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|Anna Ichino
Though we all commonly talk of superstitious and religious beliefs, I see reasons to doubt that, in many cases, they really are beliefs; and even to doubt that, in spite of appearances, we really take them to be beliefs.
My doubts may look more plausible for superstitions: perhaps you already agree with me that few normally educated adults in our society really believe that walking under ladders brings bad luck. Religious ideas, however, seem to be different – far more serious things: why to deny that people really believe them?
Before arguing for that, let's consider some reasons why religious attitudes look so much as real beliefs – or anyway closer to real belief status than superstitions.
1) Sensitivity to evidence. Even if admittedly not perfectly responsive to evidence, religious beliefs aren't indifferent to evidence as superstitions seem to be. Religious people appeal to some evidence to justify their 'beliefs': notably, testimony from sacred texts and (quasi-)perceptual evidence from inner spiritual experiences.
2) Coherent integration. Differently from superstitions, religious 'beliefs' seem to be quite well-integrated with subjects' other ordinary beliefs, at least insofar as they attempt to make sense of such other beliefs, framing them in a globally coherent picture of the world.
3) Sincere avowals. People avow religious beliefs much more frequently and with more conviction than they avow superstitions (and, indeed, any other ordinary beliefs).
Here, though, are some of my reasons not to do that – which overturn reasons (1)-(3) just discussed.
1*) Religious beliefs aren't really sensitive to evidence as it might seem. For an attitude to be sensitive to (perceptual or inferential) evidence, the subject should display at least some degree of openness to revise or abandon it – even if revisions' criteria are far from perfectly rational. Religious attitudes lack even this minimal degree of sensitivity. They are related to evidence just in the sense that people can appeal to (a kind of) evidence to justify them. But appealing to evidence is different from being sensitive to it: there's virtually no piece of evidence which could persuade religious people to change/abandon their 'beliefs', which vice versa are subject to their will in important respects. Indeed, faith is often described as 'a matter of choice', or a 'bet': something springing primarily from inner motivation.
2*) Religious and ordinary beliefs are not really holistically coherent. There are many inconsistencies between them; and, most importantly, religious people openly recognize such inconsistencies, without thereby feeling compelled to drop any of the ideas which generate them. In most cases, religious and natural reasoning simply don't interact. This happens since the first moment when religious 'beliefs' are acquired. Children's developing knowledge about natural causal relations (e.g. mental-physical relations) is not affected by their simultaneous acquirement of religious ideas about supernatural relations. (e.g. about prayer) (Wolley 2000). And newly acquired supernatural views about afterlife, though inconsistent with children's initial 'natural' ideas about death, do not displace, nor influence, them, but coexist alongside them – and so remain in adulthood (Astuti & Harris 2008; Harris 2012).
Given the importance of sensitivity to evidence and inferential integration in defining beliefs, I take (1*) and (2*) to cast serious doubts on the doxastic status of religious attitudes.
3*) Even if we normally ascribe/self-ascribe religious beliefs, linguistic uses of "belief" in religious and ordinary contexts are different; revealing substantial differences in the underlying mental attitudes. So for example in ordinary contexts "I believe" weakens our assertions, while in religious contexts it has an opposite, intensifying role. Compare: "I believe they never met before" vs. "I believe in God!". In the first case, "I believe" expresses an attitude which is open to corrections ("as far as I know, they never met... But I might be wrong!"); in the latter, it expresses a strong conviction, based on self-sufficient inner trust which doesn't need further confirmation ("I think so... And that's all!").
Heiphetz et al. (2013) show that we treat religious avowals differently from factual assertions, and more similarly to how they treat expressions of preferences. This is true also of religious people; which is why I don't take their avowals of beliefs to be – as some argued (Rey 2009) – self-deceptive.
An obvious question, at this point, is: if not in terms of belief, how are religious attitudes better characterized? In my view, in terms of imaginings; but this may be the subject for another post.


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I found this poem via Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry column. I love the idea of "a monument to silence." This is one of those poems that makes me want to grab my pen and journal and start writing.
The Quarrel
by Linda Pastan
If there were a monument
to silence, it would not be
the tree whose leaves
murmur continuously
among themselves;
nor would it be the pond
whose seeming stillness
is shattered
by the quicksilver
surfacing of fish.
If there were a monument
to silence, it would be you
standing so upright, so unforgiving,
your mute back deflecting
every word I say.
Copyright 2007 by Linda Pastan

subset: commoncrawl


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NASA's first cargo resupply mission of 2017 is poised to lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida loaded with almost 5,500 pounds of science experiments, research equipment and supplies bound for the International Space Station and its resident astronauts.
The gear is packed into a SpaceX Dragon capsule that will fly into orbit aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket. It will take two days for the Dragon to catch up to the space station and move within reach of the station's 57-foot-long robotic arm.
Astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will use the arm to capture Dragon and maneuver it to its berthing port on the station. The uncrewed Dragon is pressurized so astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory can unpack the cargo and later fill it up with completed experiments and used equipment for return to Earth.
This cargo mission by SpaceX also will set a milestone as the first launch from Launch Complex 39A since the space shuttle fleet retired in 2011. It will mark a turning point for Kennedy's transition to a multi-user spaceport geared to support public and private missions, as well as those conducted in partnership with NASA.
Some of humanity's greatest adventures in orbit began at Launch Complex 39A. Astronauts lifted off from this pad six times between 1969 and 1972 to walk upon lunar soil. Flying inside Apollo spacecraft atop massive Saturn V rockets, the astronauts left Florida and the Earth behind for two weeks, while they ventured to the moon.
In 1981, it began hosting the world's first reusable spacecraft, NASA's space shuttles, on missions that would make working in space more accessible, while still achieving breathtaking science and accomplishing engineering feats that would have been out of reach before.
Some of the first pieces of the International Space Station began their operational lives with fiery liftoffs from the site including NASA's first station construction mission, STS-88 in 1998.
Although the majority of the supplies and experiments will be used inside the station, one of the major payloads of SpaceX's CRS-10 mission will be attached to the outside of the station to survey aspects of Earth's atmosphere. The SAGE III project, short for Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, is the latest version of an experiment that began in 1979 to carefully monitor and precisely measure ozone, aerosols, nitrogen dioxide and water vapor in the stratosphere and troposphere high above Earth. For details about the SAGE III mission, go to http://go.nasa.gov/2kKKO8Y
SpaceX's CRS-10 mission will also carry the Raven experiment, an advanced instrument designed to test sensors and avionics that are being developed so spacecraft can autonomously guide themselves through space to rendezvous and dock with other spacecraft. Raven's two-year mission on the station will see it compare trajectories and calculations with the actual flight paths of the many spacecraft that fly to the station.
The Dragon also carries an experiment coordinated by CASIS that will crystalize a human monoclonal antibody that has been developed by Merck Research Labs to treat immunological diseases. Crystalizing experiments on Earth have not produced high quality samples for study. It is hoped that larger crystals formed in the microgravity of space – where they won't collapse under their own weight as they grow – will show how to make the medicines usable in injected form instead of intravenously.
The SpaceX mission is expected to last about a month with the Dragon capsule being detached from the station by the robotic arm. The Dragon will fly the return flight path on its own as SpaceX and NASA mission controllers watch over its progress. Flying into the atmosphere protected by a heat shield, the Dragon will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be recovered and its payloads dispatched to researchers.


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Mr. Chang Qing: Chairman of the Supervisory Committee
Born in 1963, with university education and a Bachelor's degree. He has served as Deputy Director of the Communications Bureau of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee cum Deputy Director of the Port Administration Bureau of Changzhou City, Deputy Director of the Construction Bureau of Changzhou City, Director of the Communications Bureau of Changzhou City and Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee cum Director of the Port Administration Bureau of Changzhou City. He was Secretary-general of the Communist Party Committee of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. He is now serving as Deputy General Manager of Jiangsu Communications Holdings Company Limited and Deputy Secretary of the Company's Communist Party Committee. Mr. Chang has long been engaged in management work and has extensive experience in economic and communications management. He has been a supervisor of the Company since 18 March 2011.
Mr. Sun Hong Ning: Supervisor
Born in 1961, with an EMBA from China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. Mr. Sun had been Deputy Division Head at Jiangsu State Secrecy Bureau since 1994. He was Secretary of General Office at the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee in 1995, Secretary of General Office of the government of the Jiangsu Province in 2001; and Director and Deputy General Manager of Communications Holdings in 2003. Mr. Sun is also Vice Chairman of Suzhou Sujiahang Expressway Co., Ltd., Director of Huatai Securities Co. Ltd. and Director of Jinling Hotel Corporation. He has substantial experience in business and management. He has been a supervisor of the Company since 20 October 2009.
Mr. Wang Wen Jie: Supervisor
Bborn in 1984, graduated from the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand and obtained a bachelor's degree in finance and accounting. Mr. Wang currently serves as project manager of the Enterprise Management Department at the China Merchants Huajian Highway Investment Co., Ltd., and concurrently serves as a supervisor of Jiangsu Guangjing Xicheng Expressway Company Limited. He had carried out accounting works at the accounting firms in New Zealand and served as a supervisor of Anhui Expressway Company Limited.
Ms. Wang Ya Ping,: Supervisor
Born in 1963, and with a bachelor's degree. She served the People's Liberation Army Air Force from September 1979 to October 2000. In late 2000, when she was a cadre at regiment level, she retired from the army and joined the Company. She has served as the officer, supervisor and deputy manager of the Labor Union Department, president of the labor union, and chief officer of the female staff committee of the labor union of the Company. She is currently the chief officer of the Public Relationship Department of the Communist Party and the vice-president of the labor union of the Company. Madam Wang has extensive experience in the industry, solid knowledge in and practical management on the works in relation to the labor union and the Communist Party.
Ms. Shao Li: Supervisor from Staff Representative
Born in 1978, with post-graduate diploma, Economist. Ms. Shao started working in the Nanjing Branch of Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. in 2003. Since 2004, Ms. Shao has been successively a Section Head and Assistant to Manager of the Human Resources Department of the Company, and is currently Manager of the Human Resources Department of the Company. Ms. Shao has been engaged in the field of human resource management and possesses extensive experience in human resource management. She has been a supervisor of the Company since 24 March 2008.


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If Jose Mourinho starts next season as Paris Saint-Germain coach, Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward need look no further than this summer's failure to sign Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan as the moment that his manager's dissatisfaction was ignited at Old Trafford.
Sources have told ESPN FC that United should be taking the speculation surrounding Mourinho and PSG seriously and that the French club will look to take advantage of any sign of disharmony between the former Chelsea manager and the Old Trafford hierarchy.
PSG already have a head coach in Unai Emery, of course, and the Spaniard has the team sitting on top of Ligue 1 and already assured of a place in the Champions League knockout stages. But the former Sevilla coach is also battling to manage a squad crammed with big stars, and even bigger egos, and sources have told ESPN FC that Emery, having failed to win the title last season, will be vulnerable if he does not win the club's first Champions League trophy in May.
Mourinho, with two Champions League titles on his CV at FC Porto and Inter Milan, is highly-regarded by PSG's Qatari owners and did little to subdue their interest by admitting publicly last month that he would not end his career at United, before instantly speaking of the "magic" and "special" atmosphere of Paris.
With Portugal, Italy, Spain and England under his belt, Mourinho dreams of conquering another league and he has yet to manage in France, but with Pep Guardiola threatening to overshadow him in Manchester for the foreseeable future, a move to PSG would enable him to take on his old rival in Europe with the same limitless budget that Guardiola enjoys at Manchester City.
And despite Mourinho's big-spending at United since succeeding Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2016 -- he has spent more than £300 million on new players in less than 18 months -- the failure to go further and meet the £50m asking price for Perisic, at a time when City were splashing out more than £50m each on full-backs Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, has become a long-standing source of irritation for the United manager.
Sources said that Mourinho was exasperated by the delay in signing Nemanja Matic from Chelsea, with last-minute haggling over a small difference in valuation denying the player the chance to participate in the summer tour of the United States. Matic eventually arrived in August.
Perisic, meanwhile, remained at Inter, despite Mourinho making it clear to Woodward at the end of last season that the winger was one of the four targets required to boost the squad.
The Croatian was keen to make the move, but at 28, there were concerns at United over the size of the fee for a player with little resale value. A compromise could not be reached with Inter, whose valuation was, according to sources, no greater than £5m more than United's.
ESPN FC reported in August that Mourinho had chosen against selling a member of his squad to fund a move for a fourth summer signing (Perisic) in order not to upset the harmony of the group, preferring to wait until January.
But the requirement to sell before he can buy remains and Mourinho is once again reluctant to do so. Perisic, meanwhile, now appears out of reach following his decision to sign a new contract with Inter.
Without the width and balance that Perisic would have provided, however, United have lacked variety in games against more organised opponents and the recent decline in goals -- £75m signing Romelu Lukaku has now failed to score in seven games -- has coincided with City opening up an ominous eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
That situation has darkened Mourinho's mood, as has Marouane Fellaini's ongoing wait for a new contract to replace the final six months of his current deal.
Sources told ESPN FC in April that Mourinho was set to recommend to the board that Fellaini be handed a new deal, but the Belgian's future remains unresolved.
The air of discontent around Mourinho has been noticed within the club, however, and sources have spoken of not knowing which Mourinho will turn up at the Carrington training ground on a daily basis, whether it be the upbeat version or the moody one, prepared only to engage with his small group of assistants.
There is a view that Mourinho's demeanour is merely a reflection of his frustration at recent performances and results, with those prepared to observe the bigger picture pointing to United sitting second in the table and top of their Champions League group with a 100 percent record.
But the manager's outspoken comments about the club's supporters and thinly-veiled complaints about summer transfer dealings have not projected an image of a manager happy with his lot.
And with PSG seemingly on a mission to land blows on all of their major European rivals -- they beat Real Madrid to Kylian Mbappe, took Neymar from Barcelona and thwarted City's move for Dani Alves -- the French club will know that landing Mourinho from United would be another huge statement.
The question now is whether United believe Mourinho is worth fighting to keep or whether, ultimately, he is becoming more trouble than he is worth.


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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide tools that are used to digitally store, manipulate, analyze, and display spatially referenced data sets of geographic features. These can be a variety of features such as county, municipal, or property boundaries or smaller figures like a stormwater inlet structure or a street sign. GIS's allow the user to easily and effectively compile existing data, apply data updates, and realize spatial relationships of a specific theme or themes.
At Stiffler-McGraw, the goals of our GIS services are to:
• Capture spatial data and utilize existing data sets to provide our clients with an accurate representation of real-world locations.
• Manage our client's data to provide up-to-date map graphics of their infrastructure relative to their community.
• Provide our clients the ability to easily visualize their data, allowing them to make informed decisions to improve their communities.
We Provide:
• MS4 Management
• Stormwater and Utility Mapping
• Data Management and Collection


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Personalized Black Bottle Opener Key Chain. Measures 2 1/2" long x 1/2" wide and includes a 1" diameter split ring attachment. Individually boxed.
Personalized Father of Groom Tuxedo Bottle Opener Key Chain Engraved Beer Key Chain FOG Gift for Father of Groom Bachelor Party Gifts
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GovernmentElectrical Utilities
Monday- Friday 8:00am-5:00pm
Tarboro, North Carolina is a great place to live, work and establish your business. Tarboro offers a low cost of living, a strategic geographic location, a pro-business local government, and plentiful cultural and recreational amenities. Numerous opportunities for commercial development and its close proximity to Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 make Tarboro a viable choice for new and expanding companies.


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High grade rolled stainless steel mounting ring that is used with the in-ground LED fixtures to provide simple and consistent installation into concrete.
Stainless Steel Concrete Pour Kit Frame for 211032
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When ordering a flagpole ensure that flagpoles are the only thing in your cart.
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Commercial flagpoles ship by truck, due to market variability our calculator is not able to calculate exact freight charges. Please call us for a firm freight quote. If you select this shipping option you will get an approximate freight cost based on today's spot price of the shipment. We will contact you with the actual cost if it varies from the quoted charge, you may cancel the order at that point without penalty. We do not ship commercial poles to Alaska or Hawaii.


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Remember a loved one during times of sorrow with a beautiful blue and white sympathy arrangement. This graceful gathering of roses, delphinium, alstroemeria, carnations and daisy poms is elegantly arranged in a stylish cylinder vase to offer a comforting expression of condolences.
Due to seasonal availability, if the exact flowers or container you have selected are not available, our expert florist will create a beautiful bouquet with the freshest available flowers. We will only substitute items of equal or higher value.


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The Center for Public Integrity announced today that veteran journalist Jim Morris has been named executive editor.
An editor and reporter since 1978, Morris has won more than 80 awards for his work, including the IRE Medal, the George Polk award, the Sidney Hillman award, three National Association of Science Writers awards and two Edward R. Murrow awards.
He has edited reporters that won national honors, including the Pulitzer Prize and the White House Correspondents Association award. He worked at newspapers in Texas and California before coming to Washington, D.C., in 1999.
His 2018 story on worker safety lapses in Kentucky, jointly reported with the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting and Ohio Valley ReSource, recently won an award for Excellence in Healthcare Journalism by the Association for Health Care Journalists. The series was also a finalist for an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) award.
Morris has been at the Center more than 11 years. He served most recently as interim CEO; before that he was managing editor for environment and workers' rights.
"Jim knows the Center inside out, and his body of work here and throughout his career packs a punch," said CEO Susan Smith Richardson. "In his new role, he will continue to lead the organization to new heights of journalistic excellence while championing innovative ways of telling stories and reaching audiences at a time when investigative journalism about government and powerful interests couldn't be more important to people's lives and livelihoods."
"I'm honored to take this position at one of the few newsrooms in America that still emphasizes in-depth, investigative reporting," Morris said. "The Center is poised to make its work more meaningful to people outside of Washington, and I'm happy to be a part of that effort."
The Center for Public Integrity was founded in 1989 by former "60 Minutes" producer Charles Lewis with the mission of exposing abuses of power by government and corporate interests. Among its many noteworthy stories were those that exposed how major political contributors were rewarded with overnight stays at the White House; how doctors and lawyers worked with the coal industry to defeat benefits claims of miners dying from black lung; and how the wealthy have exploited offshore tax havens in the Panama Papers. The Center recently won a Gerald Loeb award in partnership with NPR for an investigation into how pharmaceutical companies inflated Medicaid costs across America.
Morris starts his new position immediately. He will take over from Gordon Witkin.
Follow Jim Morris on Twitter: @JimGMorris.
Help support this work
Public Integrity doesn't have paywalls and doesn't accept advertising so that our investigative reporting can have the widest possible impact on addressing inequality in the U.S. Our work is possible thanks to support from people like you.


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Shop Boxing Day Sales with Stackry
Boxing Day is coming right around the corner on December 26th, complete with awesome sales from all your favorite US retailers! If you've enjoyed the holiday savings so far but wound up kicking yourself for that handful of items you forgot, don't worry: There are more bargains to come! You'll be able to find yourself some new favorites from big-name stores and some unique niche shops you might not have heard of without our handy shopping guide.
And holiday season stress levels are dropping lower than ever as gifts get all wrapped up and Stackry helps you collect everything you need while you shop internationally. So all you have left to do is get excited about your new purchases and savings while you browse through this list, and get ready to enjoy Boxing Day!
Keep the Holiday Spirit Going!
The holiday savings spirit is still lingering in the air, resulting in all kinds of excellent bargains for you to make the most of. Keep in mind while you shop that not every store puts up a site banner clearly labelling their current sales as "Boxing Day deals"—they may simply extend their holiday discounts from the days before. Either way, you're sure to find some sweet deals on items that you'll love!
Get Ready to Save on a New Look:
This reliable cosmetics store sells amazing brand-name items from all kinds of popular lines—and they're known for having incredible deals on gift sets during the holiday season!
This store used to be called the Burlington Coat Factory, but they've expanded their collection to offer so much more! You can find all kinds of other clothing items, accessories, and shoes here—and even home goods and toys.
Marc Jacobs
Here's your new favorite store for everything from high-quality cosmetics to all kinds of fashion pieces! They really shine when it comes to accessories that will make you look truly runway-ready, too: Handbags, wallets, shoes, and more.
From shoes to shirts and everything in between, you're guaranteed to find something good at Zappos for just about anyone on your gift list—and they're offering great sales on brand-name items, too!
Saks Fifth Avenue
If you just can't get enough of sale-priced luxury items, make sure you stop by NYC's own Saks Fifth Avenue to pick up some gorgeous designer items that are going for as much as 60% off.
Neiman Marcus
Are you itching for a great bargain on some stunning Jimmy Choos? How about an alluring new scent from Tom Ford? You can find great discounts right now at Neiman Marcus on all kinds of hot fashion brands.
You won't believe the semi-annual sale that's happening at Francesca's right now: You can save up to a whopping 75% on all kinds of clothing, accessories, and wellness items for women and girls!
Lord & Taylor
Enjoy up to 60% off when you shop here for everything from glitzy fashion pieces to activewear and casual chic: Assorted stylish coats and boots are currently going for the lowest prices.
Urban Outfitters
Snap up the most cutting-edge in casual American fashion pieces at Urban Outfitters, and get some awesome winter discounts on everything from gift cards to jackets and loungewear.
Save Big on Home Goods
Whether you prefer to make your home indoors or outdoors, you're sure to find a variety of goodies here on Boxing Day! They sell all kinds of intriguing kitchen and home goods alongside quality camping gear.
This cute store is perfect to shop for any family home! You can find everything from adorable children's items to classy, sophisticated rugs and bedding sets at great prices.
Tory Burch
This hidden gem from New York has some undeniably unique dinnerware and home décor pieces alongside their signature fashion lines. If you want a true conversation-starter tabletop set, then look here! And use the code "EXTRA" at checkout for added discounts on sale items.
If you're craving a more modern edge for your home's interior, then check out Area's sale section for some amazing discounts on stylish bedding, throw pillows, and more.
Anyone with a feel for interior design knows that lighting can make or break the look! You can find delightful sale prices here on everything from lit seasonal decorations to classy year-round lighting elements.
Snag Some Great Tech Deals!
Get ready for some astounding deals on high-quality cameras that you can use to capture life's most exciting moments—as well as mounts, backup batteries, chargers, and all kinds of other accessories.
If you know someone who would love some new gaming gear, be sure to check out Corsair on Boxing Day for deals on PC hardware upgrades, streaming gear, and desktop accessories.
Always a great place to find competitively-priced electronics, Amazon is gearing up for some amazing Boxing Day sales this year! Look out for excellent prices on brands like Samsung and Apple.
This retailer is another great one to shop for gaming equipment: You can find everything from colorful LED keyboards and headsets to controllers for your gaming console—or even your phone!
Micro Center
There's no better place to look for laptops, security systems, computer parts, specialty cables, and accessories than at Micro Center! And they're rolling out promotional deals all throughout December.
Best Buy
Best Buy is back with some amazing discounts for Boxing Day! Enjoy saving on the vast selection of electronics and gadgets that this big-name retailer has to offer.
Celebrate Amazing Boxing Day Savings with Stackry!
Boxing Day originally got started in the UK as their own version of Black Friday, but this shopping holiday has since taken off in the US as well. Don't miss out on the chance to take advantage of even more great discounts on everything from some new pairs of shoes to a new gaming or camera system. You'll love the selection of stores that we've put together for you in this week's guide: So, happy shopping!


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This week, Matt Spotts reminded us that most important kind of prayer is the one you actually pray — or what his spiritual director calls the spirituality of showing up. Something analogous applies, we suspect, both to posting on the web, and maybe even to reading on the web: the way you get good content is day-by-day, week-by-week, making sure first that there is content. And just like that, here's another week from TJP.
Tim O'Brien made good on his promise not just to identify the noonday demon on the internet, but to offer some advice for resisting it.
With the help of some remarkably cute pictures of hand-grenades (seriously; go look at the post), Paul Lickteig argues for staying committed to conversation in the Church, and not assuming that the occasional conversational grenade means that we're reduced to trench warfare.
Eric Sundrup found out that science validates his love of pop music. The rest of the TJP team would like to know if we can have a quiet word with science before it announces any more "discoveries" in Eric's hearing. Actually, what Eric discovered is that whether NYSNC or Mozart is an occasion of consolation for you, the consolation itself is still very good for you.
We'll buy that: after all, it's the consolation that keeps us coming back — and that's why we're going to keep showing up, here at TJP. You'll catch us as always, at the next Week in Review.


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It's a cursed episode today as Elizabeth Swann sees the writing on the Aztec sacrificial wall as we enter the treasure cave on Isla de Muerta. Join us for minute 69 of The Curse of the Black Pearl to discover the link between the film's cave setting and the Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean ride's Dead Man's Cove (Dead Man's Grotto), examine Pintel and Ragetti's relationship and affection for women's attire and parasols with a sigh and eye, the use of a movie cliché to highlight the treasure chest of our desire, and we begin to breakdown the Aztec and Mesoamerican symbolism on the cursed Cortes treasure chest.
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If you're looking for a podcast that discusses Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise (in a movies by minutes format), integrates historical pirate and the golden age of piracy facts, analyzes and entertains, then Pirates of the Caribbean Minute is for you.
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Small Polished Antique Long Necked Knob
Small Polished Antique Long Necked Knob
Sale Sold out
Regular price $16.00 USD
Regular priceUnit price per
Sale price
Polished Antique Knob Solid Brass
This decorative kitchen cabinet knob will be the finishing touch to your kitchen cabinets. Matching drawer pulls available.
This traditional knob will look good on any cabinets and draws.
- Solid Brass
- 7/8" Diameter
- Height 1"
- Base 5/8"


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16 & 17 December 2023 | NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Japan
No. 2000 Subscription (Program A)


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Following Sarah's call to the L2L Team at 0150am BST 7th June, we have been busy the last 17 hours implementing the plans in place for situations such as this. Sarah is still safe and well and strapped inside her cabin on Gulliver and has been communicating regularly with the Team throughout the day (and her night).
Fellow British Rower Charlie Martell is also awaiting rescue in his boat Blossom. He sent a distress call to the authorities at around 0900 BST 7th June also following damage to his boat whilst passing through the tropical storm Mawar. Charlie is approximately 280 miles NE of Sarah's current position.
At regular intervals today a surveillance plane from the Japanese Coastguard has been monitoring both Sarah and Charlie.
Whilst the storm is still ongoing the current weather forecast is for 'Rosie' to weaken and by 12 noon BST 8th June more manageable conditions are expected to be in place with winds of 15knots and waves of 4-5m. We expect the recovery vessel to arrive with Sarah at 1800hrs JST (1000hrs BST) Friday 8th June. Many, many thanks to the Coastguards in Falmouth and Japan for their swift response to the situation.
You will have seen from Sarah's tweet that some water has entered her cabin but this is minimal. Sarah is bearing up well and demonstrating the strength and resolve that has brought her the huge distance on the journey so far. The request for her first meal back on land in Japan is 'PANCAKES PLS. COLD OJ. GRAPES'.
Thank you for all your messages of support, these make such a difference to Sarah, the Team and her family. She has some tough hours ahead of her which will be made all the more easy with your thoughts and wishes.
We will keep you up to date on progress as and when we have further news.
All the best
The London2London Team


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Investors face a rude awakening in 2016 as the return of risk brings an end to the era of unparalleled financial excess. Central bankers actions to save creditors by reducing borrowing costs to near zero created a Dorian Gray style economy that pursued returns without consequences. We are about to unveil the reality of those decisions after six years in a world devoid of financial responsibility.
The age of excess
In the Oscar Wilde tale the character of Dorian Gray pursues a life or reckless hedonism, safe in the knowledge that there are no consequences of his actions. Only the portrait, hidden from view, records the true toll of debauchery.
Central bankers likewise have become infatuated by the pursuit of growth at all costs. The dangerous by-product of this diktat has been the problems festering behind the scenes, masked by the absence of risk.
The return of risk
The "risk free rate" is the bedrock of all investment decisions. Every investor, from the individual with their pension pot, to the professional with billions under management, starts from the rate on offer in a UK bank account, or the return on US and UK government bonds. Once the safest rate on offer is known then the search for higher returns can begin. It is the fountainhead from which all investment decisions flow.
The insidious effect of manipulating the base rate is to corrupt every decision which follows.
The most indebted and badly managed companies have been allowed to struggle on regardless, and the most whimsical business ideas have been allowed to raise millions in the absence of any rigorous examination of their long term viability.
It is against this backdrop that trillions in debt has built up on the balance sheets of banks across the world. The decision of the US Federal Reserve to increase rates from 0.25pc to 0.5pc, may appear small, but the intention is for another four rate rises in the year ahead to 1.5pc. The movement heralds a return of risk to global markets and it will become the biggest investment theme of 2016.
The return of interest rates should presage the dawn of accelerated growth, especially when unemployment levels in the UK have fallen to the lowest levels for seven years. Banks should also benefit as the net interest margin widens, or the gap between the rate offered to savers and that charged to borrowers, and allows profits to rise.
This rosy picture ignores the reality of what lies beneath. Loans that were made in the age of excess will fail as interest rates begin to rise.
Energy crisis
In the US energy sector the bonds of shale driller Chesapeake Energy have already collapsed to 34 cents as the oil price tumbles.
Cheasepeake was one of the biggest issuers of junk bonds, raising $11bn from investors.
The commodity trading and mining group Glencore has also seen its bonds sell off sharply as it grapples with its debt burden.
Commodity trading house Noble, which reported revenues of $86bn (£56bn) last year, had its credit downgraded to junk by rating agency Moody's last week, and its bonds remain distressed.
Brave new world
The realisation of losses is something that many in the cosseted world of investment will never have experienced. The collapse in high-yield bond prices is already causing paralysis. Third Avenue Management, a $800m high-yield mutual fund, was forced to halt redemptions in order to run down the fund in an orderly fashion as investors clamoured for the exit.
The holders of certain bonds in Portuguese bank Novo Banco reacted with fury when they were informed they faced losses last week under a recapitalisation plan. The fact that an investor in the debt of a Portuguese bank is surprised that losses are even a possibility is laughable, if it wasn't also deeply troubling.
The return of risk will turn many of the investment decisions made during the past six years on their head. Out will go unprofitable companies that relied on constant support from shareholders for stellar growth. In will come companies with solid profit track records that can generate enough cash to fund themselves. The lofty valuations in the technology sector are looking particularly exposed.
Divide and conquer
When the world economy stumbled in 2008 it was only concerted action that pulled it back from the brink.
The situation now is very different with the US pursuing monetary tightening, and China devaluing its currency to arrest the decline.
Emerging markets have been crippled by a currency collapse and the drop in commodity prices has undermined the budgets of Canada, Norway, Australia, Venezuala and Saudi Arabia. The flow of funds out of developed Western equity markets is becoming alarming.
Overvalued equity markets
We enter 2016 as the bull run in the FTSE 100 is looking particularly long in the tooth. UK shares have steadily risen for more than 70 months.
The goldilocks scenario of cheap debt and low wages is coming to and end and placing corporate profits under pressure. The Institute of Directors has already warned UK profits may be past their peak.
This leaves investors in the FTSE 100 exposed with shares trading on 16 times forecast earnings, a premium to the long run average of 15.
Even more worrying when you consider earnings have to increase by 14pc in 2016 to achieve that rating, if earnings remain flat in the year ahead the market is trading on more than 20 times earnings.


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Finance Minister Rejects Calls For IMF Solution to Nigeria's EconomyFeatured, Latest News, News Saturday, April 16th, 2016
BALTIMORE, MD (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Nigeria's Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF/World Bank on Friday, explained why the Federal Government is not excited about calls to apply for loan facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to tackle some of the current economic challenges that Nigeria is facing due to the slump in global oil prices
Other speakers at the event included, IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa and Rwanda Finance Minister Claver Gatete.
The Minister, who was a speaker at a panel discussion on Africa titled: "Sub-Saharan Africa: Just a Rough Patch," said Nigeria is adapting to its new realities and it is implementing fiscal policies to steer the country back on track for stable growth with a diversified economy. These policies and investment should enable Nigeria to show positive growth in 2017.
Adeosun emphasised that what the country is passing through is surmountable , adding that government is already applying a cocktail of measures to address the problem.
"Nigeria is not sick and even if we are, we have our own local remedy," the Minister said, in an apparent response to a question on why the government has refused to apply for IMF loans.
Noting that the real vulnerability in the Nigerian economy is over-dependence on a single source of revenue, oil, the Minister said, "We have resolved to build resilience into the country's economy to hedge against future oil shocks. This is because dependence on oil brings about vulnerability and laziness. So we are doing a combination of things to diversify our economy, with revenue mobilisation to enable sufficient investment in developing the non-oil sectors."
We have a great opportunities to reset the Nigerian economy and ensure that as we go forward, growth will be in a sustainable manner so that we won't be vulnerable to oil price fluctuations, and with a truly diversified economy we would have enabled opportunities for wealth creation that would have trickles down to every Nigerian.
The compelling business case in Nigeria is that the fundamentals remain very strong, a teaming, young growing population, rich in resources and with a government determined to finally get it right. The great thing is that long term investors recognize this and understand the difference between short term and long term issues and the case for Nigeria persuades one to plan for the longer term opportunities.
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Oban's Myths & Legends
Two Wolves
Native American - Cherokee Legend
retold by Oban
One evening an old Cherokee man sat quietly outside his home, enjoying the beautiful sunset.
His grandson ran out of the house and threw himself down beside him with a huge sigh. There was anger in the young boys face. "What is wrong?" his grandfather asked gently.
The boy rested his head on the old man's shoulder. "My friend wouldn't play with me today. He went off with the older boys and left me alone. I hate him!"
The old man put his arm around the boy. "I know how you feel," he said. "In my long life I too have felt anger and hatred because of an injustice that I felt someone had done to me."
He stroked the boy's hair gently. "But hatred and anger wears you down and makes you tired. Do you know why that is?" The boy shook his head.
"It's because there is a terrible battle going on inside every one of us, between two wolves." said the grandfather.
"Two wolves?" asked the boy. He knew his grandfather was very wise, but two wolves fighting inside him sounded weird.
"Yes, two wolves." replied his grandfather.
"One wolf is full of anger, hatred, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. He fights everyone because his anger and emotions stop him from thinking."
"The other wolf is calm and lives in harmony with everything around him. He is full of peace, love, hope, joy, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. He will only fight if it is the right thing to do and he will fight in the right way."
The old man looked into his grandson's eyes. "I sometimes find it hard with these two wolves always fighting inside me," he said.
"Which wolf will win, Grandfather?" asked the boy.
The old man smiled calmly, "The one that I feed the most."
The End


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"Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her."
Sixteen-year-old Alison wakes up in a mental institution. As she pieces her memory back together, she realizes she's confessed to murdering Tori Beaugrand, the most perfect girl at school. But the case is a mystery. Tori's body has not been found, and Alison can't explain what happened. One minute she was fighting with Tori. The next moment Tori disintegrated--into nothing.
But that's impossible. No one is capable of making someone vanish. Right? Alison must be losing her mind--like her mother always feared she would.
For years Alison has tried to keep her weird sensory abilities a secret. No one ever understood--until a mysterious visiting scientist takes an interest in Alison's case. Suddenly, Alison discovers that the world is wrong about her--and that she's capable of far more than anyone else would believe.
- Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab (R)
- Publish Date: January 2013
- Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.7 pounds
- Page Count: 312
- Reading Level: Ages 12-18
Related Categories


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- Carbon
- Kevlar
- Titanium
- Honeycomb
- Hexmc
- Aluminium alloy
General aspects of the training line.
The boats of the Filippi training range are manufactured with top quality materials and equipment and are at the highest quality levels of their market segment. The construction process has to pass the same rigid controls implemented on the Olympic line. Suppliers and materials meet the same certification criteria.
Training singles boats (mt.6.50, mt 7.20 and mt.8.10) are distinguished from the competitor products for different aspects mainly related to the construction process and the quality of the materials.
Some specific aspects of the constructive process of single training boats
The stratification of our training boats:
Beyond precision in the execution of the standard molds and the resulting boats, with continuous dimensional controls to verify that the geometries intended are respected and there have been no deformations in the process, beyond the drift position control of the boat, of course, but also with respect to the high-bay doors as well as the guides on which the carriage rests, and then the athlete. Every boat leaving Filippi's headquarters can count on an inimitable quality on the market.
Training line materials.
Lenght: mt. 7.20
Width: cm 27,5
Athlete: kg 60-75
Boat weight: 18
Carbon Aliante scull rigger "CWA"
Aluminium Aliante scull rigger "AWA"
Carbon Wing scull rigger "CW"
Aluminium Wing scull rigger "AW"
Carbon tubular scull rigger "CT"
Aluminium standard scull rigger "AS"
Aluminium Flat
Black anodized aluminium fin


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A few years ago, sustainability was at the forefront of my priorities and I wanted to exhaust all options for living a more mindful life. I discovered the "Diva Cup" while I was waist deep in my vegan antics and decided to try the device out for myself.
First things first, you should be rather comfortable with exploring your anatomy a bit. It's not the cleanest or prettiest option, but it sure beats stuffing cotton up your vajeen and risking toxic shock syndrome.
The period cup works like this: the small silicone or latex rubber cup is inserted into the vagina and acts as a literal cup to catch anything that comes from the cervix. Since the cervix is just a small opening, it's quite easy for the cup to act as an upside-down umbrella and collect any liquid for up to 12 hours. There are plenty of guides and how-to's that can be found online nowadays. Just search "How to insert a diva cup".
To remove, simply pinch the bottom of the cup and pull in a downwards motion. The cup will bend and slip out fairly easily. You can then pour the contents out, rinse the cup with warm water and unscented soap, and re-insert immediately. For heavier flows, I would suggest removing the contents of the cup every 3 hours or so. And you can even choose to purchase a larger sized cup for those heavier days.
Tips: Inserting and removing the cup in the shower is probably the most mess-free way, which I prefer. It takes a bit of practice, as you are standing instead of sitting, but makes the cleaning so much more manageable. Lastly, you should also trim the handle of the cup to your liking. (They leave a bit of room at the bottom of the cup for people who have a longer canal or just need that extra grip).
From my experience over the last two years, I have to say I will never ever use a tampon again. (Unless I've forgotten my cup somewhere and I'm reaaally in a pinch.) It's completely waste-free and so much healthier for the natural rhythm of your body. Since the cup allows for free-catch of blood, there's nothing plugging you up while you go about your day… yuck. And no, it doesn't leak. You can also wear a liner if you're so inclined and save yourself some messy undies.
If you think about how much waste a female produces during that time of the month, it's rather startling. An average period is 3-5 days (who are they kidding, no one is ever average) and you should change your tampon every 3-4 hours.
So, roughly 4 tampons a day (NO, you shouldn't be sleeping with them!!) x 5 = 20 tampons a month. 20 tampons a month, plus or minus pads, panty liners, and lighter day tampons. I don't even know how much they cost at CVS or Safeway anymore but the last I checked, they cost more than my Netflix subscription.
If you're concerned about the "ickiness" of the whole ordeal, I get it. It's frightening at first and not the most glamorous past time. After all, we were trained by our mothers and the media that periods and normal bodily functions should be kept under wraps. But, to that I also say f*** it! Take control of your womanhood. Familiarize yourself with the hums and aches and ebbs and flows of your lunar cycle and grow to love the most human parts of you.


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Materials that are full of technical, financial or specialized terminology may be unfamiliar to the transcriptionists. It may be necessary to listen to words, terms, sentences or even a whole section several times in order to transcribe them properly. In such circumstances, it helps enormously if a glossary of keywords can be provided in advance or words can be spelt out while dictating.
If you are working with a new author or in a new area of business, you would be wise to get prior information about vocabulary and difficult words that may crop up. These words may not be specialist terms but may just be terms that are specific to the particular recording to be transcribed. Getting such a glossary avoids you using incorrect words throughout a document. Also, if you have a prior knowledge of a topic and information on the kind of words or names that may come up, you will find it easier to decipher words that on the first hearing you may think are audible.
Knowing how to spell difficult names or words will help not only to make the final version of your document more accurate, but it will make your task more enjoyable. There is nothing more frustrating than hearing a word time and time again and having no way of checking whether you are transcribing it correctly. This is particularly the case with people's names because no dictionary, specialist or otherwise will help you check the accuracy of the spelling.
If you are transcribing the recording of a meeting, you might wish to ask for a glossary, which contains the following-1. The name of the attendees2. The name of the project being discussed and related projects3. Name of other people and organizations who are closely involved in the project4. Relevant addresses, place names, property names5. Technical phrases, jargons, abbreviations that may be used during the course of meeting
Create your own glossaries as you work. In addition to requesting a glossary from the authors, you may find it helpful to note down, as you transcribe, any words that you find difficult to hear or spell for your own future reference. In this way, you can create your own on-going glossary that you can refer to and add to any time-in financial, medical or legal terms.


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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A short drive from the heavily secured five-star Islamabad hotel where international VIPs will discuss the future of Afghan refugees on Monday, 20-year old Ahmed Khan Younis lives in a makeshift settlement where the houses are made of mud.
Born in Pakistan to Afghan parents, Unis has no Pakistani citizenship and dreams of going "home" once a peace deal is signed, but he is worried about the conditions in a nation where the economic and social framework has been devastated by more than 40 years of war.
"I want to tell these leaders to bring peace to our country, so we can go," he said, adding he was worried about how he could complete his dream of studying to become an engineer.
The United States has reached agreement with the Taliban militants on a week-long reduction of violence that could lead to a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a senior administration official said on Friday, while cautioning that the insurgents must honor commitments for the accord to stick.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he thought there was a "good chance" the United States would reach an agreement with the Taliban by the end of February, more than 18 years after a U.S.-led coalition ousted them from power.
But the prospect of a peace pact is raising more questions than answers, refugees and humanitarian agencies say, when it comes to the future of Afghan refugees – one of the largest and most protracted displacements in modern history.
About three million Afghans live in Pakistan, with more in neighboring Iran, many of them struggling to get full access to education, health and employment.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR is alarmed that at a time of increasing fatigue among global donors, rising insular policies by governments and a possible formal end to war, millions of refugees risk falling through the cracks either in their host nations or in Afghanistan.
In Khan's settlement, nestled around the campus of one of Pakistan's top universities, there is one school for more than 1,000 children, meaning fewer than a fifth attend. The medicine has run out in the dispensary and the mud houses suffer badly when it rains.
"This is the generation that's going to build Afghanistan… it's really important not just from the refugee perspective but for the stability, peace, security perspective to invest," Indrika Ratwatte, the Asia director of UNHCR, told Reuters.
"Now I think it's time to really up the game and walk the talk."
The two-day conference, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterrez and the U.S. Afghanistan envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, will highlight the need for international support to reintegrate Afghan refugees and to help Pakistan and Iran, home to 90% of Afghan refugees, shoulder the load.
"Tomorrow's conference I think is an opportunity for international members, including China, to commit more," Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing told Reuters.
"Peace can be expected in the near future."
Some refugees say they worry about being forced to go to Afghanistan if a deal is struck with the Taliban, who still control large swathes of the country, without that translating to peace and respect for human rights.
Saleema Rehman, 28, born in Pakistan, won a prized annual slot available for refugees in Pakistan's Punjab province to study medicine. Now in her last year of gynaecology training, she faces an uncertain future, unable to practise in Pakistan once her training is complete as she is not a citizen.
She is also sceptical about the prospect of being allowed to work in Afghanistan after a peace deal, with the Taliban in some sort of power-sharing agreement. The militants banned women from working, studying or even leaving their homes without a male relative during their 1996-2001 rule.
"We live in fear," she told Reuters. "We are the third generation, my nephew and niece are the fourth generation, in Pakistan. We never experienced any war and we don't want to go back to the area where peace is uncertain."
Source: Read Full Article


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Our trek through South America quickened its pace when I finally had a guaranteed job at in September. This meant we had an actual schedule and an actual itinerary to see the southern end of South America from June through August…Not a breakneck pace, but one with a beginning and an ending. What did not seem to change was the ever presence of paramecium. It was in all the water that washed all the fruits and vegetables, and we inevitable got a helping of those bugs once a week, though we tried to eat only raw fruit like mangos and bananas and things with skins. Fresh vegetables were harder. We only occasionally peeled carrots and all vegetables had to be washed and therein lay the presences of the paramecium. I started out at 180 pounds and ended up at 159, svelte and fast but afraid of the most nutritious foods. Sure they made fresh potato chips and donuts, fried in grease right there on the street, but most meat and cheese and eggs were always suspicious, meaning we could eat none of those with relish and no risk.
After becoming the Ambassadors of English in Peru, we headed by train across the continent to Lake Titicaca and an overnight boat on that huge inland lake, to La Paz, Bolivia for a few days, and then flew back to Arica, Chile. We rarely took flights in South America, but occasionally it made sense to save time and trouble, especially when the local airlines were less than the cost of a hotel room. There was a reason for that. First of all, many South American nations used their Air Force as a commercial airline. This drove down costs for all carriers and was kind of cute in the way the crew stood at attention as the passengers made their way across flat dirt airstrips and up the flip-out stairways in old two engine DC-3s. Secondly, these airstrips doubled as lower division futball fields, undoubtedly to the surprise of pilots and/or players if the schedules became confused.
When we landed in Arica, Chile, our taxi driver took us to his uncle the street banker, and he gave us four times the bank rate for our American Express traveler's checks. Then we got on a bus that took us 24 hours across the northern Chilean desert. We stopped a few times in what looked like a state park barbecue shed, and drank exquisite white wine with the other passengers from a huge clay vessel, suspended by ropes so that you could tip it into your cup. Then at night we stopped at a small fishing village and tried the Congor Eel, its large diameter cut in steaks of flakey meat. Fresh fish and white Chilean wine, all for about a dollar.
What we were about to find out – first from rumor, of course –was that Chile was a bargain if we used our Chilean money, escudos, there in Chile. Because of some political and economic skullduggery, our absolute haul of escudos would become almost worthless when converted to Argentine pesos. After scoring big time on our traveler's checks through the Mercado Negro in Arica, Chile, we ended up with cash that would drop 75% in value when we finally crossed from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina. Funny, that was possibly the value we started with when we entered Chile.
We got off the bus in Santiago and started calculating. We needed to stay just a week in Santiago because we were on schedule to make it back to Oklahoma. It was the early part of July, and my first college teaching job started in a little over a month. We'd approached South America with some leisure up to that point, but now we were more like tourist, on a timetable, than nomads following the seasons. If we did not spend our pile of Chilean escudos here in Santiago, in a week, they would be worth only a quarter of the buying power we had right now. It was logic inescapable. We would have to blow that money here in Santiago. Holding our two pieces of luggage, we asked our cab driver to recommend a hotel.
"Barato?" he said, also as an assumption as he looked at our cloths and somewhat ragged bags. They were used to Gringo wastrels asking for a "cheap" hotel.
"No," I said. We pointed out the window to a tall building on the skyline of Santiago. "Is that a hotel?"
It was a hotel. The best in Santiago. Taking us there, I knew he would expect more of a tip than he first estimated from us. When we stopped, he took our threaded bags from our laps like they contained precious glass crystal, and made the doorman take extra care stowing them on the roller cart.
The desk attendant in this very best of Santiago hotels was about to tell us that they had no rooms available, and then he saw our wad. "We do of course have the Presidential Suite," he said, sure that we would not be able to afford that. "But," he said, "It even has a grand piano for entertaining, and a small dance floor leading out to the balcony."
"Who was the last President to stay here?"
"I guess we'll take it." I said. Strossner was the ex-Nazi who had taken over as dictator in Paraguay and ruled with iron tentacles around the whole region. The desk manager was shocked.
"You didn't ask the price."
I laid down a wad of escudos. He nodded. We who had been riding dirty buses and chasing rats out of small pensiónes and drinking only soda pop were now turning the tables. Tough life…but you understand, we had to spend the money.
It was a gorgeous view of the city. We dropped our bags in this vastness of luxury. Couches, bars with real liquor. Tapestries on the walls. Carpet inches thick like walking on cloud in heaven. I, who had who had learned the boogie-woogie in two years of teen piano from an always tipsy local piano teacher, was fastest to the piano, and started giving it the boogie-woogie workout as the bellman waited for his tip. Brenda, who had won school contests in piano, waited patiently to take over with Beethoven's 9th.
There were real showers and bathtubs with gold fixtures. The toilet had a telephone extension on the wall beside the commode, which told us that powerful people never slow down. We found later that this suite had another bedroom and another bathroom, but unfortunately we knew no one in Santiago to invite. The ultimate party suite and no one to party with.
We had questions for the concierge. What is the best place to eat in Santiago? (He got us reservations) Where are the best clothing stores? (He made a list of streets where we should go shopping.)
So we ate…well. And we walked down the streets of Santiago's boutique clothing stores like masters in need of regal drapery. Brenda got a green trench coat made of goat leather. I got a blazer and slacks and shirts (which, because I was so malnourished at that time, I could not wear after 6 months back in the States). That experience of buying anything you saw, staying at the top of the town, walking around expensive streets with money to burn…This should be accorded every human being once, so that it will never be an aspiration that exceeds family and community and real personal accomplishment. That's what I think, anyway.
Another momentous event was happening, though we had little knowledge of the particulars. Salvador Isabelino del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Allende Gossens (or Salvadore Allende to most of us) was elevated, with his socialist party, to the leadership of Chile. All through South American the young people felt the Chileans were the intellectuals of South America, and were ever so excited about his Marxist programs which froze prices and gave living wages to the poor. Allende even nationalized copper, one of Chile's main exports, much to the despair of our President Nixon at the time. One of the sights of a lifetime I should remember is standing at twilight on the balcony of the Presidential suite in the best hotel in Santiago, drinking aguardiente and looking out over a large hill which hovered over the city. Lights strung across the whole hillside came alive in the encroaching darkness, and in large vibrant letters in the night, they proclaimed "Cobra es nuestra." (Copper is ours!)
It did not dawn on me then, or for some time, how ironic it was to be standing there on the balcony in the best room of the most plutocratic hotel in Santiago, capitalist pigs from the US sipping our drinks, oblivious to the fact that a vast world was changing right front of us.
Turns out the depreciating escudos still didn't last us more than four days – four really fun days – and then we had to fly over the mountains to Mendoza, Argentina and spend like normal pobre travelers again. Mendoza brought us back to earth when the plane landed. Things once again cost what things cost, instead of a fraction of expectations. A lovely piece of Argentine beef cooked over hot coals and a glass of wine with it cost over 7 dollars. What a shock!
To follow our schedule we took the Argentine national railway 24 hours across the pampas ( which looked for all the world like West Texas) and into Buenos Aires. Funny thing about that railroad. It seemed like something in a nation's infrastructure that would always be there. However, recently I was brushing up on my fledgling Spanish and talked to someone on the Internet in Cordoba, Argentina. Someone in their twenties, it turns out. I said we liked Mendoza and had taken the train across to Buenos Aires. He sounded confused.
"What railroad?"
"Your national railroad from Mendoza to Buenos Aires."
"There is no railroad across Argentina there."
"Of course there is, I rode on it."
"There has never been a railroad there."
"How can that be?" I said, and excused myself from what I thought was one of those many prankish exercises young people indulge in on the Internet.
He was not wrong…Well, he was wrong, but had no notion that there ever could have been a railroad there. None of the Argentina history books were allowed to cover the real story. The real story is that the railroad went on high government subsidy and was dissolved by a political party, which then handed choice lands over to developers as quickly as the railroad ties were pulled up across Argentina. Someone as old as we are may be the only ones who remember, and we are easy to ignore by a country which did not want to admit such a failure.
So we did ride the railroad, and came into Buenos Aires in the dead of winter. A beautiful city to explore with its lush parks and tango clubs, but by then we could give it only a few days on our diminishing itinerary. We bargained for some stopover tickets through a thoroughly corrupt travel agent, and plunked down nearly the last money we had on earth to get back to Oklahoma (- which might tell you a bit about our total prospects). We were able to go from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay, whose residential streets looked like a vintage car museum. Turns out they put about a 4x tariff on any new cars, but had no tariff on car parts. So they just kept the old ones, pre-1940s, in great condition and running perfectly. The middle class teenagers who I grew up with in the 1950's were always rebuilding cars, and they would have dearly loved Montevideo.
From Montevideo we went to Asunción, Paraguay, which had its black market bartering big Hotel Guarani on all its money rather than some political hero. The President at the time was Strossner, an ex-Nazi immigrant who took over every element of the government and created Dakotas, huge cartels which daily brought flights of Boeing 707s full of transitor radios and other highly taxed imports, to be distributed by mule back through the back trails into all major countries in South America. The Ricos (rich families) in every country owned stock in the Dakotas and profited from those, while keeping normal tariffs very high on imports because – of course – they controlled most of the government except in Chile. (That was resolved shortly after we came back, with a coup in Chile in which Pinochet brought the Army in to occupy the capital, and Allende committed suicide as his dream socialist state of South America was relegated to history's many backwaters.)
Iquazu Falls is one of the world's spectacular waterfalls, absolutely worth getting drenched in its volume and majesty. From there we bused to Sao Paulo, to which so many Japanese at the end of WWII had fled that it looked like a Japanese city the size of Kyoto or Osaka. Rio was gorgeous on the beach and up the sky tram to Sugar Loaf as we ran down to almost our last dimes. Brazilia was a stop along the way, a new and empty city build by the government back in the interior to be the new government of the new Brazil. I hear it took many years to fill it up, after almost being a laughingstock of one President's vision.
Manaus was the last city we touched down in before Miami. It was on the Amazon river and had the look of a temporary encampment…but one in which they were already building an opera house. This was years before the fictional guy made the ball field in Kansas hearing "If you build it they will come." Apparently they did come to Manaus, as it is now a city of over 2 million people on the Amazon. It now seems amazing what can happen to places in your own lifetime. You turn away and when you look back a river stop is a metropolis.
Next stop, Miami. The problem we had been wondering how to avoid was that Brenda could not come in to the States legally. As my wife, she would have to wait outside the States 4 months for a green card. We stood there in the customs and immigration line, contemplating a quick divorce. (For the rest of the story, see "Dostoyevsky Meets the Anadarko Indians" .)


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The word sport came from a Old French verb, desporter, meaning to divert or amuse or play. Ref a few testosterone-laden soccer games and you'll see why the "sport of kings" originally referred to war-making.
I have higher aspirations for sport. Can it serve a purpose above the motivations of war? Will it remain the domain of diversion and amusement to pass the time? Or will it simply be a spectacle to be charged for at the gates? I hadn't considered this question until a recent Artist in Residency partnership with Sport Calgary had me thinking about what sports offer, if anything, to society. With over 500 amateur sports organizations and 80 categories of sports in Calgary alone, there is no doubt it plays a big role in the community.
Unfortunately, in an age where success is often measured by fame and fortune alone, the spirit of sport is lost in the economic drive to commercialize all aspects of life. But I think sport, if properly understood, is a potential vehicle for developing values that make for a strong and vibrant community.
At its core, sport is a form of organized play requiring physical prowess. For some, this form of play may become a lifelong profession. For many others, playing is a healthy form of leisure. But as every child learns, play is a form of practice for the big game of life and it should be taken seriously.
Sports inherently creates conditions where good character could be developed. One may need to overcome fear and stress to overcome obstacles, or compete with intelligence and respect against an opponent, or strive for excellence in one's ability. But it can just as easily descend into a winner-takes-all attitude where slavish loyalty to the team trumps ethical behaviour. Famous basketball coach, John Wooden, was on to something when he said that "Sports do not develop character. It reveals it."
The issue is that sports by itself is insufficient for developing character. Sure the structure of the sport, whether team or individual, plays a role in the types of skills developed. Nevertheless, coaches, parents, celebrities, schools, sports films, and news play as much, if not more, of a role in shaping how athletes approach their sport. Imagine a coach who preaches respect and fairplay in the dressing room, but dresses down the ref on a bad call, or parents who pressure kids to win at all costs even if it means sneaking one past the ref. The lessons learned from an activity depends on the culture surrounding the individual athlete.
Yet, even if there is a supportive network of people present to draw out the best in the athlete, there is also no guarantee that qualities developed in one discipline will transfer into other areas of life. You can be disciplined in your training, but undisciplined in your personal relationships. Or you might excel in sport, but lose sight of the bigger picture of life.
Consider the values that could be learned through sport:
- Resilience – the ability to manage setbacks or failures in productive ways
- Persistence – the resolve to continue to pursue objectives despite challenges
- Adaptive Learning – the ability to learn from mistakes or failure and build new skills for changing circumstances
- Courage – the ability to manage fear and move ahead regardless of it
- Fairness – the ability to act well despite the heat the moment or the pressure to achieve objectives
- Respect – the quality of treating people, friends and foe alike, with dignity and compassion.
- Teamwork – the ability to work with and coordinate with other people to achieve the same objectives
- Excellence – the drive to continuously improve oneself
At a high level, they make perfect sense. The devil really is in the details. Knowing is not the same as having the capacities. They require as much practice and training in life as in sport. Developing the courage to climb Mt. Everest is different than the moral courage to question your own team, but climbing Mt. Everest might help. The specific disciplines in kicking a ball accurately every time under pressure is different than the specific disciplines of doing an investigative documentary on a corrupt politician. But the general principles of diagnosing problems, self-correcting, pulling back ignorance, and managing the pressures performance does cross disciplines.
I'm interested in hinting at the possibilities that sport offers beyond the vague generalities that sports commercials offer. Hence, the artist in residency. If you have any thoughts on what sport could develop and how, I'd love to hear what you think. Until then, remember that you are what you train in sport and in life.
About the Artist in Residency
Hidden Story Productions and Sport Calgary would like to invite you to participate in an exciting exploration of the true spirit of amateur sport through a series of short documentary films. Our goal is to illustrate in cinematic style these values through the thoughts and feelings of local athletes and the sports that they play. To this end, we are looking for amateur athletes in Calgary willing to share their stories, the behind the scenes of their training, and how it shapes their life. We are now looking for amateur athletes in Calgary of any age, skill level, or sport (except for hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball… sorry too mainstream).
This project is sponsored in part by Calgary 2012's Artist-in-Residency Program. Calgary 2012 is an independent, non-profit organization that helps showcase Calgary's culture and create legacy projects to encourage future cultural achievements.


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From Documentation
Install Tomcat
- Visit Tomcat Official Site
- Select the correct binary distribution for your environment and download
- For Windows, you might download and execute 32-bit/64-bit Windows Service Installer, and then follow the instructions
- Any download/install problem, please refer to http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/index.html
Deploy ZK demo application(optional)
The simplest way to test drive ZK existed application is to download and install the ZK demo application.
This step is optional. You could skip it if you prefer to start creating your own application directly.
- Download the lastest zkdemo at http://sourceforge.net/projects/zk1/files/ZK/ (e.g. zk-sandbox-6.0.0.zip)
- Unzip zk-sandbox-6.0.0.zip
- Copy zkdemo.war under the zk-sandbox-6.0.0 directory to $TOMCAT_HOME/webapps.
- Start/ReStart the tomcat services (In some cases, you may need to restart your container if it is running.)
- Visit http://localhost:8080/zkdemo, and then play around with the demo application
Deploy war file to Tomcat is very easy but there're something you need to know
- Tomcat will unzip the war file to filename\ directory automatically
- You can NOT modify the content of filename\ directory unless you remove the war file, or your modification will not work.
- For more information about Tomcat's deployer, please refer to http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/deployer-howto.html
Deploy your application with IDE
When developing an application, we usually use IDE to deploy it. For more information, please refer to the document of your IDE.
If you are new to Java IDE, you might take a look at Setting up Eclipse with ZK Studio.
Version History


text: In 2017, the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) exploded onto the global scene and upended the traditional method of funding an early-stage business. For a while, many believed that we were witnessing the dawn of a more egalitarian financial era; one where anyone with a good idea and the ability to make it a reality could access easy money and a shot at success. As it turned out, it was too good to be true. Cut to 2018, and we now know that somewhere on the order of have since been identified as scams. Together, those scams cost investors approximately $1.3 billion and tarnished the idea of ICOs as a business funding tool. Worse still, the rising tide of fraud got the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has on the ICO market. 80% of ICOs conducted in 2017 come down hard Where are we now? Photo: Tierney / Adobe Stock Given all of the controversy and problems, you'd think that the ICO market would be all but dead. According to the latest available data, you'd be right — with the Wall Street Journal reporting that has been raised through ICOs in the first quarter of 2019. When you compare that to the $6.9 billion raised during the same period in 2018, the true state of the market becomes painfully obvious. That, however, doesn't mean that all of the ICO action came to naught; it instead served as a precursor to a metamorphosis of the concept itself. a paltry $118 million Looking Beneath the Surface If you look a little bit deeper into the data regarding the flurry of ICOs that occurred between 2017 and 2018, you'll notice an interesting trend. On the whole, as the ICO wave crested, a larger and larger share of the money being raised for each offering was coming in the form of pre-sales and (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) arrangements. Those phases of ICO funding represent traditional investors and VC firms getting in on the sale before the general public, which looks a lot more like business as usual than a noble and fair investment method. SAFT Traditional Funders Swoop In Logically speaking, it was always a matter of time before large-scale investors turned their attention to the ICO market. Venture capital veteran said way back in 2017 that "I believe Crypto/Blockchain are real/here to stay. Extrajudicial assets/finance are inevitable." That sentiment was clearly shared by his contemporaries in the VC market, as well as by institutional investors. The only difference was that they were never going to be willing to wait in line with John Q. Public for newly-minted tokens, which is why SAFT sales were even before the SEC finally stepped into the ICO market. Those arrangements also offered a ready excuse for the big boys to move to the head of the line. Chris Sacca structured as securities The Securitization of Crypto Photo: tampatra / Adobe Stock The shift in ICO activity toward larger investors brings us back to what has happened to the broader ICO market. While the investor interest in ICOs has cooled, there's been a corresponding rise in interest in (STO). As financial instruments, they operate much like any other conventional private investment offer — and are regulated under the very same securities laws. In practice, that means there are some limitations on how much money businesses can raise through such an offering and who they can offer it to. Spoiler alert: the gist of it is that you need to be an , which is shorthand for "sufficiently wealthy". In short, the move toward STOs is little more than the completion of a hostile takeover of the crypto market by large, wealthy investors. Security Token Offerings accredited investor What's Next? Photo: NicoElNino / Adobe Stock For the average investor, it appears that they'll be relegated to smaller STOs (think $5 million total raised or less) for the foreseeable future. That's because the current laws restrict the size of investment solicitations offered to any non-accredited investor. Given the mess that happened in the heady days of the ICO boom, that's not a bad thing. At the same time, however, you can expect businesses with serious and lucrative business ideas or products to line up to issue larger STOs later in 2019 that exclude smaller investors. It is possible that the SEC will come around and grant qualification for a vetted company to hold an STO that's open to the general public. If their is any indication, however, I wouldn't bet on that happening anytime soon. In the meantime, the masses of small-time investors once drawn to the promise of crypto fortunes will have little choice but to watch from the sidelines, much like they already do with conventional IPOs and the like. Oh well, it was exciting while it lasted, right? recent guidance on crypto token sales


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I haven't mentioned the pandemic too much lately because it's so much of the same-old-same. And I know when I mention anything on social media or Facebook to friends that some of them get depressed at any covid talk. But I thought about not posting because it's all I wanted to talk about today–and I didn't want to muzzle myself. Except with a 3-layer face mask, of course.
Arizona numbers are way up, and this is after I've been hibernating for over three months. The appointment for my daughter to look at bridal gowns is Friday, and I am supposed to go with her. It's so so hard to develop much enthusiasm at this point.
So in the interests of our mental health (there is so little of it available currently) I will mention covid negatives that turned into positives only.
- Following Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. I started this program last fall and joined a local group for moral support. The group is still meeting once a month (by Zoom now), but the only thing I am writing in my morning pages is what I made for dinner each day. I have over 3 months of menus, but nothing else since the pandemic began. So what's good about this? I like writing our dinners down. Maybe it will come in handy some day. HAHAHA And I am glad the meetings are still being held because it's wonderful to consort with other women artist types.
- I have pandemic brain. Very fuzzy and not very smart. I had to look up "consort" to make sure about the meaning. Yup. It means to "habitually associate with (someone), typically with the disapproval of others." A lot of artistic women have experienced the disapproval of others throughout their lives, so we're there (here?) for each other. So what's good about this? Recognizing that we have each others' backs.
- I can't/won't travel, see my mother in Michigan, go out to dinner. Yes, we are being very careful. So what's good about this? More time with my cats, especially with the oldsters, Pear and Tiger, who just want me near them all the time.
- Although I wrote a few poems near the beginning of the "lockdown," I no longer even want to write a poem. Or if I do, it's a little tiny flicker, not a flame. Certainly not enough to sustain me through a whole poem. So what's good about this? I took the time to organize my poems into one chapbook, then another chapbook, then I put both chapbooks together into a full-length collection. It might still keep morphing, but at least I feel like I'm doing something! I've been working on titles, too ;).
- Because of the pandemic I am beyond exhausted and have way too much work to do. This happened because 1) I have way more work-work than I did before, 2) I have no occasional help as I did before, and 3) all that
damncooking. So what's good about this, you might ask?! OK, this is a little convulated. Maybe I'm pushing it. But I think it's true. I don't want to give up on my genealogy research, no matter what. But I really am too pandemic-brained and tired to do anything mentally taxing. So instead, I am doing a mindless fill-in-the-gaps project for my direct ancestors (I think I've mentioned this before) AND I am organizing my genealogy documents on my computer. Um, they were a mess. So I am pretty happy that I am making some structure out of chaos.
- I miss hugging my kids. You got me there. Nothing good about that.
This probably doesn't have much to do with covid, but I am only one journal away from meeting my publication goal for 2020! There are still four due to publish throughout the summer. Waiting on that one more acceptance . . . 🙂
Wear your masks, please. Wash your hands. Carry sanitizer with you. And if you need to travel and you're female, get one of those pee funnels. If you're male, get one of those portable urinals. That will save you from some restroom covid germs. I guess since I can't hug my kids, I am trying to "mom" everyone else!
Pear Blossom, age 20 1/4


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From Abracadabra to Zombies | View All
A pentagram is a five-pointed figure used as a magical or occult symbol by the Pythagoreans, Masons, Gnostics, Cabalists, magicians, Wiccans, Satanists, etc. There is apparently something attractive about the figure's geometry and proportions. In many symbolizations, the top point represents either the human head or a non-human Spirit. To invert the figure is considered by some as a sign of relegating Spirit to the bottom of the metaphysical heap. Others take inversion to be Satanic and on par with alleged mockeries such as inverting the cross or saying the Mass backwards. Still others find nothing particularly diabolical about inversion and use the inverted pentagram without fear of accidentally invoking the forces of evil.
Some say the pentagram is mystical because 5 is mystical. It's a prime number, the sum of 2 and 3, as well as of 1 and 4. Jesus had five wounds, they say, if you don't count those inflicted by the crown of thorns; and he distributed five loaves of bread to five thousand people. Most importantly, we have five fingers, toes and senses.
Some Christian watchdogs apparently think the pentagram is the devil's hoof print. They are especially on the lookout for inverted pentagrams as proof of Satanism, but any pentagram will suit most of these caretakers of decent symbology in their never-ending quest to identify evil. Of course, it can be bad for business if rumors are spread that one's company uses the pentagram or any other symbol deemed to be diabolical. Proctor and Gamble was once accused by Amway competitors of being run by devil worshippers who flaunted their satanic religion with a diabolical logo. The logo consisted of an old man's bearded face in the crescent moon, facing thirteen stars, all set within a circle. Some saw 666, the number of the Beast in Revelation (usually identified with Satan by the Christian watchdogs), lurking in the old man's beard and in the arrangement of the stars. Others saw a goat, surely a sign of the devil. A suit was filed against Amway but it was eventually thrown out of court.*
To the Wiccan, the five points of the pentagram represent Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. Wiccans usually put the symbol in a circle, which has traditionally represented the endless or eternity. The ancient Chinese believed there were five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), five planets, five seasons, five senses, as well as five basic colors, sounds and tastes. However, the number six seems to have been more enchanting to them than five, for the I Ching uses six as its base number. So does the Star of David, which has six points and is made by overlapping two equilateral triangles. The Star of David is a hexagram but is not used to cast a hex on you. That kind of hex comes from the German word for witch, Hexen, which is related to the Old High German word hagzissa, a hag.
Occultists of all sorts wear pentagram talismans to protect them from evil or to help them get occult knowledge and power. They even draw pentagrams on the ground and stand within them to better call upon occult powers. If the point is aimed north, they are not worshippers of Satan. However, if the point is aimed south, they are. So say the Christian watchdogs.
For some reason, the pentagram has become the symbol for a star, though no star in the sky looks like a pentagram, unless perhaps it is seen from inside the five corners of the earth when one is five sheets to the wind. Furthermore, some mystics claim that if one stares at a small pentangle long enough one will see that all triangles end in a circle with five sides.
further reading
Pentagram illustrations from the Freemasons of British Columbia & Yukon


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We all know that the Titanic sank 100 years ago, after striking an iceberg in the early hours of 15th April 1912 on its way from Southhampton, England to New York City. But what were the passengers eating just before being shipwrecked?
Only two Titanic menus from the night of the 14th April were among the documents rescued from the fleet. One of these was a dinner menu for first-class passengers, some of whom paid today's equivalent of $124,000 for their sea voyage. The menu featured a 10-course extravaganza of the haute cuisine of the era. Diners enjoyed hors d'oeuvres, oysters, filet mignon Lili, pate di foie gras, Waldorf pudding and a host of other delicacies.
Each course was accompanied with a different wine chosen to enhance the flavor of the rich dishes. If their hunger had not yet been satiated, guests were offered cheeses and fresh fruits. These whopping 10 courses were followed by coffee and cigars paired with port or distilled liquors.
Here is the whole first-class menu, as reported in the book Last Dinner on the Titanic. Menus and Recipes and Recipes from the Great Liner. Exactly the same menu you could taste on April 14: a Houston's restaurant is replicating the 10-course dinner served to first-class passengers the night the ship went down. The price for the meal? $12,000, but the experience accommodates 12.
The First-Class Menu
As served in the first-class dining saloon of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912
First Course
Hors D'Oeuvres
Second Course
Consommé Olga
Cream of Barley
Third Course
Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce, Cucumbers
Fourth Course
Filet Mignons Lili
Saute of Chicken, Lyonnaise
Vegetable Marrow Farci
Fifth Course
Lamb, Mint Sauce
Roast Duckling, Apple Sauce
Sirloin of Beef, Chateau Potatoes
Green Pea
Creamed Carrots
Boiled Rice
Parmentier & Boiled New Potatoes
Sixth Course
Punch Romaine
Seventh Course
Roast Squab & Cress
Eighth Course
Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette
Ninth Course
Pate de Foie Gras
Tenth Course
Waldorf Pudding
Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly
Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs
French Ice Cream


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get some goodies! comment to win $86 in awesomeness from the Sonia Kashuk holiday 2014 collection.
***The giveaway is officially closed.*** CONGRATULATIONS, ALESIA and PRINCESS ANYAIBE! You're the lucky girls! check the email addresses you used in your comments, and reply to me with your full name, age and mailing address by Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. delighted new year.
Hmm… That space underneath the tree is looking sadly empty now that Christmas is officially over.
We must totes fix that.
One of my favorite holiday collections this year has been Sonia Kashuk's ( review ideal here). She did this luxurious gold and black Chanel-esque art deco theme, and the makeup was to die for, of course.
I got to thinking… You know what? This would be a great one for a giveaway!
The prize…
Four of my favorites from Sonia's holiday 2014 collection (an $86 value).
Katte og makeup sweatshirt ??
$ 42.
Shoppe nu
The Sonia Kashuk Eye palette in Deco Starlet ($19.99)
The nude Lip palette in Jazzed Up Nudes ($19.99)
All That Jazz 10-Piece brush Set, $34.99
Decadence Shimmering Body Souffle, $10.99
Get it, gurl!
Win the Sonia Kashuk holiday 2014 collection
Two (2) lucky ladies and/or gents will win a prize package with the following…
The Eye palette in Deco Starlet ($19.99): a very Chanel-esque palette with shimmery dark brown, black, gold and beige powder eyeshadows.
The nude Lip palette in Jazzed Up Nudes ($19.99): a lip palette with five satiny lipsticks in warm and cool nude shades.
The All That Jazz 10-Piece brush set ($34.99): a set of fabulously fluffy and luxurious full-size brushes that includes a domed powder brush, a flat-top multipurpose brush, an angled duo fiber multipurpose brush, a foundation brush, eyeshadow brush, blending brush, angled duo fiber crease brush, domed pencil brush, synthetic pointed eye liner brush, and a lash/brow groomer.
Decadence Shimmering Body Souffle ($10.99): a shimmery golden body lotion.
Le Rules…
They're easy. just leave a comment below. about anything.
Seriously, anything at all.
Like, what's been the coolest conversation you've had over the holidays so far? Where are you at this exact moment? have you seen any good motion pictures lately? Did you receive any awesome appeal booty/loot for Christmas? Did you cook or bake anything you're particularly pleased of for the holidays? What's been the highlight of the holidays for you so far?
Det er det!
Vilkår og Betingelser
Enter by leaving a comment below about anything at all.
Deadline to enter is Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Entrants need to enter using a valid email address to win.
The giveaway is open to everyone anywhere who has reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the united states with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
Tabs and I (heretofore and, as always, referred to as "T-Money and K-Dawg") will select two (2) winners at random from the entries left in the comments at the bottom of this post.
Void where prohibited by law.
May the forces of fabulosity be with you (aka, good luck).
Din venlige kvarter appelmisbruger,
S.s. have you already entered these other two giveaways? because you should… I'm just sayin'.
Comment to Win $152 in Fragrances From i smell great and the maker of clean Perfume (deadline to enter is Dec. 31, 2014)
The Purina pro plan cat Christmas treats Giveaway (this one's deadline is also Dec. 31, 2014)