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AmE or BrE: We're moving this weekend. [intransitive]Now, don't tell me that your dialect's version makes more sense than the other, because they're equally problematic from a literalist, logical point of view. The intransitive version seems like it could apply to exercising one's muscles. The transitive version seems like it involves relocating a building. But, of course, both involve the relocation of the contents of a dwelling and an address-change for the individuals associated with that dwelling. Language isn't about literal, logical description; it's about communication--and these both work, if you know the conventions of the dialect in which they're said.
BrE: We're moving house this weekend. [transitive]
I was reminded of this when talking to my friend the Recyclist the other day. She's recently come to the UK for an extended stay, and was confused by a television commercial she saw in which moving home was mentioned (and the same day I saw a billboard in London with the headline Moving home?). As an AmE speaker, Recyclist interpreted this as 'moving back in with one's parents'. It took Recyclist a few beats to figure out why people who were 'moving home' would need a mortgage (or whatever it was that the ad(vert) was about). In BrE moving home means the same as moving house, but is perhaps used in advertising to make things sound a bit hom(el)ier.
As long as we're talking about moving, Americans often comment on the (AmE: real) estate agents' signs in the UK that indicate properties in search of tenants. In the US, such signs say FOR RENT. In the UK, they say TO LET. And Americans almost invariably have the reaction: 'I want to put an i in that sign'. Occasionally some (probably young) joker does just that.
(Photo from here.)


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Cerber Reigns as King of Ransomware; Where did Locky Go?
In 2016, there were two contenders for king of ransomware: Locky and Cerber. So far in 2017, we've seen a massive shift in the battle between these two families, with Locky basically dropping out entirely and Cerber expanding its market share by a significant amount. New families such as Spora are emerging as well, setting themselves apart by touting superior customer service for its victims. This situation acts as a perfect example of how dynamic and sensitive the cybercrime world is.
From ransomware as a service, to malware specifically targeted toward Mac and Android devices...from unique distribution methods and exploit kits, to social media and tech support scams, cybercrime in 2017 has already proven to challenge even the most seasoned cybersecurity professionals.
Download this industry-leading report which analyzes:
- What factors contributed to Cerber's rise to power in the ransomware market and the latest malware threats for Windows, Mac and Android devices;
- Distribution methods, exploit kits and malicious spam unique to 2017;
- Social media and tech support scams and predictions for what is yet to come.

subset: commoncrawl


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Blogging is one of the top ways to make money online and this makes many people dream of blogging for profit. This goal is not far beyond the reach of someone with average intelligence, a willingness to work hard, and a basic grasp of blogging technology. However, very few people manage to reap the profits they want from their blog. Most people who attempt to make money with their blogs do not succeed for two reasons.
- Often, bloggers have unrealistic expectations of how fast their readership will grow and how much money they will make, and when these expectations are not met the disappointment can crush the desire to continue blogging.
- The other trap that many bloggers fall into has to do with lack of planning. If you want to turn a profit as a blogger, the key to success is to make a realistic plan and stick with it.
To succeed at blogging for profit, the main thing that you will need is a large readership. The higher your
traffic, the more advertisers will agree to pay you. However, cultivating the regular visitors that you will
need in order to make a profit isn't easy. As more and more blogs appear each day, having a great idea or a
wonderful writing style is no longer enough to get attention. You need to be able to market your blog effectively.
Too many bloggers spend all of their time writing posts and almost no time marketing their project. To be
certain, updating as often as you can is a great way to keep your blog high on blogrolls and high in blog
search engines like technorati. Once your readers know that you update frequently they will return to your
site on a regular basis.
However, it does not matter how often you update your blog if nobody is reading it, so don't skimp on the time that you spend drawing visitors to your site. To make your dreams of blogging for profit a reality, try decreasing your number of posts and using some of that time to draw new visitors by setting up link exchanges with other bloggers, making contacts in the blog community, and following other established modes of winning traffic.
Of course, even if you are an internet marketing genius or have a really great idea for a blog, success is not going to happen overnight. Building the kind of readership that blogging for profit requires takes time, and in all
likelihood it will be at least several months before you are able to turn much of a profit. Try to stay committed
Try to stay committed to your blogging project during this initial rough period. To stay motivated, set goals for how often you will update and how many readers you want to attract, and then reward yourself for sticking with your plan.


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Hello, and welcome to my virtual office. I've created this website to provide you with unparalleled access to real estate information, property listings and resources to help you with every aspect of your real estate journey.
In today's competitive real estate market, timing is everything. Many of the best homes are sold before they are ever advertised or displayed on other websites like MLS.ca®. Use my services provided through this website to get the edge on other home buyers.
You can use this site to access helpful buying and selling information, all MLS® listings, a free home evaluation, and a host of other useful information. Use the links below to locate the information you are looking for.


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Sign up and join us in this awesome giveaway event!
One lucky winner will get $100 PayPal cash or gift card of their choice to blow on Black Friday deals and steals!
Hosted By: Minding My Matters and Xtreme Qpon
Giveaway Dates: 11/1 - 11/22
Signups close 10/27
Free & Paid options


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Daily band lineups have been announced for the 12th annual Rock On The Range at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, OH on May 18, 19 & 20, featuring nearly 60 bands on 3 stages and led by Tool, Avenged Sevenfold, and Alice In Chains. Weekend VIP and General Admission tickets for America's largest and most acclaimed rock festival are SOLD OUT, but a limited number of single day GA field and stadium tickets are now on sale at www.RockOnTheRange.com.
The daily band lineup (subject to change) for Rock On The Range is as follows:
Friday, May 18: Alice In Chains, A Perfect Circle, Breaking Benjamin, Machine Gun Kelly, Greta Van Fleet, Underoath, Body Count, Quicksand, 10 Years, The Bronx, Emmure, Power Trip, Hawthorne Heights, Turnstile, Senses Fail, The Fever 333, Dance Gavin Dance, I See Stars, Mutoid Man, Spirit Animal
Saturday, May 19: Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Three Days Grace, Bullet For My Valentine, Black Veil Brides, Asking Alexandria, Tech N9ne, Trivium, Andrew W.K., Atreyu, Miss May I, New Years Day, From Ashes To New, Stick To Your Guns, Cane Hill, Wilson, Grandson, My Ticket Home, Like Moth To Flames, Them Evils
Sunday, May 20: Tool, Godsmack, Stone Temple Pilots, The Used, BABYMETAL, I Prevail, Baroness, Yelawolf, Code Orange, Red Sun Rising, Anti-Flag, We Came As Romans, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Like A Storm, Toothgrinder, Shaman's Harvest, Shim, Stitched Up Heart, Joyous Wolf
In addition to three stages of music, Rock On The Range features national and local comedy talent in the ROTR Rolling Rock Comedy Tent, led byJ.B. Smoove, Trae Crowder, and Big Jay Oakerson. The Rock On The Range comedy lineup also features Taylor Tomlinson, Yannis Pappas andTim Dillon, along with Jason Banks, Jake Iannarino, Zach Martina, Bill Squire, Chad Zumock, Tom Dustin, Jay Armstrong and Aaron Kleiber.
Single day tickets for Rock On The Range are priced as follows (while supplies last):
GA Field: $129 (plus fees)
GA Stadium: $79 (plus fees)
Rock On The Range is produced by AEG Presents and Danny Wimmer Presents.
Rock On The Range is brought to you in part by Monster Energy.
For more information on Rock On The Range, visit:
Website: www.RockOnTheRange.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rockontherange
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rockontherange
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rockontherange
Hashtag: #RockOnTheRange


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Microsoft released the latest version of its free standalone server virtualization solution Friday.
The new release, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, can take advantage of greater computing resources compared with the first version. With R2, Microsoft increased the number of physical and logical processors supported. As well, the product now supports physical memory of up to one terabyte (see Table).
R2 works with various Windows client and server operating systems and can be downloaded here.
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
Physical processor support
Up to 4 processors
Up to 8 processors
Logical processor support
Up to 16
Up to 64
Physical memory support
Up to 32 GB
Up to 1 TB
Live migration
High availability
Management options
Hyper-V MMC, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008/R2
Remote Server Administration Tool (Free), Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
This release features Microsoft's built-in "live migration" capability. Live migration is designed to move virtual machines (VMs) with no perceived loss of uptime by end users. It also can facilitate hardware updates (such as a BIOS changes or memory upgrades) during planned downtimes. The VMs can be moved out before the hardware upgrade and then moved back when the work is completed.
Microsoft includes a "processor compatibility" feature in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 that allows VMs to be moved across different processor generations provided that the processors come from the same hardware vendor. So users can move VMs across Intel chipsets or across AMD chipsets, for instance, but not across a mixture of the two.
Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 can run up to 384 VMs with up to 512 virtual processors per server, according to Microsoft's team blog. Management can be accomplished using Microsoft's free Remote Server Administration Tool for Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 R2 or System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2.
Microsoft also made it easier for its original equipment manufacturer partners to ship the hypervisor. Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 includes a new feature that lets users boot it from a flash drive.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is online news editor, Enterprise Group, at 1105 Media Inc.


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The Agriculture Department is barely enforcing regulations on big meat companies.
By late 2016, many of the nation's 25,000 chicken farmers said they had grown bitterly frustrated by the administration of President Barack Obama.
Under Obama, top officials had promised to help farmers by tightening regulations on meat processing companies, which for decades had been growing bigger and more powerful. The industry consolidation extended to beef, dairy and pork as well as poultry, but the Obama administration was particularly concerned about the effects on farmers who raise chickens on contract for giants such as Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride.
Farmers complained that they had been lured into the business with rosy profit projections only to discover that the processing companies — which they depend on for supplies of chicks and feed — could suddenly change their contract terms to impose additional costs or drop them for any reason.
By the time the Obama administration finally pushed through the rules meant to address these problems in December 2016, Donald Trump, a Republican, had won the White House, backed by many farmers who said they had been let down by Obama, a Democrat.
Now, some say their expectation that Trump would be different may have been misplaced.
Over the last two years, Trump appointees have not only reversed the regulations put in place at the end of Obama's presidency, they have retreated from enforcing the preexisting rules. The Trump administration dissolved the office charged with policing meat companies for cheating and defrauding farmers. Fines for breaking the rules dropped to $243,850 in 2018, less than 10% of what they were five years earlier.
"The chicken company cost me my ability to feed my children and pay our bills," said Tony Grigsby, a retired cop in Alabama who recently quit chicken farming. Grigsby identifies as a Republican and enthusiastically supported Trump, but he said he wished Trump hadn't scrapped Obama's regulations. "I hear the president saying he's doing things for the American farmer," he said, "but it's almost like it's only a certain percentage."
The White House declined to respond to questions about its decisions related to the meat industry, and the USDA declined to provide an interview with the top enforcement official. A USDA spokesman said the agency "is committed to supporting the president's commitment to reprioritize spending and redefine the proper role of the federal government."
The National Chicken Council, which represents the big chicken companies, has cheered the Trump administration's rollback of the proposed regulations, saying the rules would have cost the industry — and, by extension, consumers — billions of dollars.
"Companies have waiting lists of potential farmers that want to partner with them to raise birds," Tom Super, a spokesman for the trade group, said.
The administration's moves underscore its ties with the meat industry. One of the largest donations supporting Trump during the campaign was a $2 million super PAC contribution from a poultry magnate, and several industry stalwarts took positions with the Trump transition team or in the Agriculture Department.
The administration's siding with big meat companies over small farmers is already becoming campaign fodder for Trump's opponents. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have vowed to restore the Obama-era regulations and dust off atrophied antitrust laws to break up big meat companies. The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, is promoting the creation of an independent agriculture regulator, akin to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Chicken farmers who considered themselves staunch Trump supporters say their worsening circumstances since he took office are making them reconsider their votes. Mike Weaver, a West Virginia farmer, said he gave up raising chickens this year after the company wanted him to waive his right to sue — something the Obama administration's rules would have prevented.
"I made excuses for him for a while, thinking he's going to eventually get a grasp on the dire situation small family farmers are in," Weaver said of Trump. "It hasn't happened yet. If it doesn't happen by the next election, I'm going to tell everybody some of the promises he made were never kept and I don't see it changing."
The main law regulating meatpackers was passed almost a century ago after a Federal Trade Commission investigation found that five companies had a stranglehold over the country's meat supply and used it to fix prices, crush competition and defraud farmers and consumers.
The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 prohibited meatpackers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, manipulating prices, creating monopolies or giving undue preference to particular people, businesses or places. The law's scope expanded over the next several decades to apply to livestock dealers, live poultry dealers, swine contractors and other related businesses.
Eventually, however, courts, the Justice Department, the FTC and the USDA softened their stance on consolidation. From 1986 to 2016, the top four companies' market share rose from 55% to 84% in beef processing, 33% to 66% in pork, and 34% to 50% in chicken, according to USDA data. Counting the fifth-largest chicken company, the top firms control 61% of the market.
The industry says consolidation has improved productivity, allowing the U.S. to grow more food using less land and labor.
But another upshot of these changes is that the five biggest chicken companies — Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson Farms, Perdue Farms and Koch Foods — exert "such comprehensive control" over the contractors who raise chickens for them that the Small Business Administration's inspector general said these farmers should no longer qualify as independent small businesses. (The SBA hasn't decided whether to follow that recommendation.)
Chicken companies contract with local farmers to raise and care for birds for several weeks until they're ready for slaughter. The farmers bear the cost of housing the birds, equipment and fuel. The companies, in addition to delivering chicks and feed, rank the farmers based on how plump their birds get and pay accordingly. This so-called "tournament system" rewards the most efficient producers, the companies argue, but farmers say the companies control key variables, such as who receives the healthiest chicks and the most nutritious feed, and, thus, who comes out on top.
One clear indicator of companies' growing leverage over farmers: Farmers' average pay rose by just 2.5 cents a pound from 1988 to 2016, while the wholesale price of chicken increased by 17.4 cents a pound, data from the USDA and the National Chicken Council shows.
In the early years of the Obama administration, top officials visited farmers in Iowa, Alabama and Wisconsin — places where the Tea Party backlash was giving Democrats trouble with white working-class voters — and promised help to those who said the system was rigged against them.
"This is a top priority for today's Department of Justice," Attorney General Eric Holder told the crowd in an auditorium at Alabama A&M University in May 2010.
Farmers at the Alabama meeting detailed how chicken companies dictated contract terms and how they were powerless to resist, even if the terms were financially ruinous.
"Either I sign it or I ain't got no chickens," Garry Staples from Steele, Alabama, said at the hearing. "Without any chickens, I can't pay any bills. I can't pay my mortgage because chicken houses are designed for one thing: grow chickens."
Staples said he was risking his livelihood just to be there, since the companies were known to use the tournament system to punish farmers who spoke out. Some farmers read messages on behalf of others who were too afraid to come.
The Justice Department's top antitrust enforcer, Christine Varney, told Staples she would have his back. "Mr. Staples, let me say, I fully expect you will not experience retaliation by virtue of your presence today," Varney said at the hearing. "But if you do, you call me at this number because I want to know about it." The audience clapped and cheered. (When Staples tried to call Varney a few years later, he discovered she'd left the Justice Department for a partnership at the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. She declined to comment.)
Ultimately, the meetings and promises didn't lead to action by the Justice Department. In 2012, the Antitrust Division issued a 24-page report summarizing farmers' concerns but concluding that many, or possibly most, of them "fall outside the purview of the antitrust laws."
The USDA, however, proposed regulations in June 2010 designed to address many of the chicken farmers' chief complaints. The rules would clarify prohibited practices, such as retaliating against farmers and terminating their contracts without notice. They would make it easier for farmers to sue, without their having to show that companies were harming competition across the industry, an almost impossibly high bar to clear. And they would restrict chicken companies from using the tournament system to mislead farmers about their projected income or to favor some farmers over others by providing unequal quality of chicks and feed.
"The rules addressed fraud, bad faith, retaliation and denial of due process," said Dudley Butler, a Mississippi lawyer who helped develop the new rules in the USDA during the Obama administration.
The meat industry opposed the proposed regulations and lobbied Congress to block them. Meatpackers spend more than $4 million a year on lobbying, and the top recipient of their campaign contributions in the 2014 House elections was Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who led the agriculture appropriations subcommittee. The House Appropriations Committee also included Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican whose district is home to Tyson Foods, the biggest chicken company.
When annual funding bills made their way through Kingston's and Womack's panels, lawmakers inserted a prohibition against USDA staff spending any time to work on finishing the regulations. Republicans on the Appropriations Committee said the rules would "allow harmful government interference in the private market for the livestock and poultry industry."
Spokespeople for Womack and Kingston didn't answer requests for comment. Kingston retired from Congress in 2015 and became a lobbyist.
With Congress barring the USDA from working on the regulations, the Obama administration could not put them into effect. At a 2014 meeting with farmers who supported the regulations, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told them they'd been outgunned by the industry. "You don't have enough horses," Vilsack said, according to two people present: Joe Maxwell, executive director of the Organization for Competitive Markets, a populist advocacy group for farmers; and Chris Petersen, a hog farmer from Clear Lake, Iowa. Vilsack didn't respond to requests for comment. (He's now head of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, which did not have a position on the regulations.)
Just before Obama left office, Congress stopped preventing the USDA from working on the regulations (in part because of public outcry over a television segment by the comedian John Oliver). The Obama administration raced to finish the regulations before Trump's inauguration.
In December 2016, the USDA released a watered-down version of its 2010 proposal. The agency published an interim final rule on making it easier for farmers to sue. The agency also proposed a rule spelling out deceptive practices and another against using the tournament system to treat farmers unequally. But under the legal process for implementing new regulations, these rules couldn't take effect for several more months. That left them vulnerable to being changed by the incoming administration.
After doing away with the Obama administration's interim final rule and proposed rules, the Trump administration says it will propose a new regulation this summer. The USDA has been holding talks with industry groups to discuss the new policy. Farmers and their advocates fear the new regulations could be even more favorable to big meat companies than the status quo, according to Steve Etka, who lobbies for small farmers. Some in the industry, though, say they hope the administration will ditch its rulemaking effort entirely.
"We'd love to see them do nothing," Colin Woodall, a lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said. "The action the secretary took to stop this is exactly what we wanted. We believe the USDA's efforts are better focused on implementing and enforcing the Packers and Stockyards Act as it exists."
But that's not happening either. The staff in the office responsible for enforcing the law has dwindled to 137, from 166 in 2010. In 2017, the most recent data available, the office finished 1,873 investigations, down from 2,588 in 2012. The office suspended five people and companies for violating the Packers and Stockyards Act in 2017, down from 34 in 2013.
The USDA declined to allow ProPublica to interview Stuart Frank, director of the Packers and Stockyards Division. In a statement, the department said compliance varies over time depending on economic conditions, and penalties depend on severity and the violator's "ability to pay and stay in business."
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue also has eliminated the enforcement office as an independent administration within the USDA, moving it under the Agricultural Marketing Service, the branch of USDA whose primary mission is facilitating sales for big agriculture companies. In a memo, he described the reorganization as "Improving Industry Engagement."
"That's outrageous," said Weaver, the West Virginia farmer who spoke at the 2010 Alabama hearing. "How's the agency that supports the industry and helps them increase revenue going to put the guys out there to police those companies and make them do the right thing?"
Weaver started growing chickens 15 years ago, after retiring from being a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He bought a farm in Fort Seybert, sheltered between Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest, expecting that the income from his chicken houses would help him afford a little more land and supplement his retirement. Instead, he said, everything he earned from the chicken operation had to go back into new investments that the company required in order to keep receiving flocks to raise.
Weaver dedicated hundreds of hours to rallying support and contacting lawmakers about the Obama administration's proposed regulations. "I can't tell you how disappointed we were," he said. "Obama bowed to industry like all politicians. They made all kinds of promises and nothing was done."
Weaver said he thought Trump would be different. He wasn't another politician, he was a businessman. He said he would end business as usual in Washington and make things fair for the little guy. That was a big reason why Weaver voted for Trump.
Last year, Weaver received a new contract from the company he grew for, Pilgrim's Pride, a subsidiary of JBS, the world's largest meat company. The new contract required farmers to drop all legal claims against the company and forbade them from participating in class-action lawsuits.
Weaver wouldn't accept that, since he is part of a federal lawsuit in Oklahoma alleging that Pilgrim's Pride, Koch Foods, Tyson Foods, Sanderson Farms and Perdue Farms conspired to hurt farmers by fixing chicken prices. The companies said the farmers failed to demonstrate any illegal conduct. A judge has not yet ruled on whether the case can proceed.
The regulations proposed by the Obama administration would have prevented Pilgrim's Pride from forcing Weaver to waive his litigation rights. But since those rules were blocked, Weaver was on his own.
Weaver crossed out the offending provisions and signed. Pilgrim's Pride rejected it. A spokeswoman for JBS, which owns Pilgrim's Pride, said farmers who opted out of the new contract could remain on the old contract. Weaver said he couldn't afford to continue under the old contract, which paid less, so he had his last flock in January. He's done with chicken farming.
"I miss it like a toothache," he said.
But Weaver hasn't given up on trying to get Trump's attention. He wrote an open letter to Trump published on the website of Fox News, lamenting the decision to overturn the Obama administration's regulations and asked Trump to uphold his campaign promises: "As farmers, with families who depend on us, we are dismayed by the move and we're calling on President Trump to make good on his campaign pledge — to drain the swamp of big meat lobbyists who continue to cut bad deals that hurt rural economies and families."
Weaver also made a personal appeal to Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law. He met her at a July 2017 event in Washington with the U.S. Humane Society, since she is vocal about animal welfare. Weaver gave her a hat branded with his local association of chicken farmers and a note to the president. Lara Trump assured Weaver she would deliver the note, he said.
The Trump campaign, where Lara Trump is an adviser, didn't answer requests for comment.
Weaver is still waiting to hear back from her, too.
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.


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Eric Church Wants To Meet The Vets
June 24, 2019 10:49AM AKDT
The Chief Eric Church is bringing his Double Down Tour to the Gorge next weekend for two nights. This tour is on fire and people are talking about the show and how Eric deserves to be recognized as the Entertainer of the Year at this years CMA's.
I, unfortunately, will not be able to see this show, but if you happen to be veteran Eric Church is wanting you. Turns out 500 tickets are on hold last time I checked, click on this website https://www.vettix.org/ and follow the instructions submit your vet info and you could be partying next week with the Cheif at the Gorge of George
THANK YOU To All you vets and active military who serve this beautiful country of ours
Cheers ~ Danny


text: Are you looking for an iconic watch? Daring, pioneering and unconventional in design, the Ventura is one of the most iconic Hamilton watches. The world's first electric watch looks just as good today as it did in 1957. Triangular watches are unusual: the Ventura made them famous watches. With vintage style and charm as well as the enduring legacy of being the Elvis watch, this distinctive treasure is pure Hamilton.


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Birds on Ledges and Roof
In the Gatlinburg area, it is very common to see birds congregating on roofs and building ledges. Animal Pros is the team to call when you need to control these birds and keep them away from your property. Protecting your property is important and birds can be the cause of damage to your home or business if allowed to stay.
Ledges on buildings are inviting for these birds as well. There are many corners and nooks that are perfect for nesting. Birds are often hidden from the elements in these cozy areas. While it is great for the birds, this is not great for your building. Call Us for a free inspection. We will give you the best solutions to get rid of the birds that are nesting on your home or business. We will also give you a plan to clean up the mess that they have left behind as well.
Roof Damage from Birds
Bird droppings are toxic and highly acidic. They can damage many surfaces and cause corrosion on materials like metal, rubber and even your shingles. This kind of damage can take years off of the life of your roof. Not to mention leaks and holes that create entry points for other wild animals or pests to enter your building.
Damage from birds on your roof can also be a result of nesting. There are many cozy areas for birds to build nests on your roof. Areas near dormers or gutters are particularly popular areas. They can also be drawn to the gutters for building nests which can cause damage to the gutters and not allow for water to drain properly. This can be a problem for businesses as well. Many buildings have HVAC systems on the roof that can be damaged or affected by the droppings. Solar panels and air vents are at risk as well.
Bird Deterrents for Roofs and Ledges
There are many available options to keep these pests away from your roof or building ledges. Spikes, guards, shock track and bird wire are among the most popular options. You may also consider netting or other deterrents. We are here to provide you with the best possible solution for your home or business. Call us today for a consultation.


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Following the Do we want the "spoiler" feature turned off? thread on meta.tex.sx, it's clear that the spoiler markup has a wrinkle or two that I didn't at first appreciate. For information's sake, the spoiler feature is contentious because it collides with the syntax for Latex errors.
Is there a precise description of when a blockquote will be treated as a spoiler?
Two related threads containing some information on the syntax:


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Cosmograf – The Unreasonable Silence
Simply stunning. Robin Armstrong has imagined a rich narrative of alien incursion (or paranoid breakdown?!) with sonic brilliance. The imaginative story is unnerving, whilst the music is captivating on a human level but cinematic in scope – ranging from crunching Purple riffs, through atmospheric acoustic passages to sweeping Floydian soundscapes. Robin Armstrong's multi-instrumental ability would be nothing without the excellent song writing and fascinating concept of this outstanding album. Undoubtedly, Album of the Year for me, from one of the best Progressive Rock artists of this generation.
(I've put Cosmograf as my Album of the year… the rest are in no particular order… they're all great albums.)
Red Bazar – Tales From The Bookcase
This was my TPA's review's conclusion early in the year for this surprise package, and I've had no reason to change it since…
'This is an excellent collaboration: Red Bazar have helped Peter Jones express more of his serious, darker side and also allowed him to display more vocal dexterity. In return Red Bazar have gained a talented and very fine rock vocalist who has added great lyrical skill and vocal feeling to their own fine emotional musical palette…
This may be a bit of a dark horse, but Red Bazar may just have released one of the Prog albums of the year.'
Matthew Parmenter – All Our Yesterdays
A favourite on two levels – it's a great album of subtle artistry and fine music, and on another level the artist & his music touched me personally. My Progradar review concluded:
'Matthew Parmenter has stepped aside from the magnificent, gothic group dynamic of Discipline to create a solo work of art suffused with dramatic shades and emotional lyricism, conveying tragedy and hope. This is an album that is likely to captivate and beguile with subtlety and delicate emotion. It certainly gave me unexpected comfort – Inside.'
Nine Stones Close – Leaves
A darkly trippy and psychedelic album. Part dream, part nightmare – this is an album for which repeated listens gradually unpeal the layers, like all the best progressive releases. My Progradar review observed:
'Nine Stones Close create rich musical landscapes suffused with a sense of the dramatic and psychedelic… They do not stick to their old formula and want to progress. My advice is stick with these guys because you are never quite sure in which direction their songs or this albums may turn, but it sure is an imaginative and fascinating ride!'
Big Big Train – Folklore
A much anticipated release does not disappoint as the album describes modern folklore, ancient legend, elegies for lost love and epic stories of heroism and loss … plus bees (!) in a rich tapestry of folk tinged progressive rock. Lyrically intelligent and insightful, conveyed with integrity and emotion, and played with consummate skill and passion. Impossible to ignore – we all sort of knew it would be great. Of course it's great!
Marillion – F.E.A.R
This is a remarkable release from the Prog veterans that rightly propelled them back to wider prominence with an album full of anger and insight in to the state of the world, with the dominance and influence of the 'super rich'. Of course, none of those political thoughts or feelings would count for anything in an album without outstanding music – Marillion have conveyed their message with powerful rock passages and also subtle melody. Three epic songs with ambitious scope are clearly modern and truly 'Progressive' without lazily resting on 'Prog' tropes. A late contender for album of the year, but who would guess that well over 30 years in to their career that Marillion would pull off an album that truly has something to say about today's world with such impact and sensitivity, and really mean something. Beautiful at times, dramatic at other times… thought provoking throughout.
The Gift – Why The Sea Is Salt
Let's get straight to the point – 'Why the Sea is Salt' is a truly exceptional album, and deserves to propel The Gift in to the higher echelons of current British Progressive Rock Music. Simple as that – it really is that outstanding. Very few albums indeed have the potential to attain the status of a potential 'classic' album, which will live long in the memory like 'Why the Sea is Salt'. This is a work which greatly appeals to the heart and mind in equal measures, and similarly beguiles and stimulates in its beauty and drama. The Gift have skilfully and beautifully draw upon a variety of influences, inspirations and ideas and artfully crafted them into an imaginative and enjoyable musical experience that touches the heart and stimulates the mind. Just brilliant.
What more could one want from an album?!
Paradigm Shift – Becoming Aware
This is an outstanding album musically and lyrically, with this young band fusing elements of heavy rock, psychedelia, rap, politics and progressive rock tropes in an intoxicating mix.
Paradigm Shift create finely played music based on well known influences with a largely retro feel. It is refreshing to see a new, younger band on the progressive rock scene willing to inject a political but not overwhelming edge to their songs on this very promising debut album, addressing such issues with vigour and passion.
What remains to be seen is whether Paradigm Shift can sustain this very impressive early showing, and how they develop and absorb other influences in the modern progressive music scene. However, with this album I think many progressive rock fans will definitely be 'Becoming Aware' of this promising young band.
TILT – Hinterland
TILT have delivered a superb album by a cast of very accomplished musicians. Brilliant vocals, burning guitar solos, a thunderous rhythm section and songwriting of the highest quality combine to deliver one kick ass release that I keep returning to again and again. A fine combination of excellent rock music with all that's best about progressive rock, these guys show how it really should be done. It is a clever mix of styles with some subdued, complicated sections weaving between the more straightforward rock themes and gives TILT their own definite sense of identity. This is a talented group of musicians who are at the top of their game and it shows.
Yorkston,Thorne and Khan – Everything Sacred
Finally, and completely out of 'left field' for me after seeing them at a festival.
What do you get when you combine a talented Scottish folk singer-songwriter, (James Yorkston) with a reknowned double bass jazz player (Jon Thorne) and finally an award winning Sarangi player and classical singer from New Delhi ( Suhail Yusuf Khan)?
You get an album of beguiling beauty, heart breaking emotion and diverse sounds, blending styles and cultures in a fascinating mix. Listen to songs like 'Broken Wave' and 'Everything Sacred' and try not to dab the corner of your eye. At other times you are drawn in to hypnotic Indian rhythms with hints of folk, and always played with such delicacy and skill.
Is it 'Prog'? Of course it bloody isn't!
But what is more 'Progressive' than skilfully and intuitively blending musical and cultural influences to create something so new and so beautiful? Go on… challenge yourself – it's a great album.


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Buying a home is a major financial purchase. In fact, it is often the largest investment many people will make over the course of their lives. So, no pressure, right? The fact that it is a weighty decision with real consequences can cause a lot of anxiety for many potential homebuyers, sometimes even paralyzing them from pulling the trigger on a home purchase. If you worry about the size of your down payment, and what happens if you can't make your mortgage payments, you are among the millions who face the same fears every year. While buying a house can be daunting, it can also be smart and rewarding. Here are some tips for helping to get past those first-time home buyer anxieties and to feel like you are truly ready to jump into the market.
Manage Your Debt
Having too much debt can put a strain on your resources when you're trying to buy a house. With the average U.S. household carrying several hundred dollars' worth of student loans, auto loans, and credit card debt each month, it can feel overwhelming to take on a new, larger payment as well. Learning to budget so that you have money left over after all your current debt requirements is essential to being ready for homeownership. Debt consolidation is one step that can help you start on that path. Just remember, it is still possible to carry debt and successfully manage a home loan as well. Most lenders like to see a debt-to-income ratio of 36% or lower, so if you are there or close to it, you can put that anxiety away.
Improve Your Credit Score
Having a decent credit score is important for being approved for mortgage financing as well as for getting good interest rates and terms. While most loans require a FICO credit score of 620 or higher, there are some types (i.e., VA loans) that will accept lower numbers. If your score is too low right now, you can lay this anxiety to rest by building it up over the next several months. The fastest and most effective way to raise your credit is by paying all your bills on time. It is also important to keep your credit card balances low and not apply for any new credit as much as possible until your home loan process is complete.
Come Up with a Down Payment
The way house prices are rising today, it may feel impossible for first-time buyers to ever save enough for a down payment. While this is a valid concern, potential buyers should know that there are plenty of mortgage options that do not require a full 20% down. FHA loans for example only require as little as 3.5% and VA loans often require nothing. You can calm this anxiety by speaking with a mortgage lender about the various choices available for your financial situation.
Calculate How Much You Can Afford
Another anxiety many first-timers worry about is whether they can afford the mortgage payment. There are calculators online that can help you figure out how much you can reasonably add to your budget, but sometimes they do not include all the added costs, like property taxes and homeowners' insurance. Again, talking with a mortgage lender will help you get an accurate picture of what a mortgage payment in your area and your price range would look like. Most lenders prefer that your housing expenses add up to no more than 30% of your gross monthly income. If a proposed home purchase would allow you to stick to that kind of budget, you can check off that worry as well.
If you fulfill all the requirements for buying a home, there still may be worries even after the purchase. Home maintenance and a mortgage contract are serious responsibilities, but owning your own home can also bring freedom and peace of mind when you are ready to take the plunge.


text: Dialectics in Science: An Interview with Helena Sheehan by Ben Campbell on December 15, 2012 in featured, interview While today's left has frayed into many strands, there was a time when the left presented, or at least aspired to present, a coherent Weltanschauung. This was Marxism, founded on Karl Marx's brilliant synthesis of materialism and the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, which led him and his collaborator Friedrich Engels to an unprecedented coalescence of existing human knowledge. Today's crisis of capitalism has, unsurprisingly, led to a renewed interest in Marxism. Yet any "return to Marx" will not be found in an exegesis of ancient texts but in grounding Marx's materialist dialectic in the present. Just as Marx critiqued 19th-century advances by incorporating them into his thought, so too must the most promising developments of the last century be synthesized into a radical understanding for the present. Unfortunately, today's left has for too long been relegated to social and cultural studies, ceding the "hard" discourse in economics and science to a new generation of vulgar scientistic "quants". The resulting left has too often neglected a dialectical critique, in favor of a dichotomous relation to science. It was not always so. In an attempt to recover some of the lost spirit of the scientific left, I will be interviewing subjects at the interface of science and the left. I begin today with Helena Sheehan, Professor Emerita at Dublin City University. Her research interests include science studies and the history of Marxism, and she is the author of Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History (available on her website). Ben Campbell: The advances of 19th-century science were inseparable from the rise of "materialist" philosophy. While Marx certainly belongs to this tradition, he was also strongly influenced by German idealism, specifically the dialectical system of G.W.F. Hegel. What did a "dialectical" materialism mean for Marx, and how did he see it as an advance over the materialism of his day? Helena Sheehan: The materialist philosophy of the 19th century was tending in a positivist direction. It was inclined to stress induction and to get stuck in a play of particulars. Marxism pulled this in the direction of a more historicist and more holistic materialism. It was an approach that overcame myopia, one that looked to the whole and didn't get lost in the parts. BC: You've written, "It is no accident that Marxism made its entry onto the historical stage at the same historical moment as Darwinism." What do you mean by this, and what do you see as the connection between these two monumental figures? HS: The idea of evolution was an idea whose time had come. It was in the air. Historical conditions ripen and set the intellectual agenda. Great thinkers are those who are awake to the historical process, those who gather up what is struggling for expression. Marx and Darwin were both great thinkers in this sense, although others were also coming to the same conclusions. Marx and Engels were far bolder than Darwin, carrying forward the realization of a naturalistic and developmental process beyond the origin of biological species into the realm of socio-historical institutions and human thought. BC: Engels also wrote extensively on science, particularly in his manuscript Dialectics of Nature, unfinished and unpublished during his lifetime. What is it about this document, and Engels more generally, that has been so controversial in the history of Marxism's relation to science? HS: There is a tension in Marxist philosophy between its roots in the history of philosophy and its commitment to empirical knowledge. For the best Marxist thinkers, certainly for Marx and Engels themselves, it has been a creative interaction. However, some of those pulling toward German idealist philosophy, particularly that of Kant and Hegel, have brought into Marxism a hostility to the natural sciences, influenced by the Methodenstreit, an antagonistic conceptualization of the humanities versus the sciences, which has played out in various forms over the decades. The critique of positivism has been bloated to an anti-science stance. The tendency of some to counterpose a humanistic Marx to a positivist Engels is not supported by historical evidence, as I have demonstrated at some length in my book. BC: It seems to me that this synthesis of dialectical philosophy with materialism has always been contentious. On one hand, as you say, there is the danger of reducing an anti-positivist stance to an anti-scientific stance. On the other hand, there is the threat of "the dialectic" being reduced to a mere rhetorical flourish for an otherwise bare scientism. Other writers, like John Bellamy Foster, have argued that Marxism after Marx and Engels split along these lines. Do you agree with this assessment? After Marx and Engels, what or who best demonstrated the potential of a "dialectical" science to transcend this divide? HS: No, I don't agree with it. There have always been those who synthesized these two streams. Most familiar to me is the 1930s British Marxism of Bernal, Haldane, Caudwell, and others, and post-war Eastern European Marxism. Regarding the latter, it suffered from the orthodoxy of parties in power, but it wasn't all catechetical dogmatism. In the United States, Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin. This would still characterize my own position today. BC: Yet despite the ability of some to transcend it, there does seem to have historically been much ambiguity concerning what a "materialist dialectic" would really entail. Some, like philosopher David Bakhurst, have traced some of this ambiguity back to the philosophical writings of Lenin. Bakhurst argues that while Lenin appeared at times to advocate a "radical Hegelian realism", at other times his philosophy failed to transcend a rather vulgar materialism. How did any such ambiguities in Lenin's own writings contribute to subsequent debates in Soviet science? HS: Yes, I would agree with that. Lenin could be very philosophically and politically sophisticated, but I never thought his philosophical position quite gelled. Some of his texts on reflection theory were epistemologically crude. As to the effect on Soviet debates, these were beset by the tendency to deal with writings of Marx, Engels, and Lenin as sacred texts. This rigidified further after the Bolshevization of all academic discipline, when there had to be one and only one legitimate Marxist position on every question. A quote from Lenin stopped any further debate. BC: Such talk about the rigidity of Soviet science inevitably leads to the specter of T.D. Lysenko. For readers who may not be familiar, could you briefly describe Lysenko's work? How would you respond to those who use Lysenko as a cautionary tale about the danger posed by Marxism or dialectical thinking to biology? HS: T.D. Lysenko (1898–1976) was a Ukrainian agronomist who came to prominence in the U.S.S.R. in 1927 when his experiments in winter planting of peas were sensationalized by Pravda. He became lionized as a scientist close to his peasant roots who could serve the needs of Soviet agriculture in the spirit of the first Five-Year Plan. He then advanced the technique of vernalization to a theory of the phasic development of plants and then to a whole alternative approach to biology. This was in the context of wider debates in international science about genetics and evolution, about heredity and environment, about inheritance of acquired characteristics. It was also in the context of the Bolshevization of academic disciplines and the search for a proletarian biology and the purges of academic institutions. The issues were many and complex. There has been a tendency to flatten them all out into Lysenkoism as a cautionary tale against philosophical or political "interference" in science. However, I believe that philosophy and politics are relevant to the theory and practice of science. Lysenkoism is a cautionary tale in the perils and pitfalls of certain approaches to that. BC: If we turn from the Soviet philosophy of science to that of the non-Marxist West, you see a greater reluctance to mix philosophy with the content of science. Instead, a lot of canonical "philosophy of science" (e.g., Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend) has more to do with scientific method. What does Marxism, with its emphasis on contradiction, have to say about the scientific method? I wonder specifically about Lakatos' background in Hegelian Marxism and whether there are affinities there. HS: One big difference between these two traditions in philosophy of science is that Marxism pursued questions of worldview, exploring the philosophical implications of the empirical sciences, setting it apart from the narrow methodologism of the other tradition. However, Marxism also addressed questions of scientific method. There is an elaborate literature dealing with epistemological questions from a Marxist point of view. There have been many debates, but the mainstream position would be critical realism. What is distinctive about Marxism in this sphere is how it cuts through the dualism of realism versus social constructivism. Marxism has made the strongest claims of any intellectual tradition before or since about the socio-historical character of science, yet always affirmed its cognitive achievements. The fact that Lakatos had a background in Marxism made him inclined to take a wider view than his later colleagues, but I find that he left a lot to be desired in that respect. Nevertheless, contra Feyerabend, I think that the project of specifying demarcation criteria, so central to the neo-positivist project, is a crucially important task. BC: Karl Popper famously invoked a "falsifiability" criterion as a means of solving the demarcation problem, which refers to the question of how to distinguish science from non-science (or if that is even possible). Popper's solution has influenced many scientists but has been strongly critiqued in philosophical circles. How does a Marxist approach inform this demarcation problem? HS: There is a need for criteria to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate claims to knowledge. The positivist and neo-positivist traditions contributed much to the formulation of such criteria. They did so, however, from a base that was too narrow, employing criteria that were too restricted, leaving out of the picture too much that was all too real, excluding historical, psychological, sociological, metaphysical dimensions as irrelevant. Marxism agrees with the emphasis on empirical evidence and logical coherence, but brings the broader context to bear. It synthesizes the best of other epistemological positions: logical empiricism, rationalism, social constructivism. BC: Today, Marxism stands at its weakest historically, right as the global economic crash seems to have most vindicated it. Similarly, Marxism has almost no direct influence on 21st-century science, yet discoveries and perspectives seem increasingly "dialectical" (e.g., biological emphases on complex systems, emergence, and circular causality). What do you make of the situation at present? Would it be possible to develop a "dialectical" or even "Marxist" science without Marxism as a political force? Or will science always be fragmented and one-sided so long as there remains no significant political challenge to capital? Helena Sheehan at SYRIZA solidarity rally HS: Yes, Marxism is at a low ebb as far as overt influence is concerned, precisely at a time when its analysis is most relevant and even most vindicated. I think that people can come to many of the same realizations and conclusions as Marxists without calling themselves Marxists. However, I don't think there can be any fully meaningful analysis of science that does not analyze it in relation to the dominant mode of production. Such an analysis shows how the capitalist mode of production brings about intellectual fragmentation as well as economic exploitation and social disintegration. I don't think that left parties having any chance of taking power in the future will be Marxist parties in the old sense, although Marxism will likely be a force within them. I am thinking particularly of SYRIZA, with whom I've been intensively engaged lately. One of the leading thinkers in SYRIZA is Aristides Baltas, a Marxist and a philosopher of science. Thank you, Helena. Monument to the Unknown Prothesis, by Heinrich Hoerle (1930)


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Site Map:
Download! Search this Site Useful Links Release Emails Maintained by the llvm-admin team |
2008 LLVM Developers' Meeting
Sponsored By: Apple, Google, Adobe, University of Illinois The meeting served as a forum for LLVM developers and users to get acquainted, learn how LLVM is used, and exchange ideas about LLVM, future extensions, and its (potential) applications. Proceedings
The day was structured to have general overview/introduction talks about some major LLVM subsystems, followed by talks on applications of LLVM for various specific projects. In addition to being available here, the videos are also available on youtube.
This table lists all attendees that have registered for this year's conference.
Total Confirmed: 118 |


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Fighting against non-revenue water (NRW) and giving access to drinking water to the population are the most important challenges for the country of Ecuador.
Interagua, the first water company in Ecuador, launched a tender that required high-end products with high technical and technological assets as part of solution to meet their water challenges. Diehl Metering is proud to announce that it has won this tender in September 2019 by offering a high-end single jet AQUILA and volumetric ALTAIR V4, as well AQUARIUS water meters.
Interagua, owned by Veolia, contributes to the continuous improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of Guayaquil by emphasizing social responsibility and the preservation of the environment. Winning the biggest tender in Ecuador for three consecutive years, Diehl Metering confirms its leadership position in this country by contributing to the water conservation.


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PhrasePack French will help you tremendously in speaking French with the locals. No matter if you order food in a France restaurant, shopping for new clothes or traveling around, PhrasePack French will help you being understood by the locals.
You can download our App for free and you can build more than 4000 sentences with it. Below are a few French phrases which you will also find in our App.


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The Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) Project is a collaborative research and capacity building program investigating health at human-animal-environment interfaces in Tanzania. HALI is an international team of researchers, professionals, students, volunteers, and community members working together to better understand the interactions among humans, animals, and their shared environments in Tanzania. HALI is led by Dr. Jonna Mazet, Executive Director of the One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, and Professor Rudovick Kazwala, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture. Read more at www.haliproject.org.
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Ms. Hnouzong Her
School of Veterinary Medicine - Office of Advancement
[email protected]
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William Cowper, 18th Century poet and hymn writer wrote: "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees."
Do you pray on a daily basis, not just once a day, I mean multiple times a day? Do you wake up with God and end your day with God in prayer? Prayer is the life-line to God. It connects us spiritually with Him. It completely amazes me to think that our God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent wants to spend time with us. We are absolutely nothing compared to Him and yet we are the number one thing on His mind every second of our day! Praise the Lord! So why is daily prayer important? Let us look and see what the Bible says!
Prayer Is Conditioner For The Soul
When you watch those commercials about conditioners for your hair you always see these animations of how the conditioner fixes the broken, dry pieces and how it revitalizes your hair to its optimum efficiency. Well, prayer acts the same way with your soul. There are parts of you and me that are broken because of sin. Until we pray and ask for forgiveness we will continue in our brokenness. Forgiveness from God is healing for your soul! Maybe you are in a dry spell with prayer. Maybe you don't know what to pray for. Don't let this stop you from praying! Even when we are broken and weak and don't know what to say, "the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." (Romans 8:26) Granted, this is the Holy Spirit speaking for you, but you still need to make an effort with your eyes closed, meditating on God. Give God time daily where you concentrate only on Him and even if you don't speak, the Holy Spirit will.
Prayer Is Commanded
"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
If we are to pray without ceasing, God must consider prayer a top priority for us daily. Here is why. If we go day to day without praying then we naturally focus on ourselves and what we desire. However, when we involve ourselves in prayer and seek the will of God our focus will shift towards loving others and meeting their needs. The will of God in Jesus is this, "If anyone would come after Me (Jesus), let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24) Taking up your cross means to literally put to death your sin as Christ did for you and I on the cross. We must deny ourselves and focus on meeting the needs of the kingdom wherever they might be. This is why prayer is so crucial. When we set time apart to pray and commune with God, it is then that God hears us and shows us His will. Until you make prayer a priority daily you will stay on the path of self-fulfillment.
Prayer Has Power
If someone broke into your house and you had the choice to defend your family with your bare hands or with a gun, would you not pick the gun? Of course you would because the gun has power in that situation. The same thing can be said about prayer. Prayer is very powerful and its effects can cause everlasting life changes. Here are 2 examples from the Bible.
"Elijah was a man with a sinful nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and Heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit." (James 5:17) I wanted to use this verse specifically because James believed in the Old Testament; the book of James was written in the New Testament. This verse is a great connector of both testaments. He used this verse to reshow the events of 1 Kings chapters 17 and 18. The power of prayer is unstoppable, even to the point of stopping the rain from coming down.
Even Demons Flee
Prayer also has the power to cast out evil spirits. In Mark 9:14-29 we read about a boy who gets possessed from time to time by the same evil spirit. Jesus' disciples tried to cast it out and they couldn't. This passage showcases a father who is at rock-bottom looking to Jesus for healing of his demon-possessed son. Jesus does indeed cast the spirit out and the disciples "asked Him privately, 'Why could we not cast it out?' And Jesus said to them, 'This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." (Mark 9:28-29) This is how powerful prayer is!
Bible Verses That Showcase the Importance of Prayer
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
"What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also." (1 Corinthians 14:15a)
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." (James 4:3) It is imperative to pray correctly. God does not answer selfish prayers.
"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:16)
"And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him." (1 John 5:14-15)
Praying daily must be a top priority in our walk with the Lord. Ceasing to pray is like ceasing to drink water. Both are a life source. If you aren't praying daily I encourage you to start. If you do pray daily I encourage you to keep at it. Prayer is powerful and can change anything according to the will of the Father. May God bless you as you live a life worthy of the calling!
Here is a related article about prayer:
Resources – The Holy Bible, English Standard Version "Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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DADDY IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES from Sweden as a grown man. When I was three, he left Texas, tenant farming, and us to work "Up North." He planned to earn enough money to send for us. First, he worked in the shipyards in Portland, Oregon, then in an auto factory in Detroit. During the four years we were separated, I forgot what he looked like. What turned out to be worse, I forgot what he sounded like.
When we got off the train in Detroit, Mama hugged and kissed Daddy and then introduced us girls. He didn't need to be reminded of his son's name--his namesake. He spoke to me first, and held out his arms. I started to cry and held tight to Mama's hand.
My young ears had learned to understand a Texas drawl with a slight Swedish accent--my mother and her family are also Swedish. Daddy's thicker accent had taken on a completely foreign Yankee twang. I didn't understand him. None of us did, except Mama, and his frustration was intense. For weeks, Mama spoke to him in Swedish and then told us in English what he'd said. It was almost Christmas before I could understand him quickly enough to keep him from yelling for Mama whenever he tried to say anything to me.
A few days after Thanksgiving, Daddy was included in a layoff. We were eating breakfast, getting ready for school, when Mama sat down next to me--something she'd never done. My heart fell into my stomach, and I couldn't take another bite of cocoa and toast. I had a feeling something awful was coming.
"There won't be much Christmas this year," she said slowly
"I'm being good, Mama," Eric said.
"Yes, you are, but Daddy lost his job for a little while. It's so the auto company won't have to give him holiday pay. They'll hire him back after New Year's, but right now, it'll take all our money to buy groceries, pay the rent, and keep coal in the furnace."
"That's okay," I said through my tears. "We'll have a big one next year."
I didn't know it at the time, but back then, Detroit had an old newsboy organization called The Goodfellows. Daddy swallowed his pride and put our names on their "Needy Kids" list. Goodfellows gave Eric a toy car. Phyllis, Sonja, and I got dolls, each one different. It was the only doll I ever got for Christmas. Because the gift hadn't come from my parents, I almost felt disloyal when I held her in my arms. I still remember her silky, blonde hair and ruffled, blue dress, and how perfect she looked.
On Christmas morning, I woke to the sound of music I remembered hearing when I was little. Daddy was in the kitchen, listening to a radio station that played Swedish music. I slipped out of bed and peeked around the door. He began to sing in Swedish while he stirred a pot of oatmeal, then he twirled and danced a schottische around the kitchen. I was overflowing with happiness at the familiar sounds and sights. Watching Daddy dancing alone made me giggle out loud.
"God Jul, litet dotter," he said and swept me up in his thick arms.
"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" I responded happily.
I held tight to his neck and laughed while he sang, as we spun around the kitchen floor. I smelled his spicy aftershave and rested my cheek against the coarseness of a beard he could never completely shave off.
It no longer mattered that the snow wasn't white, that the day was cold and gray, or even that the beautiful doll was a gift from strangers. It was Christmas morning, and I was dancing with the Daddy I remembered.
The End
As my father would have said: Gott Nytt År till er alla . . .
Happy New Year to you-all guys. I pray that 2015 will bring you health, happiness, and success


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New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference, December 15-17, 2015
New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference and Trade Show
Tuesday through Thursday, December 15-17, 2015
Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire
The New England Vegetable and Fruit (NEVF) Conference will include more than 25 educational sessions over 3 days, covering major vegetable, berry and tree fruit crops as well as various special topics. A Farmer to Farmer meeting after each morning and afternoon session will bring speakers and farmers together for informal, in-depth discussion on certain issues. There is also an extensive Trade Show with over 100 exhibitors.
The conference is put together with close collaboration between growers and Cooperative Extension from across the region. This is a great opportunity to meet with fellow growers, advisors, researchers, and industry representatives.
For more information and to register, please visit the NEVF Conference website.


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#FreeMeekMill has been a big deal for quite a while, but this week, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft added his voice to the chorus of famous names advocating for the rapper's release from prison.
His endorsement of Meek has brought another wave of attention to the movement, and if you happen to be one of the people who don't know who Meek Mill is or why his incarceration has become such a touch point, now's the time to learn.
Who is Meek Mill?
Meek Mill (full name: Robert Rihmeek Williams) is a 30-year-old rapper from Philadelphia. He's best known for his debut LP, 'Dreams and Nightmares.' He also made headlines for numerous artistic and personal feuds with other performers, most notably Canadian rapper Drake. He also had a long relationship with Nicki Minaj.
Why's he in jail?
This is a complicated question. You know how in Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread, and ends up being there for 19 years because he tried to escape a few times and fought some guards, thus extending his incarceration and rendering it extremely disproportionate to the original crime? Meek's supporters would kind of liken it to that.
In 2008, Meek was convicted on gun and drug charges after he was arrested for illegally carrying a gun while walking to a corner store. He was sentenced to several months in prison, and was released early with five years' parole.
During those five years, Meek was convicted of several parole violations, most of which came when he failed to report his travel plans to the judge presiding over his case (he was actively working as an entertainer during those years).
In 2014, he went back to prison for five months for such a violation, after which his judge reinstated his probation.
In March 2017, he was arrested after being involved in a fight at a St. Louis airport. In August of 2017, he was arrested again in New York for "reckless endangerment" for popping wheelies on his dirt bike and not wearing a helmet.
Because of his extended probation, which if you recall was related to a crime he was convicted of nearly a decade ago,he was sentenced to two to four years in jail. He is currently an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Why are people upset about it?
His incarceration has garnered criticism from fellow artists, athletes, and racial justice activists. In their eyes, Meek's case is more about comparative justice than it is about his actual sentence or criminal history.
It represents the intersection of several stress points related to race: Tolerance of police violence, mass incarceration and subjectivity in the criminal justice system.
For instance, after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke earlier this year, people wondered aloud why Meek, who hadn't been convicted of a serious crime since 2008, was behind bars when Weinstein, an alleged serial abuser with allegedly shady business practices, was allowed to continue his alleged shadiness behind the scenes for decades.
Other people brought up the case of Brock Turner,a Stanford University swimmer who served three months in jailafter being convicted in 2016 of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
His caseis also used as a rhetorical foilto the common occurrence of police officers avoiding criminal charges or convictions related to the shootings of black civilians.
On top of it all, there are some pieces of evidence that suggest his case -- all nine years of it -- hasn't been handled properly.
In 2017, Mill's attorney Joe Tacopina spoke to CNN and accused the judge who has overseen Mill's case for years, of being "enamored" with the rapper and taking "a personal interest in the case."
"(Meek's) frustrated, really frustrated and knows he's being treated different than anyone else," Tacopina said in a phone interview. "If his name was John Smith, he wouldn't be in jail and he certainly wouldn't be on probation."
There's more. In early 2018, the police officer who arrested Meek in 2008, Reginald Graham,turned up on a "secret list" kept by the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, which named police officers with poor or untrustworthy reputations.
An ex-colleague of Graham's later testified, in a sworn affidavit, that Graham lied about the events that eventually led to Meek's 2008 conviction.
In November, 2017, Jay-Z, who is very close to the rapper, penned an op-ed for the New York Times summing up the issues advocates have with Meek's case.
"On the surface, this may look like the story of yet another criminal rapper who didn't smarten up and is back where he started," he wrote. "But consider this: Meek was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence...Now he's 30, so he has been on probation for basically his entire adult life. For about a decade, he's been stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside."
What are people saying about it?
After Robert Kraft and Philadelphia 76ers owner Michael Rubin visited Meek Mill in prison this week,Kraft voiced criticism of the rapper's situation.
"[He's an] amazing young man," Kraft said at a news conference after his visit. "I know how I'd feel if I was in the situation he is. Every time I see him, I just come away more impressed. He's very intelligent. And makes it clear to me we have to do something with criminal justice reform.
Kraft added that Meek "shouldn't be [in prison]."
Here is what other artists, athletes and activists have said about Meek's situation:
- "Sadly there are Black folks going through the same radicalized injustice(s) within the justice system that Meek Mill has experienced for over a decade EVERY SINGLE DAY. This requires more than just gradual reform in laws—It requires a swift overhaul." -- Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick
- "It's like this double standard justice system man is just.... i don't even have the words now y'all." -- Questlove
- "We aren't going to act like Meek Mill is an angel or that he's perfect. He's a man. A man who has made some mistakes and for 10 years has paid for those mistakes." --Philadelphia Eagles player Malcom Jenkins
The Phildelphia Eagles showed solidarity for the hometown rapper during their bid for Super Bowl 52 when they repeatedly blasted his 2012 song "Dreams and Nightmares."
Even Drake, one of Meek Mill's most high-profile nemeses, has voiced his support. During a concert in Australia in November 2017, right after Meek's sentence, he acknowledged someone in the audience who was wearing a "Free Meek Mill" shirt.
"I see you got the 'Free Meek Mill' t-shirt," he said. "Free Meek Mill too man, for real. You right."
What happens next?
Meek has been very vocal about his situation and his desire for criminal justice reform. This week, Meek spoke with NBC's Lester Holt from prison.
"I say don't show me no pity because this is my life," he told Holt. "This is what I'm going through and I think God put me in this position to be able to do a show with Lester Holt and open up eyes for other young black men."
On April 16, advocates will rally at the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center in a call for criminal justice reform.
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text:
Continuing with our history of Gremlin, we take a look at their first video games and an almost forgotten personal computer.
One person at Gremlin who was interested in video games was Lane Hauck. Since his arrival, he had been badgering management to get into the field, only to be told "not yet" every time. Nonetheless, Hauck continued to tinker with the idea, creating a computer blackjack game (DeWyze 1982). The idea that led to Gremlins first video game came when Hauck created an original-concept game that put the player in control of an on-screen "snake" that grew longer and longer as it slithered around the screen. The goal was to surround your opponent in such a way that they had nowhere to turn and were forced to run headlong into a wall, their opponent, or themselves.
[Lane Hauck] While we were designing wall games, I was tinkering in the back room with a video circuit that became our Blockade game board. I kept showing my work to Frank Fogleman and Jerry, pestering them with the "can we get into video now?" question. I made a 32x24 cell frame buffer with graphical characters. I was intrigued by the random walk in Physics…which said a drunk taking steps in random directions around a lamppost would gravitate to the lamppost. I decided to program an arrow to be the drunk, and watched it flit around the screen for about a minute before getting bored. Then I thought, what if the drunk can't visit the same square twice? I made that adjustment, and watched the arrow move a bit and then get trapped. The step from there to Blockade was a small one. (Hauck 2012)
Frank Fogleman liked what he saw (he was the one who suggested the name Blockade) and agreed to test the game in public. After obtaining a cabinet from a company that had just gone bankrupt, the engineers slapped together a prototype.
[Lane Hauck] I think we bought an old Motorola TV set and we go some nail-on letters from the hardware store up the street. We put the game in a miniature golf center. We watched very carefully and we saw a lot of people put money in it and have fun with it. It was exciting. (DeWyze 1982)
Encouraged, Hauck began to turn his prototype into an actual game, enlisting the aid of his coworkers.
[Lane Hauck] I understood the importance of sound, so I asked our analog designer, Bob Pecoraro, to make a good explosion sound. In those days we did it all analog—a reverse-biased diode makes a decent white noise generator, which you can shape and apply an envelope to make a boom. I designed the tone circuit that sounded different pitches depending on player and direction with a couple of counters. (Hauck 2012)
By the time of the 1976 MOA expo in November, Hauck had not only completed the game but had also created a four-player version called CoMotion. Blockade was an instant success at the MOA. RePlay named it best of show and it provided Gremlin with the hit it needed to establish itself as a video game manufacturer. The video game newcomers returned from the show with 3,000 orders at $995 each (DeWyze 1982). Sounds from the game were later used in the introduction to a radio news program in Puerto Rico (Play Meter 6/77). The game's quick success gave Gremlin an initial burst of confidence.
[Lane Hauck] We were giddy, saying 'Wow, this video stuff is easy, you know!' I mean, you do a good game and you steal the show and people give you all these orders. Fantastic!" (DeWyze 1982)
When they returned to San Diego however, reality sunk in as the company realized that it didn't know the first thing cabinets, TV monitors, or many other components of video games. As they scrambled to catch up, a bigger problem became apparent. While the game's concept was original for the time, it was also very easy to copy, and knock-off versions began to appear within months. The fact that Gremlin had no experience making video games certainly did not help matters.
[Lane Hauck] We introduced Blockade at the AMOA show in Chicago. I watched every video game company president drag one of his engineers into our booth, point at Blockade, and say, "that one." By the time we figured out how to manufacture a video game we were last to market with our own game. (Hauck 2012)
Ramtek's Barricade, Meadows' Bigfoot Bonkers, Midway's Checkmate, and Atari's Dominos were all on the market by February 1977 and others quickly followed. While Gremlin took measures to put a stop to the copycats, they were only marginally effective at best. In January 1977, they filed suit against Ramtek for trademark infringement over Barricade. While Ramtek claimed the suit had no merit, they voluntarily agreed to stop making the game and vowed that if they resumed production, they would call their version Brickyard (Play Meter 4/22/77). Gremlin found Atari's Dominos particularly objectionable, given Nolan Bushnell's public fulminations against copycats. Atari, on the other hand, claimed they had the technology for a blocking game before Gremlin released Blockade but offered Gremlin $100,000 in "conscience money," which Gremlin refused[1]. Not every video game company was so blatant, however. One of the few that actually bothered to license the game was Japan's Namco, a somewhat unusual move for a Japanese company at the time. In any event, the incident taught fledgling video game maker Gremlin a valuable lesson.
[Gene Candelore] It was very, very successful but we were very naïve…When we got into the video games and took Blockade to the MOA show in Chicago, we were inundated with orders. Two weeks later, it was the National Amusement Game Show in New Orleans and again we were inundated with orders. We were doing $5 million a year in wall games and in those two weeks alone we took in something like $8 million worth of orders…Well the game was such a success that I think every video game manufacturer out there copied it…We did have a patent for a video game that as the cursor moved, it left a trail. So we did bring lawsuits against people and we won and they had to cease making the games. However, by the time everything was settled, so many games had flooded the market that our orders just disappeared. The distributor would call up and say, "I'm sorry, you can't deliver next week so I'm buying something from somebody else." So we learned in a hurry. (Candelore 1998-2002)
The copycats, however, may not have been the game's only problem. In January 1978, Malcolm Baines (Gremlin's president of sales), told RePlay
[Malcolm Baines] We returned from the MOA back-ordered 3,100 units. People who never ordered more than five or ten pieces were ordering a truck a week…But we all learned something because actually everybody was wrong. It wasn't a good game from the standpoint of making money...The industry loved Blockade but the public yawned.
The public may have yawned, but they did not grow tired of the concept and the influence of Blockade lasted long past the video game "Bronze Age." Perhaps the best-known use of the idea in a coin-op game came in 1982 with the light bikes sequence in Midway's Tron. Later games, such as the PC games Worm and Snake Byte, Rock-Ola's Nibbler coin-op, and the Nokia cell-phone game Snake added the idea of a snake that only grew when it ate something.
One result of the Blockade fiasco was that Gremlin was left with a huge inventory of boards, cabinets, and monitors and no demand for their games. To use them up they dashed off a handful of new games using the same hardware.
[Lane Hauck] [My main inspiration came from] walking through the stockroom and seeing which piles (of unsold material) were the highest. That's creativity in a very applied context. (DeWyze 1982)
Above: Gremlin Girl Sabrina Osment
1977's Hustle was another variant on the same theme that added targets that the player could surround to score a varying number of points. To make sure they could meet the demand, and determined not to get beaten to market again, Gremlin produced 1,000 units of Hustle before they started selling it. They introduced Hustle in April 1977 via an innovative (for the time) marketing promotion. Gremlin conducted a 19-city tour (12 U.S. cities and 7 European) in which players competed against the "Gremlin Girls" – a pair of attractive young ladies (Sabrina Osment and Lynn Reid) scantily clad in T-shirts and short-shorts. Players skilled enough to win two out of three games from the girls took home a 100-dollar bill. The girls reportedly sent 1,233 challengers home in defeat against just seven winners (Play Meter 7/77; RePlay 6/77). Malcolm Baines claimed that Gremlin racked up $1.5 million in orders during the tour.
While Hustle had helped to clear out inventory, it had done little to address the problem of the company's inexperience. Despite the Gremlin Girls promotion, they still had no marketing to speak of and often ordered more parts than they needed. And while Hustle had done moderately well, to have lasting success in the video game world Gremlin was going to have to do something besides trot out more variations on the Blockade theme. They needed something new and different. With their next release, they got the latter, if not the former. With the Blockade board inventory used up, Hauck and Ago Kiss began to work on a new game board based on the 8080 microprocessor. The first game using the new hardware was Depthcharge (ca September, 1977) in which the player moved a destroyer left and right while dropping depth charges on enemy subs lurking below. Depthcharge was certainly different from Blockade, but it was not exactly new. It was basically Midway's Sea Wolf in reverse (maybe Gremlin decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em). It did, however, feature a number of improvements over the original. One of the biggest was the excellent sound effects (again courtesy of Bob Pecoraro), which included an echoing sonar ping and the booming explosion of depth charges. To create the former, Gremlin had contacted the Navy and asked to borrow tapes of an actual sonar. The Navy refused but agreed to listen to what Gremlin created and tell them if they got it right (RePlay 9/77). Depthcharge had actually been ready a year prior to its release but after it fared poorly during field testing. The main reason was the controls, which included a lever that the player used to adjust the depth at which the charges exploded. Players hated it.
[Lane Hauck] The charges would go right by the subs. Players would pound the console! Every single player had this problem. They wanted the game to play the way they thought a depth charge would blow up - on contact. (DeWyze 1982)
Gremlin brought the back in for tweaking, completely redesigning the confusing controls (Reid 1977). After the success of its Hustle promotion, Gremlin decided to try the same thing with Depthcharge. A new "Gremlin Girl" (Michele Anderson) was hired to join Sabrina Osment on a multi-city tour. Perhaps mindful of the shellacking Osment had delivered to competitors during the Hustle challenge, Gremlin planned to select one name from all the nationwide challengers and award them an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas, complete with $1,000 in chips (Reid 1977). While it may not have matched the success of Blockade (at least in terms of sales), Depthcharge provided Gremlin with another solid money maker. The game was licensed to Taito, who released it as Sub Hunter and in 1979 Gremlin created a sequel or sorts in Deep Scan, which added color and a miniature radar screen. On the other hand, the copycat issue still had not been completely solved. At the same time Gremlin released Depthcharge, Atari came out with Destroyer, a game with a nearly identical theme (at one point, Atari had even called its game Depth Charge) but improved graphics.
Safari and Blasto
Gremlin's next release, Safari (ca November 1977), cast the player in the role of great white hunter gunning down charging boars and lions, as well as, somewhat paradoxically, snakes and vultures. Most of the game's background graphics were painted on the screen rather than computer generated – including trees for the prey to hide behind and a small hut where the player could seek refuge. While the game concept was somewhat fresh, Play Meter referred to it as a one-player version of Gunfight (it used the same combination of joystick and pistol-grip control and may have actually been a licensed version of the Taito's Safari, which had the same gameplay but different animals). Around April 1978 came a final game released on the Blockade hardware. Programmed by Bill Blewett, Blasto had the player maneuvering a space ship about a screen filled with mines, trying to destroy them all with their "gremmaray" before time ran out. Shooting a mine that was adjacent to another would initiate a satisfying chain reaction of explosions. Catching your opponent in the chain reaction, garnered you a plum 1,000 points. If you managed to blow yourself up, however, the points went to your rival. While Lane Hauck remembers that the game sold 3-4,000 units, it was not the major hit that Gremlin needed.
Noval 760 and Telemath
Coin-op games were not the only products Gremlin made. Realizing that the new 8080 game board they'd created was at least as powerful as the personal computers that were just beginning to appear on the market, Gremlin decided to create a home computer of its own and formed a division called Noval Inc. Lane Hauck, Ago Kiss, and programmer Terry Sorensen (who created the operating system) went to work and created a Z-80 based personal computer called the Noval 760. While little known today, the system was quite ambitious for the time. The units were mounted in an expensive cherry-wood desk with a rear portion that sprang open at the touch of a button (Gremlin used springs from automobile hoods) and a slide-out keyboard caddy. Each unit included a built-in 12" monitor, a 32-column printer, 16k of memory, eight IO ports, and a mag tape system for data storage (later models had 8-inch floppy drives). Noval's version of BASIC was available separately but for assembly language programmers, the 760 offered a novel feature called Instant-Edit. As each line was typed, the 760 checked the syntax and displayed an error if there was something wrong, providing a kind of interactive debugging. Unlike some other early PC manufacturers, Gremlin embraced the idea that people could play games on its system. While designed for the business market, the 760 also played computer versions of Gremlin coin-op hits like Blockade and Depthcharge (not surprising, since it also served as the development system for the coin-op designers for a time). Gremlin exhibited the Noval 760 at the first West Coast Computer Faire in the spring of 1977 (the now legendary event that witnessed the debut of the Apple II and, some say, if inaccurately, the birth of the personal computer industry). Gremlin introduced the Noval to the general public with a four-page ad in the June 1977 issue of Byte. While the personal computer industry was still in its infancy, it was nonetheless a crowded field. The same issue had ads for over a dozen other computers by companies like Cromemco, Ohio Scientific, and Polymorphic Systems. Despite its innovative features, the Noval 760 fared poorly, The Telemath, an educational computer system sold to the San Diego School District as part of a math education program, did better. The computers were installed in a number of San Diego elementary schools, where a select group of students were allowed to use them. In Gremlin-designed software titles such as Fraction Football, the students were presented with a math problem that they had to solve. The teacher could select what kind of problem they received. When the students' progress was compared to similar groups that did not use computers, the students had much higher rates of retention. While most of the Telemath units were sold to the San Diego School District, a few (less than a dozen) were sold to the general public. In the end, however, neither the Noval 760 nor the Telemath had much lasting impact on the personal computer world and they remain almost-forgotten relics of a bygone era. Whatever chance Gremlin had to compete in the nascent home computer industry came to an end when Sega acquired the company and shut down the computer division entirely. (Hauck and Nash 1977; Craig 1978; Hauck 2012)
[1] As per the letter column in the March 1977 Play Meter, which attributes the information to "a high placed Atari official."
In addition to the sources cited in Part 1, additional sources include:
John Craig. "Around the Industry: The Noval 760: Here it Comes". Kilobaud May 1978.
Lane T. Hauck and James D. Nash. "System Description: The Noval 760". Byte. September 1977.
Lynne Reid. "The Emergence of Gremlin". Play Meter. November 1977.