text:
ITMagination represents CCH Tagetik in Poland
COMPANY Profile
ITMagination is a leading IT company in Central Eastern Europe. The company creates innovative custom software and business analytical solutions using Microsoft Application Platform. ITMagination is specializing in Business Intelligence, Corporate Performance Management, Enterprise Collaboration focusing on Cloud and SharePoint, Software Development and Consulting Services.The company focuses on providing successful, proprietary solutions and services for various CA and EPG companies in following segments: Banking and Finance, Insurance, Medical and Pharmaceuticals, Oil and Energy, Construction and FMCG.
Many years of experience allowed ITMAGINATION to create a set of components and practices based on the internationally recognized standards, such as Microsoft Enterprise Library and TOGAF. The company portfolio includes prestigious prizes and awards, for example Microsoft Partner of the Year 2012 Poland and the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe.
ul. Chmielna 85/87
00-805 Warszawa
Phone: +48 22 654 40 60
Join the CCH Tagetik Partner Network!
Deliver the results your clients expect as well as generate new business.
Let's win together!


text:
A bill that would exempt major retailers from a portion of California's landmark environmental protection law is speeding through the legislature in the final hours of its 2009-2010 session, circumventing normal public review. Assembly bill 1581, which would waive environmental review when a retailer is moving into an existing building, is one of a crowded docket of bills headed for votes today , the final day for non-budget bills to be passed by the legislature and sent to the governor. The bill represents the latest example of how outside sponsors have managed to hijack the legislative process, a pattern exposed in Mercury News articles last month.
The newspaper reported that in the last session of the legislature, bills written by outside sponsors made up about 39 percent of all bills introduced. Private-interest sponsored bill were more than twice as likely to become law than those with no sponsor.
Assembly member Jared Huffman, D.-Marin, said in an interview Monday that the bill is a major attack on the California Environmental Quality Act: "With this absurd bill, the message it sends is that CEQA is now for sale, that anyone who can afford to hire a team of lobbyists and grease the wheels in the legislature can have their own special exception to our most important environmental law."
Just one year ago, the legislature first passed a bill to exempt a potential football stadium in the City of Industry from CEQA, despite warnings from opponents that the state was setting a dangerous precedent that would open the door to eviscerating the law's environmental safeguards.
The latest bill, sponsored by the California Retailers Association and introduced by Assembly member Norma Torres, D-Ontario, would permit retailers moving into empty space of up to 120,000 square feet to avoid the public review process under CEQA, which considers traffic, noise and wildlife impact. The bill provides no room for legal challenges and the costs of such impacts, if any, would fall on taxpayers, not the developer.
"We are worsening an already slippery slope created with last year's stadium exemption," said Huffman, the former chair of the Assembly's committee on natural resources.
But supporters contend the bill is a necessary tool to give the economy a jolt. The bill took a sharp turn last week, the last day for bills to be amended, state records show. Until then, AB 1581 was a bill focused on helping promote recycling, and had no outside sponsor listed.
But on Aug. 20 the point of the bill changed sharply, to its current form, and a sponsor appeared: California Retailers Association, an influential trade group representing retailers that operate over 9,000 stores and generate more than $100 billion annually in the state. Inside the halls of the capital it has been dubbed "The Walmart Bill." The lobbyist working AB1581, Bob Giroux, represents Walmart, which has spent $246,750 since last year on his firm, Lang, Hansen, O'Malley & Miller. Garrick Brown, a retail industry analyst with Colliers International, said the bill's perimeters fit perfectly with Walmart's most recent expansion efforts. Notably, the size specification noted in the bill — 120,000 square feet — is precisely Walmart's typical footprint.
"Their big emphasis now has been to shift from ground-up development to leasing existing vacant space," Brown said, land that is cheaper and more amenable to the most profitable segment of their product line: groceries.
The California bill "would be huge for them," Brown said.
A Walmart spokesperson stated in an e-mail: "As a member of the CA Retailers Association, we are supportive of their work on a number of issues that help boost local economies and create jobs, including this one."
By making such a late amendment, the bill avoided the normal scrutiny that comes from repeated readings in both houses of the legislature in the course of normal bill passage.
Bill Dombrowski, the association's president, said the bill is not a surprise attack. His group has spent the past year trying to ease state environmental law to get vacant retail space occupied. He added that talks with a sympathetic Speaker of the Assembly, John Perez, led to the last-minute bill.
Dombrowski described the bill "as good public policy," adding, "we need to do something to get this economy going," and he said comparisons with the NFL stadium bill are unfair. The Torres bill, if passed, would require new, exempted tenants to increase energy efficiency and reduce water consumption. Incoming businesses would have to comply with local land use and zoning laws. And the bill would sunset by the end of 2013, a key element for bill supporter Sen. Joe Simitian, who has vigorously opposed bending CEQA rules in the past.
"The three-year sunset was critical," said Simitian, who holds a master's degree in city planning. "But there are no adverse impacts to the environment from this bill."
But opponents are outraged by the bill. For a full year, the legislature rejected attempts by the governor and Republican legislators to expand CEQA exemptions in the wake of the NFL stadium bill.
And the legislative staffer for the Senate Environmental Quality Committee who analyzed the bill's latest language raised numerous red flags. Among them, he said the bill could stick local taxpayers with the expense of cleaning up the environmental damage of new projects, given that the developer would be exempt from many mitigation requirements, and free from lawsuit threats.
His analysis included this notation: "Several recent reports indicate Wal-Mart is interested in buying numerous smaller store sites for new neighborhood oriented supermarkets."
Contact Karen de Sá at 408-920-5781.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
IASTEM-433rd International Conference on Social Science and Humanities (ICSSH) will be held on 6th - 7th August, 2018 at Pattaya , Thailand . ICSSH is to bring together innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of Social Science and Humanities to a common forum.
Here Conferences and Programs are announced to keep update our clients and to bookmark their dates. However, Registrations are not allowed before 12 months of the conference.


text:
dgriff85 on Family Tree Circles
view: full | list
Journals and Posts
Mary Gilliam b. abt. 1834 d. aft. 1884 m. 17/11/1860 Scott co. va. she was the 2nd wife of layfette Bledsoe. 1st child was Allen bledsoe
Davis Family,Blackwater Virginia
G Peter H. Davis m. corny Fletcher,GG William Milam Davis m. Rebecca j. Beasley, ggg Wilson Davis m. Nancy J. Mulweed. Wilson and Nancy were born in S.C. but buried in lee county VA. Wilson Davis was a prisoner during the civil war at camp Douglas in Ill. He was a member the Forest Calvory for 4 years.
older brother to my grandfather Peter H Davis named Lafayette was said to be a homesteader in oklahoma and was shot in the back. Frank lived in Pacolet mill in S.C, other brothers were Rubancy, Andrew, James, & sisters were Mary,Rebecca, and Nora. If you know anything of these familys I would like to hear from you.
Fletchers of virginia
looking for information on Dudley L. Fletcher who was married to Mattie( Martha J. Fletcher) Children were Cornie L., William R., Emmett Vaetine, and Mary C. Fletcher. Listed as being in Richmond in 1900 census but later were in Scott or lee county. Dudley was also called Doctor, not sure if that was a nick name. This would be my great-grandfather.Cornie L. was grandmother
- Displaying 1-3 of 3 Journals
- 1
- of1


text:
February 10, 2010
By Paul Feinberg
On the economic forecasting front, there's good news and there's bad news.
On the positive side, Ceridian Corporation and the UCLA Anderson Forecast jointly announced the release of a new, first-of-its-kind indicator able to track the status, and potentially the future direction of the U.S. and regional economies. Dubbed the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce IndexTM (PCI) by UCLA Anderson School of Management, the PCI is based on real-time diesel fuel purchases by over the road truckers using a Ceridian card at more than 7,000 locations across the United States.
The issued-monthly index captures the real time monitoring of the movement of raw materials, goods-in-process and finished goods to retailers, factories and consumers across the country. Through Ceridian's electronic card payment services for transportation industries, Ceridian is able to track and analyze the volume of fuel being used by truckers on a yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily basis. It is in short, a real-time data set that tracks fuel transactions around the United States enabling economists to observe where and when goods are being transported around the country.
The PCI was developed by Ceridian in conjunction with economists at UCLA Anderson and Charles River Associates (CRA). According to Anderson's Ed Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast and Chauncy J. Medberry Chair in Management, in the fall of 2008 Ceridian approached CRA to review many of their databases and he was invited to be part of the team. Since then, the economists looked at "a sequence of about six databases" - several of which will be released at a later date. "But we thought (the PCI) was the one that was really going to be a total home run and affect the conversation about the health of the economy in a way nothing else has in a long time," Leamer said.
The PCI series is similar to an existing, after-the-fact survey from the American Trucking Association called the Transportation Service Index (TSI). But Leamer says the TSI data is simply too noisy, subject to both revision and the lack of incentive for survey respondents to be accurate. In comparison, he noted, the PSI is based on actual transactions on a second-by-second basis all over the country.
"We call it the Pulse of Commerce because the arteries of the (economic) system are the interstates that criss-cross the country and the products on the trucks are the lifeblood of the system," Leamer said. "Without the movement of goods the economy dies just like you'd die without the movement of blood in your arteries."
The Economy Has A Weak Pulse
The creation of a significant new economic index represents a positive breakthrough for those attempting to analyze the economy - the downside is the dreary data found in the initial PCI release.
According to the January Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce IndexTM, the U.S. economy fell at an annualized rate of 36.8 percent which comes in the wake of December's significant increase in GDP. The more reliable three-month moving average for January showed a 3.3 percent gain at an annualized rate following the significant annualized rate of 14.6 percent the month before.
According to the initial PCI release, there is a long-term relationship between real GDP and PCI. The two series track similarly, though the PCI demonstrates more volatility during recessions. This is due to the fact that the truckable goods sector suffers more than the service sector during recessions, as consumers and businesses postpone their purchases of durable goods and equipment, but continue to rent housing, go to school and visit doctors.
"We had an extraordinary gross domestic product (GDP) in fourth quarter 2009 of 5.7 percent, but that came coupled with continuing weakness in the labor market," Leamer said. "There was no significant improvement with regard to hiring and there were very high levels of initial claims of unemployment."
"It's a puzzling thing because you had extraordinary GDP growth without human beings and growth is occurring without any improvement in the labor market. The story for 2010 is whether we're going to get the labor market healed, whether we're going to see firms hiring substantial numbers of people and that requires continued GDP growth in the range of 5.7 to 6 percent. If we get 3 percent GDP growth, that's just about enough to keep people who are currently employed employed, but not to employ those who have been laid off."
Leamer said that for hiring to take place during the recovery, GDP must be between 5 and 6 percent. The question posed by the release of January's PCI is whether or not December's GDP level will sustain. Leamer says the index yields a disappointing result.
"Many analysts believe that (December) was a one time inventory phenomenon. Firms built up their inventories and a full 3 percent of the GDP growth was due to an inventory build-up, which is technically completely correct," Leamer said, echoing the PCI report that states such a build-up in inventories is unlikely to be repeated. "The question is, having done an inventory build-up will firms need to do some production and building based on sales? That's the question that we're looking forward to in 2010. There is evidence that production for sales is actually occurring and there's some hope that some components of spending -- not just consumer spending but business spending on equipment and software -- might be strong the first couple of quarters and give us good GDP numbers." But, Leamer said, January's drop in the PCI puts a damper on any optimism. "The economy has a weak pulse," he said.
Going forward, the data set will be used to study the California economy, as well, as in the case of the UCLA Anderson forecast. Forecast economists will study the activity around the Southern California ports, examining activity on the routes coming south from Oregon and Washington to get a sense of the lumber coming into California. They will also look at the corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles to get a picture of what's happening with regard to trucking between the two cities.
"This is a data set that's incredibly rich in terms of its geography. But there are other data bases (at Ceridian) too that we'll be exploring and we'll be bringing to the public at some point," Leamer said.
"I think it's important for the Forecast and for UCLA Anderson to demonstrate its connection with the business community and its willingness to improve our understanding of where the economy is and where it is going by developing new data bases," Leamer said. "We'll be the first to develop this as a forecasting tool, but we'll only be one of many. This Index is going to be used by many people around the country once they become familiar with it, and I think our work here fits with the core mission of the Forecast and the school as a whole."


text:
North Carolina Ethics & Philosophy Graduate Campus Programs
Pondering an on campus grad program in philosophy and ethics? Enlightening your life through a philosophy grad program can be an essential factor to a successful career. News all over media about ethical business practices demonstrates the importance of the subject. Taking philosophy & ethics graduate programs may be the key to your success! Individuals possessing a philosophy & ethics degrees are in demand due to the complexity of government law and the dynamic subject itself. Employers are looking for individuals who can seek solutions to problems that can be easily translated to others – that may be you! Will campus life help continue developing you as a person? Answer: Yes!
Many people attend grad programs in philosophy and ethics on campus to meet like-minded people. Building a network of fellow philosophy and ethics students can help you with your studies and possibly with future careers moves.
To get started, find a graduate school offering ethics or philosophy near you or around the world. Filter by location and to choose where you'd like to earn your graduate degree in philosophy or ethics. Time spent on campus will allow you to create long-lasting connections. Building this network enables people to help each other out later in your life! Learn more by filtering you campus search by degree.
Sponsored Listings
- Durham, NCDurham, NC
Duke University
- Durham, NC
- Chapel Hill, NCChapel Hill, NC
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


text:
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Lard-Fried Brussels Sprouts are Good For You
First: to help me convince people that lard isn't poison. Second: to show that surprisingly little fat actually stays with the food you fry. Third: to remind you to eat Brussels sprouts, which, as far as green vegetables go, rock! (if cooked certain ways...like fried in lard).
Stephanie is About.com's Guide to Cooking for Kids, and her site is filled with wonderful recipes for children of all ages (including lots of great Halloween ideas). I hope you check her out. Enjoy!
17 comments:
- Livia said...
I wonder how much of the vitamin C remains after frying...
I'm not against consuming fat in moderation. In fact I did a similar experiment in measuring how much oil gets retained in 10 fried Hungarian flat breads (langos). It was also about two tablespoonfuls. So, really not too bad, if you fry things at the right temperature. Also, most of the fat I 'lost' in my experiment was actually drained out of the flatbreads into paper towels afterward.
- October 13, 2010 at 1:05 PM
- Brechin said...
One tablespoon....OF GOODNESS! Yum! More people need to cook with lard. And more people need to use it when making tortillas!
- October 13, 2010 at 1:20 PM
- PrimeBrit said...
That's a very informative video Chef. Didn't I also learn the one minute version of sprouts on here? It's a famous dish in this house and the kids really do love em...
- October 13, 2010 at 2:04 PM
- Chef John said...
Yes you did! (sans lard)
- October 13, 2010 at 2:06 PM
- Lucia said...
TBH, is better to have lard than trans fats a million times. Your body knows how to process lard, but not the trans fats.
But yeah, since boiling takes away vitamins from vegetables, frying that is at a higher temperature than boiling prolly will leave not that many vitamins. Then again, a lot are lost in boiling so is not like a crime.
- October 13, 2010 at 2:21 PM
- Pat Dohaney said...
Nothing can be finer than roasted sprouts. Just purchased a beautiful stock of brussel sprouts at the market and can't wait to roast with maple syrup and pancetta. Hmmmmmmmm. Tasty.
Sound Canadian, eh? You're oh so right.
- October 13, 2010 at 8:39 PM
- Ian said...
Sorry, but being a physican with a degree in biochemistry, I have to call BS on the claim that lard is "not a saturated fat." She's not completely wrong in claiming that it is a monounsaturated fat, though. All fats contain a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The proportion of these varies in different fats. Lard is almost half saturated fat, with a little more than half monounsatured. That's still a VERY large proportion of saturated fat. You can look at the detailed breakdown here:
- October 13, 2010 at 9:05 PM
Is that beef or pork fat? Would schmaltz work?
- October 13, 2010 at 10:31 PM
- Chef John said...
Are you sure Doc? I usually believe everything she tells me! I still stand by my headline that fried Brussels sprouts are good for you! ;-)
- October 13, 2010 at 10:40 PM
Hi Chef! Can you do a video recipe on stuffed mushrooms? Thanks!
- October 13, 2010 at 10:50 PM
- Sweet Monkey Fritters said...
Somewhere in 'Nawlins, Emeril just passed out. ;) I have no issues using lard from time to time. I have to try this one. Thanks, Chef!
- October 14, 2010 at 8:50 AM
- Lucia said...
In my books lard is a saturated fat, or pretty much anything that stays solid in room temperature and has not been hydrogenated to do so. However, checking the nutrition facts from the wiki site, it does have a good amount of monosaturated fats.
Also it depends greatly on the diet the pig has had during its life. In Spain, iberian ham tends to have a higher content of monosaturated fats than regular serrano ham due to the special diet of the pigs (acorns).
Still like any other fat, you shouldn't abuse it.
- October 14, 2010 at 2:17 PM
Here in the UK My mother always used to cook with lard (when frying) and so did the traditional Fish & chip shops until they cross over to cooking oil.
Things have never been the same since.
Anyway, off the subject it's me Offal man again and guess what I had for lunch today?
Yes I knew you guessed right, it was Haggis. What the hell is that I hear you say cousins?
Google it guys and gals.
- October 14, 2010 at 4:55 PM
While I am sure this is tasty and perhaps even calorically speaking there is a relatively small amount of lard used, my issue is the cooking process. The high temperatures for deep frying creates TONS of free radicals which are carcinogens.
Fat in moderation is important, but don't forget that there are other factors than just calories. Just something to consider.
btw, big fan.
- October 15, 2010 at 3:28 PM
- albache said...
@Ian the physician..
I wonder if you really thought about the link you posted. Yes, there is saturated fat in lard, but there is slightly more monounsaturated fat as well. The point of the video was that cooking something in lard isn't horrible like people have been lead to believe. Lard has been unfairly demonized for the past 30 years as a horrible saturated fat. But lard is a mixed source of fat, and it's totally natural. In the video, the host shows that only about 1-2 tablespoons of lard have actually been used. That's for what looks like 4 servings of Brussels sprouts. Compare that to a "lean" burger:
Oh no! Saturated fat! .. But what's this? Monounsaturated fat in about the same ratio as a tablespoon of lard. And I'm guessing that as a physician, you wouldn't have a problem recommending "lean" meat like this to your patients. So what's the real difference?
That's the video's point. Lard isn't any worse than our other available natural fat sources that people regularly consume without even blinking.
- October 16, 2010 at 8:19 PM
- Ian said...
You're absolutely right, lard is comparable to any other animal fat in terms of saturated fatty acid content. It doesn't make any sense to single out and "demonize" it (nor any other food in my opinion). But people need to know what they're consuming in order to make informed decisions about their health, and the statement "lard is not a saturated fat" is simply false. That was the statement I was taking issue with. It's easy for misinformation like this to spread.
As for myself, I'm pesco-vegetarian. My advice would be to avoid any animal fat, or at least consume it in moderation.
Michael also has a very good point: irrespective of the saturated fat content, deep-fried foods are not healthy for all sorts of other reasons. The same browning reactions that make them so delicious also produce all sorts of nasty carcinogens. One example would be acrylamide formed through the Maillard reaction. High temperatures also break down many vitamins.
So, in summary, I'm not saying you shouldn't eat these. I'm sure they're delicious. But don't do so falsely believing that they're good for you.
- October 24, 2010 at 10:05 PM
Everything in moderation. Is that such a hard rule to follow that we have to resort to repeating jargon about free-radicals, mono-this, saturated-that? Who cares! Just eat a variety of foods and eat them in moderation.
- November 5, 2010 at 10:24 AM


text:
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Rodgers tells Sturridge he may not even start for Liverpool
LIVERPOOL manager Brendan Rodgers has warned Daniel Sturridge and other potential new signings there will be no guarantees when they arrive at Anfield.
A deal for Chelsea striker Sturridge is set to be completed this week after the player finally completed his medical yesterday.
The Reds are also hopeful of bringing former winger Tom Ince back to the club from Blackpool, but Rodgers stressed any new arrival would have to earn their place after rumours Sturridge wanted assurances he would get given a run in his preferred central striker role.
"No-one coming into this football club will demand where they play, that's for sure," Rodgers said.
"As with any negotiations between any club and any player it has not been straightforward.
"As you've seen over the last number of weeks, there are always going to be things written about players, clubs and dealings.
"Nothing will be complete until we've signed a player at the beginning of January but until anything is done on paper there is nothing to say.
"We'll always do our business privately and in the way we want to do it.
"We're confident we can get some business done early in January, which will really help the squad. Until that happens, there is nothing really to add.
"We don't want to make many [signings] in January, but the one or two we do I think can make a difference and help us. If we can do that, I think we'll have a good second half to the season."
Rodgers believes adding to the squad will have a positive effect all round.
"If you ask the players here, what they want is a competitive group," he added. "Of course they want to play but they know what makes them play at their best is competition and that is what we are striving to do.
"A competitive squad is knowing you have to be at the top of your game week in, week out to retain the shirt else there is someone in the background who can take your place.
"If we are going to compete going forward we need to have that."
No-one coming into this football club will demand where they play, that's for sure
Equally significant is retaining your best players and although Rodgers played down claims captain Steven Gerrard was to be offered a new deal, he did admit it was something which would be looked at.
"I've seen some stuff about Steven being offered a new contract but that hasn't been the case," he said. "He still has 18 months or so on his deal but there is no doubt come the end of that he is still going to be in great condition.
"He is 32 now and you saw at the weekend his brilliant performance.
"He is playing a slightly different role in this team in terms of responsibility because he has a lot of younger talents around him.
"He hasn't scored nearly the number of goals he has in previous years but there are a number of reasons for that, but it is certainly not because of his quality.
"I really believe once that contract is up we'll sit down and look to extend that."
Liverpool head to Stoke, whom they have not beaten away from home in the league since 1984, on Boxing Day.
The Potters currently have the Premier League's meanest defence and while their robust style has been criticised, Rodgers insists it is something you just have to deal with.
"I've always respected Stoke," he said. "There's no right or wrong way to play football but I think Stoke sometimes have got a lot of unfair criticism.
"How they play the game, they challenge you physically, which is fine because it is a physical sport and at the top level that is what happens.
"The players are very committed to the cause, Tony has them very well organised and has some outstanding players.
"We'll just have to deal with what the game throws at us. My focus is on ourselves; I'd rather Stoke worry about how we play.
"But at the same time you have to respect their game and the strengths that they have and combat that. At times that isn't always pretty. Sometimes you have to stand up and be counted.
"We have a mix and a balance which allows us to compete physically while also playing football.
"If you want to be a winning team, you have to have that balance."


text: Hober Welder is one of the best companies who become best throughout the year! They are famous and popular because they develop high quality aluminum and steel welding products. The hobart handler 190 is one of the best best quality product which offer several advantages. There are several reasons, people https://www.instructables.com/member/JasonThomas11/


text:
A new study conducted by Riccardo Scalera of the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist group, Piero Genovesi and colleagues at the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research in Rome, Italy, reports a dramatic increase in alien mammal invasion rate in Europe since the beginning of the 20th Century. It has been assessed that these alien mammals' invasions severely threaten the future of native biodiversity in Europe, including some at a high risk of extinction.
Apart from the alien introductions that occurred during the Neolithic era, the authors have provided information on the alien invasions occurring from the most recent times. The severe impact on native and threatened species of Europe as defined by the IUCN Red List is confirmed and a constant increase in the alien invasion level attested. This study can therefore provide a highlighting manual to help prioritize response, for example in terms of prevention and eradication.
All European countries will need to address these issues in order to comply with the international conventions and obligations such as embodied in the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020.


text:
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — It was supposed to be their first time out squirrel hunting, but it was a deer that gave a couple young boys an experience in the woods they'll likely never forget.
Gary Simons says he took his sons out to the woods Saturday morning and as they were sitting their with rifles looking for squirrels, a young buck wandered right into their spot. Simons pulled out his phone and began recording as the deer sniffed his sons, looked around on the ground for food, and then even began licking his pant leg.
The parents say the 11 and 9-year-olds were so excited about the encounter they couldn't wait to tell their teachers Monday morning.
Their mom Brittany Simons says her 9-year-old son even tried to fire his gun at one point to scare the deer off, but this was one buck who hasn't learned about hunting yet. Curiosity - and perhaps a scent - seemed to get the best of the buck, who even licked the phone at one point.
Apparently not satisfied with what he'd taste, the deer wanders back off into the woods.


text:
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
Revision as of 16:28, August 21, 2012 by Williamson94 (Talk | contribs)
About Me
I'm from the Denver Area Council in Colorado and have been involved in Scouting since 2001 when I joined as a Tiger Cub. I earned my Arrow of Light award in 2006 and graduated into Boy Scouts. In 2009, I was inducted into Tahosa Lodge 383 for the Order of the Arrow and I am currently a Brotherhood member. I've completed a trek at Philmont, attended the 2010 National Scout Jamboree, as well as the 2012 National Order of the Arrow Conference. I was awarded my Eagle Scout Rank on March 26, 2011 and I'm a second genertion Eagle Scout in my family. Since then I've earned a Bronze Palm and I'm also a life member of the National Eagle Scout Association. I'm also looking forward to staffing at the 2013 National Jamboree.


text:
Teen Mom Leah Messer has had her fair share of relationship drama. After having twin girls with Corey Simms and getting married, she wanted so badly for the two of them to be happy and make things work. The truth, though, was that she wasn't happy and she couldn't fake it anymore. In a new MTV video, Messer admits that sometimes you just need to know when to let go.
Man, for a girl that's only 20 years old, it seems like she's learning one of love's hardest lessons early on.
When things just aren't working, ending a relationship is hard. If it's difficult, it means that although you may not have said it, you love that person. You probably have so many amazing memories with that person that you'd love to live over and over again. Inside your heart of hearts, you want to believe that your love for one another can outlast whatever silly hardships you're facing together and you can beat it.
More from The Stir: 'Teen Mom' Leah Messer's Divorce Sounds a Lot Like Kim Kardashian's (VIDEO)
The truth is, though, that sometimes wanting to fix things isn't enough. You start to wonder, why isn't this person who tells me they want things to be better trying to make them better? The big question faces you head-on: Is staying in this relationship making me happier, or more sad? Yes, lying to yourself is easy. Saying you can handle it and trying to believe things will just go back to bliss, well, it's not realistic.
Yes, pulling the plug does hurt, but the reality of it all is so does staying in a relationship that doesn't make you feel fulfilled. Everyone deserves to find love and be loved. Maybe at another time, you and this person can make it work. Maybe for now, you just need to breathe. Trust me, though, walking away takes strength and, ultimately just like Leah, you'll be better for it.
Watch Leah talk about what once was, here:
Get More: MTV Shows
Have you ever had to walk away from someone you loved because you knew the relationship wasn't good for you?
Image via MTV


text:
If there's one word that describes Toronto's traffic - as well Toronto's politics - it has to be "gridlock." Like a sign on the city's streetcars says: Getting. Around. Town. Can. Take. An. Eternity.
For commuters and visitors alike, it's enough to make you jump off the streetcar and start walking. Happily, walking is one of the best ways to discover the historic districts of this modern metropolis, which, this year, is commemorating a crucial event in its past: The Battle of York, fought during the nearly three-yearlong War of 1812.
Fort York It was perhaps the worst day in Toronto's history. April 27, 1813: The Battle of York.
An event seared into the collective memory of a young Canada, it prompted a tit-for-tat that saw British troops burn the U.S. president's house in Washington the following year.
But on the day of the battle, British regulars, Canadian volunteers and First Nations warriors - severely out-manned and badly outgunned by attacking U.S. forces - fought a daylong battle to protect their homes. And lost.
Fort York, built to defend the town of York - as Toronto was then known - had been destroyed. The town was in flames.
Rampaging U.S. troops set fire to the Parliament buildings of Upper Canada (the early name for Ontario), as well as to the home of the lieutenant-governor. They ransacked, pillaged and plundered. "They managed to ravage York's public infrastructure quite handily," says Wayne Reeves, chief curator of museum services for the city of Toronto.
It's a fascinating story that still surprises Canadian visitors to Old Fort York, now a national historic site. So this year, which marks the bicentennial of the battle, walking tours in and around the rebuilt fort are telling the story, taking visitors to the very places in today's Toronto where the battle was fought.
"Because Fort York and the surrounding battlefield are so well preserved, they are a really tangible place to point and say, 'This happened right here,' " Reeves says. For Reeves, it's important for visitors to connect "Muddy Old York" with today's Toronto and contemporary Canada.
"If you care about how Canada came to be, you should be interested in the War of 1812, in places like Fort York and events like the Battle of York," Reeves says. "It's not just part of our city's story; it's part of our national story."
St. Lawrence Market A few kilometres straight east from Fort York along Front St. is the St. Lawrence Market District. More than housing a great food market, it is, says tour guide Bruce Bell, where Toronto really began. The town of York was founded just north of Front St. and a little to the east, in 1793. (This is where poor roads earned it that "Muddy" nickname.) In this district was the public market that was raided by American soldiers after the Battle of York.
Part performer, part historian and part foodie, Bell has the status of a local celebrity, which gets him behind closed doors and allows him to unlock the historical secrets of the St. Lawrence Market.
Even locals are surprised to find out that the façade of the South Market hides the sumptuous council chambers of Toronto's original city hall - as well as that era's jail. Toronto's beautifully preserved flatiron building (built in 1892, it's older than New York's) is across the street on Front.
Bell stresses that his tours aren't just about ancient history.
"I like to talk about Toronto's place in the world and how we went from basically a small out-of-theway British colonial outpost to become one the world's great cities in a short period of time."
Bell especially loves to show off the Renaissance Revival splendour of nearby St. Lawrence Hall - with its imperial amphitheatre and magnificent grand ballroom. It became renowned as the centre of Toronto's social, cultural and political life.
"My tours might start out as a history lesson in Toronto's past," Bell says, "but they end up being about much more than that."
The Distillery District Just a short walk southeast of the market is the Distillery District, another national historic site that's a mere stone's throw from the site of Upper Canada's original Parliament buildings, which were located at Front and Parliament Sts. These were the Parliament buildings the Americans burned down after the Battle of York. It's here that I meet John McTaggart, a tour guide who grew up in the city and who loves showing out-of-towners the highlights of his hometown.
As we walk the narrow streets of cobblestone, McTaggart explains that this whole area was once the precinct of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery. Established in the 1830s - around the time York became Toronto - it grew to become the largest distillery of the Victorian age. By the time of Confederation in 1867, it was supplying millions of gallons of whisky and spirits each year to the British Empire and beyond.
These days, the former complex of commerce has the largest and best-preserved collection of Victorian- era industrial architecture in North America. But these are not just empty shells or museum pieces. What was once a derelict industrial area has been reborn as Canada's largest pedestrian mall and public art space. Where abandoned warehouses once stood are vibrant art galleries and performance centres. Extinct distilleries and tank houses are now boutiques, cafés and diners.
It's become one of the best things about Toronto: a place where you don't have to drink whisky to lift your spirits.
Fort York is Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings and an 1813 battle site. Open year-round, it offers regular daytime tours and special tours this fall: Oct. 18, 19, 25, 26 - Fort York After Dark: Lantern tours Tour the grounds at night and hear tales of the haunted lighthouse and the Battle of York.
Toronto.ca/culture/museums/fortyork.htm (Fort York) Fortyork.ca (Friends of Fort York)
OTHER HISTORY TOURS Bruce Bell Tours, Brucebelltours.ca
All About Toronto Tours with John McTaggart, Allabouttoronto.com
Suite Dreams Toronto B&B
This B&B is set in a peaceful corner of Toronto's Annex neighbourhood known as Seaton Village. The area is named after John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, who was lieutenantgovernor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836. The Annex was also once home the president of Gooderham and Worts Distillery. Suitedreamstoronto.com
Victoria's Mansion Inn and Guest House
This manor home was built in the late 1800s in the area now known as Church Street Village. The neighbourhood's history dates back to before the War of 1812 when Upper Canada's Lt.-Gov. John Graves Simcoe was giving away land to his cronies.