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Upcoming Public Meetings
The Commission meets every second Tuesday of the month. Meetings in April, May, and June include Gorge 2020 updates and discussion of Urban Area Boundary policies. Please check back for additional public meetings and be sure to leave your comments on our Consider.it page
"Gorge 2020" is a three-year process to review, and revise as necessary, the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Management Plan (Plan).
The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (NSA) was established by Congress in 1986. Covering 292,000 acres and 85 miles of the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington, the National Scenic Area is managed jointly by the Columbia River Gorge Commission and the U.S. Forest Service. The purpose of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act (Act) is to protect and enhance the natural, cultural, scenic and recreation resources of the NSA, and to protect and support the economy of the Columbia River Gorge area. In accordance with the Act, the Columbia River Gorge Commission and U.S. Forest Service adopted a National Scenic Area Management Plan in 1991 to guide land use in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Section 6(g) of the National Scenic Area Act states:
"No sooner than five years after adoption of the management plan, but at least every ten years, the Commission shall review the management plan to determine whether it should be revised. The Commission shall submit any revised management plan to the Secretary (of Agriculture) for review and concurrence, in accordance with the provisions of this section for adoption of the management plan."What are the Standards that the Management Plan must meet?
The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act sets forth the following requirements that the Columbia Gorge Commission must satisfy when revising the Management Plan:
- Protect and enhance agricultural lands for agricultural uses;
- Protect and enhance forest lands for forest uses;
- Protect and enhance open spaces;
- Protect and enhance public and private recreation resources and educational and interpretive facilities and opportunities;
- Prohibit major development actions in special management areas;
- Prohibit industrial development in the scenic area outside urban areas;
- Require that commercial development outside urban areas take place without adversely affecting the scenic, cultural, recreation, or natural resources of the scenic area;
- Require that residential development outside urban areas take place without adversely affecting the scenic, cultural, recreation, and natural resources of the scenic area; and
- Require that mining operations, and the reclamation of mined lands, take place without adversely affecting the scenic, cultural, recreation and natural resources of the scenic area
To meet these standards, the current Management Plan draws from elements of Oregon and Washington land use planning and law, elements of federal forest management, and unique elements that the Commission and U.S. Forest Service developed specifically to address situations in the National Scenic Area.Taking stock of changes in the Gorge
The "Gorge 2020" process offers us an opportunity to reflect on 30 years since the country's largest and most dynamic Scenic Area was established. It's been twelve years since the Management Plan was last reviewed and much has changed. New land uses and new types of development are emerging, economies and communities are continuously changing, visitation is steadily rising, and pressures from outside the National Scenic Area affect the people who live, work, and play in the Gorge.
Through this process of community discussions and policy work, the Commission is focused on resiliency in the face of these changes and pressures and has requested additional discussion about how the Plan should address climate change impacts and adaptation. We are asking our partner agencies, organizations, and interested citizens to join in an informed discussion of what it means to uphold the National Scenic Area Act in a manner that is sustainable for the future, given what we know and can learn about regional trends.
The Commission and US Forest Service held public scoping from winter 2016 to spring 2017 to identify necessary revisions to the Management Plan. We hosted three public listening sessions and written comment period, meetings with tribes, agencies, counties, and organizations. We also reviewed the issues identified but not completed during the last Plan Review process in 2004. During its July 2017 meeting, the Commission discussed the issues that staff should pursue further.
We identified some comments that were beyond the Commission's authorities, in conflict with Commission resolutions, or that required further refinement to be addressed within the Plan. These will not be addressed in "Gorge 2020".
Please see the Reading Materials tab for full summaries of the input we recieved, background documents, and current plan sections.
Based on the diverse input we collected, and from internal staff review, we identified technical corrections and necessary updates. We also received comments about process improvements, programs, and partnerships that can be addressed through staff work without revising Management Plan content. Capacity and Commission priorities will direct when we address these issues, but we agree that they represent opportunities to improve our work to implement the Plan.
Some of these on-going efforts that do not require Plan revisions include:
- Supporting regional partnerships including MCEDD, the Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance, Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership, Pacific Northwest Economic Region Partnership, East Cascades Oak Partnership, and others
- Improving tools for landowners, realtors including online maps and information
- Engaging volunteers and stakeholders to increase efficiency and effectiveness
- Supporting traffic congestion studies and regional solutions related to transportation
- Securing additional funding for Commission capacity and programs
The remaining comments made up recommended items to carry forward for further discussion, examination of trends, text revisions and/or policy changes. We further refined these carry forward items, based on their urgency for changes in the Management Plant, direct relevance to the purposes of the Act and the role of the Commission, scope and scale of the issue, and potential impacts of delaying action. Looking through these lenses we identified focus topics deserving a "deep dive", additional information, and robust public engagement strategies to adequately address. Input from the public, stakeholders, agency partners, and tribal governments assisted staff in identifying these four focus topics needing further discussion. These items are directly relevant to needed changes in the Management Plan, are timely, and of high interest to many stakeholders. Please see the Focus Topics & Technical Teams tab for more informations.
In the coming months, the Commission and Forest Service will be assembling expert teams to lead the focus topic conversations with us. There will be public participation opportunities and additional public outreach events for each. Please check our website for updates and sign up for our listserve to receive email alerts by sending an email to firstname.lastname@example.com Vitality
The Commission and Forest Service are analyzing economic drivers in the NSA, and defining the Commission's role related to economic development. We've convened a work group to provide input.
Please contact Krystyna Wolniakowski for more info.Urban Area Boundaries
The Commission is clarifying the process and criteria for revising Urban Area boundaries. In April 2018, the Commission discussed the history and background of urban area policy in the National Scenic Area. In May and June 2018, the Commission discussed several foundational questions as a means of learning about urban area boundaries and to give high-level direction to staff. Currently, Commission staff are holding workshops to develop draft policy, alternatives, and a report of the workshops. The Commission will consider the draft and alternatives in spring 2019. The following documents chronicle the Commission's discussion and staff workshops.
- History and Background of Urban Area Policy
- October 2017 Buildable Lands Inventory Report
- May 2018 Foundational Questions Staff Report
- June 2018 Foundational Questions Staff Report
- Notes of May and June Foundational Questions Commission Workshops
- July 24 and August 1 Staff Workshop Slides
- July 24 and August 1 Staff Workshop Notes
- August 21 Staff Workshop Agenda
- August 21 Staff Workshop Slides
- August 21 Staff Workshop DLCD Slides
- August 21 Staff Workshop Wash. Dept. of Commerce Slides
- August 21 Staff Workshop Notes
- September 17 Staff Workshop Agenda
- September 17 Staff Workshop Slides
- September 17 Staff Workshop: Steve Harris's The Dalles UGB Slides
- September 17 Staff Workshop: Email from Angie Brewer re: Local Planning for UAB's
- September 17 Staff Workshop Notes
- October 15 Staff Workshop Agenda
- October 15 Staff Workshop Slides
- October 15 Staff Workshop Draft Policy
- October 15 Staff Workshop Notes
- November 19 Staff Workshop Agenda
- November 19 Staff Workshop: Friends of the Columbia Gorge Slides
- November 19 Staff Workshop Draft Policy
- November 19 Staff Workshop Notes
Please contact Jeff Litwak for more info.Recreation
The Commission and Forest Service will examine policies related to recreation and tourist visitation including but not limited to demand/capacity, access, regional planning, and Recreation Intensity Classes.
Please contact Casey Gatz for more info.Emerging Land Uses and Streamlining Implementation
The Commission and Forest Service will revise and clarify land use policies to improve consistent application of resource guidelines and to address emerging land uses. Updates will be primarily to Part II Chapter 7 including, but not limited to, expedited review uses and processes, solar development, vineyards and cideries, agritourism, cumulative impacts analysis guidance, visually subordinate standards, etc.
Please contact Robin Shoal or Jessica Olson for more info.Technical Team Revisions
The Commission and the US Forest Service are also convening technical experts to revise the Scenic Resources and Natural Resources sections of the plan with updated information. There will be opportunities to weigh in on draft revisions to those sections (see the Timeline tab).
- Categorized Scoping Comments
- Summary of Public Comments
- Summary of Agency and Partner Organization Comments
- Summary of Comments from Local Governments and Tribes
- Plan Issues Compiled
- Transcript of all Scoping Comments
- Columbia Gorge Tourism Studio Baseline Assessment
- Columbia River Gorge Bicycle Recreation: Economic Impact Forecast for the Communities Along the Historic Columbia River Highway
- Recreation Report and Recommended Strategies
- Urban Area Boundary Policy Background Notebook
- Urban Area Revisions in the NSA Act - Section 4(f)
- Comparison of the Oregon and Washington Urban Growth Boundary Expansion Rules
- May 8th Memo to the Gorge Commission Regarding Urban Area Boundary Policy Foundational Questions
- June 12th Memo to the Gorge Commission regarding UAB Policy Foundational Questions
- Notes from the May 8th and June 12th, 2018 Workshops
- July 13th: Invitation to Staff Workshops
- Economic Development in the NSA, presented at the April 2017 Commission Meeting
- Columbia Gorge Economic Development Strategy (2017-2022)
- Federal Outdoor Recreation Trends: Effects on Economic Opportunities (2016)
- Spending and Economic Activity from Recreation at Oregon State Part Properties – Columbia River Gorge Management Unit (2013)


text: The former Full House star was caught leaving Orso yesterday by the paparazzi. Poor Ashley, looked like she hated the attention. She didn't even pimp out her book signing which is taking place next month. You can see why most celebrities hate the paparazzi, there was pretty much no room for Ashley to walk to her vehicle. Let me know if you would punch the paparazzi for blocking your way by leaving a comment. This video was shot by Laphoto2006.

subset: commoncrawl


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SSD Promo HUD Overview
► You will hear a "boink" sound if you click an invalid area of the HUD.
► Some LSL script functions are delayed by SL to prevent spam; you may have to wait a moment or two in between clicking UTILITY buttons.
►ABOUT SSD / UTILITIES (Top): This area will help you find out more about Sax Shepherd Designs and provides user options.
►PRODUCT DISPLAYS(Center): This area scrolls through product displays of new releases.
►LOOT (Bottom): This area provides options for unpacking the items included in the HUD and shopping destinations for SSD products.
►Store: Provides an SLURL link to our in-world Main Store Location.
►Blog: Opens a link to this blog.
►Flickr: Opens a link to our Flickr Group.
►Subscribe / Unsubscribe: Allows you to opt-in or opt-out of future notifications.
►Help: Opens a link to the Help section of this blog.
►CSR: Gives you the option to send a message to our customer service avatar, SaxShepherdDesigns Resident, informing them you need assistance. There is a confirmation warning before sending.
►Display: The center display showcases new product releases.
►Arrows: The left and right arrows allow you to scroll through product displays.
►Teleport: By default, provides an SLURL link to our in-world Main Store Location, but may alternately provide a link to events SSD is participating in.
►Get Loot: Unpacks the contents of the HUD to a folder in your inventory including DEMOs, Group Gifts, information notecards and landmarks.
►Marketplace: Opens a link to our SL Marketplace Store.


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This hilarious Danish western parody finds everyone riding Shetland ponies. The villains turn into good guys and chase the bad guys trying to make off with the rancher's daughter. A saloon girl delivers a song to a rowdy crowd as the cowboys drink and whore it up in traditional western fashion. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
All Præriens Skrappe Drenge cast + crew photos
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2019 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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Sunday, August 3, 2014
Blue, Red, and Yellow Plus Some
Of course, I didn't get to lounge around on my day off. I spent the entire day dancing with Mrs. Mop! Have I mentioned how much I dislike housework? I used to enjoy it, now I would much rather play.
The sunflowers were a busy place Friday night. Indigo Bunting.
Mr. Cardinal and his wife, but she wouldn't show herself.
The Goldfinches were dining, as well. Again, the Mrs. was camera shy.
The pretty yellow petals are all falling onto the ground. I'm not sure if it is the birds landing on them and knocking them off or if they are merely falling off. They are not as pretty as they were. But the birds make up for the missing petals.
I planted some sunflowers in our garden, but they are slow to bloom. This is the first.
I also planted zinnias and they are in full bloom.
Linking to the Bird D'pot
15 comments:
- TexWisGirl said...
i loved this set of the 3 birds in the blooms! really great!
good luck on your new clerk! hope it all works GREAT!
- August 3, 2014 at 9:32 AM
Happy Sunday back at you Roan! Love those colorful birds!!
- August 3, 2014 at 10:08 AM
- Gunilla Bäck said...
The sunflowers are still beautiful and I love the birds and the zinnias as well.
- August 3, 2014 at 11:35 AM
- Brian King said...
Beautiful photos! I love the shot of the lone sunflower!
- August 3, 2014 at 12:03 PM
- Anni said...
What superior contrasts of the birds in the sunflowers [the hugeness of the flowers really shows up; making the birds look like mini bone china figurines...excellent!!]
Hope your duties lighten for you once everything is settled. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for linking up this week at I'd Rather B Birdin'.
- August 3, 2014 at 1:23 PM
- Halcyon said...
How nice to see these colorful visitors in your garden!
- August 3, 2014 at 2:29 PM
- Ginny said...
The orange colored sunflower is gorgeous, it is my favorite today! You will be getting lots of birds! You are good at finding hidden birds, too! Indigo Buntings are rare around here, so gorgeous! I have only seen one one time. SO glad the load is off!!
- August 3, 2014 at 2:38 PM
- Terri @ Backward B Ranch said...
Looks like the sunflower patch was the happening spot for the birds. I really like that orange sunflower shot- beautiful.
- August 3, 2014 at 6:25 PM
- Stephanie said...
Great captures of those three birds in the flowers. Nice sunflowers and Zinnias.
- August 3, 2014 at 6:36 PM
- Amy Burzese said...
Don't birds make pretty ornaments in trees and bushes, and even in flowers!?
- August 3, 2014 at 6:54 PM
- Carol said...
Great photos!!! We have an Indigo Bunting...but he is very camera shy... I can't never get clear shot of him before he flies away :-( Pretty Sunflowers too. My first crop didn't fair well so I have a second crop that hopefully will be blooming soon. Just fro grins I planted a third crop yesterday. We'll see if they have time to do anything.
- August 3, 2014 at 8:57 PM
- Mama Zen said...
These are fantastic shots!
- August 3, 2014 at 11:40 PM
Wonderful 'finds' in your sunflower garden! And I love the burnt orange sunflower - haven't seen one of those before!
Glad to hear you'll be back to doing one job again. That had to be really stressful during the interim period.
Hope you have a great week!
- August 4, 2014 at 1:02 AM
- Carole M. said...
glad things are working your way in the workplace. Home chores, well they'll always wait there for us. Loved the blue, then red birds 'mongst the yellows. Your own sunflower and your zinnias, beautiful to enjoy
- August 5, 2014 at 2:12 AM
- bettyl-NZ said...
How awesome to find those little blobs of wonderful color among the sunflowers!
- August 10, 2014 at 9:59 PM


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The Acton Children's Business Fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 15, 2018, at Oakshire Recreation Park, 5459 Vicari St., Houma, LA 70364.
Youth vendors are invited to participate in Houma's first business fair for children. Kids will develop a brand, create a product or service, build a marketing strategy, then open for customers at our one-day market place. 25 booths will be hosted. Children will sell items such as: crafts, paintings, cupcakes, t-shirts, etc.
For more information, visit the Big Dreamers Youth Foundation website or the Acton Children's Business Fair website to register as a vendor.


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New Music – DJ Big Rob – Dancehall Hero 2k11 (Mix-Tape)
First let me start by saying that not only is DJ Big Rob one of the Top Club DJ's in upstate New York but he has also gained major attention on the mixtape circuit. I can honestly say that DJ Big Rob & DJ Mr. Illmatic are the reason why I can appreciate dance hall/ragaee music and that is a great thing for a DJ to gain more listeners to music.
With this release DJ Big Rob wasted no time with getting the party started, it starts off with straight bangers. In todays market finding a DJ who can properly spin dancehall music is rare and DJ Big Rob proves that he is amongst the few. The vibe of this release is fun & good times. with the release being 72 tracks deep you will most likely be having a great time listening to this until your body just cant dance anymore.
I have to also admitt I have no idea what most of the artist are saying in most of dance hall music but it just feels right. there are times when I have to call Big Rob and ask like , what does this and that mean ? And that's another great thing about him, he is a people person he doesnt mind taking the time to explain or to teach which tracks blend with others.
In closing I have to say that this was a awsome listen for me, but you should go check it out so you can have the same experience.
Get your Free (Promotional use only) copy at Dancehall hero 2k11 - www.mediafire.com


text: On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 3:09 PM, Ramiro Polla<ramiro.polla at gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 6:29 AM, Ramiro Polla<ramiro.polla at gmail.com> wrote: >> On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 6:25 AM, Diego Biurrun<diego at biurrun.de> wrote: >>> On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 03:31:19AM -0300, Ramiro Polla wrote: >>>> On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 3:04 AM, Ramiro Polla<ramiro.polla at gmail.com> wrote: >>>> > $subj, to make it consistent with the MMX2 code. >>>> >>>> Ping. Seems pretty trivial. MMX2 code is compiled not only if we HAVE >>>> it, but if we want to COMPILE it, IMO altivec should do the same. >>> >>> Now that you changed all the other stuff this seems pretty obvious.. >> >> Well, they're a bit different. The HAVE->COMPILE_TEMPLATE change was >> for templated code in swscale_template.c. This patch is for >> initialization code in swscale.c. It makes no difference at the moment >> since HAVE_ALTIVEC implies COMPILE_ALTIVEC (now that they're LGPL). >> But still... > > I'll apply if there are no comments. Applied.


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|The Season 1.2/1.3 Newsflash is here!
And I am happy to inform you that we are in the home stretch! And there really are 'Good News, Everyone!'
|One of the two banners
painted in Season 1.2
42% of profits will be reinvested in our company, 42% of profits will be invested to grow the community and 16% of profits will be donated to charity.
The full scale of what we have planned will become clearer this year. I called it 'Painting Revolution' for a reason ;)
So we decided to put your money where our heart is. Payback time ;)
- First, although we already had some pretty awesome editing PCs, rendering time of videos caused a big problem. Rendering some of our material literally took days.
- We were just three passionate guys who suffered from a severe case of 'There are only 24 hour in a day' syndrome.
|Heart of The Sleepmaker
|Professionals at work settling an argument.
Thanks to Bruddha Gus for the balloon art!
|Raising The Sword in triumph!
|Matt also gives Workshops!
|Still available at the Early BEARD special pre-order price of 27€. 1.2/1.3 Bundle at 53€!
|I promised full transparency a year ago. Y we do it? 42!
Since Season 1.1 is almost sold out, now is the time to secure your copy.
If we succeed at what we are doing (and I think we will), this DVD set will be part of miniature history some day.
|Bubblebrox Mini-Me says:
"Sharing is Caring"
There will be very frequent updates on the development of Season 1.2 and 1.3 in the next days and weeks. The next chance to ask us live questions would be during the next Episode of the Chilling Wargamers Hangout (tomorrow night at 8pm CET) as well as on BEEBLE・BABBLE #2 this Friday at 7:42pm CET. Read all about our new online shows here.
Oh, did I mention our super-secret-stretchgoals for all of our Early BEARD supporters? No? This is a story for another time, then.... Oops, spoiler alert:
|Still available at the Early BEARD special pre-order price of 27€. 1.2/1.3 Bundle at 53€!


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Map & Directions
US 101 North to Highway 217. Bear right at the traffic circle. Turn left at the first light. The loading/receiving area is on the left before you enter the parking structure, next to the large liquid nitrogen tank. Parking in Lot 10 is for faculty and staff only, although metered stalls for coastal access are also available.
US 101 South to Patterson Ave offramp, turn left to cross the bridge over the 101, and again turn left to get on Highway 217 (the entrance ramp splits, 217 is to the left, 101 N is to the right.)
General parking is available at the Mesa structure. From the 217, bear right at the circle, and turn left at the second light. Turn right into Parking Structure 10. Note the space number you park in and pay at one of the computerized stations.


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The 11th of November also marks the launch of Cloud Business Blueprint. The website, blog and podcast are now LIVE! We'd love for you to go and check it out at :
We'd also love to hear any feedback which you can send to firstname.lastname@example.com. We read and answer all emails personally.
In appreciation for those that registered early we are going to start sending you one of our first courses – an 8 part series titled "Profit Training Tips for Cloud Business" as a small way of saying thank you for you ongoing support.
If you missed early registration you can still register directly on the site and receive the same 8 part series now.
Everyone who registers will soon receive details on how to sign up for our private members only section. This is where you'll gain access to things like our private discussions forums (already operational), as well as all of the additional content we are producing (sample document templates, training guides and more).
In the meantime make sure you add our new "Cloud Business Podcast" to your favourite player as well as our blog.
We're really looking forward to having people come on board as members to take advantage of everything we are working on.


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Article Comments
Uzi - I was so pleased when I saw that you had been selected to be the July Merchant of the Month; congratulations! Your work is unique and fantastic! And don't worry about your Grammar. I've been living in an English-speaking country all my life and I know I still don't have a firm grasp on it! Anyway, congrats again, you totally deserve this!! Take care!
All the ladies of Alverson fantasy art just love you and the sytles of clothes you have so far made. you make them look real and modern and full of live. Cinnimon Keene, one model in particular, will only "Dress" in Uzilite. Thanks for joining us and thanskgod for you talent!
Uzi! My hero! The man who looked at the DAZ Vicky clothing pack and asked himself, "Who the heck dresses like this?" Glad to see you featured, though I must say, you've figure prominently in my Wishlist for a while. I'm looking into starting a webpage in your honor. I'm waiting to see if the URL www.passivetypebwomanizer.com is available. (Just kidding.)
I too was disappointed with the clothing for Vicky. Not too many women I know wear thigh high boots and tapered jeans. When I got my first glimpse of the Uzilite clothing, I could almost hear the draining of my bank account. Thank you for your amazing contribution to the digital world.


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No. It counts as two different alert rules. It doesn't matter that it is the same flight.
If I create two flight alerts rule for the same flight, but change delivery or alert type options does that only count as one flight alert?
Have more questions? Submit a request
0 Comments
Article is closed for comments.


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It's Wednesday, hump day, and right before a l-o-n-g weekend. We thought we'd do something fun today. Cowboy poet Glen Enloe, who won our first annual Cowboy Poetry contest back in April, wrote this fun little gem and sent it to us.
Summer brings out all sorts of weird attire as people attempt to stay cool. And one of the oddest -- and most debated -- are those infamous Crocs. Do you wear 'em? Be careful how you answer. Check out Glen's poem below. Enjoy!
Cowboys Don't Wear Crocs
Although there be some debatin'
'Bout if ol' cowboys wear socks—
I can tell you fer a dern fact,
That true cowboys don't wear Crocs.
They just don't fit a stirrup right,
And bright colors scare the stock—
I'll sure nuff shoot the first cowboy
I see wearin' a new Croc!
Oh, we talk of Old West legends
Like our Jesses' and Hickoks—
But I hope I never do see
Cowboys herdin' in their Crocs!
And when that great cattle Master
Lays me low beneath the rocks—
Just make sure I'm wearin' my boots
And not a pair of them Crocs!
--Glen Enloe


text:
Hi, I'm Paul Coates
A freelance web
designer & developer
I help businesses
thrive online
My happy clients hire me to create effective and engaging websites, using my skills in both design and functionality.
Eden Flight Training testimonial
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One of the most attention-grabbing moments of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the duel between the lightsaber-wielding Finn and the baton-wielding First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper. Now with the epic blockbuster hitting theaters around the world, Star Wars fans can fully enjoy this exciting fight between the renegade First Order Stormtrooper Finn and the Riot Control Stormtrooper on the planet of Takodana.
The highly-accurate Finn sixth scale collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of John Boyega in the film featuring a newly developed head sculpt, finely tailored outfit, LED light-up lightsaber, detailed weapons, and a hexagonal figure stand with the Resistance's emblem. The First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper is equipped with sleekly designed Stormtrooper armor and helmet, the iconic baton, a riot shield, blaster rifle, and a hexagonal figure stand with the First Order's emblem.


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Welcome to my website!
These are a few pages about me and my research interests and work.
I am from Thane, a city on the outskirts of Mumbai in India. I have done my Bachelors in Computer Engineering at Fr. CRCE, Mumbai University and my Masters in Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo. I graduated from the Department Of Computer Science in University of Rochester (UR).
Office Room no.
Computer Science Building
last name at cs.rochester.edu
I currently work at Google on machine learning problems.
I worked at A9 (an Amazon company) on product search,ranking and relevance for more than 3 years.
My primary research interests during graduate school were in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, working on graphical models (Conditional Random Fields in particular) for image segmentation. I have used CT image volumetric data for medical image segmentation and more recently have been looking into use of videos. My co-advisors are Dr. Chris Pal and Dr. Henry Kautz.
I interned at Google in the summer of 2012 working of matching images to YouTube videos with the Machine perception team in Google Research and also had worked the summer before in 2011 on full body human pose estimation with the Google Products team.
I spent the summer of 2008 as an intern at Carestream Health Inc. where I worked on medical document classification using different learning models.
I was previously involved in a Computer Aided Diagnosis project (Segmentation of vertebral columns from MR scans) at University at Buffalo (UB) under the guidance of Dr. Vipin Chaudhary. During my Masters at UB, I worked under Dr. Peter Scott on object recognition. I was also involved as a research assistant in projects related to document analysis in CEDAR and image reconstruction at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at UB.


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The past week or so, the humans at Gentle Paws have been scurrying around trying to drum up publicity for the upcoming Adoption Drive. We worked together to distribute more than 2000 flyers to private estates in Pasir Ris, Loyang, Simei, Kembangan, Telok Kurau and Yishun. To date, the calls that we have received querying about the drive are few and far between. Should we be getting worried?
Rescuing dogs off the streets is the glamourous part of the process. But dog rescue doesn't stop there. Dog rescue is a process of trying to find a better home for the dog as compared to the streets. While we try to build as good a home as possible for our dogs, the sad truth is... the shelter shouldn't be a permanent abode for the dogs. The shelter was meant to be the go-between place where dogs stop over before they find an owner and a home. Adoption doesn't sound like much but it is the most critical part of the rescue process. Being an adopter, it is you who puts the "happily" in the dog's happily ever after. Without adopters coming forward and stepping up to the plate, it is hard for dog rescue to go on. So if you are thinking of getting a dog, on behalf of the furkids at Gentle Paws and every other shelter out there, we beseech you to adopt and not buy. By that simple decision alone, you have no idea the world of good that you're doing.
While adoption is important, we are only on the look out for suitable homes. We're not so desperate to send our dogs packing to the extent of shoving them into the arms of adopters who are uncertain about what they are doing or those with ulterior motives. Dogs are habitual creatures. Uprooting them from their daily routine will disrupt their lives in very negative ways, be it physically or mentally. Because of our past experiences with a string of bad adopters, we are now more wary and more guarded. Nevertheless, we still hold out the hope that a good home exists somewhere out there.
While the flea market will be held with the adoption drive, the event will be no carnival. We are on the look out for serious adopters. There will be an adoption booth for adopters to discuss the type of dogs that they want and we will recommend dogs that suit their requirements. This event will not be a free-for-all where adopters simply choose dogs based on their looks. The look of a dog is one factor in a decision. More often than not, it is the personality of the dog and the interaction between dog and adopter that is more critical in helping the latter make his decision.
If you can't adopt but would like to help sponsor a dog at the shelter, you may want to come down as well. There'll be a Sponsor-A-Dog booth manned by our members who will introduce you to the program and the dog that you are interested in sponsoring. In short, the Sponsor-A-Dog (SAD) program involves a monthly contribution that goes towards the expenses of a particular dog which includes lodging, food and medical supplies. When times are hard and we're facing unexpected medical crises, it is the SAD program that helps props us up by contributing to the ongoing daily expenses that still have to be paid.
The shelter will be closed to all new volunteers this weekend. The Pledge-A-Walk program will take a hiatus for one week to facilitate the adoption drive and flea market. If you're interested in sponsoring a dog or even better, if you're thinking of adopting one, we urge you to make a trip down to Gentle Paws. If you wish to browse our flea market to see what goods we have, please come on down as well! We'll be having a short obedience performance conducted by a few of our volunteers and their selected dogs. These dogs have trained on short notice and we hope you watch on with open hearts.
For all our worries, at the end of the day, it matters not whether we manage to get any successful adoptions. What is more significant is that by organising such events, we are effectively raising awareness of not just our shelter, but also the plight of shelter dogs all around. Shelter dogs have been subjected to the negative side of human nature. They have witnessed firsthand the carelessness, heartlessness and cruelty that us humans are capable of doling out. Some have sworn off humans for good. But a good majority continue to yearn for human affection, ever ready to forgive the wrongs that we have committed. Every day I flip through the Classifieds and see pet shops advertising the sale of puppies. It's time we stood up for shelter dogs and let the world, in particular, fellow Singaporeans, know of their existence and their plight. If anything, we hope the 2000 flyers that we distributed went some way in achieving this goal. Even if 1% of the recipients actually read the flyers, it's something. It's a baby step but it's a step anyway. It's also the perfect way to round up what has been a rather fruitful year for us.
With that, I've said all there is to be said. Wish us luck this weekend! We'll be reporting back to you guys after we've wrapped up Adoption Drive 2010. I apologise sincerely for the intermitten updates. Until then, I'm over and out.


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Best Places for Panama City Spring Break
Panama is one of the best countries to enjoy students' spring break. This is not just a great, but also a safe country to visit for spring break even for underage students. This is why many students spend their time for enjoying the Panama City Spring Break because of the safety and beauty. One of the reasons why Panama is the right place for Spring Break is because of the warm air. This is good both at day and night due to the friendly air. The Panama City beach can be the best place in Panama for Panama City Spring Break because there are many fun activities can be done here.
If you are planning to spend your Spring Break in Panama, firstly you need to decide where you want to go. There are many beautiful beaches to choose from, but not all of them are good enough for a Spring Break. Choosing the beach means that you also choose the resort because the beach and resort would be two things that cannot be separated. The resort should near the beach you want to enjoy the Spring Break. Also, it should be a place where you can do many fun activities during your Spring Break. The good news is Panama City Spring Break offers many interesting things to enjoy.
When it is about Spring Break, the Seahaven Beach Resort can be the best place to choose. This is very famous of Panama City Spring Break and this is why it has another name, Spring Break Ground Zero. Located at the heart of the Panama City, the Seahaven offers almost anything needed for Spring Break. This is more than just a place for having fun during your Spring Break, but this is where you can find the best Spring Break accommodations with almost 1,00 units offered with several different of room types. This is why it is considered as the most popular Panama City Spring Break.
The Palm Grove is also another great place for Spring Breakers because it offers many interesting things. The strategic location of the Palm Grove allows you to enjoy many different attractions of the Panama City. Whether you want to go shopping or hanging out with your friends at cafe, you can easily do everything for interesting Spring Break here. So, while there are many Panama City Spring Break options, you can decide which one that you prefer to go with your friends.
The Best Panama City Spring Break 2015 Reviewed by Diyan Fitria on 3:13 AM Rating:


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The Shift from TDM Networks to IP Networks: Why it Won't Happen Overnight Whitepaper
It's no secret that there is a significant trend related to the growth of IP (Internet Protocol) networks, as well as a serious movement toward making IP the de facto network. However, the older TDM (Time- Division Multiplexing) networks still exist, which begs the question: If there is a huge push to switch to IP networks, then do TDM networks still even need to exist? Or can and should they automatically be replaced by IP as soon as possible? There are actually a couple of reasons why TDM networks still need to continue to exist, at least for awhile, despite the fact that IP networks are taking over. One reason relates to the technology itself. The other relates to regulatory issues and previous infrastructure investment costs.
Even though the TDM concept, which includes the traditional POTS (plain old telephone service) voice network, has an "age" connotation to it, it continues to have value, according to Andy Heins, operations manager in the Communications Division of Finley Engineering. "There are a lot of devices that still run on a TDM network and need a POTS line to function," he said. Examples include alarm systems, security systems, and ATMs. The fact that these systems currently rely on TDM systems to function raises a couple of challenges to service providers who think that they should be able to switch to IP systems to continue to function.
One challenge relates to reliability. "Many municipalities still have subscribers, such as banks, that want the reliability afforded by a T1 line," said Heins. Granted, this technology costs more, but reliability is more important to these subscribers than is cost. As such, you can't just eliminate TDM, simply because it seems antiquated. It still does serve a purpose. Over time, however, as technology continues to evolve, IP networks will improve in terms of reliability. When this happens, according to Heins, TDM networks will then finally begin to fade away.
The other challenge relates to cost. Even when IP technology does evolve to where its reliability matches that of TDM for alarm, security and ATM technology needs, subscribers may still not want to automatically switch their systems over to IP, because of embedded investment costs. For example, if a bank has an alarm system operating on a TDM network, and if that system works well, that bank may not be particularly interested in switching over to a new alarm system that might cost them $8,000, simply because it can operate on an IP network. That is, the bank will likely want to wait until its TDM-based investment is nearing the end of its life cycle before it is willing to invest in a new IP-based alarm system.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was the first significant overhaul of U.S. telecommunications law in more than 60 years, opened the door to competition by the FCC. "At that point in time, we transitioned from the regulated utility model of doing business to the market-based environment that we live in today," said Heins. The 1996 Act remained the law until the new act that the FCC introduced in 2010, the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. One result of this act is that it placed a lot of providers between a rock and a hard place. "It is very difficult to tell an industry that has spent billions of dollars on embedded investments, which they paid for in a regulated environment, that they need to throw those investments away," said Heins. Most of the investments that the companies in this industry have made since 1996 were based on 20-year payback cycles, so, in some cases, payback may not occur for another several years.
Deregulation is causing other challenges, in that there are certain states that have deregulated telecom. In those states, incumbent carriers are precluded from having "carrier of last resort" obligations. "Carrier of last resort" means that, if every other carrier leaves an area, there would still be one carrier that was required to remain to provide service.
In a regulated environment, a "carrier of last resort" was expected to set up facilities with every customer, whether they took service or not, and there was a payback on the carrier's investment, because it was willing to take on that obligation.
As telecom was deregulated, though, the economic incentives for being "carrier of last resort" were eliminated. In addition, there were no more requirements to have a "carrier of last resort." As a result, according to Heins, a carrier isn't going to make an investment somewhere just because, some day, someone might have a phone line. "There are areas that are starting to look like this – where the business case for infrastructure development does not exist, so there is no 'carrier of last resort,'" he said. If and when the market decides that there is a business case in a certain area, then someone will make the decision to serve it from a purely economic standpoint. However, problems can still exist. "There have actually been some situations where carriers have gone bankrupt, meaning that there are no carriers remaining in place to serve those areas," said Heins.
This can lead to problems related to lack of public safety and other serious problems, in which cases the municipalities themselves may need to step in and begin offering this service.
Steven P. Senne, P.E., chief technology officer for Finley Engineering, sees similar problems. "As municipal utilities start to look at doing a broadband service or telephone service, they might prefer having everything on an IP network, but they may find that they also need to support some legacy TDM circuits, the biggest of these being ISDN-PRI," said Senne. PRI (Primary Rate Interface) is a standardized telecommunications service level within the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). "That is, if ABC Company has a legacy TDM system, the municipality may need to be able to interface with that equipment."
There can also be what Senne calls "far end problems.""You may be the service provider for ABC Company, and you can offer them Internet or other new services, but they may not be able to accept these services because of what is available as an interconnect on the far end," he said. For example, if the business currently has a PRI between two office locations, and you want to try to convert them to an ethernet connection on your local end, you may not be able to do so, because the far end may not be able to be converted.
According to Senne, it will probably take five to ten years to get rid of all of the existing TDM circuits. In the meantime, municipalities will need to be able to provide service for both TDM and IP networks.
Is there a need to explain any of this to subscribers or to the public as a whole? Probably not, according to Heins. "In fact, the general public usually doesn't have any knowledge of the underlying infrastructure that makes these things happen," he said.


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How do I take diclofenac?
Diclofenac comes in various forms.
- The diclofenac dose prescribed, how often to take it and how long for depends on what's causing your pain and the form of diclofenac you're using.
- You might be prescribed diclofenac to take only when needed, for example to relieve a migraine. Or, if you have more long-term or ongoing pain, for example because you are recovering from an injury or you have arthritis, your doctor may ask you to take diclofenac every day on a regular basis. This gives a better anti-inflammatory effect and avoids the painkilling effect wearing off, which will provide better pain relief.
- If you need to take diclofenac for long periods of time your doctor may also prescribe you a medicine to help protect your stomach.
- It's important to follow the instructions given by your doctor and printed in the leaflet that comes with the medicine. Never take more than the recommended dose of diclofenac and always use the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible time to relieve your symptoms.
Diclofenac sodium gastro-resistant tablets
- These have a special coating that allows the tablet to pass through the stomach before it dissolves, reducing the risk of stomach irritation and indigestion.
- This type of tablet is usually taken two or three times a day, as directed by your doctor.
- These tablets should be swallowed whole with a drink and not broken, crushed or chewed.
- They can be taken either with or without food.
- Don't take antacids (indigestion remedies) at the same time of day as these tablets, because these stop the special stomach-protecting coating of the tablet from working.
Diclofenac sodium modified-release tablets and capsules
- These contain higher doses of diclofenac and are designed to release this slowly and continuously over a few hours as the medicine passes through the gut. This provides more prolonged relief from inflammation and pain.
- These forms of diclofenac are usually taken once or twice a day, depending on the brand prescribed and the instructions given by your doctor.
- Brands include Dicloflex Retard, Dicloflex SR, Econac SR, Econac XL, Enstar XL, Fenactol Retard, Fenactol SR, Flamrase SR, Volsaid Retard, Voltarol Retard, Voltarol SR, Diclomax Retard, Diclomax SR, Motifene and Rhumalgan XL.
- Modified-release tablets and capsules should be swallowed whole with a drink and not broken, crushed or chewed.
- They should be taken with or after food or a drink of milk.
Diclofenac sodium dispersible tablets
- These are dissolved in a glass of water before taking, which allows the diclofenac to be quickly absorbed from the stomach. This type of tablet relieves pain faster than other types of diclofenac tablet, but is more likely to irritate the stomach. They shouldn't be used for longer than three months.
- This type of tablet is usually taken two or three times a day, as directed by your doctor.
- The tablet should be taken with or after food or a drink of milk to help avoid irritating the stomach.
Diclofenac potassium tablets
- Diclofenac potassium is absorbed into the body faster than diclofenac sodium, so tablets containing the potassium salt start to work more quickly.
- These tablets are usually taken two or three times a day, as directed by your doctor.
- They should be taken with or after food or a drink of milk to avoid irritating the stomach.
Diclofenac suppositories
- Suppositories can be especially useful for people who can't take diclofenac by mouth, for example because they feel or are being sick, or have just had an operation.
- The suppositories melt in the rectum and the diclofenac is absorbed into the bloodstream through the rich supply of blood vessels found in this area.
Diclofenac can also be given by injection when administration by mouth is not possible, for example for pain following surgery. The injection is given into a muscle or via a drip into a vein (intravenous infusion).
What should I do if I forget a dose of diclofenac?
- Try to space your doses evenly. If you forget to take a diclofenac dose at your usual time take it as soon as you remember, unless it is nearly time for your next dose. In this case just leave out the forgotten dose and take the next dose as usual. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed dose.
- What is diclofenac used for and what should I know before taking it?
- Who shouldn't take diclofenac?
- What are the possible side effects of diclofenac?
- Can I take other medicines with diclofenac?
Last updated: 11.10.2016


text: "If you've lost your life's true passion (or if you're struggling desperately to find passion in the first place), don't sweat it. Back off for a while. But don't go idle, either. Just try something different, something you don't care about so much. Why not try following mere curiosity, with its humble, roundabout magic? At the very least, it will keep you pleasantly distracted while life sorts itself out. At the very most, your curiosity may surprise you. Before you even realize what's happening, it may have led you safely all the way home."


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It could be history in the making
THE parish of Clara may be en fete in the run up to what could be a history making All-Ireland club intermediate hurling final in Croke Park on Sunday, but the players cannot get involved in the excitement.
The players are heading to Croke Park on a mission......to win what would be the first All-Ireland title for the club.
"Now that we are in the final, we want to win," insisted Clara manager, Robert Shortall. "There is a lot of excitement about the game, which is great and understandable. The fun is for everyone else. The business of the match is our responsibility.
"St Gabriel's are not heading to Croke Park for a party. They want to win, and they will take some stopping. We will have to be our guard."
The manager revealed that the Kilkenny champions didn't celebrate wildly after what was a terrific All-Ireland semi-final win over Silvermines (Tipperary), which went to extra times.
A few of the players went out on the town alright. Others didn't because they were simply exhausted, and others headed back to college. The general view in the camp was that a lot had been achieved, but much more remained to be done.
Celebration time hadn't arrived yet!
Keep touch sharp
The tough semi-final took a lot, physically and mentally, out of the players so Clara adopted the 'easy does it' approach during training last week. They had a light indoor session on the Tuesday night after the match, and then it was back to hurling and skills work on the Friday and Sunday.
"We haven't gone hard on the players," Mr Shortall explained. "It is more about resting and keeping the touch sharp rather than pushing anyone at this stage.
"We did a reasonable amount over Christmas, but you can't prepare for what we went through in the semi-final. You run on reserves at the end of a game as tough and physically demanding as that. You rely on natural talent. It was that kind of game. Everyone emptied the tank.
"It was a great effort, and victory brought huge personal satisfaction for all."
Keep the players sharp and getting them to take plenty of rest was the approach in the run up to Sunday's showdown.
"Clara playing in an All-Ireland final has a nice sound to it," Mr Shortall continued. "The real target for the year was to get back senior in Kilkenny. That is there to look forward to. In the Leinster club championship we went through the games as they came.
"Over Christmas then we took stock of things and the feeling was that a chance like this in the All-Ireland series might never come our way ever again, so you want to do. That feeling grew even stronger after the last match. The lads showed terrific fight. They want to drive on now."
A decent team
Clara, he explained, know they are a decent team and they want to enjoy the hurling journey they are on. But they are leaving nothing to chance.
"I went into the Silvermines dressing-room after the semi-final, and their spirits were on the ground," the manager explaianed. "That could easily have been us, or it could be us yet. That wasn't nice to see, but it was a remindered of how cruel sport can be. It is not something you would like to experience."
Everyone in the Clara club bought into this championship, he insisted.
"The players get it that winning is up to them," he said. "The players shouldn't sell themselves short. There could be a criticism levelled at this group of players in the past that when it came to mental strength and coming through tough games we failed to get over the line at times.
"We are not being carried away now. I am conscious, and the lads are conscious, that they will face bigger challenges than they have in the year just gone. At the same time winning is a habit. It builds confidence. Their confidence and belief are growing all the time.
"Hopefully that is something they can maintain going forward. This is the only thing that can occupy the minds now....that the game on Sunday.
"Sure, there are big challenges further down the line. But for now there is an All-Ireland to be won. For me and all the lads hurling life is about Sunday. If they could win on Sunday it could be a platform from which to drive on later in the season."


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United Colors of Benetton, which launched its 'Unhate' campaign earlier this year, has unveiled a giant dove sculpture to symbolize newfound peace at the end of the Arab Revolution. The Benetton Unhate Dove was donated on Dec. 24 by Colors Magazine to the city of Tripoli, which is celebrating Libyan Independence Day for the first time in 42 years, reports WWD.
The Benetton Unhate Dove features an exterior "plumage" made of shell cases -- it's covered in 20,000 of them! -- that were recovered by war zone residents. By giving it to the city of Tripoli as a symbol, the company aims to "oppose the culture of hate," as the executive vice president of the Benetton Group Alessandro Benetton describes.
Watch the video here to see the creation of a scale model of the Benetton Unhate Dove.
Branded Political Statues
More Stats +/-
Provocative Political Makeout Ads
Politically Infused Sculptures
Chaotic Paper Sculptures
Middle Eastern Unrest Art
Patriotic Street Art
Benetton Unhate Dove Sculpture Symbolizes Newfound Peace
- By: Katherine VongDec 28, 2011
References: creativereview & wwd
References: creativereview & wwd


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Fantasy Football Sleeper Spotlight: Jabar Gaffney
A typical fantasy football league consists of 12 teams nine starters (QB, two RBs, three WRs, TE, K, D) and anywhere from five to seven bench players. If you go with the latter bench allotment, you're looking at 16 roster spots or 192 draft picks. By that definition, any sleeper should have an average draft position about 180 or higher.
Denver Broncos WR Jabar Gaffney doesn't quite reach the 180 threshold, checking in with a ADP of 170 (61st WR) according to Mock Draft Central. He is, however, undervalued as the Broncos' number one receiver.
He will not confuse anyone for Brandon Marshall, and in some ways that's a good thing. He quietly goes about his business. Last year he hauled in 54 passes for 732 yards and 2 TDs. Head Coach Josh McDaniels is comfortable with Gaffney, having brought him over from New England last year.
So far Gaffney has had a productive preseason. He caught two passes for 37 yards in the opener against the Bengals. He followed up with six catches for 98 yards in the second game against Detroit.
The Broncos have several talented young WRs, but they will have growing pains. Eddie Royal is in his third season, but was an utter disappointment last year when many were expecting him to put up Wes Welker numbers. The Broncos drafted rookies Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, but both have battled foot injuries. Unfortunately Thomas' injury was an aggravation of a previous foot injury and it is still lingering, while Decker battled multiple injuries in college.
Thomas is the most talented WR on the Broncos, and will eventually take over as the top receiver. I just don't see that happening this season. When you are adding WR depth late in your draft, don't be afraid to take an unsexy pick like Jabar Gaffney. You don't have to be sexy, as long as you're steady.
What are your thoughts on the Broncos' WRs?


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A suspected mutation of the Rhizoctonia solani fungus has been found to be resistant to strobilurin fungicides. So far, the soil-borne fungus – which causes sheath blight in rice and aerial blight in soybeans – is only in a small area of southern Louisiana
Even so, "this is a significant discovery," said David Lanclos, Louisiana agronomic service representative for Syngenta, on Friday morning. "The situation developed last year -- primarily in Acadia Parish in the Mowata area, between Crowley and Eunice -- when we began noticing some product issues in the field. We were called and began trying to figure it out."
Lanclos and colleagues solicited input from "very experienced plant pathologists (at Syngenta's research facility) in Vero Beach, Florida."
Following a series of major tests, the pathologists "came up with (fungicide) tolerance levels for Rhizoctonia solanithat are too high for the traditional strobilurin products to work anymore."
The week of Jan. 2, "we sent information to the LSU AgCenter about it – they've been in the communication loop the whole time. Now, we must educate farmers about the discovery."
Among Lanclos' other comments:
Who first discovered it?
"Originally, one of our salesmen, Josh Zaunbrecher, who works in southern Louisiana, found it."
What was the timeline on this?
"We were called out near the end of last year's rice-growing season, just as the water was being pulled off.
"We went into the impacted area and pulled samples and got the results back after the first of the year. Preliminary results weren't good but we've now done (intense testing) that confirmed the tolerance."
The pathologists tested "for resistance to azoxystrobin (Quadris) and propiconazole (Tilt). The azoxystrobin results were mixed but not the propiconazole. In all cases tested in Vero Beach, all of the samples came back susceptible to propiconazole, which is great news. Tilt will have to be a component to a successful fungicide program in 2012 for southwest Louisiana.
"The strobilurin class of fungicide chemistry -- including Quadris, Stratego, and Headline – are not going to be effective against Rhizoctonia solani in that area. Fungicides in the same class of chemistry share the same mode of action against pathogens and therefore they are assumed to be cross-resistant."
What are the fears about the resistance moving?
"That's a very good question. It will be an educational experience for us all.
"The disease is rather unique in the way it's transferred from field to field. It isn't like a traditional rust disease with air-borne spores.
"It's mainly moved through soil and crop debris. It can be moved by people's feet walking in contaminated soil. It can move through equipment, combines, anything along those lines.
"Can we control it? At this point, the fungicides that we have available will have diminished or no control on it specifically. However, they can and will continue to have control or efficacy against lots of other diseases. The way that we are going to manage the disease is through BMP's (Best Management Practices) and, hopefully, in the future with (new) fungicides."
On suggested BMPs…
"First, we need to make sure everyone understands what this disease is and how it spreads.
"Equipment is the main spreader of the fungus. Based on that fact, we suggest equipment be pressure-washed, combines be blown out, things along those lines.
"Going into the 2012 planting season, what can we use as crop strategies to rotate away from Rhizoc? The first and, likely best, strategy is crawfish production (followed by) sorghum, corn or pasture. I fully realize that these rotation strategies don't occur overnight. It will be a long-term rotation strategy with other crops that will have to be used to combat this.
Hybrid selection extremely important
"Hybrid selection will be extremely important. We'll need to plant the hybrids and varieties with the most tolerance to Rhizoctonia solani.
"Seed treatments will be a major player, as well. Whether it's rice, corn or soybeans, you want every advantage in your favor to get a crop out of the ground and growing faster.
"Don't under- or over-fertilize -- doing that can actually" promote the fungus.
"As for plant populations, we suggest folks plant on the low side. That's true whether it's rice, soybeans, corn, grain sorghum, whatever.
"But we really must focus on cleaning equipment. We must start cleaning debris from equipment when it's moved from field to field or farm to farm."
On further research…
"Syngenta will continue testing in 2012 to extend our understanding and knowledge base of actually where and how widespread (the disease) is.
"Right now, the map is based only on the samples we were able to pull late-season last year. We pulled approximately 40 samples and were able to plate 400 isolates from those. Some samples simply didn't have Rhizoc on them.
"We will continue investing in research and development. We'll be (in the affected area) in 2012 testing a lot of our old chemistries as well as our new ones to see if there's anything that may have been missed with fungicide opportunities. We want to provide the farmers with help with this disease."
Did the discovery of this answer questions about problems that might have occurred in previous seasons?
"We did have some eyebrows raised in a couple of fields in 2010.
"We looked at a couple of (odd situations) but those could be explained away through misapplications, equipment issues, too much rainfall immediately after a (fungicide) application and things along those lines.
"This really developed last year in five or six fields."
What about flooding?
"That's one of the BMPs. We'll promote some rather non-conventional BMPs and flooding will be one of them.
"Rhizoc does have the potential to move in water – but that isn't likely to be the main avenue it will take. Plant and crop debris along with soil are the major concerns.
"For those who continue to grow rice in that area, we'll suggest burning fields. How much that will help is yet to be determined but you'll remove some organic matter and destroy crop debris.
"We'll promote increased disking at the end of the growing season.
"We'll also promote the elimination of a ratoon crop. That won't be popular, but the practice will escalate the disease incidence long-term.
"We'll suggest pulling levees and holding water over the fall and winter and fallow ground.
"However, I can't stress cleaning equipment enough."
On strobilurins and soybeans…
"This will not just impact rice.
"Rhizoctonia solanibasically develops two diseases: sheath blight in rice and aerial blight in soybeans. Aerial blight is the Number Two disease in southwest Louisiana soybeans -- second only to cercospera.
"With the (fungus) being cross-resistant to the strobilurin class, other competitor products won't have any control. Producers will be looking for alternatives."


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Somalia: Imminent execution/unfair trial: Ifraah Ali Aden (f)
Ifraah Ali Aden is in imminent danger of being executed for the murder of another woman, Suad Mohamed Aware, who was another of her husband's wives. She was convicted after an unfair trial. The warrant for her execution does not set a date, and it appears that she could be put to death at any time.


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OECD action on risks from lead may set precedent for chemicals
A new international agreement to phase out some uses of lead could result from the first stage in an OECD pilot programme on risk reduction of existing chemicals. The lead industry insists that an international phase-out plan is unjustified, and would set an unwelcome precedent for chemicals to be examined in the future. But expanding trade in lead products is prompting some OECD countries to insist that international controls are necessary.
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Tagged: donations
SocialVibe | charity:water
You may have noticed the SocialVibe link on the right had side of the page. SocialVibe helps connect people with charities. In this case, it helps my readers connect with a different charity each month. When you click on the link, you can support the featured charity without making a monetary contribution.
For the remainder of May and June, the featured charity will be charity: water. charity: water is a non-profit organization that helps bring clean drinking water to others in developing countries.
I'm sure you're asking, "You've written about water before, why water? What's the big deal?" Exactly! It is a BIG deal. Water changes everything. The time that women and children spend collecting water hours away from their home is time that they can't spend going to school, getting an education, working or raising their family. It's dangerous. Not to mention the fact the gallons of water they are hauling from the source to their home is contaminated causing diarrhea, dehydration, illness and even death. Every 19 seconds, a child in a developing country dies from a water related illness. Often times, the amount of water they collect isn't even enough for them to wash their hands and faces, let alone enough to drink.
Every $1 invested in improved water supply and sanitation yields an average of $4-$12 for the local economy, depending on the type of intervention.
There are so many ways you can help! You can donate any amount you want on charitywater.org. You can also do as the celebrities (and other awesome people) do and give up your birthday gifts in return for donations to charity: water from family and friends. Kristen Bell narrates this powerful animation explaining why clean water is such a big deal. You will definitely want to check this out… besides, it's only three minutes long!
Don't forget – 100% of your tax deductible donations go to water projects in developing countries all over the world. If you want to learn more about the amazing cause and the wells and other projects they have created, please follow them on Twitter, Facebook, or sign up for emails to find other ways you can help and get others involved. You can also visit their store to find some pretty awesome t-shirts, bracelets, hats, pendents, and more!
Your Support Helps Babies
In 11 short days, Team CharitableConnections will be walking in the March for Babies in Cedar Rapids. As we posted earlier the March of Dimes raises money for premature births and complications that can arise from having babies too soon. As the donations have started rolling in, I thought it might be nice to see where the funds go. Please visit our team page if you would like to make a donation or join us in Cedar Rapids for the March for Babies on April 29th!
Why do you donate to your favorite charity?


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An MBA or a Master of Business Administration is a post graduate programme where the students can learn the requisite knowledge and skills to fit into a business community. So, the basic and most common question is 'why MBA'? Or is it worthwhile to pursue such a study programme despite of the fact that it is too expensive to bear?
One common reason to do an MBA programme is that the average salary for an MBA graduate is considerably higher than that of an employee with a regular master qualification. Statistically, it has been established that the salary paid to an individual with an MBA degree is significantly higher than those with other degrees.
Graduates of an MBA programme, due to their qualification, can obtain and hold a higher level in management position in any reputed industry, or even they can start and operate their own business through their acquired skills and knowledge.
An MBA program provides a more diverse and wider field for graduates to expand in. Many areas are covered in this program such as Human Resource, IT, Statistics, Economics and Finance. All these areas qualify an MBA graduate to pursue a career in multiple areas in private as well as public sectors.
Business schools provides a great opportunity to the graduate students to meet new people including recruiters, key note speakers, Business personal etc. These networking activities are clearly beneficial for the students in achieving their goals in future.
For More Information :- Asia-Pacific Institute of Management
Email Id:-email@example.com
Mob No:-7042893436,7042893445
Website:- www.asiapacific.edu


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Dubious Ph.D degrees: Bihar govt tightens screw
Amidst complaints of large scale irregularities in the award of Ph.D degrees including allegations of plagiarism and recycling of the same dissertation, indiscriminate lifting of material from works done by others without any acknowledgement and ghost writing of dissertations, the government has tightened screw to make things more transparent and reduce the chances of manipulation.
In a directive issued by SA Karim, director higher education, the university officials have been asked to upload details of the Ph.D degrees awarded by the university on its own website as well the UGC website. The exercise of uploading the required information has to be completed within four weeks of the receipt of the govt directive.
Earlier, UGC made NET mandatory even for Ph.D degree holders for being eligible for appointment to the post of Assistant Professors and equivalent positions. Those obtaining Ph.D as per the 2009 UGC guidelines stipulating a set of stiff conditions including pre Ph.D test, one semester long study of research methodology, open house synopsis and viva presentation and publication of at least two papers in quality journals etc have been exempted for NET clearance.
Ironically, no university of Bihar has so far produced a single Ph.D degree holder fulfilling the stiff criteria laid down by the UGC in the year 2009. In MU, the course in research methodology was only recently introduced and the first Ph.D degree is unlikely to be awarded to candidates fulfilling UGC criteria before the year 2017.
Ruing the deterioration of Ph.D degree quality, a govt official recalled that in assembly election 2010, one the contestants, a Ph.D degree holder from MU spelt rifle as RAIPHAL and revolver as REBOLBER in the affidavit filed at the time of nomination. The document was still available on the election commission website.
The said Ph.D degree holder has won all the elections since 1990, has held important portfolios in the Nitish Kumar led govt and is a CM post aspirant for 2015 elections. Needless to say that the Ph.D degree was awarded to the RAIPHAL holder after he became an MLA.
Acknowledging the receipt of the govt directive, Sanjay Tiwari, Coordinator College Development Council said that efforts are being made to comply with the directive. Degree aspirants are being asked to submit a soft copy of the dissertation to facilitate the uploading process.
Tiwari made it clear that it would not be possible for the university to upload required details of the degrees already awarded as soft copies of such dissertations were not available. Uploading the details on UGC website may take sometime as the University will have to sign an agreement with the UGC and only after the agreement signing process, the UGC will give the password for uploading the required details, said the CCDC.


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What on earth is a Florentine Pogen?
This is a conundrum that faces every listener of Zappa's "One Size Fits All" as soon as the song titled as such begins. There is the initial, albeit superficial, conclusion that the subject of the song is connected somehow with the lore of Italy. After all, a Pogen is a member of the aristocratic class of Florence. But as this Web site reveals, a Florentine Pogen is also a cookie. And given Zappa's quirkiness, we cannot ignore that possible influence in the song's origin.
"One Size Fits All" is one of a series of albums released in the years after "The Grand Wazoo" that represent Zappa's finest work. Zappa, having honed his compositional, recording and playing techniques during the fantastic jazz fusion period he went through during the late 60s and early 70s, took all that he had learned and brought together the brashness of rock music and the story-telling capabilities inherent in a Broadway musical. It kicked off with "Over-nite Sensation" to be followed with "Apostrophe," and then "One Size Fits All." This latter album was recorded over a period of five months from December 1974 to April 1975, but many of its songs were already in development. When I saw Zappa play at the field house at Ferris State College in Big Rapids, Mich., on April 28, 1974, he played "Inca Roads." In fact, I think he opened the show with that tune. I'm pretty sure he played "Titties and Beer" during that show as well, which would be contrary to what is posted about this song at the All Music Guide.
I still prefer the guitar solos on "Over-nite Sensation" primarily because of their sheer energy. But Zappa's guitar work is brilliant on "One Size Fits All" as well, although I believe in a much more esoteric way than "Over-nite Sensation," or even "Apostrophe" for that matter; in both those recordings, the guitar work was more mainstream, albeit brilliantly mainstream.
However, I would set myself up a fool if I were to ignore Zappa's work on "One Size Fits All." Let's begin with the beginning and the solo on "Inca Roads." Apparently, there are others, in addition to me, who think that solo is remarkable on many levels, including Steve Vai. Rhythmically, "Inca Roads" is extraordinarily complex with many abrupt interruptions that apparently frustrated band members like George Duke. But Zappa's solo, recorded during a Helsinki concert, begins with an ethereal quality that musically combines the emotional opposites of suppression and expression. By the end, his guitar work sends the listener into the ether on a journey that comes very close to religious epiphany punctuated with staccato notes reaching to the quasars. And then there's George Duke's frenetic electric piano solo that captures so well the essence of a song that conjures cosmological imagery. The pace is captured vocally as well, juxtaposed with Ruth Underwood's amazing marimba work. The song closes with an acknowledgement to Underwood's performance with an "On Ruth, On Ruth, That's Ruth!"
Initial releases of the album reportedly had a flaw within "Inca Roads" with a barely noticeable skip in the track. Once it was identified, those albums in circulation but unsold were recalled and replaced with corrected versions.
We next jump into "Can't Afford No Shoes," one of two rollicking numbers on the record that also includes "Andy." This is great rock-n-roll with Zappa's unmistakable flair. And, of course, this song has its own brilliant guitar playing, a bit of Delta blues that sounds like Frank is literally bending the neck on his axe. And there is the "big finish!"
"Sofa No. 1" is simply beautiful. So melodic and still so FZ. Full of bombastic Germanic structure that it almost drips Wagner, but pulled off with such smooth panache, it can bring me near to tears.
Then there's "Po-Jama People," which begins with a guitar riff that teases you, foreshadowing another solo that is destined to rip your ears off, ironic considering the song is about people who are boring and soporific.
I already covered the debutante daisy with the color note organ, although there is another inside joke within the song regarding Perellis, who is not a figure from Florentine legend but was Zappa's manager at the time of the recording.
"Evelyn, A Modified Dog" remains one of my favorite Zappa songs because of its poetic brilliance. But then comes a song that contains a bit of personal arcana right out of Zappa's life. That reference goes with the verse "Well there's forty-four men stashed away in Tank C/And there's only one shower/And it don't apply to Bob-bee!" Zappa spent time in the San Bernardino County Jail after being convicted of a trumped up indecency charge in 1962.
I mentioned that "Andy" was another fun rollicking tune, although it starts a bit more grandiose than your basic rock-n-roll song. But after the initial question is asked of whether there is anything good inside of you, the guitar gets gritty. I really like this song because it goes to the heart of a belief that is very Buddhist, and that is there is nothing good inside of us. We are neutral. People, of course, misinterpret this notion and twist its expression to mean, well, if there's nothing good inside of us, then what's inside of us must be evil. But that is not at all what is being implied in the lyrics. It just means we are what we is, nothing else. By nature, we are very selfish creatures. It is through socialization that we are supposed to learn that by being nice to each other, we get along much better.
"Do you know what I'm really telling you? Is it something that you can understand?"
You have to love Johnny "Guitar" Watson's vocals at the end of this tune as well, so visceral, so hair-raising, it's delicious.
Then we have "Sofa No. 2," with lyrics this time taking the notion that god is everything to its absurd conclusion, that god is the chrome dinette as well. And by the way, we are god's sofa.
I rate this recording five out of five stars. Add your own rating below.
This post was edited and new content added on Jan. 4, 2009.
Album release date: June 25, 1975, Warner DiscReet Records.
Song tracks:
Inca Roads - 8:45
Can't Afford No Shoes - 2:38
Sofa No. 1 - 2:39
Po-Jama People - 7:43
Florentine Pogen - 5:27
Evelyn, A Modified Dog - 1:04
San Ber'dino - 5:57
Andy - 6:03
Sofa No. 2 - 2:47
Frank Zappa - guitars, vocals
George Duke - keyboards, synthesizers, vocals
Napoleon Murphy Brock - flute, tenor sax, vocals
Chester Thompson - drums
Tom Fowler - bass
Ruth Underwood - percussion
James Youman - bass
Johnny "Guitar" Watson - flambe vocals
Bloodshot Rollin' Red (Captain Beefheart) – harmonica
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
One Size Fits All
Posted by Richard Harrold at 10:22 PM
3 comments:
Best Zappa album, hands down. Nice review, but mention should be made of the fretless guitar used on San Ber'dino and Can't Afford No Shoes.
Brilliant songwriting on every track, amazing musicianship and awe-inspiring futuristic guitar innovations. Unbeatable.
- September 20, 2011 at 11:25 PM
- Richard Harrold said...
Thanks for pointing that out about the fretless guitar. It's gratifying that these posts are still getting comments long after they were originally published.
- September 23, 2011 at 8:12 PM
Inca roads one of zappas best pieces for touring band/ non orchestra.
- March 10, 2014 at 3:40 AM
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Hassle free, one-stop shop for school trips and youth group activities. Whether you're after a one day event, or an extended stay, we've got the activities and accomodation to suit your needs.
Activity: Sky Trail and Mini GolfPackage length: Two hoursRequirements:
Residential option available with this package
A residential option can be added to the silver and gold packages, which includes (on top of the activities):
To add residential to the following packages add the following amounts to package prices:
Lakeside rooms: £25.50 per person
Camping Arches: £15.50 per person (max 20 people)
Camping: £12.25 per person (only available in 'summer season' – 24th March – 30th September)
Minimum of 16 children required.
?Residential only package
Our Bronze, Silver and Gold Packages include a choice of the following activities:
Bronze: any paddle craft (i.e. canoe, kayak, stand up paddleboard), Raft Building or Assault Course.
Silver and Gold: any paddle craft (i.e. canoe, kayak, stand up paddleboard), Raft Building, Assault Course, Sky Trail and Mini Golf, ECombat, Human Table Football.
To book one of our school/ youth group packages, or to find out more, contact our Sales Team on:Phone: 0115 982 1212Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Welcome to Aqua Challenge - our inflatable obstacle course, with slides, climbing walls, balancing beams, demolition balls, humps, basher walls and much more! Take the challenge and race your friends and family!
Our newest activity in the Outdoor Adventure Zone! The Climbing Wall is perfect for anyone who has mastered the Sky Trail and is looking for their next adventure!
Enjoy our Adventure Holiday Club this year with amazing activities ...
Challenge the rest of your family, or a group of friends on our 9-hole Mini Golf course. Combines perfectly with the Sky Trail as the course is built around the climbing area. Group the two activities for a fun family day out.
Come and enjoy canoeing and kayaking at the home of the National Water Sports Centre. Activities run throughout the year, with canoeing being suitable for anyone aged over 18 months and kayaking aged 8 years or over.
Come and enjoy the unique thrill of riding a Segway. Gently lean forward and you're off! Then just lean back and you'll come to a smooth stop. We'll show you how to do it, then the Segway course is yours to explore.
If you've ever seen someone doing stand-up paddleboarding, you'll know how good it looks - smoothly gliding on the water while standing up. This is a water sport you really need to try.
A great activity for all ages. Dual-level adventure high ropes - all the way up to 24ft! With the first level at 12ft, and a special Sky Tykes course at 2ft, this is a great whole family day out activity.
Safe, fun... all out warfare. Come and test yourself in our Mini ECombat Laser Tag arena. Anyone 8 and over can play. A free for all style game with no teams, no rules... just shoot whoever you like... or dislike!
Step up on our Sky Tykes rope climbing course. A great way of improving your child's balance and improving their co-ordination skills. A family day out in the air!
Brand New Lazy River Tubing. Now available for families and children age 6 and over. Perfect for anyone who wishes to ride the calmer waves and enjoy our stunning views.
Take a stroll round the park. There's plenty to see all year round for the nature lover. And for kids who don't fancy a walk - we've got a playground!
There's just so much to do for families at Holme Pierrepont Country Park. You can try individual activities, or combine a few in a great value package. Plus there's plenty of places to eat and drink - make a day of it!
© Holme Pierrepont Leisure Trust
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AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) --Texas' terrorism threat is now set at "elevated" according to the latest assessment from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
An annual report, the Texas Public Safety Threat Overview, was released Friday, indicating threats from lone wolf attackers, the drug cartels and even natural disasters all combined led officials to the level.
"The threat from Mexican cartels is particularly high due to their wide range of criminal activity in Mexico and in Texas. Cartel members and associates are involved in the cross-border smuggling of people, weapons, drugs, and currency. Their operations are either run directly by cartel members, or indirectly through affiliated criminal organizations that pay fees to transit across cartel territory," the report reads in part.
The report also details threats from groups like ISIS, saying the threat is "expected to persist during the next year, due in part to the relatively high number of recent terrorism-related arrests and thwarted plots, and the prevalence of ISIS's online recruitment and incitement messaging."
"As terrorism has become more disaggregated, communities in Texas and across the nation are facing a heightened threat of terrorism, and the continued potential for attacks against civilians and members of law enforcement is a serious ongoing concern," said DPS Director Steven McCraw in a news release. "The report identifies several other unique threats to our state - including organized crime and Mexican cartels, natural disasters and cyber attacks - for which we must be prepared. With the 2017 Texas Public Safety Threat Overview in mind, DPS will continue working with our law enforcement partners to prevent, respond to and recover from all potential threats facing our state."


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Editor: Republicans in Worst Shape Since Watergate
Jim VandeHei of Politico.com says the biggest story coming off the presidential campaigns this month doesn't feature the Democratic rivals. The most interesting takeaway, he says, is the sorry state of the Republican Party and its leaders' weary resolution to anoint Sen. John McCain as savior.
VandeHei says the GOP is in the worst shape with voters that the party has seen in more than 30 years. The editor spent time recently with Republican governors, looking to preview their strategy for the presidential campaign. "It's clear they feel that the one ace in the hole that they still hold is national security and fighting terrorism," VandeHei says.
And who is the face on that ace? It's McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee known as much for his status as a Vietnam War hero as he is for his independent streak and willingness to buck party lines.
VandeHei says conservative Republicans who dismissed McCain as not Republican enough are now hoping he can reinvent — and reinvigorate — the party. Even if they won't much like the results.
For evidence of the party's dismal standing, VandeHei points to the loss to Democrats of the deeply conservative, reliably Republican seat in northern Mississippi's 1st Congressional District.
"Under no circumstances should a Republican lose that seat," VandeHei says. "The Republican brand is as damaged as I can recall."


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Amber Anderson a 27 year old Christian high school teacher has apologized for taking a 15 year old student's innocence after tacitly admitting she had a sexual relationship with the minor two years ago.
Relieved of her duties at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge the woman now faces being charged with felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.
Prior to her booking on Tuesday, Anderson had been a math teacher at her former employer for three years, whilst the alleged relationship took place during July and August of 2013.
The woman's recent arrest only came after a former student told the victim's mother.
Upon confronting her son the mother then told detectives her son divulging that he had been sexually coerced by Amber Anderson, with the pair having set about exchanging sexually explicit messages and later having sex at the woman's home.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the pair began texting each other after the minor got the teacher's phone number from another student.
The victim told police that as time progressed, 'he and [Anderson] became extremely close to one another, and the messages began to become sexual in nature.'
But it gets better.
The victim and Anderson then began to exchange nude photos of each other and began having sex in July 2013.
He would walk to a fast food restaurant near his house and Anderson would pick him up. From there the teacher would take the minor to her house where they had sex.
The victim told police this happened multiple times in July and August of 2013 until his mom found out they had been exchanging text messages.
He had deleted most of them, with the affidavit revealing the minor's mother was unaware of the 'intimate nature of the minor and the accused's relationship.'
Concerned over what she had seen, the mother confronted Anderson and told her to stop texting her son. The mother also reported the texts to the school's administration.
Responding to the assertion that the mother had reached out to the school back in 2013, Dr. Jere Melinni, a pastor and founder of the school denied any such knowledge.
'I do not know anything about this. This is the first day that I have heard anything of this nature,' he told WAFB.
'We would have taken care of it then and she would no longer have been working for us that day I heard.'
Adding: 'We're devastated and yet we are thankful that it has been exposed because that type of thing just cannot be tolerated in an academic setting like this.'
Police have checked the boy's cell phone records from the time of the alleged affair and found most of the calls and text messages happened between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The victim remains a pupil at Christian Life Academy.
Amber Anderson's former employer has since removed her biography page from their school website. Can anyone guess why?


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I have written 1.5 articles for Foundations Revealed and one for Your Wardrobe Unlock'd. These two companion sites host a wealth of information on Corset Making and Historic Costume by subscription.
The first article I wrote was for Wardrobe about Making costumes for dolls this was spurred by my entry to the Single Pattern Project of 2009. This article was the only one that was specifically requested by the editors.
The two other articles were projects that I was planing to do anyways. Though admittedly the fact that I would be paid for the Skeleton Corset article did help me convince my husband that purchasing it was a good idea.
Why did I choose to put my work on a by subscription web-page instead of publishing it for free?
1. Payment. Yeah, lets be honest and get this one out of the way. The rate that I got for my articles was $100. Now let's put this in perspective. The price I paid for the Skeleton corset was more than twice that. I also had to purchase a few materials to make a good study of it, and reproduce the busk. I spent more than $100 on materials for the 18th century maternity and nursing stays I made. So you can see I didn't really make any money off those articles.
2. There is something about having your little research projects published (and receiving payment for it) that makes you think that you really are doing something important and thus makes you want to do your best. Or at least I have found that to be the case with me.I probably wouldn't have done as good of a job on those articles if I had intended to post them to my live journal. Also I am one of those who tends to work best towards the end of a deadline.
3. Giving back to the community. By subscribing I financially show my support, but by writing, I show I care about the content. Since I am at a point where I feel I have something that is worth sharing, I should share. A certain paper magazine I subscribe too was having a lot of subscribers write in and say "I want to see an article on X, I don't care for all the Y and Z you have been publishing" they printed these letters and replied with "If you want to see and article on X, why don't you write one? We can only print what we receive and we have been getting a lot of Y and Z submitted to us." So if you want to see it, you just might need to write it!
4. Readership levels on this blog, and my own Live Journal are quite lower than the readership levels of Foundations and Wardrobe. True I could cross-post to all sorts of LJ communities, but honestly I get tired of seeing the same post multiple times on my f-list. Now this might seem boastful that I want a larger number of readers, but honestly I always secretly hope that someone has a piece of information on the topic that I missed, or a correction, so that I can learn more. I want feedback from the community.
Now let me be clear. No one has told me to write this, not even suggested it. I am not writing it because I get "goodies" for doing so, or to raise Google ratings. I just want you to know why I choose to have my articles published where in order to read them you have to subscribe, instead of for free. I enjoyed writing for Wardrobe andFoundations and may do so again in the future.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Why I write for Foundations Revealed and Your Wardrobe Unlock'd
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The life blood of Community is Trust. One more time - THE LIFEBLOOD of COMMUNITY is TRUST.
Here in a post that zeroes in on this critical point, Mark Glaser speaks about why he feels that Facebook is revealed as a business that will exploit the trust of its community. Craigslist remains true.
Here is Ben McConnell of the ever excellent Church of the Customer on the lessons:-
This is a very strategic moment for the talented Mr. Zuckerberg. The community ably demonstrated the passion it has for Facebook but in the bigger picture, it was an awesome demonstration of organizational power. The community claimed ownership of Facebook. It was a Holy Grail moment. It's what some brand managers, product developers, service companies and an array of grassroots-minded organizations pray for. It was a powerful Web 2.0 moment, too, illustrating how quickly a connected membership base can mobilize and take action.
I think this strategic moment now creates a decision fork for Facebook:
1) Acknowledge the community ownership by taking the eBay route and giving the community a voice and a vote in future development of tools and features or
2) Maintain the wheel of control like the captain of a ship and ask everyone to return to their quarters.
Facebook seems intent on following Fork Number Two. "About a week ago I created a group called Free Flow of Information on the Internet, because that's what I believe in – helping people share information with the people they want to share it with," Zuckerberg writes, embracing the notion of information transparency. But then he declares the demarcation point the community is expected to remain behind: "I'd encourage you to check it out to learn more about what guides those of us who make Facebook."
I think that this too is the holy grail for public media - we too have to create a space for the Public - We too have to give up our control in the way that eBay has.
This is I think at the heart of our struggle and this is where all the opportunity lies.
I add the core of Mark's post in the follow on -
This is Mark Glaser's main point in his post
Facebook, and similar online communities, are built on trust and the community members must believe that their personal privacy will be respected by the site owners. Especially in the case of the closed communities of Facebook, privacy was paramount. But Facebook seems to be turning its back on the college and high school audience that helped make it successful. Instead, Facebook is planning to allow anyone to join the service. The closed college communities will remain closed to the general public, but the service itself is trying to become more like the highly commercialized MySpace in a race for more, more, more eyeballs on the site.
Facebook, like MySpace, is a business, and the community members are not human beings in the eyes of Wall Street analysts — they are simply dollar signs for a valuation for a big sale to a media company. Japan's social networking site Mixi recently had an initial public offering, from which Forrester analyst Charlene Li extrapolated to mean that Facebook users were worth $18.60 each, for a total Facebook valuation of $139.5 million. That's a far cry from the $2 billion — or $285 per user — that Facebook reportedly wanted in a buyout.
The story of Facebook is the ultimate in dot-com hubris redux from the late '90s. A site builds itself up, collects millions of eyeballs and tries to go public or get bought out. Because going public is more risky these days, it's better to sidle up to a sugar daddy like Rupert Murdoch of News Corp., as MySpace did, or perhaps Yahoo .
But these young turks who want to relive the bad old dot-com boom daze should take a moment and visit Craigslist . The site rarely adds any new features, and looks largely the same as it did five or eight years ago. But founder Craig Newmark cares about his community, and stays in touch with an amazing number of community members, helping them solve their disputes and set up community guidelines.
When he plays God, he's not the vengeful God or angry God or greedy God. He's the caring God who hasn't exploited his community with flashy advertising and tons of paid walls. He makes enough money to be profitable, but doesn't drive away community members.
Hopefully Zuckerberg can see the error of his ways and keep in mind that the members of his community will only stay in the community if they feel safe, feel respected and feel heard by him. Otherwise, there are plenty of other places online for people to socialize, and there's no cost to leave and go elsewhere.
For more on the Facebook fracas, I highly recommend social networking scientist danah boyd's essay, Facebook's 'Privacy Trainwreck': Exposure, Invasion, and Drama . Here is a key passage:
…There is anger and confusion in every direction. Many people are pissed and they can't fully articulate why. Others are screaming that they're overreacting and that nothing changed. When it comes to bits, that's true. But the architecture did change this week. And with it, so did the social realities of the site. Facebook lost some of its innocence this week. Even when things return to "normal," a scar will persist. Yet, the question remains: what will the long-term social effects of this "privacy trainwreck" be?