congress hovers at around 15 percent.
Constant gridlock in Washington at a time when hard choices have to be made is a chief reason for our attitudes about Congress. If 70 percent of Americans are OK with ending Saturday mail delivery and members of Congress are still too chicken to act, what does that say about the real things that need to be done to address our dangerous federal deficits? If the Washington politicians are too afraid to eliminate one day of mail, how are they ever going to raise the retirement age for Social Security or rein in Medicare costs, as must be done to save those programs?
Too bad we don't have 100 Patrick Donahoes in Washington.
William F. B. O'Reilly is a Newsday columnist and a Republican political consultant.


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by Tom Utescher
In Girls Inter-Ac League basketball this winter Germantown Academy seized its 13th consecutive championship (12th outright), but while the title holder remained the same, there were historic developments in other areas.
The Springside School team was beset by a spate of medical afflictions that reached epic proportions. In began with a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear that took out the Lions' senior point guard, and while nothing that serious followed, seven other players were sidelined by injuries at one point or another. None of Springside's original starting five escaped the scourge.
Nevertheless, in their second game of 2011 the Lions were able to end years of frustration by beating the Academy of Notre Dame. On January 7, junior Michelle Boggs scored a game-high 12 points and the Lions upended the Irish, 34-33. Another 11th-grader, Sydni Epps, had been held to a single free throw throughout the afternoon, but in the last 30 seconds she stuck a three-point field goal that won the game for Springside.
The local franchise had not defeated Notre Dame since February 16, 1984, when a 16-point performance by forward Joy Braxton powered Springside to a 35-25 decision. Soon after the Lions' victory over the Irish at the start of this year, they lost more players to injury, and they fell to Notre Dame in both a regular-season rematch and in the state independent school tournament.
This was not enough to keep the Irish from settling into a tie with Episcopal Academy for third place in the Inter-Ac. It was the first time in years that Notre Dame had not finished either first or second in the league, having shared the runner-up spot with Penn Charter in 2009-2010. PC captured second place outright this winter, losing only to Germantown Academy as it turned in its best Inter-Ac performance since its championship season of 1997-'98. With some of the most talented athletes ever to play for the Quakers now juniors and seniors, an unprecedented number of Division I college coaches turned up in the PC gym, including recruiters from Penn State, Louisville, and Ohio State.
While the GA Patriots expanded their collection of consecutive league championships to 13, they lost an Inter-Ac game for the first time since the 1998-'99 campaign.
Back then, as today, the championship went to the team with the best win/loss record in regular-season league contests, but Shipley School was still a member of the Inter-Ac and the schools only played a single round of seven games instead of the current double round of 12 bouts.
GA had captured the 1996-97 crown with one of its best teams ever. Among the standouts were current Penn Charter coach Diana Caramanico, who went on to become the all-time leading scorer in the Ivy League while playing at the University of Pennsylvania. Other players on that ballclub went to Auburn in the SEC, and to Old Dominion, an NCAA Final Four team in that era.
The following winter, upstart Penn Charter made an undefeated 7-0 march through the Inter-Ac to claim its first – and still its only league championship.
Germantown had a chance to take the title outright in the 1998-99 campaign, entering its last league game at 6-0. However, host Notre Dame was also unbeaten in league play, and the Irish expanded a 29-24 halftime edge into a convincing 59-43 victory. The Patriots' Chelsea Kaden and Notre Dame's Colleen Fitzpatrick led their respective teams, each scoring 20 points in the fray.
The Irish were not home free, though. They still had to make up a postponed league game, and they were upset by Shipley, whose lone league loss had come against GA. That would've been unthinkable just a few years before, but Shipley had undergone a transformation. For the 1997-98 season Kevin Tinneny, a highly-successful coach at Mount St. Joseph Academy, crossed the Schuylkill and took the helm of the Gators' program. With him came three Mount players, Jen Forester, Eileen Powers, and Chestnut Hill native Bridget Gallagher.
Tinneny left after that one season, but the former Mounties stayed. The Gators lost to GA the next year, 46-42, but in their final game, on February 18, they knocked off Notre Dame to create a tie for the championship between three 6-1 squads. The high scorer in Shipley's 55-47 overtime victory was Erica Ervin, daughter of storied basketball coach (and current Chestnut Hill resident) Dave "Lefty" Ervin.
Early in the first decade of the new millennium, there were several seasons when the Inter-Ac held postseason tournaments in most team sports, but the official championship was still determined by the regular-season results. After the 2004-05 school year, Shipley left the Inter-Ac for the Friends Schools League, and the Girls Inter-Ac basketball teams went to the double-round format that endures to this day. The league tournament was never revived, but a PA Independent Schools Girls Basketball Championship was inaugurated in 2006-'07.


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Madonna? Seriously? You're only making this worse.
Last week, while debuting her feature film directing debut "W.E." at the Venice Film Festival (to mostly abysmal reviews), Madonna was handed some flowers by a fan before a press conference. Video then caught the Material Girl rolling her eyes before dropping the flowers on the ground and muttering "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas. He obviously doesn't know that."
Naturally, the internet caught the video and the incident quickly caught massive amounts of attention.
U.S. & World
Madonna's publicist issued a statement on the singer's behalf last week that was notable for completely missing the point:
"She's entitled to like any flower she wants," wrote the rep. "And she didn't want to hurt the feeling of the hydrangeas of the world. No disrespect to the hydrangeas lovers of the world but she prefers different types of flowers."
Note to publicist: People were not ripping into Madonna over her personal choice of flowers. It was more the unbelievably rude, entitled, and dismissive behavior she showed towards a fan's moment of sweet appreciation.
Finally, Madonna herself is addressing the issue. Surely she'll clarify the statement and apologize for her incredibly boorish act.
Nope. Madonna takes the statement's missing of the point and ups the ante with a snarky silent film spoof that "apologizes" to....hydrangeas.
And the world collectively puts its face in its hands and shakes its head.
Original Video:
Madonna's "Apology":