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Coverage of Fidel Castros illness and handoff of power underscores the challenges of reporting on the secretive regime and the islands future.
By Lori Robertson Lori Robertson (firstname.lastname@example.com), a former AJR managing editor, is a senior contributing writer for the magazine.
Rain had leaked through the ceiling onto one of the seats near the departure gate. Birds were flying in through an opening in the roof. A group of international journalists waited for the first morning flight to Cancun.
One of them, Angel Valentin, says the overnighter in the airport was, simply, "interesting."
Not quite the way Valentin, a senior staff photographer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and his companions including Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, two Getty Images photographers, a Dutch newspaper correspondent, a Spanish radio reporter and a Panamanian television crew had envisioned covering a major news event that wasn't quite the big, BIG story, but a big story nonetheless.
For the first time in his 47 years as Cuba's president, Fidel Castro had put someone else in charge of the country, handing power primarily to his brother Raul. Fidel, who turned 80 a few weeks later, was recovering from intestinal surgery and requested that his announcement be read over Cuban television. Speculation was rampant had Castro died already? Information was scant his location was not released. And the media circus was not going to be able to put its act together.
Valentin, Robinson and many others who didn't have the pleasure of sleeping in the airport were turned away by Cuban immigration authorities, who said the visitors couldn't enter the country without journalist visas. These had turned out to be impossible to obtain quickly from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, an office that had not responded to many phone calls or e-mails or an in-person visit by Robinson.
Some reporters did slip in. One, tipped off that journalists were being deported, stashed reportorial gear in a Cancun airport locker and walked through Cuban immigration at the same time Robinson and Valentin were pleading for entry. The New York Times' Ginger Thompson flew in from Mexico without a hitch, until she was asked to leave the country a week later and escorted to the airport. Miami Herald reporters, veterans of working in Cuba without the journalist visas they're regularly denied, were still contributing to stories in late August.
Bienvenida a Cuba.
For decades, journalists have been trying to cover a country, whether from somewhere on the island or from afar, that is as frustrating an assignment as they come. It's tough to get in, to get an interview, to get "it" an entire country filled with people wary of talking to anyone about how they really feel. The small group of foreign journalists who live there struggle to build trust with sources and find sources they can trust. Others fly in on weeklong or shorter visas or work the phones, reporting methods that are never ideal for penetrating anyplace, let alone a venue as elusive as Cuba.
Whatever the technique, it's being put to the test as news organizations have gotten a taste of what it may be like to cover Castro's death and the fallout from such a historic incident. A succession even if it turns out to be temporary has occurred. "A couple of months ago I was bored, but now I'm pretty excited to be in the right place at the right time," Anthony Boadle, Reuters' Havana bureau chief, said in August. "It's what we're here for. It's the moment."
How long "the moment" drags on and what happens next is anyone's guess. Castro's illness and updates on his condition are considered state secrets by the communist country.
Boadle and the other Cuba-based correspondents, lucky to already be there, have the misfortune of walking around with expired press credentials. The Cuban government was supposed to renew them in April, but, bureaucracy being what it is, that has yet to happen. To avert potential problems, the International Press Center in Havana has issued letters for the press corps to present if stopped by police, saying that they are allowed to be in the country.
As far as frustrations go, this one is minor for journalists who operate in a country where there's no access to public documents, little in the way of quantitative figures and a general feeling that who you talk to and what you say is being monitored by someone.
Chronicling the latest news has proven to be no less difficult.
Some news organizations have drafted game plans for covering a major change in Cuban leadership the Miami Herald has had one since the early 1990s. But Castro's nebulous illness was a relatively low-key event, making it a tougher assignment for the Cuba beat. "With everything, people are waiting, people are scared, but there's no news," says Gary Marx, the Chicago Tribune's Havana-based Latin America correspondent. "It's this weird story. It's a big story, but it's a story without news... That again is the challenge with Cuba."
Gary Marx was sitting in his office the evening of July 31, and he turned on the TV to watch the top of the 8 p.m. news. The broadcaster said Castro was going to make an announcement after the program. Marx, who arrived at the Tribune Cuba bureau in July 2002, figured it was something about Lebanon. But he stuck around.
A Castro aide read a statement, which began by listing the leader's many recent engagements, including a trip to Argentina and July 26 celebrations commemorating the day in 1953 when Castro launched an uprising against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Stress from such work had provoked a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding," which required that Castro undergo "complicated" surgery. The statement said he would need several weeks of rest and listed how his responsibilities would be divided among six men, with his brother Raul taking over the presidency.
"It was like a bomb dropping," Marx says. "It was just amazing, the way it was done and the abruptness of it."
He scrambled and wrote the story. About midnight, Marx ran downstairs to get some quotes from people on the street. A block later, he was detained by police. Marx had forgotten his press credentials. It was the fourth time he had been detained in three weeks.
"They can hold you anywhere from an hour to five hours," he says. "Fortunately I was able to call in my quotes that I already had."
Marx calls his job both the toughest assignment he's ever had and the assignment of a lifetime. Not many get to experience it. In September 1969, the last of the American news organizations from that era was kicked out of the country. The New York Times ran a three-graph Associated Press story, datelined Havana, that said the wire service's Fenton Wheeler was called to the foreign ministry at 4 a.m. and told he would be leaving Cuba in two hours. In particular, the government objected to Wheeler's report that it had accused a staffer in the Mexican Embassy of spying for the CIA.
Reporters are still expelled or simply not allowed in for what is deemed to be critical or unfair journalism. Reuters, which has continued to operate a bureau since the 1960s, has had people "pressured out," says Alistair Scrutton, the British company's editor for political and general news about Latin America. Three or four years ago, a Reuters stringer was publicly criticized by Fidel Castro, a sign that the stringer might not be able to stick around much longer. "We decided it was best that he leave," Scrutton says.
By the early 1990s, after the Cold War had ended and the Soviet Union had collapsed, U.S. news outlets began talks with Cuban authorities about reestablishing news bureaus there. One of the sticking points for the Cubans was reciprocity: The U.S. has not allowed Prensa Latina, the Cuban news service, to open a bureau in this country. But Cuba has softened on this point for certain news organizations.
In 1997, CNN got the go-ahead. A year later, the AP was back, and in 2000, after 10 years of talks with the Tribune Co., including visits by two different company chairmen, the Cubans granted Tribune a bureau, which includes correspondents for both the Chicago paper and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
ABC, CBS and NBC have "offices" in the country, but they have not been given permission to open full-fledged bureaus. Where the Cubans draw the line is hard to discern. CBS News has a producer and a cameraperson in Havana; NBC News Producer Mary Murray has been in the country since 1994; ABC has "editorial resources," says Paul Slavin, the network's senior vice president for worldwide newsgathering. Correspondent Marc Frank works for ABC and is a stringer for both Reuters and the Financial Times.
In 2000, the Dallas Morning News got permission to open a bureau, but closed it in 2004 amid a round of budget cuts. The News' bureau lasted less time than it took to lobby the Cuban government to allow the paper to open it.
The Morning News had been expanding its coverage of Latin America when it got the bureau, but four years later, its focus was on issues closer to home, such as the U.S.-Mexico border. "We moved the bureau to Texas," explains Editor Bob Mong, who says that in a time of staff reduction, "we felt that [the Cuba bureau] was probably a luxury."
Being there has immense advantages. Mong says covering the story from afar "doesn't bear any resemblance" to writing from Cuba. The Chicago Tribune was able to splash the story of a temporary succession across its front page August 1. The New York Times carried wire reports inside the A section.
For Ginger Thompson, until recently the Times' Mexico City bureau chief, it's been difficult to get a sense of what's going on in Cuba in recent years. Thompson, charged with covering Cuba from late 2003 until August, says the paper has been hampered by the inability to get visas for a substantial period of time. She has flown in on two- or three-day visas over the past few years. "I can't say that I've covered it for the New York Times in the last few years, because we haven't had enough access to cover it."
The night Thompson heard the news that Castro had ceded power, she decided to take a chance and go in on a tourist visa something she had been reluctant to do in the past for fear that she wouldn't be allowed back in if detained by authorities. "This story was much too important to not take that chance," she says.
According to U.S. law, journalists regularly working for a news organization have a general license to travel to Cuba anytime they want for work purposes. (Freelancers have to get a special license from the Treasury Department.) The journalist visa is one required by the Cuban government for all foreign journalists to work in the country.
Thompson left Mexico City around noon on August 1 and had no problem at Cuban immigration. A week later, after the New York Times had run a story crediting an employee in Havana "who could not be named for security reasons," immigration authorities tracked down Thompson at her hotel.
Others have gone in taking greater precautions. In 1994, during Cuba's "rafters crisis," when tens of thousands of people tried to leave the country in whatever seaworthy craft they could construct, Tim Padgett, then with Newsweek, decided to fly in without the appropriate visa. "I made sure that everything I did was very, very discreet," he says. He filed his stories by writing a letter by hand on hotel stationery and asking the desk clerk to fax it to his bureau manager, Danny, in Mexico City. "The letter would say: 'Dear Danny, I'm having a great time here in Havana,'" he says. In the midst of his "wish you were here" note, Padgett slipped in information from his interviews, including those he did by hiring a boat to ride 10 miles offshore so he could talk to rafters rowing to the promised land.
Now Time magazine's Miami and Latin American bureau chief, Padgett did not go to Cuba this time. "We simply made the decision that not enough really seems to be happening there in terms of angst, in terms of military movements, in terms of unrest."
The crackdown on reporters coming into the country this time around is in line with what many journalists have seen as a tightening hold on information in recent years. Plus, it's hard to see how allowing more reporters in would be beneficial to the Cuban government.
Lucia Newman, CNN's Havana bureau chief from the opening of the bureau until this April, recalls an easier time when she first arrived in 1997. "There seemed to be this opening, this slight move to at least economic reform," she says. Foreign investors and tourists were welcome. She was granted interviews. A few years later, the climate shifted. "By the time George Bush became president, there was a different atmosphere altogether," she says. "A different political climate in Washington and a different political climate in Cuba. And I don't know if one necessarily led to the other."
In her early days on the island, Newman, now the Buenos Aires bureau chief for Al Jazeera International, says journalists were invited to nearly every event that Castro or his brother would attend. "Now, we're invited to far, far fewer events. We have to get our information from Cuban television a lot more." This regression has coincided with Castro's "battle of ideas," an effort launched in 2000 to instill the values of communism among young Cubans.
Getting an interview request approved by the government and almost everyone in charge of anything is part of the government can be a Herculean feat. Marx says 90 percent of his written entreaties are refused. As for cultivating sources, "I just don't think anybody really has [government] sources here, to be honest with you," he says. "The risks for a government official to talk to a reporter, I believe, are too great for them to do on a source basis... Plus, I don't know that you can believe a source."
Marx became acutely aware of how difficult Cuba can be within his first year there. He wrote a story about an independent journalist, only to learn a few weeks later that the man was an agent of the Cuban government who turned in his colleagues, accusing them of being spies for the U.S.
Other journalists talk of similar rites of passage when they realized how tough it is to trust anyone or how certain statements are assumed to be off the record without either source or journalist having to say so explicitly.
Reuters is often credited by other journalists with having some of the best sources. Boadle says it is possible to foster a relationship with lower-level officials, intellectuals who work in the government or aides to senior officials. And his bureau remembers a time when freedoms for the international press corps were fewer. "I think we have it easy," he says, compared with what it was like being a Western reporter in the '70s and '80s a period U.S. outlets missed. In 1986, a Reuters correspondent was expelled after he interviewed Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an illegal but tolerated institution. Today, anyone can interview Sanchez. "He's the spokesman on human rights here," Boadle says, "and he's frequently quoted."
The first week after Castro handed power to his brother, a good chunk of the Miami Herald newsroom staff was dedicated to the story. "This is definitely the top story to the Miami Herald," says Juan Tamayo, the paper's chief of correspondents.
The Herald sent in staffers without visas, something the paper hasn't hesitated to do in the past on stories it felt it needed to cover which means lots of stories for a paper based in an area that is home to more than 1 million Cubans, living a mere 90 miles from their homeland.
The strategy has been generally successful, at least in terms of getting people onto the island. "We've gotten in, I would say, probably most of the people that we sent, a very high percentage that we sent," Tamayo says, "but I think that we all understand that sending people in sort of under the radar is a limited reporting possibility. If you have to be continually worried about ducking the state security apparatus, it's very difficult." This time, one Herald reporter was stopped at the Havana airport and sent back to Panama.
Relations between the Cuban government and the Herald and particularly its sister paper, El Nuevo Herald have long been touchier than those of any other news outlet in the country. The paper has been granted visas; Tamayo says he's been to Cuba legally 20 to 30 times himself. A columnist traveled on a visa in 2004, but the last reporter was legitimately there in 2000 or 2001.
"I think the dynamics going both ways don't lend themselves to good understanding," Tamayo says. "As far as they're concerned, we're not an independent newspaper; we're just part of the Cuban mafia here. For our part, our coverage of Cuba has to be intensive and absolutely correct. We cannot afford to leave things out."
Tamayo compares covering Cuba at a distance to the old days of being a China-watcher in Hong Kong or a Kremlin-watcher in Washington. It's frustrating, he says, but also gives the Herald an advantage. "To be honest with you, people who do have visas, you know the Cubans are very tough on those visas," he says. "If you write almost anything that they do not like, they likely will not give you another visa... Unless that reporter is willing to forgo all future access to the island..they're going to be pretty careful in what they write." He cites two examples of stories the Herald broke before others on the island reported them: that the military was being mobilized after Castro ceded power, and that, in 1997, there were a string of terrorist bombings in Cuba.
Journalists on the island even those on short-term visas say they have never been censored and that they operate freely. Vanessa Bauzá, the Sun-Sentinel's Caribbean correspondent and its Havana reporter from 2001 until August 2005, disagrees with Tamayo's feeling that journalists on the island have to pull their punches. Cuban government officials "certainly were not happy with my coverage various times and would call me in and have discussions about the coverage and their feeling that it was more negative than it should be," Bauzá says. "They didn't ever threaten to revoke my visa or much less to close the bureau... I decided early on that if I chose to censor myself, then there wasn't any point in my being there."
For the networks, there is the additional dependence on the government for the uplink used to feed footage out of the country. In August, CBS News booked feed time with Cuban television, which the Cubans later canceled, saying that they needed to air a sporting event, says CBS News Foreign Editor Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews. AP Television News had booked time, and CBS was able to send its material that way. "That became very expensive."
NBC's David Verdi, vice president of worldwide newsgathering, says the network hasn't faced any censorship but is required to report on all sides of a story "we don't go and interview a dissident and do a minute 30 on the dissident."
Coverage of the dissident community is what riles officials most. Bauzá says that dissidents felt the foreign media gave them a certain degree of protection. Even ordinary people, she says, were glad to have the media telling their stories, "that there was sort of a level of accountability that the foreign media provided."
David Gonzalez, a New York Times reporter who covered Cuba as the Miami-based Caribbean and Central American bureau chief from late 1999 to the end of 2003, knows how much coverage of dissidents won't endear you to visa-granters. Gonzalez had made 10 trips to Cuba, but in his last year in Miami, he applied for a visa four times and never got one.
When Gonzalez wrote, many times, about the jailing in 2003 of 75 dissidents by the Cuban government, he had plenty of contact with Cuban officials, but not for interviews. An official in the Cuban Interests Section in Washington called him a number of times to berate him for his work. A few months later, he received an e-mail from the foreign minister saying that the foreign ministry was going to have an Internet press conference and journalists should submit their questions. Gonzalez wrote back: "The only question I have is when am I going to get a visa to go into Cuba." Within a half hour, he got a response from an official in Havana, saying there was a process and he should submit an itinerary. He didn't get the visa.
The Times has not had a bureau in Cuba in many decades and hasn't pushed for one. Gonzalez says he and former Executive Editor Joseph Lelyveld talked about the possibility years ago, and they agreed there wasn't enough news there to justify a full-time bureau. The only reason to have a bureau, he says, is for the Big Story.
Leylveld says, through Times spokeswoman Catherine J. Mathis, that Cuba would have been a good base from which to cover the region, but plane connections and multiple-entry visas were problematic. He was also concerned about increased surveillance of a resident correspondent. And Havana authorities weren't interested in having the Times there.
Unfortunately for the Sun-Sentinel, its bureau wasn't staffed when Castro's surgery was announced. Since Bauzá left the bureau in 2005 to take a fellowship, the paper has been rotating reporters in and out and hasn't named a permanent replacement. The next on rotation is Doreen Hemlock, an international business reporter. She thought she might get a visa on July 31, and her bags were packed, but it didn't come through until early in the week of August 21. She plans to be in Cuba for two or three months.
Whether that will be long enough to witness the denouement remains to be seen. The Cuban leader's health has been questioned before: In 2001, he fainted. In 2004, he fell, breaking a knee and an arm. The CIA has said he has Parkinson's disease. No one has confirmed that report.
"It's beginning to turn into a grinding, long-term story and that perhaps in terms of coverage might be even worse than sort of a sudden change, because it really puts stress on your staff," says the Herald's Juan Tamayo. "We all have been working extremely long hours."
The Miami Herald's reaction plan may very well morph into winging it.


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Harper's Bazaar: Talking About That "Recession" Thing Is "Extremely Annoying" Now
September's Harper's Bazaar is 110 editorial pages of beautiful contradictions. Is fall about the 40s or the 80s? Do all black women roam the African savannah, or do some of them also sing in jazz clubs? Photoshop: Pro or con?

subset: commoncrawl


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Marc Jacob's first line of menswear was in 1994, and since that time, his name has grown like wildfire within the fashion community. Marc Jacobs brand eyewear is uniquely recognizable by the iconic detailing accents inspired by the apparel, handbags, and accessories within the Marc Jacobs clothing lines.
The Marc Jacobs eyeglasses collection is full of boldly vintage styles. From rectangles and semi-rimless styles to cat-eyes with unique temple detailing, Marc Jacobs has glasses to complement any face. The collection has a hugely varied and diverse array of styles that will suit the individual tastes of any person looking to make a statement.
The rich color palette mixed with delicate, neutral tones make this collection universally appealing to any age range. These Marc Jacob eyeglasses are sure to make the desired impression, no matter the occasion. Marc Jacobs is one of the most popular up-and-coming designers in the world, and his name will be remembered for the rest of fashion history.


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Gratins to Marshmallows: 12 Recipes for Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes get a lot of press this time of year, as everyone tries to decide where they fit on the Thanksgiving buffet. But we love sweet potatoes and look for an excuse to eat them every day. From sweet potato soup with miso and ginger, to restaurant-style sweet potato fries, to candied marshmallows (yes! sweet potato marshmallows!) here are a dozen recipes for sweet potatoes that are good all year long.
We obviously left the plain old roasted sweet potato off this list, but it's still one of our favorite ways to enjoy a sweet potato.
• 1 Sweet Potato and Sage Gratin - My personal favorite. Cuts the sweetness with a kick of chipotle powder!
• 2 Sweet Potato Soufflé With a Twist - The classic marshmallow-topped casserole, but much, much better.
• 3 Sweet Potato Muffins/Cakelets - Muffins? Cakelets? It all depends on the frosting! From Kim Boyce and Good to the Grain.
• 4 Candied Sweet Potato Marshmallows - Try these instead of the marshmallow-topped confection this year. They're mindblowingly good.
• 5 Restaurant Sweet Potato Fries - A successful quest to make really excellent restaurant-style, crispy sweet potato fries.
• 6 Chili-Spiked Sweet Potato Fries - Another take on sweet potato fries. Crispy and spicy!
• 7 Sweet Potato Soup with Miso and Ginger - A thick, nourishing soup.
• 8 Sweet Potato and Tempeh Stew - Rich, comforting, and satisfying.
• 9 Roasted Sweet Potato Sticks with Rosemary - Another favorite way to do roasted sweet potato fries. These are soft, though, not crispy.
• 10 Sweet Potatoes with Star Anise, Ginger, and Lime - A quick, aromatic way to do sweet potatoes.
• 11 Herbed Skillet Sweet Potatoes - A quick, smoky dash in the skillet and these are done. So good!
• 12 Sweet Potato Tart Tatin - A spectacular dessert from Dam Good Sweet.
OK your turn! What's your favorite way to cook and enjoy sweet potatoes right now?
Related: Recipe: Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Caramel Pecan Sauce
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits.)


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The USEF and its Recognized Affiliates welcome you to the memberships Verification System. This site makes
it easy for competitors to search for, verify and print membership information for riders, horses, and owners for competition entries.
Simply find and match your records - then print all of your membership cards on one sheet of paper.


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Bulldogs Get Distict I Honors
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Two senior leaders on the Yale football team with impressive scholarly endeavors and statistics from the field have earned Capital One Academic All-District honors. Linebacker Jordan Haynes (Folsom, Calif.) and quarterback Patrick Witt (Wylie, Texas) earned Division I distinction in District I and are now in the running for academic All-America honors.
Haynes, captain of the Bulldogs, was a National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame High School Scholar Athlete the year before coming to New Haven. He has a 3.62 GPA in political science and international studies.
Haynes leads Yale with 70 tackles and two fumble recoveries this fall.
Witt, a 2011 National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete and a Rhodes Scholar Finalist, owns a 3.91 GPA in history. He owns most off Yale's major career passing records and has thrown for 1,763 yards and 13 TDs this season.


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Welcome to Le Germain Hotels
Whether you're staying at Le Germain Hotel Calgary, Toronto (Mercer), Toronto (Maple Leaf Square), Ottawa, Montreal, Québec or Charlevoix, you'll find the same warm, luxurious, comfortable environment and the same personal, attentive service. For us, every gesture counts and, when it comes to your needs, nothing, not even the smallest detail, is left to chance.
Le Germain Hotel Calgary
Nestled at the foot of the Calgary Tower in Calgary's downtown, the hotel is steps away from the Arts Common centre, the TELUS Convention Centre and Stephen Avenue Walk with its malls, cinemas, restaurants, boutiques and art galleries.
899 Centre Street SW, Calgary (Alberta) T2G 1B8
Toll-free reservations 1 877 362-8990
Le Germain Hotels Toronto
Located in Toronto's Maple Leaf Square complex and a few steps from the Air Canada Centre, a sporting and entertainment hot spot, Le Germain Hotel Maple Leaf Square is at the heart of all the action.
Business Meetings >
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Le Germain Hotel Toronto (Maple Leaf Square)
75 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto (Ontario) M5J 0A1
Toll-free reservations 1 888 940-7575
The hotel enjoys an enviable location at the heart of the entertainment district. The financial district, Rogers Centre, CN Tour and the Toronto Convention Centre are all within easy walking distance.
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Le Germain Hotel Toronto (Mercer)
30 Mercer Street, Toronto (Ontario) M5V 1H3
Toll-free reservations 1 866 345-9501
Le Germain Hotel Ottawa
Located at the corner of Daly and Waller Street, near the Convention Centre and Parliament Hill. Elegance, authenticity and attentive service come together in a unique complex that features a hotel, residential units, a theatre and an art gallery.
Le Germain Hotel Montreal
The city of Montreal lies right at the doorstep. You are literally steps away from everything this wonderful city has to offer: the business district, downtown area, the Museum of Fine Arts, the entertainment district with its festivals and world-class events, the boutiques on St-Catherine Street, the legendary nightlife and all the fine dining this city has to offer.
Le Germain Hotel Quebec
Le Germain Hotel Quebec is conveniently located in the heart of Québec City's Old Port, within easy walking distance of the Château Frontenac, the Musée de la civilisation, the fortifications and all the best restaurants and art galleries. This hotel was built in an old firehouse that dates back to the early 20th century.
Le Germain Charlevoix Hotel & Spa
The Le Germain Charlevoix Hotel & Spa, formerly known as Hotel La Ferme, sits majestically between the Massif de Charlevoix, the St. Lawrence River and the charming city of Baie-Saint-Paul. Regardless of which of the five unique and contemporary pavilions you call home, you'll be enchanted from arrival to the moment you reluctantly say goodbye.


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Premium has such a nice ring to it, doesn't it? But sometimes premium doesn't always mean more efficient-- Hamm breaks down whether to upgrade at the pump.
Over the course of a month or a year, the "cash flow" of a household can tell you a lot about how the family is doing financially. And in this case, bigger is better.
Your financial decision-making may sometimes feel like wrangling an inner impulsive child. Here's when to let your inner child have its way when making spending decisions and when to put it to bed.
The simple choice to go out to coffee with a friend actually reveals a series of financial decisions. How do you know if you're making the right choice?
On the surface, gift cards can seem like a bad idea for a gift. But there are ways to maximize their usage.
Though a higher income means more money, it often means more expenses. Hamm breaks down how to curb spending so an increased paycheck actually means more money in the bank.
Tax form filing season is nearly upon us. Here are a few steps to take before actually filing your tax forms that will make the process much easier.
Eating out can be a pricey prospect. But turning to a slow cooker to make your meals can save you some money at lunchtime.
Does 'buying American' mean paying more? Not always, but spending priorities, from buying local to spending the least amount possible, should depends on your economic situation and personal priorities.
Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, FEMA Director Brock Long, President Trump, Paradise mayor Jody Jones and Gov. Jerry Brown tour the Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park during Mr. Trump's visit of the Camp Fire, in Paradise, Calif., Nov. 17.
The '52 week money challenge,' which charges participants with saving an increasing amount of money every week, has obvious appeal. However, the idea of increasing your savings on such a smooth, straight line doesn't match reality.
Building good personal finance habits takes a lot of work and a lot of hard choices, but it can make a huge difference in your life.
The first weekend of the new year is the perfect time to tackle frugal indoor projects.Here are four of them, along with how much each project will save you over the course of the year.
Avoiding links within e-mails is the simplest way to prevent identity theft online. Below are a few more simple steps that won't protect you from every scam, but they will protect you from a lot of them.
Living off one income and investing the rest is more doable than you might think. Here's how to make it work.
Do you want 2014 to be a good year or a bad one? Building a good year takes lots of small, good decisions.
The middle childhood years are prime for teaching the ins and outs of frugality and smart use of money.
Imposing a 'personal tax' on yourself is a clever way to add to your savings account, Hamm writes, but it is quite similar to maintaining a personal budget. Which method will help you save money?
Some people wait until their thirties or forties to start saving for retirement. If that's the case for you, Hamm writes, it's time to start saving for retirement immediately.
The vast majority of Americans won't receive any significant inheritance from their parents. But if you happen to still receive an inheritance, treat it as a windfall and use it to shore up debts or rapidly build up your own retirement savings


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The Eagles accomplished this evening their most pressing bit of contract-related business before the start of the NFL season -- they agreed to a six-year, $100 million contract with quarterback Michael Vick, which will lower his cap number this year from $16 million to about $14.4 million, a league source confirmed. The team then announced they had come to agreement on a six-year deal.
Vick, 31, trails in salary only the Patriots' Tom Brady and the Colts' Peyton Manning ($18 million a year) among NFL quarterbacks. His deal averages about $16.67 million per year. The news was broken Monday night by Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post, who has worked for the Eagles in the past as a contract negotiator.
The team had franchised Vick this season for $16 million, but he would have become an unrestricted free agent after the season, unless they reached agreement on a long-term deal then, or franchised him again. Had the Eagles and Vick not reached agreement by Sept. 20, they would have had to wait until after the season to talk.
It might be worth noting that since the Eagles now definitely won't be franchising Vick again, they will have that tag available if they need to use it on wideout DeSean Jackson, whose contract expires this season. The Eagles and Jackson have been discussing a new deal, but they are not believed to be close to agreement.
Rumors that a Vick deal was close have circulated for about a week, but Eagles sources and sources close to Vick would not comment.
"He's worked very hard this training camp," Eagles coach Andy Reid told the Daily News today when asked about any possible qualms concerning Vick. The question was asked before news of the deal broke.
"I have confidence in him. I know Michael's a good football player," Reid said, when asked about staking his future on Vick.
Vick joined the Eagles in 2009, fresh from a federal prison term for dogfighting, having declared bankruptcy. It will be interesting to see if his contract contains any clauses beyond the norm relating to personal conduct.
In a statement released by the team, Reid said, "I'm very happy we were able to reach an agreement with Michael on this long-term contract. It's a product of all the hard work Michael has done to better himself over the last couple of years, both on and off the field. I'm very proud that he has been able to achieve success again in this league, but he'll be the first one to tell you that there is a lot of work yet to be done by him and this team as a whole. And there's no doubt in my mind that he will continue on that path. I give a lot of credit to Joe Banner and Joel Segal for getting this deal done."
A news conference is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30 at the NovaCare Complex.


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SAWYER, Minn. — Authorities in northeastern Minnesota are investigating after a body was found in the ruins of a cabin fire.
The Carlton County sheriff's office says the fire was reported around 6 a.m. Wednesday in the town of Sawyer.
Cloquet firefighters responded along with officers from the Fond du Lac Police Department and the sheriff's office. The cabin was destroyed by the fire, and a body was discovered in the remains.
The body has not been positively identified yet.


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We might live in the technological age but there are so many things machines cannot do so we could always learn a thing or two from the past. Many people can't fathom what life before cellphones was like, let alone living without electricity or some of the comforts we have come to know. A hundred years ago, you wouldn't have been able to do many of things you can do today but you would definitely know how to:
1. Remove foreign particles from your eye
Sometimes tiny particles get into your eye and no matter how you try to get rid of them, you still feel them in your eyes. Drop some castor oil into the corner of the eye and it should lubricate the eye. Another recommendation is washing the eye with a weak vinegar and water solution.
2. Tell what the weather will be
If for some strange reason you are unable to tell what the weather will be, focus on a distant cloud. If the cloud grows gradually bigger, then rainy or colder weather is imminent, if it decreases in size then it should be a fine day.
3. Pick up broken glass
Want to pick up broken glass effectively and quickly? Use a soft damp cloth as it picks up all the splinters. Make sure it's a cloth you can throw away.
4. Make sure coloured clothes don't run
To prevent your colour on your clothes from running into other clothes, soak them in salt water, a double handful of salt for every 3 litres of water should do trick. Soak the clothes overnight and this should prevent them from running.
5. Preserve eggs
Fresh eggs can be preserved by putting them into a box or tin of dry salt. All you have to do is bury the eggs in the dry salt and keep it in a cool place. No air must be allowed to enter the box or reach the shells.
6. Extract a splinter from your hand
Removing a splinter from your hand can be a painful endeavour. Luckily the people of yester year had some solutions for this extraction. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with hot water to the brim. Press the affected part of the hand tightly against the mouth of the bottle, the suction will pull down the flesh and steam will draw out the splinter.


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Foot and bike traffic once again is flowing back and forth above Southwest 13th Street.
Foot and bike traffic once again is flowing above Southwest 13th Street.
After a major renovation project that started in March, the pedestrian overpass that links the University of Florida and Shands with apartment complexes to the east reopened on Thanksgiving.
The battered old fencing that caged in the overpass has been replaced with an aluminum enclosure dubbed the "double helix" because of its shape, which is meant to mimic a railroad track being twisted into the molecular structure of DNA.
The design was meant to be a nod to Gainesville's past as a railroad town — the overpass was once a rail bridge — and the city's emergence as a medical and biotechnology hub.
At night, the illuminated walkway shines orange and blue above traffic entering the city from the south.
The pedestrian bridge is the most visible piece in an approximately $3 million series of projects along Southwest 13th Street and the Depot Avenue Rail Trail within the city's College Park/University Heights Community Redevelopment Area.
"I think the image of the overpass creates this great opportunity for a southern gateway into Gainesville," said Brad Pollitt, chairman of the College Park/University Heights CRA advisory board and the vice president of facilities at Shands HealthCare.
Besides the visual transformation, there are safety improvements. While the overpass was closed, bicyclists and pedestrians such as University of Florida student and employee Alee Douglass had to cross at street level.
Now, the bridge is reopened with the addition of a plaza and staircase to the bridge on the east side of Southwest 13th.
"It's a lot more convenient to get back and forth," Douglass said.
East of the overpass, the rail trail was reconstructed to Southwest 11th Street. That project also has included burying electric lines, new landscaping irrigated with reclaimed water and new streetlights along the trail. Douglass said the lights make it feel safe to walk along the trail at night.
Diane Gilreath, the project manager with the CRA, said the city's goal is to eventually establish the overpass and the restored historic train station and the park planned to the east on the former Gainesville Gas Co. property off Depot Avenue as "bookends in this part of the city."
The trail system, overpass and park will link UF with the downtown area, she said.
The construction of the past several months also has included new brick sidewalks along Southwest 13th. The planting of new median landscaping, including palm trees, was continuing on Monday.
The various projects were funded by property tax revenues generated in the College Park/University Heights CRA district, which includes the student apartment and condominium developments east of SW 13th Street.


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Zsolt Szabo, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science
Languages: English, German, Hungarian, Serbocroatian
Expertise: Diagnostic Radiology
Research Interests: Positron Emission Tomography imaging of angiotensin and endothelin receptors; Angiotensin subtype AT1 receptors role in myocardial remodeling, transplant nephropathy and renovascular hypertension; Endothelin A and angiotensin subtype AT1 receptors roles in cancer; Central serotonin transporters role in alcoholism, Parkinsons disease and brain injury; PET imaging of central and peripheral molecular recognition sites, including angiotensin, endothelin and histamine receptors and serotonin and dopamine transporters; Positron emission tomography (PET) ...read more
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Zsolt Szabo, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Division of Nuclear Medicine within the Department of Radiology and Radiological Science.
A general radiologist, Dr. Szabo specializes in nuclear medicine— in particular, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging— both clinically and in his research activities. He also serves as the Division of Nuclear Medicine's educational coordinator.
Dr. Szabo earned both a medical degree (with a focus on oncology and radiation therapy) and a master's degree in nuclear medicine at Serbia's University of Belgrade.
He earned a medical degree at Germany's University of Düsseldorf Medical School, as well as a doctoral degree in nuclear science at the Julich Section of Dusseldorf University.
Dr. Szabo served as a nuclear-medicine attending physician before completing a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins and joining the faculty in 1992.
Among his many accomplishments at Hopkins, Dr. Szabo helped to develop PET as a way to image neuroreceptors and served as the Division of Nuclear Medicine's acting director for two years.
He has presented more than 60 invited lectures, served as principal investigator for a number of extramural grant projects, mentored scores of graduate students and served on several NIH review panels.
A co-author of the seminal textbook Principles of Nuclear Medicine, Dr. Szabo has authored some 60 peer-reviewed journal articles—primarily about PET applications to cardiovascular conditions and neurophysiology—and about 40 textbook chapters. He also serves as a reviewer for journals that include The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
- Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science
- Professor of Oncology
Departments / Divisions
- Oncology
- Radiology - Nuclear Medicine
- Radiology and Radiological Science - Nuclear Medicine
Centers & Institutes
- MD, Medizinische Fakultat Univ Of Dusseldorf (1973)
- Cardiologic Rehabilitation Clinic / Internal Medicine (1977)
- University of Belgrade School of Medicine Medicinski Fakultet / Radiation Oncology (1977)
- Klinik fur Nukleormedizin der Kliniken der Stadt Wuppertal / Nuclear Medicine (1982)
- University of Belgrade School of Medicine Medicinski Fakultet (1976)
Board Certifications
- American Board of Nuclear Medicine / Nuclear Medicine (1992)
Research & Publications
Research Summary
Dr. Szabo's research focuses primarily on the applications of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in cardiovascular medicine, neurophysiology— central and peripheral molecular recognition sites in particular—and oncology.
Selected PublicationsView all on Pubmed
- Forsell C, Aberg J, Szabó Z. "Preoperative Topical Hypothermia used in Prolonged Severe Lower Limb Ischemia to Avoid Ischemic Damage - The First Clinical Experience." Int J Biomed Sci. 2013 Sep;9(3):181-4.
- Krzemieniecki K, Sevelda P, Erdkamp F, Smakal M, Schwenkglenks M, Puertas J, Trojan A, Szabo Z, Bendall K, Maenpaa J. "Neutropenia management and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor use in patients with solid tumours receiving myelotoxic chemotherapy-findings from clinical practice." Support Care Cancer. 2013 Oct 24. [Epub ahead of print]
- Umeh CC, Szabo Z, Pontone GM, Mari Z. "Dopamine transporter imaging in psychogenic parkinsonism and neurodegenerative parkinsonism with psychogenic overlay: a report of three cases." Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y). 2013 Sep 10;3. doi:pii: tre-03-188-4324-2.
- Gulaldi NC, Xia J, Feng T, Hong K, Mathews WB, Ruben D, Kamel IR, Tsui BM, Szabo Z. "Modeling of the renal kinetics of the AT1 receptor specific PET radioligand [11C]KR31173." Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:835859. doi: 10.1155/2013/835859. Epub 2013 Sep 8.
- Györffy B, Kovács Z, Gulyássy P, Simor A, Völgyi K, Orbán G, Baracskay P, Szabó Z, Janáky T, Dobolyi A, Juhász G, Czurkó A, Kékesi KA. "Brain protein expression changes in WAG/Rij rats, a genetic rat model of absence epilepsy after peripheral lipopolysaccharide treatment." Brain Behav Immun. 2013 Sep 8. doi:pii: S0889-1591(13)00450-9. 10.1016/j.bbi.2013.09.001.
Activities & Honors
- American Society of Nephrology
- European Association of Nuclear Medicine
- Society of Nuclear Medicine
Patient Ratings & Comments
The Patient Rating score is an average of all responses to physician related questions on the national CG-CAHPS Medical Practice patient experience survey through Press Ganey. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score. Comments are also gathered from our CG-CAHPS Medical Practice Survey through Press Ganey and displayed in their entirety. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.
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Wed, Apr 10 2013
LeTourneau University will host the Grammy-nominated Christian group Sanctus Real in concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13, in the S.E. Belcher Jr. Chapel and Performance Center on the LETU campus, 2100 S. Mobberly Ave. in Longview. Tickets are still available through the Belcher Center Box Office at (903) 233-3080 or online at www.BelcherCenter.com.
Sanctus Real has produced five albums that have garnered seven No. 1 radio singles (and six more that landed in the Top 5). Some of their top songs include "Lead Me," "Forgiven," "The Redeemer," and "Promises."
The Dove Award-winning band features Matt Hammitt (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Rohman (lead guitar), Mark Graalman (drums), Dan Gartley (bass) and Pete Prevost (guitar). The band produces music that tackles life's tough questions with an unflinching commitment to honest that has endeared fans.
Sanctus Real began 16 years ago in the basement of the guitarist Rohman's home. The band has never wavered in its mission to make music that honestly reflects the complex journey of faith. The March 9 release of the album "Pieces of a Real Heart" shows the band pushing itself both artistically and thematically and includes a depth that comes naturally with more life experience and maturity. This album shows more growth spiritually, emotionally and even musically and has connected with radio listeners.


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By WSJ Staff
"Two and a Half Men" actor Angus T. Jones called the CBS sitcom "filth" and asked viewers to stop watching it.
Jones, 19, has played Jake Harper in "Two and a Half Men" since 2003. In a lengthy video interview with a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, Jones gave what he called a "testimony," saying " If you watch 'Two and a Half Men,' please stop watching 'Two and a Half Men.' I'm on 'Two and a Half Men' and I don't want to be on it."
CBS declined to comment on Jones's remarks. Jones was unreachable for comment.
Jones described how at age four, his mother introduced him to acting, saying, "It wasn't anything that I was like 'I want to be an actor.' I was four-and-a-half." He discussed how he dealt with his early wealth, and also how he later found his spirituality and religious belief.
Watch the videos.


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And despite the fact that the cosmetics market has little regulation in the U.S., consumers who purchase Lavera products can trust that they are receiving the same protection available in Europe -- products with organic and natural ingredients free of parabens, synthetic preservatives, petroleum products and other compromising ingredients.
Kirkland, Wash. (PRWEB) July 2, 2009
Summer is here, meaning a growing number of consumers will be looking for natural protection from the sun's harmful rays. But this summer, due to changes in regulations in Europe, consumers will have a more difficult time finding natural sunscreen protection since most manufacturers of natural sunscreen have left the market. But thanks to new distribution on target.com, Lavera -- Europe's top green beauty brand -- is offering a full line of natural sunscreen products, without the harmful ingredients that may affect hormones or even lead to cardiovascular disease
The new European regulations for sunscreens now require certain levels of UVA protection that are challenging to achieve with all natural ingredients, and have caused many European manufacturers including Dr. Hauschka, Weleda and Sante Verde to pull products off shelves. But with natural cosmetics sales worldwide approaching $7 billion and sales of natural and organic cosmetics and toiletries growing at 20 percent a year in the U.S., Lavera remains committed to providing a formulation that meets these new European standards.
"Our new formulation that meets the higher UVA protection requirement will be available for the 2010 sunscreen season. Our sunscreen products will remain 100 percent natural, with no synthetic ingredients. We will continue our commitment to provide consumers with the highest quality products -- minus the harmful ingredients," says Ulrike Jacob, CEO of Lavera.
With a history of more than two decades of innovation in the natural beauty industry, Lavera has developed the technology that allows the company to create natural sunscreen products that adhere to strict guidelines. "Knowing that consumers can trust our brand to both protect them from the sun's harmful rays, but also from harmful ingredients is priceless to us," adds Jacob. "And despite the fact that the cosmetics market has little regulation in the U.S., consumers who purchase Lavera products can trust that they are receiving the same protection available in Europe -- products with organic and natural ingredients free of parabens, synthetic preservatives, petroleum products and other compromising ingredients."
Just in time for summer, the following products are available at target.com and lavera.com:
- Baby & Children Sun Screen SPF 30, 4.1 oz., $24.99 - All-round sunscreen lotion especially designed for the soft skin of children and infants. Pediatrician recommended. Water-proof. UV A, B and C protection.
- Anti-Aging Sun Screen SPF 20, 1.5 oz., $22.99 - Daily, light moisturizer offering instant protection for the face, transparent and perfect under makeup! Ideal for all skin types. Witch hazel essences and liquorice extract have an anti-irritating effect. Hyaluronic acid and aloe vera gel provide deeply hydrating effects. A high amount of Vitamin E and C, beta carotene and unsaturated fatty acids provide additional protection.
- Self Tanner for Body, 2.1 oz., $24.99 - Get a safe, natural looking tan without sun exposure! Organic soy extracts provide the active ingredient and are combined with extracts of sugar to deliver a smooth, streak-free application and a natural, even result. Organic jojoba oil, calendula, aloe vera and rose water offer moisturizing benefits.
- Sun Spray SPF 30 Neutral, 6.6 oz , $31.00 (available only at lavera.com)- All-round sun protection for face and body, even for highly sensitive and tender baby skins. Light, fluid formula allows easy application and provides an effective, almost invisible barrier against UVA, B and C rays. Soothing, organic extracts of jojoba and calendula lend gentle moisturizing care. Fresh, floral scent.
Lavera was ranked the number one top-rated natural cosmetic company in Europe among 33 competitive brands in last year's rigorous and independent Oeko-Test consumer magazine ratings. Lavera has also been the leader in providing natural sunscreens in in the European market, with over 50 percent share in 2008. The first manufacturer worldwide to develop a 100 percent all natural sunscreen and the first all natural sun spray, Lavera has won innovation awards for their SPF 15 and 25 sun sprays.
About Lavera
Since its founding in 1987, the Lavera brand has grown to include more than 300 natural and organic skin care products. Lavera health and beauty products are currently sold in more than 24,000 locations in 25 different countries. Lavera is the market leader in Europe for natural skin care with a 27% of the market share in general health and beauty products and a 50 percent market share in sunscreen products. Lavera was recently awarded the title of "Greenest Beauty Brand" by the prestigious OEKO-Test magazine in Germany, beating out 32 other companies. The North American Division was formed in the late 1990s and is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. For more information on Lavera, please visit http://www.lavera.com .
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In January, 243,000 new private-sector jobs were created, bringing the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent. While these numbers aren't exactly cause to pop the champagne corks just yet, they do offer evidence that the worst of the recession may be behind us, and better times may lie ahead.
People returning to the workforce are unlikely to see the same job market that they knew before the recession. Some industries were hit harder than others, and while some jobs will make a return engagement in the want ads, some of the lost jobs may never come back.
It's impossible to say what a fully recovered U.S. economy will look like, or how long it will take to get there. However, some sectors have begun to hire again. Click ahead to see which industries are showing signs of bouncing back.
By Daniel Bukszpan
Posted 06 February 2012


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Model for Efficient Service Delivery in Public Service
This paper aims to design a modified model for efficient and effective service delivery by governments' ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). There are several existing models on service delivery, but it is noted that those models emphasized more on the estimates voted for social/welfare services and the outcomes of services provided by MDAs. Other variables such as managerial accountability and leadership quality are less emphasized. This paper therefore designs a modified model that integrates funding/management of resources, managerial accountability and leadership quality cum structure in order to ensure adequate, efficient and effective service delivery by MDAs of various governments. There seems to be a strong relationship between these variables in respect of service delivery. Lastly, the paper is conceptual in nature, which gives room for critique by practioners, researchers, scholars and public administrators in lieu of service delivery.
Full Text:PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v2i3.2157
Journal of Public Administration and Governance ISSN 2161-7104
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Hangover Sports Roundup
Lobos make loud statement against UNLV, Linsanity continues
Fans of Lobo basketball have experienced the full gambit of emotions this season; from the overconfidence of destroying inferior non-conference opponents to feeling the despair and fear from two early losses to the UNLV Rebels and San Diego State Aztecs. The end result seemed very much in question but now that New Mexico has avenged both defeats convincingly, the Lobos should be in good shape to try on their dancing shoes come March. This past Wednesday, New Mexico put themselves in position to take firm control of the Mountain West Conference by upsetting No. 15 San Diego 77-67. With the victory, UNM had a chance to prove through a nationally televised game why they belong in the NCAA tournament. UNM only had a single-point lead at half time, but then turned to Lobo senior Drew Gordon to dominate and bully the Rebels in the paint. Along with Gordon's 27 points and 20 rebounds, a suffocating defense allowed the Lobos to outplay and outclass UNLV to a 65-45 victory. For doubters and nonbelievers, perhaps these two wins over nationally ranked opponents will change their minds. While it was a great week for New Mexico, the job is not over as they must finish the season out strong to win the conference. If Gordon's production remains at this level, look for the Lobos to be a massive favorite in the conference tournament.


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Vitesse pile pressure on to PSV
Vitesse Arnhem moved within two points of Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven thanks to a 2-1 victory at the Philips Stadion.
All looked to be going to plan for the hosts when Timothy Derijck put them ahead after five minutes, but Jonathan Reis equalised 10 minutes later and then set up the winner for Wilfried Bony 16 minutes from time.
The result ensured Vitesse - whose last away game was a 2-0 win at Ajax - finished the weekend in third spot, level on points with second-placed FC Twente.
Twente lost ground in the title race as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw against PEC Zwolle in Enschede.
Dusan Tadic put Steve McClaren's side ahead from the penalty spot three minutes into the second half, only for Denni Avdic to get PEC back on level terms seven minutes later.
Joey van der Berg then looked to have won it for the visitors when he struck two minutes from the end, but there was still time for Luc Castaignos to salvage a point for Twente.
Champions Ajax enjoyed a 2-1 away win at Roda JC, but had to come from behind in order to return to winning ways following their humbling 4-1 Champions League loss against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
Guus Hupperts had given the third-bottom hosts the lead in the 14th minute but two goals in the final 10 minutes - from Christian Eriksen and substitute Lasse Schone - turned the game on its head for Frank de Boer's side.
Feyenoord remained level on points with Ajax after their 2-0 success at AZ Alkmaar, secured courtesy of second-half strikes from 17-year-old midfielder Tonny Vilhena and Ruben Schaken. AZ had Dirk Marcellis sent off between the goals for a late challenge on Jean-Paul Boetius.
Information from the Press Association was used in this report
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Mini Cupcake: Red Velvet with Chocolate Chip Mousse
Mini cupcakes need to be ordered atleast one day in advance.
Our items are made on equipment used in producing items containing tree nuts, peanuts, soy, eggs, and milk.
We have the best intentions in making gluten-free items. However, we are not a gluten-free environment, so cross-contamination with ingredients containing gluten is a possibility.


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PRINCETON — Perry Memorial Hospital is looking for volunteers interested in the Gold Coat Volunteer program. Men, women and students, age 14 or older, can be a part of this service at PMH.
Gold Coats provide courier services throughout the hospital. They deliver supplies and mail, copy and collate materials, assist with large mailings, act as greeters and provide directions and information to visitors entering the hospital.
Those interested in joining this group should contact Alecia Weber, customer service/Gold Coat coordinator, at 815-876-2254.


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Job Vacancy Map
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Featured JobsClinical Project Leader - Reading, Berkshire Clinical Research Jobs, CRM (Clinical Research Management) Jobs CTL / Clinical Project Leader – Reading, UK Covance is currently recruiting for a Clinical Project Leader in the South East UK to co-ordinate the...Clinical Project Manager CRM (Clinical Research Management) Jobs Clinical Project Manager – United Kingdom, Permanent, Home Based! Clintec is actively recruiting for a Clinical Project Manager to join our expand...Global Medical Affairs Lead – Breast Cancer / Ovarian Cancer Physicians Jobs We have a fantastic opportunity available as the Global Medical Affairs lead at a Major Pharmaceutical Company. This is a great chance for an experien...Medical Affairs Manager – Homeopathic Medicine – Germany Physicians Jobs We have an exciting opportunity available as a Medical Affairs Manager at a Growing Specialist Pharmaceutical company based in Germany. This is a fant...Project Manager/ Senior Project Manager, Medical Devices – UK/ EU CRM (Clinical Research Management) Jobs Job Background Chiltern is the leading, global mid-sized contract research organization. We listen to client needs to deliver customized clinical d...Senior Clinical Research Associate (Senior CRA) - Oncology Clinical Research Jobs Chiltern, a Covance company, is looking to recruit experienced UK based monitors to work in the role of Senior Clinical Research Associate. This role...Clinical Trial Coordinator Clinical Research Jobs Clinical Trial Coordinator - Paris, France - Office Based, Permanent Contract Clintec is actively recruiting for clinical professionals to join our...
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Download Samsung SM-J320H official USB drivers for your Android smartphone. You will find Samsung SM-J320H USB drivers on this page, just scroll down.
However, you are provided with a step by step manual guide to download and install Samsung SM-J320H USB drivers on your computer (Links are provided at the end of the article). We have provided almost all Samsung handset drivers at droidusb.com.Recommended Samsung device tutorials (You should read)
Samsung SM-J320H USB Debugging Guide
Samsung SM-J320H Secret Codes
Samsung SM-J320H ADB USB driver for Establishing USB Connection
- Driver name: ADB Driver
- File size: 8.28 MB
- Driver link: Click to Download
Samsung SM-J320H Samsung USB driver for Flashing firmware
- Driver name: Samsung Driver
- File size: 9.2 MB
- Driver link: Click to Download
We have shared 2 Samsung SM-J320H USB drivers with you on this page.
How to install ADB USB Driver ManuallyVideo Tutorial Guide on ADB Installation:
Supported Operating Systems 32-bit (x86) / 64-bit (x64)
- Linux and variants
- Windows
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8 and 8.1
- Windows 10


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With ambitious plans to transform its economy as part of the crown prince's Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is hoping to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country as it embarks on a post-oil era and ambitious mega projects like the futuristic city of NEOM. Source: CNBC
GEFIRA provides in-depth and comprehensive analysis of and valuable insight into current events that investors, financial planners and politicians need to know to anticipate the world of tomorrow; it is intended for professional and non-professional readers.
Yearly subscription: 10 issues for €225/$250
Renewal: €160/$175
The Gefira bulletin is available in ENGLISH, GERMAN and SPANISH.
The United States said it would oppose on Friday for the first time an annual resolution at the United Nations calling on Israel to rescind its authority in the occupied Golan Heights, drawing praise from Israeli officials. Source: Reuters
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has launched a new hydroelectric station that had been vehemently opposed for years by the late leader of neighboring Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. Source: Radio Free Europe
At least three tankers loaded with liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russian LNG facility Yamal have arrived in the United States recently, according to Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Source: Oil Price


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"Sure you weren't just looking for trouble?" Bane raised a golden brow. "Maybe." He said quietly. Now that time Seth was sure he saw a smile."Or I might have just been looking for you..." He said even more quietly but he knew Bane could hear. "Then you were looking for trouble."Seth/Bane SLASH Boy love boyxboy m/m not sure how much more clear I can make it
Its a story of love and immense loss.
1. Chapter 1
Rating 5/5 Word Count 3180 Review this Chapter
Welcome dear adventures. Please stay seated until the plane has come to a full stop. If you feel under your chairs you will find a complimentary gift basket… What??? There's no gift baskets!?
Me: GUYS!!!
Emmett: *Points finger at Bella*
Me: Bella!
Bella: Why would I do it?
Me: Well you're the only one who eats!
Bella: Not any more I'm vamptastic
Me: Right…
Jacob: Sorry… I got hungry…
Me: So you ate the tired traveler's gift baskets?!
Jacob: Sorry?
Me: I'll sick Bane on you for this mistake!
Jacob: Who?
Me: You'll see… YOU'LL ALL SEE!!!
Jacob: She's off her rocker…
Emmett: Was she ever on it?
Me: OKAY OKAY! Moving on. Someone do the disclaimer.
Jacob: She doesn't own any of us except Bane… apparently…
Me: I DO!
Jacob: Okay okay she owns Bane…
Me: Good. Now I'll do the warning. If you don't like Slash or Boy love then you might want to hit the magical little purple button and go back. Two If you don't like the though of Seth being in love with my lovely character Bane then I again point to the magical button. Another thing, I'm not sure how mature this will get so until further notice this will remain in the T section of the archive. Now that that's finished, I hope u enjoy the first chapter of Wolfbane and join us for the next.
–Demon's Lolita =]
My name is Ryan, you may mistake me for a man, but I can assure you I am not. I am eighty two years old as of a month and a half ago. I am a werewolf, or at least I was. I have long lost the will to change shape. One week ago, I was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. My reaction was probably nothing like that of a normal patients. I was happy, ecstatic at that. My memory would be gone, wiped clean like a slate. I thought perhaps that I'd be able to make it through a night with out waking up in the midst of it, soaking wet. Then I came to a horrible realization. Yes, I would no longer remember but neither would any one else. The thought seemed horrifying.
The story itself is beautiful, even though I could not see it at the time. The story itself is not mine, no. I was of course involved or would not have the need to write this. Werewolves can here the thoughts of the others in their pack. Being a werewolf I had to experience the story as it was built. The memories are in my head as deeply as if they were my own. At the time as each 'chapter' entered my head I felt nothing but contempt and disgust but now I see splendor. I may not be a college graduate, or a literary professor, but I am going to write down what happened word for word, with no exaggerations or add-ons. I am hoping by doing this, some how the two people I hurt the most will one day find it in their hearts to forgive me. While you are reading this I am hoping you will not judge me too harshly, for at the time I did not understand the consequences of my actions.
I'm longing, hoping, wishing, pleading, that this will be my emancipation.
Chapter 1:
The story begins on an early summer's day. The summers of forks Washington are not like normal summers, they are just as rainy and depressing as those that came before. Seth Clearwater was sat down by the water of the La push Indian reservation. It was the place he'd called home since birth. He had a sister named Leah who was known for her sharp temper and her disregard for any one else's feelings. She had taken care of Seth since the death of their father Harry Clearwater had his massive heart attack. Seth on the other hand was known for his bright shining personality he was often Ryan's only ray of sunshine in the dark depressive pit that was Forks. But at that particular moment Seth was in a fowl mood himself. He was bored, and it took a lot to bore Seth Clearwater.
Nothing interesting had happened in over a month. And that interesting thing just so happened to have been a party for young Rennesme Cullen, the daughter of Bella and Edward Cullen. The Cullen's were the vampires that had forged some kind of an alliance with the pack through the pedophile Jacob Black. Yes Jacob was in love with young Renessme who was only nine years old. The other thing adding to Seth's boredom was the fact that every one was always so busy.
Two years earlier the most interesting thing to happen in forks beside the Voltoris attack happened. The Cullen's had been vacationing in Florida to visit Renée, in a rainy week in March when the pack that had long lived their came across them and demanded they leave immediately. They had been shocked to find that there were other shifters alive. The pack which Ryan just so happened to have been a part of, was so shocked that they demanded to be taken to them. They traveled cross country with a pack of vegetarian vampires.
The Floridian pack found that the basics of their two packs were highly similar but there was one key difference, their heritage and the fact that the Floridian Pack had a much larger percent of females. While the Forks pack were all Native American, the entirety of the Floridian pack was created from a small group of island dwellers that had been thought to have been killed off. They all had naturally colored silver or gold hair, bright sea green blue eyes, and milky white skin that never gained color. Lucky for them they didn't sparkle in the sun.
On meeting two members of each pack found their imprints. Leah Seth's previously mentioned sister found Kider. Emily, one of the female members of the Floridian pack found Paul. That had not gone over well at first of course, but Emily showed him who was boss. Due to this fact Kider, leader of the Floridian pack and Emily's older brother, ordered that the Floridian's stayed permanently. It did not phase many of them any way seeing as most of their friends were pack members and most of their family's were willing to move where ever the pack desired.
Seth let out a heavy sigh and through another large rock into the salty waters. Ryan, his closest friend since losing Jacob, was on a mission with five of the other pack members. That mission was to pick out Leah a wedding dress, and that was no easy mission. Kider on the other hand was out at a stag party that Seth had not been invited too. Although he was only a year younger then Kider's closest friend Maxwell it seemed that was like seven years in Kider time, it irked Seth and Ryan to no end. Suddenly Seth's phone started to vibrate. He reached into his pocket and flipped it open to find it was Sam.
"Hey Sam house the party." He tried his best not to sound bitter.
"Never mind that, you need to get to the Cullens stat!" Sam yelled briskly.
"Wasn't it you who said, those blood sucking cold skinned life-."
"Yes yes I said all that but right now we have a crisis on the rising!" Sam grolwed.
"What's the crisis." Seth's human ears seemed to perk with the news. He was ready and raring for some adventure.
"There's a coven of leech's in the area. Carlisle said that the little inky one said they were on their way towards town." Seth knew Sam knew Alice's name but didn't like the thought of being on a first name basis with vampires. But of more urgent importance.
"Shit Same why didn't you tell me that sooner." Seth shot to his feet.
"I've been trying." Sam sighed. Seth could hear Kider in the back round saying something about him being an irresponsible half brain.
"I'm on it." Seth growled.
"Don't do ANYTHING until we get there." Sam warned urgently.
"Alright, I'm on it." Seth nodded running up the hill to Emily's house.
"Your on nothing! Your going to go to the Cullens house, get Jacob to stop playing nurse maid, and then your going to talk to the Cullens about what they know. That's it!" Sam hissed.
"Ten bucks says he messes something up." He could hear Embry and Quil making bets.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence guys." Seth muttered under his breath before grabbing his shorts of the bench out side.
"Where you headed so huffy Seth?" Emily asked leaning out the window.
"The Cullen's theirs a coven of blood suckers on the loose."
"So weird to say a coven of blood suckers then im going over for vampire cuisine." Emily rolled her eyes. Seth smiled before blushing.
"Yeah sweetie?"
"Can you turn around I kinda need to take off my pants now."
"Sure sorry babe." She went to turn before her eyes went wide. "A coven?"
"We don't know how big yet. Don't worry." He went forward and kissed her on her cheek.
"Alright but have a cookie before you go, I don't won't you going out on an empty stomach." She said pulling out one mouth watering chocolate chip cookie.
"One more?" he grinned.
"Here's five." She smiled dumping them in his palm.
"Thank's Em." He turned tail, ran into the trees, before stripping, then shifting. It felt good for him to get the chance to use his wasting muscles. With the new members it meant even less patrolling so Seth had absolutely nothing to do. The boys and him had even resorted to playing fetch... How sad... He darted through the trees his over sized rump hit into a weak sapling and it toppled over. His lips pulled up int a grimace. That's what hours of sitting around doing nothing had done to him.
He knew he was officially over the border he could smell it oh so very clearly. He pointed his nose up ward, checking for impending danger. He could smell the oh too sweet acrid scent of vampires. He could easily distinguish them, it was weak but he could smell the separate scents. He turned his head the east and inhaled deeply. He was hit with a wave of an odor so powerful it almost knocked him over. The smell of blood sucker was strong in the air. They were close. He heard a sharp scream and his ears went flat against his head. He howled hoping to scare of the leeches attacking their innocent victim. He turned to barrel through the trees but stopped, Sam's words running through his head.
"You're on nothing! Your going to go to the Cullens house, get Jacob to stop playing nurse maid, and then your going to talk to the Cullens about what they know. That's it!"
By the time he got the Cullens it would be too late! He growled loudly pacing back and forth as he fought with Sam's orders.
I have to save them! I have to save them! I have-
He sprinted off towards the cry and the smell pounding in his nostrils. His feet pounded the ground feircly as he tried to beat fate and kick its carcass into the dust. He howled once more and let his nails dig into the dirt giving him extra traction.
"Help!" The cry rose again.
Hold on! He thought desperately.
Seth stop! Another voice had joined him in his head.
I can do it Sam! He yelled back.
Turn around! We'll be there soon! Sam demanded.
They've got a girl Sam I'm not going to let her die just cause you came to slow! He pleaded for him to understand.
Seth don't be stupid. Kider said phasing in. He pictured the huge pure white wolf and hatred hit him like a brick.
Seth you listen to me! Turn around right now! Leah's voice joined as scared as she did angry.
SETH! Ryan's voice phased in terrified.
I didn't think he'd do something this stupid! Embry yelled.
Me neither! Quil replied.
I can do it. Seth growled pushing his muscles harder until he broke through the clearing it seemed as though all the voice took in one breath to wait and see what was going to happen. The air was murky and made Seth want to lick his lips but he dared not even breath. He heard a snicker come from beside a jagged moss ridden stone. A deathly beautiful black haired girl looked at him with black eyes. She was starved. Her torn black tank top clung to her lithe cat like body.
"Help! Help! Is that all it takes with you dumb mutts?" She smiled revealing threatening white daggers.
"Oh yes I need your help, I need your help to fill my belly." Another silky voice joined the raven haired demon. "I don't often enjoy canine cuisine but baggers can't be choosers." A mud slicked red haired boy dropped from a large oak in a crouch. He opened his fiery lashes to show eyes as black as his soul. How long had it been since these creatures had eaten? Seth though dropping into a defensive crouch baring his teeth.
"But he'll be more filling then any scrawny human." Another voice chimed. A tiny silver haired boy climbed atop a huge boulder. Three, no four pairs of colorless eyes watched him counting the newly added red haired female sitting beside her twin.
"I say we just leave him be, he obviously has a pack." The silver haired boy whispered.
"And that's why Sebastian, you'll never get any where." Yet another gold encrusted voice sent shivers up Seth's spine to his hackles.
Seth couldn't help but gape, he was used to the beauty of his enemies but the beauty that this particular one captivated him and terrified him. Long messy gold blonde hair fell into his bottomless onyx eyes encased in bullion lashes. His aristocratic features made his slight English accent make more sense. His black button up was strange against the incandescent paleness of his skin. He had left the top two buttons undone and the tight expense of white skin mystified him. He was entranced all the way down to hi s finger tips which were like pieces of art work. They looked like the missing pieces to the beautiful sculptures in the rare museums Seth had visited. His stature was small, small to most human boys but strangely tiny for a vampire. The way he carried himself was what Seth thought terrified him the most. It was as if any second he would be ready to snap your neck and leave you bleeding just for the hell of it.
"So what would you do with him, amato uno?" The snow white look a like cooed sideling up beside him. She was a whole head taller then him and leaned down on his shoulder. "I say we sate our thirst and leave him as a present for his pack." She licked her poison red lips.
"Uno di grande bellezza." He stroked her raven locks with just the pads of his finger tips. Seth watched every one of his motions with great intensity. "This is where you fail. You just see what you want, you get it, you don't think of what happens afterward. Obviously his pack will track us, find us, and destroy us." He stroked her like a misbehaving puppy. She jerked away from him glaring down at him.
"Then what do you suggest?" She snapped.
"We bargain." He said simply for the first time he turned his eyes on Seth. "We'll keep him as a pet." The other five looked confused. "We'll keep him until his little pack agrees to give us hunting right's. Once we've been full fed we'll go find the other coven we've scented, join forces, and take over this adorable little plot of land." He smiled at Seth in a taunting matter. He walked forward toward Seth. Seth growled pulling his teeth back over his lips.
"Shoosh." The beautiful blonde boy whispered to him. He pressed his white palm flat against the space between Seth's ears. Seth felt the small trill of electricity surge through his skin. He snarled and shot his head up grabbing the vampire's entire arm in between his massive jaws. The vampire head fell back and he let out a small growl. Seth held tight to the white appendage. The other four vampire's began to close in on him.
"Release me if you want to live." The fearsome blonde growled under his breath.
You won't kill me you want to use me as collateral. Seth thought glaring up into the midnight black eyes tensed in pain. The blonde seemed to read what was in his eyes.
"Release me." The blonde said in a softer voice. Seth thought quickly.
Don't let go Seth were almost there. Sam instructed in his head.
"Let go." The boy said once more.
"Let go you mangy mutt." The black haired girl came over to his side and threw a kick that must have shatter three ribs on contact. Seth let out a howl of pain, letting go of the arm in his mouth he opened his eyes just in time to see the little blonde vampire pick up the raven haired one by the throat.
"Did I tell you to move Via?" He snarled into her face.
"You're not the boss of me Bane." She growled, her porcelain face tipped to the cloud filled skies.
"I am until one of you apposes me. Will that be you Via?" He taunted pressing his fingers to her throat more tightly. Her eyes seemed to look around at her counterparts. They all looked too scared to go near the blonde whose teeth were tightly pressed together.
"No." She said softly and was slowly lowered to the floor.
"Good." He nodded shortly, turning back towards Seth who was too shell shocked to even think. His side was healing itself but it still hurt like the fires of hell. "Can you stand?" He asked kneeling down. "Nod if so." Seth did nothing. "Alright. Take towards town. When he can walk I'll take him to the abandoned house in Markwood forest. Make the bargain. A couple lives in exchange for his. Should be simple enough."
"We're on it boss." The gangly red head said taking off in a bur. The sister nodded before running with him. Via glared once before grabbing Sebastian off the tall rock and pushing him in the direction the others had gone. Seth nervously looked up at his guard.
"Killing you now would be stupid." He said before sitting down on a rock. "You have nothing to worry about. For now at least." He shrugged and Seth nervously lapped at his side hoping to sooth the pain. He laid his head down on the earth and closed his eyes. Minutes past and the tiny blonde vampire began to pace.
Seths only thought was, what have I gotten myself into.
I'll start by asking for three reviews. That sounds about fair right? Maybe I'll up the ante next chapter. I want reactions, thoughts on characters, thoughts on where the plot is heading, and questions, all will be answered. I hope to see you again on our next adventure - Demons Lolita =]
- Author
- DemonsLolita
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- Published
- 13 May 09
- Updated
- 21 Sep 09
- Status
- In Progress


text:
ORLANDO -- Commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers originated real estate loans totaling $73.8 billion during 2001, a 19% increase over the $62 billion reported for 2000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA). The results were unveiled at a press conference Feb. 4 during the MBA's Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel.
Much of the jump was due to lending for multifamily properties, which recorded a 33% increase for the year.
Life companies, CMBS conduits and a combination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provided funding for the loans in almost equal shares. Each accounted for about one quarter of the total. Banks, credit companies and pension funds accounted for most of the rest. The Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac share represents a large increase over the previous year when the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) accounted for 19% of total funding.
Jeanette Rice, who is based in Dallas as principal of research for Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, described 2001 as a phenomenal year for originations and one that will be difficult to repeat. Rice predicts that mortgage production will decline by about 15% to 20% in 2002 but she says 2003 will be bullish.
For the fourth quarter of 2001, MBA member firms reported originating $22.5 billion in loans, up from the previous quarter total of $18.7 billion, but down slightly from the fourth-quarter 2000 total of $22.8 billion.
The fourth quarter traditionally has the highest level of originations for the year. In 2000, originations jumped from $14.3 billion to $22.8 billion between the third and fourth quarters. The smaller change between the third and fourth quarters of 2001 is most likely due to tighter credit standards associated with the recent downturn in the economy, increased office vacancies and problems in the hospitality industry.
The biggest annual increase was for multifamily lending, which registered a 33% increase in 2001. Multifamily loans accounted for 48% of all originations in 2001 compared with 43% in 2000.
The biggest decline was for health care properties, which dropped almost 50% or about $1 billion.
Lending for office building properties dropped by almost $400 million, and as a percent of total originations fell from 28% in 2000 to 23% in 2001. In contrast, lending for retail properties was $1.2 billion higher in 2001 than in 2000.
Consistent with the big increase in multifamily lending was the increase in loans funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Loans originated for Fannie Mae increased $4.5 billion in 2001, a 55% increase over 2000. Freddie Mac-funded loans increased $2.9 billion over the previous year, an increase of 86%.
The shares of loans originated for life companies and CMBS conduits remained about the same in 2001 vs. 2000. The life company share dropped slightly from 25% to 24%, while the CMBS conduit share increased from 24% to 25%.
-- Matthew Valley