text:
The objective perspective is the idea of getting an unbiased perspective from someone who isn't as close to your situation as you are. The objective perspective has many uses in music. We've all had problems with our significant others–if you go talk to a friend about it, you might gain a newfound sense of clarity on the situation. Even if they just reaffirm what you already think, sometimes you just need to hear from someone else. The same goes with your music: You may have gotten so deep into a project and worked so hard on it that you've become insensitive to the finer details.
Category Archives: Vocformation
How To Turn A Show In Front Of 8 People Into One Of Your Most Important Shows
The following is an excerpt from our book Get More Fans: The DIY Guide To The New Music Business. To get a free excerpt or learn more, please head to this website.
If there is anything that can be traced to musicians' antidepressant prescriptions, it's the immense disappointment of playing to small crowds night after night. It even happens to arena-level acts. We've all seen great musicians play at decent-sized venues that are almost completely empty (whether due to a competing show, poor promotion or even a declining fanbase). Despite the lackluster turnout, smart musicians take the stage and play a great show regardless of the circumstances. This makes every concertgoer an even bigger fan. Here are a few scenarios where you can make a heartbreaking show into one that will grow your fanbase for years to come.
Socialize - While not always the case, many musicians get opportunities because they're friends with another musician. The single best thing you can do at an empty show is to get together with other musicians and discuss real things. Are they on SoundCloud? How is it working for them? Which of the tools are they using? The guitarist has that new Dr. Z amp? How does it sound? You just read a fantastic book that they should read <cough> <cough>? Tell them what you think! Talk about what you have in common.
When you make friends with other musicians, they want to help you, play more shows with you and maybe even tour together.Whether this leads to them getting you on shows or playing your songs to their team member who you'd love to work with–it pays to be friendly in these situations. You never know which acts are going to get huge. And even when you think a musician sucks, they could get a whole lot better in two years and take you with them. If you haven't figured this out by now, being an asshole doesn't make you seem like a rock star–it just makes you seem like an asshole.
Audience - It's not just musicians that you can socialize with. You can talk to the audience too. Something weird happens when you walk into a bar and it's filled to the brim with people. It makes it a little harder to approach people, because the situation isn't very exclusive or special. On the other hand, if you walk into the same size bar and it's kind of empty, suddenly everyone starts talking to one another. This same thing happens at shows. It's totally acceptable to hang out and make good friends with people and in an empty venue it's more welcome than ever. No matter how big or small a show you play, meeting the attendees can turn them into fans and turn the fans you already have into super-fans.
Impress - Once, a long time ago, I was in a band. We rolled into a desolate town and played a show to a dozen people. There were more musicians in the bands that played than audience members in attendance. Despite this fact, we went on stage and did what we always did: We gave it 110%. After the set, 10 of the dozen people in attendance came up to us and said they had never seen a band go so crazy, despite no one being around. We were rewarded by everyone–and I mean everyone in the audience–buying tons of our merch to make up for their town being so lame that no one had come to see what ended up an amazing show.
It turned out that in attendance that night was a girl whose brother was A&R at one of the largest indie labels in the country–a label we dreamed of being on. After listening to our demo, the girl called her brother and said she'd just seen the second coming of Christ (aka our band) and that even though no one was there to see us, we destroyed the stage and had the most amazing demo ever. The next thing you know we're on the phone with an A&R man being courted. You understand the point–you never know who's watching, so always play shows as if the rooms are completely packed. While it is highly unlikely that there will be some connection to a powerful music business player at the show, you have zero chance of impressing anyone if you're not trying your best.
Word Gets Around - When you give it your all in front of a small audience, it isn't just about the sibling of a famous A&R person who might be in attendance. When I see musicians give amazing performances to small crowds, I tell everyone. The fewer people at a concert, the more powerful an amazing performance feels. Fans, especially tastemakers, bloggers and huge music fans, love to tell friends about an experience that was amazing–this is even more true if very few people experienced. If you play a great show, the eight people in attendance will tell 16 friends how great you are and the word will keep spreading. Trust me, I have heard my father talk about seeing Bruce Springsteen in front of a dozen people over a hundred times–and I've told almost everyone I know about seeing Refused in front of less than a hundred people. When this word of mouth happens, the next time you roll into town it's likely the show won't be so empty.
Keep It Clean - I'm not going to be unrealistic and tell you to play every show sober. Some great musicians play their best sets intoxicated out of their minds. What I will say is this: Don't use the show when no one is there as the time to test if you can actually drink a whole bottle of absinthe and still get through the set. As stated above, this is an opportunity to blow potential fans away, not become Internet famous after the picture of your vomit all over the drum set gets turned into a .gif by Hipster Runoff (on second thought, this may help you). This is the night to get eight people telling every one of their friends, "I saw ____ and even though no one was there, they blew me away with how amazing they were." Save the drinking contest for practice or the next time you play a party.
Take Requests! - If you're playing a show and the eight people there are actually fans of your music, make it fun and engaging for them. Bribe your fans by offering them what they want. I once saw one of my favorite major label bands play to a quarter-packed room and they made it one of the best shows I have ever seen. They had a tambourine and said that if we rocked out hard on the next song, whoever danced the hardest got to play it in the chorus. The crowd went crazy!
After taking requests they even attempted to play a song they'd never played live. The crowd was so psyched and we told everyone we knew about how great it was. Because of me going on and on about them, some of my friends got into their music and they made new fans. Don't look at an empty room as a let down, look at it as an opportunity to get your fanbase talking.
Out Now! Our New Book – Get More Fans: The DIY Guide To The New Music Business
After four years of research and writing, we are proud to announce the release of Get More Fans: The DIY Guide To The New Music Business. Todd and I set out to make the most comprehensive guide to the techniques, tools, ideas and methods that go into building a fanbase and came up with the 700+ page guide you see here. We wrote a book that leaves no stone unturned when bands wonder what they could be doing to get more fans. We couldn't be more proud to put this book out and would love for you to take a look at it. Lots of famous musicians and music business people have already said insanely nice things about it.
Here's what we suggest you do.
- Check out the Table of Contents and read the synopsis. We have a list of ten reasons you should buy it.
- We also have half of the book available for free on our website here.
- It's for sale on Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and Google Play. It is available in every format of eBook and in physical book form.
If you are really feeling generous, here is how you can help.
- We would love for you to help spread the word. Over the years I know we gave many of you advice and free time and have tried to help you promote your music without asking for anything in exchange. Right now, we need all the help we can get and you can help me by taking 60 seconds of your time. Any Facebook post, Tweet, Tumblr post, Instagram picture, or email to friends wo would be interested in this book really helps.
- If you are really feeling giving, we desperately need Amazon Book Reviews. Two sentences and a 5 star review does us a world of good helping us to promote the book. It is greatly appreciated.
Lastly, we would love to hear from you, if you know someone who we should get this book to, are curious about it, just want to say hello, give comments on it, point us to writers, reviewers or whatever, please write us. We put four years into this book and need to get it everywhere we can.
Thank you for your help and for listening.
Jesse and Todd
The Best List I Have Seen Of Homeopathic Remedies For Singers
If there is any knowledge that is hard to come by, it is some of the secret methods to keep your vocals healthy. As someone who has seen an insane amount of lists and advice on this subject over the last decade plus, I have found an article that finally gives a truly exhaustive list of helpful remedies for singers. Check it out here!
Who Musicians And Music Fans Should Vote For In The Election
Before I get started, I know that many people will say we shouldn't talk about politics on this blog, but this election is too important to musicians and their ability to promote their music. Our blog is about promoting your music and there is a stance that one candidate has taken in this race that makes voting for them, a vote against your music career. I will not be discussing all the other issues that come with each candidate, you can find that on other sites from many people who are far more qualified to discuss these subjects. My expertise is in musician issues and there is one stance, on an important issue, that these candidates have taken that could damn your music career. If your music career is not a major factor in who you vote for, move on to another article. If it is keep reading.
Net Neutrality is the single most important issue that will affect your ability to promote your music and keep the music world full of opportunity for unknown musicians. If you are not familiar with the issue, the above video gives a great description of it. In short, Net Neutrality keeps the Internet how it is – allowing musicians to promote their music and continues to allow unknown musicians to build their own career without getting permission from the gatekeepers like labels, radio and large corporations. It allows fans to choose who they want to hear, instead of corporations allowing them to hear who can afford to pay them a bribe. When we hear stories of independent musicians being able to promote themselves without major label backing and make the gains many DIY & indie artists have made over the past few years, it is because the Internet is presently neutral.
If Net Neutrality is not upheld, large corporations will ask you to pay to have your content be seen by their subscribers. This means if you want fans to be able to see your website, you may need to pay ISPs like Comcast, Optimum, Cablevision, etc. a fee just to allow your own fans to check in on your website or other content. Obviously this would help return the power to big, corporate funded, major label musicians who can afford this fee and away from fans deciding who gets popular and who does not.
This will have a catastrophic effect on anyone trying to grow their fanbase that doesn't have large corporate backing and music fans looking for good music, not music that can afford to pay a bribe. It would also help return the music world to one where major labels have all of the power to shove crappy musicians down your throat, as opposed to the democracy of music popularity we are seeing emerge on the Internet. You can pretend to be an economist and decide whose solutions you believe will be better for the economy etc. At the end of it all, there is no single issue that will determine what promoting your music will look like more than Net Neutrality.
Here is where the candidates stand:
Barack Obama – Barack Obama has been a firm supporter of Net Neutrality and has made sure the FCC has defended it throughout his term.
Gary Johnson - Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, is a fierce supporter of Net Neutrality. He goes a step further and would like the government to be even less involved in the Internet.
Mitt Romney – Sadly, Mitt Romney is the one presidential candidate who is firmly against Net Neutrality and will look to allow the Internet providers to bill you for access to your fans. While Mitt has taken stands on both sides of many issues and flip-flopped all over the place throughout this campaign, this is one issue he always stands by. In my opinion and everyone else I have seen who consistently cover this issue all agree – Mitt Romney would be a catastrophe for Net Neutrality.
I will be voting for Obama. Todd will be voting for Johnson. Both of which will continue to help musicians get a fair shake. Sadly, a vote for Mitt Romney will make things harder for everyone looking for an equal playing field on the Internet.
Forensics Of A Song: Katy Perry "Hot N Cold"
Katy Perry "Hot N Cold"
Tempo: 133
Key: G
Length: 3:40
One Of The Best Quotes On Making Something Great You Will Read
- Ira Glass via 37 Signals from the Code Academy handbook, designed by Sawyer Hollenshead.
Amazing Resource: Red Bull Music Academy Lectures
If you are looking for some great lectures on the music business and creating music, Red Bull Music Academy has some amazing lectures that deal with everything from making music to strategies in the new music business. With interviews with wise people like Modeselektor, Howie Weinberg, Adrian Sherwoord and countless others. A great resources with countless lectures to inject, for when you need some new inspiration. Check out Red Bull Music Academy.
How Do You Deal With Too Much Trust?
Recently, we came across a comment on one of our posts that asked "What do you do when the rest of your band trusts you too much and thinks everything you say or do is gold?" While this is a rare instance it is an issue that can be detrimental to your music reaching its full potential. One of the best things about music is everyone is able to have an opinion. If everyone involved in a project is humble and reasonable, everyone's opinions can be discussed and an easy consensus can be reached.
GarageBand Now For The iPhone
The world for musicians and songwriters just got so much brighter. In the AppStore you will now find a version of Garageband similar to the iPad version, waiting for you to make some great music with…. or um… At least sketches on a tiny keyboard that you can later use to make great music with! Get it here!


text:
This module converts Japanese text in UTF-8 (or romaji in ascii) to
number, AND vice versa. Though this pod is in English and all examples are
in romaji to make https://metacpan.org/ happy, this module does accept
Japanese in UTF-8. Try the code below to see it.
perl -MLingua::JA::Numbers \
-e '$y="\x{4e8c}\x{5343}\x{4e94}"; printf "(C) %d Dan Kogai\n", ja2num($y)'
DO NOT BE CONFUSED WITH Lingua::JA::Number by Mike Schilli. This module is
far more comprehensive. As of 0.03, it even does its to_string() upon
WWW: https://metacpan.org/release/Lingua-JA-Numbers
make generate-plist
To install the port: cd /usr/ports/japanese/p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers/ && make install cleanTo add the package: pkg install ja-p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers
cd /usr/ports/japanese/p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers/ && make install clean
pkg install ja-p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers
PKGNAME: ja-p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers
SHA256 (Lingua-JA-Numbers-0.05.tar.gz) = bc0c0e1c8d74dc13d5280deb324d6c383d644c802e0df9ac5e34324d05e9e903
SIZE (Lingua-JA-Numbers-0.05.tar.gz) = 13200
NOTE: FreshPorts displays only information on required and default dependencies. Optional dependencies are not covered.
This port is required by:
No options to configure
Number of commits found: 20
Update CPAN link
japanese/p5-Lingua-*: fix duplicate p5-p5- PKGNAMEPREFIX
japanese/p5-Lingua-JA-Moji had duplicate p5-p5- prefix and
japanese/p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers didn't have ja- prefix.
Set ja-p5- prefix to all Lingua ports under Japanese category.
Submitted by: Tomohiro Hosaka <email@example.com> (initial version)
Reviewed by: pi, mat
Approved by: pi (mentor)
Differential Revision: https://reviews.freebsd.org/D16002
Update WWW
search.cpan.org is shutting down.
It will redirect to metacpan.org after June 25, 2018.
With hat: perl
Fix license information for portgs that use "the same license as Perl".
Sponsored by: Absolight
- Fix trailing whitespace in pkg-descrs, categories [g-n]*
Approved by: portmgr blanket
Move p5- ports from ports@ to perl@.
With hat: perl@
Sponsored by: Absolight
- Update to 0.05
- Add LICENSE
- Sort PLIST
Changes: http://search.cpan.org/dist/Lingua-JA-Numbers/Changes
Change the way Perl modules are installed, update the default Perl to 5.18.
Before, we had:
site_perl : lib/perl5/site_perl/5.18
site_perl/perl_arch : lib/perl5/site_perl/5.18/mach
perl_man3 : lib/perl5/5.18/man/man3
Now we have:
site_perl : lib/perl5/site_perl
site_arch : lib/perl5/site_perl/mach/5.18
perl_man3 : lib/perl5/site_perl/man/man3
Modules without any .so will be installed at the same place regardless of the
Cleanup plist
Support STAGEDIR.
Add NO_STAGE all over the place in preparation for the staging support (cat:
- Convert to new perl framework
End WWW CPAN URL with a "/"
- Change PERL_CONFIGURE to "yes" for all values between 5.8.1+ and 5.8.9+
Suggested by: az
With hat: perl
- Get Rid MD5 support
With hat: portmgr (myself)
For ports maintained by email@example.com, remove names and/or
e-mail addresses from the pkg-descr file that could reasonably
be mistaken for maintainer contact information in order to avoid
confusion on the part of users looking for support. As a pleasant
side effect this also avoids confusion and/or frustration for people
who are no longer maintaining those ports.
Reset aaron's port maintainerships due to many maintainer-timeouts.
- Take advantage of CPAN macro from bsd.sites.mk, change
${MASTER_SITE_PERL_CPAN} to CPAN.
PR: ports/122674
Submitted by: Philip M. Gollucci <email@example.com>
Reworked by: araujo (myself)
Approved by: portmgr (pav)
Welcome bsd.perl.mk. Add support for constructs such as USE_PERL5=5.8.0+.
Drop support for antique perl.
Work done by: gabor
Sponsored by: Google Summer of Code 2007
Hat: portmgr
Adding port japanese/p5-Lingua-JA-Numbers, Converts numeric values into
their Japanese string equivalents and vice versa.
Approved by: tobez (implicit)
Servers and bandwidth provided byNew York Internet, SuperNews, and RootBSD
16 vulnerabilities affecting 150 ports have been reported in the past 14 days
* - modified, not new
All vulnerabilities
Last updated:2018-11-14 17:55:03

subset: commoncrawl


text: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) wishes the Chairman well, and comments on "hyperactivity" in financial markets. Bernanke explains how the Fed was able to respond to the economic crisis. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) voices concern about the growing inequality of income in this country and the increased cost of borrowing. Also, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) questions the benefits of monetary easing.


text:
Amherst to explore regulations for food trucks
A food fight is brewing in Amherst, and for the first time, town residents will get a chance to participate.
The fight is over food trucks, the growing transit meal businesses offering everything from tacos to salads to barbecued sandwiches, catering to busy patrons who may not want to sit down for a full meal.
While the food truck operators are urging the Amherst Town Board to follow the lead of the Buffalo Common Council by making it less cumbersome and less expensive for the traveling vendors to operate in the town, several restaurant owners have taken exception.
"Owners of the brick-and-mortar restaurants do not believe it's a level playing field, because of their financial overhead – utilities, taxes, snowplowing, insurance, etc.," said Shelly D. Schratz, owner of Bing's Restaurant. "The food trucks don't have to pay those, so the field is not level."
Peter V. Cimino, a principal owner of Lloyd Taco Truck, is adamantly opposed to the town's plan to restrict him and other food truck operators to one hour of service time at any given location in the town.
"We want to make them aware that, by presenting the proposition as it is, would basically bar any food truck from coming to operate in Amherst," Cimino said. "It would not be worth our time to come out and try and sell food for an hour. And they haven't even indicated whether or not that hour includes prep time ... or cleanup time. I mean, it's very vague, in my opinion."
Cimino plans to address the Town Board meeting 7 p.m. Monday, when the panel hosts a public discussion on proposals for new fees and regulations.
He and a dozen other food truck operators penned an online petition that they plan to present to the Town Board, asking that lawmakers make it easier, not more difficult, for them to do business in Amherst. The sponsors of the petition hoped to collect upward of 2,000 e-signatures from town residents and local supporters; as of Saturday evening, that goal had been met and a new goal of 3,000 set.
In addition to limiting how long food trucks can operate in one spot, the town is proposing to restrict food truck hours of operation to the hours of 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The food truck operators point out that brick-and-mortar restaurants face no similar restriction.
The trucks would also be barred from operating less than 60 feet from an intersection or 100 feet from an open restaurant, and the town would impose an annual $500 per-truck permit fee.
"I'm absolutely opposed to it. There is no precedent across the country that suggests that they should charge a fee like that, let alone any fees," Cimino said.
The Buffalo Common Council two weeks ago decided that food truck owners who had already paid $1,000 for a permit will be charged $500 to renew it. However, a restriction that trucks cannot operate within 100 feet of an open kitchen was maintained.
Critics of the food trucks also question the need for the trucks in some parts of Amherst, especially Main Street in Williamsville. These critics, though, do concede that the trucks might make more sense in an office park, where workers on short lunch breaks don't have easy access to multiple options.
Meanwhile, Cimino said he welcomed the input of Amherst residents and business owners at the public discussion Monday.
"I think people are unaware that this is going on. It really has not had time to seep in," he said.
Coleen C. DiPirro, president and chief executive officer of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, said all of the feedback she has received so far has been positive, noting the popularity of the food trucks at the Centerpointe Corporate Park in the town.
"There was a line in front of the food truck waiting for lunch outside in a blizzard. This was at Centerpointe," DiPirro said.
"People have reached out to the Amherst Chamber just by virtue of our mission to see what our position on it is, and our position is that we support the position of the majority of the residents and we support free enterprise, and we think that if it's customer-driven we, as a municipality, should do what we can to meet the needs of customers," she added.
Cimino said he, too, was also unaware of any organized opposition from either residents or restaurateurs in Amherst.
"If they don't give us a fair shot now, operating in open fashion, it is doing the community a disservice," he said.
"We can always start with open regulation and then come back and say, well, after a year, this really didn't work. Maybe it doesn't need to be 50 feet away from a restaurant. Maybe it needs to be over 100 feet away, but to come in with the restriction that we're starting at is a real tough sell for us," Cimino added.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The IDF's propaganda is increasingly unbelievable, yet the media is enthusiastically playing along. This audio, which purports to show flotilla passengers telling the IDF to "go back to Auschwitz," appears to have been doctored by the IDF General Press Office or someone connected to it.
The clip originally released by the IDF on May 31 of its exchange with the Mavi Marmara, which is featured below, shows the IDF warning the ship's crew, "Mavi Marmara, you are appproaching an area of hostility which is under a naval blockade. The Gaza area coastal region and Gaza harbor are closed to all maritime traffic…" The Mavi Marmara responded to the IDF's warning: "Negative, negative. Our destination is Gaza. Our destination is Gaza." There was no reference to Auschwitz in the video the IDF released on May 31.
The original video released by the IDF on May 31
On June 4, the IDF released apparently doctored audio of its exchange with the Mavi Marmara. The clip the IDF released featured the same imagery from its previous clip, but the voice of the Israeli Navy dispatcher was dramatically different. And the reply from the Mavi Marmara sounded like an impersonation of an Arab by a mentally challenged pre-adolescent (both videos are still on the IDF's YouTube channel even though they completely contradict each other).
The video apparently doctored by the IDF, released on June 4
Further, the IDF is claiming its "Aushwitz" audio is from the Mavi Marmara. Yet it includes a recording of Huwaida Arraf saying "we have permission from the Gaza port authority to enter." Huwaida has confirmed to the Institute For Middle East Understanding that her voice appeared in the apparently doctored clip. Unfortunately for the IDF, Huwaida was on the Challenger One, not the Mavi Marmara. How can the IDF account for this inconvenient discrepancy?
The Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronot, which means "latest news," are in fact the latest idiots. They've reported the apparently doctored audio clip as fact. And so has Haaretz. Haaretz has quietly changed its headline but the article remains stenographic in nature. Neither outlet made any effort to investigate the veracity of the IDF's claims.
Either the mayor of Chelm is in charge of the IDF Press Office, or the Israeli military has something very ugly to hide.
Update: Ali Abunimah has also confirmed with Huwaida that her voice appeared in the apparently doctored IDF audio clip, but that she was not on the Mavi Marmara.


text:
18 U.S. Code Chapter 114 - TRAFFICKING IN CONTRABAND CIGARETTES AND SMOKELESS TOBACCO
2006—Pub. L. 109–177, title I, § 121(g)(3), (4)(A), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 224, substituted "TRAFFICKING IN CONTRABAND CIGARETTES AND SMOKELESS TOBACCO" for "TRAFFICKING IN CONTRABAND CIGARETTES" in chapter heading, added items 2343 and 2345, and struck out former items 2343 "Recordkeeping and inspection" and 2345 "Effect on State law".
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
Coffee music
Daniel Charlson unveils his all-vinyl Dark Horse Coffee Records
Ken Leighton 8 a.m., Nov. 21
The first time he stood on the sixth tee at Presidio Hills Golf Course, Tiger Woods stopped, turned to his father Earl, and said, "It's wrong."
The green on the 72-yard par three slants hard from left to right. The grass is thick right up to the putting surface.
"Bad design," said Woods. "You should be able to run it up" — hit the equivalent of a ground ball to second base, instead of having to fly and stop a ball on the small surface. "It's more like a recovery shot." Woods, four-foot-seven and wearing glasses, was six years old.
When Phil Mickelson played the 18-hole pitch-and-putt course for the first time, he shot 144. Par is 54 (56, in those days, for juniors). In 1977, the seven-year-old lefty birdied #18 and broke 70 for the first time.
Until his father built a practice area in their back yard, Presidio Hills was Mickelson's home away from home: "My parents would drop me off there every day around eight o'clock and pick me up around six or seven. I loved it, I just loved it!"
The golf course stands on what may be the most historic ground in San Diego. For at least 10,000 years, going back to the Ice Age, native tribes lived in this area: Paleo-Indians, Shoshoneans, Yumans. The Kumeyaay nation had a village on the flat plain: "Kosa'aay" ("the drying ground"). It lay beneath a brown, treeless hill, near a river to the north and a wide bay to the west.
In 1769, the Entrada brought missionaries and soldiers up from New Spain. Father Junípero Serra built the first mission on the hillside overlooking the village, and Lieutenant Pedro Fages built the first presidio — Spanish for "fort." Although natives lived here for millennia, Presidio Hill and the plain below have been labeled the "Plymouth Rock of the West" and "Where California Began."
Around 1810, Captain Francisco Ruíz built the first structure down the hill from the fort. The single-story building, with adobe walls over a foot thick, stood in the center of his garden-orchard: olive, fig, pomegranate, and 26 hand-watered pear trees planted in precise rows.
In 1821, Ruíz gave the house to his cousin, Joaquín Victor Carrillo, whose family had grown too large for their quarters on the hill. The Casa de Carrillo became famous only for being the first private dwelling in California; it was also where Josefa Carrillo and Captain Henry Fitch had their wedding stopped — in mid-ceremony. Some say the jealous governor, José María de Echeandia, disapproved of the marriage. The couple sailed south. After two-and-a-half celibate months aboard ship, a parish priest married them in Valparaiso.
Historical marker #74 commemorates the building at 4136 Wallace Street in Old Town. Today, the Casa de Carrillo serves as the pro shop for a golf course as historic (in its own way) as its predecessors. At one time or another, every great local golfer honed his or her game at Presidio Hills. Junior golf began here; Junior World Championships were contested. Many call Presidio Hills the "cradle of golf in San Diego."
In 1870, 20-year-old George Marston came to town. He became a successful merchant and a preservationist long before others saw the need. He was an early supporter for Balboa Park, and in 1907, he and some partners bought Presidio Hill to save the site from development. In 1929, a year after he founded the San Diego Historical Society, Marston commissioned William Templeton Johnson to build the Serra Museum, the gleaming white tower at the southern entrance to Mission Valley.
In 1921, while vacationing at the Red Lion Inn near Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Marston and his daughter Mary took their first golf lessons at an 11-hole pitch-and-putt course. He was 71 and became an avid golfer. In 1928, he shot his best round, a 93 at San Diego Country Club.
In the late 1920s, Marston owned a driving range, the Presidio Fairway, just down the hill on Taylor Street. San Diego had only seven or eight full-length courses in those days, and Marston wanted a practice course like the one in Massachusetts: short par threes where newcomers could learn the game, and more advanced players — himself included — could keep theirs fine-tuned.
The first all-par-three course opened in Portsmouth, England, in 1914. "Presidio Hills Golf Club, Ltd.," which opened in 1932, was among the first of its kind in the United States, yet was different from the start. Marston told architect Billy Bell he didn't want 18 straightforward holes. He wanted trouble: recovery shots 100 yards and in — from the tee — as if golfers had already mangled a drive, or an approach, and had to extricate themselves from grief. He wanted challenging greens, sloping or two-tiered, to see, as Tribune sports columnist Tom Gwynne wrote in 1941, if "your putter contains magic as well as steel."
Bell responded. Sycamore and pepper trees hood some fairways, demanding low, knock-down shots to reach the green; other holes require precise, stately floaters. A scramble from the start, the sixth calls for an uphill tree- and cyclone-fence-lined punch to a blind green that slants down and away, as if turning its back on the tee.
Tiger Woods was right about the 15th. It was badly designed, by design. It's meant to test a player's ability to stop a short lob dead on a tiny green, tilted sideways like the "Redan" at North Berwick in Scotland.
Except for a road — called Juan Street — that ran from the clubhouse down the fifth fairway and up to the hill, the course hasn't changed much. The nines have been reversed several times, but most of the holes are where they were when the course opened, 80 years ago, on January 3, 1932.
At 10:00 a.m., a large group gathered for the dedication ceremony. Before them lay a green, 1426-yard expanse punctuated by white splotches — bunkers, at least two per hole, that looked like patches of dogwood. The course was one of the first all-grass layouts in San Diego. And since Gene Sarazen would "invent" the sand wedge later in 1932, players used a niblick (today's nine iron) to flee entrapment.
Mr. Abrego, with his genuine smile and passion for golf, taught me a simple routine "one,two, follow through". He was the Master of golf teachers and treated all with respect and kindness. I enjoy the eighteen unique and challenging holes at Presidio with the 17th being my favorite! Great and enlightening story for one who longs for more "pitch and putts".


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Rex Ashlock
Collage: Ashlock in the 1960s
Nude on the Beach No.1 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )and cut paper
Nude on the Beach No.2 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Nude on the Beach No.3 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Philip Morris 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )with fragments of cigarette packages
Thread a Camel Through the Eye of a Needle 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )with fragments of cigarette packages
Mosques and Crescents 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )cigarette package fragments
Female Cubed 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Female Nude: Eight Body Parts 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )on cigarette package fragments
Female Cubed No.2 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Nude on the Beach No.4 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Nude Study No.5 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Nude on the Beach No.6 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Abstract Nude 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Playboy Club Wants You 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )with gouache and oil paint
Abstract Nudes No.2 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )with gouache pigments
The Bird in the Sky 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )with nautical chart
Mens' City Fashion 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
Nude Study 1966collage with magazine fragments14 x 16 inches ( 35.56 x 40.64 cm )
One Grain of Sand, Unstained: The Life and Art of Rex Ashlock
Rex Ashlock is one of these. A Chinese calligrapher once gave him his Chinese name, "I chen bunán," - "One small grain of sand, unstained." Here is an artist who may well have felt like a grain of sand left behind in that curious and continuous sifting between art history and art promotion while never losing his dignity in the struggle to render a vision of art, unstained.
In 1937 Ashlock entered the freshman class at the University of Washington in Seattle with every good intention of following a traditional education. But after his sophomore year he quit, compelled to pursue his passion for painting. His mother was supportive, but his father's hostility to what he perceived as an insecure and unmanly calling never diminished. Ashlock moved to San Francisco and spent two years at the California School of Fine Arts. Walking long distances to find his sites, and carrying his paints and brushes around in a shoebox -- he would battle financial stringencies all his life. Ashlock's earliest works are largely of scenes around the Bay Area, painted in watercolor en plein air in the style of the Regionalists. He often spent early mornings at the racetrack, drawing the horses as they exercised, but the trainers, afraid of flapping papers, demanded he maintain a buddha-like composure as he drew, which perhaps contributed to the apparent simplicity in his lifelong working-habits.
The instructor who would have the most impact on Ashlock over the course of the next two years was his near-contemporary, David Park [1911-1960]. "David Park instilled, or inspired, in me the feeling of how really to look at the subject you are painting. I recall an incident in his class that was funny but also left a lasting impression on me. We were painting a female nude model directly in oil. David Park came to my easel, his eyes darting back and forth between the model and my painting. Then he exclaimed to me, "See those breasts! You've captured them just right! They're coming right at ya!'"
Park's energy and enthusiasm directly fuelled Ashlock's interest in expressive painting. However, un-helped by – and unable to come to terms with – the complex emotional circumstances of his life, he would spend the next twenty years trying to find his own unique style and mode of expression. In 1940 he married a woman more sympathetic to her dreams of mysticism and social status than the down-to-earth struggles of the artist-at-work. A daughter, Margaret, was born in 1944. Family finances demanded that he take odd jobs just to make ends meet. Finally, in 1947, shortly before his son Peter was born (1948), he secured a teaching-position at the California School for Arts and Crafts in Oakland. Among his colleagues on the faculty was Richard Diebenkorn. That year he also won the watercolor prize at the annual exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association. By 1951 he was teaching at the University of California at Berkeley's Extension Division and at the Berkeley Evening Adult School. In 1955, he returned to the California School of Fine Arts as a teacher.
Though Ashlock exhibited his works from time to time, he did so more out of what he perceived to be a social obligation -- as a faculty member -- and never actively promoted his work. He never hustled the galleries and museums but remained a classic example of the independent artist, quite wishing someone would notice but never exerting himself to bring that notice about. And perhaps because of that absence of professional fulfillment, and the unhappiness of a personal relationship in which he and his wife shared such different goals, Ashlock began to feel trapped, tormented, and prone to fits of anger. He was nearly forty, but a mature, consistent style of painting had not yet emerged. He described himself as an irascible character, at odds with the world. In 1957 he took advantage of an offer to ride East, packed his paintings onto the car-rack, and left his wife and two children to move to New York City.
His first years in Manhattan found Ashlock settled into tiny apartments, first in Chelsea, later in Greenwich Village. He complained about the lack of space. "Kline was painting his big black-and-whites, but it wasn't easy for me to paint [large] . . . there was furniture, paint pots on the floor, no space, and no sense of comfort or convenience." Nor, despite his dreams, did his personal relationships ever finally provide sustained emotional support. He could paint women; the female form was an endless source of inspiration for him, but as for living with the flesh-and-blood creature herself . . . gradually, he began to derive his comfort from whisky, cigarettes, cats, and the New York Times. He also became friendly with many of the abstract artists of the first generation of the New York School, drinking at the Cedar Tavern with Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning [1904-1997], and Kostas the Greek, who had a photographic memory of where "every painting was to be found in every European museum." (Kostas loved to mythologize; when he told a story, it changed with every telling, as if he were constantly experimenting with new brushwork.) They were all mourning the death of Cedar-regular Jackson Pollock, who had died in 1956. Ashlock had learned of Pollock's death on his first day in New York when the headline leapt out at him on the day he arrived in New York for a summer visit.
Ashlock's early New York works, marked by broad fields of single colors with subtle tonal changes, some characterized by moon-like shapes, others by calligraphic emblems, show the influence of leading abstract expressionists Adolph Gottlieb [1903-1974], Ad Reinhardt [1913-1967] and Mark Rothko [1903-1970]. "I never had a class in color. I studied it on my own. I bought a book by Hilaire Hiler, a San Francisco painter of small precise abstractions. He was interested in the abstract idea of color. For me it was a means to an end. I met Hiler in New York and visited with him. . . Finally, I evolved an attitude trusting my eyes."
Ashlock was not to find his freedom and expressiveness in pure abstraction or color field painting. He was very much aware of the abstract movements, "but I wasn't thinking of it for myself at all . . . the paintings which are totally abstract are something like a skeleton with no flesh on it." In fact, despite his experimentation in field painting, he always felt that those paintings lacked structure whereas he had "an impulse to design, to compose."
In 1963 Ashlock was finally able to move into a much larger apartment on St. Mark's Place. "The scale of the space in which I lived and worked -- high ceilings and openness -- was very encouraging. I could step back from a large painting very comfortably." His new studio was in part a catalyst for a breakthrough in figurative expressionism that would come in the early 1970's. Notably, in Ashlock's series of nude female bicycle riders he skillfully distorts the bodies, endowing them with large powerfully driving legs. This not only enhances the sense of the circular rhythmic pedaling, but nearly breaks out of the picture plane itself. This dramatic movement generates a feeling of urgency, and the image pulses with sexuality.
Ashlock's description of one of his nude paintings from this time underscores the new dynamic tension he discovered. "[It is] the contrast between three-dimensional form and diagrammatic thinking. The two are straining to get together -- or to stay apart -- I don't know which, like a square peg in a round hole. It emerged from the field paintings and anticipated my sculpture."
In sculpture it was not surprising that Ashlock focused on the female form. Inspired by some of the polychrome wood-sculptures of Elie Nadelman [1885-1946], he began a series of female nudes in painted plaster. Years later, one of Ashlock's students, Nathan Oliveira -- who also became a colleague and fellow teacher -- began a similar series of painted nudes for which he is now well-known.
It is these mature works, rooted in figurative expressionism, which bear his unique stamp. Like Cedar-tavern acquaintance, Willem de Kooning, Ashlock was fascinated by the female figure and never abandoned it as his primary source of inspiration. "I was influenced by de Kooning and Oskar Kokoschka and German Expressionism, but I didn't want to go abstract. I wanted to represent something." Ashlock pointed to Mondrian as one who was more interested in spiritualism than appearance, so that his paintings conveyed an underlying force. "Mondrian may not be so concerned with the look of things as with spatial relationships, patterns, and relations between lines and color. I find it hard to be totally non-representational. The look of things is important to me." He was also impressed by the leading English figurative painters, Francis Bacon [1909-1992] and Lucian Freud [b.1922]. He lamented, "We haven't produced anyone here in this country like Freud or Bacon."
In Ashlock's large seascapes of this same period one also feels a powerful sense of the dramatic. At first glance the viewer is faced with what appears to be a minimalist seascape of vast ocean and high horizon line. However, the eye naturally following the water suddenly plunges off the edge of the earth. We are alarmed to discover that the earth is flat! We are thrust back to the 12th century. Here is a time warp. The nexus of two worlds and two horizons are fighting for supremacy while twisting both perspective and spatial depth. This is an extraordinary series that finally reconciles pure abstraction, color field painting, calligraphic brush strokes of heavy impasto, and a recognizable subject -- all into one picture plane. In fact, this series puts painting on its ear. Ashlock commented wryly that it was a matter of assuming "the perspective of several seagulls."
For Ashlock, painting was above all about process: a process in which emotional, intellectual and physical depth was at play. In the two series discussed above, the nudes and the seascapes, it is clearly Ashlock's desire to create the sense of motion, reinforced by color, that connects the two subjects. "At what point do you see the connections? . . . the image you want? The temptation is to continue the process, continue playing. The sense, however, is that it is important to keep putting on paint, that with the accretion of layers there is physically and emotionally greater depth."
Ashlock remained invisible during his nearly twenty-five years in New York, living what he called "a lifestyle of extreme independence to" its fullest. Then, in 1980, he returned to the West Coast. He spent a few years in Spokane, Washington, where he continued the occasional portraits he had worked on over the years. Previously, he had painted from magazine photos – T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, P.G. Wodehouse, W.H. Auden, who also lived on St. Mark's Place, and whose lined face would sometimes appear in the Second Avenue tobacco shop they both frequented. He also painted Beckett, whose integrity he deeply respected. "I admired him the most," Ashlock said, "because he turned down the Nobel Prize and then gave a speech to the press about how he felt that it was inappropriate to give prizes to works of art." In Spokane, however, the portraits turned into a series of "imaginary friends." Interestingly, some of the faces had more than a hint of self-portrait about them, as if he was beginning to think of himself more benignly.
After Spokane, Ashlock reestablished himself in San Francisco, where he studied Chinese for several years, finally pursuing more fully his lifelong interest in the 'visual word'. By this time, however, his former abuse of alcohol and cigarettes had begun to take its toll. His health deteriorated. Gradually, the artist found himself dependent upon others for his survival. During the 1990's he was hospitalized for a variety of problems, ranging from heart ailments to an aneurysm. Eventually, he became bound to a wheelchair, exhausted by a kidney dialysis procedure that was required three times a week. Finally, in 1999, Rex Ashlock's body gave in to its on-going struggle.
This is the story of a love affair with art. From his earliest years, fascinated by the tiny black-and-white reproduction of Rosa Bonheur's "The Horse Traders," which he found in a school-book -- "I looked at it and looked at it . . . I just loved it," Ashlock believed that the image was a gateway. What was he really seeing? And how, in all the folds of imagination, could he make perception visible? That quest -- not the failed relationships; not the pain -- was what was interesting. Painting the layers. Achieving cohesion. And without doubt, Ashlock's capacity to realize his vision matured over the years in New York. He left us a series of powerful paintings, showing that whatever the personal toll, he never lost the excitement of the pursuit -- these paintings tug at our senses for what "honest" paintings should be. Paintings that reveal an artist who never lost the excitement of the pursuit even though he never cared to promote his accomplishments.
In the process of rediscovering Ashlock's painting and sculpture, we can draw a better understanding -- and a fresh perspective -- of the art and culture of the last half of the twentieth century. Here is art as honest as it gets. One small grain of sand, unstained.
-- Peter Hastings Falk
Rex Ashlock Introduction
The Figurative Expressionism of Rex Ashlock
Ashlock began studying under David Park in 1938 at the then San Francisco School of Fine Arts. From 1947-1957, he taught at the main art schools of the Bay Area. In 1957 he settled in New York, teaching at MoMA. He lived mainly in Greenwich Village, where he drank at the Cedar Bar with Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, becoming friendly with many of the abstract artists of the first generation of the New York School.
Although he exhibited at several New York galleries during the early 1960s (including Allan Stone Gallery, Bodley Gallery, and Brata Gallery), he gradually ceased to pursue the promotion they afforded. Living instead what he called "a lifestyle of extreme independence to its fullest," he became reclusive yet always painting. In 1980, he returned to San Francisco. An old Chinese friend who was a calligrapher and philosopher gave him the name, "I chen bunán," which means "One small grain of sand, unstained." Here is an artist who may well have felt like a grain of sand left behind in that curious and continuous sifting between art history and art promotion while never losing his dignity in the struggle to render a vision of art, unstained.
Rex Ashlock Press
Rex Ashlock and the Sea at Carmel
Rex first came to Carmel in the late 1930s. He had grown up in Spokane, Washington and been working in Turlock, California – both inland places. The sight of the Monterey Bay – the light, subtlety of colour, texture and substance of a dancing medium which hinted at a richness of worlds below, suddenly and dramatically extended his visual awareness. He would paint the sea in every real and imaginative dimension all his life.
Early on, he set up his easel among the rocks and tide-pools near Tor Point and painted water-colors of the uneven coastline, cypresses, mists, the bay and its constant changes. Later on, in New York he expanded into oils, sea-scapes often distinguished by depths threaded with kelp-purple. In natural sequence, given his lifelong interest in the female figure, came a series of swimmers, cavorting – or teasing, almost hidden in the watery swirl. Later still, the sea, like the outer color-shell in one of his field-paintings, enclosed emerging islands, and in the 1970s it became the stuff of dream.
On a visit back to Carmel in the late 1990s Rex stood looking out at the Bay and said, This was the first sea – this was the sea I was always painting.
Margaret Ashlock Wilmot
Rex Ashlock Events
Exhibition Record
1945 Raymond & Raymond Gallery, San Francisco (solo)
1947 San Francisco AA (at San Fran. Museum Art. Walter watercolor prize)
1948 City of Paris Gallery, San Francisco (solo)
1949 Centennials Gallery, Berkeley (solo)
1950 Larry Blake Gallery, Berkeley (solo)
1950 San Francisco AA (at San Fran. Museum Art. Drawings prize)
1953 Contemporary Gallery, Berkeley (solo)
1953-54 de Young Museum, San Francisco
1954 L. Labaudt Gallery, San Francisco (solo)
1954 Valley Art Association, Sayre, Penn. (solo)
1954 G. Paul Bishop Gallery, Berkeley (solo)
1956-57 Duveen-Abraham Gallery, New York
1957 L'Envoi Gallery, San Francisco (solo)
1957 Phoenix Gallery, New York
1958 Bleeker Gallery, New York
1960 Brata Gallery, New York
1963 Brata Gallery, New York (solo)
1962 Bodley Gallery, New York (solo)
1962 Allan Stone Gallery, New York
1967 Avnet Gallery, Great Neck, New York
1969 Staten Island Art Association
1972-73 Princeton Art Association, New Jersey
1973 Caravan House, New York
1974 Painters & Sculptors Society of New Jersey (Honorable Mention, sculpture)
1977 Bond St. Gallery, New York
1979 Painters & Sculptors Society of New Jersey (National Arts Club, New York)
1981 Mushroom Gallery, Spokane, Wash.,
1981 Touchstone Gallery, Spokane, Wash. 1981
1983 Westside Gallery, Spokane, Wash.
- Spokane Civic Center
Other Exhibitions:
San Francisco Art Commission
Calif. Watercolor Assn, Los Angeles
Oakland Museum
Richmond Art Association, Calif.
Calif. State Fair, Sacramento.
Humboldt College
Napa College
Pacific Art Festival
San Francisco Art Association (Artist's Council, 1957)
Staten Island Art Association, 1969 (juror).
International House, Berkeley, Calif. (18-ft. mural)
Swedish Embassy, New York
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC (10 drawings).
1947-48 Calif. Sch. Arts & Crafts, Oakland
1947-56 Berkeley Evening School
1951-56 Univ. of California, Berkeley
1955-57 California School of Fine Arts
1964-65 Roslyn (NY) Adult School
1963-70 MoMA Art Center, New York
1970-73 Princeton Art Association (NJ)
1970-77 The Artists' Workshop, New York


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Since most women say to me they won't marry a guy who isn't the same religion as them, I will ask this.
Lets say you married your mr gentleman/perfect etc - if you had kids with that person, but they left your religion would you divorce them and state yes or no?
Guys do the same but for wife I hope :lol:
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
Then think about this - you have more chance to convert a non believer than one who has left
Welcome back my love hehe, I am sick yet again :P
personally i always thought marriage as a mutual respect for one another. so if they don't mind i don't mind. i don't mind doing religious activities in their sake, but i would never ask them to do it for my sake. if we had kids, i'd like them to learn from both religion and decide for themselve later or use both to their advantage.
so personally no. though usually this kinda state of mind would occur with another event. so i would probably try to sit down and talk or have therapy to see if its something else.
im not really that religious, well atleast to the the devoted religious person. im pretty standard with my religion. but if married to someone with different background i'd treat it as a hobby. i'll do it on my own time, if i have to do it with you around, i hope you'd respect it kinda thing.
on my way to my DREAMS- your smile - through food
A bit of a touchy subject, if your divorcing a person just because they left or dropped said religion, then they shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. If they truly love each other they would work it out.
But oh's well people get divorced for leaving the towels on the floor, and picking their nose. Marriage isn't what it used to be anymore.
@ emperorreyofthe sounds to me the girls are really telling you to take a hint, not to hit on them. Just like when your at a bar and the chick tells you she's gay or has a boyfriend, when clearly she is not.
Best of luck on your dating, seems like you need it.
too much anime so little time
Good topic and no i wouldnt i wouldnt realy care if she did leave that said religion cause its stuped to get divorced cause they did and i agree with echoshadows5 on the marrage part why get married if ur going to be like that towards the one u love
hey everyone how are u all =)
I don't give two hoots what religion you practice. No, I will not divorce you if you decided to follow a religion, nor will I bother you about it, just leave me be and don't try and convert me because that's annoying.
Getting a divorce over a religion is just... IMHO dumb. Considering you mentioned kids (sigh) getting a divorce over something so trivial is too much of a hassle.Finding and paying for a lawyer, the stress and trauma on your children and family, and the stress and emotional dance you'll have to go through with your ex. Let's face it once you get married it's not all about you you you.
Once the ring is on you need to make compromises, also if a person leaving your religion is enough for you to divorce then it wasn't meant to be to begin with.
Also what women are you talking to? I don't know your age range, but I've never heard any girl around my age say something like that. I'm sure even a 40 year old would be open about dating someone from a different background. Only women I know that would be upset about it, are late 60's....
I have 3 guest passes message me for one.
I don't give two ***** about religion. Why should it stop you from loving someone? And besides if that person leaves you due to the difference of opinion on religion then that person really doesn't love you enough. I think it's the dumbest thing if you do, do that in the name of religion and this so called 'God' stopping you. But whatever, some people are like that. IMO
My religion doesn't let me marry, so I'll have to leave it to get divorced at all.
I have no religion, really, but believe there is some kinda god, no matter how much coercing someone does I never convert. But, if I were religious or non-religious, and the person I married changed, I will support them but I wouldn't praise their god like they do. If they wanna get a divorce, I'll wave and give her full custody and say see ya later.
Case in point: Don't marry an idiot, man or woman, and believe in equality, not you you you/me me me, and you'll have a perfect relationship.
Can I not put an image here? Fail.
Everyone has a religion, i.e. a worldview-- how one perceives and makes sense of all that is. Whether that religion (or "worldview," if you prefer) is theistic or atheistic, mystical or materialist, has an official name, scripture, rituals, and/or governing body or not is a whole other set of questions. How devoted to or how much one understands own one's claimed religion can also be quite variable. It seems to me some here fail to grasp how devoted some people can be to their worldview, instead projecting their own worldview onto others. Throughout history many have given much of themselves for others, seemingly against their own self-interest, because of their religion. Alas, some people also have been very ready and willing to sacrifice others, again, because of their worldview.
Anyway, I have to ask, do "most women" REALLY say that? I'm a Christian man, and a fairly conservative one. Among those women like me, yes, they generally do say they will not marry a man who is not of their faith or of at least similar faith, and they'll mean exactly what they say. All the women I dated previously, as well as my now wife were of that persuasion. Marriage is, among other things and in addition to love, a matter of mutual compatability and walking a conjoined life path; marrying someone with a significantly conflicting worldview would seem counter to this and unwise to me (and Biblically proscribed as well). Marriage, though, isn not a means of evangelism (i.e. spreading one's faith). However, most people I know, who are generally "not very religious" in the usual sense of that term (despite my above paragraph), don't seem to consider religion (in the usual sense of that term) much at all in their dating relationships or marriages. Like echoshadow5, I wonder if that's just an excuse to basically tell you "I'm not interested, look elsewhere."
As for divorce, for Christians like me, it's not an allowable option, even if one's spouse should leave one's religion, and one wouldn't necessarily stop loving the non-believing spouse at all. One is also not to marry a non-believer. As there is forgiveness for all other sins, a mixed marriage like this would be forgiven as well, and the marriage would certainly be honored as entirely legitimate from the beginning-- including binding the believing partner and forbidding divorce of the non-believing partner. The unbelieving partner wouldn't be bound, and could leave the marriage if he/she choose. (Divorce can be forgiven as well-- in churches I've attended, we've had plenty of people with unbelieving spouses and divorce(e)s.) For the believing partner, one would indeed try and hope to win the unbelieving partner back.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion when it comes to how the world came to be and where we go when we depart from this earth.
If your spouse's views shift and you can't accept them for who they are then it wasn't love in the first place.
I'm agnostic, and I'm keeping it that way. (:
(っ◕‿◕)っ✏ Aᴅᴅ, Mᴇssᴀɢᴇ, Cᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ! [Finally on winter break.]
Over all, I wouldn't divorce someone for changing religions. When people get married, they say for better or worse. That being said, divorce is not this evil thing that people are making it out to be. My mother has divorced and married several times (she's on her fourth husband now.) I haven't been overly traumatized by that happening. The only reason to get divorced is if you can not find true happiness with your partner. Marrage is about happiness, kindness, understanding, and over all love. If religion is do big that your partner has to be of the same religion, then eventually you will have to make the decision if you love them reguardless of who they worship or if that is a real deal breaker. Unless they do a personality 180 they are still the same person you loved before they converted.
Zen is working at full power.
I have relegion.... but yeah I wouldn't divorce per say my other half/wife had a different religion... if she had a problem with it then why would she marry me in the first place... personally I don't care if she has a different religion than me. as long as we get a long thats fine.
I would have to say divorce would be likely if one or more of these conditions were met:
1. Wife joined a cult and wants to move into the religious "Compound"
2. Said cult is polygamist and my wife wanted to be married to the reverend as well
3. There were blood sacrifices for my wife's new religion and I was considered a prime candidate
4. Sex was grounds for ex-communication
5. Children were taken away to be raised by the congregation
Conversely to this, I would say my immediate conversion would be on the horizon if at least one the following conditions were true:
1. The religion had possession of and the manufacturing capacity to produce additional working Iron Man or War Machine suits.
2. The Community Hall had a wave pool and water slides along with a mini golf course and go kart racing.
3. Confession was held at the Parish Bar and Grill during UFC fights and major sporting events
4. The pastor or community leader came to church in a Veritech and offered free ride alongs for Volunteers and Community Service
5. The entire congregation including office and teaching staff was currently female and lingerie models...
Finally got off my lazy ass and picked up the weights again.
id hope i would know enough about my wife before i would marry her and would like to have a partner with enough faith to not just give up on a belief. and in doing so, i usually honor the fact that they have a religion. (doesnt necessarily have to be my exact religion). but given the circumstances, i would still love her. i might end up being more distant because i wouldnt feel as comfortable taking advice from them or speaking my mind, but i would still love her none the less
Love is supposed to be the basis of which we live. What can stand between it? Apparently, some abstract ideas.
getting my learn on


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Bring It Back: Vintage Brass Accents
While vintage design lovers have been enjoying the metallic pop of brass for years, we've been noticing a trend in current modern furniture design toward brass accents: hardware, handles and even modern accessories. If you've been indulging in the modern versions of this metal, then you might need (or want) a few vintage brass items to help balance out the space.
1) Vintage Round Brass Hendryx Birdcage $105
2) Vintage Brass and Glass Trinket Box $9
3) Two Vintage Brass and Glass Trinket Jewelry Display Boxes $25
4) Mid-Century Brass Bookends $40
5) Large Vintage Brass Elephant $75
6) Vintage Brass Pineapple Planter $12
7) CB2 Cage Brass Pendant Lamp $149
8) Crate & Barrel Edson Brass Table Lamp $169
9) Antique Brass Call Bell $6
10) Mid-Century Modern Teak and Brass Sunburst German Clock $84


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Ahmed, 2011, Bangladesh
Assistant Professor, University of Dhaka - Dhaka, Bangladesh
Why I chose Fletcher: I am fascinated by the world as it keeps changing everyday. I have always been interested in knowing the factors that cause change and understanding the complex relationships that exists among them. Change — the result of interactions between man and nature, interactions between man and man, and violent conflicts between or among nations — has been fundamental to human civilization. But it has also caused distress or hardship for millions of people in the modern world. It is the collective responsibility of students of all disciplines to study the factors of change and make the international communities and policy makers aware of them in order to make informed decisions in the future. I chose Fletcher in order to gain a better understanding of our world and how we are shaping its future. Fletcher has a superb reputation for its excellent faculty and community. Students and faculty are from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, which provides a unique opportunity to learn. This will enormously help to expand my educational knowledge and assist me in gaining the skills and experiences that are essential for building my career as a professor.
Prothom Alo (Bangladeshi Newspaper)
BBC News
Portland State University for The Fulbright Gateway Orientation Program in Portland
Thesis Topic:
The Development of Islamist Politics In Bangladesh


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Research residencies
ISIS offers subsidised research residencies for regional, national and international visual and media artists for 3-4 weeks in our self-contained city-centre studios and training facility.
Offered to emerging and established artists our research residencies are hugely subscribed and unique not just in our region, but nationally and internationally. They include technical and critical support, and dedicated training and mentoring, we run between 4 and 6 a year.
Our residencies support artists at the early stages of development, providing a unique opportunity with the time and space to research a new project or idea without the constraints of having to necessarily produce a body of work.
Our research residencies nurture artists and their practice, this vital research period often leads artist to develop insightful, perceptive and considered ideas that lead to powerful works of art. We continue to work with a selection of our residency artists, helping them make their ideas a reality, showcasing their works within the public realm to engage as wide an audience as possible in dialogue with artists and artworks.
We also offer a self funded ISIS Artist Residency. For information regarding all residency opportunities please click here.
Read a selection of previous residency artists' responses and testimonials here.


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More food for thought – the Food Security Bill
The 15th Lok Sabha is close to the end of its tenure. A key legislation that proposes major reforms in food security was listed for discussion in Parliament. The National Food Security Bill, 2011 has been scrutinised by a Standing Committee. In January, we compared the Standing Committee's recommendations with the provisions of the Bill. Since then, amendments to the Bill have been introduced in Parliament. Debates on the Bill have revolved around the method of delivering food security, the identification of beneficiaries and the financial implications of the Bill.
Method of delivery
The Bill aims to make the right to food a statutory right. It proposes to use the existing Public Distribution System (PDS) to deliver foodgrain to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population. However, the Bill also allows for cash transfers and food coupons in lieu of grains as mechanisms to deliver food security. While the PDS is known to suffer from leakages as high as 40%, cash transfers and food coupons are known to expose recipients to volatility and price inflation. Each method of delivery would have its own implications, financial and otherwise. The table below compares these methods of delivery.[i]
Advantages and disadvantages of PDS and other delivery mechanisms
|Insulates beneficiaries from inflation and price volatility
|Poor identification and targeting of beneficiaries
|Ensures entitlement is used for foodgrains only
|Low offtake of foodgrain from each household
|Well-developed network of FPS ensures access to foodgrain even in remote areas
|Large leakages and diversions of subsidised foodgrain
|Adulteration of foodgrain
|Lack of viability of FPSs due to low margins
|Cash transfers
|Cash in the hands of poor expands their choices
|Vulnerable to targeting errors
|Cash may relieve financial constraints faced by the poor, make it possible to form thrift societies and access credit
|Cash can be used to buy non- food items
|Administrative costs of cash transfer programmes may be much less than that of centrally sponsored schemes
|May expose recipients to price volatility and inflation
|Potential for fully electronic transfer
|There is poor access to banks and post offices in some areas
|Food coupons
|Household is given the freedom to choose where it buys food
|Vulnerable to targeting errors
|Increases incentive for competitive prices and assured quality of foodgrain among PDS stores
|Food coupons are not indexed for inflation; may expose recipients to inflation
|PDS stores get full price for foodgrains from the poor; no incentive to turn the poor away
|Difficult to administer; known to have delays in issuing food coupons and reimbursing shops
The Bill does not universalise food entitlements. It classifies the population into two categories of beneficiaries, who shall be identified by the centre and states. Mechanisms that aim to target benefits to certain sections of the population have been prone to large inclusion and exclusion errors. A 2009 expert group study headed by N.C. Saxena that evaluated PDS, estimated that about 61% of the eligible population was excluded from the BPL list while 25% of APL households were included in the BPL list. Beneficiaries under the Food Security Bill will be identified through a similar process. It is unclear how these errors in identification of beneficiaries under the PDS will be addressed by the Bill.
Financial implications – cost sharing between the centre and states
A Bill that aims to deliver food security to a large section of the country would have significant financial implications. Costs shall be shared between the centre and states. Costs imposed on states (partial or full) include: nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers, mid-day meals, anganwadi infrastructure, meals for children suffering from malnutrition, transport and delivery of foodgrains, creating and maintaining storage facilities, and costs associated with District Grievance Redressal Officers and State Food Commissions. Although the centre shall provide some assistance, states will have to bear a significant financial burden on account of implementation.
It is unclear whether Parliament can require states to allocate funds without encroaching on the powers of state legislative assemblies. If a state chooses not to allocate the necessary funds or does not possess the funds to do so, implementation of the Bill could be seriously affected. The Standing Committee examining the Bill had recommended that an independent body, such as the Finance Commission, should be consulted regarding additional funds to be borne by states. The Right to Education Act with similar centre-state sharing of funds provides for such a consultation with the Finance Commission.
Cost of implementation of the Bill
Another contentious issue is the cost of implementing the Bill. The Bill estimates the cost at Rs 95,000 crore. However, experts have made varying estimates on the costs ranging from Rs 2 lakh crore to Rs 3.5 lakh crore. Ashok Gulati, Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, estimated the cost at 2 lakh crore per year whereas the Minister of Food, K.V. Thomas was reported to have estimated the cost at Rs 3.5 lakh crore.
The passage of the food security Bill in Parliament will depend on the ability of the government to build consensus on these issues. It remains to be seen how the Bill is debated next Parliament session.
[i] Kapur D., Mukhopadhyay P., and A. Subramanian. "The Case for Direct Cash Transfers to the Poor." Economic and Political Weekly. Vol 43, No 15 (Apr 12-18, 2008). Khera, R. "Revival of the Public Distribution System: Evidence and Explanations." Economic and Political Weekly. Vol XLVI, Nos 44 & 45 (Nov 5, 2011). Shah, M. "Direct Cash Transfers: No Magic Bullet." Economic and Political Weekly. Vol 43, No 34, pp. 77-79 (Aug 23-29, 2008).


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The requested web page does not exist.
We invite you to visit the Aga Khan Schools home page.
Grandparents Day
Grandparents of students were invited to spend the day at the school... [ Read ]
St. Austin's Athletics Games
Our School participated in the annual athletics games at the St. Austin's school... [ Read ]
The 32nd Annual EAMUN conference was focused on seizing equal opportunities for all... [ Read ]


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My name is Mariana and Im from Sweden. I have always loved to take photos. Earlier I had a Nikon analog but I decided to buy a digital camera. My first was a Olympus 765. Later I bought a Canon 350D. And now I have a Pentax K30D, 18-55mm, Tamron 28-300mm. I also love to do stuffs on my computer, fractals, manipulations and so on. Im a horse- and catlover.
If you find a picture or a design that you like but will have some changes on it please contact me here on Redbubble or on my Facebook page. Just right click on the link.
Have a great day.
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Sidecut,ombre hair21. května 2012 v 19:06 | Scene Sabush♫
děkuji :) krásný obrázky, líbí se mi, že tu máš vždycky obrázky, který jsem ještě nikde neviděla :)
--!@xiaoyao Coach Handbags It is reported that Coach is focusing on expanding in China. Coach's direct-to-consumer business, which includes sales in China, rose 10 percent to $654 million. --!@xiaoyao
--!@linli but when you look at
As a world famous typhoon in world fashion industry, every move of Louis Vuitton, be it big or small, can always focus of attention of the whole globe. No matter you are fashion ladies or traditional women, nearly every female has ever dreamed of possessing an authentic Louis Vuitton handbag, wallet, purse or shoes once for all. Of course, they must be a group of people who can never understand why there are so many frenetic women could be equal to three to six months of house rent or salary in buying an original Louis Vuitton bag. For those non-Louis Vuitton fans, they certainly do not comprehend what that kind of feel if your long-cherished luxury and fantasy dream have been satisfied.Based on so many years' classical inheritance and fashion pursuit, as a faithful fan of Louis Vuitton, we firmly believe that it will have a more prosperous future. Wear and tear of time will never leave a stigma on its splendid distinction. Louis Vuitton aims to let the whole world fully enjoy the exotic flavor from romantic south France. As long as you keep up with the pace of Louis Vuitton, you can always be in top position in world fashion industry. No matter where you are going, once take a unique Louis Vuitton handbag, wallet, purse or shoes with you, you will surely be the focus of attention and object of jealousy of all people around you. Just have faith in Louis Vuitton's mysterious magic to add glaour and charisma to your usual plain self, that is it.


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|Will PROCRIT shots increase my viral load?
Aug 19, 2000
Hey Dr. Bob,
My viral load is now finally below detectable levels! Yeah!!! that's the good news. The bad news is that Viracept is shitty medicine so to speak. Pardon my language but I am now intimately acquainted with every restroom in this town. I shouldn't complain -- at least my viral load is down. Speaking of down -- so is my hemoglobin. I've been watching it as you suggested and I've watched it slide down to 10. Right on schedule I've felt wiped out. And I need all the energy I can get to keep running to all those bathrooms. OK now for my question. I've convinced my practitioner to prescribe PRocrit but I remember in your lecture you mentioned something about shots causing viral loads to go up. Did I hear that correctly? How do I avoid that? Many thanks...looking forward to your next presentation to our group.
a friend
Response from Dr. Frascino
Dear Friend,
Congratulations on getting your viral load under control! I fully realize the effort it takes to adhere to these complex and potent medications especially when their side effects are so unpleasant! First regarding the nelfinavir(Viracept)-induced diarrhea I would suggest you try pancreatic enzymes (Ultrase). This has worked wonders on some folks with problems similar to yours. Also check to be sure it's the medication that's causing the problem. You may need to collect some stool samples to test for parasites or malabsorption problems. Working with an HIV knowledgeable nutritionist to adjust your diet may also be beneficial. Finally there are medications that while not curing the problem can help to slow down the diarrhea problem. Some of these are over the counter products and others require a prescription form your doctor. Check with him/her.
Regarding your anemia. Yes indeed we would recommend treatment of mild to moderate anemia proactively before it becomes severe and more incapacitating. Procrit is definitely the way to go. As you probably already know treatment of anemia in the setting of HIV disease not only improves energy level and quality of life, it is also associated with improved survival. Yes procrit is administered by subcutaneous (just under the skin) injection. We now recommend a once a week injection of 40,000 units as a starting dose. Procrit will NOT increase your viral load nor will it interact with any of your HIV or non-HIV medications. It has a fantastic safety profile with side effects essentially the same as placebo. That makes it much safer than all of those products you hear advertised on TV for hay fever etc. Don't you love the fast blurb at the end of the commercials where they rattle off the most amazing list of potential side effects -- 'diarrhea, stroke, heart attacks, and you may blow-up in public...'
As for your concerns about injections increasing viral loads, I believe you are referring to comments I made pertaining to vaccinations such as hepatitis vaccines, pneumovax, flu vaccine, etc. These injections work by stimulating the immune system to build immunity (protection) against possible invading germs like hepatitis A or B. We don't have a vaccine for hepatitis C yet. These vaccines are definitely recommended for those of us who are HIV positive. What I mentioned in the lecture was that if you have one of these vaccines, your HIV viral load may go up transiently and this sometimes causes confusion in interpreting the results. So if your viral load suddenly pops up unexpectedly you should think about the possible reasons why before immediately thinking the worst -- that you've developed resistance to your current medications. You should wait at least 6 weeks after a vaccination before getting a viral load test done. And as always we recommend that any test be repeated before you consider making any changes in a regimen that has been working well for you. Again Procrit is not a vaccination and will NOT have this effect. I'm sure I went over this, but you were probably in the bathroom ... so, my friend, good luck with both problems. I strongly anticipate both problems will get much better and you'll soon be using your restored energy for much more pleasant activities.
Thanks for writing. I hope this helps.
Dr. Bob
Drug interactions?
Testosterone patch side effect/fatigue
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Car Review
2014 Kia Sorento SX: Long-Term Wrap-Up
A year is a long time to spend testing a car, and that generous time frame allows more than enough opportunity to find any number of flaws, hiccups and annoyances that you're likely to encounter within the full range of the ownership experience. With our 2014 Kia Sorento SX long-term test officially over, it's finally time to look back at our year and evaluate where the Korean crossover excelled and where it fell short.
In the Beginning: Cautious Optimism
The start of our 12-month loan had us admittedly curious about how the Kia Sorento would fare during daily use that included hauling plenty of stuff (not the least of which was our 2-year-old boy), which presents its own unique set of ergonomic requirements. Having previously long-term tested the BMW 328i and Volvo S60 sedans and found that their body styles were well suited to our daily needs, I also felt that the Sorento's extra bit of space might be useful.
Truthfully, my biggest concern while living with the Kia centered around brand anxiety; I was less worried about the Sorento's reliability and durability and more concerned about whether or not I was really a Kia kind of driver.
Testing Through Moves, Road Trips and (Potentially) Life-Changing Events
Throughout the course of the year, I ran the Sorento through a variety of typical and not-so-run-of-the-mill scenarios: I used it as a mobile office, looked at it through the eyes of a passenger, road-tripped it repeatedly, and used it to assist with a household move.
Despite minor things that we'd change if given the chance, the Kia was a trustworthy road partner. The Sorento's successes managed to squash any remaining stereotypes about Korean cars. They have come a long way since the early days, when dumpy subcompacts from Hyundai and Kia were the punch line of the car industry, and they have proven that they can run with the big boys when it comes to styling, technology and amenities. Two services experiences -- one that felt a bit less premium than the other -- revealed affordable scheduled maintenance and generally friendly, helpful dealership personnel.
But the most formative experience came due to a collision that left the Sorento seriously damaged but my wife completely untouched, which is the ultimate testimony to the car's ability to deflect danger (a quality reflected by its exemplary crash-test scores).
Bottom Line
Though it suffered a couple of rather minor lapses (including a brief navigation glitch that just as quickly fixed itself), the 2014 Kia Sorento eventually proved to be a workhorse of a car that held up remarkably well over its 26,000 miles in my household. It has no shortage of creature comforts, including heated and ventilated seats and a huge panoramic sunroof, but the aspects that were most impressive were its solid build quality, easy-to-live-with sense of comfort and utility, and its general durability.
While it couldn't be confused with a pure driver's car (especially when driven hard), the Sorento nonetheless exceeded expectations with its solid road manners, welcoming interior and deep list of amenities, all of which make it an excellent value for its sub-$40,000 price point.


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Town Council, School Committee sit down to combined sessions
Town Council, School Committee sit down to combined sessions
CUMBERLAND - Given a chance to explore together any topics they'd like, members of the Town Council and School Committee picked five during a rare session of kinship last Thursday evening.
Come the beginning of December, they later agreed, they'll schedule another session with plans for sharing information about:
* State and local school funding, including the charter school tuitions;
* How services might be shared between the town and School Department;
* Ideas for long-range planning;
* Taxpayers' willingness to fund schools;
* The divide between charter and district schools.
The five topics were culled from a couple of dozen ideas that members of both boards identified during a round-table forum facilitated by psychologist Peter Langton, a Cumberland resident who teaches industrial and organizational psychology at Wheaton College and holds a corporate human relations position.
Topics were divided up and one school board and one council member assigned to each.
The decision by councilors and school board members to voluntarily increase their meeting workload seems to be an unprecedented undertaking in Cumberland designed to bring the two sides together at a time outside of the usual tension-filled budget cycle.
The sessions are open to the press and public, although the school board's Craig Duffy did express concern that The Breeze's presence would hamper candid dialogue.
While all seven school board members attended, the council had called just a meeting of its finance subcommittee. Absent were Councilors Manuel DaCosta, President James Higgins and Jeff Kearns, who called to say he was not injured but couldn't attended after an auto accident.
School Supt. Phil Thornton attended but Mayor Daniel McKee did not, saying later he wasn't aware of the meeting.
Councilor Craig Dwyer, who heads the finance subcommittee, indicated the entire council and mayor would be invited in the future.
School Committee Chairwoman Lisa Beaulieu was the catalyst for the roundtable session and reminded the gathering that many had expressed an interest in meeting at a time outside of budget season.
"When folks elect you, they elect you for a reason," she said. "I think we have big responsibility."
Langton called on the group to identify their key issues, whether a misunderstood issue, an area for collaboration or a perceived problem. "What are real issues we want to spend time on? The goal is not to make a political statement or talk about pet peeves," he said. "What's worth spending time on and what's the best way to do it? These will be the issues we spend our resources on."
With the five topics selected, Beaulieu and Dwyer were assigned to plan the school funding discussion.
Councilor Bill Murray is working with school board member Paul DiModica on the shared services topics. Murray is also assigned to the charter/public divide with school board member Linda Teel.
School board member Jeff Mutter is working with Councilor Scott Schmitt on long-range planning, and Councilor Art Lambi and school board member Craig Duffy are teaming up on the taxpayer issue.
The town's elected officials voted on the topics of highest interest, but omitted one with the most votes - trust between the two boards. Instead, several said, trust would come as the two sides learned to understand each other better, several said.
Some ideas were broad, such as shared services, and others were narrow, such as funding technology or understanding the BEP, basic education plan.
Thornton wanted to talk about long-range budgeting "instead of going year to year."
The town's finance director, Brian Silvia, asked about collaboration on purchasing, while the school's business manager Alex Prignano said, "I don't feel the Town Council, when they vote, really has an understanding of school budgeting. It's a very complex budget."
The town's growing charter school, the Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy, which Councilor Murray called "the white elephant in the room," was mentioned several times both in terms of funding and as a local competitor.
NOW they want to talk!
They've identified 5 topics that are of the highest priority. They are: 1. How come the charter schools are getting OUR money? 2. How can we get OUR money back from the charter schools? 3. When will the money that we lost to the charter schools be replaced in OUR budget 4. When can OUR union get into the charter schools? 5. Who supports the charter schools so we can identify them for defeat in the next elections? Now that the money has been appropriated away from the public school system, they want to meet to discuss things going forward? THE FIRST order of business should be to ENSURE the existence of the charter schools WITHOUT the union's involvement!! This meeting should NOT be considered as an action of cooperation, but of infiltration! And I'm sure that the Mayor absolutely knew of this meeting and made a decision to purposely stay away. Political posturing at its best!
In reading the below comment when the town's finance director, Brian Silvia, asked about collaboration on purchasing, while the school's business manager Alex Prignano said:
"I don't feel the Town Council, when they vote, really has an understanding of school budgeting. It's a very complex budget."
You can tell right here and now that you are looking at "The Epitome of Job Justification and Creation"....and, also, a person that is not in the least really interested in discussing the issue of much-needed cost cutting and consolidation!
Out of the Northeast, in most school districts across the country, they are 'County School Districts' and such consolidation is de Rigueur!
The time has long since come and gone for cities, towns and RI School Districts to seriously considering combining many of these duplicated, and overly costly positions, and departments, such as Attorneys, Personnel Managers and Departments....and especially the combining of, for all intents and purposes, the School Department's 'So-Called' Business Manager into the office of the Town Finance Director!
Having sat on the Cumberland School Department's 'Finance Sub-Committee, for almost 6-years, I got to see up close and personal just how unneeded, when all is taken into consideration, that that over-paid position IS NOT NEEDED!
More-so, wherein the bulk of the expenditures are for salary....something that, in most instances, is handled by an outside 3rd-party, payroll service....leaving an amount of money to then be managed, and spend, of a lesser amount, and less complicated process, then that of the Town's Finance Department.
Again, something that was looked into, and proven-out, years ago.
However, even though the proof was there that these kinds of consolidations should be considered....did you ever try to dismember and empire whose specialty is a well known fact: "EMPIRE BUILDING"!
Need Proof?
Look at the Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy!
Just under 1,000-students.....and the staffing, already, in total, is now up to a little over 120!
Do the division!
School Departments of all kinds, especially here in Rhode Island, while proving they are not very good at educating our children, have proven time and time again that they are the masters of unnecessary, and irresponsible, expense and job creation!