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Monday 9th December
The Earl of Wessex is at Windsor Castle on Monday, where His Royal Highness is hosting a dinner for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester is attending a charity Christmas carol service in London on Monday. The service, in aid of The Duchess's charity Missing People, is at St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, and will focus on those missing during the festive period and their families.
Tuesday 10th December
Her Majesty The Queen and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall visit Ilford in Essex on Tuesday. Her Majesty is opening the new headquarters of children's charity Barnardo's. The Duchess of Cornwall is President of the charity.
The Earl of Wessex is visiting Bath on Tuesday. His Royal Highness is Chancellor of the University of Bath and is presenting Degrees at the city's famous Assembly Rooms.
Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex is attending a charity carol service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Tuesday. The Countess attends the Seeing is Believing Carol Service as Patron of Vision 2020: the Right to Sight.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal carries out engagements in London and Dorset on Tuesday. In London, The Princess is attending a carol service and reception as President of The Mission to Seafarers, a charity that cares for seafarers around the world. In Dorset, The Princess Royal visits The Jailhouse Café at Her Majesty's Prison The Verne at Portland and tours Victoria Education and Sports College and attends the 10th Anniversary of the Carers' Support Programme in Poole.
On Tuesday His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester is attending the Banister Fletcher Lecture in London. The lecture, named after the architectural historian, is organised by The London Society to discuss various aspects of the history of architecture. The Duke attends as Patron of the Heritage of London Trust.
The Duchess of Gloucester is attending the Annual General Meeting of the Lawn Tennis Association in London on Tuesday. Her Royal Highness is Honorary President of the Association.
On Tuesday His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent is attending a meeting of the Royal Alpha Lodge at London's Freemasons' Hall. The Duke is Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England.
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra visits St Christopher's Hospice in London on Tuesday. The Princess is Patron of the Hospice.
Wednesday 11th December
On Wednesday His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh is attending the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers' Livery Dinner in London. Prince Philip is a Freeman and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, a historic trade association.
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting the Natural History Museum in London on Wednesday. The Duchess is Patron of the museum and the couple will see a screening of David Attenborough's 3D film 'Natural History Museum Alive'.
The Princess Royal is in London on Wednesday. Her Royal Highness is opening a new office for her charity Victim Support and opening the Blackfriars Settlement Community Centre.
The Duchess of Gloucester is visiting the headquarters of men's health campaign Movember on Wednesday. The Duchess is Royal Patron of Prostate Cancer UK, a cause supported by Movember.
On Wednesday The Duke of Kent is in Berkshire. The Duke is visiting the Headquarters of Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Maidenhead and engineering company Xtrac Limited.
Thursday 12th December
The Earl of Wessex is at Windsor Castle on Thursday. The Earl is hosting a dinner for the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, of which he is Patron. The institute specialises in marine conservation, science and policy.
The Princess Royal visits Lincolnshire on Thursday. As Patron of Sense -The National Deafblind and Rubella Association, The Princess is opening stables at Spalding. Princess Anne also visits the Head Office of the Jubilee Woods Project in Grantham and plants the last tree in Diamond Wood at Prince William of Gloucester Barracks. Princess Anne is also opening Chantry House Community Hub in Boston as Patron of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.
On Thursday The Duke of Gloucester is visiting Glasgow. His Royal Highness is opening new offices at 220 High Street; attending a Christmas service of carols and readings at Glasgow Cathedral as Joint President of Cancer Research UK; and attending an event at St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.
On Friday Princess Alexandra is visiting the Royal Air Force Club in London to present Operation HERRICK Campaign Medals to those who served in Headquarters Joint Force Support in Afghanistan. Her Royal Highness is also attending the New Bridge Foundation Christmas Concert at the Parish Church of St George in London. Her Royal Highness is Patron of the Foundation, which gives offenders the help and support they need to live crime-free lives.
Friday 13th December
The Duke of Edinburgh is hosting a dinner at Frogmore House on Friday for his charity The Outward Bound Trust. The Trust is an educational charity that works with young people outdoors to teach life lessons and survival skills.
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is visiting South Wales on Friday. Prince Charles' itinerary includes Tredegar House near Newport as President of the National Trust and Ewenny Priory in South Glamorgan.
On Friday The Princess Royal is in Gloucestershire to open Stroud Court Community Trust's West Bank House. The Trust provides homes and support for people with Autism.
Saturday 14th December
On Saturday Princess Alexandra is attending a carol service in Southwark Cathedral, London as Patron of Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people.
photo credit: ChrissieWiz via photopin cc


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AMD retaliates against Intel with Rev F release
Less magical, more practical
A more modest, less magical AMD released the new Revision F Opteron processors on Tuesday. The days when AMD could crow about broad, breathtaking performance advantages over Intel have vanished. Now AMD sells Opteron with a humbler pitch, one that revolves around consistency and high-end server gains for customers.
With Rev F, users will find a dual-core fleet of chips that top out at 2.6GHz. These new Opterons boast support for the AMD-V virtualisation technology and for DDR 2 memory. Intel has been shipping its virtualisation technology for some time and supports the more advanced but power-hungry FB-DIMM memory technology with its Xeon server chips.
Customers should expect to see a fair bit of manoeuvering from the server makers as they adjust to Rev Fs higher pin count of 1,207 connectors versus 940 pins in previous chips.
AMD has decided to ship three versions of the Rev F Opterons. Customers will see high efficiency parts that eat up 68W, regular parts that consume 95W and a special edition product that eats up 120W. In 1,000 unit quantities, the new chips range in price from $255 to $2,649.
You can expect the likes of Sun Microsystems, IBM, HP and Dell to roll out a wide variety of gear based on the new chip. Many of these vendors will stress Opteron's sustained performance edge over Intel's Xeon chip in larger, four-socket servers.
Intel has tried to counter AMD's high-end lead by trumpeting the upcoming release of a four-core Xeon in the fourth quarter. AMD today revealed that it does not expect a four-core Opteron until the middle of next year.
It now looks as if Intel and AMD will split various server benchmarks between them for some time. AMD, however, has urged customers to look past pure performance comparisons and see it as the more consistent processor manufacturer overall. AMD intends to keep its same, basic processor architecture for years to come, while Intel is expected to do another redesign in the near future to add technology, such as an integrated memory controller, to the Xeons. ®

subset: commoncrawl


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Condoms and Condemnations -- Another Look at Unprotected Anal Sex
Barebacking. Again. For those of you who don't already know (were you abducted by aliens or something?), "barebacking" is what we call it when gay men engage in unprotected anal intercourse. Recently, I read an article in a local gay and lesbian newspaper that said: "Barebacking remains a common practice among gay men, and its popularity may be on the rise." The only thing that surprises me about that statement is the fact that I'm no longer surprised by statements like that. Yawn. Fasten your seatbelts, gentle readers; it's going to be a prickly column.
First of all, I'm totally over the way we gay guys get all the cutesy labels. When heterosexual couples engage in unprotected anal intercourse we call it unprotected anal intercourse. Most people, in fact, don't even believe that heterosexuals engage in such behavior. They do. I've seen the research and the videos. There are only so many sexual combinations on the planet, and heterosexuals, bisexuals and gays have all discovered them. So when straights do it, why can't we call it "headhunting" or "buttbumping" or "tailgating"?
Also, I'm really bored with the entire issue of barebacking because even before there was a provocative name for it there was plenty of it happening. While safer sex educators and HIV-prevention specialists were flapping their arms and directing us to "use a condom every time," some of us were silently asking ourselves how the hell we were going to put a condom on the horse every time it got out of the barn. Can you actually imagine being 24 years old and hearing the words every time in a sentence? Can you imagine having sex for 60 years and using a condom every time? Uh huh. Neither can I.
Fortunately, I don't volunteer for an agency with such a narrow view of safer sex and risk reduction. I have never been able, nor required, to stand in front of a group of men, regardless of their sexual orientation, and say, "you have to use a condom every time you have anal intercourse." If I did, no one would take me seriously. The best I've ever been able to do is to speak what I know to be true: condoms are your best protection. When used properly and consistently, condoms are the only sure way to prevent HIV transmission during anal intercourse.
Many, many people have asked me to write about barebacking. This is at least the fourth column I've written about it, by the way. My question to them is this: what do you want me to say? Do you want me to condemn or vilify barebackers? Do you want me to tell you I think barebacking is stupid or dangerous? Do you want me to be shocked that gay men bareback, or that some of them actively seek it?
I'm not going to condemn men who bareback. Although I may not engage in the practice myself, I have not ruled out the idea. Under the right circumstances, I might bareback. I might. I just haven't found myself in those circumstances so far. Yes, I've been asked to have anal intercourse without a condom. I declined.
Do I think barebacking is stupid or dangerous? Sometimes. I also think skydiving, breast implants, bungee jumping, racecar driving and mountain climbing are stupid and dangerous things. You see, stupid and dangerous are very subjective.
Am I shocked that gay men would continue to have unprotected anal intercourse even though we know it's an extremely efficient way to transmit HIV? No, I'm not shocked. Men will always bareback. Some will do it all the time. Some will do it occasionally. Some will do it once in twenty years. Some will privately fantasize about doing it. Some will do it and regret it the next day, if not sooner. Some will do it and nothing will change. But make no mistake, men will continue to have unprotected anal intercourse.
Instead of getting mad at barebackers (who in a sense are doing what feels natural to them), why don't we start insisting that AIDS service organizations and HIV-prevention facilitators rethink their outdated materials and messages? For fifteen years the message has been the same. There's a whole new generation of gay men having sex now and they don't see AIDS in the year 2000 the same way we saw it in 1985. Prevention messages from the '80s don't apply today. They were hatched in the midst of frenzy and full-tilt crisis, when death was a certainty and people wanted answers -- fast. Safer sex education from the '80s through the '90s changed very little. The focus shifted gradually to treatment issues. In fact, way more money is spent on treatment and advocacy issues than has ever been spent on prevention.
We need to have new conversations about safer sex and risk reduction. We need to stop applying one-dimensional answers to the very complex subject of sex. We need to address the uninfected as well as those living with HIV. And we need to stop being shocked by one of life's unpreventable realities: some gay men are going bareback.


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Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho (simplified Chinese: 何大来; traditional Chinese: 何大來; pinyin: Hé Dàlái; August 13, 1930 – April 14, 2007) was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.
Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaʻako, but he grew up in Kāneʻohe on the windward side of the island of Oʻahu. He was a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools in 1949 and he attended Springfield College on a football scholarship in 1950, but returned home to earn a bachelor's degree in sociology at University of Hawai'i in 1953. In 1954 Ho entered the United States Air Force doing his basic training at Keesler AFB, Mississippi and spent time flying fighter jets in both Texas and Hawaii. Transferred to Hamilton AFB, California he went to the local town of Concord and bought an electronic keyboard from a music store, and recalls, "That's when it all started."
Don married his high school sweetheart, Melvamay Kolokea Wong, on November 21, 1951. She was the mother to the first six of his children. Ho was married for 48 years until his wife's passing on June 8, 1999. While in the military, Ho traveled from state to state with his young family until he was called home to help his mother Honey Ho, with the family bar business called Honey's.


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[Look for the podcast play button below.]
Today is the last day of my special Pride month spectacular. I promised you at the beginning of the month we'd have a kick-ass line up of guests and I kept that promise. We started off with a visit to the lair of the Queen of Kink Couture, Tonya Winter. Then we chatted with the exquisitely edgy photographer, Boots Bryant. Then the brilliant songsters, John & Cass, aka The Wet Spots, thrilled us with their sexy music. And now I have the pleasure of welcoming… the one and only, Mistress Matisse. I mean, holy cow; where else can you find such diverse and entertaining programming?
It's true, my favorite sex columnist, blogger and podcaster, the internationally acclaimed Pro-Dom, Mistress Matisse, is in the house. She's here as part of the SEX WISDOM podcast series, don't cha know. This is the series where we chat with researchers, educators, clinicians, pundits and philosophers who are making news and reshaping how we look at our sexual selves.
Matisse has someone special with her today, who she will introduce in a moment. But first one word of caution; you may hear some whining and whimpering in the background of today's program. Those sound effects are provided by my dog, Ginger. I tell you this because I don't want you to get the wrong idea and think that was me! Although god knows, the incredibly sexy and oh so entertaining Mistress Matisse makes even me, a big fat homo, weak in the knees.
Matisse and I discuss:
- The Pacific Northwest as a hotbed of perversion.
- Her frank and no-hold-bared style of sex talk.
- Becoming Mistress Matisse.
- Class structures and sex work.
- The Politics of Blowjobs.
- If it's not one thing, It's your mother.
- Bridging Pleasure and Danger.
- Cisgender, transgender and the dangers of binary thinking.
Matisse invites you to enter her world and visit her on one or all of her websites HERE, HERE or HERE! Or read her Control Tower column at The Stranger HERE!
See a slideshow of Matisse & friends at work and play.
Click on the thumbnails below.
Check out The Lick-A-Dee-Split Connection. That's Dr Dick's toll free podcast voicemail HOTLINE. Don't worry people; no one will personally answer the phone. Your message goes directly to voicemail.
Got a question or a comment? Wanna rant or rave? Or maybe you'd just like to talk dirty for a minute or two. Why not get it off your chest! Give Dr Dick a call at (866) 422-5680.
Look for all my podcasts on iTunes. You'll find me in the podcast section, obviously. Just search for Dr Dick Sex Advice. And don't forget to subscribe. I wouldn't want you to miss even one episode.
Today's Podcast is bought to you by: Fleshlight & FleshJack.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


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Intel® Core™ X-Series Processors
- High-performance desktops
- First 18-core processor
- Extreme gaming, mega-tasking, and high-end content creation
Computers with the new 9th Generation Intel® Core™ desktop processors are packed with performance for mainstream and competitive gamers. With up to 8 cores, 16 threads, 5.0 GHz, and 16 MB cache the 9th Generation Intel® Core™ desktop processors are built for gaming. Overall system performance is boosted up to 15%1 vs. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and you can Game + Stream + Record with up to 40%2 more FPS on Total War: WARHAMMER II vs. a 3-yr. old PC.
9th Gen Intel® Core™ S-series family brief ›
Work, play, and create as quickly and seamlessly as your heart desires.
8th Gen Intel® Core™ processors deliver 2X3 4 faster performance empowering people to focus, create, and connect like never before.
Intel is raising the bar on connectivity. Access content 12X4 5 faster with Gigabit WiFi.
Edit your 4K 360 videos 6.54 3 faster. Editing that used to take about 6 minutes can now be done just under a minute.
8th Gen Intel® Core™ processors deliver 2X3 4 faster performance empowering people to focus, create, and connect like never before.
Intel is raising the bar on connectivity. Access content 12X4 5 faster with Gigabit WiFi.
Edit your 4K 360 videos 6.54 3 faster. Editing that used to take about 6 minutes can now be done just under a minute.
Get an amazing entertainment hub—stream 4K UHD videos, power virtual reality, and play the most demanding games. With 4x more pixels on screen than traditional HD, you can enjoy sharp, lifelike visuals, complex shading, and fast frame rates—all with virtually no stuttering, buffering, or lags. And be ready for revolutionary immersive experiences yet to come.
Now everyday computer tasks can happen faster. Edit photos and videos seamlessly. Move between programs and windows quickly. Multitask easily. Better still, all that performance comes with up to 10 hours of battery life4 3, so you can take your computer wherever you go without worrying about cords and plug points.
At 12x the speed of a 1x1 802.11 b/g/n typically found in 5 year old PCs, our latest Intel® Wireless-AC 2X2 with 160MHz channels delivers Gigabit WiFi speeds. Experience smoother gaming and 4K UHD video streaming, faster file transfers and backups, and two antennas for reliable connections throughout your home.
Simplify your life with more natural interactions with multiple voice services that help you search the web, control the lights and temperature in your home, play music and even shopping with the sound of voice whether at home or on the go.
Remove the burden of multiple cables and get one compact port that does it all - power your PC, transfer data, and connect with dual 4K UHD displays.
Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) acts as an intelligent information bridge between the discrete graphics chip and high bandwidth memory, allowing those components to be bundled closely together in the same package. This creates space savings, which enables innovative thin and light devices that still deliver the performance to power your most demanding content creation, gaming and VR experiences.
With Intel® Online Connect, security is built-in 7th Generation Intel® Core™ processors and above, which adds a layer of protection to make browsing and online payments safe7 and simple.
Eliminating bottlenecks requires better storage memory that is fast, inexpensive, and non-volatile. With Intel® Optane™ technology, you can unleash the power of your processor instead of it working at a fraction of it.
Immerse yourself in vivid entertainment with the brilliance of Intel® Graphics Technology.
It's a new day for computer users. Enjoy new ways to use—and interact with—your computer. Get higher performance, an enhanced user experience, and superior entertainment.
2 in 1s are thin, light, and stylish, and offer the versatility you need to easily switch from laptop to tablet and even tent and presentation modes.
An All-in-One with an Intel® Pentium® processor infuses the capabilities of a complete desktop system into one stylish, versatile, and very powerful device.
Flexibility and fun for work or play. Get exceptional performance and a range of options in screen size, style, and budget to suit all your portable computing needs.
Get PC-class performance at an affordable price point. Available in various sizes and packages, desktops with Intel® processors offer impressive media and graphic experiences to meet everyday computing requirements.
Performance results are based on testing as of October 2, 2018 and may not reflect all publicly available security updates. See configuration disclosure for details. No product can be absolutely secure.
As Measured by SYSmark* 2014 SE Overall on 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9900K processor vs. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8700K processor. SYSmark* 2014 SE (Second Edition) is a benchmark from the BAPCo* consortium that measures the performance of Windows* platforms. SYSmark tests the usage scenarios: Office Productivity, Media Creation, Responsiveness and Data/Financial Analysis. SYSmark contains real applications from Independent Software Vendors such as Microsoft* and Adobe*. Reported metrics: SYSmark 2014 SE Rating and a rating for each scenario result (higher is better for all). Scaling efficiencies: CPU dominant, sensitive to frequency, core count and memory. QSV enabled.
System configuration: Intel® Core™ i9-9900K processor, PL1=95W TDP, 8C16T, Turbo up to 5.0GHz, Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z390, Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1080Ti, Memory: 4x4GB DDR4, Storage: 512GB Intel® SSD NVMe* 760p, OS: Windows* 10 RS4 Build 1803, BIOS Version T0d with MCU 0x96.
As Measured by Mega-Tasking Gaming Scenario on Total War: WARHAMMER II with 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9900K processor vs. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6700K processor. Mega-tasking Scenario on Total War: WARHAMMER II - FPS while playing, streaming, recording via OBS and Twitch.
System configuration: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K processor, PL1=95W TDP, 4C8T, Turbo up to 4.2GHz, Motherboard: ASUS Z170MPLUS, Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1080Ti, Memory: 4x4GB DDR4, Storage: 512GB Intel® SSD NVMe* 760p, OS: Windows* 10 RS4 Build 1803, BIOS Version 3805 with MCU 0xC2.
As measured by SYSmark* 2014 SE (Second Edition) Overall : Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor, PL1= 15W TDP, 4C8T, Turbo up to 3.9GHz, Graphics: Intel® UHD Graphics 620, Memory: 2x8GB DDR4-2400, Storage: Intel® 760p SSD, OS: Microsoft Windows* 10 RS4 Build 17134.112, BIOS: X150.B00.1807031951, MCU: 0x98. Intel® Core™ i5-4200U processor, PL1=15W TDP, 2C4T, Turbo up to 2.6GHz, Graphics: HD 4000, Memory: 4GB DDR3, Storage: 512GB 545S SSD, OS: Microsoft Windows* 10 Pro Build 10.0.17134.48, BIOS: HSWLPTU1.86C.0139.R01.1801190506,MCU: 0x23 WEBXPRT* 3 Up to 1.8X better web performance with an 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor vs. 5YO.
Benchmark results were obtained prior to implementation of recent software patches and firmware updates intended to address exploits referred to as "Spectre" and "Meltdown". Implementation of these updates may make these results inapplicable to your device or system.
Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel® microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark* and MobileMark*, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations, and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more complete information visit http://www.intel.com/benchmarks.
As measured by over the air TCP throughput on an Intel® Reference Platform with Intel® Core™ i7-8565U processor and Intel® Wireless-AC 9560 module (with 2x2 160MHz channels) vs. an OEM Intel® Core™ i5-4200U processor with 1x1 BGN (150Mbps), placed within range of 3 meters from the access point with enabling Gigabit WiFi technologies.


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Grinnell's Gallery of Flags hangs above the Spencer Grill in the Joe Rosenfield Center. A plaque on the east wall of the Grill provides a key to the countries and corresponding flags, as well as the following inscription:
"These flags represent the different nationalities of the current Grinnell student body. Grinnell students come from every part of the world, and the combination of their diverse backgrounds creates a unique environment on our campus. This display will change every year, as new students arrive and others graduate. Since no flag can fully represent a person's sense of home, we invite you to get to know our students individually and to learn about the countries from which they come."
The Gallery is updated each fall. They represent the citizenships our current student body - including international students, US citizens, and students with US Permanent Residency who maintain foreign citizenship or dual citizenship. Our sources for national flags include the United Nations and the International Olympics Committee.
Questions about the Gallery can be directed to the Office of International Student Affairs or the Institute for Global Engagement.


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To our favorite MythBuster Wiki fans,
We would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your contributions to the MythBusters Wiki. We have enjoyed your postings, your creative myths and all the fun and exciting things you've created on the Wiki.
With that said though, unfortunately, there is a time when all great things must come to an end. On Oct. 30, 2008, we closed down and said goodbye to the MythBusters Wiki.
Don't fret, though! You can still find all the great mythbusting action, chat with other MythBuster fans and find out exclusive information about your favorite MythBusters, all on dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters.
We'd like to invite all of you to check out some of the great content:
Videos — Get your MythBusters fix 24/7 365.
MythBusters Central — Get your game on and unmask some myths, plus get inside the heads of the MythBusters with their Top 10 lists and much, much more.
Forums — Chat with other MythBuster fans and share your thoughts, ideas and myths.
Interactive Video Gallery — Take control of the mythbusting video frame-by-frame.
Submit a Myth — Got a great idea for the MythBusters? Submit it in the forums.
We hope to see you soon on dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters.
All our best,
The MythBusters Online Team


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the partedThursday, March 7th, 2013 | tags: 1995, boyfriend, courting, why wendy's single |
He told me that he was moving out. Today. We would not be spending the rest of our lives together, from today. The silence screamed as this inconceivable announcement bounced around my mind, never settling or subduing.
18 years later, remembering that moment spurs tears. He has my unconditional love for eternity. A few years earlier he'd been so keen for us to get married.
Sure, if that's what you want, let's have a big party for all our friends and family. I'll love you forever, whatever, no marriage necessary. You're a big part of my soul.
I wouldn't wish loss like that on anyone. When marriages between beautiful people fail, I'm reminded of that day and the following years of learning to live with a rattle in the empty part of my soul. Like the rattling fan on my dying boiler except this is a rattle no-one else can hear in a hole no-one can see.
Since then I've had fun relationships, sensible relationships, all sorts of mixes with special people. My soul doesn't rattle as loudly, but the gap is unfilled.
I tell myself it's better to have lived that kind of love, and lost it, than never to have loved at all. Mostly, I believe myself because when I phone him, or think of us together, I can't help but smile and LOL.


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Beaufort County Council is considering an ordinance establishing a general reserve fund policy that would require the county to keep part of its annual revenue in savings to pay off debt obligations or in case of a natural disaster.
Under the proposed ordinance, discussed Monday by council's Finance Committee, Beaufort County would set aside five months' worth of its annual anticipated general fund expenditures - about $42 million based off the county's projected operating budget. The ordinance also requires the county, which currently is operating with three months of money in savings, about $24 million, to reach that figure by 2020. If the required amount of money isn't reached by then, council can take legislative action to ensure it happens.
Councilman Jerry Stewart said having such a policy in place is needed.
"If there is a major event such as a hurricane, the county is going to have to put people on extended time, overtime, etc., before, during and after a storm event," Stewart said. "We're going to have to put people on to clean up the roads and get rid of debris, and all of this stuff is going to have to be done by county employees. So we're going to absorb an awful lot of cost up front. It makes a lot of sense to have a larger reserve policy in place."
Councilman Brian Flewelling said the county's reserves are lowest from September through November, which coincides with hurricane season.
"If we did have a hurricane in August or September, and we didn't have the policy in place, we wouldn't have the money on hand to deal with the issue until January and February when we bring most of our money in," he said.
County administrator Gary Kubic said other advantages to having the policy in place include economic viability and growth potential.
"It allows you to take an idea like an economic development project and use the reserve as an economic reserve to invest in ourselves and create the possibility for more growth," Kubic said. "For companies looking to move into a county, they're looking at coming into a county that can control its fiscal house by having a good reserve and good rating in place, rather than going into an unstable area that's the opposite."
Some committee members, though, expressed reservations, mainly with how many months the ordinance should stipulate. Committee vice chairman Rick Caporale said he needed more information before he could support it, pointing out the rarity of hurricanes hitting Beaufort County.
"Our chance of being hit is very slim based on the modeling I've seen," he said. "And reaching for a AAA bond rating is a great goal, but we haven't seen a capital improvement plan yet, and I would need to know more about what type of debt we'd be creating before voting on this. I think having four months on hand is reasonable, but five months seems like an awful lot."
Councilwoman Cynthia Bensch, who represents Bluffton, agreed, adding it may be difficult for the county to raise the required money by 2020.
"If this goes to some kind of legislative action, that could very well mean the county would have to raise taxes to collect that amount of money," Bensch said, "and a tax increase is not something I would support."
The committee won't hold a vote on the ordinance until after Jan. 21, when it will hear a report from county officials about the full rationale behind the five-month suggestion and the long-term debt implications of adopting the ordinance. It also will hear from outside financial advisors about what it would do for the county's credit rating.
The ordinance requires the committee's approval and must go before full council for a final vote.


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Marge, Meet Mitt
Remember Marge Schott? Despite owning a team that won the World Series and being one of the first women to own a baseball team without inheriting it, she's still best known for her racist slurs and comments on Hitler's domestic policies. MLB eventually pushed her into selling the team in an effort to end what had become a huge embarrassment to the game.
Now, Mitt Romney hasn't yet come out in favor of Hitler's domestic policies and, although his church has some interesting views on minorities (as do most religions), he hasn't yet had a George Allen moment. However, he illustrated this week why he isn't ready to be President.
It's interesting that Romney's snafu took place on September 11. The thing that still stands out in my mind about that day in 2001 was the sense of unity afterward. Sure, it didn't last, but for a few weeks we truly were all "just Americans." We rallied around our country in its time of need and banded together to support each other.
Compare this with Romney's response to the killing of US Ambassador Chris Stevens this past week. Instead of rallying behind the President, the country and the diplomats standing in harm's way, Romney offered the following statement:
It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.
Now, aside from being patently untrue and misleading, a fact which Romney was made aware of and still refused to recant, it was also hardly the time or place to make such a statement, while the attacks were still ongoing and it was unclear how many people had died. It's also telling that the statement was made without having all the facts and contained blatant lies. Granted, unapologetic lies have become a mainstay of the Romney-Ryan campaign but when it comes to Americans serving and dying for their country overseas, there's simply no excuse for slandering them and their Commander-in-Chief.
It's still possible that Romney could win the election. It's also likely that he will continue this line of attack. But it's essential that American voters see Romney for who he really is, just like MLB eventually had to do with Marge Schott.


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vinod lall has not received any gifts yet
Posted on June 30, 2012 at 7:59am 0 Comments 0 Likes
hi, anybody interested in playing tennis, miramar, 33027; look foward to hear soon!
Hi! Thanks a lot for the offer! I will as soon as I get a raquect. Is it at Miramar Silver Lakes Tennis complex? Any requirements to use the facilities?
Hi, I'm Mark, the founder of Tennisopolis, the world's largest and most active tennis network. Please share Tennisopolis with your friends by supporting our Facebook page. Click here for a Guide to Meet Tennis Partners.
Have a look at our introduction page which will help you navigate the massive network which now has over 40,000 members and 600 local tennis groups.
Also, I recommend that you upload a profile pic; it can be of anything, but people with pics meet more players.
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Video: Diving Into the Technology Behind Cisco Telecommuting
For any tech buffs wanting to know the details behind Cisco's telecommuting (telepresence) technology this latest video is for you! Jawahar Sivasankaran, one of our distinguished engineers, recently sat down with David Iacobacci, lead architect for Cisco Virtual Office. He provides a deep dive into the architecture and technical components of a large scale, global deployment of telecommuting with a focus on management and security, and describes how Cisco Virtual Office technology is leading us into the new mobile era. Check out the short video.
Telecommuting — Architecture and Technology
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.
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i like to be a part of cisco


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Did you enjoy my guest post on Wed? Those 2 were certainly my favourites for this recent trip. For this last post of the Bangkok series, I'm sharing some random things which I found interesting/cute when I was out and about.
The cables that hang all over in the streets amaze me.
I was intrigued by the pattern on the gate. Fancied the baby blue colour too.
Thought the "う" in "うなぎ" (eel) was interpreted in a cute and smart way.
Look at the tiling on the floor! Resembles a Japanese motif.
Love the illustrations on this coaster.
That's all for this series. I wish I had more but it was a short trip. I hope you enjoyed it. The good news is, I'll be heading to Tokyo (!!) very soon and you know you'll be showered with great blog posts after I return! Man, I can't wait to go!