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Local Authorities losing millions
Research released today reveals that Local Authorities across the country are losing out on millions of pounds in central Government funding for failing to build the homes their areas need. At a time when all Local Authorities have seen their funding cut and are making difficult budgetary decisions, the new figures show that Local Authorities will in future be missing out on up to £27M a year by scrapping previous plans for homes or not building enough to meet the needs of their communities
The New Homes Bonus is a cornerstone of the new 'localism' based planning system. The Government hopes it will incentivise Local Authorities – who have already seen their general funding cut – to facilitate housing construction, enabling the Coalition to meet its objective of building more homes and alleviating the country's growing housing crisis.
Last week Local Authorities across the country learnt for the first time how much they will receive from central Government this year for building homes. Some will gain over £4M in New Homes Bonus whilst others will receive nothing.
The Government's own household formation projections show we should be building 232,000 homes a year to meet the country's need. Yet figures released last week show only just over 100,000 were built in 2010 – the lowest in any peacetime year since 1923. HBF's latest Housing Pipeline report also showed Local Authorities are granting planning approvals for fewer and fewer new homes. Yet millions of families languish on Local Authority waiting lists and first time buyer numbers have collapsed.
Leeds City Council is revealed as the biggest potential loser. In recent months, and since the Government outlined the new planning system, it has scrapped plans for over 30,000 new homes. Continuing to build at its current rate of 1200 new homes a year – despite its population requiring over 5000 – could mean it loses out on over £27M a year in Bonus payments after 6 years. This money will instead go to other Local Authorities as the New Homes Bonus 'top slicing' of central Government grant is implemented.
The figures release last week for NHB 09/10 showed that;
- Tower Hamlets will get £4.28M in Bonus payments for the homes it added to its stock in 2009/10 whilst Hart in Hampshire will get nothing, having only built 10 new homes and had a net reduction in its housing stock of 39 homes.
This is despite the household projection figures showing that Hart should be building 400 new homes a year. If it did, after 6 years it would receive £3.5M a year in New Homes Bonus to spend as it wished.
Speaking today, Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of HBF said;
"The New Homes Bonus figures highlight the potential income Local Authorities can generate by building the new homes their areas need. In these austere times, with budgets being cut across the country, this money will prove invaluable. We have an acute housing crisis in this country that has seen millions join the waiting lists for Council housing, and first time buyers unable to get a foot on the property ladder.
"Local Authorities need to look hard at the difference the New Homes Bonus could make to them and work with the industry to plan properly for housing in their areas. The industry is willing to engage constructively and the financial rewards for meeting local needs will enable Authorities to fund a wide range of the services they want to provide for their electorate."
Source: HBF


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I see the memos everywhere these days – do what you love, keep doing it and it you will be where you are supposed to be, follow your passion, think positive thoughts – I advocate this sort of thing – I believe it and I am implementing. One of the most tangible and visible things I am doing is writing. I am reading Julia Cameron's the Right to Write and I am so pumped about the permission I have to just write – to write with no goals in mind, to write because that's just what I want to do. It becomes so pure and wonderful when you take away all of the clandestine motives like getting published, getting feedback, getting a grade, it just becomes the love of the art and the challenge you put forth for yourself. I am loving this place I am in and this blog will become my platform. Today is my last day of school for this school year and I plan to write and paint. I apologize for anything less than good I post but good is not my complete purpose – "doing it" is my primary objective. Anyway, to whomever visits, I hope you can find something in some of the entries that nudge you forward in your world but mostly, I hope you do what you were created to do for no other reason than you love it. And if all that I see, hear, and feel is true, you will find yourself in the place you were created to "be" in. peace
b u
p s
just a picture i love
just because…

subset: commoncrawl


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Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with all kinds of cooking shows: reality cooking shows like Come Dine with Me and competition shows like MasterChef and Chopped to food documentaries and travelogues like Bizarre Foods America. I love them all. In fact, on my bucket list, I would love to host, be a judge and compete on a number of proper food shows.
Anyway, all this preamble is related to this post. I promise.
Ever since I started watching these shows, I have come across variations of crispy succulent pork belly. The quest to achieve that super crispy skin with the juicy layer of meat under the skin has rued many a contestant. I have watched competitors get eliminated for serving less than crispy skin and have seen renowned food critics and Michelin star chefs come to tears and wax lyrical when they are served the 'perfect' pork belly.
I have never had it anywhere but I have been curious. I mean the way pork belly is described, it appears to be food for the gods. So imagine my delight when I went grocery shopping and found a decent piece of pork belly - about 200g for N320. I am sure its been sold in the stores for ages and I never paid attention but this time I had a light bulb moment. I would attempt this much talked about dish.
I remember that it has been said on almost all the shows, that the key to achieving success with pork belly, is time in the oven and simple seasoning. I used a sharp knife and made slits in criss cross lines across the skin and used salt and black pepper generously all over the piece of meat and placed in an oven dish skin side down into a pretty hot oven - about Gas Mark 4 and left it to do its thing for the first 20 minutes.
When I went back to check on it, it was already crisping up. I turned it over for another 20 minutes and then flipped it back skin side down for the last 20 minutes. When it was done, I let it rest for 5 minutes before using a very sharp knife to cut it into pieces.
So verdict: Its crispy that's for sure. The mix of crispy crunchy skin with the melt in your mouth meat is interesting but I found it way too fatty and while it can be addictive, I felt my heart's arteries clogging up. I am disappointed since I simply cannot see the appeal. Now and again sure, but I would not serve this at a dinner party or in a competition for money.
So there - Off my long list of recipes to try. I have an idea I would love to try with pork belly though - stuffed and rolled and sliced - like a roulade. One day.
So crispy crunchy pork belly - its been real.....


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Joel Bernstein Photo Exhibit - London
(Click view the slideshow)
Joel Bernstein's first UK exhibition of work from his Neil Young archives from Oct. 4 - 11 in London at Snap Galleries.
An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
by Thrasher Wheat@PermaLink: 10/03/2012 06:58:00 AM
1 comments
Great photos - have you seen the prices?
Thrasher's Wheat YouTube Channel
Clippings on A Rock n Roll Cowboy
"Your name doesn't mean a damn. It's your talent and feeling that matters." - Jimi Hendrix
(Rust in Peace)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Neil Young is my spirit animal.— Kirsty ☮ (@Gr8fullyDead) March 10, 2013
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So Who Really Was "The Godfather of Grunge"?
Speak not because it is safe, but because it is right.— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 11, 2017


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2014 will be a critical year for AgustaWestland's civil tiltrotor program
AgustaWestland is preparing for a ramp-up in the development of its AW609 civil tiltrotor as it moves toward the beginning of certification flights early next year.
The company, which bought out Bell Helicopter's share of the tiltrotor program back in 2011, admits progress has been slow on the project. However, officials point out that some of this has been due to preparatory work to boost aircraft performance and ultimately help lower the manufacturing cost when serial production of the aircraft begins in the coming years.
The company is now targeting 2017 for certification of the tiltrotor under the FAA's Powered Lift category, and first deliveries to customers are now expected to take place at the end of 2017 or early 2018.
AgustaWestland's tiltrotor flight- test team is closing in on the end of envelope exploration trials using the first and second prototypes of the aircraft based in Arlington, Texas—home of the U.S.-based AgustaWestland Tiltrotor Co.—and at Cascina Costa, AgustaWestland's main test facility near Milan.
Test pilots are expected to finalize the type's auto-rotation capabilities in the coming weeks, before starting aero-elastic stability flight trials for the certification program. Both prototypes have so far completed around 870 flight hours combined.
Plans to have the second pair of AW609 prototypes flying in 2013 and 2014 have now been pushed back, according to the AW609's program head Clive Scott. Both prototypes require final assembly but are currently stored at AgustaWestland's development facility here at Cascina Costa. In mid-2014, the third prototype, AC3, will be transferred to the company's main production site at Verigiate, where it will be assembled by a team in order to give production engineers experience in how to assemble the aircraft. That prototype will be used for the development of the anti-icing system, while AC4 will fly in 2015 and act as a testbed for the Rockwell Collins Fusion avionics suite.
Choice of the Fusion avionics suite— announced in July 2012—was, according to company engineers, a result of the aircraft's development legacy with Bell, and the company's initial choice of the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21. But AgustaWestland engineers are working to ensure that the system retains commonality with other AgustaWestland products. The company is pushing its AW139, 169 and 189 as a family of aircraft delivering reduced training requirements between each model, and some level of shared parts. The new avionics suite will introduce new features such as electronic circuit breakers, which have also been adopted for use on the company's twin-engine AW169.
Production aircraft will also feature an upgraded version of the PT6 turboshaft, the PT6C-67A, which is due to be certified in 2015. BAE Systems will provide the flight control computers for the tiltrotor's complex fly-by-wire control system, which also doubles as the digital engine control system.
The pace of tests slowed during 2013 as engineers worked on a series of drag- and weight-reduction programs. The aircraft has been given a new-design vertical stabilizer and tail cone, as well as more aerodynamic engine exhaust nozzles and changes to the rotor-spinner cones. Engineers say the changes have helped to reduce drag on the aircraft by around 10% and resulted in a "significant" weight reduction.
Maximum takeoff weight of the AW609 is currently 16,800 lb., but the company plans to add the option to boost this to around 18,000 lb. with what it calls a short-takeoff capability, using a rolling takeoff. AgustaWestland had planned to conduct flight tests using a specially built STOL strip at Cascina Costa, but this facility is yet to be built, and it may struggle to proceed due to the location's close proximity to Milan's busy Malpensa Airport. Other options at nearby airfields are currently being studied.
Despite the delays caused by the change in project leadership, some customers remain eager to get their hands on the first examples. Scott says the company holds in excess of 50 letters of interest for the aircraft from private individuals, operators and also governments. Agusta Westland is firmly aiming the aircraft at the commercial market. Contractual restrictions set by Bell mean the AW609 will never be allowed to carry any weaponry, but military use for long-range search and rescue, utility and transport is not out of the question. The company has completed a mock-up of the AW609 fuselage in a search-and-rescue configuration with a hoist installed on the upper section of the aircraft's main entry door.


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Glad this issue is getting some attention, from the press and from the scientific community.
I have friends who have gone through monstrous withdrawal experiences from these drugs. I have friends whose lives the drugs have dramatically improved.
Antidepressants have: done nothing to improve my life; improved my life; exacted significant tolls upon my life in exchange for improving it; wrecked my body without improving my life; asked me to weigh their benefits against their costs; led me to stop and restart and change dosage and change meds and abandon them and thank the gods for them over the last decade and a half; been prescribed in informed-sounding ways; been prescribed with serious discussion of withdrawal; been prescribed as if a lighthearted jaunt through a casino; been prescribed as if methodically combing a troubleshooting guide; led me to avoid them for the better part of a decade; made me functional enough to complete graduate school despite not feeling enough like myself to enjoy as much of the experience as I thought I would; made me functional enough to complete my first and last year of full-time college teaching though I didn't enjoy that experience much either.
There is nothing redeeming or good about depression. I'm glad science has given us antidepressants–sometimes they help. Sometimes they save lives. Sometimes they repair people. Sometimes they make the unbearable more bearable and life more livable.
I have serious problems with how antidepressants are prescribed so often right now that it seems as if our culture would rather medicate away how guts-crushingly shitty everything is than to do the work of fixing the large-scale social problems that make so many people depressed, hopeless, suicidal, and unable to imagine surviving another day.
This is not everyone's story. There are many depressions, many flavors, many sources, many treatments.
I'm glad we are, culturally, starting to look at the back end of depression and antidepressants, to try and make this thing–treatment, product, drug, addiction, boon, burden, mess–that already asks so much of people one day ask less.


text: "Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not."Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook, Google Plus, & Twitter. You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here.


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But even if I'm not being rude to anyone by using my phone, even if I'm alone checking my email and texts, how much is too much? When my hand cramps up from too much scrolling up and down? (Has that never happened to you?) When my eyes become blurry from looking at a bright screen for too long? I wonder, how much is too much.
I've found something, though, that makes me feel a little better about my phone usage, something that lifts me up and makes me feel better in general: faith-based apps.
One that I've been enjoying is an Advent Devotions app which has some lovely daily readings and Bible verses. We've been lighting our Advent wreath each Sunday and saying a devotion and some prayers to go with it, but it's nice to be reminded of the real meaning behind this season on a more regular basis. The hope of Christmas is so renewing and wonderful, and clicking this app each day has been a great way for me to remember that and reflect on it.
The other one I've been loving is the Jesus Calling app (I have the free trial version, but will probably buy the full version because I like it so much). Several of these devotions in the last few days have made me tear up a little because the words just felt so relevant and meaningful to my own life and the things on my heart. This is a truly uplifting app and I'm glad to have discovered it.
Of course, it goes without saying that faith-based apps aren't a replacement for prayer. But it's amazing how a short little devotion or a powerful Bible verse can really make a difference in my mood and my mindset as I go about my day. By clicking on one of these apps instead of checking my email yet again, I feel like I'm doing something good for myself, and making my phone usage just a tad bit healthier.
What do you think? Am I crazy for feeling guilty about using my phone? Do you check any good-for-you apps throughout the day? I'd love to know.
Just a reminder that if you haven't entered my wood watch giveaway, you have until Sunday night to participate! Please make sure that you are following through with your Rafflecopter entry--you can get points for leaving a comment, following me on Instagram, and several other ways. I will be verifying entries when picking a winner!


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Salam Aidilfitri pop up mosque card
I had a request to make an eid card for a good friend of mine but I was contemplating if I had the time to do so since I have my hands tied already with all the other orders of eid cards that's waiting in line. She didn't want the ready stock pop up mosque card that I made using ribbons because the card she requested is to be given to her ex boss who happens to be a man. I guess it won't be suitable to give a man a card that has ribbons and bling bling on them right? Since I didn't have time to figure out a new design for an eid card, I suggested to her that it would be less girly to use all paper instead to make the weaves since the paper would look less shiny and less girly ....and so paper weaving it is!!
Again for my pop up eid card, I kept it simple and clean cut. Since it's for a guy, it has to be even simpler. No shiny or glittery embellishments. No flowers either. Gosh....I always have trouble deciding how to design a card for a guy. I always end up going for straight lines as the main design. I love LINES! It has been my favourite since God knows when. Just simple clean lines. And weaving makes it a little complicated. Makes it a little fancy than the usual simple lines.
I do find it a bit harder to weave paper compared to ribbons. Weaving the ribbons are a lot simpler and faster. But the paper looks a lot neater. Well I guess both materials have their own specialties in their own ways.
As for the pop up mosque....I promised her that I would make it a lot fancier than the one I made before. She wanted it to be different than the rest. And that was what I came up with, with the limited time I had. Instead of using just one colour paper for the mosque, I decided to add some gold colour paper to it to somehow beautify it as minimum as possible. More engraving though.....definitely more. I'm so happy that she loved it! That's all that matters :).
You can view the card in motion at the video below. Do check it out! Thank you!


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Karachi: Apparently targeting India, Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on Tuesday said "foreign forces" are trying to destabilise this country and its crucial economic corridor with China.
Speaking at a seminar on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the coastal town of Gwadar, he said India had openly opposed the USD 46 billion project.
"The CPEC is a deep manifestation of the time-tested relations between China and Pakistan. But there are foreign forces who, realizing the potential of CPEC and wanting an influential role in the region, are working to destabilise Pakistan and the project," he said.
The Army Chief said hostile intelligence agencies are averse to the CPEC but "we will not allow anyone to create impediments and turbulence in any part of Pakistan".
Describing the project as "a corridor of peace and prosperity", he said that CPEC is a lifetime opportunity for Pakistan to improve the socio-economic equation of its underprivileged areas and populace.
However, there were "external intelligence agencies who are involved in facilitating terrorists, their abettors and financiers in Pakistan in a bid to subvert the economic corridor project," he said.
He said he had told the international community to not just acknowledge the contribution of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism but to stop external forces from helping facilitators and abettors of terrorism in Pakistan.
He said work on the CPEC was progressing at a fast pace and already 675 kilometres of roads had been completed in just two years' time.
"Transparency and good management is important for sustainability of the CPEC which will eventually benefit the people of Baluchistan and Pakistan," he said.
Talking about operation Zarb-e-Azab, General Sharif said it was not only an operation but an ideology, ideology against terrorists, extremists and corruption.
"Zarb-e-Azab is in the final stages in the tribal areas. Zarb-e-Azab is not just an operation but a wholesome ideology," he said.
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.
Updated Date: Apr 13, 2016 09:05:38 IST


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May I ride my snowmachine in the park?
The use of snowmachines is allowed on the Harding Icefield at any time and in other areas of the park when adequate snow cover and conditions exist to prevent resource damage. Except for use on the road to Exit Glacier, the parking areas, and a designated route through the Exit Glacier Campground, the use of snowmachines is prohibited within the Exit Glacier Developed Area (EGDA). Riders must obey all applicable state and federal laws, and damage to soil, plants, or disturbance of wildlife is prohibited. Please refer to the Snowmobile Regulations web page for more information regarding specific usage regulations.
May I land my airplane or helicopter in the park?
Fixed wing aircraft on wheels, floats, or skis may land anywhere in the park without special permission, provided they do not cause resource damage or disturb wildlife. Wheeled aircrafts landing on beaches should be especially aware of damage they may cause to fragile beach grasses and shorebirds. Helicopter landings are prohibited in the park without a special use permit.
What about 4 wheelers, off road motorcycles, ARGOs, and similar vehicles?
These off road vehicles (ORVs) are prohibited in the park.
How about hovercraft and airboats?
Hovercrafts are prohibited in the park. Airboats are legal but subject to applicable state and federal regulations. They are generally extremely loud and disturb wildlife and other users, so their use is discouraged.
Where can I ride my bicycle?
Bicycles are allowed anywhere except the decks of the Information Center located in Seward's small boat harbor and the trail system at Exit Glacier. The only road in the park is the road to Exit Glacier, and a bike rack is provided at the trailhead for cyclists who want to hike the last ½ mile to the glacial terminus.
Can I roller blade, skateboard, roller ski, or roller skate in the park?
These devices are allowed on the road to Exit Glacier, but not beyond the parking lot on the trail system. They are also prohibited on the decks of the Information Center in Seward for safety reasons.
Can I ride my horse in the park?
Yes, but any feed brought in must be certified as weed free, to prevent the spread of non-native vegetation in the park.


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Celebrate all the fascinating creatures that populate the American Southwest with our premium-quality desert animals socks from AbsoluteSocks.com. You'll love the fresh and fun designs we feature in this collection.
Each pair of our desert animal socks offers a unique way to add personality to your wardrobe. Plus, they make great gift items for your loved ones with a similar affinity for the desert. Don't forget to stock up on our popular e-gift certificates for those sockaholic friends and family members when you shop for fun animal socks at AbsoluteSocks.com.


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Eh, ya hoser. Eh.
Where am I? That's right, Maple Laughs fans. Couple-a-days of bidness at our labs here in the Great White North. All day travel....mostly trapped in the aluminum tube on the tarmac after a toddler ralphed like Linda Blaire in the Exorcist. Awesome. Literally nails the people in the row in front some how. Chaos erupts and it is decided we must turn the aluminum tube around and return to the gate to dump off Linda, her parents and wait for them to extract their luggage and have the cleaning crew in white chemical suits come in and sterilize.
I love my job.
Yesterday though was some nice sweet suffering on za bike. I finally got out on the roadie after way too much inside and on the 'cross bike. I had some badness with my PowerSnap as well:
If you see this on the PowerTap's CPU unit: APIdr ....you are humped. The PowerTap was flickering and needed a battery change like I've done like 10 times since getting this thing last year (that;s another story). I swapped out the CPU's 2032 battery and literally that APIdr message pops up. Uh, oh. Sphincter pucker. I call Saris and I've got to admit, the support was decent to get this specific issue resolved. The guys says nonchalantly: Oh, yeah. Um it looks like your CPU crapped out and you need to reinstall the firmware. I had to:
- Install the USB drivers on my lap top
- Download the new version of the CPU's firmware
- Connect the USB doc to the PC
- Configure the right port for the USB
- Load the firmware.
Voila. Success.
Now I get to use the thing again, but I can't connect it to CyclingPeaks or PowerAgent. Awesome. And I'm a software guy....
So I took to the roads with the fixed PowerSnap yesterday and it was fun. For those of you in the Boulder Denver area, you are intimate....maybe bored....with the "Fruit Loops." It is the perfect training ground in normal conditions for coaches to dose specific plans to have flatland/rolling power bench marks set and monitored. Doing this in good weather is fun and fast. But do this on snow and with skinny 23c tires. Crazy. SO I just buried myself and the watts were flying though and being able to sustain them was a good thing as I am still working hard to focus on January. It is MONUMENTALLY hard to stay monk-ish but I am trying. Calories in must not exceed calories used...or so I try to hold on to. Super hard.
But at least I am not vomiting....


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Guest Information for the May 15th Ceremony
New Jersey Institute of Technology's Commencement Exercises for doctoral and undergraduate and candidates will be held on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, at 8:40 a.m. at Newark's Prudential Center. Candidates receiving a master's degree will not participate in this ceremony. Please make sure you read the General Information section to ensure you have all the information you will need.
To receive Commencement updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
- 7:30 a.m. - Guests are permitted to enter Prudential Center, and will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis.
- 8:40 a.m. - Processional begins.
- 9:00 a.m. - Ceremony begins - If guests need to leave prior to the end of the ceremony, we ask that they be considerate of the remaining guests. Candidates are not permitted to leave before the end of the ceremony unless they have requested permission prior.
- 11:30 a.m. - Approximate end time of the ceremony.
Please review the Accessibility section under General Information for details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a ticket or an invitation?
No, tickets and invitations are not being distributed as you will not need one to enter the Prudential Center. We do ask that graduates limit guests to 10. Please note: sections 10 and 17 are reserved for University guests and are not a part of general admission. All seating for guests of candidates is general admission and available on a first-come basis, guests are not permitted to reserve or block off seating. If you attempt to do so, Prudential security will enforce the policy. Please refer to the seating chart below; it will also be made available to you on Commencement day along with the Commencement program booklet to help you identify the sections in which graduates are seated.
Where is commencement held and how do I get there?
The ceremony takes place at the Prudential Center, 165 Mulberry Street, Newark, NJ 07102. Directions for driving or taking public transportation to the Prudential Center can be found here. Please be mindful that you need to arrive by 7:30 a.m. and allow sufficient time to go through the security checkpoint and for the heavy traffic which can be expected at that time. Candidates begin processing at 8:40 a.m.
Where do I park?
Parking is available for a charge at the commercial lots near Prudential Center, as indicated here. Costs vary, as the lots are privately owned. Any information about discounted rates will be posted on this site, if and when it becomes available.
Where do I go after parking?
For your convenience, guests may enter through either the Prudential Center's Ford Tower or Investors Bank Tower. If you would prefer to sit on the same side as your host graduate, we recommend that you enter via the same tower they are required to enter. Below is an explanation to assist with your planning. The doors will open at 7:30 am. Only graduates and participants in the ceremony will be permitted to enter the lower level staging area. All guests must take the escalator or elevator to the guest area where they will receive their Commencement program booklet. Please remind your candidate that they are not permitted to bring personal items with them and they should leave them with you.
Candidates receiving a doctoral degree enter through the VIP entrance on Lafayette Street. They will be seated on the left-hand side as you face the stage (house left / stage right) we recommend their guests use the Ford Tower entrance on the corner of Mulberry and Lafayette Streets (the tower on the left as viewed from Mulberry Street). Guests cannot enter via the VIP entrance.
Candidates receiving a bachelor's degree from Newark College of Engineering (NCE) enter through the Ford Tower entrance on the corner of Mulberry and Lafayette Streets (the tower on the left as viewed from Mulberry Street). We recommend their guests also use this entrance.
The remaining candidates (all bachelor candidates from College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, Martin Tuchman School of Management, and Ying Wu College of Computing) enter through the Investors Bank Tower entrance on the corner of Mulberry and Edison Streets (the tower on the right as viewed from Mulberry Street). We recommend their guests also use this entrance.
May I take graduation photos or record the ceremony?
You may take photographs and/or record the graduation ceremony from your seat. Professional photographers will also be taking photographs and will reach out to the candidates after the ceremony. No one is permitted to take pictures from the aisles. If you attempt to do so you will be escorted to your seat by Prudential staff.
Will commencement be simulcast?
For guests unable to attend, the ceremony will be simulcast live on the web. To view the ceremony, please visit www.njit.edu.
Where can I purchase Commencement announcements?
If you wish to purchase Commencement announcements to send to family and friends, you can place your order at the NJIT Bookstore.
Can I purchase a copy of the yearbook?
Representatives of the Nucleus yearbook staff will be at Commencement selling yearbooks. They will be located at the top of the escalator between both entrances. Please note: You will not receive your yearbook on the day of Commencement because Commencement is included in the yearbook. If you wish to order a yearbook online you can do so here.
Where do I meet my graduate after the ceremony?
It is recommended that candidates and their guests designate a meeting area prior to entering the Prudential Center in order to eliminate confusion. No one is permitted back into the Prudential Center once they have exited. Please select a meeting location outside of the venue.
How do I obtain a visa to attend the ceremony?
NJIT does not issue letters for guests that need a visa. For your convenience, a template is available for download. If you have further questions, please contact the Office of Global Initiatives by phone: + 1 (973) 596-2451, or by email: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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My father-in-law served during the Civil War, and he told me about having measles and sleeping on a brush pile in a clearing with about eight inches of snow on the ground. I thought, "Poor fellow, how did he live through all that?" I heard him tell a neighbor, who was also a veteran, about his regiment passing through a little village in the Deep South. There was a small church and some people were gathered for a funeral. They rode out by the cemetery and took a look around, rode on and made camp about four miles from the cemetery. Under cover of darkness 20 or more men and boys went back and opened the grave. They found a wooden box about four feet wide and deep and eight feet long filled with country cured hams. They took them all back to camp.
Dolly Sanders
Doniphan, Missouri
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then CAPPER's Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from CAPPER's readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.


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Saturday, June 13, 2015
My Sheri Crafts - Ch. 159 Masculine Project
14 comments:
Very cute card!ReplyDelete
This would brighten anyone's day Glenda! Great sentiment with the pick up truck!ReplyDelete
Cute, the plaid paper on the truck looks more like texture than pattern.ReplyDelete
This is really cute, Glenda. I love that truck cut. The paper you used looks really good.ReplyDelete
SO cute! Love the design and papers. Thanks for sharing at Simply Create Too.ReplyDelete
Lisa ~ DT
The Crafting Cave
Glenda this is a perfect "pick-up" card! I'm sure it brought a smile to your friend.ReplyDelete
I love this card Glenda, the sentiment would be great for anyone of any age feeling under the weather. Nice colours too.ReplyDelete
I love me a punny card. Thanks for joining the fun over at Simply Create Too!ReplyDelete
What a fabulous masculine card Glenda! I love the papers you used and I love the kraft cardstock base. You always do such a fabulous job with your cards! I've always been a fan of you and always will be!! Hugs, BrendaReplyDelete
Super cute project congrats on your win over at bitten by the bugReplyDelete
This is such a super card Glenda. I love the colorsReplyDelete
What a great get well card! I've never made a masculine get well card and I do believe, I will be borrowing this idea in the future. Love the sentiment and the truckReplyDelete
Glenda, I did not look too closely into that cartridge. I might need that too! What a great masculine card!ReplyDelete
Oh gosh, Glenda, this is just so cute. I'm totally in love with your truck die cut! Great card!♥ReplyDelete


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Breast cancer treatment mainstays of radiation, surgery and chemo evolve.
Less is more.
In many ways, that describes the evolving philosophy of treating breast cancer, a disease that has affected the lives of3 million US women.
Increasingly, cancer specialists say, their aim is to treat the cancer successfully while minimizing or avoiding unnecessary surgery, radiation or potentially toxic drugs that can have lifelong effects.
"We've come a very long way in the last 25 years from very aggressive treatment to where we are today," says Shilpa Padia, MD, co-medical director of Breast Cancer Services for Mount Carmel Health System. "Our goals in treatment are for women to continue to be who they are and not just a breast cancer patient."
Padia and other local cancer specialists say advances in treatment have kept pace with the substantial increases in breast cancer research funding over the last few decades. "So much changes just in one year," Padia says. "People are clearly thinking outside the box."
Of all cancers, breast cancer receives the lion's share of funding.
According to Susan G. Komen, the federal government now devotes more than $850 million each year to breast cancer research, treatment and prevention—compared to $30 million in 1982. That's in addition to funding from other sources. Komen estimates it alone has invested more than $2.5 billion.
William Farrar, MD, interim physician-in-chief at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, says funding has led to quantum changes in the way specialists approach breast cancer.
In the last 30 years, Farrar says, "We have made tremendous advances in surgery, in chemotherapy and in radiation. Those are the direct result of clinical research."
The mainstays of breast cancer treatment—surgery, chemotherapy and radiation—still are the key players; however, their roles are changing and, in some cases, no longer required.
No Two Alike
Breast cancer specialists are learning that the disease often is quite different from woman to woman. Expanding knowledge of cell growth, the biologic characteristics of tumors and genetic factors that control cancer can lead to far more tailored treatment.
"They're exciting advancements," says Natalie Jones, MD, a surgical oncologist with OhioHealth. "We no longer have to lump all women together. It is becoming more personalized medicine."
Jeanna Knoble, MD, also co-medical director at Mount Carmel, says, "There is a growing realization that breast cancer is such a heterogeneous disease. It can be confusing for women if a friend or neighbor received one treatment and they are getting a different protocol, but each woman's cancer is so unique."
Here's a look at what has been trending in the multi-faceted campaign to treat a disease that can be equally complex:
Not that long ago, a breast cancer diagnosis meant radical mastectomy: complete removal of the breast, chest muscle, sections of the chest wall and all lymph nodes. The surgery was disfiguring, painful and left both physical and emotional scars.
The advent of lumpectomies (removing just the tumor) followed by radiation was a major step forward and yielded equivalent survival rates. The next frontier involved sparing lymph nodes when possible, thereby mitigating serious side effects such as lymphedema, a collection of fluid leading to swelling in the arms and legs.
It's now possible to perform sentinel biopsies using radioactive dye to show which lymph nodes are most likely to contain cancer cells. Only those lymph nodes that take up the dye are removed for further testing at the time of surgery, and that has spared about 60 percent of patients from having all nodes removed, Farrar says.
Even more exciting is the notion of avoiding surgery altogether. In research being conducted across the country, investigators are studying women who have a complete response to chemotherapy when it is used as a first-line treatment.
"We've gone from women having radical mastectomies to the possibility of no surgery," Farrar says. "That's a huge change."
Like surgery, advances in drug treatment of cancer mean that medical therapy no longer has to be as debilitating as the disease itself.
Generally, breast cancers fall into three categories, and where they fall often determines a course of treatment:
• Hormone receptor-positive cancers are affected by the hormones estrogen or progesterone. These can be treated using hormone-blocking therapy such as tamoxifen, which can spare women from toxic, traditional chemotherapy drugs. Agents called aromatase inhibitors lower estrogen levels by stopping an enzyme from converting hormones to estrogen.
• Another cancer subtype, known as HER2-positive, indicates a higher-than-normal level of a protein that promotes cancer cell growth. It now is treated with the biologic agent Herceptin and other medications.
• Triple-negative cancers are not affected by estrogen, progesterone or the HER2 protein. While they do respond to therapy, they also are more aggressive and likely to recur.
Aggressive cancers now also can be treated with neoadjutant therapy, where chemotherapy is administered first. Used most often in triple-negative cancers, the goal is to reduce tumor size so that surgery is less complicated.
A newer, valuable piece of information guiding treatment is found in oncotype scoring, which examines tumor DNA to classify the cancer as having a low, high or intermediate risk of recurring.
"With the advent of oncotype and other testing, we can identify patients who clearly need chemo. … We've gone from almost everyone getting it to only those who need it," OSU's Farrar says.
Cancer treatment choices can be complicated, according to Padia. "Women are happy to have information. When women can see those numbers, it helps them make a decision."
As with surgery and chemotherapy, radiation to kill cancer cells can cause collateral damage and also can be associated with increased cancer risk. With that in mind, specialists focus on mitigating the amount of radiation a woman is exposed to during treatment. Sometimes they try to avoid it altogether.
At the James, women who meet eligibility criteria—about 60 percent of patients—can have prone radiation, in which the patient lies on her stomach, rather than on her back, as is the traditional approach. The breast falls away from the chest wall, and radiation is delivered from underneath. That reduces radiation exposure to the lungs, chest and heart wall, Farrar notes. Because it is more complicated to perform, only larger centers might have the technology and trained personnel to deliver it, he adds.
Accelerated partial breast irradiation is a localized form of radiation treatment (brachytherapy) that involves the insertion of a radioactive "seed" to kill breast cancer cells that might remain after lumpectomy surgery.
APBI is delivered via catheter twice a day over a period of five to seven days, compared to external beam radiation, which usually involves daily treatments five days a week for four to six weeks.
The radiation dose is concentrated on the tissue surrounding the lumpectomy cavity, sparing normal tissue and organs from unnecessary radiation.
A newer approach, currently used at Mount Carmel, involves a one-dose application of Intraoperative Radiation Therapy. The single dose is delivered over a period of about 20 minutes at the time of surgery. Qualified candidates generally are women between the ages of 65 and 70 with hormone-positive, stage 1 cancers, Padia says. In addition to reducing the amount of radiation exposure, IORT also can help with compliance, particularly among women who have to drive long distances to receive therapy.
Looking Forward
Experts agree that the future of breast cancer treatment will involve zeroing in on the exact nature of a woman's cancer, gauging how well it will respond to specific treatments and determining how likely it is to recur.
Toward that end, Farrar says, work continues on the identification of specific cancer subtypes. For example, a certain portion of women with triple-negative cancers experience recurrences in two to three years, "and (the cancer) comes back in a terrible way, with metastases everywhere. We want to be able to pinpoint which ones are going to be really aggressive so we can better tailor therapy."
Clinicians also place high priority on identifying additional biologic agents that specifically disrupt the tumor's makeup rather than kill cells indiscriminately.
Recent research has focused on immunotherapy, which uses the body's natural defense system to combat cancer. One area in particular involves tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, white blood cells that migrate to tumors.
Studies have suggested that patients with robust levels of these lymphocytes might respond better to treatment. The goal is to manipulate them in order to achieve better outcomes, Farrar says.
Laurie Loscocco is a freelance writer.


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Hospitals in Los Angeles County spend more on often-futile care for elderly patients at the end of life than medical centers elsewhere in California, according to a groundbreaking study to be released today.
Chronically ill Medicare patients stayed in the hospital longer, saw more doctors and received more intensive-care treatment in Los Angeles than in other metropolitan regions, including Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego, according to research by Dartmouth Medical School. There was no evidence that the care prolonged patients' lives.
Indeed, the aggressive care in hospitals might actually have hastened their deaths, the authors said, based on previous studies showing that hospitalizations can lead to infections and other deadly complications.
"It is at least equally plausible that people are being harmed by overuse than that they're benefiting ... and we know that they're spending a lot more money," said Dr. Elliott S. Fisher, a Dartmouth professor and one of the study's authors.


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Last week's channel 4 'mash-up' program where the producers swap popular show stars with one another aired to a mass audience and ended up trending on Twitter world wide! Not only did we see Davina McCall become a contestant on her very own TV show Million Pound Drop, but we also saw our favourite reality TV style icon Caggie Dunlop compete in a dine off between her fellow Made in Chelsea cast mates.
Not one to shy away from an unusual outfit choice or two, we saw Cags dress up as Pat Butcher, a Madonna-esque throwback and a country bumpkin for three of the fancy dress themed parties. But the fashion show still must go on and despite her dressing-up fun, Caggie did not disappoint in the style stakes. Have a look at what she wore and where you can find similar pieces on a high street budget...
|Caggie gives her vintage embellished dress a sophisticated look
by teaming it with a long line blazer...
|Embellished Dress
Miss Selfridge
|Suiting Jacket
|Love love love this jumper!
|The colour is unusual and the knitted fabric is very quirky, such a cool jumper...
|Knit Jumper
Miss Selfridge
|Quilted coats aren't my favourite thing at the moment, but Cag's still looks
chic as she chills on a boat - as you do in Chelsea dahhhling....
|Quilted Coat
|Caggie may be dressed as Pat Butcher here, but I've seen this coat
in previous episodes of MIC - love it!!
|Leopard Printed Coat
Happy Shopping
All Caggie Dunlop images from Come Dine With Me channel 4 Mash-Up
All product images taken from retail websites
Shop Online:


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|Canoe Club in Kihei Beach
Maui is diverse with many ecosystems in Maui: 1) tropical rainforest that includes the eastern side of Maui's Head and the area crossed by the Hana Highway, 2) the central area of flat grasslands and 3) the higher temperate zone in Haleakala. The fourth is the dry side comprised of the western part of Maui's Head, including Lahaina and Kaanapali, and the southwestern shore that includes Kihei, Wailea, and Makena. This post is about the latter.
|Beach in Wailea
Kihei was special to Bill, just like Haleakala. When he brought his family to Maui about thirty years ago, they stayed in a small condo unit in this desert side of the island. One of our missions, as we drove Kihei Road was to look for this condo. What he found instead was an unfamiliar place that was dotted by fancy golf courses and luxurious residential subdivisions. Alas, it was impossible to find the condo! After all, this is the fastest growing part of Maui.
|Bill at the Big Beach in Makena
The best beaches in Maui are in this area. Kamaole Beach Parks I, II, & III, Keawakapu Beach, Kihei Beach are local favorites but Maui's signature Big Beach is at the Makena Beach State Park. And Wailea Beach is another favorite of tourists. We even stumbled upon the colorful array of kayaks and canoes that belonged to the Maui Canoe Club at Kihei Beach. It is the largest outrigger canoe club in the world! But it was at the Big Beach where Bill could no longer resist playing with the waves.
|Views of Molokini
Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater that forms a small islet 2.5 miles off Maui near the Makena Beach State Park. The islet has an area of 23 acres. It is only 161 feet (50 m) at its highest point. Bill and his family took a ferry to the island when they were in Maui. It is touted as an excellent bird sanctuary and place for snorkeling. But we opted not to go to the island and instead had a great time looking for the best spot to take a photo of the island from the coast.
|Maalaea Harbor
|Hawaiian Shaved Ice
Before we left the area, we finally gave in to the growing desire to sample the ubiquitous Hawaiian Shaved Ice. It turned out to be hugely refreshing drink but it was a little too sweet for me. So we just split one to taste. Still hungry, we stopped at the Maui Ocean Center where the Maui Aquarium was located and found our spot at a café on the Maalaea Harbor, the gateway to Kihei. And it was a huge plate of kahlua fries.
|Black Rock and its daily diver
Then we hurried to catch the diver who performs a daily sunset ritual, diving from the Black Rock, Pu'u Keka just north of Lahaina, into the sea. We got there in time before the haunting music started to play. When he appeared, he first lighted the torches that have been set up on the rock. As he plunged into the water, many cameras simultaneously clicked. It was an exciting moment amid such a beautiful Maui sunset. And then we dined at the Sheraton Hotel beside the Black Rock.
The next day was our last, so I finally got the nerve to take a dip in the Maui waters behind our Resort. Although I still did not get my hair wet, my 120 pounds certainly got pushed and shoved by the waves. They came back frequently at regular intervals to taunt me. After all, that's what waves do. But in Maui the waves seemed more insistent. I secretly hoped that Bill would come back soon from his snorkeling activity and save his damsel in distress. Kidding aside, I concluded that I liked Maui more than Kauai! It is bigger and more diverse and definitely has more to offer. Besides, I am a big city girl!


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Clarke Remains Defiant After Lords Defeat
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has vowed to battle on with his proposed ID cards legislation after it was defeated in the Lords last night. Their Lordships, many of whom come from a law background, feel that making the cards compulsary, is an infringement of people's human rights, and as such, is beyond the power of Government. They duly voted 227 to 166 against the proposal last night. Whether Mr. Clarke will use the Parliament Act to shove the Bill down the Peers' throats remains to be seen. The parliamentary ping-pong continues.
New Immigration System Unveiled
Charles Clarke again. The Home Secretary has today unveiled a plan for a new "points-based" immigration system, which is aimed to stop abuse of the existing system by some immigrants. The proposals seem to be lifted directly from the 2005 Tory election manifesto, and indeed, Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green praised the proposed system. Clarke also called for the industry and education sectors to realise their share of responsibility when it comes to immigration.


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Photographing is a great way to express yourself and share your world. Knowing the right techniques in taking awesome pictures is a good way to make money. The tips that following detail some useful strategies for improving the quality of your photos.
The more professional you require your photos to be, the more professional the camera you will have to invest in. A dSLR camera is a great option for taking high-quality shots. For quality photos you want to use it too since that's what photographers use for great photos.
You should use digital techniques in order to shoot pictures that look like graphic pencil sketches, oil paintings, watercolors, and more. There are a variety of photo editing programs out there, but all the cool kids use Photoshop. It is easy to convert pictures to nice art pieces by choosing the "filter" button, picking your favorite medium, then clicking selection.
Here is a handy photo tip! Educate yourself about shutter speeds. There are P, M, A, and S settings on your camera. Program mode is indicated by the "P". If you choose this option, your camera will do all of the work for you because it commands the camera to judge what is right for the image. Use this setting whenever you are unsure of what it is you will be photographing.
Experiment with new ways to use your camera, and take some original pictures. When you take photographs, you should be working to develop your own personal style. You want to show the photographed item through your point of view. Stay away from taking classic pictures that people have seen a million times. Try looking for angles that are unique, and be creative.
Protect your camera equipment while traveling. Packing it in a carry on may be your best option. Take cleaning equipment and back-up batteries, as well as all the lenses you expect to make use of. Don't forget to keep in mind any limitations you have regarding space, and do not pack more equipment than you think you will need.
It is a common misconception that bright, sunny days are perfect for taking pictures. Actually, a lot of sun can make it difficult to take useable photos. Direct sunlight casts shadows where you don't want them, highlights areas of the photograph you'd rather keep dark and may make the photograph's subject squint or shut his eyes. If you're going to be taking photographs outside, try to take them early in the morning or late in the evening.
The more pictures that you take, the higher your chances will be for getting some great shots, so make sure you have a memory card that will hold a lot. You can use you memory card to store photographs that you have not had time to develop yet. A spacious memory card will also enable you to shoot in RAW, presenting more opportunities for editing in the post production phase.
Choose only the best photos to showcase or display. Avoid repetition by only choosing a small, varied selection of your best work. Your audience does not get as much out of each picture, and can become quickly bored from seeing the same photo subject matter over and over. Always try to show new perspectives, and showcase various aspects of your talent with your photography.
Write down a few notes when you take pictures. Whenever you go back and view the vast number of photos you have taken, you may not remember where and when some of them occurred. Get a small notepad and make sure you write down the number of the picture next to your description.
Often, photographers only take into account the background in a landscape photo and forget about the foreground. The foreground will be the most viewed area once the photo comes out. The foreground in each shot should be modified to add depth and increase the overall impact within the frame.
By focusing your camera before taking the actual picture and then switching the angle or moving to the side, it will cause the subject to no longer be the central point in your photo. Centering a subject is extremely common, especially among amateurs, and tends to make for a very uninteresting photograph. Try to off-center your shots so that they are more enticing to the viewers.
Blur the background of shots with people in them just a little bit. When everything in the picture is focused including the background, it will make the picture a bit busy and it will be hard for the viewers to specifically focus on the subject of the picture. You can get your subject to come closer to your camera, or adjust your f-stop settings to achieve this effect.
Whether you want to pursue photography as a profession or just want to take better amateur photos, you should learn everything there is to know about photo composition. Like any other art form, if the composition in your photo is not right, the work will suffer. Study the composition of famous photographers and keep it in mind when you shoot your own pictures in order to improve your composing skills.
One thing you will need to learn is to be absolutely still when you snap your photos. Even taking a breath can blur the photo. Even the slightest movement can mess up a shot. A fast shutter speed, a higher ISO setting and opening up the aperture to allow in more light are all effective at helping to minimize blur in handheld shots.
In life, people are trained to always create things that are almost perfectly even. Though an even, centered approach to life can be good in many areas – when considering photography, off-centered can sometimes be the best approach. Watch the auto-focus features that start to lock in the core of your shots. Override this by focusing manually, locking the focus before you capture the shot.
If you like the idea of becoming an old-school, film-and-darkroom kind of photographer, you can get yourself off to an inexpensive start by searching your local second-hand shop for a film camera. For an added effect, make use of black and white film that has an ISO 200 rating; it will work quite well for most shots. The developed film can be printed on art or handmade papers, producing interesting artistic effects.
When going somewhere new, get an idea of what things you ought to be taking pictures of. To get some pointers on where to start, head to the nearest postcard rack. You will notice recurring subjects or angles that you could try.
Educating Yourself
While it is popular to wear white in photographs, it is the hardest color to capture well in a picture. Cameras generally have an auto-focus setting that attempts to "read" the available light. Colors and shades present will affect this reading. This nearly always causes white to appear muted and lackluster in a shot.
Whether you want to take up photography as a hobby or simply learn how to improve your photographs, you can benefit by educating yourself on the elements of composition. Lackluster composition can ruin the potential of a shot, just as any piece of art in any medium needs good composition. Try educating yourself about proper composition and your photography skills will soon improve.
Read through your camera's manual. The size of a manual often makes them prohibitive to reading. People will shove them in a drawer or even toss them in the trash. Instead of losing it, take time to actually read your manual. You can take better photographs because of the mistakes you'll avoid by reading your manual.
Setting deliberate limitations can spark your creativity. As an example, you may decide to take pictures for the day that represent the concept of "sour." One thing you can try is to take 100 pictures of something that's in a room or from the same view point. By restricting yourself this way, you can force more creativity from a limited source.
Take your photo quickly. The ideal moment to capture an image usually doesn't last for long, so make sure you're always prepared to shoot. He who hesitates is lost as subjects move on, people blink, and candid moments pass unrecorded. Adjust your settings as quickly as possible, and do your best to snap your picture while the scene still looks natural.
There are three important factors you need to consider when the subject of your photograph is a landscape. These include the foreground, mid-ground and background of the image. Using these correctly is the most important part of composition, not just in photography, but other forms of visual art also.
Use the manual white balance when taking your photographs. This is an easy way to get a more professional looking photo. You will have to get used to using a manual white balance, but once you do, you will gain more creative control over your photographs.
Be conscious of the natural light. The ideal lighting for outside photos is provided by the sun when it is low on the horizon. When sun is high in the sky it will give you shadows that you do not want, or if you are taking photos of people they may squint. The optimum way to make use of the sunlight is by setting up a shot in which the subject in the photo is getting hit side on.
As you are taking photographs, one of the decisions you have to make is whether you want your subject's highlights or shadows to be in the picture. However, you can still take the photos in different conditions and then use a program such as Photoshop to combine them into a great picture.
Don't miss a shot because you're trying to correct your settings. However, don't use your camera's preset settings, either. These automatic settings might not give you the effect you want, so it's better to choose your camera settings manually. Know your camera well and use the settings that allow you to have the most control over your shots while still allowing you to adjust them in an easy and timely manner.
Your image sensor settings (ISO) can help you get very good shots if you know how to work with them. If not, they can sabotage your pictures quickly. There will be more grain visible in your photograph the higher your camera's ISO setting is. This can ruin your pictures unless you are planning on having that look.
Edit your own photos. There are so many wonderful photo editing programs available on the market today. A feature-rich editing program offers an almost limitless number of ways to modify your photographs. Aim for finding a feature-rich program that is easy to use and won't take a lot of time to learn.
Make a custom silhouette. One of the most common ways to generate a silhouette is by using the sunset. However, other methods do exist. To create a silhouette, you just need to ensure that your background is much brighter than your subject. By using an off camera flash behind the subject, or by positioning the subject in front of a bright window, you will be able to create a perfect silhouette. Just bear in mind that sometimes the outline of a body or face can highlight an unflattering feature.
A tripod is a must own if you want high quality pictures. Movements from your hands holding the camera can be noticeable whenever your shutter speed is low. Even a low-cost tripod will make this problem a thing of the past. For the most professional shots, invest in a quality tripod.
Don't limit your portrait photography to just the face. The entire human body and its individual parts can provide inspiration for amazing photographs.
Your photography talent will help you to give your family and friends pictures that they will treasure forever. If you keep practicing, you might even be able earn some money with your photographs.
While the resolution on phone cameras has increased significantly, lighting remains an issue. Many of these cameras don't have flashes, so you need to be aware of your lighting sources. Using the camera's zoom feature will also minimize the impact of shadows and sunspots.


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Return to The Tory Lover -- Contents .
from The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
by James Parton
Boston: James R. Osgood, 1864.
Part 5
PHILADELPHIA had been the scene of the keenest party strife during the absence of Dr. Franklin in Canada. After a series of elections most warmly contested, in which all the old electioneering artifices were employed, the party for Independence stormed the citadel of the Assembly, and deprived Mr. Dickinson of his ancient, compact majority. Then the doom of the Proprietary Government was sealed, and it only remained to execute the sentence. Yet it died hard. When Congress had decreed the extinction of all authority derived from the king of England, the Assembly still hesitated, adjourned from day to day, knew not what to do, until the will of the people was manifested in ways so various and unequivocal, that they could not disregard it. The struggle was given up at length; the government of Pennsylvania was declared to be dissolved; and the Assembly melted away.
For four months the great and populous province of Pennsylvania was without any thing that even pretended to be a government. There was no authority vested in any one to arrest a malefactor, suppress a riot, or compel the payment of debt. Franklin assured Sir Samuel Romilly that, during that long period, public order was perfectly preserved in every part of the State, and that no man who should have attempted to take advantage of the circumstances to evade the payment of a debt, could have borne the contempt in which he would have been held. (1) The easy, simple manner in which the people extricated themselves from a dilemma so unprecedented was still more remarkable. The process seems to have been this: The Committee of Safety recommended the people of Pennsylvania to elect delegates to a CONFERENCE. The people proceeded to elect delegates -- Philadelphia choosing twenty-five, of whom Franklin was one. On the eighteenth June the Conference met at Philadelphia, sat five days, including a Sunday, renounced allegiance to the king, swore obedience to Congress, and called upon the people to elect delegates ?? eight from Philadelphia and eight from each county -- to meet in CONVENTION, and form a constitution. The elections were held accordingly, and Dr. Franklin was one of the eight chosen by Philadelphia. All this was done, and the Convention actually assembled, in thirty-one days.
The great event of the contest had taken place, meanwhile, in Congress; where still sat seven Pennsylvanians, though the body which had elected them had, in effect, ceased to exist. Of these seven, four were opposed to the Declaration of Independence, and their leader, Mr. Dickinson, stated his objections in a last speech of much force, which would have carried conviction to the minds of' most men of large property and no enthusiasm. A man standing upon the bank of a river, in which a child was struggling for life, could make an argument against jumping in to save it, which the soundest logician in the world would pronounce unanswerable. But if he jumps in and saves the child, and bears it limp and dripping to its mother's arms, what does the sound logician say then? He says nothing. He rushes up to the wet hero, clasps him to his breast, tries to speak his love and admiration, but chokes, and cannot, and has to content himself with wringing his hand and garments, running a mile to the nearest brandy bottle, and doing the distance in twelve minutes. Great is prudence. Every great man is greatly prudent. But there come times in the lives of men and nations when the true prudence is to risk all for the sake of securing that which, being lost, nothing is worth having. A nation's freedom, a man's self-respect, when they are irrecoverably gone, every thing else may as well go.
Franklin's part in the Declaration of Independence was not important. A committee of five was elected by ballot to draft the declaration: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Mr. Jefferson, as we all know, was pressed by his colleagues to write the draft, and yielded to their solicitations. When he had finished it he showed it to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, neither of whom suggested any alterations except very few verbal ones quite unimportant. Approved unanimously by the committee, it was submitted to the House, where it was subjected to sharp criticism, and where John Adams, "the colossus of this debate," "the Atlas of the Declaration," defended it with consummate ability. Two anecdotes of Dr. Franklin, both extremely well worn, are all that we possess of him in connection with these memorable days. Mr. Jefferson relates one of them:
"When the Declaration of Independence was under the consideration of Congress, there were two or three unlucky expressions in it which gave offense to some members. The words 'Scotch and other foreign auxiliaries,' excited the ire of a gentleman or two of that country. Severe strictures on the conduct of the British king, in negativing our repeated repeals of the law which permitted the importation of slaves, were disapproved by some southern gentlemen whose reflections were not yet matured to the full abhorrence of that traffic. Although the offensive expressions were immediately yielded, these gentlemen continued their depredations on other parts of the instrument. I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, who perceived that I was not insensible to ('that I was writhing under,' he says elsewhere) these mutilations.
"'I have made it a rule,' said he, 'whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the draftsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from an incident which I will relate to you. When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprenticed hatter, having served out his time, was about to open shop for himself. His first concern was to have a handsome signboard, with a proper inscription. He composed it in these words, John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells Hats for ready Money, with a figure of a hat subjoined. But he thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. The first he showed it to thought the word hatter tautologous, because followed by the words makes hats, which showed he was a hatter. It was struck out. The next, observed that the word makes might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who made the hats; if good and to their mind they would buy, by whomsoever made. He
struck it out. A third said he thought the words for ready money were useless, as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit. Every one who purchased expected to pay. They were parted with; and the inscription now stood, 'John Thompson sells hats.' 'Sells hats?' says his next friend; 'why, nobody will expect you to give them away. What, then, is the use of that word?' It was stricken out, and hats followed, the rather as there was one painted on the board. So his inscription was reduced ultimately to John Thompson, with the figure of a hat subjoined.'"
When the members were about to sign the document, Mr. Hancock is reported to have said: "We must be unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we must all hang together." Tradition assigns to Franklin the well-known, witty reply: "Yes; we must, indeed, all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
Franklin's signature to the Declaration has the exuberant flourish under it with which he was accustomed to decorate his name. He had the gratification, at length, of seeing the vote of Pennsylvania cast for the Declaration; but it was only because Mr. Dickinson and Robert Morris chose to avoid taking their seats that day, though present in the House.
The People of Pennsylvania instantly swept aside the relics of the old proprietary party. Four days after the Fourth of July, the elections for delegates to the Constitutional Convention occurred. The result of the election in the city and county of Philadelphia, John Adams dashed off to his wife: "Dr. Franklin will be governor of Pennsylvania! The new members from this city are all in this taste – chosen because of their inflexible zeal for Independence. All the old members left out because they opposed Independence, or were lukewarm about it, Dickinson, Morris, and Allen, all fallen like grass before the scythe, notwithstanding all their vast advantages in point of fortune, family, and abilities." In the evening of this great day the triumph of the liberal party was celebrated in Philadelphia by "bonfires, bells and other great demonstrations of joy," reports Christopher Marshall. July 20th, the Convention elected nine members of Congress of whom Dr. Franklin received the highest number of votes.
When Congress had completed the great affair of the Declaration, the next business in order was to form the thirteen States into a confederacy, and to settle the terms of union. The debates on the several articles proposed were long, and, not unfrequently, warm and acrimonious, but we know little of the details, and only catch glimpses of the leading performers on the scene. Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, in their diaries and correspondence, rescue from oblivion a few words of Franklin uttered in these important discussions.
The most perplexing difficulty was to arrange a plan of voting in Congress which would give the large States their just weight, and, at the same time, afford the small States a share of real sovereignty. This is managed in our present Constitution by assigning to each State two senators, but admitting to the other House a number of representatives proportioned to population. Thus, the big brother is still the big brother, but the little brother is always a brother, equal to the biggest in every thing but inches. The old Congress could agree upon no better way than to vote on all questions by Sates, and to give to every State, great or small, one vote. To Franklin this system seemed equally absurd and dangerous; he thought that Virginia and Pennsylvania could not long be content to exert no more influence in the counsels of the Union than Delaware and Rhode Island; and that, in attempting to change the system to one more just, extreme danger to the Union would arise. He never opposed any thing with more vehemence than he did the adoption of this plan of voting. There was, indeed, one short period of this summer, when he meditated advising his State not to come into the confederation unless this article was changed, and nothing but the absolute necessity of immediate union prevented his doing so.
Mr. Adams records this remark of Franklin -- a speech in two sentences: "Let the smaller colonies give equal money and men, and then have an equal vote. But if they have an equal vote without bearing equal burdens, a confederation upon such iniquitous principles will never last long." Again: "If we had been born and bred under an unequal representation, we might bear it; but to set out with an unequal representation is unreasonable. It is said the great colonies will swallow up the less. Scotland said the same thing at the union." Here comes in a passage from Mr. Jefferson to complete the illustration. Dr. Franklin observed that "at the time of the union of England and Scotland, the Duke of Argyle was most violently opposed to that measure, and among other things predicted that, as the whale had swallowed Jonah, so Scotland would be swallowed by England. However," said the Doctor, "when Lord Bute came into the government, he soon brought into its administration so many of his countrymen, that it was found, in event, that Jonah had swallowed the whale." This little story produced a general laugh, and restored good humor.
In the course of the same debate, one of the Southern members spoke of slaves and sheep as property equally liable to taxation. To this Dr. Franklin made a reply, which Mr. Adams condenses into a sentence: "Slaves rather weaken than strengthen the state, and there is, therefore, some difference between them and sheep; sheep will never make any insurrections." In the conversation that arose on this subject, the Southern members gave free utterance to the self-evident proposition, that slavery is monstrous policy.
I should add, perhaps, that this subject of representation was one which Dr. Franklin had well considered, and upon which, while still residing in England, he had reached opinions one hundred years in advance of England. Among his papers was found a printed sheet upon which he had written, as descriptive of its contents, "Some good Whig Principles." The paper was entitled, "Declaration of those Rights of the Commonalty of Great Britain without which they cannot be free." The leading propositions were these three: "That every man of the commonalty (excepting infants, insane persons, and criminals) is, of common right, and by the laws of God, a freeman, and entitled to the free enjoyment of liberty. That liberty, or freedom, consists in having an actual share in the appointment of those who frame the laws, and who are to be the guardians of every man's life, property, and peace; for the all of one man is as dear to him as the all of another; and the poor man has an equal right, but more need, to have representatives in the Legislature than the rich one. That they who have no voice nor vote in the electing of representatives, do not enjoy liberty; but are absolutely enslaved to those who have votes, and to their representatives; for to be enslaved is to have governors whom other men have set over us, and be subject to laws made by the representatives of others, without having had representatives of our own to give consent in our behalf."
These principles so familiar to us now, and so obviously just, were startling and incredible novelties in 1770; abhorrent to nearly all Englishmen, and to great numbers of Americans. They serve to show us why Franklin should have opposed, with such unusual pertinacity, a plan of voting which gave to the smallest States as much weight in Congress as the largest. It savored of the injustice which gave to a borough of twenty cottages as many members of parliament as a great manufacturing town of a hundred thousand inhabitants, abounding in talent, intelligence, and capital.
In this memorable month of July, 1776, Congress appointed Franklin, Jefferson, and John Adams a committee to prepare a device for the seal of the Confederacy. Each of the committee, as we learn from one of Mr. Adams's letters to his wife, had an idea:" (2) Dr. Franklin proposes, Moses lifting up his wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh, in his chariot overwhelmed with the waters. This motto, 'Rebellion to Tyrants is obedience to God.' Mr. Jefferson has proposed, The children of Israel in the wilderness; led by a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night; and on the other side, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon Chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed. I proposed, The choice of Hercules, as engraved by Gribelin, in some editions of Lord Shaftesbury's works. The hero resting on his club; VIRTUE pointing to her rugged mountain on one hand, and persuading him to ascend; SLOTH, glancing at her flowery paths of pleasure, wantonly reclining on the ground, displaying the charms both of her eloquence and person, to seduce him into vice."…
The committee deliberated on the matter for nearly six weeks, not reporting until the tenth of August. They then recommended that the Great Seal of the United States should have on one side the national arms; which arms they proposed should contain something emblematic of each of the nations from which America had been peopled; a rose for England, a thistle for Scotland, a harp for Ireland, a fleur-de-lis for France, a black eagle for Germany, a lion for the low countries. The border should consist of the arms and initials of each of the United States. For supporters, the committee recommended the goddess of Liberty in armor, holding in her right hand the spear and cap, and with her left supporting a shield; also, a figure of Justice bearing the sword and balance. Crest: "The eye of Providence in a radiant triangle, whose glory extends over the shield and beyond the figures." Motto: E Pluribus Unum. Legend round the whole: "Seal of the United States of America, MDCCLXXVI." For the other side of the seal the committee adopted Franklin's device: "Pharaoh sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand, passing through the divided waters of the Red Sea in pursuit of the Israelites. Rays from a pillar of fire in the cloud, expressive of the Divine presence and command, beaming on Moses, who stands on the shore, and extending his hand over the sea, causes it to overflow Pharaoh. Motto: 'Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.'"
Congress appears not to have approved of this elaborate design. It was ordered to lie on the table, where it remained until Dr. Franklin was gone from the country. Other committees took the seal in hand, and suppressed, at length, all of the original design except that most felicitous of mottoes, E Pluribus Unum, and the Eye of Providence.
On the arrival of the Hessians this summer, Franklin was active in carrying out the plans of Congress for their seduction. A short address was drawn up, and translated into German, offering, in the name of Congress, a tract of land to every Hessian soldier who should abandon the ignominious service to which his sovereign had sold him. Some of these addresses were printed on such paper as was commonly used for tobacco at that time; the design being to put up tobacco in them and distribute the packets among the Hessians. Another address was prepared for circulation among the officers. Whether Dr. Franklin was the originator of these devices, or only assisted in giving them effect, does not appear; nor are we informed as to their success. A few months later, if Dr. Franklin had been in Philadelphia, he would have had the delight of seeing nine hundred of the Hessian soldiers marching through the streets as prisoners of war.
The convention elected to form a Constitution and frame a government for the State of Pennsylvania, met at Philadelphia on the sixteenth of July, and sat until the twenty-eighth of September. Dr. Franklin was unanimously chosen president of the convention. Although his occupations as a member of Congress prevented him from attending regularly the sittings of this body, yet he was present during the more important debates, and exerted a controlling influence over some of its conclusions. The system of government finally adopted by the convention had the peculiarity of providing for only one House of Representatives; and in this Franklin concurred. He had seen the ill effects of a divided authority in the old proprietary government, and he had come to regard the British House of Lords in the light of an obstructive nuisance merely. He was of opinion that a single representative body would be more effective in promoting good measures, and less liable to intrigue and corruption than two bodies. He afterwards defended this feature of the Constitution of Pennsylvania in these terms:
"The wisdom of a few members in one single legislative body may it not frequently stifle bad motions in their infancy, and so prevent their being adopted? whereas, if those wise men, in case of a double legislature, should happen to be in that branch wherein the motion did not arise, may it not, after being adopted by the other, occasion long disputes and contentions between the two bodies, expensive to the public, obstructing the public business, and promoting factions among the people, many tempers naturally adhering obstinately to measures they have once publicly adopted? Have we not seen, in one of our neighboring States, a bad measure adopted by one branch of the legislature for want of the assistance of some more intelligent members who had been packed into the other, occasion many debates, conducted with much asperity, which could not be settled but by an expensive general appeal to the public?... The division of the legislature into two or three branches in England, was it the product of wisdom, or the effect of necessity, arising from the pre-existing prevalence of an odious feudal system? which government, notwithstanding this division, is now become, in fact, an absolute monarchy; since the king, by bribing the representatives with the people's money, carries, by his ministers, all the measures that please him; which is equivalent to governing without a Parliament, and renders the machine of government much more complex and expensive, and, from its being more complex, more easily put out of order. Has not the famous political fable of the snake, with two heads and one body, some useful instruction contained in it? She was going to a brook to drink, and in her way was to pass through a hedge, a twig of which opposed her direct course; one head chose to go on the right side of the twig, the other on the left; so that time was spent in the contest, and, before the decision was completed, the poor snake died with thirst."
If Dr. Franklin had lived to our day, he might have drawn a different inference from the example of the English House of Lords. He would, perhaps, have pointed to Great Britain, and said: "Behold, my Pennsylvanians, a vast empire governed by a single House, namely, the House of Commons! The House of Lords as a governing power, is so nearly extinct, that if it were to vanish entirely, the chief practical effect of the event would be to give the Times a little more room for the debates of the other House." Perhaps, too, he would have made some observations upon the long periods when the Senate of the United States seemed the impregnable stronghold of every thing that was false, corrupt, and reactionary; and shown how, between the two houses, the most indubitably just measures have often been slipped into oblivion. He might have quoted, with very good effect, a remark made by the late Senator Douglas to Mr. Horace Greeley, when the latter gentleman was a member of the House of Representatives: "If the House does not stop passing retrenchment bills for Buncombe, and then running to the Senate and begging Senators to stop them there, I, for one, will vote to put through the next mileage-reduction bill that comes to the Senate, just to punish members for their hypocrisy." However, this is a great question, and much may be said on both sides. Experience, not argument, will settle it.
The last act of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania was to pass the following Resolution: "Resolved unanimously; That the thanks of this Convention be given to the President for the honor he has done it by filling the chair during the debates on the most important parts of the Bill of Rights and frame of Government, and for his able and disinterested advice thereon."
Such are the slight, occasional traces of Franklin, in these summer weeks of 1776, which the writings of the time afford us. How inadequate they are! How little they reveal to us of the mighty stir and ferment of the period! The chroniclers of those important days tell us scarcely any thing of what they felt; their drawing is mostly in outline, without color or shading. For example, when a British fleet in the Delaware brought the war within hearing of the Philadelphians, Christopher Marshall begins the entry in his diary for that day with the business-like expression, that "Sundry pieces of news are circulated about town;" one of which was the arrival of the British fleet. The worthy druggist catalogued the most startling items of intelligence as he would a new invoice of herbs. Other sundries of the same day were, the arrival off Sandy Hook of a prodigious British fleet and army; the conveyance to Connecticut of Governor Franklin; and the total ruin of the patriot cause in Canada. Think what must have been the effect, as the tidings flew from street to street, from house to house, from room to room, of sedate, domestic Philadelphia; neighbor hurrying with it to neighbor, the well whispering it to the sick, Committees of Safety gathering, and all the streets in the warm evenings filled with knots and groups of anxious men. Awful rumors were in the air. July the first, Mr. Marshall records that information had been brought in to the Committee of Safety by a combmaker, that "not less than four different clubs of Tories" were in the habit of meeting in Philadelphia: and that frequently! At such a time as this! Under the very nose of Congress!
In those first days of July down came all the King's Arms, from court rooms, from taverns, from government houses and pretentious shops; those of the State House being taken down with ceremony in the presence of thousands of people, placed upon the top of a vast heap of tar barrels, and gloriously burnt. All this, while a British fleet of a hundred and twenty sail lay in New York harbor. What a hurrying forward of troops, too, as the greatness of Lord Howe's fleet, and the number of the troops in it, became known! Six thousand Pennsylvanians, encamped at Lancaster, were ordered to make all speed to Brunswick, in New Jersey, the rendezvous of the troops of both provinces; and Christopher Marshall went about the streets of Philadelphia collecting awnings to make tents for them. Troops passed through the city nearly every day on their way to New York. July 14th, "sixteen shallops with Maryland troops going to Trenton, amounting, it is said, to eleven hundred." Same day, two or three companies from Cumberland County came in; they stay all night; to Trenton on the morrow: "the whole, it is said, in high spirits."
August 28th, Dr. Franklin concluded one of his letters to General Gates with these words: "While I am writing comes an account that the armies were engaged on Long Island, the event unknown, which throws us into anxious suspense. God grant success." It was three days before the people of Philadelphia knew all the extent of the disaster, including the retreat from Long Island.
Mr. Marshall, in his diary for August 31st, gives information to posterity of two events. One was, that the said Christopher, on that day, got in his winter's wood, eleven cords and a half, price £10, and for hauling, carrying, and piling, £2 2s. 10d. Having recorded this always cheering circumstance, he proceeded to state, in the same number of lines, namely six, that Gen. Washington had got his army safely and in good order over the East River to New York, with all his field-pieces and stores; and that, while General Sullivan and Lord Stirling were prisoners in the enemy's hands, it was rumored that "our people" had killed two of the British generals. Still the troops went forward. Three thousand left Philadelphia within two days after the news came of the defeat upon Long Island.
Amid such scenes and such events, Dr. Franklin lived and labored during the summer of 1776.
1. Life of Sir Samuel Romilly, Appendix.
2. "American Archives," Fifth Series, i., 944.
Return to The Tory Lover -- Contents .


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Defendant's mother testifies to his bizarre statements after arrest
Guadalajara -
In an unusual hearing, a subcommittee of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony in Washington this morning from several witnesses in the case of Marine reserve Sgt. Andrew Paul Tahmooressi, who is on trial in a Tijuana federal court for the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Tahmooressi was arrested on Mar. 31, 2014 after entering Baja California state at the San Ysidro crossing, south of San Diego. He and his attorneys and supporters, which include many on Capitol Hill, have attributed events to the sergeant's "confusion" and poor road signage near the international frontier.
Tahmooresi, who served tours of duty in Afghanistan, was purportedly in the San Diego area seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Many American press sources have reported for months that the 25 year old Marine was unfamiliar with the border crossing, and mistakenly made a wrong turn while trying to return to U.S. terrain. But Mexican prosecutors and U.S. State Dept. officials have said that Tahmooresi spent much of the 24 hours prior to his arrest in Tijuana, and had entered, exited and then reentered Mexico two or three times the same day. One of Mexico's most liberal, rabidly anti-government investigative journals reported months ago that Tahmooresi's border crossing was "no accident."
The weapons and ammunition were found in Tahmooresi's vehicle by Mexican customs agents and military personnel after his final entry. Mexico's federal Procuraduría insists that the sergeant is being prosecuted in strict compliance with national law, under which the severest penalties await violators of the country's draconian firearms statutes.
Although Sgt. Tahmooressi's latest attorney has not altogether abandoned the "accidental entry" defense, the case has dramatically shifted focus in recent days. Flamboyant Tijuana defense counsel Fernando Benítez' principal argument is now that Tahmooresi is seriously ill with PTSD, and contends the Mexican penal system is unable to accommodate his urgent medical needs. The nation's highest appellate tribunal, the Supreme Judicial Court, has sometimes applied emerging international human rights standards in resolving criminal cases with foreign defendants, especially high profile ones.
In sworn testimony today before the Western Hemisphere subcommittee, Jill Tahmooressi, the sergeant's mother, told members what her son said in the first few days after he was detained:
Mexico has thus far not indicated that it is considering dropping the case and deporting Tahmooressi, but the Marine's vocal network of U.S. supporters plainly hopes that is just what happens. The Obama administration has already said it will not involve itself in the case, other than to lend routine consular assistance to the sergeant.
Tahmooressi faces years in prison if convicted of the charges. In a country where there are no juries, the presiding judge has given no indication when he may issue a decision on any of the legal issues.
June 7 - Mexico's comments on case of jailed Marine will not encourage his supporters
Sept. 9 - No Tijuana exit today for Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi
Dec. 26, 2013 - Condemned Mexican's approaching date with Texas execution chamber poses international risks for U.S.
Fernando Benítez and Jill Tahmooressi, outside Tijuana's federal court
© MGR 2014. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission


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Stuffed Animals Details…
** Stuffed Panda Bear
** Black and White
** Made by Wild Republic
** 30 inch
Now here is a cool Giant Panda for you. Because he is actually GIANT at 30 inches long. How cool is that? He is made by the Wild Republic Cuddlekins Collection, and they make all sorts of cool stuff.
He would be really cool for a little kid who just LOVES big stuffed animals, and what little one does not?
He could just sit on the floor and be crawled all over, because he sure does love the attention.
If nothing else, you could just put him in your window so that no one will mess with you.
Click to see this plush stuffed animals purchasing details!
Real live Giant Pandas are about 3 feet tall at the shoulder and about 4-6 feet long. They weigh between 200-250 pounds. That takes a whole lot of bamboo to keep these bears going and bamboo is about 99% of their diet. They are eating (or looking for more food) for 12-16 hours a day. The rest of their time is spent sleeping.


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Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee
Website: http://www.karalynnlee.com
Published October 25th 2010 by Carina Press (first published September 15th 2010)
She was an angel at the gates of Hell.
When Kenan, an incubus, finds a caged angel for sale in the Hellsgate marketplace, he sees her as a challenge. Certain that his skills in seduction will work as well on a heavenly creature as they do on mortal women, he buys Jahel, intent on having her soul as a novelty in his collection.
Knowing he must gain Jahel's trust if she is to come to his bed willingly, Kenan treats her more as his guest than as his slave. When she reveals what brought her to the mouth of Hell in the first place—retrieving the soul of a young girl she was guarding—he even offers to help her complete her mission.
Though he has promised Jahel freedom, Kenan soon realizes she has captured his heart instead. And as their passion for one another grows, they find themselves caught in a struggle between Heaven and Hell, one that will lead them to the very edge of the apocalypse...
I have to admit one of the reasons I read this eBook was because of the cover. It's a quite pretty cover. Another reason was because it deals with angels and demons but paints a different world outside of Heaven and Hell.
Kenan is quite sexy though I guess he has to be since he's an incubus. His only reason for buying Jahel was so he could sleep with her and add her soul to his collection because having an angel's soul is very rare. From the minute he brought her back to his house is was full-blown seduction. I was curious to see how Jahel would react to his charm, if she would succumb just like any other mortal woman. I would have loved to read her thought process throughout his endeavors but reading Kenan's thoughts was awesome. Watching him growing more attached to Jahel was great. Once he gets what he wants from her she leaves. He's torn yet thrilled but his love for her takes over and he journey's to find her again. When he does, he proves to her that he loves her and they give up their mortality to grow old together.
Rewind: Jehel came to find the girl she was supposed to be protecting. In my opinion, the girl turned out to be Snow White. Weird right? It was very well played though and I don't have any complaints about it. Well, except the fact that Kenan slept with the Queen (Snow White's evil stepmother or whatever.)
Back on topic. I love this story! It has some steamy sex scenes and an awesomely sketched out world. I'm giving Demon's Fall a 4 star rating.
Cesya Cuono author of the Elemental series.
View all my reviews


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Reply to: email@example.com
Date: 2007-09-19, 6:02PM EDT
Again he was working in a hole on 111 in Windham NH Near Delahunty Nurseries & Florist. He was the ONLY one with the yellow hard hat on, Someone HELP ME!!!
Location: Windham NH
RE:I seen the most PERFECT man again today!! - w4m - w4m
Reply to: firstname.lastname@example.com
Date: 2007-09-19, 6:23PM EDT
Well, let me help you.... I seen??? Great english! How about trying ' I HAVE seen, or I SAW'??? And, "Most perfect?" Thats as bad as "110%"... If I was the subject of your affection, I'd walk away after reading your post...Definately NOT an English major...
Location: S. NH
Um, definitely not.
Fortune: Put your mind into planning today. Look into the future.


text: I used two thin coats, but it could have used a third since the polish is on the sheerer side. The formula was a little thin and sheer, but gave me no problems at all and dried fairly quick. I have one other polish from the Sunshine collection, Faye, but I really need to pick up the rest of the polishes in the collection.