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- Colca Canyon
- Peru
- Parihuana Island, Uros Islands
- Learning the way of life, Uros Islands
- Some of the staple foods in Uros Islands
- Ana presenting one of her tapestries, Uros Islands
- Reed boat ride, Uros Islands
- Isla Taquile
- Trout lunch, Isla Taquile
- Town Hall meeting, Isla Taquile
- Handwoven belts, Isla Taquile
- Young knitters, Isla Taquile
- Arequipa vista
- Misti volcano
- Monasterio de Santa Catalina
- At 16,000 elevation, en route to Colca Canyon
- Colca Canyon
- Colca Lodge Hot Springs
- Condor Cross, Colca Canyon
- Village of Maca, Colca Canyon
- Boarding Nazca Lines flight
- Flying over the Nazca Lines
- Doubletree by Hilton Resort Paracas
- Paracas Candelabra
- Islas Ballestas
Land Based Adventures
Private Journey
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Peru - Lake Titicaca, Colca Canyon and Nazca Lines
Amelia Tockston
In the Footsteps of the Incas: Week Two - Lake Titicaca, Arequipa and Colca Canyon, Paracas, and the Nazca Lines...
With my first week coming to a close, I said goodbye to my mom and looked forward to new discoveries around the bend. The next stage of my journey would include three different regions of Peru, for which I was assigned the task of inspecting.
Lake Titicaca
Departing Cusco, I boarded my train, the first-class Andean Explorer, to travel 10 hours south to Lake Titicaca. Though a significantly longer journey than by plane, the train passes through beautiful scenery, first through Andean mountains and then through rolling plains. The glass-enclosed observation car at the end of the train provides the perfect spot for reading or photography. A delicious lunch was served mid-day (included in the fare), and bar service and snacks could be ordered throughout the day at an additional cost.
As the highest navigable lake in South America, Lake Titicaca sits at an impressive 12,500 feet above sea level. I arrived after sunset and was again met by an English-speaking guide to show me to my hotel, the lakeside Sonesta del Posada in Puno. Feeling the effects of the elevation gain, I decided to forego dinner; however, after a good night's sleep, my body felt more energized and acclimated--until we started hiking that afternoon, of course!
Uros Islands
My guide and Puno native, Maria, met me early the next morning for our transfer to the town's main pier. Here, dozens of boats line up to ferry locals and travelers to the islands. Our first stop was the Uros Islands, about 30 minutes by speedboat from Puno. Entirely made of totora reeds from the lake, these 60 or so islands are home to nearly 600 Urus with a heritage that dates back to pre-Incan times. According to Maria, visitors started coming here about 30 years ago, but the islands have drawn significantly more interest since 2000.
As we approached Parihuana (flamingo) Island, I was struck by the brilliant colors before me. Both the sky and water glowed a cobalt canvas with the reed island being the only slice of contrast between the two. Awaiting our arrival at the island's edge were about a dozen smiling women and children dressed in vibrant-colored traditional costumes. Parihuana includes about six or seven homes, a flamingo-shaped watchtower, and in the center a pond with growing reeds and live white flamingoes--the island's pet mascot.
Maximo, who appeared to be the leader of the island, demonstrated how the totora reeds are peeled and eaten, as well as how they are used to construct their homes. It takes about a full year to assemble one reed island. And, Ana shared with me a colorful display of their dried carachi (fish), grains, potatoes, freeze-dried potatoes, and seabird eggs. I even got a taste of what it might be like to be "a part of their family" when Ana dressed me in typical Uru attire of bright orange and green.
Tourism is the primary source of income in these islands, so visitors cannot help but admire the beautiful textiles, jewelry, purses, scarves and ornaments. Ana presented several dozen handmade and self-designed tapestries depicting Incan legends and everyday life in the islands. Towards the end of our visit, all of the women and children gathered in the center of the island to share a traditional song in Uru. For transfer to the next island, I opted for the quiet, leisurely route aboard one of the reed boats. As we pulled away, Ana waved and called my name; and just minutes later, I could hear all of them joining in song again.
Isla Taquile
Characterized by unrivaled textile art, stone paths, archways, and Inca terraced hillsides, Taquile Island is a must-see for any visitor to Lake Titicaca. In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed Taquile and its hand-woven textiles and clothing as "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." Here, it is the men who exclusively knit and the women who make yarn and weave. We passed one bashful boy, no more than eight-years-old, who walked by while simultaneously knitting a hat. The craft of textile-making is not only a favorite pastime but a way of life.
We began our walk from the backside of the island, a less frequented starting point due to the 30 to 40-minute climb up a meandering pathway. This route, according to Maria, would afford us breathtaking views and more time to enjoy and observe the landscape and locals. We passed young girls tending sheep, children vending their beautifully-made bracelets, ornaments, and hats, and boys plowing the land.
There are no vehicles on Taquile Island. Instead, stone walkways can be followed throughout Taquile linking communities and farmlands. Restaurants abound, where travelers can pop in to sample the famous lake trout or quinoa and potato soup, and simple guesthouses--some with spectacular lake views--are available for those wanting overnight accommodation. The Taquileños live in keeping with their ancestral customs and maintain a strong sense of group identity, rarely marrying a non-Taquileño. Each Sunday, the island leaders convene and line up in the main square for an official public meeting before Town Hall. We were lucky to watch the last half and joined some of the locals gathered on the Hall's steps for a listen.
Across from Town Hall, visitors will find a couple shops featuring some of the highest quality textiles in Peru, all made locally on the island. Purses, belts, hats, scarves, and gloves are neatly displayed on the wooden tables and walls, the money for which goes directly to the artists. Interestingly, no rings are exchanged in marriage in this culture. Instead, women weave for their future husband an intricate belt which they start creating from a young age. As my guide put it, jokingly, the belt only showcases "the stories they want their husband to know..." Now, that's a custom I can stand behind!
Our afternoon excursion finished at the opposite side of the island with an incredible descent down 525 stairs to the waterline. Astonishingly, several locals passed us on ascent carrying heavy supplies of grocery items from the mainland (such as milk, fruit and vegetables). Likely a weekly occurrence, grocery shopping for Taquileños translates into playing sherpa on an ancient stone staircase! I made a mental note to never again complain about the stairs I walk "down" to unload my groceries from car to house.
On my final day in this region, we visited Sillustani, a fascinating pre-Incan burial ground overlooking Lake Umayo. About 35 miles from Puno and at 13,500 feet above sea level, these tall stone towers called chullpas were built by the Colla people and contain entire families of nobility, though many have fallen victim to grave robbers. Sillustani is said to be the most preserved tombs of its kind on the Antiplano and offered a nice contrast to the ruins and tombs I had previously seen in the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.
I will never forget the moment I turned around on the tarmac of the Arequipa airport to see why cameras were being snapped over a plane... Behind us, but beyond the airplane, was a most stunning and unexpected backdrop of the city's three magnificent volcanoes: Misti, Chachani, and Picchu Picchu.
Arequipa won me over with its beautiful colonial architecture, invigorating sunshine, and captivating historical sites. My animated guide, Daniel, sporting a panama hat and Miami-esque shades, shared a passion for Arequipa that was anything less than contagious as he led me through the city's main attractions. We visited the colorful and picturesque Monasterio de Santa Catalina, known as "the city within a city" which spans an entire city block. And, in the Museo Santuarios Andinos, I stood next to the 550 year old Mummy Juanita who was offered to the Incan gods around age 12 from atop Mount Ampato. In the evening, I relaxed on my hotel's terrace overlooking the brightly lit Plaza de Armas in the company of my complimentary "Pisco, the Sour" and pondered where I might find a good rocoto relleno for supper.
Colca Canyon
After an early morning wakeup call and coffee, I met Daniel in the lobby for our drive to Colca Canyon, four hours from Arequipa. After leaving the city limits, our shuttle started climbing immediately, and the urban streets slowly faded into expansive natural landscapes. At one lookout, we stopped to photograph a group of huancos galloping across the plain as Misti stood proudly in the distance. At the 16,000-foot pass, we pulled over again to admire the surrounding volcanoes, including the famed Mount Ampato. Daniel reminded me to walk very slowly and breathe deeply. I told him I felt as though I had landed on the moon and pretended to stagger like an astronaut...
As we neared the Colca Canyon region, terraced hillsides started appearing again, now feeling like faithful friends to me, and the volcano ranges were gradually replaced with sweeping valleys, rivers, and tiny villages.
Approaching Colca Lodge Spa & Hot Springs, we followed a narrow dirt road through farm lands and down the side of the mountain into the valley. The lodge is not the most easily accessible, yet this adds to the charm and sense of seclusion here. Colca gracefully merges the ambiance of a rustic ski lodge with the refinement of an elegant hotel and spa. And, the suites and rooms are nicely spaced throughout the property for further privacy and tranquility.
Guests can don a swimsuit and robe for a short walk to the private riverside hot springs, ranging from frigid to very hot. And, if the hot springs don't relax you, the lovely surrounding view and sound of the river surely will. Compliment your revitalizing soak with a glass of wine or pisco sour from the snack bar and you're golden. I was content to try two of the pools, the hotter one being my favorite, until my cheeks blazed; then it was a quick stop in the spa to try out the eucalyptus steam room. Though not a spa connoisseur by any means, I was very impressed with the Colca Spa, and found the highlight to be the infinity hot tub overlooking the river.
During cocktail hour in the lounge, I was lucky to have met a friendly couple from London enjoying their honeymoon, who much to my surprise invited me to join them for dinner. Not to my surprise, however, was their very high rating of the lodge as a wonderful retreat and excellent romantic choice for honeymooners.
Colca Lodge provides a great starting point for day hikes, village visits, and an excursion to the breathtaking Condro Cross, where we spent the following morning. After an hour and a half of dirt road navigation, we arrived to the most exhilarating view of the world's deepest canyon. From the lookout areas perched on the canyon's edge, visitors gather here to witness the impressive flight of the condor. While these birds may be scavengers to Westerners, condors are sacred and honored birds in Peru. Having seen the reaction of our guide at Machu Picchu when one was spotted above the ruins, I had already begun understand their significance.
We waited in anticipation for the birds to appear and fly overhead. One was spotted quite a distance away near a different lookout, but we waited patiently in place as I readied my camera. Patience paid off when a pair suddenly appeared from inside the canyon. As if watching a firework display, we stood in awe of every swoop and dip before they disappeared again into the canyon. Soon after, however, our luck was quadrupled with one, two, three...and eventually eight or so condors soaring overhead. My guide later explained that condor sightings at the Cross are never guaranteed, and are always a gamble, but that we had been blessed with a very good morning!
Nazca Lines & Paracas Reserve
My next and final visit in Peru was to the southern coast for the mysterious Nazca Lines, Paracas National Reserve, and the Ballestas Islands--known to some as "poor man's Galapagos." Since I first returned to Lima, my guide picked me up from the Atton Hotel for the three-hour drive south to Pisco, home to the famous white grape brandy. The drive toward Paracas follows the coastline, passing by farm lands, sand dunes and beach communities. The terrain in this region is vastly barren and dry; only with strict irrigation can crops such as cotton and asparagus grow with any success.
Most flights to the Nazca Lines depart from the town of Pisco, as opposed to the town of Nazca, located nearly five hours from the capital. The plane was larger than I had expected, a fifteen-passenger Cessna, and our flight out to the lines was about 30 minutes each way. A mix of giant lines and geometrical figures carved into the desert sand, the Nazca Lines consist of over 300 hundred 'geoglyphs.' During our flight, we saw about 12 of these figures, including the monkey, hummingbird, owl man, and condor. Though many theories exist, German mathematician Maria Reiche speculated that the Nazcas created these lines as some kind of astronomical calendar to measure key points of the solar year to better assist with agricultural planning. [For those prone to motion sickness, ready your sick bag when the first line is spotted, as the plane dips at an angle for optimal viewing...]
For my one overnight, I stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton Resort in the resort village of Paracas. This all-suite hotel offers a welcoming and chic beachfront oasis for poolside ceviche, a pampering spa treatment, beachcombing, or even para-surfing lessons. With a stunning orange sunset to my right and the windswept Paracas National Reserve straight ahead, I wandered down the quiet beach with only the shorebirds skittering about around me. Curiously, this area feels at the same time desolate and warm, and I found myself wishing for more days to explore the nearby Reserve for a day...
A quick speed boat excursion from Paracas is a visit to the Ballestas Islands. En route, the boat stops in front of the impressive Candelabra of Paracas, a geoglyph carved into the northern face of the peninsula. The Ballestas Islands provide a sanctuary for over 150 species of marine birds including Peruvian boobies, Humboldt penguins, red-legged and guanay cormorants, and Incan terns, as well as for sea lion colonies. The guano (excrement) harvested from the nearly 4 million birds makes up the world's finest fertilizer. Visitors are not allowed on the islands, but the small speed boats get awfully close.
As we made our way back to Lima the next day, I reflected on all of my adventures from the previous days. Having seen and experienced so much, I tried to pick out my favorite moments...of which there were so many...and my favorite people, who included everyone I had met. I had walked in the footsteps of the Incas, had stood at 16,000 feet amongst volcanoes, and had seen a sacrificial mummy; I had been inspired by the diverse friends I'd met, had my breath taken away by stunning landscapes, and had savored some of the most delicious and interesting cuisine. For anyone even remotely considering Peru as the next vacation destination, I say, do not hesitate, by any means. You will be delighted, moved, and inspired with each and every discovery.
Click here to read the first chapter of Amelia's adventure: In the footsteps of the Incas: Week One--Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu


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08 Jul Toad The Wet Sprocket and David Wild
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Show Summary
Adam opens the show complaining about bands with potential that churn out horrible songs. He also rants about always mispronouncing names once he's messed it up once. David Wild then shares pictures from the horrific SFO crash and talks about interviewing Sonny Bono the day before he died. Adam also recalls an interesting exchange he had on Ace on the House with an Indian guy living in Russia.
Next up, Adam jokes about getting inundated with booze-themed gifts. Toad The Wet Sprocket plays their new hit song live, and Adam talks with them about their very successful KickStarter campaign. After ranting about the new Mangria Brose label, Alison starts up the news. Today they discuss the crash at San Francisco Airport, Randy Travis' hospitalization, and Jim Carrey's assault weapon antics. As the show wraps up, Toad plays another amazing song for Adam.
Get your copy of 'New Constellation' on September 3rd. In the meantime, head over to Kickstarter and contribute to the project. You can also visit http://ToadTheWetSprocket.com, or follow the band on Twitter @ToadWetSprocket.
Asiana Flight
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Superfan Sidebar
Click Here for Superfan Giovanni's recap and commentary on today's episode.
For more, go to AdamCarolla.com/Gio.
Show Credits
Producers: Mike August, Mike Lynch, and Mike Dawson
Co-Producers: Gary Smith, Chris Laxamana, Matt Fondiler and Jeff Fox
Newsgirl: Alison Rosen
Sound Effects: Bryan Bishop

subset: commoncrawl


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As requested, below is the collection of winning essays for our Women of Valor series. Thankfully, the series isn't over! We had so many amazing contributions that I'll be featuring at least 10 more finalists as guest posts over the next few weeks...so look for those to appear on Fridays this Fall.
Enjoy, share, and be sure to take the time to honor a woman of valor in your life today.
Mrs. Foster - A Woman of Valor by Jenn LeBow
"The best thing about having a best friend who is 72 years older than you are is that they sometimes outrank your mother in terms of what you're allowed to do."
Rebecca - A Woman of Valor by Cheryl Cash
"She was my friend. The one who came and held my hand. I love her still."
Sarah - A Woman of Valor by Jenny Everett King
"Today, Sarah's life bears so little resemblance to the woman of Proverbs 31 that she would probably laugh at the thought of inviting a comparison. There are no fields to be bought, because there is no money left. There is no husband to sing her praises, because she left him after he smashed in the cabinet door inches from her head. Her three children may rise in the morning and sing her praises – or they may rise in the middle of the night, complaining of a tummy ache or a molar cutting through. Yet she will still be up before dawn, preparing for work at a job for which she is severely overqualified."
Sky - A Woman of Valor by Jonathan C.
"For three years, my wife has been a stay-at-home mom to over 20 foster children under the age of six, one adoptive son, two soon-to-be daughters, and a soon-to-be son. She has been raged against, spat upon, hit, kicked, scratched, insulted, and ignored. She is isolated by circumstances, by confidentiality agreements, and by her fierce protection of her children's dignity."
Sofia - A Woman of Valor by Emily Allen
"As those vulnerable moments turned into long vulnerable months, extended hospital stays with tubes, pokes, mysterious infections, and all kinds of unknowns, I witnessed first-hand Sofia's courage in the midst of her situation. Coming face-to-face with the suffering of her child brought forth a compassionate and courageous artist."
Mala - A Woman of Valor by Joy Bennett
"In spite of it all, the fire in her gut burned fierce as she told us her one dream was for at least one of her children to finish school, no matter what it took."
Hulda Nite - A Woman of Valor by Liz Myrick
"She has always been equal parts German kitsch and Rosie the Riveter to me, like one of the Hummel dolls she collected but with hands and a will both implacable as stone. She seemed a simple hero who climbed, steadfast, over every barrier placed in her path: the language barrier, the barrier of being a single mother, the barrier of finding work as an immigrant in the midst of the depression. I see her life as the progression of undaunted footstep after undaunted footstep."
Dr. Chaney - A Woman of Valor by Hope Estes, Claire Nieman, and Heidi McElrath
"She decided to stand up for these stories at tremendous personal risk."
Ra-Noe – A Woman of Valor by Jessic Goudeau
"She is like the woman in my favorite Rainer Maria Rilke poem: 'She who reconciles the ill-matched threads of her life and weaves them gratefully into a single cloth.'"
"I am a woman of valor. I was terrorized as a child – beaten by my father's belt and bludgeoned by scriptures that were twisted into weapons against my tiny spirit. I survived the abuse by repeating the words: words that said that I was deceitful and desperately wicked, words that condemned my childish mistakes as rebellion, which was as evil as witchcraft, words that justified the stripes on my back. But even while obediently parroting these damning phrases yanked out of context, I searched the holy book until I found evidence of another side to God. I dug and dug and found a Messiah who wept for my pain. I fought the lies with truth. I fought, and I won."
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FRAMINGHAM - Framingham State this week revealed it is moving forward with plans to create a system of colleges within the university.
The school is�currently�forming search committees to find�deans from within the current faculty�to lead the three new academic�colleges debuting this fall: arts�and humanities; science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and social and behavioral sciences.
Framingham State will also launch a wider search to find a dean to run a college of education in 2015, and may also start a�college of business after that.
The transition to colleges, which�was announced publicly�this past school year, has been blessed by new Framingham State President F. Javier Cevallos, who told the Daily News last week the change would help create "really good synergies" between the academic departments. The university's board of trustees has also signed off on the concept, expressing support for the plan at a meeting in March and approving a fiscal 2015 budget that included money for it in May.
"We're really excited about it," said Linda Vaden-Goad,�vice president of academic affairs. "We've moved very deliberately and carefully toward this, so everyone could see it is a more workable and effective type of structure."
Framingham State is the fourth of the state's six comprehensive state universities to have a system of academic colleges or schools, joining Bridgewater State, Salem State, and Worcester State. During the university's presidential search this past year that yielded Cevallos as the finalist, many of the candidates expressed concern that Framingham State didn't employ the model, which Vaden-Goad said is "considered to be a very typical structure" in higher education.
Currently at Framingham State, all the school's academic departments report to Vaden-Goad, who admitted she can't as quickly respond to their needs as she would like. Creating subordinate academic deans, she said, would allow the various divisions to better collaborate and communicate within their disciplines, as well as develop more targeted strategies for aligning curriculum with regional workforce needs.
"The different clusters of disciplines all align differently - you need people who understand that," Vaden-Goad said. "And I think that's what we'll be able to do."
The budget for this year's switch to colleges is around $250,000, which includes the�promotions�of the three new deans and the salary of an�administrative assistant. A financial spreadsheet made public earlier this year by the university showed several hundred thousand more dollars could be spent in subsequent years on the two other proposed colleges, but Vaden-Goad on Tuesday said it is still too early to get into the specific costs of those additions.
While a system of colleges or schools is the standard at the nation's top institutions, the state's�higher education department hasn't issued a directive for the state's public schools to adopt the model. But Carlos Santiago, the agency's�senior deputy commissioner for academic affairs, said Framingham State's independent move is "a reflection of a growing, maturing academic enterprise on campus."
"It shows a greater degree of disciplinary specialization, and at Framingham, with a new president starting his tenure, it's perhaps a good time to initiate new organizational structures," he said.
Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW
Framingham State to create academic colleges
FRAMINGHAM - Framingham State this week revealed it is moving forward with plans to create a system of colleges within the university.


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Apllications are now open - you can apply here.
When is the deadline for applications?
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Are there any minimum degree requirements?
No. We are looking for recent graduates who have a strong business and commercial background.
When can I expect to hear about the status of my application?
You will be informed by the end of February 2019 whether you have been successful at the initial selection stage. If so, you will be invited to a short video interview which will take place in the following weeks.
When and where do the assessment centres take place?
If you have been selected from the video interviews, you will be asked to attend a full day assessment centre on either 4 or 5 April 2019. These will take place at our Pitt Building in the heart of Cambridge.
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If I am successful at the assessment centre, when do I start?
If you have been selected following the assessment centre, then you will begin our Graduate Programme in September 2019.
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You will be paid £26,000 on the Graduate Programme, with access to a wide range of company benefits.
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You will be based in our Cambridge office, but as a global business, there may be opportunities to travel.
Are there any additional professional qualifications I can gain throughout the Graduate Programme?
Although there are no academic qualifications, you will receive a personalised development programme incorporating future career goals designed to accelerate your learning for future potential within Cambridge University Press.
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WASHINGTON - Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette says SEALs raiding Osama bin Laden's Pakistan hideout last year shot him dead instead of capturing him because his arms were hidden and may have been holding weapons.
Appearing Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Bissonnette says one SEAL fired after seeing a man's head poking into a hallway. Bissonnette says he and another SEAL shot bin Laden again after finding him on his bedroom floor with a bullet in his skull, because bin Laden's hands were hidden.
That's more detail than was included in "No Easy Day," the newly released book Bissonnette wrote under the pseudonym Mark Owen.
Pentagon officials say bin Laden was only shot after fleeing into his bedroom, and have threatened legal action against Bissonnette for possible releases of classified information.


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Friday Night Wine TastingBorrowdale Hotel, Cumbria
Fri, May 3rd 6:00 pm
Join Master Sommelier Stephen Wilcock at the Borrowdale Hotel for Friday night wine tasting, every Friday from 6pm.
Guests must be staying in the hotel or dining in the hotel's restaurant to enjoy this event.
For more information please call us on 017687 77224.


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Well, are you ready for it? Hope so, because here 'tis:
(note: aeroplane not actual size...because otherwise, I'd be the proud owner of the world's largest teapot. Not to mention the world's largest loungeroom...)
Perhaps this one might help a bit more:
Just a bit bigger than the Magic Ball of Luurve!


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Office of Disciplinary Counsel
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") is an Arm of the Supreme Court of Delaware, which assists the Court in regulating the practice of law. In this capacity, the ODC is charged with evaluating, investigating, and, if warranted, prosecuting lawyer misconduct. All complaints regarding a Delaware lawyer's conduct should be directed to the ODC. (Obtain a Complaint form). With respect to lawyers who have been disbarred or suspended, contact can be made with the Receiver appointed by the Court of Chancery. (For Receivers and Other Contacts for Closed Practices, please click here.)
The primary purpose of the ODC is to protect the public from lawyer misconduct. Delaware lawyers are obligated to conform their conduct to rules established by the Supreme Court of Delaware, the Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct. Each complaint filed with the ODC is reviewed and evaluated to determine whether the lawyer has violated one or more of these Rules and whether the ODC has enough evidence to prosecute a disciplinary action against the lawyer. All complaints are confidential as mandated by the Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Disciplinary Procedure.
The ODC is also responsible for evaluating complaints concerning the unauthorized practice of law in Delaware. If warranted, after evaluation and investigation, the ODC is responsible for prosecuting individuals who engage in the unauthorized practice of law in this State.
Some Things You Should Know!
Each year, the ODC handles hundreds of complaints regarding lawyer conduct. Only a small percentage of these complaints proceed to lawyer discipline.
Along these lines, it is important to understand that the ODC has no authority to become involved in your legal dispute or to affect the outcome of any court matters. We cannot give you legal advice. See "Some Things You Should Know" for more information.
Office of Disciplinary Counsel
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405 North King Street, Suite 420
Wilmington, Delaware 19801


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Perhaps Twilight heartthrob Taylor Lautner should get a series of films with titles that make a pun on his famous abs. Abilene Nights? Abashedly Yours? Abacus Calculation? For now, we have Lautner's first stab at being a leading man in Abduction, a consistently far-fetched thriller in which he plays a high-school teenager who's suddenly caught up in a world of lethal spies and corrupt CIA men. The motorcycle-riding, high school wrestling Nathan (Lautner) discovers his parents aren't actually his parents at the same time mean-looking men and the CIA begin chasing him for reasons he doesn't understand. With him is his longtime crush Karen (Lily Collins). The film, directed by John Singleton, exists cynically as nothing but a platform for Lautner. He handles himself reasonably well. The major deficiency of Abduction is the script. Screenplay writer Shawn Christensen's plot is increasingly absurd and the dialogue often comically poor. With Maria Bello and Alfred Molina, who can only help so much. PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, brief language, some sexual content and teen partying.
Killer Elite
Head butts would seem to hurt, right? That's clearly the point of them, but it would seem to be just as painful to be the butt-er as the butt-ee. This is probably the most primal method of attack on display here, but even the noisy intensity and frequency of the skull bashings — and pistol whippings and gut punches — don't register as anything beyond generic action-picture violence. The fact that director and co-writer Gary McKendry has shot all these brawls with the usual shaky cam and cut them in quick, choppy fashion only adds to how forgettable the film is. And you'd think that any movie starring Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham would be one you'd want to remember. Killer Elite allows them to show off some of the presence and personality that made these men major movie stars, but ultimately they're just cogs in a cliched revenge tale. Statham stars as Danny, the typical special-ops, killing-machine-for-hire Statham tends to play. He wants to retire, but gets drawn back in for that tried-and-true One Last Job when his mentor (De Niro) is kidnapped by an Omani sheik. Danny has to kill the men who killed the sheik's sons to ensure his release. Owen plays the enforcer for a shadowy British society who's on Danny's tail. R for strong violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Machine Gun Preacher
Gerard Butler gives it his all as the title character in this drama based on the true story of biker-turned-humanitarian Sam Childers. It's a performance that's gruff and defiant, volatile and raging, and even tender at times — the kind of role Mel Gibson might have played 20 years ago. Childers lived a life of drugs and crime until he found Jesus, then traveled to Sudan to build an orphanage for the youngest victims of the ravaged African nation's civil war. But even though director Marc Forster's film is rooted in actual events, it's hard to shake the uncomfortable sensation of watching yet another story that glorifies the white savior. Aside from Souleymane Sy Savane as the rebel soldier who serves as Sam's friend and guide, the black characters who prompt Sam to sacrifice everything and put himself in danger feel more like ideas than fleshed-out humans. Forster clearly means well in bringing such an inspiring story to the screen, and he does depict this place vividly — both its natural beauty and its brutality. But he makes some awkward tonal shifts between the violence in Africa and the increasing instability at home in rural Pennsylvania, where his ex-stripper wife (Michelle Monaghan) and their daughter (Madeline Carroll) are waiting for him. Michael Shannon offers some intriguing moments, as always, as Sam's former running buddy, but ultimately doesn't get enough to do. R for violent content including disturbing images, language, some drug use and a scene of sexuality.
You don't have to know about VORP to enjoy the story of how a bunch of stat geeks changed the way baseball teams assess and acquire players. Sure, it helps if you're a fan of the sport and if you've read Michael Lewis' breezy and engaging best-seller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Sabermetrics — the process of applying statistical formulas, rather than on-field appearance and general makeup, to determine a player's worth — wouldn't seem like an inherently cinematic topic. But Lewis made lesser-known guys like Scott Hatteberg and Chad Bradford leap off the page. And the cajoling patter from Billy Beane, the Oakland A's general manager who pioneered this experimental philosophy, would seem tailor-made for screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who co-wrote the script along with fellow veteran scribe Steven Zaillian. Still, what's most pleasing about Bennett Miller's film doesn't really have to do with baseball. As Beane, Brad Pitt is at his charismatic best — a little weary, a little weathered, but that complexity only makes him more appealing. Jonah Hill is at his best here, too, as Beane's sidekick: the perfect foil for such a force of nature. He and Pitt bounce off each other beautifully. But what's wrong here has nothing to do with baseball, either. Moneyball never feels like it's building toward anything, even if you know how the A's 2002 season unfolded. PG-13 for some strong language.
Pearl Jam Twenty
In Cameron Crowe's fan-friendly retrospective documentary of the band, the long-haired glory of the early 1990s' Seattle rock scene is in full display. There are certainly more astute observations to make about the film and the band, but nevertheless: my, the hair. There's a lot of nostalgia for the era going around, and Pearl Jam Twenty (which is being released in theaters but will air on PBS in October) comes at the same time as the 20th-anniversary feting of Nevermind, the opus from Seattle's other '90s legend, Nirvana. Whereas Nirvana's story is brief and tragic, Pearl Jam's is long and largely heartwarming. Crowe has a history with the band, having been a music journalist (an occupation he chronicled in his Almost Famous) and a Seattle resident around the time Pearl Jam formed. His Singles (1992) depicted the grunge scene of Seattle and even included a memorable cameo from Pearl Jam. Early in the film, Crowe narrates this personal history, and makes obvious his enthusiasm for the music, as he says, "that came from guys who stayed indoors a lot." On the whole, though, he recedes from the film, relying on old performance footage, old band interviews and his intimate sit-downs with the band's members. This is a loving portrait of Pearl Jam, and one with almost no outside voices to contextualize the band's accomplishment. Not rated but contains explicit language.


text:
However, the origins of the Clan have been shrouded in uncertainty, largely as a result of historians of the Clan Buchanan, and their insistence that both Clans have a common ancestry. Buchanan of Auchmar says that the MacMillans are descended from Methlan, second son of Anselan, a Buchanan Chief of the thirteenth century. His theory supports the Buchanan claim that the MacMillans are but a sept (sub-Clan) of the Buchanan rather than a Clan in their own right. This theory is supported by the contention that both Clans have an ecclesiastical origin: MacMillan being Anglicized from Maolanach, meaning a 'priest.' However, tradition may more properly ascribe the origin from a particular tribe in Moray that has descended from the ancient Pictish tribe of Kanteai, thought to have existed in the first half of the second century AD.
In vacating the Strathtay, the Clan branched to many other areas, including Lochaber, Argyll and Galloway. The senior branch, however, were the MacMillans of Knapdale, and they held a grant from the Lord of the Isles inscribed in Latin on a rock at Knap: 'MacMillan's right to Knap shall be, as long as this rock withstands the sea.'
Malcolm Mor MacMillan had received this rock by the 14th century. His grandson Lachlan MacMillan died at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. Lachlan's son, Alan MacMillan of Knap, married the McNeill heiress and took over the Castle Sween. He erected a cross, which still stands to this day in Kilmory churchyard. The cross stands better than twelve feet high and is elaborately engraved, showing a Highland Chief hunting a deer on one side, and a claymore surmounted by certain Clan members on the other.
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text: Steeped in history yet always evolving. That's Lake Wales Country Club, founded and rooted in the Old Florida of the Roaring 20s. Golf here challenges and delights, as the focal point is an exceptional 18-hole championship course completed in 1926 and designed by the legendary Donald Ross (renowned for Pinehurst No. 2, Oakland Hills and Seminole, among others). Featuring a charming and spacious Spanish-style clubhouse, excellent dining, well-appointed pro shop, full golf practice facility and a top-drawer tennis program, Lake Wales offers the finest in private club conditions, amenities and programs in a spirit of gracious hospitality.


text:
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
skippy's saturday nite music club
Labels: jazz, music, skippy's music club, youtube
blogrolling in our time
blanche lincoln s*****s the democratic party and the president
african-american lawmakers are irate that the 0bama administration has promised sen. blanche lincoln (d-ark.) $1.5 billion in farm aid while claiming it can't pay a landmark legal settlement with black farmers. - the hillif they can that blue b**** (female version of blue dog), they can pay back farmers that were found to have been pooched for generations.
hey...andrew breitbart
conservative blogger says episode was 'difficult for me as well.' - newsweek
Labels: bloggers, conservatives, liars
Friday, July 30, 2010
skippy's friday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
now this is what i call
Labels: congress, dc, new york, spinal fortitude, youtube
snark, served best cold
here susan examines one of megan's many fights w/commentors on megan's atlanticmonthly column, this one specifically about climate change, and how those words don't mean what she thinks they mean:
tinisoli: no, it wasn't.
mcmegan: sorry? is this incorrect? http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v411/n6835...
tinisoli: relevance of that paper?
anirprof: it's not incorrect but it doesn't say what you are claiming.
that co2 concentrations were 5x higher in the past isn't the same as saying that all the carbon currently contained in hydrocarbons in the crust were in the air then.
mcmegan: given that the 100 year projections involve carbon concentrations below 1,000 ppm, the statement that "all the stuff we're burning was in the atmosphere" is correct. was every hydrocarbon in the ground in the atmosphere? probably not. but every hydrocarbon in the ground is not recoverable, so that's not a very interesting question.
tinisoli: why don't you just clarify what you meant and then we'll see if it actually meant what you're nor pretending it did?
mcmegan: i wasn't unclear. you and anirprof decided that i must have meant something else, and proceeded to argue furiously against something i didn't say.
the estimated reserve life of the major oil reserves clocks in at under 150 years. by then, we'll have figured out something else, or the economy will collapse anyway, and we won't need to worry about greenhouse gasses.
anirprof: plus about four other commenters above and below this point who read it the same way, so i wouldn't be so quick to assert there was nothing wrong with the phrasing. given what you say you were trying to communicate, takuansoho's comment below suggests a phrasing that makes a lot more sense than the original.
mcmegan: in my experience, there are a number of issues where people stop reading about halfway through, and start arguing with the opponent in their head. this is one of them.
brian despain: that's one of the best quotes you have ever had megan. this thread is great evidence for that. [teacher's pet.]
downpuppy: and like all megan quotes, makes more sense when you realize it's about megan. nobody is claiming that global warming is a threat to all life on earth, so megan writes a post to say that everybody who claims that global warming will end life on earth is a doodyhead.
by writing it really badly & throwing in some rubbish about co2, she gets 3 more posts to respond to people who haven't noticed that she really hasn't said anything worth reading.
double win!
norman rogers: does the opponent in your head make you set fires and laugh at inappropriate moments?
syz: shorter megan: after my arguments have been thoroughly debunked, i like to switch to ad hominem attacks. also too, zosima is a snot-nosed know-nothing brat and i really should get around to banning him cause he keeps embarrassing me with his mastery of 9th grade math.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
skippy's thursday nite music club
Labels: america, music, skippy's music club, youtube
if phytoplankton population drops any more
the microscopic plants that form the foundation of the ocean's food web are declining, reports a study published july 29 in nature.
the tiny organisms, known as phytoplankton, also gobble up carbon dioxide to produce half the world's oxygen output—equaling that of trees and plants on land.
....."phytoplankton productivity is the base of the food web, and all life in the sea depends on it."- scientific american
Labels: climate change, food, global warming, ocean
phyllis schlafly - ragin' whackadoodle bee-atch
i'm not married. i'm not on welfare. i've been providing for myself since i was 18....now...stfu.
"unmarried women, 70% of unmarried women, voted for obama, and this is because when you kick your husband out, you've got to have big brother government to be your provider," said schlafly, president of eagle forum and infamous for her opposition to the equal rights amendment. - tpm
Labels: liars, mental illness, republicans, womens issues
que sherrod, sherrod, whoever will sue, will sue
sherrod made the announcement thursday in san diego at the national association of black journalists annual convention.
breitbart posted a heavily edited video of sherrod on his website, biggovernment.com, speaking to an naacp group and appearing to admit that she had deliberately refrained from giving full assistance to a farmer because he was white.
she is referred to on the site as a "racist govt employee."
the political fallout from the posting prompted the agriculture department to force sherrod to resign.
a full version of the speech, released later, shows that she was referring to an incident that occurred more than two decades earlier and lessons she learned after initially hesitating to help a white farmer save his home.
"andrew breitbart is going to be fine. he's done nothing wrong," said brent bozell, president of the conservative media research center. "i wonder if ms. sherrod, who is such a champion of transparency, will publicly disclose who is putting her up to this. and i also hope this champion of honesty will stop lying about fox news. i'm also waiting for ms. sherrod to publicly apologize for accusing anyone opposed to nationalized health care of being racist. last time i checked, that was more than half the country."
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
skippy's tuesday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
breaking! arizona immigration law broken!
the overall law will still take effect thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents — including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws.
the judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places.
u.s. district judge susan bolton ruled that the controversial sections should be put on hold until the courts resolve the issues.
the ruling came just as police were making last-minute preparations to begin enforcement of the law at 12:01 a.m. thursday and protesters were planning a large demonstrations to speak out against the measure. at least one group planned to block access to federal offices, daring officers to ask them their immigration status.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyabcnews tells us:
a provision making it illegal for undocumented immigrant day laborers to solicit or perform work was also temporarily blocked. the enjoined provisions will remain in limbo while the court weighs legal questions surrounding them.
thx to memeorandum for the links!
tea baggers - not good for what ails the gop
there are more than 100 conservative third party candidates on the ballot. this is important because it lowers the win number for the democratic candidate.
Bad Timing Coincidence of the Day
Whatever else one might think about the "walled garden" approach to content and applications at Apple, at least it finally gives the lie to that assertion (beloved of excruciatingly dull cultural theorists and technofuturists wanting to put a bit of ersatz spice in their prognostications) that "porn is the driver of technological innovation".
The Torygraph (via The Book Bench):
Blonde and Wet, the Complete Story was ranked first on the iPad in a top 10 that included three other erotic novellas yesterday morning....
Experts said the market for pornographic fiction had been given a boost by the rise of the iPad and other e-readers.
Philip Stone, charts editor for The Bookseller magazine, told The Times: "The embarrassment factor of being caught reading something like that in print is not there. If it's on your iPad then no one can tell what you're reading. You could be reading Plato."
In fairness, I have to note that most of the iBook readers I see on the subway are reading Romance Novels.
Labels: market forces, technology
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
skippy's tuesday night music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, war, youtube
ahhh...we're on fire again
about 30 to 40 homes have been lost to a wildfire about 10 miles southeast of the mojave desert town of tehachapi, firefighters said tuesday.
kern county fire department engineer anthony romero said the fire erupted at about 3 p.m. and quickly grew to more than 500 acres. - sfgate
Labels: brush fires, california, fire, fire department, summer
good news/bad news for tony hayward
the good news is, he's getting a severance package of 18 million dollars.
the bad news is, he's being sent to siberia:
even odder: hayward is being replaced as ceo by american-born robert dudley, a former amoco executive who reportedly had to flee russia in 2008 after a campaign of "sustained harrassment" made it impossible for him to effectively run tnk-bp.
Monday, July 26, 2010
rational people agree w/skippy: breitbart is an asshole!
this simply has no equivalent on the left. the leading lefty media organizations have teams of reporters who -- even if they are to some degree ideologically motivated -- work to determine whether their material is accurate, fair, and generally based in reality before sharing it with readers and viewers. they just don't push info -- with no regard to whether it's true or not -- for the sole purpose of having maximum political impact. period.
this is an important difference that's critical to understanding the rapidly shifting landscape in the new-media age. if i ran the universe more media figures would come right out and say what the times hinted at today: no, both sides don't do it.
the administration's response to the doctored video pushed by right-wing hit man andrew breitbart was shameful. the obsession with "protecting" the president turned out to be the least protective approach of all.
the obama team did not question, let alone challenge, the video. instead, it assumed that whatever narrative fox news might create mattered more than anything else, including the possible innocence of a human being outside the president's inner circle.
obama complained on abc's "good morning america" that agriculture secretary tom vilsack "jumped the gun, partly because we now live in this media culture where something goes up on youtube or a blog and everybody scrambles." but it's his own apparatus that turned "this media culture" into a false god.
yet the obama team was reacting to a reality: the bludgeoning of mainstream journalism into looking timorously over its right shoulder and believing that "balance" demands taking seriously whatever sludge the far right is pumping into the political waters.
but it is an open question whether conservative media outlets risk damage to their credibility when obscure or misleading stories are blown out of proportion and when what amounts to political opposition research is presented as news.
jane hall, a communication professor at american university and a former contributor to fox news, said partisan media outlets "look for something that will get an audience and that will whip up people in some kind of frenzy, warranted or not."
ms. hall said what ms. sherrod had endured was "classic propaganda."
Sunday, July 25, 2010
skippy's sunday night music club
Labels: elvis, music, skippy's music club, youtube
quote of the day
"fox news did something that was absolutely racist," dean said. "they had an obligation to find out what was really in the clip. they had been pushing a theme of black racism with this phony black panther crap and this business and this sotomayor and all this other stuff."(hat tip adept2u's diary over at the great orange one's)
Labels: faux news, howard dean, quotes
carly "hearts" tea baggers
Labels: california, senate, tea baggers, youtube
environmental news stories sunday
dust takes a toll.- dust is nothing new in the southwest. settlers and their livestock started kicking up dust in the region 150 years ago. trecent onslaught of dust in southwestern skies is affecting human health and safety - and also, as scientists are discovering, the region's climate - high country news
'downstream, death of the mighty colorado.'- overpopulation, pollution, damming, global warming and apathy are all affecting the colorado river and the communities that rely on it - marketplace
the poisoning.- capping bp's well in the gulf of mexico, even temporarily, is welcome progress, but it is not the end of the story. since the blowout in late april, up to four million barrels of oil and nearly two million gallons of toxic dispersants have been dumped into the gulf. no one has a clue yet what the longer-term effects of this catastrophe will be - rolling stone
hope you like beets, because the bee crisis could soon be hitting the u.s. food supply. - the effects of colony collapse disorder have been masked by imported bees, but a perfect storm is brewing, and it will leave no grocery store unscathed - daily green
come on in! the water's fine. -when luke borkovich has jumped into lake huron this summer, he has been able to stay in the water longer than usual. that's because the surface water temperature warmed up faster this summer than usual - port huron times herald
satellite spies vast algal bloom in baltic sea. -a potentially toxic algal bloom, covering 377,000 sq km in the baltic sea, could pose a risk to marine life in the region, warn scientists. they added that a lack of wind and prolonged high temperatures had triggered the largest bloom since 2005 - bbc
osha cuts outdated air quality rule from oil worker training. -oil cleanup workers on offshore vessels are getting additional safety training, but the training curriculum referred to air quality standards that the head of the occupational safety and health administration has acknowledged were "outrageously out of date. - propublica
usf scientists confirm underwater plumes came from bp spill. -the plumes of oil snaking through the depths of the gulf of mexico definitely came from bp's deepwater horizon gusher, scientists at the university of south florida announced friday, marking the first official confirmation of the source of the undersea oil - st. petersburg times
in gulf, epa's water sampling found possible risk to aquatic life. -epa air sampling along the gulf coast has shown moderate pollution levels. that's not all the epa has found. water sampling has also turned up a concentration of nickel that exceeds "chronic water benchmarks," meaning there's "the possibility of harm or risk" to aquatic life - propublica
ban sought for pesticide used widely by california farms. - two national groups sued the u.s. environmental protection agency this week in an effort to ban the use of chlorpyrifos, a chemical sprayed on wine grapes, walnuts, almonds and scores of other crops - sacramento bee
taxpayers stuck with $100 million mess - federal and state environmental agencies today list six major sources of groundwater pollution in the region northwest of delaware city. some contamination sources date back nearly 50 years - wilmington news journal
dirty little secret.- more than 33 million gallons of raw sewage entered allentown's little lehigh creek from 1999 to 2008, a morning call review of state and federal records shows. the pollution equates to someone flushing a toilet directly into the little lehigh about once every 14 seconds for nine years - allentown morning call
counties face water crisis, study warns. - a study released this month projects that one-third of U.S. counties, and all but two in arizona, face high to extreme risks of water shortages by 2050 because of climate change. the study was written by environmental consultant tetra tech corporation for the nonprofit natural resources defense council. - green valley news
ex-workers' lawsuit blames motorola for birth defects. - a group of former motorola workers and their children filed a lawsuit friday against the schaumburg-based company, claiming toxic substances used to make motorola products caused serious birth defects in at least 30 children born to workers employed by the company since the 1960s - chicago sun times
gulf fisheries' future in doubt. - many fishermen and their boats are now working with bp in the oil spill cleanup effort, and the coastal waters which provide some of the most productive fishing are still closed. even after all the oil is gone, it will likely be years before the gulf fishing industry is as productive as it once was - weekend edition
alabama shrimp season opens, but few shrimp boats on water. -maybe they were all working for bp. or perhaps the surprise opening of alabama's shrimp season caught a lot of folks off guard. either way, it was hard to find a shrimp boat working the waters of mobile bay on friday morning as an oil-delayed season began. - mobile press register
young giver sells lemonade to help pelicans. - at first, 4-year-old jonathan bush wanted to sell all of his toys to help save the oiled pelicans. at his mother's suggestion he settled for lemonade, adding that he cannot help directly with the cleanup "because (the oil will) get in my eyes and ears and nose and mouth. - new orleans times picayune
Labels: bees, bp, climate change, colorado, drought, environment, epa, food, food safety, gulf coast, new orleans, ocean, rivers, taxpayers, toxins, water
Saturday, July 24, 2010
skippy's saturday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
quote of the day
(at the great orange one's big shindig in vegas)
send senator al some love gets it!
for the senator's closing keynote address...click here. (for more soon to be quotes of the days)
Labels: franken, free speech, net neutrality, nevada, senate
tweet of the day
yes, we disabled the alarms on the deepwater horizon. oh, like you've never hit the snooze button? http://ow.ly/2fQ6x
Labels: bp, comedians, humour, oil, tweet of the day, twitter
greed covered in chocolate
...in a stroke, a hedge fund manager here named anthony ward has all but cornered the market in cocoa. By one estimate, he has bought enough to make more than five billion chocolate bars.
chocolate lovers here are crying into their cadbury wrappers — and rival traders are crying foul, saying mr. ward is stockpiling cocoa in a bid to drive up already high prices so he can sell later at a big profit. his activities have helped drive cocoa prices on the london market to a 30-year high.
mr. ward, 50, is not some rabid chocoholic, former employees say. he simply has a head for cocoa. and, through his private investment firm, armajaro, he now controls a cache equal to 7 percent of annual cocoa production worldwide, a big enough chunk to sway prices.
...now, traders here are buzzing that mr. ward has placed an audacious $1 billion bet in the london market for cocoa futures. this month, he bought 241,100 metric tons of beans, they say.
his play has some people up in arms. while some see it as a simple bet that cocoa prices will rise on falling supply, others say mr. ward has created a shortage of cocoa simply to drive up the price himself.
the german cocoa trade association and others wrote an angry letter to the london exchange on which cocoa is traded, demanding that it take action against what the association characterized as a "manipulation." - nytimes
Labels: chocolate, financial markets, greed
australian election debate rescheduled
only in australia would a federal election debate be shuffled to one side in order to allow the final of masterchef to take place without any distractions. - sydney morning heraldcheers!
congressman clyburn has a long memory
house majority whip james clyburn (d-sc) got in a light-hearted dig at vice president joe biden today, cnn reports.at a dedication event for the ernest "fritz" hollings special collections library, clyburn introduced biden: "ladies and gentleman, it's a pleasure for me to present to you a mainstream american who is an articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy." - talking points memo
Labels: biden, congress, south carolina
Friday, July 23, 2010
skippy's friday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
crack down on bloggers?
should there be a "gatekeeper" regulating internet bloggers? in the aftermath of the shirley sherrod incident, that's what cnn promoted on july 23.but..nooooooooooooooo...it's always a "bloggers" fault.
......"if you're in a place like iran or north korea or something like that, anonymous blogging is the only way you could ever get your point of view out without being searched down and thrown in jail or worse," said roberts. "but when it comes to a society like ours, an open society, do there have to be some checks and balances, not national, but maybe website to website on who comments on things?" -newsbusters
Labels: bloggers, fox news, republicans
skippy looks at books
hustlers and the idiot swarm by reverend manny:
Thursday, July 22, 2010
skippy's thursday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
skippy's wednesday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, space, youtube
the rnc can't even balance their own books
earlier this month, reports leaked suggesting the republican national committee had failed to report "hundreds of thousands of dollars" of debt to the fec. it now appears that the level of debt is much greater than originally estimated and may have been hidden by committee leadership. - think progress
Labels: liars, republicans
july 21, 1969
que sherrod sherrod
everything you need toknow about this whole shirley sherrod debacle, as told by someone who kind of understands it mostly (via ripcoco)
bradblog pulls no punches about breitbart
glenn greenwald thinks ms. sherrod has an actionable case against breitbart
jonathan turley also says she might have such a case, but it won't be easy
greg sargent points out that shirley sherrod calls it like she sees it, vis-a-vis fox news racism
addendum: tho greg sargent applauds robert gibbs for pointing the finger back @ the media when it comes to blame for the sherrod debacle, we are not so quick to agree.
rather, we are of the same mind as joseph nobles, commenting @ balloon juice:
obama looks pretty damn bad in this.
mad about refudiating sarah
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
mad about the gop's honesty deficit
Monday, July 19, 2010
skippy's monday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
tweet of the day
the @dosomething awards are tonight at 9pm est on @vh1. bpglobalpr is nominated. if we lose, we're uncapping the well.
Labels: bp, tweet of the day, twitter
down the penrose lane
Sunday, July 18, 2010
skippy's sunday nite music club
Labels: michigan, music, skippy's music club, youtube
the big oil cleanup
...in the 1990s, engineers partnered with a multitude of regulatory agencies to accomplish an environmental cleanup that set a new standard for the petroleum industry. and now, the town is emerging from the cleanup, and the rebuilding that accompanied it, to put on a pretty face and reestablish its identity.
....it all traces back many decades to unocal, the petroleum giant founded in the late 1800s and known at one time as union oil company. the company became a major part of the economic fabric of california's central coast. just prior to world war 2, its avila beach operations made the tiny town the world's largest oil port.
for 100 years, oil pumped from fields in central and coastal california — in some cases several hundred miles away — was piped to huge tanks atop a bluff overlooking avila beach. crude oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel flowed downhill from that storage facility, through pipelines under the town, and out the company pier to waiting tanker ships for transport. over time, the pipelines leaked, and a huge spill of petroleum products on the order of a half million gallons developed under avila beach and began moving toward the ocean.
church was one of the first involved when the spill began to rear its ugly head. in 1988, a business owner tried to expand his building and found the lot so heavily pooled with gasoline beneath the surface that testing engineers feared if anyone lit a cigarette, they would all be blown away. in 1977, just such an explosion occurred in the same area when two college students painting their basement apartment were blasted out a window after the pilot on a water heater ignited fumes. church connected the two events and became certain the gases had to come from the same source — pipelines under the street. - progressive engineer
in a decision that still evokes much heartache, san luis obispo county and the regional water quality control board voted to dig up the contaminated soil and rebuild the town's beachfront from scratch. unocal did not want to excavate, preferring alternative methods such as using oil-eating microorganisms to clean the contaminated soil.
but after a furious debate that divided neighbors, workers last fall began to demolish the entire beachfront. after the buildings are razed, excavators will remove enough contaminated soil to pile a football field 60 feet high.
little is left of the town's commercial hub except deep, gaping holes and mounds of sand and dirt piled 20 feet high. a thin sheen of oil rises from the sand that once welcomed generations of sunbathers and family picnickers. - seattle pi
Labels: bp, california, disasters, oil
tweet of the day
@keitholbermann mt @sarahpalinusa "shakespeare liked to coin new words too" /ma'am, i've read will shakespeare. ma'am, you're no will shakespeare
Labels: olbermann, palin, tweet of the day, twitter
environmental news stories sunday
the other oil spill. -the gusher in the gulf isn't the only "oil" fouling the sea. plastic trash, which is also petroleum-based, is plaguing the world's oceans in record amounts. most of us have heard of the great pacific garbage patch - but the north pacific isn't the only ocean with a plastic problem. - living on earth
failed safety device on deepwater horizon rig was modified in china. - the blow-out preventer – a crucial piece of the deepwater horizon rig's safety equipment – was overhauled in china at bp's request rather than in the us - london observer
joe the plumber (not that one) says he helped stop gulf oil spill leak. - a kansas man says he's the 'mystery plumber' who influenced the bp containment cap design that stopped the gulf oil spill leak. bp says joe caldart's sketch may have been one of many it's used. -christian science monitor
prozac pollution making shrimp reckless. - there's no happy ending for shrimp exposed to the mood-booster prozac, according to a new study. remnants of antidepressant drugs flushed into waterways worldwide are altering shrimp behavior and making them easier prey, experts say. - national geographic news
global temperatures rise to record levels. - the world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a us national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide and a concern for us farmers counting on another bumper year - reuters
sea-level rise will be worse for some, we just don't know who. - the fact that oceans will rise in a warming world is well established, but depending on how wind patterns change, climate change could mean quick inundation or more beach space for different coastlines - wired
the flying prius. - the future of the passenger jet may look surprisingly like a larger version of the hybrid automobile. - newsweek
alaskan glacier detaches itself from seafloor, goes rogue. - an alaskan glacier has lost its footing with the seafloor and is floating in the ocean, new first-of-their-kind observations show. - christian science monitor
sunk in the easy cushion of habit. - plenty of us feel a bit of guilt but don't alter our behavior because it isn't convenient. we guzzle electricity as if it arrived by magic, not from polluting coal plants. and not even the massive disaster in the gulf, caused by our national thirst for oil, has made most of us change our ways. - charlotte observer
blumenauer demands that pentagon explain pentagon immunity deal. - u.s.. rep. earl blumenauer is demanding that the pentagon explain how war contractor kellogg, brown and root may have been granted immunity from harming any soldier or civilian in iraq. - portland oregonian
drought is bad news for anglers in scotland. - the worst summer drought in more than 30 years has dried up some of scotland's top salmon rivers, leading to unusually low catches and fish found with bellies rubbed raw by gravel - edinburgh scotsmans
which infant formulas contain secret toxic chemicals? - even though artificial human milk is regulated by the fda, researchers from the cdc found last year that a thyroid-affecting chemical used in rocket fuel contaminates 15 brands of powdered infant formula, including two that accounted for 87 percent of market share in 2000 - mother jones
hydrocarbons in cereal stoke new debate over food safety. - when kellogg co. pulled about 28 million cereal boxes from store shelves last month, the company said only that an "off-flavor and smell" could cause nausea and diarrhea. but the culprit behind the recall is a class of chemicals now making news in the gulf of mexico: hydrocarbons, a byproduct of oil - greenwire
Labels: alaska, bp, china, climate change, congress, drought, environment, fish, food safety, global warming, offshore drilling, oil, pentagon, toxins
owe less than $100....go to jail
federal regulators are looking into the growing use of arrest warrants in minnesota over unpaid debts, following a star tribune investigation and a letter calling attention to the practice from sen. al franken.
a staff attorney with the federal trade commission said thursday the agency is trying to determine why debtors are being jailed in this state, and if they have been notified properly of any debt collection claims made against them in court. the agency said it was responding to a letter sent by franken, which accused minnesota debt collection firms of "abusing the state court system to reap profits." franken urged ftc chairman jon leibowitz to take "immediate enforcement action." - al franken
Saturday, July 17, 2010
skippy's saturday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
we're on fire...again
a 20-acre fire burning in the gaviota hills is threatening reagan ranch and other residences in the foothills of santa barbara county. - keytrepublicans are willing to let our economy and society crumble because it will cost taxpayers...
i say we let their little gang hideout burn...because, wait for it...it will cost taxpayers.
save the taxpayers' houses. let the taxpayer haters' mecca burn.
Labels: fires, republicans, santa barbara
mad about the birth of lunacy
west wing writer to tackle west wing wannabe's story
aaron sorkin -- best known for creating "the west wing" -- will make his feature directorial debut with a john edwards biopic.
sorkin's adapting and producing andrew young's "the politician: an insider's account of john edwards's pursuit of the presidency and the scandal that brought him down." project's not yet set up at a studio.
..."this is a first-hand account of an extraordinary story filled with motivations, decisions and consequences that would have lit shakespeare up," sorkin said.- variety
one of my favorite aaron sorkin writing examples was from malice. i don't remember much of the rest of the movie (hated nicole kidman's "acting")...but this one scene still haunts me to this day...especially at my temp job when i see doctors run around in their scrubbies. words can chill.
Labels: edwards, hollywood, teevee, west wing, writing, youtube
Friday, July 16, 2010
skippy's friday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
a republican says that waiters are hurting their employers
you have to give tom emmer credit. when the presumptive republican nominee for governor of minnesota held a town hall meeting with waiters on wednesday -- as part of a damage control effort after he publicly complained that they were making over $100,000 per year in tips and hurting their employers -- his campaign clearly was not screening the attendees.
the event wednesday was supposed to last for an hour and a half. instead, it ended a half-hour early, as the star tribune reports: "an hour later, he walked out after a bag of 2,000 pennies was dumped inches from his face by a man exclaiming, 'i have a tip for you too, emmer!' as cascading pennies bounced in every direction and the crowd at a roseville restaurant erupted into chaos."
....emmer last week voiced his support for a policy known as a "tip credit," which is used in 43 states but not in minnesota, which allows employers to pay a lower minimum wage to waiters -- as low as $2.13 per hour, depending on the implementation, by crediting their tips towards the $7.25 federal requirement. emmer especially got himself in trouble when he said: "with the tips that they get to take home, there are some that are earning over $100,000 a year -- more than the very people that are providing the jobs and investing not only their life savings but their family's future. something has to be done about that." - talking points memo
Labels: food, funny stuff, republicans
mother nature is pissed at congress
a 3.6 magnitude earthquake rattled the washington area early friday, with thousands of residents reporting that they felt the ground shake as they slept or were waking. the u.s. geological survey said the quake was centered in montgomery county and struck at 5:04 a.m. - wapo
Labels: congress, earthquake, natural disasters, nature
mad about david vitter's traylor travails
Thursday, July 15, 2010
happy blogiversary - addendum
the web is one huge library full of books that didn't have to go through an editor to get published. is that good or bad? in truth, it's neither (ok, i've seen some of these blogs, you're right, it is bad). but nonetheless, as the french say, pass the fries!
i gotta start off with thoughts about mr. bush's speech. didn't work for me. not me personally, but my stock portfolio. i spent most of this morning selling at least half of my holdings. one sep-ira which i had started in 1993, and had doubled in value by 2000, had fallen all the back to original value plus $50 as of end of trading today.
i hate to tell you kids this, but we're in the middle of another great depression. that's ok, though, i'm old enough that my parents grew up during the first one, so i know some good techniques for saving money.
thanks to you, our readers, for sticking with us, and with any luck, maybe we'll have good news to blog about in the coming years.
* yes, talkleft coined that phrase!
** yes, we coined that phrase!
obama hires former wellpoint executive
liz fowler, a key staffer for u.s. sen. max baucus who helped draft the federal health reform bill enacted in March, is joining the obama administration to help implement the new law...
....for some good background on fowler and the insidious role she played in killing the public option, watch bill moyers' recent segment here.clearly, this is a telling indictment of the health care law itself, strongly suggesting that it was constructed by the obama administration - as some progressives argued - as a massive taxpayer-financed giveaway to private insurers like wellpoint. and let's be honest: in investment terms, fowler has been a jackpot for the health industry. - david sirota's diary over at the great orange one's.
Labels: daily kos, dc, healthcare, things that make you go hmmmm
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
skippy's wednesday nite music club
Labels: elvis, music, skippy's music club, youtube
happy blogiversary, boss roo!
Kangaroo Webkinz cake ~*~ עוגת וובקינז קנגרו
Originally uploaded by ~ petel ~
happy blogiversary
long-time readers of this space may know that it has been our tradition to re-post our very first post on our blogiversary, for reasons known only to our faulty memory.
however, blogger has decided for some strange reason to cut all our archived months in half, so we are no longer able to access any july archive before about the 17th or so for each year.
thusly we are unable to re-create our first post, either out of memory or pixels. (blogger! you get what you pay for!)
either way, we've been at this blogging thing for about 8 years now, and have enjoyed every one of those years, save one.
a big thanks to our co-bloggers, a list of whom you can find in our
a big thanks to all the folks to who link to us.
and a big thanks, as always, to you, our dear readers.
come off it
Labels: ascension
it isn't free speech...
a billboard created by an iowa tea party group comparing president barack obama to adolf hitler and vladimir lenin is being condemned by other tea party activists.
the north iowa tea party began displaying the sign in mason city last week.the sign includes photos of obama, nazi leader hitler and communnist leader lenin with the statement: "radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive."
now...really...who really is preying upon the fearful and naive?
let me spell it out for you. g o p.
Labels: advertising, hate mongering, history, iowa, tea baggers
hades is cooling up a bit
bristol palin and levi johnston reveal exclusively in the new us weekly that they are getting married.wonder how much the palin clan are paying him.
and, they tell us weekly, former vice presidential candidate sarah palin has been kept in the dark about their plans ... until now.
"we got engaged two weeks ago," bristol, 19, tells us weekly. "it felt right, even though we don't have the approval of our parents." - msnbc
Labels: palin, things that make you go hmmmm
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
skippy's tuesday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
when you get things in perspective
gop gives wealthy americans a high five
for weeks, senate republicans have filibustered an extension of unemployment benefits on the grounds that democrats aren't willing to cut spending or raise taxes to pay for them. at the same time, the bush tax cuts are set to expire, and republicans want them to be renewed. for two days, senate minority whip jon kyl has raised eyebrows by insisting that emergency aid to unemployed people -- what he called a "necessary evil" -- be paid for through either tax hikes or spending cuts, while the tax cuts (which mostly benefit wealthy people) not be offset in any way. yesterday claimed that this view is shared by "most of the people in my party."
he was correct. - talking points memo
Labels: class warfare, congress, republicans, unemployment
george steinbrenner (1930-2010)
george steinbrenner, the new york yankees owner known as "the boss" for his tempestuous style, has died at age 80, the new york daily news reported on its website on tuesday, citing an unnamed, high-placed team source.love him or hate him...you definitely heard about him.
...after a flurry of unconfirmed reports, the family of george steinbrenner has confirmed to the new york times that the boss, the legendary and often notorious owner of the yankees has died, after apparently suffering a massive heart attack last night at his home in tampa, fl- talking points memo
please adjust your frequency
Labels: music
Monday, July 12, 2010
the earth is burning
Labels: music
ominous reports are leaking past the bp gulf salvage operation news blackout that the disaster unfolding in the gulf of mexico may be about to reach biblical proportions.
251 million years ago a mammoth undersea methane bubble caused massive explosions, poisoned the atmosphere and destroyed more than 96 percent of all life on earth. experts agree that what is known as the permian extinction event was the greatest mass extinction event in the history of the world.
...those subterranean seas of methane virtually reshaped the planet when they explosively blew from deep beneath the waters of what is today called the gulf of mexico.
now, worried scientists are increasingly concerned the same series of catastrophic events that led to worldwide death back then may be happening again-and no known technology can stop it. - helium
lloyds of london warns of "peak oil"
the lloyd's insurance market and the highly regarded institute of strategic studies (iss, known as chatham house) says britain needs to be ready for "peak oil" and disrupted energy supplies at a time of soaring fuel demand in china and india, constraints on production caused by the bp oil spill and political moves to cut co2 to halt global warming.
"companies which are able to take advantage of this new energy reality will increase both their resilience and competitiveness. failure to do so could lead to expensive and potentially catastrophic consequences," says the lloyd's and iss report "sustainable energy security: strategic risks and opportunities for business".
...the review is groundbreaking because it comes from the heart of the city and contains the kind of dire warnings that are more associated with environmental groups or others accused by critics of resorting to hype.- the guardian
Labels: bp, financial markets, insurance, oil, peak oil
Sunday, July 11, 2010
skippy's sunday nite music club
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
viva espana!
adidas World Cup 2010 Capitano Spain Soccer Ball
Originally uploaded by My Chioce
tweet of the day
query for @sarahpalinusa: when you call obama "backasswards," does that mean you're assforwards?
Labels: palin, tweet of the day, twitter
environmental news story sunday
growers, environmentalists spar over proposed water quality rules. - proposed rules to clean up central coast waters could damage agriculture and put thousands of farmworkers out of work, according to growers. - santa cruz sentinel
switch off desal, say water utilities. - power-hungry desal plants should be mothballed when dams are full to protect against soaring bills, the nation's water utilities say - sydney australian
water: act now to conserve the new oil. - water is the new oil. in the same way that the 1973 oil crisis forced americans to scrutinize their reliance on fossil fuels, today's water shortages and rising occurrence of contaminated water supplies are shining a spotlight on our seemingly ubiquitous supply of h20. - fortune
bolivia wildfire threatens world's largest wetland. - a huge wildfire in bolivia threatened wednesday parts of the pantanal, the world's largest wetland which is a popular tourist attraction and home to thousands of species of plants and animals - afp
a river's reckoning. - chicago likes to think of the filth flowing in its namesake river as nobody's business but its own, and for most of the last century that might have been true. but today that dirty water has become a problem for all the great lakes - the world's largest freshwater system and a drinking water source for 40 million people. - milwaukee journal sentinel
beekeepers credit healthy hives to protection from pesticides. - the usda has released a report stating that ccd may be caused by a fungus and a group of viruses — something beekeeper phillip raines believes comes from migratory bees being exposed to numerous amounts of chemicals and pesticides - rockford register star
a truly toxic issue. - modern life is saturated with carcinogenic chemicals. but without regulation, just how are we supposed to avoid them? - london guardian
dna patent ruling hinders monsanto. - a decision by the european court of justice on a dna patent held by global seed company monsanto has caused a stir in the biotechnology industry, with concerns that the ruling could limit the protection companies enjoy on their european patents. - nature
in the panhandle, the 'summer of oil' seems endless. - in ways big and small, the deepwater horizon disaster is reshaping the gulf coast. it's doing more than damaging the tourism and fishing industries; it's permeating the air people breathe and the way they think and feel, altering habits formed over a lifetime. - st. petersburg times
attorney general hints bp's partners may face criminal investigation. - companies partnered with bp in developing the crippled macondo well in the gulf of mexico could possibly also be targeted in the sweeping criminal investigation under way in washington, according to eric holder, the us attorney general. - london independent
presidential commission seeks 'to give voice to the region.' - an independent commission formed by president barack obama to look at the root causes of the gulf of mexico oil disaster and the proper process for combating such catastrophes in the future holds its first public hearing monday in new orleans - nola times picayune
how-to limit your bpa exposure plus healthy alternatives. - for twenty plus years, scientists have proven the harmful effects of bisphenol-a, a synthetic estrogen found in everyday products - london independent
political landmark for bpa ban. - when a bill to ban a common plastic additive in feeding products for young children passed the assembly on july 1, it marked a milestone in state legislative efforts to regulate bisphenol a - contra costa times
fda nears approval of genetically engineered salmon. - they may not be the 500-pound "frankenfish" that some researchers were talking about 10 years ago, but a massachusetts company says it's on the verge of receiving federal approval to market a quick-growing atlantic salmon that's been genetically modified with help from a pacific chinook salmon. - mcclatchy
fish rescued as rivers dry up in drought. - experts say the last six months have been the driest since 1953, leaving large swathes of wales, the lake district and most of scotland in the grip of drought.
eco warrior's pacific journey shows how 'dumb plastic' is killing our seas. - david de rothschild set out on a mammoth ocean crossing aboard his recycled yacht to highlight pollution of earth's waters – but even he was shocked by what he found. - london observer
tuvalu faces uncertain future. - the tiny island nation of tuvalu is the lowest lying nation on earth and is struggling with the effects of rising sea levels and frequent storm surges. but there are plenty of other problems facing its inhabitants, whose home could be seen as the canary of the pacific. - new zealand press association
six lessons from the bp oil spill. - the tragedy of the bp oil spill has taught us about regulations, technology, and how our energy diet must change - christian science monitor
Labels: australia, bees, bp, chemicals, drought, ecology, energy, environment, fda, fires, fish, florida, great lakes, ocean, oil, plastics, rivers, water
Saturday, July 10, 2010
skippy's saturday nite music club
and added bonus....for those russian spies that have been in the news of late...my grandparents fled finland when russians invaded...so there was no love of russia on that side of the family... but i loved this song!
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
Friday, July 09, 2010
skippy's friday nite music club
tonight.....the (detroit) spinners. come on now...get down...get funky.
Labels: music, skippy's music club, youtube
tweet of the day
attention lazy fishermen! if you won't clean our mess, we're taking your money. fair is fair. http://ow.ly/27SJF
Labels: bp, tweet of the day, twitter
it's not homophobia, it's just snark
from the story:
dix, who won the 100 meters and placed second at the u.s. nationals last weekend, said his race experience had helped, "but i'm a little beat up, too."
"i was a little sloppy out of the blocks, but i was able to hold on," he added. "tyson gave me great competition."
andrew sullivan agrees w/skippy: breitbart is an asshole
astute readers will remember we recently had some fun w/breitbart's latest fume wherein he offered $100,000 for copies of the now-defunct journolist emails.
we were snarky about it; sullivan is more to the point:
meanwhile, the gop leaders, having done all they can to destroy a presidency by obstructing everything and anything he might do or have done to address the crippling problems bequeathed him by his predecessor, are now also waging a scorched earth battle to prevent the working poor from having any real access to affordable health insurance.
this is what the right now is: no solutions, just anger, paranoia, insecurity and partisan hatred.


text:
Independence Solutions: Aging in Place
What Is Aging in Place?
For most seniors, the thought of moving into a nursing home causes great anxiety. Often, people make premature decisions regarding institutionalization because they are not fully aware of the technology or support services available to help them remain at home for a longer period of time.
This issue is gaining national prominence as the notion of aging in place – growing older without having to change residences to secure necessary services – takes hold. According to a recent AARP poll, nearly 90 percent of seniors older than 60 want to "live out their lives in familiar surroundings."
There are a number of social initiatives and technologies available to help you age in place. Some examples follow, but a professional evaluation is important to identify the right combination of services and technology for you.
Physical Evaluation
In the elderly population, poor balance often leads to falls. Of those who fall, 20 to 30 percent suffer moderate to severe injuries that make it hard to get around or live alone. Those who have a tendency to fall risk losing functional independence, developing depression and becoming socially isolated.
People fall because of environmental factors and physical problems, such as balance issues, vision impairments, weakness and cognitive and behavioral issues. Your doctor can prescribe tests to assess your balance and identify and treat many common balance disorders.
Home Safety Evaluation
Environmental factors that can lead to falls include tripping hazards, furniture placement and limitations in physical spaces (bathroom, doorway width, etc.). A home safety evaluation, prescribed by your doctor and performed by a Certified Occupational Therapist, can lead to recommendations of equipment and technology to improve access and safety in the home. These recommendations need not be expensive, and may include eliminating throw rugs and installing nightlights and bathtub grab-bars.
Home Modification
A modification to your home may allow you to remain independent. Stair glides help those who no longer climb stairs reach the upper and lower levels of their home, ramps allow for ease of entry, especially for those in wheelchairs, and other structural modifications, such as widened doorways and lowered kitchen cabinets, sinks and counters, can increase accessibility and quality of life.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technologies range from low-tech devices to more complex electronics. Simple solutions include grabbers to reach objects on high shelves, easy-to-grip kitchen utensils, long shoehorns, shower seats, tub benches and raised toilet seats. Complex electronic devices include voice- or switch-activated environmental control systems, which operate appliances, lights or televisions.
Personal Emergency Response Systems
At the touch of a button worn on the wrist or around the neck, a personal emergency response system puts you in direct contact with an operator at a central station who can summon medical assistance. The devices are waterproof and can be worn in the tub or shower, two areas where falls often occur.
Motion Sensor Systems
These motion sensor monitors learn and document your routine and alert family members or caregivers if something seems amiss in your home. The devices are not cameras, they simply measure how often you take your medication or open the refrigerator door, and monitor if you get out of bed or fail to exit the bathroom after entering. Temperature extremes, hot or cold, also trigger an alert. It's like you're never alone, even when you're by yourself.
Non-Skilled and Contracted Services
Sometimes, a little help around the house can keep you independent. Non-skilled services range from light housekeeping, laundry, cleaning, or transportation to the grocery store or doctor appointments, to 24-hour companionship. These services are typically contracted on an hourly basis and can include providers of home repair, security services and landscaping/snow removal. Availability of reasonable, reliable services can keep you from making a premature decision to give up your home because of minor problems.
Skilled Services
For more complex needs, based on medical necessity and a doctor's recommendation, skilled services, such as nursing, physical, occupational or speech therapy, or social work services, may be appropriate. These services are generally performed for a limited time.
Care Coordination
Care coordination includes case managers, social workers, or geriatric care managers. Their role is to complete an assessment of social supports, identify needed services, coordinate a plan of action to keep you in your home and provide ongoing follow-up.
Putting It All Together
Aging in place is a concept that is growing in popularity because of the desire for people to remain in their own home. As we have seen, there are a number of community services and technologies available to address this desire.
Consultation with a medical professional may help determine your physical or psychological circumstances, which allows for a more focused exploration of the resources available to keep you in your home longer. What is right for you depends upon your personal circumstances including finances, health status and support within the community.
For more information on the Good Shepherd's Independence Solutions Program, contact us, call 610-776-3256 or Request an Appointment.


text:
A Canadian police officer is reportedly being investigated for not properly reporting racial slurs hurled against him while breaking up a party in May 2011.
York Regional Police Officer Damien Muirhead, who is black, was allegedly subjected to racial slurs and told, "I would love to see that guy hanging from a tree," but chose to not reply or take further action, according to The Toronto Star.
The 33-year-old, eight-year veteran officer faces additional charges of misconduct, insubordination and discreditable conduct after one of the partygoers, Rheal Duguay, 41, filed a complaint against Muirhead's handling of the party.
Duguay claims the officer treated him rudely, allegedly ignored his protests, and failed to pick up Duguay's $400 leather jacket after it fell from his motorcycle during plate checks, the Star reported.
"He just ignored me," Duguay testified during the police disciplinary hearing Tuesday. "It's not a professional manner. . . I pay taxes. I deserve to be treated like a human."
Prosecutor Jason Fraser said Muirhead does not face dismissal or demotion from the York Regional Police Force. The hearing continues Wednesday before York Regional Police.


text:
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Use the form on the right to contact us.
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Wedding photographer specializing in artisically beautiful and documentary style wedding photography for couples in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
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